Gloucester therefore struck out a new line of thought when he turned to the study of the Humane as well as the Divine letters, and laid posterity in England under an obligation, which it is slow to acknowledge. The impulse which led him to this course is impossible to discover. His natural endowments were not calculated to produce a scholar. His early active life was spent in camps and sieges, his lightness of character and volatile nature promised to make him a courtier and a politician, not a student; his many-sided political ambitions would presuppose an absorption which would forbid a cult of letters and learning, yet even amidst the distractions of court life, the tumults of war, and the disturbances of an eventful political career, he found time for study, and the encouragement of scholars.[1177] The fact that he was in many ways the typical Renaissance prince does not necessarily presuppose a natural aptitude for this rôle; his actions in this respect are more the result of the new influences to which he resigned himself, than the causes which led him to become a patron of letters. On the other hand, it is probable that in his early years his education was not neglected. We have shown reason to believe that Bale’s statement that he was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, is founded on fact, and that there he imbibed a love of learning, which later blossomed out into the cult of the new forms of study then spreading over Europe. His brother Henry was also a student at this University; indeed, all the four sons of Henry IV. were carefully educated, and showed an aptitude for learning.[1178] There are many circumstances, too, which point to the likelihood that Humphrey was destined for a less active career than his brothers. Though only three years younger than Thomas, and by one year the junior of John, he took no part in the active life of the kingdom in which they largely shared during the reign of Henry IV. Both these brothers held important administrative posts under their father, and the eldest of all, Henry, played no insignificant part before he succeeded to the throne. Humphrey alone of the four is never mentioned either in official document or by contemporary chronicler; he passed his time in seclusion and retirement far from the gathering storm which was even then threatening the safety of the House of Lancaster. Henry IV. was by no means lacking in interest in scholastic studies, and it is possible that he had destined his youngest son for an ecclesiastical career, in which these studies would rightly play a large part. In no other way can the absence of Humphrey from public life, long after the age for beginning an active career, be explained. Henry may have learnt the lesson of the dangers which had resulted from the long list of royal princes who descended from Edward III., and he may have wished to prevent a similar danger arising from his offspring by devoting one son to a career in which descendants were an impossibility. Certainly Humphrey, during this enforced seclusion, had ample opportunity for study and reflection, his education was more probably that of a scholar than of a politician.

Whatever may have been the plans of Henry IV. for his youngest son, they ceased to be effective on his death. Almost immediately after that event we find Humphrey carving out an active life for himself, and embarking on that varied and interesting career which was only to end with the tragedy of Bury. Yet the seeds had been sown. Never throughout his life was the scholar quite swamped by the politician; his scholarly instincts, nurtured in youth, survived to form a source of refreshment and interest in the days of political misfortune. Nevertheless this early training gives no clue to the originality of Humphrey’s genius as a scholar. Whence was it that he drew the inspiration which enabled him to begin a new era in the development of the human intellect in England? He had been trained in the dry-as-dust learning of the Middle Ages—no other system was then known in England—he had been brought up on a mental diet of law and theology seasoned with rhetoric; to our knowledge he never had any opportunity of imbibing the new ideas which slowly and feebly were climbing the Alps preparatory to the conquest of the Western world; at that time he had never been out of England, he was never to visit Italy. Yet stage by stage he outgrew the teaching of the ancient schoolmen, and reached out to pick the fairest flowers of Greek learning. In him we find a new spirit of inquiry, a desire for a wider knowledge of the human mind. He was a son of the Renaissance before ever that movement had sent its missionaries to the last outpost of mediæval lore. There was no teacher to point the way for Humphrey, and we must fall back on his inherent originality to explain the phenomenon. With no promptings from the scholars of the new methods, he devoted himself to their patronage; he himself became a teacher before ever he was taught. As an apostle of progress Humphrey stands alone among his fellow-countrymen, and we must hesitate to deny him a place amongst the honoured disciples of Petrarch. What Petrarch did for the world, Humphrey did for England.

