0"T' LAERT> "! - USP

288 ... ..RECENT TIMES.;
Greek life caused magical pictures to pass .before their
minds' eyes of the serene felicity, of' man, and drew them
away from the contemplation of the m ournfuL seriousness, of,
Christian, renunciation which hated and condemned plea^
sure. They elevated themselves to the ideals of. freedom '
and of ancient heroic greatness, even if in regarding the
wretched political circumstances of the. present they wepe,.
pressed again to the earth. Thei writings, of. the wise ^
men of. antiquity afforded them. abundant inspiration and j
instruction ; .it was in these they discovered the foundation^. +
of philosophy, law, mathematics, astronomy, geography,
and physics, of the natural sciences and of medicine. , With
the restoration of Greek and Roman literature there wa||
disclosed a world of ideas and of endeavours which seem^cr
fitted to step into the place of the now defunct forms of Jfe
of the middle ages. The spirit of the age strugglingHo- 1
wards a.modern development of civilization thought to §j|d #
in it a serviceable wreapon for the great struggle with the
Church and with scholasticism,—and was not deceived. #
Certainly, humane learning was limited to a small circle; '
but this circle comprised the intellectual elite of the nations.^
The ideas of humane learning soon seized upon the minds.
,of men with such force that no one could escape from them, *,
not even those, who like the representatives of the Church .
and of ecclesiasticism, must have discerned in them their *
natural enemies. They found a friendly reception even at
the Papal Court. NICHOLAS V- was their well-wishing
friend and patron,, though probably more from personal
vanity than from inward conviction. PlUS II., before*
ascending;the Throne, and while still bearing the name of *
../ENEAS SYLVIUS, had worked zealously in favour of their
extension in Germany, and remained at all times their true
disciple and their advocate both with tongue and pen. To
be sure, their influence was manifested less in religion than a
it was in art and in science. The Humanists, as a rule,
avoided direct assaults upon the dogmas of the, Churchy
And there was no fear that the jovial and sometimes even
*.*