Letter 2038: I cannot decide what form of reply best suits the occasion.

I am unable to determine what form of reply would best suit me. For I have now long been troubled by such intemperate rumors that, concerning these matters, I ought neither to deceive those most devoted to me with false reports nor to alarm them with true ones. Yet hope, which always counsels patience in adverse circumstances, stands secure; and if it brings any measure of improvement, I shall by no means delay to be the announcer of better tidings. [A block of manuscript variant readings (the editor's critical apparatus, keyed to the manuscripts designated P, V, M, and F) intervenes here in the source text; it is editorial apparatus rather than part of the letter, and reads in part: "...we lost... the summit... it was therefore... unusually... farewell (added in V and F)... I ask therefore (V), I ask (M)... accusation (V, M)... you will act (corrected in V), you would act (M)... they would send... of the cause... I was silent lest... they would create... likewise... he will render (V), but concerning (V)... consolation... farewell (added in V and M)... thereafter (Gruter's conjecture)... and hope, however, of affairs (V)..."] [Dated by the editor:] XXXVIII, year 375?

Neqneo definire, qnae potissimum mihi rescribendi forma conveniat. ea qnippe iamdiu intempcrantia vexor rnmornm, nt de his neque decipere falsis neqne sollicitare veris amantissimos mei debeam. spes tamen, qnae remm semper adversarum patien- ss mus V adolim P 7 amisimus 8u8e 8 fastigium P 7 m. VF iuit igitur tie V 9 de- lui P inusitate P uale add. VF l\ om. VM 12 rogo ergo V, rogo M 14 aocusatioDe VM nihil] mihi (r) 15 age- ris P 1 m. V, egeris M 16 mitteacerent P 17 causunum P 1 m. coniectis . V pre- Uxato M 19 prius quod V sublimi V 21 effigiem] ego, offlcium PVPPj om. M 23 maxi- minum quem V silui ne in ra$. P 24 crearent] luretWy crearem PK, crearot M 2S quoque] quippe V 29 reddet P2m., sed de V 30 solatia P 1 m. uale add. VM dehinc Oruter 35 spesque tamen rerum V tiam soadet, in tuto est, et si aliquid commoditatis adtulerit, nequaqaam morabor PVF index esse meliorum. XXXVin a. 375?