Laws
by Plato
translated by Benjamin Jowett
Book XI
PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE:
An ATHENIAN STRANGER;
CLEINIAS, a Cretan;
MEGILLUS, a Lacedaemonian
[Athenian Stranger] In the next place, dealings between man
and man require to be suitably regulated. The principle of them
is very simple:-Thou shalt not, if thou canst help, touch that
which is mine, or remove the least thing which belongs to me
without my consent; and may I be of a sound mind, and do to
others as I would that they should do to me. First, let us speak
of treasure trove:-May I never pray the Gods to find the hidden
treasure, which another has laid up for himself and his family,
he not being one of my ancestors, nor lift, if I should find,
such a treasure. And may I never have any dealings with those who
are called diviners, and who in any way or manner counsel me to
take up the deposit entrusted to the earth, for I should not gain
so much in the increase of my possessions, if I take up the
prize, as I should grow in justice and virtue of soul, if I
abstain; and this will be a better possession to me than the
other in a better part of myself; for the possession of justice
in the soul is preferable to the possession of wealth. And of
many things it is well said-"Move not the immovables,"
and this may be regarded as one of them. And we shall do well to
believe the common tradition which says that such deeds prevent a
man from having a family. Now as to him who is careless about
having children and regardless of the legislator, taking up that
which neither he deposited, nor any ancestor of his, without the
consent of the depositor, violating the simplest and noblest of
laws which was the enactment of no mean man:-"Take not up
that which was not laid down by thee"-of him, I say, who
despises these two legislators, and takes up, not small matter
which he has not deposited, but perhaps a great heap of treasure,
what he ought to suffer at the hands of the Gods, God only knows;
but I would have the first person who sees him go and tell the
wardens of the city, if the occurrence has taken place in the
city, or if the occurrence has taken place in the agora he shall
tell the wardens of the agora, or if in the country he shall tell
the wardens of the country and their commanders. When information
has been received the city shall send to Delphi, and, whatever
the God answers about the money and the remover of the money,
that the city shall do in obedience to the oracle; the informer,
if he be a freeman, shall have the honour of doing rightly, and
he who informs not, the dishonour of doing wrongly; and if he be
a slave who gives information, let him be freed, as he ought to
be, by the state, which shall give his master the price of him;
but if he do not inform he shall be punished with death. Next in
order shall follow a similar law, which shall apply equally to
matters great and small:-If a man happens to leave behind him
some part of his property, whether intentionally or
unintentionally, let him who may come upon the left property
suffer it to remain, reflecting that such things are under the
protection of the Goddess of ways, and are dedicated to her by
the law. But if any one defies the law, and takes the property
home with him, let him, if the thing is of little worth, and the
man who takes it a slave, be beaten with many stripes by him,
being a person of not less than thirty years of age. Or if he be
a freeman, in addition to being thought a mean person and a
despiser of the laws, let him pay ten times the value of the
treasure which he has moved to the leaver. And if some one
accuses another of having anything which belongs to him, whether
little or much, and the other admits that he has this thing, but
denies that the property in dispute belongs to other, if the
property be registered with the magistrates according to law, the
claimant shall summon the possessor, who shall bring it before
the magistrates; and when it is brought into court, if it be
registered in the public registers, to which of the litigants it
belonged, let him take it and go his way. Or if the property be
registered as belonging to some one who is not present, whoever
will offer sufficient surety on behalf of the absent person that
he will give it up to him, shall take it away as the
representative of the other. But if the property which is
deposited be not registered with the magistrates, let it remain
until the time of trial with three of the eldest of the
magistrates; and if it be an animal which is deposited, then he
who loses the suit shall pay the magistrates for its keep, and
they shall determine the cause within three days.
Any one who is of sound mind may arrest his own slave, and do
with him whatever he will of such things as are lawful; and he
may arrest the runaway slave of any of his friends or kindred
with a view to his safe-keeping. And if any one takes away him
who is being carried off as a slave, intending to liberate him,
he who is carrying him off shall let him go; but he who takes him
away shall give three sufficient sureties; and if he give them,
and not without giving them, he may take him away, but if he take
him away after any other manner he shall be deemed guilty of
violence, and being convicted shall pay as a penalty double the
amount of the damages claimed to him who has been deprived of the
slave. Any man may also carry off a freedman, if he do not pay
respect or sufficient respect to him who freed him. Now the
respect shall be, that the freedman go three times in the month
to the hearth of the person who freed him and offer to do
whatever he ought, so far as he can; and he shall agree to make
such a marriage as his former master approves. He shall not be
permitted to have more property than he who gave him liberty, and
what more he has shall belong to his master. The freedman shall
not remain in the state more than twenty years, but like other
foreigners shall go away, taking his entire property with him,
unless he has the consent of the magistrates and of his former
master to remain. If a freedman or any other stranger has a
property greater than the census of the third class, at the
expiration. of thirty days from the day on which this comes to
pass, he shall take that which is his and go his way, and in this
case he shall not be allowed to remain any longer by the
magistrates. And if any one disobeys this regulation, and is
brought into court and convicted, he shall be punished with
death, his property shall be confiscated. Suits about these
matters shall take place before the tribes, unless the plaintiff
and defendant have got rid of the accusation either before their
neighbours or before judges chosen by them. If a man lay claim to
any animal or anything else which he declares to be his, let the
possessor refer to the seller or to some honest and trustworthy
person, who has given, or in some legitimate way made over the
property to him; if he be a citizen or a metic, sojourning in the
city, within thirty days, or, if the property have been delivered
to him by a stranger, within five months, of which the middle
month shall include the summer solstice. When goods are exchanged
by selling and buying, a man shall deliver them, and receive the
price of them, at a fixed place in the agora, and have done with
the matter; but he shall not buy or sell anywhere else, nor give
credit. And if in any other manner or in any other place there be
an exchange of one thing for another, and the seller give credit
to the man who buys fram him, he must do this on the
understanding that the law gives no protection in cases of things
sold not in accordance with these regulations. Again, as to
contributions, any man who likes may go about collecting
contributions as a friend among friends, but if any difference
arises about the collection, he is to act on the understanding
that the law gives no protection in such cases. He who sells
anything above the value of fifty drachmas shall be required to
remain in the city for ten days, and the purchaser shall be
informed of the house of the seller, with a view to the sort of
charges which are apt to arise in such cases, and the
restitutions which the law allows. And let legal restitution be
on this wise:-If a man sells a slave who is in a consumption, or
who has the disease of the stone, or of strangury, or epilepsy,
or some other tedious and incurable disorder of body or mind,
which is not discernible to the ordinary man, if the purchaser be
a physician or trainer, he shall have no right of restitution;
nor shall there be any right of restitution if the seller has
told the truth beforehand to the buyer. But if a skilled person
sells to another who is not skilled, let the buyer appeal for
restitution within six months, except in the case of epilepsy,
and then the appeal may be made within a year. The cause shall be
determined by such physicians as the parties may agree to choose;
and the defendant, if he lose the suit, shall pay double the
price at which he sold. If a private person sell to another
private person, he shall have the right of restitution, and the
decision shall be given as before, but the defendant, if he be
cast, shall only pay back the price of the slave. If a person
sells a homicide to another, and they both know of the fact, let
there be no restitution in such a case, but if he do not know of
the fact, there shall be a right of restitution, whenever the
buyer makes the discovery; and the decision shall rest with the
five youngest guardians of the law, and if the decision be that
the seller was cognisant the fact, he shall purify the house of
the purchaser, according to the law of the interpreters, and
shall pay back three times the purchase-money.
