Footnotes
[1]Mr. Lupton’s volume (Bell and Daldy, 1869) has a double interest. Apart from the interest it derives from its connection with Colet, it is also interesting as placing, I believe, for the first time, before the English reader, a full abstract of two of the Pseudo-Dionysian writings, to which attention has recently been called by Mr. Westcott’s valuable article in theContemporary Review.
[2]To avoid any charge of plagiarism I may also state, that a portion of the materials comprised in this volume has been made use of in articles contributed by me to the North British Review, in the years 1859 and 1860.
[3]Where not otherwise stated, all references to these letters and to the collected works of Erasmus (Eras.Op.), refer to the Leyden edition.
[4]See note on the date of More’s birth inAppendix C.
[5]Of the First Edition. This has since been published by Mr. Lupton.
[6]In a letter written in the winter of 1499-1500, Colet is spoken of as ‘Jam triennium enarranti,’ &c. SeeErasmus to Colet, prefixed toDisputatio de Tædio et Pavore Christi, Eras.Op.v. p. 1264, A. Colet was in Paris, apparently on his way home from his continental tour, soon after the publication of the work of the French historian Gaguinus,De Orig. et Gest. Francorum. (See Eras. Epist. xi.) The first edition, according to Panzer and Brunet, of this work, was that ofParis. Prid. Kal. Oct. 1495. Colet may thus have returned home in the spring of 1496, and proceeded to Oxford after the long vacation. Erasmus states, ‘Reversus ex Italia, mox relictis parentum ædibus, Oxoniæ maluit agere. Illic publice et gratis Paulinas Epistolas omnes enarravit.’—Op.iii. p. 456, B.
[7]He was ordained deacon December 17, 1497. Knight’sLife of Colet, p. 22 (Lond. 1724), on the authority, doubtless, of Kennett, who refers toReg. Savage, Lond.
[8]Erasmus Jodoco Jonæ: Eras.Op.iii. p. 456, C. ‘In theologica professione nullum omnino gradum nec assequutus erat, nec ambierat.’
[9]‘The degree of Master in Arts conferred also, and this was practically its chief value, the right of lecturing, and therefore of receiving money for lectures, at Oxford.’—Monumenta Academica; Rev. II. Anstey’sIntroduction, p. lxxxix.
[10]One of the statutes decreed as follows:—‘Item statutum est, quod non liceat alicui præterquam Bachilaris Theologiæ, legere bibliam biblice.’—Ibid.p. 394. That the word ‘legere,’ in these statutes, means practically to ‘lecture,’ see Mr. Anstey’sIntroduction, p. lxxxix.
[11]It is possible also that Colet’s mode of lecturing did not come within the meaning of the technical phrase, ‘legere bibliambiblice,’ which is said to have meant ‘reading chapter by chapter, with the accustomed glosses, and such explanations as the reader could add.’—Observations on the Statutes of the University of Cambridge: by George Peacock, D.D., Dean of Ely. Lond. 1841, p. xlvi. n. See also Mr. Anstey’sIntroduction, p. lxxi, on the doubtful meaning of ‘legerecursorie.’
[12]See the remarkable letter of Bishop Grosseteste to the ‘Regents in Theology’ at Oxford—date 1240 or 1246—Roberti Grosseteste Epistolæ, pp. 346-7, of which the following is Mr. Luard’s summary:—‘Skilful builders are always careful that foundation stones should be really capable of supporting the building. The best time is the morning. Their lectures, therefore, especially in the morning, should be from the Old and New Testaments,in accordance with their ancient customand the example of Paris. Other lectures are more suitable at other times.’—P. cxxix.
[13]It would not be likely that statutes, framed in some points specially to guard against Lollard views, and probably early in the fifteenth century, should ignore the Scriptures altogether. Thus, before inception in theology, by Masters in Theology (see Mr. Anstey’sIntroduction, p. xciv), three years’ attendance on biblical lectures was required, and the inceptor must have lectured on some canonical book of the Bible (Monumenta Academica, p. 391), according to the statutes. They also contained the following provision:—‘Ne autem lecturæ variæ confundantur,et ut expeditiusin lectura bibliæ procedatur, statutum est, ut bibliam biblice seu cursorie legentes quæstiones non dicant nisi tantummodo literales.’—Ibid.p. 392. The regular course of theological training at Oxford may be further illustrated by the following passage from Tindale’s ‘Practice of Prelates.’ Tindale, when a youth, was at Oxford during a portion of the time that Colet was lecturing on St. Paul’s Epistles.
