The great schoolmen of the middle ages. An account of their lives, and the services they rendered to the church and the world

Front matter

I

CORNELL

UNIVERSITY

Chapter I. Introductory

PAGE

General estimate formed of Schoolmen — Why they were opposed by Reformers — Time for them to be more highly appreciated — Instances of undue depreciation — Sir W. Hamilton's estimate of them — Testimony of Sir J, Mackintosh — Professor F. D. Maurice on Aquinas — Dr. W. B. Pope on Scholastic Theology — Bishop Hampden on Scholastic Philosophy — Cousin and Guizot on the Scholastics — Testimonies of German writers — The object of the present work 3

Chapter II. The Renaissance Under Charlemagne

The Dominions of Charlemagne — His characteristics and his aims — The state of Society at his accession — The condition of the Church

Mohammedans — Signs of^awalceningJnJEngland — Alcuin — Efforts of Charlemagne for a revival of letters-^Labours of Alcuin in France— Charlemagne's reforms in the Church — Louis the Pious unable to maintain them — The Dark Ages 17

CONTENTS.

Chapter III. The Harbinger Of Dawn.— John Scotus Erigena

Charles_the_Bald^a patron o f learn ing — Erigena drawn to his Court — Incidents of Court life of Erigena — His accomplishments — Works of Dionysius the Areopagite — Their relation to Alexandrian philosophy—The teachings of Plotinus — Proclus and his relation to Plotinus — The incorporation of Alexandrian philosophy and Christian teachings by Dionysius — Erigena as his student and translator — De Divisions Naturce — The_theological and philosophical teachings of Erigena — The student's prayer — Controversy on Transubstantiation— Controversy on Predestination — Erigena taxed with heresy — His place in history — Notes to Chapter III 35

Chapter IV. Yearnings For The Light— Pope Sylvester II

Growth of the Papacy in secularity and corruption— Stray gleams of light in the Dark Ages — Birth and youth of Gerbert — Studies in Spanish schools — Otho the Great — The intellectual and scientifi<; labours of Gerbert — Friendship with Hugh Capet — Great speech against the Papacy — In the Court of Otho— The thousandth year A.D. — Gerbert made Pope — Labours to promote purity and progress — First signal for a crusade — Death of Otho — Death of Gerbert — His pupils and successors — The Normans in Europe — Note to Chapter IV 65

Chapter V. The Founder Of Mediaeval Theology.— Anselm

Birth and parentage of Anselm — Youthful experience and fancies — The Monastery of Bee — Anselm, the Prior and the Abbot — His fame ,as a teacher — His numerous productions — Archbishop of Canterbury — The struggle for spiritual supremacy — His firm and courageous bearing in the struggle — His death and character — HiS— teac hings in philosophy and theology — The Ontological Argument — The Cur Detis Homo — Controversy with RoscelUn — Anselm a man of immense influence — Notes to Chapter V. ... ^g

CONTENTS. vii

Chapter VI. The Struggle Of Rationalism— Peter Abelard

PACE

The romance of Abelaid — His birth and youthful studies — His discussion with William of Champeaux — His great popularity — Indications of danger — His relation to the Church — His teachings oh Universals : Conceptualism — His theological teachings — Evil days : Enemies within and without — Heloise^^The ill-fated love between her and Ab^lard — The Cloister — His lectures at Mai soncelle — Immured at St. Denys — The Paraclete— The Abbey of St. Gildas — The throngs at Mount St. Genevieve — The Sic _et Non — The Assembly at Sens — Bernard of Clarvaux — The Appeal to Rome — The Refuge of Clugny — Light at eventide, and rest for ever — The famous letters — The teaching and influence of Abelard — Note 99

Chapter VII

THE SWEET SONG OF MYSTICISM.— THE MONKS OF ST. VICTOR.

