BOUGHT WITH THB INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THB GIFT OF 1S91 AdVilVj,,,^,, <^../^.^.. Digitized by Microsoft® PA 85 .C33P32%97 "*""' nmmmmmH*"'"!, 15S9-1614. 3 1924 021 597 681 OLIN LlBR^lkTi'lftM^'^^ mmmif mtmimn',. ilin ^.A 1 sa/i / UU WW MSSM:- Jittbw **ftI3Z "" p 4taii WB 3)QA-' CAVLORD PRINTEDIMU.S.A Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® L i ISAAC CASAUBON {\^c^^'^^' r (0*-^^^ Digitized by Microsoft® JSonion HENRY FROWDIC Oxford University Press Warehousf. Aaien Corner, E.G. v., J 112 Fourth Avenue Digitized by Microsoft® This book was digitized by Microsoft Corporation in cooperation witli Cornell University Libraries, 2007. You may use and print this copy in limited quantity for your personal purposes, but may not distribute or provide access to it (or modified or partial versions of it) for revenue-generating or other commercial purposes. Digitized by Microsoft® ISAAC CASAUBON Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® ISAAC CASAUBON 1559-1614 O DOCTIORUM QUICQUID EST ASSURGITE HUIC TAM COLENDO , NOMINI ! BV MARK PATTISON LATE RECTOR OF LINCOLN COLLEGE SECOND EDITION O;ffor5 AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1892 Digitized by Microsoft® ivj^ Tov S OUT 5p xeijatbv Kpuoeic, ouk ouPpoc airelpcov, 01) 9X6£ HeVioio bajud^eTOi, ou voaoc aivH, ouK epOTic 6hhou evapet Mevoq, dAA' Of dreipHC d)U(pi Si&aOKaViH xeTaiai vuktoc re ko'i Snap. Digitize!^ Microsoft® PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION The first edition of Mr. Pattison's Isaac Casaubon, published by Messrs. Longman in 1875, has for some years been out of print, and, in response to the expression of a widely felt desire, the Clarendon Press now offers a second edition to the public. In the preparation of this, use has been made of some additions and corrections left in manuscript by the author himself, as well as of suggestions communicated to him by various friends. A few trifling errors have been silently corrected, and some additional notes inserted. These notes are almost entirely from the hands of Mr. R. C. Christie and Mr. I. Bjrwater, and are in all cases indicated by square brackets [ ]. The twelfth section, on the Descendants of Isaac Casaubon, is written by Mr. Christie ; the index is the work of Mr. C. E. Doble. For the general editorial superintendence of this reprint the present writer is responsible. His thanks are due to Mr. F. W. Pattison, for the loan of his brother's various papers and notes bearing on the subject; to Professor J. E. B. Mayor, for communications and references; and especially to Mr. Christie, Mr. Bywater, and Mr. Doble, for their assistance in reading the sheets as they passed through the press. HENRY NETTLESHIP. Oxford : December 14, 1891. Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION PACE I. Parentage and education. 1559 — 1578 . 3 II. Geneva. 1578—1596 . .... 8 III. Montpellier. 1596—1599 ... 76 IV. Paris. 1600—1610 . .... 134 V. London. 1610—1614 . .262 VI. Casaubon on Baronius .... 322 VII. London; Ely; Cambridge. 1610 — IGl-l . 342 VIII. Visit to Oxford. 1613 . . 354 IX. London. 1610—1614 {continued) . . . 373 X. Last illness; death; characteristic. 1614 . 412 XI. Chronological list of works by Isaac Casaubon 475 XII. On the descendants of Isaac Casaubon . 485 Index 487 Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® The sources for the biography of Isaac Casaubon are unusually numerous and detailed. Indeed, no other personage, eminent in letters, of the sixteenth century, can be mentioned, for whose history' there exist materials equally rich. These sources are partly manuscript, partly printed. I. MSS. 1. Advers. — Sixty volumes of Adversaria preserved in the Bodleian Library. 2. BuRNEY MSS. — Seven volumes of letters addressed to Casau- bon by his numerous correspondents ; preserved in the Burney collection in the British Museum. 3. BiBL. Nat. — The National Library in Paris contains : (i) The series of letters from Casaubon to de Thou, some confidential portions of which were omitted purposely in Van Almeloveen's edition. (2) Two independent sets of notes, taken by hearers, of his lectures on Herodotus. (3) Other notes on the Anthology, etc. 4. Geneva mss. — The archives of the city of Geneva contain : (i) The register of births, deaths, and marriages. (2) The minute books of the Petit Conseil. The city of Geneva has had the singular good fortune of never having been taken, sacked, or burnt. The series of order books of the Coun- cil is complete. For the period of Casaubon's residence these books form our principal authority. The entries relating to the Academy and its professors are not nu- merous, but they are significant, and enable us to form a tolerably accurate conception of Casaubon's position, occupations, and share in the general misery of the citizens B Digitized by Microsoft® of Geneva. I take this opportunity of acknowledging my great obligations to M. Theophile Dufour, who not only guided my researches in this register, but most hand- somely put into my hands the whole of the extracts from it, which he had himself made with a view to illustrate the history of Casaubon. 2. PRINTED DOCUMENTS. Eph. — Ephemerides Isaaci Casauboni, ed. J. Russell, 2 vols. 8vo, Oxon. e Typographeo Academico, 1850. Of this diary a full account will be given in the course of the narrative. Ep. = Isaaci Casauboni Epistolae cur. Th. Janson ab Almeloveen, fol. Rot. 1709. This volume contains mo letters written by Casaubon to his friends and correspondents, and 50 replies by them. Mer. Cas. PiETAS=Merici Casauboni . . . Pietas contra male- dicos patrii nominis, 4to, Lond. 1621, also reprinted in the volume of Epistolse 1709. BuRM. SYLL. = Sylloge Epistolarum a viris illustribus scriptarum, etc., 5 vols. 4to, Leid. 1727. Single letters of Casaubon are to be found scattered about in various published volumes of correspondence. The valu- able series of Scaliger's letters to Casaubon is printed in ScAL. Ep. = Scaligeri Epistolae, 8vo, Lugd. Bat. 1637. Bull. Soc. de l'Hist. Prot. = Bulletin de la Socidt6 de I'Histoire Protestante de la France, 17 vols. 8vo. Mem. Soc. GEN. = M6moires et Documens publics par la Soci6te d'Histoire et d'Archdologie de Geneve, 18 vols. 8vo. Both these series contain original documents which are of use in completing our knowledge of the affairs of the Protestants in the latter end of the i6th century. Gr^nus— Fragmens biographiques et historiques extraits des Registres du Conseil d'Etat de la Repubhque de Geneve des 1535 a 1793, Gen. 1815. Other references will probably be sufficiently full to ex- plain themselves. Digitized by Microsoft® I. PARENTAGE AND EDUCATION. 1559— 1578. Isaac Casaubon was born at Geneva, February 18, (8 O.S.), 1559, being thus younger than Joseph ScaHger by eighteen years. He was the son of Arnold Casaubon and Jehanne Mergine [nee) Rousseau^- They were emigrants who had to fly for their Hves from Gascony^, where Arnold had a narrow escape from being burnt alive. The per- secuting edict of Chateaubriand (1551) was outstripped ' Geneva mss. Reg. de baptesmes : ' Ce lo febvrier fut baptise Isaac fils de Arnaud Casaubon et de Mergine sa femme presente par Francois Masdres (Eglise de St. Gervais).' But the certificate of this entry in Advers. 9. 415 has Me«gine, and the entry of the baptism of Sara, December 8, 1556, gives MjMgine. [The late M. H. Bordier, in the article on Casaubon in the second edition of Z.« France Protestante (1882), gives the name of Arnold Casaubon's wife as Mengine. ' Mengine,' he virrites, 'est le feminin de Menge, et S. Menge ou S. Minge, traduction romane de Memmius (on dit aussi saint Memmie) fut le premi* apotre chretien de la Champagne.' For the other children of Arnold and Mengine Casaubon, see note appended at the end of this section.] ^ Ep. 453 ; ' Je nasquis I'an 1559, 8 F^vrier dans Geneve, ou mes bons p6re et m^re s'etoient retirez de Gascongne, ayant failli d'estre bruslez a Bourdeaux.' Cf. ep. 879: 'ex Aquitania.' Notwithstanding these explicit passages, M. Nisard (Triumvirat Litt. p. 310), and tie biographical compilations generally, make Arnold Casaubon fly from Bourdeaux in Dauphine. The source of the error is the Latin life by the usually accurate Van Almeloveen, prefixed to his Epistolae 1709. Isaac's own statement, sufficiently explicit, is confirmed by the ' Registre d'habitation,' Geneva mss., in which Arnold's name stands as ' Arnaud Casaubon de Montfort, diocese Dax en Gascogne.' The entry is dated II janv. 1557. Montfort is conjectured by M. Th. Dufour, to whom I owe this extract (L'lnterm^diaire, 3. 76), to be Montfort-en-Chalosse, chef-lieu de canton, d^p. Landes. B 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 4 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sec*. by the fanaticism of the religious mob, who called for a constant supply of new victims. The Huguenots were flying in every direction, and Arnold Casaubon had found shelter at Geneva. He had reached this city of refuge before December 1556, when his first child was baptized. The family of Casaubon was of old gascon stock ; in some of its branches noble ^. The name is probably to be traced to the town of Cazaubon, on the Douze (dep. Gers), a few miles from Mont de Marsan. Arnold Casaubon was received as 'habitant' of Geneva, January 11, 1557, and at some later period he must have been admitted 'bourgeois,' as his son Isaac is afterwards described as ' citoien.' In the old Genevese constitution the sons and descendants of one who had been admitted 'bourgeois' were entitled to full civic rights. Arnold did not stay long at Geneva. A protestant congregation was organising itself at Crest, a small town on the Drome (dep. Drome), a few leagues above the confluence of that river with the Rhone. As Mad^ Casaubon was from that part of Dauphine, her husband was probably known to the re- formed party in the neighbourhood. He accepted a call to be pastor of the church of Crest, in 1561. The child- hood of Isaac was passed in the valleys of Dauphine, amid the hardships and perils incident to the hfe of a Huguenot minister during the wars of religion. His father was his only instructor till he was nineteen. Arnold had scholarship, and some reading. He had been brought up in a celebrated school, the College of Guienne, at Bourdeaux. He must have been there in 1547, at which time Muretus, with a brilliant staff of colleagues, was teacher there. The man who could recommend s'trabo as instructive reading to his son^ must have known more than the rudiments of greek. But the father's time was ' Bertrand de Vignolles Sieur de Casaubon Marquis de Vignolles, b 1.6, wrote : Memoires des choses passees en Guienne. " Strabo, 1586, praef. : ' Optimi parentis hortatu.' Digitized by Microsoft® I.] PARENTAGE AND EDUCATION. 1559-1578. 5 engrossed by his flock. His talent and experience drew upon him much of the afifairs of the scattered congre- gations of Dauphine in those critical years. He was able to be but little at home. And, even when he was with his family, it might be but to fly with them to the hills. When Isaac was nine years old, he was able to speak and write latin. Just then, his father was called away to attend the contingent, which Dauphine had to furnish to the general levy of the Huguenots. The monstrous edict of Saint-Maur, September 28, 1563, in which the government unblushingly declared that former edicts of toleration had been intended to be revoked as soon as it was safe to do so, had shown the protestants of France that they had to choose between civil war and extermina- tion, and they were once more under arms. Casaubon, the father, was absent this time three years. When he returned to Crest, Isaac was found to have forgotten all he had learnt. If what Meric Casaubon relates of his father's precocity be true, perhaps it was as well that lessons were suspended for the three years from nine to twelve. For when the lessons were resumed, Meric relates ^, the boy ' threw himself into study with such ardour, that if he had not been checked by his father, his health, if not his life, would have been endangered.' He had got as far as greek grammar, and was having his first exercises in parsing, in Isocrates ' ad Demonicum,' when the news of the S. Bartholomew (August, 1572) drove them into the hills again. The greek lessons were continued in the cave where they sheltered; 'in silvis miseri, ingenti tamen animo,' says Meric. When they could return to their home again, Arnold Casaubon was too much engrossed by the urgent affairs of that dreadful crisis to have time for teaching his son. Isaac, however, was launched, and struggled on for him- self For five years, from. his 14th to his 19th year, he ' M. Casaubon, ' Pietas,' p. 72. Digitized by Microsoft® 6 ISAAC CAS A UBON. [Sect. I. had no teacher, and but few books. As an example of piety and severe hfe, he owed much to his father, whose memory he ever cherished with affection ^. Writing to a friend in 1613, twenty-seven years after his father's death, he says : — ' To my father I owe all I have since learnt. Could you know the story of his life, you would know how unworthy I am to bear the name of a man so wise and experienced.' But the want of regular training Isaac always considered to have been a disadvantage to him. In 1605 he writes to Vertunien^; 'As to what Mr. Scaliger has said to you of my age and of my learning, I must be fain to confess that, on the first point, he is not far wrong. Having been born in 1559, I am now (1605) on the verge of being an old man, if not one already. But as to the second head, I am sorry to say that I cannot appropriate the thousandth part of what he has been pleased to say of me. I was taught by my father, a man of great capacity, but wholly absorbed in the affairs of the church; sometimes absent from his family for whole years together ; nearly every year turned out of his house, to find it sacked on his return. So "that I cannot say that I began my studies till I was twenty, when I was sent by him to Geneva ^. I am a self-taught man ; 6^i\i,aQT]s and avTohCbaKTos. Instead of the learning which Mons. de I'Escale's goodness credits me with, I can only console myself that I lost the best part of my early years in persecution for the truth, a memory which is sweeter to me than honey or sugar.' I At the age of nineteen he was sent by his father to Geneva (1578), where he remained, first as a student, and i afterwards as professor, for the next eighteen years. ' Ep. 908 : ' Ingratus sim erga Deum, nisi illi gratias agam, eo patre esse me natum, cujus vita speculum est omnium virtutum. Illi ego debeo quicquid in Uteris didici.' ' Ep. 453. Ep. 453 : ' Je puis dire avoir commente mes etudes lors que age de vingt ans je fus par lui envoye a Geneve,' Digitized by Microsoft® [APPENDIX TO I. The following particulars as to the children of Arnold and Mengine Casaubon are taken from M. Bordier's article quoted on page 3 (note^) : — ' Elle (Mengine) avait eu 9 enfants dont quatre seulement depasserent le jeune age : (i) Isaac ; (2) un frere rest6 inconnu qui v6cut aussi a Bourdeaux ; (3) Sara Tain^e de tous, qui epousa un habitant de Bourdeaux nomm6 Pierre Chabanne et mourut le 23 oct. 1601 (son mari lui surv^cut ; Elle lui laissa trois fils, Pierre, Isaac et Charles) ; enfin (4) Anne, marine en 1594, a Geneve, avec Jean Rigot ou Rigotti, maitre d'artillerie de I'arm^e royale en France, et qui est inscrite au reg. des inhumations du cimetiere de la Trinity a Paris, reg. de Charen- ton, en ces termes : "Anne de Casaubon, veuve de feu Jehan Rigoti, grand maitre d'artillerie a Geneve, enterre a Paris le 18 janv. 1641 a I'age de 73 ans." Cette inscription est singuliere, car la dame Rigotti 6tait devenue veuve presque de suite, et Ton croit qu'elle se remaria en 1603 avec Pierre Perillau, ministre de I'lle Bouchard en Touraine ; or, cependant son frere, lorsqu'il parle d'elle dans ses Ephemerides, jusqu'en 1607 et 1608, continue de I'appeler Anna Rigotia ou soror Rigotia.'] Digitized by Microsoft® II. GENEVA. 1578-1596- The name of Casaubon is not to be found in the matriculation book, or ' Livre du Recteur,' which is still extant in the archives of Geneva. The register is perfect, but the entry of names appears to have been neglected for the two years 1577, 8. Of his student's years no account is preserved. It appears probable that he was intended to become a minister, and that the destination of his after hfe was due to accident. He had the advantage of learning greek under a fairly competent scholar, Franciscus Portus, a native greek (he was of Crete), who had taught greek at Geneva ever since 1562. Casaubon had hardly completed his third aca- demical year, when Portus died (aet. 71), having suggested Casaubon as qualified to succeed to his place. Portus was not only an accomplished scholar, but a man who had seen much of the world, and of the cultivated society of the time. Leaving his native country as a child, he had lived so long in Italy — at Venice, at Modena, and Ferrara — that Italian had become his mother tongue. He had forgotten romaic, according to the testimony of Scaliger^, and his letter in reply to Crusius is written in classical greek ^. His discerning eye picked out the young Casaubon as the one of all his pupils competent to ' Scaligerana 2". p. 193. ^ Crusius, Turcograecia, p. 517, Digitized by Microsoft® Sect. II.] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 9 succeed him. Franciscus Portus deserves commemora- tion in the history of learning, if for no other reason, for this, that he turned Isaac Casaubon to the study of greek. Though Casaubon was not his only eminent pupil. Portus had taught Sigonius, and Sigonius, then aet. 22, had succeeded Portus as teacher of greek at Modena, in 1546 ^ The council took a year to make the appointment, and then, on the unanimous recommendation of the Venerable Company and the Professors, received Casaubon as Professor of greek. The entry in the register runs thus ^ :— ' M. Isaac, fils de Arnaud Casabon, citoien de Geneve, a este presente par M. de La Faie, recteur, pour estre pro- fesseur de la langue grecque, suyvant I'advis de tous les ministres et professeurs. A este arreste quon le regoyve, et suyvant ce a prest6 serment.' The title ' Professor of greek ' has an imposing sound. But on closer inspection the reality is very simple, and more than humble. There is no room to infer with the biographers an unnatural precocity in Casaubon. When the age of the wandering native greek teachers was past — Franciscus Portus was one of the last of them, — men who knew greek at all were scarce, and men who knew it profoundly were not to be found. Young men fresh from the schools had at least not forgotten the rudiments. So Xylander (Holtzmann) became 'Professor' of greek at Heidelberg, set. 26, and Daniel Heinsius lectured on it at Leyden, aet. 18. The Academy of Geneva was far enough ' [Of his studies in civil law and philosophy under the celebrated Pacius, — Pacio de Beriga — Casaubon writes (Ep. 879) : — ' Ego interim juri civili et philosophise operam dabam cupidus redeundi in Galliam. Tres annos impendi iis studiis publice et privatim usus doctore Pacio, cujus Organon et alia scripta philosophica, opinor, vidisti. Scito ilium ingentem commentarium in Organon mihi et duobus amicis scriptum esse, cum ille nos domi suae doceret raercede ingenti; sed parens mens nuUi pecuniae parcebat ut meis studiis consuleretur.'] ^ Geneva mss. Registre du petit conseil, fo. 109, 5 juin, 158a. Digitized by Microsoft® lO ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. from ranking with the University of Heidelberg, and still less with that of Leyden. Modern historians of Geneva, having before them what Geneva became in the eighteenth century, maybe forgiven for having transported this picture to an earlier period. Had Calvin conceived the idea, which is attributed to him, of a school of general education, neither time nor place would have permitted its realisation. The Geneva of Voltaire and Rousseau, the cosmopolitan centre, its inde- pendence guaranteed by the strength of the Swiss cantons at its back, and the mutual jealousy of the great powers, was in a very different position from the Geneva of Calvin. The merit of Calvin consists not in largeness of mind, but in the judgment which perceived exactly what was wanted. It is in vain that Calvin's panegyrists persist in attributing to him views, which he could not have had, without ceasing to be the man he was — the man of his age and place. Haag would represent^ him as designing ' un grand etablissement d'instruction publique dont I'enseignement devait embrasser I'ensemble de toutes les connoissances humaines.' Fine phrase disguising the bare fact ! Calvin planned for Geneva that which the reformed church of the french tongue wanted in 1559. An elementary school, and a seminary for ministers — this was what was wanted, and this was what Calvin supplied. A grand Academy of letters or science, such as the historians find in his scheme, was as little in Calvin's thoughts as the steamboats which now ply on the lake Leman. In this, as in all his undertakings, Calvin projected what was required, and what could be effected, with a distinctness of purpose and practical sense, which made him what he was, the head of his party in a struggle for life against fearful odds. Each of the cantons, on embracing the reform, had found the necessity of some institution for the training of its own ministers. Bale had already, three generations ' La France Protestante, art. Calvin. Digitized by Microsoft® "•] GENEVA. 1578-1596. II old, a university with papal privileges (founded 1460). Zurich, Berne, and Lausanne, erected their own academies. Geneva required its own, not less. The preamble to the statutes of the academy of Geneva (1559), drawn doubtless by Calvin's hand, does not go beyond this intention. ' Verily hath God heretofore endowed our commonwealth with many and notable adornments, yet hath it, to this day, had to seek abroad, for instruction in good arts and disciplines for its youth, with many lets and hindrances ^.' Note, in the whole composition, the tone of measured soHdity, which says less than it means to perform. This self-contained power, this suppressed moral force, which is characteristic, not of Calvin alone, but of the whole of the French reform, stands in noble contrast to the vain-glorious style which Europe now is apt to ascribe to France as catholicised by Louis XIV. Perhaps at the time that Calvin gave utterance to this simple proposal, he foresaw that his new school might have a higher destiny. A seminary of ministers for Geneva and Dauphine, that was the first thing. That it might become the seminary for the whole of the French reform, nay beyond the French tongue, that the genevan academy would be the heart of the whole presbyterian system throughout Europe, this hope may have presented itself to Calvin's imagination. He was not blind to the peculiar advantages, political, geographical, ethnical, of Geneva. Ten years before, in 1549, he had written to Bullinger, ' when I consider what aptitude this little corner has for promoting Christ's kingdom, I am naturally solicitous to keep my hold of it ^.' But the idea of a metropolitan university, a nursery of the arts and sciences, had no place in the mind of Calvin, nor even in that of the more cultivated Beza. The first object was to train pastors, and the education given bore, in all its parts, the stamp of the ecclesiastical seminary. ^ Promulgatio legura Academise Genevensis ; Fick's reprint, 1859. ^ Ep. ad Bullinger. Digitized by Microsoft® 12 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. The Academy (so-called) at Geneva was the latest, and not the least valuable of Calvin's institutions ^ It was not till after the final humiliation of the republican party (1555), and the satisfactory understanding with Berne (1558) that he was able to organise it. A town school, indeed, there had been ever since the beginning of the independence of Geneva (1536). But it had only given the rudiments of learning. A genevan youth, who wished to complete his education, was obliged to go abroad to do so ^. The new institution was composed of two schools. One for boys, a gymnasium, college, or grammar-school, consist- ing, according to the universally received division, of seven classes. In the sixth and seventh classes the rudiments were taught. From the fifth class upwards, the instruction was in the classics. The other part of the institution was one for higher education, and was intended to carry on those pupils, who had passed through the school. But it was not confined to them, it was open to any who chose to enter their names as students. In the latin statutes, this part of the institution was called the Schola Publica, and the lower part, or college, is styled the Schola Privata. When the term 'academy of Geneva' is used, the upper, or schola publica of professors and students is usually intended, though ' academy ' is sometimes loosely said of the whole institution taken together. The academy consisted at first of three chairs, hebrew, greek, and Arts. The department of Theology, which was the capital considera- tion, was taught by Calvin (afterwards by Beza) as pastor, without the title of professor. After a time, chairs in Law and Medicine were added. Both schools, the upper and the lower, were under the control of a rector chosen every two years, but re-eligible. How entirely the education of ' See note A in Appendix. "^ Leges Academic, 1559 : ■ Quum ad eum usque diem coacta fuisset civitas Genevensis, maximis cum incommodis ac difficultatibus, ab iis urbibus et gentibus petere suae juventuti bonarum artium ac disciplinarum cognitionem quibus ipsa . . . syncerffi religionis scientiam de suo quodammodo largiebatur.' Digitized by Microsoft® n.] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 13 Geneva was in the hands of the clergy may be judged from the fact that rector, professors, head-master, and all the masters in the lower school were appointed by the Venerable Company of pastors, and only confirmed by the Council. In entering their names in the ' rector's book ' the students of the academy subscribed not only the statutes, but also a lengthened confession of calvinistic orthodoxy. Considering the rigidity of everything else, it may seem surprising that as early as 1576, in less than twenty years from its establishment, this subscription had to be abolished. Still more surprising is the tolerant motive recorded in the register, that 'lutherans and papists may be no longer hindered from coming to study here ; and that, further, it does not seem right to press a young conscience which is unresolved to sign what it doth not as yet understand ; and further that they of Saxony have taken occasion herefrom to compel those who go from hence to them to sign the confession of Augsburg 1.' Charles Perrot, one of the pastors, was put forward as the mover of this liberal step. But there can be no doubt that it had the approbation of Beza, without which nothing was done, at that period. For 200 years no further step was taken in that direction. Though subscription was abolished for students, yet down to 1796, no dissident, not even a lutheran, could be a teacher in the academy, or even a citizen of Geneva. Beza, and the sixteenth century, were, if not more tolerant, more enlightened than the seventeenth century. It was policy, not indifference to dogma. The policy of the State of Geneva, its open-armed hospitality, was extended to its school and university. Originally designed for natives, the academy of Geneva became very early a great resort of foreign students. They flocked in from all parts of protestant Europe, even ^ Registre du conseil, ap. Gabarel, a. 12a. Digitized by Microsoft® 14 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. from lutheran countries. That the disciphne main- tained was rigorous, and that it had a strictly church character— both these facts contributed to accredit the school, throughout the reformed countries. In the school the hour of opening was six in summer, seven in winter. The boys brought their breakfast with them, and ate it on the benches of the schoolroom. They might not bring anything but the simplest food, the same for rich and poor. The classrooms were open to all the rigours of the seasons. In November 1564, a master having petitioned that the windows might be glazed, the council took it into its con- sideration. The decision arrived at was, that ' the children might, if they hked, paste paper over the openings next their seats ^,' There was a charcoal brazier in each class- room in the very cold weather, at which, when the fingers refused their office, they might be thawed for a few seconds. All the pupils had to attend in their place at church, the Wednesday morning sermon, on Sunday three times, morning and afternoon sermon and catechism. Absence without a valid excuse was followed by punish- ment. The students of the ' public school ' or academy being in great part strangers, gave more trouble— especially the Germans. Accustomed to the licence of the universities of the fatherland, they thought to carry the privileges of the Bursch with them. They were soon undeceived. Certain families, ' vivans selon Dieu,' were selected, and the scholars not allowed to lodge elsewhere. The severity of its discipline recommended Geneva as much as the theological celebrity of Calvin. Pious parents throughout Europe gladly accepted the risks of the distance, and the dangerous neighbourhood, to bring their sons under the shadow of such a training. On the numbers of the students the statements in ' Goethe (Italienische Reise, Werke, 19. 23), found, in 1787, papered windows at Torbole. Digitized by Microsoft® II.] GENEVA. 1578-1596, 15 the histories are vague, and marked with the tendency to ampHfy. The figure of 1000 in which the modern writers, Henry, Gaberel, Stahehn, seem so unanimous, is not traceable beyond an anonymous letter quoted by Sayous ^, ' C'est merveille des auditeurs des legons de M. Calvin ; j'estime qu'ils sont journellement plus de mille.' Even if this unauthenticated statement be accepted, it must be understood of the whole affluence to Calvin's lectures, which were doubtless open to the public. We know from the documentary evidence of the ' Leges academiae,' that on the day of opening there were present ' 600 scholars.' But this includes the boys in the lower school with its seven classes, comprising doubtless the whole of those between seven and fifteen, who were of a rank to receive grammar-school education. There remains the undeniable evidence of the matriculation, book or ' livre du recteur.' From this we find that, throwing out the exceptional years of the plague, the Saint-Bartholomew, and the worst years of the religious war, the average of entries was about forty per annum. Tholuck has proved that for the univer- sities of Germany, at this period, we may assume four years as the average duration of a student's residence. If this average were applicable to Geneva, we should have 160 as the total number of students— the ' Frequenz,' as the Germans call it. But for various reasons it is probable that the average stay of a student at Geneva did not reach four years. We shall be nearer the mark, if we assume the number of students, residing in any one year, at from 100 to 120. In the exceptional years above named, the actual numbers were much below this average. In 1572 (Saint- Bartholomew) there were only three matriculations. On the other hand, in 1597 (Edict of Nantes) they amounted to 120. When this is clear to us, we understand how it was possible to get on with so few professors. There were at first but three literary professors ; two more were added • Etudes litt^raires, p. 71. Digitized by Microsoft® 1 6 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. afterwards. There were besides the two theological professors; but their lectures were, in fact, doctrinal sermons, pastoral rather than professorial. Calvin never would take the title of professor. These lecture-sermons, though doctrinal, were in the form of exegesis ; they were commentaries on books of the bible. Scientific ' Dogmatik ' was an invention of the 17th century. The day opened with a service or sermon at 5 a.m. in summer, 6 a.m. in winter. This, not for the students, but for the congregation. This lasted an hour. Im- mediately after the sermon followed the lecture of the hebrew professor. This lecture was also exegetical. He was also followed by the professor of greek, who explained an author, of philosophy or ethics, Aristotle, Plato, Plutarch, or some christian writer. Ten was the dinner hour. After dinner the greek professor had a second hour, when he read some greek poet, orator, or historian. Latin authors were considered to belong to the province of the professor of arts. But only on three days of the week did the greek professor lecture twice. On Wednesday and Friday he had no morning lectures ; on Saturday none at all. But on Friday every professor had to attend the weekly consistory, or conference of ministers. The Sunday was spent in hearing the sermons. The actual lecturing of the greek professor was thus only eight hours per week. But then his lectures were not mere grammar, or construing lessons to learners. Greek was learnt in the school. The boy began greek in the fourth class, i. e. at ten or eleven years old. By the time he quitted the first class he had read through some of the principal authors. The greek professor, therefore, was not doomed, hke the Scottish professor, to teach the elements. He had before him an advanced class, in whom he might assume a knowledge, not of the language only, but of the ordinary school cycle of greek history and antiquities. We shall Digitized by Microsoft® "•] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 17 give some account below of the subjects which Casaubon taught at Geneva. High work did not mean high pay. 'The salaries of the professors,' writes Calvin, ' are not at the magnificent rate usual in Germany, but are on a par with those of the pastors, barely sufficient for support 1.' They were fixed at 280 genevese florins. Something could be added to this scanty pay by boarding students, as the professors usually did. Ninety florins were considered sufficient allowance for board and lodging, out of which there could be little profit, even though, as we are told in the life of S. Francis de Sales, ' Savoy is the country in all the world where one can live the cheapest ^' A Professor of Law or Medicine it was necessary, then as now, to pay more highly ; and we read of their having 600, 700, and even 800 genevese florins. With 800 florins, Hotoman, in 1577, found it impossible to live ; but then he had a family of nine children. It is true, that this period, and the 17th century also, echo with the complaints of the poverty of professors. But, in Geneva, this economy was not niggardliness, it was bare poverty. Indeed, in the circumstances of the republic, it is more surprising that the schools should have continued to exist at all, than that the teachers should have shared in a misery which was common to all. The struggle of Geneva against the Dukes of Savoy was not that of an affluent bourgeoisie ambitious of political independence; it was a struggle for existence. Geneva was not only a burgher aristocracy, hateful in the eyes of sovereign princes ^, but an outpost of protestantism, encamped as it were within the very territory of Savoy. ' Epp. ap. Henry, Leben Calvin's, 3. 390. '^ MarsoUier, Vie de S. Franjois, 1. 433. ' Zurich Letters, and ser. p. 275 : ' As for Geneva, they not only hate, but execrate it.' Cf. the representations of S. Francis de Sales to the Duke of Savoy, ap. MarsoUier, i. 246 : ' Que les calvinistes dtojent naturellement rSpublicains, et ennemis de I'dtat monarchique,' etc. C Digitized by Microsoft® 1 8 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Charles Emmanuel had sworn that 'he would have Geneva if it cost him a million.' Twice in one year (1584) well concerted plots, favoured by traitors within, were detected when ripe for execution. Nor was it only liberty, political and religious, which was at stake. The savage cruelty, which was thought praiseworthy in ca- tholic soldiers dealing with Calvinists, told the Genevese what to expect if the mercenaries once got within the walls ^ In 1589 the Duke of Savoy brought up an army of 18,000 regular troops, with the determination to destroy the nest of heretics once for all. The little repubhc, deserted at the critical moment by Berne, and hated by the lutheran princes of Germany, as much as by fanatically catholic France, could only muster 2186 men capable of bearing arms. History has not a more gallant struggle against odds to record. Before it was released by the peace of Vervins (1598), Geneva had lost 1500 men out of its total levy of 2186. The importance of destroying the city was fully understood by the catholic party. It was especially urged by .S. Francis de Sales in a memorial presented to the Duke of Savoy. The schools and the printing-presses are particularly pointed out, by the ca- tholic saint, as the instruments of mischief ^ The misery suffered within the walls during this siege, or eTTtretxto-ts, was frightful. The population of Geneva before the troubles in France is estimated at 12,000^. During ' A bishop of Geneva writes in 1534 ; Jussie, Levain du Calvinisme, p. 84 : ' Que la oil on trouverait des Luth^riens on les pouvoit prendre, tuer, ou pendre Si un arbre, sans nuUe difficulte ou doute.' ^ Aug. Sales, Vita S. Francisci de Sales, p. 99 : ' Quid dicam de prelis qu^ habent amplissima et munitissima, unde in omnem terram pestiferos libros spargunt . . . accedunt ad haec scholae ad quas plerique nobili sanguine orti juvenes advolant a Francia.' The protestants were equally aware that the printing-press had been a great engine of the success of the reformation in the towns where it was free. GryniEus, Epp. p. 26 : ' Turn solide doctorum virorum voce viva et scriptis editis; . . . turn officinarum typographicarum, quse maximo illis adjumento fuerunt.' ' Bonivard, Chronique, 2. 385. Digitized by Microsoft® U.] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 19 the troubles hundreds of French families immigrated; the foreigners almost outnumbered the native towns- men ^. In 1558, 279 foreigners were admitted citizens in one day. Yet in 1589 the population was only 13,000^. Such had been the ravages of famine, pestilence, misery, and war. Poverty and overcrowding made the plague more than ordinarily deadly in Geneva. In 1615, more than 4000 died of it — a fourth of the population. The refugees, happy to have escaped with their lives, brought little capital with them. The town had no trade, could have none, with an enemy permanently encamped just outside the walls ''. It was at the hazard of life that travellers arrived or left the city. Its fair had been long before transferred to Lyon. The only industry was printing, mostly little remunerative, as the example of Henri Estienne shows. ' This commonwealth and church,' says Beza*, ' may be truly called a nursery of poverty' — paupertatis officina. One resource it had in the sympathy of foreign churches, kindled by returned students, who carried back reports of privation heroically endured. The registers of the council, and the correspondence of the period, are full of acknowledgments of such aid. England, and English bishops, were not among the most backward. Cox, Sandys, Grindal, never send a letter to Zurich with- out enclosing a remembrance ®. The bishop of Ely sends Gualter five crowns. The bishop of London sends Bullinger enough cloth to make a gown. This was to 1 Ed. Mallet, M6m. et Documens de la Social de I'Hist. de Genfeve, 8. 453. "^ Registre du conseil, ap. Gr^nus, p. 68. ' The system of the Duke of Savoy was to erect two forts, Santa Catarina and ' Mommelianum,' a short distance from the city, on his own territory, the garrison of which commanded the roads on the side of Savoy and Franche Comte. These were not destroyed till the campaign of 1600, Burney mss. 365. 59, Lect to-Casaubon, 13 Nov. 1600: ' Extat etiamnum, quod mirere, Catharina . . . tamen, dedito superioribus diebus Mommeliano, finem malorum speramus ab exempto.' Cf. Thuanus, Hist. 125. 13. * Vita Calvini. » Zurich Letters (publication of Parker Society), passim. C 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 20 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Ziirich. But in 1583 the bishops procured a royal brief for a collection through the churches of England in aid of Geneva. It produced .^5039. Two public quetes made in Holland raised considerable sums, though the United Provinces were then engaged in their death struggle with Philip 11. The maintenance of the schools at Geneva was a special object of these subsidies. Many of the reformed churches, too, maintained students at Geneva. So Arminius was sent there at the charge of the city of Amsterdam, and Utenbogaert at the charge of Utrecht. Till the rise in credit of Leyden (founded 1575), Holland, excluded from Louvain, was compelled to seek education for its youth in foreign countries. But Heidelberg, or Herborn in Nassau, being more conveniently situated than Geneva, received most of the Dutch students ^- In June, 1582, Casaubon had received his appointment. To one whose boyhood had been a school of hardship, a fixed stipend of £1.0 a year, and rooms in the college, may have seemed provision for a family. Under Calvin's rigid police early marriage was the rule ; and the strength of numbers must have been an object with any govern- ment of Geneva. Besides, there was the consideration of boarders. Accordingly, in September, 1583, Casaubon married. His wife, Mary, though, like himself, a native of Geneva, was, like himself, the child of refugee parents. Her family was from Bourdeaux in Dauphine. The union was of short duration *. She died in April, 1585, leaving one child, a daughter. Meanwhile, distress inside the walls and terror without, were slowly enveloping the little repubhc and threatening it with extinction. The protestant cause was lost in France, and it was now a question not of Hberty of con- science, but of life. Every one who had anywhere else to go made his escape from the doomed city. Bonaventure ' Schotel, Studenten Oproer in 1594. * See note B in Appendix. Digitized by Microsoft® "•] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 31 Bertram, professor of hebrew, escaped to Frankenthal, Hotoman to Bale. Hotoman writes to Heidelberg: 'In the whole of France there is no good man who is not suffering severely. In our Savoy a large part of the population has actually perished of famine, and now pestilence is attacking those that have survived 1.' The assassination of the Prince of Orange, the repeated at- tempts on the life of Elizabeth, and on that of the King of Navarre, the growing fury of the League, the armament of Philip II against England, the savage massacres which broke out from time to time in the French towns, intimated that the policy of S. Bartholomew, the extinction of protes- tantism by the extermination of the protestants, was the aim of the triumphant party. The desperate position of Geneva was such that foreign students ceased to come at all, and the greek class, as was natural, was the- first to drop. In November, 1585, we find ^ that Casaubon was left with hardly any auditors. The council amalgamated the professorship of greek with that of history, and ap- pointed Casaubon to the double charge. But in 1586 things were worse, and it was resolved to give up the academy. The council, with many expressions of regret, intimated to the professors — the two theological professors excepted — that their functions must cease ^. In this junc- ture the Ven. company of pastors came forward (October 7) and petitioned the council that such a public calamity as the suppression of the academy might be averted, and that their own salaries might be applied to the payment of the professors. The petition was refused. But at the ' Hotom. Epp. ep. 147. ^ Geneva mss. Registre du pet. cons. f". 160. 22 nov. 1585 : ' D'aultant que M. Casaubon n'a presque point d'auditeur.' ^ Geneva mss. Registre du pet. cons. f°. 226, 7 octob. 1586 : ' Suyvant ce qui a est6 cy devant parl^ de las casser a cause des charges que la ville supporte qui sont grandes, a estd arrests qu'en ceste consideration, et d'aultant qu'ils n'ont a prfeent des auditeurs, qu'on les congedie, et qu'on retienne leur mande- ment de ce quartier.' Digitized by Microsoft® %% ISAAC CASAUBON. [sect. next weekly meeting of the council the Ven. company make a fresh proposal (October 14). They offer to raise among themselves 1000 crowns, and lend it to the treasury, of course without interest, for the relief of the present necessity. 'As for closing the college,' says their me- morial, 'our academy is now regarded as the seminary of the churches of France ; the school of La Rochelle being the only one now left in that kingdom. The repu- tation of our school is so widely spread that even England sends us students. The honour of your lordships is in- volved in the maintenance of this precious establishment. The classical languages and philosophy are indispensable for theology. Now, more than ever, ought we to cherish the study of the sciences, when the Jesuits have founded such a quantity of schools both in Switzerland and Savoy. It is said that the number of students in our academy is become insignificant. This is not so, seeing that at the last "promotions" twenty-three passed from the lower school to the public lectures. And as for the attendance at these lectures, no one can say that M'. Casaubon wants for auditors ^. If the Council persists in its resolution, our city will suffer in character ; and the foreign students once diverted from us will not find their way back when better times come.' Men, who were prepared to make such sacrifices, were not altogether unworthy to exercise even the despotic power which these ministers wielded. The council did not, for the present, think proper to grant this request, and the lectures were suspended^. We do not exactly know how long the suspension of the schools continued. But, as Casaubon made a journey to Frankfort in 1590, without applying for leave of absence, it may be con- ' The lectures on Persius were delivered 'magna frequentia,' Burmann, Syll. J., ep. 362; 'frequenti auditorio.' Schultze, epp. inedd. p. 14. ^ Tholuck, Geschichte des Rationalismus, quotes a private letter of a law student in 1586, which says, ' all the professors here have resigned for want of hearers.' Digitized by Microsoft® "•] GENEVA. 1578-1596. »3 jectured that he did not resume before that year. These two or three years, 1586-88, were the darkest period. In 1587 the plague was at its worst. It made havoc in the unventilated dweUings and close streets, in which were crowded a half-famished population. The splendid quay, on which now rise the magnificent hotels and warehouses, was then an unwholesome marsh. The marauding parties of the mercenary troops of Savoy made escape into the fresh air of the mountains impossible. Duty on the walls was incessant, day and night. 'The exhaustion of the public treasury,' writes Casaubon\ 'is complete. Our burghers are entirely impoverished. The city is filled with paupers and beggars. A large part of the population is on the verge of starvation.' We catch one authentic glimpse which shows the grow- ing esteem which he had conquered, even in this time of general suffering. It is the more weighty as it is embodied in the official proceedings of the council. In August, 1591, the ministers return to the charge 2. The academy appears, at this date, to be in exercise again, but to be poorly supported. The ministers apply on behalf of the professors. Beza and Perrot were deputed to wait on ' my Lords,' and to represent to them ^: — ' That this school is a treasure which God has blessed in such sort, that there have issued from it instruments of ' Ep. 969 (to Stuck) : ' Ingens pauperum et mendicorum turba, vere dico tibi, plerique nostrum aegre se et suos defendant ab illo M\x5i . . .' ^ Hotoman writes to Tossanus at Heidelberg to use his influence with Beza 'to restore as soon as possible the professors of greek and of philosophy, by whose suspension this State has incurred a heavy, perhaps incurable wound.' Hotomann. Epp. ep. 145. ^ Geneva Mss. Reg. du pet. cons. 11 aout, 1591, f". 149: ' II ya le sieur Casau- bon, qui sera un trfes rare personage si Dieu luy fait la grace de vivre, est tres humble et paisible, mais la necessite le presse ... II est recherche et pratique d'ailleurs, car il escript tres bien. M''. du Fresne I'a recherche pour I'avoir pres de luy en Allemayne, et pour le gagner luy a envoye 50!, mais il a tout son coeur a ce public, mais qu'il puisse vivoter, prient de luy faire quelque present de I'argent . . .' The expression ' a ce public ' is peculiar. An inhabitant of Geneva could not speak of his country. Geneva was a city of refuge filled with foreigners, whose ' patrie ' was France. Digitized by Microsoft® 34 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. his glory. The ministers do not doubt that the council intend to maintain the school in being, but they would particularly recommend the case of M. Chevalier, who discharges very well his duties as professor, though it may be he has not many pupils. . . . There is further the sieur Casaubon, who will become a very rare person- age, if God of his mercy grant him to live ; he being very humble and peaceable ; but he is in great necessity, not- withstanding that they, the ministers, have succoured him to the best of their ability. He is already sought for and courted by persons abroad, for his excellent writings; M. de Fresne has desired to attach him to himself in Germany, and has sent him fifty crowns with this object. Notwithstanding he has his whole heart in the service of this public ; and that he may be able to support bare life, they pray the council to make him a present of money out of the unappropriated funds of the college, e. g. fifty crowns, adding thereto some wheat for the relief of his present wants.' Hereupon the council ordered that fifty crowns and six bolls of wheat be delivered to Casaubon. In the year following, 1592, he also receives, by order of the council, a present of red wine, along with the ministers ^. It was an exceptional favour, as the other professors are not mentioned. The republic came through the ordeal- reduced to the lowest ebb of fortune, but unbroken in spirit. Each pious bosom felt that no human arm, but that of Providence alone, had interposed to save the bulwark of the church. History, perhaps, has never crowded into two years a greater number of surprising events impossible to predict. The first gleam of hope came from the side of France. The signal victory of Coutras, October 20, 1587, where the ' jeunesse doree ' of the party of massacre went down ' Geneva mss. Reg. du pet. cons. 4 dec. 1592, f". 235, v». . . . ' Compre- nan: avec les dites ministres le S'. Casaubon professeur en grec' Digitized by Microsoft® "•] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 25 before half their number of poor and despised huguenots, gave immediate rehef. Then the execution of Mary Stuart, the annihilation of the Arfnada, the assassination of the Guises, the union of the two Henrys against the catholic League, and finally, the accession of Henri iv, all these great events on the European theatre were felt at Geneva, relaxing the tension put upon its strength — a strain which, had it been continued, must have ended in breaking. In April, 1590, Casaubon can write, ' Our affairs are, by the mercy of almighty God, in not a little better condition than they were when I received your letter, about five months back.' How Casaubon himself struggled through these dismal years we are left to conjecture. It must be remembered that we have, for this period, neither his diary nor his letters— by the aid of which we shall be able, in the later years of his life, to follow his fortunes with minuteness and accuracy. The principal events of his life during the years of distress are, — the course of his studies ; his father's death ; his second marriage. His father, Arnold, was attacked with low fever on January i, 1586. His physician pronounced the symptoms favourable, and foretold a speedy recovery. But the patient himself was convinced he should never rise from his sick bed. It proved so. On February i he died, not of age, he was only 63, but worn out with the sufferings and anxieties of the '25 years of persecution. His death took place at Die in Dauphine, and his funeral was attended by all the notables of the town, and many nobles of the province, it so happening that a synod was being held at the time. '^I alone of his children,' writes Isaac ' Isaac's own account of his father Arnold's death is given in ep. 893 to Lin- gelsheim in 1613. He repeats it again, with fuller detail, in ' Exercitt. ad Baron.' 1614, reproduced in Prideaux, Castigatio, p. 224. The shorter accounts in M. Casaubon, Pietas, p. 74, and Abbot, Antilogia, ep. ad lect., are not indepen- dent testimony, being both communicated by Isaac, Digitized by Microsoft® 36 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Casaubon, 'had the misfortune to be absent.' Isaac re- ceived the intelligence while he was writing his notes on the beginning of the fifth book of Strabo. He confides his sorrow to his commentary, as to a companion and friend. The reader of Strabo to this day is called upon to sympathise with Casaubon in his bereavement, in the middle of a difficulty which he leaves unexplained for that cause ^ It is not only filial affection lacerated by death, premature and unexpected. It is disgust with his own occupation at the moment, when brought into sudden contrast with the memory of a parent, whose every thought and every hour had been given to sacred things and the cause of God. 'There is a difficulty here' — in Strabo's account of the southern shore of the Italian peninsula^ 'which I leave to others who have more leisure for such work. I have neither time nor spirit for the discussion of such things. My mind, overwhelmed by the intelligence just received, has no more taste for these classical studies, and demands a different strain to soothe and heal it.' Years afterwards, when it became necessary for the Jesuit party to defame Casaubon, they put in circulation a story that his father had been hanged. Gross as was the fabri- cation, it wounded Casaubon's sensitive nature, and, at the distance of twenty-five years, harrowed up the pang with which he had first received the intelligence of his parent's death, himself, alone of his children, away from his bed side. His father died on February i ; in April Casaubon married a second wife. Prudent it cannot have been in the middle of the pubHc calamities, when even his poor £\Q a year was precarious, to marry a girl of eighteen without fortune. But in times of distress men seek con- solation, not welfare, and prudence is in abeyance. And there were many things to recommend the match. The ' Comm. in Strabon. p. 211 [ed. i6ao]. Digitized by Microsoft® "•] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 27 lady had beauty, sense, worth, and her grandfather's gen- tleness of disposition. Above all, Florence Estienne was the daughter of the great printer, Henri Estienne (Henricus Stephanus 11). Casaubon was naturally attracted to the editor of the Thesaurus, and had probably fallen in love with Estienne's manuscript collections, before he began to pay his court to the daughter. But there was a difficulty in the way, over and above the moody and fitful temper, which was growing upon Estienne with his failing fortunes. The special difficulty was a literary offence. In 1566 Henri Estienne brought out one of his most magnificent volumes, his ' Poetae grasci,' the cost of producing which must have been very heavy. But no sooner was it out, than Crespin put out a pocket volume of poets, containing the Bucohc and Gnomic poets, who had formed a part of Estienne's ' Corpus ' (1569). Estienne replied by a pocket edition of the Idyllic poets (1579). Vignon, Crespin's successor, retorted in 1584 with a new edition of the book of 1569, on cheaper paper. He solicited, and obtained, in an evil hour, from Casaubon, a few pages of criticism to enliven and recommend his volume. The rival books are, in externals, precisely alike. And, as Estienne flourished on his title page ' Observationes Henrici Stephani in Theo- critum,' Vignon has upon his ' Isaaci Hortiboni Theocri- ticarum lectionum libellus.' Henri Estienne, whose profits on his Greek books were, to say the least, doubtful, naturally resented the rivalry in his own domain, especially if, as is almost always the case, to competition was added underselling. But this was not the worst. Estienne had, in each of his editions, given emendations of the text of Theocritus. To correct over the irascible veteran's head was indiscreet, and Casaubon felt it to be so. He tried to mitigate the storm by inscribing his ' Lectiones Theo- criticas ' to Estienne himself, and apologising most humbly for their appearance at all. ' He had allowed Vignon to Digitized by Microsoft® 28 ISAAC CASAVBON. [Seci-. get a promise from him in an unguarded moment. He had tried to be off it afterwards, but Vignon held him to his pledge. It was difficult for him even to glean after Estienne's harvest. His poor production consisted merely of notes jotted down some time before, for his own use, and without any view to print.' ' Should you ever con- descend to go through them, you will greatly oblige me if you will mark all you disapprove with a red pencil. Nothing will satisfy me, but what I find to be satisfactory to you.' In later years Casaubon learned to estimate better the value of Estienne's ' red pencil.' This abject sentence disappeared from the dedication when it was reprinted by Commelin in 1596. Besides this offence, the youth of Florence and the poverty of Casaubon were grounds on which the father might justly disapprove the match. But he did not inter- fere to prevent it, perhaps because he was occupied with a suit on his own account. Immediately on the expiry of his year's widowhood, April 24, 1586, Casaubon and Florence Estienne were married, in S. Peter's, and on May 9, Henri Estienne espoused his third wife, Abigail Pouppart. How tenderly Casaubon was attached to his wife is evident throughout his diary. Even the moments of impatience, consigned to the pages of that secret record, may be taken to prove affection and general harmony. He certainly complains bitterly on one occasion of her interrupting him*. But over and above Casaubon's con- stitutional fretfulness, we must make allowance for the irritability engendered by a life of hard reading against time. Casaubon thought every moment lost in which he was not acquiring knowledge. He resented intrusion as a cruel injury. To take up his time was to rob him of his only property. Casaubon's imagination was im- '^ See note C in Appendix. Digitized by Microsoft® JI.] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 39 pressed in a painful degree with the truth of the dictum 'ars longa, vita brevis.' As though with a presentiment that the end would come to him early, he struggles, all through a life of harass, to have his time for himself. To his wife struggling also, in her way, with the cares of a large household and narrow means, he may naturally have seemed at times apathetic to her difficulties, and selfishly ' burying himself in his books.' This is the true interpretation of the exceptional allusions in the diary. Its general tone is that of true affection. When she is away from him he writes to her by every post, and some- times cannot give his attention to his books owing to the pain he suffers at her absence. June 1599, ' curae domes- ticae molestissimae et dolor ex uxoris absentia studia mea impediverunt.' ' To-day I got two letters from my wife. When will the day come that I shall see her again?' Every illness of hers is recorded, and his time, of which he is avaricious, is devoted to waiting upon her. Except in being too prolific^, — they had eighteen children, — she proved an excellent scholar's wife, according to the model which is still traditional in Germany. She did not enter into her husband's pursuits, but she encouraged and sustained his temper naturally given to despondency. She is his ' steady partner in all his vexations,' ep. 750. She relieves him of all domestic cares, so that, as he complains to archbishop Spotswood, 'when she is absent from him, he finds himself lost and helpless.^' She is sure to find, if it can be found, a valuable volume belong- ing to Lingelsheim ' because whatever she knows I have at heart, she has at heart.' In 1613 he writes, '^I know by experience what a great help in our studies is an agreeable and dearly-beloved wife.' There is something 1 Geneva mss. Reg. du pet. cons. 17 oct. 1595, f . 184 : ' Sur la n^cessitd de sa faraille qui s'augmente annuellement^ says the order in council, not without a touch of humour. 2 Kp. 1047. ' Ep. 853. Digitized by Microsoft® 30 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. touchingly simple in Florence's entry in the Ephemerides, the solitary entry in her handwriting, February 23, 1601. Casaubon had gone out of Paris for the night, to attend the protestant worship, a journey not without risk from the fanatical and ferocious cathohc mob of Paris. Mad^ Casaubon takes the volume and writes 'ce jour dit, M. Casaubon a este absent, que Dieu garde, et moi, at les nostres avec lui.' Her economical talent comes out in the birthday present she brought her husband in 1604 — a purse of more than 100 gold crowns, the saving of her thrift out of their scanty income. In other respects the connection with the Estienne family brought with it nothing but vexation. Henri's fortunes were brought to the lowest ebb, and that by his own neglect. Florence's dower, whatever it was that was promised, remained unpaid at her father's death. '^To hope to get my wife's dower paid by Estienne,' Casaubon writes in 1596, ' would be to hope for water from the rock.' Nor was it only loss of fortune that he had to suffer. He had the mortification of seeing one, who bore a name honoured through Christendom, and who had achieved so much for learning, losing daily the respect of others and his own, and lowering himself to become a sycophant and a beggar at the doors of bishops and princes. Estienne was a perfect dragon in the close keeping of his books and mss. So far from marriage with his daughter opening to Casaubon the father-in-law's library, Casaubon was more rigidly excluded from it after than before his marriage. Though Estienne was absent on his wanderings for months — even years— at a time Casaubon never saw the inside of the library, except on the one memorable occasion on which he and Florence summoned courage to break it open. Speaking of a new book of Camerarius, Casaubon writes to Bongars^ ' Ep. loio. 8 Ep. 21. Digitized by Microsoft® "•] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 31 ' Read it I have not ; seen it I have ; but it was in the hands of Henri Estienne, who would not so much as allow me to touch, much less read it, while he is every day using, or abusing, my books as if they were his own/ Richard Thomson applied to Casaubon to get him the loan of the ms. of Sextus Empiricus. The greek text of Sextus was not yet printed in 1594, but Estienne had a Florence transcript, which he had bought in Italy in 1555. Casaubon is obliged to reply to Thomson: '^AU that I have is yours. But the ms. of Empiricus belongs to (Henri Estienne). You know the man and his peculiarities. I have no influence with him whatever. He seems to have entered into a conspiracy for his own ruin. Indeed he is not here (Geneva) as your letter assumes. For the last nine months he has been on his wanderings about Germany, settling nowhere.' Casaubon had been allowed the use of this greek Sextus, and had quoted a long passage from it in the ' notes on Dio- genes,' 1593, brandishing it in the reader's eyes as ' noster codex.' He is now driven to confess to Thomson, that he had gone too far. It was not only not his, but he could not even have the use of it. It will surprise no proprietor of mss. that Estienne should have been jealous of his treasures, and that he should have preferred to retain the power of producing the Editio princeps of Sextus Empiricus to himself In our own day, Cardinal Mai wished to monopolise the whole of the greek mss. in the Vatican. And Casaubon was specially dangerous, as being ready and able to cor- rect and pubUsh any greek he could lay his hands on. Sylburgius knew this, and would not trust his transcript t)f Scylax (then, 1594, unprinted) for an hour in his hands. And the same instinct was latent in Casaubon himself. At a later period when his own books and papers had ' Ep. la. Digitized by Microsoft® 33 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. become valuable, he leaves the strictest orders, on sailing for England, that '^no one in the world be allowed to touch or handle them.' And Casaubon exaggerates the facts when he says Estienne would lend him no books. Both in the Strabo and in the Athenaeus he derived material assistance from collations which Henri Estienne had made in Italy. His expression about the Strabo seems indeed to intimate that it had been obtained with difficulty. ' ^ Postquam codicem suum optime de literis meritus socer Henricus Stephanus nobis concessit.' But the regard and respect which Casaubon entertained for the veteran, whose enthusiasm for greek learning had been his ruin, was proof against Estienne's jealousy, and, what he must have felt keenly, the old man's self- exposure of garrulous senility through his press. Casau- bon contributed to his editions, deteriorating from year to year, to the Thucydides of 1588, the latin Dionysius of the same year, the Plinius of 1591, and to the Diogenes Laertius of 1593. He was jealously excluded from all share in the text and translation, or from any control of the contents of the volumes. What he gave was ex- torted from his good nature, that the title page of a badly edited book might be decorated by the name of Casaubon. Anger was lost in pity. Gruter sends Casaubon his Seneca, 1593, in which were some sharp reflections on Estienne. Casaubon, who knew how just they were, expostulates with Gruter. '^ There was but one draw- back to the pleasure I had in reading your book — you know what. I could not but feel pain at your strictures on one so nearly related to me. Believe me, my friend, when I say that, if you only knew the man himself and his ways, even now you could not help loving him.' All grievances were forgotten when the melancholy end came in 1598. In lamenting the 'charissimum caput' ' Burney Mss. 367. p. 66 : ' Personne du monde ne les manie ni touche.' ^ Comm. in Strab. p. 161. s Ep. 979, Digitized by Microsoft® "•] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 33 in his diary, Casaubon was only thinking of the better days of Henri's youth, and hopes that he himself may imitate his father-in-law's unwearied industry in learning. As his family increased, Casaubon began to feel the pressure of distress. His wife's portion was not to be had, and in the disturbed state of France it was impossible to reahse his father's estate. Besides, the widow still lived, and had to be provided for. Casaubon was obliged to appeal to the council. The treasury of the republic was in no better plight than that of its citizens. But, necessitous as they were, they did not refuse to help Casaubon. October 28, 1594, a bonus of 300 florins (genevese) is voted '^au sieur Isaac Casaubon qui sert cette academie avec beaucoup d'honneur, qui est dans la necessite, et qui se plaint de ne pouvoir vivre de ses gages.' This indulgence to Casaubon must be ascribed, not so much to personal esteem, as to the circumstance that his classical lectures were the mainstay of the academy. This we may infer not only from the general distress of the treasury, which must have precluded all sentimental largesses, but from the fact that, two years later, one of the law professors, Jacques Lect, was dis- missed altogether. And Lect was a more considerable person in the city than Casaubon, and was, at the time that he was cashiered, member of the council. But he was not indispensable. For he was one of two law pro- fessors, and could, therefore, be regarded as a superfluity. Lect remonstrated, pleading that he had embarked his prospects in the career of law teacher, and had besides hurt his fortune by buying the large quantity of books which was necessary. But his appeal was in vain. We may hazard the conjecture, though the historians are silent, that there was a jealousy between the two gowns, between church and law. At any rate we find that the ' Registre du conseil, Gr^nus, p. 76. D Digitized by Microsoft® 34 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. faculty of law was introduced into the academy, by the council, in the teeth of a remonstrance from the pastors. In this remonstrance they allege, amongst other objec- tions to the study of law, '^that those, who apply them- selves to this faculty, are for the most part of dissolute habits, being young men of quality, whose humour would not admit of their being subject to the discipline of this church.' It may be that Lect was thus punished by the ministers' party for opposition in the council, where an able lawyer, '^gentil personage,' like Lect, might make himself troublesome. We may certainly infer from the fact of an augmenta- tion being granted to Casaubon, at a moment when the treasury was empty, that his means were confessedly straitened. At the same time, it is difficult to reconcile with his indigence his collection of books. The valuable library he left at his death in 1614 must have been, in great part, the acquisition of later years. Yet we know that before 1597 he was in possession of a fund of books, rich both as to number and selection. The handlist which he made when he shipped his books for Mont- peUier is preserved ^ They made thirteen bales, and amount to 450 articles — not volumes. Many authors, such as S. Augustine, fill several volumes folio. Not a few Mss. are among them. From Casaubon's commentaries we see that the style of his work demanded nothing less than a complete col- lection of the classical remains. He wants to found his remarks, not on this or that passage, but on a complete induction. It seems easy for Bentley* to say, ' Astypaltea of Crete does not once occur in ancient authors.' But a lifetime is behind this negation. It is noticeable, how early in his career Casaubon had begun to transcend ' Reg. du conseil, Grtnus, p. 46. = Scaligerana 2». p. 138. ' Adversaria, torn. 22. * Diss, upon Phalaris, Works, i. 368. Digitized by Microsoft® "•] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 35 the sphere of printed greek. In the ' Notes on Diogenes,' aet. 25, we find that he had managed to beg, borrow, or buy many anecdota— Polyaenus ; Photius; a fi-agment of Theocritus ; a Theodoret ' De servandis affectibus,' lent him by Pacius; Scholia on Euripides, given him by Galesius^ It must not be supposed that Casaubon could at this, or any time, buy ancient greek mss. What he bought were transcripts made for sale. These were manu- factured by Darmarius ^- Darmarius was one of the last of the calligraphs, a race who long survived the invention of printing. Darmarius—' homo graecus,' says Casaubon, with a tinge of bitterness at the recollection of some of his bargains— had, it should seem, access to the library at Venice, and went about Europe to sell his copies. His transcripts are no 'livres de luxe,' Hke the produc- tions of the pen of a Vergecio or a Rhosus — true works of art, made to adorn the collections of princes and cardi- nals. Darmarius' books are hasty transcripts, on poor paper, of any inedita he could get hold of in Bessarion's library. Casaubon may naturally have preferred, with S. Jerome ^, correct books to ornamental books, but this he did not get from Darmarius. The transcripts of Darmarius do not make up for their want of external beauty by accuracy of text; for the transcriber does not seem to have known even the grammar of classical greek. For these wretched copies he was able to extract ' Notae in Diogenem, pp. 3, 14, 16, 79 120. ' On Darmarius, see Ignatius Hardt, Prsefat. in Julii Pollucis Chronicon, Monachii 1792. Hardt calls him Andreas Darmarius Epidaurius, and quotes his own statement that he transcribed this Chronicon from a codex in the 'bibliotheca regia Hispana.' [See also Gardthausen, 'Griechische Palao- graphie,' p. 312.] ^ S. Hieronym. prsef. in Job : ' Habeant qui volunt veteres libros, vel in membranis purpureis auro argentoque descriptos, vel uncialibus, ut vulgo aiunt, litteris, onera magis exarata quam codices, dummodo mihi meisque permittant pauperes habere schedulas, et non tam pulchros codices quam emendatos.' Mindful of the precept of Plinius, ' fateri per quos profeceris,' I must confess to owe this passage, so important for the history of palaeography, to Cobet's Varr. Lectt. p. 5, note. Cobet derived it from Eckhel, Doctr. Numm. v. 4. D2 Digitized by Microsoft® 36 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. sums really vast. For the Polysenus Casaubon had given a great sum — 'magno £ere.' A Julius Africanus was sold to him, by the same vendor, for 300 crowns, '^almost its weight in silver.' But Polyaenus and Africanus were not then in print, and Casaubon must have them. But of his printed books many, the greek and hebrew espe- cially, were not books to be found in the shops. Even new books, though their prices seem to us low, were not cheaper in relation to the means of subsistence, then than now. And then, as now, if you wanted to make a book come specially for yourself from a distance, you were obliged to pay for it. We find Casaubon, in his earhest correspondence, setting his friends to hunt for books difficult to procure. In 1596, when Sylburgius' library is to be sold at Heidelberg, Casaubon writes to Commehn, ' if there is anything scarce in it ^ to secure it, that it may not get into hands that can do nothing with it.' He had commissioned the Genevan bookseller to get him the Roman Septuagint of 1587, ' at any cost ' — ' quovis pretio.' When Richard Thomson was in Italy, he offered to look out books for Casaubon 3. Casaubon writes in reply * ' I need send you no list of desiderata. My little stock of books is well known to you, and since you were here, I have not acquired anything fresh. Be- sides, knowing as I do your forwardness to do anything for me, I cannot think of thus abusing your generosity. However, if you should come across anything which I have not seen, hebrew, greek, or latin, it will be very welcome.' With the same independent feeling, he writes, on another occasion, to Lambert Canter^ that he shall only ask him to procure books, on the condition that he (Casaubon) is to pay for them. Later, in 1608, we ^ Ep. S27 ; ' Psene contra aurum.' ^n. Tact. p. 220, Sueton. p. 47, ed. 1611. ^ Ep. 1004 : ' Si distrahatur Sylburgii supellex, et sit aliquid rari, id qu^so vel tibi, vel mihi compara.' » Burney mss. 366. p. 225. • Ep. 79, August 1596. « Ep. 881. Digitized by Microsoft® "•] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 37 find ^ Biondi having a standing commission to send books from Venice to Casaubon. How the means of this outlay were obtained we do not know, while he was at the same time supplicating the council for bare subsistence. Some may have been paid in kind. He tells Commelin^ that he 'will settle" his debt to him either by exchanging books with him, or in some other way.' Both publishers and authors were always forward to send him copies of their learned publications. But then this had to be met, either by a return of copies of Casaubon's books, or by some service ; e.g. Sebastian Henrici-Petri of Bale^ sends him two copies of his second edition of Homer, one for the king, and one for himself, but with the request that he would get him a copyright privilege for France. Besides new publications, presents of rarities were sometimes made him by wealthy friends or patrons. He seems to have* begged books of Canaye de Fresne, who responded to the appeal with great liberality. Bongars, especially, is thanked ^ for ' various gifts,' some of which were books. Thomson, though not wealthy, had sent him at least three parcels of books before 1596. Loans of great value were not seldom made him for the purposes of his various editions. These loans either became by lapse of time property, Casaubon being tacitly suffered to retain them, or, if he were still intending to use them, were never returned. Certain it is that, at his death, in 1614, many such were found in his possession, and never reverted to the owners. Among these may be identified a ms. Poly- aenus which belonged to Bongars, having been a present from the court physician, Superville. Hoeschel of Augs- burg had lent a valuable ms. of the epitome of Athenaeus. ' Burney mss. 365. p. 285. ^ Ep. 81 : ' Contractum apud te ses alienum, vel pifiXla avrl fii0\ioiv rependens, vel alia ratione expungam.' 2 Burney mss. 364. p. 250. •* Ep. 972. ^ Ep. 1008. Digitized by Microsoft® 38 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Hoeschel outlived Casaubon, but never got his Athenaeus again, both it and the Polyaenus having been impounded, for the king's library. Another ms. of Hoeschel's, an Excerpta of Polybius, and another Polybius which had been lent by de Mesmes, remained in England, and getting into Selden's hands, became part of his collection by this process of adhesion. The same account is probably to be given of a ms. Porphyrius de Prosodia, which had been part of Corbinelli's collection, and was found among Casaubon's books at his death. All these forms of supply were insufficient to feed his reading. He writes to de Thou (1595), ' ^ No want, and I have many, is so sensibly felt by me as the want of books — books absolutely necessary for what I am writing. The old martyrologies e.g. among others. And there are other books which are indispensable for the elucida- tion of antiquity, which I have not as yet been able to procure here (Geneva), and perhaps never shall.' On the whole we may conclude that Casaubon had strained his narrow means in this one direction of ex- pense. Pinched everywhere else, he spent all he could save on books 2. Book-buying was to him not the indul- gence of a taste or a passion, it was the acquisition of tools. While mere bibliomania is insatiable, the books wanted for a given investigation are an assignable quantity. At the present day, when the book-trade is organised, a collection of classics, complete enough to work with, may be made in no long time. But at the period of which we write, when there were no advertisements, no booksellers' catalogues, and hardly any booksellers (as distinct from printers), this was not possible. Your only means of knowing what new books were being published was to attend the half-yearly fair at Frankfort. Even 1 Ep. 28. ' Ep. 972 : ' Reculas psene omnes meas in aliis omne genus libris absumsi.' Ep. 225 : He sold books he had read, to buy others with. Digitized by Microsoft® "■] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 39 then you would only see the books of those printers who attended the fair, and the stock they brought with them. Each printer only troubled himself about the sale of his own publications, and in very rare cases consented to sell those of another firm. In 1595, Casaubon writes to CommeHn at Heidelberg, '^If I ask you to send me direct all that issues from your press, it is not, believe me dearest Commelin, because I am unwilling to buy them, but because I am unable. Our booksellers here (Geneva) are a blind sort who don't care to bring back (from Frankfort) what they think will not pay. I except Favre, who is not so stupid as the rest. _ From him I bought such of yours as I have got. You will have to write to de Tournes (a genevan printer) to order him to deliver me the Chrysostom, as he refuses to do so, till he has your express commands.' From Rostock the lawyer Hanniel writes to Scaliger (1607), '^I have not been lucky enough to see your Eusebius yet. The in- difference, or shall I say greed, of our booksellers is such that they give themselves no trouble about good books, but only think of their profits.' Nor was the limitation of a private collection made good, as in our day, by a great public library. It is true that Geneva, even then, had a public library, which con- tained many valuable books. It was a legacy from Bonivard. Here Casaubon found the Apuleius of 1469 and the Suetonius of 1470 ; and it is probable that it was the possession of these books that determined him to become the editor of those authors ^ But the collection, though valuable, was small. ' Happy they,' writes Casau- bon to Pithou, 'who enjoy such libraries as yours and that of your brother. Here (Geneva) there is no one who can assist me with the loan of so much as a single ' Ep. 44. ' Burmann, Syll. 2. 743. ' On Casaubon's Suetonius, see F. A. Wolf in his preface to Suetonii Opera, Leipzig, 1802. Digitized by Microsoft® 40 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. old book. As for Estienne ... he guards his books as the Indian griffins do their gold; he lets them go to rack and ruin ; but what he has or what he has not got, I am entirely ignorant ' (ep. 41). And again : ' ^ It has been my ill-fortune not to be able to come by any books but common ones. So that the learned should make allowances for me, if in my writings they find no traces, or but few, of that more recondite learning which is only to be gathered from worm-eaten pages.' The expression used here, 'blattarii libri,' would include both mss. and early editions, of the importance of which in formmg a text Casaubon had lately become aware. This cry for more books was not the mere craving of a gluttonous reader, but a demand for materials for projected works. We shall therefore not be surprised to find this necessity among the causes inducing him to leave Geneva ^ As illustrating Casaubon's circumstances, may be related the episode of his acquaintance with Sir Henry Wotton. On June 22, 1593, young Henry Wotton, then in his twenty-fifth year, arrived at Geneva, in the course of a prolonged tour which had been extended over Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. It was rather a residence on the continent than a tour, for he was nine years absent from England altogether, acquiring that knowledge of foreign languages, which afterwards qualified him for the Venetian embassy. At the time of his arrival at Geneva he was poor and unknown. It so chanced that he took up his lodging in the house of Casaubon, to whom he was recommended by Richard Thomson. Wotton's first impressions of Geneva are, though only a glimpse, a graphic picture of its interior in those years. Aug. 22, 1593, to Lord Zouch s.— ' Here I am placed, to ' Ep. 76. " Cf. Ep. 980 : ' Nos, in eo terrarum angulo positi, ubi scripta ejus generis non facile reperiuntur, quaedam nulla diligentia consequi adhuc possumus.' This was in 1594. 3 Reliquiae Wottoniana, p. 710. Digitized by Microsoft® "•] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 41 my very great contentment, in the house of Mr. Isaac Casaubon, a person of sober condition among the French. . . . Concerning news, your honour knows we are here rather scholars than politicians, and sooner good than wise. Yet thus much I must say, that the state of the town is undone with war, even in manners, for certainly I have not seen worse temptations in Italy. Not to let your honour be melancholy, I cannot abstain to tell you, that since the dayes began to shorten, the women, before seeming to have digested certain humors with walking, do now shell hemp till an hour or two in the night, upon the bankes (benches) in the street, and fires before them made of those shales, a custom drawing with it many pretty examples and opportunities. In short, it was three days since forbidden with the sound of the trumpet ^ Some accuse the war, and lay the fault upon the Dutch (Germans) as having brought into the town intemperance and ebriety, and such other evils as follow them.' Casaubon was charmed with his inmate. Wotton according to Walton (Life) was 'of a choice shape, tall of stature, and of a most persuasive behaviour, which was so mixed with sweet discourse and civilities, as gained him much love from all persons with whom he entered into an acquaintance.' Against such winning qualities Casaubon was not proof, and allowed the gay English- man to run in debt to him for part of his year's board and lodging. The usual tariff for board and lodging was, as we have seen, about ninety florins. Wotton, when at Vienna, paid two florins a week for ' chamber, stove and table,' at which rate he reckoned that it cost him more by ;^5 4s. yearly than it would cost a 'good careful ' Ordinances or proclamations of the council were by ancient custom so made known in the Swiss towns, Jussie, Levain, etc. p. 21 ; 'A son trompette ' ; and Gaullieur, Etudes sur la Typographic Genevoise, p. 96, quotes the Registre du conseil, 9 mai, 1539 r ' Arrets qu'on fasse publier a voix de trompe, que nul n'aye a imprimer chose que soit . . . sans hcence de Messieurs.' Digitized by Microsoft® 4% ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect, scholar in the universities of England.' If rhenish florins are meant, this rate would be about £q.o sterling per annum, of that day^. Wotton had no attendant with him, and was in other respects very economical. Indeed he had need to be so, if his whole fortune was the rent charge of loo marks, which had been left him by his father. Be this as it may, from failure of remittances, he was not able to pay his bill when he wanted to leave. The sum of 33 gold crowns would have been a serious loss to Casaubon. But this was not the worst. Wotton had prevailed on Casaubon to become surety for a much larger sum, which he had borrowed from a banker, 124 gold crowns. And another creditor of Wotton's, who had lent him a further sum of 106 crowns, being himself about to leave Geneva, came upon Casaubon to repay him. Even the very horse, on which he had ridden away, Wotton had taken on credit— Casaubon's credit — and the dealer might come any day to Casaubon to be paid. All was to be settled by remittances from Frank- fort. The autumn fair came on, the merchants returned from Frankfort, and there was not only no cash, but not even a line from Wotton. Casaubon was in the depths of despair. He could do nothing and think of nothing but his loss. Two hundred and sixty-three crowns, besides the horse ! It was impossible for him to raise the sum. He wrote to Wotton in England, to Thomson, to Scaliger to interest himself in his behalf with the French ambassador at the Hague. It was Christmas before Wotton paid. But he did so at last in full. Though we may acquit Wotton of dishonesty, we must condemn him for culpable neglect. Poor as the provision made for Casaubon by the city was, it was not compensated by leisure. Casaubon, in ' From Grynaeus' epistles (Norimb. 1720) we learn that the usual tariff at Bale, at this period, in a professor's house, was 26 to 30 batzen per week. A rhenish florin contained 21 batzen. Digitized by Microsoft® "•] GENEVA. 1578-1595. 43 these years, complains of poverty, he complains much more of want of time. This complaint may seem incon- sistent with the fact, that his statute only bound him to eight hours a week of lecture. But he had now added latin to his greek lecturing, and for a time supplied the place of the hebrew lecturer^. And it is probable that he was driven by necessity to give private instruction, or at least that he did so to the young men who lodged in his house, or who came to Geneva, as many now began to do, with special recommendation to him. And the demand on his time^ occasioned by lectures must not be measured by the hours of delivery, but by those of pre- paration. We have the means in our hands of measuring, with some exactness, what the level of the greek and latin classes at Geneva, in these years, was. Three, at least, of Casaubon's published commentaries are, in substance, reproductions of his courses dictated to his class at Geneva. Of these, the Notes on Persius are of uncer- tain date ; those on Theophrastus are not later than 1590 ; those on the second book of Suetonius are of 1592. As the Notes on Diogenes Laertius give us the measure of Casaubon's own acquirement set. 25, so these three commentaries enable us to form a fair notion of what was the character of the instruction expected, and given, in the academy of Geneva in the closing years of the i6th century ^ Not that the printed commentary is the lecture as delivered. Casaubon's lectures were not written out, they were extempore. But they were from the notes he 1 Ep. 879 : ' Vixi annos 14 Genevse, professor primo Grascarum literarum, deinde etiam Latinarum, aliquando etiam Hebraearum.' The ' Latin ' professor- ship is that which is called in the order in council, Geneva mss, Registre du pet. cons. 22 nov. 1585, f". 160, ' Ung professeur en eloquence pour lire I'histoire.' ^ Ep. 972 : ' Docendi munere laboriosissimo fungor assidue.' ^ Schultze, Epp. inedd. p. 14 : ' Olim cum Genevse essera et frequenti audi- torio poetam ilium publice exponerem, id serio agebam, ut etiam rudiorum rationem haberem. Hinc ilia KemoKo'^iiimTa, quae doctos offendere non debent, quia illis scripta non sunt.' Digitized by Microsoft® 44 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. took into the class-room. These notes were chiefly refer- ences to the relevant passages in other books. The same nucleus of memoranda received a different development, when written out in the shape of a commentary for readers, and when addressed orally to a class of pupils. But the substance and character of the illustration re- mained the same. Nor is it difficult in the commentary, e.g. on Theophrastus, to pick out passages, the tone of which stamps them as portions of a lecture. A lecturer will not go where his class cannot follow. That Casaubon did not, we know from the success and popularity of his teaching. But we might infer it also from the different character of some 'Notes on Aristophanes''- which are the substance of a course delivered at Paris in 1601. In that year Casaubon interpreted ' The Knights' to a circle of friends in his own house^. Here we find the lecturer judiciously adapting himself to an audience composed of older persons, but manifestly less advanced in knowledge of the language than the younger class, with whom he had read Theophrastus ten years before at Geneva^. Casaubon had been transferred, almost without interval, from the bench of the learner to the chair of the teacher. What he had learned under Portus, he was to teach to others. We cannot suppose that he raised, at one stroke, the standard of the whole school, or changed its character. What he did, Portus must have been doing, though per- haps not so thoroughly, before him. Weighing all these facts, we can arrive at a tolerably near estimate of the range and compass of classical in- struction in the academy of Geneva. We find a width of reading possessed by the teacher, and a level of philo- logical curiosity assumed in the learner, which it would ' First printed by L. KUster in his Aristophanes, Amstel. 1710. ° Ephem. p. 384. ' Kuster accordingly finds the Notes 'non aeque elaboratae ac aha, quse habemus, eruditissimi illius viri opera, prselectiones enim potius fuisse videntur in tironum usum conscriptse.' Digitized by Microsoft® "•] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 45 not be easy to find surpassed in the most celebrated lecture-rooms of our time. We may safely affirm, that such teaching could neither have been given nor appre- ciated without the most unremitting effort on the part both of teacher and taught. Of himself the Professor has told us, that it taxed all his energies to master the Roman history of the first century, a. d., in a way which was adequate to the demands of his class ^ The time de- manded of the Professor, eight hours per week, is not heavy; but his every hour was required to obtain the mastery of the period, and the survey of the whole of the authorities, without which he was not content to pro- nounce an opinion on a single passage. He does not content himself with the bare explanation of the text of his author. He would grapple with all the difficulties which emerge, not only in the text, but in the matter. And these difficulties he will meet, not by retailing solu- tions ready made by previous commentators; he offers one founded on his own reading and comparison of passages. And this comparison is not one instituted for the particular occasion by inspection of an isolated text or paragraph. The whole of each author is read and possessed, and it is with this complete feeling, that the citation required is brought up as illustration. The sense of thoroughness, thus conveyed by a lecturer's method, renders a wrong solution more valuable than a right one arrived at by superficial reading, or taken upon the authority of another expositor. Besides the books already named, we find him taking as his text-book, Arrianus' Diatribae, and Polybius. Poly- bius was chosen with a view to catch the interest of the military men. The lecturer went into the constitution of the Roman army, and that portion of the text [De militia ' Ded. in Sueton. : ' In quo negotio ut ea fide versarer, quam et muneris raei ratio postulabat, et alacritas honestissimorum adolescentium qui mihi assiduam operam navabant . , .' Digitized by Microsoft® 46 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Romano) was printed separately in Greek and Latin by Chouet in 1596. The Arrianus, as afterwards Persius, was selected with a view to edification. The printed commentaries on Persius retain traces of this moral pur- pose which had inspired the lecturer. It was a sentiment which dominated the academy, nay, the state. It was its moral intensity more than its pure orthodoxy, which gave Geneva the lead of the calvinistic churches, and caused its school to be sought from all parts. A few years after Casaubon left, Valentin Andreas was struck with the contrast between the religious earnestness of Geneva, and the dogmatic scholasticism of German luther- anism. Vice and luxury were here criminal offences ^. Casaubon's lectures are coloured, without being cor- rupted, by the same tone. He never shirks difficulties under the cover of moral reflection. But he aims to vivify classical literature, and to read a stoical book in the spirit in which it was written. It becomes not a mere grammatical amusement, but an education of charac- ter for the young, an instruction in life and manners for persons of all ages. The affinity which this temper felt for stoical literature — for Arrianus, or Persius — is easily understood. It is characteristic of Beza, the able nego- tiator and man of affairs, that he should have recom- mended Cicero's letters to Atticus as a text-book. And when Casaubon wished to gratify his own antiquarian taste by reading on Tertullianus De Pallio, the 'coetus pastorum' vetoed the book, as unedifying. Though his preference was for prose, the tragic poets were not omitted, and Euripides was often in hand. These are all the authors mentioned by name as having been taken for text-books by Casaubon. But in the course of fourteen years' professorship many others must have had their turn. He can hardly have altogether ' J. v. Andreas, Vita ab ipso conscripta, p. 24. Digitized by Microsoft® II.] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 47 ignored the requirements of his statute, which names 'Aristotle, Plato, or Plutarch' expressly as books for the greek reader. Yet two inferences from this fragmen- tary information seem to be warranted. First, that Casau- bon dwelt more fondly on the historical, antiquarian, and learned literature of Greece, than on the poets and philosophers of the best period. Secondly, that there did not exist in the academy of Geneva anything like a prescribed curriculum of classical study, through which each student must necessarily pass. Indeed if this fixed ' cursus ' was not laid down in theology, as it was not, it was much less likely that the literae humaniores should have been methodised. The German universities even seem, at this period, to have left their professors very much to their own choice of subject, in the philosophical faculty. Much more was this the case at Geneva, where edification and piety were the first or sole concern. Moral and religious discipline was severe, and rigidly enforced ; intellectual discipline had not come into exist- ence. This latitude of choice, both as to text-book and as to treatment, should have mitigated to Casaubon the griev- ance of lecturing. For he could thus read before his class the book on which he was employed himself. Yet there were bounds to this freedom. First, it was limited by the approbation of the 'coetus pastorum.' The ministers exercised a strict surveillance over the teaching, not only in the school, but in the academy. When Casaubon proposed to lecture on Tertullianus De Pallio, it was vetoed. A professor could not even publish without first submitting his book to their censor- ship. For^ leave to print his innocent Notes on Diogenes 1 Geneva mss. 12 f6vr. 1583, f". 25 ': ' M^ Isaac Casaubon, professeur, qui a pr^sentd requeste tendant a luy permettre d'imprimer deux livres qu'il a com- poses, I'ung intitule NotEe in Laertium, le second Observationum liber, qui ont este vus par M'. de Bfeze et M. Rotan, a est6 arrests qu'on luy ouctroie sa Digitized by Microsoft® 48 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Laertius, Casaubon was compelled to get a special permit from the council. The lecturer was also obliged to have some regard to the students. There were, it is true, no examinations, no curriculum, nor even any established authors imposed by opinion. But then the greek class in the academy was not compulsory, and it was necessary to carry your hearers with you. The kind of books on which Casaubon would have willingly worked himself were impossible. Theocritus would have been vetoed by the censors ; Athenseus would have been beyond the reach of the class. Thus the work of editing and the work of lecturing were incompatible. In the conflict between the two, there could be no doubt that the former would ultimately carry the day. Casaubon does not share the disgust which Scaliger expressed for professorial teaching^. Even in 1596 he declares himself^ ' ready to exert all his power to be of use to his auditors,' but his interest now centres elsewhere. His ambition is fired. He has extended his horizon beyond the class-room to the republic of letters. He has found that he can write, on classical antiquity, what attracts the attention of the learned ; what Scaliger does not disdain. He is now wild with eagerness to prefix his name to some edition of a capital work^. What he has hitherto done is mere prelude, juvenile production, hurried scribblement. What he has written, on Diogenes requeste.' Why Casaubon was required to obtain an order for publication on this occasion, I am unable to say. It does not appear that other Genevan authors did so, nor did Casaubon do so for his later publications. The ' Obser- vationum liber,' which is said to have been submitted to the two ministers, was never published, nor does any such ms. appear among the 'Adversaria.' Casaubon, ep- 433> tells Bongars that he had kept back 'librum unum observationum nos- trarum in sacros et ecclesiasticos scriptores.' 1 Scaligerana i". p. 18 : ' Si vitam Josepho Scahgero Deus longiorem conces- serit, nuUus auctor futurus est, primaries dico, quem non emendaturus sit ; ad id enim aptus natus est, non a caqueter en chaire et pedanter.' The words, thus reported by Vertunien, are doubtless those which Scaliger himself used. ^ Ep. 50 : ' Vires ingenii contendere.' ' Ep. 74 : • Insanus quidam Eestus rei literarise juvandas.' Digitized by Microsoft® II.] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 49 Laertius and Theocritus, is '^of that sort that he will not acknowledge it for his.' The notes on the Gospels and Acts 'were extorted from him by the publishers.' He is more than usually emphatic in depreciating their value, and in promising what he ' will do in the same field here- after, if God shall give him leisure' (Notse in N. T. fin.). The Strabo is '^no legitimate offspring of his, a mere abortion.' He will show what he can do by attacking the desperate chaos of the great storehouse of classical wit and learning — Athenaeus. This literary ardour was, however, liable to be checked by a controlling religious sentiment, which was continually pushing Casaubon in the direction of theological reading. This divine instinct was ever suggesting the futility of worldly knowledge, and the superior value of religious studies. This impression may be traced to the early years of the son of the Huguenot pastor who had to fly to the hills in the Reign of Terror. When in 1583 Isaac presented his literary first-born, the Observations on Diogenes Laertius, to his father, and laid before him the schemes of publication with which at twenty-four his brain was teeming, the good man smiled, commended his zeal for learning, but said, 'he had rather have a single observation on the sacred volume than all the fine things he was concocting ^.' And this was not altogether the contempt of ignorance, the dictum of a man who prizes the Bible, because he knows no other book. The man who had emphatically recommended Strabo to his son* as useful reading could not have been a mere ignorant zealot. The sentiment thus implanted in early life was nour- ished by the atmosphere of Geneva. The pupil and admirer of Beza, who thought life scarce tolerable away from Beza's side^, was not likely to be allowed to regard ' Ep. 4. ' Ep. II. ' M. Casaubon, Pietas, p. 98. * See p. 5. ' Ep. 114 : ' Vivendi omnes causas mihi periisse puto.' E Digitized by Microsoft® 50 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. classical learning as a worthy life-pursuit. Beyond again these influences of early impression and later environ- ment, religious awe was constitutional in Casaubon, and connected with his depressed nervous organism. Hence it was most potent in his seasons of illness. Such an impulse came over him when, aet. 28, prostrated by the tension of overwork, he abandoned the study of the law and betook himself to theology. Law was left for ever; but theology soon gave place to Strabo. Ten years later, aet. 38, he writes to Sibrand Lubbert, professor of theo- logy at Franequer, ' ^ You invite me to take up some portion of the history of the' primitive church. How willingly would I, if I might ! Believe me that if I have hitherto lived for studies of another kind, it has been chance, not choice, that has determined it so. Yet I have never so far forgotten myself as to form a deliberate resolve of resigning myself to literature. Circumstances forced me in early youth into this line of reading, and I have been kept dreaming on the rocks of the Sirens ever since. So the best part of my life has been passed in studies very different from what I should have chosen for myself.' This is in September 1596, and he immediately plunges into his greatest classical effort — the edition of Athenaeus. While he is working at Athenaeus, he is wishing, all the while, that he was reading the Fathers. '^Oh! when will the day come,' sighs the diary of March 13, 1598, 'when it shall be God's will that I shall have done with this editing, and be free to give myself to better studies.' In 1595 he writes to Bongars^ 'That learning which was, in former days, my highest ambition, has now small charms for me; amid all this public misery one's mind requires somewhat on which it can stay and repose ' Ep. 77. 2 Ephem. p. 77. Ep. 42 : ' Ilia quam tantopere olim ambiimus ■noKvuliSfm . . . nunc minus grata ; qu^rit enim animus, in his publicis miseriis aliud nescio quid, in quo acquiescat.' Digitized by Microsoft® 1I-] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 51 itself.' From the first there were in Casaubon two men, the theologian and the scholar. He never rose to the point of union, where theology falls into its place, as a branch of learning. He was continually oscillating be- tween the two, as rival, and incompatible, claimants. The age, with its predominant theological interests, was too much for him. After seeming for a while to emancipate his mind, and give it undivided to classical research, we shall see him, in his later years, falling back again into the attitude of the vulgar theological polemic. If we recall the situation of Geneva during the fourteen years of Casaubon's professorate, we shall see, that this highly charged devotional atmosphere was nourished, if not created, by the pressure of external peril. Exposed to the incessant assaults of a powerful neighbour, the city was almost perpetually in a state of siege, and all its able-bodied citizens were under arms. Its only hope of support was from the Swiss confederation ; and the Pro- testant cantons, secure themselves, seem to have looked upon the struggles of Geneva with apathy. Grynaeus writes calmly to a friend (October 26, 1586), '^Dom. Beza makes many complaints of the public miseries and straits of the city of Geneva.' The moral result on a generation, growing up under such training, might well have been military barbarism. But another counteracting influence came into play. The aggression of the Duke of Savoy was a war, not of ambition and aggrandisement, but of religious passion. To root out heresy was the paramount motive. The fury of the catholic exterminator encoun- tered an equal religious exaltation in the calvinistic resist- ance. ' If the Lord had not been on our side ' was the heartfelt ejaculation of the Genevan citizen as he wit- nessed the repeated and miraculous escapes of his republic from treacherous surprise, or the constant pressure of superior force. '^Whatever has been 1 Gryn. Epp. ep. 47. " Ep; 5. E 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 52, ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. achieved against the enemy,' Casaubon writes in 1590, ' has been done by God's own hand, which we have seen, I may say, with our eyes.' Piety became not a personal sentiment, but a pubhc creed. The moral force thus inspired into that generation — Beza's generation — was more favourable to learning, than the external security of the half-century which followed 1601. Learn- ing was not encouraged by the administration as such, but it was not interfered with. Under the literal (calvin- istic) orthodoxy of the 17th century it became impossible for it to exist. But as long as Beza lived, it received toleration, if not respect. ' ^ You may well be surprised, but so it is,' says Casaubon, ' I have enjoyed, through all, more leisure than ever I had, and I have divided my time between the recension of the text of Aristotle, and looking on at the wonders the Lord hath wrought for us.' The enthusiasm of private study alternates with fits of dejec- tion when the student looks on the world without. ' ^ You have been rightly informed,' he tells Joachim Camerarius, 1594 ; ' I am deep in Athenaeus, and I hope my labour on the edition will not be altogether in vain. But one's in- dustry is sadly damped by the reflection how greek is now neglected and despised. Looking to posterity, or the next generation, what motive has one for devotion to study?' If it is the general law of nature that genius is evoked and nourished by its environment, Casaubon is a singular exception. Neither in Geneva, nor among his wider circle of correspondents, if we except Scaliger, whom he only came to know in 1594, had he rivalry, example, or encour- agement. In Geneva nothing that could be called literary interest existed. A poor and starved seminary for pious training ; a trading printing press for the sale of school- books, and sermons; a theology not formal, but inter- fused through every day's life and thinking. An armed > Ep. 5. 1590. s Ep. 996. Digitized by Microsoft® 11.] GENEVA. 1578-1596, 53 enemy crouched at their gates, watching his opportunity for the death-spring; each day bringing news of some fresh outrage on their corehgionists, in the countries where the cathohc reaction was in its full tide. On this ungenial soil, Casaubon developed out of his own instincts the true idea of classical learning. Not an idea of scien- tific philology as we conceive it, but that of a complete mastery of the ancient world by exhaustive reading; a reconstruction of Greek and Roman antiquity out of the extant remains of the literature. Instead of wondering that he allowed this ideal to be obscured to him by the clouds of party polemics, what is surprising is that he should ever have been able, an untaught and unfriended man, struggling himself with chill penury, to rise to it. The depreciation of his own performance, which was one of Casaubon's mental habits, was founded on the dis- paragement of secular knowledge in comparison of piety, which was the intellectual atmosphere he had to breathe. But it was further connected with that oppression of mind, which the infinity of knowledge lays upon its votaries. The man of science is often drawn as stand- ing on a proud pinnacle, from which he surveys his conquests, and sees the universe, whose secret he has wrested, spread at his feet. It is otherwise with the man of learning. He may joy in pursuit, but he can never exult in possession. The thought 'quantum est quod nescimus ' — Heinsius' motto— keeps him not only humble, but despondent. Even in science, some of the greatest men have shared the sense of baffled endeavour. New- ton's pebbles on the sea-shore are become proverbial. La Place's dying words were, ' I'homme ne poursuit que des chimeres.' But it is the scholar who is, more than other investigators, subject to these periods of darkness and gloom. The hopelessness of the task, which Casau- bon had set himself, imparts a hurry and restlessness to his day. Digitized by Microsoft® 54 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. The constant complaint of want of time reiterated by Casaubon in every preface, in his commentaries, in his letters — ' ^ I am so busy that I have hardly time to draw breath,' are not the mere apology for imperfection, hke the ' in haste ' often added at the bottom of a bad letter. They are indicative of a settled habit of mind. Casaubon is oppressed not by hours of teaching, but by his own studies. Research is infinite; it can never be finished. The speculative philosopher, who has exhausted thought, may sit with his head in the clouds, and feed himself on contemplation. But the commentator on a classical author can never make an end. He is never sure that the very passage which would explain his difficulty may not have escaped him. ' The author alludes,' Casaubon notes on Diogenes Laertius, 'to a practice of that day, which I do not remember to have seen noticed by any other author or annotatorl' But the allusion may turn up. If he had but a little more time to read! Casaubon is always ill at ease, unless he is acquiring, and acquisi- tion does but give him a glimpse of the untravelled world beyond. He will do better things in time, — with more time — that is the cry of these years of the Genevan pro- fessorate. Bongars ventured to expostulate with him on the shghtness of so many of the things he put his name to. Casaubon is thankful for the reproof, and promises in future ' ^ to digest with thorough care and diligence what I may prepare for editing.' But he is not cured. In 1605 we hear : ' * I am so distracted with engagements that I swear to you that what I print goes to press almost before I have thought it out.' His aim is always far ahead of his achievement. His repeated engagement that he will some day do better is an illusion. But it is not the illusion of presumption. He grounds his confidence not on his own ability, but ' Ep. 14, 1594. 