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 Desiderius Erasmus
concerning

the Aim and Method of Education

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 Desiderius Erasmus
concerning

the Aim and Method of Education

by

WILLIAM HARRISON ^OODWARD

Professor of Education in the University of Liverpool
Author of f^ittorino da Feltre

CAMBRIDGE :

at the University Press

1904
 ADAVLPHO GULIELMO WARD
ERASMIANO
ORNATISSIMO

LB
 PREFACE.

THE scope of the present study of Erasmus

defined by its title. I have directed attention to
is

one aspect only of his work and personality. That

aspect of Erasmus is of profound importance. Indeed
it may
be reasonably maintained that of all his activi-
ties none was more congenial to him, none more
characteristic, none of more influence in his own age
and subsequently than that which was concerned with
Education.
Yet although the limitations of the subject have
not been lost sight of, it has been, from the nature of
it, necessary to take a wider view of the attitude of
Erasmus problems of his time than a hasty
to the
reading of the of this book might suggest.
title For
it is obviously impossible to understand and to present

aright the Erasmian ideal of the fit training of the

young unless the presuppositions upon which it rests
are duly examined. Thus a brief historical review of
the literary life of Erasmus was called for, though it
seemed well to make clear the limits of the purpose
for which it was compiled. Much that fills so large
 vi Preface

a space approved biographies of Erasmus has

in the
been in effect but remotely affecting the
ignored, as
subject of this enquiry. On the other hand I have
endeavoured to reaUse with precision the appeal which
Antiquity made to Erasmus and the message which he
beHeved it to convey to the modern world. Compared
with this his share in the Lutheran conflict seems to
me to be, in a serious appraisement of Erasmus, as
J unimportant as it was to himself distasteful.
The deepening interest in educational enquiry which
marks the present time will, we may confidently hope,
extend to the study of the aims and achievements of
the educators of the past. Next to the great Italian
Masters of the Quattrocento Erasmus makes claim for
serious recognition.The actual degree of his influence
in Germany and England it is difficult to assess, and
writers have differed in their judgments. But if it

should be provable that Erasmus left less direct impress

upon school organisation or methods than certain of
his contemporaries, the reason will be found in the fact
that he was on crucial points so far in advance of public
opinion, that he took so wide, so truly humanist, a view
of the scope of education that in the troubled times of
sectarian partisanship his day was not yet. In certain
regards we must feel as we study such a workas the
De Pneris statini ac liberaliter instituendis, contained in
English dress in the present volume, that he speaks
with a note unexpectedly " modern." As we realise
therefrom the depth of Erasmus' conviction of the
respect due to the rights of the child we understand, what
we may have already suspected, how far a prevalent
 Preface vii

type of criticism of Humanist methods has been based

upon ignorance of the facts.

It is indeed of the first importance that the student

of the history of educational thought should be led to
acquaintance at hand with the men whose doctrines
first

are under discussion. Only upon this condition can the

study of the subject be regarded as worthy of serious
recognition as an aspect of literary and historical
enquiry.
In the study of Erasmus the text is the first, the
second and the third authority : and I have built up
my exposition upon repeated readings of the treatises,
prefaces, and letters pertinent to the subject. The
range of Erasmian literature is notoriously immense.
To distinguish the works which have proved specially
prolific of suggestion is scarcely But two
possible.
may be here singled out as of first rate importance to
students of Erasmus. The Letters of Erasmus by
Mr F, M. Nicholls carries down the correspondence to
1509: a second volume which is, I am glad to know,
to appear very shortly, will include the year 1517. The
correspondence of Erasmus so far as it is of bio-
graphical interest — in a very wide sense — is presented
in an English version, with most careful apparatus of
preface and note. Without necessarily accepting every
disputed attribution or date, I can affirm that no more
valuable aid to the understanding of Erasmus down to
the Cambri(3ge period has yet seen the light, whether
in this country or in Germany. The second work to
which allusion is made is the analysis of the psycho-
logical presuppositions of Erasmus' educational doctrine

«5
viii Preface

of Dr Hermann Togel, Die pddagogischen Anschautmgen

des Erasmus in ihrer psychologischen Begriindiing. The
author, however, is prone to see everything in terms of
Herbartianism, to the detriment of his historical per-
ception.
I desire to express my obh'gations to Miss May
Allen, Mr John Sampson, University Librarian, and
Mr E. Gordon Duff, for kind assistance at different
stages of my work. Miss Allen has been particularly
helpful in the bibliographical section.

The University, Liverpool,

February i, 1904.
 CONTENTS.
PAGE
Preface v

Chronological Outline xi

PART I.

Chap.
I. An Outline of the Life of Erasmus . . i

1 1 . Characteristics.
§ I. Erasmus and Antiquity 30
§ 2. The Reconciliation of the Antique with the
Christian Spirit 39
{^ 3. Erasmus and the Ciceronians . . • 5'

§ 4. Erasmus and the Vernacular Tongues . . 60

III. The Educational Aim of Erasmus.

§ I. The General Purpose of Education . . 72
§ 2. The Three Factors of Human Nature . .
^^
§ 3. Limitations of the Educational Ideal . . 83

IV. The Beginnings of Education.

§ I. Earliest Care 86
§ 2. Health and Physical Well-being of Young
Children 87

§ 3, Home Instruction 90
§ 4. School-life and Home Instruction . 92
§ 5. The Qualifications of the Master . 93
§ 6. The Beginnings of Systematic Instruction 96
§ 7. Discipline 98
 Contents

Chap. PAGE
V. The Liberal Studies.
§ I. The Teaching of Grammar . . . . loi
§ 2. The Choice of Authors in General . • ,
' ^ ^

§ 3. Method of Reading an Author . . .115

§ 4. Orators and Oratory 120
§ 5. Composition in Latin Prose . . • .123
§ 6. History and Historians 128
§ 7. Logic and Philosophy 133
§ 8. Greek Studies, and the Argument for them . 135
§
§ 10.
§ II.
9. Mathematics and Nature Knowledge
The Education
Moral Training
of Girls
Character as the Supreme
:
..... . .138
148

End of Education 154

PART IL

VL The Treatise De Ratione Sttidii, that is, Upon the Right

Method of Instruction ( 5 1
1
1
161

Vn. The Treatise De Pueris statim ac liberaliter insti-

tuendis, that is, The Argument of Erasmus of Rot-
terdam, that Children should straightway from
their earliest years be trained iti Virtue and Sound
Learning 179
VIII. I. De Conscribendis Epistolis, Cap. Liv. The
:

Method of mastering a Passage from a

Classical Author 223
II. From the Colloquy entitled Convivium Reli-
giosum 226
Bibliographical Lists.
(i) List of Books quoted and referred to . .231
(ii) List of recorded Editions of English
first

Versions of Educational Works by Erasmus 235

Index 240
CHRONOLOGICAL OUTLINE
THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ERASMUS
CONTEMPORARY EVENTS IN THE HISTORY
OF HUMANISM
 CHRONOLOGICAL
The Life and Writings of Erasmus.

1466 Erasmus born at Rotterdam (Oct. 27).

1470 At school at Gouda ; afterwards at Choir School, Utrecht.

1476 He is sent to school at Deventer.

1480 He is transferred to the school of the Brethren at Bois-

le-Duc.

1483 He enters the Augustinian Monastery at Stein.

1490 He is at work on Valla and upon the Anti-barbari.

1492 Ordained priest.

1493 Quits the Monastery.

1494 A student at the University of Paris.
 OUTLINE
Contemporary Events in the History of Humanism.

1465 Hegius becomes Head Master at Deventer.

The first Printing Press in Italy set up at Subiaco.
/'
1467 The printers Sweynheim and Pannartz remove to Rome.
1468 Ed. Princ. of Cicero, De Oratore (Rome).
Edd. Prince, of Vergil, Livy, Letters of Cicero, etc.
1469 First Press set up at Venice.
1470 First Press set up at Paris.
147 Sixtus IV founds the first Papal Museum of Antiquities
on the Capitol.
1476 FirstGreek Press set up : at Milan.

1477 Caxton sets up his Press at Westminster.

1480 R. Agricola at Deventer.

1481 Death of Francisco Filelfo.

1482 Reuchlin at Rome.

1484 Ficino completes the Latin version of the Dialogues of

Plato.
Culminating period of the Platonic Academy of Florence.
1485 Accession of Henry VII of England. Angelo Poliziano
made Professor of Rhetoric and Poetry in the Studio
of Florence. Linacre goes to Italy.
The Ed. Princ. of Homer published at Florence. Grocyn
goes to Italy.

149 Grocyn teaches Greek at Oxford.

1492 Death of Lorenzo dei Medici.

1494 Death of Poliziano.The Invasion of Italy by Charles VIII

of France. The Aldine Press set up in Venice.
xiv The Life and Writings of Erasmus

He composes the Commendatory Letter to Gaguin's

History.
A teacher of Latin in Paris.

June. His first visit to England : Oct. — Dec. at Oxford.

Jan. He leaves England for Paris. Adagia (Paris). Be-
gins to devote himself to study of Greek.
April. Passes through Press an edition of Cicero, De
Officits, now lost.

In Artois : Aug. at Louvain.

Enchiridion Mil. Christiaiii (Antwerp).

His second England: April, 1505 May, 1506.
visit to —
L. N. Test. Adnotationes.
Vallensis in
His versions of Hecuba and Iphigenia in Aulide and of ;

Luciani Dialogi. Sets out for Italy (June) Turin, :

Florence, Bologna.
At Bologna. Dec, to Venice.
At Venice. New editions oi Adagia and of versions
of Euripides. Nov., to Padua Dec, to Siena.
;

Feb., to Rome and Naples. Returns to England Moriae ;

Encomium (Paris).
In England.
At Cambridge (Aug.). De Ratione Studii (Paris). De
Copia (Basel).
Plutarchi Opuscula (Basel).

Catonis Praecepta.

Quits England : in Flanders : at Basel. Institutum

Hominis Christiani (London).

At Basel : Flanders : England. Novum Instrumentum

(Basel) : Hieronymi Opera (do.) : Gasds Greek Gra^n-
mar translated (do.) : Colloquia (do.) : Querela Pads
(do.) : Institutio Principis C/iristiani (Louvam).
Events m the History of Humanism xv

Colet returns from Italy to lecture at Oxford.

Wimpheling's Isidoneus Germanicus published.
Ed. Princ. of Aristophanes (Aldus). Execution of Savo-
narola.
Linacre returns to England.

Ed. Princ. of Sophocles (Aldus).

Foundation of University of Wittenberg. Ed. Princ. of

Thucydides (Aldus).
Death of Rodrigo Borgia, Pope Alexander VI.

Reuchlin's De Rudimeniis Hebraicis appears.

Guicciardini compiles his Historia Fiorentina.

Accession of Henry VIII. The Reuchlin controversy

begins.
Colet's foundation of St Paul's.

W. Lily made High Master of St Paul's. Isagogicon in

Graecas litems, by Simler (Tiibingen).
Feb., death of Julius II. March, election of Leo X. //
Principe of Machiavelli completed.

Epistolae Obscurorum Virorum issued.

More's Utopia. Foundation of Corpus Christi Coll., Oxford.
// Cortegiano of Castiglione finished. Italian grammar of
Fortunio (Ancona).
xvi The Life and Writings of Erasmus

Brussels : England (April) : Antwerp : Louvain.

At Basel. Anti-barbari i. (Cologne).

Settles at Louvain.
Leaves Louvain.
Takes up residence at Basel.

Definitive Edition of Colloquia (Basel).

Paraphrases upon Four Gospels.

Concerned with Ciceronian controversy. De Cvvilitate

Morum pueriliuin (Basel). In. Christ. Matriin. (Basel).
Condemnation of the Colloquies by the University of Paris.
Ciceronianus composed.

Quits Basel for Freiburg in Breisgau. De Pueris Insti-

tuendis Basel).

Apophthegmata (Basel).

Terentii Opera (Basel). Basilii Magni Opera (Basel).

Erasmus returns to Basel-

Death of Erasmus at Basel (July 12).

Events in the History of Humanism xvii

Collegium Trilingue at Louvain opened. Luther's Theses

at Wittenberg.
The Ins titutiones Grammaticae Graecae of Melanchthon.
Universities of Erfurt and Leipsic come under human-
ist control. Melanchthon teaches Greek at Wittenberg.
Controversy in Rome on Ciceronianism.
Death of Leo X.
Jan., accession of Adrian VI his death, Sept. Clement
:

VII, Pope. J. Sturm a pupil at Li^ge.

J. L. Vives, De causis corruptarum Artium and De Tra-
dendis Disciplinis published.
Luther's appeal for establishment of burgher schools.
Bembo, Delia Volgar Ungua published.
The Gymnasium of Nuremberg organised by Melanchthon.

Death of Froben. The Sack of Rome.

Schul-Ordnung of Elector of Saxony. // Cortegiano pub-
lished.
Budaeus publishes his Commentarii Linguae Graecae.

Coronation of Charles V at Bologna. End of the Floren-

tine Republic. Diet of Augsburg.
Elyot's Governour. The First Oration of Julius Caesar
Scaliger Against Erasmus^ in defence of M. T. Cicero,
circulated.

Foundation of the College de Guyenne at Bordeaux.

The Pantagruel of Rabelais published.
Foundation of the Society of Jesus.
The Gargantua of Rabelais first (?) published.
The De Ciceroniana imitatione of Dolet (Lyons).
 Note. The titles of authorities as given in the foot-notes are
brief titles. For exact identification of Author, Work, and Edition
quoted, the Bibliographical List (i), on page 231, should be
consulted. The references to the writings of Erasmus are
uniformly made to the Leyden edition of 1 703, inn voll. f".
 PART I.

CHAPTER I.

AN OUTLINE OF THE LIFE OF ERASMUS, MAINLY

IN REGARD TO HIS CAREER AS A SCHOLAR.

Erasmus was born Rotterdam on October 27th, 1466^

at
He and his brother Peter, some
three years his senior, were the
offspring of a union unsanctified by the Church. His parents
were Gerard of Gouda and Margaret, the daughter of a physician
of Zevenberge. Their marriage had been obstructed by the
family of Gerard, but at the time of the birth of Erasmus there
would seem to have been a legal bar to the union, in the fact
that the father was in priest's orders I The connection of
Erasmus with Rotterdam rests probably on the circumstance
of his mother's residence in that city when he was born.
There is no ground for doubt that the name Erasmus was
given him at baptism after a Saint and Martyr held in reverence
in the Low Countries and in England^. The common prae-
nomen Desiderius was added as a Latin equivalent by Erasmus
himself; Roterodamus completed the triple designation with
which Roman usage made him familiar. The first edition of
^ The evidence for 1466 is set out by Richter, Erasmus- Studien^ p. v;
Nicholls, The Epistles of Erasmus, p. 474, has arrived at the same conclu-
sion. The date usually given is 1467.
^ See Nicholls, Epistles, p. 14.
' Erasmus was a martyred Bishop of Campania, who suffered under
Diocletian.
-
W. I
 Childhood of Erasmus

the Adagia (1500) bears the full title: Desyderius Erasmus

Roterodamus.
The common assumption that Erasmus was a name
fancifully devised by its bearer to express in Greek form the
meaning 'beloved' contained in the Flemish Gerrit or Gerard
is unnecessary.
The circumstances of their birth inevitably clouded the
home-life of the two boys, and we know that throughout his
careerErasmus felt the which was cast upon his mother's
slur
name and his own. As late as 15 16 he sought for formal relief
from the disability attaching to his origin by papal dispensation.
Moreover, it is not unlikely that this same "invidious bar" may
have materially influenced his guardians in the action which
they took in respect of his future career at the time of his
parents' death. And when towards the close of his life Erasmus
became involved in bitter controversies, religious and literary,

he found opponents not unwilling to envenom their warfare by

a taunt so ready to their hands.
At four years of age Erasmus was living with his mother at
Gouda where he attended a school kept by Peter Winckel,
afterwards his guardian. Later we find him entered as a pupil
in the Cathedral Choir School at Utrecht. When nine years
old he was taken by Margaret to Deventer where he attended the
famous school attached to the Church of St Lebuin, of which
Alexander Hegius^ was the head-master, and Sintheim, a scholar
of distinction, an assistant. The Deventer school was not one
of the schools of the Brethren of the Common Life nor was ;

Hegius a member of the Order, though certain of his assistants

probably were. The school had great repute in the Low
Countries and in the Rhine-land, and at this period contained
possibly six hundred pupils. We cannot trace any definitely
humanist note in the instruction of the junior classes. Erasmus
in later years complained bitterly both of the teaching and
^ Hegius went to Deventer school in 1465 and died, still head-master, in
1498. Nicholls, p. 17.
 Erasmus at Deventer

of the books employed, as well as of the brutality of the

discipline'. It is difficult not to feel that, like Locke at
Westminster, Erasmus derived from Deventer life-long impres-
sions of profitless and unhappy experiences of his school days.
Hegius, probably, had but little share in his education, for
Erasmus left the school in 1480, before he had reached the
higher classes. But he tells us that he there saw that much
greater scholar Rudolphus Agricola, who on his return from
Italy in that year was staying at Deventer, where he visited the
school and perhaps took an occasional part in the teaching.
We may safely infer that the man from whom Erasmus learnt
most was Sintheim, whose repute for learning and for skill in
teaching survived in North Germany for half a century. We are
told that Hegius and Sintheim were men of true humanist
instincts and represented the wider educational aims and more
intelligent methods which the Italian masters had set forth in
the famous schools of Mantua and Ferrara. But we gather
from Erasmus' recollections that Deventer exemplifies once
more the gulf which in the actual working of a school separates
ideals from practice. The "love for sound learning" has not
always proved to be readily translateable into terms of class-
work, instruction and exercises. Hegius and Sintheim were
men of scholarship ; but their assistants, the text-books, the
range of possible subjects, the available methods of instruction,
were inevitably those of the time. So we find Erasmus as
he looks back upon his school days writing :
" Deventer
was a school still in the age of barbarism. We had the
Pater rneus (joint declension of noun and adjective) and the
tenses dictated to us for learning by heart the accidence of ;

Ebrardus Graecista and the ridiculous verses of John Garland

were read aloud. From Hegius and Sintheim the school drew
some savour of true Letters and so by contact with boys in
:

Sintheim's class I got glimpses of higher things. Hegius him-

self gave on rare occasions lessons to classes grouped together."

^ Op. i. 514 F. Infra, p. 205 seqq.

I 2
 Life at Bois-le-Duc.

In the tract De Pueris we find allusions of the same

kind, which relate, we cannot doubt, to his own school
experiences. Erasmus admits that at Deventer he imbibed a
strong taste for learning, though with the qualification that he
could only indulge it by stealth, and in spite of, rather than by
the aid of, his masters. It is perhaps wise not to take this
reservation very literally.

In the autumn of 1480 Erasmus had reached the third

class, "Tertia" (the eighth, Octava, being the lowest), when he
lost both father and mother within a few months of each other.
He was thereupon taken from Deventer to be entered at the
school of the Collationary Brothers at Bois-le-Duc. He left

Deventer a boy of fourteen, a studious youth, probably of poor

physique, and shrinking from too intimate converse with other
boys, with whom he had little in common and in whose hands
the knowledge of the shadow resting on his home-life was an
inevitable instrument of torture. Yet the change to Bois-le-Duc
was by no means for the better if we are to accept the criticism
which Erasmus at a later period recorded upon the school of
the Brethren. We must, however, remember that Erasmus
cannot be treated as a judicial witness in respect of the period
which followed the death of his mother in 1480. It has
generally been assumed' upon the monastic
that his entry
life and were steps forced upon him
his subsequent ordination
by the self-seeking action of his guardian ; that a chain of
circumstances was deliberately forged to fetter him ; that he
was cajoled into accepting a decision from which there was no
escape. It is enough to say here that a candid examination
of all the evidence we can collect from Erasmus' own writings
which date from that period leads his biographers to a different
conclusion. His reminiscences, recorded at a much later
period, upon which the version usually current is based, are

^ This not unnatural interpretation of the references made by Erasmus

life is found in every biography except in those of Emerton and
to his early
NichoUs. But the facts seem to be as they are stated above.
 Erasmus at Stein

so evidently coloured by subsequent experiences and reflections

that we cannot accept them as a sincere account of the actual
facts. The boarding school of the Brethren of the Common
Life at Bois-le-Duc was, he asserts, "a very seed-bed of
monkery," and as a place of education worthless. It is, of
course, possible that this and other Houses of the Brethren
had declined from the high standard of religious life and of
intellectual interests which marked them at Deventer, Liege
and elsewhere. We have no contemporary evidence of any
kind to guide us to a judgment of the level of studies or of
spiritual fervour of this particular monastery. Erasmus un-
doubtedly inveighed all his life long against monastic schools
for boys; his famous dictum^ — "schola sit publica aut nulla"
— is certainly aimed by the monastic orders.
at the schools kept
It is probable, also, that the monastic career was presented by

his schoolmasters to the shrinking, studious boy, of no fortune,

no prospects, of weakly constitution, and of discredited origin,
in its best light. To the friends of the young Erasmus it might
well seem without insincerity a suitable calling. And there is

reasonable ground for believing that to Erasmus himself his

choice proved for some years at least sufficiently congenial.
He
remained in the school until the close of 1482 or a
little His guardians, he tells us in 15 15, vied with the
later.

Brethren in bringing moral pressure to bear upon their charge.

He was then between 16 and 17 years of age, and allured by
the promise of unrestricted opportunities of study he yielded,
and in 1483 entered as a novice the Augustinian monastery
of Emmaus at Stein near Gouda. This was his home for the
next ten years here in due course he made full profession, and
;

took the vows; here finally in 1492 he was ordained priest.

Erasmus' career was thus finally determined.
The period of his residence at Stein is of no little signi-
ficance as a stage in the development of Erasmus as a man
of Letters. It is clear that he found there some attractive

* De Pueris, etc., i. 504 C Infra, p. 204.

 ;

Life at Stein, 1483 —93

companionship and much tranquil leisure for scholarly reading.
He wrote, we may suppose for his own amusement, certain
Latin poems that have been preserved. There are amongst
them a few religious poems, in sapphics satires in the Horatian
;

manner elegiacs after TibuUus. But three prose works are of

;

more importance in revealing the trend of his interests. The

first, written when he was 18, is an Epitome of the Elegantiae

Linguae Latinae of Laurentius Valla\ the great Italian scholar,

the contemporary of Vittorino and Poggio, to whom later
humanists looked up with justice as the chief restorer of
Latinity. This compendium was circulated in MS. and found
way into the hands of students in
its distant centres of learning.
Erasmus is unwearied at this time in urging upon his corre-
spondents the solid worth of Valla's work, in spite of the known
antipathy of churchmen to his memory. We have in the second
place two slighter compositions,
rhetorical in treatment yet
none the genuine conviction on the part of the
less expressing
writer, a piece in denunciation of war, always a favourite theme
of Erasmus, and an oration in grateful memory of a lady who
had befriended his orphanhood. Thirdly, he has left a formal
epistle De
Contemptu Mundi (i486) in which with evident
sincerity he sets forth the attractions of the monastic life, in a
fashion which confirms that general spirit of content with his
quietist career which breathes through all the letters of this
period which have survived.
It is not an easy problem to appraise at their true value the
complaints which Erasmus, at a much later date, levelled against
destiny inmaking him a monk. Two things seem clear the first :

is that he has left no contemporary record of his discontent

the second, that his bent to literature and scholarship was

fostered by the leisure of the ten years spent at Stein, as it

could hardly have been by any other mode of life. In 1493

Erasmus had gained repute enough to have become known to
^ On Valla's contribution to scholarship see p. 104 : and on Erasmus'
early respect for his achievements, Op. iii. i c (Nicholls, p. 72).
 —

Erasmus at Paris

the Bishop of Cambrai, whose service he now entered. This

appointment enabled him to gain dispensation from residence
in the monastery, whereupon the Bishop sent him to the Uni-
versity of Paris, where he resided at the College de Montaigu
as a student in Theology. The absorbing interests of the
University were scholastic Divinity and Logic. Grammar was
treated mainly as a branch of Dialectic. The New Learning
was but feebly represented. Robert Gaguin was perhaps the
best scholar teaching regularly in the University. His chief
performance is a Latin history of France, a poor humanist
history of the imitative sort, on the model of the histories
—
themselves lifeless copies of Livy of Bruni and Poggio.
Erasmus wrote a laudatory letter to the writer on seeing the
work in manuscript. It was thought good enough to print as
a prefatory epistle (Sept. 1495) to the work. This letter
attracted the notice of certain readers, amongst whom was
Colet, who reminded Erasmus of this occaCsion of his first
acquaintance with his name.
Erasmus, although in the faculty of Theology, devoted
himself chiefly to the classics, and made a beginning with
Greek. In this he was almost wholly self-taught, for Greek
literature had attracted as yet very few students outside Italy,
He seems to have preached at the Augustinian Abbey Church
of Ste-Genevieve. He was already acquiring that distaste for
scholastic learning, particularly as represented in Scotus, and -^

in the mediaeval grammarians, which he so loudly expressed as

his own classical feeling became more defined. But it is
probable that leave of absence from the monastery was at first
conditional upon the devotion of a fixed proportion of time to
the study of Theology. This will explain why Erasmus, be-
coming resentful of restraint upon his freedom, writes with
an accent of self-pity of this enforced occupation with the
mediaevalists. He was groping his way to the standpoint of
historical divinity and of plain literary method in exegesis,
which was characteristic of his maturity. Meantime he earned
8 Erasmus at Paris

his living as a teacher of Latin, and became recognised as one

of the ablest scholars in residence. About 1495 he came into
contact with English students, and transferred his quarters to
the boarding-house in which certain young Englishmen of
position livedfor purposes of study. Amongst them was
Lord Mountjoy, a young man of eighteen, who proved one
of Erasmus' most forbearing patrons. Erasmus was fortunate
in his English pupils, to whom he was indebted for much con-
sideration 'at the time, and for valuable interest in subsequent
years. Apart from teaching, Erasmus was a most industrious
student, and in spite of a severe illness contracted through the
unhealthiness of his surroundings— Paris was noted for its ague
and fever— he was absorbed in Latin scholarship. He wrote a
little handbook on epistolary composition, but we have no other
published work from his pen at this period.
Erasmus was a poor man, with no resources beyond his
earnings as a teacher. He had the tastes and the necessities
powers but at the same
of a scholar, conscious of considerable
time of a bodily condition which rendered him dependent on
a certain standard of comfort. He began to cast about for the
means of support sanctioned by the custom of the age among
men of learning. He wanted a patron, liberal, but not ex-
acting. To the scholar of the Renaissance generosity lost all

its grace if accompanied by expectation of definite work in

return. The patron should be content with the consciousness
that had been permitted him to come to the aid of genius.
it

There indeed nothing pecuHar to Erasmus or to his age in

is

this attitude. A certain Lady of Veer was approached through

a friend in the interests of Erasmus. Here was a poor scholar
of great promise anxious to establish his position by acquiring
the degree of Doctor; desirous also of enlarging his attain-
ments by a sojourn in Italy a man of such ability might be
;

counted on to reflect renown upon an enlightened patroness.

As all his biographers have admitted, the correspondence of
Erasmus with his ally who had the ear of the lady who —
 Scholars and Patrons
yielded not very adequately to persuasion — leaves an un-
pleasant savour. Irritable self-conceit, shameless importunity,
perfect indifference to the person importuned, are all in
evidence ; hard to banish a sense of contempt for a
it is

scholar who could play so sordid a part.

Yet we must remember that Erasmus was by profession a
scholar, at a time when scholars had yet, in Western Europe
at least, to establish their claim to professional status and
respect. His was a career in which no external standards of
capacity were so far understood or accorded recognition. The
only measure of desert was the scholar's own claim he was :

above criticism, for no one but another scholar could test his
excellence. Hence the man of Letters in the earlier days of
the New
Learning was apt to be abnormally sensitive, resenting
a judgment upon himself which was less flattering than his
own, ever suspicious of lack of appreciation, and filled with a
sense of his own serious importance. It was an inevitable
stage in the evolution of the scholar's position in the new
society. The pedant or the charlatan became in time dis-
tinguishable by consent from the man of real power, as
standards of merit which were readily understood were slowly
formulated with the increasing security of learning. This
irritable self-consciousness may be compared with that of the
modern actor, or, less aptly, with that of the prophet of a new
school in art or music, where, for lack of accepted canons of
excellence, criticism is perforce individual and provisional. We
understand the sensitiveness of the him if he
artist and forgive
likes his own criticism best. As regards importunity, Erasmus
was conscientiously assured that he had it in his power to add
something to the learning of his age. He knew, too, as we
also know, that in his begging neither avarice nor ambition of
place had part or lot. We can sum up the matter by saying
that if Erasmus did not rise above the fashion of his day and
the precedents of his class, in the larger view his motives were
not wholly unworthy. It proved of no slight import to the
IV
lo First Visit to England, 1499

world that Erasmus should, with whatever importunities, gain

what he needed to go on with his studies.
In the middle of 1499 Erasmus left Paris to accompany
Lord Mountjoy to England. This was the first of several
visits to this country and left behind it on the mind of the

traveller amost grateful impression. He was welcomed as

one of themselves by the group of scholars, with Colet at their
head, which centred at Oxford; and in London he was at
home with More and Warham. It was, during this winter of
1499, that Erasmus laid the foundation of that affectionate
intimacy which united him to More and Colet until their
deaths. Undoubtedly his intercourse with these two kindred
minds strengthened in Erasmus the determination to devote
himself to classical study. Colet urged him further to utilise
his attainments in the service of historical theology and from
:

thistime we find frequent reference to such a purpose in the

correspondence of Erasmus. Colet, indeed, attracted all that
was best in him and the peculiar intellectual habit of the
;

—
Oxford scholar his historical and objective view of knowledge
— made warm appeal to Erasmus' own literary and scholarly
instinct. He was thus able to appreciate to the full the
method upon which Colet treated the Pauline Epistles, the
subject upon which^he was at that period specially engaged.
It is not surprising that he tried to secure Erasmus for Oxford,

as a co-worker in the cause which he had so closely at heart.

But Erasmus became at once suspicious of an attempt to
fetter his liberty. Indefatigable now and always as a student
he would only work in absolute freedom. His aims must be
of his own choice he would pursue them where and how his
;

own waywardness should determine. To overlook this charac-

teristic is to misunderstand the man with him this passion for
:

independence was thoroughly genuine and had in it nothing of

mere self-conceit. It is evident from the letters which he ad-
dressed to Colet before leaving England that he was still
uncertain whither his intellectual tastes would lead him. He
 1

The Study of Greek 1

did not wish the question to be pre-judged by any one else,

not even by Colet. That there existed an intimate relation

between sound (i.e. classical) literature and sound {i.e. pre-
scholastic) divinity he was already assured. But it was still
possible that his dominant interest might lie in the ancient
literatures. And in any case it was clear to him that his
equipment in learning was wholly inadequate to the task of
attacking historical divinity as a scholar should. He had
already resolved that "a little more knowledge and a little
more power of expressing it " were the pre-requisites of any
service which he could render to the world. Whether while at
Oxford he spent any time upon Greek we do not know, nor
whether he saw Grocyn and Linacre, the pioneers there of the
New Learning. But before the end of 1499 he had deter-
mined to return to Paris.
In February of the following year he was at work there,
absorbed in the classics but especially in Greek. " My Greek
studies are almost too much for my courage, while I have not
the means of purchasing books nor the help of a master."
Throughout the spring he was engaged upon the first collection
of the Adagia, a compilation of proverbs, maxims and witty
utterances drawn from classical authors. It appeared in June
1500 with a dedication to Lord Mountjoy, to whom Erasmus
was doubtless indebted for timely help at the period. The
book gave evidence of a wide range of reading. His know-
ledge of Greek was in spite of difficulties rapidly increasing.
About this date he begins to quote it in his letters. He
records that he is at work upon Homer " refreshed and fed by
the very sight of his words even when I cannot always under-
stand him." Driven from Paris by the plague he carried off
his books to Orleans, or St Omer, but longed to find himself
again at the University where alone books and a teacher were
to be had. When he had attained to some moderate com-
petency in Greek, " without which the amplest erudition in
Latin is imperfect'," he will devote himself entirely to sacred
^ iii. 968 D. Infra, p. 135.
12 Erasmus at Louvain

literature. Toearn money he edited the De Officiis of Cicero.

By (1501) Erasmus had acquired a notable power of
this date
expression in Latin; both in speech and in writing and by his :

industry and his acute observation he had accumulated a store

of knowledge upon the material of the language, which was
surpassed perhaps by his great predecessor, Valla, alone. He
was laying the foundation for his book De Copia Verborum ei
Rerum, the Similia and an enlarged Adagia. For all that
he insists that " he has almost deserted the Latin Muse for the
Greek," and that he " would pawn his coat for a codex of an
author whom he had not yet read." He began to work at
Euripides and Isocrates in July 1 501, and is revelling in his hardly
won powers of construing. He tried to compile a commentary
on the Epistle to the Romans, but gave up the task for lack of
sufficient knowledge of the original. At this time, too, we
meet with a half-formed project of an edition of the Letters of
St Jerome. But in such a task "how large a space must be
filled by comment upon the literature, the antiquities and the

history of the Greeks \"

In 1502 Erasmus removed to Louvain. His travels during
the years 1499- 15 05 throw an interesting light upon one or
two aspects of the life of the time. We perceive for instance
the real meaning of the constant visitations of the plague,
which year after year broke up Universities even in so im-
portant a city as Paris, bringing in its train risks and losses of
most serious import. Next, the habit of travel in spite of the
time and expense involved. Erasmus is constantly on the
move. Crossing the Alps is no doubt a grave and costly
venture, but a scholar regarded a visit to England, Germany,
Switzerland more lightly than he did a century ago.
At Louvain, Erasmus was at once pressed to accept the
chair of Rhetoric in the University, an offer which with equal
promptitude he declined. He had no intention of staying
long at Louvain. So far as the scarcity of texts would permit
he was absorbed in Greek. He began to prepare versions from
^ iii. 67 D (NichoUs, p. 289).
 His Literary Work 13

Lucian and from Euripides, partly by way of earning money

from patrons, partly to supply a need of students. We must
remember the extreme scarcity of Greek MSS. and of printed
editions during the period preceding the activity of the Aldine
Press and the rival houses, of the Giunta, Gryphius and

Plantin. There was as yet no printer of Greek texts out of

Italy and Greek copyists were rare. Aldus published the
:

Dialogues of Lucian in 1504 Erasmus spent much of his time

:

translating from this text. It is not difficult to imagine that

Lucian's thrusts at the philosophers of his day appealed
peculiarly to Erasmus, who had begun to expend his sarcasms
upon the schoolmen. There was, too, much in common
between Lucian and his translator in the humour of their
outlook upon life and the overflowing wit with which they
told what they saw. These months devoted to the Dialogues
bore other fruit than the volume of translations of 1506:
they rendered possible the Praise of Folly five or six years
later.

Once more in Paris in 1505, Erasmus resumes communi-

cations with his English friends, especially with Colet, now
Dean of St Paul's. He sent him one or two of his books in .

MS., amongst which was the Enchiridion, a simply written

manual of Christian conduct, but not the Lucian. The work
upon which he was particularly engaged was a new find of
which he was very proud, a volume of Annotations on the New
Testament by Valla, the first attempt to apply the method of
^
'^

linguistic criticism to Scripture^ To Erasmus such a line of

enquiry was thoroughly congenial, falling in, as it did, with his
conviction of the essential importance of the literary point of
view in the study of all ancient documents. As soon as this
book was issued from the press (April 1505) Erasmus left

^ The aim of Valla's Notes was to correct errors in the Vulgate by

reference to the original Greek. In these Notes we may see the first

suggestion of the edition of the Greek Testament with its version and notes
which Erasmus published in 1516.
14 Second Visii to England, 1505 — 6.

Paris for another visit to London, on the invitation of Lord

Mountjoy.
No city in Europe, except Rome, possessed such attraction
for Erasmus as London then held out, in the presence there

of the well-known group of English scholars, with Colet at

their head. Linacre, Grocyn, More and Warham were either
in the capital or close at hand. Erasmus it seems looked to
receive a sinecure benefice at the hand of the Archbishop. It
is significant that the method of approach to this desirable
end
was the presentation of a version from Lucian to Bishop Fox
and a translation of the Hecuba to Warham. During this
English visit the University of Cambridge passed a Grace
enabling Erasmus to take the degree of Doctor of Divinity,
but it is certain that he did not avail himself of it. It is

probable that he did not journey either to Oxford or Cam-

bridge during the year that he remained in this country. The
time seems to have been spent in or near London, much of it
in company with More, who joined his guest in translating
Lucian. More's first published work is contained in the
volume of the Dialogues in Latin dress published at Paris
by Badius in 1506. Erasmus left England in May of that
year to fulfil a project conceived more than ten years
before.
The position of Erasmus in the world of Letters was
already assured. In Louvain, Paris or London, wherever
indeed the new light had won its way, his repute was above
question. Hehad undoubtedly command of the best Latin
style of his time out of Italy. He was widely read in Roman
literature, classical and patristic. Men of position in affairs,
in scholarship and in the Church came to him as a friend and
adviser. It rested with himself alone to gain fame as a great
Teacher in any seat of learning in Europe. But Erasmus
knew how much more he had yet to know before he could put
forward any such claim. It was borne in upon him with
increasing force that he must first make himself known to the
 The Italian Journey, 1506 15

Italian scholars and sit at the feet of the Greek teachers who
even yet had not crossed the Alps.
He took with him two pupils and their English tutor, and
in July 1506 was well on his way by Paris, Lyons and Savoy.
It is characteristic of Erasmus that finding himself for the first

time amidst the most striking scenery in Europe he no left

word which conveys the impressions which it made upon him.

Instead we have a classical lucubration on Old Age, composed,
we are told, to while away the tedium of the August days in
the High Alps. Only once, in the very last years of his life,
did Erasmus record the sensations evoked by great scenery,
when the view from the Lake of Constance struck his fancy.
At Turin' he received the degree of Doctor of Theology,
and pressed on, early in September, to Bologna. Thence in
November he crossed the Apennines to Florence. We turn
hopefully to his correspondence. But what do we find ? Not
a word which reveals that he was under the spell of the beauty
of the city, that he recognises the dignity of its civic life, the
distinction of its architecture and art. He gives us no clue,
moreover, to any perception of the living significance of
Florence in the history of learning. We may perhaps under-
stand that Erasmus might have little feeling for the Heiterkeit
of the Italian spirit, and less for the art which expressed it.

But as a humanist he knew himself to be on classic ground,

where Chrysoloras had taught Greek first in Western Europe,
where the great manuscript treasures had been collected, the
city of Poggio, of Ficino, of Poliziano. Erasmus made no
acquaintances he translated more Lucian, and grumbled at
;

his lot. It was a principle with him to refuse to learn or even

to recognise vernacular languages. Thus he found himself cut

off from intercourse in a society proud of its Tuscan speech.
" You speak to a deaf man," he said to Ruccellai, who pressed

^ Upon the Italian journey the indispensable authority is P. Nolhac,

£rasvie en Italic.
 6

1 Erasmus in Italy

his Italian upon him : and in Italian as in English he remained

dumb to the end.
In December Erasmus was again in Bologna, where he was
an amazed spectator of the entry of Julius II, a victorious
general taking possession of a vanquished city. He now gave
up the use of the monastic dress, thus decisively refusing to

be longer identified with the obscurantists of the Church.

Bologna was favourably circumstanced for Greek studies, and
in its University Erasmus made the first of those friendships
which were the charm of his Italian sojourn. The year (1507)
which he thus spent was of high importance in his intellectual
development. He had come to Italy, in his own words, chiefly
for the sake of Greek, and found himself amid a circle of
noteworthy scholars, with leisure and passable health.
Towards the end of 1507 he was in correspondence with
Aldus Manutius, the great printer, respecting a new and
corrected edition of his versions from Euripides, when he was
met by an offer that he should transfer himself to Venice and
there prepare for publication a new and larger collection of
Adages. At the close of the year Erasmus was installed as a
member of the Aldine household, his pupils got rid of and he
himself enjoying what could be had nowhere else in Europe,
the society of a community of scholars and craftsmen using
Greek as their living language. His position in the circle is
not very clear. He acted in some capacity as adviser and as
assistant to Aldus ; but his time must have been chiefly
absorbed by the compilation of the Adagia, which by aid of
friends and of books became a wholly new work. Amongst
the scholars whom from time to time he may have seen almost
daily were John Lascaris, Marcus Musurus and Urban of
Botzen, all Greek scholars of the first rank, and engaged in
editorial work for Aldus. It is indeed difficult to overstate the

debt due from Erasmus to Aldus at this critical stage of his

career. Thanks to his friendship Erasmus had gained ex-
ceptional facility in Greek, and had definitely entered the
 Erasmus in Rome, 1509 17

inner circle of Greek scholars. He had formed profitable

relations with the greatest publisher of his age, the man who
in a true sense rendered Greek learning possible to Western
communities. In his preface to the Adagia and in the actual
text of the work Erasmus records his immense obligation to
Aldus and to his colleagues in searching for MSS. for purposes
of the work and in diligent help in interpretation. But it
irked Erasmus to feel such obligations some years later he
;

wrote a spiteful dialogue (the Colloquy upon Sordid Wealth)

in abuse of Asulanus, the father-in-law of Aldus and manager
of his household. The abuse is vented upon the parsimony of
the Aldine table but the Italian standard of living was pro-
;

bably as beneficial to Erasmus as it was novel and unpleasant.

And in any case we may be certain that he lived there only
because he chose to do so. One hopes that there may be some
key to the puzzle which has escaped record. Towards the
end of the year 1508 as the great Aldine Rhetores Graeci
was in process of publication —
to have a share, however
slight, in preparing such a work was no slight privilege to

Erasmus —
he left Venice for Padua, where he attended the
lectures of Musurus and mingled in the learned society of
the famous University —
" locupletissimum optimarum discipli-
narum emporium," he calls it. He formed a good opinion
of the integrity and seriousness of the Paduan humanists.
Erasmus had again taken charge of a pupil, a son of
James IV of Scotland, the youthful Archbishop of St Andrews.
Going by Ferrara and Siena he reached Rome on March i, 1509.
Once more, it would be interesting to find in his letters or
writings — —
then or subsequently traces of some deep impression
made upon him by the ruins of Rome. But there is, in effect,
nothing. On the other hand, the dignity of the scholarly society
in which he at once took was wholly to his liking.
his place,
He did not fail between learned
to remark, however, the divorce
Churchmen and the Christian spirit, which was nowhere more
noticeable than in the Rome of Julius II. " Rome," he says,

w. 2
 8

1 Third Visit to England, 1509

" is nothing but a site strewn with ruins and remains monu- —
ments of disaster and decay take away the papal See and
the papal Court —
would Rome to-day be more than a name?"
To Erasmus, full of conviction that the genius of Ancient Rome
was still the unique force of civilisation, there was no attraction
in the picturesqueness of its fallen greatness. The libraries of
Rome were open to him, and Cardinals and Secretaries vied
with one another in shewing him kindness though he is, per-
:

haps, a little too anxious to impress his northern friends with

the fact. Raphael was at work in the Vatican, Michelangelo in
the Sistine Chapel, and Erasmus may well have seen both of
them there. But in the presence of the glowing noon-day of
Italian art he remains untouched. Nor do the scenery, the
light, the colour, the vegetation of the southern land affect him.
He moves through all these things as a student, an observer
of human life, seeing much that, apparently, he does not notice,
yet, perhaps, also acquiring much that he does not overtly
record.
But when Erasmus hastened north again in the spring of
1509 to greet the new King Henry of England we know that
he went out of Italy a different man. He had come into direct
relations with the princes of the Church, and had watched the
working of the great ecclesiastical machine, with no enthusiasm
but without serious moral, repulsion. He had established his
own by acquiring an Italian degree. He had entered
status
into intimate relations with scholars, editors, and publishers,
and had been admitted by them to a place in the inner circle
of European scholarship. He had gained, what he specially
came to gain, a sound working knowledge of Greek. His new
edition of the Adagia proved him to be a learned man and
a versatile student of ancient literature but Erasmus was
;

now more than that He was almost alone in the gift of

bringing all he learnt to bear upon his view of human life.
When he reached England in July, 1509, he brought with
him not a little of the practicality of a keen-sighted and
 —

Erasmus at Cambridge, 1510 19

accomplished man of the world. This too in the main he

owed to Italy.
The accession of Henry VIII was regarded, not in England
only, an event of the highest importance to humanity.
as
" What may we not expect from a prince of so extraordinary
—
almost divine a character? How like a hero he appears to
us, with what prudence he bears himself, what love he shows

for truth and justice, what favour to men of letters If

you could but see how wild with joy everyone here is... the
very earth dances, the earth flows with milk and honey
Our King is ambitious, although not for gold, but for excellence,
for fame, for immortality!" It is not easy for us to realise
with what sanguine hopes men regarded the advent of the new
reign. The culture of Italy, the wealth of Spain, the peaceful
arts of trade and exploration — were all bound up in the

accession of the young king. Erasmus was summoned from

Rome to be the representative of the new learning. It was in
the same year that Colet worked out his scheme for a great
school of St Paul's. In this year also the conflict, significant
of a far fiercer struggle, which raged around the person of
Reuchlin, was stirred up in Germany.
Erasmus found a home at Cambridge, where in 15 10 he
was made Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, and took up
his residence at Queens' College. He seems also to have
done a little teaching, public and private, in Greek though his ;

success in enlisting interest in the subject was disappointingly

small. Apart from this far from exacting occupation Erasmus
worked hard during the five years he spent in England. First
of all, soon after his he prepared and sent to the Press
arrival
from More's house London, the Moriae Encomium or Praise
in

of Folly (1509), that extraordinary satire upon the life of his

day which he had conceived and partly worked out during
his recent journeys across Europe. The monk, the scholastic
theologian, the courtier, the dominant types of mankind in
Erasmus' immediate world, are, especially, depicted with keen
20 His Writings upon Education

insight and biting sarcasm. Like almost everything that

Erasmus wrote, it was a sermon for the times, and a potent
solvent of accepted stupidity and pretence. No book of
Erasmus had so instant recognition, such striking effect on
opinion. Here was a man who not only knew his books, but
knew his world not less.
Apart from the Praise of Folly, the literary activity of
Erasmus lay mainly in two different directions. In the first
place he was stimulated by Colet's interest in his new school
to a definite concern in education. For four years he was in
constant communication with the Dean, guiding him in choice
of books and men. Certain important contributions to the
work of teaching were made by Erasmus immediately for
Colet's behoof. We need only mention here the tract De
Ratione Studii (of which a version is given in the present
volume), which he sent to Colet in 1511. It is based perhaps

upon the recollection of his own experience of teaching in

Paris and Italy. The work on Latin composition, which he
called after a phrase of Quintilian De Copia Rerum et
Verborum, was issued in the same year. This is a very re-
markable storehouse of material for rhetorical uses, the product
of five-and-twenty years of observation of the style, usages,
figures, and sentence-forms of the classical authors. The
work deserves much more careful attention than has been
devoted to it during the past two hundred years, but the great
Latinists of the i6th and 17th centuries owed to it the same
debt that Erasmus, Melanchthon, and Budaeus admitted as
due from themselves to Valla. Erasmus issued also a small
metrical compendium of rules of conduct known by the name
of the Cato pro Pueris or Disticha Catonis, printed by Wynkyn
de Worde in 15 13. The Concio de Puero Jesu, an Oration in
honour of the Child Jesus, was composed for recitation by the
scholars of St Paul's. Erasmus was, like Colet, already deeply
considering the right methods of training little children and
the provision of sound aids to teaching rudiments. Thus in
 His Writings upon Education 21

15 13 at the request of William Lily, the High Master of the

school, he revised the little text-book of elementary Latin
syntax, intended to supplement the Accidence which had ap-
peared a year or two before under Lily's own name. This went
through a large number of editions in Erasmus' lifetime ; the
Giunta and Aldine Presses, printers at Cracow, at Deventer,
Vienna, Paris, poured editions on to the market. It survives

in a greatly altered form in the Eton Latin Grammar of our

own day. The usual title of the book in the i6th century
was De Construdione octo Partium Orattonts Libellus. The
Institutum Hominis C/irisiiani, or the Elements of Christian
Training, is a Latin metrical version of the greater part of
Colet's Cathecyzon, or rudiments of religion, a little manual
of faith and conduct, written in simple direct language, which
he set forth for use in his school of St Paul's. We may
mention two other products of the Cambridge period the :

Latin version of Theodore Gaza's Greek Grammar, which

we know that Erasmus used at Cambridge, and which was
published in Basel ( 1 5 1 6) a few months after he left England.
To Henry VHI he dedicated (15 12) a translation of a treatise
of Plutarch (from the Moralia) upon the Distinction between
a Flatterer and a Friend; and he completed another from the
same source On the Art of keeping
: oneself in Health. Both
had a certain educational reference. Erasmus, it is evident,
revealed at this time a special interest in schools and in-
struction. His residence at Cambridge, therefore, with its

opportunities for intercourse with Colet, is particularly im-

portant from the p>oint of view of the present study of Erasmus
in relation to the progress of educational thought and practice.
Cambridge, moreover, enabled Erasmus to bring towards
completion two great enterprises in the field which he hence-
forward claimed to be peculiarly his own, that of the application
of scholarship to historical Christianity. I refer to the edition
of the Letters of Jerome, and the text of the Greek Testament.
The former had been for twenty years the subject to which
22 Eras7nus and the Greek Testament

Erasmus had always turned with keen interest. Jerome repre-

sented for Erasmus all that was most learned, sober, eloquent
in Christian theology. To produce an edition worthy of the
great Latin Father was an ever-present ambition. Thus on
hearing that the printing-house of Froben, at Basel, successor
to the great Amerbach, was ready to undertake at their own
Erasmus
cost the issue of this favourite child of his scholarship,
left England (15 14) and made his way thither.
Between 15 14 and 15 17 Erasmus can scarcely be said to
have had a settled home. The true centre of his interests lay
in Basel, where from 1515 onwards Froben and his partners
were engaged not only upon the two great works just mentioned,
but upon several others from Erasmus' pen. In 1515 the
Epistolae Obscuroruni Virorum appeared in Germany. They
were, naturally enough, ascribed to the author of the Moriae
Encomium, and the whilom translator of Lucian though :

Erasmus was anxious to disown any share in this famous jeu

d'esprit, he admits that he never laughed at anything so help-

lessly in his life. But he was just now writing the dedication
of his two great works to Leo X and Warham, and outwardly
was in a serious mood. The Greek Testament, with all its
importance as the Editio Princeps of the original text, is still

far from being a scholarly recension. Textual criticism of

Greek authors was still in an embryo stage. Manuscript
sources were very imperfectly known, and the particular codices
used by Erasmus were not of importance as authorities. The
importance of the edition lies in the motive and method which
it reveals. To go back to the origins, — that was invariably
Erasmus' principle : to get behind the gloss of the grammarian
to the plain text of the author, behind the gloss of the dialectic
theologian to the actual teaching of the apostolic age. To be
was superstition and the denial of the prerogative
afraid of facts
of human reason. In relation to this general principle we are
concerned indirectly, at least, with the attitude of Erasmus to
the monuments of historical divinity.
 '

The '
Colloquies 23

Part of the period to which reference has just been made

(15 1 5-1 5 19) was spent at Louvain with visits to London and
Brussels. Francis I had in 15 15 ascended the French throne,
amid such hopes as had been stirred in England a few years
ago. The Budaeus wrote from Paris to Erasmus offering
great
him, apparently on the new king's behalf, a position of dis-
tinction and a rich benefice. This offer came to nothing but ;

Erasmus accepted (15 16) a sinecure post as Counsellor to

Charles I of Spain, who became later the Emperor Charles V.
Whereupon Erasmus indited for his behoof the Institutio
Principis Chris tiaiit, a tract treating of T/ie Duties of Kingship.
The work has no very great interest in relation to education in
general, but in spite of its inevitably, but reasonably, laudatory
tone, it expresses clearly the views which Erasmus and More
had in common on government, peace, and the functions of a
true king. It was held in high esteem by a man of so practical
temper as Sir Thomas Elyot, who urges that it should be " as
familiar alway with gentlemen at all times and in every age as
was Homer with the great King Alexander or Xenophon with
Scipio.... There never was book written in Latin that, in so
little a portion, contained of sentence, eloquence, and virtuous
exhortation a more compendious abundance." In the same
year, Froben published the famous collection of dia-
15 16,
logues on incidents of daily life and intercourse known as the
Colloquies under the title of Colloquiorum Formulae. They
had been written by Erasmus from time to time as exercises in
the teaching of conversational Latin. Some of them date
back to the days of his tutoring work in Paris twenty years
previously. In their definitive form in the Basel edition of
1523 they contain Erasmus' riper views on a wide range of
topics and not a few are directly concerned with his ideas on
;

training and instruction. The whole volume, however, is

evidence of Erasmus' method of uniting scholarship with
didactic purpose what was begun as an aid to composition,
:

has developed into a manual of comment on Hfe and conduct.

24 Louvain

It was full of satire on obscurantism in the fields of religion

and knowledge, and in the changed atmosphere induced by
the Lutheran conflict it roused the suspicion of the authorities.
The condemation of the Colloquia by the University of Paris,
as undermining to the Faith, led to its almost universal
adoption as a school book in schools influenced by the
Reform. The result was that no book of Erasmus, nor even
the Moria, had so wide a vogue. It was pirated in every

country in Europe.
In 15 17 Erasmus was busily engaged in advising upon the
organisation of the new Collegium Trilingue at Louvain, a
school or college intended to establish liberal learning upon an
assured footing. Hebrew, Greek and Latin formed the cur-
riculum, and scholars of the highest repute were sought for it.

