[6]
I beg of you, men of Athens, not until I have been heard, to take my rejection by
the demesmen as a proof that I am not entitled to citizenship, for if you
thought that the demesmen would be able to decide all cases with perfect
justice, you would not have allowed the appeal to yourselves. As it is, however,
because you thought that something of this sort might occur through rivalry and
malice and enmity or through some other pretexts, you made your court a place of
refuge for those who have been wronged, and through this right action on your
part, men of Athens, you have saved
all those who have suffered wrong.
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by Norman W. DeWitt, Ph.D., and Norman J. DeWitt, Ph.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1949.
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