1543.

A. D. Mayence was conquered, and most of Faust's companions were dispersed, and carried the art of printing with them, widely diffusing it throughout Europe, though Italy was the country where it was chiefly cultivated.

Fourthly, the art of Book-binding. At one time books consisted merely of one long roll of parchment. Afterwards they were sewn together in sheets; but from the nature of parchment only a limited number of leaves could be fastened together on account of the thickness. It was not till the discovery of paper that means were found of connecting any large number of leaves; and the art of book-binding was by no means complete till the year 1500 A.D. This art is now brought to its highest perfection in England.

Fifthly, the art of Copper-plate Engraving. This consists in cutting out figures on a copper-plate, adding a colour, and taking impressions, and was discovered in Germany before 1450 A.D. Albert Durer, about the year 1500 A.D., taught the art of etching with aqua-fortis, one part of the copperplate being prepared with a mixture calculated to resist the effect of the acid. In 1543, a Hessian, of the name of Lewis, of Liegen, discovered mezzotinto. A copper-plate is made rough by cutting transverse and diagonal lines; it is then covered over with a black composition. Where the picture is designed to be bright, the rough part is made smooth; where merely a light shadow is required, the plate is smoothed in a

less degree; and where a deep dark shadow is a. d. wanted, the plate is left perfectly rough. There 1800. is reason to hope some ingenious minds will introduce still further improvements in this department of the art.

Sixthly, Spectacles. These were invented by "Alexander Spina," a Florentine, about the end of the thirteenth century; and the power of glasses has been gradually raised to the perfection displayed in telescopes. By the telescope, man is enabled even to take so accurate an observation of the moon, that its appearances are now delineated by several charts. Stars have been discovered by the telescope, such as the moons of Jupiter; and more particularly Uranus, discovered 1781 A.D., and Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta, in 1801 a.d.

Seventhly, the Compass. The compass, it is true, was not unknown in France as early as the twelfth century; still for that perfection of the instrument which gives the navigator full confidence of making the point for which he is bound through unknown seas for this we are indebted to Gioja of Amalfi. Without the compass it would have been impossible to have made any of our great discoveries: the passage by the Cape to India, any knowledge of America, or a voyage round the world—all equally depended on the perfection of the compass.

CHAP. LV.

REVIVAL OF LEARNING-JOHN HUSS

WICKLIFFE.

A. D. THE Crusades, the extension of commerce, the 1378. art of printing, and the discoveries by the

Spaniards and Portuguese, excited a spirit of enterprise throughout Europe, called forth the energies of man, and rendered the interchange of thought and the diffusion of knowledge far easier than in earlier times. Italy was the country where science and commerce principally flourished, tending, in no slight degree, to diminish the authority of the Pope. Even in Rome the papal power was now losing its influence; and the princes, whose dominions lay out of Italy, began to indulge in greater freedom and latitude of speech. In the year 1378 A.D., divisions arose, and for forty years sometimes two or three popes were reigning at the same time, whilst the grossest vices prevailed among the Roman Catholic priests. The people, however, had been so long accustomed to honour the church and her ministers, that in spite of various provocations they remained for the most part true to the Pope. On the other hand, an intense spirit of inquiry had arisen among the scholars of the day-a spirit greatly encouraged

1400.

by the Universities established about 1200 A.D., A. D. both in Italy and Paris. These inquiries soon led numbers to the conclusion that the doctrines of popery were in many points both erroneous and unjust; and this opinion soon received a powerful and forcible expression from a distinguished individual, by whom it was gradually spread throughout Europe. Wickliffe, at Oxford, awoke to a sense of the injustice of popish pretensions, and led his pupils back to the Bible itself as the fountain of truth. These principles extended as far as Prague; and when, in 1400, John Huss propounded similar doctrines, so numerous were his listeners, that at last he ventured to preach a sermon attacking the Pope, who, in the year 1411, had ordered that a general indulgence should be granted to sinners of all descriptions. who were only in a position to pay for its purchase. And when, in defiance of the order of the Archbishop of Prague, John Huss had recommended the study of the writings of Wickliffe, he was accused of heresy, and excommunicated by emissaries from the Pope. Huss now retired to his native village, and there continued his instructions; thence he was summoned to Constance to appear before a large assembly of the church in 1414, and the Emperor Sigismund promised to escort him in safety. Huss came, propounded his doctrines, and quoted scripture to establish their truth. His doctrines, however, were evidently hostile to popery, so Huss was thrown

1500.

A. D. into prison, and in the year 1415 A.D. was burnt alive, as a heretic with whom it was unnecessary to keep faith. In 1416 A.D., his friend Hieronymus met a similar fate, and that in the identical place. These persecutions violently exasperated the Bohemians, and for twenty years the followers of Huss avenged themselves in every possible way on all popish adherents. The conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, in the year 1453 A.D., produced a great effect on the whole of Europe. Many Greeks had taken refuge in Italy, from the fear of the barbarous hordes of Asia, and were received by the Italians with great hospitality. Florence, which was honoured with the most learned of these Greeks, was an object of envy; and soon there was not a town in Italy which could not boast of at least one Greek to explain the writings of his countrymen. Thus by the constant perusal of the Grecian poets, orators, and philosophers, the revival of learning was greatly assisted. The power of the church was continually on the decline, and in the year 1500 A.D. all Italy was ripe for the subversion of the popish dominion and doctrines. In Germany, however, that noble energy which eventually prompted the Reformation and completed its triumph, as yet lay dormant, and still remained to be awakened by that stirring spirit that lives in the literature of ancient Greece.