he admitted that he had received the marriage portion. These matters can be proved by Demophon and Therippides, his co-trustees; his acknowledgment of the receipts can be further proved by Demochares of Leuconium, the husband of my aunt, and by many other witnesses. For when it was found that the defendant refused to maintain my mother, though he was in possession of her fortune, and declined also to let the property,1 desiring to retain the administration of it in the hands of himself and the other guardians, Demochares remonstrated with him upon the subject. Aphobus heard him, and never denied that he had the money, never expressed any anger as if he had not received it, but admitted the fact, and said that he had had some disputes with my mother about her jewels, and that, when these disputes were settled, he would do everything that was right and proper in regard to the maintenance and all the rest of my affairs. If now it can be clearly shown, that he made these admissions before Demochares and the other persons who were then present; that he received from Demophon and Therippides the money arising from the sale of the slaves, in part payment of the marriage portion; that he gave a written acknowledgment to his co-trustees of having received the portion, and that he occupied the house immediately after the death of my father; will there not be abundant proof that he has had the portion, and that his present denial of the receipt is barefaced impudence? In support of what I say, you shall hear the depositions read. [The Depositions.] It appears then, that he has received in this way the marriage portion. Now, if he refuses to marry my mother, he is by law indebted to me for the amount of her portion and interest upon it at eighteen per cent.; however, I will set it down at twelve per cent. only. Adding together then the principal and interest for ten years, it makes about three talents. I have thus shown you that he received this money, and confessed it in the presence of many witnesses. Besides, he has in his possession thirty minas (being the net 1 Pabst "die Habe zu vermiethen." For an explanation of this, see Appendix II. If profits which he has received from the manufactory), of which he has made the most impudent attempt to defraud me. The income, which my father was deriving from this at the time of his death, was thirty minas; and, upon the sale by these men of one half of the slaves, I ought, according to the ratio of the former profits, to have had fifteen minas. Therippides, who superintended this business seven years, has rendered an account to me of eleven minas for every year, which is less by four minas a year than it ought to have been. The defendant however, who managed it for the two first years, gives no account of any receipts at all, but sometimes says that there was no business done in the manufactory, and sometimes that he himself was not the manager, but that the foreman, Milyas, a freedman of mine, conducted the business, and that I must look to him for an account. he should repeat any of these assertions, he will easily be convicted of falsehood. If he should say that there was no business done in the manufactory, remember that he has himself given in an account of monies expended, not upon provisions for the men, but upon stock, ivory for the trade, and swordhilts, and other materials, implying that the business was then going on. Further, he charges me with money paid to Therippides for the hire of three slaves, who were in my workshop and belonged to him. But, if there was no work done, neither ought Therippides to have received anything for the loan of his men, nor ought I to have been charged for such a disbursement. Again, should he say that there was work done, but that there was no market for the manufactures, he ought at any rate to show that he has delivered up to me the manufactured articles, and to produce witnesses who saw them delivered; otherwise, how can you doubt, when the business has clearly been carried on, that he is liable to me for thirty minas, the amount of two years' income arising from it? Should he however decline to make any of these statements, and say that Milyas was the person who conducted the whole business, how is it possible to believe him, when he asserts that he has himself made all the disbursements, amounting to more than five minas, and that any profit which has accrued has been received by Milyas? For my part, I think it more probable (supposing that Milyas did conduct the business), that he (Milyas) made the disbursements, and the defendant received the profits. Such is the inference I should draw from the general disposition and impudence of the defendant. Take and read this evidence to the jury. [The Depositions.] These thirty minas then he has received from the manufactory, and the interest on them for eight years, which, reckoning at twelve per cent. only, amounts to thirty minas more. These sums he has embezzled himself, and they, added to the marriage portion, make, principal and interest together, about four talents. I shall now proceed to specify the effects which he has joined with the other guardians in embezzling; some of which he pretends were not left at all by my father. And first I will show you how very audaciously and openly they endeavour to cheat me out of the twenty sofa-makers, who were given to my father in pawn for forty minas, and whom he certainly left at his decease, though the guardians have made away with them. They all admit that these men were left by my father in our house, and that they produced him in his lifetime an annual income of twelve