The Renaissance. 89 



Humanists, she never produced quite a first-class scholar, and English 

 books were not considered sufBciently important to be reproduced abroad. 

 She had no great patrols as in other countries— Duke Humphrey of 

 Gloucester, Henry V.'s brother, was the nearest approach to one — and no 

 great progress was made until action was taken by the Universities. 

 After this it was spread by schools, St. Paul's founded by Colet in 1512 

 leading the way. The four greatest English Humanists were Grocyn, 

 Linacre, Colet and More. Grocyn studied under Politian in Italy, and on 

 his return stimulated the new learning by his lectures at Oxford. 

 Linacre taught at Oxford, but is better known for his work in medicine, 

 and for his efforts to banish quackery. To show what he had to contend 

 with, the following is a typical prescription of the times : — " a sow-pig of 

 nine days old, flayed and quartered, and stewed with peppermint, fennel, 

 liverwort, turnip, celery, nine dates and some raisins, to be set in the sun 

 foi nine days, and drunk at intervals, nine spoonfuls at a time." An 

 alternative i o this was : — ' a hedgehog, quartered and distilled with a 

 quart of red wine, a pint of rose-water, a quart of sugar, cinnamon and 

 raisins, one date and twelve turnips. From this sort of thing Linacre tried 

 to rescue the science of medicine, and the permanent memorial of his efforts 

 is to-day the Royal College of Physicians, of which he was the first 

 President. John Colet, Dean of St. Paul's, was a great educationist and 

 though not a great scholar, his work was invaluable iu preaching the 

 gospel of a return to the classical ages and the doctrines of the Primitive 

 Church. Last of all comes Sir Thomas More, who represented the highest 

 perfection of character among men of the time. His nobility of character, 

 the example of his domestic life, and the depth of his unaffected religion 

 made his personality a vital factor in the life of England. 



To most of us, however, the first idea called up by the mention of the 

 word Renaissance is the glory of the works of art of the period, and 

 though perhaps not the most important aspect, it is certainly the most 

 dazzling and brilliant. But it forms a study in itself and cannot adequately 

 be approached in a short sketch. We must therefore content ourselves 

 with the bare mention of a few of the greatest artists in a period of giants, 

 in which were produced many of the greatest artistic treasures of the 

 world. In painti g Botticelli, Titian, Tintoretto, Leonardo, Raphael and 

 Michelangelo for beauty, perfection of execution, idealism and classical 

 inspir tion take place among the greatest artists of the world. Architec- 

 ture was not one of the principal products. Its greatest achievement 

 was the adaptation of ancient models to modern needs. Brunellescln's 

 dome at Florence, and Michelangelo's at St. Peter's in Rome are among 

 the finest examples. One lesson architecture learnt, and that was pre- 

 cision of form and magnificent proportions, to be seen in St. Paul's 

 Cathedral and in some of the chateaux in France. In sculpture, it is 

 impossible to overlook Michelangelo and Donatello, whose works were so 

 greatly influenced by Greek art. 



So far as the Renaissance can be said to have any end at all, it 

 ended in decadence. The impulse continued, but its products became 

 perversions of those which the movement had inspired at its zenith. 