Dead and cold as England was to the new message which the Renaissance had to teach humanity, it was natural that Humphrey should look to Italy for help in his endeavours to study the forces which were being reborn to give a character to the history of the future. Perhaps the most interesting page in his history, therefore, deals with his relations to the Italian humanists of his day; from them he borrowed something of the spirit which was then becoming the most important element in Italian life, something of that polish of refined scholarship which marks out the humanistic scholar from the student of the Middle Ages. The effect on English scholars of his time was visible, and Æneas Sylvius was not slow to notice it. Writing to Adam Moleyns in answer to a letter from that distinguished Englishman, he complimented him in somewhat condescending language on his style; he marvelled how the reformed Latin style had thus early reached England, and then proceeded to give praise where praise was due. ‘For this progress’—he wrote—‘thanks are due to the illustrious Duke of Gloucester, who zealously received polite learning into your country. I hear that he cultivates poets and venerates orators, and hereby many Englishmen have become really eloquent. For as are princes so are servants, who improve by imitating their masters.’[1179] Æneas showed no inclination to dwell on the virtues of Humphrey when narrating his relations with Jacqueline, so this praise from him deserves close attention, doubly so, as it must have been in no way pleasant to the recipient of the letter, who was one of the faction so bitterly opposed to Gloucester.

Humphrey, therefore, was instrumental in bringing the fruits of the Italian scholarship to England, and he did this in two ways. He induced some of those who had drunk of the new spring of intellectual life which flowed from the teaching of Chrysoloras to come to England and enter his service, and he also entered into communication with some of the leading humanists who remained in Italy, and employed them on translations of the Greek classics which were sent to England. In England Greek was an unknown language, even as it had been in Italy until the last decade of the fourteenth century, and it was only by means of translations made by men who had a competent knowledge of Greek, that the great philosophical treatises of Aristotle and Plato could be read by Gloucester and his friends. Italy at this time was embarking on that period in the history of Humanism which we may call the age of translation and arrangement, the age when a minute knowledge of the language of ancient Greece and a new critical faculty, born of the emancipation from the hereditary theology of the Middle Ages, produced a band of scholars who devoted their time to interpreting the ideas of the past to the awakening intelligence of the present. These men, with all their ardour for study, were not, and could not afford to be, entirely disinterested in their work; to live, they must be paid for their translations, and in an age when the art of printing had not come to simplify the reproduction of books, they were compelled to appeal to some particular patron to reward them for their toil, and to him in return they dedicated their books. Many such patrons were to be found among the princes of Italy, but outside that country they were not common, and Humphrey stood out prominently amongst those patrons who were not Italians. We cannot tell what first led him to embark on this career, for he had, it would seem, no knowledge of Italy or the Italians, when Poggio came to England, and he had probably at this time evinced no desire to embark on the most interesting phase of his later life. Not once does Poggio make even the most distant allusion to Gloucester, either during his visit to England or after his return to Italy in the autumn of 1423,[1180] and we cannot attribute this entirely to his connection with the Duke’s great rival.

Humphrey’s introduction to the Italian Humanists was due to his friendship with Zano Castiglione, Bishop of Bayeux, a Frenchman by birth, but descended from a famous Italian family. This prelate had visited England, and had there become acquainted with the man who was to be instrumental in bringing Italian scholarship to this country. A token of their friendship is still extant at Paris in a manuscript collection of the letters of Cicero presented by Zano to the Duke of Gloucester.[1181]

In 1434 Zano was sent to the Council of Basel as representative of Henry VI., and he took with him a commission from Humphrey to purchase for him as many books as he could, especially such as had been written by Guarino, the famous schoolmaster of Ferrara, and by Leonardo Bruni, the biographer of Dante and Petrarch, whose reputation had already reached the Duke in London.[1182] At Basel the Bishop came to know Francesco Picolpasso, Archbishop of Milan, a scholarly ecclesiastic, who had relations with all the leading Italian Humanists; and when he followed the adjourned Council to Florence, this acquaintance became particularly useful to him in view of his commission. In Florence Zano spent a year, and we gather from the statements of Italian scholars, later to be detailed, that he there devoted much of his time to singing the praises of the English prince who took such an interest in literary matters. Of his commission to buy books we hear no more, though it is probable that when he returned to England especially to see Humphrey,[1183] he did not go empty-handed. It is possible that Gloucester, though already a collector of books, had not as yet thought of becoming the direct patron of foreign scholars, and that his commission to Zano bore far other and more important fruit than he had contemplated. Thus his original interest in scholarship was moulded by the turn of events, and the chance which took Zano from Basel to Florence laid the foundations of one of the most important phases of the Duke’s career. From this time forward Humphrey continued to be in close relationship with several of the best-known Humanists of the Italian Renaissance.

