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SELECTIONS FROM ERASMUS
Principally From His Epistles
By
P. S. ALLEN
* * * * *
PREFACE
The selections in this volume are taken mainly from the Letters of
Erasmus. Latin was to him a living language; and the easy
straightforwardness with which he addresses himself to what he has to
say, whether in narrating the events of every-day life or in developing
more serious themes, makes his works suitable reading for beginners. To
the rapidity with which he invariably wrote is due a certain laxity,
principally in the use of moods and tenses; and his spelling is that of
the Renaissance. These matters I have brought to some extent into
conformity with classical usage; and in a few other ways also I have
taken necessary liberties with the text.
In the choice of passages I have been guided for the most part by a
desire to illustrate through them English life at a period of exceptional
interest in our history. There has never been wanting a succession of
persons who concerned themselves to chronicle the deeds of kings and the
fortunes of war; but history only becomes intelligible when we can place
these exalted events in their right setting by understanding what men
both small and great were doing and thinking in their private lives. To
Erasmus we owe much intimate knowledge of the age in which he lived; and
of none of his contemporaries has he given us more vivid pictures than of
the great Englishmen, Henry VIII, Colet, More, and many others, whom he
delighted to claim as friends.
With this purpose in view I have thought it best to confine the
historical commentary within a narrow compass in the scenes which are not
drawn from England; and to leave unillustrated many distinguished names,
due appreciation of which would have overloaded the notes and confused
the reader.
The vocabulary is intended to include all words not to be found in Dr.
Lewis's _Elementary Latin Dictionary_, with the exception of (1) those
which with the necessary modification have become English, (2) classical
words used for modern counterparts without possibility of confusion, e.
g. _templum_ for _church_; (3) diminutives--a mode of expression which
both Erasmus and modern writers use very freely--as to the origin of
which there can be no doubt.
Mr. Kenneth Forbes of St. John's College has kindly gone through the
whole of the text with me, and has given me the benefit of his long
experience as a teacher. I am also obliged to him for most valuable
assistance in the preparation of the notes.
LONGWALL, COTTAGE, OXFORD. June 1908.
In a second edition I have been able to incorporate a few of the
corrections and suggestions made by reviewers and friends. My thanks are
especially due to the Warden of Wadham and to Mr. Hugo Sharpley, head
master of Richmond Grammar School, Yorks.
23 MERTON STREET, OXFORD. June 1, 1918.
* * * * *
CONTENTS
LIFE OF ERASMUS
I. AN ORDINATION EXAMINATION
II. A DOMESTIC AFFRAY (55 : 47)
III. A WINTER JOURNEY (88 : 82)
IV. AN ENGLISH COUNTRY-HOUSE (103 : 98)
V. A VISIT TO COURT (I. p. 6 : i. p. 201)
VI. ERASMUS AT OXFORD (115 : 104)
VII. AN OXFORD DINNER PARTY (116 : 105)
VIII. LEARNING IN ENGLAND (118 : 110)
IX. A JOURNEY TO PARIS (119 : 122)
X. ERASMUS RENDERS ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF TO COLET (181 : 180)
XI. A VISIT TO LAMBETH (I. pp. 4-5 : i. p.393)
XII. A LETTER TO ALDUS (207 : 204)
XIII. AN INTERVIEW WITH GRIMANI ( :i. p. 461)
XIV. A CONVERSATION AT CAMBRIDGE (237 : 231)
XV. AN ENCOUNTER WITH CANOSSA
XVI. ERASMUS' APOLOGIA PRO VITA SUA (296 : 290)
XVII. ERASMUS' RECEPTION AT BASEL (305 : 298)
XVIII. BISHOP FISHER (457 : 446)
XIX. A JOURNEY FROM BASEL TO LOUVAIN (867 : )
XX. ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES (965 : )
XXI. AN EXPLOSION AT BASEL
XXII. ARCHBISHOP WARHAM. I
XXIII. ARCHBISHOP WARHAM. II
XXIV. THE LIVES OF VITRARIUS AND COLET
XXV. COLET AND HIS KINSMAN
XXVI. THOMAS MORE ( :585B)
XXVII. A DISHONEST LONDONER
XXVIII. THE CONDITION OF ENGLISH HOUSES
XXIX. FISHER'S STUDY AT ROCHESTER
NOTES
VOCABULARY
LIST OF PLACE-NAMES
(Of the figures in brackets, the first give the references to my _Opus
Epistolarum Erasmi_, the second to the late Mr. F. M. Nichols' _Epistles
of Erasmus_.)
* * * * *
LIFE OF ERASMUS
Erasmus of Rotterdam was born on October 27, probably in 1466. His father
belonged to Gouda, a little town near Rotterdam, and after some schooling
there and an interval during which he was a chorister in Utrecht
Cathedral, Erasmus was sent to Deventer, to the principal school in the
town, which was attached to St. Lebuin's Church. The renewed interest in
classical learning which had begun in Italy in the fourteenth century had
as yet been scarcely felt in Northern Europe, and education was still
dominated by the requirements of Philosophy and Theology, which were
regarded as the highest branches of knowledge. A very high degree of
subtlety in thought and argument had been reached, and in order that the
youthful student might be fitted to enter this arena, it was necessary
that he should be trained from the outset in its requirements. In the
schools, in consequence, little attention was paid to the form in which
thought was expressed, provided that the thought was correct: in marked
contrast to the classical ideal, which emphasized the importance of
expression, in just appreciation of the fact that thought expressed in
obscure or inadequate words, fails to reach the human mind. The mediaeval
position had been the outcome of a reaction against the spirit of later
classical times, which had sacrificed matter to form. And now the
pendulum was swinging back again in a new attempt to adjust the rival
claims.
The education which Erasmus received at Deventer was still in thraldom to
the mediaeval ideal. Greek was practically unknown, and in Latin all that
was required of the student was a sufficient mastery of the rudiments of
grammar to enable him to express somehow the distinctions and refinements
of thought for which he was being trained. Niceties of scholarship and
amplitude of vocabulary were unnecessary to him and were disregarded.
From a material point of view also education was hampered. Printing was
only just beginning, and there were few, if any, schoolbooks to be had.
