DEMOSTHENES 



1755 



DENISON 



disadvantages that would have discouraged the 

 average youth a harsh and unmusical voice, 

 weak lungs and awkward movements he made 

 his name a synonym for eloquence by the 

 severest self-discipline. The story is told that 

 he practiced reciting as he climbed steep hills, 

 and defied the roar of the waves upon the sea- 

 shore to drown out the sound of his voice. 



From the time he was twenty-five until his 

 death Demosthenes gave himself with unselfish 

 devotion to the cause of Greek liberty. He 

 saw, as his countrymen did not see, that the 

 weak and disunited Grecian states were doomed 

 to fall a prey to the designs of Philip of 

 Macedon, and he denounced that crafty mon- 

 arch in a series of harangues, the famous 

 Philippics, that have given their name to all 

 modern speeches characterized by bitter in- 

 vective. In 338 B. c., when Philip led his army 

 through the Pass of Thermopylae and seized 

 the city of Elatea, the orator persuaded the 

 Athenians to form an alliance with Thebes and 

 to fight for the freedom of Greece. 



Though the allies suffered a crushing defeat 

 at the Battle of Chaeronea, Demosthenes urged 

 the Athenians not to lose courage and to repair 

 their city walls. When Ctesiphon proposed 

 that the great patriot be awarded a golden 

 crown for his services, he was charged by 

 Aeschines, the rival of Demosthenes, with hav- 

 ing made an illegal proposal. To this charge 

 Demosthenes replied with what critics agree 

 in calling the most perfect masterpiece of 

 oratory that has ever been delivered the ora- 

 tion On the Crown. As a result, Aeschines left 

 Athens and went into permanent exile. 



On the accession of Alexander the Great to 

 the throne of Macedon, Demosthenes endeav- 

 ored without success to unite the Greeks 

 against the conqueror. In 324 B. c. he was im- 

 prisoned on a false charge of having received a 

 bribe from one of Alexander's generals, but 

 succeeded in making his escape; the following 

 year, on the death of the Macedonian ruler, he 

 returned in triumph to resume his leadership 

 in Grecian affairs. The states of Greece then 

 united against the Macedonian general, Antip- 

 ater, carrying on with him the so-called Lamian 

 War (323-321 B.C.). The effort was disastrous, 

 and Demosthenes, who had been the very heart 

 of the struggle, preferring death to falling into 

 the hands of Antipater, took his own life by 

 poison. B.M.W. 



Consult Wright's Short History of Greek Lit- 

 erature; Henderson's Classic Greek Course in 

 English. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes: 



Aeschines 

 Alexander the Great 



Greece, subtitle History 

 Philip of Macedon 



DEMUR 'RER, a written' statement, or plead- 

 ing, in law, in behalf of a defendant, which 

 admits the facts in evidence but denies that 

 such facts are sufficient to maintain the issue 

 or constitute a good cause of action or defense. 

 Demurrers are general, where no particular 

 cause is assigned, or special, where the par- 

 .ticular defects are pointed out. The effect of 

 a demurrer, when allowed, is to put an end to 

 the suit, unless the court gives the plaintiff 

 leave to amend or unless it is confined to only 

 a part of the complaint. In many states it 

 takes the place of a motion for a non-suit or 

 order of dismissal of the suit. 



DENARIUS, the name given to a silver coin 

 of the Romans during the period of the empire 

 and the republic. In the former period its 

 obverse bore the heads of the emperors; later, 

 historical and mythological characters were 

 substituted. 1 1 

 was first issued 

 in 269 B.C., and, 

 disappeared from' 

 circulation in the 

 third century A. D. 

 Its value was ten, DENARIUS OF CAESAR 

 and later sixteen, of the coin called as, equiv- 

 alent to about seventeen cents in American or 

 Canadian money. The name also applies to a 

 small gold coin struck during the days of the 

 empire, and to one of copper issued in A. D. 

 296 by the Emperor Diocletian. This latter 

 is the penny of the New Testament. 



DENA'TURED ALCOHOL. See ALCOHOL, 

 subhead Denatured Alcohol. 



DEN'ISON, TEX., a city of Grayson County, 

 in the northeastern part of the state, two and 

 one-half miles south of the Red River, the 

 Oklahoma-Texas boundary line. Dallas is 

 seventy-four miles southwest, and Oklahoma 

 City is 192 miles northwest. Denison is on 

 the main lines of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas 

 and the Saint Louis & San Francisco railways, 

 and is the terminus of divisions of the Missouri, 

 Oklahoma & Gulf, the Texas & Pacific, the 

 Houston & Texas Central and the Southern 

 Pacific railroads. The Texas Traction Com- 

 pany operates an electric line from Denison 

 south to Waco, through Fort Worth and Dal- 

 las. The population of the city was 13,632 in 

 1910 and 14,779 in 1916. The area is over four 

 square miles. 



