[43]
And, O judges, both within, our own recollection and in the time of our
fathers and ancestors, there have been many most excellent men and most
illustrious citizens, who, after their youthful passions had cooled down,
displayed, when they became of more mature and vigorous age, the most
exalted virtues; of whom there is no need for me to name to you any
particular instance; you yourselves can recollect plenty. For I should not
wish to connect even the slightest error on the part of any brave and
illustrious man with his greatest glory. But if I did choose to do so, then
I could name many most eminent and most distinguished men, some of whom were
notorious for excessive licentiousness in their early days, some for their
profuse luxury, their enormous debts, their extravagance, and their
debaucheries, but whose early errors were afterwards so veiled over by their
numerous virtues, that every one felt at liberty to make excuses for and to
defend their youth.
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