If man exchanges either money for money, or anything whatever
for anything else, either with or without life, let him give and
receive them genuine and unadulterated, in accordance with the
law. And let us have a prelude about all this sort of roguery,
like the preludes of our other laws. Every man should regard
adulteration as of one and the same class with falsehood and
deceit, concerning which the many are too fond of saying that at
proper times and places the practice may often be right. But they
leave the occasion, and the when, and the where, undefined and
unsettled, and from this want of definiteness in their language
they do a great deal of harm to themselves and to others. Now a
legislator ought not to leave the matter undetermined; he ought
to prescribe some limit, either greater or less. Let this be the
rule prescribed:-No one shall call the Gods to witness, when he
says or does anything false or deceitful or dishonest, unless he
would be the most hateful of mankind to them. And he is most
hateful to them takes a false oath, and pays no heed to the Gods;
and in the next degree, he who tells a falsehood in the presence
of his superiors. Now better men are the superiors of worse men,
and in general elders are the superiors of the young; wherefore
also parents are the superiors of their off spring, and men of
women and children, and rulers of their subjects; for all men
ought to reverence any one who is in any position of authority,
and especially those who are in state offices. And this is the
reason why I have spoken of these matters. For every one who is
guilty of adulteration in the agora tells a falsehood, and
deceives, and when he invokes the Gods, according to the customs
and cautions of the wardens of the agora, he does but swear
without any respect for God or man. Certainly, it is an excellent
rule not lightly to defile the names of the Gods, after the
fashion of men in general, who care little about piety and purity
in their religious actions. But if a man will not conform to this
rule, let the law be as follows:-He who sells anything in the
agora shall not ask two prices for that which he sells, but he
shall ask one price, and if he do not obtain this, he shall take
away his goods; and on that day he shall not value them either at
more or less; and there shall be no praising of any goods, or
oath taken about them. If a person disobeys this command, any
citizen who is present, not being less than thirty years of age,
may with impunity chastise and beat the swearer, but if instead
of obeying the laws he takes no heed, he shall be liable to the
charge of having betrayed them. If a man sells any adulterated
goods and will not obey these regulations, he who knows and can
prove the fact, and does prove it in the presence of the
magistrates, if he be a slave or a metic, shall have the
adulterated goods; but if he be a citizen, and do not pursue the
charge, he shall be called a rogue, and deemed to have robbed the
Gods of the agora; or if he proves the charge, he shall dedicate
the goods to the Gods of the agora. He who is proved to have sold
any adulterated goods, in addition to losing the goods
themselves, shall be beaten with stripes-a stripe for a drachma,
according to the price of the goods; and the herald shall
proclaim in the agora the offence for which he is going to be
beaten. The warden of the agora and the guardians of the law
shall obtain information from experienced persons about the
rogueries and adulterations of the sellers, and shall write up
what the seller ought and ought not to do in each case; and let
them inscribe their laws on a column in front of the court of the
wardens of the agora, that they may be clear instructors of those
who have business in the agora. Enough has been said in what has
preceded about the wardens of the city, and if anything seems to
be wanting, let them communicate with the guardians of the law,
and write down the omission, and place on a column in the court
of the wardens of the city the primary and secondary regulations
which are laid down for them about their office.
After the practices of adulteration naturally follow the
practices of retail trade. Concerning these, we will first of all
give a word of counsel and reason, and the law shall come
afterwards. Retail trade in a city is not by nature intended to
do any harm, but quite the contrary; for is not he a benefactor
who reduces the inequalities and incommensurabilities of goods to
equality and common measure? And this is what the power of money
accomplishes, and the merchant may be said to be appointed for
this purpose. The hireling and the tavern-keeper, and many other
occupations, some of them more and others less seemly-alike have
this object;-they seek to satisfy our needs and equalize our
possessions. Let us then endeavour to see what has brought retail
trade into ill-odour, and wherein, lies the dishonour and
unseemliness of it, in order that if not entirely, we may yet
partially, cure the evil by legislation. To effect this is no
easy matter, and requires a great deal of virtue.
[Cleinias] What do you mean?
[Ath.] Dear Cleinias, the class of men is small-they must have
been rarely gifted by nature, and trained by education-who, when
assailed by wants and desires, are able to hold out and observe
moderation, and when they might make a great deal of money are
sober in their wishes, and prefer a moderate to a large gain. But
the mass of mankind are the very opposite: their desires are
unbounded, and when they might gain in moderation they prefer
gains without limit; wherefore all that relates to retail trade,
and merchandise, and the keeping of taverns, is denounced and
numbered among dishonourable things. For if what I trust may
never be and will not be, we were to compel, if I may venture to
say a ridiculous thing, the best men everywhere to keep taverns
for a time, or carry on retail trade, or do anything of that
sort; or if, in consequence of some fate or necessity, the best
women were compelled to follow similar callings, then we should
know how agreeable and pleasant all these things are; and if all
such occupations were managed on incorrupt principles, they would
be honoured as we honour a mother or a nurse. But now that a man
goes to desert places and builds bouses which can only be reached
be long journeys, for the sake of retail trade, and receives
strangers who are in need at the welcome resting-place, and gives
them peace and calm when they are tossed by the storm, or cool
shade in the heat; and then instead of behaving to them as
friends, and showing the duties of hospitality to his guests,
treats them as enemies and captives who are at his mercy, and
will not release them until they have paid the most unjust,
abominable, and extortionate ransom-these are the sort of
practices, and foul evils they are, which cast a reproach upon
the succour of adversity. And the legislator ought always to be
devising a remedy for evils of this nature. There is an ancient
saying, which is also a true one-"To fight against two
opponents is a difficult thing," as is seen in diseases and
in many other cases. And in this case also the war is against two
enemies-wealth and poverty; one of whom corrupts the soul of man
with luxury, while the other drives him by pain into utter
shamelessness. What remedy can a city of sense find against this
disease? In the first place, they must have as few retail traders
as possible; and in the second place, they must assign the
occupation to that class of men whose corruption will be the
least injury to the state; and in the third place, they must
devise some way whereby the followers of these occupations
themselves will not readily fall into habits of unbridled
shamelessness and meanness.
