Note 60 — LIFE OF BUSBECQ.

Erasmus was by nature extremely timid, ‘animo pusillo,’ as he describes himself to Colet (Ep. xli.). When writing to George Halluin he seems delighted at his having translated the Ἐγκώμιον Μωρίας, but he was by no means willing to stand the odium which arose on the publication of his satire in French. He shifts the responsibility entirely on to his friend. No doubt he thought that the shoulders of the Seigneur of Comines were broader than his own. (See Ep. cclxxxiv. to Abbot Antony de Berges.) ‘Post hæec accepi a nonnullis, quod me vehementer commovit, te mihi nescio quid subirasci, opinor ob Moriam, quam vir clarissimus Georgius Haloinus, me dehortante ac deterrente, fecit Gallicam, hoc est, ex meâ suam fecit, additis detractis et mutatis quæ voluit.’ December 13, 1517.