by Anne Manning
CHAPTER XIX.
REST AND PEACE.
When the structure is built, the scaffolding is removed: when we areraised up to Christ, our earthly props are often knocked away.
Ochino was soon to leave Naples--Valdes was soon to leave this earthlyworld. For a little while the Church had rest: and then burst out afurious, fiery persecution. Its burning annals have no place in mystory; but I will annex a chapter about it as an Appendix, for those whowill not or cannot refer to the original sources.
An advance had taken place in Ochino's opinions, which, for a time, wasfelt rather than understood by his hearers. He appealed directly to theScriptures in support of his doctrine, and bade them search forthemselves. In spite of his boldness, he not only was allowed tocontinue to preach in the Cathedral, but, in a chapter held at Naples in1541, was re-elected General of the Capuchins.
His departure from the Church of Rome was detected, however, by thejealous eye of Cardinal Pole, who wrote to Vittoria Colonna, urging herto beware of his influence, and even exacting from her a promise, whichno woman of independent spirit would have given, that she would not readany letter addressed to her by Ochino, without consulting him orCardinal Cervini. Vittoria gave this promise, and afterwards redeemed itby transmitting to Cardinal Cervini, not one letter, but a packet ofletters written to her by Ochino; observing on them, in an accompanyingnote, "I am grieved to see that the more he attempts to excuse himself,he condemns himself the more; and the more he believes he shall saveothers from shipwreck, the more he exposes himself to the deluge; beingout of the ark which alone can save."
Vittoria was at Rome, the head-quarters of intolerance, attending FraAmbrogio's lectures in the church of San Silvestro, and sending herservant, after the sermon, to Michael Angelo, saying, "Tell him that Iand Messer Lattanzio are here in this cool chapel, that the church isshut and very pleasant, and ask him if he will come and spend themorning with us." And when he came, their talk was not of polemics, butof painting, and of her building a convent on the slope of MonteCavallo.
Vittoria, having put her hand to the plough, had drawn back; but Giuliahad chosen the better part, and has attained the honour of beingstigmatised in Romish records as "suspected of heretical pravity."
Oh! how she wept when Valdes died! They were tears of sweet and pureaffection, unmixed with bitterness or gloomy foreboding, for he hadbeen called, at the second watch, to his rest: and she had now a goodassurance of following in the same luminous track, upheld by the sameright hand, straight up to heaven, without the intervention of a fearfulpurgatory.
He was called away in the strength of his manhood, for he was littlemore than forty, and his twin brother is lost sight of about the sametime. Lovely in their lives, in death they were not long divided.Peaceful, natural decline removed them from the persecutions thatawaited their followers.
It is not hard to divine his last admonitions to Giulia. "Search theScriptures, for in them we know that we have eternal life. Pray, dearSignora! pray! As our Lord prayed on the mount, the fashion of Hiscountenance was altered, and His raiment became white and glistening!Doubtless, whenever _we_ pray, the expression of our countenance isaltered in the sight of God, if not of man; and our raiment, therighteousness of Christ, becomes white and glistening. Oh, what anincentive to prayer! St. Matthew and St. Luke, you will find, innarrating the transfiguration, do not give us the preface--'_and as heprayed_.' But how important an addition it is! What a blessing thatprayer drew down! It drew prophets and saints from heaven!"
"Valdes, dear friend! Would that my prayers might hereafter draw _you_down from heaven to comfort me! Yet no; I recall the selfish wish.Rather let me fancy you calling, 'Come up hither!'"
"Fancy our Lord so calling you, dear Signora, and it will be mere fancyno longer. All my teaching will have been in vain, if you covet humanrather than divine sympathy and help."
"But you have been to me as a brother."
"There is a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother, Signora. Come,give me a text, ere you leave me, to dwell upon when you are gone."
"'Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace.'"
"God grant it! And here is one for you, whose time has not yet come tobe led forth. 'Behold! I have refined thee, but not with silver'--(notin the same way, that is; not with mere physical heat)--'I have chosenthee in the furnace of affliction.' See! there is something that escapesus at first. God not only says He has tested us, but that He has_chosen_ us. O, blessed to be the chosen of the Lord----"
"Valdes, I seek Him, but I know not that I have yet found Him----"
"Signora! 'let the heart of them rejoice that _seek_ the Lord.'"
