On The Crown   

in equal measure be vouchsafed to me by you at this present trial: and
secondly--a prayer which especially touches yourselves, your consciences,
and your reputation--that the gods may put it into your minds not to take
counsel of my adversary[n] in regard to the spirit in which you ought to
hear me (for that would surely be a cruel thing), {2} but of the laws and
of your oath; wherein besides all other precepts of justice, this also is
written--that you shall listen to both sides with a like mind. And this
means, not only that you should have formed no prejudice, and should
accord equal goodwill to each, but also that you should give leave to
every man who pleads before you to adopt that order, and make that
defence, upon which he has resolved and fixed his choice.

{3} I am in many respects at a disadvantage in the present controversy, as
compared with Aeschines; and particularly, men of Athens, in two points of
importance. The first is that I am not contending for the same stake as
he. It is not the same thing for me to lose your goodwill now, as it is
for him to fail to win his case; since for me--but I would say nothing
unpleasant [n]* at the opening of my address--I say only that Aeschines
can well afford to risk this attack upon me. The second disadvantage lies
in the natural and universal tendency of mankind to hear invective and
denunciation with pleasure, and to be offended with those who praise
themselves. {4} And of the two courses in question, that which contributes
to men's pleasure has been given to Aeschines, and that which annoys (I
may say) every one is left for me. If, to avoid giving such annoyance, I
say nothing of all that I myself have done, it will be thought that I am
unable to clear myself of the charges against me, or to show the grounds
upon which I claim to deserve distinction. If, on the other hand, I
proceed to speak of my past acts and my political life, I shall often be
compelled to speak of myself. I will endeavour, then, to do this as
modestly as possible; and for all that the necessities of the case compel
me to say, the blame must in fairness be borne by the prosecutor, who
initiated a trial of such a kind as this.

{5} I think, men of Athens, that you would all admit that this present
trial equally concerns myself and Ctesiphon, and demands no less earnest
attention from me than from him. For while it is a painful and a grievous
thing for a man to be robbed of anything, particularly if it is at the
hands of an enemy that this befalls him, it is especially so, when he is
robbed of your goodwill and kindness, just in proportion as to win these
is the greatest possible gain. {6} And because such is the issue at stake
in the present trial, I request and entreat you all alike to give me,
while I make my defence upon the charges that have been brought against
me, a fair hearing, as you are commanded to do by the laws--those laws to
which their original maker, your well-wisher and the People's friend,
Solon, thought fit to give the sanction not of enactment only, but also of
an oath on the part of those who act as judges: {7} not because he
distrusted you (so at least it seems to me), but because he saw that a
defendant cannot escape from the imputations and the slanders which fall
with special force from the prosecutor, because he is the first to speak,
unless each of you who sit in judgement, keeping his conscience pure in
the sight of God, will receive the pleadings of the later speaker also
with the same favour, and will thus, because his attention has been given
equally and impartially to both sides, form his decision upon the case in
its entirety.

{8} And now, when I am about, as it seems, to render an account of my
whole private life and public career, I would once more invoke the aid of
the gods; and in the presence of you all I pray, first, that the goodwill
which I ever feel towards this city and towards all of you, may in equal
measure be vouchsafed to me by you at this trial; and secondly, that
whatsoever judgement upon this present suit will conduce to your public
reputation, and the purity of each man's conscience, that judgement they
may put it into all your minds to give.