[21]
You see what the defendant is, when the laws are in force: what do you think
he would do, if the laws were done away with? Since then it is admitted that,
next after the gods, the laws preserve the State, it is the duty of all of you
to act just as if you were sitting here making up a contribution to your
club.1 If a man obeys the laws, respect
and commend him for paying his contribution in full to the welfare of his
fatherland; if he disobeys them, punish him.
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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