While masses were being sung and said for the soul of CardinalIppolito, the spirit of Valdes departed without a sigh. "For so Hegiveth His beloved sleep." But were Giulia's affections, which had beengradually refining, then left without a human object? No. By the will ofhis paternal grandfather, her nephew, Vespasiano, the little Duke ofSabionetta, came into her charge; and the education of the dear littleboy, now eight years old, became her care. She procured the best andmost enlightened tutors for him, in Tuscan, Latin, and Greek; anddespatched an envoy to Charles the Fifth, to secure for him theinvestiture of the state of Lombardy, and to supersede itsadministrators by Don Ferrante and Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga.
This young boy was trained up by her in the paths of virtue andgodliness; and lovingly did he repay her pains. He grew up a finecharacter, distinguished for liberality and intelligence; and to him theJews owed the licence for their printing press at Sabionetta. When hedied, in 1591, the line became extinct.
Besides superintending Vespasiano's education, the Duchess devotedherself to visiting the sick in the hospitals, and relieving the poorwith her own hands. She shunned the company of the idle and frivolous,and cultivated the friendship of the wise and good. She lived to a ripeold age, shining more and more unto the perfect day--a light in a darkplace, during an age of gross corruption--unsullied by the breath ofslander, and respected, in spite of her averred 'heretical pravity,' bythe Romish Church.
The faithful old maggior-domo, Perez, wrote thus to Vespasiano, on the19th of April, 1566:
"It appears to me that I should fail in my duty, as a servant for twenty-one years together, towards the deserving memory of the illustrious lady, my Lady Donna Giulia di Gonzaga, your aunt, if I did not offer to condole with your Excellency on her death."
... "Her illustrious ladyship died, as you will have heard by letter from Magnifico Modignano, and from M. Federigo Zanichelli to-day, between twenty-one and twenty-two o'clock. She made an end conforming with her most holy life, continuing sensible to the moment when her sainted spirit left the body. Her will has been opened, and you will have learnt from the before-mentioned Modignano and Zanichelli, that your Excellency is left absolute heir of her property, deducting certain legacies; the will being very different from one executed seven years ago."
To the aforesaid Perez she left an annuity of a hundred ducats: toCaterina, her maid, two hundred ducats down, and a bed and bedding. ToPetrillo, whom she had brought up in her house, a thousand ducats; or,in case of his death before he were of age, half that sum to his fatherand mother. To Metello, her page, a hundred ducats down. To the brotherof her former maid, Caterina Rosso, and to his two children, a hundredducats each, in remembrance of her services. To her chaplain, twentyducats. To Madonna Antonia, her lady's-maid, twenty ducats and hersalary. To two little girls assisting in the kitchen, ten ducats each,besides their wages. To all the house-servants, their expenses for amonth.
Also, remembrances to the nuns of Santa Clara, and to certain officersof the Hospital for Incurables.
Also marriage portions to sundry young women, and legacies to herphysicians.
Also legacies to four hospitals.
This remarkable entry was made----
"I leave Cynthia, my slave, to the said Vespasiano my heir, whom I direct
to take her to his state of Lombardy; and, when he has come to the truth of what I wished to know from her, to give her in marriage in that province, with two hundred ducats currency as dowry, and to make her free and set her at liberty."
And, on re-consideration, towards the close of the will,--after leavinga legacy to her undutiful daughter-in-law, and to her sister, a nun,----
"If ever any person be found who may have given me offence in any manner whatsoever, I freely pardon them, and beg my heir not to bear any resentment. I also order and bind my said heir that he use no constraint or severity towards the said Cynthia;--nor am I careful that he should learn from her what I said before that I wished to know; but that he shall make her free and set her at liberty, and give her in marriage in the province of Lombardy, as I before said."
If looks could kill, would not the stubborn, impenetrable Cynthia havebeen annihilated by the glances that were given her by the rest of theDuchess's women, when this testamentary disposition transpired? Had theythe concentrated power of burning-glasses, she would have borne themjust as stoutly. All her life she had been sinning and inly repenting;but, to draw from her one word she did not choose to speak--no! thatthey should not! _She_, an Abencerrage, to be treated like a slave? Shehad no feelings in common with her captors: she hated their race, anddespised their creed. She only made an exception in favour of theDuchess; but the Duchess did not understand her: nobody understood her.Oh! how hackneyed a complaint it is, that we are not understood!
