new conception of the value of individual personality, men looked to
the guidance of Greek and Roman thinkers, and called up the spirit
of the ancient world to exorcise the ghosts of the dark ages. Their
minds were thus directed backwards to a past civilisation which, in
the ardour of new discovery, and in the reaction against
medievalism, they enthroned as ideal; and a new authority was set
up, the authority of ancient writers. In general speculation the men
of the Renaissance followed the tendencies and adopted many of the
prejudices of Greek philosophy. Although some great discoveries,
with far-reaching, revolutionary consequences, were made in this
period, most active minds were engaged in rediscovering,
elaborating, criticising, and imitating what was old. It was not
till the closing years of the Renaissance that speculation began to
seek and feel its way towards new points of departure. It was not
till then that a serious reaction set in against the deeper
influences of medieval thought.

2.

To illustrate the limitations of this period let us take
Machiavelli, one of the most original thinkers that Italy ever
produced.

There are certain fundamental principles underlying Machiavelli's
science of politics, which he has indicated incidentally in his
unsystematic way, but which are essential to the comprehension of
his doctrines. The first is that at all times the world of human
beings has been the same, varying indeed from land to land, but
always presenting the same aspect of some societies advancing
towards prosperity, and others declining. Those which are on the