‘But, Cotta, you still continue your attacks; you reproach me for praising all the Germans say and do. No! there are some things I approve of in them and others that I do not. When I meet with thoughts which for ages have been obscured by a barbarous style, hidden under the brambles of scholasticism, and sunk into the deepest darkness—when I see these brought into the full light of day, placed within the reach of all, and expressed in the choicest Latinity, I not only praise the Germans, but I heartily thank them. Sacred studies had fallen asleep in convent cells, where the idle men who should have cultivated them had hidden themselves as if in gloomy forests, under the pretence of applying to work. But what happened? They snored so loud that we could hear them in our cities and towns.[[874]] Now, learning has been restored to us; Latin, Greek, and Chaldee libraries have been formed; assistance has been honorably extended to the theologians; precious books have been multiplied by means of the wonderful invention of printing. Can there be anything more striking, more glorious, or more deserving our eternal gratitude?’
After this defence of the literary and reforming movement of Germany, Paleario came to what is grander than all—to Christ: ‘Are they not insufferable men,’ he said, ‘nay, wicked men, before whom we dare not praise the God of our salvation, Jesus Christ, the King of all nations, by whose death such precious boons have been conferred upon the human race? And yet for this, conscript fathers, yes, for this I am reproached in the accusation brought against me. On the authority of the most ancient and most faithful documents, I had declared that the end of all evils had arrived, that all condemnation was done away with for those who, being converted to Christ crucified, trust in him with perfect confidence. These are the things that appeared detestable to those twelve ... shall I say to those twelve men or twelve wild beasts, who desire that the man who wrote these things should be thrown into the fire! If I must suffer that penalty for the testimony I have borne to the Son of God, believe me that no happier fate could befall me; in truth, I do not think that a Christian in our times ought to die in his bed. Ah! conscript fathers, to be accused and cast into prison is a trifle; to be scourged, to be hanged, to be sewn up in a sack, to be thrown to wild beasts, to be consumed by fire,—all these are trifles, if only by such punishments truth is brought into the light of day.’[[875]]
Aonio Paleario did not speak as a rhetorician; he was no maker of Ciceronian periods. The man who at this time professed so energetically the supreme importance of truth and did so again in his Beneficio di Gesù Christo crocifisso,[[876]] gave his life for it. If he spoke at Sienna, he was to act at Rome. In each of these phases we recognize the noble victim of 1570.
After speaking like a martyr, he spoke like a man. He looked round him: some of the most eminent citizens, the Tancredis, the Placidis, the Malevoltas were near him full of emotion. Egidio, superior of the Augustines, and his monks—men abounding in piety and modesty—strengthened him by their approbation and their prayers. His two young friends, Faustus and Evander Bellantes, keeping their eyes fixed upon him, could not restrain their tears. Presently a more moving sight met his eyes: he beheld Marietta, pale and weeping. ‘What do I see?’ he exclaimed. ‘Thou also, my wife, art thou come dressed in mourning weeds, accompanied by the noblest and most pious of women—art thou come with thy children, to throw thyself at the feet of the senators? O my light, my life, my soul! return home, train up our children; do not be afraid, Christ who is thy spouse will be their father.[[877]]... Alas! she is half killed with grief.[[878]] O mother, support her, take her away; take her to your own home, if you can ... and let your love dry up her tears.’
Paleario Acquitted.
The impression produced by this address was so profound, that the senate declared Paleario innocent. But such a striking triumph served only to enrage his enemies the more: he saw that he could not remain at Sienna, and therefore took leave of his friends. Bellantes, on his death-bed, had commended his children to him, and Paleario exhorted them to aspire to something great. It is probable that he went to Rome for a short time, where his friends had got the proceedings set aside which his enemies had commenced against him; and afterwards to Lucca, where the chair of eloquence was given him. He left a great void at Sienna, and his friends were grieved. Faustus Bellantes seemed to express the feelings of all when he wrote: ‘Since you left, such a torpor has come over me that I am scarcely able to write.’[[879]]
Evangelicals Of Bologna.
Besides these lights—a Curione or a Paleario, scattered here and there over Italy—there were societies of Christian men in several cities who courageously professed evangelical truth. Bologna in particular—a city in the neighborhood of Ferrara, and whose university was, along with that of Paris, the first of the great schools of Europe—counted a large number of laymen and ecclesiastics who, like those of Venice, showed much zeal and decision for the great principles of the Reformation. When John of Planitz, ambassador from Saxony to the emperor, crossed the Alps in 1533, the evangelical Christians of Bologna addressed him with thorough Italian ardor. ‘We know,’ they said, ‘that the Germans have thrown off the yoke of antichrist and have attained to the liberty of the children of God. We know that they are but little troubled because the hateful name of heretics has been given them, and that, on the contrary, they rejoice because they are thought worthy of enduring shame, imprisonment, fire and sword for the cause of Christ. We know that if they demand a council, it is not in their own interest, but with a view to the salvation of other people. For this reason all the nations of Christendom owe a deep debt of gratitude both to them and to you, most honored lord; but there is no nation more indebted to you than our own. Of all countries subject to the tyrant, Italy, being the nearest to him, as it is his seat,[[880]] experiences the liveliest joy and special gratitude, because, through the goodness of God, redemption has drawn nigh to her at last. We entreat you to employ every means for the convocation of a council. In all the towns of the peninsula, and in Rome itself, as the emperor knows, a great number of pious, wise, and distinguished men desire it, are waiting for it, and loudly demanding it. If the pope should summon a council, he will easily remedy the abuses that have crept into the Church through the neglect of his predecessors; and for that excellent work he will receive appropriate honor from men, and from Jesus Christ life eternal. Let every one be at liberty to read the books in which learned doctors (the reformers) have explained their faith. At least let priests, monks, and laity be at liberty to possess the Bible without incurring the reproach of heresy, and even to quote the words of Christ and of St. Paul without being reviled as sectarians. If, on the contrary, Rome tramples under foot the commandments of the Lord, his grace, his doctrine, his peace, and the liberty which he gives—has not the reign of Antichrist begun?... If you need our help, speak! we are ready. If necessary, we will sacrifice our fortunes and our lives in the Redeemer’s cause; and as long as we live we will commend it daily to God by fervent prayer.’[[881]] Such was the decision of the Christians of Italy, even in the cities subject to the pope.
About the time when this eloquent address reached the lord of Planitz, John Mollio, a Franciscan from the neighborhood of Sienna, arrived at Bologna as professor in the university. Convinced by the teaching of the Holy Scriptures and of the reformers, he professed with great freedom the Christian truth according to the writings of St. Paul; but the pope forbade him to lecture on the epistles of that Apostle. Mollio then took up the other books of the New Testament; but he drew from them the same doctrine, and his hearers, delighted at seeing the pope’s prohibition thus evaded, enthusiastically applauded him. The Court of Rome, finding that there was no means of turning grace out of the Bible, gave orders to turn Mollio out of the university—which was much easier. However, the number of evangelical Christians in Bologna continued to increase.[[882]]