Letter 1046: You've made up for your long silence with a double delivery.
You've made up for your long silence with a double delivery. You sent me two letters at once, filling my longing with an extra helping of attention. That tells me it wasn't the will to write that was lacking all this time — just a reliable messenger.
How else could it have happened that you'd deprive me of the honor of your correspondence for so long? Rightly, then, my regard for you grows by the day, and my affection rises to its proper height. For that's how we find things work: a well-placed friendship, tested by experience, advances steadily.
But I'll spare the speeches on this topic — I'd rather you felt these things than heard me say them.
I gather from your letter that you're eager to be relieved of your public duties. Frankly, I'm astonished that you have such distaste for an office whose rewards — the universal love and respect you've earned — are so enviable. Is there anything more lasting than the glory that crowns a willing service?
Bear with your time away from home. Console yourself with the just affection of the province you serve. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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