Tt was his avowed object and all criti olarship in illustration erpretation ice them by iscly for this s respect the is the foundaAnglican theois not only the ion of that Prothis, has found ble alone is the read therein or what cannot, is not 'his faith, either by that the authority fficiency of all men hemselves was thus nus'?' te of the influence of of its abstract merits, und of three centuries e clearly than either its and defects. Nor is merous and occasionally he oldest manuscript to ably not earlier than the naccuracies are frequent; aring and singularly diss such ignorance of ancient e following way. Erasmus had copy of Theophylact on Matthew, ath this title: Toi Đeopilerator Ap επισκόπου Βουλγαρίας κυρίου Θεοφυ Λάκτου ἐξήγησις εἰς τὸ κατὰ Ματθαῖ ον Ευαγγέλιον. In his haste he took Θεοφυλάκτου for an epithet, while for Βουλγαρίας he must have read Βουλγα to 511 art where the t n subsequent eculiar mannerism well known to every scholar, from Hilarii, Augustini, una cum ar eribus quæ lectorem doceant. : ratione mutatum sit. Quisq amas veram theologiam, le nosce, et deinde judica. Neq cendere, si quid mutatum '. sed expende, num in me** dam sit. Erasmus preferr Instrumentum to TestamOST grand that it more hittin v ede deed or written ing the Testame:' died his preference ng the appearance of to inform his old pre- se opinion on such a seter doctissime, est omnibus ampria mus, utpote qui aliis on 7,12 : et hi magnopere favent bue en Novum Testament im e lutað 2 wm, quam elementi, armite, no assatii gristus e9viac purpecesOpera, 111 197. Cuthbert Tunstall, just created Master of the avowed patron of the undertaking. The fact the dedication of the work had been accepted by ht alone seem sufficient to disarm the prejudices at bigoted. But the suspicions of the theologians thus to be lulled to sleep; and in Erasmus's reply going letter from Bullock, dated Aug. 31, we find ad already become informed of the manifestation at ze of a very different spirit from that which Bullock d. In the Novum Instrumentum the opponents of i recognised, as they believed, the opportunity for ...y had long been watching; and having now more round whereon to take their stand, they were en by mere force of numerical superiority to overe party of reform. ild however be unjust not to admit, that the oppothe work had more definite grounds for their hosin a mete general aversion to the special culture with that work was identified, and that their opposition was Erasmus himself alleged, commenced and carried on **er ignorance of the contents of the volume. Merits defects like those to which we have already adverted, it is true, somewhat beyond the range of their criticism; there was in the commentary another feature, which ched them far more closely, and this was the frequent Dication, which the sarcastic scholar had taken occasion make (often with considerable irrelevance and generally thout necessity) of particular texts to the prevailing abuses f the times. For example, he had progressed no further an the third chapter of St. Matthew, before he contrived find occasion for dragging in a slur upon the whole priestly order'; in commenting on Matt. xv. 5, he censures 1 Wintoniensis episcopus, vir ut scis prudentissimus, in celeberrimo Getu magnatum, quum de te ac tuis lucubrationibus incidisset sermo, testatus est omnibus approbantibus, versionem tuam Novi Testamenti, vice Esse sibi commentariorum decem, tantum afferre lucis.' Opera, 111 1650. It is when speaking of the MSS. of the Gospels to which he had had access at the College of St. Donatian at Bruges. Habebat ea bibliotheca,' he goes on to say, 'complures alios libros antiquitatis venerandæ, qui neglectu quorundam perierunt, ut nunc ferme sunt sacerdotum mores PART IL the monks and friars for the artifices whereby they prevailed CHAP. on the wealthy to bequeath their estates to religious houses rather than to their rightful heirs; in a note on Matt. xxiii. 2, he indulges in a tirade against the bishops; Mark vi. 9 affords an opportunity for attacking the Mendicants,-Christ, he says, never belonged to that order; when he comes to the mention of Dionysius the Areopagite, in Acts xvii. 34, he does not omit to tell, with evident relish and in his very best Latin, the story of Grocyn's humiliating discovery'; while in a note on Timothy i. 6, he attacks the disputations of the schools, and supports his criticisms by a long list of quæstiones, designed as specimens of the prevailing extravagance and puerility of the dialecticians. Whatever, accordingly, may be our opinion of the policy that imperilled the success of a work of such magnitude, by converting it into a fortress from whence to shoot singularly galling darts against the enemy, there can be no doubt that it was by criticisms like the foregoing that the active hostility of the conservative party at Cambridge was mainly provoked, and that they were induced to have recourse to acts of retaliation like that referred to in the following letter from Erasmus-a letter that affords perhaps the most valuable piece of contemporary evidence with respect to the state of the university that remains to us of this period. The letter is dated from Fisher's palace at Rochester; and Erasmus commences by saying, in response to Bullock's expressed wish for his return, that he would be only too glad to resume his old Cambridge life and to find himself again magis incumbere patinis quam paginis, et potiorem habere curam numMOTUM quam voluminum.' (Quoted by Jortiu, 11 206.) Aute complures annos, ut memini, vir incomparabilis Willelmus Grocinus, ut theologus summus, ita in nulla disciplina non exquisite doctus et exercitatus, auspicaturus Londini in de Divo Paulo sacra enarrationem Cœlestis Hierarchie, meditata pra fatione multum aste veravit hoe opus esse Dionysii Areopagite, vehementer destoniaschans in eorum impudentiam, qui dissentirent. At idem priusquam operis dimidium confecisset ubi gustum at- Epist. 148, Opera, 111 126. This PART IL his opponents with acri CHAP.. among so delightful a circle of friends, but at present he is looking forward to wintering at Louvain. He is delighted to hear that his Novum Instrumentum finds favour with those whose good opinion is most to be desired; but,' he goes on to say, 'I also hear, on good authority, that there is one most theological college (collegium Deodoɣikóτatov) among you, ruled over by a set of perfect Areopagites, who have by formal decree forbidden that the volume be introduced within the college walls, either by horse or by boat, by cart or by porter. Is this,' he exclaims, doctissime Boville, more to be laughed at or lamented? Unfortunate men, how their sympathies are vitiated! Hostile and angry against themselves, He attacks grudging at their own profit! Of what race can they be, who are by nature so savage, that kindness, which soothes even wild beasts, only irritates them; who are so implacable that no apologies can soften them? Who, what is yet more to their discredit, condemn and mangle a book at they have never read, and could not understand if they 1 1. Who know nothing more than what they may have heard over their cups or in public gossip, that a new work has come out with which it is designed to hoodwink the theologians; and straightway attack with the fiercest abuse both the author, who by his protracted labours has aimed at rendering service to all students, and the book, from whence they might themselves reap no small advantage!! After pointing out what I excellent precedents for his performance were to be found in the productions of different scholars at various times, he Justifies him turns to the new translations of Aristotle as his most perpealing to the tinent illustration. What detriment,' he asks, did the writings of Aristotle suffer, when Argyropulos, Leonardo Aretino, and Theodorus Gaza brought forth their new ver self by ap precedent afforded by the new versions of Aristotle. tam 1. Quod genus hoc hominum, usque adeo morosum, ut officis irritentur, quibus maustescunt et fera belina; tam implacabile, ut eos nee multe apologia lenire possint? immo (quod est impa lentine), isti damnant ac lacerant lit ram, quém ne legerint quilem, all i ne intelleetun si legant. Tantam auler ant inter eya thos, aut in conciliabulis fori, pro- | |