And certainly also this pleseth me well that it should so bée for this cause for often tymes I presupposed and as it were prognosticated that it would so come to passe therfore I pray thée hold on as thou hast begon Diuine to the ende that thou maist likewise make me a true Diuinator In respect of that that thou extollest y e Marsilian in euery place with passing praises I doe maruell no whit at all Who is he that in pronouncing his proper praises is not vehement and warmeth not him selfe who is hee so vnsensible that delyteth not himselfe in that which belongeth vnto him selfe Francus declared vnto vs that thou hast had talke of vs with all the wise and learned especially with Hirmolaus Barbarus What wilt thou that I do for thée certainly I wil willingly do it Farewel Politianus answereth vnto Marsilius Ficinus THou perceiuest not in me euery day new things which are worthy to be praised but rather new things in thy selfe through y t which thou praisest mée and that which semeth vnto thée such abundance is thy excéeding loue whereby as Propertius recyteth of nothing is raysed a great history And veryly I think thou wilt make me a Diuinator for thou hast caused me to Diuine whē as euery day I say and preach that thou art a Diuine Farewell Innocent Pope to Angelus Politianus MY welbeloued Sonne health and Apostolicall benediction The booke which thou lately didst sende vnto vs translated out of Greke into Latin we haue hartely and gladly receiued aswell for the noueltie of the thing as for the iudgement of diuers whome in these partes we esteme for learned and wise It is so well furnished with learning and wit that therewith our Lybrarie shalbe greatly adorned and therfore we giue thée most hartie thanks recommending thy vertue vnto our Lord and exhorting thée from henceforth to perseuer in such lyke things to the ende that by these honest labours thou mayst one day get greater prayses and that thou maist deserue at our hands more fertile grace And in token aswell of the good will that we know to be in thée as for the great fatherly loue that we beare towards thée we haue thought good to send thée two hundred Crownes by our welbeloued sonne Iohn Turnabon to the ende that by suche succour of liuing thou mightest more easyly support and accomplysh thy labours and workes Youen at Rome at Saint Peters vnder the Seale of the Fisher The .xvj. of August 1487. The third yere of our Pontificalitie Innocent the eight Pope to his vvelbeloued sonne Laurentius de Medicis VVElbeloued sonne health and Apostolicall benediction We giue thanckes vnto thy deuotion for that through the same our welbeloued sonne Angelus Politianus a man very learned and expert hath sent vs a booke translated out of Greke into Latin the which he dedicated vnto our name the which not onely by our owne iudgement but also by the iudgement of other wyse men vnto whome we haue shewed it is greately commended It shall be of vs as appertayneth greatly estemed and honoured and shall bée an ornament in our Librarie the whiche shall bée a Testimonye of his Vertue and Learning wée exhort thée aboue all things to prouoke and moue the same Angelus by thy authoritie to make and compose like workes which shall bring forth vnto him vulgar estimation and vnto vs no small delectation who for so honest labours partly by benefits partly by other things will cause that worthy thanks reward shalbe employed and giuen vnto him And now in token therof we haue appointed to be sent vnto hym by oure welbeloued sonne Iohn Turnabon .ij. C. Crownes to the ende that this booke shold not remayne without recompense Youen at Rome at Saint Peters c. Angelus Politianus to Innocent the .viij. Pope rendreth Salutaion I Knowe not in what sort to render thée thanks most holy Father Innocent Soueraigne Bishop which hast with so great prayses and ample liberalitie rewarded our small labours which thing I consider and interpret to haue ben so done for this cause to wit that it hath pleased thy holynesse and blessednesse by this meanes to erecte and stirre vp the myndes of learned men whiche of long tyme haue lien still and as it were slombred when they vnderstand to be in such a worthy Bishop of this time suche and so great humanitie and liberalitie that now euen the basest and least in order remayne not only praysed and honored but also liberally recompenced Certainly these prayses togither with the presēt and vnloked for benefits on me bestowed haue added vnto me as it were spurs and pricks and haue charged me with a great carefulnesse so to kepe and behaue my selfe that at no time or by no cause I be found to be vnworthy of this thy liberalitie and fauour wherevpon I will take