A new history of ecclesiastical writers containing an account of the authors of the several books of the Old and New Testament, of the lives and writings of the primitive fathers, an abridgement and catalogue of their works ... also a compendious history of the councils, with chronological tables of the whole / written in French by Lewis Ellies du Pin.

SECTION III.

An Examination of the Manuscripts of the Book of the Imitation, which go under the Name of Thomas a Kempis, a Canon-Regular of Zwoll.

THE first of the contending Parties whom we will hear, is Thomas a Kempis, whose most pro∣bable Title is founded upon a Manuscript of the Imitation, which is to be found in the Je∣suits House at Antwerp, written with his own Hand in 1441. as these Words written at the end of the Manuscript, give Reason to believe: Finitus & completus Anno Domini, 1441. per manus fratris Thomae Kemp. in monte S. Agnetis prope Zwol, i. e. Being finish'd and compleated in the Year of our Lord, 1441. by the Hand of Friar Thomas a Kempis in the Mount of St. Agnes near Zwoll. This Manuscript contains the four Books of the Imitation of Jesus Christ under four dif∣ferent Titles: The 1st under this Title, Useful Advertisements for a Spiritual Life; alias, Of the Imitation of Jesus Christ. The 2d under this, Advices which carry a Man inward. The 4th, which is transpos'd and plac'd in the room of the 3d, under this Title, Of the Sacrament of the Altar. The 3d, which is plac'd last, under this Title, Of the Interiour Speech of Jesus Christ. And be∣sides these four Books, there are some other Treatises of Thomas a Kempis, viz. A Treatise of the Discipline of those who are in the Cloyster; A Letter of a Devout Person to a Regular; A Recom∣mendation of Humility, of the Mortified Life, the Peaceable Life of good Men; Of the Elevation of the Heart; A short Advice about External Behaviour. Now all these Treatises are, without Dispute, Thomas a Kempis's; from whence it is inferr'd, That the four first are also his, and so much the rather, because if they had been another Author's, he would not have fail'd to have set down his Name. This Manuscript is Authentick, for it is mark'd at the beginning, That it is at the Monastery of the Canons-Regular of Mount-saint Agnes, a Virgin and Martyr, near to Zwoll. And afterwards, we find written with a later Hand, That Friar John Latomus, a Regular of the Order of Regulars, in the House near Herental, Minister-General of this Order, having visited the Monastery of St. Agnes, near Zwoll, had remov'd the Ruins of this Monastery, lest it should entirely be lost, and carried it to Antwerp, where he had left it in 1577. in the hands of his An∣cient and Faithful Friend John Beller, who had given it in favour of his Children, to the F. F. of the Society of Jesus, in 1590.

Those who maintain, That Thomas a Kempis is not the Author of the Book of the Imitation of Jesus Christ; Answer, That this Manuscript rather favours them than the contrary: 1st, Because it proves only, that Thomas a Kempis is the Transcriber of the Books of Imitation, and not that he is the Author of them. This is all that is signified by what is set down at the end, and the same Observation is to be met with in a Volume of a Bible, written by Thomas a Kempis; Finished and Compleated in 1439. on the Vigil of St. James, by the hands of Friar Thomas a Kempis, &c. which shows, That this is the common and ordinary Form which meer Transcribers us'd to make use of at that time. 2dly, That tho' this Manuscript be written with the hand of Thomas a Kempis, yet it cannot be said, That this is the Original of that Book, because it is evident, and confessed by all the World, That there are Manuscripts of the Book of Imitation, more ancient than this; among the rest, a Manuscript of the first Book, which ends thus, Here ends this Treatise written in the Council of Basil, in 1437. and finish'd with the help of God, by me Gottingen: It cannot therefore be said, That this is the Original of Thomas a Kempis's Composition; it can be no more than a Copy which he wrote out of his own Works. 3dly, There are some things in this Ma∣nuscript which may make it doubtful, whether Thomas a Kempis be the Author of the Book; for if he were, 'tis reasonable to believe, That he would not have plac'd the fourth Book in the room of the third; he would not have left in it so many Faults, such as Omissions, particularly at B. 1. ch. 13. after this Verse, Principiis obsta, sero medicina paratur, this other Verse necessary for compleating the Sense, is omitted, Cum mala per longas invaluere Moras, and at B. 2. ch. 11. Raro invenitur tam spiritualis, the Word invenitur is forgotten; and gross Faults, as at B. 1. ch. 12. Non bene nobis creditur, for de nobis; at B. 2. ch. 5. Debes habere for velles habere, B. 4. (which is the third Book in the printed Copies) ch. 36. succumbi for succumbere, ch. 55. stips for stipes or stirps; and Words repeated twice and eraz'd. If these things be true, say they, then those who publish'd the Book of the Imitation under the Name of Thomas a Kempis, have not in every thing follow'd this Manuscript as they ought to have done, if it were certain that this was the last Copy of the Author, which ought therefore to be most correct. 4thly, 'Tis pre∣tended, That this is not a Proof that the Imitation is Thomas a Kempis's, because it is joyn'd to the Works which are ascrib'd to him, That there are very often found in one and the same Vo∣lume, the Works of different Authors; and perhaps there may be some cause to doubt, whether these other Works which are joyn'd to this, are all of them Thomas a Kempis's.