The Abbey of St. Victor — The Mysticism of Bernard — Hugo : His extraction and youth — Made Prior of St. Victor — His writings — His mystical spirit and scholastic method — His views of theology and philosophy — The features of his character and writings — Richard St. Victor — The stages of religious development — The six stages of contemplation — The reforming tendencies of Richard — Walter St Victor — Healthy influence of the Victorines — Notes to Chapter VII 125

Chapter VIII. The Master Of The Sentences.-peter The Lombard

The influences of the twelfth century — The man and the hour— Peter : Hii-youth-and-studies — Becomes Bishop of Paris — The " Book of Sentences" — Its contents, method, and influence — His views on philosophy and theology — His characteristics and influence — Notes to Chapter VIII. 139

CONTENTS.

Chapter IX. The Jsrecian Doctor.— The Advance Of Aristotelianism

PAGE

The increasing attention to works of Aristotle — Alarm and jealousy aroused in the Church — The influence of the Greek Master on the Arabians— The Arabian civilization in Europe— The great attainments in philosophy and science of the Arabians — The libraries and schools of the Mohammedans — Aristotle, their intellectual king — Avicenna and Algazel — Averroes : Doctrine of Unity of the Intellect — The Aristotelic Arabians extraordinary men — Their permeating influence in Europe — A true instinct by which Aristotle became the intellectual master of Christendom — The opposition of the Church — The Dominican Monks — The Aristotelians of the Church — Providence in their rise and labours — Notes to Chapter IX IS3

Chapter X. The Universal Doctor— Albertus Magnus

The parentage and birth of Albert — Unites with the Dominican Order — Lectures at Cologne — His extraordinary erudition — Public offices and labours — Bishop of Ratisbon — ^The Council of Lyons — His death — His character and influence — His teaching on Uniyer sals — His views on religious doctrine — i|is__psycIioIogy — GenejaL characteristics^ of his teaching — Note to Chapter X. 165

Chapter XI. The Irrefragable Doctor.— Alexander Of Hales

The birth and education of Alexander — He joins the Franciscan Order — Life of earnest and laborious study — His works — Alexander a Realist — His theological views — Habit of treating trivial questions — Influence on important doctrines — His pious sayings and mental independence — Notes to Chapter XI. 177

CONTENTS.

Chapter XII. The Seraphical Doctor.— Bonaventura

PAGE

His parents— Pious training — Devotion to learning and piety — Patient industriousness — Head of Franciscan Order— Persecution of Roger Bacon — Promotes election of Pope Gregory I. — Council of Lyons — Death and funeral — Works — Aquinas and Bonaventura — A Schoolman and Mystic — Relation of Reason and Faith — Itinerary of Soul — Chartered gifts — Mariolatry — Its cause and cure — Passionate contemplation of Christ — Notes to Chapter XII 187

Chapter XIII. The Angelical Doctor.— Thomas Aquinas

Parentage and early life — Unites with Dominicans — Student_life_at_ Paris — Disputes between university and citizens — Aquinas promoted and honoured — His varied and active labours — The Council of Lyons — His death — Appearance and character — His sayings — The sum of theology — Its aim and value— Its arrangement and contents — The method of treatment pursued — Its influence and commendation by Gregory XIII. ... ... ... 199

/ CHAPTER XIV.

•/ THE ANGELICAL DOCTOR.— HIS OPINIONS. Two sources of knowledge — On Universals — Cause of individuation — The existence and nature of God — The Holy Trinity — The Incarnation of the Word — The Atonement — The fall of man and his salvation — Counsel and precept — The Sacraments — Eschatology — His notions on Ethics — His democracy — General characteristics of his writings — He did what he could — Notes to Chapter XIV. 217

Chapter XV. The Subtle Doctor.— Duns Scotus

Controversy as to his birthplace — Early life and career — Immense influence at Paris — Removal to Cologne — Sudden and mysterious death — His marvellous industry — His rigid dialecticism — Characteristics of his writings — Duns and Aquinas — Keenness of his critical faculty — Duns a decided Realist — Views on Christian doctrine — Immaculate Conception of Virgin — His p syrhnlngiral - opinions — General estimate ofL him and his work — Notes to Chapter XV 245 i

CONTENTS.

