ossible.

8. The next stage of progress is marked by a group of
inventions,--_gunpowder_, _the mariner's compass_, and _paper_ and the
_printing press_. The Middle Ages, as we call them, were now ended, and
the human race found itself on a stage as wide as the world.

9. The next invention, which came quickly after the preceding ones, and
placed mankind in the present stage of civilization, was the
_steam-engine_. The revolution which this brought about is so recent as
to need no details here. (See lesson on the Industrial Revolution, p.
87.) What is to be the invention that will mark the entrance of the race
on a higher stage still, when Tennyson's dream of a "Federation of the
World the Parliament of Man" may be realized? Is it the airship, giving
man the conquest of the last element still unmastered?

THE NEW LEARNING

1. The aim of this lesson is to make the pupils familiar with one of the
most important movements in English history, by having them study the
meaning, causes, tendencies, and effects of the New Learning.

2. As an introduction, a lesson or two should be given on the conditions
prevailing in Europe during the latter part of the Middle Ages, because
a knowledge of these conditions is essential to a right understanding of
many of the causes of the New Learning.

The New Learning was a phase of a greater movement called the
Renaissance, which arose in Italy during the fourteenth century. The
Renaissance marked the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of
modern history. It meant re-birth, a new life. People took a new
interest in living. The influence of the monk and of the knight was
passing, and the man of affairs, with his broader sympathies, his
keener vision, his more varied interests, and his love of liberty, was
coming into prominence.

How to enjoy life, how to get the greatest value out of it, became the
great problem. In their attempt to solve this problem people turned
their attention to the ancient literature of Greece and Rome; for it was
believed that the ancient Greeks and Romans had a fine appreciation of
the meaning and beauty of life. They began to seek out the old
literature and to study it. This new study has been called the Revival
of Learning or the New Learning. The influence of these two great
literatures soon made itself felt. Every province of knowledge was
investigated, and people everywhere were influenced by this great
intellectual awakening.

3. The following w