[351] Wilkins, Con. iii. 736. Collier, ii. 52, 53.
[352] Pole had explained the motives of his conduct in a letter addressed to the king, of which Cranmer writes: “It is written with such eloquence, that if it were set forth and known to the common people, I suppose it were not possible to persuade them to the contrary.”
[353] Pollina, lib. i. ch. xxix.
[354] As Flaminius is frequently made much of by Protestant writers as an adherent to their opinions, it may be as well to add that the passage touching his conversion by Pole, which appears in the original Italian life of Beccadelli, is omitted in Dudizio’s Latin translation. Beccadelli was the personal friend both of Pole and Flaminius, and his testimony is above suspicion.
[355] This is admitted by Ascham, who after boasting in one letter that Homer, Thucydides, and Xenophon are now critically studied at Oxford, is to be found very soon afterwards complaining that these authors are being neglected for others of an inferior calibre. It was no better at Cambridge, where, after the departure of Sir John Cheke, the classical revival died a natural death, the study of divinity having expired long before. “It would pity a man’s heart,” says Latimer, “to hear what I hear of the state of Cambridge. There be few that study divinity, save those who must of necessity furnish the colleges.”
[356] Erasmus died two years before the publication of this report. His “Colloquies” were intended as an educational work, and were written originally for the use of the son of his printer, Froben, their elegant Latinity having found them a ready admittance into the schools. He died in the Protestant city of Basle, unfortified by the sacraments of the Church. His friends erected a monument to his memory, which they surmounted with a bust of the God Terminus, and his fellow-citizens of Rotterdam raised his statue in their great square, the bronze of which was obtained by melting down a large crucifix which had formerly stood there. The condemnation of his “Colloquies” by the congregation of cardinals, was confirmed by the judgment of the Council of Trent, which caused several of his works to be placed on the index.
[357] Concilium delectorum cardinalium et aliorum Prælatorum de emendanda Ecclesia, S. D. N. D. Paulo III. ipso jubente conscriptum, et exhibitum, anno MDXXXVIII.
[358] It is perhaps only fair to notice the earlier efforts made by St. Jerome Æmilian to establish religious colleges and seminaries for the clergy. He appears to have been greatly assisted by the advice of St. Cajetan, and as he died in 1537, must be reckoned as one of the first who organised any scheme for the reform of education. The regular clerks of Somascha continue to this day to carry on the work of their holy founder.
[359] It is stated by Phillips in his Life of Pole, that the rough draft of the decree was after his death found among his papers. Pallavicini tells us that during his absence at Padua, all important questions were communicated to him by his colleagues, especially the decree on Justification.
[360] Wilkins, Concilia, t. iv. p. 135.