those whom he honoured with a dedication gave nothing or very little.

The first need, therefore, to a man in Erasmus's circumstances was to
find a Maecenas. Maecenas with the humanists was almost synonymous with
paymaster. Under the adage _Ne bos quidem pereat_ Erasmus has given a
description of the decent way of obtaining a Maecenas. Consequently,
when his conduct in these years appears to us to be actuated, more than
once, by an undignified pushing spirit, we should not gauge it by our
present standards. These were his years of weakness.

On his return to Paris he did not again lodge in Montaigu. He tried to
make a living by giving lessons to young men of fortune. A merchant's
sons of Luebeck, Christian and Henry Northoff, who lodged with one
Augustine Vincent, were his pupils. He composed beautiful letters for
them, witty, fluent and a trifle scented. At the same time he taught two
young Englishmen, Thomas Grey and Robert Fisher, and conceived such a
doting affection for Grey as to lead to trouble with the youth's
guardian, a Scotchman, by whom Erasmus was excessively vexed.

Paris did not fail to exercise its refining influence on Erasmus. It
made his style affectedly refined and sparkling--he pretends to disdain
the rustic products of his youth in Holland. In the meantime, the works
through which afterwards his influence was to spread over the whole
world began to grow, but only to the benefit of a few readers. They
remained unprinted as yet. For the Northoffs was composed the little
compendium of polite conversation (in Latin), _Familiarium colloquiorum
formulae_, the nucleus of the world-famous _Colloquia_. For Robert
Fisher he wrote the first draft of _De conscribendis epistolis_, the
great dissertation on the art of letter-writing (Latin letters),
probably also the paraphrase of Valla's _Elegantiae_, a treatise on pure
Latin, which had been a beacon-light of culture to Erasmus in his youth.
_De copia verborum ac rerum_ was also such a help for beginners, to
provide them with a vocabulary and abundance of turns and expressions;
and also the germs of a larger work: _De ratione studii_, a manual for
arranging courses of study, lay in the same line.

It was a life of uncertainty and unrest. The bishop gave but little
support. Erasmus was not in good health and felt continually depressed.
He made plans for a journey to Italy, but did not see much chance of
effecting them. In the summer of 1498 he again travelled