The cause of truth and unity was not to triumph by means of a congress at Smalcalde, by diplomatic negotiations, or by the instrumentality of Francis I. He who said, My kingdom is not of this world, did not choose men of the world to establish his kingdom, and will not permit a monotonous uniformity to take the place of unity in his empire. Treaties, constitutions, and forms prescribed by monarchs are human elements which the kingdom of heaven repudiates. True unity does not proceed from an identical administration, a clerical organization, or a pompous hierarchy: it is essentially moral and spiritual, and consists in community of thoughts, faith, affections, works, and hopes. Diversity of forms, far from injuring it, gives it more intensity. In the sixteenth century the world was far, and is still far, from seeing the realization of this divine unity. Some steps, however, have been taken, and the time no doubt will come when, according to the scriptural prophecy, all the families of the earth will be blessed in Christ Jesus.[[791]] But there will be no real, free, evangelical catholicity until Christians understand and realize those elementary words of the primitive Church: I believe in the communion of saints.

CHAPTER XVIII.
THE GOSPEL IN THE NORTH OF ITALY.
(1519 TO 1536.)

Condition Of Italy.

The Reformation had also commenced in Italy.

As the knowledge of the ancient languages, literary pursuits, and cultivation of the intellect flourished more in that country than elsewhere, it seemed natural that it should be among the first to open itself to the light of the Gospel. In the midst of superstition, many elevated minds were to be found whom the formalism of the Roman Church could not satisfy. The corruption of the clergy and of religion had sunk deeper in Italy than in the rest of Christendom, so that the magnitude of the evil made the necessity of a remedy more keenly felt. Accordingly, although many obstacles appeared to close the peninsula against the entrance of evangelical doctrine; although national pride, the interest which the Italians of every class seemed to have in the continuance of the papacy, the hostility of the governments, and above all the overwhelming power of the pontifical hierarchy, erected barriers everywhere, which seemed more insurmountable than the Alps, there was at that time an electric current between Italy and the reformed countries that nothing could stop. The Reformation had hardly sent forth its first beams of light, the flame had hardly risen over Germany and Switzerland, when, in the regions beyond the mountains, from Venice and Turin to Naples, isolated spots of light gleamed out amidst the darkness. The evangelical doctrine, in general not much appreciated by the people, found an easy access to the hearts of many cultivated men. Italy was a vast plain, in which were numerous uncultivated fields and barren heaths: but a liberal hand having been opened over it, the seeds of life which fell from it found here and there good soil, and, at the breath of spring, the blade and the ear sprang forth. A fierce storm, mingled with thunder and lightning, afterwards burst upon those fields; the light of day was hidden, and the obscurity of darkness once more covered the country. But the light had been beautiful, and its appearance, although fugitive, deserves to be remembered, if only as a pledge to make us hope for better days. The positive results of the Italian Reformation seem to escape us entirely; and yet it possesses quite as many of those characteristics which charm the mind, captivate the imagination, and touch the heart, as other Reformations do. The new and varied plants which that ancient land began to produce, the brilliant flames which for a moment shed such beautiful light, the men of God at that time scattered all over Italy, deserve to be known, and we must now turn to them.

