Letter 4026: No one who carries your letters to me has ever gone back to you empty-handed.

No one who carries your letters to me has ever gone back to you empty-handed. And yet you accuse me of writing too rarely and even reproach me for the frequency of your own attention. You do this in the way of people in love: no amount of such exchanges can quench their thirst. You're not just asking for letters, either — you're also demanding that I send you my unpublished speeches. That tells me something about your opinion of the ones you've already read, since no one craves a sequel unless they enjoyed what came before. So I've sent five of my more recent speeches — the ones that public favor has already given me some confidence about. But after the Senate's verdict, I'm still waiting nervously for yours [Text breaks off in source.]

Nemo umquam pervector epistulamm tuamm vacuus eiusdem muneris mei ad te revertit; tu tamen infrequentiam nobis vitio ducis et ultro curam tuae adsiduitatis exprobras. facis hoc amantium more, apud quos officiomm talium, etiam cum redun- 25 dant, sitis magna est. nec tantum epistulas meas poscis, sed oratiunculas quoque 2 nostras nondum tibi editas deferri in manus tuas praecipis. quae res videtur osten- dere, quid iudicii habeas de tis, quas ante sumpsisti. nullum enim desiderium ad secunda progreditur, si priora displiceant. misi igitur ex recentioribus oratiunculis meis quinque numero, quarum mihi iam fiduciam fecit publicus favor. sed post sen- 30