So, although Cynthia had shed sincere tears for her mistress, she felt agloomy glory, when she heard the first clause relating to herself, inthinking that the more the young Duke insisted on her telling, the moreshe would never mind. But when she found her gentle mistress hadretracted that command, and left her mentally and bodily at liberty--shestole away to a solitary place, and there shed big tears, beating herbreast, and saying,
"O Leila, Leila! You loved me!--and indeed I loved you!"
APPENDIX.
My story is ended--but, as it is based on Truth, I hope few who haveread the foregoing pages with any pleasure, will be without someinterest in the subsequent progress of the Italian Reformation.
Stifled in its infancy, it is now re-awakening into life; and though itas yet only numbers its open converts by hundreds, yet, where the Bibleis now freely read, it cannot be but that Truth, which is great, shalleventually prevail.
The following sketch, chiefly abridged from McCrie may be acceptable tothose who cannot refer to his History of the Reformation in Italy. Ihave, however, likewise drawn from other sources.
It was in 1542 that the court of Rome first became seriously alarmed atthe progress of the new opinions in Italy. Cardinal Caraffa, whoafterwards became Pope Paul the Fourth, laid before the sacred collegethe discoveries he had made of their spread in Naples and many otherparts. It was resolved to proceed against some of the leaders,especially Ochino and Peter Martyr Vermigli. Ochino, learning that hisdeath was determined on at Rome, hastily fled to Ferrara, whence, beingassisted by the good Duchess Renee, he escaped the hands of the armedmen despatched to apprehend him, and reached Geneva in safety.
This flight was considered very cowardly by the resolute disciples hehad left behind; and, indeed, Ochino's story would read much better ifhe had remained to share their fate, for there is a great falling off inhis subsequent history.
As for Martyr, who had parted with him at Florence, he took refuge inZurich, whence he wrote back to those whom he had left to weather thestorm, advising _them_ by all means to stand by the sinking ship! Seeingthe wolf coming, he and Ochino left the sheep, and fled; no wonder thatthe wolf scattered the sheep.
The result was this. Many of Ochino's friends were apprehended, and someof them driven to recant: and eighteen monks of Peter Martyr's monasterywere thrown into prison. Before the year was out, eighteen more of themescaped to Switzerland. Yet the little church that was in Lucca kept itslamp burning twelve more years.
Celio Curio was another leading Reformer. Receiving private informationthat he had better consult his safety, he sought refuge in Lausanne. Afew months afterwards, he stole back to fetch his beloved wife andchildren; but was tracked by the familiars of the Inquisition. He wasdining at an inn, when a captain of the Papal Band entered, andcommanded him to surrender. Celio rose from table, the carving-knifestill in his hand; the captain involuntarily drew back--seeing which,Celio, still grasping the knife, and assuming a look of greatdetermination, walked deliberately out of the room, passed through thearmed men at the door, took his horse from the stable, and made off.
The Inquisition had been introduced into Italy at its firstestablishment in the twelfth century, but was so repugnant to the freestates, that it was confined to the Order of St. Francis. Bishops mighttake part with the inquisitors in the examination of heretics, but hadno power to inflict punishments. In 1543, however, Paul the Thirdgranted the title and rights of inquisitors to six cardinals, with fullpower to apprehend and imprison suspected persons of whatever rank: andthe operations of this court gradually extended over Italy, in spite ofgreat resistance. This was decisive of the unfortunate issue of themovements in favour of religious reform. Numbers of Reformers fled fromthe country: others remained to abjure or die for their faith. Aformulary was drawn up, to which academicians were expected tosubscribe, and this produced a great excitement.
In 1545, proceedings were commenced against Felippo Valentino, a youngman of great promise, at Modena, suspected of heresy. Hearing that anarmed force was coming to apprehend him, he escaped by night, leavinghis books and papers behind, which, being examined by the Inquisitors,brought many of his friends into trouble. Next day, an edict waspublished, forbidding any to have heretical or suspected books, or todispute publicly or privately on any point of religion, under thepenalty, for the first offence, of a hundred crowns of gold, or, ifunable to pay that sum, of the strappado. For the second offence, twothousand golden crowns, or banishment. For the third, death.