Lectures and lessons still justified their name 'readings'; for the boys
sat in class crowded round their master, diligently copying down the
words that fell from his lips, whether he were dictating a chapter in
grammar, with its rules of accidence and syntax, or at a later stage a
passage from a Latin author with his own or the traditional comments.
Their canon of the classics was widely different from ours; instead of
the simplified Caesar or Ovid that is now set before the schoolboy,
Terence occupied a principal position, being of the first importance to
an age when the learned still spoke Latin. Portions of the historians
were read, for their worldly wisdom rather than for their history; Pliny
the Elder for his natural science, and Boethius for his mathematics; and
for poetry Cato's moral distiches and Baptista of Mantua, 'the Christian
Vergil.'
In this atmosphere Erasmus's early years were spent; but from some of his
masters he caught the breath of the new life that came from Italy, and
this he never lost. By 1485, shortly after he had left Deventer, both his
parents were dead, and a few years later he was persuaded to enter the
monastery of Steyn, near Gouda, a house of Augustinian canons. The life
there was uncongenial to him; for though he had leisure to read as much
as he liked, his temperament was not suited to the precision and
regularity of religious observance. An opportunity for escape presented
itself, when the Bishop of Cambray, a powerful ecclesiastic, was
inquiring for a Latin secretary. Erasmus, who had already become very
facile with his pen, obtained the post and for a year or more discharged
its duties.
At length in 1495 he persuaded the Bishop to fulfil a desire which he had
long cherished, and send him with a stipend to a University. He went to
Paris and began reading for a Doctor's degree in Theology. But the course
was too cramping, and he therefore used his opportunity to educate
himself more widely; eking out the Bishop's grant by taking pupils. It
was a hard life, and his health was delicate; but he did not flinch from
his task, doing just enough paid work--and no more--to keep himself alive
and to buy books. In 1499 one of his pupils, a young Englishman, Lord
Mountjoy, brought him to England for a visit, and in the autumn sent him
for a month or two to Oxford. There he fell in with Colet, a man of
strong character and intellect, who was giving a new impulse to the study
of the Bible by historical treatment. Colet's enthusiasm encouraged
Erasmus in the direction to which he was already inclined; and when he
returned to Paris in 1500, it was with the determination to apply his
whole energy to classical learning, and especially to the study of
Theology, which in the new world opening before him was still to be the
queen of sciences. For the next four years he was working hard, teaching
himself Greek and reading whatever he could find, at Paris or, when the
plague drove him thence, at Orleans or Louvain. By 1504 his period of
preparation was over, and the fruitful season succeeded. His first
venture in Theology was to print in 1505 some annotations on the New
Testament by Lorenzo Valla, an Italian humanist of the fifteenth century
with whose critical temperament he was much in sympathy.
Shortly afterwards a visit to England brought him what he had long
desired--an opportunity of going to Italy. He set out in June 1506, as
supervisor of the studies of two boys, the sons of Henry VII's physician.
After taking the degree of D.D. at Turin in September he settled down at
Bologna with his charges and worked at a book which he had had in hand
for some years, and of which he had already published a specimen in 1500.
To this book, the _Adagia_, he owed the great fame which he obtained
throughout Europe, before any of the works on which his reputation now
rests had been published. Its scheme was a collection of proverbial
sayings and allusions, which he illustrated and explained in such a way
as to make them useful to those who desired to study the classics and to
write elegant Latin. In these days of lexicons and dictionaries the value
of the _Adagia_ has passed away; but to an age which placed a high value
on Latinity and which had little apparatus to use, the book was a great
acquisition. It was welcomed with enthusiasm when Aldus published it at
Venice in 1508: and throughout his life Erasmus brought out edition after
edition, amplifying and enlarging a book which the public was always
ready to buy.
From Venice Erasmus went on to Rome, where he had a flattering reception,
and, though a northerner, was recognized as an equal by the humanists of
Italy. He was pressed to stay, but the death of Henry VII brought him an
invitation to return to England, in the names of Warham, Archbishop of
Canterbury, and his old patron Mountjoy, who was loud in his praises of
the 'divine' young king.
As he rode hastily northwards, his active brain fell to composing a
satire on the life he saw around him. He was a quick observer, and his
personal charm had won him admission to the halls of the great; whilst
bitter experience had shown him the life of the poor and needy. His
satire, _The Praise of Folly_, cuts with no gentle hand into the deceits
to which human frailty is prone and lays bare their nakedness. High and
low, rich and poor, suffer alike, as Folly makes merry over them. There
was much in the life of the age which called for censure, as there had
been in the past and was to be in the future. On untrained lips censure
easily degenerates into abuse and loses its sting: Erasmus with his gifts
of humour and expression caught the public ear and set men thinking.
In England, where he spent the next years, 1509-14, Erasmus began the
great work of his life, an edition of the New Testament and of the
Letters of Jerome. His time was spent between Cambridge and London, and
his friends did what they could for his support. Warham presented him
with a living--Aldington in Kent--and then as Erasmus could not reside
and discharge the duties of a parish priest, allowed him to resign and
draw a pension from the living--in violation of his own strict
regulation. Mountjoy gave him another pension, and Fisher, Bishop of
Rochester, sent him to Cambridge and gave him rooms in Queens' College.
For a time he held the Professorship of Divinity founded in Cambridge, as
in Oxford, by the Lady Margaret Tudor, mother of Henry VII. But teaching
was not his gift. Others might inspire students from the teacher's chair:
his talent could only enlighten the teacher through his books.
At length the time came to publish. By fortunate accident, if not by
design, he came into relations with John Froben of Basel, who with the
three sons of his late partner, John Amorbach, was printing works of
sound learning with all his energy--especially the Fathers. In July 1514
Erasmus set forth, and after a triumphal progress through Germany, fêted
and welcomed everywhere, he settled at Basel to see Jerome and the New
Testament through the press. By 1516 they were complete, and Erasmus had
achieved--almost by an afterthought, for his first project had been a
series of annotations like Valla's--the work which has made his name
great.
Mark Pattison says of Erasmus that he propounded the problem of critical
scholarship, but himself did nothing to solve it. By critical scholarship
is meant the examination of the grounds on which learning rests. In youth
we are uncritical, and accept as Caesar or Livy the books from which we
read those authors; but with growing experience we learn that a copy is
not always a true representation of its original; and with this, even
though there is little perception of the changes and chances through
which manuscripts have passed, the first lesson of criticism has been
learnt.
