Curst son! who with thy father durst contend;1for there is allowed a liberty of vindicating a traduced brother. And where the parents are convinced of their injury, in cases of this kind defeat is more pleasant to them than victory.
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But when the storm is once over, it is necessary to
[p. 48]
be serious with him, to reprehend him sharply for his
crime, discovering to him with all freedom wherein he
has been wanting in his duty. For as such guilty brothers
are not to be allowed in their faults, neither are they to be
insulted with raillery. For to do the latter were to rejoice
and find advantage in their failings, and to do the former
were to take part in them. Therefore ought they so to
manage their severities that they may show a solicitude
and concernedness for their brethren and much discomposure and trouble at their follies. Now he is the fittest
person to school his brother smartly who has been a ready
and earnest advocate in his behalf. But suppose the
brother wrongfully charged, it is fitting he should be obsequious to his parents in all other things whatsoever, and
to bear with their angry humors; but a defence made before them for a brother that suffers by slander and false
accusation is unreprovable and very good. In all such
there is no need to fear that check in Sophocles,
1 Soph. Antig. 742.
Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals. Translated from the Greek by several hands. Corrected and revised by. William W. Goodwin, PH. D. Boston. Little, Brown, and Company. Cambridge. Press Of John Wilson and son. 1874. 3.
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