‘In the universities they have ordained that no man shall look on the Scripture until he be noselled in heathen learning eight or nine years, and armed with false principles with which he is clean shut out of the understanding of the Scripture.... And when he taketh his first degree, he is sworn that he shall hold none opinion condemned by the Church.... And then when they be admitted to study divinity, because the Scripture is locked up with such false expositions and with false principles of natural philosophy that they cannot enter in, they go about the outside and dispute all their lives about words and vain opinions, pertaining as much unto the healing of a man’s heel as health of his soul. Provided yet ... that none may preach except he be admitted of the Bishops.’—Practice of Prelates, p. 291. Parker Society.
What the biblical lectures were it is difficult to understand, for Erasmus wrote (Eras. Epist. cxlviii.): ‘Compertum est hactenus quosdam fuisse theologos, qui adeo nunquam legerant divinas literas, ut nec ipsos Sententiarum libros evolverent, neque quicquam omnino attingerent præter quæstionum gryphos.’—P. 130, C.
[14]Ellis’sLetters, 2nd series, vol. ii. pp. 61, 62. Letter of Richard Layton and his Associates to Lord Cromwell, upon his Visitation of the University of Oxford, Sept. 12, 1535.
[15]‘Provinciam sumsisti ... (ne quid mentiar) et negotii et invidiæ plenam.’—Eras. Coleto: Eras.Op.v. p. 1264, A.
[16]‘The Turks being in number five times more than we Christians.’ And again, ‘Which multitude is not the fifth part so many as they that consent to the law of Mahomet.’—Works of Tyndale and Frith, ii. pp. 55 and 74.
[17]See British Museum Library, under the head ‘Garcilaso,’ No. 1445,g23, being the draft of private instructions from Ferdinand and Isabella to the special English Ambassador, and headed, ‘Year 1498. The King and Queen concerning the correction of Alexander VI.’ The original Spanish MS. was in the hands of the late B. B. Wiffen, Esq., of Mount Pleasant, near Woburn, and an English translation of this important document was reprinted by him in the Life of Valdes, prefixed to a translation of hisCX Considerations. Lond. Quaritch, 1865, p. 24.
[18]Chap. v.
[19]Chap. vi.
[20]Chap. vii.
[21]Chap. viii.
[22]Chap. ix.
[23]Chap. x.
[24]Chap. xix.
[25]Chap. xx.
[26]Chap. xxii.
[27]Chap. xxiii.
[28]Chaps. xxiv. and xxv.
[29]Chaps. xxvi.-xxxiv.
[30]Chap. xxxvi.
[31]Chap. xxxvii.
[32]Villari, in his ‘Life and Times of Savonarola,’ book i. chap. iv., does not seem to me to give, by any means, a fair abstract of the ‘De Religione Christianâ,’ though his chapter on Ficino is valuable in other respects. I have used the edition of Paris, 1510.
[33]‘Chartism,’ chap. x. ‘Impossible.’
[34]Pauli Jovii Elogia Doctorum Virorum: Basileæ, 1556, p. 145. The period of the stay of Grocyn and Linacre in Italy was probably between 1485 and 1491. They therefore probably returned to England before the notorious Alexander VI. succeeded, in 1492, to Innocent VIII. See Johnson’sLife of Linacre, pp. 103-150. And Wood’sAthen. Oxon.vol. i. p. 30. AlsoHist. et Antiq. Univ. Oxon.ii. 134.
[35]Eras.Op.iii. p. 455, F.
[36]Erasmus Jodoco Jonæ:Op.iii. p. 455, F. Also Sir Henry Colet’s Epitaph, quoted in Knight’sLife of Colet, p. 7.
[37]‘Et libros Ciceronis avidissime devorarat et Platonis Plotinique libros non oscitanter excusserat.’—Eras.Op.iii. p. 456, A.
[38]Eras.Op.iii. p. 455, F. ‘Mater, quæ adhuc superest [in 1520], insigni probitate mulier, marito suo undecim filios peperit, ac totidem filias ..., sed ex omnibus ille [Colet] superfuit solus, cum illum nosse cœpissem’ [in 1498].
[39]See list of Colet’s preferments in theAppendix.
[40]‘Adiit Galliam, mox Italiam.’—Eras.Op.iii. p. 456, A.
[41]Eras.Op.iii. p. 459, A.
[42]Ibid.p. 456, B. The words of Erasmus are the following:—‘Ibi se totum evolvendis sacris auctoribus dedit, sed prius per omnium literarum genera magno studio peregrinatus, priscis illis potissimum delectabatur Dionysio, Origene, Cypriano, Ambrosio, Hieronymo. Atque inter veteres nulli erat iniquior quam Augustino. Neque tamen non legit Scotum, ac Thomam aliosque hujus farinæ, si quando locus postulabat. In utriusque juris libris erat non indiligenter versatus. Denique nullus erat liber historiam aut constitutiones continens majorum, quem ille non evolverat. Habet gens Britannica qui hoc præstiterunt apud suos, quod Dantes ac Petrarcha apud Italos. Et horum evolvendis scriptis linguam expolivit, jam tum se præparans ad præconium sermones Evangelici.’
