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[13]
It is
not right to debar a man from access to the Assembly and a fair hearing, still
less to do so by way of spite and jealousy. No, by heavens, men of Athens, it is neither just, nor
constitutional, nor honest! If he ever saw me committing crimes against the
commonwealth, especially such frightful crimes as he described just now so
dramatically, his duty was to avail himself of the legal penalties as soon as
they were committed, impeaching me, and so putting me on my trial before the
people, if my sins deserved impeachment, or indicting me for breach of the
constitution, if I had proposed illegal measures. For, of course, if he
prosecutes Ctesiphon now on my account,
it is impossible that he would not have indicted me, with a certain hope of
conviction!
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by C. A. Vince, M. A. and J. H. Vince, M.A. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1926.
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