know that the temper of New Learning, or the hopes of its followers in England, can be better expressed than in a somewhat patronising letter which Æneas wrote to his English disciple:—
"I read your letter with eagerness, and wondered that Latin style had penetrated even into Britain. It is true that there have been amongst the English some who have cultivated the eloquence of Cicero, amongst whom common consent would place the Venerable Bede. Peter of Blois was far inferior, and I prefer your letter to any of his. For this advance all gratitude is due to the illustrious Duke of Gloucester, who zealously received polite learning into your kingdom. I hear that he cultivates poets, and venerates orators; hence many Englishmen now turn out really eloquent. For as are the princes so are the people; and servants progress through imitating their masters. Persevere therefore, friend Adam. Hold fast and increase the eloquence you possess: consider it the most honourable thing possible to excel your fellows in that in which men excel other living creatures. Great is eloquence; nothing so much rules the world. Political action is the result of persuasion; his opinion prevails with the people who best knows how to persuade them."
Let me remark in passing that these words were written in 1444. They may make us doubt if the growth of democracy has done as much as we commonly think to develop the methods of politics.
I will not weary you by any account of the Italian scholars whom Duke Humphrey patronised. It is enough to say that he did everything which befitted