The first of these scholars to correspond with the new English patron was Leonardo Bruni, better known by his title of Aretinus, taken from Arezzo, the city of his birth. We have no evidence that Zano’s visit was the direct cause of his connection with the Duke, but the fact that the latter had specially mentioned a desire for his works when Zano went to Basel points to a strong probability that this was the case. It is probable that Zano had sent over to England this author’s translation of Aristotle’s Ethics; at any rate, it was after reading it that Humphrey wrote and suggested that Bruni should undertake the Politics,[1184] and in due course they were translated and dedicated to the Duke. In a manuscript copy of this translation in the Bodleian Library we find the dedication, and following it a letter from the author to Gloucester, which is in no sense a dedicatory epistle, but evidently written after the despatch of the volume to its destination, and later placed at the beginning of a copy of the original work.

In this letter Bruni rejoices to hear of the arrival of his translation of the books of Aristotle, which he had undertaken at the Duke’s request and suggestion, and to know that both Gloucester’s desire, expressed in several letters, has been fulfilled, and his own promise redeemed. He is convinced that Gloucester will have already read the book, and he may be sure that he has therein read the very words of Aristotle. To Gloucester’s action is due any value to the world in general that this translation may have, for it was undertaken at his request, and finished under pressure from him. In its completed form it stands as a monument to Gloucester’s love of learning.[1185] Throughout this letter we can see the shadow of Gloucester’s character; eager and impetuous in matters political, he displayed the same characteristic when he turned his mind to scholarship and learning; the same enthusiasm which took him to Hainault led him to harass Bruni till the coveted book was ready. Perhaps his eagerness to keep this shifty humanist to his work was well advised, else he might not have got the book at all, for almost immediately afterwards the dedication was changed, and that which Bruni had declared would be a monument to Gloucester’s glory, became by a stroke of the pen a monument to the glory of Pope Eugenius IV.[1186] The reason for this sudden change of patron is probably to be found in the almost universal greediness of the Italian Humanists, though the gossiping old bookseller Vespasiano ascribes it to the fact that Bruni thought that his work was not sufficiently appreciated[1187]—perhaps a polite way of putting the same truth.

Leonardo’s own explanation of the incident is to be found in one of his letters, and this throws light on the origin of the connection which Humphrey about this time began with another well-known Italian, Pier Candido Decembrio. This scholar, a native of Vigevano, near Pavia, was at this time secretary to Filippo Maria Visconti of Milan, whose life he ultimately wrote. Already famous as a translator of the Greek classics, he now saw an opportunity of gaining an important patron, and wrote a letter to Humphrey, in which he dwelt at some length on the fame which the Duke had already attained in Italy as a patron of letters, owing to the untiring praises of him which Zano had sung. Having heard, he continued, that Bruni had dedicated his translation of Aristotle’s Politics to the Pope instead of to the Duke as he had promised, he had resolved to offer his services in his place, and to suggest that he might translate Plato’s Republic for the distinguished Englishman of whom he had heard so much, though he had never seen his face.[1188] Being personally unknown to Gloucester, Candido determined to get an introduction to his future patron, and so forwarded this letter to his friend Rolando Talenti, a noble youth of Milan, who was at that time at Bayeux, probably on some diplomatic errand.[1189] Talenti was willing to do his friend a kindness, and promptly wrote to the Duke, enclosing Candido’s letter, and strongly advising him to accept the offer therein contained.

