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diff --git a/40135-8.txt b/40135-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4057a76..0000000 --- a/40135-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,19626 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Makers of Modern Rome, by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Makers of Modern Rome - In Four Books - -Author: Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant - -Illustrator: Henry P. Riviere - Joseph Pennell - -Release Date: July 3, 2012 [EBook #40135] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAKERS OF MODERN ROME *** - - - - -Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - -Transcriber's Note: - - Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have - been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. - - - - - THE MAKERS - OF - MODERN ROME - - - - - [Illustration: POPE GREGORY. - _Frontispiece._] - - - - - THE MAKERS - OF - MODERN ROME - - IN FOUR BOOKS - - I. HONOURABLE WOMEN NOT A FEW - II. THE POPES WHO MADE THE PAPACY - III. LO POPOLO: AND THE TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE - IV. THE POPES WHO MADE THE CITY - - BY - MRS. OLIPHANT - AUTHOR OF "THE MAKERS OF FLORENCE" - - _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY HENRY P. RIVIERE, A.R.W.S. - AND JOSEPH PENNELL_ - - - New York - MACMILLAN AND CO. - AND LONDON - 1896 - _All rights reserved_ - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1895, - BY MACMILLAN AND CO. - - Set up and electrotyped November, 1895. Reprinted - January, 1896. - - Norwood Press - J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith. - Norwood Mass. U.S.A. - - - - - I INSCRIBE THIS BOOK - WITH THE DEAR NAMES OF THOSE OF MINE - WHO LIE UNDER THE WALLS OF ROME: - AND OF HIM, THE LAST OF ALL, - WHO WAS BORN IN THAT SAD CITY: - ALL NOW AWAITING ME, AS I TRUST, - WHERE GOD MAY PLEASE. - - F. W. O. - M. W. O. - F. R. O. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -Nobody will expect in this book, or from me, the results of original -research, or a settlement--if any settlement is ever possible--of -vexed questions which have occupied the gravest students. An -individual glance at the aspect of these questions which most clearly -presents itself to a mind a little exercised in the aspects of -humanity, but not trained in the ways of learning, is all I attempt or -desire. This humble endeavour has been conscientious at least. The -work has been much interrupted by sorrow and suffering, on which -account, for any slips of hers, the writer asks the indulgence of her -unknown friends. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - BOOK I. - HONOURABLE WOMEN NOT A FEW. - - - CHAPTER I. PAGE - ROME IN THE FOURTH CENTURY 1 - - CHAPTER II. - THE PALACE ON THE AVENTINE 14 - - CHAPTER III. - MELANIA 29 - - CHAPTER IV. - THE SOCIETY OF MARCELLA 43 - - CHAPTER V. - PAULA 65 - - CHAPTER VI. - THE MOTHER HOUSE 89 - - - BOOK II. - THE POPES WHO MADE THE PAPACY. - - - CHAPTER I. - GREGORY THE GREAT 119 - - CHAPTER II. - THE MONK HILDEBRAND 181 - - CHAPTER III. - THE POPE GREGORY VII 230 - - CHAPTER IV. - INNOCENT III 307 - - - BOOK III. - LO POPOLO: AND THE TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE. - - - CHAPTER I. - ROME IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 381 - - CHAPTER II. - THE DELIVERER 402 - - CHAPTER III. - THE BUONO STATO 428 - - CHAPTER IV. - DECLINE AND FALL 460 - - CHAPTER V. - THE SOLDIER OF FORTUNE 486 - - CHAPTER VI. - THE END OF THE TRAGEDY 493 - - - BOOK IV. - THE POPES WHO MADE THE CITY. - - - CHAPTER I. - MARTIN V.--EUGENIUS IV.--NICOLAS V. 513 - - CHAPTER II. - CALIXTUS III.--PIUS II.--PAUL II.--SIXTUS IV. 552 - - CHAPTER III. - JULIUS II.--LEO X. 581 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - -FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. - - PAGE - -POPE GREGORY _Frontispiece_ - -COLOSSEUM BY MOONLIGHT, _by H. P. Riviere_ 37 - -TEMPLE OF VENUS AND RIVER FROM THE COLOSSEUM (1860), _by -H. P. Riviere_ 73 - -TEMPLE OF VESTA, _by H. P. Riviere_ 111 - -ARCH OF CONSTANTINE, _by H. P. Riviere_ 153 - -THE FORUM, _by H. P. Riviere_ 171 - -ARCH OF TITUS, _by H. P. Riviere_ 209 - -SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE, _by H. P. Riviere_ 247 - -ARCH OF DRUSUS (1860), _by H. P. Riviere_ 267 - -ISLAND ON TIBER, _by H. P. Riviere_ 287 - -THE CAPITOL, _by J. Pennell_ 317 - -PORTA MAGGIORE, _by H. P. Riviere_ 327 - -IN THE CAMPAGNA (1860), _by H. P. Riviere_ 347 - -ST. PETER'S AND THE CASTLE OF ST. ANGELO, _by H. P. Riviere_ 367 - -APPROACH TO THE CAPITOL (1860), _by H. P. Riviere_ 387 - -THEATRE OF MARCELLUS, _by J. Pennell_ 407 - -AQUA FELICE, _by H. P. Riviere_ 463 - -THE TARPEIAN ROCK, _by J. Pennell_ 481 - -ANCIENT, MEDIÆVAL, AND MODERN ROME, _by J. Pennell_ 503 - -MODERN ROME: SHELLEY'S TOMB, _by J. Pennell_ 519 - -FOUNTAIN OF TREVI, _by H. P. Riviere_ 527 - -SANTA MARIA DEL POPOLO, _by H. P. Riviere_ 547 - -PIAZZA COLONNA, _by J. Pennell_ 565 - -OLD ST. PETER'S, _from the engraving by Campini_ 585 - -MODERN ROME: THE GRAVE OF KEATS, _by J. Pennell_ 593 - - -ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT. - -THE COLOSSEUM, _by J. Pennell_ 1 - -THE PALATINE, FROM THE AVENTINE, _by J. Pennell_ 13 - -THE RIPETTA, _by J. Pennell_ 14 - -ON THE PALATINE, _by J. Pennell_ 27 - -THE WALLS BY ST. JOHN LATERAN, _by J. Pennell_ 29 - -THE TEMPLE OF VESTA, _by J. Pennell_ 42 - -CHURCHES ON THE AVENTINE, _by J. Pennell_ 43 - -THE STEPS OF THE CAPITOL, _by J. Pennell_ 51 - -THE LATERAN FROM THE AVENTINE, _by J. Pennell_ 64 - -PORTICO OF OCTAVIA, _by J. Pennell_ 65 - -TRINITA DE' MONTI, _by J. Pennell_ 76 - -FROM THE AVENTINE, _by J. Pennell_ 87 - -THE CAPITOL FROM THE PALATINE, _by J. Pennell_ 89 - -SAN BARTOLOMMEO, _by J. Pennell_ 97 - -ST. PETER'S, FROM THE JANICULUM, _by J. Pennell_ 103 - -ST. PETER'S, FROM THE PINCIO, _by J. Pennell_ 107 - -PORTA SAN PAOLA, _by J. Pennell_ 115 - -THE STEPS OF SAN GREGORIO, _by J. Pennell_ 119 - -VILLA DE' MEDICI, _by J. Pennell_ 133 - -SAN GREGORIO MAGNO, AND ST. JOHN AND ST. PAUL, _by J. -Pennell_ 145 - -THE PIAZZA DEL POPOLO, _by J. Pennell_ 157 - -MONTE PINCIO, FROM THE PIAZZA DEL POPOLO, _by J. Pennell_ 167 - -PONTE MOLLE, _by J. Pennell_ 180 - -THE PALATINE, _by J. Pennell_ 181 - -PYRAMID OF CAIUS CESTIUS, _by J. Pennell_ 197 - -TRINITA DE' MONTI, _by J. Pennell_ 207 - -THE VILLA BORGHESE, _by J. Pennell_ 220 - -WHERE THE GHETTO STOOD, _by J. Pennell_ 228 - -FROM SAN GREGORIO MAGNO, _by J. Pennell_ 230 - -IN THE VILLA BORGHESE, _by J. Pennell_ 306 - -THE FOUNTAIN OF THE TORTOISE, _by J. Pennell_ 307 - -ALL THAT IS LEFT OF THE GHETTO, _by J. Pennell_ 377 - -ON THE TIBER, _by J. Pennell_ 381 - -ON THE PINCIO, _by J. Pennell_ 402 - -THE LUNGARA, _by J. Pennell_ 428 - -PORTA DEL POPOLO (FLAMINIAN GATE), _by J. Pennell_ 459 - -THEATRE OF MARCELLUS, _by J. Pennell_ 460 - -THE BORGHESE GARDENS, _by J. Pennell_ 486 - -TOMB OF CECILIA METELLA, _by J. Pennell_ 493 - -LETTER WRITER, _by J. Pennell_ 510 - -PIAZZA DEL POPOLO, _by J. Pennell_ 513 - -ON THE PINCIO, _by J. Pennell_ 533 - -IN THE CORSO: CHURCH DOORS, _by J. Pennell_ 542 - -MODERN DEGRADATION OF A PALACE, _by J. Pennell_ 552 - -FOUNTAIN OF TREVI, _by J. Pennell_ 581 - -A BRIC-A-BRAC SHOP, _by J. Pennell_ 600 - - - - - BOOK I. - HONOURABLE WOMEN NOT A FEW. - - - - - [Illustration: THE COLOSSEUM.] - - - - -BOOK I. - -HONOURABLE WOMEN NOT A FEW. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -ROME IN THE FOURTH CENTURY. - - -There is no place in the world of which it is less necessary to -attempt description (or of which so many descriptions have been -attempted) than the once capital of that world, the supreme and -eternal city, the seat of empire, the home of the conqueror, the -greatest human centre of power and influence which our race has ever -known. Its history is unique and its position. Twice over in -circumstances and by means as different as can be imagined it has -conquered and held subject the world. All that was known to man in -their age gave tribute and acknowledgment to the Cæsars; and an -ever-widening circle, taking in countries and races unknown to the -Cæsars, have looked to the spiritual sovereigns who succeeded them as -to the first and highest of authorities on earth. The reader knows, or -at least is assisted on all hands to have some idea and conception of -the classical city--to be citizens of which was the aim of the whole -world's ambition, and whose institutions and laws, and even its -architecture and domestic customs, were the only rule of -civilisation--with its noble and grandiose edifices, its splendid -streets, the magnificence and largeness of its life; while on the -other hand most people are able to form some idea of what was the Rome -of the Popes, the superb yet squalid mediæval city with its great -palaces and its dens of poverty, and that conjunction of exuberance -and want which does not strike the eye while the bulk of a population -remains in a state of slavery. But there is a period between, which -has not attracted much attention from English writers, and which the -reader passes by as a time in which there is little desirable to dwell -upon, though it is in reality the moment of transition when the old is -about to be replaced by the new, and when already the energy and -enthusiasm of a new influence is making its appearance among the -tragic dregs and abysses of the past. An ancient civilisation dying in -the impotence of luxury and wealth from which all active power or -influence over the world had departed, and a new and profound internal -revolt, breaking up its false calm from within, before the raging -forces of another rising power had yet begun to thunder at its gates -without--form however a spectacle full of interest, especially when -the scene of so many conflicts is traversed and lighted up by the most -lifelike figures, and has left its record, both of good and evil, in -authentic and detailed chronicles, full of individual character and -life, in which the men and women of the age stand before us, occupied -and surrounded by circumstances which are very different from our -own, yet linked to us by that unfailing unity of human life and -feeling which makes the farthest off foreigner a brother, and the most -distant of our primeval predecessors like a neighbour of to-day. - -The circumstances of Rome in the middle and end of the fourth century -were singular in every point of view. With all its prestige and all -its memories, it was a city from which power and the dominant forces -of life had faded. The body was there, the great town with its high -places made to give law and judgment to the world, even the officials -and executors of the codes which had dispensed justice throughout the -universe; but the spirit of dominion and empire had passed away. A -great aristocracy, accustomed to the first place everywhere, full of -wealth, full of leisure, remained; but with nothing to do to justify -this greatness, nothing but luxury, the prize and accompaniment of it, -now turned into its sole object and meaning. The patrician class had -grown by use, by the high capability to fill every post and lead every -expedition which they had constantly shown, which was their original -cause and the reason of their existence, into a position of unusual -superiority and splendour. But that reason had died away, the empire -had departed from them, the world had a new centre: and the sons of -the men who had conducted all the immense enterprises of Rome were -left behind with the burden of their great names, and the weight of -their great wealth, and nothing to do but to enjoy and amuse -themselves: no vocations to fulfil, no important public functions to -occupy their time and their powers. Such a position is perhaps the -most dreadful that can come to any class in the history of a nation. -Great and irresponsible wealth, the supremacy of high place, without -those bonds of practical affairs which, in the case of all -rulers--even of estates or of factories--preserve the equilibrium of -humanity, are instruments of degradation rather than of elevation. To -have something to do for it, something to do with it, is the -condition which alone makes boundless wealth wholesome. And this had -altogether failed in the imperial city. Pleasure and display had taken -the place of work and duty. Rome had no longer any imperial affairs in -hand. Her day was over: the absence of a court and all its intrigues -might have been little loss to any community--but that those threads -of universal dominion which had hitherto occupied them had been -transferred to other hands, and that all the struggles, the great -questions, the causes, the pleas, the ordinances of the world were now -decided and given forth at Constantinople, was ruin to the once -masters of the world. It was worse than destruction, a more dreadful -overthrow than anything that the Goths and barbarians could bring--not -death which brings a satisfaction of all necessities in making an end -of them--but that death in life which fills men's blood with cold. - -The pictures left us of this condition of affairs do indeed chill the -blood. It is natural that there should be a certain amount of -exaggeration in them. We read daily in our own contemporary annals, -records of society of which we are perfectly competent to judge, that -though true to fact in many points, they give a picture too dark in -all its shadows, too garish in its lights, to afford a just view of -the state of any existing condition of things. Contemporaries know how -much to receive and how much to reject, and are apt to smile at the -possibility of any permanent impression upon the face of history being -made by lights and darks beyond the habit of nature. But yet when -every allowance has been made, the contemporary pictures of Rome at -this unhappy period leave an impression on the mind which is not -contradicted but supported and enforced by the incidents of the time -and the course of history. The populace, which had for ages been fed -and nourished upon the bread of public doles and those entertainments -of ferocious gaiety which deadened every higher sense, had sunk into -complete debasement. Honest work and honest purpose, or any hope of -improving their own position, elevating themselves or training their -children, do not seem to have existed among them. A half-ludicrous -detail, which reminds us that the true Roman had always a trifle of -pedantry in his pride, is noted with disgust and disdain even by -serious writers--which is that the common people bore no longer their -proper names, but were known among each other by nicknames, such as -those of Cabbage-eaters, Sausage-mongers, and other coarse familiar -vulgarisms. This might be pardoned to the crowd which spent its idle -days at the circus or spectacle, and its nights on the benches in the -Colosseum or in the porch of a palace; but it is difficult to -exaggerate the debasement of a populace which lived for amusement -alone, picking up the miserable morsels which kept it alive from any -chance or tainted source, without work to do or hope of amelioration. -They formed the shouting, hoarse accompaniment of every pageant, they -swarmed on the lower seats of every amphitheatre, howling much -criticism as well as boisterous applause, and keeping in fear, and -disgusted yet forced compliance with their coarse exactions, the -players and showmen who supplied their lives with an object. According -to all the representations that have reached us, nothing more degraded -than this populace--encumbering every portico and marble stair, -swarming over the benches of the Colosseum, basking in filth and -idleness in the brilliant sun of Rome, or seeking, among the empty -glories of a triumphal age gone by, a lazy shelter from it--has ever -been known. - -The higher classes suffered in their way as profoundly, and with a -deeper consciousness, from the same debasing influences of stagnation. -The descriptions of their useless life of luxury are almost too -extravagant to quote. "A loose silken robe," says the critic and -historian of the time, Ammianus Marcellinus, speaking of a Roman -noble,--"for a toga of the lightest tissue would have been too heavy -for him--linen so transparent that the air blew through it, fans and -parasols to protect him from the light, a troop of eunuchs always -round him." This was the appearance and costume of a son of the great -and famous senators of Rome. "When he was not at the bath, or at the -circus to maintain the cause of some charioteer, or to inspect some -new horses, he lay half asleep upon a luxurious couch in great rooms -paved with marble, panelled with mosaic." The luxurious heat implied, -which makes the freshness of the marble, the thinness of the linen, so -desirable, as in a picture of Mr. Alma Tadema's, bids us at the same -time pause in receiving the whole of this description as -unquestionable; for Rome has its seasons in which vast chambers paved -with marble are no longer agreeable, though the manners and utterances -of the race still tend to a complete ignoring of this other side of -the picture: but yet no doubt its general features are true. - -When this Sybarite went out it was upon a lofty chariot, where he -reclined negligently, showing off himself, his curled and perfumed -locks, his robes, with their wonderful embroideries and tissues of -silk and gold, to the admiration of the world; his horses' harness -were covered with ornaments of gold, his coachman armed with a golden -wand instead of a whip, and the whole equipage followed by a -procession of attendants, slaves, freedmen, eunuchs, down to the -knaves of the kitchen, the hewers of wood and drawers of water, to -give importance to the retinue, which pushed along through the streets -with all the brutality which is the reverse side of senseless display, -pushing citizens and passers-by out of the way. The dinner parties of -the evening were equally childish in their extravagance: the tables -covered with strange dishes, monsters of the sea and of the mountains, -fishes and birds of unknown kinds and unequalled size. The latter -seems to have been a special subject of pride, for we are told of the -servants bringing scales to weigh them, and notaries crowding round -with their tablets and styles to record the weight. After the feast -came a "hydraulic organ," and other instruments of corresponding -magnitude, to fill the great hall with resounding music, and -pantomimical plays and dances to enliven the dulness of the luxurious -spectators on their couches--"women with long hair, who might have -married and given subjects to the state," were thus employed, to the -indignation of the critic. - -This chronicler of folly and bad manners would not be human if he -omitted the noble woman of Rome from his picture. Her rooms full of -obsequious attendants, slaves, and eunuchs, half of her time was -occupied by the monstrous toilette which annulled all natural charms -to give to the Society beauty a fictitious and artificial display of -red and white, of painted eyelids, tortured hair, and extravagant -dress. An authority still more trenchant than the heathen historian, -Jerome, describes even one of the noble ladies who headed the -Christian society of Rome as spending most of the day before the -mirror. Like the ladies of Venice in a later age, these women, laden -with ornaments, attired in cloth of gold, and with shoes that crackled -under their feet with the stiffness of metallic decorations, were -almost incapacitated from walking, even with the support of their -attendants; and a life so accoutred was naturally spent in the display -of the charms and wealth thus painfully set forth. - -The fairer side of the picture, the revolt of the higher nature from -such a life, brings us into the very heart of this society: and -nothing can be more curious than the gradual penetration of a -different and indeed sharply contrary sentiment, the impulse of -asceticism and the rudest personal self-deprivation, amid a community -spoilt by such a training, yet not incapable of disgust and impatience -with the very luxury which had seemed essential to its being. The -picturesqueness and attraction of the picture lies here, as in so many -cases, chiefly on the women's side. - -It is necessary to note, however, the curious mixture which existed in -this Roman society, where Christianity as a system was already strong, -and the high officials of the Church were beginning to take gradually -and by slow degrees the places abandoned by the functionaries of the -empire. Though the hierarchy was already established, and the Bishop -of Rome had assumed a special importance in the Church, Paganism still -held in the high places that sway of the old economy giving place to -the new, which is at once so desperate and so nerveless--impotence and -bitterness mingling with the false tolerance of cynicism. The worship -of the gods had dropped into a survival of certain habits of mind and -life, to which some clung with the angry revulsion of terror against a -new revolutionary power at first despised: and some held with the -loose grasp of an imaginative and poetical system, and some with a -sense of the intellectual superiority of art and philosophy over the -arguments and motives that moved the crowd. Life had ebbed away from -these religions of the past. The fictitious attempt of Julian to -re-establish the worship of the gods, and bring new blood into the -exhausted veins of the mythological system, had in reality given the -last proof of its extinction as a power in the world: but still it -remained lingering out its last, holding a place, sometimes dignified -by a gleam of noble manners and the graces of intellectual life--and -often, it must be allowed, justified by the failure of the Church to -embody that purity and elevation which its doctrines, but scarcely its -morals or life, professed. Thus the faith in Christ, often real, but -very faulty--and the faith in Apollo, almost always fictitious, but -sometimes dignified and superior--existed side by side. The father -might hold the latter with a superb indifference to its rites, and a -contemptuous tolerance for its opponents, while the mother held the -first with occasional hot impulses of devotion, and performances of -penance for the pardon of those worldly amusements and dissipations to -which she returned with all the more zest when her vigils and prayers -were over. - -This conjunction of two systems so opposite in every impulse, -proceeding from foundations so absolutely contrary to each other, -could not fail to have an extraordinary effect upon the minds of the -generations moved by it, and affords, I think, an explanation of some -events very difficult to explain on ordinary principles, and -particularly the abandonment of what would appear the most -unquestionable duties, by some of the personages, especially the women -whose histories and manners fill this chapter of the great records of -Rome. Some of them deserted their children to bury themselves in the -deserts, to withdraw to the mountains, placing leagues of land and sea -between themselves and their dearest duties--why? the reader asks. At -the bidding of a priest, at the selfish impulse of that desire to save -their own souls, which in our own day at least has come to mean a -degrading motive--is the general answer. It would not be difficult, -however, to paint on the other side a picture of the struggle with the -authorities of her family for the training of a son, for the marriage -of a daughter, from which a woman might shrink with a sense of -impotence, knowing the prestige of the noble guardian against whom she -would have to contend, and all the forces of family pride, of -tradition and use and wont, that would be arrayed against her. Better -perhaps, the mother might think, to abandon that warfare, to leave the -conflict for which she was not strong enough, than to lose the love of -her child as well, and become to him the emblem of an opposing faction -attempting to turn him from those delights of youth which the -hereditary authority of his house encouraged instead of opposing. It -is difficult perhaps for the historians to take such motives into -consideration, but I think the student of human nature may feel them -to be worth a thought, and receive them as some justification, or at -least apology, for the actions of some of the Roman women who fill the -story of the time. - -Unfortunately it is not possible to leave out the Church in Rome when -we collect the details of depravity and folly in Society. One cannot -but feel how robust is the faith which goes back to these ages for -guidance and example when one sees the image in St. Jerome's pages of -a period so early in the history of Christianity. "Could ye not watch -with me one hour?" our Lord said to the chosen disciples, His nearest -friends and followers, in the moment of His own exceeding anguish, -with a reproach so sorrowful, yet so conscious of the weakness of -humanity, that it silences every excuse. We may say, for a poor four -hundred years could not the Church keep the impress of His teaching, -the reality of the faith of those who had themselves fallen and -fainted, yet found grace to live and die for their Master? But four -centuries are a long time, and men are but men even with the -inheritance of Christians. They belonged to their race, their age, and -the manifold influences which modify in the crowd everything it -believes or wishes. And they were exposed to many temptations which -were doubly strong in that world to which by birth and training they -belonged. How is an ordinary man to despise wealth in the midst of a -society corrupted by it, and in which it is supreme? how learn to be -indifferent to rank and prestige in a city where without these every -other claim was trampled under foot? "The virtues of the primitive -Church," says Villemain of a still later period, "had been under the -guard of poverty and persecution: they were weak in success and -triumph. Enthusiasm became less pure, the rules of life less severe. -In the always increasing crowd of proselytes were many unworthy -persons, who turned to Christianity for reasons of ambition and -self-interest, to make way at Court, to appear faithful to the -emperor. The Church, enriched at once by the spoil of the temples and -the offerings of the Christian crowd, began to clothe itself in -profane magnificence." Those who attained the higher clerical honours -were sure, according to the evidence of Ammianus, "of being enriched -by the offerings of the Roman ladies, and drove forth like noblemen in -lofty chariots, clothed magnificently, and sat down at tables worthy -of kings." The Church, endowed in an earlier period by converts, who -offered sometimes all their living for the sustenance of the community -which gave them home and refuge, had continued to receive the gifts of -the pious after the rules of ordinary life regained their force; and -now when she had yielded to a great extent to the prevailing -temptations of the age, found a large means of endowment in the gifts -of deathbed repentance and the weakness of dying penitents, of which -she was reputed to take large advantage: wealth grew within her -borders, and luxury with it, according to the example of surrounding -society. It is Jerome himself who reports the saying of one of the -highest of Roman officials to Bishop Damasus. "If you will undertake -to make me Bishop of Rome, I will be a Christian to-morrow." Not even -the highest place in the Government was so valuable and so great. It -is Jerome also who traces for us--the fierce indignation of his -natural temper, mingling with an involuntary perception of the -ludicrous side of the picture--a popular young priest of his time, -whose greatest solicitude was to have perfumed robes, a well fitting -shoe, hair beautifully curled, and fingers glittering with jewels, and -who walked on tip-toe lest he should soil his feet. - - "What are these men? To those who see them pass they are - more like bridegrooms than priests. Some among them devote - their life and energies to the single object of knowing the - names, the houses, the habits, the disposition of all the - ladies in Rome. I will sketch for you, dear Eustochium, in - a few lines, the day's work of one of them, great in the - arts of which I speak, that by means of the master you may - the more easily recognise his disciples. - - "Our hero rises with the sun: he regulates the order of his - visits, studies the shortest ways, and arrives before he is - wanted, almost before his friends are awake. If he - perceives anything that strikes his fancy, a pretty piece - of furniture or an elegant marble, he gazes at it, praises - it, turns it over in his hands, and grieves that he has not - one like it--thus extorting rather than obtaining the - object of his desires; for what woman would not hesitate to - offend the universal gossip of the town? Temperance, - modesty (_castitas_), and fasting are his sworn enemies. He - smells out a feast and loves savoury meats. - - "Wherever one goes one is sure to meet him; he is always - there before you. He knows all the news, proclaims it in an - authoritative tone, and is better informed than any one - else can be. The horses which carry him to the four - quarters of Rome in pursuit of this honest task are the - finest you can see anywhere; you would say he was the - brother of that King of Thrace known in story by the speed - of his coursers. - - "This man," adds the implacable satirist in another letter, - "was born in the deepest poverty, brought up under the - thatch of a peasant's cottage, with scarcely enough of - black bread and millet to satisfy the cravings of his - appetite; yet now he is fastidious and hard to please, - disdaining honey and the finest flour. An expert in the - science of the table, he knows every kind of fish by name, - and whence come the best oysters, and what district - produces the birds of finest savour. He cares only for what - is rare and unwholesome. In another kind of vice he is not - less remarkable; his mania is to lie in wait for old men - and women without children. He besieges their beds when - they are ill, serves them in the most disgusting offices, - more humble and servile than any nurse. When the doctor - enters he trembles, asking with a faltering voice how the - patient is, if there is any hope of saving him. If there is - any hope, if the disease is cured, the priest disappears - with regrets for his loss of time, cursing the wretched old - man who insists on living to be as old as Methusalem." - -The last accusation, which has been the reproach of the Church in many -different ages, had just been specially condemned by a law of the -Emperor Valentinian I., declaring null and void all legacies made to -priests, a law which called forth Jerome's furious denunciation, not -of itself, but of the abuse which called it forth. This was a graver -matter than the onslaught upon the curled darlings of the priesthood, -more like bridegrooms than priests, who carried the news from boudoir -to boudoir, and laid their entertainers under contribution for the -bibelots and ancient bric-a-brac which their hearts desired. Thus -wherever the eye turned there was nothing but luxury and the love of -luxury, foolish display, extravagance and emulation in all the arts of -prodigality, a life without gravity, without serious occupation, with -nothing in it to justify the existence of those human creatures -standing between earth and heaven, and capable of so many better -things. The revulsion, a revulsion inspired by disgust and not without -extravagance in its new way, was sure to come. - - [Illustration: THE PALATINE, FROM THE AVENTINE.] - - - - - [Illustration: THE RIPETTA.] - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -THE PALACE ON THE AVENTINE. - - -The strong recoil of human nature from those fatal elements which time -after time have threatened the destruction of all society is one of -the noblest things in history, as it is one of the most divine in -life. There are evidences that it exists even in the most wicked -individuals, and it very evidently comes uppermost in every -commonwealth from century to century to save again and again from -utter debasement a community or a nation. When depravity becomes the -rule instead of the exception, and sober principle appears on the -point of yielding altogether to the whirl of folly or the thirst of -self-indulgence, then it may always be expected that some ember of -divine indignation, some thrill of high disgust with the miserable -satisfactions of the world will kindle in one quarter or another and -set light to a thousand smouldering tires over all the face of the -earth. It is one of the highest evidences of that charter of our being -which is our most precious possession, the reflection of that image of -God which amid all degradations still holds its place in human nature, -and will not be destroyed. We may mourn indeed that so short a span of -centuries had so effaced the recollection of the brightest light that -ever shone among men, as to make the extravagance of a human revulsion -and revolution necessary in order to preserve and restore the better -life of Christendom. At the same time it is our salvation as a race -that such revolutions, however imperfect they may be in themselves, -are sure to come. - -This revulsion from vice, degradation, and evil of every kind, public -and personal, had already come with the utmost excess of -self-punishment and austerity in the East, where already the deserts -were mined with caverns and holes in the sand, to which hermits and -coenobites, the one class scarcely less exalted in religious passion -and suffering than the other, had escaped from the current of evil -which they did not feel themselves capable of facing, and lived and -starved and agonised for the salvation of their own souls and for a -world lying in wickedness. The fame of the Thebaid and its saints and -martyrs, slowly making itself known through the great distances and -silences, had already breathed over the world, when Athanasius, driven -by persecution from his see and his country, came to Rome, accompanied -by two of the monks whose character was scarcely understood as yet in -the West, and bringing with him his own book, the life of St. Antony -of the desert, a work which had as great an effect in that time as the -most popular of publications, spread over the world in thousands of -copies, could have now. It puzzles the modern reader to think how a -book should thus have moved the world and revolutionised hundreds of -lives, while it existed only in manuscript and every example had to be -carefully and tediously copied before it could touch even those who -were wealthy enough to secure themselves such a luxury. What readings -in common, what earnest circles of auditors, what rapt intense hanging -upon the lips of the reader, there must have been before any work, -even the most sacred, penetrated to the crowd!--but to us no doubt the -process seems more slow and difficult than it really was when scribes -were to be found everywhere, and manuscripts were treated with -reverence and respect. When Athanasius found refuge in Rome, which was -during the pontificate, or rather--for the full papal authority had as -yet been claimed by no one--the primacy--of Liberius, and about the -year 341, he was received by all that was best in Rome with great -hospitality and sympathy. Rome so far as it was Christian was entirely -orthodox, the Arian heresy having gained no part of the Christian -society there--and a man of genius and imposing character, who brought -into that stagnant atmosphere the breath of a larger world, who had -shared the councils of the emperor and lived in the cells of Egypt--an -orator, a traveller, an exile, with every kind of interest attaching -to him, was such a visitor as seldom appeared in the city deserted by -empire. Something like the man who nine centuries later went about the -Italian streets with the signs upon him of one who had been through -heaven and hell, the Eastern bishop must have appeared to the languid -citizens, with the brown of the desert still on his cheeks, yet -something of the air of a courtly prelate, a friend of princes; while -his attendants, one with all the wildness of a hermit from the desert -in his eyes and aspect, in the unfamiliar robe and cowl--and the other -mild and young like the ideal youth, shy and simple as a girl--were -wonderful apparitions in the fatigued and _blasé_ society, which -longed above everything for something new, something real, among all -the mocks and shows of their impotent life. - -One of the houses in which Athanasius and his monks were most welcome -was the palace of a noble widow, Albina, who lived the large and -luxurious life of her class in the perfect freedom of a Roman matron, -Christian, yet with no idea in her mind of retirement from the world, -or renunciation of its pleasures. A woman of a more or less -instructive mind and lively intelligence, she received with the -greatest interest and pleasure these strangers who had so much to -tell, the great bishop flying from his enemies, the monks from the -desert. That she and her circle gathered round him with that rapt and -flattering attention which not the most abstracted saint any more than -the sternest general can resist, is evident from the story, and it -throws a gleam of softer light upon the impassioned theologian who -stood fast, "I, Athanasius, against the world" for that mysterious -splendour of the Trinity, against which the heretical East had risen. -In the Roman lady's withdrawingroom, in his dark and flowing Eastern -robes, we find him amid the eager questionings of the women, -describing to them the strange life of the desert which it was such a -wonder to hear of--the evensong that rose as from every crevice of the -earth, while the Egyptian after-glow burned in one great circle of -colour round the vast globe of sky, diffusing an illumination weird -and mystic over the fantastic rocks and dark openings where the -singers lived unseen. What a picture to be set before that soft, eager -circle, half rising from silken couches, clothed with tissues of gold, -blazing with jewels, their delicate cheeks glowing in artificial red -and white, their crisped and curled tresses surmounted by the -fantastic towering headdress which weighed them down! - -Among the ladies was the child of the house, the little girl who was -her mother's excuse for retaining the freedom of her widowhood, -Marcella: a thoughtful and pensive child, devouring all these -wonderful tales, listening to everything and laying up a store of -silent resolutions and fancies in her heart. Her elder sister Asella -would seem to have already secluded herself in precocious devotion -from the family, or at least is not referred to. The story which -touched the general mind of the time with so strange and strong an -enthusiasm, fell into the virgin soil of this young spirit like the -seed of a new life. But the little Roman maiden was no ascetic. She -had evidently no impulse, as some young devotees have had, to set out -barefoot in search of suffering. When Athanasius left Rome, he left in -the house which had received him so kindly his life of St. Antony, the -first copy which had been seen in the Western world. This manuscript, -written perhaps by the hand of one of those wonderful monks, the -strangest figures in her luxurious world whom Marcella knew, became -the treasure of her youth. Such a present, at such a time, was enough -to occupy the visionary silence of a girl's life, often so full of -dreams unknown and unsearchable even to her nearest surroundings. She -went through however the usual routine of a young lady's life in Rome. -Madame Albina the mother, though full of interest and curiosity in -respect to all things intellectual and Christian, held still more -dearly a mother's natural desire to see her only remaining child nobly -married and established in the splendour and eminence to which she was -born. We are told that Marcella grew up to be one of the beauties of -Rome, but as this is an inalienable qualification of all these -beautiful souls, it is not necessary to believe that the "insignem -decorem corporis" meant any extraordinary distinction. She carried out -at all events her natural fate and married a rich and noble husband, -of whom however we know no details, except that he died some months -after, leaving her without child or tie to the ordinary life of the -world, in all the freedom of widowhood, at a very early age. - -Thus placed in full command of her fate, she never seems to have -hesitated as to what she should do with herself. She was, as a matter -of course, assailed by many new suitors, among whom her historian, who -is no other than St. Jerome himself, makes special mention of the -exceptionally wealthy Cerealis ("whose name is great among the -consuls"), and who was so splendid a suitor that the fact that he was -old scarcely seems to have told against him. Marcella's refusal of -this great match and of all the others offered to her, offended and -alienated her friends and even her mother, and there followed a moment -of pain and perplexity in her life. She is said to have made a -sacrifice of a part of her possessions to relatives to whom, failing -herself, it fell to keep up the continuance of the family name, hoping -thus to secure their tolerance. And she acquired the reputation of an -eccentric, and probably of a _poseuse_, so general in all times when a -young woman forsakes the beaten way, as she had done by giving up the -ridiculous fashions and toilettes of the time, putting aside the rouge -and antimony, the disabling splendour of cloth of gold, and assuming a -simple dress of a dark colour, a thing which shocked her generation -profoundly. The gossip rose and flew from mouth to mouth among the -marble salons where the Roman ladies languished for a new subject, or -in the ante-rooms, where young priests and deacons awaited or -forestalled the awakening of their patronesses. It might be the Hôtel -Rambouillet of which we are reading, and a fine lady taking refuge at -Port Royal who was being discussed and torn to pieces in those antique -palaces. What was the meaning that lay beneath that brown gown? Was it -some unavowed disappointment, or, more exciting still, some secret -intrigue, some low-placed love which she dared not acknowledge? -Withdrawn into a villa had she, into the solitude of a suburban -garden, hid from every eye? and who then was the companion of -Marcella's solitude? The ladies who discussed her had small faith in -austerities, nor in the desire of a young and attractive woman to live -altogether alone. - -It is very likely that Marcella herself, as well as her critics, soon -began to feel that the mock desert into which she had made the gardens -of her villa was indeed a fictitious way of living the holy life, and -the calumny was more ready and likely to take hold of this artificial -retirement, than of a course of existence led within sight of the -world. She finally took a wiser and more reasonable way. Her natural -home was a palace upon the Aventine to which she returned, -consecrating a portion of it to pious uses, a chapel for common -worship and much accommodation for the friends of similar views and -purposes who immediately began to gather about her. It is evident that -there were already many of these women in the best society of Rome. A -lively sentiment of feminine society, of the multiplied and endless -talks, consultations, speculations, of a community of women, open to -every pleasant curiosity and quick to every new interest, rises -immediately before us in that first settlement of monasticism--or, as -the ecclesiastical historians call it, the first convent of Rome, -before our eyes. It was not a convent after all so much as a large and -hospitable feminine house, possessing the great luxury of beautiful -rooms and furniture, and the liberal ways of a large and wealthy -family, with everything that was most elegant, most cultured, most -elevated, as well as most devout and pious. The "Souls," to use our -own jargon of the moment, would seem indeed to have been more truly -represented there than the Sisters of our modern understanding, though -we may acknowledge that there are few communities of Sisters in which -this element does not more or less flourish. Christian ladies who were -touched like herself with the desire of a truer and purer life, -gathered about her, as did the French ladies about Port Royal, and -women of the same class everywhere, wherever a woman of influential -character leads the way. - -The character and position of these ladies was not perhaps so much -different as we might suppose from those of the court of Louis XIV. or -any other historical period in which great luxuries and much -dissipation had sickened the heart of all that was good and noble. Yet -there were very special characteristics in their lot. Some of them -were the wives of pagan officials of the empire, holding a sometimes -devious and always agitated course through the troubles of a divided -household: and there were many young widows perplexed with projects of -remarriage, of whom some would be tempted by the prospects of a -triumphant re-entry into the full enjoyments of life, although a -larger number were probably resistant and alarmed, anxious to retain -their freedom, or to devote themselves as Marcella had done to a -higher life. Women of fashion not unwilling to add a devotion _à la -mode_ to their other distractions, women of intellectual aspirations, -lovers of the higher education, seekers after a society altogether -brilliant and new, without any special emotions of religious feeling, -no doubt filled up the ranks. "A society," says Thierry, in his _Life -of Jerome_, "of rich and influential women, belonging for the great -part to patrician families, thus organised itself, and the oratory on -the Aventine became a seat of lay influence and power which the clergy -themselves were soon compelled to reckon with." - -The heads of the community bore the noblest names in Rome, which -however at that period of universal deterioration was not always a -guarantee of noble birth, since the greatest names were sometimes -assumed with the slenderest of claims to their honours. Marcella's -sister, Asella, older than the rest, and a sort of mother among them, -had for a long time before "lived the life" in obscurity and -humbleness, and several others not remarkable in the record, were -prominent associates. The actual members of the community, however, -are not so much remarked or dwelt upon as the visitors who came and -went, not all of them of consistent religious character, ladies of the -great world. One of these, Fabiola, affords an amusing episode in the -graver tale, the contrast of a butterfly of society, a _grande dame_ -of fascinating manners, airs, and graces, unfortunate in her husbands, -of whom she had two, one of them divorced--and not quite unwilling to -divorce the second and try her luck again. Another, one of the most -important of all in family and pretensions, and by far the most -important in history of these constant visitors, was Paula, a -descendant (collateral, the link being of the lightest and easiest -kind, as was characteristic of the time) of the great Æmilius Paulus, -the daughter of a distinguished Greek who claimed to be descended from -Agamemnon, and widow of another who claimed Æneas as his ancestor. -These large claims apart, she was certainly a great lady in every -sense of the word, delicate, luxurious, following all the fashions of -the time. She too was a widow, with a family of young daughters, in -that enviable state of freedom which the Roman ladies give every sign -of having used and enjoyed to the utmost, the only condition in which -they were quite at liberty to regulate their own fate. Paula is the -most interesting of the community, as she is the one of whom we know -the most. No fine lady more exquisite, more fastidious, more splendid -than she. Not even her Christianity had beguiled her from the -superlative finery of her Roman habits. She was one of the fine ladies -who could not walk abroad without the support of her servants, nor -scarcely cross the marble floor from one silken couch to another -without tottering, as well she might, under the weight of the heavy -tissues interwoven with gold, of which her robes were made. A widow at -thirty-five, she was still in full possession of the charms of -womanhood, and the sunshine of life (though we are told that her grief -for her husband was profound and sincere)--with her young daughters -growing up round her, more like her sisters than her children, and -sharing every thought. Blæsilla, the eldest, a widow at twenty, was, -like her mother, a Roman exquisite, loving everything that was -beautiful and soft and luxurious. In the affectionate gibes of the -family she is described as spending entire days before her mirror, -giving herself up to all the extravagances of dress and personal -decoration, the tower of curls upon her head, the touch of rouge on -her cheeks. A second daughter, Paulina, was on the eve of marriage -with a young patrician, as noble, as rich, and, as was afterwards -proved, as devoutly Christian as the family into which he married. The -third member of the family, Eustochium, a girl of sixteen, of a -character contrasting strongly with those of her beautiful mother and -sister, a saint from her birth, was the favourite, and almost the -child, of Marcella, instructed by her from her earliest years, and had -already fixed her choice upon a monastic life, and would seem to have -been a resident in the Aventine palace to which the others were such -frequent visitors. Of all this delightful and brilliant party she is -the one born recluse, severe in youthful virtue, untouched by any of -the fascinations of the world. The following very pretty and graphic -story is told of her, in which we have a curious glimpse into the -strangely mixed society of the time. - -The family of Paula though Christian, and full of religious fervour, -or at least imbued with the new spirit of revolt against the -corruption of the time, was closely connected with the still existing -pagan society of Rome. Her sister-in-law, sister of her husband and -aunt of her children, was a certain lady named Prætextata, the wife of -Hymettius, a high official under the Emperor Julian the Apostate, both -of them belonging, with something of the fictitious enthusiasm of -their master, to the faith of the old gods. No doubt one of the -severest critics of that society on the Aventine, Prætextata saw with -impatience and wrath, what no doubt she considered the artificial -gravity, inspired by her surroundings, of the young niece who had -already announced her intention never to marry, and to withdraw -altogether from the world. Such resolutions on the part of girls who -know nothing of the world they abandon have exasperated the most -devout of parents, and it was not wonderful if this pagan lady thought -it preposterous. The little plot which she formed against the serious -girl was, however, of the most good-natured and innocent kind. Finding -that words had no effect upon her, the elder lady invited Eustochium -to her house on a visit. The young vestal came all unsuspicious in her -little brown gown, the costume of humility, but had scarcely entered -her aunt's house when she was seized by the caressing and flattering -hands of the attendants, interested in the plot as the favourite maids -of such an establishment would be, who unloosed her long hair and -twisted it into curls and plaits, took away her humble dress, clothed -her in silk and cloth of gold, covered her with ornaments and led her -before the mirror which reflected all these charms, to dazzle her eyes -with the apparition of herself, so different from the schoolroom -figure with which she was acquainted. The little plot was clever as -well as innocent, and might, no doubt, have made a heart of sixteen -beat high. But Eustochium with her Greek name, and her virgin heart, -was the grave girl we all know, the one here and there among the -garden of girls, born to a natural seriousness which is beyond such -temptations. She let them turn her round and round, received sweetly -in her gentle calm the applauses of the collected household, looked at -her image in the mirror as at a picture--and went home again in her -little brown gown with her story to tell, which, no doubt, was an -endless amusement and triumph to the ladies on the Aventine, repeated -to every new-comer with many a laugh at the foolishness of the clever -aunt who had hoped by such means to seduce Eustochium--Eustochium, the -most serious of them all! - -Such was the first religious community in Rome. It was the natural -home of Marcella to which her friends gathered, without in most cases -deserting their own palaces, or forsaking their own place in the -world--a centre and home of the heart, where they met constantly, the -residents ever ready to receive, not only their closer associates, but -all the society of Roman ladies, who might be attracted by the higher -aspirations of intellect and piety. Not a stone exists of that noble -mansion now, but it is supposed to have stood close to the existing -church of Sta. Sabina, an unrivalled mount of vision. From that mount -now covered with so many ruins the ladies looked out upon the yet -unbroken splendour of the city, Tiber far below sweeping round under -the walls. Palatinus, with the "white roofs" of that home to which -Horatius looked before he plunged into the yellow river, still stood -intact at their right hand: and, older far, and longer surviving, the -wealth of nature, the glory of the Roman sky and air, the -white-blossomed daphne and the starry myrtle, and those roses which -are as ancient inhabitants of the world as any we know flinging their -glories about the marble balustrades and making the terraces sweet. -There would they walk and talk, the recluses at ease and simple in -their brown gowns, the great ladies uneasy under the weight of their -toilettes, but all eager to hear, to tell, to read the last letter -from the East, from the desert or the cloister, to exchange their -experiences and plan their charities. There is nothing ascetic in the -picture, which is a very different one from that of those austere -solitudes of the desert, which had suggested and inspired it--the lady -Paula tottering in, with a servant on either side to conduct her to -the nearest couch, and young Blæsilla making a brilliant irruption in -all her bravery, with her jewels sparkling and her transparent veil -floating, and her golden heels tapping upon the marble floor. This is -not how we understand the atmosphere of a convent; yet, if fact were -taken into due consideration, the greatest convents have been very -like it, in all ages--the finest ladies having always loved that -intercourse and contrast, half envious of the peace of their -cloistered sisters, half pleased to dazzle them with a splendour which -never could be theirs. - - "No fixed rule," says Thierry, in his _Life of St. Jerome_, - "existed in this assembly, where there was so much - individuality, and where monastic life was not even - attempted. They read the Holy Scriptures together, sang - psalms, organised good works, discussed the condition of - the Church, the progress of spiritual life in Italy and in - the provinces, and kept up a correspondence with the - brothers and sisters outside of a more strictly monastic - character. Those of the associates who carried on the - ordinary life of the world came from time to time to - refresh their spirits in these holy meetings, then returned - to their families. Those who were free gave themselves up - to devotional exercises, according to their taste and - inclination, and Marcella retired into her desert. In a - short time these exercises were varied by the pursuit of - knowledge. All Roman ladies of rank knew a little Greek, if - only to be able to say to their favourites, according to - the _mot_ of Juvenal, repeated by a father of the Church, - [Greek: Zôê kai psuchê], my life and my soul: the Christian - ladies studied it better and with a higher motive. Several - later versions of the Old and New Testament were in general - circulation in Italy, differing considerably from each - other, and this very difference interested anxious minds in - referring to the original Greek for the Gospels, and for - the Hebrew books to the Greek of the Septuagint, the - favourite guide of Western translators. The Christian - ladies accordingly set themselves to perfect their - knowledge of Greek, and many, among whom were Marcella and - Paula, added the Hebrew language, in order that they might - sing the psalms in the very words of the prophet-king. - Marcella even became, by intelligent comparison of the - texts, so strong in exegetical knowledge that she was often - consulted by the priests themselves." - -It was about the year 380 that this establishment was formed. "The -desert of Marcella" above referred to was, as the reader will -remember, a great garden in a suburb of Rome, which she had pleased -herself by allowing to run wild, and where occasionally this great -Roman lady played at a hermit's life in solitude and abstinence. -Paula's desert, perhaps not so easy a one, was in her own house, -where, besides the three daughters already mentioned, she had a -younger girl Rufina, not yet of an age to show any marked tendencies, -and a small boy Toxotius, her only son, who was jealously looked after -by his pagan relatives, to keep him from being swept away by this tide -of Christianity. - - [Illustration: ON THE PALATINE.] - -Such was the condition of the circle on the Aventine, when a great -event happened in Rome. Following many struggles and disasters in the -East, chiefly the continually recurring misfortune of a breach of -unity, a diocese here and there exhibiting its freedom by choosing two -bishops representing different parties at the same time, and thus -calling for the exercise of some central authority--Pope Damasus had -called a council in Rome. He was so well qualified to be a judge in -such cases that he had himself won his see at the point of the sword, -after a stoutly contested fight in which much blood was shed, and the -church of S. Lorenzo, the scene of the struggle, was besieged and -taken like a castle. If he had hoped by this means to establish the -universal authority of his see, a pretension as yet undeveloped, it -was immediately forestalled by the Bishop of Constantinople, who at -once called together a rival council in that place. The Council of -Rome, however, is of so much more importance to us that it called into -full light in the Western world the great and remarkable figure of -Jerome: and still more to our record of the Roman ladies of the -Aventine, since it suddenly introduced to them the man whose name is -for ever connected with theirs, who is supposed erroneously, as the -reader will see, to have been the founder of their community, but who -henceforward became its most trusted leader and guide in the spiritual -life. - - - - - [Illustration: THE WALLS BY ST. JOHN LATERAN.] - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -MELANIA. - - -It may be well, however, before continuing this narrative to tell the -story of another Roman lady, not of their band, nor in any harmony -with them, which had already echoed through the Christian world, a -wild romance of enthusiasm and adventure in which the breach of all -the decorums of life was no less remarkable than the abandonment of -its duties. Some ten years before the formation of Marcella's -religious household (the dates are of the last uncertainty) a young -lady of Rome, of Spanish origin, rich and noble and of the highest -existing rank, found herself suddenly left in the beginning of a -splendid and happy life, in desolation and bereavement. Her husband, -whose name is unrecorded, died early leaving her with three little -children, and shortly after, while yet unrecovered from this crushing -blow, another came upon her in the death of her two eldest children, -one following the other. The young woman, only twenty-three, thus -terribly stricken, seems to have been roused into a fever of -excitement and passion by a series of disasters enough to crush any -spirit. It is recorded of her that she neither wept nor tore her hair, -but advancing towards the crucifix with her arms extended, her head -high, her eyes tearless, and something like a smile upon her lips, -thanked God who had now delivered her from all ties and left her free -to serve Himself. Whether she had previously entertained this desire, -or whether it was only the despair of the distracted mother which -expressed itself in such words, we are not told. In the haste and -restlessness of her anguish she arranged everything for a great -funeral, and placing the three corpses on one bier followed them to -Rome to the family mausoleum alone, holding her infant son, the only -thing left to her, in her arms. The populace of Rome, eager for any -public show, had crowded upon the course of many a triumph, and -watched many a high-placed Cæsar return in victory to the applauding -city, but never had seen such a triumphal procession as this, Death -the Conqueror leading his captives. We are not told whether it was -attended by the overflowing charities, extravagant doles and offerings -to the poor with which other mourners attempted to assuage their -grief, or whether Melania's splendour and solitude of mourning was -unsoftened by any ministrations of charity; but the latter is more in -accordance with the extraordinary fury and passion of grief, as of a -woman injured and outraged by heaven to which she thus called the -attention of the spheres. - -The impression made by that funeral splendour and by the sight of the -young woman following tearless and despairing with her one remaining -infant in her arms, had not faded from the minds of the spectators -when it was rumoured through Rome that Melania had abandoned her one -remaining tie to life and gone forth into the outside world no one -knew where, leaving her child so entirely without any arrangement for -its welfare that the official charged with the care of orphans had to -select a guardian for this son of senators and consuls as if he had -been a nameless foundling. What bitterness of soul lay underneath such -an incomprehensible desertion, who could say? It might be a sense of -doom such as overwhelms some sensitive minds, as if everything -belonging to them were fated and nothing left them but the tragic -expedient of Hagar in the desert, "Let me not see the child die." -Perhaps the courage of the heartbroken young woman sank before the -struggle with pagan relations, who would leave no stone unturned to -bring up this last scion of the family in the faith or no-faith of his -ancestors; perhaps she was in reality devoid of those maternal -instincts which make the child set upon the knee the best comforter of -the woman to whom they have brought home her warrior dead. This was -the explanation given by the world which tore the unhappy Melania to -pieces and held her up to universal indignation. Not even the -Christians already touched with the enthusiasm and passion of the -pilgrim and ascetic could justify the sudden and mysterious -disappearance of a woman who still had so strong a natural bond to -keep her in her home. But whatever the character of Melania might be, -whether destitute of tenderness, or only distracted by grief and -bereavement, and hastening to take her fatal shadow away from the -cradle of her child, she was at least invulnerable to any argument or -persuasion. "God will take care of him better than I can," she said as -she left the infant to his fate. It was probably a better one than had -he been the charge of this apparently friendless young woman, with her -pagan relations, her uncompromising enthusiasm and self-will, and with -all the risks surrounding her feet which made the path of a young -widow in Rome so full of danger; but it is fortunate for the world -that few mothers are capable of counting those risks or of turning -their backs upon a duty which is usually their best consolation. - -There is, however, an interest in the character and proceedings of -such an exceptional woman which has always excited the world, and -which the thoughtful spectator will scarcely dismiss with the common -imputation of simple heartlessness and want of feeling. Melania was a -proud patrician notwithstanding that she flung from her every trace of -earthly rank or wealth, and a high-spirited, high-tempered individual -notwithstanding her subsequent plunge into the most self-abasing -ministrations of charity. And these features of character were not -altered by her sudden renunciation of all things. She went forth a -masterful personage determined, though no doubt unconsciously, to sway -all circumstances to her will, though in the utmost self-denial and -with all the appearances and surroundings of humility. This is a -paradox which meets us on every side, in the records of such -world-abandonment as are familiar in every history of the beginnings -of the monastic system, in which continually both men and women give -up all things while giving up nothing, and carry their individual will -and way through circumstances which seem to preclude the exercise of -either. - -The disappearance of Melania made a great sensation in Rome, and no -doubt discouraged Christian zeal and woke doubts in many minds even -while proving to others the height of sacrifice which could be made -for the faith. On the other hand the adversary had boundless occasion -to blaspheme and denounce the doctrines which, as he had some warrant -for saying, thus struck at the very basis of society and weakened -every bond of nature. What more dreadful influence could be than one -which made a woman forsake her child, the infant whom she had carried -in her arms to the great funeral, in the sight of all Rome, the son -of her sorrow? Nobody except a hot-headed enthusiast could take her -part even among her fellow-Christians, nor does it appear that she -sought any support or made any apology for herself. Jerome, then a -young student and scholar from the East, was in Rome, in obscurity, -still a catechumen preparing for his baptism, at the time of Melania's -flight; and though there is no proof that he was even known to her, -and no probability that so unknown a person could have anything to do -with her resolution, or could have influenced her mind, it was -suggested in later times when he was well known, that probably he had -much to do--who can tell if not the most powerful and guilty of -motives?--in determining her flight. Such a vulgar explanation is -always adapted to the humour of the crowd, and gives an easy solution -of the problems which are otherwise so difficult to solve. As a matter -of fact these two personages, not unlike each other in force and -spirit, had much to do with each other, though mostly in a hostile -sense, in the after part of their life. - -We find Melania again in Egypt, to which presumably she at once -directed her flight as the headquarters of austere devotion and -self-sacrifice, on leaving Rome--alone so far as appears. This was in -the year 372 (nothing can be more delightful than to encounter from -time to time a date, like an angel, in the vague wilderness of letters -and narratives), when Athanasius the great Bishop was near his end. -The young fugitive, whose arrival in Alexandria would not be attended -by such mystery as shrouded her departure from Rome, was received -kindly by the dying saint, to whom she had probably been known in her -better days, and who in his enthusiasm for the life of monastic -privation and sacrifice probably considered her flight and her -resolution alike inspired by heaven. He gave her, let us hope, his -blessing, and much good counsel--in addition to the sacred sheepskin -which had formed the sole garment of the holy Macarius in his cell in -the desert, which she carried away with her as her most valued -possession. The great Roman lady then pursued her way into the -wilderness, which was indeed a wilderness rather in name than in fact, -being peopled on every side by communities both of men and women, -while in every rocky fissure and cavern were hermits jealously shut -each in his hole, the more inaccessible the better. Nothing can be -more contradictory than the terms used. This desert of solitaries gave -forth the evening hymn over all its extent as if the very sands and -rocks sang, so many were the unseen worshippers. And the traveller -went into the wilderness alone so to speak, in the utmost -self-abnegation and humility, yet attended by an endless retinue of -servants whose attendance was indispensable, if only to convey and -protect the store of provisions and presents which she carried with -her. - -The conception of a lonely figure on the edge of a trackless sandy -waste facing all perils, and encountering perhaps after toilsome days -of solitude a still more lonely anchorite in his cell, to give her the -hospitality of a handful of peas, and a shrine of prayer, which is the -natural picture which rises before us--changes greatly when the -details are examined. Melania evidently travelled with a great -caravanserai, with camels laden with grain and every kind of provision -that was necessary to sustain life in those regions. The times were -more troublous even than usual. The death of Athanasius was the signal -for one of those outbursts of persecution which rent the Christian -world in its very earliest ages, and which alas! the Church herself -has never been slow to learn the use of. The underground or overground -population of the Egyptian desert was orthodox; the powers that were, -were Arian; and hermits and coenobites alike were hunted out of -their refuges and dragged before tribunals, where their case was -decided before it was heard and every ferocity used against them. In a -country so rent by the most violent of agitations Melania passed like -an angel of charity. She became the providence of the hunted and -suffering monks. She is said for a short period to have provided for -five thousand in Nitria, which proves that however secret her -disappearance from Rome had been, her address as we should say must -have been well known to her bankers, or their equivalent. Thus it is -evident that a robe of sackcloth need not necessarily imply poverty, -much less humility, and that a woman may ride about on the most sorry -horse (chosen it would seem because it was a more abject thing than -the well-conditioned ass of the East) and yet demean herself like a -princess. - -There is one story told of this primitive Lady Bountiful by Palladius -which if it did not recall the action of St. Paul in somewhat similar -circumstances would be highly picturesque. The proconsul in Palestine, -not at all aware who was the pestilent woman who persisted in -supplying and defending the population of the religious which it was -his mission to get rid of--even going so far as to visit and nourish -them in his prisons--had her arrested to answer for her interference. -There is nothing more likely than that Melania remembered the method -adopted by St. Paul to bring his judges to his feet. She sent the -consul a message in which a certain compassionate scorn mingles with -pride. "You esteem me by my present dress," she said, "which it is -quite in my power to change when I will. Take care lest you bring -yourself into trouble by what you do in your ignorance." This incident -happened at Cæsarea, the great city on the Mediterranean shore which -Herod had built, and where the prodigious ruins still lie in sombre -grandeur capable of restoration to the uses of life. The governor of -the Syrian city trembled in his gilded chair. The names which Melania -quoted were enough to unseat him half a dozen times over, though, -truth to tell, they are not very clearly revealed to the distant -student. He hastened to set free the sunburnt pilgrim in her brown -gown, and leave her to her own devices. "One must answer a fool -according to his folly," she said disdainfully, as she accepted her -freedom. This lady's progress through the haunted deserts, her -entrance into town after town, with the shield of rank ready for use -in any emergency, attended by continual supplies from the stewards of -her estates, and the power of shedding abundance round her wherever -she went, could hardly be said to merit the rewards of privation and -austerity even if her delicate feet were encased in rude sandals and -the cloth of gold replaced by a tunic of rough wool. - - [Illustration: COLOSSEUM BY MOONLIGHT. - _To face page 36._] - -Melania had been, presumably for some time before this incident, -accompanied by a priest named Rufinus, a fellow-countryman, -schoolfellow and dear friend of Jerome, the future Father of the -Church, at this period a young religious adventurer if we may use the -word:--which indeed seems the only description applicable to the bands -of young, devout enthusiasts, who roamed about the world, not bound to -any special duties, supporting themselves one knows not how, aiming at -one knows not what, except some devotion of mystical religious life, -or indefinite Christian service to the world. The object of saving -their souls was perhaps for most the prevailing object, and the -greater part of them had at least passed a year or two in those -Eastern deserts where renunciation of the world had been pushed to its -furthest possibilities. But they were also hungry for learning, for -knowledge, for disciples, and full of that activity of youth which is -bound to go everywhere and see everything whether with possible means -and motives or not. Whatever they were, they were not so far as can be -made out missionaries in any sense of the word. They were received -wherever they went, in devout households here and there, in any of the -early essays at monasteries which existed by bounty and Christian -charity, among the abounding dependents of great houses, or by the -bishop or other ecclesiastical functionary. They were this man's -secretary, that man's tutor--seldom so far as we can see were they -employed as chaplains. Rufinus indeed was a priest, but few of the -others were so, Jerome himself only having consented to be ordained -from courtesy, and in no way fulfilling the duties of the priesthood. -There were, however, many offices no doubt appropriate to them in the -household of a bishop, who was often the distributor of great -charities and the administrator of great possessions. But it is -evident that there were always a number of these scholar-student monks -available to join any travelling party, to serve their patron with -their knowledge of the desert and their general experience of the ways -of the world. "To lead about a sister":--St. Paul perhaps had already -in his time some knowledge of the usefulness of such a functionary, -and of the perfectly legitimate character of his office. Rufinus -joined Melania in this way, to all appearance as the other head of the -expedition, on perfectly equal terms, though it was her purse which -supplied everything necessary. Jerome himself (with a train of -brethren behind him) travelled in the same way with Paula--Oceanus -with Fabiola. Nothing could be more completely in accordance with the -fashion of the time. Perhaps the young men provided for their own -expenses as we say, but the caravan was the lady's and all the immense -and indiscriminate charity which flowed from it. - -It is not necessary for us to follow the career of Rufinus any more -than we intend to follow that of Jerome, into the violent controversy -which is the chief link which connects their names, or indeed in any -way except that of their association with the women of our tale. -Rufinus was a Dalmatian from the shores of the Adriatic, learned -enough according to the fashion of his time, though not such a scholar -as Jerome, and apt to despise those elegances of literature which he -was incapable of appreciating. He too, no doubt, like Jerome, had -some following of other men like himself, ready for any adventure, and -glad to make themselves the almoners of Melania and form a portion of -her train. It is a strange conjunction according to our modern ideas, -and no doubt there were vague and flying slanders, such as exist in -all ages, accounting for anything that is unusual or mysterious by the -worse reasons. But it must be remembered that such partnerships were -habitual in those days, permitted by the usage of a time of which -absolute purity was the craze and monomania, if we may so speak, as -well as the ideal: and also that the solitude of those pilgrims was at -all times that of a crowd--the supposed fugitive flying forth alone -being in reality, as has been explained already, accompanied on every -stage of the way by attendants enough to fill her ship and form her -caravan wherever she went. - -From Cæsarea, where Melania discomfited the government by her high -rank and connections, it is but a little way to Jerusalem, where the -steps of the party were directed after their prolonged journey through -the desert. It had already become the end of many pilgrimages, the one -place in the world which most attracted the hearts and imaginations of -the devout throughout all the world; and we can well realise the -sensation of the wanderers when they came in sight of that green hill, -dominating the scene of so many tragedies, the still half-ruined but -immortal city of which the very dust was dear to the primitive -Christians. Who that has come suddenly upon that scene in quiet, -without offensive guidance or ciceroneship, has not named to himself -the Mount of Olives with such a thrill of identification as would move -him in scarcely any other landscape in the world? It was still -comparatively virgin soil in the end of the fourth century. The -Empress Helena had been there, making, as we all feel now, but too -easy and too exact discoveries: but the country was unexplored by any -vain searchings of curiosity, and the calm of solitude, as perfect -and far sweeter than amid the sands of the deserts, was still to be -found there. The pilgrims went no further. They chose each their site -upon the soft slope of that hill of divine memories. Rufinus took up -his abode in a rocky cell, Melania probably in some house in the city, -while their monasteries were being built. The great Roman lady with -her faithful stewards, always sending those ever valuable supplies, no -doubt provided for the expenses of both: and soon two communities -arose near each other preserving the fellowship of their founders, -where after some years of travel and movement Melania, with strength -and courage restored, took up her permanent abode. - -It is difficult to decide what is meant by sacrifice and -self-abnegation in this world of human subterfuge and self-deception. -It is very likely that Melania, like Paula after her, gave herself to -the most humble menial offices, and did not scorn, great lady as she -was, to bow the haughty head which had made the proconsul of Palestine -tremble, to the modest necessities of primitive life. Perhaps she -cooked the spare food, swept the bare cells with her own hands: -undoubtedly she would superintend the flocks and herds and meagre -fields which kept her community supplied. We know that she rode the -sorriest horse, and wore the roughest gown. These things rank high in -the catalogue of privations, as privations are calculated in the -histories of the saints. And yet it is doubtful how far she is to be -credited, if it were a merit, with any self-sacrifice. She had -attained the full gratification of her own will and way, which is an -advantage not easily or often computed. She had settled herself in the -most interesting spot in the world, in the midst of a landscape which, -notwithstanding all natural aridity and the depressing effects of ruin -everywhere, is yet full of beauty as well as interest. Most of all -perhaps she was in the way of the very best of company, receiving -pilgrims of the highest eminence, bishops, scholars, princes, -sometimes ladies of rank like herself, who were continually coming and -going, bringing the great news of the world from every quarter to the -recluses who thus commanded everything that wealth could supply. One -may be sure that, as Jerome and Paula afterwards spent many a serene -evening in Bethlehem under their trees, Melania and Rufinus would -often sit under those hoary olives doubly grey with age, talking of -all things in heaven and earth, looking across the little valley to -the wall, all the more picturesque that it was broken, and lay here -and there in heaps of ruin, of Jerusalem, and hearing, in the pauses -of their conversation, the tinkling of that little brook which has -seen so many sacred scenes and over which our Lord and His favourite -disciples crossed to Gethsemane, on such a night as that on which His -servants sat and talked of Him. It is true that the accursed Arians, -and grave news of the fight going on between them and the Catholics, -or perhaps the question of Origen's orthodoxy, or how the struggle was -going between Paulinus and Meletius at Antioch, might occupy them more -than those sacred memories. But it is much to be doubted whether any -grandeur of Roman living would have been so much to Melania's mind as -the convent on the Mount of Olives, the stream of distinguished -pilgrims, and the society of her ever devoted companion and friend. - - [Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF VESTA.] - - - - - [Illustration: CHURCHES ON THE AVENTINE.] - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -THE SOCIETY OF MARCELLA. - - -The council which was held in Rome in 382 with the intention of -deciding the cases of various contending bishops in distant sees, -especially in Antioch where two had been elected for the same seat--a -council scarcely acknowledged even by those on whose behalf it was -held, and not at all by those opposed to them--was chiefly remarkable, -as we have said, from the appearance for the first time, as a marked -and notable personage, of one of the most important, picturesque, and -influential figures of his time--Jerome: a scholar insatiable in -intellectual zeal, who had sought everywhere the best schools of the -time and was learned in all their science: and at the same time a monk -and ascetic fresh from the austerities of the desert and one of those -struggles with the flesh and the imagination which formed the epic of -the solitary. It was not unnatural that the régime of extreme -abstinence combined with utter want of occupation, and the -concentration of all thought upon one's self and one's moods and -conditions of mind, should have awakened all the subtleties of the -imagination, and filled the brooding spirit with dreams of every wild -and extravagant kind; but it would not occur to us now to represent -the stormy passage into a life dedicated to religion as filled with -dancing nymphs and visions of the grossest sensual enjoyment--above -all in the case of such a man as Jerome, whose chief temptations one -would have felt to be of quite another kind. This however was the -fashion of the time, and belonged more or less to the monkish ideal, -which exaggerated the force of all these lower fleshly impulses by way -of enhancing the virtue of him who successfully overcame them. The -early fathers all scourged themselves till they were in danger of -their lives, rolled themselves in the snow, lay on the cold earth, and -lived on a handful of dried grain, perhaps on the grass and wild herbs -to be found in the crevices of the rocks, in order to get the body -into subjection: which might have been more easily done, we should -have supposed, by putting other more wholesome subjects in the place -of these visionary temptations, or filling the vacancy of the hours -with hard work. But the dulness of an English clown or athlete, in -whom muscular exercise extinguishes all visions, would not have been -at all to the mind of a monkish neophyte, to whom the sharpest stings -of penitence and agonies of self-humiliation were necessary, whether -he had done anything to call them forth or not. - -Jerome had gone through all these necessary sufferings without sparing -himself a pang. His face pale with fasting, and his body so worn with -penance and privation that it was almost dead, he had yet felt the -fire of earthly passions burning in his soul after the truest orthodox -model. "The sack with which I was covered," he says, "deformed my -members; my skin and flesh were like those of an Ethiop. But in that -vast solitude, burnt up by the blazing sun, all the delights of Rome -appeared before my eyes. Scorpions and wild beasts were my companions, -yet I seemed to hear the choruses of dancing girls." - - Finding no succour anywhere, I flung myself at the feet of - Jesus, bathing them with tears, drying them with the hair - of my head. I passed day and night beating my breast, I - banished myself even from my cell, as if it were conscious - of all my evil thoughts; and, rigid against myself, - wandered further into the desert, seeking some deeper cave, - some wilder mountain, some riven rock which I could make - the prison of this miserable flesh, the place of my - prayers. - -Sometimes he endeavoured to find refuge in his books, the precious -parchments which he carried with him even in those unlikely regions: -but here another temptation came in. "Unhappy that I am," he cries, "I -fasted yet read Cicero. After spending nights of wakefulness and tears -I found Plautus in my hands." To lay aside dramatist, orator, and -poet, so well known and familiar, and plunge into the imperfectly -known character of the Hebrew which he was learning, the -uncomprehended mysteries and rude style of the prophets, was almost as -terrible as to fling himself fasting on the cold earth and hear the -bones rattle in the skin which barely held them together. Yet -sometimes there were moments of deliverance: sometimes, when all the -tears were shed, gazing up with dry exhausted eyes to the sky blazing -with stars, "I felt myself transported to the midst of the angels, and -full of confidence and joy, lifted up my voice and sang, 'Because of -the savour of thy ointments we will run after thee.'" Thus both were -reconciled, his imagination freed from temptation, and the poetry of -the crabbed books, which were so different from Cicero, made suddenly -clear to his troubled eyes. - -This was however but a small part of the training of Jerome. From his -desert, as his spirit calmed, he carried on a great correspondence, -and many of his letters became at once a portion of the literature of -his time. One in particular, an eloquent and oratorical appeal to one -of his friends, the Epistle to Heliodorus, with its elaborate -description of the evils of the world and impassioned call to the -peace of the desert, went through the religious circles of the time -with that wonderful speed and facility of circulation which it is so -difficult to understand, and was read in Marcella's palace on the -Aventine and learnt by heart by some fervent listeners, so precious -were its elaborate sentences held to be. This letter boldly proclaimed -as the highest principle of life the extraordinary step which Melania, -as well as so many other self-devoted persons, had taken--and called -every Christian to the desert, whatever duties or enjoyments might -stand in the way. Perhaps such exhortations are less dangerous than -they seem to be, for the noble ladies who read and admired and learned -by heart these moving appeals do not seem to have been otherwise -affected by them. Like the song of the Ancient Mariner, they have to -be addressed to the predestined, who alone have ears to hear. -Heliodorus, upon whom all that eloquence was poured at first hand, -turned a deaf ear, and lived and died in peace among his own people, -among the lagoons where Venice as yet was not, notwithstanding all his -friend could say. - -"What make you in your father's house, oh sluggish soldier?" cried -that eager voice; "where are your ramparts and trenches, under what -tent of skins have you passed the bitter winter? The trumpet of heaven -sounds, and the great Leader comes upon the clouds to overcome the -world. Let the little ones hang upon other necks; let your mother rend -her hair and her garments; let your father stretch himself on the -threshold to prevent you from passing: but arise, come thou! Are you -not pledged to the sacrifice even of father and mother? If you believe -in Christ, fight with me for His name and let the dead bury their -dead." There were many who would dwell upon these entreaties as upon -a noble song rousing the heart and charming the ear, but the balance -of human nature is but rarely disturbed by any such appeal. Even in -that early age we may in the greater number of cases permit it to move -all hearers without any great fears for the issue. - -Jerome, however, did not himself remain very long in his desert; he -was invaded in his very cell by the echoes of polemical warfare -drifting in from the world he had left: and was called upon to -pronounce himself for one side or the other, while yet, according to -his own account, unaware what it was all about. He left his retirement -unwillingly after some three years, quoting Virgil as to the barbarity -of the race which refused him the hospitality of a little sand, and -plunged into the fight at Antioch between contending bishops and -parties, the heresy of Apollinaris, and all the rage of religious -polemics. It was probably his intimate acquaintance with all the -questions so strongly contested in the East, and his power of giving -information on points which the Western Council could only know at -second hand, which led him to Rome on the eve of the Council already -referred to, called by Pope Damasus, in 382. The primary object of -this Council was to settle matters of ecclesiastical polity, and -especially the actual question as to which of the competitors was -lawful bishop of Antioch, besides other questions concerning other -important sees. It was no small assumption on the part of the bishops -of the West, an assumption supported in those days by no dogma as to -the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome, to interfere in the affairs of -the East to this extent. And it was at once crushed by the action of -the Church in the East, which immediately held a council of its own at -Constantinople, and authoritatively decided every practical question. -Jerome was the friend of all those bishops whose causes would have -been pleaded at Rome, had not their own section of the Church thus -made short work with them: and this no doubt commended him to the -special attention of Damasus, even after these practical questions -were set aside, and the heresy of Apollinaris, which had been intended -to be treated in the second place, was turned into the only subject -before the house. Jerome was deeply learned on the subject of -Apollinaris too. It was on account of this new heresy that his place -in Egypt had become untenable. His knowledge could not but be of the -utmost importance to the Western bishops, who were not as a rule -scholars, nor given to the subtle reasoning of the East. He was very -welcome therefore in Rome, especially after the illness of the great -Ambrose had denuded that Council, shorn of so much of its prestige, of -almost the only imposing name left to it. This was the opportunity of -such a man as Jerome, in himself, as we have said, still not much -different from the many young religious adventurers who scoured the -world. He was already, however, a distinguished man of letters: he was -known to Damasus, who had baptized him: he had learning enough to -supplement the deficiencies of an entire Council, and for once these -abilities were fully appreciated and found their right place. He had -scarcely arrived in Rome when he was named Secretary of the Council--a -temporary office which was afterwards prolonged and extended to that -of Secretary to the Pope himself: thus the stranger became at once a -functionary of the utmost importance in the proceedings of the See of -Rome and in its development as a supreme power and authority in the -Church. - -There is something strangely familiar and quaint in the appearance, so -perfectly known to ourselves, of the gathering of a religious -congress, convocation, or general assembly, when every considerable -house and hospitable family is moved to receive some distinguished -clerical visitor--which thus took place in Rome in the end of the -fourth century, while still all was classic in the aspect of the -Eternal City, and the altars of the gods were still standing. The -bishops and their trains arrived, making a little stir, sometimes even -at the marble porticoes of great mansions where the master or mistress -still professed a languid devotion to Jove or Mercury. Jerome, burnt -brown by Egyptian suns, meagre and sinewy in his worn robe, with a -humble brother or two in his train, accepted, after a little modest -difficulty, the invitation or the allotment which led him to the -Aventine, to the palace of Marcella, where he was already well known, -and where, though his eyes were downcast with a becoming reserve at -the sight of all the ladies, he yet felt it right to follow the -example of the Apostle and industriously overcome his own bashfulness. -It was not perhaps a quality very strong in his nature, and very soon -his new and splendid habitation became to the ascetic a home more dear -than any he had yet known. - -It is curious to find how completely the principle of the association -and friendship of a man and woman, failing closer ties, was adopted -and recognised among these mystics and ascetics, without apparent fear -of the comments of the world, or any of the self-consciousness which -so often spoils such a relationship in ordinary society. Perhaps the -gossips smiled even then upon the close alliance of Jerome with Paula, -or Rufinus with Melania. There were calumnies abroad of the coarsest -sort, as was inevitable; but neither monk nor lady seem to have been -affected by them. It has constantly been so in the history of the -Church, and it is interesting to collect such repeated testimony from -the most unlikely quarter, to the advantage of this natural -association. Women have had hard measure from Catholic doctors and -saints. Their conventional position, so to speak, is that of the -Seductress, always studying how to draw the thoughts of men away from -higher things. The East and the West, though so much apart on other -points, are at one in this. From the anguish of the fathers in the -desert to the supposed difficulties of the humblest ordinary priest of -modern times, the disturbing influence is always supposed to be that -of the woman. Gruesome figure as he was for any such temptation, -Antony of Egypt himself was driven to extremity by the mere thought of -her: and it is she who figures as danger or as victim in every -ultra-Protestant plaint over the condition of the priest (except in -Ireland, wonderful island of contradictions! where priests and all men -are more moved to fighting than to love). Yet notwithstanding there -has been no founder of ecclesiastical institutions, no reformer, -scarcely any saint, who has not been accompanied by the special -friendship and affection of some woman. Jerome, who was so much the -reverse, if we may venture to use these words, of a drawing-room hero, -a man more used to vituperation than to gentleness of speech, often -harsh as the desert from which he had come, was a notable example of -this rule. From the time of his arrival on the Aventine to that of his -death, his name was never dissociated from that of Paula, the pious -lady _par excellence_ of the group, the exquisite and delicate -patrician who could scarcely plant her golden shoe firmly on the -floor, but came tottering into Marcella's great house with a slave on -either side to support her, in all the languid grace which was the -highest fashion of the time. That such an example of conventional -delicacy and luxury should have become the humble friend and secretary -of Jerome, and that he, the pious solitary, acrid with opposition and -controversy, should have found in this fine flower of society his -life-long companion, both in labour and life, is more astonishing than -words can say. - - [Illustration: THE STEPS OF THE CAPITOL.] - -His arrival in Marcella's hospitable house, with its crowds of -feminine visitors, was in every way a great event. It brought the -ladies into the midst of all the ecclesiastical questions of the time: -and one can imagine how they crowded round him when he returned from -the sittings of the Council--perhaps in the stillness of the evening -after the dangerous hour of sunset, when all Rome comes forth to -breathe again--assembling upon the marble terrace, from which that -magical scene was visible at their feet: the long withdrawing distance -beyond the river, out of which some gleam might be apparent of the -great church which already covered the tombs of the Apostles, and the -white crest of the Capitol close at hand, and the lights of the town -scattered dimly like glowworms among the wide openings and level lines -of classical building which made the Rome of the time. The subjects -discussed were not precisely those which the lighter conventional -fancy, Boccaccio or Watteau, has associated with such groups, any more -than the dark monk resembled the troubadour. But they were subjects -which up to the present day have never lost their interest. The -debates of the Council were chiefly taken up with an extremely -abstruse heresy, concerning the humanity of our Lord, how far the -nature of man existed in him in connection with the nature of God, and -whether the Redeemer of mankind had taken upon himself a mere ethereal -appearance of flesh, or an actual human body, tempted as we are and -subject to all the influences which affect man. It is a question which -has arisen again and again at various periods and in various manners, -and the subtleties of such a controversy have proved of the -profoundest interest to many minds. Jerome was not alone to report to -those eager listeners the course of the debates, and to demolish over -again the intricate arguments by which that assembly of divines -wrought itself to fever heat. The great Bishop Epiphanius, the great -heresy-hunter of his day--who had fathomed all the fallacious -reasonings of all the schismatics, and could detect a theological -error at the distance of a continent, in whatever garb it might shield -itself--was the guest of Paula, and no doubt, along with his hostess, -would often join these gatherings. The two doctors thus brought -together would vie with each other in making the course of the -controversy clear to the women, who hung upon their lips with keen -apprehension of every phrase and the enthusiastic partisanship which -inspires debate. There could be no better audience for the fine-drawn -arguments which such a controversy demands. How strange to think that -these hot discussions were going on, and the flower of the artificial -society of Rome keenly occupied by such a question, while still the -shadow of Jove lingered on the Capitol, and the Rome of the heathen -emperors, the Rome of the great Republic, stood white and splendid, a -shadow, yet a mighty one, upon the seven hills! - -Before his arrival in Rome, Jerome had been but little known to the -general world. His name had been heard in connection with some -eloquent letters which had flown about from hand to hand among the -finest circles; but his true force and character were better known in -the East than in the West, and it was in part this Council which gave -him his due place in the ranks of the Church. He was no priest to be -promoted to bishoprics or established in high places. He had indeed -been consecrated against his will by an enthusiastic prelate, eager to -secure his great services to the Church; but, monk and ascetic as he -was, he had no inclination towards the sacerdotal character, and had -said but one mass, immediately after his ordination, and no more. It -was not therefore as spiritual director in the ordinary sense of the -words that he found his place in Marcella's house, but at first at -least as a visitor merely and probably for the time of the Council -alone. But the man of the desert would seem to have been charmed out -of himself by the unaccustomed sweetness of that gentle life. He would -indeed have been hard to please if he had not felt the attraction of -such a retreat, not out of, but on the edge of, the great world, with -its excitements and warfare within reach, the distant murmur of the -crowd, the prospect of the great city with its lights and rumours, yet -sacred quiet and delightful sympathy within. The little community had -given up the luxuries of the age, but they could not have given up the -refinements of gentle breeding, the high-born manners and grace, the -charm of educated voices and cultivated minds. And there was even more -than these attractions to gratify the scholar. Not an allusion could -be made to the studies of which he was most proud, the rugged Hebrew -which he had painfully mastered, or ornate Greek, but some quick -intelligence there would take it up; and the poets and sages of their -native tongue, the Cicero and Virgil from whom he could not wean -himself even in the desert, were their own literature, their valued -inheritance. And not in the most devoted community of monks could the -great orator have found such undivided attention and interest in his -work as among the ladies of the Aventine, or secretaries so eager and -ready to help, so proud to be associated with it. He was at the same -time within reach of Bishop Damasus, a man of many experiences, who -seems to have loved him as a son, and who not only made him his -secretary, but his private counsellor in many difficulties and -dangers: and Jerome soon became the centre also of a little band of -chosen friends, distinguished personages in Roman society connected in -faith and in blood with the sisterhood, whom he speaks of as Daniel, -Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, some of whom were his own old companions -and schoolfellows, all deeply attached to him and proud of his -friendship. No more delightful position could have been imagined for -the repose and strengthening of a man who had endured many hardships, -and who had yet before him much more to bear. - -Jerome remained nearly three years in this happy retreat, and it was -here that he executed the first portion of his great work, that first -authoritative translation of the entire Canon of Scripture which still -retains its place in the Church of Rome--the Vulgate, so named when -the Latin of Jerome, which is by no means that of Cicero, was the -language of the crowd. In every generation what is called the higher -education of women is treated as a new and surprising thing by the -age, as if it were the greatest novelty; but we doubt whether Girton -itself could produce graduates as capable as Paula and Marcella of -helping in this work, discussing the turning of a phrase or the -meaning of an abstruse Hebrew word, and often holding their own -opinion against that of the learned writer whose scribes they were so -willing to be. This undertaking gave a double charm to the life, which -went on with much variety and animation, with news from all quarters, -with the constant excitement of a new charity established, a new -community founded: and never without amusement either, much knowledge -of the sayings and doings of society outside, visits from the finest -persons, and a daily entertainment in the flutterings of young -Blæsilla between the world and the convent, and her pretty ways, so -true a woman of the world, yet all the same a predestined saint: and -the doings of Fabiola, one day wholly absorbed in the foundation of -her great hospital, the first in Rome, the next not so sure in her -mind that love, even by means of a second divorce, might not win the -day over devotion. Even Paula in these days was but half decided, and -came, a dazzling vision in her jewels and her crown, to visit her -friends, in all the pomp of autumnal beauty, among her daughters, of -whom that serious little maiden Eustochium was the only one quite -detached from the world. For was there not also going on under their -eyes the gentle wooing of Pammachius and Paulina to make it apparent -to the world that the ladies on the Aventine did not wholly discredit -the ordinary ties of life, although they considered with St. Paul that -the other was the better way? The lovers were as devout and as much -given up to good works as any of them, yet, as even Jerome might -pardon once in a way, preferred to the cloister the common happiness -of life. These good works were the most wonderful part of all, for -every member of the community was rich. Their fortunes were like the -widow's cruse. One hears of great foundations like that of Fabiola's -hospital and Melania's provision for the monks in Africa, for which -everything was sacrificed; yet, next day, next year, renewed -beneficences were forthcoming, and always a faithful intendant, a good -steward, to continue the bountiful supplies. So wonderful indeed are -these liberalities, and so extraordinary the details, that it is -surprising to find that no learned German, or other savant, has, as -yet, attempted to prove that the fierce and vivid Jerome never -existed, that his letters were the work of half a dozen hands, and the -subjects of his brilliant narrative altogether fictitious--Melania and -Paula being but mythical repetitions of the same incident, wrapt in -the colours of fable. This hypothesis might be made to seem very -possible if it were not, perhaps, a little too late in the centuries -for the operations of that high-handed criticism, and Jerome himself a -very hard fact to encounter. - -But the great wealth of these ladies remains one of the most singular -circumstances in the story. When they sell and sacrifice everything it -is clear it must only be their floating possessions, leaving untouched -the capital, as we should say, or the estates, perhaps, more justly, -the wealthy source from which the continued stream flowed. This gave a -splendour and a largeness of living to the home on the Aventine. There -was no need to send any petitioner away empty, charity being the rule -of life, and no thought having as yet entered the most elevated mind -that to give to the poor was inexpedient for them, and apt to -establish a pauper class, dependent and willing to be so. These ladies -filled with an even and open hand every wallet and every mouth. They -received orphans, they provided for widows, they filled the poor -quarters below the hill--where all the working people about the -Marmorata clustered near the river bank, in the garrets and courtyards -of the old houses--with asylums and places of refuge. The miserable -and idle populace of which the historian speaks so contemptuously, the -fellows who hung about the circuses, and had no name but the nicknames -of coarsest slang, the Cabbage-feeders, the Sausage-eaters, &c., the -Porringers and Gluttons, were, no doubt, left all the more free to -follow their own foul devices; but the poor women, who though perhaps -far from blameless suffer most in the debasement of the population, -and the unhappy little swarms of children, profited by this universal -balm of charity, and let us hope grew up to something a little better -than their sires. For however paganism might linger among the higher -class, the multitudes were all nominally Christian. It was to the -tombs of the Apostles that they made their pilgrimages, rather than to -the four hundred temples of the gods. "For all its gilding the Capitol -looks dingy," says Jerome himself in one of his letters; "every temple -in Rome is covered with soot and cobwebs, and the people pour past -those half-ruined shrines to visit the tombs of the apostles." - -The house of Marcella was in the condition we have attempted to -describe when Jerome became its guest. It was in no way more rigid in -its laws than at the beginning. The little _ecclesia domestica_, as he -happily called it, seems to have been entirely without rule or -conventual order. They sang psalms together (sometimes we are led to -believe, in the original Hebrew learned for the purpose--but it must -have been few who attained to this height), they read together, they -held their little conferences on points of doctrine, with much -consultation of learned texts; but there is no mention even of any -regular religious service, much less of matins, and vespers, and nones -and compline, and the other ritualistic divisions of a monastic day; -for indeed no rule had been as yet invented for any coenobites of -the West. We do not hear even of a daily mass. Often there were -desertions from the ranks, sometimes a young maiden withdrawing from -the social enclosure, sometimes a young widow drawn back into the -vortex of the fashionable world. But on the whole the record of the -little domestic church, with its bodyguard of faithful friends and -servitors outside, and Jerome, its pride and crown of glory, within, -is one of serene and happy life, dignified by everything that was best -in the antique world. - -It was after the arrival of Jerome that the little tragedy of -Blæsilla, the eldest daughter of Paula, occurred, rending their gentle -hearts. "Our dear widow," as Jerome called her, had no idea of second -marriage in her mind. The first, it would appear, had not been happy; -and Blæsilla, fair and rich and young, had every mind to enjoy her -freedom, her fine dresses, and all the pleasures of her youth. Safely -lodged under her mother's wing, with those irreproachable friends 011 -the Aventine about her, no gossip touched her gentle name. The -community amused itself with her light-hearted ways. "Our widow loves -to adorn herself. She is the whole day before her mirror," says -Jerome, and there is no harsh tone in his voice. But in the midst of -her gay and innocent life she fell ill of a fever, no unusual thing. -It lingered, however, more than a month and took a dangerous form, so -that the doctors began to despair. When things were at this point -Blæsilla had a dream or vision, in her fever, in which the Saviour -appeared to her and bade her arise as He had done to Lazarus. It was -the crisis of the disease, and she immediately began to recover, with -the deepest faith that she had been cured by a miracle. The butterfly -was touched beyond measure by this divine interposition, as she -believed, in her favour, and as soon as she was well, made up her mind -to devote herself to God. "An extraordinary thing has happened," cries -Jerome. "Blæsilla has put on a brown gown! What a scandal is this!" He -launches forth thereupon into a diatribe upon the fashionable ladies, -with faces of gypsum like idols, who dare not shed a tear lest they -should spoil their painted cheeks, and who are the true scandal to -Christianity: then narrates with growing tenderness the change that -has taken place in the habits of the young penitent. She, whose -innocent head was tortured with curls and plaits and crowned with the -fashionable _mitella_, now finds a veil enough for her. She lies on -the ground who found the softest cushions hard, and is up the first in -the morning to sing Alleluia in her silvery voice. - -The conversion rang through Rome all the more that Blæsilla was known -to have had no inclination toward austerity of life. Her relations, -half pagan and altogether worldly, were hot against the fanatic monk, -who according to the usual belief tyrannised over the whole house in -which he had been so kindly received, and the weak-minded mother who -had lent herself to his machinations. The question fired Rome, and -became a matter of discussion under every portico and wherever men or -women assembled. Was it lawful, had it any warrant in law or history, -this new folly of opposing marriage and representing celibacy as a -happier and holier state? It was against every tradition of the race; -it tore families in pieces, abstracted from society its most brilliant -members, alienated the patrimony of families, interfered with -succession and every natural law. In the turmoil raised by this event, -a noisy public controversy arose. Two assailants presented themselves, -one a priest, who had been for a time a monk, and one a layman, to -maintain the popular canon, the superiority of marriage and the -natural life of the world. These arguments had a great effect upon the -public mind, naturally prone to take fright at any interference with -its natural laws. They had very serious results at a later period both -in the life of Paula and that of Jerome, and they seem to have -threatened for a time serious injury to the newly established convents -which Marcella's community had planted everywhere, and from which -half-hearted sisters took this opportunity of separating themselves. -It is amusing to find that, by a curious and furious twist of the -usual argument, Jerome in his indignant and not always temperate -defence describes these deserters as old and ugly, and unable to find -husbands notwithstanding the most desperate efforts. It has been very -common to allege this as a reason for the self-dedication of nuns: and -it is always a handy missile to throw. - -Jerome was not the man to let any such fine opening for a controversy -pass. He burst forth upon his opponents, thundering from the heights -of the Aventine, reducing the feeble writers who opposed him to -powder. Helvidius, the layman above mentioned, had taken up the -question--a question always offensive and injurious to natural -sentiment and prejudice, exclusive even of religious feeling, and -which, whatever opinions may prevail, it must always be profane to -touch--of the Virgin Mary herself, and the existence of persons called -brothers and sisters of our Lord. To him Jerome replied by a flood of -angry eloquence, as well as some cogent argument--though argument, -however strong, is insupportable on such a subject. And he launched -forth upon the other, Jovinian, the false monk, that famous letter on -Virginity, nominally addressed to Eustochium, in which one of the most -trenchant pictures ever made of society, both lay and clerical--the -habits, the ideas, the follies of debased and fallen Rome--is of far -more force and importance than the argument, and furnishes us with -such a spectacle as very few writers at any time or in any place are -capable of placing before the eyes of the world. I have already quoted -from this wonderful composition the portrait of the popular priest. - -The foolish virgin who puts on an appearance of indifference to -worldly things, and "under the ensign of a holy profession draws -towards her the regard of men," is treated with equal severity. - - We cast out and banish from our sight those virgins who - only wish to seem to be so. Their robes have but a narrow - stripe of purple, they let their hair hang about their - shoulders, their sleeves are short and narrow, and they - have cheap shoes upon their feet. This is all their - sanctity. They make by these pretences a higher price for - their innocence. Avoid, dear Eustochium, the secret - thought that having ceased to court attention in cloth of - gold you may begin to do so in mean attire. When you come - into an assembly of the brothers and sisters do not, like - some, choose the lowest seat or plead that you are unworthy - of a footstool. Do not speak with a faltering voice as if - worn out with fasting, or lean upon the shoulders of your - neighbours as if fainting. There are some who thus - disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to fast. - As soon as they are seen, they begin to groan, they look - down, they cover their faces, all but one eye. Their dress - is sombre, their girdles are of sackcloth. Others assume - the mien of men, blushing that they have been born women, - who cut their hair short, and walk abroad with effrontery, - confronting the world with the impudent faces of - eunuchs.... I have seen, but will not name, one among the - noblest of Rome who in the very basilica of the blessed - Peter gave alms with her own hands at the head of her - retinue of servants, but struck in the face a poor woman - who had twice held out her hand. Flee also the men who wear - an iron chain, who have long hair like women against the - rule of the Apostle, a miserable black robe, who go - barefooted in the cold, and have in appearance at least an - air of sadness and anxiety. - -The following sketch of the married woman who thinks of the things of -the world, how she may please her husband, while the unmarried are -free to please God, has an interest long outliving the controversy, in -the light it throws upon contemporary Roman life. - - Do you think there is no difference between one who spends - her time in fastings, and humbles herself night and day in - prayer--and her who must prepare her face for the coming of - her husband, ornament herself, and put on airs of - fascination? The first veils her beauty and the graces - which she despises; the other paints herself before a - mirror, to make herself more fair than God has made her. - Then come the children, crying, rioting, hanging about her - neck, waiting for her kiss. Expenses follow without end, - her time is spent in making up her accounts, her purse - always open in her hand. Here there is a troop of cooks, - their garments girded like soldiers for the battle, hashing - and steaming. Then the women spinning and babbling. Anon - comes the husband, followed by his friends. The wife flies - about like a swallow from one end of the house to the - other, to see that all is right, the beds made, the marble - floors shining, flowers in the vases, the dinner prepared. - Is there in all that, I ask, a thought of God? Are these - happy homes? No, the fear of God is absent there, where the - drum is sounded, the lyre struck, where the flute breathes - out and the cymbals clash. Then the parasite abandons shame - and glories in it, if he amuses the host who has invited - him. The victims of debauch have their place at these - feasts; they appear half naked in transparent garments - which unclean eyes see through. What part is there for the - wife in these orgies? She must learn to take pleasure in - such scenes, or else to bring discord into her house. - -He paints for us, in another letter, a companion picture of the widow -remarried. - - Your contract of marriage will scarcely be written when you - will be compelled to make your will. Your new husband - pretends to be very ill, and makes a will in your favour, - desiring you to do the same. But he lives, and it is you - who die. And if it happens that you have sons by your - second marriage, war blazes forth in your house, a domestic - contest without term or conclusion. Those who owe life to - you, you are not permitted to love equally, fully. The - second envies the caress which you give to the son of the - first. If, on the contrary, it is he who has children by - another wife, although you may be the most loving of - mothers, you are condemned as a stepmother by all the - rhetoric of the comedies, the pantomimes, and orators. If - your stepson has a headache you have poisoned him. If he - eats nothing you starve him, if you serve him his food it - is worse still. What compensation is there in a second - marriage to make up for so many woes? - -This tremendous outburst and others of a similar kind raised up, as -was natural, a strong feeling against Jerome. It was not likely that -the originals of these trenchant sketches would forgive easily the man -who put them up in effigy on the very walls of Rome. That the pictures -were identified was clear from another letter, in which he asks -whether he is never to speak of any vice or folly lest he should -offend a certain Onasus, who took everything to himself. Little cared -he whom he offended, or what galled jade might wince. But at last the -remonstrances of his friends subdued his rage. "When you read this you -will bend your brows and check my freedom, putting a finger on my -mouth to stop me from speaking," he wrote to Marcella. It was full -time that the prudent mistress of the house which contained such a -champion should interfere. - -While still the conflict raged which had been roused by the retirement -of Blæsilla from the world, and which had thus widened into the -general question, far more important than any individual case, between -the reforming party in the Church, the Puritans of the time--then -specially represented by the new development of monasticism--and the -world which it called all elevated souls to abandon: incidents were -happening which plunged the cheerful home on the Aventine into sorrow -and made another noble house in Rome desolate. The young convert in -the bloom of her youthful devotion, who had been raised up -miraculously as they all thought from her sick bed in order that she -might devote her life to Christ, was again struck down by sickness, -and this time without any intervention of a miracle. Blæsilla died in -the fulness of her youth, scarcely twenty-two, praying only that she -might be forgiven for not having been able to do what she had wished -to do in the service of her Lord. She was a great lady, though she had -put her natural splendour away from her, and it was with all the pomp -of a patrician funeral that she was carried to her rest. It is again -Jerome who makes visible to us the sad scene of this funeral, and the -feeling of the multitude towards the austere reformers who had by -their cruel exactions cut off this flower of Roman society before her -time. Paula, the bereaved mother, followed, as was the custom, the -bier of her daughter through the crowded streets of Rome, scarcely -able in the depths of her grief to support herself, and at last fell -fainting into the arms of the attendants and had to be carried home -insensible. At this sight, which might have touched their hearts, the -multitude with one voice cried out against the distracted mother. "She -weeps, the daughter whom she has killed with fastings," they cried. -"Why are not these detestable monks driven from the city? why are they -not stoned or thrown into the river? It is they who have seduced this -miserable woman to be herself a monk against her will--this is why she -weeps for her child as no woman has ever wept before." Paula, let us -hope, did not hear these cries of popular rage. The streets rung with -them, the populace always ready for tumult, and the disgusted and -angry nobles encouraging every impulse towards revolt. No doubt many -of the higher classes had looked on with anxiety and alarm at the new -movement which dissipated among the poor so many fine inheritances -and threatened to carry off out of the world, of which they had been -the ornaments, so many of the most distinguished women. Any sudden -rising which might kill or banish the pestilent monk or disperse the -troublesome community would naturally find favour in their eyes. - - [Illustration: THE LATERAN FROM THE AVENTINE.] - - - - - [Illustration: PORTICO OF OCTAVIA.] - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -PAULA. - - -Paula was a woman of very different character from the passionate and -austere Melania who preceded and resembled her in many details of her -career. Full of tender and yet sprightly humour, of love and -gentleness and human kindness, a true mother benign and gracious, yet -with those individualities of lively intelligence, understanding, and -sympathy which quicken that mild ideal and bring in all the elements -of friendship and the social life--she was the most important of those -visitors and associates who made the House on the Aventine the -fashion, and filled it with all that was best in Rome. Though her -pedigree seems a little delusive, her relationship to Æmilius Paulus -resolving itself into a descent from his sister through her own -mother, it is yet apparent that her claims of the highest birth and -position were fully acknowledged, and that no Roman matron held a -higher or more honourable place. She was rich as they all were, highly -allied, the favourite of society, neglecting none of its laws, though -always with a love of intellectual intercourse and a tendency to -devotion. Which of these tendencies drew her first towards Marcella -and her little society we cannot tell: but it is evident that both -found satisfaction there, and were quickened by the strong impulse -given by Jerome when he came out of the schools and out of the wilds, -at once Scholar and Hermit, to this house of friendship, the Ecclesia -Domestica of Rome. That all this rising tide of life, the books, the -literary work, the ever-entertaining companionship, as well as the -higher influence of a life of self-denial and renunciation, as -understood in those days--should have at first added a charm even to -that existence upon its border, the life in which every motive -contradicted the new law, is very apparent. Many a great lady, deeply -plunged in all the business of the world, has felt the same -attraction, the intense pleasure of an escape from those gay -commotions which in the light of the other life seem so insignificant -and wearisome, the sensation of rest and tranquillity and something -higher, purer, in the air--which yet perhaps at first gave a zest to -the return into the world, in itself once more a relief from that -higher tension and those deeper requirements. The process by which the -attraction grew is very comprehensible also. Common pleasures and -inane talk of society grow duller and duller in comparison with the -conversation full of wonders and revelations which would keep every -faculty in exercise, the mutual studies, the awe yet exhilaration of -mutual prayers and psalms, the realisation of spiritual things. And no -doubt the devout child's soul so early fixed, the little daughter who -had thought of nothing from her cradle but the service of God, must -have drawn the ever-tender, ever-sympathetic mother still nearer to -the centre of all. The beautiful mother among her girls, one -betrothed, one self-consecrated, one in all the gay emancipation of -an early widowhood, affords the most charming picture among the graver -women--women all so near to each other in nature,--mutually related, -members of one community, linked by every bond of common association -and tradition. - -When Blæsilla on her recovery from her illness threw off her gaieties -and finery, put on the brown gown, and adopted all the rules of the -community, the life of Paula, trembling between two spheres, was -shaken by a stronger impulse than ever before. But how difficult was -any decision in her circumstances! She had her boy and girl at home as -yet undeveloped--her only boy, dragged as much as might be to the -other side, persuaded to think his mother a fanatic and his sisters -fools. Paula did all she could to combine the two lives, indulging -perhaps in an excess of austerities under the cloth of gold and jewels -which, as symbols of her state and rank, she could not yet put off. -The death of Blæsilla was the shock which shattered her life to -pieces. Even the coarse reproaches of the streets show us with what -anguish of mourning this first breach in her family overwhelmed her. -"This is why she weeps for her child as no woman has ever wept -before," the crowd cried, turning her sorrow into an accusation, as if -she had thus acknowledged her own fault in leaving Blæsilla to -privations she was not able to endure. Did the cruel censure perhaps -awake an echo in her heart, ready as all hearts are in that moment of -prostration to blame themselves for something neglected, something -done amiss? At least it would remind Paula that she herself had never -made completely this sacrifice which her child had made with such -fatal effect. She was altogether overcome by her sorrow: her sobs and -cries rent the hearts of her friends. She refused all food, and when -exhausted by the paroxysms of violent grief fell into a lethargy of -despair more alarming still. When every one else had tried their best -to draw her from this excess of affliction, the ladies had recourse -to Jerome in their extremity: for it was clear that Paula must be -roused from this collapse of all courage and hope, or she must die. - -Jerome did not refuse to answer the appeal: though helpless as even -the most anxious affection is in face of this anguish of the mother -which will not be comforted, he did what he could; he wrote to her -from the house of their friends who shared yet could not still her -sorrow, a letter full of grief and sympathy, in the forlorn hope of -bringing her back to life. Such letters heaven knows are common -enough. We have all written, and most of us have received them, and -found in their tender arguments, in their assurances of final good and -present fellow feeling, only fresh pangs and additional sickness of -heart. Yet Jerome's letter was not of a common kind. No one could have -touched the shrinking heart with a softer touch than this fierce -controversialist, this fiery and remorseless champion: for he had yet -a more effectual spell to move the mourner, in that he was himself a -mourner, not much less deeply touched than she. "Who am I," he cries, -"to forbid the tears of a mother who myself weep? This letter is -written in tears. He is not the best consoler whom his own groans -master, whose being is un-manned, whose broken words distil into -tears. Yes, Paula, I call to witness Christ Jesus whom our Blæsilla -now follows, and the angels who are now her companions, I, too, her -father in the spirit, her foster-father in affection, could also say -with you--Cursed be the day that I was born. Great waves of doubt -surge over my soul as over yours. I, too, ask myself why so many old -men live on, why the impious, the murderers, the sacrilegious, live -and thrive before our eyes, while blooming youth and childhood without -sin are cut off in their flower." It is not till after he has thus -wept with her that he takes a severer tone. "You deny yourself food, -not from desire of fasting, but of sorrow. If you believed your -daughter to be alive, you would not thus mourn that she has migrated -to a better world. Have you no fear lest the Saviour should say to -you, 'Are you angry, Paula, that your daughter has become my daughter? -Are you vexed at my decree, and do you with rebellious tears grudge me -the possession of Blæsilla?' At the sound of your cries Jesus, -all-clement, asks, 'Why do you weep? the damsel is not dead but -sleepeth.' And when you stretch yourself despairing on the grave of -your child, the angel who is there asks sternly, 'Why seek ye the -living among the dead?'" - -In conclusion Jerome adds a wonderful vow: "So long as breath animates -my body, so long as I continue in life, I engage, declare and promise -that Blæsilla's name shall be for ever on my tongue, that my labours -shall be dedicated to her honour, and my talents devoted to her -praise." It was the last word which the enthusiasm of tenderness could -say: and no doubt the fervour and warmth of the promise, better kept -than such promises usually are, gave a little comfort to the sorrowful -soul. - -When Paula came back to the charities and devotions of life after this -terrible pause a bond of new friendship was formed between her and -Jerome. They had wept together, they bore the reproach together, if -perhaps their trembling hearts might feel there was any truth in it, -of having possibly exposed the young creature they had lost to -privations more than she could bear. But it is little likely that this -modern refinement of feeling affected these devoted souls; for such -privations were in their eyes the highest privileges of life, and in -fasting man was promoted to eat the food of angels. At all events, the -death of Blæsilla made a new bond between them, the bond of a mutual -and most dear remembrance never to be forgotten. - -This natural consequence of a common sorrow inflamed the popular rage -against Jerome to the wildest fury. Paula's relations and connections, -half of them, as in most cases in the higher ranks of society, still -pagan--who now saw before them the almost certain alienation to -charitable and religious purposes of Paula's wealth, pursued him with -calumny and outrage, and did not hesitate to accuse the lady and the -monk of a shameful relationship and every crime. To make things worse, -Damasus, whose friend and secretary, almost his son, Jerome had been, -died a few months after Blæsilla, depriving him at once of that high -place to which the Pope's favour naturally elevated him. He complains -of the difference which his close connection with Paula's family had -made on the general opinion of him. "All, almost without exception, -thought me worthy of the highest sacerdotal position; there was but -one word for me in the world. By the mouth of the blessed Damasus it -was I who spoke. Men called me holy, humble, eloquent." But all this -had changed since the recent events in Paula's house. She on her side, -wounded to the heart by the reproaches poured upon her, and the -shameful slanders of which she was the object, and which had no doubt -stung her into renewed life and energy, resolved upon a step stronger -than that of joining the community, and announced her intention of -leaving Rome, seeking a refuge in the holy city of Jerusalem, and -shaking the dust of her native country, where she had been so -vilified, from her feet. This resolution was put to Jerome's account -as might have been expected, and when his patron's death left him -without protection every enemy he had ever made, and no doubt they -were many, was let loose. He whom courtiers had sought, whose hands -had been kissed and his favour implored by all who sought anything -from the Pope, was now greeted when he appeared in the streets by -fierce cries of "Greek," "Impostor," "Monk," and his presence became a -danger for the peaceful house in which he had found a refuge. - -It is scarcely possible to be very sorry for Jerome. He had not minced -his words; he had flung libels and satires about that must have stung -and wounded many, and in such matters reprisals are inevitable. But -Paula had done no harm. Even granting the case that Blæsilla's health -had been ruined by fasting, the mother herself had gone through the -same privations and exulted in them: and her only fault was to have -followed and sympathised in, with enthusiasm, the new teaching and -precepts of the divine life in the form which was most highly esteemed -in her time. No cry from that silent woman comes into the old world, -ringing with so many outcries, where the rude Roman crowd bellowed -forth abuse, and the ladies on their silken couches whispered the -scandal of Paula's liaison to each other, and the men scoffed and -sneered over their banquets at the mere thought of such a friendship -being innocent. Some one of their enemies ventured to speak or write -publicly the vile accusation, and was instantly brought to book by -Jerome, and publicly forswore the scandal he had spread. "But," as -Jerome says, "a lie is hard to kill; the world loves to believe an -evil story: it puts its faith in the lie, but not in the recantation." -And the situation of affairs became such that he too saw no expedient -possible but that of leaving Rome. He would seem to have been, or to -have imagined himself, in danger of his life, and his presence was -unquestionably a danger for his friends. A man of more patient -temperament and quiet mind might have thought that Paula's resolution -to go away was a reason for him to stay, and thus to bear the scandal -and outrage alone, at least until she was safe out of its -reach--giving no possible occasion for the adversary to blaspheme. But -Jerome was evidently not disposed to any such self-abnegation, and -indeed it is very likely that his position had become intolerable and -that his only resource was departure. It was in the summer of 385, -nearly three years after his arrival in Rome--in August, seven months -after the death of Damasus, and not a year after that of Blæsilla, -that he left "Babylon," as he called the tumultuous city, writing his -farewell with tears of grief and wrath to the Lady Asella, now one of -the eldest and most important members of the community, and thanking -God that he was found worthy of the hatred of the world. We are apt to -speak as if travelling were an invention of our time: but as a matter -of fact facilities of travelling then existed little inferior to those -we ourselves possessed thirty or forty years ago, and it was no -strange or unusual journey from Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber, by -the soft Mediterranean shores, past the vexed rocks of the Sirens in -the blazing weather, to Cyprus that island of monasteries, and Antioch -a vexed and heresy-tainted city yet full of friends and succour. -Jerome had a cluster of faithful followers round him, and was escorted -by a weeping crowd to the very point of his embarkation: but yet swept -forth from Rome in a passion of indignation and distress. - - [Illustration: TEMPLE OF VENUS AND ROME FROM THE COLOSSEUM (1860). - _To face page 72._] - -It was while waiting for the moment of departure in the ship that was -to carry him far from his friends and the life he loved, that Jerome's -letters to Asella were written. They were full of anger and sorrow, -the utterance of a heart sore and wounded, of a man driven almost to -despair. "I am said," he cries, "to be an infamous person, a deceiver -full of guile, an impostor with all the arts of Satan at his fingers' -ends.... These men have kissed my hands in public, and stung me in -secret with a viper's tooth; they compassionate me with their lips and -rejoice in their hearts. But the Lord saw them, and had them in -derision, reserving them to appear with me, his unfortunate servant, -at the last judgment. One of them ridicules my walk, and my laugh: -another makes of my features a subject of accusation: to another the -simplicity of my manners is the evil thing: and I have lived three -years in the company of such men!" He continues his indignant -self-defence as follows: - -"I have lived surrounded by virgins, and to some of them I -explained as best I could the divine books. With study came an -increased knowledge of each other, and with that knowledge mutual -confidence. Let them say if they have ever found anything in my -conduct unbecoming a Christian. Have I not refused all presents, great -or small? Gold has never sounded in my palm. Have they heard from my -lips any doubtful word, or seen in my eyes a bold or hazardous look? -Never, and no one dares say so. The only objection to me is that I am -a man: and that objection only appeared when Paula announced her -intention of going to Jerusalem. They believed my accuser when he -lied: why do they not believe him when he retracts? He is the same man -now as then. He imputed false crimes to me, now he declares me -innocent. What a man confesses under torture is more likely to be true -than that which he gives forth in a moment of gaiety: but people are -more prone to believe such a lie than the truth. - -"Of all the ladies in Rome Paula only, in her mourning and fasting, -has touched my heart. Her songs were psalms, her conversations were of -the Gospel, her delight was in purity, her life a long fast. But when -I began to revere, respect, and venerate her, as her conspicuous -virtue deserved, all my good qualities forsook me on the spot. - -"Had Paula and Melania rushed to the baths, taken advantage of their -wealth and position to join, perfumed and adorned, in one worship God -and their wealth, their freedom and pleasure, they would have been -known as great and saintly ladies; but now it is said they seek to be -admired in sackcloth and ashes, and go down to hell laden with fasting -and mortifications: as if they could not as well have been damned -along with the rest, amid the applauses of the crowd. If it were -Pagans and Jews who condemned them, they would have had the -consolation of being hated by those who hated Christ, but these are -Christians, or men known by that name. - -"Lady Asella, I write these lines in haste, while the ship spreads its -sails. I write them with sobs and tears, yet giving thanks to God to -have been found worthy of the hatred of the world. Salute Paula and -Eustochium, mine in Christ whether the world pleases or not, salute -Albina your mother, Marcella your sister, Marcellina, Felicita: say to -them that we shall meet again before the judgment seat of God, where -the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed. Remember