historians-from-switzerland

"J. C. L. Simondo de' Sismondi, History of the French, vol. XII, Swiss typography, Capolago, C.E.1838."

"J. C. L. Simondo Sismondi, History of the Italian republics of the middle centuries, translation from the French, Volume I, Italy, C.E.1817."

"J. C. L. Simondo Sismondi, History of the Italian republics of the middle centuries, translation from the French, Tome IX, C.E.1818."

"J. C. L. Simondo Sismondi, History of the Italian republics of the middle centuries, translated from the French, Tome X, C.E.1818."

"Political economy is perhaps the only science whose immediate object is the universal beneficence and prosperity of men; because it is it that claims to teach the Government how it can preserve and increase the wealth of nations; encourage agriculture, from which abundance will arise; make trade flourish, which will divide the goods of the earth among its inhabitants according to their industry; perfect the arts, which will multiply the enjoyments of men, by making the progress of all the other sciences tend to their advantage. [...] A science which is announced as having as its aim the prosperity of all men becomes almost an object of derision if it is enclosed in a vain theory, the application of which is never undertaken. Such is perhaps the fate of Political Economy today. [...] Certainly, one of the great causes of their neglect of theories which could have increased their enlightenment would be found in the character of the men of government; but since we cannot expect them to be sensitive to the criticism of men of letters, or to submit with docility to the lessons that are claimed to be given to them, it is a question here of seeking the faults of the writings on Political Economy, and not theirs, whether we want to increase the influence of political theories on Governments, and bring them closer to their purpose."

"Universal competition and the effort to produce more and more at a lower price... is a dangerous system."

"[On Vittorio Alfieri] [...] this quivering impatience, which pushes him forward towards a goal he could not distinguish... this painful agitation of a soul in anguish in all the bonds of society, in all conditions, in all countries; ... this imperious need for something freer in the State, more proud in man, more devoted in love, more complete in friendship; ... this ardor in search of another existence, of another universe, which he sought in vain, with the speed of a messenger, from one end of Europe to the other, and which he could not find in the real world ..."

"The most licentious of all the poets of this libertine school was a Sovereign, a Jerusalem Knight, returned from the Crusade, William IX, Count of Poitiers and Duke of Aquitaine. His great joviality and spirit had generally forgiven the scandal of his customs, although in him religious profanation was always mixed with debauchery. He had built in Niort a house dedicated to gathering his Beauty; he called it his Monastery, and he had conferred the titles of Abbess, Prioress and other monastic dignities to the Courtesans who lodged there, in adequate proportion to the impudence of their life. (vol. V, chapter XII, p. 62)"

"The young king [Charles VI of France] had never been subjected to any discipline nor roughed up by the slightest study. He knew nothing other than what he might have learned by conversing in the courts; half enough to acquire a very light set of ideas and common notions, to form the gracefulness of manners and to procure that certain nobility and affability of character that was noted in Charles VI, and for which the monarch whose reign was the most everlasting scourge that ever afflicted France, had the ridiculous of Beloved. But no positive knowledge, neither of science, nor of administration, nor of politics, nor of religion had, on the contrary, been acquired by him. (vol. XII, chapter XXI, pp. 8-9)"

"This unfortunate monarch [Charles VI of France] enjoyed waging war and wandering among the tumult of arms; and although incapable of distinguishing friends from enemies, he was always willing to fight against anyone who was pointed out to him as infenso and rebellious, and also to be cruel against it. (vol. XII, chapter XXX, p. 430)"

"Niccolò Piccinino, leader of the soldiers trained first by Braccio [da Montone], was among the other Italian generals the most loyal to the Duke of Milan. He would still have considered himself the best and perhaps placed above Francesco Sforza, if he had not sometimes risked his own reputation through excessive daring. (volume IX, p. 116)"

"Piccinino in particular was jealous of Sforza; there could be no peace that this general had taken his place among the sovereigns with the purchase of the March, while he himself, who in talents and valor in Italy was equal to Sforza, he himself, who, as heir and pupil of Braccio, could have aspire to the sovereignty that this general had formed, had only a precarious existence dependent on the prince who hired him. (volume IX, p. 149)"

