Page 91 [91]
OCR
333] TO RAFFAELLE RIARIO 69 A comparison of the letters with the greatly amplified versions published in A leaves no doubt of the genuineness of the manuscript; and the promptness with which Erasmus had them printed on his return to Basle—the first of his letters proper to be published by himself—raises the question, Why should he have wished to create the impression that they were written at the beginning of his visit to England instead of at what must have been the very end? His motive is to be looked for in connexion with those whom he desired to mislead —clearly not with the recipients of the letters. Possibly it was that he wished Warham and his English friends to believe that in the earliest days of his visit to England he was already committed to proposals for dedicating Jerome to the Pope. The mistake of dating Epp. 333, 4 in March, when Erasmus was not in England (Ep. 327 introd.), as his English friends must have known, may be due to the supervisors of the printing, who perhaps received instructions to date Epp. 333, 4 before Ep. 335 in accordance with actual facts, but overlooked the necessity of altering the place. The existence of this manuscript affords an excellent opportunity for estimating the treatment to which an ‘elegant epistle’ might be subjected, without any concealment (Ep. 360. 10, 1), before publication. To avoid the insertion of long passages in the critical notes I have adopted the text of A, except for the date. Raff. Riario (3 May 1461—9 July 1521) of Savona was at this time one of the most powerful prelates in Rome. He had been created Cardinal in 1477 through his uncle’s influence with Sixtus iv; had been a candidate for the Papacy in 1503 ; and Leo x’s most formidable rival in the election of 1513. See Creighton iii, iv, and Ciaconius iii. 70-6, It was at his request that Erasmus wrote the oration against the war with Venice, when in Rome in 1509 (1. p. 37. 7-10); perhaps in the course of some lessons on oratory (cf. Ep. 340. 45 n.).] REVERENDISSIMO IN CHRISTO PATRI AC DOMINO D. RAPHAHELI, CARDINALI SANCTI GAEORGII, ERASMVS ROTERODAMVS S. D. Qvop annis iam aliquot meae siluerunt litterae, non tuorum in me meritorum obliuio fuit in causa, reuerendissime pater, quae sane nec desii, nec desinam vnquam, vel praedicare vel meminisse ; sed partim pudor quidam obstitit, quod improbum existimarem tot grauissimis negociis districtum nostris insuper interpellare nugis—etenim 5 aliquoties officiosum est non salutare—, partim temporum ipsorum iniquitas, quae nobis plusquam ferrea inciderunt. Nam si leges silent inter arma, quanto magis tum silent Musae virgines, cum tantis rerum procellis personant, perturbantur, miscentur vniuersa ? Verum posteaquam Leonis Pontificis modis omnibus maximi laetis- 10 simis auspiciis pax tandem est orbi reddita, compositi principum motus, sublatum illud omnium perniciosissimum mundi dissidium, iam non solum meae litterae Romam ire gestiunt, verum ipse quoque mira quadam ardeo cupiditate reuisendi veteres illos meos Moecenates. Est quidem apud Britannos fortuna mediocris, vt minor et meis votis 15 et amicorum promissis, ita meritis nostris maior. Siquidem rex ipse Henricus octauus, cuius natura, mihi crede, nihil cogitari potest vel melius vel felicius, ita de nobis et loquitur et sentit vt nemo vel amantius vel honorificentius. Fauent episcopi, cum caeteri ferme omnes, tum praecipue Dunelmensis, qui Regi est a secretis. Item zo Roffensis, vir pietate doctrinaque singulari. Ad haec Archiepiscopus Eboracensis, cuius nunc est incredibilis apud regiam celsitu
