Writing to Pliny at Bithynia, to which place he had been sent by Trajan as imperial legate, the Emperor mildly answers an inquiry as to what the law shall be in that province regarding deserted children. Trajan rules that deserted children, who are found and brought up, shall be allowed their freedom without being obliged to repay the money expended for their maintenance. “The question concerning such children who were exposed by their parents,” says Trajan, “and afterward preserved by others, and educated in a state of servitude, though born free, has been frequently discussed; but I do not find in the constitutions of the princes, my predecessors, any general regulation upon this head extending to all the provinces. There are, indeed, some rescripts of Domitian to Avidius Niguinus and Armenius Brocchus, which ought to be observed; but Bithynia is not comprehended in the provinces therein mentioned. I am of opinion, therefore, that the claims of those who assert their right of freedom upon this principle, should be allowed, without compelling them to purchase their liberty by repaying the money advanced for their maintenance.”[349] A new note this, for in order to encourage the saving of children who had been exposed, the custom had been rigidly followed that the person who saved a child was able to regard it as his slave, without regard to what its condition had been previous to exposure. As shown in the correspondence of Pliny and Trajan, there is much truth, in the contention that the Emperor shows up better than the philosopher and poet. The noteworthy thing about this remarkable exchange of letters is that a new spirit is revealed. It is a living, working philosophy that we discover, practical results of that philosophy bringing a kindlier treatment of slaves, a greater respect for women, a more thoughtful regard for the education of the young, and a gentler assistance of the helpless and distressed. True, Cicero, a century and a half before had preached doctrines that paved the way, and for generations earlier there had been such a kindlier spirit in the air. But not until now do we find a man of Pliny’s dominating prominence, or nearness to power, suggesting that he will pay a third of the expenses of the cost of founding a university in his own town. His reason, he says, is to save youths from going to Milan for their education and thereby getting away from the proper home influences.