at Brutus, whom of all men
he adored, refused him a place in his conspiracy. A modern wit has
made this observation on him; that, coveting to recommend himself to
posterity, he begged it as an alms of all his friends, the historians,
to remember his consulship: And observe, if you please, the oddness of
the event; all their histories are lost, and the vanity of his request
stands yet recorded in his own writings. How much more great and manly
in your lordship, is your contempt of popular applause, and your
retired virtue, which shines only to a few; with whom you live so
easily and freely, that you make it evident, you have a soul which is
capable of all the tenderness of friendship, and that you only retire
yourself from those, who are not capable of returning it. Your
kindness, where you have once placed it, is inviolable; and it is to
that only I attribute my happiness in your love. This makes me more
easily forsake an argument, on which I could otherwise delight to
dwell; I mean, your judgment in your choice of friends; because I have
the honour to be one. After which I am sure you will more easily
permit me to be silent, in the care you have taken of my fortune;
which you have rescued, not only from the power of others, but from my
worst of enemies, my own modesty and laziness; which favour, had it
been employed on a more deserving subject, had been an effect of
justice in your nature; but, as placed on me, is only charity. Yet,
withal, it is conferred on such a man, as prefers your kindness
itself, before any of its consequences; and who values, as the
greatest of your favours, those of your love, and of your
conversation. From this constancy to your friends, I might reasonably
assume, that your resentments would be as strong and lasting, if they
were not restrained by a nobler principle of good nature and
generosity; for certainly, it is the same composition of mind, the
same resolution and courage, which makes the greatest friendships, and
the greatest enmities. And he, who is too lightly reconciled, after
high provocations, may recommend himself to the world for a Christian,
but I should hardly trust him for a friend. The Italians have a
proverb to that purpose, "To forgive the first time, shows me a good
Catholic; the second time, a fool." To this firmness in all your
actions, though you are wanting in no other ornaments of mind and
body, yet to this I principally ascribe the interest your merits have
acquired