Aeneas Silvius, (Enea Silvio de' Piccolomini Pius II.) - William Boulting

Excerpt from AEneas Silvius, (Enea Silvio De' Piccolomini Pius II.): Orator, Man of Letters, Statesman, and Pope
My dear Sully, - Years have passed since you first held out to me the helpful hand of your friendship, and I have long been anxious to show you how I value it. So I venture to offer you this little study as a mark of admiration and deep regard. Should its quality prove very defective, at least the sentiment which accompanies the volume is sincere. You, as well as I, are interested in the great historic forces of the fifteenth century; you, as well as I, have been fascinated by the personality of AEneas Silvius, and have found it very complex and by no means easy to understand.
It seemed to me, if I may dare say so, that bias, of one kind or another, affected the judgement of more than one great historian. I found the laborious Voigt unfair and severe; Gregorovius appeared somewhat harsh; I was not quite satisfied that Weiss and Pastor, or even the statesmanlike and sympathetic Creighton, were not led a little astray by prejudices. So I had the temerity to try my own hand.
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