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EMINENT MEN

OF THE FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURIES.

XIMENES.

HE time was the reign of Ferdinand

THE

and Isabella, the Catholic of Spain. A strange and picturesque reign it was, full of glory and shame, full of devotion and cruelty, which, truly, you cannot understand. The man of highest rank, next only to the king and queen, lay dying in his palace. He was the Cardinal Mendoza, Archbishop of Toledo. The queen wondered much who should be chosen to be Archbishop instead. She with her court was in the town where the Archbishop lay, and she came to his deathbed to ask his last advice.

'Who shall we make Archbishop when you have passed away?' asked the queen. "The Friar Francisco Ximenes,' the dying Archbishop replied, he is an able and a good man; let him be made Archbishop of Toledo instead of me.

And in a few days the last hour came, and among the royal splendours, the purple of palaces, and the darkness of death, lay the wise and keen Cardinal, all his lifework done.

was

Then Isabella the queen pondered the counsel he had given, for Ximenes was her own confessor, and she knew him well. But he was not of one of those noble Spanish families from which it customary to choose the highest dignitaries of the church. And king Ferdinand would have another Archbishop, and not the friar Ximenes. This choice however was the queen's right, which she would not lay aside even at her husband's entreaties; so, after some delay, Francisco Ximenes was chosen.

A few sentences shall tell his earlier history. Catholic as he was he did a work which has made all Protestants his debtor. And there is a generosity of sentiment, which none are too young to cherish and which should make us gladly welcome as our friends and helpers, even those who are far removed from us in many things of action and belief.

Ximenes, even as we, loved Christ and sought to serve Him, only with far more earnestness, with a more whole-hearted life, than most of us are even trying in our best moments to attain. If his life was full of faults and mistakes, who amongst us are without them? He is no pattern offered you wholly to copy and admire, but an upright man who did what seemed to him his duty, who never knew indolence, nor falsėness, nor faltering, nor fear, and whose gift of the Polyglot Bible to the church has left him an honoured name wherever the Bible is loved.

He was born of a poor but ancient family, in the little Spanish town of Tordelaguna, in the year 1436. From childhood he was dedicated by his parents to the service of the church; he studied in Spain, and then in Italy; was persecuted for his purity and his zeal; was raised to honours and immersed in affairs of the church and the court; and then, loving not these, he retired to the solitudes of Castanar, and built himself a little hut in a forest on the mountain side. This was a part of his life on which in after years he looked back. with lingering, undying love, as where he had learned his best lessons and lived the nearest God.

In the depths of the chestnut forest he lived for three years. Very small was his hut and built by his own hands. His drink was the running water, his food, the fresh herbs. Very lonely and silent was the place, with only the birds for company, and the psalms of the winds among the chestnut leaves making answer to his psalms. Whole days and nights he spent in prayer, and his dear companion was the Bible, which he read and read till its sacred scenes became real to his eyes. And he seemed to see visions of Jesus, and hear the angelvoices speaking through the silences, and directing his onward way. Ximenes would fain have spent all his years in this lonely place, but a far different life lay before him, although he did not know it was so.

The Hermit of Castanar was called to be head of the convent of Salzedor; then he was called to the queen's court, and

it was here he was living when the Cardinal Mendoza died.

The queen had now resolved he should be Archbishop of Toledo, and when all that was necessary for his appointment was done, she sent for him into her presence. The queen put a letter into the Friar's hand. The Friar kissed the letter, then read the address that was upon it.

To our Venerable Brother Francisco Ximenes de Cisneros, Archbishop-Elect of Toledo.'

When he read these words his colour changed, and the letter dropped upon the floor.

'There is some mistake!' he exclaimed; 'it cannot be meant for me.'

And forgetful of the Queen's presence, he turned his back upon her, and left the palace in haste.

The Queen sent to bring him back; but the friar was nowhere to be found. They sought him in his convent at Madrid: he was not there. But there were those who had seen him leaving the town on foot, hurriedly, as if in fear; and the Queen's messengers followed. Three leagues and more they followed, found him, and brought him back; and so, with unwilling heart, he became Archbishop of Toledo.

And now all the quiet of Ximenes's life was past, and before him lay wars and diplomacies, and the blame and the praise of the world. To tell of his life is not easy, it is so strange a life. Ximenes with all his heart desired to do God's will; for this it seemed to him there was nothing too hard to be suffered. And he did what he believed God's will, as men of his time were wont, not by the still small voice, but with sword and fetters in his hand. Strange, indeed, that the Gospel which the angel-songs called peace, should be so often misread by the world to which it comes.

In the autumn of 1499 Ximenes went to Granada. Granada had been conquered by the Arabs long before the Normans came to England. It was some time in the seventh century that they crossed the Straits of Gibraltar, and established themselves and their religion in this beautiful

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part of Spain. They were followers of Mahomet, and the enemies of the Christians. A few years earlier than this they themselves were conquered, and Granada became a part of the kingdom of Ferdinand and Isabella. But it grieved the heart of Ximenes that its people were not Christian. Ximenes rightly thought there was no worldly blessing to equal the glory and blessing to be found in the kingdom of Christ.

The times were harsh; they were hard to understand. Ximenes towards God was full of obedience and humility; towards his fellow-men he had a stern will, and enforced what he thought was right with little relenting or charity. He resolved to convert the Moors to Christianity. With the determination that this he would do, at whatever pain to the people or peril to his own life or frame, he went to newly conquered Granada and began the work he had set himself.

