To Sulpicius.
Bishop Himerius, your son — known to me until now only slightly by sight but well enough by reputation (which was entirely favorable) — recently came to Lyon from Troyes. There, though I saw him only briefly and in haste, he restored to me the living image of the holy Bishop Lupus [Lupus of Troyes, the revered metropolitan], easily the foremost of the Gallic bishops, who was both the master of his calling and the author of his dignity.
Good God, what a blend of rigor and grace the man displays, whether deliberating or persuading! He overflows with the salt of good sense when consulted, with sweetness when giving counsel. His chief concern is for letters — especially sacred letters — in which the marrow of meaning occupies him more than the foam of words. His every action, fast or slow, centers on Christ. And what you would admire or praise: he does nothing idle, yet does nothing that is not peaceful.
He delights in fasting and accepts feasting — drawn to the first by the habit of the cross, yielding to the second by the grace of charity, maintaining both in perfect balance, since he suppresses gluttony whenever he decides to eat and suppresses vanity whenever he decides to abstain. He multiplies his own duties and avoids others'; and though he himself deserves to be honored in return, he is happier when the debt of courtesy is owed to him than when it is repaid.
At table, on the road, and in company he defers to his inferiors — so that the crowd of his superiors is all the more delighted to place itself below him. He manages conversation with the utmost tact: no stranger feels embarrassed, no intimate suffers injury, no credulous person stirs envy, no curious one meets rebuff, no suspicious person encounters deceit, no expert provokes complaint, no novice brings shame. He cultivates the dove's simplicity in the church and the serpent's shrewdness in the world — judged prudent by the good, cautious by the wicked, cunning by neither.
What more can I say? He has given you back to us entirely — all your moderation, your piety, your freedom, your modesty, and that most delicate tenderness of a refined mind, reproduced in a delightful likeness. So withdraw into seclusion as much as you like from now on — for in your son Himerius we already possess, in grandfather's name, father's face, and both men's wisdom, all that we could desire. Farewell.
EPISTULA XIII
Sidonius Sulpicio suo salutem.
1. Himerius antistes, filius tuus, notus mihi hactenus parum vultu, satis opinione, quae quidem in bonam partem porrigebatur, Lugdunum nuper a Tricassibus venit, quo loci mihi raptim ac breviter inspectus sanctum episcopum Lupum, facile principem pontificum Gallicanorum, suae tam professionis magistrum quam dignitatis auctorem, morum nobis imitatione restituit.
2. deus bone, quae viro censura cum venustate, si quid vel deliberet forte vel suadeat! abundat animi sale, cum consulitur, melle, cum consulit. summa homini cura de litteris, sed maxime religiosis, in quibus eum magis occupat medulla sensuum quam spuma verborum. tota illi actionum suarum intentio celeritas mora Christus est. quodque mirere vel laudes, nihil otiosum facit, cum nihil faciat non quietum.
3. ieiuniis delectatur, edulibus adquiescit; illis adhaeret propter consuetudinem crucis, istis flectitur propter gratiam caritatis: summo utrumque moderamine, quia comprimit, quotiens prandere statuit, gulam, quotiens abstinere, iactantiam. officia multiplicat propria, vitat aliena; cumque ipsi vicissim deceat occurri, gratius habet, si sibi mutuus honos debeatur mage quam rependatur.
4. in convivio itinere consessu inferioribus cedit; quo fit, ut se illi voluptuosius turba postponat superiorum. sermonem maximo temperamento cum conloquente dispensat, in quo non patitur ullam aut verecundiam externus aut familiaris iniuriam, aut credulus invidiam aut curiosus repulsam aut suspiciosus nequitiam, aut peritus calumniam aut imperitus infamiam. simplicitatem columbae in ecclesia servat, in foro serpentis astutiam; bonis prudens, malis cautus, neutris callidus iudicatur.
5. quid plura? totum te nobis ille iam reddidit; totam tuam temperantiam religionem, libertatem verecundiam et illam delicatae mentis pudicissimam teneritudinem iucunda similitudine exscripsit. quapropter quantum volueris deinceps frui secreto, indulgere secessui, licebit indulgeas; quandoquidem nos in fratre meo Himerio avum nomine, patrem facie, utrumque prudentia iam tenemus. vale.
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To Sulpicius.
Bishop Himerius, your son — known to me until now only slightly by sight but well enough by reputation (which was entirely favorable) — recently came to Lyon from Troyes. There, though I saw him only briefly and in haste, he restored to me the living image of the holy Bishop Lupus [Lupus of Troyes, the revered metropolitan], easily the foremost of the Gallic bishops, who was both the master of his calling and the author of his dignity.
Good God, what a blend of rigor and grace the man displays, whether deliberating or persuading! He overflows with the salt of good sense when consulted, with sweetness when giving counsel. His chief concern is for letters — especially sacred letters — in which the marrow of meaning occupies him more than the foam of words. His every action, fast or slow, centers on Christ. And what you would admire or praise: he does nothing idle, yet does nothing that is not peaceful.
He delights in fasting and accepts feasting — drawn to the first by the habit of the cross, yielding to the second by the grace of charity, maintaining both in perfect balance, since he suppresses gluttony whenever he decides to eat and suppresses vanity whenever he decides to abstain. He multiplies his own duties and avoids others'; and though he himself deserves to be honored in return, he is happier when the debt of courtesy is owed to him than when it is repaid.
At table, on the road, and in company he defers to his inferiors — so that the crowd of his superiors is all the more delighted to place itself below him. He manages conversation with the utmost tact: no stranger feels embarrassed, no intimate suffers injury, no credulous person stirs envy, no curious one meets rebuff, no suspicious person encounters deceit, no expert provokes complaint, no novice brings shame. He cultivates the dove's simplicity in the church and the serpent's shrewdness in the world — judged prudent by the good, cautious by the wicked, cunning by neither.
What more can I say? He has given you back to us entirely — all your moderation, your piety, your freedom, your modesty, and that most delicate tenderness of a refined mind, reproduced in a delightful likeness. So withdraw into seclusion as much as you like from now on — for in your son Himerius we already possess, in grandfather's name, father's face, and both men's wisdom, all that we could desire. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.