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Germans, although they had been formerly the least learned of all races, after they received it into their towns became especially erudite. The same boon was bestowed by a good and wise God upon the French, the English, the Scotch, to say nothing of others. Indeed it is by letters alone that our good deeds are immortalised and the memory of our name preserved. Therefore very many distinguished men and high-born women everywhere began to aid the study of liberal arts and of learning; to promote the more ardent pursuit of which among the English, Margaret the king's mother, a most saintly woman, at the instance of John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, a man of the highest learning, grace and uprightness, reared at noble and famous Cambridge two splendid edifices. In them she established two bodies of students, and dedicated the one to Christ our Saviour, the other to St. John the Evangelist, and she provided large endowments for their maintenance. In this same university John Alcock, a father of shining righteousness and virtue, had founded a little while before a college which he consecrated to Jesus, so that with him for a leader those who should there devote themselves to study should not wander, but should by the straight way advance to receive the true reward of glory and praise which He has promised to well-doers.

At the same time William Smyth, Bishop of Lincoln, prompted by the example of Margaret, established a college at Oxford in Brasyn Nose Hall for youths who were following literary pursuits. This hall had its name from a statue with a huge brass face which stood just outside the gate. Moreover Richard, Bishop of Winchester, wrought a similar work at Oxford, and called his college Corpus Christi.

The same spur of virtue and glory incited John Colet, Dean of St. Paul's, to promote in the same wise the study of good literature. He, illustrious alike for merit of soul and mind and for uprightness of life and conduct, was deemed by his countrymen to be almost another Apostle Paul. Nature made him holy and devout, so that from the time when he left off his boyish studies he betook him to divinity, and chose Paul for his teacher, to such purpose both at Oxford and Cambridge and afterward in Italy that he became a man finished, as the saying is, to the nail. When he came home he began to lecture upon the Epistles of St. Paul at London, his birthplace, and often to preach in church and since his life and teaching were at one, people assented in wonderful wise to his good precepts: since he was the most temperate of men, only eating once a day, not thirsting for honours nor seeking riches, which nevertheless

followed him as he fled from them. He was the only survivor of the twenty-two children whom his father, Henry Colet, a citizen of the utmost modesty and weight, and his noble wife Christiana, had; and he inherited his father's estate.

Then John, seeing that many of his fellow citizens were in the habit of shunning quiet and serious men, thought that it would be much better for themselves if they were educated. Therefore at his own cost he determined to help the youth of London to get learning, and about this time established on the east of St. Paul's cemetery a splendid school. He made William Lily1 head master, and there was another master to teach the beginners, so that provision was made for literature, good morals and earnestness: for Lily was such a man as Horace speaks of when he says integer vita scelerisque purus. After passing some years in Italy to complete his education he came home, and was the first of the English to teach his countrymen good literature. Before him, Cornelius Vitellius, a noble Italian from the sea-coast town of Corneto in Etruria, first taught literature to the youth of Oxford. He was next followed by John Ritwyse, a good and learned man, and then by Richard Jones. Colet paid these masters from his own purse year after year, to the end that they and afterwards others to all time should give free instruction. And as, thanks to St. Paul's School, the youth of London is far more polished than it used to be, so throughout all England studies and students prosper.

53. A VENETIAN AMBASSADOR'S IMPRESSION OF HENRY VIII. AND WOLSEY (1519).

The Republic of Venice was an aristocracy which despite many attacks preserved its independence from the early Middle Ages till 1797. Situated among powerful foes and rivals, it was during several centuries an object of envy, and depended largely for safety on the skill of its statesmen. Hence it cultivated the art of diplomacy, and Venetian envoys were a match for any in Europe. They reported to the seignory everything, great and small, which could have a bearing on public policy, and the importance of Venetian archives is largely due to this painstaking notice of details. Giustiniani's items about Henry VIII.

1 1468 ?-1522. Author of the celebrated Latin Grammar.

and Wolsey are the jottings of a trained hand, and show the fulness of information which the home government required.1 He was ambassador to England from 1515 to 1519.

SOURCE. (4) Calendar of State Papers, Venetian. Ed. Rawdon Brown. Vol. i., p. 559. Rolls Series.

His majesty is twenty-nine years old and extremely handsome. Nature could not have done more for him. He is much handsomer than any other sovereign in Christendom; a great deal handsomer than the King of France; very fair and his whole frame admirably proportioned. On hearing that Francis I. wore a beard, he allowed his own to grow, and as it is reddish, he has now a beard that looks like gold. He is very accomplished, a good musician, composes well, is a most capital horseman, a fine jouster, speaks good French, Latin and Spanish, is very religious, hears three masses daily when he hunts, and sometimes five on other days. He hears the office every day in the queen's chamber, that is to say vesper and compline. He is very fond of hunting, and never takes his diversion without tiring eight or ten horses, which he causes to be stationed beforehand along the line of country he means to take, and when one is tired he mounts another, and before he gets home they are all exhausted. He is extremely fond of tennis, at which game it is the prettiest thing in the world to see him play, his fair skin glowing through a shirt of the finest texture. He gambles with the French hostages, to the amount occasionally, it is said, of from 6000 to 8000 ducats in a day. He is affable and gracious, harms no one, does not covet his neighbour's goods, and is satisfied with his own dominions, having often said to me, "Sir Ambassador, we want all potentates to content themselves with their own territories; we are satisfied with this island of ours". He seems extremely desirous of peace.

