The Kansas herald of freedom., 1855-03-31

then, when 1t has passed, gives them bacl
again to the West-and disappears.
Then came the so-called Dark Ages
for the Middle Ages are much nisrepre
sented by such designation. There wer'
ten centuries of great degradation and ig
horanee; but in these ten centuries there
were elementsof light which are not to be
found in the world at this day. A young
man. wearied with the crimes and seek.
ing to escape the temptations of the great
city, leaves Rome. He goes out to Sub.
iacco, makes for himself a lonely retreat
there, and gives himself up to study and
prayer Others, ledby the same motives,
follow him. and adopt him as their lead
er. He becomes their instructor and pa
tron. 1t is Benedict, the founder of the
Benedietine order of monks-the class oi
men to whom we are indebted, more than
any other, for modern civilization. When
all around them was ignorance. and deg
radiation, and darkness, they planted the
schools, the colleges, and the universities
all over Europe. All the English college:
were founded by them. All the school:
along the Rhine and Danube are indebt.
ed to them for existence. Charlemagne,
when Emperor, could not write his name
until they taught him; and they swayed
his influence to work their own great
purposes. They were the literary aristoc-
racy of those centuries, the conservatives
of literature and art. The other similar
great orders were founded by Francis and
Dominic. These franciscan and Domin-
lean monks were the literary democrats
of that day; they were the first itinerant
preachers, the Methodists of the Middle
Ages. They were not scholars, immers-
ed in books and libraries, but teachers of
the workmen, out of doors, in streets, in
fields and workshops. They were all
mighty in diffusing truth. In England,
the names of the localities indicate the
first schools founded by each-Blackfri-
ars, by the Benedictines Greyfriars, by
the Franciscans; and Whitefriars, by the
Dominicans. The first press in Italy and
the first one in England were put to work
by the BenedictiDes. All of the finest
eathedrals were built by the Benedictines.
The best editions of the classics were is
sued by the Benedictines. The greatest
of the painters were monks. Most of the
masterpieces of the fine arts were execu-
ted in the eloister by them, OF by their
pupils and proteges. The Dominieans
excelled in sculpture. The Benedictines
are more famous in classic research and
in architecture.
Everything in art and philosophy is
continually going forward toward the set
ting sun. Take architecture as an exam
pie. The Asiatics dug caves, the Egyp-
tians copied them in structures above
ground. The Greeks borrowed or stole
all that went before them, tit is mark Of
great genius to be a good thief-many oi
the greatest intellects have become so by
appropriating other mems ideas. The
Dorians took the column and perfected it.
making it model of beauty. They pla
ced the entablature on the colonade, and
upon the pediments opened a space fol
genius to develop its thoughtin sculpture
/ The Romans invented the arch, and this
in turn, was the germ of the dome adopt
ed by nations still further west. 1t wa:
this which first gave enlarged space and
proportion to architecture, for the Greel
temples were narrow and small, and theil
openings limited to the superimposeC
blocks of marble. When .Constantin,
became Emperor, there were no suitabl
places for religious worship. The Basili
ca were the finest buildings of the age
and SO, when Christianity became the re
ligiou of the government, they were ia
ken for purposesof worship, and the cour
rooms became churches. The priest tool
the place of the Judge, the male and fe
male portions of the congregation tool
! the place of male and female witnesses
and the choir was substituted for the bar
From Rome and Byzantiun the curren
of architectural progress went nortf
and west, dividing on It's way into the
Norman and German, or Gothic type
Lombardy supplied the campanile. which
has since become the steeple Exeter
Winchester, and Salisbury Cathedrals, il
England. are examples of the perfection
that was finally reached. From them oul
best models are copied. The cathedrali il
Albany is fine specimen of the style 0
the fourteenth century. Trinity Church
in New York is an example of the six.
teenth century, or the last and most per-
t feet style of all.
But the architecture stopped. From
the sixteenth century to this day, there
has not been an original building erected
The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park cam,
pretty near it; but that is. the only ON
that even made the attempt, and that, too
is type Of the tin,es-an exempliica
ton Of the spirit of the nineteenth centu
ry-with heart of iron, and looking int
eyerybody's windows.
4. THE AGE OF WAsHIseroS. on TIL
AGE OF UNIVERSAL CIvILIzAT1oS-Thi
commenced when the Italian astronome
raised his tube TO the sky, and after un
certain groupings amid the darkness, a
last learned aud ventured to weigh th
world and walls amid the stars. 1t com
menced when pilgrim from Genoa wen
wandering about from court to court Z
find means to crafty the impulse myste
riously implanted in his heart, to seek ;
path to the East through the unexpiored
seas, and at last, after long trials and
weary voyages, found in the West new
word. The mind of the sixteenth cen.
ttury has gone westward. and is going stiii
On the banks of the Rhine, soldier al
Mayence fbear in mind that as priesi
invented gunpowder. and a clergyman
percussion caps, it was only reasonable
That a soldier should discover the means
| of preserving peace and religion) frs
thought of taking an impression from
wooden blocks inked over, and the hand
of Infinite Wisdom lifted, through tht
hand of Gutenberg. the first proof-sheet
and God said for the second time, IS Lel
there be light" And there was light
when the onfniscient and almost onnIpo