[239]
Do not give way to them. It
is their business to think of Aeschines; it is your business to think of the
laws, of the whole commonwealth, and above all of the oath in virtue of which
you sit in that box. If they have besought any of you to deliver him, ask
yourselves whether they mean in case he is not, or in case he is, guilty of a
crime against the common weal. If they mean in case he is not guilty, I admit
the plea; but if they mean, deliver him in any case, they have entreated you to
perjure yourselves. For though the vote is secret, it will not escape the eye of
Heaven. The legislator wisely discerned herein the essence of secret voting,
that no suppliant shall know the name of the juror who has granted his prayer,
but the gods and the divine spirit will know him who has cast an unrighteous
vote.
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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