MR. LANE POOLE ON MEDIZEVAL THOUGHT.*
MANY works of interest and importance have been published through the action of the Hibbert Trustees. They have given
to men of mature years an opportunity of publishing, in con- venient form, the result they have won through years of study; and to younger men they have given the help which enabled them, at an early period of life, to devote themselves to special work. The volume before us is the fruit of the Travelling Hibbert Scholarship, held by Mr. Lane Poole for two years. It is an important contribution to our knowledge of medimval thought. From any point of view, it is a work of singular merit. The author has made himself familiar with the best authorities on the subject, and in instances not a few has gone himself to the sources. His work will compare favourably with the best German work in the historical field, while in lucidity, grace of style, literary finish, and orderly arrangement of topics, there is nothing German about it. Clear thinking, ample knowledge, and adequate expression, are conspicuous in these pages. We trust the writer will follow out the course he has so well begun, and, in the years to come, will give us a con- tinuous history of the Middle Ages, such as has never been yet written.
The present volume may be regarded as an introduction to such a history. It sets forth a large and luminous view of medizeval thought as a whole, with more detailed discussion of certain men and periods. We quote the opening paragraph of the book :—
"The history of mediaeval thought falls naturally into two broad divisions, each of which is brought to a close, not by the creation of a new method or system from native resources, but by the introduc- tion of fresh materials for study from without. The first period ended when the works of Aristotle, hitherto known only from partial and scanty versions, were translated into Latin ; the second when a knowledge of Greek letters in their own language made it impossible for men to remain satisfied with the views of ancient philosophy to which they had previously been confined, and upon which their own philosophy had entirely depended. An age of eclecticism, too eager in its enjoyment of the new-found treasure to care to bind itself, as its predeces,sors had done, to any single authority, was then followed by an age in which the interests of theological controversy drove out every other interest, until at length, in the comparative calm after the tempest of the Reformation, philosophy entered a new phase, and the mediaaval or traditional method was finally rejected in favour of one common in this respect to both modern and ancient speculation, that it rested upon independent thought, and regarded no authority as beyond appeal."
This view of the Middle Ages is set forth with rigour, and then Mr. Lane Poole sets himself to the discussion of the particular topics he has in view. His aim is to exhibit such traces as there are of independent thought, "not so much in the domain of formal philosophy as in those regions where philosophy touches religion, where reason meets superstition, and where theology links itself with political theory." It is impossible for us to touch on the many topics which are brought into prominence by Mr. Lane Poole. The borderland in which he walks is extensive, and the number of byeways through which he leads us is great; but they all converge to a centre, and all of them help to illustrate the main highway of medieeval thought.
As regards the way in which the writer has done his work, we are struck with the variety of accomplishment and of literary power displayed in the book. His pen moves swiftly when his purpose is to give a narrative of events. We are not troubled with digressions; nor is the story weighed with irrelevant matter, however picturesque it may be. Pestinat ad eventurn is his motto; and the narrative rushes on, with increasing momentum, to the end. The Introduction is a good specimen of the historical style of Mr. Lane Poole. In a few rapid paragraphs he sets before us the gradual decline of classical learning at the beginning of the Middle Ages :—" The entire classical tradition, all learning in its large sense, was treated not merely as irrelevant to the studies of the Christian, but as a snare from which he was taught to flee as from a temptation of the evil one." To this almost universal tendency there was one honourable exception ; Ireland alone upheld the tradition both of Christian and of classical culture. From it went forth a stream of missionaries, who bore to the northern part of this island, and also to the Continent, the message of a higher culture and a larger life. The story has already been told by various writers ; but it has seldom been told with such graphic power as in the present volume. The
• Illustrations ef the Hirtory of Medieval Thought in the Departments of Theology and Beclesineicol Polities. By Reginald Lane Poole, M.A. London Published for the Hibbirt Trustees by Messrs. Williams and Norgate.
influence of Scoto-Irish culture on European life and thought is vividly and accurately depicted ; and the picture makes one long for the time when the Celtic race shall again take its place in the foremost rank of civilisation. Why Ireland has fallen out of the race is a large question, and has again been suggested by the story told in these pages. To pass on ; this introductory chapter whets the appetite, and we are prepared to yield our- selves to the competent guidance of Mr. Poole. From it we see that he has a power of grouping facts and incidents into luminous order, and he is able to arrange the ample stores of his knowledge into a clear and lucid statement.