To the 1st Objection it is reply'd, That 'tis true, it cannot be inferr'd meerly from the Words that are at the end of this Manuscript, That it is Th••ma•• a Kempis's; nay 'tis confess'd, That

in Humility he would not put his Name to this Work, That he lov'd rather to pass for the Tran∣scriber than the Author of it; but still it is pretended, that this being join'd to the other Works which are uncontestably his, in one and the same Manuscript, all written out with his own hand, 'tis no ways probable that it should be any other Author's; and so much the rather, be∣cause Thomas a Kempis did not make any Distinction between them, and never observ'd that the Imitation was another Author's. As to the 2d, That 'tis not pretended, that this Manuscript was the first Original of Thomas a Kempis, but that it was only a Copy written out in 1441. of a Work which he compos'd about the Year 1410. As to the 3d, 'Tis reply'd, That an Author who transcribes his own Work, may sometimes commit Faults through Inadvertency; That the Trans∣posal of the Book is not a Fault, since these Books never had any certain Order; That the Verse Cum mala per longas, &c. is omitted not only in this Manuscript, but in many others which go not under the Name of Kempis; and that Cajetan and Walgrave did think it needless, since they have not put it in their Editions. As to the last, 'Tis reply'd, That this Manuscript being writ∣ten from beginning to end, with the hand of Thomas a Kempis, it cannot be said, that it was by chance he join'd these Works together, and that 'tis no wise probable, he should write a Trea∣tise which is none of his, with those Treatises which are his, and never make any Distinction between them.

There is another Manuscript also written with the hand of Thomas a Kempis, which has a De∣claration written at the end of it, in 1586. by John Ulimmerius; Hic liber est scriptus manu & characteribus Reverendi & Religiosi Patris, P. Thomae Kempis, Canonici Regularis, in Monte St. Agnetis, qui est Autor horum libellorum devotorum: Joannes Ulimmerius scripsit, 1586. This Manuscript is in the Library of St. Martin of Louvain, it contains the Soliloquy of the Soul, the three first Books of Imitation, the Treatise of the Elevation of the Soul, a brief Advice for spi∣ritual Exercise, the Treatise of the Sacrament (which is the fourth Book of Imitation) whereof there is nothing but the Preface: 'Tis partly written on Parchment, and partly on Paper. There are in it the same Omissions which are in the other, and the same Reflections may be made upon them; and so much the rather, because it is not himself, but another who testifies, that it was written with the hand of Thomas a Kempis, and that he is the Author of it; and this he did in 1586. which is more than a Hundred Years after his Death; which renders his Testimony, both as to the Writing and Composure of Thomas a Kempis, of little Authority. Those who have seen these two Manuscripts, and might have compar'd them together, have never told us, whether the hands be like one another. Let us now proceed to the other Manuscripts, which are not written out with the hand of Thomas a Kempis, but only go under his Name, which are produc'd by the F. F. of St. Genevieve.

