[47]
Would it not be outrageous, and cruel, and
shameful, for you, men of the jury, if those who have lent money in your port
for an adventure overseas, and have been defrauded of it, should be led off to
prison by those who borrowed and are seeking to evade payment? Is it this,
Lacritus, that you would have these gentlemen sanction? But, men of the jury,
where are we to obtain justice in the matter of commercial contracts? Before
what magistrates, or at what time? Before the Eleven1? But they bring into court burglars and thieves and other
evil-doers who are charged with capital crimes. Before the Archon2?
1 A board of police commissioners, having jurisdiction in the case of capital crimes, and charged with the custody of those convicted.
2 The archon （ἐπώνυμος） had the duty of passing judgement upon complaints of parents, orphans, and unmarried girls who had inherited property. See Aristot. Ath. Pol. 56. 6-7.
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by A. T. Murray, Ph.D., LL.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1939.
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