Valentino and Castelvetro were cited to appear at Rome. The popularfeeling was so strong for them, that the Duke of Modena was petitionedto intercede with the Pope, that the trial should be suspended; which hedeclined. Valentino and Castelvetro, not answering the citation, wereexcommunicated. The latter escaped to Ferrara, thence to Geneva, andfinally settled at Chiavenna. What became of Valentino we are not told.He was gifted with an extraordinary memory, and could correctly repeat asermon or lecture after hearing it once.
Another distinguished sufferer for the Truth was Olympia Morata, who didnot indeed seal her testimony with her blood, but who was driven fromhome and country. Celio Curio had found refuge in her father's house inFerrara, about the time that Olympia went to reside at the Ducal Palace,in order to inspire the little Princess Anne with emulation in herclassical studies. Here, her life was too gay and worldly to be good forher.
"Had I remained longer at court," she afterwards wrote to Celio Curio,"it would have been all over with me and my salvation. For never, whileI remained there, did I attain the knowledge of ought high or heavenly,or read the Old or New Testament."
Yet she had two female friends of more than average merit--FrancescaBucyronia and the Princess Lavinia della Rovere. Gifted and pure-mindedas they were, these interesting girls as yet only cared for the thingsof this present life, and philosophy, falsely so called.
Olympia was summoned from court by the mortal illness of her belovedfather; and, in the wholesome discipline of the sick-room, receivedlessons of invaluable worth. He died, reposing on her promise to supplya parent's place, as far as possible, to her little brother and herthree young sisters, and to minister with filial devotion to her sicklymother.
It was a great charge, but she struggled bravely with her difficulties.The great questions at issue between the Reformers and their foesaddressed themselves, also, to her attention, more forcibly thanheretofore; connected as they were with the fate of one in whom herfriend, the Princ
ess Lavinia, took deep interest. A young man, namedFannio, was consigned to the dungeons of Ferrara, for adhering to thereformed opinions. To his wife and sister, who came to see him inprison, he said, "Let it suffice you that, for your sake, I _once_denied my Saviour! Had I then had the knowledge which, by the grace ofGod, I have acquired since my fall, I would not have yielded to yourentreaties. Go home in peace!" Weeping, they went. He lay two years inprison, "to the furtherance of the Gospel," inasmuch as "his bonds inChrist were manifest in all the palace." Faithful friends resorted tohim thither; among them were Lavinia and Olympia. The peril of theirvisits perhaps added a little zest to the impression of his teaching. Inthat gloomy cell, he and they and a little handful of the faithful,prayed, and read the Scriptures, and broke bread, and sang hymns, justas in the early times.
When it was found that many persons of rank, besides Lavinia, stole tothese meetings, while his fellow-prisoners were so wrought upon by hisheavenly-mindedness that they declared they had never known what trueliberty and happiness were till they found them in a prison--Fannio wasput into solitary confinement.
Though visitors were rigorously excluded, he reached them with hisletters; notwithstanding the repeated change of his gaolers. With whatintense interest must Lavinia and Olympia have pored over these letters!In 1550, Fannio was brought to the stake, and, being first strangled,was committed to the flames. He was the first of the Reformers who laiddown his life for his faith.
Olympia, meanwhile, bereft of court favour, led a troubled and painfullife. She wrote to Celio Curio--"After my father's death, I remainedalone; abandoned by those who ought to have supported me. My sisterswere involved in my misfortune, and only reaped ingratitude for thedevotion and services of years. How deeply I felt it, you may readilyconceive. Not one of those who had been our friends in former times hadnow the courage to show the least interest in us." She knew and he knew,indeed, that the Princess Lavinia was a noteworthy exception.
This cheerless loneliness was broken by the constancy of a youngBavarian student of medicine, named Gruenthler, who had already offeredhis hand to her and been refused. He now renewed his addresses: hisdevotedness touched her heart, and she accepted him. They were marriedvery quietly in 1550. "Neither the resentment of the Duke," she wrote toCurio, "nor all the miserable circumstances which surrounded me, couldinduce him to abandon his desire to make me his wife. So great and truea love has never been surpassed."
Leaving her under the protection of Lavinia, Gruenthler repaired toGermany to find a home for her, where they might at least enjoy freedomof conscience.