The first is a Manuscript of St. Martin of Louvain, which contains the little Garden of Roses, and three Books of Imitation, viz. the 1st, the 4th, and the 3d, at the end whereof these Words are read; Expliciunt tractatus quatuor Fratris Thomae Kempis devoti & interni, scripti, illumi∣nati & ligati per manus fratris Symonis Jacobi, de Leydis, Professi in Leyderdorp, pro tunc Socii Rectoris hujus Monasterii sancti monialium Antiqua••um in Aemstelredam Anno scilicct Domini 1482. in professo Willibrord Episcopi, i. e. Here end the four Treatises of Friar Thomas a Kem∣pis, a devout and inward Man, written, enlightned, and bound up by the hands of Friar Si∣mon James, of Leyden, a Regular of Leyderdorp, at that time the Companion of the Rector of the Ancient Nuns of this Monastery of Amsterdam, in the Year of our Lord, 1482. on the Fe∣stival Day of St. Willibrord, Bishop. Here is a Manuscript of 1482. whose Transcriber does plainly ascribe three Books of the Imitation to Thomas a Kempis.

The second is a Manuscript of the House of St. Peter and St. Anthony, at Delhem, wherein there is found an Extract taken out of the Treatise of the Cloyster of the Soul, by Hugo Foliot, written in 1475. and the Book of Imitation under this Title, A Treatise of the Contempt of the World; at the end whereof there is written with another hand: Explicit libellus de Contemptu Mundi, quem fecit frater Thomas Kempis, professus in Monte Agentis Ordinis Canonicorum Regu∣larium, obiit aetatis suae Anno 92, in Ordine devotus 65, requiescat in perpetua pace de primis pro quo solvi debitum, Anno 1471. Cosmae & Damiani quo Anno obiit, i. e. Here ends the Book of the Contempt of the World, which was made by Friar Thomas a Kempis a Regular of Mount-Saint-Agnes, of the Order of Canons Regulars, who died in the 92 Year▪ of his Age, in the 65 after his Admission into his Order, and in 1471. on the Day of St. Cosmas of St. and St. Damian: Let him rest in Eternal Peace. This Manuscript does not contribute much to confirm the Claim of Thomas a Kempis, because this Observation was not made with the hand of him who wrote the Manuscript, who left the Treatise Anonymous.

The third is a Manuscript of the Canons-Regular of the Holy Cross of Ausburg, which contains four Books of the Imitation, at the end whereof are found these Words; Compilator hujus Opusculi fuit quidam frater Thomas nomine de Conventu & Ordine Canonicorum Regularium Ordinis St. Augustin, Montis sanctae Agnetis Trajectensis, i. e. The Compiler of this Treatise is Friar Thomas, of the Convent and Order of Canons-Regulars, of the Order of St. Augustin, of Mount-Saint-Agnes, of Utrecht. Bollandus and Heserus have pretended, that this Manuscript is of the Year 1440, but in that which was produc'd by the Canons-Regulars of St. Genevieve, there was no Date at all, and those who are well vers'd in these Matters, could not pitch upon the time in which it might be written; and therefore we cannot tell, whether it be more ancient or later than that of 1441. besides, That Thomas a Kempis is here describ'd only as a Compiler.

The fourth is a Manuscript in the Library of St. Martin at Louvain, which at the head of the first Book, has the Name of Thomas a Kempis, Liber primus fratris Thomae a Kempis, Canonici Regularis de Imitatione Christi. This Manuscript has its Date at the end, which is but in the Year 1524. Ultima Decemb••is finientis Anni 1524. in Festo St. Sylvestri Papae & Confess•…•…is.

