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Whilst on his way, he asked the officer of the court, whoconducted him, where they were taking him ? who re-plied, to the tribunal. Then, said Apollonius, againstwhom am I to plead ? Against your accuser, returnedthe officer; and afterwards the Emperor will give sentence.But who, said Apollonius, will judge between the Em-peror and me ? for I will demonstrate the injury he doesphilosophy. And what cares the Emperor , answered theofficer, whether he injures philosophy or not? Andyet, returned Apollonius, it is of infinite consequence tophilosophy that the Emperor governs with prudence anddiscretion. As this remark met the full approbation of theofficer, who, from the first, was w 7 ell-disposed to Apollo-nius, he said, What quantity of water will you require foryour defence,* a circumstance necessary to be known be-fore you make it. If, replied Apollonius, the Emperor permits me to say as much as the cause requires, all thewater of the Tiber will not be enough to measure thetime ; but if only as much as I wish, the interrogant willfix the limits of time necessary for the respondent. I see,said the officer, you have cultivated very opposite talents,in the knowledge you have acquired of speaking eitherbriefly, or at length, on the same subject. The talents youmean, said Apollonius, are not opposite, but very similar,for he who excels in the one, will not be deficient in theother; but there is a talent lying between both, and equallypartaking of one and the other, which constitutes, not whatI shall call the third, so much as the first talent, of an ora-tion. My fourth talent on a trial, is what I call silence.Sure, returned the officer, this is a talent which can be ofno use, either to you or any other person in a capital in-