"Your departure," Olympia wrote to him, "was a great grief to me, andyour long absence is the greatest misfortune that could befall me. I amalways fancying you have had a fall, have broken your limbs, or beenfrozen by the extreme cold. You know what the poet says--
"Res est soliciti plena timoris amor."
"If you would alleviate this tormenting anxiety, let me know what youare about; for my whole heart is yours, as you know full well."
Gruenthler was so long finding what he wanted, that his good friend,George Hermann, advised him to fetch his wife and live with him atAugsberg, till something should turn up--which he did. Olympia's griefwas great at parting with her mother and sisters, whom she had littlehope of ever seeing again: her brother Emilio, eight years of age, shetook with her. Thus Italy lost one of its most distinguished women.
Once settled in Germany, she was very happy. "We are still," she wrote,"with our excellent friend, and I am delighted with my home here. I passmy entire day in literary pursuits--_me cum Musis delecto_--and have nocares to draw me away from them. I also apply myself to the study ofHoly Writ, which is so productive of peace and contentment."
The occupation she chiefly found for her pen was translating the Psalmsof David into Greek verse. These her husband used to set to music, andthe singing of them formed the evening amusement of their little circle.
After residing some months with George Hermann, they removed to anotherfriend, John Sinapi, a good physician who had married Olympia's earlycompanion, Francesca Bucyronia. At length they obtained a humble home oftheir own at Schweinfurth on the Maine. And here they dwelt usefully andhappily till war and pestilence raged around them. Schweinfurth wassacked: Olympia fled from it barefoot, in worse plight than GiuliaGonzaga, for she had no horse to carry her to the nearest refuge, tenmiles off. "I might have been taken," she said, "for the queen of thebeggars."
At length they reached Erbach, where the good Countess received her likea mother, and nursed her through her sickness. But Olympia neverrecovered from the effects of that fearful flight; and an early deathcrowned her beautiful and exemplary life.
The persecution which raged against the humbler confessors in Ferrara,failed not to attack the Duchess herself, though the daughter of a Kingof France. It was not till she had endured a short imprisonment that shewas intimidated into concealing her convictions. On the death of theDuke, she returned to France, where she made open profession of thereformed faith, and afforded shelter to its confessors.
In the Venetian states, the persecution raged with great violence.Francesco Spira, a lawyer of Padua, died in such agonies of mind athaving been induced, by the terrors of the Inquisition, to recant, thatVergerio, the converted bishop of Capo d' Istria, who was present at hisdeath, was greatly affected by it. "To tell the truth," says he, "I feltsuch a flame in my breast, that I could hardly help going to the legateat Venice, and crying out, "Here I am! where are your prisons and yourfires?" Instead of this, he sought refuge among the Grisons."
The way of putting the Venetian martyrs to death was not by fire but bywater. At dead of night, the prisoner was taken from his cell, and putinto a gondola, attended by a priest. He was rowed out to sea, beyond"The two Castles," where another boat was waiting. A plank was then laidacross the two gondolas, upon which the prisoner, heavily chained to astone, was placed. On a given signal, the two boats paddled differentways.
The first martyr who thus suffered was Giulio Giurlanda. When set on theplank, he calmly bade the gondoliers farewell, and, calling on the Lord,sank into the deep.
Antonio Bicetto, of Vicenza, followed his example, though urged torecant by the most tempting bribes. Space would fail if I undertook torecount all who in their turn were faithful unto death. Others escaped;and there was not a city of note in Italy that did not swell the list offugitives. This shows how widely the reformed opinions must havespread.
Nowhere was greater cruelty shown than to the Milanese. Galeazzo Trezio,a man of noble birth, was sentenced to be burnt alive, which he borewith the utmost fortitude. A young priest, after being half-strangled,was literally roasted alive, and then thrown to the dogs.
At Naples, so great was the rigour of the Inquisition as seriously toaffect trade. Whole streets were deserted by their inhabitants.Terrified by the severities exercised upon their brethren, aconsiderable body of Neapolitans agreed to quit Italy together. But,when they reached the Alps, and stopped to take a last view of theirbeloved country, they burst into tears and resolved to return home. Theyno sooner reached it than they were cast into prison.
