Pawters in the Reign of Henry VIII. 105 



merit in the eyes of proteilants, while his 

 time-ferving had an air of moderation ; and 

 his very poverty, thac threw him into fer- 

 vile adulation, exprefied itfelf in terms 

 that were beautifuU enough to be tranfmit- 

 ted to pofterity. His cupboard of plate, 

 all prefented to him by the greateft men of 

 the age, was at once a monument of his 

 flattery and genius. With a mind fo po- 

 lifhed no wonder he diftinguiflied the ta- 

 lents of young Holbein. He was warmly 

 recommended to employment by Erafmus 

 and Amerbach, * a printer of that city. 

 He painted the pi6lure of the latter in 

 1519, who fhowing him the Moriae En- 

 comium of the former, Holbein drew on 

 the margin many of the charadlers defcri- 

 bed in the book. Erafmus was fo pleafed 

 with thofe fketches that he kept the book 

 ten days — the fubfequent incidents were 

 trifling indeed, and not much to the ho- 

 nour of the poiitenefs of either. Holbein, 

 rudely enough, wrote under the figure of 

 an old ftudent, the name of Erafmus. The 



* See an account of him in Palmer's hiftory of print- 

 ing, p. 218. 



author. 



