“You gave evidence against
 Autronius,” says he, “and you are defending Sulla.” All this, O judges, has this object to prove
 that if I am an inconstant and fickle-minded man, my evidence ought not to be credited, and my
 defence ought not to carry any authority with it. But if there is found in me a proper
 consideration for the republic, a scrupulous regard to my duty, and a constant desire to retain
 the good-will of virtuous men, then there is nothing which an accuser ought less to say than
 that Sulla is defended by me, but that Autronius was injured by my evidence against him. For I
 think that I not only carry with me zeal in defending causes, but also that my deliberate
 opinion has some weight; which, however, I will use with moderation, O judges, and I would not
 have used it at all if he had not compelled me. 
 Two conspiracies are spoken of by you, O Torquatus; one, which is said to have been formed in
 the consulship of Lepidus and Volcatius, when your own father was consul elect; the other, that
 which broke out in my consulship. In each of these you say that Sulla was implicated. You know
 that I was not acquainted with the counsels of your father, a most brave man, and a most
 excellent consul. You know, as there was the greatest intimacy between you and me, that I knew
 nothing of what happened, or of what was said in those times; I imagine, because I had not yet
 become a thoroughly public character, because I had not yet arrived at the goal of honour which
 I proposed to myself; and because my ambition and my forensic labours separated me from all
 political deliberations. Who, then, was present at your
 counsels? All these men whom you see here, giving Sulla the countenance of their presence; and
 among the first was Quintus Hortensius—who, by reason of his honour and worth, and his admirable
 disposition towards the republic, and because of his exceeding intimacy with and excessive
 attachment to your father, was greatly moved by the thoughts of the common danger, and most
 especially by the personal peril of your father. Therefore, he was defended from the charge of
 being implicated in that conspiracy by that man who was present at and acquainted with all your
 deliberations, who was a partner in all your thoughts and in all your fears; and, elegant and
 argumentative as his speech in repelling this accusation was, it carried with it as much
 authority as it displayed of ability. Of that conspiracy, therefore, which is said to have been
 formed against you, to have been reported to you, and to have been revealed by you, I was unable
 to say anything as a witness. For I not only found out nothing, but scarcely did any report or
 suspicion of that matter reach my ears.