me, oh example -of purity! and may thy prayers tranquillise before me the tumults of -the sea!" - - [Illustration: TRINITA DE' MONTI.] - -The agitation with which the community of ladies must have received -such a letter may easily be imagined. They were better able than any -others to judge of the probity and honour of the writer who had lived -among them so long: and no doubt all these storms raging about, the -injurious and insulting imputations, all the evil tongues of Rome let -loose upon the harmless house, their privacy invaded, their quiet -disturbed, must, during the whole course of the deplorable incident, -have been the cause of pain and trouble unspeakable to the gentle -society on the Aventine. Marcella it is evident had done what she -could to stop the mouth of Jerome when the trouble began; it is -perhaps for this reason that the letter of farewell is addressed to -the older Asella, perhaps a milder judge. - -Paula's preparations had begun before Jerome had as yet thought of his -more abrupt departure. They were not so easily made as those of a -solitary already detached from the world. She had all her family -affairs to regulate, and, what was harder still, her children to part -with, the most difficult of all, and the special point in her conduct -with which it is impossible for us to sympathise. But it must be -remembered that Paula, a spotless matron, had been branded with the -most shameful of slanders, that she had been shrieked at by the crowd -as the slayer of her daughter, and accused by society of having -dishonoured her name. She had been the subject of a case of libel, as -we should say, before the public courts, and though the slanderer had -confessed his falsehood (under the influence of torture it would seem, -according to the words of Jerome), the imputation, as in most cases, -remained. Outraged and wounded to the quick, it is very possible that -she may have thought that it was well for her younger children that -she should leave them, that they might not remain under the wing of a -mother whose name had been bandied about in the mouths of men. Her -daughter Paulina was by this time married to the good and faithful -Pammachius, whose protection might be of greater advantage to the -younger girl and boy than her own. And Paula had full knowledge of the -tender mercies of her pagan relations, and of the influence they were -likely to exercise against her, even in her own house. The staid young -Eustochium, grave and calm, clung to her mother's side, her youthful -head already covered by the veil of the dedicated virgin, a serene -and unfaltering figure in the midst of all the agitations of the -parting. All Rome poured forth to accompany them to the port, brothers -and sisters with their wives and husbands, relations less near, a -crowd of friends. All the way along the winding banks of the Tiber -they plied Paula with entreaties and reproaches and tears. She made -them no reply. She was at all times slow to speak, as the tender -chronicle reports. "She raised her eyes to heaven, pious towards her -children but more pious to God." She retained her self-command until -the vessel began to move from the shore, where little Toxotius, the -boy of ten years old, stood stretching out his hands to her in a last -appeal, his sister Rufina silent, with wistful eyes, by his side. -Paula's heart was like to burst. She turned her eyes away unable to -bear that cruel sight, while Eustochium, firm and steadfast, supported -her weaker mother in her arms. - -Was it a cruel desertion, a heartless abandonment of duty? Who can -tell? There are desertions, cruelties in this kind, which are the -highest sacrifice, and sometimes the most bitter proof of -self-devotion. Did Paula in her heart believe, most painful thought -that can enter a mother's mind, that her boy would be better without -her, brought up in peace among his uncles and guardians, who, had she -been there, would have made his life a continual struggle between two -sides? Was Rufina more likely to be happy in her gentle sister's -charge, than with her mind disturbed, and perhaps her marriage -spoiled, by her mother's religious vows, and all that was involved in -them? She might be wrong in thinking so, as we are all wrong often in -our best and most painfully pondered plans. But condemnation is very -easy, and gives so little trouble--there is surely a word to be said -on the other side of the question. - -When these pilgrims leave Rome they cease to have any part in the -story of the great city with which we have to do. Yet their after-fate -may be stated in a few words. No need to follow the great lady in her -journey over land and sea to the Holy Land with all its associations, -where Jerusalem out of her ruins, decked with a new classic name, was -already rising again into the knowledge and the veneration of the -world. These were not the days of excursion trains and steamers, it is -true; but the number of pilgrims ever coming and going to those more -than classic shores, those holy places, animated with every higher -hope, was perhaps greater in proportion to the smaller size and less -population of the known world than are our many pilgrimages now, -though this seems so strange a thing to say. But is there not a -Murray, a Baedeker, of the fourth century, still existent, the -_Itinéraire de Bordeaux à Jerusalem_, unquestioned and authentic, -containing the most careful account of inns and places of refuge and -modes of travel for the pilgrims? It is possible that the lady Paula -may have had that ancient roll in her satchel, or slung about the -shoulders of her attendant for constant reference. Her ship was -occupied by her own party alone, and conveyed, no doubt, much baggage -and many provisions as an emigration for life would naturally do; and -it was hindered by no storms, as far as we hear, but only by a great -calm which delayed the vessel much and made the voyage tedious, -necessitating the use of the galley's oars, which very likely the -ladies would like best, though it kept them so many more days upon the -sea. They reached Cyprus at last, that holy island now covered with -monasteries, where Epiphanius, once Paula's guest in Rome, awaited and -received her with every honour, and where there were many visits to be -paid to monks and nuns in their new establishments, the favourite -dissipation of the cloister. The ladies afterwards continued their -voyage to Antioch, where they met Jerome; and proceeded on their -journey, having probably had enough of the sea, along the coast by -Tyre and Sidon, by Herod's splendid city of Cæsarea, and Joppa with -its memories of the Apostles--not without a thought of Andromeda and -her monster as they looked over the dark and dangerous reefs which -still scare the traveller: for they loved literature, notwithstanding -their separation from the world. They formed by this time a great -caravanserai, not unlike, to tell the truth, one of those parties -which we are so apt to despise, under charge of guides and attendants -who wear the livery of Cook. But such an expedition was far more -dignified and important in those distant days. Jerome and his monks -made but one family of sisters and brothers with the Roman ladies and -their followers, who endured so bravely all the fatigues and dangers -of the way. Paula the pilgrim was no longer a tottering fine lady, but -the most animated and interested of travellers, with no mere mission -of hermit-hunting like Melania, but the truest human enthusiasm for -all the storied scenes through which she passed. When they reached -Jerusalem she went in a rapture of tears and exaltation from one to -another of the sacred sites, kissing the broken stone which was -supposed to have been that which was rolled against the door of the -Holy Sepulchre, and following with pious awe and joy the steps of -Helena into the cave where the True Cross was found. The legend was -still fresh in those days, and doubts there were none. The enthusiasm -of Paula, the rapture and exaltation, which found vent in torrents of -tears, in ecstasies of sacred emotion, joy and prayer, moved all the -city, thronged with pilgrims, devout and otherwise, to whom the great -Roman lady was a wonder: the crowd followed her about from point to -point, marvelling at her devotion and the warmth of natural feeling -which in all circumstances distinguished her. The reader cannot but -follow still with admiring interest a figure so fresh, so -unconventional, so profoundly touched by all those holy and sacred -associations. Amid so many who are represented as almost more -abstracted among spiritual thoughts than nature permits, her frank -emotion and tender, natural enthusiasm are always a refreshment and a -charm. - -We come here upon a break in the hitherto redundant story. Melania and -Rufinus were in possession of their convents, and fully established as -residents on the Mount of Olives, when the other pilgrims arrived; and -there can be but little doubt that every grace of hospitality was -extended by the one Roman lady to the other, as well as by the old -companions of Jerome to her friend. But in the course of the -after-years these dear friends quarrelled bitterly, not on personal -matters, so far as appears, but on points of doctrine, and fell into -such prolonged warfare of angry and stinging words as hurt more than -blows. By means of this very intimacy they knew everything that had -ever been said or whispered of each other, and in the heat of conflict -did not hesitate to use every old insinuation, every suggestion that -could hurt or wound. The struggle ran so high that the after-peace of -both parties was seriously affected by it; and one of its most -significant results was that Jerome, a man great enough and little -enough for anything, either in the way of spitefulness or magnanimity, -cut off from his letters and annals all mention of this early period -of peace, and all reference to Melania, whom he is supposed to have -praised so highly in his first state of mind that it became impossible -in his second to permit these expressions of amity to be connected -with her name. This is a melancholy explanation of the silence which -falls over the first period of Paula's residence in Palestine, but it -is a very natural one: and both sides were equally guilty. The quarrel -happened, however, years after the first visit, which we have every -reason to believe was all friendliness and peace. - -After this first pause at Jerusalem, the caravanserai got under way -again and set out on a long journey through all the scenes of the Old -Testament, the storied deserts and ruins of Syria, not much less -ancient to the view and much less articulate than now. This was in -the year 387, two years after their departure from Rome. Even now, -with all our increased facilities for travel--neutralised as they are -by the fact that these wild and desert lands will probably never be -adapted to modern methods--the journey would be a very long and -fatiguing business. Jerome and his party "went everywhere," as we -should say; they were daunted by no difficulties. No modern lady in -deer-stalker's costume could have shrunk less from any dangerous road -than the once fastidious Paula. They stopped everywhere, receiving the -ready hospitality of the convents in every awful pass of the rocks and -stony waste where such homes of penance were planted. Those -wildernesses of ruin, from which our own explorers have picked -carefully out some tradition of Gilgal or of Ziklag, some Philistine -stronghold or Jewish city of refuge--were surveyed by these -adventurers fourteen hundred years ago, when perhaps there was greater -freshness of tradition, but none of the aids of science to decipher -what would seem even more hoary with age to them than it does to us. -How trifling in our pretences at exploration do the luxurious parties -of the nineteenth century seem, abstracted from common life for a few -months at the most, and with all the resources of civilisation to fall -back upon, in comparison with that of these patient wanderers, eating -the Arab bread and clotted milk, and such fare as was to be got at, -finding shelter among the dark-skinned ascetics of the desert -communities, taking refuge in the cave which some saint but a day or -two before had inhabited, wandering everywhere, over primeval ruin and -recent shrine! - -When they came back from these savage wildernesses to green Bethlehem -standing up on its hillside over the pleasant fields, the calm and -sweetness of the place went to their hearts. It was in this sacred -spot that they decided to settle themselves, building their two -convents, Jerome's upon the hill near the western gate, Paula's upon -the smiling level below. He is said to have sold all that he had, -some remains of personal property in Dalmatia belonging to himself and -his brother, who was his faithful and constant companion, to provide -for the expenses of the building, on his side; and no doubt the -abundant wealth of Paula supplemented all that was wanting. Gradually -a conventual settlement, such as was the ideal of the time, gathered -in this spot. After her own convent was finished Paula built two -others near it, which were soon filled with dedicated sisters. And she -built a hospice for the reception of travellers, so that, as she said -with tender smiles and tears, "If Joseph and Mary should return to -Bethlehem, they might be sure of finding room for them in the inn." -This soft speech shines like a gleam of tender light upon the little -holy city with all its memories, showing us the great lady of old in -her gracious kindness, full of noble natural kindness, and seeing in -every poor pilgrim who passed that way some semblance of that simple -pair, who carried the Light of the World to David's little town among -the hills. - -All these homes of piety and charity are swept away, and no tradition -even of their site is left; but there is one storied chamber that -remains full of the warmest interest of all. It is the rocky room, in -one of the half caves, half excavations close to that of the Nativity, -and communicating with it by rudely hewn stairs and passages, in which -Jerome established himself while his convent was building, which he -called his Paradise, and which is for ever associated with the great -work completed there. All other traditions and memories grow dim in -the presence of the great and sacred interest of the place. Yet it -will be impossible even there for the spectator who knows their story -to stand unmoved in the scene, practically unaltered since their day, -where Jerome laboured at his great translation, and Paula and -Eustochium copied, compared, and criticised his daily labours. A -great part of the Vulgate had been completed in Rome, but since -leaving that city Jerome had much increased his knowledge of Hebrew, -losing no opportunity, during his travels, of studying the language -with every learned Rabbi he encountered, and acquiring much -information in respect to the views and readings of the doctors in the -law. He took the opportunity of his retirement at Bethlehem to revise -what was already done and to finish the work. His two friends had both -learned Hebrew in a greater or less degree before leaving Rome. They -had no doubt shared his studies on the way. They read with him daily a -portion of the Scriptures in the original; and it was at their -entreaty and with their help that he began the translation of the -Psalms, so deeply appropriate to this scene, in which the voice of the -shepherd of Bethlehem could almost be heard, singing as he led his -flock about the little hills. I quote from M. Amédée Thierry a -sympathetic description of the method of this work as it was carried -out in the rocky chamber at Bethlehem, or in the convent close by. - - His two friends charged themselves with the task of - collecting all the materials, and this edition, prepared by - their care, is that which remains in the Church under - Jerome's name. We have his own instructions to them for - this work, even to the lines traced for greater exactness, - and the explanation of the signs which he had adopted in - the collation of the different versions with his text, - sometimes a line underscored, sometimes an obelisk or - asterisk. A comma followed by two points indicated the - cutting out of superfluous words coming from some - paraphrase of the Septuagint; a star followed by two points - showed, on the contrary, where passages had to be inserted - from the Hebrew; another mark denoted passages borrowed - from the translation of Theodosius, slightly different from - the Septuagint as to the simplicity of the language. In - reading these various symbols it is pleasant to think of - the two noble Roman ladies seated before the vast desk upon - which were spread the numerous manuscripts, Greek, Hebrew, - and Latin--the Hebrew text of the Bible, the different - editions of the Septuagint, the Hexapla of Origen, - Theodosius, Symmachus, Aquila, and the Italian - Vulgate--whilst they examined and compared, reducing to - order under their hands, with piety and joy, that Psalter - of St. Jerome which we still sing, at least the greater - part of it, in the Latin Church at the present day. - -It is indeed a touching association with that portion of Scripture -which next to the Gospel is most dear to the devout, that the -translation still in daily use throughout the churches of Continental -Europe, the sonorous and noble words which amid all the babble of -different tongues still form a large universal language, of which all -have at least a conventional understanding--should have been thus -transcribed and perfected for the use of the generations. Jerome is no -gentle hero, and, truth to tell, has never been much loved in the -Church which yet owes so much to him. Yet there is no other work of -the kind which carries with it so many soft and tender associations. -The cave at Bethlehem is as little adapted as a scene for that -domestic combination as Jerome is naturally adapted to be its centre. -And no doubt there are unkindly critics who will describe this austere -yet beautiful interior as the workshop of two poor female slaves -dragged after him by the tyranny of their grim taskmaster to do his -work for him. No such idea is consistent with the record. The gentle -Paula was a woman of high spirit as well as of much grace and -courtesy, steadfastness and humour, the last the most unusual quality -of all. The imaginative devotion which had induced her to learn Hebrew -in order to sing the Psalmist's songs in the original, among the -little band of Souls, under Marcella's gilded roof, had its natural -evolution in the gentle pressure laid upon Jerome to make of them an -authoritative translation: and where could so fit a place for this -work have been found as in the delightful rest after their travels -were over, in the very scene where these sacred songs were first -begun? It would be almost as impertinent and foolish to suppose that -any modern doubt of their authenticity existed in Paula's mind as to -suggest that these were forced and dreary labours to which she was -driven by a spiritual tyrant. To our mind this mutual labour and study -adds the last charm to their companionship. The sprightly, gentle -woman who shed so much light over that curious self-denying yet -self-indulgent life, and the grave young daughter who never left her -side, whose gentle shadow is one with her, so that while Paula lived -we cannot distinguish them apart--must have found a quiet happiness -above all they had calculated on in this delightful intercourse and -work. Their minds and thoughts occupied by the charm of noble poetry, -by the puzzle of words to be cleared and combined aright, and by -constant employment in a matter which interested them so deeply, which -is perhaps the best of all--must have drawn closer and ever closer, -mother to child, and child to mother, as well as both to the friend -and father whom they delighted to serve, and whose large intellect and -knowledge kept theirs going in constant sympathy--not unmingled with -now and then a little opposition, and the pleasant stir of independent -opinion. - -It is right to give Jerome himself, so fierce in quarrel and -controversy, the advantage of this gentle lamp which burns for ever in -his little Paradise. And can any one suppose that Paula, once so -sensitive and exquisite, now strong and vigorous in the simplicity of -that retirement, with her hands full and her mind, plenty to think of, -plenty to do, had not her advantage also? The life would be ideal but -for the thought that must have come over her by times, of the young -ones left in Rome, and what was happening to them. She was indeed -prostrated by grief again and again by the death of her daughters -there, one after another, and mourned with a bitterness which makes us -wonder whether that haunting doubt and self-censure, which perhaps -gave an additional sting to her sorrow in the case of Blæsilla, may -not have overwhelmed her heart again though on a contrary ground--the -doubt whether perhaps the austerities she enjoined and shared had been -fatal to one, the contradictory doubt whether to leave them to the -usual course of life might not have been fatal to the others. Such a -woman has none of the self-confidence which steels so many against -fate--and, finding nothing effectual for the safety of those she -loved, neither a sacred dedication nor that consent to commonplace -happiness which is the ordinary ideal of a mother's duty, might well -sometimes fall into despair--a despair silently shared by many a -trembling heart in all ages, which finds its best-laid plans, though -opposite to each other, fall equally into downfall and dismay. - - [Illustration: FROM THE AVENTINE.] - -But she had her compensations. She had her little glory, too, in the -books which went forth from that seclusion in Bethlehem, bearing her -name, inscribed to her and her child by the greatest writer of the -time. "You, Paula and Eustochium, who have studied so deeply the books -of the Hebrews, take it, this book of Esther, and test it word by -word; you can tell whether anything is added, anything withdrawn: and -can bear faithful witness whether I have rendered aright in Latin this -Hebrew history." Few women would despise such a tribute, and fewer -still the place of these two women in the Paradise of that laborious -study, and at the doors of that beautiful Hospice on the Jerusalem -road, where Joseph and Mary had they but come again would have run no -risk of finding room! - -They died all three, one after another, and were laid to rest in the -pure and wholesome rock near the sacred spot of the Nativity. There is -a touching story told of how Eustochium, after her mother's death, -when Jerome was overwhelmed with grief and unable to return to any of -his former occupations, came to him with the book of Ruth still -untranslated in her hand, at once a promise and an entreaty. "Where -thou goest I will go. Where thou dwellest I will dwell"--and a -continuation at the same time of the blessed work which kept their -souls alive. - - - - - [Illustration: THE CAPITOL FROM THE PALATINE.] - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -THE MOTHER HOUSE. - - -Amid all these changes the house on the Aventine--the mother house as -it would be called in modern parlance--went on in busy quiet, no -longer visible in that fierce light which beats upon the path of such -a man as Jerome, doing its quiet work steadily, having a hand in many -things, most of them beneficent, which went on in Rome. Albina the -mother of Marcella, and Asella her elder sister, died in peace: and -younger souls, with more stirring episodes of life, disturbed and -enlivened the peace of the cloister, which yet was no cloister but -open to all the influences of life, maintaining a large correspondence -and much and varied intercourse with the society of the times. In the -first fervour of the settlement in Bethlehem both Paula and Jerome -(she by his hand) wrote to Marcella urging her to join them, to -forsake the world in a manner more complete than she had yet done. -"... You were the first to kindle the fire in us" (the letter is -nominally from Paula and Eustochium): "the first by precept and -example to urge us to adopt our present life. As a hen gathers her -chickens, who fear the hawk and tremble at every shadow of a bird, so -did you take us under your wing. And will you now let us fly about at -random with no mother near us?" - -This letter is full not only of affectionate entreaties but of -delightful pictures of their own retired and peaceful life. "How shall -I describe to you," the writer says, "the little cave of Christ, the -hostel of Mary? Silence is more respectful than words, which are -inadequate to speak its praise. There are no lines of noble -colonnades, no walls decorated by the sweat of the poor and the labour -of convicts, no gilded roofs to intercept the sky. Behold in this poor -crevice of the earth, in a fissure of the rock, the builder of the -firmament was born." She goes on with touching eloquence to put forth -every argument to move her friend. - - Read the Apocalypse of St. John and see there what he says - of the woman clothed in scarlet, on whose forehead is - written blasphemy, and of her seven hills, and many waters, - and the end of Babylon. "Come out of her, my people," the - Lord says, "that ye be not partakers of her sins." There is - indeed there a holy Church; there are the trophies of - apostles and martyrs, the true confession of Christ, the - faith preached by the apostles, and heathendom trampled - under foot, and the name of Christian every day raising - itself on high. But its ambition, its power, the greatness - of the city, the need of seeing and being seen, of greeting - and being greeted, of praising and detracting, hearing or - talking, of seeing, even against one's will, all the crowds - of the world--these things are alien to the monastic - profession and they have spoiled Rome, they all oppose an - insurmountable obstacle to the quiet of the true monk. - People visit you: if you open your doors, farewell to - silence: if you close them, you are proud and unfriendly. - If you return their politeness, it is through proud - portals, through a host of grumbling insolent lackeys. But - in the cottage of Christ all is simple, all is rustic: - except the Psalms, all is silence: no frivolous talk - disturbs you, the ploughman sings Allelujah as he follows - his plough, the reaper covered with sweat refreshes himself - with chanting a psalm, and it is David who supplies with a - song the vine dresser among his vineyards. These are the - songs of the country, its ditties of love, played upon the - shepherd's flute. Will the time never come when a - breathless courier will bring us the good news, your - Marcella has landed in Palestine? What a cry of joy among - the choirs of the monks, among all the bands of the - virgins! In our excitement we wait for no carriage but go - on foot to meet you, to clasp your hand, to look upon your - face. When will the day come when we shall enter together - the birthplace of Christ: when, leaning over the divine - sepulchre, we weep with a sister, a mother, when our lips - touch together the sacred wood of the Cross: when on the - Mount of Olives our hearts and souls rise together in the - rising of our Lord? Would not you see Lazarus coming out of - his tomb, bound in his shroud? and the waters of Jordan - purified for the washing of the Lord? Then we shall hasten - to the shepherds' folds, and pray at the tomb of David. - Listen, it is the prophet Amos blowing his shepherd's horn - from the height of his rock; we shall see the monuments of - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the three famous women, and - Samaria and Nazareth, the flower of Galilee, and Shiloh and - Bethel and other holy places, accompanied by Christ, where - churches rise everywhere like standards of the victories of - Christ. And when we return to our cavern we will sing - together always, and sometimes we shall weep; our hearts - wounded with the arrow of the Lord, we will say one to - another, "I have found Him whom my soul loveth; I will hold - Him, and will not let Him go!" - -Similar words upon the happiness of rural life and retirement Jerome -had addressed to Marcella before. He had warned her of the danger of -the tumultuous sea of life, and how the frail bark, beaten by the -waves, ought to seek the shelter of the port before the last hurricane -breaks. The image was even more true than he imagined; but it was not -of the perils of Rome in the dreadful time of war and siege which was -approaching that he spoke, but of the usual dangers of common life to -the piety of the recluse. "The port which we offer you, it is the -solitude of the fields," he says: - - Brown bread, herbs watered by our own hands, and milk, the - daintiest of the country, supply our rustic feasts. We have - no fear of drowsiness in prayer or heaviness in our - readings, on such fare. In summer we seek the shade of our - trees; in autumn the mild weather and pure air invite us to - rest on a bed of fallen leaves; in spring, when the fields - are painted with flowers, we sing our psalms among the - birds. When winter comes, with its chills and snows, the - wood of the nearest forest supplies our fire. Let Rome keep - her tumults, her cruel arena, her mad circus, her luxurious - theatres; let the senate of matrons pay its daily visits. - It is good for us to cleave to the Lord and to put all our - hope in Him. - -But Marcella turned a deaf ear to these entreaties. Perhaps she still -loved the senate of matrons, the meetings of the Souls, the irruption -of gentle visitors, the murmur of all the stories of Rome, and the -delicate difficulties of marriage and re-marriage brought to her for -advice and guidance. The allusions in both these letters point to such -a conclusion, and there is no reason why it should not have been so. -The Superior of a convent has in this fashion in much later days -fulfilled more important uses than the gentle nun of the fields. At -all events this lady remained in her home, her natural place, and -continued to pour forth her bounty upon the poor of her native city: -which many would agree was perhaps the better, though it certainly was -not the safer, way. The death of her mother, which made a change in -her life, and might have justified a still greater breaking up of all -old customs and ties, was perhaps the occasion of these affectionate -arguments; but Marcella would herself be no longer young and in a -position much resembling that of a mother in her own person, the -trusted friend of many in Rome, and their closest tie to a more -spiritual and better life. The light of such a guest as Jerome, -attracting all eyes to the house and bringing it within the records of -literary history, that sole mode of saving the daily life of a -household from oblivion--had indeed died away, leaving life perhaps a -little flat and blank, certainly much less agitated and visible to the -outer world than when he was pouring forth fire and flame upon every -adversary from within the shelter of its peaceful walls. But no other -change had happened in the circumstances under which Marcella opened -her palace to a few consecrated sisters, and made it a general oratory -and place of pious counsel and retreat for the ladies of Rome. The -same devout readings, the same singing of psalms (sometimes in the -original), the same life of mingled piety and intellectualism must -have gone on as before: and other fine ladies perhaps not less -interesting than Paula must have sought with their confessions and -confidences the ear of the experienced woman, who as Paula says in -respect to herself and her daughters, "first carried the sparkle of -light to our hearts, and collected us like chickens under your wing." -She was the same, "our gentle, our sweet Marcella, sweeter than -honey," open to every charity and kindness: not refusing, it would -seem, to visit as well as to be visited, and willing to "live the -life" without forsaking any ordinary bonds or traditions of existence. -There is less to tell of her for this reason, but not perhaps less to -praise. - -Marcella had her share no doubt in forming the minds of the two -younger spirits, vowed from their cradle to the perfect life of -virginhood, the second Paula, daughter of Toxotius and his Christian -wife; and the younger Melania, daughter also of the son whom his -mother had abandoned as an infant. It is a curious answer to the stern -virtue which reproaches these two Roman ladies with the cruel -desertion of their children, to find that both those children, grown -men, permitted or encouraged the vocation of their daughters, and were -proud of the saintly renown of the mothers who had left them to their -fate. The consecrated daughters however leave only a faint trace as of -two spotless catechumens in the story. Incidents of a more exciting -character broke now and then the calm of life in the palace on the -Aventine. M. Thierry in his life of Jerome gives us perhaps a sketch -too entertaining of Fabiola, one of the ladies more or less associated -with the house of Marcella, a constant visitor, a penitent by times, -an enthusiast in charity, a woman bent on making, or so it seemed, the -best of both worlds. She had made early what for want of a better -expression we may call a love match, in which she had been bitterly -disappointed. That a divorce should follow was both natural and lawful -in the opinion of the time, and Fabiola had already formed a new -attachment and made haste to marry again. But the second marriage was -a disappointment even greater than the first, and this repeated -failure seems to have confused and excited her mind to issues by no -means clear at first, probably even to herself. She made in the -distraction of her life a sudden and unannounced visit to Paula's -convent at Bethlehem, where she was a welcome and delightful visitor, -carrying with her all the personal news that cannot be put into -writing, and the gracious ways of an accomplished woman of the world. -She is supposed to have had a private object of her own under this -visit of friendship, but the atmosphere and occupations of the place -must have overawed Fabiola, and though her object was hidden in an -artful web of fiction she was not bold enough to reveal it, either to -the stern Jerome or the mild Paula. What she did was to make herself -delightful to both in the little society upon which we have so many -side-lights, and which doubtless, though so laborious and full of -privations, was a very delightful society, none better, with such a -man as Jerome, full of intellectual power, and human experience, at -its head, and ladies of the highest breeding like Paula and her -daughter to regulate its simple habits. We are told of one pretty -scene where--amid the talk which no doubt ran upon the happiness of -that peaceful life amid the pleasant fields where the favoured -shepherds heard the angels' song--there suddenly rose the voice of the -new-comer reciting with the most enchanting flattery a certain famous -letter which Jerome long before had written to his friend Heliodorus -and which had been read in all the convents and passed from hand to -hand as a _chef d'oeuvre_ of literary beauty and sacred enthusiasm. -Fabiola, quick and adroit and emotional, had learned it by heart, and -Jerome would have been more than man had he not felt the charm of such -flattery. - -For a moment the susceptible Roman seems to have felt that she had -attained the haven of peace after her disturbed and agitated life. -Her hand was full and her heart generous: she spread her charities far -and wide among poor pilgrims and poor residents with that undoubting -liberality which considered almsgiving as one of the first of -Christian duties. But whether the little busy society palled after a -time, or whether it was the great scare of the rumour that the Huns -were coming that frightened Fabiola, we cannot tell, nor precisely how -long her stay was. Her coming and going were at least within the space -of two years. She was not made to settle down to the revision of -manuscripts like her friends, though she had dipped like them into -Hebrew and had a pretty show of knowledge. She would seem to have -evidenced this however more by curious and somewhat frivolous -questions than by any assistance given in the work which was going on. -Nothing could be more kind, more paternal, than Jerome to the little -band of women round him. He complains, it is true, that Fabiola -sometimes propounded problems and did not wait for an answer, and that -occasionally he had to reply that he did not know, when she puzzled -him with this rapid stream of inquiry. But it is evident also that he -did his best sincerely to satisfy her curiosity as if it had been the -sincerest thing in the world. For instance, she was seized with a -desire to know the symbolical meaning of the costume of the high -priest among the Jews: and to gratify this desire Jerome occupied a -whole night in dictating to one of his scribes a little treatise on -the subject, which probably the fine lady scarcely took time to read. -Nothing can be more characteristic than the indications of this bright -and charming visitor, throwing out reflections of all that was going -on round her, so brilliant that they seemed better than the reality, -fluttering upon the surface of their lives, bringing all under her -spell. - -There seems but little ground however for the supposition of M. -Thierry that it was in the interest of Fabiola that Amandus, a priest -in Rome, wrote a letter laying before Jerome a case of conscience, -that of a woman who had divorced her husband and married again, and -who now was troubled in her mind as to her duty; whether the second -husband was wholly unlawful, and whether she could remain in full -communion with the Church, having made this marriage? If she was the -person referred to no one has been able to divulge what the question -meant--whether she had a third marriage in her mind, or if a wholly -unnecessary fit of compunction had seized her; for as a matter of fact -she had never been subjected by the Church to any pains or penalties -in consequence of her second marriage. Jerome however, as might have -been expected of him, gave forth no uncertain sound in his reply. -According to the Church, he said, there could be but one husband, the -first. Whatever had been his unworthiness, to replace him by another -was to live in sin. Whether it was this answer which decided her -action, or whether she had been moved by the powerful fellowship of -Bethlehem to renounce the more agitating course of worldly life, at -least it is certain that Fabiola's career was changed from this time. -Perhaps it was her desire to shake off the second husband which moved -her. At all events on her return to Rome she announced to the bishop -that she felt herself guilty of a great sin, and that she desired to -make public penance for the same. - - [Illustration: SAN BARTOLOMMEO.] - -Accordingly on the eve of Easter, when the penitents assembled under -the porch of the great Church of St. John Lateran, amid all the wild -and haggard figures appearing there, murderers and criminals of all -kinds, the delicate Fabiola, with her hair hanging about her -shoulders, ashes on her head and on the dark robe that covered her, -her face pale with fasting and tears, stood among them, a sight for -the world. Under many aspects had all Rome seen this daughter of the -great Fabian race, in the splendour of her worldly espousals, and at -all the great spectacles and entertainments of a city given up to -display and amusement. Her jewels, her splendid dresses, her fine -equipages, were well known. With what curiosity would all her old -admirers, her rivals in splendour, those who had envied her luxury and -high place, gather to see her now in her voluntary humiliation, -descending to the level of the very lowest as she had hitherto been on -the very highest apex of society! All Rome we are told was there, -gazing, wondering, tracing her movements under the portico, among -these unaccustomed companions. Perhaps there might be a supreme -fantastic satisfaction to the penitent--with that craving for -sensation which the exhaustion of all kinds of triumphs and pleasures -brings--in thus stepping from one extreme to the other, a -gratification in the thought that Rome which had worshipped her beauty -and splendour was now gazing aghast at her bare feet and dishevelled -hair. One can have no doubt of the sensation experienced by the _Tota -urbe spectante Romana_. It was worth while frequenting religious -ceremonies when such a sight was possible! Fabiola,--once with mincing -steps, and gorgeous liveried servants on either hand, descending -languidly the great marble steps from her palace to the gilded -carriage in which she sank fatigued when that brief course was over, -the mitella blazing with gold upon her head, her robe woven with all -the tints of the rainbow into metallic splendour of gold and silver -threads. And now to see her amid that crowd of ruffians from the -Campagna, and unhappy women from the purlieus of the city, her -splendid head uncovered, her thin hands crossed in the rough sleeves -of the penitent's gown! It might be to some perhaps a salutary -sight--moving other great ladies with heavier sins on their heads than -Fabiola's to feel the prickings of remorse; though no doubt it is -equally possible that they might think they saw through her, and the -new form of self-exhibition which attracted all the world to gaze. We -are not told whether Fabiola found refuge in the house on the Aventine -with Marcella, who had lit the fire of Christian faith in her heart as -well as in that of Paula: or whether she remained, like Marcella, in -her own house, making it another centre of good works. But at all -events her life from this moment was entirely given up to charity and -spiritual things. Her kinsfolk and noble neighbours still more or less -Pagan, were filled with fury and indignation and that sharp disgust at -the loss of so much good money to the world, which had so much to do -in embittering opposition: but the Christians were deeply impressed, -the homage of such a great lady to the faith, and her recantation of -her errors affecting many as a true martyrdom. - -If it was really compunction for the sin of the second marriage which -so moved her, her position would much resemble that of the _fine -fleur_ of French society as at present constituted, in its tremendous -opposition to the law of divorce, now lawful in France of the -nineteenth century as it was in Rome of the fourth--but resisted with -a splendid bigotry of feeling, altogether independent of morality or -even of reason, by all that is noblest in the country. Fabiola's -divorce had been perfectly lawful and according to all the teaching -and traditions of her time. The Church had as yet uplifted no voice -against it. She had not been shut out from the society even of the -most pious, or condemned to any penance or deprivation. Not even -Jerome (till forced to give a categorical answer), nor that purest -circle of devout women at Bethlehem, had refused her any privilege. -Her action was unique and unprecedented as a protest against the -existing law of the land, as well as universal custom and tradition. -We are not informed whether it had any lasting effect, or formed a -precedent for other women. No doubt it encouraged the formation of the -laws against divorce which originated in the Church itself but have -held through the intervening ages a doubtful sway, broken on every -side by Papal dispensations, until now that they have settled down -into a bond of iron on the consciences of the devout--chiefly the -women, more specially still the gentlewomen--of Catholic Europe, where -as in Fabiola's time they are once more against the law of the land. - -The unworthy second husband we are informed had died even before -Fabiola's public act of penitence; but no further movements towards -the world, or the commoner ways of life reveal themselves in her -future career. If she returned to life with the veiled head and bare -feet of her penitence, or if she resumed, like Marcella, much of the -ordinary traffic of society, we have no information. But she was the -founder of the first public hospital in Rome, besides the usual -monasteries, and built in concert with Pammachius a hospice at Ostia -at the mouth of the Tiber, where strangers and travellers from all -parts of the world were received, probably on the model of that -hospice for pilgrims which Paula had established. And she was herself -the foremost nurse in her own hospital, shrinking from no office of -charity. The Church has always and in all circumstances encouraged -such practical acts of self-devotion. - -The ladies of the Aventine and all the friends of Jerome had been -disturbed a little before by the arrival of a stranger in Rome, also a -pretended friend of Jerome, and at first very willing to shelter -himself under that title, Rufinus, who brought with him--after a -moment of delusive amiability during which he had almost deceived the -very elect themselves--a blast of those wild gales of polemical -warfare which had been echoing for some time with sacrilegious force -and inappropriateness from the Mount of Olives itself. The excitement -which he raised in Rome in respect to the doctrines of Origen caused -much commotion in the community, which lived as much by news of the -Church and reports of all that was going on in theology as by the -daily bread of their charities and kindness. It was to Marcella that -Jerome wrote, when, reports having been made to him of all that had -happened, he exploded, with the flaming bomb of his furious rhetoric, -the fictitious statements of Rufinus, by which he was made to appear a -supporter of Origen. Into that hot and fierce controversy we have no -need to enter. No one can study the life of Jerome without becoming -acquainted with this episode and finding out how much the wrath of a -Father of the Church is like the rage of other men, if not more -violent; but happily as Rome was not the birthplace of this fierce -quarrel it is quite immaterial to our subject or story. It filled the -house of Marcella with trouble and doubt for a time, with indignation -afterwards when the facts of the controversy were better known; but -interesting as it must have been to the eager theologians there, -filling their halls with endless discussions and alarms, lest this -new agitation should interfere with the repose of their friend, it is -no longer interesting except to the student now. Rufinus was finally -unmasked, and condemned by the Bishop of Rome, chiefly by the -exertions of Marcella, whom Oceanus, coming hot from the scene of the -controversy, and Paulinian the brother of Jerome, had instructed in -his true character. Events were many at this moment in that little -Christian society. The tumult of controversy thus excited and all the -heat and passion it brought with it had scarcely blown aside, when the -ears of the Roman world were made to tingle with the wonderful story -of Fabiola, and the crowd flew to behold in the portico of the Lateran -her strange appearance as a penitent; and the commotion of that event -had scarcely subsided when another wonderful incident appears in the -contemporary history filling the house with lamentation and woe. - -The young Paulina, dear on all accounts to the ladies of the Aventine -as her mother's daughter, and as her husband's wife (for Pammachius, -the friend and schoolfellow of Jerome, was one of the fast friends and -counsellors of the community), as well as for her own virtues, died in -the flower of life and happiness, a rich and noble young matron -exhibiting in her own home and amid the common duties of existence, -all the noblest principles of the Christian faith. She had not chosen -what these consecrated women considered as the better way: but in her -own method, and amid a world lying in wickedness, had unfolded that -white flower of a blameless life which even monks and nuns were -thankful to acknowledge as capable of existing here and there in the -midst of worldly splendours and occupations. She left no children -behind her, so that her husband Pammachius was free of the anxieties -and troubles, as well as of the joy and pride, of a family to regulate -and provide for. His young wife left to him all her property on -condition that it should be distributed among the poor, and when he -had fulfilled this bequest the sorrowful husband himself retired from -life, and entered a convent, in obedience to the strong impulse which -swayed so many. Before this occurred however "all Rome" was roused by -another great spectacle. The entire city was invited to the funeral of -Paulina as if it had been to her marriage, though those who came were -not the same wondering circles who crowded round the Lateran gate to -see Fabiola in her humiliation. It was the poor of Rome who were -called by sound of trumpet in every street, to assemble around the -great Church of St. Peter, where were those tombs of the Apostles -which every Christian visited as the most sacred of shrines, and where -Paulina was laid forth upon her bier, the mistress of the feast. The -custom was an old one, and chambers for these funeral repasts were -attached to the great catacombs and all places of burial. The funeral -feast of Paulina however meant more than ordinary celebrations of the -kind, as the place in which it was held was more impressive and -imposing than an ordinary sepulchre however splendid. She must have -been carried through the streets in solemn procession, from the -heights on which stood the palaces of her ancient race, across the -bridge, and by the tomb of Hadrian to that great basilica where the -Apostles lay, her husband and his friends following the bier: and in -all likelihood Marcella and her train were also there, replacing the -distant mother. St. Peter's it is unnecessary to say was not the St. -Peter's we know; but it was even then a great basilica, with wide -extending porticoes and squares, and lofty roof, though the building -was scarcely quite detached from the rock out of which the back part -of the cathedral had been hewn. - - [Illustration: ST. PETER'S, FROM THE JANICULUM.] - -Many strange sights have been seen in that spot which once was the -centre of the civilised world, and this which seems to us one of the -strangest was in no way unusual or against the traditions of the age -in which it occurred. The church itself, and all its surroundings, -nave and aisles and porticoes, and the square beyond, were filled with -tables, and to these from all the four quarters of Rome, from the -circus and the benches of the Colosseum, where the wretched slept and -lurked, from the sunny pavements, and all the dens and haunts of the -poor by the side of the Tiber, the crowds poured, in those -unconceivable yet picturesque rags which clothe the wretchedness of -the South. They were ushered solemnly to their seats, the awe of the -place, let us hope, quieting the voices of a profane and degraded -populace, and overpowering the whispering, rustling, many-coloured -multitude. Outside the later comers would be more unrestrained, and -the roar, even though subdued, of thronging humanity must have come in -strangely to the silence of the great church, and of the mourners, -bent upon doing Paulina honour in this curious way. Did she lie there -uplifted on her high bier to receive her guests? Or was the -heart-broken Pammachius the host, standing pale upon the steps, over -the grave of the Apostles? When they were "saturated" with food and -wine, the first assembly left their places and were succeeded by -another, each as he went away receiving from the hands of Pammachius -himself a sum of money and a new garment. "Happy giver, unwearied -distributor!" says the record. The livelong day this process went on; -a winter day in Rome, not always warm, not always genial, very cold -outside in the square under the evening breeze, and no doubt growing -more and more noisy as one band continued to succeed another, and the -first fed lingered about comparing their gifts, and hoping perhaps for -some remnants to be collected at the end from the abundant and -oft-renewed meal. There were no doubts in anybody's mind, as we have -said, about encouraging pauperism or demoralising the recipients of -these gifts; perhaps it would have been difficult to demoralise -further that mendicant crowd. But one cannot help wondering how the -peace was kept, whether there were soldiers or some manner of -classical police about to keep order, or if the disgusted Senators -would have to bestir themselves to prevent this wild Christian -carnival of sorrow and charity from becoming a danger to the public -peace. - -We are told that it was the sale of Paulina's jewels, and her splendid -toilettes which provided the cost of this extraordinary funeral feast. -"The beautiful dresses woven with threads of gold were turned into -warm robes of wool to cover the naked; the gems that adorned her neck -and her hair filled the hungry with good things." Poor Paulina! She -had worn her finery very modestly according to all reports; it had -served no purposes of coquetry. The reader feels that something more -congenial than that coarse and noisy crowd filling the church with its -deformities and loathsomeness might have celebrated her burial. But -not so was the feeling of the time; that they were more miserable than -words could say, vile, noisome, and unclean, formed their claim of -right to all these gifts--a claim from which their noisy and rude -profanity, their hoarse blasphemy and ingratitude took nothing away. -Charity was more robust in the early centuries than in our fastidious -days. "If such had been all the feasts spread for thee by thy -Senators," cried Bishop Paulinus, the historian of this episode, "oh -Rome thou might'st have escaped the evils denounced against thee in -the Apocalypse." We must remember that whatever might have been the -opinion later, there was no doubt in any Christian mind in the fourth -century that Rome was the Scarlet Woman of the Revelation of St. John, -and that a dreadful fate was to overwhelm her luxury and pride. - -Pammachius, when he had fulfilled the wishes of his wife in this way, -thrilling the hearts of the mourning mother and sister in Bethlehem -with sad gratification, and edifying the anxious spectators on the -Aventine, carried out her will to its final end by becoming a monk, -but with the curious mixture of devotion and independence common at -the time, retired to no cloister, but lived in his own house, -fulfilling his duties, and appearing even in the Senate in the gown -and cowl so unlike the splendid garb of the day. He was no doubt one -of the members for the poor in that august but scarcely active -assembly, and occupied henceforward all his leisure in works of -charity and religious organisations, in building religious houses, and -protecting Christians in every necessity of life. - -We have said that Rome in these days was as freely identified with the -Scarlet Woman of the Apocalypse as ever was done by any Reformer or -Puritan in later times. To Jerome she was as much Babylon, and as -damnable and guilty in every way as if he had been an Orangeman or -Covenanter. Mildness was not general either in speech or thought: it -has seldom been so perhaps in religious controversy. It is curious -indeed to mark how, so near the fount of Christianity, the Church had -already come to rend itself with questions of doctrine, and expend on -discussions of philosophical subtlety the force that was wanted for -the moral advantage of the world. But that no doubt was one of the -defects of the great principle of self-devotion which aimed at -emptying the mind of everything worldly and practical, and fixing it -entirely upon spiritual subjects, thus substituting them for the ruder -obstacles which occupied in common life the ruder forces of nature. - - [Illustration: ST. PETER'S, FROM THE PINCIO.] - -All things however were now moving swiftly towards one of the great -catastrophes of the ages. Though Christianity was young, the entire -system of the world's government was old and drawing towards its fall. -Rome was dead, or virtually so, and all the old prestige, the old -pride and pretension of her race, were perishing miserably in those -last vulgarities of luxury and display which were all that was left to -her. It is no doubt true that the crumbling of all common ties which -took place within her bosom, under the invasion of the monkish -missionaries from the East, and the influence of Athanasius, Jerome, -and others--had been for some time undermining her unity, and that the -rent between that portion of the aristocracy of Rome which still held -by the crumbling system of Paganism, and those who had adopted the new -faith, was now complete. Rome which had been the seat of empire, the -centre from which law and power had gone out over all the earth, the -very impersonation of the highest forces of humanity, the pride of -life, the eminence of family and blood--now saw her highest names -subjected voluntarily to strange new laws of humiliation, whole -households trooping silently away in the garb of servants to the -desert somewhere, to the Holy Land on pilgrimages, or living a life of -hardship and privation and detachment from all public interests, in -the very palaces which had once been the seats of authority. Her -patricians moved silent about the streets in the rude sandals and -mean robes of the monk: her great ladies drove forth no longer -resplendent as Venus on her car, but stood like penitent Magdalenes -upon the steps of a church; and bridegroom and bride no longer linked -with flowery garlands, but with the knotted cord of monastic rule, -lived like vestals side by side. What was to come to a society so -broken up and undermined, knowing no salvation save in its own -complete undoing, preparing unconsciously for some convulsion at hand? -The interpreter of the dark sayings of prophecy goes on through one -lingering age after another, holding the threats of divine justice as -still and always unfulfilled, and will never be content that it is any -other than the present economy which is marked with the curse and -threatened with the ruin of Apocalyptic denunciations. But no one -could doubt that the wine was red in that cup of the wrath of God -which the city of so many sins held in her hand. The voice that called -"Come out of her, my people," had rung aloud in tones unmistakable, -calling the best of her sons and daughters from her side; her natural -weapons had fallen from her nerveless hands; she had no longer any -heart even to defend herself, she who had once but to lift her hand -and the air had tingled to the very boundaries of the known world as -if a blazing sword had been drawn. It requires but little imagination -to appropriate to the condition of Rome on the eve of the invasion of -Alaric every strophe of the magnificent ode in the eighteenth chapter -of Revelation. There are reminiscences in that great poem of another, -of the rousing of Hell to meet the king of the former Babylon echoing -out of the mists of antiquity from the lips of the Hebrew prophet. -Once more that cry was in the air--once more the thrill of approaching -destruction was like the quiver of heat in the great atmosphere of -celestial blue which encircled the white roofs, the shining temples, -the old forums as yet untouched, and the new basilicas as yet scarce -completed, of Rome. The old order was about to change finally, giving -place to the new. - -All becomes confused in the velocity and precipitation of descending -ruin. We can trace the last hours of Paula dying safe and quiet in her -retreat at Bethlehem, and even of the less gentle Melania; but when we -attempt to follow the course of the events which overwhelmed the home -of early faith on the Aventine, the confusion of storm and sack and -horrible sufferings and terror fills the air with blackness. For years -there had existed a constant succession of danger and reprieve, of -threatening hosts (the so-called friends not much better than the -enemies) around the walls of the doomed city, great figures of -conquerors with their armies coming and going, now the barbarian, now -the Roman general upon the height of the wave of battle, the city -escaping by a hair's breadth, then plunged into terror again. And -Marcella's house had suffered with the rest. No doubt much of the -gaiety, the delightful intellectualism of that pleasant refuge, had -departed with the altering time. Age had subdued the liveliness and -brightness of a community still full of the correspondences, the much -letter-writing which women love. Marcella's companions had died away -from her side; life was more quickly exhausted in these days of -agitation, and she herself, the young and brilliant founder of that -community of Souls, must have been sixty or more when the terrible -Alaric, a scourge of God like his predecessor Attila, approached Rome. -What had become of the rest we are not told, or if the relics of the -community, nameless in their age and lessened importance, were still -there: the only one that is mentioned is a young sister called -Principia, her adopted child and attendant. Nothing can be more likely -than that the remainder of the community had fled, seeking safety, or -more likely an unknown death, in less conspicuous quarters of the city -than the great palace of the Aventine with its patrician air of wealth -and possible treasure. In that great house, so far as appears, -remained only its mistress, her soul wound up for any martyrdom, and -the girl who clung to her. If they dared to look forth at all from the -marble terrace where so often they must have gazed over Rome shining -white in the sunshine in all her measured lines and great proportions, -her columns and her domes, what a dread scene must have met their -eyes, clouds of smoke and wild gleams of flame, and the roar of outcry -and slaughter mounting up into the air, soiling the very sky. There -the greatest ladies of Rome had come in their grandeur to enjoy the -piquant contrast and the still more piquant talk, the philosophies -which they loved to penetrate and understand, the learning which went -over their heads. There Jerome, surrounded with soft flatteries and -provocations, had talked his best, giving forth out of his stores the -tales of wonder he had brought from Eastern cells and caves and all -the knowledge of the schools, to dazzle the amateurs of the Roman -gynæceum. What gay, what thrilling, what happy memories!--mingled with -the sweetness of remembrance of gentle Paula who was dead, of Asella -dead, of Fabiola in all her fascinations and caprices, dead too so far -as appears--and no doubt in those thirty years since first Marcella -opened her house to the special service of God, many more; till now -that she was left alone, grey-headed, on that height whither the -fierce Goths were coming, raging, flashing round them fire and flame, -with the girl who would not leave her, the young maiden in her -voiceless meekness whom we see only at this awful moment, she who -might have a sharper agony than death before her, the most appalling -of martyrdoms. - -One final triumph however remained for Marcella. By what wonderful -means we know not, by her prayers and tears, by supplication on her -knees, to the rude Goths who after their sort were Christians, and -sometimes spared the helpless victims and sometimes listened to a -woman's prayer, she succeeded in saving her young companion from -outrage, and in dragging her somehow to the shelter of the nearest -church, where they were safe. But she was herself in her age and -weakness, tortured, flogged, and treated with the utmost cruelty, that -she might disclose the hiding-place in which she had put her treasure. -The treasure of the house of the Aventine was not there: it had fed -the poor, and supplied the wants of the sick in all the most miserable -corners of Rome. The kicks and blows of the baffled plunderers could -not bring that long-expended gold and silver together again. But these -sufferings were as nothing in comparison to the holy triumph of saving -young Principia, which was the last and not the least wonderful work -of her life. The very soldiers who had struck and beaten the mistress -of the desolate house were overcome by her patience and valour, -"Christ softened their hard hearts," says Jerome. "The barbarians -conveyed both you and her to the basilica that you might find a place -of safety or at least a tomb." Nothing can be more extraordinary in -the midst of this awful scene of carnage and rapine than to know -that the churches were sanctuaries upon which the rudest assailants -dared not to lift a hand, and that the helpless women, half dead of -fright and one of them bleeding and wounded with the cruel treatment -she had received, were safe as soon as they had been dragged over the -sacred threshold. - - [Illustration: TEMPLE OF VESTA. - _To face page 110._] - -The church in which Marcella and her young companion found shelter was -the great basilica of St. Paul _fuori le mura_, beyond the Ostian -gate. They were conducted there by their captors themselves, some -compassionate Gaul or Frank, whose rude chivalry of soul had been -touched by the spectacle of the aged lady's struggle for her child. -What a terrible flight through the darkness must that have been "in -the lost battle borne down by the flying" amid the trains of trembling -fugitives all bent on that one spot of safety, the gloom lighted up by -the gleams of the burning city behind, the air full of shrieks and -cries of the helpless, the Tiber rushing swift and strong by the path -to swallow any helpless wayfarer pushed aside by stronger fugitives. -The two ladies reached half-dead the great church on the edge of the -Campagna, the last refuge of the miserable, into which were crowded -the wrecks of Roman society, both Pagan and Christian, patrician and -slave, hustled together in the equality of doom. A few days after, in -the church itself, or some of its dependencies, Marcella died. Her -palace in ruins, her companions dead or fled, she perished along with -the old Rome against whose vices she had protested, but which she had -loved and would not abandon: whose poor she had fed with her -substance, whose society she had attempted to purify, and in which she -had led so honourable and noble--may we not also believe amid all her -austerities, in the brown gown which was almost a scandal, and the -meagre meals that scarcely kept body and soul together?--so happy a -life. There is no trace now of the noble mansion which she devoted to -so high a purpose, and few of the many pilgrims who love to discover -all that is interesting in the relics of Rome, have even heard the -name of Marcella--"Illam mitem, illam suavem, illam omni melle et -dulcedine dulciorem"--whose example "lured to higher worlds and led -the way." But her pleasant memory lingers on the leafy crest of the -Aventine where she lived, and where the church of Sta. Sabina now -stands: and her mild shadow lies on that great church outside the -gates, often destroyed, often restored, the shrine of Paul the -Apostle, where, wounded and broken, but always faithful to her trust, -she died. The history of the first dedicated household, the first -convent, the _ecclesia domestica_, which was so bright a centre of -life in the old Rome, not yet entirely Christian, is thus rounded into -a perfect record. It began in 380 or thereabouts, it ended in 410. Its -story is but an obscure chapter in the troubled chronicles of the -time; but there is none more spotless, and scarcely any so serenely -radiant and bright. - -Pammachius also died in the siege, whether among the defenders of the -city or in the general carnage is not known, "with many other brothers -and sisters whose death is announced to us" Jerome says, whom that -dreadful news threw into a stupor of horror and misery, so that it was -some time before he could understand the details or discover who was -saved and who lost. The saved indeed were very few, and the losses -many. Young Paula, the granddaughter of the first, the child of -Toxotius, who also was happily dead before these horrors, had been for -some years in Bethlehem peacefully learning how to take the elder -Paula's place, and shedding sweetness into the life of the old prophet -in his rocky chamber at Bethlehem, and of the grave Eustochium in her -convent. Young Melania, standing in the same relationship to the -heroine of that name, whose fame is less sweet, was out of harm's way -too. They and many humbler members of the community had escaped by -flight, among the agitated crowds which had long been pouring out of -Italy towards the East, some from mere panic, some by the vows of -self-dedication and retirement from the world. Many more as has been -seen escaped in Rome itself, before its agony began, by the still more -effectual way of death. Only Marcella, the first of all, the pupil of -Athanasius, the mother and mistress of so many consecrated souls, fell -on the outraged threshold of her own house, over which she had come -and gone for thirty years, with those feet that are beautiful on the -mountains, the feet of those who bring good tidings, and carry charity -and loving kindness to every door. - - [Illustration: PORTA SAN PAOLO.] - - - - - BOOK II. - - THE POPES WHO MADE THE PAPACY. - - - - - [Illustration: THE STEPS OF SAN GREGORIO.] - - - - -BOOK II. - -THE POPES WHO MADE THE PAPACY. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -GREGORY THE GREAT. - - -When Rome had fallen into the last depths of decadence, luxury, -weakness, and vice, the time of fierce and fiery trial came. The great -city lay like a helpless woman at the mercy of her foes--or rather at -the mercy of every new invader who chose to sack her palaces and throw -down her walls, without even the pretext of any quarrel against the -too wealthy and luxurious city, which had been for her last period at -least nobody's enemy but her own. Alaric, who, not content with the -heaviest ransom, returned to rage through her streets with all those -horrors and cruelties which no advance in civilisation has ever yet -entirely dissociated from the terrible name of siege: Attila, whose -fear of his predecessor's fate and the common report of murders and -portents, St. Peter with a sword of flame guarding his city, and other -signs calculated to melt the hearts of the very Huns in their bosoms, -kept at a distance: passed by without harming the prostrate city. But -Genseric and his Vandals were kept back by no such terrors. The -ancient Rome, with all her magnificent relics of the imperial age, -fell into ruin and was trampled under foot by victor after victor in -the fierce license of barbarous triumph. Her secret stores of -treasure, her gold and silver, her magnificent robes, her treasures of -art fell, like her beautiful buildings, into the rude hands which -respected nothing, neither beauty nor the traditions of a glorious -past. How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! All the -pathetic and wonderful plaints of the Hebrew prophet over a still -holier and more ancient place, trodden under foot and turned into a -desert, rise to the mind during this passion and agony of imperial -Rome. But the mistress of the world had no such fierce band of -patriots to fight inch by inch for her holy places as had the old -Jerusalem. There were few to shed their blood for her in the way of -defence. The blood that flowed was that of murdered weakness, not that -freely shed of valiant men. - -During this terrible period of blood and outrage and passion and -suffering, one institution alone stood firm amid the ruins, wringing -even from the fiercest of the barbarians a certain homage, and -establishing a sanctuary in the midst of sack and siege in which the -miserable could find shelter. As every other public office and potency -fell, the Church raised an undaunted front, and took the place at once -of authority and of succour among the crushed and downtrodden people. -It is common to speak of this as the beginning of that astute and -politic wisdom of Rome which made the city in the middle ages almost a -greater power than in her imperial days, and equally mistress of the -world. But there is very little evidence that any great plan for the -aggrandisement of the Church, or the establishment of her supremacy, -had yet been formed, or that the early Popes had any larger purpose in -their minds than to do their best in the position in which they stood, -to avert disaster, to spread Christianity, and to shield as far as was -possible the people committed to their care. No formal claim of -supremacy over the rest of the Church had been as yet made: it was -indeed formally repudiated by the great Gregory in the end of the -sixth century as an unauthorised claim, attributed to the bishops of -Rome only by their enemies, though still more indignantly to be -denounced when put forth by any other ecclesiastical authority such as -the patriarch of Constantinople. To Peter, he says in one of his -epistles, was committed the charge of the whole Church, but his -successors did not on that account call themselves rulers of the -Church universal--how much less a bishropic of the East who had no -such glorious antecedents! - -But if pretension to the primacy had not yet been put forth, there had -arisen the practical situation, which called the bishops of Rome to a -kind of sovereignty of the city. The officials of the empire, a -distant exarch at Ravenna, a feeble prætor at Rome, had no power -either to protect or to rescue. The bishop instinctively, almost -involuntarily, whenever he was a man of strength or note, was put into -the breach. Whatever could be done by negotiation, he, a man of peace, -was naturally called to do. Innocent procured from Alaric the -exemption of the churches from attack even in the first and most -terrible siege; there wounded men and flying women found refuge in the -hottest of the pillage, and Marcella struggling, praying for the -deliverance of her young nun, through the brutal crowd which had -invaded her house, was in safety with her charge, as we have seen, as -soon as they could drag themselves within the sanctuary. This was -already a great thing in that dread conflict of force with -weakness--and it continued to be the case more or less in all the -successive waves of fire and flame which passed over Rome. And when -the terrible tide of devastation was over, one patriot Pope at least -took the sacred vessels of gold and silver, which had been saved along -with the people in their sanctuaries, and melted them down to procure -bread for the remnant, thus doubly delivering the flock committed to -his care. These facts worked silently, and there seems no reason to -believe other than unconsciously at first, towards the formation of -the great power which was once more to make Rome a centre of empire. -The historian is too apt to perceive in every action an early-formed -and long-concealed project tending towards one great end; and it is -common to recognise, even in the missionary expeditions of the Church, -as well as in the immediate protection exercised around her seat, this -astute policy and ever-maturing, ever-growing scheme. But neither Leo -nor Gregory require any such explanation of their motives; their duty -was to protect, to deliver, to work day and night for the welfare of -the people who had no other protectors: as it was their first duty to -spread the Gospel, to teach all nations according to their Master's -commission. It is hard to take from them the credit of those measures -which were at once their natural duty and their delight, in order to -make all their offices of mercy subservient to the establishment of a -universal authority to which neither of them laid any claim. - -While Rome still lay helpless in the midst of successive invasions, -now in one conqueror's hands, now in another, towards the middle of -the sixth century a young man of noble race--whose father and mother -were both Christians, the former occupying a high official position, -as was also the case with the son, in his earlier years--became -remarkable among his peers according to the only fashion which a high -purpose and noble meaning seems to have been able to take at that -period. Perhaps such a spirit as that of Gregory could never have been -belligerent; yet it is curious to note that no patriotic saviour of -his country, no defender of Rome, who might have called forth a spirit -in the gilded youth, and raised up the ancient Roman strength for the -deliverance of the city, seems to have been possible in that age of -degeneration. No Maccabæus was to be found among the ashes of the race -which once had ruled the world. Whatever excellence remained in it was -given to the new passion of the cloister, the instinct of sacrifice -and renunciation instead of resistance and defence. It may be said -that the one way led equally with the other to that power which is -always dear to the heart of man: yet it is extraordinary that amid all -the glorious traditions of Rome,--notwithstanding the fame of great -ancestors still hanging about every noble house, and the devotion -which the city itself, then as now, excited among its children, a -sentiment which has made many lesser places invulnerable, so long as -there was a native arm to strike a blow for them, no single bold -attempt was ever made, no individual stand, no popular frenzy of -patriotism ever excited in defence of the old empress of the world. -The populace perhaps was too completely degraded to make any such -attempt possible, but the true hero when he appears does not -calculate, and is able to carry out his glorious effort with sometimes -the worst materials. However, it is needless to attempt to account for -such an extraordinary failure in the very qualities which had made the -Roman name illustrious. Despair must have seized upon the very heart -of the race. That race itself had been vitiated and mingled with baser -elements by ages of conquest, repeated captivities, and overthrows, -and all the dreadful yet monotonous vicissitudes of disaster, one -outrage following another, and the dreadful sense of impotence, which -crushes the very being, growing with each new catastrophe. It must -have appeared to the children of the ancient conquerors that there -was no refuge or hope for them, save in that kingdom not of this -world, which had risen while everything else crumbled under their -feet, which had been growing in silence while the old economy fell -into ashes, and which alone promised a resurrection and renewal worthy -of the highest hopes. - -This ideal had been growing throughout the world, and had penetrated -into almost every region of Christendom before the period of Gregory's -birth. Nearly a hundred and fifty unhappy years had passed since -Marcella ended her devout life amid the fire and flame of the first -siege; but the times had so little changed that it was at first under -the same aspect which attracted that Roman lady and so many of her -contemporaries, that the monastic life recommended itself to the young -patrician Gregorius, in the home of his parents, the Roman villa on -the edge of that picturesque and splendid wood of great oak-trees -which gave to the Coelian Hill its first title of Mons Querquetulanus. -It had been from the beginning of his life a devout house, full of the -presence and influence of three saintly women, all afterwards -canonised, his mother Silvia and his father's sisters. That father -himself was at least not uncongenial to his surroundings, though -living the usual life, full of magnificence and display, of the noble -Roman, filling in his turn great offices in the state, or at least the -name and outward pomp of offices which had once been great. Some -relics of ancient temples gleaming through the trees beyond the -gardens of the villa must still have existed among the once sacred -groves; and the vast buildings of the old economy, the Colosseum -behind, the ruined and roofless palaces of the Palatine, would be -visible from the terrace on which the meditative youth wandered, -pondering over Rome at his feet and the great world lying beyond, in -which there were endless marchings and countermarchings of barbarous -armies, one called in to resist the other, Huns and Vandals from one -quarter, irresistible Franks, alien races all given to war, while the -secret and soul of peace lay in that troubled and isolated stronghold -of Him whose kingdom was not of this world. Gregory musing can have -had no thought, such as we should put instinctively into the mind of a -noble young man in such circumstances, of dying upon the breached and -crumbling walls for his country, or leading any forlorn hope; and if -his fancy strayed instead far from those scenes of battle and trouble -to the convent cells and silent brotherhoods, where men disgusted and -sick of heart could enter and pray, it was as yet with no thought or -intention of following their example. He tells us himself that he -resisted as long as he could "the grace of conversion," and as a -matter of fact entered into the public life such as it was, of the -period, following in his father's footsteps, and was himself, like -Gordianus, _prætor urbis_ in his day, when he had attained the early -prime of manhood. The dates of his life are dubious until we come to -his later years, but it is supposed that he was born about 540; and he -was recommended for the Prætorship by the Emperor Julius, which must -have been before 573, at which date he would have attained the age of -thirty-three, that period so significant in the life of man, the -limit, as is believed, of our Lord's existence on earth, and close to -that _mezzo del cammin_ which the poet has celebrated as the -turning-point of life. In his splendid robes, attended by his throng -of servants, he must no doubt have ruffled it with the best among the -officials of a state which had scarcely anything but lavish display -and splendour to justify its pretence of government; but we hear -nothing either of the early piety or early profanity which generally -distinguish, one or the other, the beginning of a predestined saint. -Neither prodigal nor devotee, the son of Gordianus and Silvia did -credit to his upbringing, even if he did not adopt its austerer -habits. But when his father died, the attraction which drew so many -towards the cloister must have begun to operate upon Gregory. When -all the wealth came into his hands, when his devout mother retired to -her nun's cell on the Aventine, close to the old basilica of S. Sabba, -giving up the world, and the young man was left in full possession of -his inheritance and the dwelling of his fathers, he would seem to have -come to a serious pause in his life. Did he give a large slice of his -fortune to endow monasteries in distant Sicily, as far out of the way, -one might say, as possible, by way of compromising with his -conscience, and saving himself from the sweep of the current which had -begun to catch his feet? Perhaps it was some family connection with -Sicily--estates, situated there as some think, which prompted the -appropriation of his gifts to that distant island; but this is mere -speculation, and all that the authorities tell us is that he did -establish and endow six monasteries in Sicily, without giving any -reason for it. This was his first step towards the life to which later -all his wishes and interests were devoted. - -It would seem, however, if there is any possible truth in the idea, -that the Sicilian endowments were a sort of ransom for himself and the -personal sacrifice of the world which his growing fervour demanded of -him, that the expedient was not a successful one. He did not resist -the grace of conversion very long; but it is curious to find him, so -long after, adopting the same expedient as that which had formed a -middle ground for his predecessors in an earlier age, by converting -his father's house into a convent. St. Benedict, the first of monastic -founders in Europe, was scarcely born when Marcella first called about -her the few pious maidens and widows who formed her permanent -household in Rome; but by the time of Gregory, the order of Benedict -had become one of the great facts and institutions of the time--and -his villa was soon filled with a regular community of black-robed -monks with their abbot and other leaders. Remaining in the beloved -shelter of his natural home, he became a member of this community. He -did not even retain, as Marcella did, the government of the new -establishment in his own hand, but served humbly, holding no office, -as an undistinguished brother. It was not without difficulty that he -made up his mind to this step. In the letter to Leander which forms -the dedication of his commentary on Job, he gives a brief and vague -account of his own hesitations and doubts. The love of things eternal, -he says, had taken hold upon his mind while yet custom had so wound -its chains round him that he could not make up his mind to change his -outward garb. But the new influence was so strong that he engaged in -the service of the world as it were in semblance only, his purpose and -inclination turning more and more towards the cloister. When the -current of feeling and spiritual excitement carried him beyond all -these reluctances and hesitations, and he at last "sought the haven of -the monastery," having, as he says, "left all that is of the world as -at that time I vainly believed, I came out naked from the shipwreck of -human life." His intention at this crisis was evidently not that of -fitting himself for the great offices of the Church or entering what -was indeed one of the greatest professions of the time, the -priesthood, the one which, next to that of the soldier, was most apt -for advancement. Like Jerome, Gregory's inclination was to be a monk -and not a priest, and he expressly tells us that "the virtue of -obedience was set against my own inclination to make me take the -charge of ministering at the holy altar," which he was obliged to -accept upon the ground that the Church had need of him. This -disinclination to enter the priesthood is all the more remarkable that -Gregory was evidently a preacher born, and seems early in his monastic -life to have developed this gift. The elucidation of so difficult and -mysterious a book as that of Job was asked of him by his brethren at -an early period of his career. - -We have no guidance of dates to enable us to know how long a time he -passed in the monastery, which was dedicated to St. Andrew, after he -turned it from a palace-villa into monastic cells and cloisters; but -the legend which comes in more or less to every saintly life here -affords us one or two delightful vignettes to illustrate the history. -His mother Silvia in her nun's cell, surrounded by its little garden, -at S. Sabba, sent daily, the story goes--and there is no reason to -doubt its truth--a mess of vegetables to her son upon the Coelian, -prepared by her own tender hands. One can imagine some shockheaded -Roman of a lay brother, old servant or retainer, tramping alone, day -by day, over the stony ways, across the deep valley between the two -hills, with the simple dish tied in its napkin, which perhaps had some -savour of home and childhood, the mother's provision for her boy. - -Another story, less original, relates how having sold everything and -given all his money to the poor, Gregory was beset by a shipwrecked -sailor who came to him again and again in the cell where he sat -writing, and to whom at last, having no money, he gave the only thing -of value he had left, a silver dish given him by his mother--perhaps -the very bowl in which day by day his dinner of herbs was sent to him. -Needless to say that the mysterious sailor assumed afterwards a more -glorious form, and Gregory found that he had given alms, if not as in -most such cases to his Master, at least to a ministering angel. Then, -too, in those quiet years arose other visionary legends, that of the -dove who sat on his shoulder and breathed inspiration into his ear, -and the Madonna who spoke to him as he sat musing--a Madonna painted -by no mortal hands, but coming into being on the wall--a sweet and -consoling vision in the light that never was by sea or shore. These -are the necessary adjuncts of every saintly legend. It is not needful -that we should insist upon them; but they help us to realise the -aspect of the young Roman who had, at last, after some struggles -attained that "grace of conversion" which makes the renunciation of -every worldly advantage possible, but who still dwelt peacefully in -his own house, and occupied the cell he had chosen for himself with -something of the consciousness of the master of the house, although no -superiority of rank among his brethren, finding no doubt a delightful -new spring of life in the composition of his homilies, and the sense -that a higher sphere of work and activity was thus opening before his -feet. - -The cell of St. Gregory and his marble chair in which he worked and -rested, are still shown for the admiration of the faithful on the -right side of the church which bears his name: but neither church nor -convent are of his building, though they occupy the sites consecrated -by him to the service of God. "Here was the house of Gregory, -converted by him into a monastery," says the inscription on the -portico. And in one spot at least the steps of the Roman gentleman -turned monk, may still be traced in the evening freshness and among -the morning dews--in the garden, from which the neighbouring summits -of the sun-crowned city still rise before the rapt spectator with all -their memories and their ruins. There were greater ruins in Gregory's -day, ruins still smoking from siege and fire, roofless palaces telling -their stern lesson of the end of one great period of empire, of a -mighty power overthrown, and new rude overwhelming forces, upon which -no man could calculate, come in, in anarchy and bloodshed, to turn the -world upside down. We all make our own somewhat conventional -comparisons and reflections upon that striking scene, and moralise at -our leisure over the Pagan and the Christian, and all that has been -signified to the world in such an overthrow and transformation. But -Gregory's thoughts as he paced his garden terrace must have been very -different from ours. He no doubt felt a thrill of pleasure as he -looked at the desecrated places over which Goth and Vandal had raged, -in the thought that the peaceful roof of his father's house was safe, -a refuge for the chosen souls who had abjured the world; and -self-withdrawn from all those conflicts and miseries, mused in his -heart over the new world which was dawning, under the tender care of -the Church and the ministration of those monks denuded of all things, -whose sole inspiration was to be the love of God and the succour of -the human race. The world could not go on did not every new economy -form to itself some such glorious dream of the final triumph of the -good, the noble, and the true. Great Rome lay wrecked and ended in the -sight of the patrician monk who had schooled himself out of all the -bitterness of the vanquished in that new hope and new life of the -cloister. Did he already see his brethren, the messengers of the -faith, going forth to all the darkest corners of the unknown world -with their gospel, and new skies and new lands turning to meet the -shining of the new day?--or with thoughts more profound in awe, more -sacred in mysterious joy, did he hold his breath to think what all -these ragings of nations and overturning of powers might portend, the -glorious era when all misery should be ended, and the Lord come in the -clouds to judge the earth and vindicate His people? The monks have -failed like the emperors since Gregory's day--the Popes have found no -more certain solution for the problems of earth than did the -philosophers. But it is perhaps more natural on one of those seven -hills of Rome, to think of that last great event which shall fulfil -all things, and finally unravel this mortal coil of human affairs, -than it is on any other spot of earth except the mystic Mount of the -Olives, from which rose the last visible steps of the Son of Man. - -We have no knowledge how long this quiet life lasted, or if he was -long left to write his sermons in his cell, and muse in his garden, -and receive his spare meal from his mother's hands, the mess of -lentils, or beans, or artichokes, which would form his only fare; but -it is evident that even in this seclusion he had given assurance of a -man to the authorities of the Church and was looked upon as one of its -hopes. He had no desire, as has been said, to become a priest, but -rather felt an almost superstitious fear of being called upon to -minister at the holy altar, a sentiment very usual in those days among -men of the world converted to a love of the life of prayer and -penitence, but not of the sacerdotal charge or profession. It is -curious indeed how little the sacramental idea had then developed in -the minds of the most pious. The rule of Benedict required the -performance of the mass only on Sundays and festivals, and there is -scarcely any mention of the more solemn offices of worship in the age -of Jerome, who was a priest in spite of himself, and never said but -one mass in his life. It was to "live the life," as in the case of a -recent remarkable convert from earthly occupations to mystical -religionism, that the late prætor, sick of worldly things, devoted -himself: and not to enter into a new caste, against which the -tradition that discredits all priesthoods and the unelevated character -of many of its members, has always kept up a prejudice, which exists -now as it existed then. - -But Gregory could not struggle against the fiat of his ecclesiastical -superiors, and was almost compelled to receive the first orders. After -much toiling and sifting of evidence the ever careful Bollandists have -concluded that this event happened in 578 or 579--while Baronius, -perhaps less bigoted in his accuracy, fixes it in 583. Nor was it -without a distinct purpose that this step was taken; there was more to -do in the world for this man than to preach homilies and expound -Scripture in the little Roman churches. Some one was wanted to -represent Pope Benedict the First in Constantinople, some one who knew -the world and would not fear the face of any emperor; and it was -evidently to enable him to hold the post of Apocrisarius or Nuncio, -that Gregory was hastily invested with deacon's orders, and received -the position later known as that of a Cardinal deacon. It is a little -premature, and harmonises ill with the other features of the man, to -describe him as a true mediæval Nuncio, with all the subtle powers and -arrogant assumptions of the Rome of the middle ages. This however is -Gibbon's description of him, a bold anachronism, antedating by several -ages the pretensions which had by no means come to any such -development in the sixth century. He describes the Apocrisarius of -Pope Benedict as one "who boldly assumed in the name of St. Peter a -tone of independent dignity which would have been criminal and -dangerous in the most illustrious layman of the empire." - -There is little doubt that Gregory would be an original and remarkable -figure among the sycophants of the imperial court, where the vices of -the East mingled with those of the West, and everything was venal, -corrupt, and debased. Gregory was the representative of a growing -power, full of life and the prospects of a boundless future. There was -neither popedom nor theories of universal primacy as yet, and he was -confronted at Constantinople by ecclesiastical functionaries of as -high pretensions as any he could put forth; but yet the Bishop of Rome -had a unique position, and the care of the interests of the entire -Western Church was not to be held otherwise than with dignity and a -bold front whoever should oppose. - - [Illustration: VILLA DE' MEDICI.] - -There was however another side to the life of the Nuncio which is -worthy of note and very characteristic of the man. He had been -accompanied on his mission by a little train of monks; for these -coenobites were nothing if not social, and their solitude was always -tempered by the proverbial companion to whom they could say how -delightful it was to be alone. This little private circle formed a -home for the representative of St. Peter, to which he retired with -delight from the wearisome audiences, intrigues, and ceremonies of the -imperial court. Another envoy, Leander, a noble Spaniard, afterwards -Bishop of Seville, and one of the favourite saints of Spain, was in -Constantinople at the same time, charged with some high mission from -Rome "touching the faith of the Visigoths," whose conversion from -Arianism was chiefly the work of this apostolic labourer. And he too -found refuge in the home of Gregory among the friends there gathered -together, probably bringing with him his own little retinue in the -same Benedictine habit. "To their society I fled," says Gregory, "as -to the bosom of the nearest port from the rolling swell and waves of -earthly occupation; and though that office which withdrew me from the -monastery had with the point of its employments stabbed to death my -former tranquillity of life, yet in their society I was reanimated." -They read and prayed together, keeping up the beloved punctilios of -the monastic rule, the brethren with uninterrupted attention, the -Nuncio and the Bishop as much as was possible to them in the intervals -of their public work. And in the cool atrio of some Eastern palace, -with the tinkling fountain in the midst and the marble benches round, -the little company with one breath besought their superior to exercise -for them those gifts of exposition and elucidation of which he had -already proved himself a master. "It was then that it seemed good to -those brethren, you too adding your influence as you will remember, to -oblige me by the importunity of their requests to set forth the book -of the blessed Job--and so far as the Truth should inspire me, to lay -open to them these mysteries." We cannot but think it was a curious -choice for the brethren to make in the midst of that strange -glittering world of Constantinople, where the ecclesiastical news -would all be of persecuting Arians and perverse Eastern bishops, and -where all kinds of subtle heresies, both doctrinal and personal, were -in the air, fine hair-splitting arguments as to how much or how little -of common humanity was in the sacred person of our Lord, as well as -questions as to the precise day on which to keep Easter and other -regulations of equal importance. But to none of these matters did the -monks in exile turn their minds. "They made this too an additional -burden which their petition laid upon me, that I would not only -unravel the words of the history in allegorical senses, but that I -would go on to give to the allegorical sense the turn of a moral -exercise: with the addition of something yet harder, that I would -fortify the different meanings with analogous passages, and that -these, should they chance to be involved, should be disentangled by -the aid of additional explanation." - -This abstruse piece of work was the recreation with which his brethren -supplied the active mind of Gregory in the midst of his public -employments and all the distractions of the imperial court. It need -not be said that he did not approach the subject critically or with -any of the lights of that late learning which has so much increased -the difficulty of approaching any subject with simplicity. It is not -supposed even that he had any knowledge of the original, or indeed any -learning at all. The Nuncio and his monks were not disturbed by -questions about that wonderful scene in which Satan stands before God. -They accepted it with a calm which is as little concerned by its -poetic grandeur as troubled by its strange suggestions. That -extraordinary revelation of an antique world, so wonderfully removed -from us, beyond all reach of history, was to them the simplest preface -to a record of spiritual experience, full of instruction to -themselves, lessons of patience and faith, and all the consolations of -God. Nothing is more likely than that there were among the men who -clustered about Gregory in his Eastern palace, some who like Job had -seen everything that was dear to them perish, and had buried health -and wealth and home and children under the ashes of sacked and burning -Rome. We might imagine even that this was the reason why that -mysterious poem with all its wonderful discoursings was chosen as the -subject to be treated in so select an assembly. Few of these men if -any would be peaceful sons of the cloister, bred up in the stillness -of conventual life; neither is it likely that they would be scholars -or divines. They were men rescued from a world more than usually -terrible and destructive of individual happiness, saddened by loss, -humiliated in every sensation either of family or national pride, the -fallen sons of a great race, trying above all things to console -themselves for the destruction of every human hope. And the exposition -of Job is written with this end, with strange new glosses and -interpretations from that New Testament which was not yet six hundred -years old, and little account of any difference between: for were not -both Holy Scripture intended for the consolation and instruction of -mankind? and was not this the supreme object of all--not to raise -antiquarian questions or exercise the mind on metaphysical arguments, -but to gather a little balsam for the wounds, and form a little prop -for the weakness of labouring and heavily laden men? _Moralia_: "The -Book of the Morals of St. Gregory the Pope" is the title of the -book--a collection of lessons how to endure and suffer, how to hope -and believe, how to stand fast--in the certainty of a faith that -overcomes all things, in the very face of fate. - -"Whosoever is speaking concerning God," says Gregory, "must be careful -to search out thoroughly whatsoever furnishes moral instruction to his -hearers; and should account that to be the right method of ordering -his discourse which permits him when opportunity for edification -requires it, to turn aside for a useful purpose from that which he had -begun to speak of. He that treats of sacred writ should follow the way -of a river: for if a river as it flows along its channel meets with -open valleys on its side, into these it immediately turns the course -of its current, and when they are copiously supplied presently it -pours itself back into its bed. Thus unquestionably should it be with -every one that treats the Divine word, so that if discussing any -subject he chances to find at hand any occasion of seasonable -edification he should as it were force the streams of discourse -towards the adjacent valley, and when he has poured forth enough upon -its level of instruction fall back into the channel of discourse which -he had proposed to himself." - -We do not know what the reader may think of Gregory's geography; but -certainly he carries out his discursive views to the full, and fills -every valley he may chance to come to in his flowing, with pools and -streams--no doubt waters of refreshing to the souls that surrounded -him, ever eager to press him on. A commentary thus called forth by the -necessities of the moment, spoken in the first place to anxious -listeners who had with much pressure demanded it, and who nodded their -heads over it with mingled approbation and criticism as half their -own, has a distinctive character peculiar to itself, and requires -little aid from science or learning. A large portion of it was written -as it fell from his lips, without revision Gregory informs us, -"because the brethren drawing me away to other things, would not leave -time to correct this with any great degree of exactness." - -A gleam of humour comes across the picture as he describes his -position among this band of dependent and applauding followers, who -yet were more or less the masters of his leisure and private life. -"Pursuing my object of obeying their instructions, _which I must -confess were sufficiently numerous_, I have completed this work," he -says. The humour is a little rueful, the situation full of force and -nature. The little group of lesser men would no doubt have fully -acknowledged themselves inferior to the eloquent brother, their -founder, their instructor, so much greater a man in every way than -themselves: but yet not able to get on without the hints of Brother -John or Brother Paul, helped so much by that fine suggestion of the -Cellarius, and the questions and sagacious remarks of the others. The -instructions of the brethren! who does not recognise the scene, the -nods aside, the objections, the volunteered information and directions -how to say this or that, which he knew so much better how to say than -any of them! while he sat listening all the time, attending to every -criticism, taking up a hint here and there, with that curious alchemy -of good humour and genius, turning the dull remarks to profit, yet -always with a twinkle in his eye at those advices "sufficiently -numerous" which aimed at teaching him how to teach them, a position -which many an ecclesiastic and many an orator must have realised since -then. Gregory reveals his consciousness of the state of affairs quite -involuntarily, nothing being further from his mind than to betray to -his reverend and saintly brother anything so human and faulty as a -smile; and it is clear that he took the animadversions in good part -with as much good nature as humour. To make out the features of the -same man in Gibbon's picture of an arrogant priest assuming more than -any layman durst assume, is very difficult. The historian evidently -made his study from models a few hundred years further down in the -record. - -Gregory seems to have held the place of Apocrisarius twice under two -different Popes--Benedict I. and Pelagius II.; but whether he returned -to Rome between the two is not clear. One part of his commission from -Pelagius was to secure help from the Emperor against the Lombards who -were threatening Rome. The Pope's letter with its lamentable account -of the undefended and helpless condition of the city, and the urgency -with which he entreats his representative to support the pleading of a -special envoy sent for that purpose, is interesting. It is sent to -Gregory by the hands of a certain Sebastian, "our brother and -coadjutor," who has been in Ravenna with the general Decius, and -therefore is able to describe at first hand the terrible state of -affairs to the Emperor. "Such misfortunes and tribulations," says the -Pope, "have been inflicted upon us by the perfidy of the Lombards -contrary to their own oath as no one could describe. Therefore speak -and act so as to relieve us speedily in our danger. For the state is -so hemmed in, that unless God put it into the heart of our most pious -prince to show pity to his servants, and to vouchsafe us a grant of -money, and a commander and leader, we are left in the last extremity, -all the districts round Rome being defenceless, and the Exarch unable -to do anything to help us. Therefore may God persuade the Emperor to -come quickly to our aid before the armies of that most accursed race -have overrun our lands." - -What a strange overturn of all things is apparent when such a piteous -appeal is conveyed to the Eastern empire already beginning to totter, -from what was once imperial and triumphant Rome! - -It was in 586, four years before the end of the life of Pelagius, that -Gregory returned home. The abbot of his convent, Maximianus, had been -promoted to the see of Syracuse, though whether for independent -reasons or to make room for Gregory in that congenial position we are -not informed; and the Nuncio on his return succeeded naturally to the -vacant place. If it was now or at an earlier period that he bestowed -all his robes, jewels, etc., on the convent it is difficult to decide, -for there seems always to have been some reserve of gifts to come out -on a later occasion, after we have heard of an apparent sacrifice of -all things for the endowment of one charity or another. At all events -Gregory's charities were endless and continued as long as he lived. - -No retirement within the shadow of the convent was however possible -now for the man who had taken so conspicuous a position in public -life. He was appointed secretary to the Pope, combining that office -with the duties of head of his convent, and would appear besides to -have been the most popular preacher in Rome, followed from one church -to another by admiring crowds, and moving the people with all the -force of that religious oratory which is more powerful than any other -description of eloquence: though to tell the truth we find but little -trace of this irresistible force in his discourses as they have come -down to us. Popular as he was he does not seem to have had any special -reputation either for learning or for literary style. - -One of the best known of historical anecdotes is the story of -Gregory's encounter with the group of English children brought to Rome -as slaves, whom he saw accidentally, as we say, in one of his walks. -It belongs in all probability to this period of his life, and no doubt -formed an episode in his daily progress from St. Andrew's on its hill -to the palace of the Bishop of Rome which was then attached to the -great church of the Lateran gate. In this early home of the head of -the Roman hierarchy there would no doubt be accommodation for pilgrims -and strangers, in addition to the spare court of the primitive Pope, -but probably little anticipation of the splendours of the Vatican, not -yet dreamed of. Gregory was pursuing his musing way, a genial figure -full of cheerful observation and interest in all around him, when he -was suddenly attracted as he crossed some street or square, amid the -crowd of dark heads and swarthy faces by a group, unlike the rest, of -fair Saxon boys, long-limbed and slender, with their rose tints and -golden locks. The great ecclesiastic appears to us here all at once in -a new light, after all we have known of him among his monastic -brethren. He would seem to have been one of those inveterate punsters -who abound among ecclesiastics, as well as a tender-hearted man full -of fatherly instincts. He stopped to look at the poor children so -unlike anything he knew. Who were they? Angles. Nay, more like angels, -he said in his kind tones, with no doubt a smile in return for the -wondering looks suddenly raised upon him. And their country? Deiri. -Ah, a happy sign! _de ira eruti_, destined to rise out of wrath into -blessedness. And their king? the boys themselves might by this time be -moved to answer the kind monk, who looked at them so tenderly. -Ella--Alle, as it is reported in the Latin, softening the narrower -vowel. And was it still all heathen that distant land, and unknown -rude monarch, and the parents of these angelic children? Then might it -soon be, good Lord, that Allelujah should sound wherever the barbarous -Alle reigned! Perhaps he smiled at his own play upon words, as -punsters are apt to do, as he strolled away, not we may be sure -without a touch of benediction upon the shining tawny heads of the -little Saxon lions. But smiling was not all it came to. The thought -dwelt with him as he pursued his way, by the great round of the -half-ruined Colosseum, more ruinous probably then than now, and down -the long street to the Latin gate, where Pelagius and all the work of -his secretaryship awaited him. The Pope was old and wanted cheering, -especially in those dark days when the invader so often raged without, -and Tiber was slowly swelling within, muttering wrath and disaster; -while no force existed, to be brought against one enemy or another but -the prayers of a few old men. Gregory told the story of his encounter, -perhaps making the old Pope laugh at the wit so tempered with -devotion, before he put forth his plea for a band of missionaries to -be sent to those unknown regions to convert that beautiful and -wonderful fair-haired race. Pelagius was very willing to give his -consent; but where were men to be found to risk themselves and their -lives on such a distant expedition among the savages of that unknown -island? When it was found that nobody would undertake such a perilous -mission, Gregory, who would naturally have become more determined in -respect to it after every repulse, offered himself; and somehow -managed to extort a consent from the Pope, of which he instantly took -advantage, setting out at once with a band of faithful brethren, among -whom no doubt must have been some of those who had accompanied him -when he was Nuncio into scenes so different, and pressed him on with -their advice and criticism while he opened to them the mysteries of -Scripture. They might be tyrannical in their suggestions, but no doubt -the impulse of the apostles--"let us die with him"--was strong in -their hearts. - -No sooner was it known, however, in Rome that Gregory had left the -city on so distant and perilous a mission than the people rose in a -sudden tumult. They rushed together from all the quarters of the city -in excited bands towards the Lateran, surrounding the Pope with angry -cries and protests, demanding the recall of the preacher, whose -eloquence as well as his great benefactions to the poor had made him -to the masses the foremost figure in the Church. The Pope, frightened -by this tumult, yielded to the demand, and sent off messengers in hot -haste to bring the would-be missionary back. The picture which his -biographers afford us is less known than the previous incidents, yet -full of character and picturesque detail. The little band had got -three days on in their journey--one wonders from what port they meant -to embark, for Ostia, the natural way, was but a few hours from -Rome--when they made their usual halt at noon for refreshment and rest -"in the fields." Gregory had seated himself under the shade of a tree -with a book to beguile the warm and lingering hours. And as he sat -thus reading with all the bustle of the little encampment round him, -men and horses in the outdoor freedom enjoying the pause, the shade, -and needful food--a locust suddenly alighted upon his page, on the -roll of parchment which was then the form of the latest editions. Such -a visitor usually alights for a moment and no more; but Gregory was -too gentle a spectator of all life to dash the insect off, and it -remained there with a steadiness and "mansuetude" unlike the habits of -the creature. The good monk began to be interested, to muse and pun, -and finally to wonder. "Locusta," he said to himself, groping for a -meaning, "loca sta." What could it signify but that in this place he -would be made to stay? He called to his attendants to make ready with -all speed and push on, eager to get beyond the reach of pursuit; but -before the cumbrous train could be got under way again, the Pope's -messengers arrived "bloody with spurring, fiery red with haste," and -the missionaries were compelled to return to Rome. Thus his first -attempt for the conversion of England was to have been made, could he -have carried out his purpose, by himself. - -There is a curious story also related of Gregory in his walks through -Rome, the issue of which, could an unbelieving age put faith in it, -would be even more remarkable. One day as he passed by the Forum of -Trajan--then no doubt a spot more wildly ruinous than now, though -still with some of its great galleries and buildings standing among -overthrown monuments and broken pillars--some one told him the story -of Trajan and the widow, which must have greatly affected the mediæval -imagination since Dante has introduced it in his great poem. The -prayer addressed to the Emperor on his way to the wars was the same as -that of the widow in the parable, "Avenge me of mine adversary." "I -will do so when I return," the Emperor replied. "But who will assure -me that you will ever return?" said the importunate widow; upon which -the Emperor, recognising the justice of the objection, stopped his -warlike progress until he had executed the vengeance required, upon -one of his own officials (is it not said by one authority his own -son?) who had wronged her. Gregory was as much impressed by this tale -as Dante. He went on lamenting that such a man, so just, so tolerant -of interruption, so ready to do what was right, should be cut off from -the Divine mercy. He carried this regret with him all the way to the -tomb of the apostles, where he threw himself on his knees and prayed -with all his heart that the good Trajan, the man who did right -according to the light that was in him, at all costs, should be saved. -Some versions of the story add that he offered to bear any penance -that might be put upon him for his presumption, and was ready to incur -any penalty to secure this great boon. It can never be put to proof in -this world whether Gregory's petition was heard or not, but his monks -and biographers were sure of it, and some of them allege that his own -bodily sufferings and weakness were the penalty which he accepted -gladly for the salvation of that great soul. The story proves at least -the intense humanity and yearning over the unhappy, which was in his -heart. Whether he played and punned in tender humour with the objects -of his sympathy, or so flung himself in profoundest compassion into -the abyss of hopelessness with them, that he could wish himself like -Paul accursed for his brethren's sake--Gregory's being was full of -brotherly love and fervent feeling, a love which penetrated even -beyond the limits of visible life. - -The four years that elapsed between his return to his convent and his -election to the Popedom (or to speak more justly the bishopric of -Rome) were years of trouble. In addition to the constant danger of -invasion, the misery, even when that was escaped, of the tales brought -to Rome by the fugitives who took refuge there from all the -surrounding country, in every aggravation of poverty and wretchedness, -and the efforts that had to be made for their succour--a great -inundation of the Tiber, familiar yet terrible disaster from which -Rome has not even now been able to secure herself, took place towards -the end of the period, followed by a terrible pestilence, its natural -result. Gregory was expounding the prophet Ezekiel in one of the Roman -churches at the time of this visitation: but as the plague increased -his sorrowful soul could not bear any bondage of words or thoughts -apart from the awful needs of the moment, and closing the book, he -poured forth his heart to the awed and trembling people, exhorting all -to repent, and to fling themselves upon God's mercy that the -pestilence might be stayed. In all such terrible emergencies it is the -impulse of human nature to take refuge in something that can be done, -and the impulse is no doubt itself of use to relieve the crushing -weight of despair, whatever may be the form it takes. - - [Illustration: SAN GREGORIO MAGNO, AND ST. JOHN AND ST. PAUL.] - -We clean and scrub and whitewash in our day, and believe in these -ways of arresting the demons; but in old Rome the call for help was -more impressive at least, and probably braced the souls of the -sufferers as even whitewash could not do. The manner in which Gregory -essayed to turn the terrible tide was by a direct appeal to Heaven. He -organised a great simultaneous procession from all the quarters of -Rome to meet at "the Church of the Virgin"--we are not informed -which--in one great united outcry to God for mercy. The septiform -litany, as it was called, was chanted through the desolate streets by -gradually approaching lines, the men married and unmarried, the -priests and monks each approaching in a separate band; while -proceeding from other churches came the women in all their -subdivisions, the wives, the widows, the maidens, the dedicated -virgins, Ancillæ Dei, each line converging towards the centre, each -followed no doubt from windows within which the dying lay with tears -and echoes of prayers. Many great sights there have been in old Rome, -but few could have been more melancholy or impressive than this. We -hear of no miraculous picture, no saintly idol as in later -ceremonials, but only the seven processions with their long-drawn -monotones of penitence, the men by themselves, the women by -themselves, the widows in their mourning, the veiled nuns, the younger -generation, boys and girls, most precious of all. That Gregory should -have had the gift to see, or believe that he saw, a shining angel upon -Hadrian's tomb, pausing and sheathing his sword as the long line of -suppliants drew near, is very soothing and human to think of. Fresh -from his studies of Ezekiel or Job, though too sick at heart with -present trouble to continue them, why should he have doubted that the -Hearer of Prayer might thus grant a visible sign of the acceptance -which He had promised? We do not expect such visions nowadays, nor do -we with such intense and united purpose seek them; but the same legend -connects itself with many such periods of national extremity. So late -as the Great Plague of London a similar great figure, radiant in -celestial whiteness, was also reported to be seen as the pestilence -abated, sheathing, in the same imagery, a blazing sword. - -The story of the septiform litany relates how here and there in the -streets as they marched the dead and dying fell out of the very ranks -of the suppliants. But yet the angel sheathed his sword. It is hard to -recall the splendid monument of Hadrian with its gleaming marbles and -statues as the pilgrim of to-day approaches the vast but truncated and -heavy round of the Castle of St. Angelo; but it does not require so -great an effort of the mind to recall that scene, when the great angel -standing out against the sky existed but in Gregory's anxious eyes, -and was reflected through the tears of thousands of despairing -spectators, who stood trembling between the Omnipotence which could -save in a moment and the terrible Death which seized and slew while -they were looking on. No human heart can refuse to beat quicker at -such a spectacle--the good man in his rapture of love and earnestness -with his face turned to that radiant Roman sky, and all the dark lines -of people arrested in their march gazing too, the chant dying from -their lips, while the white angel paused for a moment and sheathed the -sword of judgment over their heads. - -It was not till many centuries later, when every relic of the glories -of the great Emperor's tomb had been torn from its walls, that the -angel in marble, afterwards succeeded by the present angel in bronze, -was erected on the summit of the Castle of St. Angelo, which derives -from this incident its name--a name now laden with many other -associations and familiar to us all. - -Pope Pelagius was one of the victims of this great plague; and it is -evident from all the circumstances recorded that Gregory was already -the most prominent figure in Rome, taking the chief place, not only in -such matters as the public penitence, but in all the steps necessary -to meet so great a calamity. Not only were his powers as an -administrator very great, but he had the faculty of getting at those -sacred hordes of ecclesiastical wealth, the Church's treasures of gold -and silver plate, which a secular ruler could not have touched. -Gregory's own liberality was the best of lessons, and though he had -already sacrificed so much he had yet, it would appear, something of -his own still to dispose of, as we have already found to be the case -in so many instances, no doubt rents or produce of estates which could -not be alienated, though everything they produced was freely given up. -Already the wealth of the Church had been called into requisition to -provide for the fugitives who had taken refuge from the Lombards in -Rome. These riches, however, were now almost exhausted by the wants of -the disorganised commonwealth, where every industry and occupation had -been put out of gear, and nothing but want and misery, enfeebled -bodies, and discouraged hearts remained. It was inevitable that at -such a time Gregory should be the one man to whom every eye turned as -the successor of Pelagius. The clergy, the nobles, and the populace, -all accustomed to take a part in the choice of the bishop, pronounced -for him with one voice. It is a kind of fashion among the saints that -each one in his turn should resist and refuse the honours which it is -wished to thrust upon him; but there was at least sufficient reason in -Gregory's case for resistance. For the apostolical see, which was far -from being a bed of roses at any time, was at that period of distress -and danger one of the most onerous posts in the world. - -Pelagius died in January 590, but it was late in that year before his -successor was forced into the vacant place. In the meantime Gregory -had appealed to the Emperor, begging that he would oppose the election -and support him in his resistance. This letter fell into the hands of -the Præfect of Rome, who intercepted it, and wrote in his own name and -that of the people a contrary prayer, begging the Emperor Maurice to -sanction and give authority to their choice. It was only when the -answer was received confirming the election, that Gregory became aware -of the trick played upon him; and all his natural aversion -strengthened by this deceitful proceeding, he withdrew secretly from -the city, hiding himself, it is said, in a cave among the woods. -Whether this means that he had made his way to the hills, and found -this refuge among the ruins of Tusculum, or in some woodland grotto -about Albano, or that some of the herdsmen's huts upon the Campagna -amid the broken arches of the aqueducts received and concealed him, it -is impossible to tell. It is said that the place of his retreat was -made known by a light from heaven which made an illumination about him -in his stony refuge, for the legend is unsparing in the breadth of its -effects and easily appropriates the large miracle which in the Old -Testament attends the passage of a whole nation to the service of an -individual, without any of that sense of proportion which is to be -found in older records. This light suggests somehow the wide breadth -of the Campagna where its distant glow could be seen from afar, from -the battlements of Rome herself, rather than the more distant hills. -And we must hope that this direct betrayal by Heaven of his -hiding-place showed Gregory that the appointment against which he -struggled had in fact the sanction of the higher powers. - -He speaks, however, in many of his works of the great repugnance he -felt to take the cares of such an office upon him. He had allowed -himself to be ordained a deacon with reluctance, and only apparently -on an understanding that when the emergency which called for his -services was over he might be permitted to retire again to his -cloister. His letter to Leander already referred to is full of the -complaint that "when the ministry of the altar was so heavy a weight, -the further burden of the pastoral charge was fastened on me, which I -now find so much the more difficulty in bearing as I feel myself -unequal to it, and cannot find consolation in any comfortable -confidence in myself." To another correspondent he remonstrates -against the censure he met with for having endeavoured to escape from -so heavy a charge. These hesitations are not like those with which it -is usual to find the great men of the Church refusing honours, since -it is no profession of humility which moves Gregory, but his -overwhelming sense of the difficulties and danger to which the chief -pastor of the Church would necessarily be exposed. His idea of his -position is indeed very different from that of those who consider him -as one of the first to conceive the great plan of the papacy, and as -working sedulously and with intention at the foundations of an -institution which he expected to last for hundreds of years and to -sway the fortunes of the world. He was on the contrary fully persuaded -that all the signs of the times foretold instead, the end of the -world and final winding up of human history. The apostles had believed -so before him, and every succeeding age had felt the catastrophe to be -only for a little while delayed. Nation was rising against nation -under his very eyes, earthquakes destroying the cities of the earth, -and pestilence their populations. There had been signs in heaven -generally reported and believed, fiery ranks of combatants meeting in -conflict in the very skies, and every token of judgment about to fall. -Little thought was there in his mind of a triumphant and potent -ecclesiastical economy which should dominate all things. "I being -unworthy and weak have taken upon me the care of the old and battered -vessel," he says in one of his epistles written soon after his -election; "the waves make their way in on all sides, and the rotten -planks, shattered by daily and violent storms, threaten imminent -shipwreck." An old and battered vessel, it had borne the strain of six -centuries--a long time to those who knew nothing of the ages to come: -and now struggled on its way beaten by winds and waves, not knowing -when the dreadful moment expected by so many generations might come, -when the sun should be turned into darkness and the moon into -blood--the only signs that were yet wanting of the approach of that -great and terrible day. How different were these anticipations from -any conscious plan of conquest or spiritual empire; and how much more -fully justified by all that was happening around that broken, -suffering, poor, breathless and hopeless capital of the world! - -Yet it is evident enough that this one resolute man, toiling in every -possible way for the protection of the people round him, did put a -certain heart in the city which had come through so many convulsions. -Crowded with fugitives, decimated with pestilence, left for many -months without any more able head than the half-hearted prætors and -officials of the state and the distant exarch at Ravenna, with all of -whom, according to Gregory's own witness, the exaction of taxes was -the chief object--a strong and steadfast ruler in the midst of this -distracted people changed in every way the disposition of affairs. For -one thing he seems to have taken upon him from the beginning the care -and nourishment of the poor. It had been the principle of the Church -from her earliest days that almsgiving was one of the first of duties, -and the care of the poor her inalienable right; but such a time of -disaster made something more heroic needful than the usual doles and -charities. A large proportion of the population of Rome came upon -Gregory's hands to be fed and provided for. Lists of the destitute -poor, of their houses and circumstances, were kept with the greatest -care; and we are told that before the Pope sat down to any meal the -tables for the poor outside were first supplied. How dreadful to any -philanthropist now this straightforward and matter-of-fact feeding of -the hungry! but it was the manner of Christianity, most understood and -approved in the early ages, the one with which even the most -enlightened of politicians had no fault to find. This was the first -idea in every evangelical soul, but it was by no means the limit of -Gregory's exertions. He had learned diplomacy as well as charity in -the experiences of his past life, and every resource of his skill and -knowledge were needed for the salvation of the otherwise hopeless -city. In all the dignity of his spiritual office, yet with all the -arts of a statesman, we can see him standing as it were before the -gates of Rome, as Horatius stood on the banks of the Tiber. It is -sometimes to Constantinople, sometimes to the host of the invaders, -that he turns explaining, arguing, pleading on one side and another -for the safety of his city and people. His letters to the Emperor and -to the Empress on one hand, and those to Queen Theodolinda on the -other hand, the wife of the invader--show with what persistency and -earnestness he defended Rome and its people who were his special -charge and flock, and who had neither ruler nor defender save himself. -This was one of his ways of establishing the sway of the papacy, it is -said; it was at the same time, and primarily, the stepping forth of -the only man who could or would put himself at the head of a -disorganised and trembling host without leader or defender. He, only -he, stood fast to strike for them, to intercept destruction hanging -over their heads, and it, would be a curious fact indeed in human -nature if such a man performed his first duty for the sake of an -unformed empire to come after hundreds of years had passed. He -succeeded with the barbarians, preserving Rome from the attacks which -were often threatened but never carried out; but he did little good -with Maurice, who on his side had few troops to send and no general -able to make a successful campaign against the Lombards. The officers -and the armies of the empire were of use in exacting taxes for the -imperial treasury, but not for opposing a vigorous invader or rescuing -a defenceless people. - -It is never pretended by any of his biographers or admirers that -Gregory was a man of learning, or even interested very much in the -preservation of letters, or the progress of intellectual life. -Learning and philosophy were the inheritance of the Greek Church, -which was the very presumptuous and arrogant rival of Rome, and the -cradle of most of the heresies and all the difficult and delicate -questions which had troubled the peace of the Church. He is accused, -though without sufficient evidence, of burning a library of Latin -poets, a thing which he might well have done, according to his ideas, -without much sense of guilt. There has never been an age in which -certain books have not been liable to that reformation by fire, and -the principle is quite as strong now as in the sixth century, so we -need not take pains to exonerate Gregory from such an imputation. He -did not, like Jerome, love the literature which was full of -classical images and allusions. Neither Cicero nor Plato would have -tempted him to occupy himself with vain studies. "The same mouth," he -says, "should not pronounce the name of Jupiter and that of Christ;" -yet at the same time he expresses strong regret that letters had died -out of Rome, amid all the tumults through which she had passed. Amid -the jargon of barbarians heard on every side, Greek, he complains, had -fallen almost out of knowledge. There were few men learned enough to -settle a question of doctrine by reference to the original text of -Scripture. "Those we have are good for little but to translate word by -word; they are unable to grasp the sense, and it is with difficulty -that we understand their translations." He does not take any credit -for his own style, which indeed is anything but Ciceronian. He -complains with great simplicity, at the end of his dedication to -Leander of his Moralia, of the "collisions of metacism," a difficulty -about the letter _m_ which would seem to have been as troublesome as -the letter _h_ in our own day; and anticipates criticism by confessing -that he has neglected the "cases of prepositions." "For I account it -far from meet," he says, taking as we should say in Scotland, "the -first word of flyting," and with a high hand, "to submit the words of -the Divine Oracle to the rules of (the grammarian) Donatus." As who -should say Lindley Murray has nothing to do with the language of a -sermon. This was a great deal for a man to say, one of whose early -feats in life had been the conviction and conversion by argument of -Eutychius, whose heresy in respect to the body of the resurrection (a -sufficiently distant and far-off subject to disturb the Church -about--but such twists of impossible doctrine have always affected -some minds) survived himself--but who acknowledged with his dying -breath that he was wrong and Gregory right. - - [Illustration: ARCH OF CONSTANTINE. - _To face page 152._] - -Doctrine, however, was not the point on which Gregory was most -strong--his Dialogues, written it is said for the edification and -strengthening in the faith of the Empress Theodolinda, are nothing -more than pious discussions and sanctions of the miracles performed by -the saints, which we fear would have a very contrary effect if -published in our day. His works upon the pastoral law and the -discipline of the Church are the most valuable and important of his -productions; though in these also his point of view is extraordinarily -different from ours, and he advises a kind and degree of toleration -which is somewhat appalling to hear of. For instance, in his -instructions to Augustine and his band of missionaries Gregory -instructs them to interfere as little as possible with the customs, -especially in the matter of religious observances, of the people among -whom they were sent. They were not to put down the familiar -accompaniments of their converts' native rites and ceremonies. The old -temples of Woden and Thor were not to be abandoned but turned to a new -and better use; even the system of sacrifice to these gods was not to -be altogether set aside. "Let there be no more victims to demons," he -says with curious casuistry, "but let them kill and eat giving thanks -to God; for you must leave them some material enjoyments that they may -so much more easily enter into the delights of the soul." On the other -hand, his instructions to a bishop of Sardinia bear a curiously -different character. He recommended this prelate to put a pressure -more or less gentle upon the peasants there who still remained pagan, -in the form of an increased rent and taxes until such time as they -should become Christian. "Though, conversion does not come by force," -he says with sagacious cynicism, "yet the children of these mercenary -converts will receive baptism in their innocence and will be better -Christians than their fathers;" an argument which certainly embodies -much economic truth if not exactly the spirit of the Gospel. - - [Illustration: THE PIAZZA DEL POPOLO.] - -Strangely different from these worldly-wise suggestions, however, are -the detailed instructions for pastoral work, quoted by Bede, in -Gregory's answer to the questions of Augustine, in which the -artificial conscience of the confessional suddenly appears in full -development, by the side of those strange counsels of a still -semi-pagan age. Nothing can be more remarkable than this contrast, -which exacts a more than Levitical punctilio of observance from the -devout, while leaving open every door for the entrance of the profane. -Though he entered with so much reluctance upon the pastoral care of -the Church, no one has laid down more detailed directions for the cure -of souls. It would seem to have been in reality one of the things -which interested him most. His mind was in some respects that of a -statesman full of the broadest sense of expediency and of the -practicable, and of toleration and compromise carried to a length -which fills us with dismay; while on the other it was that of a parish -legislator, an investigator of personal details, to whom no trifle was -unimportant, and the most fantastic stipulations of ritualistic -purification of as great moment as morality itself. - -In contrast however with those letters which recommended what was -little more than a forced conversion, and which have been frequently -cited as examples of the unscrupulousness of the early missionaries, -we must here quote some of Gregory's pastoral instructions in which -the true spirit of a pastor shines forth. "Nothing," he says in one of -his epistles to the bishops with whom he kept up constant -communications, "is so heavy a burden upon a priest as so to bend the -force of his own mind in sympathy, as _to change souls_ (_cum personis -supervenientibus animam mutare_) with each new person who approaches -him; yet this is very necessary." Nothing could be more happy in -expression or fine in sentiment, and it shows how completely the -monk-Pope, in cloister and on throne, understood the essential -character of his great profession. Still more remarkable, as more -involved in personal matters, is his advice to Augustine, who had -consulted him as to the differences in worship between the Gallican -churches and those of Rome. - - "You know, my brother, the custom of the Roman Church in - which you were bred up. But it will please me if when you - have found anything, either in the Roman or Gallican or any - other Church, which may be more acceptable to Almighty God, - you will carefully make choice of the same, and sedulously - teach the Church of the English, which as yet is new in the - faith, whatsoever good thing you can gather from the - several Churches. For things are not to be loved for the - sake of places, but places for the sake of good things. - Choose therefore from every Church those things that are - pious, religious and upright, and when you have as it were - made them into one system, let the minds of the English be - accustomed thereto." - -This is surely the truest and highest toleration. - -The Papacy of Gregory began in trouble and distress; Rome was more -disorganised, more miserable, more confused and helpless than almost -ever before, although she had already passed through many a terrible -crisis; and he had shrunk from the terrible task of setting her right. -But when he had once undertaken that task there was neither weakness -nor hesitation in the manner with which he carried it out. The public -penance and humiliation to which he moved the people, the septiform -litany with its chanting and weeping crowds, the ceaseless prayers and -intercessions in the Church were not all, though no doubt the chief -part to Gregory, of those methods by which he sustained the courage, -or rather put a heart into, the broken-down population, so that for -once a show of resistance was made when the Lombards threatened the -city. And his anxious negotiations never ceased. The Emperor, far off -and indifferent, not to say helpless, in Constantinople, had no rest -from the constant remonstrances and appeals of the ever-watchful -Bishop. Gregory complained and with reason that no efforts, or at -least but fictitious ones, were made for the help of Rome, and that -the indifference or hostility of the Emperor was more dangerous to her -than the arms of the Lombards. On the other hand he addressed himself -to the headquarters of the invaders, taking as his champion--as was -his custom, as it has always been the custom of the Churchman--the -Queen Theodolinda, who had become a Catholic and baptized her son in -that faith, notwithstanding the opposition of her Arian husband, and -was therefore a very fitting and natural intercessor. "What an -overwhelming charge it is!" he cries to one of his correspondents, "to -be at once weighted with the supervision of the bishops and clergy, of -the monasteries and the entire people, and to remain all the time -watchful to every undertaking of the enemy and on my guard against the -robbery and injustice of our rulers." It was indeed a burden under -which few men could have stood. - -Gregory appears to have neglected no movement of the foe, to have -noted every exaction and treachery from Constantinople, to have -remembered every bishop in the furthest-off regions, and to have -directed to each in turn his expostulations, his entreaties, his -reproofs. We have been told in our own day of the overwhelming weight -of business (attributed to facilities of post and daily -communications) which almost crushes an English archbishop, although -that dignitary besides the care of the Church has but such an amount -of concern in public matters as a conscientious adviser must have. But -Gregory was responsible for everything, the lives and so far as was -possible the liberties of his city and people, their daily bread, -their safety, their very existence, besides that cure of souls which -was his special occupation. The mass of correspondence, which beside -all his other work he managed to get through, forgetting nothing, is -enough to put any modern writer of hasty notes and curt business -letters to shame. On this point there may be said a word of apology -for the much-harassed Pope in respect to that one moment in his -history, in which his conduct cannot be defended by his warmest -admirer. His prayers and appeals were treated with contempt at -Constantinople, a contempt involving not his own person alone, but -Rome and the Church, for which the Emperor Maurice did not even -pretend to care. And when that Emperor was suddenly swept away, it is -natural enough that a sensation of relief, a touch of hope in the new -man who, notwithstanding the treachery and cruelty of the first step -in his career, might turn out better than his predecessor, should have -gleamed across the mind of a distant, and perhaps at first imperfectly -informed spectator, whose interests were so closely concerned. The -complacency with which Gregory wrote to Phocas, the amazing terms he -used to that murderer and tyrant, will always be the darkest stain on -his reputation. Under Maurice the ministers of the empire had been -more oppressive than the invaders. Perhaps under Phocas better things -might be hoped for. It is all that can be said for this unfortunate -moment of his career; but it is something nevertheless. - -It was not till 597, when he had occupied his bishopric for seven -years, that Gregory succeeded in carrying out the long-cherished -scheme of the mission to England, which had been for many years so -near his heart. It is said that he himself had purchased some of the -captive boys who caught his eye in the streets, and trained them in -the Christian doctrine and faith, in order that they might act as -interpreters and commend the missionaries to their people, an -expedient which has been so largely followed (and of course boasted of -as an original thought) in recent missions. These boys would by this -time have attained the age of manhood, and perhaps this determined the -moment at which Augustine and his companions were sent forth. They -were solemnly consecrated in the chapel of the convent on the -Coelian hill, Gregory's beloved home, to which he always returned -with so much affection, and to which they also belonged, monks of the -same house. Their names are inscribed in the porch of the present -church after that of their master, with designations strangely -familiar to our British ears--S. Augustine, Apostle of England; S. -Lawrence, Archbishop of Canterbury; S. Mellitus, of London and -Canterbury; S. Justus, of Rochester; S. Paulinus, of York, appear in -the record, the first teachers and ecclesiastical dignitaries of Saxon -England. The church in which this consecration took place exists no -longer; the present building, its third or fourth successor, dates -only from the eighteenth century, and is dedicated to S. Gregory -himself; but the little piazza now visited by so many pilgrims is -unchanged, and it was from this small square, so minute a point amid -the historic places of Rome, that the missionary party set forth, -Augustine and his brethren kneeling below, while the Pope, standing at -the head of the steps, gave them his parting blessing. No doubt the -young Angles, with their golden locks of childhood matured into russet -tones, who had filled Gregory's mind with so many thoughts, were in -the group, behind the black-robed Benedictine brothers whose guides -and interpreters they were to be. - -This is an association full of interest for every Englishman, and has -attracted many pilgrims from the nation whose faith has undergone so -many vicissitudes, and in which the Pope's authority has been as -vehemently decried in one age as strongly upheld in another; but -whatever our opinions on that point may be, there can be nothing here -but affectionate and grateful remembrance of the man of God who had so -long cherished the scheme, which thus at length with fatherly -benedictions and joy at heart, he was able to carry out. He himself -would fain have gone on this mission many years before; but the care -of all the Churches, and the tribulations of a distracted world, had -made that for ever impossible, and he was now growing old, in feeble -health, and with but a few years of work before him. The hearts of the -missionaries were not so strong as that of this great Servant of the -servants of God who sent them away with his blessing. Terrors of the -sea and terrors of the wilds, the long journey and the savage tribes -at the end of it, were in their hearts. When they had got nearly over -their journey and were resting a little to recover their health among -the Gauls,--fierce enough indeed, but still with sanctuaries of peace -and holy brethren among them--before crossing the terrible channel, -Augustine wrote beseeching letters, begging to be recalled. But let us -hope that at the moment of dedication these terrors had scarcely yet -got hold upon them. And to Gregory the occasion was one of unmingled -satisfaction and joy. The Pope did not in those days wear the white -robes which distinguish his dignity now. Gregory was presumably -indifferent to such signs and tokens; for in the portrait of him which -still exists in the description given of it by John the Deacon, he -wears a dress scarcely distinguishable from the ordinary dress of a -layman. But as he stood upon the steps in front of the church, -separated from all the attendants, and raised his hands in blessing, -the scene is one that any painter might covet, and which to many a -visitor from these distant islands of the seas will make the little -Piazza di San Gregorio more interesting in its simplicity than any -other spot in storied Rome. - -It would occupy too much time to quote here his long and careful -letters to the bishops of the West generally--from Sicily which always -seems to have been the object of his special care, to those in Gaul -and his missionaries in England. That he assumed an unquestioned -authority over them is clear, an authority which had more or less been -exercised by the Bishop of Rome for many generations before him: and -that he was unfeignedly indignant at the pretensions of John of -Constantinople to be called Universal Bishop is also certain. These -facts however by no means prove that a great scheme of papal authority -was the chief thing in his mind, underlying all his undertakings. When -the historians speak of Gregory as spreading the supremacy of the -Church of Rome by his missions, notably by that mission to England of -which I have just spoken, they forget that the salvation of the souls -lying in darkness is a motive which has moved men in every age to the -greatest sacrifices, and that we have no reason in the world to -believe that it was not the faith of Christ rather than the supremacy -of Rome which was Gregory's object. The Apostles themselves might be -said in the same way to have been spreading their own supremacy when -they obeyed the injunction of their Master to go over the whole world -and preach the Gospel to every creature. The one sovereignty was -actually implied in the other--but it requires a very robust faith in -a preconceived dogma, and a very small understanding of human nature, -to be able to believe that when the meditative monk paused in his -walk, with compassion and interest, to look at the angelic boys, and -punned tenderly with tears in his eyes over their names and nation -and king, the idea immediately sprang up in his mind not that -Allelujah should be sung in the dominions of King Alle, but that this -wild country lost in the midst of the seas should be brought under a -spiritual sceptre not yet designed. - -Gregory thought as the Apostles thought, that the days of the world -were numbered, and that his own generation might see its records -closed. That is an idea which never has stopped any worthy man in -undertakings for the good of the world--but it was a belief better -established, and much more according to all the theories and dogmas of -the age, than a plan of universal dominion for the Church such as is -attributed to him. He did his duty most energetically and strenuously -in every direction--never afraid of being supposed to interfere, using -the prestige of the Apostolical See freely for every ecclesiastical -purpose. And he became prince in Rome, an absolute sovereign by stress -of circumstance and because every other rule and authority had failed. -Whether these practical necessities vaguely formed themselves into -visions of spiritual empire before the end of his life it is -impossible to tell: as it is equally impossible to tell what dreams of -happiness or grandeur may enter into any poor man's brain. But so -large and world-embracing a plan seldom springs fully formed into any -mind, and in his words he never claimed, nay, vehemently denied and -repudiated, any pretension of the kind. It is curious how difficult it -is to get the world to believe that a man placed in a position of -great responsibility, at the head of any institution, is first of all -actuated by the desire of doing his work, whatever the ulterior -results may be. - -Gregory's activity was boundless, though his health was weak, and his -sufferings many. Fastings in his youth and neglect at all times told -early upon his constitution. The dinner of herbs which his mother sent -him daily, and which is sometimes described as uncooked--salad to wit, -which enters so largely into the sustenance of the Italian poor--is a -kind of fare which does not suit a delicate digestion; but he spared -himself nothing on this account, though he had reached such a pitch of -weakness that he was at last, as he bitterly laments, unable to fast -at all, even on Easter Eve, when even little children abstain from -food. Beside all the labours which I have already noted, there remains -one detail which has done perhaps more to make the common world -familiar with his name than all the rest; and that is the reformation -in music which he accomplished among all his other labours. Church -music is the only branch of the art of which we have any authentic -record which dates so far back, and the Gregorian chant still exists -among us, with that special tone of wailing mingled with its solemn -measures which is characteristic of all primitive music. - - "Four scales," says Mr. Helmore in _The Dictionary of - Music_, "traditionally ascribed to St. Ambrose, existed - before the time of St. Gregory. These, known as the - Authentic Modes, and since the thirteenth century named - after the ancient Greek scales from which they were - supposed to be derived, are as follows: 1, Dorian; 2, - Phrygian; 3, Lydian; 4, Mixo-Lydian. To the four Authentic - St. Gregory added four Plagal, _i.e._ collateral or - relative Modes. Each is a fourth below its corresponding - original, and is called by the same name with the prefix - hypo ([Greek: hypo], below), as follows: 5, Hypo-Dorium; 6, - Hypo-Phrygian; 7, Hypo-Lydian; 8, Hypo-Mixo-Lydian.... - Handel's 'Hanover' among modern tunes, which ranges from F - to F has its finale on B flat. 