XV.

Latin poetry was revived by Antonius Panor- C EN T. mitanus, who excited a spirit of emulation among PART II. the favourites of the Muses, and had many fol-" lowers in that sublime art [x]; while Cyriac of Ancona, by his own example, introduced a taste for coins, medals, inscriptions, gems, and other precious monuments of antiquity, of which he himself made a large collection in Italy [y].

telian and

IV. It is not necessary to give here a peculiar The state of and minute account of the other branches of li- the Aristoterature that flourished in this century; never- Platonic theless, the state of philosophy deserves a mo- philosophy. ment's attention. Before the arrival of the Greeks in Italy, Aristotle reigned unrivalled there, and captivated, as it were, by a sort of enchantment, all without exception, whose genius led them to philosophical enquiries. The veneration that was shewn him degenerated into a foolish and extravagant enthusiasm; the encomiums with which he was loaded surpassed the bounds of decency; and many carried matters so far as to compare him with the respectable precursor of the Messiah [x]. This violent passion for the Stagirite was however abated, or rather was rendered less universal, by the influence which the Grecian sages, and particularly Gemestius Pletho, acquired among the Latins, many of whom they persuaded to abandon the contentious and subtile doctrine of the Peripatetics, and to substitute in its place the mild and divine wisdom of Plato. It was in the year 1439, about the time of

(x) Bayle's Dictionary, at the article Panormit.

() See the Itinerarium of Cyriac of Ancona, published at Florence in the year 1742, in 8vo, by Mr Lawrence Mehus, from the original manuscript, together with a Preface, Annotations, and several letters of this learned man, who may be considered as the first antiquarian that appeared in Europe.See also Leon. Aretini Epistolæ, tom. ii. lib. ix. p. 149.

(z) See Christ. Aug. Heumanni Acta Philosophorum, tom. iii. p. 345.

XV

CENT. of the famous council of Florence, that this revo PART IIlution happened in the empire of philosophy: Several illustrious personages among the Latins, charmed with the sublime sentiments and doctrines of Plato, had them propagated among the studious youth, and particularly among those of a certain rank and figure. The most eminent patron of this divine philosophy, as it was termed by its votaries, was Cosmo de Medicis, who had no sooner heard the lectures of Pletho, than he formed the design of founding a Platonic academy at Florence. For this purpose he ordered Marsilius Ficinus, the son of his first physician, to be carefully instructed in the doctrines of the Athenian sage, and, in general, in the language and philology of the Greeks, that he might translate into Latin the productions of the most renowned Platonists. Ficinus answered well the expectations, and executed the intentions of his illustrious patron, by translating successively into the Latin language the celebrated works of Hermes Trismegistus, Plotinus, and Plato. The same excellent prince encouraged by his munificence, and animated by his protection, many learned men, such as Ambrose of Camaldoli, Leonardo Bruno, Pogge, and others, to undertake works of a like nature, even to enrich the Latin literature with translations of the best Greek writers. The consequence of all this was, that two philosophical sects arose in Italy, who debated for a long time (with the warmest animosity in a multitude of learned and contentious productions) this important question, which of the two was the greatest philosopher, Aristotle or Plato [a]?

V. Be

(a) Boivin, dans l'Histoire de l'Academie des Inscriptions et des Belles Lettres, tom. iv. p. 381.-Launoius, De varia fortuna Aristotelis, p. 225.-Leo Allatius, De Georgius, p. 391.

-La

XV.

The Plato

V. Between these two opposite factions, certain C E N T. eminent men, among both Greeks and Latins, PART II. thought proper to steer a middle course. To this class belong Johannes Picus de Mirandola, pic SynereBessarion, Hermolaus Barbarus, and others tists. of less renown, who indeed considered Plato as the supreme oracle of philosophy, but would by no means suffer Aristotle to be treated withi indifference or contempt, and who proposed to reconcile the jarring doctrines of these two famous Grecian sages, and to combine them into one system. These moderate philosophers, both in their manner of teaching, and in the opinions they adopted, followed the modern Platonic school, of which Ammonius was the original founder [6]. Their sect was, for a long time, held in the ut most veneration, particularly among the Mystics; while the scholastic doctors, and all such as were infected with the itch of disputing, favoured the Peripatetics. But, after all, these reconciling Platonists were chargeable with many errors and follies; they fell into the most childish superstitions, and followed, without either reflection or restraint, the extravagant dictates of their wanton imaginations.