This recommendation must have carried weight, although Talenti did not at once receive an answer to his letter. The anxious humanist could not brook delay, and though he had received assurance from his correspondent that his work would not be done in vain, he wrote once more to Talenti asking him to find out definitely from the Duke what he had decided to do with respect to his offer to work for him. It was obviously of considerable importance to Candido to know if his work was to procure any reward, for though he was to prove more faithful than Bruni, he was none the less greedy of gain.[1190] Talenti accordingly wrote once more to Gloucester, asking him to let him know his decision about the offer lately made to him.[1191] After characteristic delay Humphrey replied to Talenti in enthusiastic terms, saying that he would gladly welcome the translation of Candido, who would never have reason to regret the offer of his services to a foreign patron.[1192] With this communication he enclosed a reply to Candido, dating it February 7, the year, which is omitted, being probably 1439.[1193] Herein he gladly accepted the offer, and with his usual impetuosity urged his newly made friend to hasten the completion of the translation; he gave devout thanks that there was in Italy such a devoted band of scholars, who not only had restored the old style of the Latin tongue, which had been altogether lost, but also had brought to light those long-forgotten philosophers of Greece, and their invaluable maxims for good living. He concluded with a warm assurance of affection, and a hearty promise of acceptance of anything new which Candido or any one else should bring to his notice.[1194]

Talenti accordingly forwarded the Duke’s acceptance to Candido, and in two successive letters to him urged that scholar to be industrious and to hasten the work to its completion, so that his patron might be able to appreciate to the full the depth of his scholarship.[1195] Accordingly, Candido set to work with a will, and soon after wrote to Zano, telling him of his undertaking and announcing the completion of the fifth book. The Bishop of Bayeux was also to be used as an intermediary between the Italian scholar and the English prince, for in the same letter he was informed of the author’s intention to forward the translation, when completed, to him for transmission to Gloucester.[1196] Zano was delighted at the news, and praised his correspondent’s intention, assuring him of a speedy reward for his work, and ample recognition from his new patron.[1197] Both Talenti and Zano therefore showed no slight respect both for Gloucester’s literary taste and for his generosity to those who worked for him, and this in spite of the fact that they both knew the story of Bruni’s relations with the Duke. They would hardly have encouraged their friend to undertake this work had they not been amply assured of his receiving an adequate reward, and neither for a moment doubted the sincerity and ability of this English patron. The readiness with which Gloucester’s literary interests were ministered to in Italy proves that his reputation must have been very great, else the Italian humanists would not have been so eager to work for a prince who dwelt in a land which was regarded as the home of ignorance, and which visitors like Poggio Bracciolini had painted in such unfavourable terms.

Zano and Talenti were not the only Italians to correspond with Humphrey about Candido’s translation. The completed fifth book was intrusted to Francesco Piccolpasso, Archbishop of Milan, to be forwarded to England as a sample of the whole work. In his covering letter this new correspondent gave still further evidence of Gloucester’s high repute in Italy, telling him that ever since his brother Gerardo Landriani, then Bishop of Lodi, had returned from a visit to England, he had been fired with a desire to know that country, or at least to correspond with its most famous son. So we see that Zano was not the only one to introduce the Italian scholars to a knowledge of Gloucester’s literary tastes. Francesco then recapitulated the story of how Candido first thought of translating the Republic, when he heard that Bruni had been breaking his word, and added some words of commendation of the former, who, he said, was equally well versed in Greek and Latin. It was merely with the idea of pleasing Humphrey that Candido had undertaken the task of translating the Republic, of which the fifth book, the first to be translated, was now sent as a foretaste of the feast that was to come. Francesco was delighted to be commissioned to send to the Duke a work of such value, and he trusted that it would be approved, so that the translator might be inspired to continue his work. He urged him further to allow Candido to occupy the place lately held by Bruni, and, when this work should be completed, to give him other commissions, which he was sure would be right well performed. The letter closed with a petition to Gloucester to use his influence to restore peace to the Church.[1198]

This letter, though, written in the first place to please a friend, deepens our impression of the respect Humphrey had already obtained in Italy, and also bears witness to the desire of Candido to take the place of Bruni with regard to the Duke. It was therefore probably about this time that this last-named humanist wrote an expostulatory letter to the Archbishop of Milan, in which he betrayed his chagrin at having lost his English patron, and gave his version of the change of dedications, of which Candido had made such good use. He complained that he had received copies of letters written by Francesco to Gloucester, informing the Duke that he (Bruni) was dead, and to Candido slandering his good name; besides this, the Duke had been told that his former translator was a promise-breaker. In every case there were misstatements, prompted probably by Candido. In justification of this assertion he gave a summary of his relations with Gloucester, how the Duke had urged him to translate the Politics, because he was so sensible of the use that his earlier translation of the Ethics would be to students. This Bruni promised to do, and fulfilled his promise by sending the first copy of his work to his lordship, who had asked him to undertake the translation for the good of the community, and not that it might be dedicated to him; indeed it was unlikely that the dedication thereof could have given any pleasure to so great a prince. In conclusion, Bruni emphatically stated that he never had received a penny from Gloucester for the work he had done. ‘I never sold my studies, nor made merchandise of books.’[1199]

