_"Man proposes, but God disposes"_ (Vol. viii., pp. 411. 552.).--Piers
Ploughman's _Vision_, quoted by your correspondent MR. THOMAS, proves that
the above saying was used prior to the time of Thomas à Kempis; but in
adding that it did not originate with the author of the _De Imitatione_,
your correspondent overlooked the view which attributes that wonderful work
to John Gerson, a Benedictine Monk, between the years 1220 and 1240; and
afterwards Abbat of the monastery of St. Stephen. (Vide _De Imit. curâ Joh.
Hrabiéta_, 1847, Præfat., viii. et seq.)
Can any of your correspondents give other early quotations from the _De
Imitatione_? The search after any such seems to have been much overlooked
in determining the date of that work.