care and will so enforce my selfe that this our tender territorie to the tillage whereof thy magnificence hath now giuen such and so great succoure shal bring forth hereafter new reuenues to thy sacred Maiestie Valeat tua sanctitas Florentiae c. A certayne man writeth to a Bokebynder of Paris VVOrshipfull Syr assured I am that if I should commend me an hundreth thousand times vnto you yet shold I doe lesse than nothing if it pleased you not to accompt me for one of those that wish you well therefore I pray you commend me vnto you certifying you that synce my departure I haue written sufficient matter vnto you according to my rudenesse whereunto you haue made me no aunswere Howbeit I maruell not thereat considering that you haue ben so busyed about the vrgent affaires of the king that you haue had no leysure to attend thereunto wherefore you are worthely to be excused And though it be so that I am transported into a farre cuntry to execute needfull things yet is it not to be supposed that true loue shold decay through the visible seperatiō made betwene two frendes whereof you are the one and I the other at the least I am yours and beleue that you are myne And therefore as myne I haue not nor wil not deferre to write vnto you trusting and being assured that through the receiuing of my Letters I shall cause you to be more ioyfull and to haue me in remembrance Doing you also thereby to vnderstand that if it would so please you I would gladly haue certaine little bookes whereof I spake vnto you dispatched from the bynding hansomely and fynely as you know wel how to doe them yea farre better than it is possible to expresse or write vnto you Of a thing well done the praise remayneth to the Author and doer thereof wherein I know you shall be partaker for that you worke so perfectly that no man will nor can fynde fault therewith Moreouer if there be any thing in these partes wherin I may plesure you doe but commaūd it and I will obey according to the possibilitie of your sayd frend not
the Minor whereby we gyue him to vnderstand what our mynde is by Epistle or letter The consequent or conclusion is of it selfe sufficiently knowne The first style or maner wherein the Cause is specified SYr you haue written vnto me and desired me that I would lend you send you by your lacky this bearer one of my bookes for youre recreacion and pastime And bicause that I know the greate affection and desire of you by your Epistle so eloquently composed and endyted I therefore am constrained and by youre letters full of humanitie compelled to make you aunswer as one who altogether is determined to shew you pleasure to lend and send you the booke that you demaund for in so doing I hope that In casu simili vel maiori you will answere me according to my desire which may engendre betwene vs not onely a mutual loue but also a perpetuall beneuolence and a continuall good will The three foresayd partes must be in euery Letter and Epistle either couertly or plainely And a man may also adde to other necessary and superabundaÌ„t clauses euery thing in as briefe order as may be and according as the cause requireth importeth it is not nedefull alwaies to write the cause but it is requisit to write the intent the consequence or coÌ„clusion for the consequence dependeth of the two first the which must be very much either persuading or dissuading He that can artificially and workmanlike handle an Epistle may begin with the intent afterwardes tell the cause end with the consequence or begin with the consequence after declare the intent and then the cause ordring the whole matter as vnto himselfe shal seme best most decent The second Style wherein the Cause is first afterward the Intent and then the Conclusion THe thing which God and Nature would principally should be desyred with most harty affection and the which I perceiue to be imprinted in my selfe more than any other thing my singular and perfect frende is to know to learne and to practise all honesty and humanitie And bicause that aboue all Orators writing of humanitie the sentences of Tully are preferred and bycause that he is estemed of all men the Prince of eloquence yet notwithstanding partely vnknowne in these quarters and notoriously manifested at Paris the Fountaine of Science therefore haue I thought good to write vnto you as to him whom I accompt my singular frende requesting you aboue all the pleasures that you desire to do me and also that you hope as I may imagine that it may be the cause to erect make me a man of vnderstanding that it wold please you to send me the booke of Tullie And in sending I will not forget the recompence of your humanitie which shall not be defrauded