I’RA (j 1 K OLAMO SAVONARO LA

f m um/ur

THE REN A ISSA N CE

SAVONAROLA CESARE

BORG IA—jULIU S II .

—LEO X .

M ICHAEL ANGELO BY

ARTHUR,COUNT GOBINEAU

ENGL ISH ED IT ION ED ITED BY DR . OSCAR LEVY

W I TH TW EN TY ILLUS TRA TI ON S

NEW YORK

G . P . PUTNAM’S SONS

MCMXI I I

Tra nsla ted from t/ze Franc/z by

V. Comv, (Camb.)

Prin ted m E ng/a fza'

S RLF

YRL

06 574)OH

CO N T EN T S

SAVONAROLA

CESARE BORG IA

JUL IUS 1 1 .

LEO X .

M ICHAEL ANGELO 293

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FRA GIROLAMO SAVONAROLA

K ING CHARLES VII I . OF FRANCE

POPE ALEXANDER'

VI .

A SAVONAROLA SERMON

LUCREZ IA BORGIA

THE BURNING OF SAVONAROLA

CESARE BORGIA

N ICCOLO MACHIAVELLI

THE ENGELSBURG IN THE XVTH CENTURY

POPE JULIUS I I .

FROM THE ERECTION OF ST. PETER’

S,ROME

RAFFAELE SANTI (RAPHAEL)

CARDINAL BEMBO

POPE LEO X .

LOVE SCENE

EMPEROR CHARLES V.

MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI

GERMAN LANDSK NECHT

TIZ IANO VECELLIO (TITIAN)

PIETRO ARETINO 332

THE LIFE W ORK AND INFLUENCE

OF COUNT ARTHUR DE GOBINEAU

AN I N T R O D U CT O RY E S S AY BY

D R . O S CA R LEV Y

{Hutu! E very sensible ma n must be a cozzsem a tz’

ve ,

in [be rz'

glzt sense of tbe word .

”

B . DISRAELI .

(Sybil, Book I I ., Ca p.

IT has been generally thought and stated that the past century

was a profoundly irreverent and irrel igious age, the age of the

twil ight of Old gods, the Shatter ing of Old i dols, th e ruin ofan Old and holy creed . Nothing, however, could be furtherfrom the truth . I n every depa r tment of human knowledge,in philosophy, in sc ience, and in pol it ics a s well as in art,the n ineteenth century w a s deeply Imbued with rel igious

ideas;n ay, Spoil t by wha t may almost be called a spiri tual

intoxication . I t was the only century known to hi story inwhich the ology and i ts favouri te offspr ing, moral i ty, hadswamped e verybody and everything. Whether i t paradeditself as cold a nd sc i entific, as wa rm and human itar ian, as

lukewa rm and agnost ic, as progress ive and l iberal, as eth icaland social i st ic, as anarchical and revolut ionary, as conse rvat ive and react ionary, a s rational ist ic and freeth ink ing or as

romant ic and artis tic, there was always one and the samepersonal i ty behind that cloak of many colours

,behind that

medley of divers fashions , and that personal ity was a goodman

,a rel igious man—a Chr is t ian .

Thank heaven, this good man i s growing wiser and a l i t tl e

wickeder. Thank heaven, that gloomy and oppressive century

i s past ! Thank God, the spiri tual deluge of the n ineteenth

century i s fast dispers ing ! How that rel igious flood roared

and . rushed, how it deafened our ears, how it drowned the

voice of, our. innermost heart, how it fr ightened every one of

i i i

INTRODUCTION

us into submiss ion ! And now—unknown, O f course, as ye tto the great majority—the ebb Of that movement has se t in,and we are able to discern, with a calmer mind, the Obj ectof our terror . There i t is : receding before our fee t, crawl ingback into e terni ty, carrying its consti tuents away with i t tothe deep se a of Obl iv ion—water

,plenty Of water, froth, plenty

Of fro th, and sand, plenty of sand . And there are also anumber Of pebbles among the outgo ing t ide, and thesepebbles are th e gre at celebrities of the past century, the heroeswho were acclaimed as superior and representat ive men

,a s

leaders Of mankind by their rel igious contemporar ies,who

proved once more their superabundance of faith by the select ion of their celebri ties . Good - bye, good pebbles;good- byeand away wi th you for ever into the watery l imbo !But what is that s trange sight yonder ? The sand and thewater and the froth and the pebbles are d isappear ing fastbefore our eyes , but Some firm rocks, which no one has everyet seen, o r even suspected, are left standing in lonely maj estybetween the receding w aves . They seem to be firmlyestabl ished, and l ike everything firm and self- centred