Chapter XVI. Tue Invincible Doctor.— William Of Ockam

PAGE

Early training and influences— Condition of the Papacy— Is appointed head of Franciscans in England — Writes against temporal power of the Popes — Seeks refuge at Bavarian Court — Writings on ecclesiastical reform — Influence of Duns on Ockam — His decided Nominalism — His sensationalism — His opposition to intelligible species — His theological position unsatisfactory — A rational theology not possible — Transubstantiation — Disputants who succeeded him — The Reformer of the School — His boldness and independence — His work andj nflaence— Notes to Chapter XVI. 269

Chapter XVII. The Most Christian Doctor.-jean Charlier Gerson

The decline of Scholasticism after Ockam — Degenerating into lifeless subtleties — Movement towards Platonism — The rise of Mysticism — Gerson the transition, genius — His youth and early training— His rapid promotion at University — Becomes the Chancellor — High aims and endeavours — The great schism — The Council of Pisa — The rival Popes — The Council of Constance — Gerson preaches to the Council — His action against Jean Petit — His prosecution of John Huss — Contrast between Gerson and Huss — Gerson a fugitive — His last days — His books and their features — A Schoolman and a mystic — The imitation of Christ — The failure of Scholasticism — Notes to Chapter XVII 291

Chapter XVIII. The Leaders Of The School And Their Work

The profound piety of the Schoolmen — Their relations with the outward world — Their acu men, learn ing,jndspecialstudies — Witness borne by Sir James Mackintosh — Anticipation of modern philosophers — Their grasp of Scripture and Christian doctrine — The battle of human reason fought by them — Testimonies of Hampden and Schwegler — D'Aubigne's witness to their efforts for liberty of thought and conscience— Other testimonies — The Reformers and the Schoolmen — The course of human progress jij

CONTENTS. yX

Chapter XIX. Consideration Of Objections

PAGE

Many objectio ns tojhe SchoQlm en and tlr ^jr wnrl- — The circumstances of the Schoolmen — Ought those more highly favoured to object ? — The objection to Scholastic systematic theologies — The causes of such systems — The rise of systems of thought inevitable — The materials of a system found in Revelation — Systems not to be unduly exalted — Objections to system of theology of equal force in respect to other systems — Systems sum up previous results and make progress possible^ Use of Ar istotle'^ mpthnd rS InjTiV Viy ^r-hnnlmen — Tendency of Schoolmen to excessive use of logical methods — The jargon of the Schoolmen— How could they have done better? 339

Chapter XX. The Rationale Of Scholasticism

Scholasticism a strange growth — The great factors of Scholasticism — The usual course of civilisation reversed in the formation of Christendom — Greek philosophy and Christian truth the only material for great minds to use — They became necessarily Christian logicians — They expressed the highest aspirations of the times — The restraints upon their efforts — Their failure and their triumph 357

The following are the Editions of Books quoted in subsequent pages, and which are here given to facilitate reference to them: —

Bernard:, S. Opera Omnia. Parisiis, 1609.

Berington. Literary History of Middle Ages. Bohn, 1846.

Bruce, A. B. Humiliation of Christ. T. Clark, 1876.

Church, R. W. St. Anselm. Macmillan, 1870.

Coleridge, S. T. Statesman's Manual. Gale and Feimer, 1816.

„ Table Talk. J. Murray, 1851.

Cousin, V. History of Modem Philosophy. T. Clark, 1852. „ Philosophy of Kant. J. Chapman, 1854.

DoRNER, A. J. History of Doctrine of Person of Christ. T. Clark, 1862. Draper, J. W. Intellectual History of Europe. Bohn, 1875. Du Pin. Ecclesiastical History. 6 vols. 1725.

Encyc. Britannica. Edition IX. to Vol. XI,

Encyc. Metropolitana. Vol. XI. Article "Aquinas."

Erigen^, Johannes Scoti. De Divisione Naturae. Oxonii, 1681.

Ferrier, J. F. Institutes of Metaphysic. W. Blackwood, 1854.