of me thorough ingratitude c. The third Style in this order the intent the Cause and the Conclusion I Would dere frende that you tooke as great pleasure to lende me the Paradoxes of Cicero as I desire to haue them of you and throughly to peruse them ouer by coÌ„tinual reading but I haue always deferred to demand them of you bicause they were nedeful for you in your ordinary lectures Notwithstanding for y t I am now aduertised y t your lecture hath takeÌ„ end to your great honor good renown I suppose that the booke is out of your seruice together also as I vnderstand it is more corrected than any other For this cause I request you to send it me y e which I hope you will easely performe And so doing I shall acknowledge the good will which you beare vnto me in sending me the booke which perchance you loue best whereof it may be that you haue most néede And shalbe bound to lend you what soeuer you shall demaund me according to my possibilitie Promising moreouer bothe my seâ—e and goods at your commaundement c. The fourth Style in this order the Conclusion the Cause and the Intent YOu should do me a great and singular pleasure yea and also shold binde me for euer if it wold please you to agrée to my request the which is nothing preiudiciall vnto you and vnto me very necessary and profitable It is to lende me your booke of Rhetorike for many times when I talke or declare a matter to the ende to perswade or disswade or otherwise I perceiue my selfe so naked and vnfurnished of termes and phrases for the purpose and such as I accustomably vse I apply them so ill that eueryone is weary and ceasseth to giue eare vnto me for the discorde of my speach But if any do tary to heare the ende they be either poore ignorant women or else such as deryde me to my shame confusion great dishonour Therefore I am constrained humbly to require you that it would please you to lend me your booke of Rethorike for to haue thereof the copie to the end that I may auoid such inconuenience which hapneth vnto me through the fondnesse and abuse of my language Here is to be noted that the conclusion is made but in three sortes onely to wit by Amplificacion and enlarging by commiseration and pittie or by Epiloge and briefe rehersall By Amplification as inducing laughter or ioy by commiseracion as in mouing to pitty pardon by Epiloge as in collecting briefly together that which hath ben amply and at large declared in the Epistle before especially when it conteyneth many long partes And the Epiloge is made to the ende the Readers or the herers be not defrauded of the purpose conclusion But this is more decent conuenient in Epistles than in Letters for letters ought to be briefe and short And yet bicause this place shall not be left darkely obscurely I wil giue more ample intelligence of commiseracion amplification Epiloge also of demonstration CoÌ„miseracion must be made of swete pitiful humble laÌ„guage like to a CoÌ„medie must be brief for it is ynough if a man do but somwhat moue the Audience to pittie as to say thus with humble modestie wold to God right worshipfull that I had wept to you not haue prouoked you to wepe for with great paine can I scarce vtter one onely worde of myne inteÌ„t through the abundaÌ„ce of teares which my heart causeth to distil from mine eyes c. Amplification is made when for to moue the AudieÌ„ce to honest myrth somtimes to indignatioÌ„ or sometimes to pittie there is spoken in augmeÌ„ting the termes of the CoÌ„clusion somthing for to encrese the termes phrases as to saye thus Right honorable I aduertise you that the cause appertayneth to God and to men of great authoritie Also if you wyl not accept this charge you refuse a great goodnesse and honour which God doeth sende you The Epiloge by nature should be briefe and is made alwayes at the end of the discourse wheÌ„ brefly and in suÌ„me the
reasons arguments in diuers places dispersed are reduced together to be the better fixed and imprinted in the memory of the AudieÌ„ce as to say Right honorable and worshipful what will you that I say vnto you I haue first told you such a thing and such a thing c. and haue proued it by such reasons c. The conclusion demonstratiue is made as if a man should saye thus For the excellent beuties of women which are of such Angelicall shape hauing the booke of such ardent liuelyhood and the speach so gracious do passingly enamour the myndes of men Furthermore it is to be noted that diuers Epistles may begin with a perfect sentence authoritie or common prouerbe prouided that it be altogether agreeable to the purpose that we entend to perswade or disswade as for Example Denys the tyrant vvriteth to the Burgesses of Naples