1845.] Foundation of Schools in Holland. 207 voluntary principle was preferred to authority. With the common property thus brought together, and with the donations of the rich, the houses, or separate establishments of the society were erected, in which a particular number of members resided, subject to a certain order in dress, food and mode of life, not separated, however, from the world in a monastic manner, but maintaining a constant intercourse with it, and enjoying a general freedom in striking contrast with the principle of obedience to authority, which prevailed in the cloisters. The leading object of the union was to produce, exemplify and promote a practical Christian life. This object they endeavored first to attain among themselves by their social order, manner of life, intercourse and Christian character, which they sought to perfect by religious fellowship and sympathy, by mutual confession and admonition, and by public instruction and worship. They exerted an influence upon society by copying and circulating the Scriptures and other religious books, by giving religious instruction to the people, and especially by reviving and improving the education of the young. In this last respect they formed an era in the history of general culture. Schools had, indeed, been previously established in the principal cities of Holland; at Gravesande in 1322; at Leyden in 1324; in Rotterdam in 1328; in Schiedam in 1336; in Delft in 1342; in Hoorn in 1358; in Haarlem in 1389; and in Alkmaar in 1390. But these schools were not purely literary in their objects; they were rather mercantile speculations. The right to establish schools was farmed by the cities, a circumstance which rendered the charge for tuition so high that none but the wealthy could enjoy their advantages. Besides this, their literary character was very indifferent. The instruction given by the monks in the cloister schools was no better; it was too much limited to mechanical forms; and being imparted by uncultivated and superstitious teachers, it often stood directly in the way of intellectual culture. The Brethren of the Life in Common, on the contrary, taught gratuitously often, and thereby rendered instruction in reading and writing accessible to all, to the rich and the poor alike; and, what is more important, they imparted new life, and a more genuine and elevated character to school instruction. The age of Gerard was not, strictly speaking, an age of ignorance; but it was prolific in false, abstruse and useless speculations. It was therefore a great merit to do anything which should withdraw the minds of men from those unprofitable pursuits. As in the time of Socrates there existed a necessity for bringing contemplative men back to themselves and philosophy from heaven to earth, so among the contemporaries of Gerard nothing was more necessary than that some one should arise to open to the philosophic spirit of the age a new channel, that of a modest, sound and practical wisdom. From this point of view must the efforts of Gerard and his disciples be contemplated in order justly to estimate the limited compass of their studies. It is certainly a defect in a system of education to exclude geometry, arithmetic, rhetoric, logic, grammar and lyric poetry. But such an omission appears in a more favorable light, when it is recollected that he was seeking the cure of a particular disease which infected the public mind, that he proceeded on the fundamental principle that "everything is injurious, which does not either promote virtue or reclaim from vice." Hence, agreeably to this strict rule of utility, many studies in themselves liberal, and, for us of the present age, necessary, were regarded by him as needlessly consuming time, because they were not directly of a moral or religious tendency. Whatever tended merely to make a show, or to nourish and strengthen the passions was discouraged. To this class belonged the disputatious arts of the dialectitian, the ambitious seeking for academic honors, the pursuit of those studies which held out the promise of great distinction and emolument, and, finally, useless and pretended mystic sciences such as astrology and magic. The Bible was made the foundation of the new system of education, to which were added select portions of the Christian fathers and the most useful of the pagan moralists. These works were selected with special reference to promoting self-knowledge morality and true piety. "The Gospels," said Gerard, "are to be the root and mirror of thy studies, because they contain the life of Christ; then the lives and the pious sayings of the Fathers (of which Gerard himself, at the request of his friends, had made several collections); next the epistles of Paul and the Acts of the Apostles; and lastly the devotional works of Bernard, Anselm, Augustin and others." The writings of Solomon were placed after those already mentioned. From the order of study here laid down by Gerard, we learn that Christian productions took the precedence of pagan, and the animated, and stimulating form of instruction The writings most studied were the Bible, particularly the Gospels, the Meditationes of St. Bernard, the Monologium of Anselm of Canterbury, extracts from Eusebius, Cyril and Chrysostom of the Greek Fathers; Augustine and Beda of the Latin; and of the classical authors, Plato, Seneca and Virgil. 1845.] Education and Public Life of Groot. 209 that of the doctrinal and the preceptive. The life of Christ is placed at the head, and the biographies of the saints are, for psychological reasons, made to precede the writings of Paul. By this limited, but energetic system of moral training, in which a living germ of practical wisdom and piety is first of all planted in the soul a new era was introduced in popular education; and soon in Holland, Gelders, Brabant, Friesland, Westphalia and even in Saxony Houses of the Brethren were established and their salutary influence widely felt. Gerard did not set himself in opposition either to the scholastic theology or to the papacy. His friend and patron, William of Salvarvilla, could write to the pope, " Gerard is thoroughly orthodox, zealous for the unity of the church, and a powerful opponent of the heretics." He himself said to his bishop, "always and everywhere I humbly submit myself to the authority of the holy Roman church." He was strict in observing all the ordinances of the ecclesiastical power. But in spite of all this, in the very bosom of the scholastic theology and