Mr. Gladstone On The "Olympian Religion."

MR . GLADSTONE ON THE "OLYMPIAN RELIGION . "

In his new work *•Juvenus Mundi , " Mr . Gladstone thus summarizes the Olymp ian system in its results : — " The history of the race of Adam before the Advent , is the history of a long and varied , but incessant preparation for the Advent . It is commonly perceived that Greece contributed a language and an

intellectual discipline , Rome apolitical organization , to the apparatus which was put in readiness to assist the propagation of the Gospel ; and that each of these in its kind , was the most perfect that the world had produced . •' I have , endeavoured elsewhere to show with some

fulness , which was the plan of Greece in the / providential order of the world ; and likewise , \ vhat _ was the relation of Homer to the Greeks , and to their part of the Divine , plan , as compared with the relation of the sacred Scriptures to the chosen people of God . I cannot now enter on that field at large ; yet neither can

I part without a word for the subject of the Olympian relig ion . In the works of Homer this design is projected with such extraordinary grandeur , that the representation of it , altogether apart from the general merits ofthe poems , deserves to be considered as one of the topmost achievements of the human mind . Yet

its character , as it was the first and best set forth in its entirety from the brain of the finisher and maker , is not more wonderful than its subsequent influence and duration in actual life . For during 12 or 1-1 hundred years it was the religion of the most thoughtful , 5 the most fruitful , and most energetic portions of

the human family . It yielded to Christianity alone , and to the Church it yielded with reluctance , summoning up strength in its extreme old age , and only g iving way after an intellectual as well as a civil bat'le , obstinately fought , and lasting for generations . For the greater part of a century after the fall of

Constantinople , in the chief centres of a Christian civilization in many respects degenerated , and an ecclesiastical power too little faithful to its trust , Greek letters and Greek thought once again asserted their strength over the most cultivated minds of Italy in a manner which testified to the force , and to the

magic charm with which they were imperishably endowed . Even within what may be called our own time the Olympian relig ion has exercised a fascination altogether extraordinary over the mind of Goethe , who must be regarded as standing in the very first rank of the great minds of the latest centuries .

Tho Olympian religion , however , owes perhaps as large a share of its triumphs to its depraved accommodations as to its excellencies . " Yet an instrument so durable , potent , and elastic , must have had a purpose to serve . Let us consider for a moment what it may have been . We have

seen how closely , and in how many ways it bound humanity and deity together . As regarded matter of duty anil virtue , not to speak of that higher form of virtue which is called holiness , this union was effected mainly by lowering the Divine element . But as regarded all other functions of our nature outside the

domains of life to God-ward , all those functions which are summed up in what St . Paul calls the flesh and the mind , the psychic and the bodily life , the tendency of this system was to exalt the human element by proposing a model of beauty , strength , and wisdom , in all their combinations , so elevated that the effort

to attain them required a continual upward strain . It made divinity attainable ; and thus it effectually directed the thought and aim of man ' alongthe line of limitless desires . ' A scheme of reli gion , though failing grossly in the government of the passions and in upholding th <; standard of moral

duties , tending powerfully to produce a lofty seifrespect , and a large , free and varied conception of humanity . It incorporated itself in schemes of notable disci pline for mind and body , indeed of a life-long education ; and these habits of mind and action had their marked results ( to omit many other greatnesses )

in n philosophy , literature , and art which remain to this day unrivalled and unsurpassed . "The sacred fire , indeed , that was to touch the mind and lieart of man from above , was in preparation elsewhere . Within the shelter of the hills that stand above Jerusalem the great Architypo of the

spiritual excellence and purification of man was to be produced and matured . But a body , as it were , was to be made ready for this angelic soul . And as , when some splendid edifice is to be reared , its diversified materials arc brought from ( his quarter and from that , according as nature and man favour their

production , so did the wisdom of God , with slow but ever sure device , cause to ripen amongst the several races best adapted for the work , the several component parts of the noble fabric of a Christian manhood and a Christian constitution . ' The Kings of Tharsis and of the isles shall give presents , the Kin"S of

Arabia and Saba shall bring gifts . ' Every worker was , with or without his knowledge and his will , to contribute to the work . And among them an appropriate part was thus assigned both to the Greek people and to what I have termed the Olympian reli gion . "

Hospitallaria;

HOSPITALLARIA ;

A SYNOPSIS OF TMK HISTORY OF TJIE ORDK 11 OK 3 $ nights ^ Q < S { 'tiaUcf @ .

