THE WORLD'S GREATEST ORATOR. 307

more. His mother was the daughter of a rich corn-
dealer of the Bosphorus.

The father died when his son was seven years old,
leaving his estate in the care of three guardians.
These were rich men, and relatives and friends,
whom he thought he could safely trust; the more
so as he left them legacies in his will. Yet they
proved rogues, and when Demosthenes became six-
teen years of age—which made him a man under
the civil law of Athens—he found that the guardians
had made way with nearly the whole of his estate.
Of fourteen talents bequeathed him there were less
than two left. The boy complained and remon-
strated in vain. The guardians declared that the
will was lost; their accounts were plainly fraudu-
lent; they evidently proposed to rob their ward of
his patrimony.

This may seem to us to have been a great misfor-
tune. It was, on the contrary, the greatest good
fortune. It forced Demosthenes to become an orator.
Though he never recovered his estate, he gained a
fame that was of infinitely greater value. The law
of Athens required that every plaintiff should plead
his own cause, either in person or by a deputy speak-
ing his words. Demosthenes felt that he must bring
suit or consent to be robbed. That art of oratory,
towards which he had so strong an inclination, now
became doubly important. He must learn how to
plead eloquently before the courts, or remain the poor
vietim of a party of rogues. This determined the
young student of rhetoric. He would make himself
an orator.