[43]Savonarola’s first sermon in the Duomo at Florence was preached in 1491.—Villari, i. p. 122.
[44]See Villari, i. 232. Anno 1494.
[45]Lorenzo de’ Medici died in 1492; Pico and Politian in 1494. Colet left England early in 1494 probably, but as he visited France on his way to Italy, the exact time of his reaching Italy cannot be determined.
[46]The influence of Savonarola on the religious history of Pico was very remarkable.
In a sermon preached after Pico’s death, Savonarola said of Pico, ‘He was wont to be conversant with me, and to break with me the secrets of his heart, in which I perceived that he was by privy inspiration called of God unto religion:’ i.e. to become a monk. And he goes on to say that, fortwo years, he had threatened him with Divine judgment ‘if he fore-sloathed that purpose which our Lord had put in his mind.’—More’sEnglish Works, p. 9.
Pico died in November, 1494. The intimacy of which Savonarola speaks dated back therefore to 1492 or earlier.
According to the statement of his nephew, J. F. Pico, the change in Pico’s life was the result of the disappointment and the troubles consequent upon his ‘vainglorious disputations’ at Rome in 1486 (when Pico was twenty-three). By this he was ‘wakened,’ so that he ‘drew back his mind flowing in riot, and turned it to Christ!’ Pico waited a whole year in Rome after giving his challenge, and the disappointment and troubles were not of short duration. They may be said to have commenced perhaps after the year of waiting, i.e. in 1487, when he left Rome. He was present at the disputations at Reggio in 1487, and this does not look as though as yet he had altogether lost his love of fame and distinction. There he met Savonarola; and there that intimacy commenced which resulted in Savonarola’s return,at the suggestion of Pico, to Florence. (J. F. Pico’sVita Savonarolæ, chap. vi.; Harford’sLife of Michael Angelo, i. p. 128; and Villari, i. pp. 82, 83.) In 1490, as the result of his first studies of Holy Scripture, according to J. F. Pico (being twenty-eight), he published hisHeptaplus, which is full of his cabalistic and mystic lore, and betokens a mind still entangled in intellectual speculations rather than imbued with practical piety. He had, however, already burnt his early love songs, &c.; and it is evident the change had for some time been going on.
About the time when Savonarola commenced preaching in Florence, in 1491 (three years before his death, according to J. F. Pico), Pico disposed of his patrimony and dominions to his nephew, and distributed a large part of the produce amongst the poor, consulting Savonarola about its disposal (J. F. Pico’sLife of Savonarola, chap. xi. ‘De mira Hieronymi lenitate et amore paupertatis’), and appointing as his almonerGirolamo Benivieni, a devout and avowed believer in Savonarola’s prophetic gifts. This was doubtless the time when Pico was wont to break to Savonarola ‘the secrets of his heart;’ the time also to which J. F. Pico alludes when he speaks of him as ‘talking of the love of Christ;’ and adding, ‘the substance I have left, after certain books of mine finished, I intend to give out to poor folk, and fencing myself with the crucifix, barefoot, walking about the world, in every town and castle, I purpose to preach of Christ.’—Vide infra, p. 153. In 1492, a few weeks after Lorenzo’s death, he wrote three beautiful letters to his nephew (PiciOp.pp. 231-236. Vide infra, pp. 153-156)—letters as glowing with earnest Christian piety as theHeptapluswas overflowing with cabalistic subtleties. His religion now, at all events, had the true ring about it. It belonged to his heart, not his head only. Then follow the remaining two years of his life when Savonarola exerted his influence (but without success) to induce him to enter a religious order. On Sept. 21, 1494, he was present at Savonarola’s famous sermon, in which he predicted the calamities which were coming upon Italy and the approach of the French army, listening to which Pico himself said that he ‘was filled with horror, and that his hair stood on end’ (narrated by Savonarola in hisCompendium Revelationum); and lastly in November, as Charles entered Florence, Pico was peacefully dying. He was buried in the robes of Savonarola’s order and within the precincts of Savonarola’s church of St. Mark. In the light of Savonarola’s sermon, and the facts above stated, it can hardly be doubted that whilst, in one sense, brought about by the disappointment of his worldly ambitions, the change of life in Pico was at least,in measure, the result of his contact with the great Florentine reformer.
