Page:Petrach, the first modern scholar and man of letters.djvu/306

 seem to know very well, and he, at the very beginning of his works, in the prologue of the Andria, makes definite mention of Nævius and Plautus, and, in the same verse, of Ennius too. Then in the Eunuchus he refers to them again, and in the Adelphi speaks of Plautus alone. Cicero, too, mentions them together, in his De Senectute, and Aulus Gellius in his Nodes Atticæ, where he gives their epitaphs, in old-fashioned Latin. All this argument is needless, however, for who ever heard the name of poetry apart from the names of these two men? Your amazement therefore fills me with amaze; and I beg you, my father,—if you will let me speak freely,—not to allow these lucubrations of yours to pass into any hands but mine. The brighter one's renown, the more carefully should it be guarded. To me, indeed, you may say whatever you wish, as freely as to yourself. You may change and retract, as scholars have to do when they commune with their own past thoughts. But when your words have gone abroad all power of choice is taken away, and you must submit to whatever judgments the multitude may pronounce upon you. I send your letter back to you in safe custody, and send this with it, keeping a copy, though, simply that I may be able, if you should desire to continue the discussion, to place your arguments by the side of mine which called them forth, instead of having to tax my memory for what I had said.…

In writing thus I do not for a moment forget that a letter of reproof addressed to a father by a son can scarcely fail to seem harsh and rude. But you must