'Should auld acquaintance be - forgot' is also a specimen of a tune in a Plagal Mode - descending about a fourth below its final, and rising above - it only six notes, closing upon the final of its tone." - -This may be a little too learned for the ordinary reader, but it is -interesting to find how far the influence of the busy old Pope, who -had a finger in every pie, could go. There is a very curious -commentary by John the Deacon, Gregory's later biographer, upon this -new musical system and its adoption throughout Europe, which makes a -good pendant to the scientific description. The Italians seem then as -now to have had a poor opinion of German modes of singing. - - "This music was learned easily by the Germans and Gauls, - but they could not retain it because of making additions of - their own, and also because of their barbarous nature. - Their Alpine bodies resounding to their depths with the - thunders of their voices, do not properly give forth the - sweetness of the modulation, the savage roughness of their - bibulous throat when it attempts to give forth a delicate - strain, producing rather harsh sounds with a natural crash, - as of waggons sounding confusedly over the scales." - -This is not flattering; but one can imagine something very like it -coming from the lips of an Italian Maestro in our own day. The -tradition goes that Gregory himself instructed the choristers, for -whom he had established schools endowed each with its little property, -one in the precincts of St. Peter's, the other in those of St. John -Lateran, where his own residence was. And a couch is still shown on -which he lay while giving or superintending their lessons, and even -the whip with which he is said to have threatened the singers when -they made false notes. The last is little in accord with the Pope's -character, and we can scarcely imagine the twang through the air of -any whip in Gregory's hand: but it is probably as true as other more -agreeable circumstances of the legend. One can scarcely believe -however that amid his multitudinous occupations he could have had time -for more than a flying visit to the schools, however they might -interest him. - -Nor did he limit his exertions on behalf of ritual to the arrangement -of the music. We are told that the Missal of Pope Gelasius then used -in the Church was revised by him, and that he took away much, altered -some things and added a little, among other things a confession of -faith or _Credo_ of his own writing, which is something between the -Athanasian and Nicene Creeds. The Ordinary of the Mass remains now, -another authority tells us, very much as it came from his hands. Thus -his immediate authority and the impress of his mind remain on things -which are still in daily use. - - [Illustration: MONTE PINCIO, FROM THE PIAZZA DEL POPOLO.] - -And there could be no more familiar or characteristic figure in Rome -than that of this monk-Pope threading everywhere those familiar -streets, in which there were more ruins, and those all fresh and -terrible in their suggestions of life destroyed--than now: the gentle -spectator full of meditation, who lingered among the group of slaves, -and saw and loved and smiled at the Saxon boys: who passed by Trajan's -Forum which we all know so well, that field of broken pillars, not -then railed off and trim in all the orderliness of an outdoor museum, -but wild in the neglect of nature: and heard the story of the Emperor, -and loved him too, and poured out his soul to God for the great -heathen, so that the gates of Hades were rolled back and the soul set -free--strange parable of brotherly kindness as the dominant principle -of heart and life. We can follow him through all the lists of the poor -laid up in his Scrivii, like the catalogues of books enclosed in -caskets, in an old-fashioned library--with careful enumeration of -every half-ruined tenement and degraded palace where the miserable -had found shelter: or passing among the crowds who received their -portions before, not after, the Pope in the precincts of the great -basilica; or "modulating," with a voice broken by age and weakness, -the new tones of his music which the "bibulous throats" of the -barbarian converts turned into thunder, and of which even his own -choristers, careless as is their use, would make discords, till the -whip of the Master trembled in the air, adding the sting of a sharper -sound to the long-drawn notes of the monotone, and compelling every -heedless tenor and frivolous soprano to attention. These are his -simpler aspects, the lower life of the great Benedictine, the picture -of the Pope as he endeared himself to the popular imagination, round -which all manner of tender legends grew. His aspect is less familiar -yet not less true as he sits at the head of affairs, dictating or -writing with his own hand those innumerable letters which treat of -every subject under heaven, from the safety of Rome to the cross which -is to be hung round a royal infant's neck, or the amethyst ring for -the finger of a little princess; from the pretensions of John of -Constantinople, that would-be head of the Church, down to the ass sent -by the blundering intendant from Sicily. Nothing was too great, -nothing too little for his care. He had to manage the mint and cummin -without leaving graver matters undone. - -And the reader who has leisure may follow him into the maze of those -Dialogues in which Peter the Deacon serves as questioner, and the Pope -discourses gently, to improve his ignorance, of all the wonderful -things which the saints have done, chiefly in Italy, turning every law -of nature upside down: or follow him through the minute and endless -rules of his book of discipline, and note the fine-drawn scruples with -which he has to deal, the strange cases of conscience for which he -provides, the punctilio of extravagant penitence, so strangely -contrasted with the other rough and ready modes of dealing with the -unconverted, to which he gives the sanction of his recommendation. He -was a man of his time, not of ours: he flattered Phocas while his -hands were still wet with his predecessor's blood--though we may still -hope that at such a distance Gregory did not know all that had -happened or what a ruffian it was whom he thus addressed. He wrote -affectionately and with devotion to Queen Brunhild without inquiring -into that lady's character, which no doubt he knew perfectly. Where -the good of Rome, either the city or the Church, was concerned, he -stopped at nothing. I have no desire to represent him as faultless. -But the men who are faultless, if any are to be found, leave but a -limited record, and there is little more to say of perfection than -that it is perfect. Gregory was not so. He got very angry sometimes, -with bishops in Sicily, with stupid intendants, above all with that -Eastern John--and sometimes, which is worse, he was submissive and -compliant when he ought to have been angry and denounced a criminal. -But on the other hand he was the first of the great ecclesiastical -princes who have made Modern Rome illustrious--he was able, greatest -of miracles, to put a heart into the miserable city which had allowed -herself to be overrun by every savage: and stood between her and all -creation, giving the whole world assurance of a man, and fighting for -her with every weapon that came to his hand. Doing whatsoever he found -to do thoroughly well, he laid the foundations of that great power -which still extends over the whole world. I do not believe that he -acted on any plan or had the supremacy of the Pontificate in his mind, -or had conceived any idea of an ecclesiastical empire which should -grasp the universe. To say, for instance, that the mission to England -which he had cherished so long was undertaken with the idea of -extending the sway of the Papacy seems one of those follies of the -theorist which requires no answer. St. Paul might as well be accused -of intending to spread a spiritual empire when he saw in his dream -that man of Macedonia, and immediately directed his steps thither, -obeying the vision. What Gregory hoped and prayed for was to bring in -a new nation, as he judged a noble and vigorous race, to Christianity. -And he succeeded in doing so: with such secondary consequences as the -developments of time, and the laws of progress, and the course of -Providence brought about. - -There is a certain humour in the indignation, which has been several -times referred to, with which he turned against the Patriarch of -Constantinople and his pretensions to a supremacy which naturally was -in the last degree obnoxious to the Bishop of Rome. The Eastern and -Western Churches had already diverged widely from each other, the one -nourished and subdued under the shadow of a Court, in a leisure which -left it open to every refinement and every temptation, whether of -asceticism or heresy--both of which abounded: the other fighting hard -for life amid the rudest and most practical dangers, obliged to work -and fight like Nehemiah on the walls of Jerusalem with the tool in one -hand and the sword in the other. John the Faster, so distinguished -because of the voluntary privations which he imposed upon himself, -forms one of the most startling contrasts of this age with Gregory, -worn by work and warfare, whose spare and simple meal could not be -omitted even on the eve of Easter. That he who, sitting in St. Peter's -seat, with all the care of Church and country upon his shoulders, -obeyed by half the world, yet putting forth in words no such -pretension--should be aggrieved almost beyond endurance by the dignity -conferred on, or assumed by, the other bishop, whose see was not -apostolical but the mere creation of an emperor, and the claim put -forth by him and the Council called by him for universal obedience, is -very natural; yet Gregory's wrath has a fiercely human sense of -injury in it, an aggrieved individuality to which we cannot deny our -sympathy. "There is no doubt," he says with dignity, writing to the -Emperor on the subject, "that the keys of heaven were given to Peter, -the power of binding and loosing, and the care of the whole Church; -and yet he is not called Universal Apostle. Nor does it detract from -the honour of the See that the sins of Gregory are so great that he -ought to suffer; for there are no sins of Peter that he should be -treated thus. The honour of Peter is not to be brought low because of -us who serve him unworthily." "Oh tempora, oh mores!" he exclaims; -"Europe lies prostrate under the power of the barbarians. Its towns -are destroyed, its fortresses thrown down, its provinces depopulated, -the soil has no longer labourers to till it; and yet priests who ought -to humble themselves with tears in the dust strive after vain honours -and glorify themselves with titles new and profane!" To John himself -he writes with more severity, reminding him of the vaunt of Lucifer in -Isaiah, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven." Now -bishops, he says, are the stars of heaven, they shine over men; they -are clouds (the metaphors are mixed) that rain words and are lighted -up by the rays of good works. "What, then," he asks, "is the act of -your paternity, in looking down upon them and pressing them into -subjection, but following the example of the ancient enemy? When I see -this I weep that the holy man, the Lord John, a man so renowned for -self-sacrifice, should so act. Certainly Peter was first in the whole -Church. Andrew, James, and the others were but heads of the people; -yet all made up one body, and none were called Universal." - - [Illustration: THE FORUM. - _To face page 170._] - -The argument with which Gregory replies to a letter from Eulogius, -Bishop of Alexandria, who had wished him to assume himself a similar -title, is curious. The Apostolical See, he says, consists of three -bishoprics, all held by St. Peter, that of Antioch, that of -Alexandria, and that of Rome, and the honour of the title is shared -between them. "If you give me more than my due," he adds, "you rob -yourself. If I am named Pope, you own yourself to be no pope. Let no -such thing be named between us. My honour is the honour of the -Universal Church. I am honoured in the honour paid to my brethren." -Nothing could be more determined than this oft-repeated refusal. Yet -he never fails to add that it was Peter's right. The Council of -Chalcedon, he says, offered that supreme title to the Church of Rome, -which refused it. How much greater then, was the guilt of John, to -whom it was never offered, but who assumed it, injuring all priests by -setting himself above them, and the Empire itself by a position -superior to it? Such were the sentiments of Gregory, in which the -wrath of a natural heir, thus supplanted by a usurper, gives fervour -to every denunciation. The French historian Villemain points out, what -will naturally occur to the reader, that many of these arguments were -afterwards used with effect by Luther and his followers against the -assumptions of the Church of Rome. It will also be remembered that -Jerome put the case more strongly still, denouncing the Scarlet Woman -with as much fervour as any No-Popery orator. - -But while he rejected all such titles and assumed for himself only -that, conceived no doubt in all humility and sincere meaning, but -afterwards worn with pride surpassing that of any earthly monarch, of -Servus Servorum Dei, the servant of the servants of God, Gregory -occupied himself, as has been said, with the care of all the churches -in full exercise of the authority and jurisdiction of an overseer, at -least over the western half of Christendom. Vain titles he would have -none, and we cannot doubt his sincerity in rejecting them; but the -reality of the pastoral supervision, never despotic, but continual, -was clearly his idea of his own rights and duties. It has been seen -what license he left to Augustine in the regulation of the new -English Church. He acted with an equally judicious liberality in -respect to the rich and vigorous Gallican bishops, never demanding too -servile an obedience, but never intermitting his superintendence of -all. But he does not seem to have put forth the smallest pretension to -political independence, even when that was forced upon him by his -isolated and independent position, and he found himself compelled to -make his own terms with the Lombard invaders. At the moment of his -election as Bishop of Rome, he appealed to the Emperor against the -popular appointment, and only when the imperial decision was given -against him allowed himself to be dragged from his solitude. And one -of his accusations against John of Constantinople was that his -assumption injured the very Empire itself in its supreme authority. -Thus we may, and indeed I think must, conclude that Gregory's supposed -theory of the universal papal power was as little real as are most -such elaborate imputations of purpose conceived long before the event. -He had no intention, so far as the evidence goes, of making himself an -arbitrator between kings, and a judge of the world's actions and -movements. He had enough and too much work of his own which it was his -determination to do, as vigorously and with as much effect as -possible--in the doing of which work it was necessary to influence, to -conciliate, to appeal, as well as to command and persuade: to make -terms with barbarians, to remonstrate with emperors, as well as to -answer the most minute questions of the bishops, and lay out before -them the proper course they were to pursue. There is nothing so easy -as to attribute deep-laid plans to the great spirits among men. I do -not think that Gregory had time for any such ambitious projects. He -had to live for the people dependent upon him, who were a multitude, -to defend, feed, guide and teach them. He had never an unoccupied -moment, and he did in each moment work enough for half a dozen men. -That it was his duty to superintend and guide everything that went on, -so far as was wise or practicable, in the Church as well as in his -immediate diocese, was clearly his conviction, and the reader may find -it a little difficult to see why he should have guarded that power so -jealously, yet rejected the name of it: but that is as far as any -reasonable criticism can go. - -What would seem an ancient complaint against Gregory appears in the -sketch of his life given by Platina, in his _Lives of the Popes_--who -describes him as having been "censured by a few ignorant men as if the -ancient stately buildings were demolished by his order, lest strangers -coming out of devotion to Rome should less regard the consecrated -places, and spend all their gaze upon triumphal arches and monuments -of antiquity." This curious accusation is answered by the author in -words which I quote from an almost contemporary translation very -striking in its forcible English. "No such reproach," says Platina in -the vigorous version of Sir Paul Rycant, Knight, "can justly be -fastened on this great Bishop, especially considering that he was a -native of the city, and one to whom, next after God, his country was -most dear, even above his life. 'Tis certain that many of those ruined -structures were devoured by time, and many might, as we daily see, be -pulled down to build new houses; and for the rest 'tis probable that, -for the sake of the brass used in the concavity of the arches and the -conjunctures of the marble or other square stones, they might be -battered or defaced not only by the barbarous nations but by the -Romans too, if Epirotes, Dalmatians, Pannonians, and other sorry -people who from all parts of the world resorted hither, may be called -Romans." - -This is a specious argument which would not go far toward establishing -Gregory's innocence were he seriously accused: but the accusation, -like that of burning classical manuscripts, has no proof. Little -explanation, however, is necessary to account for the ruins of a city -which has undergone several sieges. That Gregory would have helped -himself freely as everybody did, and has done in all ages, to the -materials lying so conveniently at hand in the ruined palaces which -nobody had any mission to restore, may be believed without doubt; for -he was a man far too busy and preoccupied to concern himself with -questions of Art, or set any great price upon the marble halls of -patrician houses, however interesting might be their associations or -beautiful their structure. But he built few new churches, we are -expressly told, though he was careful every year to look into the -condition of all existing ecclesiastical buildings and have them -repaired. It seems probable that it might be a later Gregory however -against whom this charge was made. In the time of Gregory the First -these ruins were recent, and it was but too likely that at any moment -a new horde of unscrupulous iconoclasts might sweep over them again. - -There came however a time when the Pope's suffering and emaciated body -could bear no longer that charge which was so burdensome. He had been -ill for many years, suffering from various ailments and especially -from weakness of digestion, and he seems to have broken down -altogether towards the year 601. Agelulphus thundering at his gates -had completed what early fastings and the constant work of a laborious -life had begun, and at sixty Gregory took to his bed, from which, as -he complains in one of his letters, he was scarcely able to rise for -three hours on the great festivals of the Church in order to celebrate -Mass. He was obliged also to conclude abruptly that commentary on -Ezekiel which had been so often interrupted, leaving the last vision -of the prophet unexpounded, which he regretted the more that it was -one of the most dark and difficult, and stood in great need of -exposition. "But how," he says, "can a mind full of trouble clear up -such dark meanings? The more the mind is engaged with worldly things -the less is it qualified to expound the heavenly." It was from Ezekiel -that Gregory was preaching when the pestilence which swept away his -predecessor Pelagius was raging in Rome, and when, shutting the book -which was no longer enough with its dark sayings to calm the troubles -of the time, he had called out to the people, with a voice which was -as that of their own hearts, to repent. All his life as Pope had been -threaded through with the study of this prophet. He closed the book -again and finally when all Rome believed that another invasion was -imminent, and his courage failed in this last emergency. It is curious -to associate the name of such a man, so full of natural life and -affection, so humorous, so genial, so ready to take interest in -everything that met his eyes, with these two saddest figures in all -the round of sacred history, the tragic patriarch Job, and the exiled -prophet, who was called upon to suffer every sorrow in order to be a -sign to his people and generation. Was it that the very overflowing of -life and sympathy in him made Gregory seek a balance to his own -buoyant spirit in the plaints of those two melancholy voices? or was -it the misfortunes of his time, so distracted and full of miserable -agitation, which directed him at least to the latter, the prophet of a -fallen nation, of disaster and exile and penitence? - -Thus he lay after his long activities, suffering sorely, and longing -for the deliverance of death, though he was not more, it is supposed, -than sixty-two when the end came. From his sick bed he wrote to many -of his friends entreating that they would pray for him that his -sufferings might be shortened and his sins forgiven. He died finally -on the 12th of March, ever afterwards consecrated to his name, in the -year 603. This event must have taken place in the palace at the -Lateran, which was then the usual dwelling of the Popes. Here the sick -and dying man could look out upon one of the finest scenes on earth, -the noble line of the Alban Hills rising over the great plains of the -Campagna, with all its broken lines of aqueduct and masses of ruin. -The features of the landscape are the same, though every accessory is -changed, and palace and basilica have both crumbled into the dust of -ages, to be replaced by other and again other buildings, handing down -the thread of historic continuity through all the generations. There -are scarcely any remains of the palace of the Popes itself, save one -famous mosaic, copied from a still earlier one, in which a recent -learned critic sees the conquest of the world by papal Rome already -clearly set forth. But we can scarcely hope that any thought of the -first Gregory will follow the mind of the reader into the precincts of -St. John of the Lateran Gate. His memory abides in another place, in -the spot where stood his father's house, where he changed the lofty -chambers of the Roman noble into Benedictine cells, and lived and -wrote and mused in the humility of an obedient brother. But still more -does it dwell in the little three-cornered piazza before the Church of -St. Gregorio, from whence he sent forth the mission to England with -issues which he could never have divined--for who could have told in -those days that the savage Angles would have overrun the world further -than ever Roman standard was carried? The shadow of the great Pope is -upon those time-worn steps where he stood and blessed his brethren, -with moisture in his eyes and joy in his heart, sending them forth -upon the difficult and dangerous way which he had himself desired to -tread, but from which their spirits shrank. We have all a sacred right -to come back here, to share the blessing of the saint, to remember the -constant affection he bore us, his dedication of himself had it been -permitted, his never-ending thought of his angel boys which has come -to such wonderful issues. He would have been a more attractive apostle -than Augustine had he carried out his first intention; but still we -find his image here, fatherly, full of natural tenderness, interest -and sympathy, smiling back upon us over a dozen centuries which have -changed everything--except the historical record of Pope Gregory's -blessing and his strong desire and hope. - -He was buried in St. Peter's with his predecessors, but his tomb, like -so many others, was destroyed at the rebuilding of the great church, -and no memorial remains. - - [Illustration: PONTE MOLLE.] - - - - - [Illustration: THE PALATINE.] - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -THE MONK HILDEBRAND. - - -It is a melancholy thing looking back through the long depths of -history to find how slow the progress is, even if it can be traced at -all, from one age to another, and how, though the dangers and the -evils to which they are liable change in their character from time to -time, their gravity, their hurtfulness, and their rebellion against -all that is best in morals, and most advantageous to humanity, -scarcely diminish, however completely altered the conditions may be. -We might almost doubt whether the vast and as yet undetermined -possibilities of the struggle which has begun in our days between what -is called Capital and Labour, the theories held against all experience -and reason of a rising Socialism, and the mad folly of Anarchism, -which is their immediate climax--are not quite as dangerous to the -peace of nations as were the tumults of an age when every man acted -by the infallible rule that - - He should take who had the power - And he should keep who can-- - -the principle being entirely the same, though the methods may be -different. This strange duration of trouble, equal in intensity though -different in form, is specially manifest in a history such as that -which we take up from one age to another in so remarkable a -development of life and government as Mediæval Rome. We leave the city -relieved of some woes, soothed from some troubles, fed by much -charity, and weeping apparently honest tears over Gregory the first of -the name--although that great man was scarcely dead before the crowd -was taught to believe that he had impoverished the city by feeding -them, and were scarcely prevented from burning his library as a wise -and fit revenge. Still it might have been expected that Rome and her -people would have advanced a step upon the pedestal of such a life as -that of Gregory: and in fact he left many evils redressed, the -commonwealth safer, and the Church more pure. - -But when we turn the page and come, four hundred years later, to the -life of another Gregory, upon what a tumultuous world do we open our -eyes: what blood, what fire, what shouts and shrieks of conflict: what -cruelty and shame have reigned between, and still remained, ever -stronger than any influence of good men, or amelioration of knowledge! -Heathenism, save that which is engrained in the heart of man, had -passed away. There were no more struggles with the relics of the -classical past: the barbarians who came down in their hordes to -overturn civilisation had changed into settled nations, with all the -paraphernalia of state and great imperial authority--shifting indeed -from one race to another, but always upholding a central standard. All -the known world was nominally Christian. It was full of monks -dedicated to the service of God, of priests, the administrants of the -sacraments, and of bishops as important as any secular nobles--yet -what a scene is that upon which we look out through endless smoke of -battle and clashing of swords! Rome, at whose gates Alaric and Attila -once thundered, was almost less secure now, and less easily visited -than when Huns and Goths overran the surrounding country. It was -encircled by castles of robber nobles, who infested every road, -sometimes seizing the pilgrims bound for Rome, with their offerings -great and small, sometimes getting possession of these offerings in a -more thorough way by the election of a subject Pope taken from one of -their families, and always ready on every occasion to thrust their -swords into the balance and crush everything like freedom or purity -either in the Church or in the city. In the early part of the eleventh -century there were two if not three Popes in Rome. "Benedict IX. -officiated in the church of St. John Lateran, Sylvester III. in St. -Peter's, and John XX. in the church of St. Mary," says Villemain in -his life of Hildebrand: the name of the last does not appear in the -lists of Platina, but the fact of this profane rivalry is beyond -doubt. - -The conflict was brought to an end for the moment by a very curious -transaction. A certain dignified ecclesiastic, Gratiano by name, the -Cardinal-archdeacon of St. John Lateran, who happened to be rich, -horrified by this struggle, and not sufficiently enlightened as to the -folly and sin of doing evil that good might come--always, as all the -chronicles seem to allow, with the best motives--bought out the two -competitors, and procured his own election under the title of Gregory -VI. But this mistaken though well-meant act had but brief success. -For, on the arrival in 1046 of the Emperor Henry III. in Italy, at a -council called together by his desire, Gregory was convicted of the -strange bargain he had made, or according to Baronius of the violent -means taken to enforce it, and was deposed accordingly, along with his -two predecessors. It was this Pope, in his exile and deprivation, who -first brought in sight of a universe which he was born to rule, a -young monk of Cluny, Hildebrand--German by name, but Italian in heart -and race--who had already moved much about the world with the -extraordinary freedom and general access everywhere which we find -common to monks however humble their origin. From his monastic home in -Rome he had crossed the Alps more than once; he had been received and -made himself known at the imperial court, and was on terms of kindness -with many great personages, though himself but a humble brother of his -convent. No youthful cleric in our modern world nowadays would find -such access everywhere, though it is still possible that a young -Jesuit for instance, noted by his superiors for ability or genius, -might be handed on from one authority to another till he reached the -highest circle. But it is surprising to see how free in their -movements, how adventurous in their lives, the young members of a -brotherhood bound under the most austere rule then found it possible -to be. - -Hildebrand was, like so many other great Churchmen, a child of the -people. He was the son of a carpenter in a Tuscan village, who, -however, possessed one of those ties with the greater world which a -clergy drawn from the people affords to the humblest, a brother or -other near relation who was the superior of a monastery in Rome. There -the little Tuscan peasant took his way in very early years to study -letters, having already given proof of great intelligence such as -impressed the village and called forth prophecies of the highest -advancement to come. His early education brings us back to the holy -mount of the Aventine, on which we have already seen so many -interesting assemblies. The monastery of St. Mary has endured as -little as the house of Marcella, though it is supposed that in the -church of S. Maria Aventina there may still remain some portion of the -original buildings. But the beautiful garden of the Priorato, so great -a favourite with the lovers of the picturesque, guards for us, in that -fidelity of nature which time cannot discompose, the very spot where -that keen-eyed boy must have played, if he ever played, or at least -must have dreamed the dreams of an ambitious young visionary, and -perhaps, as he looked out musing to where the tombs of the Apostles -gleamed afar on the other side of Tiber, have received the inheritance -of that long hope and vision which had been slowly growing in the -minds of Popes and priests--the hope of making the Church the mistress -and arbiter of the nations, the supreme and active judge among all -tumults of earthly politics and changes of power. He was nourished -from his childhood in the house of St. Peter, says the biographer of -the Acta Sanctorum. It would be more easy to realise the Apostle's -sway, and that of his successors, on that mount of vision, where day -and night, by sun and moon, the great temple of Christendom, the -centre of spiritual life, shone before his eyes, than on any other -spot. That wonderful visionary sovereignty, the great imagination of a -central power raised above all the disturbances of worldly life, and -judging austerely for right and against wrong all the world -over--unbiassed, unaffected by meaner motives, the great tribunal from -which justice and mercy should go forth over the whole earth--could -there be a more splendid ideal to till the brain of an ardent boy? It -is seldom that such an ideal is recognised, or such dreams as these -believed in. We know how little the Papacy has carried it out, and how -the faults and weaknesses even of great men have for many centuries -taken all possibility from it. But it was while that wonderful -institution was still fully possible, the devoutest of imaginations, a -dream such as had never been surpassed in splendour and glory, that -young Hildebrand looked out to Peter's prison on the Janiculum -opposite, and from thence to Peter's tomb, and dreamt of Peter's white -throne of justice dominating the darkness and the self-seeking of an -uneasy world. - -The monastery of St. Mary, a Benedictine house, must have been noted -in its time. Among the teachers who instructed its neophytes was that -same Giovanni Gratiano of whom we have just spoken, the arch-priest -who devoted his wealth to the not ignoble purpose of getting rid of -two false and immoral Popes: though perhaps his motives would have -been less misconstrued had he not been elected in their place. And -there was also much fine company at the monastery in those -days--bishops with their suites travelling from south and north, -seeking the culture and piety of Rome after long banishment from -intellectual life--and at least one great abbot, more important than a -bishop, Odilon of Cluny, at the head of one of the greatest of -monastic communities. All of these great men would notice, no doubt, -the young nephew of the superior, the favourite of the cloister, upon -whom many hopes were already beginning to be founded, and in whose -education every one loved to have a hand. One of these bishops was -said afterwards to have taught him magical arts, which proves at least -that they took a share in the training of the child of the convent. At -what age it was that he was transferred to Cluny it is impossible to -tell. Dates do not exist in Hildebrand's history until he becomes -visible in the greater traffic of the world. He was born between 1015 -and 1020--this is the nearest that we can approach to accuracy. He -appears in full light of history at the deposition of Gratiano -(Gregory VI.) in 1045. In the meantime he passed through a great many -developments. Probably the youth--eager to see the world, eager too to -fulfil his vocation, to enter upon the mortifications and -self-abasement of a monk's career, and to "subdue the flesh" in true -monkish fashion, as well as by the fatigues of travel and the -acquirement of learning--followed Odilon and his train across _i -monti_, a favourite and familiar, when the abbot returned from Rome to -Cluny. It could not be permitted in the monkish chronicles, even to a -character like that of the austere Hildebrand all brain and spirit, -that he had no flesh to subdue. And we are not informed whether it was -at his early home on the Aventine or in the great French monastery -that he took the vows. The rule of Cluny was specially severe. One -poor half hour a day was all that was permitted to the brothers for -rest and conversation. But this would not matter much, we should -imagine, to young Hildebrand, all on fire for work, and full of a -thousand thoughts. - -How a youth of his age got to court, and was heard and praised by the -great Emperor Henry III., the head of Christendom, is not known. -Perhaps he went in attendance on his abbot, perhaps as the humble -clerk of some elder brethren bearing a complaint or an appeal; the -legend goes that he became the tutor and playfellow of the little -prince, Henry's son, until the Emperor had a dream in which he saw the -stranger, with two horns on his head, with one of which he pushed his -playfellow into the mud--significant and alarming vision which was a -reasonable cause for the immediate banishment of Hildebrand. The -dates, however, if nothing else, make this story impossible, for the -fourth Henry was not born within the period named. At all events the -young monk was sufficiently distinguished to be brought under the -Emperor's notice and to preach before him, though we are not informed -elsewhere that Hildebrand had any reputation as a preacher. He was no -doubt full of earnestness and strong conviction, and that heat of -youth which is often so attractive to the minds of sober men. Henry -declared that he had heard no man who preached the word of God with so -much faith: and the imperial opinion must have added much to his -importance among his contemporaries. On the other hand, the great -world of Germany and its conditions must have given the young man many -and strange revelations. Nowhere were the prelates so great and -powerful, nowhere was there so little distinction between the Church -and the world. Many of the clergy were married, and left, sometimes -their cures, often a fortune amassed by fees for spiritual offices, to -their sons: and benefices were bought and sold like houses and lands, -with as little disguise. A youth brought up in Rome would not be -easily astonished by the lawlessness of the nobles and subject princes -of the empire, but the importance of a central authority strong enough -to restrain and influence so vast a sphere, and so many conflicting -powers, must have impressed upon him still more forcibly the supreme -ideal of a spiritual rule more powerful still, which should control -the nations as a great Emperor controlled the electors who were all -but kings. And we know that it was now that he was first moved to that -great indignation, which never died in his mind, against simony and -clerical license, which were universally tolerated, if not -acknowledged as the ordinary rule of the age. It was high time that -some reformer should arise. - -It was not, however, till the year 1046, on the occasion of the -deposition of Gregory VI. for simony, that Hildebrand first came into -the full light of day. Curiously enough, the first introduction of -this great reformer of the Church, the sworn enemy of everything -simoniacal, was in the suite of this Pope deposed for that sin. But in -all probability the simony of Gregory VI. was an innocent error, and -resulted rather from a want of perception than evil intention, of -which evidently there was none in his mind. He made up to the rivals -who held Rome in fee, for the dues and tributes and offerings which -were all they cared for, by the sacrifice of his own fortune. If he -had not profited by it himself, if some one else had been elected -Pope, no stain would have been left upon his name: and he seems to -have laid down his dignities without a murmur: but his heart was -broken by the shame and bitter conviction that what he had meant for -good was in reality the very evil he most condemned. Henry proceeded -on his march to Rome after deposing the Pope, apparently taking -Gregory with him: and there without any protest from the silenced and -terrified people, nominated a German bishop of his own to the papal -dignity, from whose hands he himself afterwards received the imperial -crown. He then returned to Germany, sweeping along with him the -deposed and the newly-elected Popes, the former attended in silence -and sorrow by Hildebrand, who never lost faith in him, and to the end -of his life spoke of him as his master. - -A stranger journey could scarcely have been. The triumphant German -priests and prelates surrounding the new head of the Church, and the -handful of crestfallen Italians following the fallen fortunes of the -other, must have made a strange and not very peaceful conjunction. -"Hildebrand desired to show reverence to his lord," says one of the -chronicles. Thus his career began in the deepest mortification and -humiliation, the forced subjection of the Church which it was his -highest aim and hope to see triumphant, to the absolute force of the -empire and the powers of this world. - -Pope Gregory reached his place of exile on the banks of the Rhine, -with his melancholy train, in deep humility; but that exile was not -destined to be long. He died there within a few months: and his -successor soon followed him to the grave. For a short and disastrous -period Rome seems to have been left out of the calculations -altogether, and the Emperor named another German bishop, whom he sent -to Rome under charge of the Marquis, or Margrave, or Duke of -Tuscany--for he is called by all these titles. This Pope, however, was -still more short-lived, and died in three weeks after his -proclamation, by poison it was supposed. It is not to be wondered at -if the bishops of Germany began to be frightened of this magnificent -nomination. Whether it was the judgment of God which was most to be -feared, or the poison of the subtle and scheming Romans, the prospect -was not encouraging. The third choice of Henry fell upon Bruno, the -bishop of Toul, a relative of his own, and a saintly person of -commanding presence and noble manners. Bruno, as was natural, shrank -from the office, but after days of prayer and fasting yielded, and was -presented to the ambassadors from Rome as their new Pope. Thus the -head of the Church was for the third time appointed by the Emperor, -and the ancient privilege of his election by the Roman clergy and -people swept away. - -But Henry was not now to meet with complete submission and compliance, -as he had done before. The young Hildebrand had shown no rebellious -feeling when his master was set aside: he must have, like Gregory, -felt the decision to be just. And after faithful service till the -death of the exile, he had retired to Cluny, to his convent, pondering -many things. We are not told what it was that brought him back to -Germany at this crisis of affairs, whether he were sent to watch the -proceedings, or upon some humbler mission, or by the mere restlessness -of an able young man thirsting to be employed, and the instinct of -knowing when and where he was wanted. He reappeared, however, suddenly -at the imperial court during these proceedings; and no doubt watched -the summary appointment of the new Pope with indignation, injured in -his patriotism and in his churchmanship alike, by an election in which -Rome had no hand, though otherwise not dissatisfied with the Teutonic -bishop, who was renowned both for piety and learning. The chronicler -pauses to describe Hildebrand in this his sudden reintroduction to the -great world. "He was a youth of noble disposition, clear mind, and a -holy monk," we are told. It was while Bishop Bruno was still full of -perplexities and doubts that this unexpected counsellor appeared, a -man, though young, already well known, who had been trained in Rome, -and was an authority upon the customs and precedents of the Holy See. -He had been one of the closest attendants upon a Pope, and knew -everything about that high office--there could be no better adviser. -The anxious bishop sent for the young monk, and Hildebrand so -impressed him with his clear mind and high conception of the papal -duties, that Bruno begged him to accompany him to Rome. - -He answered boldly, "I cannot go with you." "Why?" said the Teuton -prelate with amazement. "Because without canonical institution," said -the daring monk, "by the sole power of the emperor, you are about to -seize the Church of Rome." - -Bruno was greatly startled by this bold speech. It is possible that -he, in his distant provincial bishopric, had no very clear knowledge -of the canonical modes of appointing a Pope. There were many -conferences between the monk and the Pope-elect, the young man who was -not born to hesitate but saw clear before him what to do, and his -elder and superior, who was neither so well informed nor so gifted. -Bruno, however, if less able and resolute, must have been a man of a -generous and candid mind, anxious to do his duty, and ready to accept -instruction as to the best method of doing so, which was at the same -time the noblest way of getting over his difficulties. He appeared -before the great diet or council assembled in Worms, and announced his -acceptance of the pontificate, but only if he were elected to it -according to their ancient privileges by the clergy and people of -Rome. It does not appear whether there was any resistance to this -condition, but it cannot have been of a serious character, for shortly -after, having taken farewell of his own episcopate and chapter, he set -out for Rome. - -This is the account of the incident given by Hildebrand himself when -he was the great Pope Gregory, towards the end of his career. It was -his habit to tell his attendants the story of his life in all its -varied scenes, during the troubled leisure of its end, as old men so -often love to do. "Part I myself heard, and part of it was reported to -me by many others," says one of the chroniclers. There is another -account which has no such absolute authority, but is not unreasonable -or unlikely, of the same episode, in which we are told that Bishop -Bruno on his way to Rome turned aside to visit Cluny, of which -Hildebrand was prior, and that the monk boldly assailed the Pope, -upbraiding him with having accepted from the hand of a layman so great -an office, and thus violently intruded into the government of the -Church. In any case Hildebrand was the chief actor and inspirer of a -course of conduct on the part of Bruno which was at once pious and -politic. The papal robes which he had assumed at Worms on his first -appointment were taken off, the humble dress of a pilgrim assumed, and -with a reduced retinue and in modest guise the Pope-elect took his way -to Rome. His episcopal council acquiesced in this change of demeanour, -says another chronicler, which shows how general an impression -Hildebrand's eloquence and the fervour of his convictions must have -made. It was a slow journey across the mountains lasting nearly two -months, with many lingerings on the way at hospitable monasteries, and -towns where the Emperor's cousin could not but be a welcome guest. -Hildebrand, who must have felt the great responsibility of the act -which he had counselled, sent letter after letter, whenever they -paused on their way, to Rome, describing, no doubt with all the skill -at his command, how different was this German bishop from the others, -how scrupulous he was that his election should be made freely if at -all, in what humility he, a personage of so high a rank, and so many -endowments, was approaching Rome, and how important it was that a -proper reception should be given to a candidate so good, so learned, -and so fit in every way for the papal throne. Meanwhile Bishop Bruno, -anxious chiefly to conduct himself worthily, and to prepare for his -great charge, beguiled the way with prayers and pious meditations, not -without a certain timidity as it would appear about his reception. But -this timidity turned out to be quite uncalled for. His humble aspect, -joined to his high prestige as the kinsman of the emperor, and the -anxious letters of Hildebrand had prepared everything for Bruno's -reception. The population came out on all sides to greet his passage. -Some of the Germans were perhaps a little indignant with this -unnecessary humility, but the keen Benedictine pervaded and directed -everything while the new Pope, as was befitting on the eve of assuming -so great a responsibility, was absorbed in holy thought and prayer. -The party had to wait on the further bank of the Tiber, which was in -flood, for some days, a moment of anxious suspense in which the -pilgrims watched the walls and towers of the great city in which lay -their fate with impatience and not without alarm. But as soon as the -water fell, which it did with miraculous rapidity, the whole town, -with the clergy at its head, came out to meet the new-comers, and Leo -IX., one of the finest names in the papal lists, entering barefooted -and in all humility by the great doors of St. Peter's, was at once -elected unanimously, and received the genuine homage of all Rome. One -can imagine with what high satisfaction, yet with eyes ever turned to -the future, content with no present achievement, Hildebrand must have -watched the complete success of his plan. - -This event took place, Villemain tells us (the early chroniclers, as -has been said, are most sparing of dates), in 1046, a year full of -events. Muratori in his annals gives it as two years later. Hildebrand -could not yet have attained his thirtieth year in either case. He was -so high in favour with the new Pope, to whom he had been so wise a -guide, that he was appointed at once to the office of Economico, a -sort of Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Court of Rome, and at the -same time was created Cardinal-archdeacon, and abbot of St. Paul's, -the great monastery outside the walls. Platina tells us that he -received this charge as if the Pope had "divided with him the care of -the keys, the one ruling the church of St. Peter and the other that of -St. Paul." - -That great church, though but a modern building now, after the fire -which destroyed it seventy years ago, and standing on the edge of the -desolate Campagna, is still a shrine universally visited. The Campagna -was not desolate in Hildebrand's days, and the church was of the -highest distinction, not only as built upon the spot of St. Paul's -martyrdom, but for its own splendour and beauty. It is imposing still, -though so modern, and with so few relics of the past. But the pilgrim -of to-day, who may perhaps recollect that over its threshold Marcella -dragged herself, already half dead, into that peace of God which the -sanctuary afforded amid the sack and the tortures of Rome, may add -another association if he is so minded in the thought of the great -ecclesiastic who ruled here for many years, arriving, full of zeal and -eager desire for universal reform, into the midst of an idle crew of -depraved monks, who had allowed their noble church to fall into the -state of a stable, while they themselves--a mysterious and awful -description, yet not perhaps so alarming to us as to them--"were -served in the refectory by women," the first and perhaps the only, -instance of female servants in a monastery. Hildebrand made short work -of these ministrants. He had a dream--which no doubt would have much -effect on the monks, always overawed by spiritual intervention, -however material they might be in mind or habits--in which St. Paul -appeared to him, working hard to clear out and purify his desecrated -church. The young abbot immediately set about the work indicated by -the Apostle, "eliminating all uncleanness," says his chronicler: "and -supplying a sufficient amount of temperate food, he gathered round him -a multitude of honest monks faithful to their rule." - -Hildebrand's great business powers, as we should say, enabled him very -soon to put the affairs of the convent in order. The position of the -monastery outside the city gates and defences, and its thoroughly -disordered condition, had left it open to all the raids and attacks of -neighbouring nobles, who had found the corrupt and undisciplined monks -an easy prey; but they soon discovered that they had in the new abbot -a very different antagonist. In these occupations Hildebrand passed -several years, establishing his monastery on the strongest foundations -of discipline, purity, and faith. Reform was what the Church demanded -in almost every detail of its work. Amid the agitation and constant -disturbance outside, it had not been possible to keep order within, -nor was an abbot who had bought his post likely to attempt it: and a -great proportion of the abbots, bishops, and great functionaries of -the Church had bought their posts. In the previous generation it had -been the rule. It had become natural, and disturbed apparently no -man's conscience. A conviction, however, had evidently arisen in the -Church, working by what influences we know not, but springing into -flame by the action of Hildebrand, and by his Pope Leo, that this -state of affairs was monstrous and must come to an end. The same -awakening has taken place again and again in the Church as the -necessity has unfortunately arisen: and never had it been more -necessary than now. Every kind of immorality had been concealed under -the austere folds of the monk's robe; the parish priests, especially -in Germany, lived with their wives in a calm contempt of all the -Church's laws in that respect. This, which to us seems the least of -their offences, was not so in the eyes of the new race of Church -reformers. They thought it worse than ordinary immoral relations, as -counterfeiting and claiming the title of a lawful union; and to the -remedy of this great declension from the rule of the Church, and of -the still greater scandal of simony, the new Pope's utmost energies -were now directed. - - [Illustration: PYRAMID OF CAIUS CESTIUS.] - -A very remarkable raid of reformation, which really seems the most -appropriate term which could be used, took place accordingly in the -first year of Leo IX.'s reign. We do not find Hildebrand mentioned as -accompanying him in his travels--probably he was already too deeply -occupied with the cleansing out of St. Paul's physically and morally, -to leave Rome, of which, besides, he had the care, in all its external -as well as spiritual interests, during the Pope's absence: but no -doubt he was the chief inspiration of the scheme, and had helped to -organise all its details. Something even of the subtle snare in which -his own patron Gregory had been caught was in the plan with which -Hildebrand, thus gleaning wisdom from suffering, sent forth his Pope. -After holding various smaller councils in Italy, Leo crossed the -mountains to France, where against the wish of the Emperor, he held a -great assembly at Rheims. The nominal occasion of the visit was the -consecration of that church of St. Remy, then newly built, which is -still one of the glories of a city so rich in architectural wealth. -The body of St. Remy was carried, with many wonderful processions, -from the monastery where it lay, going round and round the walls of -the mediæval town and through its streets with chants and psalms, with -banner and cross, until at last it was deposited solemnly on an altar -in the new building, now so old and venerable. Half of France had -poured into Rheims for this great festival, and followed the steps of -the Pope and hampered his progress--for he was again and again unable -to proceed from the great throngs that blocked every street. This, -however, though a splendid ceremony, and one which evidently made much -impression on the multitude, was but the preliminary chapter. After -the consecration came a wholly unexpected visitation, the council of -Rheims, which was not concerned like most other councils with -questions of doctrine, but of justice and discipline. The throne for -the Pope was erected in the middle of the nave of the cathedral--not, -it need scarcely be said, the late but splendid cathedral now -existing--and surrounded in a circle by the seats of the bishops and -archbishops. When all were assembled the object of the council was -stated--the abolition of simony, and of the usurpation of the -priesthood and the altar by laymen, and the various immoral practices -which had crept into the shadow of the Church and been tolerated or -authorised there. The Pope in his opening address adjured his -assembled counsellors to help him to root out those tares which choked -the divine grain, and implored them, if any among them had been -guilty of the sin of simony, either by sale or purchase of benefices, -that he should make a public confession of his sin. - -Terrible moment for the bishops and other prelates, immersed in all -the affairs of their times and no better than other men! The reader -after all these centuries can scarcely fail to feel the thrill of -alarm, or shame, or abject terror that must have run through that -awful sitting as men looked into each other's faces and grew pale. The -archbishop of Trèves got up first and declared his hands to be clean, -so did the archbishop of Lyons and Besançon. Well for them! But he of -Rheims in his own cathedral, he who must have been in the front of -everything for these few triumphant days of festival, faltered when -his turn came. He begged that the discussion might be adjourned till -next day, and that he might be allowed to see the Pope in private -before making his explanations. It must have been with a kind of grim -benignancy, and awful toleration, that the delay was granted and the -inquisition went on, while that great personage, one of the first -magnates of the assembly, sat silent, pondering all there was against -him and how little he had to say in his defence. The council became -more lively after this with accusations and counter-accusations. The -bishop of Langres procured the deposition of an abbot in his diocese -for immoral conduct; but next day was assailed himself of simony, -adultery, and the application of torture in order to extort money. -After a day or two of discussion this prelate fled, and was finally -excommunicated. Pope Leo was not a man to be trifled with. And so the -long line of prelates was gone through with many disastrous -consequences as the days ran on. - -It is less satisfactory to find him easily excommunicating rebels and -opponents of the Emperor, whose arms were too successful or their -antagonism too important. Even the best of priests and Popes err -sometimes--and to have such a weapon as excommunication at hand like -a thunderbolt must have been very tempting. Leo at the same time -excommunicated also the people of Benevento, who had rebelled against -the Emperor, and the archbishop of Ravenna, who was in rebellion -against himself. - -The travels and activity of this Pope on his round of examination and -punishment were extraordinary. He appears in one part of Italy after -another: in the far south, in the midland plains, holding councils -everywhere, deposing bishops, scourging the Church clean. Again he is -over the hills in his own country, meeting the Emperor, as active as -himself, and almost as earnest in his desire to cleanse the Church of -simony--moving here and there, performing all kinds of sacred -functions from the celebration of a feast to the excommunication of a -city. His last, and as it proved fatal enterprise was an expedition -against the Normans, who had got possession of a great part of -Southern Italy, and against whom the Pope went, most inappropriately, -at the head of an army, made up of the most heterogeneous elements, -and which collapsed in face of the enemy. Leo himself either was made -prisoner or took refuge in the town of Benevento, which had recently, -by a bargain with the Emperor, become the property of the Holy See. -Here he was detained for nearly a year, more or less voluntarily, and -when, at length, he set out for Rome, with a strong escort of the -Normans and every mark of honour, it was with broken health and -failing strength. He died shortly after reaching his destination, in -his own great church, having caused himself to be carried there as he -grew worse; and nothing could be more imposing than the scene of his -death, in St. Peter's, which was all hung with black and illuminated -with thousands of funeral lights for this great and solemn event. All -Rome witnessed his last hours and saw him die. He was one of the great -Popes, though he did not fully succeed even in his own appropriate -work of Church reform, and failed altogether when he took, -unfortunately, sword in hand. Not a word, however, could be said -against the purity of his life and motives, and these were universally -acknowledged, especially among the Normans against whom he led his -unfortunate army, and who worshipped, while probably holding captive, -their rash invader. - -During the eight years of Leo's popedom Hildebrand had been at the -head of affairs in Rome, where erring priests and simoniacal bishops -had been not less severely brought to book than in other places. He -does not seem to have accompanied the Pope on any of his many -expeditions; but with the aid of a new brother-in-arms, scarcely less -powerful and able than himself, Peter Damian, then abbot of -Fontavellona and afterwards bishop of Ostia, did his best under Leo to -sweep clean the ecclesiastical world in general as he had swept clean -his own church of St. Paul. When Leo died, Hildebrand was one of the -three legates sent to consult the Emperor as to the choice of another -Pope. This was a long and difficult business, since the -susceptibilities of the Romans, anxious to preserve their own real or -apparent privilege of election, had to be reconciled with the claims -of Henry, who had no idea of yielding them in any way, and who had the -power on his side. The selection seems to have been finally made by -Hildebrand rather than Henry, and was that of Gebehard, bishop of -Aichstadt, another wealthy German prelate, also related to the -Emperor. Why he should have consented to accept this mission, however, -he who had so strongly declined to follow Leo as the nominee of the -Emperor, and made it a condition of his service that the new Pope -should go humbly to Rome as a pilgrim to be elected there, is -unexplained by any of the historians. - -It was in the spring of 1055 that after long delays and much waiting, -the Roman conclave came back, bringing their Pope with them. But -Victor II. was like so many of his German predecessors, short-lived. -His reign only lasted two years, the half of which he seems to have -spent in Germany. "He was not one who loved the monks," and probably -Hildebrand found that he would do but little with one whose heart -would seem to have remained on the other side of _i monti_--as the -Alps are continually called. No second ambassador was sent to the -Imperial Court for a successor: for in the fateful year 1056 the -Emperor also died, preceding Victor to the grave by a few months. -Without pausing to consult the German Court, with a haste which proves -their great anxiety to reassert themselves, the Roman clergy and -people elected Frederick, abbot of Monte Cassino and brother of the -existing prince of Tuscany--Gottfried of Lorraine, the second husband -of Beatrice of Tuscany and step-father of Matilda the actual heir to -that powerful duchy. Perhaps a certain desire to cling to the only -power in Italy which could at all protect them against an irritated -Imperial Court mingled with this choice: but it was a perfectly -natural and worthy one. Frederick, unfortunately, lived but a few -months, disappointing many hopes. He had sent Hildebrand to the -Imperial Court to explain and justify his election, but when he found -his health beginning to give way, a sort of panic seems to have seized -him, and collecting round him all the representatives of priests and -people who could be gathered together, he made them swear on pain of -excommunication to elect no successor until the return of Hildebrand. -He died at Florence shortly after. - -There is something monotonous in these brief records: a great turmoil -almost reaching the length of a convulsion for the choice, and then a -short and agitated span, a year or two, sometimes only a month or two, -and all is over and the new Pope goes to rejoin the long line of his -predecessors. It was not, either, that these were old men, such as -have so often been chosen in later days, venerable fathers of the -Church whose age brought them nearer to the grave than the -throne:--they were all men in the flower of their age, likely -according to all human probability to live long. It was not wonderful -if the German bishops were afraid of that dangerous elevation which -seemed to carry with it an unfailing fate. - -Hildebrand was at the German Court when this sad news reached him. He -was in the position, fascinating to most men--and he was not superior -to others in this respect--of confidant and counsellor to a princess -in the interesting position of a young widow, with a child, upon whose -head future empire had already thrown its shadow. The position of the -Empress Agnes was, no doubt, one of the most difficult which a woman -could be called on to occupy, surrounded by powerful princes scarcely -to be kept in subjection by the Emperor, who was so little more than -their equal, though their sovereign--and altogether indisposed to -accept the supremacy of a woman. There is nothing in which women have -done so well in the world as in the great art of government, but the -Empress Agnes was not one of that kind. She had to fall back upon the -support of the clergy in the midst of the rude circle of potentates -with whom she had to contend, and the visit of Hildebrand with his -lofty views, his great hopes, his impetuous determination to vanquish -evil with good, though not perhaps in the way recommended by the -Apostles, was no doubt a wonderful refreshment and interest to her in -the midst of all her struggles. But it was like a thunderbolt bursting -at their feet to hear of the death of Frederick--(among the Popes -Stephen IX.): and the swiftly following outburst in Rome when, in a -moment, in the absence of any spirit strong enough to control them, -the old methods were put into operation, and certain of the Roman -nobles ever ready to take advantage of an opportunity--with such -supporters within the city as terror or bribes could secure them, -taking the people by surprise--procured the hurried election of a Pope -without any qualifications for the office. Nothing could be more -dramatic than the entire episode. A young Count of Tusculum, a -stronghold seated amid the ruins of the old Roman city, above -Frascati, one of a family who then seem to have occupied the position -afterwards held by the Orsinis and Colonnas, was the leader of this -conspiracy and the candidate was a certain Mincio, Bishop of Velletri, -a member of the same family. The description in Muratori's _Annals_ -though brief is very characteristic. - - "Gregorio, son of Albanio Count Tusculano, of Frascati, - along with some other powerful Romans, having gained by - bribes a good part of the clergy and people, rushed by - night, with a party of armed followers, into the Church of - St. Peter, and there, with much tumult, elected Pope, - Giovanni, Bishop of Velletri, afterwards called Mincio (a - word perhaps drawn from the French _Mince_ and which - probably was the original of the phrase now used _Minciono, - Minchione_), who assumed the name of Benedict X. He was a - man entirely devoid of letters." - -The sudden raid in the night, all Rome silent and asleep, except the -disturbed and hastily awakened streets by which the party had entered -from across the Campagna and their robber fortress among the ruins of -the classic Tusculum, makes a most curious and dramatic picture. The -conspirators had among them certain so-called representatives of the -people, with a few abbots who felt their seats insecure under a -reforming Pope, and a few priests very desirous of shutting out all -new and disturbing authority. They gathered hastily in the church -which suddenly shone out into the darkness with flare of torch and -twinkle of taper, while the intruder, _Mincio_, a lean and fantastic -bishop, with affectations of pose and attitude such as his nickname -implies, was hurried to the altar by his rude patrons and attendants. -He was consecrated by the terrified archpriest of Ostia, upon whom the -Frascati party had somewhere laid violent hands, and who faltered -through the office half stupefied by fear. It was the privilege of -the Bishop of Ostia to be the officiating prelate at the great -solemnity of a Pope's consecration. When he could not be had the -careless and profane barons no doubt thought his subordinate would do -very well instead. - -The news was received, however, though with horror, yet with a -dignified self-restraint by the Imperial Court. Hildebrand set out at -once for Florence to consult with the Sovereigns there, a royal family -of great importance in the history of Italy, consisting of the widowed -duchess Beatrice, her second husband Gottfried of Lorraine, and her -young daughter Matilda, the actual heiress of the principality, all -staunch supporters of the Church and friends of Hildebrand. That he -should take the command of affairs at this sudden crisis seems to have -been taken for granted on all sides. A council of many bishops "both -German and Italian" was called together in Sienna, where it was met by -a deputation from Rome, begging that fit steps might be taken to meet -the emergency, and a legitimate Pope elected. The choice of this Council -fell upon the Bishop of Florence, "who for wisdom and a good life was -worthy of such a sublime dignity;" and the new Pope was escorted to -Rome by a strong band of Tuscan soldiers powerful enough to put down -all tumult or rebellion in the city. The expedition paused at Sutri, a -little town, just within the bounds of the papal possessions, which -had already on that account been the scene of the confusing and -painful council which dethroned Gregory VI. to destroy the strongholds -of the Counts of Tusculum near that spot, and make an end of their -power. Mincio, however, poor fantastic shadow, had no heart to confront -a duly elected Pope, or the keen eye of Hildebrand, and abdicated at -once his ill-gotten power. His vague figure so sarcastically indicated -has a certain half-comic, half-rueful effect, appearing amid all these -more important forms and things, first in the dazzle of the midnight -office, and afterwards in a hazy twilight of obscurity, stealing off, -to be seen no more, except by the keen country folk and townsmen of -his remote bishopric who, _burlando_--jesting as one is glad to hear -they were able to do amid all their tumults and troubles--gave him his -nickname, and thus sent down to posterity the fantastic vision of the -momentary Pope with his mincing ways--no bad anti-pope though as -Benedict X. he holds a faint footing in the papal roll--but a -historical _burla_, a mediæval joke, not without its power to relieve -the grave chronicle of the time. - -The tumultuous public of Rome, which did not care very much either -way, yet felt this election of the Pope to be its one remaining claim -to importance, murmured and grumbled its best about the interference -of Tuscany, a neighbour more insulting, when taking upon herself airs -of mastery, than a distant and vaguely magnificent Emperor; and there -was an outcry against Hildebrand, who had erected "a new idol" in -concert with Beatrice and without the consent of the Romans. But it -was in reality Hildebrand himself who now came to reign under the -shadow of another insignificant and short-lived Pope. Nicolas II. and -Alexander II. who followed were but the formal possessors of power; -the true sway was henceforth in the hands of the ever-watchful monk, -Cardinal-archdeacon, deputy and representative of the Holy See. It is -one of the few instances to be found in the records of the world of -that elevation of the man who _can_--so strongly preached by -Carlyle--to the position which is his natural right. While Hildebrand -had been scouring the world, an adventurous young monk, passing _i -monti_ recklessly as the young adventurer now crosses the Atlantic, -more times than could be counted--while he was, with all the zeal of -his first practical essay in reform, cleaning out his stable at St. -Paul's, making his presence to be felt in the expenditure and -revenues of Rome--there had been, as we have seen, Pope after Pope in -the seat of the Apostle, most of them worthy enough, one at least, Leo -IX., heroic in effort and devotion--but none of them born to guide the -Church through a great crisis. The hour and the man had now come. - -It was not long before the presence of a new and great legislator -became clearly visible. One of the first acts of Hildebrand, acting -under Nicolas, was to hold a council in Rome in 1059, at which many -things of importance were decided. The reader will want no argument -to prove that there was urgent need of an established and certain rule -for the election of the Popes, a necessity constantly recurring and -giving rise to a continual struggle. It had been the privilege of the -Roman clergy and people; it had become a prerogative of the Emperors; -it was exercised by both together, the one satisfying itself with a -fictitious co-operation and assent to what the other did, but neither -contented, and every vacancy the cause of a bitter and often -disgraceful struggle. The nominal election by the clergy and people -was a rule impossible, and meant only the temporary triumph of the -party which was strongest or wealthiest for the moment, and could best -pay for the most sweet voices of the crowd, or best overawe and cow -their opponents. On the other hand, the action of the secular power, -the selection or at least nomination of a Pope--with armies behind, if -necessary, to carry out his choice--by the Emperor across the Alps, -was a transaction subject to those ordinary secular laws, which induce -a superior in whatever region of affairs to choose the man who is -likely to be most serviceable to himself and his interests--interests -which were very different from those which are the objects of the -Church. No man had seen the dangers and difficulties of this divided -and inconsistent authority more than Hildebrand, and his determination -to establish a steadfast and final method for the choice and election -of the first great official of the Church was both wise and -reasonable. Perhaps it was not without thought of the expediency of -breaking away from all precedents, and thus preparing the way for a -new method, that he had, apparently on his own authority, transferred -in a manner, what we may call the patronage of the Holy See, to -Tuscany. The moment was propitious for such a change, for there was no -Emperor, the heir of Henry III. being still a child and his mother not -powerful enough to interfere. - - [Illustration: TRINITA DE MONTI.] - -The new law introduced by Hildebrand and passed by the council was -much the same in its general regulations as that which still exists. -There was no solemn mysterious Conclave, and the details were more -simple; but the rules of election were virtually the same. The -Cardinal-bishops made their choice first, which they then submitted to -the other Cardinals of lower rank. If both were agreed the name of the -Pope-elect was submitted to the final judgment of the people, no doubt -a mere formula. This, we believe, is nominally still the last step of -the procedure. The name is submitted, _i.e._, announced to the eager -crowd in St. Peter's who applaud, which is all that is required of -them: and all is done. This decree was passed _salvo debito honore et -reverentia delecti filii nostri Henrici_, a condition skilfully -guarded by the promise to award the same honour (that is, of having a -voice in the election) to those of his successors to whom the Holy See -shall have personally accorded the same right. It was thus the Holy -See which honoured the Emperors by according them a privilege, not the -Emperors who had any right to nominate, much less elect, to the Holy -See. - -Other measures of great importance for the purification and internal -discipline of the Church were made law by this council, which was held -in April 1059, the year of the accession of Nicolas II.; but none of -such fundamental importance as this, or so bold in their claim of -spiritual independence. Hildebrand must by this time have been in the -very height of life, a man of forty or so, already matured by much -experience and beginning to systematise and regulate the dreams and -plans of his youth. He must have known by this time fully what he -wanted and what was, or at least ought to be, his mission in the -world. It is very doubtful, however, we think, whether that mission -appeared to him what it has appeared to all the historians since--a -deep-laid and all-overwhelming plan for the establishment of the -Papacy on such a pinnacle as never crowned head had attained. His -purposes as understood by himself were first the cleansing of the -Church--the clearing out of all the fleshly filth which had -accumulated in it, as in his own noble Basilica, rendering it useless, -hiding its beauty: and second the destruction of that system of buying -and selling which went on in the Holy Temple--worse than -money-changing and selling of doves, the sale of the very altars to -any unworthy person who could pay for them. These were his first and -greatest purposes--to make the Church pure and to make her free, as -perhaps she never has been, as perhaps, alas, she never will wholly -be: but yet the highest aim for every true churchman to pursue. - - [Illustration: ARCH OF TITUS. - _To face page 208._] - -These purposes were elevated and enlarged in his mind by the noble and -beautiful thought of thus preparing and developing the one great -disinterested power in the world, with nothing to gain, which should -arbitrate in every quarrel, and adjust contending claims and bring -peace on earth, instead of the clashing of swords; the true work of -the successor of Peter, Christ's Vicar in the world. This was not a -dream of Hildebrand alone. Three hundred years later the great soul of -Dante still dreamt of that Papa Angelico, the hope of ages, who might -one day arise and set all things right. Hildebrand was not of the -Angelical type. He was not that high priest made of benign charity, -and love for all men--of whom the mediæval sages mused. But who will -say that his dream, too, was not of the noblest or his ideal less -magnanimous and great? Such an arbiter was wanted--what words could -say how much?--in all those troubled and tumultuous kingdoms which -were struggling against each other, overcoming and being overcome, -always in disorder, carrying out their human fate with a constant -accompaniment of human groans and sufferings and tears--one who would -set all things right, who would judge the cause of the poor and -friendless, who would have power to pull down a tyrant and erect with -blessing and honour a new throne of justice in his dishonoured place. -Have we less need of a Papa Angelico now? But unfortunately,[1] we -have lost faith in the possibility of him, which is a fate which -befalls so many high ideals from age to age. - -Did Hildebrand, a proud man and strong, a man full of ambition, full -of the consciousness of great powers--did he long to grasp the reins -of the universe in his own hand? to drive the chariots of the sun, to -direct everything, to rule everything, to be more than a king, and -hold Emperors trembling before him? It is very possible: in every -great spirit, until fully disenchanted, something of this desire must -exist. But that it was not a plan of ambition only, but a great ideal -which it seemed to him well worth a man's life to carry out, there -can, we think, be no reasonable doubt. - -Thus he began his reign, in reality, though not by title, in Rome. The -cloisters were cleansed and the integrity of the Church vindicated, -though not by any permanent process, but one that had to be repeated -again and again in every chapter of her history. The Popes were -elected after a few stormy experiments in the manner he had decreed, -and the liberty of election established and protected--even to some -extent and by moments, his Papacy, that wonderful institution answered -to his ideal, and promised to fulfil his dream: until the time came -common to all men, when hope became failure, and he had to face the -dust and mire of purpose overthrown. But in the meantime no such -thoughts were in his mind as he laboured with all the exhilaration of -capacity, and with immense zeal and pains, at his own affairs, which -meant in those days to the Archdeacon of Rome the care of all the -Churches. The letters of the Pope in Council which carried the -addition of the name of that humblest of his sons and servants, -Hildebrand, bore the commands of such a sovereign as Hildebrand dreamt -of, to bishops and archbishops over all the world. Here is one of -these epistles. - - Although several unfavourable reports have reached the - Apostolic See in respect to your Fraternity which cannot be - rejected without inquiry--as, for example, that you have - favoured our enemies, and have neglected pontifical - ordinances: yet as you have defended yourself from these - accusations by the testimony of a witness of weight and - have professed fidelity to St. Peter, we are disposed to - pass over these reports and to hope that the testimony in - your favour is true. Therefore take care in future so to - live, that your enemies shall have no occasion to sadden us - on your account. Exert yourself to fulfil the hopes which - the Apostolical See has formed of you: reprimand, entreat - and warn your glorious king that he may not be corrupted by - the counsels of the wicked, who hope under cover of our own - troubles to elude Apostolic condemnation. Let him take care - how he resists the sacred canons, or rather St. Peter - himself, thereby rousing our wrath against him, who rather - desire to love him as the apple of our eye. - -These were high words to be said to a dubious, not well-assured -archbishop, occupying a very high place in the Church and powerful for -good or for evil: but Hildebrand did not mince matters, whatever he -might have to say. - -Meanwhile the good Pope, Nicolas, went on with his charities while his -Cardinal Archdeacon thundered in his name. He went, in the end of his -life, with his court on a visit to the Normans, who had now, for some -time--since they defeated Pope Leo before the gates of Benevento and -came under the charm of papal influence, though in the person of their -prisoner--become the most devout and generous servants of the Papacy: -which indeed granted them titles to the sovereignty of any chance -principality they might pick up--which was a good equivalent. When -the troops of Guiscard escorted his Holiness back to Rome they were so -obliging as to destroy a castle or two of those robber nobles who -infested all the roads and robbed the pilgrims, and were, in the midst -of all greater affairs, like a nest of venomous wasps about the ears -of the Roman statesmen and legislators--especially those of the ever -turbulent family of Tusculum, the Counts of Frascati, who kept watch -afar upon the northern gates and every pilgrim path. This Pope died -soon after in 1061 in Florence, his former episcopal see, which he -often revisited and loved. - -And now came the opportunity for Hildebrand to carry out his own bold -law, and elect at once, by the now legal methods, a new head to the -Church. But his coadjutors probably had not his own courage: and -though bold enough under his inspiration to pass that law, hesitated -to carry it out. It is said, too, that in Rome itself there was the -strong opposition of a German party really attached to the imperial -order, or convinced that without the strong backing of the empire the -Church could not stand. Reluctantly Hildebrand consented to send a -messenger to consult the imperial court, where strong remonstrances -and appeals were at once presented by the Germans and Lombards who -were as little desirous of having an Italian Pope over them as the -Romans were of a Teutonic one. The Empress Agnes had been alarmed -probably by rumours in the air of her removal from the regency. She -had been alienated from Hildebrand by the reports of his enemies, and -no doubt made to believe that the rights of her son must suffer if any -innovation was permitted. She forgot her usual piety in her panic, and -would not so much as receive Hildebrand's messenger, who, alone of all -the many deputations arriving on the same errand, was left five days -(or seven) waiting at the gates of the Palace--"For seven days he -waited in the antechamber of the king," says Muratori--while the -others were admitted and listened to. This was too much for -Hildebrand, to whom his envoy, Cardinal Stefano, returned full of -exasperation, as was natural. The Cardinals with timidity, but -sustained by Hildebrand's high courage and determination, then -proceeded to the election, which was duly confirmed by the people -assembled in St. Peter's, and therefore perfectly legal according to -the latest law. We are told much, however, of the excited state of -Rome during the election, and of the dislike of the people to the -horde of monks, many of them mendicant, and even more or less -vagabond, who were let loose upon the city, electioneering agents of -the most violent kind, filling the streets and churches with clamour. -This wild army, obnoxious to the citizens, was at Hildebrand's -devotion, and prejudiced more than they promoted, his views among the -crowd. - -"Here returned to the Romans," says Muratori, whose right to speak on -such a subject will not be doubted, "complete freedom in the election -of the Popes, with the addition of not even awaiting the consent of -the Emperors for their consecration; an independence ever maintained -since, down to our own days." This daring act made a wonderful -revolution in the politics of Rome: it was the first erection of her -standard of independence. The Church had neither troops nor vassals -upon whom she could rely, and to defy thus openly the forces of the -Empire was a tremendous step to take. Nor was it only from Germany -that danger threatened. Lombardy and all the north of Italy was, with -the exception of Tuscany, in arms against the audacious monk. Only -those chivalrous savages of Normans, who, however, were as good -soldiers as any Germans, could be calculated on as faithful to the -Holy See: and Godfried of Tuscany stood between Rome and her enemies -_fidelissimo_, ready to ward off any blow. - -The election passed over quietly, and Alexander II. (Anselm the Bishop -of Lucca) took his place, every particular of his assumption of the -new dignity being carefully carried through as though in times of -deepest peace. In Germany, however, the news produced a great -sensation and tumult. A Diet was held at Bâle, for the coronation in -the first place of the young king Henry, now twelve years old--but -still more for the immediate settlement of this unheard-of revolt. -When that ceremonial was over the court proceeded to the choice of a -Pope with a contemptuous indifference to the proceedings in Rome. This -anti-pope has no respect from history. He is said by one authority to -have been chosen because his evil life made him safe against any such -fury of reform as that which made careless prelate and priest fall -under the rod of Hildebrand on every side. Muratori, whose concise -little sentences are always so refreshing after the redundancy of the -monkish chronicles, is very contemptuous of this pretender, whose name -was Cadalous or Cadulo, an undistinguished and ill-sounding name. "The -anti-pope Cadaloo or Cadalo occupied himself all the winter of this -year" (says Muratori) "in collecting troops and money, in order to -proceed to Rome to drive out the legitimate successor of St. Peter and -to have himself consecrated there. Some suppose that he had already -been ordained Pope, and had assumed the name of Honorius II., but -there is no proof of this. And if he did not change his name it is a -sign that he had never been consecrated." Other authorities boldly -give him the title of Honorius II.: but he is generally called the -anti-pope Cadalous in history. - -A conflict immediately arose between the two parties. Cadalous, at the -head of an army appeared before Rome, but not till after Hildebrand -had placed his Pope, who was for the moment less strong than the -Emperor's Pope, in Tuscany under the protection of Beatrice and her -husband Godfried. Then followed a stormy time of marches and -countermarches round and about the city, in which sometimes the -invaders were successful and sometimes the defenders. At length the -Tuscans came to the rescue with the two Countesses in their midst who -were always so faithful in their devotion to Hildebrand, Beatrice in -the maturity of her beauty and influence, and the young Matilda, the -real sovereign of the Tuscan states, fifteen years old, radiant in -hope and enthusiasm and stirring up the spirits of the Florentines and -Tuscan men at arms. Cadalous withdrew from that encounter making such -terms as he could with Godfried, with many prayers and large presents, -so that he was allowed to escape to Parma his bishopric, _testa -bassa_. Yet the records are not very clear on these points, Muratori -tells us. Doubts are thrown on the loyalty of Duke Godfried. He is -said to have invited the Normans to come to the help of the Pope, and -then invaded their territories, which was not a very knightly -proceeding: but there is no appearance at this particular moment of -the Normans, or any force but that of the Tuscan army with young -Countess Matilda and her mother flashing light and courage into the -ranks. - -The anti-pope, if he deserved that title, did not trouble the -legitimate authorities long. He was suddenly dropped by the Germans in -the excitement of a revolution, originating in the theft of little -Henry the boy-monarch, whom the Bishop of Cologne stole from his -mother Agnes, as it became long afterwards a pleasant device of state -to carry off from their mothers the young fatherless Jameses of Scots -history. Young Henry was run away with in the same way, and Agnes -humiliated and cast off by the Teutonic nobility, who forgot all about -such a trifle as a Pope in the heat of their own affairs. It was only -when this matter was settled that a council was held in Cologne by the -archbishop who had been the chief agent in the abduction of Henry, and -was now first in power. Of this council there seems no authoritative -record. It is only by the answer to its deliberations published by -Peter Damian in which, as is natural, that able controversialist has -an easy victory over the other side--that anything is known of it. -Whether Cadalous was formerly deposed by this council is not known: -but he was dropped by the authorities of the Empire which had a -similar result. - -Notwithstanding, this rash pretender made one other vain attempt to -seize the papal throne, being encouraged by various partisans in Rome -itself, by whose means he got possession of St. Peter's, where the -unfortunate man remained for one troubled night, making such appeals -to God and to his supporters as may be imagined, and furtively -performing the various offices of the nocturnal service, perhaps not -without a sense of profanation in the minds of those who had stolen -into the great darkness and silence of the Basilica to meet him, with -a political rather than a devotional intention. Next day all Rome -heard the news, and rising seized its arms and drove his handful of -defenders out of the city. Cadalous was taken by one of his -supporters, Cencio or Vincencio "son of the præfect" to St. Angelo, -where he held out against the Romans for the space of two years, -suffering many privations; and thence escaping on pain of his life -after other adventures, disappears into the darkness to be seen no -more. - -This first distinct conflict between Rome and the Empire was the -beginning of the long-continued struggle which tore Italy asunder for -generations--the strife of the two parties called Guelfs and -Ghibellines, the one for the Empire, the other for the Church, with -all the ramifications of that great question. - -The year in which Cadalous first appeared in Rome, which was the year -1062, was also distinguished by a very different visitor. The Empress -Agnes deprived of her son, shorn of her power, had nothing more to do -among the subject princes who had turned against her. She determined, -as dethroned monarchs are apt to do, to cast off the world which had -rejected her, and came to Rome, to beg pardon of the Pope and find a -refuge for herself out of the noise and tumult. She had been in Rome -once before, a young wife in all the pomp and pride of empire, -conducted through its streets in the midst of a splendid procession, -with her husband to be crowned. The strongest contrasts pleased the -fancy of these days. She entered Rome the second time as a penitent in -a black robe, and mounted upon the sorriest horse--"it was not to call -a horse, but like a beast of burden, a donkey, no bigger than an ass." -It is a curious sign of humiliation and accompanying elevation of -mind, but this is not the first time that we have heard of a pilgrim -entering Rome on a miserable hack, as if that were the highest sign of -humility. She was received with enthusiasm, notwithstanding her late -actions of hostility, and soon the walls of many churches were radiant -with the spoils of her imperial toilettes, brocades of gold and silver -encrusted with jewels, and wonders of rich stuffs which even Peter -Damian with his accomplished pen finds it difficult to describe. "She -laid down everything, destroyed everything, in order to become, in her -deprivation yet freedom, the bride of Christ." We are not told if -Agnes entered a convent or only lived the life of a religious person -in her own house; but she had the frequent company of Hildebrand and -Peter Damian, and of the Bishop of Como, who seems to have been -devoted to her service; and perhaps like other penitents was not so -badly off in her humility, thus delivered out of all the tumults -against which she had so vainly attempted to make head for years. - - [Illustration: THE VILLA BORGHESE.] - -While these smaller affairs--for even the anti-pope never seems to -have been really dangerous to Rome notwithstanding his many efforts to -disturb the peace of the Church--the world of Christendom which -surrounded that one steady though constantly contested throne of the -papacy, was in commotion everywhere. It seems strange to speak in one -breath of Hildebrand's great and noble ideal of a throne always -standing for righteousness, and of a sacred monarch supreme and high -above all worldly motives, dispensing justice and peace: and in the -next to confess his perfect acquiescence in, and indeed encouragement -of, the undertaking of William the Conqueror, so manifest an act of -tyranny and robbery, and interference with the rights of an -independent nation, an undertaking only different from those of the -brigands from Tusculum and other robber castles who swept the roads to -Rome, by the fact of its much higher importance and its complete -success. The Popes had sanctioned the raids of the Normans in Italy, -and confirmed to them by legal title the possessions which they had -taken by the strong hand: with perhaps a conviction that one strong -rule was better than the perpetual bloodshed of the frays between the -existing races--the duke here, the marquis there, all seeking their -own, and no man thinking of his neighbour's or his people's advantage. -But the internal discords of England were too far off to secure the -observation of the Pope, and the mere fact of Harold's renunciation in -favour of William, though it seems so specious a pretence to us, was -to the eyes of the priests by far the most important incident in the -matter, a vow taken at the altar and which therefore the servants of -the altar were bound to see carried out. These two reasons however -were precisely such as show the disadvantage of that grand papal ideal -which was burning in Hildebrand's brain; for a Pope, with a sacred -authority to set up and pull down, should never be too far off to -understand the full rights of any question were it in the remotest -parts of the earth: and should be far above the possibility of having -his judgment confused by a foregone ecclesiastical prejudice in favour -of an unjust vow. - -Hildebrand however not only gave William, in his great stroke for an -empire, the tremendous support of the Pope's authority but backed him -up in many of his most high-handed and arbitrary proceedings against -the Saxon prelates and rich abbeys which the Conqueror spoiled at his -pleasure. It must not be forgotten, in respect to these latter -spoliations, that the internal war which was raging in the Church all -over the world, between the new race of reformers and the mass of -ordinary clergy--who had committed many ecclesiastical crimes, who -sometimes even had married and were comfortable in the enjoyment of a -sluggish toleration, or formed connections that were winked at by a -contemptuously sympathetic world; or who had bought their benefices -great and small, through an entangled system of gifts, graces, and -indulgences, as well as by the boldest simony--made every kind of -revolution within the Church possible, and produced endless -depositions and substitutions on every side. When, as we have seen, -the bishop of a great continental see in the centre of civilisation -could be turned out remorselessly from his bishopric on conviction of -any of these common crimes and forced into the Cloister to amend his -ways and end his life, it is scarcely likely that more consideration -would be shown for an unknown prelate far away across the Northern -seas, though it would seem to be insubordination rather than any -ecclesiastical vice with which the Saxon clergy were chiefly charged. -This first instance however of the papal right to sanction revolution, -and substitute one claimant for another as the selection of Heaven, is -perhaps the strongest proof that could be found of the impossibility -of that ideal, and of the tribunal thus set up over human thrones and -human rights. The papal see was thus drawn in to approve and uphold -one of the most bloody invasions and one of the most cruel conquests -ever known--and did so with a confidence and certainty, in an -ignorance, and with a bias, which makes an end of all those lofty -pretensions to perfect impartiality and a judgment beyond all -influences of passion which alone could justify its existence. - -A great change had come over the firmament since the days when Leo IX. -cleansed the Church at Rheims, and held that wonderful Council which -set down so many of the mighty from their seats. Henry III., the -enemy of simony, was dead, and the world had changed. As we shall -often have occasion to remark, the papal rule of justice and purity -was strong and succeeded--so long as the forces of the secular powers -agreed with it. But when, as time went on, the Church found itself in -conflict with these secular powers, a very different state of affairs -ensued. - -The action of Rome in opposition to the young Henry IV., was as -legitimate as had been its general agreement with, and approval of, -his predecessor. The youth of this monarch had developed into ways -very different from those of his father, and under his long minority -all the evils which Henry III. had honestly set his face against, -reappeared in full force. Whether it was his removal from the natural -and at least pure government of his mother, or from his native -disposition which no authority or training had a chance in such -circumstances of repressing, the young Henry grew up dissolute and -vicious, and his court was the centre of a wild and disorganised -society. Married at twenty, it was not very long before he tried by -the most disreputable means to get rid of his young wife, and failing -in that, called, or procured to be called by a complaisant archbishop, -a council, in order to rid him of her. Rome lost no time in sending -off to this council as legate, Peter Damian whose gift of speech was -so unquestionable that he could even on occasion make the worse appear -the better cause. But his cause in the present case was excellent, and -his eloquence no less so, and he had all that was prudent as well as -all that was wise and good in Germany on his side, notwithstanding the -complaisance of the priests. The legate remonstrated, exhorted, -threatened. The thing Henry desired was a thing unworthy of a -Christian, it was a fatal example to the world; finally no power on -earth would induce the Pope, whose hands alone could confer that -consecration, to crown as Roman Emperor a man who had sinned so -flagrantly against the laws of God. The great German nobles added -practical arguments not less urgent in their way; and Henry surrounded -on all sides with warnings was forced to give way. But this downfall -for the moment had little effect on the behaviour of the young -potentate, and his vices were such that his immediate vassals in his -own country were on the point of universal rebellion, no man's castle -or goods or wife or daughter being safe. The Church, which his father -had given so much care and pains to cleanse and purify, sank again -into the rankest simony, every stall in a cathedral, and cure in a -bishopric selling like articles of merchandise. It was time in the -natural course of affairs when the young monarch attained the full age -of manhood that he should be promoted to the final dignity of emperor, -and consecrated as such--a rite which only the Pope could perform: and -no doubt it was with a full consciousness of the power thus resting -with the Holy See, as well as in consequence of numerous informal but -eager appeals to the Pope against the ever-increasing evils of his -sway that Hildebrand proceeded to take such a step as had never been -ventured on before by the boldest of Churchmen. He summoned Henry -formally to appear before the papal court and defend himself against -the accusations brought against him. "For the heresy of simony," says -the papal letter, this being the great ecclesiastical crime which came -immediately under the cognizance of the Pope. - -This citation addressed to the greatest monarch then existing, and by -a power but barely escaped from his authority and still owing to him a -certain allegiance, was enough to thrill the world from end to end. -Such a thing had never happened in the knowledge of man. But before we -begin so much as to hear of the effect produced, the Pope who had, -nominally at least, issued the summons, the good and saintly Alexander -II., after holding the papacy for twelve years, died on the 21st of -April, 1073. His reign for that time had been to a great degree the -reign of Hildebrand, the ever watchful, ever laborious archdeacon, -who, let the Pope travel as he liked--and his expeditions through -Italy were many--was always vigilant at his post, always in the centre -of affairs, with eyes and ears open to everything, and a mind always -intent on its purpose. Hildebrand's great idea of the position and -duties of the Holy See had developed much in those twelve years. It -had begun to appear a fact, in the eyes of those especially who had -need of its support. The Normans everywhere believed and trusted in -it, with good secular reason for so doing, and they were at the moment -a great power in the earth, especially in Italy. If it had not already -acquired an importance and force in the thoughts of men, more subtle -and less easy to obtain than external power, it would have been -impossible for the boldest to launch forth a summons to the greatest -king of Christendom the future Emperor. Already the first step towards -that great visionary sway, of which poets and sages, as well as -ecclesiastics, so long had dreamed, had been made. - -Hildebrand had been virtually at the head of affairs since the year -1055, when he had brought across the Alps Victor II. chosen by -himself, whose acts and policy were his. He might have attained the -papacy in his own right on more than one occasion had he been so -minded, but had persistently held back from the rank while keeping the -power. But now humility would have been cowardice, and in the face of -the tremendous contest which he had invited no other course was -possible to him save to assume the full responsibility. Even before -the ceremonies of the funeral of the Pope were completed, while -Alexander lay in state, there was a rush of the people and priests to -the church of the Lateran, where Hildebrand was watching by the bier, -shouting "Hildebrand! The blessed St. Peter has elected Hildebrand." -A strange scene of mingled enthusiasm and excitement broke the -funereal silence in the great solemn church, amid its forest of -columns all hung with black, and glittering with the silver ornaments -which are appropriate to mourning, while still the catafalque upon -which the dead Pope lay rose imposing before the altar. Hildebrand, -startled, was about to ascend the pulpit to address the people, but -was forestalled by an eager bishop who hurried into it before him, to -make solemn announcement of the event. "The Archdeacon is the man who, -since the time of the holy Pope Leo, has by his wisdom and experience -contributed most to the exaltation of the Church, and has delivered -this town from great danger," he cried. The people responded by shouts -of "St. Peter has chosen Hildebrand!" We all know how entirely -fallacious is this manner of testing the sentiment of a people; but -yet it was the ancient way, the method adopted in those earlier times -when every Christian was a tried and tested man, having himself gone -through many sufferings for the faith. - -It appears that Hildebrand hesitated, which seems strange in such a -man; one who, if ever man there was, had the courage of his opinions -and was not likely to shrink from the position he himself had created; -and it is almost incredible that he should have sent a sort of appeal, -as Muratori states, to Henry himself--the very person whom he had so -boldly summoned before the tribunal of the Church--requesting him to -withhold his sanction from the election. Muratori considers the -evidence dubious, we are glad to see, for this strange statement. At -all events, after a momentary hesitation Hildebrand yielded to the -entreaties of the people. The decree in which his election is recorded -is absolutely simple in its narrative. - -"The day of the burial of our lord, the Pope Alexander II. (22nd -April, 1073), we being assembled in the Basilica of San Pietro in -Vincoli,[2] members of the holy Roman Church catholic and apostolic, -cardinals, bishops, clerks, acolytes, sub-deacons, deacons, -priests--in presence of the venerable bishops and abbots, by consent -of the monks, and accompanied by the acclamations of a numerous crowd -of both sexes and of divers orders, we elect as pastor and sovereign -pontiff a man of religion, strong in the double knowledge of things -human and divine, the love of justice and equity, brave in misfortune, -moderate in good fortune, and following the words of the apostle, a -good man, chaste, modest, temperate, hospitable, ruling well his own -house, nobly trained and instructed from his childhood in the bosom of -the Church, promoted by the merit of his life to the highest rank in -the Church, the Archdeacon Hildebrand, whom, for the future and for -ever, we choose; and we name him Gregory, Pope. Will you have him? -Yes, we will have him. Do you approve our act? Yes, we approve." - -Nothing can be more graphic than this straightforward document, and -nothing could give a clearer or more picturesque view of the primitive -popular election. The wide-reaching crowd behind, women as well as -men, a most remarkable detail, filled to its very doors the long -length of the Basilica. The little group of cardinals and their -followers made a glow of colour in the midst: the mass of clergy in -the centre of the great nave lighted up by bishops and abbots in their -distinctive dresses and darkening into the surrounding background of -almost innumerable monks: while the whole assembly listened -breathless to this simple yet stately declaration, few understanding -the words, though all knew the meaning, the large Latin phrases -rolling over their heads: until it came to that well-known name of -Hildebrand--Ildebrando--which woke a sudden storm of shouts and -outcries. Will you have this man? Yes, we will have him! Do you -approve? _Approviamo! Approviamo!_ shouted and shrieked the crowd. So -were the elections made in Venice long years after, under the dim -arches of St. Marco; but Venice was still a straggling village, -fringing a lagoon, when this great scene took place. - - [Illustration: WHERE THE GHETTO STOOD.] - -Hildebrand was at this time a man between fifty and sixty, having -spent the last eighteen years of his life in the control and -management of the affairs of Rome. He was a small, spare man of the -most abstemious habits, allowing himself as few indulgences in the -halls of the Lateran as in a monastic cell. His fare was vegetables, -although he was no vegetarian in our modern sense of the word, but ate -that food to mortify the flesh and for no better reason. Not long -before he made the rueful, and to us comic, confession that he had -"ended by giving up leeks and onions, having scruples on account of -their flavour, which was agreeable to him." Scruple could scarcely go -further in respect to the delights of this world. We are glad however -that he who was now the great Pope Gregory denied himself that onion. -It was a dignified act and sacrifice to the necessities of his great -position. