"A day not cloudless or devoid of storm,
But sunny for the most and clear and warm."
CHAPTER VIII.
THE MORNING OF MODERN TIMES.
LESSON FROM HEATHEN MYTHOLOGY—VICISSITUDES OF ROMAN CHURCH—BONIFACE POPE—ADVANCEMENT IN CIVILIZATION—WORK OF THE ROMAN CHURCH—INVENTION OF PRINTING—GUTENBERG—BIBLE FIRST PRINTED—COLUMBUS—HIS WONDERFUL DREAM—HIS GREAT VOYAGE—DISCOVERY OF AMERICA—TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS.
"It breaks—it comes—the misty shadows fly:
A rosy radiance gleams upon the sky;
The mountain tops reflect it calm and clear,
The plain is yet in shade, but day is near."—Chas. Mackay.
The fifteenth century may be justly considered the commencement of modern times; for then began the great revolution in science, religion and general knowledge, which has continued until the present time. The time-worn colossus of Rome was tottering under its own weight. Great princes filled the thrones of all the principal countries of Europe. The minds of men seemed awakening as from a sleep. A spirit of scientific research had seized the learned, and a desire for knowledge found its way even to the homes of the lowly.
In every grade of society a new life was in motion. "What an age!" exclaimed Huetton, the religious knight of Germany, "studies flourish, minds are awakening; it is a joy merely to be alive!"
The history of those times cannot be correctly told by a simple recital of facts. This truth should ever be acknowledged, that God is ever present on that vast theatre where successive generations of men meet and struggle. It is true He is unseen; and the unthinking multitude may pass heedlessly by. To the ignorant crowd, the history of the world presents a confused chaos; but to men of thought, it appears as a majestic temple on which the invisible hand of God is at work.
Modern minds might learn a lesson from heathen mythology. The name given by the ancient Greeks to the Deity shows that they had received some primeval revelation of this great truth. He was styled Zeus, or the life-giver to all that lives—to nations as well as individuals. From his inspirations Minos and other legislators professed to have received their laws; and on his altars kings and people swore their solemn oaths. This great truth is taught by one of the most beautiful fables of heathen mythology.