Pagina 197 de 734

Next in order would seem to come a dissertation on Magnificence,

this being thought to be, like liberality, a virtue having for

its object-matter Wealth; but it does not, like that, extend to

all transactions in respect of Wealth, but only applies to such

as are expensive, and in these circumstances it exceeds

liberality in respect of magnitude, because it is (what the very

name in Greek hints at) fitting expense on a large scale: this

term is of course relative: I mean, the expenditure of equipping

and commanding a trireme is not the same as that of giving a

public spectacle: "fitting" of course also is relative to the

individual, and the matter wherein and upon which he has to

spend. And a man is not denominated Magnificent for spending as

he should do in small or ordinary things, as, for instance,

"Oft to the wandering beggar did I give,"