The fireside sphinx . CHAPTER IV RENAISSANCE Un horame cherissoit epeidument sa chatte ;II la trouvoit mignonne, et belle, et miauloit dun ton fort doux :II etoit plus fou que les fous. THE close of the sixteenth century sawwestern Europe undergoing a curious andcomfortable change. Civilization, withher handmaid, luxury, and her schoolmaster, theprinting-press, had seduced the souls of men. Warwas no longer a pastime for princes ; it was a seri-ous and expensive business, frowned upon by finan-ciers, and deferred as tediously as possible. Menbuilt themselves costly homes, bought p
The fireside sphinx . CHAPTER IV RENAISSANCE Un horame cherissoit epeidument sa chatte ;II la trouvoit mignonne, et belle, et miauloit dun ton fort doux :II etoit plus fou que les fous. THE close of the sixteenth century sawwestern Europe undergoing a curious andcomfortable change. Civilization, withher handmaid, luxury, and her schoolmaster, theprinting-press, had seduced the souls of men. Warwas no longer a pastime for princes ; it was a seri-ous and expensive business, frowned upon by finan-ciers, and deferred as tediously as possible. Menbuilt themselves costly homes, bought pictures andtapestries and vellum-bound books, and began slowly 68 THE FIRESIDE SPHINX to understand the first rudiments of the noble artof cooking. Rich merchants enjoyed the delightsof ostentation, and the great middle class studiedits own comfort with commendable industry. Anair of well-being spread over the towns, and, infavoured lands like England, extended itself even tothe peasantry. Lazy and luke-warm antagonis
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectcats, bookyear1901