It is interesting to note the collocation of the three languages.

This had as a fact little or no theological significance. It was
due much more to the conception of the philological importance
of Hebrew as the primitive language, and of the light which
the study of it might throw upon the classical tongues.
Erasmus clearly found much to attract him in Louvain at this
time. But he met the offer of a chair in the new Collegium
with a prompt refusal no doubt it was hardly expected that he
;

would accept even a titular responsibility, much as he enjoyed

giving advice on the election of the professors and framing the
schemes of study. In 15 19 he determined to settle in Louvain
amongst friends so congenial to his pursuits. For the Univer-
sity city was a centre of keen intellectual life, well placed for

meeting scholars, and not less so for visits to France, England

or the Rhinelands. Moreover it contained several printers of
repute, so that about this time we find Erasmus issuing many
editions of his smaller works from Louvain. And in spite of
piracies his income from publishers must have been con-
siderable.
The stirrings of the German revolt from Rome opened a
new chapter in the career of Erasmus. His attitude to the
 Beginnings of the Reform 25

earlier controversies of the Reformation has been frequently

and elaborately argued, and only indirectly concerns us here.
This at least must be said. The Lutheran conflict brought
Erasmus much anxiety and no little misfortune during his life.

But it is still more certain that it did equal injury to his fame
after death, in that it has thrown his master-aims and activity

into wrong perspective in the eyes of his critics and bio-

graphers. Erasmus was not a Dogmatist, still less an eccle-
siastic or politician, least of all a fighting partisan. He was a
scholar, a teacher preparing well-sifted authorities foi" others to
make such use of as the changing needs of the times might
demand. Unfortunately for himself he had a keen scent for
self-deception in loudly vocal people, and a pretty trick of style
in exposing it. But it is true to say that the only region in
which he had any thought-out system to offer for guidance of
a practical world was the region of Latin scholarship and
of education. And Erasmus knew it. His shrinking from
partisan declarations was but the recognition of the fact that
both in theological dialectic and in ecclesiastico-political fight-
ing, the two dominant sides of the Lutheran struggle, he was
no expert, and had neither the gifts nor inclinations to become
one. So far as ideals went, Lutheran separatism was utterly
distasteful to him. He was for his years an old man, of un-
certain health but Erasmus can only be called a coward by
;

those to whom partisanship is the one note of courage.

Louvain did not escape the clouds and thunder of the
"great Day of the Lord." Always prone to a restless desire
for change, Erasmus persuaded himself that he must go in
search of a quieter atmosphere, where pronouncements on the
controversy would not be expected of him. This haven of
peace he decided that he would best find at Basel under the
shelter of the Frobenhaus. There in the spring of 1522 he
was welcomed by his old friends, and there he installed himself
in the home where he spent the happiest period of his later
life. He had now entered upon the last stage of his vigorous
26 Erasmus and Luther

and productive career. The Lutheran trouble, indeed, pursued

him in spite of from it. He had hoped great things
his flight
from the election of Adrian VI (1522) as successor to Leo X.
For the Archbishop of Utrecht, though as a Pope he was a
failure, was a man of very different type to the Borgia, the
Rovere, and the Medici. Erasmus had known him well and
respected him for his sincere life and his solid intellectual gifts.
Through Adrian he was led to take an overt part in the
pamphlet warfare now raging. His tract on Free Will set out
with excellent temper his view of human nature in relation to
the Divine Will. As we should expect, he is not very forcible
in taking up a controversial position he sees, here as else-
;

where, both sides of the question. But he believed, and had

always believed, that the human spirit is by creation not merely
capable of, but prone to, a rational and wholesome activity.
His spiritual analysis was never deep Plutarchian, perhaps, in
:

its plain common-sense method. Thus Erasmus was an easy

victim to Luther's dialectic as Luther said of the controversy,
:

" it was as easy as it was disagreeable to confute so superficial

a treatise from so profound a scholar." But the duel waxed
hotter. Erasmus quickly became " that poisonous serpent
Erasmus of Rotterdam." Melanchthon was invoked from
Basel to mitigate the harshness of the conflict. But the young
man of 24, a scholar no less than his correspondent, saw, what
Erasmus was never to see, that the problem of the new age
was not to be solved by scholarship alone. The result of it all
was that Erasmus drew insensibly nearer to the Roman side.
He was ageing rapidly, and was unable to face the illimitable
possibilities involved in the collapse of that ancient ecclesi-
astical order which meant to him, as we shall see, so much
besides itself. His abiding interests remained steadily to
real
the fore ; he resolutely put aside the controversy, which in its
methods absolutely, and in large measure in its aims, was
repellent to him.
The Basel period (1522-1529) was, therefore, mainly given
 '

The '
Ciceronianus 27

to literary activity. Of interest in the field of pure scholar-

ship we have the Ciceronianus (1528), a dialogue on Latinity
in which Erasmus appeals for a living Roman speech fit to
be the vehicle of expression for modern needs and practical
life. He had begun to interest himself in the discussion as
to the limits of Imitation in style in 1526, and had no doubt
watched with amusement the controversy on the subject which
had arisen in Italy so far back as the day of Poliziano and
Cortesius. He ridiculed, with his own peculiar sting, the
mere Ciceronian who had reduced Latin to a purely imitative
language, relying on the accident of Cicero's vocabulary or
usage of inflectional forms. Erasmus' instinct was perfectly
right in perceiving that such a canon implied the death of
Latin as an instrument for modern life. But though he could
appeal to such scholars as Poliziano and Pico, he roused
against himself fierce controversialists of theyounger type,
like JuliusCaesar Scaliger and Etienne Dolet, with the whole
school of Padua. The unfortunate champion of common-sense
was battered by a vituperation which had a truly theologic
wealth of epithet and innuendo'. The treatise De Recta
Latitii Graecique Servwnis Fronunciatione, which was regarded
as the last word upon the subject of Greek pronunciation, for
northern peoples at least, appeared in the same year. His
work on Christian Matrimony, Itistitutio Christiani Matri-
monii, had, like the De Re Uxoria of Francesco Barbaro
written just a century before, a section perhaps in each case —
the most interesting part of the work on the bringing up of—
children. This dialogue is our best source for insight into
Erasmus' thoughts on girls' education. In 1529 he printed
also the De Pueris statini ac liberaliter instituendis, the
ripest of his educational tracts, which is contained, in an
English dress, in the present volume. Meantime he was
applying himself still with marvellous energy, under stress of
grievous bodily pain, to the origins of Christianity. The
1 Upon the import of Ciceronianism see infra, p. 51.
28 Last Years

Paraphrases, or free Latin versions of the Gospels, had been

begun at Louvain or Cambridge, and were all published by
1524. They met with signal condemnation at the hands of
controversialists of both camps. The works of St Ambrose
were printed in the year of Froben's death (1527); the entire
works of St Augustine in 1528-9 in ten folio volumes; St
Chrysostom in five volumes in 1530. These dates will serve
to indicate the untiring industry with which Erasmus kept his
printers employed, although Erasmus' actual editing in some
cases was but slight. The year of 1532 saw the publication of
the great edition of the Comedies of Terence, always Erasmus'
favourite classic : this is, perhaps, the most valuable, in a
critical sense, of his classical recensions.
Froben died in 1527 his death was a great personal loss
:

to Erasmus, although the work of the printing-house did not

slacken. This event, coupled with the spread to Basel and
the upper Rhine of the Reformation controversy, provoked
once more the wandering spirit in Erasmus. It is not other-
wise easy to explain his removal to Freiburg in 1529. For he
had been probably happier at Basel than he had been any-
where else since he left England in 15 14. He had friends,
repute, congenial work, and adequate means, in spite of his
confessed bad management in affairs. The atmosphere of the
city was tolerant yet keen. But he fled to the strongly
Catholic Imperial city which stands on the edge of the Black
Forest, where the hills sink to the broad plain of the Rhine.
There he hoped, he tells us, to find a more peaceful home,
where no one would pester him to interest himself in the
conflicts of the day. But the Diet of Augsburg sat in the
following year (1530), and Erasmus began to moot the project
of going still further away from such centres of disturbance, to
Italy perhaps, or at least to Burgundy. The old restlessness
was not to be laid, and it was steadily aggravated by the nature
of his illness. It was no special mark of discontent or irrita-

bility, as some biographers represent it, but the revolt of a

 Death of Erasmus, 1536 29

temper passionately devoted to study against all that seemed to

hinder him from the highest level of productive energy. In
1536 he declares Basel to be after all a better residence than
Freiburg, and is once more welcomed by the Froben circle,
the best friends left to him, for Colet and More, the gracious
figures of his brighter time, were already dead. In the very
last year of his life he sent to the press the Ecclesiastes, a

significant work, so reasonable, and, in the best sense. Evan-

gelical in tone, on the Office of the Christian Preacher, followed
by his edition of Origen. Working " till death itself wrested
the pen from his hand," he ended his strenuous life on July 12,
1536-
 CHAPTER II.

CHARACTERISTICS.

§ I. Erasmus and Antiquity.

It is a proof of the intimate relation which subsisted

between the Revival of Learning and the social milieu which
rendered it possible, that a hundred years intervened between
the residence of Chrysoloras at Florence and the beginnings
of Greek studies in Paris or Oxford. The formative epoch of
the Renaissance, the Quattrocento, was over before the
northern peoples were fit to receive it, or were able to assimi-
lateit, and reproduce it in the special shape which the history

and genius of each nationality determined.

Of the various factors, differing in origin and character,
which constitute the movement to which we give the title of
Renaissance, the impulse to revive the form and the spirit of
the antique world was but one. In Italy by virtue of causes
readily intelligible this factor of the Renaissance filled a larger
space and had subtler effects than in northern countries. One
reason for this difference is, no doubt, that the undue self-
consciousness, with the consequent artificiality and affectation,
which mark the Italian Revival, had, so to say, worn through to
the surface before the translation of the new ideal of culture
beyond the Alps. For in Italy itself, by the time that the
fifteenth century had reached its close, the more vigorous
minds had already shed, or were shedding, the encumbrance
of mere imitativeness. In language, in art, in building, in
 The Function of Antiquity 31

literaryform and in political thought, a truly new world had

begun to arise. Amid the vast material which the past century
had heaped together with such industry and enthusiasm the
genius of Da Vinci, of Machiavelli and Michelangelo was busy
sorting and re-ordering not now with the purpose of re-erect-
;

ing in patient obedience the monuments of antiquity, but to

create a dwelling for the modern spirit. Now it was the fact
that Germany and Western Europe were socially and politically
a hundred years behind Venice or Florence, that enabled them
to receive the impulse of the Renaissance at the stage when
its true vitalising force began to stand out from the immaturities
of its early development.
The career of Erasmus covers exactly this period of tran-
sition. His powerful intellect, of a markedly objective and
receptive type, was well-fitted to be the instrument of conveying
and interpreting a many-sided movement of the human spirit.
Like the Revival itself, he too passed through —as an ardent
student, perhaps, must always pass — his period of idolatry, of
imitation, of conscious affectations. The years of his youth
and early manhood partly coincided with the reign of scholar-
ship of that type. But with him also this was but a stage in
development. New Learning became to him an
Gradually the
instrument of life, actual and modern a thing of use, to be
;

adapted to intelligible needs, a source of illumination amid the

hard experiences of ordinary men. In his maturity Erasmus
showed himself a man of practical aims, with whom wisdom
and scholarship were means to social well-being.
It is the problem of Erasmus' personality to determine the

relative place occupied in it, first by religion and next by

humanist impulse, and to understand the nature of the recon-
ciliation at which he arrived. Neither of these two currents of
interest was at any time in his life operative to the exclusion
of the other. But it is true to say that up to the time of
quitting Stein in 1493, at the age of 26 or 27, his pre-occu-
pations had been in the main with religion ; and that for the
32 Erasmus and Antiquity

next twenty years, a stage in his development even more

critical, he was absorbed in the study of the ancient literatures.

It would be impossible to account for the unexpected evidences

of mediaeval sentiment and ways of thought even in the
maturity of his powers, when the monastic concept of life had
become wholly abhorrent, had we not before us the fact of the

contented life which he led as an Augustinian

for ten years

monk. In the same way the intensity of his first humanist

enthusiasm may explain certain odd inconsistencies in his view
of the place to be filled by the antique in the modern world.
That it is impossible to "classify" Erasmus was reluctantly
admitted by his friends and by his enemies long before he
died ; it has remained impossible ever since. His personality
indeed is more complex than his contemporaries knew. But
the Age itself was a strange conflict of Old and New, -of un-
reconciled forces, of methods and of aims alike uncertain.
And the receptivity of Erasmus' nature made it inevitable that
he should reflect the contradictions which indeed his training
and environment worked into the fibre of his spiritual self
The presumptions involved in the Christian ideals of
Erasmus be touched upon later. We must here estimate
will

the significance to him of the concept of antiquity which he

found current amongst humanists when (about 1493) he sur-
rendered himself first to their influence. From the writings of
Italian scholars he found that the ancient civilisation was
treated as the living heritage of their nation. It was in no
sense regarded by them as an extinct order. On the contrary,
itwas a Golden Age, an ideal yet real past, worthy to evoke
both patriotic pride and eager imitation. In this ancient
culture the share of Rome was to the humanist by far the
more important. The function of the scholar was to bring
home to the citizen of Florence and Milan that Cicero, Vergil
and Augustus belonged to him : that in that notable epoch
were conceived and in large part realised the highest ideals of
culture, of social order, of justice, of peace, and, not least, of
 ;

Antiquity a Golden Age 33

human personality. To some scholars, indeed, like Vittorino,

the absence of Christian faith was an indelible blur upon the
picture ; to Beccadelli, to Valla, or to the Roman Accademia,
there was no blur. The language of Rome was the perfection
of all speech ; the various literary forms elaborated in the
Augustan age were the ideals of all composition ; in sculpture,
architecture, military art, in agriculture and all technical crafts
the Roman practice, if we could completely understand it,

would prove the absolute standard for all time. There was no
doubt in the mind of the Humanist that in the literature of
Greece and Rome was contained all knowledge useful to man
in each department of his life. To reproduce the antique
order seemed the inevitable corollary from such an argument
but, as Italian Popes and Princes failed to respond to the ideal
sufficiently to induce political self-effacement, the dreams of
scholars were restricted to restoring the realm of ancient know-
ledge, literature and art. How did this strike Erasmus ?
Let us remember carefully the social environment in which
Erasmus lived. The constant factors of his experience were
unceasing wars, plague, famine, gross vice, coarseness, cruelty,
and intellectual light.
political tyranny, indifference to spiritual

In the and movement of the sense of nationality he per-

stir

ceived an inevitable hindrance to order and peace local :

character, ambition, languages, were so many barriers to unity

of culture, to progress through intercourse, to amelioration of
common life. The Church instead of commanding respect
as the symbol of a world-order, was debased, ignorant, and a
source of danger. The New Learning, then, opens to him a
window from which he looks out upon another world. Like
the Italians he recognises in it a Golden Age of humanity.
Its notes of distinction were, first, its universality: government
and order were then secured to mankind there was one law
:

and uniform justice war was impossible.

: Again, language
was one, with free intercourse thereby opened between all
peoples whilst Learning laboured under no obstacles of race
;

w. 3
34 Erasmus and Antiquity

and speech. It was co-extensive with civilisation, the true

Humanitas. Next, the material conditions of life were favour-

able even to the poorest. The dignity of the City, the
prosperity of the country, were such as no one might realise in
the France or Germany of his day. Lastly, the level of
attainments, scientific, artistic, or political, was infinitely in
advance of anything tl.at had been reached in subsequent ages.
In literature the supreme heights had been gained in the
oratory, poetry, and philosophy of Greece and Rome. It was

possible tohope for a gradual recovery in favoured lands of the

wisdom and content which the ancient world enjoyed from
the Indus to the Atlantic. Whether the modern world could
reached by the ancients was
attain to the standard of culture
doubtful. That it should surpass it was hardly conceivable,
though Erasmus had his sanguine moments. In any case the
way to progress lay through the study of the great past.
No doubt the remoteness in time of the Roman empire,
and, still more, the lack of critical knowledge of its history and
inner life conduced to easy idealisation. Still we must re-

cognise — it is —
worth repeating whence came the impulse to
such belief: from a desire, never dormant, for a time when
men's lives might be passed in peace and order, and human
well-being rest on the sure basis of enlightenment.
It is, however, a misreading of the man to ascribe to him
the dream of a mere reproduction of the Roman world either
as a political or as a social system. Of the two factors which
render such an ideal to us unthinkable, Christianity and the
spirit of nationality, Erasmus gave its due weight to the first

alone. But that factor he realised to the full. His own keen
sense of reality saved him from the affectation of neo-paganism
in any of its forms. In such revivals he saw only a futile
attempt to resuscitate a dead body whereas his aim was
;

to unite and reconcile the ancient spirit with the new.

Now the relative place to be given to each of these two
elements varies partly with the stage of his development,
 Its Application to Modern Europe 35

partly with his mood, or the precise object with which he

writes. We cannot formulate a consistent doctrine from his
writings or his practice. But the uniform belief of his working
life may be thus expressed. A thorough study of ancient
literature could, asnothing else, enlarge knowledge and elevate
human motives. Acquaintance with the history and political
writings of Greece and Rome would tend to raise the standard
of government and to stimulate patriotic duty. By widening
men's interests, by the application of arts long since lost, by
abolishing war, by encouraging reason and illumination,
society would be lifted on to a —
new plane and this could
only be effected by harking back to the wisdom stored in the
historic past. He believed, also, that Christian doctrine could
not be rightly understood without a rich acquaintance with the
thought amid which it first grew up. Finally, as the ancient
world held the key to the amelioration of the present, no
education of the young was possible which was not built upon
Greek and Roman models and administered through classical
literature as its chief instruments But we must not forget that
the classical civilisation was not, to Erasmus, merely a past.
He was unable to view it as a purely historical phenomenon.
It was an ideal to be defended or to be criticised and modern :

progress signified approximation to that ideal, or at least to

such aspects of it as were reconcileable with the Christian
spirit. Here comes in the limitation of his outlook to which
allusion has been made above his blindness to the true mark
;

of modern history, the function of nationality. In his pas-

sionate desire for the fruits of peace he sees only in national
aspirations so many forces making for war and exclusion.
When he concerns himself with current politics it is mostly
with unwillingness and fitfully he longs in his heart for a
:

republic of enlightenment which knowing no country shall be

coterminous with humanity.
There is no question that in this ideal of a universal order
we have also one principal clue to the dread with which he
3—2
 36 Erasmus and Antiquity

regarded the Lutheran revolt. If to the barriers of political

system and of vernacular languages were added an aggressive
spiked fence of national churches and theologies, what hope
was left for the peaceful advance of mankind ? The centri-
fugal force of the Reformation dismayed Erasmus: for it boded
a rude awakening from his dream of the priceless gift which
the spirit of the ancient world was offering to the new. And
this was a humanity bound together, in one faith and one
culture, by the bond of universal peace.
The appeal which Antiquity made to Erasmus thus rested,
in large part, upon its aspect as a social ideal. But its attrac-
tion can only be fully accounted for by a relation still more
intimate: the special sympathy which he felt for the intellectual
and moral temper of the old civilisation. In other words
Erasmus found in Antiquity not only a social ideal, but the
very pattern of his own personal attitude to thought and
action. The spirit of Erasmus was, as has been said, of the
type which moves freely only amidst ideas capable of easy
verification and clear statement ; mostly of a concrete order,
of direct human interest, of definite applicability to life and
action. It is probable that Erasmus had little poetical feeling
— his criticism of drama alone
the Choruses of the Greek
implies as much^ — nor
do we find in him serious evidence
of historical imagination. But we mus describe him as
conspicuously deficient in all that concerns philosophical
speculation, and mental analysis that passes below the surface
of thought or morals. Thus he is never really at home with
Plato; the earlier philosophers have no attraction for him.

^ Erasmus is speaking of his versions of the two plays of Euripides

(1506): 'in no other instance does antiquity appear to me to have played
the fool so much as in this sort of choruses, in which eloquence was debased
by an excessive affectation of novelty, and in aiming at verbal miracles all
grasp of reality was lost.' The whole passage should be read: NichoUs,.
Epistles, pp. 431 — 1507 Erasmus' knowledge of Greek wa^
2. In still

slight, and the chorus of a Greek play was beyond him.

 The Mental Attitude of Erasmus 37

The great mediaevalists, with their gropings after a profound

unifying concept in knowledge, were not properly appraised by
him, or by any humanist. The dogmatic aspects of theology,
particularly as they became drawn into the whirlpool of the
Lutheran controversy, were repellent to him. Yet he often
speaks —
as do all humanists —
of philosophia and sapientia.
But in these words he is in effect referring to Cicero, Seneca,
or Plutarch. " Philosophy " meant primarily to Erasmus and
the Italians (Ficino, Pico and Sadoleto are notable exceptions)
the clear self-evident working morality current in the best
minds of the period between Caesar and the Antonines. In
the same way, " doctrine " was the historic faith set out in the
Gospels, and the social conduct based upon it. There is no
trace of mysticism in his attitude towards religion : the quality
is wholly alien from his temperament. Hence it was not
difficult for him to reconcile the best moral teaching of the old
world with Christianity, and to regard literature as, in skilful

hands, a practical guide to action. In this he took up the

ordinary humanist position. The tolerance towards others,
the calm and reasonable judgment of ourselves, the hopeful
estimate of humanity, which he found in Plutarch, were
peculiarly characteristic of his objective way of regarding
human nature. Then it is noticeable that of the Greek poetic
or speculative spirit, in its deeper sense, Erasmus has little or
nothing. Lucian and Plutarch he knows well. The world of
Pythagoras, Aeschylus or Plato is all but closed to him. The
practical wisdom of the Roman statesman-moralist is that
which is most congenial to his temperament, and coincides
most nearly with his outlook upon life.
Reading Antiquity with these limitations the entire culture
of the ancients struck him as marked by the same intelligi-
bility, the same restraint. In politics as in literature there was
a corresponding concreteness and absence of elusive generals.
As contrasted with mediaeval conceptions in which abstractions
— —
played so large and to Erasmus so irritating a part, he found
 —

38 Erasmus and Antiquity

the antique world singularly actual, definite and realisable.

There is no doubt that his instinct was sound so far as it con-

cerned Roman thought. It would even be true to say that
such Aristotelian phrases as that of men ^u<r« SoCAot, or of
avTovo/xia, were less doctrines based on a priori speculation
than convenient expressions of political experience. In any
case the "theory" of the Roman Empire set out through the
Aeneid is merely a statement of the actual situation under
Augustus. How wide a gulf separates such generalising from
the theory of the Secular and the Religious Power of the
1 2th and 13th centuries, of the Functions of Government
of the 17 th, or of the Rights of Man of the i8th Similar !

characteristics exist outside the region of politics, in the

literature, the art, the building, in the entire moral and intel-
lectual interpretation of the World as presented by his
favourite Roman authors : all was objective, descriptive ; there
was nothing to call either for the mystic or the analytic spirit
in their understanding.
Antiquity, then, as Erasmus read it, made this two-fold
appeal to him : the first, that of a social-cultural ideal, capable
of being harmonised with the Christian ideal, and so fit for the
modern age; the second, that of an intellectual type deeply
congruous with his own. It is in the operation of this double
attraction that we find the explanation of his zeal for the study
of the ancient world, and, it may be added, the key to certain
limitations and inconsistencies which we shall note in his
interpretation of it.

Antiquity thus understood was in truth the " New World "
to the humanist; the "Old World" was that of expiring
Scholasticism, effete, puerile, in
its second childhood. Scholas-
ticism had recognised only one aspect of human nature
thought and the forms of thought had been so reduced to
;

rule, summary and dogmatic exposition as to lose all interest

for intelligent men. The other sides of human life, literature,
art and passion, had been either ignored or repressed. They
 Opposition to the Ancient Culture 39

had remained, perforce, unreconciled with the dominant culture,

and stood without as lawless aliens. Now in the New Age
these were to claim their rightful place by support of the
great precedents of the world Rome. But of Greece and
Erasmus, with German and English humanists behind him, was
disposed to make conditions.

§ 2. The Reconciliation of the Antique with the

Christian Spirit.

The humanists of the Quattcocento, in their task of basing

upon the ancient literatures the edifice of a new education,
were by no means uniformly concerned about the relation of
their ideal of knowledge to religion. On the one hand
Vergerio, Vittorino and Ficino to take one type were always — —
conscious of a problem to be faced and a reconciliation to be
effected' whilst Filelfo, Valla and Beccadelli appeared frankly
;

indifferent to any such issues. Over against both stood the

obscurantists, who decried all pagan culture as the enemy of
Christianity and a direct danger to morality. To this class
belonged Giovanni Dominici, the Friar of Santa Maria
Novella ; not a few of the preaching Friars were conspicuously
of the same opinion ; and with them must be reckoned as
at least in partial sj^mpathy Savonarola^ These no doubt
1 " Nel Vergerio 1' umanista ed il credente mai si contradicono, ma vivono
quasi a dire 1' uno per 1' altro," Epist. Verg. p. xix.
On Vittorino, see Woodward, Vittorino, pp. 27, 241. L. Bruni rests
his defence of ancient learning upon the predominance of noble types of
character in the classical masterpieces: he also urges that unedifying
"fictions are not to be taken literally." Op. cit., p. 131.
Ficino and the Platonic Academy professed as their central aim the
philosophical reconciliation of Christianity and antiquity.
^ On Dominici, who was very bitter, see Rosier, Kurd. J. Dominicis
Erziehiingslehre, esp. pp. 28 — 9: and Dominici, Regola del Govemo, p. 134.
G. da Pralo declaimed at Ferrara (1450) against Terence and other poets,
denouncing all who copied, translated or taught them. On the other hand
40 Antiquity and Christianity

represented a large number of earnest-minded Italians of

the fifteenth century, to whom the revival of antiquity was a
movement to be cautiously watched if not wholly deplored.
Itwas inevitable that the champions of the New Learning
in northern countries should find themselves confronted by
similar scruples more widely held. In explanation it may be
urged that in Italy patriotic enthusiasm claimed an unqualified
allegiance to the revival of the ancient culture. Or it may be
argued that, historically, the Teutonic spirit has shown itself
more sensitive than the Italian to the supremacy of the moral
sanction and has been, therefore, more readily affected by a
discord between creed and practice. This divergence of atti-

tude may plausibly be connected with distinction of national

type. For we feel that much that is characteristic of a citizen
of Florence or Venice of that age is hardly conceivable in
respect of the burgher-life of a northern community, even of
Augsburg, Nuremberg or Bruges, which in wealth or artistic
interests most resembled an Italian city. The " complete
man" of the Renaissance, whether a man of action or an
artist, pursuing his ends in serene detachment from the moral
factor, with the single aim of virtu, personal distinction, — such
a type of individuality was only developed in its fulness south
of the Alps. When he appears in the north, as in Thomas
Cromwell, for example, he seems incongruous, almost mon-
strous. At the same time we must allow for the effects
produced by the intrusion of the Reform at a period so early
in the development of the northern Revival of Letters for ;

whether for Catholic or for Protestant the new interest in

religion brought conduct still more definitely into conscious-
ness. Calvin and the Council of Trent had at least this in
common that both expressed reaction against a non-moral
view of life. Erasmus, therefore, as a chief agent in the

Alberto da Sarteano, a popular preaching Friar, in the same city, affirmed

that the study of the classics in right hands redounded to true religion.
Sabbadini, Vita di Guarino, pp. 146 — 7.
 The Arguments against the Revival 41

transfer of the Renaissance to the German and English

peoples was confronted with this problem. The inevitable
conflict of ideals and their reconciliation as the Teutonic
peoples reached it may be regarded indeed as typified in him.
An enquiry into his attitude towards this issue is amongst the
most instructive of those which concern Erasmus.
It is obvious that the present-day historian of the Renais-

sance approaches the question from a very different point of

view from that of a scholar of the time, and that as a con-
sequence the stress of the argument on either side will be
found to have varied. For to us the ancient world is primarily
a historical phenomenon, to be weighed and criticised with the
detachment which suits a historical enquiry. Four centuries
ago, however, the Roman culture was a practicable ideal of life,
and as such was advocated or opposed with the zeal of partisan-
ship. A purely objective view of antiquity was in those days
of enthusiasm an impossibility, and a rational judgment of its
phenomena unattainable.
In endeavouring then to disentangle and to interpret the
attacks upon profane learning with which the scholars of the
Revival were familiar we may classify them under three groups.
The first includes the arguments drawn from the antagonism
between the spirit of the antique and of the Christian world
in respect of the ideal of human perfection. Such arguments,
now disconnected from the comparison of the old culture with
the new, have lost none of their force and touch the entire
question of the relation of morals to the art of living.

Another group of objections rested upon the evil example set

by scholars, artists or rulers who had yielded themselves to the
full impulse of the New Learning'. There are, thirdly, argu-
ments of the more usual type, which were suggested by mere
superstition and ignorance. We discern in the writings of
Erasmus his attitude to criticisms determined in these three
directions, which may be considered in order.
^ On this see Burckhardt, Civilisation of the Rett., p. 273.
42 Antiquity and Christianity

The contrast between ideal excellence accepted in Italy

at the Renaissance— viz. virtu, or distinction expressed in

individuality, personal force and self-assertion— and the corre-

sponding Christian virtue of humility, self-repression, and

surrender to external Will, is the most striking of all the
oppositions involved. might be worth enquiring how far the
It

Italian concept of virtu was in fact a product of interest in,

and absorption of, the antique spirit at any rate it was ;

identified with it by those who combated the Revival. This

passionate sense of Personality was beyond doubt a character-
isticnote of the new Italy and expressed itself in various ways.
The craving for Fame, during life or after death, and the
interpretation of immortality in the Horatian sense ("non
omnis moriar"), was one of the commonest and most signifi-

cant of these manifestations. Closely akin were a desire to

provoke envy, and the hatred of a mere conventional status,
much more of any conditions likely to imply contempt.
Parents have no right to allow their son to be born in a city of
mean repute or to give him a name of which he might feel
ashamed'. The pursuit of thoroughness in political aims (as
with Machiavelli or Cesare Borgia) or in technical skill (as in

Cellini), unhampered by moral was perhaps the aspect of

law,
virtii which most disturbed northern observers. Hardly less
typical of the same quality were the egoism of the humanist
orator, always forcing his personality to the foreground', and
the overweening sense of importance of the scholar, even the
smartness of the bravo. It is not that self-consciousness was
peculiar to this particular age, but that it was accepted as
natural, as praiseworthy, as a notable element in distinction.
Nearly allied to this was the concept of the present as the sole
object of concern to men of intelligence. This was in large
^ Cp. Vergerius, De Ingen. Moribtis, in Woodward, op. cit. p. 96.
* The was scarcely second to that of composition, so that
art of delivery
the scholar was actor as well, whereby we can understand that the flood-
gates of egoism were thrown wide.
 The Arguments against the Revival 43

measure a direct consequence of the passion for the antique

world. By not a few enthusiasts the doctrine of a future life

was vaguely held or wholly ignored \ The Papacy, which set

the temper of the current religion, was from time to time
frankly secular in motive and demoralising in effect. The cult
of grace of form in art and Letters, in personality, in society,
was accompanied by the abeyance of idealism in thought and
belief. It was easy to show that absorption in pagan culture

did as a fact induce a habit of viewing and appraising thought

and action in all departments as things separable from spiritual
truths. This secularisation of knowledge, motives and life was
most noticeable in the ecclesiastical sphere, in the latter half of
the fifteenth century, and that was due, it was alleged, to the
influence of humanism.
As regards the argument from example, the poems of
Beccadelli, the epigrams of Janus Pannonius*, the moral
obliquity of Filelfo or Valla pointed to a danger lest a new
sanction to immorality might be pleaded from the authority of
ancient practice. The devout Churchman was aroused by the
difference of standard as to personal purity, by the nature of
many classical myths, by the very grace of the language in
which these were clothed by the poets. Even the affectation
of paganism, such as the use of classical forms to describe the
institutionsand the mysteries of the Church, appeared to
serious people as a grave risk. The crimes and the unscru-
pulous policy of rulers and statesmen, avowedly disciples of
classical learning, were taken as evidence of its perilous in-
fluence upon character.
The objections of the remaining group are less worthy of

^ Erasmus records that he discussed the subject of immortality with a

scholar in Rome who rested his denial of a future on the authority of
life

the elder Pliny: Nolhac, J^rasme eti Italie, p. 77. Cp. also Eras. Op. iii.
189 A.
^ He was a pupil of Guarino, and became a Hungarian Bishop. But
his poetry was in the vein of Martial.
44 Antiquity and Christianity

respect. The new light had a disturbing effect upon certain

accepted opinions in the ecclesiastical world. Valla had
exercised his scholarship in demolishing the evidence for the
famous Donation of Constantine he had shown how to apply
:

criticalmethods formed from classical reading to the study of

the New Testament. It was reasonably feared that many

sacred Arks would be touched if principles of enquiry drawn

from secular learning were to be accepted. The Praise of
Folly, the Colloquies^ and the Epistolae Obsairorum Virorum
reveal the presence of other perils. A knowledge of Greek
invariably turns a man into a heretic To understand Hebrew
'.

means that you are becoming a Jew. Every statue of Venus or

Apollo is the abode of a demon. Monks recalled the story
that when Boniface consecrated the Pantheon of Agrippa the
devils had been seen escaping through the opening in the
dome*^. To teach Christian youth the old mythology was to
invite Satan to re-occupy his ancient seat.
How then did Erasmus regard the conflict? His stand-
point was inevitably determined, as has been said already, by
the complex conditions —
of mind and temperament, of training
—
and experience which moulded his spirit. To take the out-
ward or historical determinations first, we know that the young
Erasmus was brought up under the influence of the deep
affection of his mother and that down to his twenty-sixth year
his surroundings were those of a sheltered, studious and not
too robust existence. All was conducive to the outlook upon
life of a serious though enquiring Churchman. The following
period of about twenty years (1492-1510) was for him a time
of wavering aims, of which a breaking loose from mediaeva-
lism in an intellectual sense and a rapidly growing interest
in Antiquity were the characteristic marks. When the full

^ One of Guarino's stories was of a

Friar who derived "Ethnici" (i.e. the
heathen) from Aetna, a mouth of Hell, from which they sprang.
^ See the story in Gregorovius, History
of the city of Rome, ii. p. 1 10
(Eng. transl.). The date, A.D. 604.
 The Attitude of Erasmus 45

impulse to Greek studies was upon him there is no doubt that

he passed through a stage in which the inducement to yield
himself wholly to classical enthusiasm was keenly felt. From
1499 to 1506 he was much absorbed in Greek; but at this
time the influence of Colet and More proved of singular
moment in determining his bent. We know from his corre-
spondence how deeply he appreciated the sobriety of the
English type of scholarship, and that association of learning
with Christian life and with public duty which his friends so
conspicuously exhibited. The reconciliation, therefore, of the
old and the new was accomplished before his eyes, in that
practical fashion which harmonised with his own temper. The
visit to Italy which followed (1506) took place when he was

just forty years of age. His tastes and habits, and his intel-
lectual attitude were well nigh fixed. The specific object of
his journey had been settled long before. It was as a student

of Greek that he set out ; and as a most industrious student he

lived at Bologna, Venice and Padua. Thus he saw in Italy
just what he had prepared himself to see, and it has been
shown above that the limitations of his interests were very
definite. Politics scarcely affected him, art not at all. He
had no any form of sumptuous self-indulgence the
taste for ;

grosser side of paganism had no attraction for him. The

scholars into whose society he was chiefly thrown, Bom-
basius, Aldus, Musurus, were all men of fine character and
strong mental balance. In Rome, indeed, he was in contact
with another type of society. But Erasmus quickly detected
the unreality and affectations which characterised its humanism.
His solid sense was amused rather than disturbed by the
playing at paganism and the condescensions to Christianity of
eminent scholars. It may be affirmed that his experience
of Rome showed him dream of a reproduction of the
that the
ancient world was of the nature of a make-believe, which
could work nothing for good, and perhaps very little for evil.
Erasmus, however, was not blind to the importance of the fact
46 Antiquity and Christianity

that the sanction of the religious capital of the world should

at this period be so freely accorded to ancient Letters.
Erasmus returned in 1509 to the wholesome atmosphere of
his English friendships. He has now reached, once for all, the
conviction that the line of progress lay in the direction of the
incorporation of antique wisdom into the frame-work of a
purified Christian thought and society. The culture of Greece
and Rome could play a part for modern men only by adapta-
tion to the actual world. Moreover, he saw his own share in
the work marked out for him. It was, in part, to aid education
in its task of fitting man to absorb the noble gift of the ancient
civilisation : in part, to apply the method of scholarship to the
historical origins of Christianity.
The Reformation scarcely affected the mental attitude of
Erasmus, unless perhaps to strengthen his consciousness of
this particular duty of enlightenment by education and learning
which he had taken upon himself. Nothing that he wTote
during the later period of his career marks any serious modifi-
cation of the point of view which he had attained before the
Lutheran revolt.
So much for the outward determinations. Passing next to
consider the religious temper of Erasmus, we are aware that he
was constantly accused by his enemies of a lack of one of the
deeper instincts of the Christian consciousness, the sense of
the depravity of human nature. It has been already admitted
that his spiritual analysis was never very profound. He held a
view of humanity which was certainly optimistic in respect of
the individual and of the race. The working of the Logos
"outside the Covenant" was with him a matter of sincere
conviction. He found evidence of it in the lofty thought and
moral ideals of Socrates, Cicero and Vergil. Defective train-
ing, evil circumstances, made men bad by nature they were
:

created for good. Such a view of the human spirit led easily
to an attitude towards the great past which was in itself a
reconciliation. It was natural to seek a parallel between
 The Attitude of Erasmus 47

Christian aspiration and conduct and those of the nobler

• figures of paganism. The parallel, indeed, became an identity.
As to the corruptions of antiquity they were, like the evils of
the Christian world, but deflections. Each must be judged by
its best examplars and its highest moments.
Given this point of view it is easy to see that the conflict
between ancient and modern ideals did not exist for Erasmus
in an acute form. He had little fear of pagan license, less of
pagan superstition, for his own reasonableness made such
dangers inconceivable.
However, Erasmus was always ready to weigh the doubts
of people of whose intelligence and earnestness he was
assured. His method of meeting them in the present case
was characteristic. It is, he holds, partly a question of degree,
partly of ends. There may be too much weight attached to
speculation, or to rhetoric, too much interest in mythology, or
too much craving for reputation for learning'. Character and
usefulness in life are primary ends : scholarship is but a means,
a precious means indeed, to such ends. A sense of the right
application of knowledge to life is a crucial test of a true
teacher. Hence selection of authors is a special function of
every master. For example, only the most serious obligation
will justify anyone in treating Martial. Such admissions
Erasmus makes readily enough. But in truth he feels that the
problem must be settled by the broad aims with which the
ancient learning is advocated. Allow that its main tendency is
for good —
for religion, for wisdom, for efficiency in life the —
question of details will solve itselfl

Hence we do not find one uniform line of defence in

1 Eras. Op. iii. 925 D and 688 F.

* For example, in spite of the undeniable importance of the religious
end in education, he will not yield so far as to substitute Christian late Latin
poets for Vergil or Lucan. Op. ix. 93 E. The Psalms are holier than the
Odes of Horace, but if your object is to learn good Latin you must choose
Horace. Op. i. 922 B.
 —

48 Antiquity and Christianity

Erasmus' writings. In the De Ratione (15 11) he is hardly

conscious that a difficulty Ciceronianus (1528) is,
exists. The
on the other hand, a warning against the pagan temper. But
there wasno yielding of his position, even when Melanchthon
and most humanist Reformers seemed to abate their ideal of
scholarly education under stress of religion. The De Pueris
(1529) and the preface to the Tusculans (1532) are pitched in
the key of earnest conviction that the light of which the times
stand in so sore need is to be found not in Scripture alone but
in the organised experience and wisdom of antiquity.
It may with some fairness be alleged of Erasmus that he is

too anxious to disown as his aim the true self-abandonment of

the scholar in his subject. It was the corollary of his "practical"
temper; his want of sympathy with speculative thought'
ancient and mediaeval alike —
is only an illustration of it. Yet
we may say that his actual practice was better than his
principle. In the region of language and in the editing of
texts he provided material, genuine products of research, for
others to use.
Erasmus, however, was not content with resisting attacks
upon Antiquity in the supposed interests of religion. He has
several positive arguments to bring forward from the history of
Christianity. The first is that the universal Graeco-Roman
culture rendered possible the spread of Christianity. The
next, that its foundations lie in the ancient society and cannot
be considered apart from it. The use of classical learning for
the explanation of the truths of religion is manifold and indis-

pensable. Hence a real knowledge of divinity is impossible

without Greek : the New Testament is perverted in the hands
of one ignorant of the liberal disciplines. In the third place,
Erasmus, like all humanists, dwells upon the approbation of
1 " I am not unjust to philosophy, but she is only an adjunct to
knowledge." Op. ix. 103 D. Detailed study of philosophy leads to arro-
gance, and is bad for healthy common sense. He had never forgotten the
scholastic theology of his Paris days.
 Reconciliation by Allegory 49

ancient literature recorded by Basil, Jerome and Augustine \

This proves that no inconsistency exists between the two great
fields of knowledge. How much did not Basil or Chrysostom
owe to Plutarch^? Finally, the study of grammar, logic, of
the orators, poets, and moralists was, as a mere fact of history,
of first-rate importance to the early ages of the Church : and
the Church had not refused to use them — so far as it could
understand them —ever since.
One argument he derives from the study of his-
further
torical Christianity that pagan stories may be utilised for
:

religious and moral edification by the method of Allegory.

This reliance upon an arbitrary and uncritical treatment of
literature strikes us as inconsistent with Erasmus' main canon
of interpretation. But he has drawn it from the Greek
Fathers, notably Origen and we have here another instance
;

of the want of precision in Erasmus' logical thinking. For

purpose of edification he surrenders, unconsciously perhaps,
one of his most characteristic principles of criticism. He
affirms that all phenomena in Nature may be regarded as
reflections of moral states. Hence the place of allegory in
exposition. Scripture does not satisfy us if we limit ourselves
to literal interpretation : for example, the stories of Esau and
his birthright, of Goliath, of Samson. Much of the Old Testa-
ment, indeed, may be perilous to morals, if taken literally. He
then proceeds to affirm that poetry, especially Homer and
Vergil,and the entire Platonic philosophy, are "allegorical,"
and myths may in this way be rendered harmless
offensive
or actually helpful. Unfortunately Erasmus did not confine
himself to considering the particular " allegorical " interpre-
which may have been intended by Plato or Vergil ; he
tations
opened the door to floods of arbitrary glosses and moral
1 Basil's Letter was translated by Lionardo Bruni under the title De
legendis Gentilium libris, one of the most popular tracts of early humanism.
On Augustine, Eras. Op. x. 1731.
' Eras. Op. v. 856 E; iii. 251 E.

W. 4
 —

50 Antiquity and Christianity

lessons such as the mediaevalists had applied to all depart-

ments of thought. On the other hand this should be said.
The allegorical method is the intermediate stage between a
conscious antinomy and its historical solution. Now the day
for the perception of evolution in knowledge, beHefs, or morals
was not yet though we can trace certain partial recognitions
:

of it in Erasmus. A harmony between apparent contraries

for example, the God of the Gospels and the Jehovah of the
—
Book of Judges must be reached, for both concepts were
integral parts of the same belief. The historical attitude being
impossible, the Allegory was the only instrument of reconcili-
ation. But such upon no critical basis, they
allegories rested
were any ingenious mind, and could take any
at the disposal of
form which the exigencies of the argument required. Hence
to the neutral enquirer, with no specific cause to advance, such
a method served to bring to light, rather than to solve, the
problem to which it was applied. In a review of Erasmus'
attitude to antiquity this illustration of it is of interest. For it
reveals, once more, his essential position —
that the ancient
culture must be reconciled with the Christian ideal before it
can be assimilated by the modern man. To sum up, Erasmus
did not believe that the risk of paganising western Europe
through the classics was serious enough to be accounted an
argument against their study ^ He was conscious, on the
other hand, that the " Ages of Faith," or as he regarded them
the "Ages of barbarism," were by no means guiltless of
moral degradation, of which unenlightened Christian Germany

^ For the same common-sense point of view in Euglish educators of the

Tudor time see W. Raleigh, Introduction to the Book of the Courtier,
p. xlvi.
As to danger to faith, positive anti-Christian feeling was very rare
amongst Italian or other humanists: though it came, of course, easily
enough to a controversialist to confuse indifference to, or criticism of,
received opinions with absolute disbelief. In this way Valla and Erasmus
were both "unbelievers."
 1:'

The Doctrine of Imitation 5

afforded a contemporary example. To Erasmus or Melanchthon

there could be no alliance between religion and ignorance, no
antagonism between Christianity and intelligence. A new
body of organised wisdom had been revealed to the world it :

stood in true affinity to sound religion. But only on certain

conditions. First, the pre-eminence of the Christian — not the
ascetic, but the self-respecting — type of personality must be
assumed next, the end of all wisdom is the service of God
:

and the community, not the self-culture of the individual

thirdly, such practical ends are inconsistent with an ideal of
mere imitation or reproduction of the letter of the past.

§ 3. Erasmus and the Ciceronians.

A chapter of much interest in the history of Latin scholar-

ship is occupied by the development of the doctrine of
Imitation. It may be accepted as generally true that the
earlier humanists, Bruni, Poggio and Vittorino, aimed at a
sound working Latin style, suited to the needs of the age, fit

to be the medium of expression in affairs as well as in learning.

The standard to be obeyed was indeed that of the best Roman
period, but, so far as general classical usage in accidence and
syntax allowed, the principle of elasticity and adaptability was
observed. No one model was regarded as exclusively authori-
tative : nor was rigid adhesion to precedent for inflexional
form or vocabulary imposed ^

1 Melanchthon in his inaugural address at Wittenberg in 151 8 proclaims

the impossibility of knowledge or moral advance without a fervent revival
of Greek studies in Germany. Religion, above all, stood in need of their
aid. De Corrigetidis Siudiis, 15 18.
^ "Scuole umanistiche 1' Italia ne ebbe due: una grande e una piccola,
quella degli eroi del quattrocentro e quella degli epigoni del cinquecento.
I latinisti del quattrocento riproducevano tutte le forme letterarie della
cultura romana per il bisogno di riprodurre, ma vi imprimevano la propria

4—2
52 Erasmus and the Ciceronians

With the elaboration of grammar and the closer study of

style which date from Valla, the claims of special authors to
pre-eminence were accepted. Before the end of the fifteenth-
century tlie theory of Imitation in Latinity was keenly discussed
between scholars of weight, like Cortesius and Poliziano.
Pico and Bembo carry on the controversy in 1 5 1 2 ; Erasmus
and Longolius discuss the subject eight years later; by 1526
the question has become a bitter dispute, and France and
Italy are involved against German scholars. This issued
(1528) in the Dialogus Ciceronianus of Erasmus. A year or
two later Scaliger and Dolet joined the fray. Though Erasmus
preserved a dignified silence under a storm of personal abuse,
his friends took up his cause ; and the argument was dying out
when the great Muretus (1556) closed it once for all in the
Erasmian sense.
The controversy is pertinent to a study of Erasmus but not
on the issue of the special merit of Cicero's Latinity as against
that of Livy or Tacitus. concerns the present enquiry by
It

reason of the light which thrown thereby upon the attitude

is

to the Revival of Letters which characterises Erasmus.

The arguments turn upon four points first, the function of:

Latin, as understood in the age of the Revival second, the ;

determination of " perfection " in Latin literature ; third, the

relation of " imitation " to style ; fourth, the broader impli-
cations which in Erasmus' belief were bound up with
Ciceronianism.
It has been said that the founders of humanism had a
clear concept of Latin as a living language. And it is of the
essence of a living tongue that it has freedom to adapt itself,

personalita potente e viva, riuscendo nell' imitazione originali, doveche i

cinquecentisti non facevano che bamboleggiare ciceroneggiando." Sabbadini,

Prolusione, p. 18. It may be stated perhaps as a principle that, in the
firststage of every Revival, spirit rather than letter is seized and reproduced.
The tendency to scholarly, and ultimately pedantic, imitation follows when
the original impulse has died down. Cp. infra, p. 60, note.
 Artificiality in Language 53

to expand, to absorb and assimilate. A vigorous language will

none the less preserve its special genius, its inflexional system,

its syntax. On the other hand to restrain a language from

enlarging vocabulary, from enriching its figures, metaphors,
similes, by modern instances, from utilising its fullest in-
flexional forms, in deference to the limitations of a past age,
means only one thing — that the language is dying, or is dead.
Now, the Ciceronian in disallowing a word, a compound, or an
inflexion, absent, by accident or design, in the surviving works
of Cicero proclaimed Latin to be just a toy or a specimen: the
appanage of the dilettante, not the instrument of a living
civilisation. Erasmus saw this clearly. " Times are changed :

our instincts, needs, ideas, are not those of Cicero. Let us

indeed take example from him. He was a borrower, an
imitator, if you will but he copied in order to assimilate, to
;

bring what he found into the service of his own age. Through-
out Cicero's letters, —
what verve, what actuality, what life !

