§5.18.1etsi egomet, qui te consolari cupio, consolandus ipse sum, propterea quod nullam rem gravius iam diu tuli quam incommodum tuum, tamen te magno opere non hortor solum, sed etiam pro amore nostro rogo atque oro, te conligas virumque te praebeas et, qua condicione omnes homines et quibus temporibus nos nati simus, cogites.
Although I myself, who desire to console you, am myself in need of consolation, because for a long time now I have borne nothing more heavily than your misfortune, yet I not only greatly encourage you, but also by our love ask and entreat you to collect yourself and show yourself a man, and to reflect under what condition all humans and in what times we have been born.
plus tibi virtus tua dedit quam fortuna abstulit, propterea quod adeptus es quod non multi homines novi, amisisti quae plurimi homines nobilissimi.
Your virtue has given more to you than fortune has taken away, because you have acquired what not many new men have, and you have lost what very many of the noblest men have.
ea denique videtur condicio impendere legum, iudiciorum, temporum, ut optime actum cum eo videatur esse, qui quam levissima poena ab hac re p. discesserit.
Finally, such a condition of laws, trials, and times seems to impend, that he seems to have been best dealt with who has departed from this commonwealth with the lightest possible punishment.
§5.18.2tu vero, qui et fortunas et liberos habeas et nos ceterosque necessitudine et benevolentia tecum coniunctissimos, quomque magnam facultatem sis habiturus nobiscum et cum omnibus tuis vivendi, et cum unum sit iudicium ex tam multis quod reprehendatur, ut quod una sententia eaque dubia potentiae alicuius condonatum existimetur, omnibus his de causis debes istam molestiam quam lenissime ferre.
But you indeed, who have both fortunes and children, and us and others most closely bound to you by necessity and goodwill, and since you are going to have a great opportunity of living with us and with all your loved ones, and since out of so many trials there is only one that is to be blamed, as being one which is considered to have been sacrificed to someone's power by a single and that a doubtful vote, for all these reasons you ought to bear that trouble as lightly as possible.
meus animus erit in te liberosque tuos semper, quem tu esse vis et qui esse debet.
My mind towards you and your children will always be what you wish it to be and what it ought to be.