Letter 2017: If you haven't yet learned about my son Nicasius's praiseworthy character and honorable way of life, then accept as...
If you haven't yet learned about my son Nicasius's praiseworthy character and honorable way of life, then accept as his richest guarantor my friend Promotus — a man distinguished for both virtue and humanity — with whom Nicasius has been closely associated for some time. Judge the young man's qualities by his choice of companion.
That's a fair inference, after all: a man's worth can be measured by the weight and esteem of his friends. My own endorsement carries less force when the testimony of a more prominent person tips the scale. It is to his honor that he should come before you not as a newcomer to be tested, but as a man already proven.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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