After this preface let our law run as follows, and may fortune
favour us:-No landowner among the Magnetes, whose city the God is
restoring and resettling-no one, that is, of the 5040 families,
shall become a retail trader either voluntarily or involuntarily;
neither shall he be a merchant, or do any service for private
persons unless they equally serve him, except for his father or
his mother, and their fathers and mothers; and in general for his
elders who are freemen, and whom he serves as a freeman. Now it
is difficult to determine accurately the things which are worthy
or unworthy of a freeman, but let those who have obtained the
prize of virtue give judgment about them in accordance with their
feelings of right and wrong. He who in any way shares in the
illiberality of retail trades may be indicted for dishonouring
his race by any one who likes, before those who have been judged
to be the first in virtue; and if he appear to throw dirt upon
his father's house by an unworthy occupation, let him be
imprisoned for a year and abstain from that sort of thing; and if
he repeat the offence, for two years; and every time that he is
convicted let the length of his imprisonment be doubled. This
shall be the second law:-He who engages in retail trade must be
either a metic or a stranger. And a third law shall be:-In order
that the retail trader who dwells in our city may be as good or
as little bad as possible, the guardians of the law shall
remember that they are not only guardians of those who may be
easily watched and prevented from becoming lawless or bad,
because they are wellborn and bred; but still more should they
have a watch over those who are of another sort, and follow
pursuits which have a very strong tendency to make men bad. And,
therefore, in respect of the multifarious occupations of retail
trade, that is to say, in respect of such of them as are allowed
to remain, because they seem to be quite necessary in a state-about
these the guardians of the law should meet and take counsel with
those who have experience of the several kinds of retail trade,
as we before commanded, concerning adulteration (which is a
matter akin to this), and when they meet they shall consider what
amount of receipts, after deducting expenses, will produce a
moderate gain to the retail trades, and they shall fix in writing
and strictly maintain what they find to be the right percentage
of profit; this shall be seen to by the wardens of the agora, and
by the wardens of the city, and by the wardens of the country.
And so retail trade will benefit every one, and do the least
possible injury to those in the state who practise it.
When a man makes an agreement which he does not fulfil, unless
the agreement be of a nature which the law or a vote of the
assembly does not allow, or which he has made under the influence
of some unjust compulsion, or which he is prevented from
fulfilling against his will by some unexpected chance, the other
party may go to law with him in the courts of the tribes, for not
having completed his agreement, if the parties are not able
previously to come to terms before arbiters or before their
neighbours. The class of craftsmen who have furnished human life
with the arts is dedicated to Hephaestus and Athene; and there is
a class of craftsmen who preserve the works of all craftsmen by
arts of defence, the votaries of Ares and Athene, to which
divinities they too are rightly dedicated. All these continue
through life serving the country and the people; some of them are
leaders in battle; others make for hire implements and works, and
they ought not to deceive in such matters, out of respect to the
Gods who are their ancestors. If any craftsman through indolence
omit to execute his work in a given time, not reverencing the God
who gives him the means of life, but considering, foolish fellow,
that he is his own God and will let him off easily, in the first
place, he shall suffer at the hands of the God, and in the second
place, the law shall follow in a similar spirit. He shall owe to
him who contracted with him the price of the works which he has
failed in performing, and he shall begin again and execute them
gratis in the given time. When a man undertakes a work, the law
gives him the same advice which was given to the seller, that he
should not attempt to raise the price, but simply ask the value;
this the law enjoins also on the contractor; for the craftsman
assuredly knows the value of his work. Wherefore, in free states
the man of art ought not to attempt to impose upon private
individuals by the help of his art, which is by nature a true
thing; and he who is wronged in a matter of this sort, shall have
a right of action against the party who has wronged him. And if
any one lets out work to a craftsman, and does not pay him duly
according to the lawful agreement, disregarding Zeus the guardian
of the city and Athene, who are the partners of the state, and
overthrows the foundations of society for the sake of a little
gain, in his case let the law and the Gods maintain the common
bonds of the state. And let him who, having already received the
work in exchange, does not pay the price in the time agreed, pay
double the price; and if a year has elapsed, although interest is
not to be taken on loans, yet for every drachma which he owes to
the contractor let him pay a monthly interest of an obol. Suits
about these matters are to be decided by the courts of the
tribes; and by the way, since we have mentioned craftsmen at all,
we must not forget the other craft of war, in which generals and
tacticians are the craftsmen, who undertake voluntarily the work
of our safety, as other craftsmen undertake other public works;-if
they execute their work well the law will never tire of praising
him who gives them those honours which are the just rewards of
the soldier; but if any one, having already received the benefit
of any noble service in war, does not make the due return of
honour, the law will blame him. Let this then be the law, having
an ingredient of praise, not compelling but advising the great
body of the citizens to honour the brave men who are the saviours
of the whole state, whether by their courage or by their military
skill;-they should honour them, I say, in the second place; for
the first and highest tribute of respect is to be given to those
who are able above other men to honour the words of good
legislators.
The greater part of the dealings between man and man have been
now regulated by us with the exception of those that relate to
orphans and the supervision of orphans by their guardians. These
follow next in order, and must be regulated in some way. But to
arrive at them we must begin with the testamentary wishes of the
dying and the case of those who may have happened to die
intestate. When I said, Cleinias, that we must regulate them, I
had in my mind the difficulty and perplexity in which all such
matters are involved. You cannot leave them unregulated, for
individuals would make regulations at variance with one another,
and repugnant to the laws and habits of the living and to their
own previous habits, if a person were simply allowed to make any
will which he pleased, and this were to take effect in whatever
state he may have been at the end of his life; for most of us
lose our senses in a manner, and feel crushed when we think that
we are about to die.
[Cle.] What do you mean, Stranger?
[Ath.] O Cleinias, a man when he is about to die is an
intractable creature, and is apt to use language which causes a
great deal of anxiety and trouble to the legislator.
[Cle.] In what way?