With regard to the history of Savonarola’s influence onFicino’sreligious character, the facts are not so easily traced. In early years he is said to have been more of a Pagan than a Christian. Before writing hisDe Religione Christianâ, he seems to have become fully persuaded of the truth of Christianity. The book itself shows this. And there is a letter of his (Ficini Op. i. p. 640, Basle ed.), written while he was composing it, during an illness, in which he says that the words of Christ give him more comfort than philosophy, and his vows paid to the Virgin more bodily good than medicine. He also says that his father, a doctor, was once warned in a dream, while sleeping under an oak tree, to go to a patient who was praying to the Virgin for aid.
But the religion of a man resting on dreams, and visions, and vows made to the Virgin, was not necessarily of a very deep and practical character. Superstition and philosophy were easily united without the heart taking fire. Schelhorn (in hisAmœnitates Literariæ, i. p. 73) quotes from Wharton’s appendix to Cave, the following statement, ‘Rei philosophicæ nimium deditus, religionis et pietatis curam posthabuisse dicitur, donec Savonarolæ Florentiam advenientis eloquentiam admiratus, concionibus ejus audiendis animum adjecit, dumque flosculis Rhetorices inhiavit, pietatis igniculos recepit: reliquamque dein vitam religionis officiis impendit.’ Wharton does not give his authority. Fleury (vol. xxiv. p. 363) makes a similar statement; also Brucker (Historia critica Philosophiæ, iv. p. 52); also Du Pin; also Harford in hisLife of Michael Angelo(i. p. 72) on the authority of Spondanus, who himself gives no contemporary authority. See also Mr. Lupton’sIntroductionto Colet’sCelestial and Ecclesiastical Hierarchies of Dionysius, where the subject is discussed. I am informed, through the kindness of Count P. Guicciardini, of Florence, that in Ficino’sApologia, which exists in the MSS.StrozianiofLibr. Magliabecchiana, class viii. cod. 315, he says of himself that ‘for five years he was one of the many who were deceived by the Hypocrite of Ferrara,’ whom he calls ‘Antichrist.’ The truth therefore seems to be that he was profoundly influenced by Savonarola’s enthusiasm, but only for a time.
[47]Ficino’s editions of his translations of the Dionysian treatises on the ‘Divine Names’ and the ‘Mystic Theology’ seem to have been published at Florence in 1492 and 1496.—FabriciiBibliotheca Græca, vii. pp. 10, 11.
[48]Herzog’sEncyclopædia, article on ‘Marsilius Ficinus.’
[49]Mr. Harford, in hisLife of Michael Angelo, vol. i. p. 57, mentions Colet, among others, as studying at Florence, and cites ‘Tiraboschi, vi. pt. 2, p. 382, edit. Roma, 4to. 1784.’ But I cannot find any mention of Colet in Tiraboschi, after careful search.
In opposition to the likelihood of his having been at Florence it may be asked, why Colet never alludes to it in his letters or elsewhere? In reply, it may be said that we have nothing of Colet’s own writing relating to his early life. All we know of it is derived from Erasmus, and the only allusion by Colet to his Italian journey which Erasmus has preserved is the passing remark that he (Colet) had there become acquainted with certainmonksof true wisdom and piety.—Eras.Op.iii. 459, A. ‘Narrans sese apud Italos comperisse quosdam monachos vere prudentes ac pios.’ Whether Savonarola’s monks were amongst these is a matter of mere speculation.
[50]See marginal note on his ‘Romans,’ in the Cambridge University Library, MS. Gg. 4, 26, leaf 3a, in which he refers to him—‘Hec Mirandula,’ and cites a passage from Pico’sApologia, Basle edition ofPici Opera, p. 117. There is also a long and almost literal extract from Pico in the MS. on the ‘Ecclesiastical Hierarchy,’ in the St. Paul’s School Library. See Mr. Lupton’s translation, p. 161.
[51]See an extract from Ficino in Colet’s MS. on ‘Romans,’ leaf 13b. Another is pointed out by Mr. Lupton, p. 36,n.
[52]‘Quem ego sermonem ab eo memini, qui colloquentes audiverat, jam tum patri meo renunciatum, cum adhuc nulla proditionis ejus suspicio haberetur.’—Thomæ Mori ‘Latina Opera,’ Lovanii, 1566, fol. 46. As to the authorship of the history of Richard III. see Mr. Gairdner’s preface toLetters of Richard III. and Henry VII.vol. ii. p. xxi. As More was born in February, 1478, there is no difficulty in accepting the authenticity of this incident, which, when 1480 was assumed as the date of More’s birth, seemed quite impossible, as More would only have been three years old when it occurred, and could not have remembered the conversation.