How remote they are from the compositions of the pedant

working in his study." He criticises certain orations of the
Ciceronian Longolius. He finds them stuffed with artificiality:
their author is as " a man walking in the land of make-believe :

where by waving the Ciceronian's wand he calls up before an

admiring world Senates and Consuls, colonies and allies,' '
'
'

Quirites and Caesars, and persuades us that they are the

actualities of to-day, alive and real, substances and not
shadows." Why pretend that the antique virtue is restored
by the trick of dubbing modern degeneracy by ancient names?
Let us face realities as we know them and fit our Latin to
these as the expression of a modern world of politics, thought
and feeling. The Ciceronians deliberately ignored this prime
condition of the function of Latinity, in their pursuit of a
liberal, and formal reproduction of their modeP.
1 Dolet, indeed, maintained that Cicero gave all that was necessary
to the full demands of the present: "human character and social life are
not variable quantities." But the limits imposed are such as to cramp
 54 Erasmus and the Ciceromans

Secondly, the purists, as Burckhardt' rightly says, regarded

the Ciceronian style as Latein an sick the Absolute in —
Roman speech. Bembo describes Cicero as " unus scribendi
magister " : Dolet affirms that he is " purissimus linguae
Latinae fons, flumen, oceanus," and adds that vocabulary,
sentence forms, harmony of construction, all reach their
highest conceivable pitch of refinement in him. If other
writers may be read it can only be as examples of what must be
avoided, as a sure means of bringing back the errant reader to
the one attractive path *. on the supreme
Scaliger placed Cicero
pinnacle :was the glory of literal inspiration, criticism of
his
which was a form of profanity.
Now Erasmus was saved from such exaggerations partly by
that instinct of proportion which was in the main his constant
quality, partly by the width of his outlook upon classical
antiquity. He points out that Cicero does not cover the whole
ground even of Roman culture.
. Further he recognises in
Cicero certain marked defects in style so that Quintilian even ;

had already found it necessary to deprecate an ignorant worship

of his oratorical method. He goes further and bids the
scholar follow Cicero in spirit, which will compel him to study
the genius and not the letter of the language. In the Dialogue
Erasmus wields the keenest weapons of his satire. " Woe," he
says, " to the scholar who closes a Letter with a date of the

individuality of expression. *'

Qui in Cicerone versatur, eadem semper verba
usurpet necesse est, sed ad rem susceptam ita diverse accommodata ut
simul latine, pure, eleganter, proprie, apte, ornate, copiose, denique
tuliiane loquatur et varie, ut nihil repetitum aut plus semel dictum indices."
It is evident from this that Dolet in reality would force matter to comply
with the requirements of Ciceronian style. There was to be no going out-
side of Cicero's precedents, until you were absolutely certain that these
could not be twisted to the desired use. " Good Latin " thus became a mere
matter of ingenuity.
^ Cardinal Adriano, of Corneto, is the scholar to whom Burckhardt
specially refers, Civil, of Ren., p. 254 n.
' Bembo, J?/. Fam. v. 17: Dolet, De Cice7-oniana itnitatione, p. 62.
 ;

The Attitude of Poliziano 55

year as well as of the month : Cicero gives the month only

or who opens it with 6". /. d. : Cicero's practice is to omit the
adjective. Ferdinando Res;e has precedent : is none in
there
Cicero for Rege Ferdinando." We can imagine the scorn which
the broadly human scholar, the large-souled man of the world,
poured out upon pre-occupation with such verbal criticism.
Where was the hope of an universal culture, to be built upon
all that was greatest in antiquity, if the men of the past were to

be regarded as so many corpses for dissection? The Ciceronian

superstition, therefore, meant the death of scholarship ; and
Erasmus said so. For this he was denounced' as "the enemy
of Cicero," " the destroyer of the Latin tongue," " monstrum,"
" carnifex."
Next, as the Ciceronian canon was slowly formulated, it

was inevitable that, in an age when Oratory and Letter-

writing held so large a place, scholars should debate the
question of the limits of Imitation in composition. The true
proportions problem first appear in the discussion
of the
between Poliziano and Cortesius. In writing to the latter
Poliziano^ states his own doctrine of style. "The truly learned
writer one whose style emerges from a continued process of
is

erudite study, of comparison of styles, and of actual effort at

composition." Fine expression, he means, is a sort of emana-
tion from the equipped and practised writer, something intimate,
personal and therefore inalienable. "On the other hand he
whose method is that of direct imitation is hardly different
from a parrot, which repeats what are to it but meaningless
sounds. Hence," he goes on, " writing of this kind is without
reality; it lacks the stamp of individuality, it leaves no impress;
it has no nerve, no life; it arouses no emotion in others, no

energy. Tear yourself away from that miserable superstition

^ We must note that Bembo and Sadoleto recognising the distinction of

Erasmus took no part in this abuse. Scaliger and Dolet were the real
offenders.
"^
The letter of Poliziano in Politiani opera, Ed. Aldina, sig. I. III.,

Lib. viii.
 :

56 Erasmus and the Ciceronians

which forces you to decry your own writing because it is not a

copy of some one else's, and which bids you never withdraw
your eyes from Cicero. Non exprimis, inquit aliquis, Cicero-
nem. Quid tum ? Non enim sum Cicero me tamen, ut :

opinor, exprimo."
The same argument was adopted by Pico' in his corre-
spondence with Pietro Bembo. Accepting to the full the
Renaissance doctrine of virtil^ he maintains that every man
must be something personal and individual, and that imitation
of another is a mere substitute for personality. No one, there-
fore, can properly limit himself to one model of expression.
Like a painter he will appropriate and combine what is best
for his purpose from all schools. The variety of modern life

makes it impossible for one writer to give us vocabulary or

style equal to so far-reaching a demand. Admitting that a
modern can " imitate " Cicero : what does this mean ? He
may adopt his vocabulary; but Cicero's handling of his
vocabulary is not within any one else's power. An illustration
You
'

" try to re-build as it stood a wall which has been thrown

down. The material, we allow, is the same, but almost of a
certainty the ordering of the bricks, and beyond all question,
the cementing, will be new, and will be yours." You must
admit therefore an original, self-directed element in every
imitative style. An actual reproduction of Cicero could be
nothing but a tour de force, ingenious but worthless. A
" Ciceronian " Brief issued from the Chancery is an impossi-
bility : for a cento of phrasings and passages would not rightly
be called after Cicero's name.
Bembo"^ replies that an original cannot now be pro- style
duced. All conceivable styles have
been exhausted by the
ancients. An eclectic style would have no unity. He affirms
as the final law of the writer seek out the one supreme
:

^
J. F. Picusad P. Bembum, de imitatione, 1530. It was written 1512.
* P. Bembus ad J. F. Picum, de imitatione, in same volume as the
Letter of Pico : cciiii.
 Erasmus and the Canon of Style 57

and imitate him, and him alone so imitate him that

stylist :

you may attain his excellence so attain that you may even
:

surpass. This unique master is, of course, Cicero, whom the

aspirant must so study that the whole being becomes saturated
with him.
Erasmus held with Poliziano, for whom he had a profound
respect, and with Pico. In 1520 he writes to Longolius, the
purist, warning him against too scrupulous a choice of words
on the ground that this was incompatible with that higher
scholarship whose main interest must lie in the thing expressed.
A self-conscious style was to Erasmus as to Vittorino the mark
of a second-rate thinker. The true disciple of Cicero is above
all things careful of the requirements of his subject-matter.
*'
No
form of expression can be pronounced elegant which is
not both congruous to the artist and rightly fitted to the
subject." "
I will deny that name of true disciple to every

one who does not thoroughly understand that of which he

writes, who is not sincerely moved by what he understands, who
does not with exactitude convey what he has thus felt and
understood'." Such is Erasmus' claim for individuality in ex-
pression and for the right subordination of style to thought.
In respect of his own Latinity, Erasmus whilst scrupulous
in respect of grammatical canons was by no means bound by
Augustan precedents. His style is always in thorough accord
with the genius of Roman speech. In its amplitude, elasticity,

copiousness of vocabulary and of figure, in its antithetical

skill, its freedom from mediaevalisms, and from Teutonic
entire
modes it is worthy of high respect as an original
of expression,
styled It was this conscious freedom of movement within the

limits of the Latin tongue that made Erasmus peculiarly con-

temptuous of the smaller men who, to his seeming, were bent
on exhibiting Latin as henceforth a dead language.
Eras. Op. i. 1026 A, B.
'

Cp. Sabbadini, Ciceromanismo, p. 59: and M. Pattison

^ in Encycl.
Brit. Art. "Erasmus" on the Latinity of Erasmus.
58 Erasmus and the Ciceronians

The Dialogus Ciceronianus (1527-8) is one of the best

examples of the Erasmian method of illumination by the way
of satire. It falls into two main divisions a criticism partly
;

satirical, partly serious, of the Ciceronian position, and a

solemn gravamen against the quasi-paganism fostered under

the cloak of purism.
stylistic Nosoponus, the Ciceronian
under a sad affliction. Once he was cheerful,
interlocutor, lies
handsome, well set-up. But for fourteen years he has been the
—
prey of an obsession a craving to be a new Cicero. For
seven years he never read a line written by anyone but his
great exemplar he saturated his mind and his taste with
:

Cicero he never permitted himself to look upon the portrait

:

even of anyone else. In his dreams also Cicero was always

turning up. During this period he succeeded in compiling
three weighty dictionaries the first contained every word
:

used by Cicero, its derivation, and a note of every inflexion

sanctioned by his usage. The next included all phrases,
figures, metaphors and similes occurring in Cicero the third ;

and the biggest was a compilation of the rhythmic tags and

metric feet which the scholar had noticed in the Orations and
elsewhere. Seven subsequent years were then spent in "imi-
tation," relying on the dictionaries. Cicero, so these prove,
used amabam, but amor but not amores
not amabatis ;
;

ornatus but not ornatior. In no emergency would Nosoponus

employ these unauthorised inflections. By dint of most rigid
seclusion from all distractions, e.g. by living always in a room
without windows on to by never marrj'ing, by
the street,

refusing all had created for himself

duties public or private, he
a purely Ciceronian atmosphere. Working very late he con-
trived in this manner to produce one fair-sized sentence a
night. This is afterwards reviewed, filed down, or enriched,
perhaps re-cast. Six such sentences make a letter worthy of
Cicero. Nosoponus eschews conversation, for the risk of
drifting out of the right atmosphere is too serious. People
 Aff'ectations of Paganism 59

said that this was hardly caricature after all : there were plenty
of scholars in Rome of whom it was a fair portrait'.

This brings us to the fourth aspect of the Ciceronian

controversy as it concerns Erasmus. For such men were the
enemies of sound learning in a wider sense. Their affectation
of purism was, in not a few of them, bound up with a trick of
playing at paganism. " Paganitatem profiteri non audemus,

Ciceroniani cognomen obtendimus''." The Ciceronian was,

by virtue of his profession, obliged to eschew Christian nomen-
clature, and thus expended much ingenuity in expressing
sacred things in classical diction. Jupiter Opt. Max. was his
equivalent for Deus Pater, Apollo or Aesculapius for Christus,
Diana for Maria diris devovere for excommunicare.
; Tinctura
stood for baptism victima for the Mass^
; Erasmus recalls an
incident of his stay in Rome (1509). He was present at a
Good Friday sermon preached before Pope Julius II. In
purest Ciceronian prose the orator quoted deeds of self-

sacrifice and patriotism from Greek and Roman myth and

history : Decius, Curtius, Iphigenia, Socrates were dwelt upon,
but the Crucifixion was all but forgotten. "As for religion,"
says Erasmus, "there was not a touch of it from beginning to
end — of sham To Erasmus the
Cicero more than enough'*."
sincere study of Letters had for its end the deepening of man's
hold upon realities. Antique culture, whether viewed as know-
ledge or as literature, found its value to the New Age in the aid
it rendered to life, service and religion. This is what he means
when he declares: "hue discuntur disciplinae, hue philosophia,
hue eloquentia, ut Christum intelligamus, ut Christi gloriam
celebremus. Hie est totius eruditionis et eloquentiae scopus^"

^ Sabbadini, op. cit. p. 63.

^
Eras. Op. 999 K.
i.

* Pontanus, the Neapolitan scholar, uses genii for angels umbrae : for
the future life; virgo capitolina for Madonna, and that before Leo X.
* Nolhac, l^rasme, p.
77-
' Eras. Op. i. 1026 B.
 ^

6o Erasmus and the Vernacular Tongues

Thus does Erasmus pure style once more

in the field of
affirm his attitude to thatproblem of the Renaissance which
concerns the relation of antiquity to the modern world. His
was what Walter Pater' has called "the old true way of
Renaissance" whereby ancient material is acted upon by a
new principle, a modern need. So far, indeed, as language
was concerned, this principle was in the event applied with
more completeness than Erasmus imagined. Not in Erasmian
—
Latinity vigorous, individual, modern as it was but in the —
language of Machiavelli and Castiglione, of Montaigne, of
Shakespere, of the Authorised Version, was realised that union
of the Old and the New for which, unknowing what he asked,
Erasmus prayed

§ 4. Erasmus and the Vernacular Tongues.

It now becomes necessary to consider the attitude of

Erasmus towards the vernacular tongues of his day. In doing
so it will be impossible to confine our view to the question of
language, which was to Erasmus, as it is to us, but one aspect

of the larger problem of nationality. His relation to the

* Pater, Alariiis the Epicurean, ii. 99.

^ The between the Ciceronian in Letters and the Vitruvian in
parallel
Architecture is both exact and instructive. The great builders, with
Brunelleschi at their head, who were the first to come under the influence
of the antique, correspond in their power of free assimilation to such scholars
as Vergerius or Ambrogio Traversari. The purist Serlio in the i6th century
insisted that every architect must observe "Vitruvius' rule and most certain
and infallible directions," since " in every art there is one more learned than
another to whom such authority is given that his words are fully accepted
and without doubt believed." Hence " the writings of Vitruvius ought for
their worthiness to be inviolably observed." But no sooner had this doctrine
taken root than classicism as an architectural ideal suddenly crumbled, as a
consequence of its divorce from constructive utility. Serlio is the Longolius
of the building art; and the influence of the two men is precisely similar in
their respective spheres.
 His Knowledge of Vernacular Speech 6i

position of the Italian humanists will also come up for con-

sideration.
The knowledge of modern tongues which Erasmus pos-
sessed has often been discussed. It is curious, however, that
his own allusions to it leave his biographers' still in doubt as

to the extent of his ability to understand any native speech

other than Dutch. We are, however, in no uncertainty con-
cerning his unwillingness to express himself in anything but
sound Latin. Dutch he could not fail both to understand and
to speak. Until he was fourteen years of age, at least, it was
the language of his home life. We have sufficient allusions to
such a familiarity with it in later years as is implied in his
ability to follow the preaching of a Friar or to take part in
conversation.
As regards his acquaintance with the speech of Lower
Germany it can be proved that he had a traveller's knowledge
—easy enough to acquire for a native of the Netherlands. He
writes to a correspondent at Lubeck with an apology for his
Latin "non fastidio linguae nostratis," but on the ground that
:

his German would be a halting performance and might cause

misunderstanding I A student of the University of Paris for
ten years and more, could hardly escape a working facility
in French, even were he less interested in the manners and
thoughts of his fellow-men than Erasmus. The evidence,
however, is not copious, and it mainly indirect. But it is
is

impossible to read the letter describing his adventures on the

road to Paris in February, 1500 (Nicholls, No. 122, Richter,
No. 144) without concluding that Erasmus was fully competent
to hold his own incisively with his inn-keeper. Indeed he
expressly says that the burden of the wrangle fell to him as
his travelling companion spoke no French. It may, however,

1 Mr Mark Pattison for instance was certainly wrong in saying " Erasmus :

had passed nearly all his life in England, France and Germany; he spoke
not one of those three languages." Etuycl. Brit. Art. "Erasmus."
^ Eras. Op. iii. 16 D.
62 Erasmus and the Vernacular Tongues

be gathered from a passage in the De Pueris that Erasmus had

wrestled not happily with the pronunciation'.
On the other hand he was much less at home with English.
His first visit was very short and was passed
to this country
wholly in learned society. His later visits belong to a period
when he had made abstention from modem tongues a prin-
ciple. In the house of Sir Thomas More he found the
conversational use of Latin, if not the normal practice, at least
one gladly adopted in presence of so distinguished a guest.
VVarham, in presenting him to the living of Adlington, relieved
him of residence expressly on grounds of his ignorance of the
language of his parishioners. The same indifference marked
his attitude to Italian. The learned environment in which he
spent his Italian sojourn at Bologna, Venice or Rome pre-
cluded any need for facility in what he would have called the
corrupt dialects of the peninsula. He rebuffed the grave
Ruccellai with a blunt " Surdo loqueris " when the Florentine
addressed him in the Tuscan speech which in his eyes was in
no way less noble than its mother-Latin. Of Spanish he
probably acquired some slight knowledge from intercourse
with officials in the Netherlands, although the evidence of it

is very sparse. To Charles V

and his Court Spanish was the
customary language and Erasmus was in an honorary sense a
member of that Emperor's Council.
Such evidence, however, does not close the question. It
is clear, for instance, that the author of the Morine Encomium

and of the Colloquies was one able to observe acutely by ear as

well as by eye as he went on his quiet way through the world.
Only sharp, clear-cut perception of what was passing could
have afforded Erasmus that power of moving freely amidst the
facts of common life, that insight into popular foibles and
superstitions, which gave the edge to his satire. Again,
Erasmus had something of the feeling of the philologist for
parallel forms and for etymologies; he saw that the three
^ Er. Op. i. 501 F. Infra, p. 199 s.f.
 Their Uselessness in Education 63

Romance tongues had grown out of Latin, and that as a con-

sequence they might be, scientifically, not without interest to a
scholar^ We find express allusion to the employment of the
modem languages in this manner.
When, however, we turn to the use of the vernacular
tongues for purposes of literature or education we are upon
more definite ground. The popular speech has, and ought to
have, no claim to be regarded as a fit instrument of literary ex-
pression. To the more rigorous humanists the mere suggestion
of such a claim was a standing cause of irritation. It is one
thing to accept as established facts the several dialects of the
common people and to use them when need compels. But
nothing justifies the abandonment of a universal, highly-
developed and historic speech, such as is Latin, for a series
of local, rudimentary and obscure jargons ^ For these are as
an Oscan or Umbrian dialect, or the parlance of the Suburra,

to the finished diction of Cicero and Vergil. Nor can any

beyond the most meagre employment be made of such in
education. For beginners in Latin it is permitted to set the
subject for composition in the vernacular*: but if a modern
language must be learnt it can be picked up. The Strassburg
School Ordinance of 1528— strictly Erasmian in spirit afifirms —
"Vernacula lingua loqui in ludo nostro piaculum est, atque
non nisi plagis expiatur." A modern language is impossible
as a school-subject in humanist eyes. To take one reason
—
alone a decisive one. Teaching demands before all things
fixity, definiteness, uniformity in its material. In the depart-
ment of language Latin and Greek provide precisely those
qualities orthography, accidence and syntax are determined.
:

The modern dialects have none of these indispensable notes.

It may be safely assumed that Erasmus never contemplated a
day when English, French or German could attain the stage of
^ De Rat. Stud., infra, p. 167.
' Erasmus wonders why Albert Dlirer wrote in German : Op. i. 928 c.
' De Rat. Stud., infra, p. 170.
64 Erasmus and the Vernacular Tongues

an organically developed speech, worthy of a true literary

status, and that he viewed with distrust the efforts of Poliziano
and Bembo to secure the recognition of a standard Italian
tongue. '

It is strictly pertinent to note, in the next place, the con-

tempt which Erasmus avows for popular stories, folk-lore,

and traditional tales of national heroes. He especially depre-

cates their use with young children who should rather find
their imaginations satisfied with moralised stories from antiquity
or the Old Testament. Erasmus thus again reveals his lack
of concern for the elements of national life, and his ignorance

of the true basis of national culture. He does not see' that

methods of antiquity,
the classical spirit implies a respect for the
for to the Greek and to the Roman education was built on
national traditions in their local setting. To Erasmus the
Arthurian cycle, to take one instance, is but trivial nonsense.
It is not true to fact, not morally edifying, and above all not

clothed in notable language. In this important aspect of the

phrase, the historic sense was lacking to every strict humanist
for to hardly one of them does the national history, unless it
be identical with that of the classical ages, make any appeal.
The attitude of Erasmus reminds us of that of Aeneas Sylvius
to whom it seemed futile in a prince to waste time over the
story of the nation whom he was called upon to govern.
" Beware," he writes to Ladislas, the young king of Hungary,
"of wasting time over such a subject as the history of Bohemia
or the history of Hungary. For such would be but the pro-
ductions of mere ignorant chroniclers, a farrago of nonsense
and lies, destitute of attraction in form, in style, or in
grave reflections." Vives, the friend and correspondent of
Erasmus, is almost alone amongst humanists in finding a

^ Yet Erasmus had realised this when, only a year earlier, he had
urged in the Ciceronianus that true Ciceronian imitation implied obedience
to the spirit of Cicero and to the methods which he himself pursued.
Supra, p. 54.
 Erasmus and Nationalism 65

place for Monstrelet, De Commines, and Froissart in historical

study ^
Yet Erasmus, as a man of practical sense, accepted the
modern State as a fact, and service to the community as one
of the main ends of Man, and therefore of education. Good
government is the duty of prince, noble, and burgher alike.
" The father who neglects the training of his son is guilty of
offence against the fatherland." "Children are born for the
State and for God " and : all sound education will fit them for
their place in Society and in the Family, The ultimate utility
of the higher learning lies in the service which it enables a
citizen to render to the country of his inheritance. But we
must not interpret the claims of fatherland too " Love
strictly.

of fatherland is good, but it more philosophic to regard

is

things and human beings in such a way that this world may be
looked upon as the common fatherland of all." We should ask
" not where, but how nobly we spend our lives." This is con-
formable to his reply to the offer of the citizenship of Zurich,
"I wish to be a citizen of the whole world, not of a single city*."
The " Respublica Litteraria," as Hutten termed it, was his

ideal.
The reconciliation of the practical aims of Erasmus with
his indifference to the essential characteristics of the modern
world, and with his positive rejection of the concept of
nationalism in education, is not easy to find. Erasmus was of
German and was proud of it.
stock, Much as he admired
Italian learninghe had no yearnings for a life to be spent at
Rome. But he was dominated by the ideal of a universal
culture, within which racial differences would sink into due
subordination. This ideal, as we have seen, was intimately
bound up with the revival of antiquity. Now, for a hundred
years, an extraordinary —
almost inexplicable restoration of —
the knowledge of the ancient world had been in progress.
^ Vives, De Disciplinis, p. 385.
* Eras. Oj). iii. 757 D.

W. c
66 Erasrmts and the Vernacular Tongues

Both in Art and in Literature the new time had absorbed the
fashion and spirit of the old. Why should not the same
transfer be possible in respect of Speech ? The Gaul of " the
Province," the Lombard, the Northman offer examples ot
acceptance of a new tongue. Given a common culture, in
harmony with a common Church, a common speech might,
nay must, follow, if the chiefs of learning were in earnest.
The Church and the professions had proved that in specific
regions of thought and activity such a step to universality was
attainable. To Erasmus and those who thought with him the
problem was of deepest moment in the interests of civilisation.
On the other hand, Erasmus urges the use of the vernacular in
preaching, for only thus can the faith stir the emotions and
active impulses. It is, one may say, a point of Christian duty

for a churchman, whose functions lie in that direction, to stoop

to acquire the popular tongue. Yet he does not perceive the
essential note of the Lutheran conflict —
the yearnings of the
Germanic self-consciousness, and the claim for the expression
of it in language, and in ecclesiastical order and independence.
He is blind, also, to the fact that in Italy both a language
and a literature, independent of Latin, were growing up and
that this development was fostered by certain humanists of
undoubted rank. The plea for Italian was urged by no less a
scholar than Bembo, who, quite consistently, was at the same
time the leader of the Ciceronian purists. On the other hand,
the best statement of the case for the Latinists came from the
pen of Franciscus Floridus\ an intimate friend of Erasmus,
and like him a keen anti-Ciceronian. It will be of interest to
summarise his argument, as expressing the judgment of the
group of scholars of whom Erasmus is chief. The date is
^537-

^ On Floridus, cp. Sabbadini, in Giomale Star. d. Letteratura Ital., viii.

P- .?33' He had been ardently engaged in defence of Latin for some time
before Erasmus' death. The passage here summarised is from his Apologia^
p. 105.
 The Argument of Floridus 67

Floridus deplores the apparently increasing use of the

Italian language. Some scholars indeed profess to regard it as
worthy of the same care and elaboration as that which the
Greeks and Romans bestowed upon their own speech. Such
a monstrous blindness to the light reminds us of the Scythian
or the Mede, and renders Italy a derision in the eyes of
Spaniards, Frenchmen, Englishmen, or Germans. For in all
those countries men of learning prize ever more and more the
inheritance of the ancient tongues. It is sheer perversity to
compare, as some do, the lyrics of Petrarch to the hexameters
of Vergil, or the light and easy style of Boccaccio to the
grave periods of Cicero ^
The chief argument which he finds for the adoption of the
vernacular is this the language of the home and the nursery
:

must be the language of our subsequent life for such a :

language, being our native speech, will be that of the majority of

our fellows. Now the argument from the majority carries no
weight with a wise man " for the custom or convenience of
;

ten thousand hinds is not to be weighed against those of a

single man of learning."
The pleas for the vulgar tongue — Floridus is an Italian and
has the Italian language always in mind — are met by a series
of arguments. First, the contention from usage is invalid
when we consider the actual facts. There is no such thing as
"the Italian language." A Florentine travels to Apulia or to
Naples his Tuscan speech is to the natives of the Kingdom
;

as the speech of a Tyrian or a Bedouin. In Sardinia or in

Sicily he would run risk of being locked up as a lunatic at
large. Let him go farther afield if he speak Tuscan in
:

Germany, France, or Spain he has a crowd after him, and is

^ Cp. the attitude of certain humanists of the previous century towards

the great Tuscans. Niccoli asks, "Quos tu mihi Dantes, inquit, quos
Petrarcas, quos Boccatios ? Nam quid est in illis quod aut admirandum aut
laudandum cuiquam videri debeat ? " L. Aretini, Z)m/<7f«j, p. 60. Sahitati
regretted that Dante had not written in Latin. Ibid. p. 59.

5—2
68 Erasmus and the Vernacular Tongues

asked if he has lost his dancing bear. But Latin is of

universal currency. Apply the facts to literature instead of to

travel. On what grounds should " a nation's exploits be

recorded in that nation's tongue " ? If facts are worth relating
they should be narrated for all places and for all times not :

through a medium which is current for some hundred square

miles Florence, Lucca, Arezzo, Siena each has its standard
:

idiom. How then is the vernacular to "save labour" to the

learner ?

Again, the Italian dialects are unfixed, imperfect, and

unequal to the varied demands of a literature. Consider the
position of Dante. He writes in a language still fluid and
uncertain, in a style which cannot be called finished, in a
word, in a medium unequal to the distinction of his subject.
Boccaccio's prose for similar reasons is read without pleasure.
Petrarch, on the other hand, seems to have reached the high-
water mark in Italian verse, but he uses it only to handle

themes whilst Ariosto a first-rate Latinist, we must

trivial : —
—
remember cannot be said in his Orlando to equal even the
second or third rank of Roman poets. As to serious com-
position in history or oratory there is none in Italian
(Machiavelli, Guicciardini, Castiglione notwithstanding).
Floridus then criticises t.he vulgar tongue from the point of
view of its origin. Italian is the quintessence of barbarism,
that barbarism which overthrew civilisation itself in our own
land. How prefer a language whose roots lie in the invasions
of Goth, Vandal, and Lombard ? What elegance, what elabor-
ation can be looked for from such a source ? To take but two
instances : the contrast between classical metres and that
which passes for metre in ItaUan ; and the decay of inflections.
The Scyth and Numidian may do without these aids to exact
expression, can civilised man? There are those who would
drive out of language every word which cannot be traced back
to the barbarous enemies of our race. Language and literature
are, both of them, works of human skill and not unconscious
 Their Defects as Literary Instruments 69

products of nature'. Further, Italian is avowedly poor in

vocabulary, and needs to be copiously enriched. Why, if

Latin has to be thus relied upon, not recognise the fact and
use it as the current tongue as it stands?

If scholars who cultivate both the ancient and the modern

tongues imagine that they gain repute thereby they are in error.
They must know that their fame rests upon their skill in
and upon that alone. Perhaps, however, they
classical letters,
only wish to prove to the world how easy it is for a truly
learned man — who has spent twenty years in attaining
eminence in Greek and Latin —to be an " Italian scholar " in
a couple of months.
The points therefore upon which the humanist argument
turns are these. The vernaculars lack fixity, elaboration, and

universality — the latter even in a single country. They are not

adaptable to the manifold needs of literature; they lack serious
gravity they demand no effort in acquisition, and that which
;

can be picked up by mere use or instinct is hardly " human "

so much as "animal." They are the products of barbarism,
and are barbarous by nature. They are local, limited in
range, without authority.
An argument which scarcely appears in the criticism of
Floridus, but which was always of weight with the humanist,
was that the vernacular lacks the element of "eternity*." It
was a standing principle amongst scholars that nothing worthy
of perpetuation might be expressed otherwise than in fine
Latinity. And closely allied with this was the deep-rooted
desire of the man of the Renaissance to find a place in the
elect company of the great names of old. How was this

^ It is important to note that the first grammar of the Italian tongue

was published in 1516; the work of Giovanni Fortunio : Regole Gram-
tnaticali della Volga r Lingtia.
* Filelfo, for instance, writing in 1477 says of Tuscan : "hoc scribendi
more utimur iis in rebus quarum memoriam nolumus transferre ad posteros."
Cp. Voigt, Wiederbelebimg, ii. 422.
yo Erasmus and the Vernacular Tongues

possible if men of Letters should permit uncouth, local

dialects to supersede the dignity of the universal speech?
That nationalism in politics as against the Empire, in religion
as against the Church of Rome, in language and in literature
as against the classics —
one movement in several aspects was —
the abiding note of the modern world this was in no way —
realised by Erasmus.
But the most effective pleading for the new tongue was,
notwithstanding, the production of one of the chief of the
Latinists, Pietro Bembo. It need cause no surprise for ;

Bembo had done his best ^to relegate Latin to the category of
the dead languages. His Dialogue on the Lingua Volgare was
written in 15 12. He turns the argument from dialectic variety
by pleading for a standard or classical Italian to be established
on the authority of Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch. The
Dialogue contains also an alternative canon viz., that the —
Italian tongue be accounted that which is accepted in the
Court of Rome', the idiom, inflectional system and pronun-
ciation commonly understood by ecclesiastics and men of
affairs gathered at the Vatican from all parts of Italy. We
here come upon the first deliberate effort to erect a rule of
strictly classical Italian upon a norm against which no charge
of provincialism could be raised. The Dialogue is in large
part occupied by a critical study of the material out of which
an authoritative grammar could be compiled. Bembo was
wont to complain that Fortunio had pirated this matter from —
—
MS. copies circulating in Rome and issued it in his Kegole
as his own.
The substantial argument of Bembo is contained in the
following passage^, which may fitly close this chapter
" II Volgare e a noi piu vicino quando si vede che nel
;

Volgare tutti noi tutta la vita dimoriamo; il che non aviene del
Latino : si come k Romani huomini era ne buoni tempi piu

^ Bembo, Delia Volgar Lingua (1525) f". xii.

2 Bembo, op, cit. f°. iiii.
 The Argument of Bentbo yi

vicina la Latina favella che la Greca ; conciosia cosa che nella

Latina essi tutti nascevano, et quella insieme col latte dalle
nutrici loro beeano et in essa dimoravano tutti gli anni loro
communemente, dove la Greca
apprendevano per lo piu
essi
gia grandi et usavonla rade volte, et molti de loro peraventura
ne r usavano ne 1' apprendevano giamai. II che a noi aviene
della Latina che non dalle nutrici nelle cuUe, ma da maestri
;

nelle Schuole, et non tutti, anzi pochi, 1' apprendiamo, et presa

non a ciascun hora la usiamo, ma di rado, et alcuna volta
non mai. Cosi e...et questo anchora piu oltre che a noi la ;

Volgar lingua non solamente vicina si dee dire che ella sia
ma natia et propria : et la Latina straniera. Che si come i

Romani due lingue haveano, una propria et naturale, et questa

era la Latina,1' altra straniera, et quella era la Greca
cosi noi ;

due possediamo altresi 1' una propria et naturale et

favelle :

domestica, che e la Volgare; istrana et non naturale 1' altra, che

e la Latina."
 CHAPTER III.

THE EDUCATIONAL AIM OF ERASMUS.

§ I. The General Purpose of Education.

It results from the considerations laid down in the last

chapter that the ideal of culture as understood by Erasmus was
ultimately social in trend. The uplifting of the standard of
religion and conduct in the community was the motive which
gave urgency to his plea for knowledge. He saw, moreover,
that the cause of religion and conduct was intimately bound up
with better political and social conditions. " Barbarism " — the
term so common with him — implied not only superstition and
ignorance of sound learning, but cruelty, reckless war, and bad
government. The one remedy for this universal darkness was
the union of enlightened Christianity and the wisdom of the
ancients. Erasmus realised the mediaeval order as a firmly
compacted whole, whose amelioration could be attained only
by a force operating upon and transforming the entire fabric.
That force was learning.
Now it is an invariable law that the accepted ideals of the
adult generation shapeits educational aims; that the school-

master obeys and does not lead. It was inevitable, then, that
wherever Humanism gave its impress to a community or to
a group a speedy effect thereof would be manifested in the
School. It was not enough for the citizens of Florence and
 The General Purpose of Education jT)

Venice to find themselves emancipated from darkness, their

children must from the veryfirst be saved from its shadow. In
the belief in the importance of a cultural ideal is involved of
necessity a corresponding conviction of the need of a new
education.
The organised life of the civilised community is to Erasmus
the only life worth living : his educational aim, therefore, is

a social aim. does not stop short with the perfection of the
It
individual, the preparation of a self-contained life. When he
speaks of the knowledge of Christ and His glory as " totius
eruditionis scopusV' he by no means implies that the end of
right training is personal salvation. He has given in the De
Civilitate Morum puerilmm his description of education in
definite terms " Sicut prima (pars), ita praecipua, est, ut te-
:

nellus animus imbibat pietatis seminaria, proxima ut liberales

disciplinas et amet et perdiscat, tertia est, ut ad vitae officia
instruatur, quarta est ut a primis statim aevi rudimentis civilitati
morum Now, as viewed by Erasmus, each of these
adsuescat^"
aims bound up with the rest, just as each points to a joint
is

factor in social well-being. " Piety and Good Letters " Sturm's —
—
sapiens et eloquens pietas a union which adds wisdom to faith
and reverence to learning, stand opposed to ignorance and
wickedness. It can be amply shown from Erasmus' writings

that he regarded all that supplies men with higher motives and
worthier interests, that affords warnings and examples from the
past, as a religious force. The religious end of education there-
fore was hardly viewed by him as a thing apart. Everything
that enlightens ultimately raises the individual and purifies the
social order. In spite of uninformed criticism, the classical

'
From Ciceronianus (1528): Op. i. p. 1026 B.
- De Civ. Morum (1526): Op. i. 1033 B, c. Another definition is
p.
given in Colioquia, Op. i. p. 653: " Tria mihi curae sunt, ut proficiam in
probitate morum. Dein, si quid nequeam, certe tuear illibatam innocen-
tiam ac famam. Postremo paro mihi bonas literas ac disciplinas in quovis
vitae genere usui futuras."
74 *The Educational Aim of Erasmus

literatures, rightly handled, notably served this purpose. In

the training of the young we Erasmus lays little stress
find that
on observances or on religious dogma, but much on personal
piety and the elements of Christian faith and practice.
Next, Erasmus brings into prominence the claim of the
State or Community to the services of its members, and for
such service the child must be fitted by education. Such an
end is strictly in accord with antique ideals. Parents are urged
to be careful of their duty to the fatherland; to neglect the
right training of the child is to ignore this obligation. A brave
and which a father owes to his own
efficient citizen is the gift

city. In the same way the prince and the noble are exhorted
to qualify their sons by sound education for their grave re-
sponsibilities. Beyond this, when Erasmus dwells upon the
need of courtesy and good m'anners he is considering a man as a
—
member of Society a dim reflex of that social distinction which
is embodied by Castiglione in // Cortegiano. In Germany, at
least, this was of no slight importance amongst the ends of

culture.
The family, again, has its claims. By education the boy
must learn how to bear himself as a dutiful son, able and
willing to take upon himself part of the burdens of his parents.
His distinction brings joy and credit to the home just as its ;

grace and charm are increased by the skill or learning of the

daughters. Sir Thomas More's household and that of Pirck-
heimer are more than once quoted by Erasmus to prove his
contention that a woman's life is made more useful, by serious
education, in each of the capacities that may fall to her. The
home, moreover, gains in dignity by the share which the father
takes in the children's training. The Roman parents at the
best period never resigned their direct concern for this to the
exclusive charge of another.
Erasmus lays little stress on the professional aspect of
education. But he knows that a churchman, a theological
student, an administrator, a landed proprietor, a statesman are
 The Ends of Education 75

all made more efificient in their own spheres by sound learning'.

Erasmus particularly inveighs against a common type of parent
who will accumulate estate for a son with untiring zeal, but
who is wholly careless as to the education which alone can fit

him to govern it. It is, he urges, a profound mistake to sup-

pose that training for practical life is to be won by actual
experience of life itself^. On the other hand he declares that
preparation for a career ought not to be made subordinate to
purely literary attainment. Here, however, he is referring to
adult life ; and the warning is just a protest against neglect of
duty for devotion to dilettantism and self-culture.

^ must be carefully noted that the social end is to be

Yet it

attained by the way of development of individuality through

liberal training. There are not two educations training re- :

garded as preparation for social service does not differ in

substance or in method from the education of the individual.
The difference lies in the application. Up to a certain limit,
which Erasmus placed at the i8th year, and Elyot somewhat later,
education should be uniform for all. Then supervenes the period
of gradual specialisation. But not even then may literature be
wholly abandoned in favour of professional studies. What is

desirable is that such studies should take the form, partly at

least, of concentration upon those aspects of letters which sub-
serve each particular pursuit. Law, Theology, Teaching will
all acquire an element which is "liberal " from such a method
of enquiry.
^ Strictly in Erasmus' vein is the claim for this effect of erudition made
in the Privilegittm of the royal Printing-press granted by Francis I to
Robert Estienne. " We are persuaded that those sound studies will give
birth in our kingdom to theologians vi'ho shall teach the sacred doctrines
of religion ; to magistrates who shall administer justice without partiality
and in the spirit of public equity ; and finally to skilled administrators,
the lustre of a State, who will be capable of sacrificing their private interest
to affection for the public good.... Such areamong the benefits that may
reasonably be looked for from sound studies, and from them almost exclu-
sively." Quoted from Miss Lowndes' translation, Motttaigne, p. 24.
2 This is in part the argument of the De Pueris: infra, p. 191, § 12.
76 *The Educational Aim of Erasmus

We may perhaps doubt whether Erasmus had reached a

clear reconciliation of social and individual aims in education.
At one time he speaks as though the best way of rendering
service to the community lies in developing one's own person-
ality. At another, he is more conscious of the risks attaching to
a bold claim for free individual expansion, and to the exclusive
temper of the self-absorbed scholar. Yet this is certainly true.
He felt, and he expressed, the full strength of the reaction
against the mediaeval University training, which was primarily
concerned with professions of Law, Medicine, and Theology.
Erasmus has the distinctive note of the Humanist, that he is
first of all a teacher of liberal disciplines, upon which when

maturity is reached technical knowledge may be superimposed.

Sir Thomas Elyot expresses this position, interpreting Erasmus,
as he so often does, to Englishmen: "pure and excellent
learning, if it be translated to another study of a more gross
quality vanisheth and cometh to nothing." Wherefore, he goes
on, " if children were continually retained in the right study of
very {i.e. sound) philosophy " —
which is the Humanist sapientia,
or eruditio —" until they passed the age of 2 1 years, and were
then set to the Laws they should undoubtedly become men
of so excellent wisdom that throughout all the world should be
found in no commonweal more noble counsellors'." This is

said in the truest spirit of Humanism.

It may be asked at this point whether the position thus
defined is consistent with the overweening importance assigned
to eloquence by Erasmus and all the other masters of the
Revival ? Was not " oratory " largely a professional aptitude
for Church, Court, or Diplomacy? In considering this it is

necessary to recall the origin of that ideal of the completely

educated man, the "orator." It reached the Italian Humanists
mainly through Quintilian. It preceded, in the history of the
Renaissance, the ideal of the "Courtier." As understood
by Quintilian the perfect "Orator" was the noble type of

^ The Governoitr, i. p. I41.

 The Three Factors of Human Nature jj

publicist, a combination of personal presence, of virtue, and of

learning, as well as of eloquence. He
was the good man, the
highly-informed man, trained in oratory each of these factors :

was essential to the complete product. Both "Orator" and

"Courtier" came to signify to Italian society of the 15th and
1 6th centuries the full range of qualities which should mark
in* a modern community the perfect man of the world — scholar,
man of affairs, man of courtesy. In this way it happened, in
the 15th century as in the first, that what were, to begin with,
the characteristics of the highest professional type were trans-
ferred to the general ideal of higher education. So in ancient
Rome the training of the " Orator " was the education of
hundreds of young men who had no thought of becoming
advocates or debaters and in modern Italy or England the
:

maxims of the " Courtier " were eagerly studied by young men
who would never approach a Court. To Erasmus the training
of a gentleman was identical with an education in learned
eloquence.

§ 2. The Three Factors of Human Nature.

The great Italian educationalists of the Revival builtup
their curriculum upon a union of Roman precedents with the
courtly education of the later Middle Age. They took account,
therefore, of each side of human personality. Erasmus, how-
ever, held a somewhat different position. In his view, that side
of development which concerned physical excellence was wholly
subordinate. The absorption in sport and arms which he notes
as characteristic of the upper ranks of Teutonic society he
regards as a serious hindrance to intellectual advance. 'Gross,'
'boorish,' 'cruel' are the epithets which seem to spring naturally
to Erasmus' lips when he contemplates the average parent of
the land-holding class in Germany. There was, to Erasmus,
much risk in pressing the claims of the body in education. In
Italy it was far otherwise. We know that feudalism had left
but little impress on the society of the Renaissance and the ;
 yS The Educational Aim of Erasmus

climate and the conditions of town life there rendered vigorous

physical activity a needful discipline. Apart from which the
social graces filled a large place in personal distinction. But
1 fXo Erasmus it is enough that children be kept in health, for the
\/^' body is but a means, an instrument, and has no true excellence
/ beyond that. Erasmus, we do not forget, had been a monk
neither by aptitude nor disposition had he any inclination to
physical skill.

Passing to the second and third constituents of human

personality, the mind and the spirit, the point of view of
» Erasmus has been already outlined. Ingenium or inie/lecius,
^>- as the seat of ratio, or active reasoning, is the chief difiFerentia
^ of Man. But the teacher may not regard this faculty as exist-

ing independently of the religious instinct. For the term which

expresses the highest product of ingenium, viz., philosophia,
covers both knowledge, conduct, and religion. Philosophia is

wisdom applied to life : the opposite is which is

stultitia,

ignorance applied to life'. The borderland oi pietas and viores

is indefinable ; and the soundest forms of entditio inevitably
develop that bonus animus whose expression is pietas. It is
impossible to realise the Erasmian concept of the relation of
wisdom to spiritual well-being unless we grasp clearly his notion
of eruditio (or sapie?ttia) as "learning in use," or "wisdom
interpreted for living." It was something quite other than
" research " in our modern sense. Hence (though the words
are those of his intimate friend Sadoleto), " devotion to philo-
sophy serves as the best preparation for all sides of honourable
action, and at the same time brings man nearer to God." The
education of "the spirit," therefore, to the earnest humanist,

^ i. 497 E:
Op. "quid est hominis maxime proprium? Juxta rationem
vivere. Quid est perniciosissimum ? Stultitia." On the other hand ratio
may lead to harm, for eruditio without virtue as its end does hurt to the
character. But if the consensus of the wisdom of mankind is rightly
—
applied i.e. if education is sound good and not evil may be counted
upon as the result.
 The Erasmian Psychology 79

and so to Erasmus, was the natural crown of all sound training;

it did not demand a special section of the curriculum to itself.

That Erasmus was by nature practical rather than devotional

in his concept of religion, that " in things of the spirit " con-
duct mattered more to him than dogmatic equipment, that
mysticism meant little to him, are undeniable. But it is pro-
foundly untrue to insinuate, as his opponents often did in his
lifetime, and certain critics have done since, that his perception
of the religious factor in personality, and consequently in educa-
tion, was feeble in itself and insincerely held.
There remains to be considered the function of education
in respect of this training of character and intellect. The
psychology of Erasmus has never been very carefully examined.
It was mainly identical with that of Plutarch, and has therefore

much in common with the Aristotelian analysis. The three

factors in mental activity are Naiura, ratio, us7is sive exerci-
tatio\ By natura Erasmus understands an innate capacity,
both moral and intellectual. These blank capacities are
affected from outside by experience, notably by disciplina and by
institiitio or instruction. On the intellectual side such instruc-
tion by the way of information orderly presented, or scientia.
is

On it comes through example,

the moral side warning, or
advice, whether drawn from books or persons. Ratio is the
thinking endowment — organic relation to natura
its is never
defined — by which the learner judges, orders, and stores up in
memory, external knowledge, and by which the teacher exhibits
his matter in right method. In education, therefore, ratio is
at once the enlightened reasoning of the teacher operating

1 Christ. Mat rim., Op. v. 710D: " Naturam voco aptitudinem quandam

ad discendum quod traditur. Ratio praeceptis judical quid expetendum,

quid fugiendum. Usus ducit in habitum id quod praescriptum est." Cp.
De Pueris, infra, p. 191, § 11 s.f. On the Aristotelian doctrine which
Erasmus has in mind in this analysis cp. Ethics, i. 7. 9, and Burnet,
Aristotle on Education, p. 27; " the fracticat life of the rational part of
us" is the differentiating function of man. Cp. Becher, Erasmus, p. 32.
 So The Educational Aim of Erasmus

upon the learner, and the active reason of the learner reaching
out to meet it. The term is often used by Erasmus in either
sense. But invariably it implies faculty in act. Ratio is the
peculiar quality of Man :
" ratio facit hominem," as he ex-
plains; "ratio ducit naturam'." Usus is practice, at school or
in life, in aptitudes acquired, and the application to circum-
stances of knowledge assimilated. A
boy applies a rule of
grammar in composition ; a statesman a lesson from history ;
both by virtue of usus.
Such are the definitions of the principal terms employed.
Now tiatura, the mental self, comes into existence with very
few instincts, with no innate ideas, but with large capacities
lower animals, on the other hand, possess sharply-defined and
highly-developed instincts, but slight power of advance beyond
these. This marks man's superiority and proves the over-
whelming importance of education. The metaphors borrowed
by Erasmus to express this abstract capacity for taking form
are various the ploughed but unsown field the twig pliant
: ;

and as yet unshaped soft wax or clay, and others^.

;

This capacity reveals at a very early stage certain tendencies,

notably to memory, to activity, and to imitation : it is intensely
receptive : its absorptive powers work upon good or evil
material with equal avidity. Hence the need for profitable
occupation from the very first, that room be not left for evil
influences, always ready to encroach upon the empty chambers
of child-nature^. It is the peculiar function of the mother to
" shelter the nursling from wrong impression." Hence Erasmus
^x< acutely sets aside enquiries as to the age at which education
y ^ It need not be pointed out how defective is the analysis of ratio
presented by Erasmus, who leaves in obscurity his view of the place of
the imagination and the emotions. However, Erasmus always moves
more easily in the sphere of practical aims than in that of theory, so that
in dealing directly with educational method his precepts are sounder than
his psychology. Ratio may often be best translated by Training, cp. p. 197.
* Cp. Tdgel, Pdiiag. Ansch., p. 37.
' "Sapiens industria parentum occupat naturam." Op. i. 497 E.
 The Power of Education 8

should begin. From birth, nay before it, the manifold opera-
tion of nurture and environment is at work. It is not a ques-
tion as to the 7th year or the 5th or the 3rd, as the authorities
propound it ; from the first day of his existence the child's
education has begun.
But Natura includes another factor besides abstract general
capacity for development it contains a special quality which
:

varies with each individual and constitutes the basis of person-

ality ^ This individual quality is originally but a capacity for
receiving a special bent from external forces it may be due :

to inheritance, but when once recognised it may respond in

marvellous fashion to careful education. Training, therefore,
is all important. Nature gives education trans-
potentialities,
forms them into realities. " Efficax res est natura, sed banc
vincit efficacior institutio." " Homines, mihi crede, non nas-
cuntur sed finguntur''^." Further, "Educatio superat omnia."
By training we may eradicate evil tendency due to heredity
but bad education extinguish a bent to higher things.
will

Moreover, and we here reach the climax of the Erasmian

optimistic view of Man, we have in Natura a capacity which
in is "apt for reason," prone to
virtue of its .divine origin
obedience, and therefore capable by training of indefinite
advance. Nay, by education, diligently and skilfully directed,
the rudis massa of the nursling may be moulded into the visible
image of God^.
It is a sanguine view of the possibilities of education. But
we must remember, first, that the Erasmian concept includes
the Platonic view of the function of Nurture — that unconscious
^ De Pueris, infra, § 16, § 29s.f.,
§ 25 and
Just as an ox or an
s.f.

ass is put to the plough or the pack-saddle, so the dullard must for his
own sake be treated as fit only for the farm or work-shop. Again, there
are children whose bent lies towards Music, Arithmetic or Geography.
" Nature " ought to be followed in such cases. In Discipline also the
same holds good : infra, p. 205, § 24.
* Op. pp. 184, 186, §§ 4 and 7.
B, infra,
i. 493
* De Pueris, infra, p. 187, § 7 s.f. Cp. Becher, Erasmus, p. 12.
w. 6
 82 The Educational Aim of Erasmus

presentation and absorption of impressions, moral, intellectual

and aesthetic, which is the true note of Greek culture, and the
conspicuous absence of which is the crucial defect of popular
educational opinion in modern England. In the next place, it
is abundantly clear that Erasmus did not identify education

with literary instruction in a narrow sense. There is much in

his view of morality which presages Herbart's concept of the
dependence of conduct upon the "circle of thought." Stultitia
is moral, not less than intellectual, shortcoming just as a wide :

range of interests lifts the mind above unworthy preoccupa-

tions. Hence instruction {eruditio, itistitiitio) is a most compre-
hensive force, operating upon a free will, whose determinations
are easily fixed in the direction of reasonable action. This
conviction of the influence of the human mould-
intelligence in
ing the character of men is not peculiar to the Humanist. The
typical man of the world of that age was Machiavelli : and
he though from an opposite standpoint, at the same
arrives,
generalisation. " All that have reasoned on civil government,
and all -history, prove that it is necessary that he who frames
a Commonwealth and ordains laws in it should pre-suppose
that all men have their bent to ill-doing : that they desire to
practise the wickedness of their minds whenever opportunity
serves." Hence, he continues, follows the necessity of Laws
for Laws make men good, seeing that by laws Education is
framed, and by Education men, though naturally evil, are
gradually trained to set examples of virtue in the State. Thus
the man of Letters and the man of Affairs agree innate good- :

ness (Erasmus) or innate wickedness (Machiavelli), fostered

(Erasmus), or checked (Machiavelli), by education, produces
notable virtue. That 'virtue' to each of the two thinkers meant
a different ideal does not affect the argument in both cases
:

contribution to the well-being of the community is the prime

content, and in both the determining force is Education'.

^ Cp. Machiavelli, Discorsi, i. 3.

 The Argumetit for Small Schools 83

§ 3. Limitations of the Educational Ideal.

This broad and view of the aim of Education repre-

liberal
sents the essential principle ofhumanism, and, except on the
side of the culture of the body, does not differ in type from
that of the great Italians from Vergerius to Sadoleto. But, in
the process of application of ideals to practice, the limitations
imposed by social and historical circumstance call for careful
noting.
j-
First, Erasmus laid it down, with ample reason, that his
standard of efficiency demanded either a small school con-
ducted by brilliant scholars or the method of home tuition.
The latter alternative depended inevitably upon the nature of
the home in question where there is right example, and due
:

respect for learning, private tutorial instruction may be the best

choice. Under no circumstances was a Religious House a fit
seminary young: schola aut publica aid nulla^ was his
for the
doctrine. But endowed or civic schools competent to the
lofty functions of liberal education scarcely existed. Colet's
foundation excited his admiration, as at once civic, lay, and
humanist. But the majority of local schools were prisons and
torture-chambers, homes of darkness and barbarity. Further,
Erasmus propounded a curriculum which should carry youth
to the threshold of manhood, when, the stimulus of the teacher
being withdrawn, the spontaneous interests of the pupil could
be counted upon to carry onward the pursuit of learning into
adult life. Now all this implies an education for the prosperous
class : the gentry, the wealthy burgher, the state official. The
poor man can only secure education by civic or private benevo-
lence, a form of charity which he earnestly commends

^ De Pueris, infra, p. 204, § 23 s.f.

^ Op. i. 508 E, infra, p. 209, §26: Op. v. 7 16 A. With Erasmus the

education of the poorer class was the object of pious wish, a most suitable
work of charity in individual cases of special talent. Erasmus, like his
humanist —and other— contemporaries, has no consciousness of a problem
6 — 2
84 The Educational Aim of Erasmus

In the next place, the choice of instrument is rigidly con-

ditioned : the classical literatures are alone admitted. This

carried with it the elimination of purely national elements in
education, and the substitution for them of a universal culture.
This accounts for the fact that the influence of the Erasmian
ideal in Germany was inferior to that of Melanchthon, with that
Protestant Teutonism which coloured all his educational propa-
ganda. Perhapswas in the Jesuit schools that the curriculum
it

of Erasmus was most adequately presented.

That the new education found no place for instruction in
natural phenomena is hardly to be set down to its disadvantage.
There was as yet no science of nature available for teaching'.
Astronomy was attaining fixity, it is true but both geography:

and natural history still rested on unsound knowledge of facts

and perfunctory classification. The age of over-sea discovery
was but dawning in Northern Europe. "Cosmography," there-
fore, meant, even yet, Strabo and Mela. Modern geography
did not, could not, yet exist. The life df plants and animals
was, as in previous centuries, the sport of credulity and a priori
hypothesis. The vernacular was beneath consideration it was :

a mere dialect. Mathematics had no human interest. Modern

historians were but annalists.

to be faced. He knew that on his own lines popular education was

impossible and indeed he may be said to have emphasised the deep
;

distinction between the educated and the uneducated classes. It is,

however, clear that he regarded training in rudiments of religion and
duty as the fitting education for those who had to work with their hands.
Preachers must use the vernacular, and so familiarise their congregations
with Scripture and Church doctrine. " I see no reason why the unedu-
cated should be kept from the New Testament." Instruction of this
sort, Catechisms, Hymns, with private reading of Scripture will form a
training which in its degree will be a compensation to those to whom
learning is Cp. Glockner, Bildimg und Erziehung, p. 97.
inaccessible.
1 In the De Pueris, §§ 10, 30, we have instances. Topsell's The
Historie of Fonre-Footed Beastes, which in its original Latin form was
perhaps the most popular Natural History throughout Europe in the
century 1560 —
1660, will illustrate the same argument.
 The Instruments of Instruction 85

Briefly put, the only available material for instruction was

that contained in the ancient writers. Partly, because through
them alone could mind come into contact with mind. Partly,
because subsequent enquiry had added nothing to the scientific
wisdom therein contained. Partly, that outside of them there
was no organised secular knowledge at all. And Erasmus knew
that facts which, however interesting, are formless and unre-
lated, have no value for the education of the young. Finally,
the doctrine that education can only follow opinion is clearly
realised. Erasmus is for ever proclaiming that " opinion " both
in clergy and must be reformed before scholars can effect
laity

their ends. must move before instruc-

Rulers, parents, nobles
tion can be moulded upon new lines. The absence of state
organisation throws the onus upon the Church and the govern-
ing classes. A new standard, a fresh subject of education is

impossible without the strong impulse of social, or professional

interest.
 CHAPTER IV.

THE BEGINNINGS OF EDUCATION.

§ I. Earliest Care.

The first responsibilities towards the young^ are of much

concern to Erasmus, as indeed they are to most humanists who
write upon Education. Erasmus realised that heredity has a
certain influence, which a man of intelligence will recognise in
choosing his wife. It is often possible to affirm that the wrong
bent of a child is congenital and may, therefore, prove to be
ineradicable. But the mother may do much to secure that her
good impressions by diligent
child be born with a nature apt to
care for her own health, by maintaining equability of temper
and moderation in all things. The nursling must be the
mother's exclusive care. The custom of putting the new-born
child to nurse is condemned —
on the best classical prece-
dents ^

^ Erasmus treats of this subject in the De Pueris and De Clir. Matrim.

