1You will be less surprised that I asked you so urgently to confer a tribunate on my friend when you know who he is and what kind of man.1But I can now tell you his name and describe him, since you have given your promise.2He is Cornelius Minicianus, an ornament of my region in both rank and character.2Of distinguished birth, he abounds in wealth, and loves literature as the poor usually do.2He is also a most upright judge, a most courageous advocate, a most loyal friend.3You will believe that you have received a favour when you have looked more closely at a man equal to all honours, all titles — I do not wish to say anything more lofty about a most modest man.
3Farewell.
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Pliny, Epistulae VII. Latin text: the Perseus digital text of Pliny's Letters, public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.