a religious one. That some of them lacked even on the religious side is true, but we must not forget that the majority of them lived according to the strict tenor of their rule; and many of them became real leaders of humanism.

So that it was more than anything else a certain mental strabismus that so often clouded the judgment of this great writer. It is the inconsistency and even confusion in Erasmus' own mind that has rendered so difficult the task of his biographers; nor is it greatly to be wondered at if there are those who see him, either intentionally or unintentionally, in one only of his innumerable aspects. His critics are a divided camp, some strongly favorable, others flatly against him, and still others in a state of confused indecision. Luther styled him an 、enemy of all religion; La Bizardière hailed him as a Father of the Church; and Amiel acclaimed him as the Freethinker of the sixteenth century. What an astonishing diversity of judgments! They can scarcely be reconciled, but fortunately they can be understood. Not one of them is right, nor yet wholly wrong. Erasmus was the product of the times in which he lived; and religious bitterness was so rife that four centuries have not sufficed to assuage it. Every man was a partisan, seeking only that which made for his own faction; and among these Erasmus was a genius who wielded a very loose pen. Hence the Catholic, the Lutheran, and even the Freethinker, equally consulted his works for weapons to be used in the tremendous conflict. He occupied a position the most anomalous in history, for had he been just a little more Catholic, he would have been the equal of the greatest lights of the Church; had he been a little more rebellious against constituted authority, he would have deprived Luther of his thunder; and had he been a little more lax in his opinions, he would have anticipated Voltaire. It was his fate but not his aim to shake the religious convictions of many men because he lived and wrote amid his own uncertainty; and it was not until approximately six years before his death that he yielded an unqualified assent to all the Church teaches. He had the ardor of all reformers, and their faults as well.

But despite all his faults he may easily lay claim to greatness. And after we have pointed out his defects, it will be especially gratifying to dwell upon his estimable qualities. The most striking thing about him was the tremendous energy which ever spurred and wholly dominated him. As a result, the vastness of his literary output has rarely been equalled in all the world's history. He, more than any other single writer, popularized the learning of his times; and to him must be given the credit for having made the largest contribution toward placing literature on the same plane held at the time by painting, sculpture, philosophy, and the other sciences and fine arts. In his special field as a writer of books for the young his influence in arousing a desire for classical erudition among these susceptive minds was most potent. By the glamor of his erudition and the attractiveness of his style, he stimulated in his own and subsequent generations a love of learning which has left permanent effects in its train. He enriched his writings from the store of Greek and Latin history, poetry, mythology,

and philosophy, of which his mind was a vast treasury; and great credit must be given to him for his share in refining and elevating the taste of the multitudes who eagerly devoured his works. There is also another thing which I will here set down to his eternal credit, that while he undoubtedly set an example of irreverent speech and immodest jesting, which was avidly followed by Rabelais and Voltaire, he recovered entire religious equilibrium before his death, and tried, in some measure, to undo the harm for which he felt himself responsible. His faith, waver though it surely did at times, finally saved and stopped him from the ribald extremes to which those two French writers were later led. In many ways he seems to be a man who lived before his times, and uttered thoughts that his fellows did not always understand. Nowhere is this more evident than in his lifelong opposition to war. So ingrained was this in his very nature that he would not even edit any author whose subject had to deal with wars and battles. So, among the many classic texts edited by him, we look in vain for Cæsar's De Bello Gallico or Lucan's Pharsalia. When he set himself to the task of restoring the corrupted text of Quintus Curtis, it is very evident that he was actuated, not by any special affection for Alexander the Great, but rather by the wonderful opportunity offered him for textual emendations.

In presenting this study of the life and activities of Erasmus to the public, I realize that it differs in many respects from the conventional biography of him to which we have become accustomed. This has been less a matter of intent than a direct consequence of the plan which I have followed throughout the work: of having him speak for himself always, rather than attempting to interpret his at times so kaleidoscopic mind. This has necessitated an almost constant reproduction of his letters, or lengthy quotations therefrom, entailing a toilsome burden of translation. But if by so doing I shall have rendered Erasmus more comprehensible to my readers, I shall consider it to have been labor well bestowed. I have endeavored to impart color and interest to the narrative by the addition of historical sidelights wherever they seemed to be indicated; and I venture to hope that the medical aspect of his life, to which I have given much study, and to which I have from time to time drawn the reader's attention in explanation of many of Erasmus' otherwise inexplicable actions, may be enlightening and profitable.