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] It is touching and pathetic to divine, in the present Pope, -something of that visionary and disinterested ambition, that longing -to bless and help the universe, which was in those dreams of the -mediæval mind, prompted by a great pity, and a love that is half -divine. Leo XIII. is too wise a man to dream of temporal power -restored, though he is a martyr to the theory of it: but there would -seem to be in his old age which makes it impossible if nothing else -did, a trembling consciousness of capacity to be in himself a Papa -Angelico, and gather us all under his wings. - -[2] It is supposed by some from this that the election took place in -this church and not in the Lateran; but that is contradicted by -Gregory himself, who says it took place in Ecclesia S. Salvatoris, a -name frequently used for the Lateran. Bowden suggests that "at the -close of the tumultuous proceedings in the Lateran the cardinal -clergy" may have "adjourned to St. Peter ad Vincula formally to ratify -and register the election." - - - - - [Illustration: FROM SAN GREGORIO MAGNO.] - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE POPE GREGORY VII. - - -The career of Hildebrand up to the moment in which he ascended the -papal throne could scarcely be called other than a successful one. He -had attained many of his aims. He had awakened the better part of the -Church to a sense of the vices that had grown up in her midst, -purified in many quarters the lives of her priests, and elevated the -mind and ideal of Christendom. But bad as the vices of the clergy -were, the ruling curse of simony was worse, to a man whose prevailing -dream and hope was that of a great power holding up over all the world -the standards of truth and righteousness in the midst of the wrongs -and contentions of men. A poor German priest holding fast in his -distant corner by the humble wife or half-permitted female companion -at whose presence law and charity winked, was indeed a dreadful -thought, meaning dishonour and sacrilege to the austere monk; but the -bishops and archbishops over him who were so little different from the -fierce barons, their kin and compeers, who had procured their -benefices by the same intrigues, the same tributes and subserviences, -the same violence, by which these barons in many cases held their -fiefs, how was it possible that such men could hold the balance of -justice, and promote peace and purity and the reign of God over the -world? That they should help in any way in that great mission which -the new Pope felt himself to have received from the Head of the Church -was almost beyond hope. They vexed his soul wherever he turned, men -with no motive, no inspiration beyond that of their fellows, ready to -scheme and struggle for the aggrandisement of the Church, if you -will--for the increase of their own greatness and power and those of -the corporations subject to them: but as little conscious of that -other and holier ambition, that hope and dream of a reign of -righteousness, as were their fellows and brethren, the dukes and -counts, the fighting men, the ambitious princes of Germany and -Lombardy. Until the order of chiefs and princes of the Church could be -purified, Hildebrand had known, and Gregory felt to the bottom of his -heart, that nothing effectual could be done. - -The Cardinal Archdeacon of Rome, under Popes less inspired than -himself--who were, however, if not strong enough to originate, at -least acquiescent, and willing to adopt and sanction what he did--had -carried on a holy war against simony wherever found. He had condemned -it by means of repeated councils, he had poured forth every kind of -appeal to men's consciences, and exhortations to repentance, without -making very much impression. The greatest offices were still sold in -spite of him. They were given to tonsured ruffians and debauchees who -had no claim but their wealth to ascend into the high places of the -Church, and who, in short, were but secular nobles with a difference, -and the fatal addition of a cynicism almost beyond belief, though -singularly mingled at times with superstitious terrors. Hildebrand -had struggled against these men and their influence desperately, by -every means in his power: and Pope Gregory, with stronger methods at -command, was bound, if possible, to extirpate the evil. This had -raised him up a phalanx of enemies on every side, wherever there was a -dignitary of the Church whose title was not clear, or a prince who -derived a portion of his revenue from the traffic in ecclesiastical -appointments. The degenerate young King not yet Emperor, who supported -his every scheme of rapine and conquest by the gold of the ambitious -priests whom he made into prelates at his will, was naturally the -first of these enemies: Guibert of Ravenna, more near and readily -offensive, one of the most powerful ecclesiastical nobles in Italy, -sat watchful if he might catch the new Pope tripping, or find any -opportunity of accusing him: Robert Guiscard, the greatest of the -Normans, who had been so much the servant and partisan of the late -Popes, remained sullen and apart, giving no allegiance to this: Rome -itself was surrounded by a fierce and audacious nobility, who had -always been the natural enemies of the Pope, unless when he happened -to be their nominee, and more objectionable than themselves. Thus the -world was full of dark and scowling faces. A circle of hostility both -at his gates and in the distance frowned unkindly about him, when the -age of Hildebrand was over, and that of Gregory began. All his great -troubles and sufferings were in this latter part of his life. Nothing -in the shape of failure had befallen him up to this point. He had met -with great respect and honour, his merit and power had been recognised -almost from his earliest years. Great princes and great men--Henry -himself, the father of the present degenerate Henry, a noble Emperor, -honouring the Church and eager for its purification--had felt -themselves honoured by the friendship of the monk who had neither -family nor wealth to recommend him. But when Pope Gregory issued from -his long probation and took into his hand the papal sceptre, all -these things had changed. Whether he was aware by any premonition of -the darker days upon which he had now fallen who can say? It is -certain that confronting them he bated no jot of heart or hope. - -He appears to us at first as very cautious, very desirous of giving -the adversary no occasion to blaspheme. The summons issued in the name -of the late Pope to Henry requiring him to appear and answer in Rome -the charges made against him, seems to have been dropped at -Alexander's death: and when his messengers came over the Alps -demanding by what right a Pope had been consecrated without his -consent, Gregory made mild reply that he was not consecrated, but was -awaiting not the nomination but the consent of the Emperor, and that -not till that had been received would he carry out the final rites. -These were eventually performed with some sort of acquiescence from -Henry, given through his wise and prudent ambassador, on the Feast of -St. Peter, the 29th June, 1073. Gregory did what he could, as appears, -to continue this mild treatment of Henry with all regard to his great -position and power. He attempted to call together a very intimate -council to discuss the state of affairs between the King and himself: -a council of singular construction, which, but that the questions as -to the influence and place of women are questions as old as history, -and have been decided by every age according to no formal law but the -character of the individuals before them, might be taken for an -example of enlightenment before his time in Gregory's mind. He invited -Duke Rudolf of Suabia, one of Henry's greatest subjects, a man of -religious character and much reverence for the Holy See, to come to -Rome, and in common with himself, the Empress Agnes, the two -Countesses of Tuscany, the Bishop of Como (who was the confessor of -Agnes), and other God-fearing persons, to consider the crisis at which -the Church had arrived, and to hear and give advice upon the Pope's -intentions and projects. The French historian Villemain throws -discredit upon this projected consultation of "an ambitious vassal of -the King of Germany and three women, one of whom had once been a -prisoner in the camp of Henry III., the other had been brought up from -infancy in the hate of the empire and the love of the Church, and the -last was a fallen empress who was more the penitent of Rome than the -mother of Henry." This seems, however, a futile enumeration. There -could surely be no better defender found for a son accused than his -mother, who we have no reason to suppose was ever estranged from him -personally, and who shortly after went upon an embassy to him, and was -received with every honour. Beatrice, on the other hand, had been the -prisoner of his father the great Emperor, and not of young Henry of -whom she was the relative and friend, and between whom and the Pope, -as all good statesmen must have seen, it was of the greatest -importance to Europe that there should be peace; while any strong -personal feeling which might exist would be modified by Gregory -himself, by Raymond of Como, and the wisest heads of Rome. - -But this board of advice and conciliation never sat, so we need not -comment upon its possible concomitants. In every act of his first -year, however, Gregory showed a desire to conciliate Henry rather than -to defy him. The young king had his hands very full, and his great -struggle with the Saxon nobles and people was not at the moment -turning in his favour. And he had various natural defenders and -partisans about the Roman Court. The Abbot Hugo of Cluny, who was one -of Gregory's dearest friends, had been the young king's preceptor, and -bore him a strong affection. We have no reason to believe that the -influence of Agnes was not all on the side of her son, if not to -support his acts, at least to palliate and excuse them. With one of -these in his most intimate council, and one an anxious watcher -outside, both in command of his ear and attention, it would have been -strange if Gregory had been unwilling to hear anything that was in -Henry's favour. - -And in fact something almost more than a full reconciliation seems to -have been effected between the new Pope and the young king, so -desirous of winning the imperial crown, and conscious that Gregory's -help was of the utmost importance to him. Henry on his side wrote a -letter to his "most loving lord and father," his "most desired lord," -breathing such an exemplary mind, so much penitence and submission, -that Gregory describes it as "full of sweetness and obedience:" while -the Pope, if not altogether removing the sword that hung suspended -over Henry's head, at least received his communications graciously, -and gave him full time and encouragement to change his mind and become -the most trusted lieutenant of the Holy See. The King was accordingly -left free to pursue his own affairs and his great struggle with the -Saxons without any further question of ecclesiastical interference: -while Gregory spent the whole ensuing year in a visitation of Italy, -and much correspondence and conference on the subject of simony and -other abuses in the Church. When he returned to Rome he endeavoured, -but in vain, to act as peacemaker between Henry and the Saxons. And it -was not till June in the year 1074, when he called together the first -of the Lateran Councils, an assembly afterwards renewed yearly, a sort -of potential Convocation, that further steps were taken. With this the -first note of the great warfare to follow was struck. The seriousness -of the letters by which he summoned its members sufficiently shows the -importance attached to it. - - "The princes and governors of this world, seeking their own - interest and not that of Jesus Christ, trample under foot - all the veneration they owe to the Church, and oppress her - like a slave. The priests and those charged with the - conduct of the Church sacrifice, the law of God, renounce - their obligations towards God and their flocks, seeking in - ecclesiastical dignities only the glory of this world, and - consuming in pomp and pride what ought to serve for the - salvation of many. The people, without prelates or sage - counsellors to lead them in the way of virtue, and who are - instructed by the example of their chiefs in all pernicious - things, go astray into every evil way, and bear the name of - Christian without its works, without even preserving the - principle of the faith. For these reasons, confident in the - mercies of God, we have resolved to assemble a Synod in - order to seek with the aid of our brethren for a remedy to - these evils, and that we may not see in our time the - irreparable ruin and destruction of the Church. Wherefore - we pray you as a brother, and warn you in the name of the - blessed Peter, prince of apostles, to appear at the day - fixed, convoking by this letter, and by your own, your - suffragan bishops; for we can vindicate the freedom of - religion and of ecclesiastical authority with much more - surety and strength according as we find ourselves - surrounded by the counsels of your prudence, and by the - presence of our brethren." - -A few Italian princes, Gisulfo of Salerno, Azzo d'Este, Beatrice and -Matilda of Tuscany, were convoked to the council and held seats in it. -The measures passed were very explicit and clear. They condemned the -simoniacal clergy in every rank, deposing them from their positions -and commanding them to withdraw from the ministrations of the altar. -The same judgment was passed upon those who lived with wives or -concubines. Both classes were put beyond the pale of the Church, and -the people were forbidden, on pain of sharing their doom, to receive -the sacraments from them, or to yield them obedience. Nothing more -thorough and far-reaching could be. Hitherto the Popes had proceeded -by courts of investigation, by examination of individuals, in which -the alternative of repentance and renunciation was always open to the -prelate who had perhaps inadvertently fallen into these crimes. But -such gentle dealings had been but very partially successful. Here and -there an archbishop or great abbot had been convicted by his peers, -and made to descend from his high estate--here and there a great -personage had risen in his place and made confession. Some had retired -to the cloister, putting all their pomps and glories aside, and made a -good end. But as is usual after every religious revival, life had -risen up again and gone upon its usual course, and the bishoprics -thus vacated had probably been sold to the highest bidder or yielded -to the most violent assailant, as if no such reformation had ever -been. - -The matter had gone too far now for any such occasional alleviations; -and Gregory struck at the whole body of proud prelates, lords of -secular as well as ecclesiastical greatness, men whose position was as -powerful in politics and the affairs of the empire as was that of the -princes and margraves who were their kin, and whom they naturally -supported--as the others had supported them by money and influence in -their rise to power: but who had very little time for the affairs of -the Church, and less still for the preservation of peace and the -redress of wrong. - -The other measures passed at this council were more searching still; -they were aimed against the disorders into which the clergy had -fallen, and chiefly what was to Gregory and his followers the great -criminality, of married priests, who abounded in the Church. In this -the lower orders of the clergy were chiefly assailed, for the more -important members of the hierarchy did not marry though they might be -vicious otherwise. But the rural priests, the little-educated and but -little-esteemed clerks who abounded in every town and village, were -very generally affected by the vice--if vice it was--of marriage, -which was half legal and widely tolerated: and their determination not -to abandon it was furious. Meetings of the clergy to oppose this -condemnation were held in all quarters, and often ended in riot, the -priests declaring that none of the good things of the Church fell to -their lot, but that rather than give up their wives, their sole -compensation, they would die. This was not likely to make Gregory's -proceedings less determined: but it may easily be imagined what a -prodigious convulsion such an edict was likely to make in the -ecclesiastical world. - -It is said by the later historians that the Empress Agnes was made use -of, with her attendant bishop and confessor, to carry these decrees -to Henry's court: though this does not seem to be sanctioned by the -elder authorities, who place the mission of Agnes in the previous -year, and reckon it altogether one of peace and conciliation. But -Henry still continued in a conciliatory frame of mind. His own affairs -were not going well, and he was anxious to retain the Pope's support -in the midst of his conflicts with his subjects. Neither do the great -dignitaries appear to have made any public protest or resistance: it -was the poor priests upon whom individually this edict pressed -heavily, who were roused almost to the point of insurrection. - -One of the most curious effects of the decree was the spirit roused -among the laity thus encouraged to judge and even to refuse the -ministrations of an unworthy priest. Not only was their immediate -conduct affected to acts of spiritual insubordination, but a -fundamental change seems to have taken place in their conception of -the priest's character. No doubt Gregory's legislation must have -originated that determined though illogical opposition to a married -priesthood, and disgust with the idea, which has had so singular a -sway in Catholic countries ever since, and which would at the present -moment we believe make any change in the celibate character of the -priesthood impossible even were all other difficulties overcome. We -are not aware that it had existed in any force before. The thing had -been almost too common for remark: and there seems to have been no -fierce opposition to the principle. It arose now gradually yet with a -force beyond control: there were many cases of laymen baptizing their -children themselves, rather then give them into the hands of a -polluted priest--until there arose almost a risk of general -indifference to this sacrament because of the rising conviction that -the hands which administered it were unworthy: and other religious -observances were neglected in the same way, an effect which must have -been the reverse of anything intended by the Pope. To this hour in -all Catholic countries an inexpressible disgust with the thought, -mingles even with the theory that perhaps society might be improved -were the priest a married man, and so far forced to content himself -with the affairs of his own house. Probably it was Gregory's strong -denunciation, and his charge to the people not to reverence, not to -obey men so soiled: as well as the conviction long cultivated by the -Church, and by this time become a dogma, that the ascetic life was in -all cases the holiest--which originated this powerful general -sentiment, more potent in deciding the fact of a celibate clergy than -all the ecclesiastical decrees in the world. - -In the second Lateran Council held in the next year, at the beginning -of Lent, along with the reiteration of the laws in respect to simony -and the priesthood, a solemn decree against lay investiture was passed -by the Church. This law transferred the struggle to a higher ground. -It was no longer bishops and prelates of all classes, no longer simple -priests, but the greatest sovereigns, all of whom had as a matter of -course given ecclesiastical benefices as they gave feudals fiefs, who -were now involved. The law was as follows: - -"Whosoever shall receive from the hands of a layman a bishopric, or an -abbey, shall not be counted among the bishops and abbots, nor share -their privileges. We interdict him from entrance into the Church and -from the grace of St. Peter until he shall have resigned the dignity -thus acquired by ambition and disobedience, which are equal to -idolatry. Also, if any emperor, duke, marquis, count, or other secular -authority shall presume to give investiture of a bishopric or other -dignity of the Church, let him understand that the same penalty shall -be exacted from him." - -The position of affairs between Pope and Emperor was thus -fundamentally altered. The father of Henry, a much more faithful son -of the Church, had almost without opposition made Popes by his own -will where now his son was interdicted from appointing a single -bishop. The evil was great enough perhaps for this great remedy, and -Gregory, who had gone so far, was restrained now by no prudent -precautions from proceeding to the utmost length possible. The day of -prudence was over; he had entered upon a path in which there was no -drawing back. That it was not done lightly or without profound and -painful thought, and a deep sense of danger and impending trouble, is -apparent from the following letter in which the Pope unbosoms himself -to the head of his former convent, the great Hugo of Cluny, his own -warm friend, and at the same time Henry's tutor and constant defender. - - "I am overwhelmed (he writes) with great sorrow and - trouble. Wherever I look, south, north, or west, I see not - a single bishop whose promotion and conduct are legal, and - who governs the Christian people for the love of Christ, - and not by temporal ambition. As for secular princes, there - is not one who prefers the glory of God to his own, or - justice to interest. Those among whom I live--the Romans, - the Lombards, the Normans--are, as I tell them to their - faces, worse than Jews and Pagans. And when I return within - myself, I am so overwhelmed by the weight of life that I - feel no longer hope in anything but the mercy of Christ." - -Notwithstanding the supreme importance of this question, and Gregory's -deep sense of the tremendous character of the struggle on which he had -thus engaged, matters of public morality in other ways were not -sacrificed to these great proceedings for the honour of the Church. He -not only himself assumed, but pressed upon all spiritual authorities -under him, the duty and need of prompt interference in the cause of -justice and public honesty. The letters which follow were called forth -by a remarkable breach of these laws of honesty and the protection due -to strangers and travellers which are fundamental rules of society. -This was the spoliation of certain merchants robbed in their passage -through France, and from whom the Pope accuses the young King Philip -I. to have taken, "like a brigand, an immense sum of money." Gregory -addresses himself to the bishops of France in warning and entreaty as -follows: - - "As it is not possible that such crimes should escape the - sentence of the Supreme Judge, we pray you and we warn you - with true charity to be careful and not to draw upon - yourself the prophet's curse: 'Woe to him who turns back - his sword from blood'--that is to say, as you well - understand, who does not use the sword of the Word for the - correction of worldly men; for you are in fault, my - brethren, you who, instead of opposing these vile - proceedings with all the rigour of the priesthood, - encourage wickedness by your silence. It is useless to - speak of fear. United and armed to defend the just, your - force will be such that you will be able to quench evil - passions in penitence. And even if there were danger, that - is no reason for giving up the freedom of your priesthood. - We pray you, then, and we warn you by the authority of the - Apostles, to unite in the interest of your country, of your - glory and salvation, in a common and unanimous counsel. Go - to the king, tell him of his shame, of his danger and that - of his kingdom. Show him to his face how criminal are his - acts and motives, endeavour to move him by every inducement - that he may undo the harm which he has done. - - "But if he will not listen to you, and if, scorning the - wrath of God, and indifferent to his own royal dignity, to - his own salvation and that of his people, he is obstinate - in the hardness of his heart, let him hear as from our - mouth that he cannot escape much longer the sword of - apostolic punishment." - -These are not such words as Peter was ever commissioned in Holy Writ -to give forth; but granting all the pretensions of Peter's successors, -as so many good Christians do, it is no ignoble voice which thus -raises itself in warning, which thus denounces the vengeance of the -Church against the evil-doer, be he bishop, clown, or king. Gregory -had neither armies nor great wealth to support his interference with -the course of the world--he had only right and justice, and a profound -faith in his mission. He risked everything--his life (so small a -matter!), his position, even the safety of the Church itself, which -these potentates could have crushed under their mailed shoes; but that -there should be one voice which would not lie, one champion who would -not be turned aside, one witness for good, always and everywhere, -against evil, was surely as noble a pretension as ever was lifted -under heaven. It was to extend the power of Rome, all the historians -say; which no doubt he wished to do. But whether to extend the power -of Rome was his first object, or to pursue guilt and cruelty and -falsehood out of the very boundaries of the world if one man could -drive them forth, God only can judge. When there are two evident -motives, however, it is not always wise to believe that the worst is -the one to choose. - -In most curious contrast to these great and daring utterances is the -incident, quite temporary and of no real importance, in his life, -which occurred to Pope Gregory at the very moment when he was thus -threatening a world lying in wickedness with the thunderbolts of Rome. -The city which had gone through so many convulsions, and was now the -centre of the pilgrimages of the world, was still in its form and -construction the ancient Rome, and more or less a city of ruins. The -vast open spaces, forums, circuses, great squares, and amphitheatres, -which made old Rome so spacious and magnificent, still existed as they -still to a certain extent exist. But no great builder had as yet -arisen among the Popes, no one wealthy enough or with leisure enough -to order the city upon new lines, to give it a modern shape, or reduce -it to the dimensions necessary for its limited population. It was -still a great quarry for the world, full of treasures that could be -carried away, a reservoir and storehouse of relics to which every man -might help himself. Professor Lanciani, the accomplished and learned -savant to whom we owe so much information concerning the ancient city, -has shown us how much mediæval covetousness in this way had to do with -the actual disappearance of ancient buildings, stone by stone. But -this was not the only offence committed against the monuments of the -past. The great edifices of the classic age were often turned, not -without advantage in the sense of the picturesque, into strongholds of -the nobles, sometimes almost as much isolated amid the great gaps of -ruins as in the Campagna outside. The only buildings belonging to the -time were monasteries, generally surrounded by strong walls, capable -of affording protection to a powerful community, and in which the -humble and poor could find refuge in time of trouble. These -establishments, and the mediæval fortresses and towers built into the -midst of the ruins, occupied with many wild spaces between, where the -luxuriant herbage buried fallen pillars and broken foundations, the -wastes of desolation which filled up half the area of the town. The -population seems to have clustered about the eastern end of the city; -all the life of which one reads, except an occasional tumult around -St. Peter's and north of St. Angelo, seems to have passed on the -slopes or under the shadow of the Aventine and Coelian hills, from -thence to the Latin gate, and the Pope's palace there, the centre of -government and state--and on the hill of the Capitol, where still the -people gathered when there was a motive for a popular assembly. The -ordinary populace must have swarmed in whatsoever half-ruined barracks -of old palaces, or squalid huts of new erection hanging on to their -skirts, might be attainable in these quarters, clustering together for -warmth and safety, while the rest of the city lay waste, sprinkled -with ruins and desolate paths, with great houses here and there in -which the strangely mixed race bearing the names, often -self-appropriated, of ancient Roman patrician families, lived and -robbed and made petty war, and besieged each other within their strong -walls. - -One of these fortified houses or towers, built at or on the bridge of -St. Angelo--in which the noble owner sat like a spider, drawing in -flies to his web, taking toll of every stranger who entered Rome by -that way--belonged to a certain Cencio[3] or Cencius of the family of -Tusculum, the son of the Præfect of Rome. The Præfect, unlike his -family, was one of the most devoted adherents of the Popes; he is, -indeed, in the curious glimpse afforded to us by history, one of the -most singular figures that occur in that crowded foreground. A -mediæval noble and high official, he was at the same time a -lay-preacher, delighted to exercise his gift when the more legitimate -sermon failed from any cause, and only too proud, it would appear, of -hearing his own voice in the pulpit. That his son should be of a very -different disposition was perhaps not to be wondered at. Cencius was -as turbulent as his father was pious; but he must have been a soldier -of some note, as he held the post of Captain of St. Angelo, and in -that capacity had maintained during a long siege the anti-pope -Cadalous, or Honorius II., from whom, brigand as he was, he exacted a -heavy ransom before permitting the unfortunate and too ambitious -prelate to steal away like a thief in the night when his chance was -evidently over. Cencius would seem to have lost his post in St. -Angelo, but he maintained his robber's tower on the other end of the -bridge, and was one of the most dangerous and turbulent of these -internal enemies of Rome. During an interval of banishment, following -a more than usually cruel murder, he had visited Germany, and had met -at young Henry's court with many people to whom Pope Gregory was -obnoxious, from Gottfried the Hunchback, the husband of the Countess -Matilda, to the young king himself. Whether what followed was the -result of any conspiracy, however, or if it was an outburst of mad -vengeance on the part of Cencius himself, or the mere calculating -impulse of a freebooter to secure a good ransom, is not known. A -conspiracy, with Godfrey at the head of it, not without support from -Henry, and the knowledge at least of the Archbishop of Ravenna and -Robert Guiscard, all deeply irritated by the Pope's recent -proceedings, was of course the favourite idea at the time. But no -clear explanation of motives has ever been attained, and only the -facts are known. - -On Christmas-eve it was the habit of the Popes to celebrate a midnight -mass in the great basilica of Sta. Maria Maggiore in what was then a -lonely and dangerous neighbourhood, though not very far from the -Lateran Church and palace. It was usually the occasion of a great -concourse from all parts of the city, attracted by the always popular -midnight celebration. But on Christmas-eve of the year 1076 (Muratori -says 1075) a great storm burst over the city as the hour approached -for the ceremony. Torrents of rain, almost tropical in violence, as -rain so often is in Rome, poured down from the blackness of the skies, -extinguishing even the torches by which the Pope and his diminished -procession made their way to the great church, blazing out cheerfully -with all its lighted windows into the night. Besides the priests only -a very small number of the people followed, and there was no such -murmur and rustle of sympathy and warmth of heart as such an assembly -generally calls forth. But the great altar was decorated for -Christmas, and the Pope attired in his robes, and everything shining -with light and brightness within, though the storm raged without. The -mass was almost over, Gregory and the priests had communicated, the -faithful company assembled were receiving their humbler share of the -sacred feast, and in a few minutes the office would have been -completed, when suddenly the church was filled with noise and clamour -and armed men. There was no one to defend the priests at the altar, -even had it been possible in the suddenness of the assault to do so. -Cencius's band was composed of ruffians from every region, united only -in their lawlessness and crime; they seized the Pope at the altar, one -of them wounding him slightly in the forehead. It is said that he -neither asked for mercy nor uttered a complaint, nor even an -expostulation, but permitted himself without a word to be dragged out -of the church, stripped of his robes, placed on a horse behind one of -the troopers, and carried off into the night not knowing where. - -All this happened before the terrified priests and people--many of the -latter probably poor women from the hovels round about--recovered -their surprise. The wild band, with the Pope in the midst, galloped -out into the blackness and the rain, passing under garden walls and -the towers of silent monasteries, where the monks, too much accustomed -to such sounds to take much notice, would hear the rush of the horses -and the rude voices in the night with thankfulness that no thundering -at the convent gates called upon them to give the free lances shelter. -It appears that it was not to Cencius's stronghold on the bridge but -to the house of one of his retainers that this great prize was -conveyed. Here Gregory, in the cassock which he had worn under his -gorgeous papal dress, wet and bleeding from the wound in his forehead, -was flung without ceremony into an empty room. The story is that some -devout man in the crowd and a Roman lady, by some chance witnessing -the arrival of the band, stole in with them, and found their way to -the place in which the Pope lay, covering him with their own furs and -mantles and attending to his wound. And thus passed the Christmas -morning in the misery of that cruel cold which, though rare, is -nowhere more bitter than in Rome. - - [Illustration: SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE. - _To face page 246._] - -In the meantime the terrified congregation in Sta. Maria Maggiore had -recovered its senses, and messengers hurried out in all directions to -trace the way by which the freebooters had gone, and to spread the -news of the Pope's abduction. The storm had by this time passed over, -and the people were easily roused on the eve of the great festival. -Torches began to gleam by all the darkling ways, and the population -poured forth in the excitement of a great event. It would seem that in -all the tumultuous and factious city there was but one thought of -horror at the sacrilege, and determination to save the Pope if it -were still possible. Gregory was not, like his great predecessor the -first of that name, the idol of his people. He had not the wealth with -which many great ecclesiastics had secured the homage of the often -famished crowd; and a stern man, with no special geniality of nature, -and views that went so far beyond the local interests of Rome, he does -not seem the kind of ruler to have secured popular favour. Yet the -city had never been more unanimous, more determined in its resolution. -The tocsin was sounded in all the quarters of Rome during that night -of excitement; every soldier was called forth, guards were set at all -the gates, lest the Pope should be conveyed out of the city; and the -agitated crowd flocked to the Capitol, the only one of the seven hills -of Rome where some kind of repair and restoration had been attempted, -to consult, rich and poor together, people and nobles, what was to be -done. To this spot came the scouts sent out in search of information, -to report their discoveries. They had found that the Pope was still in -Rome, and where he was--a prisoner, but as yet unharmed. - -With one impulse the people of Rome, forming themselves into an -undignified but enthusiastic army, rushed down from their place of -meeting towards the robber's castle. We hear of engines of war, and -all the cumbrous adjuncts of a siege and means of breaching the walls, -as if those articles had been all ready in preparation for any -emergency. The palace, though strong, could not stand the assault of -the whole population, and soon it was necessary to bring the Pope from -his prison and show him at a window to pacify the assailants. Cencius -did all that a ruffian in such circumstances would naturally do. He -first tried to extract money and lands from the Pope's terrors, and -then flung himself on his knees before Gregory, imploring forgiveness -and protection. The first attempt was useless, for Gregory was not -afraid; the second was more successful, for remorseless to the -criminals whose evil acts or example injured the Church, the Pope was -merciful enough to ordinary sinners, and had never condemned any man -to death. "What you have done to me I pardon you as a father; but what -you have done against God and the Church must be atoned for," said -Gregory, still at the mercy of any rude companion in that band of -ruffians: and he commanded his captor to make a pilgrimage to -Jerusalem, to cleanse himself from this sin. The Pope was conveyed out -of his prison by the excited and enthusiastic crowd, shouting and -weeping, half for joy, and half at sight of the still bleeding scar on -his forehead. But weak and exhausted as he was, without food, after a -night and almost a day of such excitement, in which he had not known -from one hour to another what might happen, helpless in the hands of -his enemies, Gregory had but one thought--to conclude his mass which -he had not finished when he was interrupted at the altar. He went back -in his cassock, covered by the stranger's furred cloak, along the same -wild way over which he had been hurried in the darkness; and followed -by the entire population, which swarmed into every corner and blocked -every entrance, returned to the great basilica, where he once more -ascended the altar steps, completed the mass, offered his -thanksgivings to God, and blessed and thanked his deliverers, before -he sought in the quick falling twilight of the winter day the rest of -his own house. - -It is common to increase the effect of this most picturesque scene by -describing Gregory as an aged man, old and worn out, in the midst of -his fierce foes; but he was barely sixty and still in the fulness of -his strength, though spare and shrunken by many fasts and still more -anxieties. That he had lost nothing of his vigour is evident, and in -fact the incident, though never forgotten as a dramatic and telling -episode by the historians, was a mere incident of no importance -whatever in his life. - -In the meantime the Emperor Henry, who had been disposed to humility -and penitence by the efforts of his mother, and by the distresses of -his own position during a doubtful and dangerous intestine war, in -which all at the time seemed to be going against him, had subdued the -Saxons and recovered the upper hand: and, thus victorious in his own -country, was no longer disposed to bow his neck under any spiritual -yoke. He had paid no attention to Gregory's commands in respect to -simony nor to the ordinance against lay investiture which had -proceeded from the Council of 1075; but had, on the contrary, filled -up several bishoprics in the old way, continued to receive the -excommunicated nobles, and treated Gregory's decrees as if they had -never been. His indignation at the Pope's interference--that -indignation which every secular prince has always shown when -interfered with by the Holy See, and which so easily translates the -august titles of the successor of St. Peter, the Vicar of Christ, into -a fierce denunciation of the "Italian priest" whom mediæval princes -feared and hated--was only intensified by his supreme pretensions as -Emperor, and grew in virulence as Gregory's undaunted front and -continued exercise, so far as anathemas would do it, of the weapons of -church discipline, stood steadily before him. It is very possible that -the complete discomfiture of Cencius's attempt upon the Pope's liberty -or life, to which Henry is believed to have been accessory, and the -disgrace and ridicule of that failure, irritated and exasperated the -young monarch, and that he felt henceforward that no terms could be -kept with the man whom he had failed to destroy. - -Gregory, on the other hand, finding all his efforts unsuccessful to -gain the submission of Henry, had again taken the strong step of -summoning him to appear before the yearly council held in Rome at the -beginning of Lent, there to answer for his indifference to its -previous decisions. The following letter sent to Henry a short time -after the attempt of Cencius, but in which not a word of that attempt -is said, is a remarkable example of Gregory's dignified and unyielding -attitude: - - "Gregory, servant of the servants of God. - - "To Henry, king, salutation and the blessing of the - apostles, if he obeys the apostolic see, as becomes a - Christian king. - - "Considering with anxiety, within ourselves, to what - tribunal we have to give an account of the dispensation of - the ministry which has been extended to us by the Prince of - the apostles, we send you with doubt our apostolic - blessing, since we are assured that you live in close union - with men excommunicated by the judgment of the Apostolic - See and the censure of the synod. If this is true, you will - yourself perceive that you cannot receive the grace of - blessing either divine or apostolic, until you have - dismissed from your society these excommunicated persons, - or in forcing them to express their repentance have - yourself obtained absolution by penitence and expiation. We - counsel your highness, if you are guilty in this respect, - to have recourse, without delay, to the advice of some - pious bishop, who, under our authority, will direct you - what to do, and absolve you, informing us with your consent - of your penitence." - -The Pope goes on to point out, recalling to Henry's mind the promises -he had made, and the assurances given--how different his conduct has -been from his professions. - - "In respect to the church of Milan, how you have kept the - engagements made with your mother, and with the bishops our - colleagues, and with what intention you made these - promises, the event itself shows. And now to add wound to - wound, you have disposed of the churches of Spoleto and of - Fermo. Is it possible that a man dares to transfer or give - a church to persons unknown to us, while the imposition of - hands is not permitted, except on those who are well known - and approved? Your own dignity demands, since you call - yourself the son of the Church, that you should honour him - who is at her head, that is the blessed Peter, the prince - of the apostles, to whom, if you are of the flock of the - Lord, you have been formally confided by the voice and - authority of the Lord--him to whom Christ said 'Feed my - sheep.' So long as we, sinful and unworthy as we are, hold - his place in his seat and apostolical government, it is he - who receives all that you address to us either by writing - or speech; and while we read your letters or listen to your - words, it is he who beholds with a penetrating eye what - manner of heart it is from which they come." - -In this dignified and serious remonstrance there is not a word of the -personal insult and injury which the Pope himself had suffered. He -passes over Cencius and his foiled villainy as if it had never been; -but while Gregory could forget, Henry could not: and historians have -traced to the failure of this desperate attempt to subdue or -extinguish the too daring, too steadfast Pontiff, the new spirit--the -impulse of equally desperate rage and vengeance--which took possession -of the monarch, finding, after all his victories, that here was one -opponent whom he could not overcome, whose voice could reach over all -Christendom, and who bore penalties in his unarmed hand at which no -crowned head could afford to smile. To crush the audacious priest to -the earth, if not by the base ministry of Roman bravos, then by the -scarcely more clean hands of German barons and excommunicated bishops, -was the impulse which now filled Henry's mind. He invoked a council in -Worms, a month after the failure in Rome, which was attended by a -large number, not only of the German nobility, but of the great -ecclesiastics who nowhere had greater power, wealth, and influence -than in Teutonic countries. Half of them had been condemned by Gregory -for simony or other vices, many of them were aware that they were -liable to similar penalties. The reformer Pope, who after the many -tentatives and half-measures of his predecessors, was now supreme, and -would shrink from nothing in his great mission of purifying the -Church, was a constant danger and fear to these great mediæval nobles -varnished over with the names of churchmen. One stroke had failed: but -another was quite possible which great Henry the king, triumphant over -all his enemies, might surely with their help and sanction bring to -pass. - -The peers spiritual and temporal, the princes who scorned the -interference of a priest, and the priests who feared the loss of all -their honours and the disgrace and humiliation with which the Pope -threatened them, came together in crowds to pull down their enemy from -his throne. Nothing so bold had ever been attempted since Christendom -had grown into the comity of nations it now was. Cencius had pulled -the Pope from the altar steps in the night and dark: Henry and his -court assembled in broad day, with every circumstance of pomp and -publicity, to drag him from his spiritual throne. It would be -difficult to say whether the palm of fierceness and brutality should -be given to the brigand of the Tusculan hills, or to the great king, -princes, archbishops, and bishops of the Teutonic empire. Cencius -swore in his beard, unheard of after generations; the others, less -fortunate, have left on record what were the manner of words they -said. This is the solemn act signed by all the members of the -assembly, by which the Pope was to learn his doom. It is a long and -furious scold from beginning to end. - - "Hildebrand, taking the name of Gregory, is the first who, - without our knowledge, against the will of the emperor - chosen by God, contrary to the habit of our ancestors, - contrary to the laws, has, by his ambition alone, invaded - the papacy. He does whatever pleases him, right or wrong, - good or evil. An apostate monk, he degrades theology by new - doctrines and false interpretations, alters the holy books - to suit his personal interests, mixes the sacred and - profane, opens his ears to demons and to calumny, and makes - himself at once judge, witness, accuser, and defender. He - separates husbands from wives, prefers immodest women to - chaste wives, and adulterous and debauched and incestuous - connections to legitimate unions; he raises the people - against their bishops and priests. He recognises those only - as legally ordained who have begged the priesthood from his - hands, or who have bought it from the instruments of his - extortions; he deceives the vulgar by a feigned religion, - fabricated in a womanish senate: it is there that he - discusses the sacred mysteries of religion, ruins the - papacy, and attacks at once the holy see and the empire. He - is guilty of _lèse-majesté_ both divine and human, desiring - to deprive of life and rank our consecrated emperor and - gracious sovereign. - - "For these reasons, the emperor, the bishops, the senate, - and the Christian people declare him deposed, and will no - longer leave the sheep of Christ to the keeping of this - devouring wolf." - -Among the papers sent to Rome this insolent act is repeated at greater -length, accompanied by various addresses to the bishops and people, -and two letters to the Pope himself, from one of which, the least -insolent, we quote a few sentences. - - "Henry, king by the grace of God, to Hildebrand. - - "While I expected from you the treatment of a father, and - deferred to you in everything, to the great indignation of - my faithful subjects, I have experienced on your part in - return the treatment which I might have looked for from the - most pernicious enemy of my life and kingdom. - - "First having robbed me by an insolent procedure of the - hereditary dignity which was my right in Rome, you have - gone further--you have attempted by detestable artifices to - alienate from me the kingdom of Italy. Not content with - this, you have put forth your hand on venerable bishops who - are united to me as the most precious members of my body, - and have worn them out with affronts and injustice against - all laws human and divine. Judging that this unheard-of - insolence ought to be met by acts, not by words, I have - called together a general assembly of all the greatest in - my kingdom, at their own request, and when there had been - publicly produced before them things hidden up to that - moment, from fear or respect, their declarations have made - manifest the impossibility of retaining you in the Holy - See. Therefore adhering to their sentence, which seems to - me just and praiseworthy before God and men, I forbid to - you the jurisdiction of Pope which you have exercised, and - I command you to come down from the Apostolic See of Rome, - the superiority of which belongs to me by the gift of God, - and the assent and oath of the Romans." - -The other letter ends with the following adjuration, which the king -prefaces by quoting the words of St. Paul: "If an angel from heaven -preach any other doctrine to you than that we have preached unto you, -let him be accursed": - - "You who are struck by this curse and condemned by the - judgment of the bishops and by our own, come down, leave - the apostolic chair; let another assume the throne of St. - Peter, not to cover violence with the mantle of religion, - but to teach the doctrine of the blessed apostle. I, Henry, - king by the grace of God, and all my bishops, we command - you, come down, come down!" - -These letters were sent to Rome by Count Eberhard, the same who had -come to inquire into the election of Gregory two years before, and had -confirmed and consented to it in the name of his master. He was -himself one of the excommunicated barons whom Gregory had struck for -simoniacal grants of benefices; but he had not the courage to carry -fire and flame into the very household of the Pope. He did, however, -all the harm he could, publishing the contents of the letters he -carried in the great Italian cities, where every guilty priest -rejoiced to think that he had thus escaped the hands of the terrible -Gregory. But when he came within reach of Rome the great German baron -lost heart. He found a substitute in a priest of Parma, a hot-headed -partisan, one of those instruments of malice who are insensible to the -peril of burning fuse or sudden explosion. The conspirators calculated -with a sense of the dramatic which could scarcely have been expected -from their nationality, and which looks more like the inspiration of -the Italian himself--that he should arrive in Rome on the eve of the -yearly council held in the Lateran at the beginning of Lent. This -yearly synod was a more than usually important one; for already the -news of the decision at Worms was known in Italy, and a great number -of the clergy, both small and great, had crowded to Rome. A hundred -and ten prelates are reckoned as present, besides many other -dignitaries. Among them sat, as usual on such occasions, Beatrice and -Matilda of Tuscany, the only secular protectors of Gregory, the -greatest and nearest of Italian sovereigns. It was their presence that -was aimed at in the strangely abusive edict of Worms as making the -Council a womanish senate: and it was also Matilda's case which was -referred to in the accusation that the Pope separated husbands from -their wives. The excitement of expectation was in the air as all the -strangers in Rome, and the people, ever stirred like the Athenians by -the desire to hear some new thing, thronged the corridors and -ante-chapels of the Lateran, the great portico and square which were -for the moment the centre of Rome. Again the vast basilica, the -rustling mediæval crowd in all its glow of colour and picturesqueness -of grouping, rises before us. Few scenes more startling and dramatic -have ever occurred even in that place of many histories. - -The Pope had seated himself in the chair of St. Peter, the long -half-circular line of the great prelates extending down the long -basilica on either side, the princes in a tribune apart with their -attendants, and the crowd of priests filling up every corner and -crevice: the _Veni Creator_ had been sung: and the proceedings were -about to begin--when Roland of Parma was introduced, no doubt with -much courtesy and ceremony, as the bearer of letters from the Emperor. -When these letters were taken from him, however, the envoy, instead of -withdrawing, as became him, stood still at the foot of the Pope's -chair, and to the consternation, as may be supposed, of the assembly, -addressed Gregory. "The king, my master," he cried, "and all the -bishops, foreign and Italian, command you to quit instantly the Church -of Rome, and the chair of Peter." Then turning quickly to the -astonished assembly, "My brethren," he cried, "you are hereby warned -to appear at Pentecost in the presence of the king to receive your -Pope from him; for this is no Pope but a devouring wolf." - -The intensity of the surprise alone can account for the possibility of -the most rapid speaker delivering himself of so many words before the -assembly rose upon him to shut his insolent mouth. The Bishop of Porto -was the first to spring up, to cry "Seize him!" but no doubt a hundred -hands were at his throat before the Prætorian guard, with their naked -swords making a keen line of steel through the shadows of the crowded -basilica, now full of shouts and tumult, came in from the gates. The -wretch threw himself at the feet of the Pope whom he had that moment -insulted, and who seems to have come down hurriedly to rescue him from -the fury of the crowd: and was with difficulty placed under the -protection of the soldiers. It is not difficult to imagine the supreme -excitement which must have filled the church as they disappeared with -their prisoner, and the agitated assembly turned again towards their -head, the insulted pontiff. Gregory was not the man to fail in such an -emergency. He entreated the assembly to retain its composure and calm. -"My children," he said, "let not the peace of the Church be broken by -you. Perilous times, the gospel itself tells us, shall come: times in -which men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, -disobedient to parents. It must needs be that offences come, and the -Lord has sent us as sheep into the midst of wolves. We have long lived -in peace, but it may be that God would now water his growing corn with -the blood of martyrs. We behold the devil's force at length displaying -itself against us in the open field. Now, therefore, as it behoves the -disciples of Christ with hands trained to the war, let us meet him and -bravely contend with him until the holy faith which through his -practices appears to be throughout the world abandoned and despised -shall, the Lord fighting through us, be restored." - -It seems a strange descent from the dignity of this address, that the -Pope should have gone on to comment upon a marvellous egg which it was -said had been found near the church of St. Peter, with a strange -design raised upon its surface--a buckler with the figure of a serpent -underneath, struggling with bent head and wriggling body to get free. -This had seemed, however, a wonderful portent to all Rome, and though -his modern historians censure Gregory for having no doubt prepared the -prodigy and taken a despicable advantage of it, there does not seem -the slightest reason to suppose either that Gregory was guilty of -this, or that he was so little a man of his time as not to be himself -as much impressed by it as any one else there. Appearances of the -kind, which an age on the lookout for portents can define, and make -others see, are not wanting in any period. The crowd responded with -cries that it was he, the father of the Church, who was supreme, and -that the blasphemer should be cut off from the Church and from his -throne. - -The sensation was not lessened when the full text[4] of Henry's -letters, parts of which we have already quoted, was read out to the -reassembled council next day. The words which named their Pope--their -head who had been the providence and the guide of Rome for so many -years--with contemptuous abuse as "the monk Hildebrand," must have -stirred that assembly to its depths. The council with one voice -demanded from Gregory the excommunication of the Emperor, and of the -impious bishops, false to every vow, who had ventured to launch an -anathema against the lawful head of the Church. The solemn sentence of -excommunication was accordingly pronounced against Henry: his subjects -were freed from their oath of allegiance, and his soul cut off from -the Church which he had attempted to rend in twain. Excommunications -had become so common in these days that the awe of the extraordinary -ceremonial was much lessened: but it was no mere spiritual -deprivation, as all were aware, but the most tremendous sentence which -could be launched against a man not yet assured in his victories over -his own rebellious tributaries, and whose throne depended upon the -fidelity of powerful vassals, many of whom were much more impressed by -the attitude of the Pope than by that of the king. - -Thus after so many preliminaries, treaties of peace and declarations -of war, the great conflict between Pope and Emperor, between the -Church and the State, began. The long feud which ran into every local -channel, and rent every mediæval town asunder with the struggles of -Guelfs and Ghibellines, thus originated amid events that shook the -world. The Synod of Worms and the Council of Rome, with their sudden -and extraordinary climax in the conference of Canossa, formed the -first act in a drama played upon a larger stage and with more -remarkable accompaniments than almost any other in the world. - -The effect of Henry's excommunication was extraordinary. The world of -Christendom, looking on beyond the sphere of Henry's immediate -surroundings and partisans, evidently felt with an impulse almost -unanimous that the anathema launched by a partly lay assembly and a -secular King against a reigning Pope unassailable in virtue, a man of -power and genius equal to his position, was a sort of grim jest, the -issue of which was to be watched for with much excitement, but not -much doubt as to the result, the horror of the profanity being the -gravest point in the matter. But no one doubted the power of Gregory -on his part, amid his lawful council, to excommunicate and cut off -from the Church the offending king. Already, before the facts were -known, many bishops and other ecclesiastics in Germany had sent timid -protests against the act to which in some cases they had been forced -to append their names: and the public opinion of the world, if such an -expression can be used, was undoubtedly on Gregory's side. Henry's -triumphant career came to a pause. Not only the judgment of the Church -and the opinion of his peers, but the powers of Heaven seemed to be -against him. One of his greatest allies and supporters, Gottfried, -surnamed Il Gobbo, the son of that Gottfried of Lorraine who married -Beatrice of Tuscany, and who had imposed his hunchback son as her -husband upon the young Matilda, the daughter of Beatrice--was murdered -immediately after. The Bishop of Utrecht, who had been one of the -king's chief advisers and confidants in his war with Gregory, died in -misery and despair, declaring with his last breath that he saw his bed -surrounded by demons, and that it was useless to offer prayers for -him. On the other hand, the great Dukes of Suabia, Bavaria, and -Carinthia, all faithful to the Church, abandoned the excommunicated -king. Some of the greater bishops, trembling before the just ire of -the Pope whom they had bearded, took the same part. The half-assuaged -rebellion of the Saxon provinces broke forth with greater force than -ever. Henry had neither arms nor supporters left to secure further -victories, and the very air of the empire was full of the letters of -Gregory, in which all his attempts to win the young king to better -ways, and all the insults which that king had poured forth against the -Holy See, were set forth. The punishment, as it appeared on all sides, -was prompt as thunderbolts from heaven to follow the offence. - -While Henry hesitated in dismay and alarm, not knowing what step to -take, seeing his friends, both lay and clerical, abandon him on every -side, consequences more decisive still followed. The great princes met -together in an assembly of their own in Ulm without any reference to -Henry, whom they named in their proceedings the ex-king, and decided -upon another more formal meeting later to choose a new sovereign. -These potentates became doubly religious, doubly Catholic, in their -sudden revulsion. They surrounded Gregory's legates with reverence, -they avoided all communion with simoniacal prelates, and -even--carrying the Pope's new influence to the furthest extent--with -the married priests against whom he had long fulminated in vain. A -reformation of all evils seemed to be about to follow. They formally -condemned the excommunicated Henry on every point moral and political, -and though they hesitated over the great step of the threatened -election of a king in his place, they announced to him that unless he -could clear himself of the interdict before the beginning of the -following year, when they had decided to call a diet in Augsburg to -settle the question, his fall would be complete and without remedy. At -the same time they formally and solemnly invited the presence of the -Pope at Augsburg to preside over and confirm their conclusions. This -invitation Gregory accepted at once, and Henry, with no alternative -before him, consented also to appear before the tribunal of his -subjects, and to receive from their hands, and those of the Pope whom -he had so insulted and outraged, the sentence of his fate. His -humiliation was complete. - -The assembly which was to make this tremendous decision was convoked -for the 2nd February, 1077, the feast of the Purification, at -Augsburg. Gregory had accepted the invitation of the German potentates -without fear; but there was much alarm in Rome at the thought of such -a journey--of the passage through rebellious Lombardy, of the terrible -Alps and their dangers, and at the end of all the fierce German -princes, who did not always keep faith, and whose minds before this -time might have turned again towards their native prince. The Pope set -out, however, under the guard of Matilda of Tuscany and her army, to -meet the escort promised him from beyond the Alps. On the other hand, -Henry was surrounded by dangers on every side. He had been compelled -to give up his own special friends, excommunicated like himself; he -had no arms, no troops, no money; the term which had been allowed him -to make his peace with the Pope was fast passing, and the dreadful -moment when it would be his fate to stand before his revolted subjects -and learn their decision, appeared before him in all its humiliation -and dishonour. Already various offenders had stolen across the -mountains privately, to make their submission to Gregory. It seemed -the only course for the desperate king to take. At length, after much -wavering, he made up his mind, and escaping like a fugitive from the -town of Spires to which he had retired, he made his way in the midst -of a rigorous winter, and with incredible difficulty, across the Alps, -with the help and under the guardianship of Adelaide of Susa, his -mother-in-law, who, however, it is said, made him pay a high price for -her help. He had begged of the Pope to give him audience at Rome, but -this was refused: and in partial despair and confusion he set out to -accomplish his hated mission somehow, he did not know where or by what -means. A gleam of comfort, however, came to Henry on his travels. He -was received with open arms in Lombardy where the revolted bishops -eagerly welcomed him as their deliverer from Gregory and his -austerities: but there was too much at stake for such an easy solution -of the matter as this. - -In the meantime Gregory travelled northwards surrounded by all the -strength of Tuscany, accompanied by the brilliant and devoted Matilda, -a daughter in love and in years, the pupil and youthful friend, no -doubt the favourite and beloved companion, of a man whose age and -profession and character alike would seem to have made any other idea -impossible even to the slanderers of the middle ages. Matilda of -Tuscany has had a great fate: not only was she the idol of her own -people and the admired of her own age--such an impossible and absurd -piece of slander as that which linked the name of a beautiful young -woman with that of the austere and aged Gregory being apparently the -only one which had ever been breathed against her:--but the great -poets of her country have placed her, one in the sweeter aspect of a -ministering angel of heaven, the other in that of the most heroic of -feminine warriors, on the heights of poetic fame. Matilda on the banks -of that sacred river of Lethe where all that is unhappy is forgotten, -who is but one degree less sacred to Dante than his own Beatrice in -Paradise: and Clorinda, the warrior maiden of Tasso, have carried the -image of this noble princess to the hearts of many an after age. The -hunchback husband imposed upon her in her extreme youth, the close -union between her and her mother Beatrice, the independent court held -by these two ladies, their prominent place among all the great minds -of their time--and not least the faithful friendship of both with the -great Gregory, combine to make this young princess one of the most -interesting figures of her day. The usual solaces of life had been cut -off from her at the beginning by her loveless marriage. She had no -children. She was at this period of her career alone in the world, her -mother having recently died, following Il Gobbo very closely to the -grave. Henceforward Matilda had more to do in the field and council -chamber than with the ordinary delights of life. - -The Pope had left Rome with many anxieties on his mind, fully -appreciating the dangers of the journey before him, and not knowing if -he might ever see the beloved city again. While he was on the way the -news reached him that Henry, whom he had refused to receive in Rome, -was on his way across the Alps, and as probably the details of that -painful journey were unknown, and the first idea would be that the -king was coming with an army in full force--still greater anxieties, -if not alarms, must have been awakened among the Pope's supporters. It -was still more alarming to find that the German escort which was to -have met him at Mantua had not been sent, the hearts of the princes -having failed them, and their plans having fallen into confusion at -the news of the king's escape. Henry had been received with enthusiasm -in Lombardy, always rebellious, and might make his appearance any day -to overpower the chivalry of Tuscany, and put the lives of both Pope -and Princess in danger. They were on the road to Mantua when this news -reached them, and in the anxious council of war immediately held, it -was resolved that the strong castle of Canossa, supposed to be -impregnable, should be, for the moment at least, the Pope's shelter -and resting-place. One of the great strongholds of Italy, built like -so many on a formidable point of rock, of itself almost inaccessible, -and surrounded by three lines of fortified walls, among which no doubt -clustered the rude little dwellings of a host of retainers--the -situation of this formidable place was one which promised complete -protection: and the name of the Tuscan castle has since become one of -the best-known names in history, as the incident which followed -contains some of the most picturesque and remarkable scenes on record. -The castle had already a romantic story; it had sheltered many a -fugitive; forlorn princesses had taken refuge within its walls from -the pursuit of suitors or of enemies, the one as dangerous as the -other. Painfully carried up in his litter by those steep and dangerous -ways, from one narrow platform of the cliff to another, with the great -stretch of the landscape ever widening as he gained a higher point, -and the vast vault of heaven rounding to a vaster horizon, the Pope -gained this eyrie of safety, this eagle's nest among the clouds. - -We hear of no luxuries, not even those of intellectual and spiritual -discourse, which to many an ascetic have represented, and represented -well, the happiness of life, in this retreat of Gregory with his -beautiful hostess, amid his and her friends. By his side, indeed, was -Hugo, Abbot of Cluny, one of his most cherished and life-long -companions; but the Pope spent his days of seclusion in prayer and -anxious thought. The great plain that lay at his feet, should it be -deluged with Christian blood once more, should brother stand against -brother in arms, and Italy be crushed under the remorseless foot which -even the more patient Teuton had not been able to bear? Many -melancholy thoughts were no doubt in Gregory's mind in that great -fastness surrounded by all the ramparts of nature and of art. He had -dreamed--before the name of Crusade had yet been heard or thought -of--of an expedition to Jerusalem at the head of all who loved the -Lord, himself in his age and weakness the leader of an army composed -of valiant and generous hearts from every quarter of the world, to -redeem the Sepulchre of the Lord, and crush the rising power of the -Saracens. This had been the favourite imagination of his mind--though -as yet it called forth little sympathy from those about him--for some -years past. Instead of that noble expedition was it possible that, -perhaps partly by his fault, Christians were about to fly at each -other's throats and the world to be again torn asunder by intestine -warfare? But such thoughts as these were not the thoughts of the -eleventh century. Gregory might shed tears before his God at the -thought of bloodshed: but that his position in the presence of the -Highest was the only right one, and his opponent's that of the most -dangerous wrong, was no doubt his assured conviction. He awaited the -progress of events, knowing as little as the humblest man-at-arms what -was going to happen, with a troubled heart. - -Nevertheless the retirement of these first days was broken by many -hurried arrivals which were more or less of good omen. One by one the -proud German bishops specially designated in Gregory's acts of -excommunication, and nobles more haughty still, under the same burden, -climbed the steep paths of Canossa, and penetrated from gate to gate, -barefooted pilgrims denuding themselves of every vestige of power. -"Cursed be he who turns back his sword from the blood," that is, who -weakly pauses in the execution of a divine sentence--was one of -Gregory's maxims. He received these successive suppliants with more -sternness than sweetness. "Mercy," he said, "can never be refused to -those who acknowledge and deplore their sins; but long disobedience, -like rust on a sword, can be burned out only by the fire of a long -repentance;" and he sent them one by one to solitary chambers in -which, with the sparest of nourishment, they might reflect upon their -sins. After a sufficient seclusion, however, they were liberated and -sent away, reprimanded yet blessed--at least the laymen among them. It -remained now to see what Henry would do. - - [Illustration: ARCH OF DRUSUS (1860). - _To face page 266._] - -Henry was no longer at the lowest ebb of his fortunes. The princes of -Germany had come to a pause: they had not sent the promised escort for -the Pope; they were irresolute, not knowing what step to take next: -and all Lombardy had risen to welcome the king; he had the support of -every schismatic bishop, every censured priest, and of the excited -people who were hostile to the pretensions of Rome, or rather to the -severe purity of Gregory which was so uncompromising and determined. -But by some unaccountable check upon his high spirit Henry, for the -moment, was not moved to further rebellion either by the support of a -Lombard army at his back, or by the hopes of his reviving followers at -home. He was accompanied by his wife and by her mother, Adelaide of -Susa, and perhaps the veneration of the women for the authority of the -Church and dread of its penalties, affected him, although he had no -love for the wife of whom he had tried so hard to get rid. Whatever -was the explanation it is very evident, at least, that his spirit was -cowed and that he saw nothing before him but submission. He went on -probably to Parma, with a small and unarmed retinue, leaving his -turbulent Lombard followers behind. On the way he sent various -messengers before him, asking for an interview with Matilda, who was -supposed likely to move the Pope in his favour. We are not told where -the meeting took place, but probably it was in some wondering village -at the foot of the hill, where the princely train from the castle, the -great Contessa, the still greater abbot, Hugo of Cluny, and "many of -the principal Italian princes," met the wandering pilgrim party, -without sign or evidence of royalty--Henry and his Queen, the Marchesa -Adelaide of Este, her son Amadeo, and other great persons in the same -disguise of humility. The ladies on either side were related to each -other, and all belonged to that close circle of the reigning class, in -which every man calls his neighbour brother or cousin. Hugo of Cluny -was the godfather of the king and loved him, and Adelaide, though on -the side of her son-in-law, and now his eager champion, was a true and -faithful daughter of the Church. Henry declared on the other side to -his anxious friends that the accusations of the Germans were not true, -that he was not as they had painted him: and implored their -intercession with the Pope, not for any temporal advantage, but solely -to be delivered from the anathema which weighed upon his soul. And -Matilda and the others were but too anxious to make peace and put -faith in all he said. - -It is very likely that Gregory believed none of these protestations, -but now or never, certainly he was bound to fulfil his own maxim, and -not to turn back his sword from the blood. All the arguments of -Henry's friends could not induce him to grant an easy absolution at -the king's first word. Finally he consented to receive him as a -penitent, but in no other character. Probably it was while the prayers -and entreaties of Matilda and of Abbot Hugo were still going on in the -castle that Henry came day by day, barefooted, in a humble tunic of -woollen cloth, and waited at the gates to know the result. It was "an -atrocious winter," such as had never been seen before, with continual -snowstorms, and the rugged paths and stairs up the cliff, never easy, -were coated with frost. Twice over the king climbed with naked feet as -far as the second circle of the walls, but only to be turned away. It -seems little short of a miracle that such a man, in such -circumstances, should have so persevered. On the third day the -pleaders within had been successful, and Henry was admitted, on the -generous guarantee of Matilda, who took upon her to answer for him -that his repentance was genuine. At last the culprit was led into the -Pope's presence. He was made to give various promises of amendment, -which were accepted, not on his oath, a last and supreme humiliation, -but on the undertaking of various of his friends who swore, rashly one -cannot but think, on the relics of the saints that the king would keep -his promises. This is the document to which these generous friends set -their seals. - - "I, Henry, King, in respect to the complaints of the - archbishops, bishops, dukes, counts and other princes of - the Teutonic kingdom, and of all those who follow them, - within the time fixed by the Lord Pope will do justice - according to his sentence, or make peace according to his - advice if no unavoidable hindrance occurs; and in that - case, the moment the hindrance is taken away I will be - ready to fulfil my promise. In addition, if the Lord Pope - Gregory desires to cross the Alps, or go into other - countries, he shall be held safe on my part, and on the - part of those whom I command, from all danger of death, - mutilation, or captivity, himself and those who form his - escort, both during the journey, as long as he remains, and - on the return; nothing shall be done by me contrary to his - dignity, and if anything is done by others, I will lend him - my help in good faith according to my power." - -This does not seem a very large bond. - -Next day, the 25th January, 1077, Henry came again in the same -penitential dress, but this time according to formal appointment. He -came into the room where the Pope awaited him, followed by all the -excommunicated princes in his train, barefooted and half frozen with -the painful climb up the rocky paths; and throwing himself on the -floor before Gregory, asked his pardon, which Gregory gave, shedding -many tears over the penitents. They were then received back into the -Church with all the due ceremonials, the Pope in his vestments, the -penitents naked to the waist, despoiled of all ornaments and -dignities. In the castle church, of which now nothing but the -foundations remain, Gregory solemnly absolved the miserable party, and -offered them the Communion. At this act a very strange scene took -place. The Pope, the great assailant of Simony, had himself been -accused of it, ridiculous as was the accusation in a case like his, of -which every circumstance was so perfectly known, and formally by Henry -himself in the insolent command already quoted to abandon the papal -see. At the moment of communion, in the most solemn part of the -service, the Pope turned to Henry, standing before the altar, with the -host in his hands. He appealed to God in the most impressive manner -according to the usage of the time. - -"You have long and often accused me," said the Pope, "of having -usurped the Apostolical chair by Simony.... I now hold the body of the -Saviour in my hands, which I am about to take. Let Him be the witness -of my innocence: let God Himself all powerful absolve me to-day of the -crime imputed to me if I am innocent, or strike me with sudden death -if I am guilty." Then after a solemn pause he added: "My son, do as I -have done: if you are certain of your innocence, if your reputation is -falsely attacked by the lies of your rivals, deliver the Church of God -from a scandal and yourself from suspicion; take the body of Our Lord, -that your innocence may have God for witness, that the mouth of your -enemies may be stopped, and that I--henceforward, your advocate and -the most faithful defender of your cause--may reconcile you with your -nobles, give you back your kingdom, and that the tempest of civil war -which has so long afflicted the State may henceforth be laid at rest." - -Would a guilty king in these unbelieving days venture upon such a -pledge? Henry at least was incapable of it. He dared not call God to -witness against the truth, and refused, trembling, murmuring confused -excuses to take this supreme test. The mass was accomplished without -the communion of the king; but not the less he was absolved and the -anathema taken from his head. - -In a letter written immediately after, Gregory informed the German -princes of what he had done, adding that he still desired to cross the -Alps and assist them in the settlement of the great question -remaining, Henry having been avowedly received by him as a penitent, -but not in any way as a restored king. - -This great historical event, which has been the subject of so much -commentary and discussion, and has been supposed to mark so great a -step in the power and pretensions of the Popes, was in fact without -any immediate effect in history. Henry went forth wroth and sore, -humiliated but not humbled, and thinking of nothing so much as how to -return to Gregory the shame he had himself suffered. And Gregory -remained in his stronghold as little convinced of any advantage -attained, as he had been of Henry's repentance. He is said to have -answered the Saxon envoys who reproached him with his leniency, by a -grim reassurance which is almost cynical. "He goes back worse than he -came," said the Pope. It was indeed impossible that the eye of a man -so conversant with men as Gregory should not have perceived how -entirely his penitent's action was diplomatic and assumed for a -purpose, and what a solemn farce Henry was playing as he stood -barefooted in the snow, to obtain the absolution which was his only -chance for Germany. It is perfectly permissible to believe that not -only the determination not "to turn back his sword from the blood" or -to fail in exacting every punctilio of penance, but a natural impulse -of scorn for the histrionic exhibition made for the benefit of the -great audience across the Alps, induced the Pope to keep the king -dangling at those icy gates. That there should have been in Gregory's -mind, along with this conviction, momentary relentings of hope that -the penitent's heart might really be touched, was equally natural, and -that it was one of these sudden impulses which moved him to the -startling and solemn appeal to God over the sacramental host which -formed so remarkable an incident in the ceremonial, may be taken for -granted. In that age miracles were more than common, they were looked -for and expected; and in all ages the miracle which we call -conversion, the sudden and inexplainable movement of a heart, touched -and turned in an instant from evil to good, has been known and proved. -That a priest at the altar should hope that it might be his, by some -burning word or act, to convey that inexpressible touch was a very -human and natural hope: and yet Gregory knew well in his after survey -of what had passed that the false penitent went away worse than he -came. He wrote, however, an account of the matter to the German -princes, who looked on trembling for the consequences, and probably -blaming the Pope for an action that might destroy all their -combinations--in which he described to them Henry's penitence and -promise, without implying a doubt of the sincerity of either, but with -a full statement of the fact that the absolution awarded to the man -made no difference in respect to the king. - - "Things being thus arranged [writes the Pope] in order to - secure, by the help of God, the peace of the Church and the - union of the Kingdom, which we have so long desired, we are - anxious to pursue our journey into your countries on the - first occasion possible; for we desire you to know, as you - may perceive from the written engagements, that everything - is still in suspense, so that our arrival among you and the - unanimity of your council is absolutely necessary to settle - matters. Therefore be very attentive to continue as you - have begun in faith and the love of justice, and understand - that we have done nothing for the king, except to tell him - that he might trust to us to help him in such things as may - touch his salvation and his honour, with justice and with - mercy, without putting our soul and his in peril." - -In the meantime Henry had enough to do in winning back again to his -side the rebellious Lombards, who considered his submission to the -Pope, however artificial, a desertion of their cause, and shut upon -him the gates of their cities, which before his visit to Canossa had -been thrown wide open. He had apparently, though only for a moment, -lost them, while he had not regained the sympathies of Germany. There -was nothing for it but a new apostasy, throwing over of his promises, -and reassumption of the leadership of the schismatic party, which made -the position of Gregory, surrounded by that angry sea of Lombard -rebellion which beat against the base of his rocky stronghold, a very -dangerous one. Through the whole spring of 1077 the Pope was more or -less confined to the Castle of Canossa or other similar fortresses, -under the vigilant care of Matilda; and it was from these strong -places that he wrote a succession of remarkable letters to the nobles -of Germany, who, strongly set upon the Diet in which the affairs of -the kingdom were to be placed on a permanent footing, were proceeding -to carry out their intention without waiting either for the presence -of Gregory which they had invited, or Henry whose interests were at -stake. Gregory did everything that was possible to delay the Diet -until he could be present at it. He was anxious also to delay whatever -great step might be in contemplation until the mind of the country was -a little less anxious and disturbed: and he desired to be present, not -only in the position of Arbitrator, but also to moderate with his -counsels the excited spirits, and prevent if possible any great -catastrophe. - -We may allow, as it is one of the conventionalities of history to -assert, that Gregory's intention was to establish in such matters the -jurisdiction of the Popes and make it apparent to the world that -thrones and principalities were at the disposition of the Church. But -at the same time Gregory was, like all men, chiefly moved by the -immediate question before him, and he was a man sincerely occupied -with what was best for both Church and State, fearing the rashness of -an angry and excited assembly, and remembering his promise to do what -he could for his most unworthy penitent; and we see no reason to -believe that his purposes were not, according to his perception of his -duty, honest and noble. He retained his hope of proceeding to Germany -as long as that was possible, asking again and again for the guide and -escort promised, even asking from Henry a safe conduct through the -territory now held by him. Even after the election at Forchheim of -Rudolf of Suabia as king in the place of Henry, he continued to urge -upon the legates whom he had sent to that assembly the necessity for -his presence. And he undoubtedly did this on the highest ground -possible, putting forth his right to judge in the matter in the very -clearest words. He bids his messengers in the name of St. Peter to -summon the heads of both parties, Henry and Rudolf, to make his -journey possible. - - "With the advice of the clergy and laymen fearing God, we - desire to judge between the two kings, by the grace of God, - and point out which of the two parties is most justly to be - entrusted with the government of the State. You are aware - that it is our duty, and that it appertains to the - providential wisdom of the Apostolic See, to judge the - governments of the great Christian kingdoms and to regulate - them under the inspiration of justice. The question between - these two princes is so grave, and the consequences may be - so dangerous, that if it was for any reason neglected by - us, it would bring not only upon us and upon them, but on - the Church entire, great and lamentable misfortune. - Therefore, if one or other of these kings refuses to yield - to our decision and conform to our counsels, and if, - lighting the torch of pride and human covetousness against - the honour of God, he aspires in his fury to the desolation - of the Roman Empire, resist him in every way, by every - means, to the death if necessary, in our name and by the - authority of the blessed Peter." - -The Pope in another letter makes his appeal no longer to the ruling -class but to the entire people. He informs "all the faithful of Christ -in the Teutonic empire" that he has sent his legates to both kings to -demand of them both "either in their own persons or by sufficient -messengers" to open the way for his journey to Germany in order with -the help of God to judge the question between them. - - "Our heart is full of sadness and sorrow to think that for - the pride of one man so many thousands of Christians may be - delivered over to death both temporal and eternal, the - Christian religion shaken to its foundations, and the Roman - Empire precipitated into ruin. Both of these kings seek aid - from us, or rather from the Apostolic See, which we occupy, - though unworthy; and we, trusting in the mercy of Almighty - God, and the help of the blessed Peter, with the aid of - your advice, you who fear God and love the Church, are - ready to examine with care the right on either side and to - help him whom justice notoriously calls to the - administration of the kingdom.... - - "You know, dear brethren, that since our departure from - Rome we have lived in the midst of dangers among the - enemies of the faith; but neither from fear nor from love - have we promised any help, but justice to one or other of - these kings. We prefer to die, if necessary, rather than to - consent by our own will that the Church of God should be - put from her place; for we know that we have been ordained - and set upon the apostolic chair in order to seek in our - life not our own interests but those of Christ, and to - follow through a thousand labours in the steps of the - fathers to the future and eternal repose, by the mercy of - God." - -The reader must remember that Gregory had very good reason for all -that he said, and that irrespective of the claims of the Church a -wise and impartial umpire at such a moment might have been of the last -importance to Germany; also that his services had been asked for in -this capacity, and that therefore he had a right to insist upon being -heard. The position which he claimed had been offered to him; and he -was entitled to ask that such an important matter should not be -settled in his absence. - -The remonstrances which the Pope continued to make by his own voice -and those of his legates as long as any remonstrance was possible, -were however regarded by neither party. Neither the authority of Rome -nor the visible wisdom of settling a question which must convulse the -world and tear Germany in pieces, peacefully and on the foundation of -justice if that were possible, as urged by Gregory--could prevail, nor -ever has prevailed on any similar occasion against the passions and -ambitions of men. It was a devout imagination, appealing to certain -minds here and there by the highest motives, and naturally by very -different ones to all the interested souls likely to be advantaged by -it, which always form the reverse of the medal; but men with arms in -their hands and all the excitements of faction and party, of imperial -loss and gain around them, were little like to await a severe and -impartial judgment. The German bishops made a curious remonstrance in -their turn against the reception by Gregory of Henry's professions of -penitence, and on either side there was a band of ecclesiastics, -presumably not all good or all bad perplexing every judgment. - -We have fortunately nothing to do with the bloody struggles of Rudolf -and Henry. When the latter made his way again over the Alps, to defend -his rights, carrying with him the Iron Crown which Gregory's refusal -had prevented him from assuming--he carried it away however, though he -did not dare to put it on, a curious mixture of timidity and furtive -daring--the Pope, up to that moment virtually confined within the -circle of the mountain strongholds of Tuscany, returned to Rome: where -he continued to be assailed by constant and repeated entreaties to -take up one or the other side, his own council of the Lateran -inclining towards Henry. But nothing moved him from his determination -that this question should be decided by a Diet under his own -presidence, and by that alone. This question runs through the entire -story of the period from year to year. No council--and in addition to -the usual yearly council held always in the beginning of Lent, at the -Lateran, there seem to have been various others between whiles, made -compulsory by the agitation of the time--could take place without the -arrival of the two bands of German ambassadors, one from Henry and the -other from Rudolf, to plead the cause of their respective masters, -both professing all obedience, and inviting a decision in their favour -by every argument: but neither taking a single step to bring about the -one thing which the Pope demanded--a lawful assembly to settle the -question. - -There is no pretence that Gregory treated them with anything but the -severest impartiality, or that he at any time departed from the -condition he had proposed from the first--the only preference given to -one above the other being that he is said to have sent his apostolical -blessing to Rudolf, a virtuous prince and his friend, and not to Henry -the apostate and false penitent, which is scarcely wonderful. But it -is easy to understand the agitation in which the constant arrival of -these ambassadors must have kept Rome, a city so prone to agitation, -and with so many parties within its own walls, seditious nobles and -undisciplined priests, and the ever-restless, ever-factious populace, -struggling continually for some new thing. The envoys of Henry would -seem to have had more or less the popular favour: they were probably a -more showy band than the heavier Saxons: and Henry's name and the -prestige of his great father, and all those royal shows which must -still have been remembered in the city, the coronation of the former -Henry in St. Peter's, and all its attendant ceremonials and expenses, -must have attached a certain interest to his name. Agnes too, the -empress, who had died so recently in the odour of sanctity among them, -must have left behind her, whether she loved him or not, a certain -prepossession in favour of her son. And the crowd took sides no doubt, -and in its crushing and pressing to see the strangers, in the great -Lateran square or by the gates of their lodging, formed itself into -parties attracted by a glance or a smile, made into enemies by a hasty -word, and preparing for the greater troubles and conflicts which were -about to come. - -In the midst of these continual arrivals and departures and while the -trumpets of the Saxon or the German party were still tingling in the -air, and the velvet and jewels of the ambassadors had scarcely ceased -to gleam among the dark robes of the clergy, there came up other -matters of a nature more suitable to the sacred courts and the -interests of the Church. Berengarius of Tours, a mild and speculative -thinker, as often convincing himself that he was wrong as proving -himself to be right, appeared before the council of 1079 to answer for -certain heresies respecting the Eucharist, of which there had often -already been question. His opinions were those of Luther, of whom he -is constantly called the precursor: but there was little of Luther's -strength in this gentle heretic, who had already recanted publicly, -and then resumed his peculiar teachings, with a simplicity that for a -time disarmed criticism. Gregory had always been his friend and -protector, tolerating if not sharing his opinions, which were not such -as moved or interested deeply the Church at the moment: for the age -was not heretical, and the example of such a candid offender, who did -not attempt to resist the arguments brought against him, was rather -edifying than otherwise. At least there were no theological arguments -of fire and sword, no rack or stake for the heretic in Gregory's day. -The pressure of theological judgment, however, became too strong for -the Pope to resist, preoccupied as he was with other matters, and -Berengarius was once more compelled to recant, which he did cordially, -with the same result as before. - -It was a more congenial occupation for the vigilant head of the Church -to watch over the extension of the faith than to promote the internal -discipline of the fold of Christ by prosecutions for heresy. His gaze -penetrated the mists of the far north, and we find Gregory -forestalling (as indeed his great predecessor the first Gregory had -done before him) the missionaries of our own day in the expedient of -training young natives to preach the faith among their countrymen, -over which there was much modern rejoicing when it was first adopted -in recent days, as an entirely new and altogether wise thing. Gregory -the Great had already practised it with his Anglo-Saxon boys: and -Gregory VII. recommended it to Olaf, king of Norway, to whom he wrote -that he would fain have sent a sufficient number of priests to his -distant country: "But as this is very difficult because of the great -distance and difference of language, we pray you, as we have also -asked from the king of Denmark, to send to our apostolical court some -young nobles of your country in order that being nourished with care -in divine knowledge under the wings of St. Peter and St. Paul, they -may carry back to you the counsels of the Apostolical See, arriving -among you, not as men unknown, but as brothers--and preaching to you -the duties of Christianity, not as strangers and ignorant, but as men -whose language is yours, and who are yet trained and powerful in -knowledge and morals." Thus, while the toils were gathering round his -feet at home, and the most ancient centre of Christianity was ready to -cast him out as a fugitive, the great Pope was extending the invisible -links of Christian fealty to the ends of the earth. - -It was in the year 1080, three years after the events of Canossa, that -the next step was taken by Gregory. In that long interval he had never -ceased to insist upon the only lawful mode of settling the quarrel, -_i.e._, the assembly in Germany of all the persons most concerned, to -take the whole matter into solemn consideration and come to a -permanent conclusion upon grounds more solid than the appeal to arms -which ravaged the empire, and which, constantly fluctuating, gave the -temporary victory now to one side, now to the other. The age was far -from being ripe for any such expedient as arbitration, and the ordeal -of arms was its most natural method: yet the proposal had proceeded in -the first place from the Teutonic princes themselves, and it was -entirely in accordance with German laws and primitive procedure. And -except the Pope, or some other great churchman, there was no possible -president of such a Diet, or any one who could have had even a -pretence of impartiality. He was the only man who could maintain the -balance and see justice done, even in theory: for the awe of his -presence and of his spiritual powers might have restrained these -fierce princes and barons and made some sort of reasonable discussion -possible. For all these reasons, and also no doubt to assert -practically the claim he had made for himself and his successors to be -the judges of the earth and settle all such disputes as -representatives of God, he was very unwilling to give up the project. -It had come to be evident, however, in the spring of 1080 when Lent -began and the usual Council of the Lateran assembled, that Henry would -never consent to this Diet, the very reason for which was the -discussion of claims which he held as divine and infallible. Rudolf, -his rival, was, or professed to be, as anxious for it as the Pope, -though he never had taken any step to make Gregory's journey across -the Alps possible. But at last it would seem that all parties gave up -the thought of any such means of making peace. The state of affairs -in Germany was daily becoming more serious, and when the envoys of -Rudolf, after many fruitless visits to Rome, appeared at last with a -sort of ultimatum, demanding that some decisive step should be taken -to put an end to the suspense, there was no longer any possibility of -further delay. Henry also sent ambassadors on the same occasion: but -they came late, and were not received. The Council of the Lateran met, -no doubt with many searchings of heart and a great excitement -pervading the assembly where matters of such importance were about to -be settled, and such a decision as had never been asked from any Pope -before, was about to be given from the chair of St. Peter to a -half-believing, half-rebellious world. Whether any one really believed -that a question involving the succession to the empire could be solved -in this way, it is impossible to tell: but the envoys of Rudolf, whose -arms had been for the moment victorious, and who had just driven Henry -a fugitive before him, made their appeal to the Pope with a vehemence -almost tragic, as to one whose power and responsibility in the matter -were beyond doubt. The statement of their case before the Council was -as follows: - - "We delegates of our lord the King, Rudolf, and of the - princes, we complain before God, and before St. Peter to - you our father and this holy Council, that Henry, set aside - by your Apostolic authority from the kingdom, has - notwithstanding your prohibition invaded the said kingdom, - and has devastated everything around by sword and fire and - pillage; he has with impious cruelty, driven bishops and - archbishops out of their sees, and has distributed their - dignities as fiefs among his partisans. Werner of holy - memory, archbishop of Magdeburg, has perished by his - tyranny; Aldebert, bishop of Worms, is still held in prison - contrary to the Apostolic order; many thousands of men have - been slaughtered by his faction, many churches pillaged, - burned and destroyed. The assaults of Henry upon our - princes because they withdrew their obedience from him - according to the command of the Apostolic See, are - numberless. And the assembly which you have desired to call - together, Holy Father, for the establishment of the truth - and of peace, has not been held, solely by the fault of - Henry and his adherents. For these reasons we supplicate - your clemency in our own name and that of the Holy Church - of God to do justice upon the sacrilegious violator of the - Church." - -It will be remarked that the whole blame of the struggle is here -thrown upon the Church:--as in the remonstrance of the Saxon bishops, -who say not a word of their national grievances against Henry, which -nevertheless were many and great, and the real foundation of the -war--but entirely attribute it to the action of Gregory in -excommunicating and authorising them to withdraw their homage from the -king. Nobody, we think, can read the chaotic and perplexing history of -the time without perceiving how mere a pretext this was, and how -little in reality the grievances of the Church had to do with the -internecine struggle. The curious thing however, is that Gregory, -either in policy or self-deception, accepts the whole responsibility -and is willing to be considered the cause and maker of these deadly -wars, as if the struggle had been one between the Church and the King -alone. A sense of responsibility was evidently strong in his mind as -he rose from his presiding chair on this great occasion, in the -breathless silence that followed the complaint and appeal of Rudolf's -emissaries. Not a voice in defence of Henry had been raised in the -Council, which, as many voices were in his favour in preceding -assemblies, shows the consciousness of the conclave that another and -more desperate phase of the quarrel had been reached. - -Gregory himself had sat silent for a moment, overwhelmed with the awe -of the great crisis. When he rose it was with a breaking voice and -tears in his eyes: and the form of the deliverance was as remarkable -as its tenor. Gregory addressed--not the Council: but, with an -extraordinary outburst of emotion, the Apostle in whose name he -pronounced judgment and in whose chair he sat. Nothing could have been -more impressive than this sudden and evidently spontaneous change from -the speech expected from him by the awed and excited assembly, to the -personal statement and explanation given forth in trembling accents -but with uplifted head and eyes raised to the unseen, to the great -potentate in heavenly places whose representative he believed himself -to be. However vague might be the image of the apostle in other eyes, -to Gregory St. Peter was his living captain, the superior officer of -the Church, to whom his second in command had to render an account of -his procedure in face of the enemy. The amazement of that great -assembly, the awe suddenly imposed even on the great body of priests, -too familiar perhaps with holy things to be easily impressed--much -more on the startled laymen, Rudolf's envoys and their attendants, by -this abstract address, suddenly rising out of the midst of the rapt -assembly to a listener unseen, must have been extraordinary. It -marked, as nothing else could have done, the realisation in Gregory's -mind of a situation of extraordinary importance, such an emergency as -since the Church came into being had seldom or never occurred in her -history before. He stood before the trembling world, himself a -solitary man shaken to the depths, calling upon his great predecessor -to remember that it was not with his own will that he had ascended -that throne or accepted that responsibility--that it was Peter, or -rather the two great leaders of the Church together, Peter the Prince -of the Apostles, Paul the Doctor and instructor of the nations, who -had chosen him, not he who had thrust himself into their place. To -these august listeners he recounted everything, the whole story of the -struggle, the sins of Henry, his submission and absolution, his -renewed rebellion, always against the Church, against the Apostles, -against the Ecclesiastical authority: while the breathless assembly -around, left out in this solemn colloquy, sat eager, drinking in every -word, overcome by the wonder of the situation, the strange attitude of -the shining figure in the midst, who was not even praying, but -reporting, explaining every detail to his unseen general above. Henry -had been a bad king, a cruel oppressor, an invader of every right: -and it would have been the best policy of the Churchman to put forth -these effective arguments for his overthrow. But of this there is not -a word. He was a rebel against the Church, and by the hand of the -Church it was just and right that he should fall. - -One cannot but feel a descent from this high and visionary ground in -the diction of the sentence that followed, a sentence not now heard -for the first time, and which perhaps no one there felt, tremendous as -its utterance was, to be the last word in this great quarrel. - - "Therefore trusting to the judgment and to the mercy of - God, and of the Holy Mother of God, and armed with your - authority, I place under excommunication and I bind with - the chains of anathema, Henry called King, and all his - fellow sinners; and on the part of Almighty God, and of - You, shutting him out henceforward from the kingdoms of - Germany and of Italy, I take from him all royal power and - dignity; I forbid any Christian to obey him as king; and I - absolve from their sworn promises all those who have made, - or may make, oaths of allegiance to him. May this Henry - with his fellow sinners have no force in fight and obtain - no victory in life!" - -Having with like solemnity bestowed upon Rudolf the kingdom of Germany -(Italy is not named) with all royal rights, the Pope thus concludes -his address to the spiritual Heads in heaven of the Church on earth: - - "Holy Fathers and Lords! let the whole world now know and - understand that as you can bind and loose in heaven, you - can also upon earth give and take away from each according - to his merits, empires, kingdoms, principalities, duchies, - marquisates, counties, and all possessions. You have often - already taken from the perverse and the unworthy, - patriarchal sees, primacies, archbishoprics, and - bishoprics, in order to bestow them upon religious men. If - you thus judge in things spiritual, with how much more - power ought you not to do so in things secular! And if you - judge the angels who are the masters of the proudest - princes, what may you not do with the princes, their - slaves! Let the kings and great ones of the earth know - to-day how great you are, and what your power is; let them - fear to neglect the ordinances of the Church! Accomplish - quickly your judgment on Henry so that to the eyes of all - it may be apparent that it falls upon him not by chance but - by your power. Yet may his confusion turn to repentance, - that his soul may be saved in the day of the Lord." - -Whether the ecstasy of his own rapt and abstract communion with the -unseen, that subtle inspiration of an Invisible too clearly conceived -for human weakness to sustain, had gone to Gregory's head and drawn -him into fuller expression of this extraordinary assertion and claim -beyond all reason: or whether the long-determined theory of his life -thus found complete development it is difficult to tell. These -assumptions were, indeed, the simple and practical outcome of claims -already made and responsibilities assumed: claims which had been -already put feebly into operation by other Popes before. But they had -never before been put into words so living or so solemn. Gregory -himself had, hitherto, claimed only the right to judge, to arbitrate -at the head of a National Diet. He had not himself, so far as we can -see, assumed up to this moment the supposed rights of Peter, alone and -uncontrolled. He had given England to William, but only on the warrant -of the bond of Harold solemnly sworn before the altar. He had made -legitimate the claims already established by conquest of Robert -Guiscard and others of the Norman conquerors. But the standard set up -in the Lateran Council of 1080 was of a far more imperative kind, and -asserted finally through Peter and Paul, his holy fathers and lords, -an authority absolute and uncompromising such as made the brain reel. -This extraordinary address must have sent a multitude, many of them no -doubt ordinary men with no lofty ideal like his own, back to their -bishoprics and charges, swelling with a sense of spiritual grandeur -and power such as no promotion could give, an inspiration which if it -made here and there a high spirit thrill to the necessities of a great -position, was at least as likely to make petty tyrants and oppressors -of meaner men. The only saving clause in a charge so full of the -elements of mischief, is that to the majority of ordinary minds it -would contain very little personal meaning at all. - - [Illustration: ISLAND ON TIBER. - _To face page 286._] - -From this time nothing was possible but war to the death between -Gregory and Henry, the deposed king, who was as little disposed to -accept his deposition as any anathema was able to enforce it. We have -already remarked on various occasions, and it is a dreadful coming -down from the height of so striking a scene, and so many great words, -to be obliged to repeat it: yet it is very evident that -notwithstanding the terrible pictures we have had of the force of -these anathemas, they made very little difference in the life of the -world. There were always schismatic or rebellious priests enough to -carry on, in defiance of the Pope, those visible ceremonies and -offices of religion which are indispensable to the common order of -life. There were, no doubt, great individual sufferings among the -faithful, but the habits of ordinary existence could only have been -interfered with had every bishop and every priest been loyal to the -Pope, which was far from being the case. - -It was at the conclusion of this Council that Gregory is said to have -sent to Rudolf the famous imperial crown bearing the inscription - - _Petra dedit Petro, Petrus diadema Rodolpho_, - -of which Villemain makes the shabby remark that, "After having held -the balance as uncertain, and denied the share he had in the election -of Rudolf, now that it was confirmed by success Gregory VII. claimed -it for himself and the Church."--a conclusion neither in consonance -with the facts nor with the character of the man. - -That Henry should receive this decision meekly was of course -impossible. Once more he attempted to make reprisals in an assembly -held at Brixen in the following June, when by means of the small -number of thirty bishops, chiefly excommunicated persons, and, of -course, in any case without any right to judge their superior, Gregory -himself was once more deposed, excommunicated, and cut off from the -communion of these ecclesiastics and their followings. In the sentence -given by this paltry company, Gregory is accused of following the -heresy of Berengarius, whose recantation had the year before been -received at the Lateran: and also of being a necromancer and magician, -and possessed by an evil spirit. These exquisite reasons are the chief -of the allegations against him, and the principal ground upon which -his deposition was justified. Guibert of Ravenna, long his enemy, and -one of the excommunicated, was elected by the same incompetent -tribunal as Pope in his place, naturally without any of the canonical -requirements for such an election; though we are told that Henry laid -violent hands on the bishop of Ostia whose privilege it was to -officiate at the consecration of the Popes, and who was then in -foreign parts acting as legate, in order to give some show of legality -to the election. Guibert however, less scrupulous than the former -intruder Cadalous, took at once the title of Clement III. The great -advantage of such a step, beside the sweetness of revenge, no doubt -was that it practically annulled the papal interdict so far as the -knowledge of the vulgar was concerned: for so long as there were -priests to officiate, a bishop to preside, and a Pope to bless and to -curse, how should the uninstructed people know that their country was -under any fatal ban? To make such a universal excommunication possible -the whole priesthood must have been subject and faithful to the one -sole authority in the Church. - -Unfortunately for the prestige of Gregory, Henry was much more -successful in the following year in all his enterprises, and it was -Rudolf, the friend and elected of the Pope, and not his adversary, who -died after a battle which was not otherwise decisive. This event must -have been a great blow and disappointment as well as an immediate and -imminent danger. For some time, however, the ordinary course of life -went on in Rome, and Gregory, by means of various negotiations, and -also no doubt by reason of his own consciousness of the pressing need -for a champion and supporter, made friends again with Robert Guiscard, -exerting himself to settle the quarrels between him and his -neighbours, and to win him thus by good offices to the papal side. To -complete this renewal of friendship Gregory, though ailing, and amid -all these tumults beginning to feel the weight of years, made a -journey to Benevento, which belonged to the Holy See, and there met -his former penitent and adversary, the brave and wily Norman. The -interview between them took place in sight of a great crowd of the -followers of both and the inhabitants of the whole region, assembled -in mingled curiosity and reverence, to see so great a scene. The -Norman, relieved of the excommunications under which he had lain for -past offences, and endowed with the Pope's approval and blessing, -swore fealty and obedience to Gregory, promising henceforward to be -the champion of Holy Church, protecting her property and her servants, -keeping her counsel and acknowledging her authority. - -"From this hour and for the future I will be faithful to the Holy -Roman Church, and to the Apostolic See, and to you, my lord Gregory, -the universal Pope. I will be your defender, and that of the Roman -Church, aiding you according to my power to maintain, to occupy, and -to defend the domains of St. Peter and his possessions, against all -comers, reserving only the March of Fermo, of Salerno, and of Amalfi, -concerning which no definite arrangement has yet been made." - -These last, and especially the town of Salerno, one of the cities _la -piu bella e piu deliziosa_ of Italy, says old Muratori, had been -recently taken by Guiscard from their Prince Gisolfo, a _protégé_ and -friend of the Pope, who excepts them in the same cautious manner from -the sanction given to Robert's other conquests. Gregory's act of -investiture is altogether a very cautious document: - - I Gregory, Pope, invest you Duke Robert, with all the lands - given you by my predecessors of holy memory, Nicolas and - Alexander. As for the lands of Salerno, Amalfi and a - portion of the March of Fermo, held by you unjustly, I - suffer it patiently for the present, having confidence in - God and in your honesty, and that you will conduct yourself - in future for the honour of God and St. Peter in such a - manner as becomes you, and as I may tolerate, without - risking your soul or mine. - -It is not likely that Gregory hoped so much from Guiscard's probity as -that he would give up that _citta deliziosa_, won by his bow and his -spear. Nor was he then aware how his own name and all its associations -would remain in Salerno, its chief distinction throughout all the ages -to come. - -The life of Gregory had never been one of peace or tranquillity. He -had been a fighting man all his days, but during a great part of them -a successful one: the years which remained to him, however, were one -long course of agitations, of turmoil, and of revolution. In 1081 -Henry, scarcely successful by arms, but confident in the great -discouragement of the rival party through the death of Rudolf, crossed -the Alps again, and after defeating Matilda, ravaging her duchy and -driving her to the shelter of Canossa, marched upon Rome. Guibert of -Ravenna, the Anti-Pope, accompanied him with many bishops and priests -of his party. On his first appearance before Rome, the energy of -Gregory, and his expectation of some such event, had for once inspired -the city to resistance, so that the royal army got no further than the -"fields of Nero," outside the walls of the Leonine city to the north -of St. Peter's, by which side they had approached Rome. Henry had -himself crowned emperor by his anti-pope in his tent, an act performed -by the advice of his schismatic bishops, and to the great wonder, -excitement, and interest of the surrounding people, overawed by that -great title which he had not as yet ventured to assume. This futile -coronation was indeed an act with which he amused himself -periodically during the following years from time to time. But the -heats of summer and the fever of Rome soon drove the invaders back. In -1082 Henry returned to the attack, but still in vain. In 1083 he was -more successful, and seized that portion of Rome called the Leonine -city, which included St. Peter's and the tombs of the Apostles, the -great shrine which gave sanctity to the whole. The Pope, up to this -time free, though continually threatened by his enemies, and still -carrying on as best he could the universal affairs of the Church, was -now forced to retire to St. Angelo. He was at this moment without -defender or champion on any side. The brave Matilda, ever faithful, -was shut up in impregnable Canossa. Guiscard, after having secured all -that he wanted from Gregory, had gone off upon his own concerns, and -was now struggling to make for himself a footing in Greece, -indifferent to the Pope's danger. The Romans, after the brief interval -of inspiration which gave them courage to make a stand for the Pope -and the integrity of their city, had fallen back into their usual -weakness, dazzled by Henry's title of Emperor, and cowed by the -presence of his Germans at their gates. They had never had any spirit -of resistance, and it was scarcely to be expected of a corrupt and -fickle population, accustomed for ages to be the toys of circumstance, -that they should begin a nobler career now. And there the Pope -remained, shut up in that lonely stronghold, overlooking the noisy and -busy streets which overflowed with foreign soldiers and the noise of -arms, while in the Church of St. Peter close by, Guibert the mock Pope -assembled a mock council to absolve the new Emperor from all the -anathemas that had followed one another upon his head. - -There was much discussion and debate in that strange assembly, in -which every second man at least must have had in his secret heart a -sense of sacrilege, over this subject. They did not apparently deny -the legal weight of these anathemas, which they recognised as the -root and origin of all the misfortunes that had followed; but they -maintained a feeble contention that the proceedings of Gregory had -been irregular, seeing that Henry had never had the opportunity of -defending himself. Another of the pretensions attributed to the Roman -Church by her enemies, and this time with truth, as it has indeed -become part of her code--was, as appears, set up on this occasion for -the first time, and by the schismatics. Gregory had forbidden the -people to accept the sacraments from the hands of vicious or -simoniacal priests. Guibert, called Clement III., and his fictitious -council declared with many learned quotations that the sacraments in -themselves were all in all, and the administrators nothing; and that -though given by a drunkard, an adulterer, or a murderer, the rites of -the Church were equally effectual. It was however still more strange -that in this assembly, made up of schismatics, many of them guilty of -these very practices, a timid remonstrance should have been made -against the very sins which had separated them from the rest of the -Church and which Gregory had spent his life in combating. The Pope had -not been successful either in abolishing simony or in maintaining -celibacy and continence among the clergy, but he had roused a -universal public opinion, a sentiment stronger than himself, which -found a place even in the mind of his antagonist and rival in arms. - -Thus the usurper timidly attacked with arguments either insignificant -or morally dangerous the acts of the Pope--yet timidly echoed his -doctrine: with the air throughout all of a pretender alarmed by the -mere vicinity of an unfortunate but rightful monarch. Guibert had been -bold enough before; he had the air now of a furtive intruder trembling -lest in every chance sound he might hear the step of the true master -returning to his desecrated house. - -The next event in this curious struggle is more extraordinary still. -Henry himself, it is evident, must have been struck with the feeble -character of this unauthorised assembly, notwithstanding that the new -Pope was of his own making and the council held under his auspices; or -perhaps he hoped to gain something by an appearance of candour and -impartiality though so late in the day. At all events he proposed, -immediately after the close of the fictitious council, to the citizens -and officials who still held the other portions of the city, in the -name of Gregory--to withdraw his troops, to leave all roads to Rome -free, and to submit his cause to another council presided over by -Gregory and to which, as in ordinary cases, all the higher ranks of -the clergy should be invited. It is impossible to conceive a more -extraordinary contradiction of all that had gone before. The proposal, -however, strange as it seems, was accepted and carried out. In -November, 1083, this assembly was called together. Henry withdrew with -his army towards Lombardy, the peaceful roads were all reopened, and -bishops and abbots from all parts of Christendom hastened, no doubt -trembling, yet excited, to Rome. Henry, notwithstanding his liberality -of kind offers, exercised a considerable supervision over these -travellers, for we hear that he stopped the deputies whom the German -princes had sent to represent them, and also many distinguished -prelates, two of whom had been specially attached to his mother Agnes, -along with one of the legates of the Pope. The attempt to pack the -assembly, or at least to weed it of its most remarkable members in -this way was not, however, successful, and a large number of -ecclesiastics were got together notwithstanding all the perils of the -journey. - -The meeting was a melancholy one, overshadowed by the hopelessness of -a position in which all the right was on one side and all the power on -the other. After three days' deliberation, which came to nothing, the -Pope addressed--it was for the last time in Rome--his faithful -counsellors. "He spoke with the tongue of an angel rather than of a -man," bidding them to be firm and patient, to hold fast to the faith, -and to quit themselves like men, however dark might be the days on -which they had fallen. The entire convocation broke forth into tears -as the old man concluded. - -But Gregory would not be moved to any clemency towards his persecutor. -He yielded so far as not to repeat his anathema against him, -excommunicating only those who by force or stratagem had turned back -and detained any who were on their way to the Council. But he would -not consent to crown Henry as emperor, which--notwithstanding his -previous coronation in his tent by Guibert, and a still earlier one, -it is said, at Brixen immediately after the appointment of the -anti-pope--was what the rebellious monarch still desired; nor would he -yield to the apparent compulsion of circumstances and make peace, -without repentance on the part of Henry. No circumstances could coerce -such a man. The fruitless council lasted but three days, and separated -without making any change in the situation. The Romans, roused again -perhaps by the brief snatch of freedom they had thus seemed to have, -rose against Henry's garrison and regained possession of the Leonine -city which he had held: and thus every particular of the struggle was -begun and repeated over again. - -This extraordinary attempt, after all that had happened--after the -council in which Henry had deposed Gregory, the council in St. Peter's -itself, held by the anti-pope, and all the abuse he had poured upon -"the monk Hildebrand," as he had again and again styled the Pope--by -permitting an assembly in which the insulted pontiff should be -restored to all his authority and honours, to move Gregory to accept -and crown him, is one of the most wonderful things in history. But the -attempt was the last he ever made, as it was the most futile. After -the one flash of energy with which Rome renewed the struggle, and -another period of renewed attacks and withdrawals, Henry became -master of the city, though never of the castle of St. Angelo where -Gregory sat indomitable, relaxing not a jot of his determination and -strong as ever in his refusal to withdraw, unless after full -repentance, his curse from Henry. Various castles and fortified places -continued to be held in the name of the Pope, both within and without -the walls of the city: which fact throws a curious light upon its -existing aspect: but these remnants of defence had little power to -restrain the conqueror and his great army. - -And then again Rome saw one of those sights which from age to age had -become familiar to her, the triumph of arms and overwhelming force -under the very eyes of the imprisoned ruler of the city. The Lateran -Palace, so long deserted, awoke to receive a royal guest. The sober -courts of the papal house blazed with splendid costumes and resounded -with all the tumult of rejoicing and triumph. The first of the great -ceremonies was the coronation of the Archbishop Guibert as Clement -III., which took place in Passion Week in the year 1084. Four months -before Gregory had descended from his stronghold to hold the council -in which Henry had still hoped to persuade or force him to -complaisance, flinging Guibert lightly away; but the king's hopes had -failed and Guibert was again the temporary symbol of that spiritual -power without which he could not maintain himself. On Easter Sunday -following, three great processions again streamed over the bridge of -St. Angelo under the eyes, it may be, of Gregory high on the -battlements of his fortress, or at least penetrating to his seclusion -with the shouts and cheers that marked their progress--the procession -of the false Pope, that of the king, that of Bertha the king's wife, -whom it had required all the efforts of Gregory and his faithful -bishops to preserve from a cruel divorce: she who had set her maids -with baton and staff to beat the life half out of that false spouse -and caitiff knight in his attempt to betray her. The world had -triumphed over the Church, the powers of darkness over those of light, -a false and treacherous despot, whose word even his own followers held -as nothing, over the steadfast, pure, and high-minded priest, who, -whatever we may think of his motives--and no judgment upon Gregory can -ever be unanimous--had devoted his life to one high purpose and held -by it through triumph and humiliation, unmoved and immovable. Gregory -was as certain of his great position now, the Vicar of Christ -commissioned to bind and to loose, to judge with impartiality and -justice all men's claims, to hold the balance of right and wrong all -over the world, as he watched the gay processions pass, and heard the -heralds sounding their trumpets and the anti-pope, the creature of -Henry's will, passing by to give his master (for the third time) the -much-longed-for imperial crown, as when he himself stood master within -the battlements of Canossa and raised that suppliant king to the -possibilities of empire from his feet. - -It is a curious detail adding a touch to the irony which mingles with -so many human triumphs and downfalls, that the actual imperial crown -seems at one time at least to have been in Gregory's keeping. During -the abortive council, for which, for three days he had returned to the -Lateran, he offered, though he refused to place it on his head, to -give it up to Henry's hands, letting it down with a cord from a window -of St. Angelo. This offer, which could scarcely be other than -ironical, seems to have been refused; but whether Gregory retained it -in St. Angelo, or left it to be found in the Lateran treasury by the -returning king, there is no information. If it was a fictitious crown -which was placed upon Henry's head by the fictitious Pope, the curious -travesty would be complete. And history does not say even why the -ceremony performed before by the same hands on the banks of the Tiber, -should have dropped out of recollection as a thing that had not been. - -During all this time nothing had been heard of Robert Guiscard who had -so solemnly taken upon him the office of champion of the Holy See and -knight of St. Peter. He had been about his own business, pursuing his -conquests, eager to carve out new kingdoms for himself and his sons: -but at last the Pope's appeals became too strong to be resisted. -Henry, whose armies had doubtless not improved in force during the -desultory warfare which must have affected more or less the -consciences of many, and the hot summers, unwholesome for northerners, -did not await the coming of this new and formidable foe. Matilda's -Tuscans were more easily overcome than Guiscard's veterans of northern -race. He called in his men from all the petty sieges which were -wearing them out, and from that wall which he had forced the Romans -with their own pitiful hands to build as a base of attacks against St. -Angelo, and withdrew in haste, leaving the terrified citizens whom he -had won over to his party, as little apt to arms as their forefathers -had been, and in the midst of a half-ruined city--the strong positions -in which were still held by the friends of the Pope--to do what they -could against the most dreaded troops of Christendom. The catastrophe -was certain before it occurred. The resistance of the Romans to Robert -Guiscard was little more than nominal, only enough to inflame the -Normans and give the dreadful freedom of besiegers to their armed -hordes. They delivered the Pontiff, but sacked the town which lay -helpless in its ruins at their feet; not even the churches were -spared, nor their right of sanctuary acknowledged as six hundred years -before Attila had acknowledged it. And all the fault of the Pope, as -who could wonder if the sufferers cried? It was he who had brought -these savages upon them, as it was he who had exposed them before to -the hostility of Henry. Gregory had scarcely come forth from his -citadel and returned to his palace when Rome was filled with scenes of -blood and carnage, such as recalled the invasions of Huns and -Vandals. The flames of the burning city lighted up the skies as he -came forth in sorrow, delivered from his bondage, but a sad and -burdened man. The chroniclers tell us that he flung himself at the -feet of Guiscard to beg him to spare the city, crying out that he was -Pope for edification and not for ruin. And though his prayer was to -some extent granted, there is little doubt that here at the last the -heart of Gregory and his courage were broken, and that though his -resolution was never shaken, his strength could bear little more. This -was the greatest, as it was the most uncalled for, misfortune of his -life. - -He held a strange council in desolate Rome in the few days that -followed, in which he repeated his anathema against Henry, Guibert, -and all the clergy who were living in rebellion or in sin. But it -would seem that even at such a moment the council was not unanimous -and that the spirit of his followers was broken and cowed, and few -could follow him in the steadfastness of his own unchangeable mind. -And when this tremulous and disturbed assembly was over, held in such -extraordinary circumstances, fierce Normans, wild Saracens forming the -guard of the Pontiff, fire and ruin, and the shrieks of victims still -disturbing the once peaceful air--Gregory, sick at heart, turned his -back upon the beloved city which he had laboured so hard to make once -more mistress of the world. Perhaps he was not aware that he left Rome -for ever; but the conditions of that last restoration had broken his -heart. He to bring bloodshed and rapine! he who was Pope to build up -and not to destroy! It was more than the man who had borne all things -else could endure. No doubt it was a crowning triumph for Guiscard to -lead away with him the rescued Pontiff, and pose before all the world -as Gregory's deliverer. The journey itself, however, was not without -perils. The Campagna and all the wilder country beyond, about the -Pontine marshes, was full of freebooting bands, Henry's partisans, or -calling themselves so, who harassed the march with guerilla attacks. -In one such flying combat a monk of Gregory's own retinue was killed, -and the Pope had to ride like the men-at-arms, now starting at -daybreak, now travelling deep into the night. At Monte Cassino, in the -great convent where his friend Desiderius, who was to be his successor -reigned, there was a welcome pause, and he had time to refresh himself -among his old friends, the true brethren and companions of his soul. -The legends of the monks--or was it the pity of the ages beginning -already to awaken and rising to a great height of human compunction by -the time the early historians began to write his story?--accord to him -here that compensation of divine acknowledgment which the heart -recognises as the only healing for such wounds. Some one among the -monks of Monte Cassino saw a dove hovering over his head as he said -mass. Perhaps this was merely a confusion with the legend of Gregory -the Great, his predecessor, to whom that attribute belongs; perhaps -some gentle brother whose heart ached with sympathy for the suffering -Pope had glamour in his eyes and saw. - -Gregory continued his journey, drawn along in the army of Robert -Guiscard as in a chariot, which began now to be, as he reached the -south Italian shores, a chariot of triumph. All the towns and villages -on the way came out to greet the Pope, to ask his blessing. The bishop -of Salerno, with his clergy, came forth in solemn procession with -shining robes and sacred standards to meet him. Neither Pope nor -prince could have found a more exquisite retreat from the troubles of -an evil world. The beautiful little city, half Saracenic, in all the -glory of its cathedral still new and white and blooming with colour -like a flower, sat on the edge of that loveliest coast, the sea like -sapphire surging up in many lines of foam, the waves clapping their -hands as in the Psalms, and above, the olive-mantled hills rising -soft towards the bluest sky, with on every point a white village, a -little church tower, the convent walls shining in the sun. It is still -a region as near Paradise as human imagination can grasp, more fair -than any scene we know. One wonders if the Pope's heart had sufficient -spring left in it to take some faint delight in that wonderful -conjunction of earth and sea and sky. But such delights were not much -thought of in his day, and it is very possible he might have felt it -something like a sin to suffer his heart to go forth in any such -carnal pleasure. - -But at least something of his old energy came back when he was settled -in this wonderful place of exile. He sent out his legates to the -world, charged with letters to the faithful everywhere, to explain the -position of affairs and to assert, as if now with his last breath, -that it was because of his determination to purify the Church that all -these conspiracies had risen against him--which was indeed, -notwithstanding all the developments taken by the question, the -absolute truth. For it was Gregory's strongly conceived and faithfully -held resolution to cleanse the Church from simony, to have its -ministers and officers chosen for their worth and virtue, and power to -guide and influence their flocks for good, and not because they had -wealth to pay for their dignity and to maintain it, which was the -beginning of the conflict. Henry who refused obedience and made a -traffic of the holiest offices, and those degenerate and rebellious -priests who continued to buy themselves into rich bishoprics and -abbacies in defiance of every ecclesiastical law and penalty, were the -original offenders, and ought before posterity at least to bear the -brunt. - -It is perhaps indiscreet to speak of an event largely affecting modern -life in such words, but there is a whimsical resemblance which is apt -to call forth a smile between the action of a large portion of the -Church of Scotland fifty years ago, and the life struggle of Gregory. -In the former case it was the putting in of ministers to -ecclesiastical benefices by lay authority, however veiled by supposed -popular assent, which was believed to be an infringement of the divine -rights of the Church, and of the headship of Christ, by a religious -body perhaps more scornful and condemnatory than any other of -everything connected with a Pope. It was not supposed in Scotland that -the humble candidates for poor Scotch livings bought their -advancement; but the principle was the same. - -In the case of Gregory the positions thus bought and sold were of very -great secular importance, carrying with them much wealth, power, and -outward importance, which was not the case in the other; but in -neither case were the candidates chosen canonically or for their -suitableness to the charge, but from extraneous motives and in spite -of the decisions of the Church. This was to destroy the headship of -Peter, the authority of his representative, the rights of the sacred -Spouse of Christ. Both claims were perfectly honest and true. But -Gregory, as in opposition to a far greater grievance, and one which -overspread all Christendom, was by far the more distinguished -confessor, as he was the greater martyr of the Holy Cause. - -For this was undoubtedly the first cause of all the sufferings of the -Pontiff, the insults showered upon him, the wrongs he had to bear, the -exile in which he died. The question has been settled against him, we -believe, in every country, even the most deeply Christian. Scotland -indeed has prevailed in having her own way, but that is because she -has no important benefices, involving secular rank and privilege. No -voice in England has ever been raised in defence of simony, but the -_congé d'élire_ would have been as great an offence to Pope Gregory, -and as much of a sin to Dr. Chalmers, as the purchase of an -archbishopric in one case, or the placing of an unpopular preacher in -another. The Pope's claim of authority over both Church and world, -though originally and fundamentally based upon his rights as the -successor of Peter, developed out of this as the fruit out of the -flower. From a religious point of view, and if we could secure that -all Popes, candidates for ecclesiastical offices, and electors to the -same, should be wise and good men, the position would be unassailable; -but as it is not so, the question seems scarcely worth risking a man's -living for, much less his life. But perhaps no man since, if it were -not his successors in the popedom, had such strenuous reasons to spend -his life for it as Gregory, as none has ever had a severer struggle. - -This smaller question, however, though it is the fundamental one, has -been almost forgotten in the struggle between the Pope and the -Emperor--the sacred and the secular powers--which developed out of it. -The claim to decide not only who was to be archbishop but who was to -be king, rose into an importance which dwarfed every other. This was -not originated by Gregory, but it was by his means that it became the -great question of the age, and rent the world in twain. The two great -institutions of the Papacy and the Empire had been or seemed to be an -ideal method of governing the world, the one at the head of all -spiritual concerns, the other commanding every secular power and all -the progress of Christendom. Circumstances indeed, and the growth of -independence and power in other nations, had circumscribed the sphere -of the Empire, while the Papacy had grown in influence by the same -means. But still the Empire was the head of the Christian world of -nations, as the Pope was the head of those spiritual princedoms which -had developed into so much importance. When the interests were so -curiously mingled, it was certain that a collision must occur one time -or another. There had been frequent jars, in days when the power of -the Empire was too great for anything but a momentary resistance on -the part of the Pope. But when the decisive moment came and the -struggle became inevitable, Gregory--a man fully equal to the -occasion--was there to meet it. His success, such as it was, was for -later generations. To himself personally it brought the crown of -tragedy only, without even any consciousness of victory gained. - -The Pope lived not quite a year in Salerno. He died in that world of -delight in the sweetness of the May, when all is doubly sweet by those -flowery hills and along that radiant shore. Among his last words were -these:--"My brethren, I make no account of my good works: my only -confidence is that I have always loved justice and hated -iniquity:--and for that I die in exile," he added before his end. In -the silence and the gathering gloom one of his attendants cried out, -"How can you say in exile, my lord, you who, the Vicar of Christ and -of the apostles, have received all the nations for your inheritance, -and the world for your domain?" With these words in his ears the Pope -departed to that country which is the hope of every soul, where -iniquity is not and justice reigns. - -He died on the 25th May, 1085, not having yet attained his seventieth -year. He had been Pope for twelve years only, and during that time had -lived in continual danger, fighting always for the Church against the -world. A suffering and a melancholy man, his life had none of those -solaces which are given to the commonest and the poorest. His dearest -friends were far from him: the hope of his life was lost: he thought -no doubt that his standard fell with him, and that the labours of his -life were lost also, and had come to nothing. But it was not so; -Gregory VII. is still after these centuries one of the greatest Popes -of Rome: and though time has wrought havoc with that great ideal of -the Arbiter and universal Judge which never could have been made into -practical reality, unless the world and the Church had been assured of -a succession of the wisest and holiest of men--he yet secured for a -time something like that tremendous position for a number of his -successors, and created an opinion and sentiment throughout -Christendom that the reforms on which he insisted ought to be, which -is almost the nearest that humanity can come to universal reformation. -The Church which he left seemed shattered into a hundred fragments, -and he died exiled and powerless; but yet he opened the greatest era -of her existence to what has always been one of the wisest, and still -remains one of the strongest institutions in the world, against which, -in spite of many errors and much tribulations, it has never been in -the power of the gates of hell to prevail. - - [Illustration: IN THE VILLA BORGHESE.] - -FOOTNOTES: - -[3] This personage is always called Cencio in the Italian records. He -is supposed by some to have been of the family of the Crescenzi, of -which name, as well as of Vincenzo, this is the diminutive. - -[4] On this subject the records differ, some asserting these letters -to have been read at once on Roland's removal, some that the sitting -was adjourned after that wonderful incident. - - - - - [Illustration: THE FOUNTAIN OF THE TORTOISE.] - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -INNOCENT III. - - -It is not our object, the reader is aware, to give here a history of -Rome, or of its pontiffs, or of the tumultuous world of the Middle -Ages in which a few figures of Popes and Princes stand out upon the -ever-crowded, ever-changing background, helping us to hear among the -wild confusion of clanging swords and shattering lances, of war cries -and shouts of rage and triumph--and to see amidst the mist and smoke, -the fire and flame, the dust of breached walls and falling houses. Our -intention is solely to indicate those among the chiefs of the Church -who are of the most importance to the great city, which, ever -rebelling against them, ever carrying on a scarcely broken line of -opposition and resistance, was still passive in their hands so far as -posterity is concerned, dragged into light, or left lying in -darkness, according as its rulers were. It is usual to say that the -great time of the Church, the age of its utmost ascendency, was during -the period between Gregory VII. and Innocent III., the first of whom -put forth its claim as Universal Arbiter and Judge as no one had ever -done before, while the second carried that claim to its climax in his -remarkable reign--a reign all-influencing, almost all-potent, -something more like a universal supremacy and rule over the whole -earth than has ever been known either before or since. The reader has -seen what was the effect upon his world of the great Hildebrand: how -he laboured, how he proclaimed his great mission, with what -overwhelming faith he believed in it, and, it must be added, with how -little success he was permitted to carry it out. This great Pope, -asserting his right as the successor of Peter to something very like a -universal dominion and the power of setting down and raising up all -manner of thrones, principalities, and powers, lived fighting for the -very ground he stood on, in an incessant struggle not only with the -empire, but with every illiterate and ignoble petty court of his -neighbourhood, with the robber barons of the surrounding hills, with -the citizens in his streets, with the villagers on his land--and, -after having had more than once his independent realm restricted to -the strong walls of St. Angelo, had at last to abandon his city for -mere safety's sake, and die in exile far from the Rome he loved. - -The life of the other we have now to trace, as far as it is possible -to keep the thread of it amid the tremendous disorders, disastrous -wars and commotions of his time, in all of which his name is so -mingled that in order to distinguish his story the student must be -prepared to struggle through what is really the history of the world, -there being scarcely a corner of that world--none at least with which -history was then acquainted--which was not pervaded by Innocent, -although few we think in which his influence had any such power as is -generally believed. - -This Pope was not like Hildebrand a man of the people. He had a -surname and already a distinguished one. Lothario Conti, son of -Trasimondo, lord of Ferentino, of the family of the Dukes of Spoleto, -was born in the year 1161 in the little town of Anagni, where his -family resided, a place always dear to him, and to which in the days -of his greatness he loved to retire, to take refuge from the summer -heats of Rome or other more tangible dangers. He was thus a member of -the very nobility with which afterwards he had so much trouble, the -unruly neighbours who made every road to Rome dangerous, and the -suzerainty of the Pope in many cases a simple fiction. The young -Lothario had three uncles in the Church in high places, all of them -eventually Cardinals, and was destined to the ecclesiastical -profession, in which he was so certain of advancement, from his birth; -he was educated partly at Rome, at the school of St. John Lateran, -specially destined for the training of the clergy, and therefore spent -his boyhood under the shadow of the palace which was to be his home in -later years. From Rome he went to the University of Paris, one of the -greatest of existing schools, and studied canon law so as to make -himself an authority on that subject, then one of the most engrossing -and important branches of learning. He loved the "beneficial tasks," -and perhaps also the freedom and freshness of university life, where -probably the bonds of the clerical condition were less felt than in -other places, though Innocent never seems to have required indulgence -in that respect. Besides his readings in canon law, he studied with -great devotion the Scriptures, and their interpretation, after the -elaborate and highly artificial fashion of the day, dividing each text -into a myriad of heads, and building up the most recondite argument on -a single phrase with meanings spiritual, temporal, scholastic, and -imaginary. There he made several warm friends, among others Robert -Curzon, an Englishman who served him afterwards in various high -offices, not so much to the credit of their honour in later times as -of the faithfulness of their friendship. - -Young Conti proceeded afterwards to Bologna, then growing into great -reputation as a centre of instruction. He had, in short, the best -education that his age was acquainted with, and returned to his -ecclesiastical home at Rome and the protection of his Cardinal-uncles -a perfectly well-trained and able young man, learned in all the -learning of his day, acquainted more or less with the world, and ready -for any service which the Church to which he was wholly devoted might -require of him. He was a young man certain of promotion in any case. -He had no sooner taken the first orders than he was made a canon of -St. Peter's, of itself an important position, and his name very soon -appears as acting in various causes brought on appeal to Rome--claims -of convents, complaints among others of the monks of Canterbury in -some forgotten question, where he was the champion of the complainants -who were afterwards to bring him into so much trouble. These appeals -were constantly occurring, and occupied a great deal of the time and -thoughts of that learned and busy court of Rome, the Consistory, which -became afterwards, under Innocent himself, the one great court of -appeal for the world. - -About a hundred years had passed between the death of the great Pope -Gregory, the monk Hildebrand, and the entrance of Lothario Conti upon -public life; but when the reader surveys the condition of that surging -sea of society--the crowded, struggling, fighting, unresting world, -which gives an impression of being more crowded, more teeming with -wild life and force, with constant movement and turmoil, than in our -calmer days, though no doubt the facts are quite the reverse--he will -find but little change apparent in the tremendous scene. As Gregory -left the nations in endless war and fighting, so his great successor -found them--king warring against king, prince against prince, count -against count, city against city, nay, village against village, with a -wide margin of personal struggle around, and a general war with the -Church maintained by all. A panorama of the kingdoms of the world and -the glory of them, could it have been furnished to any onlooker, would -have showed its minutest lines of division by illuminations of -devastating fire and flame, by the clangour of armies in collision, by -wild freebooters in roaming bands, and little feudal wars in every -district: every man in pursuit of something that was his neighbour's, -perhaps only his life, a small affair--perhaps his wife, perhaps his -lands, possibly the mere satisfaction of a feud which was always on -hand to fill up the crevices of more important fighting. - -With more desperate hostility still the cities in pairs set themselves -against each other, all flourishing, busy places, full of industry, -full of invention, but fuller still of rage against the brother close -by, of the same tongue and race, Milan against Parma, Pisa against -Genoa, Florence against all comers. Bigger wars devastated other -regions, Germany in particular in all its many subdivisions, where it -seems impossible to believe there could ever be a loaf of bread or a -cup of wine of native growth, so perpetually was every dukedom ravaged -and every principality brought to ruin. Two Emperors claiming the -allegiance of that vast impossible holy Empire which extended from the -northern sea to the soft Sicilian shores, two Popes calling themselves -heads of the Church, were matters of every day. The Emperors had -generally each a show of right; but the anti-popes, though they had -each a party, were altogether false functionaries with no show of law -in their favour, generally mere creatures of the empire, though often -triumphant for a moment. In Gregory's day Henry IV. and Rudolf were -the contending Emperors. In those of Innocent they were Philip and -Otho. There were no doubt different principles involved, but the -effect was the same; in both cases the Popes were deeply concerned, -each asserting a prerogative, a right to choose between the contending -candidates and terminate the strife. That prerogative had been boldly -claimed and asserted by Gregory; in the century that followed every -Pope had reasserted and attempted with all his might to enforce it; -but though Innocent is universally set forth as the greatest and most -powerful of all who did so, and as in part responsible for almost -every evil thing that resulted, I do not myself see that his -interference was much more potential than that of Gregory, of which -also so much is said, but which was so constantly baulked, thwarted, -and contradicted in his day. So far as the Empire was concerned the -Popes certainly possessed a right and privilege which gave a certain -countenance to their claim, for until crowned by the ruling Pontiff no -Emperor had full possession of his crown: but this did not affect the -other Christian kingdoms over which Innocent claimed and attempted to -exercise the same prerogative. The state of things, however, to the -spectator is very much the same in the one century as the other. The -age of storm and stress for the world of Christendom extended from one -to another; no doubt progress was being made, foundations laid, and -possibilities slowly coming into operation, of which the beginnings -may be detected even among all the noise and dust of the wars; but -outwardly the state of Europe was very much the same under Innocent as -under Gregory: they had the same difficulties to encounter and the -same ordeals to go through. - -Several short-lived Popes succeeded each other on the papal throne -after Innocent began to ascend the steps of ecclesiastical dignity, -which were so easy to the nephew of three Cardinals. He became a canon -of St. Peter's while little more than twenty-one. Pope Lucius III. -employed him about his court, Pope Gregory VIII. made him a -sub-deacon of Rome. Pope Clement III. was his uncle Octavian, and made -him Cardinal of "St. Sergius and St. Bacchus," a curious combination, -and one which would better have become a more jovial priest. Then -there came a faint and momentary chill over the prospects of the most -rising and prosperous young ecclesiastic in Rome. His uncle was -succeeded in the papal chair by a certain Cardinal, old and pious but -little known to history, a member of the Orsini family and hostile to -the Conti, so that our young Cardinal relapsed a little into the cold -shade. It is supposed to be during this period that he turned his -thoughts to literature, and wrote his first book, a singular one for -his age and position--and yet perhaps not so unlike the utterance of -triumphant youth under its first check as might be supposed--_De -contemptu mundi, sive de miseriis humanæ conditionis_, is its title. -It was indeed the view of the world which every superior mind was -supposed to take in his time, as it has again become the last juvenile -fashion in our own; but the young Cardinal Conti had greater -justification than our young prophets of evil. His work is full, as it -always continues to be in his matured years, of the artificial -constructions which Paris and Bologna taught, and which characterise -the age of the schoolmen: and it is not to be supposed that he had -much that was new to say of that everlasting topic which was as -hackneyed in the twelfth century as it is in the nineteenth. After he -has explained that "every male child on his birth cries A and every -female E; and when you say A with E it makes Eva, and what is Eva if -not heu! ha!