[104]
But I will now
relate a serious act of cruelty committed by him, men of Athens, which I at least regard as not
merely a personal wrong but a public sacrilege. For when a grave criminal charge
was hanging over that unlucky wretch, Aristarchus, the son of Moschus, at first,
Athenians, Meidias went round the Market-place and ventured to spread impious
and atrocious statements about me to the effect that I was the author of the
deed; next, when this device failed, he went to the relations of the dead man,
who were bringing the charge of murder against Aristarchus, and offered them
money if they would accuse me of the crime. He let neither religion nor piety
nor any other consideration stand in the way of this wild proposal: he shrank
from nothing.
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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