d left the rest of my body unfinished and
unworked. Yet in this matter I have falsified the expectation, not only
of the jealous, but also of the downright hostile, who formerly
conceived a wrong opinion from the case of Quintus Metellus, son of
Lucius--the most energetic and gallant man in the world, and in my
opinion of surpassing courage and firmness--who, people say, was much
cast down and dispirited after his return from exile.[659] Now, in the
first place, we are asked to believe that a man who accepted exile with
entire willingness and remarkable cheerfulness, and never took any pains
at all to get recalled, was crushed in spirit about an affair in which
he had shewn more firmness and constancy than anyone else, even than the
pre-eminent M. Scaurus himself![660] But, again, the account they had
received, or rather the conjectures they were indulging in about him,
they now transferred to me, imagining that I should be more than usually
broken in spirit: whereas, in fact, the Republic was inspiring me with
even greater courage than I had ever had before, by making it plain
that I was the one citizen it could not do without; and by the fact that
while a bill proposed by only one tribune had recalled Metellus, the
whole state had joined as one man in recalling me--the senate leading
the way, the whole of Italy following after, eight of the tribunes
publishing the bill, a consul putting the question at the centuriate
assembly, all orders and individuals pressing it on, in fact, with all
the forces at its command. Nor is it the case that I afterwards made any
pretension, or am making any at this day, which can justly offend
anyone, even the most malevolent: my only effort is that I may not fail
either my friends or those more remotely connected with me in either
active service, or counsel, or personal exertion. This course of life
perhaps offends those who fix their eyes on the glitter and show of my
professional position, but are unable to appreciate its anxieties and
laboriousness.

Again, they make no concealment of their dissatisfaction on the ground
that in the speeches which I make in the senate in praise of Caesar I am
departing from my old policy. But while giving explanations on the
points which I put before you a short time ago, I will not keep till the
last the following, which I have already touched upon. You will not
find, my dear Lentulus, the sentiments of the loyalists the same as you
left them--strengt