It has often been said that the humanists had no message to offer concern-
ing the education of young children. This is, as a fact, wholly untrue.
They had of course an imperfect concept of what was necessary. But the
essential point is that they realised that there was a problem. The Middle
Age had neither a view upon the beginnings of teaching nor a sense that a
view of any kind was needed.
^ Plutarch's tract irepi irafSwv d7&ry^j was appealed to in this matter,
as in so many other precepts upon the training of the young. Erasmus
follows Plutarch very closely, as did most humanists. was one of the
It

earliest Greek treatises to be translated into Latin (by Lionardo Bruni

d' Arezzo) in the course of the Revival.
 Unfitness of Women as Educators 87

Children acquire through unconscious imitation much,

even at this earliest stage, which abides for life. Hence the
importance of the right education of women. Cornelia and
other Roman mothers are a standing proof of this. Feminine
influence is specially enduring in the beginnings of speech.
In this respect the danger arising from contact with ignorant
women servants is hard to overrate. In physical care, in
manners, in the simple duties of truth and reverence, the
responsibility during the early stage falls wholly upon the
mother.
It is what period this oversight of
a grave question at
women should There is beyond doubt a
be superseded.
reminiscence of the celibate ecclesiastic in the view of
Erasmus and of Sadoleto that the mother's place should be
taken by the father or tutor about the fifth year. Both depre-
cate the influence of women even at the first stages of boy
life. Erasmus thinks that they lack self-restraint, are indulgent
and no doubt, of vicious train-
cruel by caprice, a consequence,
ing which precluded upon life and duty.
all serious thinking
Yet Erasmus affirms constantly that no force for good can
surpass the child's home atmosphere. Nurture and example
are the stimulus to the formation of an unconscious standard
of conduct, intelligence and taste. In a pious household it is
customary for the child to see food sent from table to the
home of a suff'ering poor neighbour ; the walls will have illus-

trations of virtuous and brave actions. Interest in religious

truths will be aroused. " Nee fere impii liberi nisi parentum
culpa.

§ 2. HE.4LTH AND PHYSICAL WeLL-BEING OF YoUNG

Children.

Erasmus, like Locke, had learnt from his own experience

the importance of health as a condition of efficient intellectual
life. His view of the relation of mind and body was derived
88 The Beginnings of Educatio7i

from It is of no great concern to Erasmus whether

Aristotle.
that view was or was not scriptural the body may be a prison, :

or a temple, or a garment ; in any case these are metaphors

only. He is solely concerned with the practical question its :

abstract, philosophical formulation has no concern for him.

This at least is clear to him the relation of body and mind is
:

organic, whence a constant interaction between the two. Just

as spiritual character is reflected in face and bearing, so anger,
envy, desires, are closely bound up with bodily states. Thus
he sees the whole question on more than one side. As an end
in itself bodily culturemakes little or no appeal to him. The
soul is the endenough that the body fulfil reasonably its
: it is

behests. In this he differs from the earliest humanists, and

from ancient ideals. We must not forget that the " cult of the
body" in Germany meant a warlike ferocity of unparalleled
coarseness, not the grace of Apollo or of the Ephebi of
Athens.
Yet during the earlier years of childhood — to the seventh
,at least — much care is needed. In this the mother's action is

bf chief importance. Erasmus enters into some detail'. Too

much, or too rich, food, spices, wine, are all forbidden ; the
mind, not less than the body, suffers from such indulgences.
Too much sleep is equally injurious. Exercise, he expressly
urges, should and spontaneous. Dress should always
be free
allow of such activity. Girls suffer more than boys from
custom and from parental vanity. Smart, cramping dress,
with sleeves and trains and collars, not only hampers them
physically but begets childish conceit. If parents must have an
object for foolish pride of this kind let them buy a monkey
and work off their vanity by dressing it up instead. Moreover,
it is of great importance under what conditions of air and

' Eras. Op. v. 710 E — 711 A. Erasmus has in mind advice given by
Aristotle, De Generatione. All is tobe done arid allowed by way of the
Mean. See also Op. i. 447 a, b.
 The Place of Physical Training 89

climate children are nurtured. Foul air and warm temperatures

are injurious. The Germans, he often records, are grievous
offenders in this regard. Yet the hardening by exposure thin —
dress, bare legs, noa critic in Erasmus.
hat, has Baths are
good, in moderation. Sadoleto deprecates the idea of washing
as often as once a. day, "in northern fashion."
Erasmus has observed the effects of the imitative instinct in
bodily affections. Hence the care which must be exercised as
respects companionship. Contagion, bodily and mental, is a
risk to which " the moist and tender bodies of the very young"
are particularly liable. Stammering, some eye-affections, and
nervous tricks are readily acquired from others. And he warns
against allowing intercourse with crying, peevish and irritable
companions. 'I'he dangers involved reveal themselves only
gradually, but they are very hard to eradicate in later years.
Games, fresh air, regular habits, no fasting, no night-work are
his prescriptions for the health of the young boy or girl " ut :

corpore bene composito animus sit ad institutionem habilior^"

It was objected to Erasmus that he was exceeding the Christian

norm in his concern for the body a judgment which he ;

scornfully rejected. He has, however, wholly outgrown the

mediaeval concept of the need of depressing the body in
the interests of the spirit.

None the less he is careful always to say that he will not

regard the vigour of an athlete as a compensation for lack of
learning. A grown man needs
enough health to go along
just
with. The "Orator" — the man
and society will
of affairs —
need no doubt a training in gesture and bearing such out- :

ward aptitudes are the complement of the inner aesthetic

results of polite letters.

^ Op. V. 712 B. Quintilian advises gymnastic exercises for an orator,

to enable him to cultivate gesture. So Erasmus, Op. v. 963.
90 The Beginnings of Education

% 3. Home Instruction.

Erasmus would prefer that the foundations of instruction

should be laid athome and that the mother and father should,
in this respect also, qualify themselves to guide the growing
mind. Systematic teaching will hardly begin before the
seventh year. But before that certain rudiments may well be
imparted. In religion, for example, the sacred name of the
Father and of the Redeemer be taught the reverence due
will :

to Scripture the simple meaning of Baptism the protecting

: :

presence of the Guardian Angel. Such teaching will be

associated with regular observance of Christian worship. In
intimate dependence on religion stands the elementary morality
of childhood obedience, respect, and, above all, truthfulness.
:

Lying is the worst vice of childhood. Tales and proverbs,

read from ancient history and Old Testament Scripture ahke,
form the material for such instruction. But parents must
remember that all such training is nullified by examples of
coarseness or indulgence on their part. As to knowledge
the most important duty is to impart the first facility in Latin
Grammar. Here Erasmus touches " praeludia quaedam " of

education. For instance the alphabet and the first steps in

reading and writing should be learnt always by way of play.
Then good articulation and pronunciation must be insisted on.
Following this may come the naming of objects, in the con-
crete or in picture. But objects are clearly valued, at this
stage at least, only as aids to linguistic advance. There is to
be no use of the vernacular Latin has become the natural
:

means of communication. Hence the necessity of keeping

menials at arm's length. We are reminded of Montaigne's ex-
perience, although every humanist, Vives, Melanchthon, Sturm,
prescribed the same rule.
But the note of this stage is this :

"usque ad annum septimum tantum novalis praeparatur ad

 A Case of Discipline ^
9

sementum^" Aristotle had fixed the fifth year as the earliest

at which compulsory exercises might begin.
Erasmus had much to say respecting discipline during this
period. He insists that the method of training must be " per
lusum "
— by way of pleasant device, and by kindly interest. He
quotes the case of a mother who ruined her little daughter's
nature by sheer cruelty. " The child could as yet hardly
speak properly when she took her in hand to train her as a
lady of society." The process involved beating a little girl of
six until she fainted mother was not yet 26 years
: yet the
of age. " I for my part," says Erasmus, " would gladly have
seen this tyrant thrashed in the child's stead. For, you see, it
was really an aggravated case. Supposing that the 'instruction*
in question was genuinely worth giving, even so it was a wicked
way of going to work. But here was some trivial nonsense of
—
conventional manners and for that she tortured her own
child^" No, all discipline and all method for the young has
as its aim to win and not to drive. Undoubtedly the content
of the instruction in this stage is slight, but the genius of
Erasmus is shown in his insistence that the teaching of such
young children is a problem worth solving^
^ Eras. Op. v. 710 D, Arist. Polit. vii. 17; his objection is that premature
intellectual work might interfere with physical excellence. Cp. Burnet,
Aristotle on Education, p. 103, 5. Elyot fixes seven years; Sturm be-
tween six and seven; Quintilian, and many humanists, refused to state a
limit.
'^
v. 7 1 2 D
Eras. Op. a very important passage.
:

^Erasmus is almost alone in urging the importance of careful observa-

tion of temperament and capacity in the very young: " non mediocris artis
est instituere primam aetatem." Op. v. 715 B. There are not a few parents
who can make no allowance for childhood and wish their children to be
born grown up. The "petty school" in England of the 16th and 17th
centuries was a deplorable institution even Brinsley could propose that
:

" to teach them (little children) would help some poor man or woman who
knew not how to live otherwise." Cp. Foster Watson, Curriculum, p. 6.
Erasmus, in his sense of the importance of the foundations of education,
most modern note.
strikes a
92 The Begmnings of Education

§ 4. School-life and Home Instruction.

A momentous decision has now to be made. Shall the

boy remain at home or shall he go to school ? Erasmus would
ideally prefer that a boy at the age of seven should attend
a day school from his own home, and work after school hours
under direction of a tutor.
At this age the child's special bent of mind and temper is
in great part revealed. He is able to endure systematic mental
work and is benefited by social intercourse with his equals.
A wise parent will have already followed a well-considered
scheme of training, which leads directly to the stage of school-
life and thus will be competent to decide the question which
:

now confronts him. Erasmus is not able to lay down a

uniform procedure, though some points are clear. The father
is the best educator, if only he be duly qualified. First he has
nothing but denunciation for the monastic hoarding school
removed from public observation and control education
:

is a matter of civic responsibility'. Aristotle and Plato ad-

vocated a '
public ' school in preference to private ventures.
Yet {a) the existing schools are thoroughly unsatisfactory (he
is referring to the local grammar schools, the Cathedral schools,
&c.), their staffs are worthless ; the head-masters are there by
the favour of careless and ignorant governors. " Drunken,
broken down, imbecile, they teach in miserable hovels as :

though they turn out pigs instead of citizens. Such is the

seed-plot of the State^!" There is {b) further the risk of
herding a large gathering of boys together for inevitably in ;

such a mingling of characters evil has an undue chance.

Again individual instruction is out of the question where
classes are large and parents have no control over the type of

' Eras. Op. i. 504 D. Infra, p. 209. For the reference to Plato and
Aristotle, Op. v. 713 c.
« Op. V. 713 c, D.
 The Qualifications of the Tutor 93

master engaged. In collegiate or higher schools language

teaching is thoroughly bad ; and the more ambitious boys are
by the time they are 15 or 16 hankering after freedom, or
university courses, and degrees which will save the mark — !

give them the status of teachers themselves. So that Erasmus

feels driven to propose that one tutor be engaged to teach five
or six boys', who then enjoy the benefits of companionship,
emulation and personal interests, whilst not losing the stimulus
that home-life supplies. The parent, indeed, has no right to
disown his responsibility at any time during the education of
his son. The choice of the tutor or the school by no means
implies that the father has abdicated. How valuable wise
supervision may be was recognised in ancient Rome : it was
common in Athens.

§ 5. The Qualifications of the Master.

The Tutor must be, first of all, a man of high character,

worthy of fullest confidence. He
must be active, vigorous and
of healthy habit. His age should be such as to secure ex-
perience, but not such as to remove him from sympathy with
active youth. His great aim will be to kindle spontaneous
interest. Manner is of importance he must not be gloomy in ;

appearance, nor passionate he must be serious, indeed, but

;

patient, remembering that he too was once a boy. He will be

on thoroughly frank and friendly terms with the parents and
will be trusted by them. But there will be " liberalis quaedam
reverentia " withal. Learned he must be; indeed, without a
high qualification as a student he has no right to his post.
Erasmus is dismayed at the low estimate which most parents
form of the tutor's functions. His pay is less than that of a
cook, and his selection a matter of far less thought. A man
will often give away the appointment to oblige a friend a — ;

^ Op. V. 716 A.
94 ^^^ Beginnings of Education

mother is often more careful of her pet dog\ The essential

marks of his erudition are his knowledge of Latin and Greek,
his breadth of reading and his mastery of sound conversational
Latin. A university degree is never named as a qualification,
which is evidence of the divorce still subsisting between
humanist study and the northern university. Erasmus sets
undoubtedly a very lofty standard of attainment before his
ideal master. Admitting that his functions as a teacher will
have a comparatively narrow range, he should, notwithstanding,
have covered the whole field of learning as contained in
classical literature; and in any case have acquaintance with
the principal subjects therein treated of Writers are to be
read not merely as stylists, but as authorities on the various
arts and sciences. History, geography, astronomy, mythology,
philosophy and theology ; the arts of war, agriculture, of
architecture ; the accounts given of trees, plants, animals, of
customs and antiquities — these are to be known, and the whole
fabric of ancient culture realised in living fashion by the
perfect scholar. A right grasp of the Erasmian concept of
scholarship will save us from much shallow criticism of the
Renaissance ideal of knowledge and of education. Naturally
a man of such erudition may find it difficult to adapt his
teaching to the child-mind. Here comes the third qualifica-
tion required of the master ; moral and
his insight into the
intellectual disposition of the pupil, and his ability to order
discipline and instruction accordingly. Erasmus shows a most
remarkable power of observation on his own part in regard to
personal bent, capacity and disposition in boys. He insists
that such insight is as easy to acquire as it is essential. Looks,
expression, gesture, degree of self-control, facial conformation,
personal habits in respect of dress and speech, temper in

^ No woman is competent: "praeter naturam est feminam in masculos

habere imperium." Cp. i. 504 c, and Becher, Die Ansichten, p. 8. For
the denunciation of similar indifference by Italian humanists cp. Woodward,
Vittorino, p. 201.
 Importance of the Teaching Art 95

games, all carry their message to a skilful observer. Intel-

lectual taste and capacity are, he affirmed, always purely
individual; ready perception of such special endowments is

the first step towards adapting instruction to the pupil. The

master must be competent to adjust means to ends'. Young
boys entering upon new and, at first stages, unattractive subject-
matter must be won by patience, by incentives of rivalry and
reward, by devices such as pictures, stories and moral lessons.
The tutor will welcome the presence and co-operation of the
father in stimulating the desire to excel. Excess of preparatory'
work, undue stress on learning by heart, ill-judged themes for
composition, imply that the master forgets what a boy is.
all

The own mental interests and

teacher must never take his
capacities as his guide either in discipline or instruction.
" Remember that your pupil is a boy still, and that you were a
boy yourself not so long ago." Then the master will show
himself at once reasonable and humane.
Erasmus regarded the creation of a new type of master,
private or public, as the first condition of educational reform.
That he himself an ideal hard to attain, he was well
set forth
aware. To provide for this pressing need is the urgent duty of
an enlightened Prince. The rightly equipped master ranks
with wise kingship, upright officials and a devoted clergy, as
one of the four pillars of national well-being. He elaborated
his first picture of a modern master for Colet's school. He
would have found it, had he known, realised in the person of
Vittorino da Feltre, in the famous school of Mantua nearly a
century before.

1 Op. i. 513 A. The in learning was thoroughly

place of interest
realised by Erasmus. The development is not very consistently
order of its

worked out, but it is somewhat as follows: spontaneous interest in play;

love and respect for teacher derived love for knowledge following upon
;

the personal bond fear of blame and of falling below proper self-respect
;

desire for piaise, which is identical with the man's love of Fame. Op. i.
1213—
g6 The Beginnings of Systematic Instruction

§ 6. The Beginnings of Systematic Instruction.

The Erasmian education began, as we saw, unconsciously.

Speech, i.e. Latin speech, must be acquired as early as the
home conditions admit. In some cases a child might, like
Montaigne, be so fortunate as to acquire good conversational
Latin before the end of the fifth year. This, indeed, is the
natural method of learning Latin. In this way articulation,
pronunciation and expression will be cultivated. Vocabulary
will be derived from object teaching, and the Colloquies are
full of instances of this use of external things in instruction.
As word-forms come gradually into use, arrangement of simple
inflections will follow : but of systematic grammar there will be
at first very little. Ancient stories, historical and mythical, and
descriptions of animal and plant life, all illustrated by pictures ',

will be and conversation leading up to moral truths built

told,
upon them. Travellers bring stories of wonder, modern history
also narrates incidents which are of interest, and which when
remembered may be helpful later on. It is remarkable to note
the important place which teaching of this kind occupies
in Erasmus' ideal and how elaborately he has worked it out
;

as an element of home education. Undoubtedly it was in-

struction about objects rather than through objects, and it
had a dual aim linguistic as well as quasi-realist. Still it was
:

devised on true grounds of child interests and went as far,

perhaps, as the state of scientific knowledge then allowed.
For the school can only adapt such knowledge as its age
provides. The Colloquies were as a whole lessons in the
concrete, although their objects are social life, daily experience,
and humanity rather than Nature.
are, however, These
" nature study " in as genuine a sense as demonstrations in
natural history : for their actuality is not limited to human
character, but extends to environment and setting. Their
' Infra, p. 226 : the Colloquy upon "A serious Entertainment."
 Reading and Writing 97

intent is to arouse observation, criticism and ethical selection

the method an approach, at least, to direct handling of
is

facts. It is evident in this connection that, although Erasmus

would refuse a place to the vernacular in the school, a
working acquaintance with the mother tongue was assumed
as the means of acquiring such general knowledge of common
facts as is here indicated.
Reading' follows. It must be taught early: "Sonare
primum proximum legere." That is the order. Letters
est,

are taught and recognised this by the method of the biscuit

:

letters of Horace, or by ivory tablets, or by pictures and ;

there was a game of Scaci in which Greek and Latin letters

were employed in a sort of competition. Letters are named,
written and pronounced ; then syllables, words and sentences.
Reading matter must be intelligible and attractive, though we
should be glad to know the type of book contemplated.
Nothing very attractive has come down to us. Probably
extracts were written, or later on dictated, for temporary use.
Consecutive reading should be practised on some author
worth studying. The Colloquies of Erasmus were the most
popular "Reader" of the i6th and 17th centuries.
Writing, in turn, is of later introduction than reading. In
its beginnings it is a form of drawing. Handwriting, says
Erasmus, like one's voice, is a part of our personality and
should be cultivated accordingly. This is not exclusively a
mere utility. A start is made with simplest capitals of Roman,
not Gothic, type. The best examples are the letters to be
found upon the coin inscriptions of the sestertii of the early
—
empire a very remarkable bit of true artistic perception of
Erasmus^. He describes carefully the formation of letters to
be followed in writing-copies. Simpler capitals first, then the
more complex ones, lastly groups and abbreviations. Before

^ Dialog. De Pronun., Op. 929 A.

i.

^ Cp. the Dialog. De Pronun., Op. i. 925, 6.

98 Discipline

the age of seven this will be taught by a teacher of sense

"by way of play." The Greek and Latin alphabets ought if

possible to be learnt side by side'. Let all headlines be

sensible and useful. Drawing is attractive to boys, in that
every child is way what he has
delighted to express in this
seen at a later stage it will be found helpful to add manual
:

dexterity in painting, modelling and architecture we need not :

fear the reproach of the rigid humanist, " for we cannot forget
that our Lord was not only the son of a craftsman, but was
one Himself^"

§ 7. Discipline.

Erasmus has two charges to make against the schoolmasters

of his day : they are ignorant and they are brutal. He con-
nects the two by proving that brutality is the resource of the
master who has either no method of teaching or nothing to
teach ^
The insight into child nature which Erasmus displayed was
accompanied by a definite concept of the conditions of right
discipline, which he properly understood as including both
stimulus and restraint. This psychological theory implied that
the growing mind is by nature curious, imitative and tenacious;
and that it is by nature amenable to right guidance. Hence
the boy may be counted upon to obey suitable incentives.
These are in part personal to the teacher, in part they belong
to his instruction.
The first step is to secure the respect and the affection of
the pupil for the master, an affection which will not be allowed
to degenerate into familiarity. This leads to the second stage :

the affection for the subject taught. But this will not be main-
tained unless interest is aroused. Now interest in the subject-

^ Op. V. 712c: this before the 7th year, and always " per lusum."
* Op. V. 716 B, C.
• The De Pueris should be read in illustration of this section.
 Sanctions of Discipline 99

matter may not be at first strong enough to survive it must be :

nourished by associating pleasure with the actual teaching

process. This is secured by wise devices, which Erasmus
describes " per lusum discere " ; by encouragement of am-
bition ; by emulation ; by alternation of subjects, and intervals
for relaxation.The Colloquies as a means of learning Latin in
lieu of themethod of logical grammar are a standing instance
with Erasmus. Moreover he sees that clearness in exposition
and arrangement, variety of illustration, of contrast and of
parallel, are essential factors in retaining attention. Exercises,
for instance, in speaking Latin, should be carefully adapted to
the boy's own interests, his play and social life. The choice
of such material was, no doubt, less easy than appeared to
it

be to Erasmus. He
had himself no competing interests
outside his life and had never experienced the
of a student ;

sweeping tide of physical energy with its imperious demands

for bodily activity and achievement. He admits that to some
boys intellectual pursuits make no appeal, and for those he
urges a wholly different training, though one in which he can
take little concern.
The fame and fear of dispraise or of ridicule
desire of
become with Erasmus an educational motive. These indeed
have in them something of the nature of instinct. But whilst
backward boys may be thus encouraged, good scholars are not
to be over-praised. For though despondency is to be avoided,
conceit and contempt for others are not less objectionable.
Strictly in harmony with this view of the forces which make
for interest is Erasmus' position respecting punishments. He
contrasts the method of Christ with his disciples with the
habit of the teacher of his own
Erasmus draws a
day.
grammar
repulsive picture of the customary discipline of the
school. Petrarch had done the same before him but whilst :

he had stood amazed that any one should undertake so trying

a trade as that of school teaching, Erasmus glorified it as
amongst the highest of Christian duties, and the noblest of
7—2
 '
lOO Corporal Punishment

intellectual careers. For he did not admit that harsh dis-

cipline was a necessity. If there are boys who may only be
controlled by flogging, let them be sent away from school as
being incapable of liberal education, and find industrial occu-
pation. In reality cruelty was in those days a common vice,
and re-acted inevitably upon school-life. Parents — widowed
mothers in particular— were not seldom given to violence
towards their children. They forget that offences are often
due to mere thoughtlessness and excusable ignorance. No
woman ought be allowed to strike a child ; she has not the
to
self-control required. Harshness drives boys to enlist or to
take monastic vows. Girls are broken in spirit. Corporal
punishment must not be such as offends self-respect and
modesty, and is unsuited for any but moral faults. But he
roundly declares that the boy who is not influenced by the fear
of God, by regard for his parents, by shame, by conscience, is

not likely to be moulded aright by mere physical pain. The

stories which he relates from his own experience in the tract
£>e Pueris '
and throw into strong relief
are very significant ;

Erasmus' enlightened attitude on the question. There is

obvious relation between that attitude and his optimistic view
of human nature, just as the mediaeval and Lutheran con-
viction of depravity might suggest a sterner need for repression.
It must not be forgotten moreover that Erasmus had never
been a schoolmaster.

^ Infra, pp. 205 — 7.

 CHAPTER V.

THE LIBERAL STUDIES.

§ I. The Teaching of Grammar.

It is important to understand the attitude of Erasmus to

the subject of Grammar in education. It need not be said,
perhaps, that by "Grammar" is meant that of the Latin and
Greek languages, and not of German or Dutch. We shall find
thatErasmus holds opinions upon this branch of instruction
which alone would entitle him to a notable place in the history
of teaching.
The content of the term Grammar has varied in the history
of scholarship. To Quintilian it implies not only accidence
and syntax, and the art of reading aloud, but also the study of
the poets, historians, philosophers and orators. It is a pursuit
which demands the highest intelligence ; it corresponds in fact
to our concept of the study of Literature. The professional
grammarians, on the other hand, of later date, Donatus, Priscian,
and Servius,mean by the term the authoritative accidence,
syntax, and prosody of L,atin and Greek. They were in prin-
ciple followed by the mediaevalists from Isidore down to the
eleventh century. But from 1150, or so, onwards we trace the
rapid intrusion of dialectic into the province of grammar, which
ceased to be the formulation of usage of expression, and
became concerned with the laws under which thought was
held.
I02 The Liberal Studies

This tendency became more pronounced as the reign of

dialectic throughout allbranches of knowledge was gradually
established. Whilst in Italy the humanists were busily en-
gaged in restoring the antique conception of grammar, in the
north of France, in England and in Germany, it had sunk into
complete subjection to logic. The following is a definition of
the function of the Pronoun from a grammar for beginners
printed in 1499. " Pronomen significat substantiam seu
. . .

entitatem sub modoconceptus intrinseco permanentis seu

habitus et quietis sub determinate apprehensionis formali-
tate'." Or we may illustrate the mediaevalist idea from the
discussions upon the Absolute case. It was not enough for

the scholar to know that Latin usage constructed this in the

ablative : the special " ablativity " of the " absolute " concept*
was really what interested the grammarian. In the same way the
usages of the participle, of the genitive of possession, of the
passive voice, were of far less concern than their modi sigiii-

ficandi or underlying dialectic conceptions. Hence came the

endless gloss and comment which, like those of Petrus Helias,
overlay the texts of Priscian and Donatus, and which became
the substitute for grammatical treatises outside the circles of
humanism in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The same
confusion is witnessed in the Dictionaries, where etymologies
and explanations of words pass very often into a dialectical or
ethical region. Papias, for instance, the chief of the vocabu-
larists, gives under Ho7?w definitions of Man, in logical shape

and completeness, instead of a description or synonym under :

Aetas we find religious admonitions. Elsewhere pronomen is

thus explained homo est tuum nomen, peccator est tuum
:

pronomen. In fact no grammarian could resist the temptation

to digression and homily. For the true limits of grammar had
been lost to sight. It had lost its objective character as the
^ Thurot, Extraits, p. 490. This is taken from a printed grammar
dated 1499.
* Cp. Thurot, I.e., pp. 311 seqq.
 The Teaching of Grammar 103

formulation of inflection and construction as determined by

right choice of authorities ^ It had abandoned its independent

status, and having become a function of logic shared the

futilities of the current word-spinning of the day*. Its relation

to style and to literary interpretation was understood in Italy

alone. Humanists were undoubtedly right in ascribing to the
dialectic method of handling grammar the stagnation of Latin
learning which marked the later Middle Age^

^ There was always a current of opposition to the prevalent confusion

of grammar and dialectic during the middle age. But the scholars who
urged the authority of classical writers were very few, and the Universities
were against them. Chartres and Tours held out against the dominant
influence of Paris ; but the point is that they could not influence educational
opinion. Cp. Clerval, Scales de Chartres, p. 230; Sandys, Classical
Scholarship, p. 516.
- The following is from Helias: " Consideremus Vergilium vivere
bonum est f^r^zYzMw accusativus t'«'z'<^^ infinitivo regitur. Quare?
: Quo-
niana infinitivus accusativum regit ex vi infinitivi. " Thurot, Not. et Extraits,
p. 245. This, a very common type, shows to what dialectical grammar
could sink. The mediaeval position is clearly stated. I.e. p. 102: "cum
Priscianus non docuerit grammaticam per omnem modum sciendi possi-
bilem, in eo sua doctrina est valde diminuta. Unde constructiones multas
dicit, quarum tamen causas non assignat, sed solum eas declaral per auctori-
tates antiquortim gramma(tcorum. Propter quod non docet, quia illi tantum
docent qui causas suorum dictorum assignant."
^ Cp. Eras. Oj>. i. 892, iii.
pp. 3, 68, 930. Infra, p. 221. The mediaeval
grammarians, against whom Erasmus specially protests, are these Johannes :

de Garland ia, an Englishman who resided chiefly in France (circ. 1230).

His Synonima and Vocabuloruin aequivocorum interpretatio were very
much used one : is referred to by Erasmus as used by
or other of these
him at school : supra, Both were sufficiently in demand to be
p. 3.

printed by W. de Worde (1499, 1500), and later by Pynson. They are

both in metre. Michael de Marbais, known as Modista from his book de
modis sigtiijicandi (circ. 1220). Ebrardus (circ. 12 12), known as Graecista
from his metrical work on grammar, which contains some speculative
etymologies from the Greek. Ludolphus, called Florista from his metrical
syntax, much used in the Netherlands. Papias (circ. 1050) and Hugutio
(circ. 200) produced dictionaries which sorely offended by reason of their
1

indifference to classical authority and to classical quotation. The most

I04 The Liberal Studies

The revolt against the mediaevalist grammarian, begun by

Petrarch, found its distinguished champion in Lorenzo Valla

(14 15 — 1465). Himself a scholar of the first rank in his day

he waged war against the depravers of Latin. His
relentless
cardinal principle was the exact opposite to theirs. " Ego pro
lege accipio quidquid magnis auctoribus placuit'." To him
language was a body of phenomena whose laws were ascertain-
able from the study of the given facts, and were, once arrived
at, available for use in speech and in interpretation. All
a priori, subjective, or allegorical intrusions into this region of
plain authoritative usage were to be rigorously barred out. All
humanist scholars followed Valla. The first systematic Latin
grammar upon the new method was that of N. Perotti, a pupil
of Vittorino da Feltre, which was printed in 1473.
The position affirmed by scholars was in reality the precursor
of the Baconian doctrine, applied thus early to one special
department of Nature, viz., organised speech. In their respect
for actual facts, and their aversion to dialectic speculation, a
profound spiritual kinship links the great minds of the Revival,
such as Valla and Erasmus, with that of the famous elaborator
of method.

popular of all grammarians at the beginning of the Revival was Alexander de

Villa Dei (circ. 1200), whose hexameter poem (ed. Reichling, 1893) treating
of accidence, syntax and prosody, was regarded less unfavourably by human-
and was
ists, edited by Sintheim of Deventer (supra, p. 3). It rested upon
Donatus and Priscian; though the glosses added by later commentators
were of the usual dialectic sort. The best of the Dictionaries was the
Vocabularius Breviloquus, often ascribed to Guarino, or to Reuchlin ; both
wrongly. grew from an anonymous production which saw the light at
It

Basel about 1400; but its inclusion of much theological and legal terminology
shows that it was not a scholar's handbook but one for professional use.
In the form of the Strassburg edition of 1491 it was probably the commonest
dictionary of Erasmus' day. A review of the relation of the DoctrinaU
of Alexander de Villa Dei to earlier humanist grammars is given by Sabba-
dini, La Sctiola e gli studt di Guarino, pp. 38 seqq. In its treatment of
irregular inflections and of syntax it was held to be sound.

^ Valla, Eleg. Ling. Lai. iii. 17.

 The Teaching of Grammar 105

The reverence which Erasmus entertained for Valla's

scholarship has been already noticed. He shared his view
of the function of grammar as generalised usage, in inflection
and in construction, formulated as a guide in interpretation
and composition. It is true that, like nearly all humanists,
Erasmus occasionally extends the term to cover the study
of Literature, in imitation of Quintilian. But as a rule he
limits the use of the word "Grammatica" to accidence, syntax,
and prosody, as does Sadoleto in his tract on Education,
and our own Sir Thomas Elyot': "grammar being but the
introduction to the understanding of authors."
The view of grammatical method held by Erasmus is

instructive. Its philosophical basis is never very clearly ex-

hibited, forit is characteristic of him to work intuitively towards

right methods whose psychological validity he had no means

of proving. But it is obvious that, however unconsciously, he
accepted those principles of language-teaching which have been
regarded as a peculiar discovery of our own day. We must
remember that Latin was understood by Erasmus, and was to
be taught, as a living language in the sense that French and
German are "living" languages in a modern school-course.
We can distinguish three stages of grammatical instruction,
each of which has its phase of natural acquisition, of
generalisation or systematic grammar, and of practice, whereby
the pupil fixes and applies rules formally learnt. The earliest
stage is that already touched upon^. The first steps are taken
by way of naming, conversation and description : these steps
are accomplished in the home, if possible in the nursery, where
as we know Montaigne and that only.
learnt to speak Latin
It is to method that Erasmus is so insistent
secure this natural
on the choice of attendants and companions, and on the
engagement of a learned tutor. For the same reason Erasmus

^ Sadoleto, Op. iii. 105. Elyot, Governour, i.

-^o-
^ Supra, pp. 90, 96.
io6 The Liberal Studies

debars the use of folk-lore and national stories. Parents and

friends of the child should keep up their conversational Latin
and read aloud in the language to further this introductory
stage'. When the child can understand and take part in such
conversation he should be taught the first rudiments of gram-
mar. This is confined carefully to the regular forms of Noun
and Verb which are detached and These in
learnt by heart.
turn are to be brought into exercise and applied by further
conversation, so that they may become thoroughly familiar.
At the second stage, that of earliest school instruction,
which corresponds to the seventh year of age, the boy will
make the practice thus gained the basis of a more systematic
study of grammar. He will now have the advantage of more
extended power of conversation and of simple reading such as
we find in some of the easier Colloquies, in tales from Aesop,
and especially in such carefully devised aids to naming and
description' as are set out in the Colloquy Convivium Reli-
giosum*. Here a garden laid out with terraces and shaded
walks is furnished with specimens of all common plants, and
with an aviary each object is accurately named, and mottoes
;

are added. The walls bear frescoes of strange animals and

trees, also appropriately named. The head of the house con-
verses about all these and calls attention to their characteristics.
It is at once instruction in natural objects and in language.
Thus a vocabulary is formed without books, the Latin name
is derived directly from the object, not by translation from a

vernacular word. So epithets, verbs, adverbs, are acquired in

the same way. Thus a store of words and of rudimentary
sentence-forms is accumulated, and Latin is associated with
common life. Such preparation leads in appropriate sequence
to further grammatical acquisition. But at this stage also

^ Eras. Op. i. 509 K and infra, p. 212; this section of the

: De Pueris
refers wholly to the first stage of teaching language.
- The Colloquies in Bailey's translation, i. 21 — 120 (Op. i. 630 — 672),
esp. Bailey, i. 156 {Of. i. 672), are excellent examples for reference.
 The Teaching of Grammar 107

systematic grammar is strictly limited in amount. Such por-

tions only of accidence and syntax are to be learnt as are
needed for use in easy reading and composition. There is as
yet no thought of a complete grammar to be taught in its
logical order. The treatment is determined by the pupil's
needs and power of assimilation, not by the requirements of
the subject regarded as an organised whole. Hence the Master
will be most careful in his choice of material, which must be
stated in the simplest fashion and illustrated by intelligible and
attractive quotations. Unusual and anomalous forms are, so
far as may be, ignored ; and no word out of ordinary use may
be included. Such a text-book serves as verification and as
clear definition of usages already partly perceived from reading
and conversation. For the standing principle is always from :

reading to perception of usage, from usage to authoritative

rule. The mediaevalist had completely inverted the order;
and the i8th century revived the same inversion.
In the De Constructione^ Erasmus has left us his idea of
a Syntax for boys at this second stage of Latin instruction.
It was originally drafted by W. Lily, and was at his request
revised by Erasmus for the use of St Paul's School. The
selection and order of the material is interesting the contents :

are as follows :

1. The cases required by different classes of verbs.

2. The simple uses of the Infinitive, Supine, Gerund
and Participle.

3. Certain common case constructions other than those

with the Verb.

^ Libellus de octo orationis partium constructioiie, corredus ab Erasmo,

cum praefat.J. Coleti. Basil. Aug. 1515. Upon the history of this grammar
see Lupton in Notes and Queries, Series vi, vol. 11. pp. 441^ — 2, 461 — 2.

In the form which it had assumed by 1540 Lily's Gratnmar, as revised

by Erasmus, was by royal proclamation " authorised " for exclusive use
in Grammar Schools. See Foster Watson, Curriculum atid Text-hooks,
p. 28.
io8 The Liberal Studies

4. The concords of noun and adjective : relative and

antecedent.
5. The construction of degrees of comparison, and of
certain groups of adjectives and numerals with
case.
6. Certain constructions of Dative, Accusative and
Ablative with noun and adjective.

7. The adverb in construction with a noun.

8. Conjunctions and Interjections.
9. Prepositions and their cases.

The whole occupies about 25 pages of the size of the

present volume. Its gradual development into the Eton Latin

Grammar is a curious proof of the remarkable survivals which

characterise school books.
The criticism has often been made that in this outline
Erasmus shows himself arbitrary and illogical in arrangement.
But the answer is that his method is the express antithesis to a
systematic teaching of grammar. For he handles the subject
in the order and with just so much complexity as are adapted
to the learner beginning to construe to the end that he may
;

find his accumulating knowledge of language empirically —

arrived at — best codified. Grammar follows speech. It is

by conversation and by reading that a boy must hope to

acquire the laws of expression, not by learning grammar'.
Elyot, who in so many ways interpreted Erasmus to England,
in the true spirit of his master, " would advise not to detain
the child too long in that tedious labour " of grammar, which
if "made too long or too exquisite to the learner, it in a manner
mortifieth his courage.... The spark of the fervent desire of
learning is extinct with the burden of grammar-."
Memory work is thus reduced to small limits, but within
^ De Rat. Stud. 521 C: infra, p. 164. For an example of inductive
treatment of a construction cp. Eras. Op. \. 667 D —668 D : the instance
chosen is "constat."
* Elyot, Goveniotir, I.e.
 The Teaching of Grammar 109

these it must be exact. Its place is taken by practice. Herein

lies the value of the Colloquies, which were devised originally
to aid conversation by bringing daily life and school topics
within the circle of Latin instruction. The method long sur-
vived, as we know from such text-books as the Dialogues of
Mathurin Cordier' and the \a.ttr /anua of the Jesuits and of
Comenius.
Two defects in the current grammars of mediaeval origin
were specially noted by Erasmus. The first was that the rules
were never illustrated by quotations from classical authors.
The Erasmian method made this essential. He further urges
that such examples should be in themselves likely to interest
children, should be of moral worth, or of poetic charm. The
second was that the mediaeval teacher did nothing for vocabu-
lary. Young men grew up under such a master, and after
years of his instruction knew nothing of names of common
animals, plants, geographical facts, or objects of daily life.

Hence Latin meant nothing to them as a practical aptitude^

But to Erasmus Latin was either a working tool for life or
nothing.
The l/iird, or higher, stage of Latin study required, how-
ever, a much more thorough mastery of grammar. It is now
systematic
— "per locos upon the basis
et ordines." Practice
of the previous stage But text-books such as
is extended.
Valla's Elegantiae and Perotti's Rudimenta are to be in the
pupil's hands. Reading will still have for one of its ends the
verification and amplification of rules and care will always be
:

taken to remember that grammar is never an end in itself.

1 M. Cordier, a famous school-master in Paris and Geneva. Calvin

w^as a pupil of his.His Colloquies was a popular school hook in the second
half of the 17th century, and was edited by C. Hoole in 1657 fo"" English
pupils.
^ The first part of the De Rat. Stud., infra, p. 162, should be read in
conjunction with this passage.
3 De Eat. Stud., infra, p. 169, § 6.
 :

no . The Liberal Studies

The Greek as well as to Latin. Gaza's

principle applies to
grammar, which Erasmus edited, he quotes as an example
of a sound systematic treatment. Lascaris, Urbanus, and
Chalcondylas are also available. The parallel study of the
two languages is strongly advised ; and Erasmus is not blind
to the use which can be made of Romance languages and
modern Greek on the comparative method ^ The former
device is common to most humanist masters, the latter is quite
unusual.
It is evident that in laying down this enlightened method
of teaching language Erasmus relies upon two conditions.
The first is, that from the beginning the learner is reared in a
home in which Latin is a standing factor of daily intercourse
the second, that the master is not only a scholar of wide
reading, but a teacher of insight, and of special capacity for
evoking interest. It is not easy for us to-day to judge of the
success of such a method' owing to our unfamiliarity with
Latin as a living language. But if we substitute French for
Latin, we can perceive the psychological soundness, of its

principle. The progress is from (a) practice, whereby eye and

ear are early accustomed to word and sentence, through {b)

systematisation by which phenomena of usage are reduced to

rule and paradigm, to {c) application of such formulae to
extended and more certain practice this, in turn, forming the
:

starting-point for what becomes ultimately the stage of

logically complete grammar, which serves as the standard
authority in composition and in reading.
One word may be saidupon the attitude which Erasmus
^ De Kat. Stud., infra, p. 167, § 5. Upon the parallel teaching of Greek
and Latin Erasmus is not very definite. He implies distinctly that at the age
of five Greek and Latin letters may be learnt, Op. v. 712 c. The first steps
in grammar should be taken in both tongues, De Rat. Stud., infra, p. 163,
§ 2. But it is obvious that the conversational method was impossible, so
that the general lines of teaching Greek must have been conceived mainly
on grammatical lines. At Cambridge Erasmus began with the Erotemata
of Chrysoloras.
 ^ 1

The Choice of Authors 1 1

adopted towards the mediaevalist. He

no doubt, entirely
is,

in the right in basing grammar upon usage alone.

for beginners
None the less the learner gains something from the habit
of seeking in self-analysis the underlying principles of all
syntax. Our method of grammatical analysis rests upon such
practice. Usage though in a true sense objective
in language,
and by no means an arbitrary phenomenon.
authoritative, is

In another sense, not less true, speech takes its usage from
"
thought. The mediaevalist, passionately anxious to " explain
the universe, was not illogical in including human speech
among its factors, and he was right in seeking his clues in the
laws of thought'. None the less Erasmus, as a teacher, was
about facts is by no
justified in his contention that speculation
means identical with a wide and a firm grasp of such facts ;

and that for the purpose of literature and of practical life it is

only the latter that is of importance.

§ 2. The Choice of Authors in General.

The principal contribution of Erasmus is contained in the

De Ratione Shuiii, which must be consulted throughout this
and the following sections. His criticisms of authors from the
standpoint of education is less suggestive than those recorded
by the Italian humanists"^. In the main he reproduces
Quintilian's choice of writers
The earliest books to be attempted will be the Proverbs
and the Gospels in the Vulgate. These should be supple-
mented by portions (in Latin) of Plutarch's Apophthepnata and
Moralia, " quibus nihil sanctius inveniri potest." To these he
adds Seneca '*
qui lectoris animum a sordidis curis in sublime

^ On mediaeval scholarship generally, and in particular upon the eve

of the Revival, Dr Sandys' History of Classical Scholarship must be in
future carefully consulted.
- Cp. Woodward, Vittoritto, p. ^\^.
^ Quintilian, Instil. Oral. x. i.
 2

1 1 The Liberal Studies

subvehit'." The foundations of moral teaching as well as

practice in Latin are hereby secured, and specially is this of
importance in the training of a prince. Aesop may profitably
be chosen as the first Greek author. The immense range of
school editions of the Fables, often illustrated, dating from the
middle of the i6th century, proves how widely this advice was
accepted. Erasmus indicates from the outset that he has
regard to interest and edification in his method of language-
teaching.
The general list of writers named by Erasmus for school
use is the following. In Greek, Lucian, Demosthenes,
Herodotus Aristophanes, Homer, and Euripides. In Latin,
;

Terence and Plautus, Vergil, Horace; Cicero, Caesar, Sallust.

Quintilian gives less prominence to Lucian and Sallust than
does Erasmus. The note of this selection is the value of the
writers as aids to the formation of the conversational and
rhetorical styles. It is important to remember how intimately
Erasmus knits together reading and composition both in
respect of form and of matter. Lucian's Dialogues had, as we
have seen, peculiar attraction for Erasmus, who learnt Greek
through them. In the parallel acquisition of Greek and Latin
Terence took place side by side with I>ucian^. Both serve as
models for conversational style, and present ancient speech in
living form. Regarding Terence it is well known how highly
he was esteemed by all humanists the German protestant :

scholars not less than the Italian masters gave him the chief
place among junior texts. The taste, wit and grace displayed

^ Instit. Princip. Chr., in Op. iv. 587 : in Op. ix. 92 B Erasmus brackets
together Cicero, Quintilian and Seneca as authors wholly blameless in the
eyes of the most strict Christian educators : he speaks thus of these three
authors, "qui non solum absunt ab obscenitate verum etiaro saluberrimis
praeceptis vitam instiluunt."
^ " Graecitatem ex Luciano discendam ": ix. 92 B. He has an elaborate
defence of his suitability for this purpose. On Terence, Sabbadini, Guarinot
p. 147.
 Choice of A uthors 113

in the Comedies, the purity of their diction, make them so

helpful to theyoung scholar that he should be called upon to
learn whole scenes by heart. Further, they are " interesting " :

and only a mind already evil will take harm from their reading.
Guarino considered Terence a profound teacher of morals.
In the same way, Erasmus commends his Comedies as a
reflection of the morals and habits of his age, as a picture
which " in right hands not only does no harm to morality but
is of immense service in improving it'." He admits that the
power of drawing out moral lessons from plot and character
varies with every teacher. Quintilian, Jerome, Augustine, and
Ambrose studied Terence in their youth and enjoyed him in
manhood. In short, only barbarians fail to appreciate him.
Perhaps the best critical work done by Erasmus in I^atin
scholarship was his edition of Terence. Plautus was less
favourably viewed for school purposes on moral grounds, and
selections only can be admitted^.
We may be surprised at the place given to Aristophanes,
considering the demand which his plays make for a knowledge
of Athenian life and politics possessed by no scholar of the
century of Erasmus. But he brings the student face to face
with living figures and colloquial speech. Demosthenes is
there for his eloquence, and Herodotus, perhaps, as being
attractive in matter and of utility for his moral instances. The
inclusion of Homer needs no explanation. Euripides closes
the list. Next to Lucian he was Erasmus' first choice when he
himself was learning Greek. He then found the choruses
lacking in true feeling and would like to have re-written them
;

in a worthier fashion ^ But Erasmus, like most humanists,

has nothing of the poet in his composition.
Amongst Latins, Caesar and Sallust, to whom Livy and
Tacitus^ are elsewhere added, have as historians special claims.

^ Eras. Op. iii. 1457 E and 1886 D, E.

" De Rat. Stud., infra, p. 163, § 3. ^ Supra, p. 38.

* Eras. Op. iii. 971 D. Infra, p. 128, on teaching of history.

w. 8
114 The Liberal Studies

Cicero attracted every humanist on the three sides of orator,

and moralist. Vergil is, in virtue of his elabor-
letter-writer
ation, chief of all poets, Horace ranks next. Erasmus says of
these :
" when I read this I can scarcely refrain my petition,
'Holy Socrates, pray for us.' Similarly I can hardly restrain
myself from wishing happiness and salvation to the holy soul
of Maro and Flaccus." As Raumer says, there is room for
surprise at this sentiment'.
It is noticeable that Erasmus will have nothing to do with
Latin versions of Romances^. It is more worthy of attention
that he rules out even of the higher stage of education
Christian writers, and the great Greek
in prose or verse,
philosophers. He laid down two canons on
this head (i) all :

writings that demand theological knowledge ^ (2) all writings

involving the young learner in abstract speculation*, are
unsuited to education. Thus he differs from most early
humanist masters, and from Wimpheling, Nausea, Vives, and
Colet in excluding such writers as Lactantius or Cyprian*: and
the poets Juvencus or Prudentius. Elyot, also, otherwise his
disciple, is anxious to turn boys of 17 on to the Ethics'^,
and Sadoleto has the deepest respect for Aristotle and Plato ^
as instruments of teaching youth. Erasmus, however, takes
his own line. Sertno Latirius being the aim, the best only
should be studied"; as to content, the ancient world in its

^ Raumer, Gesch. deri. 79 Piid. n.

587 " fabulae stultae et aniles": he expressly mentions

Eras. Op.
'^
iv.

"Arthurs and Lancelots." The judgment of Montaigne is as severe. Ess.

i. 25.
^ Eras. Op. Prudentius can only be understood by a theological
ix. 93 c.
scholar; and " who would dream of forming anyone's style on Juvencus?"
* Id. i, 522 B.
''
Id. ix. 93 c.
^ Elyot, Governour,
i. 91. When a boy has reached the age of 17,
" to the intent his courage be bridled with reason " he must study Aristotle's
Ethics i. and ii. These would be followed by Plato.
^ Sadoleto, De Instit. liber.. Op. iii. 1 25.
* Supra, p. 47.
 The Method of Reading an Author 115

classic perfection can afford moral instruction of wholly

adequate type.
Such a range of reading Erasmus regards as sufficient for
the ordinary student who is to prepare for a professional life.

But those who pursue the classical course in order to qualify

themselves as masters must pursue a far wider range. Upon
this he lays down a comprehensive programme in the De
Ratione Studii (§ 5). Now he has no scruple as to the moral
problem, nor does he exclude Christian writers, nor philoso-
phers. But he is, even here, averse from a study of Renaissance
Latinists, as substitutes for the great writers of antiquity :

although he makes one exception in admitting Poliziano as a

valuable model for the Epistolary style. In this exclusiveness
he differed from most of his contemporaries'.

§ 3. Method of Reading an Author.

This may be considered under three divisions : aim, pro-

cedure, devices.
In the first place it is necessary to disentangle the various
aifiis with which a given author may be read with a class.

The master will always use his author for the purpose of
verifying and amplifying grammatical rule. Accidence, syntax
and prosody will be constantly illustrated and practised through
this medium. Next, vocabulary, the range of sentence-forms,
of figures and metaphors, of similes, and enrichment generally,
— the rhetorical aptitudes — are strengthened by properly
directed construing and this accumulation of actual material
;

for composition is one of the main ends of school reading. In

the third place, style in the finer sense, the adaptation of

^ Nausea, De puei-. lit. inst., pp. 24, 27; Vives, De Trad. Discip., iii.

313, 318. Wimpheling end of the fifteenth century included Petrarch,

at the
L. Bruni, and Filelfo amongst prose Latinists to be read in schools also :

Baptista Mantuanus, the poet. Cp. Paulsen, p. 37.

8—2
 ii6 The Liberal Studies

expression to theme, is acquired by reading and by reading

only. The learner perceives through Cicero or Demosthenes
the spirit of oratory; in Vergil he finds the picturesque
elaboration of poesy ; the incisiveness of Tacitus, the narra-
tive powers of Livy, learnt at first hand, teach a student the
essentials For such qualities as these
of a historical style.
must be felt, and absorbed they cannot be imparted by
;

precept. Again, the ancient literatures embrace the whole of

attainable knowledge in the secular sphere. It is only by

reading that a modern can enter into the true significance of

antiquity the way lies alone through the gateway of the
:

famous writers. Erasmus is anxious that the learner should

penetrate into the actual personality of each author studied;
of this personality his literary expression is an inseparable
part, and demands therefore intimate analysis. There may,
there will, be much in any ancient book which for some time
will remain hidden even from the most industrious. But the
moral temper, the aesthetic form, the worldly wisdom which a
great work reveals, the student will in part realise, and will
thereby enter into a new possession by such reading he will
:

acquire an insight into a civilisation. Finally, the master

will remember the individuality of his pupils, and will direct
the aim of a lesson accordingly. For example, a masterful boy
will not be left to browse upon the Homeric stories of the
wayward Achilles, whilst he may well take warning from the
fate of Xerxes. Moreover, if another has before him a career
which demands a high sense of responsibility as for example —
—
a young noble or prince the teacher will call his attention to
the lessons of philosophy and of history, and select authors
from that point of view.
Regarding procedure, the master will from the outset base
his method upon the principle that learning depends upon
interest. The subject or the text must be introduced in what-
ever way may best stimulate this. The wise teacher will spare
no pains in learning how to create an atmosphere favourable to
 —7

The Method of Readmg a7i Author r 1

the assimilation of new matter. This principle is worked out

with much clearness in the De Ratione Studit, § 10, where
Erasmus exhibits the essential condition of all good teaching
in relation to lessons You begin by
on Terence and Vergil. "
offering an appreciation of the author, and state what is
necessary concerning his life and surroundings, his talent and
the characteristics of his style.... Next you proceed to treat
briefly and clearly the argument of the play, taking each
situation indue course." The passage which follows in the
same paragraph, upon the best manner of opening the study
of the second Eclogue deserves careful attention. A Herbart-
ian might well seize upon these examples to prove Erasmus a
prophet of "apperception."
After a preliminary construe, to gain a knowledge of the
general sense, which may presumably be given by the master,
serious application to the text is first directed to the gram-
matical structure, prosody, and vocabulary, with particular
reference to parallel word-forms in Greek. The teacher notes
any conspicuous elegance in choice of words, or such peculi-
arities as "archaism, novel usage, Graecisms." Orthography has
a place here, and etymology. The rhetorical factor at the
same time falls to be considered. This is of great importance.
For sound expression, as an acquirement of our own, is de-
pendent upon close regard to the style of the great models of
antiquity. The differences of the various literary forms — the
oratorical and historical style, the satyric and the epic, for
example — are now dealt with. It is necessary thereupon to
treat style analytically. Metaphors, similes; the artifices of
poetical prose, and of oratorical poetry ; the accepted formulae
of the letter-writer, or the orator the vast complex of ampli-
;

fication which forms the material of the De Copia the ;

authoritative structure of the political or the forensic oration

all compared with other known instances,
these are dissected,
criticised and made available for future use. Nor will the
rhetorical factor be regarded by the master in its purely
technical aspect. For he will analyse the sources of the
ii8 The Liberal Studies

pleasurable emotion aroused by any special passage through

its manner of expression.
Thirdly, the lesson will allot a large space to subject-matter.
As this is the chief end of the study of authors, so it must
constitute the real core of every lesson. It is a characteristic

instruction to the master " postremo ad philosophiam veniat

:

et poetarum fabulas apte trahat ad mores'."

