[4]
If I could
see any straightforward defence that he could offer to these charges, I would
not make any reference to them; but I am quite certain that he cannot have any
simple and honest plea to put forward, but will try to hoodwink you, inventing
malicious answers to each charge and so leading you astray. For he is a skillful
rhetorician, men of Athens, and has
devoted all his life to that one study. Therefore, that you may not be deceived
and persuaded to vote contrary to the spirit of your oath and to acquit a man
whom you have every reason to punish, pray attend to what I shall say, so that
when you have heard me, you may have the right reply to every argument that he
will advance.
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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