"Piccinino, already in his old age, could not make peace with the fact that with so many battles, with so many victories, he had not been able to acquire a land where his head could rest. All the great captains of his century had successively risen to sovereign power; he seemed to have more right to it than anyone else, since he should have received the principality of Braccio by hereditary title as he received his army; yet he alone was neither richer nor more powerful at the end of his long glorious career than he was at the beginning. He had lost Bologna when he thought he would make it his capital; two routs in a very short time had squandered his riches and scattered his soldiers; one of his sons was a prisoner, the other a fugitive, and he could only place his hopes in the generosity of a prince [Filippo Maria Visconti] accused of inconstancy by all Italy, and often of perfidy. This prince had actually caused his ruin by deceiving him. (volume IX, pp. 255-256)"

"No monster ever pushed ferocity as far as Dracula; no one invented more terrible supplicants. He finally fell victim to the horror he had inspired. (volume X, p. 213)"

"To G. C. Sismodo de' Sismondi | solemn historian and economist | for his works I deserve him | more than can be written | of Italy of France | and of the human race. (Giovanni Battista Niccolini)"

"J. C. L. Simondo de' Sismondi, History of the French, vol. V, for Nicolò Bettoni, Milan, C.E.1823."

"The introduction of the Christian religion into the world has produced an incalculable change in history. There had previously been only a history of nations — there is now a history of mankind; and the idea of an education of human nature as a whole, — an education the work of Jesus Christ Himself — is become like a compass for the historian, the key of history, and the hope of nations."

"The Protestant Spirit of Luther's Version. Dr. Emser, one of the most learned opponents of the Reformation, singled out in Luther's New Testament several hundred linguistic blunders and heretical falsifications. Many of them were silently corrected in later editions. He published, by order of Duke George of Saxony, a new translation (1527) for the purpose of correcting the errors of "Luther and other heretics.""

"After the invention of the printing-press, and before the Reformation, this mediaeval German Bible was more frequently printed than any other except the Latin Vulgate.Ninety-seven editions of the Vulgate were printed between 1450 and 1500,—28 in Italy (nearly all in Venice), 16 in Germany, 10 in Basel, 9 in France. See Fritzsche in Herzog ii, vol. VIII. 450."

"The spread of this version, imperfect as it was, proves the hunger and thirst of the German people for the pure word of God, and prepared the way for the Reformation. It alarmed the hierarchy. Archbishop Berthold of Mainz, otherwise a learned and enlightened prelate, issued, Jan. 4, 1486, a prohibition of all unauthorized printing of sacred and learned books, especially the German Bible, within his diocese, giving as a reason that the German language was incapable of correctly rendering the profound sense of Greek and Latin works, and that laymen and women could not understand the Bible. Even Geiler of Kaisersberg, who sharply criticised the follies of the world and abuses of the Church, thought it "an evil thing to print the Bible in German.""

"Besides the whole Bible, there were numerous German editions of the Gospels and Epistles (Plenaria), and the Psalter, all made from the Vulgate."

"Luther could not be ignorant of this mediaeval version. He made judicious use of it, as he did also of old German and Latin hymns. Without such aid he could hardly have finished his New Testament in the short space of three months. But this fact does not diminish his merit in the least; for his version was made from the original Hebrew and Greek, and was so far superior in every respect that the older version entirely disappeared. It is to all intents a new work."

"Luther's Qualifications. Luther had a rare combination of gifts for a Bible translator: familiarity with the original languages, perfect mastery over the vernacular, faith in the revealed word of God, enthusiasm for the gospel, unction of the Holy Spirit. A good translation must be both true and free, faithful and idiomatic, so as to read like an original work. This is the case with Luther's version. Besides, he had already acquired such fame and authority that his version at once commanded universal attention."

"Progress of his Version. Luther was gradually prepared for this work. He found for the first time a complete copy of the Latin Bible in the University Library at Erfurt, to his great delight, and made it his chief study. He derived from it his theology and spiritual nourishment; he lectured and preached on it as professor at Wittenberg day after day. He acquired the knowledge of the original languages for the purpose of its better understanding. He liked to call himself a "Doctor of the Sacred Scriptures.""