The Eclogue referred to is handled by way of example as a
lesson on the conditions of true friendship. For it is by
observing examples of conduct set forth in literature, and
especially in history treated after a literary manner, that we
learn to distinguish between good and bad actions, between
disgrace and honourable repute. In the same spirit the master
will seize upon all matter which may be used as a basis for

moral suasion. It was thus that Erasmus turned the attack

upon the devotion of the scholar to pagan Letters by per-
"
petually forcing to the front the doctrine of the " ethical end
of the new education.
But the subject-matter of authors includes much besides.
The humour of the satyrist or the comic poet will be brought
clearly to view. It will be shown how Comedy treats of the

less strenuous emotions while Tragedy appeals to the deeper

;

currents of human feeling. Nor will the logical fence of

dramatic dialogue pass unnoticed. Further, descriptions of
places, of physical features, of animals, plants and natural
phenomena, will be called for. Allusions to myth, tradition,
and to history will be explained, and political and social con-
ditions of antiquity referred to. Erasmus admits that only
few scholars will follow so far and that the competent master
:

is rarely to be found. He adds a caution against undue

digression :
" ne taedio graventur ingenia discentium."

Upon what have been alluded to as devices not much can be

said. First, it should be noticed that very often the text itself
of the author was, in the absence of cheap editions, dictated^
^ The right method of reading is laid down with precision in Op. i.
447,
which passage is printed, infra, p. 223.
 The Method of Reading an Author 119

either as work to be prepared in advance or during the lesson

itself, Melanchthon had to provide Greek extracts for his class
at Wittenberg. The increasing activity of the presses at
Venice, Florence, and Lyons rendered this less necessary before
the date of Erasmus' death. But everything beyond the bare
text was of necessity dictatedas school-boys certainly would
:

not use a costly Vocabularius. Next, Erasmus discourages

literal note-taking as a habit injurious to memory and to

the power of selection. Such as were taken were to be

reduced to order, and arranged under headings in manuscript
books. Charts and lists of words might be wisely hung
on the schoolroom walls. Thirdly, if questions were asked
these would be mainly catechetical, to test memory. Yet
there is in the Colloquies much questioning which is of a
Socratic sort, but it is not possible to claim for anything that
we have of Erasmus that it has a so-called "heuristic" aim.
The humanist believed that instruction meant the imparting of
knowledge which the learner could not possibly acquire apart
from a teacher. However, seeing the great importance at-
tached to spoken is no doubt that large opportunity
Latin, there
for question and answer and for conversational teaching was
provided.
Erasmus clearly intends that, both in respect of choice of
subject-matter and of procedure, teaching shall conform to
the "law of interest." He is, of course, far from attaining a
method consciously based upon psychology. Sound principles,
indeed, he has, but they are reached empirically : they are
partial, and often enough fail him. His analysis, as has been
said before, is rarely deep. So we find him always assuming
that his own studious and, so to say, adult, interests constitute
the only rational rule of life. He is thus led to overlook
completely the physical energy and its accompanying activities,

which forbid the average boy to accept a standard of attraction

which consists, all but exclusively, in absorption in purely
passive instruction.
I20 The Liberal Studies

None the less the general method of treatment of a classical

lesson reveals a remarkable touch of modern practice. It

exhibits systematic progress from the initial rousing of interest

and preparation of the ground, through exposition and varied
treatment of the material, to careful welding of new acquisition
to knowledge already held, and finally to application first, to
practice in composition, and then, more broadly, to thought
and conduct.

§ 4. Orators and Oratory.

The first place amongst classical writers was undoubtedly

given by the humanists to the orators and the writers upon
rhetoric. This is closely connected with the position accorded
to oratory in the society of the Renaissance.
In a previous chapter attention was drawn to the character-
istic of the Revival which consists in the assertion oi personality
as a determinate aim in contrast to the mediaeval spirit, whose
achievements, for example, in art, architecture, science or Church
order, strike us as corporate and impersonal. Petrarch, how-
ever, struck the dominant note of the new age in an exuberant
self-consciousness. Thenceforward the essence of Italian viritl
was that it recognised its own distinction. Now, although this
characteristic is stamped upon all forms of humanist production,
oratory lent itself most readily to the infection of this spirit.
In the eloquence of the Renaissance the personality of the
speaker wholly dominates his subject, which is often merely

a vehicle for the exhibition of learning, taste or flattery. There

was in Italy in the Quattrocento a remarkable demand for
Latin speeches of a formal sort —a demand due, in part,
to the inexhaustible supply. " Every government, and large
municipality, even private families of position, employed their
official Orator," says Villari'. A Latin oration held at a festival

^ Villari, Machiavelli, i.
93.
 Orators and Oratory 121

the place which music does to-day. In a land of multifarious

sovereignties like Italy, diplomatic commissions, dynastic cele-
brations, academic functions, apart from civic and semi-private
festivals, provided countless ceremonial opportunities for "elo-
quence." It was inevitable that the lack of substantial content
compelled attention to rhetorical display'.
This was, however, the perversion of an effort which other-
wise had ample justification. Latin was unavoidably the
language of affairs ; its cultivation on the oratorical side was,
therefore, wholly desirable. As an educational instrument
Roman and Greek oratory was deserving of close study and
imitation. But we may doubt whether it would have received
the enthusiastic regard which all humanists accorded to it but
for two facts, the space filled by his Orations amongst the
extant works of Cicero, and the accident that the one practical
and systematic treatise upon Education left from antiquity
treats of the education of the Orator. It is indispensable to
any proper understanding of humanism to realise the position
filled by Quintilian in the world of fifteenth century scholarship.

From the date of the circulation of the complete codex of his

work, about 1418 —
21, his fame grew rapidly and overshadowed V
that of all Roman prose writers, Cicero alone excepted. Every
humanist tract upon education or upon rhetoric is largely a
reproduction of Quintilian : words, phrases, illustrations, criti-

cisms, principles, are often merely copied from the Roman

master. Typical examples are Aeneas Sylvius oti Education,
and the De Copia of Erasmus".
In presence then of the demand and the apparatus for
rhetorical training it is not surprising that oratory filled a large

1 Burckhardt, Renaissance, p. 240, for examples :

" Filelfo begins a
speech at a betrothal with the words '
Aristotle, the Peripatetic'." " Most
of his speeches are an atrocious patchwork of classical and biblical quotations
tacked on to a string of commonplaces."
^ The former in Woodward, Vittorino, p. 136: Quintilian was reduced
to epitome by F. Patrizi, about 1460 — 70. Bod. Lib., Can. MSS. 285.
 ;

122 The Liberal Studies

place in the curriculum of the Italian schools. It was from

them due course transferred to the schools of- Germany,

in
France and England. Erasmus, therefore, is but typical of
humanist masters in his view of the importance of the subject
in education. It will be understood that the relation between

the study of ancient orators and the corresponding art of

rhetorical composition is an intimate one, more intimate than in
any other branch of humanist instruction, not excepting Letter-
writing. The rule that an author must be read as a model for
imitation, and not only as literature, applies, therefore, particu-
larly to Cicero and Demosthenes.
The concept of oratory as it was derived from the Roman
masters was one of much distinction. The orator, in the first
place, is defined as "the good citizen skilled in speaking."
Quintilian's words are " quum bene dicere non possit nisi vir
bonus." He supports this from the Gorgias — "dfay/cr; rov
prjTopiKov StKaiov ctvai." Thus the education of an orator
implied that a high moral standard was aimed at. For the
noble expression of noble thought must be the product of
a noble personality. Next, oratory implies wide knowledge,
indeed the ideal orator will be an omnivorous reader. Lastly,
he will have a corresponding command of language. The
function of eloquence in stimulating virtuous ideas and actions
was tacitly accepted in spite of much of what to us seems
disappointing experience in the Italy of Lorenzo and of
Rodrigo Borgia —a period when the country reeked with
oratory.
It is not necessary to discuss the selection of models for
study. Cicero and Demosthenes stand out above all. Yet
Erasmus is in accord with Quintilian in refusing to limit the
learner to these. Quintilian is the great master of technique
though the 'De Oratore of Cicero is to be closely followed.
The speeches of Livy and Sallust are of great service Tacitus :

is less useful. Lucan, as a rhetorical poet, is worth study.

Isocrates is referred to. Unlike Sturm, who says of Luther's
 Composition in Latin Prose 123

German eloquence, "Lutherus quasi magister extitit nostri

sermonis, sive puritatem consideres, sive copiam," Erasmus
has not one word to show that he recognises vernacular
oratory as other than a self-denying condescension of the
preacher.

§ 5. Composition in Latin Prose.

It will be convenient to consider here the subject of

Composition, since its climax is reached in an oration. The
study of eloquent I^atinity in Germany rested on sanctions
somewhat from those of the Italian world. There
different
also, however, Latin was the tongue of educated and pro-
fessional life, of administration, law, medicine, the teaching
profession, the Church. It has been shown that of books
circulating in Germany, even as late as the middle of the
sixteenth century, 70 per cent, are written in Latin in the :

lifetime of Erasmus the proportion was no doubt larger still.

For we must remember that in distinction to Italy there was
as yet no literature, in German, of scholarly type, whether
serious or "polite," to correspond to the work of Poliziano,
Bembo, or Machiavelli, at least until the Reformation. Latin
composition, therefore, was a necessary aptitude. This explains
how it was that humanist masters were able to retain public
assent to the leading place which they claimed for Latin prose.
There was a practical demand for Latin, and Erasmus,
Melanchthon and Sturm insisted that this should be classical
Latin. It was no question of an " accomplishment " the :

business-like Luther, with his strong German bias, was not less
clear upon the point than the humanist.
That oratory was the chief force in affairs was a conviction
based upon the precedents of Greek and Roman history, as the
humanists understood it. It was their tendency to view all

prose writing, and even poetry, through the glamour of rhetoric.

124 '^^^ Liberal Studies

"My greatest approbation," says Erasmus, "is reserved for a

rhetorical poem and poetical oratory... the rhetorical art should
transpire through the poem." This is the evil influence of
Lucan'. The and inflated,
Epistolary style became artificial

and was the subject of endless hand-books upon the form and
diction of various classes of Letters. Further, " the mysteries
of the Faith," so Erasmus contends, "owe their power over
the minds and conduct of men, in large degree, to the grace
and eloquence of their presentation^." For thus the Fathers
of the best age qualified themselves to be the teachers of the
Church by their training in rhetoric and style. Eloquence,
therefore, in the mind of Erasmus has, as a practical art, a wide
range : it covers forensic, didactic, hortatory, complimentary,
and other forms of address ; historical, narrative and descriptive
composition ; argument, dialogue and correspondence. In-
directly it affects poetical art. It is evident then that systematic
teaching of Latin Composition will largely concern itself with
the oratorical style as that form which has something common
to all styles I
On the other hand Erasmus affirmed with iteration his
protest against absorption in the art of expression. Professional
aims and breadth of culture alike come before style. His
general position on Imitation has been referred to. In the
dialogue De Recta Pronunciatione he realises that reaction
against mediaeval " barbarism " has gone too far in the direc-
tion of stylistic display*. In Christian education ostentation

^ Eras. Op. iii. 104 D.

'^
Op. 30 A, iii. 1275 D, E.
V.
^ So Colet requires "eloquence" as the characteristic product of scholar-
ship for St Paul's: Lupton, Colet, p. 169.
* His words are :
" This is apparently a law of human progress, that on
attaining a certain point in its course a movement only escapes harmful
exaggeration by a violent rebound in the opposite direction, whereby the
evil tendency is corrected by its contrary." Op. i. 923 C, E. This is an
interesting recognition of the law of re-action, and implies a historical
perception which is unusual in Erasmus.
 Latin Composition 125

in speech, which strives to display personal qualities, will be

discouraged'. Hence, "it is good to speak Attic Greek, but
it should not be too ostentatiously Attic*." The old au-
thorities, he affirms, always insisted upon appropriateness,
naturalness, sincerity : the subject first, with expression in
strict harmony.
Yet, though such a position is didactically sound, in practice
Erasmus is not always consistent. For in discourse appropriate-
ness needs to be enhanced by fulness {copia) and elegance,
which follow very closely in degree of importance. Expression
cannot be truly "simple" or perfectly "adapted" unless it
emanates from mastery of all the resources of the art^ The
best equipped scholar moves most easily within the rudiments
of his subject. Thus it still remains true that the teacher of
composition will find it necessary to lay stress upon training
in the whole range of rhetoric. Redundancy, embellishment,
copia rerum et verborum, carried even to excess, are not faults
in a learner* oratory must be taught as a conscious art, to
:

serve as an equipment, whose superfluities will be cast off as

taste and judgment mature. Nay, it is defensible to accustom
the scholar to argue the Unjust Cause for the sake of practice in
setting out every side of a question. Hence what is objection-
able as a habit of style is allowable or necessary as a stage in
education, when the entire apparatus of Cicero and Quintilian
is to be employed.
The epistolary style, for obvious reasons, ranked next in
importance. The function of correspondence in the life of the
Renaissance was to serve as the organ of cosmopolitan criti-
cism. It was so recognised by scholars, in spite of the fact

that degenerated into a vehicle of ostentation on the one

it

hand, and of shameless flattery or slander on the other.

Erasmus protested that the ancients respected the limits of
right criticism, whilst Christians had forgotten them. Letters
^ Woodward, Vittorino, p. 233, n. 3. "^
Eras. Op. iii. 10 D.
^ Op. iii. 726 c, D. * Op. i. 5B, iii. 197 c.
 126 The Liberal Studies

were written to be kept and were often collected by their

writers'. Immortal fame might be expected for one who
numbered several fine Latinists among his correspondents.
As regards Methods, the beginnings of composition arose
by natural process from the first efforts at conversation, that

"daily intercourse with those accustomed to express themselves

with exactness and refinement " to which Erasmus attached so
great importance. The master amplified this by dictating
formulas (preserved in the earlier Colloquies) for use in play,
intercourse, entertainments and school. At this stage rules of
syntax were learnt as described above ^ The order of exercises
in composition is not systematically set out. But simple original
compositions (with full directions for treatment), by way of
expansion of conversation, may be begun very early. Subjects
willbe chosen with due regard to the intelligence and interest
of the pupil say, a theme from an incident of ancient history,
:

with a moral reflectionan apologue, or a simple myth. General

;

knowledge will the powers of a magnet, or

provide a topic :

"mirum polypi ingenium." Such exercises will demand only

grammatical accuracy within the forms of the simple sentence,
with a gradually enlarging vocabulary. The learner will acquire
the art of making a lexicon of his own, arranging his words not
under subject-headings ^
alphabetically, but
A is reached when the close study of easier
second stage
authors, as models, is possible such aids as De Copia, De
;

Conscribendis Episiolis, and the Colloquies are introduced.

Greek and Latin prose exercises may with advantage be
worked together. The exercises now available are apparently

^ The letter of Poggio to Vittonno (cp. Vittorino, p. 83) is an excellent

example of the humanist letter of the " self-conscious " sort.
^ De Rat. Stud., infra, p. 163, Cp. p. 106.
§ 3.
^ De Copia; Of. i. 11. So Nausea, De Puero litt. inst., p. 52, urges
indices for " nobiliores sententias, quas Graeci yvunas dicunt," so that they
are readily available for composition. The De Rat. Stttd., § 8 onwards,
should be read as the text of what follows.
 Composition in Latin Prose 127

the following : {a) paraphrase of poetry, {b) duplicate treat-

ment of one theme after differing models, {c) exposition of one
argument upon divergent lines, {d) imitation of an easy Letter
of Cicero or Pliny, (e) the most important exercise of all,

version from Greek into Latin. It has the authority of Quin-

tilian ; and Erasmus would, we know, not admit as a qualifica-
tion that to Quintilian Latin was a vernacular tongue. This
practice will be found to involve three valuable processes : the
analysis of Greek construction ; the comparison of the genius
of each language in respect of sentence structure ; exercise in
moving rapidly through sentence forms and vocabulary of Latin
for the purpose of reaching equivalent expression.
The third stage, corresponding to that of systematic gram-
matical study, is that of full freedom on the part of the pupil,
when theme alone is suggested with occasional hints as to
models to be observed. There are four forms of Composition
for general use : the Epistle, the Oration, the Declamation
upon a historical or general subject, the Defence of a just or
an unjust Cause. The study of the entire art of the rhetori-
cian as laid down by Cicero and Quintilian is now begun.
Seven or eight carefully devised and corrected exercises will
be a sufficient introduction to the art of laying out subject-
matter for original composition. Much stress is now laid
upon correction : the master criticising in turn (a) selection,
(d) treatment, {c) imitation. He will censure omission or bad
arrangement of matter, exaggeration, carelessness, awkwardness
of expression. He will then ask for a re-written copy.
The chief aids to composition were, besides the great
classic masters, the Elegantiae of Valla, with typical letters of
Aeneas Sylvius, and Poliziano. Perotti, De conscribendis Epi-
stolis, Trapezuntius, and Barzizza were in constant use in
schools under Melanchthon's advice, but neither
organised
Erasmus nor Sturm utilised such text-books\ The De Copia
^ Erasmus' own work De Conscr. Epist. was largely used. Cp. Paulsen
Class. Unler. p. 107 — 8.
128 The Liberal Studies

Verborum et Rerum is the elaborate aid to Latin prose pre-

pared by Erasmus for the use of students, and issued from
Cambridge. It is a manual of "enrichment" and "variation,"
based mainly upon Quintilian viii, with modern examples.
He defines the purpose of " copia " :
" brevity does not consist

in saying as little as possible, but in saying the best that can be

said in the shortest way." "Copia" implies right selection of
words, figures, ideas : examples to the point, judgments clear-
cut, digressions rigidly in hand, figures obviously appropriate.
It is by no means identical with " indigesta turba " of illustra-

tion, orwith tedious repetition but variety, brightness, move-

:

ment, are of the essence of " copia." student of the classical A

Renaissance, desirous to make a first-hand acquaintance with
the art of expression as understood by humanist writers, cannot
do better than make a careful analysis of the De Copia, read-
ing side by side the De Oratore and the fourth and eighth
books of the Institutio Oratorio^.

% 6. History and Historians.

Erasmus has himself admitted that he is no historian.

We may with confidence accept his disclaimer. But in this
respect he has the company of well-nigh every humanist.
It has just been said that oratory and orators constituted
the true literary interest of the men of Letters of the earlier
Renaissance. Now there is, has always been, and, it must be
confessed, cannot but be, a sharp line of division between the
real historian and the professed stylist. The great orators
knew it. Cicero and Quintilian, for example, are at one in
regarding Thucydides as a man apart, from whom the orator
can learn hardly anything. Xenophon on the other hand,

1 On the purpose and value of the De Copia cp. Benoist, De Puer.

p. loi. Formal as it was in method, there is no doubt that it imparted
excellent training in systematic observation of, and practice in, style.
 Rhetorical Historians 129

"cuius sermo est melle dulcior," is most attractive. Livy and

Sallust, as historians, are by reason of theirmeasured judg-
ments alien from the oratorical ideal. They may, indeed, be
pressed into service, like any other store-houses of instances,
for purposes of argument, of parallel, of illustration, of example.
But Quintilian perceived that the orator whose function it is to
convince an auditory has little in common with one who writes
"ad memoriam posteritatis et ingenii famam'." The humanist
was, undoubtedly, drawn to the historians, and Erasmus lays
stress on the need of studying them. He specifically advises
Livy, Plutarch, Tacitus, Sallust and Herodotus. In one of his
letters he urges that a youth preparing for public service should

add to this reading the moral treatises of Cicero and from the :

course thus sketched "the practical wisdom so essential to a

man taking his part in public affairs will be most surely
attained ^" Yet in spite of this, it is quite certain that all
humanists, with the conspicuous exception of Flavio Biondo,
honoured the historians for that very quality which as histo-
rians was most perilous to them, namely, their rhetoric. This
then is the first use which Erasmus would make of a classical
historian— he is a model of rhetorical treatment of narrative or
debate. The closer the affinity he reveals to the orator, the
greater his attraction. For instance, Erasmus, writing it is
true in his early days, demands from a modem writer of
histories correctness of style, "elegantia Sallustiana," "felicitas
Liviana," clearness in presentation, inspiring variety, artistic

completeness, and so on^. We recognise at once the artifices

of the stylist. But, writing in the maturity of his powers,
in the De Ratione Siudii, he propounds historical themes,
^ For the humanist view Aeneas Sylvius, De Liber. Educ. (in Woodward,
Vittorino da Feltre) may be read. " It is peculiar to eloquence to depend
on admiration," Quint, x. 7. 17.
' Op. iii.
97 1 D. But we should particularly have liked to find P>asmus
explaining in what manner such reading would mould the judgment of the
student.
3 op. i. 1817.

w. 9
 130 The Liberal Studies

suggested by reading, which are purely formal, and reveal an

entire absence of historical perception ^
In the second place, the historian is to be valued in that he
provides us with a stock of facts for the illustration of our
arguments. Here "the rarer and more marvellous the instance,
the greater will be the interest evoked. and . . . From old stories
annals, and also from we should learn by heart,
modern history,
and so have in readiness, examples of virtue and vice, of re-
markable occurrences of any kind. Now such facts may be
drawn from the history of every nation from the company of —
great historians of Greece and Rome, from the Hebrew Scrip-
tures from the events handed down to memory from the story of
;

the Egyptian, the Persian, the French, the British nations; from
the stories of Sparta, of Thebes and Athens, even from the
traditions of the Scythian. For every people has its remark-
able occurrences, customs and institutions-." This "spice
its

of antiquarian knowledge," as he calls it elsewhere, is in no

true sense historical equipment. It is all a mere matter of
"copia," oratorical and stylistic embellishment, which indeed is

evident from the fact that Erasmus very rarely refers to histori-
cal reading, except from the point of view of composition.
Thirdly, a literary history is to the humanist a gallery of

moral example. Perhaps this is the highest function of

history in the hands of the teacher: to illustrate moral law by
recorded "cases." This is what Sadoleto* means when he
vaguely puts forward the ancient historians as full of warnings
against evil policy, and as such, of high value in training the
young. It would be interesting to know how the Cardinal
Secretary himself interpreted such moral guidance in handling
the politics of Leo X. Now this method of application to

^ Infra, p. 173. " Historians should enrich their narrative with fictitious
speeches, than which nothing is better suited to their purpose." De Copia,
i. 106 D.
"^
Eras. Op. i. 389 F, x. 1733 E-
' Sadoleto, De Puer. Instit. iii. 109.
 —

History as Biography 131

immediate edification undoubtedly prejudiced humanist history

as a serious subject, either of enquiry or of instruction.
History became fragmentary, artificial, a cento of examples, of
commonplaces, of biographical idealisations. Critical study
tended to be shirked, as spoiling good illustrations; and the
art of the historical was limited to clothing accepted
writer
versions of facts in Bruni and
novel and ingenious form.
Poggio, in their Italian histories, left models of imitation in its
most barren form'. History, consequently, took but a poor
place in education. Even a Prince, who is to be nourished on
the Politics and the De Officiis, may be content with a modest
review of the historians; the mode and extent of such interest
being left quite vague*. The view of the function of history as
edification is most instructive to the student of the Revival.
For it is in entire harmony with the prevailing concept of the
power of ethical teaching to mould life. The virtue of the
antique world might easily be restored so the scholar held —
if only examples of ancient virtue were persuasively expressed

and sufficiently forced upon attention. A belief that the

impulse to imitate could be produced by passive contempla-
tion of artificially selected situations was the bane of the
literary educator. Erasmus himself knew better, but in respect
of history he did not rise above the conventional attitudes of
his day.
We
must not forget, however, that the biographical treat-
ment of history was in part the result of the conviction largely —
justified by facts —
of the influence of the Individual in the
Italy of the Renaissance and in part, of the large place filled
:

by the passion for Fame^. Now this is by no means a merely

' An accessible account of humanist historians is to be found in Villari,

MachiavelH, ii. 404. Cp. also Voigt, Wiederbelebting, ii. 482.

* Eras. Op. iv. 587.
^ On the subject of the Individual and of Fame in the Renaissance
cp. Burckhardt, The Renaissance, p. 134, Gaspary, Letteratura, iii. 14.
The classic expression of the ideal is Petrarch's De Viris Illustribus.

9—2
132 The Liberal Studies

humanist weakness. Machiavelli is more keenly individualist

than Bruni or Bembo, for he had watched the forces of Italian
politics at first hand.
And thus we understand why the humanist
the reason
left no direct impress department of history: direct,
in the
advisedly, for indirectly he made a broad treatment of national
phenomena possible by revealing to enquirers a completed civi-
lisation. Machiavelli complains that the study of histories is

divorced from affairs, that there is no working-in of what is

learnt into modern polity. In the organisation of the State, in

administration, in military science, in expansion, the lessons of
the past are not realised for purposes of the present. In
other words, the scholar's view of history was purely literary ^
The modern concept of history arose, in actual fact,
amongst men of action, or at least amongst men in direct
contact with affairs. The diplomatist, administrator, politi-
cian, not the scholars, were the authors of the political
science, of which, in a different sense to that which Erasmus
conceived. History was in truth the expression. Machiavelli
and Guicciardini were the first to understand History as the
record and analysis of the inner and outer determinations of
national life. Yet these great Masters, as has been said, could
not have been, had not the Roman world stood revealed to
them by the same scholars whom in their own region they
superseded ^ They, too, were children of the humanist Re-
vival.

^ Discorsi : the Preface.

- Elyot's views of the aims of history teaching are of interest : Governour
i. 82. Mr Foster Watson has pointed out how low a place the teaching of
the subject held in English schools, even in the early part of the 17th
century. The first school-book of English history known to me is a Latin
metrical narrative of battles: Ockland's Anglorum Praelia, 1582. This
was commanded to be read in Grammar schools. See Foster Watson,
The Curriculum, p- 25.
 Function of Logic in Education 133

§ 7. Logic and Philosophy.

This is the convenient point at which to estimate the

functions of logic in education. It has already been shown
that the mediaevalist viewed "dialectica" in immediate re-
lation to "grammatical" This led to a revolt on the part of
the humanists against the entire method which then obtained of
teaching these subjects. The scholar, however, by no means
banished the study of Logic from education : but he connected
it, not with grammar, but with rhetoric. To Aeneas Sylvius
for instance, rhetoric and dialectic are almost convertible
terms I The whole apparatus of rhetoric as elaborated by
much illustration of
Cicero and Quintilian was recognised as so
logical Hence from an educational point of view
method.
Erasmus lays down that logical aid in ordering of subject-
matter in composition is indispensable. The pupil must
understand by dialectic "quo pacto alia propositio ex alia
pendeat : quot rationibus unaquaeque propositio fulciri debet,
quot confirmationibus unaquaeque ratio^" But this is the
only end to which logic can be profitably studied. As a sub-
stantial subject of enquir}' or a self-contained discipline,
Erasmus refused to consider its claims. " I would not," he
says, " have a boy wholly ignorant of logical rules, but I cer-
tainly decline to have him trained to exhibit those preposterous
feats of dialectical juggling and tumbling so much belauded"*."
Erasmus, indeed, doubts whether a boy should be urged to read
much logic, or whether a grown man should carry forward the
study of it beyond the mere stage of application: " ne tanquam
ad Sirenaeos scopulos consenescat*." Vives, Melanchthon, and
^ Supra, p. loi.
^ Aen. Sylv. Op. p. 989: based upon Quint. Inst. Oral. xii. 1. 13.
* Eras. Op. i. 526 B and v. 850 A.
* Op. i. 922-3.

' De Rat. Stud., infra, p. 165, § 4.

134 rhe Liberal Studies

Sadoleto speak with precisely the same voice, which was that of
allthe Italian scholars since Petrarch. Dialectic then is an
aid to effective style. The protest was by no means otiose, for
there was no school book more common in Germany on the
eve of the humanist movement than the repulsive " Summulae
Logicae" of Petrus Hispanus, afterwards Pope John XXIP.
That Erasmus was by temperament averse to philosophical
speculation has been already pointed out. His conception of
philosophy excluded dialectic or metaphysic, whether ancient
or mediaeval. He does not, indeed, hesitate to speak of
Socrates as of one sharing divine inspiration: "Sancte Socrates,
ora pro nobis," he is tempted to cry. But that has reference
only to the moral wisdom which he finds ascribed to him in
Xenophon and Plato. It may be said that of ethical theory
Erasmus has as little perception as the mediaevalists had.
Hence the didactic side of ethics alone affects him, and for this
he recommends Hesiod, Horace, and Terence as hardly less
valuable than the De Officiis. Seneca, and Plutarch's Moralia.
The " philosophical " lessons to be drawn from any authors
must be carefully shown by the master who will set themes for
composition from Valerius Maximus or Plutarch, in part at
least from the ethical point of view. Political philosophy is
hardly alluded to however sound Erasmus' judgments upon
;

government and royal responsibility, it was wholly alien from

his temper to see them in the light of theoretic generalisations.
Hence the great bulk of mediaeval philosophical speculation
has no interest for him. He admits, however, that Scotus and
Thomas may have had a message for their own ages, and where
they derived their ideas from antiquity, may still serve some
useful purposed In the region of "natural philosophy" he
writes sarcastically of the men who talked as if they were
peculiarly admitted into the secrets of the " Architect of the

^ Cp. Paulsen, Class. Unierricht, p. 107, no, for the popularity of

this text-book in German schools at the beginning of the i6th cent.
2 Op. iii. 704-5.
 The Place of Greek 135

Universe," discoursing of the causes " obviously inexplicable,"

of the motions of the heavenly bodies, of the origin of
thunder, of the winds, of eclipses, or go on further still to
"primae materiae quidditates, ecceitates, phenomena so fine
and so intangible that Lynceus himself would hardly detect
their presence'." All this, of course, is merely evidence of
speculative and of his unwillingness to make the
interests
necessary effort to go below the surface of a subject prima
facie repellent to his genius. He refers to Aristotle, Plato, and
Plutarch as philosophers to be read upon education but ;

apart from his debt to the latter writer he has in reality drawn
very little from Greek sources upon the subject^.

§ 8. Greek Studies, and the Argument for them.

It amongst the more important results of his
was, perhaps,
first visit England that Erasmus returned to Paris with the
to
single determination to qualify himself to read the Greek
authors at first hand. It is at that time that we find him using
such expressions as this :
" Sine quibus (sc. literis graecis)
caeca est omnis eruditio " ;
" hoc unum expertus video, nuUis

in literis nos esse aliquid sine Graecitate. Aliud enim est

conjicere, aliud judicare, aliud tuis, aliud alienis, oculis cre-
dere^" A few years later he has no doubt that, "ex institute
omnis fere rerum scientia a Graecis auctoribus petenda est,"
and that " imprimis ad fontes ipsos properandum, id est
:

Graecos et antiquos*." It is impossible for a teacher, there-

^ Op. iv. 462, 3.

^
De Christ. Matrim., Op. v. 713 c. The Republic, and the Laws, of
Plato, the Politics, vii. and viii. of Aristotle, are the works named. There
are in reality no traces of any influence of the Republic upon Erasmus;
Sadoleto, on the other hand, has seized certain salient characteristics of
the Platonic education with some precision.
^ 968 D, 96 B.
Op. iii.

* De Rat. Stud., infra, The specific authors to be used in edu-

§ 3.
cation have been enumerated above, p. 112.
136 The Liberal Studies

fore, to attain competency in his profession without a working

knowledge of Greek. The argument for Greek is two-fold.
In the first place the Greek literature contains the fullest know-
ledge in all departments of human learning yet available.

Melanchthon made this claim for the study of Greek in his

address upon Studies at Wittenberg in 15 18'. If we consider
the level of political, mathematical, and scientific knowledge
attained at this date, it is probably quite true to fact that the

Greek world, say Augustan period, had reached a degree

in the
of enlightenment wholly in advance of anything which
northern Europe could show. But the humanist had a
second argument. The Roman of the great age had based
higher education upon the interdependence of Greek and
Roman letters. Cicero urges his son Marcus when at Athens
never to separate the study of the two languages^. Quintilian
presses the same advice upon the student of orator}'. The
Latin Fathers, Jerome at their head, are witnesses to the
educational importance of a knowledge of Greek, whether in
respect of learning or of expression. The dependence of
literary form, of mythology, of vocabulary, as developed in
Rome, upon Greek sources, revealed itself to the humanist
scholar in the first steps that he made in the acquisition of the
Greek tongue.
Professional studies, notably theology and medicine, have,

^ Melanchthon, De CorrigendJs Adolescent in m Sludiis (Aug.

15 18): in
—
Corpus Reformatorum xi. 15 25. Not only for proper understanding of
Grammar and Rhetoric, but for Philosophy, Natural Science, History arid
Theology, is Greek indispensable. The reputation for coarseness under
which Germany suffers can best be removed by the civilising influence of
Greek learning. Cp. Eras. De Kat. Stud., infra, p. 164, § 3. "I affirm that
with slight qualification the whole of attainable knowledge lies enclosed
within the literary monuments of ancient Greece."
^ Upon the relation of Greek to Roman education in the Augustan age,
see Rossignol, UEducation chez les ancicns, pp. 170 and 234. Quint. Instil.
Oral. I. i. 12. Cp. Eras. Op. i. 922 f : Utriusque linguae peritiam exacte
perdiscat teneris slatim annis.
 Greek in Schools 137

says Erasmus, suffered grievously from the lack of knowledge

of Greek on part of the experts. The same is true of mathe-
matics. Hence not only must the Greek Testament be read
in the original, but Origen and Chrysostom ; the Paduan and
Salernitan masters of medicine must be corrected by a first-

hand acquaintance with Galen, Hippocrates, and the physical

writings of Aristotle. Indeed, he hopes that the time will
soon be come when a medical man will be disqualified by
ignorance of Greek'.
There were many practical difficulties in the school teaching
of Greek. Texts were
still scarce elementary readers and
;

grammars hardly existed at all. Reuchlin and Melanchthon

had to procure a printer who would issue for their use short
extracts from Xenophon or Demosthenes or a printer was
:

subsidised to purchase a Greek fount^. Otherwise the entire

texts for beginners were of necessity dictated before being
construed. Melanchthon complains that he could only teach a
few lines at a time for this reason. It is probable that in good

German Nuremberg, from two to four

schools, Strassburg or
hours weekly were given to the subject. The upper class
under Sturm, however, spent a much longer time upon Greek.
In most Protestant schools the Greek Testament formed the
chief reading book. Melanchthon proposed to take Homer as
the poet, and the Epistle to Titus as the prose work, in his first
year at Wittenberg.
Reference has been made to the somewhat restricted range
of Erasmus' reading in Greek, and to his defective power of

textual criticism. There is a vagueness in his allusions to

the scope and method of Greek studies^ which is in marked
' Op. ix. Cp. Glockner, Erasmus, p. 46.
84A.
^ The school-texts of the 16th cent, were printed, outside of Italy, at

Lyons, by Gryphius; at Antwerp, by Plantin; at Paris, by R. Estienne

and, to less extent, at Basel, Louvain and Deventer.
^ For example it is doubtful whether Erasmus proposed that Greek

should be taught colloquially. In any case such a method could not be

defended on the same grounds as conversational Latin.
138 The Liberal Studies

contrast to the precision of his injunctions upon the subject of

Latin teaching. Erasmus, we must remember, began late, and

laboured under grave disadvantages as a student of Greek.

He probably always found Latin scholarship more congenial.
It is beyond doubt that he never attained the eminence in
Greek which characterised his contemporary Budaeus. Indeed,
the real home of this branch of humanist study was neither
Italy, Germany, nor England, but France. Guarino and
Aurispa, Linacre and Aldus, were but pioneers, and Erasmus'
place is with them. French scholars of the sixteenth century
took over their task, and built up that elaborate apparatus of
grammar and lexicon, of textual criticism and of research in
the broad field of " Realien," which will always stand forth as
the notable contribution of France to the cause of Letters.

§ 9. Mathematics and Nature Knowledge.

The opening sentence of the De Ratione Studii, "principio

duplex omnino videtur cognitio, rerum ac verborum. Ver-
borum prior, rerum potior," must not be taken to imply that
Erasmus was an advocate of " real " studies in education.
The opposing terms are drawn from Quintilian' who uses
"res" in the sense of "ideas," or vorjfiaTa, in distinction to
names, "verba." The expression no doubt includes facts of
nature, but it includes also such a " fact " as the versatility of
the god Mercury, or that "friendship between equals is the
more durable."
The study of facts is by Erasmus not differentiated into
systematic branches of knowledge. Natural science, descrip-
tions, travellers' tales, traditional lore, mathematics, astrology,

^ It has been well remarked by Bassi that Quintihan's

Ins/. Orat. x.
authority became almost pontifical for Italian and German humanists. To
dififer from him needed high moral courage. Rivista di Filol. e if Instr.
Class., xxii. 7 — 9.
 —

The Place of Real Studies 139

geography, medical rules, tend to merge into one another, and

are classed under the common term "res." Their understand-
ing is wholly dependent upon thorough training in language
for without vocabulary neither names nor epithets can be
appropriately given : without arts of exposition and description
neither due appreciation nor record of facts is possible.
Hence language study must precede any attempt at "eruditio."
For lack of Letters knowledge has wholly decayed : without a
highly developed language the enquirer is deprived of the only
means of (a) acquisition, {b) expression, (c) analysis, (d) ex-
position, of learning.
Concerning the function of " eruditio " {Sachkenntnis)
Erasmus holds a somewhat uncertain position. He is, in the
first place, fully alive to the importance of " information " as
part of the equipment for
life. But he is of opinion that this
must be secured after the liberal education proper is com-
pleted, and the wide outlook of adult life reached. Yet he
sees the importance of a judicious intermingling of teaching
concerning plants, animals, geographical and other natural
phenomena, with classical instruction. Pictures, charts, maps,
even real objects, as in gardens, are of great help in such
lessons, which arouse interest and impart a perception of the
varied content of learning to which language affords the key.
Nowhere, however, does Erasmus hint that observation or
intercourse can serve as a substitute for ancient authorities in
any subject, although occasionally a traveller or a modem
writer may supplement what has been handed down and in ;

archaeology, inscriptions, statues, coins and ruins may appro-

priately be worked in. Erasmus has given a list of the
authors in whose writings such knowledge of " res " can be
found, though he admits that the list is not complete. It will
serve to indicate the scope of real studies as understood by
Erasmus. The writers are Pliny, Macrobius, Eratosthenes,
Athenaeus, and Gellius, in respect of general subject-matter.
In connection with Geography or Cosmography, Pliny,
 ;:

140 The Liberal Studies

Ptolemy, Pomponius Mela, and Strabo with Mythology, ;

Homer, Hesiod, Ovid eked out with Boccaccio de Genealogia

Deorum, Philosophy will be read in Plato, Aristotle, Theo-
phrastus, Plotinus Theology in Origen, Chrysostom, Basil,
;

Ambrose, and Jerome \ Augustine takes a subordinate place

with Erasmus. It is curious that in the De Ratio7ie Shidii he

makes no reference to historical study in this connection.

Whatever his conception of the end of eruditio, it is obvious
that the means to it are purely literary.
A passage written towards the end of his life upon the
effect of right religious instruction might lead us to believe that
Erasmus realised the emotional value of a study of Nature for
the young. " Eet the boy learn to consider the glory of the
heavens, the rich harvest of the earth, the hidden fountains of
rivers and their courses hurrying to the sea, the illimitable
ocean, the countless families of living creatures, all created
expressly to serve the needs of men^"
But we must not take
this very seriously. In his Letters Erasmus has hardly a
reference to the impression made upon him by scenery
neither the Alps nor the bay of Naples move him. On the
other hand, he records a remarkable criticism on a well-known
passage from Bernard of Clairvaux " Thou shalt find many
:

things in the woods that are not written in any book, and trees
and rocks will teach thee what thou canst learn of no Master ^"
And he adds that he himself talks, to his vast profit, with the
trees of the forest. "These," says Erasmus, "must in truth
have been wise trees which could produce so wise a scholar
they deserve to sit in the professorial seat of the theologian, or
perhaps to be transformed into nymphs, instead of falling
prone upon the hills, or serving to fatten swine. What can
men learn from /r(?^i-?... Perhaps these are descendants of the
Tree of Knowledge, or of those which followed Orpheus ; are

^ De Rat. Stud., infra, p. 167, § 5, and elsewhere.

^ Op. V. 7 14 A. 3 Bernard, Epist. cvi.
 The Relation of Words to Things 141

they perchance philosophers imprisoned by some god in wood-

land guise ? But, joking apart, I am astonished that Bernard
should have turned to trees rather than to men in his search
for wisdom... Socrates would make his home in the city in
preference to the loveliest spot which Greece could offer him,
just because he could learn nothing from fields and trees.
Does France then rejoice in trees more learned than any Greece
could show?" There is only one way in which Bernard's
words make sense " he prayed under the trees, read there,
:

pondered there there he wrote, and thought." He sought

;

solitude and peace for purposes of learned reflection, just as a

poet may seek retreat in the silence of the woods \ But the
true end of " scientia rerum " in the judgment of the humanist
is its use as an aid to the proper understanding of ancient

authors. Facts are to be derived from literary sources, and in

turn they are to be employed in the illustration of literature.
Erasmus, indeed, has a philosophy of speech of his own,
suggested by the Craiylus, but very imperfectly worked out, by
which the relation of words to the things signified was in-
herent and fixed^. Onomatopoeic words are by no means the
only group which illustrates this hidden truth. " If there be /
not a traceable likeness between the word and the object or ^
action which it symbolises, then there is some invisible reason
why such object or action is named by the word which ex-
presses it... Words which express softness or slowness prefer an L
sound, lenis and lain are examples size, on the other hand, ^/'
;

appropriates the M
sound, for that of all letters takes up most
room {Magnus, /xeyas)." Which only shows that Erasmus
could take rank with the most whimsical of mediaevalist
grammarians when he chose. But he stands on wholly
different ground when he insists upon the importance of
accurate and extensive knowledge of names and epithets in
the understanding of things ^ Modern grammarians, he says,

' Op. X. 1742 E — 1743 B. "^

Op. i. 930c.
3 Op. V. 958 D.
 142 The Liberal Studies

ignore this ; pupils grow up wholly deficient in

and their
vocabulary for use. Wherefore Erasmus urged the value of
direct object-teaching, as in the famous instance of the
Convivium Religiosiim\ where the garden, the aviary, and the
walls of the terrace walks are used to impart nature knowledge.
There each plant had its right name, with fitting motto or
proverb attached, and strange beasts were depicted for the
instruction of the household and its guests. The same
method was advised by him also in the teaching of children
in school we have an illustration in the picture of the fight
;

between the elephant and the dragon, " the large Indian
variety," described in the De Fueris^. But the aim of such
methods is not the imparting of facts, of the real knowledge of
the things concerned, to serve as the material for reflection
upon, and generalisation from, phenomena, and as the found-
ation of powers of framing concepts of natural law. What is
primarily sought is the acquisition of exact terminology, in
accord with current popular knowledge. Such general inform-
ation served its main purpose in enabling the learner to
appreciate intelligently the similes or metaphors of an ancient
poet. This is the argument proposed for " eruditio " in the
£>e Ratione Studii. "Astrology is futile in itself, but is the
\
"7> key to many allusions. History explains many references in
other writings. Indeed, a genuine student ought to be able to
grasp the meaning of every fact and idea which he meets with
in his reading, otherwise their Hterary treatment through
epithet or figure will prove obscure or confused. is no There
discipline, —
no field of study music, architecture, agriculture,
—
war which may not prove of use to the Master in the ex-
position of the poets and orators of antiquity^" So even right
naming would appear to be chiefly of value in a literary sense.
A sound acquaintance with phenomena for their own sake is

^ Op. i. 673 seqq. Infra, p. 226. - Infra, p. 213, § 30.

3 De Rat. Stud., infra, p. 168, § 5.
 General Knowledge and Composition 143

not esteemed : indeed, actual contact with realities is only of

use as enforcing what has been said about them by an approved
author.
The use to be made of general knowledge in composition is

treated of in the same tract. Quintilian^ has a long section

upon the relation of "eruditio" to the Orator. From this the
Italian humanists drew their ideal of a liberal education, as
oratorical skill adorning a many-sided learning. The educated
man will be careful to have readily available for oratory or
description'- "all that varied mass of material which the
curiosity of antiquity has handed down to us. To such
belongs, first, the natural history of birds, quadrupeds, wild
animals, serpents, insects, fishes be chiefly derived
; this will
from ancient from our own observation.
writers, with additions
Next, we shall prize the accounts of singular ad\«entures
handed down to us by trustworthy authorities, such as the
story of Arion and the dolphin, of the dragon who rescued his
deliverer from danger, of the lion who returned kindness for
kindness, and others which Pliny vouches for. There is also,
in the third place, a vast body of facts concerning geographical
phenomena, some of which are extraordinary, and these are of
peculiar value to the scholar though even the usual occur-
;

rences of nature are not to be passed over. These, again, are

partly drawn from antiquity, partly are within our own ex-
perience. I refer to rivers, springs, oceans, mountains,
precious stones, trees, plants, flowers concerning all of which :

comparisons should be derived and stored away in memory for

prompt use argument. Now, as certain of the
in description or
illustrationswhich we may adduce from either of the three
sources named are likely to be challenged as to their credibility,
we must prepare ourselves to defend them, by careful noting
of the authority on which each rests, and must give them the

^ Inst. Orat. i. lo.

^ Op. i. 389 c, u [De Conscribendis Epistolis). Erasmus is treating
of 'exempla.'
144 ^'^^ Liberal Studies

air of reality by the style in which we clothe them. But, in

the fourth place, we shall find by far our largest supply of
instances for the embellishment of discourse in the sphere of
human and history'. Examples of virtue and vice, and of
life

signal action, drawn from the annals of every nation, will be

watched for, learnt by heart, and thrown into suitable literary
form. So also rites and ceremonies, customs, wonders, institu-
tions, all that is instructive will be pressed into use, and where
the case demands will be arranged in order of climax that the
effect may be the more striking." He adds that merchants
and sailors can often supply the enquirer with attractive tales
of strange lands for similar use*. In this department of in-
struction the ideal is a well-ordered and many-sided learning,
which, in addition to" other subjects, possesses a spice of
antiquarian knowledge'.
Thus so soon as Erasmus attempts to come to close
quarters with real studies he finds himself unable to abandon a
purely literary attitude. He gives the first place amongst them,
perhaps, to Cosniographia — a better term than Geographia, as
it embraces also the study of the heavenly bodies. We see no
trace of any interest in recent over-sea discovery. The subject
ranks as one of the mathematical disciplines, amongst which
"vix alia vel jucundior vel magis necessaria*." It is "subtilior"
than grammar, and appeals to some children— he thinks them
—
abnormal more directly than linguistic studies. Probably by
"subtilior" he means "recondite," "abstract"; and implies
his own ignorance of the subject. But a boy with a taste for
it should not be debarred from pursuing the subject by aid of

Ptolemy and the rest". It is very doubtful if Erasmus had the

faintest idea of the use to which an educated man would put

^ Upon this method of regarding history as a series of striking incidents

and characters, supra, p. 131, and Woodward, Vittorino, p. 216.
cf.

2 Op. i. 390 A. » Op. X.

1735 E.
* Op. i. 923 A "prius perdiscat accurate," Op. iii. 1461 E.
" Op. i. 5 IOC
 Mathematical Disciplines 145

geographical knowledge if he had it, excepting always as illus-

tration of classical monuments. In the disturbed and perilous

condition of the age the study of a map will serve as a useful
substitute for traveP.
There is, however, from the literary standpoint much to be
said for Geography. It is of great use in reading histories,
hardly less in reading poets ^ The geography of the Holy
Land and Asia Minor has the added interest of association
with Scripture ^ What is learnt, especially all ancient names,
must be learnt accurately. The writers to be relied upon are
Mela, Pliny, and Ptolemy ; the latter is " the most learned of
allgeographers ^"
The remaining mathematical disciplines are very briefly
dismissed by Erasmus. " Arithmeticen, Musicam et Astrolo-
giam degustasse sat erit*." As regards the first. Arithmetic
was invariably excluded by humanists from the liberal arts.
It was in a most rudimentary stage, and the effect of the
adoption of Arabic notation had not made itself generally felt.
The mercantile use of numbers was merely empirical, whilst
the Roman notation was incompatible with any but the
simplest processes of calculation.
Upon Music in education Erasmus had formed no settled
opinion. He is aware, of course, that the Greeks regarded
singingand playing as liberal arts that they distinguished
;

between various Modes, and that the Dorian approved itself to

Plato. In a purely objective way he recognises the Greek
theory of the relation of musical tones to character : and
^ Op, i. 735 A. Elyot, Governour i. 76, should be read for a more serious
view of the function of Geography, which he would have taught " by mate-
rial figures and instruments."
'^
Infra, p. 167, § 5.
Op. V. 79 {De Rat. Theologiae).
^

Erasmus expended much sarcasm upon certain professors of the Uni-

*

versity of Louvain who refused to allow lectures upon Pomponius Mela,

Op. 535 etc. (to Vives, 15
iii. 19).
' Op. i. 923 A.

w. 10
146 The Liberal Studies

records that there were writers who thought it an offence

against the law to introduce a new mode not in accord with
the temper of the State. In considering the popular music of
his own day Erasmus finds grave fault with the new songs
which were being turned out, in Flanders, in great numbers, and
caught the ear of the uneducated. These are, he complains,
bad in motive, in composition,and in allusions. Girls even
learn to sing these unworthy and corrupting airs and there :

are fathers who encourage their children in the practice. He

would like to see authors and printers of such songs punished
by law.
Erasmus is not only concerned at the words the action :

which accompanies the air is indelicate and here he is nearer —

the Platonic principle —
the very music itself is trivial and de-
basing. He objects particularly to 'tibiae Corybanticae,' and
banging cymbals, to the sound of which young girls are made
to dance by parents who are too dense to see the moral
danger incurred. He deplores also the intrusion of worthless
music into the services of the Church, where solemn and
dignified melodies alone are in place. This barren treatment
of the subject contrasts with the serious consideration of the
place of music in education given to it by the Italian educators
from Vittorino down to Sadoleto'.
Astrology was in itself a futile study the point of view ;

which characterised nearly every humanist from Petrarch

downwards. But, like Aeneas Sylvius, Erasmus thinks that the
student should have some acquaintance with it, Aeneas be-
cause political adventures often turn on some " conjunction,"
Erasmus because astrological facts crop up in the poets.
Concerning Geometry in education there is nothing to be
said. In the De Copia^ we have allusion to a knowledge of
the square and the circle, which the scholar is advised to

1 Op. V. 717 F etc. ; Sadoleto, Op. iii. 112.

* Op. i. loi E.
 Natural Philosophy 147

understand, as these make an excellent comparison in describ-

ing "a man independent of the variations of fortune." In this
respect also Erasmus falls below the practice of the earlier
schools of the Revival. To him a purely abstract, non-human,
subject could make no appeal.
Upon the natural sciences Erasmus has, as we have seen,
hardly more to say, so far at least as regards their educational
function. He does not recognise them as organised knowledge.
The nearest approach which he makes to such admission is
this ' :
" nonnuUus et Physices praebebitur gustus, non tantum
eius quae de de prima materia, de infinito ambitiose
principiis,

disputat, sedquae rerum naturas demonstrat. Quae res agitur

in libris de anima, de meteoris, de plantis, de animalibus."
No doubt he is referring to Aristotle as the source of all
physical knowledge the rudiments of it are to be carefully
:

reduced to compendia, and acquired before the eighteenth

year. The context (the Dialogus De Pronunciatione) renders
it highly probable that he has in mind the literary utility of
such information. was the subject of two of the Colloquies^.
It

These, however, treat of " physica " from the point of view of
instructive amusement. One turns upon the "amicitiae et
inimicitiae rerum " by which all phenomena are governed.
Empedocles and Pliny arfe pressed into service, with tales
from ancient sources concerning dolphins, crocodiles and
ichneumons. The second dialogue discourses of the gravity
of bodies, in a spirit characteristic rather of the mediaeval
philosopher. " There is nothing in nature so heavy as that
which is solid enough to depress beings, compacted of light
and air, from the summit of all things to the uttermost depths."
"Presumably; and what is that called?" "Sin, which dragged
down Satan to the abyss." Next to their value as literary
adornment, natural phenomena had interest for Erasmus as

' Op. i. 923 A.

'^
The Colloquies &Vi\\\\&AAmicitia2cadiProblema : in Bailey's Translation,
ii. 300, 316.
148 The Liberal Studies

analogies and parables for moral edification. "Nightingales^

sing with such exuberance of spirit that they die com-
peting with one another, and prefer death to relinquishing
their song. Let men take warning from them, lest in an
inordinate desire to excel they sacrifice their health and even
life itself."

In truth, studies based on natural science in the fifteenth

and sixteenth centuries lacked the indispensable qualifications
of instruments of instruction for the young. They had in most
cases neither certainty, nor precision, nor organisation as teach-
ing material. Apart from the mathematical basis upon which
certain of rested, they were but collections of " interest-
them
ing information," or "useful knowledge." In no way were they
comparable, as apparatus for teaching, with the rigid and highly
elaborated subjects of grammar and rhetoric.
One an educational instrument, technical
further allusion to
in nature, may here be quoted^ " It will be of advantage to
the boy of expectations and of station to learn something of
the mechanic arts upon their less undignified side, for example,
painting, sculpture, modelling, architecture. The philosophers
would not approve but we Christians cannot scorn manual
:

activities when we recollect that our Lord Himself, the Son

of a carpenter, was brought up as a carpenter Himself. Such
crafts as I refer to fill up leisure, and in case of need they may
afford a livelihood." From the tone of the passage we may
doubt whether Erasmus had much more feeling for Art than
he has for Poetry.

