Letter 12021: The office of the notary is the security of all, since the rights of everyone are protected by his diligence.

XXI. Senator, Praetorian Prefect, to Deusdedit, Scribe of Ravenna. [1] The office of scribes is wont to be the security of all men, since the right of everyone is guarded by their care. For some are ravaged by fires, others are stripped bare by stealthy theft, and to some there perishes through negligence what a diligent maker had acquired; but by the public faith there is most stoutly restored whatever is lost by private persons. [2] It is more careful in others' affairs than care over one's own can be: unprompted it does what one would scarcely fulfill even when asked, and when sought it cannot deny what the man whose interest is at stake confesses that he has lost. Its cabinet is the fortune of all, and deservedly is it called the refuge of all, where the security of everyone is found. It passes over into a fatherly office, if the truth is kept incorruptly. For just as a diligent parent preserves what an idle successor may find, so the arbiter of the parties suffers no one to be defrauded for his own advantage. [3] And therefore we charge that you be the unbroken guardian of so great a matter, so that you, who have hitherto been pleasing in your integrity, may owe no obligation to be darkened by any inconstancy. See what is committed to you by ancient faith and daily diligence. You settle the dispute of those who quarrel: before all the presiding magistrates there is litigation about your care, and you rather are the judge, who loosen the bonds of lawsuits. This is an honorable distinction, an indisputable testimony: when the ancient voice of the documents has come forth uncorrupted from your sanctuaries, the examiners receive it with reverence; the litigants, however dishonest, nevertheless obey under compulsion. And although it is permitted for a promulgated sentence to be suspended, it is not lawful for you to be opposed. [4] Wherefore you must not have a purpose for sale. The moth of records is the malicious offering of one who buys them off, while they seek to consume what they have recognized to be an impediment to themselves. Let the comely publication of the truth feed you: let your means be reckoned to be your integrity. Give to those who seek what was once done. Be the transmitter, not the founder, of past deeds. Imprint the copy upon the wax as a signet-ring does, so that, just as the impressed features cannot escape the marks, so your hand cannot diverge from the original. [5] But if anyone should lead you astray by an unjust deception, in what manner, in another case, will he acquiesce that the man be believed whom he knows could have been corrupted? He attacks you with his own fraud and easily convicts the man whom he has deceived in one matter. Love justice, of which no one complains, so that even an angry man may be able to give wholesome testimony, who wished to lead you astray to no purpose. Everything that you do is public, since you can find either favor when praised or offense when accused.

XXI. DEUSDEDIT SCRIBAE RAVENNATI SENATOR PPO. [1] Scribarum officium securitas solet esse cunctorum, quando ius omnium eius sollicitudine custoditur. alios enim depopulantur incendia: alios nudat furtiva subreptio: nonnullis neglegentia perit quod diligens auctor adquirit: sed de fide publica robustissime reparatur quicquid a privatis amittitur. [2] Diligentior est in alienis quam potest esse cura de propriis: non admonitus facit quod vix rogatus impleret et requisitus non potest negare quod is cuius interest se fatetur amisisse. armarium ipsius fortuna cunctorum est et merito refugium omnium dicitur, ubi universorum securitas invenitur. ad paterna transit officia, si incorrupte sit veritas custodita. nam sicut diligens genitor servat quod otiosus successor inveniat, sic arbiter partium nullum patitur propria utilitate fraudari. [3] Et ideo tantae rei iugiter praecipimus esse custodem, ut qui hactenus de integritate placuisti, nulla debeas varietate fuscari. vide quid tibi committitur antiqua fides et cotidiana diligentia. dirimis iurgantium litem: apud cunctos praesules de tua cura litigatur et tu potius iudicas, qui causarum vincla dissolvis. hoc honorabile decus, indisputabile testimonium: vox antiqua chartarum cum de tuis adytis incorrupta processerit, cognitores reverenter excipiunt: litigantes quamvis improbi coacti tamen oboediunt. et cum fas sit promulgatam sententiam suspendi, tibi non licet obviari. [4] Quocirca non habeas venale propositum. tinea documentorum est oblatio maligna redimentis, dum quaerunt consumere quod se cognoverint impedire. pascat te editio decora veritatis: facultas tua habeatur integritas. da petentibus quae olim facta sunt. translator esto, non conditor antiquorum gestorum. exemplar velut anulum ceris imprime, ut sicut vultus expressa non possunt signa refugere, ita manus tua ab authentico nequeat discrepare. [5] Quod si te aliquis iniqua subreptione traduxerit, quemadmodum in alia causa tibi adquiescat credi quem scit potuisse corrumpi? inpugnat te fraude sua et facile convincit, quem in una parte deceperit. ama iustitiam, de qua nemo queritur, ut etiam iratus testimonium salubre possit dicere, qui te in cassum voluit deviare. publicum est omne quod feceris, dum aut laudatus gratiam aut accusatus invenire possis offensam.