Letter 318

318. Of Basil, without address, on behalf of a fellow countryman

Those who have come from our native land are commended to you by the very claim of that land—if indeed it is so, since by the kindness of your character you bring under your own care all who in any way stand in need of some support. Receive, then, the man who puts this letter into your decorous hands, the son of this person, both as a fellow countryman and as one needing support and as commended to you by us; and out of all these claims let this one thing be his, to obtain from you such help as may be possible for the matters before him. And it is plain that the recompense for good works comes not from us, who are little, but from the Lord, who rewards good intentions.