SPEECH THE SEVENTH. ON THE ESTATE OF CIRON, THE ARGUMENT. CIRON being dead without leaving a son, his nephew entered upon his estate; and the clients of Isæus brought an action to recover it, insisting that they had the better title as grandsons of the deceased by his legitimate daughter: there are two questions in the cause, an issue of fact, whether the complainants were lawfully descended from Ciron or not; and an issue in law, whether a daughter's or a brother's son has more right to the property of an intestate. The writer of the Greek argument to this speech appears to have mistaken the law of Athens, which will be more fully explained in the commentary. SPEECH THE SEVENTH. The Grandfons of Ciron against his Nephew. IT is impoffible, judges, to suppress our just indignation, when men are not only bold enough to claim the property of others, but even hope by their fophifms to refine away the found rules of law, as our adversaries are now attempting to do; for, although my grandfather Ciron died not childless, but left me and my brother, the fons of his legitimate daughter, yet these men have both claimed his eftate, as his next of kin, and infult us with afferting that we are not his grandfons, and that he never had a daughter in his life; to this audacity have they been incited by their fordid love of gain, and allured by the value of Ciron's eftate, which they violently feized, and now unjustly poffefs; being abfurd enough to alledge that he died in indigence, yet contending at the fame time that they have a right to his fortune. Now I confider myself as contending in this caufe, not with the nominal party to the fuit, but with Diocles of Phlya, whose mad violence has procured him the name of Creftes; for it was he, who first inftigated my opponent to give us this trouble, with an intent to deprive us of our fucceffion to the property of our grandfather, and has thus exposed us to danger, that he may not be compelled to reftore the goods which he has embezzled, if he can perfuade you by his false allegations to pronounce your decree in his favour. These being their machinations, it is necessary for you to be informed of the whole transaction, that, when you are fully apprized of every circumftance, you may decide the cause from your perfect knowledge of it; and, if you have ever attended to any other cause, hear this, I intreat you, with attention: juftice indeed requires it; for in the many fuits with which Athens abounds, no man will be found to have invaded the poffeffions of another with more impudence and a greater contempt of decency than these confederates. It is no eafy task, judges, for one, wholly void of experience in courts, to enter into a conteft of fo great importance against the premeditated quibbles of fubtle speakers, and against witneffes prepared to violate the truth; yet I am not without hopes of being reftored to my right by your fentence, and of fpeaking fo far at least with tolerable propriety as to fupport my juft demand, unless fome fuch misfortune should befall me as I cannot even now help fearing: I fupplicate you, therefore, |