GuizOT, F. Lectures on History of France. Bohn, 1846.

!fiv WORKS QUOTED.

Hagenbach, K. H. History of Doctrine. 2 vols. T. Clarke, 1850. Hallam, H. History of Europe in Middle Ages. Ward and Co. Hamilton, W. Lectures on Metaphysics. 2 vols. W. Blackwood, 1859.

,, Discussions in Philosophy, etc. Longmans, 1852.

Hampden, R. H. Bampton Lecture. 3rd ed. Simpkin and Co., 1848. Hardwick, C. Church History, Middle Age. Macmillan, 1853. Harper, T. Metaphysic of the School. Macmillan, 1879. Hook, W. F. Lives of Archbishops of Canterbury. Vol. II., ist series.

JoRTlN. Observation on Ecclesiastical Histoi-y. 1805.

Locke, J. On the Human Understanding. Tegg and Co., 1825. LoMBARDi, Petri. Sententiarum Libri IV. Parisiis, 1638. LuPTON. Glory of their Times. Original Edition. 1640.

Mackintosh, J. Works. 3 vols. Longmans, 1846.

Maclear, G. F. Apostles of Mediaeval Europe. Macmillan, 1869.

Matheson, G. Grovrth of Spirit of Christianity. 2 vols. Clark, 1877.

Maurice, F. D. Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy. Macmillan, 1872.

Morell, J. D. View of Philosophy in Europe. Pickering, 1846.

MosHElM. Ecclesiastical History. Blackie, 1846.

MiLMAN, H. H. History of Latin Christianity. 9 vols. J. Murray, 187;

Neander, a. Church History. 9 vols. T. Clark, 1847. ,, History of Dogma. 2 vols. Bohn, 1858.

Oosterzee, J. J. VAN. Christian Dogmatics. Hodder and Stoughton, 1874.

Pope, W. B. Compendium of Theology. 3 vols. Wesleyan Conference Office, 1879.

Reid, T. Works by Hamilton. Maclachlan and Co., 1846. Robertson, J. C. History of Christian Church. 3 vols. J. Murray, i858.

ScHWEGLER, A. History of Philosophy. Edmonstone and Co., 1868. Stephens, J. Lectures on History of France. Longmans, 1849. Stewart, D. Philosophy of Human Mind. Cadell and Davies, 1808. Stoughton, J. Ages of Christendom. Jackson and Walford, 1857.

WORKS QUOTED. xv

Tenneman. Manual of Philosophy. Bohn, 1852.

Trench, R. C. Medifeval Church History.

Turner, S. History of Anglo-Saxons. 3 vols. Longmans, 1852.

,, History of Middle Ages in England. 3 vols. Longmans,

Ueberweg, F. History of Philosophy. 2 vols. Hodder and Stoughton, 1872.

Vaughan, R. a. Hours with the Mystics. 2 vols. Strahan, 1880.

William of Malmesbury. Chronicle of Kings. Bohn, 1867.

Chapter I. Introductory

" ' Old things need not be therefore true,' O brother men ! nor yet the new ; Ah, still awhile the old thought retain, And yet consider it ^ain.

" The souls of now two thousand years Have laid up here their toils and fears, And all the earnings of their pain — Ah, yet consider it again !

" We ! what do we see ? each a space Of some few yards before his face ; Does that the whole wide plan explain ? Ah, yet consider it again !

" Alas ! the great world goes its way, And takes its truth from day to day ; They do not quit, nor can retain.

Far less consider it again."