[Ath.] He wants to have the entire control of all his
property, and will use angry words.
[Cle.] Such as what?
[Ath.] O ye Gods, he will say, how monstrous that I am not
allowed to give, or not to give my own to whom I will-less to him
who has been bad to me, and more to him who has been good to me,
and whose badness and goodness have been tested by me in time of
sickness or in old age and in every other sort of fortune!
[Cle.] Well Stranger, and may he not very fairly say so?
[Ath.] In my opinion, Cleinias, the ancient legislators were
too good-natured, and made laws without sufficient observation or
consideration of human things.
[Cle.] What do you mean?
[Ath.] I mean, my friend that they were afraid of the
testator's reproaches, and so they passed a law to the effect
that a man should be allowed to dispose of his property in all
respects as he liked; but you and I, if I am not mistaken, will
have something better to say to our departing citizens.
[Cle.] What?
[Ath.] O my friends, we will say to them, hard is it for you,
who are creatures of a day, to know what is yours-hard too, as
the Delphic oracle says, to know yourselves at this hour. Now I,
as the legislator, regard you and your possessions, not as
belonging to yourselves, but as belonging to your whole family,
both past and future, and yet more do regard both family and
possessions as belonging to the state; wherefore, if some one
steals upon you with flattery, when you are tossed on the sea of
disease or old age, and persuades you to dispose of your property
in a way that is not for the best, I will not, if I can help,
allow this; but I will legislate with a view to the whole,
considering what is best both for the state and for the family,
esteeming as I ought the feelings of an individual at a lower
rate; and I hope that you will depart in peace and kindness
towards us, as you are going the way of all mankind; and we will
impartially take care of all your concerns, not neglecting any of
them, if we can possibly help. Let this be our prelude and
consolation to the living and dying, Cleinias, and let the law be
as follows:
He who makes a disposition in a testament, if he be the father
of a family, shall first of all inscribe as his heir any one of
his sons whom he may think fit; and if he gives any of his
children to be adopted by another citizen, let the adoption be
inscribed. And if he has a son remaining over and above who has
not been adopted upon any lot, and who may be expected to be sent
out to a colony according to law, to him his father may give as
much as he pleases of the rest of his property, with the
exception of the paternal lot and the fixtures on the lot. And if
there are other sons, let him distribute among them what there is
more than the lot in such portions as he pleases. And if one of
the sons has already a house of his own, he shall not give him of
the money, nor shall he give money to a daughter who has been
betrothed, but if she is not betrothed he may give her money. And
if any of the sons or daughters shall be found to have another
lot of land in the country, which has accrued after the testament
has been made, they shall leave the lot which they have inherited
to the heir of the man who has made the will. If the testator has
no sons, but only daughters, let him choose the husband of any
one of his daughters whom he pleases, and leave and inscribe him
as his son and heir. And if a man have lost his son, when he was
a child, and before he could be reckoned among grown-up men,
whether his own or an adopted son, let the testator make mention
of the circumstance and inscribe whom he will to be his second
son in hope of better fortune. If the testator has no children at
all, he may select and give to any one whom he pleases the tenth
part of the property which he has acquired; but let him not be
blamed if he gives all the rest to his adopted son, and makes a
friend of him according to the law. If the sons of a man require
guardians, and: the father when he dies leaves a will appointing
guardians, those have been named by him, whoever they are and
whatever their number be, if they are able and willing to take
charge of the children, shall be recognized according to the
provisions of the will. But if he dies and has made no will, or a
will in which he has appointed no guardians, then the next of
kin, two on the father's and two on the mother's side, and one of
the friends of the deceased, shall have the authority of
guardians, whom the guardians of the law shall appoint when the
orphans require guardians. And the fifteen eldest guardians of
the law shall have the whole care and charge of the orphans,
divided into threes according to seniority-a body of three for
one year, and then another body of three for the next year, until
the cycle of the five periods is complete; and this, as far as
possible, is to continue always. If a man dies, having made no
will at all, and leaves sons who require the care of guardians,
they shall share in the protection which is afforded by these
laws.
And if a man dying by some unexpected fate leaves daughters
behind him, let him pardon the legislator if he gives them in
marriage, he have a regard only to two out of three conditions-nearness
of kin and the preservation of the lot, and omits the third
condition, which a father would naturally consider, for he would
choose out of all the citizens a son for himself, and a husband
for his daughter, with a view to his character and disposition-the
father, say, shall forgive the legislator if he disregards this,
which to him is an impossible consideration. Let the law about
these matters where practicable be as follows:-If a man dies
without making a will, and leaves behind him daughters, let his
brother, being the son of the same father or of the same mother,
having no lot, marry the daughter and have the lot of the dead
man. And if he have no brother, but only a brother's son, in like
manner let them marry, if they be of a suitable age; and if there
be not even a brother's son, but only the son of a sister, let
them do likewise, and so in the fourth degree, if there be only
the testator's father's brother, or in the fifth degree, his
father's brother's son, or in the sixth degree, the child of his
father's sister. Let kindred be always reckoned in this way: if a
person leaves daughters the relationship shall proceed upwards
through brothers and sisters, and brothers' and sisters'
children, and first the males shall come, and after them the
females in the same family. The judge shall consider and
determine the suitableness or unsuitableness of age in marriage;
he shall make an inspection of the males naked, and of the women
naked down to the navel. And if there be a lack of kinsmen in a
family extending to grandchildren of a brother, or to the
grandchildren of a grandfather's children, the maiden may choose
with the consent of her guardians any one of the citizens who is
willing and whom she wills, and he shall be the heir of the dead
man, and the husband of his daughter. Circumstances vary, and
there may sometimes be a still greater lack of relations within
the limits of the state; and if any maiden has no kindred living
in the city, and there is some one who has been sent out to a
colony, and she is disposed to make him the heir of her father's
possessions, if he be indeed of her kindred, let him proceed to
take the lot according to the regulation of the law; but if he be
not of her kindred, she having no kinsmen within the city, and he
be chosen by the daughter of the dead man, and empowered to marry
by the guardians, let him return home and take the lot of him who
died intestate. And if a man has no children, either male or
female, and dies without making a will, let the previous law in
general hold; and let a man and a woman go forth from the family
and share the deserted house, and let the lot belong absolutely
to them; and let the heiress in the first degree be a sister, and
in a second degree a daughter of a brother, and in the third, a
daughter of a sister, in the fourth degree the sister of a
father, and in the fifth degree the daughter of a father's
brother, and in a sixth degree of a father's sister; and these
shall dwell with their male kinsmen, according to the degree of
relationship and right, as we enacted before. Now we must not
conceal from ourselves that such laws are apt to be oppressive
and that there may sometimes be a hardship in the lawgiver
commanding the kinsman of the dead man to marry his relation; be
may be thought not to have considered the innumerable hindrances
which may arise among men in the execution of such ordinances;
for there may be cases in which the parties refuse to obey, and
are ready to do anything rather than marry, when there is some
bodily or mental malady or defect among those who are bidden to
marry or be married. Persons may fancy that the legislator never
thought of this, but they are mistaken; wherefore let us make a
common prelude on behalf of the lawgiver and of his subjects, the
law begging the latter to forgive the legislator, in that he,
having to take care of the common weal, cannot order at the same
time the various circumstances of individuals, and begging him to
pardon them if naturally they are sometimes unable to fulfil the
act which he in his ignorance imposes upon them.
