R E U C 
exposed a monk who had been the cause of his banish¬ 
ment, and the other ridiculed the sophistical mode of argu¬ 
mentation which was then followed in the schools and 
courts of law. The former of these he was advised at 
that time to suppress; but it was published afterwards, in 
the year 1507. In 1498, the Elector Palatine having been 
involved in a dispute with Pope Alexander VI. fixed upon 
our author as the person best qualified to defend his cause, 
and sent him for that purpose to Rome, in the capacity of 
his ambassador. On this occasion he pronounced an able 
and eloquent oration before the Pope and cardinals, con¬ 
cerning the rights of the princes and the privileges of the 
churches in Germany, which was printed by Aldus. As 
the business of this embassy detained him more than a year 
at Rome, he embraced this opportunity to perfect himself in 
an acquaintance with the Hebrew language, with the aid of 
a learned Jew, chiefly that he might have access to the 
Jewish Cabbalistic writings, from which he hoped to cast 
new light upon the Pythagorean and Platonic doctrines. 
He also attended lectures on the Greek language, by the 
famous Argyropylus. Before he returned to Germany, a 
revolution had taken place at Wirtemberg ; the usurper 
having been expelled, and Ulric reinstated in his rights. 
Upon this change, Reuchlin was recalled to the ducal court 
by the guardians whom the emperor had appointed for 
Ulric 5 and soon afterwards he was nominated to the dignity 
of one of the triumvirs of the league of Suabia for the 
emperor and the electors. 
The honourable employment to which our author was 
appointed, did not prevent him from continuing his learned 
labours. He wrote with great perspicuity in Latin, a “ He¬ 
brew Grammar,” a “Dictionary,” and a grammatical 
“Commentary upon the Seven Penitential Psalms.” For 
these works the interests of sacred literature were under great 
obligations to him, as they invited many scholars to study- 
the Hebrew tongue, and exhibited a specimen of rational 
scriptural illustration which was soon imitated by more 
general commentators. Afterwards he was sent ambassador 
to the Emperor Maximilian ; and upon his return, finding 
the plague raging in Suabia, he retired with his family into 
a monastery of the Dominicans near Stutgard. Here he 
met with a kind reception, and complied with a request 
made to him by the visitor-general of the order, in draw¬ 
ing up a book “ On the Art of Preaching,” which was 
printed at Pforzheim. In his old age, Reuchlin encountered 
much trouble and danger from the resentment of the monks 
and Theologians of Cologn, occasioned by his opposition 
to their enthusiastic rage for the destruction of all Jewish 
books, the Bible excepted. This spirit had been excited in 
them by John Pfefferkorn, a Jewdsh convert, or pretended 
convert, who, to shew his zeal for Christianity, advised 
the inquisitor and professors of divinity to burn all such 
books, accusing them of being full of blasphemies against 
Christ, magic, and other dangerous matter. Melchior Adam 
asserts, that he was not serious in bringing this accusation 
against them, but he contrived it for the purpose of extorting 
money from his brethren, who, he weli knew, would sub¬ 
mit to pay large ransoms sooner than give their books to 
destruction. Be that as it may, the emperor Maximilian, 
on the application of the clergy of Cologn, was prevailed 
upon to issue an edict in conformity with their wishes, and 
Pfefferkorn himself was employed to collect the obnoxious 
books; many of which he is said to have sold.back to the 
owners for considerable sums of money, and the rest he 
carried to Frankfort, to be publickly committed to the flames. 
In the mean time, Reuchlin protested strongly against the 
edict, and prevented Pfefferkorn from carrying it into execu¬ 
tion at Stutgard. The Jews, likewise, who justly considered 
this proceeding as a grievous persecution, earnestly entreated 
the emperor to suspend the execution of his order, till their 
books had passed under the examination of the learned. To 
this application the emperor consented; and, as our author 
was universally acknowledged to excel in this kind of learn¬ 
ing, he was appointed by the Elector of Mentz, under the 
imperial authority, to pass judgment on these writings. 
VOL. XXII. No. 1481. 