This last statement we may well doubt, else why should Bruni be so angered at Gloucester being wrongly informed of his death? The case was probably the reverse of what he stated, and he had calculated on obtaining double payment for his work by securing for it two patrons, who were so distant from one another that the deception would not be discovered. The story told by Candido and the Archbishop of Milan, and borne out by the statement of Vespasiano, is probably nearer the truth, though Candido himself seems to have behaved in a somewhat underhand way in trying to secure a monopoly of the Duke’s favours. At all events, henceforth Candido was Gloucester’s chief literary representative in Italy, and we can trace their relationship by means of their correspondence, of which a part has been preserved.

Considering the facts which had enabled Candido to replace Bruni in the service of Duke Humphrey, it is rather extraordinary that he had the temerity to forward the first sample of his work without an inscription to his new patron. This omission was promptly noted by Gloucester, and in his reply to the letter of the Archbishop of Milan he complained about it, and with memories of the action of Bruni fresh in his mind, he asked his correspondent to urge Candido not only to hasten the completion of the translation, but also not to forget to dedicate it as he had promised.[1200] He wrote much in the same strain to Candido, expressing some surprise that the book was not dedicated to him, but supposing that this was so because it was only a portion of the whole translation. Again he urged Candido to renewed efforts, and promised that his friendship would not be unprofitable.[1201] Candido replied to this in most effusive terms. Giving devout thanks for the existence of a prince endowed with such an excess of virtue, he replied that though the whole work was to be dedicated to Gloucester, yet three separate books were to be dedicated to three other friends; the fifth to Giovanni Amadeo, a lawyer of Milan; the sixth to Alfonso, Bishop of Burgos; and the last to the Archbishop of Milan.[1202] The fervour of the praises lavished on the Duke in this letter suggest a fear on the part of the writer that offence might be taken at these subsidiary dedications, and still further to propitiate the Duke another letter followed almost immediately, announcing the despatch of the first five books of the translated Republic, which were already read to the honour and glory of Humphrey not only throughout Italy, but also in Spain. Happy would he be were he able to place his gracious patron’s name in all his books.[1203]

The translation of the first five books had been sent according to promise to Talenti, who was to have them carefully copied and sent to the Duke. At the same time Candido had promised that, when the whole work was completed, he would have all the books copied into a single volume and sent to his patron, and showing some distrust of Gloucester’s appreciation of his work, had asked his friend to convey his assurances of devotion.[1204] In due course this portion of the translation reached its destination, bearing a long dedicatory epistle, in which Candido once more laid stress on the way Zano had made Gloucester’s name a household word amongst the Italian Humanists. The dedication concludes with an account of the origin of the translation, telling how it was originally the work of Chrysoloras, but by reason of his defective Latin style was passed on to the writer’s father, who died before its completion, leaving it to be finished by his son.[1205] This genesis of the translation probably explains why Candido was able so quickly to prepare the first five books, for they must have been completed some time before they were sent, if their contents were already known throughout Italy and also in Spain; most likely the fifth book, which he had first sent to Gloucester, was the only one of the first five which was entirely his own translation.