[Cle.] And how, Stranger, can we act most fairly under the
circumstances?
[Ath.] There must be arbiters chosen to deal with such laws
and the subjects of them.
[Cle.] What do you mean?
[Ath.] I mean to say, that a case may occur in which the
nephew, having a rich father, will be unwilling to marry the
daughter of his uncle; he will have a feeling of pride, and he
will wish to look higher. And there are cases in which the
legislator will be imposing upon him the greatest calamity, and
he will be compelled to disobey the law, if he is required, for
example, to take a wife who is mad, or has some other terrible
malady of soul or body, such as makes life intolerable to the
sufferer. Then let what we are saying concerning these cases be
embodied in a law:-If any one finds fault with the established
laws respecting testaments, both as to other matters and
especially in what relates to marriage, and asserts that the
legislator, if he were alive and present, would not compel him to
obey-that is to say, would not compel those who are by our law
required to marry or be given in marriage, to do either-and some
kinsman or guardian dispute this, the reply is that the
legislator left fifteen of the guardians of the law to be
arbiters and fathers of orphans, male or female, and to them let
the disputants have recourse, and by their aid determine any
matters of the kind, admitting their decision to be final. But if
any one thinks that too great power is thus given to the
guardians of the law, let him bring his adversaries into the
court of the select judges, and there have the points in dispute
determined. And he who loses the cause shall have censure and
blame from the legislator, which, by a man of sense, is felt to
be a penalty far heavier than a great loss of money.
Thus will orphan children have a second birth. After their
first birth we spoke of their nurture and education, and after
their second birth, when they have lost their parents, we ought
to take measures that the misfortune of orphanhood may be as
little sad to them as possible. In the first place, we say that
the guardians of the law are lawgivers and fathers to them, not
inferior to their natural fathers. Moreover, they shall take
charge of them year by year as of their own kindred; and we have
given both to them and to the children's own guardians a suitable
admonition concerning the nurture of orphans. And we seem to have
spoken opportunely in our former discourse, when we said that the
souls of the dead have the power after death of taking an
interest in human affairs, about which there are many tales and
traditions, long indeed, but true; and seeing that they are so
many and so ancient, we must believe them, and we must also
believe the lawgivers, who tell us that these things are true, if
they are not to be regarded as utter fools. But if these things
are really so, in the first place men should have a fear of the
Gods above, who regard the loneliness of the orphans; and in the
second place of the souls of the departed, who by nature incline
to take an especial care of their own children, and are friendly
to those who honour, and unfriendly to those who dishonour them.
Men should also fear the souls of the living who are aged and
high in honour; wherever a city is well ordered and prosperous,
their descendants cherish them, and so live happily; old persons
are quick to see and hear all that relates to them, and are
propitious to those who are just in the fulfilment of such
duties, and they punish those who wrong the orphan and the
desolate, considering that they are the greatest and most sacred
of trusts. To all which matters the guardian and magistrate ought
to apply his mind, if he has any, and take heed of the nurture
and education of the orphans, seeking in every possible way to do
them good, for he is making a contribution to his own good and
that of his children. He who obeys the tale which precedes the
law, and does no wrong to an orphan, will never experience the
wrath of the legislator. But he who is disobedient, and wrongs
any one who is bereft of father or mother, shall pay twice the
penalty which he would have paid if he had wronged one whose
parents had been alive. As touching other legislation concerning
guardians in their relation to orphans, or concerning magistrates
and their superintendence of the guardians, if they did not
possess examples of the manner in which children of freemen
should be brought up in the bringing up of their own children,
and of the care of their property in the care of their own, or if
they had not just laws fairly stated about these very things-there
would have been reason in making laws for them, under the idea
that they were a peculiar-class, and we might distinguish and
make separate rules for the life of those who are orphans and of
those who are not orphans. But as the case stands, the condition
of orphans with us not different from the case of those who have
father, though in regard to honour and dishonour, and the
attention given to them, the two are not usually placed upon a
level. Wherefore, touching the legislation about orphans, the law
speaks in serious accents, both of persuasion and threatening,
and such a threat as the following will be by no means out of
place:-He who is the guardian of an orphan of either sex, and he
among the guardians of the law to whom the superintendence of
this guardian has been assigned, shall love the unfortunate
orphan as though he were his own child, and he shall be as
careful and diligent in the management of his possessions as he
would be if they were his own, or even more careful and dilligent.
Let every one who has the care of an orphan observe this law. But
any one who acts contrary to the law on these matters, if he be a
guardian of the child, may be fined by a magistrate, or, if he be
himself a magistrate, the guardian may bring him before the court
of select judges, and punish him, if convicted, by exacting a
fine of double the amount of that inflicted by the court. And if
a guardian appears to the relations of the orphan, or to any
other citizen, to act negligently or dishonestly, let them bring
him before the same court, and whatever damages are given against
him, let him pay fourfold, and let half belong to the orphan and
half to him who procured the conviction. If any orphan arrives at
years of discretion, and thinks that he has been ill-used by his
guardians, let him within five years of the expiration of the
guardianship be allowed to bring them to trial; and if any of
them be convicted, the court shall determine what he shall pay or
suffer. And if magistrate shall appear to have wronged the orphan
by neglect, and he be convicted, let the court determine what he
shall suffer or pay to the orphan, and if there be dishonesty in
addition to neglect, besides paying the fine, let him be deposed
from his office of guardian of the law, and let the state appoint
another guardian of the law for the city and for the country in
his room.
