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Abstemius's Fables (Sir Roger L'Estrange)

276. (Abstemius 23) An Old Friend and a Cardinal.

An Ingenious Cavalier, hearing that an old Friend of his was advanc'd to a Cardinalate, went to Congratulate his Eminence upon his new Honour. Pray Sir, says the Cardinal, looking strangely upon him, Give me the Favour of your Name, and of your Bus'ness. I am come, says the Cavalier, to Condole with your Eminence, and to tell you how heartily I pity Men that are over-charg'd with Dignity and Preferment; for it turns Peoples Brains to that degree that they can neither See, nor Hear nor Understand like other Men; and makes them absolutely to forget their Old Friends, as if they had never seen them before in their Lives.
Honours change Manners.