H L I N. 25 
Entrusted with a commission, the honest discharge of which 
must inevitably expose him to the obloquy of the bigotted 
and prejudiced, Reuchlin, perhaps, had not the courage to 
oppose the whole of Pfefterkorn’s project, as an act of 
shameful injustice towards the Jews, and a disgrace to 
Christianity ; but he determined to give such an opinion, as 
should in a great degree tend to defeat his design. He 
therefore declared it to be his judgment, that no other 
Jewish books should be destroyed, excepting those which 
might be found to be written expressly against Jesus Christ, 
lest, w T ith treatises on liberal arts and sciences, and valuable 
comments on the Old Testament, the Hebrew language 
itself, so important to the church, should perish. Of this 
judgment the emperor expressed his approbation, and com¬ 
manded that the books which had been brought to Frank¬ 
fort should be restored to their proper owners. 
Greatly enraged against Reuchlin on account of the 
opinion which he had thus delivered, Pfefferkorn and his sup¬ 
porters attempted to refute and expose it, in a piece written 
in German, under the title of “ A Manual Mirrorto which 
our author published an answer, called “ An Ocular Mirror.” 
Out of this answer the monks and divines of Cologn extracted 
44 propositions, which they asserted to be heretical, and 
cited him to appear before the Elector of Mentz, and the In¬ 
quisitor of that part of Germany, who was his declared 
enemy. Declining to plead before such a judge, he sent an 
able and well written “ Apology” for himself, in Latin, to 
the Emperor, and also appealed to the court of Rome. By 
the Pope the cognizance, of this affair was referred to the 
Bishop of Spires and the Elector Palatine, who nominated 
judges before whom both parties were summoned. The 
Cologn divines, however, would not acknowledge their juris¬ 
diction ; and even proceeded so far, while they were sitting, 
as formally to condemn and commit to the flames Reuchlin’s 
“ Ocular Mirror.” In these circumstances, he found him¬ 
self compelled to carry his cause to Rome, for the definitive 
sentence of the papal see. Here he had many zealous friends, 
and his agent carried with him strong recommendations from 
princes, prelates, and men of the greatest eminence in the 
learned world. These recommendations had no little weight 
in the court of a pontiff like Leo X v and our author was 
honourably acquitted ofthe heresy with which he was charged, 
to the great mortification of his bigotted and malignant en¬ 
emies. Amidst the troubles which he met with, he still pro¬ 
secuted his various studies with unabated- assiduity. He 
translated out of Greek into Latin, “ The Life of Constan¬ 
tine the Great,” written by Eusebius; and also the several 
“ Questions” attributed to St. Athanasius. He wrote several 
profound treatises on philosophy, of which the principal are, 
a treatise “ De Verbo Mirifico,” or, the Wonderful Word, 
in the form of a dialqgue between a philosopher, a Jew, and 
a Christian; and another treatise, “ De Arte Cabbalistica,” 
or, the Cabbalistic Art, by way of dialogue between a Pytha- 
gorean philosopher, a Mahometan, and a Jew. The system 
taught in these treatises is of the mystical kind, being com¬ 
pounded of Platonic, Pythagoric, and Cabbalistic doctrines. 
We have seen that the author triumphed over his enemies at 
Rome: but, though mortified, they continued to persecute 
him with calumnies and invectives, and were so successful in 
creating prejudices against him, that, in the latter part of his 
life, notwithstanding all his learning and celebrity, he was 
scarcely able, by teaching the Greek and Hebrew languages, 
to preserve himself from absolute want. He therefore found 
it necessary, on this account, as well as from a regard to his 
personal safety, to remove from Stutgard to Ingolstadt, where 
he was engaged to teach Greek and Hebrew by the Duke of 
Bavaria, with an annual salary of 200 crowns of gold. From 
this place he was afterwards driven by the plague; upon 
which he withdrew to Tubingen, and accepted an invitation 
from the magistrates to teach the Greek and Hebrew languages 
in that University. Scarcely, however, had he entered on 
the duties of his new post, when he v/as seized with the 
jaundice, which reduced him to so feeble a state, that he re¬ 
quested to be conveyed to his house at Stutgard, where he 
died in 1521, in the 68 th year of his age. 
II 
The 
