Letter 8005: [First letter] It pleased the public interest that greater responsibilities were entrusted to you.

Nothing between you and your excellent father is divided, whether in substance or in affection. Therefore the letter I sent out of respect for him, you too, as a sharer in all things, could have accepted as your own. But now you deserve to be honored by me in your own right as well. Moreover, I took care that if only one of you replied, it should not be counted as the duty of both. Still, brevity suits this page, since I have already covered what deserves to be reported. So keep this letter as a witness of my affection for you. But in your reply, you should be more generous. For the situation is not the same: it is hard for me to repeat myself, while for each of you individually, a single effort suffices. It is difficult for two channels to be filled from one source; but one channel is abundantly fed by a double supply.

Nihil inter te et optimum parentem tuum re aut adfectione divisum est. ergo et litteras, quas ad eius reverentiam misi, ut omnium particeps in acceptum referre po- tuisti. sed iam colendus es nobis etiam tuo nomine. praeterea cavi, ne respondente uno inputaretur . *. munus duorum. convenit tamen brevitas huic paginae, quia relatu digna praecerpsi. quare sermonem istum tamquam amoris in te nostri testem tenebis. 10 verum te in rescribendo decet esse prolixum. neque enim par condicio est a me ite- rati, utrique autem vestrum singularis laboris. duos meatus repleri uno fonte diflficile est; uni alveo abunde influunt duplicata principia. XXV a. 396. AD ALBINVM. 15 Crcdo arbitreris, circumsessum me Gampaniae amoenitatibus scribendi ad te hac- tenus neglegentem fuisse. non est ea fortuna horum locorum, ut seriam curam se- peliant voluptates. insolitis omnia necessitatibus strepunt et oneri cessere deliciae. quare negotium pro otio repperi, nec possum facile ad haec amicitiae munia animum retorquere. spondeo tamen reverentiae tuae , quod litteris meis praeferas. relegere 20