hending life's reality in the blending of love and knowledge, holding the hand of Festus and calling the name of his dead poet-friend Aprile, he passes in peace. He has found at last that the loving heart is the lamp of God. Festus presses his hand and as he dies he recognizes Aprile, who years before had passed into the great silence.

Par.:

And this is death: I understand it all.

New being waits me; new perceptions must

Be born in me before I plunge therein,

Which last is Death's affair; and while I speak
Minute by minute he is filling me

With power; and... my foot is on the threshold
Of boundless life-the doors unopened yet.

If I stoop

Into a dark tremendous sea of cloud

It is but for a time; I press God's lamp

Close to my breast; its splendor, soon or late,
Will pierce the gloom: I shall emerge one day.
You understand me? I have said enough.

Festus, let my hand

This hand-lie in your own, my own true friend!
Aprile! Hand in hand with you, Aprile!

Festus: And this was Paracelsus.

6. W. Barnes.

ART. VIII. THE LETTERS OF LIPSIUS.

FROM the library of the late sorely lamented Professor Allen, of Harvard, came into my possession a curious little book which happens to be exactly three hundred years old. It contains eight hundred selected letters in Latin by Justus Lipsius. Printed in Avignon in 1603, it bears on the second blank leaf the name of Martin Boscheron as its owner in 1609; on the third, the name of F. D. Allen, with the date of 1892, to which is added, "Paris, 20 centimes." Here too now stands the record of the appreciation in value which it suffered by being Professor Allen's; for, after subscribing my own name as the present owner, I wrote in the upper right-hand corner "50 cts." It would appear, therefore, that it increased in value more than one thousand per cent in six years! Surely there are some depths that plummets will not sound, some prices that defy all the principles of economics! Justus Lipsius, the celebrated humanist and classical scholar, whose life is nearly coincident with the latter half of the sixteenth century, had an erratic and rather remarkable career, corresponding to his own genius. At different times he was a professor in the universities of Jena, Leyden, and Louvain. For two years he was a Latin secretary in a cardinal's retinue at Rome. He was acquainted with most of the great classical scholars of his time, and long maintained the reputation of being the greatest of them all. To the discriminating critic of to-day it is clear that his classical scholarship was narrow, and in many ways superficial. He knew little Greek, cared nothing for a large part of Latin literature, and published many rash conjectural emendations of Latin texts. For all that, his knowledge of Latin would be astounding to an American youth of to-day. It was he who could repeat the whole of Tacitus by heart, and agreed to do so with a drawn dagger held to his heart, the point to be plunged into him if at any time he failed to go on correctly! His editions of Tacitus and Seneca were really important works; and it is not strange that he left a great body of letters written in the Latin language, which were published in "centuries," or groups of one hundred. The edition

that I have contains eight of these centuries, as the title-page states, of which three are addressed to Frenchmen, Italians, and Spaniards; the fourth, to Germans and Frenchmen; the fifth is addressed to miscellaneous recipients; the last three are to Belgians. Then follows a treatise on the epistolary art, by the same Lipsius. Finally there is an index of "several noteworthy subjects and most elegant similes," supposed to be quite complete, which was inserted, so it is stated, "for the benefit of studious youth!" Each century of the letters, as a rule, is preceded by a separate dedication, and in several cases there is a prefatory appeal "to the reader." In the first of these Lipsius apologizes for publishing a part of his letters at a time, saying that they are a sample, sent forth tentatively, like a scout to test the temper and strength of the enemy. "If there are no enemies, or but few," he concludes, "I will faithfully agree to lead forth into the public gaze of Fame the whole host of my letters. But if pitfalls and snares await me I shall lie quiet, and wisely remain in the camp of trusty silence. My good reader, show kindness and indulgence to one who reciprocates those feelings." In the address to the reader at the beginning of the second century he finds it already necessary to warn others from publishing epistles of his without his knowledge and consent; and sets his imitators an example in the matter by publishing there none of any other writer than himself. It was the custom of Lipsius to date his letters; the first one in this collection is dated 1575, the last one 1601. Of course most of the persons to whom they are addressed are as little known to us as is the barber of Rameses or the hostler of Sennacherib! When we turn the pages, and Gedeon Tserhendrixius, Joannes Drenckvaertus, Petrus Lafaillius, Franciscus Schottus, Augerius Busbequius, and that ilk, pass before us in solemn review, we cannot but ask again and again, "What is fame?" Here and there, however, we find a more familiar name, like that of the classical scholar Gruter, the French statesman Jacques Auguste de Thou, or the genius Joseph Justus Scaliger. In the first address to the reader Lipsius expresses the conviction that a letter should drop hot from the point of one's pen, claiming that his own habit is never to rewrite indeed seldom to read one over a second time. Such a method

