The Renaissance would not have been the process of
world-wide significance which it is, if its elements could be so easily
separated from one another. We must insist upon it, as one of the chief
propositions of this book, that it was not the revival of antiquity
alone, but its union with the genius of the Italian people, which
achieved the conquest of the western world. The amount of independence
which the national spirit maintained in this union varied according to
circumstances. In the modern Latin literature of the period, it is very
small, while in the visual arts, as well as in other spheres, it is
remarkably great; and hence the alliance between two distant epochs in
the civilization of the same people, because concluded on equal terms,
proved justifiable and fruitful. The rest of Europe was free either to
repel or else partly or wholly to accept the mighty impulse which came
forth from Italy. Where the latter was the case we may as well be
spared the complaints over the early decay of mediaeval faith and
civilization. Had these been strong enough to hold their ground, they
would be alive to this day. If those elegiac natures which long to see
them return could pass but one hour in the midst of them, they would
gasp to be back in modern air. That in a great historical process of
this kind flowers of exquisite beauty may perish, without being made
immortal in poetry or tradition, is undoubtedly true; nevertheless, we
cannot wish the process undone.
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