PART L solis word-for-word method of translation CHAP. T. and totally disregarding the endless subas a translate Aran commentators, produced, after three induce the raresion that with respect to clearness and brated courtes every preceding version into the shade. and Willia hom criticisms like those of Petrarch had ap named lerable, began to say that they could now ho Cicero could praise the Aristotelian style. real advance towards a true knowledge of the le since the time of Aquinas, though soon to be outdone by the achievements of Argyropulos. found anslation was completed, Bruni, it is said, dediprogress in to duke Humphrey, and forwarded a copy to cluded Ph his noble patron, immersed probably in the Poggio, his political career, delayed his acknowledgements, more clashty Italian recalled his dedication and laid it at could hp Eugenius instead'. 414 of learn Setful of Italy, duke Humphrey was not un- Da the Euth of Unford, and it is not improbable that the splendid Unfort of manuscripts with which he enriched the univeryear 1439 and 1443,-donations which Mr did more for the university than any other before or after, has done,'-were partly the aing that active interest in the new learning atter part of the century was exhibited by various the community. The theological authors, that Ca proportion of the catalogues of these two would of course appear to the majority of the of the time the most valuable element; but the translations by Aretino, both included in the a new translation of the Republic of Plato, to attmet the attention of the artists,' A numerous copies of Petrarch's best known Jase also been singularly suggestive of bold Bodleian:--the translation of the Po litics above mentioned, the slentral egy presented by (arty spion hove vodilly illuminated), tie is of the Miny, aula copy of Vale Maximas, ! PART I. CHAP. V. and novel habits of thought. The Verrines and Philippics of Cicero and the letters Ad Familiares were an appreciable addition to the stores of the Latin scholar; while the theologian would find no little material for reflexion, and much that was startling and strange, in the Historia Ecclesiastica of Eusebius. Fall of Constantinople, 1433. As the first half of the fifteenth century drew to its close, it became evident that the progress of the Turkish arms in the East was likely before long to be signalized by a decisive triumph, and in the year 1453 all Christendom learned with unmistakeable dismay, that the last of the Constantines had fallen fighting at the gates of his imperial city, and that the cry of the muezzin had been uttered from the loftiest turret of St. Sophia. Though long anticipated, the event did not fail to The fight to awaken in Italy a feeling of profound commiseration. For a time it was forgotten that the hapless fugitives who came fleeing across the Mediterranean were schismatics, only to remember that they were Christians, and they were received with every manifestation of sympathy and respect. Among them there came a few scholars of eminence,-Argyropulos, Chalcondyles, Andronicus Callistus, Constantine and John Lascaris, be ring with them whatever literary treasures they had been able to snatch from destruction. The efforts of the Prior impor preceding half century had fortunately already introduced. recker into Italy many of the Greek classics; the collection imported by John Aurispa in 1423 forming probably the most important contribution. He had brought, according to Traversarius, nearly all the extant works of Plato, and also those of Plotinus, Proclus, Lucian, Xenophon, Dio, Arrian, Diodorus Siculus, the Orphic Hymns, the Geography of Strabo, CalliForebotings machus, Pindar, and Oppian'. To this array the poor exiles tations of ture. of Italian Tament of contributed the last instalment of any magnitude, but the loss was enormous. Quirinus, a Venetian, writing to pope Nicolas v, asserts that more than a hundred and twenty thousand volumes had been destroyed by the conquering Turks. In his eyes the loss would seem to have appeared not merely irreparable in itself but fatal to the cause of Greek 1 Ersch and Gruber, Griechenland, vi11 290. PANT L Constant there,' he says, 'I studied hard and long, and made diligent CHAPY. search for some one or other of the full and careful treatises of Apollonius or Herodian on grammar, which however were nowhere to be found. The text-books used and the intro- His arment duction given by the lecturers in the schools are full of the merest trifles, and nothing certain or satisfactory is to be gained from their teaching with respect to the grammatical construction of a sentence, the quantity of syllables, or accent. The Eolic dialect, which is that chiefly used by Homer and Callimachus in their compositions, the teachers of to-day are altogether ignorant of. Whatever I have learned of those matters has been the result of my own study and research, although I would be far from denying the important aid that the instructions of my father-in-law, Chrysoloras, have afforded me'.' Occasionally, on the other hand, the teacher sought his pupils, and a native Greek crossed the Adriatic and announced in Italy his ability and willingness to impart the coveted knowledge. But from Borlaamo downwards these men were mostly impudent charlatans, and their pretensions were soon exposed even by those whom they pretended to teach. The true commencement of a systematic study of Greek in Italy, dates from the arrival in 1396 of Emmanuel Chrysoloras', a relative of the John Chrysoloras of whom a Philelphus above makes mention, as an ambassa lor from the emperor of the eastern empire