there. Oecolampadius was making it uncomfortable for him to stay in Basle, but where to go he was at a loss to decide. Writing to his friend Pirckheimer, who had ventured to give him counsel in his difficulties, he says:

I can easily take in good part what you tell me of Oecolampadius' affair, providing you approve of my keeping quiet in his regard. I had started to take some action in that matter, but I straightway felt that I could accomplish nothing other than to excite disturbance here where things are festering too much as it is. Moreover, I am meditating flight, but I see no place to go. The childish monks have created so much tumult in Spain that neither the authority of Cæsar nor that of the archbishops is of any avail to quell it. At Paris, under the leadership of Bedda, certain theologians are pushing things to extremes. At Louvain, he who is the head of all this system of torture is said to be a dire enemy to me, as he is to all good men. The king and the Archbishop of Canterbury invite me most lovingly to England; but there are many circumstances which deter me from seeking that island. But what need of any such deliberation when my health will not permit of any migration, and with difficulty I sustain life at home . . .? *

We need not take too literally the above statements about his feeble health, for he was yet only sixty-two; and though he suffered frequent and painful attacks of the gravel, like all people subject to that disease, he was comparatively well in the intervals. Nor need we accept too literally his statement about Louvain being headquarters for his persecutors; since in another letter to his friend Nicholas Marvillanus, presiIdent of the College of the Three Languages at Louvain, he writes: "I know not how mute are the monks in your vicinity [Louvain]; they are noisy enough in Spain; nor is there any lack of them in other places, who are brawling and prating, especially some discalced Carmelites, but what is goading them on I know not." From this we may infer that Louvain was quiet enough even to suit Erasmus, and yet the neurasthenic element in him was disturbed thereat.

At no former period of his life was he in such tribulation as at the present moment. He felt that his residence at Basle was no longer tenable, and yet in all Europe there was no other place which offered him a suitable, safe, and satisfactory abode. He was hated by Luther and the extremists of his party, detested by the monks upon whom he had poured out all the virulence and bitterness of his nature; besides this, his orthodoxy was suspected by the Catholic theologians, and his heterodoxy by the Reformers. But great as was the hatred that he had drawn down upon himself almost everywhere else, it was reserved for Spain to make the most public demonstrations of the fact. He saw the storm coming from the moment when he heard that his Enchiridion had been turned into Spanish, and he immediately appealed to the friendship and protection of such powerful men as Alfonzo de Valdés, • Eras. Ep. (H) p. 671.

• Ibid., col. 1057F. (January 3, 1528.) Ibid., col. 1139A-B. (Early in 1528.)

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Latin secretary to the Emperor Charles, Don Alfonzo Manrique, Cardinal Archbishop of Seville and Inquisitor General, Mercurino Gattinara, Imperial Chancellor, and others of like calibre. He sent a letter to a Spanish friend named Dr. Luis Nuñez Coronel, in which he discouraged any further translations of his works into Spanish, saying: "I do not know whether they who translate my books into Spanish do it from love of me; but this I do know, they excite much ill will against

This utterance of Erasmus was shown to Alfonzo Fernandez, Archdeacon of Alcor, who was the translator of the Enchiridion into Spanish, though that fact was unknown to Erasmus. Immediately he made himself known to Erasmus, and wrote him, saying:

.. Up to this time I have seen no book of yours done into Spanish, save only the Enchiridion militis christiani by myself, which all concur in saying has not been discreditably translated. This work has gained so much applause, brought so much credit to your name, and proved so useful to Christian people that there is no other book of our time that may be compared with the Enchiridion for the extent of its circulation, since it is found in the hands of everybody. There is scarcely an individual in the court of the Emperor, an inhabitant in our cities, a member of our churches and convents, nay, not even a hotel or country inn, that has not a copy of the Enchiridion of Erasmus in Spanish. The Latin version was read previously by a few who understood the Latin language, but its full merit was not perfectly perceived even by these; now the Spanish version is read by all without distinction, and this short work has made the name of Erasmus a household word in circles where hitherto it had been unknown and unheard of. . . . But enough of this. Now, for the love I bear you, I judge it right to suggest that you introduce into your little book called the Exomologesis at least some small compliment to Auricular Confession, and that you should commend it with somewhat more earnestness, in order that the above-mentioned work, which is now agreeably received by all good and learned men, may, with this suggested addition, be satisfactory to the unlearned who now speak ill of it. Farewell, you personally reflect honor on letters. Palencia, November 27, 1527. Erasmus, I am, with much jealousy for your reputation, Alfonzo Fernandez, Archdeacon of Alcor."

The work of Erasmus to which this correspondent refers was the Exomologesis siue Modus confitendi, which he had published in 1524, and which, even to the partial eye of this admirer of the great writer, was evidently far from satisfactory. Fernandez wished to point out at least one reason why this book in particular was exciting ill will against Erasmus on the part of the Spaniards. And he spoke ex cathedra in a way, for he was a professor of theology and consequently See Eras. Ep. (LB) col. 1723B.

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8

See Life and Writings of Juan Valdés, pp. 41-2, from which this translation is paraphrased. London, 1865.

as well able as Erasmus to judge of what was the accepted teaching of the Church on the matter of Auricular Confession. Now, when even the comparatively mild Exomologesis was disturbing Spain so much, Erasmus must have been in a very perturbed state of mind when he reflected on his far more reprehensible Praise of Folly and the Colloquies; so he hastened to ward off the imminent peril of having them translated into Spanish, as it now appeared probable that such an event would shortly take place unless he could by some means prevent it. So he wrote to Fernandez, the writer of the above letter, who had so ably accomplished the Spanish version of the Enchiridion, and very deftly and sagaciously sought to guide his enthusiasm:

I had heard from the letters of many friends that my Enchiridion had been elegantly translated into Spanish, but from your letter I have for the first time learned to whom I am indebted for the favor. I am very much gratified on this account that a man of your ability has deigned to spend such pains on my little work. Would that it might turn out as useful as both of us wish, for then I should not regret the hostility that is wont to result from everything good. If your letter and those of my friends are telling the truth, not only do I not regret your endeavor, but I am even rejoiced and full of gratitude towards you, not for the celebrity of my name for which, you write, you are working, since I should prefer to be the most obscure of all men rather than to have a reputation leavened by the ferment of dislike, . . . but out of regard for piety. And, since you have succeeded so well with this one, I should wish . . . that certain others of my works might be turned into Spanish, at least those which seem to lead to piety. Of such nature I deem to be my little Commentaries on the Four Psalms, on The Mercy of the Lord, On Christian Marriage, my Paraphrases, and such like works, which can be made by a suitable translation to assist the morals of mankind. For herein also the tact of the translator is of much importance, since I have written some works to stimulate study, some for correcting the judgments of the multitude, and many that are to be read only by the learned. I know nothing about you except what I have just mentioned; yet the rumor is prevalent here, from letters and conversations of some people, that my Colloquies, my Lingua, and I know not what others, are being printed there [in Spain], and although there is nothing impious in them, as far as I know, yet each work has its own time and place. What you advise with reference to my Exomologesis I will do on the very earliest occasion, although I have already done it many times, both before the work was issued, and afterwards. Men do not consider what I had undertaken to treat of in that work, nor for whom it was written, nor the time nor place. What is the good of an appendix if it is not read, or if it is only read for the purpose of being misrepresented? What is going on there in your locality I know not, but here the work has helped more than the writings of other people who claim to advocate Confession most earnestly. I