The problem may be stated thus--In no single case does an autograph
manuscript of a classical author survive: for our knowledge of the works
of the past we are dependent on manuscripts written at a later date. Only
rarely is there less than 300 years' interval between an author's death
and the earliest manuscript now extant of his works; in a great many
cases 1,000 years have elapsed, and in the extreme--Sophocles and
Aristophanes--1,400. The question therefore arises, How far do our
manuscripts represent what was originally written? and it is the work of
scholars to compare together existing manuscripts, to estimate their
relative value, and where they differ, to determine, if possible, what
the author actually wrote.
The manuscripts of the New Testament which scholars have examined and
collated are now numbered by hundreds. Erasmus was content for his first
edition with two lent to him by Colet from the library of St. Paul's
Cathedral, and a few of little value which he found at Basel. And though
for subsequent editions he compared one or two more, the work never
reached a high standard of scholarship. He had done enough, however, for
his age. Before Erasmus men were accustomed to read the New Testament in
Latin; after 1516 no competent scholar could be content with anything but
the Greek. But though the priority actually belongs to Erasmus, it must
be stated that the Greek version had already been printed in January 1514
in a Polyglott Bible published under the orders of Cardinal Ximenes at
Alcala in Spain. For definite reasons, however, this great edition was
not put into circulation till 1520.
By this time Erasmus had attained his highest point. As years went on his
activity continued unabated, his fame grew and his material circumstances
reached a level at which he was far above want and could gratify his
generous impulses freely. But a cloud arose which overshadowed him; and
when it broke--long after Erasmus's death--it overwhelmed Europe. The
causes which raised it up were not new. For centuries earnest and
religious men--Erasmus himself among the number--had been protesting
against evil in the Church. In December 1517 Martin Luther, a friar at
Wittenberg, created a stir by denouncing a number of the doctrines and
practices of the Church; and when the Pope excommunicated him, proceeded
publicly to burn the Papal Bull with every mark of contempt. From this he
was driven on by opposition and threatened persecution, which he faced
with indomitable courage, to a position of complete hostility to Rome;
endeavouring to shatter its immemorial institutions and asserting the
right of the individual to approach God through the mediation of Christ
only instead of through that of priests: the individual, as an inevitable
consequence, claiming the right of private judgement in matters religious
instead of bowing to dogma based on the authority of the Church from ages
past.
These conclusions Erasmus abhorred. He was all for reform, but a violent
severance with the past seemed to him a monstrous remedy. He always
exercised, though he did not always claim, the right of thinking for
himself; but he would never have dreamed of allowing the same freedom to
the ignorant or the unlearned. The aim of his life was to increase
knowledge, in the assurance that from that reform would surely come; but
to force on reform by an appeal to passion, to settle religious
difficulties by an appeal to emotion was to him madness.
The ideals of Erasmus and Luther were irreconcilable: and bitterness soon
arose between them. From both sides Erasmus was assailed with unmeasured
virulence. The strict Catholics called him a heretic, the Lutherans a
coward. But throughout these stormy years he never wavered. At the end he
was still pursuing the ideal which he had sought at the outset of his
public career--reform guided by knowledge. He lived to see some of the
disasters which he had dreaded as the result of encouragement given to
lawless passion--the Peasants' Revolt in 1525, and the Anabaptist horrors
at Munster ten years later. If he could have foreseen the course of the
next century, he would not have lacked instances with which to enforce
his moral.
After 1516 Erasmus returned to England, and then after a few weeks
settled in the Netherlands, first at the court of Brussels, where he had
been appointed Councillor to the young Archduke Charles; and then at the
University of Louvain. He was incessantly at work, a new edition of the
New Testament being projected within a few weeks of the publication of
the first. This appeared in 1519, after Erasmus had journeyed to Basel in
the summer of 1518 to help with the printing. In the autumn of 1521 he
determined to remove to Basel altogether, to escape the attacks of the
Louvain theologians and to be near his printers. For the next few years
he was at Froben's right hand, editing the Fathers in one great series of
volumes after another, and unsparing of his health.
It was during this period that one of the best known of his works, the
_Colloquia_, attained maturity. These were composed first in Paris for a
pupil, as polite forms of address at meeting and parting. In their final
shape they are a series of lively dialogues in which characters, often
thinly disguised, discuss the burning questions of the day with lightness
and humour. In all subsequent times they have been a favourite book for
school reading; and some of Shakespeare's lines are an echo of Erasmus.
In 1529 religious dissensions drove him from Basel and he took refuge at
Freiburg in the Breisgau, which was still untouched by the Reformation.
There he worked on, in the intervals of severe illness; his courage never
failed him and he was comforted by the affection of his friends. In 1535
he returned again to Basel, to be at hand in the printing of a work on
preaching, the _Ecclesiastes_, to which he had given his recent efforts;
and there death, which for twelve years had not seemed far away, overtook
him on July 12, 1536.
* * * * *
I. AN ORDINATION EXAMINATION
Non ab re fuerit hoc loco referre quid acciderit
Davidi quondam episcopo Traiectensi, Ducis Philippi
cognomento Boni filio. Vir erat apprime doctus reique
theologicae peritus, quod in nobilibus et illius
praesertim dicionis episcopis profana dicione onustis 5
perrarum est. Audierat inter tam multos qui sacris
initiabantur, paucissimos esse qui literas scirent.
Visum est rem propius cognoscere. In aula in quam
admittebantur examinandi iussit sibi poni cathedram.
Ipse singulis proposuit quaestiones pro gradus quem 10
petebant dignitate; hypodiaconis futuris leviores, diaconis
aliquanto difficiliores, presbyteris theologicas.
Quaeris eventum? Submovit omnes exceptis tribus.
