A  broader,  kindlier  spirit  arose  in  this  new  brother-
hood. Nations  forgot  their  petty  quarrels  in  the  issue
that  stirred  the  souls  of  the  people,  and  in  this  mar-


THE;  RENAISSANCE;

velous  outpouring  of  the  inner,  finer  self,  this  awaken-
ing of  the  soul,  the  Renaissance  had  its  being.  Italy
first,  and  then  later  the  other  romance  nations —
France  and  Spain,  then  distant  England  and  Ger-
many— seized  this  spirit  with  new  vigor  and  new
power.  From  dreamers  and  drifters  the  people  became
creators.  In  Italy  they  turned  to  art,  painting  and
sculpture;  in  Spain  to  architecture;  in  England  to
literature,  and  in  Germany  to  building  and  to  music;
and  they  gave  to  their  work  in  those  early  days  of
this  great  awakening  a  subtle  beauty,  an  idealistic
strength  that  seems  in  this  later  time  to  have  died  out
of  the  world.
The  Renaissance  did  not  come  suddenly.  It  was
born  in  the  long  sleep  of  the  Dark  Ages.  But  its
splendid  gifts  matured  and  blossomed  within  a  few
centuries.  We,  the  inheritors  of  this  time,  do  best
when  we  imitate  and  emulate  that  marvelous  spirit.
