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[4] But I do not think that I should write to you about my own affairs only and be indifferent to yours; on the contrary, just as I would have done had I come to you, I will now try to discuss these same matters to the best of my ability. And pray do not entertain any such notion as that I have written this letter, not on account of your friendship, but for the purpose of making a rhetorical display. For I have not become so demented as not to know that I could not write anything better than my previously published discourses, being now so far past my prime, and that if I produce anything much inferior in merit, I should find my present reputation grievously impaired.