,they

are respected by the waves and the sands , which are flowinground them as i f in awe and veneration, nay , w hich seem toflee from them a s fast as they can as if fr ightened by abad conscience . And well might they have a bad conscience ,for while the flood w a s re ign ing, they had h idden from everybody’s v iew these mighty rocks

,pretending they were

not there, they had danced merrily over them,roaring out

Of the ir myriad throats : they, the l ittle pebbles, and themicroscopic sands , and the babbl ing waves . But they couldonly hide for a time those mighty rocks , they could notmove them—and now, when the ebb has se t in , theserocks spring into everybody’s S ight , and grave and erectthey stand above their surroundings , smil ing grimly at thetiny pebbles and the loquac ious waters at their feet . Awaywith you

,ye ephemeral W aters , away with you -and make

room for the eternal rocks !

iv

INTRODUCTION

Take c lose heed Of these rocks , you younger generation o f

the twentieth century ! These rocks can no longer be ignored,as they w ere by your fathers and grandfathers rocks that are

ignored are dangerous ! But if you pay due attention to them,

they will be Of welcome service to you;for these rocks, whichyour bl ind and supe rs ti tious ancestors did not notice, or didnot wish to notice, are the only firm structure left to your

youth, to the New Age, to the century which you one day

wil l have to direct . Upon these rocks, upon this mighty founda

t ion of granite, you shall henceforth build, you mus ! build ,for they alone

, and not the pebbles and the sands that yourforefathers thought eternal, w i l l Ofler you a fitting and last ing

foundation for the pal ace of the fu ture .

One of those men,who, l ike those mighty rocks, i s only

now beginning to appear above the w aters of the receding

nineteenth century, is Count Arthur de Gob ineau .

Joseph Arthur, Comte de Gobineau, w a s born at V i l le

d’

Avray , on the 1 4 th Of July, 1 8 1 6 . He was the descendant

of a family that had remained loyal to the an c ient dynasty ofthe Bourbons

,and h is father, Louis de Gobineau, an Officer

of the Royal Guard , had fol lowed Louis XV I I I . into exileduring the hundred days Of Napoleon’s return . I t was toldof h im that he considered Vol taire a s the devi l and Charles X .

a s a sain t, bu t that he w a s enough Of an independent th inkerto love the Devil Mons ieur de Voltaire

,as wel l a s the Saint

Charles X .

The grandfather of our Count , who was a Councillor to

th e Parl iament Of Bordeaux , had a remarkable w ife , who mayhave transmit ted some Of her qual i t ies to her famous grandson .

Her name was V icto ire de la Haye, and she was a descendant Ofa Norman family o f great wealth . A story is circulated abouther that one day w hen Sh e saw her son Thibaul t - Joseph fal lfrom a horse upon the stone - pavement , sh e went up to him and

coolly asked him Mons ieu r, did you do yourself any injury ?“ No

,mother

.Well then

,get on again .

” Thibault - Joseph

INTRODUCTION

never forgo t the scene a nd always Spoke with the greates treverence of his mother and her unusual strength of character .

This uncle,Thibaul t Joseph , who was dest ined to play a

certain part in Ar thur’s l ife,w a s another noteworthy member of

the family . When hewas a pupil at the col lege of Guyenne,he w a s ignominiously sent away from that school , because One

day he had tr ied to se t fire to the school - house—which maycertainly be cons idered as a proof that ne ither intell igenceno r energy was wanting in this remarkable stock . Later on

he fought under Dugommier in Spain and excelled in deeds

worthy of those feudal knights from whom his famous nephewalways imagined himself to descend. Almost Singl e- handed hei s said to have captured an Engl ish brig. He was a v iolent

ant i - Jacobin and legi t imist, a nd after the ninth Of Thermidor

he did everything to re establish the old order.

After a long j ourney in Germany with h is mother, andhav ing attended school at the College Of B ienne, inSwitzerland

,Arthur Gob ineau was sent to Paris to l ive with

th is ma rvel lous uncle of h is. The latter, however, in thecourse of t ime, had become more and more a quaint fel lowh is whole occupati on now apparently consisted incurs ingtheupstar t Louis Ph ilippe and in loo se talking about the re - estab

lishment of the legit imate k ings of F rance . He spent h isdays on a sofa, his head hidden behind big newspapers, andwithout troubl ing in the least about h is nephew,

,

wh'

orri

his valet was supposed to look after. Arthur GOb ineauendured th is l i fe for three weeks and then went upto his uncleand frankly declared that he would commit suicide On th e spot,and before hi s eyes, i f the uncle d id not change hi s behav iourtowards him . Then , and only then, is th e strange manreported to have given in and paid more attention to h is

nephew, whom he certainly must have recognised a s belongingto h is own breed .

