_Epigram on Erasmus_ (Vol. iv., p. 437.).--I well remember to have seen
this before, in one of the multiplied editions of his _Colloquies_ which
I cannot directly indicate. M. Ménage could not recollect, he says, the
name of the author[1] of the following singular epigram on the same
celebrated writer's character and name:--
"Hic jacet Erasmus, qui quondam bonus erat mus:
Rodere qui solitus, roditur a vermibus."
[Footnote 1: [The author of the _Critique de Marsollier_ says it
was Philip Labbe. See Burigni, tom. ii. pp. 428, 429. Jortin's
_Life of Erasmus_.--ED.]]
This distich, it has been remarked, presents two obvious faults of
prosodial quantity; the first syllable of _bonus_ being made long, and
the first of _vermibus_ short, which the author explained by maintaining
that the one nullified and compensated for the other, thus redeeming
both.
The best epitaph on Erasmus has always appeared to me to be that of
Julius Cæsar Scaliger, expressive of his regret for their long personal
hostility, and then rendering ample justice to his deceased adversary.
It begins thus:--
"Tunc etiam moreris? ah quid me linquis, Erasme?
Ante meus quam sit conciliatus amor!"
To which may be aptly applied the sentiment expressed by Corneille
(_Mort de Pompée_, Acte V. Sc. 1.):--
"Ah! qu'il est doux de plaindre
La mort d'un ennemi, quand il n'est plus à craindre."
To the portrait of Erasmus have been subscribed these characteristic
words, "Vidit, pervidit, risit."