[205]
But if a man introduces a law by which
unlimited license and immunity is granted to those who seek to defraud their
fellow-citizens, he is guilty in respect of the whole city, and he brings
disgrace upon everybody; for an infamous statute, when ratified, is a discredit
to the government that enacted it and an injury to everyone who lives under it.
Will you not, then, punish, when you have caught him, a man who is doing his
utmost to injure you, and to pollute you with infamy? If not, what excuse will
you have?
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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