the same time, the means of establishing charitable foundations, exist to a greater extent than in the north of Holland, particularly in the self-protected, but flourishing cities of Deventer, Kampen and Zwoll; and it is in these very places that we see the institutions of which we are to treat, under the generous support of wealthy Dutch merchants, spring into existence and flourish. An additional circumstance which gave these establishments importance and power, was that they supplied a third necessity of the times, which proved ultimately to be of more account than mere physical want and stood side by side in importance with the demand for the religion of the heart, I mean the necessity for a more unsophisticated and sound intellectual culture. The service done to humanity in the schools founded by this Christian fraternity is now beginning to be acknowledged by all those who are acquainted with their influence upon the learning and intelligence of the succeeding age, and upon the moral and religious condition of the people at large, preparing them for the reformation of Luther and Zuingle.

The founder of the institution of the Life in Common was Gerard Groot, a man of ardent piety, and popular eloquence, who felt a special interest in the education of the young. He was not a man of great literary attainments; his Latin style was not very classical; he probably did not understand Greek or Hebrew at all, and his reading appears to have been limited chiefly to the Scriptures, to writers on canonical law, and to the fathers of the church, particularly Augustine and Bernard. Still he held an honorable place among his contemporaries as a theologian, and, what was most important of all, he was a zealous promoter of sound, and useful knowledge. He might have been a more learned man, might have written Latin in the style of a Poggius, and have possessed the philological treasures and the wit of an Erasmus, and yet not have been so great a benefactor to his age and of posterity, as he actually was in consequence of originating the great enterprise of popular education. Though the institution subsequently outgrew the plan of the founder, and under such men as Agricola, Alexander Hegius and Johan Wessel, exceeded what Gerard ever designed or distinctly conceived, still to him belongs the honor of having originated measures which proved to be an unspeakably great public blessing, particularly to Germany and Holland.

Thomas à Kempis said of him: Nam totam hanc patriam nostram vita, verbo, moribus et doctrina illuminavit et accendit.

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Early Life of Gerard Groot.

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Gerard Groot was born in 1340 at Deventer, where his father, Werner Groot, held the office of burgomaster. He had a slender constitution, but good talents, and was therefore destined to a literary profession. After his preparatory studies were ended, he resorted to the university of Paris, then the most distinguished in Europe, where he remained from 1355 to 1358. Philosophy and dialectics he is supposed to have studied under the nominalist Buridan, known to all the world by his celebrated dilemma of the ass between two bundles of straw. He pursued theology, his chief study, in the Sorbonne, for many centuries the most renowned seat of that science. His most intimate friend at Paris was Henry Eger, twelve years older than himself, afterwards known as an author. He is also mentioned as Gerard's confessor. In his eighteenth year, young Groot returned home as master of arts, but was soon led, by his thirst for knowledge, to resort to Cologne, where he prosecuted his studies still further and became teacher in the university.

Belonging as he did to a family of rank, he received several benefices; he was made canon of Utrecht and also of Aix La Chapelle. Surrounded with the smiles of fortune, he appeared as one entering upon the ordinary career of a worldly minded prelate. He attended public entertainments, enjoyed the luxuries of the table, wore a splendid robe and a girdle ornamented with silver and an outer garment of the richest fur. With his natural endowments and learning and fortune, he was a man after the spirit of the times. But soon a more serious and earnest state of mind ensued. Even while he was at Cologne, during a public amusement at which he was present, a man, who perceived what he was capable of becoming, accosted him with these words, which were not without effect: "What have you to do here, with these vain amusements? You must cease to be a man of this sort." Still greater effect had the faithful admonitions of Eger upon him, who had, in the meantime, become prior in a monastery near Arnheim. Meeting him one day in Utrecht, he seriously remonstrated with him, turning his attention away from the vanity of earthly things to the pursuit of the chief good. Eger struck the right chord in the heart of his young friend, and the latter resolved on the spot to change his course of life, and, in humble reliance upon God, to renounce the world, and to devote himself to something worthier of his spiritual nature.

From that moment Gerard became a different man. He gave up his ecclesiastical revenues and his paternal estate, burnt his