§ 10. The Education of Girls.

In the republic of Letters neither nationality, age, nor sex

constituted a bar to the rights of citizenship. The Italian
humanists had effectively claimed for women the right to educa-
tion in liberal studies, and had established thereby their status

^ From the Similia, Op. i. 614 D. Cp. infra, p. 189. - Op. v. 716B.
 —

The Education of Girls 149

in cultivated society. A woman, not less than a man, could in

the Italy of the Renaissance stand forth independently in right
of virtii or personal distinction '. Erasmus records that he was
won over to this view by his intercourse with Thomas More
and his household ^ Thereafter he fought strenuously in de-
fence of the educated woman. He thus took a further and
most from mediaevalism.
significant step forwards in his progress
It is characteristic of Erasmus that he should pillory the antago-
nists of enlightenment for women in the person of a certain
Abbot Antronius. "Women," so he opines, "have nothing
to do with wisdom; it is their one business to be pleasing....
I should be very sorry to see the brethren of my House showing
^"
books
interest in
—
No doubt Erasmus here again obeying his usual instinct
was moved to adopt a new point of view as the result of actual
experience of the falsity of " the universal opinion that learning
detracts from the repute and good manners of a woman."
Observation showed him, on the contrary, that there is no

such foe to moral fibre, whether in boy or girl, as idleness or

triviality of interest. Absorption in learned studies is the
remedy against both in a far greater degree than needlework
— the approved pursuit for a girl — which mostly leaves the
intelligence unoccupied. Character in fact is only rightly

* Burckhardt, Civilisation of the Renaissance, p. 396 (Eng. trans.):

"The Education given to women in the upper classes was essentially the
same as that given to men. The Italian, at the time of the Renaissance,
felt no scruple in putting sons and daughters alike under the same course

of literary and even philological instruction.... The educated woman, no

less than the man, strove naturally after a characteristic and complete
individuality." The entire chapter deserves careful study. Cp. La Vita
Jtaliana nel Rinascimento, p. 98, "La donna Fiorentina," by Del Lungo;
Mrs Abdy's Isabella D'Este; and the tract by L. Bruni in Woodward,
Vittorino da Feltre, p. 119. In any study of the education of women in
modern times the Italian ideal of the Quattrocento must be the starting-
point.
^ Op. iii. 769 D. For Mere's influence, cp. supra, p. 45.
* Op. i. 745 F ; the Colloquy Erudita Ptiella.
 :

150 The Liberal Studies

ensured when it is based upon thought and free power of

judgment, and for such intellectual exercise serious culture
provides the material. It is preposterous to imagine that

idleness and seclusion are the right prescription to secure

virtue ; full and effective education of a girl is not a
the
merely negative thing\ Does anyone think that a girl can be
" cooped up with foolish and empty-headed women " and not
learn mischief? a knowledge of evil will come to her more
surely so than by healthy human converse in society. Only
aman who is himself an ignoramus will affirm that "a learned
woman is twice a fooP." The position taken by Erasmus,
with his customary practical sense, is that all must accept the
argument that a woman should be trained to fill her natural
place in society, as daughter, wife, and mother. It is evident,

then, that an educated young woman is an ornament to her

father's home. The daughters of Sir Thomas More", in whose
house Erasmus was a welcome guest, and of Paumgarten, and
the sisters of Bilbald Pirckheimer, are conspicuous examples.
Such studious women remind us of Paulla, Marcella, and
Eustochium, the lights of the circle which gathered round
St Jerome. 1 he well-educated wife, again, can safely claim
"et conjugem mihi et me illi cariorem reddit eruditio*." It
is obvious to Erasmus that durable affection must be based

upon such equality of interests : "it is real happiness for a man

to live with a cultured and honours
intelligent spouse." A wife
her husband more sincerely when her training has rendered
her capable of appreciating and imitating his true excellence.
Without a head well-skilled to keep her home in order, and to
respond to her husband's higher tastes, she will, in spite of
good intentions, fail as a wife. On the other side, a woman of
—
sound intelligence so the husband will discover is easier to —
guide ; for there is nothing so hard to control as ignorance, in

Op.s. 744E. - Ibid. 746 B.

Op. iii. 678 e; iii. 1482 F; iii. 196 E. * Op. i. 746 A.
 \ ;

The Education of Girls 151

dealing with which reason and argument are of no avail. "*A

wonderful sermon,' says the average woman, as she comes out
of church voice and gesture are all that she thinks about
:

whether the preacher had anything to say does not interest

her." Then Erasmus is concerned with the relation of girls'
education to their subsequent efficiency in the bringing up of
their children. It is clear that the intense distrust which he
felt in respect of female influence is directly due to his con-
tempt for the ordinary training of the women of his day. That
same lack of serious interests and discipline, which he else-
where remarks, must react with most disastrous effect upon
their function as the guardians of the young. Capriciousness,
hasty temper, childish vanity, are the results of a frivolous
up-bringing, and produce like effects upon the next generation.
The only resource in such a case is that the father shall de-
cisively take the whole responsibility of the children .out of
hands so unfitted for it. The lot of girl-children, unfortunately,
is less easily settled by such a method
How Erasmus treats of early care for health, good manners,
character and religion, has been discussed already. When he
comes to speak of the actual content of a girl's education upon
its literary side, he is unable to lay down any rule because, as
he says, circumstances, individual and social, are much varied*.
We may, perhaps, add as another reason, that Erasmus had
no knowledge of the actual conditions of the problem. He
was a celibate, a monk, with extremely few opportunities of
seeing or sharing in young society. Hence his advice is largely
negative. But even so it is that of a shrewd mind. He
denounces fashionable society-education for girls. The ideal
set before women was a poor thing, just subservience to con-
vention. But the first duty of the educator is to train every

^ Cf. supra, p. 91.

^ op. V. 716 D. But he has no doubt that "nothing is more conducive
to true refinement and moral integrity of disposition than a classical
education."
152 The Liberal Studies

one to exercise their free will, and to make rational choice in

the affairs of life. Again, such an unworthy aim in education,
as that alluded to, is in practice quite compatible with acquaint-
ance with evil, gained from vulgar humour or conversation at
home. " In an ordinary town-house of well-to-do people the
day begins with hair-dressing and rouging; formal attendance
at public worship follows, for the sake of seeing and being
seen : then comes breakfast. Gossip and the lightest of
'literature' fill up the morning until dinner. The afternoon
is occupied by promenades, and, for the young people, games
sadly lacking in decorum. Then more
and supper. gossip
It is no better when the family moves
where to the country,
amid idle days, the crowd of retainers, lackeys, and serving-
girls, is a standing influence for evil. How different is such an
environment for a young girl from that careful supervision
which Aristotle commands ^"
Erasmus is anxious that the home surroundings of children
should invariably be cheerful, full of affection, according wise
liberty. But he reminds parents that the " reverentia " due to
boys doubly due to their sisters. A lack of respect for
is

divine things, avowed contempt for all that is lofty and serious
in life, above all questionable humour and personal self-in-
dulgence, are the worst of examples to girls. Erasmus was
not unaware at first hand of the coarseness of manners which
marked the average German household, especially in the landed
class.

He offers one serious warning upon a habit, to which fathers

are prone, of enforcing their views as to their children's future.
In particular the conventual life ought not to be pressed upon

a boy or girl just because such a vocation would fall in con-

veniently with the interests of the family'^. The right principle

^ Loc. cit.

* Op. V. 722 E. He says that his example of the conventual life is only
by way of illustration. The warning is equally true of matrimony or of a
scholar's career, 724 B.
 The Edtication of Girls 153

is to follow the child's bent in determining his or her future

career.
In conclusion, the nature of the references which Erasmus
makes to the whole subject indicates that he has in mind the
education of the daughters of the leisured class, such education
to be carried out in the home, and certainly not under the
control of a religious Order. In this he is in line with the
Italian humanists, who, however, had before them a far more
cultivated type of society. They were consequently in a posi-
tion to work out a curriculum for girls with more precision, in
that they had clearer and more extended views of the status
and social function for which women should be prepared. It
may help us to realise the gulf between the society of a cultured
circle in Italy and that of a smaller Court in Germany if we try
to imagine // Cortegiano in a contemporary northern setting.
Yet the Book of the Courtier was composed some ten years
before the work in which Erasmus sets out his plea for a higher
education for women'.

^ Elyot's Defence of Good IVomen was published two years before

Erasmus died. He Erasmus concerning the
carries out the contention of
advantage of liberal learning to a wife. Zenobia of Palmyra declares that
she spent the four years from 1 6 to 20 in the study of Letters, and specially
of Philosophy; this she found most useful in bringing up her own children.
She advises every maiden ro devote herself before marriage to the earnest
pursuit of learning. For "women being well and virtuously brought up do
not only with men participate in reason, but some also in fidelity and constancy
be equal to them." V'ives, the tutor to Mary, daughter of Henry VHI, writes
in much detail upon a curriculum for a girl. He has a particular aversion to
the romances Amadis de Gaule, Lancelot of the Lake, etc., "qui non minus
aversandi sunt quam vipera et scorpio." He urges the use of the Christian
poets: and an "exigua cognitio naturae," such as may be useful in life.
But grammar and composition in Latin are to be fully taught. In addition,
he bestows attention on "res domestica" "discet ergo simul literas, simul
:

lanam et linum tractare, et quaecumque ad tuendam et regendam domum

sjjectant." His De Institiitione feminae and De Officio viariti are import-
ant authorities on the education of girls as advocated in the first half of the
i6th century in England.
154 '^^^^ Liberal Studies

% II. Moral Training: Character as the Supreme

End of Education.

The rudiments of moral training as set out by Erasmus

were considered in an earlier section. The discipline of home
life and the example there set are the vital forces making for

religion and character in the young. No overt teaching of duty

can effect its purpose if the prime motive and sanction of con-
duct which the home supplies be lacking.
It is in the family life that the foundations of belief and
reverence must be laid. No school kept by professed "re-
ligious" has like advantage in this respect. In the treatise
Upon Christian Marriage (1526) he summarises the elements
of Christian doctrine which may be profitably taught to children
under the age of fourteen'. The characteristic note of this
important passage is the sense of the intimate personal relation
of the child to the Divine Father. The world of Nature and
of human life is intelligible only in light of the beneficent
Creator upon whom the Christian child must rest in conscious
dependence. Upon
this trust in the divine Fatherhood must
be up a corresponding faith in that " cognatio arctissima "
built
within which all Christians ought to feel themselves united.
Erasmus touches here one of his warmest aspirations, which
was to see an end put to those internecine feuds by which the
dynastic ambitions of his age kept Europe in constant unrest,
and by which the day of enlightenment, and of the human
well-being dependent upon it, were pushed into a dim future.
This conviction of the divine sanction of human brotherhood
is, in education, the connecting link between religious faith and

social duty. For the child will now readily understand the
conduct due towards parents, towards elders, equals, inferiors,
and towards the poor. In the home, scripture will be set forth

^ Op. V. 713 E — 714 c.

 Moral Training 155

as a gallery of characters, by the pattern of whose excellence

conduct must be guided. Especially will the vices of lying,
which Erasmus held in peculiar abhorrence, loss of temper,
malice, self-indulgence, be stamped with condemnation as the
worst of all faults in the young. If a boy is brought up at
home, with such precepts enforced by right example, before he
has completed his fourteenth year the solid foundations of
character will have been securely laid. His nature that —
primitive human " Natura^ " —
will have received its definite

bent towards the Good, both in knowledge and in action.

Hence the father will use his utmost endeavour to see that
such a beginning shall have ample opportunity of subsequent
development by aid of sound learning and wise discipline.
Again does Erasmus affirm with all earnestness his standing
principle —which runs also throughout the whole of the De
—
Puerls that such progress is initially dependent upon the
condition that the home atmosphere be conducive to the best.
That implies a high standard of interests in conjunction with
a dignified, temperate manner of life. " Monita non multa
adjuvabunt, si puer viderit aliud in vita parentum quam prae-
scripserant. Imitandi vis peculiariter inest pueris^"
Nothing, indeed, is more significant of the modern spirit

in which Erasmus approaches the problem of education than

his determination to regard it as centring in the home. If it
be true that a characteristic mark of a sound and progressive
culture is the place accorded to the care of children, then we
must recognise that the humanists set out a notably high type
of social well-being. At no time in modern history was care
for, and interest in, the young so striking a fact of society

as in the Italy of the Quattrocento. The sense of duty towards

the child in respect of discipline, example, and instruction is
expressed on every hand. Then the rights of the child to a
due place in the family were recognised to the full. Under

^ Supra, p. 80-1. 2 Qp V. 714 D, E.

156 The Liberal Studies

the influence of home guidance obedience to the outer law

was gradually resolved into an inner harmony, a conscious
self-reliance, which in its course was developed as a free indi-
viduality. This was effected by admitting the child to the
normal intercourse of the family. It was never accepted that
a child should be confined to the society of other children it ;

was his acknowledged claim to share the interests of his elders,

as theirs to take concern for him. Probably there was in the
Italy of that great epoch no force so potent for the restraint of
too exuberant exercise of virtu as this deep sense of responsi-
bility for the up-growth of the children'.
Erasmus has seized this truth. A celibate, a wanderer,
a man owning no family ties, without one single relative to
give him welcome, he has yet understood the significance of
the home as a positive factor in education. That he saw in it
a factor also making for the good not of the child alone we can
clearly perceive. It was well thought, that in a new sense of

duty towards the son or the daughter of the house Erasmus

should find his most hopeful remedy for the " barbarism " in
which he saw the German people sunk in his day.
Something may here be said concerning the little book of
manners, which he published at Basel in 1526, under the title
De Civilitate Morwn puerilium. It had great vogue in the
schools of the i6th century. In England it was translated
before 1532, and many small manuals of behaviour were
founded upon it^ We have evidence that between 1547 58 —
no work of Erasmus was more in demand in the great book
mart of Germany, Leipzig^. The manual is thoroughly simple

It should be noticed that the schools in England founded under the

humanist impulse were, in contradistinction to the pre- Renaissance founda-

tions,almost exclusively day schools.
^ See Watson, Curriculum, pp. 8, 12. For the title of this and all other
English versions of Erasmus' educational books see infra, p. 235.
* "Kirchhoff, in his book Leipziger Sortiiuentshdndler im 16 Jahr-
hundert, shows that in three years, 1547, 1551, 1558, not less than 654
 —;;
:

Moral Training 157

in style ; it was expressly written for boys' use, probably it was

often learnt by heart. It contains the following chapters
upon Physical Training and Personal Carriage; upon Dress;
upon Behaviour in Church at Table in Company ; at Play
; ;

in the Dormitory. The temper of the book is admirable it is ;

never trivial, in spite of the intimate personal details into which

the writer enters. Erasmus desires to set up a standard of
manners to correspond to, and be the expression of, inward
culture. He is fully aware of the advantage which Italy has,
as against Germany, in this respect. But the moral ground-
work is always in evidence cleanliness, without and within,
:

orderliness, truthfulness, frankness, self-respect, inbred courtesy

to elders, to women and to companions, are the central points
of the the book conveys.
teaching which He ends by a
monition to the young Prince Henry of Burgundy, to whom
he addresses the treatise, a monition characteristic of the true
humanist :
" I would by way of epilogue add this piece of
advice. Do not, in spite of what I have written, think un-
worthily of a school-fellow who may haply
fall short of your

own standard of manners. For there are many who nobly

compensate for —
such defects due mostly to circumstance
by their excellence in more weighty virtues. Do not for a
moment persuade yourself that a person cannot merit respect
because he may lack something of the courtesies. A deficiency
on this score you will wisely meet at most by friendly advice
never by superior airs of reproof '."
In connection Nvith school influences we may recall what
Erasmus laid down upon the choice of Masters. The example
and stimulus begun in the home must be further maintained
in the school-room by the Tutor. One ground for the bitter
criticism passed by Erasmus upon the average master was the

copies (some with commentary) of the De Civilitate yfexe in stock in Leipzig.

No other of Erasmus' books is to be found in such lists in equal number."
Glockner, Erasmus, p. 28 n.
^ De Civil. Mor. Pueril., Op. i. 1044 A-
 !

158 The Liberal Studies

too common fact of his moral worthlessness. Ignorance, doubt-

less, had much to do with the cruelty that so often marked his
rule but there were moral offences to be complained of, such
;

as drunkenness, neglect, and carelessness as to his whole

function as a maker of character.
We see, therefore, that Erasmus bases moral training upon
personal religion, home example and intercourse', and school
influence. It is characteristic of him that he has so little

to say of the direct value of Church ceremonies, confession,

the influence of the clergy, or of theological studies, in the
building up of character. On the other hand, upon the basis
of wholesome obedience thus established at home Erasmus
builds up an edifice of moral education through literature,
which it is important now to consider. It has been already
shown that in the reading of the classical authors a prominent
place will be given to setting forth the moral drift of the
passage studied. Worthy example will be carefully drawn out,
with parallel and illustration, and with application to modem
instance. But if the passage in hand treat of evil motive or
action the Master will so explain so emphasise the warning
it,

called for, that the class will be in no danger of carrying away

a false standard of conduct. Erasmus is at pains to point out
that one special reading of each lesson-portion should, if the
passage lend itself thereto, be confined to the noting of, and
comment upon, the moral teaching involved ^ How frequently
does an author offer opportunity for such didactic review
And how striking the effect of clear-cut pictures of virtue or
vice drawn from the great authorities of the past ! Such
"literary" exhortation is described by Erasmus as "exempla,"

' Op. iii. 1483 A. " Tenera aetas donii formatur ad omnem probitatem
atque innocentiam."
* Op. 1.4480: "releges igitur quarto, ac quae ad philosophiam, maxime
vero ethicen, referri posse videantur circumspicies, si quod exemplum quod
moribus accommodari possit. Quid autem est ex quo non vel exemplum
Vivendi, vel imago quaedam, vel occasio, sumi queat?
 :

Moral Training 159

i.e.concrete cases, although of rhetorical shape. The De

Ratione Studii contains instances of this method, which is
applicable also to composition in Latin and Greek. In one
of the Colloquies (the Sober Feast) Erasmus handles the
question of moral worth as descried in the writings of antiquity.
He has no difficulty in showing that ancient literature can
produce types of character " of the very pattern of Christian
goodness." He compiled also a collection of ancient moral
wisdom, the Apophthegmata (1531), whereby he "brings forward
the great figures of the past to celebrate the eternal laws of
right." Special classical authors are advised for their excellence
as aids to moral training. Plutarch stands first ; indeed he
ranks next to the Gospels ; as a moral stimulus to youth he
will prove more attractive than any of the Christian Fathers'.
Basil and Chrysostom learnt much from Plutarch. Then
follow Cicero, Seneca, Terence, Demosthenes, Vergil and
Tacitus. It is noticeable that Erasmus warns the Master
against turning moral teaching into teaching alwut morals
discussions " de summo bono," or the sanctions of Ethics,
are otiose. The Master
concerned to give the stimulus to
is

action and to enforce ithe will fail in this

by precedents ;

duty if he allows the youthful mind to wander off to mere

speculation.
This literary treatment of morality, so objective and didactic,
lends itself easily to depreciatory criticism, which, however,
fails of effectiveness when we remember that Erasmus intends
it as illustration, for intelligent youth, of precepts imbibed in
the home. Further, it will be reinforced, as the threshold of
manhood is reached, by a more intimate intercourse with elders.
The young man entering upon direct preparation for profes-
sional life must be allowed free choice of career; a wholly
modern concept, in which, however, Erasmus sees the crown
of all right education. The development of individuality must

^ Op. V. 856. Cp. Benoist, Quid de pueris, p. 131.

i6o The End of Education

be watched from the very first years of life. Erasmus con-

warns parents against forcing all children through the
stantly
same course ^ and when bent is fully in evidence in later
boyhood, they and the Master must recognise it as decisive.
Such freedom of personality is fully consistent with a uniform
sense of public duty, which should mark every cultivated
intelligence. The narrowing influence of a certain type of
literary education, in the direction, he means, of disqualifying
the studious for active interests in life, he much deprecates*.
For " action " is the end of education, with Erasmus not less
than with the great Italian Masters of the Quattrocento. The
life of scholarship is only one small part of the career open to
highly educated youth. To be a citizen of the world, marked
by a due consciousness of obligation to the community in
which we are placed, is the highest aim. Thomas More, Colet,
and Paumgarten are instances. Erasmus is reminded in his
allusions to the Paumgarten family of the value of Travel in
education :
" adolescentia prima statim ab aedibus paternis
ablegatur in Italiam aut in Galliam, quo simul et Unguis et
moribus alienis assuescant, nihil enim fere morosius iis qui in
patria consenuerunt oderunt exteros, ac damnant quicquid a
;

vernaculis ritibus diversum est^" In this way the consciousness

of an " international solidarity of learning " was strengthened.
Finally, the higher end of humanism was attained when the
sense of duty to to the community, and to God, was
self,

realised as the triple aspect of one and the same ideal.

^ Op. V. 722 D; i. 502. Infra, p. 196. * Op. iii. 1482F.

3 Ibid. 1485 A.
 :

PART II.

NOTE.

The works of Erasmus here presented include the two

treatiseswhich best express the ordered views of their author
upon Education. These, with a portion of one of the Collo-
quies, are given in EngHsh. A short chapter from the De
Conscribendis Epistolis is printed in the original Latin with
English headings.
The tract De Ratione Studii has not, I believe, appeared
before in an English version. The De Pueris was translated
by 'Rychard Sherry, Londoner,' head-master of Magdalen
College School, and published in or about 1550 by John Day,
under the title A declamacion That chyldren even strayt fro'
'

their infancie should be well and gently broughte up in learnynge.

Written fyrst in Latin by the most excellent and famous
Clearke, Erasmus of Roterodame.' This was issued in one
volume, of which it forms the second part, with a Treatise of
Schemes and Tropes {i.e. figures of Rhetoric). The volume is
exceedingly rare. The Colloquies were translated by N. Bailey
in 1725. Any compressions noticeable in the versions as
printed below are only by way of restraint of Erasmian
redundancy of illustration.
In addition to these four works the student of the subject
will perhaps find the following next in order of interest
Christiani Matrimonii Institution Op. v. 708 B — 724.De
Civilitate Morum Puerilium, i, 1033 — 1044. De Rerum
Copia, i. 75 — no.
W. II
 CHAPTER VI.

THE TREATISE OF ERASMUS DE RATIONE STUDII,

THAT IS, UPON THE RIGHT METHOD OF IN-
STRUCTION, 151 1.

§ I. Thought and Expression form the Two-fold

Material of Instruction. 521 a — b.

All knowledge falls into one of two divisions the knowledge

:

of " truths " and the knowledge of " words " and if the former
:

is first in importance the latter is acquired first in order of

time. They are not to be corrtmended who, in their anxiety to
increase their store of truths, neglect the necessary art of ex-
pressing them. For ideas are only
intelligible to us by means

of the words which describe them wherefore defective know-

;

ledge of language reacts upon our apprehension of the truths

expressed. We often find that no one is so apt to lose himself
in verbal arguments as the man who boasts that facts, not
words, are the only things that interest him. This goes to
prove that true education includes what is best in both kinds
of knowledge, taught, I must add, under the best guidance.
For, remembering how difficult it is to eradicate early im-
pressions,we should aim from the first at learning what need
never be unlearnt, and that only.
 De Ratione Studii, 521 a — 52 2 a 163

§ 2. Expression claims the first place in point of time.

Both the Greek and Latin languages needful to
the Educated Man, 521 b c. —
Language thus claims the first place in the order of studies
and from the outset should include both Greek and Latin.
The argument for this is two-fold. First, that withm these two
literatures are contained all the knowledge which we recognise
as of vital importance to mankind. Secondly, that the natural
affinity of the two tongues renders it more profitable to study
them side by side than apart. Latin particularly gains by this
method. Quintilian advised that a beginning should be made
with Greek before systematic work in Latin is taken in hand.
Of course he regarded proficiency in both as essential. The
elements, therefore, of Greek and Latin should be acquired
early, and should a thoroughly skilled master not be available,
then — but only then — let the learner fall back upon self-teaching
by means of the study of classical masterpieces.

§ 3. The Right Method of acquiring Grammar rests

upon Reading and not upon Definitions and Rules.
521 c — 522 A.

Amongst Greek Grammars that of Theodore Gaza stands

admittedly first, next to it I rank that of Constantine Lascaris.
Of the old Latin Grammarians Diomedes is the soundest
whilst the Rudimenta of Nicholas Perotti strikes me as the
most thorough and most comprehensive of modern works.
But I must make my conviction clear that, whilst a knowledge
of the rules of accidence and syntax is most necessary to every
student, still they should be as few, as simple, and as carefully
framed as possible. I have no patience with the stupidity of
the average teacher of grammar who wastes precious years in
164 De Ratione Studii, 522 a —e
hammering rules into children's heads. For it is not by learning
we acquire the power of speaking a language, but by
rules that
daily intercourse with those accustomed to express themselves
with exactness and refinement, and by the copious reading of
the best authors.
Upon this latter point we do well to choose such works as
are not only sound models of style but are instructive by reason
of their subject-matter. The Greek prose-writers whom I

advise are, in order, Lucian, Demosthenes, Herodotus : the

poets, Aristophanes, Homer, Euripides ; Menander, if we
possessed his works, would take precedence of all three.
Amongst Roman in prose and verse, Terence, for
writers,
no rival, and his plays are never dull.
pure, terse Latinity has
I see no objection to adding carefully chosen comedies of
Plautus. Next, I place Vergil, then Horace Cicero and ;

Caesar follow closely and Sallust after these. These authors

;

provide, in my judgment, sufficient reading to enable the young

student to acquire a working knowledge of the two great
classical tongues. It is not necessary for this purpose to cover
the whole range of ancient literature we are not to be ;

dubbed " beginners " because we have not yet mastered the
whole of the Fragmenta.
Some proficiency in expression being thus attained the
student devotes his attention to the content of the ancient
literatures.It is true, of course, that in reading an author
forpurposes of vocabulary and style the student cannot fail to
gather something besides. But I have in my mind much more
than this when I speak of studying "contents." For I affirm
that with slight qualification the whole of attainable knowledge
lies enclosed within the literary monuments of ancient Greece.
This great inheritance I will compare to a limpid spring of
whose undefiled waters it behoves all who truly thirst to drink
and be restored.
 De Ratione Studii, 522 a —e 165

§ 4. The Subject-matter and the Methods which

are most suitable to beginners. 522 a — e.

Before touching upon the order in which the various

disciplines shouldbe acquired, and the choice of Masters,
I will say something on the instruction of beginners. In
reading the authors above mentioned for the purposes of
vocabulary, ornament and style, you can have no better guide
than Lorenzo Valla. His Elegantiae will shew you what to
look for and note down in your Latin reading. But do not
merely echo his rules make headings for yourself as well.
;

Refer also to Donatus and Diomedes for syntax. Rules of

prosody, and the rudiments of rhetoric, such as the method of
direct statement, of proof, of ornament, of expansion, of tran-
sition, are important both for the intelligent study of authors
and for composition. Such grounding in grammar and in style
will enable you to note with precision such matters as these
an unusual word, archaisms, and innovations, ingenuity in
handling material, distinction of style, historical or moral
instances, proverbial expressions : the note-book being ready
to hand to record them. Notes of this kind should not be
jotted down at hap-hazard, but carefully devised so as to recall
to the mind the pith of what is read.
If it is claimed that Logic should find a place in the course
proposed I do not seriously demur but I refuse to go beyond
;

Aristotle and I prohibit the verbiage of the schools. Do not

let us forget that Dialectic is an elusive maiden, a Siren, indeed,
in quest of whom a man may easily suffer intellectual ship-
wreck. Not here is the secret of style to be discovered. That
lies in the use of the pen ; whatever the form, whether prose
and again write.
or verse, or whatever the theme, write, write,
Supplement writing by learning by heart Upon this latter
question, memory depends at bottom upon three conditions
thorough understanding of the subject, logical ordering of the
 1 66 De Ratione Studii, 522 e — 523 f
contents, repetition to ourselves.Without these we can neither
retain securely nor reproduce promptly. Read, then, atten-
tively, read over and over again, test your memory vigorously

and minutely. Verbal memory may with advantage be aided

by ocular impressions thus, for instance, we can have charts
;

of geographical facts, genealogical trees, large-typed tables of

rules of syntax and prosody, which we can hang on the walls.
Or again, the scholar may make a practice of copying striking
quotations at the top of his exercise books. I have known

a proverb inscribed upon a ring, or a cup, sentences worth

remembering painted on a door or a window. These are
all devices for adding to our intellectual stores, which, trivial

as they may seem individually, have a distinct cumulative

value.
Lastly, I urge, as undeniably the surest method of acquisi-
tion, the practice of teaching what we know in no other way
:

can we so certainly learn the difference between what we kno7ii,

and what we think we know, whilst that which we actually
know we come to know better.

§5. Instruction Generally: Choice of Subjects of

Instruction. The Range of Study Necessary to
A Well-read Master. 522 e— 523 f.

This brings me to treat of the art of instruction generally,

though it seems a mere impertinence in me to handle afresh a
subject which has been made so conspicuously his own by the
great Quintilian.
As regards the choice of material, it is essential that from
the outset the child be made acquainted only with the best
that is available. This implies that the Master
is competent

to recognise the best in the mass of erudition open to him,

which in turn signifies that he has read far more widely than
the range of authors to be taught by him. This applies even
to the tutor of beginners. The Master should, therefore,
 De Ratione Studii, 522 e — 523 f 167

acquaint himself with authors of every type, with a view to

contents rather than to style ; and the better to classify what
he reads he must adopt the system of classifying his matter by
means of note-books, upon the plan suggested by me in De
Copia. As examples of the authors I refer to I put Pliny first,
then Macrobius, Aulus Gellius, and, in Greek, Athenaeus.
Indeed to lay in a store of ancient wisdom the studious master
must go straight to the Greeks to Plato, Aristotle, Theo-
:

phrastus and Plotinus to Origen, Chrysostom, Basil.

; Of the
Latin Fathers, Ambrosius will be found most fertile in classical
allusions. Jerome has the greatest command of Holy Scripture.
I cannot, however, enumerate the entire extent of reading which
a competent knowledge of antiquity demands. I can only
indicate a few directions which study ought to take.
For the right understanding of the poets, the Legends of
Gods and Heroes must be mastered Homer, Hesiod, Ovid, :

and the Italian Boccaccio should be read for this. A know-

ledge of Geography is of prime importance, for the study both
of ancient poets and of historians. Pomponius Mela makes
a useful compendium ; Pliny and Ptolemy are learned and
elaborate writers ; Strabo is something more than a geogra-
pher. This subject includes two parts, a knowledge, first,

of the names, and modern, of mountains, rivers,

ancient
cities ;secondly, of names of trees, plants, animals, of dress,
appliances, precious stones, in which the average writer of
to-day shews a strange ignorance. Here we gain help from
the works which have come down to us upon agriculture, archi-
tecture, the art of war, cookery, precious stones, and natural
history. We can make good use, in the same subject, of
etymology (the name " unicorn " is an example). Or again we
can trace word-change in names through modern Greek, or
Italian and Spanish (Tiber, now "Tevere," is an example).
I may say that modern French has wandered too far from its

classical mother-speech to be of much help to us in recognising

and identifying ancient names.
1 68 De Ratione Studii, 523 f — 524 c
Material for the study of Archaeology is to be found not
only in literary sources, but in ancient coins, inscriptions, and
monuments. Astrology — futile as it is in itself— must be un-
derstood for the sake of many poetical allusions. Of special
importance is the study of History, for its own sake as well as
for the reason that it is the key to many references in other
writings. Finally, to understand such a poet as Prudentius, the
one Christian poet of real literary taste, a knowledge of Sacred
History is indispensable.
And indeed we may say that a genuine student ought to
grasp the meaning and force of every fact or idea that he meets
with in his reading, otherwise their literary treatment through
epithet, metaphor, or simile will be to him obscure and con-
fused. There is thus no discipline, no field of study, — whether
music, architecture, agriculture or war —which may not prove
of use to the teacher in expounding the Poets and Orators of
antiquity. " But," you rejoin, " you expect all this of your

scholar?" Yes, if he propose to become a teacher; for he

thus secures that his own erudition will lighten the toil of
acquisition for those under his charge.

§ 6. The Art of teaching the Rudiments of Language

UP TO the stage when Composition is begun.
523 F— 524 c.

As regards the methods of the rudiments that is, of —

learning to talkand knowing the alphabet I can add nothing —
to what Quintilian has laid down. For my own part I advise
that when this stage is reached the child begin to hear and
imitate the sounds of Latin speech. Why should it be more
difficult to acquire Roman words or even Greek, rather than the
vernacular ? No doubtmy prescription demands the environ-
ment But the master may secure
of a cultivated home-circle.
even under the conditions of school-life that boys be brought
 De Ratione Studii, 523 f — 524 c 169

to speak Latin with precision, if patience be shown in encourag-

ing and correcting uncertain efforts, and in insisting upon
careful observation of the Teacher's own usage. By degrees
devices for increasing fluency may be introduced ; as, for
instance, a game of forfeits and corrections,
and prizes for faults
the Master choosing the judges from amongst the top boys.
The more common phrases suitable for play, for social life,
for meal-times, must be early learned and be apt, and ready
to hand.
The time will now have come when the able teacher must
select certain of the more necessary rules of accidence and
syntax, and state them simply, arrange them in proper order
and dictate them for entry in note-books. An author may
now be attempted, but of the easiest sort ; choose one likely
to be helpful in composition and conversation. Through this
be driven home, and the
text the rules just referred to will
examples of syntactical usages therein contained carefully
worked out all this of course with an eye to the later stages
;

when regular exercises in prose and verse are required.

§ 7. The importance of the Art of Composition; its

method set out. 524 c — 525 c.

When this time has arrived care must be taken to propound

themes not only worthy in subject but suitable, as being within
the range of the boy's interests. For in this way he may
acquire not only training in style, but also a certain store of
facts and ideas for future use. For example, such a subject as
the following would prove attractive: "The rash self-confidence
of Marcellus imperilled the fortunes of Rome ; they were
retrieved by the caution of Fabius." Here we see the under-
lying sentiment, that reckless counsels hasten towards disaster.
Here is another " Which of the two shewed less wisdom,
:

Crates who cast his gold into the sea, or Midas who cherished
lyo De Ratione Studii, 524 d — 525 f

it as his supreme good ? " Or, " Eloquence too little restrained
brought Demosthenes and Cicero to their ruin." One more
" No encomium can exceed the deserts of Codrus, who held
that the safety of his subjects claimed even the life of the King
himself" But Valerius Maximus will provide you with ample
choice of such themes. At first these may be set in the
vernacular.
Mythology and fable will also serve your purpose. " Her-
cules gained immortal fame as the destroyer of monsters."
"The Muses delight in the fountain and the grove; they shrink
from the crowded haunts of men." "One should not burden a
friend with a difficulty which it is a duty to solve ourselves."
" All men are conscious of the wallet which hangs in front, but
ignore that which they carry behind them." Proverb and
moral will suggest such themes as these :
" It is not every
one's good fortune to visit Corinth." "How far above the type
of to-day was he who counted a man worthy not for his wealth
but for his manhood !
" " Socrates despises those who live in
order to eat he applauds those who eat in order to live."
;

My book Adagia will supply you with instances enough.

Other themes may be suggested from the properties of natural
objects, such as the attraction of the magnet or the mimicry of
the polypus. Similes, also, allegories, sententious sayings,
smart turns of expression, will lend themselves to exercises in
composition. The Master in the course of his reading will be
careful to note instances which present themselves as models
suitable for imitation.
The pupil will now have attained a certain facility in
speaking and in writing Latin. He
be ready, therefore, to
will

proceed to a more advanced stage in Grammar, which must be

learnt by means of rules aptly illustrated by quotations the :

rules being expressed as tersely as may be consistent with

clearness. I would add that in all that concerns Greek con-
structions we should do well to follow the guidance of Gaza's
grammar.
 De Ratione Studii, 524 d — 525 f 171

§ 8. The Methods to be pursued in writing Advanced

ExKRCisEs IN Composition. 525 c f.

But I must repeat that when once the simpler rules of

composition, in prose and verse, and the commoner figures of
speech have been mastered, the whole stress of teaching must
be laid upon a close yet wide study of the greater writers.
Fortified with this the student can produce original work in
prose, under the criticism (this is most important) of a thoroughly
skilled instructor.
and Latin,
Practice in the epistolary style, both in Greek
may be gained by argument propounded in the
writing to an
vernacular. This will come first. Then the whole range of
rhetorical prose is open to the student who must gain acquaint-
ance with the different varieties of style for instance, that
;

demanded in the production of the Fable, or the moral

Commonplace, or the short Story, or the Dilemma ; the art
of expressing an Encomium, or a Denunciation ; a Parallel,
a Simile, a Description. Another exercise will take the form
of paraphrasing poetry into prose and the reverse process.
There is also much advantage in attempting the same subject,
say an epistle, in two diverse styles. Or one motive may be
expressed in four or five different metres. Further, an identical
topic may be propounded both for verse and for prose, alike in
Latin and in Greek. An affirmation may be set to be proved
by three or four differing lines of argument. Perhaps the most
useful exercise of all consists in construing from Greek into
Latin, practice in which demands diligent attention. For in
this exercise we are committed to three distinct operations
first, we have to analyse the construction of the passage in the
older tongue : next, we are forced to appreciate carefully the
peculiar genius of each language and to note the principles
which are common to both : thirdly, in producing an accurate
rendering from the Greek we are exercised in moving freely
172 De Ratione Stiidii, 525 f — 526F
amidst the resources of Roman vocabulary and sentence-struc-
ture. So exacting a task claims whatever stimulus, encourage-
ment and skilled aid the master has to offer to the pupil;
who will further find inspiration in the reading of model
passages of a similar theme to that which he has in hand.

§ 9. Original Composition its Variety the Method

; ;

OF Aiding the Student; Correction of Exercises.

525 F— 526 F.

It is now time to call for original composition : in which we

leave the task of developing a stated theme to the taste and
industry of the pupil himself. The right choice of subjects for
such exercises is a test of the Master's talent. Suppose an
Epistle to be required, say of congratulation, or of condolence,
or expostulation, or of some other recognised type, the Master
should limit himself to indicating certain characteristics of
structure or phrasing, common to each variety, and then those
which may be specially appropriate to the kind of letter actu-

ally proposed. The same method will apply to exercises in

formal Oratory, —a declamation in praise of Socrates, or in
denunciation of Caesar ; against reliance on riches, or in favour
of Greek Letters ; for the married life or against it ; against
pilgrimages, or in praise of them.
This will lead to the study of the art of Oratory as laid
down by Cicero and Quintilian. For the subjects proposed as
above must be treated in accordance with accepted methods.
The master should suggest the number of propositions to be
set out on a given theme, of the arguments to be employed,
and of the proofs to be adduced in support of each and the ;

sources from which these may be drawn. This constitutes a

kind of skeleton-form of the oration, to be filled in to suit the
actual subject selected. Further, the pupil should be led to
consider the various methods by which he may adorn his
treatment of the argument, such as simile and contrast,
 De Ratione Studii, 525 f — 526 f 173

parallel cases, moral reflection, adages, anecdotes, parables,

and so on and he should have some guidance in choice of
;

figure and metaphor as aids to ornament in style. In

regard to the logical ordering of argument as a whole, the
student should be taught to attend to the niceties of ex-
position,— the exordium, the transition, the peroration; for each
of these has its own peculiar excellence, and each, moreover,
admits of the merit not only of precision but also of elegance.
Seven or eight exercises of this kind done under careful
supervision should be sufficient to enable the pupil to lay out
matter for original prose composition without help. Amongst
suitable subjects for the purpose are those drawn from legend
and ancient history, such as these " Menelaus before a
:

Trojan assembly claims the restoration of Helen " " Phalaris ;

presses the priests of Delphi to accept his Brazen Bull as an

offering to the god"; " Cicero is warned to reject the offers of
Mark Antony." As regards the correction of compositions, the
Master will note his approval of passages which shew ingenuity
in selection of material, and in its treatment, and in imitation.
He will censure omission or bad arrangement of matter, ex-
aggerations, carelessness,awkwardness of expression. He will
at the same time point out how corrections may be suitably
made, and ask for a re-writing of the exercise. Yet, after all, his
chief aim will be to stimulate his pupils by calling attention to
the progress made by this one or by the other, thus arousing the
spirit of emulation in the class.

§ 10. The Best Methods of Procedure in Reading an

Author in Class: 526 f — 528 c.
In reading a classic let the Master avoid the practice,
common to inferior teachers, of taking it as the text for
universal and irrelevant commentary. Respect the writer, and
let it be your rule to rest content with explaining and illus-

trating his meaning. This would be the method I advise, say,

 174 -^^ Ratione Studii, 526 f — 528 b
in taking a class through a play of Terence. You begin by
offering an appreciation of the author, and state what is
necessary concerning his life and surroundings, his talent, and
the characteristics of his style. You next consider comedy as
an example of a particular form of literature, and its interest
for the student the origin and meaning of the term itself, the
:

varieties ofComedy, and the Terentian prosody. Now you

proceed to treat briefly and clearly the argument of the play,
taking each situation in due course. Side by side with this
you will handle the diction of the writer ; noting any con-
spicuous elegance, or such peculiarities as archaism, novel
usage, Graecisms ; bringing out anything that is involved or
obscure in phrases or sentence-forms marking, where neces-
;

sary, derivations and orthography, metaphors and other

rhetorical artifices. Parallel passages should next be brought
under notice, similarities and contrasts in treatment observed,
—
and direct borrowings traced no difficult task when we are
comparing a Latin poet with his Greek predecessors. The
last factor in the lesson consists in the moral applications
which it suggests; the story of Orestes and Pylades, or of
Tantalus, are obvious examples.
may be wise in some cases to open the reading of a
It

fresh book by arousing interest in its broader significance.

For instance, the Second Eclogue of Vergil must be treated as
something more than a purely grammatical or literary exercise.
" The essence of friendship," the Master would begin, " lies in
similarity. Violently contradictory natures are incapable of
mutual affection. The and the more numerous the
stronger
ties more durable is the bond." This,
of taste and interest the
amplified by apt adages and wise reflections, of which litera-
ture is full, will serve to draw the pupil's tholight to the more
general aspects of his reading. But it is only a Master of
ability, insight and wide culture, to whom such a method is

possible. A store of pertinent quotations is the product of

careful reading. For instance, in illustration of this particular
 De Ratione Studii, 526 f — 528B 175

theme, he adduce such quotations as this

will " cascus :

cascam balbus balbum rectius intelligit

ducit : semper :

graculus arridet graculo," and others of the same import.

Again, the master will have learnt from his knowledge of
men that extreme differences of fortunes or of intellectual
tastes do not consist with abiding friendship, that a fool laughs
at a man of education, a boor has nothing in common with a
courtier. He knows that there is a complete lack of sympathy
between the Stoic and the Epicurean, the philosopher and the
attorney, the poet and the divine, the orator and the recluse.
See, what advantage learning gives to the master in
too,
enforcing the same theme from tradition and from history.
He can refer to Castor and Pollux, to Romulus and Remus, to
Cain and Abel. The beautiful myth of Narcissus will, in able
hands, prove a parable of striking force. What has more like-
ness to ourselves than our own reflection ? Thus, when one
man of learning feels drawn to another, is he not in truth
attracted by the reflection of himself? And so of a man of
wise temperance, or a man of integrity, conscious of similar
excellence in another. Upon such recognition of identical
qualities is friendship based, —
I mean the frank, open and

abiding friendship which alone deserves the name. The

Platonic myth of the two types of Aphrodite, the celestial
and the may be adduced to prove that true affection
profane,
can subsist between the good alone. For where excellence is
only upon one side, friendship is but a fleeting and insecure
thing. Now it is as a parable of unstable friendship that the
Master should treat this Eclogue. Alexis is of the town,
Corydon a countryman ; Corydon a shepherd, Alexis a man of
society. Alexis cultivated, young, graceful ; Corydon rude,
crippled, his youth far behind him. Hence the impossibility
of a true friendship. The lesson finally left on the mind of
the pupil is that it is the prudent part to choose friends among
those whose tastes and characters agree with our own. Such
methods of treating a classical story, by forcing attention to
176 De Ratione Studii, 528 b — 5 30 a

the moral to be deduced from it, will serve to counteract

any harm which a more literal interpretation might possibly
convey. After all, it is what a reader brings to a passage
rather than what he finds there which is the real source of
mischief.

§ II. An Introduction to Literary Criticism is

AFFORDED BY SUCH A METHOD OF CLASSICAL INSTRUC-
TION. 528 C — 529 B.

Speaking generally, it is advisable to introduce every new

book read by indicating its chief characteristics, and then
setting out its argument. The characteristics of Epigram are
aptness and point ; of Tragedy emotion, the various types of
which and must be distinguished. In a
their exciting causes
great play the argument of each speech, the logical fence of
the dialogue, the scene where the action is laid, the period,
and the surroundings, call for attention in due order. Comedy
suggests a different method of introductory treatment a :

more familiar setting, lighter, less strenuous emotions, are

common to every comedy, though each play will require its
own prefatory discussion. In beginning the " Andria," the
master will note the contrast of Chremes and Simo, as types
of old age, of Pamphilus and Charinus as examples of young
men. And The Eclogues of Vergil
so through other plays.
will be shewn to have their setting in a Golden Age ; their
ideas, similes, comparisons, are drawn from pastoral life ; the
emotions depicted far from complex
are the shepherd's
;

delight is in simple melody and the wisdom of maxim and

proverb, his reverence is for traditional lore and augury. A
historical book, epic or satire, dialogue or fable, will be intro-
duced each in its appropriate way, before the text is touched
upon, and the excellence or the defect of the piece em-
phasised.
Most important is it that the student be brought to learn
 De Ratione Studii, 528 b — 5 30 a 177

for himself the true criticism, that he may dis-

method of such
tinguish good from mediocrity. Hence the value of
literature
acquaintance with the judgments to be found in the oratorical
writings of Cicero and Quintilian in Seneca and in the old
;

grammarians such as Donatus. Once acquired, this power of

insight into the mind of the great writers will lead to a habit
of general criticism of character and situation. The student
will put such questions to himself as these : Why did Cicero
feign to be afraid in his defence of Milo? Why did Vergil
depict Turnus as a second hero ? But enough to indicate what
I mean by literary criticism.

§ 12. Progress in Classical Knowledge depends upon

THE Learning and the Skill of the Master.
529 B— 530 a.

What has been laid down above as the function of the

schoolmaster implies, he be a person of no slight
I allow, that

learning and experience. But, given these qualities, I have no

doubt that the class will speedily absorb the kind of knowledge
which I have indicated. The first steps may be slow and
laborious, but exercise and right instruction make progress
certain. I only stipulate that the material selected be of

sound classical excellence (nothing mediaeval), and the method

skilfully adapted to the growing comprehension the teacher ;

forcing nothing, but working forward gradually from the

broader aspects of his subject to the more minute. Success
then is assured. One further counsel, however. The master
must not omit to set as an exercise the reproduction of what
he has given to the class. It involves time and trouble to the
teacher, I know well, but it is essential. A literal reproduction
of the matter taught is, of course, not required, but the
substance of it presented in the pupil's own way. Personally
I disapprove of the practice of taking down a lecture just as it
w, 12
lyS De Ratione Studii, 530 a — b

is delivered. For this prevents reliance upon memory which

should, as time goes on, need less and less of that external aid

which note-taking supplies.

§ 13. Conclusion. 530 a — b.

Such weight do I ascribe to right method in instruction

and I include herein choice of material as well as of modes of
imparting it — that I undertake by its means to carry forward
youths of merely average intelligence to a creditable standard
and of conversation also, in Latin and Greek,
of scholarship,
atan age when, under the common schoolmaster of to-day, the
same youths would be just stammering through their Primer.
With the foundations thus rightly laid a boy may confidently
look forward to success in the higher range of learning. He
will, when he looks back, admit that the essential condition of
his attainment was the care which was devoted to the be-
ginnings of his education.
 THE TREATISE
De Pueris statim ac liberaliter instituendis,

ADDRESSED TO

WILLIAM, DUKE OF CLEVES, 1529.

ERAS. Op. i. 489.

 CHAPTER VII.

DE PUERIS STATIM AC LIBERALITER INSTITUEN-

DIS LIBELLUS; or, THE ARGUMENT OF ERASMUS
OF ROTTERDAM, THAT CHILDREN SHOULD
STRAIGHTWA V FROM THEIR EARLIEST YEARS
BE TRAINED IN VIRTUE AND SOUND LEARN-
ING. 1529. Addressed to William, Duke of Ci-eves.

§ I. The Argument at Large : i. 489 a — d.

I desire to urge upon you, Illustrious Duke, to take into

your early and serious consideration the future nurture and

training of the son lately born to you. For, with Chrysippus,
I contend that the young child must be led to sound learning
whilst his witis yet unwarped, his age tender, his mind flexible

and tenacious. In manhood we remember nothing so well as

the truths which we imbibed in our youth. Wherefore I beg
you to put aside all idle chatter which would persuade you that
this early childhood is unmeet for the discipline and the effort

of studies.
The arguments which I shall enlarge upon are the following.
First, the beginnings of learning are the work of memory, which
in young children is most tenacious. Next, as nature has
implanted in us the instinct to seek for knowledge, can we be
too early in obeying her behest ? Thirdly, there are not a few
things which it imports greatly that we should know well, and
which we can learn far more readily in our tender years.
I speak of the elements of Letters, Grammar, and the fables
 De Pueris Instituendis, 489 a —d 181

and stories found in the ancient Poets. Fourthly, since

children, as all agree, are fit to acquire manners, why may
they not acquire the rudiments of learning ? And seeing that
they must needs be busy about something, what else can be
better approved ? For how much wiser to amuse their hours
with Letters, than to see them frittered away in aimless
trifling !

It is, however, objected, first, that such knowledge as can

be thus early got is of slight value. But even so, why despise
it, if so be it serve as the foundation for much greater things ?
For if in early childhood a boy acquire such useful elements
he will be free to apply his youth to higher knowledge, to the
saving of his time. Moreover, whilst he is thus occupied in sound
learning he will perforce be kept from some of the temptations
which befall youth, seeing that nothing engages the whole
mind more than studies. And this I count a high gain in such
times as ours.
Next, it is urged that by such application health may be
somewhat endangered. Supposing this to be true, still the
compensation is great, for by discipline the mind gains far
more in alertness and in vigour than the body is ever likely to
lose. Watchfulness, however, will prevent any such risk as is

imagined. you will employ a teacher

Also, for this tender age
who will win and not drive, just as you will choose such
subjects as are pleasant and attractive, in which the young
mind will find recreation rather than toil.

Furthermore, I bid you remember that a man ignorant of

Letters is no man at all, that human life is a fleeting thing, that
youth is easily enticed into sin, that early manhood is absorbed
by clashing interests, that old age is unproductive, and that few
reach it. How then can you allow your child, in whom you
yourself live again, to lose even one of those precious years in
which he may begin to acquire those means whereby he may
elevate his whole life and keep at arm's length temptation and
evil?
1 82 De Pueris Instituendis, 486 d — 491 d

§ 2. The First Law Education must begin from the

:

very earliest years. 486 d 49o a. —

I rejoice at your determination that your son shall be early
and the wisdom of sound
initiated into the arts of true learning
philosophy. Herein consists the full duty of fatherhood, the
care and guidance of the spirit of him for whose creation you
are responsible. And now formy first precept. Do not
follow the fashion, which is too common amongst us, of allowing
the early years of childhood to pass without fruit of instruction,
and of deferring its first steps until the allurements of in-
dulgence have made application more difficult.

§ 3. The Importance of skilled Control from the

outset. —
490 a 491 d.

I urge you, therefore, to look even now for a scholar of

high character and attainment to whom you may commit
the
charge of your boy's mind and disposition, leaving to wisely
chosen nurses the care of his bodily welfare. By thus dividing
control the child will be saved from the mischievous kindnesses
and indulgence of and of weak relatives,
foolish serving-women,
who decry learning as so muchand babble about the
poison,
unfitness of the growing boy for Letters. To such chatter you
will turn a deaf ear. For, remembering that the welfare of
your son demands not less circumspection from you than a
man will gladly bestow upon his horse, his castle, his estate,
you will take heed only to the wisest counsel which you can
secure, and ponder that with yourself. Consider, in this regard,
the care which a boy's mother will lavish upon his bodily
frame, how she will take thought should she but faintly suspect
in him a tendency to become wry-necked, cross-eyed, crook-
backed or splay-footed, or by any mischance prove ill-formed
in proportions of his figure. Think, too, how she is apt to
 De Pueris InstitMendis, 486 d —491 d 183

busy herself about his milk, his meat, his bath, his exercise,
following herein the wise foresight of Galen; will she defer
this carefulness until the seventh year ? No, from the very day
of his birth charge is taken lest mischief hap, and wisely,
knowing that a weakly manhood may be thus avoided. Nay,
even before the child be bom, how diligent is the wise
mother to see that no harm come to herself for her child's
sake.
No one blames this as undue or untimely care for the
young life. Why then do men neglect that part of our nature,
the nobler part, whereby we are rightly called men ; we bestow,
justly, our effort upon the mortal body ;
yet have we but slight
regard for the immortal spirit.

Are other instances needed ? Then think of the training of

a colt, how early it is begun ; or of the work of the husbandman
who fashions and trains the sapling to suit his taste or to
further the fruitfulness of the tree. This is a task of human
skill and purpose ; and the sooner these are applied the more
sure the result.

