spirit of the age in which he lived, or the character and status of the men whom he opposed. Italy was then full of republics, so that republicanism had nothing in it repugnant to the taste of an Italian; while those families which in divers cities sought to assume the sovereignty, had no right, divine or human, to such a claim more than any of the other wealthy families about them. Moreover, religion spurred him on to be a republican in politics, for he saw that under Lorenzo de Medici purity of morals and zeal for God's service were set aside, and the mere empty magnificence of ecclesiastical ceremonies employed to keep the people well satisfied with their temporal rulers. Especially was the city the scene of ungodliness of every description at the time of the Carnival, when troops of young men, disguised as devils, would run about the streets chanting the Canti Carnascialeschi, composed by Lorenzo himself, yet of such a character that they were an outrage on the commonest public decency. The clergy were passive, and from the pulpit were heard mere philosophical essays on the comparative merits of Plato and Aristotle, in the place of Catholic dogma or calls to repentance. When Savonarola began to preach in Florence, he was accordingly despised for the roughness of his style, and his contempt for the laws of rhetoric; and while Mariano de Gennezzano gathered crowds to hear him wherever he preached, Savonarola had to be content with an audience of no more than five and twenty. But this state of things could not last. By degrees his true merit shone forth, and the poor friar, who studied nothing but the Scriptures in preparing for his sermons, gained the ear of refined dialecticians, and startled them with an eloquence more forcible than any which their artificial rules could produce. Lorenzo de Medici sought to win him over to his own party; and when he found the stern integrity of the friar proof against all his allurements, he only entertained the stronger respect for him, and sent for him in preference to any other, to hear his dying confession. It is here that the full character of Savonarola is visible; and, while respecting his boldness, we cannot but feel that the charity of a saint was lacking to one who could make a change of policy the condition of his absolution.

From the time of the Florentine rebellion from Pietro de Medici, son of Lorenzo, the influence of Savonarola was unbounded. If we complain that he meddled too much with politics, we must not therefore shut our eyes to the wonderful revival of religion which he effected; nor can it be doubted that the contrast between his pure zeal for God's glory and

From his birth, Savonarola seems to have evinced that zeal for religion which later brought upon him the hatred of a corrupt generation; and his wish, from the time that he could frame a wish, was to enter the cloister. His devotion to God's service was increased and deepened by the irreligion that he saw everywhere around him, until it seemed almost that the cloister was the only place where he could save his soul from contamination.

"He looked upon the state of the world and the condition of the Church with a degree of horror, and of grief, for which he could find no relief, except in prayer and study." Vol. I., p 31.

For the Church, as well as the world, was suffering the infliction of wicked rulers. The Papacy was sold to the highest bidder, and when the highest office was so unworthily filled, it followed as of necessity that the subordinate posts were occupied by men who were a scandal to their sacred office. No wonder that the Church lost her hold upon the people, and that any show of reformation sufficed in the ensuing century to draw away multitudes from the true fold, into which ravening wolves had entered.

It was in these times, then, that Savonarola made his profession in the Dominican Convent of Bologna. There he remained seven years, a very miracle of prayer and mortification. His zeal and piety merited for him the post of master of the novices, and from thence he was advanced to be a preacher. But his sermons at first seem not to have been very attractive, for not a single writer of the time has alluded to his earliest efforts. He was sent, however, to preach at Ferrara, his own native city; but there, too, he had to complain that a prophet meets with no honour in his own country. In the same year (A. D. 1482), he was sent to Florence, in consequence of the disturbed state of Ferrara; and from this time dates the history of his struggles to regain a corrupt people to Christian piety, struggles which were to merit for him torture and death, and the misconception of future ages. He found the Florentines "constantly occupied with fêtes, dances, and tournaments;" devoted to the arts, and adept in the refined philosophy of Neo-Platonism. But there was little true religion, and, which caused him vexation only second in magnitude, there was none of the spirit of liberty. Originally a republic, Florence had passed into the hands of the Medici family, until the chains were gradually but firmly riveted, and it became a monarchy in all but name. When dwelling on this part of Savonarola's character, we must not forget the

spirit of the age in which he lived, or the character and status of the men whom he opposed. Italy was then full of republics, so that republicanism had nothing in it repugnant to the taste of an Italian; while those families which in divers cities sought to assume the sovereignty, had no right, divine or human, to such a claim more than any of the other wealthy families about them. Moreover, religion spurred him on to be a republican in politics, for he saw that under Lorenzo de Medici purity of morals and zeal for God's service were set aside, and the mere empty magnificence of ecclesiastical ceremonies employed to keep the people well satisfied with their temporal rulers. Especially was the city the scene of ungodliness of every description at the time of the Carnival, when troops of young men, disguised as devils, would run about the streets chanting the Canti Carnascialeschi, composed by Lorenzo himself, yet of such a character that they were an outrage on the commonest public decency. The clergy were passive, and from the pulpit were heard mere philosophical essays on the comparative merits of Plato and Aristotle, in the place of Catholic dogma or calls to repentance. When Savonarola began to preach in Florence, he was accordingly despised for the roughness of his style, and his contempt for the laws of rhetoric; and while Mariano de Gennezzano gathered crowds to hear him wherever he preached, Savonarola had to be content with an audience of no more than five and twenty. But this state of things could not last. By degrees his true merit shone forth, and the poor friar, who studied nothing but the Scriptures in preparing for his sermons, gained the ear of refined dialecticians, and startled them with an eloquence more forcible than any which their artificial rules could produce. Lorenzo de Medici sought to win him over to his own party; and when he found the stern integrity of the friar proof against all his allurements, he only entertained the stronger respect for him, and sent for him in preference to any other, to hear his dying confession. It is here that the full character of Savonarola is visible; and, while respecting his boldness, we cannot but feel that the charity of a saint was lacking to one who could make a change of policy the condition of his absolution.

