ances by
introductions; those whom he cannot help otherwise he aids with counsel,
and he has never sent anyone away disappointed. You might call More the
common advocate of all those in need. He regards himself as greatly
enriched when he assists the oppressed, extricates the perplexed and
involved, or reconciles the estranged. None confers a benefit so gladly,
none is so slow to upbraid. And although he is fortunate on so many
counts, and good fortune is often associated with boastfulness, it has
never yet been my lot to meet any man so far removed from this vice.

But I must return to recounting his studies--it was these which chiefly
brought More and myself together. In his youth he chiefly practised
verse composition, afterwards he worked hard and long to polish his
prose, practising his style in all kinds of composition. What that style
is like, I need not describe--particularly not to you, who always have
his books in your hands. He especially delighted in composing
declamations, and in these liked paradoxical themes, for the reason that
this offers keener practice to the wits. This caused him, while still a
youth, to compose a dialogue in which he defended Plato's Communism,
even to the community of wives. He wrote a rejoinder to Lucian's
_Tyrannicide_; in this theme he desired to have me as his antagonist, to
make a surer trial of his progress in this branch of letters. His
_Utopia_ was published with the aim of showing the causes of the bad
condition of states; but was chiefly a portrait of the British State,
which he has thoroughly studied and explored. He had written the second
book first in his leisure hours, and added the first book on the spur of
the moment later, when the occasion offered. Some of the unevenness of
the style is due to this.

One could hardly find a better _ex tempore_ speaker: a happy talent has
complete command of a happy turn of speech. He has a present wit, always
flying ahead, and a ready memory; and having all this ready to hand, he
can promptly and unhesitatingly produce whatever the subject or occasion
requires. In arguments he is unimaginably acute, so that he often
puzzles the best theologians on their own ground. John Colet, a man of
keen and exact judgement, often observes in intimate conversation that
Britain has only one genius: although this island is rich in so many
fine talents.

[Illustration: XXX. ERASMUS AT THE AGE OF 54]

He diligently cultivates true piety, while