[19]
And is it strange that those men who abominate the sight
of our faces, who detest our name, who hate our tax on pastures, and our tenths, and our
harbour dues, more than death itself, should gladly seize on every opportunity of injuring us
that presents itself? Remember, therefore, that when you hear decrees you are not hearing
evidence; that you are listening to the rashness of the common people; that you are listening
to the assertions of all the most worthless men; that you are listening to the murmurs of the
ignorant, to the voice of an inflamed assembly of a most worthless nation. Therefore examine
closely into the nature and motive of all their accusations, and you will find no reason for
them except the hopes by which they have been led on, or the terrors and threats by which they
have been driven
*****
*****