nsils of the bath I procure them in the
market. I will not go to the extent of denying that I am wholly
ignorant how to use a shuttle, an awl, a file, a lathe, and other
tools of the kind, but I confess that I infinitely prefer to all these
instruments one simple pen, with which I may write poems of all kinds,
such as may suit with the reciter's wand and the accompaniment of the
lyre or grace the comic or the tragic stage. Satires also do I write
and riddles, histories also on diverse themes, speeches that the
eloquent and dialogues that philosophers have praised. Nay, and I
write all these and much besides with equal fluency in Greek and
Latin, with equal pleasure, like ardour and uniform skill. Most
excellent proconsul, I would I could offer all these works of mine not
in fragments and quotations but in entirety and completeness! Would I
might enjoy the priceless boon of your testimony to the merits of all
the offspring of my muse! It is not that I lack praise, for my glory
has long bloomed fresh and bright before the eyes of all your
predecessors, till to-day it is presented to you! But there is none
whose admiration I would more gladly win than yours, for I admire you
beyond all other men by reason of your surpassing virtues. Such is the
ordinance of nature. Praise implies love and, love once given to
another, we demand his praise in return. And I acknowledge that I love
you; no private tie of interest binds me to you, it is in your public
capacity that you have won my devotion. I have never received any
favour at your hands, for I have never asked for one. But philosophy
has taught me not only to love my benefactors, but even such as may
have done me injury, to attach greater importance to justice than to
my private interests, and to prefer the furtherance of the public
welfare to the service of my own. And so it comes about that while
most men love you for the actual benefits conferred upon them by your
goodness, I love you for the zeal with which that goodness is
inspired. And the secret of my devotion is this. I have seen your
moderation in dealing with the affairs of the inhabitants of this
province, a moderation which has won the affection of those who have
come into contact with you by the benefits you have conferred on them,
of those with whom you have never come into contact by the good
example you have set. For while many have received your benefits, all
have profited by your example. Who would not gladly l