Two days ago I met by chance the Count della Mirandola riding in the outskirts of Florence. He is living very quietly in a villa near by, immersed in his studies. He desires at last to know what his future is to be, for having obeyed His Holiness hitherto and being decided to obey him implicitly in the future, he wishes to have some indication that His Holiness accepts his obedience in the form of a Brief, whereby the Pope acknowledges him as an obedient son and a good Christian, which I believe him to be. Among other proofs of this he has converted a young Jew who has been translating for him from the Hebrew language, of which he is a perfect master, whom he has persuaded to become a Christian. This is not the act of a heretic. I much desire that for the honour of His Holiness and for my own satisfaction this matter should be finished, and that the virtue and goodness of the said Count Giovanni should have as great a weight as the calumnies and suggestions of others. By nature he is devoted to His Holiness and does not dwell on what is past. Once delivered from this contumacy he will be the partisan and faithful servant of His Holiness, who to my thinking will thereby gain much.--August 11, 1490.[386] Lorenzo de’ Medici _to_ Giovanni Lanfredini, _Florentine Ambassador at Rome_ By your letter of the 13th I understand that the Pope has taken umbrage at the note presented by you, so do not proceed further with it. Anything that vexes His Sanctity annoys me, and I should be very sorry if he thought that any act or word of mine was not dictated by a desire for the good of His Holiness. You can assure him that I am always his servant and shall ever be. If I advised moderation in these proceedings against the King [of Naples] I only did so for the aforesaid reasons. As I wrote the other day, it seems to me necessary that His Holiness should decide on following one of three paths: either enforce his will by war against the King, or come to some agreement, or, if an honourable agreement is not possible, to temporise and wait for better times. The first would be the most honourable, but I conceive dangerous and very costly; indeed I do not think it possible unless the Neapolitan dynasty is changed. For this, according to my views, three things are necessary: either Venice or Milan must be a party to the enterprise, or the new ruler must be strong and well supplied with men and money, or the Holy Father must prepare to assert himself without stint of money or other things, to carry the thing through. It is indispensable that the Pope and the new ruler, whoever he may be, should be stronger than the King alone, supposing always that Venice adheres and would prevent Milan from helping the King. If they were understood with the Neapolitan Barons, or other such small folk, so much the better. I may be mistaken as to the first proposition when I dissuaded His Holiness from following