17
And indeed, gentlemen of the jury, I consider that I have given the democracy the strongest pledge of my attachment. For if I did no mischief at that time, when ample licence for it was allowed, surely I shall now make every effort to be a good citizen in the full knowledge that, if I am guilty of wrong, I shall incur immediate punishment. But in fact I have continually held to this resolve, —under an oligarchy, not to covet the property of others, and under a democracy, to spend my own upon you with zeal.
18
I consider, gentlemen, that you would not be justified in hating those who have suffered nothing under the oligarchy, when you can indulge your wrath against those who have done your people mischief; or in regarding as enemies those who did not go into exile instead of those who expelled you, or those who were anxious to save their own property instead of those who stripped others of theirs, or those who stayed in the city with a view to their own safety instead of those who took part in the government for the purpose of destroying others. If you think it your duty to destroy the men whom they passed over, not one of the citizens will be left to us.
