Letter 7054: Since a long exchange between us had fallen quiet, I could no longer put off the customary greeting.

You could of your own accord judge that there were certain reasons for my silence; for when should I have neglected the dutiful offices of devotion, if I were in health? Now, as the pain gradually subsides, I could not put off the duty of greeting you. It will be your obligation to return a like exchange, which, if the longed-for day brings it to me, will furnish me with remedies toward recovery. [Letter] 76 (77), in the year 397? To the brothers, from P.F.M.F. After I had sent off the page that was to carry my greeting to you, there arrived in good time the man who would present your letter to me. Rejoicing at the outset upon receiving it, when I learned that our common pledge [our child] had fallen ill, I was suddenly thrown into confusion by the bitterness of the reading. But because what followed informed me that our son had been restored to health, my mind once more migrated back into tranquillity. I indicated the state of my own health in my earlier writings, of which there is no need to make mention again, lest the repetition of an anxious account disturb you. [Editorial apparatus to the preceding letters, recording manuscript variant readings: quia] VM, ii... P minus P first hand; huiusmodi a proficiscentibus] VM, huius ...iscentibus P; inchoetur] my reading, incoet... P, inchoetis V, inauspicemur M; auspicium my reading; uobis VMr, auspici...bis P, ergo Leetius; alternandae inter nos] my reading, salutandae inte sinos V, salutanda et inter nos P, saluandae uitae si non M, omitted in F; saluta... P; dubitaris F, dubitas M; signo dato] V, ...o dato P, dato signo M; non] ... P, ua... added in V, ualete added in M; from here to the end of the letter omitted in P, a space of about 4 1/2 verses left blank; clypticum M, indypticum V; qui quaestorium munus exhibuit F, uncia included; ferre] VMF, deferre P, referri V; uale added in V, second hand M; ...dit V; conturbat V.] [Letter] 78 (78). To the brothers, from P.V.M. Concerning the return of our son Faustus I sent a letter as a forewarning a little while before, so that the security thus hastened might ease the impatience of your longing; yet it did not irk me to repeat the office of greeting even as the very bearer was setting out. Receive therefore a twofold pleasure, first from his return, then from this brotherly discourse, in which we announce to you that our common children have been restored to health. [Letter] 80 (79).

Subesse aliquas silentio meo causas sponte aestimare potuistis ; nam quando omi- sissem religionis munia, si valerem? nunc paulatim dolore cedente officium saluta- tionis differre non potui. vestri erit muneris referre mutuam vicem, quae mihi, si dies optata pertulerit, ad convalescendum fomenta praestabit. LXXVm (LXXVII) a. 397? 20 PFMF FRATRIBVS. Postquam paginam, quae vobis salutationem ferret, emisi, in tempore adfuit, qui mihi vestras litteras exhiberet. quarum principio perceptione laetatus, ubi commune pignus decubuisse cognovi, conturbatus sum repente amaritudine lectionis. sed quia filium nostrum redditum sanitati subiuncta docuerunt, in tranquillum denuo animus 2s remigravit. meae valetudinis statum scriptis superioribus indicavi, cuius denuo me- minisse non opus est, ne vos soUicitae scriptionis conturbet iteratio. quia] VM[n), iit///////////// P minus P 1 m. 4 huiuBmodi a proflciscentibus] VAf(/7), hulus ///////////iscentibus P inchoetur] egOy inc^oet// P, inchoetis V, inauspicemur M auspicium ego ($ie) uobis VMr{IT), au8pici///////bis P, ergo Leetiua alternandae inter nos] epo, salntandae inte sinos V, salutanda et inter nos P, saluandae uitae si non Af, om, {F) 5 saluta////// P dubitaris F, du- bitas M signo dato] V(77), ////o dato P, dato signo M 6 non] /// P ua» add, V, ualete add. M mero uaque ad finem epiftulae om. P apatio 41/2 verauum vaeuo relieto 11 clypticum M, indypticum V 12 qui quaestorium munus exhibuit {F). uncia ineluai ferre] VMF, deferre P referrl V 19 uale add. V 2 m. Af dit V 27 conturbat V Lxxvini (Lxxvni). FRATRIBVS. PVM De redita filii nostri Fausti praennntias panlo ante litteras misi, ut adcelerata secnritaB desiderii vestri inpatientiam mitigaret, sed munns salutationis iterare ipso 5 etiam proficiscente non piguit. capite igitur geminam voluptatem primo ex ipsius reditu dehinc ex sermone fratemo, quo vobis redditos sanitati communes filios indi- camus. LXXX (LXXVmi).