Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 7

Maxima laus illi tribuitur mansuetudinis, pepercit gladio, sanguine abstinuit nec ulla alia re, quid posset, quam licentia ostendit; hanc ipsam laudem suam corrupit istis orationis portentosissimae deliciis.

Ces locutions si impertinemment construites, si négligemment jetées, placées d’une manière si contraire à l’usage, démontrent que ses mœurs ne furent pas moins étranges, moins dépravées, moins exceptionnelles. On lui accorde un grand mérite de mansuétude : il s’abstint du glaive, il épargna le sang, et ne fit sentir tout ce qu’il pouvait que par le scandale. Mais le mérite même qu’on lui donne, il l’a gâté par cette monstrueuse mignardise de ses écrits ;

These words of his, put together so faultily, thrown off so carelessly, and arranged in such marked contrast to the usual practice, declare that the character of their writer was equally unusual, unsound, and eccentric. To be sure, we bestow upon him the highest praise for his humanity; he was sparing with the sword and refrained from bloodshed; and he made a show of his power only in the course of his loose living; but he spoiled, by such preposterous finickiness of style, this genuine praise, which was his due.