--alas!"--he adds a description of the troubles of life -which is not quite so fanciful. - - "We enter life amid pains and cries, presenting no - agreeable aspect, lower even than plants and vegetables, - which give forth at least a pleasant odour. The duration of - life becomes shorter every day; few men reach their - fortieth year, a very small number attain the sixtieth.... - And how painful is life! Death threatens us constantly, - dreams frighten us, apparitions disturb us, we tremble for - our friends, for our relations; before we are prepared for - it misfortune has come: sickness surprises us, death cuts - the thread of our life. All the centuries have not been - enough to teach even to the science of medicine the - different kind of sufferings to which man's fragility - exposes him. Human nature is more corrupt from day to day; - the world and our bodies grow old. Often the guilty is - acquitted and the innocent is punished.... Every thought, - every act, all the arts and devices are employed for no - other end but to secure the glory and favour of men. To - gain honour he uses flattery, he prays, he promises, he - tries every underground way if he cannot get what he wants - by direct measures; or he takes it by force if he can - depend on the support of friends or of relations. And what - a burden are those high dignities! When the ambitious man - has attained the height of his desires his pride knows no - bounds, his arrogance is without restraint; he believes - himself so much a better man as he is more elevated in - position; he disdains his friends, recognises no one, - despises his oldest connections, walking proudly with his - head high, insolent in words, the enemy of his superiors - and the tyrant of his dependents." - -The young Cardinal spares no class in his animadversions, but the rich -are held up as warnings rather than the poor, and the vainglory of the -miserable sons of Adam is what disgusts him most. Here is a passage -which carries us into the inner life of that much devastated, often -ruined Rome, which nevertheless at its most distracted moment was -never quite devoid of the splendours and luxuries it loved. - - "Has not the prophet declared his anathema against luxury - in dress? Yet the face is coloured with artificial colours - as if the art of man could improve the work of God. What - can be more vain than to curl the hair, to paint the - cheeks, to perfume the person? And what need is there for a - table ornamented with a rich cover, and laid with knives - mounted in ivory, and vases of gold and silver? What more - vain again than to paint the rooms, to cover the doors with - fine carvings, to lay down carpets in the ante-chambers, to - repose one's self on a bed of down, covered with silken - stuffs and surrounded with curtains?" - -Some historical commentators take exception to this picture as -imaginary, and too luxurious for the age; but after all a man of the -time must have known better than even Muratori our invaluable guide: -and we find again and again in the descriptions of booty taken in the -wars, accounts of the furniture of the tents of the conquered, silver -and gold vases, and costly ornaments of the table which if carried -about to embellish the wandering and brief life of a campaign would -surely be more likely still to appear among the riches of a settled -dwelling-place. Cardinal Lothario however did not confine himself -altogether to things he had intimate knowledge of, for one of his -illustrations is that of a discontented wife, a character of which he -could have no personal experience: the picture is whimsically correct -to conventional precedent; it is the established piece which we are so -well acquainted with in every age. - - "She desires fine jewels and dresses, and beautiful - furniture without regard to the means of her husband; if - she does not get them she complains, she weeps, she - grumbles and murmurs all night through. Then she says, - 'So-and-so is much more expensive than I am, and everybody - respects her; while I, because I am poor, they look at me - disdainfully over their shoulders.' Nobody must be praised - or loved but herself; if any other is beloved she thinks - herself hated; if any one is praised she thinks herself - injured. She insists that everybody should love what she - loves, and hate what she hates; she will submit to nothing - but dominates all; everything ought to be permitted to her, - and nothing forbidden. And after all (adds the future pope) - whatever she may be, ugly, sick, mad, imperious, - ill-tempered, whatever may be her faults, she must be kept - if she is not unchaste; and even then though the man may - separate from her, he may not take another." - -This sounds as if the young Cardinal would have been less severe on -the question of divorce than his clerical successors. The book however -is quite conventional, and gives us little insight into the manner of -man he was. Nevertheless there are some actual thoughts in the -perennial and often repeated argument, as when he maintains the sombre -doctrine of eternal punishment with the words: "Deliverance will not -be possible in hell, for sin will remain as an inclination even when -it cannot be carried out." He also wrote a book upon the Mass in the -quiet of these early days; and was diligent in performing his duties -and visiting the poor, to whom he was always full of charity. - -When the old Pope died, however, there seems not to have been a -moment's doubt as to who should succeed him. The Cardinal Lothario -was but thirty-seven, his ability and learning were known indeed, but -had as yet produced no great result: his family was distinguished but -not of force enough to overawe the Conclave, and nothing but the -impression produced upon the minds of his contemporaries by his -character and acquirements could account for his early advancement. -Pope Celestine in dying had recommended with great insistence the -Cardinal John Colonna as his successor; but this seems scarcely to -have been taken into consideration by the electors, who now, according -to Hildebrand's institution, somewhat modified by succeeding Popes, -performed their office without any pretence of consulting either -priests or people, and still less with any reference to the Emperor. -The election was held, not in the usual place, but in a church now -untraceable, "Ad Septa Solis," situated somewhere near the Colosseum. -The object of the Cardinals in making the election there, was safety, -the German troops of the Emperor being at the time in possession of -the entire surrounding country up to the very gates of Rome, and quite -capable of making a raid upon the Lateran to stop any proceedings -which might be disagreeable to their master; for the imperial -authorities on their part had never ceased to assert their right to be -consulted in the election of a Pope. Lothario made the orthodox -resistance without which perhaps no early Pope ever ascended the papal -throne, protesting his own incapacity for so great an office; but the -Cardinals insisted, not granting him even a day's delay to think over -it. The first of the Cardinal-deacons, Gratiano, an old man, invested -him with the pluvial and greeted him as Innocent, apparently leaving -him no choice even as to his name. Thus the grave young man, so -learned and so austere, in the fulness of his manhood ascended St. -Peter's chair. There is no need to suppose that there was any -hypocrisy in his momentary resistance; the papal crown was very far -from being one of roses, and a young man, even if he had looked -forward to that position and knew himself qualified for it, might well -have a moment's hesitation when it was about to be placed on his head. - - [Illustration: THE CAPITOL. - _To face page 316._] - -When the announcement of the election was made to the crowd outside, -it was received with cries of joy: and the entire throng--consisting -no doubt in a large degree of the clergy, mingled with the -ever-abundant masses of the common people,--accompanied the Cardinals -and the Pope-elect to the Lateran, though that church, one would -suppose, must still have been occupied by the old Pope on his bier, -and hung with the emblems of mourning: for it was on the very day of -Celestine's death that the election took place. Muratori suggests a -mistake of dates. "Either Pope Celestine must have died a day sooner, -or Innocent have been elected a day later," he says. After the -account, more full than usual, of the ceremonies of the election, the -brilliant procession, and the rejoicing crowd, sweep away into the -silence, and no more is heard of them for six weeks, during which time -Lothario waited for the Rogation days, the proper time for -ordinations; for though he had already risen so high in the Church, he -was not yet a priest, but only in deacon's orders, which seems to have -been the case in so many instances. The two ordinations took place on -two successive days, the 22nd and 23rd of February, 1198. - -When he had received the final consecration, and had been invested -with all the symbols of his high office--the highest in the world to -his own profound consciousness, and to the belief of all who -surrounded him--Pope Innocent III. rose from the papal chair, of which -he had just taken possession, and addressed the immense assembly. -Whether it had become the custom to do so we are not informed. -Innocent, so far as can be made out from his writings, was no -heaven-born preacher, yet he would seem to have been very ready to -exercise his gift, such as it was; it appears to have been his habit -to explain himself in all the most important steps in life, and there -could be no greater occasion than this. He stood on the steps of his -throne in all the glory of his shining robes, over the dark and eager -crowd, and there addressed to them a discourse in which the highest -pretensions, yet the most humble faith, are conjoined, and which shows -very clearly with what intentions and ideas he took upon himself the -charge of Christendom, and supreme authority not only in the Church -but in the world. He had been deeply agitated during the ceremonies of -his consecration, shedding many tears; but now he had recovered his -composure and calm. - -There are four sermons existing among his works which bear the title -_In consecratione Romani Pontificis_. Whether they were all written -for this occasion, in repeated essays before he satisfied himself with -what he had to say, is unknown. Perhaps some of them were used on the -occasion of the consecration of other great dignitaries of the Church; -but this is merely conjecture. We have at all events under his own -hand the thoughts which arose in the mind of such a man at the moment -of such an elevation: the conception of his new and great dignity -which he had formed and held with the faith of absolute conviction: -and the purposes with which he began his work. His text, if text was -necessary for so personal a discourse, was the words of our Lord: "Who -then is that faithful and wise steward whom his lord shall make ruler -over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?" -We quote of course from our own authorised version: the words of the -Vulgate, used by Innocent, do not put this sentence in the form of a -question. His examination of the meaning of the word "house" is the -first portion of the argument. - - "He has constituted in the fulness of his power the - pre-eminence of the Holy See that no one may be so bold as - to resist the order which He has established, as He has - Himself said: 'Thou art Peter, and upon this stone I will - build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail - against it.' For as it is He who has laid the foundations - of the Church, and is himself that foundation, the gates of - hell could in nothing prevail against it. And this - foundation is immovable: as says the Apostle, no man can - lay another foundation than that which is laid, which is - Jesus Christ.... This is the building set upon a rock of - which eternal truth has said: 'The rain fell and the wind - blew and beat upon that house; but it stood fast, for it - was built upon a rock,' that is to say, upon the rock of - which the Apostle said: 'And this Rock was Christ.' It is - evident that the Holy See, far from being weakened by - adversity, is fortified by the divine promise, saying with - the prophet: 'Thou hast led me by the way of affliction.' - It throws itself with confidence on that promise which the - Lord has made to the Apostles: 'Behold I am with you - always, even unto the end of the world.' Yes, God is with - us, who then can be against us? for this house is not of - man but of God, and still more of God made man: the heretic - and the dissident, the evil-minded wolf endeavours in vain - to waste the vineyard, to tear the robe, to smother the - lamp, to extinguish the light. But as was said by Gamaliel: - 'If the work is of man it will come to naught; if it is of - God ye cannot overthrow it: lest haply ye should find that - you are fighting against God.' The Lord is my trust. I fear - nothing that men can do to me. I am the servant whom God - has placed over His house; may I be prudent and faithful so - as to give the meat in due season!" - -He then goes on to describe the position of the faithful steward. - - "I am placed over this house. God grant that I were as - eminent by my merit as by my position. But it is all the - more to the honour of the mighty Lord when He fulfils His - will by a feeble servant; for then all is to His glory, not - by human strength but by force divine. Who am I, and what - is my father's house, that I should be set over kings, that - I should occupy the seat of honour? for it is of me that - the prophet has said, 'I have set thee over people and - kingdoms, to tear and to destroy, to build and to plant.' - It is of me that the Apostle has said, 'I have given thee - the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatsoever thou bindest - on earth is bound in heaven.' And again it is to me (though - it is said by the Lord to all the Apostles in common), 'The - sins which you remit on earth shall be remitted; and those - you retain shall be retained.' But speaking to Peter alone - He said: 'That which thou bindest on earth shall be bound - in heaven.' Peter may bind others but he cannot be bound - himself. - - "You see now who is the servant placed over the house; it - is no other than the Vicar of Jesus Christ, the Successor - of Peter. He is the intermediary between God and men, - beneath God, yet above men, much lower than God but more - than men; he judges all but is judged by none as the - Apostle says: 'It is God who is my judge.' But he who is - raised to the highest degree of consideration is brought - down again by the functions of a servant that the humble - may be raised up and greatness may be humiliated--for God - resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. O greatest - of wise counsels--the greater you are the more profoundly - must you humble yourself before them all! You are there as - a light on a candlestick that all in the house may see; - when that light becomes dark, how thick then is the - darkness? You are the salt of the earth: when that salt - becomes without savour, with what will you be seasoned? It - is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trodden under - foot of men. For this reason much is demanded from him to - whom much is given." - -Thus Innocent began his career, solemnly conscious of the greatness of -his position. But the reader will perceive that nothing could be more -evangelical than his doctrine. Exalting as he does the high claims of -Peter, he never falls into the error of supposing him to be the Rock -on which the foundations of the Church are laid. On the other hand his -idea of the Pope as beneath God but above men, lower than God but -greater than men, is startling. The angel who stopped St. John in his -act of worship proclaiming himself one of the Apostles' brethren the -prophets, made no such pretension. But Innocent was strong in the -consciousness that he himself, the arbiter on earth of all reward and -punishment, was the judge of angels as well as men, and held a higher -position than any of them in the hierarchy of heaven. - -The first act of Innocent's papacy was the very legitimate attempt to -establish his own authority and independence at home. The long -subsistence of the idea that only a Pope-king with enough of secure -temporal ascendency to keep him free at least from the influence of -other sovereigns, could be safe in the exercise of his spiritual -functions--is curious when we think of the always doubtful position of -the Popes, who up to this time and indeed for long after retained the -most unsteady footing in their own metropolis, the city which derived -all its importance from them. The Roman citizens took many centuries -to learn--if they were ever taught--that the seat of a great -institution like the Church, the court of a monarch who claimed -authority in every quarter of the world, was a much more important -thing than a mere Italian city, however distinguished by the memories -and relics of the past. We doubt much whether the great Innocent, the -most powerful of the Popes, had more real control over the home and -centre of his supposed dominions at the outset of his career than Pope -Leo XIII., dispossessed and self-imprisoned, has now, or might have if -he chose. No one can doubt that Innocent chose--and that with all the -strength and will of an unusually powerful character--to be master in -his own house: and he succeeded by times in the effort; but, like -other Popes, he was at no time more than temporarily successful. Twice -or oftener he was driven by the necessity of circumstances, if not by -actual violence, out of the city: and though he never altogether lost -his hold upon it, as several of his predecessors had done, it was at -the cost of much trouble and exertion, and at the point of the sword, -that he kept his place in Rome. - -He was, however, in the first flush of his power, almost triumphant. -He succeeded in changing the fluctuating constitution of the Roman -commonwealth, which had been hitherto presided over by a Præfect, -responsible to the Emperor and bound to his service, along with a -vague body of senators, sometimes larger, sometimes smaller in number, -and swayed by every popular demonstration or riot--the very best -machinery possible for the series of small revolutions and changes of -policy in which Rome delighted. It was in every way the best thing for -the interests of the city that it should have learnt to accept the -distinction, all others having perished, of being the seat of the -Church. For Rome was by this time, as may be said, the general court -of appeal for Europe; every kind of cause was tried over again before -the Consistory or its delegates; and a crowd of appellants, persons of -all classes and countries, were always in Rome, many of them -completely without acquaintance in the place, and dependent only upon -such help and guidance as money could procure, money which has always -been the great object of desire to most communities, the means of -grandeur and greatness, if also of much degradation. It must not be -supposed, however, that the Pope took advantage of any such mean -motive to bind the city to himself. He guarded against the dangers of -such a situation indeed by a strenuous endeavour to clear his court, -his palace, his surroundings, of all that was superfluous in the way -of luxury, all that was merely ostentatious in point of attendants and -services, and all that was mercenary among the officials. When he -succeeded in transferring the allegiance of the Præfect from the -Emperor to himself, he made at the same time the most stringent laws -against the reception of any present or fee by that Præfect and his -subordinate officers, thus securing, so far as was possible, the -integrity of the city and its rulers as well as their obedience. And -whether in the surprise of the community to be so summarily dealt -with, or in its satisfaction with the amount of the present, which -Innocent, like all the other Popes, bestowed on the city on his -consecration, he succeeded in carrying out these changes without -opposition, and so secured before he went further a certain shelter -and security within the walls of Rome. - -He then turned his eyes to the States of the Church, the famous -patrimony of St. Peter, which at that period of history St. Peter was -very far from possessing. Certain German adventurers, to whom the -Emperor had granted the fiefs which Innocent claimed as belonging to -the Holy See, were first summoned to do homage to the Pope as their -suzerain, then threatened with excommunication, then laid under -anathema: and finally--Markwald and the rest remaining unconvinced and -unsubdued--were driven out of their ill-gotten lands by force of arms, -which proved the most effectual way. The existence of these German -lords was the strongest argument in favour of the Papal sway, and was -efficacious everywhere. The towns little and great, scattered over the -March of Ancona, the duchy of Spoleto, and the wealthy district of -Umbria, received the Pope and his envoys as their deliverers. The -Tedeschi were as fiercely hated in Italy in the twelfth century as -they were in recent times; and with greater reason, for their cruelty -and exactions were indescribable. And the civic spirit which in the -absence of any larger patriotism kept the Italian race in energetic -life, and produced in every little centre of existence a longing for -at least municipal liberty and independence, hailed with acclamations -the advent of the head of the Church, a suzerain at least more -honourable and more splendid than the rude Teuton nobles who despised -the race over which they ruled. - -That spirit had already risen very high in the more important cities -of Northern Italy. The Lombard league had been already in existence -for a number of years, and a similar league was now formed by the -Tuscan towns which Innocent also claimed, in right of the legacy made -to the Church more than a hundred years before by the great Countess -Matilda, the friend of Hildebrand, but which had never yet been -secured to the Holy See. The Tuscans had not been very obedient -vassals to Matilda herself in her day; and they were not likely -perhaps to have afforded much support to the Popes had the Church ever -entered into full enjoyment of Matilda's splendid legacy. But in the -common spirit of hatred against the Tedeschi, the cruel and fierce -German chiefs to whom the Emperor had freely disposed of the great -estates and castles and rich towns of that wonderful country, the -supremacy of the Church was accepted joyfully for the moment, and all -kinds of oaths taken and promises made of fidelity and support to the -new Pope. When Innocent appeared, as in the duchy of Spoleto, in -Perugia, and other great towns, he was received with joy as the -saviour of the people. We are not told whether he visited Assisi, -where at this period Francis of that city was drawing crowds of -followers to his side, and the idea of a great monastic order was -rising out of the little church, the Portiuncula, at the bottom of the -hill: but wherever he went he was received with joy. At Perugia, when -the papal procession streamed through the crowded gates, and reached -the old palazzo appropriated for its lodging, there suddenly sprang up -a well which had been greatly wanted in the place, a spring of fresh -water henceforward and for ever known as the Fontana di Papa. These -cities all joined the Tuscan league against the Germans with the -exception of Pisa, always arrogant and self-willed, which stood for -those same Germans perhaps because their rivals on every side were -against them. It was at this period, some say, and that excellent -authority Muratori among them, that the titles of Guelf and Ghibelline -first came into common use, the party of the Pope being Guelf, and -that of the empire Ghibelline--the one derived from the house of Este, -which was descended from the old Teutonic race of Guelf on the female -side, the other, Waiblingen, from that of Hohenstaufen, also descended -by the female side from a traditionary German hero. It is curious that -these distant ancestors should have been chosen as godfathers of a -struggle with which they had nothing to do, and which arose so long -after their time. - - [Illustration: PORTA MAGGIORE. - _To face page 326._] - -Innocent, however, was not so good a Guelf as his party, for the Pope -was the guardian and chief defender, during his troubled royal childhood, -of Frederic of Sicily, afterwards the Emperor Frederic II., but at the -beginning of Pope Innocent's reign a very helpless baby prince, -fatherless, and soon, also, motherless, and surrounded by rapacious -Germans, each man fighting for a scheme of his own, by which to -transfer the insecure crown to his own head, or at least to rob it of -both power and revenue. The Pope stood by his helpless ward with much -steadfastness through the very brief years of his minority--for -Frederic seems to have been a married man and ambitious autocrat at an -age when ordinary boys are but beginning their studies--and had a -large share eventually in his elevation to the imperial throne: -notwithstanding that he belonged to the great house which had steadily -opposed the claims of the Papacy for generations. It must be added, -however, that the great enterprises of Innocent's first years could -not have been taken up, or at least could not have been carried to so -easy and summary a conclusion--whole countries recovered, the -Emperor's nominees cast out, the cities leagued against their constant -invaders and oppressors--had there been a fierce Emperor across _i -monti_ ready to descend upon the always struggling, yet continually -conquered, Italy. Henry VI., the son of Barbarossa, had died in the -preceding year, 1198, in the flower of his age, leaving only the -infant Frederic, heir to the kingdom of Sicily in right of his mother, -behind him to succeed to his vast possessions. But the crown of -Germany was, at least nominally, elective not hereditary; and -notwithstanding that the Emperor had procured from his princes a -delusive oath of allegiance to his child, that was a thing which in -those days no one so much as thought of keeping. The inactivity of the -forces of the Empire was thus accounted for; the holders of imperial -fiefs in Italy were left to fight their own battles, and thus the Pope -with very moderate forces, and the cities of Tuscany and Umbria, each -for its own hand, were able to assert themselves, and drive out the -oppressors. And there was a period of hopefulness and comparative -peace. - -Innocent, however, who had the affairs of the world on his hands, and -could not long confine himself to those of St. Peter's patrimony, was -soon plunged into the midst of those ever-recurring struggles in -Germany, too important in every way not to call for his closest -attention. The situation was very much, the same as that in which -Gregory VII. had found himself involved: with this great difference, -however, that both competitors for the German crown were new men, and -had neither any burden of crime against the Church nor previous -excommunications on their head. Philip of Suabia, the brother of Henry -VI., had been by him entrusted--with that curious confidence in the -possibility of self-devotion on the part of others, which dying men, -though never capable of it themselves, so often show--with the care -and guardianship of his child and its interests, and the impossible -task of establishing Frederic, as yet scarcely able to speak, upon a -throne so important and so difficult. Philip did, it is said, his best -to fulfil his trust and hurried from Sicily to the heart of Germany as -soon as his brother was dead, with that object; but the princes of his -party feared an infant monarch, and he was himself elected in the year -1199 to the vacant seat. There seems no criminality in this in the -circumstances, for the little Frederic was in any case impossible; but -Philip had inherited a hatred which he had not done anything -personally to deserve. "So exasperated were the Italians against the -Germans by the barbarous government of Frederic I. and Henry VI. his -son, that wherever Philip passed, whether through Tuscany or any other -district, he was ill-used and in danger of his life, and many of his -companions were killed," says Muratori. He had thus a strong feeling -against him in Italy independent of any demerit of his own. - -It is a little difficult, however, to understand why Pope Innocent, so -careful of the interests of the little king in Sicily, should have so -strongly and persistently opposed his uncle. Philip had been granted -possession of the duchy of Tuscany, which the Pope claimed as his own, -and some offence on this account, as well as the shadow of an anathema -launched against him for the same reason by one of Innocent's -predecessors, may have prepossessed the Pope against him; but it is -scarcely possible to accept this as reason enough for his determined -opposition. - -The rival emperor Otho, elected by the Guelf party, was the son of -Henry the Lion, the nephew of Richard Plantagenet of England the -Coeur de Lion of our national story, and of a family always devoted -to the Church. The two men were both young and full of promise, -equally noble and of great descent, related to each other in a distant -degree, trained in a similar manner, each of them quite fit for the -place which they were called to occupy. It seems to the spectator now -as if there was scarcely a pin to choose between them. Nor was it any -conflict of personal ambition which set them up against each other. -They were the choice of their respective parties, and the question was -as clearly one of faction against faction as in an Irish village -fight. - -These were circumstances, above all others, in which the arbitration -of such an impartial judge as a Pope might have been of the greatest -advantage to the world. There never was perhaps such an ideal -opportunity for testing the advantage and the possibility of the power -claimed by the Papacy. Otho was a young gallant at Richard's court -expecting nothing of the kind, open to all kinds of other promotions, -Earl of Yorkshire, Count of Poitou--the first not successful because -he could not conciliate the Yorkshiremen, perhaps difficult in that -way then as now: but without, so far as appears, any thought of the -empire in his mind. And Philip had the right of possession, and was -the choice of the majority, and had done no harm in accepting his -election, even if he had no right to it. The case was quite different -from that of the similar struggle in which Gregory VII. took part. At -the earlier period the whole world, that was not crushed under his -iron foot, had risen against Henry IV. His falsehood, his cruelty, his -vices, had alienated every one, and nobody believed his word or put -the smallest faith even in his most solemn vows. The struggle between -such an Emperor and the head of the Church was naturally a struggle to -death. One might almost say they were the impersonations of good and -evil, notwithstanding that the good might be often alloyed, and the -evil perhaps by times showed gleams of better meaning. But the case of -Philip and Otho was completely different. Neither of them were bad men -nor gave any augury of evil. The one perhaps by training and -inclination was slightly a better Churchman than the other at the -beginning of his career; but, on the other hand, Philip had various -practical advantages over Otho which could not be gainsaid. - -Had Pope Innocent been the wholly wise man and inspired judge he -claimed by right of his office to be, without prejudice or bias, nobly -impartial, holding the balance in a steady hand, was not this the very -case to test his powers? Had he helped the establishment of Philip in -the empire and deprecated the introduction of a rival, a great deal of -bloodshed might have been avoided, and a satisfactory result, without -any injustice, if not an ideal selection, might have been obtained. -All this was problematical, and depended upon his power of getting -himself obeyed, which, as it turned out, he did not possess. But in -this way, in all human probability, he might have promoted peace and -secured a peaceful decision; for Philip's election was a _fait -accompli_, while Otho was not as yet more than a candidate. The men -were so equal otherwise, and there was so little exclusive right on -one side or the other, that such facts as these would naturally have -been taken into the most serious consideration by the great, -impartial, and unbiassed mind which alone could have justified the -interference of the Pope, or qualified him to assume the part of -arbitrator in such a quarrel. He did not attempt this, however, but -took his place with his own faction as if he had been no heaven-sent -arbiter at all, but a man like any other. He has himself set forth the -motives and reasons for his interference, with the fulness of -explanation which he loved. The bull in which he begins by setting -aside the claims of his own infant ward, Frederic, to whom his father -Henry had caused the German princes to swear fealty, as -inadmissible--the said princes being freed of their oath by the death -of the Emperor, a curious conclusion--is in great part an indictment -of Philip, couched in the strongest and most energetic terms. In this -document it is stated in the first place that Philip had been -excommunicated by the previous Pope, as having occupied by violence -the patrimony of St. Peter, an excommunication taken off by the -legate, but not effectually; again he was involved in the -excommunication of Markwald and the other invaders of Sicily whom he -had upheld; in the next place he had been false to the little -Frederic, whose right he had vowed to defend, and was thus perjured, -though the princes who had sworn allegiance to the child were not so. -Then follows a tremendous description of Philip's family and -predecessors, of their dreadful acts against the Popes and Church, of -the feuds of Barbarossa with the Holy See, of the insults and injuries -of which all had been equally guilty. A persecutor himself and the son -of persecutors, how could the Pope support the cause of Philip? The -argument is full of force and strengthened by many illustrations, but -it proves above all things that Innocent was no impartial judge, but a -man holding almost with passion to his own side. - -The pleas in favour of Otho are much weaker. It is true, the Pope -admits, that he had been elected by a minority, but then the number of -notable and important electors were as great on his side as on -Philip's: his house had a purer record than that of Philip: and -finally he was weaker than Philip and more in need of support; -therefore the Holy See threw all its influence upon his side. Nothing -could be feebler than this conclusion after the force of the hostile -judgments. We fear it must be allowed that Innocent being merely a man -(which is the one unsurmountable argument against papal infallibility) -went the way his prepossessions and inclinations--and also, we have no -doubt, his conviction of what was best--led him, and was no more -certain to be right in doing so than any other man. - -Having come to this conclusion, Innocent took his stand with all the -power and influence he possessed upon Otho's side--a support which -probably kept that prince afloat and made the long struggle possible, -but was quite inadequate to set him effectually on the throne, or -injure his rival in any serious way. In this partisan warfare, -excommunication was the readiest of weapons; but excommunications, as -we have already said, were very ineffectual in the greater number of -cases; for Germany especially was full of great prelates as great as -the princes, in most cases of as high race and as much territorial -power, and they by no means always agreed with the Pope, and made no -pretence of obeying him; and how was the people to find out that they -lay under anathema when they saw the offices of the Church carried on -with all the splendour of the highest ritual, its services unbroken, -however the Pope might thunder behind? Some of these prelates--such as -Leopold of Mainz, appointed by the Emperor, to whom Innocent refused -his sanction, electing on his own part another archbishop, Siegfried, -in his stead, who was not for many years permitted even to enter the -diocese of which he was the titular head--maintained with Rome a -struggle as obstinate as any secular prince. They were as powerful as -the princes among whom they sat and reigned, and elected emperors. -Most of the German bishops, we are told, were on Philip's side -notwithstanding the decision of the Pope against him. In such -circumstances the anathema was little more than a farce. The -Archbishop of Mainz was excommunicated as much as the emperor, but -being all the same in full possession of his see and its privileges, -naturally acted as though nothing had happened, and found plenty of -clergy to support him, who carried on the services of the Church as -usual and administered the sacraments to Philip as much as if he had -been in the full sunshine of Papal favour. - -Such a chance had surely never been foreseen when the expedient of -excommunication was first thought of, for it is apt to turn every -claim of authority into foolishness--threats which cannot be carried -out being by their nature the most derogatory things possible to the -person from whom they proceed. The great prelates of Germany were in -their way as important as the Pope, their position was more steadily -powerful than his, they had vassals and armies to defend them, and a -strong and settled seat, from which it was as difficult, or indeed -even dangerous, to displace them as to overthrow a throne. And what -could the Pontiff do when they disobeyed and defied him? Nothing but -excommunicate, excommunicate, for which they cared not a straw--or -depose, which was equally unimportant, when, as happened in the case -of Mainz, the burghers of the cathedral city vowed that the -substituted bishop should never enter their gates. - -Thus the ten years' struggle produced nothing but humiliation for -Innocent. The Pope did not relax in his determined opposition, nor -cease to threaten penalties which he could not inflict until nearly -the end of the struggle; and then when the logic of events began, it -would appear, to have a little effect upon his mind, and he extended -with reluctance a sort of feeble olive-branch towards the -all-victorious Philip--a larger fate came in, and changed everything -with the sweeping fulness of irresistible power. It is not said -anywhere, so far as we know, that the overtures of Innocent brought -the Emperor ill-luck; but it would certainly have been so said had -such an accident occurred under Pio Nono, for example, who, it is -well known, had the evil eye. For no sooner had Innocent taken this -step than Philip's life came to a disastrous end. The Count Palatine -of Wittelsbach, a great potentate of Germany, who had some personal -grievance to avenge, demanded a private audience and murdered him in -his temporary dwelling, in the moment of his highest prosperity. Thus -in the twinkling of an eye everything was changed. The House of -Hohenstaufen went down in a moment without an attempt made to prop it -up. And Otho, who was at hand, already a crowned king, and demanding -no further trouble, at once took the vacant place. This occurred in -the year 1208--ten years after the beginning of the struggle. But in -this extraordinary and sudden transformation of affairs Innocent -counted for nothing; he had not done it nor even contributed to the -doing of it: though he had kept the air thunderous with anathemas, and -the roads dusty with the coming and going of his legates for all these -unhappy years. - -Otho, however, did not at first forget the devotion which the Pope had -shown him in his evil days, when triumph so unexpected and accidental -(as it seemed) came to him. After taking full possession of the -position which now there was no one to contest with him, he made a -triumphal progress across the Alps, and was crowned Emperor at Rome, -the last and crowning dignity which Philip had never been able to -attain: where he behaved himself with much show of affection and -humility to Innocent, whose stirrup he held like the most devoted son -of the Church as he professed to be. There was much swearing of oaths -at the same time. Otho vowed to preserve all the rights of the Church, -and, with reservations, to restore the Tuscan fiefs of Matilda, and -all the presents with which from time to time the former Emperors had -endowed the Holy See, to the Pope's undisturbed possession. Rome was a -scene of the utmost display and splendour during this imperial visit. -Otho had come at the head of his army, and lay encamped at the foot of -Monte Mario, where now the little group of pines stand up against the -sky in the west, dark against the setting sun. It was October when all -the summer glow and heat is mellowed by autumnal airs, and the white -tents shone outside the city gates with every kind of splendid -cognisance of princes and noble houses, and magnificence of mediæval -luxury. The ancient St. Peter's, near the camp, was then planted, we -are told, in the midst of a great number of convents, churches, and -chapels, "Like a majestic mother surrounded by beautiful -daughters"--though there was no Vatican as yet to add to its -greatness: but the line of the walls on the opposite side of the river -and the ancient splendour of Rome, more square and massive in its -lingering classicism than the mediæval towns to which the German -forces were more accustomed, shone in the mid-day sun: while towards -the left the great round of St. Angelo dominated the bridge and the -river, and all the crowds which poured forth towards the great church -and shrine of the Apostles. There was, however, one shadow in this -brilliant picture, and that was the fact that Rome within her gates -lay not much unlike a couching lion, half terrified, half excited by -the army outside, and not sure that the abhorred Tedeschi might not at -any moment steal a march upon her, and show underneath those splendid -velvet gloves, all heavy with embroideries of gold, the claws of that -northern wolf which Italy had so often felt at her very heart. It is a -curious sign of this state of agitated feeling that Otho published in -Rome before his coronation a solemn engagement in his own name and -that of his army that no harm should be done to the city, to the Pope -and Cardinals, or to the people and their property, while he remained -there. He had strong guards of honour at all the adjacent gates as a -precautionary measure while the great ceremonies of his consecration -went on. - -It was not the present St. Peter's, it need not be said, which, hung -with splendid tapestries and lit with innumerable candles, glistening -with precious marbles and gilding, and decorated with all the -splendour of the church in silver and gold, received this great German -potentate for that final act which was to make his authority sacred, -and establish him beyond all question Emperor of the Holy Roman -Empire, a dignity which only the Pope could complete, which was -nothing, bringing no additional dominion with it, yet of the utmost -importance in the estimation of the world. It cannot but have been -that a sense of elation, perhaps chequered with doubt, but certainly -sanctioned by many noble feelings--convictions that God had favoured -his side in the long run, and that a better age was about to -begin--must have been in Innocent's mind as he went through the -various ceremonies of the imposing ritual, and received the vows of -the monarch and placed the imperial crown on his head. We are not -told, however, whether there was any alarm in the air as the two -gorgeous processions conjoined, sweeping forth from the gates of St. -Peter's, and across the bridge and by all the crowded ways, to the -other side of the city, to the Lateran palace, where the great banquet -was held. Otho with his crown on his head held the stirrup of the Pope -at the great steps of St. Peter's as Innocent mounted; and the two -greatest potentates of earth, the head of the secular and the head of -the spiritual, dividing, with the most confusing elasticity of -boundary between them, the sway of the world, rode alone together, -followed by all that was most magnificent in Germany and Italy, the -great princes, the great prelates vying with each other in pomp and -splendour. The air was full of the ringing of bells and the chanting -of the priests; and as they went along through the dark masses of the -people on every side, the officers of Otho scattered largesse through -all the crowded streets, and everything was festivity and general -joy. - -But when the great people disappeared into the papal palace, and the -banquet was spread, the German men-at-arms began to swagger about the -streets as if they were masters of all they surveyed. There is no -difference of opinion as to the brutality and insolence of the German -soldiers in those days, and the Romans were excited and in no humour -to accept any insult at such a moment. How they came to blows at last -was never discovered, but after the great spectacle was over, most -probably when night was coming on, and the excitement of the day had -risen to irritability and ready passion, a fray arose in the streets -no one knowing how. The strangers had the worst of it, Muratori says. -"Many of the Teutons were killed," says one of the older chronicles, -"and eleven hundred horses;" which would seem to imply that the dregs -of the procession had been vapouring about Rome on their charges, -riding the inhabitants down. Nor was it only men-at-arms: for a number -of Otho's more distinguished followers were killed in the streets. How -long it was before it came to the ears of the Emperor we are not -informed, nor whether the banquet was interrupted. Probably Otho had -returned to his tent (Muratori says he did so at once, leaving out all -mention of any banquet) before the "calda baruffa" broke out: but at -all events it was a startling change of scene. The Emperor struck his -tents next morning, and departed from the neighbourhood of Rome in -great rage and indignation:--and this, so far as Pope Innocent was -concerned, was the last good that was ever heard of Otho. He broke all -his vows one by one, took back the Tuscan States, seized the duchy of -Spoleto and every city he passed on his way, and defied the Pope, to -whom he had been so servile, having now got all from him that Innocent -could give. - -The plea by which Otho defended himself for his seizure of the States -of Tuscany was worthy of that scholastic age. He had vowed, he said, -it was true, to preserve St. Peter's patrimony and all the -ecclesiastical possessions: but he had vowed at the same time to -preserve and to recover all imperial rights and possessions, and it -was in discharge of this obligation that he robbed the Pope. Thus -ended Innocent's long and faithful support of Otho; he had pledged the -faith of heaven for his success, which was assured only by accident -and crime; but no sooner had that success been secured, than the -Emperor deserted and betrayed the Pope who had so firmly stood by him. -It is said that Innocent redoubled from that moment his care of the -young Frederic, the King of Sicily, the head of the Hohenstaufen house -and party, and prepared him to revenge Otho's broken oaths by a -downfall as complete as his elevation had been; but this is an -assumption which has no more proof than any other uncharitable -judgment of motives unrevealed. At all events it is very apparent that -in this long conflict, which occupied so much of his life, the Pope -played no powerful or triumphant part. - -In France the action of Innocent was more successful. The story of -Philip Augustus and his wives, which is full of romantic incidents, is -better known to the general reader than the tragedy of the Emperors. -Philip Augustus had married a wife, a Danish princess, who did not -please him. Her story, in its first chapter at least, is like that of -Anne of Cleves, the fortunate princess who had the good luck not to -please Henry VIII. (or perhaps still more completely resembles a -comparatively recent catastrophe in our own royal house, the relations -of George IV. and his unlucky wife). But the French king did not treat -Ingelburga with the same politeness which Henry Tudor exhibited, -neither had she the discretion to hold her tongue like the lady of -Flanders. The complaints of the injured queen filled the world, and -she made a direct appeal to the Pope, who was not slow to reply. When -Philip procured a divorce from his wife from the complacent bishops of -his own kingdom on one of those absurd allegations of too close -relationship (it might be that of third or fourth cousin), which were -of so much use to discontented husbands of sufficient rank, and -married the beautiful Agnes of Meran, with whom he was in love, -Innocent at once interfered. He began by commands, by entreaties, by -attempts at settling the question by legal measures, commissioning his -legates to hold a solemn inquiry into the matter, examining into -Ingelburga's complaints, and using every endeavour to bring the king -back to a sense of his duty. There could be no doubt on which side -justice lay, and the legates were not, as in the case of Henry and -Catherine, on the side of the monarch. It was the rejected queen who -had the Pope's protection and not her powerful husband. - -Philip Augustus, however, was summoned in vain to obey. The litigation -and the appeals went on for a long time, and several years elapsed -before Innocent, after much preparation and many warnings, determined -not merely as on former occasions to excommunicate the offender, but -to pronounce an interdict upon the kingdom. Perhaps Innocent had -learned the lesson which had been taught him on such a great scale, -that excommunication was not a fortunate weapon, and that only the -perfect subordination of the higher clergy could make it successful at -all. The interdict was a much greater and more dreadful thing; it was -dependent not upon the obedience of a great prelate, but upon every -priest who had taken the sacred vows. Had he excommunicated the king -as on former occasions, no doubt there would always have been some -lawless bishop in France who would have enabled his sovereign to laugh -at the Pope and his sentence. But an interdict could not thus be -evaded, the mass of the clergy being obedient to the Pope whatever -important individual exceptions there might be. The interdict was -proclaimed accordingly with all the accessories of ritualistic -solemnity. After a Council which had lasted seven days, and which was -attended by a great number of the clergy, the bells of the -cathedral--it was that of Dijon--began to toll as for a dying man: and -all the great bishops with their trains, and the legate at their head, -went solemnly from their council chamber to the church. It was -midnight, and the long procession went through the streets and into -the great cathedral by the wavering and gloomy light of torches. For -the last time divine service was celebrated, and the canons sang the -_Kyrie Eleison_ amid the silence, faintly broken by sobs and sounds of -weeping, of the immense crowds who had followed them. The images of -Christ and the saints were covered with crape, the relics of the -saints, worshipped in those days with such strange devotion, were -solemnly taken away out of the shrines and consecrated places to -vaults and crypts underground where they were deposited until better -times; the remains of the consecrated bread which had sustained the -miracle of transubstantiation were burned upon the altar. All these -details of the awful act of cutting off France from the community of -the faithful were performed before a trembling and dismayed crowd, -which looked on with a sense of the seriousness of the proceedings -which was overwhelming. - - "Then the legate, dressed in a violet stole, as on the day - of the passion of our Lord, advanced to the altar steps, - and in the name of Jesus Christ pronounced the interdict - upon all the realm of France. Sobs and groans echoed - through the great aisles of the cathedral; it was as if the - day of judgment had come." - -Once more after this tremendous scene there was a breathing space, a -place of repentance left for the royal sinner, and then through all -the churches of France the midnight ceremonial was repeated. The voice -of prayer was silenced in the land, no more was psalm sung or mass -said; a few convents were permitted by special grace, in the night, -with closed doors and whispering voices, to celebrate the holy -mysteries. For all besides the public worship of God and all the -consolations of religion were cut off. We have seen how lightly -personal excommunication was treated in Germany; but before so -terrible a chastisement as this no king could hold out. Neither was -the cause one of disobedience to the Holy See, or usurpation of the -Church's lands, or any other offence against ecclesiastical supremacy: -it was one into which every peasant, every clown could enter, and -which revolted the moral sense of the nation. Matrimonial infidelities -of all kinds have always been winked at in a monarch, but the strong -step of putting away a guiltless queen and setting another in her -place is a different matter. The nation was on the side of the Church: -the clergy, except in very rare cases, were unanimous: and for once -Innocent in his severity and supremacy was successful. After seven -months of this terrible _régime_ the king yielded. It had been a time -of threatening rebellion, of feuds and dissensions of all kinds, of -diminished revenues and failing prosperity. Philip Augustus could not -stand against these consequences. He sent away the fictitious wife -whom he loved--and who died, as the world, and even history at its -sternest, loves to believe, of a broken heart, the one victim whom no -one could save, a short time after--and the interdict was removed. One -is almost glad to hear that even then the king would have none of -Ingelburga, the woman who had filled the world with her cries and -complaints, and brought this tremendous anathema on France. She -continued to cry and appeal to the Pope that her captivity was -unchanged or even made harder than ever, but Innocent was too wise to -risk his great expedient a second time. He piously advised her to have -recourse to prayer and to have confidence in God, and promised not to -abandon her. But the poor lady gained little by all the misery that -had been inflicted to right her wrongs. Many years after, when no one -thought any more of Ingelburga, the king suddenly took her out of her -prison and restored her to her share, such as it was, of the throne, -for what reason no man can tell. - -This, however, was the only great success of Innocent in the exercise -of his papal power. It was an honourable and a just employment of that -power, very different from the claim to decide between contending -Emperors, or to nominate to the imperial crown; but it was in reality, -as we think, the only triumphant achievement of the Pope, in whom all -the power and all the pretensions of the papacy are said to have -culminated. He had his hand in every broil, and interfered with -everything that was going on in every quarter. Space fails us to tell -of his endless negotiations, censures, recommendations and commands, -sent by legates continually in motion or by letters of endless -frequency and force, to regions in which Christianity itself was as -yet scarcely established. Every little kingdom from the utmost limits -of the north to the east were under this constant supervision and -interference: and no doubt there were instances, especially among the -more recent converts of the Church, and in respect to ecclesiastical -matters, in which it was highly important; but so far as concerned the -general tenor of the world's history, it can never be said to have had -any important result. - -In England, Innocent had the evil fortune to have to do with the worst -of the Plantagenet kings, the false and cowardly John, who got himself -a little miserable reputation for a time by the temporary -determination of his resolve that "no Italian priest, should tithe or -toll in our dominions," and who struggled fiercely against Innocent on -the question of the Archbishopric of Canterbury and other great -ecclesiastical offices, as well as in matters more personal, such as -the dower of Berengaria, the widow of Coeur de Lion, which the Pope -had called upon him to pay. John drove the greater part of the clergy -out of England in his fury at the interdict which Innocent pronounced, -and took possession, glad of an occasion of acquiring so much wealth, -of the estates and properties of the Church throughout the realm. But -the interdict which had been so efficacious in France failed -altogether of its effect in England. It was too early for any -Protestant sentiment, and it is extraordinary that a people by no -means without piety should have shown so singular an indifference to -the judgment of the Church. Perhaps the fact that so many of the -superior clergy were of the conquering Norman race, and, therefore, -still sullenly resisted by the passive obstinacy of the humiliated -Saxons, had something to do with it: while at the same time the -banishment of many prelates would probably leave a large portion of -the humbler priests in comparative ignorance of the Pope's decree. - -But whatever were the operative causes this is plain, that whereas in -France the effect of the interdict was tremendous in England it -produced scarcely any result at all. The banished bishops and -archbishops, and at their head Stephen Langton, the patriotic -Englishman of whom the Pope had made wise choice for the Archbishopric -of Canterbury, stood on the opposite shore in consternation, and -watched the contempt of their flocks for this greatest exercise of the -power of Rome; and with still greater amazement perceived the success -that followed the king in his enterprises, and the obedience of the -people, with whom he had never been so popular before. - -We are not told what Innocent felt at the sight of this unexpected -failure. He proceeded to strike King John with special excommunication, -going from the greater to the smaller curse, in a reversal of the -usual method; but this being still ineffectual, Innocent turned to -practical measures. He proceeded to free King John's subjects from -their oath of allegiance and to depose the rebellious monarch; and not -only so, for these ordinances would probably have been as little -regarded as the other--but he gave permission and authority to the -King of France, the ever-watchful enemy of the Plantagenets, to invade -England and to place his son Louis upon the vacant throne. Great -preparations were made in France for this congenial Crusade--for it -was in their quality as Crusaders that the Pope authorised the -invasion. Then and not till then John paused in his career. He had -laughed at spiritual dangers, but he no longer laughed when the French -king gathered his forces at Boulogne, and the banished and robbed -bishops prepared to return, not penitent and humiliated, but -surrounded by French spears. - -Then at last the terrified king submitted to the authority of the -Pope; he received the legates of Innocent in a changed spirit, with -the servility of a coward. He vowed with his hand on the Gospels to -redress all ecclesiastical wrongs, to restore the bishops, and to -submit in every way to the judgment of the Church. Then in his craven -terror, without, it is said, any demand of the kind on the part of the -ecclesiastical ambassadors, John took a step unparalleled in the -annals of the nations. - - "In order to obtain the mercy of God for the sins we have - done against His holy Church, and having nothing more - precious to offer than our person and our kingdom, and in - order to humiliate ourself before Him who humbled Himself - for us even to death: by an inspiration of the Holy Spirit, - neither formed by violence nor by fear, but in virtue of - our own good and free will we give, with the consent of our - barons, to God, to His holy apostles, Peter and Paul, to - our mother the Holy Roman Church, to our Lord the Pope - Innocent and to his Catholic successors, in expiation of - our sins and those of our family, living and dead, our - kingdoms of England and Ireland with all their - accompaniments and rights, in order that we may receive - them again in the quality of vassal of God and of Holy - Church: in faith of which we take the oath of vassal, in - the presence of Pandulphus, putting ourselves at the - disposition of the Pope and his successors, as if we were - actually in the presence of the Pope; and our heirs and - successors shall be obliged to take the same oath." - - [Illustration: IN THE CAMPAGNA (1860) - _To face page 346._] - -So John swore, but not because of the thunders and curses of -Innocent--because of Philip Augustus of France hurrying on his -preparations on the other side of the Channel, while angry barons and -a people worn out with constant exactions gave him promise of but poor -support at home. The Pope became now the only hope of the -humiliated monarch. He had flouted the sentences and disdained the -curses of the Holy See; but if there was any power in the world which -could restore the fealty of his vassals, and stop the invader on his -way, it was Innocent: or so at least in this last emergency it might -be possible to hope. - -Innocent on his part did not despise the unworthy bargain. -Notwithstanding his powerful intellect and just mind, and the -perception he must have had of the miserable motives underneath, he -did not hesitate. He received the oath, though he must have well known -that it would be so much waste paper if John had ever power to cast it -off. Of all men Innocent must have been most clearly aware what was -the worth of the oaths of kings. He accepted it, however, apparently -with a faith in the possibility of establishing the suzerainty thus -bestowed upon him, which is as curious as any other of the facts of -the case, whether flattered by this apparent triumph after his long -unsuccess, or believing against all evidence--as men, even Popes, can -always believe what they wish--that so shameful a surrender was -genuine, and that here at last was a just acknowledgment of the rights -of the Holy See. Henceforward the Pope put himself on John's side. He -risked the alienation of the French king by forbidding the enterprise -which had been undertaken at his command: he rejected the appeal of -the barons, disapproved Magna Charta, transferred the excommunication -to its authors with an ease which surely must have helped these -unlikely penitents to despise both the anathema and its source. It is -impossible either to explain or excuse this strange conduct. The -easiest solution is that he did not fully understand either the facts -or the characters of those with whom he had to deal: but how then -could he be considered fit to judge and arbitrate between them? - -The death of John liberated the Pope from what might have been a -deliberate breach of his recommendations on the part of France. And -altogether in this part of his conduct the imaginary success of -Innocent was worse than a defeat. It was a failure from the high -dignity he claimed, more conspicuous even than that failure in Germany -which had already proved the inefficacy of spiritual weapons to affect -the business of the world: for not only had all his efforts failed of -success, until the rude logic of a threatened invasion came in to -convince the mind of John--but the Pope himself was led into unworthy -acts by a bargain which was in every way ignoble and unworthy. If the -Church was to be the high and generous umpire, the impartial judge of -all imperial affairs which she claimed to be--and who can say that had -mortal powers been able to carry it out, this was not a noble and -splendid ideal?--it was not surely by becoming the last resort against -just punishment of a traitor and caitiff, whose oath made one day was -as easily revoked the next, as the putting on or pulling off of a -glove. It is almost inconceivable that a man like Innocent should have -received with joy and with a semblance of faith such a submission on -the part of such a man as John. But it is evident that he did so, and -that probably the Roman court and community took it as a great event -and overwhelming proof of the progress of the authority of the Church. - -But perhaps an Italian and a Churchman in these days was the last -person in the world to form a just idea of what we call patriotism, or -to understand the principle of independence which made a nation, even -when divided within itself, unite in fierce opposition to interference -from without. Italy was not a country, but a number of constantly -warring states and cities, and to Innocent the Church was the one sole -institution in the world qualified and entitled to legislate for -others. He accepted the gift of England almost with elation, -notwithstanding all he had learned of that distant and strange country -which cared not for an interdict, and if it could in any circumstances -have loved its unworthy king, would have done so on account of his -resistance to the Pope. And it would appear that the Pontiff believed -in something serious coming of that suzerainty, all traditions and -evidence to the contrary notwithstanding. Thus Innocent's part in the -bloody and terrible drama that was then being played in England was -neither noble nor dignified, but a poor part unworthy of his character -and genius. His interference counted for nothing until France -interfered with practical armies which had to be reckoned with--when -the hand which had launched so many ineffectual thunderbolts was -gripped at by an expedient of cowardly despair which in reality meant -and produced nothing. Both sides were in their turn excommunicated, -given over to every religious penalty; but unconcerned fought the -matter out their own way and so settled it, unanimous only in -resisting the jurisdiction of Rome. The vehement letters of the Pope -as the struggle grew more and more bitter sound through the clang of -arms like the impotent scoldings of a woman: - - "Let women ... war with words, - With curses priests, but men with swords." - -Let Pope or prelate do what they might, the cold steel carried the -day. - -Not less complete in failure, though with a flattering promise in it -of prosperity and advantage, was the great crusade of Innocent's -day--that which is called the Venetian Crusade, the immense expedition -which seemed likely to produce such splendid results but ended so -disastrously, and never set foot at all in the Holy Land which was its -object. The Crusades were, of all other things, the dearest object to -the hearts of the Popes, small and great. The first conception of them -had risen, as the reader will remember, in the mind of Gregory VII., -who would fain have set out himself at the head of the first, to -recover out of the hands of the infidel the sacred soil which -enshrined so many memories. The idea had been pursued by every worthy -Pope between Hildebrand and Innocent, with fluctuations of success and -failure--at first in noble and pious triumph, but latterly with all -the dissensions, jealousies, and internal struggles, which armies, -made up of many differing and antagonistic nationalities, could with -difficulty avoid. Before Innocent's accession to the papacy there had -been a great and terrible reverse, which was supposed to have broken -the heart of the old Pope under whom it occurred, and which filled -Christendom with horror, woe, and shame. The sacred territory for -which so much blood had been shed fell again entirely into the hands -of the Saracens. In consequence of this, one of the first acts of -Innocent was to send out letters over all the world, calling for a new -Crusade, exhorting princes and priests alike to use every means for -the raising of a sufficient expedition, and promising every kind of -spiritual advantage, indulgence, and remission to those who took the -cross. - -The first result of these impassioned appeals was to fire the spirits -of certain priests in France to preach the Crusade, with all the fiery -enthusiasm which had first roused Christendom: and a very large -expedition was got together, chiefly from France, whose preliminary -negotiations with the doge and government of Venice to convey them to -Palestine furnishes one of the most picturesque scenes in the history -of that great and astute republic. It was in the beginning of the -thirteenth century, the opening of the year 1201, when the bargain, -which was a very hard one, was made: and in the following July the -expedition was to set sail. But when the pilgrims assembled at Venice -it was found that with all their exertions they had not more than half -the sum agreed upon as passage money. Perhaps the Venetians had -anticipated this and taken their measures accordingly. At all events, -after much wrangling and many delays, they agreed to convey the -Crusaders on condition only of obtaining their assistance to take the -town of Zara on the Dalmatian coast, which had once been under -Venetian rule, but which now belonged to the King of Hungary, and was -a nest of pirates hampering the trade of Venice and holding her -merchants and seamen in perpetual agitation. Whether Innocent had -surmised that some such design was possible we are not told, but if -not his instructions to the Crusaders were strangely prophetic. He -besought them on no account whatever to go to war with any Christian -people. If their passage were opposed by any, they were permitted to -force their way through that like any other obstacle, but even in such -a case were only to act with the sanction of the legate who -accompanied them. The Pope added a word of sorrowful comment upon the -"very different aims" which so often mingled in the minds of the -Crusaders with that great and only one, the deliverance of the Holy -Land, which was the true object of their expedition; and complained -sadly that if the heads of the Christian Church had possessed as much -power as they had goodwill, the power of Mahomet would have been long -since broken, and much Christian blood remained unshed. - -He could not have spoken with more truth had he been prophetically -aware of the issues to which that expedition was to come. The -Crusaders set out, in 1202, covering the sea with their sails, -dazzling every fishing boat and curious merchantman with reflections -from their shining bucklers and shields, and met with such a course of -adventure as never had befallen any pilgrims of the Cross before. The -story is told in the most picturesque and dramatic pages of Gibbon; -and many a historian more has repeated the tale. They took Zara, and -embroiled themselves, as the Pope had feared, with the Hungarians, -themselves a chivalrous nation full of enthusiasm for the Cross, but -not likely to allow themselves to be invaded with impunity; then, -professedly in the cause of the young Alexis, the boy-king of the -Greek Empire, went to Constantinople--which they took after a -wonderful siege, and in which they found such booty as turned the -heads of the great penniless lords who had mortgaged every acre and -spent every coin for the hire of the Venetian ships, and of the rude -soldiers who followed them, who had never possessed a gold piece -probably in their lives, and there found wealth undreamt of to be had -for the taking. There is no need for us to enter into that -extraordinary chapter in the history of the Greek Empire, of which -these hordes of northern invaders, all Christian as they were, and -with so different an object to start with, possessed themselves--with -no less cruelty and as great rapacity as was shown by the barbarians -of an elder age in the sack and destruction of Rome. - -Meantime the Pope did not cease to protest against this turning aside -of the expedition from its lawful object. The legate had forbidden the -assault of Zara, but in vain; the Pope forbade the attack upon -Constantinople also in vain, and vainly pressed upon the Crusaders, by -every argument, the necessity of proceeding to the Holy Land without -delay. Innocent, it is true, did not refuse his share of the splendid -stuffs and ornaments which fell into their hands, for ecclesiastical -uses: and he was silenced by the fictitious submission of the Greek -Church, and the supposed healing of the schism which had rent the East -and the West from each other. Nevertheless he looked on upon the -progress of affairs in Constantinople with unquiet eyes. But what -could the Pope do in his distant seat, armed with those spiritual -powers alone which even at home these fierce warriors held so lightly, -against the rage of acquisition, the excitement of conquest, even the -sweep and current of affairs, which carried the chiefs of the armies -in the East so much further and in so changed a direction from that -which even they themselves desired? He entreated, he commanded, he -threatened: but when all was said he was but the Pope, far off and -powerless, who could excommunicate indeed, but do no more. The only -thing possible for Innocent was to look on, sometimes with a gleam of -high hope as when the Greek Church came over to him, as appeared, to -be received again into full communion with the rest of Christendom: -sometimes with a half unwilling pleasure as when Baldwin's presents -arrived, cloth of gold and wonderful embroideries to decorate the -great arches of St. Peter's and the Lateran: and again with a more -substantial confidence when Constantinople itself had become a Latin -empire under the same Baldwin--that it might henceforward become a -basis of operations in the holy war against the Saracens and promote -the objects of the Crusade more effectually than could be done from a -distance. Amid all his disappointments and the impatient sense of -futility and helplessness which must have many a time invaded his -soul, it is comfortable to know that Innocent died in this last -belief, and never found out how equally futile it was. - -There was, however, one other great undertaking of his time in which -it would seem that the Pontiff was more directly influential, even -though, for any reader who respects the character and ideal of -Innocent, it is sickening to the heart to realise what it was. It was -that other Crusade, so miserable and so bloody, against the -Albigenses, which was the only successful enterprise which with any -show of justice could be set down to the account of the Church. Nobody -seems even now to know very well what the heresies were, against -which, in the failure of other schemes, the arms of the defenders of -religion were directed. They were, as Dissent generally is, manifold, -while the Church regarded them as one. Among them were humble little -sects who desired only to lead a purer and truer life than the rude -religionists among whom they dwelt; while there were also others who -held in various strange formulas all kinds of wild doctrine: but -between the Poor Men of Lyons, the Scripture-Readers whose aim was to -serve God in humility, apart from all pomps of religion and splendour -of hierarchies--and the strange Manichean sects with their elaborate -and confused philosophical doctrine--the thirteenth century knew no -difference. It ranked them all under the same name of heretic, and -attributed to all of them the errors of the worst and smallest -section. Even so late as the eighteenth century, Muratori, a scholar -without prejudice, makes one sweeping assertion that they were -Manicheans, without a doubt or question. It is needless to say that -whatever they were, fire and sword was not the way to mend them of -their errors; for that also was an idea wholly beyond the -understanding of the time. - -When Innocent came first to the Papacy his keen perception of the many -vices of the Church was increased by a conviction that error of -doctrine accompanied in certain portions of Christendom the general -corruption of life. In some of his letters he comments severely, -always with a reference to the special evils against which he -struggled, on the causes and widening propagation of heresy. "If the -shepherd is a hireling," he says, "and thinks not of the flock, but -solely of himself: if he cares only for the wool and the milk, without -defending them from the wolves that attack them, or making himself a -wall of defence against their enemies: and if he takes flight at the -first sound of danger: the ruin and loss must be laid to his charge. -The keeper of the sheep must not be like a dumb dog that cannot bark. -When the priesthood show that they do not know how to separate holy -things from common, they resemble those vile wine-sellers who mingle -water with their wine. The name of God is blasphemed because of those -who love money, who seek presents, who justify the wicked by allowing -themselves to be corrupted by them. The vigilance of the ministers of -religion can do much to arrest the progress of evil. The league of -heretics should be dissolved by faithful instruction: for the Lord -desires not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be -converted and live." - -It may be curious also to quote here the cautious utterance of -Innocent upon the pretension of the more pious sectarians to found -everything on Scripture and to make the study of the Bible their chief -distinction. The same arguments are still used in the Catholic Church, -sometimes even in the same terms. - - "The desire to know the Holy Scriptures and to profit by - their teaching is praiseworthy, but this desire must not be - satisfied in secret, nor should it degenerate into the wish - to preach, or to despise the ministers of religion. It is - not the will of God that His word should be proclaimed in - secret places as is done by these heretics, but publicly in - the Church. The mysteries of the faith cannot be explained - by every comer, for not every intellect is capable of - understanding them. The Holy Scriptures are so profound - that not only the simple and ignorant but even intelligent - and learned men are unqualified to interpret them." - -At no time however, though he spoke so mildly and so candidly, -acknowledging that the best way to overcome the heretics was to -convert and to convince them, did Innocent conceal his intention and -desire to carry proceedings against them to the sternest of -conclusions. If it were possible by any exertions to bring them back -to the bosom of the Church, he charged all ecclesiastical authorities, -all preachers, priests, and monastic establishments to do everything -that was possible to accomplish this great work; but failing that, he -called upon all princes, lords, and civil rulers to take stringent -measures and cut them off from the land--recommendations that ended in -the tremendous and appalling expedient of a new Crusade, a Crusade -with no double motive, no object of restoration and deliverance -combined with that of destruction, but bound to the sole agency of -sheer massacre, bloodshed, and ruin, an internecine warfare of the -most horrible kind. - -It must be added, however, that the preachers who at Innocent's -command set out, more or less in state, high officials, ecclesiastics -of name and rank, to convince the heretics, by their preaching and -teaching, took the first part in the conflict. According to his lights -he spared no pains to give the doomed sects the opportunity of -conversion, though with very little success. Among his envoys were two -Spaniards, one a bishop, one that great Dominic, the founder of the -Dominican order, who filled so great a part in the history of his -time. Amid the ineffectual legates these two were missionaries born: -they represented to the other preachers that demonstrations against -heresy in the cathedrals was no way of reaching the people, but that -the true evangelists must go forth into the country, humble and poor -as were the adversaries whom they had to overcome. They themselves set -out on their mission barefoot, without scrip or purse, after the -manner of the Apostles. Strange to think that it was in Provence, the -country of the Troubadours, the land of song, where poetry and love -were supreme according to all and every tradition of history, that the -grimmest heresy abounded, and that this stern pair carried on their -mission! but so it was. Toulouse, where Courts of Love sate yearly, -and the trouvères held their tournaments of song, was the centre of -the tragedy. But not even those devoted preachers, nor the crowd of -eager priests and monks who followed in their steps, succeeded in -their mission. The priesthood and the religion it taught had fallen -very low in Provence, and no one heeded the new missionaries, neither -the heretics nor the heedless population around. - -No doubt the Pope, the man of so many disappointments, had set his -heart on this as a thing in which for once he must not fail, and -watched with a sore and angry heart the unsuccess of all these -legitimate efforts. But it was not until one of the legates, a man -most trusted and honoured, Pierre de Castelnau, was treacherously -killed in the midst of his mission, that Innocent was fully roused. -Heretofore he had rained excommunications over all the world, and his -curses had come back to him without avail. But on this occasion at -least he had a sure weapon in hand. The Pope proclaimed a Crusade -against the heretics. He proclaimed throughout Europe that whoever -undertook this holy enterprise it should be counted to him as if he -had fought for Jerusalem: all the indulgences, blessings, hopes for -heaven and exemptions for earth, which had been promised to those who -were to deliver the Holy Sepulchre, were equally bestowed on those who -went no further than the south of France, one of the richest districts -in Christendom, where fair lands and noble castles were to be had for -the conquest without risking a stormy voyage or a dangerous climate. -The goods of unrepentant heretics were confiscated, and every one was -free to help himself as if they had been Turks and infidels. In none -of his undertakings was the Pope so hotly in earnest. There is -something of the shrillness of a man who has found himself impotent in -many undertakings in the passion which Innocent throws into this. -"Rise, soldier of Christ!" he cries to the king of France; "up, most -Christian prince! The groans of the Church rise to your ears, the -blood of the just cries out: up, then, and judge my cause: gird on -your sword; think of the unity of the cross and the altar, that unity -taught us by Moses, by Peter, by all the fathers. Let not the bark of -the Church make shipwreck. Up, for her help! Strike strongly against -the heretics, who are more dangerous than the Saracens!" - -The appeal came to a host of eager ears. Many good and true men were -no doubt among the army which gathered upon the gentle hill of Hyères -in the blazing midsummer of the year 1209, cross on breast and sword -in hand, sworn to exterminate heresy, and bring back the country to -the sway of the true religion; but an overwhelming number besides, who -were hungry for booty however obtained, and eager to win advancement -for themselves, filled up the ranks. Such motives were not absent -even from the bosom of Simon de Montfort, their general, otherwise a -good man and true. The sovereignty of Toulouse glimmered before him -over seas of blood, which was as the blood of the Saracen, no better, -though it flowed in the veins of Frenchmen; but the Provençaux could -scarcely be called Frenchmen in those early days. They were no more -beloved of their northern neighbours than the English were by the -Scots, and the expedition against them was as much justified by -distinctions of race as was the conflict of Bannockburn. - -The chapter of history that followed we would fain on all sides -obliterate, if we could, from the records of humanity, and we doubt -not that the strictest Catholic as much as the most indignant -Protestant would share this wish; but that, alas, cannot be done. And -no such feeling was in any mind of the time. The remedy was not -thought to be too terrible for the disease, for centuries after: and -the most Christian souls rejoiced in the victories of the Crusade, the -towns destroyed, the nests of heretics broken up. The very heretics -themselves, who suffered fiercely and made reprisals when they could, -had no doctrine of toleration among themselves, and would have -extirpated a wicked hierarchy, and put down the mass with a high hand, -as four hundred years later their more enlightened successors did, -when the power came to them. There are many shuddering spectators who -now try to represent to themselves that Innocent so far off was but -half, or not at all, acquainted with the atrocities committed in his -name; that his legates over-stepped their authority, as frequently -happened, and were carried away by the excitement of carnage and the -terrible impulse of destruction common to wild beasts and men when -that fatal passion is aroused; and that his generals soon converted -their Crusade, as Crusades more or less were converted everywhere, -into a raid of fierce acquisition, a war for booty and personal -enrichment. And all this is true for as much as it is worth in -reducing the guilt of Innocent; but that is not much, for he was a man -very well acquainted with human nature, and knew that such things must -be. - -As for Simon de Montfort and his noble companions, they were not, much -less were the men-at-arms under their orders, superior to all that -noble chivalry of France which had started from Venice with so fine a -purpose, but had been drawn aside to crush and rob Constantinople on -their way, only some seven years before. Baldwin of Flanders became -Emperor of the great eastern city in 1204. Simon de Montfort named -himself Count de Toulouse in 1215. Both had been sent forth with the -Pope's blessing on quite a different mission, both had succumbed to -the temptation of their own aggrandisement. But of the two, at the end -Simon was the more faithful. If he committed or permitted to be -committed the most abominable cruelties, he nevertheless did stamp out -heresy. Provence regained her gaiety, her courts of love, her gift of -song. Innocent, for once in his life, with all the dreadful drawbacks -accompanying it, was successful in the object for which he had -striven. - -It is a dreadful thing to have to say of the most powerful of Popes, -in whose time the Papacy, we are told, reached its highest climax of -power in the affairs of men: he was successful once: in devastating a -country and slaughtering by thousands its inhabitants in the name of -God and the Church. All his attempts to set right the affairs of the -world failed. He neither nominated an emperor, nor saved a servile -king from ruin, nor struck a generous blow for that object of the -enthusiasm of his age, the deliverance of Jerusalem. All of these he -attempted with the utmost strain and effort of his powers, and many -more, but failed. Impossible to say that it was not truth and justice -which he set before him at all times; he was an honest man and loved -not bloodshed; he had a great intelligence, and there is no proof -that his heart was cold or his sympathies dull. But his career, which -is so often quoted as an example of the supremacy of the Papacy, seems -to us the greatest and most perfect demonstration that such a -supremacy was impossible. Could it have been done, Innocent would have -done it; but it could not be done, and in the plenitude of his power -he failed over and over again. What credit he might have had in -promoting Otho to the empire fades away when we find that it was the -accident of Philip's death and not the support of the Pope that did -it. In England his assumed suzerainty was a farce, and all his efforts -ineffectual to move one way or the other the destinies of the nation. -At Constantinople his prayers and commands and entreaties had about as -much power as the outcries of a woman upon his own special envoys and -soldiers. In France he had one brief triumph indeed, and broke a poor -woman's heart, a thing which is accomplished every day by much easier -methods; though his action then was the only moral triumph of his -reign, being at least in the cause of the weak against the strong. And -he filled Provence with blood and misery, and if he crushed heresy, -crushed along with it that noble and beautiful country, and its royal -house, and its liberties. Did he ever feel the contrast between his -attempts and his successes? Was he sore at heart with the long and -terrible failure of his efforts? or was he comforted by such small -consolations as fell to him, the final vindication of Ingelburga, the -fictitious submission of the Greek Church, the murderous extinction of -heresy? Was it worth while for a great man to have endured and -struggled, to have lived sleepless, restless, ever vigilant, watching -every corner of the earth, keeping up a thousand espionages and secret -intelligences all for this, and nothing more? - -He was the greatest of the Popes and attained the climax of papal -power. He carried out the principles which Hildebrand had -established, and asserted to their fullest all the claims which that -great Pontiff, also a deeply disappointed man, had made. Gregory and -Innocent are the two most prominent names in the lists of the Papacy; -they are the greatest generals of that army which, in its way, is an -army invincible, against which the gates of hell cannot prevail. Let -us hope that the merciful illusions which keep human nature going -prevented them from seeing how little all their great claims had come -to. Gregory indeed, dying sad and in exile, felt it more or less, but -was able to set it down to the wickedness of the world in which truth -and justice did not reign. And there is a profound sadness in the last -discourse of Innocent; but perhaps they were neither of them aware -what a deep stamp of failure remains, visible for all the world to -see, upon those great undertakings of theirs which were not for the -Church but for the world. God had not made them judges and dividers -among men, though they believed so to the bottom of their hearts. - -It is perhaps overbold in a writer without authority to set forth an -individual opinion in the face of much more powerful judgments. But -this book pretends to nothing except, so far as it is possible to form -it, a glance of individual opinion and impression in respect to -matters which are otherwise too great for any but the most learned and -weighty historian. The statement of Dean Milman that "He (Innocent) -succeeded in imposing an Emperor on Germany" appears to us quite -inconsistent with the facts of the case. But we would not for a moment -pretend that Milman does not know a hundred times better than the -present writer, whose rapid glance at the exterior aspects of history -will naturally go for what it is worth and no more. The aspect of a -pageant however to one who watches it go by from a window, is -sometimes an entertaining variety upon its fullest authoritative -description. - -It will be understood that we have no idea of representing the reign -of these great Popes as without power in many other matters. They -strengthened greatly the authority and control exercised by the Holy -See over its special and legitimate empire, the Church. They drew to -the court of Rome so many appeals and references of disputed cases in -law and in morals as to shed an increased influence over the world -like an unseen irrigation swelling through all the roots and veins of -Christendom. They even gave so much additional prestige and importance -to Church dignitaries as to increase the power which the great -Prelates often exercised against themselves. But the highest -pretensions of the Successors of Peter, the Vicars of God, to be -judges and arbiters of the world, setters up and pullers down of -thrones, came to no fulfilment. The Popes were flattered by appeals, -by mock submissions on the weaker side, even by petitions for the ever -ready interference which they seem to have attempted in good faith, -always believing in their own authority. But in the end their -decisions and decrees in Imperial questions were swept away like chaff -before the strong wind of secular power and policy, and history cannot -point to one important revolution[5] in the affairs of the world or -any separate kingdom made by their unaided power. - -The last great act of Innocent's life was the council held in the year -1215 in Rome, known as the fourth Lateran Council. It was perhaps the -greatest council that had ever been held there, not only because of -the large number of ecclesiastics present, but because for the first -time East and West sat together, the Patriarch of Constantinople (or -rather two patriarchs, for the election was contested) taking their -place in it, in subordination to the Pope, as if the great schism had -never been. From all the corners of the earth came the bishops and -archbishops, the not less important abbots, prelates who were nobles -as well as priests, counting among them the greatest lords in their -respective districts as well as the greatest ecclesiastics. Innocent -himself was a man of fifty-five, of most temperate life, vigorous in -mind and body, likely to survive for years, and to do better than he -had ever yet done--and he was so far triumphant for the moment that -all the kings of Christendom had envoys at this council, and -everything united to make it magnificent and important. Why he should -have taken for his text the ominous words he chose when addressing -that great and splendid assembly in his own special church and temple, -surrounded with all the emblems of power and supremacy, it is -impossible to tell; and one can imagine the thrill of strange awe and -astonishment which must have run through that vast synod, when the -Pope rose, and from his regal chair pronounced these words, first -uttered in the depths of the mysterious passion and anguish of the -greatest sufferer on earth. "With desire I have desired to eat this -passover with you before I suffer." What was it that Innocent -anticipated or feared? There was no suffering before him that any one -knew, no trouble that could reach the chief of Christendom, -heavy-hearted and depressed, amid all his guards, spiritual and -temporal, as he may have been. What could they think, all those great -prelates looking, no doubt, often askance at each other, brethren in -the church, but enemies at home? Nor were the first words of his -discourse less solemn. - - "As to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain, I should - not refuse to drink the cup of suffering, were it presented - to me, for the defence of the Catholic Church, for the - deliverance of the Holy Land, or for the freedom of the - Church, even although my desire had been to live in the - flesh until the work that has been begun should be - accomplished. Notwithstanding not my will, but the will of - God be done! This is why I say, 'With desire I have desired - to eat this passover with you before I suffer.'" - -These words sound in our ears as if the preacher who uttered them was -on the verge, if not of martyrdom, at least of death and the premature -end of his work. And so he was: although there was as yet no sign in -heaven or earth, or so far as appears in his own consciousness, that -this end was near. - -The discourse which followed was remarkable in its way, the way of the -schoolmen and dialecticians so far as its form went. He began by -explaining the word Passover, which in Hebrew he said meant -passage--in which sense of the word he declared himself to desire to -celebrate a triple Passover, corporal, spiritual, and eternal, with -the Church around him. - -"A corporal Passover, the passage from one place to another to deliver -Jerusalem oppressed: a spiritual Passover, a passage from one -situation to another for the sanctification of the universal Church; -an eternal Passover, a passage from one life to another, to eternal -glory." For the first, the deliverance of the Holy Land and the Holy -Sepulchre, after a solemn description of the miseries of Jerusalem -enslaved, he declares that he places himself in the hands of the -brethren. - - "There can be no doubt that it ought to be the first object - of the Church. What ought we now to do, dear brethren? I - place myself in your hands. I open my heart entirely to - you, I desire your advice. I am ready, if it seems good to - you, to go forth on a personal mission to all the kings, - princes, and peoples, or even to the Holy Land--and if I - can to awaken them all with a strong voice that they may - arise to fight the battle of the Lord, to avenge the insult - done to Jesus Christ, who has been expelled by reason of - our sins from the country and dwelling which He bought with - His blood, and in which He accomplished all things - necessary for our salvation. We, the priests of the Lord, - ought to attach a special importance to the redemption of - the Holy Land by our blood and our wealth; no one should - draw back from such a great work. In former times the Lord - seeing a similar humiliation of Israel saved it by means of - the priests; for he delivered Jerusalem and the Temple from - the infidels by Matthias the son of the priest Maccabæus." - - [Illustration: ST. PETER'S AND THE CASTLE OF ST. ANGELO. - _To face page 366._] - -He goes on to describe the spiritual passage by the singular emblem to -be found in the prophecies of Ezekiel, of the man clothed in white -linen who inscribed a _Tau_ upon the foreheads of all those who -mourned over the iniquities committed around them, the profanations of -the temple and the universal idol worship--while the executors of -God's will went after him, to slay the rest. There could be no doubt -of the application of this image. It had already been seen in full -fulfilment in the streets of Beziers, Carcassone, and Toulouse, and -many of those present had taken part in the carnage. It is true that -the rumour went that the men marked with a mark had not even been -looked for, and one of the wonderful sayings which seem to spring up -somehow in the air, at great moments, had been fathered upon a -legate--_Tuez les tous_. _Dieu reconnaîtra les siens_--a phrase which, -like the "Up, Guards, and at them!" of Waterloo, is said to have no -historical foundation whatever. Innocent was, however, clear not only -that every good Catholic should be marked with the _Tau_--but that the -armed men whom he identifies with the priests, his own great army, -seated there round him, men who had already seen the blood flow and -the flames arise, should strike and spare not. - - "You are commanded then to go through the city; obey him - who is your supreme Pontiff, as your guide and your - master--and strike by interdict, by suspension, by - excommunication, by deprivation, according to the weight of - the fault. But do no harm to those who bear the mark, for - the Lord says: 'Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, - neither the trees till we have sealed on their foreheads - the servants of God.' It is said in other places, 'Let your - eye spare no man, and let there be no acceptance of persons - among you,' and in another passage, 'Strike in order to - heal, kill in order to give life.'" - -These were the Pope's sentiments, and they were those of his age; how -many centuries it took to modify them we are all aware; four hundred -years at least, to moderate the practical ardour of persecution--for -the theory never dies. But there is at the same time something savage -in the fervour of such an address to all these men of peace. It is -perhaps a slight modification that like Ezekiel it is the priests -themselves, the dwellers in the Temple, who fill it with false gods -and abominations, that he specially threatens. There were, however, so -far as appears, few priests among the slaughtered townsfolk of those -unhappy cities of Provence. - -The Council responded to the uncompromising directions of their head -by placing among the laws of the Church many stringent ordinances -against heretics; their goods were to be confiscated, they were to be -turned out of their houses and possessions; every prince who refused -to act against them was to be excommunicated, his people freed from -their vow of allegiance. If any one ventured to preach without the -permission of the Pope he also was subject to excommunication. A great -many laws for the better regulation of the Church itself followed, for -Innocent had always acknowledged the fact that the worldliness of the -Church, and the failure of the clergy to maintain a high ideal of -Christian life, was the great cause of heresy. The Council was also -very distinct in refusing temporal authority to the priests. The -clergy had their sphere and laymen theirs; those spheres were -separate, they were inviolable each by the other. It is true that this -principle was established chiefly with the intention of freeing the -clergy from the necessity of answering before civil tribunals; but -logically it cuts both ways. The Jews, to whom Innocent had been just -and even merciful, were also dealt with and placed under new and -stringent disabilities, chiefly on account, it seems, of the -extortions they practised on needy Crusaders, eager at any price to -procure advances for their equipment. Various doctrinal points were -also decided, as well as many questions of rank and precedence in the -hierarchy, and the establishment of the two new monastic orders of St. -Francis and of St. Dominic. It is needless to add a list of who was -excommunicated and who censured throughout the world. Among the former -were the barons of Magna Charta and Louis of France, the son of -Philip Augustus, who had gone to England on their call and to their -relief, a movement set on foot by Innocent himself before the -submission of King John. As usual, neither of them took any notice of -the anathema, though other combinations shortly arose which broke -their alliance. - -The great event of the Council, however, was the appeal of the -forfeited lords of Provence against the leaders of the late Crusade. -Raymond of Toulouse, accompanied by the Counts of Foix and of -Comminges, appeared before the Pontiff and the high court of the -Church to make their plaint against Simon de Montfort, who had -deprived all three of their lands and sovereignties. A great -recrimination arose between the two sides, both so strongly -represented. The dethroned princes accused their conquerors with all -the vehemence of men wronged and robbed; and such a bloodstained -prelate as Bishop Fulk of Toulouse was put forth as the advocate on -the other side. "You are the cause of the death of a multitude of -Catholic soldiers," cried the bishop, "six thousand of whom were -killed at Montjoye alone." "Nay, rather," replied the Comte de Foix, -"it is by your fault that Toulouse was sacked and 10,000 of the -inhabitants slain." Such pleas are strange in any court of justice; -they were altogether new in a Council of the Church. The princes -themselves, who thus laid their wrongs before the Pope, were not -proved to be heretics, or if they had ever wavered in the faith were -now quite ready to obey; and Innocent himself was forced to allow -that: "Since the Counts and their companions have promised at all -times to submit to the Church, they cannot without injustice be -despoiled of their principalities." But the utterance, it may well be -understood, was weak, and choked by the impossibility of denouncing -Simon de Montfort, the leader of a Crusade set on foot by the Church, -the Captain of the Christian army. It might be that he had exceeded -his commission, that the legates had misunderstood their instructions, -and that all the leaders, both secular and spiritual, had been carried -away by the horrible excitement and passion of bloodshed: but yet it -was impossible to disown the Captain who had taken up this enterprise -as a true son of the Church, although he had ended in the spirit (not -unusual among sons of the Church) of an insatiable raider and -conqueror. The love of gain had warped the noble aims even of the -first Crusade: what wonder that it became a fiery thirst in the -invaders of lands so rich and tempting as those of the fertile and -sunny Provence. And the Pope could not pronounce against his own -champion. He would fain have preserved Raymond of Toulouse and Simon -de Montfort too--but that was impossible. And the Council decreed by a -great majority that Raymond had been justly deprived of his lands, and -that Simon, the new Count, was their rightful possessor. The defender -of Innocent can only say that the Pope yielded to and sanctioned this -judgment in order that the bishops of France might not be alienated -and rendered indifferent to the great Crusade upon which his heart was -set, which he would fain have led himself had Providence permitted it -so to be. - -There is a most curious postscript to this bloody and terrible -history. Young Raymond of Toulouse, whose fate seemed a sad one even -to the members of the Council who finally confirmed his deprivation, -attracted the special regard--it is not said how, probably by some -youthful grace of simplicity or gallant mien--of Innocent, who bade -him take heart, and promised to give him certain lands that he might -still live as a prince. "If another council should be held," said the -Pope with a curious casuistry, "the pleas against Montfort may be -listened to." "Holy Father," said the youth, "bear me no malice if I -can win back again my principalities from the Count de Montfort, or -from those others who hold them." "Whatever thou dost," said the Pope -piously, "may God give thee grace to begin it well, and to finish it -still better." Innocent is scarcely a man to tolerate a smile. We dare -not even imagine a touch of humour in that austere countenance; but -the pious hope that this fair youth might perhaps overcome his -conqueror, who was the very champion and captain of the army of the -Lord as directed by the Pope, is remarkable indeed. - -The great event of the Council was over, the rumour of the new Crusade -which the Pope desired to head himself, and for which in the meantime -he was moving heaven and earth, began to stir Europe. If, perhaps, he -had accomplished little hitherto of all that he had hoped, here -remained a great thing which Innocent might still accomplish. He set -out on a tour through the great Italian towns to rouse their -enthusiasm, and, if possible, induce them, in the first place, to -sacrifice their mutual animosities, and then to supply the necessary -ships, and help with the necessary money for the great undertaking. -The first check was received from Pisa, which would do whatever the -Pope wished except forego its hatred against Genoa or give up its -revenge. Innocent was in Perugia, on his way towards the north, when -this news arrived to vex him: but it was not unexpected, nor was there -anything in it to overwhelm his spirit. It was July, and he was safer -and better on that hillside than he would have been in his house at -the Lateran in the heats of summer: and an attack of fever at that -season is a simple matter, which the ordinary Roman anticipates -without any particular alarm. He had, we are told, a great love for -oranges, and continued to eat them, notwithstanding his illness, -though it is difficult to imagine what harm the oranges could do. -However, the hour was come which Innocent had perhaps dimly foreseen -when he rose up among all his bishops and princes in the great Lateran -church, and, knowing nothing, gave forth from his high presiding -chair the dying words of our Lord, "With desire I have desired to eat -this passover with you before I suffer." One wonders if his text came -back to him, if he asked himself in his heart why his lips should have -uttered those fateful words unawares, and if the bitterness of that -withdrawal, while still full of force and life, from all the hopes and -projects to which he had set his hand, was heavy upon him? He had -proclaimed them in the hush and breathless silence of that splendid -crowd in the ruddy days of the late autumn, St. Martin's festival at -Rome: and the year had not gone its round when, in the summer weather -at Perugia, he "suffered"--as he had--yet had not, perhaps foreseen. - -Thus ended a life of great effort and power, a life of disappointment -and failure, full of toil, full of ambition, the highest aims, and the -most consistent purpose--but ending in nothing, fulfilling no lofty -aim, and, except in the horrible episode of bloodshed and destruction -from which his name can never be dissociated, accomplishing no change -in the world which he had attempted, in every quarter, to transform or -to renew. Never was so much attempted with so little result. He -claimed the power to bind and loose, to set up and to pull down, to -decide every disputed cause and settle every controversy. But he -succeeded in doing only one good deed, which was to force the king of -France to retain an unloved wife, and one ill one, to print the name -of Holy Church in blood across a ruined province, to the profit of -many bloody partisans, but never to his own, nor to any cause which -could be considered that of justice or truth. This, people say, was -the age of history in which the power of the Church was highest, and -Innocent was its strongest ruler; but this was all which, with his -great powers, his unyielding character and all the forces at his -command, he was able to achieve. He was in his way a great man, and -his purpose was never ignoble; but this was all: and history does not -contain a sadder page than that which records one of the greatest of -all the pontificates, and the strongest Pope that history has known. - -During the whole of Innocent's Popedom he had been more or less at war -with his citizens notwithstanding his success at first. Rome murmured -round him never content, occasionally bursting out into fits of rage, -which, if not absolute revolt, were so near it as to suggest the -withdrawal of the Pope to his native place Anagni, or some other quiet -residence, till the tumult calmed down. The greatest of these -commotions occurred on the acquisition of certain properties in Rome, -by the unpopular way of foreclosure on mortgages, by the Pope's -brother Richard, against whom no doubt some story of usury or -oppression was brought forth, either real or invented, to awaken the -popular emotion: and in this case Innocent's withdrawal had very much -the character of an escape. The Papa-Re was certainly not a popular -institution in the thirteenth century. This same brother Richard had -many gifts bestowed upon him to the great anger and suspicion of the -people, and it was he who built, with money given him, it is said, -from "the treasury of the Church," the great Torre dei Conti, which -for many generations stood strong and sullen near the Baths of Titus, -and within easy reach of the Lateran, "for the defence of the family," -a defence for which it was not always adequate. Innocent afterwards -granted a valuable fief in the Romagna to his brother, and he was -generally far from unmindful of his kindred. All that his warmest -defenders can say for him indeed in this respect is that he made up -for his devotion to the interests of the Conti by great liberality -towards Rome. On one occasion of distress and famine he fed eight -thousand people daily, and at all times the poor had a right to the -remnants left from his own table--which however was not perhaps any -great thing as his living was of the simplest. - -What was still more important, he built or perhaps rather rebuilt and -enlarged, the great hospital, still one of the greatest charitable -institutions of the world, of the Santo Spirito, which had been first -founded several centuries before by the English king Ina for the -pilgrims of his country. The Ecclesia in Saxia, probably forsaken in -these days when England had become Norman, formed the germ of the -great building, afterwards enlarged by various succeeding Popes. It is -said now to have 1,600 beds, and to be capable, on an emergency, of -accommodating almost double that number of patients, and is, or was, a -sort of providence for the poor population of Rome. It was Innocent -also who began the construction, or rather reconstruction, for in that -case too there was an ancient building, of the Vatican, now the seat -and title of the papal court--thinking it expedient that there should -be a house capable of receiving the Popes near the church of St. Peter -and St. Paul the tomb and shrine of the Apostles. It is not supposed -that the present building retains any of the work of that early time, -but Innocent must have superintended both these great edifices, and in -this way, as also by many churches which he built or rebuilt, and some -which he decorated with paintings and architectural ornament, he had -his part in the reconstruction and embellishment of that mediæval Rome -which after long decay and much neglect, and the wholesale robbery of -the very stones of the older city, was already beginning to lift up -its head out of the ashes of antiquity. - - [Illustration: ALL THAT IS LEFT OF THE GHETTO.] - -Thus if he took with one hand--not dishonestly, in the interest of his -family, appropriating fiefs and favours which probably could not have -been better bestowed, for the safety at least of the reigning Pope--he -gave liberally and intelligently with the other, consulting the needs -of the people, and studying their best interests. Yet he would not -seem ever to have been popular. His spirit probably lacked the -bonhomie which conciliates the crowd: though we are told that he -loved public celebrations, and did not frown upon private gaiety. His -heart, it is evident, was touched for young Raymond of Toulouse, whom -he was instrumental in despoiling of his lands, but whom he blessed in -his effort to despoil in his turn the orthodox and righteous spoiler. -He was neither unkind, nor niggardly, nor luxurious. "The glory of his -actions filled the great city and the whole world," said his epitaph. -At least he had the credit of being the greatest of all the Popes, and -the one under whom, as is universally allowed, the papal power -attained its climax. The reader must judge how far this climax of -power justified what has been said. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[5] The Vice-Provost of Eton who has kindly read these pages in the -gentle criticism which can say no harsh word, here remarks: "If -success is measured less by immediate results than by guiding the way -in which men think, I should say that Innocent was successful. 'What -will the Pope say?' was the question asked in every corner of the -world--though he was not always obeyed." - - - - - BOOK III. - - LO POPOLO: AND THE TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE. - - - - - [Illustration: ON THE TIBER.] - - - - -BOOK III. - -LO POPOLO: AND THE TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -ROME IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. - - -When the Papal Seat was transferred to Avignon, and Rome was left to -its own devices and that fluctuating popular government which meant -little beyond a wavering balance of power between two great families, -the state of the ancient imperial city became more disorderly, -tumultuous and anarchical than that of almost any other town in Italy, -which is saying much. All the others had at least the traditions of an -established government, or a sturdy tyranny: Rome alone had never been -at peace and scarcely knew how to compose herself under any sway. She -had fought her Popes, sometimes desperately, sometimes only captiously -with the half-subdued rebelliousness of ill-temper, almost from the -beginning of their power; and her sons had long been divided into a -multiplicity of parties, each holding by one of the nobles who built -their fortresses among the classic ruins, and defied the world from -within the indestructible remnants of walls built by the Cæsars. One -great family after another entrenched itself within those monuments of -the ancient ages. The Colosseum was at one time the stronghold of the -great Colonna: Stefano, the head of that name, inhabited the great -building known as the Theatre of Marcellus at another period, and -filled with his retainers an entire quarter. The castle of St. Angelo, -with various flanking towers, was the home of the Orsini; and these -two houses more or less divided the power between them, the other -nobles adhering to one or the other party. Even amid the tumults of -Florence there was always a shadow of a principle, a supposed or real -cause in the name of which one party drove another _fuori_, out of the -city. But in Rome even the great quarrel of Guelf and Ghibelline took -an almost entirely personal character to increase the perpetual -tumult. The vassals of the Pope were not on the Pope's side nor were -they against him, - - non furon rebelli - Nè fur fedeli a Dio, mà per sé foro. - -The community was distracted by mere personal quarrels, by the feuds -of the great houses who were their lords but only tore asunder, and -neither protected nor promoted the prosperity of that greatest of -Italian cities, which in its miserable incompetence and tumult was for -a long time the least among them. - -The anonymous historian who has left to us the story of Cola di Rienzi -affords us the most lively picture of the city in which, in his terse -and vivid record, there is the perpetual sound of a rushing, -half-armed crowd, of blows that seem to fall at random, and trumpets -that sound, and bells that ring, calling out the People--a word so -much misused--upon a hundred trifling occasions, with little bloodshed -one would imagine but a continual rushing to and fro and disturbance -of all the ordinary habits of life. We need not enter into any -discussion of who this anonymous writer was. He is the only -contemporary historian of Rienzi, and his narrative has every -appearance of truth. He narrates the things he saw with a -straightforwardness and simplicity which are very convincing. "I will -begin," he says, "with the time when these two barons (the heads of -the houses of Colonna and Orsini) were made knights by the people of -Rome. Yet," he adds, with an afterthought, "I will not begin with an -account of that, because I was then at too tender an age to have had -clear knowledge of it." Thus our historian is nothing if not an -eye-witness, very keenly aware of every incident, and viewing the -events, and the streams of people as they pass, with the never-failing -interest of a true chronicler. We may quote the incident with which he -does begin as an example of his method: his language is the Italian of -Rome, a local version, yet scarcely to be called a _patois_: it -presents little difficulty after the first moment to the moderately -instructed reader, who however, I trust, will kindly understand that -the eccentricities are the chronicler's and not errors of the press. - - "With what new thing shall I begin? I will begin with the - time of Jacopo di Saviello. Being made Senator solely by - the authority of King Robert, he was driven out of the - Capitol by the Syndics, who were Stefano de la Colonna, - Lord of Palestrina, and Poncello, and Messer Orso, lord of - the Castle of St. Angelo. These two went to the Aracoeli, - and ringing the bell collected the people, half cavalry and - half on foot. All Rome was under arms. I recollect it well - as in a dream. I was in Sta. Maria del Popolo (di lo - Piubbico). And I saw the line of horsemen passing, going - towards the Capitol: strongly they went and proudly. Half - of them were well mounted, half were on foot. The last of - them (If I recollect rightly) wore a tunic of red silk, and - a cap of yellow silk on his head, and carried a bunch of - keys in his hand. They passed along the road by the well - where dwell the Ferrari, at the corner of the house of - Paolo Jovenale. The line was long. The bell was ringing and - the people arming themselves. I was in Santa Maria di lo - Piubbico. To these things I put my seal (as witness). - Jacopo di Saviello, Senator, was in the Capitol. He was - surrounded on all sides with fortifications: but it did him - no good to entrench himself, for Stefano, his uncle, went - up, and Poncello the Syndic of Rome, and took him gently by - the hand and set him on his horse that there might be no - risk to his person. There was one who thought and said, - 'Stefano, how can you bring your nephew thus to shame?' The - proud answer of Stefano was: 'For two pennyworth of wax I - will set him free,--but the two pence were not - forthcoming." - -Jacopo di Saviello, thus described as a nominee of the King of Naples, -is a person without much importance, touching whose individuality it -would take too much space to inquire. He appears afterwards as the -right hand man of his cousin, Sciarra Colonna, and the incident has no -doubt some connection with the story that follows: but we quote it -merely as an illustration of the condition of Rome at the beginning of -the fourteenth century. In the month of September in the year 1327 -there occurred an episode in the history of the city which affords -many notable scenes. The city of Rome had in one of its many caprices -taken the part of Louis of Bavaria, who had been elected Emperor to -the great displeasure of John XXII., the Pope then reigning in -Avignon. According to the chronicler, though the fact is not mentioned -in other histories, the Pope sent his legate to Rome, accompanied by -the "Principe de la Morea" and a considerable army, in order to -prevent the reception there of Il Bavaro as he is called, who was then -making his way through Italy with much success and triumph. By this -time there would seem to have been a complete revolution in the -opinions of Rome, and the day when two-pennyworth of wax could not be -got for the ransom of Saviello was forgotten under the temporary rule -of Sciarra Colonna, the only one of his family who was a Ghibelline, -and who held strongly for Louis of Bavaria, rejecting all the -traditions of his house. Our chronicler, who is very impartial, and -gives us no clue to his own opinions, by no means despised the party -of the Pope. There arrived before Rome, he tells us, "seven hundred -horsemen and foot soldiers without end. All the barons of the house of -Orsini," and many other notable persons: and the whole army was _molto -bella e bene acconcia_, well equipped and beautiful to behold. This -force gained possession of the Leonine city, entering not by the gates -which were guarded, but by the ruined wall: and occupied the space -between that point and St. Peter's, making _granne festa_, and filling -the air with the sound of their trumpets and all kinds of music. - - "But when Sciarra the bold captain (_franco Capitano_) - heard of it, it troubled him not at all. Immediately he - armed himself and caused the bell to be rung. It was - midnight and men were in their first sleep. A messenger - with a trumpet was sent through the town, proclaiming that - every one should arm himself, that the enemy had entered - the gates (_in Puortica_) and that all must assemble on the - Capitol. The people who slept, quickly awakened, each took - up his arms. Cossia was the name of the crier. The bell was - ringing violently (_terribilmente_). The people went to the - Capitol, both the barons and the populace: and the good - Capitano addressed them and said that the enemy had come to - outrage the women of Rome. The people were much excited. - They were then divided into parties, of one of which he was - captain himself. Jacopo Saviello was at the head of the - other which was sent to the gate of San Giovanni, then - called Puorta Maggiore. And this was done because they knew - that the enemy was divided in two parties. But it did not - happen so. When Jacopo reached the gate he found no one. On - the other hand Sciarra rode with his barons. Great was the - company of horsemen. Seven Rioni had risen to arms and - innumerable were the people. They reached the gate of San - Pietro. I remember that on that night a Roman knight who - had ridden to the bridge heard a trumpet of the enemy, and - desiring to fly jumped from his horse, and leaving it came - on on foot. I know that there was no lack of fear (_non - habe carestia di paura_). When the people reached the - bridge it was already day, the dawn had come. Then Sciarra - commanded that the gate should be opened. The crowd was - great, and the enemy were much troubled to see on the - bridge the number of pennons, for they knew that with each - pennon there were twenty-five men. Then the gate was - opened. The Rione of li Monti went first: the people filled - the Piazza of the Castello: they were all ranged in order, - both soldiers and people. - - "Now were seen the rushing of the horses, one on the top of - another. One gave, another took (_che dao, che tolle_), - great was the noise, great was the encounter. Trumpets - sounded on this side and that. One gave, and another took. - Sciarra and Messer Andrea di Campo di Fiore confronted each - other and abused each other loudly. Then they broke their - lances upon each other: then struck with their swords: - neither would have less than the life of the other. - Presently they separated and came back each to his people. - There was great striking of swords and lances and some - fell. It could be seen that it was a cruel fight. The - people of Rome wavered back and forward like waves of the - sea. But it was the enemy that gave way, the people gained - the middle of the Piazza. Then was done a strange thing. - One whose name was Giovanni Manno, of the Colonna, carried - the banner of the people of Rome. When he came to the great - well, which is in that Piazza, in front of the Incarcerate, - where was the broken wall, he took the banner and threw it - into the well. And this he did to discourage the people of - Rome. The traitor well deserved to lose his life. The - Romans however did not lose courage, and already the Prince - of the Morea began to give way. He had either to fly or to - be killed. Then Sciarra de la Colonna, like a good mother - with her son, comforted the people and made everything go - well, such great sense did he show. Also another novel - thing was done. A great man of Rome (Cola de Madonna - Martorni de li Anniballi was his name) was a very bold - person and young. He was seized with desire to take - prisoner the Prince himself. He spurred his horse, and - breaking through the band of strong men who encircled the - Prince put out his hand to take him. So he had hoped to do - at least, but was not successful, for the Prince with an - iron club wounded his horse. The strength of the Prince's - charger was such that Cola was driven back: but the horse - of Cola had not sufficient space to move, and its hind feet - slipping, it fell into the ditch which is in front of the - gate of the Hospital of Santo Spirito, to defend the - garden. In the ditch both his horse and he, trying to - escape, fell, pressed by the soldiers of the Prince: and - there was he killed. Great was the mourning which Rome made - over so distinguished a baron--and all the people were - fired with indignation. - - "The Prince now retired, his troops yielded. They began to - fly. The flight was great. Greater was the slaughter. They - were killed like sheep. Much resistance was made, many - people were killed, and the Romans gained much prey. Among - those taken was Bertollo the chief of the Orsini, Captain - of the army of the Church, and of the Guelf party: and if - it had not been that Sciarra caught him up on the croup of - his horse, he would have been murdered by the people." - -Then follows a horrible account of the number of dead who lay -mutilated and naked on every roadside, and even among the vineyards: -and the story ends with Sciarra's return to the Capitol with great -triumph, and of a beautiful pallium which was sent to the Church of -Sant'Angelo in Pescheria, along with a chalice, "in honour of this -Roman victory." - - [Illustration: APPROACH TO THE CAPITOL (1860). - _To face page 386._] - -Curiously enough our chronicler takes no notice of the episode of -which this attack and repulse evidently form part, the reception of Il -Bavaro in Rome, which is one of the unique incidents in Roman history. -It took place in May of the following year, and afforded a very -striking scene to the eager townsfolk, never quite sure that they -could tolerate the Tedeschi, though pleased with them for a novelty -and willing enough to fight their legitimate lord the Pope on behalf -of the strangers. It was in January 1328 that Louis of Bavaria made -his entrance into Rome--Sciarra Colonna above named being still -Senator, head of the Ghibelline party, and the friend of the new-made -Emperor. After being met at Viterbo by the Roman officials and -questioned as to his intentions, Louis marched with his men into the -Leonine city and established himself for some days in what is called -the palace of St. Peter, the beginning of the Vatican, where, though -there was still a party not much disposed to receive him, he was -hailed with acclamations by the people, always eager for a new event, -and not unmindful of the liberal largesse which an Emperor on his -promotion, and especially when about to receive the much coveted -coronation in St. Peter's, scattered around him. Louis proposed to -restore the city to its ancient grandeur, and to promote its interests -in every way, and flattered the people by receiving their vote of -approval on the Capitol. "Going up to the Capitol," says Muratori, "he -caused an oration to be made to the Roman people with many expressions -of gratitude and praise, and with promises that Rome should be raised -up to the stars." These honeyed words so pleased the people that he -was declared Senator and Captain of Rome, and in a few days was -crowned Emperor with every appearance of solemnity and grandeur. - -This would seem to be the first practical revival of the strange -principle that Rome, as a city, not by its Emperor nor by its Pope, -but in its own right, was the fountain of honour, the arbiter of the -world--everything in short which in classical times its government -was, and in the mediæval ages, the Papacy wished to be. It is curious -to account for such an article of belief; for the populace of Rome had -never in modern times possessed any of the characteristics of a great -people, and was a mixed and debased race according to all authorities. -This theory, however, was now for a time to affect the whole story of -the city, and put a spasmodic life into her worn-out veins. It was the -only thing which could have made such a story as that of Rienzi -possible, and it was strongly upheld by Petrarch and other eager and -philosophic observers. The Bavarian Louis was, however, the first who -frankly sought the confirmation of his election from the hands of the -Roman people. One cannot, however, but find certain features of a -farce in this solemn ceremony. - -The coronation processions which passed through the streets from Sta. -Maria Maggiore, according to Sismondi, to St. Peter's, were splendid, -the barons and counsellors, or _buon-homini_ of Rome leading the -_cortège_, and clothed in cloth of gold. "Behind the monarch marched -four thousand men whom he had brought with him; all the streets which -he traversed were hung with rich tapestries." He was accompanied by a -lawyer eminent in his profession, to watch over the perfect legality -of every point in the ceremonial. The well-known Castruccio -Castracani, who had followed him to Rome, was appointed by the Emperor -to be his deputy as Senator, and to watch over the city; and in this -capacity he took his place in the procession in a tunic of crimson -silk, embroidered with the words in gold on the breast, "He is what -God wills"; on the back, "He will be what God pleases." There was no -Pope, it need not be said, to consecrate the new Emperor. The Pope was -in Avignon, and his bitter enemy. There was not even a Bishop of Ostia -to present the great monarch before St. Peter and the powers of -heaven. Nevertheless the Church was not left out, though it was placed -in a secondary position. Some kind of ceremony was gone through by the -Bishop of Venice, or rather of Castello, the old name of that restless -diocese, and the Bishop of Alecia, both of them deposed and under -excommunication at the moment: but it was Sciarra Colonna who put the -crown on Louis's head. The whole ceremonial was secular, almost pagan -in its meaning, if meaning at all further than a general throwing of -dust in the eyes of the world it could be said to have. But there is a -fictitious gravity in the proceedings which seems almost to infer a -sense of the prodigious folly of the assumption that these quite -incompetent persons were qualified to confer, without any warrant for -their deed, the greatest honour in Christendom upon the Bavarian. John -XXII. was not a very noble Pope, but his sanction was a very different -matter from that of Sciarra Colonna. No doubt however the people of -Rome--Lo Popolo, the blind mob so pulled about by its leaders, and -made to assume one ridiculous attitude after another at their -fancy--was flattered by the idea that it was from itself, as the -imperial city, that the Emperor took the confirmation of his election -and his crown. - -Immediately afterwards a still more unjustifiable act was performed by -the Emperor thus settled in his imperial seat. Assisted by his -excommunicated bishops and his rebellious laymen, Louis held, Muratori -tells us, in the Piazza of St. Peter a _gran parlamento_, calling upon -any one who would take upon him the defence of Jacques de Cahors, -calling himself Pope John XXII., to appear and answer the accusations -against him. - - "No one replied: and then there rose up the Syndic of that - part of the Roman clergy who loved gold better than - religion, and begged Louis to take proceedings against the - said Jacques de Cahors. Various articles were then produced - accusing the Pope of heresy and treason, and of having - raised the cross (_i.e._ sent a crusade, probably the - expedition of the Prince of the Morea in the chronicle) - against the Romans. For which reasons the Bavarian declared - Pope John to be deposed from the pontificate and to be - guilty of heresy and treason, with various penalties which - I leave without mention. On the 23rd of April, with the - consent of the Roman people, a law was published that every - Pope in the future ought to hold his court in Rome, and not - to be absent more than three months in the year on pain of - being deposed from the Papacy. Finally on the twelfth day - of May, in the Piazza of San Pietro, Louis with his crown - on his head, proposed to the multitude that they should - elect a new Pope. Pietro de Corvara, a native of the - Abbruzzi, of the order of the Friars Minor, a great - hypocrite, was proposed: and the people, the greater part - of whom hated Pope John because he was permanently on the - other side of the Alps (_dè la dai monti_), accepted the - nomination. He assumed the name of Nicolas V. Before his - consecration there was a promotion of seven false - cardinals: and on the 22nd of May he was consecrated bishop - by one of these, and afterwards received the Papal crown - from the hands of the said Louis, who caused himself to be - once more crowned Emperor by this his idol. - - "The brutality of Louis the Bavarian in arrogating to - himself (adds Muratori) the authority of deposing a Pope - lawfully elected, who had never fallen into heresy as was - pretended: and to elect another, contrary to the rites and - canons of the Catholic Church, sickened all who had any - conscience or light of reason, and pleased only the - heretics and schismatics, both religious and secular, who - filled the court of the Bavarian, and by whose counsels he - was ruled. Monstrosity and impiety could not be better - declared and detested. And this was the step which - completed the ruin of his interests in Italy." - -The apparition of this German court in Rome, with its curious -ceremonials following one upon another: the coronation in St. Peter's, -so soon to be annulled by its repetition at the hands of the puppet -Pope whom Louis had himself created, in the vain hope that a crown -bestowed by hands nominally consecrated would be more real than that -given by those of Sciarra Colonna--makes the most wonderful episode in -the turbulent story. In the same way Henry IV. was crowned again and -again--first in his tent, afterwards by his false Pope in St. Peter's, -while Gregory VII. looked grimly on from St. Angelo, a besieged and -helpless refugee, yet in the secret consciousness of all parties--the -Emperor's supporters as well as his own--the only real fountain of -honour, the sole man living from whom that crown could be received -with full sanction of law and right. Perhaps when all is said, and we -have fully acknowledged the failure of all the greater claims of the -Papacy, we read its importance in these scenes more than in the -loftiest pretensions of Gregory or of Innocent. Il Bavaro felt to the -bottom of his heart that he was no Emperor without the touch of those -consecrated hands. A fine bravado of triumphant citizens delighting to -imagine that Rome could still confer all honours as the mother city of -the world, was well enough for the populace, though even for them the -excommunicated bishops had to be brought in to lend a show of -authenticity to the unjustifiable proceedings; but the uneasy Teuton -himself could not be contented even by this, and it is to be supposed -felt that even an anti-pope was better than nothing. It is tempting to -inquire how Sciarra Colonna felt when the crown he had put on with -such pride and triumph was placed again by the Neapolitan monk, false -Pope among false cardinals, _articles d'occasion_, as the French -say--on the head of the Bavarian. One cannot but feel that it must -have been a humiliation for Colonna and for the city at this summit of -vainglory and temporary power. - -The rest of the story of Sciarra and his emperor is quickly told, so -far as Rome is concerned. Louis of Bavaria left the city in August of -the same year. He had entered Rome in January amid the acclamations of -the populace: he left it seven months later amid the hisses and -abusive cries of the same people, carrying with him his anti-pope and -probably Sciarra, who at all events took flight, his day being over, -and died shortly after. Next day Stefano della Colonna, the true head -of the house, arrived in Rome with Bartoldo Orsini, and took -possession in the name of Pope John, no doubt with