sleep. Erring in his writings, he is thought to be either drunk, or mad, or asleep. He goes lame in faith, lest his tractate should go lame in reputation; and sells his faith lest he should lose the rewards of his book-and prefers an aberration from faith to an aberration from fame." Those who are well skilled in points of medieval history and learning will perhaps be able to identify the object of this extraordinary attack.+

Taking it for ascertained that Alanus Magnus de Insulis died in 1202 or 1203, and Bishop Petrus Alanus de Insulis at an unknown date not anterior to 1185, we have no chronological data entirely to preclude their having been, as Oudin, Fabricius, and others thought, one and the same. Yet no opinion on history can be more clearly false; for no point is better fixed than that one was buried at Clairvaux, and the other at Citeaux, and that both their ancient epitaphs were partly legible. And all that is reported of them is quite distinct. The active bishop of Auxerre was never reputed a remarkable scholar; and the Cistercian never speaks of himself, or is spoken of by others, as a bishop.

Some of the French, including Abbé Leboeuf, have wished to appropriate Alanus to themselves, by contending that Insulæ, in his case, did not mean Ryssel in Flanders, but a certain obscure place called Lisle, in the Comtat Venaissin, near Avignon. But this paradox can only be supported by crushing the grave and ancient testimony of Henry of Ghent, bishop of Tournay, who wrote in the latter half of the century of which the commencement had witnessed Master Alan's death. To suppose that a man of Ghent and Tournay, when he speaks of Insulæ simply and without more, means a minute place in Provence, would be excess of paradox. But in this instance we find him grouping together a series of Insulensian Flemings.

Cap. 19. Walterus Insulis oppido Flandriæ oriundus, &c.

Cap. 20. Walterus dictus de Castellione, Insulis oriundus, &c. Cap. 21. Alanus Insulis oriundus liberalium artium peritus Parisiis ecclesiasticæ scholæ præfuit.

All succeeding writers unite in the same strain, styling him Teutonicus, Insulensis Germanus, Insulensis quæ civitas est in Belgio, Insulensis Flander, natione Belga, &c.

That

Let France, therefore, content herself with claiming the greater part of this man's life and labours, as well as his death and sepulchre. Alanus was the master or president of the theological school, university, or Sorbonne of Paris, appears to be a fact beyond dispute, being expressly averred both by Henricus Gandavensis and Trithemius, and confirmed by the contents of his works; for his Ars Prædicandi is a

* Erratque fides ne rumor aberret.

Peter of Novara, or Peter Lombard, Master of the Sentences, was so absurd as to maintain that the humanity of our Lord was non aliquid, which absurdity was condemned by the council of Tours in 1163. But I should rather incline to conjecture that the nominalism of Peter Abelard is assailed by Alanus, who was a realist. Still none of all this is exactly grammar.

So called afterwards, but not till about 1274, from Robert de Sorbon; and so called in these pages only by way of prolepsis.

series of normal lectures to instruct the young clergy in the art of teaching their flocks, and his Liber Poenitentialis is of the same character. He owes to his authority and exertions in that station his titles of" Magister" and of "Doctor Universalis." It is probable that he was raised to it some few years after Peter Lombard had ceased to teach. When be gave it up does not seem to be known,* except that it was subsequently to the third council in Lateran, which met in 1179; but how he did so is recorded in a very curious tale.†

He had given out that on a certain day he would deliver a lecture, unfolding the whole doctrine of the theologians concerning the mystery of the most holy Trinity, and bring it home to the comprehensions of all his hearers. On the eve of the appointed day, he strolled forth along the banks of the Seine, musing in his mind in what manner he might best perform what he had undertaken. It so happened, as he sauntered along, that he observed a little boy ladling water out of the river with a cockle-shell into a little trench which he had dug. The master smiled, and asked him what he was about; and received for answer, that he was going to empty the whole river into the trench. "That," rejoined he, "is impossible." But he had scarcely said so when his heart misgave him, that he was himself still more unable to accomplish the task of the ensuing day, and he broke into tears, mingled with bitter self-reproaches and a deep sense of his own arrogance. The next day, when he had come forward to address a numerous assembly, he gave utterance to no other words than these, (which afterwards became a proverb,) "Sufficiat vobis vidisse Alanum," and precipitately withdrew himself from the astonished audience. He made the best of his way to Citeaux, with which abbey he had not (so far as we can learn) any previous connexion, and sought admission there as a conversus, (that is, a lay-brother employed in menial services,‡) which was granted to him in ignorance of his real name and character. His employment during this retreat was that of a shepherd, to which the renovated epitaph at Citeaux alludes, "conversus, gregibus commissus alendis." How long he continued in this pastoral incognito does not appear, but he certainly did emerge from it. There is no trace of his ever resuming his functions at Paris, and Citeaux was probably his principal residence till his death.

