182 



Contemporary Evolution. 



mental culture by their preservation of so many writings 

 which, but for them, would have been finally lost to us. 

 For these deeds the gratitude of all enlightened men of 

 all creeds or of none has been and is theirs ; and thus 

 when modern vandalism recently threatened with de- 

 struction the venerable abbey of Monte Cassino, some of 

 our noblest fellow-countrymen allowed no difference of 

 belief to hinder their energetic protest against so cruel a 

 blow to history, to literature, and to the glory of the 

 Italian nation itself. 



At the epoch of that flood of pagan intoxication which 

 overspread Europe at the Renaissance, as the culture of 

 the traditional philosophy passed from disesteem to aban- 

 donment, it found a fortunate shelter also within religious 

 houses, and especially (as was most natural) with the 

 Dominicans. The mission of the friar-preachers was, 

 however (for some centuries to come at least), mainly 

 accomplished, and thus we have to look elsewhere for 

 its most efficient support. Just at the critical moment 

 there appeared in the arena of speculative conflict those 

 ever fresh spiritual athletes, the sons of St. Ignatius of 

 Loyola. In their colleges the traditional philosophy has 

 been scrupulously preserved, and from Suarez and Lugo 

 to Kleutgen (now living in exile) an uninterrupted body* 

 of teachers has carried on its cultivation and develop^ 

 ment, applying its principles again and again in oppo- 

 sition to the various errors as they have arisen, from 