By persuasion or force, he apparently did what he desired. The Moors were baptised by thousands, and Ximenes burned their Arabic books in piles in the squares of the city. Very learned and very beautiful were many of these ancient books, bound and adorned with a rare splendour, for in this art the Spanish Arabs excelled every people in Europe. But the taint of their false religion was in the beautiful pages. Ximenes spared the medical books only; he burned all the rest: three hundred books on medicine he kept for the University of Alcala, for the Arabs were great physicians, with long traditions of skill. There was indeed after this much difficulty and opposition to surmount. But it yielded to Ximenes's will. Very soon the Christian religion was established throughout Granada. And the name of the Moors is scarcely heard any more in the history of Spain.

But Ximenes's great work was yet left him to do. The reverent love for the Bible which he learned in his early hermitage, he carried unfailingly with him through all the busy years. And in the evening of his life, when other interests grew dim, this reverent

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love gathered into the resolve which bore such noble fruit.

The first Polyglot Bible, (or Bible in many tongues), was the work of Cardinal Ximenes. It was written in the old town of Alcala, which was also called Complutensia, and hence Ximenes's Bible bears the name of the Complutensien Polyglot. The rank of Ximenes threw open to him every library in Europe; and many rare old manuscripts of the gospels and esistles and Old Testament, were brought from all parts -manuscripts which are lost now.

To nine celebrated scholars the work of translation was entrusted, Ximenes himself presiding, and aiding them with his learning and his criticism. Printing was newly invented, and there were no suitable types in Spain for the work. But Ximenes,

anxious to have everything done beneath his own eye, sent for printers to Germany, and had types cast in the foundries of Alcala, in the different languages of his Bible. In 1517 it was finished in six volumes. When the first printed copy was brought to Ximenes, he lifted his eyes to heaven, and gave thanks to God that he had been spared to see that day.

This was the end of his work. He lived only three months longer. His last days were days of waiting full of contrition and faith.

In Thee, Lord, have I trusted,' his dying lips were heard to say. They were words he often said in his busy earlier years. And they were his last words. At the age of eighty years, Cardinal Ximenes died, on the eighth day of November,

"I

GO to walk with father,'

A child most gladly cries,

While joy illumes his youthful face And sparkles in his eyes.

I hear him call right lovingly, 'I'll hasten to his side,

For I would roam the world around
With father for my guide.

'For 'tis so sweet to walk with him
Across the pleasant lea,
And hear him talk so wondrously
Of all the things we see:

Of birds that warble in the wood,
And flowers that deck the grass;
It seems as father understood

Each lovely thing we pass.
'And oh! to roam with father
Along the shining shore,
And climb again the rugged rocks
Where he can help me o'er;
While thus our voices mingle sweet
With ocean's pleasant song,
Though we should stay a summer's day,
I ne'er would think it long.

'Or I may walk with father

Upon the breezy hill,

And climb towards the sunny top
prospect fairer still;

For
And when upon our vision breaks
Fair mountain, shore, and sea,
A deeper joy the scene awakes
That father is with me.'
Oh happy, trusting childhood,
That knows a father nigh,
And feels thy sunshine in the light
Of his approving eye;

That has no dread of coming days,
Of danger, or distress,

With father's hand to guide thy way,
And his dear smile to bless.

So would I walk with Father,
My Father, God above,

Who calls me through His gracious Son
In tenderness and love;

Who bids me lay my hand in His,
And trust Him, day by day,

And walk by faith life's journey through
Along the narrow way.

Oh, do Thou guide me, Father,
I seek no guide but Thee,

Nor lonely shall my pathway seem
If Thou art still with me.

By meadow green, or mountain wild,
O'er rocks or barren sand,
Oh! Father, lead Thy little child
To Thine own pleasant land.

J. K. MUIR.

INTERNATIONAL SERIES of LESSONS.
QUESTIONS ON THE GOLDEN TEXTS.'

Feb. 2.-THE READING OF THE LAW.
Neh. 8. 1-8. Memory verses: 1-4.

Golden Text. The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

Psa. 119. 130.

Describe man's state by nature? Eph. 4. 18. By what means does the Holy Spirit enlighten

the soul? Psa. 19.7. Rom.10.17. 2 Cor. 4. 6. How must we read or hear the Word that it may give us light? Neh. 8. 7, 8. Psa. 119. 18. Acts 17. 11.

Who are the simple to whom the Word gives understanding? Mat. 11. 25. Psa. 25. 9, 14. Give examples of the entrance of the Word giving light. Neh. 8. 12-18. Acts 8. 27-38.

Feb. 9.-THE KEEPING OF THE SABBATH. Neh. 13. 15-22. Memory verses: 19-22. Golden Text. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Ex. 20.8.

Why does the fourth commandment begin with the word Remember? Gen. 2.2,3. Deut. 6.12. What does this commandment forbid? Ex. 20. 10. Neh. 13. 15, 16. Amos 8. 5. What is it to keep the Sabbath holy? Isa. 58.13. Luke 13. 13-17.

What punishments had the profanation of the Sabbath brought on Israel? Neh. 13. 18. 2 Chron. 36. 19-21.

THREE Prizes are offered for the Best Essays on the following subject:

'How can the young best advance the cause of "Total Abstinence" from Intoxicating Drink.' The competitors must not be above 15 years of age. The Essays not to exceed in length three pages of the Dayspring'; and the MSS., accompanied with a sealed envelope, giving the name and address of the competitor, must be addressed to the Rev. JOHN KAY, 11 Teviot Row, Edinburgh, and reach him not later than the 31st of May, 1879.