But, of all the barbarities of which Rome was guilty at this time, nonewere more horrible than those which were inflicted on the Waldenses whohad settled in Calabria. I have already related how these peaceablepeople had founded a little colony, and, by their exemplary lives, hadwon the good opinion of even the priests. They now amounted to aboutfour thousand persons, and they possessed several towns in theneighbourhood of Coscenza, two of which were Santo Xisto and La Guardia.
Cut off from all intercourse with their Waldensian brethren, thesecolonists had habituated themselves to attend mass, without which theyfound it difficult to maintain friendly relations with their neighbours.Hearing of the spread of the reformed opinions in Italy, similar tothose for which their ancestors had bled, these Waldenses becameconvinced they had sinned in conforming to Popish observances, and theyapplied to their friends and ministers at Prage
la and Geneva, forteachers who should reform and restore their discipline.
No sooner was this known at Rome, than two monks were sent to reducethese Waldenses to obedience to the holy see. They began very gentlywith the inhabitants of Santo Xisto, saying they had only come toprevent them from lapsing into error; and they appointed a time for thecelebration of mass, which they enjoined every person to attend.
Instead of this, the Waldenses, in a body, retreated into the woods,only leaving behind them a few old people and children. The monks,concealing their chagrin, repaired to La Guardia, and, having caused thegates to be shut, assembled the inhabitants and told them their brethrenof Santo Xisto had renounced their errors, and they had better followtheir good example.
The poor simple people were talked over, and complied; but great wastheir indignation when they found the deceit that had been practised onthem. They were eager immediately to join their brethren in the woods,but were dissuaded by their feudal lord.
Meanwhile, the monks directed two companies of foot-soldiers to beat thewoods, and hunt down the fugitives in them like wild beasts, which theydid, with cries of "Ammazzi! ammazzi!" "Slay them! slay them!"
Some of the Waldenses, securing themselves among the rocks, demanded aparley with the captain of their assailants. They pleaded for theirwives and children, said they were willing peaceably to leave thecountry, and implored him to withdraw his men. Instead of this, thecaptain commanded an instant attack, most of the parleyers were cutdown, and the rest took to flight. San Xisto was given up to fire andsword; and the fugitives still lurking in the woods, either were put todeath or perished with hunger.
The people of La Guardia were then given up to the tender mercies of theInquisition. My pen refuses to copy the account of the horriblecruelties to which they were subjected. Sixty women were tortured, mostof whom died in prison, in consequence of their wounds remainingundressed. Yet this was nothing to what afterwards ensued. One of theCatholic historians says, "Some had their throats cut, others were sawnasunder, others thrown from a high cliff: all were cruelly, butdeservedly put to death. It was strange to hear of their obstinacy; forwhile the father saw his son put to death, and the son his father, theynot only exhibited no symptoms of grief, but said joyfully that theyshould be angels of God! So much had the devil, to whom they had giventhemselves up as prey, deceived them!"[16]
[16] Tommaso Costa.
Martyrs of whom the world was not worthy! It is less sad, after all, toread of the martyrdoms of Carnesecchi, and Di Monti, and Paleario, andmany others, than to find heresies and schisms creeping into the littleflock itself, and drawing many of them away from the purity of thatfaith for which others died.
Unitarianism was the canker that ate into the bud of the ItalianReformation. The opinions of Servetus and Socinus, and variousmodifications of them, insinuated themselves into the minds of thehapless exiles, who were scattered as sheep having no shepherd. CamilloRenato was one of the leading schismatics; and though he did not avowhis own disbelief in the Trinity, his followers made no scruple of doingso. Many were tossed in a wild sea of doubt; others were swayed to andfro by every wind of doctrine; but we must not forget that a great manywere consistent and faithful to the end of their course. Even Ochino'sorthodoxy was suspected; though Calvin saw no reason to doubt it. Therewas a cloud, however, over his latter days.
Pius the Fourth was of a mild disposition, but he was not powerfulenough to overrule the inquisitors. A house beyond the Tiber wasappropriated to them, to which cells were added for criminals, or thosewho were accounted such. This was called "the Lutheran prison," and itwas said to be built on the site of the ancient Circus of Nero, in whichso many Christians were delivered to the wild beasts.
