Page images
PDF
EPUB

they were established on the Continent, north of the Alps. These schools were intended for the cultivation of the higher learning; and such extent and import ance did they attain, as to be called Places of General Study,' 'Literary Universities,' or 'Academies.'* Indeed, under Charlemagne and Alfred, and even in Germany under the Othos,

the Church manifested an intellectual spirit much more similar than is generally admitted to the spirit of the Reformation, and of the period of revived classical learning. This was manifested in her mode of treating the holy Scriptures, the Fathers of the church, the ancient writers and their languages, the discoveries made by that age in natural philosophy, and even its imaginative productions, which had, in part, come down from the heroic and heathen ages. I am aware that the existence of any similarity between the two periods will be inconceivable to those who see in the Reformation nothing but a negative principle. I, however, believe, that at both epochs there prevailed eminently an objective historical spirit, which desires external fact as a basis for spiritual conviction; a spirit which has great power of faith in approved testimony, and can bring such faith to work on practical life. But that early era-artless and natural-was, of course, exceedingly confined as to its absolute amount of knowledge and the extent of its views. It disappears, as something quite insignificant, before the glittering pomp and the great moral contests of the succeeding period, the Age of Chivalry.

"In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, however, the schools continued to rise, and to extend their organization, parallel to the general progress of intelligence. Speculative Theology and Philosophy were growing out of the narrow Logic and Rhetoric of the ancient Trivium and Quadrivium; + and two new sources of knowledge-Roman Law, and Græco-Arabian Natural History were opened." (Pages 3, 4.)

Professor Huber, in marking the progress of learning in this country, takes, as a kind of starting-point, the twelfth century. At this we are not surprised. A mighty revolution took place at this period, not

"Studium Generale, Universitas Literaria, Academia."

The

merely in the power and wealth,
and other external circumstances,
but also in the state of the mind,
and in the extent and character of
this country had acquired.
that knowledge which the people of
same persons who at one time are
grossly ignorant, and regard all lite-
rary pursuits with supreme con-
tempt, at another become ingenious
and inquisitive, and apply to the
cultivation of the sciences with the
greatest ardour. It was now that
the day of science began to dawn;
and though it was occasionally
overcast, the sun gradually attained
its meridian splendour. The sciences
which were cultivated in Britain
during the eleventh and the follow-
ing century were, strange to say,
numerous. Although the ancient di-
vision of the sciences into the Tri-
vium and Quadrivium, above alluded
to, and frequently mentioned by
writers at this remote period, does
not seem to have been strictly ad-
hered to in the schools, inasmuch
as the following branches of educa-
tion were eagerly cultivated, irre-
spective of all such arrangement;
namely, Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic,
Metaphysics, Physics, Ethics, Scho-
lastic Divinity, the Canon Law, the
Civil Law, the Common Law, Arith-
metic, Geometry, Astronomy, As-
trology, and Medicine.

The study of Grammar, or of languages, was prosecuted by many with considerable ardour and success: a powerful stimulus being constantly applied by the fact, that the French and Latin, in the higher class of society, were chiefly spoken; the former being the language of the court, and the latter that of the Clergy. Our Norman invader professed such a cordial hatred of the English tongue, as to command that all the law proceedings should be in the French; so that the children at school were taught the first elements of graminar and letters in French, and not in English. All who wished to appear at court, to converse with the great, or to be fit for any office of importance, were under the ne

"The Trivium included Grammar, Logic, cessity of acquiring a knowledge of

and Rhetoric; and the Quadrivium, Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy, and Music."

the French. On the other hand, the Latin was considered of equal

importance, and was studied by all of the learned professions, or who aspired to any reputation in learning; it was not only the language of the Church Liturgies, but that in which the sciences were taught, all books composed, all accounts were kept, all letters of business or compliment were written; in which all scholars daily conversed, many of the Clergy preached, not only before Synods and Councils, but even to the common people; in a word, Bulæus, in his History of the Parisian University, observes, "that the Latinity of no age, from the decline to the revival of learning, was so terse and elegant as that of the twelfth century.”

