cannot here

that upon so doing he would grant no more injunctions. But they refusing this, he said, "Forasmuch as yourselves, my lords, drive me to that necessity for awarding out injunctions to relieve the people's injuries, you after any more justly blame me !" Talking afterwards, in private, to his son-in-law, Mr. Roper, on this subject, he said, "son, I perceive why they like not so to do; for they see that they may, by the verdict of a jury, cast off all quarrels from themselves, on those, which they do account their just defence, and therefore am I compelled to abide the adventure of all such reports!"

After this he made a very useful order to all the attornies of his court, that no subpoenas should be granted unless the particulars of the matter were laid before him, with their hands to the bill; declaring that he would cancel the same if it did not contain a sufficient ground for complaint-When one of his attornies, whose name was Tub, brought to him the subpoena of his client's cause, requesting his hand to it, Sir Thomas, upon the perusal, finding it to be a frivolous matter, instead of his name, wrote underneath it, "This is the Tale of a Tub" from whence, perhaps, came the proverbial saying which Swift made the ground work of one of his best satires.

So great was his diligence in the court of chancery, that though he found it full of causes, yet before he resigned the office, after determining one cause, and calling for the next, he was told

that

that there was not another depending, which circumstance he ordered to be entered upon record. This gave occasion to the following epigram, which, for the period, certainly is not destitute. of merit.

When More some years had Chancellor been,

No more suits did remain ;

The same shall never more be seen,

Till More be there again.

These two

We have mentioned the intimacy which subsisted between Erasmus and Sir Thomas. great men long held a correspondence, by letters, before they had any personal acquaintance with each other. After many pressing invitations, Erasmus came to England, and a common friend, probably William Lilly, the grammarian, or dean Colet, contrived that they should meet together at the lord mayor's table, without knowing that each other was there. During the dinner an ar gument was started, which drew More and his friend into a pretty sharp contest, no doubt to the great entertainment of those who were in the secret. Erasmus, at length, feeling the peculiar sharpness of his antagonist's wit, exclaimed, Aut tu es Morus, aut nullus; to which Sir Thomas r plied, Aut tu es Erasmus, aut diabolus. — From that time Erasmus lived chiefly with Sir Thomas at Chelsea, and he has given an admirable description of the family in his epistles.

When Erasmus was about to return home, Sir

Thomas

Thomas lent him a favourite horse to convey him to the coast, but, instead of returning the horse, he took him to Holland, and in return, sent More the following epigram :

Quod mihi dixisti

De corpore Christi

Crede quod edas, & edis;

Sic tibi rescribo

De tuo Palfrido,

Crede quod habeas, & habes.

This was a witty, though not perhaps a very honest satire upon the zeal of Sir Thomas for the most absurd dogma of the Romish church, transsubstantiation.

It certainly is very extraordinary that a man, who had all the humour, without the coarseness of Rabelais, should at the same time possess so abject a spirit of superstition, as to swallow the most preposterous corruptions of Popery, and inflict upon himself the ridiculous penance of wearing constantly a hair shirt. To this austerity he added a very extraordinary discipline on Fridays, and other fasting days. Besides fasting, watching, and allowing himself only four or five hours for sleep, he lay either upon the bare ground, or on a bench, with a log of wood under his head for a pillow.

To this strange spirit of superstition, gloomy and severe in the extreme of monkish mortification, was added a playfulness of wit, ap

proaching