tius Radewins, and John van Heusden. It may even be considered only as a commentary or exposition of their doctrines. In judging it thus, criticism, how- ever, does not detract from the value of this mas- terpiece of the second half of the fourteenth century. Buschius said of its author, "Veriis his novissimis teni- poribus hujus nostraj terrre apostolus, primus hujus nos- tra3 reformationis et totius modernaj devotionis origo."' The word d^rotio came to be used to designate the kind of piety Groot sought to develop among his disciples, and the latter took the name of devoti. Now, in the Imitation we find some ten passages where the expres- sion devotus is used to designate a particular class of per- sons who applied themselves zealously and ceaselessly to the practice of religious exercises, and to which the author himself belonged. Some eleven other passages, and a whole chapter even, show, moreover, that the book was written for a religious community of wliich the au- thor was also a member, a fact quite incompatible with the opinion which considers Gerson as the autlior. We can quote here only three of the most conclusive pas- sages: "SiT'pe sentimus, ut meliores et puriores in initio conversionis nos fuisse inveniamus, quam post multos annos professionis" (lib. i, ch. 11). "O quantus fervor omnium rcligiosorum in principiis suas sanctre institu- tionis! . . . O temporis et negligentioe status nostri, quod tam cito declinamus a pristino fervore" (lib. i, ch. 18). "Suscepi, suscepi de manu tua crucem; por- tabo et portabo eam ustpie ad mortem, sicut impo- suisti mihi. Yere vita boni monachi crux est ; sed dux paradisi. Eia fratres, pergamus simul ; Jesus erit nobiscum. Propter Jesum suscepimus banc crucem ; propter Jesum perseveremus in cruce" (lib. iii, ch. 56). Another and strong proof in favor of Kempis is the fact that the principles advanced in those of his trea- tises the authorship of which has not been contested are precisely the same as are advocated in the Imi- tation. More than twenty chapters in these various treatises have almost the identical headings of some of the Imitation. Some have accounted for this on the ground of his familiarity with De Imita'ione by copy- ing; but this theory falls to the ground when we con- sider that in all his other treatises, more than forty in number, he nowhere refers to or quotes the Imitation, which he woukl not have failed to do if it were the pro- duction of some other writer. Next to the general re- semblance of these productions with regard to their ten- or and tone, we must notice their similarity of style. The Imitation consists wholly of a series of sejiai-ate maxims, pious reflections, advice, axioms, without any special connection of the several parlv?. A number of MS. copies bore the title Liber sententiarum de Imita- iione Chrisli, or A dmonitiones ad spiritualiu trahentes. But this is exactly Thomas a Kempis's style. The writ- er's own description of his manner of writing is evident- ly that of the author of the Imitation : '• Vario etiam sermonum genere, nunc loquens, nunc disputans, nunc orans, nunc colloquens, nunc in propria persona, nunc in peregrina, placido stylo textum pra?scntem circum fiexi" (Prolog. Soliloqiii A nimcc). Some object to Kemjiis on the ground that he was a mere copyist, who spent his life peaceably in a convent, and could not have known so intimately and accurately the yearnings, the sublime outbursts of the human heart which fill every page of the Imitation. We must remark, however, that tlie Canons Regular were not mere copyists, as the word is understood in our time, but rather intelligent ])ubli.sh- crs of the works they copied, and often men of great learning. They compared and corrected the works which came out of their hands by the aid of the best authorities, and, according to Thomas, their principal oc- cupations were orare, meditare, studcre, scribere. Thom- as, as we have seen, was especially intrusted ^vith the in- struction of the novices, and, it seems, preached on all special occasions, drawing large crowds by his eloquence. He who seriously studies his own heart, moreover, does not need to yo abroad in the world to become thorough-
KE3IPIS
36
KEMPIS
ly acquainted with human nature, with its varied strug- gles, emotions, and j^eaniings. " I iiave," says Kenipis himself, " everywhere sought rest, and found it only in solitude and among books" (De Imitat. Chrisli, i, 22, G ; 23, 1 sq. ; iii, 54, 1-8). '■ The Imitation," says a writer in the Revue Chretienne (Feb. 1861), " is a great and good hook. One breathes in it the most perfect love of God. The author, whoever he may be, has sounded the depths iif this abyss of love, and the abyss attracts instead of frightening him. In this faith resting on God one feels a passionate casting aside of the things of this world, and a fervent yearning for the realities of a future life."
Another great reason for assigning the work directly to German ground, and therefore also to Kempis, are the many Germanisms occurring in the Imituiion. We shall mention only five, but these are sufficient to show that the writer was thoroughly conversant with German idioms : Cackre super, in the sense of caring for a thing ; jacere in, for to depend on ; (jravitas, for difficulty ; levi- rt'i; for easily ; and, finally, scire exterius, for to know by heart. This last is a literal translation of the German idiom (unintelligible in any other), and should have been ■memoriter scire. Some have, on the other hand, point- ed to several Gallicisms in the Imitatiun, but the Uni- versity of Paris was at that time the centre of theolog- ical knowledge, and it is no wonder if some French idi- oms became current expressions in the schools, w'hile this could not be the case with German. See Gerson.