[217]
I should like to
ask Aeschines a question: when all that was going on, when the whole city was a
scene of enthusiasm and rejoicing and thanksgiving, did he take part in the
worship and festivity of the populace, or did he sit still at home, grieving and
groaning and sulking over public successes? If he was present as one of the
throng, surely his behavior is scandalous and even sacrilegious, for after
calling the gods to witness that certain measures were very good, he now asks a
jury to vote that they were very bad—a jury that has sworn by the
gods! If he was not present, he deserves many deaths for shrinking from a sight
in which every one else rejoiced. Please read these decrees.“
Decrees appointing a Public Thanksgiving
”
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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