The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-11-15
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I k><%sSX - e~&@~4X EaziisA Easr.anrs Aas sevsr kne~A sn1 uill Eevsr knoe anosAer period esssn- tially kke the cae including tAe lasase hsH ot tAe sixteensh cd she fsse past q the sesensaentA oe.snxiss- TAe aacisne Greek and Latin civilizations snd hsers- tnses had ceased to be living and active forces in Europe. aker the tail of the Roman empire. Rome. by her almost universal dominioa, had propagAaed christianity, and ss measure. her arts, sciences. and literature within all the lands under her sway; but when the great fabric vas shaken and destroyed l by the or,eatal Aosdes in the eAss. and the German barbarians in the vest, her arts. sciences and literature were buried by the irrupsion though her rehgioo sur. vived and served in saeceedisg centuries se ssds<Ea the easiae=sss tsssa tAeiF savage state. But literature, in all thess centuries, was simply an inssramentahty i for saving mems souls and later on, for supporting ecclessastic power. LIte gas, according to the teaching oi the age. not worth living for isself only. ba, vas . probationary ex,s,ence in which men were preparing for one or another real life af,er death. This gave a somore cast to erythins in mems minds l, sas intellectual imprisonment and literature necessarily took the character oi that from which II sprang.
 ] This eondinon of things existed in EoglAnd, modified by the some~hAt less extent to which christianity had trans oIned the ancient rehg ion and peculiar ities of mind. h the southern and more susceptible mind the mes rel,g,on Sound ready acceptance. and prod duced early fruits bat among the less impalsive and more inert NorselAnde-s, SAxons and i Britous, its progress wAs less rapid and cess thorough, though possibly more substantial. Christianity m England wAs l if possible, shade darker h It's teach ings ot the nature and the aims of life, than in other lands under it's influence. 1 The Celtic aad German clements had become ingrAfted on the new system
 Bet the fifteenth century lnaagura,ed An emancipation from this intellectual bond. age. This mus, have occurred in the very nature ot things. Development implies the necessity Bat to break loose from the letters ~hieh ,his philosophy of one idea had forged. vas to plunge into ! 4 Sudttst inCDtat moral Statc, Ntuput res,r tin, without ideal and ~ithou, model Seeing nothing Tn the present. lhis fevival of the Ary spirit turned to the pas, ;he classical age of the an. cien,s and began 10 build upon ,ha, as a ossis-
 Italy con,ained the mos, of what had survived he shock of contest ~ith bar barism. and everything followed Laun models b1; Italy produced the mos, exquisite rennements of luxuriousness, vo.upi1ousress ano licen,loasness also. and her hi. atnfe earned these along Such was tue characteristic which dis- ungaished the transition period bet&een the dark ages and the dawn of the mod ern classical age. The brightest intel. iectaal power, the mos; profound sehoi- arship and oebauchery ~eFe united and made con genial. No literary prod uet,on so popular, no entertainment so appre ci4ted, as those ID which the rc,gn,ng vices were piciuIed ln the most undis. gulsed fern, and in which nothing m social Ike ~as left sacred behind the vel of privacy. The greatest talent consisted ot ,he greatest power in portr aying every thing as II actually existed- beau,,e>. dc !ec:., Sesc.:n...e.
 Oi such an age Ben Jonson was the legitimate child. Born in iS75 accord ing to his account, of Scotch cescen.. he was eshered into the second stage of ,h,s period, when refinement had not reached morality, bu, vas ye, only affecting the manner of holding up to the world ,h
 gross immoral ally of the age Men were perfecting the art of ~iiting poetry and drama, but they were gong right on with iheir hberinism and vice from which the superstition Of the preceding period had restrained them. Ben vas mentally and physically s.worthy of the tune in which he lived Large, almosi unwieldiy, coarse in features. the sen. sual nature predominAilng, he vas your true reveler. happiess in the bAocnzna- lian feast, or the nocturnal carousal
 Though . seemly specimen of the age, he was in his personal character above IL, at least ,n some things, as his check cred experience shows While yet a youth. | step father ses him to work as ! brieklayer, which truly was no, a con- genial occupation for the embryo dss- mAtiss. His sosi rebelled, and he ran od 10 become a soldier in the low coun- tries Here his propensities took en- pressson in his killing a man in single oomba, " in presence of both armies"
 Al the age of nineteen he entered the dram atio profession but left il sorry failure. He was much inferior to Shakespeare as an actor. who, himself, vas but fair" His huge body vas too cumbroaA and has heavy features too hssie capable of adaptation to any char acier bu: Rare Ben Jonson." Married al twenty. his income must from the new necessities be more and regular. He began writing for the stage h this be did not readily succeed better than as an actor. To him belongs the distinction of having introduced into English drama the comedy. His hrss piece. and the one which gave him fame. vas - Every M2a in His Hrmor." written in iSgs His bes other comedies are Voipone, or