Letter 7029: If you had answered my letter, you would have lightened your own conscience.
If you had answered my letter, you would have lightened your own conscience. Instead, your silence only helped mine. When courtesies are returned, they bring me joy; when they're withheld, I claim the victory.
I know you could produce effortlessly what I wring out with great labor. But since you begrudge your readers your fine words, I'll swallow my loss rather than seem to be forcing your hand against your stinginess. Farewell.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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