From the time of the Florentine rebellion from Pietro de Medici, son of Lorenzo, the influence of Savonarola was unbounded. If we complain that he meddled too much with politics, we must not therefore shut our eyes to the wonderful revival of religion which he effected; nor can it be doubted that the contrast between his pure zeal for God's glory and

their own vicious lives stirred on his enemies, ecclesiastical and civil, more than anything else, to take him out of their way. There is no room in the compass of a review to note the various ways in which his influence was beneficial, but in the method whereby he turned the Carnival into a religious solemnity, we see a signal and most satisfactory instance of it. To persuade the people to give up their frivolities of dress and amusement, and to make of even the most costly materials a bonfire of vanities, shows in the Florentine preacher a power which in our own day might be striven for in vain. The Frateschi (friar's men), called by their enemies Piagnoni (mourners), became the most numerous faction in Florence, and astonished the world by their exemplary lives in the midst of a city but a little before notorious for its corruption. At this time Savonarola is thundering forth his sermons against the wickedness of his day-the Medici, the King of France, the Pope himself, fall under his lash; and the enthusiasm to which he has worked himself up, makes him look upon himself as a prophet. Here was another secret of his fall. Whether or not Savonarola was a true prophet, we decline to pronounce an opinion: certainly many of his predictions were wonderfully verified; and we have heard of none in which he was proved to be false. But the hatred of his enemies was hereby embittered, and the quasifanaticism of his followers worked up to an inexcusable pitch; while it must be admitted that the excited state of his mind led him to see visions and predict calamities, without need of any supernatural agency.

Reform in the Church was the desire of all good men, but how was it to be attained, when a monster like Alexander VI., the infamous Borgia, sat on the Papal throne, as the highest bidder for that honour? Savonarola declared that in such a case the Papal authority was null and void, and every one must appeal from the Pope to the Supreme King of the Church, Jesus Christ, and do his best to bring about a better state of things. Acting on this principle, he persevered in his labours at Florence, in the teeth of Papal displeasure. He could see plainly that Alexander VI. used the ecclesiastical power merely to promote his political ends, and he despised it accordingly; while, moreover, he brought himself to believe that the bribery by which he had obtained the Papacy, rendered his election from the commencement totally invalid. Savonarola had at any rate the reward of finding that his labours were not entirely thrown away. If his political schemes were only a partial success,-if his

prophecies availed not to make the great ones of the earth do penance in dust and ashes,-yet in Florence he was amply repaid.

"The appearance of the city was totally changed. The women gave up their rich ornaments, dressed with simplicity, and walked demurely; licentious young men became, as if by enchantment, modest and religious; instead of Carnival songs, religious hymns were chanted. During the hours of mid-day rest, tradesmen were seen seated in their shops reading the Bible, or some work of the friar; habits of prayer were resumed, the churches were well attended, and alms were freely given. But the most wonderful thing of all was to find bankers and merchants refunding, from scruples of conscience, sums of money, amounting sometimes to thousands of florins, which they had unrighteously acquired. All men were astonished at a change so strange, so miraculous ; and if Savonarola was exhausted by fatigue, broken down, and suffering from sickness, we can easily imagine how great must have been his consolation to see his people thus Christianized. He might have laid down his life in contentment, but his hour had not yet struck; God had a greater destiny in store for him.”

But, alas, this wholesome reaction was too short-lived. Those very men whose enthusiasm for Savonarola was so great that they would take their places in the Church of S. Mark the night before in order to hear his sermons, in a changed mood were destined to cry after him as an impostor, and to rejoice over his death as that of a public malefactor During the height of his popularity in Florence, there was always a strong and dangerous party, consisting partly of the friends of the Medici, and partly of young men desirous to form an aristocracy, and impatient of the religious atmosphere spread around him by the prior of S. Mark's, who stuck at no means to gain their ends; and on more than one occasion made attempts to assassinate their enemy. In a republic there is no safeguard against sudden changes of the popular mood; and Savonarola was doomed to have bitter experience of the inefficiency of such a form of government to protect true liberty.

The hostility of the Pope became more and more marked, until Savonarola was actually forbidden to preach; and at last excommunicated. At first he endeavoured by letter to vindicate himself, but soon finding that of no avail, he began to speak openly against the monstrous wickedness of the Holy Father; and when the excommunication was fulminated against him, though he obeyed it for a time, he soon, at the request of the Signory, set the Holy See at defiance. Here