Rhetoric, or the art of speaking correctly and eloquently, occupied the attention of the youth of this country subsequently to the study of Grammar. This branch of education was much neglected, and even represented as unnecessary and useless, by many philosophers of that day, who spent much time, and employed the powers of the mind, on the subtleties of the Aristotelian logic, then a fashionable and admired pursuit. The advantages of this study, however, were elegantly displayed both in prose and verse, particularly by John of Salisbury, and Alan de Lisle; whose productions, while they give a description of rhetorical science, and of Latin verse, furnish no unfavourable representation of the state of learning, on these important topics, at that period.

Much time and labour were employed on Logic. Ingulphus, the friend and Secretary of the Conqueror, informs us, that, after he had made himself master of the first and second book of Tully's Rhetoric, he applied to the study of Aristotle's Logic, and made greater proficiency in it than many of his contemporaries. A sufficient proof this, that the logic of Aristotle was studied by the youth of England at the commencement of the eleventh century; and not only so, but by all who made any pretensions to learning, including some of the fair sex, and these of the highest

rank. The Secretary of the Norman informs us, that Editha, the amiable consort of Edward the Confessor, after she had examined him in Latin prose and verse, often proceeded to attack him with the subtleties of logic, in which she excelled; and when she had entangled him with her acute and artful arguments, and obtained the victory, she always dismissed him with a present of some pieces of money. The unfortunate Heloisa, so much beloved by the accomplished Peter Abelard, was one of the most acute logicians of the twelfth century. The attachment of the learned to the Aristotelian logic increased so much during this century, that many devoted their whole lives to its study, as the most necessary and excellent of all pursuits; but this science, which had professedly for its object the discovery and establishment of truth, soon degenerated into mere sophistry, and a system of contemptible quibbling. In proof of this assertion, one circumstance only shall be adduced; and that is on the authority of John of Salisbury. After asserting, that the most ridiculous and trifling questions were agitated among them, he brings forward the following example:-" When a hog is carried to a market with a rope tied about its neck, which is held at the other end by a man,-whether is the hog carried to market by the rope, or by the man?" This would seem to us too ridiculous to be named; but, in the estimation of the logicians of the period before us, it appeared in a very serious light, who declared, with consummate gravity, that it was one of those questions that could not be solved, the arguments on both sides were so perfectly equal!

The Metaphysics and Natural Philosophy of this period, although they were taught and studied with great diligence, consisted of a prodigious number of abstract and subtle speculations about entity and non-entity, spirit, primary matter, body, substance, accidents, substantial forms, occult sciences, solidity, extension, cohesion, rest, motion,

time, place, number, magnitude, &c.; which contributed, after all, nothing to the real knowledge of nature, or benefit of mankind. The same observations are applicable to the study of Ethics, or Moral Philosophy; so that it conduced very little to enlighten the mind, amend the heart, or regulate the life. They disputed, with amazing fervour, about liberty and necessity; the means, the ends, and the actions of moral philosophy,—whether it was a practical or speculative science; but took no pains whatever to show the foundations of moral obligation, or to illustrate the nature, limits, and motives of the various duties of men and of citizens.

Whether the Arabian figures for representing numbers were known and used in Britain at this period, is doubtful. From the revenue-tolls of Henry II., Richard I., and King John, it appears that they were not then used in the Exchequer; for all the sums in these rolls are marked in Roman letters. The learned mathematician, Dr. Wallis, has produced several authorities, which make it probable that the Arabian arithmetic, called algorism, performed by the Arabian figures, was even known to some learned men in the twelfth century. The Elements of Euclid, and several other treatises on Geometry, were translated out of the Greek and Arabian languages into Latin in this period: the science, however, was but little studied. If Geometry were neglected, Astronomy could not be successfully cultivated. A considerable degree of attention was paid to the motions, situations, and aspects of the heavenly bodies; but this was done rather with a view to astrological prediction, than to discover the true system of the universe. No science was followed at this period with so much enthusiasm as that the most fallacious of all-of Judicial Astrology. No one at that day was honoured with the name of mathematician, but an astrologer; who was believed, by many, to possess the precious secret of reading the fates of kingdoms, the events of war, and the fortunes of particular

persons, in the face of the heavens. So much were these astrological quacks credited, that there was scarcely a Prince, or even an Earl, or great Baron, in Europe, who did not keep one or more of them in his family, to cast the horoscopes of his children, discover the success of his designs, and public events which were to happen.

