country in the greatest dangers. But the protection of the gods is not
obtained by vows and effeminate supplications; it is by vigilance,
activity, and prudent measures, that general welfare is secured. When
you are once resigned to sloth and indolence, it is in vain that you
implore the gods; for they are then indignant and threaten vengeance.

In the days of our forefathers, Titus Manlius Torquatus, during a war
with the Gauls, ordered his own son to be put to death, because he had
fought with an enemy contrary to orders. That noble youth suffered for
excess of bravery; and do you hesitate what sentence to pass on the
most inhuman of traitors? Perhaps their former life is at variance
with their present crime. Spare, then, the dignity of Lentulus, if he
has ever spared his own honor or character, or had any regard for gods
or for men. Pardon the youth of Cethegus, unless this be the second
time that he has made war upon his country.[266] As to Gabinius,
Slatilius, Coeparius, why should I make any remark upon them? Had they
ever possessed the smallest share of discretion, they would never have
engaged in such a plot against their country.

In conclusion, Conscript Fathers, if there were time to amend an
error, I might easily suffer you, since you disregard words, to be
corrected by experience of consequences. But we are beset by dangers on
all sides; Catiline, with his army, is ready to devour us;[267] while
there are other enemies within the walls, and in the heart of the
city; nor can any measures be taken, or any plans arranged, without
their knowledge. The more necessary is it, therefore, to act with
promptitude. What I advise, then, is this: that since the state, by a
treasonable combination of abandoned citizens, has been brought into
the greatest peril; and since the conspirators have been convicted on
the evidence of Titus Volturcius, and the deputies of the Allobroges,