Qui his rebus praeesse solent existimarunt ingens
Ecclesiae dedecus fore, si pro trecentis tres tantum initiarentur. 15
Episcopus, ut erat fervido ingenio, respondit
maius fore dedecus Ecclesiae, si in eam pro hominibus
admitterentur asini et omnibus asinis stolidiores. Instabant
ii quibus hinc aliquid emolumenti metitur, ut
moderaretur sententiam, reputans hoc seculum non 20
gignere Paulos aut Hieronymos, sed tales recipiendos
quales ea ferret aetas. Perstitit episcopus, negans se
requirere Paulos ac Hieronymos, sed asinos pro hominibus
non admissurum. Hic confugiendum erat ad
extremam machinam. Admota est. Quaenam? 'Si qua 25
coepisti' inquiunt 'visum est pertendere, salaria nobis
augeas oportet; alioqui sine his asinis non est unde
vivamus.' Hoc ariete deiectus est erectus ille Praesulis
animus.
II. A DOMESTIC AFFRAY
ERASMUS CHRISTIANO S. D.
Salve, mel Atticum. Heri nihil scripsi, et consulto
quidem; nam eram stomachosior. Ne roga in quem,
in te inquam. 'Quid commerueram?' Verebar mihi
insidias strui per te hominem argutissimum. Suspectam
habebam illam tuam pyxidem, ne quid simile 5
nobis afferret, quale ferunt Pandorae pyxidem Epimetheo;
quam ubi recluseram, mihi ipsi succensebam
qui fuissem suspiciosulus. 'Cur igitur ne hodie quidem
scripsisti?' inquies. Eramus occupatissimi. 'Quid tandem
negotii?' In spectaculo sedimus, sane iucundo. 10
'Comoedia' inquis 'fuit, an Tragoedia?' Utrumvis,
verum nemo personatus agebat, unicus duntaxat actus,
chorus sine tibiis, fabula nec togata nec palliata, sed
planipedia, humi acta, sine saltatu, e cenaculo spectata,
epitasis turbulentissima, exitus perturbatissimus. 15
'Quam, malum,' inquies 'mihi fabulam fingis?' Immo
rem, Christiane, refero.
Spectavimus hodie matremfamilias cum famula domestica
fortiter depugnantem. Sonuerat diu tuba ante
congressum, convicia fortiter utrinque regeruntur. Hic 20
aequo Marte discessum est, triumphavit nemo. Haec
in hortis, nos e cenaculo taciti spectabamus, non
sine risu. Sed audi catastrophen. A pugna conscendit
cubiculum meum puella, concinnatura lectos. Inter
confabulandum laudo fortitudinem illius, quod voce 25
conviciisque nihil cesserit dominae; ceterum optasse
me ut quantum lingua valebat, tantundem valuisset et
manibus. Nam hera, virago robusta ut vel athleta videri
posset, subinde caput humilioris puellae pugnis contundebat.
'Usque adeone' inquam 'nullos habes ungues, 30
ut ista impune feras?' Respondit illa subridens sibi
quidem non tam animum deesse quam vires. 'An tu
putas' inquam 'bellorum exitus a viribus tantum
pendere? Consilium ubique valet plurimum.' Roganti
quid haberem consilii, 'Ubi te rursus adorietur,' inquam 35
'protinus caliendrum detrahe' (nam mulierculae
Parisiorum mire sibi placent nigris quibusdam caliendris):
'eo detracto mox in capillos invola.'
Haec ut a me ioco dicebantur, itidem accipi putabam.
Atqui sub cenae tempus accurrit anhelus hospes; 40
is erat Caroli regis caduceator, vulgato cognomine
dictus Gentil Gerson. 'Adeste,' inquit 'domini mei,
videbitis cruentum spectaculum.' Accurrimus, offendimus
matremfamilias ac puellam humi colluctantes.
Vix a nobis diremptae sunt. Quam cruenta fuisset 45
pugna res ipsa declarabat. Iacebant per humum sparsa,
hic caliendrum, illic flammeum. Glomeribus pilorum
plenum erat solum; tam crudelis fuerat laniena.
Ubi accubuimus in cena, narrat nobis magno stomacho
materfamilias quam fortiter se gessisset puella, 'Ubi 50
pararem' inquit 'illam castigare, hoc est pugnis contundere,
illa mihi protinus caliendrum detraxit e capite.'
Agnovi me non surdae cecinisse fabulam. 'Id detractum'
inquit 'mihi venefica vibrabat in oculos.' Id
non admonueram. 'Tum' inquit 'tantum capillorum 55
evulsit quantum hic videtis.' Coelum ac terram testata
est se nunquam expertam esse puellam tam pusillam
ac perinde malam. Nos excusare casus humanos et
ancipitem bellorum exitum, tractare de componenda
in posterum concordia. Ego interim mihi gratulabar 60
dominae non subolere rem meo consilio gestam; alioqui
sensissem et ipse illi non deesse linguam.
Habes nostra ludicra; nunc ad seria. Duplicem
mecum contentionem acceperas, scribendi et munera
mittendi. Altera te plane victum declaras, ut qui 65
alienis manibus mecum dimicare coeperis; an infitiaberis
impudens? Non arbitror, si quid frontis est.
Alteram ipse ne suscepi quidem, sed ultro manus dedi.
Literis longe vinceris, immo ne pugnas quidem, nisi ut
Patroclus Achillis armis. Muneribus nolo tecum inire 70
certamen. An poeta cum negotiatore? Quid simile?
Verum heus tu, ad aequiorem concertationem provoco.
Experire utrum tu me prius mittendo an ego te
scribendo defatigem. Hoc demum sit bellum dignum
poeta, dignum institore. Tu si quid audes, accingere; 75
ac bene vale. Parisiis. Anno M.CCCC.XCVII.
III. A WINTER JOURNEY
GUILHELMO MONTIOIO COMITI ANGLO ERASMUS ROTERODAMUS S.D.
Pervenimus tandem et quidem incolumes, tametsi
invitis (ut apparet) et superis et inferis. O durum
iter! Quem ego posthac Herculem, quem Ulyssem non
contemnam? Pugnabat Iuno semper poeticis viris
infesta; rursum Aeolum sollicitarat; nec ventis modo 5
in nos saeviebat, omnibus armis in nos dimicabat, frigore
acerrimo, nive, grandine, pluvia, imbre, nebulis,
omnibus denique iniuriis. Hisque nunc singulis nunc
universis nos oppugnabat. Prima nocte post diutinam
pluviam subitum atque acre obortum gelu viam 10
asperrimam effecerat; accessit nivis vis immodica;
deinde grando, tum et pluvia, quae simul atque terram
arboremve contigit, protinus in glaciem concreta est.
