[5]
though at present many of
us,—inexpert speakers, perhaps, and yet better men than the
experts—so dread this ordeal that they never think even of examining
any public question. You may be sure that I for one, as Heaven is my witness,
would never have dared to lay this indictment, if I had not thought it entirely
dishonorable that at this time, when I see people engaged in a project to the
disadvantage of our commonwealth, I should hold my peace, and close my
lips,—I who, on a former occasion, when I sailed for the Hellespont in command of a war-galley, spoke
out and denounced certain men who, in my judgement, were doing you wrong.
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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