He then asked me what were my projects for the future, and my plans for the rest of my life.

'My intentions are good,' I replied to him, 'but a bad habit, which I cannot conquer, masters my better will, and I resemble a sea beaten by two opposite winds,' 'I can understand that,' he said; 'but I wish to know what is the kind of life that would most decidedly please you ?' 'A secluded life,' I replied to him, without hesitation.

'If I could, I should go and seek for such a life at its fountain-head; that is, among the woods and mountains, as I have already done.

If I could not go so far to find it, I should seek to enjoy it in the midst of cities.' "The Emperor differed from me totally as to the benefits of a solitary life.

I told him that I had composed a treatise on the subject.