( Continued . ) The most illustrious loaders of this mighty host were Godfrey Count of Bouillon , an accomplished knight , lineally descended from Charlemagne , who had ahvady won a proud name in battle ; his brothers Ku . st . -ice and Baldwin ; their cousin , Baldwin du Bourg ; I-IiighCountofVerinaudois , brother to Piiili p

King of France ; Robert Duke of Normandy , brother of William Kufus King of Englaud ; Raymond Count of St . Gilt-sand Toulouse ; Robert Count of Flanders ; Stephen Count of Blois ; Bohemond Prince of Tarentum ; Guelpho Duke of Bavaria , & c , & c . The storm of Christian steel rolled onward . Nice .

one of the chief cities of the lurkish kingdom of Romn , first fell . The conquest of most of the towns of Anatolia followed . The precipices of Mount Taurus surmounted , the warriors of the Cross , after many hundred miles of toilsome and perilous marching , descended into Syria Tarsus opened its gates before

them , and the same keys unlocked those of Antioch , and Edessa , Tripoli , Sidon , Tyre , Csesarea , and Jaffa . JERUSALEM , the object of their pious zeal , now rose before them . When the vanguard beheld the hallowed City from afar , they raised a shout , which , rolling backward on the line of march , was echoed by the

whole host . The more devout manifested their rapture by kneeling down in the dust , and shedding tears of joy . With bared feet they approached the sacred walls ; a siege , blood } ' and resolute , of many days ' duration ensued ; till on the 15 th of July , 1099 , the Standard of the Cross waved in triumph on the walls

of Jerusalem , after the Holy City had been for four hundred and sixty years under the Mohammedan yoke . When the work of death was over , the Crusaders laid aside their blood-stained arms , and , barefooted and uncovered , repaired in solemn procession to the

Redeemer ' s tomb . 1 heir religions duties discharged , they next proceeded to regulate the government of the conquered territory , when by universal suffrage Godfrey of Bouillon was elected King of Palestine , as the worthiest champion of the Cross . One of the first acts of Godfrey , who was signally

devout , was to found several new churches ; and he also made it bis duty personally to inspect the House of the Hospitallers of Saint John which he found crowded with wounded soldiers , who loudly extolled the humane attentions that hud been bestowed on them . Several illustrious crusaders were so deeply

affected by the example of the Hospitallers , that , in the pious fervour of their souls , they abandoned the idea of returning to their native land , and voluntarily devoted themselves to the same charitable duties . Among those who took the habit of the fraternity were Raymond du Puis , and Dudoii de Comps , gen-i

tlemen of Dauplniiy , Gastus of Berdicz , and Canon de Montaigu , of Auvergne . To contribute to the endowment of the Hospital of Saint John , Godfrey bestowed on it the Lordship of Montboire , in Brabant , and all its dependencies . His example was followed by the principal chiefs of the Crusades , and

in a short time the Hospitallers had the revenues of a great number of rich manors , both in Europe and Asia , at their command . Hitherto tbe Hospital of Saint John had been merely a secular establishment ; but Peter Gerard the rector—a pious and benevolent Frenchman , who had

long devoted himself to the service of the pilgrims , and whom the Moslems themselves reverenced for bis indiscriminate benefactions—to whom the administration of these munificent benefactions was intrusted , impressed with-the sanctity of the office which had devolved on him , suggested that the

brothers should become a religious fraternity ( 1099 ) . The devout counsel was obeyed . Subsequently the institution was recognised and confirmed in all its endowments by Pope Paschal the Second , as Head of the Christian church . The same pontiff also excepted the possessions of the Hospital from the

payment of tithes , and conferred on the brethren the special privilege of electing their Superior , independent of all ecclesiastical or secular interposition . The return of the Crusaders to Europe with their tale of triumph , gave a new stimulus to that ardent zeal which had filled Christendom with martial

clamour . Supplemental crusaders poured from the west . Multitudes of pilgrims , filled with reiigionstransport , abandoned their homes , and bent their way towards the country iu which Christian valour had achieved such marvels . These wanderers , in many instances , reached the Holy City way-worn and penniless , and the pious charity of tho Hospitallers found constant

employment m mitigating their condition . These palmers , on their return , obtained for the benevolent brethren of Saint John the gratitude of Christendom , and there was soon scarcely a province within its confines in which the House of the Baptist did not enjoy manorial rights . The rapid enrichment of the Hospital exalted the piety of the Rector , and he erected a superb church to the Patron Saint of the

Hospitallaria;

