ve _you_ to do with a mythical
god?' He came to me, I did not adopt him. When I was called to Rome, and
Alexander, titular Archbishop of St. Andrews,[111] was summoned home
from Siena by his father King James of Scotland, as a grateful and
affectionate pupil he gave me several rings for a memento of our time
together. Among these was one which had _Terminus_ engraved on the
jewel; an Italian interested in antiquities had pointed this out, which
I had not known before. I seized on the omen and interpreted it as a
warning that the term of my existence was not far off--at that time I
was in about my fortieth year. To keep this thought in my mind I began
to seal my letters with this sign. I added the verse, as I said before.
And so from a heathen god I made myself a device, exhorting me to
correct my life. For Death is truly a boundary which knows no yielding
to any. But in the medal there is added in Greek, [Greek: Ora telos
makrou biou], that is, 'Consider the end of a long life,' in Latin _Mors
ultima linea rerum_. They will say, 'You could have carved on it a dead
man's skull.' Perhaps I should have accepted that, if it had come my
way: but this pleased me, because it came to me by chance, and then
because it had a double charm for me; from the allusion to an ancient
and famous story, and from its obscurity, a quality specially belonging
to devices.

There is my defence on _Terminus_, or better say on hair-splitting. And
if only they would at last set a _term_ to their misrepresentations! I
will gladly come to an agreement with them to change my device, if they
will change their malady. Indeed by so doing they would be doing more
for their own authority, which they complain is being undermined by the
lovers of good learning. I myself am assuredly so far from desiring to
injure their reputation that I am deeply pained at their delivering
themselves over to the ridicule of the whole world by these stupid
tricks, and not blushing to find themselves confuted with mockery on
every occasion. The Lord keep you safe in body and soul, my beloved
friend in Christ.

XXI. TO CHARLES BLOUNT[112]

Freiburg im Breisgau, 1 March 1531

To the noble youth Charles Mountjoy, greetings:

... I have determined to dedicate to you Livy, the prince of Latin
history; already many times printed, but never before in such a
magnificent or accurate edition: and if this is not enough, augmented by
five books recently discovered; these were fo