be a Mosaic, to adopt the reply of
its latest German editor to the assertion that it is but a compilation
testifying to the most painstaking industry and the consumption of midnight
oil, "even so one learns that a Mosaic is a work of art when executed with
artistic skill." That he caused the classical and biblical passages
flitting before his eyes to be cited in the margin proves chiefly only the
excellence of his memory. They are also before our eyes and yet we are not
always able to answer the question: where, _e.g._, does this occur? ...
Where, _e.g._, occur the following appropriate words of Goethe: "Who can
think anything foolish, who can think anything wise, that antiquity has not
already thought of."

Of the Greek authors, Plutarch only is used, and he evidently by means of a
Latin translation. But from the Latin large draughts of inspiration are
taken, direct from the fountainhead. Ovid, Juvenal, Persius, Catullus, and
Seneca, are largely drawn from, while, strangely enough, Cicero, Boethius,
and Virgil are quoted but seldom, the latter, indeed, only twice, though
his commentators, especially Servetus, are frequently employed. The Bible,
of course, is a never-failing source of illustration, and, as was to be
expected, the Old Testament much more frequently than the New, most use
being made of the Proverbs of Solomon, while Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiasticus,
and the Sapientia follow at no great distance.

The quotations are made apparently direct from the Vulgate, in only a few
cases there being a qualification of the idea by the interpretation of the
Corpus Juris Canonici. But through this medium only, as was to be expected
of the professor of canon law, is the light of the fathers of the Church
allowed to shine upon us, and according to Zarncke (Introduction to his
edition of the Narrenschiff, 1854), use of it has certainly been made far
oftener than the commentary shows, the sources of information of which are
of the most unsatisfactory character. On such solid and tried foundations
did Brandt construct his great work, and the judgment of contemporaries and
posterity alike has declared the superstructure to be worthy of its
supports.

The following admirable notice from Ersch and Grueber (Encyclopaedie) sums up
so skilfully the history, nature, and qualities of the book that we quote
at length:--"The Ship of Fools was received with almost unexampled applause
by high and low, learned and unlearned, in Germany, Swi