WHosoeuer denieth his soueraigne that which iustly to him is due is altogether vnexcusable For the soueraigne Lord may and ought for the affaires of him and his cuntrey demande ayde of his subiectes for to coÌ„serue them in peace seing that for them he daily hazardeth him selfe in a thousand perils of death Now so it is that I haue demanded of you an hundreth thousand duckats and ten thousand men for to make warre vpon the king of Chipre which demaund you wold not or else haue disdayned to vnderstand much lesse to accomplish 1 waying then the othe that you made vnto me I thought you wold haue kept promise and fealtie 2 considering also that you are not ignorant of the great necessitie y t I haue bothe of men money for the which I haue ofteÌ„ sommoned and required you Therefore seing your infidelitie and rebellion I accompt you as enimies and haue determined to extend vpon you myne indignation and crueltie euen to the abandoning and ransacking of you and your Citie by fyer and sworde and generall pillage of all your goods without any fauor or pardoÌ„ the which thing you might haue auoyded by loue fidelitie and obedience An answere to the same in like maner and foâ—rme THe Law of impossibilitie is so great most high and redouted soueraigne that thereby euery man ought to be and is lawfully excused and frée of all somoning and request for there as is not wherewithall neither dominion nor payment taketh place according to the common prouerbe where nothing is to be had the King loseth his right And as loÌ„g as we had wherwithal our good wil and loyall corage hath alwayes obeyed you plainely manifesting vnto you our fidelitie and obedience euen to the very consummation of our goods and slaughter of the strong men and youth of our Citie in such sort that now we haue nothing remaining vnto vs but onely the good will Beseching you most humbly to mitigate and assuage your anger and fury considering the great pittie and pouertie of vs. Note that in all Letters or in moste parte of them three things ought to bee obserued To wit that the demaunde be iuste that it bee possible and to shew the possibility assigning the rewarde of the benefit if these things be not expresly set then are they vnderstanded For if a poore man write vnto a rich to lend him money it is not nedeful to declare his demaund to be iust nor to declare his possibilitie but it suffiseth to praise the rich man of his vertue liberalitie whereby he helpeth the poore which are succourlesse Also he that demaÌ„deth to bynd himselfe nedeth not to speake of the rewarde of the plesure nor likewise wheÌ„ the Father writeth to his sonne or the Master to his seruant nor when a man writeth to his frende And here are to be noted foure things which let hinder the demaundant from being granted The first is to demand a thing to great more thaÌ„ a man ought wherefore saith Cato Quod iustum est petito aske thy duetie and no more The second is the tyme as to demaunde yee in soÌ„mer or that one should paie an obligation or rente before the time be expired The thrd is the place as if my debter should owe me x. pound to be payde in Paules Church I should demaunde it of him in Westminster Hall The fourth is the cause as to demaund that which hath been promised notwithstanding any thing that is done or sayd within the certain time that it be not satisfied As for Example O Lorde Christ I ought to haue and possesse heauen I am a ChristiaÌ„ I craue it of thée truely he wil say I haue giuen thée heauen if it be so that thou accomplish the will of my Father which is in heauen Moreouer if it happen that in Letters it be nedefull to make partes anb diuisions let it be don with breuitie and likewise if there be a NarracioÌ„ as of newes froÌ„ the court or of wars it must be dispatcht very briefly plainly in vsing coÌ„mon termes without long clauses or parentheses Thus hauing now declared set forth at large most part of the necessary precepts which belong to the well composing and endyting of Epistles and Letters I say necessary for if a man should make compose an Epistle well either in English or in any other language it were good to haue the perfect vnderstanding of all the rules both of Gramar Rethorike presently shalbe described the Style and fourme of certain letters And first wheÌ„ one maÌ„ writeth for an other commeÌ„ding him to the ende he might obtaine some dignity or prefermeÌ„t such a letter must containe .iiij. partes The first way to get beneuolence is in praising of him vnto whom we write for his liberalitie his bountifulnesse his iustice his vertue c. The second waie to purchase beneuolence vnto him for whome we write is to say that he is modest gentle to euery