icial
utterance. For what man among you would pardon me one solecism or
condone the barbarous pronunciation of so much as one syllable? Who of
you will suffer me to stammer in disorderly and faulty phrases such as
might rise to the lips of madmen? In others of course you would pardon
such lapses, and very rightly so. But you subject every word that _I_
utter to the closest examination, you weigh it carefully, you try it
by the plumb-line and the file, you test it by the polish of the lathe
and the sublimity of the tragic buskin. Such is the indulgence
accorded to mediocrity, such the severity meted out to distinction. I
recognize, therefore, the difficulty of the task that lies before me,
and I do not ask you to alter the opinions you entertain of me. Yet I
would not have you deceived by false and petty resemblances, for, as I
have often said, there are certain strolling beggars who assume a
professor's gown to win their livelihood. Not only the proconsul, but
the town crier also ascends the tribunal and appears wearing the toga
like his master. But the crier stands upon his feet for hours
together, or strides to and fro, or bawls his news with all the
strength of his lungs. The proconsul, on the contrary, speaks quietly
and with frequent pauses, sits while he speaks, and often reads from a
written document. This is only natural. For the garrulous voice of the
crier is the voice of a hired servant, the words read by the
proconsul from a written document constitute a judgement, which, once
read, may not have one letter added to it or taken away, but so soon
as it is delivered, is set down in the provincial records. My literary
position will provide a humble analogy. All that I utter before you is
forthwith taken down and read. I can withdraw or change nothing, nor
make the least correction. I must therefore be all the more careful in
what I say before you, and that too with regard to more than one form
of composition. For there is greater variety in the works of my muse
than in all the elaborate achievements of Hippias. If you will give me
your best attention I will explain what I mean with greater detail and
precision.

Hippias was one of the sophists, and surpassed all his fellows in the
variety of his accomplishments, while as an orator he was second to
none. He was a contemporary of Socrates, and a native of Elis. Of his
family nothing is known. But his fame was great, his fortune moderate;
moreover he had a noble w