This narrative (with which Trithemius was acquainted) has been treated slightingly, partly because it is connected with a fable,§ and partly because of its supposed improbability. But as regards the

former objection, the two parts of the story are quite unconnected. The four lines added by the Cistercians, to supply the defaced portion

Inasmuch as he makes mention of that council in a work which, we cannot doubt, was composed anterior to his flight from Paris.

+ J. Buzelini Gallo-Flandria ap. de Visch de Vitâ Alani, s. 2.

Converso and conversa, convers and converse, are still used in the same sense. It has been pretended that, in his menial disguise, he followed the abbot of Citeaux to the fourth council of Lateran in 1215, and got into a dispute with some heretic, who exclaimed, "Aut diabolus, aut Alanus." That council met thirteen years after his death, and the whole story (similar to one told of Sir T. More and Erasmus) is good for nothing.

of his epitaph, simply state the fact of his being a conversus and a shepherd, with no allusion to the latter portion of the tale.

As to its probability, we should remember that human nature is continually modified by the changeful influence of opinion. Civilization and refinement are tyrants in their practice, and permit of little deviation from the standard of ideas and manners to which they have set their stamp. They allow of no eccentric movements, and tolerate no idiosyncrasies of the human mind; and as they advance, we find both fewer odd men, and fewer remarkable or admirable men. In our modern societies you may eat your fill of your own heart, but you have no facilities afforded you πάτον ἀνθρώπων ἀλεείνειν. The conscience and feelings have to be much suppressed and dissembled; and those who cannot thus master the working that is. within them may just go mad and hang themselves. Among us, therefore, the motives and ideas which drove this learned scholar from the scene of his glory into a secret exile from society, from fame, and from his best-loved pursuits, may sound improbable. Probable they are, nevertheless; as probable in that age as the pursuits of an honorary secretary to a tract society might then have seemed improbable.

So far as the substance of this history is concerned, the following circumstance occurs to confirm its truth. It is not disputed that "sufficiat vidisse Alanum" passed into common use as a proverb. Now that proverb must either have originated as a mere compliment to Alanus, or in some special anecdote. But, considered in the former light, it would be an hyperbole beyond all measure and bearing, and unwarranted by his degree of celebrity. It never was heard say of Homer or Aristotle, of Aquinas or Scotus, or any such man, however renowned, that "to see him was enough." Not to add that, if it were said, it would be but nonsense, and really no compliment at all. Therefore the proberb, so unaccountable generally, must have arisen specially. And that being once admitted, there can be no reason to seek for its origin in any other incident than the one to which the narrative refers it.

But we may not, after all, have got to the bottom of his feelings in this affair, and his words concerning it may by no means have declared the whole counsel of his heart. It was a serious step thus to fly from his post at the very moment when he had a public duty in hand, and it was one calculated to become a rock of offence to many minds that had invoked his learning and authority to help their unbelief. It does not seem to have been such a great or difficult thing for a practised teacher to present to his class, at one sitting, a clear view of the definitions and illustrations of the mystery of the holy Trinity, as it was tanght by theologians. It did not really resemble the childish conceit of emptying the Seine into a puddle. For although that topic is a very high one, and, from its transcending nature, can only be compassed vóły Tɩvì diavoíą, it is not one of vast extent, or of peculiar difficulty, to set forth and vindicate against exceptions. The church, and the fathers, and the schools, had gone before him to smooth his way. may, therefore, still inquire what anguish and perturbation of the inward man it could have really been that drove Alanus first into such

We

a sudden dereliction of purpose and duty, and then to bury himself in an unknown solitude. "Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds to hear the bleatings of the flocks?" A susceptible conscience, pricked with the conviction of intellectual pride and vanity, and worship of the world, is not the sole impulse by which he may have been deterred from publicly expounding and asserting the catholic verity. He may have studied away, and refined away, his own faith, and have precipitately renounced the idea of satisfying others when he could no longer satisfy himself. We shall discover no light reasons for apprehending that such was the real case; and that he was delivered from the severe struggles of his soul, not by any recovery to Christian health, but by settling down into total impiety. This will appear from a brief review of his works, which are on many accounts very interesting.

(To be continued.)

PHOTIUS.—No. I.

THE great changes which have from time to time been effected in the intellectual and political condition of mankind are generally to be traced to the influence of illustrious men. According to the great scheme of providential government, such persons perform in human society a part analogous to that which has been assigned to the more powerful material agents in the physical world. The peculiarities which ultimately become characteristic of a nation may sometimes be attributed to the operation of an individual mind; and still more frequently we find that the life of an eminent man has produced a lasting effect upon the most important interests of his country. It is needless to remark that the characters and fortunes of the persons who from merit or circumstances have gained admission to this highest class of human agents, deserve the most careful attention of all who are interested in moral and historical studies.