[53]Roper, Singer’s ed. p. 3. Morton was not made a cardinal till 1493.
[54]Roper, p. 4.
[55]Ibid.
[56]Colet probably left Oxford for the Continent about 1494. The most probable date of More’s stay at Oxford was 1492 and 1493. This leaves 1494 and 1495 for his studies at New Inn, previous to his entry at Lincoln’s Inn, in February, 1496.
[57]Eras.Op.iii. p. 477, A. Speaking of More, Erasmus writes: ‘Joannes Coletus, vir acris exactique judicii, in familiaribus colloquiis subinde dicere solet, Britanniæ non nisi unicum esse ingenium.’
[58]Stapleton’sTres Thomæ, Colon. 1612 ed. chap. i. pp. 155-6. ‘Hanc ob causam sic ei necessaria subministravit ut ne quidem teruncium in sua potestate eum habere permitteret, præter id quod ipsa necessitas postulabat. Quod adeò strictè observavit, ut nec ad reficiendos attritos calceos, nisi à patre peteret, pecuniam haberet.’ See also Eras.Op.iii. p. 475, A, respecting his father’s motive.
[59]Stapleton’sTres Thomæ, Colon. 1612, p. 156.
[60]‘Juvenis ad Græcas literas ac philosophiæ studium sese applicuit adeo non opitulante patre ... ut ea conantem omni subsidio destitueret ac pene pro abdicato haberet, quod a patriis studiis desciscere videretur, nam is Britannicarum legum peritiam profitetur.’—Eras.Op.iii. p. 475, A.
[61]‘Sic voluit pater qui eum ad Græcarum literarum et philosophiæ studium omni subsidio destituit, ut ad istud (i.e. English Law) induceret.’—Stapleton’sTres Thomæ, p. 168.
[62]XII. February,—11 Henry VII. Foss’sJudges of England, v. p. 207.
[63]Vide supra, p. 1,n.
[64]Eras.Op.iii. p. 456, B. ‘Nullus erat liber,historiamaut constitutiones continens majorum, quod non evolverat.’
[65]Eras. Epist. App. ccccxxxvii.
[66]Eras. Epist. xi.
[67]‘Ut tribuatur lapsui memoriæ in evangelista gravatim audio. Qui si spiritu sancto inspiratus scripsit, memoria falli non potuit, nisi et ille etiam falli potuerit, quo ductore scripsit. Dicit mihi Ezechiel: Quocunque ibat spiritus, illuc pariter et rotæ elevabantur sequentes eum.’—Annotationes Ed. Leei in annotationes Novi Testamenti Desiderii Erasmi.Basil. 1520, pp. 25, 26. Lee studied at Oxford during a portion of the time of Colet’s residence there. Knight states that he was sent to St. Mary Magd. College (the college where Colet is supposed to have taken his degree of M.A.) in 1499.—Knight’s Erasmus, p. 286.
[68]‘Quod dicis (non est nostrum definire, quomodo spiritus ille suum temperârit organum) verum quidem est, sed spiritus ipse in Ezechiele definivit: Rotæ non elevabantur nisi sequentes spiritum.’—Annotationes Edvardi Leei, p. 26.
[69]Aquinas,Summa, pt. 1, quest. i. article x.
[70]Tyndale’sObedience of a Christian Man, chap. ‘On the Four Senses of the Scriptures.’
[71]Preface to the Five Books of Moses.
[72]Tyndale’sObedience of a Christian Man, chap. ‘On the Four Senses of Scripture.’ That Tyndale was at Oxford during Colet’s stay there (i.e. before 1506), see the evidence given by his biographers. It appears that he was born about 1484. Fox says ‘he was brought up from a child in the University of Oxford,’ and there is no reason to suppose that he removed to Cambridge before 1509. See Tyndale’sDoctrinal Treatises, xiv. xv. and authorities there cited.
[73]Sir Thomas More in a letter to the University of Oxford (Jortin’sErasmus, ii. App. p. 664, 4to ed.) complains of a Scotist preacher because ‘neque integrum ullum Scripturæ caput tractavit, quæ res in usu fuit veteribus[this was the old method revived by Colet]; neque dictum aliquod brevius e Sacris literis, qui mos apud nuperos inolevit [the scholastic method]; sed thematum loco delegit Britannica quædam anilia proverbia.’ [The practical result of the textarian method when pushed to its ultimate results.]
[74]Eras. Jodoco Jonæ: Eras.Op.iii. p. 456, C. ‘Nullus erat illic doctor vel theologiæ vel juris, nullus abbas, aut alioqui dignitate præditus, quin illum audiret, etiam allatis codicibus.’
