Letter 107: On the Right of Self-defense
[1] To his Brother
Really you are joking when you say that you want to prevent us from manufacturing arms while the enemy is holding the country, plundering everything, and slaughtering whole populations every day, and when we have no soldiers to be seen. Are you going to maintain then that private individuals are not authorized to bear arms, but allowed to die? Evidently the government is full of wrath against those who attempt to save themselves. [2] Very well, then, if I gain nothing else, at all events the laws shall be our masters instead of these destroyers. How high a value, think you, do I set on seeing peace flowering again, the tribunal in position, and the herald ordering silence! Yes, I desire only to die when my city has regained her former position.
Letter 107: On the Right of Self-defense
[1] To his Brother
Really you are joking when you say that you want to prevent us from manufacturing arms while the enemy is holding the country, plundering everything, and slaughtering whole populations every day, and when we have no soldiers to be seen. Are you going to maintain then that private individuals are not authorized to bear arms, but allowed to die? Evidently the government is full of wrath against those who attempt to save themselves. [2] Very well, then, if I gain nothing else, at all events the laws shall be our masters instead of these destroyers. How high a value, think you, do I set on seeing peace flowering again, the tribunal in position, and the herald ordering silence! Yes, I desire only to die when my city has regained her former position.
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Letter 107: On the Right of Self-defense
[1] To his Brother
Really you are joking when you say that you want to prevent us from manufacturing arms while the enemy is holding the country, plundering everything, and slaughtering whole populations every day, and when we have no soldiers to be seen. Are you going to maintain then that private individuals are not authorized to bear arms, but allowed to die? Evidently the government is full of wrath against those who attempt to save themselves. [2] Very well, then, if I gain nothing else, at all events the laws shall be our masters instead of these destroyers. How high a value, think you, do I set on seeing peace flowering again, the tribunal in position, and the herald ordering silence! Yes, I desire only to die when my city has regained her former position.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.