Moral essays. With an English translation by J.W. Basore

ON ANGER, II. XXIX. 3-xxx. 1would grant to both parties the right of process,you would allow them time, you would give morethan one hearing ; for the oftener you come toclose quarters vnih truth, the more it becomesmanifest. Do you condemn a friend on the spot ?Will you be angry >;\-ith him before you hear his side,before you question him, before he has a chance toknow either his accuser or the charge ? What, haveyou already heard what is to be said on both sides ?The man who gave you the information will of hisown accord stop talking if he is forced to prove whathe says. " No need to drag me forward," he says ; "ifI am brought forward I shall make denial ; otherwise,I shall never tell you anything." At one andthe same time he both goads you on and ^\-ithdrawshimself from the strife and the battle. The manwho is un^^ilBng to tell you anything except insecret has, we may almost say, nothing to tell. \\'hatis more unfair than to give credence secretly but tobe a.ngrj openly ?To some offences we can bear witness ourselves ;in such cases we shall search into the character andthe purpose of the offender. Does a child offend ?Excuse ^sllbuld be made for his age—he does notknow what is A\Tong. A father ? Either he hasbeeir"s?J'goad"to us that he has the right even toinjure us, or mayhap the very act which offends usis really a serAice. A woman ? It was a blunder. -^Some one under orders ? WTiat fair-minded personchafes against the ine\itable ? Some one who has beenwronged ? There is no injustice in your having tosubmit to that which you were the first to inflict.Is it a judge ? You should trust his opinion morethan your own. Is it a king ? If he punishes you