The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-04-12
ON LITERATURE.
Young Scholarly Adj
dress by Alfred
Waites.
A LARGE AUDIENCE.
How Dark Ages Were Fol-
lowed by Better
Days.


held last evening in Antiquarian hall.
An interesting paper by George Shell
don the Deerfeld historian, was read
y-President f. L. Hutchins. The title
of-the paper was Flint locks and
match locks" and the author went to
an elaborate and detailed recital of the
modes of warfare of the Indian tribes
of this section of New England, and a
description of the different kinds of
arms used by them.
on the conclusion of the paper, Pres
ident Hutchins introduced Mr. Alfred
Waites, who delivered an able and
scholarly address on Literature" In
its course he said:
Human progress is necessarily ac-
companied by mental activity. An
that we are is theissue of our thought
Any kind of earnest, independent
thought is q ter for humanity than in
dolent contentedness. If, therefore, il
should be assumed by the inhabitants
of any country that so far as they were
concerned, the depths of human wis
dom had been sounded, that all thought
which was of value was contained il
the teachings of certain of its sages
that litera ture could add nothing &c
the beauty or utility of their philOso-
ply or the completeness of their rea-
such a country, that invention would
be despised. original inquiry condemned
and literature become a meaningless
repetition or a rhapsody of words.
This may have been the main cause
of the terrible prolongation of the
dreary period which we sometimes term
the dark ages" for nearly a thousand
years there seems to have been little of
national aspiration which clothed itself
in language. 1t may be that the decline
of the Roman empire, which permitted
the barbarous tribes from the north
and east to overrun Gaul. Spain and
Italy. extinguished the small ambition
which still fingered in degenerate bos-
ouS. There was little hope Of success
and scant reward for patriotism. Neg
lect of literature was general There
was, moreover, in the Christian church
an earnest belief that within itself was
all that was necessary for the best liv-
ing of this life and absolute assurance
for the hereafter. The purity of its mo-
tives facilitated the subversion of in
tellect
1t was also very generally believed
that the world was to come to an end
in the tenth century. Buildings Of
every sort We're suffered to fall into
ruins. 1t was thought useless to repair
them when the end of the world was so
near. Intellectual activity was a sin
of the eleventh century declared that it
was impossible with a safe conscience
to exercise any traffic whatever, and
soul blasting to follow the profession
Of the law
All literature was discouraged save
such as was formulated in the interests
Of the church; even that, after time,
was discovered to be noXious, because
II led to speculation and doubt. Fierce
conflicts were waged about theological
differences, which sometimes consisted
of a single letter in a single word
Heresies grew and multiplied Every
one knows how these We're combatted
by the church; they were said to be the
DEVILS work; difference of opinion was
elevated to the bad eminence of crime;
was earnestly, prayerfully, vigorously
deplored by good and honest men, but
largely out Of it came the salvation or
the revival Of literature.
Some Of the fathers were liberal stu
dents, and to them We are probably
indebted for the remains Of heather
literature which otherwise would have
been lost but there was felt to be
something degrading about it, Matt
land tells US that it was customary
for the monks, when under the dsci-
pline of silence, to ask for a copy Of
Horace by placing their hands to their
ears and moving them in imitation Of
a dogs scratching with his paws, to
which animal it was thought the pa
gan writer might properly be COM
pared.
He who has studied the history Of the
middle ages, or who has carefully read
the old plays which treat Of it, obtains
faint conception of the ascendancy
exerted upon the lay mind by those
who possessed a knowledge Of the dead
fa.1 NH fr4f. #
the time used TO prescribe the Fourth
Book of the Had to be laid under the
PATIENTS head for quartan ague. The
authority which the priest secured can
scarcely be exaggerated. He could con-
troll the supernatural, exercise the evil
one and summon the spirits of the
dead. The Latin language was con-
secrated to religion and learning. The
church claimed for every scholar the
privilege Of an eCClesiaStic: when daily
miracles accompanied it's utterance it
is not difficult to understand how So
pernatural power was attributed to
Latin itself an idea which cliugs TO HUI
man thought with singular tenacity
Even now the influence of the priest is
increased by his liturgy; the cIairvJy-
ant gables a dOggrel latinity to awe
his CredulOuS listener: he magic in
upon the stage similarly accompanies
his sleight of hand. while the efficacy
Oh q NiEulCdl prescription would be
seriously diminished if it We're not writ
ten in that language.
We shall mistake, however. if We
think that i'm the middle ages the
minds of men were brutaHzed because
literature then found its least exp1es-
sion since the church enthusiastically
fostered a sister science and with ifs
glorious cathedrals covered Eur7oa
with architectural magnificence. the
souls were not benumbed whose emo-
lions could so respond to thought and
mould IT into forms of matehless
beauty.
Nothing is more instructive than the
realization that persecution purifes
while success corrupts The early
Christian church wooed men TO it's Gov
enant by the purity Of its doctrines and
the sincerity of its teachers. There
and the unworthy kept punctilliously
aloof. But when il aspired to politics
and power, could furnish great reward
for INSCRIPTIONS service. the ablest
and most ambitious spirits fiocked
greedily thitherwards. They mon
strously sought to preserve corruption.
The thought argued against itself. cor
ruption descended to its natural use
and nOurished the seeds Of a nobler
time. Langland, Dante. Petrarch.
Boccaccio. ChaUcer proclaimed the bit
ter truth in fierce denunciation and