The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1902-06-07
THE MIDDLE AGES.
A Lecture BY Henry Austin Adams
at Evanston, III.


Henry Austin Adams recently lee
\ tured in ST. Mary's church, Evanston,
ILL.,, before Il large audience, who gave
the charming lecturer their undivided
attention during his interesting talk on
that pleasing theme, The Middle
Ages" His lecture was in part as fol-
lows:
1.-THE subject of this evening is The
Middle Ages My opinion is that there
is no teacher so dangerous and so mis-
-uoo pDeI pInoM QUA QUO otp sr uoNrl
temporaries to despise their own times;
to ask the man Ct today to look back to
yesterday, because today is not as good
as yesterday.
Il say this thing at the outset, be-
cause L love the middle ages History
is conspiracy against the truth, for
it has illuminated the middle ages. |
thank God, with all my heart, he has
allowed me to live here. and now |
say there are no times quite us glorious
as these great times of ouls. When
God picked me out of chaos ard des-
tined me to live in these times. l say
God was right. because He makes no
possible mistake, and His love is as
infinite as His mercy and His wisdom
GLOW miserable is the man who
feels as if lie ought to have lived in
another age: who thinks that his times
arc out of joint.
81 maintain that it is light that
should be living now and trying to do
a little bit to set them right. The
middle ages were but tho marble steps
leading to the glorious row. The great
men of the middle ages prepared the
way for us of the present century, so
that we might have grand and illus
t.ious models to look up to.
"Modern education is erroneous in
many critical respects. | am only just
beginning now to exercise my mind
from the obcSsion Of misconceptions.
My early youth was spent in being
stuffed with myths. For instance, the
glorious myth of Anglo-SaXonism. The
Angles We're Il lot of drunken libertines,
and all we know about the SaXons is
that they We're an undesirable lot. But
the accepted theory is that all that is
Anglo-SaXon is desirable. and that the
Latin races of the world IRE to be
classed as the rrtrograle people of the
earth
"Another myth was that anything
that was stamped modern WAS vastly
superior to anything marked medieval.
The dark ages were pointed out as Il
fearful example of the tyranny and
despotism of Popcry and of the monas-
IT,. orders.
"Historians never failed. in writing
UP any petty history. to put in jab
at the monks, a sncer at the Pope. and
jeer at the middle ages
"But where, in this cold and calcu-
lating world. can you find room enough
for all THE glorious men ard the won
derful deeds of that period?
Look back into the middle ages by
way Of setting up q contrast between
them and our own times.
'"Fhe sources of our knowledge of the
middle ages have been so mu,l,lied that
1t is almost an impossibility to get a
good look at them. Even the Catholic
Is apt to feel that during the whole
period of middle ages it would be best
to leave out a great many things. IF
tnat is true. it is because the sources
OF our information are so muddied.
The historians are determined to lie.
There is only one authority to give
any clear insight into the middle ages,
ahc that is a Protestant divine, DIR.
Maitland, who wrote The History of
the Middle Ages whose book is one
delicious story of an age of chivalry,
faith. history. science and deep philo
sophy. And we can point back to
these very same dark ages for every
thing worth keeping that we have now.
"The people Of the United States are
TOW recognized as the leaders in uni
Tersal freedom. and vet If you go back
tt, the middle ages. you will find that
Magma Charta and the writ of habcos
corpus were the creations of Roman,
Catholics. Medieval furniture ana
decorations. and books are now all the
rage. The further back YOU go into
4 the middle ages for anything. the
dearer you have to pay for it,
Mr. Adams next humorously COM
pared the fine old chairs of medieval
make with the weak, himsy. preten-
tious furniture now manufactured.
In the matter of architecture and
4 building. the old artists and artisans
erected and built for all time Why?
Because they belonged to guilds which
4 Afforded them more protection than
Gny trades union of these times can
give. So they put care and love and
skill in their work, and they took pride
and honor and glory in it. Thus they
b produced magnificent, durable and
skilled work.
Mr.. Adams drew picture of the
1 last days of the Roman empire and OF
the hordes of savage barbarians that
Z swooped down upon Rome. And who
raet these wild people. and educated