But how?
I am accused of hindering an informer from producing evidence to prove the senate guilty of treason.

Tell me, then, what is thy counsel, O my mistress.

Shall I deny the charge, lest I bring shame on thee?
But I did wish it, and I shall never cease to wish it.

Shall I admit it?
Then the work of thwarting the informer will come to an end.

Shall I call the wish for the preservation of that illustrious house a crime?
Of a truth the senate, by its decrees concerning me, has made it such! But blind folly, though it deceive itself with false names, cannot alter the true merits of things, and, mindful of the precept of Socrates, I do not think it right either to keep the truth concealed or allow falsehood to pass.