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1845.]

Nature of the Houses of the Brethren.

217

participated in almost every labor of the clerical members. To such an extent did the spirit of the family prevail over that of caste The employment most common to all, was that of copying books. The zeal which Gerard, from religious motives, manifested for this branch of labor was inherited by Florentins and imparted by him to the entire fraternity. Florentius himself was not a skilful copyist; but he encouraged his brethren to practise the art, and gave such aid as he could by polishing and ruling the parchment, selecting passages and correcting the copy. Particular hours were set apart each day for copying, especially for the benefit of the poor. The more elegant copyists, such as Thomas à Kempis, prepared beautiful copies of the Bible and of favorite theological works, which were deposited in the libraries of the Brethren. Others were occupied with copying useful books to be given away to indigent young persons, or religious tracts to be distributed gratuitously among the people.'

The occupations of the brethren depended in great measure on the circumstances and character of the different houses. In some houses a practical tendency prevailed; in others intellectual activity, and some were scarcely anything more than mere industrial establishments. Much, too, depended on the pecuniary condition of the houses; for while many of them were very poor, others were rich and even sumptuous. The house at Hildesheim, was a sort of ecclesiastical warehouse, where missals, mass-weeds, surplices and the like were furnished. In the convent of St. Mary's near Beverwijk, the brethren traded in parchments, honey, wax and salt fish. The brethren at Hattem, on account of their poverty, practised at first nothing but husbandry and weaving; after becoming more prosperous, they were also engaged in literary employments, and finally established a school which was not without repute. There was a similar diversity in the cloisters of the regular canons. The celebrated cloister of Agnesberg or Mount St. Agnis near Zwoll, where Thomas à Kempis lived, was originally very poor. Others, as that near Hoorn, called the jewel of Westfriesland, were very rich.

The largest number of these establishments, however, retained the character which their founders designed, and were of that middling class, which were not obliged to resort wholly to manual labor, nor, on the other hand, were allured to a life of ease and

1 Has not the origin of tract distribution generally been referred to too late a period?

luxury. Their chief aim was to promote religion among the common people, and education among the youth.

For the spiritual improvement of the people two kinds of religious service were established, preaching, and what were called collations, or a religious meeting that bears the same relation to public preaching that a little refreshment does to a regular meal.

Upon the prevailing mode of preaching, Gerard and his institution exerted the happiest influence. As early as the time of Charlemagne the priests were often desired to preach in a language that the people could understand, but, for the most part, to no purpose. Only a few individuals, as the Dominican monk, John of Vicenza about the year 1250, and the Franciscan, Berthold of Ratisbon, who died in 1272, distinguished themselves from others by preaching practically and in the native language. But Groot gave a general impulse in favor of such preaching, and, in his day, a large number of preachers, undoubtedly excited by him, made the pulpit a place of commanding moral power, in Holland. So Wermbold at Utrecht, Henrici at Amersford, Gonde at Zwoll, Aurifaber at Haarlem, Dou at Amsterdam, and Paulus at Medenblik, men who, though they did not belong to the Brethren of the Life in Common, labored heartily in their spirit. Binterink and Gronde were among the most celebrated preachers of the fraternity. The manner of preaching among the Brethren was animated and popular. They spoke from inward impulses, and therefore with simplicity and with power. They animated their discourses by a liberal use of striking examples, and gave them form and authority by weighty sentiments and remarks drawn from the writings of the more pious and able of the church fathers. Their long discourses, which in some instances extended to six hours, probably have had some influence in the formation of that practice, still peculiar to the Dutch preachers, of delivering sermons of an almost interminable length.

The collations were less public and less formal than the ordinary church services. They were, at first, most common in the houses of the brethren, and were generally holden in the afternoon of the Sabbath and of festival days. A passage of Scripture, commonly from the Gospels, was read, explained and applied to practical life. Sometimes the speaker proposed questions to his audience. Such services, which were often held also among the common people, and also in the popular dialect excited a great and wide-spread interest, so that many legacies were left to the Brethren on the condition that, on festival days, such meet

1845.] Value of the Labors of the Brethren in Education. 219

ings should be held for the benefit of the common people. Similar instructions were given on proper occasions in more private circles in social life.