The persecution raged with redoubled fury under Pius the Fifth:especially at Bologna, where "persons of all ranks were indiscriminatelysubjected to the same imprisonment, tortures, and death. In Rome, somewere every day burnt, hanged, or beheaded; all the prisons were filled,and they were obliged to seek new ones." Think of the constancy of theseconfessors! Rome had no need to go to Japan for martyrs. If she shouldhereafter have a Protestant martyrology, many of her own sons anddaughters may be enrolled in it. "We know not what becomes of peoplehere," wrote Muretus to De Thou; "I am terrified every morning when Irise, lest I should be told that such and such a one is no more: and ifit should be so, we should not dare to say a word."
And thus the Italian Reformation was crushed out! But its motto is"Resurgam!"
II.
"The 'Alfabeto Christiano' is a book unknown even to bibliographers forthe last three centuries. It had its origin in an actual conversationbetween Juan de Valdes, twin brother to the Latin secretary of theEmperor Charles the Fifth, and Giulia Gonzaga, Duchess of Trajetto andCountess of Fondi, at Naples, about the close of 1535, or the beginningof the following year. At her request it was immediately afterwardswritten down by him in Spanish, to promote her instruction and refreshher memory. It now essentially conveys to us the spirit and substance ofthe conversation in the precise form and manner in which it took placebetween them."--_Introduction by Benjamin B. Wiffen, Esq., to histranslation of the "Alfabeto Christiano."_
"It was printed at a time when for a few years the press of Venice wascomparatively free; and when, taking advantage of this liberty, thenexisting nowhere else in Italy, it multiplied the tracts of theReformation by thousands. When the friends of Valdes were afterwardspersecuted at Naples, and his name condemned by the authority of Rome,implicating by connection with him, one of the most distinguishedmembers of the noble family of the Gonzagas,--all parties, friendsequally with opponents, would of course be concerned to observe silenceon the subject; while all the friends of the family would be urged alikeby religious sentiment and by family considerations to destroy silentlyand irrecoverably every copy of a book that appeared to cast, by itsassociation with her name, the shadow of its principles upon those whowere allied to her."--_Ibid._
The passage describing the manner in which a stray copy fell into hishands, and the circumstances under which he perused it, is one of thepleasantest in Mr. Wiffen's Introduction. McCrie quotes a passage fromFontaine, who tells us that "on taking down an old house at Urbino, in1728, the workmen disinterred a copy of Bruccioli's 'Paraphrase of St.Paul's Epistles,' with some books of Ochino, Valdes, and others of thesame kind, which had remained in concealment for more than a century anda half."
III.
"Carnesecchi was secretary to Clement the Seventh, and afterwardsprothonotary to the Apostolic See. One of his preferments was an abbeyat Naples.... After the death of Clement, he retired from the Romancourt to Naples, where he became intimate with Juan de Valdes. He was inthat city in December, 1540, when Valdes died; and if he did not himselfreceive his last confession, which is very probable, he at least knewwhat it was, for his commendation of it formed part of the accusationagainst him on his trial in 1567, before the Inquisition at Rome; andafter the death of Valdes he succeeded to the confidence of GiuliaGonzaga. This correspondence brought her also under the suspicion of theInquisition on two occasions; once in 1545, and again, a short timebefore her death, in 1566."--_Wiffen's Introd., &c._
IV.
"Few were the years of the life of Valdes after the conversation of the'Alfabeto Christiano,' yet during four, or at the most, five of them, hepresented to Giulia his translation from the Greek of the Gospelaccording to Matthew, of the Psalms translated from the Hebrew, of theEpistle to the Romans, from the Greek, with a commentary; nor could shebe unacquainted with his 'Considerations' and other writings, while theywere yet in manuscript."--_Ibid._
V.
"Ippolito's translation of the second book of the AEneid was published atRome, in 1538, 4to., and in Venice, 1540. The latter is entitled, 'I seiprimi libri del Eneide de Vergilio, &c. Il secondo di Vergilio deHipolito de Medici Cardinale, a la Signora Giulia Gonzaga, MDXXXX.' Itcontains twenty-three leaves."--_Ibid._
The lengthy title of Ireneo Affo's work, which a fr
iend transcribed forme at the British Museum, is:--"Memorie di tre Principesse dellafamiglia Gonzaga; offerte a sua ecc: il Signor Conte Stefano SanvitaleParmigiano, gentiluomo di camera con esercito ed essente delle realiguardie del corpo di S. A. R., in occasione delle sue felicissime nozzecon sua eccel: la Signora Principessa Donna Luigia Gonzaga Mantovana.Parma, 1787. 4to."
