14.  Thence to Byzantium, the imperial city of the East, for it was distinguished by the eminence of its rhetorical and philosophic teachers, whose most valuable lessons he soon assimilated by the quickness and force of his powers:  thence he was sent by God, and by his generous craving for culture, to Athens the home of letters.  Athens, which has been to me, if to any one, a city truly of gold, and the patroness of all that is good.  For it brought me to know Basil more perfectly, though he had not been unknown to me before; and in my pursuit of letters, I attained to happiness; and in another fashion had the same experience as Saul, 1 Sam. ix. 3. who, seeking his father’s asses, found a kingdom, and gained incidentally what was of more importance than the object which he had in view.  Hitherto my course has been clear, leading me in my encomiums along a level and easy, in fact, a king’s highway:  henceforth I know not how to speak or whither to turn:  for my task is becoming arduous.  For here I am anxious, and seize this opportunity to add from my own experience somewhat to my speech, and to dwell a little upon the recital of the causes and circumstances which originated our friendship, or to speak more strictly, our unity of life and nature.  For as our eyes are not ready to turn from attractive objects, and, if we violently tear them away, are wont to return to them again; so do we linger in our description of what is most sweet to us.  I am afraid of the difficulty of the undertaking.  I will try, however, to use all possible moderation.  And if I am at all overpowered by my regret, pardon this most righteous of all feelings, the absence of which would be a great loss, in the eyes of men of feeling.