On account of his Conservative poli t icalviews,Gobineau,

of course , never thought o f playing a part under the new

v i

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

INTRODUCT ION

neither o f the young d iplomatist nor of h is extraord inaryideas . B isma rck apparently w a s so busy fighting the Austrianpreponderance a nd pretens ions to supremacy that he qu iteoverlooked the man who was destined, more than h imself, togive new blood and new bel iefs to the future, j ust a s he overlooked Schopenhauer, who, already famous, w a s then l ivinga t Frankfor t. Thus in the long run the pol i t ic ian , even thepol it ic ian o f gen ius, i s always beaten by the man o f thought ,the creator of ideas : empires vanish , but thought is immortal .Much more interest in Gobineau w a s taken by B ismarck’senemy and antagonist, Baron von Proke sch -Osten , who w a s

not only a diplomatist bu t l ikewise an eminent wri ter on

Oriental subj ec ts . He wa s a very able disc iple of Metternichand became well know n later on as Austrian Ambassador inConstantinople . I s the Gob ineau who h a s written the bookon the Inequal i ty of the Human Races one of your relat ives ?the old gentleman oncel asked the Count . I have written itmyself.” What—and so young ? ”w a s the astonished answer.Throughout h is l ife Gob ineau maintained cordial relat ions w iththe Baron , and kept up a most interest ing correspondencewith his admirer

,who l ived to a very great age .

In 1 854 Gobineau w a s nominated first secretary to theEmbassy in Teheran, and took w i th h im his wife, whomhe had married e ight years prev iously, and hi s l ittl edaughter. He was del ighted to go there , for, in spite of hi sGermanic propensi ties, the Orient , from his youth upwards ,had alw ays greatly attracted him . He went there withthe firm resolu tion—SO rarely found in a European diploma tist—to try to understand the Asiatics . He learned thelanguage of the country, he sought the acquaintance o f

erudite P ers ians, he cul tivated friendship with anyone whocould be of use to h is eager

,searching mind . I have tried

to ban ish from my mind any idea o f true or fal se superiori tyover the people that I have studied . Before del iver ing judgment on them and on their pecul iar i t ies , I have attempted toge t in to the ir habits of thought, I have tried to se e things

v i i i

INTRODUCTION

from the ir point of v iew . Thus Gobineau wrote in his book“ Three Years in Asia,

”which he publ i shed in 1 856 on h is

re turn to France . But another and more important book w a sthe frui t of h is Pers ian sojourn, a book which had some successeven dur ing the author’s l ife time . I t is entitled TheRel igions and Philosophies o f Central Asia

,

” and certainlyranks amongst the best‘ that Gobineau h a s ever wri tten . Weshall hear more of it later on .

On his return to France, Gobineau w a s sent on a Frenchman - Of- war to New foundland in order to settle the eternalquest ion o f the fish ing rights with the representat ives of theBrit i sh Government . He again profited from thi s j ou rney, andbrought back a book ,

“ Voyage to New foundland . In a l i ttl ebook publ ished later, under the titl e Reminiscences of Travel ,

”

which contained three li ttl e stories, there is one that has itsscene in Newfoundland . I t is the story of a vain Paris ian, aman about town, with whom a Brit i sh Co lonial girl fall s inlove , and who thus—quite contrary to his expectat ion—seeshimself taken ser iously by the simple Anglo—Saxon temperament, and threatened with that Waterl oo of al l ph ilanderer sand poets, to wit, matrimony . This story could only bew ri tten by a good European

,that i s to say

,by a man who ,

l ike Gob ineau,understood the weaknesses of h is own as well

as the v irtues and Shortcomings of other peoples . He wasenti rely above the two nations and w a s thus enabled todescr ibe them w i th al l that bonhomie and true satire whichis and always must be the outcome of a certain good- naturedcontempt for i ts object .In the year 1 86 1 Gobineau was sent again to Teheran

