[32]
But as to the reason for
this—and in Heaven's name, when I am pleading for your best interests,
allow me to speak freely—some of our politicians have been training
you to be threatening and intractable in the meetings of the Assembly, but in
preparing for war, careless and contemptible. If, then, the culprit named is
someone on whom you know you can lay hands in Athens, you agree and assent; but if it is someone whom you
cannot chastise unless you overcome him by force of arms, you find yourselves
helpless, I suppose, and to be proved so causes you annoyance.
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by J. H. Vince, M.A. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1930.
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