Greater differences than there ought to be sometimes arise
between fathers and sons, on the part either of fathers who will
be of opinion that the legislator should enact that they may, if
they wish, lawfully renounce their son by the proclamation of a
herald in the face of the world, or of sons who think that they
should be allowed to indict their fathers on the charge of
imbecility when they are disabled by disease or old age. These
things only happen, as a matter of fact, where the natures of men
are utterly bad; for where only half is bad, as, for example, if
the father be not bad, but the son be bad, or conversely, no
great calamity is the result of such an amount of hatred as this.
In another state, a son disowned by his father would not of
necessity cease to be a citizen, but in our state, of which these
are to be the laws, the disinherited must necessarily emigrate
into another country, for no addition can be made even of a
single family to the 5040 households; and, therefore, he who
deserves to suffer these things must be renounced not only by his
father, who is a single person, but by the whole family, and what
is done in these cases must be regulated by some such law as the
following:-He who in the sad disorder of his soul has a mind,
justly or unjustly, to expel from his family a son whom he has
begotten and brought up, shall not lightly or at once execute his
purpose; but first of all he shall collect together his own
kinsmen extending to cousins, and in like manner his son's
kinsmen by the mother's side, and in their presence he shall
accuse his son, setting forth that he deserves at the hands of
them all to be dismissed from the family; and the son shall be
allowed to address them in a similar manner, and show that he
does not deserve to suffer any of these things. And if the father
persuades them, and obtains the suffrages of more than half of
his kindred, exclusive of the father and mother and the offender
himself-I say, if he obtains more than half the suffrages of all
the other grown-up members of the family, of both sexes, the
father shall be permitted to put away his son, but not otherwise.
And if any other citizen is willing to adopt the son who is put
away, no law shall hinder him; for the characters of young men
are subject to many changes in the course of their lives. And if
he has been put away, and in a period of ten years no one is
willing to adopt him, let those who have the care of the
superabundant population which is sent out into colonies, see to
him, in order that he may be suitably provided for in the colony.
And if disease or age or harshness of temper, or all these
together, makes a man to be more out of his mind than the rest of
the world are-but this is not observable, except to those who
live with him-and he, being master of his property, is the ruin
of the house, and his son doubts and hesitates about indicting
his father for insanity, let the law in that case or, that he
shall first of all go to the eldest guardians of the law and tell
them of his father's misfortune, and they shall duly look into
the matter, and take counsel as to whether he shall indict him or
not. And if they advise him to proceed, they shall be both his
witnesses and his advocates; and if the father is cast, he shall
henceforth be incapable of ordering the least particular of his
life; let him be as a child dwelling in the house for the
remainder of his days. And if a man and his wife have an
unfortunate incompatibility of temper, ten of the guardians of
the law, who are impartial, and ten of the women who regulate
marriages, shall look to the matter, and if they are able to
reconcile them they shall be formally reconciled; but if their
souls are too much tossed with passion, they shall endeavour to
find other partners. Now they are not likely to have very gentle
tempers; and, therefore, we must endeavour to associate with them
deeper and softer natures. Those who have no children, or only a
few, at the time of their separation, should choose their new
partners with a view to the procreation of children; but those
who have a sufficient number of children should separate and
marry again in order that they may have some one to grow old with
and that the pair may take care of one another in age. If a woman
dies, leaving children, male or female, the law will advise
rather than compel the husband to bring up the children without
introducing into the house a stepmother. But if he have no
children, then he shall be compelled to marry until he has
begotten a sufficient number of sons to his family and to the
state. And if a man dies leaving a sufficient number of children,
the mother of his children shall remain with them and bring, them
up. But if she appears to be too young to live virtuously without
a husband, let her relations communicate with the women who
superintend marriage, and let both together do what they think
best in these matters; if there is a lack of children, let the
choice be made with a view to having them; two children, one of
either sex, shall be deemed sufficient in the eye of the law.
When a child is admitted to be the offspring of certain parents
and is acknowledged by them, but there is need of a decision as
to which parent the child is to follow-in case a female slave
have intercourse with a male slave, or with a freeman or
freedman, the offspring shall always belong to the master of the
female slave. Again, if a free woman have intercourse with a male
slave, the offspring shall belong to the master of the slave; but
if a child be born either of a slave by her master, or of his
mistress by a slave-and this be provence offspring of the woman
and its father shall be sent away by the women who superintend
marriage into another country, and the guardians of the law shall
send away the offspring of the man and its mother.
Neither God, nor a man who has understanding, will ever advise
any one to neglect his parents. To a discourse concerning the
honour and dishonour of parents, a prelude such as the following,
about the service of the Gods, will be a suitable introduction:-There
are ancient customs about the Gods which are universal, and they
are of two kinds: some of the Gods we see with our eyes and we
honour them, of others we honour the images, raising statues of
them which we adore; and though they are lifeless, yet we imagine
that the living Gods have a good will and gratitude to us on this
account. Now, if a man has a father or mother, or their fathers
or mothers treasured up in his house stricken in years, let him
consider that no statue can be more potent to grant his requests
than they are, who are sitting at his hearth if only he knows how
to show true service to them.
[Cle.] And what do you call the true mode of service?
[Ath.] I will tell you, O my friend, for such things are worth
listening to.
[Cle.] Proceed.
[Ath.] Oedipus, as tradition says, when dishonoured by his
sons, invoked on them curses which every one declares to have
been heard and ratified by the Gods, and Amyntor in his wrath
invoked curses on his son Phoenix, and Theseus upon Hippolytus,
and innumerable others have also called down wrath upon their
children, whence it is clear that the Gods listen to the
imprecations of parents; for the curses of parents are, as they
ought to be, mighty against their children as no others are. And
shall we suppose that the prayers of a father or mother who is
specially dishonoured by his or her children, are heard by the
Gods in accordance with nature; and that if a parent is honoured
by them, and in the gladness of his heart earnestly entreats the
Gods in his prayers to do them good, he is not equally heard, and
that they do not minister to his request? If not, they would be
very unjust ministers of good, and that we affirm to be contrary
to their nature.
[Cle.] Certainly.
[Ath.] May we not think, as I was saying just now, that we can
possess no image which is more honoured by the Gods, than that of
a father or grandfather, or of a mother stricken in years? whom
when a man honours, the heart of the God rejoices, and he is
ready to answer their prayers. And, truly, the figure of an
ancestor is a wonderful thing, far higher than that of a lifeless
image. For the living, when they are honoured by us, join in our
prayers, and when they are dishonoured, they utter imprecations
against us; but lifeless objects do neither. And therefore, if a
man makes a right use of his father and grandfather and other
aged relations, he will have images which above all others will
win him the favour of the Gods.
[Cle.] Excellent.
