The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1803-03-14 00:00:00

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LITE4ATURE, ARTS, SCIENCES, &c.
. .
Hie Met iponiis (*Cups: CertUSW mertnti
'Slat rotor. eruaturpr. priit Lediot, <u dews. CLAUD.
DESIDERIUS ERASMUS.
Cllaving in one of our former Numh•rs given the Life and Cita-
rtft..r of .ERAsmus from the Nieuwe n< higert we shall now
lilted a description of that great man' rxtratlied from the
irrprdenWek of the Rev. Mr. J AeoaviKoac.)
Desiderius Erasmus, called, in the commence-
ment of his career in the world of letters, Gerrit
Gerritszoon, was a charader of whose birth and
birth-place there existed a great difference in opi-
nion among the learned. It is however certain, that
he was begotten in fornication at Gouda, and saw
the first light of day in Rotterdam. His father, a
wealthy and not unlettered man, was born in the
former city, where, owing to his flippant tongue, lie
gained the nick-name of -Proat, i. c. Babbler. The
mother of Erasmus was a descendant of a physician
in Zevenbergen, who yielded her person to the de-
sires of her lover, under the hope of obtaining an
husband in Fraat, whose servant she was ; but the
marriage was prevented by the relations of her gal-
lant, who sent hire to Rome ; and the mother, to
conceal her dishonour, went to Rotterdam, where
she was delivered of a son, who at the font was bap-
tized after the sir-name of his lath!r.—Gerrit, while
at Rome, was persuaded, by spurious accounts from
his friends, to believe his Nlargaretta was no more ;
he consecrated himself to the priesthood, but found,
upon his return, the mother and child both living.
Ile past his days well without her, but not without
taking care of the education of the child, whom he
ever acknowledged as his son.

of Oc•

He is said to ve been born on the 248th . sec-
tober 14C7 ; he commenced his studies at Utrecht,
and rursued them still farther at Deventer. After
the death of his father, he was placed under the care
of the regular canoeists of Sion in Delft ; following
that, he entered the monastery of Stein near Gouda,
where he exercised his genius in literature and paha-
: his success in the first profession requires no
elucidation, and of the second some respetable spe-
cimens are said to remain. He is accused of hey-
ing neglected his master Gondanus, to whose care
of his education he had great obligations : neverthe-
less it is doubtful if he ever had such a toter.
After Lis studies were completed, and he began to
write, be attained very generally the .appellation
a learned and virtuous man ; and in such a measure,
that the kings and princes of Germany, Italy, Eng-
land, and other countries, sent him munificent gifts,
and other tokens of their high esteem. There is
the less reason to wonder at this, when it is con-
sidered how far ignorance and barbarism had inun-
dated all Europe; and that, in his time, the arts and
sciences once more began to rear their head : and as
l'astitus was completely master of the Greek and
Latin languages, he quickly became the general fa-
vourite of all who loved the arts and scieeces.
Henry the VIIIth invited Erasmus to his Court,
to Consult him on the affair of Luther; at his depar-
ture from that kingdom, his Majesty presented him
with a purse of 50'gold angels, (23 I.) ; at Graves-
sd the officers who searched his baggage took it
porn him, it being contrary to the law to export
of th realm. Erasmus, not well
returnedpleased at this eveitt, 5 to the English Court
to complain of it to The sing, who laughing heat-
‘ily at his distress,. Wormed him that his servants
•barely performed their duty, which hai they
seetfelone be would have had them hung ! He de-
tained him three days leseiger at his Court, presented
him with 50 golden .angels more, together with a
written older to the officers to return to him the fors
tner 50, andeperralt him to carry the whole out of
the realm t and thus provided with a double gift,
ha returned to 'Holland. He gave many proofs of
being sensible of the errors of the Church of Rome,
and immorality of the clergy, arid that he wished ,
for a reformation. Bart all his aelions prove he was
weak and faint-heared in the cause, and durst not
join heartily in the arduous task of fulfilling that
wish ; eessibly fearful of losing the favour of the
great, and displeasing the world. The pressure if
ibis important charge he let rest upon the shoul-
ders of the indefatigable Luther, holding it more
secure to stand aloof from the heat of contention,
and pretend, to play the part of a mediator : by thi,
means he kept up his reputation with the Catholic
Princes, but made also enemies of the Monks, whose
s vicioulives he satirised in his writings and conver-
sation. The consequence of this dubious condua
was, that he frequently drew upon himself the hat-
red of both parties ; and received the name of a
man utterly destitute of religion. To gain a good
word from the Papists, he now and then writ a few
things in their behalf : and not to remain in entire
disrepute with the Lutherans, he sported occasion-
ally at the expence of the Romish clergy. By none
was he so fiercely hated as by the stupid Monks, not
only for ridiculing their superstitious ceremonies,
but that he was too learned for them. And not
being able to endure their crimes, follies, and pro-
found ignorance, lie tore away the mask, and
exposed them to the naked world. At certain
moments, where circumstances permitted him
to speak freely, he partly justified -the attack
made on the Romish ceremonies by Luther,
but ever added his wish that he had gone more
gently to work. To the klleaor of Saxony he said
a reformation was highly necessary, but that Lu-
ther, though his doetrines were go.od, yet his prac-
tice was too violent, and calculated to produce a great
tragedy on the theatre of Europe. Luther writ a
book on the doctrine of .free-will ; to that work
Erasmus writ an answer. Luther rejoined in a
work, in which he treated Erasmus as an enemy to
the Christian &lief, sporting with revelation, and
misleading mankind by ambiguous expressions.
Erasmus defended himself in a work, in which he
handled Luther with great severity and indignation,
for he feared nothing so mach as losihg the fame
his books had gained. Many learned men have
been of opinion, that Erasmus in some respeas
aided the cause of reformation. and in others did it
injury. On account of the rich gifts which many
anteing the learned received for writing ageinst Lu-
ther, .it was sarcastically Observed by Erasmus,
41 that the poor Luther made many men rich." It
was not till after his death that, from his letters to
confidential friends, it was first discovered that in
his heart he way, the friend to reformation. All
his works were printed at. Basle by Frobeniut, in
9 iols. Intio; whiCh were afterwards reprinted in
4.amidon.
• Some ignorant monis,*who were heavily accus-
mg Erasmus of heresy, being asked in which of his
4ortitings thee heresies ware to be found, replied to