Order ; and also extensive buildings for the accommodation of the brotherhood and the pilgrims , to whose service they had devoted themselves . Gerard also , ultimately , extendi !) i the sphere of his labours , and founded subordinate Hospitals in the principal maritime provinces ofthe west , which became the first

Commanderies of the Order . Such were the Houses of St . Giles in Provence , Tarento in Apulia , Messina in Sicily , and latterly Seville in Andalusia ; all of which were endowed with abundant privileges from the . successive occupants of the papal chair . Godfrey , thelordoftheconqnered city , after having

extended his rule over the greater part of Palestine , was cut off by disease in the midst of his triumphs ( 1100 ) , having been a king barely a year . He was succeeded by Baldwin Count of Edessa , his younger brother , -who during the course of a warlike and tumultuous reign of eighteen years recovered all the

maritime strong-holds , from the borders of Egypt to the Gulf of Scanderoon . He died in 1118 . Baldwin du Bourg , his cousin , succeeded to the throne of Jerusalem , and to a reign of warlike vicissitudes . About the period of its commencement , the venerable and pious Gerard , father of the Hospital

of Saint John , terminated bis illustrious career ; when the Hospitallers immediately elected Raymond du Puis to succeed him as their chief ( 1118 ) . Gerard was a man of peace , and the only obligations which he imposed on the fraternity were charity and humility ; but Du Puis had been bred in courts and

camps , and the simple robe of the Hospitaller could not repress the proud beating of a heart which had long throbbed responsive to the breath of the battletrumpet and the clang of a ^ ms . He formed the chivalrous project of combining the duties of the monk with those of the soldier , by giving a martial

constitution to the establishment--one which bound the brotherhood to defend the holy places , and urge a perpetual crusade against the enemies of Christ . A generous anxiety to mitigate the calamities ofthe pilgrim , to give him security in his jounieyings , and paace in his possessions , impelled the first

Grandmaster of the Hospitallers to encourage his brethren to resume the lance and the buckler , and become once more the terror of the Moslem hosts Raymond du Puis , though a man of illustrious birth , owed his elevation to the mastership of Saint John ' s Hospital solely to his moral pre-eminence ;

and at his call—a call which many of his brave compeers had often •heard in the shock of battle— - the Hospitallers eagerly grasped the arms and braced on the mail , which in a moment of devout zeal they had flung away . Without abandoning their original engagements to cherish thesick and unfortunate , they solemnly took upon themselves a . new

obligationto be at all times prepared to leap into their warsaddles , and encounter the infidels at the point of the lance . A large sum from the funds of the Order was declared disposable for the hire of mercenary troops . The Hospitallers where thus enabled , not only to give powerful succour to the Latin kings , but in several instances to prop , and preserve from total ruin , the tottering throne which the sword of Godfrey

had won . Raymond du Puis organised , in 1118 his warrior-brethren into three classes , differing in rank , profession , and office ; viz . nobility , clergy , and serjens . The knights , or first class , consisted of men of patrician ancestry and high military rank , who were appointed to bear arms and fill the dignities of the

Order . Tho clergy , or second class , performed the offices of religion , both in church and camp , and ministered in the Hospital to the sick and destitute . The third class , the serjens or half-knights , served either in the field or in the infirmary , as was required of them ; and , in after times , they contributed greatly to enhance the glory and power of the Order . No candidate could be received into the first class unless

he was of noble extraction , or bad performed some meritorious action entitling him to admission ; but it was not required of the priests , or of the servingbrothers , to produce proofs of noble descent . The latter , however , enjoyed many honourable privileges in common with the knights , and a certain number

of Commanderies were especially reserved for them . The Constitution and Rule of the Order of Saint John , as established by Du Puis , was confirmed by Pope Boniface . Blending the grave and rigorous obligations ofthe monk with thestirringand perilous duties ofthe soldier , tho Order was eminently

consonant with the superstitious and warlike spirit of the age ; and the youthful chivalry of Europe emulated each other in anxiety to be enrolled under the WHITE CROSS banner of Saint John . In a little time the Order was crowded with valiant knights from every country of Christendom , and the influx led to its division , in 1118 , into eight languages ,

or nations ; viz . 1 st Provence , 2 nd Auvergne , 3 rd France , 4 th Italy , 5 th Arragon , Cth England , comprising Scotland , Wales , and Ireland , 7 th Germany , and 8 th Castile , which included Portugal and Leon . King Paldwindn Boiirgacceptcd with gratitude the services of Du Puis and his knighly companions ; and in an engagement against the Turcomans and Savaceiis , in 1119 , the Hospitallersgained their firstlaurelfl . ( To be continued . )