books of magic on which he had expended much money, abandoned his pleasures, and retired to the monastery of his friend where he spent three years in religious meditation and in the study of the Scriptures. But his eloquence and energy of character fitted him rather for active than contemplative life, and, as he trembled at the responsibilities of the office of priest, and the care of souls, he was made deacon, by virtue of which office he was authorized merely to preach. Thus, at the urgent request of the monks of his order, the Carthusians, he went forth with a noble enthusiasm, publicly to pursuade men to a religious life. Having obtained permission of the bishop of Utrecht to preach throughout his whole diocese, he was seen, as were once Peter of Bruys, Henry of Lausanne, and others, travelling from place to place and eloquently discoursing with the people and urging them to repentance and reformation of life. His preaching, eagerly listened to by all ranks of society, sunk deep into the hearts of many. It was not merely the richness and flow of his eloquence that moved the people. They saw before them a man, who, without office and without reward, spake out the language of his own heart, from a depth of conviction and an earnestness of love which left a peculiar impression. As discreet as he was ardent, he sought to avail himself in his discourses of every mood of feeling which he could see depicted in the countenances of his hearers. He would sometimes throw a searching glance over the whole audience, and then address himself directly to that state of mind which he found to prevail. It was of essential service to him that he abandoned the current method of preaching in Latin, and adopted the popular dialect, the low German. Hence at Deventer, Kampen, Zwoil, Utrecht, Leyden, Delft, Gouda, and Amsterdam where he first preached in the native language, the people assembled in such crowds, often without taking food and to the neglect of pressing business, that the churches would not contain them, and the preacher was obliged to hold his services in the open air. When he found a favorable opportunity, he preached almost continually, often twice a day, and sometimes three hours long. The jealousy of the clergy was at length aroused and the zeal of the preacher was checked by the authority of the bishop. This circumstance gave a new turn to Groot's activity, and conducted him immediately to that larger sphere of usefulness for which Providence had designed him.

Another cause had already operated towards producing this result. Gerard had recently made a journey, which had a power

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ful influence upon his character, and was decisive in giving a new direction to his life. In company with Cele, rector of the school at Zwoll, and another intimate friend, he visited, in 1378, the cloister of Grünthal, near the battle-ground of Waterloo, in order to make the acquaintance of the celebrated mystic Ruysbroek, whom he had long known from his writings. Delighted with the simplicity and fraternal deportment of the inmates of the cloister, and still more with the venerable and serene character of the philosophic prior, he remained several successive days to enjoy intercourse with the pious sage, and converse with him respecting the Scriptures and the inner life, from all which a deep and permanent impression was made upon his mind. He afterwards wrote to the brethren at Grünthal, that he had never so tenderly loved, nor so much respected any mortal as he did their prior. The life in common of the regular canons of this cloister and the fraternal spirit which prevailed there, by presenting a beautiful example of Christian union and sympathy, equally affected the heart and influenced the subsequent life of the distinguished visitor. With all these facts before us, we might anticipate the remark of Thomas à Kempis, that Gerard, struck with the simplicity and Christian spirit of Ruysbroek and his brethren, resolved to found an institution on a similar plan.

Gerard continued his journey from Grünthal to Paris, where he purchased, at no trifling expense, a large number of books adapted to the instruction of the young. On returning to Deventer, he directed his attention principally to the religious education of young men. He had long been accustomed to hold free intercourse with such, and Binterink, of Zutphen, a pious young clergyman, who had frequently accompanied him in his preaching circuits, and Florentius, a youth of great abilities and good attainmeuts, were already numbered among his most familiar friends. In Deventer there was a flourishing school, and the young men belonging to it, particularly those who were studying for the ministry, put themselves, in part, under Gerard's direction. He guided and aided them in their studies, read valuable authors with them, gave to the indigent a seat at his own table, and furnished them facilities for earning something towards their support.

Copying books finally became one of their most important occupations. Gerard's love of the Scriptures and of the writings of the fathers led him to desire a collection of the early Christian literature. He was, as he himself said, avaricious and over-ava

ricious of good books. In employing the young men to copy valuable theological works, he had a three-fold object in view, the multiplication and circulation of copies, the pecuniary aid of those employed, and their literary and religious training which he designed to connect with their occupation. The circle of students and young friends around him was gradually enlarged till at length they formed a regular association, and a beginning was made in copying and distributing Bibles and religious tracts which continued until superseded by the art of printing.

The circumstance which occasioned a regular organization was the following. One of the young men, Florentius, of whom mention has already been made, then vicar at Deventer, said one day to Gerard, "Dear teacher, what harm would it do, were I and my associates, employed in copying, to put together our weekly earnings and live in common?" "In common!" replied Gerard, "that the mendicant friars would never suffer; they would oppose it with all their power." "What if we were to make the trial?" said Florentius, "perhaps God would give us success." " Very well," replied Gerard, "make a beginning; I will defend and protect you against opposition." This was the germ of a union, which afterwards became widely extended and assumed great public importance.

The community which took its origin in these circumstances had a certain resemblance to the philosophical and ascetic associations of the ancient pagans and Jews, but was freer, less secret, and more practical. It was not wholly unlike the monastic institutions, but it was a system of less constraint, and was animated by a purer and nobler spirit. The practice of these brethren, and the aims of their organization were designed to be conformed, so far as the circumstances and character of the age would allow, to the apostolic model as described in the second chapter of Acts. The association bore the names of Fratres Bonae Voluntatis, Fratres Collationarii, Gregoriani and Hieronymiani, as well as that of Brethren of the Life in Common. Their means of subsistence were procured partly by manual labor, and partly from the munificence of friends. Only in cases of extreme distress would they beg from door to door. Their property was held in common, and ordinarily each one, on becoming a member, gave whatever he possessed to the fraternity, though at first no strict rule appears to have existed in respect to this matter. Everything was left to be regulated as far as possible by love, and the