[To King James] gratiae de fluuio contra Redemptores. 1620.14.Ju / [To King James] Thanks Concerning the River in Reply to the Contractors June 14, 1620

[To King James] gratiae de fluuio contra Redemptores. 1620.14.Ju

Serenissime Domine noster, Iacobe Potentissime.

Infinita vestra in nos Beneficia non solum verba omnia, sed etiam cogitationes nostras exhau[riunt.] Quis enim impetus animi celeritatem tantae munificentiae assequi potest? quippe qui vniuersum tempus nostrum (forsitan quo alacrius illud impenderemus DOCTRIN[AE]) beneficijs etiam obligasti. Nuper enim dedisti nobis Librum, plenissimum Musarum, quae cum olim gauderent Fluuijs, nunc etiam aquas, in quibus habitant, impertis[!] Quanta rotunditas Clementiae vestrae, quae ab omni parte nobis succurrit!¹ Quod si Artaxerxes olim paululum aquae a Sinaeta, subiecto suo laetissimè sumer[et,] quanto magis par est, nos humillimos subiectos, integro Fluuio a Rege nostro² do[na]tos, triumphare? Tantum Maiestatem vestram subiectissimè oramus, ut si off[icia] nostra minus respondeant magnitudini beneficiorum, imbecillitati id nostrae, qua[e] fastigium regiarum notionum aequare nunquam potest, non voluntati tribuend[um] existimes.

[To King James] Thanks Concerning the River in Reply to the Contractors June 14, 1620

Our Most Serene Lord, Most Mighty James.

Your infinite Acts of Kindness toward us exhaust not only all our words but also all our thoughts. For what spirited attempts of the mind can overtake your exceeding generosity’s speed? Indeed, it is you who are responsible, through your kind favors, for leaving all our time indebted to you (perhaps so we might devote it more enthusiastically to LEARNING). For recently you gave us a Book most fully instilled with the Muses. And since they once delighted in Rivers,¹ you now bestow upon us the waters they inhabit! Such is the fullness of your Compassion, which runs from every direction to help us! But if Artaxerxes once received a little bit of water from his subject Sinaetes with the greatest gladness,² then it is all the more appropriate for us, your most humble subjects, to celebrate a triumph when we are given a whole River by our King. Only we most humbly ask your Majesty if our respectful responses hardly approach the greatness of your generous deeds, that you blame not our intention but our frailty, which can never reach the height of your royal thoughts.