The title is not more wordy than the memoir itself, though a short one.
THE END.
BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.
* * * * *
This day is Published, in fep. 8vo., neatly bound,
THE NEST HUNTERS;
OR, ADVENTURES IN THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.
By WILLIAM DALTON, Esq.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.
CONTENTS OF CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER
I. An Important Letter.
II. A Great Calamity.
III. Our Uncle's Last Will and Testament.
IV. The Robbery and Abduction of Marie.
V. We Run Away and take Service with Nest Hunters.
VI. We set out on our Voyage.
VII. The Old Chief. The "Strong One," the "Weak One," the "Handsome One."
VIII. We descend into the Nest Caves.
IX. My Adventures in the Nest Caves.
X. I recognise the Nest Robbers.
XI. A Search for a Mare's Nest
XII. We "Bite the Biters," but are Overhauled by a Dutch Cruiser.
XIII. We Sell our Nests, are taken Prisoners, but capture our Captors.
XIV. History of our Captain: his Hatred of the Dutch.
XV. Adventures with a Big Snake and a Man-eater.
XVI. We pick up a Chinese Story-Teller, who sends us to Sleep.
XVII. We are Hoodwinked by the Chinese, who Robs us of our All.
XVIII. Wherein a Chief proves his Invulnerability by killing Himself.
XIX. We visit the Capital of Blilling and witness Widow-Burning.
XX. We return to the Coast and hear of an Old Enemy.
XXI. The Wen-necked Hunchback and his Revelation to Prabu.
XXII. We join a Tiger Hunt, but narrowly escape being Poisoned by a Chief.
XXIII. A Fight, a Great Peril, and a Timely Rescue.
XXIV. We land at Mojopahit and are imprisoned as Rebels.
XXV. Through Woods and Wilds.
XXVI. We hunt Tigers and discover some Old Acquaintances.
XXVII. And Last, containing a Tolerably Happy Ending.
* * * * *
Shortly,
ARTHUR MERTON.
A STORY FOR THE YOUNG.
By Mrs. J. B. WEBB,
AUTHOR OF "NAOMI; OR, THE LAST DAYS OF JERUSALEM."
In 16mo. With Frontispiece.
ARTHUR HALL & CO., 26, PATERNOSTER ROW.
* * * * *
In Preparation.
THINGS HARD TO BE UNDERSTOOD;
OR, ILLUSTRATIONS OF DIFFICULT DOCTRINES
AND MISINTERPRETED TEXTS.
By the Rev. JOHN CUMMING, D.D., F.R.S.E.
A NEW AND CHEAPER EDITION.
* * * * * Price 2s. 6d. Cloth, 3s. Gilt.
SUNDAY THOUGHTS;
OR, GREAT TRUTHS IN PLAIN WORDS.
By MRS. T. GELDART.
SECOND EDITION.
* * * * *
Price 5s. Cloth.
THOUGHTS AND SKETCHES IN VERSE.
By CAROLINE DENT.
* * * * *
Price 3s. Cloth, 5s. Gilt.
POEMS.
By the late MARIE J. E. FOTHERBY.
EDITED BY HER HUSBAND.
* * * * * 12mo., Cloth, 2s.
BELLENGER'S FRENCH FABLES.
ONE HUNDRED CHOICE FABLES, IMITATED FROM LA FONTAINE.
For the use of Children, and all Persons beginning to Learn the French Language; with a Dictionary of the Words and Idiomatic Phrases, Gramatically Explained.
NEW EDITION, Revised and Corrected by C. J. DELILLE, Professor at Christ's Hospital, &c.
* * * * * ARTHUR HALL & CO., 26, PATERNOSTER ROW.
Transcriber's Note: Although most printer's errors have been retained, some have been silently corrected. Some spelling and punctuation, capitalization, accents and formatting markup have been normalized and include the following:
Page 180 convice is now convince.
The oe ligature has been expanded.
Quotation marks have been inserted in rows 138, 224, 2068, 2344, 2762, 4714, 4972 and 5016.
