友情提示:如果本网页打开太慢或显示不完整,请尝试鼠标右键“刷新”本网页!
读书室 返回本书目录 加入书签 我的书架 我的书签 TXT全本下载 『收藏到我的浏览器』

the story of mankind-第45部分

快捷操作: 按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页 按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页 按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部! 如果本书没有阅读完,想下次继续接着阅读,可使用上方 "收藏到我的浏览器" 功能 和 "加入书签" 功能!


and Greek antiquities; disappeared from the scene and

their place was taken by serious men who spent twenty hours

a day administering those holy duties which had been placed

in their hands。



The long and rather disgraceful happiness of the monasteries

came to an end。 Monks and nuns were forced to be up

at sunrise; to study the Church Fathers; to tend the sick and

console the dying。 The Holy Inquisition watched day and

night that no dangerous doctrines should be spread by way of

the printing press。 Here it is customary to mention poor

Galileo; who was locked up because he had been a little too

indiscreet in explaining the heavens with his funny little

telescope and had muttered certain opinions about the behaviour

of the planets which were entirely opposed to the official views

of the church。 But in all fairness to the Pope; the clergy and

the Inquisition; it ought to be stated that the Protestants were

quite as much the enemies of science and medicine as the Catholics

and with equal manifestations of ignorance and intolerance

regarded the men who investigated things for themselves

as the most dangerous enemies of mankind。



And Calvin; the great French reformer and the tyrant

(both political and spiritual) of Geneva; not only assisted the

French authorities when they tried to hang Michael Servetus

(the Spanish theologian and physician who had become famous

as the assistant of Vesalius; the first great anatomist); but

when Servetus had managed to escape from his French jail and

had fled to Geneva; Calvin threw this brilliant man into prison

and after a prolonged trial; allowed him to be burned at the

stake on account of his heresies; totally indifferent to his fame

as a scientist。



And so it went。 We have few reliable statistics upon the

subject; but on the whole; the Protestants tired of this game

long before the Catholics; and the greater part of honest men

and women who were burned and hanged and decapitated on

account of their religious beliefs fell as victims of the very

energetic but also very drastic church of Rome。



For tolerance (and please remember this when you grow

older); is of very recent origin and even the people of our own

so…called ‘‘modern world'' are apt to be tolerant only upon such

matters as do not interest them very much。 They are tolerant

towards a native of Africa; and do not care whether he becomes

a Buddhist or a Mohammedan; because neither Buddhism nor

Mohammedanism means anything to them。 But when they

hear that their neighbour who was a Republican and believed

in a high protective tariff; has joined the Socialist party and

now wants to repeal all tariff laws; their tolerance ceases and

they use almost the same words as those employed by a kindly

Catholic (or Protestant) of the seventeenth century; who was

informed that his best friend whom he had always respected

and loved had fallen a victim to the terrible heresies of the

Protestant (or Catholic) church。



‘‘Heresy'' until a very short time ago was regarded as a

disease。 Nowadays when we see a man neglecting the personal

cleanliness of his body and his home and exposing himself

and his children to the dangers of typhoid fever or another

preventable disease; we send for the board…of…health and the

health officer calls upon the police to aid him in removing this

person who is a danger to the safety of the entire community。

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; a heretic; a man

or a woman who openly doubted the fundamental principles

upon which his Protestant or Catholic religion had been

founded; was considered a more terrible menace than a typhoid

carrier。 Typhoid fever might (very likely would) destroy the

body。 But heresy; according to them; would positively destroy

the immortal soul。 It was therefore the duty of all good and

logical citizens to warn the police against the enemies of the

established order of things and those who failed to do so were

as culpable as a modern man who does not telephone to the

nearest doctor when he discovers that his fellow…tenants are

suffering from cholera or small…pox。



In the years to come you will hear a great deal about

preventive medicine。 Preventive medicine simply means that our

doctors do not wait until their patients are sick; then step

forward and cure them。 On the contrary; they study the patient

and the conditions under which he lives when he (the patient)

