THE IDEALIST SCHOLAR
ii
L inacre has left us the example of a noble life ; he was possessed from his youth till his death by the enthusiasm of learning. He was an idealist, devoted to objects which the world thought of little use. His devotion to learning even in the arid form of grammar was hit off by his friend Erasmus in a piece of good-natured banter, which, I fancy, caught the eye of a modern poet, Robert Browning, who in his fine poem, ‘The Grammarian’s Funeral,’ has given us the picture of an Idealist Scholar in a way which fits Linacre precisely, even if it was not meant for him. I think probably it did refer to him* as may be seen on referring to the original passage of Erasmus 1 : —
‘ Yes, this in him was the peculiar grace,
Still before living he’d learn how to live —
No end to learning.
Earn the means first — God surely will contrive Use for our earning.
1 No one knew Linacre better than his cherished friend Erasmus, who, besides many warm and sincere eulogiums, has left in his Praise of Folly an anonymous sketch, evidently meant for Linacre, which, being written in Erasrtius’s favourite style of banter, has misled persons without a sense of humour into supposing it to be meant as an ill-natured satire. It must have been seen by Linacre, and was certainly not intended to disturb the harmony of the two friends.
Folly is supposed to be speaking of the idle aims which men pursue, and says, ‘ One man I know, skilled in many arts ; a Grecian, Latinist, Mathematician, Philosopher, Phy- sician, and in all these supreme, now sixty years old, who for more than twenty years has tortured him- self in the study of grammar, think- ing himself fortunate if he should live long enough to define properly the eight parts of speech, which no Greek or Latin has yet satisfactorily distinguished.’
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Graecum, Latinum, Mathematicum, philosophum, medicum /cat ravra ( 3 a- <nitc 6 v iam sexagenarium qui caeteris rebus omissis annis plus viginti se torquet et discruciat in Grammatica, prorsus felieem sefore ratus si tamdiu licet vivere, donee certo statuat quo- modo distinguendae sint octo partes orationis quod hactenus nemo Grae- corum aut Latinorum ad plenum praestare valuit. Proinde quasi res sit bello quoque vindicanda, si quis coniunctionem faciat dictionem ad adverbiorum ius pertinentem ’ ( Eras - mi Roterodami Moriae Encomium, Basileae, Froben. 1521, p. 251). This is the character, not of a mere pedant, but of an idealist seen from the humorous side. The reference to ‘ parts of speech ’ seems to show that the passage caught the eye of Mr. Browning, who expanded it, as we may conjecture, into the poem above quoted. Whether the refer- ence to ‘ calculus,' the disease from which Linacre actually suffered, was merely accidental or derived from some other account of Linacre’s life, must remain uncertain.
