in Italy. But the revival of theological zeal, and of those particular studies which it fostered, might perhaps more than compensate in its effect on the industry of the learned for this decline of philology. The sciences also of medicine and mathematics attracted many more students than before. The Jesuit colleges, and those founded by Gregory XIII., have been already mentioned. They were endowed at a large expense in that palmy state of the Roman see. Altdor In other countries. 59. Universities were founded at Altdorf and Leyden in 1575, at Helmstadt in 1576. Others of less importance began to exist in the same age. The University of Edinburgh derives its origin from the charter of James in 1582. Those of Oxford and Cambridge, reviving as we have seen after a severe shock at the accession of Elizabeth, continued through her reign to be the seats of a progressive and solid erudition. A few colleges were founded in this age. I should have wished to give some sketch of the mode of instruction pursued in these two universities. But sufficient materials have not fallen in my way; what I have been able to glean has already been given to the reader in some pages of the first volume. It was the common practice at Oxford, observed in form down to this century, that every candidate for the degree of bachelor of arts, independently of other exercises, should undergo an examination (become absolutely nominal) in the five sciences of grammar, logic, rhetoric, ethics, and geometry; every one for that of master of arts, in the additional sciences of physics, metaphysics, Hebrew, and some more. These were probably the ancient trivium and quadrivium; enlarged, perhaps after the sixteenth century, according to the increase of learning, and the apparent necessity of higher qualifications. But it would be, I conceive, a great mistake to imagine that the requisitions for academical degrees were ever much insisted upon. The universities sent forth abundance of illiterate graduates in every age. And as they had little influence, at least of a favourable sort, P ["The quadrivials, I mean arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy, are now little regarded in either of the universities." Harrison's Description of VOL. II. England, p. 252. Hence we may infer that the more modern division in use at Oxford was made after his time.1842.] S either on philosophy or polite literature, we are not to overrate their importance in the history of the intellectual progress of mankind. Sixtus V. 60. Public libraries were considerably enlarged during this period. Those of Rome, Ferrara, and FloLibraries. rence in Italy, of Vienna and Heidelberg in Germany, stood much above any others. erected the splendid repository of the Vatican. Philip II. founded that of the Escurial, perhaps after 1580, and collected books with great labour and expense; all who courted the favour of Spain contributing also by presents of rarities." Ximenes had established the library of Alcala; and that of Salamanca is likewise more ancient than this of the Escurial. Every king of France took a pride in adding to the royal library of Paris. By an ordinance of 1556, a copy of every book printed with privilege was to be deposited in this library. It was kept at Fontainebleau, but transferred to Paris in 1595. During the civil wars its progress was slow. The first prince of Orange founded the public library of Leyden, which shortly became one of the best in Europe. The catalogue was published in 1597. That bequeathed by Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, to the university of Oxford, was dispersed in the general havoc made under Edward VI. At the close of the century the university had no public library. But Sir Thomas Bodley had already, in 1597, made the generous offer of presenting his own, which was carried into effect in the first years of the ensuing age. In the colleges there were generally libraries. If we could believe Scaliger, these were good; but he had never been in England, and there is no reason, I believe, to estimate them highly." Archbishop Parker had founded, or at least greatly enlarged, the public library of Cambridge. Many private persons of learning and opulence had formed libraries in England under Elizabeth; some of which still subsist in the mansions of ancient families. I incline to believe that there was at least as competent a stock of what is generally called learning among our gentry as in any continental kingdom; their education was more literary, their habits more peaceable, their religion more argumentative. Perhaps we should make an exception for Italy, in which the spirit of collecting libraries was more prevalent.* Collections of antiquities in Italy. 61. The last forty years of the sixteenth century were a period of uninterrupted peace in Italy. Notwithstanding the pressure of governments always jealous, and sometimes tyrannical, it is manifest that at least the states of Venice and Tuscany had grown in wealth, and in the arts that attend it. Those who had been accustomed to endure the licence of armies found a security in the rule of law which compensated for many abuses. Hence that sort of property, which is most exposed to pillage, became again a favourite acquisition; and, among the costly works of art which adorned the houses of the wealthy, every relic of antiquity found its place. Gems and medals, which the books of Vico and Erizzo had taught the owners to arrange and to appreciate, were sought so eagerly, that, according to Hubert Goltzius, as quoted by Pinkerton, there were in Italy 380 of such collections. The marbles and bronzes, the inscriptions of antiquity, were not less in request, and the well-known word, virtuosi, applied to these lovers of what was rare and beautiful in art or nature, bespoke the honour in [Morhof, i. 3, mentions several large private libraries in Italy and France: that of the younger Aldus Manutius contained 80,000 volumes.