one a man not voide of knowledge The third is to make the demand honestly modestly which must be deuoide of the foure lets and impedimentes whereof we lately made mention and in so doing that it be iust honest facill and for the which he vnto whom we write may haue either honor or profit by graunting it The fourth to promise him all seruice and perpetuall obedience saying that what soeuer is demaunded for and in the fauor of such a man is estemed as though it were for our selfe as in this Example A Letter vvritten to the King in fauor of one pretending the order of Knighthode IT behoueth me not most Christian King to write familiarly to your sacred Maiestie for so might I be noted of presumption and â—olish hardinesse but considering your benignitie and humanitie whereby you giue fauor and supportacion euen vnto them that haue fully deserued it and vnto strangers For this cause therefore I haue taken audacitie to write vnto you vnder hope to obtaine that which I ernestly and most humbly require It is in the behalfe of
such a one a man bothe wise valiant whereof I attest vnto you by the knowledge that I haue had of long time that his name armes and high prowesse are approued of all people in such sort that none dispraised he ought to haue the praise and price aboue all It is well knowne worthy soueraigne what enterprises deliberacions and subtilties in the feats of warres he vsed at the expeditioÌ„ against the Turkes and Infidels especially at the voyage of c. where he caried away the honour by the report of men of good reputation and credite that were there present as namely of such a one and such a one He is now determined eueÌ„ redy to depart homewards But for the great affection that he hath to serue your maiestie as he promised me he wold very gladly by you be made Knight and hath requested me to write for him And bicause that I consider his demaund to be iust and very honest and that it is very decent and conuenable that he should be preferred in honour as one that hath rightly deserued no lesse with great payne and trauail of his bodie and that this shal be an occasion giuing to other good valiaÌ„t hardy Champions to serue you alwayes better and better waiting for suche lyke or better reward Therefore do I humbly besech you to haue him in remeÌ„brance Promising your maiestie that aswell I as he and his wil render you immortal thaÌ„ks beseching God to maynteine preserue you in your triumphant quiet raigne Note that we are not accustomed to speake by thou nor thee as diuers other nations whome we call strangers and barbarous people do except it be in some respects whereby is easely perceiued the loue the gentle nature humanitie curtesie reuerence honour that we haue and beare one to an other yea euen in wryting speaking to our enimies and strangers Notwithstanding I wil not take in haÌ„d to restraine any man by rule or otherwise to vse either you or thou seing that alreadie many good Oratours haue vsed those termes as they haue thought best obseruing as I may rightly coÌ„iecture the perfection of the Latine tong And likewise the Emperor the King the Iudge such other personages although their persoÌ„ be singular yet they vse these termes we say we wil. c. And the cause is for that they neither say nor do any thiÌ„g without couÌ„sel Bicause therfore that our elders betters haue so vsed theÌ„ that they haue ben so obserued time out of minde together also for other resons I leaue them to the iudgement of such as haue desyre further to search and finde out the causes of things for I intend to be briefe Hovv to vvrite in a mans behalfe for a Ciuil cause WRiting in a ciuil cause we must deuide our Letter into foure partes First to get the beneuolence of him vnto whom we write by praysing of his iustice or other vertue agreable to the thing that we would obtayne of him saying that the good hope that we haue to obtayn the thing that we demaunde of him doeth moue vs to write vnto him Secondly to purchase good wil vnto him for whom we write Thirdly to get beneuoleÌ„ce through the iust cause of the thing whereof we intrete saying that it is rightfull easy playne and profitable and that thereof may ensue great honor profit and praise Fourthly to open the demaund requesting that he for whom we write may be had in remembrance in promising our seruice c. The Example THere is in you so great equitie of Iustice right excellent and soueraigne Iudge y t it is manifestly known not onely vnto me but also to the whole cuntrey in such sort that euery one may safely without any aduocate commit his iust cause into your hands how poore soeuer the man be all feare fauour or disdaine cast asyde c. For this cause and for