I went home, and in the Muses' spite, from whom I had been so long divorced, finished the poem within three days." The poem,[50] in which Britain speaks her own praise and that of her princes, Henry VII.

and his children, was dedicated to the Duke of York and accompanied by a letter in which Erasmus commended Henry's devotion to learning.

Seven years later Erasmus again wrote to Henry, now Prince of Wales, condoling with him upon the death of his brother-in-law, Philip of Burgundy, King of Castile.

Henry replied in cordial manner, inviting the great scholar to continue the correspondence.
The style of his letter so impressed Erasmus that he suspected, as he says,[51] "some help from others in the ideas and expressions.

In a conversation I afterwards had with William, Lord Mountjoy, he tried by various arguments to dispel that suspicion, and when he found he could not do so he gave up the point and let it pass until he was sufficiently instructed in the case.