Page:The Journal of English and Germanic Philology Volume 18.djvu/491

 Rev < 7 Notes 487 only the increase of knowledge of the Greek literature and language, but also the spread of a belief in the oneness of the entire universe, the oneness of all mankind with the universe, which was as truly an art of living as it was a system of thought and based upon the teachings of Christ and of Plotinus. 2 The church feared a dangerous rival in these teachings of humanity; members of the academies were branded as heretics, academies were suppressed. Secretly as they had to be fostered, however, the ideas did not die. As humanism spread over Europe, organi- zations were formed with dual aims; for one, an avowed purpose of a popular and progressive nature; for the other, the secret cult. Membership in these organizations were not always acknowledged; lists did not always contain the names of all members; and it seems fair to suppose that lists may have been purposely misleading. We can quote the amazingly democratic 'firstly' and 'secondly' of the avowed purpose of one of the self- styled language societies; its secret purpose comes out only in the guarded utterances of private correspondence. 3 Thus the terrible fate that attended Giordano Bruno gains more significance. This Italian Neoplatonist paid a visit to England in 1583, a fact of capital importance in the history of English Neoplatonism. But whatever his influence upon mem- bers of the Assembly of Antiquaries may have been, it is inter- esting for us to recall that Dr. Steeves notes (as I have shown above) the fact of decided uncertainty regarding the purposes of that society and makes a claim for its probable literary aims. No doubt he is perfectly justified. But may not this society have had several aims? Dr. Steeves mentions also, moreover, a 2 Ludwig Keller: Die gclstigen Grundlagen der Freimanrerci und das ojfentliche Lcben. Jena, 1911; also Comenius and die Aka-demien der Naiur- philo sophie des 17. Jahrhunderts, in Monatshefte der Comenius Gesellschaft IV (1895). 3 Firstly, All members of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft, irrespective of rank or religion, must be honorable, intelligent and wise, virtuous and courteous, useful and entertaining, affable, and moderate in all things; when they meet they must be amiable, cheerful, and friendly, and just as it is strictly forbidden at the meetings for one member to take in bad part an offensive word from another, so must they on the other hand be firmly pledged to refrain from all unseemly remarks and vulgar jests. Secondly, The first duty of the members must be, above all things, to pre- serve and cultivate most carefully, in speech, writing, and poetry, our beloved mother-tongue in its true form and proper meaning, without a mixture of foreign patch-words, also as far as possible, especially within the Society, to insure that this principle be in no way infringed but rather obediently complied with. Quoted p. xv by Gilbert Waterhouse: The Literary Relations of England and Germany in the Seventeenth Century. Cambridge, 1914. This avowed purpose is certainly apposite among a people of whom was said : "Wenn man eines neusiichtigen Deutschlings Herz offnen und sehen sollte, wiirde man nugenscheinlich befinden, dass fiinf Achtel desselben franzosisch, ein Achtel spanisch, eins italienisch und kaum eins deutsch daran gefunden werden." Moscherosch: Gesichte /'/ .;i Sittenwatt, 1642.