;

advocates. The propes were of a higher clafs many of them, illuftrious ftatefmen; and all, men of distinguished abilities, who were frequently engaged in private causes, either at the request of particular friends, or, like the Roman fenators, who were forbidden to take money by the Cincian law, with a view of acquiring fame and popularity: but Antipho of Rhamnus is faid to have been the first who took fees for his forenfick labours. When the orators addreffed the court in person, they were affifted, as Tully says, in matters of law by folicitors or agents, who were called payμarino, and whofe profeffion was reckoned illiberal; but, moft commonly, the speeches were composed by the great masters of rhetorick, and delivered either by memory or from writing, by the clients themselves, or fome of their intimate friends: for the Athenians were naturally quick; their general affembly was the best school of eloquence in the world; and, as they had but one language to learn, which was the finest ever spoken by mortals, the loweft among them could not only express themselves with propriety, but were even the niceft judges of the pure Attick diction. Plutarch tells us, in his treatise on Garrulity, that Lyfias wrote a speech for a client, who brought it back with great marks of uneafinefs, affuring the orator, that, "when he

"first read it, he thought it wonderfully fine "but that, on the fecond and third reading, it "appeared quite languid and inapplicable." "What! faid Lyfias fmiling, do you forget "that you are to speak it but once to the jury?" This mode would, for many obvious reasons, be hardly practicable among us; yet, in fome criminal cafes, we have inftances of artful and elaborate defences, at leaft equal to those of Antipho, compofed or delivered by the prifoners. themselves: and, furely, no compofitions require fo much delicacy and judgement, since innocent men on fuch occafions are feldom elo-quent. Sometimes, both methods were united at the Athenian bar; and the party, having told his story in a fet fpeech, was fucceeded by his advocate, who pronounced the peroration in a loftier ftrain of this we have fome examples. in Demofthenes, who is called up by name to finish the speech for Darius against Dionyfodorus; and that of Ifæus on the estate of Nicoftratus was, I believe, of the fame kind; for it contains very folid obfervations on laws and the nature of evidence, which would have come. with a bad grace from the mouth of an ordinary client; and it concludes with a recapitulation of proofs, none of which appear in the preceding part; fo that from these circumftances we may collect, more certainly than from the opening

of the fpeech, that it was delivered by the orator in his own perfon; nor is it in any respect unworthy of his reputation. It is hardly neceffary to obferve, what the reader will naturally imagine, that women and infants both fued and were impleaded in the names of their hufbands, guardians, or next friends; as, in the difputes. about the estate of Hagnias, the prochein amy of young Stratocles exhibited the information, and delivered the charge, against Theopompus, whofe fon was afterwards attacked by the guardian of the third Eubulides. The time, which thefe judicial fpeeches were not suffered to exceed, was previously fixed by the Archon according to the nature of the caufe and the number of pertinent observations which it required; and this time was regulated by the dropping of water through a glafs, called clepfydra, which was carefully stopped, when any verbal or written. evidence was produced, or any law, will, or other inftrument, was read to the court: this was a restriction in moft cafes highly expedient for the dispatch of business; although Tacitus confidered the Pompeian law, by which the length of a criminal's defence was limited to three hours, as a check to the free courfe of elbquence; and, as the power of allotting the due quantity of water feems to have been difcreționary in the magistrate, the fuccess of a cause

might, perhaps, depend too much upon his vigilance, attention, and fagacity: on the whole, we proceed better, I think, without any fuch

reftraint.

It does not appear, that two or more advocates were ever heard at Athens on the fame fide, as they were at Rome, and commonly are with us on legal questions. Cicero, in his pleasing book on Famous Orators, objects warmly to this practice; but his objections, in my apprehenfion, are not weighty: when he was a boy, there were but fix advocates in the fulleft bufinefs; nor have we many more, who are sure to be retained in every cause of great importance; to determine who are the Craffus and Antonius, who the Philippus and Cæfar, who the Cotta and Sulpicius, of our English bar, would be a task no less invidious than unneceffary; but if the most eminent were always to speak without any fubalterns, a young barrister might be condemned at Westminster to a filence of twenty years.

If the reader has but opened the following work, he must have obferved, that the Athenian advocates called their witneffes and read their depofitions, as they went along, in proof of their feveral points, instead of crouding all their evidence together at the conclufion of their fpecches; and, although eloquence flows more

agreeably and oftentatiously in a continued fream, yet their method feems better calculated than ours for the purpofe of enlightening and convincing the jury; fince, as Dionyfius remarks, a number of proofs collected in one place, and belonging to a variety of heads, is inconfiftent with perfpicuity. The witneffes were examined, and, I doubt not, crofs-examined, in the prepa-. ratory ftages of the caufe; but they were not fworn till the day of the trial, when they took the oath together at the altar with all poffible. folemnity, and were afterwards called before the tribunal to confirm their depofitions, or, if neceffary, to correct and explain them; fo that the practice of the Athenians happily united the advantages of both oral and written testimony. This was the form of a depofition in one of their most celebrated causes: "SOSIA deposes, "that Calliftratus, his wife's father, was first. "coufin to Polemo, the father of Hagnias, and "to Charidemus, the father of Theopompus; "that his mother was fecond coufin to Polemo; "and that the often told him, that Phylomache, "the mother of Eubulides, was fifter of the "whole blood to Polemo, the father of Hag"nias, and that the faid Polemo never had a brother." They admitted, we fee, hearsay evidence even of particlar facts, as it appears