CHAPTER XIII ACCESSION OF ADRIAN VI: HIS CORRESPONDENCE WITH ERASMUS From this time forward we discern a change in the attitude of Erasmus towards what he had so often styled the Lutheran tragedy. Slowly, and without any apparent enthusiasm, he seems to fall away from Luther and to line himself up once more, with as good grace as possible, among the defenders of the Church and the Pope. There may have been other reasons for this, but the most evident one was the election to the pontifical throne of his old professor Adrian, who was a teacher at Louvain, and who occupied the papal chair under the title of Adrian VI. This Pontiff, who was born at Utrecht in 1459, was about seven years the senior of Erasmus. Lowly in his origin, he had raised himself by his talents and learning to the chair of Theology at the University of Louvain. Later he was appointed tutor to the young Prince Charles, afterwards the celebrated Emperor Charles V, who recognized his sterling virtues, but especially his executive abilities, by sending him to Spain as his personal representative, where he was made successively Bishop of Tortosa, Cardinal, and, after the death of Cardinal Ximenes in 1517, Regent of that country. All biographers, both Protestant and Catholic, attest that he was an honest man, of strong moral principles, totally unselfish, and entirely devoted to the interests of the Church. That he was a foreigner of the hated Germanic stock was enough in itself to make him unpopular at Rome, where racial antipathies were just as deep-seated as in Germany. Simple in his tastes to the point of asceticism, he formed a marked contrast to his predecessor Leo X in almost every phase of his character; and the sudden change from a Medicean prince to a plebeian, who labored under the further defect that he was not an Italian, caused the new Pope to be very coldly regarded by the Roman Curia. Austere by nature, and with a character too stable to be impaired by the meretriciousness of court life, he was spoken of with bated breath by the Vatican officials, who hence awaited his arrival from Spain, where he had been delayed for several months after being notified of his election, with a certain degree of anxiety. They knew him to be a man of positive views and decided convictions, with a reserve that amounted almost to coldness; and so they were prepared to be critical and uncordial. Erasmus heard the news of Adrian's election, we are led to believe, with mingled pleasure and apprehension-pleasure in that the new Pope was a fellow-countryman and a sort of old acquaintance, apprehension in that Adrian might insist on his writing against Luther, and at the same time give a hint to the Emperor to compel a quick obedience. Erasmus was also aware that his conduct in the matter hitherto might not have conciliated for him the good will of Adrian; and when he thought of the numerous enemies he had made who might whisper into the ear of the new Pontiff things that might be prejudicial to him, he decided to forestall all such attempts by writing himself first: Most blessed Father. Anyone else might have had recourse to the assistance of the rhetorical arts to congratulate you on your new dignity, than which there is none greater on earth. But I will not do so, because I am well aware with what reluctance you have accepted the office so unexpectedly thrust upon you. Moreover, I would seem to congratulate you very inappropriately at a time like this when you yourself are filled with anxiety and distress, since you realize how difficult it is to fulfil the duties of the position in such a way as to win the approbation of Christ, to whom an account of your doings must one day be given. . . But the less reason there exists for personally felicitating you, the greater reason is there for publicly congratulating the entire Christian world, since the present tempest in the world's affairs especially demanded such. a pilot as yourself. For many reasons I am induced to hope that you will use the office divinely delegated to you for no other purpose than the cause of Jesus Christ and that of His flock; and may He grant that your most holy endeavors may turn out successful, for without His favor every mortal effort is fruitless. As a pledge of my zeal and affection towards you, I send you my edition of Arnobius, which happened to be the work I had in hand when this most joyful news was brought to me about the elevation of Adrian VI to be our ruler and guide; and I shall speak more freely and fully when the opportunity offers. The sincerity of my conscience and your own wise judgment are well known to me; but, since I observe what influence evil tongues possess in this age, it seems right for me to furnish your Holiness with a sure antidote against their virulence, so that, if anything has been told you about Erasmus, you will flatly reject it, or, if you have your doubts, that you will suspend judgment until you have received my defense. For myself I have no doubt that I shall find in you a most just judge before whom to reply to the calumnies of these people. Although I feel that you would act thus of your own accord, yet the unceasing wickedness of some of these persons makes me thus throw out this hint, even if I make no special request on the matter. So far, in what refers to the interests of Christ, I have shown a mind worthy of a true believer, and shall continue to do so to the last day of my life. If by neither side shall I be able to make my cause approved, I have a fixed confidence in Christ that, seeing my conscience, he will approve it. Let me not be considered to be speaking from the Delphic tripod, as the saying is, but from the bottom of a sincere heart. The more prolix preface of my Arnobius will compensate for the brevity of this letter. May the Lord Jesus the Protector of all, who will ever assist you as His vice-gerent here, long preserve your Holiness to us. Basle, c. September, 1522.1 As usual, we see his first thought regarded his standing with Adrian, and what the latter thought of him. Adrian was a product of the Uni versity of Louvain and presumably in sympathy with those whom Erasmus affected to regard as his enemies. Hence it was in some doubt that he wrote to the new Pontiff and sent him his little gift of propitiation. This doubt was increased by Adrian's delay in answering, but whether this delay was due to a desire on the Pope's part to take the matter under advisement or not he had no means of knowing. After waiting as long as his poor frayed nerves would allow him, Erasmus wrote again and sent a second copy of the Arnobius: 1 Most blessed Father. I again send, through the public courier of Basle, this pledge of my affection for you, and of my prompt obedience to the Holy See, if perchance the little book which I sent you some time ago has not been delivered. At that time nothing else was at hand; when some better occasion falls out, I shall not fail in my duty to you. Never were the times more turbulent than at present, and it is most difficult to satisfy everybody. Assuredly I have hitherto satisfied my own conscience, for the which I hope at least that Christ will approve me. This is no trifling tempest in the affairs of the world, for everything is thrown into convulsions by armed force, by opinions, by partisanship, by factions, and by animosities. The world looks to you alone to restore serenity to human affairs. If your Holiness will command me, I will attempt by secret correspondence to show you a plan of mine, which, if not a wise one, is a trustworthy one, by which this evil may be so quenched that it will not easily revive. For it does not accomplish much to so stifle a thing by violence that presently it will break out again with greater danger, just as ulcers which are badly cured are wont to do. In mighty tempests even the most skilful pilots suffer themselves to be advised. Moses did not reject the counsel of Jethro, although I am not a Jethro; and in Horace Davus gives trusty advice to his master. If there be anything in it that you can employ, pray use it. If there be nothing of profit in it, it may be consigned to oblivion without any danger, since none but us two will know of it. Humble people like myself see and hear many things which are not to be disregarded which escape the attention of the great. Especially do I think it should be seen to that the private animosities of no one shall harm the interests of Christ and the world in general, and that the authority of man shall be so maintained that it shall not hurt the authority of Jesus Christ, who alone lives yesterday, to-day, and forever. I myself at times have carried joking to extremes, not anticipating such an age as this to arise, such was the tranquillity of those days. Now, because I see that Christianity 1 Eras. Ep. 1310. 2 2 "Nos olim quædam liberius lusimus." |