minas. Yet from the same men, in a period of ten years, the guardians (by the account which they have rendered to me) have not derived a tittle of profit; nay, the defendant is hardy enough to charge me with an expenditure upon them of ten minas. The men themselves, upon whom this money has been laid out, they have never produced, but have trumped up an idle story about the man who pledged the slaves to my father, viz. that he is a vile fellow, a defaulter to his club, and over head and ears in debt; and they have summoned a great many witnesses to prove this of him. to the slaves-who got them; how they went out of the house; or who carried them off; or who has recovered them by judgment-they have no account to give. Now, if there had been any truth in their story, they would not have brought evidence to prove the villainy of this person (with which I have no concern), but would have done their utmost to keep possession of the slaves, and shown me the persons who took them, and not lost sight of a single one. Instead of this, after admitting that they were left by my father, and 1 See Vol. iii. Appendix XI. As taking them into their own possession, and receiving the profits of them for ten years, they have in the cruellest manner made away with the whole lot of them. In proof of what I say, take and read the depositions. [The Depositions.] I will now give you the strongest proof that Moriades was not in bad circumstances, and that my father had not advanced bis money on these slaves imprudently. When Aphobus got possession of the men, as you have just learned from the witnesses, he actually lent money upon them himself. This was in violation of his duty as a guardian, which should have led him rather to prevent any one else from lending on such security; however, he did lend to Moriades upon these slaves five minas, which he admits to have been duly repaid by him. Is it not a shame, that (besides having obtained no profit from the slaves) I, who first advanced money upon them, should have lost my security, while a person, who lent his money upon property pledged already to me, and whose loan was so long subsequent to mine, should have thereby recovered both principal and interest, and sustained no loss? In confirmation of what I say, take the deposition and read it. [The Deposition.] Consider now, what a large sum they have embezzled by these sofa-makers-principal, forty minas; and interest thereon for ten years, two talents; the annual profit which they obtained from them having been twelve minas. Is this a trifling1 matter, an obscure item, and one easy to be misreckoned, or is it not nearly three talents which they have openly robbed me of? As they have divided this plunder between them, I ought surely to recover the third part from the defendant. Pretty much in the same way, men of the jury, have they dealt with the ivory and iron which was left me. They do not produce it. Now it is absurd to suppose that a man 1 Pabst-" Haben sie also etwa nur eine Kleinigkeit entwendet, vielleicht aus Versehen und von einem Gegenstande, wo man sich leicht verrechnen kann?" Auger-"Ce tort est-il léger? est-il douteux? Ce calcul en est-il difficile ?"-which is not quite correct for wapaλoyíσaobai padtor, the meaning being," was it an item easy to be passed over, so that the miscalculation is venial?" possessing so many sofa-makers, and sword-cutlers also, should not have left some iron and ivory; he must have had some, or what could the slaves have manufactured without materials? However, though my father possessed more than fifty slaves, and carried on two trades, and though one of the factories easily consumed two minas' worth of ivory per month for the couches, while the cutlery required the same quantity of ivory and iron besides; these men are impudent enough to say, that he left no such stock. That no credit is due to them, may easily be collected from my statements; but it can be shown also, that my father left such an abundance of these materials, as, to be sufficient not only for his own men to use for the trade, but for general sale besides. For my father in his lifetime used to sell the stock unmanufactured; and, after his decease, Demophon and the defendant continued to sell it out of the house to any one that chose to buy. Now I ask, what must one suppose the quantity left to have been, when it appears to have supplied such extensive trades, and also to have been sold by the guardians? Was it small, do you think, or was it not much greater than I have alleged? Take these depositions, and read them to the jury. [The Depositions.] Of this ivory, you see, there is more than a talent's worth ; of which they show neither the raw material nor the product -the whole has disappeared. I shall further, men of the jury, prove to you, from the account which they render, and from their own admissions of receipts, that the three together have in their possession more than eight talents of my money, of which Aphobus is separately chargeable with three talents and ten minas. That you may understand the daring nature of their attempt, I will put down their disbursements separately at a greater amount than they themselves do, and will deduct the sums which they have paid me. Observe, the defendant (besides what I shall prove against him) confesses to having received a hundred and eight minas out of my effects; Therippides confesses to two talents, and Demophon to eighty-seven minas; which makes altogether five talents and fifteen minas. Of this sum there are nearly seventy-seven minas, which were not received all at once (viz. the income from the slaves), and |