Page 91 [91]
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 Archiepi¬
scopus Eboracensis, cuius nunc est incredibilis apud regiam celsitu¬