Page:The whole familiar colloquies of Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam.djvu/361

THE SERMON. 357 willing to succour tins or that person expressed. So aspicirmis, things sometimes that come in the way by chance, that we have no certain care of, nay, even those things that we have no mind to see. But whosoever ad aliquem aspicit, is in a peculiar manner attent to that which he beholds. And then again, aspicimus, we behold many things at once ; but not aspicimus, we have regard to many things at once. Therefore, the Holy Spirit designing to signify to us. a singular favour toward the holy Virgin, thus expresses it by her own mouth, Quia respexit ad humilitatem ancillce suce. He turns away his eyes from those that are lifted up, and great in their own opinions, and fixes them upon her who is very low in her own eyes. Nor is it to be doubted but there were a great many learned, mighty, rich, and noble persons who hoped for the Messiah to come of their stock ; but, God despising them, turned the eyes of His most merciful favour upon a virgin of an obscure character, mean in the world, married to a carpenter, and not enriched with any offspring.

Le. But I hear nothing all this while of vilitas (vileness). Hi. That was the sycophant's own word, and none of Erasmus's. Le. But perhaps he uses the word vilitas in the annotations. Hi. No ; not at all. Indeed, upon the word rcnrtiviiHnv he very modes.tly observes thus, Ut intelligas parvitatem, non animi virtutem ; sitque sensus, etsi sim infima ancilla, tamen non est aversatus me Dominus, that thou mayest understand it of meanness, not of the virtue of the mind ; and the meaning must be, although I be a very mean handmaid, yet the Lord hath not disdained me. Le. If this is true, and so pious, what is it that these wild asses bray at 1

Hi. Why, it is ignorance of the Latin tongue that makes them cause this disturbance. Humility with the ancients, who spoke most correctly, did not signify that virtue of the mind that is opposite to arrogance, and is called .modesty, but a meaner sort of con- dition ; in that sense that we call ignoble, poor, private, and despised persons, humiles, as if we should say humi repentes. And as when speaking to great personages we say, We entreat your highness to do me the favour, so they who, speaking of themselves, would extenuate their own circumstances, use to say, We pray that out of your humanity you would assist our humilitatem (low estate). For the emphasis of pronouns primitive carries in it oftentimes a sort of arrogancy; as I say, I will cause. So that the maiden two ways very modestly both extenuates her own condition and extols the munificence of the Divine Being, not being content to style herself a handmaid, but also a humile one, one of the meanest circumstances. According to the old proverb, there is difference in servants ; so in maid-servants, one is better than another as to the dignity of their office a waiting- gentlewoman is more honourable than a laundrymaid.

Le. But I wonder that Merdardus should not be acquainted with that form of expression, seeing I myself have often heard the Francis- cans thus speaking, mea parvitas (my meanness) gives you thanks for this noble entertainment. Hi. Some of them would not be out of the way if they said mea pravitas (my naughtiness). But because the Greek word Tcnruvotfrgoavvr) seems to express something more than the Latin word modestia, Christians have chose rather to iise the word humilitas (humility) than modestia (modesty), that is, they had rather