Epistle XV. To Fundanus.
by
the Same. [Mr. Henley.]
[_]
He sollicits him in Favour of a Young Gentleman.
I Certainly act one Thing, (if any at all) with Judgment, in bearing a singular Respect to
Asinius Rufus. He is an extraordinary Person, and a very great Lover of good and worthy Men.
He has likewise cultivated a very near Acquaintance with Cornelius Tacitus;
whom you well know. Therefore if we are both agreeable to you, Rufus
must be
equally so; since a Resemblance of Manners is the strictest Tie of Friendship.
He has a large Family of Children, for he has discharg'd the Part of a good Citizen in this Article of a numerous Offspring,
in an Age, when the Advantages of having none, make even one Son a Burthen to the greatest Part of the World.
But these he has over-look'd so far, as to arrive at the Name of a Grand-Father.
This he is by
Saturius Firmus; whom you will value as I do, when you come to as thorough a Knowledge of him.
All this tends to inform you, how well-Peopled a House you may oblige by one Act of Kindness:
To entreat which of you, we are led first by our Wishes, and then by an auspicious Omen.
For our Hopes and Presages join to place you in the next Year's Consulate:
Your own Virtues, and the Judgment of your Prince, gives a Foundation for it.
It would be agreeable, that
Asinius Bassus, the eldest Son of
Rufus, should be Quæstor the same Year; a young Gentleman (I don't know whether I ought to
speak out, what the Father is fond I should both think and say, tho' the Modesty of the Son would forbid it) that even excels the Father.
You may find it difficult to believe what I aver of an absent Person,
tho' it is your Practice to believe me in every thing, that there is as much Industry,
Probity, Learning, Wit, Study, Memory, in him, as you shall ever experience in any.
I wish we had an
Age so fruitful in good Arts and Talents, that you could prefer another to
Bassus. In that Cafe, I should be the first, that would remind and perswade you,
to look about and consider a long Time, who should be the principal Object of your Choice.
But now; — However, I will say nothing more arrogantly of my Friend;
this I only affirm, That the Merit of the Youth would entitle him to be adopted as a Son by you,
after the Custom of our Ancestors. Now Men of your Sagacity should receive such for Sons,
as it were from the Commonwealth, as we usually wish to receive from Nature.
It will be an Honour to you to have a Quæstor, whose Father is of Prætorian Rank;
and whose near Relations are Consular Men. To whom he, tho' as yet very Young,
is in his Turn a reciprocal Ornament, in their own Opinion. Therefore indulge this Petition of mine,
and at the same Time comply with my Advice; and above all, if I seem to be over hasty,
excuse me, first, Because it is the usual Property of Love to run before its
own Wishes; and further, Because in that City, where all is in a manner transacted by Anticipation,
these Things that wait their due Time, are not properly ripen'd, but are of later Growth:
In short, Since it is delightful to lay hold on what we desire, beforehand,
let
Bassus now reverence you as a Consul; have you a Kindness for him as your Quæstor;
and let us, who are unquestioned
Friends to both of you, enjoy a double Satisfaction. For since we have entertain'd that Value both for you and for
Bassus, that we should be ready to assist him, whose Quæstor soever he might be;
and your Quæstor, whoever he may be, in his pursuit of Advancement, with all possible Respect and Application,
it will be highly pleasing to me, if the Power of my Friendship, or of your Consular Office shall concur to bestow what I desire on this same young Gentleman;
if in short, you shall be the most forward to second my Wishes, whose Authority carries the largest Sway,
as your Testimony has the utmost Weight in the Senate.
Farewell.
