(the monks) might find relief, and through his labors others found peace. "Martha," he writes in respect to such like worldly labors, "Martha serves, works, and does good before God and man, in order that her sister Mary may attend so much the more freely to holy things. Be only faithful in service, Martha; serve then, endure, care for, prepare whatever is required in this life, in the kitchen, the brewery, the cellar, the sowing of grain, the mill, whatever it may be thy service aids the servants of Christ and without thy care they are not free for God's service." He expressly declares that both the Mary and Martha classes belong together, and that both should labor to entertain Christ in common. Above all, he employed even this opportunity for self-examination, since care for temporal affairs seemed to him as specially adapted for this purpose: "I believe," he says, "that no one knows so perfectly how his inner life is, as when he begins to deal in temporal matters and to have external cares." To prevent being destroyed by danger, he was, in the meantime, on his guard; for "all temporal cares are dangerous, hence, as oft as time can be spared we must commune with heavenly things. He who labors to fulfil faithfully the office of the blessed Martha, must at times, also devote himself to enjoying the sweetness of the sainted sensitive Mary and be allowed to tarry a while in the quietude of the divine promises and words."

In accordance with such principles, Thomas labored. They guided him as well in the smallest as in the greatest affairs and cares of every day life, and we may reckon such a man just as little among the great troops of idle mendicant friars, as among the followers of a sickly mysticism. On the contrary, we feel rather more impelled to give Thomas a Kempis a place among the ascetics than among the peculiar mystical writers of his age. It is, however, scarcely worthy of mention, that to such a heart and spirit as his, the solitude of his cell was infinitely more desirable than the duties of Overseer, which had been entrusted to him. The duties of his office were occasionally laid aside for a short time, and then he employed these precious hours with double joy at the favorite writing table, in study and devout meditations, or he undertook the duties so willingly, that he was chosen Sub-prior and afterwards Master of the Novices, which last office must have been so much the more welcome since the fame of his piety, by degrees, influenced the youth to ask reception in his monastery. In his sixtyseventh year (1447) he was appointed Sub-prior a second time, and remained in the practice of this office, as it seems, until the end of his life, that is, for nearly twenty-five years.

Such a life would not have been spent without great uniformity. It reminds us involuntarily of a beautiful brooklet, clear as crystal, which meanders along with a low murmur through a flat, level plain, and mirrors forth, from its clear waters, the rays of the unbeclouded sun. Or we imagine the monastery, in which Thomas tarried for over seventy years, and which owes its greatest reputation to him, as a safe harbor in which he was taken

early in life, and where he lay safe and at rest from the storms of the tempestuous ocean raging around him. Nevertheless he had also to experience, that, even within the consecrated walls of a monastery, undisturbed peace did not always dwell. The Province of Oberyssel, and with it also the Monastery of St. Agnes, was several times indeed visited with the pestilence during his residence. The most severe visitations were in 1421, 1450, 1452, and 1454, and their victims Thomas saw fall in his immediate neighborhood; their names even he has immortalized in the chronicles of the Institution. The attacks which the Catholic priesthood and especially a Dominican monk-Grabow-directed in various ways against the Brothers of the Common Lot, caused him much vexation. But his faith and his patience were still further brought to the test, when he, as well as the other brothers of the Monastery, was obliged to live not less than three years under the ban. A strife had broken out between Pope Martin V, and the Episcopate of Utrecht, concerning the selection of a spiritual chief, and as the result of this strife a part of Oberyssel, which had opposed the vicegerent of Christ in Rome, was placed under the papal interdict. Since now the Brothers of St. Agnes stood altogether on the side of the Pope, but still refused to discontinue religious services, they were coarsely insulted by their civil and political opponents and forced to leave the country. This was in the year 1429. Four and twenty canons of St. Agnes, amongst whom Thomas (who had just then been made Sub-prior for the first time) was found, were compelled to fly to Friesland, where they remained in the Chapter at Lünekerk until the death of the Pope (1432) made an end of the strife, and the removal of the ban of excommunication settled the difficulty in Oberyssel, so that the Brothers of the Monastery could return in peace. There were not wanting to our Thomas, during this period, internal strife and external hardships. At least, the unknown reporter in the chronicles of the Monastery, assures us in the account of his death, "that he had undergone, especially in the beginning, great need, temptation and hardship," which he himself explains somewheres literally, when he warns above all things against too great trust in mankind: "I have been taught to my own detriment and with God's will to desire greater circumspection and not new follies."

