Yrsarme 
—y—" from 
196 ERASMUS. 
i He received the most pressing invitations 
is I. to settle —— anew os ; but dread- 
ing the envy of the French literati, and the persecutions 
pr pes Dowore of the Sorbonne, and being unwilling 
to forsake ions for ises, he retained his pre- 
ferments under the Emperor. In 1517, he revisited 
England, and was a courteously received by~the 
king and by Cardinal ; but, thongh he declined 
their offers to provide for him in that kin ,» he 
mentioned to one of his friends, that his English reve- 
nues constituted his chief In the same year 
he published a work entitled Querela Pacis, in which, 
ith much soundness of reasoning, power of eloquence, 
and freedom of sentiment, he expostulates with the 
igns of the world upon the atrocities of war, and 
all hostilities which are not strictly defen- 
sive, to be unlawful and unchristian. A pret 
ject for a congress of princes at Cambray, who s 
ae into mutual en ~ Ae the reservation 4 
peace, having been unhappily thwarted by the arts 
interested re oe Rasuneones his “ Complaint of 
Peace,” at the request of John Sylvagius, Chancellor of 
Burgundy, who had been a zealous promoter of the plan. 
(The work was dedicated to Philip of Burgundy, Arch« 
bishop of Utrecht, who majeseed his approbation, by 
ing the author a benefice, and presenting him 
with a valuable sapphire ring, which he requested him 
to wear for hissake.) During the six succeeding years, 
he resided chiefly at Louvain ; and, by the commence- 
ment of the Reformation under Luther, was involved in 
new difficulties and disputes. Hitherto, he had often 
ienced the enmity of the scholastic divines, and of 
the monastic orders, of whose absurdities and immora- 
lities he had so openly assailed in his writings ; but he 
found no difficulty in parrying their attacks, and pre- 
serving the favour of the most zealous Catholic princes 
and prelates. But, as the struggles between the Ro- 
manists and the Reformers became more serious, it re- 
quired his utmost exertion of ingenuity and caution to 
enna at once consistency of sentiment, and security 
persecution. Both in conversation, and from the 
press, he had been accustomed to inveigh against many 
of those errors in doctrine, and su itions in wor- 
ship, which disgraced the church of Rome. Some of 
these he ably confuted by the utmost solidity of argu- 
ment and force of eloquence ; while he directed 
others those weapons of ridicule and sarcasm, which he 
was able to wield with such irresistible effect. Nor 
did he spare even the character of the ecclesiastics ; 
but, with the greatest ability and most exquisite rail- 
lery, exposed to the world their spiritual domination, 
their impious frauds, their ambition, avarice, and luxu- 
rious excesses. Searcely did one of those opinions and 
ces, which Luther afterwards attempted to re- 
mm, escape the animadversions of his pen ; and, as 
his writings were read with universal admiration, they 
contributed, in no small d , to the progress of the 
Reformation: “ Luther,” it was said, «hatched the 
egg, which Erasmus had laid.” Nor was he merely 
the of the great reformer; but, for some 
time after Luther had commenced his career, he acted 
as his admirer and auxiliary ; applauded his conduct, 
and expressed hopes of his success ; recommended mo- 
deration in his measures, but en 
ceed ; vindicated his character to the itaries of the 
chureh, condemned the spirit of his adversaries, and 
always insisted that his books should be answered by 
ow instead of being suppressed by authority. 
in several of his publications, he openly cobouned vik 
him to pro 
him in denouncing the obscure and i 
tems of the schoo] divines, and calling the of 
mankind to the of the Sacred Scri , as the 
only standard of religious truth. In his’ celebrated 
« Colloquies,” particularly, whieh he published in’ 1522, 
he pre his severest strokes swe the monks and 
their superstitions ; and so manifest was its i 
tendency, that the Faculty of Theology at Paris, 
afterwards a provincial council at Cologne, denounced 
it as “ a wicked book, the perusal of which should be 
forbidden to all, especially to the young, and which 
ought, if possible, to be entirely suppressed.” But, 
though he entertained so great a similarity of sentiment 
with the reformers, he pe i = by a variety of 
circumstances, from decidedly espousing their cause. 
His extreme love of peace rendered him averse from 
those measures of direct ition to the church, which 
had become necessary, and flattered him with the delu« 
sive hope of a i pee reformation by methods, 
His excessive ce for of high station, his 
Soni orerat nena 
tics, and his love of the li reputation whi 
had acquired among them, him from ing a 
party, to which his patrons and friends were 
adverse. His of losing the pensions and other 
emoluments, which he derived from the Catholic prin« 
ces and prelates, may be supposed to have had a con- 
siderable influence upon his conduct. His natural ti- 
midity of mind, particularly disqualified him for en< 
countering persecution; and, by his own confession, 
would have induced him to consult his personal safety, 
however much he had the sentiments and 
measures of the reformers. ‘It is true,” he writes to 
his friend Richard Pace, dean of St Paul's, “ Luther 
hath given us a wholesome doctrine, and many a 
good counsel ; and I wish he had not defeated the ef- 
fect of them by his intolerable faults. But, had he 
written any thing in the most manner, 
I had no inclination to die for the sake of truth. Every 
man hath not the requisite to make a martyr ; 
and I am afraid, were T put to the trial, I should imi- 
tate St Peter.” There is no reason, indeed, to sup- 
pose, that those motives, powerful as must have been 
* their influence upon such a feeble temper as he posses 
sed, engaged him either to act or write in direct op 
sition to his conscience ; Dut they sna) have Bilele i 
judgment, while he was unconscious of their operation, 
and may serve to palliate, while they cannot excuse, 
the unworthy concealment and concession of his opi- 
nions, by which he endeavoured to ensure his tranquil- 
lity. ile he embraced every ity, in his 
epistles, to disclaim sapere ek wen ‘aan 
anxious to le the repea which 
Se dade tordegnes bitin tor more sobainsiy 
former; and, on one occasion, when exhorted by Mount. 
eae accusations of heresy with which he 
was |, by taking - his in defence of the 
church, he ied, “ Nothing is more éasy 
than to call Luther a blockhead ; nothing less easy than 
of him one; at roots it seems i At 
, partly irritated by the reproaches “more 
pr ba reformers, and partly ar of incurring 
the displeasure of the court of , he proceeded first 
to repress his own zeal against the abuses in the church ; 
then to assume the character of a mediator between the 
contending parties ; then to censure the impetuosity of 
Luther’s proceedings ; and finally, to enter the lists as 
his antagonist. alls 
Upon a rumour probably of his intention to attack 
Eraemny. 
sys. 
oa ft ~*—- ~ 
