Second Lane Lecture,

Dr. J. E. Sandys, of Cambridge, England, delivered the second of the Lane lectures in the Fogg Lecture Room last night, on "The Age of Discoveries."

"The revival of learning in Italy," quoted Dr. Sandys at the beginning of his lecture, "was attended by the discovery of the world and of man." From Marco Polo to Columbus the explores of the fifteenth century were discovering the worked; and the discovery of man is evidenced by the awakening of the human spirit from the sleep of the Middle Ages to human individuality and a vital sense of man's dignity. With this came also an awakened interest in the Latin authors. Following Petrarch's discovery of some of Cicero's correspondence came the discovery of the remainder by Niccoli, who was the founder of textual criticism. Poggio, a Papal secretary, was the discoverer of many Latin manuscripts, and by 1433, a century after Petrarch, he has discovered or assisted in the discovery of the manuscripts of 15 Latin authors, including Cicero, Tacitus, Plautus and Lucretius. All the discoveries of this century, however, were but a small percentage of the amount of classical literature handed down through the Middle Ages. During the same period Cyriacus of Ancona was engaged in the work of exploring the ancient monuments and transcribing their Latin inscriptions. Fra Giacondo, while similarly occupied made drawings of many of the monuments. Amerigo Vespucci and Columbus were the discoverers of the latter part of this age, and the inspiration of Columbus may be traced partially at least to Ptolemy and Dante.

The third lecture of the series, on "The Theory and Practice of Education," will be given in the Fogg Lecture Room Monday evening at 8 o'clock.