It is not enough, said Erasmus, in their frequent conversations, to aim at holding an important place in the church. It is necessary to acquire fitness for it, to study sound theology, and to seek for true religion in the Gospel. Alasco gave his complete assent to a truth so just, and he felt ashamed of himself. He was aspiring to the office of a priest, of a bishop, probably even of primate; and he had taken little thought about either the faith or |His Study Of The Scriptures.| the knowledge which such a position demands. He set to work, and at a later day he said to a reformer—‘It was Erasmus who led me to devote myself to holy things; it was he who first began to instruct me in true religion,’[[644]] He does not appear, however, to have found at this time in Holy Scripture the deepest truth of the Christian faith. Erasmus himself had not completely sounded this depth. He preferred the Gospel to scholasticism; but he was filled at the same time with excessive admiration for the Greeks and Romans, and could hardly help, he says himself, often crying out—‘Holy Socrates, pray for us!’ It was exactly at this time that this great man was engaged in a conflict with Luther, and published his Diatribe on the freedom of the will, in which he greatly reduced the power of divine grace. However, no man in his day had acquired so universal a culture. Being near Erasmus was for Alasco the best stimulus to progress in his studies. The young man resolved to begin with Hebrew and the Old Testament; and at Basel he found the necessary assistance. Conrad Pellican, a native of Elsass, who had entered at an early age into the Franciscan order, had all alone in his cell made himself master of the Hebrew language; and in 1502, while he was still only twenty-four years of age, he had been named professor of theology, and afterwards warden of his monastery. Light gradually arose in his mind; and as early as 1512 Pellican and his friend Capito had arrived at the perception of the simplicity and spirituality of the Lord’s Supper. In 1523, at the request of some eminent citizens of Basel, he had substituted, for masses read and sung without end in the chapel, the daily exposition of the Holy Scriptures; and he had persevered in this course, in spite of the complaints of the most bigoted monks, who continually cried out that exposition of Scripture on weekdays savored strongly of Lutheranism! By this man Alasco was initiated in the knowledge of Hebrew and of the Old Testament. He profited at the same time by intercourse with other eminent men who were then at Basel; among whom were Glareanus,[[645]] a great master of the Greek and Latin languages, and Oecolampadius, who devoted himself especially to establishing the essential foundations of the faith, without wasting time over subordinate differences. Alasco, on his part, endeavored to be of service to these scholars. He was their young Mæcenas, and he particularly encouraged Glareanus by generous subsidies. To him Glareanus afterwards dedicated one of his books.[[646]] He found unspeakable happiness in his intercourse with men at once so pious and so accomplished; and this communion of mind, of ideas and sentiments often recurred to his remembrance. ‘It is always with great joy of heart that I recall to mind our life at Basel,’ he wrote twenty years later to one of those whom he had known there.[[647]] Erasmus was hardly less pleased with the young Pole. This prince of letters used to speak of him when writing to his friends. In a letter of October 7, 1525, addressed to Egnatius, we read—‘We have here John Alasco, a Pole. He is a man of illustrious family, and will soon occupy the highest rank. His morals are pure as the snow. He has all the brilliancy of gems and gold.’[[648]]
Charmed with the society of Alasco, Erasmus wrote almost at the same time to Casimbrotus—‘This worthy Pole is a young man, learned but free from pride, full of talent but without arrogance, of a disposition so frank, loving, and agreeable, that his charming company has almost made me young again at a time when sickness, hard work, and the annoyance occasioned by my detractors well-nigh made me pine away.’[[649]] To Lupsetus likewise he wrote—‘The Polish count, who will soon obtain in his own land the highest position, has manners so easy, so open, and so cordial, that his company day by day makes me young again.’
Erasmus evidently had no doubt that Alasco would one day, and that very soon, be primate of Poland.[[650]] ‘A glorious ancestry,’ said he further, ‘high rank, prospects the most brilliant, a mind of wonderful richness, uncommon extent of knowledge ... and with all this there is about him not the faintest taint of pride. The sweetness of his disposition puts him in harmony with every one. He has at the same time the steadfastness of a grown man and the solid judgment of an old man.’ We could not pass over in silence this impression produced by Alasco on the greatest critic of the age.
Alasco’s Return To Poland.