Medicine, also, which had been practised in the darkest ages of Britain as an art, now began to be studied as a science; but we meet with few celebrated for their medical knowledge, who were not Priests or Monks. The profession became so lucrative, and so many Monks applied to the study and practice of it, (deserting their monasteries, and neglecting their own profession,) that a canon was made in the Council of Tours, A. D. 1163, prohibiting Monks to stay out of their monasteries above two months at one time, teaching or practising physic.

The Bishops of Rome had long been engaged in the project of erecting a spiritual monarchy, superior to all other in worldly aggrandizement and power. Hence Councils were assembled, composed of Prelates from Christian countries, in which laws were enacted, called canons, for the government of such spiritual monarchy. This compelled Bishops and their officials to make the canons of the Church their study, in order to direct them when they acted as Judges in their spiritual courts.

But it was not until the middle of the twelfth century that the canon-law attained the rank of a science, and was studied as a royal road to the highest honours, and the richest benefices. The study of the Roman or Civil Law was introduced into England about the same time with that of the Canon Law. A copy of the Justinian Code was brought from Rome, A. D. 1140; and Vacarius opened a school in Oxford, where he read lectures on the Civil Law to crowded audiences. The Common Law was also studied with great diligence, as a profession, by many who, by their skill, acquired not only fame and wealth, but also high offices in the state.

[blocks in formation]

"An important and essential similarity appears to me to exist between the general movement of mind in the present nineteenth century, and that in the twelfth. Our own age seems to carry forward a like spirit, although on a larger scale, and with more abundant resources. Both epochs are characterized by philosophic speculation; there is in both a striving like that of Sisyphus, without tangible result, yet never wholly useless; in both there is a plentiful supply of materials, not only for faith, but also for knowledge. It is true, we cannot tell whether the wise men of the present day will recognise and admit the likeness; and still less, what result for their own labours it will lead them to augur. But, instead of dwelling on this similarity, and involving ourselves in a period of time which is not yet within the domain of history, it is more appropriate to illustrate the spirit of the twelfth century, by putting it in contrast with that by which the sixteenth, and the latter part of the fifteenth, are characterized.

"In each of the periods now contrasted there was a great movement; nor was the earlier of the two much inferior in the variety and importance of its results to the general intellect. We are, indeed, apt to feel an undue partiality toward the sixteenth century, in comparison with the twelfth, because the great discoveries of the later epoch still so seriously affect the whole substance and direction of our outward life. The twelfth, on the contrary, has its beams dimmed by a nearer brightness; nor has it much with which many men in our day can sympathize: we must, then, carefully examine every lasting impression which it has left. At any rate, from the East fresh streams were poured in upon that age, to contribute to its outward and inward life; nor ought we to assume that these were less abundant than those which afterwards overflowed the sixteenth century, when the old world was recovered, and a new world opened; much less if, in each instance, we compare that which was added with

that which already existed. But this remark refers to the material of know

ledge, not to the intellectual spirit which

was at work, nor to its results. In the

period of the Crusades, the naïve capacity of belief, transmitted from the preceding age, reached its height simultaneously with the chivalric spirit. With

