But this same man, overtaken by the dangers which are now upon him,1 sent, not at the request of the Athenians, but of his own accord, three hundred talents to the people, which they were wise enough to refuse. Now what brought the gold was the crisis, and his fear, and his need of allies. And this same thing it was that brought about the alliance with Thebes. But you, Demosthenes, tire us out with your everlasting talk of Thebes and of that most ill-starred alliance, while you are silent as to the seventy talents of the king's gold which you have seized and embezzled.2
1 See on Aeschin. 3.132.
2 It appears that when Athens refused the 300 talents which had been brought from the king of Persia to help in organizing a revolt against Alexander, the Persian envoys put at least a part of the gold into Demosthenes' hands, in the expectation that he would use it in unofficial efforts against Macedon.
Aeschines. Aeschines with an English translation by Charles Darwin Adams, Ph.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1919.
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