§ 4. The Supreme Importance of Education to human

Well-being, 491 d — 492 a.

To dumb Mother Nature has given an innate

creatures
power or whereby they may in great part attain to
instinct,

their right capacities. But Providence in granting to man

alone the privilege of reason has thrown the burden of deve-
lopment of the human being upon training. Well, therefore,
has it been said that the first means, the second, and the third
means to happiness is right training or education. Sound
education is the condition of real wisdom. And if an education
which is soundly planned and carefully carried out is the very
fount of all human excellence, so, on the other hand, careless
and unworthy training is the true source of folly and vice.
This capacity for training is, indeed, the chief aptitude which
 184 De Pueris Instituendis, 491 d — 492 d
has been bestowed upon humanity. Unto the animals nature
has given swiftness of foot or of wing, keenness of sight,
and various weapons of defence. To
strength or size of frame,
Man, instead of physical powers, is given a mind apt for
training ; in this single gift all others are comprised, for him,
at least, who turns it to due profit. We see that where native
instinct is strong — as in squirrels or bees —capacity for being
taught is Man, lacking instinct, can do little or
wanting.
nothing of innate power scarce can he eat, or walk, or speak,
;

unless he be guided thereto. How then can we expect that he

should become competent to the duties of life unless straight-
way and with much diligence he be brought under the discipline
of a worthy education ? Let me enforce this by the well-known
story of Lycurgus, who, to convince the Spartans, brought out
two hounds, one of good mettle, but untrained and therefore
and the other poorly bred and well-drilled
useless in the field,
at his work; "Nature," he said, "maybe strong, yet Education
is more powerful still."

§ 5. Parents will not see that in their children's

interests education matters most. 492 a c. —
Yet we see a father, who bestows no
heed to ensure little

that his horses and dogs are of the whether

right breed, careless
his son be properly trained that he may prove an honour to his
parents, and helpful to them in their later years, a worthy
husband, a brave and useful citizen. Yet for whom does such
a father plant and build? for whose behoof does he contrive
wealth by land and by sea ? For his children, forsooth. But
what profit or honour lies in inheriting such things if their
possessor has no skill to use them aright ? Who will fashion
ingeniously a harp for one who has not learnt to play upon it ?
Or furnish a library for one who knows or cares nothing for
books? Why, therefore,heap up riches for one who knows
not how to employ them ? For note this well that he who :
 De Pueris Instituendis, 491 i)
—492 D 185

provides for a son who is worthily educated, provides means to

virtue : but whoso saves for a child endowed with rude
temper and uncultivated wit is but ministering to oppor-
tunities of indulgenceand mischief It is the height of folly
that one should train the body to be comely, and wholly
neglect that excellence of mind which alone can guide it
aright. For I hesitate not to affirm that those things which
men covet for their sons —health, riches, and repute —are more
surely secured by virtue and learning — the gifts of education
than by any other means. True, the highest gifts of all no
man can give to another, even to his child ; but we can store his
mind with that sound wisdom and learning whereby he may
attain to the best.

§ 6. Oi'HER Parents neglect the duty of Education

UNTIL TOO LATE. 492 C 493 B. —
Further, there are those — sometimes men of repute for
practical —
wisdom who err in deferring education till the stage
when the boy finds the rudiments of learning irksome to
acquire. Yet these same fathers will be over-anxious for their
children's future fortune even before they be bom. We hear
of astrologers called in: "the child," it is affirmed, "will be a
born soldier." "Then let us plan to enter him into the king's
service." " He will be the very type of a churchman." "Then
let us work for a bishopric or an abbey for him." And this is
not thought to be taking care prematurely for a career yet far-

distant. Why then refuse to provide not less early that the

boy may be worthily prepared to fill it : so that he grow up not

only to be a captain of a troop, but a fit and reputable officer

of the commonwealth ; not merely to be called a bishop, but

to be made worthy of his charge ? Men seem to me to have
regard to nothing less than to that end to which all these
other ends are subordinate. Lands, castles, furnishings, dress,

servants, all are well cared for, and are of the best : the son of
1 86 De Pueris Inslituendis, 492 d — 494 f
the house alone is left untrained, untaught, ignorant, boorish.
A man buys a slave; he may be useless at first, as knowing
nothing. Straightway he is tried, and it is quickly found what
he can best do, and to that craft he is diligently trained. But
the same man will wholly neglect his son's up-bringing. "He
willhave enough to live upon," he will say. " But not enough
to live a worthy life," I rejoin. " What need of learning ?

He will have wealth." "Then the more need of all the

guidance that Letters and Philosophy can bestow." How
active, for instance, do princes show themselves to get for
their sons as large a dominion as they can, whilst no men
seem to care less that their heirs should be duly educated to
the responsibility that must fall to them.
fulfil The saying of
Alexander is often quoted " Were I not Alexander I would
:

be Diogenes." But Plutarch is right in his reflection, that the

very fact that he was lord of so great an empire was, had he
known it, reason enough for him to desire to be a philosopher
as well. How much more does that father give his son who
gives him that by which he may it've worthily than he who
merely gives that whereby he may live \

§ 7. Reason the true mark of Man. 493 b — 494 a.

Now it is the possession of Reason which constitutes a

Man. If trees or wild beasts grow, men, believe me, are
fashioned. Men in olden time who led their life in forests,
driven by the mere needs and desires of their natures, guided
by no laws, with no ordering in communities, are to be judged
rather as savage beasts than as men. For Reason, the mark of
humanity, has no place where all is determined by appetite.

It isbeyond dispute that a man not instructed through reason

in philosophy and sound learning is a creature lower than
a brute, seeing that there is no beast more wild or more
harmful than a man who is driven hither and thither by
ambition, or desire, anger or envy, or lawless temper. There-
 De Pueris histituendis, 492 d — 494 f 187

foredo I conclude that he that provides not that his own son
may presently be instructed in the best learning is neither a
man nor the son of a man. Would it not be a horror to look
upon a human soul clad in the form of a beast, as Circe is
fabled to have done by her spells ? But is it not worse that a
father should see his own image slowly but surely becoming
the dwelling-place of a brute's nature ? It is said a bear's cub

is an ill-formed lump which by a long process of

at birth but
licking is brought into shape. Nature, in giving you a son,
presents you, let me say, a rude, unformed creature, which it is
your part to fashion so that it may become indeed a man.
If this fashioning be neglected you have but an animal still
if it be contrived earnestly and wisely, you have, I had almost

said, what may prove a being not far from a God.

§ 8. Education of their children is a Duty owed by

parents to the commonwealth and to god.
494 A— 495 A.

Straightway from the child's birth it is meet that he should

begin to learn the things which properly belong to his well-
being. Therefore, bestow especial pains upon his tenderest
years, as Vergil teaches. Handle the wax whilst it is soft,

mould the clay whilst it is moist, dye the fleece before it gather
stains. It is no light task to educate our children aright.

—
Yet think to lighten the burden— how much comfort and
honour parents derive from children well brought up and :

reflect how much sorrow is engendered of them that grow up

evilly. And further, no man is born to himself, no man is
born to idleness. Your children are begotten not to yourself
alone, but to your country : not to your country alone, but to
God. Paul teaches that women are saved by reason that they
bring up their children in the pursuit of virtue. God will
straitly charge the parents with their children's faults ; there-
fore, except they bring up their little ones from the very first to
1 88 De Pueris Instituendis, 494 f — 496 a
live aright, they themselves will share the penalty. For a
child rightly educated is a comfort and a joy to his parents,
but a foolish child brings upon them shame, it may be poverty,
and old age before their time. Nay, I know not a few men of
note and place who have lost their sons by lamentable deaths,
the results of evil life ; some fathers, indeed, which out of
many children had scarce one surviving. And this from no
other cause than that they have made portions for their sons,
but have taken no heed to train them. They are called
murderers who kill their new-born children : but such kill the
mere body. How great, then, is their crime who destroy the
soul ? For what other thing is the death of the soul than to
live in folly and sin ? Such fathers do no less wrong to their
country, to which, as far as in them lies, they give pestilent
citizens. They do, equally, a wrong against God, at whose
hands they receive their offspring to bring it up to His
service.

§ 9. Vicious Habits in which parents encourage their

children. 495 b 496 a. —
But there is an education which is worse than none at
all. For how shall we describe those who go about to imbue
the tender mind with wickedness, before be able to know
it

what wickedness is ? For example, how can a child grow up

to modesty and humility who in his very infancy totters in
the purple? He cannot yet sound his letters, but he knows
what cramoisie is, and brocade he craves for dainty dishes
:

and disdainfully pushes away simple food. The tailor con-

trives some new marvel in cap or tunic straightway we must;

dress up the child therein we tickle his vanity, and then

;

we wonder that he develops irritation and self-conceit The !

serving-women teach him evil words, and for their amusement

tempt him to repeat them. He is brought up to sit through
long feastings he hears the noise of jesters, minstrels, and
;
 De Pueris Instituendis, 494 f —496 a i 89

dancers. The guests, nay, his own father, sprawl drunkenly in

his presence. And
you pray that he may grow up honest,
yet
temperate, and pure. I would also denounce those who bring
up their sons to a love of war. Straight from their mother's
arms they are bidden to finger swords and shields, to thrust
and strike. With such tastes, already deeply rooted with years, •

they are handed over to a master, who is blamed for their

indifference to worthy interests. If it be urged that parents
find some pleasure in this evil precocity of their children, let
me ask if any true father will rather that his son pick up gross
speech, and copy some shameful act, than hear him, with
stammering tongue, utter something worthy and true ? Nature
has made the first years of our life prone to imitation though —
perhaps it is easier to that age to copy evil than good and —
with imitativeness she has given also tenacity in retention.
Hence the mischief that accrues when mothers are allowed to
keep their children in their lap until they are seven years of
age : if they want playthings do they not see that monkeys or
toy-dogs would serve them just as well? For no one can
exaggerate the importance of these years for character, nor
the difficulty which such enervating, debasing up-bringing at
this creates for the teachers who then take over the
stage
task. Menander and Paul were perfectly right such "evil :

communications corrupt good manners."

§ 10. Savage Nature teaches the same lesson of Care

for early training of the young. 496 a e. —
But if neither love nor reason suffice to teach us our duty,
let us turn to the example of the brute creation. For mankind
has admittedly learned therefrom much useful knowledge.
For instance, the hippopotamus has shown us the method of
cutting a vein ; the ibis the use of the clyster, so much
approved by physicians. The stag has taught men that dittany
IQO De Pueris Instituendis, 496 a — 497 a
is helpful in drawing out arrows, and that the eating of crabs is

an antidote to the poison of spiders. Goats have proved that

ivy is a remedy in certain affections. Lizards use dittany
against the bite of snakes, their standing foes. From the
weasel we learnt the use of rue, from the serpent the use of
fennel in affections of the eye.The dragon is our warrant for
employing lettuce in sickness. Much more of such knowledge
have we derived from dumb animals. Practical arts also have
been acquired from them to our great profit. Nay, I might
almost say that there is nothing which advantages the life of
man of which nature has not shown us some example in
wild creatures, to the end that they who have not learnt
philosophy and the rational arts may be admonished by them
what men may do. Attend, therefore, to that which we may
learn from them as to the training of children. We see that every
savage creature is not content only to produce its young, but
teaches it, and shapes it to fulfil its proper function. A bird is,

indeed, created with instinct for flight, but we see how the
fiedgUng is led on and guided in its first attempts by the parent
birds. The cat teaches her kittens to watch, to spring, to kill.

The stag leads her young in chase, brings them to the leap,
shows the methods of escape from pursuit. Authors have
recounted to us that the elephant and the dolphin exhibit
a veritable art in educating their young ones. So of nightin-
gales —the old bird goes in front, calls back to, and corrects,
the young one, which in turn follows and obeys. And I affirm

that, as the instinct of the dog is to hunt, of the bird to fly, of

the horse to gallop, so the natural bent of man is to philosophy
and right conduct. As every creature most readily learns that
for which it is created, therefore will Man, with but slight
effort, be brought to follow that to which Nature has given

him so strong an instinct, viz. excellence, but on one con-

dition that Nature be reinforced by the wise energy of the
:

Educator.
 De Pueris Instituendis, 496 A —497 a 191

§ II. The Three Factors in Individual Progress:

Nature, Method, Practice. 496 e 497 a. —
Can anything be more deplorable than to have to admit
that, an unreasoning animal performs by instinct its
whilst
duty towards its offspring, Man, the creature of Reason, is
blind to what he owes to Nature, to parental responsibility,
and to God? But I will now consider definitely the three
conditions which determine individual progress. They are
Nature, Training and Practice. By Nature, I mean, partly,
innate capacity for being trained, partly, native bent towards
excellence. By Training, I mean the skilled application of
instruction and guidance. By Practice, the free exercise on
our own part of that activity which has been implanted by
Nature and is furthered by Training. Nature without skilled
Training must be imperfect, and Practice without the method
which Training supplies leads to hopeless confusion.

§ 12. The Error of those who think that Experience

GIVES ALL THE EDUCATION THAT MeN NEED. 497 A — F.

They err, therefore, who affirm that wisdom is won by

handling affairs and by contact with life, without aid from the
teaching of philosophy. Tell me, can a man run his best in
the dark? Or, can a gladiator conquer he be blindfold?
if

—
The precepts of philosophy which is knowledge applied to
—
life are, as it were, the eyes of the mind, and lighten us to the
consciousness of what we may do and may not do. A long and
manifold experience is, beyond doubt, of great profit, but only
to such as by the wisdom of learning have acquired an intelli-
gent and informed judgment. Besides, philosophy teaches us
more in one year than our own individual experience can teach
us in thirty, and its teaching carries none of the risks which the
 192 De Pueris Instituendis, 497 b —498 d
method of learning by experience of necessity brings with it.
For example, you educate your son to the mystery of medicine.
Do you allow him to rely on the method of " experience " in
order that he may learn to distinguish between poisons and
healing drugs ? Or, do you send him to the treatises ? It is
an unhappy education which teaches the master mariner the
rudiments of navigation by shipwrecks or the Prince the true
:

way of kingship by revolutions, invasions or slaughter. Is it

not the wise part to learn beforehand how to avoid mischiefs
rather than with the pains of experience to remedy them?
Thus Philip of Macedon put his son Alexander to school with
Aristotle that he might learn philosophy of him, to the end
that when a king he should be saved from doing things which
must be repented of. Thus education shews us in brief what
we should follow, what avoid ; she does not wait till we have
suffered the evil results of our mistakes, but warns us in advance
against courses which will lead to failure and misery. Let us,
therefore, firmly knit up this threefold cord let Nature be by
:

Training guided to wise ends, let Nature and Training, thus

united, be made perfect by right Practice.
When we observe animal life, we notice that each creature
learns, first of all, to perform those things which preserve life
and to avoid those things which make for pain and destruction.
This is true not less of plants, as we can see when we contrast
the close-knit tree of the exposed sea-coast and its fellow
spreading luxuriantly in warmth and shelter. All living things
strive to develop according to their proper nature. What is

the proper nature of Man? Surely it is to live the life of

Reason, for reason is the peculiar prerogative of man. And
what is it that in man makes for pain and destruction ? Surely
it is Folly, which is life without reason. It is, then, certain
that desire for excellence and aversion to folly come readily to
man if only his nature, as yet empty of content, be from the
outset of life filled mth right activities. Yet we hear extravagant
complaints "how prone is child-nature to wrong, how hard to
 De Pueris Instituendis, 497 b — 498 d 193

win to excellence." But herein men accuse nature unjustly.

Parents themselves are to blame in taking little heed for that

which the child imbibes in his early years.

§ 13. The Importance of choosing aright the Child's

FIRST MasterObstacles arising from Ignorance,
:

Indifference, Parsimony. 497 f 498 e. —

I affirm that at the present day three grave mistakes are
rife in respect of the first stage of education. Either, there is

no education at all or it is begun too late or it is entrusted

: :

to wrong hands.
With the first of these I have already dealt, and have
proved that fathers guilty of this neglect are no fathers at all.
And I have shewn that the second error is only less perilous.
It remains now to discuss the third. Parents fall into the
mistake of making a wrong choice of teacher through ignorance,
A man would not plead that
or rather, perhaps, indifference.
he does not know what kind of man has charge of his stud, or
his farm ; but he seems content to know nothing about the
man who has charge of a far more precious possession, his own
son. He will shew much sense in ordering the several duties
of his servants. The bailiff, the house-steward, the cook, are
chosen with much discretion. The son of the house, on the
other hand, is turned over to some dullard or idler, who is
regarded as useless for a more serious task. And then people
talk about " Nature's fault " !

Or take who grudges the pay of a decent

the case of a father
tutor, whom he puts a lower wage than he gives his
off with
groom. Yet the same niggard will spend a fortune upon
banquets and wine, upon play, jesters and his mistress. " The
cheapest thing going to-day," says the Satirist, " is education."
"I pay my cook," said Crates ironically, "four pounds a year;
but a philosopher can be hired for about sixpence, and a tutor
for three half-pence." So to-day a man stands aghast at the

w. 13
1 94 De Pueris Instiiuendis, 498 e —499 c
thought of paying for his boy's education a sum which would
buy a foal or hire a farm servant. At a single feast and the
dicing that follows he will lose two hundred pounds, but he
complains of extravagance if his son's education cost him
twenty. Frugality ? Yes, by means
all : but in this matter
of all others frugality is no economy ; it is another name for
madness.
Again, there are those who are ready to consider well the
choice of a master, but are ready to select a man merely to
oblige a friend. The suitable man is rejected ; the incompetent
person fixed upon ; easy compliance, lacking any sense of
responsibility, decides it all. This is the indifference I spoke
of; but it is more, it is outrageous folly. For, after all, it

is not only a question of the boy himself, but of his parents,

his house, nay, of the commonwealth itself to which he will

belong.

§ 14. The Nursling. 498 e — 499 a.

The child's nature, as we have said before, is the primitive

endowment with which he is born, which human purpose can
do nothing to determine in advance. Still there may be some
qualification to this.For instance, it imports much in regard
to the child that the father have
chosen a wife of sound health
and of good stock, with wholesome and virtuous habits. The
links that bind together mind and body are so close that it
cannot be but that the physical nature affects the spiritual.

Again, as the child reflects the disposition of its parents, let

them observe moderation in appetites and keep strict guard
over themselves that they should be temperate, not given to
anger the father sober, the mother, especially during the
;

months preceding the child's birth, of good conscience and

free from anxieties. Further, it will be good for the child that
it be nursed by the mother ; should necessity arise for a foster-
mother, she must be strong and of right disposition. Neglect
 De Pueris Instituendis, 498 e —499 c 195

in this respect may have enduring results for harm, physical

and moral. For it is at this period that education truly
begins; not, as some would have it, at the seventh year
or the seventeenth

§ 15. The Tutor and his Relation to the Parents.

499 a — c.

But the most important of the forces that mould the

development of the child is the influence of the tutor. In
choosing him we cannot show too great diligence, enquire too
carefully, or apply too rigorous tests. The right person once
secured, we are not to conclude that all is done. Two cautions,
indeed, seem necessary. First, that masters, like doctors, must
not be changed except for serious cause. The repeated be-
ginnings-afresh are as the weaving and unweaving of Penelope's
web. I have known children who have, by the folly of their

parents, had as many as a dozen masters before they were as

many years of age. Secondly, the responsibility of parents for
the education of their children in no way ceases with the
appointment of the master. Let the father often visit the
schoolroom and note the progress made. Amongst the virtues
praised in Aemilius Paulus this is recorded, that as often as his
duties to the State allowed he would be present at the lessons
of his sons. This was also the custom of Pliny. I speak,

however, now of young children as they grow up it is wiser to

:

remove them somewhat more from their parents' eye.

§ 16. Individuality of the Child; its Recognition by

THE Teacher its Importance in determining the
;

Choice of Subjects to be taught. 499 c 500 a. —

By the nahire of a man we mean, as a rule, that which is

common to Man as such : the characteristic, namely, of being

guided by Reason. But we may mean something less broad
13—2
 196 De Pueris Instituendis, 499 d — 500 c
than this : the characteristic peculiar to each personality, which
we may call individuality. Thus one child may shew a native
bent to Mathematics, another to Divinity, another to Rhetoric,
or Poetry, another to War. So strongly disposed are certain
types of mind to certain studies that they cannot be won to
others ; the very attempt in that direction sets up a positive
repulsion. was once very intimate with a student, who,,
I

having attained a high level in Greek and Latin scholarship,

and in some other of the liberal arts, was sent by his patron
the Archbishop to the University to study Law. But this
discipline he found wholly repugnant to his nature. " I am,"
he told me, " so averse to the Law that when I force myself to
its study I feel as if a sword were being driven through my

heart." Minds of that strong determination ought not to be

forced against their instinct
; it is almost as though we should

train a cowbox or a donkey to play the violin.

to
The Master will be wise to observe such natural inclination,
such individuality, in the early stages of child life, since we
learn most easily the things which conform to it. It is not,
I believe, a vain thing to try and infer from the face and

bearing of a boy what disposition he will show. Nature has

not omitted to give us marks for our guidance in this respect.
Aristotle wrote a work on physiognomy ; and Vergil bids us
recognise the differences which distinguish one type of cattle
from another in regard to the uses to which we may put them.
However, I am personally of opinion that where the method is
sound, where teaching and practice go hand in hand, any
discipline may by the flexible intellect
ordinarily be acquired
of man. What, indeed, should be beyond his powers when,
as we are told, an elephant has been trained to walk a tight-
rope?
 De Pueris Instituendis, 499 d — 500 c 197

§17. The Effects of Training upon Nature in Human

Beings are certain and are far-reaching. 500 a —
501 A.

Making all allowance, however, for the factor of nature in

education, which is, as we said, self-determined, it is not
questioned that the other two. Training and Practice, are
under human control. Training, or Reason brought to bear
upon Nature, implies capacity for learning ;
practice, readiness
to self-exertion. "But," it is asked, "can you begin Education
at an age when capacity for learning has not yet developed,
and when continuous exertion cannot be expected?" My
reply to this is that children are universally taught manners
and conduct at the same age; and this implies capacity for
effort and for learning. A rudimentary capacity, I admit
but we are only considering rudiments of Letters and of
philosophy, or of morals and duty. Animals are trained by
degrees according to their powers, and so should children be
inured slowly to study. Nature has implanted in the young
an ability of their own. It is not for them, I allow, to learn
the Ethics of Aristotle or the Epistles of St Paul. But if, for
instance, you correct their manners at table, they obey and
amend when they go to church they learn to bend the knee
;

and to bear themselves reverently. Such rudiments of modesty

and piety the child acquires before he can speak properly, and,
thus early learnt, they abide in mind and habit until, as the
boy grows older, they form a living part of his higher nature.
Notice Nature's teaching. We see how at first the newly-born
child knows no difference between his parents and strangers.
By degrees he distinguishes his mother, then his father.
Respect, obedience, affection follow. From his parents he
learns to repress anger and vindictiveness, to make up a
quarrel with a kiss ; he learns to listen without chattering
to rise in the presence of his elders ; to lift his cap as he
198 De Pueris Instituendis, 500 c — 501 f
passes a Calvary. Thus it is established that what is poured

into our nature, so to say, in our earliest years becomes an

integral part of us. Hence the error, the grave error, of the
opinion which maintains that the halting steps of the child
avail nothing to the progress of the boy. " It is always best
to use the best," even from the very first. For that habit will

endure longest which you impart whilst the nature is yet tender,
void, and eager to imitate the actions of others. Clay, perhaps,
may be sometimes made too moist to retain the mould im-
pressed upon it ; but Idoubt if there be any period of a child's
progress when he is too young to learn. " No age," said

Seneca, "is too late for learning." Perhaps. But it is my

conviction that no age is too early, in respect, that is, of that
knowledge which Nature has fittingly prescribed for it. By
which I mean, that nature has planted in the youngest child
an ape-like instinct of imitation and a delight in activity.
From this quality springs his first capacity for learning. Hence
as soon as he born the child may be trained in conduct
is

and as soon as he can talk he may by virtue of the same

imitative instinct be trained in speech and letters. Now note
this analogy. As in the nursling action anticipates speech,
so throughout conduct takes the prior place, and learning
life

and the liberal arts must prove themselves her hand-maidens,

lest erudition haply work ill rather than good to him who

pursues it.

§ 18. The Age at which Instruction should begin

to be considered. 50i a — c.

The opinion is widely held that children should not be set

to learn till they are seven years of age. Hesiod is said to
have been the author of this view, but even if that be true,
I should not follow him against my own judgment. It is

probable, however, that this contention implies no more than

this, that the laborious side of studies, such as learning by
 De Pueris Instituendis, 5CX)C — 501 f 199

heart, repetition, long written exercises, should be avoided as

far as possible in early education. If figures are to be men-
tioned at all, we may remember that Chrysippus judges the
first three years to be the province of the nurse, during which
period the child should imbibe right habits and lay the founda-
tions for that edifice of character and learning which will be
raised later. And I freely allow that this stage of home education
is of profound importance.

§ 19. Right Expression as the Main End of Early

Instruction, and its Importance for
Subsequent
Progress. 501 c— 502 b.

The aim of instruction at the first stage should be to teach

children to speak clearly and accurately, a matter in which both
parent and nurse share the responsibility. Language, indeed,
is not simply an end in itself, as we see when we reflect that
through its neglect whole disciplines have been lost, or, at least,

corrupted. Think what Theology, Medicine and Law have

lost from this cause. Upon the question of early training in
expression, Cicero tells us that those famous orators, the
Gracchi, owed their distinction largely to Cornelia :
" their
first school was their mother's knee." Laelia is a similar
instance, for she, like Mutia and Licinia, was brought up as
a girl in an atmosphere of dignified and refined conversation.
We must not forget that besides parents, tutors, serving-women,
and playfellows, all have marked influence upon a child's
manner of speaking. For it is in speech that the imitative
instinct is specially active. We know that a German boy will
pick up French unconsciously almost, but most successfully,
if only he have opportunity when very young. Now if this be
possible in a language which is barbarous and unformed, in

which spelling never follows pronunciation, whose sounds are

mere noises for which the throat of man was never framed,
how much more readily should he learn the tongues of Greece
2CX) De Pueris Instituendis, 501 f — 503 b
and Rome ? Mithridates could administer justice in two-and-
twenty dialects and languages : Themistocles, when well ad-
vanced in years, learnt Persian in a twelvemonth. To what,
then, may not the plastic mind and tongue of a boy attain ?

For the learning of a language is partly, as we have suggested,

a matter of imitation and it is partly a matter of memory.
; It

is as instinctive with children to imitate as it is easy for them

to remember ; while to a man of my age it is difficult to recall
exactly a fact read two days ago. How few people do we meet
who have been able to learn a new language, especially in
respect of accent, in middle Cato the elder may be
life !

quoted as one of these but namesake of Utica is a far

; his
more trustworthy pattern for us, as he was the more learned
and eloquent of the two, and he was taught Greek from the
cradle.

§ 20. The Importance of this Early Training ought

TO lead Parents to ask themselves how far they
can follow the example of the Ancients in
BECOMING themselves THE INSTRUCTORS OF THEIR
Children. 502 b 503 b. —
But we may not forget that children are prone to follow the
allurement of the senses rather than the rule of reason ; to
store up in mind what is trivial or bad rather than what is of
enduring worth. This fact of human nature sorely puzzled
the ancient philosophers, but has its key in the Christian
doctrine of Original Sin. True as this explanation is, we are
not to forget the part played by faulty training, particularly in
the first and most impressionable stage. Wherefore, I bid
you recall how Alexander allowed that he had been unable to
forget some things which he had learnt, to his hurt, from his
tutor in early boyhood ; and how the Romans in the days of
their prime refused to yield the charge of their sons to any
hired person. In those days the parents and other kinsmen
 De Pueris Instituendis, 501 F — 503 B 201

taught the growing boy ; for instance, it was held the truest
honour to the family that as many children as possible of the
name should have repute for learning. Nowadays the mark of
a noble house seems to consist in exhibiting coats of arms, in
giving feasts, in play and sport ; and the only service which
elders perform for their sons is to provide them with rich
marriages. Meantime it is thought natural that as a child he
should be left in charge of a man ignorant of learning and of
illiberal condition. In old days careful parents trained up a
slave specially fit in learning that he might act as a tutor, or
they bought one already skilled. But it were wiser that the
parents should qualify themselves to this task. If it be
objected that time is lacking, I point to the flagrant waste of
leisure and entertainments, ' and in the stupid social
in play
"duties of our station." He has but lukewarm love for his
son who grudges the time for teaching him. I admit that the
Romans had the great advantage of a single tongue under-
stood universally but, in spite of drawbacks in our own day,
;

certain parents of distinction have undertaken the duty of

training their own children. Amongst these I name Thomas
More. He, although deeply occupied in affairs of the State,
devoted his leisure to the instruction of his wife, his son, and
his daughters, both in the uprightness of life and in the
liberal studies of Greek and Latin. The common tongue of
the people may be left to be picked up in the ordinary
intercourse of life.

Should, however, neither parent be a suitable instructor to

the child, then, I admit, we must secure the services of an
able and experienced teacher. But the father should hesitate
to take an untried man. In many things, perhaps, negligence
may findits pardon but here the eyes of Argus himself are
;

wanted. There is a proverb that teaches us that in war a

general may not make iwo mistakes. In planning his son's
education a father dare hardly make one.
202 De Pueris Instituendis, 503 b — 504 A

§21. The Objection that Health is endangered by

Close Application on the part of the Young
Child. 503 b — e.

We have to meet an argument against early training drawn

from the superior importance of health. Personally I venture
to regard the mental advantages gained as outweighing some
slight risks in the matter of physical vigour. We are not
concerned with developing athletes, but scholars and men
competent to affairs, for whom we desire adequate constitu-
tions indeed, but not the physique of a Milo. I should,

certainly, always advise moderation in the amount of mental

exertion demanded, but I have little patience with critics who
only become anxious about the youthful constitution when
education is mooted ; but who are indifferent to the far more
certain risks of over-feeding, late hours, and unsuitable dress-
ing, which are the common indulgences allowed to children in
the classes about w^hom I am In the same
here concerned.
way some parents profess alarm premature study affect the
lest

complexion or figure of their child. This is justifiable to

some degree, but we ought not to think too much of such
attractions in a boy. Here again evil habits, brawling, and
intemperance are far more serious causes of this kind of
mischief.
But if the teaching be of a wise sort the danger of harm
will be wholly negligeable. For the effort required will be but
slight, subjects will be few, attractively taught, and adapted to

the age and tastes of the scholar. Such study may hardly be
distinguished from play, and is a source of enjoyment to the
child.
 De Pueris Instituendis, 503 b — 504 a 203

§ 22. The Disposition of the Teacher. 503 e — 504 a.

Seeing, then, that children in the earliest stage must be

beguiled and not driven to learning, the first requisite in the
Master is a gentle sympathetic manner, the second a know-
ledge of wise and attractive methods. Possessing these two
important qualifications he be able to win the pupil to find
will
pleasure in his task. It is a hindrance to a boy's progress,
which nothing will ever nullify, when the master succeeds in
making his pupil hate learning before he is old enough to
like it for its own sake. For a boy is often drawn to a subject
first for his master's sake, and afterwards for its own. Learn-
ing, like many other things, wins our liking for the reason that
it is one we love. But, on the other hand,
offered to us by
there is a type of man
of manners so uncouth, of expression
so forbidding, of speech so surly, that he repels even when he
by no means intends it. Now men of that stamp are wholly
unfit to be teachers of children a man who loves his horse
;

would hardly put such a man to have charge of his stable.

Yet there are parents who think such a temper as I have
described well adapted to breaking in the young child, thinking,
perhaps, that seriousness of that sort betokens a proper
gravity. Therein may lie a great error, inasmuch as that
demeanour may cloak a depraved nature, which, delighting in
tyranny, cows and breaks the spirit of the pupil. Fear is of no
real avail in education : not even parents can train their
children by this motive. Love must be the first influence;
followed and completed by a trustful and affectionate respect,
which compels obedience far more surely than dread can
ever do.
204 De Pueris InsHtuendis, 504 a — 504 f

§ 23. The Evil Condition of the Schools, especially

THE Private Schools, in the Present Day. 504 a d. —
What shall we say then of the type of school too common
at the present time ? A
boy scarce four years old is sent to
school to a master about whose qualifications for the work no
one knows anything. Often he is a man of uncouth manners,
not always sober ; maybe he is an invalid, or crippled, or even
mentally deficient. Anyone
good enough to put over the
is

grammar school in popular opinion. Such a man, finding

himself clothed with an unlocked for and unaccustomed
authority, treats his charges as we should expect. The school
is, in effect, a torture chamber blows and shouts, sobs and
;

howls, fill the air. Then it is wondered that the growing boy
hates learning and that in riper years he hates it still.
; There
are parents who will send their children to learn reading and
writing at a dame's school, kept by some incompetent, ill-
tempered, perhaps drunken creature. Now as a general
principle I should affirm that it is contrary to Nature that men
should be placed under the exclusive control of women ; for
women are not only lacking in the necessary self-control, but
when aroused are prone to extreme vindictiveness and cruelty.
Nor can I personally, though few agree with me, advise parents
to send their sons to school in Monasteries or in the Houses
of the Brethren. For, whilst allowing the teaching Brothers
to be often good, kindly men, they are usually too narrow and
ignorant to be fit to educate children. The monks make a
good income out of their schools, which are conducted no one
knows how, and are jealously hidden away in the inner re-
cesses of the convent. So I strongly urge Choose for your :

boy a public school, or keep him at home.

 De Pueris Instituendis, 504 a — 504 f 205

§ 24. Excessive Punishment the Characteristic of

Worthless Schools and of Weak Teachers. 504 d
—507 E.

A poor master, we are prepared to find, relies almost

wholly upon fear of punishment as the motive to work. To
frighten an entire class is easier than to teach one boy properly
for the latter is, and always must be, a task as serious as it is

honourable. It is equally true of States : the rule which

carries the respect and consent of the citizens demands higher
qualities in the Prince than does the tyranny of force.
Scotsmen say that they find the French schoolmaster the
most thorough-going flogger in Europe to which the Gaul :

replies that, if it is true, it is because the Frenchman knows his

Scot. Perhaps there is a difference in the method by which
the youth of different countries needs to be handled, though
for my part I consider it far more a matter of individual than
of national For instance, there are natures
temperament.
which you will rather break than bend by flogging whilst by :

kindness and wise stimulus you may do anything with them.

I confess that I personally am constituted in this way. Once,
my master, with whom I was really on very good terms, a man,
too, who had formed a flattering idea of my capacities, con-
ceived a wish to try how far I could stand the test of a very severe
discipline. So, watching his opportunity, he charged me with
some had not even dreamt of committing, and
offence that I
thrashed me. Now, that piece of tyranny then and there
annihilated in me all further interest in learning, and so
dejected, so broken was I, that I gradually fell into a low
feverish state. So when my master no fool and not a bad —
—
man at heart, as I have said realised what he had done, he
came forward and admitted his mistake. " I nearly succeeded
in ruining his disposition before I had learnt to understand it,"
2o6 De Pueris Instituendis, 504 f — 507 a
he said. But his repentance came too late to alter the con-
sequences, so far as my attitude to him was concerned.
Do schoolmasters consider how many earnest, studious
natures have been by treatment of this type — the hangman
type — crushed into indifference? Masters who are conscious
of their own incompetence are generally the worst floggers.
What else, indeed, can they do ? They cannot teach, so they
beat. By degrees it becomes a positive pleasure to them to
torture, especially when they are self-indulgent men, or
slothful or cruel by nature.
I know particularly well a certain Churchman of great
distinction who selected the masters of his school from
amongst the more accomplished wielders of the birch.
Flogging, in his educational doctrine, was the prime instru-
ment for " softening and purifying " boys' natures. It was his
practice when the mid-day meal was over to order one or
other of the boys to be brought out and cruelly thrashed : the
innocence or guilt of the boy was not in question. I was
present on one occasion when he had before him a lad of
about ten years of age, only just admitted to the school. My
churchman proceeded to tell us that the boy had been carefully
brought up, and had been specially commended to his charge
by his mother. A wholly groundless complaint was laid
against him. The birch was thereupon handed to the wretched
ministrant charged with this duty, who so lost all self-control

in his task that thechurchman himself had to call halt. The

boy swooned away. Then said the divine " The lad, of :

course, has done nothing to deserve all this, but it is necessary

to curb his spirit by wholesome discipline." But who would
dream of training a horse or a slave after this fashion? By
patience and kindliness, and not by violence, men tame the
lion's whelp and the young elephant. No beast is so wild but
that it may be subdued by gentle handling, and none so tame
but that cruelty will rouse it to anger.
It is, indeed, the mark of the servile nature to be drilled by
 De Pueris Instituendis, 504 f — 507 a 207

fear; why then do we suffer children (whose very name im-

ports free —
men, " liberi " those born fit for a " liberal
training —
), to be treated as slaves might be ? Yet even slaves,
who are men like the rest of us, are by wise masters freed
from something of their servile state by humane control. Let
a father stand towards his son in a more kindly relation than
that of a master to his serfs. If we put away tyrants from
why do we erect a new tyranny for our own sons?
their thrones,
Is not meet that Christian peoples cast forth from their
it

midst the whole doctrine of slavery in all its forms? Paul

shews us that a slave is a " dear brother ; and that all "'

Christian believers, whether bond or free, are fellow-servants

to one Lord. In speaking of parents as regards their children
the Apostle warns them that they " provoke not their children
to wrath, but bring them up in the chastening and admonition

of the Lord." And what the " chastening" of the Lord Jesus
should imply, he may readily perceive who considers with what
gentleness, forgiveness, affection, He trained, cherished, and
bore with, his own disciples. Contrast with this the story of
Auxon, a Roman knight, who for cruelty towards his own son
was dragged by the crowd into the Forum, fiercely handled,
and with difficulty rescued with his life. I fear that there
be many Auxons living still. I could tell you certain stories of
wicked cruelty by schoolmasters which it is hard to believe, but
for which I vouch my own personal knowledge. In one case
in especial, where foul torture was employed, the child, whom I
— —
knew, he was twelve years of age very nearly died from the
ill-usage. He was the innocent victim of some prank played
by a school-fellow, who was a favourite with the master, an
incompetent and worthless creature, and, therefore, given to
violent floggings to enforce his authority. I can only say that
hanging the luckless child up by the arms and flogging him
as he hung till the brutal master was too tired to go on, was
the least disgusting part of the punishment. The Scythians
or Phrygians of old were less inhuman. Once more, I cannot
2o8 De Pueris Instituendis, 507 b — 508 d
forget the rough horse-play which awaited every newly-arrived
student at my old College. The brutality of it and the in-
tolerable torments devised by the youthful wits I do not care
to particularise. Risks of permanent bodily injury were con-
stantly and the ceremony ended in a noisy
experienced :

carouse. was an "initiation," forsooth, into a course of

It

training in the liberal arts it was naturally well-adapted to

:

turn out the flogging masters whom I have just described.

The worst of it was that the authorities winked at the scandal;
it was " the tradition," and it was, therefore, " unwise to inter-

fere," and so on. As though the fact that an evil tradition is

deep-rooted in the past does not make the stronger call upon
sensible men for its abolition. Should not they who pursue
the studies we term " liberal " cultivate a type of humour also
to match?

§ 25. The Permissible Instruments of Discipline.

507 E— 508 D.

Teaching by beating, therefore, is not a liberal education.

Nor should the schoolmaster indulge in too strong and too
frequent language of blame. Medicine constantly repeated
loses its force. You may quote against me the old proverb
" He that spareth the rod hateth his own son." Well, perhaps,
that may have been true of Jews. But I do not accept it as
true for Christians to-day. If we are to " bow the necks " and
"chastise," as we are bidden to do, let us see to it that the rod
we use is the word of guidance or of rebuke, such as a free
man may obey, that our discipline be of kindness and not of
vindictiveness. Lycon, the philosopher, sets forward these
two spurs to industry shame, and desire for praise. Shame is
:

the fear of just reproach ; by praise a boy is quickened to

excel in all he does. Let these, then, be the schoolmaster's
weapons to-day. And I can add another :
" unwearied pains
conquer all things," says the poet. Let us watch, let us en-
 De Pueris Instituendis, 507 b — 508 d 209

courage, us press and yet again press, that by learning, by

let

repeating, by diligent listening, the boy may feel himself

carried onward towards his goal. Let him learn to respect
and and knowledge, to hate ignorance and
to love integrity
dishonour. Bid him regard those who are lauded for their
virtues, be warned by those who are denounced for their
ill-doing. Set before him the example of men to whom learn-
ing has brought high praise, dignity, repute and position.
Warn him of the fate of those who by the neglect of high
wisdom have sunk into contempt, poverty, disgrace and evil
life. These are your instruments of discipline, my Christian
teacher, worthy of your calling and of your flock. But should
none of these avail, then, if it must be so, let the rod be used
with due regard to self-respect in the manner of it. But I am,
at heart, with Quintilian in deprecating flogging under any
conditions. If then you ask, " What is to be done with boys
who respond to no other spur ? " My answer is " What :

would you do if an ox or an ass strayed into your school-

room ? " Turn him out to the plough or the pack-saddle, no
doubt. Well, so there are boys good only for the farm and
manual toil send your dunces there for their own good.
:

"Yes," says the master, "but I want my fees." There I

cannot help you your duty is t^ the boy.
: But I fear that
this matter of profit lies at the root of the whole matter.

§ 26. The Provision of Fit Teachers of Youth is a

National Duty in which both Church and State
SHOULD share THE JOINT RESPONSIBILITY. 508 D E. —
The man and of the
ancients drew the ideal of the wise
Orator — types never realised in So it is easier to outline
fact.

the ideal schoolmaster than to find him in reality. Which

brings me to claim it as a duty incumbent on Statesmen and
Churchmen alike to provide that there be a due supply of men
qualified to educate the youth of the nation. It is a public

w. 14
210 De Pueris Instituendis, 508 e — 509 f
obligation in no way inferior, say, to the ordering of the army.
Vespasian an example, in that out of his Treasury he main-
is

tained Greek and Latin teachers and the younger Pliny of

;

his private fortune did the same. And if the community be

backward in this respect, yet should every head of a house-
hold do all that he can to provide for the education of his
own.
Now you may rejoin, that men of poor station, whose
efforts are absorbed in nurturing their families, can do nothing
for them besides. I have nothing to say except this " We :

must do as we may, when we cannot do as we would." But

the liberality of the rich can be most wisely exercised here, in
enabling innate powers to attain their due development by
removing the hindrance imposed by poverty.

§ 27. The Qualities Desirable in a Good Master.

508 E— 509 B.

Although have urged the need of gentleness, let it not

I

decline into unwise familiarity towards the pupil

; a degree of
formal authority must be maintained, such as marked the
relation ofSarpedon towards the young Cato, who rendered
his What would
master great affection and equal reverence.
the master do who can only teach by flogging, if he were set
up as tutor in a royal household, where no such discipline is
for a moment allowed? "Oh," he rejoins, "such pupils are
not of the common order." "How then? Are not the
children of a citizen men ? Do not citizens love their sons no
less than kings ? " If they be poor men, the more need have
they of learning in order to minister to their deficiency; if

they be rich, in order to learn to govern their wealth aright.

Not a few born in low estate are called to high station, as to
Bishoprics. All men do not rise to so great distinction, yet
ought all to gain by right education the opportunity of so
 De Pueris Instituendis, 508 e — 509 f 211

rising. Now I have said enough of that evil class of school-

master which only knows how to beat: but cannot too
I

seriously deplore that the scandal is in our day so widely

spread.

§ 28. The Need of Sympathy in one who shall

TEACH Young Children. 509 b — f.

It is the mark of a good teacher to stand towards his

charge somewhat in the relation of a parent both learning :

and teaching are made easier thereby. He will also in a

sense become a boy again that he may draw his pupil to
himself. Though this by no means justifies the choice of the
old and infirm as teachers of youth these indeed have no
:

need to simulate a childish temper, they are only too truly

once more in their second infancy. Rather should the master
be in the full vigour of early manhood, able to sympathise
naturally with youth, ready to adapt himself to its demands.
He will follow in his first instruction the methods of the
mother in the earliest training of her nursling. As she
prattles baby language, stirs and softens baby food, stoops and
guides the tottering steps — so will the master act in things of
the mind. Slowly is the transition made to walking alone, or
to eating solid food ; the tender frame is thus carefully
hardened. In exactly the same manner instruction is at first
simple, taught by way of by degrees. The sense
play, taught
of effort is lost in the pleasure of such natural exercise in- :

sensibly the mind becomes equal to harder tasks. Wholly

wrong are those masters who expect their little pupils to act as
though they were but diminutive adults, who forget the
meaning of youth, who have no standard of what can be done
or be understood except that of their own minds. Such a
master will upbraid, exact, punish, as though he were dealing
with students as old as himself, and forgets that he was ever
himself a child. Pliny warned such a one when he spoke thus

14—2
212 De Pueris Instituendis, 509 f — 510F
to a master" Remember that your pupil is but a youth
:

still, and you were once one yourself." But how often
that
does the schoolmaster of to-day prove by his harsh discipline
that he wholly forgets this simple truth

§ 29. What subjects may be most suitably chosen for

THE First Steps in Education. 509 f 510 d. —
To treat next of the matter which may be wisely taught
the little child. First of all, I give the leading place to practice
in spoken language, which it is so great a task for adults to
accomplish. As I have already said, this is an exercise of the
child's powers of imitation, which it shares with certain birds.
As an aid to this study can anything be better adapted to the
youthful capacity than the reading of ancient Fables? For
they appeal by their romance, they are good for moral lessons,
they help vocabulary. There is nothing a boy more readily
listens to than an apologue of Aesop, who under cover of
pleasant story teaches the youth the very essence of philosophy.
You relate, again, how Circe transforms the comrades of
Ulysses into swine and other animals. It is a story to rouse
interest and, perhaps, amusement but the lesson is therein
;

driven home that men who will not yield to the guidance of
reason, but follow the enticements of the senses, are no more
than brute beasts. Could a stoic philosopher preach a graver
truth ? The poetry styled Bucolic is easy to understand
Comedy is intelligible to boys, and teaches them many deep
truths of life in its lighter vein. Then it is time to teach the
names of objects —a subject in which even learned men are
apt to be uncertain. Lastly, short sentences containing quaint
conceits, proverbs, pithy sayings, such as in ancient times were
the current coin of philosophy.
But do not forget that children are not seldom seen to
show a peculiar bent to particular disciplines, such as Music,
Arithmetic or Geography. I have myself known young pupils
 De PuejHs Instituendis, 509 f — 510F 213

who, though backward in all that concerned Grammar or Rhe-

toric, had much facility in these less rigid yet more recondite
subjects. Nature, therefore, claims the help of the school-
master in carrying forward the special gifts with which she has
endowed the child. By following the path which she points
out the toil of learning is reduced : whilst on the other hand
nothing can be well accomplished inviia Minerva.

§ 30. Pleasurable methods must be devised in the

First Stages of Teaching. 510 d 511 c. —
Progress in learning a language is much furthered if the
child be brought up amongst people who are gifted talkers.
Descriptions and stories are impressed the better if to good

narrative power the teacher or parent can add the help of

pictorial illustration. The same method can be more par-
ticularly applied to the teaching of natural objects. Names
and characteristics of trees, flowers, and animals can be thus
learnt : specially is this plan needful where the creature de-
scribed is wholly unfamiliar to the child, as for instance the
rhinoceros, the tragelaphus, the onocrotalus, the Indian ass,
and the elephant. A picture is shown, containing an elephant,
in combat with a dragon. At once the class shows curiosity.
How shall the master proceed ? He states the Greek and Latin
names for elephant, giving the Latin genitive case as well. He
then points to the trunk, giving the Greek and Latin for it, and
the purpose of the organ : he will explain that the elephant
breathes as well as feeds by its means. The tusks are next
dealt with, the uses and rarity of ivory ; if possible he will
produce something made of it. The dragon is shown to be of
the large Indian species. He states the Greek and Latin
equivalents for 'dragon,' their similarity in form, and their
feminines. He will instil the fact that between the dragon and
the elephant there is, instinctively and constantly, a ruthless
war. If any boy is keen for further knowledge in the subject,
 214 De Pueris Instituendis, 511 a —e
the Master will add many other facts concerning the nature
and habits of these two great beasts. Boys, too, will generally
be attracted by pictures of hunting scenes, through which
a wealth of information about trees, plants, birds, and animals
may be imparted in a most delightful and yet instructive
manner. In choosing subject-matter of this kind it is desirable
to take some pains to discuss what is naturally attractive to the
youthful mind, and discard what is of too advanced a kind.
Remember always that youth is the springtime of life, when
harvests sown and flowers bloom. But autumn is the
are
season for ripe fruits and laden wains. Hence, as only folly
will look for purple grapes in May, so no Master who under-
stands his task will demand the tastes and powers of maturity
from the growing child. Brightness, attractiveness, these make
the only appeals to a boy in the field of learning. Is not this why
the ancients fabled the Muses to be comely maidens, given to
the song and the dance, and companions to the Graces ? It

was their doctrine also that excellence in true learning was

only to be attained by those who find pleasure in its pursuit
and for this cause the liberal arts were by them called '
Hu-
manitas.'
is no reason why in this early stage of education
Yet there
should not go hand in hand with delight.
utility On the
method which I have here sketched nothing hinders that a
boy learn a pretty story from the ancient poets, or a memorable
tale from history, just as readily as the stupid and vulgar ballad,
or the old wives' fairy rubbish such as most children are steeped
in nowadays by nurses and serving women. Who can think
without shame of the precious time and energy squandered
in listening to ridiculous riddles, stories of dreams, of ghosts,
witches, fairies, demons ; of foolish tales drawn from popular
annals ; worthless, nay, mischievous stuff of the kind which is

poured into children in their nursery days ?

 De Pueris Instituendis, 5 1 1 a —e 2 1

§ 31. The work of Educating the Young is a. part

OF the Service we owe to God. 511 c d.

" Granting your contention "

— so it may be said
— " that we
should sweep away this rubbish and place education of the
very young on a higher plane, who will consent to stoop to this
trying task?" "Well," I reply, "Aristotle, Cheiron, Eli, are
examples to my hand. I only ask for the same kind of efifort

that people are willing to bestow upon training a parrot to

talk." What of the pious folk who will make long and dan-
gerous pilgrimages and perform exacting penances to please
the Deity ? And yet can any duty be more agreeable to God
than the right up-bringing of the young ? No gloom, no self-

mortification, no exhausting effort is demanded in this service :

diligence, patience, a cheerful demeanour, will accomplish all.

Nay, the very shadow of harsh, exacting toil and compulsion

should be banished from the field.

^32. Methods of Early Instruction again touched

UPON. 511 d — 512 e.

Ability to speak is easily learned by use. Next come the

arts of reading and writing, where the skill of the teacher can
do much to lighten the monotony of learning. Much time is
commonly wasted in teaching the child to know his letters and
to pronounce words, which could be spent on more important
matters to far greater profit. Reading, indeed, should be
attacked on methods practised in Roman schools. Letters
were made form and when learnt were allowed to be
in biscuit
eaten. Ivory letters were used, by means of which words were
composed by the scholar. And other devices could be em-
ployed. In England I heard of a father who taught his boy to
aim with bow and arrow at Greek or Roman letters painted on
a target a hit meant a cherry for the archer.
; This could be
2 1 6 De Pueris Instituendis, 5 1 1 f — 5 1 3 a

carried out as a competition in a class of boys : for as it was,

the boy learnt all his letters, their names and sounds, in a few
days instead of as many months.
I would not, however, encourage learning by games of chess

or dice ; nor any devices whose complexity is such that the

" aid " costs more to learn than the subject There are
itself.

machines so intricate that they hinder work rather than shorten

it. Amongst the devices I have in mind is the whole class
of mnemonic puzzles, put forth merely for their ingenuity, or
as ameans of making money. Believe me, there is only one
sound mnemonic art, and it has three rules understand, :

arrange, repeat.
A clever Teacher will utilise the motive of emulation
amongst children ; for this will often be found effective with
boys who will not respond to warnings, to encouragement, or to
the offer of rewards. Now the award of the prize must by no
means preclude the losers from the chances of proving them-
selves winners later on and there may be circumstances under
:

which the master will be wise in granting the first place to one
who is not ahead in actual attainment. The due alternation of
praise and blame will often provoke keenness. Should you
reply that a master may be unwilling to take these pains to
adapt his teaching to the youthful mind, I rejoin that, in such
case, he is in my judgment unfit for his work.
I allow that the first steps in Latin Grammar are not in
themselves attractive to boys. But for this I blame, not a little,

the lack of judgment in the master. He should confine his

teaching to the things that matter. But as a rule the young
beginner is names of the letters,
worried, let us say, about the
before he knows one of them by sight, or about the case of
" Musae," or the tense of " legeris," before he has learnt his
accidence. And what beatings are apt to follow failure
Again, a shallow mind will, in order to parade its thin layer of
knowledge before the class, import wholly unnecessary diffi-

culty into a lesson ; this happens especially in teaching Logic.

 De Pueris Instituendis, 511 f — 5 13 a 217

They are ways by which the rudiments are made harder than
they need be. No doubt I shall be told, "/had to learn
Latin in this manner when I was a boy; what was good enough
for me must do for him."

§ 33. Difficulties should be attacked Patiently.