Vidisses passim terram glacie incrustatam, neque id
aequali superficie, sed colliculis acutissimis passim 15
exstantibus. Vidisses arbores glacie vestitas adeoque
pressas, ut aliae summo cacumine imum solum contingerent,
aliae ramis lacerae, aliae medio trunco discissae
starent, aliae funditus evulsae iacerent. Iurabant nobis
e rusticis homines natu grandes, se simile nihil unquam 20
in vita vidisse antea. Equis interim eundum erat
nunc per profundos nivium cumulos, nunc per sentes
glacie incrustatos, nunc per sulcos bis asperos, quos
primum gelu duraverat, deinde et glacies acuerat, nunc
per crustam quae summas obduxerat nives; quod 25
quidem mollius erat quam ut equum sustineret, durius
quam ut ungulas non scinderet.
Quid inter haec animi Erasmo tuo fuisse credis?
Insidebat attonito equo eques attonitus; qui quoties
aures erigebat, ego animum deiciebam, quoties ille in 30
genua procumbebat, mihi pectus saliebat. Iam Bellerophon
ille poeticus suo terrebat exemplo; iam meam
ipse temeritatem exsecrabar, qui mutae beluae vitam
et una literas meas commiserim. Sed audi quiddam,
quod tu credas ex veris Luciani narrationibus petitum, 35
ni mihi ipsi Batto teste accidisset. Cum arx iam ferme
in prospectu esset, offendimus omnia undique glacie
incrustata, quae ut dixi in nivem inciderat. Et erat
tanta ventorum vis, ut eo die unus atque alter collapsi
perierint. Flabant autem a tergo. Itaque per declive 40
montium me demittebam, per summam glaciem velificans,
atque interim hastili cursum moderans. Id erat
clavi vice. Novum navigandi genus. Toto fere itinere
obvius fit nemo, sequitur nemo, adeo non solum saeva
sed etiam monstruosa erat tempestas. Quarto vix 45
demum die solem aspeximus. Hoc unum ex tantis
malis commodi excerpsimus, quod latronum incursus
timuimus minus: timuimus tamen, ut homines pecuniosos
decebat.
Habes iter meum, adolescens generosissime idemque 50
candidissime; quod ut durissimum fuit, ita reliqua fuere
secundissima. Vivi pervenimus ad Annam Principem
Verianam. Quid ego tibi de huius mulieris comitate,
benignitate, liberalitate memorem? Scio rhetorum
amplificationes suspectas haberi solere, praesertim iis 55
qui eius artificii rudes non sint. At hic me nihil
allevare, immo re vinci artem nostram, mihi credas
velim. Nihil unquam produxit rerum natura aut pudentius
aut prudentius aut candidius aut benignius.
Quid de meo Batto iactitem, cuius pectore nihil habuit 60
hic orbis simplicius, nihil amantius?
Haec scribebam in patriam concessurus; deinde adamatam
Lutetiam repetam et has ipsas literas fortasse
praecurram. Ceterum de nostro convictu nihil certi
scribere licet. Tamen consilium ex tempore capietur. 65
Hoc unum tibi persuade, neminem vivere qui te magis
ex animo amet quam tuus Erasmus. Battus quoque
meus, omnium et amorum et odiorum meorum socius,
te pari caritate prosequitur. Cura, mi Guilhelme, ut
quam optime valeas. 70
Ex arce Tornenhensi pridie nonas Februarias.
IV. AN ENGLISH COUNTRY-HOUSE
ERASMUS FAUSTO ANDRELINO POETAE LAUREATO
Nos in Anglia nonnihil promovimus. Erasmus
ille, quem nosti, iam bonus propemodum venator est,
eques non pessimus, aulicus non imperitus, salutat paulo
blandius, arridet comius, et invita Minerva haec omnia.
Tu quoque, si sapis, huc advolabis. Quid ita te iuvat 5
hominem tam nasutum inter merdas Gallicas consenescere?
Sed retinet te tua podagra; ut ea te salvo pereat
male. Quanquam si Britanniae dotes satis pernosses,
Fauste, ne tu alatis pedibus huc accurreres; et si
podagra tua non sineret, Daedalum te fieri optares. 10
Nam ut e plurimis unum quiddam attingam, sunt
hic nymphae divinis vultibus, blandae, faciles, et quas
tu tuis camenis facile anteponas. Est praeterea mos
nunquam satis laudatus. Sive quo venis, omnium
osculis exciperis; sive discedis aliquo, osculis dimitteris; 15
redis, redduntur suavia; venitur ad te, propinantur
suavia; disceditur abs te, dividuntur basia; occurritur
alicubi, basiatur affatim; denique quocunque te moves,
suaviorum plena sunt omnia. Quae si tu, Fauste,
gustasses semel quam sint mollicula, quam fragrantia, 20
profecto cuperes non decennium solum, ut Solon fecit,
sed ad mortem usque in Anglia peregrinari. Cetera
coram iocabimur; nam videbo te, spero, propediem.
Vale, ex Anglia. Anno M.CCCC.LXXXXIX.
V. A VISIT TO COURT
Edidimus olim carmen de laudibus regis Henrici septimi
et illius liberorum, nec non ipsius Britanniae. Is erat
labor tridui, et tamen labor, quod iam annos aliquot
nec legeram nec scripseram ullum carmen. Id partim
pudor a nobis extorsit, partim dolor. Pertraxerat me 5
Thomas Morus, qui tum me in praedio Montioii agentem
inviserat, ut animi causa in proximum vicum exspatiaremur.
Nam illic educabantur omnes liberi regii, uno
Arcturo excepto, qui tum erat natu maximus. Ubi
ventum erat in aulam, convenit tota pompa, non solum 10
domus illius verum etiam Montioiicae. Stabat in medio
Henricus annos natus novem, iam tum indolem quandam
regiam prae se ferens, hoc est animi celsitudinem
cum singulari quadam humanitate coniunctam.