equal applause from -the crowd which so short a time before had witnessed breathless his -deposition, and accepted the false Nicolas in his place. Such was -popular government in those days. The legate so valiantly defeated by -Sciarra, and driven out of the gates according to the chronicle, -returned in state with eight hundred knights at his back. - -We do not attempt to follow the history further than in those scenes -which show how Rome lived, struggled, followed the impulse of its -masters, and was flung from one side to the other at their pleasure, -during this period of its history. The wonderful episode in that -history which was about to open is better understood by the light of -the events which roused Lo Popolo into wild excitement at one moment, -and plunged them into disgust and discouragement the next. - -The following scene, however, has nothing to do with tumults of arms. -It is a mere vignette from the much illustrated story of the city. It -relates the visit of what we should now call a Revivalist to Rome, a -missionary friar, one of those startling preachers who abounded in the -Middle Ages, and roused, as almost always in the history of human -nature, tempests of short-lived penitence and reformation, with but -little general effect even on the religious story of the time. Fra -Venturino was a Dominican monk of Bergamo, who had already when he -came to Rome the fame of a great preacher, and was attended by a -multitude of his penitents, dressed in white with the sacred monogram -I.H.S. on the red and white caps or hoods which they wore on their -heads, and a dove with an olive branch on their breasts. They came -chiefly from the north of Italy and were, according to the chronicle, -honest and pious persons of good and gentle manners. They were well -received in Florence, where many great families took them in, gave -them good food, good beds, washed their feet, and showed them much -charity. Then, with a still larger contingent of Florentines following -his steps, the preacher came on to Rome. - - "It was said in Rome that he was coming to convert the - Romans. When he arrived he was received in San Sisto. There - he preached to his own people, of whom there were many - orderly and good. In the evening they sang Lauds. They had - a standard of silk which was afterwards given to La Minerva - (Sta. Maria sopra Minerva). At the present day it may - still be seen there in the Chapel of Messer Latino. It was - of green silk, long and large. Upon it was painted the - figure of Sta. Maria, with angels on each side, playing - upon viols; and St. Dominic and St. Peter Martyr and other - prophets. Afterwards he preached in the Capitol, and all - Rome went to hear him. The Romans were very attentive to - hear him, quiet, and following carefully if he went wrong - in his bad Latin. Then he preached and said that they ought - to take off their shoes, for the place on which they stood - was holy ground. And he said that Rome was a place of much - holiness from the bodies of the saints who lay there, but - that the Romans were wicked people: at which the Romans - laughed. Then he asked a favour and a gift from the Romans. - Fra Venturino said, 'Sirs, you are going to have one of - your holidays which costs much money. It is not either for - God or the saints: therefore you celebrate this idolatry - for the service of the Demon. Give the money to me. I will - spend it for God to men in need, who cannot provide for - themselves.' Then the Romans began to mock at him, and to - say that he was mad: thus they said and that they would - stay no longer: and rising up went away leaving him alone. - Afterwards he preached in San Giovanni, but the Romans - would not hear him, and would have driven him away. He then - became angry and cursed them, and said that he had never - seen people so perverse. He appeared no more, but departed - secretly and went to Avignon, where the Pope forbade him to - preach." - -We may conclude these scraps of familiar contemporary information with -a companion picture which does not give a reassuring view of the state -of the Church in Rome. It is the story of a priest elected to a great -place and dignity who sought the confirmation of his election from the -Pope at Avignon. - - "A monk of St. Paolo in Rome, Fra Monozello by name, who at - the death of the Abbot had been elected to fill his place, - appeared before Pope Benedict. This monk was a man who - delighted in society, running about everywhere, seeing the - dawn come in, playing the lute, a great musician and - singer. He spent his life in a whirl, at the court, at all - the weddings, and parties to the vineyards. So at least - said the Romans. How sad it must have been for Pope - Benedict to hear that a monk of his did nothing but sing - and dance. When this man was chosen for Abbot, he appeared - before the sanctity of the Pope and said, 'Holy Father, I - have been elected to San Paolo in Rome.' The Pope, who knew - the condition of all who came to him, said, 'Can you sing?' - The Abbot-elect replied, 'I can sing.' The Pope, 'I mean - songs' (_la cantilena_). The Abbot-elect answered, 'I know - concerted songs' (_il canzone sacro_). The Pope asked - again, 'Can you play instruments' (_sonare_)? He answered, - 'I can.' The Pope, 'I ask can you play (_tonare_) the organ - and the lute?' The other answered, 'Too well.' Then the - Pope changed his tone and said, 'Do you think it is a - suitable thing for the Abbot of the venerable monastery of - San Paolo to be a buffoon? Go about your business.'" - -Thus it would appear that, careless as they might be and full of other -thoughts, the Popes in Avignon still kept a watchful eye upon the -Church at Rome. These are but anecdotes with which the historian of -Rienzi prepares his tragic story. They throw a little familiar light, -the lanthorn of a bystander, upon the town, so great yet so petty, -always clinging to the pretensions of a greatness which it could not -forget, but wholly unworthy of that place in the world which its -remote fathers of antiquity had won, and incapable even when a -momentary power fell into its hands of using it, or of perceiving in -the midst of its greedy rush at temporary advantage what its true -interests were--insubordinate, reckless, unthinking, ready to rush to -arms when the great bell rang from the Capitol _a stuormo_, without -pausing to ask which side they were on, with the Guelfs one day and -the Ghibellines the next, shouting for the Emperor, yet -terror-stricken at the name of the Pope--obeying with surly reluctance -their masters the barons, but as ready as a handful of tow to take -flame, and always rebellious whatever might be the occasion. This is -how the Roman Popolo of the fourteenth century appear through the eyes -of the spectators of its strange ways. Fierce to fight, but completely -without object except a local one for their fighting, ready to rebel -but always disgusted when made to obey, entertaining a wonderful idea -of their own claims by right of their classic descent and connection -with the great names of antiquity, while on the other hand they -allowed the noblest relics of those times to crumble into irremediable -ruin. - -The other Rome, the patrician side, with all its glitter and splendour -of the picturesque, is on the surface a much finer picture. The -romance of the time lay altogether with the noble houses which had -grown up in mediæval Rome, sometimes seizing a dubious title from an -ancient Roman potentate, but most often springing from some stronghold -in the adjacent country or the mountains, races which had developed -and grown upon highway robbery and the oppression of those weaker than -themselves, yet always with a surface of chivalry which deceived the -world. The family which was greatest and strongest is fortunately the -one we know most about. The house of Colonna had the good luck to -discover in his youth and extend a warm, if condescending, friendship -to the poet Petrarch, who was on his side the most fortunate poet who -has lived in modern ages among men. He was in the midst of everything -that went on, to use our familiar phraseology, in his day: he was the -friend and correspondent of every notable person from the Pope and the -Emperor downward: only a poor ecclesiastic, but the best known and -most celebrated man of his time. The very first of all his -contemporaries to appreciate and divine what was in him was Giacomo -Colonna, one of the sons of old Stefano, whom we have already seen in -Rome. He was Bishop of Lombez in Gascony, and his elder brother -Giovanni was a Cardinal. They were in the way of every preferment and -advantage, as became the sons of so powerful a house, but no promotion -they attained has done so much for them with posterity as their -friendship with this smooth-faced young priest of Vaucluse, to whom -they were the kindest patrons and most faithful friends. - -Petrarch was but twenty-two, a student at Bologna when young Colonna, -a boy himself, took, as we say, a fancy for him, "not knowing who I -was or whence I came, and only by my dress perceiving that what he was -I also was, a scholar." It was in his old age that Petrarch gave to -another friend a description of this early patron, younger apparently -than himself, who opened to him the doors of that higher social life -which were not always open to a poet, even in those days when the -patronage of the great was everything. "I think there never was a man -in the world greater than he or more gracious, more kind, more able, -more wise, more good, more moderate in good fortune, more constant and -strong against adversity," he writes in the calm of his age, some -forty years after the beginning of this friendship and long after the -death of Giacomo Colonna. When the young bishop first went to his -diocese Petrarch accompanied him. "Oh flying time, oh hurrying life!" -he cries. "Forty-four years have passed since then, but never have I -spent so happy a summer." On his return from this visit the bishop -made his friend acquainted with his brother Giovanni, the Cardinal, a -man "good and innocent more than Cardinals are wont to be." "And the -same may be said," Petrarch adds, "of the other brothers, and of the -magnanimous Stefano, their father, of whom, as Crispus says of -Carthage, it is better to be silent than to say little." This is a -description too good, perhaps, to be true of an entire family, -especially of Roman nobles and ecclesiastics in the middle of the -fourteenth century, between the disorderly and oppressed city of Rome, -and the corrupt court of Avignon: but at least it shows the other -point of view, the different aspect which the same man bears in -different eyes: though Petrarch's enthusiasm for his matchless friends -is perhaps as much too exalted as the denunciations of the populace -and the popular orator are excessive on the other side. - -It was under this distinguished patronage that Petrarch received the -great honour of his life, the laurel crown of the Altissimo Poeta, and -furnished another splendid scene to the many which had taken place in -Rome in the midst of all her troubles and distractions. The offer of -this honour came to him at the same time from Paris and Rome, and it -was to Cardinal Giovanni that he referred the question which he should -accept: and he was surrounded by the Colonnas when he appeared at the -Capitol to receive his crown. The Senator of the year was Orso, Conte -d'Anquillara, who was the son-in-law of old Stefano Colonna, the -husband of his daughter Agnes. The ceremony took place on Easter -Sunday in the year 1341, the last day of Anquillara's office, and so -settled by him in order that he might himself have the privilege of -placing the laurel on the poet's head. Petrarch gives an account of -the ceremony to his other patron King Robert of Naples, attributing -this honour to the approbation and friendship of that monarch--which -perhaps is a thing necessary when any personage so great as a king -interests himself in the glory of a poet. "Rome and the deserted -palace of the Capitol were adorned with unusual delight," he says: "a -small thing in itself one might say, but conspicuous by its novelty, -and by the applause and pleasure of the Roman people, the custom of -bestowing the laurel having not only been laid aside for many ages, -but even forgotten, while the republic turned its thoughts to very -different things--until now under thy auspices it was renewed in my -person." "On the Capitol of Rome," the poet wrote to another -correspondent, "with a great concourse of people and immense joy, that -which the king in Naples had decreed for me was executed. Orso Count -d'Anquillara, Senator, a person of the highest intelligence, decorated -me with the laurel: all went better than could have been believed or -hoped," he adds, notwithstanding the absence of the King and of -various great persons named--though among these Petrarch, with a -policy and knowledge of the world which never failed him, does not -name to his Neapolitan friends Cardinal Giovanni and Bishop Giacomo, -the dearest of his companions, and his first and most faithful -patrons, neither of whom were able to be present. Their family, -however, evidently took the lead on this great occasion. Their brother -Stefano pronounced an oration in honour of the laureate: he was -crowned by their brother-in-law: and the great celebration culminated -in a banquet in the Colonna palace, at which, no doubt, the father of -all presided, with Colonnas young and old filling every corner. For -they were a most abundant family--sons and grandsons, Stefanos and -Jannis without end, young ones of all the united families, enough to -fill almost a whole quarter of Rome themselves and their retainers. -"Their houses extended from the square of San Marcello to the Santi -Apostoli," says Papencordt, the modern biographer of Rienzi. The -ancient Mausoleum of Augustus, which has been put to so many uses, -which was a theatre not very long ago, and is now, we believe a -museum, was once the headquarters and stronghold of the house. - -This ceremonial of the crowning of the poet was conducted with immense -joy of the people, endless applause, a great concourse, and every -splendour that was possible. So was the reception of Il Bavaro a few -years before; so were the other strange scenes about to come. The -populace was always ready to form a great concourse, to shout and -applaud, notwithstanding its own often miserable condition, exposed to -every outrage, and finding justice nowhere. But the reverse of the -medal was not so attractive. Petrarch himself, departing from Rome -with still the intoxicating applause of the city ringing in his ears, -was scarcely outside the walls before he and his party fell into the -hands of armed robbers. It would be too long to tell, he says, how he -got free; but he was driven back to Rome, whence he set out again next -day, "surrounded by a good escort of armed men." The _ladroni armati_ -who stopped the way might, for all one knows, wear the badge of the -Colonnas somewhere under their armour, or at least find refuge in some -of their strongholds. Such were the manners of the time, and such was -specially the condition of Rome. It gave the crown of fame to the -poet, but could not secure him a safe passage for a mile outside its -gates. It still put forth pretensions, as on this, so in more -important cases, to exercise an authority over all the nations, by -which right it had pleased the city to give Louis of Bavaria the -imperial crown; but no citizen was safe unless he could protect -himself with his sword, and justice and the redress of wrong were -things unknown. - - - - - [Illustration: ON THE PINCIO.] - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -THE DELIVERER. - - -It was in this age of disorder and anarchy that a child was born, of -the humblest parentage, on the bank of the Tiber, in an out-of-the-way -suburb, who was destined to become the hero of one of the strangest -episodes of modern history. His father kept a little tavern to which -the Roman burghers, pushing their walk a little beyond the walls, -would naturally resort; his mother, a laundress and water-carrier--one -of those women who, with the port of a classical princess, balance on -their heads in perfect poise and certainty the great copper vases -which are still used for that purpose. It was the gossip of the time -that Maddalena, the wife of Lorenzo, had not been without adventures -in her youth. No less a person than Henry VII. had found shelter, it -was said, in her little public-house when her husband was absent. He -was in the dress of a pilgrim, but no doubt bore the mien of a gallant -gentleman and dazzled the eyes of the young landlady, who had no one -to protect her. When her son was a man it pleased him to suppose that -from this meeting resulted the strange mixture of democratic -enthusiasm and love of pomp and power which was in his own nature. It -was not much to be proud of, and yet he was proud of it. For all the -world he was the son of the poor innkeeper, but within himself he felt -the blood of an Emperor in his veins. Maddalena died young, and when -her son began to weave the visions which helped to shape his life, was -no longer there to clear her own reputation or to confirm him in his -dream. - -These poor people had not so much as a surname to distinguish them. -The boy Niccola was Cola di Rienzo, Nicolas the son of Laurence, as he -is called in the Latin chronicles, according to that simplest of all -rules of nomenclature which has originated so many modern names. "He -was from his youth nourished on the milk of eloquence; a good -grammarian, a better rhetorician, a fine writer," says his biographer. -"Heavens, what a rapid reader he was! He made great use of Livy, -Seneca, Tully, and Valerius Maximus, and delighted much to tell forth -the magnificence of Julius Cæsar. All day long he studied the -sculptured marbles that lie around Rome. There was no one like him for -reading the ancient inscriptions. All the ancient writings he put in -choice Italian; the marbles he interpreted. How often did he cry out, -'Where are these good Romans? where is their high justice? might I but -have been born in their time?' He was a handsome man, and he adopted -the profession of a notary." - -We are not told how or where Cola attained this knowledge. His father -was a vassal of the Colonna, and it is possible that some of the -barons coming and going may have been struck by the brilliant, eager -countenance of the innkeeper's son, and helped him to the not -extravagant amount of learning thus recorded. His own character, and -the energy and ambition so strangely mingled with imagination and the -visionary temperament of a poet, would seem to have at once separated -him from the humble world in which he was born. It is said by some -that his youth was spent out of Rome, and that he only returned when -about twenty, at the death of his father--a legend which would lend -some show of evidence to the suggestion of his doubtful birth: but his -biographer says nothing of this. It is also said that it was the death -of his brother, killed in some scuffle between the ever-contending -parties of Colonna and Orsini, which gave his mind the first impulse -towards the revolution which he accomplished in so remarkable a way. -"He pondered long," says his biographer, "of revenging the blood of -his brother; and long he pondered over the ill-governed city of Rome, -and how to set it right." But there is no definite record of his early -life until it suddenly flashes into light in the public service of the -city, and on an occasion of the greatest importance as well for -himself as for Rome. - -This first public employment which discloses him at once to us was a -mission from the thirteen _Buoni homini_, sometimes called _Caporoni_, -the heads of the different districts of the city, to Pope Clement VI. -at Avignon, on the occasion of one of those temporary overturns of -government which occurred from time to time, always of the briefest -duration, but carrying on the traditions of the power of the people -from age to age. He was apparently what we should call the spokesman -of the deputation sent to explain the matter to the Pope, and to -secure, if possible, some attention on the part of the Curia to the -condition of the abandoned city. - - "His eloquence was so great that Pope Clement was much - attracted towards him: the Pope much admired the fine style - of Cola, and desired to see him every day. Upon which Cola - spoke very freely and said that the Barons of Rome were - highway robbers, that they were consenting to murder, - robbery, adultery, and every evil. He said that the city - lay desolate, and the Pope began to entertain a very bad - opinion of the Barons." - -"But," adds the chronicler, "by means of Messer Giovanni of the -Colonna, Cardinal, great misfortunes happened to him, and he was -reduced to such poverty and sickness that he might as well have been -sent to the hospital. He lay like a snake in the sun. But he who had -cast him down, the very same person raised him up again. Messer -Giovanni brought him again before the Pope and had him restored to -favour. And having thus been restored to grace he was made notary of -the Cammora in Rome, so that he returned with great joy to the city." - -This succinct narrative will perhaps be a little more clear if -slightly expanded: the chief object of the Roman envoy was to disclose -the crimes of the "barons," whose true character Cola thus described -to the Pope, on the part of the leaders of a sudden revolt, a sort of -prophetical anticipation of his own, which had seized the power out of -the hands of the two Senators and conferred it upon thirteen _Buoni -homini_, heads of the people, who took the charge in the name of the -Pope and professed, as was usual in its absence, an almost extravagant -devotion to the Papal authority. The embassy was specially charged -with the prayers and entreaties of the people that the Pope would -return and resume the government of the city: and also that he would -proclaim another jubilee--the great festival, accompanied by every -kind of indulgence and pious promise to the pilgrims, attracted by it -from all the ends of the earth to Rome--which had been first -instituted by Pope Boniface VIII. in 1300 with the intention of being -repeated once every century only. But a century is a long time; and -the jubilee was most profitable, bringing much money and many gifts -both to the State and the Church. The citizens were therefore very -anxious to secure its repetition in 1350, and its future celebration -every fifty years. The Pope graciously accorded the jubilee to the -prayers of the Romans, and accepted their homage and desire for his -return, promising vaguely that he would do so in the jubilee year if -not before. So that whatever afterwards happened to the secretary or -spokesman, the object of the mission was attained. - -Elated by this fulfilment of their wishes, and evidently at the moment -of his highest favour with the Pope, Cola sent a letter announcing -this success to the authorities in Rome, which is the first word we -hear from his own mouth. It is dated from Avignon, in the year 1343. -He was then about thirty, in the full ardour of young manhood, full of -visionary hopes and schemes for the restoration of the glories of -Rome. The style of the letter, which was so much admired in those -days, is too florid and ornate for the taste of a severer period, -notwithstanding that his composition received the applause of -Petrarch, and was much admired by all his contemporaries. He begins by -describing himself as the "consul of orphans, widows and the poor, and -the humble messenger of the people." - - "Let your mountains tremble with happiness, let your hills - clothe themselves with joy, and peace and gladness fill the - valleys. Let the city arise from her long course of - misfortunes, let her re-ascend the throne of her ancient - magnificence, let her throw aside the weeds of widowhood - and clothe herself with the garments of a bride. For the - heavens have been opened to us and from the glory of the - Heavenly Father has issued the light of Jesus Christ, from - which shines forth that of the Holy Spirit. Now that the - Lord has done this miracle, brethren beloved, see that you - clear out of your city the thorns and the roots of vice, to - receive with the perfume of new virtue the Bridegroom who - is coming. We exhort you with burning tears, with tears of - joy, to put aside the sword, to extinguish the flames of - battle, to receive these divine gifts with a heart full of - purity and gratitude, to glorify with songs and - thanksgiving the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and also to - give humble thanks to His Vicar, and to raise to that - supreme Pontiff, in the Capitol or in the amphitheatre, a - statue adorned with purple and gold that the joyous and - glorious recollection may endure for ever. Who indeed has - adorned his country with such glory among the Ciceros, the - Cæsars, Metullus, or Fabius, who are celebrated as - liberators in our old annals and whose statues we adorn - with precious stones because of their virtues? These men - have obtained passing triumphs by war, by the calamities of - the world, by the shedding of blood: but he, by our prayers - and for the life, the salvation and the joy of all, has won - in our eyes and in those of posterity an immortal triumph." - - [Illustration: THEATRE OF MARCELLUS. - _To face page 406._] - -It is like enough that these extravagant phrases expressed an -exultation which was sufficiently genuine and sincere, for while he -was absent the city of Rome desired and longed for its Pope, although -when present it might do everything in its power to shake off his -yoke. And Cola the ambassador, in whose mind as yet his own great -scheme had not taken shape, might well believe that the gracious Pope -who flattered him by such attention, who admitted him so freely to his -august presence, and to whom he was as one who playeth very sweetly -upon an instrument, was the man of all men to bring back again from -anarchy and tumult the imperial city. He had even given up, it would -seem, his enthusiasm for the classic heroes in this moment of hope -from a more living and present source of help. - -This elation however did not last. The Cardinal Giovanni Colonna, son -of old Stefano, the head of that great house, of whose magnificent old -age Petrarch speaks with so much enthusiasm, himself a man of many -accomplishments, a scholar and patron of the arts--and to crown all, -as has been said, the dear friend and patron of the poet--was one of -the most important members of the court at Avignon, when the -deputation from Rome, with that eloquent young plebeian as its -interpreter, appeared before the Pope. We may imagine that its first -great success, and the pleasure which the Pope took in the -conversation of Cola, must have happened during some temporary absence -of the Cardinal, whose interest in the affairs of his native city -would be undoubted. And it was natural that he should be a little -scornful of the ambassadors of the people, and of the orator who was -the son of Rienzo of the wine-shop, and very indignant at the account -given by the advocate of lo Popolo, of the barons and their behaviour. -The Colonna were, in fact, the least tyrannical of the tyrants; they -were the noblest of all the Roman houses, and no doubt the public -sentiment against the nobles in general might sometimes do a more -enlightened family wrong. Certainly it is hard to reconcile the -pictures of this house as given by Petrarch with the cruel tyranny of -which all the nobles were accused. This no doubt was the reason why, -after the triumph of that letter, the consent of the Pope to the -prayer of the citizens, and his interest in Cola's tale and -descriptions, the young orator fell under the shadow of courtly -displeasure, and after that intoxication of victory suffered all those -pangs of neglect which so often end the temporary triumph of a success -at court. The story is all vague, and we have no explanation why he -should have lingered on in Avignon, unless perhaps with hopes of -advancement founded on that evanescent favour, or perhaps in -consequence of his illness. There is a forlorn touch in the -description of the chronicler that "he lay like a snake in the sun," -which is full of suggestion. The reader seems to see him hanging about -the precincts of the court under the stately walls of the vast Papal -palace, which now stands in gloomy greatness, absorbing all the light -out of the landscape. It was new then, and glorious like a heavenly -palace; and sick and sad, disappointed and discouraged, the young -envoy, lately so dazzled by the sunshine of favour, would no doubt -haunt the great doorway, seeking a sunny spot to keep himself warm, -and waiting upon Providence. Probably the Cardinal, sweeping out and -in, in his state, might perceive the young Roman fallen from his -temporary triumph, and be touched by pity for the orator who after all -had done no harm with his pleading; for was not Stefano Colonna again, -in spite of all, Senator of Rome? Let us hope that the companion at -his elbow, the poet who formed part of his household, and who probably -had heard, too, and admired, like Pope Clement, the _parole ornate_ of -the speaker, who, though so foolish as to assail with his eloquent -tongue the nobles of the land, need not after all be left to perish on -that account--was the person who pointed out to his patron the poor -fellow in his cloak, shivering in the mistral, that chill wind -unknown in the midlands of Italy. It is certain that Petrarch here -made Cola's acquaintance, and that Cardinal Colonna, remorseful to see -the misery he had caused, took trouble to have his young countryman -restored to favour, and procured him the appointment of Notary of the -city, with which Cola returned to Rome--"_fra i denti minacciava_," -says his biographer, swearing between his teeth. - -It was in 1344 that his promotion took place, and for some years after -Cola performed the duties of his office _cortesemente_, with courtesy, -the highest praise an Italian of his time could give. In this -occupation he had boundless opportunities of studying more closely the -system of government which had resumed its full sway under the old -familiar succession of Senators, generally a Colonna and an Orsini. -"He saw and knew," says the chronicler, himself growing vehement in -the excitement of the subject, "the robbery of those dogs of the -Capitol, the cruelty and injustice of those in power. In all the -commune he did not find one good citizen who would render help." It -would seem, though there is here little aid of dates, that he did not -act precipitately, but, probably with the hope of being able himself -to do something to remedy matters, kept silence while his heart -burned, as long as silence was possible. But the moment came when he -could do so no longer, and the little scene at the meeting of the -Cammora, the City Council, stands out as clearly before us as if it -had been a municipal assembly of the present day. We are not told what -special question was before the meeting which proved the last straw of -the burden of indignation and impatience which Cola at his table, -writing with the silver pen which he thought more worthy than a goose -quill for the dignity of his office, had to bear. (One wonders if he -was the inventor, without knowing it, of that little instrument, the -artificial pen of metal with which, chiefly, literature is -manufactured in our days? But silver is too soft and ductile to have -ever become popular, and though very suitable to pour forth those -mellifluous sentences in which the young spokesman of the Romans wrote -to his chiefs from Avignon, would scarcely answer for the sterner -purposes of the council to inscribe punishments or calculate fines -withal.) One day, however, sitting in his place, writing down the -decrees for those fines and penalties, sudden wrath seized upon the -young scribe who already had called himself the consul of widows and -orphans, and of the poor. - - "One day during a discussion on the subject of the taxes of - Rome, he rose to his feet among all the Councillors and - said, 'You are not good citizens, you who suck the blood of - the poor and will not give them any help.' Then he - admonished the officials and the Rectors that they ought - rather to provide for the good government, _lo buono - stato_, of their city of Rome. When the impetuous address - of Cola di Rienzi was ended, one of the Colonna, who was - called Andreozzo di Normanno, the Camarlengo, got up and - struck him a ringing blow on the cheek: and another who was - the Secretary of the Senate, Tomma de Fortifiocca, mocked - him with an insulting sign. This was the end of their - talking." - -We hear of no more remonstrances in the council. It is said that Cola -was not a brave man, though we have so many proofs of courage -afterwards that it is difficult to believe him to have been lacking in -this particular. At all events he went out from that selfish and -mocking assembly with his cheek tingling from the blow, and his heart -burning more and more, to ponder over other means of moving the -community and helping Rome. - -The next incident opens up to us a curious world of surmise, and -suggests to the imagination much that is unknown, in the lower regions -of art, a crowd of secondary performers in that arena, the unknown -painters, the half-workmen, half-artists, who form a background -wherever a school of art exists. Cola perhaps may have had relations -with some of these half-developed artists, not sufficiently advanced -to paint an altar-piece, the scholars or lesser brethren of some -local _bottega_. There was little native art at any time in Rome. The -ancient and but dimly recorded work of the Cosimati, the only Roman -school, is lost in the mists, and was over and ended in the fourteenth -century. But there must have been some humble survival of trained -workmen capable at least of mural decorations if no more. Pondering -long how to reach the public, Cola seems to have bethought himself of -this humble instrument of art. As we do not hear before of any such -method of instructing the people, we may be allowed to suppose it was -his invention as well as the silver pen. His active brain was buzzing -with new things in every way, both great and small, and this was the -first device he hit upon. Even the poorest art must have been of use -in the absence of books for the illustration of sacred story and the -instruction of the ignorant, and it was at this kind of instantaneous -effect that Cola aimed. He had the confidence of the visionary that -the evil state of affairs needed only to be known to produce instant -reformation. The grievance over and over again insisted upon by his -biographer, and which was the burden of his outburst in the council, -was that "no one would help"--_non si trovava uno buon Cittatino, che -lo volesse adjutare_. Did they but know, the common people, how they -were oppressed, and the nobles what oppressors they were, it was -surely certain that every one would help, and that all would go right, -and the _buono stato_ be established once more. - -Here is the strange way in which Cola for the first time publicly -"admonished the rectors and the people to do well, by a similitude." - - "A similitude," says his biographer, "which he caused to be - painted on the palace of the Capitol in front of the - market, on the wall above the Cammora (Council Chamber). - Here was painted an allegory in the following form--namely, - a great sea with horrible waves, and much disturbed. In the - midst of this sea was a ship, almost wrecked, without helm - or sails. In this ship, in great peril, was a woman, a - widow, clothed in black, bound with a girdle of sadness, - her face disfigured, her hair floating wildly, as if she - would have wept. She was kneeling, her hands crossed, - beating her breast and ready to perish. The superscription - over her was _This is Rome_. Round this ship were four - other ships wrecked: their sails torn away, their oars - broken, their rudders lost. In each one was a woman - smothered and dead. The first was called Babylon; the - second Carthage; the third Troy; the fourth Jerusalem. - Written above was: _These cities by injustice perished and - came to nothing._ A label proceeding from the women dead - bore the lines: - - 'Once were we raised o'er lords and rulers all, - And now we wait, Oh Rome, to see thee fall.' - - "On the left hand were two islands: on one of these was a - woman sitting shamefaced with an inscription over her _This - is Italy_. And she spoke and said: - - 'Once had'st thou power o'er every land, - I only now, thy sister, hold thy hand.' - - "On the other island were four women, with their hands at - their throats, kneeling on their knees, in great sadness, - and speaking thus: - - 'By many virtues once accompanied - Thou on the sea goest now abandonëd.' - - "These were the four Cardinal virtues, Temperance, Justice, - Prudence and Fortitude. On the other side was another - little isle, and on this islet was a woman kneeling, her - hands stretched out to heaven as if she prayed. She was - clothed in white and her name was Christian Faith: and this - is what her verse said: - - 'Oh noblest Father, lord and leader mine, - Where shall I be if Rome sink and decline?' - - "Above on the right of the picture were four kinds of - winged creatures who breathed and blew upon the sea, - creating a storm and driving the sinking ship that it might - perish. The first order were Lions, Wolves, and Bears, and - were thus labelled: _These are the powerful Barons and the - wicked Officials_. The second order were Dogs, Pigs, and - Goats, and over them was written: _These are the evil - counsellors, the followers of the nobles_. The third order - were Sheep, Goats, and Foxes, and the label: _These are the - false officials, Judges and Notaries_. The fourth order - were Hares, Cats, and Monkeys, and their label: _These are - the People, Thieves, Murderers, Adulterers, and Spoilers of - Men_. Above was the sky: in the midst the Majesty Divine as - though coming to Judgment, two swords coming from His - mouth. On one side stood St. Peter, and on the other St. - Paul praying. When the people saw this similitude with - these figures every one marvelled." - -Who painted this strange allegory, and how the work could be done in -secret, in such a public place, so as to be suddenly revealed as a -surprise to the astonished crowd, we have no means of knowing. It -would be, no doubt, of the rudest art, probably such a scroll as -might be printed off in a hundred examples and pasted on the walls by -our readier methods, not much above the original drawings of our -pavements. We can imagine the simplicity of the symbolism, the -agitated sea in curved lines, the galleys dropping out of the picture, -the symbolical figures with their mottoes. The painting must have been -executed by the light of early dawn, or under cover of some license to -which Cola himself as an official had a right, perhaps behind the veil -of a scaffolding--put up on some pretence of necessary repairs: and -suddenly blazing forth upon the people in the brightness of the -morning, when the early life of Rome began again, and suitors and -litigants began to cluster on the great steps, each with his private -grievance, his lawsuit or complaint. What a sensation must that have -occasioned as gazer after gazer caught sight of the fresh colours -glowing on what was a blank wall the day before! The strange -inscriptions in their doggerel lines, mystic enough to pique every -intelligence, simple enough to be comprehensible by the crowd, would -be read by one and another to show their learning over the heads of -the multitude. How strange a thing, catching every eye! No doubt the -plan of it, so unusual an appeal to the popular understanding, was -Cola's; but who could the artist be who painted that "similitude"? Not -any one, we should suppose, who lived to make a name for himself--as -indeed, so far as we know, there were none such in Rome. - -This pictorial instruction was for the poor: it placed before them -Rome, their city, for love of which they were always capable of being -roused to at least a temporary enthusiasm--struggling and unhappy, -cheated by those she most trusted, ravaged by small and great, in -danger of final and hopeless shipwreck. In all her ancient greatness, -the peer and sister of the splendid cities of the antique world, and -like them falling into a ruin which in her case might yet be avoided, -the suggestion was one which was admirably fitted to stir and move the -spectators, all of them proud of the name of Roman, and deeply -conscious of ill-government and suffering. This, however, was but one -side of the work which he had set himself to do. A short time after, -when his picture had become the subject of all tongues in Rome, Cola -the notary invited the nobles and notables of the city to meet in the -Church of St. John Lateran to hear him expound a certain inscription -there which had hitherto (we are told) baffled all interpreters. It -must be supposed that he stood high in the favour of the Church, and -of Raymond the Bishop of Orvieto, the Pope's representative, or he -would scarcely have been permitted to use the great basilica for such -a purpose. - -The Church of the Lateran, however, as we know from various sources, -was in an almost ruined state, nearly roofless and probably, in -consequence, open to invasions of such a kind. Cola must have already -secured the attention of Rome in all circles, notwithstanding that box -on the ear with which Andreozzo of the Colonna had tried to silence -him. He was taken by some for a _burlatore_, a man who was a great -jest and out of whom much amusement could be got; and this was the -aspect in which he appeared to one portion of society, to the young -barons and gilded youth of Rome--a delusion to which he would seem to -have temporarily lent himself, in order to diffuse his doctrine; while -the more serious part of the aristocracy seem to have become curious -at least to hear what he had to say, and prescient of meanings in him -which it would be well to keep in order by better means than the -simple method of Andreozzo. The working of Cola's own mind it is less -easy to trace. His picture had been such an allegory as the age loved, -broad enough and simple enough at the same time to reach the common -level of understanding. When he addressed himself to the higher class, -it was with an instinctive sense of the difference, but without -perhaps a very clear perception what that difference was, or how to -bear himself before this novel audience. Perhaps he was right in -believing that a striking spectacle was the best thing to startle the -aristocrats into attention: perhaps he thought it well to take -advantage of the notion that Cola of Rienzo was more or less a -buffoon, and that a speech of his was likely to be amusing whatever -else it might be. The dress which his biographer describes minutely, -and which had evidently been very carefully prepared, seems to favour -this idea. - - "Not much time passed (after the exhibition of the picture) - before he admonished the people by a fine sermon in the - vulgar tongue, which he made in St. John Lateran. On the - wall behind the choir, he had fixed a great and magnificent - plate of metal inscribed with ancient letters, which none - could read or interpret except he alone. Round this tablet - he had caused several figures to be painted which - represented the Senate of Rome conceding the authority over - the city to the Emperor Vespasian. In the midst of the - Church was erected a platform (_un parlatorio_) with seats - upon it, covered with carpets and curtains--and upon this - were gathered many great personages, among whom were - Stefano Colonna, and Giovanni Colonna his son, who were the - greatest and most magnificent in the city. There were also - many wise and learned men, Judges and Decretalists, and - many persons of authority. Cola di Rienzo came upon the - stage among these great people. He was dressed in a tunic - and cape after the German fashion, with a hood up to his - throat in fine white cloth, and a little white cap on his - head. On the round of his cap were crowns of gold, the one - in the front being divided by a sword made in silver, the - point of which was stuck through the crown. He came out - very boldly, and when silence was procured he made a fine - sermon with many beautiful words, and said that Rome was - beaten down and lay on the ground, and could not see where - she lay, for her eyes were torn out of her head. Her eyes - were the Pope and the Emperor, both of whom Rome had lost - by the wickedness of her citizens. Then he said (pointing - to the pictured figures), 'Behold, what was the - magnificence of the Senate when it gave the authority to - the Emperor.' He then read a paper in which was written the - interpretation of the inscription, which was the act by - which the imperial power was given by the people of Rome to - Vespasian. Firstly that Vespasian should have the power to - make good laws, and to make alliances with any whom he - pleased, and that he should be entitled to increase or - diminish the _garden of Rome_, that is Italy: and that he - should give accounts less or more as he would. He might - also raise men to be dukes and kings, put them up or pull - them down, destroy or rebuild cities, divert rivers out of - their beds to flow in another channel, put on taxes or - abolish them at his pleasure. All these things the Romans - gave to Vespasian according to their Charter to which - Tiberius Cæsar consented. He then put aside that paper and - said, 'Sirs, such was the majesty of the people of Rome - that it was they who conferred this authority upon the - Emperor. Now they have lost it altogether.' Then he entered - more fully into the question and said, 'Romans, you do not - live in peace: your lands are not cultivated. The Jubilee - is approaching and you have no provision of grain or food - for the people who are coming, who will find themselves - unprovided for, and who will take up stones in the rage of - their hunger: but neither will the stones be enough for - such a multitude.' Then concluding he added: 'I pray you - keep the peace.' Then he said this parable: 'Sirs, I know - that many people make a mock at me for what I do and say. - And why? For envy. But I thank God there are three things - which consume the slanderers. The first luxury, the second - jealousy, the third envy.' When he had ended the sermon and - come down, he was much lauded by the people." - -The inscription thus set before the people was the bronze table, -called the Lex Regia. Why it was that no one had been able to -interpret it up to that moment we are not told. Learning was at a very -low ebb, and the importance of such great documents whether in metal -or parchment was as yet but little recognised. This was evidently one -of the results of Cola's studies of the old inscriptions of which we -are told in the earliest chapter of his career. It had formed part of -an altar in the Lateran Church, being placed there as a handy thing -for the purpose in apparent ignorance of any better use for it, by -Pope Boniface VIII. when he restored the church. No doubt some of the -feeble reparations that were going on had brought the storied stone -under Cola's notice, and he had interest enough to have it removed -from so inappropriate a place. It is now let into the wall in the Hall -of the Faun on the Capitol. - -We have here an instance not only of the exaltation of Cola's mind and -thoughts, imaginative and ardent, and his possession by the one idea -of Roman greatness, but also of his privileges and power at this -moment, before he had as yet struck a blow or made a step towards his -future position. That he should have been allowed to displace the -tablet from the altar (which however may have been done in the course -of the repairs) to set it up in that conspicuous position, and to use -the church, he a layman and a plebeian, for his own objects, testifies -to very strong support and privilege. The influence of the Pope must -have been at his back, and the resources of the Church thrown open to -him. Neither his audacious speech nor his constant denunciation of -barons and officials seem to have been attended by the risks we should -have expected. Either the authorities must have been very magnanimous, -or he was well protected by some power they did not choose to -encounter. Some doubt as to his sanity or his seriousness seems to -have existed among them. Giovanni Colonna, familiarly Janni, grandson -of old Stefano, a brilliant young gallant likely to grow into a fine -soldier, the hope of the house, invited him constantly to -entertainments where all the gilded youth of Rome gathered as to a -play to hear him talk. When he said, "I shall be a great lord, perhaps -even emperor," the youths gave vent to shouts of laughter. "All the -barons were full of it, some encouraging him, some disposed to cut off -his head. But nothing was done to him. How many things he prophesied -about the state of the city, and the generous rule it required!" Rome -listened and was excited or amused according to its mood, but nothing -was done either to conform that rule to his demands or to stop the -bold reformer. - -By this time it had become the passion of his life, and the occupation -of all his leisure. He could think of nothing but how to persuade the -people, how to make their condition clear to them. Once more his -painter friends, the journeymen of the _bottega_, whoever they were, -came to his aid and painted him again a picture, this time on the wall -of St. Angelo in Pescheria, which we may suppose to have been Cola's -parish church, as it continually appears in the narrative--where once -more they set forth in ever bolder symbolism the condition of Rome. -Again she was represented as an aged woman, this time in the midst of -a great conflagration, half consumed, but watched over by an angel in -all the glories of white attire and flaming sword, ready to rescue her -from the flames, under the superintendence of St. Peter and St. Paul -who looked on from a tower, calling to the angel to "succour her who -gave shelter to us"; while a white dove fluttered down from the skies -with a crown of myrtle to be placed upon the head of the woman, and -the legend bore "I see the time of the great justice--and thou, wait -for it." Once more the crowd collected, the picture was discussed and -what it meant questioned and expounded. There were some who shook -their heads and said that more was wanted than pictures to amend the -state of affairs; but it may easily be supposed that as these -successive allegories were represented before them, in a language -which every one could understand, the feeling grew, and that there -would be little else talked about in Rome but those strange writings -on the walls and what their meanings were. The picture given by Lord -Lytton in his novel of _Rienzi_, of this agitated moment of history, -is very faithful to the facts, and gives a most animated description -of the scenes; though in the latter part of his story he prefers -romance to history. - -All these incidents however open to our eyes side glimpses of the -other Rome underneath the surface, which was occupied by contending -nobles and magnificent houses, and all the little events and -picturesque episodes with which a predominant aristocracy amused the -world. If Mr. Browning had expounded Rome once more on a graver -subject, as he did once in _The Ring and the Book_, what groups he -might have set before us! The painters who had as yet produced no one -known to fame, but who, always impressionable, would be agitated -through all the depths of their workshops by the breath of revolution, -the hope of something fine to come, would have taken up a portion of -the foreground: for with the withdrawal of the Pope and the court, -the occupation of a body of artist workmen, good for little more than -decoration, ecclesiastical or domestic, must have suffered greatly: -and none can be more easily touched by the agitation of new and -aspiring thought than men whose very trade requires a certain touch of -inspiration, a stimulus of fancy. No doubt in the studios there were -many young men who had grown up with Cola, who had hung upon his -impassioned talk before it was known to the world, and heard his vague -and exalted schemes for Rome, for the renovation of all her ancient -glories, not forgetting new magnificences of sculpture and of painting -worthy of the renovated city, the mistress of the world. Their eager -talk and discussions, their knowledge of his ways and thoughts, the -old inscriptions he had shown them, the new hopes which he had -described in his glowing language, must have filled with excitement -all those _bottegas_, perched among the ruins, those workshops planned -out of abandoned palaces, the haunt of the Roman youth who were not -gentlemen but workmen, and to whom Janni Colonna and his laughing -companions, who thought Cola so great a jest in his mad brilliancy, -were magnificent young patrons half admired, half abhorred. How great -a pride it must have been to be taken into Cola's confidence, to -reduce to the laws of possible representation those "similitudes" of -his, the stormy sea with its galleys and its islets, the blaze of the -fatal fire: and to hurry out by dawn, a whole band of them, in all the -delight of conspiracy, to dash forth the joint conception on the wall, -and help him to read his lesson to the people! - -And Browning would have found another Rome still to illustrate in the -priests, the humbler clergy, the curé of St. Angelo in the Fishmarket, -and so many more, of the people yet over the people, the humble -churchmen with their little learning, just enough to understand a -classical name or allusion, some of whom must have helped Cola himself -to his Latin, and pored with him over his inscriptions, and taken -fire from his enthusiasm as a mind half trained, without the -limitations that come with completer knowledge, is apt to do--feeling -everything to be possible and ignoring the difficulties and inevitable -disasters of revolution. The great ideal of the Church always hovering -in the air before the visionary priest, and the evident and simple -reason why it failed in this case from the absence of the Pope, and -the widowhood of the city, must have so tempered the classical -symbolism of the leader as to make his dreams seem possible to men so -little knowing the reality of things, and so confident that with the -strength of their devotion and the purity of their aims everything -could be accomplished. To such minds the possible and impossible have -no existence, the world itself is such a thing as dreams are made of, -and the complete reformation of all things, the heavens and the earth -in which shall dwell righteousness, are always attainable and near at -hand, if only the effort to reach them were strong enough, and the -minds of the oppressed properly enlightened. No one has sufficiently -set forth, though many have essayed to do so, this loftiness of human -futility, this wild faith of inexperience and partial ignorance, which -indeed sometimes does for a moment at least carry everything before it -in the frenzy of enthusiasm and faith. - -On the other side were Janni Colonna and his comrades, the young -Savelli, Gaetani, all the gallant band, careless of all things, secure -in their nobility, in that easy confidence of rank and birth which is -perhaps the most picturesque of all circumstances, and one of the most -exhilarating, making its possessor certain above all logic that for -him the sun shines and the world goes round. There were all varieties -among these young nobles as among other classes of men; some were -_bons princes_, careless but not unthoughtful in any cruel way of -others, if only they could be made to understand that their triumphant -career was anyhow hurtful of others--a difficult thing always to -realise. The Colonnas apart from their feuds and conflicts were -generally _bons princes_. They were not a race of oppressors; they -loved the arts and petted their special poet, who happened at that -moment to be the great poet of Italy, and no doubt admired the -eloquent Cola and were delighted with his discourses and sallies, -though they might find a spice of ridicule in them, as when he said he -was to be a great seigneur or even emperor. That was his jest, could -not one see the twinkle in his eye? And probably old Stefano, the -noble grandsire, would smile too as he heard the laughter of the boys, -and think not unkindly of the mad notary with his enthusiasms, which -would no doubt soon enough be quenched out of him, as was the case -with most men when experience came with years to correct those not -ungenerous follies of youth. The great churchmen would seem to have -been still more tolerant to Cola--glad to find this unexpected -auxiliary who helped to hold the balance in favour of the Pope, and -keep the nobles in check. - -In the meantime Cola proceeded with his warnings, and by and by with -more strenuous preparation. We come to a date fortunately when we read -of a sudden issue of potent words which came forth like the -handwriting on the wall one morning, on February 15th, 1347. "In a -short time the Romans shall return to their ancient good government." -_In brievo tempo_--the actual sonorous words sounding forth large and -noble like flute and trumpet in our ear, are worth quoting for the -sound if no more: _In brievo tempo I Romani tornaraco a lo loro antico -buono stato_. What a thrill of excitement to turn round a sudden -corner and find this facing you on the church wall, words that were -not there yesterday! _Lo antico buono stato!_ the most skilful -watchword, which thereafter became the special symbol of the new -reformation. It is after this that we hear of the gathering of a -little secret assembly in some quiet spot on the Aventine, "a secret -place"--where on some privately arranged occasion there came serious -men from all parts of the city, "many Romans of importance and _buoni -homini_," which was the title, as we have seen, given to the popular -leaders. "And among them were some of the gentry (_cavalerotti_) and -rich merchants"--to consider what could be done to restore the good -government (_lo buono stato_) of the city of Rome. - - "Among whom Cola rose to his feet, and narrated, weeping, - the misery, servitude and peril in which lay the city. And - also what once was the great and lordly state which the - Romans were wont to enjoy. He also spoke of the loss of all - the surrounding country which had once been in subjection - to Rome. And all this he related with tears, the whole - assembly weeping with him. Then he concluded and said that - it behoved them to serve the cause of peace and justice, - and consoled them adding: 'Be not afraid in respect to - money, for the Roman Cammora has much and inestimable - returns.' In the first place the fires: each smoke paying - four soldi, from Cepranno to the Porta della Paglia. This - amounts to a hundred thousand florins. From the salt tax a - hundred thousand florins. Then come the gates of Rome and - the castles, and the dues there amount to a hundred - thousand florins which is sent to his Holiness the Pope, - and that his Vicar knows. Then he said, 'Sirs, do not - believe that it is by the consent or will of the Pope that - so many of the citizens lay violent hands on the goods of - the Church.' By these parables the souls of the assembly - were kindled. And many other things he said weeping. Then - they deliberated how to restore the Buono Stato. And every - one swore this upon the Holy Gospels--(in the Italian 'in - the letter,' by a recorded act)." - -It appears very probable by the allusion to the Pope's Vicar that he -was present at this secret assembly. At all events he was informed of -all that was done, and took part in the first overt act of the -revolution. To give fuller warrant for these secret plans and -conspiracies, the state of the city went on growing worse every day. -The two parties, that of Colonna, and that of Orsini, so balanced each -other, the one availing itself of every incident which could discredit -and put at a disadvantage the other, that justice and law were brought -to a standstill, every criminal finding a protector on one side or the -other, and every kind of rapine and violence going unpunished. "The -city was in great travail," our chronicler says, "it had no lord, -murder and robbery went on on every side. Women were not safe either -in convents or in their own houses. The labourer was robbed as he came -back from his work, and even children were outraged; and all this -within the gates of Rome. The pilgrims making their way to the shrines -of the Apostles were robbed and often murdered. The priests themselves -were ready for every evil. Every wickedness flourished: there was no -justice, no restraint: and neither was there any remedy for this state -of things. He only was in the right who could prove himself so with -the sword." All that the unfortunate people could do was to band -themselves together and fight, each for his own cause. - -In the month of April of the year 1347 this state of anarchy was at -its height. Stefano Colonna had gone to Corneto for provisions, taking -with him all the _milice_, the Garde Nationale or municipal police of -Rome. Deprived even of this feeble support and without any means of -keeping order, the Senators, Agapito Colonna and Robert Orsini, -remained as helpless to subdue any rising as they were to regulate the -internal affairs of the city. The conspirators naturally took -advantage of this opportunity. They sent a town crier with sound of -trumpet to call all men to prepare to come without arms to the -Capitol, to the Buono Stato at the sound of the great bell. During the -night Cola would seem to have kept vigil--it was the eve of -Pentecost--in the Church of St. Angelo in Pescheria hearing "thirty -masses of the Holy Ghost," says the chronicler, spending the night in -devotion as we should say. At the hour of tierce, in the early -morning, he came out of Church, having thus invoked with the greatest -solemnity the aid of God. It was the 20th of May, a summer festival, -when all Rome is glorious with sunshine, and the orange blossoms and -the roses from every garden fill the air with sweetness. He was fully -armed except his head, which was bare. A multitude of youths encircled -him with sudden shouts and cheering, breaking the morning quiet, and -startling the churchgoers hastening to an early mass, who must have -stood gaping to see one banner after another roll out between them and -the sky, issuing from the church doors. The first was red with letters -of gold, painted with a figure of Rome seated on two lions, carrying -an orb, and a palm in her hands--"un Mundo e una Palma"--signs of her -universal sovereignty. "This was the Gonfalon of Liberty"--and it was -carried by Cola Guallato distinguished as "Lo buon dicitore"--another -orator like Rienzi himself. The second was white with an image of St. -Paul, on the third was St. Peter and his keys. This last was carried -by an old knight who, because he was a veteran, was conveyed in a -carriage. By this time the great bell of the Capitol was ringing and -the men who had been invited were hurrying there through all the -streets. "Then Cola di Rienzo took all his courage, though not without -fear, and went on alone with the Vicar of the Pope and went up to the -Palace of the Capitol." There he addressed the crowd, making a -_bellissima diceria_ upon the misery and anarchy in Rome, saying that -he risked his life for the love of the Pope and the salvation of the -people. The reader can almost hear the suppressed quiver of excitement -"not without fear" in his voice. And then the rules of the Buono Stato -were read. They were very simple but very thorough. The first was that -whoever murdered a man should die for it, without any exception. The -second that every case heard before the judges should be concluded -within fifteen days; the third that no house should be destroyed for -any reason, except by order of the authorities. The fourth that every -_rione_ or district of the city should have its force of defenders, -twenty-four horsemen and a hundred on foot, paid by and under the -order of the State. Further, that a ship should be kept for the -special protection of the merchants on the coast; that taxes were -necessary and should be spent by the officers of the Buono Stato; that -the bridges, castles, gates and fortresses should be held by no man -except the rector of the people, and should never be allowed to pass -into the hands of a baron: that the barons should be set to secure the -safety of the roads to Rome and should not protect robbers, under a -penalty of a thousand marks of silver:--that the Commune should give -help in money to the convents; that each _rione_ should have its -granary and provide a reserve there for evil times; that the kin of -every man slain in battle in the cause of the Commune should have a -recompense according to their degree:--that the ancient States subject -to Rome should be restored; and that whoever brought an accusation -against a man which could not be proved should suffer the penalty -belonging to the offence if it had been proved. This and various other -regulations which pleased the people much were read, and passed -unanimously by a show of hands and great rejoicing. "And it was also -ordained that Cola should remain there as lord, but in conjunction -with the Vicar of the Pope. And authority was given to him to punish, -slay, pardon, to make laws and alliances, determine boundaries; and -full and free _imperia_, absolute power, was given him in everything -that concerned the people of Rome." - -Thus was Cola's brag which so much amused the young lords made true -over all their heads before many weeks were past. He had said that he -would be a great lord, as powerful as an emperor. And so he was. - - - - - [Illustration: THE LUNGARA.] - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE BUONO STATO. - - -The first incident in this new reign, so suddenly inaugurated, was a -startling one. Stefano Colonna was the father of all the band--he of -whom Petrarch speaks with such enthusiasm: "_Dio immortale!_ what -majesty in his aspect, what a voice, what a look, what nobility in his -air, what vigour of soul and body at that age of his! I seemed to -stand before Julius Cæsar or Africanus, if not that he was older than -either. Wonderful to say, this man never grows old, while Rome is -older and older every day." He was absent from Rome, as has been said, -on the occasion of the wonderful overthrow of all previous rule, and -establishment of the Buono Stato; but as soon as he heard what had -happened, he hastened back, with but few followers, never doubting -that he would soon make an end of that mountebank revolution. Early in -the following morning he received from Cola a copy of the edict made -on the Capitol and an order to leave Rome at once. Stefano took the -paper and tore it in a thousand pieces. "If this fool makes me angry," -he said, "I will fling him from the windows of the Capitol." When this -was reported to Cola, he caused the bell of the Capitol to be sounded -_a stuormo_, and the people rushed from all quarters to the call. -Everything went rapidly at this moment of fate, and even the brave -Colonna seems to have changed his mind in the twinkling of an eye. The -aspect of affairs was so threatening that Stefano took the better part -of valour and rode off at once with a single attendant, stopping only -at San Lorenzo to eat, and pushing on to Palestrina, which was his -chief seat and possession. Cola took instant advantage of this -occurrence: with the sanction of the excited people, he sent a similar -order to that which Stefano had received, to all the other barons, -ordering them to leave the city. Strange to say the order of the -popular leader was at once obeyed. Perhaps no one ventured to stand -after the head of the Roman chivalry had fled. These gallant cavaliers -yielded to the _Pazzo_, the madman, with whom the head of the Colonnas -had expected to make such short work, without striking a blow, in a -panic sudden and complete. Next day all the bridges were given up and -officials of the people set over them. "One was served in one way, -another in another--these were banished and those had their heads cut -off without mercy. The wicked were all judged cruelly." Afterwards -another _Parlamento_ was held on the Capitol, and all that had been -done approved and confirmed--and the people with one voice declared -Cola, and with him the Pope's Vicar, who had a share in all these -wonderful proceedings, Tribunes of the People and Liberators. - -There would seem after this alarmed dispersion of the nobles to have -been some attempt on their part to regain the upper hand, which failed -as they could not agree among themselves: upon which they received -another call from Cola to appear in the Capitol and swear to uphold -the Buono Stato. One by one the alarmed nobles came in. The first was -Stefanello Colonna, the son of the old man, the first of his children -after the two ecclesiastics, and heir of his influence and lands. Then -came Ranello degli Orsini, then Janni Colonna, he who had invited Cola -to dinner and laughed loud and long with his comrades over the -buffoonery of the orator. What Cola said was no longer a merry jest. -Then came Giordano of the same name, then Messer Stefano himself, the -fine old man, the magnanimous--bewildered by his own unexpected -submission yet perhaps touched with some sense of the justice there -was in it, swearing upon the Evangels to be faithful to the Commune, -and to busy himself with his own share of the work: how to clear the -roads, and turn away the robbers, to protect the orphans and the poor. -The nobles gazed around them at the gathering crowd; they were daunted -by all they saw, and one by one they took the oaths. One of the last -was Francesco Savelli, who was the proper lord of Cola di Rienzo, his -master--yet took the oath of allegiance to him, his own retainer. It -was such a wonder as had never been seen. But everything was -wonderful--the determination of the people, the Pope's Vicar by the -side of that mad Tribune, the authority in Cola's eyes, and in his -eloquent voice. - -There must, however, have been a strong sense of the theatrical in the -man. As he had at first appealed to the people by visible allegories, -by pictures and similitudes, he kept up their interest now by -continual spectacles. He studied his dress, as we have already seen, -on all occasions, always aiming at something which would strike the -eye. His robe of office was "of a fiery colour as if it had been -scarlet." "His face and his aspect were terrible." He showed mercy to -no criminal, but exercised freely his privilege of life and death -without respect of persons. A monk of San Anastasio, who was a person -of infamous conduct, was beheaded like any other offender; and a still -greater, Martino di Porto, head of one of the great houses, met the -same fate. Sometimes, his biographers allow, Cola was cruel. He would -seem to have been a man of nervous courage "not without fear"; very -keenly alive to the risk he was running and not incapable, as was -afterwards proved, of a sudden panic, as quickly roused as his flash -of excessive valour. In one mood he was pushed by the passion of the -absolute to rash proceedings, sudden vengeance, which suited well -enough with the instincts of his followers; in another his courage was -apt to sink and his composure to fail at the first frown of fortune. -The beginning of his career is like that of a man inspired--what he -determined on was carried out as if by magic. He seemed to have only -to ordain and it was accomplished. Within a very short time the courts -of law, the markets, the public life in Rome were all transformed. The -barons, unwilling as they were, must have done their appointed work, -for the roads all at once became safe, and the disused processes of -lawful life were resumed. "The woods rejoiced, for there were no -longer robbers in them. The oxen began to plough. The pilgrims began -again to make their circuits to the Sanctuaries, the merchants to come -and go, to pursue their business. Fear and terror fell on the tyrants, -and all good people, as freed from bondage, were full of joy." The -bravos, the highwaymen, all the ill-doers who had kept the city and -its environs in terror fled in their turn, finding no protectors, nor -any shelter that could save them from the prompt and ready sword of -justice. Refinements even of theoretical benevolence were in Cola's -courts of law. There were Peacemakers to hear the pleas of men injured -by their neighbours and bring them, if possible, into accord. Here is -one very curious scene: the law of compensations, by which an injury -done should be repaid in kind, being in full force. - - "It happened that one man had blinded the eye of another; - the prosecutors came and their case was tried on the steps - of the Capitol. The culprit was kneeling there, weeping, - and praying God to forgive him when the injured person came - forward. The malefactor then raised his face that his eye - might be blinded, if so it was ordained. But the other was - moved with pity, and would not touch his eye, but forgave - him the injury." - -No doubt the ancient doctrine of an eye for an eye, has in all times -been thus tempered with mercy. - -It would appear that Cola now lived in the Capitol as his palace; and -he gradually began to surround himself with all the insignia of rank. -This was part of his plan from the beginning, for, as has been said, -he lost no opportunity of an effective appearance, either from a -natural inclination that way, or from a wise appreciation of the -tastes of the crowd, which he had such perfect acquaintance with. But -there was nothing histrionic in the immediate results of his new -reign. That he should have styled himself in all his public documents, -letters and laws, "Nicholas, severe and clement, Tribune of peace, -freedom, and justice, illustrious Liberator of the holy Roman -Republic," may have too much resembled the braggadocio which is so -displeasing to our colder temperaments; but Cola was no Englishman, -neither was he of the nineteenth century: and there was something -large and harmonious, a swing of words such as the Italian loves, a -combination of the Brutus and the Christian, in the conjunction of -these qualities which recommends itself to the imaginative ear. But -however his scarlet robes and his inflated self-description may be -objected to, nothing could mar the greatness of the moral revolution -he effected in a city restored to peace and all the innocent habits of -life, and a country tranquillised and made safe, where men came and -went unmolested. Six years before, as we have noted, Petrarch, the -hero of the moment, was stopped by robbers just outside the walls of -Rome, and had to fly back to the city to get an armed escort before he -could pursue his way. "The shepherd armed," he says, "watches his -sheep, afraid of robbers more than of wolves; the ploughman wears a -shirt of mail and goads his oxen with a lance. There is no safety, no -peace, no humanity among the inhabitants, but only war, hate, and the -work of devils." - -Such was the condition of affairs when Cola came to power. In a month -or two after that sudden overturn his messengers, unarmed, clothed, -some say, in white with the scarcella at their girdle embroidered with -the arms of Rome, and bearing for all defence a white wand, travelled -freely by all the roads from Rome, unmolested, received everywhere -with joy. "I have carried this wand," says one of them, "over all the -country and through the forests. Thousands have knelt before it and -kissed it with tears of joy for the safety of the roads and the -banishment of the robbers." The effect is still as picturesque as eye -of artist could desire; the white figures with their wands of peace -traversing everywhere those long levels of the Campagna, where every -knot of brushwood, all the coverts of the _macchia_ and every -fortification by the way, had swarmed with robber bands--unharmed, -unafraid, like angels of safety in the perturbed country. But it was -none the less real, an immense and extraordinary revolution. The Buono -Stato was proclaimed on the day of Pentecost, Whit Sunday, May 20th, -1347: and in the month of June following, Cola was able to inform the -world--that is to say, all Italy and the Pope and the Emperor--that -the roads were safe and everything going well. Clement VI. received -this report at Avignon and replied to it, giving his sanction to what -had been done, "seeing that the new constitution had been established -without violence or bloodshed," and confirming the authority of Cola -and of his bishop and co-tribune, in letters dated the 27th of June. - -Nor was the change within the city less great. The dues levied by -their previous holders on every bridge, on all merchandise and every -passer-by, were either turned into a modest octroi, or abolished -altogether; every man's goods were safe in his house; the women were -free to go about their various occupations, the wife safe in the -solitude of her home, in her husband's absence at his work, the girls -at their sewing--in itself a revolution past counting. Rome began to -breathe again and realise that her evil times were over, and that the -Buono Stato meant comfort as well as justice. The new Tribune made -glorious sights, too, for all bystanders in these June days. He rode -to Church, for example, in state on the feast of Santo Janni di -Jugnio, St. John the Baptist, the great Midsummer _festa_, a splendid -sight to behold. - - "The first to come was a militia of armed men on horseback, - well dressed and adorned, to make way before the Præfect. - Then followed the officials, judges, notaries, peacemakers, - syndics, and others; followed by the four marshals with - their mounted escort. Then came Janni d'Allo carrying the - cup of silver gilt in which was the offering, after the - fashion of the Senators: who was followed by more soldiers - on horseback and the trumpeters, sounding their silver - trumpets, the silver mouths making an honest and - magnificent sound. Then came the public criers. All these - passed in silence. After came one man alone, bearing a - naked sword in sign of justice. Baccio, the son of Jubileo, - was he. Then followed a man scattering money on each side - all along the way, according to the custom of the Emperors: - Liello Magliari was his name--he was accompanied by two - persons carrying a sack of money. After this came the - Tribune, alone. He rode on a great charger, dressed in - silk, that is velvet, half green and half yellow, furred - with minever. In his right hand he carried a wand of steel, - polished and shining, surmounted by an apple of silver - gilt, and above the apple a cross of gold in which was a - fragment of the Holy Cross. On one side of this were - letters in enamel, 'Deus,' and on the other 'Spiritus - Sanctus.' Immediately after him came Cecco di Alasso, - carrying a banner after the mode of kings. The standard was - white with a sun of gold set round with silver stars on a - field of blue: and it was surmounted by a white dove, - bearing in its beak a crown of olive. On the right and left - came fifty vassals of Vetorchiano on foot with clubs in - their hands, like bears clothed and armed. Then followed a - crowd of people unarmed, the rich and the powerful, - counsellors, and many honest people. With such triumph and - glory came he to the bridge of San Pietro, where every one - saluted, the gates were thrown wide, and the road left - spacious and free. When he had reached the steps of San - Pietro all the clergy came forth to meet him in their - vestments and ornaments. With white robes, with crosses and - with great order, they came chanting _Veni Creator - Spiritus_, and so received him with much joy." - -This is how Cola rode from the Capitol to St. Peter's, traversing -almost the whole of the existing city: his offering borne before him -after the manner of the Senators: money scattered among the people -after the manner of the Emperors: his banner carried as before kings: -united every great rank in one. _Panem et circenses_ were all the old -Roman populace had cared for. He gave them peace and safety and -beautiful processions and allegories to their hearts' content. There -were not signs wanting for those who divined them afterwards, that -with all this triumph and glory the Tribune began a little to lose his -self-restraint. He began to make feasts and great entertainments at -the Capitol. The palaces of the forfeited nobles were emptied of their -beautiful tapestries, and hangings, and furniture, to make the long -disused rooms there splendid; and the nobles were fined a hundred -florins each for repairs to this half-royal, half-ruinous abode, -making it glorious once more. - -But in the meantime everything went well. One of the Colonnas, Pietro -of Agapito[6]--who ought to have been Senator for the year--was taken -and sent to prison, whether for that offence merely or some other we -are not told; while the rest of the house, with old Stefano at their -head, kept a stormy quiet at Palestrina, saying nothing as yet. -Answers to Cola's letters came from all the states around, in -congratulation and friendship, the Pope himself, as we have seen, at -the head of all. "All Italy was roused," says Petrarch. "The terror of -the Roman name extended even to countries far away. I was then in -France and I know what was expressed in the words and on the faces of -the most important personages there. Now that the needle has ceased to -prick, they may deny it; but then all were full of alarm, so great -still was the name of Rome. No one could tell how soon a movement so -remarkable, taking place in the first city of the world, might -penetrate into other places." The Soldan of Babylon himself, that -great potentate, hearing that a man of great justice had arisen in -Rome, called aloud upon Mahomet and Saint Elimason (whoever that might -be) to help Jerusalem, meaning Saracinia, our chronicler tells us. -Thus the sensation produced by Cola's revolution ran through the -world: and if after a while his mind lost something of its balance, it -is scarcely to be wondered at when we read the long and flattering -letters, some of which have been preserved, which Petrarch talks of -writing to him "every day": and in which he is proclaimed greater than -Romulus, whose city was small and surrounded with stakes only, while -that of Cola was great and defended by invincible walls: and than -Brutus who withstood one tyrant only, while Cola overthrew many: and -than Camillus, who repaired ruins still smoking and recent, while Cola -restored those which were ancient and inveterate almost beyond hope. -For one wonderful moment both friends and foes seem to have believed -that Rome had at one step recovered the empire of the world. - -Cola had thus triumphed everywhere by peaceful methods, but he had yet -to prove what he could do in arms; and the opportunity soon occurred. -The only one of the nobles who had not yielded at least a pretence of -submission was Giovanni di Vico, of the family of the Gaetani, who had -held the office of Præfect of Rome, and was Lord of Viterbo. Against -him the Tribune sent an expedition under one of the Orsini, which -defeated and crushed the rebel, who, on hearing that Cola himself was -coming to join his forces, gave himself up and was brought into Rome -to make his submission: so that in this way also the triumph of the -popular leader was complete. All the surrounding castles fell into his -hands, Civita Vecchia on one hand and Viterbo on the other; and he -employed a captain of one family against the rebels of another with -such skill and force that all were kept within control. - -Up to the end of July this state of affairs continued unbroken; -success on every side, and apparently a new hope for Italy, possibly -deliverance for the world. The Tribune seemed safe as any monarch on -his seat, and still bore himself with something of the simplicity and -steadfastness of his beginning. But this began to modify by degrees. -Especially after his easy victory over Giovanni di Vico, he seems to -have treated the nobles whom he had crushed under his heel with -contemptuous incivility, which is the less wonderful when we see how -Petrarch, courtly as he was, speaks of the same class, acknowledging -even his beloved Colonnas to be unworthy of the Roman name. The -Tribune sat in his chair of state, while the barons were required to -stand in his presence, with their arms folded on their breasts and -their heads uncovered. His wife, who was beautiful and young, was -escorted by a guard of honour wherever she went and attended by the -noblest ladies of Rome. The old palace of the Campidoglio was gay with -feasts; its dilapidated walls were adorned with the rich hangings -taken from the confiscated houses of the _potenti_. And then the -Tribune's poor relations began to be separated from the crowd, to ride -about on fine horses and dwell in fine houses. And the sights and -spectacles provided for the people, as well as the steps taken by Cola -himself to enhance his dignity and to occupy the attention of -everybody around, began to assume a fantastic character. An uneasy -vainglory, a desire to be always executing some feat or developing -some new pretension, a restless strain after the histrionic and -dramatic began to show themselves in him--as if he felt that his -tenure somehow demanded a continued supply of such amusements for the -people, who rushed to gaze and admire whatever he did, and filled the -air with _vivas_: yet began secretly in their hearts, as Lo Popolo -always does, to comment upon the extravagance of the Tribune, and the -elevation over their heads of Janni the barber, for instance, who now -rode about so grandly with a train of attendants, as if, instead of -being _popolo_ like themselves, he were one of the _potenti_ whom his -nephew Cola had cast down from their seats. - -One of the first great acts which denotes this trembling of sound -reason in the Tribune's soul was the fantastic ceremony by which he -made himself a knight, to the wonder of all Rome. It was not, all the -historians tell us, a strange or unheard-of thing that the City should -create _cavalieri_ of its own. Florence had done it, and Rome also had -done it--in the case of Stefano Colonna and some others very shortly -before--but with at least the pretence of an honour conferred by the -people on citizens selected by their fellow-citizens. Nothing of the -kind was possible with Cola di Rienzi, and no illusion was attempted -on the subject. He was supreme in all things, and it pleased him to -take this dignity to himself. No doubt there was an ambitious purpose -hidden under the external ceremony, which from the outside looked so -much like a dramatic interlude to amuse the people, and a satisfaction -of vanity on his own part. Both these things no doubt had their share, -but they were not all. He made extraordinary preparations for the -success and _éclat_, of what was in reality a _coup d'état_ of the -most extraordinary kind. First of all he fortified himself by the -verdict of all the learned lawyers in Rome, to whom he submitted the -question whether the Roman people had the right to resume into their -own hands, and exercise, the authority which had been used by tyrants -in the name of the city--a question to which there could be but one -answer, by acclamation. These rights had always been claimed as -absolute and supreme by whatsoever leaders the people of Rome had -permitted to speak for them, or whom, more truly, they had followed -like sheep. Twenty years before, as we have seen, they had been by way -of conferring the crown of the Empire upon Louis of Bavaria. It was a -pretension usually crushed in its birth as even Il Bavaro did by -receiving the same crown a second time from his anti-Pope; but it was -one which had been obstinately held, especially in the disorderly -ranks of Lo Popolo, and by visionaries of all kinds. The Popes had -taken that control out of the hands of Rome and claimed it for the -Church with such success as we have attempted to trace; but that in -one form or another the reigning city of the world had always a right -to this supremacy was held by all. In both cases it had been in a -great degree a visionary and unreal claim, never practically accepted -by the world, and the cause of endless futile struggles to overcome -might with (hypothetical) right. - -Cola however, as we have seen, had as high a conception of those -claims of Rome as Gregory had, or Innocent. He believed that in its -own right the old Imperial race--which was as little Imperial by this -time, as little assured in descent and as devoid of all royal -qualities as any tribe of barbarians--retained still the sway over the -world which had been enforced by the Imperial legions under the -greatest generals in the world. The enthusiasts for this theory have -been able to shut their eyes to all the laws of nature and government, -and with the strangest superstition have clung to the ghost of what -was real only by stress of superior power and force, when all force -had departed out of the hands which were but as painted shadows of the -past. It is strange to conceive by what possible reasoning a -conflicting host of mediæval barons of the most mixed blood, this from -the Rhine, that from the south of Italy, as Petrarch describes on -more than one occasion, of no true patrician stock: and the remains of -a constantly subject and enslaved people, never of any account except -in moments of revolution--could be made to occupy the place in the -world which Imperial Rome, the only conqueror, the sole autocrat of -the world, had held. The Popes had another and more feasible claim. -They were the heads of a spiritual Empire, standing by right of their -office between God and the world, with a right (as they believed) to -arbitrate and to ordain, as representatives of heaven; a perfectly -legitimate right, if allowed by those subject to it, or proved by -sufficient evidence. Cola, with a curious twist of intelligence and -meaning, attempted to combine both claims. He was the messenger of the -Holy Ghost as well as the Tribune of the City. Only by the immediate -action of God, as he held, could such a sudden and complete revolution -as that which had put the power into his hands have been accomplished: -therefore he was appointed by God. But he was also the representative -of the people, entrusted by Rome with complete power. The spheres of -these two sublime influences were confused. Sometimes he acted as -inspired by one, sometimes asserted himself as the impersonation of -the other. Knight of the Holy Ghost, he was invested with the white -robes of supernatural purity and right--Tribune of Rome, he held the -mandate of the people and wielded the power which was its birthright. -This was the dazzling, bewildering position and supremacy which he was -now to claim before the world. - -He had invited all the States of Italy to send deputations of their -citizens to Rome, and the invitation had been largely accepted. From -Florence, Sienna, Perugia, and many other lesser cities, the -representatives of the people came to swell his train. The kings of -France and England made answer by letter in tones of amity; from -Germany Louis of Bavaria hailed the Tribune in friendly terms, -requesting his intercession with the Pope. The Venetians, and "Messer -Luchino il granne tyranno de Milano" also sent letters; and -ambassadors came from Sicily and from Hungary, both claiming the help -of Rome. Everything was joy and triumph in the city. It was the 1st of -August--a great festival, the day of the _Feriae Augusti_--Feragosto, -according to the Roman _patois_--among the populace which no longer -knew what that meant; but Cola, who was better instructed, had chosen -it because of its significance. He rode to the Lateran in the -afternoon in great splendour. It was in the Church's calendar the -vigil of San Pietro in Vincoli, the anniversary of the chains of the -Apostle, which the Empress Eudoxia had brought with great solemnity to -Rome. "All Rome," says the chronicler, "men and women rushed to St. -John Lateran, taking places under the portico to see the _festa_, and -crowding the streets to behold this triumph. - - "Then came many cavaliers of all nations, barons and - people, and _Foresi_ with breastplates of bells, clothed in - samite, and with banners; they made great festivity, and - there were games and rejoicings, jugglers and buffoons - without end. There sounded the trumpets, here the bagpipes, - and the cannon was fired. Then, accompanied with music, - came the wife of Cola on foot with her mother, and attended - by many ladies. Behind the ladies came young men finely - dressed, carrying the bridle of a horse gilt and - ornamented. There were silver trumpets without number, and - you could see the trumpeters blow. Afterwards came a - multitude of horsemen, the first of whom were from Perugia - and Corneto. Twice they threw off their silver robes.[7] - Then came the Tribune with the Pope's Vicar by his side. - Before the Tribune was seen one who carried a naked sword, - another carried a banner over his head. In his own hand he - bore a steel wand. Many and many nobles were with him. He - was clothed in a long white robe, worked with gold thread. - Between day and night he came out into the Chapel of Pope - Benedict to the _loggia_ and spoke to the people, saying, - 'You know that this night I am to be made knight. When you - come back you shall hear things which will be pleasing to - God in heaven and to men on earth.' He spoke in such a way - that in so great a multitude there was nothing but - gladness, neither horror nor arms. Two men quarrelled and - drew their swords, but were soon persuaded to return them - to their scabbards.... When all had gone away the clergy - celebrated a solemn service, and the Tribune entered into - the Baptistery and bathed himself in the shell[8] of the - Emperor Constantine which was of precious porphyry. - Marvellous is this to say; and much was it talked of among - the people. Then he slept upon a venerable bed, lying in - that place called San Giovanni in Fonte within the circuit - of the columns. There he passed the night, which was a - great wonder. The bed and bedding were new, and as the - Tribune got up from it some part of it fell to the ground - in the silence of the night. In the morning he clothed - himself in scarlet; the sword was girt upon him by Messer - Vico degli Scotti, and the gold spurs of a knight. All - Rome, and every knight among them, had come back to San - Giovanni, also all the barons and strangers, to behold - Messer Cola di Rienzi as a knight." - -The chronicle goes on to tell us after this, how Cola went forth upon -the _loggia_ of Pope Benedict's Chapel, while a solemn mass was being -performed, and addressed the people. - - "And with a great voice he cited, first, 'Messer Papa - Chimente' to return to his See in Rome, and afterwards - cited the College of the Cardinals. Then he cited the - Bavarian. Then he cited the electors of the Empire in - Germany saying, 'I would see what right they have to - elect,' for it was written that after a certain time had - elapsed the election fell to the Romans. When this citation - was made, immediately there appeared letters and couriers - to carry them, who were sent at once on their way. Then he - took the sword and drew it from its scabbard, and waved it - to the three quarters of the world saying, 'This is mine; - and this is mine; and this is mine.' The Vicar of the Pope - was present, who stood like a dumb man and an idiot - stupefied by this new thing. He had his notary with him, - who protested and said that these things were not done by - his consent, and that he had neither any knowledge of them, - nor sanction from the Pope. And he prayed the notary to - draw out his protest publicly. While the notary made this - protest crying out with a loud voice, Messer Cola commanded - the trumpets and all the other instruments to play, that - the voice of the notary might not be heard, the greater - noise swallowing up the lesser." - -These were the news which Cola had promised to let the crowd know when -they returned--news pleasing to God and to men. But there were no -doubt many searchings of heart in the great crowd that filled the -square of the Lateran, straining to hear his voice, as he claimed the -dominion of the world, and called upon Pope and Emperor to appear -before him. No wonder if the Pope's Vicar was "stupefied" and would -take no part in these strange proceedings. It was probably the Notary -of the Commune and not Cola himself who published the citations, and -the authority for them, set forth at length, which were enough to -blanch the cheeks of any Vicar of the Pope. - - "In the sanctuary, that is the Baptistery, of the holy - prince Constantine of glorious memory, we have received the - bath of chivalry; under the conduct of the Holy Spirit, - whose unworthy servant and soldier we are, and for the - glory of the Holy Church our mother, and our lord the Pope, - and also for the happiness and advantage of the holy city - of Rome, of holy Italy and of all Christendom, we, knight - of the Holy Spirit, and as such clothed in white, Nicolas, - severe and clement, liberator of the city, defender of - Italy, friend of mankind, and august Tribune, we who wish - and desire that the gift of the Holy Ghost should be - received and should increase throughout Italy, and intend, - as God enables us, to imitate the bounty and generosity of - ancient princes, we make known: that when we accepted the - dignity of Tribune the Roman people, according to the - opinions of all the judges, lawyers, and learned - authorities, recognised that they possessed still the same - authority, power and jurisdiction over all the earth which - belonged to them in primitive times, and at the period of - their greatest splendour: and they have revoked formally - all the privileges accorded to others against that same - authority, power, and jurisdiction. Therefore in conformity - with those ancient rights and the unlimited power which has - been conferred upon us by the people in a general assembly, - and also by our lord the Pope, as is proved by his bulls - apostolical: and that we may not be ungrateful to the grace - and gift of the Holy Spirit, or avaricious of this same - grace and gift in respect to the Roman people and the - peoples of Italy above mentioned: in order also that the - rights and jurisdiction of the Roman people may not be - lost: we resolve and announce, in virtue of the power and - grace of the Holy Spirit, and in the form most feasible and - just, that the holy city of Rome is the head of the world - and the foundation of Christian faith: and we declare that - all the cities of Italy are free, and we accord and have - accorded to these cities an entire freedom, and from to-day - constitute them Roman citizens, declaring, announcing, and - ordaining that henceforward they should enjoy the - privileges of Roman freedom. - - "In addition, and in virtue of the same puissance and grace - of God, of the Holy Spirit, and of the Roman people, we - assert, recognise and declare that the choice of the Roman - Emperor, the jurisdiction and dominion over all the holy - empire, belongs to the Holy City itself, and to holy Italy - by several causes and reasons; and we make known by this - decree to all prelates, elected emperors, and electors, to - the kings, dukes, princes, counts, and margraves, to the - people, to the corporations, and to all others who - contradict this and exercise any supposed right in respect - to the choice of the empire, that they are called to appear - to explain their pretensions in the Church of the Lateran, - before us and the other commissioners of our lord the Pope - between this and Pentecost of next year, and that after - that time we shall proceed according to our rights and the - inspiration of the Holy Ghost." - -The instrument is very long drawn out and entangled in its sentences, -but the claim set forth in it is very clear, and arrogant as that of -any Forged Decretals or Papal Bull. Its tone makes every pretension of -the Popes sound humble, and every assertion of their power reasonable. -But there is no reason to doubt that it was perfectly sincere. Rome -was a word which went to the heads of every one connected with that -wonderful city. Nothing was too great for her; no exaltation too high. -To transfer the election of the Emperor from the great German princes -to the populace of Rome, fickle and ignorant, led by whoever came -uppermost, was a fantastic imagination, which it is almost impossible -to believe any sane man could entertain. Yet Cola thought it just and -true, the only thing to be done in order to turn earth into a sort of -heaven; and Petrarch, a more prudent man, thought the same. To the -poet Cola's enterprise was the hope of Italy and of the world: and it -was at this moment, when the Tribune was in the full flush of his -triumph, that Petrarch addressed to him, besides a promise of a poem -supposed to be fulfilled in the _Spirito Gentil_, a long letter, -_Esortatoria_, in which he exhorts him to pursue the "happy success" -of his "most glorious undertaking," by sobriety and modesty it is -true, but also by gladness and triumph, in order that the city "chosen -by all the world as the seat of empire," should not relapse into -slavery. "Rome, queen of cities, lady of the world, head of the -empire, seat of the great Pontiff," her claim to dominion was not -doubted by those strange enthusiasts. She was an abstraction, an ideal -wisdom and power personified--not even in a race, not in a great man -or men, but in the city, and that ever wavering tumultuous voice of -the populace, blown hither and thither by every wind. And Cola -believed himself to hold in his hands the fortunes and interests of -Christendom entire, the dominion of the whole world. No enthusiasm, no -delusion, could be more extraordinary. - -The ceremonies of August did not finish with this. Another prodigious -ceremonial was celebrated on the day of the Assumption of the Virgin, -the fifteenth of that month, also a great Roman holiday. On this day -there was once more a great function in the Church of the Lateran. The -Pope's Vicar refused to preside, awaiting in the meantime orders from -headquarters. But this did not arrest these curious proceedings. This -time it was the coronation of the Tribune that was in question. He had -made himself a knight, and even had invented an order for himself, the -order of those "Clothed in White," the Knights of the Holy Spirit. Now -he was to be crowned according to his fashion. The chronicler of the -life of Cola, however, takes no notice of this ceremony. It was begun -by the Prior of St. John Lateran, who advanced to the Tribune and gave -him a crown of oak-leaves, with the words, "Take this oaken crown -because thou hast delivered the citizens from death." After him came -the Prior of St. Peter's with a crown of ivy, saying, "Take this ivy -because thou hast loved religion." The Dean of St. Paul's came next -with a crown of myrtle, "Because thou hast done thy duty and preserved -justice, and hast hated bribes." The Prior of St. Lorenzo brought a -crown of laurel, he of Sta. Maria Maggiore one of olive, with the not -very suitable address, "Take this, man of humble mind, because in thee -humility has overcome pride." Finally the Prior of the hospital of -Santo Spirito presented Cola with a silver crown and a sceptre, -saying, "Illustrious Tribune, receive this crown and sceptre, the -gifts of the Holy Ghost, along with the spiritual crown." This, one -would suppose, must have been an interpolation; for Goffredo degli -Scotti, who had belted on his sword as a knight, was present with -another silver crown, given by the people of Rome, which was -surmounted by a cross, and which was presented to Cola with the words: -"Illustrious Tribune, receive this: exercise justice, and give us -freedom and peace." - -The reader will be tempted to imagine that Cola must have been weighed -down by this pyramid of wreaths, like a French schoolboy in his moment -of triumph. But in the midst of all these glorious surroundings his -dramatic imagination had conceived a telling way of getting rid of -them. By his side stood a man very poorly dressed and carrying a -sword, with which he took off in succession every crown as it was -placed upon the Tribune's head, "in sign of humility and because the -Roman Emperors had to endure every incivility addressed to them in the -day of their triumph." We find, however, the beggar man with all the -crowns spitted upon his sword, a ridiculous rather than an expressive -figure. The last of all, the silver crown, remained on the Tribune's -brows, the Archbishop of Naples having the courtly inspiration of -interposing when the ragged attendant would have taken it. All the -different wreaths had classical or Scriptural meanings. They were made -from the plants that grew wild about the Arch of Constantine; -everything was symbolical, mystic--the seven gifts of the Spirit; and -all pervaded by that fantastic mixture of the old and the new, of -which the world was then full. - -After this final assertion of his greatness Cola made a speech to the -people confirming the assertions and high-flown pretensions of his -former proclamation, and forbidding any emperor, king, or prince -whatsoever, to touch the sacred soil of Italy without the consent of -the Pope and the Roman people. He seems to have concluded by -forbidding the use of the names of Guelf and Ghibelline--an admirable -rule could it have been carried out. - -While all Rome was thus swarming in the streets, filling up every -available inch of space under the porticoes and in the square to see -this great sight, a certain holy monk, much esteemed by the people, -was found weeping and praying in one of the chapels of Sta. Maria -Maggiore, while the Tribune in all his state was receiving crowns and -homage. One of Cola's domestic priests, who officiated in the private -chapel at the Capitol, asked Fra Guglielmo why in the midst of so much -rejoicing he alone was sorrowful. "Thy master," said the monk, "has -fallen from heaven to-day! Oh that such pride should have entered into -his soul! With the help of the Holy Spirit he has driven the tyrants -out of Rome without striking a blow, he has been raised to the dignity -of a Tribune, and all the towns and all the lords of Italy have done -him honour. Why is he so proud and so ungrateful towards the Most -High, and why does he dare in an insolent address to compare himself -to his Creator? Say to thy master that nothing will expiate such a -crime but tears of penitence." Thus it will be seen that there were -checks, very soon apparent, to the full flood of enthusiasm and faith -with which the Tribune had been received. - -Meanwhile there remained, outside of all these triumphs and rejoicings -and the immense self-assertion of the man who in the name of Rome -claimed a sort of universal dominion--a strong band of nobles still in -possession of their castles and strongholds round the city, grimly -watching the progress of affairs, and no doubt waiting the moment when -the upstart who thus had pranked himself in all the finery and the -follies of royalty, should take that step too far which is always to -be expected and which should decide his fate. No doubt to old Stefano -Colonna, with all his knowledge of men, this end would seem coming on -very surely when he heard of, or perhaps witnessed, the melodrama of -the knighthood, the farce of the coronation. Cola had been forced to -take advantage of the services of these barons, even though he hated -them. He had put an Orsini at the head of his troops against the -Præfect Giovanni di Vico. He appointed Janni Colonna, his former -patron, who had laughed at him so heartily, to lead the expedition -against the Gaetani. Nowhere, it would seem, among the men who were -_popolari_, of the people, was the ghost of a general to be found. The -nobles had been at first banished from Rome; but their good behaviour -in that great matter of the safety of the roads, or else the -difficulty of acting against them individually, and the advice of -Petrarch and others who advised great caution, had no doubt tacitly -broken this sentence, and permitted their return. Many of them were -certainly in Rome, going and coming, though none held any office; and -we are told that old Stefano was present at the great dinner after -Cola made himself a knight. Perhaps comments were made upon those -ceremonies which reached the ears of the Tribune; perhaps there were -whispers of growing impatience in the other party, or hints of plots -among them. Or perhaps Cola, having exhausted all other methods of -giving to himself and Rome a new sensation, bethought himself of these -enemies of the Republic, always no doubt desirous of acting against -her, whether they did so openly or not. His proceedings had now become -so histrionic that it is permissible to surmise a motive which -otherwise would have been unworthy a man of his genius and natural -power; and in face of the curious tragi-comedy which followed it is -difficult not to suspect something of the kind. One day in September -the Tribune invited a number of the nobles to a great dinner. The list -given in the _Vita_ includes the noblest names in Rome. Stefano -Colonna with three of his sons--Agapito and "the prosperous youth" -Janni (grandson) and Stefanello, the eldest lay member of the family, -along with a number of the Orsini, Luca de Savelli, the Conte di -Vertolle, and several others. The feast would seem to have begun with -apparent cordiality and that strained politeness and watchfulness on -the part of the guests, which has distinguished many fatal banquets -in which every man mistrusted his neighbour. Cola had done nothing as -yet to warrant any downright suspicion of treachery, but most likely -the barons had an evil conscience, and it might have been observed -that the Tribune's courtesy also was strained. - - "Towards evening the _popolari_ who were among the guests - began to talk of the defects of the nobles, and the - goodness of the Tribune. Then Messer Stefano the elder - began a question, which was best in a Ruler of the people, - to be prodigal or economical? A great discussion arose upon - this, and at the last Messer Stefano took up a corner of - Cola's robe, and said, 'To thee, Tribune, it would be more - suitable to wear an honest costume of cloth, than this - pompous habit,' and saying this he showed the corner of the - robe. When Cola heard this he was troubled. He called for - the guard and had them all arrested. Messer Stefano the - veteran was placed in an adjoining hall, where he remained - all night without any bed, pacing about the room, and - knocking at the door prayed the guards to free him; but the - guards would not listen to him. Then daylight appeared. The - Tribune deliberated whether he should not cut off their - heads, in order to liberate completely the people of Rome. - He gave orders that the _Parlatorio_ should be hung with - red and white cloth, which was the signal of execution. - Then the great bell was rung and the people gathered to the - Capitol. He sent to each of the prisoners a confessor, one - of the Minor friars, that they might rise up to repentance - and receive the body of Christ. When the Barons became - aware of all these preparations and heard the great bell - ringing, they were so frozen with fear that they could not - speak. Most of them humbled themselves and made their - penitence, and received the communion. Messer Rainallo - degli Orsini and some others, because they had in the - morning eaten fresh figs, could not receive, and Messer - Stefano Colonna would not confess, nor communicate, saying - that he was not ready, and had not set his affairs in - order. - - "In the meanwhile, several of the citizens, considering the - judgment that was about to be made, used many arguments to - prevent it in soothing and peaceful words. At last the - Tribune rose from the council and broke up the debate. It - was now the hour of Tierce. The Barons as condemned persons - came down sadly into the _Parlatorio_. The trumpets sounded - as if for their execution, and they were ranged in face of - the people. Then the Tribune changed his purpose, ascended - the platform, and made a beautiful sermon. He repeated the - Pater Noster, that part which says 'Forgive us our debts.' - Then he pardoned the Barons and said that he wished them to - be in the service of the people, and made peace between - them and the people. One by one they bowed their heads to - the people. After this their offices were restored to them, - and to each was given a beautiful robe trimmed with vair: - and a new Gonfalon was made with wheatears in gold. Then he - made them dine with him and afterwards rode through the - city, leading them with him; and then let them go freely on - their way. This that was done much displeased all discreet - persons who said, 'He has lighted a fire and flame which he - will not be able to put out.'" - -"And I," adds the chronicler, "said this proverb," which was by no -means a decorous one: its meaning was that it was useless to make a -smell of gunpowder and shoot no one. - -The Tribune's dramatic instincts had gone too far. He had indeed -produced a thrilling sensation, a moment of extreme and terrible -tragic apprehension; but he forgot that he was playing with men, not -puppets, and that the mercy thus accorded after they had been brought -through the bitterness of death, was not likely to be received as a -generous boon by these shamed and outraged patricians, who were as -much insulted by his mercy as they were injured by his fictitious -condemnation. They must have followed him in that ride through Rome -with hearts burning within them, the furred mantles which were his -gifts like badges of shame upon their shoulders: and each made his -way, as soon as they were free, outside the gates to their own -castles, with fury in their hearts. These men were not of the kind -upon whom so tragic a jest could be played. Old Stefano and his sons, -having suffered the further indignity of being created by that rascal -multitude patricians and consuls, went off to their impregnable -Palestrina, and the Orsini to Marino, an equally strong place. -Henceforward there was no peace possible between the Tribune and the -nobles of Rome. "He drew back from the accomplishment of his -treachery," says his modern biographer Papencordt. Did he ever intend -to do more than was done? It seems to us very doubtful. He was a man -of sensations, and loved a thrilling scene, which he certainly -secured. He humiliated his foes to the very dust, and made a situation -at which all Rome held its breath: the tribunal draped as for a -sentence of death, the confessor at every man's elbow, the populace -solemnly assembled to see the tyrants die, while all the while the -robes with their border of royal minever were laid ready, and the -banners worked with ears of wheat. There is a touch almost of the -mountebank in those last details. Petrarch, it is curious to note, -disapproved, not of the trap laid for the nobles, or the circumstances -of the drama, but of the failure of Cola to take advantage of such an -opportunity, "an occasion such as fortune never gave to an Emperor," -when he might have cut off at a single blow the enemies of freedom. -Perhaps the poet was right: but yet Cola in his folly would have been -a worse man if he had been a wiser one. As it was his dramatic -instinct was his ruin. - -The barons went off _fra denti minacciavano_, swearing through their -teeth, and it was not long before the Orsini, who had been, up to that -tragic banquet, his friends and supporters, had entrenched themselves -in Marino, and were in full rebellion, resuming all the ancient -customs of their race, and ravaging the Campagna to the very gates of -Rome. It was the time of the vintage, which for once it had seemed -likely would be made in peace that first year of the republic, if -never before. But already the spell of the short-lived peace was -broken, and once more the raiders were abroad, carrying terror and -loss to all the surrounding country. "So great was the folly of the -Tribune," his primitive biographer resumes, losing patience, that -instead of following the rebels at once to their lair, he gave them -time to fortify Marino and set everything in order for defence, so -that it proved a hard task when at last he bestirred himself and went -against the stronghold with an army of unusual strength, chiefly -raised among the irritated Romans themselves, with which he spoiled -all the surrounding country, took a smaller fortress belonging to the -Orsini, and so alarmed them that they offered to surrender on -condition of having their safety secured. Cola would make no -conditions, but he did not succeed in taking Marino, being urgently -called back to Rome to meet the Legate of the Pope, who had been sent -to deal with him with the severest threats and reprimands. The Tribune -upon this returned to the city, raising the siege of Marino; and -instantly on his arrival gave orders for the destruction of the palace -of the Orsini, near the Castle of St. Angelo. He then went on to St. -Peter's, where with his usual love of costume, and in the strange -vanity which more and more took possession of him, he took from the -treasury of the Chief of the Apostles the dalmatic usually worn by the -Emperors during the ceremonies of their coronation, a garment of great -price, "all embroidered," says the chronicler, "with small pearls." -This he put on over his armour, and so equipped, and with the silver -crown on his head which was his distinction as Tribune, and the -glittering steel sceptre in his hand, went to the Papal palace, where -the Legate awaited him. "Terrible and fantastic was his appearance," -says his biographer; and he was in no mood to receive the Legate as so -high a functionary expected. "You have come to see us--what is your -pleasure?" he said. The Legate replied: "I have much to say to you -from the Pope." When the Tribune heard these words, he spoke out -loudly in a high voice, "What have you to say?" but when the Legate -heard this rampant reply, he stood astonished and was silent; then the -Tribune turned his back upon him. - -_Rampagnosa_ indeed was his air and manner, touched with that madness -which the gods send to those whom they would destroy; and _fantastico_ -the appearance of the leader, unaccustomed to arms, with the Emperor's -splendid mantle over the dust of the road, and the pacific simplicity -of the little civic crown over his steel cap. Probably the stately -Cardinal-Legate, accustomed to princes and statesmen, thought the -Tribune mad; he must have been partially so at least, in the -excitement of his first campaign, and the rising tide of his -self-confidence, and the hurry and commotion of fate. - -In the meantime, however, Marino was not taken, and another fire of -rebellion had broken out among the Colonnas, who were now known to be -making great preparations for a descent upon Rome. The Legate had -retired to Monte Fiascone, whence he opened a correspondence with both -divisions of these rebel nobles; and a formidable party was thus -organised, from one point to another, against Rome: while the city -itself began to send forth secret messengers on all sides, the -populace changing its mind as usual, while the wealthy citizens were -alarmed by their isolation, or offended by the arrogance of their -chief. Cola, too, by this time had begun, it would seem, to feel in -his sensitive person the reaction of so much excitement and -exaltation, and was for a short time ill and miserable, feeling the -horror of the gathering tempest which began to rise round him on every -side. But he was reinvigorated by various successes in Rome itself and -by the still greater encouragement given by the arrival of the first -rebel, the Lord of Viterbo, Giovanni di Vico, who came in the guise of -friendship and with offers of aid, but at the same time with airs of -importance and pretension which Cola did not approve. He was promptly -secured by the usual but too easy method of an invitation to a -banquet, a snare into which the Roman nobles seem to have fallen with -much readiness, and was imprisoned. Then Cola, fully restored to -himself, prepared to meet his foes. It was winter weather, a dark and -cold November, when the rumour rose that the Colonna were approaching -Rome. Cola called together his army, which had been increased by some -bands of allies from neighbouring cities, and was headed by several -Orsini of another branch of the house. He had already encouraged the -people by public addresses, in which he related the appearance to him -first of St. Martin, who told him to have no fear, and secondly of St. -Boniface, who declared himself the enemy of the Colonna, who wronged -the Church of God. Such visions show something of the disturbed -condition of the Tribune's mind vainly trying to strengthen himself in -a confidence which he did not feel. On the twentieth of November, in -the gray of the morning, the great bell rang, and the trumpets sounded -for the approach of the enemy: and with his forces divided into three -bands, one under his own command, the others led by Cola and Giordano -Orsini, he set forth to meet the rebels who by the gate of St. Lorenzo -were drawing near to Rome. - -The enemy had no great mind for the battle. They had marched all night -through the bitter rain and cold. Old Stefano had been attacked by -fever and was trembling like a leaf. Agapito, his nephew, had had a -bad dream in which he saw his wife a widow, weeping and tearing her -hair. They arrived before the gate in indifferent heart and with -divided counsels, though there had been information sent them of a -conspiracy within, and that the gate would be opened to them without -any struggle. Stefano Colonna the younger, who was general of the -host, then rode up alone and demanded entrance. "I am a citizen of -Rome. I wish to return to my house. I come in the name of the Buono -Stato," he said. The Captain of the Gate replied with great -simplicity. It is evident that Stefano had called some one by name, -expecting admittance. "The guards to whom you call are not here. The -guard has been changed. I have newly come with my men. You cannot by -any means come in. The gate is locked. Do you not know in what anger -the people are against you for having disturbed the Buono Stato? Do -not you hear the great bell? I pray you for God's sake go away. I wish -you no harm. To show you that you cannot enter here, I throw out the -key." The key, which was useless on the outer side of the gate, fell -into a pool made by the rain: but the noise of its fall startled the -already troubled nerves of the leaders, and they held hasty counsel -what to do. "They deliberated if they could retire with honour," says -the chronicler. It is most curious to hear this parleying, and the -murmur of the army, uneasy outside, not knowing what further step to -take, in the miserable November dawn, after their night march. They -had expected to be admitted by treachery, and evidently had not taken -this _contretemps_ into their calculations. "They resolved to retire -with honour," says Papencordt: and for this purpose troop by troop -advanced to the gate, and then turned to retreat: perhaps in obedience -to some punctilio of ancient warfare. The third battalion contained -the pride of the army (_li pruodi, e le bene a cavallo, e tutta la -fortezza_), young Janni Colonna, at its head. One portion of Cola's -army had by this time reached the same spot inside, and were eager for -a sortie, but could not open the gate in the usual manner, the key -being lost; they therefore broke open one portion of it with great -clamour and noise. The right side opened, the left remained closed. - - "Janni Colonna approached the gate, hearing the noise - within, and considering that there had been no order to - open it, he thought that his friends must have made that - noise, and that they had broken the gate by force. Thus - considering, Janni Colonna quickly crossed the threshold - with his lance in rest, spurring his courser, riding boldly - without precaution. He entered the gate of the city. _Deh_! - how terrified were the people! Before him all the cavalry - in Rome turned to fly. Likewise the Popolo retreated - flying, for the space of half a turn. But not for this did - his friends follow Janni, so that he remained alone there, - as if he had been called to judgment. Then the Romans took - courage, perceiving that he was alone: the greater was his - misfortune. His horse caught its foot in an open cellar - (_grotta_) which was by the left side of the gate, and - threw him, trampling upon him. Janni perceiving his - misfortune, called out to the people for quarter, adjuring - them for God's sake not to strip him of his armour. How can - it be said? He was stripped and struck by three blows and - died. Fonneruglio de Trejo was the first to strike. He - (Janni) was a young man of a good disposition. His fame was - spread through every land. He lay there naked, wounded and - dead, in a heap against the wall of the city within the - gate, his hair all plastered with mud, scarcely to be - recognised. Then was seen a great marvel. The pestilential - and disturbed weather began to clear, the sun shone out, - the sky from being dark and cloudy became serene and gay." - -This, however, was but the first chapter of this dreadful tragedy. And -still greater misery was to come. - - "Stefano della Colonna, among the multitude outside in - front of the gate, demanded anxiously where was his son - Janni, and was answered: 'We know not what he has done or - where he has gone.' Then Stefano began to suspect that he - had gone in at the gate. He therefore spurred his horse and - went on alone, and saw his son lying on the ground - surrounded by many people, between the cellar and the pool - of water. Seeing that, Stefano fearing for himself, turned - back; he went out from the gate and his good sense - abandoned him. He was confounded; the loss of his son - overcame him. He said not a word, but turned back and again - entered the gate, if by any means he might save his son. - When he drew near he saw that his son was dead. The - question now was to save his own life, and he turned back - again sadly. As he went out of the gate, and was passing - under the Tower, a great piece of stone struck him on the - shoulder and his horse on the croup. Then followed lances, - thrown from every side. The wounded horse threw out its - heels, and the rider unable to keep his seat fell to the - ground, when the Popolo rushed upon him in front of the - gate, in that place where the image stands, in the middle - of the road. There he lay naked in sight of the people and - of every one who passed by. He had lost one foot and was - wounded in many places, one terrible blow having struck him - between the nose and the eyes. Janni was wounded only in - the breast and in one of his feet. Then the people flung - themselves forth from the gate furiously without order or - leader, seeking merely whom to kill. They met the young - Cavaliers, foremost of whom was Pietro of Agapito di - Colonna who had been Præfect of Marseilles, and a priest. - He had never used arms till that day. He fell from his - horse and could not recover himself, the ground being so - slippery, but fled into a vineyard close by. Bald he was, - and old, praying for God's sake to be forgiven. But vain - was his prayer. First his money was taken, then his arms, - then his life. He lay in that vineyard naked, dead, bald, - fat--not like a man of war. Near him lay another baron, - Pandolfo of the lords of Belvedere. In a small space lay - twelve of them; prostrate they lay. All the rest of the - army, horsemen as well as footmen, flung their arms from - them here and there, and without order, in great terror, - turned their backs: and there was not one who struck a - blow." - -Thus ended the first attack upon the Tribune--horribly, vilely, with -panic on both sides, and the rage of wild beasts among the victorious -people, not one on either side, except those two murdered Colonnas, -bearing himself like a man. The record of the struggle, so intense in -its brevity, so brutal and terrible, with its background of leaden -skies and falling rain, and the muddy earth upon which both horses and -men slipped and fell, is placed before us like a picture: and the -sudden clearing of the weather, the sun breaking out suddenly upon -those white prostrate figures, white and red with horrible wounds. -There could not be a more appalling scene--amid all the records of -internecine warfare one of the most squalid, unredeemed even by any -feat of arms; for poor young Janni walked into the snare unconscious, -and a blind chance, horrible and unpremeditated, seemed to reign over -all--all but the father, heart-broken, retiring by instinct in the -first discovery of danger, then turning back to save, if it were -possible, his dying boy, who had been so brutally struck down and cut -to pieces. The old father of all, the great Stefano, too old for war, -and trembling with fever, was borne along in the crowd of the flying, -to hide his bereaved head in his old fortress and sternly lament his -children lost. - -Cola, the chronicle says, shared the consternation of the people when -young Janni's noble figure appeared in the opening of the gate. The -Tribune's banner was overturned in the backward rush of the people -before that solitary invader: and he himself, raising his eyes to -heaven, cried out no other word than this: "Ah, God, hast thou -betrayed me?" But when the sudden rush of murder and pursuit was over -he recovered all his dramatic instincts along with his courage. The -silver trumpets were sounded, a wreath of olive was placed upon his -head above the silver crown, he waved his steel wand in the now -brilliant sunshine, and marched into Rome, triumphant--as indeed he -had good reason to be--to the Church of the Ara Coeli, where he -deposited the olive crown and the steel wand before the altar of the -Virgin. "After this," says the indignant chronicler, "he never carried -sceptre again, nor wore crown, nor had a banner borne over his head." -Once more he addressed the people from the _Parlatorio_, with the -intonation of victory in every word. Drawing his sword, he wiped it -with his robe, and said: "I have cut off with this such a head as -neither the Pope nor the Emperor could touch." - -Meanwhile the three dead Colonnas had been carried into Rome to the -chapel of their house in the Ara Coeli. "The Contesse (the -relations, wives and sisters) came, attended by many women tearing -their hair, to wail (_ululare_) over the dead," but Cola had them -driven away and forbade any funeral honours. "If they trouble me any -more about these accursed corpses," he said, "I will have them thrown -into a ditch. They were perjurers--they were not worthy to be buried." -The three dead knights were carried secretly by night to the Church of -San Silvestro, and buried by the monks _senza ululato_, without any -lament made over them. Thus ended the noble Colonna, the hopes of the -house--and with them, though he knew it not, the extravagant hopes and -miraculous good fortune of Cola di Rienzi, which began to fall from -that day. - -We have dwelt upon the details of this history, because there is -scarcely any other which gives so clear a vision of the streets and -palaces, the rushing of the Popolo, the uncertain counsels of the -nobles, the mingled temerity and panic which prevailed among all on -both sides. The confusion is extraordinary; the ignorant crowd with -its enthusiast leader scarcely less ignorant of men and the just -course of human affairs, who defied with a light heart the greatest -powers in Christendom, and retreated before the terrific vision of one -young warrior in the gate: the nobles with their army, which sought -only how to get away again without disgrace when they found themselves -in front of a defended gate, and fled before a rabble sortie, of men -as much frightened as themselves, and brave only when pursuing another -demoralised troop. Whether we look to one side or the other, the -effect is equally vivid. The revelation, at first so romantic and -splendid, if always fantastic and theatrical, falls now into a squalid -horror and mad brag, and cowardice, and fury, in which the spectacle -of the Tribune, wiping the sword guiltless of blood upon his mantle, -reaches perhaps the highest point of tragic ridicule: while all the -chivalry of Rome galloping along the muddy roads to their strongholds, -flying before a civic mob, is its lowest point of humiliating misery. -It seems almost impossible to believe that the best blood and highest -names of Italy, as well as on the other side its most visionary -aspirations, should come to such degrading confusion and downfall. - - [Illustration: PORTA DEL POPOLO (FLAMINIAN GATE).] - -FOOTNOTES: - -[6] A necessary distinction when there were so many of the same -name--_i.e._, Pietro the son of Agapito, nephew of old Stefano. - -[7] Changed their dresses, throwing those which they took off among -the people. - -[8] The bath, or baptismal vase of Constantine (so-called) here -referred to, still stands in the Baptistery of the Lateran. - - - - - [Illustration: THEATRE OF MARCELLUS.] - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -DECLINE AND FALL. - - -After so strange and so complete a victory over one party, had the -Tribune pushed his advantage, and gone against the other with all the -prestige of his triumph, he would in all probability have ended the -resistance of the nobles altogether. But he did not do this. He had no -desire for any more fighting. It is supposed, with insufficient reason -we think, that personally he was a coward. What is more likely is that -so sensitive and nervous a man (to use the jargon of our own times) -must have suffered, as any fine temperament would have done, from that -scene at the gate of San Lorenzo, and poor young Janni Colonna lying -in his blood; and that when he declared "he would draw his sword no -more," he did so with a sincere disgust for all such brutal methods. -His own ways of convincing people were by argument and elocution, and -pictures on the walls, which, if they did not convince, did nobody any -harm. The next scene, however, which he prepared for his audience does -not look much like the horror for which we have given him credit. He -had informed his followers before he first set out against the nobles -that he was taking his son with him--something in the tone with which -the presence of a Prince Imperial might be proclaimed to an army; and -we now find the young Lorenzo placed still more in the foreground. The -day after that dreadful victory Cola called together the militia of -the city by the most touching argument. "Come with me," he said, "and -afterwards you shall have your pay." They turned out accordingly to -accompany him, wondering, but not knowing what he had in his mind. - - "The trumpets sounded at the place where the fight - (_sconfitto_) had taken place. No one knew what was to be - done there. He went with his son to the very spot where - Stefano Colonna had died. There was still there a little - pool of water. Cola made his son dismount and threw over - him the water which was still tinged with the blood of - Stefano, and said to him: 'Be thou a Knight of Victory.' - All around wondered and were stupefied. Then he gave orders - that all the commanders should strike his son on the - shoulder with their swords. This done he returned to the - Capitol, and said: 'Go your ways. We have done a common - work. All our sires were Romans, the country expects that - we should fight for her.' When this was said the minds of - the people were much exercised, and some would never bear - arms again. Then the Tribune began to be greatly hated, and - people began to talk among themselves of his arrogance - which was not small." - -This grotesque and horrible ceremony seems to have done Cola more harm -than all that had gone before. The leader of a revolution should have -no sons. The excellent instinct of providing for his family after him, -and making himself a stepping stone for his children, though -proceeding from "what is best within the soul," has spoiled many a -history. Cola di Rienzi was a most conspicuous and might have been a -great man: but Rienzo di Cola, which would have been his son's natural -name, was nobody, and is never heard of after this terrible baptism of -blood, so abhorrent to every natural and generous impulse. Did the -gazers in the streets see the specks of red on young Lorenzo's dress -as he rode along through the city from the Tiburtine gate, and through -the Forum to the Capitol, where all the train was dismissed so -summarily? As the Cavallerotti, the better part of the gathering, -turned their horses and rode away offended, no doubt the news ran -through quarter after quarter with them. The blood of Stefanello, the -heir of great Colonna! And thoughts of the old man desolate, and of -young Janni so brave and gay, would come into many a mind. They might -be tyrants, but they were familiar Roman faces, known to all, and with -some reason to be proud, if proud they were; not like this upstart, -who called honest men away from their own concerns to do honour to his -low-born son, and sent them packing about their business afterwards -without so much as a dinner to celebrate the new knight! - -This was all in November, the 20th and 21st: and it was on the 20th of -May that Cola had received his election upon the Capitol and been -proclaimed master of the destinies of the universe, by inference, as -master of Rome. Six months, no more, crammed full of gorgeous pageants -and exciting events. Then, notwithstanding the extraordinary character -of his revolution, he had been believed in, and encouraged by all -around. He had received the sanction of the Pope, the friendly -congratulations of the great Italian towns, and above all the -applause, enthusiastic and overflowing, of Petrarch the greatest of -living poets. By degrees all these sympathies and applauses had fallen -from him. Florence and the other great cities had withdrawn their -friendship, the Pope had cancelled his commission, the Pope's Vicar -had left the Tribune's side. The more his vanity and self-admiration -grew, the more his friends had fallen from him. That very day--the -day after the defeat of the Colonna, before the news could have -reached any one at a distance, Petrarch on his way to Italy, partly -brought back thither by anxiety about his friend, received from -another friend a copy of one of the arrogant and extraordinary letters -which Cola was sending about the world, and read and re-read it and -was stupefied. "What answer can be made to it? I know not," he cries. -"I see that fate pursues the country, and on whatever side I turn, I -find subjects of grief and trouble. If Rome is ruined what hope -remains for Italy? and if Italy is degraded what will become of me? -What can I offer but tears?" A few days later, arrived at Genoa, the -poet wrote to Rienzi himself in reproof and sorrow: - - [Illustration: AQUA FELICE. - _To face page_ 462.] - - "Often, I confess it, I have had occasion upon thy account - to repeat with immense joy what Cicero puts in the mouth of - Scipio Africanus:--'What is this great and delightful sound - that comes to my ears?' And certainly nothing could be - better applied to the splendour of thy name and to the - frequent and joyful account of thy doings: and it was - indeed good to my heart to speak to thee in that - exhortation, full of thy praise and of encouragements to - continue, which I sent thee. _Deh!