THE OCTAVIUS OF HEJUCIUS FELIX.
CHAPTER I.
Argument. — Minucius relateshow delightfulto him is the
recollectionof the thingsthathad happened to him with
Octaviuswhilehe was associatedwith him at Rome, and
especiallyof thisdisputation.
|HEN I consider and mentally review my re
membrance of Octavius,my excellentand most
faithfulcompanion,the sweetnessand charm of
the man so clings to me, that I appear to
myself in some sortas if I were returning to past times,
and not merely recallingin my recollectionthings which
have long since transpiredand gone by. Thus, in the
degree in which the actualcontemplationof him iswithdrawn
from my eyes,it is bound up in my heartand in my most
intimatefeelings.And it was not withoutreasonthat that
remarkable and holy man, when he departed [thislife],left
to me an unbounded regretfor him, especiallysincehe him
self alsoglowed with such a lovefor me at alltimes,that,
whether in matters of amusement or of business,he agreed
with me in similarityof will,in eitherlikingor dislikingthe
same things.You would thinkthatone mind had been shared
between us two. Thus he alone was my confidantin my
loves,my companion in my mistakes; and when, afterthe
gloom had been dispersed,I emerged from the abyssof dark
ness into the lightof wisdom and truth,he did not castoff
his associate,but— what ismore gloriousstill— he outstripped
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