Erasmus, here, the eloquent and wise, That Sun of Learning! rose, and spread his beam O’er a benighted world, through lowering skies, And shed on Basil’s towers his parting gleam. There his great relics lie: he blest the place: No proud preserver of his fame shall prove The Parian pile; tho’ fraught with sculptur’d grace: Reader! his mausoleum is above. The reader may perhaps be pleased with the following anecdote. When Erasmus was in England, which he visited several times, and where he was honoured with the friendship of Archbishop Warham, Bishops Tonstal and Fox, Dean Colet, Lord Montjoy, Sir Thomas More, and other distinguished men, he mentions a custom then prevalent amongst the females of this country, the discontinuance of which, considering how much improved they are since the time of Erasmus, and how their natural charms are heightened by the grace of the Grecian drapery, must be a subject of infinite regret with all who love and cherish the sex, as it ought to be loved and cherished. ERASMUS. Sunt hic in Anglia nymphæ divinis vultibus, blandæ, faciles. Est præterea mos nunquam satis laudandis, sive quò venias, omnium osculis receperis, sive discedas aliquo, osculis dimitteris. Redis redduntur suavia; venitur ad te propinantur suavia, disceditur abs te, dividuntur basia; occurritur alicui, basiatur affatim; denique quocumque te moveas, suaviorum plena sunt omnia. “The women in England are divinely beautiful, affable, and good humoured. There is a custom also here, which can never be sufficiently commended. When you go any where, you are received by all with _kisses_; when you depart, you are dismissed with _kisses_. On your return, _kisses_ are again bestowed on you. When they visit you, _kisses_ are presented; when they go away, _kisses_ also pass between you. If you meet any body, _kisses_ are plentifully distributed. In short, whatever you do, wherever you go, you are sure of _kisses_ in abundance.” This is language sufficiently warm to prove that Erasmus carried the feelings of a man under the cowl of a monk. Erasmus was very accomplished: he is said to have imbibed from Hans Holbein a fine taste for painting, and to have painted several pictures whilst in the convent at Gouda.