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Thou hast heard, for many have told thee, and I have never

concealed it, how I entered the house of thy father whilst yet a

boy-a stranger to all those ambitions which every generous soul

should feel-and how I was brought up by him, and loved as though

I had been born of his blood; how under his governance I learned

to be valiant and capable of availing myself of all that fortune,

of which thou hast been witness. When thy good father came to

die, he committed thee and all his possessions to my care, and I

have brought thee up with that love, and increased thy estate

with that care, which I was bound to show. And in order that thou

shouldst not only possess the estate which thy father left, but

also that which my fortune and abilities have gained, I have

never married, so that the love of children should never deflect

my mind from that gratitude which I owed to the children of thy

father.