The following letter, which seems to show that a youth who had excellent opportunities might still be lacking in principle and self-control, is the only one which survives of the letters of undergraduates of that day.  It was written by the young Cicero, after he had repented and undertaken to reform, not to his father himself, but to the faithful friend and freedman of his father, Tiro, who afterwards edited the collection of letters in which he inserted it.[305] It is on the whole a pleasing letter, and seems to show real affection for Tiro, who had known the writer from his infancy.  It is a little odd in the choice of words, perhaps a trifle rhetorical.  The reader shall be left to decide for himself whether it is perfectly straight and genuine.  In any case it may aptly conclude this chapter.

“I had been anxiously expecting letter-carriers day after day, when at last they arrived forty-six days after they left you.  Their arrival was most welcome to me.  I took the greatest possible pleasure in the letter of the kindest and best beloved of fathers, but your own delightful letter put the finishing touch to my joy.  So I no longer repent of dropping letter-writing for a time, but am rather glad I did so, for my silence has brought me a great reward in your kindness.  I am very glad indeed that you accepted my excuse without hesitation.

“I am sure, my dearest Tiro, that the reports about me which reach you answer your best wishes and hopes.  I will make them good, and I will do my best that this beginning of a good report about me may daily be repeated.  So you may with perfect confidence fulfil your promise of being the trumpeter (buccinator) of my reputation.  For the errors of my youth have caused me so much remorse and suffering, that it is not only my heart that shrinks from what I did—­my very ears abhor the mention of it.  I know for a fact that you have shared my trouble and sorrow, and I don’t wonder; you always wished me to do well not only for my sake but for your own.  So as I have been the means of giving you pain, I will now take care that you shall feel double joy on my account.

“Let me tell you that my attachment to Cratippus is that of a son rather than a pupil:  I enjoy his lectures, but I am especially charmed by his delightful manners.  I spend whole days with him, and often part of the night, for I get him to dine with me as often as I can.  We have grown so intimate that he often drops in upon us unexpectedly while we are at dinner, lays aside the stiff air of a philosopher, and joins in our jests with the greatest good will.  He is such a man, so delightful, so distinguished, that you ought to make his acquaintance as soon as ever you can.  As for Bruttius, I never let him leave me.  He is a man of strict and moral life, as well as being the most delightful company.  Surely it is not necessary that in our daily literary studies there should never be any fun at all.  I have taken a lodging close to him, and as far as