They alledge also many other Manuscripts which have been seen and quoted by those who have written about these Matters, whose Testimonies they relate, as a Manuscript of the Con∣vent of the Carthusians at Brussels, written in 1463. containing the four Books of Imitation with∣out the Name of the Author indeed, but only under the Title of a Regular: Explicit devotus tractatus cujusdam Regularis, de interna locutione Christi ad Animam fidelem, scriptus per manus Jacobi Baeust, Laici redditi. Finitus in Anno Jubil••eo, 1473. die mensis Octobris, & pertinet ad Carthusienses Domus Sylvae Sancti Martini prope Geraldi Montem. This Manuscript is cited by Chistetius, in the 7th Chapter of his Apology, and he affirms that he had it in his hands. There is another Ma∣nuscript at Utrecht cited by the same Author, upon the Credit of Lappius, who believ'd it to be of the 14th Century, in which the Name of Thomas a Regular is thrice repeated. There are two Manuscripts in the Monastery of St. John Baptist, of Rebdo••f, without Date, which according to the Certificate of Father Breidend••nch, Subprior of this Monastery, and of a Notary, go un∣der the Name of Thomas a Kempis; a Manuscript in the Library of Afflighew, cited by Sande∣rus, upon the Testimonial of Father Cambiere, a Benedictine Regular of that Abbey, which goes under the Name of Thomas a Kempis; a Manuscript in the Monastery of Canons-Regulars of Maseyke, quoted by Rosweidus, which was written in 1477. by Cornelius Offermans, which goes under the Name of Thomas a Kempis; a Manuscript in the Library of David Ehinger, of the City of Kirchen, in the Dutchy of Wirtemberg, quoted by Prosper Farandus, which contains three Books of the Imitation, with the Name of Thomas a Kempis; upon which it is observ'd, that this Book is of the Author's hand, who wrote it in 1425. But since there is now no such Manuscript, neither is it said, with what hand this is observ'd, no great matter can be built upon it: A Ma∣nuscript in the Library of Ausburg, attested by the Surrogat Bishop of that City, without any Date, wherein the Imitation carries the Name of Thomas a Kempis; a Manuscript in the Library of Ausburg, which contains four Books of the Imitation under the Name of Thomas a Kempis, as the Catalogue printed in 1633. gives ground to believe; and wherein there is no more but the last joyn'd to the other Treatises of Thomas a Canon-Regular of Mount-Saint-Agnes in a Volume, on the 1st Page whereof it is observ'd, That this Book was for the Use of Friar John Lefort, a Reader of Divinity, and that it was given in 1490. in the Octave of St. Martin, by John Car∣penter, Provincial of the Order of the Carmelites.

To these particular Manuscripts of the Imitation of Jesus Christ, which go under the Name of Thomas a Kempis, we may joyn the Ancient Collections of the Works of this Author, among which the Imitation is plac'd. The 1st is a Manuscript in the Library of the Monastery of St. Barbe, of the Carthusians of Collen▪ containing divers Treatises, the Titles whereof are at the Top, viz. The Mirrour of Henry of Hesse, the Book of discerning Spirits by the same, and after∣wards, Some Tracts of a Devout Regular (where some Person has added on the Margin, whose Name is Thomas Kempis, of a Convent near to Zwoll) Of the Sacrament of the Altar; Of the se∣ven things which most pleased God in his Elect; The Breviloquium of Spiritual Exercises; A Trea∣tise of some Vertues; The Soliloquy of the Soul by way of Dialogue; The little Book which is call'd, Qui sequitur me. Towards the end of the Book, about the Sacrament of the Altar, 'tis observ'd, That this Treatise was written in 1447. on St. Simon and St. Jude's Day. The two first Treatises of this Manuscript, which are Henry Hesse's, and the last which is the first Book of the Imitation, are written in a different hand from the rest, which are written in a hand resembling that in which the Catalogue is written. This was the Judgment of men well vers'd in these matters: But the Name of Thomas a Kempis appears to be written lately. There are also two other Colle∣ctions alledg'd, one which is in the Monastery of Benedictines of Mount Blandin, near Gant; which according to the Certificate of Father Vanheul, Library-keeper to this Abby, authoriz'd by the Dean of the Church of Gant, contains many Works of Thomas a Kempis, which begin with the Sermons to the Novices, together with their Preface, which is Entituled, Here begins the Pro∣logue of that devout Man Friar Thomas Kempis, a Priest, a Canon-Regular profess'd, who died in the Monastery of St. Agnes near Zwol; after this follow the Sermons: There are many other Works of the same Author, among which is found that of the Imitation. This Manuscript has no Date, and there was never any Judgment given of its Antiquity. The third Collection is, that which is found in the Library of the Benedictines of St. Martin at Tournay, which is alledg'd by Chifletius, it contains the Book of the Discipline of those who are in the Cloyster; Spiritual Exercises; the Treatise of a Man's Acknowledgment of his own Frailty; A short Advertisement of the Spiritual Exercise; Useful Advices for a spiritual Life (this is the 1st Book of the Imitation) Advertisements which carry a man inward (that's the 2d Book) and at the end is written with the same hand and in Red, Friar Thomas a Kempis, Canon-Regular of the Monastery of St. Agnes near Zwoll, in the Diocese of Utrecht, wrote the Tracts above recited. This Manuscript is without Date.

