Epistola Ad Theodebertum Regem [excerpta]

Excerpts from the letter of Aurelianus, bishop of Arles, to King Theodebertus. To the illustrious and everywhere most glorious and in Christ most pious lord and son, King Theodebertus, Aurelianus, bishop. Although the duties of a writer, so long delayed, are most justly accompanied by trepidation, nevertheless, I think, the speech will by no means be judged to have escaped offense, if before the ears of clemency it is weighed solely by the devotion of the heart. This is especially so because, for all who approach your loftiness, they neither draw fear from the privilege of your eminence, nor do they fear rejection from the prejudice of tardiness. For your elevation is so solemn that it is touched even by the love of the humble, and the laden summits of accumulated dignities are presumed upon by the first cultivations of still-raw servants. For now we train ourselves in new zeal for the service of a religious prince, and with the testimony of perfect love we are admitted to the presence of your sacred merits. Therefore, best of princes, you will measure this confidence from our love, since we are neither withdrawn from your services, terrified by our delay, nor defrauded by the shame of a poor intellect. So receive kindly the first efforts of your servants, eager in devotion, and spread wide the bosom of more generous pardon to suppliants. For while all generally enjoy the good of your illustrious heart, we, although a small portion of your retinue, nevertheless claim for ourselves in full the plenitude of your princely indulgence.

For when we speak of you, grace is present, even if eloquence is lacking, and the subject matter alone suffices for our adornment, although learning is not at hand. Since this is so, I shall celebrate the illustrious character of your praise more by prayers than by letters. For the greatest things always require conscience rather than tongue, and are more worthily entrusted to the judgment of the heart than to speech. And accordingly, I must now call to mind not what the times celebrate, but what eternity approves, etc.