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OLYNTHIACS OF DEMOSTHENES. 327 tliu growth of his power not to avert immediate danger menac- ing Ulyrithus. 'There needed no discussion to induce the Athenians to accept this alliance. It was what they had long been seeking, and they willingly closed with the proposition. Of course they also prom- ised what indeed was almost involved in the acceptance to send a force to cooperate against Philip in Chalkidike'. On this first recognition of Olynthus as an ally or perhaps shortly af- terwards, but before circumstances had at all changed Demos- thenes delivered his earliest Olynthiac harangue. Of the three memorable compositions so denominated, the earliest is, in my judgment, that which stands second in the edited order. Their true chronological order has long been, and still is, matter of con- troversy ; the best conclusion which I can form, is that the first and the second are erroneously placed, but that the third is really the latest ; J all of them being delivered during the six or seven last months of 350 B. c. In this his earliest advocacy (the speech which stands printed as the second Olynthiac,) Demosthenes insists upon the advan- tageous contingency which has just turned up for Athens, through the blessing of the gods, in the spontaneous tender of so valuable sm ally. He recommends that aid be despatched to the new ally ; the most prompt and effective aid will please him the best. But this recommendation is contained in a single sentence, in the mid- dle of the speech ; it is neither repeated a second time, nor em- phatically insisted upon, nor enlarged by specification of quantity or quality of aid to be sent. No allusion is made to necessities or tanger of Olynthus, nor to the chance that Philip might conquer the town ; still less to ulterior contingencies, that Philip, if he did . conquer it, might carry the seat of war from his own coasts to those of Attica. On the contrary, Demosthenes adve'rts to the power of the Olynthians to the situation of their territory, close on Philip's flanks to their fixed resolution that they will never again enter into amity or compromise with him as evidences how 1 Some remarks will be found on the order of the Olyuthiacs, in an Ap- pendix to the present chapter. It must be understood that I always speak of the Olynthiacs as Jim, tecond, and third, according to the common and edited order; though J cannot adapt that order as correct.