of the hierarchy, he prepared the way by a noiseless activity, for throwing off the shackles of both. The germs of a reformnation were contained in his principles. By conceiving of the church and the priesthood in such a spiritual way, he was led to seek them in their purity, and vitality, and to attempt to give them a character worthy of their origin. He insisted with great earnestness on the use of the Scriptures, and on their wide circulation. He was a close biblical student himself and always urged others to become such. Christ as represented in the Gospels, he incessantly set forth as the foundation of the church and of the Christian life. The primitive, apostolical church was always present to his mind as a model. There he found a pure piety and a glowing zeal such as was not to be found in his own age. According to that primitive pattern, therefore, if not in all things, certainly in all the more essential, he desired to see the church remodeled. He was especially concerned for the restoration of the priesthood to a spiritual character, and contended carnestly against its prevailing corruption. The priest, he maintained, should not strive for ecclesiastical or literary honors; but should aim at humility, at a victory over all selfishness and a life pleasing to God alone. Gerard had also intended to establish a cloister for regular canons for the purpose of exhibiting a higher and purer model of Christian life, but death prevented him. He died as he had lived. The plague then raging in Deventer had seized one of his friends. As Gerard possessed some medical knowledge, he hastened to the relief of the sufferer and caught the infection. He was not in the least terrified, but said with composure," Behold, the Lord calls me away, the moment of my departure is at hand; Augustin and Bernard are knocking at the door." To his younger brethren who gathered weeping around his bed, he addressed these, his last words: "Trust in God, my dear friends, and be not afraid of the men of the world. Be firm; for man cannot frustrate what God has determined to accomplish.-Florentius, my beloved disciple, on whom the spirit of the Lord rests, will be your father and rector. Listen to him as you have done to me; for I know not any one whom I can so well trust, whom you can so safely love and honor as being your father." Thus he fell asleep in his native city, on the 20th of August 1384 at the age of 44. He was buried, amid the universal lamentations of the people, in St. Mary's, the church in which his living voice had so often resounded. Among the productions of Gerard none are more interesting to us than his moral sayings recorded by his biographer, Thomas à Kempis. These furnish conclusive evidence that Gerard constitutes an important link in the succession of the mystical school of piety. Himself excited and influenced by Ruysbroek, he transmitted the same spirit through his favorite disciple, Florentius, and he, in turn, communicated it to Thomas à Kempis. The latter had never seen Gerard; for he could not have been more than four years old, when Gerard died; but no one can fail to recognize, in the moral sayings already referred to, the school from which the Imitation of Christ proceeded. Every one who examines the writings of that circle of men, must perceive that Thomas à Kempis is only one member in the series, that he was form、ed and attained to the most perfect maturity under the traditionary influence, which descended from Ruysbroek and Gerard Groot. Florentius Radewin, and the more perfect development of the system under him. The individuals, who succeeded Gerard either as heads of the institution or as chief centres of influence, followed the direction which he had given, improving the system and enlarging the sphere of its operations and thereby giving it increasing importance. The immediate successor of Groot was Florentius Radewin, the 1845.] Life and Character of Florentius Radewin. 211 second pillar of the Life in Common, and, as it respects the perfection of the system, a more important individual than Gerard himself. Florentius was born about the year 1350, and was the son of a respectable and wealthy citizen of Leerdam, in the south of Holland. He was educated at the university of Prague, then very flourishing and much frequented by the young men of the Low Countries. On his return home, he heard the discourses of Gerard, who happened at that very time to be on one of his preaching excursions through the diocese of Utrecht. He was deeply impressed and permanently affected by the remarkable spirit of piety which pervaded those discourses. Soon he became personally connected with Gerard, and finally the warmest friendship was contracted between them. Being of an active and energetic character, he eagerly sought to communicate to others the fire which glowed in his own bosom. He therefore gathered around him a circle of studious young men, who were inclined to devote themselves entirely to a simple, pious, and apostolical life, and, without any formal promise of obedience, to adopt him as their guide. Florentius renounced his place as canon in Utrecht, and went to Deventer, where, in accordance with Gerard's wishes, he was ordained as priest. He was the first of the fraternity who received such ordination. Gerard said on that occasion, " Only this once have I procured ordination for any one, and he, I hope, will prove a worthy priest." Florentius was less learned than Gerard; and never indulged in subtile speculations which hold no connection with personal piety. But he had all the qualities of a practical man,—an untiring activity, great tact in controlling men, and unusual affability, and, at the same time, a character that inspired awe. One of his friends said of him, "There is no man whom I so much love and at the same time so much fear as Florentius." When he felt constrained to give reproof, no one resisted or apologized for himself. In the severities of a religious life he equalled and even exceeded Gerard. He despised all adulation. As he one day received a letter full of commendation, he threw it down with these words, "Has the man nothing else to write about? If not, it were better to be silent." No employment was too mean for him, not even the duties of the kitchen, to which, according to the example set by Gerard, all the brethren attended in turn. His care for the poor and the suffering was incessant; he often sent them food from his own table, and even gave away the delicacies which he had re |
