These various testimonies are all derived from learned and trustworthy men, all of whom, with the exception of one, were personally acciuainted with Thomas a Kenijiis, or with persons who lived with him. They are, more- over, given with a simplicity which shows that they did not consider the question as one at all likely to give rise to controversy. They appear so conclusive that it is hardly necessary to mention other writers of the 15th century who testified to tlie same effect. Trithemius (De tScript. Ercles. c. 707) informs us that in his day Kempis was universally considered as the autlior of the Imitiitinn ; and though after 1441 some MSS. and sul)se- qnently some editions bore the name of Jolm Gerson, everj' time the question as to the authorship arose in the 15th century it was decided in favor of Kempis. Thus Peter Schott, canon regular of Strasburg, in the pref- ace to his edition of the works of John (ierson in 1488, says: "Some treatises are attributed to John (Jerson, though well known to have been written by other par-
KEMPIS
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KEMPIS
ties ; such, for instance, is the work De Conlemptu Mim- di, which i.s proved to have heen written by a canon rei^ular called Thomas h Kempis." The publisher of the French translation of the Imitation (Paris. 1493) ex- pressly states thr.t Thomas ;i Kempis was the author. The publisher of the Nuremberg edition, 1494, does the same. Finally, Francis of Tholen, successor of Thomas as subprior of Mount St. Agnes, gives the IMS. copies of the Iiiii/ation in Thomas's own handwriting as a proof against Gerson.
B. Indirect Proofs from the various MSS. and Edi- tions.— The oldest MS. of the Imitation we now possess is that known as Kirchheim's (in the Bourgogne Li- brary, Brussels, as No. 15,137); it contains only the first tlirce books. At the bottom of the first page is a note saying, " Be it remarked that this treatise is the work of a pious and learned man, master Thomas of jMount St. Agnes, and canon regular of Utrecht, called Thomas a Kempis. It was copied from the author's autograph in the diocese of Utrecht in the year 1425, in the cen- tral house of the province." Another IMS. of the same period was discovered in 1852 [by bishop MUller, of Minister], in the gymnasium of Gadesd'onk, near Goch : it contains the first four books of the Imitation: the first he copied in 1425, and the last in 1427. It does not give the name of the author, but a very significant fact is that it belonged originally to the Canons Kegular of Bethlehem, near Dottingheim, in the neighborhood of IVIount St. Agnes. Among the other MSS. we notice, in the first place, that belonging to the Jesuits of Anvers, which played an important part in the controversy re- specting the authorship. It is now in the Bourgogne Library, Brussels, as No. 6855-5861. It is all in Thom- as's own handwriting, and, besides the first four books of the Imitation, it contains some other treatises of Kem- pis. It closes with these words : " Finitus et completus Anno Domini 1441 per manus fratris Thomre Kempen- sis in Monte S. Agnetis prope Zwollas." Some have considered this as a proof that he only copied it, for he used the same formula concerning the copies of the missal and Bible which he wrote in 1417 and 1438; but it has been ascertained that he used it also in all copies of his own original works. The Bourgogne Library, Brussels, preserves as No. 4585-4587 a MS. of Thomas fi Kempis containing a collection of his essays, and which ends as follows: "Anno 1446 finitus et scriptus per manus fratris Thomaj Campensis," without otherwise naming Thomas as the author. This formula, there- fore, proves nothing either for or against the claims of Kempis. But it is worthy of notice that the authorship of the ascetic treatises contained in the Anvers MS. af- ter the four books of the Imitation has always been unanimously ascribed to Kempis, and he would certain- ly not have put at the head of them the work of anoth- er which he had merely copied, or he would be open to the charge of deception. There are other MSS., dated 1441, 1442, 1445, 1447, and 1451, as also seven between 1463 and 148S, which name Kempis as the author of the Imitation. Among the many MSS. of the 15th cen- tury which bear no precise date, but testify to this au- thorship, we shall mention only that of Dalhem, copied by a priest who said a mass for Kempis two months af- ter the latter's death, and that of the canons of St. Mar- tin of Louvain, which they received in 1570 from the last remaining members of the congregation of Motmt St. Agnes. It is in Kempis's own handwriting, and con- tains the first draft of the fourth book of the Imitation — the first he prepared in composing the work. Among the many editions of the Imitation published in the 15th century, twenty-three at least consider Kemjiis as the author; and among these we find the oldest of all, published by Zainer (Augsb. 1468-1472).
C. Proofs drawn froln the Doctrines held and the Expressions used in the Imitation. — The ]irinciples ad- vanced in the Imitation are in perfect accordance with those held by the founders of the congregation of the Brethren of the Common Life, (icTha.T(\ Groot,' Floren-