2 Note in Diog, p. 66. = Ep. 18. 1594. 1 Ep. 457. Digitized by Microsoft® II.] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 55 on the hope of leisure— that leisure which is always pro- mised, but never comes to the student. He knows the limitation of his own talent. He tells Scaliger, '^The disposition has never been wanting, but I have lacked all helps, even the most indispensable. I have never had time of my own. And I have no talent. I mean natural gifts, not learning, if I may call that learning which is possessed by men like me. Ambition is always impelling me to greater aims, but the "frigidus circum praecordia sanguis " paralyses me. I never take up your books, or those of your great father, but I lay them down in despair at my own progress, and resolve to adopt for my motto Hence he is anxious for the good opinion of others ; but only for that of those who are able to judge. All writing, at least all publication, is an appeal to the verdict of the competent. When Newton wrote (February 18, 1670), 'You have my leave to insert the solution of the annuity problem in the " Philosophical Transactions," so it be without my name to it ; for I see not what there is desirable in public esteem, were I able to acquire and maintain it,' it is not ' morbid temperament ' as De Morgan ^ would call it. It is contempt for the unfounded plaudits of the uninstructed, a contempt which implies respect for the appreciation of experts. Towards the close of his Genevan period, Casaubon is ever ready to enlarge his circle of friends, yet not by making pro- miscuous acquaintance, but by cultivating the hkeminded, wherever they could be found. Before he left Geneva, and before the publication of his Athenaeus, he was be- coming known, not only by name, but personally, to the reading world. The greek scholars who formed a select company within the general body of the reading public, had now their attention fixed on Casaubon as the rising light, from which illumination was to be looked for. They 1 Ep. 17. 1594. ' Budget of Paradoxes, p. 456. Digitized by Microsoft® 56 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. court his notice, or he seeks their acquaintance, by letter. The area of his correspondence extends rapidly each year. By-and-by his letters will come to constitute a new demand on his time. In April 1590, he undertakes a journey to the Frankfort fair, for the purpose of meeting Lipsius. He is disappointed. Lipsius does not come ; Casaubon is obliged to be content with writing to Lipsius from Frankfort, to say that if he had leisure, he would go all the way to Belgium to make his acquaintance. Casaubon's earlier friends, so far as they were learned — we should say literary, all literature was then learned — were among his colleagues in the academy. Among these the first place is due to the venerable Beza. To the aged Beza, by forty years his senior, Casaubon looked up as a son to a parent. Years after Beza's death, Casaubon writes to Prideaux (April 7, 1613) : ' ^ During the fourteen years of my Genevan professorship, the whole company of pastors and professors at Geneva regarded me, as they still regard me, with sincere affection. To Beza, above the rest, was I very dear, he treating me as his son, while I respected him as a parent. Were I boastingly inclined, I might boast of having been for so many years Beza's colleague. But from him I learnt to think humbly of myself, and if I have been able to do aught in letters to ascribe all the glory to God.' Beza's time and thought had, indeed, for many years been absorbed by the public affairs of the reformed churches or by those of his pas- toral office. But Beza was a man of no vulgar learning. Though he had long relinquished the classics himself, he knew the value of greek. Casaubon preserv^ed among his papers two pages of conjectures on the text of Plutarch, which had been given him by Beza, 'manus suae moni- mentum,' as an autograph 2. Beza's own attainments ^ ' Ep. 879. 2 Adversaria, torn. ii. Though we must not adopt the exaggerating assertion of Dieterici, Antiq. Bibl. prolegg p. i8, that Beza, before he began his notes on the N. T., had ' gone through (evolverit) all the Greek authors, sacred and profane.' Digitized by Microsoft® "•] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 57 were considerable; he knew, what few did, how far ScaHger's went beyond those of any other Hving man. On Beza's death, Casaubon writes to Scaliger (November, 1605), ' I may tell you what I know, that in him you have lost one of the few who know how rightly to esteem you. I was seldom with him, but we spoke of you, and I do not know if there was any one else in all that country, except Beza, who thoroughly understood your position in the repubhc of letters \' It is to Casaubon that we owe one of the last gHmpses of the Genevan reformer^. On a visit to Geneva in June 1603, he spent a day in the company of Beza, then aged 84, who entertained him at supper in the evening. Though his memory for the facts of the day was gone, so that he could not remember that Elizabeth had ceased to be Queen of England, yet when the talk was of religion or theology, he spoke with all his usual verve, and was ready to quote the words of the New Testament, either in latin or in the original. Of all Casaubon's Genevan friends— for his relation to Beza was filial rather than friendly — Lect was the dearest and most intimate. Jacques Lect was law professor till poverty obliged the council to cashier him. He was of Casaubon's own age, and no mere lawyer, but occupied himself with the classics, at least in his leisure hours. Thus, while his professorship was suspended, he pub- Hshed an edition of "Symmachus^. In 1585 the council » Ep. 479. ^ Ephem. p. 493 : ' Hoc die . . . Beza . . . etiam coena nos accepit, me, inquam, uxorem, et amicissimum Pinaldum. Deus bone ! qui vir ! quse pietas ! quae doctrina ! o vere magnum virum,' etc. Compare with L'Estoile, Registre- journal, 25 aug. 1603 : ' M. Casaubon, revenu de son voyage de Dauphine, ayant passe par Geneve, me conta, qu'il y avoit vu M. de Beze, age pour le pr&ent de 85 ans, et qu'ayant long-tems communique avec lui, il n'y avoit apperfu aucune diminution d'esprit et de memoire pour le regard de sa th6ologie et des bonnes lettres; mais pour les affaires du monde, qu'il en avoit perdu du tout la me- moire et la connoissance ; demandait a tout le monde comme se portait la reine d'Angleterre ; ne lui avoit jamais pu persuader d'ecrire au roi d'Angleterre, disant qu'il 6toit mort au monde, et qu'il lui falloit songer de mourir, et non d'ecrire aux rois et aux reines.' ^ In 1587. See Symm. Epp. ded. : ' Per id temporis dum a publica juris inter- pretatione vaco.' Digitized by Microsoft® 58 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. had voted him a gratuity of loo florins, '^vu le grand norabre des Uvres qu'il est obHge d'avoir.' He was the only man in Geneva who could give any sympathy to Casaubon in his classical studies. When Casaubon re- moved to Montpellier, Lect felt himself alone in his native city^. 'Would that we could be again together, and see the suns down, as we used ! ' writes Casaubon to him 8- ' My dearest wish is either to have you here (Montpelher) or to be there (Geneva) with you, so that we may spend together what remains of life. Without you hfe to me is no hfe.' With Pacius, the other law-professor, Casaubon was on friendly but not intimate terms. Pacius was a reader and editor of Aristotle, and Casaubon had been his pupil in civil law and philosophy *. Pacius always impressed upon his pupils the importance of classical reading, and in a letter to Casaubon ^, regrets the tendency of the law stu- dents to neglect the classics. ' I wish,' he writes, ' you had not quitted Montpellier before my arrival. I flatter myself you never would have done so. Our professions, though different, are allied, and aid each other.' Next to his colleagues came his pupils, among whom a few could value his vast acquirements, and none could be insensible to his amiable and affectionate disposition. Besides, the metropolis of Calvinism drew pilgrims, ' religi- onis ergo,' from all the reformed countries. And travellers, without religious objects, already began to take Geneva as a desirable halting-place en route from Italy. Others, ' Registre du conseil, ap. GrSnus, 1585. ^ Burney mss. 365, p. 52 : ' Dolens mcerensque vixi ego ; postquam sine te, mi Casaubone ... in hac solitudine.' ' Ep. 112 : ' Utinam, mi Lecti, iterum utinam vel tu hie mecum, vel ego istic tecum vitee quod superest degere, unaque soles, ut eramus soliti, condere aliquando possimus.' * [See supra, p. 9, note ''.j ' Burney mss. 365, p. 284 ; ' Ego humaniores istas literas, in quibus excel- lis, plurimi facie, doleo autem plerosque studiosos vel aversari, vel negligere, qui cum juri dent operam, quicquid . . . auctoritatis habeo, totum in id in- sumpsissem ut tibi essent addicti, quod et ipsis et reipublicae utilissimum arbitror.' Digitized by Microsoft® II.] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 59 who came not to Geneva, men of rank and influence, began to offer him their friendship or their patronage. Of these last the most distinguished were de Thou (Thuanus), Bongars, and de Fresne. These three eminent men served France in important diplomatic missions, and the first two were devoted to ancient learning, and col- lectors of greek books. Jacques Auguste de Thou was the last, and most illus- trious, example of those public men who were formed to affairs upon the study of greek and roman history. Instead of composing his memoirs, hke his contemporaries, in French, he chose Latin, not because it was the language of diplomacy, but because it alone was capable of classical handling. Thrust into employment against his will, drag- ged perpetually from the retirement he loved to undertake difficult or dangerous negotiations, his heart was in his library, and his historical work. The history of 'Thuanus ' was long the manual of statesmen all over Europe. It is now wholly neglected, even in the country of its author. The cause of this neglect is not merely the language, a difficulty which might have been overcome by translation. It is because it is too minute. Even in 1733, and before the revolution of '89 had opened a new and absorbing page of history. Lord Carteret pointed to the extent of the work as fatal to its popularity. Containing the history of only sixty-four years, it has been calculated ^ that de Thou's folios would require twelve months, at four hours a day, for their perusal. The world has now too long a history for us to afford time to know it ! Thus the very merit of de Thou's ' Historia,' its completeness, is the cause of its being left unread. De Thou was a catholic, but a 'politique,' and would gladly have secured Casaubon for France, without attempting to convert him. Jacques Bongars ^ was a calvinist, and a calvinist who ' Legendre, i. 56. ' [On Bongars see H. Hagen, ' Zur Geschichte der Philologie,' Berlin, 1879.] Digitized by Microsoft® 6o TSAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. would not allow his faith to be tampered with, but he was of the moderate school, who, under the cant name of ' moyenneurs,' were odious to the zealots. Casaubon never mentions Bongars, but he couples a reference to his ' piety' with praise of his love for letters. Bongars was much relied on by Henri iv. in his negotiations with South Germany and the Swiss cantons, by reason of the thorough knowledge he possessed of their affairs. He was chiefly stationed at Strassburg, which, as the frontier city of the empire, and at the same time a free town, was a convenient post of observation for a French envoy. Bongars had made Casaubon's acquaintance when he was on his hasty visit to Frankfort in 1590, and was attracted at once by his enthusiasm for learning, and by religious sympathy. Bongars, hke de Thou, had prepared himself for a diplo- matic career, by the study of the roman law and of the classics. In 1581, when only in his twenty-third year, he had published an edition of Justin, which earned for him from Niebuhr the praise of 'distinguished interpreter \' The text, which Bongars constructed from a real collation of Mss, however faulty, had remained untouched at the time when Niebuhr spoke. But Bongars studied the classics with the aims of a man of the world. He thus indicates his early studies in a letter to a friend ^ : 'It is not the travelled man only who has seen life ; he may be said to have seen it too, who has made himself acquainted with the revolutions of states, the geography of countries, and the manners of different nations. This knowledge we may acquire from the writings of historians. So, while you linger in Italy to enjoy the conversation of its learned men, I have been running over a great portion of the greek and latin historians.' His letters, as giving the thread of the South-German politics, were, though written by a protes- tant, reprinted by permission of Louis xiv, for the use of the Dauphin, but with characteristic omissions. ' Vortrage ub. alte Gesch. p. 13. ^ Bongars to Rose, 1581. Digitized by Microsoft® ".] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 61 Neither the pressure of public employments, nor the corrupting example of the French court, extinguished Bongars' love for learning and learned books. In 1604 he writes to a friend : ' You will smile at my folly,— I, who though a courtier, and not wealthy, when all are flocking about the king, to get out of him what they can, turn my back on it all, and post off into the country to waste my substance in buying up worm-eaten books (i. e. at the sale of Cujas' library). My court is paid to my books ; oh ! could I only sit down in quiet to enjoy them, I would not envy either the Persians, or Sully, their wealth!' The books which Bongars thus loved were nowhere collected together, but were at his death found dispersed, like the library of Richard Heber, in several places. As he was liberal in lending them, many never returned to him at all. So generous was he, to Casaubon in particular, that Casaubon seems to have ceased to distinguish between those books which were given, and those which were only lent him. The British Museum now possesses more than one of Bongars' greek mss., which passed to it along with the other books of Casaubon which have found their resting-place there. Philip Canaye, the sieur de Fresne, had also been bred up on the civil law and classical books. He had trans- lated, into French, extracts from Aristotle's Organon (Paris, 1589), a translation made, perhaps with Casaubon's aid, at Lausanne, where he resided as representative of the king of France. After being employed in various negotiations by Henri iv, among others one in England (1590), he was named president of the ' chambre mipartie ' in the Parlement of Languedoc, which sate at Castres. At the conference of Fontainebleau (1600) he was con- vinced by the arguments of Du Perron, or rather quali- fied himself for the Venetian embassy, by declaring himself a catholic. These three personages, de Thou, Bongars, and de Digitized by Microsoft® 6a ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Fresne, were, along with Pierre PithoUj at this period, Casaubon's most influential friends and well-wishers on the French side. They made it their common object to secure him for France. And it was through de Fresne's influence that his removal to Montpellier was brought about. Before we come to this event in his life we may finish the survey of his circle of friends. We have said that some of the learned, or lovers of learning, sought Casaubon's acquaintance by writing to him directly, or by sending him a polite message through a common friend. The acquaintance of others Casaubon challenged, by writing to them to propose friendship. This was not always a safe proceeding. Casaubon had, in this way, solicited Leunclavius in a letter charged to the muzzle with gratifying compliments. He ascertained that the letter reached Leunclavius, and his irritation at get- ting no response sharpened the language of some (other- wise just) censure of Leunclavius' Dio Cassius (1592), as Casaubon himself confesses, not without some remorse ^. He was more successful in a quarter of much more consequence. Casaubon must naturally have wished for a word of approbation or encouragement from the dictator of letters. But none came. Scaliger^ had been, 1593, settled some months at Leyden, had bidden farewefl to France, and seemed thus to be removed to a distance, from which Casaubon could hardly hope to be visible to his eye. After much hesitation Casaubon plucked up courage to send a greeting to Scahger, by Richard Thomson, the young m.a. of Clare hall, who was return- ing to England, via Leyden. Having gone so far, he ' Ep. 994. " The first mention of Casaubon by Scaliger is in a letter dated Nov. i6, 1588 (Larroque, p. 270) : ' Je n'ay rien veu de ce garcon dont m'escrivds nommg Casaubonus, sauf q'un jeune homme venant de ce quartier la me dit dernierement qu'il estoit professeur au dit lieu.' For Scaliger's commendation of Casaubon, see Larroque, p. 302, note. [The reference is to Tamizey de Larroque's ' Lettres In^dites de J. J. Scaliger,' Apen and Paris, 1879.] Digitized by Microsoft® II.] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 63 went a step further, and followed up his message by a letter, in which he introduced himself in terms, which were certainly humble, but not more so than became their respective age and position. To the letter came no answer. Casaubon began to feel the awkwardness of a man who has made unacceptable advances, when Thom- son, who was making some stay at Leyden, wrote to inform him that his message had been graciously accepted, and that the archcritic had uttered an emphatic commendation of Casaubon. The Theophrastus had just reached Leyden, and Scaliger, who may not have been greatly struck with such of Casaubon's books as he had previously seen, had instantly recognised the merits of this commentary, replete with knowledge. Thomson further hinted that the reason why Casaubon had never been noticed before, was, that he had not sent Scaliger any of his pubhcations. On the receipt of this message, Casaubon wrote again, prostrating himself at the feet of the prince of letters, in terms which we should call extra- vagant, if they were not so obviously sincere. He apol- ogised for not having offered any of his books, because none of them had been worthy of Scaliger's notice. He promised to send the Strabo (1587), but not till he had gone through it again, and purged it of a few of its many errors ^. This was March 4. Still no reply. On April 25, Casaubon wrote again, announcing his being at work on Suetonius, and asking help. The explanation came at last in the course of the summer of '94. It had not been disdain on Scaliger's part, it was simply non-delivery of letters. Casaubon's letters had been so slow in reaching Leyden, that the first two had been delivered together. And Scaliger's reply to the two, though written at once, had been entrusted to Thomson to forward to Geneva, via England. Scaliger's answer to Casaubon's third he had given to Commelin, the Heidelberg publisher, who had ' Ep. II : 'Ex raendis foedissimis quibus totus scatebat.' Digitized by Microsoft® 64 ISAAC CAS A [/SON. [Sect. lost it along with a presentation copy of the Cyclometrica. But when the Scaliger letter arrived, Casaubon must have felt that it was worth waiting for. Scaliger, who was con- temptuous towards pretenders, and concealed his contempt too little for his own peace, was no niggard of praise for true learning. If he bestowed iiis praise rarely, it was because he rarely had occasion. He must have under- stood from Thomson, that Casaubon's dejected tempera- ment and isolated position required encouragement. He gave it in no measured terms. 'Casaubon was not to suppose that his merits were now for the first time revealed to ScaHger. Scaliger's eye had been on him long, and his voice had never been wanting to proclaim them.' From this time till Scaliger's death (1609) their correspondence was uninterrupted. After the first exchange of letters in 1594 its tone becomes that of intimate friendship and sympathy. They never met, yet esteem and sympathy grew up into affection. Scaliger's last letter to Casaubon, dated August 28, 1608, on his narrow escape from drown- ing in the Seine, is an expression of heartfelt thankfulness for the providential deliverance. Casaubon's entry in his diary, when the news reaches Paris of Scaliger's death, says, that he has lost ' the guide of his studies, the incom- parable friend, the sweet patron of his life.' What other men say to each other as complimentary forms of speech, these two sincerely said of each other in private. Not in his letters, but in his private journal, Scaliger is to Casaubon 'lumen literarum, saeculi nostri lampas, ornamentum unicum Europae.' In more discriminating style, Scaliger always spoke to his young friends of Casaubon as ' doctissimus.' ' He is the greatest man we have now in greek. There I yield the pas to him. I am his pupil ; I have a sense of things, but not learning. Casaubon is the most learned man now living. His latin style is excellent; terse, not diffuse Italian latin. I keep all his letters ^' ' Scaligerana, 2\ p. 45. Digitized by Microsoft® ".] GENEVA. 1578-1596. e^i Casaubon always regarded Scaliger as the 'author of his reputation,' 'autorem famse\' Scaliger would have gladly served his fortunes. As early as 1594 he began to sound the feeling in Leyden about getting him invited thither^. Theodore Dousa was being educated at Geneva, and served as a channel of communication. Thomson, too, coming fresh from the same place, might report, as Black- burn did of Butler, that Casaubon was not dead but buried. The idea, from whatever cause, was not taken up by the curators of Leyden. Scaliger had not given Casaubon any hint of his attempt to serve him. But Thomson had not been so prudent. And though Casaubon did not venture to hope for such an honour as a call to Leyden, he began, from this time, to be restless, and to seek an opportunity of getting away from Geneva. If Leyden was beyond his reach, there remained the choice between Germany and France. In Germany, Strassburg and Tubingen were closed to him by their lutheran orthodoxy. But there was Heidelberg to which he might aspire. The university of Heidelberg was, at this time, enjoying its golden age, too soon to be exchanged for the miseries of the thirty years' war, in which the Palatinate had so large a share. The elector, Frederick iv, 1592-1610, was himself not without acquirements. Portus could write to him in greek ^. Though fond of the vanities and amuse- ments of a court, he took a lively interest in his university. At fourteen he had acted the part of rector, and, when he came to his majority, he continued occasionally to preside at the acts and disputations. He had a pride in collecting eminent men. Toleration indeed was not thought of A profession of Calvinism was required of all who entered. But Calvinism, intolerant as it was, was not so narrow, nor had it so cramping an effect on the mind, as the contem- porary lutheranism. At the neighbouring universities, on ' Scaligerana, s°. p. 47. '^ Pithou to Seal. ep. 80. ' Ap. Schelhorn, Vita Camer, p. 195. F Digitized by Microsoft® 66 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. either side the Rhine, theological disputation was in full vogue. At Strassburg the work of Sturm had been de- stroyed, in a generation, by the lutheran preachers. At Tubingen all heads were busy with the question of the ubiquity of the body of Christ. At Heidelberg, the prin- ciple of liberality was already germinating. Though Pareus' ' Irenicum ' did not appear till 1615, it was the expression of a tendency which had been growing up in the university, for the previous twenty-five years. A paternal, but economical, patronage of learning had created a new interest. Science and learning were drawing to themselves talents, which were elsewhere wasted on theo- logical controversy. Heidelberg could show, at one moment, a list of names which might almost rival that of Leyden, if Scaliger were excepted from the comparison. Pareus, Pacius, Denis Godefroy, Freher, Gruterus, Smets, Obsopoeus, Christmann, were among the professors; Sylburg was librarian of the university, Schede (Melissus) of the Palatine library, as yet unplundered of its manuscript treasures. Nothing could be more in the course of nature than that Casaubon, a calvinist, and the rising greek scholar of his generation, should have been thought of for Hei- delberg. We must suppose that Casaubon had thought of it for himself, when his uneasiness at Geneva had risen to a point, which made him catch at a faint hint even of a call to Franequer. In 1596 a place in the faculty of arts at Heidelberg was actually vacant by the death of Pitho- poeus in January of that year. Casaubon does not stir. The place was filled by iEmilius Portus (son of Casaubon's own teacher), a man much below Casaubon, both in the repute and the reality of learning, and who has earned from Bentley the title of ' homo futihssimus.' And Portus was backed by Casaubon's patron, Canaye de Fresne, who had before endeavoured to get him placed at Altdorf. Denis Godefroy, who had formerly taught at Geneva, was Digitized by Microsoft® 11.] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 67 called to Heidelberg in 1598 (or according to Hautz in 1600). Yet I find no trace, at this time, either of Casaubon seeking Heidelberg, or of his being sought for it. At a later period ^ a chair was offered him there, but the time was gone by. And he himself knew the attractions of Heidelberg. He had visited it twice ^, en route to Frank- fort, had made acquaintance with the men and manners. , It is true, that the salaries at Heidelberg were on the most economical scale. But then they were better than the starvation pay of Geneva ; the necessaries of life were far cheaper^, and there was the Palatine library to set against the absolute dearth of books at Geneva. One reason why Casaubon did not turn towards Hei- delberg may have been that his wishes and hopes were strongly directed towards the French side. Though a native of Geneva, Casaubon was a Frenchman, and always speaks of himself as such. Language, manners, and con- nection all drew him that way. And about the very time when his dissatisfaction with Geneva began, a prospect was held out to him of removal, on advantageous terms, into France. His anxiety to get away from Geneva begins to show itself in May 1594, and gradually becomes the dominant feeling. The motive has been variously sought by the biographers, in a constitutional fretfulness of temperament, or in personal disagreement with his col- leagues, or with the members of the government of the republic. This last supposition is founded upon Casaubon's many bitter utterances against the authorities of Geneva. Ca- saubon had, in his letters, brought so heavy charges of dishonest dealing against his compatriots, that Grotius thought* that Rivet, the editor of the letters, would not venture, even in Holland, and in 1636, to print passages 1 1608. See Ephem. p. 571. ^ See note D in Appendix. 3 Ep. .52. ' Grot. Epp. App. ep. 37a. F 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 68 ISAAC CASAVBON. [Sect, which could be so Uttle to the taste of the Genevese (' minus ad Genevalem stomachum'). But the transaction which raised Casaubon's anger was of a date much posterior to his quitting Geneva in 1596. That affair was as follows. When Henri Estienne died in 1598, Madame Casaubon's marriage portion was still unpaid. When Casaubon proceeded to claim it, he found he was only one among a number of creditors, of whom the principal was Nicolas Leclerc, for 400 crowns. A judg- ment was obtained, and the estate of the intestate was ordered to be realised for the settlement of his debts. The widow of Henri had died shortly after her husband. Leclerc obtained only 50 per cent, of his debt, viz. 200 crowns, but he retained ample security for the remaining half. The other creditors likewise got a dividend, on principal and interest. Madame Casaubon and the three other surviving children of Henri claimed the residue. But Casaubon got nothing. His claim was disallowed by the Genevese tribunal on the ground of Robert Estienne's will. This had provided that his printing establishment should never be removed from Geneva under penalty of forfeiture to the State. It was accord- ingly decided that Casaubon's part of the liquidation could not be removed from the city, but had lapsed to the exchequer. Casaubon speaks of himself as having ' lost 1300 crowns,' but this must be considered an excited statement. He must mean that 1300 crowns was the whole value of the estate of which he lost his share. This is the ground for his passionate denunciations, in his diary and letters, of the Genevese. Swindlers ; ras- cally brigands; humbugging pharisees; diabolical hypo- crites, with their mock piety! The intelligence reached him at Paris in the autumn of 1607, and disturbed him so as to distract him for weeks from his books. His equanimity was gone for a time, and his day was en- croached upon by the necessity of urging his remon- Digitized by Microsoft® "•] GENEVA. 1578-1596. . 69 strances at Geneva, or endeavouring to obtain redress by the intervention of the French government. This grievance, which did not arise till 1607, had then nothing to do with his discontent at Geneva, which began in 1594. Nor was it mere love of change that instigated his projects of removal. The cause is not obscure. It was the pressure of positive evil. The disadvantages he laboured under at Geneva may be shortly enumerated. An insufficient salary i; high prices caused by the blockade on the side of Savoy; the want of books; the want of leisure. A minor evil was the narrow accommodation of his apartments in the college, where his only study looked upon the court, in which the boys of the school disturbed him with their games during play hours. The first of these evils it might be thought was remediable. A small augmentation might have enabled him to exist. But the republic was not only poor, but exhausted. And letters were of small, rather of no, account in Geneva. For the purposes of their academy, they did not want anything so good as Casaubon. If Casaubon was valued at all, it was only because he attracted pupils. Except for this any young regent could do all the teaching required. In Geneva there was no prospect for him in the future, and even the present scanty stipend was not secure. The council that had dismissed Lect might, any day, tell Casaubon that they could pay him no longer. He had exhausted the classical books he had been able to procure ; his father-in-law's library was closed against him. But the aid of books was indispensable if he was to produce anything exhaustive of a subject. Above all he sighed for leisure, and to be set free from the drudgery of teaching. He would gladly have passed the rest of his days at Geneva, were these difficulties [' On Casaubon's salary at Geneva from 1590-1594, see note E in Appendix, P- 75-] Digitized by Microsoft® ;o ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. removable. But they were not. He must leave. When he moves, it must be into France. Books, leisure, necessaries— these are the conditions. Where can they be found? In 1594 a proposal was made to him from MontpelUer. The conditions were not tempting. Montpelher was almost as poor as Geneva, and the protestants in Langue- doc were not more secure than those in Geneva. Sarrasin and Bongars dissuade. Casaubon is wiUing, but refuses in compliance with their advice. De Fresne, however, who had secretly prompted the first offer, continues to press the municipal council at Montpelher, and obtains better terms'. In October, 1595, a formal request from the city of Montpelher is made to the council of Geneva, to send them, either on loan or permanently, Simon Goulart and Isaac Casaubon Vtant pour conserver parmi eux la pure et vraye religion, que pour instruire leur jeunesse es lettres humaines.' The council refuse. The two are 'men who cannot be done without' But the principals had not been consulted in the transaction. When they are told of it, they are found to be wilhng to leave. Goulart, after some resistance, at last consents to remain at Geneva^. But Casaubon will not. He can- ' De Fresne was instigating the municipality of MontpelUer. But behind de Fresne was de Thou, who was the first person to urge the acquisition of Casaubon for France. See ep. 785 : ' Prime tibi venit in mentem traducendum me esse in Galliam.' ^ Geneva Mss. Reg. du pet. cons. 15 octob. 1595, f". 183 : '. . . ont este venues lettres escrites a Mess"^'. par le Sieur des Fresnes en juin dernier, et autres du 24 de 'f'''^ dernier par les consuls conseil et consistoire de la ville de Montpelher, et de leur mandement, priant les favoriser de tant que de leur accorder lesd. S'". Goulard et Casaubon, tant pour conserver parmi eux la pure et vraye religion, que pour instruire leur jeunesse es lettres humaines, a este arreste qu'on s'en excuse envers eux, par lettres, le plus doucement et honor- ablement que faire se pourra sur la nScessite de tels personnages.' ' Geneva mss. Reg. du pet. cons. 17 octob. 1595, f". 184 : '. . . led. Sr. Goulard aprfes quelque difBculte faite a finalement consenti de continuer icy sa charge ; mais led. sieur Casaubon s'est tellement excuse sur la ndcessite de sa famille, qui s'augmente annuellement, qu'il les a resolus de ne pouvoir plus servir a si petits gages, ayant d'ailleurs des longtemps propose de faire un Digitized by Microsoft® "•] GENEVA. 1578-1596. 71 not maintain himself on his Genevan pay. But the Council are in earnest. They are aware ' what profit and honour the learning and renown of the sieur Casaubon confer upon Geneva/ they will double his pay for this year, and will do the same year by year. Only this last intention is not to be made public, in order not to rouse the jealousy of the other professors. But it is now of no use. Casaubon wishes to visit his mother; he has long designed a journey to MontpeUier to see de Fresne. In short, he is determined to settle in France. He has outgrown Geneva; he is become, as was afterwards said of Madame de Stael : ' trop grand poisson pour notre lac;' he will migrate into more spacious waters. voiage aud. MontpeUier pour visiter sa mfere, prians les d. sr. ministres, que Messeigneurs p^sent comme il faut le profit et honeur qu'aporte en ceste ville la doctrine et le renom dud. sieur Casaubon, pour y avoir tel esgard que de raison, a estS arrests qu'on luy augmente ses gages pour ce coup de trois cent florins, et qu'on advise de le gratifier d'an en an de mesme somme, sans neant- raoins qu'on le luy die, afin d'eviter toute jalousie des autres professeurs.' Digitized by Microsoft® APPENDIX TO SECTION II. Note A. p. 13. While every university, almost every school, in Germany has its history, there is no special monograph on the Academy of Geneva. Materials are not w^anting. Professor Cellerier has traced an outline only of what might be vs^ritten : Bulletin de la Society de I'Histoire protest, tome 4. M. Crottet has printed a journal of one Merlin, who must have been a student along with Isaac Casaubon. The accounts in the current lives of Calvin are very loose and inexact, e. g. they mostly speak of the ' academy' as distinct from the ' school.' But the statutes — 'Leges' — of 1559 call the whole institution 'Academia,' and distinguish the lower section of it as ' gymnasium.' The con- temporary writers generally speak of 'the schools,' 'les escholes.' As to the number of the students, the number 1000 has estab- lished itself, doubtless permanently, in the modern histories. Henry, Leben Calvin's, 3. 391, 'more than a thousand daily,' followed by Dyer, Life of Calvin, p. 459. The authority for this figure is an anonymous letter, quoted in Sayous, Etudes, I. 107, 'c'est merveille des auditeurs des le9ons de M. Calvin; j'estime qu'ils sont journellement plus de mille.' But these are the congregation who followed Calvin's doctrinal sermons, of which he preached 2025. Stahelin, however, Johannes Calvin, Leben, i. 494, will have '900 regular students,' 'nicht weniger als neunhundert junge Manner,' a blunder apparently arising from mistranslating Gaberel's 'cent neuf Gaberel, i. 338, gives the number of students exactly, from the ' livre du rec- teur,' as 109, and distinguishes them from the auditors of Calvin, whom he reckons at 800. The total number of scholars, includ- ing the boys in the lower school, was 600 (Leges Academise, Digitized by Microsoft® APPENDIX TO SECT. II. 73 p. i). Beza (to Farel ap. Baum. Leben, &c. i. 519) says the ' scholastici ' at Lausanne, in 1558, were 'nearly 700.' The foreign students formed the larger part of the whole ; cf. Dos- chius, Vita Hotoman. : 'cum propter urbis et doctorum celebri- tatem undique confluerent auditores, interque eos e Germania aliquot adolescentes principum filii.' Tossanus, writing to Hotoman, in 1586 (Hotoman. Epp. ep. 143), names, among the German nobles, two Counts Witgenstein, Count Karl von Ortemburg, with his tutor Theodor Clement. Cf. Goldasti, Epp. p. 118. The existence of the academy was still precarious in 1611, and it was occasionally subvented by the reformed churches throughout France. M6m. et Corresp. de Du Plessis- Mornay, 11. 296. sept. 1611: 'J'ai reprdsentd le m^rite de vostre seigneurie, 6glise, et acad^mie ; la ndcessitd aussi a laquelle tant de mis^rables affaires avaient reduict vostre ville ; telle que vostre dicte academic, qui en faict une bonne partie, estoit en danger de d6perir s'il n'y estoit d'ailleurs pourveu.' Note B. p. 20. The evidence for this fact is three documents printed by M. Th. Dufour, L'Intermed. 3. 81. i. The minute-book of a notary, Jean Jovenon, preserved at Geneva, has, under date 24 aout, 1583, a contract of marriage between 'Spect. Isaac Cazaubon, prof, en grec, fils de Spect. Arnault Casaubon, ministre du saint evangile en I'eglise refform^e de Crest et Verre en Daulphin^e d'une part, et honn. fille Marye Prolyot, fille de feu honn. M. Pierre Prolyot, en son vivant maistre chirurgien, et de Dame Jehanne Buret, de la ville de Bour- deaux, habitant a Geneve, d'autre (part).' 2. The second document is the Registre des ddces, in which the entry is ' Marye, femme de Isac Casaubon, bourgeois, est morte d'une apoplexie, ag6e d'environ 25 ans, ce 27 may, 1585, au collayge.' 3. The register of baptisms contains the entry of the baptism of their daughter, called Jeanne, after Isaac's mother, 7 jan. 1585- We must suppose that this daughter, Jeanne, died young, as no mention, that I am aware of, is made of her anywhere in Casaubon's papers. It must have been before 1598, as the daughter born in that year received the name Jeanne. That Digitized by Microsoft® 74 APPENDIX TO SECT. II. there should have been no allusion to the first wife would not have been surprising, as we have hardly any memoranda which go back as far as 1585. But it is very probable, as M. Dufour conjectures, that Cas. ep. 3, date August 23, 1585, where he speaks of a great misfortune which has suddenly overtaken him, is to be understood of his wife's death. The words are, ' Dum ille discessum parat, ecce repentina calamitate, ceu fluctu decumano aliquo, ita totus obruor, ut omnem continue et scri- bendi et aliud quidvis agendi curam omitterem. sic factum est, ut ille ad vos sine meis literis rediret; ac nunc quoque quo- minus pluribus ad te scribam, idem me casus tristissimus impedit/ Note C. p. 28. Ephemerides, p. 57. 9 kal. jan, 1597: 'Studium, non sine dolore animi ob internam, et tibi, o Deus, notam caussam. Domine, fateor ita maritam esse meam ut quae alleviationi et auxilio esse debet, sit interdum studiis nostris impedimento. scis tamen, o Pater, quantam morositatem quo animo feram, dum illud unice vereor, ne semel principium aliquod discordise in utriusque mentem penetret.' Ibid, p. 41 : ' Tu scis, mi Deus, mei doloris caussam domesticam. vel igitur medere huic incommodo studiorum meorum, si ita placet, o Pater, aut ei ferendo da vires.' Complaints of this sort, besides that they are found only in the earlier pages of the diary, are greatly overbalanced by the far more numerous passages which testify not only to intense affection, but to helpless dependence on Florence's watchful care ; e. g. ep. 603, to Cappell : ' Quotidie videtur dolor crescere, nunc utique absente uxore, in qua una ex humanis rebus, curarum mearum est solatium ac levamen.' Eph. p. 131 : ' Deum O. M. supplex veneror regat uxorem liberosque meos. non est ilia quidem dimidia pars animae mese, sed tota quasi anima.' Note D. p. 67. There were two visits to Germany. The first was in April, 1590. On this occasion Casaubon was at Frankfort and Heidel- berg. Ep. 5, to Theodore Canter, was written from Frankfort. A letter to Lipsius (Burmann, Syll. i. 348) is dated 20 April, o. s. 1590, from the shop of Le Preux, as he is on the point of Digitized by Microsoft® APPENDIX TO SECT. II. >]$ setting out for Heidelberg. This was the visit on which he must have made the excerpta from the 'Fasti Siculi,' in the Palatine library, spoken of ep. 252, and possibly inspected the Palatine Athenaeus, which he afterwards obtained on loan, ep. 229. The second visit was in Jan. 1593. For this journey he obtained leave of absence from the Council. Geneva mss. Reg. du pet. cons. 15 decemb. 1592. fo.' 242 : ' S"". Isaac Casaubon . . . ayant estd ordonng de luy bailler des gages aultant qu'a ung de la ville, a estd raportd qu'il desire faire ung voyage j usque a Francfort vers M'. de Fresne, ayant promis de revenir au service de la Seigneurie, arrests qu'on luy donne congg a ceste condition.' Ded. of Suetonius to Canaye de Fresne, p. 2 : 'In Germaniam tuo accitu veni.' I do not find that he went further than Strassburg. Adversaria, torn. 23 : ' Itinere meo Ger- manico.' Ibid. : ' In Aristophane observata, 0800 iviipfpya, Argen- tinae, a. d. kal. feb. 1593.' [Note E. p. 69. A letter from M. Thdophile Dufour to Mr. Pattison, dated December 5, 1874, communicates the following facts with regard to Casaubon's salary at Geneva. In 1590 he was in receipt of 500 florins (=1250 francs) a year, his lodging, with the presents of corn and wine, making the whole sum up to 2500 francs or £100. This was the same salary as that of the ministers. In 1592 (December 4) this sum was increased by an addition of 300 florins (750 francs) a year. In 1594 (28 October) a fresh addition of 300 florins was made, which was made annual on October 17, 1595. ' Evidemment,' adds M. Dufour, ' le Conseil faisait tout ce qu'il pouvait pour conserver Casaubon a notre Academic.'] Digitized by Microsoft® III. MONTPELLIER. 159&— 1599- MoNTPELLiER ^, during the sovereignty of the kings of Majorca, had been a flourishing entrepot of commerce. Nominally dependent, it had enjoyed real self-government, and, as in the case of the free cities of the empire, this independence had led to wealth. Incorporation with France had begun its decline. It was a decaying town before the wars of religion came, at the close of the i6th century, to desolate Languedoc. In 1596, the city, though saved by its fortifications from the worst extremities, had lost its commerce in the troubles. Though still the second city in Languedoc, its treasury was empty, and in the general depreciation of property it could scarcely support the weight of the general taxation. The university, having no independent endowments, was sharing the depression of the town. The university was an old foundation, its medical school having existed long before it received a charter by papal bull in 1289. It rose upon the ruins of Cordova, destroyed by catholic fana- ' On the Academy of Montpellier, I have had recourse to Faucillon, ap. MSmoires de I'academie des sciences de Montpellier, 3. 500 ; Germain, in Mem. de la Soc. archSologique de Montp. for 1856, p. 247, seq. ; Hist, de la Commune de Montpellier, 1851 ; Academia Monspeliensis a Jacobo Primirosio Mons- peliensi et Oxoniensi doctore descripta, Oxon. 1631 ; Astruc, M^moires pour servir a I'histoire de la Faculte de m^decine a Montpellier, Paris, 1867. A paper in Mem. de I'Acad. d. Sciences de Montp. 1872, tome 5, p. 207, seq. by M. Germain, with the promising title, ' Isaac Casaubon a Montpellier,' is com- piled only from printed sources, and adds nothing to our information. Digitized by Microsoft® MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 77 ticism, to be the first medical school out of Italy. Padua — where our Harvey was now (1598) following the lectures of Fabricius ab Acquapendente, had, for a century, held the first place. But the flourishing period of Montpellier was now over. Its throngs of students had disappeared, and the six regius readers of physic alone represented the numerous readers and demonstrators of anatomy, whom the fees of the students had once sufficed to maintain. Yet the spirit of better days was not wholly lost in these years of distress. The school of Montpellier was not saved by its endowments. The salary of the royal readers remained at its old figure, 50 livres — a mere nominal stipend, even if it had been regularly paid. It was saved by the tradition of science. Thirty years, a whole gener- ation, of religious war, had not extinguished this tradition in the medical school. As soon as the breathing time came, after the accession of Henry iv, the old habits and usages revived of themselves. The salaries of the pro- fessors were raised, by royal ordinance, and the strict requirements which had contributed to the former celebrity of the school were spontaneously restored. These were principally four. The examinations for the degree of m.d. were more severe than an3rwhere else, not only in France, but in Europe, more severe even than Padua. First and last, sixteen of them had to be passed before the doctor's hood could be assumed. Numbers of students would come to follow the lectures at Montpellier, and go away to get the degree at other universities, where it could be had on easier terms. The old practice of disputation was adhered to as the form in which the exercises for degrees were chiefly exacted, instead of the more convenient and otiose practice of written thesis. Disputations were going on most days in the week, so often indeed, as to leave scant time for lectures. In the course of a year there was Digitized by Microsoft® 78 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. scarce any medical theorem but would be debated in public, ' to the great profit of the students.' The professorial chairs were awarded by competition. An instance is recorded in which this was carried to an unreasonable excess, when eleven candidates disputed a chair for thirteen months, each maintaining twelve theses. Lastly, besides the six salaried, or royal, readers the old custom was not wholly disused that any doctor of medicine might teach. The consequence of this revival was, in a very few years, the recovery of the celebrity of the school. A throng of medical pupils from all nations was to be found there. Dr. Primrose, who studied at MontpelHer in the early part of the 17th century, found there Spaniards, Germans, Poles, Danes, Swedes, Swiss, and Scotch, besides the French students. He himself was the only Englishman : though born and educated in France, he was the son of Dr. Primrose, canon of Windsor. From his notes the above account has been chiefly derived. The faculty of Law was wholly provincial, and as there was another faculty in exercise at Toulouse, it could at best divide the province of Languedoc with its rival. But the law schools, both of Toulouse and Montpellier, had been reduced to the lowest condition during the troubles. The rector of the university of Toulouse, in July 1598, complains of the decay of the school: declares that it cannot subsist much longer : that the youth of Languedoc will have to be sent to other universities to get that legal training which they cannot find at home : and reminds his audience that Cujas and Gregoire would neither of them stay to teach in their native town, because of the miserable poverty of the stipends ^. The school of ' Mege, Hist, de Languedoc, 4. 625. Malenfont, in 1617 (in Cousin, Fragm. Philos. 3. 79), reckons the number of persons who spoke latin in Toulouse at 6000. But far the larger part of these must have been monks and other eccle- siastics. Richeome, Expost. Apol. p. 54, says that the number of students at Toulouse had sunk to 300. Digitized by Microsoft® in.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 79 Montpellier was in no better condition. It had indeed four royal or salaried regents of civil law. But during the catholic reaction civil law was out of favour; the salary was insignificant, and not made up by pupils' fees. We are not surprised to hear that in 1590 there were only two of these four readers remaining, and these threatening to resign unless something were done for them. The lowest place was held by the faculty of arts. There had, indeed, from ancient times existed a school of arts which was elevated into a faculty in the 15th century. But while the medical and law faculties enjoyed, each of them separately and independently of the other, the title of a ' university,' and were governed by their own statutes, the faculty of arts was only known as the ' Ecole-mage ' (majeure). It was not till a much later time (1723) that the three faculties were incorporated into one university. During the civil wars, the ecole-mage ceased to function. The building in which it was held became a ruin, and the commune was unable to pay the salary even of a single regent. As soon as there began to be a prospect of a settled government in the province, one of the first cares of the consuls of Montpellier was the restoration of their school. In 1594 they obtained a royal ordinance for restoring the civil law readers, and augmenting their stipends to 300 livres. Two new professors were chosen by public competition, and the faculty of law entered upon a new and brilliant period. It only remained to place the school of arts on a level with the two superior faculties. The appointment of the regent in this school was in the hands of the consuls. For MontpelHer, having become almost entirely calvinist, had chasse its bishop, who had hitherto exercised the function of chancellor of the uni- versity. And though the parlement of Languedoc, sitting ■ at Toulouse, had arrogated to itself a right of interference in the affairs of the university, it was not able to enforce its claim upon a protestant population protected by their Digitized by Microsoft® 8o ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. walls. The constant intercourse between the church of Montpellier and that of Geneva might have naturally led the consuls to fix their eyes upon Casaubon ; but they were besides prompted by de Fresne, who was bent upon getting Casaubon into France. De Fresne, who was located at Castres, worked through Ranchin. William Ranchin was of an old legal family at MontpeUier. He had suc- ceeded his father in one of the regius readerships of law, an office which he continued to hold after he was trans- ferred (1601) to the 'chambre de I'edit,' performing the duties of reader by deputy. He was a man of reputation and weight, and is spoken of by Casaubon as ' doctis- simus,' and that in the private diary. In 1594, though only 34 years of age, he was chosen first consul of his native town, as his father had been before him, and his brother became after him. In that year (1594), and through Ranchin, came the first proposal to Casaubon. The conditions are not stated, but they were such that Casaubon rejected them at once, not without expressing some surprise that de Fresne, so much his friend, should have sanctioned such an offer. We may conjecture that it was the precariousness of the position that deterred Casaubon. For the regents in medicine and law had a salary secured by patent, partly upon the revenues of the university, and partly upon the general taxes of Languedoc. Of the 300 livres— the amount of the annual stipend — a sixth part was charged upon the university revenues, which consisted wholly in fees, and was payable by the faculty ; the remainder was secured on the gabelle, and was payable by the officers of the revenue. Small as the stipend was, it was at any rate a certainty. But the faculty of arts had no such resources ; indeed the faculty had no existence ; for there were not only no regents, but no graduates. It was necessary to recreate the faculty, and to place its professor upon the same permanent footing as those in the superior faculties. Digitized by Microsoft® in.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 81 A fresh application was made to the government of Henry iv. Notwithstanding the frightful anarchy of the whole realm, the embarrassment of the finances, and the foreign invasion on the northern frontier, the application was immediately met. The restoration of the decayed educational establishments was a primary object with the council of state. At this very time a commission was engaged in reforming the statutes of the university of Paris. July 9, 1596, letters patent were issued, providing for the restoration of the college which used to be at Montpellier. The patent sets out the general views of the government for the restoration of schools, and, pro- ceeds ; ' seeing that our city of Montpellier is the second city of our province of Languedoc, that it hath in its neighbourhood several other towns, boroughs, and villages, in the which a number of young persons, from want of a college, occupy their time in unprofitable courses to the damage of our state ; and further seeing that there arrive and abide in the aforesaid city many learned and sufficient personages, who continue of no use to the public and without occupation, we ordain and enjoin, &c.' The patent goes on to direct the consuls of Montpellier to restore the school of arts, and to provide it with a sufficient number of regents for instruction in the liberal arts, humane letters, and the greek and latin languages, ^ ' in such sort as to render youth capable of learning the other sciences.' The cost may be charged on the gabelle, and an additional tax of 12 deniers on each quintal of salt is specially affected to this service. On the strength of this appropriation of funds, the town-council of Montpellier proceeded to appoint a dele- gacy of eight persons (octumviri) to prepare a scheme for the college of Arts. As the school was to be mixed, the ' The letters patent are printed in Mdm. de la Soci^te archdologique de Montp. I. 276. The deed of appointment of March 12, 1597, is printed in appendix, note A, from the original in Bumey mss. 367. 12^. G Digitized by Microsoft® 83 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. commission was ' mipartie,' four protestants, and four catholics, one of the calvinist ministers, Gigord, being a member of it, but no catholic ecclesiastic. This commis- sion having now an authorised position to offer, soon concluded an arrangement with Casaubon. He was to have the titles of ' conseiller du roi,' and ^ ' professeur stipendie aux langues et bonnes lettres.' The ' stipendie,' though in writing to Scaliger ^ Casaubon omits it, signals his position as of the same rank with the medical and law readers. He was to have 266 ecus, in money, with lodging, fuel, and some other small perquisites in kind. The 266 ecus were, twelve months later, raised to 1000 livres, nearly £tcx) sterling. ' Honestissimae conditiones,' Casaubon calls these terms, implying that they were very respectable, but not brilliant. They were at least a great improvement upon Geneva. And he was besides promised that he would find at Montpellier no lack of lovers of classical letters, who were longing for the arrival of a teacher, and who would welcome him with open arms. Behind these positive advantages, there was a secret suggestion which came from de Fresne, and which prob- ably worked more powerfully than all the rest, a sug- gestion of further promotion in the distance. What the promotion might be, or what must be its indispensable condition, were considerations too remote for immediate computation. The libraries and book-resources of Paris were all that Casaubon saw on the distant horizon. He was allowed to depart from Geneva, where he had represented classical learning as it never was represented there before or since, without any effort to detain him, without any recognition of his services. Goulart indeed wrote to Scaliger that ^ ' notre escole est maigre, surtout ^ So the letters patent. This proves Casaubon's exactitude in writing to Seal. ep. 117, where he calls his professorship 'linguarum et huraaniorum literarum professio.' ^ Ep. 117. * Ep. fran9. p. 265. Digitized by Microsoft® III.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 83 depuis le depart de Mons'. Casaubon, fort respecte, en Languedoc' But Goulart was an exception. The public opinion of Geneva, which did not care to retain him, charged love of money as his motive. ' He wanted to raise his price upon his native city, which would show him that it could do without him.' Casaubon's amiable heart consented to ascribe these sneers only to the excess of the love his friends bore him, making them unjust to him. ^ ' What have I not tried,' he writes, ' to be allowed to be here! God is my witness that I have sought nothing more than such a small increase, as should allow me to give all my mind to my studies, by setting me free from anxiety about the means of life. Wealth I have not desired ; but it was high time that I should at last make some provision for myself, my wife, and children, a provision which is denied me here.' On September 23, 1596, he closed with the Montpellier offer. On November 20 he obtained his conge from the Genevan Council. At Lyon he took boat down the river, and arrived at Montpellier on the last day of the year. Casaubon's entry into Montpellier was a triumphant procession. A mile beyond the gates he was met by a cortege composed of his own friends, of the regents of the faculties, and at their head more than one of the consuls of the year, — though not the first consul. A few months later, when the bishop made his entry, none of the regents would join the procession, not, as they said, on account of religion, but because they would not yield the prece- dence claimed by the juge-mage. Casaubon's welcome was unanimous. He was conducted by this troop of honour to the abode prepared for him. Several days were spent in receiving the calls of ceremony or friendship. But he was less impatient of this sacrifice of time, as it seemed to him, because his books, which were to follow him by water from Lyon, had not yet arrived. Seventy ^ Cas. epp. 109 and 115. G 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 84 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. years later, Edward Browne, son of Sir Thomas, de- scribed the population of MontpelHer as prepossessing in their manner towards strangers. He writes (1664) ^ 'This place is the most dehghtful of all France, being seated upon a hill in sight of the sea, inhabited by a people the most handsome in the world ; the meanest of them going neatly drest every day, and their carriage so free, that the merest stranger hath acquaintance with those of the best rank of the town immediately.' In 1597, just emerging from the passions and sufferings of a religious war, there may well have been less civility. Yet we find a hint in Casaubon's letters that he felt he was no longer in the rigid atmosphere of Geneva. Though he declares ^ that ' this church is indeed flourishing in piety and good works if any is so in France,' yet he writes to Beza, ' My wife, I assure you, arranges her life in such a way that all may easily see that she was born at Geneva, and brought up in the church there. ^ The style of living is very different here.' What gratifies him more than the attentions paid him, is the discovery that the city furnished no small number of men with a taste for classical letters. True, civil disorder and religious exaltation had been unfavourable to study, and the standard of attainment might not be generally high. But the professional study of medicine and law was not then pursued in the technical spirit in which it is now. The study of medicine included the reading of Hippocrates and Galen, in a latin version, even if not in the original greek. Where a civil lawyer is, there the traditions of the Roman empire can never be wholly extinguished. In the question which divided the legal profession at this time, viz. whether a lawyer should be "^ Ap. Sir Thos. Browne, Works, i. 70. The reader of Rabelais will recall Pantagruel's experience of Montpellier, Pantag. a. 5 : ' Oil il trouva fort bons vins de Mirevaulx, et joyeuse compagnie.' " Ep. 134. ' Ep. 114 : ' Nam hie quidem aliter vivitur.' Digitized by Microsoft® I"-] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 85 liberally or professionally educated, the bar at Montpellier was on the side of liberality as against the Bartholists. At Geneva, what zeal there was was all theological. Beza had not ceased to value classics, but had ceased to read them. The Genevese had let Pacius and Hotoman go, and Lect, having no pupils and no salary any longer, had gone in for council business. At Montpellier, Casaubon is delighted to find not only a number of students desirous to learn, but public officers, civil servants, practising lawyers, ^ ' taking an interest in our literature.' ^ ' Here we have to do not with boys, no, not with youths, but with men of mature age.' There is no allusion to the clerical order as furnishing aspirants of classical studies. The catholic clergy were engaged in a struggle for existence, the bishop being altogether excluded from the town, and they being allowed only one church, ' la canourge,' for the catholic culte ^. When the bishop did succeed in edging himself into the city, in November of this year, and before he was formally restored by the Edict of Nantes, he was on terms of civility with Casaubon. Guitard de Ratte was not altogether without a taste for letters, and had books dedicated to him, but by men of a bad stamp, e.g. Theodorus MarciUus, and John a Wouveren. The cal- vinist ministers of Montpellier, however respectable for their piety, had as little taste for secular learning as those of Geneva. Jean Gigord was the principal pastor, and is called by Casaubon '*a genuine theologian.' He lectured on theology in the calvinist provincial seminary. And the synod of Languedoc, which had met at Montpellier in the preceding August, had voted him a small sum for the for- mation of a library^. But the books were theological. ' Ep. Ill : ' Nostrarum literarum percupidi.' ^ Ep. 123. ^ M^m. de I'Acad. des Sciences de Montp. 3. * 'yvijaios theologus,' Ephem. p. 130. ' Gigord writes to Casaubon to lay out part of his money for him at Geneva. Burney mss. 376. p. 125 : ' Je vous prie sur tout de me faire reconvrer les livres, desquels vous verrez le roUe et aviser au prix.' Even the ordi:i:'i'y theological books were not to be got at Montpellier. Digitized by Microsoft® 86 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Gigord was also one of the eight members of the board of studies. But he was there to represent the church, not learning. It would have been thought an impropriety in a minister of the reformed churches to have been known to devote any part of his time to secular studies. His attitude towards them differed from that of the catholic priest, secular or regular. The priest of this generation feared and hated learning. The reformed minister approved it for others, as education, as discipline, but would have been ashamed to have owned to it himself. In the course of the next century the tide began to turn ; the education of the French priest improved, that of the average pastor deteriorated. To this contrast certainly eminent exceptions can be at once quoted. Even in Casaubon's time, 1597, the other ministers at Montpellier were of a grade of intellect below Gigord. Casaubon tells us ^ of a young minister, he does not name him, who inveighed in his sermon against the practice of those preachers, who uncovered the head whenever they had occasion to mention the divine name. On coming out of church, Casaubon ventured to tell the youth that this was the practice of all the reformed churches in Germany and Switzerland ; to which the young zealot replied that ' he anathematised all those churches.' ' He was one of those,' observes Casaubon, ' who believe them- selves gifted with all wisdom and all knowledge to begin with.' Such men of the true puritan stamp, divinely en- lightened, contemners of human learning, might be found among the ministers of that day. But the management of the reformed churches was in better hands. Literature was respected. But the respect paid it was made up mainly of a sense of its utility in controversy, in a less degree of a perception, never wholly wanting, of its intrinsic worth. Casaubon, though not an official deputy, was invited to be present, as ' amicus curiae,' at the national ' Ephem. pp. 120. 113. Digitized by Microsoft® III.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 87 synod held at Montpellier in August, 1598. The ministers patronised or tolerated him. He did not even assume to be on equal terms. He writes in 1597 to the synod of Sauve, excusing himself from attending on account of illness, but begging the 'fathers' to direct his humble services to the benefit of the church, and assuring them that it was his particular wish -to be of use to the students of theology, i.e. in the calvinist seminary at MontpelHer^ He once went so far as to say^ — but this was to Beza — after proposing his own interpretation of Matth. 28. 17, ' but be assured that I shall finally acquiesce in that mean- ing which you shall decide to be the true meaning.' That the friends found at Montpellier were numerous, is evident from the diary, where their visits are recorded, and lamented. But the names are seldom given. Only three recur often for mention : W. Ranchin, already spoken of ; Sarrasin, a medical professor, who published Dioscorides in 1598; and Canaye de Fresne, who lived not at Mont- pellier, but at Carcassonne. To him Casaubon paid his first visit, through the storms and snows of January, and took his advice as to the character he should impress upon his teaching. It was on his return from this visit to de Fresne that he began the ' Ephemerides.' On his 38th birthday, being February 18 (=8), 1597, he resolved, as many literary men have resolved, to keep a diary. But he continued to keep it with the same perseverance which he carried into every- thing, daily, till within a fortnight of his death in 1614. It is literally ' nulla dies sine linea.' I recollect but one other example of such regularity, that of Joseph Priestley, who began to keep a diary of his studies, set. 22, and con- tinued it till within three or four days of his death, set. 71. Casaubon never omitted in his many illnesses, hardly on his various journeys, a single day. When he travels, the current volume accompanies him upon the sumpter-horse, 1 Ep. 136. ^ Ep. 131. Digitized by Microsoft® 88 ISAAC CASAUBON, [Sect. and he makes a note, however brief, of the spent day, in ink, which he takes also with him. On one occasion, having left it behind him, when he went out of Paris for the night, his wife makes the entry in his stead : ' 23 fev. 1601 : ce jour dit M. Casaubon a este absent, que Dieu garde, et moi, et les nostres avec lui, Amen.' The daughter of Henri Estienne had forgotten the latin once so familiar in her grandfather's house, and she makes her entry in the vernacular^. Casaubon himself employs uniformly latin, but thickly interspersed with greek words, even occasionally with greek sentences. He could ex- press himself with almost equal facility in the one language as in the other. He was once asked by a Greek, who professed to be a descendant of Lascaris, to turn a petition for him from latin into greek. He did it at once, off hand ^. He never required a lexicon ^. Cardinal du Perron, the earliest French pulpit orator, said of him, * ' When Casaubon talks french, he talks like a peasant ; but when latin, he speaks it like his mother tongue. He has neglected the one, and thrown all his mind into the other.' The latin of Casaubon in his diary, and his letters, is the latin of a master of the language in its resources and its idiom. But it is wanting in character, and though ■far above the vapid theme-latin of the Ciceronian imi- tators, it has not the verve and pungency of Scaliger's style. The Ephemerides extend from February 18, 1597, to June 16, 1614. On July i, 1614, Casaubon died. A journal so regular is rarely written, and, when written, is too often lost to history through the jealousy or weakness of relatives or executors. In Priestley's case the diary ' Isaac's letters to Mad". Casaubon are always in french. On one occasion she opened a letter from her son John, which arrived in Isaac's absence, and could not read it because it was in latin. Ep. 757 : ' Quas ilia pro sue jure aperuerat, sed, quia latine erant scripts, parum intellexerat.' 2 Eph. p. 228. 3 Scaligerana a». p. 45. * Perroniana, p. 128. Digitized by Microsoft® in.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 89 shared the fate of all his collections, and became the victim of the savages of one of our great cities. We owe the preservation of this precious record of the seventeenth century to the piety of Mad^ Casaubon and her son Meric. Meric, who was prebendary of Canterbury, de- posited, before his death in 1671, in the chapter library of that cathedral, the six fasciculi which he had inherited. For of seven volumes which Isaac had written, one, the fourth, containing the entries of three years and six months, viz. from January i, 1604, to July 21, 1607, was lost, at what period is not known ^ The ms. had been consulted where it was deposited by various persons. Batteley, archdeacon and prebendary of Canterbury, supplied a copy of the material parts of the Ephemerides to Janssen Van Almeloveen, who used them in writing the 'Vita Casauboni,' which he prefixed to his magnificent edition of the letters. At last, Dr. Russell, another pre- bendary of Canterbury, transcribed the whole ms. and prevailed upon the managers of the Clarendon press to print it, in the year 1850. The faithful accuracy of an editor who religiously gave every word of his ms, where there was so much temptation to excerpt, deserves com- memoration. In other respects, Dr. Russell fulfilled none of the duties of editor. He did not explain one of the many difficulties, or clear up a single obscurity in the names mentioned, or the facts alluded to, by the diarist. He did far less for Casaubon's memory than Almeloveen, the Dutch editor of the letters, had done 150 years before. No form of autobiography is calculated to be more ' Adversaria, torn. 22, has an entry written by James Casaubon at Marie's dictation, Jan. 9, 1639 : ' Ephemerides ab anno vitae 39 incipiente, qui erat a Christo 1597, sunt omnino sex scapi separatim, aut tot saltern penes me sunt, nam deest quartus, qui tempus annorum 4 ab a.d. 1603 usque ad 1607 com- plectebatur. Jam et ante statim a patris obitu desideratum fuisse scapum unum, testis est fratris Joannis epistola super ea re ad me scripta matris nomine, haud multo post adventum meum Oxoniam.' Digitized by Microsoft® 90 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. popular than a private journal. But the interest of Casaubon's Ephemerides suffers a heavy abatement from three causes. First, it is written in latin; secondly, it does not concern itself with events of public interest ; and lastly, it is surcharged with the language of devotion. A scholar's life is seldom one of incident, and his annals can have little else to tell than what he reads and writes. Casaubon records what he read day by day, but does not mix remarks of his own upon it. These were reserved for the margins, or blank leaves, of his books, or thrown upon loose sheets of paper without order. Sixty volumes of such Adversaria are still kept in existence, which have been made by binding these sheets together. In a few instances he has extracted into the Ephemerides a passage which struck him, and which he wished to dwell upon, sometimes in greek, occasionally a hebrew text. Such extracts have mostly a devout, not a philological, purpose. He does not, like Fynes Clinton, record how many pages, but how many hours, he read. Besides this timekeeping of the daily task, the journal notices, but with great brevity, and as secondary matter, his family affairs, visits, journeys, letters, conversations, descending even to his expenditure, — all indicated with the brevity of a time- saving man, so that an 8vo page of print seldom contains less than three days, often a week or more. Public events are Httle noticed, the chief exception being the Fontaine- bleau conference, which fills seven pages. The assassi- nation of Henry iv, the most memorable occurrence of the period, scarcely takes a page, and that contains no parti- culars, but is a commonplace lament and prayer on the occasion. His wife's confinement takes two pages, but with the same proportion of prayer and thanksgiving. Of the whole diary it may be computed that no less than one third is occupied with these Utanies. That such pious aspirations should continually ascend to heaven, from the devout soul of Casaubon, can be no matter of regret. Digitized by Microsoft® in.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 91 But it must be permitted us to wish that he had not thought it necessary to write them down, and so fill his pages with mere repetition, to the exclusion of more inter- esting matters. One observation may be made on the outpourings of prayer and praise. They attest the pure and simple-minded character of the man. Here is no taint of cant ; not the faintest suggestion of that unsoundness or insincerity which seldom fails to attend the pubHc parade of the language of devotion. We feel that we have surprised Casaubon on his knees alone in his closet. He does not write so, not even in his most familiar letters ; he did not talk so in his ordinary conversation. Nothing but a heart overflowing with rehgious feeling could have prompted a passionate student, so jealous of his moments, to write and re-write the refrain of the same ejaculation. If we are tempted to turn away from Casaubon's journal in disappointment at its barrenness of events, we must remember that it was undertaken by him with one special object in view. It was not written, like the contemporary ' Registre-journal ' of Pierre Lestoile, for the instruction of posterity ; not even of his own family. Casaubon had no autobiographical purpose in view. He thus states his own motive in opening the diary. ^ ' The expenditure of time being the most costly of all those we make, and con- sidering the truth of what is said by the latin stoic that "there is one reputable kind of avarice, viz. to be ava- ricious of our time," I have this day resolved to begin this record of my time, in order that I may have by me an account of my spending so precious a commodity. Thus, when I look back, if any of it hath been well laid out, I may rejoice and give almighty God thanks for his grace ; if again any of it hath been idle or ill spent, I may be aware thereof, and know my fault or misfortune therein.' This purpose of noting how the time goes is the para- mount purpose of the Ephemerides. If we find them ' Ephem. p. i. Digitized by Microsoft® 93 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. more barren of events than we could wish, we must call to mind that they were not destined to be a record of events, but a register of time. Casaubon anxiously com- pares the hours spent in his study with those bestowed on any other occupation. Unless the first greatly pre- ponderate, he is unhappy. When the claims of business or society have taken up any considerable part of the day, his outcries are those of a man who is being robbed; When he has read continuously a whole day, from early morning till late at night, ' noctem addens operi,' he enters a satisfactory ' to-day, I have truly lived,' ' hodie vixi.' Taking some entries of the first period, we have such as the following : — ' To-day I began my work very early in the morning, notwithstanding my having kept it up last night till very late.' ' Nearly the whole morning, and quite all the afternoon perished, through writing letters. Oh ! heavy loss, more lamentable than loss of money ! ' 'To-day I got six hours for study. When shall I get my whole day ? Whenever, O my Father, it shall be thy will ! ' ' This morning not to my books till 7 o'clock or after ; alas me ! and after that the whole morning lost ; nay, the whole day. O God of my salvation, aid my studies, without which life is to me not life.' ' This morning, reading, but not without interruption. After dinner, however, as if they had conspired the destruction of my studies, friends came and broke them off.' 'This morning a good spell of study. After dinner friends, and trifling talk, but very bothering ; at last got back to my books.' 'To-day, though far from well, got eight hours for my books.' Such is the general character of the entries during the Digitized by Microsoft® III.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 93 first period. The simple ' studuimus et viximus ' is the short expression of the feeling of this time. The sociable disposition of the people of Montpellier caused him grievous trials. Morning visiting was the mode of the place ; not calls of ceremony, but ' dropping in' to have a chat. Casaubon was liked for himself, as well as respected for his learning. He, too, could talk, though his french were french of Geneva. Serious talk with well-informed persons he does not regard as time ill spent. For a tete-a-tfite with Ranchin or de Fresne, with Sarrasin or Serres, persons more or less behind the scenes of the public drama ; to lament the gloomy prospects of the reformed churches, the backsliding of Henry iv, the rapid strides of the Jesuits, to hear of the last new conversion at court, — for this he is ever ready. Nor was he altogether insensible to the allurements of ordinary companionship. He is not unwilling to gossip with the gossips. But these Montpellier neighbours know no seasons. They come at all hours, they stay, unconscious of the lapse of minutes. Casaubon sits there fretting, watching the clock, wishing them gone, with his thoughts on that 1 ' last wretched page ' of his animadversions on Athenaeus, still unwritten. Oh! 'the friends, how little friendly ! ' — amici quam parum amici — ^who come between him and his books. Is it suggested he might shut them out? How is he to shut them out, when he has only two rooms, an inner and an outer, a sitting-room and a bed- room ? All his study has to be done in the one room in which the family live. What a power of abstraction must be required even to follow a book, and how entirely must be wanting ' the blessings of contemplation in that sweet solitariness, which collecteth the mind, as shutting the eyes does the sight ! ' (Bacon). His resource against the plague of friends is to take the early morning, and the late night, ' Ephem. p. 69 : ' Ilia pagina misella.' Digitized by Microsoft® 94 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. hours. But I can find no authority for the statement of the biographers, that he bathed his eyes with vinegar to keep them open. The 'legende erudite' has done Httle to embelhsh Casaubon's Hfe, for this is almost the only exception ^. He has no space to set out his books on shelves. In time he gets into a more roomy abode, but the repeated removals have introduced chaos into his books and papers. The time lost in searching for a mis- sing volume is so grievous, that it is matter of entry in the diary, with thanksgiving when found ^. We cannot wonder that in such a menage Florence Casaubon should sometimes lose her good temper, wish that her husband could find a little time to attend to his affairs, or even hint that he might be a little more companionable. This was the severest of all his trials. For even in his new house, where he had a private study up-stairs, Mad^ Casaubon was not to be excluded ^- So tender is Casaubon's feeling, that even in his private diary he does not name her when he alludes to * ' this domestic hindrance to my studies.' A true and loving helpmate she was to him, as he always confesses, and on the whole really promoted his studious abstraction, by relieving him of all household cares. When she is away from him he is helpless in these matters as a child. ^ ' Deliver me, my heavenly Father, from these miseries, which the absence of my wife, and the management of my household, create for me. Not ' I find no other authority for this than the latin life of Van Almeloveen, p. 73: ' Aiunt Casaubonum, ne concubia nocte somno corriperetur, oculis infudisse acetum.' Almeloveen gives us himself the source from which he drew the statement, and the means of refuting it. He quotes ' Moyse Amyraut Morale chretienne.' But what Amyraut says is, not that Casaubon used vinegar but that some one, unnamed, who wished, like Casaubon, to study through the night, bathed his eyes with vinegar. ' Celuy qui, pour imiter Casaubon, qui estudioit la plus grande partie de la nuit, se mettoit du vinaigre dans las yeux pour en chasser le sommeil, monstroit bien qu'il avoit de la gdnSrosit^ et une grande affection pour les lettres.' ^ Ephem. p. 82. ^ Ephem. p. 18 : ' Inter turbas domesticas lectio aliquot horarum.' * Ephem. p. 42. 5 Ephem. p. 998. Digitized by Microsoft® III.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 95 being used to keep our accounts, I am perfectly aghast when I see the expenditure of this family.' It might have been better if she had disturbed him oftener. His life might have been prolonged some years, if she had more often routed him from his desk, and driven him into the air. For in these years he was laying the seeds of disease, and preparing his early grave. He had timely warning of his fate. Serious and repeated attacks prostrated him in 1597 and '98, of relaxation of, and discharge from, the mucous lining of the air passages. These attacks were attended with violent fever, and had for sequel a languor of body and mind, which occasioned a further wrench, when he dragged himself back to work in spite of it. They were the first of a series, which harassed him all the remainder of his life — the beginning of the end. This presentiment — that his space of life would be curtailed — haunted him already, and served to augment the fever of work which consumed him. He doles out his hours as one who knows they are counted, yet he is but thirty-seven. Six a.m. was a late hour for him to enter his study ; 5 a.m. is more usual. He is not rarely later. ' Mane diei meUor pars,' was his maxim. As with all persons of weak constitution, his working powers were freshest in the morning, and flagged as the day went on. But hours, which seem to us incredibly early, were the rule in the schools of France. Henri de Mesmes de- scribes himself as going to school at 5 a.m., ^ ' with our big books under our arms, our portfolios and lanterns in our hands.' On reaching his study, his first act is one of devotion on his knees. Unless specially busied otherwise, he takes 1 Mdm. de Henri de Mesmes, ap. RoUin, Traits des ftudes, i ; ' Nous etions debout a quatre heures, et ayant prie Dieu, alliens a cinq heures aux estudes, nos gros livres sous le bras, nos escritoires et nos chandeliers a la main.' This was at Toulouse, in 1545. Even in Paris, where hours were later, 6 a.m. was the hour for the greek class in the Jesuit college of Clermont. Digitized by Microsoft® g6 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. the first half-hour for religious reading, often of the hebrew scriptures. Then the author he has in hand occupies him till the dinner hour. This was in schools, universities, and burgher life, generally at lo a.m. The court dined late, at 12, or even as late as i on hunting days. After dinner, he spends some hours in preparing for his lecture, which was at 4 p.m. An hour, four days per week, is his prescribed duty. But after the end of the first nine months, he adds, as a voluntary, a greek elementary class. After lecture, friends, supper, and then to books again, if friends will only go away in good time. Saturday was given up to the disputations ; Wednesday was a holiday. The usual holiday in the schools and uni- versities was Thursday. In the medical school of Mont- pellier, exceptionally, the day was Wednesday, dies Mercurii, there styled 'jour d'Hippocrate,' and the other faculties conformed to the practice of the leading faculty. On Sundays, an attendance on two sermons was expected by public opinion, and sanctioned by custom, though it was not a statutable duty. This was the case also with the Wednesday morning sermon, to which the boys in the lower school were taken by their regents, and catechised afterwards. When Gigord or Serres was the preacher, Casaubon would not find it so hard to quit Chrysostom or Basil, at 8 and at 12 (these were the hours); but on ordinary days an hour's discourse must have been a heavy burden, when the pastors were such as he de- scribes. ^ ' One, very aged, and hence, without his own fault, lethargic, the other a mere youth, quite unequal to the post of first pastor in such a large congregation.' Heylin, writing in 1625, says of the reformed preachers : ^ ' Their sermons are very plain and home-spun, little in them of the fathers, and less of human learning, it being concluded in the Synod of Gappe that only the scriptures should be used in their pulpits. They consist much of ^ Ep. 174. ' Heylin, Travels, p. lao. Digitized by Microsoft® III.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 97 exhortation and use, and of nothing in a manner which concerneth knowledge; a ready way to raise up and edify the will and affection, but withal to starve the under- standing.' Though Sunday is a public holiday, Casaubon does not allow himself one. He marks it by reading some theo- logical book, often one of the fathers. But after a spell of this reading, he turns to his task of every day. This, too, is his day for writing letters. The Scotch ' sabbath ' was unknown to the French reformed churches of the i6th century, as it was to the catholics. The faculties kept holiday, but the disputations of the surgeons and apothecaries, both at Montpellier and Lyon, were held on the Sunday. Sometimes, but very sparingly, he takes a walk beyond the walls on a holiday to visit a friend's country villa, or down to the sea, to look at the ruins of Maguelonne. There are three regular vacations in the year of three or four weeks each — at Christmas, at Easter, and in July-August. In these he makes his more distant visits. His first was to de Fresne; the summer vacation of 1597 he devotes to a visit to his mother at Die (dep. Drome). The summer of 1598 affords a much longer excursion to Lyon and Paris, after which he is surprised to find how improved his health is. In November, 1598, but after he had ceased to act as professor, he goes again to stay with de Fresne, who is now established at Castres, (dep. Tarn,) as protestant president of the chambre mi- partie of Languedoc. He spares an occasional hour to be present at the medical disputations, or at a dissection. Once he goes to the disputations of the surgeons. Nor does he quit Montpellier without having witnessed the sight of the place— the manufacture of the popular electuary, kermfes, which, says the German Sincerus, ^'no one ' Jodocus Sincerus, Itinerarium Galliae, 1627, p. 160 : ' Nolim hinc moveas non visa prius electuarii Alkermes confectione.' The alkermes was a popular stomachic electuary, prepared from the kermis, an oak-gall gathered in Langue- doc, Spain, and Portugal. H Digitized by Microsoft® 98 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. should quit Montpellier without going to see.' He was appointed rector of the faculty of arts, for the scholar year 1597 ; held the office again for a short time in 1599 in the absence of the rector, and found it greatly troublesome and time-devouring. When rector or not, no one at Montpelher was likely to interfere with his choice of subjects of lecture. This choice was guided by the fact already mentioned, that his audience consisted largely of men past pupilage. Just about 1597 there was a short reaction against the bar- barism produced by the civil war. Men turned again with eagerness to the reopened source of ancient learning. Even in the worst times there had not wanted lovers of good books. The tradition of literature still lingered among the members of the French bar. Toulouse was, perhaps, the most fanatical city in the kingdom, yet in the parlement of Languedoc, now again restored to Toulouse, were not a few men who rose above the political passion of the day. Pierre Du Faur, Sieur de Sanjorry, first president, had a fine collection of books, and had written on law. A catholic, but not a leaguer, he sent Casaubon a message of civility through de Fresne, to which Casau- bon replied by claiming his friendship and patronage, and calling him the Varro of his age, This might pass as a complimentary flourish, were it not confirmed by Sca- liger's mention of him as one of France's learned men, though he adds that his books were only compilations, a failing not uncommon among book-collectors^. Another member of the same court, and president a mortier in it, Ciron, followed, as collector, the footsteps of his chief. Jacques de Maussac, father of the editor of Harpocration, makes a third learned library at Toulouse. It is impos- sible that the example of the supreme court should have ^ Scaliger". 2''. p. 81 : ' Ce n'est qu'un amasseur, il ne juge rien.' Pierre Du Faur is cited by Grotius, De Jure Belli, 2. 16. i, as ' eminentissimae erudi- tionis Petrus Faber.' Digitized by Microsoft® III.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 99 been without influence on the province. Accordingly, at MontpeUier, there was a rush to Casaubon's lecture-room, not only of younger members of the bar, but even of the law professors, and more than one of the presiding judges in the various courts. Men whose heads were grey, president Philip, 'optimus et doctissimus senex;' M. de Massilon, ' vere eruditus et nostras litteras callens,' were occasionally present. If any stranger of distinction passed by MontpeUier, one of the amusements provided for him was to hear Casaubon. The hour assigned to Casaubon was the hour of honour, 4 p.m., the latest hour in the academical day, in order to allow this class of pro- fessional men the opportunity of attending after their business was over. Grynaeus, writing from Bale, in 1584, says, ^ ' I have been induced by my curators to institute a lecture on history twice a week. It will be at an hour at which the professional and business men can spare a little time for the good of their minds, viz. 4 p.m.' Men with these tastes were to be found, but it is not to be supposed that they abounded. The French noblesse, especially the haute noblesse, were, as a body, illiterate, and gloried in being so. The constable Montmorency could not sign his name. Nor in Italy, where (Rome excepted) culture was more widely diffused, especially in ecclesiastical circles, than in France, were things otherwise. Paolo Gualdo, writing in 1604, apologises for his own tastes, ^ ' I know there are not wanting persons who think these studies ridiculous.' At Rome ambition had not only extinguished learning, but created a hatred of it. Seguier writes to de Thou : 'Anything composed in classical latin is suspected at Rome of impiety.' The subjects chosen by Casaubon for his lectures during his profession at MontpeUier were as foUows : — I. An Account of the administration and officers of the I Grynsus, Epp. p. loi. " Vita Pinelli, p. 330. H 2 Digitized by Microsoft® lOO ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Roman republic. 2. A Synopsis of Roman history. 3. The Laws of the xii Tables. 4. The citations in the Digest from Ulpianus on the subject of dress ^. 5. Persius. 6. Plautus, Captivi. 7. The Physician's oath ("OpKos) of Hippocrates. 8. Aristotle's Ethics. These were all the subjects of his pubhc lectures, and they seem certainly enough to occupy a year and a half at four days a week, with three months' vacation in the year. The adaptation of these courses to the audience he found at Montpelher is unmistakable. There is only one of them all, viz. the Plautus, which must have been a purely philological, or language, lecture. And this was the only one which was not chosen by himself, but was taken at the request of his class ^. In the selection of i, 2, 3, and 4, the men of the robe, whether lawyers or civil employes, were evidently considered. No. 5, the Persius, was convenient to himself, as having by him notes of his Genevan lectures. But his endeavour was to give to the lecture an ethical cast, as he expressly says in the dedica- tion, and as is still evident in the published book ^- Though we have not his notes on the Ethics of Aristotle, we cannot doubt that this was also treated in the same practical spirit. 'Abeunt studia in mores' was his principle. The sentiment is continually escaping him that the classics were an instrument of moral training : * ' I desire to excite myself to the love of virtue and the hatred of vice, and to aid the studious youth in the same endea- ^ viz. Digest. lib. 34. tit. 2. ^ Ephem. p. 64 : ' Rogatu eorum quorum studiis prodesse tenemur,' i.e. the students as distinct from the public. ^ Persii Sat. ed. 1605. ded. to Achille de Harlay. Here Casaubon pursues the theme of the cultivation of the moral nature by the classics, as being their proper use in education. ' Even greek grammars were composed with the same view. Chytrseus, Regula Stud. 1595. p. 100, recommends the syntax of Posselius, on account of the examples which followed the rules : ' Quae non modo praeceptorum usura monstrant, verum etiam utiles admonitiones de Deo, de gubernatione vitse, et regendis moribus complectuntur.' Digitized by Microsoft® III.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. loi vour, an object which has been too httle regarded by former commentators.' Having done thus much for the students, the bar, and the pubKc, that the doctors might have their turn, he takes up the Physician's oath of Hippocrates. These pubHc lectures were in latin ; they were also all, or nearly all, on latin texts. The Aristotle's Ethics, as it was meant for edification, must have been a commentary on the matter, such that it could be easily followed by those who would not take much interest in questions of interpretation. The term he employs with respect to the "Op/cos of Hippocrates (interpretari) seems to imply that he made the original the text of his lecture,, and some know- ledge of greek was still exacted for the degree of m.d. at Montpellier^- Towards the end of his time, Casaubon put on a greek lecture — first Homer, then Pindar — but these were extra and voluntary lectures, intended for a younger and special class, and were not part of his public duty. The freedom with which he mixes long greek citations, and the time he spends on asserting the true meaning of greek words, in his lectures on Persius, show, however, that he addressed an audience to whom greek was not wholly unintelligible, or uninstructing. Yet the fact that latin was the chosen subject of his public lectures, at the very time when his private reading was chiefly greek, is ^ The ' Registre des procureurs,' at Montpellier, cited by M. Egger, Hel- I^nisme, i. 175, has an entry ' Magister Rabelaisius pro suo ordinario elegit Hbrum " Prognosticorum " Hippocratis quem greece interpretatus est.' But it seems clear from Rabelais' own account, that he only referred to the Greek to correct the errors of the Latin version on which he read. Aphorismi Hippocrat. ded. [It seems to have escaped Mr. Pattison's notice that notes on the Oath of Hippocrates, purporting to be by Casaubon, were afterwards printed by Franyois Ranchin in Hippocratis Jusjurandum Grmce et Latine, cum Franc. Ranchini Commentario et Is. Casaubotii notis, Monspel. 1618 (cited by Hoffmann, Bibl. Lexicon). Francis Ranchin was admitted m.d. at Montpellier in 1590, and probably attended Casaubon's lectures on the"0/)/tos in 1596. No doubt the Notce Casauboni would be then taken down by Ranchin at Casaubon's lectures.] Digitized by Microsoft® 102 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. in conformity with all we know of the character of in- struction in France at this period. M. Nisard says^ that after the definitive triumph of Catholicism in France, greek became offensive as the language of heresy. This is perhaps to say too much. But it is certainly true that more strenuous efforts were made at this moment to keep up greek and hebrew in the protestant academies, poor as they were, than in the cathohc and Jesuit colleges and universities. This was certainly from no sympathy on the part of the French reformed with the true mind of classical Greece, which was as much out of their reach as out of the reach of a servile Jesuit. But catholic France felt that affinity for the christian empire and its language, which has always been predominant among the romance nationalities. 'Manners,' says M. Nisard, 'would have effected, in the course of nature, that which religious passion brought about violently. We are the sons of the latins, and the latin genius has always had our preference. We have the practical spirit of Rome, and the roman taste for the uni- versal, which, in our political history, has shown itself in our well-known passion to subdue and regulate every- thing according to our own pattern.' Casaubon's habit of intermixing greek words and phrases was not a pedantic affectation, but the natural language of a man, who spent most of the hours of every day in the company of greek books. With all his won- derful command of latin, even for uncommon occasions, the greek phrase would occur first, and he takes it without waiting to think of the latin. Though he wrote out his inaugural, his daily lectures were delivered from notes. These notes were chiefly passages from greek authors, sometimes interpretative of a word, sometimes illustrating and enforcing his author's statement. With these two objects— to interpret the author, or to enforce his state- ' Lit. Franf, vol. i. p. 431. Digitized by Microsoft® III.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 103 merit — he is exclusively occupied. There is no ad captandum rhetoric, no original thought, no flourish of trumpets to awaken the sleepy, or arouse the hstless. He does not forget that he is there to teach, not to please. If we ask how lectures which are so unmistakably dull, which are so thickly sprinkled with greek, which not all could follow, yet came to be popular, the explanation is, that the lecturer did what he proposed to do, and the audience expected no more. He proposed to interpret an author, and the audience went with their books to have the interpretation. When he lectured on Aristotle's Ethics, I conceive his auditors to have followed in the latin version, and that the lecturer referred to the greek which was printed on the same page, in critical passages, and for leading terms. Reading the classics was not a profession confined to experts. The classics were the literature of the educated, and they wanted to be helped to understand that literature. Casaubon, busy on his point, and keeping to it, was just the man for them. The completeness of his knowledge unconsciously impressed even those who were incompetent to appreciate how complete it was. They felt they were in the hands of a master of the craft. Medicine and law, it was said, they had always had at Montpelher, now at last Casaubon had brought the Muses '. Casaubon was too modest to be carried away by this sudden popularity. But he was gratified by tasting general recognition, and pleased to be able to announce to his patron de Fresne that his experiment had been so successful, and to let his friends at Geneva know that the prophet, who had no honour in his own country, had found it elsewhere. One evil this public expectation brought with it. It was necessary to respond to it. The applause which ^ Ep. IIS ■ ' Multorum opinio est, illatas in hanc provinciam musas adventu nostrc' Digitized by Microsoft® I04 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. attended his course, imposed fresh labour. He was obliged to devote hours to preparation, hours which he wanted for his unfinished Athenaeus. His very success was a hindrance to him. He had sought leisure in coming to Montpellier, and not found it. ^ ' Such studies as these,' he writes in September 1600, 'require leisure and profound repose. I have been, by a succession of various accidents, called away from working at my task, and may say that I have not had a single month's, hardly a single day's, perfect quiet among my books.' And again a little later, ' Leisure is what I desire more than anything, if it might be God's will to give it me. My literary schemes are of such a nature that they demand repose of mind as an indispensable condition.' But not all his day was given to his lecture and to pre- paring his Athenaeus. The diary enables us to trace day by day his private reading at this period. Besides the devotional book in the early morning, he looks into a variety of books in the course of the day, but has always one author whom he steadily goes on with every day till he has read him through. The first such achievement in 1597 is Basil, the whole of whom is read between Feb- ruary ig and March 11. As this must have been Froben's edition of 1551, which contains 698 folio pages of greek type packed exceptionally close, we have an average reading of thirty-five pages per day ; yet he was ill most of the time, and more than one day out of the twenty was curtailed or lost altogether by business. Either his own health or the atmosphere of the place set him next upon Hippocrates, the whole of which takes him only twenty- five days, though here he was helped by the Easter holidays. After this feat it seems disproportionate that Cedrenus takes thirteen days, but other books were in hand during the time. We have mention, besides, of Jerome, ^ Ep. 213 : ' Otium et quietem altam studia haec postulant.' Ep. 1023 ; ' Ea molimur in Uteris, quae animi tranquillitatem desiderant.' Digitized by Microsoft® "!•] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 105 Chrysostom, Tertullianus, Menander Rhetor, Philostratus, Apicius, all between January and July. And yet the diary omits to mention many readings. This is evident, not only from citations in his commentaries on authors, but from the volumes once in his possession still extant. There is, e. g. in the British Museum, a copy of Calvin's ' Epistolae,' edition of Hanau 1597, marked throughout by Casaubon's pen. We have in it a volume of 780 pages, in small type, and not on a classical subject, read atten- tively, and yet not noticed in the diary, unless we assume that a Frankfort book, published in 1597, did not come into Casaubon's hands till after 1603. In this case it might have been spoken of in that fascicule of the diary which is lost. While lectures are proceeding, Athenaeus is in hand ; Casaubon is continually ill, has his correspond- ence to keep up, and, worst of all, he is Rector of the faculty. This is the most vexing distraction of alP. It involves him, besides the comparatively simple business of the faculty, in looking after the lower school, and pro- viding it with regents. This 'hated office' (munus invisum) was fortunately only for a year. Books of con- troversy, e. g. Bulenger against Du Plessis, he looks into in what he calls his leisure hours, 'horae succisivae,' though it is not easy to see where, in the life we have described, were any such. It was clear, then, that whatever else Montpellier could give him, it had not given him his long desired leisure. He soon began to find that it did not realise even the expectations he had most certainly formed. Popularity is from its nature shortlived, nowhere more so than in France, where it is the course of nature to ' smile, adore, abuse, discard, forget.' The audiences fell off, the novelty was gone and the interest abated. The terms of his engagement, originally ' not brilliant,' were ill performed. He had been promised six months' back salary towards ' Ephem. p. 30 : ' Officia a studiis avocantia, et valde inofBciosa.' Digitized by Microsoft® I06 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. the expense of moving. He could not get any part of it. He was to have 150 crowns to furnish with, this was cut down to 100. A house had been promised. He was obhged to huddle his family into two rooms. After some delay, Verchant, one of the elders of the church, offered a house. But he had to pay ten crowns a year for it, and one year's rent was deducted from his stipend in advance. Firewood had been stipulated, a costly article in a part of the country far from the great forests, and where the cold in winter is occasionally intense. It was doled out to him in a niggardly way, not a tenth part given of his con- sumption. Finally, his salary itself was allowed to fall into arrear, the two-monthly term, which was in the contract, was not observed. The poor scholar was driven to humiliating importunity. His own and his wife's ill- health, and the death of a daughter, Elisabeth, of fever, brought back his habitual despondency about his family affairs. De Fresne and Ranchin were both absent. He wrote to them to Paris to ask them to use their influence in his behalf. The effect of their doing so was to produce civil excuses in reply to fresh applications. The governor, the Due de Ventadour, was absent ; or one of the consuls was ill in bed ; or the salt duties, out of which the stipend was payable, could not be collected because of the troubles. He had to pay a heavy fee on the royal diploma conferring his title and his chair. He applied for letters of naturalisation, but the fee demanded by the chancery of Paris, though Ranchin applied personally, was so enor- mous, that Casaubon declined to take them out. The same difficulty was renewed on his applying for a copy- right protection of his volume of Notes on Athenaeus, without which no publisher would undertake the expense of printing. He feels, as Erskine did, his children pulling the skirts of his coat and crying ^ ' get us bread.' He could not have got along but for help from friends. Jean ' Ephera. p. 74 : ' Charissimi liberi aurem vellunt.' Digitized by Microsoft® Ill-] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 107 de Serres, himself only a poor minister, shared his purse with Casaubon. A considerable present was unexpectedly sent by an admirer, the governor of Rodez, to whom he was not even personally known. Bongars continued his donations of valuable books. In time some of his worst grievances were remedied. He threatened departure to Bale, or back to Geneva. To see him go back in disgust to Geneva would have been humiliating to the council of Montpellier, which had enjoyed the triumph of alluring him away. They agreed to raise his salary to 1000 livres, in lieu of all perquisites ; payment seems to have been more punctual, and he removed to a better house. But he could not settle down in Montpellier. Even before he went there his friends had let fall hints of some- thing further in store. De Fresne and Ranchin were in Paris in the autumn of 1597, and their report of Casaubon had filled the literary set there with desire to get him to Paris. When they returned to Montpellier, they dropped hints of a mysterious nature. There was nothing definite named, perhaps nothing definite conceived. But the king's name was used. ' It was not unlikely the king might do something for him.' Casaubon might have been in the dark as to how little the king could, or would, do. But still, what was said was enough to unsettle him, in a place in which he had never become rooted, and to prevent him from ever trying to make the best of its vexations. To these were now to be added the loss of a young daughter, Elisabeth, after a few days' illness, and the continual aggression of the catholic clergy, who were pushing to regain their old ascendancy in the university. This small cloud was big with elements of future dis- turbance. No sooner was the bishop restored than the chapter began to claim the college de Mende, the building in which the classes were held, as their property. The present bishop, de Ratte, was an antileaguer, a man of some letters, and on friendly terms with Casaubon. His Digitized by Microsoft® Io8 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. successor, Fenouillet, was a fanatic, a pupil of S. Frangois de Sales. But even with the politic de Ratte, the restor- ation of the authority of the church was a paramount object. The agitation never ceased. Inch by inch the lost ground was reconquered. In 1600 the clergy re- covered the college de Mende. By 1613 the victory over the university was completed, the bishop ' visited ' by his vicar-general, and new statutes, in a catholic spirit, were promulgated, which required every member of the uni- versity to attend mass daily. Of this sap and siege Casau- bon only saw the commencement, but it was enough to make it count among the discomforts, which made him ready to embrace any opening in another quarter. The immediate occasion of his leaving MontpeUier was his edition of Athenseus. This he considered the work on which he first really ventured his reputation, as it proved to be the work of his life. All previous books he spoke of as untimely births, the produce of his apprentice years. He would not own them. To Athenseus he was about to commit himself We first find him engaged upon Athenaeus as early as 1590. In that year, in the flush of youthful strength, he announced ^ to a young friend that he might soon look for a volume of observations on Athenaeus, of which author he had been fortunate enough 'to get good mss.' In 1594, he repeats the announcement to Scaliger, but it is now an edition of Athenaeus which he contemplates. In 1596, when he left Geneva, he had completed a recension of the text, and passed a great part of the sheets through the press. He had been printing this under his own eye, at the press of Paul Estienne, though it was published for him by Jerome Commelin at Heidelberg, in 1597. Being hurried by his removal, the last sheets of the book were not so correct as they should have been^; the volume ' Ep. 5. ' Animadw. in Ath, praef. : ' Migratio nostra ex Allobrogum finibus in Galliam fuit in causa ut ea editio inemendatior prodiret.' Digitized by Microsoft® ni.