, a pious and learned regular canon, and one of the most eminent
, a pious and learned regular
canon, and one of the most eminent men in the fifteenth
century, was born 1380, at Kemp, a village in the diocese
oi Cologn, from whence he took his name. He studied at
Deventer, in the community of poor scholars established
by Gerard Groot, made great progress both in learning
and piety, and in 1399 entered the monastery of regular
canons of Mount St. Agnes, near Zwol, where his brother
was prior. Thomas a Kempis distinguished himself in
this situation by his eminent piety, his respect for his superiors, and his charity towards his brethren; and died in
great reputation for sanctity, July 25, 1471, aged ninetyone. He left a great number of religious works, which
breathe a spirit of tender, solid, and enlightened piety, of
which a collection was printed at Antwerp, 1615, 3 torn.
8vo. The abbe de Bellegarde translated part of his works
into French, under the title of “Suite du Livre de I'lmitation,
” 24mo, and Pere Valette, under that of “Elevation a J. C. sur sa vie et ses mysteries,
” 12mo. The
learned Joducus Badius Ascensius was the first who attributed the celebrated book on the Imitation of Jesus Christ
to Thomas a Kempis, in which he has been followed by
Francis de Tob, a regular canon, who in favour of this
opinion quotes the Mss. which may still be seen in Thomas
a Kempis’s own hand. On the other hand, Pere Possevin,
a Jesuit, was the first who attributed this work to the
abbot John Gersen or Gessen, in his “Apparatus sacer,
”
which opinion has been adopted by the Benedictines of
the congregations de St. Maur. M. Vallart, in his edition
of the “Imitation,
” supposes it to be more ancient than
Thomas a Kempis, and that it was written by Gersen.
Those who wish to be acquainted with the disputes which
arose on this subject between the Benedictines, who are
for Gersen, and the regular canons of the congregation of
St. Genevieve, who are for Thomas a Kempis, may consult the curious account of them which Dom. Vincent
Thuilier nas prefixed to torn. 1. of Mabillon’s and Ruinart’s Posthumous Works, or Dupin’s History, who has
also entered deeply into the controversy. The first Latin
edition is 1492, 12mo, Gothic. There was at that time
an old French translation under the title of ‘L’lnternelle
Consolation,“the language of which appears as old as
Thomas a Kempis, which has raised a doubt whether the
book was originally written in Latin or French. The abbe
”
Langlet has taken a chapter from this ancient translation,
which is not in the Latin versions. Dr. Stanhope translated it into English, and there are numerous editions of it
in every known language.