,this

time a s chief o f the French Embassy . and here he passed twoyears in succession . During th is t ime he tried to make use o fhis great personal influence in Persian ci rcles to gain a foot ingfor France in that country, where Russia and England werenot yet so firmly establ ished as they are to - day. But inParis his ideas were cons idered those of a dreamer : in th isw orld the ra re man o f h e althv im a g ina t ion is usuallv ranked

ix

INTRODUCTION

among the‘

ideal ists, while the real ideal i sts always appeals trongly to the men in po w er, who usually are Phil istinesand stand in sore need o f a l i ttl e romanticism as a welcomea ntidote to the ir prosaic sou ls . The French burea ux

,the seat

of power in modern France, had always distrusted the Count,whom they could no t forgive, because, bes ides an an tidemoc rat

,he w a s also a scr ibbler,

” a fact which, combinedw ith the want o f success even in th is inferior direction, wa s asure S ign of a wild personal ity . Long ago a friendly M inisterOf Foreign Affairs had said to Gobineau, al luding to his essayA Sc ientific book of such importance will do your diplomat iccareer no good;on the contrary i t may do you a great dealof harm ! ”

Gobineau soon discovered that th is Minister w a s r ight, andthat ne ither h is books nor hi s pol itical ideas had influenced thecentral author i ties in h is favour. When

,in 1 864 , he appl ied

for an appointment in Constantinople , h is request w a s notgranted . He wa s sent to Ath ens instead , where he publ ishedthe two books mentioned above

,his “

Reminiscences of

Travel ” and ‘‘ The Religi ons and Philosophies of CentralAsia .

” He wrote and publ ished some other books besidesdu ring h is stay at Athens : The History of the Pers ians,

” theAs iat ic Novel s , and a number of poems, which rece ivedthe t itle of

In the year 1 868 the count w a s transferred from Athens to

Rio de Jane iro , where he suflered a great deal from uncon

genial surroundings . It may be easily imagined that anaristocrat ic na ture , a firm bel iever in good blood, could notbu t he shocked and horr ified. by the aspect o f that mixed

populat ion (all the more repugnant because i t is a prosperousmixed populat ion) which the two Ame r icas, those of the

north and sout h , ofler to a cultured Europe an . H is only csolat ion was the friendship with the Emperor Dom Pedro

,

who seems to have suffered fromh is exile as much a s Gobineau,

and wh o probably complained to the F rench Count often

INTRODUCTION

enough In the orthodox Ovidian strain abo ut hi s B raz il iani solat ion

Ba rba rus h ie ego sum , quia non intelligor ulli .(H ere I am a ba rba rian, because th ere I s nobody w h o understandsme .)

The Emperor seems to have had an int imate knowledge ofCount Gobineau’

s books, and e very Sunday the two, th eMonarch and the French Ambassador, met for long conversat ions

.Even after Gobineau—for reasons of heal th—had left

B raz il,this fri endship wa s maintained by means of a long

correspondence,a correspondence w hich was only interrupted

by the prolonged stay of the Emperor in Europe dur ing theyea rs and 1 877 .

The war of 1 870 found Count Go b ineau in France . Hehad inherited a fortune from h is uncle Thibaul t- Joseph ,and had with part of the money bought the castle of Trye - en

Vexin, which he considered a s the cradle of the Norman Houseof Gournay, the house from which hi s mother w a s descended .

As th e Mayor of Trye he was able to do a great deal for h isfel low ci tizens during the war . He spoke German fluently, hehad a good knowledge of the German character

,and was able

by means of successful parleys with the v ictor ious generals toshield his distri ct from a great deal o f severe treatment .

Unl ike Taine and Renan and so many othe r Frenchmen, hehad foreseen the defeat of his country : he l ikewise thought

that France, on account o f her rampant democracy

,had

thoroughly deserved that defeat . But h is av ers ion? to demo

crat ic F rance did no t prohibi t him from doing what he could

for her in the hourof danger, and thus this despis'

er of patriots

and democrats was of more use to his fatherl and than many ofi ts enthusiast i c and well -meaning, but less intell igent worsh ippers . When

"

the W ar was over’

th e town of Beauvais

publ icly acknowledged its grati tude to the Count. Hisgrateful fellovV ci tizens even W i shed to send him to Parl iamentor to th e Senate , anhonour which Gob ineau , as gentilhomme

and bonnete Izomme and di sbeliever in the d ivine right of the

xi

INTRODUCTION

people a nd its votes . h ad to decl ine with pol ite though determined tha nks .

