, who does not approve of and praise this disposition of mind;
by which not only no advantage is sought, but good faith is preserved even
at the expense of one's advantage. And not only are imaginary fables, but
true histories also, and especially those of our country, full of such
instances: for we selected our most virtuous citizen to receive the Idaean
sacred vessels; we have sent guardians to kings; our generals have devoted
their lives for the safety of the republic; our consuls have warned a king
who was our greatest enemy, when he was actually approaching our walls, to
beware of poison. In our republic, a woman has been found to expiate, by a
voluntary death, a violation which was inflicted on her by force; and a
man to kill his daughter to save her from being ravished. All which
instances, and a countless host of others, prove to the comprehension of
every one that those who performed those deeds were induced to do so by
the brilliancy of virtue, forgetful of their own advantage, and that we,
when we praise those actions, are influenced by nothing but their
honourable character.

XXIII. And having briefly explained these matters, (for I have not sought
to adduce the number of examples which I might have done, because there
was no doubt on the subject,) it is shown sufficiently by these facts that
all the virtues, and that honourableness which arises from these virtues,
and clings to them, are worthy to be sought for their own sake. But in the
whole of this honourableness of which we are speaking, there is nothing so
eminent, nor so extensive in its operation, as the union of man with man,
and a certain partnership in and communication of advantages, and the
affection itself of the human race; which originating in that first
feeling according to which the offspring is loved by the parent, and the
whole house united by the bonds of wedlock and descent, creeps gradually
out of doors, first of all to one's relations, then to one's connexions,
then to one's friends and neighbours, then to one's fellow-countrymen, and
to the public friends and allies of one's country; then it embraces the
whole human race: and this disposition of mind, giving every one his due,
and protecting with liberality and equity this union of human society
which I have spoken of, is called justice, akin to which are piety,
kindness, liberality, benevolence, courtesy, and all other qualities of
the same kind. But these, though peculiarly belonging