ormulas of address and
expressions of polite sentiments, which develop into brief
conversations.

The poor scholar's hardships were mitigated by the generosity of a
friend. Whilst with the Bishop of Cambray Erasmus had made the
acquaintance of a young man from Bergen-op-Zoom, the Bishop's
ancestral home; one James Batt, who after education in Paris had
returned to be master of the public school in his native town. About
1498 Batt was engaged as private tutor to the son of Anne of
Borsselen, widow of an Admiral of Flanders and hereditary Lady of
Veere, an important sea-port town in Walcheren which then did much
trade with Scotland, and whose great, dumb cathedral and ornate
town-hall still tell to the handful of houses round them the story of
former greatness. From the first Batt applied himself to win his
patroness' favour to his clever and needy friend. Erasmus was invited
to visit them, money was sent for his journey; and within a short time
he was receiving pecuniary contributions from the Lady more frequently
than if she had been allowing him a pension. His letters to Batt--the
replies which came he never published--are remarkable reading, and do
credit to both sides. Conscious of high powers and pressed by urgent
need, Erasmus begins by begging without concealment, for money to keep
him going and give him leisure. But as time goes on and the Lady
wearies of much giving, Erasmus' tone grows sharper and more
insistent; until at last he scolds and upbraids his patient
correspondent for not extorting more, and even bids him put his own
needs in the background until Erasmus' are satisfied. Batt's name
deserves to be remembered as chief amongst faithful friends, for
putting up with such scant gratitude after his inexhaustible devotion;
and we must needs think more highly of Erasmus, if his friend could
accept such treatment at his hand and not be wounded. To the great
much littleness may be forgiven. The surprising thing is that Erasmus
should have allowed such letters to be published.

In the summer of 1499 Erasmus was carried off to England by another
friend whom he had captivated, the young Lord Mountjoy, who had come
abroad to study until the child-bride whom he had already married
should be old enough to become his wife. After a summer spent among
bright-eyed English ladies at a country-house in Hertfordshire, then
studded with the hunting-boxes of the nobility, and a visit to London
which brought him into quick