Pagina 572 de 1118

The distance between his castle and that of Don Roderick was not

more than six miles. The latter had long felt the necessity of

keeping on good terms with such a neighbour, and had proffered

his services, and entitled himself to the same sort of

friendship, as the rest; he was however, careful to conceal the

nature and strictness of the union between them. Don Roderick

liked to play the tyrant, but not openly; tyranny was with him a

means, not an end; he wished to live at ease in the city, and

enjoy the advantages, pleasures, and honours of civilised life.

To insure this, he was obliged to exhibit management, to testify

a great esteem for his relations, to cultivate the friendship of

persons in place, in order to sway the balance of justice for his

own peculiar purposes.