The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-12-29

msgnifcence of their libraries. That of
Clugui is described as "rivalling in COM
pleteD ess that of the emperors at Constan :
tinople;" the extent of that of Fulda, in
which the books were classified in forty
eight divisions, msy be judged from the
fact that "twelve monks were constantly
employed in auRmenting its contente;" the
library of the Franciscan monastery at
London "was 100 feet long, with q breadth
| of 30 feet" and that in the Abbey of Wells
"was lighted by twenty five windows on
| each side;" Trithemius added two thou
sand volumes to the library at Spanheim
during the twenty three years of his rule !;
the Abbey of Peterborough possessed, coon
| after it's foundation, collection OF seven .
teen hundred volumes and the Abbey of
st. Bsnedict-sar Loire, Frarce, contained
| five Thousand volumes. The libraries of
st. Gaul, of Hirschau, of Gemb bloux, of st.
Enmeran at Ratisbop, Of st. Paul at Bar
celens, of St. Martin at Toure, of SS. Vic
tor and Germains at Paris, of the Angus.
| riuian Hermits at Padua, of Camsldoli, of
Bobbio, of Monte Casino, "the famoua me.
| tropolis of the Benedictines," of Bee, and
of many other morasteries were famous.
Some notion of the character OF the mon
astic libraries may be got from glasce at
the catalogue of the Norman Abbey of Bee
in the twelfth century, "when Anselm was
abbot and blessed Lefranc was prior"
Among the MSS. titles we find Suetonius
de Vita CGsarum, Philppica Ciceronis.
Quintilianus de Causis. ,TulHus de Ofciis
Libri Oridii. IimGus Platonis, MGcTo6rius
de Saturnalibus. Plato. Phnus, Seneca de
Benefciis, Tullii TusculanG, Eutropius, etc.
OF course the bulk of the libraries of mon
aeteries was composed of works relating to
piety and theology, but the foregoing list
will serve to show how widely the monksh
scholars pursued classical studies.
BOOKS AND THE PEoPEE.
That the laity in the middle ages we're
by no means 80 profoundly ignorant as
has been asserted by many writer's an
array of recorded facts amply proves, and
to the M monastic libraries so profusely scat
tered over Europe the poor scholar could
freely resort to pursue his studies at lei |
sure, or he conld even borrow, to carry to
his own home, the most useful volumes. |
The Council of Paris in 1912, declared |
that the lending Of books may justly be
reckoned among the most eminent of the |
works of mercy. Surely the lending of
books would not have been so urgently |
prescribed had there been none capable of
awaiting Themselves of the privilege; Bap
tist Coy, first cure Of St. Magdalen at Par
is, would hardly have left large portion
of his library for the use of his poor par
ishioners, had Their intellectual condition
debarred them from the perusal of the
books the inscription over the portal of
the Biblioteca MarucellIana, at Florence,
'PuoiiCG ct maxine pauperum utIlItati,"
would have been meaningless had there
been no poor scholars to avail Themselves
Of the treasures in that repository. Still
stronger evidence that there were many
-eaders among the commonalty is shown,
according to Baebr and Mabillop, by the
ranslation into the vulgar idiOms of such
works as Boethius' De Consolatione PhiLos.
,phiG, which King Alfred caused to be done
nto Anglo-S -Saxan 10 the ninth century
which the monks of st. Gall aleo rendered
uto German in the eleventh century and ,
Flemish translation of which was made at
n early period, as appears by MS. of
hat version still preserved at Paris, as t
veil as into other popular languages. The
'arious scientific treatises translated in to ;
he verpacular in the ninth century by r
labanus Maurus, and the Satiricon of I
Iartianus Capella, whic treated of gram
mar, logic, rhetoric, mathematics, geome
ry. music, and astronomy, and OF which Il
1SS., arc in existence of a German version
f the eleventh century, also indicate that
he minds of the readers of these transla b
ions were by no means uncultivated
here is a familiar story about Luther !
nding the Bible "chained to pillar near
is cell. ;" and from this it has been iDferred
y Protestants that the Church "chained =
he Bible" 1t was common custom IN
he middle ages to chain Bibles, Psalters,
tc., for the use of the people, to pillars in
he churches, just as in New York news
aper offices City Directory Ia chained to
he counters for public use. Who inter-
icted the Bible to the people may be
earned from this
"The Reformation" says Buckingham,
vaunted as the agency wbioh first rendered
he Bible accessible to the laity, crowned its
rumph in England by prohibiting the peru
tatute of 80 Henry VIII, @. II. enacted that
40 women not of gentle or noble birth, nor
ourneymen, srtificers, or prentices, should
cad the Bible the New Testament in En-
,lish, to themselves or otheis, openly or pri
tately = and the act of "a Hen. VIII. /. for
,Ade the reading of the Scriptures in public,
onfined the permission to read them aloud to
private Families, to those who were of the rank
# lords or gentlemen, and limited the liberty
# perusing them persons ally and in secret to
nen who were householders aud to females of
loble or gentle BIRTH"
THE BIBLE IN MODERN LANGUAGES.
But perhaps the very best proof of the
existence among the laity of q taste and