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 109 was without preface or dedication, and it contained not a single note. The first six months at Montpellier were too much occupied with their own duties, and it was not till the summer vacation that he could sit down regularly to the task. He did not propose to himself to write a com- mentary on Athenaeus^, but only to attempt some cor- rection of its most corrupt text, and some explanation of the many obscurities arising out of that corruption. When he began the work, June 23, 1597, he had no notion of the time that it would require. Looking back upon the finished sheets, he says, ' It would be impossible to explain to you, reader, unless you had yourself some experience of this kind of investigation, what a world of labour and vexation this work has cost me.' He calculated that if he could revise the original at the rate of four pages per day it might be done within a few months. As the volume of text contained 705 pages, six months at this rate of progress would have sufficed. So much had he under- rated the peculiar difficulties of this author, and the con- sumption of time in literary research, that three years and two months of his herculean labour were required to bring the Observations to a close, without the prolegomena. The diary enables us to compute the time — almost the days and hours — occupied in the undertaking. The foundation had been laid, and memoranda accumulated, during the revision of the text at Geneva. He began to write the ' Animadversiones ' at Montpellier, June 23, 1597, he completed them April 16, 1598. This was the first rough draft of a folio volume, of 648 pages. Within a few days he commenced a revision of the whole of what he had written. The remainder of this year was much broken into by journeys and visits. He began to print the first sheet March 20, 1599, and corrected the last at Lyon, August 9, 1600. Admitted thus behind the scenes to a sixteenth-century ' Prsefat. in Ath. : ' Nee commentarium in A. scribere consilium nobis.' Digitized by Microsoft® 110 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. workshop, we feel that we are now in the age of erudition. The renaissance, the spring-tide of modern Ufe, with its genial freshness, is far behind us. The creative period is past, the accumulative is set in. Genius can now do nothing, the day is to dull industry. The prophet is de- parted, and in his place we have the priest of the book. Casaubon knows so much of ancient lore, that not only his faculties, but his spirits are oppressed by the know- ledge. He can neither create nor enjoy; he groans under his load. The scholar of 1500 gambols in the free air of classical poetry, as in an atmosphere of joy. The scholar of 1600 has a century of compilation behind him, and ' drags at each remove a lengthening chain.' If anyone thinks that to write and read books is a life of idleness, let him look at Casaubon's diary. Pope, during his engagement on Homer, used to be haunted by it in his dreams, and 'wished to be hanged a hundred times.' Vergil, having undertaken the .iEneid, said of himself that ' he thought he must have been out of his senses when he did so.' But of the blood and sweat, the groans and sighs, which enter into the composition of a folio volume of learned research, no more faithful record has ever been written than Casaubon's ' Ephemerides.' Throughout its entire progress, the ' Animadversiones ' on Athenseus was an ungrateful and irksome task, ' catenati in ergastulo labores.' He can hardly open Athenaeus without disgust, and he prays God, day by day, that he may get away from such trifles to better reading. In some instances the travail pangs and throbs attendant on composition are repaid by the delight of the parent in contemplating the offspring. This was not Casaubon's case. To himself the labour and its result were equally repulsive and disappointing. He felt most bitterly, on its termination, how far he had fallen short of his aim, moderate as his ambition was. For he called his book 'Animadversiones in A. Deipnosophistas,' 'Observations Digitized by Microsoft® Ill,] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. ill on Athenaeus/ not a ' Commentary.' He invokes Sca- liger's aid to emend some passages, whose corruption was beyond his own skill. To have done with the work was all the satisfaction it gave him. Nor indeed did he ever quite finish it. He projected ' Prolegomena,' which were to give a full, (prolixe,) account of the author, and of the plan and construction of the Deipnosophists. He shut himself up ' parturiens,' trying to put these into shape. But after three days' labour he desisted from the attempt, being unable to satisfy himself^. When he was ready with the copy of the Observations, the next thing was to find a publisher. The city of Hippocrates contained no greek press in 1600, any more than it had done seventy years before, when Rabelais printed at Lyon his edition of the Hippocratic 'Aphorisms.' The earliest book known as printed at Montpellier is not earlier than 1597. Prefixed to this — a law-book — are some twenty lines of greek. So that Jean Gilet, the Montpellier publisher, had some greek type. When Casaubon says ^ that their only printer had no greek type, he must be taken to mean not enough for an undertaking such as the ' Animadversions ' on Athenaeus. Commelin, the publisher of his former volume, the text, was dead, and with Casaubon's present prospects it was desirable that the book should be published in France. He endeavoured to get a Genevan printer to establish a press with a greek fount, and a learned corrector, at Mont- pellier ^. But there was no scope for a learned press even in a university town. We may remember that Oxford did not get greek types till 1586, and that Whitgift in 1584, ^ Ephem. p. 289. ^ Ep. 153 : ' Typographum hie habemus, cujus opera utamur, nullum ; qui adest, graecis literis caret.' [The words surely mean that the printer had no knowledge of greek.] ' After Casaubon's departure, Fran9ois Chouet, of Geneva, seems to have acted on his suggestion, and to have opened a branch at Montpellier. See Cotton, Typogr. Gaz. 2'. series, s. v. Digitized by Microsoft® 112 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. doubted the expediency of allowing a press at all at Cambridge ^. There was indeed a greek press at Tou- louse, perhaps now, certainly in 1615, when young Maussac* edited a tract of Plutarch and Psellus ' De lapidum virtutibus.' But no heretic could print, or even be, at Toulouse, a city where even the Edict could never be put in force ^. What Casaubon would have preferred ^ was the splendour of Parisian type and paper — Morel or Patisson — whose editions, even in degenerate days, were ' editions de luxe ' when placed by the side of the smudgy and faded pages, which now issued from the presses of Geneva or Heidelberg. But when proof sheets could not be transmitted by a rapid post, you could only print where you lived. To print in Paris, you must be in Paris. In 1558, Hadrian Junius had thought it necessary to convey his own MS. copy of his Adagia from Haarlem to Bale, not considering the ordinary channels safe. And in 1600 when Casaubon sent by ' the ordinary ' a portion of the 15th book of Athenaeus from Paris to Lyon, it was not without great misgivings *. There remained Lyon. Lyon was the staple of the French book-trade, such as that trade had now become. In the middle of the century the Lyon presses, stimulated by the example of the Swabian Gryphius, had imitated and rivalled those of Italy. Sebastian Gryphius died 1556; soon the religious disturbances began, and Lyon itself fell under the in- fluence of the catholic epidemic. The Lyonnese presses took a new direction, and entered upon a rivalry, not with Aldus, but with Geneva, in the fabrication of wares for ' Whitgift to Burghley, Hejrwood's Transactions, i. 381. * See note B in Appendix. ^ Toulouse was the scene of the burning alive of Vanini, in 1619. The ferocious fanaticism of the place was not subdued in 1761, as we find from the frightful tragedy of Jean Calas. ' Ep. 169. * Scheltema, Vita Junii, p. 58 : ' Vix reperias, cui tuto perferendum aliquid credas.' Cas. Ephem. p. 247 ; ' Hodie quod supererat libri 15 Athenaei Lugdunura misi, non sine soUicitudine propter incerta casuum.' Digitized by Microsoft® in.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 113 the cheap market. While Geneva supplied bibles and calvinistic theology, Lyon was equally industrious in the production of missals and books of hours. And not con- tent with the monopoly of their respective provinces, Geneva attempted surreptitious editions of Jesuit publi- cations, and Lyon sent Calvinistic hymn-books into the protestant market. In classical and law books the com- petition was open and keen. Before Reform was heard of, a strong commercial jealousy had been entertained by the old Roman municipium, towards the rising town on the Leman lake. Theological antipathy came to embitter an old grudge. And when the French refugees led Geneva largely into the printing business, which Lyon had hitherto practised as a monopoly, and attracted the Lyonnese compositors by higher wages, the exasperation at Lyon knew no bounds. The Lyonnese printers availed themselves of the brand of ' heretic ' to get the Genevan books confiscated at the frontier, and thus secure at least the French market. Protestant countries had no index, and the Genevan printers could not retahate in kind. They therefore endeavoured — more irritating still — to undersell. For the German market, Geneva had the ad- vantage of being more conveniently situated towards Frankfort, then the staple of the German book-trade. The Lyonnese printers, though they continued to frequent the fairs at Frankfort, did a much smaller business there than those of Geneva. But the Genevese printers had no idea of foregoing the French sale, now that it began to revive at the peace, and they had recourse to various expedients to evade the prohibition. They omitted from the title the obnoxious ' Genevae,' or substituted some other place, e.g. ' Aureliae,' ' Coloniae,' ' St. Gervais,' ' Antwerp.' They even obtained from Henri iv, in his capacity of protector of the republic, a patent permitting them to use the imprint 'Colonise Allobrogum' for latin, and 'Cologny- for french books. Another device was for two members of the same I Digitized by Microsoft® 114 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. family or firm to have establishments at both places. This was done by Pesnot, by the Tournes, by Lepreux, and by Le Maire. The 'Aristotle's Works' of 1590, which Casaubon had seen through the press, was thus printed by Le Maire of Geneva, though it had Lyon (Lugduni) in the title. While Casaubon was at a loss for a printer, his father- in-law's death occurred at Lyon (January, 1598). It became necessary that Casaubon should go to Geneva, to see after his wife's portion, which he had never received. On his way he stopped at Lyon, where, most unexpectedly, a patron was awaiting him. This was Meric de Vic, who was now residing at Lyon, in capacity of ' surintendant de la justice.' De Vic was himself not without classical instruction ^ ; Madame de Vic was a woman of superior understanding. They both liked to have about them men of letters, and questions of even professional erudition might be heard discussed at their table. Casaubon has recorded one such occasion, when the talk turned on the early date of the corruptions found in classical texts. The instance of the transposition of leaves in the fourth book of Athenaeus was cited by one of the company, no doubt by Casaubon himself, as he alone would have known of it. De Vic, in later years the patron of Grotius, became now, by de Thou's intervention ^, the patron of Casaubon, and insisted upon his becoming his guest. The plague raging just then at Geneva, de Vic would not suffer him to proceed on his journey. Suddenly summoned to Paris to attend the king, de Vic proposed to Casaubon to go in his train. Under these favourable auspices he saw Paris for the first time. ' Of Meric de Vic, Grotius says in 1622, Grotii Epp. ep. 171 : ' Literas quantum amaret, in Casaubono ostendit, et mihi . . . non obscura dedit benevolentia; sua; signa.' [On his library see Guigard, ' Armorial du biblio- phile/ t. ij, p. 466, ed. 2.] ' Ep. 1020. Digitized by Microsoft® III.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 115 He found himself received with open arms, and as one well known to them, by the best set in the capital. This circle of men, a society such as even Paris has not been able to produce again, consisted chiefly of members of the bar, or magistrature. Their centre of resort was the house of J. A. de Thou, the historian, president of the court of parlement. Their presiding genius had been Pierre Pithou, who was just lost to them by death, 1596, and at the time of Casaubon's coming to them they were none of them young. None of them, neither Nicholas Rapin, nor Passerat, nor Servin, nor Jacques Gillot, nor even Frangois Pithou, had the solid classical learning of Pierre. Francois Pithou was a scientific jurist, and was deeply versed in the old Prankish codes, the Salic, Ripuarian and the capitulaire ^ ; Passerat and Rapin were elegant versifiers, but all alike agreed in the love and culti- vation of greek and latin letters. Yet they were no mere literary triflers, witness the 'Historia' of de Thou, the 'Annales Francorum' of Pierre Pithou. Some of them filled the highest civil or judicial offices ; all of them had gone through the time of the League, and the Sixteen ; some had sate in the parlement of Tours, or been sent to the Bastille by Bussi-Leclerc. They were catholics, but of all nuances, from Frangois Pithou, who was devot, and hung about the convents, to Pierre, who was a protestant brought into the catholic fold by terrorism. They were catholics, but catholics who were united in a veritable culte of the absent Scaliger, and who sought to locate Casaubon in Paris. Out of their reunion had issued the Satyre Menippee, a literary pamphlet, whose surprising public effect ranks it with the ' Epistolae obscurorum virorum,' the letters of Junius, or the ' Qu'est ce que le 1 Scaliger". 2". p. 187 : ' Fran9ois Pithou est le plus docte d'aujourduy en ces auteurs du dernier temps, comma leges Ripuariorum, Capitularia, etc., aprfes luy peut estre mis Freherus.' I 2 Digitized by Microsoft® Il6 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Tiers-etat?' All past suffering is a possession, and the trials from which they had barely emerged, already old men, had given firmness to their character, and breadth and largeness to their views. Thirty years later the Academic fran^aise took its rise in such a reunion of hke-minded men, who desired for their literary activity the encouragement and stimulus of social converse. ^ ' In 1629 some private persons, lodged in remote parts of Paris, finding it highly inconvenient, by reason of the great extent of the city, to visit each other with the chance of not meeting, resolved to see each other one day in each week at the house of M. Conrart, which was centrally situated.' The assemblages at M. Conrart's house are remembered because they have given birth to a celebrated society, the only institution in France which is more than a century old. The meetings at the house of de Thou are less famous, yet the men who there came together were cast in a nobler and more manly mould than the dilettante critics who founded the academic. Ecclesiastical terrorism which condemned the history of de Thou, as unfit reading for good catholics, had made in one generation sad havoc with the independence and in- tegrity of the French character. In 1629 we find ourselves in a salon of men polished, ingenious, and loving letters, but wanting the more robust constituents both of character and intellect. The meetings at de Thou's house, in 1598, were but a revival of an earlier Sunday-morning assemblage, in a time before the S. Bartholomew had come to cast a gloom over Parisian life. In the cloisters of the Cordeliers, from eight to eleven, or in Christophe de Thou's house, after dinner, there used to assemble the two Pithous, Claude du Puy, Le Fevre, Frangois Hotman, the young Scaliger, with others less famous. J. A. de Thou was but a youth and ^ Pellisson, Hist, de I'acad. franp. i. 8. Digitized by Microsoft® III.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 117 a listener. He used to say ^'he had learnt all he knew from the conversation of. these men, who there discoursed of letters. It required anyone to be thoroughly well read to take a part.' To the later period of which we now write, Rigault's ^ description appHes ; ' Numerously attended assemblages at the house of de Thou maintained our circle of friends. Hither flocked all the best and most instructed men of all ranks, from every province of the kingdom and from foreign parts. There you heard and discussed everything noteworthy that occurred in the city or parlement, all the news that sails, oars, posts brought in from over seas, or the countries beyond the Alps or Pyrenees.' The men who have been named, with others, formed an inner circle which was comprehended in one wider. 'One secret,' says M. Renan^, 'of the power of french esprit is the close union which has ever existed among us between those who write books, and those who read and appreciate them.' The larger society is known to history as the party of the ' politiques,' and consisted, to speak broadly, of all the men of any education in France. The bar, the magistrature, the lesser noblesse, and even the church, contributed to this larger circle, which comprehended calvinistic seigneurs, as well as gallican prelates. It was not numerically strong, but, like the party of enlightenment in every period, its influence was greater than its numbers warranted. It is the policy of such a party to ally itself with literature, as it is the only party which the press can really serve. But the 'politique' and galhcan party of 1600 was not only allied with literature, its leading men themselves were of classical culture and tastes. Such were still, or had been, Paul de Foix, Henri de Mesmes, ' Thuana, p. 188 : ' La ils communiquoient des lettres, et falloit estre bien fonde pour estre de leur compagnie ; et pour moi, je ne faisois qu'escouter. Cette compagnie se trouvoit cliez moy les festes apr^s disner, oil M. Scaliger estoit souvent.' ' P. Puteani Vita, p. 24. 'Etudes morales, p. 340. Digitized by Microsoft® II 8 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Schomberg, d'Ossat, Achille de Harlay, Le Maitre, Du Vair, the cardinal Joyeuse, Servin, Edouard Mole, men in whose lives, the camp, the court, or diplomacy, had whetted the appetite for knowledge, and the desire of recurring to good books, as the food of the mind. ' II nous faut, si nous esperons de parvenir a quelque gloire, hanter avec les morts,' the words of Du Vair ^, was the rule and practice of them all. Paul de Foix ^ had a travel- ling hbrary, which was unpacked for his use, and that of his suite, every evening on their arrival at the place where they were to lodge. This grave and solid generation, the salt of french society at that epoch, still moves before us in the 'Memoires' of de Thou, or the 'Voyages en cour' of Groulart. The weight of these men was "some set-off against the mass of the noblesse, destitute of culture and despising it^, and the mass of the town populations, deprived of all ideas but those which they gathered inside the walls of the churches. But the men of education by no means balanced the united weight of the men of the sword and the clergy. With this latter party sided the vast majority of the nation, and with it rested the real force of the government. The central power in France was not strong enough to go against the inert mass of this catholic majority, on any matter of public policy, which lay within its apprehension. The small educated section of which we speak were employed by the government, but they did not direct it. If the experiment of placing government in the hands of men of letters has been one of the misfortunes of France in recent times*, the want of ^ De r^loquence fran9. CEuvr. p. 237. 2 Paul de Foix had been a pupil of Cujas (1584). See Spangenberg, pp. Ill, 150. ^ Poirson, Hist, du regne de Henri iv. 3, 630. Amelot de la Houssaye, in Card. d'Ossat. lettr. 195 : ' Henri iv. disoit qu'avec son chancelier (Sillery) qui ne savoit point de latin, et son connetable, qui ne savoit ni lire ni ecrire, il pouvoit venir a bout des affaires les plus difiSciles.' * Morley, Voltaire, p. 57. Digitized by Microsoft® in.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 119 political knowledge among the noblesse was most unfor- tunate for the France of Henri iv. Hence they were at the mercy of the Jesuits, who were thus enabled to work France in the interests of an ultramontane policy. The party of enlightenment were obliged to be content with the subordinate functions of administration, and with alle- viating the mischief of a policy which they could not controul. Their best leverage was found in the personal character of the king. This was especially the case in matters connected with public instruction, for it is in these matters that the personal tastes of the prince are most influential. The encouragement of science and letters is almost always a personal influence. Henri iv. had learnt regularly the usual latin and greek, but he hated men of any pretensions to learning, for their independent bearing. Scaliger he honoured with his especial aversion. But his intelligence was too good, and his views too wide for him not to feel the advantage which general culture gives in the handling of affairs. ' Les lettres ouvrent I'esprit a tout,' he said ; and, though he disliked the scholar by profession, he preferred to employ and to trust a well- informed lawyer, rather than an ignorant and arrogant grand seigneur. He would listen to de Thou, even if unwilling or unable to act on his suggestions. ^'The king,' Casaubon writes to Scaliger, ' though, as you know, not greatly given to literature, 3'et promises himself much credit from patronising my studies. This I owe to your exaggerated praises of me, which he is fond of re- peating.' Henri iv, like Francis i, like Louis xiv, had a royal sense of his duty as patron of learning, and en- ' Ep. 208 : ' Rex, etsi ut scis, oi novaiKdiraros . . . illis tuis fidem veri excedentibus elogiis adductus, quae sunt illi quotidie in ore, nihil mediocre de studiis nostris sibi pollicetur.' Christopher Coler writes to Kirchmann : ' In Gallia summum otium nuntiatur, et literse in novum florem crescunt. Vocavit rex Casaubonum Lutetiam, et Scaligerum. Scaligero sua manu seripsit. Cum Casaubono de academia Parisiensi instituenda per tres horas locutus scribitur a Francisco Pithoeo.' Digitized by Microsoft® 130 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. lightenment enough to understand the lustre such patron- age could shed upon his country and reign. Knowing all this of the king's disposition, Casaubon's friends resolved to venture upon producing their protege in person at court. The experiment succeeded ; he made a favourable impression. The king — grand hableur — kept him three hours talking over the affairs of the university of Paris, and ended by inviting him to Paris to be pro- fessor in it. That he might be known to the heir pre- sumptive, as well as to the reigning sovereign, Nicolas Le Fevre presented him to the young prince of Conde, who was being brought up as a catholic, but was fortunate in an enlightened preceptor. The prince began immediately to ask about Scaliger ^ : ' Would he return ? Such a man ought not to be lost to France ! ' In taking Casaubon with him to the house of de Thou, de Vic was not introducing a stranger. Casaubon had been in correspondence with de Thou for many years, having introduced himself in 1592, by a present of the first edition of his ' Theophrastus.' He had heard much of de Thou's library, but it surpassed his expectation ^- When he entered the splendid collection and read the titles — authors he had never seen, or even known to exist in print — his heart sank at the thought of how little he knew. De Thou had been employed forty years in making this collection, which at the time of his death consisted of 8000 volumes of printed books, and 1000 mss, all in that sumptuous binding so well known to amateurs. To Casaubon, to whom friends were another name for impediments to study, the society of de Thou's salon might not present much temptation. But the libraries — de Thou's and the royal, with which Queen Catherine's ' Ep. 176: 'Post prima salutationis verba, qusesivit a me princeps, numquid scirem quid valeret Scaliger? quid nunc ageret? an reditum in Galliam cogi- taret? tantum virum non debere abesse Gallia.' '^ Ep. 175: 'Lutetiam, quod felix sit, hodie primum vidi; et statim magni Thuani museum ingressus, quam multa ignorarem, quam parum aut nihil scirem, agnovi. ' Digitized by Microsoft® in.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 121 had now been united — opened to him that supply for which he had so long thirsted. From this moment his desire to remove to Paris became paramount. On October 27, Casaubon returned to Montpellier ; but not to resume the regular duties of his profession. He was waiting. The appointment was delayed, but the king's promise was passed, and there could be no doubt it would be fulfilled. He even announced his impending resignation to the consuls. It would have been unbecom- ing in him, he thought, to quit the service of those, who on the whole had treated him with much respect, without requesting his conge in form. Not to be idle\ he gave a voluntary course of greek, and allowed the duties of rector, which he detested, to be imposed on him for a short time. He paid a visit of a fortnight to de Fresne at Castres. All this while not intermitting his daily study, which turned, among other things, on Theophrastus' bo- tanical works, Dionysius of HaHcarnassus, and S. Jerome. The third volume of the works of S. Jerome brought him to the close of the year 1598, still the expected nomination did not arrive. The long delay seemed ominous; but at last, January 24, 1599, after supper, the expected packet was put into his hands. But it was no nomination to a professorship, or to any office whatever. It was simply an order, under the sign-manual, to leave Montpellier, and to hasten to Paris, ' where it is our intention to employ you in the pro- fession of classical letters in the university.' The letter missive did not even assign any stipend or pension, but only intimated that such a stipend, as well as the expenses of removal, would be forthcoming. The original, which was preserved by Casaubon among his papers, and printed by Meric in his ' Pietas,' ran as follows :— ' Monsieur de Casaubon, 'Ayant dehbere de remettre sus I'Universite de Paris, I Ephem. p. 102 : ' Ne otiosi essemus.' Digitized by Microsoft® 122 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. et d'y attirer pour cest effect le plus de savans person- nages qu'il me sera possible ; sachant le bruit que vous avez d'estre aujourd'huy des premiers de ce nombre ; je me suis resolu de me servir de vous, pour la profession des bonnes Lettres, en laditte Universite, et vous ay, a ceste fin, ordonne tel appointement, que je m'assure que vous vous en contenterez. Partant vous ne faudrez incon- tinent la presente receue de vous preparer a vous ache- miner par dega, pour vous y rendre le plustost que le pourrez faire,' &c. &c. To remove all difficulty with regard to his present employment, the consuls of MontpelHer were specially enjoined to release him from his engagement, and to offer every facility for his departure. On February 26, having previously sent off his wife, children, and books, he bade farewell to Montpellier, from which he said he carVied away nothing but a good character. ^Yet it was not without regret that he parted from kind friends, and a flourishing protestant community, to go out into an unfriendly catholic world. He deviated from the direct route to Lyon to visit his mother, who was settled at Bourdeaux in Dauphine. There he found his wife and children, and tasted a ^ ' wonderful sweetness ' in being again among his family friends. Yet though only there two days, he managed each day to get a ' few hours ' for study, and read Du Plessis' book on the 'Eucharist' just published. He saw again Crest, where he had been brought up, and where, in the Terror, his father had been minister. On approaching Lyon he met de Vic, who had come out to meet him, and who would not suffer him to go to an inn, but received him and his whole household into his hotel. He reached Lyon, en route for Paris, March 7, 1599. ' Ephem. p. 136: 'Non sine mcErore urbem nostri amantem reliquimus, floren- tissimam ibi ecclesiam non sine gemitu, tenellam filiolam non sine suspiritibus.' ' Ephem. p. 138 : ' Mira suavitate.' Digitized by Microsoft® in.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 123 Instead of continuing his journey, however, he remained at Lyon, and chiefly in de Vic's house, nearly twelve months. It was not till February 28, 1600, that he at last set out for Paris. Of this delay, in spite of the urgency of the letter missive, which had ordered him 'immediately on the receipt of these presents' to repair to Paris, there seems no satisfactory account to be given in his letters or diary. That de Vic persuaded him to await the king's visit to Lyon, where he was expected : that he had to make two journeys to Geneva about his father-in-law's affairs : that he resolved upon printing his ' Observations ' at Lyon — these reasons are at different times alleged, but are insufficient to account for his con- duct. Besides the contumelious neglect of the royal man- date, he was incessantly urged by the letters of the Paris friends, severely blaming his unreasonable procrastina- tion^, and his indifference to a favour which had cost them so much solicitation. As for the printing of the Athenaeus, which he repeatedly assigns as the object of his stay in Lyon, he would have much preferred to have had it done in Paris. It was with difficulty that a printer was found for it at Lyon, where there were no greek compositors, and where it was very badly done when it was done. The true explanation of Casaubon's seeming wayward- ness is, I beUeve, that at Lyon it began to dawn upon him, that a condition was to be attached to the appoint- ment now held out to him ; that he was to purchase a pro- fessorship, as Henri iv. had the crown, by abjuration. It is impossible to doubt, nor did Scaliger doubt ^ that the Paris friends acted in good faith, and were quite content to have Casaubon among them, all calvinist as he was. But they could only persuade and sohcit. Those who were nearer the king, those who had the bestowal of royal 1 Ep. 191 : ' Amici nostram moram increpantes Lutetiam conviciis vocant.' 2 Seal. Ep. 50. Digitized by Microsoft® 124 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. favour, were of another sort. Du Perron and the cathoHc junta would not give gratis. From the first, they resolved to dangle the professorship before his eyes, but not to bestow it, till they had the recantation. This is the expla- nation of the mysterious language of the mandate, which calls him to Paris to profess classics, yet does not appoint him professor. Nor was it only the knavish section of the party which beset him. De Vic and Madame de Vic, out of pure concern for his eternal welfare, prevailed upon him to talk over the disputed points with two capuchins. Madame de Vic endeavoured to inveigle him into being present at mass, just out of curiosity, to see a ceremony he had never seen in his Hfe. She thought, in her goodness of heart, that it might be blessed to him. From this time a report began to spread, that Casaubon was preparing to ' go over.' Conversions were the fashion of the day. From the great ladies of the court, down to the meanest monk, good catholics were competing eagerly for the credit of bringing souls into the church. The ' convertisseurs' were incessantly at their work. An abun- dant harvest of success rewarded their efforts. All places of profit or distinction being reserved for catholics, abjura- tion became the necessary step to preferment. The skill of the converter consisted only in humouring the self- respect of the convert. He heard a solemn dispute, was overpowered by argument and quotation, submitted him- self to instruction, went into retreat for a week, and came out whitewashed. The ascendancy in opinion, and conse- quent mastery in controversy, which, forty years before, had been on the side of the protestants, had now passed to the catholics. Daniel Charaier says^ of pere Coton : ' Reboul had represented to me Coton as not only learned but modest. And in fact, when I came to have to do with him, I found him more temperate and reasonable than loyolites in general. Still he too had adopted that attitude, ' Epp. Jesuit. Praef. Digitized by Microsoft® in.] MONTPELUER. 1596-1599. 135 which all Jesuits assume in their intercourse with us, that of laying down the law as a teacher to a pupil, not disputing with us on equal terms.' For an illustrious heretic a public conference would be arranged, where bishops and cardi- nals sat in imposing array. For those of lower degree, a dispute between a Jesuit and a minister was a sufficient occasion for the would-be convert to declare that he was convinced of his error. Casaubon presented an obvious mark for this game, from his reputation and his personal character. He was now confessedly the most eminent living scholar after Scaliger; his name was known wherever greek letters were read. As it was well understood that Scaliger was impossible, Casaubon's conversion was the highest prize of the kind which was open to the efforts of the ' con- vertisseurs.' The personal character of the man, of an anxious piety : not enthusiastic, but devout to depression ; though a sincere huguenot, yet moderate and equitable towards catholics ; too learned not to be aware of the many weak points in the calvinistic armour; a weakness of will proceeding from mingled ill health, amiability, and excessive reading ; all these characteristics were, in engi- neering phrase, in favour of the attack. More especially his intimate acquaintance with the greek and latin fathers, and a sentiment for christian antiquity, indicated an affinity for catholic rather than calvinistic divinity. The con- temptuous treatment of antiquity on the part of the pro- testants was not only unbecoming; it was a historical error, an error which revolted those to whom antiquity was better known. These facts, which soon became known in the Jesuit camp, always well served with intelligence, afforded ground for hope, that Casaubon's case was one where, instead of the usual comedy of ' coming over' being enacted, a real conversion might be effected. His having quitted Geneva, and having come into France ; his being the close friend of Canaye de Fresne, who was known by Digitized by Microsoft® Ja6 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. the Jesuits (though Casaubon was innocent of it) to be preparing to desert; his quitting calvinistic MontpeUier to estabHsh himself in fanatical Lyon, in the house of the catholic de Vic; and his being known to be expecting preferment from the court ; — these were certainly circum- stances calculated not only to give hopes to the Jesuit faction, but to create an impression on the public at large, that Casaubon was about to do what everybody else, who wished to get on, was doing around him. Casaubon was deeply concerned when he found that reports of this nature began to be credited among his own co-religionists. ^Even during his residence at Lyon, he had to suffer from the suspicions of his friends, who hinted that he was about to leave a losing cause. If ever man was sincere in his belief, Casaubon was. His after con- duct proves that he was prepared to make any sacrifice for it. But though his conduct was firm and consistent, the publication of his private diary has revealed to us, that there was a moment when his mind wavered. The traces indeed are slight, but they are sufficient. It could not be otherwise. Belief is so much a matter of sympathy and contagion, that when all we hear and see goes one way, we receive an insensible impulse in the same direction. An uneducated mind, in which religious belief is a mere matter of habit, might not be affected by epidemic Catho- licism. But Casaubon had apphed his knowledge to the grounds of his faith. Examining and re-examining as he was compelled to do, the balance of the evidence must at different times have seemed to be on opposite sides. There was no doubt on which side his interest lay. When he finally decided against his interest, he gave the highest evidence man can give of a sincere love of truth. These traces of momentary wavering are a measure of the force ' Ep. 211 : among the reasons he assigns for wishing to get away from Lyon, one is : ' Odium nostri conflatum in animis plerorumque tSiv tA. fjnirepa tppovoiv- Tcuj', cum in hac urbe (Lyon) tum in vicinis provinciis.' Digitized by Microsoft® III.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 127 of the catholic reaction in France. As part of Casaubon's biography, they must be read in connection with the whole of his confessions. The pages of the diary during the fol- lowing years of trial continue to abound in evidence, as well of humble piety as of single-eyed love of what seemed to him truth. We quote one entry. On his forty-third birthday Casauboh enters as follows^: — ' I am not excusing my act (not going to church). If religious feeling were as vigorous in my mind as it ought to be, neither the impediment to which I allude, nor yet more serious difficulties, would have interfered with the journey. I here confess to thee, my God, what is the truth, zeal for religion is languid both in my own mind, and among those belonging to me. Do thou, O merciful Father, stir it up, and kindle it into flame. Make us so to live henceforward that those, who are endeavouring with so much pertinacity to pervert me, may know that thou, O God, wilt not suffer our faith even to be im- perilled.' The suspicions of those of his own church were not the only vexations which he had to support during his stay in Lyon. He had with difficulty found a printer^ for his ' Observationes,' and de Vic had generously advanced a portion of the expense. The remainder was to be found by the author himself, who embarked his slender savings in the enterprise. Of profit there was no thought, but he might look forward to be repaid his outlay by the sale of the book. He found, in Antoine de Harsy^, one of those ' Ephem. p. 333. '^ Ep. 1020 : ' Parum greecis edendis assuete sunt operae Lugdunenses.' A compositor was expected to know latin, in order to set it up in type. Corranus complains of the London printers in 1574, Zurich Letters, 2''. ser. p. 254 : ' So many errors have crept in through the carelessness of the printer, who is un- acquainted with latin, as are almost all the printers in this country.' » Antoine de Harsy, son, or grandson of Denis de Harsy, also printer, f 1614, after which the business was carried on by his widow. Ephem. 291 : ' Curis anxius propter improbitatem istius Harsii, quae miris modis me vexat per somnum, scelus, dum edito libro inhiat, et pecuniis quas ibi posuimus.' Digitized by Microsoft® ia8 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. cormorants, who about this time began to sit hard by the tree of knowledge. The publisher hitherto had been the friend and co-operator of the author, even when not author in his own person. Casaubon's Athenaeus is an early instance of spohation, though there was not here the usual excuse that the publisher was risking his capital on the credit of the author's name. Madame de Harsy, who transacted the business in her husband's absence, was even more extortionate. As soon as she ascertained that Casaubon was obliged to leave Lyon on a certain day, she took advantage of it to mulct him of a large sum as extra charges. He might have resisted in the law courts, where he knew the judge would have befriended him. But he could not postpone his departure, and was obliged to pay. The pangs which Casaubon suffered from these Lyonnese sharks will be understood, when we remember how he had toiled in the compilation of his volume, and what hopes he had rested on its production. This was all that was wanting as the fitting close of the scholar's toil — the last chapter in the calamities of authors. Nor did his pecuniary losses end here. Henri Estienne had died intestate. While Casaubon superintended the printing of his Athenaeus, Madame Casaubon went to Geneva to look after her share of her father's property. Henri's affairs were found to be more involved even than had been feared, and it became necessary that Casaubon should interrupt his edition, and make first one, and then a second, journey to Geneva, in the business. The affair dragged on in the courts till 1607. Casaubon persisted in accusing the council, and even the Genevese in general, of conspiring to rob him, and sometimes breaks out into frantic denunciations of the 'hypocrisy and pharisaism which was covered by the long cloak.' Even if he did not exaggerate his loss, he could not on cool reflection implicate the city of Geneva in the decision of a judicial tribunal, even supposing that decision to have been unjust. Digitized by Microsoft® III.] MONTPELLIER. 1596-1599. 129 It was on this occasion that he entered, and only for the second time in his hfe^, his father-in-law's library. ' Such a wreck of vast projects ! A memorial of stupendous labour ! ' he exclaimed on seeing it. He used his influence with the co-heirs to allow the mss. to pass to Paul Estienne, who inherited the greek press under his grandfather's will. The printed books were sold for the benefit of the credi- tors. Sold for a song, Casaubon says. The matrixes of the greek types remained in pawn in the hands of le Clerc. With true disinterestedness — for if there was anything which Casaubon coveted it was a greek ms. — he asked nothing for himself, but begged Paul to lend Hoeschel a transcript of Photius which he found in Henri's hand- writing. In telling Hoeschel what he had done, Casaubon writes^: ' If I ask you when you have occasion to mention Henri Estienne, to do so with as much respect as you can, you will think I wrong your goodness of heart. I know your excellent disposition, but you are aware that it is the fashion, now he is gone, to run him down and insult his memory. I am not going to justify his moody and irascible temper : some of his latest things I could wish unwritten. He had, indeed, many faults; but how truly great he was in letters, even had I not known before, I should have learnt on entering his library, where I saw incredible monuments of learning, and the love of it.' What Casaubon was foregoing for himself, may be understood from the fact, that he had never read Photius' Bibliotheca, which was not then printed, and knew that it must contain some things which would have been of use to him in his notes on Athenasus^. To these annoyances was added another, brought upon ' In October, 1598, he tells Scaliger, ep. 175: 'Volo, tamen, scias, nondum mihi visam Stephani bibliothecam ; non dico ab ejus obitu, sed omnino invisam earn esse nobis.' ^ Ep. 186: 'Quantus ille vir (Henri Estienne) fuerit in Uteris, si nesciebam ante, potui adfatim discere, ex iis quae reperta sunt mihi in bibliotheca.' ^ Ep. 197. K Digitized by Microsoft® 130 ISAAC CASAUBON. him by his good nature. He had taken into his family his nephew, Pierre Chabanes. This youth, at once stupid and froward, could not be induced to behave himself in de Vic's family. He was always quarrelling with the servants^, and once nearly set the house on fire by throw- ing hot coals at them in the kitchen. The circumstance only brought into relief the sweet temper of Madame de Vic, who was content with a gentle reprimand, and would not allow Casaubon to turn the young mule out of the nouse within the hour, as he proposed to do. Indeed, he kept the nephew with him till his death, which happened in 1602. In spite of his bad disposition, his patient uncle mourns for his loss, as for that of a child of his own ^. De Vic continued to be the adviser by whom all Cas- aubon's plans were now directed^. ' Ephem. p. 160 ; ' Iterum meus petulantissimus dSeA.^iSoCs, crux et mors mea, animo vilissimo cum famulo rixam contraxit.' " [For his death see infra p. 227, and Ephem. p. 418.] ' Ephem. p. 233 : ' Cujus consiliis naviculam nostram gubernari par est.' Digitized by Microsoft® APPENDIX TO SECTION III. Note A. p. 8i. Deed of Appointment as Professor at Montpellier. Burney Mss. 367. f. 127. Lan mil cinq cens quatre vingt et dix sept et le douziesme Jour du moys de Mars dans la maion Consull' de Motpell''. En personne honnorab' hommes messieurs mre Pierre Cavassin Dr es droictz, mfe Anthonie Atgier S'. de la Bastide, Anthonie de Burgens, Bernardin Durant, Imbert Coste et Anthoine Barrat Consul' de la Ville de Montpell' lesquelz de leur gre ensuivant les precedates deliberacons du Conoii (jg Vingt quatre avec RatiiBcaon de ce qua este faict et commence et de tout ce quy sest passd pour avoir appell6 et plusieurs fois eit faict venir en fin de la ville de Geneve en ceste ville Monsieur mfe I sac Cazaubon professeur aus langues et bonnes Ires pour y faire doresnavat sa residence et demeurance tant qu'il plera a Dieu pour y lire publicquement et faire excercice publicq' de ses langues et bonnes Ires soubz les Pactes et condicons a luy acordes et y teneues en lacte que luy a este envoyee par S"" Denis Pasturel marchand de ceste ville envoye expres devers luy pour le conduire a faire lesd' voyage qui sont telz que sensuivent. Premierement que les d' Sieures Consuls suivant lad' desliberacon du con^il du vingt septie Octob' dernier passe seront teneues comme ont promis et promettant aud' S"". Casaubon present et aceptant pour son entretenement et gages annelz luy faire payer la somme de deux cents soixante six escus deux tiers payable par anticipacio en deux thermes au commencement' de chascun demy annee. Lesquels gaiges courront et ont commence des le jour de son depart dud' Geneve que feust le neufmesme de Decemb' dernier sans en ce comprendre to les fraiz et despences par eulx desja faicts et fournis a la conduicte dud' sieur Casaubon de sa famille et K 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 133 APPENDIX TO SECT. III. bibliotheque despuis lad' ville de Geneve jusques en castes ville comma luy auroit aste promis et acorde p led' Conseill et ausquels frais a esta desja satisfaict aussi seront teneus lesd' Siaurs Consuls comma lis ont promis et promettent au non de touta la ville at communaulte de luy donner at faire approver dans son logis chascung an, la quantite de cent quintaulx de bois da valleur et luy fournir una maison et logis commode po^ son habitacon et dameuran' tant quil servira a la ville, aut^ despens dicalla ^o' lameublement de laquelle maion pour une fois suivant la qua luy auroit este acorda lasd' Siaurs Consuls luy auroiant faict payer ainsi qua lad' S"^. Casaubon a confesse la somma de cant escus suivant la mandament que luy auroit asta daspech6 p lasd' Siaurs Consuls sur commis a la levee da la cour dung sous po^^. chung quintal sel ordonne po^. I'establissement dung College de ceste ville, dont il sera content, et a quitte la d' ville at communaulte moyenant lesquelz susd' pactes led' S"". de Casaubon a promis et promet ausd' Siaurs consuls ville at communaulte de bien et deuement verser en sa profession en la d' ville, et de bien et deuement faire son dabvoir a la lecture dasd' languas et bonnes Ires, tout ainsi qu'il a desja commence de faire comme aussi a aste conveneu et acorde, que ny lad' ville ny lad' S''. Casaubon ne se pourront oncques de present ny a la venir despartir du pnt contract que dung mutuel et reciproque consentement. Et po'^ tout ce dessus acorder et server restituo de to'', despens domaiges et intherests lasd* Siaurs Consuls ont oblige tous at chacungs las biens da la communaulte de lad' villa, et led' S^^. Casaubon les siens propres meubles at imaubles present et advenir que pourca faire ont soubzines aulz rigueurs des cours de Monsieur le gouverneur presidial petit sul (?) royal ordinance dud' Montpell'. et aides requizes et necessaires In vue chune dicelles et ainsi lont promis et dirre et Renon a tous droictz et loix a ce dessus Eontrairas. Faict et recitte dans Motpell'^. et dans la Maison Consull"^ en presence de S'^. Fran' Sartie Borgeois, Noble Guillaume . . . et Sr. Jean Costier, habitans dans Motpell"^. soubz^^s . . . lesd' parties a loriginal, et moy Pierre Pesquet Notar. Royal dud' Motpellier soubz^e. Pesquet, Note''. Digitized by Microsoft® APPENDIX TO SECT. III. \'i,'}, Note B. p. 112. Maussac's Toulouse greek editions are : Plutarchi libellus de fluviorum et montium nominibus . . . Philip. Jacob. Maussacus recensuit, latine vertit, et notis illustravit, Tolosae, ap. Do- minicum Bosc, 1615, 8" ; Pselli de lapidum virtutibus libellus ; Philippus Jacobus Maussacus primus vulgavit, latine vertit, et emendavit, Tolosae, typis viduse J. Colomerii regis et universi- tatis typographi sub signo nominis Jesu, 1615, 8°; Aristotelis Historia De Animalibus, J. C. Scaligero interprete, 1619. Hoffmann assigns the first edition of Scaliger's 'Aristotelis Hist. Animal.' to the year 1591, which would be earlier evidence of a Greek press at Toulouse. But this date is an error, a thing of very rare occurrence in that accurate bibliographer. Maussac published the ' Historia Animal.' for the first time in 1619. Digitized by Microsoft® IV. PARIS. 1600-1610. 1600. De Vic was now in Paris. In February he wrote despondingly to Casaubon to tell him that all past promises were forgotten ; that his friends were now powerless ; that the ultramontane party were wholly indifferent, and that in short he was not to look to the court for anything. Casaubon, having long made up his mind that it would be so, was not disconcerted at intelligence which was no news, but continued with steady perseverance to work at his Athenaeus. A fortnight, however, had hardly elapsed before de Vic wrote a summons to him to come to Paris immediately, without explaining his reasons, but in a tone which compelled compHance. On February 28 he took horse, and used such expedition that, notwithstanding the badness of the roads, and the heavy inundations, he reached de Vic's house in Paris upon the seventh day. He was admitted to an audience, and received with suspicious courtesy by the king and the lords. Henri again repeated what he had said about employing Casaubon in the ' restoration of the university,' and the next day, in council, spontaneously mentioned Casau- bon's name, and his own intentions. Casaubon received an order to wait upon Monsieur de Rosny, and, as an earnest of what was to come, received a gratification of two hundred crowns. After this nothing further was done; he remained in Paris, apparently forgotten and useless, separated from the two objects of his affection. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 135 his family and his books, and the Lyon press at a stand- still. Of course reading not less, but even more, than usual. For he was now in a land of books, and had besides brought along with him in his baggage the Photius he had received as a present from Hoeschel, which he now read for the first time. In the midst of this desultory life, he was surprised by a summons from the king, calling him to Fontainebleau, where the court then was, for an 'affair which he had much at heart.' * ^ M'^- Cazobon, Je desire vous veoir et vous communiquer ung affaire que j'ay fort k cueur ; cest pourquoy vous ne fauldrez incontinent la presente receue de vous acheminer en ce lieu et vous y rendre pour le plus tard dimanche au soir, et m'asseurant que vous n'y manquiez je ne feray celle cy plus longue que pour prier Dieu qu'il vous ait en sa s** garde. Ce soir de Fontayne- bleau ce 28"°° jour d'Avril 1600, Henry ^,' Casaubon must now have begun to understand for what purpose he had been brought up from Lyon in such hot haste. The fashion of conferences, and their adroit management by the catholic reaction, has been already noticed. In the earlier days of the religious troubles, a conference was a bona fide attempt to come to an understanding. Such, e. g. had been the colloquy of Poissy, 1561. Afterwards, when the ascendancy in opinion was finally secured to the catholics, these public disputations were merely blinds, under cover of which those desirous of apostatizing could decorously effect their retreat. It may seem surprising that the huguenot party, after so much experience, especially after the farce of the conference of Mantes, 1593' could allow themselves to be, again and again, entrapped in the same way. The explanation is partly to be found in the circumstance, that, while the catholics acted with the unanimity of an organised party, the ' Preserved by Casaubon among his papers, and now in Burney MSS. 367. Digitized by Microsoft® 136 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. protestants, dispirited and dispersed, had no centre of policy. Thus they repeated their mistakes, in the different provinces, with that want of tactic which always attends a losing game. The conference of Fontainebleau, 1600, was the most tragical of these self-imposed defeats, because it struck a noble soul. Philippe de Mornay, seigneur du Plessis Marly, is justly described by Voltaire as ' the greatest and most virtuous man of the protestant party.' It is little to say of him, that he was superior to personal interest \ for merely to remain protestant was now to sacrifice interest to conscience. Clear of the least suspicion of making a tool of his party, he had staked life and fortune in the cause of Henri iv. None of his adherents had rendered the king such services as had Mornay. Besides his personal exertions, he had nearly ruined himself by loans, still unrepaid. With a catholic education, Mornay had become a protestant before he was twenty, by study of the con- troversy. He continued, notwithstanding his public engagements, to read theology, and collected a valuable library from the dispersion of the monastic treasures. Had he not been grand seigneur, he would have passed for learned. He talked well, adding to the accent of a gentleman the authority of knowledge. Du Perron, who had learning, but with the servile manners of a court chaplain, envied him what he tauntingly calls ^ his ' eloquence de Pericles.' In 1593, Mornay was too much of a statesman not to see that abjuration was a political necessity for Henri iv. But he had understood that the ' Even in the caricature of the ' Henriade,' where the figures of the wars of religion are set up in gilt gingerbread in the taste of the ' grand sifecle,' the noble lineaments of the calvinist seigneur stand out as if incapable of disfigurement. See the lines, chant 9 ; ' Son exemple instruisait bien mieux que ses discours ; Les solides vertus furent ses seuls amours,' etc. There is a good monograph on Mornay by Eugene Poitou in the Revue de VAnjou, i. 322 (Angers, 1854). ^ Actes de la Conference, etc. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1610. 137 royal conversion was to carry with it such a reform of the abuses of the church, as might have healed the religious schism ; a reform of such a kind as had taken place in England. He never expected to see Henri of Navarre go in for rampant ultramontanism. The crafty Bearnais took care to encourage his illusion, and not to undeceive his friend, till he could do without him. At the stiffnecked Calvinism of a mere soldier like d'Aubigne, Henri could afford to laugh ; the consistent integrity of a statesman like Mornay was a standing reproach to him. He was not sorry for an opportunity of discrediting his old adherent, and comrade in arms. Such an opportunity was now afforded him. Mornay had, unfortunately, written a book. He had always been fond of writing, as well as reading, theology, and he had now employed the leisure which his retirement from politics gave him, in compiling a controversial \ treatise on the eucharist. The celebrity of the author, ^| and the fact that the book was composed in french, would have sufficed to give vogue even to a superficial treatment of the reigning controversy. But Mornay's book was not a * fugitive pamphlet. It was a solid volume of 888 pages 8vo. ' Opus praestantissimum,' said Scaliger 1, ' and better than any of the books of the professed theologians, except those of Calvin and Beza.' We are only concerned with the citations. These amount to nearly 5000, it being a "i principal object of the book to show that the Roman doctrines of the mass, etc., are not conformable to the opinions of the fathers, or schoolmen. Whatever the merit of the argument, the book made a prodigious sensation. It occupied aUke the pulpits and the salons. The clergy were enraged to find, that though everything else was restored to them, their old power of putting down heretical writings by force was not yet recovered. They were driven to the miserable resource of answering it. ' Scaligerana 2°. p. 161. Digitized by Microsoft® 138' ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. They put on Bulenger, one of the king's chaplains ; the Jesuits made Fronto le Due and Richeome, two of their best men, write answers. The strong point of the book was its citations. Romanist errors were to be crushed by showing that they were novelties. But it was soon dis- covered by hostile eyes, that in this show of vast reading, lay the weakness of the book. The refutations all took the form not of counter argument, but of exposure of false quotations. The general public, indifferent, especially in France, to mere inexactitude, persisted in regarding the main issue, and these answers did not avail to arrest the effect of Mornay's book. He himself took a contemptuous tone towards his critics. ' I did not know that " episcopus miniatensis," meant bishop of Mende. I should have known it. I translated " tiburiensis," "tiburtine," and " concilium Sardicense," " council of Sardes." I should not have done so, but! — ' The errors, however, were so many and grave that they invited a more eclatant exposure. For this the man was Du Perron. The part of chaplain-man-of-the-world, a part often played, and still playable, has never been played with more success than by Messire Jacques Davy Du Perron, bishop of Evreux, senior chaplain to the king, member of both councils, grand and privy. He had begun life as a protestant, but went over early, not only into Catholicism, but also into ultramontanism, though he kept this in the background during Henri's life. This clever talker went about everywhere saying, that he had not examined the whole of the big book, but that, as far as he had gone, he had discovered 500 false citations in it^. He had really ' Du Perron told Fra Paolo, Life of Father Paul, 1651, p. 61, that he had not only found the Huguenots ' without learning or knowledge, especially in the old fathers, in councils and historians, but he had likewise found them choleric and impatient ; whereupon, whensoever he disputed with any of them, his chief aim was by some piquant words, or argutenesse, to put them into choler, and that being done, he was assured to carry the victory.' Cf with this Casaub. ep. 314. It was out of modesty, thinks the Carthusian d'Argonne, Vigneul Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. i6oo-i6jo. 139 spent eighteen months in carefully getting it up, and was only watching for an opportunity to bring his criticism to bear on it. Just at this time Mornay came to town. He had held himself retired in his government at Saumur, in his dissatisfaction at the catholic policy, into which the court was rushing. He now came to Paris to endeavour to recover some part of the sums owing to him. To sting the veteran into sending a challenge to Du Perron, the princess of Orange was employed as picadore. The daughter of Coligny, the widow of William the Silent, a protestant, but who, as grande dame, was equally powerful in catholic circles, offered a convenient channel of communication. Mornay was made to believe that his personal honour was implicated, and he could no longer hold back. The challenge was sent, and became im- mediately, says TEstoile^, the talk of the town. Henri iv. took it up, and insisted upon having a debate in form at Fontainebleau, where he would be present himself. The matter in dispute was to be adjudicated upon by six commissaries, four cathoHc, and two protestant. The catholic commissioners were the chancellor Bellifevre, a pronounced ultramontane, Francois Pithou, de Thou, and the king's physician in ordinary, Jean Martin^. A masterly stroke was the nomination, as the two protestant commissioners, of Canaye de Fresne, and Casaubon. The first was known to be wanting a pretext for conversion, and Casaubon, known to be honest, was supposed to be yielding. It was in vain that his protestant friends dissuaded ; that the church of Paris sent Du MouHn to him, imploring him to abstain. He listened to de Thou, Marville, Melanges d'Hisf. i. 64, that the cardinal said this. He must, of course, being a cardinal, have been too strong in controversy for heretics. 1 L'Estoile, Registre Journal, p. 312 : ' Cette dispute fait I'entretien de tout Paris ; dans les chaires, dans les ecoles, chez les grands et chez les petits, on ne parle que de cet appel.' 2 This was the Martin who wrote against Scaliger; see Bernays, Joseph Justus Scaliger, p. 240. Digitized by Microsoft® I40 ISAAC CAS A [/BON. [Sect. and his new catholic aUies, who were equally urgent with him to consent to act. He went to Fontainebleau ; he found Henri iv. going in for the sport with his usual energy. The king could think of nothing else. Difficulties arising about the terms of the disputation, the king spent the whole of the third of May, from lo a.m. till ii p.m., in talking them over with the parties. He sat up till that late hour to get the final list of Du Perron's passages, and fixed 8 a.m. next day for the bearing. Amid many difficulties, one thing was agreed on on all sides, that this was not a dispute about the truth of doctrine, but about the correctness of the quotations in the book ' De I'Eucharistie.' The nuntio had very early got scent of what was going on, and had declared^, that the pope would not suf- fer a doctrinal disputation to be held without his sanction. The insult to the crown of France was allowed to pass, but such a disputation had never been in contemplation. The difficulties were raised by Mornay, who, feeling that he had made a false step, insisted on impossible conditions. He first demanded that a list of all the 500 impugned passages should be rendered to him, before he went into the con- ference. He said, it was quite likely that among 5000 or more citations, some might be inexact. If these were condemned, and the conference should not go on to the examination of the whole, it would be taken for granted that the whole 500 were equally faulty. The fact was, he suspected that the bishop, in his usual style of bavardage, had taken a little latitude with the number, and that, though it was certain he had found some mistakes, he could not produce anything like 500. Du Perron, as his adversary expected, declined to give any hst of 500, and Mornay refused the conference, except on that condition. The king, in his ardour, ordered that the inquest into the book should be held, whether the author were present or absent. But this would have ruined the scheme. A condemnation of the book, in Mornay's absence, would have produced Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1610, 141 no effect on opinion ; it was absolutely necessary that he should be formally heard in his defence. The wise heads therefore advised compromise, and after some negociation, Mornay was induced to abide the arbitration on condition that 50 alleged falsities were produced at once. Du Perron, to show his resources, gave in a list of 61. The pourr parlers had taken so long, that it was 11 p.m., before the list of 61 errors was handed in to Mornay, and the hearing was to be at 8 next morning. He had to sit up all night to verify his references, and to borrow for the purpose the necessary books from his adversary, who had brought a waggon load with him from the chateau de Cond6. He was only able to examine 19 of the passages. Upon these he told the king next morning, that ' he was ready to stake his honour and life, that not one would be found false.' Even 19 were found to be more than enough occupation for one day. Preparations took so long, that the confer- ence could not begin till after dinner, one o'clock. Though the session was continued till nearly 7 p.m., there was only time to examine 9 citations. The scene was the council chamber at Fontainebleau. In the middle, a long table of porphyry ; at one end of which sat the king. On the king's right towards the fire, the place of honour, the bishop of Evreux ; on the left of the king, in the second place, "the sieur de Mornay. Down the table, the commis- sioners ; the chancellor first, Casaubon lowest ; at the lower end of the table, the reporters. Behind the king's chair, various archbishops and bishops, the princes of the blood, and other seigneurs of quality, catholic and protes- tant. The room, which could only hold about 200, was filled with spectators. The books were in a neighbouring room, and were brought in as they were required. Short opening addresses were made by the chancellor, the king, and the bishop of Evreux, with much profession of impar- tiality, but with a lofty assumption of the truth of the catholic doctrine. The bishop, indeed, had allowed him- Digitized by Microsoft® 142 ISAAC CASAUBON. . [Sect. self to accent the words ' false,' ' falsification/ etc. in such a way as to bring upon himself a rebuke from the king, who desired him 'to abstain from irritating language. They were here to judge a question of fact.' A question of fact, it may seem, ought to have been easily determinable. But on going into the passages singly, the question was discovered to be by no means so simple as it appeared. The bishop's challenge alleged 500 ' faussetez enormes ... si evidentes que la seule ouverture des livres suffiroit pour le convaincre.' He must have been disappointed, when, after an hour's debate, on the first passage only, he could not convince a body of arbiters, of whom the majority were catholic. On this passage they pronounced a ' non liquet.' The charge of ' false quota- tion ' was an ambiguous charge. Mornay had cited his authorities in three methods, i. He had given the whole passage literally ; 2. He had abridged the passage in the words of the original ; or 3. neglecting the words, he had presented the sense of the author, as he conceived it, in his own words. Where he had employed the second method, that of abridgment, dispute arose as to whether the words omitted were, or were not, material. Where he had adopted the third method, that of rendering the substance of a long passage, it was a still more critical business to decide, if his statement fairly represented the author's meaning. So far was it from being a mere matter of verification of citation, that it was impossible even to confine the disputation to a judicial comparison of the equivalents of propositions. It was impossible but that some truth should be assumed ; and the truth of catholic doctrine was not to be called in question. One instance may serve as a specimen. Mornay had alleged some sentences of Theodoret ^ in a very abridged form, as follows : ' God doeth that which pleaseth him, but images are made, such as it pleaseth men to make ^ Theod. Comm. in Ps, 113. 0pp. i. 662. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 143 them ; they have abodes of sensible matter, but they have no senses, being thus of less worth than insects ; and it is right that those who adore them should lose their reason and their senses.' If the judges had had to decide only if the citation thus abridged was a fair abridgment of the original, they must have decided that it was so. But Mornay had employed the passage as telling against what the protestants called the ' idolatry ' of the church of Rome. The bishop charged him with having concealed the fact that Theodoret was here speaking of the ' idols ' of the heathen, not of the ' images ' of the christians, and of having omitted words which disclosed this purpose. As the protestants everywhere were in the habit of using the scripture denunciations of idolatry, as a condemnation of the use of images in churches ; and as everybody knew that Ps. 113, on which Theodoret is here commenting, speaks of the heathen idols, it is impossible to suppose that Mornay could have either wished to conceal the fact, or thought there was anything to conceal. The decision of the judges was this : ' The passage of Theodoret must be understood of the pagan idols, not of the images of the christians ; and that this appeared by words which had been omitted in the citation.' This decision therefore was not a condemnation of Mornay for false quotation, which was the point submitted to the tribunal. It was in effect a theological decision, declaring that those passages of scripture in which idols are denounced are not appHcable to images in christian churches ; deciding, that is, this vexed question of interpretation in favour of the catholic, as against the protestant, expositor. In this exegesis the judges may have been right. Casaubon thought so. But it was not the question they had to decide ; yet by con- curring in their decision, he allowed it to appear to the world, with the sanction of his name, that Mornay had been convicted of a ' faussete 6norme ' in respect of a quotation. Digitized by Microsoft® 144 ISAAC CASAUSON. LSect. Casaubon ^ bitterly repented afterwards of the false step he had allowed himself to take ^, especially when he saw the king's letter to the due d'Epernon, in which he — Henri of Navarre — paraded this stage trick, as a grand ' stroke for the church of God.' ' Mon amy, le diocese d'Evreux a gaigne celuy de Saul- mur, et la douceur dont on y a procede a oste I'occasion a quelque hugenote que ce soit de dire que rien y ait eu force que la verite ; le porteur y estoit qui vous contera comme j'y ai faict merveilles ; certes c'est un des plus grants coups pour I'eglise de Dieu, qu'il se soit faict il y a longtemps ; suyvant ces erres, nous ramenerons plus de separez de I'eglise en un an que par une aultre voye en cinquante.' This gasconade was printed, and circulated, by the catholic party, to announce their 'victory' in every part of France. Besides the 'grant coup pour I'eglise de Dieu,' Henri gained by it the humiliation of his faithful friend and servant, Du Plessis Mornay^, who retired heart-broken to Saumur. Canaye de Fresne availed himself of it, as a justification of the apostacy he had long meditated, and was rewarded at once by the Venetian embassy^. Both friends and foes now made sure that Casaubon would be the next to go. Du Perron closeted him and talked with learned unction on religion. * May 12, 1600, ' To-day ' Casaubon had begun to enter in the ' Ephemerides,' p. 250, a detailed ac- count of the Fontainebleau conference. But he breaks it off at the second con- tested passage, finding that his memory ■would not serve him, either as to the sequence of the discussion, or even as to the decision of the umpires. Two blank pages are left, but were never filled in. Meanwhile, we have two authentic reports of the conference, by the respective parties, i. Actes de la conference, etc. Evreux, 1601. This was drawn up by the cardinal himself, and printed at his private press. For the use of this rare volume, I am indebted to the library of Balliol College. ■^. Discours veritable de la conference tenue a Fontainebelleau, s. 1. 1600 ; inspired, if not authorised, by Du Plessis Mornay himself. See Note A in appendix. '' Ep. 214 ; ' Memoriam illius rei luctu refugit animus.' ^ Ephem. p. 720 : ' Vel rationes, vel necessitates domesticae in romanam eccle- siamtranstulerunt.' * Ephem. p. 260. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 145 serious conversation on religion with the bishop of Evreux.' Casaubon was eagerly claimed by the one side, and angrily denounced by the other, as having aided and abet- ted this great victory of Fontainebleau. Daniel Chamier, Jean Gigord, Pinaud, the leading calvinist ministers at Montpellier and Geneva ; Jean Calas, doctor of law, a person of great weight at Nimes ; wrote bitter expostula- tions on his conduct in the affair, by which he was cut to the heart. The protestants seem to have thought that their champion might have made a few slips among so many thousand quotations, but that Casaubon, hke a good advocate, might have brought him through. In vain Casaubon represented that he had been appointed a judge and not an advocate, and a judge of a literary quarrel, not of a religious controversy, and that the sentence of the arbitrators, in each of the eight passages, was unquestion- ably right. Technically, his defence of himself was good ; substantially, the protestant grievance was just. Though he had only adjudicated on the correctness of Mornay's quotations, the result had been appropriated as a party victory by the catholics, a victory of truth over error, of honest interpretation over heretical falsification. ' Even your Casaubon is obliged to admit that antiquity is for us,' Du Perron could say. Casaubon was terrified to' find that the report of his apostacy was now ^ ' spread through the whole of France.' Nay, it had reached Rome. Whenever any mischief was to be done by tale-bearing or slandering, Scioppius was sure to be in it. This creditable person, it seems, had al- leged, as one motive of his own conversion, that he had learnt that Casaubon was meditating the same step. To do something towards counteracting the scandal, Casaubon addressed a formal epistle to the protestant synod assembled at Gergeau, asseverating his constancy, and appealing both to his early education and to his ^ Ep. 232 : ' Sparsum de nobis tota Gallia rumorera.' L Digitized by Microsoft® 146 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. daily studies as its sufficient guarantee. The occasion was considered one of such pubhc importance, that a translation was published at Geneva both of Casaubon's letter and the response, for wider circulation in classes in which latin was not read ^ More than the violent rage of the ministers he feared the cool penetration of Scaliger's judgment. Scaliger would not pronounce an opinion till he had heard all the circumstances. He begs for Casaubon's own account. Not till September 22 did Casaubon even mention the subject to him, and then in as few words as possible, and with reluctance — ' haec scribo prope invitus.' He laments the exposure of Mornay's weakness, who would never have gone there if he had acted with his usual prudence. He admits that the defeat was complete, clothing the admission in greek to hide it from prying eyes {to. Trept Tr\v 'naihdav iKaTT^\i.aro). ' I could weep when I call to mind the sad spectacle of that day, the theatrical triumph over the noble, the talented, the true ! There are, who blame the k — . Whenever I have pleaded the cause of our friend to him, his answer has been " it is his own fault. What did I do ? " ' Scaliger's reproof was conveyed by his silence. He never alluded to the transaction, though continuing a steady correspondence with Casaubon. What his opinion was we know from Vassan's notes of his conversation in 1603. He said^, 'Casaubon ought never to have gone to that conference ; he was the ass among the apes ; the only learned man among the judges.' An impartial writer, Burigny, thinks that Scaliger could not have said this, because de Thou and Pithou were men of merit, and at least de Thou was highly esteemed by Scaliger himself. Both of them were, it is true, men of ' The original is in latin, in the collected volume of Epistolae, ep. 232. The french translation has on the title-page, Gen. 1601. There is a copy in the Brit. Mus. with a note, in sir H. Wotton's hand, stating that the translator was de Montliard. ^ Scalig". 2". p. 45; ' Casaubonus non debebat interesse coUoquio Plessiaeano ; erat asinus inter simias, doctus inter imperitos.' Digitized by Microsoft® iv.J PARIS. i6oo-x6io. 147 great reading, even learning. But not in the matter in hand. Their reading was not in the schoolmen or fathers. Neither of them could be considered quahfied, upon the spot and without preparation, to say, e. g. what was Durandus' real opinion on transubstantiation. They were imperiti, not indocti. They were overborne by the volu- bility and readiness of Du Perron, whose art of contro- versy consisted in accumulating quotations ^ He was, as Casaubon pleads in apology, ' skilled in all the jugglery of the sophistic art.' Casaubon returned to Paris, with his plans still unsettled, uncertain what his occupation, even where his home, was. Madame Casaubon was still at Geneva. The Athenaeus hung in the Lyon press, and he found it would be im- possible to get it out without being on the spot. As this was the most urgent call, he resolved to go back to Lyon and to see his book published. The summer months of 1600 were accordingly passed at Lyon, and on August 9 he sent to the press the last corrected sheet of this ^ ' most wearisome work.' All this while he had been harassed, not only by the conflict with his publisher, but by anxiety as to his own future. He was, and he was not, in the service of the king. The acts of the conference at Fontainebleau style him ' le sieur de Cazaubon lecteur de Sa Majeste ; ' a title which may be explained as titular professor, professor not of the university, such as were the professors of the College royal. In this capacity he had received money from Rosny, and that more than once ; as lately as May 12, 300 escus for journey money for himself, his family, and his books. This he had taken, and yet here he is at Lyon, debating if he shall return to Paris at all. De Vic, as envoy to the Swiss confederation, is going to remove from Lyon to settle at Soleure, and wished to take Casaubon with him. It was painful to him to refuse the offer of his benefactor, ^ D'Aubign^, M^m. i. 147. ^ See supra, p. 138. L 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 148 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. whose house he had been using as his own all these months, to whom, especially to Madame de Vic, he was sincerely attached. But to be permanently settled in the household of a strong catholic must strengthen the sus- picions already entertained, and expose him to daily trials. Soleure was a catholic canton, and in the town itself was no protestant temple. This privation of public worship, both himself and Madame Casaubon had ill supported at Lyon, and they could not bear to think of making it permanent. These considerations, not to mention the want of a library, and of persons of education, neither of which existed at Soleure, the reproaches he must expect from the Paris friends that he was deserting them, and the obligation he had incurred by receiving money from the exchequer, — decided him to refuse. De Vic was highly incensed, and when he left for Soleure, did so without taking leave of Casaubon. They met again years after- wards, but it does not appear that their former close friendship was renewed. The die was now cast, and Casaubon returned to Paris, for good or for evil. As he now had his family and books with him, he found it expedient to abandon the post-horse travelling (relais) which he had used before, for the slower, more economical, water conveyance. The ' relais ' was one of the excellent institutions of Sully, and one which was so well appointed, that it had been possible for Casaubon in March to reach Paris on the seventh day from Lyon. This implied an average of fifty miles (english) per day ; severe riding for a sedentary scholar, in feeble health, unaccustomed to any exercise. Yet he found he could bear it; though as the worst dressed and least likely looking cavalier of the party, he was always put off with the worst hack ^ But it was cheap travelling, the tariff being fixed at thirty sous,'*lqual to five ' Epheni. p. 233 1 ' Pessimis semper usi equis, cum meliores t£ koXKiov ^iKptea- fi(V(j> S^$tv darentur neque ego recusarem.' Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1 610. 149 francs forty cents per day. Sumpter-horses could also be hired for the transport of the traveller's baggage. From Lyon to Paris, however, the Loire offered facilities which, when speed was not an object, made that route generally preferred. You embarked on the river at Roanne, and left it at Orleans. Thus the distance which had to be ridden was reduced to the fifty-four miles from Lyon to Roanne, and the seventy-three miles from Orleans to Paris. The rest of the distance was performed in the coche d'eau, a covered barge, not towed, but impelled by the stream, aided and guided by sails. The miseries of travelling were thus mitigated, but not wholly escaped. The water in the Loire is always low in September, and the neglect of the embankment in the troubles had aggravated the evil. Water conveyance was a security against highway robbery, an incident not unknown on the French roads at the time. Indeed, the post-book printed and sold by the Estienne, for the government, gave it a sort of legitimisation, marking certain points on the Lyon road with a *, and adding the note ' here look out for brigands.' The true brigands, however, were those of the custom-house. On arriving at La Charite, the officers of the douane, or peage, insisted that Casaubon's baggage and books were merchandise, and made the captain of the boat pay for them as such, a fraud which cost Casaubon more than four gold crowns. It took seven days to descend from Roanne to Orleans. It was usual to bring to for the night, and land at some village in search of bed and provisions. Inns in the villages on the river bank were probably not at any time famous. France and Italy were yet the only countries in which the comfort of the traveller was at all attended to. A generation later, France could vaunt with .truth ^' la belle commodite des hostelleries oil Ton est re9u comme chez soi.' But in 1600, thirty years of barbarism had told cruelly on manners. The system of • Guide des Chemins, 1643. Digitized by Microsoft® 150 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. relais had been only three years in operation, and had not had time to reintroduce civiHty along the road. To the ordinary causes of the malignity of the ' caupo,' were now added those of religious hatred. When the Casaubons arrived at midnight at the door of the inn, wet through and hungry, Madame Casaubon in a delicate condition, the cherished daughter Philippa, a frail creature, already drooping into an untimely grave, it was whispered that they were huguenot. Not a hand was stirred for their service. No food, no fire, no light. Their own bargeman lighted them with a blazing wisp of straw, but not to bed ; there was none for them. They might sleep on the floor, perhaps on clean straw, such as ToUius ^, in 1687, found to be still the ordinary bedding in the Westphalian inns. Thus it was, all through the catholic Borbonnais, nor did their entertainment mend till they reached Orleans, where the calvinists, though crushed, were still numerous. Here they were hospitably received in the house of Turquois, refreshed after their fatigues, made a great deal of, and, at last, dismissed with presents of books. The party arrived at Paris in health and safety, September 13, having been fifteen days on the road. They were housed by Henri Estienne, a first cousin of Madame Casaubon. One of Robert Estienne's sons had returned to Paris, and to the catholic church. In this instance, however, the ties of blood were not sacrificed to those of party. The publishing business of the Parisian Estienne was carried on by the Patissons, some of the grandsons of Robert i. being concerned in it as partners. Of these Parisian Estienne, La Croix du Maine says, ' nez aux lettres et desireux d'apprendre de pfere en fils ; ' and of two of them in particular, Robert and Francois, that they were learned in greek and latin. We find Casaubon buying a book in order to make it a present to Robert, who he thought ought rather to have given him ' Epp. itin. p. 17. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. i6oo-j6io. 151 books. Henri, a younger brother, was not in the firm, but had a place in the exchequer, that of 'tresorier des batimens du roi.' Notwithstanding this, he was a man of probity, and had been entrusted with Casaubon's Httle capital, for which he faithfully accounted. He continued a firm friend of the Casaubons, as long as they lived in Paris, and their children, second cousins, afterwards intermarried. In March, Isaac had been lodged by this cousin of his wife's, and Estienne now took the whole party in, till an apartment could be found 1. In his choice of a lodging, Casaubon was obliged to consult, not only his small means, but convenience of situation. It might have been supposed that the king's reader, titular professor classical, would have wished to establish himself in the university quarter. There were the libraries, there were the pupils, if he meant to have any. But for various reasons, he chose to settle as far in the other direction as possible, on the court side of the river. Scaliger, who knew France and Paris, and, from Leyden, saw things much more clearly than Cas- aubon on the spot, had warned him of three evils which he would have to contend with, in his new position. The first of these was the consequence of his own celebrity. Casaubon's wishes were few, — indeed mainte- nance once secured, they were only two, — books, and leisure to read them. Paris was the place for books. Besides the libraries, there was the rue S. Jacques, ac- cording to Coryat, 1608, ' very full of booksellers that have faire shoppes most plentifully furnished with bookes.' ' But,' writes Scaliger ^ ' if you expect to be left alone, you are very much mistaken. You are now too widely known to hope for that unnoticed and inglorious retirement, for which every muse-smitten mortal of us longs. That ' Ephem. p. 306 : ' Me meamque omnem familiam domi apud se detinuit, et omnibus rebus necessariis fovit.' 2 Seal. Ep. 53. Digitized by Microsoft® 1 5a ISAAC CAS A UB ON. [Sect. out-of-the-way corner of Paris, in which you are proposing to bury yourself, will not secure you against the constant invasion of your friends.' The prediction was abundantly verified, as we shall have occasion to see. During the whole ten years of his Paris sojourn, we shall find Casaubon incessantly scheming to go to some other place. When we review the inconveniences attached to his situation, as a huguenot dependent of a cathoHc court, we should not be justified in ascribing this inquietude to mere restlessness of disposition. It had its justification, but too well founded, in the sense that his position, depending as it did on the life of Henri iv, hung by a thread. On the other hand, it does not seem altogether without reason, that the biographers charge him with habitual fidgettiness. This appears in his many removals in Paris, chasing comfort, from lodging to lodging, without ever finding it. Between 1600 and 1607, he changed his abode in the capital seven times. I. On arriving in the city, March 6, 1600, he was temporarily entertained in de Vic's hotel. 2. March 28, de Vic returned to Lyons, and Casaubon became the guest of his wife's cousin, Henri Estienne. He goes to Lyons, where he stays in de Vic's house, and returns to Estienne's in Paris, September 13. 3. October 25, he at last estab- lishes himself in a lodging of his own. 4. January 24, 1601, he quits this inconvenient lodging, to occupy one in the house of an ' honest man, one Georges.' 5. July 17, another removal, to a house found for him by Achille de Harlay, who, says Gillot, ' I'a loge bravement, et assez pres de nous.' It was on the court side of the water, and ' far from the library.' His friends had got him among them, but this soon turned out an inconvenience not to be sup- ported, and he shifts again. 6. October, 1604, he goes over the water, to be away from his friends. After some search he finds an apartment in, or attached to, the house of one Coq, a member of the bar, who, having built a Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1610. 153 large new house for himself, let off a detached portion to Casaubon. This was in the faubourg S. Germain. 7. Finally, he settled himself close to the library, opposite the great convent known as the Cordeliers, on the site of which is now the musee Dupuytren. For this house, which was a large one, he paid the enormous rent of 400 livres ^- Besides his apartment in Paris, he had occasional country quarters ; first at Madrid, in the Bois, afterwards at La Bretonnifere. And, ultimately, he established himself in a country house at Grigny, on the terres of his intimate friend Josias Mercier, seigneur Des Bordes *. Each of these removals had its special and sufficient reason; yet all taken together, and along with the dis- content with where he is, the incessant sighing to be somewhere else, the cry for 'leisure,' we cannot be sur- prised that his contemporaries should have thought of Casaubon as a querulous dissatisfied man, and that the biographers should have enhanced this impression still further. The true account of the matter is, it seems to me, that Casaubon had the nervous sensibility of the hard student. This susceptibility made him unequal to face the fret and worry of life, and especially of Parisian existence. But he shunned the outer world not as trouble, but as interrup- tion ; he wanted to be free, not for an epicurean inaction, but for hard work — the work he felt he could do. To do this, he would fain have been released from that he could not do. If he is solicitous, more than we think is dignified, about provision for his own necessities and those of his family, it is not covetousness, it is that with a free mind he ' From the rents paid by Casaubon we may infer that he required a tolerably spacious apartment to house his family and books. We find from Fynes Moryson's Itinerary, that in 1595 a single chamber could be hired for two crowns a month = 72 livres a year = 267 francs at the present day. Itin. pt. 3. p. 135 : ' He may have a well furnished chamber at Paris for some two crowns a month.' * See note B in Appendix. Digitized by Microsoft® 154 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. may bestow it all on his one object in life. The nomadic Italian humanist of the fifteenth century roved incessantly from court to court, with the aim, which in a scholar is sordid, of bettering his fortunes. Casaubon's removals were dictated by the single desire to secure time for his work. Achille de Harlay had bestowed a doubtful benefit on him when he had found him a lodging ' assez pres de nous.' The diary begins again to echo with groans over time run- ning to waste. He tells Lipsius Hhat he is driven to do his translation of Polybius as the sheets pass through the press, ' from want of time. The greater part of my day is wasted upon wretched nothings in this busy capital, busy because all the men have nothing to do.' Day after day the entry in the diary is, 'This day, too, my friends have made me lose ! amici studiorum meorum inimici.' ' Aug. 3, 1601, O woe, O wretchedness, all study is at an end for me, how much of each day do I spend in reading, each day do I say, a whole week is gone, a whole month, and I can hardly get to look at a book.' The waiHngs of MontpeUier are revived, but upon a greater stage. Being a sort of court pensioner, Casaubon too is part of the court. He has to wait upon the king; to wait, a good deal, upon Rosny ; upon various grands seigneurs, a little in his own affairs, much in those of his friends. He began to experience the annoyances which await one who is sup- posed to stand well with men in power. ' This morning my friends ad proceres me rapuerunt negotiorum suorum causa ! ' ' Put my lord Bolingbroke in mind To get my warrant quickly sign'd. Consider 'tis my first request.' He felt most grateful to the chancellor Bellifevre, who, being told one day that Casaubon was waiting in his ante- chamber, sent him word to go home to his books, and not ' Burm. Sylloge, i. 366; 'Ad hoc . . adigit me temporis inopia, cujus pars maxima in hac civitate negotiosissima, otiosorum hominum matre, misere quotidie mihi surrepta perit.' Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 155 waste his valuable time in that way ; he might state his friend's case by letter. Other duties of friendship besides solicitation had to be discharged. De Thou lost his wife in the prime ofUfe, set. 35, and Casaubon could not but devote much time to sympathy, and condolence. He was with him daily for some time ; one day no less than twelve hours. Besides the constant attendance on, and visits from the parisian friends, there are the strangers. Going and coming, every one passes through Paris, every one who reads, wishes to see Casaubon. His house is a shrine of protestant pilgrimage. Hear e. g. the Odcombian, ^ ' I enjoyed one thing in Paris, which I most desired above all things, and oftentimes wished for before I saw the citie, even the sight and company of that rare ornament of learn- ing, Isaac Casaubonus, with whom I had much familiar conversation at his house, near unto St. German's gate within the citie. I found him very affable and courteous, and learned in his discourses, and by so much the more wilHng to give me entertainment, by how much the more I made relation to him of his learned workes, whereof some I have read. For many excellent bookes hath this man (who is the very glory of the french protestants) set forth to the great benefit, and utility of the common weale of learning.' Nay, long after, in the middle of the i8th century, old learning, and with it Casaubon's memory, was not yet obliterated. In 1755, when Ruhnken spent a year in Paris, there were still antiquaries a few — Capperonier, no doubt — who pre- served the memory of where Casaubon had lived for study ^. Ruhnken did not fail to visit the house, and perhaps in company with Musgrave and Tyrwhitt, to salute the manes of the heroic man ! The house to which these visits were paid was not that found for him by Harlay, but the 1 Coryat, Crudities, i. 42. ed. 1776. " Wyttenb. Vita Ruhnk. p. 67 : ' jEdiculam, in qua Casaubonus literis operari solebat, Ruhnkenio monstrarunt Parisienses quidam, qui pauci veterem venustatem retinerent, eoque ventitarent quasi salutatum manes lierois de optimo hominum genere optima meriti.' Digitized by Microsoft® 156 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. librarian's house, close to the Cordeliers, and in the very heart of the pays latin. Casaubon's aversion to the university had led him, in the first instance, to seek an abode as remote from it as possible. This was the second of the three sources of vexation which Scaliger's experience had pointed out. It is necessary to enter into some explanation of Casaubon's relations to the university of Paris. This cannot be done without touching upon the general condition of the univer- sity at this period, circ. 1600 *. Casaubon had left an honourable, though poor, position at Montpellier, in virtue of a summons which invited him to aid ' in restoring the university of Paris,' and offered him 'la profession des bonnes lettres en laditte universite.' When he waited upon the king, in March 1600, Henri repeated more than once ^, with his own mouth, the words of the letter of January 1599, ' Remettre sus I'universite.' ' To restore the university,' the phrase requires explanation, for it was not one hazarded by the king on the moment ; it was a phrase current at the time, and employed as well by the friends as the enemies of the university. It is the consecrated expression in all the memoirs and documents of the period. The formal petition addressed by the uni- versity itself to the parlement of Paris, asks^ that court ' to set up again the decaying, and almost ruinous, univer- sity.' The lament of the university is reechoed by its enemy and pushing rival, the Jesuits, who founded on this fact of decay their own claims to admission. It was safe then for Casaubon, in the dedication of his Athenaeus, to pray the king ^ ' not to permit that university, once the * See note C in Appendix. ' Ep. 208 : ' Non semel demonstravit nobis voluntatem suam opem nostram utendi in restauranda hae schola.' ^ Libellus supplex, p. 31 ; ' Labentem et paene cadentem academiam erigere.' '' Ded. Obs. in Athenseum (to Henri iv) : ' Patieris, princeps benignissime, jacere aeternum tuam illam Academiam, clarissinium quondam non solum Galli- arum, sed totius Europse lumen.' M. Gustave Masson, Bull, de la Soc. de I'Hist. prot. 18. 398, n. refers these words to the college royal. It is with great hesi- Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1610. 157 shining light not only of France but of Europe, to lie for ever prostrate.' The decay thus familiar in men's mouths did not mean decay of learning. Such decay had, indeed, taken place. The deterioration of the standard of learning in the university of Paris, circ. 1600, is a striking fact in the literary history of Europe; a fact so manifest to us, that when the writers of Henri iv's reign speak of ' decay,' we are ready at once to interpret their language of intel- lectual decay. This, however, was not what they meant. It was true, but they did not know it. Decay creeps on a literary corporation, as on the individual, insensibly to its subject. The university of Paris had been, for some centuries, not only the first university of Christendom, but the centre of intellectual life and freedom. As long as the scholastic philosophy had been the expression of this life, Paris con- tinued the chosen home of the study, which it had created and developed. But now the intellectual life of Europe had passed into the study of the classics, and into the art and science, which were to spring from that study. For a short time it had seemed as if this new life of the classical renaissance, exiled from Italy, was about to select its home in Paris. But the beginning so auspiciously made by the foundation of the college royal was cut short by religious fanaticism. The S. Bartholomew, 1572, and its sequel, involved protestantism and classical learning in a common ruin. Ramus owed his death as much to the fact that he was a university reformer, as that he was suspected of tation that I differ from one who is the highest english authority on the history of the french reform. But it is clear to me that Casaubon, here and elsewhere, speaks of the university of Paris. And it is very far from being true of the college royal, that ' Henri iv lui rendit en effet tout son eclat.' The regius chairs continued to be filled, from ecclesiastical considerations, with incompetent persons. The series of greek professors in the years of reaction, was, 1595, George Crichton ; 1603, Jerome Goulu ; 161 1, Nicolas Bourbon; 1619, Pierre Valens ; 1623, Pierre de Montmaur. Digitized by Microsoft® 158 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Calvinism. The days of Budaeus, of Turnebus, Lambinus, Danes, Vatable, Tusan, Galland, Ramus, were passed. Their chairs remained, but filled by a nameless genera- tion, of baser metal. How inferior none cared ; indeed few knew. The tradition of classical learning was pre- served by french scholars, but by Scaliger who was an exile, by Casaubon who was an alien. The decay complained of then was not decay of learning, but material decay. In this respect the university of Paris came out of the religious wars a wreck. It had suffered in its property. Its students had disappeared. Discipline was at an end. This was the natural result of thirty years of civil war, a drama including such acts as the massacre of '72, the League, the barricades, the siege of '93. During the siege the attendance had reached the lowest point. One college alone, that of Lisieux, continued in exercise. To this had come down the 30,000 students ^ of which the university used to boast before the troubles. To be without students was to be without means. For the university of Paris, even at a time when its renown filled Europe, was poor, without revenues, without buildings, as a university. Till the foundation of the college royal by Francis i, none of its teachers had enjoyed an endowment. The teachers depended for payment on their pupils. Six crowns a year, ' The mystical number of 30,000 reappearing at this period may seem sus- picious, especially as there is no appearance of a register of scholars. It can have been at most an approximative computation. But as such it is confirmed by many contemporary authorities. In the time of Charles vii the number had been estimated at 25,000. In 1546, Marino Cavalli (Tommasseo, Relations des ambass. Venit. i. 263) gives 16,000 to 20,000 as the number. The larger number of 30,000 is the popular estimate for the period preceding the religious troubles. Garnier, n. on Ronsard, CEuvres, .1. 1379. Scalig^ 2". p. 179 : ' Parisiis erant meo tempore xxx milia studiosorum, semel armati sunt a Condaeo.' Lippomanno (Tommasseo, 2. 605) in 1577 : ' L'universitd est rarement frequentee par moins de 30,000 Studiants, c'est a dire, autant et peut-etre plus que n'en ont toutes les universit^s d'ltalie prises ensemble.' Du Moulin, Defense de la foy catholique, P- 53 ; ' Ou est ceste university de Paris qui avoit plus de 30,000 escholiers,' etc, Arnauld, Discours au Roi, p. 65. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 159 = £2 Sterling, was the highest fee usual in the first three classes ; in the lower classes it was less ; the notoriously poor were excused payment altogether. What property the university had belonged to the colleges. For the univer- sity of Paris, like the English universities, consisted of its colleges. But, unlike the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, the colleges of the university of Paris had but slender endowments, often nothing beyond their buildings. In some colleges 'bourses' were founded, which provided a scanty maintenance for students (chiefly in theology), through a more prolonged course of study, and enabling them to reach the doctorate. At the time of which we write, the forty colleges were empty of students. A solitary principal, without fees to pay tutors, or keep house, ' tacitis regnabat Amyclis ! ' Some colleges were in ruins. Spanish and Neapolitan soldiers of the garrison had installed themselves in the chambers, had burnt the humble furniture for firewood, had stabled their horses in the chapel. Others were in- vaded by poor peasant famihes from the banheu, rendered houseless by the devastation of the siege. Others had been so long untenanted, that thistles and brambles covered the court. In those which had fared best, dis- cipline was entirely disorganised. The 'boursiers,' who may be compared to the scholars and fellows of our colleges, as they were tem. James i, had possessed them- selves of what property remained. They were engaged either in dividing the capital among themselves, or in living on the revenue without performing the statutable exercises, and in resisting the attempts of the principal to reduce them to obedience. The authority of the prin- cipals, or grand masters, had lapsed from their hands. The regents ( = tutors of our colleges) had disappeared with their pupils. These were, or seemed to be, the consequences of war. But now there was peace, and a prospect of a settled Digitized by Microsoft® ]6o ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. government. It might have been expected therefore that, by the mere operation of social habit, the colleges would fill again, and the university thus restore itself. For it must be remembered that the university of Paris was not merely what we now understand by a university, a place which takes up young men where school ends. . It was at once school and university. It received on its benches the boy at nine years old, and carried him on to the doctorate at thirty-five. It was the great grammar school for the whole of Paris. For Paris, it was protected by a monopoly. No individual was permitted by law to open a school, or hold a class, or to teach publicly or privately, unless he himself had regularly graduated, or been admitted as graduate of the university, and his pupils had become matriculated. Private tutors, living in the family, were bound to send their eleves to the classes of some college. Under this monopoly, and with the prestige of the university, it might have been anticipated that peace and settled government were all that was required to restore prosperity to the colleges, and that the classes would have been again full. The decay continued, and was indeed so alarming that it forced itself upon the attention of govern- ment. Of the three leading constituents of Paris, the small Paris of Henri iv, with its population of some 400,000, — out of the three factors of its prosperity, the convents, the court, and the university, one seemed lost. There was a loud call upon the paternal government of Henri iv, which was doing so much for the restoration of the country, to undertake the restoration of ' the schools,' ' les ecoles,' as the university was called. The first step towards remedying the decay was to ascertain its cause. The ultimate cause, stated in general terms, was that the education offered in the schools of Paris no longer met the demands of the day\ The ' The popular view of the decay is stated in the dedication by the ' Societas typographica Parisiensis ' of the Oracula SibylUna of 1599. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1610. 161 Statutes by which it was governed, and on which its system, was founded, were those which had been framed by the cardinal d'Estouteville, papal legate in 1452. Since that period the classical renaissance had come, and had changed the material, and the form, of education throughout western Europe. But Paris, the leader of fashion, had remained as unchangeable as Salamanca. Philosophy, become a lifeless verbiage, was still the prescribed curri- culum of the faculty of arts. That the teaching offered in the colleges of Paris no longer met the requirements of french society, was the remote cause of the falling off of students. This is clear to our eyes, but it was not so to those of contemporaries. Had they seen it as we see it, they would have found the immediate remedy in re- modeUing the curriculum of arts. But they looked, as practical men always look, for proximate causes. They saw that the schools of Paris were empty, and they asked, Where, then, was the youth of France ? It was in the colleges of the Jesuits. Many poor families, ruined and disorganised by the war, let their sons go without education in letters. Others, better off, engaged private tutors at home. Richer^ asserts that the custom of private instruction, scarcely known before, had become very common since the wars. But the vast majority of the middle class youth who formerly peopled the schools of the university were in the colleges of the Jesuits. Not in the college of Clermont, rue S. Jacques, which was shut up, but in the provinces — at Toulouse or Bordeaux, Auch, Agen, Rhodez, Perigueux, Limoges, Le Puy, Aubenas, Beziers, Tournon, in the colleges of Flanders and Lorraine, Douai, or Pont-a-Mousson, places beyond the jurisdiction of the parlement of Paris, or even of the crown of France. It is characteristic of the legislative confusion of the period, that the banishment of the society of Jesus from the district of Paris had been by arret of the parle- ' Vie, p. 38. M Digitized by Microsoft® l62 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. ment of Paris alone, and had never been confirmed by the crown ^. Lyon loudly demanded a Jesuit college, and even the huguenot Lesdiguiferes, almost king in Dauphine, was preparing to erect one at Grenoble. Amiens, Reims, Rouen, Dijon, Bourges, were only waiting a favourable opportunity to introduce the Jesuits within their walls. Here, then, was the cause of the ' decay ' of the univer- sity of Paris. Friends and foes of the university alike agreed in attributing its fallen condition to the rivalry of the new teachers. There were only two methods by which the university and the old colleges could be saved. Either the competition of the Jesuits must be put down, or the old colleges must be reformed to be able to compete with the new. The university, of course, preferred the former method. Some of its more judicious friends desired to try the latter ^. The former method was tried. An arret of the parle- ment of Paris was procured, prohibiting parents from sending their children out of Paris to the Jesuit colleges, in or out of France. The order was simply neglected. It was reiterated in 1598, again in 1603 ; the repetition is but proof enough that it was disobeyed. The Jesuit schools overflowed with pupils. In Flanders there was not a town of any consideration in which the whole education of the place was not in the hands of the Jesuits. At Douai the logic class alone contained 400. To put down the Jesuit colleges in 1600 would have required much greater ' Cretineau-Joly, a. 463. ^ Antoine Arnauld, father of a more famous Antoine Arnauld, in his ' Discours au Roi,' 1594, is the one of the complainants who comes nearest the real grava- men. But even this bold advocate could not utter the simple truth, that the zeal of the Jesuits for the ' education ' of the young was a mask for their one object, — ultramontane propagand. Arnauld's pleading, and the answer to it by Richeome, ' Plainte apologetique, Bordeaux, 1603,' are only the principal, and semi-official, manifestoes on either side. Richeome goes into the causes of the decay of the university of Paris. It is not due to the Jesuit competition, but to the rise of catholic universities in other countries. See p. 5a of the latin trans- lation, Lugd. 1606. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 163 power than the parlement of Paris ever enjoyed. The Jesuits were the rage of the period. The catholic reaction was in full flow, and the society was floated onwards on the crest of the wave. Jesuit confessors, preachers, spiritual directors, were everywhere superseding the older orders. Especially Jesuit schools enjoyed the confidence of the public in a degree which placed them beyond competition. There remained for the university to attempt to reform its system of study in such a way as to enable it to com- pete with the Jesuits. This course was urged by the enlightened section of the parlement, Harlay, de Thou, etc. It was obvious to say to the university as the king did say ^ : ' If the Jesuit schools are full, and yours empty, c'a este pour ce qu'ils faisoient mieux que les autres.' In this originated the celebrated reform of the university of Paris. The commission obtained for the purpose, on which Harlay and his friends contrived to get a majority of the tolerant party nominated, framed revised statutes, by which the university was governed for 170 years. These statutes removed some of the more flagrant abuses of the university, and partially introduced the new classical cur- riculum. But the case was one in which legislative relief could do but little. It was in vain that the statutes were changed, and the studies remodelled — the old spirit was unchanged. The classics were there, and might be read, but the spirit of the university remained ecclesiastical and scholastic. Theology still held the first place ; the faculty of arts languished. What was wanted was men. The best statutes will not make a university without men in whom is the breath of life. The mere introduction of the classics into the curriculum of arts was nothing without the living voice to teach their use. The treasures of ancient tradition, 'ein lebendiges fur die lebendigen ' ' Discours au Roi,' Lat. trans, p. 24 : ' Agite vos, industria vincatis jesuitas . , . atque numero auditorum sine dubitatione vincetis." M 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 164 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. geschrieben,' are mere dry leaves to those who have not learnt to love them. It was therefore the wish of the commissioners that, in order to give impulse to the new studies, some new philological power should be imported into the teaching personnel. Two men at the moment took the lead of classical learning in Europe, Scaliger and Casaubon; and it so happened both were of french nationality, Of Scahger it was useless to think, for other reasons, but also for one decisive one ; it was well known that he would not consent to teach. But Casaubon was not only french, but was actually teaching in a french university. Even had he not been personally known to de Thou, it was in- evitable that the commissioners should turn their eyes upon him. That he was intended to be placed in the university, is evident from his patent of appointment, which bore upon its face the royal purpose, ' pour remettre sus I'universite.' On the strength of this brief he had relinquished his situation at Montpellier, had come to Paris, had seen the king, who then repeated his promise of the appointment. He then proceeded to remove his family to Paris, and established himself there. We gradually cease to hear of the proposed professorship, till we find Casaubon in the receipt of a pension unconnected with the university, and waiting for the vacancy of the place of sub-librarian to the king, of which he has the reversion. Notwithstanding that we have both Casaubon's diary and his confidential letters of this period, the nature of this hitch in the business is nowhere explicitly declared. But there is no doubt whatever that it had its source in the religious difficulty. By the new statutes of the university no person could leach, or take a degree, or even be admitted as a bursar or student of any college, who did not make profession of the catholic religion, apostolic and roman. This clause, npt in Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 165 the old statutes, was introduced into the new code of 1600. These statutes had been drawn by the tolerant party, and emanated from the parlement. It is significant of the state of pubHc opinion, and of the reduced condition of the huguenots, that such a clause should have been forced upon the framers of the statute. Indeed, the exclusion was not sufficiently complete to satisfy the feeling of the Parisians. For though, by the statute, the option of becoming a day scholar was left open to the children of protestants, in fact they dared not avail themselves even of this privilege \ A protestant having, in 1600, claimed his right of being admitted to the lectures of the professors, it. required an arret of the parlement of Paris to enforce it. The parlement rendered such a decree in his favour. But the necessity of appealing to it is evidence that the right was not habitually enjoyed. Casaubon then, as a dissident, was statutably excluded from any university appointment. It was still possible to have appointed him to one of the chairs in the college royal. For these chairs were outside the corporation of the university, and were not regulated by the new statutes. The chair of latin, or ' eloquence,' as it was styled, was not vacant. It was filled by Federic Morel ^, who has left memorials of himself in numerous greek editions, especially the handsome Libanius of 1606. Morel was king's printer as well as king's professor, and was more equal to the duties of the former, than of the latter, office. In his Libanius the editing is by no means on a level with the splendour of the typography. Ernestine Reiske ^ says ' [See Jourdain, Hist, de I'Universite, p. 8, and note.] '' Morel is styled by Goujet, College de France, a. 326 : ' Lecteur et professeur royal en eloquence grecque et latin.' By Duval, Coll. royal, Par. 1644, he is placed among the Professors ' eloquentiae.' This is strictly correct, and it was, perhaps, because Morel occupied himself more with greek than with latin that Goujet uses the epithet ' grecque.' It is an incongruous epithet, as, by the usage of the time, the word ' eloquentia ' was appropriated to the professor of latin. ' E. Reiske, Libanius, 1791, t. i. prsef. : 'Textus Morellianus adeo scatet vitiis, ut rion alius scriptor antiquus mendosius editus videatur.' Cf. Reiske, prsef. in Dion. Chrysost. Digitized by Microsoft® l66 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. of it : ' Morel's text is so full of faults that, perhaps, no other ancient author has been so incorrectly edited.' But the chair of ' eloquence,' or as we should say, ' latin composition,' was not the one for which Casaubon was particularly fitted. For the chair of greek, however, he was without a rival ; by Scaliger's own admission, the first greek scholar in the world. And by a singular chance it became vacant in 1603, just when Casaubon was in Paris, and was deliberating whither he should go for a mainte- nance. Here was an opportunity, which those who wished to 'restore the university' must have gladly availed themselves of The chair is immediately filled — but not by Casaubon — by Jerome Goulu, a young man, of merit possibly, but also a protege of cardinal Du Perron. To this young man of twenty-two, the cardinal had the effrontery to give a testimonial in which he declared that 'he knew no one at that time who surpassed him in a knowledge of the greek tongue, and of the authors who have written in it.' Jerome Goulu had the sense not to commit himself by printing a single page of greek, but to justify his appointment in the eyes of the university by his 'zeal for the true religion.' ^ ' He would never suffer, as far as he could prevent it, any calvinist to take a degree.' What else could be expected in a learned university in which Pierre Cayet was regius professor of hebrew, and in which the great question, whether or no wax tapers for the feast of the purification should be distributed to the grand messengers, was sufficient to occupy all minds ^ ? Casaubon was not spoken of for the greek professorship. It does not appear that he thought of it himself At least ^ Goujet, Coll. de France, i. 538 : ' II etait z€\€ pour la vraie religion . . . ne soffrit jamais, autant qu'il fut en lui, qu'aucun calviniste s'introduisit dans la faculty.' ^ Crevier, Hist, de I'univ. de Paris, 7. 48. The point could not be determined theologically on the merits. The distribution was negatived because the finances of the university were not equal to the expense. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 167 there is no trace of disappointment in his diary or letters, nor does he anywhere mention the name of the man who had been preferred to him. It was possible to have appointed him a supernumerary. This was not done. Though he was officially styled ' lecteur du roi,' and his friends so addressed his private letters, he never was connected with the university of Paris. What was done was to assign him a pension, and to go on hinting at the appointment in the university as something to come. We must conclude that the friends who procured the original nomination, which was sent him at Montpellier, reckoned upon his conversion. This would have removed all obstacles, and in no other way could they be removed. It was supposed that Casaubon was not altogether un- willing to do what his best friend, Canaye de Fresne, was doing. All the worldly considerations pointed in that direc- tion, and public opinion had decided that the balance of controversy was heavily in favour of the catholic side of the question. We cannot be surprised that Casaubon's change of religion was considered imminent, that it was repeatedly announced as an accomplished fact. Baronius ^ himself, writing from Rome, November, 1603, says that he had heard of it there. However much his friends may have desired to get Casaubon settled in the university, they could not have done it as long as he remained a heretic. But it began gradually to appear that even if the religious difficulty were removed, Casaubon himself might not be willing to accept the appointment. He began to be no longer so desirous of it as he had been at first. His feeling on the subject was not the fastidious aversion for teaching, as such, which was avowed by Scaliger. Casaubon had no disinclination to lecture. In the winter of 1601-2 he gave, in his own apartment, a course of greek lectures, first on ' Bumey mss. 363. Digitized by Microsoft® i68 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Herodotus, and afterwards on Aristophanes \ These were originally intended for some six or seven young friends of his own. But no sooner was it known that Casaubon was giving a greek lecture than his room was crowded by men of distinction from all parts of Paris. Even this gave such umbrage to the professors on the other side of the water, that ' strong reasons ' were soon given him which induced him to discontinue. Health was the plea easily^, and too truly, alleged for his sudden withdrawal from teaching. He never again attempted it, and though enjoying brevet rank as ' regius reader,' from this time he had nothing to do with the university ='. For as he came to see the university nearer, he dis- cerned that, difficulty of creed apart, it was no place for him. The university of Paris, once the symbol and centre of European intelligence, was sunk into a corporation of trading teachers, whose highest ambition was to compete with the Jesuits in a lucrative profession. It was become a school, of which the professors were the masters. They shrank from contact with real knowledge, such as Casaubon possessed, and carried it loftily towards him on the ground of their superior orthodoxy. They shut themselves up with their pupils, before whose wondering eyes they paraded their crude reading. A portrait of a professor of the period has been drawn for us by Casaubon, who never draws upon his imagination, in the person of Theodore Marcilius. Marcihus had succeeded Passerat as professor of eloquence * in the college royal. A Dutchman, but a ' Ep. 294 : ' Cum amicorum rogatu, in privatis aedibus, ejus (Herodoti) inter- pretationem suscepissem horis succisivis.' Two sets of notes, taken down by hearers, are still preserved in the Bibl. nat. anc. fends. 6252. I do not know if either of them is in the writing of Pierre Du Puy. But Rigaltius says (Vita Puteani p. 662) that Pierre Du Puy and his two elder brothers were among Casaubon's auditors. ^ Ep. 294 : ' Causas graves habui, ut valetudini mese consulerem, et ab- stinerem.' ' Ep. 687 : ' Ego res academise hujus non magis attingo, quam vel tu, vel qui- cunque alius hinc abest dis ttop^oitAtw.' * As Morel was at this time professor ' eloquentise,' there must have been two Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 169 catholic, he had been trained in the school of much reading. His learning was prodigious. A small man of wiry frame, and sound health, he had passed ten years, like another Pythagoras, so ran the legend, without quitting the walls of his college, the college of Plessis, in which he had taught a class, before becoming regius professor. He had read so much that Scaliger^ wickedly said of him that he 'had read himself into ignorance.' But he had also read himself into renown. The hermit of the college de Plessis was ^ ' grand personnage.' When Casaubon first came to Paris, 1599, Marcilius sent him a message, that if he wished to see him he might call upon him. Casaubon meekly comphed, and his account of his visit, written to Scaliger, rises, for once, almost into humour. Presenting himself at the college gate, he was bidden to mount to the top of a staircase pointed out by the porter. Here, under the tiles, he found the ' paeda- gogorum Apollo ' in an apartment, the walls of which were lined with pigeon-holes. In these were stored away the fruits of his vigils, not in one, but in all, departments of ancient learning. There were commentaries on the civil law ,' treatises on roman antiquities ; translations of the principal Aristotelian treatises. What he most prized were the notes of his philological lectures, on the greek and latin classics, which had been accumulating during his twenty years' teaching, first at Toulouse, then at Paris. He informed Casaubon that the trifles he had hitherto co-ordinate professors of the same subject. Or Morel may have been ' professor emeritus.' Goujet, Hist, du college de France, is much more full than Duval, but is wanting in exactness, as vsrell as in appreciation of his own matter. [From 161 1, and perhaps before that year, Morel styles himself ' Professorum regiorum decanus.'] ^ Seal, to Cas. , Seal. Epp. p. 198 : ' Quum animum remittere volo, assumo in manus scripta illius qui amphitheatrum Martialis, et Persium, nuper icaraKixoSev. nam nunquam suavius rideo, quam cum aliquid ejus lucumonis video, ssepe mirari soleo ilium tantum scriptorum legisse, ideo ut nihil sciret . . . et tamen habet admiratores. habeat . . . sed Parisienses.' ^ Scaligerana a?, p. 151. Digitized by Microsoft® 170 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. edited, such as the 'Aurea carmina,' and the 'Martial,' were the foHies of his youth, and that what he should publish henceforth would be of a very different order, but that they would not see the light till all the learned of the day had printed their blundering attempts. It was no secret to Casaubon who were meant. He had been told that Marcilius was accustomed to spice his lectures with contemptuous flings at Scaliger and himself, and to correct their mistakes for the edification of his class ^. The removal to Paris, which brought Casaubon nearer, made the man of real learning more offensive to the charlatan. Marcilius redoubled the bitterness of his invectives. He certainly succeeded in provoking irritation. Casaubon, who was submissive to the, arrogance of Scaliger, could not brook the presumption of Marcilius. His language to his correspondents about Marcilius displays a passionate displeasure, which seems disproportionate to its object. Casaubon, indeed, was extremely thin-skinned. Had he been the butt of a tenth part of the obloquy which Scaliger had to bear, it must have killed him. Marcilius' insults drew from him expressions of anger more con- temptuous than he exhibits towards any other person whatever. Nor was the antipathy confined to private letters. Casaubon takes occasion, in various of his notes ^, to make sarcastic allusions to an ignoramus whom he does not name. To Scaliger he writes that he ^'has been reading the stuff which a Parisian schoolmaster, the most arrogant of all living two-legged creatures, has blurted out about Persius. Before I took the book up I knew I was not to expect great things from the buffoon, but the ignorance, the stupendous asinity of the man, is beyond anything I had conceived.' It could not but gall him ' Cas. ep. 199. ^ See, among other passages, Hist. Aug. Scriptt. (ed. 1603) p. 565 : • Com- modum offertur mihi musteus adhuc liber pantosophomastigis illius magistelli,' etc. s Ep. 370. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 171 to see ^ ' this discreditable pretender drawn from his ob- scurity and placed in that chair from which Turnebus, Mercerus, and other eminent men have in old time delivered oracles. Happy you who see not these things.' Marcilius, from the regius chair, continued to bespatter Casaubon^, till he was informed that the king had expressed his displeasure. He then changed his tone, and sent a Catullus of his editing (the Catullus of 1604), with a message to Casaubon, that he was now sorry for having assailed him, and wished to be friends with him. Cas- aubon, who was as placable as he was inflammatory, accepted the apology, and sent MarciHus word that he had only to speak, as he ought to speak, of those who had done letters good service, and he should find a friend in Casaubon. Casaubon's time in Paris was being spent very little to his own satisfaction. ' O jacturam temporis ! ' records the diary of July 23, 1602. On July 24 the same complaint. ' Busy the whole day, yet very few hours well spent.' On the 25th he writes to Hoeschel ^ : ' A thoroughly wretched life it is that I lead here ; not among my books, but among engagements of I know not what kind, which sometimes do not allow of my opening a book from morning till night. Life cannot but be bitter to me, when I am thus robbed of my one solace. I have now been returned home fifteen days, and have hardly had as many hours' reading, all the rest of the time has been taken from me by friends, or by the discharge of social duties.' His day was then only spent to his satisfaction when he had had it for unbroken study from early dawn. One serious drain upon his time, which he felt sorrow- fully, but did not dare to complain of, was attendance at court. From time to time Casaubon waited on the king at • Cas. to Seal. ep. 370. ^ Gillot to Seal. ep. fran9. p. loi : ' Ce fol insens6, arrogant, de Marcilius a escrit centre M. Casaubon des injures de harangere.' ' Ep. 298. Digitized by Microsoft® 17a ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. the Louvre, a duty which was expected of all who belonged to the court, in which category the ' lecteurs du roi ' were included. He was always received with favour, sometimes, as he notes, with marked distinction. ' June 19, 1602 : The king, as usual, received me most graciously, and called me, in jest, " an accomplice of Biron." Then becoming grave, he said, (I give his very words), " Vous voyez combien j'ai de peine afin que vous estudiez sure- ment." ' When Casaubon, in the same year, meditated removal from court, the king caused it to be intimated to him that he desired his stay, and gave him ^ ' no small testimony of his favour.' On more than one occasion Henri repeated his intention of appointing Casaubon custodian of the library, whenever the office should be- come vacant. July 5, 1601, the diary records 'a day lost in attendance at court. Yet perhaps it was worth something to have received so marked a token of the king's favour.' What the token—' non obscurum testimonium ' — was, we learn, this time, from a letter of Gillot to Scaliger ^, giving an account of this very interview. 'The day before yesterday the king gave Casaubon a hearty reception, reproaching him with having wished to leave him, and telling him " he would never find so good a master who would love him as he (the king) did. That he intended to place him in his library, and that the present librarian could not live another year. That he should then look up his fine books, and tell him what was in them, for he him- self didn't understand things of that sort." In a word, he treated Casaubon with marked distinction. Yesterday Casaubon supped with me, when I encouraged him in his resolution to remain among us, telling him there were still many of us who were his admirers, and honoured his virtue, and that he would want for nothing. I feel sure that he will make up his mind to stay. Indeed, do what we will, we cannot, and do not, deserve to keep him. I ' Ep. 274. 2 Ep. fran?. p. 105. Digitized by Microsoft® »V.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 173 hardly think France is worthy of such a man, whether one regards his learning or his character. I never part from him myself without feeling the better for his company.' It should be remembered that the writer was a catholic, and, though a counsellor in the parlement, held a canonry in the Sainte Chapelle. Henri's favour towards Casaubon was founded on a personal liking, and was maintained in spite of Casaubon's protestantism. Henri iv. was not one of those cradled princes who can know of men only what they are told, and who thus become the sure prey of syco^ phants and partisans. Early and long training in the equal school of camps had made him a shrewd judge of charac- ter. He was, says Dupleix ^, ' autant habile qu'homme de son royaume pour juger de I'humeur et du merite des personnes.' Frank and sociable, he liked to talk with Casaubon ; not as James i. did, of ' classics, fathers, wits,' but he heard from him of Geneva, of Montpellier, of the grievances and wishes of the calvinists. He took Casau- bon's learning for granted, but appreciated the sterling worth of the man. At times he was angry at Casaubon's ' obstinacy'; at times he understood that there was a depth of conviction which could not be reached by the trivial topics of controversial rhetoric. Standing thus high in the royal favour, and with these repeated promises of the succession to the library, it was to be supposed that, whenever the vacancy should occur Casaubon would step into the place as matter of course The promises, indeed, were not confined to mere words In November, 1601, a patent was issued to Casaubon, in regular form, appointing him to the office of librarian though with the proviso that the present holder, Gosselin should not be disturbed. The salary, however, named in the instrument, and which was to be in addition to his pension, was to commence at once. Casaubon, with • Dupleix, Hist, de France, quoted by Cretineau-Joly, Hist, de la comp. de Jesus, 3. 36. Digitized by Microsoft® 174 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. great delicacy, never mentioned to Gosselin that he was in possession of such a patent. This was all the more creditable, as Casaubon was perpetually being thwarted in his natural curiosity to explore the treasures of the library, by the morose temper of the custodian. ' I knew his way,' writes Scaliger ^ in 1605, ' forty-four years ago ; too ignorant to use the library himself, too jealous to allow others to use it.' Scaliger's reminiscence carries us back to 1561, the commencement of Gosselin's librarianship. He was ap- pointed in 1560, and held the office four-and-forty years. Jean Gosselin was not an ignorant man, at least only relatively so. He was a mathematician, and author of several treatises in that department^. He was well known in the literary society of the former generation, and is celebrated among the wits of the day by La Boderie, in la Galliade (1578), ' GosseUn, ornement de sa ville de Vire, etc' But of the greek and latin mss., of which he was keeper, he was, likely enough, ignorant, and probably threw impediments in the way of the young and impetuous Gascon, who rushed upon the king's mss. as he afterwards did upon those of Cujas at Valence, ^ ' M. Cujas disoit que j'avais depucelle les mss.' If Gossehn was ignorant of the contents of his books, he was their faithful custodian, through risks and adventures far more serious than those which our royal library went through in the time of the Commonwealth. Gosselin was now in the imbeciUty of extreme old age, but still clutched his treasures with -desperate grip. He was near one hundred years old, and might have lived on, but for accident. In November, 1604, the poor old man came to a melan- choly end. Left by his attendant sitting alone before the ' Seal. ep. p. 273. * A list of his publications is given by FrSre, Manuel de bibliogr. normande, 2. 32. Some account of Gosselin is given in the Bulletin du bibliophile for 1871. ^ Scaligerana s". p. 60. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 175 fire, he was found in the morning burnt to death, having fallen out of his chair in helpless decrepitude ^. The post of librarian thus vacant, why did not Casaubon immediately come forward and claim an appointment which was already his own ? Legal instruments and royal nominations were facts of weight, but in France at this time there was another power which was weightier still ^. The vacancy in the library had occurred at a moment when the ultramontane flood had risen higher than ever. The furious fanaticism of the League was indeed out of fashion, but it had been followed, not by a reaction, but by a more cool and calculating political Catholicism. The terrorism of the S. Bartholomew had done its work, and it was now replaced by the system of political exclusion. In vain the edict of Nantes declared protestants admissible to all offices and employments, it was a mere paper law which could not be enforced. Exclusion was the mot d'ordre. For any pro- testant who wanted a career there was only one way open — ' se faire catholique.' The power of the clergy, and the popularity of the religious orders, which had been distinctly seen to totter fifty years before, was now higher than ever. Swarms of orders, new and old, male and female, recollets, feuillants, teresians, capucins, barnabites, settled down upon the fair face of France. The grand affair of 1603 had been the recall of the Jesuits. To get the Jesuits back to France, and to give the king a Jesuit confessor, these were the objects of the highest European statesmanship. In 1603 they were achieved. Henri, who had contracted a second marriage at the age of forty-seven, and had sup- plied the place of Gabrielle with Henriette, was besides ' Ep. 428 : ' Relictus a famulo decrepitus senex ante focum, semiustulatus et vitse expers postridie est inventus.' Compare with this Lestoile, Reg. journal, suppl. p. 380, ed. Champollion. Scaligerana a", p. 97. The attendant was sus- pected of having hastened his master's end, but, it seems, without grounds. ^ Ep. 256 : ' Quod si non obstaret pontificis Romani respectus, pridem factum asset, ut regis jussu publice doceremus.' Digitized by Microsoft® 176 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect, visibly enfeebled by an obstinate disorder, and yielded to the pressure brought to bear upon him. Father Coton was passed upon him. By his insinuating address, by an adroit mixture of terrorism and meekness, he completely tamed the prince. Henri was charmed with him, had never had any confessor like him. Fascinated himself by the address of the Jesuit, he supposed others must yield to the charm. Unfortunately he ordered Coton to try his powers upon Casaubon. By the king's command Casaubon waited upon the Jesuit in the library. But Casaubon, who was occasionally seriously embarrassed by the learned objections of Du Perron, was not in any danger from the honeyed tongue of Coton, in whom Gillot ^ found that ' though he talks well, he has d'instruction peu ou point.' Coton's failure exasperated him, and he resolved that Casaubon should not have the library. The danger was dwelt upon of committing the custody of the books to a heretic, who might make an ill use of what he found in them. They told Henri that Lipsius was the most learned man of the age, and should be invited from Flanders to be librarian. Casaubon is not only heretic, but an ' obstinate heretic,' i. e. one that knows the truth and hardens himself against it, and has not the excuse of ignorance. The king took to the suggestion of Lipsius' name. ' I have been told,' he said one day to Thiou des Fortes,, 'that Lipsius is the most learned man of the age.' Des Fortes immediately named Scaliger, affirming that Scaliger possessed more knowledge of all sciences and all languages than Lipsius had of any one. Henri replied, ' They have never told me that.' Des Fortes ventured to say that ' after Scaliger, Casaubon deserved to be included in the very small number of the truly learned,' and added adroitly, 'they are both Frenchmen.' The lawyers also pointed out to the king the danger of the precedent if an appointment once made were cancelled on a religious > Ep, fran9. p. 435. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 177 ground. This the church party met by a proposal to call the young Grotius from the Hague, in order to make it appear that the objection to Casaubon was not merely his protestantism. When Casaubon was told of this manoeuvre, he only remarked 'that if Grotius would be pleased to come, he (Casaubon) would be well pleased to see him there.' The matter being thus in suspense, Casaubon's friends thought that his best chance lay in a personal application to the monarch. They built upon the public favour with which he was always received, and the esteem which Henri had always been accustomed to express for the threadbare scholar. As long as the king was absent, Casaubon sturdily refused to make any suit to the secretary, Villeroy, or to move in the matter at all ^ But when Henri returned to Paris from the Sedan expedition in December, Casaubon could not refuse to pay his respects among the rest, and, as assistant in the library, to inform him of Gosselin's death. This he did simply, without reminding Henri of his promise, or proffering any solicitation for himself He did not fail to observe the unwonted coldness of the king's manner, and withdrew in the belief that the day of his favour was gone by. Great, then, was his astonishment when, three days afterwards, the king's private secretary came to him with his appoint- ment to the royal library, ready made out^ and, what was more, with an augmentation of 400 livres to his former salary. The influence was that of de Thou, an influence never exerted but for good, and though just now mini- mized, yet never wholly destroyed even in the worst T:imes. In June, 1605, Gillot ^ writes to Scaliger, ' We are now completely under the loyolite yoke. There is a general rush into their camp. Father Gossyp (Coton) is • Ep. 371 : ' Securus in museo expecto quid jussurus sit, cujus est imperium (i. e. the king), nam ut de ea re verba cuiquam faciam, nemo a me impetraverit.' " Ep. fran9. p. 416. N Digitized by Microsoft® 3 78 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. the greatest person that ever was. We breathe only Rome, "et Gallia submittit fasces." The first president (Harlay) has been ill of a fever, and many an ear was pricked up thereupon. God preserve us from such a change ; for he, with our de Thou, is the only one who has still some hold over the helm, and still makes head against a general wreck.' The welcome addition to his salary was the unsolicited act of Villeroy ^. Villeroy, though ex-leaguer, Spanish, a corrupt intriguer who was for an exclusively cathohc policy, was generous in money matters, and not with the public money only, and now threw a scrap to a starving scholar. Scaliger expressed himself^ highly gratified, not only with Casaubon's success, but with the check given to the Jesuit party, who had used all their influence against him. At the same time, he warned his friend that the same interest which had worked to keep him out would be incessantly plied against him, and therefore his position would call for great circumspection. The office which the dominant party had thought it worth while to dispute, and which had been variously in- trigued for by others underhand, by interest, and by money *, was in value 400 livres, about ;^35 sterling, per annum. It was the pay of a professor in a provincial university — a classical, not a law professor, these got much higher stipends, — or a principal regent in a provincial college. The official title was ' Garde de la librairie du roi,' ' keeper,' in fact, sub-librarian under the ' Maitre de la librairie.' The maitre at present was de Thou, a position which had enabled him, at the last moment, to exert a deciding influence in the appointment of the garde. The ^ Villeroy befriended Casaubon to the last. Henri iv's discriminating character of this old servant of the crown may be read in the Pseudo-SuUy, 7. 224 ; among other things, it is said of him ; ' II a le coeur g^nereux ; n'est nuUe- ment adonne a I'avarice.' ^ Seal. Epp. p. 272. ' Cas. Ep. 376 : ' Cum alii gratia, alii pecunia, rem tentarent.' Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 179 office of maitre had been created by Francis i. in 1522. It was intended to be, and had been hitherto regarded as, a post of dignity, the highest Uterary prize in the realm. It carried the salary of a household officer, 1200 livres, about ;^iio sterling, and imposed no laborious duties. The services of personal attendance and administration were discharged by the keeper. The library was not, in its original destination, a public library ; it was the king's library, and had been formed for the use, or the pride, of the monarch. It is an interesting fact in the hfe of the unfortunate Peter Ramus, that he was the first person to suggest that the books should be removed to Paris, to be made useful to the learned. The primitive nucleus of the collection had been formed in the chateau at Blois. Francis i. had the books at Blois removed to Fontainebleau, and may be considered the real creator of the library, which is now the bibliotheque nationale, by the vast collections which he caused to be made. In the reign of Charles ix, books were not in de- mand at court, and Ramus' proposition to convert the king's library to the use of the public was graciously acceded to. The collection was removed to Paris, not to the Louvre, but to some room in the neighbourhood of the colleges, though the precise situation is not ascertainable. Like our own royal library during the reign of the puritans, the library of Francis i. ran great dangers during the league. Gosselin, who had come with it from Fontainebleau, was in charge of it all through the troubles, and has left a short account of its escape^- Casaubon used to chafe at Gosselin for impeding his free access to the books, but Gosselin's experiences are his sufficient excuse. He thanks God for having given him grace to save this library several times from dispersion or ruin, and notably during ' Gosselin's own narrative has been found recently. It is a memorandum written on the first page of a MS, La Marguerite of Jean Massue. It has been printed in the Bulletin du bibliophile, 187 1, p. 415. N 3 Digitized by Microsoft® l8o ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. the last troubles, when some of the imps of the league would have forced themselves into the place under colour of ordering it after their fashion. Gosselin, thinking that they would have more liberty to do mischief if he were there, ,than if he were out of the way, withdrew to the royalist head-quarters, at S. Denis, fastening the door of the library with a strong lock, and besides with a padlock attached to a stout bar of iron on the inside. So effectually had Gosselin secured the door that de NuUy was unable to force it open, and was compelled to break a hole in the wall to get in. He was there several times with his folk, and each time they were seen to retire carrying pretty big packages away under their cloaks. Barrabas (Barnabas) Brisson, who however might plead that he knew how to use books, more decently borrowed a great many. After his unhappy end, his widow sold them for a mere song. After the surrender of Paris to Henri iv, Gosselin returned to find the havoc which had been committed. But the perils of the library were not yet at an end i. A claimant arose for the whole collection in the person of the cardinal Bourbon, who said that Henri iii. had given it to him. It required an interposition of despotic authority on the part of Henri iv. to vindicate it as an heirloom of the crown. He sent the claimant word that 'he (the king) could take better care of it than could the cardinal, and that the cardinal was rich enough to buy himself another.' After a series of adventures of this character, we can hardly wonder if Gosselin forgot every- thing except the safe custody of his treasures. When the Jesuits were expelled from Paris, 1595, the college of Clermont, rue S. Jacques, was appropriated for the reception of the books, and the revenues of the college, not very considerable, were laid out in binding. De Thou obtained a rich accession for the hbrary in the books ' Buckley's Sylloge scriptorum, [added to his edition of de Thou, 1733,] Thuana, p. 200. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 181 of Catherine de Medicis. These, chiefly mss, many greek, gathered in Italy, had belonged to marshal Strozzi. Catherine, who had sumptuous tastes, had bought the collection from Strozzi's heirs. It is hardly necessary to say they had not, at her death, been paid for. As she did not leave anything, ^ ' pas meme un seul sol,' the creditors seized the books, or would have done so, but for the abbe de Bellebranche, who saved them till they also were claimed by Henri iv, and united with the royal books in the college of Clermont in 1599. Here the library re- mained from October 1595 to 1605. In this year, the first of Casaubon's librarianship, the Jesuits recovered their college, and would have been well pleased to keep the books too. They said they had lost a good library by confiscation, and would have to form another. But de Thou and Casaubon were able to save the books, though they had to evacuate the building, and they removed their treasures to an empty hall in the great convent of the Cordeliers, famous in 1790, which occupied the site of the present ecole de medecine ^. It was close to the porte S. Germain, and to the city wall. After Casaubon, the guardian lived in the library. But it was not possible for a married man to live within the enceinte of a Franciscan convent, and Casaubon had to hire an apartment close by ; ' vis-a-vis des Cordeliers,' his letters are addressed. This was the seventh removal that he had undergone in less than seven years since his first arrival in Paris. He complains that now he could no longer find his own books, he had so often placed and replaced them in a different arrangement. This house, outside the porte S. Germain, and therefore in the faubourg, not in the city, is the house which was remembered in after times as Casaubon's house ^. For this house he says he paid 400 livres. ' Brantome, i. 85. " The musee Dupuytren stands on the site of the refectory. ' See above, p. 153. Digitized by Microsoft® 1 8a ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. It must have been with peculiar gratification that Casau- bon, who all his life had been thirsting for books, found so rich a treasure all at once at his uncontrolled disposition. In greek mss. the king's library was then, as it still is, second only to the Vatican. The actual number of mss. in the united libraries was considerable ; but as there was no complete catalogue, and no numeration, the quantity was as usual exaggerated by the anticipations of the learned world. A catalogue, which was compiled by Casaubon's successor, Rigault, in 1620, informs us that the total of the Fontainebleau collection was upwards of 4700 mss. But of these the greater part were modern papers, charters, records, and state documents. At least 260 of these were greek mss, for the old catalogue ofVergecio (circ. 1550) vouches for that number. To these must be added Cathe- rine's books. These numbered 4500 volumes, of which 800 — the Strozzi collection — were mss, greek, latin, or hebrew. But the interest excited by the deposit was occasioned not so much by the number of volumes,' as by the fact that the mss. had been only partially examined. During a librarianship of forty-four years Gosselin had not accomplished the task of making a catalogue. If we are disposed to think that this lache substantiates Scaliger's charge of ignorance, and that Gosselin did not catalogue the mss. because he could not, we may remember that he was no longer young when he was first appointed, that the books were immediately removed from Fontaine- bleau to narrow rooms, that they were shifted and shifted again, that these years were years of trouble and confusion, especially in the capital, and that the keeper received a mere pittance for his services. Casaubon, himself acting librarian for six years, and titular for more, does not seem to have attempted a catalogue, though he complained much before he succeeded to the office of the imperfections of that which existed. The expectation of the learned as to the find which awaited Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1 5io. 183 them was unlimited. The demand came not from France, sunk in reUgious and political party, but from foreign countries. Lying in the heart of the colleges and convents of Paris, the classical treasures were unheeded by, and were unintelligible to, their occupants. Federic Morel, regius professor, alone continued to issue from his press a series of greek tractates transcribed or edited from the mss, far too rapidly to be done with any care. It was from Leyden and from Germany that the requisi- tions poured in. Scaliger, of course, was among the most urgent. But Scaliger now, aet. 64, was weighed down by his vast work — the Eusebius — and asked only for what immediately bore upon the task which he sometimes feared he should not live to complete. One of Casaubon's first cares was to send off to Leyden some excerpta of a greek chronologer *, which he had discovered, and thought might be of use. Scaliger immediately recognised portions of book i. of Eusebius' Chronicon, and considered it the most valuable contribution which had been made to his Thesaurus temporum---^ ' the Minerva of Phidias among the other sculptures.' Besides Scaliger he supplied Heinsius at Leyden, Gruter and Freher at Heidelberg, Hoeschel at Augsburg, and Savile at Eton with materials or collations for their publications. He complains much of the consumption of time in these friendly offices, though he now began to have the important assistance of Charles Labbe. Labbe was one of the troop of young scholars formed in the school of Scaliger, who, while refusing the professor's chair, sowed the seeds of learning wherever he came in contact with a capable mind. Labbe — 2 docte et infatigable— transcribed for his master, in a greek hand of such exquisite neatness that it surpasses, in * See note D in Appendix. ^ Seal. epp. p. 292 : ' Fragmentum illud twv araSioviKoiv, quod nobis liberalitas tua impertivit, est ut Minerva Phidise in nostro opere.' ^ Scaligerana 2°. p. 134. Digitized by Microsoft® 1 84 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. this respect, that of the master himself, while Casaubon writes a straggling greek ^, which can have given him no satisfaction in the transcriber's weary task. But of this work he did little. While Scaliger imposed upon himself the task of writing out whole books — 2 ' books which are only lent me for a short time, syriac, arabic, hebrew,' and that at 65, when the 'labour will profit only those who shall possess my Hbrary after me,' Casaubon, though he noted much, copied little. The longest excerpt remaining among his papers is a portion of Leo's Tactica, transcribed in the country in the vintage season of 1609. The use he made of the library was one, which no librarian ought to make — it was to read the books. Casaubon, indeed, was what he was by his in- cessant reading, seconded by a capacious memory. Early in life he had made his own all the classical remains accessible in print. He had pined in the south because he could not get books, though he borrowed from all his friends who had them. Exhaustive reading of the greek and latin writers was what he proposed to himself. When he first came to Paris, not knowing how short his stay might prove, he made the resolve to read those books which he could not hope to get elsewhere ^. His written memoranda as well as his pubHshed notes bear witness to the eager- ness with which he devoured the royal mss *. It will not therefore surprise us to find that he did nothing for arranging or cataloguing, hardly anything for publishing new texts. The librarian who reads is lost. There was now at his disposal a rich mine of greek anecdota. But he left the glory of communicating these to the world to Meursius and Morel. His own pleasure was to read them ; who liked might print them. For he has ' Seal. 2". p. 45 : ' II a une trts mauvaise lettre grecque.' ^ Seal. Ep. p. 299. ' Ephem. p. 340. ' Ephem. p. 339 : ' Libris nostris renunciamus, solis illis operam daturi, quos alibi nancisei non posseraus, hie possumus segre quidem, sed tamen possumus. Hujus generis sunt libri regise bibliothecae.' Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 185 no jealousy, none of that desire of keeping things for himself which used to govern all libraries, and still lingers, if report be true, about the Vatican. When any corre- spondent asked for any book, he tried to find it ; but he never made any thorough and complete investigation, once for all, of what was there, much less a catalogue. In 1608 Hoeschel applied to him for mss. of Arrianus. Though Casaubon had then been nearly four years in full posses- sion of the library, he did not know if there were any mss. of Arrianus, but would look^. He found, on searching, at least two. As late as 1607, in reply to Scaliger's urgent entreaty for any fragments of a chronological nature, he says he will have a good search through all the cases. He began to have access to the books, though restricted access, in 1599. From 1605 to October 1610, the library was wholly at his disposal, yet the only anecdotum he pub- lishes is .^neas Tacticus ^. The selection of this author was not determined by the value of the royal library codex. What he found there was only a modern sixteenth century transcript by Vergecio, and Casaubon had in his own hands a much older ms, which had been lent him by Bongars. A large part of these years was given to his edition of Polybius. This again was a choice not guided by the merit of the royal mss. It was an old design of Casaubon to edit Polybius, an intention which he had announced as far back as 1595, and indeed had publicly pledged himself to in the first Suetonius ^. Here again he only used from the royal collection a modern ms *, again one of Vergecio's copies, and indeed nothing more than a transcript, made in 1547, from the printed text of Opsopceus' edition, though Casaubon did not know this. This neglect of good things would be more amazing if it were the fact that ' Ep. 607. '■' Commentarius tacticus et obsidionalis, in the Polybius of 1609. It is the Ed. Pr. of the text of .^neas. •' Sueton. Tib. cap. 65, and ded. * Cod. reg. 1649. Digitized by Microsoft® l86 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect-, cod. reg. 1648 (A. Schweigh.) was actually among Cathe- rine's books, and that Casaubon had not found it out. Besides his Polybius, and ^neas Tacticus, he prints during this period two inedited pieces, but neither of them from royal mss. One was the ' Inscriptio Herodis,' which he printed from a copy sent from Rome to Gillot by Christophe Du Puy; the other was an epistle of Gre- gorius of Nyssa from a ms. of Nicolas le Fevre. All this while he had untold treasures under his hand, e. g. the ' De administrando imperio ' of Constantinus Porphyroge- neta, which he names himself as worthy of publication by royal command ^. He himself was content to have read it. He describes his own feehngs among the mss. when he writes to Saumaise, who was revelling in the treasures of the Palatine, yet unplundered, that ^ ' he must be suffering the torment of Tantalus, not being able to read all the books at once.' When Casaubon succeeded to the care of the library he was only forty-six. Though premature infirmity had already begun to undermine his strength, he had still an enormous appetite for reading, but his taste was gradually taking a direction which was leading him away from greek. He did not conceive that he was renouncing old studies to take up with new. He continued to labour at Polybius, and expended much time and research on his edition. But his leisure hours, as he calls them, were given to contro- versial reading, and his interests were passing over, in spite of himself, to this, the fashionable, topic. It has been already noticed that Casaubon suffered, all his life, from the disease of double-mindedness. He was a man of a divided interest— dyJ/p St'i/fvxoj. While he was reading classics, he was always wishing to be reading the fathers. While editing Athenteus he was longing to have ' Prsef. in Polyb. '^ Ep. 543 : ' Videor mihi videre te in mediis aquis Tantalo similem ; neque enim potes omnibus perfrui Palatinas bibliothecae divitiis.' Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1610. 187 done with it, that he might give himself to christian antiquity. The literary gossips have put upon this fact the vulgar interpretation, that he was fluctuating in his choice between the rival churches. The truth is, he was staying himself in a learned equilibrium between opposite fanati- cisms — the biblical and the ecclesiastical. In order to hold his own in the midst of the fray, he was compelled to bestow no little attention on the facts involved. He had to articulate the argument, and, against such an adversary as Du Perron, to defend it by citation from the authorita- tive books. Thus the kind of reading which he secretly liked was stimulated by an external necessity, while the study of the classics had to be sustained in the face of total neglect on the part of the pubhc^. The inward strife of conflicting tastes is common to all gifted natures in youth. But it is usually composed long before mid-age by a de- Hberate decision, which selects for good one goal. That youthful state of mind which Donne ^ describes himself as suffering from, ' an hydroptique immoderate desire of humane learning and languages,' either dies out, or takes some specific direction, before forty. The circumstances into which Casaubon was thrown by his position in Paris maintained a life-long distraction between two tendencies. We have seen the assault upon his religious convictions commence with his arrival in Paris in 1599. When it was found that the citadel was not carried by a coup de main, it seemed at first that the attacking party retired in disgust. The king was angry, and looked coldly upon him. Why did not Casaubon fulfil the condition on which he had been brought from Montpellier ? They had made so sure of his conversion that they told the duchesse de Bar, the king's sister, that it was quite settled. This Casaubon contradicted in form, obtaining an audience from the high ' ' Liters ut aliis etiara locis animam agunt : unus eas Casaubonus sustinel apud nos, quas ubique Jesuitee impugnant.' Bongars to Kirchmann, Frankfort, 29 April, 1606. '' Donne, Letters, p. 51 Digitized by Microsoft® 1 88 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. lady for the purpose^. This was too bad, not only to persist himself, but to spoil the game with Madame. Casaubon's coming over would bring many others with him ; but he could not be allowed to go about con- firming other heretics in their obstinacy. He must be dismissed in disgrace. Casaubon had made up his mind that so it must be. Suddenly the policy of the je.suits altered. They are all smiles and blandishments. Casau- bon ^ writes to Scaliger in October, 1604 : — ' I must now tell you that things are changed with me here ; I, who was an object of hate to the loyolites for my steadiness in the profession of pure religion, am now become their dearest friend. Whether I am in town, or retired into the country, I must be among them, and converse with them. Lately I had a visit from Gonter, with I know not how many bishops ; next day, when I was deep in my books, comes Fronto le Due. . . . He had no sooner saluted me, than he began to tell me he was sent by the king with orders to press it upon me, as a thing which the king had very much at heart. I made them all the same answer, to the effect, viz. That truth had always been my one aim ; that I would always be ready to consider and weigh all real arguments which could be advanced, but that promises of favour from my prince would have no weight whatever in such a matter. I ex- pressed my surprise that after the emphatic proofs I had already given of my firmness in my present convictions, any further attempt should be made upon me.' The explanation of this change of tactic was that the Jesuits had seen that the vulgar motives of royal favour, and pension, which sufficed in so many cases, would not succeed with Casaubon. He was ready, if need were, to give up his place and go into exile. He not only declared ' Ephem. p. 378 : ' Venimus ad rijv Zianoivav, et sine fuco et fallaciis quid de recta fide . . . judicaremus, prolixe exposuimus.' ^ Ep. 416 Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1610. 189 this, it was easy to see that he was man enough to do it. But the wily emissaries of Rome, who have always piqued themselves upon their knowledge of men, saw, or thought they saw, that the case was not hopeless for all that. There was a side of Casaubon on which he was assailable. This was his learning. He knew too much to go in for all the untenable notions of his own church and friends. On a rude unlettered pastor, who knew nothing but his french bible and Calvin's Institutes, there was no prize. But a learned man, who appealed to antiquity, who admitted the fathers and- councils as authority, must be to be had. Honestly convinced that fathers and councils were on their side, the Jesuits conceived that they had but to get him into controversy, to show him that the fact was so, in order to convince him of his error, and bring him to renounce it. He himself had said he would do so. It was in this way that Casaubon was drawn into controversy, and through controversy to interest, and further reading on the controverted points. The manage- ment of the business, indeed, passed out of the immediate hands of the Jesuits. The most learned man they had at the moment available was Fronto le Due. But Fronto, though translator and editor of greek fathers, and notably of Chrysostom, had not strength enough to cope with Casaubon. Du Perron was obliged to be called in. It was impossible for Casaubon to decline frequent en- counters with 'the archsophist.' The cardinal, as grand aumonier, had a general superintendence over the publi- cation of theological books. Casaubon's Hbrary duties brought him into constant intercourse with him\ Not- ' I have not been able to ascertain what was the nature of the authority which cardinal Du Perron exercised over the library. The editor of the splendid History, too splendid for use, issued from the Imprimerie imperiale, knows no- thing of it. But it is clear from Casaubon's correspondence, that, in some way, Du Perron was his ofBcial superior. See Cas. epp. 624, 652. On the other hand in Ephem. p. 666, he says on one occasion when the cardinal sent for him, that it was ' nomine regis.' [The ' splendid history ' here referred to is probably F. A. Duprat's Histoire de f Imprimerie Imperiale de France.'] Digitized by Microsoft® 190 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. withstanding his many defeats and disappointments, these reunions were used unceasingly by Du Perron for contro- versy, — by the king's command, he said. Scahger thought it 1 not unhkely that this was true, looking at Casaubon's great reputation, and Henri's eager desire to please the pope. ' He thinks if he could only vanquish you, and suspend the spoils of your firmness on the fisherman's doors, that it would greatly increase his credit among his transtiberine friends.' A letter of Casaubon, written in 1604, gives us an insight into the trouble occasioned him by the state of siege in which he was compelled to live ^ : — ' If I had attached the importance to these disputations which I find others do, I would have taken care that you should have heard from myself what took place on the occasion. Being invited lately to breakfast by cardinal Du Perron, he started a desultory discussion on religious subjects. I own I was surprised at this, for for some j^ears past he has not opened his mouth to me on these matters at all, and I perceived that it was a plot directed against my simplicity, and originating with some other persons who were at table. Be this as it may, I was in for what became a very lively controversy. And I was led to suspect that many of the company, who were not in the secret, supposed this to be one of those farcical disputations which they get up, and was concerted with me, to give a colour to my conversion. And it so fell out, that immedi- ' Seal. epp. p. 271 : ' Non parvam laudem putat apud transtiberinos fore, si spolium constantiae vestrse ad illos referat, quod e valvis piscatoris aliquando pendeat.' ^ Ep. 420. This interesting letter was printed by Gronovius, in 1638, as ad- dressed to an anonymous correspondent, N. N. Almeloveen, in reprinting it, 1709, appended to it a note of Colomies, in which it is conjectured that the correspondent was Paul Petau. The cohjecture is wrong. The letter was really addressed to de Thou, and the original is still to be seen in the ms. volume of Casaubon's letters to de Thou, Bibl. nat. coll. Dupuy, 708. The dis- closure of the desperate attempts to get over Casaubon, and their failure, was still in 1638 a matter sufiBciently delicate to make it desirable to suppress the name of de Thou, as Casaubon's confidant on the subject. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1610. 191 ately the party broke up, the rumour was bruited about the town that I had given in, and that my conversion was now imminent. At first I tried to laugh it off. And, indeed, I cannot but think it ridiculous to make a serious matter out of one's conversation at table. But, finding that my character was at stake, I was obliged to write to the cardinal a letter of expostulation, of which letter I enclose you a copy, reserving further particulars for our next meeting.' Compelled thus to encounter an adversary whose learn- ing he respected ^, and whose argumentative dexterity embarrassed him, it was impossible for Casaubon not to give some time to theological reading. It grew upon him as the struggle intensified, and came to occupy more and more of his thoughts. He had always been longing for the time when he might steep himself in christian antiquity, and now the subject was forced upon him. ^ 'O that some man would arise,' he cries in 1606 ,'who would revive the study of true ecclesiastical archaeology ! ' There was store of patristic greek in the royal library, which Casaubon could have approached, as no one has yet approached it, with a complete reading of pagan antiquity. Here was his true occupation, one in which he might have satisfied at once both of the instincts which divided him. Instead of this, he was driven to Polybius, and to the transcription of the military writers, an ahen subject, to which he could bring but a factitious interest. From his own peculiar field he was excluded by the theologians, who would not 1 Casaubon always speaks with respect of Du Perron's reading, and with something like awe of his controversial ability. The Italian biographer of Fra Paolo, Engl, transl. p. 6i, says of the cardinal, ' truly that elevated spirit of his had an argute manner of disputing and extremely provocative,' a description identical with Casaubon's, Ep. 214 : t^s aotpiaTiKrjs refOpiias Tpiffwv. Thus he was more powerful as a disputant than as a writer, yet his controversial books are singled out by Jer. Taylor, Dissuasive, 6. 486, as ' the more learned answers of Bellarmine and Perron,' in contrast to ' the more weak answers offered.' ' Ep. 518. Digitized by Microsoft® 192 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. allow a heretic to handle the fathers '. His own Chrysos- tom, of whom there were sixty mss. in the royal library, was forbidden to Casaubon, and reserved for Fronto le Due. For Casaubon's efforts were not wholly in vain. It would not do to have this heretic librarian going about saying, that the king's collection was full of most valuable greek MSS. of the fathers, that he was desirous to print them, but that the clergy would not let him. What made it worse was that he was the one man most competent in France — in the world — for the work. Something must be done. Would the king not find the funds necessary for an under- taking which would be so glorious for his reign ? Ask Sully, who grudged Casaubon's keep already, thought ' he cost the king too much,' if he would pay for printing the fathers ? Would he not reply by asking, ' Why don't you do it yourselves out of your rich benefices, you bishops and abbots? Such a public-spirited act would shed great lustre on the church ! ' If the mass of the dignified clergy were little likely to listen to such a suggestion, there was a small minority among the bishops possessed of sufficient culture to think it not quite absurd. In an assembly which they held in Paris in 1606, it was suggested that as the estate of the clergy had just received a remission of their tenths from the crown, to the amount of 400,000 crowns, a portion of this sum might be devoted to printing the fathers. No more, however, could be extracted than 2000 crowns, to which, by cardinal Du Perron's influence, was afterwards added another thou- sand. Fortified with this small subvention a bookseller, CI. Morel, engaged to bring out the works of Chrysostom. As the Eton Chrysostom (1612) cost sir H. Savile ^8000 sterling to produce, it is clear that Morel must have rehed on the sale to the public to repay his expenses. ' Ep. 509 : ' Editionem patrum hie curare non possum, quia non permittitur homini hseretico id genus librorum attingere, multo minus quicquam adjicere mearum observationum.' Cf. ep. 647. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1610. 193 But though Casaubon might not use the mss. of the royal library, he might use others, and nothing could interfere with his printing in a foreign country. His earliest essay in patristic criticism he thus speaks of in 1596, in writing to Bongars, ^ ' I had begun lately to put together in a book, " Observations on the ecclesiastical writers ; " but I afterwards forebore ; well enough, methinks, is soon enough.' It was not till 1605 that he stole into the world, unobtrusively, almost timidly, with a first essay in this forbidden walk His friend Hoeschel was publishing at Augsburg Origan against Celsus, a greek text then unprinted, setting herein, with far inferior resources, an example of what might have been done in Paris. The treatise was to be accompanied by the eloge of Gregorius of Neocsesareia on Origen, which had been once before printed, in a very bad state, in 1587. The text of this last piece Hoeschel communicated to Casaubon, who sent back a few pages of emendations. Hoeschel, glad to adorn his book with Casaubon's name, printed these notes along with Casaubon's letter at the end of his volume. Being purely critical, they excited no attention in Paris, and were so little known at all, that Meric even ^ had never seen them *. In the next year, 1606, grown more bold, he ventured to print in Paris, and with his name, a little volume contain- ing an inedited epistle of Gregorius of Nyssa, with a preface and notes. It was published by his cousin and friend Robert Estienne, in partnership with the heirs of Patisson. It attracted some attention, as having the name of Casaubon on the title. Lestoile mentions it ^ as ' bien digne d'estre recueilliee,' and it was cheap enough, being sold, bound in parchment, for a quarter of a crown. But if Lestoile, or the public, expected a theological manifesto, ' Ep. 433. ° Pietas, p. 98. * See note D in Appendix. ' Registre-journal, p. 402. O Digitized by Microsoft® '94 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. they were disappointed. The notes are not theological, but illustrative and interpretative only. The different usage of the same word by the ecclesiastical, and by the classical writers, is often richly exemphfied. Yet there are allusions which show how full the editor's mind was of the present. There is an oblique glance, p. 60, at the ' inventiunculae humanse mentis' on the subject of pilgrimage. And the preface is altogether a concealed allusion to the circum- stances of the day, for it is a recommendation to concord among Christians. In the sensitive state of the pubHc •mind in Paris, to insinuate that the huguenots were Christians was a spark on gunpowder. Casaubon was admonished, and given to understand that his position as librarian and king's pensioner must not be used for the subversion of the catholic faith. In his disappointment he wrote to Vertunien^ that 'he should never be at rest till he found himself in a free country, where he might have liberty to reply to the Jesuits.' Casaubon had only himself to blame, for having taken the opportunity of a greek book to make an edifying application. If he might not write as a protestant, there was another controversy on foot, in which he thought the 'king's librarian ' might without rebuke take up a pen. The old debate between the gallican and ultramontane parties, indigenous to french soil, had just now sprung up again into the question of the day, owing to the struggle going on between Pius v. and the republic of Venice. The gallican party in Paris sympathised keenly with the republic in its courageous resistance, and were desirous of having an argument on the principle drawn for .circulation in France. Casaubon had, independently, from his own point of view, read with keen interest the books and pamphlets which inundated the press in these ' Ep. franf. p. 524 : ' Mondict sieur Casaubon m'a mand6 qu'il n'auroit jamais repos en son ame qu'il ne se veit en lieu libre pour respondre aux calomnies et impostures des Jesuistes.' Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 195 years. He had been^ especially attracted by those of Fra \ Paolo, the Servite, in which he recognised the flavour of that ecclesiastical science, which was his own unattain- \ able ideal. The distance between the real learning of Casaubon, and the disputative energy of Du Perron may be measured by their respective judgments on Fra Paolo. ' I met Fra Paolo at Venice,' said the cardinal ^, ' I saw nothing eminent about him ; he has good judgment and good sense, but no great knowledge! Casaubon was easily prevailed upon to undertake the j subject, as that which he would have preferred was closed to him. But as a protestant name would have damaged the effect of the book, it was to be anonymous, after the precedent of Ranchin's ' Review of the Council of Trent.' Casaubon himself is careful not to tell his correspondents what it is on which he is engaged. But it could not be kept altogether secret. Early sheets were procured by the nuncio during the progress of the work, and Fra Paolo wrote ^ that it was eagerly expected in Venice. Casaubon . threw himself into the fray with zeal. The pamphlet was ' becoming a book, and the sheets were printed off as fast as they were written. Fifteen sheets were already thrown off when the nuncio interfered, and demanded the suppression of the book. He had before obtained an interdict to stop the reprint of Gerson, ' De potestate ecclesiastica,' and he had no difficulty in now procuring an inhibition of Casaubon's book *- The king was very angry. ' Ep. 542. Cas. to Scaliger : ' Vidistine, obsecro, quae Venetiis prodiere scripta a paucis mensibus? prsesertim magni illius Pauli Veneti . . . ego cum ilia lego, spe nescio qua ducor, futurum illic aliquando et Uteris sacris, et meliori literaturae locum.' 2 Perroniana, p. 259. ' Burney Mss. 365. p. 285. * The suggestion that Casaubon should be engaged to write came originally from Venice. Camdeni Epp. ep. 65. Becher to Camden, June 4, 1607 : ' Mon- sieur Casaubon hath two pieces coming forth, but neither of them yet finished, Polybius, and another, De libertate ecclesiastica, at the instance of the Venetian ambassador ; and although their difference be compounded, yet it goeth forward, and there is great expectation of it.' Cf. Cas. ep. 882. Burney mss. 363. p. 93. O a Digitized by Microsoft® 196 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. ' grandement indigne,' and Casaubon was fain to write a letter to Villeroy to excuse himself. He does this as well as he can^, but cannot deny the fact that he has been writing ' against the pope.' The government of Henri ^, which was at this period wholly ultramontane, seconded the nuncio. The ' De libertate ecclesiastica ^ ' remained not only unprinted, but unwritten. Some copies, however, of the printed sheets had got abroad, and from one of these Melchior Goldast reprinted the fragment in Germany, 1612, and, by a curious coincidence, in the same collection of tracts which contained Gerson ' De potestate.' Casaubon had lost much precious time over an abortive scheme ; but his eagerness for the fray was not abated. He wanted to write a review of Baronius' ' Annals.' This, where the argument was not political, where the discussion turned entirely on the interpretation of ancient authors, was Casaubon's proper territory. Here he might expatiate in the field of ecclesiastical archaeology which he was sighing to enter. But he could not do it, even in his own moderate style, without permission. He applied for this permission and it was refused; gently indeed, but seriously; 'the time was not yet come.' The strictest orders had been issued in Italy* that no one should be allowed ' to write against Baronius ; ' an order, as Fra Paolo remarks, ' which shows there was a good deal to be said.* Father Paul would have answered Baronius himself, ' Ep. 557. ^ Michelet, vol. 5. p. 463, thinks that Henri iv. desired to act in favour of the protestants as early as 1600. If this was so, it could only have been a momen- tary impulse. It seems to me that it was not till the dispute between Venice and the see of Rome that a Galilean party began to make itself felt in France, and that Henri iv. began to lean towards it. ' The fragment De libertate is printed in Goldasti Monarchia S. Romani imperii, Hanov. i6ia. vol. 1. pp. 674-716 [and again in Almeloveen's edition of Casaubon's Epistolae, vol. ii. p. 167.] ' Burney mss. 365. p. 285, Fra Paolo to Cas. : ' . . . ne quid vel minimum contra Baronium scribatur, vel alibi scriptum in Italiam importetur.' Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-16TO. 197 had he been permitted, but Venice soon made up its quarrel with Rome, and the opportunity was past. France was equally under Roman influence, and Casaubon must defer his criticism of Baronius to a later day, and a freer country. Thus precluded from the topic in which his interests were most engaged, Casaubon was compelled to fall back upon the classics. If we must regret that Casaubon laid out some of his best years upon Polybius, we must remember that he was driven upon it, by being debarred from the better work he would have done, but might not. In taking up Polybius, he took up an old thread. Years ago, in 1595, he had pledged himself to an edition, and the author was not unsuitable to his turn of mind. Notwith- standing his admiration of Theocritus, he was destitute, if ever mortal was, of poetic feeling. The erotic and wanton greek muse offended his huguenot asceticism. He had no metrical skill. He had as little taste for philosophy as for poetry. In working upon Athenaeus, though he had expatiated on the antiquarianism, he had been wearied with the frivolity of the dilettante litterateur. The level good sense and practical intelligibility of Polybius suited him. Living about a court Hke that of Henri iv, where literature was in low esteem, he felt keenly the desire to evince its value to men of the world. Not Ronsard, but Malherbe, the versifier of good sense, was now the fashionable poet. Casaubon's cele- brated preface to his Polybius, which was long considered one of the masterpieces of modern latin, is entirely a pifece de circonstance. It must be read as addressed to the court — the court of 1609. ' The statesman should read history,' is its thesis; and by history, classical history is intended. In it, history, and pre-eminently that of the Greeks and Romans, is held up as the school of civil prudence and military skill. The mere literary use of the classics, the reading of a book hke Caesar's Commentaries, Digitized by Microsoft® 198 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. only to acquire a pure style, is condemned. Of Polybius' sixth book he says that it ought not only to be read, but to be learned by heart, by all princes, generals, and public men. Argument and example are employed with force, and without tedious accumulation, to show the utility of the classics to public men. The pleading is an argu- mentum ad hominem, for it is addressed to the ear of Henri iv's court. But it is good for all time, and is indeed the basis on which the defence of classical education must ultimately rest. ' The finest prefaces ever written,' said Joseph Warton 1, adopting a dictum of Bayle, ' were perhaps that of Thuanus to his History, of Calvin to his Institutes, and of Casaubon to his Polybius.' Warton, a critic who had the distinction of being also a scholar, ad- mired it for its general style and subject. It is no less inter- esting to us as a historical document, peculiarly addressed to a special audience, and giving us a measure of the taste and acquirements of what was called ' the court ' in 1609. The object he had in view in editing Polybius not only inspired the preface, but governed the character of the whole volume. From not attending to this purpose, subsequent editors have misjudged the edition. Schweig- hseuser has blamed Casaubon for his negligent indication of the sources of the emendations introduced into his text. The usual apology is, ' Such was the habit of the editors of that age.' But Casaubon's omission of this duty must be ascribed not to want of accuracy, but to such accuracy being beside his purpose. He wanted to make Polybius readable. If he were to be read, he must be presented in latin. Accordingly, upon the latin translation Casaubon spent his labour. In 1588, when he gave Polyasnus to the press, he had said contemptuously that ^ ' he could not aiford to invest good hours in making latin translations ; that was a kind of business he was content to leave to ' Warton's Pope's Works, 1797, vol. i. p. i ; Bayle, Diet. Art. Calvin, note 9. 2 Praef. in Poly^n. 1588. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 199 Others.' Now it is precisely the reverse. The translation is his first concern. His Polybius is rather to be described as a translation accompanied by the text, than as. an edition of the text. He has indeed altered Ursinus' text much, but often, too, the emendation, which he should have introduced into the text, appears only in the version. The version does not, in these cases, correspond to the text in the accompanying column. But, in such cases, it is the latin, and not the greek, which gives what Casaubon supposed Polybius to have written. ^ ' I can answer for the fidelity of my translation,' he writes to Scaliger. ' I wish I was equally certain of its latinity. But how few of us now can write good latin ! By the way I can tell you what will amuse you. You know how the Italians have admired Perotti's latin in his version (of Polybius). No wonder! for when the good fellow is puzzled by Polybius' greek, which happens sometimes, he has transcribed the parallel passage from Livy, who, you know, follows Polybius often pretty closely.' If it is a matter of regret that Casaubon should have been driven from Chrysostom to Polybius, it must be more so that he should have embarked four years of his limited span upon what is little more than a latin transla- tion. For there was no commentary. The notes were reserved for a second volume, which never appeared, and which was never written. What was found of this kind after his death among his papers amounted to about 200 pages, and was published in a small volume by Antoine Estienne, 1617. In these notes, though the old manner of illustration is preserved, there is constantly present an intention of dweUing upon the practical lessons of history. He will turn aside to quote something not very relevant because it contains words of pohtical wisdom ^. Yet, after all these imperfections, such is the power 1 Ep. 485. ' Comm. in Polyb. p. 88; ' Verba civilis prudenti^ plenissima.' Digitized by Microsoft® aoo ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. of knowledge, that Casaubon's Polybius has deserved that Schweighaeuser ^ should say of it, that ' there is not a page of it which does not show how much Polybius owes to the learning and sagacity of that industrious editor.' It may be instructive to observe that even Casaubon's knowledge did not preserve him from making blunders as a translator. Henri Valois^ says on this: ' Out of the numbers of translators of greek books whom we have had, who is there who has not occasionally shpped ? The latin version of Polybius by Isaac Casaubon is held by common consent as one of the best and most correct which we have. And yet it is not free from blunders.' The work engaged him from the end of August, 1605, to August 28, 1609, on which day he revised the last proof sheet. He did not print with his wife's connections, Estienne and Patisson, who had published the Gregorius Nyssenus for him in 1606. Though they possessed some greek type, they had neither the capital nor the plant for a folio of 1250 pages. Estienne (R. Stephanus iii.) was also a notoriously slow printer, out of whom it was difficult to extract a proof sheet. It is true his slowness proceeded from his scrupulous accuracy, and even learning. He would come down himself, all the way, to Casaubon to consult him about an accent which he thought wrongly placed ^ Though inferior to the best specimens of Robert Estienne (R. Stephanus i.) or Turnebus of fifty years before, the Polybius of 1609 is among the finest specimens of Paris printing. But latin and greek upon the same page cannot show either type to advantage. It was turned out by Drouard (Jerome), who had pub- lished the Hist. Aug. Scriptores in 1603, and who after- wards, with Cramoisy,Beys, and Co., formed the association ' Schweigh. prsef. in Polyb. p; Ixxx. " Excerpta Constantini, 1634, ad lect. = Ep. 550. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARTS. 1600-1610. 301 known as ' a la navire,' for publishing the greek fathers. Drouard had a connection with Wechel at Frankfort, which enabled him to secure the German sale for his books. Early sheets were transmitted through the am- bassador to Marny, who carried on Wechel's business, and he issued the book for Germany with another title-page as his own ^. This was not a piratical invasion of Drouard's property, but an arrangement between the publishers, by which the copyright was secured in the empire. Drouard was a man of substance, for such a volume could not be produced without a large outlay, — at the present day it would cost from i^8oo to ;^900 to bring out — and we hear of none of the vexations which attended the publication of the Athenaeus with the Harsys of Lyon, or of any advances of cash by Casaubon towards the cost of printing. Casaubon had appHed, through the chancellor Sillery, for permission to dedicate to the king. Bruslart de Sil- lery, who had recently become chancellor (1607), had known Casaubon many years before at Geneva, when on a diplomatic mission to Switzerland. Like some others of ' the court,' he was not without his share of letters, and Casaubon had brought out his Theophrastus in 1592 under his patronage. But his interests were now entirely gone into making his political career, and if he patronised Casaubon on this occasion, jealousy of Sully had probably more to do with it, than favour to the book^. However, the chancellor obtained the permis- sion, which was given in a way which seemed to intimate that the dedication would be more acceptable from a catholic^- The king's name was an advertisement, and ^ Goldasti epp. p. 156. 2 Casaubon acknowledges that Sillery had always stood his friend. Ep. 934 : ' Dominum cancellarium, cujus unius ope atque auctoritate reculas meas isthic stare nullus dubito.' ^ Ephem. p. 651 : ' Vocatus ad prandium hodie a cancellario Fr. (Franciae) D. Silerio nonnuUa cum spe sum reversus, fore ut Polybius nostcr regi sit acceptus, sed ego artes aulicorum novi.' Digitized by Microsoft® 20Z ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. it was the interest both of editor and printer that it should figure on the title-page. Next came the business of presenting copies, hand- somely bound,— the binding at the author's cost\ This was often a heavy tax ; Casaubon, with his many great friends, had to give away fifty-five copies of Polybius. The tax on time was heavy too, as many of these had to be offered in person. The first copy was for the chancellor, who had obtained the permission, and who now undertook to bespeak a favourable moment for the presentation of the royal copy. On a day appointed Casaubon attends at the Tuileries. The hour is not propitious ; he is desired to come again, or better, to Fontainebleau, where royalty has more leisure. He waits a fortnight, and goes out to Fontainebleau, carry- ing his folio. His own reception was, as always, gra- cious ; but ^ ' my work was received, as it was to be expected it would, by one who is absolutely illiterate.' The chancellor, who had repeatedly promised to explain to Henri what the business was, had, of course, for- gotten all about it. Casaubon's elaborate compliments in the preface were thrown away. In vain he had re- minded Henri ' of what you once told me yourself, Sire, that you had, when a child, translated the whole of Caesar's Commentaries into french, for your preceptor Florent Chrestien.' He returned from Fontainebleau disgusted with courts, angry with himself for his dedi- cation, laughing a bitter laugh at the folly of it all. However, after he was gone, some one, perhaps Sillery, made the king understand, — not the latin preface, but his obhgation as dedicatee. When La Boderie, ambas- sador at S. James', was asked ^'if Henri iv. would ^ Ephem. 474 : * Hie fructus nostrarum vigiliai-um, quas postquam in lucem emisimus, ingens occurrit numerus eorumquibus necessario dandi sint.' ^ Ephem. p. 693 : ' Qui literarum est rcXeajs rudis.' ^ Fortescue Papers, Camden .Societj', p. 4, note. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. ] 600-1610. 303 receive a copy of James I's " Apologia pro juramento," he discreetly answered that his master would doubtless receive it, but he would not answer for his reading it' That Henri would read a line of Casaubon's elaborate preface is not to be supposed. But he could under- stand that a poor scholar, with a host of children, had embarked all his time and learning for many years in the present now laid at his feet. A few days afterwards Casaubon was surprised by a call from a maitre de re- quites, one Gourges, who was great in the business of conversions, and hung much about Casaubon with this view. On this occasion it was not Casaubon's soul he came to save, but a thousand crowns he brought — and this not in a paper order, which might have been subject to a heavy discount, but so many hard gold pieces in a bag. The entiy in the diary ^ lets us see that acceptable as the money was, the appreciation pleased much more. The present was handsome; too much for a huguenot. But then Henri had just given 100,000 crowns to the Jesuits of La Fleche to finish their chapel with. And 1000 crowns, after all, was about half what he had once paid for an embroidered handkerchief for Gabrielle. What of literary appreciation might be in store for the Polybius must come from abroad. In Paris it passed unheeded. In the university of Paris there was no one who could distinguish greek of Casaubon from greek of Morel or Fronto le Due. Lestoile, who col- lected all the pamphlets and squibs of the day, and gives us title and cost of each, makes no mention of Casaubon's publication, though he had evidently seen the book, and been reading it, as he quotes from it, under September 7, two passages, one of which he finds very applicable to Sully, whom he detested. In ' Ephem. 696 : ' Non sine honore verborum.' Digitized by Microsoft® a04 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. 1607, William Becher sends Camden ^, among other Paris gossip, the news that ' Mons^ Casaubon hath two pieces coming forth, but neither of them yet finished, Polybius, and another, " De libertate ecclesiastica," ' adding that of the latter ^ ' there is great expectation.' During the four years' work on Polybius, we have a renewal of the same mental symptoms and conditions as were brought out by the Athenaeus. At one time feverish intensity of apphcation, impatient of any inter- ruption ; at another disgust at the self-imposed task, and wish to be reading Christian literature. There are times when, as he tells Rittershusius ^, he is ' thankful to be compelled by his engagement to busy himself in his task, that he may shut out the many sorrows and vexations of his life.' His shrinking from intrusion and hindrance amounts to an indifference to external events, an indifference which grows upon him. Then physical fatigue, the amount of mere mechanical labour attendant on the production of a thick folio, the irregularity of the printers, the workmen one while taking unreasonable holiday, ' improbe luxuriantur ; ' at another, pressing for copy till he has to send each sentence of translation to press as fast as it is made, ' ut quaeque periodus erat versa,' break him down momentarily, and he longs to be quit of it. No sooner is he quit than he begins again. He allows the booksellers to extort from him * promises to revise for second editions his ' Theophrastus ' and his ' Suetonius.' As soon as these are done he will set about his commentary on Polybius. Meanwhile, he undertakes to lecture to a class on Aristotle's ' Pohtics.' Slavish work at the desk, begun sometimes at 3 a.m., and worry out of doors, seem at this period to make up the sum of our author's life. But the picture is not one ^ Camdeni Epp. ep. 65. 2 ggg above, p. 195. ' Ep. 611 : ' Juvit me non mediocriter quod per inchoatam dudum Polybii editionem cessare mihi non licebat.' * Ep. 654. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 305 of unmitigated gloom. The refrain ^, ' ego vero vix, ac ne vix quidem jam aerumnis par sum,' from time to time gives place to a somewhat more cheerful strain. The five years, from 1605 to 1610, were on the whole, for Casaubon as for France, years of prosperity and comfort, if not of calm. Casaubon's timorous and apprehensive spirit occasionally feels these influences. Halcyon days of repose — otium — he calls them once or twice ^, but adds characteristically, that this repose ' has a suspiciousness about it when he thinks of his sins.' But this repose — otium — means for him not the dreamy slippered ease of the litterateur of academy days, but sustained and fagging drudgery. Many a day the only entry in the diary is, ' My daily task, thanks be to God ^.' The amount of labour, mental and mechanical, which is intimated by this short phrase, must be estimated by reference to his printed books, and to the still extant Adversaria, from which his books proceeded. Rare Were the occasions on which he allowed himself relaxation. In 1603 he took a couple of months, May and June, for a visit to his mother and friends in the south, and at Geneva. Madame Casaubon accompanied him, making the journey on horseback, except the last stage from Dijon to Paris, when she took the coach. The rate of travelling by this conveyance may be inferred from the fact that Casaubon, who was on horseback, arrived at home some hours before the coach *. A retirement into country shades from Paris glare and dust was as necessary then as since. Casaubon was occasionally invited to pass a few days at de Thou's country house at Villebonne, the retreat of the learned and the wise, as his hotel in Paris was their gathering place ®. Such visits might not be all holiday. On one of these > Ephem. 546. " Ephem. pp. 447. 545. ' tA kyKvKKia- ©cS X"^/"'. ' Ephem. 504. ' Ephem. 441 : ' Diem egimus in hoc amffinissimo praetorio, et suavissimis de Uteris sermonibus, aut ambulationibus cum magno Thuano, uxore mea, aut aliis amicis.' Digitized by Microsoft® 206 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Rigaltius began his edition of Artemidorus, and found the genius loci, or the society of de Thou, a great aid ^- On another occasion Casaubon is obliged to put off his visit for a week by the physician, who is bleeding him. And he regrets it because ' I had already in imagination devoured one or two books in your library, which I had decided on reading at Villebonne ^.' At another time Casaubon makes a party to visit the palace, new and old, at S. Germain's ' : not, however, without a groan at the loss of time, and a prayer that as much as he came short in learning, so much he might profit in piety ! These were rare indulgences, once or twice in the season. By-and-by he seeks to secure a pied-a-terre for himself. First at Madrid, in the Bois, where a few houses had grown round the summer-house built by Francis i. after his captivity in Spain. Henri iv. did not much affect Madrid. But on one occasion his restless roaming brought him thither, on a day, August 22, 1601, when Casaubon happened to be there. The Persian etiquette of the 17th century, which separated prince and subject, did not yet exist. Henri immediately took Casaubon into his company, and showed him over the rooms in the chateau, talking all the while most seriously on religious subjects*. In 1606 came the year of the plague, and consequent panic, when all who could rushed from the city. Casaubon at first resolved to stay by his work and the library. Indeed, Lestoile affirms® that the alarm was greater than the danger; that the death-rate of Paris in ordinary times was eight per day, and this was not increased by the pestilence. And Casaubon thinks ^ that the hard winter of 1607-8 ' Artemidorus Rigaltii, 1603. praef. : ' Quum una tecum essem in Villabonio tuo, ne amcEnissima rusticatione abuti viderer . . .' ^ Mss. bibl. nat. collection Dupuy, 708. Cas. to de Thou, without date, but probably i6og : ' Jam spe carta devoraveram unum aut alterum librum quem isthic legere constitueram.' ° Ephem. 302. * Ephem. 367 : ' Graves de pietate sermones.' ° Registre-journal, p. 409. « Ep. 593. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1 6io. 307 carried off more than the plague of 1606 had done. He complains of the want of sanitary police in Paris, the nurses from the hospitals walking about the streets in broad day without so much as warning those they met to keep their distance, a thing which would not have been tolerated in Lyon. When his own friends and neigh- bours began to die off, he thought it prudent to withdraw to a greater distance than Madrid. The place he selected was La Bretonni^re, eight leagues from Paris, in the neighbourhood of Chartres. The following summer was one of excessive heat, succeeded by a winter of great severity^. He now accepted from his friend Mercier des Bordes a refuge on his estate at Grigny, on the Seine above Paris. Besides the convenience of water conveyance for the distance of five leagues, it was near Hablon, and the chateau of des Bordes had itself the right of exercise of the reformed worship^. This gite Casaubon retained to the end of his life, even after his removal to England. Attendance on the public ordinances of his sect was not to Casaubon an irksome duty which he discharged with reluctance, it was a delight and a solace. He well under- stood that to read Chrysostom in his study was far more edifying than most of what was to be heard in a sermon. But the congregational sentiment, powerful at all times, becomes an urgent necessity to a down-trodden sect, writhing under the insults of a wealthy and arrogant church. Avaricious, as we have seen, of his hours and minutes, Casaubon never grudges the whole day which his journey to Hablon or Charenton consumed. He goes, not regularly, it was impossible, but whenever he can. He records a regret whenever he is prevented from going. This, indeed, happens often ; no wonder, when we remember his multiplied engagements in a dependent ^ Dan. Chamier, Journal, p. 64. " Under the Edict, the assembly for this purpose in the manoirs of lords, not being hauts justiciers, must not exceed thirty persons. Digitized by Microsoft® ao8 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. position, and the preparation required to face the distance and the bad weather so common in the fickle climate of Paris. For four years of his residence there, 1601-1606, the place of meeting for the protestants of the capital was at Hablon, ten miles distant from the centre of the city. The Parisians who, says Lestoile, 'would think it less wicked to enter a brothel than a protestant meeting-house,' could not endure heresy nearer. Hablon was on the Seine, and the journey to and fro was made, when the state of the water permitted, in a towbarge. At other times Casaubon must walk both ways, unless he could get a seat in the carriage of some rich coreligionist — the Arnalds or Du Plessis Mornay. The diary abounds in entries which relate to the pains and pleasures of these Sunday expeditions. ' March 3, 1602. To-day, self, wife, daughter, and some of our household got to Hablon, and though we suffered much from the bitter wind, we returned safe and sound.' ' March 24, 1602. Set off, self, wife, and Philippa, for Hablon. But on getting down to the quay, found that the boat was already full three times over.' ' May 13, 1602. Went down to the quay, but the boat could not start as the wind was too high.' ' December 29, 1602. The service to-day was longer than usual. I was returning late in the carriage of two noble ladies, Madame de Cricebant, and Madame de Mantaleon, when the coachman lost the way in the dark. One of the horses got into the river, and was with difficulty got out, half drowned. It was a mercy we were not all lost.' ' December 24, 1607. The fatigue of yesterday (walking both ways to Charenton) prevented me from doing any- thing all day.' ' January 6, 1608. My wife was to have gone to Cha- renton to-day in the carriage of the ladies Arnald. But Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1610. 309 finding the cold too severe, she arranged that I should take her seat. We set off, but could not go very far ; the icy cutting wind made it impracticable for the horses to move against it.' ' November 8, 1609. The church throughout France keeps its fast to-day. We went and heard three sermons, from Du MouHn, Le Faucheur, and Durand, discourses adapted to the occasion with wonderful skill and piety. I was so moved, that I was hardly master of myself Both myself and my wife, forgetting the miseries we had gone through in the morning in a wretched little barge, prayed God that he would grant us more such days.' On one of these expeditions he was in very great danger. We relate the incident in his own words — he tells it twice, once in a letter to Scaliger ^ and in the diary under date, 'July 20, 1608. We set off for Charenton, my wife, John, Meric, and my sister. When we got down to the quay, though it had not yet struck seven, we found all the boats gone except a wretched wherry, without any awning. After some hesitation, we got into it, as we did not wish to lose our service. We had got half way, when, by some mismanagement, a heavy barge, towed by two horses, ran into us astern. John and Meric and my sister scrambled into the barge. I looked round for my wife, and saw her faint with terror, fallen into the Seine with half her body, the rest in the wherry, which began to fill. With a sudden exertion of all my forces, physical and moral, I got her within reach of the people in the barge, who pulled her in. In doing this, I had let go my hold on the larger boat, and was nearly lost myself, if my wife's cries had not called the others to my succour. The only loss I sus- tained in the accident was my book of psalms— my greek testament I recovered all wet out of the water. The psalm-book was precious to me, as I had presented it on ' Ep. 706. P Digitized by Microsoft® 210 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. our marriage to my dear wife, and had used it continually for two-and-twenty years. I did not find it out till we began to sing in the temple, and I put my hand into my pocket, and it was gone. By a singular coincidence the psalm was 86 : " Tirant ma vie du bord Du bas tombeau de la mort." We had been singing, I and my wife, on board the boat, as we usually do, and had just arrived at the seventh verse of the 92nd psalm when the collision took place. I could not but remember that place of S. Ambrose, where he says .... that " this is the peculiarity of the book of Psalms, that every one can use its words as if they were peculiarly and individually his own." ' We may imagine what must have been the sufferings of the women and the delicate, — we hear of infants dying on their way to baptism. As long as only poor hugue- nots endured these hardships, they might have continued unrelieved. But two men, who still retained influence at court, happened to be of the persecuted sect. Sully and Calignon. By their influence an edict was obtained removing the place of exercise to Charenton S. Maurice, distant only two miles, and also on the Seine, the temple being close to the landing-place of the boats. Nearer than this it was not safe to bring the place of exercise. But sometimes the duchess of Bar came to court, and braved her brother's displeasure by having le preche in her lodging. At times there was a French sermon ^ at the English embassy, and on all such occasions Casaubon gladly embraces the opportunity of attending. That his public communion with his church was a senti- ment which lay near Casaubon's heart is more surely proved by the large part it occupies in his thoughts, and the sacrifices of time he ungrudgingly makes to it, than by any overt assurances he utters. Indeed the impediments to the free exercise of his culte, and the desire to taste its unrestricted enjoyment, had no small share among the ' Ephem. 597. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. ail motives which made him seek removal from Paris. In 1601 he wrote to Heraldus ^ ' Both my wife and myself are impatient under the famine of the word of God, which we endure here. It is seldom and with much difficulty that we can get out to Hablon. We have not been accustomed to this deprivation.' The desire had not abated in 1607, though Casaubon's ideas had undergone considerable enlargement in the interval, and his calvinis- tic prejudices were being supplanted by a church ideal founded on the fathers of the fourth century. Besides the deprivation of the ordinances of religion, there were other reasons why a protestant, and a pen- sioner of the court, should feel his position in Paris precarious. The animus of the lower populace towards the calvinists was not changed since the Bartholomew, it was only lulled to sleep. The pays latin, the students, the swarms of fanatical friars and monks, which the countless convents harboured, were no less ready for a bloody fray than they had ever been. On Sunday, September 18, 1605^, a placard was found posted up at the gate Saint Victor, summoning the scholars {they had ceased to be called clercs) to assemble after dinner on the banks of the Seine with clubs and arms, 'pour la s'opposer aux insolences de la maudite sect huguenote et abloniste.' The police was strong enough to prevent worse consequences on this occasion than a single assass- ination. But the ' vaches a Colas ' (this was the slang designation of the huguenots) had an intimation on this, and on one or two other like occasions, of the volcano that was sleeping below. The violence of the mob was uncertain and restrained by the government ; the gradual undermining of the legal liberties secured to the protestants was allowed and encouraged. Henri had undertaken to the pope, Clement viii, so to manipulate ' the edict which I have published for ' Ep. 1023. ■ " Lestoile, Reg.-journ. suppl. p. 388. P 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 213 ISAAC CAS A [/BON. [Sect. the tranquillity of my kingdom that its solid results shall be in favour of the cathoHc religion.' He kept his promise. The system, which went on till it culminated in the revo- cation of the edict, may be said to have commenced from its first publication, 1598. To worry the protestants became the occupation of every bishop throughout France. To interpret the edict always in favour of the catholic suitor was the rule for every court of justice. To goad them into revolt, and then to crush them with armed hand, was the policy of every civil governor who sought to recom- mend himself to authority. The clergy never met in their annual assembhes without lodging gravamina of the ' insolence ' of the heretics, and extorting from the crown an enlargement of their own privileges, which was always stated, pro forma, to be ' without prejudice to the edict.' Still, as long as Henri lived, no general attempt to upset the edict was to be apprehended. In 1605, Casaubon was greatly alarmed at the turn things were taking, and had almost made up his mind to leave. Scaliger writes back ^ that gloomy as the prospect was for the future, he saw no reason for thinking the danger was immediate : that even if Casaubon was resolved upon departure, he could not do so without permission obtained from the king, and that whether the permission were granted or not, the having asked it would be equally an offence. Looking to the sources of the troubles and annoyances which beset Casaubon during his Parisian period, creating in him the constant desire to get away, they are found to be very various, and some of them such as change of place could not have remedied. I. The discomforts and perils attending the practices of the reformed culte have been already noticed. But the religious difficulty was by no means confined to these occasions. The efforts to convert him occasionally intermitted, but only to revive again with fresh vigour, ' Seal. epp. p. 293. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 213 and in a more overbearing tone. His resistance was resented. His obstinacy in heresy was ascribed to moral defects; he was charged with ingratitude towards a benefactor. It was. plainly insinuated that the king had by his favours bought his religion, and that as the price had been paid, it was now quite time that the article should be delivered. When the management of this difficult case was handed over to Du Perron, it took, as we have seen, a different turn. The vulgar means of suasion were replaced by learned argument. The former kind of appeal could be met by blank refusal ; argument must be encoun- tered by argument, citation by counter citation. Hence a grievous expenditure of precious time in preparation, in resisting an assault sure to be renewed on the next occasion. ' Loth I am, my God is witness, to waste my time in this kind of disputation. It is not my fault. I am compelled by necessity to undergo it, though I take care to let them know how immovable I am in matter of religion.' The siege laid to his religious convictions had begun with his removal to Paris. It had abated nothing of its vigour in the last year of his residence, 1609-10. The pages of the diary are full of such entries as the following : — ' March 6. Several hours to-day with the cardinal. He sent for me in the king's name, and I went, though most unwillingly. We had much and serious talk of religion.' ' December 10. To-day with cardinal Du Perron, and long talk of rehgion.' 'December 11. Again to-day, a severe encounter with the cardinal.' ' December 21. O wretched life ! cannot they let me alone, but must make it their business to pry into ray faith. This is what makes my life a burden ! What folly to try to persuade me that their church cannot err ! ' ' December 22. With cardinal Perron to-day, having been repeatedly sent for by him.' ' December 28. To-day with cardinal Perron. He is Digitized by Microsoft® 314 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. really great. Would that he were always a defender of sound learning ! ' The catastrophe of May 14, 1610, suspended, but only for a time, the persevering attempts of the cardinal. Du Perron now renewed the bait, offered years before, of a professor's chair in the university, and the persecution was only broken off ^ by Casaubon's departure from Paris. Rosweyd asserted, and no doubt believed, ' that Casaubon, convinced by the weight of Du Perron's logic, had given a promise to abjure at Whitsuntide. That the death of the king alone interfered with the execution of the promise, causing a panic among the calvinists as if S. Bartholomew was to be repeated, and inducing Casaubon to withdraw for safety to England.' Baffled by Casaubon himself, the convertisseurs had turned their attention to Madame Casaubon. Here, how- ever, they could get no prize of any kind. Her simple Genevan detestation of popery was impenetrable. They tried also the daughter, Philippa. From this cherished daughter the father did not conceal his most secret thoughts. He subjected her to a trial which we might hardly have thought justifiable, but that he considered it a duty to let her understand how her worldly interest was involved in her creed. He explained to her the temporal advantages which he could secure for her if she became a convert. He told her 'that she was penniless; that after the wreck of his patrimony, he could give her no portion at which any respectable Parisian bourgeois would look; that he anxiously desired to see her well married ; that the only hope of this was in the royal bounty, which could only be obtained by conforming.' This was indeed to put his child to a hard trial. But it was with a thrill of delight that the father heard the temptation, not only overcome, but indig- nantly spurned by the generous girl. ' It was wicked,' she said, ' even to deliberate on such a choice. She was ' Rosweyd, Lex Talionis, ap. M. Casaubon, Pietas, p. 85. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 215 prepared to take up her cross, and follow Christ even to her last breath ; if her father could leave her nothing, God would provide for her ; she would work, and could live upon a very httle.' God did provide for her; she was removed from this world at the age of nineteen. With the eldest son, John, they had more success. A little controversy, backed by a promise of a pension of 200 crowns, but more, perhaps, the spirit of the time and place, and the example of those about him, carried him over in August 1610. The blow fell heavily on Isaac at a period of general calamity. After Isaac's death, the conversion of his son was exploite by the flemish Jesuit, Rosweyd, as evidence of the father's catholic leanings. Rosweyd roundly asserted ^ that John had been placed under a scotch Jesuit, George Strahan, ostensibly as mathematical tutor, but with secret instructions to draw him insensibly over to the catholic religion. With reference to this charge, Lancelot Andrewes, bishop of Winchester, told Meric ^ that he had himself questioned John Casaubon on the subject. John had then made the following declaration : ' As to the step I took in changing my religion, I am obliged by my conscience to clear my father before God and men of all cognizance of the act. It was wholly my own act, I did not consult him.' But the diary here is the best evidence, and evinces how untrustworthy is the gossip of the Jesuit colleges which Rosweyd credulously states as fact. Isaac was informed of his son's perversion Aug. 14, 1610, and the entry on that day is one mixed of anguish and wrath ; bitter ejaculations against the generation of vipers who have compassed this treachery against him, and entangled in their controversial net a youth wholly ignorant of theology. Besides John, a nephew of Madame Casaubon, An- toine Estienne, son of Paul, was received into the church ' Rosweyd, Lex Talionis, praef. " M. Casaubon, Pietas, p. 87. Digitized by Microsoft® ai6 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. by cardinal Du Perron, who rewarded him by making him publisher of his own popular writings. 2. Casaubon's dependence on the court was, in other ways than that of being regarded as an unfulfilled bargain, a source of constant discomfort to him. Later in the century, under Louis xiv, pensions were the fashion, and a literary man could accept one from a sovereign with- out any sense of humiliation, even with pride at being distinguished. And as Casaubon fairly earned his salary at the library, he had nothing to feel on this score. On the other hand, there was as yet no public service. All employes were the servants of the monarch. The librarian was so in an especial manner. It was ' the king's library,' and he was ' king's librarian.' He belonged to the court, and had his share in the obligations which the court imposed on all within its circle. There was no humiliation, but also there was no independence. Life then was a system of dependence. The roturier placeman was dependent on the favour of the noble ; the lesser noble on ' les grands ; ' the great noble himself, though not, at this period, so entirely as at a later time, upon the king. The lowliness of Casaubon's situation, and the paltriness of his pay, only made the ownership more unmistakable. A man who sells himself so cheap must be supposed to have sold himself on servile conditions — to have made himself over, body and soul. A mistress purchased almost at her weight in crown pieces, may bear herself proudly, and repel her royal lover with insolent disdain. The poet or the scholar, to whom a pitiful sum is grudgingly doled out, may not think, speak, or write his own thoughts. Write against Baronius ! No, the pope does not allow it. Edit a greek father! That is not for such as you. Even what he received, Casaubon had not the consolation of beheving to be given as recognition of learning. His literary eminence had no other value in the eyes of the Bearnais roue, but as it made him worth buying as a convert. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1610. 217 3. Another crook in his lot was connected with his rehgion, in the personal share he began to have in the system of public defamation set on foot at this time by the Jesuits. Casaubon was named, but only named, not pilloried, in the ' Amphitheatrura ' (1605)1. The order went round that he was to be spared in print, because there were hopes of him. But he was to be threatened, and might be talked against. They sent him, from their libel-manufactory at Maintz, a title page of a book which they professed to have in the press against him^. It went no further at present than letting him know that Scioppius, at Rome, spoke of him as Thraso and atheist. Casaubon says of this in a letter ^ to Chessel (CaseHus) at Helmstadt: 'There is, I beheve, nothing of Thraso in my writings ; and if I were an atheist, I should now be at Rome, whither I have been often invited. I am resolved to make no reply to the snarlings of such a cur.' When Henri iv. expressed his displeasure for the book he was writing 'against the pope,' Casaubon alleged, in his own defence *, that ' for the space of three years last past, they have been describing me as a wicked atheist, as pro- digiously ignorant, and are now engaged in compiling a special book against me, full of scurrility.' It is observable that these brutalities did not emanate from France or from the french Jesuits. Twenty years before, the furious preachers of the league had vented enough of foul language. But literary controversy in France, even when most bitter, has on the whole been creditably decorous. It has often been cruel and insolent, but it has not known the depths of degradation in which the German-Jesuit pamphlets of this period, compounds of the beerhouse, the cloister, and the brothel, are steeped. ' [The book referred to is ' Clari Bonarscii Amphitheatrura Honoris,' the real author of which was Carolus Scribanius (see p. 397 below). A second edition, with a fourth book added, appeared in 1606.] ' Ep. 555. 2 Ep. 516. * Ep. 577. Digitized by Microsoft® 21 8 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Scaliger expostulates ^ with Marc Welser, an Augsburg catholic, on this ground. ' It is Germany, look you, Germany, once the mother of learning and learned men, that is now turning the service of letters into brigandage. My France produces none of these foul scurrilities. From your presses it is that the poisonous matter comes forth. Antwerp, you will say ; but Antwerp only reprints what you produce. The wretch (Scioppius) has no other motive for assailing Casaubon, than mortification at his surpassing merit. It is Casaubon's superiority that will not allow them to rest. They bark whenever they hear his name, and I would take my oath that they can't under- stand the tenth part of what he writes.' Though Casaubon was spared for the moment, yet he was only on good behaviour, and was under the surveillance of the bandits. He could not, too, but share keenly in the pain inflicted upon his honoured friend and master. He gave Scaliger all the sympathy and affection it was possible to give under his trial. Good men every- where, even among the Parisian catholics, disapproved the ' Amphitheatrum,' but not as emphatically as they ought to have done. Scaliger was bespattered with dirt, and though the hand that threw it was the hand of a scoun- drel, they were not quite sorry it was done. It was the interest of the church that the credit of the huguenot critic should be lowered. Few felt, as Casaubon felt, that learning itself was insulted and outraged in the person of Scaliger. Casaubon's personal share might be less than Scaliger's. But to both of them it was a bitter disillusion to find that knowledge which they had devoted life to acquire, was the unpardonable crime which drew down upon them an overwhelming load of slander and abuse. ' Seal. epp. p. 406 : ' Vestra Germania, mi Velsere, quae tot eruditos olim viros protulit, solum hoc spectare videtur, ut nulla alia gens sanctissimum litter- arum ministerium in latrocinium convertisse videatur. ilia sane portenta mea Gallia non producit.' Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1610. 319 4. But it was not only on the side of catholics that Casaubon had to endure much misrepresentation. His own co-religionaries were not a little troublesome to him. In their anxiety for his steadfastness, they beset him with exhortation, remonstrance, or objurgation, according as the fears or hopes of the writer predominated at the moment. In 1601, he had found it advisable, as we: have seen, to give a public assurance of his attachment to his principles, in a letter to the synod of Gergeau. This served for a time. But the reports gathered head again, from time to time, and not unnaturally. When his con- version was so repeatedly announced as a fact by the catholic party, it could not but acquire some credit among the protestants, especially at a distance. In 1604, when Gillot returned to Paris from Poitou^ he found the colporteurs in the streets crying a broadside, ' The con- version of M. Casaubon,' and people 'talking' of nothing else. But it was in 1610 that the report acquired fresh consistency. Casaubon had recently received a severe injury, as he conceived, at the hands of the authorities of Geneva. He did not scruple to go about using strong language in condemnation of their behaviour to him. He was closeted, day after day, with cardinal du Perron. Offers of promotion were made him. In his disputes with the cardinal he gave up much of the ground which the calvinist polemics were accustomed to maintain ; and it was becoming known that he disapproved the neglect or contempt of christian antiquity which the calvinist doctors professed. Especially on the eucharist, he did not con- ceal that the doctrine of the catholics was nearer, than that of the calvinist churches, to what he conceived to be the opinion of the ancient church. We find him admitting to his friends that 'there were many weak points in the protestant system ; ' that the writings of the fathers were often ' strongly forced to get from them a sense favourable ' Ep. franj., p. 419. Digitized by Microsoft® 320 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. to the protestant view ; ' that Du MouHn's position that, ' Scripture is so plain that it needs no interpreter,' is false and dangerous. We can imagine that his appear- ances at the Temple of Charenton, often far between, were narrowly watched, and what a scandal must have been created, when the man, who a few years before thought it a sin to be present at mass, now heard (on passion Sunday 1610) a papist preach, and could approve much — not by any means all — he said. The ground now taken up by Casaubon was, in reality, much firmer than that he had occupied before, inasmuch as it was one of knowledge. Some few of the best men of the party fully understood this, e. g. Du Plessis Mornay writes' to Erpenius, January, 1611, '1 have never, as you know, believed that he would draw near to Rome.' But the calvinist pubhc could not know this; what they did know was, that he no longer shared all their ideas and sentiments. This was quite enough to make him an object of suspicion, at least, to his own party, a party heated by a sense of defeat, and kept in a perpetual state of nervous apprehension by continued injustice and encroachment. The eyes of all the reformed congregations throughout France were on Casaubon ; they were watching his every movement with disquietude, and were agitated with reports of his backsliding. It would have calmed their apprehensions if the pastors of his own church, the church of Paris, could have given him a certificate of orthodoxy. But unfortunately the leading minister at this period, Pierre Du Moulin, had grievances of his own against this illustrious member of his flock, whose reputation threw his own into the shade. Du Moulin was a zealous religionist, who had given up a secure and honourable position at Leyden, for the illrewarded and battered life of minister in his native country. Fond of dispute, and vain of his powers, he ' Mem. et corresp. de Duplessis-Mornay, ii. 143. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 221 spent his life in discussion and controversies, or in v^^riting attacks and answers. A man who maintained so much, and so dogmatically, was naturally obliged to be content sometimes with weak, sometimes with false, arguments. Casaubon, who had to hear his learned displays before his wondering and obedient flock at Charenton, could not help at times throwing out hints of the insufficiency of his glib references to the fathers, or regrets at the levity with which christian antiquity was set aside. He read Du Moulin's pamphlets, and on the margin of one of these, the ' Defence of King James' confession of faith,' had marked a few of the writer's errors. This copy had been seen by some common friends, and Du Moulin called on Casaubon and insisted on having it. Casaubon gave it up, begging him to take his notes in good part. This was just before Casaubon's departure from Paris, but it was the climax of a condition of distant relations between the straying sheep and his spiritual shepherd. That Casaubon had not the least thought of quitting the communion of his church because the minister who preached to him was one of the half-learned, is evident from his whole mental attitude at this time. One passage of the diary may be quoted which bears on this subject. He enters, September 5, 1610 : ' Communicated, and heard the learned sermon of Du Moulin. I cannot indeed deny that the ancients thought very differently of this sacred mystery, and administered it otherwise. I could wish that we had not departed so far from either their faith or their ritual. But inasmuch as neither that faith nor that ritual rests upon the explicit word of God, and I am but a private individual whose duty it is to follow, and not to lead in the church, I have no just ground for making any change myself; least of all so at a time when every effort is being made to establish all the superstitious figments which ages have accumulated.* To be looked on coldly by the calvinistic Du MouUn Digitized by Microsoft® 2%% ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. was enough, to increase the suspicions afloat of Casaubon's unsoundness in the reformed faith. He added to this another error, that of being in friendly relations with theo- logians of a freer cast of doctrine. Neither Daniel Tilenus nor John Uytenbogaert could be accused of inclining to popery ; but their sentiments were felt to be not altogether those of the old-fashioned calvinistic school. The new Arminian protestantism, which was in the next twenty years to play such a part in Holland and England, had not been taken up in France, where the reformed churches were too severely pressed upon by the cathoHcs. But it had been heard of, and Uytenbogaert was already (1610) in ill odour with orthodox calvinists^ With Uytenbogaert Casaubon only became acquainted in the last year of his Paris residence, when he attended the embassy which came in the spring of 1610 from the States General to Henri iv. Casaubon heard the remonstrant champion preach, with approbation ^. They had together a long conference on theological topics. Of this confer- ence no mention is found in the diary. But notes of it were taken by Uytenbogaert at the time, and though it must be read with the latitude required as conversation reported from memory, it is valuable evidence of Casau- bon's sentiments at the period (1610). It is therefore given entire (from Epp. ecclesiasticae (1704), p. 250). ' Cas. Je suis fils d'un ministre. Les ministres point a leur aise pour maintenant. Uyt. II cuidoit estre brusle a Bourdeaux. Cas. Dieu a voulu que je viensse icy, depuis ceux de Geneve m'ont fait la plus grande iniquite du monde. Les papistes pensoyent a cette occasion se prevaloir de moy ; me solliciterent fort, meme le roy. Je luy dis que je le suppliois ne me faire rien faire contre ma conscience ; qu'il ' Daersen writes to Uytenbogaert, in 1610,'' epp. eccles. p. 345 : ' Vostre nom n'est pas pen descri^ en plusieurs endroits de ce royaume ... la France qui est la plus inquiete en pareilles mati^res ..." ^ Ephem. p. 736. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 333 en feroit un hypocrite. II dit qu'il ne voulust pas que je changeasse de religion, mais que je conservasse. Depuis je suis ete fort attaque, nommement de M. Du Perron, qui a la verite est fulmen hominis ; car comme je suis biblio- thdcaire du roy, quand il vient en la bibliothfeque, les occa- sions ne luy manquent point. J'ay subsistes jusques ores, graces a Dieu; mais il faut que cependant jevousconfesse qu'il m'a donne beaucoup de scrupules, qui me restent, et ausquels je ne sfay pas bien respondre ; il me fasche de rougir. L'eschappade que je prens est, que je n'y puis respondre, mais que j'y penseray. Je confesse que je ne puis approuver le concile de Trente, en ce qu'il a decr^te touchant les livres apo- cryphes ; c'est chose abominable, car ce sont des fables ; ni pour la translation latine ; c'est chose abominable. La tyrannic aussi du pape est intolerable. Et pour le fait des images, ainsi comme cela maintenant est en usage, c'est un abus trop manifeste, et tout plein d'autres choses. Mais il fault, monsieur, que je vous confesse, qu'il y en a d'autres que me mettent en peine, quand je considere ceste venerable antiquite. Pour nostre police ecclesias- tique, elle ne me semble pas accorder avec I'antiquite. Uyt. Icy je consens. Addit. Que M. de Beze luy avoit dit, que M. Calvin, voyant les abus de I'eglise Romaine en cest endroit, avoit rade cela ; mais qu'en effet M. Calvin estoit evesque de Geneve, et que peu devant son trespas, il en avoit nomme de Beze, qui n'en voulut point. Un jour M. de Bfeze avoit fait un preche ou il avoit exhorte le magistrat de son deb- voir sur quelque proems, affin que justice tint la balance droite. Monsieur de la Faye, recitant ses propres mots, en avoit preche contre. Moy m'addressant a M. de Beze, qui en pleuroit de regret, (c'estoit une ame vrayement chrestienne, qui me dit un jour qu'il avoit occasion de de- mander pardon a Dieu de ses peches, mais que jamais il n'en demanderoit de I'ambition ; vice auquel il estoit le Digitized by Microsoft® 234 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. moins addonne) Je luy dis, que s'il avoit la police de I'an- tiquite, cela n'adviendroit pas ; ce que m'advoua. Je luy demandai, pourquoy done il avoit tant resiste a I'Angle- terre? il ne respondit rien. 2. Nous n'avons plus de devotion ; en I'acte meme de faire la sainte cene, comme nous allasmes, quelque un me demanda, comment se porte le coque de vos poules d'Inde ? se dire des injures. 3. Pour les malades porter la cene, cela est dans I'an- tiquite. 4. Pour le baptesme, est advenu qu'en un temps extremement rude quelqu'un portoit son enfant pour estre baptise a Charenton, I'enfant estant malade a la mort, on ne voulut pas le baptiser devant le preche ; I'enfant mourut, le pfere se revolta. 5. Pour le sacrement, mesmes il est certain, que I'antiquite donne a entendre, qu'il y a bien quelque autre chose. Plessis beaucoup de faussetez. Moulin aussi au 3 chap, de S. Denis tt/jos <^opavTov b&pov, ■npoa-^opav Tov bdpov ^. 6. Pour la predestination, il est mal aise de ne tirer la con- sequence, Deus est author mali. 7. Pour le liberal arbitre, M. Calvin fait dire a S. Augustin, ce qu'il ne dit pas. 8. Pour les bonnes oeuvres, il y a quelque autre chose qu'on ne dit; pour le moins, il les faudroit plus prescher; M. Perrot disoit un fois a Geneve, qu'on avoit trop prfiche la justification par la seule foy ; il est temps qu'on parle des oeuvres. 9. Pour la descente aux enfers, M. Calvin parle trop cruement. Je sqay que M. Calvin a este grand per- sonnage, mais ses disciples empirent les affaires. II y a un vray Pharisaisme. M. Goulart un jour taschoit de faire jurer les Institutions de M. Calvin. Je suis en la plus grande peine du monde. D'un coste et d'autre je suis mal, non obstant qu'il y a des gens doctes, graces a Dieu, qui m'aiment.' The rest of the memorandum is in Latin. Casaubon inquires if Arminius had expressed himself dissatisfied with the current tenets of the church to which he be- longed ? Uytenbogaert answers : ' He did so, but his main ' [The text is given exactly as it stands in Uytenbogaert's letter.] Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1 6 10. aa5 point was the reunion of Christendom ; and the basis he projected was, the drawing a line between fundamentals and non-fundamentals.' Casaubon exclaimed, 'O pious intentions ! ' . . . Here the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of Reygersberg. These notes bear internal evidence of their genuineness. The Arminian party valued them for the sake of giving their views the authority of Casaubon's name. We cannot wonder, if this was the style of his conversation, at his becoming a scandal and stumbhng-block to beheving calvinists. They afford no evidence of a disposition to embrace Catholicism, while they sufficiently account for the origin and prevalence of such a rumour. Daniel Tilenus, professor of theology at Sedan, had long been one of his trusted correspondents. It was a letter to Tilenus which had brought Casaubon into trouble some years before. In 1602, he had in few and simple terms expressed his indignation at the tone adopted by Canaye de Fresne, who had no sooner gone over than he began to indulge in abusive language of those who did not follow his example. A copy of the letter was shown to Canaye de Fresne at Venice, and seems to have stung a conscience, not quite easy at his act, to fury. He set on the catholic bloodhound, Scioppius, and made a formal complaint to the king. This complaint could come to nothing, as there was really nothing to complain of. In 1610, Tilenus is still the person to whom Casaubon is able best to confide his misgivings as to the calvinistic system, while at the same time he reasserts his own steadfastness as against the inducements held out to him to desert to Rome. He tells Tilenus ^ that it is quite true that the people and government of Geneva have done him a great injury, but not true that he ever thought of abandoning his religious principles on that account. ' I thank you,' he continues, ' for informing me that such reports are current. ' Ep. 1023. Q Digitized by Microsoft® %%b ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. But is it possible that you yourself were inclined to attach any credence to them ? Have I ever shown any particular desire of wealth and honour? Have I not had golden fortune knocking at my door, almost breaking it open, and have I not resisted the temptation ? ' How then, you will ask, did a report to this effect originate ? Let me remind you of the situation in which I have been placed. For years past I have scarce had a day free from contests with persons professing a different religion. With what freedom, with what zeal. I have spoken on these occasions, God knows. I never invited these conflicts ; they were always forced upon me. I was not a theologian, but being compelled to give reasons for my opinions, I was driven to suspend all other studies and to give myself up to this one. I compared the writings of our friends and their opponents with the doctrine of the ancient church. Among the rest I read Bellarmine. On scripture, tradition, the authority of the old commentators, on the power of the pope, on images, on indulgences, I could by certain reasons demonstrate all Bellarmine's positions to be false. But when I come to the chapter on the sacraments (though there be also some things which can be refuted), it is no less clear to me that the whole of antiquity with one consent is on the side of our opponents, and that our writers who have attempted to show that the fathers have held our views have egregiously wasted their time. The careful study of the ancients has raised certain scruples in my mind. About these I would give a kingdom to be able to consult you, for all I desire is to learn. That I am staggered by the consent of the whole ancient and orthodox church I cannot conceal.' When things had gone so far as this, we must admit that if there was no real foundation,, there was at least some justification, for the alarms of the protestants and their jealousy that Casaubon was about to desert them. 5. Other sorrows which attend our advancing years now Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1610. 327 began to crowd round Casaubon. The death of his mother in 1607 was in the course of nature. She had survived her husband twenty-two years, and her declining age had been sustained by the affection of her illustrious son, who, poor as he was, had, out of his poverty, minis- tered to her comfort. She had declined to follow him to Paris, naturally preferring the climate of her native south, and a protestant neighbourhood. As long as Casaubon resided at Geneva or MontpeUier, she made frequent and long visits to him. After his removal to Paris, he visited her as often as he could ; the last time, in 1603 ; visits which Casaubon could dwell upon after her death ^ as consolatory. He writes ^ to Pierre Perillau of the incred- ible satisfaction which he has had in his visit to his mother, from which he is just returned. ' I wanted to have located her at Geneva; but she would not. I have therefore purchased a house for her at Bourdeaux (in Dauphine) and have done my possible, nay, more, to relieve her from all apprehension about the future. Thank God, she is now in sufficiently easy circumstances for a person who has so few wants.' In 1602 he had lost the best of his sisters, Sara Cha- banes. One of her sons, Pierre, Isaac had undertaken to educate and provide for. Just as the youth was beginning to be very useful to Casaubon, both in his reading, and in the library, when he was just of age, he fell a victim to one of the voyages to Hablon. He caught his death in the boat on a bitter Palm Sunday, such as Parisians know too well ^. The heaviest blow was the loss of his much-cherished daughter, Philippa. Superior endowments of. mind, and a generous elevation of character, had endeared this daughter to the father above all his many children. Philippa was his pride and his consolation. Without beauty, she had the sweet charm of graceful seriousness, '■ Ephem. 558. ^ Bulletin de la soc. prot. 2. 290. ^ ^ [V. antea, p. 130.] Q2 Digitized by Microsoft® 338 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect: or softened melancholy, which belonged to the huguenot women of that generation. A presentiment of her early- grave perhaps hung about herself, which her deHcacy of constitution, and frequent ailments, too surely predicted to the apprehensive mind of the fond father. Philippa had been much noticed by the family of the English ambassador, Carew. Lady Carew (she was a Godolphin) took such a liking to her that she offered to take her into her house as companion. The other advant- ages were great, but the opportunity of learning the lan- guage was what chiefly attracted Philippa, whose young life was clouded with dread of a time when they might all have to fly for life, and who looked to England as the place of refuge. The parents, though loth to part with their darling, thought they ought not to reject such an introduction for her. In a few months she became an established favourite in the household of the Carews, who told the parents they ought to think themselves happy indeed in such a child. The flower was nipt in the bud by a fever which carried her off, after a few days' illness, set. ig. The entry of the interment in the cemetery of the faubourg S. Germain is dated February 26, 1608^. Lady Carew joined her tears with those of Madame Casaubon ^- For Isaac all attempts to return to his books were for some time fruitless. The blow was the more severe, as none of the other children seemed likely to replace the lost one, but were rather a source of discomfort. John, the eldest, early de- veloped a crooked disposition. We find him'^, ast. 18, thieving from his parents' poor purse nine crowns, and otherwise distressing them by lending a favourable ear to the professional convertisseurs. Twelve months after- wards, set. 19, he went over, as has been already related. It was in great measure upon the lies set afloat by this ^ Bulletin de la soc. prot. 12. 276. Reg. de daces, 26 ftvr. 1608 ; ' Philippe Casaubon, fille de M. Casaubon, professeur du roy, et garde de sa bibliotheque.' ^ Ephem. 589 ; ' Suas nostris lacrimas adjungens.' ^ Ephem. 625. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 239 young rogue among his new associates that the reports were founded of Isaac's apostacy. Of his children in general the diary says^, in 1607, ' They are almost all great troubles to me, some of them because they are always ill, some because they make no progress either in virtue or in letters.' He is in fear that more of them will follow John's example ^. This grievous disappointment was not to extend to Meric. Meric, at the date when this wail was wrung from the desponding father, was only seven. In the following year, aet. 8, he was sent to school at Sedan, under Samuel Neran. Here he remained till 1611, when he rejoined his father in England. Isaac lived to see Meric confirmed, but not to see developed in him those learned tastes and accom- plishments which might have consoled the father for the degeneracy of the rest of the children. The only letter which Meric preserved of those written to him in his school-days, is so characteristic of the writer that it is thought right to give it. It is dated Paris, September 18, i6og. ' Meric, I am glad that you write to me tolerably often, and shall be more so if you do so oftener. I shall, however, expect each letter to show some progress since the one which preceded it. I see that you are beginning to compose latin themes, but not without bad mistakes. Learn something every day. Exercise your memory diligently. If Terence is one of the books you read at school, I desire that you will commit it to memory from beginning to end. No one will ever speak latin well who has not thumbed Terence. Write me word if you read Terence, and what it is you read at school. Above all, be good, fear God, pray for father, mother, brothers, and sisters. Honour your teachers, and be obedient to them. Be careful not to waste time. If you do this, God will bless your studies. I have written to the master, and 1 Ephem. p. 546. ' Ephem. p. 764. Digitized by Microsoft® 23° ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. to the person with whom you board, not to let you want for anything. Your mother sends her remembrances, and desires you will, from her; kiss Mrs. Capell's hands, as I do also. Your father, Is. Casaubon. Remember me to the Hotomans.' In the same year that his mother died, 1607, his surviving sister, Anna, left a widow by the death of her husband, Jean Rigot \ came to Paris. Isaac had portioned her, giving her, with Madame Casaubon's consent, 500 crowns, their joint savings intended for Philippa. Her husband's brothers, the Rigots, had some claim upon Jean, which, after a litigation of twelve years, resulted in a decision adverse to Anna. She was left penniless, and Isaac, who had maintained her as well as his mother, now took her to live with him. Her temper soon proved the bane of his household 2. She and Madame Casaubon could not agree, ' fire and water sooner,' says the diary ^- It went on from bad to worse. She soon turned on Isaac, reproaching him with doing no more for her. At last she became so unreasonable that it was doubtful if she were in her right mind. Yet the long-suffering man continued to keep this * ' monstrum mulieris ' in his household. Well might he ask Rutgers °, who offered him hospitality, ' Are you a Crassus that you can lodge an army ? Were I really to appear with my whole establishment, you would be alarmed.' 6. Other troubles originated with the family of his wife. Paul Estienne, Madame Casaubon's brother, though himself a member of the council of 200 at Geneva, was somehow compromised in the treasonable practices of the syndic Blondel. Blondel was executed in September 1606. Paul, however, who was perhaps guilty of nothing more heinous than the desire to save Blondel, got off for ' [See antea, p. 7.] ^ Ephem. p. 629 : ' Nube tristissima banc domum obfuscavit.' ' Ephem. p. 517. * Ephem. p. 672. = Ep. 723. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 231 a few weeks' imprisonment. He was released on engaging to appear whenever called upon. He had before this neglected his business ^ and in 1607 he made his appear- ance in Paris in a state of penury. The business which brought him was the affair of the greek matrixes before spoken of It would seem that sir Henry Savile was desirous of employing the royal type in his edition of S. Chrysostom, and for this purpose would have been willing to purchase the set of matrixes which were at Geneva. In this negotiation Savile sought the mediation of Casaubon, who had supplied him with collations from the royal library, and lodged 506 crowns in the hands of the English ambassador at Paris. Casaubon, or his Wife, as co-heir of Henri Estienne, was joint owner of the matrixes. But as Henri, in his lifetime, had been com- pelled to mortgage this property, they must be disengaged before they could be sold. Isaac Casaubon, besides finding Paul in a supply of cash for his immediate necessities, became surety for 200 crowns, and sent him back to Geneva, to effect the object. But when it became known that the matrixes were about to be sold to England, the authorities of Geneva interfered. They claimed them as part of the establishment of Robert Estienne, and as irre- movable from Geneva under his will ^- At the same time the Genevan courts of law decided, on the suit of Nicolas Leclerc, the mortgagee, in his favour, to the effect that he should be repaid the amount of his advance, 400 crowns, out of the estate of Henri Estienne. As Paul Estienne had not a single crown which he could call his own, this was to decide that Isaac Casaubon should pay his father- in-law's debts, and yet not get possession of the valuable ' Ep. 60S ■ ' Fatal! circa rem familiarem negligentia.' ^ The will of Robert Estienne is printed from the archives of Geneva in R^nouard, Annales des Estienne, ed. 2». p. 578. The affairs of the Estienne are still involved in some obscurity. I have given the best account I can of Casaubon's implication in the business, but am in some doubt as to parts of my statement. Digitized by Microsoft® 23a ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect, property pledged to meet them. He had to satisfy Henri Estienne's creditors out of his own purse. No wonder that his denunciations were passionate and bitter. Besides the heavy pecuniary loss, he was irritated by the injustice, and by the quarter from which it proceeded, 'his own Geneva, for which he would readily have laid down his life.' Worse still, he met with no sympathy from his Genevese friends. In all the city, Diodati, the professor of Hebrew, was the only person who offered condolence. All Geneva approved the sentence. Du Laurens, the scholarch, Casaubon's successor as classical professor, in writing to the victim himself^, could not conceal his delight. Lect, his own advocate, and legal adviser in the business, who did not defend the decision, hinted that it was hardly rational to ascribe a decision of a court of law to the rapacity of the pastors and professors, as Casaubon did. The letter of remonstrance^ written by Simon Goulart, in the name of the ' ccetus pastorum,' and intended to pacify Casaubon, was little adapted to do so, being written in a canting tone, alleging their well known god-fearing character as proof that they could not have wronged him. 7. As there are men who continually grow richer without effort, so there are others who are continually impoverished without any fault of their own. Capital, small or large, requires an attentive eye to nurse it, and the scholar's attention is necessarily elsewhere. Isaac Casaubon seems never to touch money but to lose it. He lost for himself, he lost for his sister, he had lost before for his mother. His own little patrimony at Bourdeaux, his wife's dower at Geneva, his sister's portion, all disap- peared, not spent, but lost. Biographers rap out the con- secrated phrases about ' bearing losses with philosophy.' Philosophy teaches the contrary lesson ; it teaches the all- importance of money, as the condition of moral activity. ' Ep. 600. 2 Burney mss. 367. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610, 233 Casaubon's financial calamity dwelt on his mind and interfered seriously with his reading: ^'For some months past I have lost that spring of mind which used to bear me up, amid my studies.' Casaubon's financial grievances are a pervading topic of his diary and letters, in which they occupy a more prom- inent place than will be approved by those who think that scholars ought to affect to live on greek roots. This biography is not intended as an apology, but as a portrait, and therefore must present what it fijids. But indeed no apology is needed. If it be to a man's credit to be un- worldly, Casaubon was eminently unworldly. His money troubles are the troubles of a man who could neither get it nor keep it, a man for whom the world is too keen and sharp, who is conscious that he is surrounded by money- getting creatures more able than himself. Nor does he, any more than any other philosopher, desire wealth apart from its uses. Through all his moanings and wailings, his outcries, and wringing of hands, the one object of his existence is perceptibly in his thoughts, leisure and books — books and leisure to read them, — the scholar's life — income only as its means and guarantee. He does not complain of the insufficiency of his salary. Indeed his salary and pension together were of larger amount than the average of academical or scholastic incomes at the time. Besides this there come occasional presents, not often such munificent gifts as those of the king and Harlay. Then he got something, small — but something, for his books from the booksellers, something also from dedicatees for dedications. Chouet, the Genevan bookseller, was to give him a half escu per sheet for revising his Suetonius, and something besides — ' quantum sequum erit' — for new matter ^ He takes boarders occa- sionally into his house, but only the sons of great people, ' Ep. 587 : ' Ab aliquot mensibus alacritatem illam prorsus amisimus, qusE studia nostra plurimura sublevabat.' "^ Burney mss. 365. p. 62. Digitized by Microsoft® 334 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. who might be expected to pay, e. g. lord Herbert ^ of Cherbury, the two sons of Calignon, the chancellor of Navarre, and the son of Sapieha, chancellor of Lithuania. And though the rent of his house in the faubourg S. Ger- main is uncommonly high, it should seem that Mercier des Bordes had some arrangement by which he shared it with him, as well as, possibly, provided his country retreat at Grigny. But, on the other hand, the scale of living, and every other expense, especially firewood, was then, as now, excessively high in the capital as compared with the provinces. At Montpellier 30 livres had been sufficient to find him a lodging. In Paris he must pay 400. A parisian laquais would spurn the modest portion which would be accepted as suitable with a daughter, by a provincial bourgeois. When the city of Nimes offered Casaubon 1 800 livres, they told him ^ that he would find it more at Nimes than the larger salary he was actually receiving. At one time difficulties experienced in the payment of his stipend counted as one of his standing troubles. The aversion of Rosny (Sully) for all pensions was proverbial. He justly dreaded Henri's facility in granting orders on the treasury, and resisted or evaded payment as long as it was possible. He had acquired the character, most valuable to any keeper of an exchequer, of being a dragon of the public money. He was the terror of the holders of orders, whom he snubbed and humiliated even when compelled to pay^. Casaubon had at first to run the gauntlet of Sully's antechamber, to go and wait hours, and then be told to come again another day. ' March 13, 1601. This day also wholly lost. Went to ^ Life of Lord Herbert, p. 67, about 1608, in company with Aurelian Townsend : ' Througli the recommendation of the lord ambassador, I was received to the house of that incomparable scholar, Isaac Casaubon, by whose learned conversation I much benefited myself.' Cf. Ephem. p. 641: 'Angli hodie nos adierunt.' Patrick Young, son of Sir Patrick, was intended to have been sent to Casaubon in 1608. Smith, Vita Junii, p. 9. '^ Ep- 45^' ^ Lestoile, Reg.-journal, p. 531. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1 610. 235 Rosny, who gave me plainly enough to understand what I may look for at his hands. . . De Thou and other great friends who really care for my interest, have no influence with this barbarous man.' ' December ig, 1603. Some work early ; then to Rosny, but fruitlessly; he was at home and disengaged, but I could not get speech of him.' In October 1604, Scaliger writes ^ to him that he is not afraid of Henri abandoning him; 'more is to be feared from the dragon that guards the golden fleece, than from your avowed enemies. He is the only person who can convince the king that "plus capere intestina philologi, quam arcam unius iropvopoo-Kov." ' But Sully did not take this view of their comparative claims. Casaubon's demands were a bagatelle by the side of the lavish extravagance which Sully was daily called on to meet. To mistresses so many 100,000 livres. To the great nobles so many milHons. Sully himself was on the pension list for 20,000 francs. But then king and nobles, these were beings who had a right to existence ! Sully's own account of the matter was ^, ' Henri invited Casaubon to come to Paris with his family, and assigned him a pen- sion which permitted him to live as becomes a man of that sort, who is not called to govern the state.' Besides the just dislike of 'mere nothings 'which the true pursekeeper has. Sully wanted to see Casaubon ' do something for his money,' and told him so ^ : ' Vous coutez trop au roi, monsieur ; vous avez plus que deux bons capitaines ; et vous ne servez de rien! Even the professors of the college royal could not get their nominal salaries paid. Etienne Hubert, for example, an intimate friend of Casaubon, and a man of real merit, was regius reader of Arabic. He had been employed by the government in negotiations with the Algerines, and sent out to Morocco. On his return he was rewarded with ' Seal. epp. p. 271. ^ CEcon. royales. ' Esprit de Henri iv, p. 104. Digitized by Microsoft® 236 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. the chair of Arabic. The king gave the chair, but Sully had to pay the salary, and never did. For himself, Casau- bon's own personal favour with Henri got him out of the difficulty. ' When you want to be paid '^, you come to me and I will give you a password, which will enable you to get your money. Never mind Rosny ; it is his share of the business to say the disagreeable things ; the saying the pleasant things I keep for myself.' Accordingly, in the later years of the Paris residence we find no further complaints from Casaubon of non-payment. What the nature of the password was we are not told. But what- ever it was, it was good only for Casaubon himself. He failed entirely to get the same privilege for Hubert. In vain he used his own small influence, and got Harlay to promise to take the matter up. Harlay undertook to speak to Sully, and said the affair would soon be settled. It never was settled, and Hubert was obliged to leave his arabic studies and chair, and go off to Orleans, to earn his bread by the practice of medicine. Among all the pensions ^, that to Casaubon was the only outlay Henri made on literature. And the exception con- firms the rule. Even in this unique 2000 livres, literature had the least share. The consideration for which it was given was only partly Casaubon's services as librarian ; it was much more the anticipated conversion. To the last Henri continued to expect the recantation, to urge it through Du Perron, and to refuse Casaubon's repeated request ^ to be dismissed. These applications were made through Villeroy*, through Sully himself, nothing loth. ' I quote these words of the king from ' L' esprit de Henri iv,' p. 104, which gives, as its authority, ' manuscrit in 4°.' ^ Henri iv. invited Malherbe to court, telling him ' qu'il lui ferait du bien.' He never did anything. It was not till after Henri's death that the poet obtained a pension of 1500 livres from the government of the queen regent. ^ Exercc. in Baron, p. 42. ' Ep- 557 : ' Que sa Majestd me permette me retirer ailleurs, sit6t que mon grand ouvrage de Polybe . . . sera achevg.' Cas, to Villeroy, June, 1607. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 237 Sully was mollified, and permitted himself to be gracious to Casaubon when he found that his pensioner, instead of hanging on about the court for what he could get, wanted much more to be gone elsewhere. It was Henri's per- sonal good will that chained Casaubon so long in the uncongenial life of the intensely catholic capital. It would perhaps be unjust not to allow that some humane feeling mingled with the egotistic monarch's arriere pensee. He treated his scholar, whenever he saw him, with so much bonhommie, that we cannot but wish that he had been able to appreciate him. We feel disposed to say with Scipio Gentilis ^, ' One thing only is wanting in your great king to make him perfect, viz. that he does not sufficiently value your learning. O ! if he only knew latin to be able to do so!' Casaubon well understood that nothing but Henri's personal favour protected him. The thought could not but often occur : ' If anything should happen to — it was too dreadful ! If that thread should break, what would become, not merely of Casaubon, but of the whole huguenot population of Paris ! ' 8. Death began, as time went on, to be busy among his friends. In 1606 died his friend and patron Calignon, chancellor of Navarre, one of the few great men who remained stanch huguenots, and yet retained some influence at court. In 1607 he lost Lefebre, his trusted physician, who best knew his constitution^- Lefebre had attained the age of seventy-two, but Hadrian Willems of Flushing was cut off in the flower of youth. In him Casaubon had just found, what he had long sought in vain, a young and eager disciple, athirst for. knowledge, and giving his whole soul to acquiring it. He had come ^ Burney mss. 364. p. 137 : ' Ad summum et perfectissiraum omnium virtutum culmen una res deesse magno regi videtur, quod virtutem et eruditionem tuam non satis intelligat, intelligeret autem satis, si latine modo sciret.' Scipio Gentilis to Cas. 1609. ^ Ephem. p. 475 : ' Sapientissimus medicus atque exercitatissimus Faber sic tractandas vires hujus infirmi corpusculi judicat.' Digitized by Microsoft® 238 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. with an introduction from Scaliger, and had at once re- commended himself to Casaubon by his simple modest manners, and ardour of study. He was a student of medi- cine, and was eager to penetrate the great secret of nature. Such means of observation as the medical school of Paris afforded he used industriously, but thought, as was com- monly thought then, that more might be learned from the arabian writers. Though every part of knowledge had attractions for his ample curiosity, arable was the immedi- ate point of contact between Hadrian and Casaubon. Hadrian had come to Paris more for the sake of being near Casaubon than for the schools ^. Isaac soon found that whatever might be his own superiority in greek, in arabic the young Fleming was qualified to be his teacher. ' He had thumbed Avicenna by constant use ; the Koran was so familiar to him, that after you,' Casaubon writes to Scaliger^, 'I suppose no European would come near him.' He was preparing to go in the suite of the french ambas- sador to Constantinople, when he was seized with inflam- mation of the bowels, and died after a few days' illness. His projects and accomplishments vanished into air! and Casaubon's arabic reading was discontinued when the instructor and the stimulus were withdrawn ^. Charles Labbe, though intimate, and even useful, never came into the place which Hadrian's death left vacant. The death which searched Casaubon most deeply was that of Scaliger. Had he lost, in losing him, only the patron of his fame and fortunes, the true and sympathetic friend to whom he told the secret troubles of his life, the loss would have been heavy, and at fifty irreplaceable. But Scaliger was, besides this, the oracle who could resolve his learned difficulties, the only reader who could appreciate his classical work*. For whom should he 1 Seal. epp. p. 185 : ' Non urbis celebritas, sed eximia eruditio tua evocavit.' ^ Ep. 402. " Ep. 548. ' To appreciate Casaubon's books was claimed by Scaliger as his peculiar privilege. Seal, opuscula, p. 520. epp. p. 301. . Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. x6oo-i6io. 239 write, now Scaliger was not there to read ? Others might applaud, but it was with a purbhnd admiration. The death of Scahger was Hke the setting of the sun. It was now, not dark, in the republic of letters, but starlight only. To the last he saw and read everything that came out, with his facul- ties and his memory perfect, and appraised it at its value. In his correspondence with Casaubon his amiable quaUties, often obscured by his contact with a malignant and un- scrupulous party, come into full evidence. Their inter- course had been conducted wholly by letter. They never met. Scaliger left France for Holland in 1593, before Casaubon quitted Geneva; and Casaubon, though often scheming a visit to Leyden, had never found it possible to put the design into execution. Yet a fast and intimate friendship had grown up between them. There is, perhaps, hardly another instance on record of such a perfect intimacy created and maintained without personal intercourse. Something may have been due to the medi- ation of friends, especially Richard Thomson and young Dousa, towards exciting in Scaliger affection for the man, whose learning he had begun to respect from his books. It is the charm of their mutual correspondence, which we have still complete on both sides, that in it we can trace, from its first germ, the formation, growth, and development of this perfect friendship, which, from first to last, was never once clouded by a moment's suspicion, disagree- ment, or misunderstanding. Casaubon introduced himself to Scaliger by an epistle, simply asking for his acquaintance, — an epistle such as he addressed to many other men of learning. The request was prompted by the yearning for sympathy, which every engrossing study creates, — a yearning which found no response in theological Geneva. Nearly twenty years younger than Scaliger, and still unknown, Casaubon ventured to approach the prince of letters, timidly, and on his knees, with homage, which would seem overacted, Digitized by Microsoft® 240 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. only that it is not acting at all. Scaliger, at first somewhat condescending and patronising, as Casaubon grows bigger and bigger, gradually admits him to an equal familiarity of address, conceding to him distinctly the superiority in the matter of greek reading. This is done without affectation, without mortification, rather with undisguised satisfaction in the discovery. From the moment he saw the Suetonius (1595) he wished to get him called to Leyden, and endeavoured it, but in vain ^. After Casaubon was settled in Paris, Scaliger was steady in advising him to stay, where he was tolerably well off, and ever endeavoured to soothe his friend's restless fears. But he pressed for the visit which was ever promised. ^ ' Should it please the Almighty Father to prolong my days till the spring, that I might receive you here, I should indeed be happy in seeing that which many things forbade me ever to hope. If you do think of coming, take my advice, and come in May — not earlier. In this climate, winter leaves its mark even so late; no trace of spring is visible till Taurus is pretty well set. But only come ; come even in midwinter if you choose to do so. We will counteract him by the cheerful fire which I will keep in your bed- chamber, sparely furnished maybe, but clean ; for I have only to offer the " concha saHs puri," and a heart which is devoted to you.' Casaubon replies^, 'That he had resolved not to be a burden to Scaliger during his stay in Leyden, but rather to go to the inn. After such an invi- tation, however, he was afraid he should not be able to resist the temptation.' Though ScaHger speaks of his humble saltcellar, the Heidelberg bookseller, CommeHn, thought his entertainment, on his visit to Leyden, magnifi- cent. This invitation was sent in 1604-5. Then the visit was deferred from year to year. In the autumn of 1608 the weakness which began to confine Scaliger to his bed declared itself, and the visit never took place at all. 1 Seal. epp. p. 153. ^ Seal. epp. p. a68. ^ Ep. 428. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 341 Twelve months prior to his last illness, Scaliger had made a will, and dividing a few memorials among his friends, he left Casaubon a piece of plate 1. ' Touchant ce peu que j'ay d'or ou argent en oeuvre, je legue au Sieur Isaac Casaubon soubs maitre de la librairie du roi, une coupe d'argent doree avec son estuy, que les messieurs des etats de Zeelande m'ont donne^.' He tells Casaubon that he had given him something ; ' I have left trifling remembrances among my friends, proofs of affection, not of wealth. Enrich them I cannot, nor will they expect it . The little matter I have left you, I could wish had been better and larger ; but I trust it will gratify you, as it is an honour to me to have named you even in my last will.' So well was it understood that Casaubon was the nearest and dearest, that it was to him that Heinsius addressed the graphic and touching narrative of the hero's last hours. Casaubon was to communicate it to de Thou. To Casau- bon was assigned, by consent of all the friends, the composition of a prefatory eloge to Scaliger's collected essays, which was published in 1610, a piece which Scipio Gentilis, cast away in the pine-barrens of Franconia, could not read without tears ^. Indeed, Casaubon had not waited for death to sanctify such an effusion, but, had given vent to his feehngs in a preface to Scaliger's greek translation of Martial, a panegyric upon the living which was intended as compensation for the brutal attack of the ' Amphitheatrum,' and was taken by Scaliger as such *. Casaubon's letters to Scaliger are truly autobiographical. In the whole folio volume, among more than 1200 letters, there are none which have the same confiding tone, the ' This cup is left by Casaubon's will ' to that sonne, who walkinge in the feare of God, shal be fittest to sustayne my family, I doe give the cup of M''. Scaliger. of moste happie memory.' See note A in app. to sect. lo. ' Burney Mss 376, and see Bullet.de la soc. prot. 18. 595. ' Burney mss. 364. p. 141. ' Seal. epp. p. 337 : ' Ego profecto iilam non ad meam laudem, sed ad defensionem mei comparatam esse judico.' R Digitized by Microsoft® 242 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. perfect truth that what is said will fall on a friendly ear, and be secure of friendly response. Scaliger is an accurate and satisfactory correspondent : replying himself to each topic started in the letter he is answering; a punctuality which Casaubon does not imitate. From no one does Casaubon receive in his griefs that solid comfort which Scaliger was prompt to offer. ' I cannot tell you,' writes Casaubon ^ in July, 1608, ' the satisfaction your last gave me. It was so unmistakably evident how much you loved me, and how deeply you felt my adverse fortune. You were the only one who sympathised with me when I was swindled by the petty tyrants of the lake (Geneva). And now again this thunderbolt has fallen on my house (death of Philippa), your letters show that you feel it with me. The labour you spent in writing to me was not thrown away, 8te y^pov, the reading of your epistle was no small com- fort to me.' Casaubon's affectionate nature having found a strong soul to which to cling, abandoned itself to the culte of the hero with a devotion which bordered on idolatry. ' I know,' he writes ^ in 1605, ' what the good and the learned owe to you ; how much more do I owe ! Were I to spend my life in your service, in executing your commands, I could not repay a tenth part of the debt. What a father is to a son, that you are to me ; I am your devoted client.' While the loss was recent he writes to Kirchmann ^ : ' What tears are enough at this funeral ? Past ages have never seen his like; perhaps no future time will. The more conversant any one becomes with letters, the more grand will he find that incomparable hero in his writings ! ' To Du Plessis Mornay he says*, 'His death has taken away all my courage. Now I can do nothing more.' To all these losses, sorrows, and vexations must be added another constant source of misery. This was the habitual ill-health of himself and almost all his family. ' Ep. 606. 3 Ep. 460. * Ep. 6a8. « Ep. 624. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1 6 10. 343 Madame Casaubon, besides her twenty-two confinements, was always ailing, often alarmingly ill, though she survived her husband, notwithstanding, many years. On the occasion of these frequent attacks, which seem to have been of the nature of intermittent fever, Isaac was assiduous in waiting on his wife, and sacrificed his hours without a murmur. The children were equally trouble- some; first one, then another, sometimes all at once, January, 1604, he writes to Du Puy, 'Since you left us we have hardly spent a single day free from illness, either of myself or my wife, or both.' September 12, 1610, the diary has, ' My wife, setting off to receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper, had no sooner entered the barge than she began to be unwell. She communicated, but was immediately after brought home by our two friends, M. Herauld and Dr. Arbault (the physician), and she now lies suffering from a severe attack of fever. Meanwhile the greater part of our children are in bed with fever, and I too have begun to be unwell. God eternal, look upon this prostrate family.' Upon Isaac himself the shadow of death was slowly advancing for years before the closing scene. His ailment was constitutional, but was aggravated by the sedentary life he had led from his early youth. Scaliger already in 1606 knew of him, by description, as 'tout courbe d'estude ;' he was then only forty-seven. August, 1610, is the first occasion on which the diary notes the passing of gravel, though as a symptom which had ap- peared some time before. He is always dosing himself with purgatives, or being treated or bled by his doctors. After the death of Lefevre, ' who best knew how to treat this weakly carcase of mine,' there were Arbault and Mayerne, -the latter of whom he again met in England. From what we hear of their treatment, it seems to have been governed exclusively by a fear of fever, and by the presence of gravel. He drinks Spa water, which was as R 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 244 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. procurable in Paris then as now. For years he had used little or no wine. 'Wine does not make men more disposed to study,' he says in correcting <^tX^ai; for ^ikocTo^lav in Athenaeus, 5. i. As early as 1597, Varanda, the Montpellier physician^, used to tell him that if he continued to live as he was then doing, he would have, like Achilles, a glorious career but a short one. The bodily languor, of which he constantly complains, manifested itself in a dejected and apprehensive condition of mind. This grew upon him. He begins to consider himself a marked man, against whom the fates have conspired. His letters are lost ; no one else's are, of course ^. ' I recognise my luck, a man to whom for montjis past nothing has happened, but what is disagree- able and contrary.' This general tinge of sadness not only colours the diary, it is visible in all he writes. He expresses ' his fear that traces of this depression will be found in the Polybius ; in the commentary, no doubt, for it could hardly infect translation. Translation, demanding close attention and watchful care, but no intellectual elas- ticity, was just the occupation to deaden sorrow. Polybius, he tells Rittershusius *, had been his refuge and solace, the only anodyne of his suffering under the loss of his daughter, which else had been unbearable. Heavy grief, such as this, drove him to his books ; lesser annoyances and worries took him from them ®, and so fretted his mind, 'that he must almost renounce the Muses.' This happens especially on occasions of Madame Casaubon's absence. The cares of the household are then thrown upon him ; a hungry craving for her presence takes possession of him ; he is in positive anguish if she does not write by every post ; if she postpones her return from Grigny for a single day, he is the most wretched of men. There is, indeed, in the faces, as in the words, of all ^ Ep. 133, where Veranaeus is, no doubt, Varanda. * Ep. 604. ' Ep. 623. * Ep. 6n. 5 Ep. 584. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 345 the old huguenots of Henri iv.'s reign, a common trait of mournfulness. They write as men for whom hope is extinct, whose cause is lost; with a consciousness that they belong to a past age, that they have nothing to look for in this world. They sit waiting for death as the hour of relief. ^' My last sad consolation,' writes Scaliger, in 1606, ' is that if any general disaster is in the air, death is near at hand to deliver me.' Calignon, set. 57, sank under the weight of chagrin in the same year, saying, '^'good men had no reason to desire to live.' Du Plessis Mornay we have seen retire broken-hearted to his petty governorship of Saumur; D'Aubigne was equally estranged : de Thou struggled, alone and in vain, against the spirit of the times, and the tendencies of the age ^. Forgetfulness was surely the only condition on which a huguenot could live in Paris. It is surprising, after what had occurred, after 1572, and the ten subsequent years, to find them within twenty years domiciled in the capital, still stained with their blood, and going about among a populace which was still taught to execrate them. The administration of Henri iv, though not what can be called a strong police, was firm and just enough to be respected. Yet no executive has been secure against surprise by the excitable Parisian mob, and much mischief could be done before armed help could come. Scaliger's estimate of the situation at the time of the huguenot panic of 1605 seems to put it in a clear light. Himself in a safe retreat, yet having his most valued friends in the place of danger, and in intimate relations with the french embassy at the Hague, he was better informed than Casaubon, though on the spot. He writes July 24, 1605, 'The two principal topics in your last, viz. the perpetual terror ' Seal. epp. p. 337 : ' Ultima est ilia consolatio, sed miserrima, quod si qua futura est calamitas, eo brevior erit, quo propius a morte absum.' 2 Thuani Hist. 6. 381. ' [De Thou, however, was not himself a huguenot ; see aniea, p. 59 ] Digitized by Microsoft® 246 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. in which you live, and the offer from Nimes, require more time, and more consideration, if I am to make an advised answer. But I can now only write a few hurried words, as young Vassan, who takes this, is leaving immediately. You tell me you do not think yourself safe where you are, where bad men have the upper hand, and the influence of the good is diminishing daily. I make allowance for some misgiving; there is too much ground for it, you share it with all good men ; and I cannot be surprised that you should have thought of removing. But if one looks more closely into the grounds of this panic, it does not certainly seem to me that there is sufficient reason for forming any such desperate resolution. After all, the bad have not yet reached such a height of power as to have the good at their mercy; nor under the present sovereign is the innocent less safe there than the bully. I do not see any ground for thinking that you cannot continue to live there in safety. If you come to the inscrutable future (r6 &br]Xov rod iieXXovros) and urge that the part of prudence is to anticipate the fall of the house, and not to wait till it has tumbled in upon you, I remind you that a man is a man, and not God, who alone can know future events. If it is the part of the wise to suspect a calm, I rejoin it is also his part not to believe every alarming rumour.' The obscure allusion in the last sentences is to what neither of the correspondents would put into words, but what was in both their thoughts. The catastrophe of May 14, 1610, was felt, and known to be coming, even then, at five years' distance. It was not, then, mere fretful restlessness which urged Casaubon, during his twelve years' sojourn in Paris, to be always planning to leave. The uncertain tenure of his office, the insecurity of Ufe itself, combined, with the wearying distractions of society, to engage him to seek quiet and safety elsewhere. It was so well known that he Digitized by Microsoft® IV,] PARIS. 1600-1610. 347 was on the wing, that overtures were being continually made to him, from various quarters. With each of these he dallied for a time, but when it came to the point, the negotiation was always broken off. The real reason was that he could not make up his mind to offend Henri iv, who made his stay a personal matter, and would have made his departure a personal quarrel. By going else- where he might get rid of importunate visitors, but would sacrifice valuable friends. And what library could replace to him the royal library ? Of all places Geneva, his native city, which had so wronged him, was least likely to be the chosen Zoar. Yet his friends in Geneva, Lect and Diodati, were not without hope. In 1601, Lect writes^ that their poverty, and the Savoy fort, prevented them from thinking of establishing a second, or extraordinary professorship of classics, and that it was equally impossible to disturb the actual holder, Du Laurens, in the professorship which had been Casau- bon's. After the destruction of the fort, Lect writes again that they had invited Godefroy to be professor of law, but that he could never describe the academy as flourishing, till they got Casaubon back. It was at Lect's house that Casaubon was lodged during his visit in 1603 ^ ; Lect was also his lawyer in his Genevan affairs, and was a member of the council. So that there was no want either of good- will or opportunity on Lect's part. But we do not find that Casaubon much encouraged these overtures, if they can be so called. He had outgrown the situation. He was aware that Geneva, with its narrow religionism, was no longer any place for him. Church politics were the one only interest in the calvinist capital. They had given Casaubon a handsome reception, in 1603, poor as they 1 Burney mss. 365. pp. 60. 68. " At the time of this visit, Lect writes to Goldast, Goldasti epp. p. 118, mentioning Casaubon's being at Geneva, but without any hint of his being invited to remain, Digitized by Microsoft® 248 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. were ; had invited him to a pubhc banquet, but it was as a 'distinguished coreligionist;' and Pierre Du Mouhn shortly afterwards received the same honour ^. For learn- ing there was in Geneva not a spark of intelligence, sympathy, or appreciation. Casaubon too must have been shocked at the poverty-stricken aspect of the city. Beza, in a letter dated October i8, 1603, describes it^: 'This poor republic supports a burden under which it is a miracle that it does not sink; being obliged to keep up a garrison of from 300 to 400 men. The very houses are fast becoming ruinous, and all things are much changed since you left.' Godefroy, who at first accepted the invitation sent him, when he saw what the place was like ^, preferred to return to Heidelberg. The duke of Savoy, unable to capture the city, had succeeded in nearly ruining it. Had Casaubon ever seriously entertained the thought of returning to settle at Geneva, it became impossible after they had confiscated his father-in-law's property, and he had proclaimed them in Paris as hypocritical thieves ! We have seen * that, at an earlier period of his life, Cas- aubon might have been glad of a call to the university of Heidelberg. The position which was then desirable, was become now highly eligible. The Palatinate, its court and university, had been making rapid progress not only, in political importance, but in education and culture. It was become the intellectual centre of western Germany. Re- finement is perhaps a term hardly applicable to any German court of the period. Hunting and hawking, heavy feasts prolonged to swinish intoxication, were the serious occupations of the princes and nobles; genealogy their only science. Frederick iv, elector Palatine (ti6io), was not exempt from the failings of his class, and possibly hastened his end by intemperance. Yet the debasing habits of his • Du Moulin, autobiographie, Bullet, de la soc. prot. 7. 342. " Bullet, de la soc. prot. 20. 162. ' Goldasti epp. p. 118. * See above, p. 74. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1 600-1 6 10. 349 nation and class ^ had not extinguished in Frederick iv. a taste for better things. He was able to take an intelligent share not only in the administration of his hereditary principahties, but in the political complication which was enveloping the Palatinate in its fatal web. The electress Louisa Juliana, daughter of William of Orange and Charlotte of Bourbon, imported into her german court something both of french breeding, and of republican simplicity. The best men of the protestant party, such as Christian of Anhalt, came and went as frequent visitors. Lingelsheim, who had been preceptor, and was now minister, of the elector, was a devoted admirer of Scaliger, and had been for some time among Isaac Casaubon's correspondents. Marquard Freher, another member of the prince's council, eminent as a teutonic antiquary, had corresponded with him since 1594. Another link with Heidelberg was Bongars, one of Isaac's best friends and earliest patrons, who was agent, or envoy, for France to the german princes, and was perpetually passing between Paris and the Rhenane cities. Christian of Anhalt, dur- ing his visits to Paris, had taken much notice of Casaubon. To von Buwinkhausen, the Wiirtemberg envoy, he had dedicated his Gregorius Nyssenus. All these were men of influence and position. Beside them Casaubon was lie with the more eminent men of letters — they were not many — who were to be found on the upper Rhine, with Denis Godefroy, with Gruter, Jungerman, Scipio Gentilis, and stood himself in the light of patron to the young Saumaise, a french scholar, who was now engaged in disinterring the ms. treasures of the Palatine hbrary. It was natural, on both sides, that Casaubon should think of Heidelberg as his place of retirement, and that ' Stamler writes to Rittershusius, in 1603, that Pacius declines a call to Heidelberg because ' a principe indocto, cui docti et literae sordent, aulici plus quam studiosa juventus et professores amentur.' Vita Camerarii, p. 201. There was, however, a not inconsiderable amount of life in the university. See the vague panegyric of Hausser, Geschichte der Pfalz, 2. 260. Digitized by Microsoft® 250 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. the Palatine Athens should offer an invitation. In August, 1607, Casaubon gives Lingelsheim to understand that he may have to leave Paris ^ : — ' I have little doubt, most noble sir, that Denis Godefroy has reported to you something of the conversations we had, with much mention of you, during his visit to this place (Paris). He may have hinted to you that the present state of tranquillity we have enjoyed by favour of the Almighty for some years past, is only on the surface, as it were skin-deep, and is watched with much anxiety by those who can read the signs of the times. During the late distemper of our prince, all good men were in great alarm. I, for my part, was meditating flight. God was merciful, and restored health to him, on whose safety ours depends. I trust I may never see a day so woful to our France. But should it happen otherwise (which God forbid) I have resolved upon taking refuge among you, and placing me and mine out of danger.' On this hint, the elector's council authorised von Buwink- hausen to make overtures to Casaubon. What was pro- posed to him was a theological chair of some kind, probably ecclesiastical history. The offer did not come till July 1608, but it must have been decided on some time before, as Lingelsheim speaks of it ^ as already mooted in November 1607, and Scaliger, at Leyden, knew of the intention as early as March 1608. He wrote to Casaubon then, and received for reply ^ that he had heard something of the sort talked of, but did not believe there was anything in it. In December 1607, Lingelsheim expresses himself as ' out of patience with the usual dilatoriness with which Casaubon's business proceeds.' In July 1608, the offer was made in form. Casaubon, with many professions of his own unworthiness, accepted. The arrangements were to be completed after the return of the envoy, who was going out of town for a short time. He did not return as ' Ep. 562. ^ Lingelshemii epp. ep. 80. ^ Ep. 593. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 251 soon as expected, and when he did the matter was not resumed. Why, I am unable to explain. Casaubon speaks 1 of impediments— ' quae id inceptum circumstent impedimenta '—in a way to imply that they were on the german side, and not on his. After Heidelberg, the most eligible offer was from Nimes 2. The college of arts in this town was a founda- tion of Francis i, which had survived the troubles of religion. Like the town generally, it was protestant, and managed by the consuls. The administration of the college was conducted by a rector, who was by the statutes one of the professors, elected for two years only. But he was re-eligible, and in practice it had become customary to continue him in the office as long as he chose. The celebrated Julius Pacius, in the course of his wandering existence, had held the rectorate at Nimes for two or three years. When Scaliger said that if he were to quit Ley- den, the place he should choose to set up his staff in would be Nimes*, he had in view not only the climate, but the character of the college. Theology was less exclusively dominant there than in any of the other protestant academies. This is not saying much ; and though there were teachers of some repute at the college, among them several Scots, there was not sun and air enough for a Casaubon, much less for a Scaliger. In 1605, however, the consuls made Isaac the formal offer of a chair, and the rectorate. They would give 600 crowns, and a roomy house. The amount shows the importance they attached to Casaubon's presence, as the previous rector, Charles d'Aubus, had only a third of 1 Ep. 623. ^ The account which pastor Borrell has given of the academy of Nimes, Bullet, de la soc. prot. 13. 288, would have been more valuable if the authorities, on which it is based, had been cited. [See now, for a full account of the Academy of Nimes, Claude Baduel et la Reforme des Etudes au XVI' Steele, par M. J. Gaufrfes, Paris, 1880.] ^ Scaligerana, p. i6g : ' Si je voulois demeurer en quelque lieu, je choisirois ce pays de Nismes pour y planter mon bourdon.' Digitized by Microsoft® a5a ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. the sum. Even Pacius at Montpellier, where he now was, was only at 500 crowns, besides fees however. Six hun- dred crowns was the highest honorarium then paid to any teacher in the faculty of arts, and was only given in rare cases ; e. g. it was what had been offered to Lipsius to induce him to settle in the university of Paris. ' Never,' writes Casaubon^ 'do I remember to have been in greater perplexity as to what I should do. For months past I have been agitated by this deliberation. When I think of my studies, I should choose to live and die here, where there is wealth of books. And de Thou bids me not to think of removal. I must consider my great patron too, who, I know, likes me— one point only excepted. And then the distance from you (Scaliger) ! ' In 1606 the negotiation is still pending. Adam Abernethey, one of the Scottish regents, writes to Casaubon^ promising himself great profit in learning from his settlement at Nimes. But across this proposal came the more eligible Heidelberg offer, and Nimes was dropped. Another place of retreat, of which Casaubon had once thought, was Sedan ^. In the little court kept by the due de Bouillon, there were to be seen nobles and princes, among them the duke's nephews, the sons of the elector palatine, resorting thither as a place where they could combine a protestant education with the advantage of learning the french tongue. It was not that he might mix with princes and nobles that Sedan was chosen by Isaac as M eric's school. As a kind of frontier fort on the confines of the protestant north, it offered facilities for escape in case of a religious outbreak. We find, however, no actual proposal for settling there made by Isaac. The unsettled relations between the duke and the french government in these years made it uncertain how long the little principality would continue to enjoy that semi-inde- ' Ep. 456. '^ Burney Mss 363. = Ep. 233. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. %t^^ pendence which was the only guarantee of its preserving its protestantism. At one time Isaac planned a visit to Venice. This was suggested by Fra Paolo. Not that the father invited him. On the contrary, he gave him a hint to stay away. ' The air of Italy might easily disagree with him ^ ; ' a significant hint from one who had just escaped assassination. Casau- bon had been in correspondence with this remarkable person since 1604. It was indeed a correspondence con- ducted under difficulties. Casaubon could not use the channel of the french ambassador, his former friend, now become, like all perverts, an ultramontane enrage. Conse- quently, his letters were long on the road ; one of them, with a copy of the Polybius, eleven months ^. Casaubon had introduced himself to Fra Paolo in his usual way. The father knew of him, of course, and not only knew of him in 1604, when Isaac had already acquired a name, but had done so ever since his notes on Diogenes Laertius. This fact shows how closely Fra Paolo watched the publishing world. A scrubby volume, of no particular mark, published in the capital of heresy, had not escaped his eye. In 1606, when father Sarpi's writings on the interdict reached Paris, Casaubon's attention was imme- diately arrested by them. • ' Have you seen,' he asks ^ Scaliger, 'the brochures which have been published at Venice within the last few months ? If you have, I should hke to hear your opinion of them, especially of that of the great father Paul. In reading them, I cannot but hope that the time is at hand when letters and sacred learning may find a place in those countries.' This hope was hardly uttered before it was extinguished by the settle- ment of the dispute, France, as always, throwing its weight into the ultramontane scale. But Fra Paolo still lived, in spite of the papal daggers. Accordingly, in > Ep. 811. * Burney Mss. 365. ' Ep. 542. Digitized by Microsoft® 254 ISAAC C AS A V BON. [Sect. March 1610, when deHvered from the task of revising his Suetonius, Isaac planned a visit to Venice ^. ' I wish to see the country, and the learned men who are there, but above all the greatest of them, the famous Paul. I desire also to see with my own eyes the greek church 2, and to make myself acquainted with the faith and observances of the greek nation. God eternal, do thou forward me on this journey, if it be for the promotion of thy glory, and the welfare of me and mine ; if otherwise, prevent it.' The events which shortly followed may have been the answer to this prayer, making the Italian visit impossible. Saumaise formed a few years later a like purpose, but was diverted from it by a dream ^. Saumaise's object was to see the classical remains. It will be remarked, as charac- teristic of the predominance of theological ideas in Isaac Casaubon's mind, that, though his life had been spent upon the classics, and latterly upon Roman History, Polybius, Suetonius, the Augustan historians, he never thinks of the Roman architecture among the objects of a journey to Italy. What he wishes to see is the greek church ! The importance of the monuments was not generally recognised by the scholars till the end of the century. To Casaubon, as to his contemporaries, the ancient world was comprised in books. Clement, writing the life of Saumaise in 1656, asks, ' What had, or has, Rome, that the learned should be so desirous of seeing it ? Everything which can promote learning and the knowledge of antiquity, be it inscriptions or monuments, is now to be had printed, or engraved, with accuracy, and with far greater neatness and distinct- ness, than they would be seen in situ.' On the other hand, it must be placed to Casaubon's credit that he recognised the importance of Paolo Sarpi, and gives him the epithet of 'great,' which is here well * Ephem. p. 734. ^ [Casaubon is apparently referring to S. Giorgio dei Greci, the church of the Greek community in Venice.] ' Clement, Vita Salmasii, p. xxix. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 255 placed. He who to Du Perron seemed 'like any other monk'/ was a man whom Casaubon would fain have made a pilgrimage to Venice to see. Among other traits by which our Robert Sanderson reminds us of Isaac Casaubon, is a speech of his recorded by Walton^, that he wished he had gone as chaplain to sir Henry Wotton, on the Venetian embassy, as was intended, ' as by that means I might have known one of the late miracles of mankind for general learning, prudence, and modesty. Padre Paolo.' Fra Paolo continued to correspond with Casaubon, and to procure him books, such as, especially hebrew books ^, could not be met with in France. Casaubon particularly prized his letters *. One of these has a peculiar value, as putting forward the father's position towards his own church, as a position for which he could expect sympathy from Casaubon ^. ' I commend you in that you disapprove those persons who seek to force the fathers to be of their minds. Indeed that kind of interpretation by violence is most reprehensible ; but no less a wrong is done to the same fathers when an authority is claimed for them which they never thought of claiming for themselves. Who wishes to be taught by the fathers, should first learn from them, how much weight properly attaches to their words.' He quotes passages of S. Augustin in this sense and proceeds : 'You meet with absurdities on this subject among your friends as well as among ours, and I would not have you lose any temper thereat. As long as there are men, there will be fanaticisms. The wisest man has warned us not to expect the world ever to improve so much that the better part of mankind will be the majority. No wise man undertakes to correct the disorders of the public estate. Be it enough for you, if you do some good to me. 1 See p. 195. ° Life of Sanderson, Works, 6. 326. '^ Burney mss. 365, p. 286. * Ep. 812. = Burney Mss. 365 p. 288. Digitized by Microsoft® 256 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. The wise man again saith, that he who cannot endure the madness of the pubhc, but goeth about to think he can cure it, is himself no less mad than the rest. Since God has enabled you to see the truth, do you, like Timotheus ^ sing to yourself and the muses. The just shall live by his faith. Leave the rest alone, your own mind is theatre enough for yourself. — Venice, August 17, 1610.' It is natural to enquire why was not Casaubon invited to Leyden on Scaliger's death in 1609 ? That place was not filled till 1632 by the call of Saumaise, who was expressly invited, not to teach, but as Voorst insists in his funeral oration ^ 'that he might shed upon the university the honour of his name, illustrate it by his writings, adorn it by his presence.' The intervening period is an unhappy page of dutch history. Patriotism and public spirit were lost amid doctrinal disputes, in which, barren and unmeaning as they were, all the in- tellectual energy of the schools of Holland was merged. In 1653, Gronovius (J. F.)'' writes thus bitterly of the decay of Leyden : ' Expect nothing from us in letters, I do not say great, but not even liberal, or becoming a gentleman. This condition of things has long been preparing. As far back as Scaliger's death, when they might have had Casaubon for lifting up a finger, he was kept out of it, as Bochart was lately, by the jealousy of the very persons whom he thought he could most rely upon. They expelled Vossius, they expelled Meursius. Themselves, they never formed a single disciple, or follower who was worth anything; never gave any advice worth having about the method of study. Their ' [For Timotheus read Antigenidas: Cicero, Brutus 50. 187.] " Clement, Vita Salmasii, p. xlii : ' Ut nominis sui honorem academise huic impertiret, scriptis eandem illustraret, prsesentia condecoraret.' ' Burmann, Syll. 5. p. 208 ; ' Casaubonum, cum post Scaligeri mortem, per- cussione, ut sic dicam, digitorum possent habere, excluserunt illi maxime semuli, quos ille sibi fidissimos ibi putabat.' There can be no doubt that Dan. Heinsius is the person intended. Digitized by Microsoft® IV.] PARIS. 1600-1610. 357 only object was to deter or suppress rising talent, while they openly professed a cynical contempt of the very studies which had brought themselves into notice.' Casaubon had many friends in Holland, which was now becoming a centre of learning, and rendezvous of learned men. Vulcanius, Baudius, Bertius, Scriverius, Cunseus, Drusius, Meursius,— with all these he was in relations more or less close. With Grotius he had been in corre- spondence since 1602, and became personally acquainted with him in England at a later period. Vandermyle, the ambassador from the States General to the court of France, was among his patrons. But his principal corre- spondent at Leyden, after the death of Scaliger, was Daniel Heinsius. They were both united in the culte of the hero, and this was their only bond of union. Heinsius did not realise in his maturity the promise of his early years. Instead of a second Scaliger he turned out a fine writer. An elegant latinist, his lectures and orations were charming. In this spirit he edited various classical writers, with commentaries in which superficial knowledge is thinly concealed by refined taste. His mind was given elsewhere, — to pushing his fortunes — and he wrote of the classics as a man of the world writes of them. Casaubon, who saw the Poetics, the Theophrastus, and the Horatius, cannot have been blind to their worth- lessness. But he will not say so. It was not that he was disarmed by the constant homage paid by the com- mentator to himself as 'vir incomparabilis,' it is that the memory of Heinsius' devotion to Scaliger protects him from criticism, nay, even extorts praise of the garrulous notes, elegant, witty, but uninstructive. But Casaubon's praise is cold, and altogether his correspondence with Heinsius, though it was continued to the last, is the most unsatisfactory of any that has been preserved after they cease to write about Scaliger. The two correspondents are always complaining of each other for not writing, s Digitized by Microsoft® 358 ISAAC CASAUBON. and wishing each other to write oftener, and when they do write, they have nothing to send each other but forced comphments. Casaubon would have sent over Meric to study under Heinsius, whose eager nature and ready abundance made him an excellent teacher. But in 1610 it would not have suited Heinsius' purpose to have had Isaac himself at Leyden, any more than the call of Saumaise suited him in 1630. Digitized by Microsoft® APPENDIX TO SECTION IV. Note A. p. 144. In the ' Tr^sor des merveilles de Fontainebleau, par le Pere Dan,' 1642, is an account of the conference, founded upon information given to the author by one who was present. One incident, in which Casaubon's name occurs, I have not met with elsewhere. P. 162 : ' Alors un certain ministre de I'erreur, qui estoit proche du sieur Casaubon, luy ayant dit qu'il n'y avoit point au texte grec (of S. Chrysostom) de negation, et Casaubon, qui tenoit le livre, luy faisant voir du contraire, il demeura si confus qu'il se retira promptement parmy la presse, et servit de ris^e a la compagnie. le roy dit alors ce bon mot; "que c' estoit un jeune carabin, qui apres avoir tir6 son coup de pistolet, s' estoit retire a I'^cart." ' Note B. p. 153. The authorities for Casaubon's seven removals of abode in Paris are as follows. Ep. 541 : ' Spatio annorum vix septem, septies hue illuc libraria mea supellex est circumlata.' i. He arrives in Paris March 6, 1600, at de Vic's hotel. Ephem. p. 234 : 2. March 28, he leaves de Vic to become the guest of his wife's cousin, Henri Estienne. Ephem. p. 239 : 'Cujus probitas nos illexit ut ejus hospitio vellemus uti.' He leaves for Lyon May 30, and returns, this time with all his household, to Henri Estienne's. Ephem. pp. 261, 298. 3. Oct. 25, he first establishes himself in an apartment of his own. Ephem. p. 306 : ' Demum conducto hospitio.' It is very uncomfortable. Ephem. p. 326 : ' Incommodi non parum ex habitatione priore,' and 4. he quits it, Jan. 24, 1601, for one in the house of ' viri honesti D. Georgii.' 5. July 17. Another removal. Ephem. p. 360: 'Familia in has aedes migravit.' This was a house found him by Achille de Harlay. Gillot, ep. fran9. p. 105: 'Monsieur le premier s 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 26o APPENDIX TO SECT. IV. president qui Tayme comme sa vertu le m^rite, I'a log(5 bravement et assez pres de nous.' Ephem. p. 360 : '^dium commoditas.' Ep. 385 : ' Abest longius a bibliotheca.' 6. October, 1604. Ep. 433 : ' Mihi tandem inventum hospitium, illud quidem angustum et non nimis commodum, sed in quo tamen, ego atque uxor, hoc praesertim rerum statu, acquiescimus. Dominus aedium est senator Gallus, sive Coq, qui vastissimam domum sibi nuper aedificavit, et angulum quendam a reliquo corpore separavit quod mercede locaret. t6 ivoUiov est aureorum centum.' It was in the faubourg S. Germain. Address of letters, Burney Mss. 365. p. 23. 7. Finally, he settled close to the library. Ep. 461 : ' Notissima est Franciscanorum \avpa, in qua regione habito prope aedem illorum.' Ep. 456 : ' Libras pendo annuatim in hac urbe quingentas.' Address of letters, Burney mss. 364. p. 12, 'vis-a-vis des Cordeliers.' Madrid he began to frequent in May, 1604, Ep. 397, Schulze, ep. 9. La Bretonniere was substituted for Madrid in the summer of 1606, Burney mss. 365. address of letters. Grigny was acquired in 1607, Epliem. p. 540. Note C. p. 156. The long struggle of the university of Paris against the Jesuits (1564-1620) has been generally treated as an episode of the history of the Gallican church. It ought to be viewed as an in- tegral part of the history of letters and civilisation in France. The official history by M. Jourdain, which is sufficiently copious in point of detail, does not place the true issue clearly before the reader. University reform was the terrain upon which the liberals contended with the reaction. On this,' as on every other point, the victory, after the avenement of Henri iv, re- mained with the catholic and obscurantist party. This fact is entirely disguised, or ignored, in the general histories, which make much of the reformation of September 18, 1600. Ultra- montanism, indeed, received a signal check. The authority of the lay sovereign was vindicated, as against the ecclesiastical. Whereas the previous 'reform' had been carried through by a cardinal legate, in the name of the pope, the reform of 1600 was conducted without reference to the legate, by a royal com- mission. This point, and it was a great one, gained for the gallican and national party, the reformers had exhausted their strength. The first article of the new statutes enacted the Digitized by Microsoft® APPENDIX TO SECT. IV. %6i exclusion of all non-catholics not only from teaching, but from being taught, in the public schools. Whatever de Thou and Achille de Harlay may have wished, they could not have got Casaubon appointed one of the professors of the college royal. M. Martin, indeed, makes him one. Hist, de France, lo. 478 : ' En d^pit des lettres patentes de Charles ix, qui avaient exclu le protestant Ramus, Henri iv. appela parmi les professeurs le protestant Casaubon, I'^rudition incarn^e.' M. Martin adds that the reform of 1600 was so sound and durable that ' au fond nous en vivons encore.' That is true, except that the insignifi- cance of the university of Paris in point of science and learning dates from 1572 instead of from 1600. For a full expose of the character of the statutes of 1600, M. Martin refers to 'un tres- bon chapitre ' of M. Poirson's elaborate monograph on Henri iv. M. Poirson is equally blind to the capital fact of this ' reform,' viz. that it was the triumph of Catholicism. The university was kept in subordination to the church. Over this decisive fact M. Poirson glides, by the statement, 3. 763 : ' Les statuts pourvoient des les premiers articles, a ce que la jeunesse des colleges soit 6lev6e dans la connoissance et la pratique de la religion, a ce que son education soit Sminemment chr^tienne.' Note D. p. 193. The ' Excerpta Eusebiana ' form the most considerable frag- ments remaining of the greek ' Chronica ' of Eusebius. They are found in cod. reg. 2600, a ms. of saec. 15, consisting of miscellaneous extracts, grammatical, historical, etc. They are printed in Scaliger's ' Thesaurus Temporum,' Add. p. 224, and more fully, in Cramer, Anecd. Paris. 2. 115. The copy sent to Scaliger at Leyden was made by Charles Labbe, and collated with the original by Casaubon. Ep. 446: 'Contulimus, et studiose dwdypa^j^ov ipsius (Labb6) cum autographo contendimus, ut de fide lectionis dubitare non debeas. Quod si qusedam occurrent mendosa, occurrent autem nonnulla, scito non aliter in regio codice esse scriptum.' The errors which Cramer attributes to Scaliger's text are, according to Bernays, corrections silently made by Scaliger. , See fuller account of the find, and the delight which it gave Scaliger, in Bernays, J. J. Scaliger, Bel. no. 73, Casaubonische Excerpte. Digitized by Microsoft® V. LONDON. 1610-1614. Or possible places of refuge in case of necessity, there remained — England. Had it been 200 years earlier, nothing would have been more simple, than that a learned man, who was dissatisfied in Paris, should have migrated to Oxford, for a time, or for life. But now it was different. Neither North nor South Britain entered into the comity of nations, in such a way that natives of all countries indiscriminately circulated through our univer- sities, either as students or professors, as they had once done, and as they still did in the other parts of western Europe. Casaubon tells Baudius ^, ' It is not the manner of the english to import distinguished men of learning from other countries.' And Thomson writes to the same ^ ; ' Our english students seldom travel abroad, so that you need not wonder that you see so few of them where you are.' But the settlement of the foreigner in London was of common occurrence, while, more often still, travelled englishmen contracted intimacy and main- tained correspondence with continental scholars. Alberic Gentilis had recently died (1608) as professor of civil law at Oxford ; Saravia was still living as canon of Canterbury; Theodore Diodati was residing in Alders- ' Ep. 853 : ' Non est mos Anglorum, ut viros eruditione claros aliunde accersant.' "^ Baudii epp. p. 514 ; ' Angli nostri studiosi raro peregrinantur, quare mirum non est si pauci ad vos confluunt.' Thomson to Dom. Baudius, 1605. Digitized by Microsoft® LONDON. 1610-1614. %e'i gate ; Dr. Raphael Thoris, a native of Flanders, lived in Broad Street; and Lobel at Highgate, though in extreme old age. Even at the universities, in the first twenty years of the seventeenth century, more than twenty names of foreigners, entered or graduated at Oxford, may be found in the records. Besides, there were other conditions, at the present juncture, which might serve to recommend England to Casaubon as his choice, or reconcile him to it as a necessity. The reigning prince was a lover, if not of learning, at least of a kind of theological lore which borrowed its lights from learning. James i. surrounded himself with divines whose talk was of fathers and councils. ' He doth wondrously covet learned discourse,' writes lord Howard to Harington ^, not indeed of the grand classical antiquity, for which none about him had eye or ear, but the bas- tard antiquity of the fourth century. They searched the ecclesiastical writers for precedents in support of English episcopacy, but they read them in the original, and this served to maintain greek at a premium. For the first and the last time in our annals, the court was the theatre of these learned discussions. Notwithstanding foibles which have handed down his character to ridicule, neither the understanding nor the attainments of James were contemptible. But his speech and action had a taint of puerility which degraded them. The ironical nickname of the British Solomon incurably clings to the only English prince who has carried to the throne knowledge derived from reading, or any considerable amount of literature. Despised by the men of business as a pedant, James had ' by far the best head in his council ^' In the piteous condition of learning and the learned at that time, without patron or home, it was natural that the eyes of these ' Harington, Nugse antiq. i. 390. ^ Spedding, Life of Bacon, 4. 278. Digitized by Microsoft® 364 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. outcasts of society should be directed to the only court in Europe where their profession was in any degree appre- ciated. And Casaubon was not wholly without acquaint- ance and correspondents even among insular Britons. We have seen how his position at Geneva led to his acquaintance with the 'roving Englishman,' and in the instances of Wotton and Thomson even to intimacy. In 1601, Spotswood, then only minister of Calder, afterwards archbishop of Glasgow, and Andrew Lamb, afterwards bishop of Galloway, came over to Paris in the suite of the duke of Lennox, ambassador extraordinary from the king of Scots. Even in 1601, Casaubon was sufficiently known to be sought out by foreigners of curiosity who visited Paris. Spotswood brought, not exactly a message from James vi, but told Casaubon that his learning and piety were well known to that learned monarch. Spotswood urged him to address a letter of compliment to James. Casaubon did so, and wasted, to his great grief, two days in penning an inflated epistle in the usual style of tasteless adulation, which Spotswood carried back and duly de- livered. James rephed to his dearest Casaubon, telhng him that, 'besides the care of the church, it was his fixed resolve to encourage letters and learned men, as he considered them the strength, as well as the ornament, of kingdoms.' He concluded by hoping that Casaubon would visit him in Edinburgh, now he was so near, as he would much prefer talking to him to writing to him. Casaubon could from this time reckon a crowned head among his regular correspondents. But James' accession to the Enghsh throne, which was the signal for others, who had overlooked him before, to fall on the knee before him as suitors, only deterred Casaubon from further correspondence. Indeed his stock of flattery must have been exhausted, and the two letters which he addressed in 1601 and 1602 to 'a sovereign such as Plato had imagined but never seen,' consisted of very commonplace Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 265 incense. He not only did not join the throng of apph- cants, but -did not even write the congratulatory epistle, which might naturally have been expected of him. He would not 'come with his pitcher to Jacob's well as others do/ as Bacon said of himself. He had indeed soHcited, through Spotswood, the charity of the king of Scots, but not for himself, — for Beza, who in extreme age was without the most necessary comforts, — for the Academy of Geneva, which was struggling to exist with an empty exchequer and no resources ^. From this time 1 there were constant reports among Casaubon's friends in France and Germany that he had been invited to England, long before any thought of this kind had been entertained by any one in this country. In 1603, L'Hermite had heard it at Soleure ^. In 1609, Scipio Gentilis had heard it at Altorf. ' Nugae, nugae,' writes Casaubon ^ in answer to this letter. ' I have been invited, but not by the king, / and in a way quite different from what you suppose.' The invitations were from friends to pay them a visit, not offers of preferment from a patron. Gradually Casaubon began to plan a visit; but a visit might be a reconnaissance. He would see if the island could afford him a safe retirement from the worry and controversial baiting which made his life in Paris intoler- able. He mentioned the scheme as a thing he had in view, to Scaliger. Scaliger discouraged it. As early as 1604 he wrote * : — ' Surely you will not give up a cer- ; tainty for an uncertainty. Settlement in a foreign country is at best but a hazardous experiment. You would put yourself to the cost of a removal, and then only be laughed at by all the court monkeys for your credulity. I ^ could tell you much of the English, what a disagreeable : people they are, inhospitable to foreigners, particularly churlish to Frenchmen, against whom they cherish a ' Ep. 343. " Burney Mss. 364, L'Hermite to Casaubon, 1603. ' Ep. 630. * Scalig. Epp. pp. 241. 253. Digitized by Microsoft® 266 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. traditional antipathy. If it be in the fates that you are to settle in England, at least do not precipitate the event. Wait till you are called ; do not offer yourself, and sell your venture at as high a price as you can.' Scaliger's advice was dictated by his own feeUngs. He overlooked one attraction which the English invitation contained for Casaubon, because it would have been no attraction for himself In 1604, when Scaliger's advice as above was given, Casaubon had hardly begun that dis- satisfaction with the calvinist worship which in 1610 had grown into a serious grievance to his conscience. He had been gradually worked into this state of mind by the necessity of daily encountering the catholic disputants. The ministers of his own communion scouted antiquity, of which they were ignorant, and which Casaubon re- garded as the only arbiter of the quarrel. Books fell in his way written on this side of the channel, in which he met with a line of argument very different from the un- instructed but presumptuous dogmatism of the calvinist ministers. He found to his surprise and delight that there were others besides himself who could respect the authority of the fathers, without surrendering their reason to the dicta of the papal church. The young anglo-catholic school which was then forming in England took precisely the ground which Casaubon had been led to take against Du Perron. The change of face which English theology effected in the reign of James i. is, to our generation, one of the best known facts in the history of our church. But it is often taken for granted that this revolution was brought about by the ascendancy of one man, whose name is often used to denominate the school as the Laudian school of divines. Laud was the political leader, but in this capacity only the agent of a mode of thinking which he did not invent. Anglo-catholic theology is not a system of which any individual thinker can claim the invention. It arose Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 267 necessarily, or by natural development, out of the contro- versy with the papal advocates as soon as that controversy was brought out of the domain of pure reason into that of learning. That this peculiar compromise, or via media, between romanism and Calvinism developed itself in Eng- land, and nowhere else in Christendom, is owing to causes which this is not the place to investigate. But that it was a product, not of english soil, but of theological learning wherever sufficient learning existed, is evidenced by the history of Casaubon's mind, who now found himself, in 1 610, an anglican ready made, as the mere effect of reading the fathers to meet Du Perron's incessant attacks. England thus seemed to open to Isaac Casaubon not only an asylum from the teasing persecution of the convertisseurs, but a church whose doctrines and minis- trations were more congenial than were afforded him in his own communion, and which in a great measure realised the ideal he had formed from the study of catholic antiquity. His wish, formerly entertained, to visit Venice in search of the greek church, now gave place to a desire to visit England, and see for himself the english church. He mentioned his wish to the king, and begged leave of ab- sence. Henri always put him off, wishing the irrevocable step of conversion to be taken before he trusted him out of his sight. But Casaubon, though obliged to defer its execution, persisted in his intention. On April 20 he wrote to James i, intimating clearly the wish at which he had before only distantly hinted. But he could not leave, even for a visit, without an open rupture with a master to whom he was bound by duty, gratitude, and interest. On May 14, 1610, these bonds were severed in a fatal moment by the knife of a wretched fanatic. The first moments of terror were passed by Casaubon at Grigny, where he was when the news reached him. The king was wounded. The evening was spent in dreadful sus- Digitized by Microsoft® 2,68 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. pense. Next morning a special messenger sent out by Madame Casaubon brought the real truth. Death had followed instantaneously upon the second stroke of the assassin's knife, but the secret had been so well kept that Lestoile tells us ^ that at 5 p.m. it was only at the Louvre it was known that the king was dead. Casaubon deter- mined, whatever the danger might be, to share it with his friends, and immediately returned to Paris ^. The terror of the huguenots was sufficiently visible in the irresolution of Sully. He set off, on the 14th, to drive to the Louvre, thinking the king only wounded. But finding he was dead, he dared not show himself, and retired to the arsenal. It was not till the next morning that he ventured to ap- pear in his place at the council. The protestants had expected the mob to rise and repeat '72. No movement of the sort took place. The Parisians were stunned for the moment by the greatness of the blow. The assassination took place on May 14. On the 17th Du Perron returned to the charge. Casaubon was sent for, and had to hear a lecture upon the true sense of some of the passages usually relied on against transubstantiation. The cardinal saw that if he were to have Casaubon it must be now. The tie that had bound him to France was severed. He knew Casaubon's cherished wish to visit England, and foreboded in what the visit would end. Both parties felt that the crisis of the long struggle was come. Casaubon, simple-minded as he was, must have understood that he was now at the mercy of the court. The alternative offered him now, whatever it might have been before, was conversion or dismissal. But the cardinal, with a fine tact, continued to treat the question as one of pure learning, and love of truth. He makes no allusion to Casaubon's altered circumstances, avoiding thus any ' Registre-journal, p. 586. ' Ep. 69s ; ' Ut quicquid bonis futurum esset, sors illorum mihi cum bonis esset communis.' Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 369 alarm to his conscience or his pride. Casaubon, on his part, though aware that the bread of his family is at stake, and though agitated to distraction by the complication in which he finds himself entangled, exhibits himself to us, not only in his familiar letters, but in the secret pages of the diary, endeavouring, with an honest and honourable soul, to find out on which side his actual opinions placed him. It is clear that his struggle is not between his conscience and his preferment, it is an intellectual struggle, an endeavour to choose between the rival churches. It is not surprising that historians, looking at the broad outline of things, should have fixed on Casaubon the charge of 'wavering.' Meric has replied to the round assertion of Heribert Rosweyd that his father Isaac had promised the cardinal to make his recantation at Whitsun- tide, but was anticipated by the english invitation. The only answer which this unsupported assertion admitted of, or deserved, was a flat contradiction. It was simply a lie with a circumstance, such as were hatched by the dozen in the Jesuit colleges of that period. But impartial historians, e. g. Hallam^, have spoken of Casaubon's 'wavering' as a fact. If there be a moment in his life on which the charge of having wavered can be fixed, it is the moment at which we are now arrived. Yet at this very moment, the perversion of his eldest son, John, of which he heard August 14, drew from him the bitter cry of pain which is recorded under that date. The heart from which that cry of paternal anguish was wrung was in no mood to fraternise with the crew of intriguers by whom the blow had been dealt. What on a cursory inspection of Casaubon's remains looks like wavering will, I think, be found on a closer view to be a more complex mental state. He was indeed in an intellectual difficulty, but it was that he found his own opinions coincide neither with Calvinism, nor with ultramontanism. He had been forced by reading, and ' Hallam, Lit. Hist. 2. 302. Digitized by Microsoft® ayo ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. controversy, into a middle position between the two, and did not yet know how far the position thus created was a tenable one, or that it was shared by others besides himself. Circumstances were preparing his re- moval to a country, in which, to his surprise, he found a whole national church encamped on the ground on which he had believed himself to be an isolated ad- venturer. Meantime he had escaped into the country, and hid himself in his retreat at Grigny as much as his duties in the library would allow. The cardinal, too, had graver business to call him off from his pursuit of Casaubon. Things in France were rapidly going in the direction which had been foreseen. The first shock had sobered parties and inspired a momentary patriotism. On June i, Casaubon '^ wrote that the hand of providence was visible in the unanimity of all the great men and nobles to fly to the aid of their country. Before another month his language is changed. On June 25 he writes to Heinsius ^: ' The most grievous thing to me is the murder not being pursued in the way of justice as it ought to be. It is notorious whose teaching it was that instigated the fatal deed, who they are who have proclaimed regicide as a principle ; yet we sleep on in utter indifference. I cannot express to you the anguish of mind from which I am now suffering. It is not mere regard for my own individual prospects which tortures me, and makes me pass sleepless nights, but a sense of the public calamity which is fallen on my country.' On June 15 the engHsh embassy had written^ to the same effect: 'The duke D'Espernon doth act, if not the chiefest, at the least the most busy and intruding part in this comedy,— I pray God it do not prove a tragedy, — who, joyned with the count of Soissons and the jesuites, together with some of the greatest officers, doth begin by ' Ep. 674. 2 j-p g^g_ " Winwood, Memorials, 3. 189, Beaulieu to Trumbull. Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 271 their meanes to encroach upon the chiefest authority and administration.' To the same effect Casaubon ^ writes on September 6 : ' Things here are come to that pass that we shall all soon be mere slaves of the loyolites. I know my countrymen well enough to know that they will not submit to the yoke without some convulsive spasms ; but submit they will in the end ; the powers that be are engaged on that side.' Nor was it only the court which was inclining to the roman and Spanish interest. The passions of the mob were engaged in the cause, and in the hot nights of mid- summer the panic of the huguenots was renewed. If there were an outbreak, they knew that they would be the first victims. The Jesuit writers affirm that these terrors were feigned. They may have been unreasonable — a panic always is — but they were real. Casaubon's diary records that on July 19 he was unable to do anything, owing to his friends flocking in terror to his house, which was in the most dangerous (the latin) quarter. On July XI Beaulieu ^ wrote from Paris : ' There have been such alarms taken these three or four nights by those of the weaker side, that the duke of Bouillon and the prince of Conde . . . did sit up with all their household in arms almost all those nights long. ... A man can see nothing almost in the streets but carrying and providing of arms in every house, as it were upon assured expectation of imminent disorder.' It was in the thick of these alarms that the decisive invitation to England reached Casaubon's hands (July 20). It was an official invitation from the archbishop of Canterbury^. As far back as March, or earlier, definite proposals had been sent him in an unofBcial way through sir George Carew, the ex-ambassador, in whose household Philippa had died. The archbishop (Bancroft) now writes himself, reiterating the terms which had been before proposed. Casaubon was assured 'that his coming ' Ep. 684. ' Winwood's Mem. 3. 