ally, and at a much later date, touched upon some
impressions of Rome,[9] but the whole remains vague and dim. It is the
incubation period of the _Praise of Folly_ that is thus obscured from
view.

On 21 April 1509, King Henry VII of England died. His successor was the
young prince whom Erasmus had saluted at Eltham in 1499, to whom he had
dedicated his poem in praise of Great Britain, and who, during his stay
at Bologna, had distinguished him by a Latin letter as creditable to
Erasmus as to the fifteen-year-old royal latinist.[10] If ever the
chance of obtaining a patron seemed favourable, it was now, when this
promising lover of letters ascended the throne as Henry VIII. Lord
Mountjoy, Erasmus's most faithful Maecenas, thought so, too, and pointed
out the fact to him in a letter of 27 May 1509. It was a pleasure to
see, he wrote, how vigorous, how upright and just, how zealous in the
cause of literature and men of letters was the conduct of the youthful
prince. Mountjoy--or Ammonius, who probably drew up the flowery document
for him--was exultant. A laughing sky and tears of joy are the themes of
the letter. Evidently, however, Erasmus himself had, on his side,
already sounded Mountjoy as to his chances, as soon as the tidings of
Henry VII's death became known at Rome; not without lamentations about
cares and weakened health. 'The Archbishop of Canterbury', Mountjoy was
able to apprise Erasmus, 'is not only continually engrossed in your
_Adagia_ and praises you to the skies, but he also promises you a
benefice on your return and sends you five pounds for travelling
expenses,' which sum was doubled by Mountjoy.

We do not know whether Erasmus really hesitated before he reached his
decision. Cardinal Grimani, he asserts, tried to hold him back, but in
vain, for in July, 1509, he left Rome and Italy, never to return.

As he crossed the Alps for the second time, not on the French side now,
but across the Spluegen, through Switzerland, his genius touched him
again, as had happened in those high regions three years before on the
road to Italy. But this time it was not in the guise of the Latin Muse,
who then drew from him such artful and pathetic poetical meditations
about his past life and pious vows for the future;--it was something
much more subtle and grand: the _Praise of Folly_.

FOOTNOTES:

[9] LBE. No. 1175 _c._ 1375, visit to Grimani.

[10] A. 206, where from Allen's introduction one can form an opinion
abou