[75]Eras. Coleto: Eras.Op.iii. p. 40, F. Epist. xli.
[76]‘Tamen certe multum ac diu rogatus a quibusdam amicis, et eisdem interpretantibus nobis Paulum fidis auditoribus, quibuscum pro amicicia quod in superiorem epistolæ partem scriptum est a nobis communicavi, adductus fui tandem ut promitterem, quod est ceptum modo me perrecturum, et in reliquam epistolam quod reliquum est enarrationis adhibiturum.’—Cambridge University Library MS. Gg. 4, 26, fol. 27b.
[77]A copy of Colet’s exposition of ‘Romans,’ with corrections apparently in Colet’s handwriting, is in the Cambridge University Library; MS. Gg. 4, 26. A fair copy, apparently by Peter Meghen, is in the Library of Corpus Christi College Cambridge, MS. No. 355.
Amongst the ‘Gale MSS.’ in Trinity Library, Cambridge, is a MS. (O. 4, 44) said to be Colet’s, containing short notes or abstracts of the Apostolic Epistles. Through the kindness of Mr. Wright I had a copy taken of this MS., but on close comparison of passages with theAnnotationesof Erasmus, I was obliged to conclude that the writer had before him an edition of the latter not earlier than that of 1522. This MS. cannot, therefore, have been written by Colet. Possibly it may have been written by Lupset, Colet’s disciple. The copy in the Trinity Library is in a later hand.
[78]This appears to have been the character also of the Expositions of Marsilio Ficino. See Fragment on ‘Romans.’—FiciniOpera, ed. 1696, pp. 426-472.
[79]Thenamesof Origen, Jerome, Chrysostom, and Augustine are mentioned, but incidentally, and without any quotations of any length being given from them.
[80]‘—est ex vehementia loquendi imperfecta et suspensa sententia.’—MSS. Gg. 4, 26, fol. 23,in loco. Rom. ix. 22.
[81]‘Ita Paulus mira prudentia et arte temperat orationem suam in hac epistola, et eam quasi librat tam pari lance, et Judeos et Gentes simul, etc.’—Ibid. fol. 26.
[82]MSS. Gg. 4, 26, fols. 59b, 61a.
[83]Ibid. fol. 60. ‘Sed ille homo magno animo, fide, et amore Christi, fuit paratus non solum ligari,’ &c.
[84]Ibid. fols. 42-45 (in loco, Rom. xiii.). In these pages Colet compares with great care the information to be collected from passages in the Epistle to the Romans and in the Acts of the Apostles with what is recorded by Suetonius, and admires St. Paul’s ‘sapientissima admonitio opportune sane adhibita.’—Ibid. fols. 42band 43a. Again, at fol. 44a, Colet says, ‘Hæc autem refero ut magna Pauli consideratio et prudentia animadvertatur; qui cum non ignoravit Claudium Cesarem tenuisse rempublicam, qui fuit homo vario ingenio et improbis moribus, &c.’...
[85]In his exposition of Romans (chap. iv.) he says:—‘Sed caute circumspicienda sunt omnia Pauli, antequam de ejus mente aliqua feratur sentencia. Nunquam enim censuisset revocandum ad ecclesiam fornicatorem illum, quem tradidit Sathanæ in prima Epistola ad Corinthios, si peccatoribus post baptismum nullum penitendi locum reliquisset.’—Ibid. fol. 6b.
[86]It would be difficult in short quotations to give a correct impression of the doctrinal standpoint assumed by Colet in his exposition of the Epistle to the Romans. But it may be interesting to enquire, whether any connection can be traced between his views and those of Savonarola, on this point.
NowVillaristates that a ‘fundamental point’ in Savonarola’s doctrine was his ‘conception of love, which he sometimes says is thesame as grace,’ and that it was through this conception of love that Savonarola, ‘to a certain extent,’ explained the ‘mystery of human liberty and Divine omnipotence.’—Villari’sSavonarola and his Times, bk. i. c. vii. p. 110.
Whether there be any real connection between Savonarola’s teaching and the following passages from Colet’s exposition, I leave the reader to judge.