the mutuall loue betwixt vs good stedfast hope doth encorage me to write vnto you in the behalfe of one of my frendes vniustly oppressed by his aduersary trusting that you will preserue vnto him his right For I aduertise you my Lord that he for whome I write vnto you is my auncient and speciall frende and agréeable to all men through his wisdom and gentlenesse yea and by his vertues getteth the loue good will of euery one And bycause he hath before you my Lord certaine processe of diuers wrongs vexacions done vnto him by his aduersary as he hath informed me therefore hath he requested me to write vnto you in his behalfe hoping y t by this meanes you will be vnto him a iust and fauorable Iudge For this cause for y t he is my very singular frend also for y t I wold shew him any seruice or pleasure y t I were able I most earnestly hartely besech you to haue him in remeÌ„braÌ„ce for this other his affaires processe depending before you And in so doing my lord he hath promised me to be your perpetual seruaÌ„t daily Orator praying to God for you all your frends so will all they do y t loue him whereby you shalbe prayed for and praysed amongst many good worthy men of whome he hath alwayes y e familiaritie good acquaintaÌ„ce Hovv to vvrite in ones behalfe for an Offence or cryminall Cause IN a criminal cause or iust excuse the Letter must be deuided into foure partes First to get beneuolence by expressing the vncorrupcion and equitie of the iudge to whome we write And as for the offender to write that he hath alwayes lothed abhorred such a crime wherof he is accused or noted that case may simply be aggrauated howbeit without excusing any thing at al. SecoÌ„dly we must say that although we neuer thought to haue written of any such matters yet we wer moued thereunto coÌ„sidering the coÌ„moditie profit ether publik or priuate or the miserable pitie of him for whom we write who in all other matters was of good coÌ„uersatioÌ„ in whose persoÌ„ was neuer found any other notorious fault alleaging his vertues diligeÌ„ce coÌ„sequeÌ„tly saying that the man is to be regarded and not the voice Thirdly to coÌ„mit to memory the praises of the accnsed recouÌ„ting his vertuous acts good graces Fourthly to promise y t he will no more do any such thing but y t froÌ„ theÌ„ceforth he wil exercise all vertuous acts offering al seruice c. Example I Know for a certainty most vncorruptible Iudge that you haue always hated abhorred and had in abhomination all sortes of malefactours and euill persons correcting them and ministring vpright Iustice as muche as in you is possible especially such as through impieâ—ie are wilfull murtherers of their parentes kinsefolkes or neighbours And for my part most worthy and rightfull iudge I do not only require to flee their company but also detest their cruelty in such sort that it is contrary to all humanitie and to
place scrued and although he shall meddle to speake more of mée yet sir you may iudge of the whole for you know wel what part beareth ignorāce and innocencie Wholly offeryng my humble seruice to you and yours c. Howe to write Domestical and familiar Letters or Epistles DOmestical or houshold letters are more in vse than any other forsomuch as of their nature they are very necessary to let our frendes vnderstande of our estate and of our businesse be it of helth prosperitie sicknesse aduersitie or any other domesticall and familiar thyngs and in such matters the Letters or Epistles must be deuided into thre partes If we write of our owne estate health or sicknesse or of the healthe or sickenesse of an other First following Tullie and others we may as they do adde the Latin sentence Si vales bene est ego quidem valeo If you be in good helth god be praised for it for thanks be to God I am Secondely wee shall recite our owne health or the causes of the amendment thereof and also the helth or sicknesse of our frend whiche we shall esteme euen as our owne gladde of his recouerie or prosperitie rendring thankes vnto god who hath so disposed it likewise if there be hapned vnto vs any fortune or misfortune we shall write the state therof be it riches or pouertie dignitie or depression to admonyshe oure friende either to reioyce or sorow with vs. Thirdly we say cōmonly Thus not hauing wherewith further to enlarge at this present but beseeching the Lorde to keepe and preserue you in his holy tuition we finish From such a place c. By yours altogither to command c. or otherwise as shal please the enditer The Example of a common Style in that case IF you be in health and mery I am very glad for great thanks to be giuen to God on my behalfe I fynde my selfe in very good health and welfare You do