This delightful intercourse was suddenly broken up. The news reached Poland that Alasco was living at Basel, not only in the house of Erasmus, but in the society of the reformers. His friends were alarmed. It was their wish that he should mix with the fashionable world and attend king’s courts, rather than the meetings of those who were looked upon as heretics. He received letters from Poland, enjoining him to leave Basel, as the king called him to important affairs.[[651]] Alasco was deeply grieved. ‘I shall never be able sufficiently to deplore,’ said he afterwards, ‘that the happy connections which I had formed at Basel were at that time broken off by the authority of my superiors.’[[652]] While the young Pole was preparing to mount his horse,[[653]] Erasmus wrote to one of his friends, a bishop—‘His departure is the death-blow to Erasmus and to many others, so many regrets he leaves behind him.’ Erasmus did not venture to detain him, since the order was from the king. Alasco at his departure entreated Erasmus to enter into correspondence with the king of Poland, in the hope that much good to his country might result therefrom. The great writer could not be comforted under his loss. To Reginald Pole he wrote—‘The Polish baron, John Alasco, who made me so happy by his society, at this moment afflicts me cruelly by his departure.’[[654]] In March, 1526, Erasmus wrote to Alasco himself, to whom he gives, in a half-serious, half-jocose tone, the title of Highness: ‘I have been compelled to make great efforts for some months,’ says he, ‘to bring back my house, corrupted by your magnificence, to its old frugality.[[655]] Through all the autumn and all the winter I have done nothing but struggle with accounts and calculations. This is but a small matter. Other difficulties have beset me in which I could easily perceive that my good genius had left me.’ It does not appear from this letter of Erasmus that the great affairs spoken of in the letter to Alasco from Poland had been entrusted to him. The message was perhaps a mere decoy.
It is supposed that Alasco went next to the court of Francis I., where his brother Stanislaus was residing, as ambassador of Poland. His own name, the letter of which he was the bearer, and the amiability of his character sufficed to ensure him at this brilliant court the most kindly reception. At a later period he corresponded with Margaret of Navarre, the king’s sister. Perhaps their acquaintance may date from this period.
We feel some doubt, however, as to the course Alasco took on leaving Basel. Possibly he made a short stay at Paris, or he may have gone to Italy. A letter of Erasmus written four months after his departure is addressed to Venice. The great author tells him that till that time he had not known where to write to him. ‘Nobody, not even a fly,’[[656]] said he, ‘went hence to Venice. We were in complete uncertainty as to what part of the world contained you, whether Spain, France, or Poland.’ His family appear indeed to have wished that he should visit France and Spain; but Alasco himself seems to have been chiefly bent on visiting Italy. Among his admirers was a distinguished scholar, Beatus Rhenanus, who, having dedicated one of his works to him, sent the dedication to him, in February, 1526, to Padua, where he believed him to be immersed in scientific pursuits. But the young Mæcenas was by this time on his way back to Poland.
His Struggles.
After returning to his native land, Alasco had severe struggles to pass through. His family were anxious at any cost to turn him away from his new notions and his new friends. What a scandal, what a sorrow, to see the nephew of the primate, his destined successor too, uniting with the sectaries of Zurich, Basel, and other places beside! His kinsfolk thought that if they could induce him to enter upon the diplomatic career, this would be the surest way to turn him away from the evangelical path. It appears, indeed, that he was designated to undertake more than one mission of this kind; but his fondness for study, his feeble health, and doubtless the new faith which was springing up in his heart, prevented him from accepting them. If he escaped from these temptations he was ere long exposed to others. His uncle, as we said, was a courtier. Before he was primate he had been arch-chancellor of the kingdom, and had lived in close intimacy with the kings Casimir IV., John Albert, and Alexander. People fancied that the high sphere in which he moved would rescue Alasco from his strange tastes.
The rank of the young Pole, his family connections, his travels, the charm of his character and his handsome person not only procured him admission to the court circle, but made him much sought after. His forehead expressed decision; his eye was clear and keenly observant; his lips, curved and slightly parted, expressed a candid and affectionate nature; a full and elegant beard flowed over his chest. At first the court had some attractions for him. He mixed there with the first society, cultivated men and amiable women; but he soon found that this gay and worldly manner of life was a dissipation to his mind, turned him aside from higher things, took up his time, and kept him away from study. The interests, the talk, and the prepossessions of this worldly company stood in marked opposition to the quiet and studious tastes by which he had hitherto been influenced. Sometimes nothing was talked of but Turkish invasions, the dangers impending over Hungary and Austria, the wars, and the deep-seated uneasiness and agitations of Europe. At other times it was pleasure, worldliness, and frivolous conversation, the theatre and the dance, which appeared to take up the whole interest of this brilliant society. Alasco shrank from the risk of being drawn away into vanities by these dangerous attractions. He questioned within himself how it was that these great lords, who were pressing into the palace of the last but one of the Jagellons, who sought after the good graces of princes, and took care not to miss a single feast at court or in the town, took no thought for their eternal warfare. He was not only struck with the passionate eagerness with which they sought after grandeur and pleasure, the pomp of an age which passeth away; but, penetrating more deeply into their minds, he perceived their dissembled hatred, concealed interests, burning jealousies, treacherous intrigues, and divisions ready to break out. He took no pleasure in the air, the tone, or the manner of life which he saw around him. Every one was outwardly as polished as marble, and inwardly as hard. He had some difficulty, nevertheless, in tearing himself away from the claims and the allurements which encircled him. He deeply regretted afterwards having lost in the life of the court time which, if it had been spent in study, would have yielded him so much good.[[657]]