[43]
First then, all the laws of
damage—to take these first—order the offender to pay the
amount twice over if the damage is willful, but only once if it is involuntary.
This is reasonable, because, while the injured party is in any case entitled to
relief, the law does not ordain that the resentment against the aggressor should
be the same, whether his act is voluntary or involuntary. Again, the laws of
homicide punish willful murder with death, perpetual exile, and confiscation of
goods, but accidental homicide they treat with much consideration and charity.
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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