The epistles of Phalaris translated into English from the original Greek by S. Whately ... ; to which is added Sir W. Temple's Character of the epistles of Phalaris ; together with an appendix of some other epistles lately discovered in a French ms.

About this Item

Title: The epistles of Phalaris translated into English from the original Greek by S. Whately ... ; to which is added Sir W. Temple's Character of the epistles of Phalaris ; together with an appendix of some other epistles lately discovered in a French ms.
Author: Phalaris, Tyrant of Agrigentum, 6th cent. B.C.
Publication: London :: Printed by Fr. Leach ... for the author,; 1699.
Rights/Permissions: To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.
Link to this Item: http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A54647.0001.001
Cite this Item: "The epistles of Phalaris translated into English from the original Greek by S. Whately ... ; to which is added Sir W. Temple's Character of the epistles of Phalaris ; together with an appendix of some other epistles lately discovered in a French ms." In the digital collection Early English Books Online. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A54647.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 13, 2024.

Pages

Ep. 72. To Peristhenes.

V. Ep. 73

THe Prisoners you sent me, Peristhenes, the Wives, I mean, of those Con∣spirators Eubulus and Ariphantus, I had fully resolved (nor could you or any man else expect otherwise) to have put to death: yet I have spared them. You will wonder, considering the Just Indig∣nation I had conceived against them, how they can have escaped. But you will won∣der more when you shall have heard the Reason of it; that Brave and Masculine Spirit which upon this occasion they dis∣covered.

Page 68

I asked them whether they were Privy to the Designs of their hus∣bands against me: they owned them∣selves not only Privy to, but Assisting in the Design of Destroying a Tyrant. Why, said I, what wrong have I ever done to any of you? No wrong, replyed they, to us in particular, but wrong to the Publick; for to enslave a Free people we think a Common wrong, and such as every one ought to resent as his own. And what Satisfaction, said I, can you give me for so insufferable an Attempt? Our lives said they. No, said I, since you can Dye so Re∣solvedly, you shall not Dye but Live. I may not punish Virtue though in an Ene∣my; your generous Resolution hath conquer'd my Revenge. Thus, Peristhenes, I have (as I thought my self in Honour bound to do) given them their Lives: and I desire you upon the receipt of this Letter to send for some of their nearest Relations, and deliver into their hands all those things of theirs, which you sei∣zed when you Apprehended their per∣sons; and be sure take care that they may not be able to complain, that we have in the least matter whatsoever wronged them.