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But they even designed to stain the character of Marcus Cato by that
transaction; ignorant of the extent of such a man's wisdom, and integrity,
and magnanimity, and virtue; which is tranquil during a terrible tempest,
and shines amid the darkness, and, though driven from its proper
position,1 still
remains, and clings to his country, and shines at all times by its own
unassisted light, and is never tarnished by the dirt or disgrace of others.
Their object was, not to do honour to Marcus Cato, but to banish him. They
did not think that they were entrusting that commission to him, but imposing
it on him; and said openly in the assembly, that they had cut
Marcus Cato's tongue out, which had always spoken so freely against all
extraordinary commissions. They will feel, I trust, in a short time, that
that freedom of his still continues; and even if that be possible that it
exists in a still greater degree from this circumstance, that Marcus Cato,
even when he despaired of being any longer able to do any good by his
authority, still with his voice and with every expression of indignation
struggled against those consuls and, after my departure, weeping for my
misfortune and for that of the republic, attacked Piso in such language, that he made that
most abandoned and most shameless man almost repent of his bargain about the
province
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1 Clodius had an old grudge against Ptolemaeus king of Cyprus for refusing to ransom him once when be was taken prisoner by pirates; and now, having proposed a law to reduce his kingdom to the state of a province, and to confiscate all his property, he got the execution of the decree given to Cato, partly to throw discredit on Cato, and partly to oblige him to acknowledge the validity of his acts by submitting to bear a part in them: and Cato was much pleased at the commission. Ptolemaeus, as soon as he had heard of the law and of Cato's approach, poisoned himself in despair.
M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge, B. A. London. George Bell & Sons, York Street, Covent Garden. 1891.
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