Page:History of Greece Vol XI.djvu/129

 ARTS OF DIONYSIUS. 105 hostile to Dionysius, yet there were among them many individuals connected with those serving under him in Ortygia, and capable of being put in motion to promote his views. Shortly after the complete defeat of his sally, he renewed his solicitations for peace ; to which Dion returned the peremptory answer, that no peace could be concluded until Dionysius abdicated and retired. Next, Dionysius sent out heralds from Ortygia with letters addressed te Dion from his female relatives. All these letters were full of complaints of the misery endured by these poor women ; together with prayers that he would relax in his hostility. To avert sus- picion, Dion caused the letters to be opened and read publicly before the Syracusan assembly ; but their tenor was such, that suspicion, whether expressed or not, unavoidably arose, as to the effect on Dion's sympathies. One letter there was, bearing on its superscription the words " Hipparinus (the son of Dion) to his father." At first many persons present refused to take cognizance of a communication so strictly private ; but Dion insisted, and the letter was publicly read. It proved to come, not from the youth- ful Hipparinus, but from Dionysius himself, and was insidiously worded for the purpose of discrediting. Dion in the minds of the Syracusans. It began by reminding him of the long service which he had rendered to the despotism. It implored him not to bury that great power, as well as his own relatives, in one common ruin, for the sake of a people who would turn round and sting him, so soon as he had given them freedom. It offered, on the part of Dioaysius himself, immediate retirement, provided Dion would consent to take his place. But it threatened, if Dion refused, the sharpest tortures against his female relatives and his son. 1 This letter, well-turned as a composition for its own purpose, was met by indignant refusal and protestation on the part of Dion. Without doubt his refusal would be received with cheers by the assembly ; but the letter did not the less instil its intended poison into their minds. Plutarch displays 2 (in my judgment) no great knowledge of human nature, when he complains of the Syracu- eans for suffering the letter to impress them with suspicions of Dion, instead of admiring his magnanimous resistance to such touching appeals. It was precisely the magnanimity required for 1 Plutarch.. Dion, c. 31. * Plutarch, Dion, c. 32,