-1842.] which their pursuits were held. The luxury of literature displayed itself in scarce books, elegant impressions, and sumptuous bindings. 62. Among the refined gentlemen, who devoted to these graceful occupations their leisure and their riches, Pinelli. none was more celebrated than Gian Vincenzio Pinelli. He was born of a good family at Naples in 1538. A strong thirst for knowledge, and the consciousness that his birth exposed him to difficulties and temptations at home which might obstruct his progress, induced him to seek, at the age of twenty-four, the university of Padua, at that time the renowned scene of learning and of philosophy. In this city he spent forty-three years, the remainder of his life. His father was desirous that he should practise the law; but after a short study of this, Pinelli resumed his favourite pursuits. His fortune, indeed, was sufficiently large to render any sacrifice of them unreasonable; and it may have been out of dislike of his compulsory reading, that in forming this vast library he excluded works of jurisprudence. This library was collected by the labour of many years. The catalogues of the Frankfort fairs, and those of the principal booksellers in Italy, were diligently perused by Pinelli; nor did any work of value appear from the press on either side of the Alps which he did not instantly add to his shelves. This great library was regularly arranged, and, though he did not willingly display its stores to the curious and ignorant, they were always accessible to scholars. He had also a considerable museum of globes, maps, mathematical instruments, and fossils; but he only collected the scarcer coins. In his manners, Pinelli was a finely-polished gentleman, but of weak health, and for this cause devoted to books, and seldom mingling with gay society, nor even belonging to the literary academies of the city, but carrying on an extensive correspondence, and continually employed in writing extracts or annotations. Yet he has left nothing y Animadverterat autem hic noster, domi, inter amplexus parentum et familiarium obsequia, in urbe deliciarum plena, militaribus et equestribus, quam musarum studiis aptiore, non preventurum sese ad eam gloriæ metam quam sibi destinaverat, ideo gymnasii Patavini fama permotus, &c. Gualdi, Vita Pinelli. This life by a contemporary, or nearly such, is republished in the Vitæ Illustrium Virorum by Bates. that has been published. His own house was as it were a perpetual academy, frequented by the learned of all nations. If Pinelli was not a man of great genius, nor born to be of much service to any science, we may still respect him for a love of learning, and a nobleness of spirit, which has preserved his memory." 63. The literary academies of Italy continued to flourish even more than before; many new societies of Italian the same kind were founded. Several existed at academies. Florence, but all others have been eclipsed by the Della Crusca, established in 1582. Those of another Tuscan city, which had taken the lead in such literary associations, did not long survive its political independence; the jealous spirit of Cosmo extinguished the Rozzi of Sienna in 1568. In governments as suspicious as those of Italy, the sort of secrecy belonging to these meetings, and the encouragement they gave to a sentiment of mutual union, might appear sufficient reasons for watchfulness. We have seen how the academy of Modena was broken up on the score of religion. That of Venice, perhaps for the same reason, was dissolved by the senate in 1561, and did not revive. till 1593. These, however, were exceptions to the rule; and it was the general policy of governments to cherish in the nobility a love of harmless amusements. All Lombardy and Romagna were full of academies; they were frequent in the kingdom of Naples, and in the ecclesiastical states. They are a remarkable feature in the social condition of Italy, and could not have existed perhaps in any other country. They were the encouragers of a numismatic and lapidary erudition, elegant in itself, and throwing for ever its little sparks of light on the still ocean of the past, but not very favourable to comprehensive observation, and tending to bestow on an unprofitable pedantry the honours of real learning. This, indeed, is the inherent vice of all literary societies, accessible too frequently to those who, for amusement or fashion's sake, love as much knowledge as can be reached with facility, Gualdi. Tiraboschi, vi. 214. The library of Pinelli was dispersed and in great part destroyed by pirates not long afterwards. That long since formed by one of his family is well known to book collectors. Tiraboschi, viii. 125-179, is so full on this subject, that I have not recourse to the other writers who have, sometimes with great prolixity, investigated a subject more interesting in its details to the Italians than to us. Ginguéné adds very little to what he found in his prede cessor. |