Excerpt of a letter written by Sir Thomas More, soon after being made Privy Councillor, to his friend, John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester.

I have come to the court extremely against my will, as every one knoweth, and as the king himself knows, for in sport he often twits me with it, and here I hang as unseemly as a man not used to ride doth sit unhandsomely in his saddle; but our prince, whose special and extraordinary favour towards me I know not how ever to deserve, is so affable and courteous to all who approach him, that every one, however little he may imagine it, may hope to win his love, even as citizens' wives of London do, who imagine that Our Lady's picture near the Tower smileth on them when they pray before it. But I am not so happy as to perceive such fortunate signs of deserving his love within myself, and am of too humble a spirit to persuade myself that I deserve it, yet such is the king's virtue and learning, and so great his industry, that the more I see him increase in these high qualities, the less irksome does this courtier's life appear to me.

to the Works of Sir Thomas More