Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam

by Ephraim Emerton

"I insist upon this the more earnestly because I have heard preachers of considerable fame, especially in Italy, wasting their time in affected synonyms of this sort, as, for example, if one interpreting the word of the Psalmist, 'create in me a clean heart, O God!' should say, 'create in me a clean heart, a pure heart, a spotless heart, a stainless heart, a heart free from baseness, a heart unspoiled by vice, a heart purified, a heart made clean, a heart like snow,' and then should do the same in other words, this kind of copia is not far removed from mere babble."

So he goes on, through the whole range of figures of speech, laying down a general principle and illustrating it with a wealth of classical learning that is simply overwhelming. It is rather dreary reading, but is relieved every now and then by flashes of sense and humour that must have commended the book to all fair-minded men. "No word ought to seem to us harsh or obsolete which is to be found in an approved author. On this point I differ far and wide from those who shudder at every word as a barbarism which is not to be read in Cicero."

When he has made his principles clear he proceeds to illustrate still further by ringing all possible changes on a model sentence, tuæ literæ me magnopere delectarunt, to the extent of a printed folio page. The development of semper dum vivam, tui meminero, fills two folio pages. The pupil who should carry out these illustrations intelligently would be almost a master of Latin prose. The greater part of the rest of the copia verborum is filled with formulas for the expression of a multitude of ideas most likely to occur in the work of the classical pupil. This is pure hack-work, a mere mechanical enumeration, but likely to be of great use to those for whom it was intended. It would be an admirable thing if our own high-school pupils could be made to commit great parts of the de copia verborum to memory.

The plan of the Copia rerum is similar to that of the former part. It is an elaborate analysis of the various ways in which discourse may be enriched and amplified. Erasmus puts much less of himself into this part, but at the close sums up the argument with his usual good sense and judgment.

"He who likes the brevity of the Spartans will first of all avoid prefaces and expressions of feeling in the manner of the Athenians. He will state his case simply and concisely. He will use arguments,—not all but at least the chief ones, and will present these not in detail, but compactly, so that the argument shall be almost in the very wording, if anyone cares to work it out. Let him be content to make his point and be very sparing with amplifications, similes, examples, etc., etc., unless these be so essential that he may not omit them without offence. Let him also abstain from all kinds of figures which make language rich, splendid, telling, elaborate, or attractive. Let him not treat the same subject in various forms, or so explain single words by expressions of meaning, that much more is understood than is heard and one thing may be gathered from another. On the other hand he who seeks for copia will desire to expand his material pretty nearly according to the rules I have laid down.

"But let each beware, lest through affectation he be carried over into the fault which lies nearest him. Let the lover of brevity see to it that he does not merely use few words, but that he says in the fewest words the very best thing he can.... For nothing is so conducive to brevity of style as aptness and elegance of words, and if we add simplicity, it will be easy to avoid obscurity, a vice which is very apt to follow a striving after brevity. But here again we must look out that our speech does not grow cold through lack of all warmth of feeling. Therefore let the matter be so put before the eye that, of itself, it may silently take a certain hold upon the mind. Let all be sweetened with the Attic charm."

The Copia proved its value by a great and rapid sale. It was first printed in 1511, and went through nearly sixty editions in the author's lifetime. Since then it has been repeatedly reprinted and epitomised. Coming as it did so soon after the Praise of Folly, and written as it was in the intervals of very serious occupation with the New Testament and Jerome, it gave to the world a very striking proof of Erasmus' immense versatility of talent and wide-reaching intellectual interests. Taken together these works make it quite clear that when Erasmus left England in 1514 he had commended himself to every class of thinking men by some direct appeal to what specially concerned it.

In all the biographies of Erasmus it seems to be tacitly assumed that he was on intimate terms with Thomas More during this long residence in England. In fact, however, contemporary evidence on this point is almost entirely wanting. There is but one letter from Erasmus to More in this period, and none whatever from More to him. If it be said that there was no need of correspondence, since the friends could meet at any time in London, the same is true of Colet and Ammonius, from and to whom we have so many letters. When Erasmus goes to London it is Ammonius who finds him a lodging; he it is who sends him his wine and helps him to a horse. More was certainly greatly occupied with public affairs at this time, but he found leisure to write his Utopia, which was published in 1515, very soon after Erasmus' departure from England. The real relations between these men, who, in spite of similar tastes, were of quite different character, seem to have been expressed rather in their later correspondence than in any close intimacy at this time.

During this residence in England occurred doubtless the visits of Erasmus to the shrine of the Virgin Mary at Walsingham and to that of Thomas à Becket at Canterbury, which are immortalised in the very famous colloquy, Peregrinatio religionis ergo, the Religious Pilgrimage.[98] Though published some years afterwards, there is every reason to believe that this dialogue faithfully represents the writer's state of mind in 1513-14. The essential part of it is the skilful balancing between conformity to prescribed usage and an open contempt for the whole paraphernalia of relics, miracles, votive offerings, and lying tales, of which these and similar places were the centres. Erasmus represents himself as a devout believer in the Holy Virgin and in the holiness of saints; but as a total sceptic regarding the whole machinery of their worship. His cautious language and his protestations of charity for ignorance and human frailty cannot in the least conceal his real disgust at these perversions of an honest and honourable sentiment.

In the visit to Canterbury, Erasmus represents himself as accompanied by a high clerical dignitary of England, whose open expressions of distrust and scandalised piety he endeavours to moderate. That this person was Colet is made clear by a later reference. The fact serves to connect Erasmus with the feeling, growing henceforth more intense and finally culminating in the suppression of the English monasteries, that a vast perversion of true religion had taken place. It was only a question of time when the evil would become intolerable. Erasmus doubtless contributed his share in the fostering of this rebellious feeling; but he was far from being alone in his opinions. The enlightenment of his generation was all pointing the same way. All that was needed was a formulation into some definite programme of action, and for this, of course, Erasmus was conspicuously incompetent. The impulse was to come from a mixture of motives, many of them as unworthy as those they sought to replace.