‘Wherefore St. Paul concludes, men are justified by faith, and trusting in God alone by Jesus Christ, are reconciled to God and restored into grace; so that with God they stand, and remain themselves sons of God.... If He loved us when alienated from Him, how much more will He love us when we are reconciled; and preserve those whom He loves. Wherefore we ought to be firm and stable in our hope and joy, and, nothing doubting, trust in God through Jesus Christ, by whom alone men are reconciled to God.’—MS. fol. 5. After speaking of thatgracewhich where sin had abounded did much more abound unto eternal life, Colet proceeds:—‘But here it is to be noted that thisgraceis nothing else than theloveof God towards men—towards those, i.e. whom He wills to love, and, in loving, to inspire with His Holy Spirit; which itself is love and the love of God; which (as the Saviour said, according to St. John’s Gospel)blows where it lists. But, loved and inspired by God, they are alsocalled; so that accepting this love, they may love in return their loving God, and long for and wait for the same love. This waiting and hope springs fromlove.This love truly is ours because He loves us: not (as St. John writes in his 2nd Epistle) as though we had first loved God, but because He first loved us, even when we were worthy of no love at all; but indeed impious and wicked, destined by right to eternal death. But some, i.e. those whom He knew and chose, He also loved, and in loving called them, and in calling them justified them, and in justifying them glorified them. This gracious love and charity in God towards men isin itselfthe calling and justification and glorification.... And when we speak of men as drawn, called, justified, and glorified bygrace, we mean nothing else than that menlove in return God who loves them.’—MS. Gg. 4, 26, fol. 6.
Again: ‘Thus you see that things are brought about by a providing and directing God, and that they happen as He wills in the affairs of men, not from any force from without (illata)—since nothing is more remote from force than the Divine action—but by the natural desire and will of man, the Divine will and providence secretly and silently, and, as it were, naturally accompanying (comitante) it, and going along with it so wonderfully, that whatever you do and choose was known by God, and what God knew and decreed to be, of necessity comes to pass.’—MS. fol. 18.
The following passage is from Colet’s exposition of the Epistle to the Corinthians (MS. 4, 26, p. 80). ‘The mind of man consists ofintellectandwill. By theintellectwe know: by thewillwe have power to act (possumus). From the knowledge of the intellect comes faith: from the power of the will charity. But Christ, the power of God, is also the wisdom of God. Our minds are illuminated to faith by Christ, “who illumines every man coming into this world, and He gives power to become the sons of God to those who believe in His name.” By Christ also our wills are kindled in charity to love God and our neighbour; in which is the fulfilment of the law. From God alone therefore, through Christ, we have both knowledge and power; for by Him we are in Christ. Men, however, have in themselves a blind intellect, and a depraved will, and walk in darkness, not knowing what they do.... Those who by the warm rays of his divinity are so drawn that they keep close in communion with Him, are indeed they whom Paul speaks of as called and elected to His glory,’ &c.
For the Latin of these extracts seeAppendix (A).
In further proof that Colet’s views (like Savonarola’s) were not Augustinian upon the question of the ‘freedom of the will,’ may be cited the following words of Colet (seeinfra, chap, iv.): ‘But in especial is it necessary for thee to know that God of his great grace hath made thee his image, having regard to thy memory, understanding, andfree-will.’ Probably both Colet and Savonarola, in common with other mystic theologians, had imbibed their views directly or indirectly from the works of the Pseudo-Dionysius and the Neo-Platonists.
[87]‘Ex quodam nostro studio et pietate in homines ... non tam verentes legentium fastidium, quam cupientes confirmacionem infirmorum et vacillantium.’—Fol. 22b.
[88]MS. Gg. 4, 26, fols. 13bto 15a.
[89]Ibid. fol. 3b.
[90]Ibid. fols. 28band 29.
[91]Ibid. fol. 29.
[92]MS. Gg. 4, 26, fol. 30b.
[93]Ibid. fol. 59b. ‘Elicienda est dulci doctrina prompta voluntas non acerba exaccione extorquenda pecunia nomine decimarum et oblacionum.’
[94]Ibid. fol. 60a.
[95]See particularly fol. 27 and 61b.
[96]MS. Gg. 4, 26, fol. 3a.
[97]Ibid. fol. 7b.
[98]Ibid. fol. 15b.Ioannes Baptista Mantuanus, general of the Carmelites, an admirer of Pico.—See PiciOpera, p. 262.
[99]‘Ibi se totum evolvendis sacris auctoribus dedit.’—Eras.Op.iii. p. 456 B.
[100]‘... conatique sumus quoad potuimus divina gratia adjuti veros illius sensus exprimere. Quod quam fecimus haud scimus sane, voluntatem tamen habuimus maximam faciendi.’—ffinis argumenti in Epistolam Pauli ad Romanos.Oxonie.
[101]Cambridge University Library, MSS. Gg. 4, 26, p. 62,et seq., and printed in Knight’sLife of Colet, App. p. 311.
[102]In the volume of manuscripts marked 355.
[103]‘In quibus mihi videtur tanta caligo ut totus ille sermo contentus in ipsis tribus capitulis appareat esse ille abyssus super cujus faciem dicit Moises tenebras fuisse.’