_ do nothing, I conjure - thee, to make me now ask, whence is this great and fatal - rumour which strikes my ear so painfully? Take care, I - beseech thee, not thyself to soil thine own splendid fame. - No man in the world except thyself can shake the - foundations of the edifice thou hast constructed; but that - which thou hast founded thou canst ruin: for to destroy his - own proper work no man is so able as the architect. You - know the road by which you have risen to glory: if you turn - back you shall soon find yourself in the lowest place; and - going down is naturally the quicker.... I was hastening to - you and with all my heart: but I turn upon the way. Other - than what you were, I would not see you. Adieu, Rome, to - thee also adieu, if that is true which I have heard. Rather - than come to thee I would go to the Indies, to the end of - the world.... Oh, how ill the beginning agrees with the - end! Oh, miserable ears of mine that, accustomed to the - sound of glory, do not know how to bear such announcements - of shame! But may not these be lies and my words false? Oh - that it might be so! How glad should I be to confess my - error!... If thou art indeed so little careful of thy fame, - think at least of mine. You well know by what tremendous - tempest I am threatened, how many are the crowd of - faultfinders ready to ruin me. While there is still time - put your mind to it, be vigilant, look well to what you do, - guide yourself continually by good counsel, consider with - yourself, not deceiving yourself, what you are, what you - were, from whence you have come, and to what point, without - detriment to the public weal, you can attain: how to - attire yourself, what name to assume, what hopes to awaken, - and of what doctrine to make open confession; understanding - always that not Lord, but solely Minister, you are of the - Republic." - -The share which Petrarch thus takes to himself in Cola's fortunes may -seem exaggerated; but it must be remembered that the Colonna were his -chief patrons and friends, that it was under their protecting shadow -that he had risen to fame, and that his warm friendship for Rienzi had -already deeply affected the terms of his relationship with them. That -relationship had come to a positive breach so far as his most powerful -protector, the Cardinal Giovanni, was concerned, a breach of feeling -on one side as well as of protection on the other. His letter to the -Cardinal after this catastrophe, condoling with him upon the death of -his brothers, is one of the coldest of compositions, very unlike the -warm and eager affection of old, and consisting chiefly of elaborate -apologies for not having written. The poet had completely committed -himself in respect to the Tribune; he had hailed his advent in the -most enthusiastic terms, he had proclaimed him the hope of Italy, he -had staked his own reputation upon his friend's disinterestedness and -patriotism; therefore this downfall with all its humiliating -circumstances, the vanities and self-intoxication which had brought it -about, were intolerable to Petrarch: his own credit as well as Cola's -was concerned. He had been so rash as to answer for the Tribune in all -quarters, to pledge his own judgment, his power of understanding men, -almost his honour, on Cola's behalf; and to be proved so wrong, so -little capable of estimating justly the man whom he believed himself -to know so well, was bitterness unspeakable to him. - -The interest of his tragic disappointment and sorrow is at the same -time enhanced by the fact, that the other party to this dreadful -quarrel had been the constant objects of the poet's eulogies and -enthusiasm. It is to Petrarch that we owe most of our knowledge of -the Colonna family at this remarkable period of a long history which -is filled with the oft-repeated incidents of an endless struggle for -power, either with the rebellious Romans themselves, or with the other -little less great family of the Orsini who, unfortunately for -themselves, had no Petrarch to bring them fully into the light of day. -The many allusions in Petrarch's letters, his reminiscences of the -ample and gracious household, all so friendly, and caressing, all of -one mind as to his own poetical qualities, and anxious to heap honours -upon him, light up for us the face of the much complicated story, and -give interest to many an elaborate poetical or philosophical -disquisition. Especially the figure of the father, the old Stefano -with his seven sons and the innumerable tribe of nephews and cousins, -not to say grandsons, still more cherished, who surrounded him--rises -clear, magnanimous, out of the disturbed and stormy landscape. His -brief appearances in the chronicle which we have quoted, with a keen -brief speech here and there, imperative, in strong accents of common -sense as well as of power, add a touch of energetic life to the many -anecdotes and descriptions of a more elaborate kind. And the poet -would seem never to have failed in his admiration for the old -Magnanimo. At an earlier period he had described in several letters to -the son Giovanni, the Cardinal, the reception given to him at Rome, -and conversations, some of them very remarkable. One scene above all, -of which Petrarch reminds Stefano himself in his bereavement, gives us -a most touching picture of the noble old man. - - "One day at sunset you and I alone were walking by that - spacious way which leads from your house to the Capitol, - when we paused at that point where it is crossed by the - other road by which on one hand you ascend to the Arch of - Camillus, and on the other go down to the Tiber: we paused - there without interruption from any and talked together of - the condition of your house and family, which, often - assailed by the enmity of strangers, was at that time moved - by grievous internal commotions:--when the discourse fell - upon one of your sons with whom, more by the work of - scandal-mongers than by paternal resentment, you were - angry, and by your goodness it was given to me, what many - others had not been able to obtain, to persuade you to - receive him again to your good grace. After you had - lamented his faults to me, changing your aspect all at once - you said (I remember not only the substance of your - discourse but the very words). 'This son of mine, thy - friend, whom, thanks to thee, I will now receive again with - paternal affection, has vomited forth words concerning my - old age, of which it is best to be silent; but since I - cannot refuse you, let us put a stone over the past and let - a full amnesty, as people say, be conceded. From my lips I - promise thee, not another word shall be heard. - - "'One thing I will tell you, that you may make perpetual - remembrance of it. It is made a reproach to my old age that - I am mixed up with warlike factions more than is becoming, - and more than there is any occasion, and that thus I will - leave to my sons an inheritance of peril and hate. But as - God is true, I desire you to believe that for love of peace - alone I allow myself to be drawn into war. Whether it be - the effect of my extreme old age which chills and enfeebles - the spirit in this already stony bosom, or whether it - proceeds from my long observation of human affairs, it is - certain that more than others I am greedy of repose and - peace. But fixed and immovable as is my resolution never to - shrink from trouble though I may prefer a settled and - tranquil life, I find it better, since fate compels me, to - go down to the sepulchre fighting, than to submit, old as I - am, to servitude. And for what you say of my heirs I have - but one thing to reply. Listen well, and fix my words in - your mind. God grant that I may leave my inheritance to my - sons. But all in opposition to my desires are the decrees - of fate (the words were said with tears): contrary to the - order of nature it is I who shall be the heir of all my - sons.' And thus saying, your eyes swollen with tears, you - turned away." - -At the corner where the Corso is crossed by the street which borders -the Forum of Trajan, let whoso will pause amid the bustle of modern -traffic and think for a moment of those two figures standing together -talking, "without interruption from any one," in the middle of that -open space, while the long level rays of the sunset streamed upon them -from beyond the Flaminian gate. Was there some great popular meeting -at the Capitol which had cleared the streets, the hum of voices rising -on the height, but all quiet here at this dangerous, glorious hour, -when fever is abroad and the women and children are all indoors? "I -made light of it, I confess," says Petrarch, though he acknowledges -that he told the story of this dreadful presentiment to the Cardinal, -who, sighing, exclaimed, "Would to God that my father's prediction may -not come true!" But old Stefano with his weight of years upon him, and -his front like Jove, turned away sighing, stroking his venerable -beard, unmoved by the poet's reassurances, with that terrible -conviction in his heart. They were all young and he old: daring, -careless young men, laughing at that same Cola of the little -_albergo_, the son of the wine-shop, who said he was to be an emperor. -But the shadow on the grandsire's heart was one of those which events -cast before them. Young Janni was to go among the first, the brave boy -who ought to have been heir of all. To him, too, his grandfather, the -great Stefano, the head of the full house, was to be heir. - -The terrible event of the Porta di San Lorenzo shows in still darker -colours when we look at it closer. Stefano, the son of Stefano, and -Janni his son, are the two most conspicuous names: but there were -more. Camillo, _figlio naturale, morto il 20 November 1347, -all'assalto di Porta San Lorenzo_; Pietro, _figlio naturale, rimase -occiso a Porta San Lorenzo_. Giovanni of Agapito, Pietro of Agapito, -nephews of old Stefano, _morti nell'assalto di Porta San Lorenzo_. -Seven in all were the scions of Colonna who ended their life that -horrible November morning in the mud and rain; or more dreadful still -under the morning sun which broke out so suddenly, showing those white -dreadful forms all stripped and abandoned, upon the fatal way. It was -little wonder if between the house of Colonna and the upstart Cola no -peace should ever be possible after a lost battle so fatal and so -humiliating to the race. - -Perhaps after the first moment of terrible joy and relief to find -himself uninjured, and his enemies so deeply punished, compunction -seized the sensitive mind of Cola: or perhaps he was alarmed by the -displeasure of the Pope, his abandonment by all his friends, and the -solemn adjuration of Petrarch. It is certain that after this he -dropped many of his pretensions, subdued the fantastic arrogance of -his titles and superscription, gave up his claim to elect emperors and -preside over the fortunes of the world, and began to devote himself -with humility to the government of the city which had fallen into -something of its old disorderliness within the walls; while outside -there was again, as of old, no security at all. The rebel barons had -resumed their turbulent sway, the robbers reappeared in all their old -coverts; and once again every road to Rome was as unsafe as that on -which the traveller of old fell among thieves. Cola, Knight and -Lieutenant of our Lord the Pope, now headed his proclamations, instead -of Nicolas, severe and clement. His crown of silver and sceptre of -steel, fantastic emblems, were hung up before the shrine of Our Lady -in the Ara Coeli, and everything about him was toned down into -gravity. By this means he kept up a semblance of peace, and replaced -the Buono Stato in its visionary shrine. But Cola had gone too far, -and lost the confidence of the people too completely to rise again. -His very humility would no doubt be against him, showing the weakness -which a man unsupported on any side should perhaps have been bold -enough to defy, hardihood being now his only chance in face of so many -assailants. Pope Clement thundered against him from Avignon; the -nobles lay in Palestrina and Marino, and many a smaller fortress -besides, irreconcilable, watching every opportunity of assailing him. -The country was once more devastated all round Rome, provisions short, -corn dear, and funds failing as well as authority and respect. And -Cola's heart had failed him along with his prosperity. He had bad -dreams; he himself tells the story of this moral downfall with a -forlorn attempt to show that it was not, after all, his visible -enemies, or the power of men, which had cast him down. - - "After my triumph over the Colonna," he writes, "just when - my dominion seemed strongest, my stoutness of heart was - taken from me, and I was seized by visionary terrors. Night - after night awakened by visions and dreams I cried out, - 'The Capitol is falling,' or 'The enemy comes!' For some - time an owl alighted every night on the summit of the - Capitol, and though chased away by my servants always came - back again. For twelve nights this took my sleep and all - quiet of mind from me. It was thus that dreams and - nightbirds tormented one who had not been afraid of the - fury of the Roman nobles, nor terrified by armies of armed - men." - -The brag was a forlorn one, but it was all of which the fallen Tribune -was now capable. Cola received back the Vicar of the Pope, who -probably was not without some affection for his old triumphant -colleague, with gladness and humility, and seated that representative -of ecclesiastical authority beside himself in his chair of judgment, -before which he no longer summoned the princes and great ones of the -earth. The end came in an unexpected way, of which the writer of the -_Vita_ gives the popular account: it is a little different from that -of the graver history but only in details. A certain Pepino, Count -Palatine of Altamura, a fugitive from Naples, whose object in Rome was -to enlist soldiers for the service of Louis of Hungary, then eager to -avenge the murder of his brother Andrew, the husband of Queen Joan of -Naples--had taken up his abode in the city. He was in league with -several of the nobles, and ready to lend a hand in any available way -against the Tribune. Fearing to be brought before the tribunal of -Cola, and to be obliged to explain the object of his residence in -Rome, he shut himself up in his palace and made an effort to raise the -city against its head. - - "Messer the Conte Paladino at this time threw a bar - (barricade) across the street, under the Arch of Salvator - (to defend his quarters apparently). A night and a day the - bells of St. Angelo in Pescheria rang a _stuormo_, but no - one attempted to break down the bar. The Tribune sent a - party of horsemen against the bar, and an officer named - Scarpetta, wounded by a lance, fell dead in the skirmish. - When the Tribune heard that Scarpetta was dead and that the - people were not affected by the sound of the tocsin, - although the bell of St. Angelo continued to ring, he - sighed deeply: chilled by alarm he wept: he knew not what - to do. His heart was beaten down and brought low. He had - not the courage of a child. Scarcely could he speak. He - believed that ambushes were laid for him in the city, which - was not true, for there was as yet no open rebellion: no - one, as yet, had risen against the Tribune. But their zeal - had become cold: and he believed that he would be killed. - What can be said more? He knew he had not the courage to - die in the service of the people as he had promised. - Weeping and sighing, he addressed as many as were there, - saying that he had done well, but that from envy the people - were not content with him. 'Now in the seventh month am I - driven from my dominion.' Having said these words weeping, - he mounted his horse and sounded the silver trumpets, and - bearing the imperial insignia, accompanied by armed men, he - came down as in a triumph, and went to the Castle of St. - Angelo, and there shut himself in. His wife, disguised in - the habit of a monk, came from the Palazzo de Lalli. When - the Tribune descended from his greatness the others also - wept who were with him, and the miserable people wept. His - chamber was found to be full of many beautiful things, and - so many letters were found there that you would not believe - it. The barons heard of this downfall, but three days - passed before they returned to Rome because of their fear. - Even when they had come back fear was in their hearts. They - made a picture of the Tribune on the wall of the Capitol, - as if he were riding, but with his head down and his feet - above. They also painted Cecco Manneo, who was his Notary - and Chancellor, and Conte, his nephew, who held the castle - of Civita Vecchia. Then the Cardinal Legate entered into - Rome, and proceeded against him and distributed the greater - part of his goods, and proclaimed him to be a heretic." - -Thus suddenly Cola fell, as he had risen. His heart had failed him -without reason or necessity, for the city had not shown any open signs -of rebellion, and there seems to have been no reason why he should -have fled to St. Angelo. The people, though they did not respond to -his call to arms, took no more notice of the tocsin of his opponent or -of his cry of Death to the Tribune. Rome lay silent pondering many -things, caring little how the tide turned, perhaps, with the instinct -of Lo Popolo everywhere, thinking that a change might be a good thing: -but it was no overt act on the part of the populace which drove its -idol away. The act was entirely his own--his heart had failed him. In -these days we should say his nerves had broken down. The phraseology -is different, but the things were the same. His downfall, however, was -not perhaps quite so sudden in reality as it appears in the -chronicle. It would seem that he endeavoured to escape to Civita -Vecchia where his nephew was governor, but was not received there, and -had to come back to Rome, and hide his head once more for a short time -in St. Angelo. But it is certain that before the end of January, 1438, -he had finally disappeared, a shamed and nameless man, his titles -abolished, his property divided among his enemies. Never was a -downfall more sudden or more complete. - -Stefano Colonna and his friends re-entered Rome with little appearance -of triumph. The remembrance of the Porta San Lorenzo was too recent -for rejoicings, and it must be put to the credit of the old chief, -bereaved and sorrowful, that no reprisals were made, that a general -amnesty was proclaimed, and the peace of the city preserved. Cola's -family, at least for the time, remained peaceably at Rome, and met -with no harm. We hear nothing of the unfortunate young Knight of -Victory who had been sprinkled with the blood of the Colonnas. The -Tribune went down like a stone, and for the moment, of him who had -filled men's mouths and minds with so many strange tidings, there was -no more to tell. - -Cola's absence from Rome lasted for seven years; of which time there -is no mention whatever in the _Vita_, which concerns itself -exclusively with things that happened in Rome; but his steps can be -very clearly traced. We never again find our enthusiast, he who first -ascended the Capitol in a passion of disinterested zeal and -patriotism, approved by every honest visionary and every suffering -citizen, a man chosen of God to deliver the city. That his motives -were ever ill motives, or that he had begun to seek his own prosperity -alone, it would be hard to say: but he appears to us henceforward in a -changed aspect as the eager conspirator, the commonplace plotter and -schemer, hungry for glory and plunder, and using every means, by hook -or by crook, to recover what he has lost, which is a far more -familiar figure than the ideal Reformer, the disinterested -revolutionary. We meet with that vulgar hero a hundred times in the -stormy record of Italian politics, a man without scruples, sticking at -nothing. But Rienzi was of a different nature: he was at once a less -and a greater sinner. It would be unjustifiable to say that he ever -gave up the thought of the Buono Stato, or ceased to desire the -welfare of Rome. But in the long interval of his disappearance from -the scene, he not only plotted like the other, but used that higher -motive, and the mystic elements that were in the air, and the tendency -towards all that was occult, and much that was noble in the -aspirations of the visionaries of his time, to further the one object, -his return to power, to the Capitol, and to the dominion of Rome. A -conspirator is the commonplace of Italian story, at every period: and -the pretender, catching at every straw to get back to his unsteady -throne, besieging every potentate that can help him, pleading every -inducement from the highest to the lowest--self-interest, -philanthropy, the service of God, the most generous and the meanest -sentiments--is also a very well known figure; but it is rare to find a -man truly affected by the most mystic teachings of religion, yet -pressing them also into his service, and making use of what he -conceives to be the impulses of the Holy Spirit for the furtherance of -his private ends, without, nevertheless, so far as can be asserted, -becoming a hypocrite or insincere in the faith which he professes. - -This was the strange development to which the Tribune came. After some -vain attempts to awaken in the Roman territory friends who could help -him, his heart broken by the fickleness and desertion of the Popolo in -which he had trusted, he took refuge in the wild mountain country of -the Apennines, where there existed a rude and strange religious party, -aiming in the midst of the most austere devotion at a total overturn -of society, and that return of a primeval age of innocence and bliss -which is so seductive to the mystical mind. In the caves and dens of -the earth and in the mountain villages and little convents, there -dwelt a severe sect of the Franciscans, men whose love of Poverty, -their founder's bride and choice, was almost stronger than their love -of that founder himself. The Fraticelli were only heretics by dint of -holding their Rule more strictly than the other religious of their -order, and by indulging in ecstatic visions of a renovated state and a -purified people--visions less personal though not less sincere or -pious, than those which inflicted upon Francis himself the semblance -of the wounds of the Redeemer, in that passion of pity and love which -possessed his heart. The exile among them, who had himself been -aroused out of the obscurity of ordinary life by a corresponding -dream, found himself stimulated and inspired over again by the -teaching of these visionaries. One of them, it is said, found him out -in the refuge where he thought himself absolutely unknown, and, -addressing him by name, told him that he had still a great career -before him, and that it should be his to restore to Rome the double -reign of universal dominion, to establish the Pope and the Empire in -the imperial city, and reconcile for ever those two joint rulers -appointed of God. - -It is curious to find that what is to some extent the existing state -of affairs--the junction in one place of the two monarchs of the -earth--should have been the dream and hope of religious visionaries in -the middle of the fourteenth century. The Emperor to them was but a -glorified King of Italy, with a vague and unknown world behind him; -and they believed that the Millennium would come, when that supreme -sovereign on the Capitol and the Holy Father from the seat of St. -Peter should sway the world at their will. The same class, in the same -order now--so much as confiscation after confiscation permits that -order to exist--would fight to its last gasp against the forced -conjunction, which its fathers before it thus thought of as the thing -most to be prayed for, and schemed for, in the whole world. - -When others beside the Fraticelli discovered Rienzi's hiding-place, -and he found himself, or imagined himself, in some danger, he went to -Prague to seek shelter with the Emperor Charles IV., and a remarkable -correspondence took place between that potentate on one side and the -Archbishop of Prague, his counsellor, and Rienzi on the other, in -which the exile promised many splendours to the monarch, and offered -himself as his guide to Rome, and to lend him the weight of his -influence there with the people over whom Rienzi believed that he -would yet himself preside with greater power than ever. That Charles -himself should reply to these letters, and reason the matter out with -this forlorn wanderer, shows of itself what a power was in his words -and in the fervour of his purpose. But it is ill talking between a -great monarch and a penniless exile, and Charles seems to have felt no -scruple in handing him over, after full exposition of his views, to -the archbishop as a heretic. That prelate transferred him to the Pope, -to be dealt with as a man already excommunicated under the ban of the -Church, and now once more promulgating strange doctrines, ought to be; -and thus his freedom, and his wandering, and the comparative safety of -his life came to an end, and a second stage of strange development -began. - -The fortunes of Rienzi were at a very low ebb when he reached Avignon -and fell into the hands of his enemies, of those whom he had assailed -and those whom he had disappointed, at that court where there was no -one to say a good word for him, and where all that was best in him was -even more greatly against him than that which was worst. In the -dungeons of Avignon, in the stronghold of the Pope who had so much -cause to regret having once sanctioned and patronised the Tribune, his -cause had every appearance of being lost for ever. It was fortunate -for him that there was no longer a Cardinal Colonna at that court; but -there was, at the same time, no champion to take up his cause. Things -indeed went so badly with him, that he was actually condemned to death -as a heretic, himself allowing that he was guilty and worthy of death -in some moment of profound depression, or perhaps with the hope of -touching the hearts of his persecutors by humility as great as had -been the pretensions of his brief and exciting reign. For poor Cola -after all, if the affair at Porta San Lorenzo is left out--and that -was no fault of his--had done nothing worthy of death. He had been -carried away by the passion and madness of an almost impossible -success; but he had scarcely ever been rebellious to the Church, and -his vagaries of doctrine were rather due to the mingling together of -the classical with the religious, and the inflation of certain not -otherwise unorthodox ideas, than any real rebellion; but he carried -his prevailing sentiment and character into everything, being lower -than any in the depths of his downfall as he had been higher than any -on the heights of his visionary pride and short-lived triumph. - -He was saved from this sentence in a manner as fantastical as himself. -It may be believed that it was never intended to be carried out, and -that, especially after his acknowledgment of the justice of his -sentence, means would have been found of preserving him from its -execution; very likely, indeed, the curious means which were found, -originated in some charitable whisper that a plausible pretence of a -reason for letting him off would not be disagreeable to the Pope. He -was saved by the suggestion that he was a poet! We have the story in -full detail from Petrarch himself, who is not without a perception of -its absurdity, and begins his letter by an indignant description of -the foolish and pretended zeal for poetry of which this was so strange -an example. "Poetry," he says, "divine gift and vouchsafed by heaven -to so few, I see it, friend, if not prostituted, at least made into a -vulgar thing. - - "I feel my heart rise against this, and you, if I know you - well, will not tolerate such an abuse for any - consideration. Neither at Athens, nor at Rome, even in the - lifetime of Horace, was there so much talk of poets and - poetry as at the present day upon the banks of the - Rhone--although there never was either time or place in - which men understood it less. But now I will check your - rising bile by laughter and show how a jest can come in the - midst of melancholy. - - "There has lately come to this court--or rather has not - come but has been brought--a prisoner, Niccola di Lorenzo, - once the formidable Tribune of Rome, now of all the men the - most unhappy--and what is more, not perhaps worthy of the - compassion which the misery of his present state calls - forth. He might have ended his days gloriously upon the - Capitol, but brought himself down instead, to the great - shame of the Republic and of the Roman name, into the - condition of a prisoner, first in Bohemia and now here. - Unfortunately, many more than I now like to think of are - the praises and encouragements which I myself have written - to him. Lover of virtue as I am, I could not do less than - exalt and admire the generous undertaking of the strong - man: and thankful on account of Italy, hoping to see the - Empire of Rome arise again and secure the peace of the - whole world, my heart was inundated by such joy, on account - of so many fine events, that to contain myself was - impossible; and it seemed to me that I almost took part in - his glory by giving encouragement and comfort to his - enterprise: by which as both his messengers and his letters - showed, he was himself set on fire--and always more and - more willingly I set myself to increase this stimulus with - every argument I could think of, and to feed the flame of - that ardent spirit, well knowing that every generous heart - kindles at the fire of praise and glory. For this reason - with an applause which to some seemed extravagant but to me - very just, I exalted his every act, encouraging him to - complete the magnanimous task which he had begun. The - letters which I then wrote went through many hands: and - since I am no prophet and still less was he ever a prophet - I am not ashamed of what I wrote: for certainly what he did - in those days and promised to do, not in my opinion alone - but to the praise and admiration of the whole world, were - very worthy, and I would not abolish the memory of these - letters of mine from my memory solely because he prefers an - ignoble life to a glorious death. But it is useless to - discuss a thing which is impossible; and however much I - might desire to destroy them I could not do it. As soon as - they come into the hands of the public, the writer has no - more power over them. Let us return to our story. - - "This man then, who had filled the wicked with terror, the - good with expectation, and with joyful hope the universe, - has come before this Court humiliated and abject; and he - whom the people of Rome and all the cities of Italy - exalted, was seen passing through our streets between two - soldiers, affording a miserable spectacle to the rabble - eager to see face to face one whose name they had heard to - sound so high. He came from the King of Rome (a title of - the Emperor) to the Roman Pontiff, oh marvellous commerce! - As soon as he had arrived the Pope committed to three - princes of the Church the charge of examining into his - cause, and judging of what punishment he was guilty who had - attempted to free the State." - -The letter is too long to quote entire, and Petrarch, though -maintaining the cause of his former friend, is perhaps too anxious to -make it clear that, had Rienzi given due attention to his own letters, -this great reverse would never have happened to him; yet it is on the -whole a noble plea for the Tribune. "In this man," the poet declares, -"I had placed the last hope of Italian liberty, and, having long known -and loved him from the moment when he put his hand to this great work, -he seemed to me worthy of all veneration and honour. Whatever might be -the end of the work I cannot cease to hold as magnificent its -beginning:" and he regrets with great indignation that it was this -beginning which was chiefly brought against him, and that his -description of himself as Nicolas, severe and clement, had more weight -with his judges than his good government or the happy change that took -place in Rome during his sway. We must hasten, however, to the irony -of the Tribune's deliverance. - - "In this miserable state (after so much that is sorrowful, - here at last is something to laugh at), I learn from the - letters of my friends that there is still a hope of saving - him, and that because of a notion which has been spread - abroad among the vulgar, that he is a famous poet.... What - can we think of this? Truly I, more than I can say in - words, comfort myself and rejoice in the thought that the - Muses are so much honoured--and what is still more - marvellous, among those who never knew anything about - them--as to save from a fatal sentence a man who is - shielded by their name. What greater sign of reverence - could be given than that the name of Poetry should thus - save from death a man who rightly or wrongly is abhorred by - his judges, who has been convicted of the crime laid to his - charge and has confessed it, and by the unanimous sentence - of the tribunal has been found worthy of death? I rejoice, - I repeat, I congratulate him and the Muses with him: that - he should have such patrons, and they so unlooked-for an - honour--nor would I to a man so unhappy, reduced to such - an extreme of danger and of doubt, grudge the protecting - name of poet. But if you would know what I think, I will - say that Niccola di Lorenzo is a man of the greatest - eloquence, most persuasive and ready of speech, a writer - lucid and harmonious and of an elegant style. I do not - remember any poet whom he has not read; but this no more - makes him a poet than a man would be a weaver who clothed - himself with garments woven by another hand. To merit the - name of poet it is not enough to have made verses. But this - man has never that I know written a single line." - -There is not a word of all this in the _Vita_. To the chronicler, -Rienzi, from the moment when he turned his face again towards Rome, -was never in any danger. As he came from Germany to Avignon all the -people in the villages came out to greet him, and would have rescued -him but for his continual explanation that he went to the Pope of his -own will; nor does his biographer seem to be aware that the Tribune -ran any risk of his life. He did escape, however, by a hair's breadth -only, and, as Petrarch had perfect knowledge of what was going on, no -doubt in the very way described by the poet. But he was not delivered -from prison until Cardinal Albornoz set out for Rome with the Pope's -orders to pacify and quiet the turbulent city. Many and great had been -its troubles in those seven years. It had fallen back into the old -hands--an Orsini and a Colonna, a Colonna and an Orsini. There had -been a temporary lull in the year of the Jubilee (1350), when all the -world flocked to Rome to obtain the Indulgence, and to have their sins -washed away in the full stream of Papal forgiveness. It is said that -Rienzi himself made his way stealthily back to share in that -Indulgence, but without making himself known: and the interest of the -citizens was so much involved in peace, and it was so essential to -keep a certain rule of order and self-restraint on account of the many -guests who brought money to the city, that there was a temporary lull -of its troubles. The town was no more than a great inn from Easter to -Christmas, and wealth, which has always a soothing and quieting -influence, poured into the pockets of the citizens, fully occupied -as they were by the care of their guests, and by the continual -ceremonials and sacred functions of those busy days. The Jubilee -brought not only masses of pious pilgrims from every part of the -world, but innumerable lawsuits--cases of conscience and of secular -disputes--to be settled by the busy Cardinal who sat instead of the -Pope, hearing daily what every applicant might have to say. There had -been a new temporary bridge built in order to provide for the pressure -of the crowd, and avoid that block of the old bridge of St. Angelo -which Dante describes in the _Inferno_, when the mass of pilgrims -coming and going broke down one of the arches. Other large if hasty -labours of preparation were also in hand. The Capitol had to be -repaired, and old churches furbished up, and every scrap of drapery -and tapestry which was to be had employed to make the city fine. So -that for one year at least there had been no thought but to put the -best possible face on things, to quench internal disorders for the -moment, and make all kinds of temporary arrangements for comfort and -accommodation, as is often done in a family when important visitors -force a salutary self-denial upon all; so that there were a hundred -inducements to preserve a front of good behaviour and fit decorum -before the world. - - [Illustration: THE TARPEIAN ROCK. - _To face page_ 480.] - -After the Jubilee however, things fell back once more into the old -confusion: once more there was robbery and violence on every road to -Rome; once more an Orsini and a Colonna balanced and struggled with -each other as Senators, with no time to attend to anything but their -personal interests, and no thought for the welfare of the people. In -1352, however, things had come to such a pass that a violent remedy -had to be tried again, and the Romans once more took matters in their -own hands and elected an official of their own, a certain Cerroni, in -the place of the unworthy Senators. He however held the position a -very short time, and being in his turn deserted by the people, gave -up the thankless task. That year there was a riot in which the Orsini -Senator was stoned to death at the foot of the stairs which lead to -the Capitol, while his colleague Colonna, another Stefano, escaped by -the other side. Then once more the expedient of a popular election was -attempted and a certain Francesco Baroncelli was elected who styled -himself the second Tribune of the people. The Pope had also attempted -to do what he could, once by a committee of four Cardinals, constantly -by Legates sent to guide and protect the ever-troubled city. The -hopelessness of these repeated efforts was proved over and over again. -Villani the historian writes with dismay that "the changes which took -place in the ancient mother and mistress of the universe did not -deserve to be recorded because of their frivolity and baseness." -Baroncelli too fell after a short time, and it seemed that no -government, and no reformation, could last. - -In the meantime Pope Clement VI. died at Avignon, and Innocent VI. -reigned in his stead. At the beginning of this new reign a new attempt -to pacificate Rome, and to restore it to order and peace, was made. As -it was the general feeling that a stranger was the safest ruler in the -midst of the network of private and family interests in which the city -was bound, the new Pope with a sincere desire to ameliorate the -situation sent the Spanish Cardinal Albornoz to the rescue of Rome. -All this was in the year 1353 when Rienzi, his death sentence remitted -because of the illusion that he was a poet, lay in prison in Avignon. -His story was well known: and it was well known too, that the people -of Rome, after having deserted him, were eager to have him back, and -had to all appearance repented very bitterly their behaviour to him. -The Pope adopted the strong and daring expedient of taking the old -demagogue from his prison and giving him a place in the Legate's -council. There was no intention of replacing him in his former -position, but he was eager to accept the secondary place, and to give -the benefit of his advice and guidance to the Legate. All appearance -of his old ambition seemed indeed to have died out of him. He went -simply in the train of Albornoz to Montefiascone,[9] which had long -been the headquarters of the Papal representative, and from whence the -Legate conducted a campaign against the towns of the "Patrimony," each -of whom, like the mother city, occasionally secured a gleam of -uncertain independence, or else--which was oftener the case--fell into -the clutches of some one of the band of nobles who had so long held -Rome in fee. It is very likely that Rienzi had no ambitious motive, -nor thought of a new revolution when he set out. He took part like the -rest of the Cardinal's following in several of the expeditions, -especially against his old enemy Giovanni di Vico, still as masterful -and as dangerous as ever, but attempted nothing more. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[9] An amusing story used to be told in Rome concerning this place, -which no doubt sprang from the legend of that old ecclesiastical -inhabitation. It was that a bishop, travelling across the country (it -is always a bishop who is the _bon vivant_ of Italian story), sent a -messenger before him with instructions to write on the wall of every -town his opinion of the wine of the place, that his master might judge -whether he should alight there or not. If it was good _Est_ was to be -the word. When the courier came to Montefiascone he was so delighted -with the vintage there that he emblazoned the gate with a triple -legend of _Est_, _Est_, _Est_. The bishop arrived, alighted; and never -left Montefiascone more. The wine in its native flasks is still -distinguished by this inscription. - - - - - [Illustration: THE BORGHESE GARDENS.] - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -THE SOLDIER OF FORTUNE. - - -The short episode which here follows introduces an entirely new -element into Rienzi's life. His nature was not that of a conspirator -in the ordinary sense of the word; and though he had schemed and -struggled much to return to Rome, it had lately been under the shield -of Pope or Emperor, and never with any evident purpose of -self-aggrandisement. But the wars which were continually raging in -Italy, and in which every man's hand was against his neighbour's, had -raised up a new agent in the much contested field, by whose aid, more -than by that of either Pope or Emperor, principalities rose and fell, -and great fortunes were made and lost. This was the singular -institution of the Soldier of Fortune, the Free Lance, whose bands, -without country, without object except pay and some vulgar version of -fame, without creed or nationality or scruples of any kind, roamed -over Europe, ready to adopt any cause or throw their weight on any -side, and furnishing the very material that was necessary to carry on -those perpetual struggles, which kept Italy in particular, and most -other countries more or less, in constant commotion. These men took -service with the utmost impartiality on whatever side was likely to -give them the highest pay, or the best opportunity of acquiring -wealth--their leaders occasionally possessing themselves of the -lordship of a rich territory, the inferior captains falling into -lesser fiefs and windfalls of all kinds, the merest man-at-arms apt to -enrich himself, either by the terror he inspired, or the protection he -could give. It was their existence indeed, it may almost be said, that -made these endless wars, which were so generally without motive, -demonstrations of vanity of one city against another, or attempts on -the part of one to destroy the liberties and trade of another, which, -had they been carried on by the citizens themselves, must have in the -long run brought all human affairs to a deadlock, and become -impossible: but which, when carried on through the agency of the -mercenaries, were little more than an exciting game, more exciting -than any _Kriegsspiel_ that has been invented since. The men were -themselves moving castles, almost impregnable, more apt to be -suffocated in their armour than killed in honest fight, and as a -matter of fact their campaigns were singularly bloodless; but they -were like the locusts, the scourge of the country, leaving nothing but -destruction and rapine behind them wherever they moved. The dreadful -army known as La Grande Compagnia, of which Fra Moreale (the Chevalier -de Monreal, but always bearing this name in Italy) was the head, was -at this time pervading Italy--everywhere feared, everywhere sought, -the cruel and terrible chief being at the same time a romantic and -high born personage, a Knight Hospitaller, the equal of the great -Seigneurs whom he served, and ready to be himself some time a great -Seigneur too, the head of the first principality which he should be -strong enough to lay hold of, as the Sforza had done of Milan. The -services of such a man were of course a never-failing resource and -temptation to every adventurer or pretender who could afford to -procure the money to pay for them. - -There is no proof that Rienzi had any plan of securing the dominion of -Rome by such means; indeed his practice, as will be seen, leads to the -contrary conclusion; but the transaction to which he became a party -while he was in Perugia--under the orders of Cardinal Albornoz--shows -that he was, for the moment at least, attracted by the strange -possibilities put within his reach: as it also demonstrates the -strangely business-like character and trade aspect of an agency so -warlike and romantic. At Perugia and other towns through which he -passed, the Tribune was recognised and everywhere followed by the -Romans, who were to be found throughout the Patrimony, and who had but -one entreaty to make to him. The chronicler recovers all his wonted -energy when he resumes his narrative, leaving with delight the dull -conflicts of the Roman nobles among themselves, and with the Legate -vainly attempting to pacify and negotiate between them--for the living -figure of the returned leader, and the eager populace who hailed him -again, as their deliverer, as if it had been others and not themselves -who had driven him away! Even in Montefiascone our biographer tells, -there was such recourse of Romans to him that it was _stupore_, -stupefying, to see them. - - "Every Roman turned to him, and multitudes visited him. A - great tail of the populace followed him wherever he went. - Everybody marvelled, including the Legate, to see how he - was followed. After the destruction of Viterbo, when the - army returned, many Romans who were in it, some of them - important men, came to Rienzi. They said, 'Return to thy - Rome, cure her of her sickness. Be her lord. We will give - thee help, favour, and strength. Be in no doubt. Never were - you so much desired or so much loved as at present.' These - flatteries the Romans gave him, but they did not give him a - penny of money: their words however moved Cola di Rienzi, - and also the glory of it, for which he always thirsted by - nature, and he began to think what he could do to make a - foundation, and where he would find people and money to go - to Rome. He talked of it with the Legate, but neither did - he supply him with any money. It had been settled that the - people of Perugia should make a provision for him, giving - him enough to live upon honourably; but that was not - sufficient for raising an army. And for this reason he went - to Perugia and met the Counsellors there. He spoke well and - promised better, and the Counsellors were very eager to - hear the sweetness of his words, to which they lent an - attentive ear. These they licked up like honey. But they - were responsible for the goods of the commune, and not one - penny (Cortonese) could he obtain from them. - - "At this time there were in Perugia two young gentlemen of - Provence, Messer Arimbaldo, doctor of laws, and Messer - Bettrom, the knight of Narba (Narbonne), in Provence, - brothers; who were also the brothers of the famous Fra - Moreale, who was at the head of La Grande Compagnia.... He - had acquired much wealth by robbery and booty, and - compelled the Commune of Perugia to provide for his - brothers who were there. When Cola di Rienzi heard that - Messer Arimbaldo of Narba, a young man who loved letters, - was in Perugia, he invited him to visit him, and would have - him dine at his hostel where he was. While they were at - table Cola di Rienzi began to talk of the greatness of the - Romans. He mingled stories of Titus Livius with things from - the Bible. He opened the fountain of his knowledge. Deh! - how he talked--all his strength he put into his reasoning; - and so much to the point did he speak that every man was - overwhelmed by such wonderful conversation; every one rose - to his feet, put his hand to his ear, and listened in - silence. Messer Arimbaldo was astonished by these fine - speeches. He admired the greatness of the Romans. The - warmth of the wine raised his spirit to the heights. The - fantastic understand the fantastic. Messer Arimbaldo could - not endure to be absent from Cola di Rienzi. He lived with - him, he walked with him; one meal they shared, and slept in - one bed. He dreamt of doing great things, of raising up - Rome, of restoring its ancient state. To do this money was - wanted--three thousand florins at least. He pledged himself - to procure the three thousand florins, and it was promised - to him that he should be made a citizen of Rome and - captain, and be much honoured, all which was arranged to - the great despite of his brother Messer Bettrom. Therefore, - Arimbaldo took from the merchants of Perugia four thousand - florins, to give them to Cola di Rienzi. But before Messer - Arimbaldo could give this money to Cola, he had to ask - leave of his elder brother, Fra Moreale, which he did, - sending him a letter in these words: 'Honoured brother,--I - have gained in one day more than you have done in all your - life. I have acquired the lordship of Rome, which is - promised to me by Messer Cola di Rienzi, Knight, Tribune, - who is much visited by the Romans and called by the - people. I believe that such a plan cannot fail. With the - help of your genius nothing could injure such a great - State; but money is wanted to begin with. If it pleases - your brotherly kindness, I am taking four thousand florins - from the bank, and with a strong armament am setting out - for Rome.' Fra Moreale read this letter and replied to it - as follows: - - "'I have thought much of this work which you intend to do. - A great and weighty burden is this which you take upon you. - I do not understand your intention; my mind does not go - with it, my reason is against it. Nevertheless go on, and - do it well. In the first place, take great care that the - four thousand florins are not lost. If anything evil happen - to you, write to me. I will come to your help with a - thousand or two thousand men, and do the thing - magnificently. Therefore do not fear. See that you and your - brother love each other, honour each other, and make no - quarrel between you.' - - "Messer Arimbaldo received this letter with much joy, and - arranged with the Tribune to set out for Rome." - -Fra Moreale was a good brother and a far-seeing chief. He saw that the -Signoria of Rome, if it could be attained, would be a good investment -for his four thousand florins, and probably that Cola di Rienzi was an -instrument which could easily be thrown away when it had fulfilled its -end, so that it was worth while letting young Arimbaldo have his way. -No prevision of the tragedy that was to come, troubled the spirit of -the great brigand. He would no doubt have laughed at the suggestion, -that his young brother's eloquent demagogue, the bel dicitore, a -character always disdained of fighting men, could do him, with all his -martial followers behind him, and his money in the bank, any harm. - -The first thing that Rienzi did we are told, was to clothe himself -gloriously in scarlet, furred with minever and embroidered with gold, -in which garb he appeared before the Legate who had heretofore known -him only in a sober suit of ordinary cloth--accompanied by the two -brothers of Moreale and a train of attendants. There had been a report -of more disorder than usual in Rome, a condition of things with which -a recently appointed Senator, appointed as a stranger to keep the -factions in order, was quite unable to cope: and there was therefore a -certain reason in the request, when the Tribune in all his new -finery, came into the presence of the Legate, although he asked no -less than to be made Senator, undertaking, at the same time, to secure -the peace of the turbulent city. The biographer gives a vivid picture -of Rienzi in his sudden revival. "Splendidly he displayed himself with -his scarlet hood on his shoulders, and scarlet mantle adorned with -various furs. He moved his head back and forward, raising himself on -his toes, as who would say 'Who am I?--I, who may I be?'" The Legate -as usual was "stupefied" by this splendid apparition, but gave serious -ear to his request, no doubt knowing the reality of his pretensions so -far as the Roman people were concerned. He finally agreed to do what -was required of him, no doubt like Fra Moreale, confident that the -instrument, especially being so vain and slight a man as this, could -easily be got rid of when he had served his turn. - -Accordingly, with all the strength he could muster--a troop of 250 -free lances, Germans and Burgundians, the same number of infantry from -Tuscany, with fifty young men of good families in Perugia--a very -tolerable army for the time--and the two young Provençals, along with -other youths to whom he had promised various offices, the new Senator -set out for Rome. He was now a legal official, with all the strength -of the Pope and constituted authority behind him; not a penny of money -it is true from the Legate, and only those four thousand florins in -his treasury: but with all the taxes and offerings in Rome in front of -him, and the highest promise of success. It was a very different -beginning from that of seven years ago, when young, penniless, -disinterested, with no grandeur to keep up, and no soldiers to pay, he -had been borne by the shouting populace to the Capitol to an unlimited -and impossible empire. He was now a sober man, experienced in the -world, forty, and trained by the intercourse of courts, in other ways -than those of his youth. He had now been taught how to scheme and -plot, to cajole and flatter, to play one party against another, and -change his plans to suit his circumstances. So far as we know, he had -no motive that could be called bad, except that of achieving the -splendour he loved, and surrounding himself with the paraphernalia of -greatness. The devil surely never before used so small a bribe to -corrupt a nature full of so many fine things. He meant to establish -the Buono Stato, probably as sincerely as of old. He had learned that -he could not put forth the same unlimited pretensions. The making of -emperors and sway of the world had to be resigned; but there is no -evidence that he did not mean to carry out in his new reign the high -designs for his city, and for the peace and prosperity of the -surrounding country, which he had so triumphantly succeeded in doing -for that one happy and triumphant moment in his youth. - - - - - [Illustration: TOMB OF CECILIA METELLA] - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -THE END OF THE TRAGEDY. - - -It was in the beginning of August 1354 that Rienzi returned to Rome. -Great preparations had been made for his reception. The municipal -guards, with all the cavalry that were in Rome, went out as far as -Monte Mario to meet him, with branches of olive in their hands, "in -sign of victory and peace. The people were as joyful as if he had been -Scipio Africanus," our biographer says. He came in by the gate of the -Castello, near St. Angelo, and went thence direct to the centre of the -city, through streets adorned with triumphal arches, hung with -tapestry, resounding with acclamations. - - "Great was the delight and fervour of the people. With all - these honours they led him to the Palazzo of the Capitol. - There he made them a beautiful and eloquent speech, in - which he said that for seven years he had been absent from - his house, like Nebuchadnezzar; but by the power of God he - had returned to his seat and was Senator by the appointment - of the Pope. He added that he meant to rectify everything - and raise up the condition of Rome. The rejoicing of the - Romans was as great as was that of the Jews when Jesus - Christ entered Jerusalem riding upon an ass. They all - honoured him, hanging out draperies and olive branches, and - singing 'Blessed is he that cometh.' When all was over they - returned to their homes and left him alone with his - followers in the Piazza. No one offered him so much as a - poor repast. The following day Cola di Rienzi received - several ambassadors from the surrounding country. Deh! how - well he answered. He gave replies and promises on every - side. The barons remained on the watch, taking no part. The - tumult of the triumph was great. Never had there been so - much pomp. The infantry lined the streets. It seemed as if - he meant to govern in the way of the tyrants. Most of the - goods he had forfeited were restored to him. He sent out - letters to all the States to declare his happy return, and - he desired that every one should prepare for the Buono - Stato. This man was greatly changed from his former ways. - It had been his habit to be sober, temperate, abstinent. - Now he became an excessive drinker, and consumed much wine. - And he became large and gross in his person. He had a - paunch like a tun, triumphal, like an Abbate Asinico. He - was full of flesh, red, with a long beard. His countenance - was changed, his eyes were as if they were - inflamed--sometimes they were red as blood." - -This uncompromising picture of a man whom adversity had not improved -but deteriorated, is very broad and coarse with those personalities -which the mob loves. Yet his biographer does not seem to have been -hostile to Rienzi. He goes on to describe how the new senator on the -fourth day after his arrival sent a summons to all the barons to -present themselves before him, and among others he summoned Stefanello -Colonna who had been a child at the time of the dreadful rout of San -Lorenzo, but was now head of the house, his noble old heart-broken -grandfather being by this time happily dead. It was scarcely likely -that the third Stefano should receive that summons in friendship. He -seized the two messengers and threw them into prison, then after a -time had the teeth of one drawn, an insulting infliction, and -despatched the other to Rome to demand a ransom for them: following -this up by a great raid upon the surrounding country, in which his -lightly armed and flying forces "lifted" the cattle of the Romans as -might have been done by the emissaries of a Highland chief. Rienzi -seems to have rushed to arms, collecting a great miscellaneous -gathering, "some armed, some without arms, according as time -permitted" to recover the cattle. But they were misled by an artifice -of the most transparent description, and stumbled on as far as Tivoli -without finding any opponent. Here he was stopped by the mercenaries -clamouring for their pay, which he adroitly obtained from the two -young commanders, Arimbaldo and Bettrom, by representing to them that -when such a difficulty arose in classical times it was met by the -chief citizens who immediately subscribed what was necessary. The -apparently simple-minded young men (Bettrom or Bertram having -apparently got over his ill-temper) gave him 500 florins each, and so -the trouble was got over for the moment, and the march towards -Palestrina was resumed. But the expedition was quite futile, neither -Rienzi nor the young men whom he had placed at the head of affairs -knowing much about the science of war. There were dissensions in the -camp, the men of Velletri having a feud with those of Tivoli; and the -picture which the biographer affords us of the leaders looking on, -seeing a train of cattle and provision waggons entering the town which -they were by way of besieging, and inquiring innocently what it was, -gives the most vivid impression of the ignorance and helplessness -which reigned in the attacking party: while Stefanello Colonna, to the -manner born, surrounded by old warriors and fighting for his life, -defended his old towers with skill as well as desperation. - -While the Romans thus lost their chances of victory and occupied -themselves with that destruction of the surrounding country, which was -the first word of warfare in those days--the peasants and the -villages always suffering, whoever might escape--there was news -brought to Rienzi's camp of the arrival in Rome of the terrible Fra -Moreale himself, who had arrived in all confidence, with but a small -party in his train, in the city for which his brothers were fighting -and in which his money formed the only treasury of war. He was a bold -man and used to danger; but it did not seem that any idea of danger -had occurred to him. There had been whispers among the mercenaries -that the great Captain entertained no amiable feelings towards the -Senator who had beguiled his young brothers into this dubious warfare: -and this report would seem to have come to Rienzi's ears: but that Fra -Moreale stood in any danger from Rienzi does not seem to have occurred -to any spectator. - -One pauses here with a wondering inquiry what were his motives at this -crisis of his life. Were they simply those of the ordinary and vulgar -villain, "Let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours"?--was he -terrified by the prospect of the inquiries which the experienced man -of war would certainly make as to the manner in which his brothers had -been treated by the leader who had attained such absolute power over -them? or is it possible that the patriotism, the enthusiasm for Italy, -the high regard for the common weal which had once existed in the -bosom of Cola di Rienzi flashed up now in his mind, in one last and -tremendous flame of righteous wrath? No one perhaps so dangerous to -the permanent freedom and well-being of Italy existed as this -Provençal with his great army, which held allegiance to no leader but -himself--without country, without creed or scruple--which he led about -at his pleasure, flinging it now into one, now into the other scale. -The Grande Compagnia was the terror of the whole Continent. Except -that it was certain to bring disaster wherever it went, its movements -were never to be calculated upon. Whatever fluctuations there might -be in state or city, this roving army was always on the side of evil; -it lived by fighting and disaster alone; and to drive it out of the -country, out of the world if possible, would have been the most true -and noble act of deliverance which could have been accomplished. Was -this the purpose that flashed into Rienzi's eyes when he heard that -the head of this terror, the great brigand chief and captain, had -trusted himself within the walls of Rome? With the philosophy of -compromise which rules among us, and which forbids us to allow an -uncomplicated motive in any man, we dare hardly say or even surmise -that this was so; but we may allow some room for the mingled motives -which are the pet theory of our age, and yet believe that something -perhaps of this nobler impulse was in the mind of the Roman Senator, -who, notwithstanding his decadence and his downfall, was still the -same man who by sheer enthusiasm and generous wrath, without a blow -struck, had once driven its petty tyrants out of the city. Whatever -may be the judgment of the reader in this respect, it is clear that -Rienzi dropped the siege of Palestrina when he heard of Fra Moreale's -arrival, as a dog drops a bone or an infant his toys, and hastened to -Rome; while his army melted away as was usual in such wars, each band -to its own country. Eight days had been passed before Palestrina, and -the country round was completely devastated: but no effectual -advantage had been gained when this sudden change of purpose took -place. - -As soon as Rienzi arrived in Rome he caused Fra Moreale to be -arrested, and placed him with his brothers in the prison of the -Capitol, to the great astonishment of all; but especially to the -surprise of the great Captain, who thought it at first a mere -expedient for extorting money, and comforted by this explanation the -unfortunate brothers for whose sake he had placed himself in the -snare. "Do not trouble yourselves," he said, "let me manage this -affair. He shall have ten thousand, twenty thousand florins, money and -people as much as he pleases." Then answered the brothers, "Deh! do -so, in the name of God." They perhaps knew their Rienzi by this time, -young as they were, and foolish as they had been, better than their -elder and superior. And no doubt Rienzi might have made excellent -terms for himself, perhaps even for Rome; but he does not seem to have -entertained such an idea for a moment. When the Tribune set his foot -within the gates of the city the Condottiere's fate was sealed. The -biographer gives us a most curious picture of the agitation and -surprise of this man in face of his fate. When he was brought to the -torture (_menato a lo tormento_) he cried out in a consternation which -is wild with foregone conclusions. "I told you what your rustic -villain was," he exclaimed, as if still carrying on that discussion -with the foolish young brothers. "He is going to put me to the -torment! Does he not know that I am a knight? Was there ever such a -clown?" Thus storming, astonished, incredulous of such a possibility, -yet eager to say that he had foreseen it, the dismayed Captain was -_alzato_, pulled up presumably by his hands as was one manner of -torture, all the time murmuring and crying in his beard, half-mad and -incoherent in the unexpected catastrophe. "I am Captain of the Great -Company," he cried; "and being a knight I ought to be honoured. I have -put the cities of Tuscany to ransom. I have laid taxes on them. I have -overthrown principalities and taken the people captive." While he -babbled thus in his first agony of astonishment the shadow of death -closed upon Moreale, and the character of his utterances changed. He -began to perceive that it was all real, and that Rienzi had now gone -too far to be won by money or promises. When he was taken back to the -prison which his brothers shared he told them with more dignity, that -he knew he was about to die. "Gentle brothers, be not afraid," he -said. "You are young; you have not felt misfortune. You shall not -die, but I shall die. My life has always been full of trouble." (He -was a man of sentiment, and a poet in his way, as well as a soldier of -fortune.) "It was a trouble to me to live, of death I have no fear. I -am glad to die where died the blessed St. Peter and St. Paul. This -misadventure is thy fault, Arimbaldo; it is you who have led me into -this labyrinth; but do not blame yourself or mourn for me, for I die -willingly. I am a man: I have been betrayed like other men. By heaven, -I was deceived! But God will have mercy upon me, I have no doubt, -because I came here with a good intention." These piteous words, full -to the last of astonishment, form a sort of soliloquy which runs on, -broken, to the very foot of the Lion upon the great stairs, where he -was led to die, amid the stormy ringing of the great bell and rushing -of the people, half exultant and half terrified, who came from all -quarters to see this great and terrible act of that justice to which -the city in her first fervour had pledged herself. "Oh, Romans, are ye -consenting to my death?" he cried. "I never did you harm; but because -of your poverty and my wealth I must die." The chronicler goes on -reporting the last words with fascination, as if he could not refrain. -There is a wildness in them, of wonder and amazement, to the last -moment. "I am not well placed," he murmured, _non sto bene_, evidently -meaning, I am not properly placed for the blow: as he seems to have -changed his position several times, kneeling down and rising again. He -then kissed the knife and said, "God save thee, holy justice," and -making another round knelt down again. The narrative is full of life -and pity; the great soldier all bewildered, his brain failing, -overwhelmed with dolorous surprise, seeking the right spot to die in. -"This excellent man (_honestis probisque viris_, in the Latin -version), Fra Moreale, whose fame is in all Italy for strength and -glory, was buried in the Church of the Ara Coeli," says our -chronicler. His execution took place on the spot where the Lion still -stands on the left hand of the great stairs. There Fra Moreale -wandered in his distraction to find a comfortable place for the last -blow. The association is grim enough, and others yet more appalling -were soon to gather there. - -This perhaps was the only step of his life in which Rienzi had the -approbation of all. The Pope displayed his approval in the most -practical way by confiscating all Fra Moreale's wealth, of which -60,000 gold florins were distributed among those who had suffered by -him. The funds which he had in various cities were also seized, though -we are told that of those in Rome Rienzi had but a small part, a -certain notary having managed, by what means we are not told, to -secure the larger sum. By the interposition of the Legate, the foolish -Arimbaldo, whom Rienzi's fair words had so bitterly deceived, was -discharged from his prison and permitted to leave Rome, but the -younger brother Bettrom, or Bertram, who, so far as we see, was never -a partisan of Rienzi, was left behind; and though his presence is -noted at another tragic moment, we do not hear what became of him -eventually. With the money he received Rienzi made haste to pay his -soldiers and to renew the war. He was so fortunate as to secure the -services of a noble and valiant captain, of whom the free lances -declared that they had never served under so brave a man: and whose -name is recorded as Riccardo Imprennante degli Annibaldi--Richard the -enterprising, perhaps--and the war was pursued with vigour under him. -Within Rome things did not go quite so well. Rienzi had to explain his -conduct in respect to Fra Moreale to his own councillors. "Sirs," he -said, "do not be disturbed by the death of this man; he was the worst -man in the world. He has robbed churches and towns; he has murdered -both men and women; two thousand depraved women followed him about. He -came to disturb our state, not to help it, meaning to make himself the -lord of it. And this is why we have condemned that false man. His -money, his horses, and his arms we shall take for our soldiers." We -scarcely see the eloquence for which Rienzi was famed in these -succinct and staccato sentences in which his biographer reports him; -but this was our chronicler's own style, and they are at least -vigorous and to the point. - -"By these words the Romans were partly quieted," we are told, and the -course of the history went on. The siege of Palestrina went well, and -garrisons were placed in several of the surrounding towns, while -Rienzi held the control of everything in his hands. Some of his troops -withdrew from his service, probably because of Fra Moreale; but others -came--archers in great numbers, and three hundred horsemen. - - "He maintained his place at the Capitol in order to provide - for everything. Many were the cares. He had to procure - money to pay the soldiers. He restricted himself in every - expense; every penny was for the army. Such a man was never - seen; alone he bore the cares of all the Romans. He stood - in the Capitol arranging that which the leaders in their - places afterwards carried out. He gave the orders and - settled everything, and it was done--the closing of the - roads, the times of attack, the taking of men and spies. It - was never ending. His officers were neither slow nor cold, - but no one did much except the hero Riccardo, who night and - day weakened the Colonnese. Stefanello and his Colonnas, - and Palestrina consumed away. The war was coming to a good - end." - -To do all this, however, the money of Moreale was not enough. Rienzi -had to impose a tax upon wine, and to raise that upon salt, which the -citizens resented. Everything was for the soldiers. His own expenses -were much restricted, and he seemed to expect that the citizens would -follow his example. One of them, a certain Pandolfuccio di Guido, -Rienzi seized and beheaded without any apparent reason. He was said to -have desired to make himself lord over the people, the chronicler -says. This arbitrary step seems to have caused great alarm. "The -Romans were like sheep, and they were afraid of the Tribune as of a -demon." - - [Illustration: ANCIENT, MEDIÆVAL, AND MODERN ROME. - _To face page_ 502.] - -By this time Rienzi once more began to show signs of that confusion of -mind which we call losing the head--a confusion of irritation and -changeableness, the resolution of to-day giving place to another -to-morrow--and the giddiness of approaching downfall seized upon every -faculty. As had happened on the former occasion, this dizziness of -doom caught him when all was going well. He displaced his Captain, who -was carrying on the siege of Palestrina with so much vigour and -success, for no apparent reason, and appointed other leaders whose -names even the biographer does not think it worth while to give. The -National Guard--if we may so call them--fifty for each Rione--who were -the sole guardians of Rome, were kept without pay, while every penny -that could be squeezed from the people was sent to the army. These -things raised each a new enemy to the Tribune, the Senator, once so -beloved, who now for the second time, and more completely than before, -had proved himself incapable of the task which he had taken upon him. -It was on the 1st of August, 1354, that he had entered Rome with a -rejoicing escort of all its cavalry and principal inhabitants--with -waving flags and olive branches, and a throng that filled all the -streets, the Popolo itself shouting and acclaiming--and had been led -to the Piazza of the Ara Coeli, at the foot of the great stairs of -the Capitol. On the last day of that month, a sinister and tragic -assembly, gathered together by the sound of the great bell, thronged -once more to the foot of these stairs, to see the great soldier, the -robber knight, the terror of Italy, executed. And it was still only -September, the _Vita_ says--though other accounts throw the -catastrophe a month later--when the last day of Rienzi himself came. -We know nothing of the immediate causes of the rising, nor who were -its leaders. But Rome was in so parlous a state, seething with so many -volcanic elements, that it must have been impossible to predict from -morning to morning what might happen. What did happen looks like a -sudden outburst, spontaneous and unpremeditated; but no doubt, from -various circumstances which followed, the Colonna had a hand in it, -who ever since the day of San Lorenzo had been Cola's bitterest -enemies. This is how his biographer tells the tale: - - "It was the month of September, the eighth day. In the - morning Cola di Rienzi lay in his bed, having washed his - face with Greek wine (no doubt a reference to his supposed - habits). Suddenly voices were heard shouting _Viva lo - Popolo! Viva lo Popolo!_ At this sound the people in the - streets began to run here and there. The sound increased, - the crowd grew. At the cross in the market they were joined - by armed men who came from St. Angelo and the Ripa, and - from the Colonna quarter and the Trevi. As they joined, - their cry was changed into this, Death to the traitor, Cola - di Rienzi, death! Among them appeared the youths who had - been put in his lists for the conscription. They rushed - towards the palace of the Capitol with an innumerable - throng of men, women and children, throwing stones, making - a great clamour, encircling the palace on every side before - and behind, and shouting, 'Death to the traitor who has - inflicted the taxes! Death to him!' Terrible was the fury - of them. The Tribune made no defence against them. He did - not sound the tocsin. He said to himself, 'They cry _Viva - lo Popolo_, and so do we. We are here to exalt the people. - I have written to my soldiers. My letter of confirmation - has come from the Pope. All that is wanted is to publish it - in the Council.' But when he saw at the last that the thing - was turning badly he began to be alarmed, especially as he - perceived that he was abandoned by every living soul of - those who usually occupied the Capitol. Judges, notaries, - guards--all had fled to save their own skin. Only three - persons remained with him--one of whom was Locciolo - Pelliciaro, his kinsman." - -This was the terrible awaking of the doomed man--without preparation, -without the sound of a bell, or any of the usual warnings, roused from -his day-dream of idle thoughts, his Greek wine, the indulgences to -which he had accustomed himself, in his vain self-confidence. He had -no home on the heights of that Capitol to which he had returned with -such triumph. If his son Lorenzo was dead or living we do not hear. -His wife had entered one of the convents of the Poor Clares, when he -was wandering in the Apennines, and was far from him. There is not a -word of any one who loved him, unless it might chance to be the poor -relation who stood by him, Locciolo, the furrier, perhaps kept about -him to look after his robes of minever, the royal fur. The cry that -now surged round the ill-secured and half-ruinous palace would seem to -have been indistinguishable to him, even when the hoarse roar came so -near, like the dashing of a horrible wave round the walls: _Viva lo -Popolo!_ that was one thing. With his _belle parole_ he could have -easily turned that to his advantage, shouting it too. What else was he -there for but to glorify the people? But the terrible thunder of sound -took another tone, a longer cry, requiring a deeper breath--_Death to -the traitor_:--these are not words a man can long mistake. Something -had to be done--he knew not what. In that equality of misery which -makes a man acquainted with such strange bedfellows, the Senator -turned to the three humble retainers who trembled round him, and asked -their advice. "By my faith, the thing cannot go like this," he said. -It would appear that some one advised him to face the crowd: for he -dressed himself in his costume as a knight, took the banner of the -people in his hand, and went out upon the balcony: - - "He extended his hand, making a sign that all were to be - silent, and that he was about to speak. Without doubt if - they had listened to him he would have broken their will - and changed their opinion. But the Romans would not listen; - they were as swine; they threw stones and aimed arrows at - him, and some ran with fire to set light to the door. So - many were the arrows shot at him that he could not remain - on the balcony. Then he took the Gonfalone and spread out - the standard, and with both his hands pointed to the - letters of gold, the arms of the citizens of Rome--almost - as if he said 'You will not let me speak; but I am a - citizen and a man of the people like you. I love you; and - if you kill me, you will kill yourselves who are Romans.' - But he could not continue in this position, for the people, - without intellect, grew worse and worse. 'Death to the - traitor,' they cried." - -A great confusion was in the mind of the unfortunate Tribune. He could -no longer keep his place in the balcony, and the rioters had set fire -to the great door below, which began to burn. If he escaped into the -room above, it was the prison of Bertram of Narbonne, the brother of -Moreale, who would have killed him. In this dreadful strait Rienzi -had himself let down by sheets knotted together into the court behind, -encircled by the walls of the prison. Even here treachery pursued him, -for Locciolo, his kinsman, ran out to the balcony, and with signs and -cries informed the crowd that he had gone away behind, and was -escaping by the other side. He it was, says the chronicler, who killed -Rienzi; for he first aided him in his descent and then betrayed him. -For one desperate moment of indecision the fallen Tribune held a last -discussion with himself in the court of the prison. Should he still go -forth in his knight's dress, armed and with his sword in his hand, and -die there with dignity, "like a magnificent person," in the sight of -all men? But life was still sweet. He threw off his surcoat, cut his -beard and begrimed his face--then going into the porter's lodge, he -found a peasant's coat which he put on, and seizing a covering from -the bed, threw it over him, as if the pillage of the Palazzo had -begun, and sallied forth. He struggled through the burning as best he -could, and came through it untouched by the fire, speaking like a -countryman, and crying "Up! Up! _a glui, traditore!_ As he passed the -last door one of the crowd accosted him roughly, and pushed back the -article on his head, which would seem to have been a _duvet_, or heavy -quilt: upon which the splendour of the bracelet he wore on his wrist -became visible, and he was recognised. He was immediately seized, not -with any violence at first, and taken down the great stair to the foot -of the Lion, where the sentences were usually read. When he reached -that spot, "a silence was made" (_fo fatto uno silentio_). "No man," -says the chronicler, "showed any desire to touch him. He stood there -for about an hour, his beard cut, his face black like a furnace-man, -in a tunic of green silk, and yellow hose like a baron." In the -silence, as he stood there, during that awful hour, he turned his head -from side to side, "looking here and there." He does not seem to have -made any attempt to speak, but bewildered in the collapse of his -being, pitifully contemplated the horrible crowd, glaring at him, no -man daring to strike the first blow. At last a follower of his own, -one of the leaders of the mob, made a thrust with his sword--and -immediately a dozen others followed. He died at the first stroke, his -biographer tells us, and felt no pain. The whole dreadful scene passed -in silence--"not a word was said," the piteous, eager head, looking -here and there, fell, and all was over. And the roar of the dreadful -crowd burst forth again. - -The still more horrible details that follow need not be here given. -The unfortunate had grown fat in the luxury of these latter days. -_Grasso era horriblimente. Bianco come latte ensanguinato_, says the -chronicler: and again he places before us, as at San Lorenzo seven -years before, the white figure lying on the pavement, the red of the -blood. It was dragged along the streets to the Colonna quarter; it was -hung up to a balcony; finally the headless body, after all these -dishonours, was taken to an open place before the Mausoleum of -Augustus, and burned by the Jews. Why the Jews took this share of the -carnival of blood we are not told. It had never been said that Rienzi -was hard upon them; but no doubt at a period so penniless they must -have had their full share of the taxes and payments exacted from all. - -There is no moral even, to this tale, except the well-worn moral of -the fickleness of the populace who acclaim a leader one moment, and -kill him the next; but that is a commonplace and a worn-out one. If -there were ever many men likely to sin in that way, it might be a -lesson to the enthusiast thrusting an inexperienced hand into the web -of fate, to confuse the threads with which the destiny of a country is -wrought, without knowing either the pattern or the meaning of the -weaving. He began with what we have every reason for believing to have -been a noble and generous impulse to save his people. But his soul -was not capable of that high emprise. He had the greatest and most -immediate success ever given to a popular leader. The power to change, -to mend, to make over again, to vindicate and to carry out his ideal -was given him in the fullest measure. For a time it seemed that there -was nothing in the world that Cola di Rienzi, the son of the -wine-shop, the child of the people, might not do. But then he fell; -the promise faded into dead ashes, the impulse which was inspiration -breathed out and died away. Inspiration was all he had, neither -knowledge nor the noble sense and understanding which might have been -a substitute for it; and when the thin fire blazed up like the -crackling of thorns under a pot, it blazed away again and left nothing -behind. Had he perished at the end of his first reign, had he been -slain at the foot of the Capitol, as Petrarch would have had him, his -story would have been a perfect tragedy, and we might have been -permitted to make a hero of the young patriot, standing alone, in an -age to which patriotism was unknown. But the postscript of his second -effort destroys the epic. It is all miserable self-seeking, all -squalid, the story of any beggar on horseback, any vulgar adventurer. -Yet the silent hour when he stood at the foot of the great stairs, the -horrible mob silent before him, bridled by that mute and awful -despair, incapable of striking the final blow, is one of the most -intense moments of human tragedy. A large overgrown man, with -blackened face and the rough remnants of a beard, half dressed, -speechless, his head turning here and there--And yet no one dared to -take that step, to thrust that eager sword, for nearly an hour. -Perhaps it was only a minute, which would be less unaccountable, -feeling like an hour to every looker on who was there and stood by. - -No one in all the course of modern Roman history has so illustrated -the streets and ways of Rome and set its excited throngs in evidence, -and made the great bell sound in our very ears, a _stuormo_, and -disclosed the noise of the rabble and the rule of the nobles, and the -finery of the gallants, with so real and tangible an effect. The -episode is a short one. The two periods of Rienzi's power put together -scarcely amount to eight months; but there are few chapters in that -history which is always so turbulent, yet lacks so much the charm of -personal story and adventure, so picturesque and complete. - - [Illustration: LETTER WRITER.] - - - - - BOOK IV. - - THE POPES WHO MADE THE CITY. - - - - - [Illustration: PIAZZA DEL POPOLO.] - - - - -BOOK IV. - -THE POPES WHO MADE THE CITY. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -MARTIN V.--EUGENIUS IV.--NICOLAS V. - - -It is strange to leave the history of Rome at the climax to which the -ablest and strongest of its modern masters had brought it, when it was -the home of the highest ambition, and the loftiest claims in the -world, the acknowledged head of one of the two powers which divided -that world between them, and claiming a supreme visionary authority -over the other also; and to take up that story again (after such a -romantic episode as we have just discussed) when its rulers had become -but the first among the fighting principalities of Italy, men of a -hundred ambitions, not one of which was spiritual, carrying on their -visionary sway as heads of the Church as a matter of routine merely, -but reserving all their real life and energy for the perpetual -internecine warfare that had been going on for generations, and the -security of their personal possessions. From Innocent III. to such a -man as Eugenius IV., still and always fighting, mixed up with all the -struggles of the Continent, hiring Condottieri, marshalling troops, -with his whole soul in the warfare, so continuous, so petty, even so -bloodless so far as the actual armies were concerned--which never for -a moment ceased in Italy: is a change incalculable. Let us judge the -great Gregory and the great Innocent as we may, their aim and the -purpose of their lives were among the greatest that have ever been -conceived by man, perhaps the highest ideal ever formed, though like -all high ideals impossible, so long as men are as we know them, and -those who choose them are as helpless in the matter of selecting and -securing the best as their forefathers were. But to set up that -tribunal on earth--that shadow and representation of the great White -Throne hereafter to be established in the skies--in order to judge -righteous judgment, to redress wrongs, to neutralise the sway of might -over right--let it fail ever so completely, is at least a great -conception, the noblest plan at which human hands can work. We have -endeavoured to show how little it succeeded even in the strongest -hands; but the failure was a greater thing than any lesser -success--certainly a much greater thing than the desire to be first in -that shouting crowd of Italian princedoms and commonwealths, to pit -Piccinino and Carmagnola against each other, to set your honour on the -stake of an ironbound band of troopers deploying upon a harmless -field, in wars which would have been not much more important than -tournaments; if it had not been for the ruin and murder and -devastation of the helpless peasants and the smitten country on either -side. - -But the pettier rôle was one of which men tired, as much as they did -of that perpetual strain of the greater which required an amount of -strength and concentration of mind not given to many, such as could -not (and this was the great defect of the plan) be secured for a line -of Popes any more than for any other line of men. The Popes who would -have ruled the world failed, and gave up that forlorn hope; they were -opposed by all the powers of earth, they were worn out by fictions of -anti-Popes, and by real and continual personal sufferings for their -ideal:--and they did not even secure at any time the sympathy of the -world. But when among the vain line of Pontiffs who not for infamy and -not for glory, but _per se_ lived, and flitted, a wavering file of -figures meaning little, across the surface of the world--there arose a -Pope here and there, forming into a short succession as the purpose -grew, who took up consciously the aim of making Rome--not Rome -Imperial nor yet Rome Papal, which were each a natural power on the -earth and Head of nations, but Rome the City--the home of art, the -shrine of letters, in another way and with a smaller meaning, yet -still meaning something, the centre of the world--their work and -position have always attracted a great deal of sympathy, and gained at -once the admiration of all men. English literature has not done much -justice to the greater Popes. Mr. Bowden's life of Gregory VII. is the -only work of any importance specially devoted to that great ruler. -Gregory the Great to whom England owes so much, and Innocent III., who -was also, though in no very favourable way, mixed up in her affairs, -have tempted no English historian to the labours of a biography. But -Leo X. has had a very different fate: and even the Borgias, the worst -of Papal houses, have a complete literature of their own. The -difference is curious. It is perhaps by this survival of the -unfittest, so general in literature, that English distrust and -prejudice have been so crystallised, and that to the humbler reader -the word Pope remains the synonym of a proud and despotic priest, -sometimes Inquisitor and sometimes Indulger--often corrupt, luxurious, -or tyrannical--a ruler whose government is inevitably weak yet cruel. -The reason of this strange preference must be that the love of art is -more general and strong than the love of history; or rather that a -decorative and tangible external object, something to see and to -admire, is more than all theories of government or morals. The period -of the Renaissance is full of horror and impurity, perhaps the least -desirable of all ages on which to dwell. But art has given it an -importance to which it has no other right. - -Curious it is also to find that of all the cities of Italy, Rome has -the least native right to be considered in the history of art. No -great painter or sculptor, architect or even decorator, has arisen -among the Roman people. Ancient Rome took her art from Greece. Modern -Rome has sought hers over all Italy--from Florence, from the hills and -valleys of Umbria, everywhere but in her own bosom. She has crowned -poets, but, since the days of Virgil and Horace, neither of whom were -Romans born, though more hers than any since, has produced none. All -her glories have been imported. This of course is often the case with -her Popes also. Pope Martin V., to whom may be given the first credit -of the policy of rebuilding the city, was a native-born Roman; but -Pope Eugenius IV., who took up its embellishment still more seriously, -was a Venetian, bringing with him from the sea-margin the love of -glowing colour and that "labour of an age in pilëd stones" which was -so dear to those who built their palaces upon the waters. Nicolas was -a Pisan, Pope Leo, who advanced the work so greatly, was a Florentine. -But their common ambition was to make Rome a wonder and a glory that -all men might flock to see. The tombs of the Apostles interested them -less perhaps than most of their predecessors: but they were as -strongly bent as any upon drawing pilgrims from the ends of the earth -to see what art could do to make those tombs gorgeous: and built their -own to be glories too, admired of all the world. These men have had a -fuller reward than their great predecessors. Insomuch as the aim was -smaller, it was more perfectly carried out; for though it is a great -work to hang a dome like that of St. Peter's in the air, it is easier -than to hold the hearts of kings in your hand, and decide the destiny -of nations. The Popes who made the city have had better luck in every -way than those who made the Papacy. Neither of them secured either the -gratitude or even the consent of Rome herself to what was done for -her. But nevertheless almost all that has kept up her fame in the -world for, let us say, the last four hundred years, was their work. - -This period of the history of the great city began when Pope Martin V. -concluded what has been called the schism of the West, and brought -back the seat of the Papacy from Avignon, where it had been exiled, to -Rome. We have seen something of the moral and economical state of the -city during that interregnum. Its physical condition was yet more -desolate and terrible. The city itself was little more than a heap of -ruins. The little cluster of the inhabited town was as a nest of life -in the centre of a vast ancient mass of building, all fallen into -confusion and decay. No one cared for the old Forums, the palaces -ravaged by many an invasion, burned and beaten down, and quarried out, -by generations of men to whom the meaning and the memory of their -founders was as nothing, and themselves only so many waste places, or -so much available material for the uses of the vulgar day. Some one -suggests that the early Church took pleasure in showing how entirely -shattered was the ancient framework, and how little the ancient gods -had been able to do for the preservation of their temples; and with -that intention gave them over to desolation and the careless hands of -the spoiler. We think that men are much more often swayed by immediate -necessities than by any elaborate motive of this description. The -ruins were exceedingly handy--every nation in its turn has found such -ruins to be so. To get the material for your wall, without paying -anything for it, already at your hand, hewn and prepared as nobody -then working could do it--what a wonderful simplification of labour! -Everybody took advantage of it, small and great. Then, when you wanted -to build a strong tower or fortress to intimidate your neighbours, -what an admirable foundation were those old buildings, founded as on -the very kernel and central rock of the earth! For many centuries no -one attempted to fill up those great gaps within the city walls, in -which vines flourished and gardens grew, none the worse for the -underlying stones that covered themselves thickly with weeds and -flowers by Nature's lavish assistance. Buildings of various kinds, -adapted to the necessities of the moment, grew up by nature in all -kinds of places, a church sometimes placed in the very lap of an -ancient temple. Indeed the churches were everywhere, some of them -humble enough, many of great antique dignity and beauty, almost all -preserving the form of the basilica, the place of meeting where -everything was open and clear for the holding of assemblies and -delivery of addresses, not dim and mysterious as for sacrifices of -faith. - - [Illustration: MODERN ROME: SHELLEY'S TOMB. - _To face page_ 518.] - -So entirely was this state of affairs accepted, that there is more -talk of repairing than of building in the chronicles; at all times of -the Church, each pious Pope undertook some work of the kind, mending a -decaying chapel or building up a broken wall; but we hear of few -buildings of any importance, even when the era of the builders first -began. Works of reparation must have been necessary to some extent -after every burning or fight. Probably the scuffles in the streets did -little harm, but when such a terrible inundation took place as that of -the Normans, and still worse the Saracens, who followed Robert -Guiscard in the time of Gregory VII., it must have been the work of a -generation to patch up the remnants of the place so as to make it in -the rudest way habitable again. It was no doubt in one of these great -emergencies that the ancient palaces, most durable of all buildings, -were seized by the people, and converted each into a species of -rabbit-warren, foul and swarming. It does not appear however that any -plan of restoring the city to its original grandeur, or indeed to any -satisfactory reconstruction at all, was thought of for centuries. In -the extreme commotion of affairs, and the long struggle of the Popes -with the Emperors, there was neither leisure nor means for any great -scheme of this kind, nor much thought of the material framework of the -city, while every mind was bent upon establishing its moral position -and lofty standing ground among the nations. As much as was -indispensable would be done: but in these days the requirements of the -people in respect to their lodging were few: as indeed they still are -to an extraordinary extent in Italy, where life is so much carried on -out of doors. - -It is evident, however, that Rome the city had never yet become the -object of any man's life or ambition, or that a thought of anything -beyond what was needful for actual use, for shelter or defence, had -entered into the thoughts of its masters when the Papal Court returned -from Avignon. The churches alone were cared for now and then, and -decorated whenever possible with rich hangings, with marbles and -ancient columns generally taken from classical buildings, sometimes -even from churches of an older date; but even so late as the time of -Petrarch so important a building as St. John Lateran, the Papal church -_par excellence_, lay roofless and half ruined, in such a state that -it was impossible to say mass in it. The poet describes Rome itself, -when, after a long walk amid all the relics of the classical ages, his -friend and he sat down to rest upon the ruined arches of the Baths of -Diocletian, and gazed upon the city at their feet--"the spectacle of -these grand ruins." "If she once began to recognise of herself the low -estate in which she lies, Rome would make her own resurrection," he -says with a confidence but poorly merited by the factious and restless -city. But Rome, torn asunder by the feuds of Colonna and Orsini, -seizing every occasion to do battle with her Pope, only faithful to -him in his absence, of which she complained to heaven and earth--was -little likely to exert herself to any such end. - -This was the unfortunate plight in which Rome lay when Martin V., a -Roman of the house of Colonna, came back in the year 1421, with all -the treasures of art acquired by the Popes during their stay in -France, to the shrine of the Apostles. The historian Platina, whose -records are so full of life when they approach the period of which he -had the knowledge of a contemporary, gives a wonderful description of -her. "He found Rome," says the biographer of the Popes, "in such ruin -that it bore no longer the aspect of a city but rather of a desert. -Everything was on the way to complete destruction. The churches were -in ruins, the country abandoned, the streets in evil state, and an -extreme penury reigned everywhere. In fact it had no appearance of a -city or a sign of civilisation. The good Pontiff, moved by the sight -of such calamity, gave his mind to the work of adorning and -embellishing the city, and reforming the corrupt ways into which it -had fallen, which in a short time were so improved by his care that -not only Supreme Pontiff but father of his country he was called by -all. He rebuilt the portico of St. Peter's which had been falling into -ruins, and completed the mosaic work of the pavement of the Lateran -which he covered with fine works, and began that beautiful picture -which was made by Gentile, the excellent painter." He also repaired -the palace of the twelve Apostles, so that it became habitable. The -Cardinals in imitation of him executed similar works in the churches -from which each took his title, and by this means the city began to -recover decency and possible comfort at least, if as yet little of its -ancient splendour. - -"As soon as Pope Martin arrived in Rome," says the chronicle, _Diarium -Romanum_, of Infessura, "he began to administer justice, for Rome was -very corrupt and full of thieves. He took thought for everything, and -especially to those robbers who were outside the walls, and who robbed -the poor pilgrims who came for the pardon of their sins to Rome." The -painter above mentioned, and who suggests to us the name of a greater -than he, would appear to have been Gentile da Fabriano, who seems to -have been employed by the Pope at a regular yearly salary. These good -deeds of Pope Martin are a little neutralised by the fact that he gave -a formal permission to certain other of his workmen to take whatever -marbles and stones might be wanted for the pavement of the Lateran, -virtually wherever they happened to find them, but especially from -ruined churches both within and outside of the city. - -Eugenius IV., who succeeded Pope Martin in the year 1431, was a man -who loved above all things to "guerrare e murare"--to make war and to -build--a splendid and noble Venetian, whose fine and commanding person -fills one of his biographers, a certain Florentine bookseller and -book-collector, called Vespasiano, with a rapture of admiration which -becomes almost lyrical, in the midst of his simple and garrulous -story. - - "He was tall in person, beautiful of countenance, slender - and serious, and so venerable to behold that there was no - one, by reason of the great authority that was in him, who - could look him in the face. It happened one evening that an - important personage went to speak with him, who stood with - his head bowed, never raising his eyes, in such a way that - the Pope perceived it and asked him why he so bowed his - head. He answered quickly that the Pope had such an aspect - by nature that none dared meet his eye. I myself recollect - often to have seen the Pope with his Cardinals upon a - balcony near the door of the cloisters of Sta Maria - Novella (in Florence) when the Piazza de Sta Maria - Novella was full of people, and not only the Piazza, but - all the streets that led into it. And such was the devotion - of the people that they stood entranced (_stupefatti_) to - see him, not hearing any one who spoke, but turning every - one towards the Pontiff: and when he began according to the - custom of the Pope to say the _Adjutorium nostrum in nomine - Domini_ the Piazza was full of weeping and cries, appealing - to the mercy of God for the great devotion they bore - towards his Holiness. It appeared indeed that this people - saw in him not only the vicar of Christ on earth, but the - reflection of His true Divinity. His Holiness showed such - great devotion, and also all his Cardinals round him, who - were all men of great authority, that veritably at that - moment he appeared that which he represented." - -There is much refreshment to the soul in the biographies of -Vespasiano, who was no more than a Florentine bookseller as we have -said, greatly employed in collecting ancient manuscripts, which was -the special taste of the time, with a hand in the formation of all the -libraries then being established, and in consequence a considerable -acquaintance with great personages, those at least who were patrons of -the arts and had a literary turn. Pope Eugenius is not in ordinary -history a highly attractive character, and the general records of the -Papacy are not such as to allure the mind as with ready discovery of -unknown friends. But the two Popes whom the old bookman chronicles, -rise before us in the freshest colours, the first in stately serenity -and austerity of mien, dazzling in his _aspetto di natura_, as Moses -when he came from the presence of God--moving all hearts when he -raised his voice in the prayers of the Church, every listener hanging -on his breath, the crowd gazing at him overwhelmed as if upon Him whom -the Pope represented, though no man dared face his penetrating eyes. -It is a great thing for the most magnificent potentate to have such a -biographer as our bookseller. Eugenius was as kind as he was splendid, -according to Vespasiano. One day a poor gentleman reduced to want went -to the Pope, appealing for charity "being in exile, poor, and _fuori -della patria_," words which are more touching than their English -synonyms, out of his country, banished from all his belongings: an -evil which went to the very hearts of those who were themselves at any -moment subject to that fate, and to whom _la patria_ meant an -ungrateful fierce native city--never certain in its temper from one -moment to another. The Pope sent for a purse full of florins, and bade -the exile take from it as much as he wanted. "Felice, abashed, put in -his hand timidly, when the Pope turned to him laughing and said, 'Put -in your hand freely, I give it to you willingly.'" This being his -disposition we need not wonder that Vespasian adds:--"He never had -much supply of money in the house; according as he had it, quickly he -expended it." Remembering what lies before us in history (but not in -this broken record of men), soon to be filled with Borgias and such -like, the reader would do well to sweeten his thoughts on the edge of -the horrors of the Renaissance, with Vespasian's kind and humane -tales. Platina takes up the story in a different tone. - - "Among other things Eugenius, in order that it might not - seem that he thought of nothing but fighting (his wars were - perpetual, _guerrare_ winning the day over _murare_; he - built like Nehemiah with the sword in his other hand), - canonized S. Nicola di Tolentino of the order of S. - Augustine, who did many miracles. He built the portico - which leads from the Church of the Lateran to the Sancta - Sanctorum, and remade and enlarged the cloister inhabited - by the priests, and completed the picture of the Church - begun under Martin by Gentile. He was not easily moved by - wrath, or personal offence, and never spoke evil of any - man, neither by word of mouth nor hand of write. He was - gracious to all the schools, specially to those of Rome, - where he desired to see every kind of literature and - doctrine flourish. He himself had little literature, but - much knowledge, especially of history. He had a great love - for monks, and was very generous to them, and was also a - great lover of war, a thing which seems marvellous in a - Pope. He was very faithful to the engagements he - made--unless when he saw that it was more expedient to - revoke a promise than to fulfil it." - -Martin and Eugenius were both busy and warlike men. They were involved -in all the countless internal conflicts of Italy; they were confronted -by many troubles in the Church, by the argumentative and persistent -Council of Bâle, and an anti-Pope or two to increase their cares. The -reign of Eugenius began by a flight from Rome with one attendant, from -the mob who threatened his life. Nevertheless it was in these agitated -days that the first thought of Rome rebuilt, as glorious as a bride, -more beautiful than in her climax of classic splendour, began to enter -into men's thoughts. - - [Illustration: FOUNTAIN OF TREVI. - _To face page 526._] - -The reign of their immediate successor, the learned and magnificent -Nicolas V., who was created Pope in 1447, was, however, the actual era -of this new conception. It is not necessary, we are thankful to think, -to enter here into any description of the Renaissance, that age so -splendid in art, so horrible in history--when every vice seemed let -loose on the earth, yet the evil demons so draped themselves in -everything beautiful, that they often attained their most dangerous -and terrible aspect, that of angels of light. The Renaissance has had -more than its share in history; it has flooded the world with scandals -of every kind, and such examples of depravity as are scarcely to be -found in any other age; or perhaps it is that no other age has -commanded the same contrasts and incongruities, the same picturesque -accessories, the splendour and external grace, the swing of careless -force and franchise, without restraint and without shame. To many -minds these things themselves are enough to attract and to dazzle, and -they have captivated many writers to whom the brilliant society, the -triumphs of art, the ever shifting, ever glittering panorama with its -startling succession of scenes, spectacles, splendours, and tragedies, -have made the more serious and more worthy records of life appear -sombre, and its nobler motives dull in comparison. When Thomas of -Sarzana was born in Pisa--in a humble house of peasants who had no -surname nor other distinction, but who managed to secure for him the -education which was sufficiently easy in those days for boys destined -to the priesthood--the age of the Renaissance was coming into full -flower. Literature and learning, the pursuit of ancient -manuscripts, the worship of Greece and the overwhelming influence of -its language and masterpieces, were the inspiration of the age, so far -as matters intellectual were concerned. To read and collate and copy -was the special occupation of the literary class. If they attempted -any original work, it was a commentary: and a Latin couplet, an -epigram, was the highest effort of imagination which they permitted -themselves. The day of Dante and Petrarch was over. No one cared to be -_volgarizzato_--brought down in plain Italian to the knowledge of -common men. The language of their literary traffic was Latin, the -object of their adoration Greek. To read, and yet to read, and again -to go on reading, was the occupation of every man who desired to make -himself known in the narrow circles of literature; and a small -attendant world of scribes was maintained in every learned household, -and accompanied the path of every scholar. The world so far as its -books went had gone back to a period in which gods and men were alike -different from those of the existing generation; and the living age, -disgusted with its own unsatisfactory conditions, attempted to gain -dignity and beauty by pranking itself in the ill-adapted robes of a -life totally different from its own. - -Between the classical ages and the Christian there must always be the -great gulf fixed of this complete difference of sentiment and of -atmosphere. And the wonderful contradiction was more marked than usual -in Rome of a world devoted outside to the rites and ceremonies of -religion, while dwelling in its intellectual sphere in the air of a -region to which Christianity was unknown. The routine of devotion -never relaxing--planned out for every hour of every day, calling for -constant attention, constant performance, avowedly addressing itself -not to the learned or wise, avowedly restricting itself in all those -enjoyments of life which were the first and greatest of objects in the -order of the ancient ages--yet carried on by votaries of the Muses, -to whom Jove and Apollo were more attractive than any Christian -ideal--must have made an unceasing and bewildering conflict in the -minds of men. No doubt that conflict, and the evident certainty that -one or the other must be wrong, along with the strong setting of that -tide of fashion which is so hard to be resisted, towards the less -exacting creed, had much to do with the fever of the time. Yet the -curious equalising touch of common life, the established order -whatever it may be, against which only one here and there ever -successfully rebels, made the strange conjunction possible; and the -final conflict abided its time. Such a man as Nicolas V. might indeed -fill his palace with scholars and scribes, and put his greatest pride -in his manuscripts: but the affairs of life around were too urgent to -affect his own constitution as Pope and priest and man of his time. He -bandied epigrams with his learned convives in his moments of leisure: -but he had himself too much to do to fall into dilettante heathenism. -Perhaps the manuscripts themselves, the glory of possessing them, the -busy scribes all labouring for that high end of instructing the world: -while courtiers never slow to catch the tone that pleased, celebrated -their sovereign as the head of humane and liberal study as well as of -the Church--may have been more to Nicolas than all his MSS. contained. -He remained quite sincere in his mass, quite simple in his life, -notwithstanding the influx of the heathen element: and most likely -took no note in his much occupied career of the great distance that -lay between. - -Nicolas V. was the first of those Pontiffs who are the pride of modern -Rome--the men who, by a strange provision, or as it almost seems -neglect of Providence, appear in the foremost places of the Church -pre-occupied with secondary matters, when they ought to have been -preparing for that great Revolution which, it was once fondly hoped, -was to lay spiritual Rome in ruins, at the very moment when material -Rome rose most gloriously from her ashes. But, notwithstanding that he -was still troubled by that long-drawn-out Council of Bâle, it does not -seem that any such shadow was in the mind of Nicolas. He stood calm in -human unconsciousness between heathendom at his back, and the -Reformation in front of him, going about his daily work thinking of -nothing, as the majority of men even on the eve of the greatest of -revolutions so constantly do. Nicolas was, like so many of the great -Popes, a poor man's son, without a surname, Thomas of Sarzana taking -his name from the village in which he was brought up. He had the good -fortune, which in those days was so possible to a scholar, recommended -originally by his learning alone, to rise from post to post in the -household of bishop and Cardinal until he arrived at that of the Pope, -where a man of real value was highly estimated, and where it was above -all things important to have a steadfast and faithful envoy, one who -could be trusted with the often delicate negotiations of the Holy See, -and who would neither be daunted nor led astray by imperial caresses -or the frowns of power. - -"He was very learned, _dottissimo_, in philosophy, and master of all -the arts. There were few writers in Greek or in Latin of any kind that -he had not read their works, and he had the whole of the Bible in his -memory, and quoted from it continually. This intimate knowledge of the -Holy Scriptures gave the greatest honour to his pontificate and the -answers he was called upon to make." There were great hopes in those -days of the reunion of the Greek Church with the Latin, an object much -in the mind of all the greater Popes: to promote which happy -possibility Pope Eugenius called a Council in Ferrara in 1438, which -was also intended to confound the rebellious and heretical Council of -Bâle, as well as to bring about, if possible, the desired union. The -Emperor of the East was there in person, along with the patriarch and -a large following; and it was in this assembly that Thomas of Sarzana, -then secretary and counsellor of the Cardinal di Santa Croce--who had -accompanied his Cardinal over _i monti_ on a mission to the King of -France from which he had just returned--made himself known to -Christendom as a fine debater and accomplished student. The question -chiefly discussed in the Council of Ferrara was that which is formally -called the Procession of the Holy Spirit, the doctrine which has -always stood between the two Churches, and prevented mutual -understanding. - - "In this council before the Pope, the Cardinals, and all - the court of Rome, the Latins disputed daily with the - Greeks against their error, which is that the Holy Spirit - proceeds from the Father only not from the Son: the Latins, - according to the true doctrine of the faith, maintaining - that He proceeds from the Father and the Son. Every morning - and every evening the most learned men in Italy took part - in this discussion as well as many out of Italy, whom Pope - Eugenius had called together. One in particular, from - Negroponte, whose name was Niccolo Secondino: wonderful was - it to hear what the said Niccolo did; for when the Greeks - spoke and brought together arguments to prove their - opinion, Niccolo Secondino explained everything in Latin - _de verbo ad verbum_, so that it was a thing admirable to - hear: and when the Latins spoke he expounded in Greek all - that they answered to the arguments of the Greeks. In all - these disputations Messer Tommaso held the part of the - Latins, and was admired above all for his universal - knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and also of the doctors, - ancient and modern, both Greek and Latin." - - [Illustration: ON THE PINCIO.] - -Messer Tommaso distinguished himself so much in this controversy that -he was appointed by the Pope to confer with certain ambassadors from -the unknown, Ethiopians, Indians, and "Jacobiti,"--were these the -envoys of Prester John, that mysterious potentate? or were they -Nestorians as some suggest? At all events they were Christians and -persons of singularly austere life. The conference was carried on by -means of an interpreter, "a certain Venetian who knew twenty -languages." These three nations were so convinced by Tommaso, that -they placed themselves under the authority of the Church, an incident -which does not make any appearance in more dignified history. Even -while these important matters of ecclesiastical business were going -on, however, this rising churchman kept his eyes open as to every -chance of a new, that is an old book, and would on various occasions -turn away from his most distinguished visitors to talk apart with -Messer Vespasiano, who once more is our best guide, about their mutual -researches and good luck in the way of finding rare examples or making -fine copies. "He never went out of Italy with his Cardinal on any -mission that he did not bring back with him some new work not to be -found in Italy." Indeed Messer Tommaso's knowledge was so well -understood that there was no library formed on which his advice was -not asked, and specially by Cosimo dei Medici, who begged his help as -to what ought to be done for the formation of the Library of S. Marco -in Florence--to which Tommaso responded by sending such instructions -as never had been given before, how to make a library, and to keep it -in the highest order, the regulations all written in his own hand. -"Everything that he had," says Vespasian in the ardour of his -admiration, "he spent on books. He used to say that if he had it in -his power, the two things on which he would like to spend money would -be in buying books and in building (_murare_); which things he did in -his pontificate, both the one and the other." Alas! Messer Tommaso had -not always money, which is a condition common to collectors; in which -case Vespasian tells us (who approved of this mode of procedure as a -bookseller, though perhaps it was a bad example to be set by the Head -of the Church) he had "to buy books on credit and to borrow money in -order to pay the scribes and miniaturists." The books, the reader will -perceive, were curious manuscripts, illustrated by those schools of -painters in little, whose undying pigments, fresh as when laid upon -the vellum, smile almost as exquisitely to-day from the ancient page -as in Messer Tommaso's time. - -There is an enthusiasm of the seller for the buyer in Vespasian's -description of the dignified book-hunter which is very characteristic, -but at the same time so natural that it places the very man before us, -as he lived, a man full of humour, _facetissimo_, saying pleasant -things to everybody, and making every one to whom he talked his -partisan. - - "He was a man open, large and liberal, not knowing how to - feign or dissimulate, and the enemy of all who feigned. He - was also hostile to ceremony and adulation, treating all - with the greatest friendliness. Great though he was as a - bishop, as an ambassador, he honoured all who came to see - him, and desired that whoever would speak with him should - do so seated by his side, and with his head covered; and - when one would not do so (out of modesty) he would take one - by the arm and make one sit down, whether one liked or - not." - -A delightful recollection of that flattering compulsion, the great -man's touch upon his arm, the seat by his side, upon which Vespasian -would scarcely be able to sit for pleasure, is in the bookseller's -tone; and he has another pleasant story to tell of Giannozzo Manetti, -who went to see their common patron when he was Cardinal and -ambassador to France, and tried hard, in his sense of too much honour -done him, to prevent the great man from accompanying him, not only to -the door of the reception room, but down stairs. "He stood firm on the -staircase to prevent him from coming further down: but Giannozzo was -obliged to have patience, being in the Osteria del Lione, for not only -would Messer Tommaso accompany him down stairs, but to the very door -of the hotel, ambassador of Pope Eugenius as he was." - -We must not, however, allow ourselves to be seduced into prolixity by -the old bookseller, whose account of his patron is so full of -gratitude and feeling. As became a scholar and lover of the arts, -Nicolas V. was a man of peace. Immediately after his elevation to the -papacy, he declared his sentiments to Vespasian in the prettiest -scene, which shines like one of the miniatures they loved, out of the -sober page. - - "Not long after he was made Pope, I went to see him on - Friday evening, when he gave audience publicly, as he did - once every week. When I went into the hall in which he gave - audience it was about one hour of the night (seven o'clock - in the evening); he saw me at once, and called to me that I - was welcome, and that if I would have patience a little he - would talk to me alone. Not long after I was told to go to - his Holiness. I went, and according to custom kissed his - feet; afterwards he bade me rise, and rising himself from - his seat, dismissed the court, saying that the audience was - over. He then went to a private room where twenty candles - were burning, near a door which opened into an orchard. He - made a sign that they should be taken away, and when we - were alone began to laugh, and to say 'Do the Florentines - believe, Vespasiano, that it is for the confusion of the - proud, that a priest only fit to ring the bell should have - been made Supreme Pontiff?' I answered that the Florentines - believed that his Holiness had attained that dignity by his - worth, and that they rejoiced much, believing that he would - give Italy peace. To this he answered and said: 'I pray God - that He will give me grace to fulfil that which I desire to - do, and to use no arms in my pontificate except that which - God has given me for my defence, which is His cross, and - which I shall employ as long as my day lasts.'" - -The cool darkness of the little chamber, near the door into the -orchard, the blazing candles all sent away, the grateful freshness of -the Roman night--come before us like a picture, with the Pope's -splendid robes glimmering white, and the sober-suited citizen little -seen in the quick-falling twilight. It must have been in the spring or -early summer, the sweetest time in Rome. Pope Eugenius had died in the -month of February, and it was on the 16th of March, 1447, that Nicolas -was elected to the Holy See. - -A few years after came the jubilee, in the year 1450, as had now -become the habit, and the influx of pilgrims was very great. It was a -time of great profit not only to the Romans who turned the city into -one vast inn to receive the visitors, but also to the Pope. "The -people were like ants on the roads which led from Florence to Rome," -we are told. The crowd was so immense crossing the bridge of St. -Angelo, that there were some terrible accidents, and as many as two -hundred people were killed on their way to the shrine of the Apostles. -"There was not a great lord in all Christendom who did not come to -this jubilee." "Much money came to the Apostolical See," continues the -biographer, "and the Pope began to build in many places, and to send -everywhere for Greek and Latin books wherever he could find them, -without regard to the price. - - "He also had many scribes from every quarter to whom he - gave constant employment; also many learned men both to - compose new works, and to translate those which had not - been translated, making great provision for them, both - ordinary and extraordinary; and to those who translated - books, when they were brought to him, he gave much money - that they might go on willingly with that which they had to - do. He collected a very great number of books on every - subject, both in Greek and Latin, to the number of five - thousand volumes. These at the end of his life were found - in the catalogue which did not include the half of the - copies of books he had on every subject; for if there was a - book which could not be found, or which he could not have - in any other way, he had it copied. The intention of Pope - Nicolas was to make a library in St. Peter's for the use of - the Court of Rome, which would have been a marvellous thing - had it been carried out; but it was interrupted by death." - -Vespasian adds for his own part a list of these books, which occupies -a whole column in one of Muratori's gigantic pages. - -Another anecdote we must add to show our Pope's quaint ways with his -little court of literary men. - - "Pope Nicolas was the light and the ornament of literature, - and of men of letters. If there had arisen another Pontiff - after him who would have followed up his work, the state of - letters would have been elevated to a worthy degree. But - after him things went from bad to worse, and there were no - prizes for virtue. The liberality of Pope Nicolas was such - that many turned to him who would not otherwise have done - so. In every place where he could do honour to men of - letters, he did so, and left nobody out. When Messer - Francesco Filelfo passed through Rome on his way to Naples - without paying him a visit, the Pope, hearing of it, sent - for him. Those who went to call him said to him, 'Messer - Francesco, we are astonished that you should have passed - through Rome without going to see him.' Messer Francesco - replied that he was carrying some of his books to King - Alfonso, but meant to see the Pope on his return. The Pope - had a scarsella at his side in which were five hundred - florins which he emptied out, saying to him, 'Take this - money for your expenses on the way.' This is what one calls - liberal! He had always a scarsella (pouch) at his side - where were several hundreds of florins and gave them away - for God's sake, and to worthy persons. He took them out of - the scarsella by handfuls and gave to them. Liberality is - natural to men, and does not come by nobility nor by - gentry: for in every generation we see some who are very - liberal and some who are equally avaricious." - -But the literary aspect of Pope Nicolas's character, however -delightful, is not that with which we are chiefly concerned. He was -the first Pope to conceive a systematic plan for the reconstruction -and permanent restoration of Rome, a plan which it is needless to say -his life was not long enough to carry out, but which yet formed the -basis of all after-plans, and was eventually more or less accomplished -by different hands. - -It was to the centre of ecclesiastical Rome, the shrine of the -Apostles, the chief church of Christendom and its adjacent buildings -that the care of the Builder-Pope was first directed. The Leonine -city, or Borgo as it is more familiarly called, is that portion of -Rome which lies on the left side of the Tiber, and which extends from -the castle of St. Angelo to the boundary of the Vatican -gardens--enclosing the church of St. Peter, the Vatican Palace with -all its wealth, and the great Hospital of Santo Spirito, surrounded -and intersected by many little streets, and joined to the other -portions of the city by the bridge of St. Angelo. Behind the mass of -picture galleries, museums, and collections of all kinds, which now -fill up the endless halls and corridors of the Papal palace, comes a -sweep of noble gardens full of shade and shelter from the Roman sun, -such a resort for the - - "learnèd leisure - Which in trim gardens takes its pleasure" - -as it would be difficult to surpass. In this fine extent of wood and -verdure the Pope's villa or casino, now the only summer palace which -the existing Pontiff chooses to permit himself, stands as in a domain, -small yet perfect. Almost everything within these walls has been built -or completely transformed since the days of Nicolas. But then as now, -here was the heart and centre of Christendom, the supreme shrine of -the Catholic faith, the home of the spiritual ruler whose sway reached -over the whole earth. When Nicolas began his reign, the old church of -St. Peter was the church of the Western world, then as now, classical -in form, a stately basilica without the picturesqueness and romantic -variety, and also, as we think, without the majesty and grandeur of a -Gothic cathedral, yet more picturesque if less stupendous in size and -construction than the present great edifice, so majestic in its own -grave and splendid way, with which through all the agitations of the -recent centuries, the name of St. Peter's has been identified. The -earlier church was full of riches, and of great associations, to which -the wonderful St. Peter's we all know can lay claim only as its -successor and supplanter. With its flight of broad steps, its portico -and colonnaded façade crowned with a great tower, it dominated the -square, open and glowing in the sun without the shelter of the great -existing colonnades or the sparkle of the fountains. Behind was the -little palace begun by Innocent III. to afford a shelter for the Popes -in dangerous times, or on occasion to receive the foreign guests whose -object was to visit the Shrine of the Apostles. Almost all the -buildings then standing have been replaced by greater, yet the -position is the same, the shrine unchanged, though everything else -then existing has faded away, except some portion of the old wall -which enclosed this sacred place in a special sanctity and security, -which was not, however, always respected. The Borgo was the holiest -portion of all the sacred city. It was there that the blood of the -martyrs had been shed, and where from the earliest age of Christianity -their memory and tradition had been preserved. It is not necessary for -us to enter into the question whether St. Peter ever was in Rome, -which many writers have laboriously contested. So far as the record of -the Acts of the Apostles is concerned, there is no evidence at all for -or against, but tradition is all on the side of those who assert it. -The position taken by Signor Lanciani on this point seems to us a very -sensible one. "I write about the monuments of ancient Rome," he says, -"from a strictly archæological point of view, avoiding questions which -pertain, or are supposed to pertain, to religious controversy." - - "For the archæologist the presence and execution of SS. - Peter and Paul in Rome are facts established beyond a - shadow of doubt by purely monumental evidence. There was a - time when persons belonging to different creeds made it - almost a case of conscience to affirm or deny _a priori_ - those facts, according to their acceptance or rejection of - the tradition of any particular Church. This state of - feeling is a matter of the past at least for those who have - followed the progress of recent discoveries and of critical - literature. There is no event of the Imperial age and of - Imperial Rome which is attested by so many noble - structures, all of which point to the same conclusion--the - presence and execution of the Apostles in the capital of - the empire. When Constantine raised the monumental - basilicas over their tombs on the Via Cornelia and the Via - Ostiensis: when Eudoxia built the Church ad Vincula: when - Damasus put a memorial tablet in the Platonia ad - Catacombos: when the houses of Pudens and Aquila and Prisca - were turned into oratories: when the name of Nymphæ Sancti - Petri was given to the springs in the catacombs of the Via - Nomentana: when the 29th June was accepted as the - anniversary of St. Peter's execution: when sculptors, - painters, medallists, goldsmiths, workers in glass and - enamel, and engravers of precious stones, all began to - reproduce in Rome the likeness of the apostle at the - beginning of the second century, and continued to do so - till the fall of the Empire: must we consider them as - labouring under a delusion, or conspiring in the commission - of a gigantic fraud? Why were such proceedings accepted - without protest from whatever city, whatever community--if - there were any other--which claimed to own the genuine - tombs of SS. Peter and Paul? These arguments gain more - value from the fact that the evidence on the other side is - purely negative." - -This is one of those practical arguments which are always more -interesting than those which depend upon theories and opinions. -However, there are many books on both sides of the question which may -be consulted. We are content to follow Signor Lanciani. The special -sanctity and importance of Il Borgo originated in this belief. The -shrine of the Apostle was its centre and its glory. It was this that -brought pilgrims from the far corners of the earth before there was -any masterpiece of art to visit, or any of those priceless collections -which now form the glory of the Vatican. The spot of the Apostle's -execution was indicated "by immemorial tradition" as between the two -goals (_inter duas metas_) of Nero's circus, which spot Signor -Lanciani tells us is exactly the site of the obelisk now standing in -the piazza of St. Peter. A little chapel, called the Chapel of the -Crucifixion, stood there in the early ages, before any great basilica -or splendid shrine was possible. - -This sacred spot, and the church built to commemorate it, were -naturally the centre of all those religious traditions which separate -Rome from every other city. It was to preserve them from assault, "in -order that it should be less easy for the enemy to make depredations -and burn the church of St. Peter, as they have heretofore done," that -Leo IV., the first Pope, whom we find engaged in any real work of -construction built a wall round the mount of the Vatican, the "Colle -Vaticano"--little hill, not so high as the seven hills of Rome--where -against the strong wall of Nero's circus Constantine had built his -great basilica. At that period--in the middle of the ninth -century--there was nothing but the church and shrine--no palace and no -hospital. The existing houses were given to the Corsi, a family which -had been driven out of their island, according to Platina, by the -Saracens, who shortly before had made an incursion up to the very -walls of Rome, whither the peoples of the coast (_luoghi maritimi del -Mar Terreno_) from Naples northward had apparently pursued the -Corsairs, and helped the Romans to beat them back. One other humble -building of some sort, "called Burgus Saxonum, Vicus Saxonum, Schola -Saxonum, and simply Saxia or Sassia," it is interesting to know, -existed close to the sacred centre of the place, a lodging built for -himself by Ina, King of Wessex, in 727. Thus we have a national -association of our own with the central shrine of Christianity. "There -was also a Schola Francorum in the Borgo." The pilgrims must have -built their huts and set up some sort of little oratory--favoured, as -was the case even in Pope Nicolas's day, by the excellent quarry of -the circus close at hand--as near as possible to the great shrine and -basilica which they had come so far to say their prayers in; and -attracted too, no doubt, by the freedom of the lonely suburb between -the green hill and the flowing river. Leo IV. built his wall round -this little city, and fortified it by towers. "In every part he put -sculptures of marble and wrote a prayer," says Platina. One of these -gates led to St. Pellegrino, another was close to the castle of St. -Angelo, and was "the gate by which one goes forth to the open -country." The third led to the School of the Saxons; and over each was -a prayer inscribed. These three prayers were all to the same -effect--"that God would defend this new city which the Pope had -enclosed with walls and called by his own name, the Leonine City, from -all assaults of the enemy, either by fraud or by force." - - [Illustration: IN THE CORSO: CHURCH DOORS.] - -This was then from the beginning the citadel and innermost sanctuary -of Rome. It was not till much later, under the reign of Innocent III., -that the idea of building a house for the Pope within that enclosure -originated. The same great Pope founded the vast hospital of the Santo -Spirito--on the site of a previous hospice for the poor either within -or close to its walls. Thus it came to be the lodging of the Sovereign -Pontiff, and of the scarcely less sacred sick and suffering, as well -as the most holy and chiefest of all Christian sanctuaries. Were we to -be very minute, it might be easily proved that almost every Pope -contributed something to the existence and decoration of the Leonine -city, the _imperium in imperio_; and specially, as was natural, to the -great basilica. - -The little Palazzo di San Pietro being close to St. Angelo, the -stronghold and most safe resort in danger, was occupied by the court -on its return from Avignon, and probably then became the official home -of the Popes; though for some time there seems to have been a -considerable latitude in that respect. Pope Martin afterwards removed -to the Palace of the Apostles. Another of the Popes preferred to all -others the great Palazzo Venezia, which he had built: but the name of -the Vatican was henceforth received as the title of the Papal court. -The enlargement and embellishment of this palace thus became naturally -the great object of the Popes, and nothing was spared upon it. It is -put first in every record of achievement even when there is other -important work to describe. "Nicolas," says Platina, "builded -magnificently both in the Vatican, and in the city. He rebuilt the -churches of St. Stefano Rotondo and of St. Teodoro," the former most -interesting church being built upon the foundations of a round -building of classical times, supposed, Mr. Hare tells us, to have -belonged to the ancient Fleshmarket, as we should say, the Macellum -Magnum. S. Teodoro is also a _rotondo_. It would seem that there were -different opinions as to the success of these restorations in the -fifteenth century such as arise among ourselves in respect to almost -every work of the same kind. A certain "celebrated architect," -Francesco di Giorgio di Martino, of Sienna, was then about the world, -a man who spoke his mind. "_Hedifitio ruinato_," he says of St. -Stefano, with equal disregard to spelling and to manners. "Rebuilt," -he adds, "by Pope Nichola; but much more spoilt:" which is such a -thing as we now hear said of the once much-vaunted restorations of Sir -Gilbert Scott. Our Pope also "made a leaden roof for Sta. Maria -Rotonda in the middle of the city, built by M. Agrippa as a temple for -all the gods and called the Pantheon." He must have been fond of this -unusual form; but whether it was a mere whim of personal liking, or if -there was any meaning in his construction of these round temples, we -have no information. Perhaps Nicolas had a special admiration of the -solemn and beautiful Pantheon, in which we completely sympathise. The -question is too insignificant to be inquired into. Yet it is curious -in its way. - -These were however, though specially distinguished by Platina, but a -drop in the ocean to the numberless undertakings of Pope Nicolas -throughout the city; and all these again were inferior in importance -to the great works in St. Peter's and the Vatican, to which his -predecessors had each put a hand so long as their time lasted. "In the -Vatican," says Platina, "he built those apartments of the Pontiff, -which are to be seen to this day: and he began the wall of the -Vatican, great and high, with its incredible depth of foundation, and -high towers, to hold the enemy at a distance, so that neither the -church of St. Peter (as had already happened several times) nor the -palace of the Pope should ever be sacked. He began also the tribune of -the church of St. Peter, that the church might hold more people, and -might be more magnificent. He also rebuilt the Ponte Molle, and -erected near the baths of Viterbo a great palace. Having the aid of -much money, he built many parts of the city, and cleansed all the -streets." Great also in other ways were his gifts to his beloved -church and city--"vases of gold and silver, crosses ornamented with -gems, rich vestments and precious tapestry, woven with gold and -silver, and the mitre of the Pontificate, which demonstrated his -liberality." It was he who first placed a second crown on the mitre, -which up to this time had borne one circlet alone. The complete tiara -with the three crowns was adopted in a later reign. - -The two previous Popes, his predecessors, had been magnificent also in -their acquisitions for the Church in this kind; both of them being -curious in goldsmiths' work, then entering upon its most splendid -development, and in their collections of precious stones. The valuable -work of M. Muntz, _Les Arts à la cour des papes_, abounds in details -of these splendid jewels. Indeed his sober records of daily work and -its payment seem to transport us out of one busy scene into another as -by the touch of a magician's wand, as if Rome the turbulent and idle, -full of aimless popular rushes to and fro, had suddenly become a -beehive full of energetic workers and the noise of cheerful labour, -both out of doors in the sun, where the masons were loudly at work, -and in many a workshop, where the most delicate and ingenious arts -were being carried on. Roman artists at length began to appear amid -the host of Florentines and the whole world seems to have turned into -one great _bottega_ full of everything rich and rare. - -The greatest, however, of all the conceptions of Pope Nicolas, the -very centre of his great plan, was the library of the Vatican, which -he began to build and to which he left all the collections of his -life. Vespasian gives us a list of the principal among those 5,000 -volumes, the things which he prized most, which the Pope bequeathed to -the Church and to Rome. These cherished rolls of parchment, many of -them translations made under his own eyes, were enclosed in elaborate -bindings ornamented with gold and silver. We are not, however, -informed whether any of the great treasures of the Vatican library -came from his hands--the good Vespasian taking more interest in the -work of his scribes than in Codexes. He tells us of 500 scudi given to -Lorenzo Valle with a pretty speech that the price was below his -merits, but that eventually he should have more liberal pay; of 1,500 -scudi given to Guerroni for a translation of the Iliad, and so forth. -It is like a bookseller of the present day vaunting his new editions -to a collector in search of the earliest known. But Pope Nicolas, like -most other patrons of his time, knew no Greek, nor probably ever -expected that it would become a usual subject of study, so that his -translations were precious to him, the chief way of making his -treasures of any practical use. - - [Illustration: SANTA MARIA DEL POPOLO. - _To face page 546._] - -The greater part, alas! of all this splendour has passed away. One -pure and perfect glory, the little chapel of San Lorenzo, painted by -the tender hand of Fra Angelico, remains unharmed, the only work of -that grand painter to be found in Rome. If one could have chosen a -monument for the good Pope, the patron and friend of art in every -form, there could not have been a better than this. Fra Angelico seems -to have been brought to Rome by Pope Eugenius, but it was under -Nicolas, in two or three years of gentle labour, that the work was -done. It is, however, impossible to enumerate all the undertakings of -Pope Nicolas. He did something to re-establish or decorate almost all -of the great basilicas. It is feared--but here our later historians -speak with bated breath, not liking to bring such an accusation -against the kind Pope, who loved men of letters--that the destruction -of St. Peter's, afterwards ruthlessly carried out by succeeding Popes -was in his plan: on the pretext, so constantly employed, and possibly -believed in, of the instability of the ancient building. But there is -no absolute certainty of evidence, and at all events he might have -repented, for he certainly did not do that deed. He began the tribune, -however, in the ancient church, which may have been a preparation for -the entire renewal of the edifice; and he did much towards the -decoration of another round church, that of the Madonna delle Febbre, -an ill-omened name, attached to the Vatican. He also built the -Belvedere in the gardens, and surrounded the whole with strong walls -and towers (round), one of which according to Nibby still remained -fifty years ago; which very little of Nicolas's building has done. His -great sin was one which he shared with all his brother-Popes, that he -boldly treated the antique ruins of the city as quarries for his new -buildings, not without protest and remonstrance from many, yet with -the calm of a mind preoccupied and seeing nothing so great and -important as the work upon which his own heart was set. - -This excellent Pope died in 1455, soon after having received the news -of the downfall of Constantinople, which is said to have broken his -heart. He had many ailments, and was always a small and spare man of -little strength of constitution; but "nothing transfixed his heart so -much as to hear that the Turk had taken Constantinople and killed the -Europeans, with many thousands of Christians," among them that same -"Imperadore de Gostantinopli" whom he had seen seated in state at the -Council of Ferrara, listening to his own and other arguments, only a -few years before--as well as the greater part, no doubt, of his own -clerical opponents there. When he was dying "being not the less of a -strong spirit," he called the Cardinals round his bed, and many -prelates with them, and made them a last address. His pontificate had -lasted a little more than eight years, and to have carried out so -little of his great plan must have been heavy on his heart; but his -dying words are those of one to whom the holiness and unity of the -Church came before all. No doubt the fear that the victorious Turks -might spread ruin over the whole of Christendom was first in his mind -at that solemn hour. - - "'Knowing, my dearest brethren, that I am approaching the - hour of my death, I would, for the greater dignity and - authority of the Apostolic See, make a serious and - important testament before you, not committed to the memory - of letters, not written, neither on a tablet nor on - parchment, but given by my living voice that it may have - more authority. Listen, I pray you, while your little Pope - Nicolas (papa Niccolajo) in the very instant of dying makes - his last will before you. In the first place I render - thanks to the Highest God for the measureless benefits - which, beginning from the day of my birth until the present - day, I have received of His infinite mercy. And now I - recommend to you this beautiful spouse of Christ, whom, so - far as I was able, I have exalted and magnified, as each of - you is well aware; knowing this to be to the honour of God, - for the great dignity that is in her, and the great - privileges that she possesses, and so worthy, and formed by - so worthy an Author, who is the Creator of the Universe. - Being of sane mind and intellect, and having done that - which every Christian is called to do, and specially the - Pastor of the Church, I have received the most sacred body - of Christ with penitence, taking from His table with my two - hands, and praying the Omnipotent God that he would pardon - my sins. Having had these sacraments I have also received - the extreme unction which is the last sacrament for the - redeeming of my soul. Again I recommend to you, as long as - I am able, the Roman Church, notwithstanding that I have - already done so; for this is the most important duty you - have to fulfil in the sight of God and men. This is that - true Spouse of Christ which He bought with his blood. This - is that robe without seam, which the impious Jews would - have torn but could not. This is that ship of St. Peter, - Prince of the Apostles, agitated and tossed by varied - fortunes of the winds, but sustained by the Omnipotent God, - so that she can never be submerged or shipwrecked. With all - the strength of your souls sustain her and rule her: she - has need of your good works, and you should show a good - example by your lives. If you with all your strength care - for her and love her, God will reward you, both in this - present life and in the future with life eternal; and to do - this with all the strength we have, we pray you: do it - diligently, dearest brethren.' - - "Having said this he raised his hands to heaven and said, - 'Omnipotent God, grant to the Holy Church, and to these - fathers, a pastor who will preserve her and increase her; - give to them a good pastor who will rule and govern thy - flock the most maturely that one can rule and govern. And I - pray for you and comfort you as much as I know and can. - Pray for me to God in your prayers.' When he had ended - these words, he raised his right arm and, with a generous - soul, gave the benediction--Benedicat vos Deus, Pater et - Filius et Spiritus Sanctus--speaking with a raised voice - and solemnly, _in modo Pontificale_." - -These tremulous words, broken and confused by the weakness of his last -hours, were taken down by the favourite scribe, Giannozzo Manetti, in -the chamber of the dying Pope: with much more of the most serious -matter to the Church and to Rome. His eager desire to soften all -possible controversies and produce in the minds of the conclave about -his bed, so full of ambition and the force of life, the softened heart -which would dispose them to a peaceful and conscientious election of -his successor, is very touching, coming out of the fogs and mists of -approaching death. - -In the very age that produced the Borgias, and himself the head of -that band of elegant scholars and connoisseurs, everything but -Christian, to whom Rome owes so much of her external beauty and -splendour, it is pathetic to stand by this kind and gentle spirit as -he pauses on the threshold of a higher life, subduing the astute and -worldly minded Churchmen round him with the tender appeal of the dying -father, their Papa Niccolajo, familiar and persuasive--beseeching them -to be of one accord without so much as saying it, turning his own -weakness to account to touch their hearts, for the honour of the -Church and the welfare of the flock. - - - - - [Illustration: MODERN DEGRADATION OF A PALACE.] - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -CALIXTUS III.