this it most strangely blended a whimsical fancy and a speculative keenness, by the working of which its child-like faith was sapped, and the whole system at length fell. Then, out of the rubbish of scholastic speculation and poetical enchantment, the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries dawn upon us, fresh in youth, and illustrious by the resurrection of heathen art and Gospel faith. The positive amount of culture, the accumulations of knowledge, were then far richer and fuller than at the earlier epoch. But the mental activity, absolutely considered, was much greater in the twelfth century; even to so feverish a degree, as chiefly to give that age its unpractical character. Too vigorous a fancy seized upon, and consumed, all the materials of knowledge. They vanished under the magical influence of an intellect which converted their most solid substance into artificial webs. Even institutions which professed to be practical, as those of chivalry and monachism, seem too fantastic and incorporeal for true history; while the really substantial matters of fact which chronologically fall into the same period, the extension of commerce, the establishment of the rights of chartered cities, the League of the Hanse Towns, these look quite out of place, as though they rather made part of a more sober age to come. But I must not tarry on a question which does not so immediately concern me; nor must I seek to decide on the value of the results obtained from the speculative philosophy of that period. Except in circles decidedly deficient in historical cultivation, these are, perhaps, rather too highly, than too slightly, appreciated; and it is now a sort of axiom, that, in that age, the struggle to apprehend things which began to outgrow faith, things which had hitherto been believed,-involved the most vitally important questions; that, in so far, the impulse had an excellent tendency; that it was diffused among all ranks more widely than can again be shown in the annals of history; in fine, that such names as Lanfranc, Anselm, Abelard, Peter Lombard, Hugo of St. Victor, Alexander Hall, Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, Occam, and many others, have a

[blocks in formation]

"That at this period Law and Medicine began to be cultivated anew, is well

known. Yet it is less considered than it deserves, that in the heart of Christian Europe they forthwith lost their positive nature, and were swallowed in the vortex

of fantasy. At a much later time, (after the Aristotelic Physics, tinged by the Arabian spirit, had spread over western Christendom,) the very same thing happened to the auxiliary medical sciences. Of course, no place was then left for experimental and inductive methods in Natural Philosophy and Medicine. As for Roman Law, indeed, it was wholly untractable to speculation; but for this very reason it was deprived of all scientific treatment whatever. It won its way very slowly on this side the Alps, in competition with the native jurisprudence. That part only on which the Church could graft her claims, attained a systematic cultivation; and this was incorporated with Theology. However, Law and Medicine may be called the new practical sciences of that day, in contrast to the new dialectical specula

tions.

"The Old School complained, first, that the bold spirit of innovation was remodelling at will all the dogmas of the Church; next, that through its prevalence must ensue an entire oblivion of

the scientific facts laboriously gleaned from classic authorities, (for their intrinsic value was not so much regarded,) and the study of the old languages themselves would be despised. Bold spirits and fluent tongues were able, also, without the toil of the Trivium and Quadrivium, to make themselves important by a smattering of Dialectics; while the substantial recompences earned by Jurisprudence and Medicine drew off many more minds from the old routine of study. Its sincere followers, whether scientifically or spiritually devoted to it, probably looked on these lucrative branches as degrading to the nobler feelings; and, indeed, their own self-interest and selfimportance must likewise have been

sometimes wounded. It is remarkable that the speculative schools, old and new, made common cause against the new practical studies. These intruders were wholly heterogeneous; but the new speculation, having developed itself out of the old, had points of agreement and sympathy with it." (Pages 5-10.)

The scholastic or Aristotelic philosophy-to which Professor Huber so often refers, and which induced the hierarchy of Rome, even at this early period, to hold fast in her hand the key which alone could reveal the arcana of the monastic and cathedral school, or of the more public and national seat of learning, the University-is pre-eminently a record of that struggle which has subsisted between the efforts of human reason, on the one hand, to assert its own freedom and inde. pendence; and, on the other hand, the coercion exercised over it by the civil or ecclesiastical powers. Taking a general view of the subject, it will be observed to be distinguished by two very opposite characteristics: an unbounded liberty of discussion, that advances, with unawed step, into the most startling curiosities of minute inquiry; and a servile addiction to the previous determinations and sanctions of the venerated authorities of antiquity. We are, thereextravagant attachment manifested fore, not surprised to learn, that the for the Aristotelian Logic, the reigning taste of the dark middle ages, should infect not only the sciences generally, but also that it should cause to fall prostrate before it that of Theology,-producing that popular system so well known by the name of school-divinity, and its teachers by the title of Schoolmen. The facts alluded to above, so essential to the establishment of the Aristotelian philosophy, and so conspicuous in the various forms of schothat struggle under which the syslastic philosophy, are evidences of tem gradually rose and established itself. It was by its artful combination of the two ingredients of the human judgment,-the positiveness of dogmatism, and the waywardness

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »