Page:History of the German people at the close of the Middle Ages vol1.djvu/123

 UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 111 work, which he valued only as an instrument towards this end. 1 How can we be idle or wish for rest,' he writes in the ' Guide to the Eight Method of Studying,' for ourselves or for others, and how soon death comes to put an end to all which, through the grace and merits of our Saviour, we can do for our salvation ? Whether we labour with our pens or our words, we must always remember that we are preachers of the Truth, and apostles of love, and that this love will bring peace and blessing to ourselves according to the measure in which we distribute it anions? others. This thought will make the heaviest work light, and the severest trials sweet and welcome. Learning that is not born of this spirit leads only to evil, corrupts the heart, poisons the character, and misleads the world.' In the same spirit he addresses a letter to his brother : of God, which improves our morals, restrains our passions, gives an insight into all that is necessary to our salvation, and kindles in our hearts love for the Creator.' The ecclesiastical and pastoral works of Trithemius, and his sermons and letters, furnish the most striking proof of the profundity of thought and elevation of mind which he brought to bear on the problems of life. They are outpourings of the most sincere piety, and witnesses of the earnestness of spirit in which the study of the Holy Scriptures was carried on in those days. In common with the most prominent theologians of the day, Trithemius held that the study of theology
 * when we consider how much there is to do each day
 * True learning is that which leads to the knowledge