191. ' Bui-ney Mss. 263, printed ap. Russell, Ephem. p. 1097 Digitized by Microsoft® 373 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. among them would be welcomed by them all; that a prebend of Canterbury, then actually vacant, was reserved for him ; and as the income of the stall might not be sufficient for his maintenance, a promise was added that it might be increased from other sources. He might come over and see for himself. Or, if he chose to throw himself for good upon the generosity of the king, and to rely upon the assurances now given him by the arch- bishop, he might remove his family at once. In the latter case he was to draw upon the english embassy for ^^30 for the expenses of the journey. Any how, when he comes he would find the archbishop ready to do his utmost in his behalf. Finally, the archbishop, while leaving the choice entirely to Casaubon's own discretion, seemed to recom- mend a private retreat, in preference to a public with- drawal from the French service. The terms of this communication were somewhat vague, but Casaubon was able to put an exact value upon them by the aid of sir G. Carew's letter of March 12. The archbishop, it will be observed, speaks of the king's generosity, and the archbishop's honour. This was delicate, as the provision designed for him was a con- tribution to be made up out of the bishops' own purses. The prebendal stall was valued at ;^88, besides house, fuel, and corn, and the bishops were to subscribe among themselves what would make it up to equal what he was getting in France, till he could be further provided for out of church revenues. The king does not appear to have promised anything, though he may have intended to give him something more in the church. The invitation was from the archbishop, but there can be no doubt that the king himself was promoting the step. As early as 1608, Bancroft had carried a copy of the ' De libertate eccle- siastica ' to James, who had been so delighted with it, that for many days he could talk of nothing but Casaubon ^ ' Burney mss. 366. p. 141. Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 1']'^ The stalls at Canterbury were not of the archbishop's collation. But Bancroft was not unwilling to be the channel of communication, as it cost him nothing, and it was well understood in England that Casaubon was as little inclined to favour Bancroft's enemies, the puritans, as the king's enemies, the ultramontanes. He viewed Casaubon, and no other view was taken of him by the other persons concerned, the king excepted, as an instru- ment of controversy, which it was desirable to enlist in the service of the english church. James himself, who was just now very busy with pamphlet writing, and who was commissioning his ambassador at the Hague ^ ' to find some smart Jesuit with a quick and nimble spirit ' to write against Vorstius, doubtless designed employ- ment of the same sort for Casaubon. But he also pro- mised himself much delectation from this addition to his sanhedrim. After the receipt of the official invitation, Casaubon still lingered some months in France. The delay was caused by the difficulty of obtaining the necessary permission from the court. He did not think proper to make the clandestine departure which Bancroft had suggested. He applied for, and at last obtained, a furlough in form. It was understood ^ that he was to make a visit of a few weeks, leaving his family and his library behind ; and ^ he solemnly engaged himself to return whenever he should be summoned. The ambassador extraordinary, lord Wotton of Marley, who was on his return to England, offered him a place in his suite. Besides a free passage, he thus enjoyed many advantages above the ordinary traveller. Yet his suffer- ings were still such as to make us wonder at the readiness with which our ancestors met the dangers and horrors of ' Winwood's Mem. 3. 311. ' Ep. 864 : ' Qui paucas hebdomadas me hsesurum in Britannia spoponderam.' ' Ep. 700. T Digitized by Microsoft® 274 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect, the channel. We abridge his own graphic narrative from the diary and the letters to his family ^ The cavalcade were eight days on the road between Paris and Calais, which they reached October 15. Here they were detained, waiting for the king's ship, which was to be sent to bring over the ambassador. 'The 17th of October was Sunday, when I would fain have joined public worship, but had to think of somewhat else. For my lord had ordered two transports, one for our baggage, the other for the horses; and the whole morning was spent in getting them on board. As the ship of the royal navy did not arrive, my lord was much in doubt whether he should wait for it, or should hire one that lay in the harbour, where there were some 150 vessels, small, and mostly fishing boats. As we could hardly hope to set sail this day, my lord bade us sit down to dinner. Himself and his lady would not eat, in case they might, after all, have to go on board. We sat down and had gotten to about the second course, when word was brought that the wind had now become dead against the passage to England. Upon this the ambassador and his lady also sat down. After dinner I walked down to the harbour, and had hardly returned to the inn, when I found the face of things changed, and that we were to sail at once. A ship had come from England, not indeed a king's ship, but one of large burden, too big to enter the harbour, and was now at anchor a league out to sea. We were rowed oif to it in boats, I having wrapped my- self up in my galligaskins against the cold. It was about two when we got On board, and the wind being favour- able, we hoped to be at Dover in about three or four hours. Joyful therefore, I stepped on to the big ship, the first vessel of any size I had ever seen, with three sails and the royal arms of England on a silken flag. We got under way, our hopes mounting high, when on a sudden ' Ephem. p. 769, compared with ep. 691. Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 375 the wind veered round dead against us. Do what we could, we could not make head against it, and night coming on, the captain knew not whereabouts we were. One while we were said to be within ten miles of the English coast ; then back at Calais or Peronne, or I know not where. Having never been at sea before, I was badly sea sick from the first, and for some hours suffered much from pain and faintness. Nothing could exceed the kindness shown me by my lord and lady and by many of the suite. They took me down into my lord's private cabin and placed me in his bed. At last the violent rain driving my lord and lady off the deck, I was obliged to be removed to an aftercabin with many charges that I should be taken care of. Here I could have done pretty well but for the plague of mischievous beasts; which came out of the sailors' clothes on which I lay. To me and all of us the night seems incredibly long, and I understood the force of the words in the Acts, " they wished for the day." When at last we reached the harbour we had a narrow escape of being wrecked against it in entering it, the prow of the vessel being heavily crushed. But we es- caped harm and were at last safely housed in our inn.' From Dover his first thought was to write home a full account of the perils he had braved. He had already written from Amiens to his son John, and his nephew Isaac. He repeats his cautions, and puts precise questions, to which he demands precise answers. ^ ' As you love me and respect my commands, I charge you to let me hear from you at London how my wife is, and how she takes my absence. My books and papers you will take especial care of. The king's library, Isaac, is in your individual keeping. Do not be too easy in ad- mitting anyone into the room, and never more than one person at a time. Explain to monseigneur de Thou how it happened that that volume I borrowed of him was not ' Ep. 691. T 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 376 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. returned before my departure, and let no one touch the book except by his orders. Tell your mother that those English coins which Madame Gentilis let me have, and which I wrote to say I had left behind in my study, I found in my chest, in a corner where I had stowed them myself .... Let me have an account how Gentille, Jeanne, and Anne behave; as for Paul, I persuade myself he is already grown quite a scholar. Tell me also about Marie, whom I did not embrace at parting, and about the rest of the children ; about all the Des- bordes family. Has my wife been to Grigny? What has she done about that rascally bailiff? In short, tell me everything, public or private, which I ought to know.' At Canterbury he was detained some days by the hospitality of his travelling companion, Benjamin Carier. Carier was one of the prebendaries, and was now proud to introduce Casaubon to the chapter, of which it was intended that he should become one. It is characteristic of Casaubon's irritability and placability, that he now com- mends the obliging entertainment he met with from Carier, as warmly as he had before grumbled at his selfishness during the journey. Carier was one of the high church party, and boasts to Casaubon^ that he always says the morning and evening prayer, as the law prescribes. He it was who afterwards received Casaubon's dividend, as prebendary, and accounted for it to him. Carier's kindness may not have been altogether dis- interested. The deanery of Rochester becoming vacant a year later, he sought to avail himself of Casaubon's supposed interest at court to get it for him. He pleaded that 'the deanery was a very poor one, and that he, holding the living of Thornham in the neighbourhood, had advantages for the exercise of hospitality at Roches- ter.' Bancroft was not averse to pluralities ; ' a doublet is necessary in cold weather,' he is reported to have said. * Burney mss. 363. Carier to Casaubon, 161 1. Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. a77 But the deanery was given to Milbourne, and shortly afterwards Carier, being abroad, caused great scandal, in high church circles, by going over. He was a man of more than common reading, and possessed some books, many of which were new to Casaubon, who did not neglect the opportunity of going through them. Among others \ he mentions the Calvino-Turcismus, in which Rainolds, the roman catholic brother of the president of Corpus, made out an ingenious parallel between the calvinists and mahometans, ^* a book, on account of its style and recondite learning, by no means to be despised.' Casaubon was delighted with Canterbury, both the place and the people ^, though the church services seemed unnatural to him, and he felt it odd to be keeping a saint's day — S. Luke's — which happened during his stay. On October 29, he set off for London, and was hos- pitably received at the deanery of S. Paul's by Overall, as had been arranged for him by Carier. No time was lost in presenting him to the archbishop, to whom he was taken the very day of his arrival. He was most graciously received by the venerable prelate, who detained him some time in conversation ^. It was at once intimated to him that if he could make up his mind to stay in the country, it was the wish of the king and the bishops that he should do so. Two days afterwards, he paid a second visit to Lambeth, and this was the last time he was to see Bancroft, who died a few days after this interview, November 12. In him Casaubon thought he had lost a special friend and patron *. He did not promise himself the same friendliness from the new archbishop. Abbot ^ Ephem. p. 779. " Ep. 1045 ; ' Cum hospitis mei, turn aliorum prsestantissimorum virorum eximia humanitate ita sura captus, et loci elegantia atque amoenitate sic quotidie oblector . . .' ^ Ephem. p. 781 : ' Fuit mihi cum eo multus sermo.' ' Ephem. p. 797 : ' Quantara jacturam fecerim in morte archiepiscopi videor incipere intelligere.' Digitized by Microsoft® 278 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. had had no share in inviting Casaubon to England, and his ^'behaviour and carriage toward the greatest nobihty in the kingdom, was,' what Laud thought, 'very insolent and inexcusable.' In this respect Casaubon was agreeably disappointed. Abbot was uniformly friendly to him, sent for him often to Lambeth or to Croydon, made him a present regularly at Christmas, and consented to be godfather to a son, James, the only child born to him in England. The other bishops vied with each other in welcoming him, and feting him, in the hospitable english way, by entertaining him at dinner. Overall not only took in Isaac himself at the deanery, but also his wife and family when they arrived. Here he made his home for the first twelve months, from October 1610 to September 161 t, though it seems probable ^ that, at least during the dean's absence, who had a house out of town at Islington^, Casaubon provided his own household expenses. Nor did their civility wear out with the novelty. We find him, up to the last, dining with them both privately*, and on their grand occasions ^, and presents are sent by them at Christmas to himself or to Madame Casaubon ^. The bishop of Ely was able to report to the king that Casaubon's reputation was borne out by his conversation. James was impatient to make trial of the new man, and ordered him to be brought out to him to Theobald's. Casaubon, nervously solicitous about the etiquette of the english court, thought that no one less than the archbishop could instruct him, and went out to Lambeth to ask how he was to behave. Bancroft, who must have been amused at his simplicity, made him stay to dinner, and calmed his fears, gratifying him at the same time by the marked attention he showed him. On November 8, Casaubon 1 Clarendon, Life, i. 65. » Ephem. p. 827. ■• Burney mss. 364. •• Ephem. p. 978. ^ Ephem. p. 1049. « Burney mss. 364. p. 337. Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 279 was taken out to Theobald's in Lord Dunbar's carriage ^. Casaubon met the gracious reception which he had been led to expect, and had the honour of being the principal figure in the circle which stood round the royal chair at supper. James' learned repasts have been often described, among others, by Hacket ^ : ' The reading of some books before him was very frequent, while he was at his repast ; he collected knowledge by variety of questions which he carved out to the capacity of different persons. Methought his hunting humour was not off, while the learned stood about him at his board ; he was ever in chase after some disputable doubt, which he would wind and turn about with the most stabbing objections that ever I heard ; and was as pleasant and fellow-like in all these discourses, as with his huntsmen in the field. Those who were ripe and weighty in their answers, were ever designed for some place of credit or profit.' Seat and food were for sacred majesty only. It is ill talking between a full man and a fasting, says the proverb ; scarcely less so between one sitting and one standing. It happened this first day, that the king was taken up with a new french pamphlet against himself. The pamphlet was anonymous, and he was attributing it to the one name best known to him, that of cardinal Du Perron. Casaubon was able to undeceive him, to tell him the name of the real author, as well as something about him. James was well satisfied, and Casaubon was ordered to attend again the next day. 1 Sir George Home, cr. 160s earl of Dunbar, at this time, 1610, keeper of the privy purse, the king's declared favourite, of whom Hume says, Hist, of Engl, that 'he was one of the wisest and most virtuous, though the least powerful, of all those whom he honoured with that distinction.' Dunbar's influence, however, overbore that of the whole bench of bishops on one memorable occasion, when he got Abbot promoted to Canterbury instead of Andrewes. 2 Life of AbP. Williams, pt. 1, pp. 38, 227 ; cf. Jessopp, Life of Donne, p. xxviii. Digitized by Microsoft® 38o ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Casaubon was rapidly established in the royal favour. The king was insatiable of his conversation, was always sending for him and keeping him talking for hours. James talked well himself, liked a good hearer, but was ready, which is not always the case with good talkers, to listen in return. In graver conversation he was perhaps even superior to what he was in light talk ^. ' He loved specu- lative discourse upon moral and political subjects ; and his talent for conducting such discussions is a frequent theme of admiration, not only among his courtiers, but in the unsuborned writings of the foreigners who visited him.' Casaubon on his part was a ready talker^, and if his french was not good, his matter was inexhaustible. His memory supplied him with an endless store of diversified informa- tion on the topics which James liked best. The conversa- tion was conducted in french, which James spoke fluently^, though we may suppose with a scotch accent. Casaubon, who never could accomplish english, and was compelled with the bishops to stumble on in latin, found his tongue set free in the court circle *. Of these conversations, serious or gossiping, he has only recorded one, and that very scantily ^ It was one of the first; in November 1610, on the day on which the king commemorated by a solemn service his delivery at Gowrie house. The conversation was directed by the king to general literature. Of Tacitus, James said they were wrong, who thought him the one historian, who was a master of political wisdom. Casaubon was delighted to reply that in his late preface to Polybius, he had passed a similar judgment; and that the historical lesson to be ' Chambers, Life of James i, a. 154. ' Thorii Narratio : ' sermonis promptissimi.' " Ephem. p. 931 : ' Hodie regis pietatem, doctrinam et facultatem utriusque sermonis Gallici et Latini nobis mirari licuit.' * For the king's conversation with La Boderie about Casaubon, see Carte Papers 86; Boderie 2 fo. 471; La Boderie to Villeroy, Londres, 17 Nov., 1610. •- Ep. 704. Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 281 learnt from Polybius was far more instructive. The king blamed Plutarch for his partiality against Csesar. In Commines he noticed his flippancy, and his hatred of the english. Casaubon, whose idea of a king's conver- sation was formed upon that of Henri iv, wise and ruse, but one who had at most read Amyot's french Plutarch, was astounded by finding here a king who could pronounce opinions original, and not unjust, on classical authors, which he had read himself. M. Sainte-Beuve ^ suggests that James disliked Commines for his constitutional opinions in favour of the rights of the etats, and adds that there is no levity in the judgment which Commines passed on english institutions. In the king's remark on Tacitus we may probably trace a reminiscence of Buchanan, and a revolt against the notions of his master. Casaubon, when he wrote the passage in his preface to Polybius, was thinking of Lipsius, and meant that the history of the world on an oecumenical scale was a nobler study than that of a court, which exhibited only the triumph of vice and personal despotism. So that the coincidence was more seeming than real. The king was now bent upon retaining Casaubon permanently in England. He had come over professedly on a short visit. But it had been understood at the english embassy that Casaubon was gone prospecting. In October the ambassador had reported to Winwood^: 'M. Casaubon is gone into England, in the company of the lord Wotton, to make a tryall, whether the condition that is offered him for the settling him there shall be to his liking.' An official application was now made to the french government, and an indefinite permission of absence was accorded. That it was a leave of absence and not a dismissal, and that his french pension was to run on, were favours secured for him by personal friends — de Thou or Villeroy. De Thou's prudence desired to 1 Causeries du lundi, 14. 403. ' Winwood's Mem. 3. 226. Digitized by Microsoft® 382 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. keep open for him a retreat into France, which circum- stances might any day render expedient. Casaubon, on his part, in consenting to remain for a time, reserved his duty to his own sovereign. ' I consider myself,' he writes to Fronto le Due ^, ' now and always, as long as breath is in my body, the queen's servant.' He had in fact been ad- mitted, before quitting Paris, to an interview with Marie de Medicis, who had strictly charged him to return soon. He had pledged himself to do so, whenever summoned. Stepmother as Paris had been to him, it cost him a pang ^ ' to bid a long farewell to my country and friends.' And he tells de Thou ^ ' that he cannot shake off the painful sense of being an exile ; though it is true that the singular kindness with which he is treated by the king softens to him not a little the want of home.' The king gave the best proof of the interest he took in his new acquisition by providing for him, at once, himself. Bancroft's plan was, as we have seen, that the bishops should subscribe the difference between the income of the Canterbury prebend, and the stipend of the royal librarian. The king came forward at once with a pension of ;^300 a year from his own purse, in addition to the prebend of Canterbury, and a promise of something more on the church establishment hereafter. A stall at Westminster was named *. This promise was not fulfilled ; why I can- not explain, as on Saravia's death, in January 1613, the opportunity was afforded. The patent conferring the pension runs thus * : James, by the grace of God, etc., to all men to whom these presents shall come, greeting. 'As our progenitors have heretofore beene careful! to call into their realme persons of eminent learning, agreeing in profession of religion with the church of England, and ' Ep. 725. " Ephem. 796 : ' Durum est et asperum.' Ep. 702. * See note A in Appendix. * Rymer, Feed. 16. 710, reprinted in Russell, Ephera. p. 1122. Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 383 here to make use of them for the furtherance of learning and religion among their people ; as namelie of ^ Paulus Fagius, Martin Bucer, Peter Martyr, and others ; soe have wee, in regard of the singular learning of Isaac Casaubon, and of his concurrancye with us and the church of England in profession of religion, invited him out of Fraunce into this our realme, here to make his aboad ; and to be used by us as we shall see cause for the service of the church ; and for his better support and maynten- ance, during the time of his aboade here ; we are pleased to give unto him, and of our especiall grace certayn know- ledge and meer motion have given and graunted and by theis presents, for us our heires and successors, doe give and graunt unto the saide Isaac Casaubon a certayn annuitye or pension of three hundred poundes of good and lawfull money of England by the yeare . . . . Witness our self at Westminster the nynteenth daye of Januarie 1611.' In 1610, James had already begun to feel the pressure of poverty. Even Cecil could not make the income of the crown cover the expenditure. In 1612 the annual deficit had reached ;£'i6o,ooo, with a debt of ^^500,000. The king was unable to pay even his brewer's bill. If in this situ- ation of the exchequer we are disposed to look at Casaubon's pension with the eyes of the lord treasurer, we may observe how trifling is its amount, in comparison of the sums which the king habitually lavished on the favourites, who brought him nothing but pubHc hatred and disgrace. James was facile in giving away, rather than liberal. From weakness of character, he yielded to the 1 Paulus Fagius (Buchlein) and Martin Bucer (Putzer) came to England together, on the invitation of AbP. Cranmer, in 1549. Zurich Letters, 3. 535. They were entertained at Lambeth before they were removed to Cambridge. Peter Mart3T (Vermigli) had preceded them. He came to England in 1547, in company with Bernardino Ochino. A bill of the expenses of their journey from Basel, amounting to ;^I26 7s. 6rf., as sent in to the privy council, is printed in the Archseologia, 21. 471. Digitized by Microsoft® 384 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. importunity of the hungry suitors, by whom he was sur- rounded. In Casaubon's case, what was given was unsolicited, and had at least the colourable appearance of being patronage of learning. James was purchasing some credit at a very cheap rate. The £2,00 a year spent on Casaubon is some set off against the thousands afterwards squandered on unworthy favourites — on Carr, or Villiers. Casaubon proceeded to take out letters of naturalisation, and to look forward to a permanent settlement in this country. But if, in coming over, he had indulged any hope of being master of his own time, of acquiring at last that ' otium ' for which he had been all his life sighing — the leisure, that is, to toil from early dawn till deep into the night in the execution of some cherished literary scheme — he was soon undeceived. The first and great claimant of his time was the king. Instead of tiring of him as the novelty wore off, the demand for him became more frequent. It grew to be an established custom that he was to present himself every Sunday ^ As James was little in London, but always on the move from one hunting seat to another, Casaubon was dragged out to Theobald's, Royston, Greenwich, Hampton Court, Holdenby, Newmarket, wherever the court might be ^. Sometimes, not always, he had the convenience of a court carriage. When the distance obliged him to spend the night, he had to provide his own lodging, as the accommodation at these royal residences was but scanty ^. In writing to James from Paris, in April, Casaubon had naively proposed, as the one object of his visit to England, that he ' might have a good talk with your majesty*.' He ' Ephem. p. 964 : ' Ad regem prout soleo KaB' kKaarrjv Kvpian^r. ' Ep. 794 : ' Ilia ipsa die juberet me rex se Londino proficiscentem sequi.' ' Voltaire says of the court of France in 1562, Essai sur les mceurs, 3. 233 : ' On couchait trois ou quatre dans le meme lit, et on alloit k la cour habiter une chambre oil il n'y avait que des coffres pour meubles.' * Ep. 664 : ' Majestatis tuae sensus omnes propius cognoscere, et qui mihi in mentem veniebant posse eidem comraunicare.' Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 285 was now taken at his word; and before the end of the year he had had enough of it. Not that he grew tired of the king. He tells de Thou ^'that he found him greater than report, and thought him more so every time he saw him.' In February 1613, he writes ^ 'I enjoy the favour of this excellent monarch, who is really more instructed than most people give him credit for. He is a lover of learning to a degree beyond belief; his judgment of books, old and new, is such as would become a professed scholar, rather than a mighty prince.' But it was the ruin of his leisure. Casaubon was flattered by the attention, while he chafed under the outlay of time it occasioned. Time spent in conversation, however agreeable, was to him time lost. He begs Montague^, Lake, the king himself, to permit him to bury himself in his study, and to present any observations he may have to make by their mediation. ' It is not fitting for one so lowly as I am to approach so great a monarch, save through a third person *.' One consequence to Casaubon of this establishment in the circle that stood round the royal chair was, that his thoughts were more and more turned from their own direction. Learning ceased to occupy his mind, and he was now engrossed by the ecclesiastical topic, which was the paramount object of interest in this society. He occasionally thinks, with a sigh of regret, of his unfinished Polybius. But he never touches it. The king, who had started on his career with the axiom imbibed from Buch- ' Ep. 693: 'Majorem fama sua inveni, et quotidie magis magisque invenio.' ^ Ep. 864. Casaubon's language about James to others is honourable to the king, and, I think, with some exceptions (see Epp. ep. 249), not overcharged. His language to James himself is adulatory. But it was the style of the court, and meant nothing, or meant only ' wonderful for a king.' Bacon, nay Selden, was equally lavish of the dialect of flattery, the latter to an extent which raised in Dr. Aikin, Lives of Selden, etc. p. 37, ' a painful sense of the degradation incurred by literature when brought in collision with power, unless supported by a proper sense of its own dignity.' The words of Selden to which Dr. Aikin refers are in Selden, Op. 3. 1400. See note B in Appendix. ' Ep. 696. * See note B in Appendix. Digitized by Microsoft® 2,86 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. anan, ' that a king ought to be the most learned clerk in his dominion,' now never read anything but controversial divinity, and chiefly the pamphlets of the day. ' Nothing escapes him,' Casaubon writes to Fronto ^. To cardinal Du Perron he writes ^, ' Neither his private affairs nor public business interest his majesty so deeply as do affairs of religion, and his desire of bringing about concord among the divided members of the church.' This temper of the english court was well understood on the continent. Fra Paolo regrets ^ ' that the king of England was become a doctor of divinity.' ' I come from England,' Grotius writes in 1613 *, ' where there is little commerce of letters ; theologians are there the reigning authorities. Casaubon is the only exception ; and he could have found no place in England as a man of learning; he was compelled to assume the theologian.' Heinsius sent Casaubon a copy of his edition of the ' Poetics.' Casaubon took the book with him to court to read himself^, but he does not speak of it to the king, and only tells him that Heinsius has sided against the arminians. Casaubon at first lamented this growing ecclesiastical passion, which was swamping better tastes both in court and church. In November, 1611, he writes^ to Charles Labbe : ' If you wish to know what I am doing here, I can only report that all my old studies have entirely ceased. The king, great and learned as he is, is now so entirely taken up with one sort of book, that he keeps his own mind and the minds of all about him occupied exclus- ively on the one topic. Hardly a day passes on which some new pamphlet is not brought him, mostly written by ' Cas. ep. ad Front, p. 37 ; ' Nihil ilium fugit eorum quae a vestris hominibus scriptitantur.' * Cas. resp, ad card. Perr. p. 4. ' Paolo Sarpi, Lettere, 88. * Grotii Epp, p. 751 : ' Ne huic quidem locus fuisset in Anglia ut literatori, theologum induere debuerit.' '- Ep. 754- " Ep. 753. Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 287 Jesuits, on the martyrdom of Saint Garnett, the sufferings of the english catholics, or matters of that description. All these things I have to read and give my opinion upon.' In March, 1613, things had not altered. He writes to a friend ^ : ' As long as I shall stay in England, I see that I must make up my mind to forego classical letters. Our excellent and most religious king is so fond of theology, that he cares very little to attend to any literary subject.' Grotius recollected in 1628 '^, that Casaubon had told him ' that he had now laid aside all his interest in the military affairs of ancient Rome. Henri iv, greatest of monarchs and of captains, had put him upon them. But, after his removal to Britain, he had transferred his studies and his interests to other matters, viz. religion and religious con- cord, for which alone the king of England cared.' The call of the greatest scholar of the age to England, and his endowment out of the revenue of the english church, was a creditable act of government in a country and a church whose history is not illumined by any public spirited patronage of science or learning. The incident figures in the histories of the church in this capacity. It is disappointing, when we come to look narrowly into the transaction, to find that this solitary instance of disinter- ested patronage of learning is no instance at all. Then, greek scholarship, however eminent, was not a commodity for which king, bishops, or parliament of England would have paid £300. The king was delighted to find in Casau- bon a new gossip, deferential, without being obsequious, whose memory was an inexhaustible store of book learn- ing. The high church bishops sought for their party the credit of a distinguished convert from puritanism, and they intended to employ his pen in behalf of their cause, 1 Ep. 872. ' Grotii Epp. ep. 184. app. : ' . . . translatum in Britanniam studio quoque se eo transtulisse, quo vergeret animus regis, cui non tam arma quam pax et religio cordi.' Digitized by Microsoft® 288 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Struggling in 1610 against unpopularity. The reading public saw in Casaubon the vindicator of the civil power against the spiritual tyranny of the bishop of Rome, of the protestant faith against popery. All these parts Casaubon had to submit to act with as good a grace as might be. When historians credit James with surrounding himself with learned men, it should be added that it was with learned divines only. There did not exist in this country any distinct class of scholars, or guild of learning, such as had been found in Italy in the 15th century, or as is formed by the german professoriate of our day. When Rittershu- sius wanted to secure a copyright in England for an edition of the ' Novellae ' he was printing at Altorf, Casaubon assured him that ^ ' the precaution was unnecessary ; the Enghsh printers care nothing for that sort of book. The only reading which flourishes here is theology ; no books but theological books, and those of english authors, are published here. The educated men in this part of the world contemn everything which does not bear upon theology.' There was, indeed, a set of men in England to whom the title of learned is eminently due, though their reading was directed, not to the classics, but mainly to the anti- quities of their own country. Camden, Cotton, Spelman, above all, Selden, and those who formed the society of antiquaries, were not only the best set of their time, but one which we shall hardly match in our later history. Bacon had been among them before he sold himself for official advancement, and Andrewes had imbibed something of their spirit. But this set of men was neglected, or frowned upon, by the court. If James showed in 1610 some interest in Camden's ' Annals,' it was only in respect of the political capital he reckoned to make out of it, or ' Ep. 766: ' . . . typographi Angli ejusmodi libros non curant. sola est, qu« hie floreat, sacra Theologia ; soli fere libri theologici, et fere Anglorum, qui hie eduntur.' Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 289 with a view to the vindication of his mother's character. Bacon had appealed to the king in the 'Advancement of Learning,' and had satisfied himself that there was no hope from that quarter, for help for the ' Instauratio Magna ^' In 1609, Bacon doubts if he can still interest Andrewes in his speculations, as he intimates in sending to the bishop his 'Cogitata et Visa^.' Instead of en- couraging Bacon, the bishops were scheming a college at Chelsea for the production of more controversial divinit3^ The king gave a patent, and licence of mortmain, and actually nominated seventeen fellows and a provost^- A Jesuit pamphleteer had taunted Andrewes with having got a bishopric by reading Terence and Plautus. This is an imputation on his character from which Casaubon must defend him * ; 'In the last thirty years he has rarely had Plautus in his hands ; Terence never once. If in his writing any traces of his classical reading are to be found, let the blame rest on his retentive memory, and on the giver of that mental endowment.' Aptly enough, though in jest, the earl of Suffolk advises sir John Harington ^, ' You are not young, you are not handsome, you are not finely ; and yet will you come to courte, and thinke to be well-favoured ? why I say again " good knight," that your learning may somewhat prove worthy hereunto ; your latin and your greek, your Italian, your Spanish tongues, your wit and discretion, may be well looked unto for a while as strangers at such a place, but these are not the thinges men live by now a days.' How entirely the soul of true learning, viz. the spirit ' Spedding, Life of Bacon, 4. 23. " Ibid. p. 141. 3 Fuller, Ch. Hist. 10. 3, 19. ' Cas. ep. ad Front, p. 159: 'Accusat praesulem quod Terentium et Plautum legerit juvenis in academiis ; nam ex eo tempore, h. e. ab annis 30, Plautum vix in manus aliquando meminit sumsisse ; Terentium ne semel quidem attigit. Siqua igitur veteris lectionis vestigia in scriptis senis venerandi apparent, accuset felicem illius meraoriam.' = Nichols' Progr. 2. 414. U Digitized by Microsoft® 290 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. of investigation, was wanting in the circle which sur- rounded James, and into which Casaubon was now ma- triculated, is evinced by what happened to Selden in 1618. He published in that year his ' History of Tythes.' It is the work of a legal antiquary, and if not in point of arrangement a model of historical criticism, it follows the true path of critical inquiry. Selden, with Scaliger's example before him, had raised himself to the idea of an historical investigator; inquiring into facts, not drawing up a case. The ' History of Tythes,' written in this spirit, was received with a howl of rage by the learned divines of the court circle. They could not conceive that a book could be written on tithes, which was neither for, nor against, the church. The high commission court was brought down on the unfortunate author, who had com- mitted the crime of carrying historical criticism into the region of ecclesiastical antiquity. This error Selden was compelled to apologise for, and to retract by a court of which Abbot, King, Buckeridge, and Andrewes, were members. But though the Jacobean divines do not constitute an epoch of learning, they represent a stage on the road to- wards it. Critical inquiry was not only unknown, but was proscribed. Yet a zeal for reading and patristic research characterised them, which abated the raw ignorance of the preceding century. They were led into the region of learning. Barren as their controversial pamphlets are, yet theology approached the ground of scientific criticism more nearly than amid the bandying of scriptural texts, which had been the controversial form of the century of the reformation. Anglicanism was purging itself of its fanaticism, and leaving that element to the puritans. It is true that all study was theological, and that the theology was contentious, not scientific. But at any rate there was study. A german visitor, young Calixtus, always said^ ' Henke, Calixtus Leben, i. 149. Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 391 that 'his tutors in Germany had not done as much in spurring him on to the study of ecclesiastical history as had the english bishops, and the well stored libraries he had seen among them,' during his visit in 1612. The influence of Andrewes on Cambridge could not but be beneficial. We find him ^ ' making continual search and inquiry to know what hopeful young men were in the uni- versity ; his chaplain and friends receiving a charge from him to certify what hopeful and towardly young wits they met with from time to time.' The instructions issued by the crown to the vice-chancellor of Oxford ^, ' according to which young students were to be incited to bestow their time in the fathers and councils, schoolmen, histories and controversies, and not to insist too long in compen- diums and abbreviations,' are in the same direction. ' You must not suppose,' Casaubon writes to Saumaise^, 'that this people is a barbarous people ; nothing of the sort ; it loves letters and cultivates them, sacred learning especially. Indeed, if I am not mistaken, the soundest part of the whole reformation is to be found here in England, where the study of antiquity flourishes together with zeal for the truth.' At fifty-one friends are but slowly made. Yet men who have long been before the world in their books, do not approach each other for the first time as strangers. In this circle of divines Isaac Casaubon was soon at home, but there were two with whom he became specially intimate ; ' the only two native Englishmen,' he says *, 'with whom he lived on intimate terms in London.' These were the bishop of Ely and the dean of S. Paul's. ' Isaacson, Life and Death of Andrewes, p. xvii. " Heylin, Life of Laud, p. 71. ' Ep. 837 : ' Haec gens nihil minus est quam barbara, amat et edit literas, prsesertim autem sacras, quod si me conjectura non fallit, totius reformationis pars integerrima est in Anglia.' * Ephem. p. 916 ; ' Quos solos Anglorum familiares habeo.' U 2 Digitized by Microsoft® aga ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Lancelot Andrewes, just (September 1609) translated to Ely, was a prelate who united a sincere piety with a genial wit, and who, if he had not been a bishop, might have left an eminent name in english literature. For a man who had been long about court, who had the preaching gift, and was in the way of preferment, his reading was considerable, though it has been much overrated. He had, in common with many english divines his contemporaries, an extensive acquaintance with what may be called the 'apparatus theologicus.' He knew enough of the latin and greek ecclesiastical writers to find out whether another man knew them. He knew enough to appreciate Cas- aubon's knowledge of them. He had been a prime mover in bringing Casaubon to England. He had thus taken on himself the obligation to befriend him. But when he came to make Casaubon's acquaintance, the character of the man suited and attracted the bishop. Profound piety and great reading, common to both, placed them at first in sympathy. Of bishop Andrewes, it is affirmed ^ that ' he daily spent many hours in holy prayers and abundant tears.' Casaubon's diary is one prolonged litany. Andrewes was ^ indefatigable in study from childhood to age. From the ' hour he rose, his private devotions finished, to the time he was called to dinner, which was not till twelve at noon at soonest, he kept close to his book, and would not be interrupted by any that came to speak with him. He would be so displeased with scholars that attempted to speak with him in a morning, that he would say, ' he doubted they were no true scholars that came to speak with him before noon.' When, after his promotion to a bishopric, his own studies were cut short, he was ready to encourage those of others ^- He sent Bedwell to ' Isaacson, Life and Death, etc , p. xiii. ^ Ibid. p. xxv. ■■ Cas. epp. 831 : ' Hie dignissimus pr^sul non solum est doctissimus, sed etiam egregie favet literis ; itaque Bedwello pecuniam pollicitus est necessariam ad Thesauri Arabici editionem.' Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 293 Leyden to study arable, and promised to bear the charges of printing his ' Thesaurus Arabicus.' In tastes thus ahke, Andrewes and Casaubon had the further bond of com- munity of theological opinions. And the coincidence of opinion had the charm of rencontre. Their opinions had been arrived at by each independently. The two had not been formed in one school, but had found out primitive antiquity, each for himself in a different country, and without communication. It was a source of ever fresh delight and surprise to them to find how independent reading had conducted them to identical results. With these conformities of character and opinion, there was sufficient intellectual difference to lend the interest of contrast to their intercourse. As when Ben Jonson encountered Shakespeare, it is the coUision of learning with wit. Casaubon might admire the nimble suggestion, the ready memory, the prompt repartee of his new friend. Andrewes must have felt that he was in the presence of one who knew more than himself, of the things of which he knew most ; one, the relation of whose knowledge to his own was that of the whole to the part. They soon mutually delighted in each other's society. Andrewes carried Casaubon to Ely with him, kept him there as long as he could make him stay, and pressed him to go down again in the following summer. Casaubon writes of him to all his friends ; to de Thou that ^ ' he is a man whom if you knew you would take to exceedingly. We spend whole days in talk of letters, sacred especially, and no words can express what true piety, what uprightness of judgement, I find in him.' To Heinsius he says^, 'I am by way of seeing the bishop daily. He is one of a few whose society enables me to support being separated from de Thou. I am attracted to the man by his profound learning, and charmed by a graciousness of manner not common in one so highly placed.' Again, in 1613, he tells ' Ep. 741. ' Ep. 754. Digitized by Microsoft® ^94 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Heinsius \ ' If you come over here you will receive the warmest welcome from the bishop of Ely ; he longs to see you at Ely House.' With all these endowments of nature and education, Andrewes had not risen above his surroundings. His piety had not softened his heart, his reading had not en- larged his intellect. Nothing in his writings rises above the level of theological polemic, or witty conundrum making. He warns Bellarmine what he may expect if he should be caught in England ^. He was one of the knot of bishops who planned, and deliberately carried through, the wanton execution of Legatt. He sat on the com- mission in the Essex case and — there is a lower depth of infamy — gave his voice for the divorce. The dean of S. Paul's had taken in Casaubon, and entertained him as his guest for nearly twelve months. Yet so much in his company, there is little reference to him in Casaubon's remains. The kind attentions and hospitality, both of the dean and of Mrs. Overall, are warmly acknowledged in a letter ^ which is a record of Casaubon's gratitude. A short note from the dean to Cas- aubon * contains an invitation to him to go out of town to visit him, in his country house at Islington. Among the Adversaria of 1610 is a memorandum, that the dean had suggested on Hebr. 10. 5, that ar&ij,a is a corruption of otrla with reduplication of the final s of the preceding word ; and that he proposed to read i Cor. 6. 4 interrogatively. It may be noticed that even in this rough note, for his own eye only intended, Casaubon cannot name Overall without adding 'vir longe doctissimus,' a testimonial which is of vastly more weight than A. Wood's ^, ' one of the pro- foundest school divines of our nation,' or than Camden's ", ' a man learned all round.' 1 Ep. 881. ' Tortura Torti, p. 47. ' Ep. 739. * Burney Mss. 364. p. 337. ° Athen. 2. 812. ' Camden, Annales, p. 849. Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON, 1610-1614. 295 Casaubon writes to Heinsius ^ that among the men in England who deserved the name of theologian were the bishop of Ely, the bishop of Winchester, and the dean of S. Paul's. But at this date his acquaintance with enghsh churchmen was limited. When he visited Oxford he be- came acquainted with several, of whom two at least, Abbot (Robert) and Prideaux (John) deserved the compliment equally with the three he names. Prideaux was rising into distinction as tutor, and 1612, rector, of Exeter. He particularly affected foreigners. In his time, and by his means, the resort of foreigners to Oxford, which the re- formation had broken off, seemed to be revived for a short time, and on a small scale ^. Some of these were young matriculated students ; others, older men, who only rented chambers in the house, 'to improve themselves by his company, his instruction, his direction.' His manners were more polished than those of the average academic, and Casaubon was attracted* to him at once. As Prideaux was selected by the archbishop to reply for Casaubon to Eudaemon- Joannes, the preparation of the pamphlet led to much correspondence between the two. Prideaux, who was a young and rising man, was very anxious to be received into the favoured circle of court divines, and saw his way to this by the medium of the pamphlet. He was nervously desirous that what he wrote should be satisfactory to the king, and that it should have Casaubon's recommendation in that quarter*. He suc- ceeded in pleasing the king and the archbishop by his pamphlet, and was rewarded for it by the Regius professorship of divinity. But this was after Casaubon's death. Of his principal Cambridge friend, Richard Thomson, ' Ep. 744. '^ A. Wood, Athenae, 3. 269. ' Ep. 903 : ' Ita me nuper cepisti, cum isthic te primum vidi ; multo magis quum te loquentem audivi.' ' Ep 915 : ' Non dubito quin ea res optimi regis animum tibi sit conciliatura.' Digitized by Microsoft® 2,ge ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect, something has been said before. Thomson was among his earliest acquaintance. TravelHng to Italy, as tutor to some nobleman, Thomson had made some stay, as most Englishmen did, at Geneva. It was he who had introduced Henry Wotton to Casaubon, and, more than this, who first mentioned Casaubon to Scaliger. Thomson may thus be said to have been the discoverer of Casaubon, as it was through Scaliger that Casaubon became known to the Parisian friends. Thomson was a book and manuscript hunter, and had helped Casaubon to some things of this kind, which he would fain have had regarded as presents, but on this point Casaubon was scrupulous. Nor was it only gratitude which bound Casaubon to Thomson. Thomson's amiable qualities attached Casaubon ; he was a favourite with Madame Casaubon, and he is the only correspondent to whom the children send their remem- brances. In his university (he was M. a. of Clare) he was well considered as a scholar, and was on the company of translators of king James' bible, for Hebrew. But he had also coquetted with many classics, greek and latin, helping any of his friends in their editions. He had given suggestions to Casaubon for Suetonius, for Polybius, for the Augustan historians, and to Farnaby for Martial. He had talked of editing himself the Epistles to Atticus, and Zonaras' Lexicon, but never did anything. He was drawn, like his friend, into the theological vortex, and his literary schemes ended in a polemical tract. After his arrival in England, Casaubon occasionally saw Thomson, and always with pleasure. Richard Thomson and the bishop of Ely are two men in whose society time is not lost 1- When he visited Cambridge it is Thomson to whom Casaubon belongs, who, as matter of right, shows him over the university. And when, afterwards in 1611, Ephem. p. 876 ; ' A prandio nihil prorsus ; neque tamen poenitet, nam totum tempus fui cum magno praesule D. Episcopo et amicissimo Tomsone.' Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 161C-1614. 297 Thomson got into trouble, it is to Casaubon he turns to befriend him with the bishops ^ Outside the circle of court divines, or ' the theologians,' Casaubon formed hardly any acquaintance during his engHsh residence. His relations with the ' antiquaries,' as we may call the non-theological men of letters, were merely distant. Bacon's name is the symbol of so much, that we may be naturally desirous to find any traces of his intercourse with Casaubon. In 1609, Casaubon had read Bacon's ' De Sapientia Veterum,' and, struck by the originaHty of the piece, had spoken of it in a letter to Sir George Carew. Sir George had told Bacon of Casaubon's good opinion. Bacon, who was at that time desirous^ of making the acquaintance of ' learned men beyond the seas,' wrote the following letter to Casaubon : — ' Understanding from your letter to the lord Carew that you approve my writings, I not only took it as a matter for congratulation, but thought I would write to tell you how much pleasure your favourable opinion had given me. My earnest desire is, as you rightly divine, to draw the sciences out of their hiding-places into the light. To write at one's ease that which others are to read at their ease is of little consequence ; the contemplations I have in view are those which may bring about the better ordering of man's life and business with all its turmoil. How great an enterprise this is, and with what small helps I have attempted it, you will perhaps learn hereafter. Meanwhile you would do me in return a very great pleasure if you would communicate to me your own plans and occupations. ' See below, pp. 350, 351. ^ Spedding, Life, 4. 146. Birch appears to me to have rightly fixed the date of Casaubon's letter (to which Bacon alludes) to somewhere between October 1609, and March 1610. In Bacon's Comm. solutus, Spedd. 4. 64, is a paper headed ' Q. of learned men beyond the seas to be made, and hearkening who they be that may be so inclined.' Mr. Spedding, 4. 145, explains ' made ' persuaded to take an interest in the ' Great instauration.' It appears to me that ' made ' is to be referred to Q. = ' enquiry to be made.' Digitized by Microsoft® 298 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. For I ever think that this intercommunion of pursuits conduces more to friendship than poHtical connections or mutual services. I think no man could ever more truly say of himself than I can, " multum incola fuit anima mea." Indeed, I seem to have my conversation among the ancients rather than among these with whom I live If in anything my friendship can be of use or grace to you or your's, assure yourself of my good and diligent service ; and so biddeth you farewell, Your friend, etc' This letter is but a draft, and was never sent. It may be conjectured that Casaubon's coming to England about that time removed him from the category to which Bacon's memorandum referred. While Bacon's mind was occupied with the speculations of the ' Sapientia Veterum,' he might tell Casaubon that ' I seem to have my conversation among the ancients rather than among those with whom I live.' This was a passing phase. If he inquired about Casaubon, Bacon would learn that he was too much engrossed with the episcopal pamphlet warfare to be available for the purposes of the ■ De Augmentis Scientiarum.' We know ^ what Bacon thought of church controversy. Had Bacon frequented the bishop of Ely, he might then have chanced on Casaubon. But we learn from his own letter ^ that he now saw little or nothing of the bishop, and that from this very cause, that ' your lordship hath been so busy in the church and the i!)alace, disputing between kings and popes ; ' a sentence which hardly disguises Bacon's contempt for the bishop's occupation. With William Camden, the ' Pausanias of Britain,' as A. Wood calls him, Casaubon would naturally be more in sympathy. In the early Genevan days,- when an exile from learned societ}^, Casaubon had ventured, among other feelers, a letter to Camden, desiring his acquaintance on the ground of his admiration of the ' Britannia.' In his remote corner, difficult as books were to get^ this small ' Spedding, Life, 4. 137. ^ Spedding, Life, 4. 141. Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 399 volume, published in London, and relating to distant England, had not escaped Casaubon's watchful eye. The same letter intimated to Camden respectfully, but un- hesitatingly, that the word ' Britain ' was not derived from ' Brith and ravia ^.' The head master of Westminster was not accustomed to have his greek questioned. He did not condescend to alter his derivation in the edition of 1607,* and the acquaintance made slow progress. But when Casaubon was settled in Paris, Camden, now become Clarencieux, and in regular correspondence with the British embassy and with de Thou, heard much of Cas- aubon. The books Casaubon was known to be writing, formed part of the public news with which William Becher entertained Camden. And so, through the embassy, Camden sent Casaubon a copy of the new edition of his ' Britannia,' 1607. Casaubon returned the compliment by sending Camden a copy of his ' Polybius ; ' though he could hardly hope much appreciation of his labour from one who identified -tannia with ravLa.. When Casaubon came to England, the acquaintance went no further. Camden lived now at Chiselhurst. A journey thither was the business of half a day. For some reason or other, perhaps because of his close connection with Wotton and Savile, Camden showed no desire to cultivate Casaubon. We do not find that sir Robert Cotton appreciated Casaubon much better than Camden did. We hear ^ of his spending one day with sir Robert, or probably in his library. He could have access to it, as he offers to search it for the purposes of Charles Labbe ^. And Cotton had ' Taii'm = a narrow strip of land, like a loose riband or streamer. See Wesseling on Diodorus, i. 36. Dio Chrysost. p. 83. But Camden writes ■ravia, or, in all editions after the first, tania, and affirms that the glossarists explain it as 'regio.' Casaubon remarks that the word is not greek. Perhaps Camden got his word from Stephanus, who says, Thes. p. 1308 : ' At ravia, pro plaga, regio, tractus terrarum nescio unde afferatur.' ^ Ephem. p. 1036. Ep. 753. Digitized by Microsoft® 3C0 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. pointed out to Casaubon that ' nos ' was the reading of the passage in Rishanger, where Parsons chose to print I'VOS.' It must not be forgotten, however, that one cause of his not extending his acquaintance more widely must have been, that his time was now closely occupied with the work imposed upon him. We have seen that Casaubon contemplated at first only a short visit to this country. When he became Overall's guest, he did not think that he should remain at the deanery for a whole year. His stay in England was pro- longed '^ from interval to interval, but was still considered by himself as provisional. He experienced a sense of relief in getting away from Paris ^. ' My country, dear as it is to me on many accounts, is become, by the murder of my prince, an object of loathing and aversion.' He cannot bear to see those whose doctrine instigated and author- ised the deed lording it in the scene of their crime. Then the reception he met with here, and the succession of occupations forced on him by the king, detained him, but always subject to the pleasure of the french government. ' The most christian king, whose subject and servant I am,' is his style. There was difficulty in getting leave for Madame Casaubon to come over ; greater still in getting his books. He was more than a year in England without his family and without any of his books. Madame Casau- bon joined him in October 1611. The queen regent flatly refused permission for his library to be sent him *. More than once he learns that he is to be immediately recalled. • Exercc. in Bar. ded. p. 12, and proleg., where he quotes Matthew Paris, ' Vita Abbatum,' from a ms. which sir R. Cotton had shown him ' in sua Ubraria.' The letter in which he aslis for these references to be given him on paper is in Birch's papers, Sloane mss. 4164. p. 220. ^ Ep. 705 : 'Cum paucos menses destinassem evenit longe aliter.' ^ Epp. 698, 699. * Ephem. p. 843 : ' Regina negat se permissuram ut deferatur hue bibliotheca. June, 161 1. Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614, 301 James had to request as a personal favour to himself the loan of Casaubon. His leave of absence is indefinitely pro- longed ; but he is not discharged. As for his books and papers, he may have some of them, just what he requires for the thing he is now writing ^. These are enough for his shorter pamphlets ; but when he comes to write against Baronius he wants them all. Madame Casaubon returns to Paris to plead the cause. She waits upon the queen : ' You have done well to come back,' was the answer of Marie de Medicis. ' I have written to your husband to return at once, and it is my pleasure that you do not go back to England to him.' There had to be more negotiations, a contest between the two courts for the possession of Casaubon ^. Casaubon is to stay a little longer ; Madame Casaubon may return. The books, some of them, may go for present use ; not all, a third part, and not the most useful books ; ^ ' we must retain some lien upon our subject.' His french pension even is continued to him, but from term to term. He does not consider himself permanently settled ; when he has done with Baronius there is nothing that need keep him in England another hour *. At first he had been a guest or a lodger of the dean of S. Paul's; then of Madame Killigrew. At Michaelmas 161 1, he took a house in S. Mary Axe. The house was found for him by Abraham Aurelius (Auriol), minister of the french congregation, who himself lived in Bishopsgate ward^. S. Mary Axe ran from Leadenhall to Camomile Street, and is described by Stowe as " 'a street graced with good buildings, and much inhabited by eminent ' Ep. 749 : ' Nondum plenam missionem a regina impetravi.' ^ Ep. 732 : ' Uxorem psene detinuit reglna, vetuit redire in Angliam ; sed, mox, consilium de rae revocando aut omissum est, aut intermissum.' ^ Ep. 733 : ' Ne, semel nactus meam bibliothecam, patriae obliviscar.' * Ep. 8ro: ' Hunc librum si dedicavero . . . nihil est quod rae in hoc regno vel horam unam teneat.' ^ Camden Society, vol. 82. p. 70. ° Stowe, Survey of London, 1. 420. Digitized by Microsoft® 3oa ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect, merchants.' At an earlier period even country gentlemen had dwelt in S. Mary Axe, as sir Edward Wotton had his town house there. But the Wottons had migrated further west before Casaubon came to settle in the street. In September 1613, he removed to one more commodious, and further west, in the ' new rents,' Drury Lane. He is only here provisionally; and though the discomforts of London are great, the compensations are not a few. Indeed, the two years, 161 1, 1612, were, on the whole, peaceful and not unhappy years. He enters in his diary, on his fifty-third birthday, an expression of thankfulness, that he has passed the year ^ without serious disaster, or cause of complaint ; and this is the only entry of the kind in the diary. The means of subsistence were provided for him not altogether insufficiently ; he was honoured and made much of at court; above all, he was happy in the free exercise of the rights of conscience. The anglican ritual exactly met his aspirations after the decent simplicity of primitive worship. Almost his first intro- duction to the ceremonial of our church was on the notable occasion of the consecration of the Scottish bishops, October 21, 1610. He was highly pleased with the order of that service ; with the ordinary celebration of the communion in S. Paul's ; with the washing of the feet on Maundy Thursday ; though his presbyterian senti- ment was at first inclined to find a little too much pomp • and pride mingling in the solemn scene of an episcopal ordination ^. But on the whole he preferred the anglican ceremonies to the bare and naked usages of his own ^ Ephem. 918 : ' Sine graviore noxa aut querella.' '^ The same impression had been made upon Sully, when he came over in 1603. Barlow, Hampton Court conference, p. 38 : ' My lord of London put his majesty in mind of the speeches which the french embassador Mo*"'. Rogne gave out . . upon the view of our solemne service and ceremonies, that " If the reformed churches in Fraunce had kept the same orders among them which we have, he was assured that there would have bene many thousands of protestants more there, than now there are." ' Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 161O-1614. 303 communion. His infant son James was baptized, and Meric confirmed ^, according to the anglican ritual, not, as all their brothers and sisters had been, by the calvinistic ministers. He approves the lent fast, and the use of the cross in baptism. On the points on which the high and the low party within the church differ, at least on the real presence and on confession, he inclines rather to the sacerdotal side. But he did not forsake the french congregation, of which he continued to be a member. He attended the preaching from time to time, though not seldom hearing doctrine from which he differed, and philology which he knew to be rotten ^ ; and was on terms of friendly intimacy with the ministers Cappel and Auriol, who were assiduous in attending him in his dying moments. In one main feature his London life exactly resembled the routine of Paris. It was a life of incessant toil, and a constant struggle to protect his time against the encroach- ments of visits and visitors. EngHsh men of letters at this time were few, and those few did not draw to Casaubon. Casaubon had been accustomed in Paris to the gossips crowding to him ^. It was not to be expected that enghsh callers would flock in shoals in London, to the house of a man who could not speak their language, and who was ignorant of what was going on. Nor was London, Hke Paris, the resort of the learned foreigner, to whom it offered no attraction either in books or men. Here, too, Casaubon was free, both from the pushing intrusion of the cathoHc proselytizer, and from the sans ceremonie of the hugue- not residents, made gregarious by common misery. He was further relieved from his duties at the library. All this was favourable to work. But the claims on his > Ephem. pp, 950. 1054. 823. 817, 818. ^ Ephem. p. 854 : ' Pastorem Marium audivi ... qui ab interpretatione veterum et doctrina longe abiit, nee minus a significatione verborum avvepyttv et TtKfoOTJvm: ' Ephem. p. 694. Digitized by Microsoft® 304 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. time, official and social, from which he was relieved, were replaced by others no less troublesome. In Paris he was the king's servant, but he did not belong to the court. In London though of one so humble it could not be said he was ' of the court,' yet, according to the distinction drawn by lord Clarendon \ he ' followed ' it. He was with the king, as we have seen, every Sunday, sometimes also on week-days, and these were not audiences, but attendances prolonged for hours. With the going and the returning, the attendance never took less than the whole day ; when the court was in the country, two or more days. When from May 5 to September 19 he has not seen the king, he thinks this a long interval ^. James, who was on progress in the southern counties, returned to Whitehall on September 8, but did not stay ^, and on September 19 Casaubon goes out to Theobald's, and is honoured with a long and serious colloquy on various matters *. He must also occasionally visit prince Henry ; after his death, prince Charles ; often the archbishop. The archbishop is out at Croydon. This, we might imagine, would consume the whole day, yet Casaubon will find time after his return to write some part of the genealogy of the Herods. He is invited to dine by the bishops, by the french ambassador, by the ambassador of the czar of Muscovy, by the prince of Baden, by the lord mayor of London. Overall takes him to the banquet of the Merchant Taylors, than which 'he never saw anything more magnificent.' He is often at Madame Killigrew's, sees much of the french pastors, as of his compatriot, Theodore de Mayerne =, first phy- sician to the king, and of Raphael Thoris. Abraham Scul- ' Clarendon, Life, i. 36 : ' Thomas Carew . . . followed the court, which the modesty of that time disposed men to do, sometime before they pretended to be of it.' ^ Ephem. p. 1014. = Nichols, Progr. of James i, 2. 677. * Ephem. p. 1014 : ' Gravia cum rege de rebus variis habui coUoquia.' ' Theodore Turquet was born at Geneva, 1573, and may have known Casaubon at Montpellier, where he took the degree of m.e. 1597. Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 305 tetus, then residing in London, is much with him and welcome. Occasional visits from foreigners, though more rare than at Paris, happened now and then ; as when the due de Bouillon, attended by his Sedan ministers, Justell, Cappel, Du Tiloir, came over and had to be attended to. James, in his capacity of theologian, is professionally curious to have explained to him the points of doctrine in which the church of Sedan differs from the church of Paris. Then a new libel of Scioppius appears, and has to be read and elucidated to the king. ' Ite studia ! nihil vobiscum mihi ; ecce totum diem in aula egi ad 10 horam noctis,' is the entry on May 15. He may say his friends are few, but they are too numerous for continuous work. ' June 7, 1612. Roused out of bed almost before break of day to attend upon some friends, which took a long time.' • June 18. Went to spend the day with the excellent Bed- well, with my wife ; ' and so on. Of the foreign visitants who came to him in London two deserve separate mention. The young Georg Calix- tus was in London, in the summer of 1612, in the course of that four years' travel, by which he sought to counteract in himself the narrowing influence of the lutheran bigotry, by which he was surrounded even in liberal Helmstadt^. Calixtus, though only twenty-six, had already conceived the idea of going back to the study of the fathers, in order to retrieve religion from the suspended animation in which it was held in the orthodox formularies. At his age Calixtus must have been without acquisitions, but he possessed vision and aims. The young aspirant, who had raised himself above lutheranism, was naturally anxious to approach the veteran scholar, who was known to have himself emerged from Calvinism. Casaubon granted him two interviews, which naturally left a deeper impression on the younger, than on the older, man. Calixtus, whose life labour was an ' Irenicon,' may have found himself 1 Georg Calixtus, b. 1586, f 1656- X Digitized by Microsoft® 306 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Strengthened by the sympathy which Casaubon would accord to this direction of his youthful admirer. Casau- bon, who was in infrequent correspondence with Caselius (Johann Chessel), Calixtus' teacher, would be able to learn that even among the lutherans there were some not so wholly lost to humanity as Scaliger used to affirm^. But Casaubon was now absorbed day and night in the push to finish the ' Exercitationes,' and even so promising a visitor as Calixtus counted only as one more thief of time. On the day on which he saw Calixtus the second time, Casaubon has only entered in the diary ' sacra synaxis, amici, studia^.' Beyond the brief remark that he had found him ^ ' learned and of no common taste in letters,' there is no note of their intercourse. With this recom- mendation he sent off Calixtus to de Thou in Paris. With his other visitor, a name of greater renown than Calixtus, Casaubon, though at high pressure on Baronius, spent, reluctant yet willing, many hours, even days. Grotius* was in London in March and April, 1613. He was already in correspondence, and in ecclesiastical sym- pathy, established through correspondence, with Casau- bon. Their point of view was sufficiently like for them to be classed by the historians * together among the waverers. Their aim, the reunion of Christendom, was the same. They sought it by different roads ; Grotius, by the states- man's road of a political comprehension ; Casaubon, by the theologian's, a merging of minor differences in a com- mon Christianity, on the basis of the primitive centuries. Casaubon was introduced to Grotius at the young prince of Baden's lodging. On this occasion they had a long ^ conversation, and met afterwards as often as they could. Casaubon took him to dine ' at the dean's, the bishop of ' Scaligerana 2". p. 151 ; ' Martinistes, il n'y a point de gens si ignorans et barbares qu'eux en Alemagne.' '^ Ephem. p. 936. ^ Ep. 818 : ' Doetum et judicii in literis non vulgaris.' • Grotius, b. 1583, f 1645. s E. g. by Hallam, a. 31a. " Ephem. p. 975 : ' Detentus diu.' ' Ep. 886. Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 307 Ely's, and the french embassy. On April 30, Grotius and the dean were entertained at supper by Casaubon. Gro- tius says ^ that ' they saw each other daily.' Common sentiments brought them together, but Casaubon soon felt the personal fascination of Grotius' talk. He cannot express ^ the happiness he enjoys in this intercourse. ' I knew him before to be a wonderful man ; but the superi- ority of that divine genius no one can properly appreciate, without seeing his countenance, and hearing his conver- sation. Integrity is stamped on his face ; in his talk is exhibited the union of exquisite learning and genuine piety. Nor is it I only who am so taken with our visitor ; all the learned and good who have been introduced to him have fallen under the spell, and the king more than any one.' Upon Grotius' mind the memory of this inter- course remained still fresh after five-and-twenty years. In 1639 he writes ^ to Gronovius (J. F.), ' Of the pieces of good fortune which have befallen me in the course of my life, I reckon it among the chief that I had the regard and affection of that great man, whose piety, honesty, and can- dour, were not less remarkable than his vast all-embracing erudition. I can look back, without sadness, to those times, gloomy as they were, and those trying occasions, in which I guided myself by his counsel, and those of the party which he approved.' He contrived to make all these calls upon his time compatible with unremitting industry at his desk. The whole space of time lived in England was three years and eight months, a period of broken health and ebbing strength. In this time he wrote : i. Epistola ad Fron- tonem, 171 pp. 4to. 2. Responsio ad epistolam Card. Perronii, 81 pp. 4to. 3. Exercitationes in Baronium, 830 pp. fol. 4. Epistola ad Lingelshemium de quodam Scioppii libello. 5. To these must be added the letters, both of ^ Grotii Ep. ep. 184. app. : ' Cum quotidie simul essemus.' ^ Ep. 881. ' Grotii Epp. ep. 1168. X 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 308 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. business and friendship, of which some 280, written in England, have been recovered and pubHshed. These letters would form a thick 8vo volume, reckoning the average length of a letter at two pages. But we know, from the diary, that the published letters are but a part of what he threw off, all from' his own pen. There is of course some repetition of the sense, thoughts, and words to different correspondents. On the other hand, many- are elaborate compositions, some of considerable length, and nearly all in latin. Letter writting was a material part of every day's work ; when a foreign courier was starting, the whole day was often thus occupied. The letters, even if not on affairs of consequence, are always worded with care and thought, and the latin, though without the racy flavour of Scaliger's latin style, is by no means commonplace. 6. The diary continued to be regularly kept, and the english portion of this occupies 295 pages Bvo of print. Over and above what he writes himself, he has to read over, and advise upon, what others write. When he arrived in England, October 1610, Andrewes had nearly completed his ' Responsio' to card. Bellarmine's ' Apo- logia.' Casaubon had the task of reading this over, and making corrections, which corrections the author adopted ^ Then he had to begin the ' Epistola ad Frontonem.' The writing, correcting, and printing this took up the greater part of 161 1. When this task was disposed of, he hopes to be able to get his time for his own readings. He has immediately to begin another, the ' Epistola ad Card. Perronium.' He composes this, or rather writes it over, in a few days, for the matter is supplied by the king ^, and Casaubon has only to find the latin. But the king and ' Ephem. p. 792 : ' Meas notulas non neglexit, imo pluris fecit, quam mere- ban tun' ^ Ep. 839 : ' Le roy s'est servi de moi pour secretaire, mais la piece est de sa majesty . . . il a exactement medite cette sienne reponse.' Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 309 the coterie of bishops had to revise and retouch. The court was at Royston, and it was the hunting season. It took time to get the piece corrected, and written over, so that it was not sent to the cardinal till Dec. 29, 1611. We may easily understand that it took more trouble and time to be secretary to the epistle, than to have composed it. It was sent to the cardinal in ms, but he printed it, with his own, to which it was the answer, in Paris. Casaubon was ordered by the king to print an authorised edition in London, and to write a preface, which was to be at the same time an answer to another libel of one Pelle- tier, a Jesuit. The preface was to be his own, and yet he was to be told what he was to say in it. Before the book was off his hands came a pamphlet of Vorstius, which so absorbed James that for days he could talk of nothing else ^, and Casaubon must be there to be talked to about it. James must reply to Vorstius. But Casaubon is not to be used against the arminian heretics. He is hardly sound himself there ^, and besides he is to be kept for the catholic controversy. And he is no longer to be frittered away in this skirmishing business. He is to attack the Annals of Baronius ^. This was a compromise ; Casaubon would be contending for the cause, while at the same time he would be treating matter which had more interest for him than the pamphlets on which the last eighteen months had been spent. It is impossible not to regret that Casaubon, who could have done work which no one else could, should have been kept to writing pamphlets, which scores of others could have written quite as well. But it must not be 1 Ep. 799 : ' Serenissimum regem ita occupatam animi mentem habuisse in recente quodam libro Vorstii, ut plures dies alia de re fere nulla mecum ageret.' ^ Ephem. p. 896 : ' Laudo regis zelum pro religione. scimus viros graves, et apprime doctos de Bertio non ita sentire, neque de Arminio.' 3 Ep. 810: 'Ut immunitatera aliarum angariarum mihi pararem, et maximo tamen regi satisfacerem.' Digitized by Microsoft® 310 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. supposed that he shared this regret himself, or that he was writing as a hired advocate for a cause in which he was lukewarm. It is to him, not the cause of the king and bishops in which he is fighting, it is the cause of the church of God, the cause of civil society against the common enemy, the bishop of Rome, and his emissaries. Coming from France, he knew, better than the anglican bishops, what that ultramontane yoke meant, against which the english church was struggling. He tells Schott ^ that it was horror at the assassination of his prince that had driven him to the meditation of this subject of the roman claims. In writing his ' Epistola ad Frontonem ' in defence of James, he was thinking of Henri iv. The act of Ravaillac was well understood to be the legitimate, how- ever remote, result of the theories of the ultramontane school. He writes to HoescheP, 'If you want to know the cause of the king's death, read the " Directorium Inquisitionis." The murder of my great Maecenas has so enraged me against the mystery of iniquity, that I think it now a part of my religion to make public pro- fession of belief (in the royal supremacy).' The anti-papal controversy of James' reign is as obsolete for our generation as any other theological squabble, and the books, in which it is consigned, are equally forgotten ; Casaubon's among the rest. But those who are ac- quainted with the situation of affairs at that period, are aware that this was no brawl of rival divines. The cathoHc historian'*, following the catholic reporter La Boderie, draws a ludicrous picture of James, withdrawing from affairs of state and the pleasures of the chase, shutting himself up with his doctors, and concocting an argument to prove the pope to be anti-christ. Nothing Ep. 777 : ' Ipse ixiiiv aeKovri ye Bv/jw ad tractationem ejusmodi argument! animum appuli. quis coegit ? inquies. dicam tibi quod res est. ilia atra et nefasta dies,' etc. 2 Ep. 827. ^ Lingard, Hist, of Engl. 7. 78; cf. Churchill, Gotham, 6. 2; 'And pamphlets wrote when he should save the state.' Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 311 that James did was done becomingly. His pedantic vanity laid him open to the sarcasms of the french am- bassador. At a later period he forfeited the confidence of his subjects by a catholic policy; by the Spanish negotiation, the french match, and the inadequate support of his son-in-law and the protestants of Germany. But in 161 1 he was heartily contending against the still advancing tide of the catholic reaction. The form in which this was threatening Europe was indeed that of military force, but it was also an invasion of opinion. The Jesuits did not draw the sword in Germany until they had gained a footing in the minds of men. The books and pamphlets they were now disseminating were what made the thirty years' war possible. When the enemy was successfully avaihng himself of the power of the press, it was wise and necessary that he should be niet on the same ground. Nor was James fighting for his own skin, nor even, as he phrased it, for the rights of princes. The hopes of the ultramontane party at this moment embraced no less than the re-conquest of Christendom to the holy see ; the exter- mination of heresy by fire and sword, as Scioppius had boldly proclaimed in his Ecclesiasticus (161 1). It was no mere paper warfare. The powder-plot, which we try to forget, or laugh at, was a recent fact; the murder of Henri iv. more recent still. The S. Bartholomew, the Armada, and the cruelties of Alva in Flanders, were not incidents of a legendary fore-time, but the exploits in which a menacing and aggressive party gloried, and which they hoped to repeat or to outdo. Casaubon's share in the interchange of pamphlets between England and Rome was not large, though it was more than could be well spared out of a life which closed at fifty-six. It might have been expected that the powder-plot, by its atrocity, would have originated a reaction against the party by which it was conceived. This was the case in Digitized by Microsoft® 312 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. our own country. But not so on the continent. The ultramontane pamphleteers had been able to excite con- siderable sympathy for the conspirators, and especially for Garnett. He was represented by them as a martyr to the inviolability of the secret of confession. These representations were making so deep an impression on the public, that, when they reached England, authenticated in an elaborate statement by cardinal Bellarmine, it was necessary to oppose some official denial ^ This was done by the king himself in his own name. James published a ' Monitory epistle to all christian monarchs, free princes, and states,' and prefixed it to a new edition (1609) of his former pamphlet, 'Triplici nodo triplex cuneus.' In this monitory epistle he asserted that Garnett had acknow- ledged his being cognisant of the plot, otherwise than in confession. At the same time a more elaborate answer was prepared by Andrewes, then bishop of Chichester, in which this thesis was maintained at greater length, and authenticated by citation of Garnett's written con- fessions. This answer was published, in 1609, under the title of ' Tortura Torti,' and has a historical value, because two of the papers cited as written by Garnett are no longer extant among the rest of the original papers relating to the plot. But so strongly was the current of feeling running in favour of the ultramontane party, and so superior were the means of influencing opinion pos- sessed by the Jesuits to those which the protestants could employ, that neither the king's affirmation, nor the bishop's vouchers, could stem the tide. The belief in Saint Garnett, the martyr of the secret of confession, grew amain, and soon blossomed into a miracle. The myth of Garnett's straw, germinating in the fancy of a silly enthusiast, grew in a short space into such proportions that it became the theme of a diplomatic correspondence. Received with ' Bellarmine's book is ' Responsio Matthsei Torti ... ad librum inscrip- tum, Triplici nodo triplex cuneus.' Col. Agripp. 1608. Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 313 entire faith in catholic countries, the legend excited so much interest in Spain, that the english ambassador was directed to make a representation to the Spanish authorities on the subject \ It was thought that Casaubon's name might help to abate the delusion, which was gaining for the catholic party dangerous sympathies. English tes- timony was of light weight in catholic countries ; it was thought that the attestation of an independent foreigner, whose character for veracity was unimpeachable, might be listened to. This is the origin of Casaubon's 'Epistola ad Frontonem,' 1612, of which David Jardine says that 'though new to this kind of writing, Casaubon acquitted himself well in it.' His statement wants the keen edge and point of Andrewes' dialectic, but it is also free from the bishop's cavil and passion for verbal victory. Having to deal with opponents whose case was a tissue of un- scrupulous misrepresentation, he meets their perversity not with excited passion, but with a grave statement of the simple facts. It is characteristic that he is more angry when he has to correct Baronius' chronological errors, or mistranslations of greek, than over the most provoking distortion of fact in the Jesuit account of the powder conspiracy. He earned the praise of moderation, but beyond this he neither obtained credit for his clients, nor reputation for himself, by going into the quarrel. He became a mark for the vulgar personalities which are the ordinary missiles in party warfare. Hitherto he had lived for science, in a region apart, where he reigned without rivalry or contradiction. He had now descended into the arena where, muscle for muscle, the arm of a butcher might be more powerful than his. • Winwood's Mem. 2. 336. Cornwallis to Salisbury, August 29, 1607. The growth of the fable of ' Garnett's straw ' is traced in detail by Jardine, Gun- powder Plot, pp. 266 seq. In this instance, as in that of La Salette, we have in our hands the means of following, step by step, the genesis of a catholic legend. Digitized by Microsoft® 314 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. There was, of course, an ' answer ' forthcoming to the ' Epistola ad Frontonem.' It was from a Jesuit pen, and one only second in its clever smartness to that of Scioppius ^ The ' Responsio ' of Andreas Eudaemon- Joannes, stripped of its flippant rhetoric, reduces itself to a reassertion of what Bellarmine had before affirmed, viz. that Garnett had been executed for not divulging the secret of confession. But it was quite successful. Reassertion was argument enough for the catholic pubhc. As Casaubon had failed to reach them, Abbot, the regius proffessor of divinity, was put on the con- troversy, and restated the case of the crown in greater detail, and with more elaborate proof In vain. Abbot had no greater success than Andrewes or Casaubon. CathoHc literature had become a system of falsehood and imposture. Catholic histories continued, and con- tinue still, to repeat that Garnett had suffered, not for treason, but for religion. Upon this vain effort to stem the reactionary flood, our scholar had flung away precious months. It may have been some perception of this waste of power which deter- mined the king's resolution that Casaubon should do no more pamphlet work. He is to have no more tasks set him. His whole time shall be devoted to the work on church history. We have seen how, in the earliest days, Casaubon had desired to devote himself to sacred studies. Both his literary ambition, and his love of learning, concurred in taking this colour from the deep religious impressions of his youth. We have seen how he became a classical student and editor in spite of himself Strabo, Suetonius, Athenaeus, Polybius, and the rest, were successively taken ' Eudsemon- Joannes' book is ' Responsio ad epistolam Isaaci Casauboni.' The only edition I have seen is Colon. Agripp. 1612, but it may be a reprint. Abbot's book is ' Anlilogia adversus apologiam Andreee Eudsemon-Joannis.' Londini, 1613, 4°. Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-16x4. 315 up as interimistic jobs, mere exercises to keep his hand in, till he could get freed from the entanglements of life, into the pure empyrean of that happy leisure which formed his ideal, when he would concentrate his matured powers upon sacred criticism. This longed-for ^ ' otium ' we have seen him pursue from Geneva to MontpeUier, from Mont- pellier to Paris, from Paris to London, as the vision still fled before him. He is now, April, 1612, in his fifty-fourth year. Though entered on the decline of life, though a friendly physician can read the fatal sign on his brow, he feels no intellectual decay ; he may still have years before him enough for the production of some capital work on the antiquities of the church. He is removed above want, if not altogether above anxiety on the score of provision for his family. He is to have no more pamphlet work. He may select his own subject, or rather the subject he has already selected himself is the very one which will best please his patron. The refutation of Baronius was an employment which was not suggested to him first in England. We have seen that he had long meditated it. In 1605 he only took up Polybius because the ultramontane policy of Henri iv. dared not permit criticism on a book which the see of Rome would not allow to be contradicted^. Now that he is free, he recurs to his cherished idea. He will satisfy himself by writing on church history. He will satisfy his party by destroying the credit of the catholic historian. The early and constant bent of Casaubon's mind had been towards theology. But what was commonly known by this name, doctrinal or systematic theology, as taught in the schools, lay entirely outside his walk. His reading had led him at once to the sources out of which had been ' Ep. 1023 : ' Omnino otia quaerimus, si ita modo visum fuerit D. O. M. Ea enim molimur in Uteris, quae animi tranquillitatem desiderant.' ^ ' Quasi a Baronio dissentire sit nefas,' says Rigaltius, Contin. Thuani, 6. 470. Digitized by Microsoft® 3l6 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. constructed that ^'web of subtlety and spinosity,' the scholastic theology. He was in possession, as hardly any one else had been, of the key of ecclesiastical anti- quity. Having exhausted heathen greek, he had gone on into christian greek. At first as greek only, but he had found it full of a new interest. Casaubon never reads as a grammarian in pursuit of words. He is thoroughly realistic. He is, indeed, quite alive to the importance of seizing the exact sense of words, but only for the sake of that which is to be learnt from the words. The true ap- proach to christian antiquity is through pagan antiquity. The continuity of history is complete. There is no break. As the christian empire is the pagan empire under a new name, so christian literature is the outcome of the greek classical literature. It is not only built up with the old materials, like the forts which the Turks constructed with the sculptured blocks of the greek temples, it issues from the greek sources of thought. In earlier times, Casaubon had dreamed of treating this period of literature in the spirit of learned research. In 1596, at Geneva, in the plenitude of his acquirement, he had proposed to bring out Athenaeus first, then to dispose in like manner of Polybius, after which he would ^ ' set an example to our side, that, forsaking these gladiatorial combats so perni- cious to the christian world, they should busy themselves rather in illustrating the affairs of the ancient church, and the holy fathers.' Gradually he is drawn into the vortex of controversy. Instead of approaching the history of the church from the classical side, he will approach it from the modern side, and the interests of his own day. The conception which he had formed of christian archae- ology fades, and mixes itself with the idea of proving ' Bacon, Advancement of Learning. '' Ep. 1008 ; ' Majus opus movebimus et nostro exempio praeibimus hominibus partium nostrarum ut ad res veteris ecclesias et sanctissimos patres illustrandos novam operam conferre malint, quam ad andabaticas istas pugnas, toti orbi christiano tam perniciosas.' Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 317 how far the church of Rome has strayed from primitive ] faith and worship. His indignation at the blunders of Baronius is as keen as ever, but he is no longer the scholar indignant at a literary impostor; he is the theo- logical polemic, burning to turn these blunders to account in the quarrel of his church with Rome. The centre of his interests, which once was scientific, has become de- nominational. He who in 1605 had written to Du Perron ^ the proud boast that all his studious hours had been given to the search of truth, not to exhibitions in the arena of paper warfare, was catching the infection from his environ- ment, and on the way to rejoice in fighting. He regularly reads the flying sheets with which the press teems, which kind friends send him sometimes in early copies, before publication, and in which he now finds his own name recur with increasing frequency. He knows what answers are in preparation, and rejoices beforehand in their crushing eff"ect. ^ ' As for Bellarmine's book,' he says on one occasion, ' I can leave it alone, as he will soon see it quashed by Barclay fils as dead as a mouse in a trap.' This being Casaubon's own disposition, we cannot charge it upon the english king and bishops, that he gave the rest of his life to antagonistic writing, and that he threw his learning into the unfortunate shape of a critique on Baronius. Casaubon had never seen the ' Annales ' till the summer of 1598. Geneva was too poor to buy books, and the circulation of Baronius, large as it was, was wholly catholic. Protestant cities, such as Geneva and Mont- pellier, had probably not seen a copy. During his stay ' Ep. 417: 'Ego vigilias omnes meas amori veritatis in quocunque genere literarum semper impend!, non Koyo/iaxiais irpis eiriSei^iv comparatis.' ^ Ep. ad Front, p. 38 : ' Qui suum ilium librum ... a Barclai filio . . videbit brevi soricina neenia confossiorem redditum.' [Soncina nenia ^Plautus, Bacchides, iv. 8. 48) apparently means 'a mouse-meat sausage.' For nenia in this sense, see Arnobius vii. 24, 25, and Festus, pp. 161, 163, Muller.] Digitized by Microsoft® 31 8 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. in de Vic's house at Lyon in 1598, Casaubon first fell in with some of the earlier volumes'. At de Vic's sug- gestion, he sent a letter to Baronius, expressing the sentiments of respect and admiration which had been excited in him by the first reading. Baronius returned, in 1599, a copy of his 8th volume, which was just out, and a civil reply ^, in which he persisted in regarding Casaubon's compliment as a feeler. ' He rejoiced to find him knocking at the gate of the church, for no less could he understand by his commending the work of an orthodox man.' In an Italian, a cardinal, and a holy man, we might naturally view this letter as preluding to a bargain. And Clement viii. did, afterwards, send Casau- bon an intimation that he might have a pension of 1300 crowns if he chose to go to Rome for it. But the suspi- cion would be unjust to the simple-minded character of Baronius^. His narrow education led him to regard the ark of Peter as possessing the same supernatural attrac- tions for all, which it had for himself Casaubon, an equally candid soul, took the letter in this light, as a proffer of amity. In 1603, he sent the return compliment, in the shape of a copy, or promise to send one the first opportunity, of his ' Historiae Augustae Scriptores,' with a civil allusion to the places in the notes in which * ' my calculations differ from yours.' Baronius replied, not expressing any interest in the Augustan historians, or in Casaubon's criticism on himself, but great concern for his salvation. ® ' He would be pleased to receive ' Ep. 175: 'Contigit mihi dum Lugduni otiosus agerem tuum opus cum Baronii annalibus nondum mihi tum visis, posse contendere.' ^ Burney mss. 363. ap. Russell, i. 32 : 'Cum tantopere orthodoxi hominis scripta commendas, plane pultare te ecclesiae catholicae januam satis intelligo.' ^ Dr. Donne, however, Letter to sir H. G. p. 33, writes : ' I have known that Serarius the Jesuit was an instrument from cardinal Baronius to draw him (Hugh Broughton) to Rome, to accept a stipend only to serve the christian churches in controversies with the jews.' ' Ep. 338, also in Baronius, Epistolse, ep. 165. ' Burney mss. 363. ap. Russell, i. 115. Digitized by Microsoft® v.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 319 the book, but much more so to hear that the announce- ment, so often made, of his conversion, was true.' This was a kind of correspondence which it did not pay Casaubon to maintain, and he let it drop. He is now in possession of a copy of the ' Annales,' and his respect for the compiler's learning is rapidly vanishing. He is irritated by the vogue of a book so uncritical and unscholarlike, and proposes to review it, philologically only — not otherwise. Even a philological review of a roman book is impossible in France, in face of the reaction, and Casaubon turns to Polybius since he could do no better. When then, in 1612, he undertakes a review of the ' Annates,' he is but reviving an old pro- ject, for which he had already got together materials. Baronius meanwhile had profited by the correspondence of 1603, for in his next edition he adopted every one of the corrections Casaubon had made, but without acknow- ledgment. Digitized by Microsoft® APPENDIX TO SECTION V. Note A. p. 282. All the biographies of Casaubon endow him with a prebend of Westminster. In doing this they have followed each other without enquiry. The first who mentions the Westminster prebend is Almeloveen, in his Casauboni vita, p. 54, prefixed to his edition of Casauboni epistol^, Rot. 1709. And Almelo- veen relied upon the Ephemerides, in which Casaubon made the following entry, ' 18 kal. Jan. 1610 : Literas episcopi Bathoniensis ad me scriptas accepi, jussu regis scriptas. Deus bone, quam laetas ! quibus mihi rex suam singularem bene- volentiam patefacit et rebus meis consulit. Duas prsebendas assignat, Cantuariae unam, alteram Westmonasterii, quae for- tasse ad duo millia librarum annul reditus accedunt.' The original letter of Montagu is not preserved, but Casaubon appears to be quoting its words. All that the words warrant is that two prebends were designed for him. He was actually put in possession of the Canterbury stall, but never of the stall at Westminster. And as there is no further mention of West- minster, the intention must have been dropped. Almeloveen is very careful, and, writing in Holland, may readily be excused for having taken this distinct promise for sufficient proof of the fact. The error was corrected by Beloe, Anecdotes of literature, 5. 126 ; but the correction remained unheeded by all the biographers and church historians since Almeloveen, except the painstaking and accurate Hallam, Hist, of lit. 2. 274. [Garasse, in his 'Elixir Calvinisticum ' (1614) p. 19, assumes Casaubon to have held some sort of appointment at Westminster ; ' quid in Westmonasterio Londinensi, quid Cantuariae aliud quserat quam lautum beneficium ' ?] The dean of Westminster has had the books of the chapter examined for me, and no trace of Casaubon as prebendary is found in them. Digitized by Microsoft® APPENDIX TO SECT. V. 3^1 Note B. p. 285. Casaubon's account of his intercourse with James i. is so favourable to the king, that it may be thought overcharged by those who have accustomed themselves to think meanly of that prince. Those whose impressions of character have been chiefly derived from modern histories will find, that, as they become better acquainted with the contemporary memoirs, their estimate of James' abilities will be raised. Casaubon's language to James is adulatory. But then such was the style of the english court, and had been to Elisabeth, whose vigorous understanding is not questioned. And even when the king is spoken of, there doubtless mingles in the panegyric something of the feeling ' Wonderful for a king ! ' At any rate, what Casaubon has said of James' parts and acquirements, does not go beyond what was said of him by the two Englishmen most competent to judge. Bacon and Selden. As illustrating Casau- bon's high estimate, I quote a passage from Selden, 0pp. 3. 1400: 'He (the king) then also most graciously vouchsafed to have speech with me, as the time permitted, of divers parts of learning which either offered themselves out of the consider- ation of that book, or obviously fell into his so searching a discourse, and this, twice at Theobald's and once at Whitehall ; and at every of those times, besides the exceeding sweetness of this nature, which I, being convented before so great a majesty, largely tasted of, Lsaw, with wonder, the characters of such a fraught of learning, of such a readiness of memory, of such a piercing fancy joined with so absolute a judgment in him, as if his greatness in all these abilities had been no less than in his hereditary titles.' Add George Herbert ap. Cooper, Annals of Cambridge, 3. 125. Y Digitized by Microsoft® VI. CASAUBON ON BARON I US. The german reformation is imperfectly described, when it is considered as an appeal to scripture versus tradition. It was rather an appeal to history. The discovery had been made that the church, as it existed, was an institution which no longer corresponded to its original, that it was a corrupted, degraded, perverted institution. The appeal to scripture was not itself the moving spring of the reforma- tion, it was the consequence of the sense of decay and degeneracy. As the doctrine of the fall of man was the key of human, so the doctrine of the corruption of the church was the key of ecclesiastical, history. The refor- mation appealed to the bible, because in this the earliest record of the church, it had a measure of the deviation from type which had been brought about. This corrup- tion was not the mere rust of age which gathers about all merely human institutions. The church was the work of God, and time alone would not have marred and scarred its divine lineaments. Its degradation was the work of a special principle of evil, the mystery of iniquity, the visible embodiment of which was now enthroned on the seven hills. This thesis was worked out by the ' Magdeburg cen- turies.' In this protestant delineation, the church starts in the apostolic age in perfect purity, and is perverted by a process of slow canker, till it has become changed into its opposite, and is now the church not of Christ, but of anti-christ, an instrument not for saving men but for destroying them. Digitized by Microsoft® ON BARONIUS. 323 The ' Centuries ' had not any great success as a pubH- cation. The strictly lutheran public was not numerous, and not rich. It was not a book-buying public. But though the thirteen folios of the Centuries, 1559-1574, had no extensive circulation, the historical thesis of which they were the laborious evidence made a deep impression. At Rome, the centre of Europe, where, almost alone, a general view of the current of public opinion was attainable, it was felt that an answer, or antidote, was urgently required. It was provided with an eclat, and upon a scale, which extinguished the centuriators. S. Philip Neri, the founder of the oratory, cast his eyes upon a young Neapolitan, who was burning with the fervour, epidemic at the period (end of cent. 16), of de- votion to the cause of the church. From preaching and hearing confessions, in which the ardent youth was con- suming his energy, the father took him to give lessons on church history in the oratory of S. Jerome, at Rome^, Beginning as sermons for the edification of the congre- gation in that church, these deliveries grew into lectures. The lectures arranged themselves in a course, which in thirty years, the lecturer Cesare Baronio (f 1607) repeated seven times. As he went on, his studies in preparing his lectures became more and more searching and extended. His director gradually led him on, till he found himself insensibly engaged in the production of his vast work, the 'Annales ecclesiastici.' The duration of Baronius' labour was that of his life. He began his popular readings in the oratory aet. 21, he died set. 69, while engaged on his thirteenth volume. He had waited till he was forty-nine before he began to pubhsh. Perhaps no modern historian, not Gibbon or Grote, ever devoted the whole of a life so ' Baronius has given his own account of this origin of his work in the 'Annales' themselves, under a.d. 57, § 162, With characteristic modesty, he does not name himself. Y 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 334 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. entirely to one historical work, or made such a noviciate. The author must have succumbed under the magnitude of an undertaking too vast for a single workman, had he not had support from without. As long as S. Philip Neri lived he kept his disciple to his work, urging, stimulating, commanding, as if he had to exact from him a day's task- work^. The virgin and the saints, especially SS. Peter and Paul, gave him special aid, and the Almighty blessed him with unbroken health to his dying day. Without these helps he could not have supported the continued labour of reading and extracting. Baronius, like Bellar- mine, employed no amanuensis. His notes, and extracts even, were all made by his own hand ; in this unlike the centuriators, who worked with a subordinate staff of ten paid clerks. In other respects, the unsuccoured and thankless toil of the centuriators offers, to the cherished and petted lot of Baronius, as great a contrast as the bleak and sandy wastes of Mecklenburg to the sunny shores of the Mediterranean. The archives of the Vatican, and all the resources of the Italian libraries, were thrown open to him. The papal press printed for him ; the wealth of the church defrayed his charges; its highest dignities rewarded his success. Commenced as edifying homilies to an ignorant Roman congregation by a young priest little less ignorant than themselves, the work, as it grew in size, grew into a reputation for learning, little short of supernatural. Its circulation, for its bulk, twelve folios, one for each century, was unprecedented then, and without example since. The libraries of all the monasteries, of the cathedral chapters, of the Jesuit colleges and houses, the princes and prelates, throughout the catholic world, took off edition after edition. Vol. I of the ' Annales ' saw the light, ' Romae ex typo- graphia Vaticana 1588,' and Clement enumerates five com- ' Atberici, Vita Baronii, p. 30 : ' Durus quodammodo diurni pensi exactor.' Digitized by Microsoft® VI.] ON BARONIUS. 325 plete editions before 1610. The volumes were dedicated to none below popes, emperors, and kings, the author condescending to bestow one at last on Henri iv. after he had qualified himself to receive this certificate of orthodoxy. The book was translated, commented, sup- plemented, continued till, not its faults, but its very com- pleteness, arrested its circulation. In the great Lucca edition 1738-1787, it had grown to thirty-eight vols, foho, and thus purchase was made difficult, and perusal im- possible. And it was finally supplanted by the elegant compendium of Fleury, which gave its contents to the world ^ in the universal language of literature. At the opening of the seventeenth century the relative position of the two religious parties was reversed. The catholic party had recovered, and more than recovered, their ascendancy in the west of Europe. It was a moral ascendancy over opinion of which they now found them- selves possessed, an ascendancy founded on superiority of numbers and wealth, but intensified by religious zeal. They were fast making way to intellectual preponderance. At this moment appeared Baronius' ' Annals.' A work of such vast compass, dealing with an important theme, would have been, at any time, a considerable phenomenon in the literary world. Appearing at the moment it did, it had the significance not of a mere literary publication, but of a political event. The ' Centuries ' had shown the history of the church as the growth of the spirit of evil waxing through successive ages, till it was consummated in the reign of anti-chrlst. Baronius exhibited the visible unity and impeccable purity of the church founded upon Peter, and handed down inviolate, such at this day as it had ever been. The whole case of the romanists, and especially the supremacy of the see of Rome, was here ' Fleury, Hist, eccles. hv. 75. i . ' Ici [1198] finissent les annales du cardinal Baronius, que j'ai principalement eu pour guide dans cette histoire.' Digitized by Microsoft® 326 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. set out, under the form of authentic annals \ with an im- posing array of pieces justificatives, of original documents which were inaccessible to the protestant centuriators, and extinguished their meagre citations from familiar and printed books. The unsupported theory of the protestant history is refuted by the mere weight of facts. When we read as an event of a. d. 44 that in this year Peter trans- ferred his episcopal chair from Antioch, where he had been seven years bishop, to Rome, where he continued for five-and-twenty years to administer the affairs of the church, we are reading a bare fact as well known at Rome as the transactions of the year 1544. The protestants saw their historical pleadings, not answered, but eclipsed. They had been the aggressive party ; they were now put out of court. The ' Annals ' transferred to the catholic party the preponderance in the field of learning, which ever since Erasmus had been on the side of the innovators. It was the turn of the protestants to feel the urgent need of an antidote to Baronius. Exterminated in southern Europe, ground to the dust in France, threatened with violence in Germany, it was only in Holland or Britain that the protestant party had strength or heart for any literary undertaking. But neither in Holland nor Britain were there the resources for a history on the scale of Baronius. And there was only one man who possessed the knowledge requisite; he was some way past fifty, and exhausted by a life of desk-work. Yet Casaubon resolutely girded himself for the fray. The idea was not new to him; he had long contemplated the plan of an answer to Baronius in the only shape in which it was possible. At his age a rival church history was not to be thought ' Baronius states, Annal. eccles. pr^f., his own purpose to be ' catholicse ecclesiae visibilem raonarchiam a Christo domino institutam, super Petrum fund- atam, ac per ejus legitimes verosque successores, Romanos nimirum pontifices, inviolate conservatam . . . per singula tempora demonstrare.' Digitized by Microsoft® VI.] ON BARONIUS. 