[37]
But it seems to me, Athenians, that it would be
reasonable for you to do just the reverse, since your duty is to be solicitous
for the common good of all. For who of you is unaware that the reason for the
frequency of these assaults is the failure to punish the offenders, and that the
only way to prevent such assaults in the future is adequately to punish every
offender who is caught? Therefore, if it is to your interest to deter others,
those cases are an additional reason for punishing Meidias, and punishing him
the more severely in proportion to their number and their seriousness; but if
you want to encourage him and everybody, you must let him off.
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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