A dextris erat Margareta, undecim ferme annos nata, 15
quae post nupsit Iacobo Scotorum regi. A sinistris
Maria lusitans, annos nata quatuor. Nam Edmondus
adhuc infans in ulnis gestabatur. Morus cum Arnoldo
sodali salutato puero Henrico, quo rege nunc floret
Britannia, nescio quid scriptorum obtulit. Ego, quoniam 20
huiusmodi nihil exspectabam, nihil habens quod
exhiberem, pollicitus sum aliquo pacto meum erga
ipsum studium aliquando declaraturum. Interim subirascebar
Moro quod non praemonuisset, et eo magis
quod puer epistolio inter prandendum ad me misso 25
meum calamum provocaret. Abii domum, ac vel invitis
Musis, cum quibus iam longum fuerat divortium, carmen
intra triduum absolvi. Sic et ultus sum dolorem meum
et pudorem sarsi.
VI. ERASMUS AT OXFORD
ERASMUS GULIELMO MONTIOIO COMITI GENEROSO S.D.
Si tu tuaque generosissima coniunx, socer humanissimus
reliquaque familia valetis, est cur maximopere
gaudeamus. Nos hic quidem valemus perbelle, et indies
bellius. Dici non potest quam mihi dulcescat Anglia
tua, idque partim consuetudine, quae omnia dura lenire 5
solet, partim Coleti Charnocique Prioris humanitate,
quorum moribus nihil fingi potest suavius, mellitius,
amabilius; cum his duobus amicis ego vel in extrema
Scythia vivere non recusem. Idem quod scripsit Horatius,
et vulgus interdum videre verum, res ipsa me 10
docuit; cuius hoc tritum nosti, quarum rerum durissimi
soleant esse aditus, eas felicius evenire. Quid nostro
illo ingressu fuit, ut ita dicam, inauspicatius? at nunc
secundiora indies omnia. Evomui taedium omne quo
me quondam nauseantem videbas. Quod reliquum est, 15
te oro, meum decus, ut quando tum cum meus me animus
deficiebat, tuo sustinuisti, nunc cum meus mihi non
deest, tuus ne destituat.
Quod ad diem praefinitum non veneris, expostulare
tecum nec libet, nec iuro me posse puto. Quid te retardarit 20
equidem nescio. Hoc unum scio, quicquid
fuit, legitimum quiddam et iustum fuisse, quare venire
non potueris; nam voluisse nihil dubito. Neque enim
ullam video causam cur istud fingere volueris. Et ea
est generosissimae mentis tuae ingenua simplicitas, ut 25
maxima etiam de causa mentiri nec scias si velis, nec
velis si scias. Non est meum te vel hortari vel dehortari,
immo dehortari potius. Quod tuae te res hortantur,
id sequere. Nos ita te desideramus ut interim te tuis
commodis inservire velimus. Si brevi venturus es 30
gaudemus; sin qua res te retinet, modo incommodi nihil
sit, ut hactenus fecimus, aequo te animo exspectabimus.
Pecunias meas anulo tuo diligenter obsignatas mitte.
Priori iam sum multis nominibus obaeratus; ministrat
ille quidem tum benigne tum prompte. Verum quando 35
ille humanissimi hominis officio functus est, par est nos
invicem gratorum hominum munere fungi, et quam
ille libenter dedit, tam nos libenter reddere. Ut rara
supellectile, ita bonis amicis parcius utendum esse
censeo. Si quid istic novatum est, facito me per literas 40
certiorem. Bene vale.
Oxoniae.
VII. AN OXFORD DINNER PARTY
ERASMUS DOMINO IOANNI SIXTINO S.D.
Quam vellem nuper, ut exspectaram, ita nostro illi
convivio interfuisses; vero inquam convivio, non symposio.
Mihi quidem omnino nullum unquam fuit suavius,
lautius, mellitius. Deerat nihil. Belli homunculi,
tempus lectum, locus lectus, apparatus non neglectus. 5
Iis lautitiis ut vel Epicurum ipsum, iis sermonibus
conditum erat ut vel Pythagoram delectare posset.
Homunculi non belli solum verum etiam bellissimi,
et eiusmodi qui Academiam possent facere, non modo
convivium. Quinam, inquies? Accipe, quo magis te 10
doleas abfuisse. Primum Richardus prior, ille Charitum
antistes; tum Theologus is, qui eodem die Latinam
habuerat contionem, vir tum modestus tum eruditus;
deinde Philippus ille tuus, homo lepidissimae festivitatis
Praesidebat Coletus veteris illius theologiae vindex 15
atque assertor. Accumbebat dextra Prior, homo
(ita me deus amet) non minus mirabili mixtura ex omnium
literarum generibus omnibus, quam ex summa
humanitate summaque item integritate conflatus. Ad
laevam recentior ille Theologus, cui nos quidem laevum 20
latus clausimus, ne poeta convivio deesset. Ex adverso
Philippus, ne non adesset iurisperitus. Accumbit deinceps
mixtum et sine nomine vulgus.
His ordinibus ita digestis statim bellum oritur inter
pocula, non tamen ex poculis neque poculentum. Cum 25
variis de rebus parum conveniebat, tum de hac pugna
erat acerrima. Dicebat Coletus Caym ea primum culpa
Deum offendisse, quod tanquam conditoris benignitate
diffisus suaeque nimium confisus industriae terram primus
proscidisset, cum Abel sponte nascentibus contentus 30
oves pavisset. Contra, nos pro se quisque niti,
Theologus ille syllogismis, ego rhetoriis. Ne Hercules
quidem contra duos, aiunt Graeci. At ille unus vincebat
omnes; visus est sacro quodam furore debacchari
ac nescio quid homine sublimius augustiusque prae se 35
ferre. Aliud sonabat vox, aliud tuebantur oculi, alius
vultus, alius aspectus, maiorque videri, afflatus est
numine quando.