Gloucester’s acknowledgment of the first five books of the Republic shows him to have been so thoroughly imbued with the peculiar spirit of the Renaissance scholars, that it is well to give it in full. ‘We have received your longed-for letters with the books of Plato,‘ he writes, ‘which have given us much pleasure. Nothing could give us more pleasure, especially since they will reflect honour and glory on us, as you say. We are therefore very grateful to you for having done so much hard work in our name, whence both we and you will receive great praise. The books are of such a kind that they invite even the unwilling to read them; such is the dignity and grace of Plato, and so successful is your interpretation of him, that we cannot say to whom we owe most, to him for drawing a prince of such wise statesmanship, or to you for labouring to bring to light this statesmanship hidden and almost lost by our negligence. You have chosen a noble and worthy province which cannot be taken from you in any age, nor be lost by any forgetfulness, that is, if what the wisest men say be true, and glory is indeed immortal. We have read and re-read these books, and with such pleasure that we have determined that they shall never leave our side, whether we be at home or on military service, for if your translation cannot be compared to the divine eloquence of Plato, nevertheless in our opinion it is hardly inferior. These books shall be always kept at hand, so that we may ever have something to give us pleasure, and that they may be almost as counsellors and companions for so much of our life as is left to us, as was the wisdom of Nestor to Agamemnon, and that of Achates to Æneas. On the same page Plato and Candido can be read and admired together, and the latter, no less than ourselves, be seen labouring to increase our dignity. We exhort, and would compel you to labour hard at the completion of the other books which we await impatiently. Do not think that anything can give us more pleasure than that which relates to learning and the cult of letters. You have and shall have whatsoever you wish from us, who have always favoured your studies. We possess Livy and other eminent writers, and nearly all the works of Cicero which have been hitherto found. If you have anything of great value, we beg of you to tell us.’[1206]

This letter is a typical example of Humphrey’s style, and the Latin has an unexpectedly classical tinge, though this was doubtless the work of one of his secretaries. The sentiments betray a love of learning for its own sake, and a genuine pleasure, not only in the possession of this translation of the Republic, but also in reading and re-reading it, for Humphrey was never one of those ignorant book-collectors who are made to writhe under the scornful lash of Lucian of Samosata. Still more interesting is the almost childish desire for fame and glory, that desire to live in the memory of posterity. Though to us this seems small and unworthy of either a great prince or a famous patron of scholars, we must remember that the desire to establish an unforgetable name was typical of the earlier Humanists, and sprang from a far from ignoble motive. In the Middle Ages man had looked on life as a weary pilgrimage, a disagreeable though necessary preliminary to a life of eternal bliss; the men of the new world looked on the happy side of things, and rejoiced in the goodliness of that life which God had given them. Man’s actions, therefore, became more important—more to be praised or blamed as the case might be. Thus to live a famous life, and to be remembered after death, were among the chief desires of the scholars of the new learning, desires which became intensified when the gospel of man’s individuality was more clearly understood. The glorification of the individual was part of the glorification of the world; and before the cult of the world became a mere striving after sensual indulgence, this desire for glory was a worthy ambition. In Humphrey this ambition is not the last phase of a selfish egotism, as the story of his life might suggest, but part of that new spirit of self-realisation, which had led Petrarch and Boccaccio to seek for fame as the only justification for their existence.

Candido was well pleased with his patron’s praises, and was able to reply with the grateful news that the other five books had just been finished, though the transcribing of a copy for the Duke would still take some time, especially as all ten books were to be copied into one volume, with the translator’s latest additions and corrections. Every care was to be bestowed upon it, to make it one of the most elegant works in the Latin language.[1207] In the meantime, however, Candido was not idle, since he had already received a commission to act as Humphrey’s literary agent in Italy, for there was no hope of getting translations of the Greek classics, or even faithful copies of the works of Latin authors, in England. He had by him some books which Humphrey had ordered, and in their purchase he had had a free hand, as his patron had declared that he was not to be deterred by any price, though in their selection he was guided by Humphrey’s choice. The Duke had a clear idea as to what he wanted in the way of books, and was in no way inclined to submit to what Candido cared to advise. Accordingly he sent a list, of which the chief items were the works of Cornelius Celsus, the medical writer of the Augustinian age, the Natural History of the elder Pliny, the Panegyricon on Trajan of the younger Pliny, and the works of Apuleius, the famous pagan philosopher, whose chief attraction was probably his treatise on the philosophy of Plato, and as many of the works of Varro, the friend of Cicero, as could be found, especially his treatise De Lingua Latina[1208]—a list which showed considerable catholicity of taste. Other books, too, Gloucester had ordered, but they had seemingly not found favour, as fit objects of purchase, with Candido. The Duke, however, insisted on his choice, ‘although we know them to be wrong frequently, owing to an absurd interpretation of the authors, yet they cannot be disregarded, if only on account of their authority and their proved learning’; at any rate, Candido would not suffer from their purchase, for he was bidden to send the prices of the various books whether ready copied, or to be copied in the future, and the money would be forwarded to him through those Italian merchants who made banking one of the chief branches of their trade.[1209]

