Letter 3022: Hope mocks me — it demands the frequency of letters but offers no guarantee that they will be received, much less...

Ennodius to Faustus. The hope that demands a steady stream of letters keeps deceiving me. For, relying on it, I feed my mind with conversations that accomplish nothing. It has long been the case that, by prolonging my writings without interruption, I only confirm the silence which I had believed was already broken. But what am I to do, when a heart besieged by dutiful love can scarcely be brought back to reason? It thinks up remedies, even those it has found to be of no help. And so, rendering with accustomed reverence the homage of a greeting, I commend the very bearer of this letter, Constantinus, whose recommendation lies in his honesty and his modesty; and although I owe him more out of affection, I nevertheless discharge a still greater debt under compulsion, by reason of just judgment.

XXII. ENNODIVS FAVSTO. Inludit mihi spes quae exigit frequentiam litterarum. hac enim fretus inefficacibus animum pasco conloquiis. diu est quod sine intermissione scripta prorogans silentium, quod expugnatum esse credidi, confirmatur. sed quid faciam, quando 2 et a B, a b 3 predicto BLTV inquietndine (ne ex nem corr.) L s|oletis| B oletia tn mg. add. XXI. 8 opiomouia B 9 sarmonis T 10 snblimen T1 12 facit T 13 benefitio V non add. in mg . T m. 2 14 ut om. Pb peregrinis T ingredbtui B1 15 arohana BPT . 16 quia Bb, qui LPTV 18 debeo PTb, debebo BLV praecor V prefatum BTV 19 re manifestet T prospitiat LV colloquii PT, alloqaii Sirm..- XXN. 92 exegit B 83 inefficatibus LTV 25 sed eonfirmatnr B quaodo BT1, quomodo T1Vb, quemo L uii ad consilium reducitur pio amore pectus obsessum ? putat remedia et quae conperit nil iuuisse. salutati ergo obsequium reuerentia exhibens consueta commendo praesentium perlatorem ipsum Constantinum, cui snffragium honestas et pudor est, cui quamuis plnra per affectum debeam, maiora tamen coactus soluo per iudicium.