Letters361 Letter CCCLXI. ' to archbishop Theobald,-* on behalf oe John of Salisbury. (Circa A.D. 1144)
Letter CCCLXI. ' to archbishop Theobald,-* on behalf oe John of Salisbury. (Circa A.D. 1144)
Bernard, confiding in the friendship of Theobald, recommends John to him.
Nothing does me more honour or makes me more grateful to you than to see that my friends find favour in your eyes for my sake. Yet I seek not glory from man, but the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Thus it is that I send to your Highness the bearer of this letter, John, who is my friend and the friend of my friends, and I venture to ask for him the goodness and kindness which I feel assured you have for me, since I have always experienced it from you. For he has the testimony of all good men that he is very meritorious as well for his virtue as his knowledge. Nor have I learned this from those who use words rashly, but from my own sons, wrhose witness is for me as certain as if I had seen it with my own eyes. I had already recommended him to you in person, but now being absent from you, I recommend him so much the more earnestly and confidently, because I have learned from trustworthy witnesses how blameless are the life and character of the man. If, then, I have any interest with you, or rather because I believe that I have much, make for him some provision upon which he may sufficiently and honourably live, and deign to do this without delay, because he knows not whither to turn. In the meantime be so kind as to provide for his needs, and let me thus experience, my very dear father, the affection which you retain in your heart for me.
Augetis mihi gratiam, et multiplicatis gloriam, si gratia mei, amici mei gratiam inveniant in oculis vestris. Ego tamen ab homine gloriam non quaero, sed regnum Dei et justitiam ejus. Unde factum est, ut praesentium latorem Joannem, amicum meum et amicum meorum, mittam ad Sublimitatem vestram, ad familiaritatem vestram, quam in vobis et de vobis habere praesumo. Testimonium enim bonum habet a bonis, quod non minus vita, quam litteratura promeruit. Nec hoc didici ab illis qui verba sicut verba jactare noverunt; sed a filiis meis, qui mecum sunt, quorum verbis credo, sicut crederem oculis meis. Praesens vobis commendaveram eum; sed nunc absens multo magis commendo, utique tanto securius, quanto sincerius et vitam et mores hominis fidissimis relatoribus didici. Si quid ergo ego possum, imo quia possum plurimum ante faciem vestram, providete ei, unde honeste, imo honorabiliter vivere possit; sed et hoc velociter, quia non habet quo se vertat. Interim providete ei in necessitatibus suis, et liceat mihi experiri totum illud familiaritatis arcanum, quod mihi conservatis in visceribus vestris, amantissime pater.