At a later date Humphrey sent the catalogue of his library to his correspondent, who was genuinely surprised at the wonderful variety of the books therein detailed, but he modestly suggested that it lacked at least a hundred books which were indispensable for a collection that aimed at such completeness, and which he was quite prepared to procure. ‘You know my diligence and trustworthiness in this matter,’ he wrote with the usual guile of the Italian humanist, ‘I who desire nothing but your honour and glory, and that your name be handed down to everlasting repute as far as I can make it so.’ Truly this man knew how to win the heart of Humphrey, and wanted more of those lucrative commissions from the open-handed Duke. He went on to explain that the books could not be bought in a day, but they could be ordered, so there would be always some treasure coming to hand with which he could delight his patron.[1210]

Gloucester welcomed this list of desirable books, and therefrom compiled another list of volumes which Candido was to purchase for him; the rest he declared were in his possession, though not mentioned in the catalogue he had sent lately. This last statement reads as if he were asserting his own power of criticism, and did not choose to have all the books that his friend pressed upon him. At the same time Humphrey wrote to Filippo Mario Visconti, explaining to him how he was using his secretary, so that no difficulties might be placed in the way of Candido’s purchases, and that access to the Ducal Library at Milan might be allowed him.[1211] Copyists were promptly set to work to fulfil the Duke’s order, but as there was ‘no small love of libraries’ in Italy, the work progressed slowly, for the scribes had more than they could do. However, in May 1442 a small parcel of books was handed to the Borromei merchants for transmission to Gloucester.[1212] About this time, too, Zano returned from Florence, bearing with him manifold messages of fidelity from Candido, which he delivered in person to the Duke.[1213]

The books arrived quite safely, and with them the copy of Candido’s translation of the Republic, which had been long delayed owing to the author’s illness at the time of the completion of the translation, which had prevented him from revising and correcting the text as he had wished.[1214] This last volume was delivered in person by Scaramuccia Balbo, a personal friend of the translator and a servant of the Duke of Milan.[1215] When writing about the final completion of the Republic, in a letter which probably accompanied the book, Candido gives us an insight into the scholarship of Duke Humphrey. Casting aside all personal appeals or unctuous flatteries, he writes as one scholar to another, and declares that he had neither added to nor detracted from the work of Plato, he had simply put that work within the reach of those who knew no Greek.[1216] Humphrey was equally restrained when acknowledging the receipt of the completed work, declaring that he had had an immense desire to study the ‘great and broad mind of Plato, which indeed we find to be a heavenly constellation.’ At the same time he recorded the arrival of nine other volumes, and told Candido that he awaited the rest with great impatience, most especially Cicero’s De Productione et Creatione Mundi; the complete works of Aulus Gellius, the author of the Noctes Atticæ, a copy of which was included in the books given to Oxford in 1439; Cerelius, De Natali Die;[1217] Appuleius, De Magia; and the books of Lucius Florus. Amongst others, he desired Columella’s famous treatise on ancient agriculture, and that on architecture by Vitruvius; the works of the geographer, Pomponius Mela; Ptolemy’s Cosmographia and his treatise on the heavenly bodies; Pomponius Festus, De Vocabulis, and a book on the dignities and insignia of the Roman Empire.[1218] In a later letter he thanked Candido for sending a selection of the books he had ordered, together with some declamations written by the translator himself.[1219] These last were probably the two volumes of letters dealing with the controversy which had raged round Candido’s translation of the Ethics, which the author had dedicated to his English patron.[1220]

Four more books followed these in quick succession, but they were acknowledged in a somewhat curt letter in which Gloucester told his correspondent not to confide any more books to the merchants who had brought them, as they had been unduly long in fulfilling their commission.[1221] A year passed without further interchange of letters, and then the Duke wrote reproachfully, complaining of Candido’s long silence and the cessation of the supply of books. With thinly veiled sarcasm he attributed this to ill-health on the part of his agent, and concluded: ‘On this account we have determined to write this letter to you, in which we ask you to complete the work you have begun, and not to let our long silence about the reward of your labours affect you, for in the end, perhaps, you will get what you thought at the beginning, as we have never let any one who has done work for us go unrewarded.’[1222]

