| Demosthenes, Speeches (English) (XML Header) [genre: prose; rhetoric] [word count] [lemma count] [Dem.]. | ||
| <<Dem. 27.38 | Dem. 27.48 (Greek) | >>Dem. 27.58 |
27.44The amount of the property that was left is, however, none the less clear (though these men seek to conceal it) from the terms of the will, in accordance with which they state that such large sums were given to them severally. When a man out of four talents and three thousand drachmae has given to two of these men three talents and two thousand drachmae as marriage-portions, and to the third the interest on seventy minae, it is clear, I fancy, that he took these sums, not from a small estate, but from one bequeathed to me of more than double this amount.
27.45For, I take it, he would not wish to leave me, his son, in poverty, and be eager further to enrich these men, who were already wealthy. No; it was because of the size of the estate left to me that he gave to Therippides the interest on a sum so considerable, and to Demophon that on the two talents—though he was not yet to marry my sister—in order to accomplish one or the other of two ends: either he would by his gifts encourage them to act the more honorably in the guardianship, or, if they should prove dishonest, they would meet with no leniency at your hands, seeing that, after being so liberally treated, they sinned so grievously against us.
27.46Well now, the defendant, who in addition to my mother's marriage-portion has taken the female servants, and has lived in the house, when it becomes necessary to render an account of these matters, says he is busy with his own affairs; and he has come to such a pitch of rapaciousness, that he has even cheated my instructors of their fees, and has left unpaid some of the taxes, although he charges me with the amounts.
Take these depositions too, and read them to the jury.Depositions
27.47How could one show more clearly that he has made havoc of the whole estate, sparing nothing, however small, than by proving, as I have done by so many witnesses and proofs, that he admitted having received the marriage-portion, and that he acknowledged in writing to the guardians that he had it; that he enjoyed the profits of the factory, but makes report of none; 27.48that of our other effects he has sold some without paying to us the proceeds, while others he has taken to himself and hidden; that according to the account which he has himself rendered, he has embezzled large sums; that in addition to all this he has made away with the will, sold the slaves, and in all other respects has administered the estate as not even the bitterest enemies would have done? I do not see how anyone could prove the matter more clearly.
27.49He had the audacity to say before the arbitrator note that he had paid many debts for me out of the estate to Demophon and Therippides, his fellow-guardians, and that they received a large part of my property, yet neither of these facts was he able to prove. He did not show by the books that my father left me in debt, nor has he brought forward as witnesses the men whom he says he paid; nor, again, is the amount of money which he charged against his fellow-guardians equal to the amount which he is shown to have received himself. On the contrary, it is much less. 27.50When the arbitrator questioned him about each of these matters, and asked him whether he had managed his own estate from the interest or had spent the principal, and whether,if he had been under guardianship, he would have accepted an account of this sort from his guardians or would have demanded that the money be duly paid to him with the accrued interest, he made no answer to these questions, but tendered me a challenge note to the effect that he was ready to show that my property was worth ten talents, and said that, if it fell short of this amount, he would himself make up the difference. 27.51When I bade him prove this to the arbitrator, he did not do so, nor did he show that his fellow-guardians had paid me (for if he had, the arbitrator would not have given judgement against him); but he put in a piece of evidence note of a sort regarding which he will try to find something to say.
If even now he still tries to assert that I am in possession of property, ask him who handed it over to me, and demand that he produce witnesses to prove each statement.
27.52If he declares that it is my possession in this sense, that he reckons up what is in the hands of either of the trustees, it will be clear that he accounts for only a third part, and still does not prove that I have possession of it. For as I have convicted the defendant of having in his possession the large amount I have stated, I shall also prove that each of them has not less than he. This statement, therefore, will not help him. No; he must show that either he or his fellow-trustees really handed the money over to me. If he fails to prove this, why should you pay any attention to his challenge? He still does not prove that I have the money.27.53Being sorely at a loss to explain any of these matters before the arbitrator, and being convicted on each point, just as he is now before you, he had the audacity to make an outrageously false statement, to the effect that my father left me four talents buried in the ground, and that he had put my mother in charge of them. He made this statement in order that, if I should assume that he would repeat it here, I might waste my time in refuting it, when I ought to be preferring the rest of my charges against him; or if I should pass it over, not expecting him to repeat it, then he himself might now bring it up, in the hope that I, by seeming to be rich, might meet with less compassion from you.
| Demosthenes, Speeches (English) (XML Header) [genre: prose; rhetoric] [word count] [lemma count] [Dem.]. | ||
| <<Dem. 27.38 | Dem. 27.48 (Greek) | >>Dem. 27.58 |
