'The bestowal of honour, though it does not change the nature of a man, induces him to consider his own reputation more closely, and to abstain from that which may stain it[447]. [Footnote 447: 'Noblesse oblige.'] 'Take therefore the rank (without office) of an Illustrious Count of the Domestics[448], and enjoy that greatest luxury of worthy minds--power to attend to your own pursuits. [Footnote 448: 'Cape igitur ... Comitivae Domesticorum Illustratum Vacantem.'] 'For what can be sweeter than to find yourself honoured when you enter the City, and yet to be able to cultivate your own fields; to abstain from fraudful gains, and yet see your barns overflowing with the fruit of your own sweet toil? 'But even as the seed and the soil must co-operate to produce the harvest, so do we sow in you the seed of this dignity, trusting that your own goodness of heart will give the increase.' 12. FORMULA FOR THE BESTOWAL OF A COUNTSHIP OF THE FIRST ORDER, WITHOUT OFFICE. [A similar honour to that which is conferred on an English statesman who, without receiving any place in the Ministry, is 'sworn of the Privy Council.'] [Sidenote: Comitiva Primi Ordinis.] 'It is a delightful thing to enjoy the pleasures of high rank without having to undergo the toils and annoyances of office, which often make a man loathe the very dignity which he eagerly desired. 'The rank of _Comes_ is one which is reached by Governors (Rectores) of Provinces after a year's tenure of office, and by the Counsellors of the Praefect, whose functions are so important that we look upon them as almost Quaestors. 'Their rank[449] gives the holder of it, though only a _Spectabilis_, admission to our Consistory, where he sits side by side with all the Illustres. [Footnote 449: Betokened by the expression 'Ociosum cingulum.'] 'We bestow it upon you, and name you a _Comes Primi Ordinis_, thereby indicating that you are to take your place at the head of all the other Spectabiles and next after the Illustres. See that you imitate the latter, and that you are not surpassed in excellence of character by any of those below you.' 13. FORMULA FOR BESTOWING THE [HONORARY] RANK OF MASTER OF THE BUREAU [MAGISTER SCRINII] AND COUNT OF THE FIRST ORDER, ON AN OFFICER OF THE COURTS (COMITIACUS) IN ACTIVE SERVICE. [Sidenote: Honorary promotion for a Comitiacus.]