The Puritans and Art

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 16, 16 April 1903, Page 15

The Puritans and Art

Non-Catholic writers like Matthew Arnold (says the ' Aye Maria ') have scored the Puritans for their warfare against art. The vandalism of these fanatics is almost beyond belief. They destroyed the first National Gallery of England, which contained nine Raphaels, eleven CorrepHos, and twentveight Titians ; and only the influence of honest John Selden prevented a Puritan Parliament from spoliating the two g,reat universities, Oxford and Cambridge. But the Protestants of an earlier day had just as little lo\e of beauty as the Puritans. Art and literature suffered more than will ever be known in the reign of Edward VI. The notion of justification by faith alone caused the demolition of many exquisite creations and the deface^ ment of what could not easily be destroyed. The celebration of the tercentenary of the Bodleian Library at Oxford is the occasion of an interesting article by Mr. J. B. Firth in the current ' Fortnightly Review.' He tells how the pre-Reformation library was destroyed, and of the industry and good fortune of Sir Thomas Bodlev in founding another :—: — Edward VI , in the zeal of his Protestantism, published an edict for ' the calling out of all superstitious books, as missals, legends, and the like ' ; and commissioners were appointed to visit the universities for that purpose. In due course tiiey came to Oxford. There they worked havoc. They carried out their instructions so literally that they destroyed every illuminated missal or manuscript on which they laid hands. It is piobable indeed that they condemned volumes at a hazard without regard for their contents, and that the mere presence of a rubricated initial was held to be sufficient evidence that a manuscript was Papistical and idolatrous. Possibly, too, in the confusion caused by such a visitation, books were freely looted and stolen ; but the fact remains that after they had completed their visitation the library stood empty. The dispersal and destruction of the library at Oxford were due principally to religious bigotry.