Letter 15: Aeneas praises Stephen's preaching and asks for a golden reply.

This is not the first time I have spoken with you; I spoke with you long ago. Our conversation was by the Nile, where we were playing with the Muses. The argument was playful and seemed to laugh even while it was serious. The contest concerned beauty; the Greeks were judges, and the competitors were Nireus, fairest of men on earth, and Thersites, ugliest of those who came beneath Troy. The charming part was that Thersites claimed the prize, and the argument awarded it to him despite Homer's comedy, which names each part of his body from its deformity and laughs at the man down to the hair. Then you joined the listeners in play. Now I hear that you are serious: you proclaim noble doctrine in sacred matters and reshape the character of citizens by your speech. Builders and carpenters now have something to say about divine things and discuss virtue while they work, where before your words they spoke only of stones and wood. May every good thing come to excellent Eustratius, who has filled many cities with your name. He persuaded this letter to go to you, lifting it on hope and promising something greater: your golden letter in exchange for my bronze one. Do not let such a fine hope fail.