Excepting these temporary storms, we notice in Thomas a quiet life of the noblest kind; indeed there is something in his whole appearance, that involuntarily reminds us of those characteristic pictures of the Netherland school of Painting in the fifteenth century. That he lived always in peace with the other Brothers could scarcely be doubted of a man, who gave the following directions. as rules for living in intercourse with others: "It is better, with reference to things which must be done, to speak in tones of entreaty than of command. Be ready to satisfy every one who désires anything from thee, but suffer no one to be idle near thee. Do whatever concerns trivial worldly affairs without saying much about them, and follow in greater and spiritual matters the com

mand of thy superiors. Mix thyself not in affairs which are not committed to thy care. The covetous are ever in want; the whole world, with all its treasures, belongs to the trusting believer." But it is certain that he enjoyed a rich measure of peace for himself, and in many respects that he answered to the picture of a true man of God, as he has unfolded it somewheres: "Joyous in countenance, quiet and pleasant in discourse, circumspect and orderly in every action, diffusing peace and blessing every where about him." His was a quiet, contemplative nature, and endowed in a high degree with a life hid with Christ in God, such as the apostle speaks of in Col. 3: 3. He rarely spoke unless it was necessary, and not even then if the conversation exclusively treated of worldly subjects: but his words flowed forth as a stream if the conversation was about God and spiritual things. In zealous and conscientious improvement of time, he would serve any one as an example. He was always the first at early breakfast, and having once left his bed, he did not return to it afterwards even if he was unwell, but devoted himself immediately to his work, either transcribing excellent books or noting down the results of his own meditations. He allowed only the most indispensable rest to his body, and late in the evening when the last tones of Vespers or the Gloria died away, then Thomas was always the last Brother leaving the choir of the monastery-chapel. In whatever way he could, he advanced the interests of the Brotherhood, to which he felt himself united with his whole soul, and when strangers came at times from distant lands to see him and to hear him, he never absented himself from them. He preached occasionally, probably in the vernacular and mostly extempore, after he had collected his thoughts or had enjoyed first a short sleep. He particularly devoted his time with great joy to the instruction and culture of the latest comers, whose superintendence was especially entrusted to him, although he never shunned the performance of a duty to which he felt himself called. But still holy solitude, in communion with God, remained the highest delight of his soul. "When he prayed, his countenance was as if transfigured"-says one of his biographers"and he stood as it were only with tip-toe on the earth, appearing as though his whole body would fly away to heaven, where his spirit and desires were." He often felt the words of the Lord in his soul, while he was engaged in quiet discourse with the Brothers, and he would beg leave to retire. "I must go," he was accustomed to say, "for there is One with whom I must converse in my cell." Like more of the pious of his age, he appointed special ascetic exercises for himself, from time to time. Although he was very temperate in his eating and drinking, chaste in mind and of great purity of morals, he was accustomed, on certain days of the week, to scourge himself, at the same time reciting a latin hymn (Stetit Jesus). Hence it is no cause of wonder that his exterior was in perfect harmony with the reigning spirit of his inner life. He was of medium size, of a fresh although somewhat embrowned countenance, retaining his eyesight undiminished to his very advanced

age. To his first biographer--Franciscus Tolensis, who moreover complains that none of his contemporaries have given a complete sketch of his personal appearance-there was shown a half obliterated picture of Thomas, which bore this inscription: "I have sought rest in all things,but have found it nowhere except in concealed corners and in books" (in Dutch, in hoexkens ende boeksens). Very little is likewise known of his last days. It is evident that death could not have been severe to him, whose life was a constant meditation on death. Many years before (1432) he had closed the eyes of his older brother John, in the Bethany Nunnery at Arnheim, and we do not know that there were any chains binding him to other relations. On this account his departure must have been` more easy to him, when-at an almost patriarchal age-he entered into the rest of the Lord. "In the year 1471"-so the Chronicles of his Cloister report to us-"on the Festival of St. James the Less, (July 25) our much beloved brother, Thomas a Kempis, died in the ninety-second year of his age. Finally, at an advanced age he was attacked with dropsy in his lower extremities, and fell asleep blessed in the Lord." With the great reputation for piety, enjoyed most properly by Thomas, it may seem singular that he was not canonized by the Catholic Church, as were many before and

