Paschalius Berselius, writing to him about the effect that the Paraphrase had on him personally, declared that it made Erasmus seem formidable in his eyes. Erasmus soothed him by saying that although the work might terrify him, yet on closer inspection it would please him." As for the Cardinal, he never even acknowledged the dedication, although no one was better disposed to scholarship and scholars than he, for he exerted himself to the utmost in order to assist Reuchlin in his contest with Hoogstraaten and Pfeffercorn, and of this we have Erasmus' testimony.""

Increasing years seem to have aggravated his suspicious nature, but to the day of his death he could never understand why he made enemies. Writing to Glareanus on the 18th of January, 1518, he says:

I rejoice that you are appreciated by Faber [Stapulensis], a man in my opinion who is learned, upright, and kind, were it not that he is so unlike himself in relation to me. I know this is brought about by the instigation of others.""

He had the same opinion of Dorp, Lee, and Stunica, as the reader may remember. Later on in this same epistle, he shows that he is somewhat in fear of Faber's pen, and invokes Glareanus' good offices:

He [Faber] is working on a reply to me, I hear, but I would dissuade him from such a course because I am sorry to give such a handle to those beasts who, on account of their extreme youth, dare not descend themselves into the arena, but by a tyrannic trick would involve us with each other; yet I will not seek to prevent him lest I may seem to lack confidence in my own position. One thing I do ask of you in view of your intimacy with the man, that you admonish him to abstain from his witty sallies; otherwise he may find me not entirely toothless, hence perhaps later he may have reason to be sorry.""

Again he betrays his suspicious nature in a letter to Nesen, of the same date as the one of Glareanus:

About Faber's reply to me on which some say he is engaged, I am not at all concerned. . . . But, if at the instigation of others he shall again assail me offensively, perhaps I shall not be able to compel my mind to my former moderation."

This certainly sounds like scolding, and is undoubtedly due to overwork and nervous exhaustion. He was desperately afraid of what Faber might say against him, and begged Budé by every possible means to turn Faber's mind from all hostile intent. However, there is no evidence that Faber ever meditated making a reply to him, so his suspicions went for naught. It strikes one as almost pitiful that this man with his gigantic intellect should be so sensitive about what others said or thought of him. He dreaded the making of enemies, but could never 34 Idem. 35 Ibid., 768.

1 Ibid., 748, 756. 82 Ibid., I, p. 43. 88 Ibid., 766.

on that account restrain either his tongue or his pen. Imagine his saying of Lord Mountjoy, his savior from poverty, his friend when all others fell away from him, his patron when he had not yet shown what his deserving was to be, his constant source of pecuniary assistance when all other sources had failed, the one man in all England who had welcomed him and given him the freedom of his home, his purse, and his friends-imagine his colossal ingratitude when he says: "Mountjoy is like himself, either promising or complaining.'

" 36

A rest from his years of effort, from wearing anxieties, from his obsessions and animosities-for there is nothing which exhausts the nerve power so quickly as hatred-freedom from all the carking cares that had fretted him since boyhood: these would have given us an Erasmus not less great intellectually, but surely more normal. His New Testament, from which he had expected nothing of the world save commendation, had resulted far otherwise, for he had been forced in self-defense to spend long and laborious effort in freeing the work from the errors which haste and injudicious changes in the text had caused. How distasteful such labor is to great literary minds is common knowledge, and it must have been a sickening and discouraging task to a man like him. The fact that there were mistakes to rectify, that there were acknowledgments of errors to be made, was particularly humiliating to him, and the work lay on his soul like an incubus. But his reputation demanded the sacrifice of his pride, and he had now performed the duty to the best of his ability. So it was ready for the printers, but he had not yet decided whether to entrust it to the press of Froben at Basle, or to that of Aldus at Venice. Above all things money was requisite, and just then funds were low. But although he had decided to refuse the flattering offers that both England and France had made him in consideration of taking up his abode in either of those countries, he had been careful not to burn his bridges; and so, when the journey to either Basle or Rome and the attendant expenditure necessary thereupon presented themselves to his mind, immediately those offers took on increased importance. Without delay he wrote to his friends in both courts to ascertain what present cash could be raised for his impending needs, and dangled before them the chance of winning him thereby to their wishes. Budé was the correspondent in France whom he essayed to sound as to what he might expect from the French court. Budé, who, if not a greater scholar, was a better man of business and knew Erasmus better apparently than that rather selfish individual knew himself, proceeded to nail him down to terms. After telling him again what he might rely upon from the French monarch in the way of stipend and benefices, he puts the issue squarely up to Erasmus as follows:

Come, my somewhat fastidious friend, examine, consult, and decide for yourself whether you will be one of us or not, and cease making laughing-stocks of us, if I may use a Plautian phrase. Tell us how much of a stipend will satisfy you to come and grow old with us, to which presently will be added a benefice according to 1. Ibid., 775.

his [the king's] judgment. If you can induce yourself to pass over to us, you will, I think, be welcomed by many of my countrymen.** But to be bound down to say yes or no was the last thing in the world that Erasmus desired; so he left the matter dangling. He had previously written to the only man who never failed him, Archbishop Warham, and had received at last something towards his journey:

Most Reverend Prelate, the only appreciator and patron of my studies, I hope you are well. The poets divide their plays into five acts. The fifth act of this comedy of mine still remains to be played, which would that I might so play that I may merit the applause of the good, but especially that Christ, our only judge, may approve! I am going either to Venice or Basle, and each road is long and dangerous, particularly the one through Germany, not only on account of the inveterate system of robberies but also because of the plague, which has carried off Lachner, the manager of Froben's printing office, as also many others. Now if I go to Italy, my expenses will be larger by reason of the various happenings which are wont to occur unexpectedly. I have it in mind to augment my library with the best books which are being daily printed in Italy. I am compelled to be present at the work on my New Testament. The task is perplexing, and if I am not there nothing will be done as I wish it. In whatever part of the world I shall be, I shall be your humble client. If I return safely, it is my intention to migrate to England, as to a hidden and remote refuge; and I trust that your kindness will increase my little fortune, since day by day old age is approaching, and daily more and more I understand the last chapter of Ecclesiastes." If I do not return safely, it will cheer me to die in what is, if I mistake not, a pious undertaking.

Oh, if I had such a horse as the one you formerly sent to the Abbot of St. Bertin's by me! Many wonder at my undertaking such a journey at my time of life; but I might wonder at the Bishop of Paris who has taken longer journeys at almost seventy, and for affairs that I deem of less moment. Pray, treat my servant kindly and send him back to me quickly, so that I may not be delayed, and continue to assist your Erasmus. Never shall I deem myself unhappy while you are spared to me. Farewell, your lordship, to whom I devote and consecrate myself.**

When Luther felt the pinch of poverty he used to console himself

37 Ibid., 810, 11. 370-5.

38 It is within the bounds of probability that he here referred to the verses of Ecclesiastes which read as follows:

"Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the time of affliction come, and the years draw nigh of which thou shalt say: They please me not

Before the silver cord be broken, and the golden fillet shrink back, and the pitcher be crushed at the fountain, and the wheel be broken upon the cistern,

And the dust return unto its earth from whence it was, and the spirit return to God who gave it.

Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, and all things are vanity."

89

Eras. Ep. 781.

with a sincere and ardent faith that the Lord would provide. Not so with Erasmus, who had expensive tastes in the matters of food, wines, and attendance, and who reserved for himself the office of providing against every contingency in such things. He had now reached the summit of his fame, and was known in all the learned circles of Europe as the greatest writer of the age. His books were bought up eagerly as soon as issued, for they exhibited in brilliant, witty, and attractive form all the learning of all the centuries. The Pope, with the Cardinals and bishops everywhere, had done him honor; and he counted as his friends kings, princes, and potentates who were eager to support and maintain him with their wealth of patronage. He had a passion for the comforts of life, and even for one or two of its luxuries; and his more or less covert hints that presents of money or jewels were acceptable to him form a disagreeable chapter in his history. His principal ambition was to be considered the acknowledged sovereign of the literary world, and he ill brooked a rival near his throne. His jealousy of others on this point is also unpleasant to contemplate, and was, if he had only realized it, entirely unnecessary. For the world has long ago given him the highest niche in the temple of fame as compared with all his contemporaries; and that estimate of his works, as far as their wonderful literary merit is involved, has never since been called into question.

CHAPTER VI

CONSIDERATION OF MARTIN LUTHER

But a change was at hand, and another was destined to occupy the centre of that stage which Erasmus had so recently and so industriously won the right to possess. That other was Martin Luther, a man as different from him as it is possible to conceive. Both were monks, and we may assume that their preliminary training had been the same. Erasmus was now fifty-one years old, while Luther was but thirtyfour, a fact to which, in their early relations, was accorded the respect due it from the younger man. Érasmus was twenty-two years and Luther twenty-three years old when each took his final vows; and both were intellectually mature beyond the average at that critical moment. But at once we begin to be struck with the evident differences of character which each manifested. Erasmus had a sort of courage which was mostly craftiness; Luther's was impetuous and often ill advised. Erasmus openly confessed that he did not aspire to the honors of martyrdom, and admitted that he would probably play the traitor as St. Peter did if he were put to the test.1 Luther, on the contrary, often declared that he was ready to give up his life for his principles. Erasmus was always in fear that he might suffer want, and placed no confidence in the care of a watchful Providence; Luther cared not much what he ate, or wherewith he was clad, and never dreaded poverty for himself. Erasmus feared a conflict; Luther gloried in a fight. Erasmus launched his arrows always hoping that they would not injure his own interests; Luther hurled his club regardless of the consequences to himself. Erasmus winced at the slightest censure; Luther stood unmoved when all the Christian_world, except a few students at Wittemberg, held him in abhorrence. Erasmus' chief aims were the advancement of learning and the gratifying of personal animosities; Luther subordinated learning to the spread of his own peculiar convictions. Both were abnormal in that they harbored obsessions, were superstitious, had a firm credence in a personal devil, and believed in witches, portents, and apparitions. Of Erasmus' weakness in this respect we have already spoken; let us see how Luther stood in this same regard. In the year 1533 there appeared in the sky a strange phenomenon, which Justus Jonas described as follows:

In the month of October, and lasting from ten to twelve at night, full in the presence of the multitude who were observing it, there appeared in the four regions of the sky many thousand fiery torches, the color of flame and really glowing, the like of which 1 Eras. Ep. 1218.