A. H. Clough.

I. Introductory

This book is intended to supply a brief and simple account of a portion of Christian History which is not properly understood by many. It is encumbered as little as possible with technical notes or phrases, that the unlearned reader may not be turned from its pages by an undue array of classical references or quotations. It has been written with an earnest desire to estimate the service done in the cause of truth and humanity by a succession of Christian labourers who have never received the measure of appreciation or gratitude which is fairly their due. It has been the general habit of writers in referring to the Schoolmen to treat them as being solemn triflers with great philosophical or theological questions, or as mere metaphysical gymnasts who involved both themselves and their contemporaries in a dense cloud of dust raised by their interminable and useless wranglings. In the usual public references to the Schoolmen by preachers or lecturers, and in the accounts given of them in many text-books in use in the public schools, there is little or no recognition of their devotion, their learning, their unwearying industry, or of the signal service they rendered to the Church and the world ; but it has been considered sufficient to represent them as a set of men engaged in discussing by ponderous method such fruitless questions as, " How many angels could dance on the point of a needle ? " or " What were the differences between the morning and evening states of the angels ? " It is time that this lamentable ignorance was dissolved, and there are not wanting signs that the day has come for a fairer and higher estimate of the great Schoolmen to take possession of the public mind.

Why the Scholastic system should have been stoutly - opposed by Martin Luther and the great Reformers of the sixteenth century may be easily understood. In the previous centuries Scholasticism had been an enormous contributor to the formation of a European public opinion, which demanded a great religious reform ; but like all systems of theology and philosophy which demand a -method by which they can attain to the fullest expression possible to them in a certain age, the method having served its temporary purpose comes to be a clog and a serious hindrance to further development. It often therefore requires to be stript off by a firm hand, even though agony and struggle ensue in the process, in order that, free from swaddling bands or nurturing entanglements, the truth may expand itself in freedom and glory. The Reformers were led by the spirit of the times and the exigencies of the contest in their day to declare war against the methods and spirit of the Schoolmen, who had degenerated into vain and frivolous disputants, and who from being the leaders of the learning of Christendom were becoming objects of contempt by the uselessness and pedantry of their discussions. But it might have been expected that when a few generations had passed away, when the clang and roll of that gigantic conflict had subsided, when men

INTRODUCTORY. S

could think calmly, apart from the violent collisions of partisans or the din of raging controversy, they would have been able to appraise the work of the great thinkers of the past with fairness if not with generosity. This has already been attained in various departments of human learning, but the Schoolmen still lie under a load of obloquy, which has been accumulating for ages, with only at rare intervals a voice raised to protest against it as unmerited. A philosopher so acute as Hobbes declared of their works that " those who wrote volumes of such stuff were mad, and intended to make others so.'" A learned and thoughtful historian of philosophy like Brucker" describes the discussions of the Schoolmen, although Hallam says he had not read their works, as " philosophical skirmishes with the help of verbal disputes, of worthless mental abstractions, of axioms assumed at haphazard, of distinctions destitute of the smallest foundation, and with the horrors of a barbarous terminology." A church historian so grave, trusted, and widely read as Mosheim,^ dismissed them with the verdict that they were " wiser in their own conceit than they were in reality, and often did little more than involve in greater obscurity the doctrines which they pretended to place in the clearest light." The calm, judicial, and generally impartial historian of the Middle Ages, Henry Hallam,* declares of their writings that, " so far as he has been able to collect their meaning, they appear very frivolous," and expresses great surprise that he has found as many as four Englishmen who had given attention to Thomas

' Hobbes' " Leviathan," p. i. ch. 8. 2 " Hist, of Phil.," p. ii. lib. ii. » " Eccles. Hist.," i. 339. * " Europe in Middle Ages," 684.

Aquinas. A writer of Church history of such good standing as Spanheim,' is so unfair as to affirm that the Schoolmen omitted from their works all authority from Scripture in these words, " The Scholastic theology was a compendium of divinity supported by the opinions and authorities of the Fathers, but chiefly by reason and argument, the Scriptures were quite omitted, while the doctrines of Christianity were reduced to quite a heathenish system." A writer of such deservedly high repute as the late George Henry Lewes,^ says that he thrust with '' depressing weariness and impatience " their works aside, because they were " monstrous and lifeless shapes of a former world, having little community with the life of our own, they having for us an interest similar to that yielded by the megatherium and the dinornis." In some modern books of science no more intelligent appreciation is shown of their work than that they were occupied with laborious discussions of childish and frivolous questions.^ And the general sentiment, being formed by such judgments as these, concludes that the Schoolmen are unworthy of notice except as subjects of satire, and that they hindered rather than helped human progress.