In dealing with medifeval life and thought, there are required other qualities than those we have mentioned. No chapter in the history of the human mind is more full of subtle, meta- physical thought, or more laden with intricate niceties of distinc- tion, than is the time of the Middle Ages. Great discrimination and wide learning are needed on the part of him who undertakes to speak of, or to expound to others, the beginnings of the system that culminated in Scholasticism. In this sphere also, we find Mr. Lane Poole to be a competent guide. No more decisive test of a writer's metaphysical competence could be found than to set him the task of expounding the system of John the Scot, usually called Scotus Erigena. His system is one of the most subtle and profound in the history of speculative thought. Increasing attention is given to it in recent times. The main current of it falls in with a prevailing tendency of modern speculation, and it is likely to be a favourite subject of study for many days to come. The longer histories of philosophy have given him greater space ; Church histories also have to reckon with him ; and the number of references to the works of John the Scot in recent literature is increasing rapidly. We now only refer to the able paper in Mr. Owen's Evenings with the Sceptics. The most satisfactory of all these notices is the one in the work before us. Mr. Lane Poole describes for us the historical tendencies which came to fruit in the system of John the Scot, places him in his proper historical setting, and gives a vivid outline of the system itself. The outline is a model of metaphysical exposition : lucid and precise, and intelligible, although brief and condensed. Equally good is the section on Anselm. Perhaps the chapter which shows both the historical and metaphysical gifts of Mr.
Lane Poole at their best, is the one on Peter Abailard. In it certainly the interest of the book is at its culminating point. Romantic elements interchange with metaphysical discussions, and the interest of ecclesiastical prosecution is thrown in to heighten the effect. The story is told with dramatic power by Mr. Lane Poole.
When we turn to the part which tells of the relation of Church and State, we find the work maintains the same high level. Here, also, we can only make a reference or two. To us, the most useful part of the work is the description and analysis of the Defensor Pads of Marsiglio of Padua, and of Wycliffe's Doctrine of Lordship. Of the latter we need not say much, as confessedly the account of it given here is only tentative. Mr.
Lane Poole is engaged in preparing Wycliffe's treatises of The Lordship of God and of Civil Lordship, for publication by the Wycliffe Society. With the publication of these we shall have, for the first time, the means of weighing the merits of Wycliffe's contribution to political philosophy. Meanwhile the careful description by Mr. Lane Poole may be accepted as a valuable contribution to our knowledge. It is otherwise, however, with the analysis of Marsiglio's Defensor Pads. It is the most complete account of that remarkable book with which we are acquainted. It far surpasses the statement recently given by Professor Creighton in the History of the Papacy. We give the following quotation:—
" It is evident, then, that the Pope, in his quality of Christian bishop, can claim no right of supreme judgment in human things, even over the clergy. If he possess any such right, it must have been conceded to him by human authority ; as a spiritual person he has absolutely none, and, therefore, properly he ought to possess none. The power bequeathed by Christ to the priesthood can only con- cern religious affairs; it is idle to suppose that in granting to it the keys of heaven and hell he gave any temporal jurisdiction. The keys open and close the door of forgiveness ; but forgiveness is the act of God, determined by the penitence of the sinner. Without these con- ditions the priestly absolution is of no avail. The turnkey Cfavigar is not the judge. As for the special proof of the Pope's superiority to the secular State taken from his act in the ceremony of crowning the Emperor, a ceremony, it is plain, can confer no authority ; it is but the symbol or public notification of a fact already existing. The same function as the Pope has at the coronation of the Emperor, belongs at that of the King of France to the Archbishop of Rheims ; but who would call this prelate the superior of his King 7 Marsiglio goes over the standard arguments in favour of the Papal assumptions,
and rejects them one after another, partly by his resolute insistence on a literal interpretation of the text of Scripture, partly by his grand distinction between the sacred calling of the priesthood and their extrinsic or worldly connections. With his ideal of a Church in which these worldly ties have no existence, with his view of them as mere indications of the distance by which the actual Church is re- moved from primitive purity, there is no room for any talk of ecclesi- astical privileges or exemptions. The sole privilege of the clergy is their spiritual character. Temporal sovereignty or jurisdiction is an accident of their civil position ; and all inferences from the Bible which have been imagined to authorise it, such as the famous argu- ment of the two swords, are incompatible, not only with the concep- tion of a Church, but also with the plain meaning of the text from which they are declaced,—My kingdom is not of this world." (pp. 273-4.)
This is certainly a remarkable product of mediaeval thought, and the conclusions Marsiglio reaches are those to which modern society is constantly tending. In the case of the Church, his opinions tended to displace a hierarchical class, and to substitute a ministry instead. Politically, his system recognised the people as the source of power and of government. The right and the power lay in the body of the people. In fact, the teaching of the Defensor Pacis anticipated the conclusions of modern politi- cal philosophers, and Mr. Lane Poole has done good service in calling attention to and giving such a luminous account of it. We take leave of the book by saying that, great as is its merii, we yet mainly look on it as the promise of greater things to -come.
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