1 1 1 G ob ine a u w a s sent to S tockholm . There, a s elsew here , h e does no t seem to have found many congenial friendsamongst h is colleagues and apparently led a very sol itary l i fe .

And th ese colleagues themselves do no t seem to have had atany t ime much know ledge of th e Count

’s ideas and doings .

One day , for insta nce . Gobineau in a certain draw ing- room meta noth er d iplomat ist , a former acquaintance of h is Germandays . This colleague w a s asked by the lady o f the housewhether he knew the Count . Oh , yes ,

” was the reply,“ the w orthy Gobineau, of course, I know him .

” “ You see ,”

whispered Gobineau (who w a s, of course , highly amusedat being called “ worthy ” wh ile propagating SO many dar ingideas),

“ you see , madam, how w ell - known I am,

”and in h is

simple and good - natured manner he heart i ly shook hands withthe great connoisseur of human character . I t must be added

,

however, that Gobineau himself was apparently not des irousof leading people on to the right track about himsel f and hisl i terary achievements . He was not a man of letters, but agentleman of letters, and as such was not given to talking overmuch of his printed ofISpring. He also , no doubt , knew whatk ind of l i terary people a democratic age brings to pre - eminence ,and in order not to be mistaken for one of the geniuses ofthe day he may not have cared to acknowledge his authorsh ip in publ ic . He never looked a genius e ither : l ike youngProfessor Nietzsche , he had something mil i tary in h is h e a ringas wel l as i n h is manner, so that a flunkey in the Tuiler ies .whom he had asked a quest ion one day, repl ied to him,

“ Oui ,mon général !In 1 876 Gobineau received leave of absence from h is

government,which enabled him to accompany the Emperor of

Brazil on a journey to Russia , Turkey, and Greece . Theyreturned by way of Rome , where Gob ineau for the first t imemet Richard Wagner

,who

,as the Count’s d iscoverer, wa s

de st ined to pl a y a certain part in h is l i fe . I t w a s , however.

xii

INTRODUCTION

not a case of appreciation at first S ight i t wa s no t until ayear later, when Wagner had read Gobineau

’

s boo k on theRenaissance, that he knew, or thought he knew, who theFrench Count really was. But from this time a rather closefriendship sprang up between the composer and the ambassador, a friendship which led to a great deal of personalintercourse and was destined to last til l the end of Gobine au’

s

l ife .

This end, however, was hastened by the il l - use to whichGobineau was subj ected on the part of hi s old enemies the

gov ermental burea ux in Pari s . They apparently knew whatan enemy o f their order and class they had to deal with ,and pensioned the independent Count Off before his t ime .

As if wishing to poison the wound they thus infl icted, they

nominated as h is successor the Marquis de Tamissier,whose real name was Carrier. This Carrier was a grandson of the notorious Carr ier who , when sent as commis

sioner by the Convent ion to Nantes, had thousands, o f peopleexecuted

,some by the rap id method o f drowning in the

Loire . The grandson o f the Carr ier o f the N oyem’es de

N ames, wrote Gob ineau to a friend,“ the Carrier of the

‘ Republ ican Marr iages ’ (the drow ning of a man and womanbound together was called by the popular wit a ‘ Republ icanMarr iage ’

) i t i s he who is going to be my successor. Thus

ran the complaint of our ant i - Jacob in ambassador, whosemanly heart must have been sore at the double affront offered

h im.Soon afterwards h is health broke down , h is eyes began

to trouble h im,and he l ikewise suffered some heavy monetary

losses.He went to Rome , where he led a very s imple l ife ,

occupying h imself with sculpture, w hich since his res idence in

Athens had been a constant source of pleasure to him . From

time to time he went to Bayreuth , w here he enchanted theGermans by h is tales o f many lands—but i t must not beforgotten that he w a s an O ld and broken man , and that only

thus can the friendship between such a fantastic thinker as

! <i i i

INTRODUCTION

Wagner a nd such a profound mind as Gob ineau be satisfa c torily explai ned .

Dur ing the winter of 1 88 1 1 882 his heal th deteriorated more

and more . In the spring he went to Bayreuth,but could not

s top more than two days . He then went to Gastem ,where

he sl ightly improved . During the summer he vis i ted h isfriends the Count and Countess de la Tour 1n their e/zdtea u 1n

the Auvergne . When the autumn came he wished to return to

I taly and left h is hosts on October 1 1 th to go to P isa . In

Tu rin,on the 1 3th , while trying to get into the railway carriage,

he had a sudden sei zure and_

had to be carr ied ba ck to the

hotel. A priest was cal led who administered the last consola

tion of the Church,bu t s tated late r on that the Count

lwas

al ready unconscious and unable to apprec 1 ate th e benefit con

ferred upon him . The power of the great freethinker’s mind

was such that i t cou l d even give w a y at the right moment !