The tone of Gloucester’s letter is distinctly arrogant, but he was undoubtedly right when he conceived that it was a matter of reward which had risen up between him and his correspondent. On receiving the completed translation of the Republic he had written to Candido, saying that he wished to reward him for his exertions, and had decided to settle on him a salary of one hundred ducats a year. Having made all the preliminary arrangements, it occurred to him that this might give offence to Candido’s master, the Duke of Milan. In fear, therefore, of doing his friend more harm than good by this action, he had determined to postpone the idea till he had consulted Candido himself, whom he had asked to give his opinion.[1223] In a later letter Humphrey had written again to much the same effect, saying that he feared that Candido distrusted his honest realisation of the obligation he owed him. He urged him not to listen to empty rumours, and repeated the substance of what he had said before.[1224] It seems that Candido refused this offer, and in its place desired to be given what he called ‘Petrarch’s Villa’—possibly the house once owned by Petrarch at Gavignano near Milan. In making this request he was probably influenced by the fact that the scholar Filelfo had just received such a gift from Duke Filippo Maria, and by a desire to be equal with this great rival, who had so lately come to Milan. Be this as it may, Humphrey ignored his request, not vouchsafing an answer one way or the other. All this Candido stated in his answer to the Duke’s complaint of silence, and he pointed to his disinterested services in the past, and to the way he had spent three long years in translating the Republic, merely to win his patron’s friendship. It was not forgetfulness, but fear, caused by the Duke’s ignoring his request, that had induced his long silence, and in refutation of Gloucester’s suggestion of failing strength, he pointed to the fact that he was not yet forty years old, an age when Plato declared that a man was not past his prime. For himself, he was ready to continue to serve his old patron, and though busy at Rome of late, he had, during the time of silence, secured Columella’s treatise on agriculture and all the works of Apuleius in an emended transcript, besides other works, but since exception to sending them by merchants had been taken, there was no means of despatching them to their destination. If a means of conveyance were to be suggested by Gloucester, he would gladly avail himself thereof. This letter of great dignity and of veiled reproach ended on a pathetic note. ‘It is your silence, not the fear of no reward, that disturbs me, so I will not ask of you anything but friendship and kindness; my fidelity I will keep unshaken, and though my affairs are in no sound condition, I will pass that over. Nothing can be worse than to lose your favour.’[1225]

Thus ends one of the most interesting series of letters of the period, and we are left in the dark as to the ultimate decision of the matter. It seems probable, from the absence of any further letters, that Humphrey never replied to this, though the obvious loss of letters earlier in the correspondence makes this deduction inconclusive. If Candido’s statements are true, the Duke appears in a very unfavourable light. Some payments, of course, must have been made by him, and it is possible that they were sufficiently large to wipe out any obligation he might owe to the man who had worked so well for him, but it is equally possible that the exceeding liberality, of which he makes boast, was mostly confined to words. Instability—that canker which lay at the root of the ‘Good Duke’s’ character—had again asserted itself. He had disappointed Bruni of his hopes, he now did the same by Candido. Is this a true estimate of his relations with the Italian Humanists? We must remember that as a race these men were proverbially greedy, and that in both cases we have no definite statement of Humphrey’s case. How far with respect to Candido was the danger of alienating Filippo Maria of Milan a reality? More perhaps than we might think, for a few months after Gloucester’s death we find Candido petitioning for some recognition of his services from the governors of Milan, and he bases his claim on long and faithful service to the Visconti, to serve whom he had refused and contemned many valuable efforts made by both Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and the King of Spain.[1226] When it served his purpose, therefore, Candido stated the case more in favour of his English patron than his last letter would lead us to believe possible.

We can form no exact estimate of the number of books sent over by Candido to Gloucester. We hear of the safe arrival of at least thirty-one,[1227] and there is mention of many more in the correspondence. For the most part they were books by Latin authors, and those not always of the Golden Age of Latin literature. However, they show a great advance on the studies of the Middle Ages, and display a wonderful breadth of interest. We have no evidence that it was for practical purposes that Humphrey evinced a peculiar interest in agriculture, but his known liking for astrology is represented, and his wish to possess the treatise of Vitruvius on Architecture shows that he had an intimate knowledge of the writings of the past. Of these books and their indication of the tastes of their owner more will be said later.