Letter 68: The man carrying this letter has been sent on a piece of business that piety does not allow me to describe.
Letter 68: A Recommendation
[1] To Theophilus
The man to whom I have given this letter is being dispatched to carry out a piece of business which piety does not allow me to specify; but that he has cultivated virtue from his youth upwards, this is just for me to say, and it is the truth itself. You will honor him therefore as a good man. [2] In regard to the accusation he has made, let that fulfill its own destiny, for you surely would never meddle with a justifiable homicide.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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Jerome forwards to Theophilus a translation of the latter's paschal letter for 404 A.D. and apologizes for his delay in sending it, on the ground that ill-health and grief for the death of Paula have prevented him from doing literary work. The date of the letter is 404 A.D.