Among the persons who have brought about great changes, and exercised a permanent influence upon the condition of a large portion of mankind, we must undoubtedly assign a conspicuous place to Photius, the distinguished patriarch of Constantinople. The Roman empire of the East forms the connecting link between the ancient and the modern world. We are indebted to its protracted existence for the greater part of what we know of Grecian literature and civilization. That it handed down to us the torch of Hellenic learning was, however, in a great measure, due to Photius. Yet it is not merely on this account that his history is worthy of our curiosity. It has higher claims upon the attention of the Christian student. The circumstances under which he obtained and exercised the highest ecclesiastical dignity of the East were of serious and lasting importance to the universal church. The age of Photius is not more memorable as the era of the revival of Greek literature than as the commencement of the long separation of Eastern and Western Christendom.

Photius, however, has had the usual fate of those who have been conspicuous in party quarrels. His character and conduct have been very differently estimated by his friends and foes. The greater part of the information* which has come down to us from antiquity, was written by his declared enemies. In modern times he has been treated by the Romish writers with unfairness and virulence; while he has been vindicated by many protestants with a partiality scarcely less injurious to the cause of truth. Even our own Bishop Mountague, the editor of his Letters,+ has not escaped the contagion of prejudice, and has sometimes met the misrepresentations of Baronius with more of party spirit than candour. A fresh examination of the sources from which we derive his history, conducted with moderation and fairness, will, therefore, scarcely be deemed unnecessary. The result (it is hoped) of such an examination it is the intention of the writer to communicate in a series of papers to the British Magazine.

Photius was descended from an illustrious family, whose members had for several generations borne the highest offices of the church and state in the Eastern empire. We have not the means of ascertaining the place, or the date, of his birth. In all probability, however, he was born at Constantinople, between the years 815 and 820.§ The patriarch Tarasius, who took so active a part in the second council of Nice, and distinguished himself by his zeal against the Iconoclasts, was his great uncle. His parents also adhered to the party which defended the use of images. And as he claims for them

The Life of the Patriarch Ignatius, written by Nicetas Davides Paphlago, the Letters and Memoirs printed with the Acts of the Synod of Constantinople of 869, which the Romanists call the eighth general council, (ed. Rader. Ingolstad. 1604; and inserted in the subsequent editions of the councils,) and other contemporary letters, afford much minute information respecting the ecclesiastical affairs in which he took part. Several of the Byzantine historians of the following age supply particulars more or less valuable respecting the events of his public life. But his own works afford us the most important materials. We may learn much from his epistles, and not a little from his other writings.

+ Photii Sanctissimi Patriarchæ Constantinopolitani Epistola. Per Reverendum Virum Richardum Montacutium Norvicensem nuper Episcopum, Latinè redditæ, et Notis subinde illustratæ. Londini, 1651. This was a valuable accession to Byzantine literature, but the translation and notes were scarcely worthy of Bishop Mountague. It was a posthumous publication. This learned prelate died in 1641. # Ην οὗτος ὁ Φώτιος οὐ τῶν ἀγεννῶν τε καὶ ἀνωνύμων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν εὐγενῶν κατὰ σάρκα, nal para. Nicet. Vit. Ignatii, ap. Concil., tom. viii. col. 1197, B. edit. Labbe. These are the words of an enemy. It appears from Ignatius Diaconus, the biographer of Tarasius, that George, the great-grandfather of Photius, was prefect of the city; and Tarasius himself, before he was made patriarch, bore a high civil employ

ment.

There is nothing which leads to a sure conjecture. But he could scarcely have been much under forty when he became patriarch in 858; and it is almost impossible that he could have been very considerably older, as he appears to have possessed his characteristic energy in 886.

The

Speaking of the second Nicene council, he says that the prelates assembled ἅμα τῷ ἡμετέρω πατροθείῳ, καὶ ἁγιωτάτῳ καὶ τρισμακαρίστῳ ἀνδρὶ Ταρασίῳ, ̓Αρχιεπισκόπῳ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως. Epist. p. 60. Fabricius very properly remarks (Bibl. Græc., tom. ix. p. 369,) that wargidos must mean a great uncle by the father's side. translator of the letter to pope Nicolas given by Baronius, an. 861, No. 47, makes Photius speak of " Tarasium nostrum proavunculum," where the original word was, no doubt, the same.

VOL. XVI.-July, 1839.

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