[11]
For the law, that the Council should
not ask for the reward if they have not built the war ships, was framed in that
way, men of Athens, to prevent the
possibility of the people being influenced or misled. The legislator held that
the question should not depend on the abilities of the speakers, but that
whatever he could devise that was at once just and expedient for the people,
should be fixed by law. “You have not built the ships? Then don't ask
for the reward.” Where the law does not permit the asking, does it not
absolutely forbid the giving?
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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