St. Paul daily globe., 1893-09-05

three more centuries were filled with
the work of its consolidation and de-
fense against the assaults of nomad pop
ulations; only in the final phase of the
middle ages during the eleventh, twelfth
and thirteenth centuries, when the unity
of the West was founded by the collec-
tive action against impending Moslem
invasion, did it enjoy an existence suf-
ficiently secure and stable to exhibit its
essential character and produce Its
NoBLEsT PERSONAL. TYPES.
The elaboration of feudallsm was, in
deed, in progress during the whole
period, showing itself in the decompo-
s!ti0n Of power and the hierarchicaI
subordInatiOn of its several grades, the
movement being only temporarily sus-
pended during the second phase by the
necessary defensive concentration un-
der Charlemagne. But not before the
first century of the last phase was the
feudal system fully constituted. In
like manner, only in the final phase
could the effort of Catholicism, after a
universal discipline. be carried out on
the great scale-an effort forever ad-
mlrable. though necessarily on the
whole unsuccessful.
No large or varied economic activity
was possible under the ascendancy of
feudalism, That organization, as has
been abundantly shown by philosophi-
cal historians, was indispensable for
the preservation of order and for public
defense, and contributed important
elements to general civilization. But.
whilst recognizing it as opportune and
relatively benifcent, we must not expect
from it advantages inconsistent with its
essential nature. The class which pre-
dominated in it was not. sympathetic
with Industry, and held the handicraft
III contempt. except those subservient
to war or rural sports. The whole prac-
tical life of the society was founded on
territorial property: the wealth of the
lord consisted IN the produce of his
lands and the dues paid to him in kind:
this wealth was spent in supporting a
body OF retainers, whose services were
repaid by their maintenance. There
could be little room for manufactures, and
less for commerce, and agriculture was
carried on with view to the wants of
the family, or at most of the Immediate
neighborhood. not to those of a wider
market. The economy of the period
was therefore simple, and. in the alb
sence of special motors from without,
unprogressive."
History here strangely narrates cir
cumstance which as yet seems untold
i'll the sequential character of the times.
the circumstance of national and in
dividual life which ever follows the
life and teachings of the Divine Martyr.
The crusades, animated by the vulgar
thought to maintain the possession of
the earthly tomb of the Divine Martyr.
possessed
AN EVOLUTIONARY POWER
far beyond the thought Of the actors.
These crusades undoubtedly produced
a powerful economic effect by trans
ferring in many cases the possessions
of the feudal chiefs to the industrious
classes, while by bringing different na-
tions and races into contact, by enlarg-
ing the horizon and widening the con-
ceptions of populations, as well as by
affordIng special stimulus to nayIga-
ion, they tended to give new activity
to international trade. The independ-
ence of the towns and the rising im-
portance of the burgher class supplied
counterpoise to the power of the land
aristoeracy; and the strength of these
new social elements was increased by
the corporate constitution given TO the
urban industries, the police of the towns
being also founded on the trade guilds,
as that of the country districts was on