The great geographical discoveries of the sixteenth century had so enlarged human resources that, for all their divisions, for all the waste of their wars and policies, the people of Europe enjoyed a considerable and increasing prosperity. Central Europe recovered steadily from the devastation of the Thirty Years' War. ... It is inconceivable that that world of the middle eighteenth century could have produced a Jesus of Nazareth, a Gautama, a Francis of Assisi, and an Ignatius of Loyola. ... The Barbarian world was agitated by the rapid impulse of war; and the peace of Gaul or Italy ...

• Word Count: 2009
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Graduate