THE LETTERS OF ERASMUS.*
ERASMUS was a great letter-writer, standing indeed in the very first class; but it detracts somewhat from the interest and value of his correspondence that he wrote, hardly perhaps with a view to publication, but certainly with the idea of publication always present to his mind. He was in the habit, as we learn again and again from his own testi- mony, of keeping servant-pupils—this is the expression which Mr. Allen uses to express the relation of his amanuenses to their master—who copied his letters into books before they were despatched. The "Deventer Letter- Book," preserved in the Athenaeum Library of that town, is a specimen of the volumes that resulted from this habit. It consists of two hundred and twenty-eight folios, whieh remain unbound, as they have always been, and contains three hundred and sixty-six letters and pieces of verse, ranging in date from 1509 to 1518. The hands of five, possibly six, copyists may be distinguished. Copyist A seems to have been with Erasmus down to November 11th, 1517, and wrote one hundred and twelve out of the total two hundred and twenty-eight folios ; B wrote nineteen, all belonging to the year 1517, a year of much correspondence, as nearly half of the letters, Stc., belong to it. C and D, who sometimes worked together, dividing a letter between 'them, wrote eighty-one, all of the years 1517-18; E wrote two ; about the work of F there are some obscurities with which the reader need not be troubled. It is a most interesting cireumstance that correc- tions in Erasmus's own hand may be found throughout the greater part of the manuscript. It seems, therefore, to show ue Erasmus actually at work on what he evidently considerefl an important part of his literary business. A considerable proportion of the letters originally appeared as dedications. Literature was under the domination of the patronage system, and the letter was a convenient form for the payment of the patron's quid pro quo. The first letter in the volume is very rightly put out of its proper order. It belongs, indeed, to a time later than that covered by this volume, bearing date January 30th, 1523. It is of great length, covering no less than forty-six pages, and may be described as a literary auto- biography. It is addressed to John Botzheim, an Alsatian of noble family, who had in Humanist fashion assumed the name of Abstemius, otherwise Bivilaqua. He was on intimate terms with Erasmus, occupying much the same theological standpoint. He died at Freiburg in 1535, not long before his great friend. The letter is a record of a remarkable literary activity, interspersed with anecdotes more or lesi connected with it. He tells, for instance, how he went with Thomas More to the country house where the King's children were staying. "In the middle stood Henry, who was nine years old [it should be eight]. He showed a royal temper, a lofty disposition in combination with a. remarkable geniality. On the right was Margaret, afterwards married to the King of the Scots. She was almost eleven [it should be ten]. On the left, Mary, aged four, was playing. Edmund was still an infant in arms." More had come prepared with a literary offering, and Erasmus expresses some annoyance that he had not been warned to make a similar provision, all the more because at dinner Prince Henry sent him a note challenging him to write something. In the end he promised to write a poem on the glories of King Henry VII., and of Britain. Elsewhere we have the well-known story of the visit to Lambeth and the introduction to Archbishop Warham, with its mortifying sequel. Here the literary offering was ready, but Warham suspected that it had served the same purpose before, and made a very small acknowledgment. "It is a way that you literary men have," explained his friend, as they rowed back in their wherry. Then, again, be tells how he had his gold and silver taken from him at Dover, as it was against law to take more than six angels' worth of bullion out of the realm,—" so much did it cost me to learn the one British law that I know," he adds. (The reader should compare Letter 119, in which Erasmus tells how he narrowly escaped being plundered on his way to Paris, and describes himself as having eight gold crowns; but Erasmus sometimes romanced a little.)
The letters proper begin with one written to a guardian (aet. 14). This is followed by letters to "Elizabeth, a Nun,"
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"Peter Gerard" (Erasmus's brother, who seems to have been something of a mauvais aujet), and to Servatius, a brother monk at Steyn. To this last correspondent eight are addressed. Erasmus expresses an affection for his corre- spondent which was not thoroughly reciprocated. It has been doubted whether these and other early letters were genuine or only rhetorical exercises, but the editor is inclined to the former view.
In 1499 we have the first letters from England, sixteen in number, and mostly from Oxford, whither Erasmus went-in October, and where he remained for some two months. The first letter is from an English country house, probably Bed- well, in Hertfordshire, the seat of Sir William Say, whither Erasmus had been taken by his pupil, Lord Mountjoy. He speaks of himself as almost a good sportsman (senator), and not a very bad horseman. Among the company were "nymphs divinely fair," and every meeting and parting was with a kiss. But the letters are mostly of a serious cast, one of them being the famous account of a theological discussion held after dinner, Colet being the host, and Prior Charnock the principal guest. (Mr. Allen, suggests that Wolsey may have been of the company. He was Bursar of Magdalen at this time,- 1499.) The next English letters belong to 1506, and a third series to the writer's prolonged residence in this country, beginning with one dated "Dover, 10 April, 1511," and ending with "London, July, 1514." This period includes the long Cambridge sojourn, and its conclusion brings us nearly to the end of Mr. Allen's first volume.
It is impossible to speak too highly of the industry and intelligence which the editor has brought to bear upon his task. His plan has been whenever a new correspondent appears to give all that can be ascertained about him, and the correspondents are to be numbered by scores. Some of them, of course, are famous people,—Colet, Foxe, and Warham, for instance ; most are more or less obscure ; one or two have defied all attempts to trace them. But whenever there is anything to be said about a man, it is duly recorded here. Much patient research, too, has been expended in fixing the dates of the letters, and some corrections of commonly received statements have been made. One important object Mr. Allen has in view, and this is the inclusion of all the letters which Erasmus wrote. Besides single letters which are known to exist, there is a collection of communications from Erasmus to his banker, Erasmus Schetus, of Antwerp, cover- ing the last thirteen years of his life,—when he was probably rich enough to have a banker. This collection was in existence as late as 1853, when the owner, a dignified ecclesiastic of Louvain, announced an intention, never carried out, of pub- lishing them. We gladly give all the publicity that we can to Mr. Allen's request for information from any who may be in a position to give it. Another obligation that has to be dis- charged is to give circulation to his acknowledgments for help received. This help has been of a most generous kind. The generosity with which the library authorities of Deventer, Leyden, and Gouda have placed at Mr. Allen's disposal the precious manuscripts in their charge is a thing that ought to be specially recognised. It is pleasant indeed to see such an entente cordiale in the world of letters.
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