since his time, who have labored much less than he. The reason for this, consists plainly, not in that his history was deficient in the marvellous or legendary which frequently was the first occasion for these canonizations, but in the fact that the Brothers of the Common Lot stood in bad credit with the Roman priesthood, because they attached themselves to none of the approved monastic institutions, and hence were reckoned as in a manner belonging to the world. He has secured, however, something better than such an equivocal glory-even the thanks of all the Confessions of all Christendom, for the edification which they have received in so high a degree from his works.

We allude here to his principal book, of which, along with others, Haller declared emphatically," that the author must have been a teacher of superhuman virtue." Therefore, nothing is easier than a transition from the author to the book which has immortalized his name; Thomas and the Imitation of Christ are entirely the same in this sense, that the life of the author is the best commentary on his book, and is an Imitatie Christi brought into practice. This is not the place to treat in detail of the Bibliography of this precious little book, that is known either slightly or at least by name, to nearly all christians, and still less to involve ourselves in the scientific contest which has been carried on as to whether Thomas was in fact its author, or whether, as many believe, it was written by J. Gerson, St. Bernard, or some other author. It is well known that more than two thousand different Latin and about one thousand French editions are extant, of which the Paris Library alone contains more than seven hundred, and besides these, it has been translated in most of the known living and dead languages. Two monastic orders have contended for the honor of

reckoning the author among their members, and the French Parliament was, in 1652, entangled in this contest. This honorable body settled the question to the advantage of Thomas, but, as it seems to us, entered upon this work hastily. It now scarcely admits of a doubt, after learned investigations which have been conducted on the subject in modern times, that the Imitatio was the work of the head and heart of Thomas a Kempis, and that this precious fruit was produced in no other soil but that of the Netherlands.*

Of greater importance is the question, What is the characteristic peculiarity of this book, and to what circumstance does it owe the favorable reception, which it has now enjoyed for nearly four centuries? We do not believe we shall err if we attribute its reputation specially to the very practical aim of its author, whereby he has found the shortest way to the hearts and consciences of his readers, without involving himself in theological disputes or scholastic wranglings. Considered from a purely literary point of view, the book is not very extraordinary. Its latinity might occasionally have been purer; many sentences, at first glance, are somewhat common-place, and the monotony of the thoughts is now and then somewhat tiresome. But a spirit of deep internal piety moves through the whole, and a quiet, gentle glow of love streams through it from beginning to end, so that it is impossible to lay it down without feeling the deepest love for the author. Or rather, we almost entirely forget the author, in order to think of the Lord and our relation to Him. There is something impersonal, something objective in this exhibition of the Imitation of Christ, whereby the individuality of the author, although this shines everywhere through it, never pushes itself obtrusively in the foreground, and thus leads one easily by his hand into the innermost sanctuary of the Christian life. His sentences shine out with a soft lustre, like pearls arranged upen a string, concealed in many of its parts, and just because no excessive rhetorical ornament is employed, is the attention rarely diverted from the great topics to which the meditation is always turned. Hence it is that, excepting the fourth book which is devoted to the consideration of the Holy Sacrament and in which the Catholic conception of the Lord's Supper and of the Priesthood, comes emphatically out in the foreground, the whole book is not obtrusively Romish, but rather Evangelico-Catholic. The author does not occupy, like the Roman Church, par excellence, the Petrine, nor, like the Evangelical Church, the Pauline, but much more the Johannean stand-point, whose full actualization is reserved for the Church of the future; it is indeed as though we saw in him the spirit of John the Baptist united with the spirit of John the Evangelist. He has no small respect for Christian knowledge and science, but only as means; in no sense are they to him

*Compare Ullman's Reformers before the Reformation II, 711.-Malou, Recherches historiques sur le véritable auteur du sivre de l' Imit. de J. Ch. Louvain, 1848. J. Mooren, Nachrichten ueber Thomas a Kempis, Erefeld, 1855.