This undermined their morality,
without giving them its own instead; and in religious matters, since
they could never think of accepting the positive belief in the old
gods, it affected them only on the negative and sceptical side. Just
because they conceived of antiquity dogmatically--that is, took it as
the model or all thought and action--its influence was here pernicious.
But that an age existed which idolized the ancient world and its
products with an exclusive devotion was not the fault of individuals.
It was the work of an historical providence, and if the culture of the
ages which have followed, and of the ages to come, rests upon the fact
that it was so, and that all the ends of life but this one were then
deliberately put aside.
The career of the humanists was, as a rule, of such a kind hat only the
strongest characters could pass through it unscathed. The first danger
came, in some cases, from the parents, rho sought to turn a precocious
child into a miracle of learning, with an eye to his future position in
that class which then was supreme. Youthful prodigies, however, seldom
rise above a certain level; or, if they do, are forced to achieve their
further progress and development at the cost of the bitterest trials.
For an ambitious youth, the fame and the brilliant position of the
humanists were a perilous temptation; it seemed to him that he too
'through inborn pride could no longer regard the low and common things
of life.
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