But the most important service by far done to the public by the Brethren, was that of educating the young. By that means they succeeded in forming a new generation. In this work also their activity varied according to the occasion. In many cases, they had no separate schools of their own, but entered into a voluntary connection with existing schools, aiding the pupils by providing them with books, by holding literary and religious intercourse with them, and by procuring for them employment or support. In other instances they opened schools themselves, and gave instruction in reading, writing, music, in Latin both oral and written, and in religion, and most of all in biblical history. In other schools still, they sometimes had a participation by taking the charge of particular classes without any further connection. So it was in the celebrated school at Deventer, which was founded before Gerard's time. After the institution of the Life in Common, this school and the Brethren spontaneously entered into cooperation with each other. The rectors of the school were generally friendly to the order, many of the pupils either were supported by it, or recommended to wealthy and benevolent-individuals, who furnished them both board and rooms. These pupils commonly participated both in the labors and in the religious exercises of the Brethren. At the time of Florentius, John Boheme was rector of the school at Deventer, and being a great admirer of the former, and an almost constant attendant on his preaching, he was predisposed to favor in every possible way those who were recommended by him. Thomas à Kempis says, in his life of Gronde, " When I came to Deventer to study, I also visited Windesheim, where I found among the canons my brother, John à Kempis. At his suggestion I went to see Florentius whose name was already widely known. He procured for me a gratuitous support in the family of a much respected and pious matron, and gave me books, as he was accustomed to do to others." By such a coöperation of the Brethren, the school at Deventer became very flourishing. Wherever the brethren had a house, there a large number of scholars was sure to be found, sometimes even a multitude, as at their school at Herzogenbush, where there were, at times, no less than twelve hundred pupils ; and at Gröningen where there were nearly as many. The reason why their schools were so much frequented was, in part at

least, that the indigent were aided in their support by the Brethren, and though tuition was not universally free, it was generally so to poor students. In Herzogenbush the pupils, besides their division into some school classes, were distinguished as divites, mediocres and pauperes, the first of which are supposed to pay full tuition; the second, half of it; and the third nothing at all. Over the door of the House of the Brethren in that place was written the following distich:

Interea gratis docui quos pressit egestas,

Et mercede, quibus sors satis ampla fuit.

Where so large a number of pupils were collected, the office of teacher could be made permanent. This circumstance in the schools of the Brethren introduced an important change, and did much towards checking the wandering habits of the school-teachers of that age. The personal connection between teacher and pupil became intimate, influential and lasting. Whole cities even where such schools were established, received a new and remarkable intellectual stamp. In Amersford, for example, a knowledge of the Latin, about the middle of the sixteenth century, is said to have been so general, that the common mechanics could understand and speak Latin. The more intelligent merchants understood Greek, the maidens sung Latin hymns, and a tolerably correct Latin could be heard in the streets. This picture may be a little too highly colored, but it is certain that the Brethren made great and successful efforts to restore and propagate a purer Latinity.

In the schools, as in the church, the tendency of these efficient labors of the Brethren was to Reformation. Their earnest, active, disinterested efforts for the education of the young, was a novel thing. It was apparent that they were designing to raise up a new generation of men. Still more obvious was this in their method of instruction. They cast away at once from their textbooks all the scholastic nonsense, and abandoned what was entangled and useless for what was sound and practical; and the barbarism of the middle ages for the simplicity and purity of the ancients. The Mammotrectus, the Gemma Gemmarum, the Doctrinale Alexandri de Villa Dei, and other school books, which the papal church protected as sacredly as it did its doctrines, were unceremoneously thrust aside by the Brethren, and the works of the ancients substituted in their place. Alexander Hegius and John Sintius in the school at Deventer have deservedly secured

1845.]

Zerbolt-Use of the Native Language.

221

to themselves an imperishable name for the boldness and decision with which they conducted their pupils back to a knowledge of antiquity.

The foregoing account embraces what is most essential in the organization of the Brethren of the Life in Common. In what follows we have to consider its further development under two particular forms. At the very beginning, the Brethren, as if by natural instinct, resorted to the use of the native language in giving religious instruction. But from this period forth, it became with them a subject of definite consideration, and a settled principle of action. Not only did they hereby acquire a great power in their discourses over the minds of the people, but they also prepared the way for introducing with more effect the Bible and other religious books into the popular language. This is one of the two forms of activity above indicated. The other is the collection of the traditional doctrines relating to practical religion and the moral teachings of the leading men of the fraternity into a living, connected and complete form, so as to make a deep and lasting impression on the public mind. The former work was accomplished under the auspices of Gerard Zerbolt. The latter was effected with a success almost unparalleled by Thomas à Kempis. Both of these agencies, whether designed to be so or not, tended to prepare both the intellect and the hearts of the people for the preaching of Luther. To these two individuals, therefore, we must direct our attention.

Zerbolt, and the use of the Native Language in Religious Instruction.

As a contemporary of Florentius, though about seventeen years younger, Gerard Zerbolt distinguished himself among the Brethren at Deventer. He was born at Zütphen about the year 1367, and is therefore often called Gerard of Zütphen. After going through his elementary studies at other schools, he came to that of Deventer, in which he was principally educated, and entered into the most intimate connection with Florentius and the BrethEven when a boy, he manifested an extraordinary eagerness for study. He hung upon the lips of his teachers, and when the hour of instruction was ended, always regretted that it was so short. This thirst for knowledge was never abated, and was modified only by taking a particular direction after his entrance into the fraternity. He was incessantly employed in reading, studying, and copying the Bible and other religious books, allow

ren.

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