Evening star., 1928-03-04


a thousand petty wars. In the hands
OF the nuns and the secular q. e. nom
monastic clergy the church placed the
administration of It's charities. and
many Of the great hospitals that sur
vive today were founded in an epoch
In which charity was personal and
complete.
Under the rule of the church the
people lived an intellectually narrow
and cmotionally happy life. Their ig-
norance. their relic worship. their mira
Gle mongering. their uncritical accept
ancc of such pious legends as made the
Lives OF the Saints" their belief in
spirits that filled the air and dominated
human lives and made pious women
strangely pregnant may seem to our
contemporary taste abominablc and un-
redeemed but when we consider how
small part science and philosophy
play In our lives we may b, inclined to
admit that the people of the middle
ages could live as vigorously and COM
pletcly as VIC. At least. they ate as
heartily and drank as deeply and with
fewer Puritan inhibitions They were
not subject to coffee. but they knew
how to make good wine and beer. They
tasted on Fridays fish was a delicacy
to them. 1t is true that their manners
were rude not until the fourteenth
century we're forks used. and Queen
Elizabeth. Louis XIV and William
Shakespeare. still ignorant of this new
invention or diSdaining 1t, ate comfort
ably with their fingers. Homes were
simple. but they were pretty, and the
weary tourist of today finds his best
moments in leaving the hot stone walls
and pavCmcntS OF modern thorough
fare and losing himself In the narrow,
incalculable alleys under the pictur-
eSQue oVerhanging windows and bal
comics, the crowded peaks and gables
OF a surviving medieval street. In these
homes there was not much liberty. but
there was much consolation. At night
the whole family knelt together a:
their chairs and recited the rosary
aloud. Mass on Sunday was 4 drama
and feast: there the village met, ex-
changed gossip. compared hats and
made designations for the week. and
the fine Gregorian chant Of the high
mass thrilled their hearts with n me-
lodious piety. From their cradles to
their graves the church surrounded
them with colorful pageantry and rit-
ual. they were initiated through baptism
into the brotherhood of Christians:
they marched in magnificent fes-
tivals behind the Virgin or the cross:
they were relieved of fostering con-
science by Confessing to their priests
and had no need of psyche analysts:
they were nourished and renewed by
eating the God in holy communion
They were married by splendid cere-
mony that burned the VOW into their
memory as not a mere legal arrange
ment. but an obligation OF honor TO be
maintained through veal and woe. In
their suffering they were comforted by
the church, and in their poverty they
might appeal 10 her and be heard. And
when they died the priest was at hand
to give them the last ointment. to shrive
them Of their final sins and TO console
them with the promise that their death
would be an awakening into evcriast-
ing happiness. Men arc more power
ful today than they were then and they
know now incomparably more. but in
our restless age. shorn OF belief and
hope. and almost Of charity they have
lost certain simple happiness which
uplifted and cnnobled the poyery of the
middle ages
Over the people and their priests.
over the monks and nuns, arose the pv-
ramidal hierarchy OF the church. First
the bishops. lie. the overseers. with
their great cathedrals. lie. churches con-
tanning the bishops church; then the
archbishops and the cardinals. and at
last the Pope. The Pope was elected By
the conclave OF cardinals, who resembled
the senate OF the old Roman republic:
IN truth. except when the Pope was an
unusually dominant personality. II was
these cardinals who ruled the church.
and the continuity OF their group. bridg-
zf
Is the secret of the power and perrna-
nence of the church With this clement
in the selection OF the Pope democracy
ceased and aristocracy began. masking
ltSel. as usual. with monarchical face.
Inc Pope chose the cardinals. the car
dinals chose the archbishops the arch
bishops chose the bishops and the
bishops chose the priests. There at the
bottom democracy had another chance:
any man might aspire to rise from the
lowest to the highest Office In @he
church. and though aristocratic birth
might help him, lower birth was small
impediment.
Under this mode OF election the Popes
were for the most part men OF great
ability. far surprising the average of
any kingly dynasty known TO history
Popes like Gregory ]. Gregory VII and
Innocent III were not unusual. time
and again the genius OF the panacv
proved too much for the genius OF
kings: We have seen how Henry " knelt
In penance at Canossa and how King
John yielded all England in fief to In.
nocent III.
AS 1t grew In organization and power
The church became the dominating state
over all the governments OF Europe II
had It's own law. called canon law.
through which II controlled not only !
priests and monks and nuns. but mar
riage. interest. contracts and Wills. II
collected It's own tithcs and revenues
from the people, II had Its own penal
code and jails.
But the church had forgotten plato's
proviso that In his aristocratic repub-
Ilc there should be no fixed laws and
that life should be left free 10 grow ms II
had 10. under the flexible intelligence Of
wise men. Christianity had CONCEALED
into dogma. into a faith which It's for
mulators thought would remain un-
changed forever; the ideal Of power had
come down from ancient Rome with
too great force 10 be merged properly
with The necessities OF freedom By
It's wealth and rigid order Christianity
had been converted 10 Rome as much
as Rome had been converted TO Chris
tianity Always the dilemma seems 10
face mankind that 1t shall have order
without liberty or liberty without order
ana peace Perhaps some day we shall
be intelligent enough 10 deserve and
build unity that can be friends with
freedom