[104]‘Non me latet plures esse sensus, sed unum persequar cursim.’
[105]‘... universa simul creasse sua eternitate.’
[106]‘In principio (i.e. eternitate) creavit Deus cœlum (formam) et terram (materiam).’
[107]‘... inanis et vacua.’
[108]‘Terra (materia) erat inanis et vacua (hoc est sine solida et substantiali entitate) et tenebræ, &c. (i.e. tenebrosa fuit materia, &c.).’
[109]‘Vide quam bellè pergit ordine, significans summariam creacionem copulationemque formæ cum materia.’
[110]‘... forma et terminacio rerum.’
[111]‘Quæ sequuntur in Moyse est repetitio et latior explicacio superiorum, acspeciatimdistinctio earum rerum quas primumgeneratimcomplexus est. Tu aliud si sentis fac nos te queso participes. Vale.’
[112]... ‘Particulatim res aggreditur, et mundi digestionem ante oculos ponit, quod sic facitmeo judicio, ut sensus vulgi et rudis multitudinis quam docuit racionem habuisse videatur.’
[113]See quotation from Chrysostom to a similar effect:Summa, prima pars, lxvii. art. iv. conclusio. After speaking of the views of Augustine and Basil, Aquinas says:—
‘Chrysostomus (Homil. 2 in Gen. circa medium illius tom. i.) autem assignat aliam rationem quia Moyses loquebatur rudi populo qui nihil nisi corporalia poterat capere, quem etiam ab idololatria revocare volebat,’ &c.
[114]‘... Et hoc more poetæ alicujus popularis, quo magis consulat spiritui simplicis rusticitatis, fingens successionem rerum operum et temporum cujusmodi apud tantum Opificem certè nulla esse potest.’
[115]‘Crassiter et pingue docenda fuit stulta illa et macra multitudo.’
[116]‘(1) Moysen digna Deo loqui voluisse. (2) In rebus vulgo cognitis vulgo satisfacere. (3) Ordinem rerum servare. In primis populum ad religionem et cultum unius Dei traducere.’
[117]‘Partim quia sex numero facile in rebus homini in mentem venire possunt.’
[118]‘Maxime ... ut imitacio divina (quem, more poetæ, finxit sex dies operatum esse, septimo quievisse) populum septimo quoque die ad quietem et contemplacionem Dei et cultum adduceret.’
[119]‘Nunquam dierum numerum statuisset, nisi ut illo utilissimo et sapientissimo figmento, quasi quodam proposito exemplari populum ad imitandum provocaret, ut sexto quoque die diurnis actibus fine imposito, septimo in summa Dei contemplatione persisterent.’
[120]‘Salve Radulphe, ac cum salute puto te rediisse quod tibi opto. Quatuor ut arbitror dies transiisti: ego interea vix unum Moysaicum diem transii. Immo tu elaborâsti in die sub sole; ego hoc tempore in nocte et tenebris vagatus sum, nec vidi quo eundum esset: nec quo perveni intelligo. Sed incepto pergendum erat, ac tandem inveni exitum ut poteram. In quo difficili errore, videor mihi apud Moysen magnum errorem deprehendisse. Nam quum cujusque diei opus concluserat hiis verbis,Et factum est vespere et mane dies unus, secundus, tercius, non addidisset dies sednoxpociusuna,secunda, ettercia, propterea quod inchoante vespere deinde mane sequente, est necesse quod intercedat inter antecedens vesper et subsequens mane nox sit. Dies enim incipit mane, vesperi terminatur. Sed maxime profecto quæ Moyses scribens in dies distinxerat, noctes appellâsset magis, propterea quod offuse sint tantis tenebris ut nihil possit nocti videri similius quam dies Moysaicus. Quas nocturnas tenebras cum opinione aliqua lucis conati sumus discutere, fortasse nos quoque tenebrosi tenebras auximus, noctesque produximus. Attamen prestat nos recte facere voluisse, ac quicquid est quod egimus, si tibi obscurum videatur infunde tum aliquid luminis tui, ut et nos videas, utque nos eciam simul tecum Moysen videre possimus.’
[121]‘More boni piique poetæ.’
[122]‘Homunculorum cordi consuleret.’
[123]... ‘A sua sublimitate degenerent.’
[124]‘Honestissimo et piissimo figmento simul inescare et trahere eos ut Deo inserviant.’
[125]For the above abstracts of these interesting letters I am mainly indebted to the kind assistance of my friend Henry Bradshaw, Esq., of King’s College, Cambridge, who has also furnished me with the following description of the manuscript.