"In the progress of the work he founded a Collegium Biblieum, or Bible club, consisting of his colleagues Melanchthon, Bugenhagen (Pommer), Cruciger, Justus Jonas, and Aurogallus. They met once a week in his house, several hours before supper. Deacon Georg Rörer (Rorarius), the first clergyman ordained by Luther, and his proof-reader, was also present; occasionally foreign scholars were admitted; and Jewish rabbis were freely consulted. Each member of the company contributed to the work from his special knowledge and preparation. Melanchthon brought with him the Greek Bible, Cruciger the Hebrew and Chaldee, Bugenhagen the Vulgate, others the old commentators; Luther had always with him the Latin and the German versions besides the Hebrew. Sometimes they scarcely mastered three lines of the Book of Job in four days, and hunted two, three, and four weeks for a single word. No record exists of the discussions of this remarkable company, but Mathesius says that "wonderfully beautiful and instructive speeches were made.""

"Editions and Revisions. The printed Bible text of Luther had the same fate as the written text of the old Itala and Jerome's Vulgate. It passed through innumerable improvements and mis-improvements. The orthography and inflections were modernized, obsolete words removed, the versicular division introduced (first in a Heidelberg reprint, 1568), the spurious clause of the three witnesses inserted in 1 John 5:7 (first by a Frankfurt publisher, 1574), the third and fourth books of Ezra and the third book of the Maccabees added to the Apocrypha, and various other changes effected, necessary and unnecessary, good and bad. Elector August of Saxony tried to control the text in the interest of strict Lutheran orthodoxy, and ordered the preparation of a standard edition (1581). But it was disregarded outside of Saxony."

"The Success. The German Bible of Luther was saluted with the greatest enthusiasm, and became the most powerful help to the Reformation. Duke George of Saxony, Duke William of Bavaria, and Archduke Ferdinand of Austria strictly prohibited the sale in their dominions, but could not stay the current. Hans Lufft at Wittenberg printed and sold in forty years (between 1534 and 1574) about a hundred thousand copies,—an enormous number for that age,—and these were read by millions. The number of copies from reprints is beyond estimate."

"The Romanists were forced in self-defense to issue rival translations. Such were made by Emser (1527), Dietenberger (1534), and Eck (1537), and accompanied with annotations. They are more correct in a number of passages, but slavishly conformed to the Vulgate, stiff and heavy, and they frequently copy the very language of Luther, so that he could say with truth, "The Papists steal my German of which they knew little before, and they do not thank me for it, but rather use it against me." These versions have long since gone out of use even in the Roman Church, while Luther's still lives."

"The Pre-Lutheran German Bible. The precise origin of the mediaeval German Bible is still unknown. Dr. Ludwig Keller of Münster first suggested in his Die Reformation und die älteren Reformparteien, Leipzig, 1885, pp. 257-260, the hypothesis that it was made by Waldenses (who had also a Romanic version); and he tried to prove it in his Die Waldenser und die deutschen Bibelübersetzungen, Leipzig, 1886 (189 pages). Dr. Hermann Haupt, of Würzburg, took the same ground in his Die deutsche Bibelübersetzung der mittelalterlichen Waldenser in dem Codex Teplensis und der ersten gedruckten Bibel nachgewiesen, Würzburg, 1885 (64 pages); and again, in self-defense against Jostes, in Der waldensische Ursprung des Codex Teplensis und der vor-lutherischen deutschen Bibeldrucke, Würzburg, 1886. On the other hand, Dr. Franz Jostes, a Roman Catholic scholar, denied the Waldensian and defended the Catholic origin of that translation, in two pamphlets: Die Waldenser und die vorlutherische Bibelübersetzung, Münster, 1885 (44 pages), and Die Tepler Bibelübersetzung. Eine zweite Kritik, Münster, 1886 (43 pages). The same author promises a complete history of German Catholic Bible versions."

"A Critical Estimate of Luther's Version. Luther's version of the Bible is a wonderful monument of genius, learning, and piety, and may be regarded in a secondary sense as inspired. It was, from beginning to end, a labor of love and enthusiasm. While publishers and printers made fortunes, Luther never received or asked a copper for this greatest work of his life."

