11. Formula by which the Rank of an Illustris and the Title of a Comes Domesticorum are Conferred, without Office.

Illustratus Vacans.

'The bestowal of honour, though it does not change the nature of a man, induces him to consider his own reputation more closely, and to abstain from that which may stain it[447].

'Take therefore the rank (without office) of an Illustrious Count of the Domestics[448], and enjoy that greatest luxury of worthy minds—power to attend to your own pursuits.

'For what can be sweeter than to find yourself honoured when you enter the City, and yet to be able to cultivate your own fields; to abstain from fraudful gains, and yet see your barns overflowing with the fruit of your own sweet toil?

'But even as the seed and the soil must co-operate to produce the harvest, so do we sow in you the seed of this dignity, trusting that your own goodness of heart will give the increase.'