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And yet all men know that the majority of the orators have the audacity to harangue the people, not for the good of the state, but for what they themselves expect to gain,See Isoc. 7.24 and note. while I and mine not only abstain more than all others from the public funds but expend more than we can afford from our private means on the needs of the commonwealth;See Isoc. 15.144-152 and notes. and they know,
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furthermore, that these orators are either wrangling among themselvesCf., for this contrast between the other orators and himself, Isoc. 15.147-149. in the assemblies over deposits of moneyFor this common cause of controversy see Isoc. 4.188 and note. Such controversies were sometimes referred to the General Assembly and there debated and voted upon. or insulting our alliesCf. Isoc. 12.142 and Isoc. 15.318. or blackmailingCf. Isoc. 15.318. whosoever of the rest of the world chances to be the object of their attacks, while I, for my part, have led the way in discourses which exhort the Hellenes to concord among themselves and war against the barbarians