Tandem cum et longius processisset disputatio, et esset
quam ut convivio conveniret gravior atque severior, 40
tum ego meis, hoc est poetae, partibus functurus, ut
et eam contentionem discuterem et festiviore fabella
prandium exhilararem, 'Res' inquam 'perantiqua est
et ex vetustissimis auctoribus repetenda; de qua
quid ipse in literis reppererim exponam, si prius detis 45
fidem vos id quod sum narraturus pro fabula non
habituros.' Ubi promiserant, 'Incidimus' inquam 'olim
in vetustissimum codicem, cuius et titulum et auctorem
aetas aboleverat tineaeque bonis literis semper
infestae deroserant. In eo unica tantum pagina nec 50
erat carie vitiata nec a tineis aut soricibus arrosa,
Musis credo quae sua sunt tutantibus. In ea me hac
ipsa de re, de qua decernitis, legere memini aut veram
aut, si vera non est, certe veri simillimam narrationem;
quam si vultis recensebo.' 55
Iubentibus illis 'Erat' inquam 'Caym ille homo
quemadmodum industrius, ita famelicus et avidus. Is
a parentibus persaepe audierat in viridario illo unde
fuissent depulsi, segetes sua sponte provenire laetissimas
spicis amplissimis, granis praegrandibus, culmis 60
adeo proceris ut alnum nostratem aequarent; eis nec
lolium nec spinam ullam aut carduum internasci. Haec
cum ille probe meminisset videretque eam tellurem
quam tum vexabat aratro, vix malignam minutamque
frugem producere, dolum addidit industriae. Angelum 65
illum paradisi custodem adiit, eumque veteratoriis
technis adortus magnis promissis corrupit, ut sibi ex
felicioribus illis segetibus vel paucula grana clam largiretur.
Dicebat Deum iam olim huius rei securum
ac neglegentem esse; tum si maxime rescisset, facile 70
impune futurum, cum res esset nullius momenti, modo
de pomis illis nihil attingeretur, de quibus solis fuisset
interminatus Deus.
'"Eia" inquit "ne ianitor sis nimium diligens. Quid
si ingrata etiam est illi nimia tua sedulitas? Quid si 75
falli etiam cupit, magisque illum hominum callida industria
quam iners otium delectabit? An vero tu tibi
isto munere magnopere places? Ex angelo carnificem
te fecit, ut miseros nos et perditos crudelis arceres a
patria; te foribus cum rhomphaea alligavit, cui muneri 80
nos canes nuper coepimus addicere. Nos quidem
sumus miserrimi, at tu mihi videris conditione non
paulo afflictiore. Nos quidem paradiso caremus, quia
pomum nimium dulce gustavimus. Tu ut inde nos
arceas, pariter et coelo cares et paradiso; hoc miserior, 85
quod nobis quidem huc atque illuc, quo fert animi
libido, vagari liberum est. Habet et haec nostra regio,
si nescis, quibus exsilium nostrum consolemur, nemora
comis virentibus, mille arborum genera et quibus vixdum
invenimus vocabula, fonticulos passim ex clivis, 90
ex rupibus scaturientes; flumina limpidissimis aquis
ripas herbidas lambentia, montes aerios, valles opacas,
ditissima maria. Nec dubito quin in intimis illis suis
visceribus claudat tellus aliquid bonarum mercium;
quas ut eruam, scrutabor omnes eius venas, aut si mihi 95
defuerit aetas, nepotes certe mei facient. Sunt et hic
aurea mala, sunt fici pinguissimi, sunt frugum omniiuga
genera. Multa adeo passim sponte nascuntur ut
paradisum istum non magnopere desideremus, si liceat
hic aeternum vivere. Infestamur morbis; et huic rei 100
inveniet remedium humana industria. Video herbas
mirum quiddam spirantes. Quid si et hic inveniatur
aliqua quae vitam faciat immortalem? Nam scientia
ista non video quid ad rem pertineat. Quid mihi cum
his quae nihil ad me attinent? Quanquam in hac parte 105
non cessabo, quando nihil est quod non expugnet
pertinax industria. Ita nos pro uno hortulo mundum
latissimum accepimus, tu utrinque exclusus nec
paradiso frueris neque coelo neque terra, perpetuo his
affixus foribus, rhomphaeam semper versans, quid nisi 110
ut cum vento pugnes? Eia age, si sapis, tibi simul et
nobis consule. Da quod sine tuo detrimento largiri
potes, et accipe nostra vicissim quae tibi facimus communia.
Miser fave miseris, exclusus exclusis, damnatis
damnatior." 115
'Persuasit pessimam causam vir pessimus, orator
optimus. Paucula grana furtim accepta diligenter
obruit, enata sunt non sine fenore, id fenus rursum
terrae gremio commissum, iterumque atque iterum,
aliud atque aliud. Nec saepius aestas recurrit, quam 120
ille iam ingentem spatiosumque agrorum tractum hac
semente occupavit. Quae res ubi evidentior esse
coepisset quam ut superos latere posset, vehementer
iratus Deus "Quantum intellego" inquit "iuvat hunc
furem labor et sudor. Eum ego illi magnifice cumulabo." 125
Simulque cum dicto confertissimum undique agmen
immittit in segetem, formicarum, curculionum, bufonum,
erucarum, murium, locustarum, scrofarum, avium
aliarumque id genus pestium, quae segetem partim
adhuc humo conditam, partim herbescentem, partim 130
iam flavam, partim horreo compositam depascerentur.
Accessit ingens ex coelo calamitas, grandinis et venti vis
tanta ut quernis roboribus aequales culmi illi stipulae
aridae in morem defringerentur. Angelus ille custos
mutatus atque, quod hominibus faveret, humano corpori 135
inclusus. Caym, cum Deum incensis frugibus placare
studeret, nec fumus subvolaret, certam illius iram
intellegens desperat.'
Habes fabulam, Sixtine, inter pocula dictam atque
inibi inter pocula natam, atque adeo ex ipsis, si libet, 140
poculis, quam volui ad te perscribere; primum ne nihil
scriberem, cum meas esse partes agnoscerem ut scriberem,
quippe qui tuas literas posterior accepissem,
deinde ne tu eius convivii tam lauti prorsus expers esses.
Bene vale. Oxoniae. 145
VIII. LEARNING IN ENGLAND
ERASMUS ROBERTO PISCATORI AGENTI IN ITALIA ANGLO S.D.