It is surely time for a more sound judgment to be formed concerning them. A few of the most clear and erudite of our thinkers entertain a far different estimate of them, and in proportion as they have been qualified to render distinguished service in the cause of a lofty philosophy, they have been disposed to appreciate highly the work offered to the world by these great men. A few testimonies will show what an

1 " Eccles. Annals," translated by Wright, 408.

2 " History of Phil.," Trans. Period, i. 3. ' Tait's " Lect. on Recent Science," 54.

exalted opinion they have won from those who have most attentively considered their productions.

Sir W. Hamilton, in all his works, makes frequent reference to them in words of generous appreciation. In reply to the assertion of Archbishop Whately, that the Schoolmen misunderstood the nature of logic, using it simply as an instrument in making physical discoveries, and whilst beclouding everything with a mist of words, excluded all sound philosophical investigation, he says : —

" It has long been the fashion to attribute every absurdity to the Schoolmen ; it is only when a man of talent like Dr. Whately follows the example that a contradiction is worth while. The Schoolmen (we except always such eccentric individuals as Raymond Lully) had correcter notions of the domain of logic than those who now contemn them without a knowledge of their works. They certainly did not attempt to employ it for the purpose of physical discoveries. We pledge ourselves to refute the accusation whenever any effort is made to prove it ; till then we must be allowed to treat it as a groundless, though a common, calumny." ^

Perhaps no modern writer has succeeded in combining sound learning and correctness of judgment with discriminating criticism more happily than Sir James Mackintosh, and this gives his testimony a peculiar value. He says : —

" Those who measure only by palpable results have very consistently regarded the Metaphysical and Theological controversies of the schools as a mere waste of intellectual power. But the contemplation of the athletic vigour and versatile skill manifested by the European understanding, at the moment when it emerged from this tedious and rugged discipline, leads, if not to approbation, yet to more qualified censure. What might have been the result of a different com-

' " Discussions," etc., 148.

bination of circumstances is an enquiry which, on a large scale, is beyond human power. We may, however, venture to say, that no abstract science unconnected with religion was likely to be respected in a barbarous age, and we may be allowed to doubt whether any knowledge dependent on experience and applicable to immediate practice, would have so fiained the European mind as to qualify it for that series of inventions, discoveries, and institutions which begins with the sixteenth century, and of which no end can now be foreseen but the extinction of the race of man." ^

It might have been expected that the eclectic mind of the late Professor Maurice would not have found in the Schoolmen much that wras congenial to him, although it was, of course, to have been concluded that he would treat them with the candour so eminently characteristic of his nature. Like all those who have devoted much attention to their writings, he speaks of them throughout his history of the mediaeval intellectual movement with frank and cordial esteem. Many quotations in illustration of this fact might be given, but this paragraph concerning Thomas Aquinas will be sufficient : — ■

" A time may be coming when it will be possible to derive more good from Aquinas than any age has owed to him, because we are free from his trammels, and have learned to walk at liberty under higher guidance. Protestant Europe may even yet do him a justice which cannot be done him by those who dread lest he should make them sceptics, or who sit at his feet and receive his words as those of one who understood all mystery and all knowledge. Meanwhile we will do what in us lies to give our readers some conception of the comprehensiveness of his intellect, as we have already attempted to give them a glimpse of its subtlety." *

One who has attained unrivalled theological reputation within his own denomination, and who, whilst preserving himself within the strictest lines of British orthodoxy, has yet steeped his mind in the treasures of the German theology, has borne the following fair and modest testimony to the service rendered to Christendom by the School : —

" The Scholastic Divinity in the universities of Christendom wrought up the materials it inherited into systematic forms, which carried dialectic subtlety and philosophical speculation to their highest point. By the toil of many indefatigable minds, it laid the foundation of the complete system of Roman Catholicism as formulated in the Council of Trent ; while at the same time it transmitted its method to Protestantism, the first century of which almost rivalled the work of the mediaeval doctors in analytical severity and completeness. Whatever deductions may be made from the value of its results, the Christian Church owes very much to the industry and devotion of the Schoolmen. Systematic theology had its origin in their labours." ^

