commerce of upper Italy, and not upon the Church. The statesmen of
Florence were the inventors of the balance of power. A lover of
literature, Nicolas was the founder of the Vatican Library. He clearly
perceived the only course in which the Roman system could be directed;
that it was unfit for, and, indeed, incompatible with science, but might
be brought into unison with art. Its influence upon the reason was gone,
but the senses yet remained for it. [Sidenote: Gradual rise of the fine
arts.] In continuing his policy, the succeeding popes acted with wisdom.
They gratified the genius of their institutions, of their country, and
their age. In the abundant leisure of monasteries, the monks had found
occupation in the illumination of manuscripts. From the execution of
miniatures they gradually rose to an undertaking of greater works. In
that manner painting had originated in Italy in the twelfth century.
Sculpture, at first merged in architecture, had extricated herself from
that bondage in the fourteenth. The mendicant orders, acquiring wealth,
became munificent patrons. From caligraphic illustrations to the grand
works of Michael Angelo and Raffaelle is a prodigious advance, yet it
took but a short time to accomplish it.

[Sidenote: Review of the Age of Faith.] I have now completed the history
of the European Age of Faith as far as is necessary for the purposes of
this book. It embraces a period of more than a thousand years, counting
from the reign of Constantine. It remains to consider the intellectual
peculiarity that marks the whole period--to review briefly the agents
that exerted an influence upon it and conducted it to its close.

[Sidenote: Philosophical peculiarities of the Age of Faith.]
Philosophically, the most remarkable peculiarity is the employment of a
false logic, a total misconception of the nature of evidence. It is
illustrated by miracle-proofs, trial by battle, ordeal tests, and a
universal belief in supernatural agency even for objectless purposes. On
the principles of this logic, if the authenticity of a thing or the
proof of a statement be required, it is supposed to be furnished by an
astounding illustration of something else. If the character of a
princess is assailed, she offers a champion; he proves victorious, and
therefore she was not frail. [Sidenote: The character of its logic.] If
a national assembly, after a long discussion, cannot decide "whether
children should inherit the property of t