And so, feeling as I do that Erasmus has always been better known than understood, I send out my contribution to the sum total of what is known of him, in the not unreasonable hope that others may be induced by my example to attempt the task of striving to shed still more light on what will always remain a baffling but interesting character.

In the preparation of this long and arduous work, my researches have been aided by many to whom I here desire to make my sincere acknowledgments. To His Eminence Cardinal Ehrle, former Librarian of the Vatican Library, I tender my heartfelt gratitude for his kindness in facilitating my investigations while in Rome. His own many writings on kindred subjects have made him one of the highest of

living authorities on any matter that he has treated; and it was consequently gratifying to me when His Eminence was able to assure me, by an examination of the rolls in the Vatican Library, that the mysterious scribe Lambert Grunnius, to whom Erasmus addressed his famous letter, was as mythical a personage as he was long suspected to have been, and that no such name appears in the Vatican archives.

To Dr. P. S. Allen of Oxford my obligations are many, on account of his splendid edition of the letters of Erasmus, but especially for his accompanying biographical and bibliographical notes, which shed so much light on the correspondents and contemporaries of Erasmus. In this study I have followed his numeration of the letters as far as his work has proceeded, since, unfortunately for me, it is not yet complete. I am indebted to him also for kindly guidance on a recent visit to the Bodleian, when he facilitated my reference studies, and especially showed me several first editions and association copies of Erasmus' work.

To Professor J. Huizinga of the University of Leyden I also desire to express my thanks for his kindness in sending to me an account of the rather involved relations existing between Brabant and the provinces of the Netherlands in the days of Erasmus. The little book on Desiderius Erasmus by Professor Ephraim Emerton has been of service to me also, since it was a wide departure from the slavish path followed by so many former biographers. To Professor E. K. Rand of Harvard University I wish to offer my cordial thanks for his kindness in resolving some of the difficulties appearing in Erasmus' occasionally obscure Latin.

Also to Mr. Frank H. Chase, Assistant Librarian of the Boston Public Library, my sincere thanks are due, not only for his constant suggestions as to possible Erasmian material, but also for his willingness to search outside the library and to obtain for me such material from other libraries wherever procurable. Similarly I offer my thanks to Mr. Walter B. Briggs, Assistant Librarian of the Widener Library of Harvard, for special privileges there accorded to me. In the absence of Dr. Bernouilli, Librarian of the Basle University Library, his two able assistants, Dr. Philipp Schmidt and Dr. Gustav Ryhiner, extended to me the courtesies of that institution, so rich in the letters and documents of Erasmus; and for such kindness I here express my gratitude.

My thanks are due also to the Reverend John A. Sheridan of Lynn, Massachusetts, for researches in the Vulgate, and to Mr. Mariano Joaquin Lorente for material on Erasmus contained in Spanish literature. And lastly to my son, Mr. John Sherry Mangan, who has so long and faithfully assisted me in the arduous task of preparing the work for the press, and who in addition has aided me by his original researches and confirmed my judgment by his own, I tender my profound gratitude. Lynn, Massachusetts,

September, 1926.

REFERENCES AND SIGLA

The references to Erasmus' letters are as far as possible to the splendid and now standard edition of Dr. P. S. Allen of Oxford, admirably printed by the Clarendon Press. But this work being, unfortunately, as yet incomplete, further references are to diverse volumes, and may be noted by the following sigla:

EE: Briefe an Desiderius Erasmus von Rotterdam, hg. von J. Förstemann und O. Günther. Leipzig, 1904. H: Opus epistolarum Desiderii Erasmi, per autorem recognitum. Basle (Froben), 1529.

LB: Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami opera omnia, ed. Clericus. Leyden, 1703-6. (Unless otherwise specifically noted, Volume III is referred to.)

References to Dr. Allen's work are not preceded by sigla.