[70]
The greater part of the speech by which he threw dust
in your eyes I will leave unnoticed; but, by alleging that the leaves of the
crowns were rotten with age and falling off,—as though they were
violet-leaves or rose-leaves, not leaves made of gold—he persuaded you
to melt them down. And then, in providing for the collection of taxes, he had
put in a clause that the public accountant should attend. That was very honest
of him; only every taxpayer was certain to check the accounts. But in dealing
with the crowns that he was to break up, he left out that very proper
regulation; one and the same man was orator, goldsmith, business manager, and
auditor of accounts.
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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