is perfectly well and they remove every possible cause of illness

by cleaning up rubbish; by teaching him what to eat and what

to avoid; and by giving him a few simple ideas of personal

hygiene。 They go even further than that; and these good

doctors enter the schools and teach the children how to use

tooth…brushes and how to avoid catching colds。



The sixteenth century which regarded (as I have tried to

show you) bodily illness as much less important than sickness

which threatened the soul; organised a system of spiritual

preventive medicine。 As soon as a child was old enough to spell

his first words; he was educated in the true (and the ‘‘only

true'') principles of the Faith。 Indirectly this proved to be a

good thing for the general progress of the people of Europe。

The Protestant lands were soon dotted with schools。 They

used a great deal of very valuable time to explain the Catechism;

but they gave instruction in other things besides theology。

They encouraged reading and they were responsible

for the great prosperity of the printing trade。



But the Catholics did not lag behind。 They too devoted

much time and thought to education。 The Church; in this matter;

found an invaluable friend and ally in the newly…founded

order of the Society of Jesus。 The founder of this remarkable

organisation was a Spanish soldier who after a life of unholy

adventures had been converted and thereupon felt himself

bound to serve the church just as many former sinners; who

have been shown the errors of their way by the Salvation Army;

devote the remaining years of their lives to the task of aiding

and consoling those who are less fortunate。



The name of this Spaniard was Ignatius de Loyola。 He

was born in the year before the discovery of America。 He had

been wounded and lamed for life and while he was in the hospital

he had seen a vision of the Holy Virgin and her Son; who

bade him give up the wickedness of his former life。 He decided

to go to the Holy Land and finish the task of the Crusades。

But a visit to Jerusalem had shown him the impossibility

of the task and he returned west to help in the warfare

upon the heresies of the Lutherans。



In the year 1534 he was studying in Paris at the Sorbonne。

Together with seven other students he founded a fraternity。

The eight men promised each other that they would lead holy

lives; that they would not strive after riches but after righteousness;

and would devote themselves; body and soul; to the service

of the Church。 A few years later this small fraternity

had grown into a regular organisation and was recognised by

Pope Paul III as the Society of Jesus。



Loyola had been a military man。 He believed in discipline;

and absolute obedience to the orders of the superior dignitaries

became one of the main causes for the enormous success of the

Jesuits。 They specialised in education。 They gave their

teachers a most thorough…going education before they allowed

them to talk to a single pupil。 They lived with their students

and they entered into their games。 They watched them with

tender care。 And as a result they raised a new generation of

faithful Catholics who took their religious duties as seriously

as the people of the early Middle Ages。



The shrewd Jesuits; however; did not waste all their efforts

upon the education of the poor。 They entered the palaces

of the mighty and became the private tutors of future emperors

and kings。 And what this meant you will see for yourself

when I tell you about the Thirty Years War。 But before

this terrible and final outbreak of religious fanaticism; a great

many other things had happened。



Charles V was dead。 Germany and Austria had been left

to his brother Ferdinand。 All his other possessions; Spain and

the Netherlands and the Indies and America had gone to his

son Philip。 Philip was the son of Charles and a Portuguese

princess who had been first cousin to her own husband。 The

children that are born of such a union are apt to be rather

queer。 The son of Philip; the unfortunate Don Carlos; (murdered

afterwards with his own father's consent;) was crazy。

Philip was not quite crazy; but his zeal for the Church bordered

closely upon religious insanity。 He believed that Heaven had

appointed him as one of the saviours of mankind。 Therefore;

whosoever was obstinate and refused to share his Majesty's

views; proclaimed himself an enemy of the human race and

must be exterminated lest his example corrupt the souls of

his pious neighbo
返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 1 1
快捷操作: 按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页 按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页 按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
温馨提示: 温看小说的同时发表评论,说出自己的看法和其它小伙伴们分享也不错哦!发表书评还可以获得积分和经验奖励,认真写原创书评 被采纳为精评可以获得大量金币、积分和经验奖励哦!