the same things before
all my guests, for I ask them to sup, not to grade them in my esteem:
I equalize in all things those I invite to my table.' 'Even the
freedmen?' 'Yes, for then they are my guests, and not freedmen.' He
replied,' It must cost you a good deal.' 'Very little.' 'How so?'
'Thus: I drink then what my freedmen drink, not they my wines.' And
truly, if you will but restrain your taste a little, it is not hard to
join in drinking with the many at your table. To be sure, fastidious
taste must be repressed, and, as it were, brought under control,
if you spare that expense in which one consults rather his own
gratification than the feelings of others. But why all this? I write,
so that the luxury of some under the specious guise of economy may
not impose upon you as a well-disposed youth. And so, out of pure
good-will to you, I draw instances from my experience to advise or
warn you. There is nothing to be more carefully avoided than that
upstart society compounded of meanness and luxury, for these twain,
bad enough apart, are abominable when joined together. Vale!"

Now, gentle reader, yourself being judge, we submit to your honor
that here are good sense, delicate taste and refinement combined.
Two things also must be noted: First, we are glad to find that the
well-disposed youth to whom we were introduced in Mr. Adams's _Latin
Grammar_ some twenty-odd years ago turns out to be this kindly young
man in whom C.P.C. Secundus, Jr., takes such an interest: we are sure
he is a deserving young man, and will turn out a brilliant diner-out;
only it would have been more ingenuous in Mr. Adams to have told us
plainly that it was Avitus whose character was being formed by the
famous C.P.C. Secundus, generally known as Pliny the Younger; and then
we might have profited by the tuition. Again, the freedman was not one
in the sense in which we use the term, but one who was emancipated
and a member (not always a menial member) of his patron's family. The
African as a slave had just begun to be a common servant in wealthy
households, but the _libertus_ was often of better blood than many a
citizen. You will remember that Horace was the son of such a
freedman. So again we hold it proven that Pliny knew how to enjoy
his opportunities of good living--opportunities acquired partly
by inheritance, partly by his ability and deserts. He had a
well-balanced, self-poised character, and so could trust himself
_temperare gulce_--to ea