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| To a Friend.
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Letter VII.—To a Friend.
What flower in spring is so bright, what voices of singing birds are so
sweet, what breezes that soothe the calm sea are so light and mild,
what glebe is so fragrant to the husbandman—whether it be teeming
with green blades, or waving with fruitful ears as is the spring of the
soul, lit up with your peaceful beams, from the radiance which shone in
your letter, which raised our life from despondency to gladness? For
thus, perhaps, it will not be unfitting to adapt the word of the
prophet to our present blessings: “In the multitude of the
sorrows which I had in my heart, the comforts of God,” by your
kindness, “have refreshed my soul,”2183
like sunbeams, cheering and warming our life nipped by frost. For both
reached the highest pitch—the severity of my troubles, I mean, on
the one side, and the sweetness of your favours on the other. And if
you have so gladdened us, by only sending us the joyful tidings of your
coming, that everything changed for us from extremest woe to a bright
condition, what will your precious and benign coming, even the sight of
it, do? what consolation will the sound of your sweet voice in our ears
afford our soul? May this speedily come to pass, by the good help of
God, Who giveth respite from pain to the fainting, and rest to the
afflicted. But be assured, that when we look at our own case we grieve
exceedingly at the present state of things, and men cease not to tear
us in pieces2184
| 2184 διαφοροῦντας. This letter is probably written during his exile,
(375–8) and to Otreius, the bishop of Melitene. See Letter 14,
note. | : but when we turn our eyes to your
excellence, we own that we have great cause for thankfulness to the
dispensation of Divine Providence, that we are able to enjoy in your
neighbourhood2185
your sweetness and
good-will towards us, and feast at will on such food to satiety, if
indeed there is such a thing as satiety of blessings like
these.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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