n to his ideals, that the
English, whom he had just seen in such a favourable light, let alone his
special friends among them, were not accessories to the misfortune. He
never reproached More and Mountjoy, whose inaccurate information, he
tells us, had done the harm. At the same time his interest, which he
always saw in the garb of virtue, told him that now especially it would
be essential not to break off his relations with England, and that this
gave him a splendid chance of strengthening them. Afterwards he
explained this with a naivete which often causes his writings,
especially where he tries to suppress or cloak matters, to read like
confessions.

'Returning to Paris a poor man, I understood that many would expect I
should take revenge with my pen for this mishap, after the fashion of
men of letters, by writing something venomous against the king or
against England. At the same time I was afraid that William Mountjoy,
having indirectly caused my loss of money, would be apprehensive of
losing my affection. In order, therefore, both to put the expectations
of those people to shame, and to make known that I was not so unfair as
to blame the country for a private wrong, or so inconsiderate as,
because of a small loss, to risk making the king displeased with myself
or with my friends in England, and at the same time to give my friend
Mountjoy a proof that I was no less kindly disposed towards him than
before, I resolved to publish something as quickly as possible. As I had
nothing ready, I hastily brought together, by a few days' reading, a
collection of Adagia, in the supposition that such a booklet, however it
might turn out, by its mere usefulness would get into the hands of
students. In this way I demonstrated that my friendship had not cooled
off at all. Next, in a poem I subjoined, I protested that I was not
angry with the king or with the country at being deprived of my money.
And my scheme was not ill received. That moderation and candour procured
me a good many friends in England at the time--erudite, upright and
influential men.'

This is a characteristic specimen of semi-ethical conduct. In this way
Erasmus succeeded in dealing with his indignation, so that later on he
could declare, when the recollection came up occasionally, 'At one blow
I had lost all my fortune, but I was so unconcerned that I returned to
my books all the more cheerfully and ardently'. But his friends knew how
deep the wound had been.