Now, if readers do not find here the grandiloquence of Latin tragedy,
'the bombast and the words half a yard long,' as Horace calls it, they
must not blame me if in performing my function of translator I have
preferred to reproduce the concise simplicity and elegance of my
original, and not the bombast to which he is a stranger, and which I do
not greatly admire at any time.

Furthermore, I am encouraged to hope with all certainty that these
labours of mine will be most excellently protected against the calumnies
of the unjust, as their publication will be most welcome to the honest
and just, if you, most excellent Father, have voted them your approval.
For me it was not difficult to select you from the great host of
illustrious and distinguished men to be the recipient of this product of
my vigils, as the one man I have observed to be--aside from the
brilliance of your fortune--so endowed, adorned and showered with
learning, eloquence, good sense, piety, modesty, integrity, and lastly
with an extraordinary liberality towards those who cultivate good
letters, that the word Primate suits none better than yourself, who hold
the first place not solely by reason of your official dignity, but far
more because of all your virtues, while at the same time you are the
principal ornament of the Court and the sole head of the ecclesiastical
hierarchy. If I have the fortune to win for this my work the
commendation of a man so highly commended I shall assuredly not repent
of the exertions I have so far expended, and will be forward to promote
theological studies with even more zeal for the future.

Farewell, and enrol Erasmus in the number of those who are
wholeheartedly devoted to Your Fathership.

[Illustration: XXVII. PORTRAIT MEDAL OF ERASMUS AT THE AGE OF 53

On the reverse his device and motto]

[Illustration: XXVIII. ERASMUS AT THE AGE OF ABOUT 57]

VII. TO ALDUS MANUTIUS[42]

Bologna, 28 October [1507]

To Aldus Manutius of Rome, many greetings:

... I have often wished, most learned Manutius, that the light you have
cast on Greek and Latin literature, not by your printing alone and your
splendid types, but by your brilliance and your uncommon learning, could
have been matched by the profit you in your turn drew from them. So far
as _fame_ is concerned, the name of Aldus Manutius will without doubt be
on the lips of all devotees of sacred literature unto all posterity; and
your memory will be--as your fame now is