[Ath.] Every man of any understanding fears and respects the
prayers of parents, knowing well that many times and to many
persons they have been accomplished. Now these things being thus
ordered by nature, good men think it a blessing from heaven if
their parents live to old age and reach the utmost limit of human
life, or if taken away before their time they are deeply
regretted by them; but to bad men parents are always a cause of
terror. Wherefore let every man honour with every sort of lawful
honour his own parents, agreeably to what has now been said. But
if this prelude be an unmeaning sound in the cars of any one, let
the law follow, which may be rightly imposed in these terms:-If
any one in this city be not sufficiently careful of his parents,
and do not regard and gratify in every respect their wishes more
than those of his sons and of his other offspring or of himself-let
him who experiences this sort of treatment either come himself,
or send some one to inform the three eldest guardians of the law,
and three of the women who have the care of marriages; and let
them look to the matter and punish youthful evil-doers with
stripes and bonds if they are under thirty years of age, that is
to say, if they be men, or if they be women, let them undergo the
same punishment up to forty years of age. But if, when they are
still more advanced in years, they continue the same neglect of
their parents, and do any hurt to any of them, let them be
brought before a court in which every single one of the eldest
citizens shall be the judges, and if the offender be convicted,
let the court determine what he ought to pay or suffer, and any
penalty may be imposed on him which a man can pay or suffer. If
the person who has been wronged be unable to inform the
magistrates, let any freeman who hears of his case inform, and if
he do not, he shall be deemed base, and shall be liable to have a
suit for damage brought against him by any one who likes. And if
a slave inform, he shall receive freedom; and if he be the slave
of the injurer or injured party, he shall be set free by the
magistrates, or if he belong to any other citizen, the public
shall pay a price on his behalf to the owner; and let the
magistrates take heed that no one wrongs him out of revenge,
because he has given information.
Cases in which one man injures another by poisons, and which
prove fatal, have been already discussed; but about other cases
in which a person intentionally and of malice harms another with
meats, or drinks, or ointments, nothing has as yet been
determined. For there are two kinds of poisons used among men,
which cannot clearly be distinguished. There is the kind just now
explicitly mentioned, which injures bodies by the use of other
bodies according to a natural law; there is also another kind
which persuades the more daring class that they can do injury by
sorceries, and incantations, and magic knots, as they are termed,
and makes others believe that they above all persons are injured
by the powers of the magician. Now it is not easy to know the
nature of all these things; nor if a man do know can he readily
persuade others to believe him. And when men are disturbed in
their minds at the sight of waxen images fixed either at their
doors, or in a place where three ways meet, or on the sepulchres
of parents, there is no use in trying to persuade them that they
should despise all such things because they have no certain
knowledge about them. But we must have a law in two parts,
concerning poisoning, in whichever of the two ways the attempt is
made, and we must entreat, and exhort, and advise men not to have
recourse to such practices, by which they scare the multitude out
of their wits, as if they were children, compelling the
legislator and the judge to heal the fears which the sorcerer
arouses, and to tell them in the first place, that he who
attempts to poison or enchant others knows not what he is doing,
either as regards the body (unless he has a knowledge of medicine),
or as regards his enchantments (unless he happens to be a prophet
or diviner). Let the law, then, run as follows about poisoning or
witchcraft:-He who employs poison to do any injury, not fatal, to
a man himself, or to his servants, or any injury, whether fatal
or not, to his cattle or his bees, if he be a physician, and be
convicted of poisoning, shall be punished with death; or if he be
a private person, the court shall determine what he is to pay or
suffer. But he who seems to be the sort of man injures others by
magic knots, or enchantments, or incantations, or any of the like
practices, if he be a prophet or diviner, let him die; and if,
not being a prophet, he be convicted of witchcraft, as in the
previous case, let the court fix what he ought to pay or suffer.
When a man does another any injury by theft or violence, for
the greater injury let him pay greater damages to the injured
man, and less for the smaller injury; but in all cases, whatever
the injury may have been, as much as will compensate the loss.
And besides the compensation of the wrong, let a man pay a
further penalty for the chastisement of his offence: he who has
done the wrong instigated by the folly of another, through the
lightheartedness of youth or the like, shall pay a lighter
penalty; but he who has injured another through his own folly,
when overcome by pleasure or pain, in cowardly fear, or lust, or
envy, or implacable anger, shall endure a heavier punishment. Not
that he is punished because he did wrong, for that which is done
can never be undone, but in order that in future times, he, and
those who see him corrected, may utterly hate injustice, or at
any rate abate much of their evil-doing. Having an eye to all
these things, the law, like a good archer, should aim at the
right measure of punishment, and in all cases at the deserved
punishment. In the attainment of this the judge shall be a fellow-worker
with the legislator, whenever the law leaves to him to determine
what the offender shall suffer or pay; and the legislator, like a
painter, shall give a rough sketch of the cases in which the law
is to be applied. This is what we must do, Megillus and Cleinias,
in the best and fairest manner that we can, saying what the
punishments are to be of all actions of theft and violence, and
giving laws of such a kind as the Gods and sons of Gods would
have us give.
If a man is mad he shall not be at large in the city, but his
relations shall keep him at home in any way which they can; or if
not, let them pay a penalty-he who is of the highest class shall
pay a penalty of one hundred drachmae, whether he be a slave or a
freeman whom he neglects; and he of the second class shall pay
four-fifths of a mina; and he of the third class three-fifths;
and he of the fourth class two-fifths. Now there are many sorts
of madness, some arising out of disease, which we have already
mentioned; and there are other kinds, which originate in an evil
and passionate temperament, and are increased by bad education;
out of a slight quarrel this class of madmen will often raise a
storm of abuse against one another, and nothing of that sort
ought to be allowed to occur in a well-ordered state. Let this,
then, be the law about abuse, which shall relate to all cases:-No
one shall speak evil of another; and when a man disputes with
another he shall teach and learn of the disputant and the
company, but he shall abstain from evilspeaking; for out of the
imprecations which men utter against one another, and the
feminine habit of casting aspersions on one another, and using
foul names, out of words light as air, in very deed the greatest
enmities and hatreds spring up. For the speaker gratifies his
anger, which is an ungracious element of his nature; and nursing
up his wrath by the entertainment of evil thoughts, and
exacerbating that part of his soul which was formerly civilized
by education, he lives in a state of savageness and moroseness,
and pays a bitter penalty for his anger. And in such cases almost
all men take to saying something ridiculous about their opponent,
and there is no man who is in the habit of laughing at another
who does not miss virtue and earnestness altogether, or lose the
better half of greatness. Wherefore let no one utter any taunting
word at a temple, or at the public sacrifices, or at games, or in
the agora, or in a court of justice, or in any public assembly.