"The Original Text. The basis for Luther's version of the Old Testament was the Massoretic text as published by Gerson Ben Mosheh at Brescia in 1494. He used also the Septuagint, the Vulgate of Jerome (although he disliked him exceedingly on account of his monkery), the Latin translations of the Dominican Sanctes Pagnini of Lucca (1527), and of the Franciscan Sebastian Münster (1534), the "Glossa ordinaria" (a favorite exegetical vade-mecum of Walafried Strabo from the ninth century), and Nicolaus Lyra (d. 1340), the chief of mediaeval commentators, who, besides the Fathers, consulted also the Jewish rabbis.Lyra acquired by his Postillae perpetuae in V. et N. Test. (first published in Rome, 1472, in 5 vols. fol., again at Venice, 1540) the title Doctor planus et utilis. His influence on Luther is expressed in the well-known lines:"

"The German Rendering. The German language was divided into as many dialects as tribes and states, and none served as a bond of literary union. Saxons and Bavarians, Hanoverians and Swabians, could scarcely understand each other. Each author wrote in the dialect of his district, Zwingli in his Schwyzerdütsch. "I have so far read no book or letter," says Luther in the preface to his version of the Pentateuch (1523), in which the German language is properly handled. Nobody seems to care sufficiently for it; and every preacher thinks he has a right to change it at pleasure, and to invent new terms." Scholars preferred to write in Latin, and when they attempted to use the mother tongue, as Reuchlin and Melanchthon did occasionally, they fell far below in ease and beauty of expression."

"He adapted the words to the capacity of the Germans, often at the expense of accuracy. He cared more for the substance than the form. He turned the Hebrew shekel into a Silberling, the Greek drachma and Roman denarius into a German Groschen, the quadrans into a Heller, the Hebrew measures into Scheffel, Malter, Tonne, Centner, and the Roman centurion into a Hauptmann. He substituted even undeutsch (!) for barbarian in 1 Cor. 14:11. Still greater liberties he allowed himself in the Apocrypha, to make them more easy and pleasant reading. He used popular alliterative phrases as Geld und Gut, Land und Leute, Rath und That, Stecken und Stab, Dornen und Disteln, matt und müde, gäng und gäbe. He avoided foreign terms which rushed in like a flood with the revival of learning, especially in proper names (as Melanchthon for Schwarzerd, Aurifaber for Goldschmid, Oecolampadius for Hausschein, Camerarius for Kammermeister). He enriched the vocabulary with such beautiful words as holdselig, Gottseligkeit."

"The charge that Luther adapted the translation to his theological opinions has become traditional in the Roman Church, and is repeated again and again by her controversialists and historians."

"Luther's Translation of the Bible. The richest fruit of Luther's leisure in the Wartburg, and the most important and useful work of his whole life, is the translation of the New Testament, by which he brought the teaching and example of Christ and the Apostles to the mind and heart of the Germans in life-like reproduction. It was a republication of the gospel. He made the Bible the people's book in church, school, and house. If he had done nothing else, he would be one of the greatest benefactors of the German-speaking race."

"During the fourteenth century some unknown scholars prepared a new translation of the whole Bible into the Middle High German dialect. It slavishly follows the Latin Vulgate. It may be compared to Wiclif's English Version (1380), which was likewise made from the Vulgate, the original languages being then almost unknown in Europe. A copy of the New Testament of this version has been recently published, from a manuscript in the Premonstratensian convent of Tepl in Bohemia. Another copy is preserved in the college library at Freiberg in Saxony. Both are from the fourteenth century, and agree almost word for word with the first printed German Bible, but contain, besides the New Testament, the apocryphal letter of St. Paul to the Laodiceans, which is a worthless compilation of a few sentences from the genuine writings of the apostle."

"Earlier Versions. Luther was not the first, but by far the greatest translator of the German Bible, and is as inseparably connected with it as Jerome is with the Latin Vulgate. He threw the older translation into the shade and out of use, and has not been surpassed or even equaled by a successor. There are more accurate versions for scholars (as those of De Wette and Weizsäcker), but none that can rival Luther's for popular authority and use."