CHAP.XII. means were discussed for the supply of the royal
A.D. 1516. exchequer, and one were to propose tampering with

the currency; a second, the pretence of imminent war
to justify war taxes, and the proclamation of peace as
soon as these were collected; a third, the exaction of
penalties under antiquated and obsolete laws which
have long been forgotten, and thus are often trans-
gressed; a fourth, the prohibition under great penal-
ties of such things as are against public interest, and
then the granting of dispensations and licenses for large
sums of money; a fifth, the securing of the judges on
the side of the royal prerogative;- What if here
again I were to rise' [Raphael is made to say]' and
⚫ contend that all these counsels were dishonest and
pernicious, that not only the king's honour, but also
his safety, rests more upon his people's wealth than
6 upon his own, who (I might go on to show) choose
a king for their own sake and not for his, viz. that

by his care and labour they might live happily and secure from danger; . . . that if a king should fall ' into such contempt or hatred of his people that he 'cannot secure their loyalty without resort to threats, exactions, and confiscations, and his people's impoverishment, he had better abdicate his throne, ' rather than attempt by these means to retain the name without the glory of empire? . ... What if I

'were to advise him to put aside his sloth and his

pride, . . . that he should live on his own revenue, that he should accommodate his expenditure to his income, that he should restrain crime, and by good laws prevent it, rather than allow it to increase and then punish it, that he should repeal obsolete laws instead of attempting to exact their penalties? . . . .

6

If I were to make such suggestions as these to men CHAP. XII. 6 strongly inclined to contrary views, would it not be telling idle tales to the deaf?"

Thus was Raphael made to use words which must have been understood by Henry VIII. himself, when he read them, as intended to convey to a great extent More's own reasons for declining to accept the offer which Wolsey had been commissioned to make to him.

The introductory story was then brought to a close, by the conversation being made again to turn upon the laws and customs of the Utopians, the detailed particulars of which, at the urgent request of Giles and More, Raphael agreed to give after the three had dined together. A woodcut in the Basle edition, probably executed by Holbein, represents them sitting on a bench in the garden behind the house, under the shade of the trees, listening to Raphael's discourse, of which the second book of the Utopia' proposed to give, as nearly as might be, a verbatim report.

6

A.D. 1516.

With this bold and honest introduction, the Utopia' Utopia published was published at Louvain by Thierry Martins, with a at Louvain. woodcut prefixed, representing the island of Utopia, and with an imaginary specimen of the Utopian language and characters. It was in the hands of the public by the beginning of the new year."

Such was the remarkable political romance, which, from its literary interest and merit, has been translated ' into almost every modern language-a work which, viewed in its close relations to the history of the times

1 Leaves d, ii. et seq. These extracts are somewhat abridged and condensed.

ii. 2748), in which Lord Mountjoy
acknowledges the receipt of a copy
sent by Erasmus, dated Jan. 4, 1516;

2 Eras. Epist. App. xliv. (Brewer, i. e. 1517 in modern reckoning.

A.D. 1516.

CHAP. XII. in which it was written, and the personal circumstances of its author when he wrote it, derives still greater interest and importance, inasmuch as it not only discloses the visions of hope and progress floating before the eyes of the Oxford Reformers, but also embodies, as I think I have been able to show, perhaps one of the boldest declarations of a political creed ever uttered by an English statesman on the eve of his entry into a king's service,1

1 The extracts from the Utopia,
translations of which are given in this
chapter, have in all cases been taken
from the first edition (Louvain,
1516), but very few alterations were
made in subsequent editions. The
first edition was published in Dec. 'Lutetiam.'-Epist.ccviii.
1516. I am indebted to Mr. Lupton
for the suggestion, that the publica-
tion of some letters of Vespucci at
Florence, in 1516, may have sug-
gested More's use of that voyager's

name in his introductory book.

Erasmus, writing from Antwerp to More, March 1 [1517], says: Utopiam tuam recognitam, huc quam primum mittito, et nos exemplar, aut Basilium mittemus aut

Erasmus sent it to Froben of Basle, by whom a corrected edition was published in March, 1518, and another in November of the same year. See Appendix F.

CHAPTER XIII.

6

I. WHAT COLET THOUGHT OF THE NOVUM INSTRUMENTUM'

(1516).

HAVING traced the progress and final publication of these works by Erasmus and More, the enquiry suggests itself, how were they received ?

CHAP.

XIII.

A.D. 1516.

And first it may naturally be asked, What did Colet think of them, especially of the Novum Instrumentum?' An early copy had doubtless been sent to him, and with the volume itself, it would seem, came a letter from Erasmus, probably from Antwerp, by the hand of Peter Meghen-Unoculus,' as his friends called him.' In this letter Erasmus had consulted him about his future plans. After the labours of the past, and suffering as he was from feeble and precarious health, he had indulged, it would seem, in the expression of longings Erasmus that he could share with Colet his prospects of rest. Colet's He knew how often Colet had mentioned the wish to spend his old age in retirement and peace, with one or two congenial companions, such as Erasmus; and than ever. now, just escaped from his monotonous labours at Basle, he was for the moment inclined to take Colet at his word. Still, much as he talked of rest, his mind would not stop working. Witness, for instance, his

1 Eras. Epist. cclvi. Brewer, ii. 2000; from St. Omer; and see ccxxv. Brewer, ii. 1976.

envies

retire

ment, but works

harder

СНАР.
XIII.

6

'Institutio Principis Christiani.' In fact, while the 'Novum Instrumentum' and the works of St. Jerome A.D. 1516. had been passing through the press, the number of other works of his had increased rather than lessened. During the intervals of travel he was sure to be writing very some book. On his way to Basle he had written his letter to Dorpius, and he had published with it a commentary on the first Psalm, ' Beatus est vir,' &c., which, by the way, he had dedicated to his gentle friend, Beatus Rhenanus, because, said he, blessed is the man ' who is such as the Psalm describes.' New editions, also, of the De Copiâ,' of the Praise of Folly,' and of the 'Adagia,' were constantly being issued from the press of Froben, Martins, Schurerius, or some other printer; for whatever bore the name of Erasmus now found so ready a sale, that printers were anxious for his patronage. Visions, too, of future work kept rising up before him. He wanted to write a commentary on the Epistle to the Romans; and in writing to Colet it would seem that he had confided to him his project of adding to his Latin version of the New Testament an honest exposition of its meaning in the form of a simple Erasmus paraphrase-a work which it took him years to complete. Thus it came to pass that he had mentioned these literary projects in the same letter in which he had expressed himself as envious of Colet's anticipated rest, and that freedom from the cares of poverty to which he himself was so constantly a prey. Doubtless for a moment it had seemed to him easier to wish himself in Colet's place than with renewed energy to toil on in his own.

begins his

Paraphrases.

But every heart knoweth its own bitterness. Colet had his share of troubles, which made him, in his turn,