EUROPE THE CLOSE OF THE FIFTEENTH AND BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. THE century had but fifteen years to run when Henry VII. was acknowledged king on Bosworth Field; and yet before it ended a discovery had been made, so startling, so wonderful, that it seemed like a page from a fairy tale. Who had dreamed that a new world lay beyond the broad Atlantic? Yet this was the marvel revealed by the great navigator Christopher Columbus. Convinced that if the earth were round there must be a way to the Indies by sailing in a westerly direction, he had worked and waited through long and weary years for means to go in search of it, unmoved by the sneers of the ignorant and the indifference of the careless. At last he obtained the help of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain; and on the 3rd of August, 1492, set sail with three small vessels. He held on his way, regardless of the mutinous conduct of his men, who were panic-stricken when day after day they sailed on, over unknown seas, without seeing any shore. But, on the 11th of October, landbirds and other signs proclaimed it near; and through a sleepless night they watched in breathless expectation for what the daylight would disclose. When the sun burst forth from the darkness with but little warning, as he is wont to do in the tropics, a rich and lovely island-for the West Indies are a paradise of beautylay a few miles to the northward, and was named by Columbus, San Salvador. With a thrilling joy which only tears could utter, he stood upon its strand, the conqueror in a bloodless battle with the forces of Nature, wherein genius, courage, and perseverance had triumphed gloriously by a wise and fearless use of the powers bestowed by God, who, Columbus humbly believed, had chosen him to this mighty work. It was on his third voyage that he found the vast continent of America. At first no honours were too much for him; but this great man, like many another benefactor of his race, was pursued by ingratitude and calumny, so that once he was sent back to Spain in fetters; but this called forth a storm of indignation. He died in 1506, poor and neglected; but the doers of great deeds find these their own reward, and this was his, before 66 "Through troubled seas, his bark had reached at last But it was not only on the other side of the Atlantic that freshly-discovered realms were forced to yield up their secrets; there were eager explorers everywhere in that new world of learning just opened to their enraptured sight. "O age!" exclaimed one of these pioneers, knowledge flourishes, minds are awakening. It is joy to live." Kings and peoples were unconsciously girding themselves up for the memorable struggle which issued in the Reformation. The men were already born who were to stir the heart of Europe to its depths. Some in their mother's arms, some at their father's knee, some at school or at college, some in the cloister; the forces were silently mustering, though as yet no call had sounded for the battle. Let us pause for a moment to see how this preparation was going forward in England. The fifteenth century was near its close when several Oxford students returned from Italy, fired with enthusiasm for light and learning, some of whom may have seen Savonarola face to face, and listened to his burning words. Among them was John Colet, afterwards Dean of St. Paul's, and founder of St. Paul's school. He began to give lectures on St. Paul's Epistles in his old university, in which he set forth vividly the spirit of their teaching. His career was not a long one, for he died in 1519; yet it is difficult to overrate the value of his wise and righteous life, which accorded with the heavenly doc trines which he taught. Before the bishops in convocation, before Henry VIII., before Wolsey, he preached the plainest truths in gentle, courteous language; and though he was harassed by accusations of heresy, he was never silenced, and the king favoured instead of censuring him. But perhaps his greatest work was the influence which he exercised over the incomparable scholar Erasmus, and over Sir Thomas More. At the time when we find them all together at the university-"the Oxford reformers"-Colet and Erasmus were both about thirty, but More not twenty years of age. Yet young as he was, his two elder friends already saw in him those marvellous merits which won and kept their deepest affection. In More, sweetness and strength were combined with a noble intellect; a character of exquisite harmony, perfected by goodness. These three men remained attached to the Church in which they had been educated, and were shackled by its training; but they are placed in the front rank of their age by more than glimpses of great truths regarding religious toleration, the superiority of Christianity to all sects, the heathenism of war, and other kindred subjects. Colet's sermons and the writings of More and Erasmus, bear witness on these points; though, after the death of Colet, his two friends were so alarmed by the progress of the doctrines of the Protestant reformers, fearing that they would lead to disorder and mischief, that even More fell into the deadly error of his times, and tried to check what he deemed dangerous heresy, by persecution. But though religious questions were soon to blend with almost everything of importance, yet there were other matters not to be overlooked. During the first twenty years of the sixteenth century, three young princes ascended European thrones, not one of whom was likely to be a passive spectator of events. These were Henry VIII. of England; Francis I. of France; and Charles V., whose vast dominion, inherited through both parents, comprised Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Naples, Sicily, and the New World; and who was also elected Emperor of Germany, in preference to his rivals Henry and Francis. The Pope was eagerly bent on extending the temporal power of the papacy; so here we have four sovereigns, all powerful, all ambitious, all wishing to be first. Italy in its internal condition differed then from all other states in Europe. Instead of forming one monarchy, the only parts which recognised a king were those which belonged to Charles V. The rest of that fair land, so richly dowered by Nature, consisted of a number of independent commonwealths, such as Venice, Genoa, Florence, etc.; for these Italian cities had risen to great wealth and importance through the pursuit of commerce. No other country in Europe could vie with the elegance of some of their manufactures, and the dwellings of their merchants were like the palaces of kings. The newborn intellectual life was nowhere more vivid than in Italy, that home of beauty. She stood foremost in literature, and her works of sculpture and painting about this period were masterpieces of art. The Italian state which exercised the largest influence on Christendom was that singular one governed by the Pope, who claimed on the one hand to be the Head of the Church throughout the world, and as such, superior to all earthly kings; and, on the other hand, to be a prince exercising sovereignty like the monarchs around him. In the latter aspect, Leo X., who died in 1521, would bear comparison with many of the reigning potentates; being a very accomplished man, distinguished by his love of art and literature. In France there had long been a tendency to narrow more and more the liberties of the people, so that the rule of Francis I. was little short of despotic. In England, on the contrary, even under the Plantagenets, the monarchy, though very powerful, had become in i creasingly limited; but there was a reaction with the first of the Tudors when the nobility were greatly weakened by the Wars of the Roses. The Emperor Charles, Francis of France, Henry of England, and the Pope, now filled Europe with their rivalries and contentions, and the struggle began on Italian soil. The French king, who had gained a victory over the Swiss at Marignano, just after his accession, was deeply mortified at the election of Charles by the empire, and war broke out between them in 1522. At first, the Pope and Henry were on the side of Charles; but, during the long contest, alliances and parties were constantly shifting. The emperor defeated Francis, and took him prisoner at Pavia in 1525. After the release of the latter, the Pope embraced his cause; and, in consequence, Rome was taken and sacked by the imperial army, with shameful outrage, in 1527. Meantime a greater man than any of these monarchs had appeared upon the scene, destined for nobler work and fairer fame. This was Martin Luther. Questions. When and by whom was America discovered? Give some account of this wonderful discovery. What famous sovereigns were contemporary with Henry VIII.? Over what countries did Charles reign? Who were Colet, Erasmus, More? THE REFORMATION. AFTER the fall of imperial Rome, papal Rome rose upon her ruins, and the enormous powers bestowed on the popes were fearfully abused by some of them; as for example, Alexander VI., a shamelessly wicked man, who received the tiara in 1492. His vices and those of his son, both in public and private life, were frightful; and many minds, horrified by the carnival of sin in Rome, ques |