VI. Their

--La Croze, Entretiens sur divers Sujets, p. 384.-Josephy Bianchini, in his account of the protection granted to the learned by the house of Medicis, which we have mentioned note (n).—Bruckeri Historia Critica Philosophie, tom. iv. p. 62.

It was not only the respective merit of these two philosophers, considered in that point of light, that was debated in this controversy: The principal question was, which of their systems was most conformable to the doctrines of Christianity? And here the Platonic most certainly deserved the preference, as was abundantly proved by Pletho and others. It is well known, that many of the opinions of Aristotle lead directly to Atheism.

(b) See Bessarion's Letter in the Histoire de l'Academie des Inscriptions et des Belles Lettres, tom. v. p. 456.-Thomasius, De Syncretismo Peripatetico, in Orationibu. ejus, p. 340.

XV.

The fol

maintain

their superiority.

CENT. VI. Their system of philosophy was, however, PART II. much less pernicious than that of the Aristotelians, their adversaries, who still maintained their lowers of Superiority in Italy, and instructed the youth in Aristotle all the public schools of learning. For these subtile doctors, and more especially the followers of Averroes (who maintain that all the human race were animated by one common soul) sapped imperceptibly the foundations of both natural and revealed religion, and entertained sentiments very little, if at all, different from that impious pantheistical system, which confounds the Deity with the universe, and acknowledges but one self-existent being, composed of infinite matter and infinite intelligence. The most eminent among this class of sophists was Peter Pomponace, a native of Mantua, a man of a crafty turn, and an arrogant, enterprising spirit, who notwithstanding the pernicious tendency of his writings (many of which are yet extant) to undermine the principles, and to corrupt the doctrines of religion [c], was almost universally followed by all the professors of philosophy in the Italian academies. These intricate doctors did not, however, escape the notice of the inquisitors, who alarmed both by the rapid progress and dangerous tendency of their metaphysical notions, took cognizance of them, and called the Aristotelians to give an account of their principles. The latter, tempering their courage with craft, had recourse to a mean and perfidious stratagem to extricate themselves out of this embarrassing trial. They pretended to establish a wide distinction between philosophical and theological truth; and maintaining that their sentiments were philosophically true, and conformable to right reason, they allowed them to be esteemed theologically false, and contrary to

the

(c) See the very learned Brucker's Historia Critica Philosophiae, tom, iv. p. 158.

XV.

the declarations of the Gospel. This miserable C EN T. and impudent subterfuge was condemned and pro- PART II. hibited in the following century by Leo X. in a council held at the Lateran.

tween Real

continued.

VII. The Realists and Nominalists continued The controtheir disputes in France and Germany with more very be vigour and animosity than ever, and finding rea-ists and Noson and argument but feeble weapons, they had minalists recourse to mutual invectives and accusations, penal laws, and even to the force of arms; a strange method surely, of deciding a metaphysical question. The contest was not only warm, but also universal in its extent; for it infected, almost without exception, all the French and German academies. In most places, however, the Realists maintained a manifest superiority over the Nominalists, to whom they also gave the appellation of Terminists [d]. While the famous Gerson and the most eminent of his disciples were living, the Nominalists were in high esteem and credit in the university of Paris. But, upon the death of these powerful and respectable patrons, the face of things was entirely changed, and that much to their disadvantage. In the year 1473, Lewis XI. by the instigation of his confessor the bishop of Avranches, issued out a severe edict against the doctrines of the Nominalists, and ordered all their writings to be seized, and secured in a sort of imprisonment, that they might not be perused by the people [e]. But the same monarch mitigated this edict the year following, and permitted some of the books of that sect to be delivered

(d) See Brucker's Historia Critica Philosophia, tom. iii. p. 904.-Jo. Salaberti Philosophia Nominalium Vindicata, cap. i. -Bluzii Miscellan. tom. iv. p. 531.-Argentre, Collectio documentor. de novis erroribus, tom. i. P. 220.

[e] Naude's Additions à l'Histoire de Louis XI. p. 203.Du Boulay, Histor. Acad. Paris. tom. v. p. 678, 795, 708.— Launoy's Histor. Gymnas. Navarr. tom. iv. opp. part I. p. 251, 378.