To these Collections we may add the Manuscript Catalogues of Books, wherein the Imitation is found commended under the Name of Thomas a Kempis, such as that of the Library of Endovia, which is join'd to another Catalogue of Sancta Maria of Arnhem, dated in the Year 1472. A Ca∣talogue of the Books of about a hundred Libraries of Germany, which contain short Characters of Authors, wherein there is found at Page 302. what follows, Friar Thomas a Kempis, of the

Diocess of Collen, a Canon-Regular at Mount St. Agnes near Zwoll, of the Diocess of Utrecht, being well vers'd in the Holy Scripture, has Compil'd many Tracts, which are witnesses of his Devotion, and useful for Regulars; viz. Advertisements for a Spiritual Life, otherwise call'd, of the Imita∣tion of Jesus Christ; Advices which lead to an inward Life, and of inward Conversation; of In∣ternal Consolation or Speech; of the Holy Communion, or the Preparation of a Man for the Com∣munion. There is another Catalogue joyn'd to the preceeding, wherein at the Letter T. there is put under the Name of Thomas a Kempis the four Books of the Imitation, together with the Book of the Three Tabernacles, and of Mary and Martha; these three Catalogues are in the Library of St. Martin of Louvain. There is also a Catalogue in the Library of St. Maria of Arnhem, dated in 1496. wherein the four Books of the Imitation are found under the Name of Tho. a Kempis. Three ancient Catalogues in the Library of the Monastery of St. John Baptist de Rebdorf, containing the Titles of all the Works of Thomas a Kempis, among which are found the Books of the Imitation; whereof one bears date 1488. and goes under the Name of Friar Nicolas Numan of Frankfurt, a Regular of Frankendal. An Observation which is at the end of the Monastery of St. Catherine of Ausburg, wherein are the Lives of Gerard and Florence in German; wherein 'tis observ'd that this Book is Thomas a Kempis's, who wrote a Devout Book of the Imitation of Jesus Christ.

The General Answer which is given to all these Manuscripts is this, that being all later than that of Antwerp, in 1441. which has the Name of Thomas a Kempis at the end of it, altho' it be only in the quality of a Transcriber, and not of the Author, it was very possible that one of these might be taken for the other, and that the Book might be ascrib'd to Thomas a Kempis as the Author, which he had only Transcrib'd. That this it is which has deceiv'd some of those who have since Copied out or Printed this Work, and many Authors who have ascrib'd it to him. That there is not any Manuscript found before the year 1441. which goes under the Name of Thomas a Kempis, and that there were many of the same time and since that, which are Anony∣mous. That these Manuscripts are not more considerable nor more ancient than those which ascribe the same Book to St. Bernard, to Gerson, or Gersen, even while Thomas a Kempis was alive. But on the contrary, the latter are more ancient. That no where but in Flanders or Ger∣many are there any Manuscripts to be found which go under the Name of Thomas, and that all those which are in France and Italy are anonymous, or go under the Name of Gerson, or Gersen; which shews that those who first put his Name to the Manuscripts, were deceiv'd by the Manu∣script of Thomas a Kempis, in 1441. That in the Manuscripts which carry the Name of Thomas a Kempis, the four Books are parted, and under different Titles, as if they were four different Treatises, and often they are transpos'd; whereas in the greatest part of the other Manuscripts which are more ancient, the four Books of Imitation are plac'd there under the same Title, and in their Natural Order. These are the Exceptions which are made against the great number of Manuscripts which are alledg'd on behalf of Thomas a Kempis, which depend upon the Manu∣scripts which the others produce, whereof we shall speak hereafter. Let us now come to the Edi∣tions which have been made under the name of Thomas a Kempis.