At Pavia, on the Ticino, there lived a bookseller named Calvi, ‘who cultivated the muses.’ Frobenius, the celebrated printer of Basle, having as early as 1519 sent him Erasmus’s Testament and the early writings of Luther, he began to study the Gospel more than the poets. Wishing to help, in proportion to his ability, in ‘the revival of piety,’[[792]] he undertook to circulate the writings of the reformers not only in his immediate neighborhood, but through all the cities of Italy.[[793]] Pavia possessed a celebrated university, and the precious volumes were first distributed among its professors and their pupils. The students might often be seen reading these absorbing pages under the porticos of the university and beneath the walls of the cathedral or of the old castle. Other printers and booksellers joined with Calvi in the work of dissemination, and before long a book entitled Il principii della Theologia di Ippolito di Terranigra was read all over Italy, even in Rome. Terranigra was Melancthon, and these Principles of Divinity were his Theological Commonplaces. This admirable book was to be found even in the Vatican, along with the works of Coricius Cogelius (Zwingle) and Aretius Felinus (Bucer). Bishops and cardinals pompously extolled them; none of them suspecting that the breath of evangelical piety which animated those writings must necessarily dissipate the false piety of the confessional. Terranigra’s book was read with such eagerness at Rome, that it soon became necessary to ask for a fresh supply. A learned Franciscan of the metropolis, who possessed the Latin edition, struck with the unknown name Terranigra,[[794]] desired to procure the Italian work so much talked of. It soon began to call up certain recollections: he fancied he had seen the work before. He rose from his seat, took down his Latin Melancthon, compared it with the Italian, and to his great horror found the two works were the same. Without delay he made known the stratagem of the booksellers, and the volume, which the cardinals had extolled to the skies one day, was condemned to the flames on the next.

Enthusiasm For Luther.

But the propaganda did not cease. The young Germans who came to study law and medicine at Bologna, Padua, and other universities of the peninsula, the young Italians who began to frequent the schools of Germany and Switzerland, helped alike to diffuse evangelical faith beyond the Alps. Many of the Lutheran lansquenets whom Charles V. marched into Italy, and of the Swiss soldiers whom Francis I. drew thither, professed in the houses where they lodged the doctrines of the Reformation, and did so with thorough military frankness. Some praised Luther, others Zwingle, and all contrasted the purity of the reformers’ lives and the simplicity of their manners with the irregularities, luxury, and pride of the Roman prelates.

The Italians have an open and quick understanding, precision in their ideas, clearness of expression, an instinct of the beautiful, and great independence of character; and hence they were tired of living in ignoble subjection to ignorant, lazy, and dissolute priests. Conscientious men of eminent mind joyfully welcomed a doctrine which put God’s Word in the place of papal bulls, briefs, and decretals, and substituted the spirit and the life for the ecclesiastical mechanism of the Latin ritual. Italy was charmed with Luther’s character and work. In 1521 a voice from Milan exclaimed: ‘O mighty Luther! who can paint thy features so full of animation, the godlike qualities of thy mind, thy soul inspired with a will so pure? Thy voice, which rings through the universe and utters unaccustomed sounds, terrifies the vile hearts of the wicked,[[795]] and bears an unexpected balm to diseases which appeared beyond remedy. Take courage, then, venerable father, whose mouth makes salvation known to all, and whose word destroys more monsters than ever Hercules rent in pieces.’

The dignitaries of Rome were alarmed at this enthusiasm. At the diet of Nuremberg in 1524, Cardinal Campeggi exclaimed: ‘The Germans take up a new opinion quickly, but they soon abandon it; while the Italians obstinately persist in what they have once adopted.’[[796]] It was rather the contrary that was to take place. The Italians showed themselves still more prompt than the Germans: the number of Lutherans increased every day.[[797]] The converted catholics began by degrees to explain the Gospel and to refute the errors of the Roman Church in private houses: this was done even in the Papal States. Before long, several priests and monks were enlightened, and the Reformation took a new step: its principles were taught in the churches. Clement VII. felt great alarm, when all of a sudden the doctrine, attacked by him and his legates in distant countries, broke out all over his dear Italy and threatened the walls of the papacy. He uttered a cry of terror: ‘To our exceeding sorrow,’ he said, ‘Luther’s pestilential heresy has been spread among us, not only among the laity, but also among the priests and monks.[[798]] Heresy is increasing, and in every place the catholic faith has to suffer the cruellest assaults.’ The cry was useless. In that very year (1530) the New Testament was translated by Bruccioli, printed at Venice, and the much dreaded contagion thenceforward made still more rapid progress.