He is very rich. His father left him ten millions of ready money in gold, of which he is supposed to have spent one-half in the war against France, when he had three armies on foot; one crossed the Channel with him, another was in the field against Scotland, and the third remained with the queen in

reserve.

His revenues amount to about 350,000 ducats annually, and are derived from estates, forests and meres, the customs, hereditary and confiscated property, the duchies of Lancaster, York,

1 These citations are Rawdon Brown's abstracts of Giustiniani's letters, not translations of the original.

Cornwall and Suffolk, the county palatine of Chester and others, the principality of Wales, the export duties, the wool staple, the great seal, the annates yielded by Church benefices, the Court of Wards and from New Year's gifts; for on the first day of the year it is customary for his majesty to make presents to everybody, but the value of those he receives in return greatly exceeds his own outlay. His majesty's expenses may be estimated at 100,000 ducats, those in ordinary having been reduced from 100,000 to 56,000, to which must be added 16,000 for salaries, 5000 for the stable, 5000 for the halberdiers, who have been reduced from 500 to 150, and 16,000 for the wardrobe, for he is the best dressed sovereign in the world. His robes are very rich and superb, and he puts on new clothes every holiday.

SOURCE.-(B) Calendar of State Papers, Venetian. Ed. Rawdon Brown. Vol. i., p. 560. Rolls Series.

The Cardinal of York is the same as he whom I have styled Orion, in a work composed by me. He is of low origin and has two brothers, one of whom holds an untitled benefice, and the other is pushing his fortune. He rules both the king and the entire kingdom. On my first arrival in England he used to say to me, "His majesty will do so and so". Subsequently, by degrees, he forgot himself, and commenced saying, "We shall do so and so ". At this present he has reached such a pitch that he says, "I shall do so and so". He is about forty-six years old, very handsome, learned, extremely eloquent, of vast ability and indefatigable. He alone transacts the same business as that which occupies all the magistracies, offices and councils of Venice, both civil and criminal, and all State affairs likewise are managed by him, let their nature be what it may.

He is thoughtful, and has the reputation of being extremely just. He favours the people exceedingly, and especially the poor, hearing their suits and seeking to despatch them instantly. He also makes the lawyers plead gratis for all who are povertystricken. He is in very great repute, seven times more so than if he were Pope. He has a very fine palace, where one traverses eight rooms before reaching his audience chamber. They are all hung with tapestry, which is changed once a week. Whereever he is, he always has a sideboard of plate worth 25,000 ducats. His silver is estimated at 150,000 ducats. In his

1 First fruits. A sum of money exacted from a newly appointed bishop.

own chamber there is always a cupboard with vessels to the amount of 30,000 ducats, as is customary with the English nobility. He is supposed to be very rich indeed in money, plate and household stuff.

The Archbishopric of York yields him about 14,000 ducats, and the Bishopric of Bath 8000. One-third of the fees derived from the Great Seal are his, the other two are divided between the king and the chancellor. The cardinal's share amounts to about 5000 ducats. By New Year's gifts he makes about 15,000 ducats.

54. A LETTER OF WOLSEY TO PACE (1524).

Save for relations with France, medieval England was almost wholly isolated from European politics. At intervals an individual foreigner, like Peter of Savoy in the reign of Henry III., or the blind king of Bohemia at Crecy, touches her history at some point; but statecraft was little advanced then, and geographically England lay upon the fringe of civilisation. Furthermore, the Wars of the Roses reduced her greatly in the scale of powers, and when Wolsey entered office her prestige abroad was low. He earned lasting rank among statesmen in that by diplomacy he advanced England to unquestioned eminence, playing her off according to circumstances against France and Spain. He may be considered our first foreign minister, and Richard Pace, to whom this letter is addressed, comes among the earliest of English ambassadors. Pace was an excellent scholar, and a churchman who rose to the deanery of St. Paul's. In 1524 he represented his country at Venice, and was entrusted with the task of detaching that Republic from the French interest. Wolsey's instructions will convey an idea of how English diplomacy when in its infancy was conducted.

SOURCE.-Letter of Instructions to Richard Pace. Thomas Wolsey (1471 ?-1530). Strype's Memorials. Oxford, 1822. Vol. i., part ii., p. 34.

Since

I commend me unto you in my most hearty manner. my last writing unto you, I have received divers and sundry your letters to the King's Highness, and to me directed, bearing

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