New-York tribune., 1906-12-06

- .hese dsvs when Tho remedy for shaken
.rses uavering faith. and excessive stiehuos-
=. : heing sought in the still regions Of the
-. Tife any study of the great Quieitsts "f
-,is- centuries is timely. A study Of the great
= ,-t-istisn ouietist is particularly welcome
,..,ss simplicity and quietism, in this genera
-. are cioselv connected with movements gong
= N,sse the Christian Church II IS with a
=. ,or,,-ictian of tineliness that the author OF
=. nresent work has given us an exhaustive
!, Thomas Keupis. He demonstrates
...ir that the limitation Of Christ If judged
-, ,.s words is n masterpiece OF literature and,
!. ,rsred nv SIS deeds. an everlasting influence.
-. demonstration of these two points. though.
Iii, an rIertone Ia the Eve scrupulously ex-
- stusjes composing the volume The authors
- arc f,-frnariIy historical and literary. his
-, hoirc 10 present All the important facts
,h,u- tho sources Of Kempis's views. tho
.os,or tr1port Of these views. and their iniiu-
-. ,,ror later thinkers and relgionsts
w. axiom shat Il We viii know man,
.s, know his day and generation. seems gro
.oscusfv insprlica bic 10 the case Of Thomas
1-.,,o3s Nj De IIontnorency recounts vividly
- deeds NJ The many great men and women,
.,o5 and bad of the stormy years Of the Great
S.risr7,. when q Pope at AyiEnon ignored a Pore
-. Po-,e and both, on two occasions tried 70
.,,o-A 2 -rfrd Fl Constance. IN those scenes Of
80 and virtue saint Bridget and Sain: Cath
,1re we-e the beroines and Gerson, last but
- least Of the schooluen the hero, During
.,,s final ac- or the drama of the Middle Ages
,r,o77ss : Kcr,ris appears. but not or the stage.
With temperament prenatally moulded in the
,,.+ n his native land. he went as q thirteen
,,sr-or5 Dutch lad to tho parish school at De
,sr-e- and from there. seven years later, 10
,.,rr- Saf-: Agnes. near ZwoIe. where lived
,be Err,rers ~ the Common Life. To this
monster ne won't and in il he dwelt for sew
s,t.- wears. with never finger weight Of re-
s.srsuce in his life as in his land never for
ssker by tla. t1erc was never q broken sky line,
never a stream That ragged more furiously than
he --ee6 grown canals. the man was flesh aud
}ooG miniature &C tho Netherlands Is il any
,,or5er then -7at Air- Do NontmorcnCy's power
mi portrayaI Of the titanic forces at work I'm
,he great world during the seventy years n
s-bisr7 makes one feel that such an historical
f-sre of blood and gold is too violent and vast
,,r the modest l-tIe study IN still life called
Thomas Eerpis7
There IS only an apparent similarity between
I Ke-nriss retreat from active life and the re-
,rs, of many modern ulystics in each case there
nav seem 70 he a reaction against the many
forms o( violence. mental and physical. which
result from pursuing the WAYS of the world. In
.he great scholastic, Gerson who has often been
regarded as the author Of the Imitation Of
Chris-" We surely have an example or such a
reaction. re WAS the creates professor and
rolitician of his age. but, for the sake Of his
hest beliefs retired TO q monastery In his later
wears aIr DC Nontmorency shows that Thomas
? Ee..riz was not ouetist 0f this type; al no
time did this still monk suffer from world
vsariness. for he never toiled at the worlds
7sarF 1T1r- Tr.4t
ne spontaneous expression Of a temperament
and nothing more. The great literary contro-
ye-sv about the authorship Of the Imitation
cf Christ is to be settled most -conclusIvely, as
sl~ Dc Noatnlorcrcy seems 10 feel. by the feel
i7Ss ana thoughts expressed in the treatise.
Gersen must he denied The honor Of being its
Futhor re.srse he could never have displayed
the un-.el7d serenity enjoyed by the writer OF
tie Imitation Cerson had dealt with kings
md popes and manipulated ecclesiastical confer
enoes. his reaction ta Guietisrl would have been
written ir words both intense and reminiscent,
IS we're The Confessions OF Saint Augustine
Perhaps nothing indicates more forcibly the
aosolure isolation of Thomas "A Kempis than
ihe fa., that his book has been dated back 10
Saint Bernard hy some persons It Is one Of
the very few books in world literature bearing
70 distinct marks Of its own age. Its writer IS
interested ia Ira Cu3y, and not in doctrines
oreeds and rhio~ophies. His keen interest IN
lfe though forced him TO devote one-half OF
Tho limitation 10 an ARA ignment Of philosophy
theology and ororyeening knowledge generally
As e rarasorL- can be called TO account only
bv another ore We find Thomas kernpls CIV
i-r Ia highly poetic form theory Of life and
existence which in spite Of its biblical founda-
ton 5s Dutch odifice. Tho life Of Christ,
which kempis yearned 50 earnestly 10 lhii-
tste was sketched by him with much the same
sort ~ local color" that some later Dutch
Painters used when they put Dutch windmllls
iH lne Garden of Eden and Gecl1ed Abraham out
ST. douhIet. Christ argued ia the Temple and
couveTsea with every conner on the streets; q
hen,r.s declared tnat Familiarity with men IS
trexpedeu:" and that We must cease from
o1erweaniag desire of knowledge. because many
distraction. are found there, and much deiu-
sion" A CIrl-. VINO would spend seventy years
in a monastery might be very noble character
hut Do could never be the miehty roiormer and
lcade. mat The Nazareue Christ really was
Wei might ThackeIsy apply the lash of his
lasJerIr English 10 the Limitation and say
- nr did IN one of his letters, that universal
conformity 20 Kempis's treatise would make
tho world the most wretched dreary dotlng
place Of esia1ru There would be set
~ selfish beings. crawling about avoiding one
another. and hoviing q perpetual u'N'fcIf.
Against this view Nj de Montmoreney pro-
tess with The remark that Kemp-s vas an IN
dI-duah=t r. not an esotist iu his lnner Iiie'
tut soc.aust aud altruist ia mis- outer lie
But mon are fast Foron.sag 'slscptical about the