peraduenture greatly maruell for that I was wont to write often vnto you of late haue deferred so to do wherof it may be that you woulde accuse me of negligence howebeit it hath not bene through negligence for an ague hath so weakened me of late that I had small hope to haue escaped without treading the trace out of this worlde into another yea I was brought so low that euen the Physitions had quite giuen me ouer and I had no hope saue onely in God to whose good aide I still committed my selfe Secondly his soueraigne bountie hath brought me to my former helth notwithstanding it hath not ben without great expense of money Beholde therefore the causes why I coulde not write vnto you but frō henceforth I will write vnto you more oftener if God grant me time and space so to do Thirdly I shall desire you to write vnto me of your prosperitie and of such a one assuring you that if there be any thing that I may do for you do but cōmaund me and I will do myne indeuor to accomplish it God to frende whome I besech to graunt vnto you your harts desire From such a place c. How to write other domestical Letters of familiar businesse WE must deuide thē into thre partes First Secondly as in the other going before Thirdly shal be put the conclusion saying that we haue thought good to aduertise hym of suche businesse bycause hee is oure very friende The Example wherin one Friend aduertiseth an other of the processe that he hath wonne IF it bée well with you my singular friende then is it very wel with me For euen as I am God be praised in good health so woulde I desire that it shoulde be lykewise with you And bicause I know that the loue betwixt vs two hath alwayes made vs equall in our fortunes therefore haue I thought good to write vnto you of my businesse and affaires bicause in déede you might be the more ioyfull Secondly you are aduised of the time trouble cost that I was at in the sute that I had against such a one and how oftē I haue cursed the houre whensoeuer I heard talke of it euen ready many tymes to gyue it quite ouer Yet neuerthelesse by trauel and diligence and by importunate sute my good right vpon Tuisday last notwithstanding any clamor that my aduersarie made to his greate confusion I obteined sentence to my profite wherof I render immortall thankes to Almighty God Thirdly I know well that of my profite honour and ioy you are as ioyfull as my selfe and séeing that my aduersities do bryng you desolation it is good reason that my prosperities should bring you consolation Therfore I pray you do it to vnderstāde to all our friends there to the ende that they may participate of oure ioy And if there be any thing that it will please you to commaunde me be you well assured that of me you shall haue an infallible friende And thus end I at this present beséeching our Lorde c. How to visit our Frend with Letters not hauing any great matter to write OFten times it chaunceth that we haue no matter to write to our frend yet we would gladly visit him with our Letters speaking of him or of his businesse such Letters must containe three partes First to get boneuolence on our owne behalfe saying that bicause we loue him we thought it good to write vnto him and to recreate him by communicating vnto hym our Letters to the end that we may take plesure in that which he shall write vnto vs again cōsidering that there is nothing more appropriate vnto frēdes than often to write to fro Secōdly we shal say that we are in health and good estate desiring to know of his helth and prosperitie praying vnto God to keepe and preserue him from all euill Thirdly we shal desire him to visit vs often with his Letters to this end that hering of his helth prosperitie we may haue cause of consolation offring our selues c. The Example of the Style in that case ALthough I haue no mater to write vnto you my deare friend for that I knowe not of any newes hereabouts chaunced yet neuerthelesse the greate loue equall betwixt vs will not suffer me to lette passe any messanger that I know goeth towards you without sending you Letters by him for I beleue verily that you haue as great ioy to rede my Letters as I haue to reade yours Secondly my friend you shall vnderstand that I and all my familie are god be praised in good health earnestly desiring to know of your prosperitie and howe all our frendes thereaboutes doe For I assure you there is nothing vnto vs more pleasant ioyfull nor agreable than to vnderstande of your health good fortune and prosperitie but this causeth loue my frende bicause that from the time of our youth we haue ben ioyned together with that bande And therfore my deare and perfect friend I earnestly request you that it would