"In the days of her power and importance, the church of Rome numbered
amongst her vassals and servants the most renowned spirits of the earth.
She called them from obscurity to fame, and to all who laboured to
spread and sustain her influence, she became a benefactress. Her wealth
was immense, for she drew her revenue from the fear or superstition of
man, and her spirit was as magnificent as her power. The cathedrals
which she every where reared are yet the wonders of Europe for their
beauty and extent; and in her golden days, the priests who held rule
within them were, in wealth and strength, little less than princes. For
a time her treasure was wisely and munificently expended; and the works
she wrought, and the good deeds she performed, are her honour and our
shame. She spread a table to the hungry; she gave lodgings to the
houseless; welcomed the wanderer; and rich and poor, and learned and
illiterate, alike received shelter and hospitality. Under her roof the
scholar completed his education; the historian sought and found the
materials for his history; the minstrel chanted lays of mingled piety
and love for his loaf and raiment; the sculptor carved in wood, or cast
in silver, some popular saint; and the painter gave the immortality of
his colours to some new legend or miracle."--All who have visited the
cathedrals and churches of the continent, or who have studied their
history at home, must acknowledge the truth and force of these excellent
observations. They are copied from an ably-written article on the
History of Italian Painting, in the second number of the _Foreign
Review_.
* * * * *
Frederick the Great, in a letter to Voltaire, says, "I look on men as a
herd of deer in a great man's park, whose only business is to people the
enclosures."--This is one of the _great men_ of history.
* * * * *