to solicit aid against the Turks. Chrysoloras was honorably distinguished from those of his countrymen who had hitherto assumed the literary character in Italy, by his noble descent, his high and not unde 1 Hody, p. 188. * Encas Sylvius, in his Europa, c. 52, tells an amning story of how Ugo Benzi of Sions, the learne physician, discomfited a whole party of these pretenders in a formal philow phie di senssion. * Many writers, among whom I notice so recent a contributor to the Literature of the subject as Dr Geiger, have dated this revival from the fall of Con tantinople in 1153. Voigt justly observes of the Greek refizes 392 CHAP. V. served reputation, and his real knowledge of the Greek literature. To the man of letters he added the man of the world and the diplomatist; he was acquainted with most of the countries of Europe, and had visited our own court in He was, the reign of Richard II in an official capacity. however, like most of his countrymen, ignorant of the Latin tongue, for the Greeks, while still claiming for their emperor the sovereignty of the Roman empire, had well-nigh lost all traces of western civilisation. It attests the energy of his character, that though already advanced in years, he now applied himself to the study of the language, and eventually mastered it'. The literary fame of Chrysoloras had preceded him; for Guarino of Verona had studied the Greek language for five years under his guidance at Constantinople, and he now drew the attention of his countrymen to the rare opportunity presented by the arrival of so illustrious a scholar. Eventually the services of Chrysoloras were secured by the university of Florence, and he soon found himself the centre of an enthusiastic circle of learners. His success in the field of labour to which he was thus unexpectedly summoned was as conspicuous as his efforts as an ambassador were fruitless. His eminence Most of those who had listened to Petrarch's famous pupil, John of Ravenna, at Ferrara, in his exposition of the Latin literature, now gathered with many others round the new teacher of Greek at Florence. For their use he compiled a Greek grammar, the Erotemata,-egregium libellum grammaticum, as Boerner justly terms it,-the same that afterwards served Reuchlin for a model at Orleans, that was used as a teacher of Greek. His Greek Voigt's language implies that Chrysoloras was already acquainted with Latin, but the statement of Julianus is explicit:-Nam cum jam grandis esset, nullius præceptoris auxilio nostras perdidicit literas, neque sibi oneri visum est, cum tot annis philosophie studiis vacasset, ad puerilia literarum elementa reverti.' Boerner, p. 31. See authorities quoted by Boerner, p. 21. Geiger, Johann Reucklin, 19, 20. Reuchlin himself compiled a Greek grammar, the puporabe.a, for his own scholars. This however was never deemed worthy of being printed, and as the title suggests contained probably the mercst elements, while the Erotemata went through many editions, and was par excellence the Greek grammar of the first century of the Renaissance. See Hallam, Literature of Europe, 15 101. According to Constantine Lascaris it suffered considerably from being often abridged by ignorant compilers, τὸ βιβλίον οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως τινὲς τῶν ἀμαθῶν συστεί λαντες διέφθειραν. Hody, p. 22. PART I by Linacre at Oxford and by Erasmus at Cambridge, and CHAP V. long continued to hold its ground against formidable rivals, Aretino has left on record the feelings with which he has tened to join the circle. He was at that time occupied in studying the civil law; but now,' he exclaimed to himself, it was in his power to gain a far higher knowledge, an acquaintance with Homer, Plato, and Demosthenes, with all those poets, philosophers, and orators, in short, of whom he had so often heard. Could he possibly let slip so glorious an opportunity? For seven hundred years no one in Italy had really understood the Greek language, though through that language well nigh all knowledge had been handed down to men. Of doctors of civil law there was plenty, of whom he might learn at any time, but of teachers of Greek this was the only one'.' Chrysoloras taught not only at Florence but also at Venice, Padua, Milan, and Rome; and from the last city he addressed to his relative, John Chrysoloras, that graceful letter wherein he describes the resemblance of the City of the Seven Hills to the City of the Golden Horn, and tells how, as he gazed from each surrounding eminence, he fancied himself again in his native city, until his eye was fain to seek out his own home with its cypresses and hanging garden'. In such useful but tranquil labours he would, it seems, o have been well content to pass the remainder of his days, had he not suddenly been called away to duties of a more arduous character. The closing scene in his career, though less directly relevant to the progress of letters, is deserving of careful study as affording a very apt illustration of the state of the political and religious world at that time. If wo may trust the account given by Julianus, the illustrious exile appears, in his latter years, to have ceased to hope for the country of his birth, and his aims and sympathies had begun to centre in the land that had afforded him so generous a reception, and seemed destined 1 Muratori Scriptores, xix 920; Hody, pp. 28- 30. Codinus, De Antiquitatibus Con stantinop., quoted by Boerner, p. 23. to so glorious a future'. Nameum Græcos nihil ant par literis suis animum advertere sentit, easque sensim sinistra rerum ac temporum varietate cătingui co ̧n secret, |