512 E— 513 A.

My principles of method then are briefly these. First, do

not hurry, for learning comes easily when the proper stage is
reached. Second, avoid a difficulty which can be safely
ignored or at least postponed. Third, when the difficulty
musi be handled, make the boy's approach to it as gradual
and as interesting as you can. Lucretius tells us that doctors
used to sweeten the rim of the medicine glass with honey. We
know that imagination often magnifies a difficulty in life. So
in teaching, lead the beginner to face his unfamiliar matter
with self-confidence, to attack it slowly but with persistence.
We must not under-rate the capacity of youth to respond to
suitable demands upon the intelligence. Youth indeed lacks
that sheer force which marks the bull, but on the other hand
Nature has given it something of the tenacity and industry of
the ant. The child, like every other creature, excels in the
precise activity which belongs to it. How else could he race
about for hours and not be tired? But such exercise is in-
stinctive, it is is no sense of toil about it, no
play to him, there
compulsion. Follow Nature, therefore, in this, and so far as is
possible take from the work of the school all that implies toil-
someness, and strive to give to learning the quality of freedom
and of enjoyment. Systematic games must be encouraged as
a needful relaxation when boys reach the higher stages of their
and can no longer postpone close application and hard
subject,
work. Such subjects are Greek composition, Latin composition
from the Greek, and cosmography. But I would say that no
2 1 8 De Pueris Instituendis, 5 1
3 A — 5 1 4a

aid to progress is more effectual than are the boy's reverent

affection for his master, his love of learning, and his ambition
to rank with the best.

§ 34. The argument that the Educational Result

ATTAINABLE DURING THESE EaRLY YeaRS DOES NOT
JUSTIFY THE Trouble or Expense involved. 513 a —
514 A.

The contention that the time and the outlay involved in

this early education are wasted is unworthy of anyone who
realises what true fatherhood implies. Grant, with Quintilian,
that the boy may acquire in one year after he has passed
his fifth birthday as much as he can during the whole of the
previous years, is that a reason for sacrificing what you admit
to be equivalent to the harvest of a twelvemonth ? Nor is the
alternative merely that the boy may learn nothing for he will ;

undoubtedly be learning that which he must later unlearn.

The training which I propose will serve to interest and occupy
the growing child from the time when he can understand and
be understood. The youthful mind is ever acquiring some-
—
thing good or evil. The progress made, slight as it may be,
is a saving of labour at a later stage, when the entire time and
energy of the pupil are set free, as Quintilian says, for work of
greater difficulty. Need I repeat what has been said concern-
ing the aptitude of early childhood to some studies ? I cannot,
indeed, allow that it is a trivial gain that a child should win
acquaintance with two languages, and learn to read and write.
A merchant from despising the day of small things ; he
is far

knows is the necessary beginning of "much."

that "little"
Can we, in fact, afford to throw away four years of our
children's lives, when we know that the two hardest things to
overtake in this world are time lost and learning neglected?
We can never be said to begin too soon a task which we can
never live to finish : for a man may cease to learn only when
 De Pueris Instituendis, 5 1
3 a — 5 1
4a 219

he ceases to live. In all other departments of life we may

succeed in recovering what we have lost by neglect. Time,
—
however, when once it has flown by and it flies very quickly
obeys no summons to return. There is no such miracle as
a fountain of perpetual youth no physic which can make old
:

men young again. Of time, then, let us always be sparing of ;

youthful years most of all, for this is the best part of man's life,
the most profitable, if it be rightly guarded. No farmer will
see his land lying fallow, not even a little field, but he will sow
it with young grasses, or lay it down to pasture, or use it as a

garden. And shall we suffer the best part of our life to pass
without any fruit of wisdom ? Land, as we know, when newly
ploughed up must be sown with some crop, lest it bear a harvest
of weed. So the tender mind, unless it be forthwith sown with
true instruction, will harbour evil seeds. The child grows up
either to goodness or to unworthiness if the latter, there is the
:

hard task of up-rooting. The child has gained no small thing

who has escaped evil. See, then, how in various ways it profits
that he be early brought up in learning.

§ 35. Examples of the Proficiency of Youth and its

Importance for Later Life. 514 a e. —
But is there need to labour this ? How steeped in learning
from their very infancy were men of old time How helpless !

are their successors to-day ! Ovid and Lucan composed not

a little of their poetry in their youth : who can now boast the
same ? Lucan when but six months old was brought to Rome
and was soon after placed under the two best teachers of
Grammar in the city. For companions he had Bassus and
Persius the former a historian, the latter the famous satirist.
:

No doubt we have here the secret of that notable learning and

eloquence, whereby Lucan is distinguished as the typical ora-
torical poet of ancient Rome. In modern days how rare are
2 20 De Pueris Instituendis, 514B — 5 16 a

examples of similar distinction ! Poliziano has celebrated the

erudition of Cassandra and in a letter of elegant Latinity has
:

recorded the genius of the boy Orsini, who at the age of eleven
could dictate two Latin letters at once, letters which in com-
position and scholarly diction struck scholars with admira-
tion. This experiment he on one occasion repeated five times,
a feat which some observers ascribed to witchcraft. Well,
I will allow this explanation, if by it you mean the "enchant-

ment " that is worked by setting the boy from earliest childhood
to work under the example and stimulus of a learned, sincere,
and conscientious Master.
By such " enchantments " Alexander of Macedon shewed
himself master alike of eloquence and of philosophy in which ;

indeed he might have attained great distinction had he not

been lured away by ambition and by passionate ardour for war.
By the same arts Julius Caesar became proficient in oratory
and in the mathematical disciplines. Cicero, Vergil, and
Horace, not a few of the earlier Emperors, became men of
approved learning and of classic style, by reason of the diligent
use they were led to make of their early years. For they were
taught by their parents from the very nursery the art of refined
speech, and were afterwards passed on to masters by whom
they were grounded in the liberal arts, in Poetry, Rhetoric,
History, Antiquity; in Arithmetic; in Geography, and in
Philosophy, both moral and political.

§ 36. The Sad Condition of Teaching and of Schools

IN Modern Days. 514 e 516 a. —
What a contrast when we look around to-day We see !

boys kept at home in idleness and self-indulgence until they are

fourteen or fifteen years of age. They are then sent to some
school or other. There, if they are lucky, they gain some
touch of Grammar, the simpler inflections, the agreement of
noun and adjective. They are then supposed to "know"
 De Pueris Instituendis, 514 b — 5 1 6a 221

Latin, and are put on to some terrible text in Logic, which

what little good Latin accidence or syntax they have
will spoil
acquired. My own childhood was tortured by logical subtleties
which had no reference to anything that was true in fact or
sound in expression. Not a few Masters postponed Grammar
to Logic and Metaphysic, but found that they had to revert to
the rudiments of Latin when their pupils were fast growing up.
Great heavens, what a time was that when with vast pretension
the verses of John Garland, eked out with amazing com-
mentary, were dictated to the by heart, and said
class, learnt

as repetition ! When and the Floretus were set as

Florista
lessons !Alexander de Villa Dei, compared with such a crowd,
is worthy of positive commendation. Again, how much time
was spent in sophistries and vain mazes of logic Further, as !

to the manner of teaching, what confused methods, what

needless toil, characterised instruction How common it was
!

for a master, for mere display, to cram his lesson with irrele-
vant matter, wise or foolish, but all equally out of place! All
this made for needless difficulty; for there is no virtue in
difficulty, as such, in instruction. And even to-day school-
masters are not seldom men of no learning at all, or, what is

worse, of no character. They have taken to teaching as a

means to a life of ease and money-making. If this has been,
and is, the true state of education in our schools, no wonder
that learning perishes amongst us. The critical years of a
boy's life are allowed to run to waste he acquires the habit,
;

which cannot be cured, of giving but a fraction of his time and

thought to serious pursuits, the rest he squanders on vulgar
pleasures. The parent looks on and does nothing. And yet
we hear talk of the " tender youth," " undeveloped capacity,"
" meagre results," —
all so many excuses for wicked neglect of

the child in his early years

222 De Pueris Instituendis, 516

§ 37. Conclusion. 516 a.

Now I have done. I make my appeal to that practical

wisdom which you have always exhibited in affairs. Consider
how dear a possession is your son; how many-sided is learning;
how exacting its pursuit, and how honourable Think how
!

instinctive is the child's wish to learn, how plastic his mind,

how responsive to judicious training, if only he be entrusted to
instructors at once sympathetic and skilled to ease the first
steps in knowledge. Let me recall to you the durability of
early impressions, made upon the unformed mind, as compared
with those acquired in later life. You know also how hard it
is to overtake time lost ;how wise, in all things, to begin our
tasks in season ; how great is the power of persistence in
accumulating what we prize how fleeting a thing is the life
;

of man, how busy is youth, how inapt for learning is age. In

face, then, of all these serious facts you will not suffer, I do not
say seven years, but three days even, of your son's life to pass,
before you take into earnest consideration his nurture and
future education.
 CHAPTER VIII.

I. FROM THE DE CONSCRIBENDIS EPISTOLIS.

The following passage forms one of the model letters

comprised in the treatise on Epistolary Composition. It is

inserted here in the original as a good specimen of Erasmian

Latin of the later period (1522).
The advice given has primary reference to private study,
but it is obviously equally applicable to class work. It should
be read in conjunction with the section above on The Method
of reading an Author, and with the De Ratione Studii.

Qui sit modus repetendae lectionis, that is, Hov^^ to

MASTER A PASSAGE FROM A CLASSICAL AUTHOR. Op. 447. i.

§ I. It IS A MISTAKE TO BEGIN BY LEARNING THE PASSAGE BY

HEART.

Quibusdam prima ac unica fere cura est statim ad verbum

ediscere; quod equidem non probo, est enim tum magni
laboris, tum fructus prope nullius. Quorsum enim attinet,
psittaci more, verba non intellecta reddere? Commodiorem
igitur viam accipe.
224 Modus Repetendae Lectionis

§ 2, A FIRST READING SHOULD AIM MERELY AT SECURING

THE GENERAL SENSE OF THE PASSAGE.
Lectionem quidem auditam continue relege, ita ut uni-
versam sententiam paulo altius animo infigas.

§ 3. A SECOND READING IS CONCERNED WITH GRAMMATICAL

STRUCTURE AND WORD-FORMS.
Deinde a calce rursus ad caput redibis, et singula verba
excutere incipies, ea duntaxat inquirens quae ad grammaticam
curam attinent : videlicet, si quod verbum obscurum, aut
ancipitis derivationis, si heteroclitae conjugationis quod su-
;

pinum, quod praeteritum faciat quos habeat maiores, quos

:

nepotes, quam constructionem ; quid significet ; et huiusmodi

nonnuUa.

§ 4. A THIRD READING IS DEVOTED TO ANALYSIS OF THE

RHETORICAL ARTIFICE DISPLAYED.
Hoc ubi egeris, rursum de integro percurrito, ea iam
potissimum inquirens quae ad artificium rhetoricum spectant.
Si quid venustius, si quid elegantius, si quid concinnius
dictum videbitur, annotabis indice aut asterisco apposite.
Verborum compositionem inspicies, orationis decora scrutabere.
Auctoris consilium qua quidque ratione dixerit.
indagabis,
Ubi quid te delectaverit vehementius cave praeter casam,
quod aiunt, fugias. Fige pedem, ac abs te ipso rationem
exige quare tantopere sis ea oratione delectatus, cur non
ex ceteris quoque parem ceperis voluptatem. Invenies te
acumine aut exornatione aliqua oratoria, aut compositionis
harmonia, aut (ne omnia persequar) simili quapiam causa,
commotum fuisse. Quod si aliquod adagium, si qua sententia,
si quod proverbium vetus, si qua historia, si qua fabula, si

qua similitudo non inepta, si quid breviter, acute, aut alioqui

ingeniose dictum esse videbitur, id tanquam thesaurum quen-
dam animo diligenter reponendum ducito ad usum et ad
imitationem.
 Modus Repetendae Lectionis 225

§ 5. A FOURTH READING NOTES THE USES WHICH THE

PASSAGE ADMITS OF FOR PRACTICAL, AND ESPECIALLY
MORAL, APPLICATION.

His diligenter curatis ne pigeat quarto iterare. Nam hoc

habent eruditorum virorum, summo ingenio, summis vigiliis
elucubrata scripta, ut millies relecta magis magisque placeant,
semperque admiratori suo novum miraculum ostendant id —
quod tibi in tabula tua, saepenumero nee sine causa laudata,
evenire solet —quod antea non animadvertisses. Idem tibi

multo amplius in bonis auctoribus eveniet. Releges igitur

quarto, ac quae ad philosophiam, maxime vero ethicen, referri
posse videantur, quod exemplum, quod
circumspicies, si

moribus accommodari possit. Quid autem est, ex quo non

vel exemplum vivendi, vel imago quaedam vel occasio sumi
queat ? Nam in aliorum pulchre ac turpiter factis, quid deceat
quid non iuxta videmus.

§ 6. The passage thus thoroughly understood will

NEED little EFFORT TO COMMIT IT TO MEMORY, SHOULD
THAT BE DESIRED.

Haec si facies iam vel edidiceris, quanquam aliud egisti.

Tum demum, si libet,ad ediscendi laborem accedito, qui turn
aut nuUus erit aut certe perquam exiguus.

§ 7. Discussion is useful as aid to establishing or

revising your interpretation and your criticisms.

Quid deinde? Restat ut, cum studiosis congrediaris, tuas

annotationes in medium proferas, vicissimque illorum audias,
alia laudabis, alia reprehendes; tua partim defendes, partim
castigari permittes. Postremo, quod in aliis laudasti tuis in
scriptis imitari conaberis. Secreta studia a doctis laudantur,
at ita ut postea e latebris in arenam prodeamus viriumque

w. 15
226 From the Convivium Religiosum

nostranim periculum faciamus. Id quod sapientissime a

Socrate est dictum. Experiamur utrum partus ingeniorum
vitales sint, nimirum obstetricum industriam imitati. Quare
alternatim utrisque utetur, qui non vulgariter volet evadere
doctus. Vale.

II. FROM THE CONVIVIUM RELIGIOSUM.

The following passage from the Colloquy entitled Con-
vivium Religiosum is a typical illustration of the Erasmian
method of handling Natural History and pictorial illustrations
of Nature, History and Religion for purposes of teaching.
The Colloquies, the recognised school Reading-book of the
1 6th century, provided an introduction to eruditio or general
knowledge as well as practice in Latin. But not less obvious
than either was its function of inculcating moral lessons.

Convivium Religiosum, that is, A serious entertainment.

Op. i. 662.

The host Eusebius is entertaining friends from the Town

at his villa, and before breakfast is served shows them the
gardens.

Eusebius: This part of the grounds was planned as a

pleasure garden, but for honest pleasure; for the worthy
gratification of the senses, yet not less for the recreation of
the mind. None but sweet-smelling flowers and herbs are
planted here, and of these only the finest kinds. Each variety
has a bed to itself
A guest: It is plain that your plants are not dumb creatures.
Eusebius: That is true. My villa I built for converse,
and here everything has its fit utterance, as you will perceive.
The various plants, for instance, are marshalled in troops,
each with its ensign, and its motto. The marjoram, I see,
gives warning by inscription Abstine, sus, non tibi spiro
: :

Keep off, sow, my perfume is not for you. For however

 From the Convivium Religiosum 227

fragrant, marjoram repels a sow. And in the same way each

variety has its appropriate title, indicating its peculiar virtue.
A guest: How charming is this fountain, and the marble-
lined channel which dividing its course marks out the different
sections of the garden, reflecting the flowers as in a mirror!
I see that your artificial fences are green, like the plants.
Eusebius : Yes, green is my own choice, and in his garden
a man should follow his fancy. For here I study, or walk,
or converse, or sometimes even take my meals, as I feel

disposed.
A Having so pleasant, so well-furnished a garden,
guest :

wherein and nature have done so much for your delight,

reality
what need have you for that other pleasaunce which I see
yonder painted on the wall?
Eusebius : First, because no one garden can contain the
plants of all climates ; next, I like to see the art of the painter
pitted against the direct product of the Creator, though both
art and nature are the gifts of the same divine goodness, and
intended for man's use. is not always green
Lastly, a garden :

flowers fade with the seasons garden remains fresh when

: this
the other is bare.... In the path beneath our feet, which I have
had paved with wood, you can see the beauty of painted flowers
standing forth from the green background. Turn to the wall
which shelters us. Here we have unfamiliar trees, each tree
theredrawn to the life is a distinct species the same is the ;

case with the birds shown in the branches, most of them we

could not see in our own northern gardens : and some of them
are of extraordinary types. Below the trees are animals that
haunt the ground.
A guest : Wonderful is the variety and each one is in;

movement, doing, or at least saying, something. Here is an

Owl, what says she ?
Eusebius : She speaks Greek ^w<f>p6v€i, oi iraaiv Iimj/jLu
:

That is, "Learn wisdom from me: I do not fly to everyone:"

It is a lesson against recklessness. There is an eagle devouring
15—2
228 From the Convivium Religiosum

a hare, and a beetle stands by interceding, but in vain. By

the beetle stands a wren, the eagle's inveterate foe. The
swallow has a leaf of celandine in her beak, which she is
taking to her nest to give sight to her blind unfledged young.
Near is the chameleon always gaping, because always hungry.
The wild fig by is his aversion.
close
A guest: How does he change his colour ?
Eusebius : Only when he moves from one place to another.
See the camel dancing as the monkey pipes to him. But
we should need three days to go through each object depicted
here. In that compartment are all kinds of remarkable plants,
amongst them the poisonous trees, which we may here ap-
proach and examine without danger to ourselves.
A guest : See, here is a scorpion, an animal we rarely see
in this country, but common enough in Italy, and apt to be
malignant. The colour in the picture, however, seems hardly
true to nature. Those in Italy are much darker.
Eusebius : But do you not recognise the plant upon which
it has hapt ? It is the wolfsbane : so deadly a poison that at
the first touch of it the scorpion is stupefied and suddenly

grows pale. But it is his habit when oppressed by one poison

to seek an antidote in another. Hard by the scorpion are
hellebore plants, if the scorpion can but struggle clear of the
wolfsbane and reach the white hellebore, he will recover, for

the one will counteract the other.

A guest And: do your scorpions speak ?
Eusebius: Yes, and they speak Greek: Evpe Oeoq tov aXi-
rpov. God hath found out the guilty. Here also you may
see serpents of all kinds, such as the basilisk, which is not
ohly formidable for his poisonous bite, for the mere glance
of his eye is mortal. His motto is, Oderint dum metuant Let:

them hate, if only they fear me.

A guest: He speaks like a king.
Eusebius: Like a Tyrant rather: but not a true King.
Here is a lizard fighting an adder, and another variety of snake
 From the Convivium Religiosum 229

just on the spring. Notice the polity of the ants, whom we

are bidden to imitate by Solomon and Horace. The Indian
ants are busy carrying off gold to hoard But turn to
it up.
look beyond, where is There are lakes,
a third wall facing us.
rivers, and seas, with the appropriate fishes shown swimming

in the water. The Nile for instance, in which is a dolphin,

that natural friend of man, fighting with the deadly enemy of
man, the crocodile. Upon the banks are such creatures as
crabs, beavers and seals. Here is a polypus, nipped by an
oyster. hXpC^v alpovfxaL, he cries, "the biter bit." Close by
there is a second polypus floating on the surface; and a
torpedo-fish lying on the sands and hardly discernible. They
are dangerous enough, but not to us. I will now show you

the kitchen-garden, and an inner garden planted with healing

herbs. Upon the right hand there is an orchard, where you
shall see a great variety of foreign trees which have been
acclimatised by care. At the end of the upper walk is the
aviary. Now amongst its denizens you will see birds of many
forms, of various note, and of divers humours. Some are
bound to each other by mutual affection, and are again parted
from others by deep aversion. Then they are so tame and
friendly that when I am at supper they will fly in at the
window and take food from my hands. At times they will
sit listening as I talk to a friend, or perch upon my shoulders

without any fear, knowing that no one will harm them. At

the end of the orchard I have my bees, a sight worth seeing.
Observe this summer apartment, which looks out upon
the gardens in three directions, and in each of them a fore-
ground of delicate green meets the eye. When I dine here
I seem to be dining in the garden itself: nay, the very walls
are painted in green, with flowers intermixed. There are
subject pictures also : our Saviour celebrating his Last Supper
Herod keeping his birthday : Dives in the midst of his luxury :

Lazarus driven from his doors.

A guest: Here are other stories.
230 From the Convivium Religiosum

Eusebius: This is Cleopatra, vying with Antony in a race

of extravagance ; she has swallowed the draught containing
the pearl. Here is the battle of the Centaurs; there Alexander
the Great kills Clytus with the lance. These examples
teach us sobriety at table, and warn against gluttony and
excess. We will now pass into my Library, my chiefest
treasure. This hanging Globe is a presentation of the whole
world. Here upon the wall are the several regions of it

described more at large. Upon those other walls you have

pictures of the most eminent authors. First among them is
Christ sitting upon the Mount, stretching forth his hand. The
Father speaks. Hear ye Him : the Holy Spirit overshadows
Him with outstretched wing.... The Library has a little gallery
looking upon the garden, and an oratory adjoining Let it.

us pass now to the covered gallery that you have not yet seen.
Here upon the left hand is depicted the whole life of Jesus
down upon the Apostles. And
to the descent of the Spirit
there are notes upon the places, so that the spectator may
see by what lake or upon what mountain such or such an
event occurred. There are also titles to every story. Over
against this you have figured the types and prophecies of the
Old Testament. Upon the upper border are portraits of the
Popes and of the Caesars, there placed as aids to the due
remembering of history. At each corner is a belvedere, where
I can sit down, and view my gardens and my birds; or in
summer can take my breakfast
 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LISTS.

(i) TITLES OF WORKS QUOTED

AND REFERRED TO.
The following List has been compiled to facilitate the identification of,
and reference to, the works actually qtioted in the text and notes of the present

volume. It in no way represents the whole body of available authorities, or

of those which have been consultedfor the purpose of this work.

Abdy (Mrs H.). Isabella d'Este. i voll. 8°. London 1903.

Alexander de Villa Dei (Grammaticus). Doctrinale, Kritisch-exege-
tische Ausgabe, bearbeitet von Dietrich Reichling. 8°. Berlin 1893.
Anon. Vocabularius Breviloqujts. f°. Argent. 1491.
Arnaud (Car.). Quid de Pueris Instituendis senserit Ludovicus Vives.
8°. Paris 1887.
Bailey (N.). The Colloquies of Erasmus, translated by N. Bailey (1725).
2 voll. 8°. London 1878.
Becher (Richard). Die Ansichten des Desiderius Erasmus iiber die
Erziehung und den ersten Unterricht der Kinder. 8°. Leipzig 1890.
Bembo (Pietro). Opere tutte. 4 voll. f°. Ven. 1729.
Bembo (Pietro). Delia Vo/gar Lingua Libri ILL f°. Venezia 1525.
Benoist (A.). Quid de puerorum institutione senserit Erasmus. 8°.
Parisiis 1876.
Bruni (L.). Ad P. Paulum Istrum Dialogus. 8°. Greifswald 1888.
Burckhardt (Jacob). The Civilisation of the period of the Renaissance
in Italy, translated by S. G. C. Middlemore. 8°. London 1892.
Burnet (J.).
Aristotle on Education, being extracts from the Ethics and
Politics. 8vo. Cambridge 1902.
Clerval (L'Abbe A.). Les £coles de Chartres au Moyen Age du V' au
XVIf Siicle. (Memoires de la Sociite Archeologiqtu d^ Eure-et- Loire,

tome XI.) 8°. Chartres 1895.

Corderius (Maturinns). School Colloquies, English and Latine, divided
into several classes That children by the help of their Mother-Tongue
may the better learn td speak Latine in ordinary discourse, by Charles
Hoole, M.A. 12°. London 1657.
232 List of Works referred to

DoLET (fitienne). De Imitatione Ciceroniana adversus Erasmum Rot. pro

C. Longolio. 8°. Lugd. 1535.
DOMINICI Regola del Governo di Cura Familiare. Testo...
(Giovanni).
con note dal Prof. Donato Salvi. 8°. Firenze i860.
illustrate
Drummond (Robert B.). Erasmus, his Life and Character as shown in
his Correspondence and Works. 2 voll. 8°. London 1873.
Elyot (Sir Thomas). 7he Boke named the Governour. Ed. Crofts. 2 voll.
8°. London 1880.
Elyot (Sir Thomas). The Defence of Good Women. T. Berthelet. 8°.
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Emerton (Ephraim). Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam. New York 1899.
Erasmus (Desiderius). Opera omnia, emetidatiora et auctiora: cura
y. Clerici. 10 voll. f°. Lugd. Bat. 1703 6. —
Fairbairn (A. M.). Tendencies of European Thought in the age of the
Reformation (ch. xix. in the Cambridge Modern History, vol. ii.). 8°.
Cambridge, 1904.
FEUGfeRE (Gaston). £rasme. £tude sur sa vie et ses ouvrages. 8°. Paris
1874.
Floridus Sabinus (Franciscus). In Latinae linguae scriptorum calumnia-
tores Apologia. f°. Bas. 1540.
FoRTUNio (Giovanni Francisco). Regole Grammaticali delta volgar lingua.
8°. Ancona 15 16.
Froude (James Anthony). Life and Letters of Erasmus: Lectures at
—
Oxford 1893 4. 8°. London 1894.
Gaspary (Ad.). Storia delta Letteratura Italiana (from the German).
3 voll. Torino 1887 1901.
8°, —
Geiger (Ludwig). Rinascimento e Umanismo in Italia e in Gertnania:
traduzione Italiana del Valbiisa. 8°. Milano 1 89 1

Ghent, University of. Bibliotheca Erasmiana. 4°. ^ pts., and 8°. 3 voll.
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8''. Zschopau
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Jebb (R. C.) Erasmus (Rede Lecture 1890), 2nd edition. 8°. Cambridge
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KUECKELHAHN (L.). Johannes Sturm, Strassburg's erster Schulrector.
8°. Leipzig 1872.
 List of Works referred to 233

Lowndes (M. E.). Michel de Montaigne, a biographical study. 8°.

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LuPTON (J. H.). A Life ofJohn Colet, D.D. 8°. London 1887.
Melanchthon (P.). De Corrigendis Studiis (15 18) in Corpus Reforma-
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MiRANDULA (Giovanni Pico della). De Imitatione. 8°. Venet. 1530.
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NoLHAC (Pierre de). £rasme en Italic. 8". Paris 1888.

Pater (W.). Mariiis the Epicurean. Seconded. 2 voll. 8 vo. London 1885.
Paulsen (Friedrich). Geschichte des Gelehrten Unterrichts auf den Detit-
schen Schulen und Universitdten vom Ausgang des Alittelalters bis ztir
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PICCOLOMINI (Aeneas Sylvius). Opera, f". Basil. 1551.
POLITIANUS (Angelas). Omnia Opera. f°. Venet. 1^8.
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Raumer. Geschichte der Pddagogik. 2 voll. 8°. Berlin 1880.
RiCHTF.R (Dr Arthur). Erasmus- Studien. 8°. Dresden 1891.
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15—5
 234 List of Works referred to

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8°.

Seebohm (Frederic). The Oxford Reformers of 1498; Colet, Erastnus,

More. 3rd ed. 8°. London 1867.
Spitzner (Johannes). Beitrag zur Kritik der Unterrichts- tend Erziehungs-
lehre des Desiderius Erasmus auf Grund seiner " Declamatio de Fueris
liberaliter instituendis.^' 8°. Leipzig 1893.
Sturm (Johannes). De Literarum Ludis recte apadendis Liber. 12°.

Argent. 1543.
Sylvius (Aeneas). See Piccolomini.
Thurot (Charles). Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits de la Bibliothique

Imperiale etc. Tome xxii. 4°. Paris 1868.

ToGEL (Dr Hermann). Die pddagogischen Anschauungen des Erasmus in

ihrer psychologischen Begriindung. 8°. Dresden 1896.

TOPSELL (Edward). The Historie of Foure-Footed Beastes. i°. London

1607.
Valla (Laurentius). Elegantiae Linguae Latinae. 4". Venet. (Jenson)
1471.
Veil (H.). Zum Geddchtnis Joh. Sturms in Festschrift zur Feier des
^lo-jdhrigen Bestehens des Protestantischen Gymnasiums zu Strassburg
(Erster Theil). 8°. Strassburg 1888.
ViLLARl (P.). The Life and Times of Niccolb Machiavelli. Translated by
Linda Villari. 2 voll. 8°. London 1892.
ViVES (J. L.). De disciplinis libri XX. J. Gymnicus. Coloniae 1532.
ViVES (J. L.). De officio mariti. 8°. Brugis 1529.
ViVES (J. L.). De institutione foeminae Christianae. 4°. Antverpiae 1524.
VoiGT (G.). Die Wiederbelebung des Classischen Alterthums. 2 voll.
8°. Berlin 1893.
Ward (A. W.). The Netherlands (being ch. xiii. in the Cambridge Modern
History, vol. i.). 8°. Cambridge 1902.

Watson (Foster). The Curriculum and Text-books of English Schools in

the first half of the Seventeenth Century. 4°. London 1903.
Woodward (William Harrison). Vittorino da Feltre and other Humanist
Educators. 8°. Cambridge 1897.

Note. —A useful bibliography of German humanism will be found in

Paulsen's Geschichte des Gelchrten Unterrichts, and others in the
Cambridge Alodern History, voll. i. and ii.
 XVI. Cent, versions of Erasmus 235

(ii) FIRST EDITIONS OF ERASMUS IN ENGLISH,

XVI. CENTURY.
The following List of first editions of English Versions of works by
Erasmus is certainly incomplete, but it is less so than any hitherto avail-
able. Biblical works are excepted. I shall be grateful for all information
which may aid in enlarging or correcting the particulars here given, w. H. w.

ADAGIA.
Proverbes or adagies with newe addicions gathered out of the
Chiliades of Erasmus, by R. Taverner. Hereunto be also added
Mimi Publiani. 8°. [R. Bankes:] London 1539.
APOLOGIA PRO DECLAMA TIONE DE LAUDE MATRIMONII.
A modest meane to marriage, translated into englishe by N[icholas]
L[eigh]. 16°. London 1568.

A POPHTHEGMA TA
Apophthegmes, that is to saie, prompte, quicke, wittie and sen-
tencious saiynges of certain Emperours, Kynges...into englyshe by
N. Udall. 8°. R. Grafton: London 1542.
A translation of Books III. and IV. only.
Dicta Sapientium. The sayenges of the wyse men of Grece, in
Latin with the Englysshe followyng. .interprete. .by .. .Erasmus Rote..
. . .

12°. T. Berthelet : London [c. 1550].

Berthelet printed 1530 — 1555.
Flores aliquot sententiarum ex variis collecti scriptoribus. The
flowers of sentencies gathered out of sundry wrj'ters by Erasmus in
Latine, and englished by Richard Taverner. 8'='. R. Bankes London
:

1540.
The colophon reads " Printed in Fletestrete very diligently under
the correction of the selfe R. Taverner by R : Bankes...." "The work
is not really by Erasmus, though partly founded on his Apophthegmata.
The author was Taverner." E. G. D.
Sage and Prudent saiynges of the seaven Wyse Men Wyse saiynges ;

and Prety Tauntes of Publius. R. Grafton London 1545. :

Certain flours of most notable sentences of wise men, gathered

together by Erasmus of Roterdam, and translated into English.
[A supplement to An Introducion to w^sedome made by Ludovicus
Vives.] 8°. John Daye: London (? 1546).

BELLUM. (Ex Adagiis.)

Bellum, trans, into englyshe. 8^. Tho. Berthelet: London 1533-4.
236 XVI. Cent, versions of Erasmus

CATO PRO PUERIS.

Preceptes of Cato, with annotations of D. Erasmus of Roterodame,
very profytable for all men. Newly imprynted and corrected ; Trans-
lated out of Latyn into Englysshe by Robert Burrant. R. Grafton:
London 1545.

COLLOQUIA.
A dialogue or communication of two persons... pylgremage of pure
devotion.... [John Byddell London c. 1538].
8°. :

Byddell printed 1533-44.

A mery dialogue, declaringe the propertyes of shrowde shrewes and
honest wyves. 8°. Antony Kytson London 1557. :

A
mery dialogue declaryng the properties of shrowde shrewes and
honest wyves. 4°. Abr. Vele: London [c. 1557].

Apparently the same impression as the above. Cf. Hazlitt, ill. 76.
Vele or Veale printed 1551-86.
A seraphical dirige, disclosing the 7 secret priviledges graunted to
S. Francis and all his progenie for ever. 8°. John Byddell : London
[c. 1538].
Epicureus, translated by Philyppe Gerard. 16°. Rich. Grafton:
London 1545.
[Erasmus Rotordamus contaynynge a moste pleasaunt Dialoge
towchynge the entertaynment and vsage of gaystes in comen Innes
etc.] [?W. Griffith: London c. 1566.]
"No copy of this work is known to me; but the book was licensed
to W. Griffith in 1566. Cf Arber's Stationers' Register i. 334. " e.g.d.
Funus, lately traducte...at the request of a certayne gentylman.
16°. John Skot: London 1534.
One dialogue or colloquy (intituled " Diversoria ") translated... by-
E. H. 40. W. Griffyth: London 1566.
Two dyalogues...one called Polyphemus... the other dysposyng of
thynges and names, trans, by E. Becke. 8°.
J. Mychell : Canterbury
[c. 1550].
Mychell printed 1 549-56.

CONCIO DE PUERO JESU.

A sermon of the chyld Jesus. 8°. Rob. Redman: London [c. 1531].
Redman printed 1523-40.

DE CI VILITATE MORUM PUERILIUM LIBELLUS.

A lytell
Booke of good Maners for chyldren...with Interpretacion...
into the vulgare Englysshe Tonge by Robert Whytynton, Laureate
Poete. 16°. W. de Worde London 1532. :
 XVI. Cent, versions of Erasmus 237

DE CONTEMPTU MUNDI.
De contemptu mundi epistola, translated in to englysshe [by
T. Paynell]. i6°. Tho. Berthelet: London 1533.
DE IMMENSA DEI MISERICORDIA CONCIO.
De immensa dei misericordia (trans, at the request of the lady
Margaret Countese of Salisburye by Gentian Hervet). 8°. Tho.
Berthelet: London 1533.
De immensa Dei misericordia. Trans, from the Latin of Erasmus
by Gentian Hervet. 4°. T. Berthelet: London [c. 1543].
Berthelet printed 1530-1555.

DE MORTE DECLAMATIO.
A treatise perswadyng a man paciently to suffer the death of his
freend [preceded by the Tables of Cebes, the philosopher, trans.' by
Sir F. Poyngz ; and How one may take profit of his enemies, trans,
out of Plutarch]. 16°. Tho. Berthelet: London [c. 1550].
DE PRAEPARATIONE AD MORTEM.
Preparation to deathe, a boke as devout as eloquent. 8°. Tho.
Berthelet: London 1543.
ENCHIRIDION MILITIS CHRISTIANI.
A booke called in Latyn Enchiridion militis Christiani and in
englysshe the manuel of the christen knyght, plenysshed with most
holsome preceptes....To the which added a newe and mervaylous
is

profytable preface [trans, attributed to W. Tyndale]. 8°. Wynkin de

Worde, for Johan Byddell, othervvyse Salisbury: London, Nov. 15,
1533-
An edition is given in Bibliotheca Erasmiana. 8°. Basel (? London,
W. de Worde) 15 18.
"There is no authority for the edition of 1518." E. G. D.

ENCOMIUM MA TR IMONil.
A ryght frutefull epystle...in laudeand prayse of matrymony, trans.

by R. Tavernour. 8". Robert Redman: London [c. 1530].

Redman printed 1523-40.

EPISTOLA AD BALTHASAREM EPISC.

An epistle of... Erasmus... concernynge the veryte of the sacrament
of Christus body and bloude...dedycated...unto...Balthasar bysshop
of Hyldesheimensem. 8°. R. Wyer: [London 1535].
EPISTOLA APOLOGETICA AD CHRISTOPHORUM EP. BASIL.
An epystell...unto...Christofer bysshop of Basyl, cocemyng the
forbedynge of eatynge of flesshe, and lyke constitutyons of men.
8°. Thorn. Godfray: London [c. 1532].
Godfray printed in 1532.
238 XVI. Cent, versions of Erasmus

EXOMOLOGESIS SIVE MODUS CONFITENDI.

A lytle treatise of the maner and forme of confession. 8°. J. Byddell
London [c. 1538].

EXPLANATIO SYMBOLI APOSTOLORUM.

A playne and godly expossytion or declaration of the commune
crede...and of the ten commaundements of Goddes law; at the request
of Thomas, erle of Wyltshyre. 12°. R. Redman: [London] 1533.

INSTITUTUM HOMINIS CHRISTIANI.

The godly and pious institution of a christen man. 8°. Thom.
Berthelet London 1537.
:

An English translation of Erasmus' metrical version of Colet's

Cathecyzon.

LIBELLUS DE PUERIS LIBERALITER INSTITUENDIS.

That chyldren oughte to be taught and broughte up getly in vertue
and learnynge [preceded by- A treatise of schemes and tropes, gathered
out of the best grammarians and oratours by Rychard Sherry,
Londoner]. 8°. John Day: London [c. 1555].
John Day printed 1546-84.
MORIAE ENCOMIUM.
The praise of folic... englished by Sir Thom. Chaloner. 4°. Th.
Berthelet: London 1549.
(In the colophon the date is printed MDLXix.)

PARACLESIS.
An exhortation to the diligent studye of scripture... translated in to
englissh (by W. Roy?). 8°. Hans Luft: Malborow 1529.
"Very probably printed at Cologne." E. G. D.
An exhortacyon to the dylygent study of scripture, made by
Erasmus of Roterdam, and lately translated into Englyshe, which
he fixed before the new testament. 12°. Robert Wyer: London
[c. 16.^5]-
Erasmus on the sacrament, and an exhortation to the study and
readynge of the gospell. ...Done at Basle 1522. 12°. Robert Wyer:
London [c. 1535].
Wyer printed 1527-42.

PRECATJO DOMINICA.
A devout treatise upon the Pater noster. 4°. W. de Worde:
London 1524.
"This edition is doubtful." E. G. D.

A devout treatise upon the Pater noster. [With a preface by

R. Hyrde dated Oct. i, 1524.] Th. Berthelet: London [c. 1530].
 XVI. Cent, versions of Erasmus 239

QUERELA PA CIS.
The complaint of jjeace, trans, by T. Paynell 8°. John Cawoode
London 1559.
RESPONSIO AD DISPUTATIONEM CUJUSDAM PHIMO-
STOMI DE DIVORTIIS.
The censure and judgement of Erasmus: Whyther dyvorsemente
betweene man and wyfe stondeth with the law of God. ..trans, by
N. Lesse. 8». Printed by the widowe of John Herforde : London
[c. 1550].
The widow of J. Herforde printed 1 549-50.
SILENI ALCIBIADIS (Ex Adagiis chiliad. Ill, cent. III).
A scornful image or monstrous shape of a marvelous strange figure
called Sileni Alcibiadis presenting ye state and condicion of this
present world.... 16°. John Goughe: London [c. 1535]-
"Gough apparently never printed, but was in business as a book-
seller, 1526-X543." E. G. D.

VIRGINIS ET MARTYRIS COMPARATIO.

A comparation of a vyrgin and a marter, trans, by Thomas Paynel.
8°. T. Berthelet: London 1537.
 INDEX.

Adagia, ii, 17 Bembo, Pietro, Cardinal, 54, 56-7 ;

Adrian VI, Pope, 26 and the use of vernacular, 66, 70,
Aeschylus, 37 123
Aesop, 106, in, 212 Bernard of Clairvaux, 140
Agricola, Rudolphus, 3 Biondo, Flavio, 129
Aldus, E. the guest of, 16, 17 ; his Boccaccio, 140
printing house, 17, 45, 138 Bois-le-Duc, E. at school at, 4
Alexander de Villa Dei, 104 n. Bombasius, 45
Allegory, use of, 49 Borgia, Cesare, 42
Ambrose, St, 28, 113, 140 Borgia, Rod., Alexander VI, 26,
Antiquity, E. and, 30 seqq. ; in re-
lation to Christianity, 39 seqq. Bruni, Lionardo, d' Arezzo, 5 1 , 1 1 5 n .,
Apophthegmata, of Plutarch, in; 131. 132
E.'s collection, 159 Budaeus, 23, 138
Ariosto, 68
Aristophanes, 112, 113 Caesar, C. Julius, 112
Aristotle, the Ethics of, i, 114; the Cambrai, Bp of, 7
Physica of, 147 the Politics of,
; Cambridge, 14, 20, 21
I3'» i35> 140 01^ women's edu-
'
Castiglione, B., 60
cation, 152 Cato pro pueris, 20
Arithmetic, 145, 212 Cellini, Benvenuto, 42
Astrology, 138, 142, 145-6 Chalcondylas, the Greek Grammar
Athenaeus, 139 of, no
Augustine, St, 28, 140 ; works of, Charles V, Emperor, 23
edited by E., 28 ; in relation to Chartres, the Schools at, 103
classical culture, 49, 113, 140 Christian Latinists in education,
Aurispa, 138
Authors, choice of, in seqq. ; Christiani Matrimonii Instttutio,
method of reading, X15 seqq., 89, 91. 154
158. 223 Christianity and Antiquity, 35, 48,
49
Barzizza, Gasparino, 127 Chrysoloras, 30 ; the Erotemata of,
Basel, E. at, 22, 25 ; his friends at, used by E., no n.
25, 29 ;dies at, 29 Chrysostom, St, and antiquity, 49,
Basil, St, 49, 140 137
Beccadelli, Antonio, 33 Cicero, 54, 112, 122, 136; as mora-
 Index 241

list,46 ; the Ttisculans of, 48 Ebrardus, * Graecista,' 3, 103 n.

the De Officiis, 131 Education, aim of, 72 seqq. ; antique
Ciceronianism, E. and, 27, 51 seqq. ideal of, 35, 64 ; E.'s concern for,
Ciceronianus, Dialogus, 27, 48, 52, 20, 21, 182 seqq., 215 ; power of,
81, 187; social end of, 65, 73,
Coins, a knowledge of, 139 ; in- 160; of women, 87, 148 seqq.
scriptions upon, 97 Elegantiae Linguae Latinae, 6,
Colet, John, Dean of St Paul's, 7, 104, 127, 165
10, II, 13, 19, 20, 114; his in- Eloquence, content of the term, 124;
fluence on E., 45 its importance in Italy, 120 seqq.
Collationary Brothers, 4 Elyot, Sir Thomas, 23, 76, 105,
Colloquia {Colloquies, Colloquiorum 114, 132, 145 n-. 153
formulae), 23, 24, 96, 99, 106, Enchiridion, 1

109, 126, 142, 147, 149, 226 Epistolae Obscurorum Virorum, 22

Comenius, J., \}a&Janua of, 109 Epistolary Style, 124, 125
Composition, 123 seqq., 169 Erasmus, biography of, i seqq,
Concio de Puero Jesu, 20 characteristics, 30 ; chronology of
Convivium Religiosum, 142, 220 writings of, x seqq. ; works of, in
Cordier, Mathurin, the Dialogues of, English, 235 ; and vernacular
109 languages, 62 seqq.
Cortegiano, II, 74, 142 Erasmus, St, Bishop and Martyr, i
Cortesius, 52 Eratosthenes, 139
Courtier, the, as ideal of an edu- Eruditio, in education, 78, 139 seqq.,
cated man, 76, 77 167
Cromwell, Thomas, 40 Estienne, Robert, 75 n., 137 n.
Cyprian, St, 114 Eton Latin Grammar, 108
Etymologies, mediaeval, 44 n.
De Civilitate Morum Pueriliiim, 73, Euripides, E.'s versions from, 13,
156 14, 16
De Conscribendts Epistolis, 126, 223
De Constrtictione, 21, 107 Fame, as motive, 42
De Copia, 12, 20, 117, 121, 126, Ferrara, E. at, 17
128, 146 Ficino, 15, 37, 39
De Libero A rbit rto, 26 Filelfo, 39, 43, 115 n.
De Pueris Inslituendis, 27, 48, 155, Florence, E. at, 15
180 seqq. Floridus, Franciscus, 66 seqq.
De Ratione Studii, 20, iii seqq., Florista, 103, 221
142, 159, 162 Folk-lore in education, 106, 214
De Recta Pronuntiatione, 2 7, 1 24, 147 Fox, Bishop, 14
Declamation, as form of composi- Froben, 22, 28
tion, 127
Definitions, mediaeval, 102 Gaguin, R., 7
Demosthenes, 112, 122 Galen, 137
Deventer, E. at school at, 2, 3, 4 Garlandia, J. de, 3, 103 n., 221
Dialectic and Grammar, 102 Gaza, Theodore, the Greek Grairi-
Discipline, 91, 98, 100, 205 mar of, 21, no
Dolet, 6tienne, 27, 52, 53 n. Gellius, Aulus, 139
Dominici, Giovanni, 39 Geography, 139, 143-4. I45. 212
Donatus, loi, 102 Geometry, 146
Drawing, 98 Gerard, father of E., i
242 Index

Girls, education of, 148 seqq. Jerome, St, E.'s interest in, 21, 22;
Gouda, E. at school at, i his relation to classical culture, 49,
Grammar, the teaching of, loiseqq., "3. '36. 150
216 Jesuits, the Jamia of the, 109
Grammarians, mediaeval, 103, I04n., Julius II, Pope, 16, 59
109 Juvencus, 114
Greek, in the Augustan Age, 1 36
Christianity and, 35, 136 ; E.'s Lactantius, 114
enthusiasm for, 12, 13, 34; the Language method, E.'s doctrine of,
study of, II, 45, 135; texts, 105-6, no
scarcity of, 13, 137; teaching of, Lascaris, J., the Greek Grammar
98, no, 135 seqq.; translations of, no
from, by E., 13 Latinity, E. and, 6, 51 seqq.
Greek Testament, E.'s edition of, ^^ Leo X, Pope, 22, 26
Grocyn, 14 Lily, \V., 21, 107
Guarino da Verona, 104 n. ; and Linacre, 14, 138
Terence, 113 Livy, 113, 116, 126; the speeches
Guicciardini, 132 in, 122
Logic, in education, 133 seqq., 165
Hegius, 2, 3 London, E. in, 14
Helias, Petrus, 102-3 Louvain, E. at, 12, 14, 23, 25;
Henry VIII of England, 18 Collegium Trilingue at, 24
Herodotus, 112, 129 Lucan, 122, 124
Hesiod, 134, 140, 198 Lucian, E.'s versions from, 13, I4,
Hippocrates, 137 1 12
Historians, useful in education, 128 Ludolphus (Florista), 103 n.
History, study and value of, 128 Luther, 66, 123
seqq.
Home education, 90 seqq., 155 Machiavelli, 31, 42, 60, 82, 123,
Homer, 112, 140; allegorical in- 132
terpretation of, 49 Macrobius, 139
Horace, 112, 114, 134 Manners, teaching of, 156 seqq.
Humanism and Christianity, 31, 47 Mantuanus, Baptista, 115 n.
seqq. Manual 148
arts,
Humanists, at Rome, 17, 45, 59 Margaret, mother of E. , i, 2, 4
critics of ecclesiastical claims, 44 Martial, E.'s objection to, 47
upon antique knowledge, 33 Mathematics in education, 138 seqq.
Mediaevalists, 37, 38, 109, in,
Imitation, 52, 54 seqq. '34. 135
Individual, the, in the Renaissance, Mela, Pomponius, 140, 145
40, 120 Melanchthon, 51,84, 119, 123, 133,
Individuality in education, 81, 131, 136
159' '60 Michael de Marbais, Modista,' '

Inscriptions, 139 103 n.

Institutio Principis Christiatn, 23 Michelangelo, 31
Institututn Christiani Hominis, 2 1 Modi significandi, 102
Interest, E.'s doctrine of, 99, 119 Monastic life, E.'s recollections of,
Isidore of Seville, loi 5, 6, 7 schools, 92
;

Italian as literary language, 69, 70 Montaigne, 96, 105

Italy, E. visits, 15 seqq. Montaigu, College de, 7
 Index 243

Moral training, 37, 154 seqq. Pictures in education, 96, 106, 139,
Moralia of Plutarch, iii, 159 142, 213, 227
More, Sir Thomas, 14, 150; his Pirckheimer, 74, 150
influence on E., 45, 62, 74, 149, Plato, 37, 46, 114, 134, 140, 141
201 Platonic Academy, 39 n.
Moriae Encomium., 19, 62 Platonic philosophy, 49, 134, 135 n.
Motives in education, 99 Plautus, 112, 113
Mountjoy, Lord, a patron of E., Pliny, Letters of, 127; Natural
8, lo History of, 139, I45
Music, 145 seqq., 212 Plotinus, 1 40
Musurus, 17, 45 Plutarch, 37, iii, 129. 134, 186 ;
E.'s versions from, 21
Poets, for school use, 112, 113, 114
Nationality, E. and, 33, 84
Poggio, IS, 51, 131
Natura, 79, 80, 81, 155, 183, 187,
Political theory, 38, 134
191
Poliziano, Angelo, 15, 27, 52, 55,
Natural science, 84, 85, 138 seqq.,
115, 123, 220
189, 190, 226
Printers of school texts, 137 n.
Nausea, 1 14
Priscian, loi, 102, 103 n.
Note-taking, E.'s advice upon, 119
Prudentius, 114
Nuremberg, school at, 137
Psychology of E., 46, 78 seqq.
Ptolemy, 140, 145
Orator, the, concept of, 122 ; as Punishments, 99, 205 seqq., 209
ideal of educated man, 76, 77,
Quintilian, 20, 54, loi, in, 121,
Orators in education, 121 122, 127, 128, 136, 138, 143
Oratory, study of, 1 20 function
; of, Quintilian, the Epitome of, by
in the Renaissance, 120, 121 Patrizi, 121 n.
Origeh, 49, 137
Ovid, 140 Ratio, or Reason, in human nature,
Oxford, E. at, 10, 11 78 seqq., 183, 192
Reading, 97, 215
Padua, E. 17; the Ciceronian
at, '
Real Studies, 138 seqq.
'

tradition at, 27 Reformation, beginnings of, 24

Pannonius, Janus, 43 E. in relation to, 25, 26 effects
;

Papias, 102, 103 n. of, upon humanism, 40

Paraphrases, The, 28 Religion, rudiments of, 90^ 154
Paris, E. at, 7, 8 seqq.
Pater, Walter, 60 Renaissance in Italy and Northern
Patronage, E. and, 8, 9 Europe, 30, 31, 40, 41, 155
Paumgarten, 1 50 Respublica Litteraria, 65
Perotti, Nicola, 104, 109, 127 Reuchlin, 19, 137
Petrarch, 99, 131 n., 115 n., 120 Rhetoric, 122, 127
Philosophy, E.'s attitude towards, Romances, 114
37. 133. 191 Rome, E. at, 17, 18; Ciceronians
Physical training, 77, 87 seqq., there, 45, 59
201
Physics, 147 Sadoleto, 37, 78, 83, 87, 89, 105,
Pico, Giovanni, della Mirandula, 130. 134
27. 37. 52. 56 Sallust, 112, 122, 139
244 Index

Scaliger, Julius Caesar, 27, 52, 54 Travel in education, 160

Scholasticism, E. in relation to, 7, Turin, E. at, 15
103, 104, III,
134
School age, 80, 81, 91 n. Urbanus, the Greek Grammar of,
Schoolmasters, status and qualifi- no
cations of, 93 seqq., 95, 99, 167, Usus, 79, 80
203, 210; provision of, 209 Utrecht, E. at school at, 2
Schools, type of, approved by E.,
83, 92 n., 204 Valerius Maximus, 134
Scotus, 134 Valla, Lorenzo, 6, 33, 104, 109,
Seneca, iii, 134, 159
127; on Donation 0/ Const antine,
Servius, loi
44 ; on the New Testament, 13
Siena, E. at, 17 Venice, E. at, 16
Sintheim, 104 n.
3, Vergerio, P. P., 39, 42 n., 83
Socrates, 114, 134 Vergil, reverence for, 46 to be
;

Stein, Augustinian House at, 5, understood by way of Allegory,

6, 31 didactic uses of, 174
49 ;
Strabo, 140
Vernacular tongues, E.'s position
Sturm, Johann, 73, 90, 122, 123,
towards, 36, 60
137 Virtu, 42, 120
Sunitnulae Logicae, 134
Vitruvius, 60
Sylvius, Aeneas, Pius II, 64, 121,
Vittorino da Feltre, 33, 51, 57, 95
127, 145 Vives, 64, 114, 133, 153 n.
Vocabularius Breviloquus, 104 n.
Tacitus, 46, 113, 129, 159
Vulgate for school use, 1 1
Terence, Comedies of, edited by E.,
28, 113; humanist admiration
for, 28, 112, 113, 134, 159, 164; War, E.'s dislike of, 35, 189
objections to, 39 n. Warham, Archbishop, 14, 22, 62
Testamentum Novum, Greek text Wimpheling, 114, 115
of, edited by E., 22 Winckel, P., guardian of E., 2
Theophrastus, 140 Women, as teachers of boys, 94,
Thomas Aquinas, 154 95 ; education of, 148 seqq.
Thucydides, 128 place of, in Italian Society of
Titus, Epistle to, 137 Renaissance, 149
Tours, 103 Writing, the teaching of, 97
Training, 80, 183, 191, 192
Trapezuntius, 127 Xenophon, 128

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