The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1903-01-24
THE BUSY MONKS.
Conversation Between Professor and
Student.


generally embellishcd his lectures with
the remarks: 1.-The priests are good
for nothing; in fine, to express myself
briefly. the priests always hated
science, art, and every progress; they
lived and lived only, returning to dark
ness
One day after school there came to
him Il student who was a good young
man, intellectual, and not easily
scared, always looking for new fun.
lie went to the professor and said t,
him: Professor, would you be kind
enough to solve for me some doubts
that bother me since l have assisted
at your lectures?'
"Why not, my friend, with pleasure
With the greatest of pleasure. Out
with it,
"Only Il few questions, professor.
Who has preserved for us the ancient
classics? How is it they did not per-
ish when barbarism flooded the whole
of civilization?'
Monks have in their cloisters copied
them, and thus saved them to u.s."
''What! monlls?'
eyes, monks; especially the Bcncdic-
tines" ..
well, then, monks have copied those
ancient Goddess and thus saved them
for us? That must have been n tedi-
GUS work, was it not? And, of course,
they contracted consumption from the
library dust? Certainly; indeed, it was
in those days when regents could not
write their own names Curious
times, and curious these monks that
they delighted to copy letter by letter
from Livius, Caesar, Virgil and more
over from Tibullus, Propertius, Ovid,
etc. And how do these cOdices np-
pear! Carefully written as il printed,
and the initials are real works of nrt!"
"Oh, these monlss!'
"Wait, professor. 1t is true that
without those priests we would not
have Il Columbus and Vasco dc CANA i!
A monk, Fra Mauro, they say, made
in the year 1850 that celebrated chart
that aroused Coumbus!"
at is true, but any one else could
have made that chart"
"Is it true, professor, that the first
free schools were opened by La
Salle?"
eyes, the Frcnchman, De La Sale"
'"Ihe priest DC La Sale The priest
And that the first who looked after the
deaf mutcs was Pedro dc Ponce, and
after him L'Epcc:"
eyes; the Spaniard De Ponce, and af
ter him LEpec.'
"I'llc monk De Ponce and the priest
L'Epcc. DO not be angry, professor
it is not our fault that the priests
don't give us any peace in history.
Pray, and read, too, that the monk
Berth Schwartz invented powder ana
the monk Guido D'ArizZo the scale,
and the foundation rule of harmony;
a monk from Tagcrnsic, in Bavaria,
in 1000, glass painting; a Jesuit, Cav
alert, 1877, polychromy; the Jesuit
Sechi, spectrum analysis"
Certainly; but why should only
priests have such smart thoughts!
Listen, professor, l read too, that in
place of the awkward Roman clphcrs
a Pope introduced the Arabian ciphcrs
in arithmetic. Pope Sylvester III. in
tro1uccd them"
However, any other one could have
done that if the Popes did not always
press themselves forward"
'Well, they say, too, that Pope had
invented the telescope and micros-
COPE"
"That can't be true. These priests
want to claim everything"
"That is to say it is indeed true.
The Franciscan Roger Bacon had in
vented those Instruments"
"But that was a modern Francis
can, and not one of those cowlmen of
the dark ages. That rascal, Bacon,
when did he liveY"