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Show ! CIVILIZATION OF THE MIDDLE AGES 'I I What the Catholic Church Did For Suffering j Humanity Condemned Slavery i Traffic. ' I (Written for The Intel-mountain Catholic.) In t real ins of modern civilization, as confined f i.i material progress and greatness, or intellectual I superiority, we can only boast that it approaches, I hut does not surpass that of pagan nations of an- 1 liquity. . In. proportion as it excludes the supcr- f naniral, or Christian influence, so does it descend in tfie tealc of liberty, equality and fraternity. which are the basis of the civilization introduced by our lord. This is opposed alike to slavery and li.enso, it makes all. equally amenable before the ; law, and substitutes love for selfishness. In earry- . , j iug out this law we have true refinement and real . progress in civilization; without it, outward dis- ' ' ? " play, ihc effect of material prosperity, exterior do- l -irum and refinement, and intellectual advanec- I ' inent. not softened by love all of which is mere linsel under the guise of civilization. Under the ? influence and advanced leaching of modern civil- I j cat ion a. medical professor in Chicago said, last -week, that the age limit, of human existence should ; be sixty years. When man had passed the last mile- f stone on the toll-road of life he should be chloro- f formed and quietly dispatched to the clysium hunting hunt-ing grounds. This is but one specimen of advanced i modern civilization. It is not a solitary case. Who -would accuse the doctor of being barbarous t His y : civilization is not better nor so high as that of -the assassin and self-murderer, Brutus, whose sclf- I 5-hness and ambition, unrestrained by any moral i rode, led him to plunge his dagger into the heart f .f his best friend, and when foiled in his ambition I jell on the sword of his friend, crying: ''0 Virtue, ! 1 have worshipped thee as a god. but I find thee an I empty name.' As compared with the natural hero-, j ivm blended with the supernatural to he found hi ! -the ages of faith we sec only a return to pagan civ- I ilization. "When we read of the heroic deeds of the Knights of St. John, of St. Raymond and other .1 kindled orders, their unselfish and martial spirit, i Ftrong faith and shining virtue, and compare these j -with what is done, or accomplished through tna- j I Serial prosperity and intellectual growth the high- jj r-t notions of .modern civilization we learn that j the benefits derived from the former were much i 1 greater because they made the people happier and 1 more contented. We take another example of me- '! dieval times to illustrate this. i. e., to show that ! real civilization must be founded on the super- 1 natural in order "to attain beneficial results and reach the masses of the people. Here reference is had- to monastic orders which were founded and I conducted, as they are today for development of tic intellect and the acquisition of-knowledge, for i the cultivation of virtue and a home of refuge for the poor and weak when 'in want or ill used by j lvrants. In these abbeys the highest ideal of civil- j ization was reached. Under the coarse garment of j-rge were to be found persons of the most refined i maimers, intellectual greatness, advanced knowl- ,.,ioe in all the fine arts, and all blended together 1 wiTh the golden link of charity. Inseparable from - I the monastery was a public hospital where the sick. ' ' the weak and the infirm were cared and provided ! for. Is this civilizing influence to be forgotten part from material prosperity, what have we to Mirps iti We boast, and laudably, too. of that I grand and civilizing influence of our modern hos- I piiaU. but are not these the heritage of Christian ! civilization? Before the sixteenth century civilization at least i cr,n-idercd in its intellectual and moral aspect reached its summit. The reformers broke-its unity nd changed its course. Erasmus, born in IIol- t ;in,l iu H6T, a contemporary and friend of I ope ,, X, and later of the high chancellor, Sir Thoin-Mm-e of England, also professor of Greek at Ux- I j-ord. was expounding the sources of knowledge and 3 t.dvaneod stage of civilization of that age when the 1 j-cfonn. begun in Germany, though fir'st strenu- 1 ,.uMv opposed in England, had now royal approba- ii.-.n At this iwiod Columbus was discovering a i 3,rw world, and Da Gamo was doubling the Cape, i and the Mussulman, opposed to Christian civihza-l civihza-l -,ioru was driven from Spain. Missionaries were ! ! M1,v,,ding the light of faith among savages in luth- ii rno unknown lands. Tlic advanced civilization o, j ihat period kept pace with man's inherent rigl t of liberty, equality and fraternity Slavery had b9i I ctHlenmed as un-Christian. 1 he Council of Or-held Or-held in 54f condemned slavery Tope 1 aul III decreed against slave traffic, which decree wa, 1 cot.Hrmed bv at least two of his successors The . u.aneipation of the slaves in our own country c 1 ,old. marked the onward march of rMVihzat on I inthcla'ct century. The claim is true. 1 hen to th church in developing Christian civilization winch nr. Ranted ihat of Greece and Rome, is credit lu Snaking the initial step of conodnm.ug W hai- b,rus practice. During tl.e long period designa cd I l.v tn-minded and prejudiced historians as h, 3 ark Ages-how few fonn a true estimate of t e j .dvanee, in the order of civilization made by the church. Barbarians were enhghtcned and sag Loans, -under the benign influence of 1 iho go .P h I tceante humane, gentle and ender Vome n c X lil-raU-dfroinbondflgeandthroughCathdc i ? K-cante socially men's equal. Ihc Cathohc alone made the indissolubility of ni-rr r,u article of faith. Education was not cd' lut on the contrary in philosophy, science and ci her branches was fostered by the church. W ilization, which our advanced thinker ; would Urn udopt, the exact opposite is ft VnJ, -Je gramme. The ancient Greeks -jj, full en.ioyn.ent of lT Catholic I ell strangers as rank barbarians, x i ;i,, there .as no J ! ! civil Po- she was the defender and TmiKW ;j - 1 the masses against the tyranny of princes and barons who treated their subjects as slaves. When wronged and oppressed, the church fought their battles, and poured the oil of consolation into the depressed hearts of the poor andTriendless. ' Emerging from the so-called dark ages what do we learn '. (1) That education got a setbafck. Both in the large universities and outside of them, according ac-cording to the' leaders of the reformation Luther, Calvin, Melanchthon; also Grotius uud Leibnitz learning fell fronUts high standard to a very common com-mon level. The new creed noisy and boastful, yet cold and uninspiring failed to inflame the hearts of poets, painters or architects with the sublime ideals of the supernatural. A Murillo could find no inspiration in the new creeds to paint a 'Xa-tivitv 'Xa-tivitv of the Virgin," or "The Charity of St. Thomas of Villanueva." The genius of Michael Angelo as displayed in his delicate touch and finish of the "Agony" would be lost for an ideal or model,-if model,-if bom and raised iu an uncatholic atmosphere. But aU this means civilization and that of the highest order. To build it up and perpetuate it has been the work of the Catholic church for twenty centuries. Cast it aside, fall back upon pure nature, na-ture, as modern civilization aims to do, and instead of b'uildinsr up a better, a higher, or grander order of civilization, it will be simply an imitation oi the old heathen nations who have been long since buried in the past, and whose civilization is sometimes some-times discovered among the ruins of their ancient |