te who either knowingly, or in ignorance, fails to
bring the offender to justice. Any one who is good for anything will
give information against traitors. The mode of proceeding at such trials
will be the same as at trials for sacrilege; the penalty, death. But
neither in this case nor in any other is the son to bear the iniquity of
the father, unless father, grandfather, great-grandfather, have all of
them been capitally convicted, and then the family of the criminal
are to be sent off to the country of their ancestor, retaining their
property, with the exception of the lot and its fixtures. And ten are to
be selected from the younger sons of the other citizens--one of whom is
to be chosen by the oracle of Delphi to be heir of the lot.

Our third law will be a general one, concerning the procedure and the
judges in cases of treason. As regards the remaining or departure of the
family of the offender, the same law shall apply equally to the traitor,
the sacrilegious, and the conspirator.

A thief, whether he steals much or little, must refund twice the amount,
if he can do so without impairing his lot; if he cannot, he must go to
prison until he either pays the plaintiff, or in case of a public theft,
the city, or they agree to forgive him. 'But should all kinds of theft
incur the same penalty?' You remind me of what I know--that legislation
is never perfect. The men for whom laws are now made may be compared
to the slave who is being doctored, according to our old image, by the
unscientific doctor. For the empirical practitioner, if he chance to
meet the educated physician talking to his patient, and entering into
the philosophy of his disease, would burst out laughing and say, as
doctors delight in doing, 'Foolish fellow, instead of curing the patient
you are educating him!' 'And would he not be right?' Perhaps; and
he might add, that he who discourses in our fashion preaches to the
citizens instead of legislating for them. 'True.' There is, however, one
advantage which we possess--that being amateurs only, we may either take
the most ideal, or the most necessary and utilitarian view. 'But why
offer such an alternative? As if all our legislation must be done
to-day, and nothing put off until the morrow. We may surely rough-hew
our materials first, and shape and place them afterwards.' That will be
the natural way of proceeding. There is a further point. Of all writings
either in prose or verse the writings of the legi