the
Renaissance, that the student of education is chiefly interested. To
this we turn our attention.

We have already alluded to the social conditions, the inventions, and
discoveries, which prepared the way for the revival of learning. New
and powerful impulses were shaping the progress of the world, and the
leaders of the humanistic movement were not slow to utilize the
instruments thus opportunely furnished them. Chief among these was the
art of printing, which enabled them to multiply and distribute copies of
the classics, that had been consigned to comparative oblivion.

Another important element must be considered if we are to understand
this revival. We have seen that during the Middle Ages the ecclesiastics
largely shaped the intellectual activity of Europe, that mystery was
made of science, and that the authority of the Church was supreme on all
questions of education as well as of religion. A new and vital doctrine
was taught which had much to do with the intellectual and spiritual
emancipation of man. This new doctrine may be stated as follows:--

_Man is a rational, volitional, self-conscious being, born with
capabilities and rights to enjoy whatever good the world offers._

This doctrine, it will readily appear, is capable of being perverted to
an excuse for unbridled license, as was done by the Italians; or,
rightly interpreted, of being productive of great good, as in the case
of the Germans.

Another new doctrine taught was that there was goodness in man and his
works even previous to the Christian era, and that a study of the
writings of all who have contributed to human progress is essential to
culture, and of value to mankind. This was an argument for the revival
of the study of Greek, which had for centuries been neglected. Indeed,
Gibbon tells us that in the time of Petrarch, "No more than ten votaries
of Homer could be enumerated in all Italy."

Again, it was held that the gates of learning must be opened to all and
not limited to the clergy, the recluse, and the sage. Intellectual
culture must be offered to all men, to make them better and happier, and
is not to be confined to the few for the purpose of increasing their
power and widening the breach between the classes. The Renaissance made
learning popular, it created a passion for culture, it aroused and
stimulated widespread desire for greater enlightenment. Some of the
leaders in the movement, however, merited opposition because of their