Thomæ Junio.
INspectis Literis tuis (Præceptor optime) unicum hoc mihi supervacaneum occurrebat, quòd tardæ
scriptionis excusationem attuleris; tametsi enim Literis tuis nihil mihi queat optabilius accedere, quî
possim tamen, aut debeam sperare, otii tibi tantum à rebus seriis, & sanctioribus esse, ut mihi semper respondere vacet; præsertim cum illud humanitatis omnino sit, officii minime. Te vero oblitum esse mei ut suspicer, tam multa tua de me recens merita nequaquam sinunt. Neque enim video quorsum tantis onustum beneficiis ad oblivionem dimitteres. Rus tuum accersitus, simul ac Ver adoleverit, liberiter adveniam, ad capessendas anni, tuique non minus colloquii, delicias; & ab urbano strepitu subducam me paulisper. Stoam tuam Icenorum, tanquam ad celeberrimam illam Zenonis porticum, aut Ciceronis Tusculanum, ubi tu in re modica regio sane animo veluti Serranus aliquis aut Curius in agello tuo placide regnas, deque ipsis divitiis, ambitione, pompâ, luxuriâ, & quicquid vulgus hominum miratur & stupet, quasi triumphum agis fortunæ contemptor. Cæterùm qui tarditatis culpam deprecatus es, hanc mihi vicissim, ut spero, præcipitantiam indulgebis; cum enim Epistolam hanc in extremum distulissem, malui pauca, eáque rudiuscule scribere, quam nihil. Vale Vir Observande.
Cantabrigia, July 21.1628.
To Thomas Young.
ON reading your letter, my dearest Master, only
one thing seemed to me superfluous, namely your
apology for delay in writing. Although nothing
could possibly be more welcome to me than your letters,
how could or ought I to hope that you would be so little
occupied with serious and sacred duties as always to be
able to spare time to reply to me — especially as that is purely a favor on your part, and not in any way an
obligation. Moreover, any suspicion of your having
forgotten me is absolutely impossible after all the kindnesses you have shown me of late. For I do not see why
you should consign to oblivion one upon whom you
have showered so many favours.
I gladly accept the invitation to your country home
as soon as spring has well set in, to enjoy the delights of
the season, and no less of your conversation, and I will
retire for a while from the noise of town to your Stoa
in the land of the Iceni, as if it were the famous Portico
of Zeno or Cicero's Tusculan villa. There, in a kingly
spirit though with modest means, like some Serranus or
Curius, you reign peacefully over your little estate, and,
despising fortune, triumph over wealth, ambition, pomp,
luxury, and all that common men admire and gape at.
For the rest, you who ask pardon for tardiness will
I hope in your turn grant pardon for my hastiness: for
as I had put off this letter to the last moment, I chose
rather to send a short and somewhat unpolished letter
than not to write at all.
Farewell, my honored friend.
Cambridge, July 21st, 1628
Translation by Phyllis B. Tillyard