Subverabar nonnihil ad te scribere, Roberte carissime,
non quod metuerem ne quid de tuo in nos amore
tanta temporum locorumque disiunctio detrivisset; sed
quod in ea sis regione, ubi vel parietes sint tum eruditiores
tum disertiores quam nostrates sunt homines; 5
ut quod hic pulchre expolitum, elegans, venustum habetur,
istic non rude, non sordidum, non insulsum videri
non possit. Quare tua te exspectat prorsus Anglia non
modo iureconsultissimum, verum etiam Latine Graeceque
pariter loquacem. Me quoque iampridem istic 10
videres, nisi Comes Montioius iam ad iter accinctum
in Angliam suam abduxisset. Quo enim ego iuvenem
tam humanum, tam benignum, tam amabilem non
sequar? Sequar, ita me deus amet, vel ad inferos usque.
Amplissime tu quidem mihi eum praedicaras graphiceque 15
prorsus descripseras; at vincit cotidie, mihi crede,
et tuam praedicationem et meam de se existimationem.
Sed quid Anglia nostra te delectat, inquis? Si quid
mihi est apud te fidei, mi Roberte, hanc mihi fidem
habeas velim, nihil adhuc aeque placuisse. Coelum 20
tum amoenissimum tum saluberrimum hic offendi;
tantum autem humanitatis atque eruditionis, non illius
protritae ac trivialis, sed reconditae, exactae, antiquae,
Latinae Graecaeque, ut iam Italiam nisi visendi gratia
haud multum desiderem. Coletum meum cum audio, 25
Platonem ipsum mihi videor audire. In Grocino quis
illum absolutum disciplinarum orbem non miretur?
Linacri iudicio quid acutius, quid altius, quid emunctius?
Thomae Mori ingenio quid unquam finxit natura
vel mollius vel dulcius vel felicius? Iam quid ego 30
reliquum catalogum recenseam? Mirum est dictu
quam hic passim, quam dense veterum literarum seges
efflorescat; quo magis debes reditum maturare. Comes
ita te amat, ita meminit, ut de nullo loquatur saepius,
de nullo libentius. Vale. 35
Londini tumultuarie. Nonis Decembr. (1499).
IX. A JOURNEY TO PARIS
ERASMUS BATTO S.P.D.
Multis nominibus tibi gratias agere debeo, mi Batte,
qui vigilias meas, hoc est opes, miseris, cum mature,
quod non soles, tum optima fide, ut consuesti facere;
denique per tabellionem non modo diligentem verum
etiam facundum, ita ut mihi non illius labori modo 5
verum etiam orationi fuerit referenda merces. Verum
artem arte lusimus et iuxta vetus proverbium contra
Cretensem Cretizavimus.
Anglica fata Parisios usque nos sunt persecuta. En
tibi alteram narro tragoediam priore etiam atrociorem! 10
Pridie Calendas Februarias Ambianos pervenimus,
bone deus, quam duro itinere! Iuno, opinor, aliqua
rursus Aeolum in nos excitarat. Ego cum iam de
via ita essem affectus ut morbum etiam metuerem,
coepi de equis conducendis cogitare, non paulo praestare 15
ratus corpusculo quam nummulis parcere. Et
hic sunt ad perniciem secunda omnia. Dum diversorium
solitum peto, obiter forte aedes praetereo
quasdam equis locandis inscriptas. Ingredior, advocatur
locator, homo effigie et habitu ita adamussim 20
Mercurium referens ut mihi primo quoque congressu
furis suspicionem dederit. Convenit de mercede.
Conductis duobus equis iter sub vesperum ingredimur,
comitante iuvene quodam, quem generum esse
suum aiebat, qui iumenta domum referret. Postridie 25
ad viculum quendam, cui divo Iuliano nomen est,
perventum est et quidem multa adhuc luce, locum
latrocinio destinatum. Ego ut pergeremus hortabar.
Ille latronis discipulus causari, equos non esse supra
vires defatigandos, satius esse illic pernoctare ac 30
postridie id dispendii anticipata luce sarcire. Non
repugnabam magnopere, nihil etiamdum sceleris
suspicans. Iam propemodum cenaveramus, cum
ministra iuvenem illum una nobiscum accumbentem
a convivio sevocat, alteri equo nescio quid mali esse 35
dictitans. Discedit adolescens sed eo vultu ut aliud
nuntiatum intellegeres. Ego continuo puellam revocans,
'Heus' inquam 'filia, uter equorum male habet,
meusne an huius?' Nam aderat Anglus itineris mei
comes. 'Et quid tandem est mali?' Illa conscientiam 40
constanter dissimulare non valens subrisit, et
figmentum confessa venisse notum quendam aiebat,
qui iuvenem ad colloquium evocasset.
Nec ita multo post locator ipse, qui iugulos nostros
victimae destinarat, cenaculum ingreditur. Nos admirari, 45
rogare quidnam accidisset, quod tam inexspectatus
atque improvisus adesset. Ait se rem adferre
flebilem, filiam suam, eius iuvenis uxorem, ita ab
equo calcibus percussam ut iam animam propemodum
ageret; tumultuario itinere sese accurrisse, ut eum 50
domum revocaret. Mihi iam tum commentum obolere
coepit. Utriusque vultum et gestus curiosius observo.
In locatore ilico inconstantiam quandam animadverto,
in iuvene stuporem qui e regione accumbebat; ac
mecum protinus Ciceronianum illud, Nisi fingeres, 55
non sic ageres. Iam mihi nihil agendum putabam,
nisi ut ab homine absolverer, quippe qui nihil usquam
viderem quod non latrocinium saperet. Augebant
anteacta suspicionem, quod cum Ambianis de mercede
convenisset, ille data opera me rogavit quasnam esset 60
pecunias accepturus. Subito aderant, nec scio unde
emersissent, qui sermonibus adiuvabant fabulam. Mihi
laudabant locatorem, gratulabantur de tali comite,
me vicissim locatori commendabant. Rogabat semel
atque iterum locator ecquem haberem postulatum, 65
id est nomisma rarius. Nego mihi esse. Deprompsi
scutatum unum atque alterum, qui tametsi satis
probarentur, tamen blandius efflagitabat ut e multis
quos habere me putabat, unum aliquem bellissimum
darem. Est enim hoc huius sceleratissimae artis 70
caput, explorare quantum quisque viator secum portet.
Ostendebam quos tum habebam, e quibus ille bellissimum
sibi retinuit.