206 ONE THOUSAND FAMOUS THINGS
conscious you are of your own faults, the more likely yon are to be
a profitable servant. This I pray may be your care, and mine,
and Erasmus's also. You hint that you are not yourself implacable •
if Erasmus will correct his errors you will again take his hand.
Doubtless he will bow to so great a man, and will correct them when
you point them out; so far you have only exposed your own. In
what you call errors he has substituted pure Latin for bad, cleared
obscurities, corrected mistakes, and has pointed out blunders of
copyists. To please so great a man as you he may perhaps undo all
this, forfeit the respect of the wise, and console himself with the sense
of your forgiveness.
But a truce to satire. You say that the blots you indicate are
trifles. Well, you cannot regard heresy and schism and precursing
and Antichrist as trifles. I presume, therefore, that those charges
are withdrawn. I will let the rest drop, and our tragedy may end
as a comedy. Farewell! If the cloister is good for your soul, make
the best of it, but spare us for the future these effervescenes of genius,
Written by Sir Thomas More to a young
priest who had written him criticising Erasmus
Portrait of Sir Thomas More by Erasmus
NOT everyone understands More, who is as difficult a subject as
Alexander or Achilles.
He is of middle height, well shaped, complexion pale, without a
touch of colour in it save when the skin flushes. The hair is black
shot with yellow, or yellow shot with black; beard scanty, eyes
grey, with dark spots—an eye supposed in England to indicate
genius, and to be never found except in remarkable men. The ex-
pression is pleasant and cordial, easily passing into a smile, for he
has the quickest sense of the ridiculous of any man I ever met. The
right shoulder is rather higher than the left, the result of a trick in
walking, not from a physical defect. The rest is in keeping. The
only sign of rusticity is in the hands, which are slightly coarse.
From childhood he has been careless of appearance, but he has
still the charm which I remember when I first knew him. His health
is good, though not robust, and he is likely to be long-lived. His
father, though in extreme old age, is still vigorous. He is careless in
what he eats. (I never saw a man more so.) Like his father, he is
a water-drinker. His food is beef, fresh or salt, bread, milk, fruit,
and especially eggs. His voice is low and unmusical, though he loves
music; but it is clear and penetrating. He articulates slowly and
distinctly, and never hesitates.
He dresses plainly ; no silks, or velvets, or gold chains. He has
no concern for ceremony, expects none from others, and shows little
himself. He holds forms and courtesies unworthy of a man of sense,
and for that reason has hitherto kept clear of the Court. All Courts
are full of intrigue. There is less of it in England than elsewhere, for
there are no affectations in the King ; but More loves freedom, and