fitted and destined to do an untold amount of mischief.] if there ever was such a man [Footnote: Latin, _nescio, quem_, I know not whom, or of whom I am ignorant, that is, there may or may not have been such a man.] he yet cannot help seeking some one in whose presence he may vomit the venom of his bitterness. The need of friendship would be best shown, were such a thing possible, if some god should take us away from this human crowd, and place us anywhere in solitude, giving us there an abundant supply of all things that nature craves but depriving us utterly of the sight of a human countenance. Who could be found of so iron make that he could endure [Footnote: Latin, tam ... _ferreus,_ qiu ... _ferre_ posset,--an assonance which cannot be represented by corresponding English words.] such a life, and whom solitude would not render incapable of enjoying any kind of pleasure? That is true then which, if I remember aright, our elders used to say that they had heard from their seniors in age as having come from Archytas of Tarentum--"If one had ascended to heaven and had obtained a full view of the nature of the universe and the beauty of the stars, yet his admiration would be without delight, if there were no one to whom he could tell what he had seen." Thus Nature has no love for solitude, and always leans as it were, on some support, and the sweetest support is found in the most intimate friendship. 24 But while Nature declares by so many tokens what she desires, craves, needs, we--I know not how--grow deaf, and fail to hear her counsel. Intercourse among friends assumes many different forms and modes, and there frequently arise causes of suspicion and offence, which it is the part of a wise man sometimes to avoid, sometimes to remove, sometimes to bear. One ground of offence, namely, freedom in telling the truth, must be put entirely away, in order that friendship may retain its serviceableness and its good faith, for friends often need to be admonished and reproved, and such offices, when kindly performed, ought to be received in a friendly way. Yet somehow we witness in actual life, what my friend [Footnote: Terence with whom Laelius was so intimate that he was reported probably on no sufficient ground to have aided in the composition of some of the plays that bear Terence's name. This verse is from the _Andria._] says in his play of _Andria_-- "Complacency *[Footnote: _Obsequium_] wins friends, but truth gives birth to hatred."