Letter 85

To my Brother. Receive the living letter along with the dead one. The living letter is the charming Gerontius; the dead one is these written lines. I write them more out of custom than necessity — I live with you always in memory. The young man will tell you everything I have left unsaid.

Letter 85: A Recommendation [1] To his Brother Receive with the living letter also the lifeless one. The one is the charming Gerontius, the other these written lines. They are written to you rather that I may conform to custom, than from any necessity for communicating with you. [2] I live with you always in memory. This is what the young man will tell you with a much more powerful voice than ten thousand letters.