Letter 198: After the letter conveyed to me by the officiales I have received one other dispatched to me later. I have not sent many myself, for I have not found any one travelling in your direction. But I have sent more than the four, among which also were those conveyed to me from Samosata after the first epistle of your holiness.

From: Basil, Bishop of Caesarea To: Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata Date: ~368 AD Context: Basil apologizes for the scarcity of his letters, blaming a brutal winter, blocked roads, and clergy who have never traveled and prefer to stay home. After the letter brought to me by the government couriers, I have received one more dispatched later. I have not sent many of my own, since I could not find anyone traveling in your direction. But I have sent more than the four you know of -- including those forwarded to me from Samosata after your first letter. These I sealed and sent to our respected brother Leontius, the tax assessor at Nicaea, asking him to pass them to the steward of our brother Sophronius's household for transmission to you. Since my letters pass through so many hands, it is likely enough that one busy or careless person along the way means your reverence never receives them. Forgive me, then, if they seem few. With your usual perceptiveness you have rightly faulted me for not sending my own courier when the occasion demanded it. But you must understand: we have had a winter of such severity that every road was blocked until Easter, and I could find no one willing to brave the journey. Our clergy may seem numerous, but they are men with no experience of travel -- they never engage in commerce and prefer to stay close to home, most of them working at sedentary trades for their daily bread. The brother I am now sending has been summoned from the countryside for the purpose of carrying this letter to your holiness, so that he can both give you a clear report of my situation and, God willing, bring back prompt and plain news of yours.

ST. BASIL OF CAESAREA To Eusebius, bishop of Samosata. After the letter conveyed to me by the officiales I have received one other dispatched to me later. I have not sent many myself, for I have not found any one travelling in your direction. But I have sent more than the four, among which also were those conveyed to me from Samosata after the first epistle of your holiness. These I have sealed and sent to our honourable brother Leontius, peræquator of Nicæa, urging that by his agency they may be delivered to the steward of the household of our honourable brother Sophronius, that he may see to their transmission to you. As my letters are going through many hands, it is likely enough that because one man is very busy or very careless, your reverence may never get them. Pardon me, then, I beseech you, if my letters are few. With your usual intelligence you have properly found fault with me for not sending, as I ought, a courier of my own when there was occasion for doing so; but you must understand that we have had a winter of such severity that all the roads were blocked till Easter, and I had no one disposed to brave the difficulties of the journey. For although our clergy do seem very numerous, they are men inexperienced in travelling because they never traffic, and prefer not to live far away from home, the majority of them plying sedentary crafts, whereby they get their daily bread. The brother whom I have now sent to your reverence I have summoned from the country, and employed in the conveyance of my letter to your holiness, that he may both give you clear intelligence as to me and my affairs, and, moreover, by God's grace, bring me back plain and prompt information about you and yours. Our dear brother Eusebius the reader has for some time been anxious to hasten to your holiness, but I have kept him here for the weather to improve. Even now I am under no little anxiety lest his inexperience in travelling may cause him trouble, and bring on some illness; for he is not robust. 2. I need say nothing to you by letter about the innovations of the East, for the brothers can themselves give you accurate information. You must know, my honoured friend, that, when I was writing these words, I was so ill that I had lost all hope of life. It is impossible for me to enumerate all my painful symptoms, my weakness, the violence of my attacks of fever, and my bad health in general. One point only may be selected. I have now completed the time of my sojourn in this miserable and painful life. About this page Source. Translated by Blomfield Jackson. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 8. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1895.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3202198.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.