And let the magistrate who presides on these occasions chastise
an offender, and he shall be blameless; but if he fails in doing
so, he shall not claim the prize of virtue; for he is one who
heeds not the laws, and does not do what the legislator commands.
And if in any other place any one indulges in these sort of
revilings, whether he has begun the quarrel or is only
retaliating, let any elder who is present support the law, and
control with blows those who indulge in passion, which is another
great evil; and if he do not, let him be liable to pay the
appointed penalty. And we say now, that he who deals in
reproaches against others cannot reproach them without attempting
to ridicule them; and this, when done in a moment of anger, is
what we make matter of reproach against him. But then, do we
admit into our state the comic writers who are so fond of making
mankind ridiculous, if they attempt in a good-natured manner to
turn the laugh against our citizens? or do we draw the
distinction of jest and earnest, and allow a man to make use of
ridicule in jest and without anger about any thing or person;
though as we were saying, not if he be angry have a set purpose?
We forbid earnest-that is unalterably fixed; but we have still to
say who are to be sanctioned or not to be sanctioned by the law
in the employment of innocent humour. A comic poet, or maker of
iambic or satirical lyric verse, shall not be permitted to
ridicule any of the citizens, either by word or likeness, either
in anger or without anger. And if any one is disobedient, the
judges shall either at once expel him from the country, or he
shall pay a fine of three minae, which shall be dedicated to the
God who presides over the contests. Those only who have received
permission shall be allowed to write verses at one another, but
they shall be without anger and in jest; in anger and in serious
earnest they shall not be allowed. The decision of this matter
shall be left to the superintendent of the general education of
the young, and whatever he may license, the writer shall be
allowed to produce, and whatever he rejects let not the poet
himself exhibit, or ever teach anybody else, slave or freeman,
under the penalty of being dishonoured, and held disobedient to
the laws.
Now he is not to be pitied who is hungry, or who suffers any
bodily pain, but he who is temperate, or has some other virtue,
or part of a virtue, and at the same time suffers from
misfortune; it would be an extraordinary thing if such an one,
whether slave or freeman, were utterly forsaken and fell into the
extremes of poverty in any tolerably well-ordered city or
government. Wherefore the legislator may safely make a law
applicable to such cases in the following terms:-Let there be no
beggars in our state; and if anybody begs, seeking to pick up a
livelihood by unavailing prayers, let the wardens of the agora
turn him out of the agora, and the wardens of the city out of the
city, and the wardens of the country send him out of any other
parts of the land across the border, in order that the land may
be cleared of this sort of animal.
If a slave of either sex injure anything, which is not his or
her own, through inexperience, or some improper practice, and the
person who suffers damage be not himself in part to blame, the
master of the slave who has done the harm shall either make full
satisfaction, or give up the the slave who has done has done the
injury. But if master argue that the charge has arisen by
collusion between the injured party and the injurer, with the
view of obtaining the slave, let him sue the person, who says
that he has been injured, for malpractices. And if he gain a
conviction, let him receive double the value which the court
fixes as the price of the slave; and if he lose his suit, let him
make amends for the injury, and give up the slave. And if a beast
of burden, or horse, or dog, or any other animal, injure the
property of a neighbour, the owner shall in like manner pay for
the injury.
If any man refuses to be a witness, he who wants him shall
summon him, and he who is summoned shall come to the trial; and
if he knows and is willing to bear witness, let him bear witness,
but if he says he does not know let him swear by the three
divinities Zeus, and Apollo, and Themis, that he does not, and
have no more to do with the cause. And he who is summoned to give
witness and does not answer to his summoner, shall be liable for
the harm which ensues according to law. And if a person calls up
as a witness any one who is acting as a judge, let him give his
witness, but he shall not afterwards vote in the cause. A free
woman may give her witness and plead, if she be more than forty
years of age, and may bring an action if she have no husband; but
if her husband be alive she shall only be allowed to bear witness.
A slave of either sex and a child shall be allowed to give
evidence and to plead, but only in cases of murder; and they must
produce sufficient sureties that they will certainly remain until
the trial, in case they should be charged with false witness. And
either of the parties in a cause may bring an accusation of
perjury against witnesses, touching their evidence in whole or in
part, if he asserts that such evidence has been given; but the
accusation must be brought previous to the final decision of the
cause. The magistrates shall preserve the accusations of false
witness, and have them kept under the seal of both parties, and
produce them on the day when the trial for false witness takes
place. If a man be twice convicted of false witness, he shall not
be required, and if thrice, he shall not be allowed to bear
witness; and if he dare to witness after he has been convicted
three times, let any one who pleases inform against him to the
magistrates, and let the magistrates hand him over to the court,
and if he be convicted he shall be punished with death. And in
any case in which the evidence is rightly found to be false, and
yet to have given the victory to him who wins the suit, and more
than half the witnesses are condemned, the decision which was
gained by these means shall be a discussion and a decision as to
whether the suit was determined by that false evidence or and in
whichever way the decision may be given, the previous suit shall
be determined accordingly.
There are many noble things in human life, but to most of them
attach evils which are fated to corrupt and spoil them. Is not
justice noble, which has been the civilizer of humanity? How then
can the advocate of justice be other than noble? And yet upon
this profession which is presented to us under the fair name of
art has come an evil reputation. In the first place; we are told
that by ingenious pleas and the help of an advocate the law
enables a man to win a particular cause, whether just or unjust;
and the power of speech which is thereby imparted, are at the
service of him sho is willing to pay for them. Now in our state
this so-called art, whether really an art or only an experience
and practice destitute of any art, ought if possible never to
come into existence, or if existing among us should litten to the
request of the legislator and go away into another land, and not
speak contrary to justice. If the offenders obey we say no more;
but those who disobey, the voice of the law is as follows:-If
anyone thinks that he will pervert the power of justice in the
minds of the judges, and unseasonably litigate or advocate, let
any one who likes indict him for malpractices of law and
dishonest advocacy, and let him be judged in the court of select
judges; and if he be convicted, let the court determine whether
he may be supposed to act from a love of money or from
contentiousness. And if he is supposed to act from
contentiousness, the court shall fix a time during which he shall
not be allowed to institute or plead a cause; and if he is
supposed to act as be does from love of money, in case he be a
stranger, he shall leave the country, and never return under
penalty of death; but if he be a citizen, he shall die, because
he is a lover of money, in whatever manner gained; and equally,
if he be judged to have acted more than once from
contentiousness, he shall die.
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