Letter 6005: The man who carries my letter to you serves my cause without knowing it, for while he becomes the convenient bearer...

Sidonius to his lord, Bishop Theoplastus. The man who carries my letter to you serves my cause without knowing it, for while he becomes the convenient bearer of a message I dearly wished to send, he grants a favor he believes himself to be receiving. Such is the venerable Donidius — a man worthy to be counted among the most distinguished. I commend his client and his attendants, who have set out either on their patron's business or their master's. Protect the labor of these travelers with whatever power, hospitality, and intercession you can offer. And if the friend himself should seem somewhat ineffective in certain matters, through inexperience or unfamiliarity with public life, I ask you to consider what the case of the absent man deserves, rather than what the person of the one present merits. Please remember me in your prayers, my lord bishop.

EPISTULA V Sidonius domino papae Theoplasto salutem. 1. Causam meam nesciens agit qui ad vos a me litteras portat; nam, dum votivi mihi fit gerulus opportunus officii, beneficium praestat, quod se arbitratur accipere, sicuti nunc venerabilis Donidius dignus inter spectatissimos quosque numerari. cuius clientem puerosque commendo, profectos seu in patroni necessitate seu in domini. laborem peregrinantum qua potestis ope humanitate intercessione tutamini; ac, si in aliquo amicus ipse per imperitiam novitatemque publicae conversationis videbitur minus efficax, vos hoc potius aspicite, quid absentis causa, non quid praesentis persona mereatur. memor nostri esse dignare, domine papa.