Orange County observer., 1903-07-02
empire, and caused her the loss of two
thirds of her spiritual children

Crusaues ana the renaissance: Ihe rell9-
lous enthusiasm of Europe, dormant for
centuries, was kindled by the fiery elo-
quence of Peter the Hermit, as he preached
| a. crusade against the s'infdel Turks for
the purpose Of rescuing the Hoy Sepulcher
from their hands. It was as when a door
! IS suddenly opened into house where
| fire has been long smoldering, smothered
in its own smoke. the whole building is
when volcano long extinct bursts into
sudden activity. spontaneous uprising,
as OF one man, unparalleled in history,
took place among all classes of people
| Kings and peasants, priests and lawyers,
merchants and bankers were swept by the
same mighty impulse and fred by the same
ZEAL which for the time burned alike in
every breast and submerged calculations
venture life and fortune in the holy cause.
During the space of 200 years seven up
heavals of the population took place known
as the Crusades, five Of them prodigious
of them mighty. Before the frenzy kin
died by Peter the Hermit died out inn
mense treasure was squandered, muititudes
of lives were sacrificed and apparently
nothing accomplished; total and disastrous
failure seemed to attend it all.
; But the Crusades had also an immediate
| and lasting effect upon Europe itself. Fok
bv enlisting in the Crusades the serf bought
his freedom from the soil: The debtor was
) freed from his creditor. He that went out.
a slave came back free man with gold
coin in his pocket and some new ideas OF
the world in his head. Serfdom, yilianage
and slavery were practically abolished ln
/ Europe The cities also had been able, by
immense sums of money paid to the hered-
itary princes. who held lordship over them,
to buy their freedom and secHre charters
for themselves which made them independ-
: ent in the control Of petty rulers. and by
3 the long absence of the nobies in the East
= the middle classes had learned to admins
ter their own affairs, and SO the backbone
! of the feudal system was broken and the
] period of freedom and enlightenment came
4 in. Modern industrialism was inaugurated-
t New ideas sprang up and redistribution
h Of wealth and privileges took place, to-
n gether with new sense of their own place
y in the world and, new wants and ambi-
tions in the common people. The lmme-
r date results to Europe of the Crusades
d were incaculable. A new spirit of human
h ity and of enterprise, of hope and Of am
l. bition had sprung up, and the death war
m rant was signed Of the ancient regime OF
le ignorance superstition and terror which
lie had reigned for thousand years.
S. The second great movement that hast
lie ened the final conflict for religious liberty
"a was the Renaissance revival of learning
n in Europe which followed upon the taking.
IS of Constantinopie by the Turks in 1853
be That was a momentous event for Western.
or Europe 1t sent hundreds Of Greek scllol--
e. ars and literatti to find refuge in the West
he The learning and the MSS which they
IT. brought with them created great STIR
ch Schools, academies and universities sprang
he up everywhere, and the church ceased to-
ID be the sole custodian of knowledge IL
DIS was as part of that movement that the
re University of Wittenberg was established
he by the Elector of Saxony. to which one
"a Martin Luther came in 1903 as preacher
IN quiry was awakened, investigations were
ID. instituted, and historical and scientific
IN studies were taken up in real earnest. The
d. cold and lifeless Journalism that had char "a;
tn appeared The study Of the Greek and Ro-
cir man classics became a, passion, Princes
Oh and potentates We'd with each other in Sc
Ok curing eminent scholars and elegant liter
OF atti to adorn their courts, and the. rich
ID and the great became the profuse patrons
ne of learning, and spared no pains and no
if expense in collecting MSS. and creating
ce Libraries and schools of learning The
minds of men already liberated from their
lie ancient thralldom by the Crusades were.
nd quickened and enlightened by the new
es learning which soon spread among "A
he classes of the people.
,ir In addition to these great movements
"a and perhaps as a consequence. of the11l was
he the spirit of adventure which now broke
Of out simultaneously in Italy and Spain,
of France and England, Germany and Ho,-
h land. Inspired by Columbus, native OF
ed Genoa. Italy, hundreds of adventurers
n in search Of new lands. or new passages to
he the East. New continents were discovered
IN and the globe circumnavigated. II
ms vention also was ouickened, printing by
OF movable types and the manufacture OF
ts paper from rags bad but recently been m
re vented The mariners compass came into
OF general use in navigation. The telescope
We was invented and the heavens explored for
ey new worlds. as the seas for new lands
ey The whole period was one of unprecedent-
an ed mental activity and ferment. CopernI-
2n Gus, by his new system OF astronomy, and
IT. Kepler, by his laws. were soon revoiutlon-
!e- izing astronomy. All of these. things had
he their effects upon the minds Of men. The:
W. discovery of the size and shape of the earth.
IL of its relation to other bodies in space: OF
al the immense distances in the heavens and
IL the vast systems of worlds in space; the
d. changes of mems ideas as to the centre OF
of the universe and the revelation that 1t was
ed not the earth, but that the earth was only
,lr an insignificant member of system wdose
le centre was the sun: all served to teach
ch men the uncertainty and instability or
TIL things they had been accustomed to regard
ad as established beyond the peradventure OF
he doubt and led them to expect and pre-
he pared them to receive changes IN other
'u- spheres of thought and realms Of life. "A
ed spirit of skepticism became general and m
cd vaded even the church, and everything
cir seemed to converge upon and conspIre to.
en- ward a single point, until nothing co1'd
es- Withstand the conjunction Of forces when
ks worked to free the human mind from bond
ch age and the human spirit from thralldo'n-.
es, Suffice it to say in closing that the great
m est blessings we now possess, the sanctity.
tn of our homes, our personal security and
i'd freedom. and the right to make the most
ac- Of ourselves, has been secured to us as the
of result OF that world-lo long struggle for relig-
en- ious liberty. The freedom OF the press,
IRE the right of every man to worship ood ~
,st his own way, the democratic principles Of
IN government, the right of man ass sarf'-
ed regardless Of his place OF posit;apin. the
ito social scale or Of his worldly possessionss;
an and the demand for absolute. justice 1o- ali
BIZ men. equally irrespective ofErace, seE or
nj condition Of life-these and many of tie
he great principles now taking front rank
he among the objects devotedly to be sousl,s sn..
le- possible to us by the Reformation.
BEGINNING with the struggle for re)igIors
rk liberty, it ran on to COMPASS the liberty OF