[164]
Now if, on our
advice, you reject it, deserving men will receive their due reward from you, and
any undeserving man (assuming that there are such) will not
only lose his reward, but will pay whatever penalty you approve, in accordance
with our alternative law, while all men will acknowledge the honor, justice and
veracity of our city. If, on the other hand, you allow it to pass, as I pray you
may not, the good will suffer for the sake of the bad, the undeserving will
bring calamity on the rest, but come off scot-free themselves, and the
reputation of Athens will be the
very reverse of what I have described; all men will regard her as faithless,
envious and mean.
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