The other work on which Erasmus spent most of his time in England was his share in a new edition of St. Jerome, which was being brought out by the great printing house of Froben at Basel. It will be more in order, perhaps, to speak of this when we have followed Erasmus to the Continent and seen him established in the full career of an editor and author which was to occupy the remainder of his life. It may not be out of place here to quote his own description of the principles which governed him in his editorial work. He was accused of inaccuracy and undue haste in giving to the world the results of unripe scholarship. He acknowledges the facts, but defends himself as follows,[96] speaking at the moment of the epistles of Jerome:
"I gave such care to this work [the edition of 1524] that the attentive reader may easily see that I did not undertake this revision in vain. The control of ancient manuscripts was not lacking, but these could not preclude the use of conjecture in some places; but these conjectures I so modified in the notes that they could not easily deceive anyone, but could only stimulate in the reader a zeal for investigation. And I hope it may come to pass that someone equipped with more correct texts may restore also those points which have escaped me. To these I will gladly render the praise due to their industry and they will have no reason to find fault with my attempts; for while I have been fortunate in restoring many points, in some I have been compelled to follow the ancient proverb:—'not as we would, but as we can.'
"For there are men of such a disposition that if they can add anything to the efforts of their predecessors, they claim all the praise for themselves and make a tremendous fuss if one has even nodded at any point or not accomplished what one has undertaken. I know not whether we ought to despise more the rudeness of such persons or their ingratitude. No one stands in their way, if they wish to produce something better. They say that nothing ought to be published that is not perfect. Now, whoever says that, simply says that nothing at all should be published; nor was ever anything properly edited down to the present day. I was editing these things for Batavians, for monks and theologians, who were for the most part without classic learning; for liberal study had not yet penetrated so far as these.
"If one will just consider, he will see that I am entering upon no unworthy or unfruitful field. Will not Italian critics give the same indulgence to barbarians which they have been compelled, willing or unwilling, to give to their own scholars, to Filelfo, to Hermolaus, or to Valla, whenever during the past sixty years they have aided the learning of the community by their zeal in translating Greek authors or emending Latin ones? Those who publish nothing avoid all blame, but earn no praise;—nay, while they are barely avoiding the blame of men, they fall into the worst kind of blame;—unless, indeed, he is less blameworthy who gives to his famished friends nothing from his splendid table, than he who freely and gladly gives what he has and would be glad to give more sumptuous things if he had them.... I confess myself greatly indebted to Beatus Rhenanus, who has given us Tertullian emended at many points, though it is incomplete and beside that is thick-sown with blunders. He does no injury to his reputation who gives a service proportioned to his day and opens the way to others to do more finished work. Nor have I suffered from any more unjust critics than those who publish nothing and do not even teach, as if they begrudged any usefulness to the world, or as if whatever they gave to the community were a loss to themselves. And if ever they detect a human error, what snickerings, what abuse, what a rumpus!"
These are really admirable sentiments, worthy of a man of literary courage and generosity. On the whole Erasmus lived up to them. He was impatient of criticism and inclined to believe his critics actuated by motives of personal dislike; but where he felt the friendly note in criticism he was ready to accept it and to discuss the point in the spirit of worthy rivalry. Much that he wrote was hasty and incomplete, but he wrote, and he did indeed open the way for others of less individual quality to follow his leading.
As a fruit of the English residence, we must briefly notice the treatise, de duplici copia verborum et rerum,[97] written by Erasmus, as he says, at the request of Colet, and dedicated to him in a really beautiful and touching preface. The Copia of Erasmus is a text-book of rhetoric, intended for advanced Latin scholars who have already mastered the principles of grammar and are well on the way to the acquisition of a good style. Its value for our purpose is in giving a clue to the principles of composition which were to govern Erasmus in all his writing; and thus preparing us to interpret what he says with the greater intelligence. No opinion as to his meaning on any question can be worth much which is not based upon a clear comprehension of his literary method. He was a literary artist and we are here introduced to some of the most valuable secrets of his art. They must never be forgotten when we try to find out what he really means at a given moment.