[194]
But now, which of us does she think
is ignorant of what she is doing, of what she is contriving, of what she is thinking? We know
whom she has addressed herself to, whom she has promised money to, whose good faith she has
endeavoured to undermine by means of bribes. Moreover, we are acquainted with her nocturnal
sacrifices, which she thinks are secret, and her wicked prayers, and her abominable vows; in
which she makes even the immortal gods to be witnesses of her wickedness, and does not
perceive that the minds of the gods are propitiated by piety, by religion, and holy prayers,
not by a polluted superstition, nor by victims slain to conciliate their sanction for acts of
wickedness. This insanity and barbarity of hers I may well feel sure that the immortal gods
have rejected with disgust from their altars and temples.
This text is part of:
M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge, B. A. London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1856.
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