327 of. Nor is it clear that if such a history had been written it would have commanded much attention, much less that it would have driven the 'Annals' out of the field. What had the protestants to set against the mysterious 'archives' of the Vatican, whose records had been kept by seven notaries ever since the days of S. Clement ? It is true the oldest documents were not forthcoming; they had, perhaps, been destroyed in Diocletian's persecu- tion. But no matter. All that was important in them was well known; it was an office tradition; a fact whose notoriety dispensed with proof Besides, the success of Baronius had been due to his having met a popular demand. There are periods when destructive criticism is the vogue, and only he who speaks against the established beliefs can obtain a hearing. Such a period had been the first half of the i6th century. Another access of the same temper was to occur again in the i8th century. But, about 1600, what the religious public wanted was a conservative reconstruction of the ecclesiastical legend. An uneasy feeling had been dif- fused by the reformation, which troubled pious souls, as if the hagiological tradition contained a fabulous element. It was poison, this sceptical suspicion, for how could the fabulous have got in, unless it had been wilfully put there ? The history of the catholic church had long ceased to be regarded as history. It was an edifying story, in which the devotional effect, and not the matter-of-fact, was the object of the narrator. The hagiographer had no idea of imposture, of palming off as true that which he knew was not true. The plenitude of his faith in the church supported anything which was, or could be, told to the honour of the servants of Christ. It was not mere scepticism, it was an entirely new view of the church, when the protestant critic began to regard the church as an institution in time and place, and to ask if this or Digitized by Microsoft® 3a8 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. that alleged event was a real event — had actually hap- pened. This desire to believe, this pious v^^ish to have the legend authenticated, was what Baronius met and satis- fied. He gives the substance of historical evidence to the supernatural chronicle of the early and middle age church. The surprising vogue of his history was due to its want of true historical criticism. His pages embody, and sanc- tion, with a vast apparatus of quotation, all the romantic legends so dear to the faithful but uneducated catholic. And while he preserved round the church story that picturesque haze which faith cherished and which his- torical science would dissipate, he satisfied the require- ments of the political churchman by turning the annals of the church into one long proof of the supremacy of the roman pontiff. A protestant history, which had no saints, no miracles, could have had no success. History cannot be negative, it must have something to narrate. All that was pos- sible therefore for Casaubon was criticism. There was one side on which Baronius was vulnerable, and on that side Casaubon resolved on making his attack. The ' Annals ' was a work of gigantic labour. In the first flush of its early triumph, the imposing array of author- ities, the exhaustive compilation of all the passages, had overwhelmed criticism, and it passed for a work of learn- ing, not only in catholic universities, and in Italy, where the tests of learning had ceased to exist, but generally. Casaubon himself, as we have seen, had been impressed by his first sight of the earlier volumes in 1598. But as time was given for examination of the details, it began to appear that the champion of the church was not only wanting in historical criticism, but destitute of the more elementary acquirements necessary for extracting the sense of ancient writers. Had the 'Annals' been the work of a scholar, it was impossible that in so enormous Digitized by Microsoft® VI.] ON BARONIUS. 329 a mass of facts there should not have been errors. A benedictine monk is said— but the authority ^ is not first- rate, for it is that of the professional gladiator, Scioppius —to have found 2000 errors in Baronius. And Lucas Holstenius, afterwards, professed to have swelled the number to 8000 ^. But mere mistakes are but errata and can be corrected. Casaubon gradually discovered that Baronius' errors were errors of scholarship. Rather he was not in possession of the elements of learning. He knew no hebrew, no greek ^ He was totally destitute of the critical skill which is implied in dealing with ancient authors, so as to elicit their meaning. In fact this vast historical edifice, with its grand front and stately chambers, was a house of cards, which a breath of criticism would demolish in a moment. If Casaubon did not detect the imposture at once on first looking into the book, it must be remembered that he only had the reading of a volume casually, and while he was engrossed with other subjects. At the very first reading he had felt, and had expressed to Scaliger*, his keen perception of the difference between the real learning of the 'Thesaurus Temporum' and the 'Annales.' Be- sides, Casaubon himself was in steady growth, and in the ten years which followed 1598, raised his standard of judging, and especially enlarged his knowledge of eccle- siastical antiquity. He was at first disposed to attribute the citation of so much apocryphal literature to bad faith on the part of Baronius. He could not beheve that any one who was in the habit of handling the remains of the greek and ' Ap. Colomies, Bibl. choisie, p. 153. ^ Guy Patin, Lettres, 25 ftv. 1660, to Falconet. ^ This was well understood in protestant circles. See Cappelli Vindiciae pro Isaaco Casaubono, 1619 : ' Deerat illi [Baronio] sane linguarum orientalium cognitio, grsecam vix primoribus labris delibarat, disciplinis mathematicis im- paratus erat.' * Ep. 175 : ' Ita demum didici . . . inter ■^iAa\^9«ai' et gratiae aucupium interesse tantum.' Digitized by Microsoft® 330 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. latin writers, should not know better. Here he was undeceived by Fra Paolo, to whom he had communicated this suspicion. While speaking meanly of the work, the father vindicated the character of the author. 'Those who know the man,' he writes^ to Casaubon, 'will not easily be persuaded to think him dishonest. It is want of mind, of critical knowledge. I knew him at Rome, before he put himself in the road to preferment, or had got the itch of writing, at a time when the cure of his soul was his only business. I never knew a more simple being. He had no opinions of his own ; he caught up the opinions of those he lived with, and obstinately maintained them, till some new person supplied him with a new one. He was without judgment, if you please ; but " dolus malus " there was none about the man. I cannot think that he is an antagonist worthy of you ; and it has always been matter of surprise to me, that his work should have stood so high, as it has, in public esteem.' Further study of the ' Annals ' convinced Casaubon of Baronius' good faith. But it was at the expense of his understanding ^- The prestige of the work had imposed upon him at first. It had seemed impossible that a his- tory, which all the world was agreed to regard as a learned work, should not have some title to be so considered. He was irritated, as a scholar, by the vogue of an un- scholarlike work. He lamented, as a citizen, the triumph of the evil cause. He thought he could not render a better service to the church than by exposing the spurious character of the hterary idol of Rome. It was not Baro- nius he was going to attack, but Italian erudition, the 1 Ep. 8ii. ^ On one occasion Casaubon is compelled to admire the dexterity of Baronius. It is where Vigilius, having become pope, has to be whitewashed. Adversaria, 3. 103 : ' Diligentiaa plus semper tribui Baronio, quam acuminis. at cum video qua dexteritate concinnet metamorphosin Vigilii . . . non possum quin exclamem, si verum non est, at est ingeniose inventum.' Digitized by Microsoft® VI.] ON BARONIUS. 33 1 sham learning which the old impostor was substituting for the sham miracles of the dark ages. This was the spirit in which he set about the ' Exercita- tiones,' and had been preparing the materials long before he came to England. If we enquire what success Casau- bon had in his enterprise, we shall be compelled to admit that it was not a decisive triumph. The form in which he cast his matter was unfortunate. The ' Exercitations ' are a collection of detached notes on the ' Annals.' They follow the order of the ' Annals,' but have no other connection than the chronological sequence. There is no common thread of argument to give unity to the composition. Such miscellaneous common-place books, as Hallam^ has said of Turnebus' 'Adversaria,' ' can only be read in a desultory manner, or consulted upon occasion.' But when such notes are not merely desultory, but in a strain of censure, sometimes descending to mere fault-finding, the reading becomes not only dis- tracting, but distasteful. Casaubon has sufficient respect for himself and his adversary not to descend to the black- guard scurrilities of the pamphleteers of the day, but he is too often calling upon the reader to wonder at the ignor- ance and fatuity of Baronius. His criticism wants the repose of immeasurable superiority, such as characterises the greatest critics, e.g. Lobeck's Aglaophamus ^, in his treatment of Creuzer. This great disadvantage in point of form, viz. that the ' Exercitations ' are a critique of another book and follow its arrangement, has obscured the credit which would otherwise have followed the same material if better ar- ranged. As it is, the book has formed a mine of re- ferences which have been very useful to the compilers ' Lit. of Europe, ±. 482. ^ Friedlander, Gedachtnissrede, p. u : ' Der Ton des Aglaophamus bewahrt im Ganzen die voile Ruhe unendlicher Ueberlegenheit.' Digitized by Microsoft® 332 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. of ' notes ' on the New Testament for the last 250 years ^. Nor is it all attack. There are incorporated in the book some dissertations in which Casaubon comes forward to instruct the reader directly. Such a portion are the chapters on the different names by which the Eucharist was spoken of in the early ages ^ ; a chapter which has furnished Waterland^ with a great part of his refer- ences in chapter i. of his ' Review of the doctrine of the Eucharist.' A desultory critique, passage by passage, of another man's book, prolonged through nearly 800 pages in folio, does not constitute attractive reading. What would the ' Exercitations ' have been, if Casaubon had Hved to carry out his design ? He proposed to set over against Baro- nius' twelve folios, volume for volume of his animad- versions*. Of this monster criticism the volume which we have is only the first half of the first volume— a mere fragment ! Besides the fault of their original design, the ' Exerci- tations ' have a fault of execution. There were two points on which Baronius lay entirely at Casaubon's mercy, i. His entire want of greek, and of classical learning of any kind. 2. His employment of the apocryphal literature, and production of the roman fabu- lous history, as if it were matter-of-fact. Casaubon could have assured his victory, however little worth it might have been, had he confined himself to exposing the blunders of one who thought that the word ' missa ' (the mass) was the term in use at Jerusalem in the time of S. James '^j or the credulity which relied on the false Decretals, which even Bellarmine had given up. But Casaubon has not confined himself to matters of language ' See Crenius, Animadw. p. 123, for instances of unacknowledged borrowing from Casaubon's ' Exercitationes. ' " Exercitt. pp. 500-586, ed. Lond. 1614. ' Works, vol. 7. pp. 20-43. * Ep. 782 : ' Duodecim tomis totidem libros oppono.' ^ Exercitt. p. 582. Digitized by Microsoft® VI.] ON BARONIUS. 333 or history. He has gone in for theological controversy, thus forsaking the vantage ground of learning, and letting himself down on that of mere opinion. When he first planned the work, he had intended, of such matters, only to touch what bore on the regalian rights^. He was gradually led on to other controverted points of theology. Indeed, he did this sparingly^, and, as the english bishops thought, too sparingly. Andrewes, who looked over the sheets, wished ' he would not spend so much time on mere questions of chronology.' Casaubon was hampered by his position as protestant champion. Both his public and his patron expected to see the doctrinal errors of Baronius refuted. They thought that Casaubon's name would carry the weight of his authority in the arena of religious dispute. His occasional descent into the sec- tarian controversy has only the effect of lowering the tone, and obscuring the character, of the whole work. Even as a polemical success the blow dealt at the papal historian would have told more, if Casaubon had confined himself to his critical corrections, which were unanswerable, and not committed himself to disputation on mere matters of opinion. Hallam has expressed his opinion that ^ ' in mere theo- logical learning, Casaubon was behind some english scholars.' These general comparisons of degrees of learning admit neither of being proved nor refuted. Of Englishmen living at the same time as Casaubon, there are but two who could be brought into competition with him, Selden and Andrewes. But Selden was only thirty years old at the date of Casaubon's death, and his re- searches had lain in a field not the same as those of Casaubon. The comparison with Andrewes is more 1 Prolegomena in Exercitt. : ' Ilia solummodo attingere consilium erat, quae ad jura principum pertinent.' ^ Ep. 79s : ' Mere theologica parce attingo.' = Lit. of Europe, 13. 311. Digitized by Microsoft® 334 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect, possible. Casaubon himself said of Andrewes ^ ' that he was deeply versed in the fathers,' and he was certainly a man of much greater originality of mind than Isaac Casaubon. Yet Andrewes could no more have written the ' Exercitations,' than Casaubon could have composed one of Andrewes' witty sermons. From the brilhant cut, thrust, and parry of Andrewes' pamphlet fencing, Casau- bon's dull matter-of-fact style is far removed ; but from a single one of the ' Exercitations ' there is more to be learned than from the whole volume of the ' Tortura Torti.' The material facts of the primitive history of the christian church lie in small compass, and are in Baronius and Casaubon alike. The difference here is not in extent of reading, but in the power of using the facts. Casaubon possesses them as knowledge, and can reason upon them for chronological and philological purposes. Baronius amasses them as a compiler; when he attempts to reason upon them, he falls into ludicrous misconceptions, and yet misconceptions not of a nature which admits of being made very palpable to the general reader. Where Casau- bon had the greatest opportunity, and where he has not used it, is in the legendary character of Baronius' whole construction. Baronius has swept into his repertory everything that could be found, true or false, probable or absurd. The anile fables, and apocryphal legends, which had accumulated round the scanty nucleus of the early christian story, are consecrated in the ' Annals ' as serious portions of church history. He makes, indeed, some faint effort to discriminate. Though he inserts everything, yet he sometimes expresses a doubt of his apocryphal narratives, e. g. ^ of the dialogue between S. Paul and Dionysius the Areopagite at Athens. He rejects the ' Adversaria, 28. 4 : ' Soleo observare singula dicta viri sapientissimi, et in" patrum lectione exercitatissimi, D. episcopi Eliensis.' ^ Annales eccles. 52. 10. Digitized by Microsoft® VI.] ON BARONIUS. 335 Constantine endowment, but it is on the a priori ground that it would be unworthy of the church to have accepted, as a gift from the emperor, what it already held 'jure divino.' This modest. beginning of criticism, like that of Bochari, who would reduce the 600,000 traditions of Islam to 70,000 ^, was unacceptable to the high party. Baronius is severely taken to task for his doubts by the Spanish Jesuit, a Castro, and the dominican, John de la Puente. Baronius is too sceptical for the Spanish taste. The fact that Casaubon has not used his advantage in this respect betrays his own limitation as a historical critic. He con- stantly notices Baronius' recourse to apocryphal autho- rities, but it was not in him to take his stand on the broad principle of historical investigation, and to require that church history should be subjected to the same rigid scrutiny as all history. If he expresses a doubt of^ Hydaspes, Hermes, and the Sibylline oracles, it is not on critical grounds, but on the a priori improbability that God would have allowed the Gentiles to have had fuller prevision of the gospel revelation than was granted to the Jews. The genuineness of the epistles of Ignatius he is ready to establish ^ by new arguments. He knows the late date of the * ' Areopagitica,' but then here he had Valla, Erasmus, and Scaliger to enlighten him. Epipha- nius ''is far too ready to give credence to trifling fables,' and the fathers generally, both greek and latin, often blunder in matters of history ^. But these same fathers, in matters of doctrine, become authorities ; they are ap- pealed to by Casaubon as judges in the last instance. The appeal indeed is not to the individual father, but to him as representing the behef of the church of his time. As an argumentum ad hominem against Baronius, who ' [4000 ; see note in Smith's edition of Gibbon, vol. vi. p. 229.] " Exercitt. i. 10. * Exercitt. 16. 150. * Ibid. 16. 43. p. 565. ' Ibid. 15. 7. « Exercitt. i. 2 : 'In liistoria, et in iis, quae fidei non sunt, graviter hal- lucinari.' Digitized by Microsoft® 336 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. maintained that the church had never varied in doctrine or belief, and had been throughout what it now was, this appeal was admissible as a controversial expedient. But Casaubon goes much beyond this, and thinks that in ascertaining the opinions of a father he is not merely learning the opinion of a given period of the church, but obtaining truth valid for all ages. Baronius' ' Annals ' was a lengthy pleading, a pamphlet in twelve volumes folio, in support of the authority of the existing church. Casau- bon's ' Exercitations ' is among the earliest of the array of anglo-catholic attempts to set up the authority of 'Anti- quity ' as the canon of religious truth. If the fathers are, to this extent, placed above the application of historical interpretation, much more are the canonical books. In his notes on the N. T. (1587) Isaac Casaubon had shown a disposition to follow the true path of philological interpretation. Taking given words, what does the language require that they should mean ? This principle of exegesis was not so difficult of application while, as an annotator, he was dealing with each passage singly. Now, when he has to consider the collective effect of a number of collated passages, he allows it to be overridden by the theological principle, the so-called 'harmonia dictorum biblicorum.' Statements in the gospels must be reconciled 'per fas atque nefas.' Many pages e. g. are wasted over the discrepancy as to the day on which the Passover was eaten. Baronius defends the common view which makes the fourth gospel conform to the synoptics ; Casaubon the opposite, which squares the synoptics by S. John. But Casaubon, equally with Ba- ronius, assumes that it would be ' blasphemous ' to suppose discrepancy in point of fact ^. It is creditable to Casaubon that, in a period of ' Exercitt. p. 466 : ' Mira res et vix credenda de hominibus qui did se christianos et haberi postularent ... (to say that) Matthseum, Marcum, Lucam in temporis circumstantia lapses, ab Johanna esse correctos.' Digitized by Microsoft® VI.] ON BARONIUS. 337 theological excitation, when religious passion was daily translating itself into overt acts of violence, he treats his opponent, if not with courtesy, at least with respect. Yet his anger is occasionally roused by Baronius' blundering misconstruction of everything he touches ; and when he has occasion to speak of the fry of pamphleteers, he is not seldom savage 1, and sinks into the tone of the railing divine. But though he observes the forms of civility which the cardinal's public position and private character imposed, it is clear that Casaubon's respect for his op- ponent diminished, instead of increased, as he subjected his work to closer examination. He came to recognise that the demolition of Baronius was scarcely a work of criticism at all, and that Fra Paolo had been right in telling him that Baronius was not an antagonist worthy of him. In March 1612, he writes to Grotius^, 'I begin to realise the magnitude of the task I have undertaken, now when it is impossible to back out of it. Not that I have much trouble in confuting Baronius' sing-song, mostly childish stuff, the man himself without learning, letters, or theology. What costs me most effort is the extra work I have imposed on myself, viz. to set out, under each head of controversy, what was the belief of antiquity.* The dissemination and permanence of books depends on many various causes. Criticism goes for very little; 'habent sua fata.' 'Les classes influentes ne sont plus celles qui lisent,' writes de Tocqueville ^ ; 'un livre, quelque soit son succes, n'ebranle done point I'esprit public' It would be difficult to show that the reputation of Baronius was sensibly affected by Casaubon's review. The 'Annals' sank under their own defects, and the ' See Exercitt. p. 513. ^ Ep. 779 : ' Neque in confutandis nseniis Baronianis magnus mihi labor ; pueriles saepe sunt; ipse indoctus, cifiovffos, a9eo\6y!)TOS.' ' Corresp. 29 juillet, 1856. Z Digitized by Microsoft® 338 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. change in public taste. The hagiological temper in the reading parts of Europe, which had enjoyed a forced reviviscence during the cathohc reaction, could not main- tain itself Baronius was entertaining reading. As such Scahger had read the first eight volumes in one summer^; a feat, even of eyesight, for a man over sixty ^, and occu- pied in his working hours with a laborious undertaking of his own. In this respect the competition of the secular romance, which came in in the 17th century, tended to throw hagiography into the shade. But the decline of Baronius' reputation for learning, which, we learn from Lestoile ^, began before Casaubon wrote, injured it more. Because the ' Annals ' did not sink out of sight at the touch of the enchanter's wand, the ' Exercitations ' were proclaimed a failure by exulting enemies and disappointed friends. The Savile set were happy to think that Casau- bon could not do what he had prevented them from doing*. Richard Montagu laments^ that the very learned Isaac Casaubon was not a theologian ; that he followed Scaliger even in his paradoxes; that he made much of trifles — critica titivillitia ; that he spent all his labour on the volume of the gospel history, and not on the later periods ; that he allows himself irrelevant digressions. These were things that could be said at the time by the envious 'friends.' He did not please his immediate patrons, the bishops, who wished now that Casaubon had handled Baronius a little more roughly^. Like their successors in the i8th century, who regretted Butler's 'want of vigour',' they had no means of knowing which was in • Scaligerana 2°. p. 24 : ' Tota sestate octo ejus volumina legi.' * Vol. 8 of the ' Annates ' came out in 1600. ' Registre-journal, 16 Jan. 1607 : ' Baronius depuis un peu a perdu beaucoup de sa reputation.' * See below, p. 375. ° Apparatus ad Origines eccles. praef. § 65 seq., and app. p. 136. ' Colomies, Bibl. choisie, p. 151 : ' Les eveques auroient souhaite que Casaubon eut traits Baronius un peu plus rudement qu'il ne faisoit, a quoi sa candeur et sa modestie ne pflrent jamais consentir.' ' Byrom's Journal, March, 1737. Digitized by Microsoft® VI.] ON BARONIVS. 339 the right, and thought want of passion a sign of weakness. The puritan party wished to see Baronius well abused, and charged with disaffection the man who would not stoop to do it^ To take up what Casaubon left un- achieved, has been a favourite project with the protestant party. Richard Montagu went over the same ground again, to show how Casaubon ought to have done it, but could not, in his 'Analecta exercitationum ecclesi- asticarum.' Gerard John Voss had written, and was encouraged by Laud, then bishop of Bath and Wells, to publish something, which never appeared, of the kind^. Nor is anything more known of the work of Jacques Godefroy, which he offered to, and which was approved by, the synod of Charenton in 1631 ^. Blondel, Magendie, Flottemanville, published critical remarks or corrections of Baronius *. Such was the opinion of contemporaries. As for the judgment of posterity, there is none worth mentioning to record. The 'mot' on the catholic side, 'that Cas- aubon had only knocked down a few battlements of Baronius' building,' is worth as little as that which Almeloveen^ opposes to it, 'that if he did not kill Baronius, he inflicted deep wounds.' The last professed criticism is that of Leclerc, written in the year 1709*. He says that Casaubon, 'in undertaking to refute Baronius, had undertaken a work above his strength, i. He had not sufficiently meditated the first principles of theology. 2. He had not sufficient knowledge of chronology. 3. He ' Montac. app. prsef. § 75 : ' Ut contumeliis incesserem et opprobriis, quod nostri vellent, et non factum accusantur (sic).' ' Laud to Voss. ap. Colomife, p. 153 ; and see Yossii Epistolae, 2. p. 66. ^ Quick, Synodicon, a. 302. * A Wood, Fasti, 161 1 : 'James Martin, of Broadgates Hall, had ended his work against Baronius, but what that was he tells us not, neither in truth can I tell.' No wonder A, Wood could not tell. Casaubon, writing to Martin, tells him that he (Casaubon) has nearly ended his work on Baronius. This is the only foundation for A. Wood's statement. ' Vita Cas. p. 58. ° Bibl. choisie, 19. sag. Z 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 34Q ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. was not sufficiently read in christian antiquity, but had only got it up for the purpose of this book.' I only cite this criticism because it is that which the biographies to this day continue to reproduce as a judicious summing up of the case. All that it proves is, that famous reviewers in lyog judged of books without reading them, and that we copy their judgments. No one was less satisfied with his work than the author himself. It was but a fragment of his vast scheme. He designed, if he lived, a continuation of it, but on a more constructive plan. He proposed^ to exhibit an impartial picture of the internal and external form of the ancient church. This wish was never fulfilled. Among the Adversaria" are some very short notes on the later volumes of Baronius, some of which are printed by Wolf ^. The single volume of the ' Exercitationes ' is all that was ever realised of the vast schemes of ecclesiastical history which had been conceived early in the Genevan period, and which had been postponed, but never given up. In 1596, aet. 37, rising fresh and confident, rather than exhausted, from his long labour on Athenaeus, he announced to Bongars* that he should now proceed to Polybius; 'after which, if I live, with God's aid I shall put my hand to a greater undertaking. I desire to set an example to men of our side, how that leaving these gladiatorial fencing-matches, so mischievous to the chris- tian world, they should turn themselves to the illustration of the holy fathers, and the affairs of the primitive church.' How sad must have appeared to himself the contrast between the promise and the performance eighteen years later ! Writers are apt to flatter themselves that they are not, like the men of action, the slaves of circumstance. They think they can write what and when they choose. But it is not so. Whatever we may think and scheme, as Ep. 950. ' Tom. 3. and torn. 14. ^ Casauboniana, pp. 123-180. * Ep. 1008. Digitized by Microsoft® VI.] ON BARONIUS. 341 soon as we seek to produce our thoughts or schemes to our fellow-men, we are involved in the same necessities of compromise, the same grooves of motion, the same lia- bilities to failure or half-measures, as we are in life and action. Compared with the vast designs we frame in youth, all production seems a petty and abortive effort ! Digitized by Microsoft® VII. LONDON; ELY; CAMBRIDGE. 1610-1614. Casaubon is apt to complain of the reluctance he finds in himself to put pen to paper. When he did do so, his hand moved with rapidity. ' Fervet opus/ he says of the review of Baronius^, and it is strictly true. He began to turn his attention to the subject early in the year 1612, some time about the middle of January. He was re- volving the matter for several weeks, and directing his reading towards the period comprised in Baronius' first volume. But in such a wide field reading was not yet become search, and he has freedom enough of mind to be enjoying S. Chrysostom, in Savile's magnificent edition, which was then in progress I On March 23 he is ready to sketch a plan in outhne of the work he is to write ^. On April 27 he begins to compose*. 'After long de- liberation, meditation, preparation, I set myself seriously to work on my criticism of Baronius, may God bless the undertaking! Thou, merciful Jesus, knowest that it is not vanity, or desire of empty fame, which moves me to undertake a work of such magnitude, but the single purpose of defending truth ! ' At first he writes out detached criticisms. On July 27 he records the commencement of the continuous text of ' Ep. 923. ^ Ephem. p. 926 ; ' In Chrysostomo fui et hodie, legique multa illius, praesertim quae scripsit in cap. 6. Johannis.' ' Ephem. p. 923. * Ephem. p. 928. Digitized by Microsoft® LONDON. 1610-1614. 343 his book ^. His progress, rapid as it seems to us, was not answerable to his own fervid impatience. On August 12, he writes ^, ' I never quit my work, and yet I do not get on as I should hke.' He toiled on, ' sweating, more than enough ' (sudavi plus satis per hos intensissimos calores) through the hot months, refusing the bishop's invitation to go with him into his diocese, and on the last day of the year could congratulate himself on having reached the 400th page^. On April 20, 1613, he announced to de Thou that he had arrived at the end of so much as he meant to publish* as a first instalment, — of the whole, that is, of the book as it now stands. On May 16 the rough draft has, by successive writing and rewriting of parts, been brought to a state in which he can begin copying it out for press. He now allows himself a little holiday, the first since he began the work in the January of 1612. He visits Oxford, though, in this visit, he has partly in view to make extracts from books in the Bodleian, not to be had in London. On his return, on June 9, he begins to write out for press, and sends off the copy to the printer as fast as he gets it done. On June 18 printing begins. The compositor is not lacking in industry, but does not work up to the author's impatience, and being king's printer, is taken off occasionally^- Casaubon can keep ahead of the press. In August, the production was at the rate of a ' folio '= four pages in foHo, per day, at which rate Casaubon calculates it will require 150 days 1 Ephem. p. 928 : ' Hodie observationes in Baronium serio sum aggressus ; nam hactenus magis paravi subsidia ad scribendum quam scripsi; nunc, deo duce ... ad opus manum adraovi.' 2 Ep. 830 ; ' Equidem nullum tempus intermitto ; etsi quantum promoveam me sane poeniteret.' = Ephem. p. 958. • Ep. 883 : ' Perveni, dei beneficio, ad finem ejus partis quam nunc sum editurus, qu^ etsi satis erit magna, ultra Domini vitam tamen non pertinget.' ' Ep. 931 : ' Oper^, etsi ill^ quidem non cessant, segnius tamen pergunt quam ut incitatje cupiditati meae faciant satis.' Ephem. p. 991 : ' Operis inchoati editio cessat.' Digitized by Microsoft® 344 ISAAC CAS A [/SON. [Sect. to finish^. He hoped it would be out by the new year. Gradually this date receded; 'You know what it is to get a book through the press,' he writes to de Thou^. On November i8, he has passed the 500th page, but there are 220 pp. more to come, and the introductory epistle, etc. to write yet. On February 14 he finishes the epistle to the reader, and at last, on March 23, the volum.e is presented to the king. If it had not been for the pubhsher, Bill, the volume, it seems, would not have ended at page 773. The author could, and would, have gone on indefinitely, but the publisher insisted upon getting it out in time for the Easter Frankfort fair, and Casaubon had to leave out part of his long discussion on the Eucharist. After all, the copies which went to Frankfort went without the prolegomena, which could not be printed off in time ^. The whole work, from the first preparatory notes to the day of publication, was achieved in two years and two months. Casaubon shrank from no drudgery. He had written over the whole, with his own hand, two or three times; parts of it even four times*, adding much at each revision, though also rejecting much as unsatisfactory upon review^- The indexes even he must make himself ^ a fact which accounts for their excellence. The mere clerical labour undergone was severe for one in broken health. In a book depending so largely on textual authorities, the mere reference involves great toil. Yet mere reference was the lightest part of what had to be done. It is a comparatively easy thing to accumulate citations. Exhaustive research is a different process,— a process, which, while it has much fatiguing exertion of ' Ep. 906 : ' Quolidie folium unum editur ; ita duratura est h^c editio dies iprfaainovs centum et quinquaginta plus minus.' ^ Ep- 931 : ' Non te fugit quid sit libros edere.' '' Ep. 941. 4 Ep ggj ° Ephem. p. 942 : ' Quaedam hodie, sed quae mox displicuerunt.' • Ephem. p. 1037 ; ' Illiberales istse curse de indicibus.' Digitized by Microsoft® VII.] LONDON. 1610-1614. 345 eye and memory, derives its whole value from the in- telligence which directs it, and is engaged in sifting the material. It was here a great disadvantage to him that he was without his own copies of the necessary books, copies in which he knew his way about, guided by the finger- posts which he was in the habit of marking in the margin as aids to the memory, ' quos usu contrivi.' Yet the citations actually made use of in the ' Exercitations ' were only a small part of the whole he had accumulated ^ ' I have sur- passed the most diligent in diligence,' he says ^. ' Erycius Puteanus, who writes that I am abandoning myself to the sloth and luxury of a court, and have renounced letters, can have Httle notion of the hard and laborious life I lead ! ' Of this research there could be no record. It is merged in the recurrent formula of the diary, ' hodie studia ; ' or TO. lyKVKKia. In such enquiries, how many volumes have to be gone through from which nothing is reaped! Wearying as his task-reading must have been, his recrea- tion was only reading again. In September 1612, e. g. we find him spending his ' leisure hours ' ^ on a ms. rabbinical commentary. At another time he reads * a pamphlet sent him by the king, ' Trois tr^s excellentes predications,' etc., 'not worth spending a moment on, but for the passages in which the preachers unite in lauding the doctrine of parricide.' It is only occasionally that the name of the book read is entered in the diary. From the commencement of the 'Exercitations' to the end, i.e. two years and a half, the following are all that are chronicled : Cyprian ; Chryso- stom; 'many pieces of him;' 'good books, especially • Ep. 931 : ' Exhaurire adversaria mea si voluero, ante annos aliquot non possim manum de tabula.' ^ Epp. 844. 923 : ' Qui putant me Tpv Hist, de I'acad^mie fran9. 2. 197 : ' Ces satires anonymes, ces Ana, ces gazettes litteraires, dont le nombre se multiplie impunement tous les jours a la honte de notre sifecle.' Digitized by Microsoft® 436 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Casaubon. Hitherto the termination had been understood to denote reported conversation — the table-talk of the learned, the wise, or the witty. Such were the Scaligerana I*, i66g; Scaligerana 2*, 1666; Perroniana, 1666; Thuana, T669 ; Menagiana, 1693 ; Sorberiana, 1691 ; Chevraeana, 1697. In entitling his book Casauboniana, Wolf incurs the charge of having, though innocently, allured pur- chasers by a false description of his wares ^- Janson Van Almeloveen had just published, at Rotterdam 1709, his splendid collection of the Letters and Dissertations of the two Casaubons, father and son. Public attention was thus called again, nearly a century after Isaac's death, upon the name. Those who, as must have been the case with many, found the epistles an undecipherable hieroglyphic, would gladly seize on a book which promised a short cut to what a giant in learning had to tell. Their disappointment must have been great when they found nothing conversational in the volume. Even if Casaubon had found a Boswell, it may be doubted if his talk could have been effectively reported. We have no account of his style of conversation, but we are sure it had not the pith and epigram, which constitute table-talk such as can be carried away, and reproduced. Two mots indeed of Isaac Casaubon are handed down. On his first coming to Paris, and being shown over the Sorbonne* — the old hall before it was pulled down — his guide said, ' Voila une sale ou il y a quatre cens ans qu'on dispute.' ' Qu'a-t-on decide ? ' was the retort of the huguenot. The scene of the other saying was also the Sorbonne^, where he had sate ' In the course of a few years the termination ana received this extension, and from denoting reported conversation, came to signify memoranda of reading. A collection of such memoranda, which in 1716 had borne the title of ' Memoires litt^raires,' in a 2^. ed. in 1740, came out as Mathanasiana, ^ Menagiana, 2. 387 : ' La premiere fois que Casaubon vint en Sorbonne — elle n'avoit pas encore 6i€ rebatie — on lui dit ; Voila une sale oii il y a quatre cens ans qu'on dispute : il dit, Qu'a-t-on decide ? ' ' Menagiana, 3. 34. Digitized by Microsoft® X.] CHARACTERISTIC. 427 through a long disputation in the barbarous' language of the schools, which was still cherished in the con- servative university of Paris. Casaubon remarked, on coming out, that ' he had never heard so much latin spoken without understanding it.' These repartees, col- lected in the salons of Paris by Menage, who was a year old at Casaubon's death, are the exceptions which prove the rule. Casaubon was an abundant, but not an epigrammatic, talker. He drew from his memory, and not from his mother-wit. His a propos was that of facts and instances, not of images. Whatever comes up, he can pour out an inexhaustible stock of suggested parallels. In the preface to ' Polybius,' to take one example, he has to speak of the usefulness of history to men of action ^. There immediately rushes upon his memory a crowd of instances in point, from Hannibal down to the Turkish sultans of late times. And this muster-roll flows from his pen so easily, that we see it is not the laboured compilation of the desk, paraded to make a show of learning, but the lavish expenditure of a boundless wealth. When Menage says ^ that Cas- aubon ' ecrivoit de source,' he does not mean that he drew upon his own genius or invention in opposition to books. He means that he was not an index man. He did not compile his quotations ; they suggested them- selves by their relevancy. He thought of the object through the words of the ancients. The amassing of references did not become itself his object. This habit of his mind is reflected in his 'Adversaria.' When Wolf gave to the world his selection from Casau- bon's papers, under the title of ' Casauboniana,' great was the expectation of the learned, and great their disappoint- ment. The literary public unanimously pronounced the 1 See above, p. 197. ' ' Menagiana, a. 153 : ' Je ne fais que de thSmes, Casaubon Ecrivoit de source.' Digitized by Microsoft® 428 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. collection devoid of anything which could be expected from the great reputation of Isaac Casaubon ^. The gossips found in it no scandal, the curious no autobiography, the learned no original criticism. The explanation is to be found in Casaubon's pecuHar system of work. He read pen in hand, with a sheet of paper by his side, on which he noted much, but wrote out nothing. What he jots down is not a remark of his own on what he reads, nor is it even the words he has read ; it is a mark, a key, a catchword, by which the point of what he has read may be recovered in memory. The notes are not notes on the book, but memoranda of it for his own use. When he had accumulated a number of sheets, he tied them up in a packet, or stitched them up in a book, and called it ' indigesta CAjj ' — materials. ' Casaubon's way,' Grotius tells ^ Camerarius, ' was not to write out what he designed to publish, but to trust to his memory, with at least a few jottings, partly on the margin of his books, partly on loose sheets — true sibylline leaves.' The name 'Adversaria'' was given to these memoranda by Isaac himself. But they are of a very different type from the Adversaria of Turnebus, or Barthms, which, like the papers of Dobree published by his friends after his death, contain notes on classical writers. Casaubon's notes are bare references, and references not to places in books, but to the thing or word to which he intended to recur. To this vast mass of material his own memory was the only key. The demand thus made upon the memory was prodigious, and the faculty seemed to respond to it. He told ^ de Thou that the mass of citation in the ' Exercitations ' was in great part ^ D'Airtigny, Nouveaux memoires, i. 296 : ' II n'y a presque rien dans ce recueil qui reponde a I'idee qu'on doit se former d'Isaac Casaubon, Fun des plus S9avans et des plus honnStes hommes de son siecle.' ^ Grotii Epp. app. ep. 184 : ' Is erat Casaubonus qui niliil parati penes se haberet, nisi in raemoria, et si forte in oris librorum, aut brevibus schedis, Sibyllae foliis.' ' Ep. 931 : ' Veniunt in meraoriam quotidie quae legi ante decern, viginti, aut etiam triginta annos.' Digitized by Microsoft® X.] CHARACTERISTIC. 429 drawn from his memory, which supplied him with what he read ten, twenty, nay thirty years before. Without it he could not have produced what he did. The printed books which belonged to him were used by him in the same way, scored under, and marked anyhow, to catch the eye in turning over the leaves. The blank pages, the title page, or any page, serve to hold a reference. Hence, while the scholar reckons among his choicest treasures a greek volume with marginal corrections in Scaliger's hand, a volume which has belonged to Casaubon is merely defaced by the owner's marks and memoranda. He valued his books more than anything else that belonged to him. But he valued them only as the tools he was to work with. What cripples him when he is at work on Baronius in London is the not having his own books. Not only that many he wanted were not to be got in London, but that the copies with which Young supplied him could not replace to him his own, in which he could find anything — ' quos usu contrivi.' His advice to students is' : 'Re- member that it is no use to have read a thing, unless you retain it in your memory. Make notes therefore of every- thing you read, as aids to memory.' ' Practical wisdom,' he says again ^, ' is only the recollection of many things.' The ' Adversaria,' then, are, for the most part, mere hints for his own use, and which cannot be put to use, even when they can be deciphered, by another^. Some aid indeed may be derived from them by the biographer. Casaubon occasionally marks upon a sheet of such scratchings the time and place of reading. At least we can get from them an insight into his method of reading, and the sources of his knowledge. They serve, in these ' Adversaria, torn. 16 : ' Quicquid legis in excerptorum libros referre me- mineris. haec unica ratio labanti memorise succurrendi. scitum enim illud est, " Tantum quisque scit, quantum memoria tenet." ' 2 Prasf. in Polyb. ' Wolf, Casauboniana, p. 273 : ' In curis Polybianis ampla seges observa- tionum exstat . . . sad ita plerumque congestarum, ut nullus fere observetur ordo, nonnulla subindicentur potius quam edisserantur.^ Digitized by Microsoft® 430 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. respects, to supplement the diary. In the ' Casauboniana ' all these personal indications are wanting. Wolfs object not being biographical, he retrenched all that was in- dividual and local, and reduced each note to its literary content. For these reasons the 'Casauboniana' cannot rank with their fellows, and will not be read by those readers, if any there be now, who take delight in the Ana of the 17th century. The scholar, however, who may take the pains to examine these disjointed fragments, lying there massive and helpless, like the boulders of some abraded stratification, will at least recognise the remains of a stupendous learning. What Goethe said ^ of Niebuhr, is here true of Casaubon, ' It is not what he tells me, but how he tells me it, that I care for. It is the deep insight, and thorough manner of the man that edifies.' Coleridge's title-pages would fill a large volume ; and ' if Herder's powers had been commensurate with his will, all other authors must have been put down ^.' Of the in- numerable treatises, which Casaubon announces as in preparation, few traces are to be found in his papers. When some subject of classical antiquity comes up, and he says he is going to publish a book on it, and that he has the materials by him, how much exists in his memory, how much in his scattered notes, he does not himself know. To accumulate the passages, to understand them in their mutual light, to arrange them in some sort of order, all this chiefly in his memory— and then from them to write his diatribe — this is his literary method. His schemes of this kind, unaccomplished, are here enumerated, but the list is, probably, far from exhaustive : — 1. A second volume of Exercitations on Baronius. 2. As part of the foregoing, or as independent treatises : (i) A disputation on transubstantiation. (2) On sacrifice in the christian church. See Exercitt. pp. 503. 554. ' Goethe to Zelter. Goethe's observation is so appropriate to the case of Casaubon, that I give the whole passage below. See Appendix, note C. " De Quincey, Works, 6. 117. Digitized by Microsoft® X.l CHARACTERISTIC. 431 3. Of his commentary on Polybius he habitually spoke as if it were complete. But, beyond the small fragment printed at Paris, 161 7, only very trifling notes towards it are found among his papers, from which Meric drew what he contributed to Gronovius' Polybius, 1670. Cf. Exercitt. p. 564, 'in laborio- sissimis nostris (ad Polybium) commentariis accurate earn dic- tionem interpretamur.' 4. On the shows of the amphitheatre, and the games of the circus. 5. De magistratibus romanis. Of this project Adversaria 29 preserves a fragment. 6. Liber de re critica. To this project, frequently referred to by Casaubon, belong a few notes hardly to be deciphered in Adversaria 23. 7. Commentarius de re vestiaria. This was planned at Geneva when he wanted to lecture on the De Pallio. He alludes to it repeatedly as finished ; see Animadvv. in Ath. 13. 3, 'quaesivimus diligentissime de poetse mente in nostris De re vestiaria commentariis ; eo, te, lector, rejicere fas et jus esto nobis.' But all that remains of it is some ' collectanea ' in Advers. 8 and 29. Nor is there reason to think that any more was ever written out, as Meric says he had only a ' rudis indi- gestaque moles' of this and of the De coloribus. 8. De coloribus. See Animadvv. in Ath. i. 47. 9. A reply to the ' Peripateticse Discussiones ' of Franciscus Patricius. ' In eo scripto quod adversus Patricii librum para- mus, quodque brevi, faciente D. O. M., edemus.' 'De Strabone et ejus scriptis,' prefixed to Commentary on Strabo. See also Diog. Laert. not. 5. 2. 10. Liber de proverbiis, Ephem. p. 751, July 1610 : ' I resolved to-day to publish shortly a book on proverbs, together with a century of proverbs.' 11. On the method of reading history. He intended a trea- tise on this; he discoursed on the topic as preliminary to his lecture on Herodotus in 1601, and notes of this lecture, taken down at the time, are in Bibl. nat. anciens fonds, 6252, and cf. Advers. 24. 12. Observationum liber. In February 1583, he obtained a licence from the petit conseil to print a book under this title. Geneva mss. registre du pet. cons. fo. 25. It never appeared. In 1598 he is resolving, Ephem. p. 112, ' seriously to begin to cast Digitized by Microsoft® 433 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. what I have observed on various authors into a book of " com- mentarii observationum variarum."' Notwithstanding this re- solve duly recorded in the diary, the book was never written. 13. An edition of the lxx. See Ep. 186. 14. A commentary on Homer. See Strabo, comm. 13. i : he will be brief in his notes on these two books of Strabo, because he is preparing shortly to publish his notes on Homer. Nothing of the kind is found, nor is there reason to think anything was ever written. 15. An edition of jElianus Tacticus. See Polyb. praef. p. 61 : '.^lianum emendatum et observationibus nostris illustratum, deo propitio, vulgabimus.' 16. A fuller edition of jEneas Tacticus. ^n. Tact, praef. the present, hasty edition is but 'pignus navandae operae.' 17. An edition of Josephus; but this time with the proviso, 'if I were younger.' Ep. 848. He had begun, at Geneva, a translation of the Hebrew Josephus into latin, not knowing, at the time, that it had been already done by Munster, and pub- lished at Basel 1541. He had got into the 2nd book before dis- covering this. Gronovius, though living in a la'nd of books, it appears, from Burmann, Syll. 2. p. 571, had never heard of the Hebrew Josephus. 18. An edition of Stephanus of Byzantium. See Ep. 4, and Colomies, Bibl. choisie, p. 66. 19. Notes on the tragedians. See Ep. 4 : ' Habeo in alios scriptores greecos, prsesertim tragicos, parata non pauca.' 20. An edition of Juvenal. See Ep. 523: 'Eum poetam gra- vissimum, si superi annuerint, accurate recensebimus.' 21. An edition of Celsus. See Ep. 533 : ' Concinnanda editio, cujus neminem jure pceniteat.' 22. Notes on Cicero, Epistolse ad Atticum. See Ep. 184 : 'Audebimus et nos nostras divinationes publicare.' 23. An Arabic lexicon. See Ephem. p. 510, Epp. 511. 548 \ 24. Thesaurus. State Papers, Domestic, Jas. i. vol. 92. no. 95. Savile to Carleton, ' The Thesaurus hee mentions, Mr. Casaubon took that worke out of my handes above two yeares before his death.' I find no other allusion to any such project by Casaubon. Can it have been a lexicon to Chrysostomi Opera for which Adversaria 28 contains a few notes ? ' On Casaubon's Arabic reading see Renan, ' Averroes,' p. 60 : (2nd ed., p. 80.) Digitized by Microsoft® X.] CHARACTERISTIC. 433 Of all these schemes, and of others not a few, hardly any traces remain among the papers, because hardly any- thing was ever put on paper. He deceived himself into thinking that he had made progress in writing, when the material was heaped up only in his memory. He got at last the habit of putting by any topic as it came up, with the remark, ^ ' this we have discussed at length elsewhere.' The distinction between what he had read, what he had noted down, and what he had printed, became obliterated in his mind. Next to the designed, but not performed, stands the imperfectly executed. The list of Isaac Casaubon's fin- ished works contains twenty-five distinct publications, not including . prefaces to the books of others, or second editions of his own books. Of these twenty-five, however, not many are productions by which he would have chosen to be judged. Some were mere 'juvenilia,' others im- perfect attempts, which he was unwilling to acknowledge. Of the first class were the ' Notes on Diogenes Laertius,' the ' Lectiones Theocriticae,' even in their enlarged form in Commelin's edition of 1596. Of the Strabo of 1587 he says he ^'was ashamed to own the parentage.' For Aristotle he did little more than correct the press for the printers. It is not till we reach the Theophrastus, 1592, that we meet with Casaubon's characteristic merit— that we have an interpreter speaking from the fulness of knowledge. Well done, or ill done, or half done, however, Isaac Casaubon's books are now consigned to one common oblivion. They are written in latin, and scholars' latin of the renaissance is a peculiar language, accessible to a very circumscribed public. But this is not all. Even for this ' See Greg. Nyss. p. 81 : ' De quibus alibi adfatim.' Scriptt. hist. aug. prsef. p. 33. Notae in Diog. La. 5. a : ' De his nos alias.' "^ Ep. II : ' Illud opus non ut partus legitimus ingenioli nostri sed ut ixTpafia i^iiaivov haberi debet.' Cf. ep. 580. F f Digitized by Microsoft® I 434 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. circumscribed public of scholars Casaubon's books have but a secondary value. Philology is a science, not a fine art ; and it is the fate of science that the books, in which it is consigned, are in a constant state of supersession. A work of literature may be surpassed, but not super- seded. The interpreter of the classics works for his own age only. He is the medium through which we read an ancient book, and the medium must be in the language and mode of our own day. It must possess all the latest improvements. The books of the scholars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries have, therefore, for us little more than an historical interest. They will be visited only by those curious enquirers, who may wish to ac- quaint themselves with the history of learning. The bio- graphical data will be of more interest than the philolo- gical matter. Yet as history makes itself from age to age, the oldest names must tend to recede from view. We cannot afford to know all about everybody. How many years will elapse before another reader will go through, as the present writer has done, the bulky folio of Isaac Casaubon's printed epistles, or the seven volumes of un- printed answers of his correspondents in the Burney collection? The present imperfect memorial is the first that has ever been attempted in the language of the country which adopted and endowed him. Till an abler hand shall erect an enduring monument in a modern tongue, may this essay be at least ' professione pietatis excusatus ! ' But Casaubon's books, whatever their worth, were not the man. The scholar is greater than his books. The result of his labours is not so many thousand pages in folio, but himself. The ' Paradise Lost' is a grand poem, but how much grander was the living soul that spoke it ! Yet poetry is much more of the essence of the soul, is more nearly a transcript of the poet's mind, than a volume of ' notes ' can be of the scholar's mind. It has Digitized by Microsoft® X.] CHARACTERISTIC. 435 been often said of philosophy that it is not a doctrine but a method. No philosophical systems, as put upon paper, embody philosophy. Philosophy perishes in the moment you would teach it. Knowledge is not the thing known, but the mental habit which knows. So it is with Learning. Learning is a peculiar compound of memory, imagi- nation, scientific habit, accurate observation, all concen^ trated, through a prolonged period, on the analysis of the remains of literature. The result of this sustained mental endeavour is not a book, but a man. It cannot be em- bodied in print, it consists in the living word. Such was Scaliger, as drawn to us by Casaubon ^ : ' A man who, by the indefatigable devotion of a stupendous genius to the acquisition of knowledge, had garnered up vast stores of uncommon lore. And his memory had such a happy readiness, that whenever the occasion called for it, whether it were in conversation, or whether he were con- sulted by letter, he was ready to bestow with lavish hand what had been gathered by him in the sweat of his brow.' True learning does not consist in the possession of a stock of facts — the merit of a dictionary — but in the dis- cerning spirit, a power of appreciation, 'judicium' as it was called in the sixteenth century — which is the result of the possession of a stock of facts. Rare as genius is, it may be doubted if consummate learning be not rarer. A few such men there have been — Wyttenbach, Ruhnken, Bentley, in the last century, Lobeck in the present. Such a man was Isaac Casaubon. It is a treasure which we can only possess in ' earthen vessels.' There came the 1 Casauboni prsef. in Opuscula Scaligeri, Paris, 1610 : ' Is erat Scaliger, qui Stupenda felicitate ingenii, et assidua intentione studii, quum esset assecutus ut ingentes raree doctrinae opes in exprorapta sua memoria, velut in sanctiore quodam serario, haberet reconditas; ut quaeque sese occasio subito offerebat, sive in communibus colloquiis, sive ad qusesita per literas amicis responderet, liberali manu quicquid magno sudore qusesiverat, promeret.' F f 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 436 ISAAC CASAUPON. [Sect. death summons, and at fifty-six all those stores which had been painfully gathered by the daily toil of forty years were swept away, and nothing left but some lifeless books, which can do little more than a gravestone can do, perpet- uate the name — ' tot congestos noctesque diesque labores Hauserit una dies.' But, besides his memory, the great scholar has left us his example. There are books, and very useful books, of which the author is no more to us than a portion of the machinery which put them into type. The many thousand pages which Isaac Casaubon wrote may be all merged in the undistinguished mass of classical commentary, and yet there would remain to us as a cherished inherit- ance, the record of a life devoted to learning. In what does his example consist ? It is the one lesson summed up in the epigram that 'genius is patience.' What is often called ' genius ' was wanting in Casaubon. His want of genius saved him from falling, as Scaliger has sometimes done, into the temptation of pursuing the striking rather than the true. What Lobeck has said of himself may be said of Casaubon, that ^ ' he has never aimed at brilliant results, but at an exposition, as nearly complete as he could make it, of the scattered material.' Industry was Casaubon's genius. Not the industry of the pen, but the industry of the brain. It is well that we should be alive to the price at which knowledge must be purchased. Day by day, night by night, from the age of twenty upwards, Casaubon is at his books. He reahsed Boeckh's ideal, who has told us that in classical learning ' dies diem docet, ut perdideris quam sine linea transmiseris.' When he is not at his books, his mind is in them. Reading is not an amusement filling the languid pauses between the hours of action ; it is the one pursuit engrossing all the hours and the whole mind. ' Friedlander, Mittheilungen, p. 23. Digitized by Microsoft® X-] CHARACTERISTIC. 437 The day, with part of the night added, is not long enough ^ His life, regarded from the exterior, seems adapted to deter, rather than to invite imitation. A life of hardship, in circumstances humble, almost sordid, short of want, but pinched by poverty; Casaubon renounced action, pleasure, ease, society, health, life itself— killing himself at fifty-six. Shall we say that he did this for the sake of fame ? Fame there was, but it reached him in but faint echoes. Even what there was, was all dashed by the loud slander of the dominant ecclesiastical party, and the whispered suspicion of the vanquished. At best, the limits of such fame must always be circumscribed. To the great, the fashionable, the gay, and the busy, the grammarian is a poor pedant, and no famous man I The approbation of our fellows may be a powerful motive of conduct. It is powerful to generate devotion to their service. It is not powerful enough to sustain a life of research. No other extrinsic motive is so. The one only motive which can support the daily energy called for in the solitary student's life, is the desire to know. Every intelligence, as such, contains a germ of curiosity. In some few this appetence is developed into a yearning, an eagerness, a passion, an exigency, an 'inquietude pous- sante,' to use an expression of Leibnitz, which dominates all others, and becomes the rule of life ^- ' On Suetonius' phrase ' disponere diem ' (Tiberius lo) Casaubon remarks : ' notemus utilissimum morem, neque enim aliter temporis ratio constare potest ; sic et apud Grsecos diligentissimus quisque at prudentissimus.' Wolfs edition, vol. 4, p. 8. ° Cf. the Greville Memoirs, 2. 8 : 'At one there was to be a council to swear in privy councillors and lords lieutenant, and receive Oxford and Cambridge addresses ... I never saw so full a Court, so much nobility with academical tagrag and bobtail.' ' Compare Milton's account of the origin of ' Paradise Lost,' ' Reason of church government,' book 2. introduction : ' I began to assent to . . . divers of my friends, and not less to an inward prompting which now grew daily upon me, that by labour and intent study, which I take to be my portion in this Digitized by Microsoft® 438 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sec*, The public of a busy age and an industrial community has quite other notions of a literary life. It is conceived to be a life of ease ; it is the resource of the indolent, who would escape from the penalty of labour. An arm chair and slippers before a good fire, and nothing to do but to read books. This is the epicurean existence, the ' nova Atlantis of mediocrity a I'engrais,' which we call academic life. Of the self-denial, the unremitting effort, the in- cessant mental tension, the strain to touch the ever- receding horizon of knowledge, the fortitude which 'Through enduring pain, Links month to month, with long-drawn chain Of knitted purport,' of the devotion of a life, the modem world of letters knows nothing. Our literature is the expression of the life from which it emanates. It bears the stamp of half knowledge. It is the dogmatism of the smatterer. It has no grotindwork in science. Its employment is to enforce the chance opinion of the day by epigram and sarcasm. It hates and ridicules science. It disbelieves in it. As Sainte- Beuve says ^ of De Tocqueville, ' II a commence a penser avant d'avoir rien appris, ce qui fait qu'il a quelquefois pense creux.' Why is it that the modern man of science stands on a higher level, moral and intellectual, than the modern man of letters ? It is not owing to any superior value in the object of knowledge, but because the phy- sicist is penetrated by the spirit of thorough research, from which our literature is entirely divorced. Schiller says^ 'However much may be gained for the world as a whole by the specialisation of study, it cannot be denied that the individuals whom it befals are cursed for the benefit of the world.' Was not this Casaubon's case ? The diary is a complaint, a groan, a record of unhappiness. life, joined with; the strong propensity of nature, I might perhaps leave something so written to after times as they should not willingly let it die.' ' Causeries, 15, 105, note. » .Ssthetische Briefe, Br. 5. Digitized by Microsoft® X,] CHAR ACT ERISTIC, 439 But more closely looked into, it will be found that all this misery is derived not from the scholar's life, but from the impediments to leading it which external circumstances create. If he could only get rid of cares, expel intruders, shut the door of his study, and get his time to himself! — time, ' cujus penuria laboro ! ' That fatal want of time ; the shortness of each day ! the shortness of life ! This is the true scientific spirit, and was the temper which tradition handed down as the temper of the greek pl^ilosophy^. We find no complaint in the diary of the weariness of study, but much of those unkind friends who broke in upon study. It is not the search for truth which exhausts him, it is the being called off from it. The worry and irritation of which the diary is the sad record arises not from the pursuit itself, but from the impeded energy* He chafes under the inflictions of visitors, and the distractions of business. This resistance of the invasion of his work- shop was not shyness, or defective sociability. Of course it was ascribed to these weaknesses. We read in the life of Wyttenbach ^ that he was charged with misanthropy by ' society ' in Leyden. On hearing of this accusation, Creuzer wrote to him ; ' I know well what this indictment means. It means that you allow yourself only with the learned, and do not give up your time to the gossips. A man cannot live with these and with the muses too,' When Casaubon is in his studies, and has made his orisons, shut up alone with God and with his books, then he is in fruition. He tells Lingelsheim^ 'All my joys and delights are in my pursuits of literature, such as they are. With them I sweeten the bitter of life.' Writing is an effort, mixed with pain. Teaching— he did not, like 1 Cf. Zeno's saying, Diog. Laert. 7. 23, that 'What men most want is time.' ^ Mahne, p. 206 : ' Quod nonnuUi mussitant subinde " paucorum te esse hominum," illud earn vim habeat, doctiorum te esse, non otiosorum, non male feriatorum, non vulgi. quorum qui esse velit, is non potest musarum esse.' 5 Ep. 408 : ' In literulis nostris omnes nobis positae sunt voluptates atque araoenitates quibus aerumnosae hujus vitae ri. mKpa edulcamus.' Digitized by Microsoft® 440 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. Scaliger, abhor it— was no pleasure. But of reading he was insatiable. The compiler's task fatigues Casaubon, as it does others. Of imbibing knowledge he never tires. The enjoyment is, in part, the intellectual gratification of mere acquisition ; the sense of the widening horizon, of the mastery of a given field, of the entering into complete possession. He writes^, set. 37, ' Long ago, inflamed with the ardour of learning, I eagerly procured for myself the scholia on all the poets, on the epigrammata, on Oppian.' De Maistre contemptuously describes his man of science^, as pale with watching, blotched with ink, his arms loaded with books and instruments, dragging himself along the highway of truth. De Maistre belonged to a generation, or a class, to whom the sweetness that is found in learning was unknown. Casaubon had tasted it; but what was peculiar to him was that he carried on into middle life the appetite of youth, the passionate desire to exhaust knowledge. But his gratification has also another source. What he reads delights him. Prosaic as Isaac Casaubon's own style is, he is not wholly without a sense of poetry. The twenty- seventh poem of the Theocritean collection draws from him the confession ' mellitissimum carmen.' He derives pleasure from Nonnus. But his preference is for the practical sense of such authors as Strabo and Polybius. Greek speculation was wholly closed to him. His idea of philosophy is that political philosophy may be learned from history, and ethical from biography^. He appreciates maxims of common life such as were to be met with in the stoic school. He believes, with his age, or rather with the 3rd century, that Greek philosophy was the relic of a primaeval revelation *. Athenseus, on whom he spent so ' Lectiones Theocriticae, p. 63. The passage is one of the large additions to the 2^. ed. of 1596. ^ Soirees de Sainct P^tersbourg, >.. 95. ' Hist. Aug. Scriptores, praef. ' Exercitt. in Bar. p. 507 : ' Si philosophi quidem ex primsevae lucis reliquiis balbutire de istis aliquid fortasse potuerunt.' Digitized by Microsoft® X.] CHARACTERISTIC. 441 much time, he found tiresome owing to the absence of ethical motive in his book. Casaubon's want of classical feeling limited his pleasure in the pure classical writers. The higher accents of Greek poetry and speculation he could not catch. What stirs his soul is Christian Greek, e. g. S. Chrysostom, whose ' Epistola ad Stagirium ' excites him to rapture^. Of the canonical books, the hebrew psalter is a constant companion, and never fails to move him. It was the only book he had ^ brought with him to England, having thrown it casually into his travelling-bag. He carried it with him everjrwhere, and he records that at Downham, in the thicket, he had read over the iigth psalm with effusion. He is carried away by the enthusiasm of S. Paul. Reading 2 Cor. 4. 17, ' Our light affliction,' etc. he exclaims ^, ' Divine words ! Paul of all writers I could think wrote not with fingers, pen and ink, but with pure emotion, heart, bowels! Take any epistle of Paul, e.g. that to the Philippians, and dwell upon it; what glorious passages, what glowing vehemence of language ! ' With what attention he had read S. Chryso- stom, voluminous as his writings are, may be instanced in his saying*, 'Unless my memory deceives me, Chryso- stom, in his genuine works, never refers the expression " daily bread," in the Lord's prayer, to the eucharist.' It is almost a paradox that this most successful and most thorough interpreter of the classics, should have been a man who was totally destitute of sympathy for their human and naturalistic element. The habitual attitude of Casaubon's soul was abandon- ment; not merely resignation, but prostration before the ' Ephem. p. 1055 : ' O divinos libros ! o pectus dei plenum ! ' ^ Advers. 25. p. 125 : ' Unicum fuit psalterium, quod in peram projeceram, futurum mihi assiduum comitem.' 5 Advers. ap. Wolf, p. 135 ; ' Ille solus ex omnibus scriptoribus non mihi videtur digitis, calamo, et atramento scripsisse, verum ipso corde, ipso affectu, et denudatis visceribus.' ' Exercitt. in Bar. p. 531. Digitized by Microsoft® 443 ISAAC CASAVBON. [SEcf. Unseen. He moved, thought, and felt, as in the presence of God. His family and friends lay near to his heart, but nearer than all is God. In all his thoughts the thought of God is subsumed. He hardly puts pen to paper with- out marking the sheet tniv ^eu ^. A calvinistic creed, and a shattered organism, combined to foster this dejection, and to maintain him in a state of habitual despondency. Yet for Casaubon, as for the huguenot of that time of re- buke and defeat, out of weakness came strength. The con- fidence, inspired by the sense that he was the special care of almighty providence, balanced the self-abasement of the individual. The physician Thoris ^ remarked that the mind had sustained the body. The sustaining force was in part intellectual energy, but in part, also, the courage of christian faith and hope, which relies on a power above its own. In such a temperament superstitious behefs were sure to lodge. Yet Isaac Casaubon was not more, but rather less, superstitious than his age. He swallows the alchemi- cal fiction of ' potable gold ^,' though his countryman Palissy had long before * exposed it. All belief is with him a question of authority, and books. If a great author has said a thing, it is so. He believes ^ that earth brought from Palestine cured diseases, and availed against evil spirits, because S. Augustine said so. That women were sometimes turned into men he reads ^ in Hippocrates and Plinius, and has heard of instances in pur times '. But stories equally well vouched by Gregory of Tours, or by Beda, he rejects. The authority is insufficient. Robert ^ Greg. Nyssen. p. 60, he notes ; ' Mos ille piorum fuit laude dignissimus, ut epistolis suis domini nomen praeponerent.' ^ See above, p. 420. ' Ephem. p. 978. * Palissy, Le moyen de devenir riche, p. 186. ed. 1636. ° Exercitt. in Bar. p. 660 : ' Hoc, quia tantae pietatis vir, non ut ex incertis rumoribus acceptum, sed ut certo sibi compertum, narrat, varum esse equidem nuUus dubito.' " Advers. torn. 4. ' Bishop Burnet, Letters, etc. p. 246, believed that the same transformation had happened to two nuns at Rome. Digitized by Microsoft® X.] CHARACTERISTIC. 443 Constantine wrote in a friend's album that he had then passed his hundredth year. Casaubon ^ will not believe it ; he is 'taking the old man's licence with his age.' He hesitates to give his assent to the efficacy of the royal touch ^. It is vouched by grave witnesses, but not by any ancient author. A prodigy, well authenticated, is related to him *, as having happened at Cambridge ; he replies, very cautiously, 'that if it were so, it would be very marvellous.' He scorns ^ the fable of pigmies, though theif existence was vouched by an eyewitness. But then here he relied Upon Strabo, who had in excellent greek pronounced pigmies to be poetic fictions. We have represented Casaubon as destitute of imagina- tion. He was without what is commonly called so — the inventive imagination of the poet, that dangerous faculty which enlivens fact, but too often also supersedes it. But his realistic habit of mind took from objects a vivid image ; he was a close and keen observer, always trying to form an exact picture. He was particularly attracted by the marvellous in nature — monstrosities, deformities, oddities. He had collected out of the ancients all the wonders he had met with in the course of his reading. Spontaneous combustion, flying, levitation, conjuring tricks, enter into this catalogue. It is quite in the spirit of Ulysse Aldro- vandi, whose works, although many of them were already in print, were unknown to Casaubon ; and the scholar is of less easy credulity than the naturalist by profession. Casaubon had read with care and extracted* Fernelius ' De abditis rerum causis.' His copy of Bodin's ' Thea- trum'^ bears throughout marks of the attention with ' Advers. torn. 4. f. 23. ^ Ephem. p. 790 : ' Res est visu dignissima, et cujus effectum viri graves et pii prsedicant.' * See Appendix, note D. 2 Coram, in Strabon. p. 189: ' Legi Bergaei cujusdam Galli scripta, qui se vidisse diceret. at non ego credulus illi ; illi, inquam, omnium bipedum tnendacissimo.' * Adversaria, torn. 11. * Now in King's library, Brit. Mus. Digitized by Microsoft® 444 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. which he had read it. Among the matters noted in it are (p. 391) the birth of a child after eighteen months' pregnancy ; (p. 429) the breast of an old woman which yielded milk upon being perseveringly sucked. The court and ecclesiastical circles occupied themselves much with wonders such as would now be abandoned to the specula- tion of the uneducated. Morton writes to him that a comet has risen in France, portending evil to the protest- ants ^- Andrewes tells him ^ a story of a man in Lombard Street who, in the year 1563, had died of the plague, came to life again sufficiently to order and eat a veal cutlet, and then died for good. Another marvel, repeated by Andrewes, had been told him by Still, late bishop of Bath and Wells, how that after a thunderstorm at Wells, the persons present in the cathedral, including the bishop and his wife, had found themselves marked in various parts of the body with crosses ^- Casaubon suspends his behef; he does not, like Laud, look timidly round for omens, but these things interest him. He, who pares down his memoranda to the briefest possible jottings, spares the time to write out these narratives of prodigies at full length. Apart from the marvellous, he would inquire into and investigate any striking natural facts. The curiosity he exhibited in this direction is further evidence of his craving appetite for information, without reference to any use it might be turned to. He examined a Polish envoy, whom he met at Theobald's, on the natural history of Poland, how a strong north wind had once covered the country with flights of the pelican *. He makes a descrip- ' Burney mss. 367. p. 87. ' Advers. torn. 25. p. 115. ' Ibid. torn. 28. p. 125. * Advers. torn, 28. p. 124. The word used by Casaubon is 'onocrotalus.' He means, I suppose, the common pehcan, Pelecanus onocrotalus, Linn., a species which, though pretty widely distributed over eastern Europe, hardly occurs so far north as the Baltic. Digitized by Microsoft® X.] CHARACTERISTIC. 445 tive note of the ounce ^ which the Savoy envoy brought from Algiers. He had spoken with the horned man from the Cevennes, who was brought to Paris in Henri iv.'s time, and learned his history from his own mouth. Thus he knew^ that horned men were possible, but men with hoofs (Satyrs) were the creation of the poets. He goes, of course, to see Banks' horse. Banks was in Paris with his horse in 1601. From his name, Morocco, one would conjecture that the horse was Arab, though Melleray^ calls him ' a bay english gelding.' Casaubon went to the Rue de la barre du bee to see him, and took much pains to investigate the phaenomenon. He cannot doubt that ' brutes are sometimes inhabited by evil spirits *,' yet in this instance he elicited the secret of the horse from the showman's own confession. The readiness with which the scotch jockey — vir honestissimus — parted with his secret to Casaubon may have been occasioned by his fear of being condemned for a wizard if he affected super- natural powers. And the natural docility of the animal was quite as wonderful as a miracle ^. He is always pleased when he can illustrate his author with some fact which he has observed himself So in Athenaeus, Hiero's tessellated pavement ^ with scenes from the Iliad, reminds ' ' Cattopardus ' Casaubon calls it ; I suppose Tigris uncia of Linnaeus. ' De Satyrica poesi, i. c. a. p. 148. ' Translation of Apuleius, p. 250 : ' Le cheval est de moyenne taille, guilledin d'Angleterre.' ' Adversaria, ap. Wolf, p. 55, cf. ' Letter to Martin,' London, 1615. ■' Ephem. p. 325 : ' Quod potuimus praestitimus (i. e. in study) sed ita ut horam daremus spectaeulo illius equi Scotici mirabilis.' It is the ' dancing-horse ' of 'Love's Labour 's Lost,' act i. sc. ■^. Cf. Hall, Satires, 4. 2 : ' Who vies his pence to vievsr some trick Of strange Morocco's dumb arithmetic' Whitelock's Zootomia, p. 143 ; Webster, Works, 3. 207. Other passages are collected by Douce, Illustrations of Shakespeare, p. 131. [See also Dictionary of National Biography. 3. p. 125.] ^ Animadverss. in Athen. 5. 10, and 1. 14. Fifty-eight paintings of the adventures of Ulysses, designed by Primaticcio, were executed in fresco by Nicolo del' Abate, right and left, on the walls of 'la grande galerie.' This gallery, built and thus adorned by Francis i, was pulled down by Louis xv, who could destroy what he could not replace. See d'Argenville, Vie des peintres, 2. 16 (178a). Digitized by Microsoft® 446 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. him of the gallery at Fontainebleau which Francis i. had painted with scenes from the Odyssey. Such illustrations, of which traces still appear in his commentaries, had ori' ginally served to enliven an oral lecture. Apropos of a passage^ in Theophrastus, he remembers that the same fashion of pouring the wine into the water, and not the water upon the wine, still prevails in Languedoc. He illustrates the ' lapidosa cheragra ' of Persius ^ by mention of a case, probably familiar to the medical students, of a gouty patient in the neighbourhood, who had discharged from his joints more than his own weight in chalk stones. The use of dogs to carry despatches through the enemy's lines ; the checked plaids of the swiss peasantry ; the Spanish almonds he had seen at Lyon ; the practice of fixing the antlers of the deer over the gates of the chateau — these are a few among many examples, which might be culled from his various notes, of his general remark ^ that every day life is constantly reproducing its old incident. When credulity is allowed scope, intolerance is not far off. Isaac Casaubon, who differed from the religion of his contemporaries, could not endure that a smaller minority should deviate from his own creed. He takes credit with Du Perron* for James' interposition in the matter of Vorstius. He thinks the Racovian catechism so detestable that he would annihilate it ®. He would have had Stapleton's body dug up and burnt •', for some extrava- gant expressions about the power of the church. Worst of all, the burning of Legatt, the feeble imitation by the english church of the great crime of Calvin, had — would that it had not! — Casaubon's approval ''. ' Animadverss. in Ath. ii. 4. ^ Comm. in Pers. p. 392. ' .^n. Tact. c. 15 : ' Vita quotidiana nova subinde suggerit, iis quas olim acciderunt plane gemina. vidimus et nos Allobrogico hello,' etc. ' Resp. ad card. Perron, p. 5. ' Ephem. p. 963. * Advers. ap. Wolf, p. 49. ' Exercitt. in Bar. ded. . 'Arianum in sua perfidia obstinatissimum, qui in vinculis diu detentus, revocari ad sanam mentem nulla ratione potuerat, flammis Digitized by Microsoft® X.] CHARACTERISTIC. 447 Nothing is more common in his later years than the epithets ' wicked,' ' impious,' ' blasphemous,' bestowed not on conduct, but on opinions. As the ecclesiastical spirit gains on him, it invades his judicial function as an inter- preter. Once or twice he shows a disposition to twist the sense of a passage in a father to make it orthodox. The theory of verbal inspiration comes across his path on the same ground. The hebrew and greek of the canonical books, both words and matter, are inspired by the Holy Spirit, who suggested to the writers what they should say, and in what words ^. The word l3aTTo\oyeiv, though not the actual word employed by our Lord, who spoke syriac, is yet the exact equivalent supplied by the Holy Spirit ^. At this point the critic merges in the religionist, and he refuses to apply the knowledge which he possesses to the purpose of interpretation. Casaubon's attitude towards the religious parties of his time has been touched upon already, more than once, in the course of this memoir. What has been said may be summarised as follows. Up to the middle of the Paris period, he had remained, what he had been brought up, a pure Genevan calvinist. This old huguenot party, thorough believers in their own creed as exclusively true, were for no compromise with the papal anti-christ. About 1605 and thenceforward, his exclusiveness began to give way. Commerce with the world of a capital, conflict with rational catholics, and an assiduous study of antiquity, could not fail to enlarge his ideas, and necessitate a change of position. It is highly probable that while this change of front was being effected, he ' wavered,' and thought of transferring himself to the catholic church, of becoming, simply and purely, a convert. But after a short period of irresolution, during ultricibus tua majestas, impatiens injurise factse domino nostro Jesu Christo, Deo aKTiarco, jussit tradi.' 1 Exercitt. in Bar. 13. 18. ^ Ibid. 14. 8. Digitized by Microsoft® 448 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. which he was feeling his way, mentally and morally, he settled down in the attitude which we may call fusionist. This was the position of many of the best and most well- informed protestants of that period, Grotius, Calixtus, Jean Hotman, Bongars. Unable to acquiesce in the narrow dogmatism of the calvinists, or to surrender the world to the domination of the clergy, these men proposed a middle term, a reunion of Christendom on the basis of a comprehension. They regarded the Reformation, not as a new religion, but as a return to primitive Christianity. They desired to promote, not protestantism, but a re- ligious revival, in which all christians should participate without quitting the communion of the church universal. The politicians, like Hotman and Bongars, aimed at bring- ing this about by diplomatic means. They wanted a general council. The more learned, like Casaubon, sought the same end by popularising a knowledge of an- tiquity. All parties understood that the edict of Nantes was no settlement, that it was but a truce, which was being worked for the benefit of the stronger party, by the system of gradual encroachment. Such seem to be the special characteristics of Isaac Casaubon. Something remains to be said to indicate his position in relation to the general course of ancient learn- ing in modern Europe. De Quincey ^ has endorsed the complaint that ' the great scholars were poor as thinkers.' De Quincey wrote at a time when ' original thinking ' was much in repute, and was indeed himself one of the genial race to whom all is revealed in a moment, in visions of the night. To break entirely with the past, to owe nothing to it, was then the ambition of all. A freshness and a vigour characterise the english and german literature of the fifty years 1780- 1830, which are due to this effect to discard the lumber of ' Works, 3. 168. Digitized by Microsoft® XJ CHARACTERISTIC, 449 ' unenlightened' ages. The ' scholars ' of the sixteenth cen- tury were engaged in an employment the very opposite of that of the ' genialities.' The scholars were not ' poor as thinkers,' because thinking was not their profession. They were busy interpreting the past. The fifteenth century had rediscovered antiquity, the sixteenth was slowly deciphering it. For this task, memory, not inven- tion, was the faculty in demand. These two are ^ faculties which are usually found in inverse energy in an age as in an individual. It is no more appropriate to require of the interpreters that they should have been thinkers, than to require of the 'illuminati' that they should have been learned. If to a De Quincey the scholar is a ' poor thinker,' to a Wyttenbach ^ the ' thinker ' wears the appearance of one who 'would disguise his ignorance of facts under the polished surface of philosophical phrase- ology.' Nor was it only in the age of genius that it was supposed desirable to be without knowledge of what has been said by those who have gone before us. M. Taine^ has a remarkable chapter in which french hatred of ' pedantry ' is erected into a system. Victor Cousin is rallied for his taste for original documents, and it is made a serious blemish on his fame, that he preferred to write biography from textual sources, instead of superseding the facts by a statement of his own subjective consciousness. Though it is out of place to complain of Casaubon for ' Cf. what Priestley says of himself, Autobiography, p- 76 : ' My defect in point of recollection, which may be owing to a want of sufficient coherence in the association of ideas formerly impressed, may arise from a sort of constitution more favourable to new associations ; so that what I have lost with respect to memory, may have been compensated by what is called invention, or new and original combinations of ideas. This is a subject that deserves attention.' * Wyttenbach, Philomathia, 2. 145 : ' Nunc sunt qui in historia scribenda nil nisi disserant ac ratiocinentur, et rerum gestarum ignorantiam philosophando disst'fttuletti.' ^ Philosophes fran9ais, ch. 8. It is said of Mdzeray, who wrote the history of France from Pharamond, that he once boasted, and that in the presence of Du Cange, that ' he never read any of the monkish chronicles.' G g Digitized by Microsoft® 450 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. being ' a poor thinker,' it is proper to ask how far he was an efficient interpreter. ' The modest industry of Casaubon,' says Bernhardy ^, ' was the complement of the genius of Scaliger. Casau- bon was the first to popularise a connected knowledge of the life and manners of the ancients.' This was all ; but fully to apprehend Bernhardy's words demands some acquaintance with the previous history of classical study. The Renaissance had dealt with antiquity, not in the spirit of learned research, but in the spirit of free creative imitation. In the fifteenth century was revealed to a world, which had hitherto been trained to logical analysis, the beauty of literary form. The conception of style or finished expression had died out with the pagan schools of rhetoric. It was not the despotic act of Justinian, in clos- ing the schools of Athens, which had suppressed it. The sense of art in language decayed from the same general causes which had been fatal to all artistic perception. Banished from the roman empire in the sixth century, or earlier, the classical conception of beauty of form re- entered the circle of ideas again in the fifteenth century^ after nearly a thousand years of oblivion and abeyance. Cicero and Vergil, Livius and Ovid, had been there all along, but the idea of composite harmony, on which their works were constructed, was wanting. The restored conception, as if to recoup itself for its long suppression, took entire possession of the mind of educated Europe. The first period of the renaissance passed in adoration of the awakened beauty, and in efforts to copy and multiply it. But in the fifteenth century, ' educated Europe ' is but a synonym for Italy. What literature there was outside the Alps was a derivative from, or dependent of, the Italian ^ Grundriss d. rOtnischen Lit. p. 120 ; [' Soweit erganzt ihn durch ruhigen und bescheidenen Fleiss Isaac Casaubonus, der erste, ■welcher eine zusammen- hangende Kenntniss sowohl von Leben und Sitten der Alten, als von ihrer gewahlten Phraseologie klar in praktischen Beobachtungen verbreitet hat.'] Digitized by Microsoft® X.] CHARACTERISTIC. 451 movement. The fact that the movement originated in the latin peninsula, was decisive of the character of the first age of classical learning (1400-1550). It was a revival of latin, as opposed to greek, literature. It is now well un- derstood that the fall of Constantinople, though an in- fluential incident of the movement, ranks for nothing among the causes of the renaissance. What was revived in Italy of the fifteenth century was the tastes of the schools of the early empire — of the second and third cen- tury. There were, no doubt, differing characteristics, for nothing in history ever exactly repeats itself But in one decisive feature the Hterary sentiment of the fifteenth century was a reproduction of that of the empire. It was rhetorical, not scientific. Latin literature as a whole is rhetorical. There are exceptional books, such as the ' Natural history ' of Plinius, but, on the whole, the idea of science was greek, and is alien to latin. To turn phrases, and polish sentences, was the one aim of the litterateur of the empire. This phraseological character of literary effort is clearly marked in the preface which Aulus Gellius (circ. A. D. 150) prefixed to his 'Attic evenings^.' In this he apologises to the reader for the seemingly recondite nature of some of his chapters. ' This profundity,' he says, ' is only such in appearance. I have avoided push- ing my investigations too deeply, and present the readers only with the elements of the liberal arts, with such matters only as it is a disgrace to an educated man not to know.' This divorce of the literature of knowledge, and the literature of form, which characterised the epoch of decay under the early empire, characterised equally the epoch of revival in the Italy of the popes. The refine- ments of literary composition in verse and prose, and a 1 Noctes Atticae, praef. : ' Non fecimus altos nirais et obscures in his rebus quaestionum sinus; sed primitias quasdam et quasi libamenta ingenuarum artium dedimus, quae virum civiliter eruditum neque audisse unquam, neque attigisse, si non inutile, at certe indecorum est.' G g a Digitized by Microsoft® 453 ISAAC CASAUBON, [Sect. tact of emendation founded on this refined sense, this was the ideal of the scholar of the Italian renaissance. The decay and extinction of the artistic enthusiasm of the Italians was gradual, but may be said to have been consummated soon after the middle of the sixteenth century. ' Petrus Victorius,' (who died 1584, aet. 90,) says de Thou 1, ' longseva setate id consecutus est, ut literas in Italia nascentes, et psene extinctas, viderit.' Out of the decaying sense of form arose, however, a new perception, of which the remains of antiquity were equally the object. Composition is at best an amusement of the faculties, and could offer no satisfaction to the awakened intellect of Europe. As the eye, captivated at first by charms of person, learns in time to see the graces of the soul that underhe and shape them, so the classics, which had attracted by their beauty, gradually revealed to the modern world the rich wisdom which that beauty enshrined. The first scholars of the renaissance enjoyed, without labour, the harmonies of language, the perfection of finish, which the great masters of latin style had known how to give to their work. Just when imitation had degenerated into feebleness, mannerism, and affectation, the discovery was made that these exterior beauties covered a world of valuable knowledge, even in the latin writers. And under- lying the latin literature, it was perceived, was one more valuable still, the greek. The interest of the educated world was transferred from the form to the matter of ancient literature. Masses of useful knowledge, natural or political, the social experience of many generations, were found to have lain unnoticed in books which had been all the while in everyone's hands. The knowledge and wisdom thus buried in the greek writers presented a striking contrast to the barren sophistic, which formed the curriculum of the schools. It became the task of the scholars of the second period * Thuani Hist. 4. 319. Digitized by Microsoft® X.] Characteristic. 453 of the classical revival to disinter this knowledge. The classics, which had been the object of taste, became the object of science. Philology had meant composition, and verbal emendation ; it now meant the apprehension of the ideas and usages of the ancient world. Scholars had exerted themselves to write; they now bent all their effort to know. The period of youthful enjoyment was at an end; the time of manhood, and of drudgery, was entered upon. There came now into existence what has ever since been known as ' learning,' in the special sense of the term. The first period of humanism, in which the words of the ancient authors had been studied, was thus the preparatory school for the humanism of the second period, in which the matter was the object of attention. As Italy had been the home of classical taste in the first period, France became the home of classical learning in the second. Though single names can be mentioned — such as Victorius or Sigonius in Italy, Meursius or Vul- canius in the Low Countries, who were distinguished representatives of 'learning' — yet France, in Budaeus, Turnebus, Lambinus, Joseph Scaliger, Isaac Casaubon, and Saumaise, produced a constellation of humanists, whose fame justly eclipsed that of all their contemporaries. The Jirsi period in the history of classical learning may be styled the Italian. The second period coincides with the french school. If we ask why Italy did not continue to be the centre of the humanist movement, which she had so brilliantly inaugurated, the answer is that the inteUigence Was crushed by the reviviscence of ecclesiastical ideas. , Learning is research ; research must be free, and cannot coexist with the claim of the catholic clergy to be superior to enquiry. The french school, it will be observed, is wholly in fact, or in intention, protestant. As soon as it was decided, as it was before 1600, that France was to be a catholic country, and the university of Paris a catholic university, learning was extinguished in France. France, Digitized by Microsoft® 454 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. ' noverca ingeniorum,' saw her unrivalled scholars expa- triate themselves without regret, and without repentance. With Scaliger and Saumaise the seat of learning was transferred from France to Holland. The third period of classical learning thus coincides with the dutch school. From 1593, the date of Scaliger's removal to Leyden, the supremacy in the republic of learning was possessed by the Dutch. In the course of the i8th century the dutch school was gradually supplanted by the north german, which, from that time forward, has taken, and still pos- sesses, the lead in philological science. Of the six names which we have put forward as the coryphaei of the second, or french, school of learning — Budseus, Turnebus, Lambinus, Scaliger, Casaubon, and Saumaise— each has his own individual character and privileged faculty. We are concerned at present only with Casaubon. And it so happens, that it is precisely Casaubon who forms the best and most perfect type of the school in which he must be classed. He owes this representative character to his deficiency in individual genius, which made him receptive of the secular influences. While the poetical principle, the creative impulse, had been the mov- ing power of the renaissance, the faculty which was called for, in the period which succeeded the renaissance, was the receptive and the retentive faculty. The spirit of discovery languished. It had been found, that there was extant a vast body of knowledge, and that to read ancient books was the road to it. The self moved mind, ' Das Selbstbewegen aus sich,' was no longer the instrument ; the intellectual object was a given object, as it had been in the 13th century, so again in the i6th. As, in the 13th century, this object had been the church dogmatic tradition, now it was the classical tradition, which had been broken in the 6th century. To put together this tradition, to revive the picture of Digitized by Microsoft® X-] CHARACTERISTIC. 455 the ancient world, patient industry, an industry adequate to a complete survey of the extant remains of the lost world, was the one quality required. This was Casau- bon's aim, and inspiring ideal. He is not a great gram- marian. His sense of language is not equal to that Which has been possessed by the great critics from Scaliger down to Cobet. Hence his metrical skill is small, and he is rarely happy in an emendation where metrical or gram- matical tact comes into play. Yet it is not inconsistent with this fact that Scaliger could say of Casaubon, that he knew more greek than himself i; and that Ruhnken^, more than a century and a half later, could say, that, even then, he had been surpassed by no one but by Hemsters- husius. A very moderate amount of scholarship is enough to enable us to discern that there are limitations to Casaubon's power over Greek. His own metrical composition is abject. He is not very successful in greek prose ^. Yet he had so familiarised himself with greek idiom, that greek phrases are continually emerging in his latin sentences, as the natural expression of his thought. The explanation of this seeming inconsistency is^ that he thought in greek words and phrases, but not in greek sentences. His memory supplied him with a full vocab- ulary, but he had not cultivated either the logic or the rhythm of the greek sentence. ' Scaligerana 2". p. 45 : ' C'est le plus grande homme que nous avons en grec ; je lui cede.' Cf. Seal. Epp. p. 221 : ' Et memoria avorum et nostri saeculi graece doctissimum.' '^ Elogium Hemstershusii, p. xvi : ' Complectar brevi et non exaggerandae rei causa, sad simpliciter ac vere hoc dico, Hemstershusium graecarum scientia literarum omnino omnes qui inde a renatis Uteris excellenter in iis versati sint, ipsum etiam Isaacum Casaubonum, cui doctorum hominum consensus primas deferre solet, longo post se intervallo reliquisse.' ' In the printed volume of Casaubon's epistles, Rot. 1709, there are five addressed to Andrew Downes, in greek. The answers of Downes are preserved, Brit. Mus. Burney mss. vol. 363. As far as I am able to judge in such a matter, the Cambridge professor has the advantage in point of style and rhythm, while Casaubon has a larger vocabulary, and more command of idiom. Digitized by Microsoft® 456 fSAAC CASAUBON. [Seci'. M. Germain, in a memoir on Casaubon at Montpellier ', tells us that Casaubon 'had an astonishing aptitude in collating the various mss. of an ancient author, and ehciting the original reading.' Whatever other merits Casaubon's editions may have had in their day, that of a text regularly formed by collation was not one. A survey of the existing written tradition, such as is now required of any text editor, was an idea unknown to his age. But Casaubon was even behind his age in this respect. He never attempted collation. He did not even construct a text out of the materials in his hands. His proceeding was the rude pro- ceeding which the italian humanists of a century before had employed. This was, in difficult passages, to look into his MSS, and select that reading which seemed to suit the sense best. Though he had at his command the treasures of the royal and medicean libraries, he never used them for the establishment of a text. But he made ample use of them for that which was his true vocation — extensive reading. His available resources for emendation being feeble and casual, he must have recourse to conjecture. Conjectural emendation is a practice in which the scholar may revel as exercise, but which the diplomatist, who is constructing a text, ever regards with suspicion. Of the merits of Cas- aubon's conjectures I am not competent to judge. Their character appears to be the suggestions of realist know- ledge, rather than of tact of language. They are numer- ous, but he is helpful rather in correcting the minor blunders of the copyist in a tolerably ascertained context, than in those desperate and deeply seated ulcers, which are apt to gather round an old wound. The rights of rational conjecture, and the necessity of sometimes over- ruling both the antiquity, and the consent, of mss, are as peremptorily asserted by Casaubon as by Cobet *. But in ' Acad. d. sciences et d. lettres de Montpellier, 5. 208 : ' Une etonnante aptitude a conf^rer entre eux les mss. des anciens auteurs pour en retrouver la le9on originale.' * See note E in Appendix. Digitized by Microsoft® X.] CHARACTERISTIC. 457 practice, in the exercise of this right which he claims, he is very conservative ^. ' Haec lectio non placet, placeret Juniana, si esset ex libris ^.' ' Torrentius' conjecture is very clever ; but I cannot adopt it in the teeth of all the mss, from which I can never depart, except when it is ab- solutely necessary ; and in this rule I am sure a man so learned as Torrentius will agree with me.' And in the short notes on Dionysius of Halicarnassus he says *, ' What need here, I ask, of conjecture ? No sound scholar will ever hesitate to reject a conjecture, however plausible, when it is against ms. authority.' The language was to Casaubon not an end, but a means. He never speaks with unscholarlike superciliousness of the minutiae of grammatical technic ; but he never dwells on these minutiae with pedantic self-complacency. He would not dispense with an accurate knowledge of the language. But he sought through it to penetrate to a knowledge of the thoughts conveyed by the language. Here, where the call is upon the memory of an attentive and observant reader, is his forte. He can bring to bear upon any one passage the whole of the classics, ever present in his memory. He views the individual, to use Bacon's phrase, ' ad naturam universi.' As a commentator he does not overlay the difficulty with a crushing load of collateral illustration, but elucidates it with the one ap- posite citation. A large class of stumblingblocks in the classics can only be cleared by finding some one other passage, which suppUes the key to the allusion. This is a gradual process, which is being perfected from age to age *- The school commentary of our day contains the result of four centuries of research. What one has over- looked another supplies. In the whole long history of interpretation, can anyone be named, who from his single ' Advers. torn. 60. ° Sueton. Claud. 24. ' Comm. in Dionys. Hal. p. i8s : ' Conjecturis obsecro quid hie opus est ? quas nemo satis qui sit sanus, non spernet prae veteribus codicibus, quantumvis • blandiantur.' * See note F in Appendix. Digitized by Microsoft® 458 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. hand has contributed to the common fund so much as Isaac Casaubon ? Casaubon's editions must not be compared with those which issued from the great dutch manufactory of the Burmanns and the Gronoviuses. The ' Variorum ' editors were collectors of what others had suggested. Casaubon draws at first hand from his own original comparison of texts. The system of those editors was to form a ' Catena,' or running commentary on a text, by breaking up the existing commentaries into short portions, preserving the words, and appending the name of each annotator. It was thus that Casaubon's notes, all of which were written before 1610, were passed on, intact, to the middle of the i8th century, and formed indeed the substantial part of all that the ' Variorum ' editors had to offer on many authors. The dutch editors shunned greek, to which they were unequal, or they only attempted it to give evidence that greek was a lost science. The Appianus of Tollius, 1670, the Apollonius of Hoelzlin, 1641, — 'hominum, qui sunt, fuerunt, et erunt futilissimus' — says Ruhnken^, the Lucianus of Graevius, 1687, should be examined if we wish to know how low greek had sunk in the schools of Holland, and what was the standard of editing in the book- market of Europe. If Maasvicius was able to make a better figure with his Polyaenus, 1690, it is because he judiciously retires himself out of sight, and blazons on his title-page, ' Isaaci Casauboni notas adjecit.' The trade demand for the editions of the greek classics was met by reproducing the notes of the scholars of the i6th century. Even a new latin version of a greek text was a task to which they were unequal. So Maasvicius reproduces the latin Polyaenus of Vulteius, 1549, without alteration, and even without, as he honestly confesses^, comparing it with his greek text throughout, with which it by no means corresponds. The ' Ep. ad Valcken. p. i8. ^ Polysenus, 1588, lectori : ' Cum graecis ubique non comparavi.' Digitized by Microsoft® X.] CHARACTERISTIC. 459 dutch school, till Hemstershusius, was a school of latinists. Yet, even in a latin prose author, such as Suetonius, it would not have been safe for the workmen of the Burmann manufactory to have revised Casaubon's notes, and they were accordingly reproduced in extenso down to 1736. After this they sank out of sight, the german school of Ernesti and Wolf having power enough of its own to remodel annotation on Suetonius. Even in 1801, the german Schweighaeuser, who ventured upon Athenaeus, found that he could not do better than give the whole of Casaubon's notes. And, to this hour, no one has attempted (1874) such a commentary on Athenaeus, as shall merge Casaubon in the way in which his notes on Persius have been absorbed in the Clarendon Persius of Conington and Nettleship. As lately as 1833, Casaubon's notes on Persius were reprinted in Germany entire, in compliance with a suggestion of Passow ^. His commentary on Strabo, of which he was himself ashamed, has not been superseded, and was reprinted in 1818, in the Variorum ed. of Tzschucke ^. The commentaries on Athenaeus and Theophrastus must still be in the hands of every student of greek literature. No other scholar of the sixteenth century can be named, whose commentary on any ancient writer has remained so long as the standard commentary. All have contributed something to the common stock of explanation ; no other than Casaubon has left one which stands in its entirety unsurpassed. When we consider that, in the elucidation of an ancient text, time is more than genius, and a new ms. more than the keenest faculty of divination, we shall appreciate Casaubon's superiority over his successors, in his command of the means and materials of interpretation. ' Persius, ed. F. Duebner, lectori: 'Ante hos viginti tres annos celeb. Passovius significaverat . . . Casaubonum edendum esse integrum, reliquos excerpendos esse omnes.' " The publication of the edition was broken off at the third book. Digitized by Microsoft® 46o ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect, It was not only by industrious compilation, and the relevant application of a complete classical reading, that Casaubon's commentary is thus distinguished. He has also the enviable gift of presenting the object as it is (Veranschaulichung). This was due not to the possession of a poetic imagination, but to its absence. He lights the object with no subjective radiance, and decorates it with no ornament. His style as an annotator, flat and prosaic as it is, is direct. He grasps at the real difficulties, arid tries to clear them in the shortest way. He had the inestimable advantage, denied to us, of not acquiring his first conception at second hand. We read so much about the ancients, in books written about them by moderns, that our notion of antiquity is inevitably coloured by this modern medium. We have learnt to prefer to have our ancient history drugged with modern politics, by Droysen, or Grote, or Mommsen, as the vitiated taste prefers sherry to the pure juice of the grape. Casaubon owed this advantage in part to his self-education, of which he was always complaining as a blight upon his development ^. He lost something by this, in point of language, he gained much by it, in point of precision of representation. He went in his nineteenth year straight to the greek and latin authors, and read them through, thus forming his first impressions of the ancients directly from what they have said of themselves. It cost him more trouble to learn, but then he had nothing to unlearn. As Goethe somewhere says, 'The difficulty lies not in learning but in unlearning,' a sentiment which Casaubon himself had quoted ^ from an older author than Goethe. Menage ^ gave as a reason for not reading Moreri's Dictionary, that it contained errors, and if he got them into his head, he should not be able to get them out again. ^ Ep. 995 ; o^i/ia^cr? koX oKiyov Seen eirruv avToSiSaKToi. ' Exercitt. in Baron, p. 485 ; ' rd fUTaSiSaaKetv x"^f''''"''aToj' ait alicubi Chrysostomus ' [i. e. Dio Ciirysostomus, Or. xi. p. 307 Reiske]. ^ Menagiana, i. 84. Digitized by Microsoft® X.] CHARACTERISTIC. 