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be superseded. Such sanctity as Bruno's on the other hand is not affected by the progressive thought of humanity, but may be said to stand for the absolute.

Approaching Bruno then with that reasonable sympathy which we owe to all men, what do we see? A man of A man of ripe experience of the world, fifty years old or thereabouts, well-born, who has had the best education his century could give him; of refined tastes and austere morals, with a strong will and a vigorous mind, holding already an enviable position in the Church, and to whom some of its greatest prizes are open if he will but put forth his hand; this man yet finds in the life of the world no satisfying peace, for he is one of those rare souls who are born to a great perfection. An inward voice is ever calling him to this along a road of self-denial and travail of spirit, with few resting places for the weary feet; and at the end of it the contemplative mind, the pure heart and soul. Does the prize seem small after such a journey? Perhaps so, to him who has never travelled the road. How many a prudent friend must have counselled him to choose an easier path, to remain in the world, and in a career of honourable ambition to deaden this longing for an impossible perfection. But such counsels did not weigh with him, and he went to the desert in order that the law of the spirit might prevail.

He was tormented with none of our intellectual hesitations, our paralysing doubts. The Bible was for him the living Word of God, and in it, with some necessary help from the Church and tradition, was unfolded the whole mystery of man's nature. Many of his interpretations were doubtless far-fetched, as we can see by what has come down to us; but such was the tendency of the age.

He is interesting, however, not as a professor of exegesis, but as a great character. And what an advantage it is to a man of noble character to be born in such an atmosphere, and to be kept from the blight of doubt. He had never seen cause to change a religious opinion, and thus was secured to him that singleness of vision which, as the Master said, maketh the whole body full of light." He did not indeed seek in the Bible for a set of universal truths which might serve as a complete philosophy for mankind; he sought there the food his temperament required, and his temperament was that of the religious solitary.

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We have mentioned more than one modern objection to such a life as Bruno's; but a really characteristic criticism of our age we have not noticed. The man of science has said that such a life is contrary to Nature; the literary man and the artist have told us that Bruno and his compeers took a narrow and unwise view of life, fatal to the love of beauty and to freedom of thought; while a subtle Italian reformer has said that the preachers of resignation are mostly responsible for the slowness of the world's progress, since they have made submission a virtue, where resistance might have gained freedom. There are other objections, but we will stop here. Now first as to the man of science such a life as Bruno's, he says, is contrary to Nature; well, all science, civilisation, art, literature, whatever is done by man as thinker, artist, apostle of order, is contrary to Nature. Is not this one of the phrases that help to hide vacancy of thought? With regard to the objection of the artist and the literary man, it really means that men have often the limitations which might be expected from their calling; but in the case of Bruno it is not in any large sense applicable.

The founder of the Carthusians had a passion for humane letters and a keen sense of the beautiful in Nature; and only those who do not know his life will say that he unworthily stifled any such liberalising instincts. And as to the charge of the Italian reformer, it is true that the saints have not shown a genius for conspiracy, but they are not therefore responsible for the tyranny of rulers. A sufficient answer is to be found in the fact that the noblest revolution recorded in history was the work of men like Bruno, filled through and through with the longing for an inward perfection.

But all this has the ring of controversy, and not in such a spirit could we becomingly take leave of Bruno. To do justice to such a character, we must fix our minds upon the root-idea of his system, and this we have seen is purity. As Bruno conceived it, purity is an idea in the supernatural order. He may have spurned the body overmuch; but great things are costly, and for such a result the price was not too heavy. Ascetical prac

tices, monastic orders, and the rest,— these are so much scaffolding; it is the idea alone which is eternal. And by virtue of this idea never again, unless wisdom and nobleness disappear from the earth, will men openly return to the worship of heathen gods. Nor need we fear that it is opposed to liberal thinking and to a wide outlook upon life; it is the man with a small number of thoughts working in a restricted area, who tells us this idea is fatal to science, art, or literature, or to a generous activity in any worldly calling. In the world of mind a true idea is fatal to nothing, except to false ideas.

We have already quoted from a

letter of Bruno's to Ralph le Vert,a delightful letter, affectionate, graceful, winning; and we will give another passage from it, which will show a side of Bruno's nature of which we have perhaps said too little. He is writing from his new retreat at La Torre, and he says to his friend: "I live in a wild spot on the borders of Calabria, at some distance from the dwellings of men. How shall I tell you of the beauty of the place, and of the freshness of the air which we breathe here? Imagine a large and pleasant plain, stretching out between mountains into the distance, with meadows ever-green and pasturelands always blowing. . . . The eye may wander over charming gardens, with trees of every kind, laden with the most tempting fruits. But why do I speak so much of these pleasures of our solitude? The wise man should find here other pleasures, sweeter and higher, because they are divine. one's spirit, worn out by meditation and constant discipline, may well find an innocent recreation in the prospect of this lovely country; for a bow that is always bent loses its strength."

Yet

This fine passage surely shows that Bruno had genuine poetical feeling. But upon this we will not dwell, for it is as the type of the religious solitary that we have pictured him. That indeed is his true distinction, and we do not wish to confuse such an impression. As we think of him, there come to the lips words which might serve as the epitaph of this beautiful spirit, oft-quoted words of Augustine's which to Bruno must have been familiar: "Thou hast made us for Thyself, oh Lord, and our heart is restless till it finds rest in Thee."

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