One m6re extract from British authors only will be given, and that from one than whom none had more right to speak, if intimate knowledge of the Schoolmen, profound learning, and calm philosophic temper, constitute a claim to be heard on such a subject. Speaking of the Scholastic system, he says : —

" I only wonder that it has not attracted more notice than it has hitherto obtained. We meet indeed with some incidental remarks in works of philosophy or theology on the theoretic character of the system. But with these remarks it is usually dismissed as a method long gone by, which has had its day and is npw extinct, and remains only a monument of frivolous ingenuity, to be neglected and despised by the more enlightened wisdom of the present day. But surely a pursuit in which the human mind has been so long engaged, and which has thus, as an indisputable matter of fact, educated the human intellect of

' Pope, " Compend. of TheoL," i., 21.

the West for the larger views and more elevated thoughts and more masculine vigour of modern science and modern theology, demands more respect, more serious consideration. If it supplied, which it undoubtedly did, the elements of our present improvement, the stock of principles of which the Reformation, both religious and intellectual, of the sixteenth century availed itself — to which the Reformation was forced to address itself, whose language it was forced to adopt in order to be understood and received — neither the historian of the human mind nor the student of religion ought to leave this track of enquiry unexplored. The scholastic philosophy, in fact, lies between us at our present station in the world, and the immediate diffusion of truth from heaven, as ' the morning spread on the mountains,' an atmosphere of mist through which the early beams of Divine light have been transfused. It has given the celestial rays a divergency whilst it has transmitted them, and by the multiplicity of its reflections made them indistinct as to their origin." ^

No modern writer has treated Scholasticism^ in a more genial and appreciative spirit than Victor Cousin, the patriot philosopher of France.^ He divides the history of Scholasticism into three periods, (i) that of the subordination of philosophy to theology, (2) the alliance of philosophy with theology, (3) the growing separation, feeble at first, but which increases until it produces modern philosophy. In treating of these periods he passes the leading Schoolmen in review with generous and glowing criticism, and points out how on nearly every great question of controversy in modern philosophy they had anticipated such leaders of thought as Descartes, Berkeley, Locke, Reid, and others.

The statesman historian of France has also written concerning them in candid phrase : —

" We find in them many vast and original views ; questions

' Hampden, " Bamp. Lect.," 8.

^ "History of Modern Philosophy," ii., 12.

INTRODUCTORY. ii

are often solved by them in their profoundest depths; the light of philosophical truth, of literary beauty, shines out each instant. The vein is covered in the mine, but it contains much metal, and deserves to be worked." ^

In Germany the writings and influence of the Schoolmen have received much fairer and more general consideration than has been accorded them by British v/riters. Thus, Hagenbach supplies several testimonies, which are the more valuable as coming from a country which has produced so many of the most renowned metaphysicians of modern Europe. He says: —

"As early as the time of Semler complaints were made of the unjust treatment which the scholastic divines had to suffer. Semler himself says : ' The poor scholastici have been too much despised, and that frequently by people who would not have been good enough to be their transcribers.' And Luther himself wrote to Staupitz, though he contributed much to the downfall of scholasticism : ' Ego Scholastkos, cum judicio, non

probo: " 2

The following extracts are also quoted by Hagenbach : —

"Scholasticism is the progress of the Church towards a school, or, as Hegel expresses it, though in other words, the Fathers have made the Church because the mind, once developed, required a developed doctrine ; in after ages there were no more patres ecdesice, but doctores. The theologians of the primitive Church had to create the material, or to expound that which was expressed in its simplest and most direct form in the Christian dogma; they had further to set forth this material in distinct doctrines and formulae, to present it to the religious world, and to procure its general adoption. Scholasticism, on the contrary, presupposed all this. The material and the contents were given ; it now became the task of