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A Charge
We read that Cato , the Censor , often said to his friends , that of three things he had good reason to repent , if ever he neglected the due performance of them ; . the first , if he divulged any Secret ; the second , if he ventured on the water , when he might stay on dryland ; and thirdly , if he should let any day neglected escape him , without doing some good action .. The latter two are well worthy of
observation ; but the . first concerns our present undertaking . Alexander having received divers letters of importance from his mother ; after he had read them , in presence of none but his friend Bephesiion , he drew forth the signet with which he sealed his most private letters , ancl , without speaking , set it upon his lips , intimating therebythat he in whose bosom a man buries his secrets
, , should have his lips locked up from revealing them . The Senators of Rome , at their usual sitting in the Senatehouse , had constituted a custom among themselves , that each Senator who had a son , should be admitted with his father to abide in the Senate-house during their sitting , or depart if occasion required ; nor was this favour general , but extended only to Noblemen ' s
sons , who were tutored in such , a manner as enabled them to become wise Governors , and capable of keeping their own secrets . About this time it happened that the Senators sat in consultation on a very important cause , so that they stayed much longer than usual , and the conclusion was referred to the following day , with express charge of secresy in the mean time . Among the other Noblemen ' s sons who had been at . this weighty business , was the son of the grave Papyrus , whose family was one of the most noble and illustrious in Rome .
The young lad being come home , his mother entreated him to tell her what strange case had been debated that day in the Senate , that had power to detain them so long beyond their usual hours . The virtuous and noble youth , courteously told her , that it was a business not in his power to reveal , he being in a solemn manner commanded to silence . Upon hearing this answer , her desire became more earnestand nothing but intelligence thereof could any
, way content her . So that first by fair speeches and entreaties she endeavoured to obtain the secret ; but finding these efforts in vain , to stripes and violent threats was her next flight ; because force may compel , where lenity cannot . The youth finding a mother ' s threats very harsh , and her stripes still worse , besides comparing his love to her as his mother , with
the duty he owed to his father , the one mighty , but the other impulsive ; ho-lays her and her fond conceit in one scale , his father , his own honour , and the solemn injunction to secresy in the other , and finding her intrinsic weight as being his mother , . but lighter than wind , he , in order to appease her ,-and preserve his own honour by remaining faithful , thus resolved her : " " Madam , and dear mother , you may well blame the Senate for their long sitting , at least for calling in question a case so impertinent : for except the wives of the senators be admitted to consjuH
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Charge
We read that Cato , the Censor , often said to his friends , that of three things he had good reason to repent , if ever he neglected the due performance of them ; . the first , if he divulged any Secret ; the second , if he ventured on the water , when he might stay on dryland ; and thirdly , if he should let any day neglected escape him , without doing some good action .. The latter two are well worthy of
observation ; but the . first concerns our present undertaking . Alexander having received divers letters of importance from his mother ; after he had read them , in presence of none but his friend Bephesiion , he drew forth the signet with which he sealed his most private letters , ancl , without speaking , set it upon his lips , intimating therebythat he in whose bosom a man buries his secrets
, , should have his lips locked up from revealing them . The Senators of Rome , at their usual sitting in the Senatehouse , had constituted a custom among themselves , that each Senator who had a son , should be admitted with his father to abide in the Senate-house during their sitting , or depart if occasion required ; nor was this favour general , but extended only to Noblemen ' s
sons , who were tutored in such , a manner as enabled them to become wise Governors , and capable of keeping their own secrets . About this time it happened that the Senators sat in consultation on a very important cause , so that they stayed much longer than usual , and the conclusion was referred to the following day , with express charge of secresy in the mean time . Among the other Noblemen ' s sons who had been at . this weighty business , was the son of the grave Papyrus , whose family was one of the most noble and illustrious in Rome .
The young lad being come home , his mother entreated him to tell her what strange case had been debated that day in the Senate , that had power to detain them so long beyond their usual hours . The virtuous and noble youth , courteously told her , that it was a business not in his power to reveal , he being in a solemn manner commanded to silence . Upon hearing this answer , her desire became more earnestand nothing but intelligence thereof could any
, way content her . So that first by fair speeches and entreaties she endeavoured to obtain the secret ; but finding these efforts in vain , to stripes and violent threats was her next flight ; because force may compel , where lenity cannot . The youth finding a mother ' s threats very harsh , and her stripes still worse , besides comparing his love to her as his mother , with
the duty he owed to his father , the one mighty , but the other impulsive ; ho-lays her and her fond conceit in one scale , his father , his own honour , and the solemn injunction to secresy in the other , and finding her intrinsic weight as being his mother , . but lighter than wind , he , in order to appease her ,-and preserve his own honour by remaining faithful , thus resolved her : " " Madam , and dear mother , you may well blame the Senate for their long sitting , at least for calling in question a case so impertinent : for except the wives of the senators be admitted to consjuH