one,

cannot fail to produce the impression of spontaneity, whatever may be the effect upon style or accuracy. That he was not lacking in the theory of the epistolary art appears from the mere enumeration of the subjects of the chapters of his essay on that topic: "On various names for a letter, and on its form among the ancients;" "What constitutes a letter, and what are its parts;" "Definition and division of the subject-matter, and discussion of the address;" "On the conclusion of a letter and its sealing;" "Variety of subject and its arrangement;" "Invention and order of treatment;" "Style, first, Brevity;" "Clearness, how it is violated, how it is attained;" "Simplicity, which is twofold, and advice how to attain it;" "Beauty and propriety;" "Style in particular to be gained by imitation-what authors should be read for this, and when;" "In what way to quote, and from whom ;" "The expression and formation of style by three kinds of imitation."

It would be tedious to attempt any test of the success of Lipsius in carrying out all the principles he lays down. Even a cursory examination of the collection in this volume, however, would enable us to state some of his chief characteristics as a letter writer. The letters are seldom very long-often decidedly short. The Latin is by no means Ciceronian; but that would have been beyond expectation in a scholar trained in the methods of that day; and, besides, Lipsius was no admirer of Cicero. Here, for example, is a letter taken at random, addressed to a certain Lupus Dionysius. Running the eye along the lines I find such expressions as these: Litteras tuas... exosculatus sum; hanc flammam per litteras revelare; ad omnem disciplinam sequaces; militaria vel aulica; eae imbibuntur per lectionem; etc. But the Latinity is that of one that has read widely and well the treasures of Latin literature from the best classical period down to his own time. Greek quotations occur often; and it is significant that in such cases a parallel Latin rendering is to be found on the margin ! Evidently the average reader was not expected to be familiar with Greek. Now and then appear quotations from Latin poetry, but they are not remarkably common. Various forms of address are employed. The stereotyped "S. D." sometimes gives place to S. dico, S. precor, S. mitto, S. multam precor, plain S., or to the

...

...

total omission of everything except the name of the addressee. Even greater freedom may be noticed in the closing sentences of the letters. Such forms as these often take the place of the historic vale:-deus te servet ("God save you"); fata viderint, tu mi-salve ("The fates see to it that you flourish, my dear friend"); tibi illam [valetudinem] longam, et hanc bonam . . . posco (“I beseech for you that your health may long endure and be excellent"); ergo amare amatum me possum dicere: et ut semper possim, te per Genium tuum Virtuti et Honori sic amicum roga (“I may say that I reciprocate your affection: pray your Genius, so well-disposed toward Virtue and Honor, that I may always do so as fully"); nihil liquidi in rebus humanis: in alto hoc erit, quo te meque, mi Veli, Altissimus ille et ipivyos ducat ("There is nothing clear in human affairs; that shall be attained on high; and thither, my dear Velius, may He who is above all, throned in the heavens, bring thee and me"); me, si non ex merito, ex benignitate tua ama ("Love me even if I don't deserve it-because of your kindness of heart"); Deum precor, te ecclesiae suae, magnum et rarum lumen, diu lucere patiatur ("I pray God that he will long permit you to shine as a powerful and brilliant light of his Church"); and so on in endless mutations. The date regularly follows, last of all. Only an extended study of the letters and a general acquaintance with them can show how successfully he attained to the ideals of brevity, perspicuity, beauty, and propriety which he held. But the curious reader will find a remarkable, often brilliant product in searching for the answers to these questions. The subjects treated are, of course, often mere matters of friendship or details of small business or family and personal interests. But many more important questions are among those discussed. One letter reopens the venerable dispute as to which Alpine pass Hannibal traversed with his elephants and his invincible cavalry. Other interesting subjects are, "Who is the author of evil?" "History of dogs;" "The worship of Cybele;" "The being and providence of God defended against the blasphemies of atheists and Epicureans;" estimates of Homer, Statius, Tacitus, and Tertullian; and emendations to various Latin authors. Among the noteworthy similes employed are those where calumnies are