NPNF2-08. Basil: Letters and Select Works - Holy Bible Institute

To the Governor of Neocæsarea.Letter LXIII. 2228To the Governor of Neocæsarea.The wise man, even if he dwells far away, even if I never set eyes on him, I count a friend.So says the tragedian Euripides. And so, if, though I have never had the pleasure of meetingyour excellency in person, I speak of myself as a familiar friend, pray do not set this downto mere empty compliment. Common report, which loudly proclaims your universal benevolence,is, in this instance, the promoter of friendship. Indeed since I met the highly respectableElpidius, 2229 I have known you as well, and I have been as completely capturedby you, as though I had long lived with you and had practical experience of your excellentqualities. For he did not cease telling me about you, mentioning one by one your magnanimity,your exalted sentiments, your mild manners, your skill in business, intelligence, dignitytempered by cheerfulness, and eloquence. All the other points that he enumerated in hislong conversation with me it is impossible for me to write to you, without extending myletter beyond all reasonable bounds. How can I fail to love such a man? How could I putsuch restraint upon myself as not loudly to proclaim what I feel? Accept then, most excellentSir, the greeting which I send you, for it is inspired by true and unfeigned friendship. I abhorall servile compliment. Pray keep me enrolled in the list of your friends, and, by frequentlywriting to me, bring yourself before me and comfort me in your absence.2228 Of about the same date as the preceding.2229 Another reading is Helladius. cf. Letters lxiv., lxxvii., and lxxviii. The identification of these Elpidii isconjectural. The name was common.481