--PIUS II.--PAUL II.--SIXTUS IV. - - -It is not unusual even in the strictest of hereditary monarchies to -find the policy of one ruler entirely contradicted and upset by his -successor; and it is still more natural that such a thing should -happen in a succession of men, unlike and unconnected with each other -as were the Popes; but the difference was more than usually great -between Nicolas and Calixtus III., the next occupant of the Holy See, -elected 1455, died 1458, who was an old man and a Spaniard, and loved -neither books nor pictures, nor any of the new arts which had -bewitched (as many people believed) Pope Nicolas and seduced him into -squandering the treasure of the Papacy upon unnecessary buildings, -and still more unnecessary decorations. Calixtus was a Borgia, the -first to introduce the horror of that name: but he was not in himself -a harmful personage. "He spent little in building," says Platina, "for -he lived but a short time, and saved all his money for the undertaking -against the Turks," an enterprise which had become a very real and -necessary one, now that Constantinople had fallen; but which had no -longer the romance and sentiment of the Crusades to inspire it, though -successive Pontiffs did their best to rouse Christendom on the -subject. The aged Spanish Cardinal threw himself into it with all the -fervour of his nature, which better than many others knew the mettle -of the Moor. His short term of power was entirely occupied with this. -A little building went on, which could not be helped: the walls had -always to be looked to; but Pope Nicolas's army of scribes were all -turned off summarily; the studios were closed, the artist people -turned away about their business; all the great works put a stop to. -Worse even than that--for Calixtus was a short-lived interruption, and -perhaps might only have stopped the progress of events for some three -years or so--Pope Nicolas's great plan, which was so complete, went -out of sight, and was lost in the limbo of good intentions. His -workmen were dispersed, and the fashion to which he had accustomed the -world, changed. It was only resumed with earnestness after several -generations, and never quite in the great lines which he had laid out. -Neither did the new Pope get his Crusade, which might have been a -better thing. Yet Calixtus was a person _assai generoso_, Platina -tells us; in any case he occupied his great post for a very short -time. - -His successor, Pius II., 1458, on the other hand, was such a man as -might well have inherited the highest purpose. He is almost better -known as Eneas Silvius, a famous traveller and writer--not the usual -peasant monk without a surname as so many had been, but one of the -Piccolomini of Sienna, a great house, though ruined or partially -ruined in his day. He was a man who had travelled much, and was known -at all the courts; at one time young, heretical, adventurous, and -ready to pull down all authorities, the life and soul of that famous -Council of Bâle which took upon itself to depose Pope Eugenius; but -not long after that outburst of independent youthfulness and energy -was over, we find him filling the highest offices, the Legate of -Eugenius and a very rising yet always much-opposed Cardinal. He it was -who travelled to a remote and obscure little country called Scotland, -in the Pope's name, to arrange matters there; and found the people -very savage, digging stones out of the earth to make fires of them: -but having plenty of fish and flesh, and surprisingly comfortable on -the whole. He was one of the ablest men who ever sat on the Papal -throne, but too reasonable, too moderate, too natural for the -position. He loved literature, or at least he loved books, which is -not always the same thing, and himself wrote a great many on various -subjects; and he was so fortunate as to have the historian of the -Popes, Platina--our guide, who we would have wished might live for -ever--for his librarian, who was worth all the marble tombs in the -world and all the epitaphs to a man whom he liked, and worse than any -heathen conqueror to the man who was unkind to him. - -Platina gives us a beautiful character of Pope Pius. He is very -lenient to the faults of his youth, as indeed most historians are in -respect to personages afterwards great, finding in their peccadilloes, -we presume, a welcome and picturesque relief to the perfections that -become a Pope. Yet Pius II. was never too perfect. He was a man who -disliked the narrowness of a court, and loved the fresh air, and to -give audience in his garden, and to eat his modest meal beside the -tinkling of a fountain or under the shade of trees. He loved wit and a -joke, and even gave ear to ridiculous things and to the excellent -mimicry of a certain Florentine, who "took off" the courtiers and -other absurd persons, and made his Holiness laugh. And he was hasty in -temper, but bore no malice, and paid no attention to evil reports -raised about himself. "He never punished those who spoke ill of him, -saying that in a free city like Rome, every one should speak freely -what he thought." He hated lying and story-tellers, and never made war -unless he was forced to it. Whenever he was freed from the trials of -business he took his pleasure in reading or in writing. "Books were -more dear to him than sapphires or emeralds," says Platina, with a -shrewd prick by the way at his successor, Paul, as we shall afterwards -see, "and he was used to say that his chrysolites and other jewels -were all enclosed in them." He never took a meal alone if he could -help it, but loved a lively companion, and to make his little feasts -in his garden as we have said, shocking much the scandalised -courtiers, who declared that no other Pope had ever done such a thing; -for which Pope Pius cared nothing at all. He wrote upon all kinds of -subjects; from a grammar which he made for the little King of Hungary, -to histories of various kingdoms, and philosophical disquisitions. -Indeed the list of his subjects is like that of a series of popular -lectures in our own day. "He wrote many books in dialogue--upon the -power of the Council of Bâle, upon the sources of the Nile, upon -hunting, upon Fate, upon the presence of God." If he had been a -University Extension lecturer, he could scarcely have been more -many-sided. And he wrote largely upon peace, no less than thirty-two -orations "upon the peace of kings, the concord of princes, the -tranquillity of nations, the defence of religion, and the quiet of the -world." There was neither peace among kings, concord among princes, -nor tranquillity among nations when Pope Pius delivered and collected -his orations. They ought to have had all the greater effect; but we -fear he was too wise a man to put much faith in any immediate result. -His greatest work, however, was his _Commentaries_, an enlarged and -philosophical study of his own times, which he did not live long -enough to finish. - -This Pontiff carried on the work of his predecessor more or less, but -without any great zeal for it. "He collected manuscripts, but with -discretion; he built, but it was in moderation," Bishop Creighton -says. Platina, with more warmth, tells us that "he took great delight -in building," but he seems to have confined himself to his own -immediate surroundings, working at the improvement of St. Peter's, -building a chapel, putting up a statue, restoring the great flight of -stairs which then as now led up to the portico which previous Popes -had adorned; and adding a little to the defences and decoration of the -Vatican. He is suspected of having had a guilty liking for the Gothic -style in architecture which greatly shocked the Roman _dilettanti_; -and certainly expressed his admiration for some of the great churches -in Germany with enthusiasm. One great piece of architectural work he -did, but it was not at Rome. It was in the headquarters of his family -at Sienna, and specially in the little adjacent town of Corsignano, -where he was born, one of those little fortified villages which add so -much to the beauty of Italy. This little place he made glorious with -beautiful buildings, forgetting his native wisdom and discretion in -the foolishness of that narrow but intense patriotism which bound the -Italian to his native town, and made it the joy of the whole earth to -his eyes. It gives a charm the more to his interesting character that -he should have been capable of such a folly; though not perhaps that -he should have changed its name to Pienza, a reflection of his own -pontifical name. - -With this, however, we have nothing to do, and not very much -altogether with the great Piccolomini, though he is one of the most -interesting and sympathetic figures which has ever sat upon the papal -throne. His death was a strange and painful conclusion to a life full -of work, full of admirable sense and intelligence without exaggeration -or pretence. He followed the policy of his predecessors in desiring to -institute a Crusade, one more strenuously called for perhaps than any -which preceded it, since Constantinople had now fallen into the hands -of the Turks, and Christendom was believed to be in danger. It is -scarcely possible to imagine that his full and active life should have -been much occupied by this endeavour: nor can we think that this great -spectator and observer of human affairs was consumed with anxiety in -respect to a danger about which the civilised world was so careless: -but in the end of his life he seems to have taken it up with tragical -earnestness, perhaps out of compunction for previous indifference. The -impulse which once moved whole nations to take the cross had died out; -and not even the sight of the beautiful metropolis of Eastern -Christianity fallen into the hands of the infidel, and so splendid a -Christian temple as St. Sophia turned into a mosque had power to rouse -Europe. The King of Hungary was the only monarch who showed any real -energy in the matter, feeling his own safety imperilled, and Venice, -also for the same reason, was the only great city; and except in these -quarters the remonstrances and entreaties of Pius had no success. In -these circumstances the Pope called his court about him and announced -to them the plan he had formed, a most unlikely plan for such a man, -yet possible enough if there was any remorseful sense of carelessness -in the past. The Duke of Burgundy had promised to go if another prince -would join him. The Pope determined that in the absence of any other -he himself would be that prince. Old as he was, and sick, and no -warrior, and perhaps with but little of the zeal which makes such a -self-devotion possible, he would himself go forth to repel the -infidel. "We do not go to fight," he said, with faltering voice. "We -will imitate those who, when Israel fought against Amalek, prayed on -the mountain. We will stand on the prow of our ship or upon some hill, -and with the holy Eucharist before our eyes, we will ask from our Lord -victory for our soldiers." After a pause of alarm and astonishment the -Cardinals consented, and such preparations as were possible were made. -It was published throughout all Christendom that the Pope was to sail -from Ancona at a certain date, and that every one who could provide -for the expenses of the journey should meet him there. He invited the -old Doge of Venice to join with himself and the Duke of Burgundy, also -an old man. "We shall be three old men," he said, "and our trinity -will be aided by the Trinity of Heaven." A kind of sublimity was in -the suggestion, a sublimity almost trembling on the borders of the -ridiculous; for the enterprise was no longer one which accorded with -the spirit of the time, and all was hesitation and difficulty. A -miscellaneous host crowded to Ancona, where the Pope, much suffering, -was carried in his litter, quite unfit for a long journey; but the -most of them had no money and had to be sent back; and the Venetian -galleys engaged to transport those who were left did not arrive till -the pilgrims had waited long, and were worn out with delay and -confusion. They arrived at last a day or two before Pope Pius died, -when he was no longer capable of moving--and with his death the -ill-fated Crusade fell to pieces and was heard of no more. It was the -most curious end, in an enthusiasm founded upon anxious calculation, -of a man who was never an enthusiast, whose eyes were always too -clear-sighted to permit him to be led away by feeling, a man of -letters and of thought, rather than of romantic-solemn enterprises or -the zeal of a martyr. That he was a kind of martyr to the strong -conviction of a danger which threatened Christendom, and the forlorn -hope of repelling it, there can be no doubt. - -Pius II. was succeeded in 1464 by Paul II., also in his way a man of -more than usual ability and note. He was a Venetian, the nephew of -the last Venetian Pope, Eugenius; and it was he who built, to begin -with, the fine palace still called the Palazzo Venezia, with which -all visitors to Rome are so well acquainted. It was built for his own -residence during his Cardinalate, and remained his favourite dwelling, -a habitation still very much more in the centre of everything, as we -say, than the remote and stately Vatican. The reader will easily -recall the imposing appearance of this fine building, placed at the -end of the straight street--the chief in Rome--in which were run the -many races which formed part of the carnival festivities, a recent -institution in Pope Paul's day. The street was called the Corso in -consequence; and it is not long since the last of these races, one -of horses without riders, was abolished. The Palazzo Venezia -commanded the long straight street from its windows, and all the -humours and wonders of the town, in which the Pope took pleasure. It -was Paul's fate to make himself an implacable enemy in the often -contemned, but--as regards the place in history of either pope or -king--all-important class of writers, which it must have seemed -ridiculous indeed for a Sovereign Pontiff to have kept terms with, on -account of any power in their hands. But this was a shortsighted -conclusion, unworthy the wisdom of a Pope. And the result of the -Pontiff's ill-treatment of the historian Platina, to whom we are so -much indebted, especially for the lives of those Popes who were his -contemporaries, has been a lasting stigma upon his character, which -the researches of the impartial critics of a later age have shown to -be partly without foundation, but which until quite recently was -accepted by everybody. In this way a writer has a power which is -almost absolute. We have seen in our own days a conspicuous instance -of this in the treatment by Mr. Froude of the life of Thomas Carlyle. -Numbers of Carlyle's friends made instant protest against the view -taken by his biographer; but they did so in evanescent methods--in -periodical literature, the nature of which is to die after it has had -its day--while a book remains. Very likely many of Pope Paul's friends -protested against the coolly ferocious account of his life given by -the aggrieved and revengeful author; but it is only quite recently, in -the calm of great distance, that people have come to think--charitably -in respect to Pope Paul II.--that perhaps Platina's strictures might -not be true. - -Platina, however, had great provocation. He was one of the disciples -of the famous school of Humanists, the then new school of learning, -literature, and criticism, which had arisen under the papacy and -patronage of Pope Nicolas V., and had continued to exist, though with -less encouragement, under his successors. Pius II. had not been their -patron as Nicolas was, but he had not been hostile to them, and his -tastes were all of a kind congenial to their work. But Paul looked -coldly upon the group of contemptuous scholars who had made themselves -into an academy, and vapoured much about classical examples and the -superiority of ancient times. He had no quarrel with literature, but -he persuaded himself to believe that the academy which talked and -masqueraded under classic names, and played with dangerous theories of -liberty, and criticism of public proceedings, was a nest of -conspirators and heretics scheming against himself. There was no -foundation whatever for his fears, but that mattered little in those -arbitrary days. This is Platina's own account of the matter: - - "When Pius was dead and Paul created in his place, he had - no sooner grasped the keys of Peter, than he - proceeded--whether in consequence of a promise to do so, or - because the decrees and proceedings of Pius were odious to - him--to dismiss all the officials elected by Pius, on the - ground that they were useless and ignorant (as he said): - and deprived them of their dignity and revenues without - permitting them to say a word in their own defence, though - they were men who for their erudition and doctrine had been - gathered together from all the ends of the world, and - attracted to the court of Rome by the promise of great - reward. The College was full of men of letters and virtuous - persons learned in the law both divine and human. Among - them were poets and orators who gave no less ornament to - the court than they received from it. Paul sent them all - away as incapable and as strangers, and deprived them of - everything, although those who had bought their offices - were allowed to retain them. Those who suffered most - attempted to dissuade him from this intention, and I, who - was one of them, begged earnestly that our cause might be - committed to the judge of the Rota. Then he fixed on me his - angry eyes. 'So,' he said, 'thou wouldst appeal to other - judges against the decision we have made! Know ye not that - all justice and law are in the casket of our bosom? Thus I - will it to be. Begone, all of you! for, whatever you may - wish I am Pope, and according to my pleasure can make and - unmake.'" - -After hearing this determined assertion of right, the displaced -scholars withdrew, but continued to plead their cause by urgent -letters, which ended at last in an unwise threat to make the -continental princes aware how they were treated, and to bring about -the Pope's ears a Council, to which he would be obliged to give -account. The word Council was to a Pope what the red flag is to a -bull, and in a transport of rage Paul II. threw Platina into prison. -He never in his life did a more foolish thing. The historian was kept -in confinement for two years, and passed one long winter without fire, -subjected to every hardship; but finally was set free by the -intercession of Cardinal Gonzaga, and remained, by order of the Pope, -under observation in Rome, where watching with a vigilant eye all that -went on, he laid up his materials for that brief but scathing -biography of Paul II. which forms one of the keenest effects in his -work, and from which the Pope's memory has never recovered. It is a -dangerous thing to provoke a man of letters who has a keen tongue and -a gift of recollection, especially in those days when such men were -not so many as now. - -Nevertheless Platina did a certain justice to his persecutor. "He -built magnificently," he says, "splendidly in St. Marco, and in the -Vatican." The Church of St. Marco is close to the Palazzo Venezia -where Paul chiefly lived; he had taken his title as Cardinal from his -native saint. Both in St. Peter's and in the Vatican he carried on -the works begun by his predecessors, and though he was unkind to the -scholars, he was not so in every case. "He expended his money -liberally enough," says Platina, "giving freely to poor Cardinals and -bishops, and to princes and persons of noble houses when cast out of -their homes, and especially to poor women and widows, and the sick who -had no one else to think of them. And he also took great trouble to -secure that corn and other things necessary to life should be -furnished in abundance, and at lower prices than had been known ever -before." These were good and noble qualities which his enemy did not -attempt to disguise. - -The special service done by Pope Paul to the city would seem, however, -to have been the restoration of some of those ancient monuments which -belonged to imperial Rome, of which none of his predecessors had made -much account. If he still helped himself freely, like them, from the -great reservoir of the Colosseum, he bestowed an attention and care, -which they had not dreamed of, upon some of the great works of classic -art, the arches of Titus and of Septimus Severus in particular, and -the famous statue of Marcus Aurelius. M. Muntz comments with much -spirit on the reason why this Pope's works of restoration have been so -little celebrated. His taste was toward sculpture rather than -painting. "To the eyes of the world," says the historian of the arts, -"the smallest fresco is of more account than the finest monuments of -architecture, or of sculpture. Nicolas V. did better for his fame in -engaging Fra Angelico than in undertaking the reconstruction of St. -Peter's. Pius II. owes a sort of posthumous celebrity to the paintings -in the library of the cathedral of Sienna." - -The same classical tastes of which he thus gave token made Pope Paul a -great collector of bronzes, cameos, medals, intaglios, the smaller -precious objects of ancient art; the love of which he was the first to -bring back as a special study and pursuit. His collection of these -was wonderful for his time, and great for any time. All the other -adornments of ancient art were dear to him, and his palace, which, -after all, is his most complete memorial in Rome, was adorned like a -bride with every kind of glory in carved and inlaid work, in vessels -of gold and silver, embroideries and tapestries. He had the still more -personal and individual characteristic of a love for fine clothes, -which the gorgeous costumes of the popedom permitted him to indulge in -to a large extent: and jewels, which he not only wore like an Eastern -prince, but kept about him unset in drawers and cabinets for his -private delight, playing with them, as Platina tells us, in the silent -hours of the night. Some part at least of these magnificent tastes -arose no doubt from the fact that he was himself a magnificent -specimen of manhood, so distinguished in personal appearance that he -had the naïve vanity of suggesting the name of Formosus for himself -when elected Pope, though he yielded the point to the scandalised -remonstrances of the Cardinals. This simplicity of self-admiration, so -undoubting as to be almost a moral quality, no doubt gave meaning to -the glorious mitres and tiara encrusted with the richest jewels, which -it gave him so much pleasure to wear, and which take rank with the -other great embellishments of Rome, though their object was more -personal than official. The habits of his life were strange, for he -slept during the day, and performed the duties of life during the -night, the reason assigned for this being that he was tormented by a -cough which prevented him from sleeping at the usual hours. "It was -difficult to come to speech of him," Platina says, for this reason. -"And when, after long waiting, he opened the door, you were obliged -rather to listen than to speak; for he was very copious and long in -speaking. In everything he desired to be thought astute, and therefore -his conversation was in very intricate and ambiguous language He -liked many sorts of viands on his table, all of the worst taste; and -took much pleasure in eating melons, crawfish, pastry, fish, and salt -pork, from which, I believe, came the apoplexy from which he died." -Thus the prejudices of his enemy penetrated the most private details -of the Pope's life. The venom of hatred defeats itself and becomes -ridiculous when carried so far. - -His fine collection was seized by his successor and broken up, as is -the fate of such treasures; and his works in St. Peter's, as we shall -see, had much the same fate, along with the great works of his -predecessor for the embellishment of the same building, all of which -perished or were set aside in the fever of rebuilding which ensued. -But there is still a sufficient memorial of him in the sombre -magnificence of his Venetian palace, to recall to us the image of a -true Renaissance Pope, mingling the most exquisite tastes with the -rudest, the perfection of personal vanity--for he loved to see himself -in a procession, head and shoulders over all the people--with the -likings of a gondolier. Thus we see him in the records of his -contemporaries, watching from his windows the strange sports in the -long street newly named the Corso, races of men and of horses, and -carnival processions accompanied by all the cumbrous and coarse humour -of the period; or a stranger sight still, seated by night in his -cabinet turning over his wealth of sparkling stones, enjoying the glow -of light in them and twinkle of many colours, while the big candles -flared, or a milder light shone from the beaks of the silver lamps. -Notwithstanding which strange humours, tastes, and vanities, he -remains in all these records a striking and remarkable figure, no -intellectualist, but an effective and notable man. - - [Illustration: PIAZZA COLONNA. - _To face page 564._] - -It is not the intention of these chapters to enter at all into the -political life of the Popes of this period. They were still a power in -Christendom, perhaps no less so that the Papacy had ceased to maintain -those great pretensions of being the final arbiter in all disputes -among the nations. But the papal negotiations, as always, came to very -little when not aided by the events which are in no man's hand. -Matthias of Hungary, though supported by all the influence and -counsels of Pope Paul, made little head against the heretical George -Podiebrad of Bohemia, until death suddenly overtook that prince, and -left a troubled kingdom without a head, at the mercy of the invaders, -an event such as constantly occurred to overturn all combinations and -form the crises of history under a larger providence than that of -human effort. And Paul no more than Pius could move Christendom -against the Turk, or form again, when all its elements had crumbled, -and the inspiration of enthusiasm was entirely gone, a new crusade. So -far as our purpose goes, however, the Venetian Palace, the Church of -St. Marco attached to it, and certain portions of the Vatican, better -represent the life of this Pope, to whom the picturesque circumstances -of his life and the rancour of a disappointed man of letters have -given a special place of his own in the long line, than any summary we -could give of the agitated sea of continental politics. The history of -Rome was working up to that climax, odious, dazzling, and terrible, to -which the age of the Renaissance, with all its luxury, its splendour, -and its vice, brought the great city, and even the Church so -irrevocably bound to it. Nicolas, Pius, and Paul at the beginning of -that period, yet but little affected by its worst features, give us a -pause of satisfaction before we get further. They were very different -men. Pope Nicolas, with his crowd of copyists forming a ragged -regiment after him, and the noise of all the workshops in his ears; -and Paul, alone in his chamber pouring from one hand to another the -stream of glowing and sparkling jewels which threw out radiance like -the waterways of his own Venice under the light, afford images as -unlike as it is possible to conceive; while the wise and thoughtful -Pius, with those eyes "which had kept watch o'er man's mortality," -stands over both, the perennial spectator and commentator of the -world. They were all of one mind to glorify Rome, to make her a wonder -in the whole earth, as Jerusalem had been, if not to pave her streets -with gold, yet to line them with noble edifices more costly than gold, -and to build and adorn the first of Christian churches, the shrine to -which every Christian came. Alas! by that time it was beginning to be -visible that all Christians would not long continue to come to the one -shrine, that the pictorial age of symbols and representations was -dying away, and that Rome had not learned at all how to meet that -great revolution. It was not likely to be met by even the most -splendid restoration of the fated city, any more than the necessities -of the people were to be met by those other resurrections of -institutions dead and gone, attempted by Rienzi, and his still less -successful copyist Porcaro; but how were these men to know? They did -their best, the worst of them not without some noble meaning, at least -at the beginning of their several careers; but they are all reduced to -their place, so much less important than they believed, by the large -sweep of history, and the guidance of a higher hand. - -Paul II. died in August 1471. Another order of man now succeeded these -remarkable personages, the first of the line of purely secular -princes, men of the world, splendid, unprincipled, and more or less -vicious, although in this case it is once more a peasant, without so -much as a surname, Sixtus IV., who takes his place in the scene, and -who has left his name more conspicuously than any of his predecessors -upon the later records of Rome. So far as the reader is concerned, the -inscription at the end of the life of Pope Paul is a more melancholy -one than anything that concerns that Pope. "Fin qui, scrisse il -Platina," says the legend. We miss in the after-records his individual -touch, the hand of the contemporary, in which the frankness of the -chronicler is modified by the experience and knowledge of an educated -mind. The work of Panvinio, _scriba del Senato e popolo Romano_, who -completes the record, is without the same charm. - -We have said that Pope Sixtus IV. was a man without a surname, -Francesco of Savona, his native place furnishing his only patronymic: -but there was soon found for him--probably for the satisfaction of the -nephews who took so large a place in his life--a name which bore some -credit, that of a family of gentry in which it is said the young monk -had fulfilled the duties of tutor in the beginning of his career. By -what imaginary pedigree this was brought about we are not told; but it -is unlikely that the real della Roveres would reject the engrafting of -a great Pope into their stock, and it soon became a name to conjure -with throughout Italy. Although he also vaguely made proposals about a -Crusade, and languidly desired to drive back the Turk, he was a man -much more interested in the internal squabbles of Italy, and in his -plans for endowing and establishing his nephews, than in any larger -purpose. But he was also a man of boundless energy and power, cooped -up for the greater part of his life, but now bursting forth like the -strong current of a river. Whether it was from a natural inclination -towards beauty and splendour, or because he saw it to be the best way -in which to distinguish himself and make his own name as well as that -of his city glorious, matters little to the result. He was, in the -fullest sense of the words, one of the chiefest of the Popes who made -the modern city of Rome, as still existing and glorious in the sight -of all the world. - -It was still a confused and disorderly place, in which narrow streets -and tortuous ways, full of irregularities and projections of all -kinds, threaded through the large and pathetic desert of the ancient -city, leaving a rim of ruin round the too-closely clustered centre of -life where men crowded together for security and warmth after the -custom of the mediæval age--when Sixtus began to reign; and this it -was which specially impressed King Ferdinand of Naples when he paid -his visit to the Pope in the year 1475, and had to be led about by -Cardinals and other high officials, sometimes, it would appear, by his -Holiness himself, to see the sights. The remarks he made upon the town -were very useful if not quite civil to the seat of Roman influence and -authority. Infessura gives this little incident vividly, so that we -almost see the streets with their outer stairs crowded with -bystanders, their balconies laden with bright tapestries and fair -women, and every projecting gable and pillared doorway pushing out -into the pavement at its own unfettered will. The course of -sightseeing followed by the King, conducted by the Pope and Cardinals, -is fully set forth in these quaint pages. King Ferrante came to make -his devotions _allo perdono_, probably the Jubilee of 1475, and -offered to each of the three churches of St. Peter, St. John Lateran, -and St. Paul, a pallium of gold for each, besides many other gifts. - - "He went over all Rome to see the great buildings, and to - Santa Maria Rotonda, and the columns of Antonius and of - Trajan; and every man did him great honour. And when he had - seen all these things he turned back to the palace, and - talking to Pope Sixtus said that he (the Pope) could never - be the lord of the place, nor ever truly reign over it, - because of the porticoes and balconies which were in the - streets; and that if it were ever necessary to put men at - arms in possession of Rome the women in the balconies, with - small bombs, could make them fly; and that nothing could be - more easy than to make barricades in the narrow streets; - and he advised him to clear away the balconies and the - porticoes and to widen the streets, under pretence of - improving and embellishing the city. The Pope took this - advice, and as soon as it was possible cast down all those - porticoes, and balconies, and widened the ways under - pretence of improving them. And the said King remained - there three days, and then went away." - -This story and the spirit in which the suggestion was made recall -Napoleon's grim whiff of grapeshot, and the policy which has made the -present Paris a city of straight lines which a battery of artillery -could clear in a moment, instead of all the elbows and corners of the -old picturesque streets. Pope Sixtus appreciated the suggestion, -knowing how undisciplined a city he had to deal with, and what a good -thing it might be to fill up those hornets' nests, with all their -capabilities of offence. Probably a great many picturesque dwellings -perished in the destruction of those centres of rebellion, which -recall to us so vividly the scenes in which Rienzi the tribune -fluttered through his little day, and which were continually filled -with the rustle and tumult of an abounding populace. We cannot be so -grateful to King Ferdinand, or so full of praise for this portion of -the work of Pope Sixtus, as were his contemporaries, though no doubt -it gave to us almost all the leading thoroughfares we know. It was -reserved for his kinsman-Pope to strike Rome the severest stroke that -was possible, and commit the worst of iconoclasms; but we do not doubt -that the destruction of the porches, and stairheads, and balconies -must have greatly diminished the old-world attraction of a city--in -which, however, it was the mediæval with all its irregularities that -was the intruder, while what was new in the hand of Sixtus and his -architects linked itself in sympathy with the most ancient, the -originator yet survivor of all. - -It was with the same purpose and intentions that the Pope built in -place of the Ponte Rotto--which had lain long in ruins--a bridge over -the Tiber, which he called by his own name, and which still remains, -affording a second means of reaching the Borgo and the Sanctuaries, as -a relief to the bridge of St. Angelo, upon which serious accidents -were apt to happen by reason of the crowd. Both the chroniclers, -Infessura and Panvinio, the continuator of Platina, describe the -bridge as being a rebuilding of the actual Ponte Rotto itself. "It was -his intention to mend this bridge," says the former authority, and he -takes the opportunity to point out the presumptuous and proud attempt -of Sixtus to preserve his own name and memory by it, a fault already -committed by several of his predecessors; "he accordingly descended to -the river and placed in the foundations by the said bridge a square -stone on which was written: _Sixtus Quartus Pontifex Maximus fecit -fieri sub Anno Domini 1473_. Behind this stone the Pope placed certain -gold medals bearing his head, and afterwards built that bridge, which -after this was no longer called _Ponte Rotto_, but _Ponte Sisto_, as -is written on it." It is a wonderful point of view, commanding as it -does both sides of the river, St. Peter's on one hand and the Palatine -on the other, with all the mass of buildings which are Rome. The -_Scritte_ on the Ponte Sisto begs the prayers of the passer-by for its -founder, who certainly had need of them both for his achievements in -life and in architecture. There is still, however, a Ponte Rotto -further up the stream. - -Besides the work of widening the streets, which necessitated much -pulling down and rebuilding of houses, and frequent encounters with -the inhabitants, who naturally objected to proceedings so summary--and -removing the excrescences, balconies, and porticoes, "which occupied, -obscured, and made them ugly (_brutte_) and disorderly:" Pope Sixtus -rebuilt the great Hospital of the Santo Spirito, which had fallen into -disrepair, providing shelter in the meantime for the patients who had -to be removed from it, and arranging for the future in the most -grandfatherly way. This great infirmary is also a foundling hospital, -and there was a large number of children to provide for. "Seeing that -many children both male and female along with their nurses were thrown -out on the world, he assigned them a place where they could live, and -ordained that the marriageable girls should be portioned and honestly -married, and that the others who would not marry should become the -nurses of the sick. He also arranged that there should be (in the new -hospital) more honourable rooms and better furnished for sick -gentle-folks, so that they might be kept separate from the common -people": an arrangement which is one of the things (like so many -ancient expedients) on which we now pride ourselves as an invention of -our own age, though the poor gentle-folks of Pope Sisto were not -apparently made to pay for their privileges. This hospital in some of -its details is considered the most meritorious of the Pope's -architectural work. - -Sixtus IV. was a man of the most violent temper, which led him into -some curious scenes which have become historical. When one of the -unfortunate proprietors of a house which stood in the way of his -improvements resisted the workmen, Sixtus had him cast into prison on -the moment, and savagely stood by to see the house pulled down before -he would leave the spot. He delighted, the chroniclers say, in the -ruins he made. A more tragic instance of his rage was the judicial -murder of the Protonotary Colonna, who paid with his life for crossing -the will of the Pope. But this masterful will and impetuous temper -secured an incredible swiftness in the execution of his work. - -The prudent suggestion of Ferdinand resulted in the clearance of those -straight streets which led from the Flaminian Gate--now called the -Porta del Popolo, which Sixtus built or restored, as well as the -church of Sta. Maria del Popolo, which stands close by--to all the -principal places in the city; the Corso being the way to the Capitol, -the Ripetta to St. Angelo and the Borgo. He repaired once more the -church and ancient palace of the Lateran, which had so long been the -home of the Popes, and was still formally their diocesan church to -which they went in state after their election. It is unnecessary, -however, to give here a list of the many churches which he repaired or -rebuilt. His work was Rome itself, and pervaded every part, from St. -Peter's and the Vatican to the furthest corners of the city. The -latter were, above all, the chief objects of his care, and he seems to -have taken up with even a warmer ardour, if perhaps with a less -cultivated intelligence, the plan of Nicolas V. in respect to the -Palace at least. Like him he gathered a crowd of painters, chiefly -strangers, around him, so that there is scarcely a great name of the -time that does not appear in his lists; but he managed these great -craftsmen personally like a slave-driver, pushing them on to a -breathless speed of execution, so that the works produced for him are -more memorable for their extent than for their perfection. - -The fame of a sanitary reformer before his time seems an unlikely one -for Pope Sixtus, yet he seems to have had no inconsiderable right to -it. _Nettare_ and _purgare_ are two words in constant use in the -record of his life. He restored to efficient order the Cloaca Maxima. -He brought in, a more beautiful office, the Acqua Vergine, a name of -itself enough to glorify any master-builder, "remaking," says the -chronicler, "the aqueducts, which were in ruins, from Monte Pincio to -the fountain of Trevi." Here is perhaps a better reason for blessing -Pope Sixtus than even his bridge, for those splendid and abundant -waters which convey coolness and freshness and pleasant sound into the -very heart of Rome were brought hither by his hand, a gift which may -be received without criticism, for not upon his name lies the guilt of -the prodigious construction, a creation of the eighteenth century, -through which they now flow. The traveller from the ends of the earth -who takes his draught of this wonderful unfailing fountain, rejoicing -in the sparkle and the flow of water so crystal-clear and cold even in -the height of summer, and hoping to secure as he does so his return to -Rome, may well pour a libation to Papa Sisto, who, half pagan as they -all were in those days, would probably have liked that form of -recollection quite as much as the prayers he invokes according to the -formal requirements of piety and the custom of the Church. However, -they found it quite easy to combine the two during that strange age. -The chief thing of all, however, which perpetuates the name of Sixtus -is the famous Sistine chapel, although its chief attraction is not -derived from anything ordained by him. Some of the greatest names in -art were concerned in its earlier decorations--Perugino, Botticelli, -Ghirlandajo, along with many others. Michael Angelo was not yet, -neither had Raphael appeared from the Umbrian _bottega_ with his charm -of grace and youth. But the Pope collected the greatest he could find, -and set them to work upon his newly-built walls with a magnificence -and liberality which deserved a more lasting issue. The reader will -shiver, yet almost laugh with consternation and wonder, to hear that -several great pictures of Perugino were destroyed on these walls by -the orders of another Pope in order to make room for Michael Angelo. -There could not be a more characteristic token of the course of events -in the Papal succession, and of the wanton waste and destruction by -one of the most cherished work of another. - -Sixtus was none the less a warlike prince, struggling in perpetual -conflict with the princes of the other states, perhaps with even a -fiercer strain of ambition, fighting for wealth and position with -which to endow the young men who were as his sons--as worldly in his -aims as any Malatesta or Sforza, as little scrupulous about his means -of carrying them out, shedding blood or at least permitting it to be -shed in his name, extorting money, selling offices, trampling upon the -rights of other men. Yet amid all these distractions he pursued his -nobler work, not without a wish for the good of his people as well as -for his own ends, making his city more habitable, providing a lordly -habitation for the sick, pouring floods of life-giving water into the -hot and thirsty place. The glory of building may have many elements of -vanity in it as well as the formation of galleries of art, and the -employment of all the greatest art-workmen of their time. But ours is -the advantage in these latter respects, so that we may well judge -charitably a man who, in devising great works for his own honour and -pleasure, has at the same time endowed us, and especially his country -and people, with a lasting inheritance. Perhaps, even in competition -with these, it is most to his credit that he fulfilled offices which -did not so much recommend themselves to his generation, and cleansed -and cleared out and let in air and light like any modern sanitary -reformer. The Acqua Vergine and the Santo Spirito Hospital are as fine -things as even a Botticelli for a great prince's fame. He may even be -forgiven the destruction of the balconies and all the picturesque -irregularities which form the charm of ancient streets, in -consideration of the sewerage and the cleaning out. The pictures, the -libraries, and all the more beautiful things of life, in which we of -the distant lands and centuries have our share of benefit, are good -deeds which are not likely to be forgotten. - -It is however naturally the beautiful things of which it is most -pleasant to think. The chroniclers, whom we love to follow, curiously -enough, have nothing to say about the pictures, perhaps because it was -not an art favoured by the Romans, or which they themselves pursued, -except in its lower branches. Infessura mentions a certain Antonazzo -Pintore, who was the author of a Madonna, painted on the wall near the -church of Sta. Maria, below the Capitol at the foot of the hill, which -on the 26th of June, in the year 1470, began to do miracles, and was -afterwards enshrined in a church dedicated to our Lady of -Consolations. Antonazzo was a humble Roman artist, whose name is to be -found among the workmen in the service of Pope Paul II., who was not -much given to pictures. Perhaps he is mentioned because he was a -Roman, more likely because he had the good luck to produce a -miraculous Madonna. The same writer makes passing mention of I -Fiorentini, under which generic name all the _bottegas_ were included. - -"He renewed the Palace of the Vatican, drawing it forth under great -colonnades," says, picturesquely, the chronicler Panvinio, working -probably from Platina's notes, "and making under his chapel a -library": which was the finest thing of all, for he there reinstated -Platina, who had been kept under so profound a shadow in the time of -Paul II., and called back the learned men whom his predecessor had -discouraged, sending far and near through all Europe for books, and -thus enlarging the library begun by Pope Nicolas which is one of the -most celebrated which the world possesses, and to which he secured a -revenue, "enough to enable those who had the care of it to live, and -even to buy more books." This provision still exists, though it is no -longer sufficient for the purpose for which it was dedicated. The -Cardinals emulated the Pope both in palace and church, each doing his -best to leave behind him some building worthy of his name. Ornament -abounded everywhere; sometimes rather of a showy than of a refined -kind. There is a story in Vasari of how one of the painters employed -on the Sistine, competing for a prize which the Pope had offered, -piled on his colours beyond all laws of taste or harmony, and was -laughed at by his fellows; but proved the correctness of his judgment -by winning the prize, having gauged the knowledge and taste of Sixtus -better than the others whose attempt had been to do their best--a -height entirely beyond his grasp. - -All these buildings, however, were fatal to the remnants still -existing of ancient Rome. The Colosseum and the other great relics of -antiquity were still the quarries out of which the new erections were -built. The Sistine Bridge was founded upon huge blocks of travertine -brought directly from the ruins of the Colosseum. The buildings of the -Imperial architects thus melted away as we are told now everything in -the world does, our own bodies among the rest, into new combinations, -under a law which if just and universal in nature is not willingly -adopted in art. The wonder is how they should have supplied so many -successive generations, and still remain even to the extent they still -do. Every building in Rome owes something to the Colosseum--its stones -were sold freely in earlier ages, and carried off to the ends of the -earth; but it has remained like the widow's cruse, inexhaustible: -which is almost more wonderful than the fact of its constant use. - -There is a picture in the Vatican gallery, which though not one of the -highest merit is very interesting from a historical point of view. We -quote the description of it from Bishop Creighton. - - "It represents Sixtus IV. founding the Vatican library. The - Pope with a face characterised by mingled strength and - coarseness, his hands grasping the arms of his chair, sits - looking at Platina, who kneels before him, a man whose face - is that of a scholar, with square jaw, thin lips, finely - cut mouth, and keen glancing eye. Cardinal Giuliano stands - like an official who is about to give a message to the - Pope, by whose side is Pietro Riario with aquiline nose and - sensual chin, red-cheeked and supercilious. Behind Platina - is Count Girolamo with a shock of black hair falling over - large black eyes, his look contemptuous and his mien - imperious." - -These were the three men for whom the Pontiff fought and struggled and -soiled his hands with blood, and sold his favour to the highest -bidder. Giuliano della Rovere and Pietro Riario were Cardinals: Count -Girolamo or Jeronimo was worse--he was of the rudest type of the -predatory baron, working out a fortune for himself with the sword, the -last man in the world to be the henchman of a Pope. They were but one -step from the peasant race, without distinction or merit which had -given them birth, and all three built upon that rude stock the -dissolute character and grasping greed for money, acquired by every -injustice, and expended on every folly, which was so common in their -time. They were all young, intoxicated with their wonderful success -and with every kind of extravagance to be provided for. They made Rome -glitter and glow with pageants, always so congenial to the taste of -the people, seizing every opportunity of display and magnificence. -Infessura tells the story of one of these wonderful shows, with a -mixture of admiration and horror. The Cardinal of San Sisto, he tells -us, who was Pietro Riario, covered the whole of the Piazza of the -Santi Apostoli, and hung it with cloth of arras, and above the portico -of the church erected a fine _loggia_ with panels painted by the -Florentines for the festa of San ... (the good Infessura forgets the -name with a certain contempt one cannot but feel for the foreign -painters and their works), and in front made two fountains which threw -water very high, as high as the roof of the church. This wonderful -arrangement was intended for the delectation of the royal guest -Madonna Leonora, daughter of King Ferrante for whom he and his cousin -Girolamo made a great feast. - - "After the above banquet was seen one of the finest things - that were ever seen in Rome or out of Rome: for between the - banquet and the festa, several thousands of ducats were - spent. There was erected a buffet with so much silver upon - it as you would never have believed the Church of God had - so much, in addition to that which was used at table: and - even the things to eat were gilt, and the sugar used to - make them was without measure, more than could be believed. - And the said Madonna Leonora was in the aforesaid house - with many demoiselles and baronesses. And every one of - these ladies had a washing basin of gold given her by the - Cardinal. Oh guarda! in such things as these to spend the - treasure of the Church!" - -Next year the Cardinal Riario died at twenty-eight, "poisoned," -Infessura says: "and this was the end of all our fine festas." Another -day it was the layman among the nephews who stirred all Rome, and the -world beyond, with an immeasurable holiday. - - "On St. Mark's Day, 1746, the Count Jeronimo, son, or - nephew of Pope Sixtus, held a solemn tournament in Navona, - where were many valiant knights of Italy and much people, - Catalans and Burgundians and other nations; and it was - believed that at this festivity there were more than a - hundred thousand people, and it lasted over Friday, - Saturday, and Sunday. And there were three prizes, one of - which was won by Juliano Matatino, and another by Lucio - Poncello, and the third by a man of arms of the Kingdom - (Naples, so called until very recent days), and they were - of great value." - -The Piazza Navona, the scene of this tournament, was made by Pope -Sixtus the market-place of Rome, where markets were held once a month, -an institution which still continues. The noble Pantheon occupies the -end of this great square, as when Count Jeronimo with his black brows, -marshalled his knights within the long enclosure, so fit for such a -sight. We have now come to a period of history in which all the -localities are familiar, and where we can identify every house and -church and tower. - -"Sixtus," says the chronicler, "left nothing undone which he saw to be -for the ornament or comfort of the city. He defended intrepidly the -cause of the Romans and the dignity of the Holy See." The first of -these statements is more true perhaps than the last; and we may -forgive him his shortcomings and his nephews on that great score. He -ended his reign in August 1484, having held the Pontificate thirteen -years. - - - - - [Illustration: FOUNTAIN OF TREVI.] - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -JULIUS II.--LEO X. - - -It is happily possible to pass over the succeeding pontificates of -Innocent VIII. and Alexander VI. These Popes did little for Rome -except, especially the last of them, to associate the name of the -central city of Christendom with every depravity. The charitable -opinion of later historians who take that pleasure in upsetting all -previous notions, which is one of the features of our time, has begun -to whisper that even the Borgias were not so black as they were -painted. But it will take a great deal of persuasion and of eloquence -to convince the world that there is anything to be said for that name. -Pope Innocent VIII. continued the embellishment of the Vatican, which -was his own palace, and completed the Belvedere, and set Andrea -Mantegna to paint its chambers; but this was not more than any Roman -nobleman might have done for his palace if he had had money enough for -decorations, which were by no means so costly in those days as they -would be now, and probably indeed were much cheaper than the more -magnificent kinds of arras or other decorative stuffs fit for a Pope's -palace. Alexander, too, added a splendid apartment for himself, still -known by his name; and provided for possible danger (which did not -occur however in his day) by making and decorating another apartment -in the castle of St. Angelo, whither he might have retired and still -managed to enjoy himself, had Rome risen against him. But Rome, which -often before had hunted its best Popes into the strait confinement of -that stronghold, left the Borgia at peace. We are glad to pass on to -the next Pope, whose footsteps, almost more than those of any other of -her monarchs, are still to be seen and recognised through Rome. He -gave more to the city than any one who had preceded him, and he -destroyed more than any Pope before had permitted himself to do. - -Julius II., della Rovere, the nephew of Pope Sixtus, for whom and for -his brother and cousin that Pope occupied so much of his busy life, -was a violent man of war, whose whole life was occupied in fighting, -and who neither had nor pretended to have any reputation for sanctity -or devotion. But passionate and unsparing as he was, and fiercely bent -on his own way, the aim of his perpetual conflicts was at all events a -higher one than that of his uncle, in so far that it was to enrich the -Church and not his own family that he toiled and fought. He was the -centre of warlike combinations all his life--League of Cambrai, holy -League, every kind of concerted fighting to crush those who opposed -him and to divide their goods; but the portion of the goods which fell -to the share of Pope Julius was for the Church and not for the -endowment of a sister's son. He was not insensible altogether to the -claims of sister's sons; but he preferred on the whole the patrimony -of St. Peter, and fought for that with unfailing energy all round. -There are many books in which the history of those wars and of the -Renaissance Popes in general may be read in full, but the Julius II. -in whom we are here interested is not one who ever led an army or -signed an offensive league: it is the employer of Bramante and Michael -Angelo and Raphael, the choleric patron who threatened to throw the -painter of the Sistine chapel from his scaffolding, the dreadful -iconoclast who pulled down St. Peter's and destroyed the tombs of the -Popes, the magnificent prince who bound the greatest artists then -existing in Italy, which was to say in the world, to his chariot -wheels, and drove them about at his will. Most of these things were -good things, and give a favourable conception of him; though not that -which was the most important of all. - -How it was that he came to pull down St. Peter's nobody can say. He -had of course the contempt which a man, carried on the highest tide of -a new movement, has by nature for all previous waves of impulse. He -thought of the ancient building so often restored, the object of so -much loving care, with all the anxious expedients employed by past -Popes to glorify and embellish the beloved interior, giving it the -warmest and most varied historical interest--with much the same -feeling as the respectable churchwarden in the eighteenth century -looked upon the piece of old Gothic which had fallen into his hands. A -church of the fourteenth century built for eternity has always looked -to the churchwarden as if it would tumble about his ears--and his -Herculean efforts to pull down an arch that without him would have -stood till the end of time have always been interpreted as meaning -that the ancient erection was about to fall. Julius II. in the same -way announced St. Peter's to be in a bad way and greatly in need of -repair, so as scarcely to be safe for the faithful; and Bramante was -there all ready with the most beautiful plans, and the Pope was not a -patient man who would wait, but one who insisted upon results at once. -This church had been for many hundreds of years the most famous of -Christian shrines; from the ends of the world pilgrims had sought its -altars. The tomb of the Apostles was its central point, and many -another saint and martyr inhabited its sacred places. It had seen the -consecration of Emperors, it had held false Popes and true, and had -witnessed the highest climax of triumph for some, and for some the -last solemnity of death.[10] But Bramante saw in that venerable temple -only the foundations for a new cathedral after the fashion of the -great Duomo which was the pride of Florence; and his master beheld in -imagination the columns rising, and the vast arches growing, of such -an edifice as would be the brag of Christendom, and carry the glory of -his own name to the furthest ends of the earth: a temple all-glorious -in pagan pride, more classical than the classics, adorned with great -statues and blank magnificence of pilasters and tombs rising up to the -roof--one tomb at least, that of the della Roveres, of Sixtus IV. and -Julius II., which should live as long as history, and which, if that -proud and petulant fellow Buonarotti would but complete his work, -would be one of the glories of the Eternal City. - - [Illustration: OLD ST. PETER'S. - _To face page 584._] - -The ancient St. Peter's would not seem to have had anything of the -poetic splendour and mystery of a Gothic building as understood in -northern countries: the rounded arches of its façade did not spring -upwards with the lofty lightness and soaring grace of the great -cathedrals of France and Germany. But the irregular front was full of -interest and life, picturesque if not splendid. It had character and -meaning in every line, it was a series of erections, carrying the -method of one century into another, with that art which makes one -great building into an animated and varied history of the times and -ages through which it has passed, taking something from each, and -giving shelter and the sense of continuance to all. There is no such -charm as this in the most perfect of architectural triumphs executed -by a single impulse. But this was the last quality in the world likely -to deter a magnificent Pope of the fifteenth century, to whom unity of -conception and correctness of form were of much more concern than any -such imaginative interest. However Julius II. must not have greater -guilt laid upon him than was his due. His operations concerned only -the eastern part of the great church: the façade, and the external -effect of the building remained unchanged for more than a hundred -years; while the plan as now believed, was that of Pope Nicolas V., -only carried out by instalments by his successors, of whom Julius was -one of the boldest. - -It is, however, in the fame of his three servants, sublime slaves, -whose names are more potent still than those of any Pontiff, that this -Pope has become chiefly illustrious. His triumphs of fighting are lost -from memory in the pages of the historians, where we read and forget, -the struggle he maintained in Italy, and the transformations through -which that much troubled country passed under his sway--to change -again the morrow after, as it had changed the day before the beginning -of his career. To be sure it was he who finally identified and secured -the Patrimony of St. Peter--so that the States of the Church were not -henceforward lost and won by a natural succession of events once at -least in the life of every Pope. But we forget that fact, and all -that secured it, the tumultuous chaos of European affairs being as yet -too dark to be penetrated by any certainty of consolidation. The -course of events was in large what the history of the fortunes of St. -John Lateran, for example, was in small. From the days of Pope Martin -V. until those of Sixtus IV. a change of the clergy there was made in -almost each pontificate. Eugenius IV. restored the canons regular, or -monks: who were driven forth by Calixtus III., again restored by Paul -II., and so forth, until at length Sixtus, bringing back the secular -priests for the third time, satisfied the monks by the gift of his new -church of Sta. Maria della Pace. The revolution of affairs in Italy -was almost as regular, and it is only with an effort of the mind that -the reader can follow the endless shifting of the scenes, the -combinations that disperse and reassemble, the whirl of events for -ever coming round again to the point from which they started. But when -we put aside the Popes and the Princes and the stamping and tumult of -mail-clad warriors--and the crowd opening on every side gives us to -see a patient, yet high-tempered artisan mounting day by day his lofty -platform, swung up close to the roof, where sometimes lying on his -back, sometimes crouched upon his knees, he made roof and architrave -eloquent with a vision which centuries cannot fade, nor any -revolution, either of external affairs or of modes of thought, lessen -in interest, a very different feeling fills the mind, and the -thoughts, which were sick and weary with the purposeless and dizzy -whirl of fact, come back relieved to the consoling permanence of art. -The Pope who mounted imperious, a master of the world, on to those -dizzy planks, admired, and blasphemed and threatened in a breath; but -with no power to move the sturdy painter, who, it was well known, was -a man impossible to replace. "When will you have done?" said the Pope. -"When I can," replied the other. The Pontiff might rage and threaten, -but the Florentine painted on steadily; and Pope Julius, on the -tremulous scaffolding up against the roof of his uncle's chapel, is -better known to the world by that scene than by all his victories. -Uncle and nephew, both men of might, warlike souls and strong, that -room in the Vatican has more share in their fame than anything else -which they achieved in the world. - -Another and a gentler spirit comes in at the same time to glorify this -fortunate Pope. His predecessors for some time back had each done -something for the splendour of the dwelling which was their chief -residence, even the least interested adding at least a _loggia_, a -corridor, a villa in the garden, as has been seen, to make the Vatican -glorious. Alexander VI. had been the last to embellish and extend the -more than regal lodging of the Pontiffs; but Julius II. had a hatred -of his predecessor which all honest men have a right to share, and -would not live in the rooms upon which the Borgias had left the horror -of their name. He went back to the cleaner if simpler apartments which -Nicolas V. had built and decorated by the hands of the elder painters. -Upon one of these he set young Raphael to work, a young man with whom -there was likely to be no such trouble as that he had with the gnarled -and crabbed Florentine, who was as wilful as himself. Almost as soon -as the young painter had begun his gracious work the delighted Pope -perceived what a treasury of glory he had got in this new servant. -What matter that the new painter's master, Perugino, had been there -before him with other men of the highest claims? The only thing to do -was to break up these old-fashioned masters, to clear them away from -the walls, to leave it all to Raphael. We shiver and wonder at such a -proof of enthusiasm. Was the young man willing to get space for his -smooth ethereal pictures with all their heavenly grace, at such a -price? But if he made any remonstrance--which probably he did, for we -see him afterwards in much trouble over St. Peter's, and the -destruction carried on there--his imperious master took little notice. -Julius was one of the men who had to be obeyed, and he was always as -ready to pull down as to build up. The destruction of St. Peter's on -one hand, and all those pictures on the other, prove the reckless and -masterful nature of the man, standing at nothing in a matter on which -he had set his heart. In later days the pictures of Perugino on the -wall of the Sistine chapel were demolished, as has been said, to make -place for the Last Judgment of Michael Angelo; but Pope Julius by that -time had passed into another sphere. - -Most people will remember the famous portrait of this Pope by Raphael, -one of the best known pictures in the world. He sits in his chair, an -old man, his head slightly bowed, musing, in a pause of the endless -occupations and energy which made his life so full. The portrait is -quite simple, but full of dignity and a brooding power. We feel that -it would not be well to rouse the old lion, though at the moment his -repose is perfect. Raphael was at his ease in the peacefulness of his -own soul to observe and to record the powerful master whose fame he -was to have so great a share in making. It would have been curious to -have had also the Julius whom Michael Angelo knew. - -He died in the midst of all this great work, while yet the dust of the -downfall of St. Peter's was in the air. Had it been possible that he -could have lived to see the new and splendid temple risen in its -place, we could better understand the wonderful hardihood of the act; -but it would be almost inconceivable how even the most impious of men -could have executed such an impulse, leaving nothing but a partial -ruin behind him of the great Shrine of Christendom, did we not know -that a whole line of able rulers had carried on the plan to gradual -completion. It was not till a hundred and fifty years later that the -new St. Peter's in its present form, vast and splendid, but -apparently framed to look, to the first glance, as little so as -possible, stood complete, to the admiration of the world. In the -violence of destruction a great number of the tombs of the Popes -perished, by means of that cynical carelessness and profanity which is -more cruel than any hostile impulse. Julius preserved the grave of his -uncle Sixtus, where he was himself afterwards laid, not in his own -splendid tomb which had been in the making for many years, and which -is now to be seen in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli from which he -took his Cardinal's title. He had therefore little good of that work -of art as he well deserved, and it was itself sadly diminished, cut -down, and completed by various secondary hands; but it is kept within -the ken of the spectator by Michael Angelo's Moses and some other -portions of his original work, though it neither enshrines the body -nor marks the resting place of its imperious master. Julius died in -1513, "more illustrious in military glory than a Pope ought to be." -Panvinio says: "He was of great soul and constancy, and a powerful -defender of all ecclesiastical things: he would not suffer any -offence, and was implacable with rebels and contumacious persons. He -was such a one as could not but be praised for having with so much -strength and fidelity preserved and increased the possessions of the -Church, although there are a few to whom it appears that he was more -given to arms than was becoming a holy Pope." "On the 21st of February -1513, died Pope Julius, at nine hours of the night," says another -chronicler, Sebastiano Branca; "he held the papacy nine years, three -months, and twenty-five days. He was from Savona: he acquired many -lands for the Church: no Pope had ever done what Pope Julius did. The -first was Faenza, the others Forli, Cervia, Ravenna, Rimini, Parma, -Piacenza, and Arezzo. He gained them all for the Church, nor ever -thought of giving them to his own family. Pesaro he gave to the Duke -of Urbino, his nephew, but no other. Thirty-three cardinals died in -his time. And he caused the death in war of more than a hundred -thousand people." There could not be a more grim summary. - -It is curious to remark that the men who originated the splendour of -modern Rome, who built its noblest churches and palaces, and -emblazoned its walls with the noblest works of art, and filled its -libraries with the highest luxury of books, were men of the humblest -race, of peasant origin, born to poverty and toil. Thomas of Sarzana, -Pope Nicolas V., Francesco and Giuliano of Savona, Popes Sixtus IV. -and Julius II.: these men were born without even the distinction of a -surname, in the huts where poor men lie, or more humbly still in some -room hung high against the rocky foundations of a village, perched -upon a cliff, after the fashion of Italy. It was they who set the -fashion of a magnificence beyond the dreams of the greatest princes of -their time. - -It was not so, however, with the successor of Julius II., the Pope in -whose name all the grandeur and magnificence of Rome is concentrated, -and of whom we think most immediately when the golden age of -ecclesiastical luxury and the splendour of art is named. Leo X. was as -true a son of luxury as they were of the soil. The race of Medici has -always been fortunate in its records. The greatest painters of the -world have been at its feet, encouraged and cherished and tyrannised -over. Literature such as was in the highest esteem in those days -flattered and caressed and fawned upon them. Lorenzo, somewhat -foolishly styled in history the Magnificent,--in forgetfulness of the -fact that il Magnifico was the common title of a Florentine -official,--is by many supposed to be the most conspicuous and splendid -character in the history of Florence. And Leo X. bears the same renown -in the records of Papal Rome. We will not say that he was a modern -Nero fiddling while Rome was burning, for he showed himself in many -ways an unusually astute politician, and as little disposed to let -slip any temporal advantage as his fighting predecessors--but the -spectacle is still a curious one of a man expending his life and his -wealth (or that of other people) in what was even the most exquisite -and splendid of decorations, such wonders of ornamentation as -Raphael's frescoes--while the Papacy itself was being assailed by the -greatest rebellion ever raised against it. To go on painting the walls -while the foundations of the building are being ruined under your feet -and at any moment may fall about your ears, reducing your splendid -ornaments to powder, is a thing which gives the most curious sensation -to the looker on. The world did not know in those days that even to an -institution so corrupt superficially as the Church of Rome the ancient -promise stood fast, and not only the gates of hell, but those more -like of heaven, should not prevail against her. Out of Italy it was -believed that the Church which had but lately been ruled over by a -Borgia, and which was admittedly full of wickedness in high places, -must go down altogether under the tremendous blow. A great part of the -world indeed went on believing so for a century or two. But in the -midst of that almost universal conviction nothing can be more curious -than to see the life of Papal Rome going on as if nothing had -happened, and young Raphael and all his disciples coming and going, -cheerful as the day, about the great empty chambers which they were -making into a wonder of the earth. Michael Angelo, it is true, in grim -discontent hewed at those huge slaves of his in Florence, working -wonderful thoughts into their great limbs; but all that Roman world -flowed on in brightness and in glory under skies untouched by any -threatening of catastrophe. - - [Illustration: MODERN ROME: THE GRAVE OF KEATS. - _To face page 592._] - -The Italian chroniclers scarcely so much as mention the beginnings of -the Reformation. "At that time in the furthest part of Germany the -abominable and infamous name of Martin Luther began to be heard," says -one. The elephant which Emmanuel of Portugal sent to his Holiness, -and which was supposed to be a thousand years old, takes up as much -space. The sun shone on in Rome. The painters sang and whistled at -their work, and their sublime patron went and came, and capped verses -with Venetian Bembo, and the unique Aretino. They were not, it would -seem, in the least afraid of Luther, nor even cognisant of him except -in a faint and far-off way. He was so absurd as to object to the sale -of indulgences. Now the sale of indulgences was not to be defended in -theory, as all these philosophers knew. But to buy off the penances -which otherwise they would at all events have been obliged to pretend -to do, was a relief grateful to many persons who were not bad -Christians, besides being good Catholics. Perhaps, indeed, in the -gross popular imagination these indulgences might have come to look -like permissions to sin, as that monster in Germany asserted them to -be; but this did not really alter their true character, any more than -other popular mistakes affected doctrine generally. And how to get on -with that huge building of St. Peter's, at which innumerable workmen -were labouring year after year, and which was the most terrible burden -upon the Papal funds, without that method of wringing stone and mortar -and gilding and mosaic out of the common people? Pope Leo took it very -easily. Notwithstanding the acquisitions of Pope Julius, and the -certainty with which the historians assure us that from his time the -Patrimony of St. Peter was well established in the possession of Rome, -some portion of it had been lost again, and had again to be recovered -in the days of his successor. That was doubtless more important than -the name, _nefando_, _execrabile_ of the German monk. And so the wars -went on, though not with the spirit and relish which Julius II. had -brought into them. Leo X. had no desire to kill anybody. When he was -compelled to do it he did it quite calmly and inexorably as became a -Medici; but he took no pleasure in the act. If Luther had fallen into -his hands the Curia would no doubt have found some means of letting -the pestilent fellow off. A walk round the _loggie_ or the _stanze_ -where the painters were so busy, and where Raphael, a born gentleman, -would not grumble as that savage Buonarotti did, at being interrupted, -but would pause and smile and explain, put the thought of all -troublesome Germans easily out of the genial potentate's head. It was -the Golden Age; and Rome was the centre of the world as was meet, and -genius toiled untiringly for the embellishment of everything; and such -clever remarks had never been made in any court, such witty -suggestions, such fine language used and subtle arguments held, as -those of all the scholars and all the wits who vied with each other -for the ear and the glance of Pope Leo. The calm enjoyment of life -over a volcano was never exhibited in such perfection before. - -We need not pause here to enumerate or describe those works which -every visitor to Rome hastens to see, in which the benign and lovely -art of Raphael has lighted up the splendid rooms of the Vatican with -something of the light that never was on sea or shore. We confess that -for ourselves one little picture from the same hand, to be met with -here and there, and often far from the spot where it was painted, -outvalues all those works of art; but no one can dispute their beauty -or importance. Pope Leo did not by so much as the touch of a pencil -contribute to their perfection, yet they are the chief glory of his -time, and the chief element in his fame. He made them in so far that -he provided the means, the noble situation as well as the more vulgar -provision which was quite as necessary, and he has therefore a right -to his share of the applause--by which he is well rewarded for all he -did; for doubtless the payment of the moment, the pleasure which he -sincerely took in them, and the pride of so nobly taking his share in -the lasting illumination of Rome were a very great recompense in -themselves, without the harvest he has since reaped in the applause of -posterity. Nowadays we do not perhaps so honour the patron of art as -people were apt to do in the last century. And there are, no doubt, -many now who worship Raphael in the Vatican without a thought of Leo. -Still he is worthy to be honoured. He gave the young painter a free -hand, believing in his genius and probably attracted by his more -genial nature, while holding Michael Angelo, for whom he seems always -to have felt a certain repugnance, at arm's length. - -We will not attempt to point out in Raphael's great mural paintings -the flattering allusions to Leo's history and triumph which critics -find there, nor yet the high purpose with which others hold the -painter to have been moved in those great works. Bishop Creighton -finds a lesson in them, which is highly edifying, but rather beyond -what we should be disposed to look for. "The life of Raphael," he -says, "expresses the best quality of the spirit of the Italian -Renaissance, its belief in the power of culture to restore unity to -life and implant serenity in the soul. It is clear that Raphael did -not live for mere enjoyment, but that his time was spent in ceaseless -activity animated by high hopes for the future." How this may be we do -not know: but lean rather to the opinion that Raphael, like other men -of great and spontaneous genius, did what was in him and did his best, -with little ulterior purpose and small thought about the power of -culture. It was his, we think, to show how art might best illustrate -and with the most perfect effect the space given him to beautify, with -a meaning not unworthy of the gracious work, but no didactic impulse. -It was his to make these fine rooms, and the airy lightness of the -brilliant _loggie_ beautiful, with triumphant exposition of a theme -full of pictorial possibilities. But what it should have to do with -Luther, or how the one should counterbalance the other, it is -difficult to perceive. Goethe on the other hand declares that going -to Raphael's _loggie_ from the Sistine chapel "we could scarcely bear -to look at them. The eye was so educated and enlarged by those grand -forms and the glorious completeness of all the parts that it could -take no pleasure" in works so much less important. Such are the -differences of opinion in all ages. It is the glory of this period of -Roman history that at a time when the Apostolic See had lost so much, -and when all its great purposes, its noble ideals, its reign of -holiness and inspired wisdom had perished like the flower of the -fields--when all that Gregory and Innocent had struggled their lives -long to attain had dissolved like a bubble: when the Popes were no -longer holy men, nor distinguished by any great and universal aim, but -Italian princes like others, worse rather than better in some cases: -there should have arisen, with a mantle of glory to hide the failure -and the horror and the scorn, these two great brethren of Art--the one -rugged, mournful, self-conscious, bowed down by the evil of the time, -the other all sweetness and gladness, an angel of light, divining in -his gracious simplicity the secrets of the skies. - -Leo the Pope was no such noble soul. He was only an urbane and skilful -Medici, great to take every advantage of the divine slaves that were -ready for his service--using them not badly, encouraging them to do -their best, if not for higher motives yet to please him, the Sommo -Pontefice, surely the best thing that they could hope for; and to win -such share of the ducats which came to him from the sale of the -offices of the Vatican, the cardinals' hats, the papal knighthoods, -and other trumpery, as might suffice for all their wants. He sold -these and other things, indulgences for instance, sown broadcast over -the face of the earth and raising crops of a quite different kind. But -on the other hand he never sold a benefice. He remitted the tax on -salt; and he gave liberally to whoever asked him, and enjoyed life -with all his heart, in itself no bad quality. - - [Illustration: A BRIC-A-BRAC SHOP.] - - "The pontificate of Leo was the most gay and the most happy - that Rome ever saw," says the chronicler. "Being much - enamoured of building he took up with a great soul the - making of San Pietro, which Julius, with marvellous art, - had begun. He ennobled the palace of the Vatican with - triple porticoes, ample and long, of the most beautiful - fabrication, with gilded roofs and ornamented by excellent - pictures. He rebuilt almost from the foundations the church - of our Lady of the Monte Coelio, from which he had his - title as cardinal, and adorned it with mosaics. Finally - there was nothing which during all his life he had more at - heart or more ardently desired than the excellent name of - liberal, although it was the wont ordinarily of all the - others to turn their backs upon that virtue of liberality, - and to keep far from it. He judged those unworthy of high - station who did not with large and benign hand disperse the - gifts of fortune, and above all those which were acquired - by little or no fatigue. But while he in this guise - governed Rome, and all Italy enjoyed a gladsome peace, he - was by a too early death taken from this world although - still in the flower and height of his years." - -He died forty-five years old on December 1, 1521. - -The great works which one and another of the Popes thus left half done -were completed--St. Peter's by Sixtus V. 1590, and Paul V. 1615. The -Last Judgment completing the Sistine chapel was finished by Michael -Angelo in 1541 under Clement VII. and Paul III. And thus the Rome of -our days--the Rome which not as pilgrims, but as persons living -according to the fashion of our own times, which compels us to go to -and fro over all the earth and see whatever is to be seen, we visit -every year in large numbers--was left more or less as it is now, for -the admiration of the world. Much has been done since, and is doing -still every day to make more intelligible and more evident the -memorials of an inexhaustible antiquity--but in the Rome of the Popes, -the Rome of Christendom, History has had but little and Art not -another word to say. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[10] See the death of Pope Leo IX., p. 199. - - - - - THE END. - - - - -INDEX. - - - - -INDEX. - - - Adelaide of Susa, 262, 269. - - Agnes, Empress, 217, 233, 237, 279; - Hildebrand becomes adviser to, 202; - alienated from Hildebrand, 214; - renounces the world, 219. - - Alaric, 108, 119, 121. - - Albigenses, many sects among, 355; - Pope Innocent's attitude towards, 357; - missionaries sent to, _ib._; - crusade against them, 359-361. - - Albina, 17, 18, 89. - - Albornoz, Cardinal, 480, 488. - - Alexander II., 205, 215, 224. - - Alexander VI., 581, 582, 589. - - Allegories, Rienzi's painted, 413-416, 419. - - Ambrose, 48. - - Angelico, Fra, 546, 549. - - Angelo, Michael, 588, 595, 598. - - Apollinaris, the heresy of, 47, 48. - - Aqueducts restored by Sixtus IV., 574. - - Arimbaldo, 500; - joins Rienzi in his enterprise, 489. - - Aristocracy, Roman, its position at the end of the 4th century, - 3, 4, 5; - luxuriousness of the nobles, 5, 6, 7; - and of the women, 7, 8; - its characteristics in the 14th century, 396, 397. - _See_ Nobles. - - Art, the Popes as patrons of, 515; - that of Rome imported from abroad, 516; - art workshops in Rome, 546. - - Artists, Roman, 412, 413, 420; - employed upon the Sistine chapel, 575; - Julius II. as a patron of, 482, 583, 589. - - Asella, 18, 21, 89; - Jerome's letters to, 72, 75, 76. - - Athanasius, his life of St. Antony of the desert, 15; - his reception at Rome, 16; - and in the household of Albina, 17; - Melania's visit to, 33. - - Attila, 120. - - Augsburg, Council of, 261; - German nobles impatient to open, 274, 275. - - Augustine, Gregory's instructions to, for the making of converts, - 156; - and for pastoral work, _ib._, 157, 158; - sent on his mission to England, 161, 162. - - - Bäle, Council of, 525, 531. - - Bavaria, Duke of, 260. - - Beatrice of Tuscany, 204, 216, 234, 256. - - Benedict, Pope, and Fra Monozello, 395. - - Benedict, order of, 126, 131. - - Benedict I., 138. - - Benedict X. - _See_ Mincio, Bishop. - - Berengarius of Tours, his heresy, 279, 290. - - Bethlehem, convents founded at, by Jerome and Paula, 82. - - Bible, Innocent III., on the interpretation of, by sectaries, 357. - - Blæsilla, 23, 55, 67; - her conversion, 58; - her death and funeral, 63. - - Bollandists, 131. - - Book collector, Thomas (Nicolas V.) as, 529, 534. - - Borgias, 515, 581. - - Borgo, 538; - sanctity of the spot, 539, 540; - wall built to enclose, 541; - buildings erected afterwards within the enclosure, _ib._ - - Botticelli, 575. - - Bowden, Mr., his life of Gregory VII., 515. - - Bramante, 584. - - Browning, Robert, 420, 421. - - Brunhild, Queen, 169. - - Bruno, Bishop, appointed Pope, 190; - acts on Hildebrand's advice, 191, 192; - his triumphant election at Rome, 193. - _See_ Leo IX. - - Buildings, ancient, Gregory accused of destroying, 176, 177; - regarded as stone-quarries, 242, 517, 577; - restoration of, Book IV., _passim_. - - Buono Stato, secret society formed for the establishment of, 423, - 424; - demonstration by the conspirators, 425, 426; - its rules, 426, 427. - _See_ Rienzi. - - - Cadalous, anti-Pope, 216-218. - - Cæsarea, Melania arrested at, 35. - - Calixtus III., 552, 553. - - Cammora (City Council), Rienzi protests against the rapacity of, - 411. - - Canossa, Pope Gregory sheltered in the castle of, 264. - - Carinthia, Duke of, 260. - - Castracani, 390. - - Celestine, Pope, 316. - - Celibacy, Jerome and the controversy regarding, 59-62; - of the clergy, _see_ Marriage of priests. - - Cencius, the Roman bandit, 243, 244; - abducts Pope Gregory, 245. - - Cerealis, 19. - - Charities of the Roman ladies, 55, 56. - - Charles IV. and Rienzi, 476. - - Christianity, its conjunction with Paganism in Roman society, - 7-10; - nominally embraced by the common people, 57; - again conjoined with Paganism during the Renaissance, 529. - - Church, the, corruption of, 10, 11; - Jerome on the daily life of a Roman priest, 11, 12; - fierceness of controversy in, 105; - her position during the barbarian conquests of Rome, 120, 121; - beginning of her sovereignty, 121, 122; - best of the Roman youth absorbed by, 123; - made no claim to universal authority in the 6th century, 121, - 132, 168; - wealth of, used for public purposes, 147; - almsgiving a principle of, 151; - Gregory's achievements for, 170; - pretensions to supremacy made by John of Constantinople, 170, - 173; - Gregory's tolerant supervision of, 174; - state of, in Germany, 188; - reforms urgently necessary in, 195; - effort of Leo IX. for reform in, 196-199; - a new law for the election of the Popes, 208; - Hildebrand's ambition of making her a great arbitrating power, - 211, 212; - how she secured independence in the election of the Popes, 214, - 215; - first conflict between the Empire and, 215-219; - decrees of the Lateran Council against simony and marriage of - priests, 235-239; - decree against lay investiture, 239; - real opening of her struggle with the Empire, 259; - her position in Gregory's time, and that of the Scottish Church - before the Disruption, compared, 302; - her conflict with the Empire inevitable, 304, 305; - period of her greatest power, 308; - her relations with the Empire in the time of Innocent III., 311, - 312. - _See_ Gregory the Great, Hildebrand _and_ Innocent III. - - Cities, Italian, hostility between, 311. - - Clement III., appointed by the Emperor, 290; - calls a council in Rome, 294; - his coronation, 297. - _See_ Guibert of Ravenna. - - Clement VI., Rienzi's mission to, 404, 405; - confirms Rienzi's authority, 434. - - Cluny, the monastery of, 186, 190. - - Colonna family, patronise Petrarch, 397-400; - Petrarch's estimate of, 398, 467; - character of, 423; - rebels against Rienzi, 453; - their expedition against Rome, 453-457, 469. - - Colonna, Agapito, 425, 448. - - Colonna, Giordano, 430. - - Colonna, Giovanni, 397, 466; - his dealings with Rienzi, 405, 409, 411. - - Colonna, Giacomo, his friendship with Petrarch, 397. - - Colonna, Janni, 419, 421, 422, 430, 448, 455, 456. - - Colonna, Sciarra, 384, 393; - drives out the Papal troops from Rome, 384-389; - crowns Louis of Bavaria, 391. - - Colonna, Stefano della, 393, 397, 425, 448, 449; - Petrarch's description of, 428; - forced to leave Rome, 429; - swears loyalty to the Buono Stato, 430; - Petrarch's account of his talk with, 467, 468. - - Colonna, Stefanello, 430, 448; - and his son, 494, 495. - - Colosseum, as the stone-quarry of the ages, 577. - - Como, Bishop of, 219, 233. - - Constantinople, downfall of, 549. - - Corsignano, buildings erected in, by Pius II., 556. - - Council of Constantinople, 28, 47. - - Council of Rome, Jerome and, 27, 28, 43, 47. - - Creighton, Bishop, quoted, 556, 578; - on Raphael's artistic aims, 598. - - Crown, the imperial, 249, 289, 298. - - Crusade, Gregory VII.'s dream of a, 265, 351, 352; - encouraged by successive Popes, 352; - an expedition organised, _ib._; - how it was diverted from its purpose, 353-356; - against the Albigenses, 298-301; - Innocent rouses the Italian towns to aid in, 373; - against the Turks, 553, 557, 558. - - Crusaders, Innocent's instructions to his, 353; - their bargain with Venice, _ib._; - capture Constantinople, _ib._, 354. - - Curzon, Robert, 310. - - - Damasus, Bishop, 27, 48, 70; - Jerome becomes a counsellor of, 54. - - Damian, Peter, 200, 218, 219, 223. - - Dante, 211, 263. - - Desiderius, 301. - - Dinner-parties, Roman, 6. - - Dominic, 358. - - - Eberhard, Count, 255. - - Election of the Popes, interference of Tuscany in, 203, 204, 208; - the rival authorities in, 206-208; - Hildebrand's new law for, 207; - first election under the new law, 214, 215; - Rome secures complete freedom in, 215. - - Emperors, the rival, Henry IV. and Rudolf, Gregory's letters - regarding their claims, 275, 276; - treated by the Pope with severe impartiality, 278; - attitude of the Roman populace towards their envoys, _ib._; - Gregory insists upon holding a council to choose between, 281; - this plan abandoned, _ib._, 282; - Rudolf's case stated before the Lateran Council, 282; - Gregory pronounces his decision, 283-285. - _See_ Henry IV. _and_ Rudolf. - - Emperors, the rival, Philip and Otho, nothing to choose between - them, 331, 332; - Innocent's attitude towards, 332, 333; - end of their ten years' struggle, 335. - _See_ Philip _and_ Otho. - - Empire and Church, first conflict between, 214-218; - real opening of the struggle, 259; - inevitableness of the struggle, 304, 305; - in the time of Innocent III., 311, 312. - _See_ Henry IV., Emperor, _and_ Gregory VII. - - England, the Pope's interdict upon, disregarded, 345. - - Epiphanius, Bishop, 52, 79. - - Eugenius IV., 514, 516; his aspect and character, 523-525; - Council of Ferrara called by, 531. - - Eulogius, Gregory's letter to, 173. - - Europe, state of, in the time of Innocent III., 310-312. - - Eustochium, 23, 55, 78, 83, 87; - plot against, 24. - - Eutychius, 155. - - Excommunication often ineffectual, 289, 290, 334. - - Ezekiel, Gregory's exposition of, 144, 177, 178. - - - Fabiola, 22, 37, 55; - her matrimonial troubles, 93; - her visit to the convent at Bethlehem, _ib._, 94; - does public penance in Rome, 95-99; - founds the first public hospital in Rome, 99. - - Fabriano, Gentile da, 523. - - Ferdinand of Naples, his advice regarding the streets and - balconies of Rome, 570, 571. - - Ferrara, Council of, 531. - - France, interdict pronounced upon, 341, 343; - alarmed by the revival of Rome, 436. - - Francis of Assisi, 326. - - Fraticelli, Rienzi takes refuge among, 474, 475. - - Frederic II., Emperor, Innocent acts as guardian of, 326, 327. - - Frederick, Abbot, elected Pope, 201. - - Funeral feast, a Roman, 102-104. - - - Gebehard, Bishop, chosen as Pope Victor II., 200. - - Genseric, 120. - - German prelates, almost independent of the Pope, 334. - - Germany, state of the Church in, 188; - an anti-Pope chosen by the Church in, 216. - - Ghirlandajo, 575. - - Gibbon quoted, 132. - - Goethe quoted on Raphael's _loggie_, 599. - - Gordianus, 125. - - Gottfried the Hunchback, 244, 260. - - Gottfried of Lorraine, 204. - - Gratiano. - _See_ Gregory VI. - - Greek Church, 354. - - Gregorio, Count, 203. - - Gregory the Great, his home and early life, 124, 125; - enters public life, 125; - first result of his religious impulse, 126; - becomes a monk, 127; - describes his doubts and his intentions, _ib._; - legends regarding his monastic life, 128; - his musings in his garden, 129, 130; - had no ecclesiastical ambitions, 131; - receives the first orders of the Church, _ib._; - appointed a cardinal deacon, _ib._; - Gibbon's description of him as a nuncio, _ib._; - his position in the Court at Constantinople, 132; - in the society of his monks, 132-138; - his commentary on Job, 134, 135; - its moral discursiveness, 136, 137; - how he was assisted in it by the monks, 137; - his liberality, 139, 147; - promotion, and popularity as a preacher, 139; - his encounter with the English slave-children, _ib._, 140; - sets out on his mission to Britain, 141; - compelled to return, 142; - effect upon him of the story of Trajan and the widow, _ib._, - 143; - organises processions of penitents during the plague, 144, 145; - his vision of the angel, 146, 147; - elected Bishop of Rome, 148; - attempts to escape from this responsibility, _ib._; - his repugnance to the cares of office, 149; - his conviction that the end of the world was near, _ib._, 150; - feeds the starving poor of Rome, 151; - preserves Rome from attacks by the barbarians, 152; - was not a learned man, _ib._, 153; - his instructions to missionaries for the making of converts, - 156, 157; - and for pastoral work, _ib._; - his intercessions and negotiations for the safety of Rome, 158, - 159; - amount of his work and responsibility, 159, 160; - welcomes the usurping Emperor Phocas, 160; - sends forth Augustine on his mission to England, 161-163; - no reason for attributing to him a great scheme of papal - supremacy, 163, 164, 175, 176; - his reformation in music, 165, 166; - introduces changes in the ritual, 166; - his daily surroundings and occupations, 167, 168; - his rules of religious discipline, 168; - not a faultless character, 169; - his achievements for Rome and for the Church, _ib._; - his indignation at the assumption of supremacy by John of - Constantinople, 170; - his letters on this subject to the Emperor and to the Eastern - Bishop, _ib._, 173; - his letter to Eulogius, 173; - tolerant in the supervision of his bishops, 175; - had no desire for political independence, _ib._; - accused of causing the destruction of ancient buildings, 176, - 177; - his last illness, 177; - his commentaries on Ezekiel and Job, _ib._; - his death, _ib._; - spots connected with his memory, 179. - - Gregory VI., 186, 188; - how he secured his election, 183; - deposition of, _ib._, 189. - - Gregory, VII., (_see_ Hildebrand), his dream of elevating the - Church, 231; - hopelessness of his instruments, _ib._; - his reforms, and the enemies they raised up against him, _ib._, - 232; - sufferings of his later years, 232; - council for the discussion of questions between Henry IV. and, - 233; - reconciliation between Henry and, 235; - his letter summoning the first Lateran Council, _ib._; - his decree against lay investiture, 239, 240; - unbosoms himself in a letter to Hugo, 240; - his care for the cause of justice and public honesty, 240-242; - abduction of, by Cencius, 245; - rescued by the populace, 249, 250; - summons Henry to appear before the papal court, 251; - his letter of remonstrance to the Emperor, 252; - council convoked by Henry for the overthrow of, 253, 254; - acts and addresses against, issued by this council, 254, 255; - his reception of the Emperor's letters, 257-259; - excommunicates the Emperor, 259; - effect of this step, 259-261; - agrees to preside over the Council of Augsburg, 261; - sets out for Augsburg, _ib._; - takes refuge in the Castle of Canossa, 264-266; - German bishops make their submission to, 266; - accepts Henry's promises of amendment, 270; - receives him again into the church, _ib._, 271; - his attitude towards Henry, 273; - his letter to the German princes, 274; - shut up in Canossa Castle, _ib._; - anxious to take part in the settlement of the Empire, 275; - his letters on the rivalry of the two kings, _ib._, 276; - sends legates to both kings demanding a safe-conduct, 276; - his authority disregarded by the rival parties, _ib._, 277; - treats both impartially, 278; - and the heresy of Berengarius, 279; - and the Norwegian king's request for missionaries, _ib._, 280; - insists upon a council to choose between the rival kings, 281; - his reception of the statement of Rudolf's envoys, 283; - appeals to St. Peter to judge of his dealings with Henry, 284, - 285; - asserts his claim to universal authority, 286; - sends the imperial crown to Rudolf, 289; - Henry's council for the deposition of, _ib._; - his reconciliation with Guiscard, 291, 292; - council convoked by the anti-Pope to reverse his anathemas, 293; - Henry submits his cause to a council convoked by, 295; - refuses to make peace with Henry, 296; - confined to the Castle of St. Angelo, 297; - his faith in his mission, 298; - brings down the Normans upon Rome, 299; - his spirit broken by the sack of Rome, 300; - his journey to Salerno, _ib._, 301; - revival of his former energy, 302; - the abuses he opposed, and those in the Church of Scotland - before the Disruption, compared, _ib._, 303; - a martyr to his hatred of simony, 303, 304; - his death, 305; - his life and achievements, 306, 308, 363, 514. - - Guelf and Ghibelline, when these titles were first used, 326. - - Guglielmo, Fra, 447. - - Guibert of Ravenna, 232, 244, 292; - elected Pope by the Emperor's supporters, 290. - _See_ Clement III. - - Guiscard, Robert, 232, 244; - Gregory's reconciliation with, 291; - leaves the Pope to his fate, 293; - rescues the Pope and sacks Rome, 299; - conducts Gregory to Salerno, 300, 301. - - - Helena, Empress, 40. - - Heliodorus, Jerome's epistle to, 46. - - Helvidius, 60. - - Henry III., Emperor, 183; - patronises Hildebrand, 187; - appoints three successive Popes, 189. - - Henry IV., Emperor, his vicious character, 223, 224; - summoned before the Papal court, 224; - council for the discussion of questions between Gregory and, - 233; - reconciliation between Gregory and, 235; - rebels against the decrees of the Lateran Council, 251; - Gregory's letter of remonstrance to, 252; - summons a council for the overthrow of the Pope, 253, 254; - acts and addresses issued by the council, 254, 255; - excommunication of, 259; - abandoned by his friends and supporters, 260, 261; - his princes threaten to elect a king in his place, 261; - determines to make his submission to Gregory, _ib._; - his fortunes begin to revive, 266; - his arrival at the Castle of Canossa, _ib._, 269; - his penances, 270; - his bond of repentance accepted by Gregory, _ib._; - received again into the Church, _ib._, 271; - his attitude towards Gregory, 272; - refuses his consent to the council of arbitration, 281; - Gregory appeals to St. Peter to judge of his dealings with, - 282-285; - again excommunicated and dethroned, 285; - his council for the deposition of Gregory, 289, 290; - chooses an anti-Pope, 290; - success of his enterprises, _ib._; - crowned Emperor by his anti-Pope, 292; - seizes the Leonine city, 293; - submits his cause to a council convoked by Gregory, 295; - this council proves fruitless, 296; - becomes master of Rome, _ib._, 297; - evacuates the city, 299-300. - _See_ Emperors, the rival. - - Henry VI., Emperor, 327, 328. - - Henry VII., 402. - - Heresy, the, of the Albigenses, 355,356; - Innocent's letter on, 356; - ordinances against, 370. - - Hermits, Egyptian desert peopled by, 34; - Melania supports and protects fugitive, 35; - self-chastisements of, 43, 44. - _See_ Monks. - - Hildebrand, his wanderings about the world, 184; - surroundings of his early life, _ib._, 185; - at the monastery of Cluny, 186; - patronised by the Emperor, Henry III., _ib._, 187; - influence of his experience of the Church in Germany upon, 188; - beginning of his public life, _ib._; - follows the deposed Gregory VI. into exile, 189; - in Germany again, 190; - becomes a counsellor of Bruno, 191; - his plan for Bruno's conduct successful, 193; - offices conferred upon, by Leo IX., _ib._; - sets in order the monastery of St. Paul, 195; - his work in Rome under Leo, 200; - selects a German prelate as Pope, _ib._; - becomes adviser to the Empress Agnes, 202; - solicits the intervention of Tuscany in the election of the - Popes, 204, 207; - the actual possessor of the power of two weak Popes, 205, 206; - holds a council in Rome, 206; - his new law for the election of the Popes, 207, 208; - his aims and purposes, 208, 211; - his dream of the Church as disinterested arbitrator in all - quarrels, 211, 212; - did he desire universal authority? 212; - begins his reign under Nicolas II., _ib._; - his letter to a powerful archbishop, 213; - secures for Rome complete independence in the choice of Popes, - 215; - his sanction of the invasion of England by the Normans, 221; - supports the Conqueror's spoliation of Saxon abbeys, _ib._; - summons Henry IV. to appear before the papal court, 224; - development of his ideal of the Church's sovereignty, _ib._, - 225; - chosen and elected Pope, 225-227; - his abstemious habits, 297. - _See_ Gregory VII. - - Historian of Rienzi, 382, 383. - - Hospital founded by Fabiola, 99. - - Hospital Santo Spirito rebuilt by Innocent, 376; - and again by Sixtus IV., 572, 573. - - Hugo of Cluny, 234, 265, 269; - Gregory's letter to, 240. - - Humanists, school of, 560, 561. - - - Ingelburga, 340, 343. - - Innocent III., his wide-spread activity, 308; - his family, _ib._, 309; - his education, 309; - becomes a canon of St. Peter's, 310; - appointed Cardinal, 313; - his book on the vanity of life, 313-315; - elected Pope, 316; - his address to the assembly after his consecration, 319-322; - endeavours to strengthen his hold upon Rome, 322-324; - changes the constitution of the city, 323; - regains possession of the Papal States, 325, 326; - acts as guardian to Frederic of Sicily, 326; - profits by the inactivity of the Empire, _ib._; - sides against Philip, 332, 333; - supports Otho, 333; - unable to enforce his authority over the German prelates, 334; - excommunicates Philip, _ib._; - his part in the ten years' struggle between Philip and Otho, - 335; - crowns Otho as Emperor, 338; - Otho breaks faith with, 339, 340; - his dealings with Philip Augustus, 340-343; - pronounces interdict upon France, 341, 342; - his activity, 344; - pronounces interdict upon England, 345; - excommunicates King John, _ib._; - his acceptance of John's oath, 349; - his dealings with John unworthy of his character, _ib._, 350; - his instructions to the Crusaders, 353; - protests against the use made of the expedition, 354; - his letter on heresy, 356; - on the interpretation of the Bible by sectarians, _ib._; - his attitude towards the Albigenses, 357, 358; - sends missionaries to them, 358; - proclaims a crusade against them, 359; - his career a failure, 361-363; - strengthened Papal authority over the Church, 364; - his address to the fourth Lateran Council, 365-369; - and the appeal of the Provençal nobles, 371; - befriends Raymond of Toulouse, 372; - rouses the Italian towns to aid in a crusade, 373; - his death, 374; - small result of his activities, _ib._; - Roman populace at enmity with, 375; - his gifts to his brother Richard, _ib._; - buildings erected by, 376; - his character, _ib._; - the greatness of his ideals, 514. - - Innocent VI., 484. - - Innocent VIII., 581, 582. - - - Jerome, 28, 37, 42, 43, 66, 77; - quoted, 7, 19, 57, 58, 63, 69, 70, 110, 114; - on the daily life of a Roman priest, 11, 12; - accused of being concerned in Melania's disappearance, 33; - his life in the desert, 44, 45; - his Epistle to Heliodorus, 45, 46; - enters into religious controversy, 46, 47; - his usefulness recognised by the Church in Rome, 48; - lodged in Marcella's palace, 49; - his friendship with Paula, _ib._, 69; - his life among the Roman ladies, 50-54; - his position in Roman society, 54; - begins his translation of Scripture, _ib._; - popular resentment against, 59, 62, 63, 69, 70; - engages in the controversy regarding celibacy, 60; - his letter on virginity quoted, _ib._, 61; - his letter to Paula on her daughter's death, 68, 69; - forced to retire from Rome, 72; - his letters to Asella, 72-76; - joins Paula's caravanserai, 79; - founds a convent at Bethlehem, 82; - how his translation of the Scriptures was finished, 84-88; - entreats Marcella to abandon the world, 91; - puzzled by Fabiola's curiosity, 95; - his judgment in the case of a divorced woman, 96; - his controversy with Rufinus, 100, 101. - - Jeronimo, Count, 580. - - Jerusalem, 40, 41. - - Jews, 370. - - Job, Gregory undertakes a commentary on, at the request of his - monks, 134-138. - - John XXII., 384; - deposed by the Emperor Louis, 392; - his supporters regain possession of Rome, 393. - - John of Constantinople, his pretensions to supremacy over the - Church, 170, 174; - Gregory's letter to, 173. - - John, King of England, and the Pope's interdict, 344, 345; - excommunicated and deposed, 345; - swears fealty as a vassal of the Pope, _ib._, 346. - - Jovinian, 60. - - Jubilee, papal, 429, 480, 483, 536. - - Julian, Emperor, 8. - - Julius II., a fighting Pope, 582; - a patron of artists, 583, 589; - pulls down the ancient St. Peter's, _ib._, 587, 591; - secures the States of the Church, 587; - employs Raphael, 589, 590; - his portrait by Raphael, 590; - his death and career, 590-592. - - - Ladies. _See_ Women. - - Lanciani, Professor, 242, 539, 540. - - Langton, Stephen, 287. - - Lateran Council, the first, Gregory's letter convoking, 235; - its decrees against simony and marriage of priests, 236-238; - lay investiture prohibited by the second Council, 239; - reception of the Emperor's letters by Gregory in, 256-259; - demands the excommunication of Henry, 259; - decides the case of the rival emperors, 281-285; - the fourth, Pope Innocent's address to, 365-369; - ordinances passed by, 370, 371; - gives judgment for de Montfort against the Provençal nobles, - 371, 372. - - Lay investiture, decree against, 239. - - Leander, 133; - Gregory's letter to, 127, 149. - - Learning, how pursued during the Renaissance, 529; - Nicolas V. as a patron of, 537. - - Legacies to priests declared illegal, 12. - - Leo IV., the Leonine city enclosed by, 541-543. - - Leo IX., confers offices upon Hildebrand, 193; - his tour of reformation, 195-199; - at the Council of Rheims, 198; - his use of the power of excommunication, 199; - his last enterprise and his death, _ib._, 200. - _See_ Bruno, Bishop. - - Leo X., 515, 516; - little troubled by the rebellion against the Papacy, 592, 595; - his attitude towards Luther, 596, 597; - obliged to fight for the Patrimony, _ib._; - amuses himself with his painters and his court, _ib._, 598; - his patronage of Raphael the chief element in his fame, 598; - his career, 599. - - Leo XIII., as Papa Angelico, 212 _n._ - - Leonine city. _See_ Borgo. - - Leopold of Mainz, 334. - - Lombard League, 325. - - Lorenzo, Cola's son, his baptism of blood, 461. - - Louis of Bavaria, 384; - his reception in Rome, 320, 321; - his coronation, 390, 391; - declares Pope John deposed, 392; - elects a new Pope, _ib._; - recrowned by his anti-Pope, _ib._, 393; - his departure from Rome, 393. - - Luther, Martin, 595; - Pope Leo's attitude towards, 596. - - Lytton, Lord, his novel _Rienzi_, 420. - - - Maddalena, Rienzi's mother, 402. - - Manno, Giovanni, 386. - - Mantegna, Andrea, 582. - - Marcella, early life and marriage of, 17, 18; - becomes a widow, 18; - her reputation for eccentricity, _ib._, 19; - forms her community of Christian women, 20; - her zeal for knowledge, 26; - entreated by Paula and Jerome to abandon the world, 89-91; - prefers her useful life in Rome, 92, 93; - saves Principia from the Goths, 110; - tortured by them, _ib._; - her death, 113. - _See_ Marcella, the Society of. - - Marcella, the Society of, founded, 20; - character and position of the members, 21; - some associates of, 22-24; - a religious and intellectual meeting-place, 25; - daily life of the members, 26; - Thierry quoted on their occupations, _ib._; - Jerome becomes the guest of, 49, 54; - wealth and liberality of, 55, 56; - unrestricted life of, 57; - shares in the popular resentment against Jerome, 77; - last days of, 108-110. - - Marcellinus, Ammianus, quoted, 5, 6, 11. - - Marriage of priests, decree of the first Lateran Council against, - 235, 238; - priests rebel against this measure, 237; - effects of the decree on the minds of the laity, 238, 239. - - Martin V., 516, 517, 525; - begins the reconstruction and adornment of Rome, 523; - administers justice _ib._ - - Martino, F. di, 544. - - Matilda of Tuscany, 204, 217, 233, 256, 262, 269, 270, 292, 325; - her character, etc., 263. - - Maurice, Emperor, 148, 152, 160 - - Maximianus, 139. - - Medici, Cosimo dei, 534. - - Melania, her bereavement, 30; - abandons her son, _ib._, 31; - sensation caused in Rome by her disappearance, 32; - in the Egyptian deserts, 33; - provides for and protects hunted monks, 35; - her encounter with the proconsul in Palestine, _ib._; - accompanied by Rufinus, 36, 39; - founds a monastery at Jerusalem, 41; - the nature of her self-sacrifice, _ib._; - her quarrel with Paula, 81. - - Mercenaries. _See_ Soldiers of Fortune. - - Milman, Dean, 363. - - Mincio, Bishop, how he was elected Pope, 203; - his abdication, 204. - - Missionaries, Gregory's instructions to, for the making of - converts, 156; - and for pastoral work, _ib._, 157. - - Monks, wandering, 36, 37, 184; - resentment of the Roman populace against, 63; - Gregory's following of, 132-138. - - Monozello, Fra, and Pope Benedict, 395. - - Montefiascone, the wine of, 485 _n._ - - Montfort, Simon de, 360, 361, 371, 372. - - Monuments, ancient, restored by Paul II., 562. - - Moreale, Fra, 487; - agrees to assist in Rienzi's undertaking, 489, 490; - arrives in Rome, 496; - his arrest and execution, 497-500. - - Muntz, M., quoted, 562. - - Music, Gregory's reformation in, 165, 166; - a commentary on his system, as adopted by the Germans and - Gauls, 166. - - - Nicolas II., 205, 213. - - Nicolas V., 392, 516, 562, 567; - as a lover of literature, 530; - unconscious of the coming revolution, _ib._; - his origin, 531; - his learning, _ib._; - makes his reputation, 532; - as a book collector, 534; - his character, 535; - a lover of peace, _ib._; - his dealings with his literary men, 537; - churches rebuilt by, 544; - his additions to the Vatican and to St. Peter's, 545; - founds the Vatican library, 546; - his work as a builder-Pope, 549; - his death-bed counsel to his cardinals, 550, 551. - - Nobles, Roman, strongholds of, in Rome, 382; - use made of, by Rienzi, 447, 448; - arrested at Rienzi's banquet, and afterwards discharged, 449; - effect of this treatment upon, 450; - rebellion of the Orsini, 451; - and of the Colonnas, 453-456; - their return to the city, 472, 473. - _See_ Aristocracy. - - Normans of Southern Italy, 199, 200, 213, 225; - Rome sacked by, 299. - - Nuncio, Gregory as a, 132, 138. - - - Oceanus, 37, 101. - - Odilon of Cluny, 186. - - Olaf, King of Norway, 280. - - Origen, 100. - - Orsini family, 424, 436, 448, 454, 467; - rebel against Rienzi, 451. - - Orsini, Bartoldo, 393. - - Orsini, Ranello, 430. - - Orsini, Robert, 425. - - Otho, Philip's rival in the Empire, 331; - supported by the Pope, 333; - becomes Emperor, 336; - his coronation in Rome, 336-338; - breaks faith with the Pope, 339, 340. - _See_ Emperors, the rival. - - - Paganism, its conjunction with the Christian religion in Roman - society, 8, 9; - this conjunction occurs again at the Renaissance, 530. - - Palazzo Venezia, 559. - - Pammachius, 55, 77, 99, 101, 114. - - Papencordt quoted, 450. - - Pastoral work, Gregory's instructions regarding, 156-158. - - Paul II. builds the Palazzo Venezia, 559; - Platina's strictures upon, _ib._, 560; - dismisses the learned men patronised by Pius, 560, 561; - imprisons Platina, 561; - his liberality, 562; - restores ancient monuments, _ib._; - his magnificent tastes, _ib._, 563; - Platina on his private life, 563; - his humours and vanities, 564; - his death, 568. - - Paula, 37, 63; - and her family, 22-25, 26; - her friendship with Jerome, 49, 69; - her character and position, 65, 66; - how she was attracted to the Marcellan Society, 66; - Jerome's letter to, on Blæsilla's death, 68, 69; - her abandonment of her home and children, 77, 78; - her journey to Jerusalem, 79, 80; - her quarrel with Melania, 81; - travels through Syria, _ib._; - builds convents and a hospice, 82, 83; - assists Jerome in the translation of the Scriptures, 83-88; - entreats Marcella to join her in Bethlehem, 90, 91. - - Paulina, 23, 55, 77; - her death, 101; - the funeral feast, 102-104. - - Paulinian, 101. - - Paulinus, Bishop, quoted, 105. - - Peacemakers, 431. - - Pelagius II., 141, 147; - his letter on the defenceless state of Rome, 138. - - Pen, silver, used by Rienzi, 411. - - Pepino, Count, 471. - - Perugino, 575, 590. - - Petrarch, 390, 411, 437; - his friendship with the Colonna family, 397; - crowned Altissimo Poeta, 398, 399; - quoted, 433, 435, 450, 465, 466, 522; - his letters to Rienzi, 361, 369, 386; - his faith in Rienzi shaken, 387; - his letter describing his talk with Stefano, 467, 468; - letter on Rienzi's career and downfall, 478, 479; - describes how Rienzi's condemnation was reversed, 479, 480. - - Philip Augustus of France and his wives, 340-343; - his threatened invasion of England, 345. - - Philip of Swabia elected Emperor, 330; - Innocent's denunciation of, 333; - his success, 335; - his death, 336. - - Phocas, Emperor, 160, 169. - - Pintore, Antonazzo, 576. - - Pius II., 562, 567; - his early career, 553, 554; - his character, 554; - his writings, 555; - as a builder, 556; - his enthusiasm for the crusade against the Turk, 557, 558. - - Plague in Rome, and the processions of penitents, 144-146. - - Platina, his biased account of Paul II., 559, 560; - protests against Paul's dismissal of the learned men, 560; - imprisoned, 561; - reinstated, 577. - - Poor, the destitute, Gregory feeds and cares for, 151. - - Popes, three rival, in Rome, 183; - how their conflict was ended, _ib._; - three successive, appointed by the Emperor Henry III., 189,190; - become fighting princes, 513, 514; - ideals of the greatest, 514; - art-patrons among, 515; - how treated by English writers, _ib._; - success of the builder-Popes, 516, 517; - their power and influence in the times of Pius II. and Paul - II., 564, 567. - _See_ Gregory the Great, Hildebrand, Innocent III., Election - of the Popes, _et passim_. - - Populace, Roman, degraded state of, in the 4th century, 4, 5; - all nominally Christian, 57; - their resentment against the monks, 63; - compel Gregory to abandon his mission to Britain, 141, 142; - Gregory feeds the destitute poor, 151; - fight between Papal troops and, 385-389; - their reception of Louis of Bavaria, 389-391; - reception of Fra Venturino by, 394, 395; - unruliness and recklessness of, 395; - enthusiastic over the crowning of Petrarch, 399, 400; - Rienzi as an ambassador of, to Clement VI., 404-409; - give absolute power to Rienzi, 427; - begin to criticise Rienzi, 438; - their conflict with the Colonna, 454-457; - resent Rienzi's baptism of his son, 461, 462; - had no active share in Rienzi's downfall, 472; - invite him to reassume the government of the city, 489; - their reception of Rienzi, 494; - their rising against him, 502-508. - _See_ Rome. - - Prætextata, 23, 24. - - Priests, Roman, Jerome quoted on, 11, 12. - - Principia, 100, 110. - - Provence, Innocent's missionaries in, 358, 359; - appeal of the forfeited lords of, against de Montfort, 371. - - - Raphael, 595, 597; - employed by Julius II., 589, 590; - his portrait of Julius, 590; - Pope Leo's patronage of, 598; - Bishop Creighton on his artistic aims, _ib._; - had no didactic purposes, _ib._ - - Raymond, Bishop, the Pope's Vicar, 416, 424, 427, 429; - protests against Rienzi's pretensions, 442; - reconciled to Rienzi, 471. - - Raymond of Toulouse, 371, 372. - - "Religious adventures," 36, 37. - - Renaissance, 526, 529; - conjunction of Christianity and Paganism during, 530. - - Rheims, Council of, the Pope's opening address, 197; - speeches of the bishops, 198. - - Riario, Pietro, 578, 579. - - Riccardo Imprennante, 500. - - Richard, brother of Pope Innocent, 575. - - Rienzi, Cola di, his historian, 382, 384; - his parentage, 403, 404; - his love for the ancient writers, 403; - his early life, _ib._, 404; - sent on a mission to Clement VI., 404; - appointed notary to the City Council of Rome, 405; - success of the mission, 406; - letter announcing his success, _ib._; - disgrace and return to favour, 410, 411; - protests against the rapacity of the City Council, 412; - his painted allegories, 413, 415, 419; - attitude of the patricians towards, 416, 419, 423; - his address to the Roman notables, 417, 418; - his power and privileges, 418; - and the secret society, 423,424; - the conspiracy carried out, 425; - addresses the people on the Capitol, 426; - absolute power given to, by the people, 427; - drives all the nobles out of Rome, 429; - compels the nobles to swear loyalty to the Buono Stato, _ib._, - 430; - his character, 431; - justice and public safety in Rome secured by, 431-434; - his braggadocio, 432; - secures the safety of travellers on the roads, _ib._, 433; - his authority confirmed by the Pope, 434; - his procession to St. Peter's, _ib._, 435; - his love of magnificence, 435; - Petrarch's letters to, 436; - success of his warlike expeditions, _ib._, 437; - beginning of his indiscretions, 437, 438; - makes himself a knight, 438; - claims to hold his authority from God and from the people, 440; - friendly messages from European monarchs to, 441; - ceremonials of his knighthood, _ib._, 442; - the Pope's Vicar protests against his pretensions, 443; - claims universal dominion in the name of the Roman people, - _ib._, 444; - sincerity of his claim, 444, 445; - crowning of, 445, 446; - Fra Guglielmo's grief for, 447; - makes use of the nobles, _ib._, 448; - gives a banquet to the nobles, 448; - arrests and discharges them, 449; - his expedition against the Orsini, 451; - his meeting with the Pope's legate, 452; - a powerful party organised against, 453; - apprehensive of danger, _ib._; - celebrates his victory over the Colonna, 457; - fails to take advantage of his success, 460; - his son's baptism of blood, 461; - his friends begin to desert him, 462; - Petrarch's letter of reproof to, 465; - Petrarch's faith in him shaken, 466; - moderates his magnificence and his arrogance, 470; - sees visions of disaster, 471; - his downfall, 471-473; - develops the character of a conspirator, 473, 474; - takes refuge among the Fraticelli, 474, 475; - his correspondence with Charles IV., 476; - handed over to the Pope, _ib._; - condemned to death, 477; - how he was saved, _ib._, 479; - his career and downfall, Petrarch's letter on, 478; - returns with the Pope's legate to Rome, 484, 485; - welcomed in the towns of the Patrimony, 488; - his enterprise assisted by Moreale and his mercenaries, 490; - obtains the countenance of the Pope's legate, _ib._, 491; - his expedition sets out, 491; - his hopes and aims, 492; - his reception by the Roman populace, 493, 494; - change in his outward man, 494; - his expedition against Stefanello, _ib._, 495; - his motives for executing Moreale, 496; - imprisons and executes Moreale, 497-500; - this act generally approved, 500; - but questioned by his councillors, _ib._; - how he raised money to pay the mercenaries, 501; - becomes irresolute, 502; - his final downfall and death, 502-509; - estimate of his career, 508, 509. - - Roads made safe for travellers, 434. - - Robert, King of Naples, 399. - - Roland of Parma presents Henry's letters to Pope Gregory, 257. - - Roman society, state of, at the end of the 4th century, 3 _et - seq._; - irresponsible wealth of the patrician class, 3, 4; - debased state of the populace, 4, 5; - luxurious habits of the nobles, 5, 6; - and of the women, 7; - conjunction of the old and new religions in, 8-10; - relations of the Church with, 10-12; - Jerome's picture of, quoted, 60, 61; - undermined by the ascetic ideals, 106-108. - _See_ Aristocracy _and_ Populace. - - Rome, her two conquests of the world, 1, 2; - transitional period in her history, 2; - her position at the end of the 4th century, 3; - believed in the 4th century to be the Scarlet Woman of - Revelation, 105; - sacked by the Goths, 108, 109; - successive sieges of, 119, 120; - no patriot aroused to the defence of, 123; - defenceless state of, 138; - distress and pestilence in, 144-147, 150, 151; - preserved by Gregory from barbarian attacks, 151; - heartened by Gregory's energy, 159; - Gregory's achievements for, 169, 182; - Gregory accused of destroying ancient buildings in, 176; - state of, in the 11th century, 182, 183; - its outward aspect in the time of Gregory VII., 242, 243; - a portion of, seized by Emperor Henry IV., 293; - Henry withdraws his troops from, 295; - and again occupies the city, 296, 297; - sacked by Guiscard and the Normans, 299; - Innocent III. endeavours to strengthen his hold upon, 322, 323; - her constitution changed by Gregory, 323; - populace of, at enmity with Innocent III., 375; - buildings erected in, by Innocent, 376; - disorderly state of, in the 14th century, 381-383; - strongholds of the great nobles in, 382; - fight between Papal troops and the people of, 384-386; - reception of Louis of Bavaria in, 389; - as arbiter of the world, 390; - how Fra Venturino was received in, 394, 395; - public safety and justice unknown in, 401, 424, 425; - establishment of the Buono Stato in, 425-427; - public safety secured in, by Rienzi, 432, 434; - apprehensions aroused in foreign countries by the revival of, - 435, 436; - her claim to universal dominion, 439; - assertion of the claim by Rienzi, 442-444; - expedition of the Colonna against, 453-457; - dream of a double reign of universal dominion in, 475; - celebration of the Jubilee in, 480, 481; - anarchy in, after Rienzi's fall, 483, 484; - possessed no native art, 516; - external state of, at Pope Martin's entry, 517-522; - restoration and adornment of, begun, 522, 523, 525; - restoration and adornment of buildings in, by Nicolas V., 544, - 549; - art workshops in, 545, 546; - ancient monuments restored by Paul II., 562; - still disorderly, 569; - King Ferdinand's advice regarding the balconies and tortuous - streets, 570; - his suggestion adopted by Sixtus, 571. - _See_ Borgo. - - Rudolf, Duke of Suabia, 233, 290; - elected king, 275; - anxious for the council of arbitration, 281; - his case stated before the Lateran Council, 282; - declared King of Germany by the Pope, 285; - Gregory sends the imperial crown to, 289; - his death, 290. - _See_ Emperors, the two rival. - - Rufinus travels with Melania, 36, 37; - arrives in Rome, 100; - his controversy with Jerome, _ib._ - - - St. Benedict. _See_ Benedict, order of. - - St. Jerome. _See_ Jerome. - - St. John Lateran, the church of, 521, 573; - internal revolution in, 588. - - St. Mary, the monastery of, 186. - - St. Paul, the monastery of, Hildebrand's reforms in, 194. - - St. Peter, evidence for his presence and execution in Rome, 540. - - St. Peter's, the old and the modern church, 539, 541; - additions made to, by Nicolas, 545; - pulled down by Julius II., 583, 584; - architecture of the ancient church, 584; - completion of the present church, 600. - - St. Remy, consecration of the church of, 196. - - St. Stefano Rotondo, church of, rebuilt, 544. - - St. Teodoro, church of, rebuilt, 544. - - Salerno, Gregory's arrival at, 301. - - San Lorenzo, chapel of, 546. - - Savelli, Francesco, 430. - - Savelli, Luca de, 448. - - Saviello, Jacopo di, 384, 385. - - Scotland, Church of, its position before the Disruption, and that - of the Church in Gregory's time, compared, 302, 303. - - Secret society, the, and Rienzi's address to, 423, 424; - the conspiracy carried out, 425-427. - - Silvia, 124, 128. - - Simony, 188, 224, 230; - crusade of Leo IX. against, 196-199; - Hildebrand's hatred of, 211, 232; - condemned by the first Lateran Council, 236; - Gregory VII. a martyr to his hatred of, 303, 304. - - Sismondi quoted, 390. - - Sistine chapel, 575; - completion of, 601. - - Sixtus IV., his pedigree, 569; - his purposes and achievements, _ib._, 570; - rebuilds the narrow and tortuous streets, 570; - builds a bridge over the Tiber, 571; - reconstructs the hospital Santo Spirito, 572, 573; - his violent temper, 573; - all Rome pervaded by his work, _ib._, 574; - restores the aqueducts, 574; - painters employed by, for the Sistine chapel, 575; - his varied aims and activities, 575-577; - reinstates Platina and his fellow-scholars, 577; - enlarges the Vatican library, _ib._; - his taste in art, _ib._; - his favourites, 578-580. - - Soldiers of Fortune, 487; - Rienzi procures the services of, 489; - how he raised money to pay them, 501. - - States of the Church, Innocent III. regains possession of, 324, - 325; - secured by Julius II., 587; - part of them lost again, 596. - - Stefano, Cardinal, 215. - - - Tasso, 263. - - Taxes imposed by Rienzi, 501. - - Tedeschi, the, 325, 389. - - Thebaid, the, 15. - - Theodolinda, Queen, 151, 156, 159. - - Thierry, quoted, 21, 26, 84, 93, 96. - - Thomas of Sarzana. _See_ Nicolas V. - - Toulouse, 358. - - Trajan and the widow, effect of the story upon Gregory, 143. - - Tuscan League, 325, 326. - - Tuscany, interference of, in the election of the Popes, 203, - 204, 216, 217. - - - Utrecht, Bishop of, 260. - - - Vatican, its reconstruction begun by Innocent, 376; - enlarged and adorned by the Popes, 544; - additions built to, by Nicolas, 545; - library of, founded by Nicolas, 546; - and enlarged by Sixtus, 577. - - Venice, drives a bargain with the Crusaders, 353. - - Venturino, Fra, his reception in Rome, 394, 395. - - Vertolle, Conte di, 448. - - Vespasiano the bookseller, 523, 524. - - Vico, Giovanni di, 436, 437, 453. - - - William the Conqueror, his invasion of England sanctioned by - Hildebrand, 221, 222. - - Women, friendships between religious zealots and, 49, 50; - harshly spoken of by Catholic teachers, 49; - their success in the art of government, 202; - take part in the election of a Pope, 227; - form part of a council called by Gregory VII., 233, 234. - - Women, Roman, their artificial life, 7; - influence of the conflicting religions upon their actions, 9, - 10; - Jerome's description of different types of, 60-62. - _See_ Marcella, the Society of. - - Worms, Council of, 190, 253-255. - - - Zara, capture of, by the Crusaders, 353. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Makers of Modern Rome, by -Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAKERS OF MODERN ROME *** - -***** This file should be named 40135-8.txt or 40135-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/1/3/40135/ - -Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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