Evening star., 1928-05-27
CONTINUED from Third Page }

or openly. He may waste the church'S
money ON vicious pleasures, He may
be a ouack or a charlatan, and all the
while be an excellent friar and fit to
be made an abbot. There are
hrothelS Soberer and chastcr than some
monaSterieS. The great proper
tion of priests fall into LUST and incest
and open profligacy, 1t would surely
be better II those who cannot contain
themselves should be allowed lawful
wives"
And 70 give point to his charge of
the monkish prediction for liquor he
tells of a father confeSSor who fell
asleep in the middle of penitent's tale
OF theft; the penitent went, and an
other came. to recite quite other sins;
Yes, yes" said the priest waking
from his torpor, you had broken open
your neighbor's desk: very good pro-
ceed," whereupon the second penitent
protested he had done no such thing,
and went of in a rage
Becomes Student in Paris.
The bishop Of Cambrai. admiring the
youthful learning and industry Of
Erasmus. rescued him from the nonas-
terry. and paid his expenses while he
studied in Paris, At first he read
theology: Il am buried so deep in
ScotuS that Stentor coud not awake
me-" he writes Then he came upon
the Greek tets that italian scholars
had recently discovered; ne went wild
with enthusiasm over them. and said
he would pawn his coat rather than
60 without the latest Greek manu-
script. And, Of course, he began to
write
He succeeded because he failed so
many times. After writing any number
Of things that found none but friends
70 praise them. he produced, at the age
Of 81, a volume Of claSSica! proverbs
"Adagia"-which became the Bartlett's
Quotations Of the day, To many Of the
proverbs he appended little essays.
aiming youthful arrows at ancient evils;
under "Dulce Bellum IreXperto" he
indites a telling pacidstc tract; war
IL sweet to those who have not expert
enced il: who have seen it, not In
trenches. but on parade.
He thought his allowance was too
small for his stature now. and told the
bishop. vainly., that. being genius. he
deserved a Better wage. mo man can
write as he should" he said. without
freedom from sordid cares. / am
at this moment little better than beg
gar. But how many ignorant
asses roll in money!" He had no skill
IN thrift. and knew thousand ways OF
spending money. A rich lady promised
20 help him. but delayed. she can
supply those hooded lechers. the monks:
she can find nothing TO make leisure for
q man who can write books worthy OF
posterity." What genius could bear up
without egotisrn2
He taught Greek TO keep himself
alive, and found enough students at
least to keep him in wine: though he
was too much Of an artist TO get drunk.
His reputation for learning spread
abroad. and Henry VTII joined the
scholars of England in inviting him tn
London. He came. charmed Colet and
Sir Thomas More with his witty Latin,
and took England by storm in the
fashion OF Oscar Wilde. His tastes. how
ever. were impeccable: and he made no
moral mistakes in gender. The English
girls he writes friend. ARE divinely
pretty. They have a custom
which cannot be too much admired.
When you 60 anywhere on a visit the
girls all kiss you. They kiss you when
you leave; they kiss you when you re-
turn. Go where you will, 1t is all kisses;
and my dear Faustus, If you had once
are. YOU would wish to spend your life
here"
Fight Over Teaching Greek.
He found England In strife over the
introduction Of Greek into schools; the
antsdiiuytans were as slow then TO take
Il up as they are nov TO abandon II.
Erasmus fought for the new recovered
tongue, and brought out. as one charge
n the battle. an edition Of the Greek
New Testament. With a fresh transla-
ton into Latin. His translation did
some damage TO dogma. but his notes
primitive" Christianity, and appealed
for return from dogmas to good works.
The theologs got wind Of this new
storm; the abbot Of the monastery TO
which, IN strict discipline, he belonged,
demanded that he return TO silence and
obedience OF the nlonastic life. He ap-
pealed 70 Leo x, who sided with him
handsomely: and when some priests
sent to the Pope petition that Erasmus
be condemned as hereto. Leo. who
was scholar. courtier. gentleman and
everything but Q Christian, expressed
his opinion Of the petition by paying
for the publication Of Erasmus New
Testament He offered the scholar a
bsEhopric as haven against such
squalls, but Erasmus said, Il would not
change my freedom for the best
bishOpric In the world" Nevertheless
he was grateful 10 the Pope's magma
ntnaity, begged him 10 cleanse the
church Of the doctrinal and moral
abuses that we're weakening it. and
looked 10 him 70 effect peaceful refor-
nation.
II was while he was staying at the
house Of Sir Thomas More that he
wrote his little masterpiece, The Praise
OF Folly" as q Yolley Of little shafts
against the Theological mosquitoes
who harassec him. He begins with q
quiet satire Of gTammartanS and logic
choppers: passed. in slightly higher key,
20 miracle mongers, pardon peddlers.
inventors and gournands Of fantastic
sanity tales worship - Of s1r.nes and
images, sellers and buyers Of in
oul2ences; he tells r1errie tales Of the
Kaeryle monks; he Scorns the priests
who draw dividends from superstition
and stupidity, and does not hesitate 10
denOunce cardinals and Popeg; most Of
all he !mpales the theoIo9ianE, who
waste the time Of the world In oulddi-
ties, mprenensibil!ties and ridic1logi-
ties. while the church they pretend 10
love rotS 70 pieces under their Enyopic
eyes. He concludes naeEcifuiiy; 70 err
st human. and only God is wise.
Impending Revolution.
A few years later Luther pinned his
theses To the church door in WittenDerg
and began those cracks of thunder
which were 70 split Christianity into
fragments The waking out of long
sleep" said Erasmus, toyfuliy IN this
part Of the world am afraid that 3
great revolution ie impending" II came
TOO Soon for him, and too violently. he
lo.ed the battles of the mind, and not
tbs heavy hstsd var that Luther made
he wrote ~ Luther counseling nloder-
alton, but Luther snSwere6 by coIinseling
bravery Luther vas q German. EFa8.
mus was European the cleavage oi
the continent into nations did not
appeal ~ the scholar who lived In ths
International o. the mind, and prefer
rec the lnity u an imperfect "uniYer-