308 HISTORICAL TALES.

He at once began an energetic course of study.
There were then two famous teachers of oratory in
Athens, Isocrates and Iseus. The school of Isocra-
tes was famous, and his prices very high. The
young man, with whom money was scarce, offered
him a fifth of his price for a fifth of his course, but
Isocrates replied that his art, like a good fish, must
be sold entire. He then turned to Iszeus, who was
the greatest legal pleader of the period, and studied
under him until he felt competent to plead his own
case before the courts.

Demosthenes soon found that he had mistaken
his powers. His argument was formal and long-
winded. His uncouth style roused the ridicule of
his hearers. His voice was weak, his breath short,
his manner disconnected, his utterance confused.
His pronunciation was stammering and ineffective,
and in the end he withdrew from the court, hopeless
and disheartened.

Fortunately, his feeble effort had been heard by a
friend who was a distinguished actor, and was able
to tell Demosthenes what he lacked. “You must
study the art of graceful gesture and clear and dis-
tinct utterance,” he said. In illustration, he asked
the would-be orator to speak some passages from the
poets Sophocles and Euripides, and then recited
them himself, to show how they should be spoken.
He succeeded in this way in arousing the boy to new
‘and greater efforts. Nature, Demosthenes felt, had
not meant him for an orator. But art can some-
times overcome nature. Energy, perseverance, de-
termination, were necessary. These he had. He