461 This habit of direct intuition he owed to his self-education ; his love of truth he owed to his protestant education. Love of truth is the foundation of all research and all learning, and is indeed only the desire of knowledge under another name. This mental habit is, it may be thought, universally diffused among mankind. Upon it are founded all the ordinary transactions of every day life, no less than the judicial procedure of the law courts, and the experiments of the laboratory. Why should it be singled out as a merit in Casaubon, when it is only shared by him in common with every humbler student who has ever attempted philological research ? Those only who are intimately conversant with the period of which we write, will know that of that period this assumption would not be true. It was by the cultivation of this intellectual virtue that the protestant scholars of France were dis- tinguished, and to this they owe their immeasurable superiority over the catholic school of french Hellenists. The attitude of the orthodox party towards classical studies in the first half of the sixteenth century — in the time of Erasmus — was one of pure antipathy. This phase, of hostility to the 'new learning,' under pretence of reverence for the old, has been handed down to us by the broad and exaggerated satire of the ' Epistolae obscurorum virorum.' We have seen the traces of this disposition lingering into the seventeenth century in Eudaemon^ Joannes ' sneers at Casaubon for not having had a regular education, for being a ' grammarian,' and more conversant with Suetonius than with logic. But notwithstanding occasional sallies of this kind, the attitude of the church party towards classical learning had been entirely changed before 1600. The practised eye of the Jesuits, surveying, from the centre of politics, all walks of human endeavour, saw that more capital could be made for Rome by espousing classics, than by prohibiting them. Jesuit education was formed upon a classical basis, in opposition to the Digitized by Microsoft® 46a ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. scholastic basis of the university. Grammar and rhetoric became leading subjects in their schools, including a large share of greek. More than this, Jesuits who had a turn for reading were allowed to devote themselves to study, and encouraged and assisted in the publication of learned works. ' Learned ' they are entitled to be called by courtesy, for the works of Schott, Sirmond, and Petavius, have all the attributes of learning but one, — one, to want which leaves all learning but a tinkling cymbal — that is, the love of truth. The Jesuit scholars introduced into philological research the temper of unveracity which had been from of old the literary habit of their church. An interested motive lurks beneath each word ; the motive of church patriotism. The same spirit which produced the false decretals in the seventh century', reappears in the Jesuit literature of the sixteenth century. ' Can we doubt,' exclaims Cas- aubon ^, ' that the disease of our age is a hatred of truth ? ' An earnest love of truth, on the other hand, is the characteristic of the philological effort of the protestant scholars. Errors they make, and plenty. The books of the generation which followed Casaubon are largely seasoned with corrections of his errata ^. It may often happen that Scaliger is wrong, and Petavius right. But single-eyed devotion to truth is an intellectual quality, the absence of which is fatal to the value of any investigation. Jesuit learning is a sham learning got up with great ingenuity in imitation of the genuine, in the service of the church. It ' Du Perron repeatedly told Casaubon that 'Gratianus was unjustly sus- pected, there being at most two places doubtful.' Adversaria, ap. Wolf. p. 177 : ' Audivi Perronum saepe mihi affirmantem falso suspectam esse fidem Gratiani,' etc. 2 Burmann, Syll. i. 359 : ' Dubitamus adhuc /uaaXTjeeuf. laborare hoc seculum.' ' E. g. Crenius, Animadv. phil. et hist. p. 88. Casaubon had affirmed, N. T. Matth. 23. 15, that Judas Iscariot is called, in another place, vlbs aXiepov. The phrase is never used in the N. T. ; it occurs in Nonnus' paraphrase of John 17. 12. Henri Valois, both in the ' Excerpta ex collectaneis,' 1634 and in the ' Emendationum libri,' 1740, abounds in such corrections. Digitized by Microsoft® X.] CHARACTERISTIC. 463 is related of the Chinese that when they first, in the war of 1841, saw the effect of our steam vessels, they set up a fun- nel and made a smoke with straw on the deck of one of their junks in imitation, while the paddles were turned by men below. Such a mimicry of the philology of Scaliger and Casaubon was the philology of the Jesuit. It was vitiated by its arrifere-pensee. The search for truth was falsified by its interested motive, the interest not of an individual, but of a party. It was that caricature of the good and great and true, which the good and great and true invariably calls into being ' ; a phantom which sidles up against the reality, mouths its favourite words as a third- rate actor does a great part, undermimics its wisdom, over- acts its folly, is by half the world taken for it, goes some way to suppress it in its own time, and lives for it in history. That Casaubon's conception of the antique world was either pure or adequate, is not hereby meant. It was very far from being either. With all his honesty of purpose, and directness of aim, he was not strong enough to be uninfluenced by the ecclesiastical temper of his age. We see this in so slight a matter as the interpretation, of the Triopian inscription, discovered in 1607 ^, which, in his anxiety to get a confirmation of gospel history, he applied to the Jewish Herod, instead of to H erodes Atticus. His limitations were many and inevitable. As an interpreter of ancient life he could only render so much as he apprehended. No one can apprehend of a past age ' Friends in Council, 1. 67. 2 See his ' Inscriptio vetus grseca,' etc. fol. s. 1. et a. Welser, a catholic, at once detected Casaubon's error, and informed Hoeschel of it. Burney mss 364. p. 288. Hoeschel passed on the correction to Casaubon, who instantly acknowledged it, and promised to correct it, if he should have the opportunity of a second edition. Ep. 607. What Casaubon did not do, Saumaise did, in his ' Inscriptio Herodis.' Crenius, ' Museum philologicum,' Lugd. Bat. 1699, reprinted both commentaries, thus reproducing error which had been abandoned by its author. See Thesaurus epistolicus Lacrozianus, 3. 40. On the other hand, Casaubon was not deceived, as many Italians were, by the inscriptions in Poliphilo. See Hist. Aug. Scriptores. Digitized by Microsoft® 464 ISAAC CASAUBON. [Sect. more than he can apprehend of his own. ^ ' The past is reflected to us by the present.' Casaubon knew of his own age so much as the average of educated men know. The private antiquities of Greece and Rome are, for this reason, open to all men, for every man ' must have a full conception of the coat he wears, and the house he lives in.' In public affairs, Casaubon apprehends the general machinery of political action, as it shows itself on the surface of events, and takes an average view of the springs of human action. The man, with whom Henri iv. could hold long con- versations on the positions of religious parties in France, cannot have been an uninformed looker on at the great struggles of the time. The greater political problems he does not approach. Polybius' philosophy of history is Casaubon's philosophy. Though he had edited Aristotle, and read many of the Aristotelian books with care ^, he has written nothing which throws any light on the course of greek thought. He was not master of the contents of greek philosophical speculation, nor even aware of its importance as a factor of history, or of the place it holds in greek literature. Here, again, the Hmitation was not in the man, but in the age. It needed two centuries more of speculative effort in Europe, before philologians could go back to greek philosophy with the key of it in their hands. It is only indeed within the present century that learning has grown strong enough to cope with the exposition of Aristotle, ' Arnold, Lectures, p. 109: 'This is the reason why scholars and anti- quarians have written so uninstructively of the ancient world. They could do no otherwise, for they did not understand the world around them. How can he comprehend the parties of other days, who has no clear notion of those of his own ? What sense can he have of the progress of the great contest of human affairs in its earlier stages, when it rages around him at this actual moment unnoticed, or felt to be no more than a mere indistinct hubbub of sounds, and confusion of weapons ? What cause is in the issue he knows not.' ^ Adversaria, tom. 16, contains collections out of Aristotle and his greek commentators. In Brit. Mus. is an analysis of the 'Analytics,' in Casaubon's hand, such as might be made by a person reading the book for the first time. Digitized by Microsoft® X.] CHARACTERISTIC. 46,5 and an edition of the Aristotelic encyclopaedia is still a vision of the future*. And as to Casaubon's want of political instruction, it should be remembered that we go to greek history with three centuries of additional experience. In 1614, de Thou's History was the last word of political wisdom, and de Thou's life had been spent in one uniform struggle — resistance to the clerical reaction. This situation produced a simplicity, and at the same time a narrowness, in the political ideas of the age. All the energies of the states- man, all the wisdom of the politician, were absorbed in the effort to stem the rising tide of ecclesiastical invasion. We cannot wonder that Casaubon too should not have seen beyond the emergency. But as he became gradually engaged with the details of the controversy, he became less able as an interpreter of the document. His greatest failure was in handling church antiquity, because he was searching it as an armoury of consecrated precedent, not with the analysis of the critical historian. His love of truth, though it did not forsake him, was obscured by the zeal of the partisan. The cause may have been a righteous one ; the war of resistance to clerical aggression may have been a just and necessary war. The publicist, the legist, the statesman who, at the opening of the 17th century, contended against the church revival of their day, have a title to be enrolled in the list of worthies or benefactors. But for all this, it remains true, that in the intellectual sphere grasp and mastery are incompatible with the exigencies of a struggle. When, in the very conception of the problem, the intellectual activity is engaged in the service of a religious interest, a scientific solution cannot be looked for \ To search antiquity with a polemical object * See note G in Appendix. ' Zeller, Gesch. d. griech. Philos. 4. 17 : 'Wenn schon durch die Fassung der Aufgabe die wissenschaftliche Thatigkeit in den Dienst des religiOsen Jnteresses gezogen war, so musste es sich im weiteren Verlaufe vollends H h Digitized by Microsoft® 466 ISAAC CASAUBON. is destructive of that equilibrium of the reason, the imagi- nation, and the taste, that even temper of philosophical calm, that singleness of purpose, which are required in order that a past time may mirror itself on the mind in true outline and proportions. herausstellen, dass eine wissenschaftliche LOsung derselben unter den ge- gebenen Voraussetzungen unmOglich sei.' Digitized by Microsoft® APPENDIX TO SECTION X. Note A. p. 41.9. TRANSLATED OUT OF FRENCHE. Casaubon's Will, dated June 21, 1614. There being nothinge more certaine to man then death and nothinge more incertaine then the houre thereof and desyringe to provide that death surprise mee not before I make my latter Will havinge as yet by the mercie of God the use of all my senses and of my reason understandinge and judgement I have thought it necessary shortly to declare myne estate and latter Will as it foUowes I doe confesse and protest that I Hue and dye in that true and liuely fayth whereby the just man Hues which is taught us in Holy Scripture And that I belieue ye remission of all my sinnes by the sheddinge of the moste pretious bloode of myne onely Savior Mediator and Advocate Jesus Christ in whose hands I doe giue over and comend myself beseechinge him that he would sanctifie me throughlie and keepe my whole spirit soule and bodie w*hout blemish vnto his last cofflinge I leaue my body to be buried in the ground in a Christian manner w^hout all vnnecessarie pompe or shewe to be made partaker of the blessed resurrection at the latter daye w<=l> I doe expect and belieue w*^ a stedfast fayth As for my goods Wli the Lorde hath lent me Wli I shall leaue the day of my decease my will is that my debtes which shalbe founde lawfull shalbee payd Therefter I give to the French Church assembled in London five and twenty French Crownes And to the poors of this parish where I dwell five French Crownes To the Library of the French Church in London fowre of my greatest books amonge the fathers And my Gregory Nyssen Manuscript To my Nephewe M' Chabane one of my Hip- pocrates As concerninge all my goodes whatsoever present or to come moueable or vnmoueable I doe appointe that my wyfe H h 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 468 APPENDIX TO SECT. X. have it in her choyce either to take herself to her contract of marriage wherein is to be fownde whatsoever I haue received before, and since the death of her father Henry Steuen of happie memory or to take herself to the just halfe of all my goodes which shall remaine behinde that beinge exempted whereof mention was made before As for the other halfe w* shall remaine I will not that my Sonne John Cassaubon haue any parte thereof by onlye one Cup of the value of Thirty Crownes the reasons of this my Will are knowne unto him Item I will and ordayne that each one of my daughters haue two hundred crownes vj'^^ being done my meaninge is that the whole remnant bee equally divided amonge my sonnes and daughters except that to that sonne who walkinge in the feare of God shalbe fittest to sustayne my family I doe giue the Cup of My Scaliger of moste happie memory aboue and besides that portion which shall fall to him of the foresayd half or remnant of my goodes the Cup of thirtie Crownes for my sonne John and the two hundred crownes for each one of my daughters beinge first abated Neverthelesse if any of my children sonne or daughter presume to fynde fault w*^ or call in question this my last Will or be disobeydient to my wife their mother I leaue to my wife all power and authority to depriue such a one of soe muche of their porcion as she shall thinke good being there- vnto well counselled and approved by the Overseers of this my Testament that shalbe there where she for the t3mie shall remaine Moreover if it please God to call to himselfe one or more of my children before they be married or come to age I will that their portion be divided amonge the rest that doe surviue by equall portions my sonne John excepted And to the intent that this my Testament may be put in execution I leaue and ordayne my wife the onely Executrix thereof intreatinge my trusty freinds Mr Theodore Turquet de Maierne Raphaell Torris and Phillippe Bourlamarqui to ayde her as Curators in those things which be on this side of the Sea And my trusty frends M'' Josias Mercere Sqi" des Bordes Desier Herauet Advocate and M^ Arbant Doctor of Phisick for those affaires that be beyond Seas In witnesse whereof and of that w"!* is before set downe I haue subsigned wth my hand and sealed wt^i my seale this my latter Will in presence of them that be after named this Tewsday the one and twentieth of June the yeare of o"" Lorde one thousand sixe hundred and fowerteene — Isaack Cassaubon — Signed sealed Digitized by Microsoft® APPENDIX TO SECT. X. 469 and delivered in the presence of us— Aron Cappell David Codelongue — William Jane — et me — Thomam Elam Scrivener. Probatum fuit Testamentum suprascriptum apud London coram Magro Edmundo Pope legum Doctore Surrogate Vene- rabilis viri Dflj Johnis Benet milits legum etiam Doctors Curie Prerogative Cant Magrj Custodis sive Commissarij Itime con- stitut Tricesimo die Mensis Julij Ano Dominj Millesimo sex- centesimo Decimo quarto Juramento Florentise Cassaubon relae dictj defuncti et executrics in eodem testamento nominat Cuj comissa fuit administraco omniu et singulor bonore jurium et creditorum dictj defunctj De bene et fideliter administrand eadem Ad sancta Dej Evangelia in debita juris forma jurat. Note B. p. 424. The History of Isaac Casaubon' s Papers. For the transcript of the following letter, and remarks upon it, I am indebted to M. Charles Thurot, through the mediation of Mr. Thursfield, of Jesus College. Bibl. Nat. fonds 'Moreau, t. 846. f". 56. Clariss. doctissimoque viro, Dflo Philiberto De la mare, Meri- cus Casaubonus, Is. F. S. P. D. Quod quaeris, vir clarissime, an Jacobi Guiionj, rerum apud ^duos capitalium quaesitoris, aliquid seu prosa, seu versu scriptum, inter cimelia b. m. parentis repertum servem, in promptu responsio, simplex, aperta, brevis, quae veritati conveniat, quae conscientiae meae, cuius praecipua apud me semper erit ratio, abunde satisfaciat ; Non habeo. Sed quia dum tenorem tuarum literarum attentius considero, vix spero me tam accuratae scriptioni nisi accurata responsione satisfac- turum, dabo hoc communibus studiis (quae si non semper, alia professus, excolui, numquam tamen non sancte colui :) tuoque de Uteris bene merendi studio, quod pluribus, ut de propria non tantum conscientia, sed et tua opinione sollicitus, respon- deam. Narro igitur tibi, vir doctissime, patre in Anglia defuncto, omnia eius Adversaria, et mst^ cuiuscunque generis, (paucis quibusdam Theologicis exceptis, quae Regis Seren. iussu, Lan- celoto Andreae, summo viro, Episcopo tum Eliensi, sunt in manus tradita:) Lutetiam translata esse, ubi cum per ahquot Digitized by Microsoft® 470 APPENDIX TO SECT. X. annos in custodia piae matris, aut quibus mater commiteret, (oM commiseret,) fuissent, tandem in manus fratris natu maioris (qui postea Capuchinum professus obiit) pervenisse. Ilium pro arbitrio de quibusdam disposuisse, et non uni gratificatum esse, certo scio. Quinto demum vel sexto post obitum patris anno, cum ille meus charissimus frater mundo curisque saecularibus renuntiasset, et ego ad aliquam maturitatem pervenissem (ut qui annum turn agerem nonum supra decimum) quod erat reliquorum msto™"". (nam libri edit, paucissimi supererant) matre ita statuente, et fratre non nolente, mihi cessit. Quare an pater olim aliquid tale, quale conjicis et requiris, habuerit, meum non est pronuntiare. Sed quo magis tibi liqueat, me certe tale nihil aut habere aut habuisse, amplius te moneo, quic- quid erat Patris in isto genere, postquam ope amicorum adiutus et quanta maxima potui sedulitate usus conquisivissem, mihique comparassem, id omne in accuratissimum syllabum redegi, qui quid quisque liber contineret, (ne sparsis et solutis quidem chartulis omissis) indicaret. Eum postea syllabum baud paucis pro re nata, communicavi, nee defuere qui exempla eius a me postularent, et obtinerent. Praeterea, quicunque me (quod non pauci fecerunt,) viri docti seu Galli, seu Belgae, aliive in trans- cursu Cantuariam praetereuntes inviserent, eis ego omnem librariam suppellectilem libere prompsi, non ut auferrent quic- quam, sed ut viderent quod vellent, et praesentes, pro sui quisque otii et negotii ratione, legerent. Omnium istorum, ubicunque sunt, fidem appello, an quicquam Jacobi Guiionii, vel in syllabo, vel inter ipsa cimelia repererint. At, inquis, Guiionio arctissima cum parente meo consuetudo intercedebat. Pace tua dixerim, vir clarissime, hoc tibi gratis credam necesse est. Epistolarum patris ad diversos magnum volumen nuper prodiit Amstelodami ; inter illas, nulla ad Jac. Guiionium com- pared Praeter editas, habeo alias non paucas ; sed nee inter illas, ulla. Praeterea, cum doctorum ex omni, quam late patet eruditio, Europa, ad patrem Epistolas plurimas habeam, ne inter illas quidem ulla Guiionii ad patrem ; quare etiam atque etiam te rogo ut huius familiaritatis argumenta quae tibi sint amplius expendas. Quod si ita res habet, neque falsus es ; mihi tamen, quaeso, ne imputa, si expectatione tua frustratus es. Haec si tibi satisfaciunt, valde gaudeo, sin aliter, superest ut in propriae conscientiae testimonio, et in officij non neglecti (responsionem intelligo quam potui accuratiss.) conscientia acquiescam. Vale, Digitized by Microsoft® APPENDIX TO SECT. X. 471 vir clarissime, et meliores literas opera tua et eruditione promo- vere perge. Cantuariae, postrid. Non . Decemb. (stylo Anglic, seu veteri.) cid id cxli. L'adresse de la lettre, qui porte encore le cachet en cire rouge', est ainsi con9ue : — Clariss. doctissimoque viro, Philiberto De la Mare, in supremo Burgundiae senatu, consiliario. Divione. J'ai reproduit exactement I'orthographe et la ponctuation. L'^criture est tres bonne. II y a des indgalites, ainsi il n'y a pas de point sur le second i de Guiwnius d'abord ; ensuite il est mis. J'ai reproduit cette inegalit^. Un mot seul me laisse des doutes. Voici le passage exacte- ment reproduit aut quibus Mater commiseret cum a dte d'abord 6crit, puis barr^ et remplacd par com (ainsi que c'est indiqug ici). Dans ce qui suit aucune lettre ne peut faire de doute excepte celle qui est entre Ve et Vi. Ni \'s ni le t ne sont faits de cette fajon dans le reste de la lettre. D'ail- leurs commiteret est une faute d'orthographe, et commiseret n'a pas de sens. Peut etre a-t-il voulu ^crire commiserit. \? commi- serat?] Du reste, Ten tete de la lettre, l'adresse, la date, et les corrections faites dans le corps meme de la lettre sont d'une autre main, probablement de la main de Casaubon lui-meme qui aura fait ^crire la lettre par un copiste. Note C. p. 430. Goethe to Zelter, Briefwechsel, 6. 616 : ' Eigentlich ist es nicht mein Bestreben, in den dilstern Regionen der Geschichte bis auf einen gewissen Grad deutlicher zu sehn ; aber um des Mannes willen, nach dem ich sein Verfahren, seine Absichten, seine Studien erkannte, wurden seine Interessen auch die mei- nigen. Niehuhr war es eigentlich, und nicht die romische Ge- schichte, was mich beschaftigte. So eines Mannes tiefer Sinn und emsige Weise ist eigentlich das was uns auferbaut. Die sammtlichen Ackergesetze gehn mich eigentlich gar nichts an, ' Ce cachet reprtsente un lion avec une barre en abime chargde de trois etoiles. Le fond n'est pas indique. Digitized by Microsoft® 473 APPENDIX TO SECT. X. aber die Art, wie er sie aufklart, wie er mir die complicirten Verhaltnisse deutlich macht, das ist's was mich fordert, was mir die Pflicht auferlegt, in den Geschaften, die ich iibernehme, auf gleiche gewissenhafte Weise zu verfahren.' Note D. p. 443. The Cambridge miracle was reported to Casaubon by James Martin, whose letter has not been preserved. But the substance of it is repeated by Martin, in a letter to Camden, without date, but probably 1615. It is printed in Camdeni Epistolse, 1691. I give an extract : — 'All the particulars of my letter to him (Casaubon) I cannot recount. The sum is this. In Cambridgeshire, about twelve years since, there hapning a great fire in Gambinga, a little child being left in the cradle, was uery strangely conveyed out of the house being all in a flame, into the middle of the street ; the linnen-apron being all powdered with crosses ; an unknown boy telling the maid, that wept and thought the child was burnt, to this effect, viz. I have thought on the child, and have delivered it, but go and look for it. Now about a year or two before this accident, there was seen over the house in the night a shining cross in the air, and since that time for these twelve or thirteen years together, there have at divers times fallen divers crosses upon the linnen of the mother and sisters of this child, now deceased, which sometimes vanish of themselves, and sometimes are washed away. Some of these myself have seen ; they are of a brownish colour, and of this form ^ . . . This being the principal though other accessaries there are, which partly of my own knowledge, and partly on the relation of others ... I related to Mr. Casaubon, I make bold to im- part to yourself, wishing, if it might be, that we might come to some certain resolution whence the crosses are, and whither they would.' As Casaubon is selected to have this tale, not then recent, written to him by one who was a stranger to him, we may infer that his curiosity for marvels was matter of notoriety. His reply is cautious : — ' I received lately two letters from you. The first transformed me wholly into wonder : without doubt the thing you write of is miraculous; but whence, I cannot affirme. They may best Digitized by Microsoft® APPENDIX TO SECT. X.^ 473 conjecture that were eye witnesses, or of their neerest acquaint- ance, and they that have the spirit of discerning. In which regard I leave the discussing thereof to the most excellent divines of your illustrious university/ (i.e. Oxford.) Note E. p. 456. Casaubon's principles of emendation are fully stated in his Prsef. in Athenaeum : ' Cum emendandi veteres auctores duplex sit via, e libris, et ex ingenio, utramque nos viam in corrigendo Athenaeo institimus. . . . Priore ilia opera vulgatas editiones e veteribus libris auximus et emendavimus; posteriore hac et vulgatorum et manu etiam scriptorum codicum lectionem ad rectse rationis obrussam exegimus. Nam in scriptis exemplari- bus vel antiquissimae manus ttoXXo ftiv ia-6Xa noKXa fie Xvypd. Itaque in illis tractandis judicio magno opus, magna eruditione, nee mediocri usu.' He then refers those who think that antiquity, and consent of mss, alone must determine the reading, to the well-known passage of Galen. If at other times Casaubon ex- presses himself as fearful to alter without ms. authority, it is from a dread of that reckless spirit of alteration, which leads the rash and inexperienced to tamper with every passage which presents difficulty, e.g. Cas. Advers. tom. 60: 'Haec lectio non • placet, placeret Juniana si esset ex libris.' Ibid. : ' Sequentia sine libris non ausim attingere.' This caution is no less in the spirit of Cobet, cf. Varise Lectt. p. xii : ' Tertium est vitii genus, in quod saepe juniores implicari video, qui locum vitiosum nacti, levibus et temerariis correctiunculis vexare malunt, quam in- tactum relinquere, et ssepe vitiosis vitiosiora substituunt.' Note F. p. 457. On the slow process by which the full sense of an ancient classic is reached, and a commentary is perfected, Reiske says, Theocritus, Viennas 1765, praef p. 37: 'Stupet animus meus et psene cohorrescit, cum cogitat post tantam, tot hominum, navo- rum hercle atque doctorum, contentionem, post tot annorum decursum, in hoc uno tarn parum voluminoso, tam levi, qui videatur quibusdam, nugacique poeta (i.e. Theocritus) multum tamen nos adhucdum a perfectione abesse, quae ei impertiri possit. Sed hoc iter naturae est. Sensim et pedetentim, per gradus minutos, ad culmen arcis ascenditur.' Digitized by Microsoft® 474 APPENDIX TO SECT. X. Note G. p. 465. The magnitude of what he undertakes, who aims to be a classical scholar, was understood at least as early as Erasmus. Vita Orig. Erasmi 0pp. 8. 426: 'Si quis dicat grammatices professionem nihil habere memorabile, cum hodie scholasti- corum collegia pueris abundent grammaticam profitentibus, sciat olim senile et arduum fuisse negotium. Nee enim a doctore expectabatur declinationum, conjugationum et construc- tionum ratio ; sed prseter sermonis elegantiam, prseter pluri- morum auctorum lectionem, prseter antiquitatis, et omnium historiarum notitiam requirebatur poetices, rhetorices, dialec- tices, arithmetices et cosmographise musicesque cognitio. Mi- nore negotio tres Juris doctores absolveris quam unum gram- maticum, qualis fuit Aristarchus apud Graecos, apud Latinos Servius et Donatus.' Note. Some explanation may be called for of the mode of writing proper names adopted in these pages. It may be objected to the author that he ought to have adhered to one or the other nomenclature, i. e. either the latinised or the vernacular form. Upon trial, however, this was found to be impossible. Some names being of more frequent occurrence than others, have so established themselves in the latinised form, that it is now im- possible to depart from it. We must write Scaliger, Beza, Grotius, Lipsius, Vulcanius, Scriverius, Canisius, and cannot without affectation substitute de L'escale, de Beze, van Groot, Lips, Smidt, Schryver, de Hondt. On the other hand, wherever usage seemed sufficient to warrant me, I have chosen the ver- nacular name. I have said Estienne, and not Stephanus (except when speaking of the 'Thesaurus'), Saumaise, and not Salma- sius, de Thou, and not Thuanus, Labbe, and not Labbseus. Though I have said Fra Paolo, and not Father Paul, I have written Bellarmine and not Bellarmino. This practice is quite indefensible on any ground of principle. The only object of this note is to show that these anomalies are not errors of care- lessness. Digitized by Microsoft® XI. CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS BY ISAAC CASAUBON. 1583- IsAACi HoRTiBONi Notae ad Diogenis Laertii libros de vitis dictis et decretis principum philosophorum. Morgiis, venun- dantur in officina typographica Joannis le Preux, Illust. D. Bern. Typog. 1583, i2mo. [At this period Casaubon more than once wrote under the name of ' Hortusbonus ' ; see his ' Lectiones Theocriticae,' and the dedicatory verses prefixed to Fr. Portus' Commentary on Pindar (1583). Through a misunderstanding, however, of the above title-page to his Notes on Diogenes Laertius, his Jesuit oppo- nents often call him ' Hortibonus.'] 1584. Vetustissimorum authorum Georgica, Bucolica, et Gnomica poemata quae supersunt, accessit huic editioni Is. Hortiboni Theocriticarum lectionum libellus . . . na^ta E. Oviyvam a<^ Tvh. i2mo. Casaubon had no hand in this book beyond contributing the 'lectiones Theocriticae,' pp. 361-410. 1587- 1. Strabonis rerum geographicarum Libri xvii, Isaacus Ca- saubonus recensuit, summoque studio et diligentia, ope etiam veterum codicum emendavit, ac commentariis illustravit .... (s. 1.), excudebat Eustathius Vignon, Atrebat. 1587, fol. 2. Novi Testamenti Libri omnes recens nunc editi cum notis Isaaci Casauboni. Adjectae sunt varias lectiones omnes; cum diligenti similium locorum collatione . . (s.l.), apud Eustathium Vignon, 1587, i2mo. With ded. by I. Casaubon to Canaye de Fresne. Digitized by Microsoft® 476 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS 1588. Isaaci Casauboni animadversiones in Dionysii Halicarnassei antiquitatum romanarum libros, fol. Is. Casaubon 'to reader' is dated 'nonis augusti, 1588.' [These 'Animadversiones ' are not a separate book, but a con- tribution to Vignon's edition of Aem. Portus' translation of Dionysius, published s.l. 1588 in folio. J 1589. 1. noAYAiNOY STPATHrHMATQN BiBAOi OKTSJ. Polyaeni stra- tagematum libri octo. Is. Casaubonus graece nunc primum edidit, emendavit, et notis illustravit, adjecta est etiam Justi Vulteii latina versio, cum indicibus necessariis, 1589, apud Joan. Tornaesium, Typ. Reg. Lugdunensem, i2mo. 2. In Dicsearchi eclogen notae Isaaci Casauboni. (7 pages, not numbered, following p. 128 of) Dicsearchi Geographica quaedam . . . cum lat. interpretatione atque annot. Henrici Stephani, excudebat Henr. Stephanus, 1589, i2mo. 1590. Operum Aristotelis Stagiritse philosophorum omnium longe principis nova editio, graece et latine, graecus contextus quam emendatissime prseter omnes omnium editionum est editus ; adscriptis ad cram libri et interpretum veterum recentiorumque et aliorum doctorum virorum emendationibus : in quibus plu- rimae nunc primum in lucem prodeunt, ex bibliotheca Isaaci Casauboni . . . (oliva Stephani), Lugduni, apud Guillelmum Laemarium, 1590, fol., 2 voll. 1591- C. Plinii Case. Sec. Epist. Lib. ix. ejusdem et Trajani epist. amoebaeae. ejusdem PL et Pacati, Mamertini, Nazarii Panegyrici, item Claudiani Panegyrici, praeter multos locos in hac posteriori editione emendatos, adjunctae sunt Isaaci Casauboni notae in epistolas, excud. Henr. Steph., anno 1591. With this book, which is a reprint of Henri Estienne's Plinius of 1581, Casaubon had nothing to do, beyond supplying a few corrections and explanations. These are printed at the end of the volume, occupying 15 leaves, unpaged. Digitized by Microsoft® BY ISAAC CASAOBON. 477 1592. Theophrastus, Characteres ethici, sive descriptiones morum graece. Is. Casaubonus recensuit, in latinum sermonem vertit, et libro commentario illustravit, Lugduni, apud Franciscum Le Preux, 1592, 8vo. 1593- Diogenes Laertius, De vitis dogm. et apophth. clarorum phi- losophoriim libri x. Hesychii ill. de iisdem philos. et de aliis scriptoribus liber. Pythagor. philosophorum fragmenta, omnia grsece et lat. ex editione ii. Is. Casauboni notse ad lib. Diogenis multo auctiores et emendatiores, excud. Henr. Steph., anno 1593, (oliva Stephani), (other copies, 1594,) i2mo. 1594- Apuleii Apologia, apud Commelinum (Heidelberg) 1594, 4to, . 1595- Suetonius, De xii Caesaribus Libri viii. Is. Casaubonus re- censuit et animadv. libros adjecit . . . ap. Ja. Chouet, 1595, 4to. 1596. Theocritus, Idyllia et epigrammata, cum mss. Palat. collata ... Is. Casauboni Theocriticarum lectionum libellus, editio altera uberior et melior, ex typographeo Hier. CommeHni, 1596, i2mo. 1597- Athenseus, Deipnosophistarum libri xv. cura et studio Isaaci Casauboni, bibliothecae Palatinse, Vaticanae, aHarumque ope auctiores emendatioresque editi . . . apud Hieronymum Com- ' melinum, anno 1597, fol. 1600. Atheneeus, Isaaci Casauboni animadversionum in Athenaei Deipnosophistas Libri xv. . . . Lugduni, ap. Ant. de Harsy, 1600, fol. 1601. Coppie d'une lettre de M. Isaac Casaubon au synode a Ger- geau, avec la reponse du diet synode, Gen. 1601, i2mo. See p. 146 and note. Digitized by Microsoft® 478 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS 1603. Historiae Augustse scriptores vi. . . . Is. Casaubonus ex veter. libr. recensuit idemque librum adjecit emendationum ac notarum, Paris, Drouart, 1603, 4to. 1604. Dio Chrysostomus, Orationes Ixxx. . . . Fed. Morelli, Prof, regii opera, cum Is. Casauboni Diatriba et ejusdem Morelli scholiis, Lutet. 1604, fol. With this ed. Casaubon had nothing to do beyond con- tributing the Diatriba, which occupies pp. 1-106, separately paged, at end. Burmann, Sylloge, i. 359, 'rogatu Morelli nostri Diatribam in D. C. edimus opus avToux^iiov nee magnse rei.' This Diatriba is reprinted in Reiske's Dio Chrysostomus, Leipzig, 1784, vol. 2, pp. 443-542. 1605. 1. Persius, Satirarum liber. Is. Casaubonus recensuit et commentario libro illustravit, Paris, Drouart, 1605, i2mo. 2. De satyrica Graecorum poesi et Romanorum satira libri duo, Paris, Drouart, 1605, lamo. Notse in Gregorii Thaumaturgi orationem. Meric, Pietas, p. loi, did not know where these notes were to be found. They occupy pp. 497-506 of Origenis contra Celsum Libri viii, a D. Hoeschelio, Aug. Vindel. 1605, 4to. Of these Casaubon says, ' Paucas hodie impendi horas lec- tioni chartarum quas ante triduum abs te accepi ; . . . . quae percurrenti mihi orationes in mentem venerunt paucis accipe et boni consule.' 1606. Gregorius Nyssen., Ad Eustathiam Ambrosiam et Basilissam epistola. Is. Casaubonus nunc primum publicavit, latine vertit et illustravit notis (oliva Stephani), Luteti^, ex typographia Roberti Stephani, 1606, i2mo. Digitized by Microsoft® BY ISAAC CASAUBON. 479 1607. 1. De libertate ecclesiastica liber singularis. Printed at Paris in this year, but suppressed, by order of the government, before pubhcation. First published in Melchior Goldast's Monarchia S. Rotnani imperii, Hanov. 1612, vol. i. pp. 674-716. It was translated into English by Hilkiah Bedford, a transla- tion which was inserted in Hickes' 'Two Treatises of the christian priesthood, &c., Lond. 1711,' pp. cxv-ccxciii. 2. Inscriptio vetus Grseca, nuper ad urbem in via Appia effossa : dedicationem fundi continens ab Herode rege factam. Isaacus Casaubonus recensuit et notis illustravit, fol. pp. 10, s. 1. et a. This sheet of 10 pp. is undated. Casaubon says the copy of the inscription had been sent ' nuper ' by Christophe Dupuy to Jacques Gillot, and he quotes Scaliger's Eusebius as published ' nuper.' The Eusebius came out in August, 1606. A copy of the ' Inscriptio ' by Casaubon had been sent to Hoeschel before September, 1607. See Ep. 568. 1609. Polybius, Historiarum libri qui supersunt. Is. Casaubonus ex antiquis libris emendavit latine vertit et commentariis illus- travit. ^nese vetustissimi Tactici commentarius de toleranda obsidione. Is Casaubonus primus vulgavit latinam interpreta- tionem et notas adjecit . . . Paris, Drouart, 1609, fol. Other copies have 'typis Wechelianis apud Claudium Mar- nium et haeredes Johannis Aubrii.' [It would seem that a certain number of copies were taken by Wechel, the partner of Marni, and issued by him with the words Hanov. (i.e. Hanau) typis Wechelianis P\ The book was printedin Paris, on french paper. 1610. 1. Jos. Justi Scaligeri Julii Csesaris a Burden filii opuscula varia antehac non edita, Paris, Beys, 1610, 4to. Ed. by Casaubon with preface, 13 leaves, unpaged. [In La France Protestante there is inserted in the list of Casaubon's works Scipionis Gentilis et Isaaci Casauboni Elogia Henrici IV, Paris, 1610, in 4to. The elogium of Casaubon is only a reprint of his preface to the Scaligeri Opuscula.] 2. Suetonius . . . Editio altera, ab auctore emendata et locis quamplurimis aucta . . . Paris, apud Hadria'num Beys, 1610, fol. Digitized by Microsoft® 480 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS 1611. Is. Casauboni ad Frontonem Ducaeum S. J. Theologum epis- tola, Londini, Norton, 161 1, 4to. 1612. 1. Is. Casauboni ad epistolam illustr. et reverendiss. Cardi- nalis Perronii responsio, Londini, Norton, 1612, 4to. The date at the end of this ' Reply ' is 5 eid. novemb. 1612. But, as observed by Bliss, Andrewes' Works, 11. 6, note, this must be an error for 161 1. See Ephem. p. 897, 898. The king had the ms. and kept it for some months ; see ep. 760. It was finally put into the printer's hands in April, 1612. See Ephem. p. 924. [In De Thou's copy, now in the possession of Mr. Christie, the date at the end of the reply is accurately given, V Eidus Novembr. cioiocxi. The error must have been discovered and corrected during the printing.] 2. Athenseus. In this year the text and latin version of Athenseus were reprinted at Lyon ; Lugduni, apud viduam Antonii de Harsy, ad insigne scuti Coloniensis, 1612, fol. In this pref the ' typographus ' tells the reader that Isaac Casaubon ' nobis notarum loco lectiones quasdam varias et con- jecturas suppeditavit.' I have not examined this edition. But I suspect that Casau- bon had nothing to do with it, and that the ' various readings ' and 'conjectures' were taken by Madame de Harsy's editor from the volume of 'Animadversiones' published by Casaubon in 1600. [Epistola ad M. Lingelshemium de quodam libello Scioppii, 1612, Paris, 4to. Reprinted in Satirae Duse Hercules Tuam Fidem sive Munsterus Hypobolimseus et Virgula Divina. Lugd. Bat. 1617, i2mo.] 1614. De rebus sacris et ecclesiasticis exercitationes xvi ad Baronii annales, Londini, 1614, fol. 1615. A letter of M'. Casaubon, with a memorial of M"9. Elizabeth Martin, late deceased. . . . 8vo., London, printed by Nicholas Okes, for George Norton, 1615. Digitized by Microsoft® BY ISAAC CASAUBON. 481 The title page is separate, but the letter forms an appendix to ' The King's Way to Heaven,' by James Martin, Master of Arts, 1615, 8vo, 1617. Isaaci Casauboni ad Polybii historiarum librum primum com- mentarii, ad Jacobum I, Magnae Britanniae regem serenissimum. (oliva Stephani), Parisiis, apud Antonium Stephanum, typogra- phum regium, 161 7, 8vo. 1618. [Notes on the Oath of Hippocrates, printed by Franfois Ranchin in Hippocratis Jusjurandum Greece et Latine, Monspel. 1618. See p. loi note]. 1621. Is. Casauboni Animadversionum in Athensei deipnosophistas libri XV. . . . secunda editio postrema authoris cura diligenter recognita, et ubique doctissimis additionibus aucta . . . Lug- duni, ap. viduam Ant. de Harsy et Petrum Ravaud, in vico Mercuriali, ad insigne S. Petri, 1621, fol. The ' dihgenter recognita ' of this title-page is certainly frau- dulent. As to the 'additions,' Meric or Florence Casaubon may have communicated some of Isaac's 'secundae curse,' but I have not collated the edition with a view to ascertain this. 1637. Isaaci Casauboni Epistolae quotquot reperiri potuerunt nunc primum junctim editse, Hagse Comitis, ex officina Theodori Maire, 1637, 4to. 1656. Isaaci Casauboni Epistolae : editio secunda Ixxxii epistolis auctior et juxta seriem temporum digesta, curante Johanne ■ Georgio Graevio. Magdeburgi et Helmstadi, sumptibus Chris- tiani Gerlachi et Simonis Beckensteini, Brunsvigae, excudit Andreas Dunckerus, 1656, 4to. 1684. M. Tullii Ciceronis Epistolarum Libri xvi ad T. Pomponium Atticum ex recensione Joannis Georgii Graevii cum ejusdem animadversionibus, et notis integris Petri Victorii, Paulli I i Digitized by Microsoft® 482 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS Manutii, Leonardi Malhespinae, D. Lambini, Fulvii Ursini, Sim. Bosii, Fr. Junii, Aus. Popmse, nee non selectis Sebast. Corradi, Is. Casauboni, Joan. Fred. Gronovii et aliorum. Amstelodami, sumptibus Blaviorum, et Henrici Wetstenii, 1684, 2 vols. 8vo. Casaubon's notes extend over the first seventeen epistles of Book i. only. The papers from which they were printed were supplied to James Gronovius by Meric shortly before his death in 1671. They represented one of Isaac's courses of lectures at Geneva. See Gas. ep. 986. From these papers Graevius selected ' quae caeterorum inter- pretum studium et sollertiam fugerant.' 1709. Isaaci Casauboni Epistolae insertis ad easdem responsionibus .... accedunt huic tertiae editioni, praeter trecentas ineditas epistolas, Isaaci Casauboni vita; ejusdem dedicationes, prasfa- tiones, prolegomena, poemata, fragmentum de libertate eccle- siastica, item Merici Casauboni I. F. epistolae, dedicationes, praefationes, prolegomena, et tractatus quidam rariores, curante Theodoro Janson ab Almeloveen. Roterodami, t3rpis Casparis Fritsch et Michaelis Bohm, 1709, fol. 1710. Casauboniana, sive Isaaci Casauboni varia de scriptoribus librisque judicia ... ex varii (s«'c) Casauboni mss. in bibliotheca bodleiana reconditis nunc primum erutas a Jo. Christophoro Wolfio, prof. publ. philosoph. extraordinario in academ. Witte- berg. . . . Hamburgi, sumptibus Christiani Libezeit, typis Philippi Ludovici Stromeri, anno 1710, i2mo. 1710. In Kilster's Aristophanes, published in this year at Amster- dam, 2 vols, fol., were printed 'Isaaci Casauboni Notae in Equites.' They are in tom. 2. pp. 76-103. Kuster says of them, praef. ad lectorem, 'Notae Casauboni licet non aeque elaboratae sint ac alia, quae habemus, eruditissimi illius viri opera, pr^lectiones enim potius fuisse videntur, in tironum usum conscriptae, plurima tamen in illis occurrunt ex interior- ibus Uteris deprompta, subtiliterque et ingeniose excogitata, neque auctoris sui nomine indigna.' Digitized by Microsoft® SV ISAAC CASAUBON. 483 The MS. from which Kiister had them copied is now in the Bibl. nat. These notes on the ' Equites ' are not the same as the 'in Aristophanem observata,' contained in Advers. torn. 23, in the Bodleian, which are very sHght memoranda jotted down when reading through the whole of Aristophanes, at Strassburg, in January, 1593. 1827. Epistolae virorum doctorum ineditse quas e codice autographo bibliothecae academicae Lignicensis transscripsit Dr. Fridericus Schultze academise equestris professor et bibliothecae praefectus, Lignitii, 1827, 4to. Contains 16 letters of Is. Casaubon to Abraham de Bibran. 1850. Ephemerides Isaaci Casauboni cum praefatione et notis, edente loanne Russell S.T.P. Canonico Cantuariensi, scholse Carthusianae olim Archididascalo. Oxonii e typographeo Aca- demico 1850. 2 vols. 8vo. PSEUDEPIGRAPHA. 1. Is. Casauboni Corona Regia, id est Panegyrici cujusdamvere aurei, quern Jacobo i magnae Britanniae etc. regi fidei defensori delinearat, fragmenta ab Euphormione inter schedas toC /mKapiTov inventa, collecta, et in lucem edita. 1615 pro officina regia Jo. Bill, Londini, i2mo. pp. 128. A mock panegyric of James i, fathered upon Casaubon by its author, Scioppius, to give effect to the satire. A reward was offered for the discovery of the author, which was claimed, as late as 1639, by Jean de Perriet, a Brussels bookseller. See Calendar of Clar. State Papers, i. 195. 2. Misoponeri Satyricon, cum notis aliquot ad obscuriora prosae loca et graecorum interpretatione. Lugduni Batavorum, apud Sebastianum Wolzium, 1617, lamo. pp. 143. [Owing doubtless to the mention of Casaubon in the intro- ductory verses,] this is attributed by Placcius to Isaac Casaubon, and Placcius was copied by Qudrard. The error has not been corrected in the new edition of Qu^rard by M. Gustave Brunei. I i 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 484 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS 3. The originall of idolatries : or The birth of heresies : a true, sincere, and exact description of all such sacred signes, sacrifices, and sacraments as have been instituted and ordained of God since Adam ; with the true source and lively anatomy of the sacrifice of the masse. First faithfully gathered out of sundry greeke and latine authors, as also out of divers learned fathers ; by that famous and learned ISAAC CASAUBON, and by him published in French, for the good of God's church : and now translated into English for the benefit of this monarchy ; by Abraham Darcie. London, printed by authoritie for Nathaniel Butter, anno dom. 1624, 4to. pp. 108. [The imposture was immediately exposed by Meric Casaubon in a tract, 'The vindication or defence of Isaac Casaubon against those impostors that lately published an impious and unlearned Pamphlet, intituled The Originall of Idolatries etc. under his name' (Lend. 1624). Accordingly in the second edition (1630) of Darcie's book the title is thus amended : ' The originall of Popish Idolatrie, or the birth of heresies. Published under the name of Causabon [Casaubon], and called-in the same yeare, upon misinformation. But now upon better consideration re- printed with allowance.' (etc.)] 4. Phrynicus, Epitome dictionum atticarum libri iii . . . Aug. Vindel. typis Michaelis Mangeri, 1601, 4to. At the end of the volume, in some copies, and following ' Index auctorum,' are ' ad Phrynicum et ejus interpretem viri illustris notse, a Davide Hoeschelio Augustano editse . . . Aug. Vindel. 4to. Of these brief notes, Menage, Antibaillet i. 161, says, 'I have heard M. Mentel say that Casaubon was the author.' No one, however, can doubt that they are by Scaliger, and, as Scaliger's, they were reprinted by de Pauw, and by Lobeck, the latter adding, ' nam Scaligeri quidem nullam unam literam perire fas duco.' See Bernays, 'J. J. Scaliger,' p. 183. [Za France Protestante, 2nd edition, vol. iii. col. 821, attributes to Casaubon the following tract : Bona fides Sibrandi Luhberti demonstrata ex libro quern inscripsit Responsio ad pietatem H. Grotii, Lugd. Batav., 1614, in 410. This is an error. The tract in question was probably written by Grotius himself ; Casaubon certainly had nothing to do with it, though there is prefixed to it an extract from a letter of Casaubon to Grotius dated Londini, Idibus Nov. MDCXIII.] Digitized by Microsoft® XII. [ON THE DESCENDANTS OF ISAAC CASAUBON. Florence Casaubon survived her husband twenty-one years, and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey, March ii, 1635 (ante, p. 420). Besides a daughter by his first wife, who seems to have died when very young, Casaubon had, by his second wife Florence, seventeen ' children and no more, according to his own state- ment quoted by M. Bordier in La France Protestante (2nd edition, vol. iii. col. 823) : 1. A son stillborn, 28 July, 1588. 2. Philippa, born 23 July, 1589, died 24 February, 1608. 3. John, born 12 October, 1590 (erroneously stated in La France Protestante to have been killed accidentally by a musket- shot 22 February, 1594. In fact he survived his father, and entered the order of the capuchins about 1619-20. Ante, p. 424). 4. Abigail, born 16 August, 1592, died July 10, 1596. 5. Esther Christian, born 24 December, 1593, died 14 Sep- tember, 1595. 6. Elizabeth, born 20 February, 1595, died 27 August, 1597. 7. Pauline, born and died 9 March, 1596. 8. Gentille or Joantilla, born 12 April, 1597, married to John Granvelle, Seigneur du Pin, advocate of the parliament of Paris . 9. Jehanne, born 8 May, 1598. 10. Meric, born 14 August, 1599. 11. Anne, born 2 November, 1600. 12. Paul, born 28 December, 1601. 13. A son stillborn, 8 June, 1604. 14. Esther, born 16 January, 1606, died when a week old. 15. A son died at his birth, 18 January, 1607. 16. Marie, born 4 October, 1608. 17. James, born 3 November, 1612. '■ [Mr. Pattison however states the number as eighteen : ante, p. 29.] Digitized by Microsoft® 486 ON THE DESCENDANTS OF ISAAC CASAUBON. John and Paul became Roman Catholics, and little more is known of the life of either than is mentioned by Mr. Pattison. Meric, whose full name was Florence Etienne Meric, is the well- known scholar. His life and a list of his works will be found in the Dictionary of National Biography zx\A in La France Protes- tante. The list in the Dictionary of National Biography is how- ever incomplete, and the two articles must be referred to, to supplement each other. He married as his first wife Frances Harrison, and this lady was the mother of most if not all his children. (Notes and Queries, 7th S. x. 518.) According to the Dictionary of National Biography, he mar- ried a second wife in 1651, and died in 1671. The name of only one of his children has come down to us, John, a surgeon at Canterbury, who was buried in Canterbury Cathedral, February 19, 1692. John had issue by his wife Margaret, and the christen- ing of their son Meric on July 34, 1677, and that of their daughter Sarah on August 31, 1679, are registered in the books of St. Mary Magdalene, Canterbury. Meric appears to have died early, as a child bearing that Christian name and described as the son of Mr. John Casaubon, was buried in Canterbury Cathedral, February 4, 1680. Among the petitions to the Lords of the Treasury is one of a Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen Casau- bon. He commanded a regiment of horse in Ireland, and, being wounded in battle, was granted a pension in 1692-3. Probably he was the husband of the Mrs. Casaubon, who, in a letter to the Duke of Newcastle dated August 19, 1732, alludes to being a kinswoman of his Grace. A William Casaubon, probably her son, married in Dublin, August i, 1743, Miss Bell Rogerson, daughter of the Lord Chief Justice. Paul Casaubon published at Montpellier in 1863 an essay entitled Etude Clinique sur r Ulcere cance'reux. ("A. E. R." in Notes and Queries, 7th S. xi. 97.) " H. W." in Notes and Queries, 7th S. x. 518, mentions an Isaac Casaubon as living in 1729.] Digitized by Microsoft® INDEX. A. Abate, Nicolo del', 445, Abbot, archbishop George, 277 sqq., 290, 295, 304, 351, 357, 369, 373, 375, 378, 405, 408. Abbot, bishop Robert, 25, 295, 314, 357 sqq., 364 sq., 390. Abernethey, Adam, 252. Academie fran9aise, rise of, u6 ; a revival of an earlier assemblage, 116 sq. Acquapendente, Fabricius ab, 77. ^lianus Tacticus, 432. ^sop, the Aldine, 361. Agen, 161. Aldrovandi, Ulysse, 443. Aldus, 112. Algiers, 445. Alkermes, manufacture of, at Moiit- pellier, 97. Almeloveen, T. J. van, edition of Casau- bon's letters, i sqq., 8g, 94, 190, 196, 320, 339, 399, 412, 426, 482. Altdorf, 66, 265, 288. Alva, duke of, 311. Ambrose, S., 210. Amiens, 162. Amphitheatrum Honoris, the, 217 sq., 241, 366, 389, 397 sq. Amsterdam, 20, 470. Amyot's Plutarch, 281. Amyraut, Moyse, 94. ' Ana,' 425 sq. Andreae, J. Valentin, 46. Andrewes, bp. Lancelot, 215, z'-fisq., Q.?&sqq. ; at Cambridge, 291 ; charac- terised, 292-294 ; 296, 298, 307 sq. ; Toriura Torti, ^issqq., 333«?., 343, 352; takes CasSubon to Downhara, 347 «??• ; 367. 373. 381, 387. 394 ; administers the Eucharist to the dying Casaubon, 417 ; 418, 420, 424, 444, 469. ' Antiquity,' anglo - catholic view of, 336. Antvyerp, 218, 366, 393, 396 sqq. Apicius, 105. Apollonius, 458. Appianus, 458. Arabic, Casaubon's knowledge of, 43a. Arbault, dr., 243, 468. Aristotle, 16, 47, 58, 61, 421, 464 sq. See Casaubon, Isaac. Armada, the Spanish, 21, 25, 311. Arminianism, 322, 351, 357. Arminius, 20, 224. Arnalds, the (of Paris), 208. Arnauld, Antoine, 158, 162. Arnold, dr. Thomas, 464. Arrianus, 185. Artemidorus, 206. Athens, 334, 450. Aubenas, 161. Aubigne, T. A. d', 137, 245. Aubus, Charles d', 251. Auch, 161. Augsburg, 37, 183, 193, 218, 380, 399 ; books printed at, 478, 484 ; confes- sion of, 13. Augustine, S., 34, 224, 233, 346, 442. Aulus Gellius, 451. Aurea carvnina, the, 170. Auriol, Abraham, 301, 303. Avicenna, 238. Aylmer, bishop John, 19. B. Bacon, Francis, 93, 265, 285, 288 sq. ; draft letter to Casaubon, 297317.; 316, 321, 372, 457. Baden, prince of, 304, 306. Bale, 10, 21, 42, 99, 107, 112, 283, 432- Bancroft, archbishop Richard, invites Casaubon to England, 271 sqq. 276, 282 ; twice visited by Casaubon, 277 sq. ; dies, 277 ; 387. Banks and his horse Morocco, 445. Bar, duchesse de, 187 sq., 210. Barclay, John, 317, 381, 416. Barlow, bishop William, 302. Barnet, Jacob (rabbinical scholar), 368 ; a convert, 368 sq. ; flees from Oxford on the eve of baptism, 370 ; finally banished the University pre- cincts, 370 ; a later glimpse of him, 371; 373- Digitized by Microsoft® 488 INDEX. Baronius, C, cardinal, 167, 196, 216, 301, 306, 309, 313 sqq. ; sketch of his career, 323 sq. ; the Annates, 317- 319, Z^zsqq. ; 346, 349, 374 s?. Barthius, Gaspar, 408, 428. Bartholists, the, 85. Bartholomew, the S., 5, 15, 21, 116, 157, 175. 211, 214, 245, 311, 390. Barwick, dr. John, 378. Basil, S., 96, 104, 363. Batteley, archdeacon John, 89. Baudius, Dominicus, 257, 262, 406, 412. Bayle, Peter, 19B. Beaulieu, — , 270 sq. Becher, William, 195, 204, 299. Beckenstein, Simon, 481. Bedford, Hilkiah, 479. Bedwell, William, 293, 305. Bellarmine, cardinal, 226, 294, 308, 312, 317, 324, 332, 347, 399. Bellebranche, abbS de, 181. Bellievre, chancellor, 139, 141, 154. Beloe, W., 320. Benet, dr. John, 469. Bentley, dr. Richard, 34, 66, 376, 435- Bernays, Jacob, 139, 261, 484. Bernhardy on Casaubon and Scaliger, 450- Berne, 11 sq., 18. Berlins, Peter, 257. Bertram, Bonaventure, 21. Bessarion, cardinal, 35. Beys, Hadrian, 479. Beza, Theodore, 11-13, 23, 46 sq., 49, 51 sq. ; characterised, 56 sq. ; 73, 84 sq., 137, 223, 248, 265. Beziers, 161. Bible, King James's translation, 296, 366. Bibran, A. de, 483. Bill, John, 344, 361, 385, 483. Bilson, bishop Thomas, 295. Biondi, J. F., 37. Birch, dr. Thomas, 297, 300. Biron's conspiracy, 172. Blackburn, Francis, 65. Bliss, dr. Philip, 480. Blois, 179. Blondel (syndic of Geneva), 230. Blondel, David (criticises Baronius), 339- Bochari, 335. Bochart, Samuel, 256. Bodin's Theatrum, 443. Boeckh, A., 436. Boethius, Hector, 363. Bongars, Jacques, 30, 37, 48, 50, 54 ; French envoy at Strassburg, 60 ; edition of Justin, ib.; love of learn- ing, 61 ; fate of his books and MSS., *. ; 70. 107, 185, 187, i93> 249. 340. 448. Bonivard, — , 18, 39. Book-trade, the, temp. Casaubon, on the Continent, 385^.; in England, 361 sq. Bordeaux, 3, 7, 161, 222, 407. Bordier, H., quoted, 3, 4, 7, 485. Borrell (pastor), 251. Bosius, S., 482. Bouillon, due de, 252, 271, 305. Bourbon, cardinal, 180. Bourdeaux (Dauphine), 3, 20, 73, 122, 227, 232. Bourges, 162. Bourlamarqui, P., 468. Boyle, Charles, 376. Bridges, bishop John, 365. ' Brief in aid of Geneva, 20. Brisson, Barnabas, 180. ' Britain,' derivation of, 299. Broughton, Hugh, 318. Browne, Edward, 84. Brunet, Gustave, 483. Bruno, Giordano, 383, Bucer, Martin, 283. Buchanan, George, 281, 285. Buckeridge, bishop John, 290. Budseus, Gul., 158, 453. Bulenger, J. C, 105, 138, 376, 390. Bulletin de la Societe de VHistoire Proles- tanie de la France, 72, 251. BuUinger, H., 11, 19. Burigny, L. de, 146. Burmann, P., Sylloge Epistolarum, 2, 74. 256, 432, 458 sq., 462, 478, &c. Burnet, bishop Gilbert, 421, 442. Burney MSS. (British Museuml, 1, 32, 36 sq., 58, 81, 130, 135, 434, &c. Bury S. Edmunds, 350. Bussi-Leclerc, 115. Butler, bishop Joseph, 65, 338. Butter, Nathaniel, 484. Buwinkhausen, von, 249 sq. C. Caesar's Commentayies, 197, 202, 281. Calais, 274 sq. Calas, Jean, 112. Galas, Jean (of Nimes), 145. Calignon (chancellor of Navarre), 210, 234, 237, 245. Calixtus, Georg, 290, 305 sq,, 448. Calvin, John, secret of his power, 10 ; plan for the academy of Geneva, 11; organises it, 12; number at- tending his lectures, 15 ; never takes the title of professor, 16 ; on pro- fessors' salaries, 17; 20, 72; Lives of Digitized by Microsoft® INDEX. 489 him quoted, 72 ; Episiols!, los ; 137 ; Institutes, 189, 198, 224 ; 223 sq., 402, 446. Calvinism and Lutheranism, their effects, 65 ; — and Arminianism, 222. CalUgraphs, the, 35. Cambridge, 112, 159, 283, 291, 296; visit of Casautjon to, 347, 352 ; 418, 443, 472. Clare Hall, 348, 351; Corpus Christi College, 353 ; Peter- house, 347 sq. ; Trinity College, 348. Camden, William, 195, 204, 288, 294 ; relations with Casaubon, 298 sq. ; 355, 378, 472- Camerarius, Joachim, 30, 52, 349, 428. Cameron, John, 407. Campanella, T., 379. Canter, Lambert, 36. — Theodore, 74, 407. Canterbury, 89, 262, 272 sj., 276 sy., 282, 320, 387, 425, 470 sq., 486. Canute, king, 377. Capell, Mrs., 230. Cappel, A., 74, 303, 305, 329, 401, 469. Capperonier, Claude, 155. Carcassonne, 87. Carew, sir George, 271 sq., 297. Carew, Lady, 228, 378, 385. Carier, Benjamin, 276 sq., 387, 408. Carleton, sir Dudley, 376, 380, 382, 3S7, 432. Carr, Robert, earl of Somerset, 284. Carteret, John lord, 59. Casaubon, family of, 4. Casaubon, Abigail (d. of Isaac), 485. — Anna (sister of Isaac), 7 ; marries (i) Jean Rigoti, (2) Pierre Perillau, ib. ; 209, 230, 232, 388. — Anne (d. of Isaac), 276, 485. — Arnold (father of Isaac), 3 ; at the college of Guienne, Bordeaux, 4 ; flees from Gascony to Geneva, ib. ; habitant and bourgeois of Geneva, ib. ; pastor at Crfist, ib. ; recom- mends Strabo to his son, 4, 49 ; absent from Crest for three years, 5 ; his son's gratitude for his train- ing, 6 ; death and burial, 25 ; fiction that he was hanged, 26, 365 sq., 393 sqq. ; on his son's Observations on Diogenes Laertius, 49. — Bertrand de VignoUes, sieur de, 4. — Elisabeth (d. of Isaac), dies, lotsq., 485- — Esther (d. of Isaac), 485. — Esther Christian (d. of Isaac"!, 485. — Florence, nee Estienne (wife of Isaac), 27; her numerous children, 29 ; her one entry in the Epheme- rides, 30, 88 ; thrift, 30 ; law-suit for recovery of her marriage portion, 68 ; forgot Latin, 88 ; 89, 93, 122, 147, 150, 205, 208-210, 214 sq., 228, 230-232 ; ill-health, 243 sq. ; 268, 275, 278, 296, 300 s?., 346,354, 378, 384 sqq., 405 ; dependence of Ca- saubon on her, 408-410 ; her ab- sences in France, 409-411 ; 417 ; her husband's sole executrix, 419; returns after his death to France, ib. ; liberally treated by James I, 417, 419 sq. ; dies in London, and is buried in Westminster Abbey, 420, 485; 467 sqq., 481. — Gentille (d. of Isaac), 276, 485. Casaubon, Isaac, materials for bio- graphy, I sq. ; born, 3 ; his parent- age, ib. ; childhood in Dauphind, 4 ; his precocity, 5 ; irregular training, 5 sj. ; a student at Geneva, 6 ; learns Greek under Fr. Portus, 8 ; suc- ceeds him as professor of Greek, 9 ; marries (i) Marie Prolyot, 20, 73 ; she dies, 20, 73 sq., 485 ; their daughter Jeanne, 20, 73, 485 ; his lectures suspended, 21 sq. ; visits Frankfort, 22, 56 ; in great necessity, but receives presents from the ' council, 24 ; more hopeful, 25 ; his account of his father's death, 25 ; reception of the news, 26 ; on the fiction that his father was hanged, 26, 365 sq., 393 sqq. ; marries (2) Florence Estienne, 26 sq. ; difBcul- ties with his father-in-law, 28 ; deep attachment to his wife, 28-30, 74 ; sense of the preciousness of time, 28, 91 sqq. ; debarred H. Estienne's library, 30-32, 69, 120 ; contributes to his editions, 32 ; affection for him, ib. ; receives a bonus from the council, 33 ; his library in 1597, 34 ; his style of work, 34 sqq. ; buys transcripts of Greek MSS., 35 sq., and rare printed books, 36 ; funds, how obtained, 37 sq. ; ' loans ' of books, ib. ; books, Casaubon 's 'tools,' 38 ; little aid from libraries, 39 sq. ; acquaintance with Henry Wotton, 40-42 ; want of leisure, 43 ; subjects and character of his lectures, 43 sqq. ; preference of works of learn- ing to literature, 47 ; literary ardour checked by religious sentiment, 49 ; oscillates between theology and scholarship,49-5i; affected by the de- votional atmosphere of Geneva, 51 ; in spite of unfavourable circumstan- ces, develops the true idea of classical learning, 52 sq. ; ars longa, vita brevis, 53-55; growing reputation Digitized by Microsoft® 49° INDEX. Casaubon, Isaac {cont^, and acquaintance, 55 sqq. ; friend- ship with Beza, 56 sq., with Lect, 57 sq., with Pacius, 58 ; corresponds with de Thou, 59, with Bongars, 59 sqq., with Canaye de Fresne, 61, with Pierre Pithou, 62, with Leun- clavius, ib., with Scaliger, 62-65 ! Scaliger tries to get him an invita- to Leyden, 65 ; not invited to Hei- delberg till 1608, 66 sq. ; a French- man, 67 ; anxious to leave Geneva, ib. ; later grievance against Geneva, 68, 230-232 ; reasons for wishing to leave in 1596, 69 sq. ; salary at Geneva, 69, 75 ; accepts an invita- tion to Montpellier, 70, 80 ; his two visits to Germany, 74 sq. ; leaves Geneva, 82 sq. Montpellier. Casaubon's stipend at, 62 ; deed of appointment as pro- fessor, 131 sq. ; his entry, 83 ; friendly with the bishop, 85 ; atti- tude towards Calvinism, 86 sq. ; his friends, 87 ; his Ephemerides, 87-93; time wasted by society at Mont- pellier, 93 ; did not bathe his eyes with vinegar, 94 ; his wife, ib. ; attacks of illness, 95 ; hours of study, ib. ; arrangements for the week, 96 ; sermons, ib. ; Sunday at, 97 ; vacation visits, 97 ; rector of the faculty of arts, 98, 105, 121 ; public interest in his lectures, 99 ; their subjects and character, 99 sqq.', their ethical cast, 100 ; intermixture of Greek and Latin, 101-103 ; secret of his success, 103 ; want of leisure, 104 sq. ; his day's reading, 104 sq. ; waning popularity, 105 ; disappoint- ments and pecuniary difficulties, 105-107 ; salary raised, 107 ; death of his daughter Elisabeth, 106 sq. ; hints of a call to Paris, 107 ; catho- lic ascendency in the university, 107 sq. ; Casaubon's Athenaeus, text, 108, Observations, log; time occu- pied thereby, 109; finds the work irksome, 109-111; search for a printer and publisher for the Obser- vations, III- 1 14; visit to Lyon, 114, to Paris, 114 sqq.; Henri IV offers him a professorship, 120 ; returns to Montpellier, 121 ; sum- moned under the sign-manual to Paris, 121 sq. ; leaves Montpellier, 122 ; stay at Lyon and its explana- tion, 123 ; reports of his conversion, 124 sqq. ; momentary wavering, 126 ; unjustly dealt with by the Lyon Casaubon, Isaac {cont.'). publisher of his Observations oh Athenmus, 128 ; his father-in-law dies intestate, 128 ; twice visits Geneva on his affairs, 128 sq. ; aggrieved by final decision of the genevese courts, 128 ; ill-conduct of his nephew P. Chabanes, 130. Paris. Arrival at, 134 ; at the con- ference of Fontainebleau, 139-144 ; in a false position, 144 ; closeted by du Perron, 144 sq. ; report of his apostacy, 145 ; protest of Casaubon, 145 ; silently rebuked by Scaliger, 146; spends the summer at Lyon, 147 ; return to Paris and position there, 147 ; housed by H. Estienne, 150 sq. ; his nervous sensibility, 153 ; hindrances to study, 154 sq. ; in receipt of a pension, 164 ; not con- nected with the university for reasons of religion, 164-168 ; no longer anxious for a professorship, 167 sq. ; his relations with Marcilius, 168-171; O jcLcturam temporis ! i^\ \ royal favour, 172 ; appointed keeper of the royal library despite Jesuit intrigues, 173 sqq. ; excerpts MSS. for foreign scholars, 183 sq. ; for his own use, 184 ; does not attempt a catalogue, 182, 184 sq. ; his Polybius, .lEheas Tacticus, &c., 185 sq. ; av^p Bitpvxos, 186 ; drawn into theological controversy, 187 sqq. ; fresh attempts to convert him, 188 sqq. ; not al- lowed to publish MSS. of the Fathers, 192 ; essays in patristic criticism, 193 sq. ; his de libertate ecclesiastica suppressed, 195 sq. ; for- bidden to review Baronius, 196 sq. ; returns to Polybius, 197 sqq. ; char- acter and object of his edition, ig8 sqq. ; printing and publication, 200 sq. ; dedication, &c., 201 sqq. ; pre- sent from the king, 203 ; unheeded in Paris, 203 ; his mental conditions, 1605-9, 204 j liis vacations, 205 sqq.; attendance at divine service, 207 sqq., often attended with peril, 208— 210 ; his troubles in Paris, 212 sqq. : (i) religious, 212-216 ; (2) depend- ence on the court, 216 ; (3) Jesuit de- famation, 217 sq. ; (4) misrepresent- ation by co-religionists, 219-226 ; (5) bereavements and family troubles, 226-230 ; (6) troubles from the Estienne, 230-232 ; (7) financial embarrassments, 232-237 ; (8) death of friends, ill-health of himself and family, 237-244 ; reasons for wish- Digitized by Microsoft® INDEX. 491 Casaubon, Isaac (cont.). ing to leave Paris, 245 sq. ; over- tures from Geneva, 247 ; from Hei- delberg, 248-251 ; from Nimes, 251 sq. ; thinks of a retreat to Sedan, 252, of a visit , to Venice, 253-255 ; why not invited to Leyden in suc- cession to Scaliger, 256-258 ; turns his thoughts to England, 262 ; cor- responds with James I, 264 sq. ; plans a visit, 265 ; sympathy with the anglo-catholic school, 266 sq. ; receives tidings of the death of Henri IV, 267 sq. ; final conference with du Perron, 268 sq. ; did he waver ? 269 sq. ; invitation from archbishop Bancroft, 271; obtains a furlough from the french court, 273 ; crosses the channel, 274 sq, ; at Dover, 275 ; at Canterbury, 276 ; arrives in London, 277. London, &o. At the deanery of S. Paul's, 277 sq. ; at Lambeth, ib. ; reception by dean Overall, arch- bishops Bancroft and Abbot, c&c, 277 sq. ; at court, 279 ; a favourite with the king, 280 ; subjects of con- versation, 280 sq. ; obtains leave of absence from the french court, 281 ; James grants him a pension of jfsoo a year, 282 sq. ; not a prebendary of Westminster, 320 ; naturalised, 284 ; calls on his time, 284 sqq. ; diverted to ecclesiastical topics, 285 sqq. ; spirit of investigation wanting in England, 290 ; Casaubon's chief friends ; — Andrewes, 292-4, Overall, 294, James Montagu, Robert Abbot, J. Prideaux, 295, Richard Thomson, 295-297 ; relations with Bacon, Camden, and Cotton, 297-300 ; ex- pects to return to Paris, 300 ; settles in London, 301 sq. ; approves the anglican ritual, 302 sq. ; fewer in- terruptions, 303 ; attendance at court, &c., 304 ; visits from Calixtus, 305 sq., from Grotius, 306 ; work accomplished during residence in England, 307 sq. ; controversial writings, 308-314 ; undertakes the refutation of Baronius, 315 ; rela- tions with Baronius, 318 sq. ; results of a critical examination of the Annates, 326-330 ; the Exercitationes, 331-340 ; its history and progress, 342-345 ; miscellaneous reading, 345 sq. ; holidays, 346 ; with An- drewes at Cambridge and Down- ham, 347 sqq. ; his occupations there, 348 sq. ; impatient to return to Lon- Casaubon, Isaac (coni). don, 350-352 ; takes no holiday in 1612, 352 ; visit to Oxford, 354 sqq.; surveys the colleges, 356 ; disputa- tion in the divinity school, 357 ; at the deanery, 358 ; fsted, 359 ; a reader in the Bodleian library, 360- 364 ; intercourse with Abbot, Pri- deaux, and Kilbye, 365 sqq. ; causes of discomfort in London, 373 sqq. ; plagiarism by R. Montagu, 374 sqq. ; jealousy of his English friends, 376 sqq.; neglected by Wotton, 379 sqq.; favoured by the church party only, 381 ; suffers actual violence, 382 sqq. ; ignorance of english and con- sequent embarrassments, 385 sq. ; application to the king, 386 ; income and expenditure, 387 sq. ; attacked by catholic pamphleteers, 389 sq. ; Eudaemon-Johannes' Responsio ad epist. I. Casauboni, 390-394 ; Sciop- pius' Holofemis Krigsoederi responsio, 391, 394 sq. ; relations to Schott, 396-399, to Welser, 399 sq. ; to the calvinists of the continent, Cappel, 401, du Moulin, 401-405 ; applica- tions from preferment-hunters, 406- 408 ; more and more dependent on his wife, 408-411; growing ill-health, 412-415 ; his last illness, 415-417 ; death, 417 ; post mortem examina- tion, ib. ; marks of James' sympathy, 417 sq. ; funeral in Westminster Abbey and monument, 418 sq. ; his will, 419, 467-469. Charaoteristio . Writes with reluct- ance, 421 ; dissatisfied with the incompleteness of his work, 422 ; killed himself over the Exercitationes, 421-423 ; yearning for more time, 423 ; crushed by the mass of his materials, 423 sq. ; fate of his papers, tile Ephemerides, Sec, 424 sq. ; Casau- boniana, 425 sq. ; an abundant, not a witty, talker, 426 sq. ; nature of his Adversaria, 428-430 ; of his notes in printed books, 429 ; his un- accomplished schemes, 430-433 ; works imperfectly executed, 433 ; his books forgotten, 433 sq ; but the scholar greater than his books, 434 *??• i l^'S lesson — ' genius is patience,' 436 ; a life of research, 436-438 ; its misery due to external circumstances, 439 ; Casaubon's love of reading, 439 sq.; his favourite authors, 441 ; his habitual attitude of prostration before the unseen, 441 sq. ; his superstition, 442 sq. ; Digitized by Microsoft® 493 INDEX. Casaubok, Isaac {cont.). destitute of imagination, but at- tracted by the marvellous in nature, 443 sq., and by striking natural facts, 444 sq. ; his intolerance, 446 sq. ; ' fusionist ' attitude toward religious parties, 447 sq. ; ' thinkers ' and ' scholars,' 448 sq. ; Casaubon ' the first to popularise a connected know- ledge of the life and manners of the ancients,' 450; the type of the french school of scholars, 454 sq. ; not a great grammarian, 455, or textual critic, 456 ; his conjectural emendations, 456 sq., 473 ; seeks to penetrate through language to the thoughts conveyed by it, 457 ; his notes the staple of the ' Variorum ' editors, and in part not yet super- seded, 458 sq. ; his direct style as an annotator, 460 ; his love of truth, 461 sqq, ; his limitations many, but in the age, not in the man, 463 sq. History of his papers, 469 sqq. ; chro- nological list of his works, 475-483 ; pseudepigrapha, 483 sq. ; his descen- dants, 485 sq. Works and editions, lectures, &c.: — Adversaria, i, 48, 56, 75, Sgsj. ,205, 294. 340. 346, 349, 364, 427 sq., 469, 473- ^neas Tacticus, 185 sq., 446. Anthology, the, i. Apuleius, 39, 477. Aristophanes, 44, 168, 482 sq. Aristotle, the, of 1590, 52, 114, 433, 464, 476 ; Ethics, 100 5^. ; PoeticSj 286 ; Politics, 204. Arrianus' Diatribx, 45 sq. Athenaeus, 32, 37 sq., 48 sqq., 52, 55. 75> 93, 104 s??., 108 sqq., 123, 127 sqq., 134, 147, 156, 186, 197, 201, 204, 244, 314, 316, 340, 346, 431, 440, 445, 459, 473, 477, 480. Augustan historians, the, 255, 296, ,318,433, 440,. 463, 478. De libertate ecclesiastica, 196,204, 272, 479- Dicaearchus, 476. Dio Chrysostomus, 478. Diogenes Laertius, 31 sq., 35, 43, 47, 49, 54. 253, 431, 433, 475, 477- Dionysius of Halicarnassus, 32, 121, 457, 476. Ephemerides, 2, 29 5^., 57 ; described, 87-93 ; 100, no, 144, 424 sq., 483, and passim. Epistola ad Frontonem, 307 sq., 310, 313, 317, 358, 389, 397, 480. Epistola ad Lingelshemium, 307, 480. Casaubon, Isaac {cont.). Epistolse, 2, 481 sqq., &c. Exercitationes in Baronium, 25, 300, 306 sq. ; their form and execution, 331-340 ; 354, 358, 361, 368, 373, 376, 388, 393 sq., 403, 408 sq., 415 sq., 421 sq., 428 sqq., 440 sqq., 446 sq., 460, 481. Gregorius Nyssen., 478. ■ — Thaumaturgus, 478. Herodotus, i, 168, 431. Hippocrates, Oath of, 100 sq., 467, 481. Itiscriptio Herodis, 186, 479. Jerome, S., 121. Lectiones Theocritiae, 27, 48 sq., 433, 440, 475, 477- Leo's Tactica, 184. New Testament, the, 49, 336, 475. Persius, 43, 46, 100 sq., 446, 459, 478. Polyaenus, 199, 458, 476. Polybius, 45 sq., 154, 185 sq., 191, 195 ; history of the edition, 197- 203 ; 244, 253 sq., 280 sq., 285, 296, 299, 314 sqq., 319, 340, 355, 380, 399 ; published, 424 ; 427, 429, 431 5?., 440, 464, 479, 481. Responsio ad Epistolam card. Per- ronii, 307 sqq., 446, 480. Scaligeri, J. J., opuscula, 479. Strabo, 26, 32, 49 sq., 63, 314, 431, 440, 443 sq., 459, 475. Suetonius, 39, 43, 45, 63, 75, 185, 204, 233, 240, 254, 296, 314, 457, 459, 461, 477- Theophrastus, 43 sq., 63, 120 sq., 201, 204, 433, 446, 459, 477- Casaubon, Isaac (living 1729), 486. — James (son of Isaac), 89, 278, 303, 378, 410, 485. — Jeanne (d. of Isaac by his first wife), 20, 73, 485. — Jehanne Mergine, nee Rousseau (mother of Isaac), 3 ; native of Dau- phine, 4 ; her nine children, 7 ; Isaac visits her at Die, 97, at Lyon, 122 ; death, 227 ; 232. — Jehanne (d. of Isaac), 73, 276, 485. • — John (son of Isaac), 88, 209 ; per- version, 215 ; 228 sq., 269, 275, 387, 410, 419, 424, 468, 470, 485 sq. — John (the younger, son of Meric), 486. — Margaret (wife of John the younger), 486. — Marie (d. of Isaac), 276, 485. — Meric (s. of Isaac), at Sedan, 229, 252 ; letter from Isaac to, 229 sq. ; at Eton, 388 ; at Christ Church, 418 ; Digitized by Microsoft® INDEX, 493 at Canterbury, 89, 425 ; letter to P. de la Mare, 469 sqq. \ marries, 486 ; his descendants, ib. ; characterised, 229; his Pietas, 2, 5, 25, 49, 121, 193, 215, 368, 395. 397, 399. 420, 424, 478 ; mentioned, 209, 258, 269, 303, 389, 424, 431, 481 sq., 484 sq. — Meric (grandson of Meric), 486. — Paul (son of Isaac), 276, 424 sq., 485 «?• — Paul (living 1863), 486. — Pauline (d. of Isaac), 485. — Philippa (d. of Isaac), 150, 208 sq., 214 sq, ; death, 227 sq. ; 230, 242, 244, 271, 385, 485. — Sara (s. of Isaac), see Chabanes, S. — Sarah (d. of John the younger), 486. — Stephen, lieut.col., 486. — William (m. 1743), 486. Casauhoniana, 425 sq., 482. Caselius (Johann Chessel), 217, 306. Castres, 61, 80, 97, 121. Castro, Leo a, 335, 363. Catherine (de Medicis), queen, 120, 181 sq. Catullus, 171. Cavalli, Marino, 158. Cayet, Pierre, 166. Cazaubon, cradle of the Casaubon family, 4. Cecil, Robert, earl of Salisbury, 283. Cedrenus, 104. Cellerier, prof., 72. Celsus, 432. Censorinus, 421. Cevennes, horned man from the, 445. Chabanes, Charles, 7. — Isaac, 275, 387, 410, 467. — Pierre, 130, 227. — Sara (nee Casaubon), 7 ; death, 227. Chalcedon, council of, 363. Chamberlain, J., 377, 380, 382. •Chamier, D., 124, 145. Charenton, 7, 207 sqq., 220 sq., 224, 404, 420. — synod of, 339. — S. Maurice, 210. Charles, prince of Wales (afterwards Charles I), 304, 356. — VII (king of France), 158. — IX, 179, 261. Charles Emmanuel I, duke of Savoy, 18, 51, 248. Charlotte of Bourbon, 249. Chateaubriand, edict of, 3. Chaucer, Geoffrey, 419. Chelsea, projected college at, 289, 391. Chevalier (professor at Geneva), 24. Chillingworth, W., 391, 414- Chinese in 1841, anecdote of, 463. Chiselhurst, 299. Choniates, Nicetas, 363. Chouet, Francois, 46, iii, 233. Chrestien, Florent, 202. Christian of Anhalt, 249. Christie, R. C, 480. Christmann, Jacob, 66. Chrysostom, S. John, 39, 96, 105, 189, 192, 199, 231, 342, 345 sq., 355 ^?-, 375, 432, 441- Chytraeus, D., 100. Cicero, Brutus, quoted, 256; Letters io Atticus, 46, 296, 432, 481, Ciron (of Toulouse), 98. Clarendon, lord, 304, 414. Clement, Antony, 254, 256. — David, 324. Clement VIII, pope, 211, 318. Clement, S,, 327. Clinton, Fynes, 90. Cobet, C. G., 35, 455 sq., 473. Codelongue, David, 469. Coler, Christopher, 119. Coleridge, S. T., 430. Coligny, admiral, 139. Colomies, Paul, 397, 432. Commelin, Jerome, 28, 36 sq., 39, 63, 108, III, 240, 433, 477. Commines, Philippe de, 281. Concilia (roman edition), 363. CondS, chateau de, 141. — Louis, prince of, 120, 271. Conington, John, 459. Conrart, Valentin, 116. Constantine, Robert, 442 sq. Constantine endowment, the, 335. Constantinople, 238, 363, 451. Constantinus Porphyrogeneta, 186. ' Convertisseurs,' their methods, 124 sq. Copyright, 37. Corbinelli, J., 38. Cordova, 76. Corradus, Sebast., 482. Corranus, A., 127. Coryat, T., 151, 155. Coton, pere, 124, 176 sq. Cotton, sir Robert Bruce, 288, 299 ■s?-, 362, 378. Cousin, Victor, 449. Coutras, battle of, 24. Cox, bishop Richard, 19, 349. Cramer, dr. J. A., 261. Cramoisy, Beys, and Co., 200 sq. Cranmer, archbishop Thomas, 283. Crenius, T., 332, 462 sq. Crespin, Jean, 27. Crest, 4 sj., 73, 122. Crete, 8, 390, 398. Creuzer, F., 331, 439. Crevier, J. B. L , r66. Digitized by Microsoft® 494 INDEX. Cricebant, Madame de, 208. Crottet, — , 72. Croydon, 278, 304, 369. Ci'iisius, Martin, 8. Cujas, J., 78, 118, 174. Cuneeus, P., 257. Cyclomeirica, the, of Scaliger, 64. Cyprian, S., 345, 364, 367, 404. D. Daersen, — , 222. Danes, P., 158. Dareie, Abraham, 484. Darmarius, Andreas, his transcripts, Dauphine, 11, 162. Decretals, the false, 332, 462. De Morgan, Augustus, 55. De Quincey, Thomas, 448 sq. Desbordes, the, 276. Des Portes, Thiou, 176. Digby, sir John, 395. Die (Dauphine), 25, 97. Dijon, 162, 205. Dio Cassius, 6a. Dio Chrysostomus, 460. Diocletian, 327. Diodati, John, 232, 247. — Theodore, 262. Diogenes Laertius, see Casaubon, I. Diogenianus, 396, 399. Dionysius Areopagita, 334 sq., 346. — of Halicarnassus, see Casaubon, I. — the Carthusian, 352. Dioscorides, 87. Directorium Inquisitionis, 310. D'Israeli, Isaac, 414. Dobree, P. P., 428. Donne, dr. John, 187, 318. Donnington, 348. Doschius, P. N., 73, Douai, 161 sq. Dousa, Theodore, 65, 239. Douze, river, 4. Dover, 274 sq., 346, 409. Do^vnes, Andrew, 455. Downham, visit of Casaubon to, 347- 352, 441- , Drayton, Michael, 419. Drome, river, 4. Drouard, Jerome, 200 sq., 478. Droysen, J. G., 460. Drusius, J., 257. Due, Fronto le, 138, 188 sq., 192, 203, 282, 286 400. Du Cange, C, 449. Dufour, Theophile, 2 sq., 73-75. Du Laurens, And., 232, 247. Du Moulin, Pierre, 139, 158, 209, 220 sq., 224, 248 ; relations with Casaubon, 401-405 ; his Defense de la Foi catho lique criticised by Casaubon, 404 sq. Dunbar, George earl of, 279. Duncker, Andrew (of Brunswick), 481. Du Perron, J. D., cardinal, 6i ; on Casaubon's French and Latin, 88, 124 ; on Mornay, 136 ; at the Coun- cil of Fontaiuebleau, 138-145; 176, 187 ; attempts to convert Casaubon, 189 sqq., 213 sq.\ on Fra Paolo, 19s. 255 ; 215 s?., 219, 223, 236, 266 sq.\ last attempt to convert Casaubon, 2685^. ; 270, 279, 286, 309, 317, 368, 398, 400 sqq., 446, 462. Dupleix, Scipio, 173. Du Plessis-Mornay, see Mornay. Du Puy, Christophe, 186, 243, 479. Durand (pastor), 209. Durandus, 147. Dutch editors of the classics, 458 ; shun Greek, ib. Du Tiloir (of Sedan), 305. Duval, A., 165, 169. Dyer, T. H., 72. E. Earth from Palestine, 442. Edinburgh, 264. Egger, E., quoted, loi. Elam, Thomas, 469. Elisabeth, Electress Palatine, 371, 377. 407- — queen, 21, 57, 321, 383. Ely, 292 sq., 347 sq. ; bishops of, non- resident, 347. English, the, their insularity, 262 ; Scaliger's opinion of, 265 ; given up to theology, 286 sqq. ; hatred of foreigners, 383, 406. — and Reformed Churches, relations of, 420. Entragues, Henriette d', 175. * Epernon, due d*, 144, 270. Ephrem Syrus, 363. Epiphanius, 335. Epistolce ohscuvoruvn virorum, 115, 461. Erasmus, 326, 335, 461, 474. Ernesti, J. A., 459. Erpenius, T., 220. Erskine, H., 106. Espencseus, Claudius, 364. ' Esprit,' French, secret of its power, 117. Essex, Robert Devereux earl of, 294. Estienne family, the, 149 sq., 393. — Antoine, 199, 215, 481. — Florence, 27 ; see Casaubon, Flor- ence. — Francois, 150. Digitized by Microsoft® INDEX. 495 — ^ Henri (Henricus Stephanus II), father of madame Casaubon, and editor of the Thesaurus, 19, 27 ; his PoetoB Greed, Idyllic poets, Qbserva- Hones in Theocritum, 27 ; third mar- riage, 28 ; decline of his fortunes, 30 ; excludes Casaubon from his library, 30-32, 40 ; editions of Thu- cydides, &c., 32 ; dies intestate, 32, 68, 114, 128 ; death of madame Es- tienne, 68, 123 ; his library, types, &c., 129, 231 sq., 248 ; 468, 476 sq. — Henri (the younger), 150-152, 259. — • Paul, 108, 129, 215, 230 sq. — Robert I, his will, 68, 129 ; 150, 200, 231. — Robert II, 150. — Robert III, 150, 193, 200, 478. Estouleville, cardinal d', 161. Estrdes, Gabrielle d', 175, 203. Eton, 183, 346, 354 sq., 358, 373, 375, 388. Euckologion (of Venice), 363. Eudaemon-Joannes, Andreas, 295, 314, 365, 386, 389, 395, 461- Eunapius, 349 sq. Euripides, 35, 46. Eusebius, 39, 183 ; Excerpta Eusebiana, 261. Evreux, bishop of, see Du Perron. Ewelme, 359. F. Fagius, Paulus, 283. Farnaby, Thomas, 296. Fasti Siculi, in the Palatine library, 75. Faur, Pierre du, 98. Favre (of Geneva), 39. Faye, de la (.rector of the University of Geneva'!, 9, 223. Fen country, Casaubon on, 348. Fenouillet, bishop of Montpellier, 108. Fernelius, J. F., 443. Ferrara, 8. Ferus, Johannes, 363. Fisher, John, 390. Flanders, 161 sq., 176, 311. Flemings, the, settled in London, 383. Fleury, Claude, 325. Florence, 379. Flottemanville, — , 339. Flushing, 237. Foix, Paul de, 117 sq. Fontainebleau, 179, 182, 202, 446 ; con- ference of, 61, 90, 135-147 ; victory claimed by the Catholics, 144; 259, 4°3- Francis I (king of France), 119, 158, 179, 206, 251, 445 sq. Franconia, 241. Franequer, 66. Frankenthal, 21. Frankfort, 22, 38 sq., 42, 56, 67, 74 sq., 113, 201, 344. Frederick IV, Elector Palatine, 65, 248 sq. Freher, Marquard, 66, 183, 249. Fresne, Canaye de, 23 sq., 37 ; his bio- graphy, 61 ; friendship with Casau- bon, ib. ; becomes a catholic, 61, 144 ; 62, 66, 70 sq., 75, 80, 82, 87, 93, 97 sq., 103, 106 sq., 121, 125, 139, 167, 225, 475. Fritsch, C, and M. Bshm (of Rotter- dam), 482. Fulham, 378. Fuller, Thomas, 289, 419. Gaberel, — , 15, 73. Gaisford, dean Thomas, 399. Galen, 84, 473. Galesius, 35. Galland, P., 158. Gallicanism, 194, 196, 260. Gambinga, 472. Garasse, Fran9ois, 320. Garnett, Henry, 287, 312, 314 ; his 'straw,' ^12 sq., 384. Geneva, MS. materials at, for biography of Casaubon, i ; societe d'histoire de, 2 ; Casaubon born at, 3 ; citizen of, 4 : academy of, i ; materials for its history, 72 sq. ; Casaubon a student at, 6 ; under Calvin, 10 ; statutes and early character, 11 sqq., 'jzsqq. ; organised by Calvin, 12 ; subscrip- tion for students abolished (1576), 13 ; a great resort for foreign students, ib. ; rigorous discipline and theolo- gical character, 14 ; number of stu- dents, 14 sq., of professors, 15 s?. ; routine of work at, 16 ; salaries of professors, 17 ; struggle of the city for existence, 17 ; siege of 1589, 18 ; peace of Vervins, ib. ; ravages of war and pestilence, 19 ; relief from England, 195^., from Holland, 20 ; darkest period, 23 ; the academy to be given up, 21 ; suspended, 22 ; resumed, 23 ; its state precarious in 1611, 73; law and theology, 33 sq. ; scholarship at, 43 s??. ; better prospects of the city, 25 ; its public library, 39 ; described by Wotton, 41 ; danger of, during Casaubon's professorate, 51 ; Casaubon anxious to leave, 67 ; moves to Montpellier, 70 sq. ; final departure, 82 sq. ; com- pared with Montpellier, 845^., 103; Digitized by Microsoft® 49*5 INDEX. Casaubon contemplates returning, 107 ; work at Athensus at, 108 sq. ; printing at, 112-114 ; mentioned, 125, 128, 145, 147, 173, 201, 205, 219, 224 sy., 227, 230-232, 239, 242, 247 sq., 2.ta,sq., 296, 315, 317, 379, 388, 402,406s?., 431, 482. Gentilis, Alberic, 262. — Scipio, 237, 241, 249, 265. — madame, 276. Gergeau, synod of, 145, 219, 477. Gerlach, Christian, 481. Germain, M., 456. German reformation, the, 322. Gerson de potestate ecdesiastica, 195 sq. Gibbon, Edward, 323. Gigord, Jean, 85 sq., 96, 145. Gilet, Jean, iii. Gillot, Jacques, 115, 152, l^lsq., 176 sq., 186, 219, 259, 479. Godefroy. Denis, 66, 248-250. — Jacques, 339. Goethe quoted, 14, 430,. 460, 471. Goldast, Melchior, 73, 196, 247, 249, 349, 479- Gonter, J., 188. Goodwin, dr. William, 358 s?., 362. Gosselin, Jean, 1735?., 177, I79'S?-: 182. Goujet, C. P., 165 sq., i6q. Goulart, Simon, 70, 82 sq., 224, 232. Goulu, Jerome, 166. Gourges ,maitre de requetes), 203. Gowrie house, 280. Grajvius, J. G., 395, 458, 481s?. Granvelle, John, marries Gentille Casaubon, 485. Gratianus, 462, Greek church, Casaubon's interest in the, 254, 267. Greek, neglect of, after the triumph of Catholicism in France, 102. Greek philosophy, Casaubon's view of, 440. Greek printing in the i6th century, 111-113, 231. Greenwich, 284, 416. Gregoire (of Toulouse), 78. Gregorius of Neocsesareia, 193. — ofNyssa, 186, 193, 200, 249, 433, 442, 467. Gregory of Tours, 442. Grenoble, 162. Grenus, Fragmens biographiques, 2, 19, 33 s?-, 58- Greville memoirs, the, 437. Grigny, 153, 207, 234, 244, 260, 267, 270, 276, 384, 409. Grindal, archbishop Edmund, 19. Gronovius, J. F., 190, 256, 307, 412, 431 s?., 458, 482. Gronovius, James, 482. Grote, George, 323, 460. Grotius, Hugo, 67, 98, ii4> I77, 257, 286 sy.; in London, 306 sj. ; 337, 415, 428, 448. Groulart, — , 118. Gruterus, J., 32, 66, 183, 249. Grynseus, J. J., 18, 42, 51, 99. Gryphius, Sebastian, 112. Gualdo, Paolo, 99. Gualter, Rodolph, 19. Guionius, J., 469-471. Guises, assassination of the, 25. Gunpowder plot, the, 311 sqq., 390. H. Haarlem, 112. Hablon, 207 s?., 211, 227. Hacket, bishop John, 279. Hague, the, 177, 245, 273, 407, 481. Hales, John, 414. Hallam, Henry, 269, 306, 320, 331, 333, 359, 377, 382. Hamburg, 426, 482. Hampton court, 284. Hannibal, 427. Hanniel, I., 39. Hardt, Ignatius, 35. Harington, Sir John, 263, 289. Harlay, Achilla de, 100, 118, 152, 154, 163, 176, 233, 259, 261. Harpocration, 98. Harrison, Frances, wife of Meric Casaubon, 486. Harrison, Thomas, 352. Harsy, Antoine de, 127 sq., 201, 477, 480. — Denis de, 127. — madame de, 128, 480 sq. Harvey, William, 77. Hautz, — , 67. Hearne, Thomas, 422. Heber, Richard, 61. Heidelberg, 9 5j., 23, 36, 39, 74, 112, 183, 240, 371, 375, 393, 398, 477 ; Palatine library at, 66 sq., 75, 186 ; university of, 9 sq. ; frequented by dutch students, 20 ; its golden age, 65-67 ; Casaubon offered a professor- ship, 248-252. Heinsius, Daniel, 9, 53, 183, 241, 256- 258 ; his Poetics, Theophrastus, and Horatius, 257 ; 270, 286, 2935^5'., 373, 415s??. Helmstadt, 217, 305, 481. Helps, Sir Arthur, 463. Hemstershusius, Tib., 455, 459. Henri HI, king of France, 25, 180. Henri IV (of Navarre), 21 ; king of France, 20, 25 ; befriends Bongars, Digitized by Microsoft® INDEX. 497 6osj. ; 77, 81,90, 93, 113, ii8; hates men of learning, but patronises literature, 1 19 sq. ; gives Casaubon an audience, 134 ; at the conference of Fontainebleau, 135-144 ; 152 ; desires to restore the university of Paris, 156 sj.; 160, 163; favour to Casaubon, 171-173; second mar- riage, mistresses, 175, 203 ; anxiety for Casaubon's conversion, 176, 187 sq. ; appoints him keeper of the royal library, i^i'sq. ; 180, ig$ sqq. ; accepts the dedication of Polybius, 201-203 ; vvith Casaubon at ' Mad- rid,' 206 ; manipulates the edict of Nantes, 211 sq. ; 216, 222, 233s??., 24s, 250, 260 sq., 267 ; assassinated, 214, 246, 267 sj. ; 281, 287, 300, 310 «?- 315, 324 sq-, 445, 464- Henrici- Petri, Sebastian (of Bale), 37. Henry, prince of Wales, 304. Henry IV, emperor, 347. Henry, Paul, 15, 73. Heraldus, D., 211, 243, 468. Herbert, George, 321. Herbert of Cherbury, lord, 234. Herborn, frequented by Dutch students, 20. Herder, J. G., 430. Hermes, 335. Herod family, the, 304. Herodes Atticus, 463. Herodotus, see Casaubon, I. Heylin, Peter, quoted, 96, 291. Hickes, dr. George, 479. Hierocles, 380. Hippocrates, 84, 100 sq., 104, 11 1, 442. Hoelzlin, Jeremias, 458. Hoeschel, D. (of Augsburg), 31 sq., 129. 135. 171, 183, 185, 193, 310, 380, 399, 463, 478 sq., 484. Holdenby, 284. Holland, 20, 222, 326 ; becomes a centre of learning, 257. Holland, dr. Thomas, 367. Holstenius, Lucas, 329, 362. Homer, 37, loi, 432, 445 s?. Hortusbonus or Hortibonus, Isaacus, = Casaubon, 27, 475. Hoskyns, John, 377. Hospinian, 346. Hotman, Francis, 17, 21, 23, 73, 85, 116. — Jean, 405, 448. Hotomans, the, 230, Houssaye, Amelot de la, 118. Howard, Thomas, earl of Suffolk, 263, 289. Hubert, Etienne, 23$ sq. Hudson, dr. John, 425. Hugo, abbot of S. Victor, 352. Huguenots, the, 459., 135, 138, 150, 165, 194 ; their perilous position in Paris, 211, 237, 245, 268, 271, 381 ; their liberties undermined, 211; their common trait of mournfulness, 245- Hume, Alexander, 407. Hydaspes, 335. I. Ignatius, epistles of, 335. He Bouchard (Touraine), 7. Ingoldstadt, 394. Islington, 278, 294, Isocrates ad Demonicum, 5. Jacobean divines, the, 290 sq. James, S., 332. James I (king of England), 159, 173; his Apologia pro juramento, 203 ; his understanding and attainments, 263, 321 ; correspondence with Casaubon, 264 sq. ; 266 ; anxious to secure him, 272 sq. ; sends for him to Theobalds, 278 ; converses with him, shows him favour, and pro- vides for him, 279-283 ; his poverty, 283 sq. ; liking for Casaubon, 284 sq. ; his interests mainly ecclesias- tical, 286 sqq. ; 301, 304 sq., 307, 310 sq. ; his Monitory epistle, 312 ; 344 sq., 354, 356, 369, 371, 377 sqq., 381, 386, 389, 391, 393s??., 402, 405 sqq., 415 ; continues Casaubon's pension to his widow, 417, and pro- vides for one of his sons, 418 ; 424, 446, 469, 481, 483. Jane, William, 469. Jardine, David, 313. Jerome, S., 35, 104, 121. Jesuits, obtain the control of educa- tion in France, 161 ; banished from Paris, 161 sq., 180 ; attempt to put them down unsuccessful, 162 sq. ; recalled to France (1603), 175 ; their system of defamation, 217, 269; 311; prestige of their train- ing, 391; espouse classical learning, c. 1600, 461, but introduce into it the spirit of unveracity, 462 sq. Joachim, abbot, prophecies of, 350. Jonson, Ben, 293. Josephus, 432. Jourdain, — , 260. Joyeuse, cardinal, 118. Julius Africanus, 36. Jungerman, G. , 249. Junius, Fr., 482. Kk Digitized by Microsoft® 498 INDEX. Junius, Hadrian, iia, 349 s?. 'Junius, letters of,' 115. Jussie, — , 18. Justell (of Sedan), 305. Justin, 60. Justinian, 450. Juvenal, 377, 432. K. Kilbye, Richard, 366-371. Killigrew, madame, 301, 304. King, bishop John, ago, 378. Kirchmann, J., 242. Knott, Edward, 391. Koran, the, 238. Kuster, L., 44, 482 sq. Labbe, Charles, 183 sq., 238, 261, 286, 299. La Boderie, — , 174, 202, a8o, 310. La Bretonni6re (near Chartres), 153, 207, 260. La Charity, 149. La Croix du Maine, 150. La Flgche, 203. Lake, bishop Arthur, 285. Lamb, bishop Andrew, 264. Latnbinus, D., 158, 453, 482. Languedoc, 76, 78 sqq., 85, 97, 446. La Place, P. S., 53. La Rochelle, 22. Larroque, Tamizey de, 62. La Salette, 313. Laud, archbishop William, 266, 339, 357, 420, 444- Lausanne, university of, 11, 73 ; Canaye de Fresne at, 61. League, wars of the, 25, 158, 175, 179 sq.^ 217. ' Learning ' defined, 435. Leclerc, J., 339. — Nicolas, 68, 129, 231. Lect, Jacques, 19, 33 sq. ; friendship with Casaubon, 57 sq. ; 69, 85, 232, 247. Le Faucheur (pastor), 209. Lefebre, dr.. 237, 243. Le Ffevre, Nicolas, 116, 120, 186. Legatt, Bartholomew, 294, 446. Leibnitz, G. W. von, 437. Leicester, Robert Sydney earl of, 420. Le Maire (printer), 114. Le Maitre, — , 118. Lennox, Ludovick Stuart duke of, 264. Le Preux, J. (printer), 74, 114, 475, 477- Le Puy, 161. Lesdjguieres, Francis de Bonne, due de, 162. L'Estoile, Pierre, 57, 91, 139, 175, 193, 203, 206, 208, 211, 268, 338, Leunclavius, J., his relations with Casaubon, 62. Leyden, 9 sq., 90, 62 sq., 65 sq., 151, 183, 220, 239 sq., 250 sq., 256-258, 261, 293, 407, 416, 439, 454, 4835?. L'Hermite, — , 265. Libanius, 165. Libezeit, Chr., 482. Libraries in the sixteenth century, 39 ; at Paris, 120 ; the english royal library, 174, 179. Limoges, 161. Lingard, dr. John, 310. Lingelsheim, G. M., 25, 29, 249 sj., 393, 439, 480. Lipsius, Justus, 56, 74, 154, 176 sq., 252, 363- Liveley, chronology of, 346. Livy, 199, 450. Lloyd, bishop William, 421. Lobeck, Ch. A., 331, 414, 435 sq., 484. Lobel, Matthias de, 263. Loire, river, 149. London, Aldersgate, 262 ; Bishops- gate, 301 ; Broad street, 263 ; Camo- mile street, 301 ; Drury lane, 302 ; dutch church, 406 sq. ; Ely house, 294, 349 ; french church, 420, 467 ; Highgate, 263 ; Lambeth, 277 sq. ; Leadenhall, 301 ; Lombard street, 444; S. Mary Axe, 301 sq., 348; S. Paul's, 277 sq., 302 ; Westminster abbey, 418-420; Whitehall, 304, 321 ; heat of, in 1612-13, 352, 409 ; street bullies, 382 sq. ; books by Casaubon printed in, 480. Lorraine, 161. Louis XIV, II, 60, 119. -XV, 445. Louisa Juliana, Electress Palatine, 249. Louvain, university of, 20, 390, 398. Lubbert, Sibrand, 50, 484. Lucianus, 458. Lydius, B., 406 sq. Lyon, 19, 83, 97, 109, III ; book-trade at, 112-114; Casaubon at, 114, 122 sq., 126-128; 135, 147 sqq., 152, 162, 201, 207, 259, 318, 388, 446, 476 sq., 480 .s^. M. Maasvicius, Pancrat., 458. Macray, W. D., 366. Madrid, 394. Magdeburg, 481. Magdeburg centuries, the, 323 sqq. Digitized by Microsoft® INDEX. 499 Magendie, H., 339. Maguelonne, 97. Mai, cardinal, 31. Maintz, 217. Maire, Theodore, 481. Maistre, Joseph de, 440. Malherbe, Fran9ois de, 197, 236. Malhespina, L., 482. Manger, Michael, 484. Mantaleon, madame de, 208. Mantes, conference of, 135. Manutius, Paullus, 482. Marcilius, Theodoras, 85 ; his history and relations to Casaubon, 168-171. Mare, Philibert de la, 424, 469. Marie de Medicis, 282, 300 sq., 403. Marny (of Frankfort), 201. Martial, 170; Scaliger's Greek trans- lation of, 241 ; 296. Martin, Mrs. Elizabeth, 480. - — Henri, 261. — James, 339, 472, 481. — Jean, 139. Martyr, Peter, 283. Mary, queen of Scots, 25, Maseres, Fr., godfather of Casaubon, 3. Massilon, de (of Montpellier), 99. Masson, Gustave, 156. Matthew Paris, 300. Maussac, Jacques de, 98. — Philippe Jacques de, 98, 112, 133. Mayerne, Theodore de, 243, 304, 387, 415 ^1; 468. Melanchthon, Philip, 414. Melleray, — , 445. Manage, Giles, 427, 460, 484. Menander Rhetor, 105. Mende, 138. Mengine, meaning of the name, 3. Mentel, J., 484. Mercerus, see Mercier, Jean. Mercier, Jean, 171, 366 s?. — Josias (seigneur Des Bordes), 153, 207, 234, 366, 468. Merlin (contemporary of Casaubon at Geneva), 72. Mermaid tavern, the, 382. Mesmes, Henri de, 38, 95, 117. Meursius, J., 184, 256 sq., 362, 453. Mezeray, Fran9ois Eudes de, 449. Michelet, Jules, 196, 357. Milbourne, Richard, 277. Milton, John, 384, 434, 437. Misoponeri Satyricon, 483. 'missa,' Baronius on, 332. Modena, 8. Mole, Edouard, 118. Mommsen, Theodor, 460. Mont de Marson, 4. Montagu, bishop James, 320, 378, 386, 401, 405. Montagu, bishop Richard, 285, 338 «?-.365. Zlhsq., 392. Montfort (Gascony), 3. Montmorency, constable, 99, 118. Montpellier, 34, 58, 62 ; Casaubon accepts an invitation to, 70 sq. ; its early history, 76 sq. ; the university chartered (1289), 76 ; materials for its history, ib. ; revival of its medi- cal school imder Henri IV, 77 sq. ; faculty of law, 78 sq. \ of arts, 79 ; restored (1596), 79 sq. \ arrange- ments with Casaubon, 80-82 ; his entry, 83 ; in 1664, 84 ; in 1597, ib.; classical studies at, 84 sq. ; Calvinism at, 86 sq. ; social life at, 93 ; the routine at, 96 ; Sunday at, 97 ; re- vival of classical literature at, 98 sqq.; Casaubon's professorial career at, 99-108 ; colllge de Mende at, 107 sq. ; the university catholicised, 108 ; printing at, iii ; departure of Casau- bon, 121 sq., 126 ; 154, 156, 164, 167, 173, 187, 227, 234, 244, 252, 315, 317, 348, 412, 456. Monumentum Ancyranum, the, 396. Morel, CI., 192. — Federic, 112, 165 sj., 168 sj., 183 sy., 203, 478. Moreri, L., 460. Moris, Jael, 346. Morley, John, 118. Mornay, Philippe de (seigneur du Plessis-Marly), 73, 122 ; at the con- ference of Fontainebleau, 136, 145 ; 208, 220, 224, 242, 245. Morton, dean Thomas, 378, 381, 418 sq., 444. Moryson, Fynes, 153. Miinster (of Basel), 432. Muretus, Marcus Antonius, 4. Musgrave, W., 155. N. Nantes, edict of, 15,85, 112, 175, 207, 211 sq., 448. Neran, Samuel, 229. Nettles, Stephen, 376. Nettleship, Henry, 459. Newcastle, Thomas duke of, 486. Newmarket, 284. Newton, sir Isaac, 55, 423. Niebuhr, B. G., 60, 430, 471. Nimes, 234, 246, 251 sq. Nisard, D., quoted, 3, 102. Nonnus, 440, 462. Norton, George, 385 sq., 480. Notitia, the, 362. Novellw, the, 288. Nully, de, i8o. K k 2 Digitized by Microsoft® 500 INDEX. O. Olsopceus, v., 66, 185. Ochino, Bernardino, 283. CEcolampadius, J., 346. Okes, Nicholas, 480. Olivet, abbe d', 425. Oppian, 440, Optatus Milevitanus, 348 sq. Oracula SibylKna (1599), i6o- Orange, 361. — Louisa, princess of, 139. Origen against Celsus, 193, 478. Originall of Idolatries, the, 484. Orleans, 149 sq., 236. Osiander, 363. Ossat, cardinal d', 118. Overall, dr. John, 277 sq., 291, 294 sq., 300 sq., 304, 306 sq., 347, 378, 381, 418. Ovid, 450. Oxford, Bocardo, 370 ; Bodleian library, 1, 343, 360-364, 425, 483; ..High street, 356; S. Mary's, 371. Colleges : — Balliol, 357 ; Christ Church, 358, 362, 418 : Exeter, 365, 367 sq.: Lincoln, 366, 370 ; Magdalen, 359 ; Merton, 355, 357 ; New, 369. Printing at, in, 159; foreigners at, 262 sq.; 291, 295, 343, 346; Casau- bon's visit to, 354-372 ; the Univer- sity characterised, 371 sq. ; 393, 418, 473- P. Pacius de Beriga,. Julius, 9, 35, 66, 85, 249, 25 IS J. Padua, 77. Palcephatus, 361. Palissy, Bernard de, 442. Panegyrici, the, 348. Paolo, Fra, 138, 191, 195 sq., 253-256, 286, 330, 337, 381. Parens, David, Ireniann, 66. Paris, Casaubon's lectures on Aristo- phanes at, 44; reform of the statutes of the university, 81 ; early hours at, 95; printing at, 112; literary society, 1155??. ; libraries, 120, 151, 361 ; Casaubon invited ' remettre sus I'universite de Paris,' 121 sq. ; Casaubon settles in, 150 sq. ; his various lodgings, 152 sq. ; state of the university c. 1600, 156-165 ; its low estate as a place of learning, 168 ; the university and the Jesuits, 260 sq. ; compared with Oxford, 359 sq.; 427, 453. Bibliothfeque Nationale, materials for biography of Casaubon in, I ; its history, 179 ; — Royale, its history, 172-183 ; 260, 356, 360, 362, 456. Colleges : de Clermont, 95, 161, 180 sq.; de Lisieux, 158; de Plessis, 169; Royal, T.<=f>sqq.; its greek professors (1595-1623), 165 *?■ ; 235, 261. Cordeliers, convent of, 153, 181, 260, 382 ; Faubourg S. Germain, 234 ; Louvre, the, 172, 268; Madrid (Bois), 153, 206 s^., 260; Parlement de, 161 sqq., 165, 173 ; Rue de la barre du bee, 445 ; — S. Jacques, 151, 160, 180 ; Sor- bonne, the, 359, 426 sq. Prices at, 234 ; books of Casaubon printed at, 478 sq., 481 ; mentioned, 299, 381 sq, 396, 398, 424, &\\& passim. See Casaubon, I. Parsons, Robert, 300. Passerat, J., 115, 168. Passover, when eaten, 336, Passow, Francis, 459. Patissons, the, 112, 150, 193, 200. Patricius, Franciscus, 431. Paul, S., 441. Pauw, J. Corn, de, 484. Pelagius, Alvianus, 363 sq. Pelletier, — , 309. Perier, — , 399. Perigeux, 161. Perillau, Pierre, 227. Peronne, 275. Perotti, N., 199. Perriet, Jean de (Brussels), 483. Perrot, Charles, 13, 23. Persius, 170; see Casaubon, \. Pesnot (printer), 114. Petavius, Dionysius, 462. Peter, S., 326. Philip, president (Montpellier), 99. Philip II of Spain, 20 sq. Philip Neri, S, 323 sq. Philostratus, 105. Photius, 35, 129, 135, 380, 397. Phrynicus, 484. Pigmies, 443. Pinaud, — , 145. Pindar, loi, 475. PithopcEus, 66. Pithou, Francois, ii$sq., 119, 139, 146 sq. — Pierre, 39, 62, 115 sq. Pius V, pope, 194. Placcius, v., 483. Plague at Paris (1606), 206. Plato, 16, 47. Plautus, 100, 289. Plinius, 32, 35, 442, 451,476. Plutarch, 16, 47, 56, 112, 133, 281, 423. Poirson, — , 261. Poissy, colloquy of, 135. Poitou, 219. Digitized by Microsoft® INDEX. 501 Poland, natural history of, 444. Pole, Reginald, cardinal, 363. Poliphilo, 463. Polyffinus, 35 -38, 458- Polybius, 38 ; see Casaubon, I. Pomponazzo, Pietro, 414. Pont-a-Mousson, 161. Pope, Alexander, no. — dr. Edmund, 469. Popma, Aus., 482. Porphyrins de Prosodia, 38. Portus, .iEmilius, 65 sq. — Franciscus, Professor of Greek at Modena, 9 ; at Geneva, 8 sq. ; 44. Posselius, J., 100. Possevin, Antony, 399. Pouppart, Abigail, third wife of H. Estienne, s8, 33. Prideaux, John, 25, 56, 295, 365 sq., 368, 393 sq. Priestley, Joseph, his diary, 87 sq., 449. Primaticcio, F., 445. Primrose, dr., 78. Printers, London, in 1574, 127. Printing-press, influence of the, on the Reformation, 19. Proverbs, Casaubon contemplates a book on, 431. Psellus, 112, 133. Puente, John de la, 335, 363. Puteanus, Erycius, 345, 390, 398. Puy, Claude du, 116, 168. — Pierre du, i68. Q. Querard, J. M., 483. Quesnel, Pasquier, 360. Qu'esi ce que le Tiers-e'tat?, 115. R. Rabelais, Franfois, 84, loi, in. Racovian catechism, the, 446. Rainolds, John, 277, 346, 364, 384. — William, Calvino-Turcismus, 277. Ramus, Peter, i57-s?-, I79, 261; Ramist system of grammar, 407. Ranchin, Fran9ois, loi, 481. — William, 80, 87, 93, 106 sq., 195. Raphelengius, Franciscus, 367. Rapin, Nicholas, 115. Ratte, Guitard de, bishop of Mont- pellier, 85, 107 sq. Ravaillac, Francois, 310. Ravaud, Pierre, 481. Regalian rights, the, 333. Reims, 162. Reiske, E., 165, 473, 478. Renaissance, the, in Italy, 450 sqq. ; a revival of Latin not of Greek, rhetorical not scientific, 457 ; learn- ing in France, 453 ; in Holland, 454 ; in North Germany, ib. Renan, Ernest, 117, 432. Reygersberg, — , 225. Rhodez, 107, i6i. Rhone, river, 4. Rhosus (calligraph), 35. Richardson, dr. John, 347s??., 352. Richeome, Louis, 78, 138, 162. Richer, Edmond, 161. Rigaltius (Rigault), Nicolaus, 117, 168, 182, 206, 315. Rigot (Rigotti), Anne (nee Casaubon), 7, 209, 230 ; Jean, her husband, 7 ; dies, 230. Rishanger, William, 300. Rittershusius, Conradus, 204, 244, 249, 288. Rivet, Andreas, 67. Roanne, 149. Rochester, 276, 408. Roe, Sir Thomas, 363. Rogerson, Bell, 486. Romance, secular, supplants hagio- graphy, 338. Rome, learning at, 99 ; 186, 217, 254, 318, 323. 326, 395. Ronsard, Pierre de, 197. Rosny, marquis de ; see Sully. Rostock, 39. Rosweyd, Heribert, 214 sq., 269, 376, 39°- Rotterdam, 426, 482. Rouen, 162. Rousseau, J. J., 10. Royston, 284, 309. Ruhnken, D., 155, 435, 455, 458. Russell, dr. John, 2, 89, 483. Rutgers, J., 230. S. Sa, Emmanuel, 389. S. Denis, 180. — Gennain, 206. Saint-Maur, edict of, 5. Sainte-Beuve, C. A., 281, 438. Salamanca, 161. Sales, S. Fran9ois de, 17 sq., 108. Sanderson, bishop Robert, 255. Sandys, archbishop Edwin, 19. Sapieha, — , 234. Saravia, Hadrian, 262, 282. Sarrasin, J. A., 70, 87, 93. Satyre Menippee, la, 115. Saumaise, Claude, 186, 249, 254, 256, 258, 291, 392, 453 sq., 463. Saumur, 139, 144, 245. Sauve, synod of, 87. Digitized by Microsoft® 503 INDEX. Savile, Sir Henry, 183, 192, 231, 299, 338, 342, 346 ; takes Casaubon to Oxford, 354-358 ; 373, 375 sq., 384, 392, 432. — Thomas, 362. Savoy, 17, 23 ; dukes of, 17 sq. Sayous, — , 15, 72. Scaliger, Joseph Justus, Epistolce, a ; eighteen years older than Casau- bon, 3 ; opinion of Casaubon's learn- ing, 6, 63 sq. ; on Fr. Portus, 8 ; etters of Casaubon, &c., to, 39, 42, 55, 82, 108, III, iig, 129, 169, 171 sq , 188, 190, 195, 199, 209, 238, 240, 242, 250, 252 sq., 329 ; his letters to Casaubon, &c., 123, 151 sq., 174, 178, 190, 212, 218, 235, 240, 245, 250, 265 sq. ; 53 ; be- ginning of correspondence with Casaubon, 63 5^. ; tries to get him an invitation to Leyden, 65, 240 ; his Latin style superior to Cas- aubon's, 88, 308 ; on P. du Faur, 98; reputation at Paris, 115-117; Henri IV anxious for his return to France, 120 ; the first scholar of his time, 125 ; on Mornay, 137 ; attacked by Jean Martin, 139; on Casaubon at the conference of Fon- tainebleau, 146 ; 156, 158 ; objection to teaching, 164, 167, 440; 166; on Marcilius, 169 ; on Gosselin, 174, 182 ; Des Portes' estimate of his learning, 176; his Eusebius, 183; transcribes whole books, 184 ; ap- plies to Casaubon for chronological fragments, 185; introduces Willems to Casaubon, 238 ; death, 238 ; his- tory of his friendship with Casau- bon, 239-240 ; leaves him a silver cup, 241, 419, 468 ; their corre- spondence, 2415^.; Casaubon's grief at his death, 238, 24T sq. ; 243 ; on the danger of the Huguenots in Paris, 245 sq.; 249 ; liking for Nimes, 251 -J 257 ; his Thesaurus temporuvn, 183, 261, 329; on the english, 265 sq. ; 290, 296 ; on the lutherans, 306 ; 335 ; reads Baronius, 338 ; his reputation envied by Sir H, Savile, 356, 375 ; on theological disputes, 392 ; attacked by Scioppius, 394 sq.; on Marc Welser, 396, 400 ; rela- tions with the Jesuits, 399 ; 412 ; his MS. notes, 429 ; as drawn by Casau- bon, 435 ; 436 ; Bernhardy on his genius, 450 ; 453 sqq., 462; his Opus- cula, 479 ; his notes on Phrynicus, 484. — Julius Caesar, his Aristotle's Hist. Animal., 133. Schede, P. (Melissus), 66. Schiller, J. C. F., 438. Schomberg, — , 118. Schottus, Andreas, 310, 396-400, 462. Schultze, dr. F., 483. Schweighaeuser, J., 198, 200, 459. Scioppius, Caspar, 145, 217 sq., 225, 305, 3". 314, 329. 390 «?•> 394 ^l; 420, 480, 483. Scott, Sir Walter, 414. Scottish bishops, consecration of (1601'), 302. Scribanius, C, 217, 366, 397. Scrivener, F. H. A., 419. Scriverius, Petrus, 257. Scultetus, Abraham, 304 sq., 374 sq., 398. Scylax, 31. Sedan, 177, 225, 229, 252, 305, 401. Seguier, chancellor, 99. Seine, river, 207 sqq. Selden, John, 38, 285, 288 ; his History of Tithes, 290; 321, 333, 372, 376 ; Selden library, the, 362. Seneca, 32. Septuagint, roman (1587), 36. Serres, Jean de, 93, 96, 107. Servin, Louis, 115, 118. Sextus Empiricus, 31. Shakespeare, William, 293. Sibylline oracles, 335. Sicilian vespers, the, 377. Sidney, Sir Henry, 406. Sigonius, C, 9, 453. Sillery, Bruslart de, 118, 201 sq., 398. Sincerus, Jodocus, quoted, 97. Sirmond, Jacques, 400, 462. Smets, H., 66. Smith, W., Description of England, 355. Soissons, comte de, 270. Soleure, 147 sq., 265. Spa water, 243, 415. Spain, legend of ' Saint Garnett ' in, 313- Spedding, James, 263, 289, 297. Spelman, Sir Henry, 288. Spenser, Edmund, 419. Spotswood, archbishop John, 29, 264 sq. Stade, — , 376. Stael, madame de, 71. Stahelin, — , 15, 73. Stanley, dean A. P., 419. Stapleton, Thomas, 446. Stephanus of Byzantium, 432. Still, bishop John, 444. Stowe, John, 301, 383. Strabo, recommended to Casaubon by his father, 4, 49. Strahan, George, 215. Strassburg, 60, 65 sq., 75, 483. Digitized by Microsoft® INDEX. 503 Stromer, P. L., 482. Strozzi. marshal, 181 sq. Sturbridge fair, 353. Sturm, J., 66. Suetonius, 422, 437. Suisseth, R., 363. Sully, Maximilien de Bethune, due de, 61, 134, 147 sq., 154, 192, 201, 203, 210, 234 sqq., 268, 302. Superville, dr., 37. Suslyga, Laurentius, 363. Sweertius, Franciscus, 366, 393. Swift, dean, quoted, 154. Sylburg;ius, Fr., 31, 36, 66. Symmachus, edited by Lect, 57. T. Tacitus, James I on, 280 sq. Taine, H., 449. Taylor, bishop Jeremy, 191. Terence, 229, 289. Tertullianus, 46 sy., 105, 431. Theobalds, 278 s?., 284, 304, 321, 382, 444- Theocritus, a fragment of, 35 ; 197. Theodoret, 35, 142 sq. Thirty years' war, 311. Tholuck quoted, 15, 22. Thomson, Richard, 31, 36 sq., 40, 42, 62 sq., 65, 239, 262, 264, 295-297, 348, 350-352, 355, 408. Thoris, dr. Raphael, 263, 280, 304, 412 417, 420, 423, 442, 468. Thornham, 276. Thou, Christophe de, 116. Thou, J. A. de, letters of Casaubon to, 1, 38, 190, 293, 363 sq., 350, 352, 374i 377i 428 ; characterised, 59 ; his Mt'siory, ib. ; 70, 99, 1 14-120 ; his library, 120; 139, 1465^.; death of his wife, 155 ; 164, 177 sq., 180, 198, 205 s?., 235, 241, 245, 252, 261, 275, 281 sq., 285, 299, 306, 361, 378, 381, 400, 410, 452, 465, 480. Thucydides, 32. Thurot, d., 469. Thursfield, J. R., 469. Tilenus, Daniel, 222, 225. Tillesley, Richard, 376. Tindall, Humphrey (dean of Ely), 348. Tocqueville, H. A. de, 337, 438. Toleto, Fr., 399. Tollius. Jacobus, 150, 458. Torrentius, L., 457. Tossanus, Daniel, 23, 73. Tostati, A., 346. Touching for the evil, 443. Toulouse, faculty of law at, in 1598, 78; 95; book collectors at, in 1597, 98 ; fanaticism at, 112 ; greek books printed at, 133 ; 161, 169. Tournes, de (printers), 39, 114. Tournon, 161. Tours, 115. Tower records, the, 358. Townsend, Aurelian, 234. Travelling in France, c. 1600, 148-150, 205. Trent, council of, 223. Triopian inscription, the, 463. Tubingen, 65 sq. Turnebus, A., 158, 171, 200, 331, 428, 453- Turquet, Theodore ; see Mayerne. Turquois (of Orleans), 150. Tusan, — , 158. Twelve tables, laws of the, 100. Twisse, W., 369, 371. Tyrwhitt, T., 155. Tzschucke, C. H., 459. U. Ulpianus, 100. Ursinus, Fulvius, 199, 482. Utrecht, 20. Uytenbogaert, John, 20, 222 ; confer- ence with Casaubon, 222-225. V. ' Vaches a Colas,' 211: Vair, Guillaumedu, 118. Valence, 174. Valla, Laurentius, 335. Valois, Henri, 200, 462. Vandermyle, — , 257. Vanini, Lucilio, 112, 371. Varanda, dr., 244, 412, Vassan, — , 146, 246. Vatable, Fr., 158. Vatican archives, the, 324, 327 ; library, 182, 185 ; press, 324. Venice, republic of, 194 sq., 197 ; 8, 35. 37. 225, 253-256, 267, 380. Ventadour, due de, 106. Verchant (of Montpellier), 106. Vergecio, 35, 182, 185. Vergil, no, 450. Vertunien, — , 6, 48, 194. Vervins, peace of, 18. Vic, Meric de, entertains Casaubon, 114; takes him to Paris, 114, 120, 122 sqq. ; 126 sq., 130, 134, 147 sq., 153, 259, 318. — madame de, 114, 124, 130, 148. Victorius, Petrus, 4525?., 481. Vienna, prices at, 41. Vigilius, pope, 330. Vignon, E., 27, 475 s?. Digitized by Microsoft® 504 INDEX. Villebonne, 205 sq. Villeroy, 177 sy., 196, 236, 281. Villiers, George, duke of Buckingham, 284. Vinci, Leonardo da, 423. Voltaire, 10, 136, 284, 383. Voorst, Adolph, 256. Vorstius, Conradus, 273, 309, 446. Voss, G. J., 256, 339, 363, 397. Vulcanius, B., 257, 453. Vulteius, J., 458, 476. W. Wake, Isaac, Rex Plaionicus, 364. Wakefield, Robert, 363. Walpole, Horace, 360. Walton, Isaac, 41, 255, 419. Ware, 383. Warton, Joseph, 198. Waterland, bishop Daniel, 332. Wechel, A., 201, 479. Wedderburn, James, 373, 388, 409. Wells, 444. Welser, Marc, 218, 396, 399 sq., 463. Westminster, 282 ; — school, 299. Whitaker, dr. William, 349 sq. Whitgift, archbishop John, in. Willems, Hadrian, 237 sq. William I (the Silent), Prince of Orange, 21, 139, 249. Winwood, Sir Ralph, Memorials, 270 sq., 273, 281, 313. Wisbech, 348 sqq. Wittenberg, 425. Wolf, F. A., 39, 459. Wolf, J. C, 340, 425, 429 sq., 482. Wolzius, Seb., 483. Wood, Anthony, 294 sq., 298, 339; 355. 366, 371. 376. Wotton, sir Edward, 302. — sir Henry, arrives at Geneva, and lodges with Casaubon, leaving in his debt, 40-42 ; described by Walton, 41 ; 255, 264, 296, 299 ; estrangement between Wotton and Casaubon, 379-381. — Thomas, lord, of Marley, 273 sqq., 281. Wouveren, John a, 85. Wyttenbach, Daniel, 423, 435, 439, 449- X. Xylander (Holtzmann), W., 9. Yorke, bishop James, 347. Young, Patrick, 234, 429. Zeller, E., 465. Zelter, K. F., 471. Zeno, 439. Zigabenus, Euthymius, 363. Zonaras' Lexicon, 296. Zouch, Edward lord, 40. Zurich, II, 19 sq. ERRATA Page 62, lastline,/o>-Apen read Agen 242,1. i,/o>- truth rrarf trust 414! !• 35>fo'' Disraeli read D'Israeli Digitized by Microsoft® Two Vols. Demy 8vo, price Fifteen Shillings EPHEMERIDES ISAACI CASAUBONI CUM PRAEFATIONE ET NOTIS EDENTE JOHANNE RUSSELL, S.T.P. CANONICO CANTUARIENSr SCHOLAE CARTHUSIANAE OLIM ARCHIDIDASCOLO Ojcfoxi AT THE CLARENDON PRESS LONDON: HENRY FROWDE OXFORD UNIVERSITY FREES WAREHOUSE, AMEN CORNER, E.c. Digitized by Microsoft® Two Vols, Demy 8yo, cloth, bevelled boards, price Twenty-four Shillings ESSAYS BY THE LATP MARK PATTISON SOMETIME RECTOR OF LINCOLN COLLEGE COLLECTED AXn ARRANGED HENRY -NETTLESHIP, U.K. CORrUS PROFESSOR OF LATIN IN THE UNIVF.RSITY OF OXFORD CONTENTS OF VOLUME I Gregory of Tours. Early Intercourse of England and Germany. Antecedents of the Reformation. The Stephenses. MURETUS. Joseph Scaliger. Life of Joseph Scaliger (Fragment). Peter Daniel Huet. A Chapter of University History. F. A. Wolf. Oxford Studies. Digitized by Microsoft® PA TTI SON'S ESS A YS CONTENTS OF VOLUME II Calvin at Geneva. Tendencies of Religious Thought in England, 1688-1750. Life of Bishop Warburton. The Calas Tragedy. Present State of Theology in Germany {1857), Learning in the Church of England. Philanthropic Societies in the Reign of Queen Anne. Life of Montaigne. Pope and his Editors. Buckle's History of Civilisation in England. Index of Names. AT THE CLARENDON PRESS LONDON: HENRY FROWDE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, AMEN CORNER, E.C. Digitized by Microsoft® WORKS OF THE LATE MARK PATTISON Translation of St. Thomas Aquinas' Commentary on St. Matthew. (' Catena Aurea.') Oxford, 1841. 8vo. Suggestions on Academical Organisation, with especial reference to Oxford. Edinburgh, 1868. 8vo. Isaac Casaubon, 1559-1614. London, 1875. 8vo. Second Edition. Oxford, 1892. 8vo. Review of the Situation ('Essays on the Endow- ment of Research.') London, 1876. 8vo. Milton. ('English Men of Letters.') London, 1879. Svo. The Sonnets of John Milton. ('Parchment Library.') London, 1883. Svo. Memoirs. London, 1885. 8vo. Sermons. London, 1885. 8vo. Essays Oxford, 1889. 3 vols. 8vo. Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft® Digitized by Microsoft®