The Free Sea

reason than that where such things are permitted, the state of the empire cannot be tranquil. But if a king acts against a king, or a people against a people, unjustly and violently, does this not point to the disturbance of the peace of that great city meaning the world and to an injury against the supreme guardian? This is the difference: just as lesser magistrates judge the common people, and you judge the magistrates, so the King of the Universe has mandated that the offenses of all others be recognized and punished by you, while He has reserved those of you for Himself. Although He reserves supreme judgment to Himself—a judgment that is slow, hidden, and inevitable—He nonetheless delegates two judges to be present in human affairs, whom the most fortunate of the guilty cannot escape: each man's own conscience and the opinion or reputation of others. These tribunals are open to those for whom others are closed: to these the weak appeal; in these those who are powerful in strength are defeated, those who