W HEN Gobineau was an old man, his E ssay on theInequal i ty of Human Races went into a second edition, towhich he prefixed a new introduc t ion . I n th is he declares :“ I leave these pages j ust as I wrote them many yearsago, when the doctrine they contain sprang out of mymind just l ike a bird that puts its head out of its nes t andthen seeks its way in il l imitable space .

” This pOe tical

sentence alone g ives the reader a hint of the grea t valueof the book, a value which at first S ight might not seemso obvious . For there is no doubt that the Essay is not freefrom faul ts. I t IS very long, i t is rather chaot ic, and it isdryreading in places . I t snflers from great prejirdice s and from

some omissions . Neither i ts facts,nor i t s theories, nor its

j udgments are w holly admirable or even true . But what isw holly admirable is the Spiri t in which the book is wr i tten .

x iv

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

INTRODUCTION

left in this wor ld of o urs but half- castes, that is to say, cowa rdlyand impotent people , rea dy to adapt themselves to any lawa nd any master

,and no t minding the loss of their personal i ty,

because they do no t happen to po ssess one .

History , philology, archaeology, anthropology, are cal led inby the author to support h is thes i s, o r rather his cry of alarm .

For the poet again and again peeps out from behind h ispedantic

,dry, and scientific mask, and this long epic, which

might fi tly be called“ The Twil igh t of the Aryan,

” r ings outin a noble and passionate complain t, worthy of a great authorand laying bare the bleeding heart of a Jewish prophet

Not death, but the certainty of dying in degradation, isthe gloomy prospect in store for us and perhaps th is disgracethat is doomed to fall upon our posteri ty might leave us cold,did we not feel, with a hidden thril l of terror, that the clawinghands of destiny are already upon our shoulders .”

I f we wish to gauge the importance and novelty of thisidea, we mus t go back to the nineteenth century and rememberthe two main currents of thought regarding men, currentswhich we Shall understand all the better a s they are st il lflowing, though with dimin ished strength, through the thoughtof our own day . One of these is the spiri tual ist ic current o fChristiani ty, the Christian i ty that wishes to save every soulbecause i t thinks everyone perfec tible and poss ibly

,i f con

verted to the eternal truth , equal to everybody el se . Inoppos i t ion to this trend of thought stands the material isticschool of the natural sc ient ist, a school based upon the i deasof Montesqu ieu , Herder, and Hegel , or in th i s country

,of

Buckle and John Stuart M ill , according to which a human beingis an unstabl e entity dependent upon outside c ircumstancesand changing w i th them—a creature

,in Short, of chance and

environment . In oppos i t ion to both these schools, thespiri tual ist ic and the material i st ic , Count Gobineau had thecourage to dec lare , in the midst of h is dark age , that the environment scarcely mattered , that the

“ eternal truth ” was animpotent assumption , and that everyth ing, perfect ib il i ty as well

xv i

INTRODUCTION

as history, depended upon the blood, upon the race. His cone lus ions were the same as D israeli’s, who probably had neverheard of h im : All is race, there is no other truth .

From this l i ttle gl impse at the Essay alone we may perce iveth at we have to do wi th an author of the ar istoc rat ic school,that i s to say , of a school that heartily despises the values ofmodern moral i ty. Gobineau, i t will be seen, belongs to thesame School as N ietzsche, and thus he no t only despises ourcurrent opin ions on “ good and ev il

,

” but he fears and loathesthem on account of their deleterious eflect upon humanity.

For Gobineau as well as N ietzsche had not iced fi fty yearsago what the most cul tured people of to - day are only beginningto suspect, that our moral values, the values of Democracy,So ciali sm , Liberalism,

Christ ian ity,l ead to the survival of a

type of man w ho h a s no right to su rv ive, or who oughtonly to surv ive on an inferior plane . Gobineau a s wellas Nietzsche knew that “ good under the present valuesand in our t ime only means tame, adaptable, conven

tional,

”a t best “ industr ious

,persever ing

,effic ient and business

l ik e .

” Both could never forget, and again and again theyemphasize the fact

,that goodness in non - vulgar t imes meant

something quite different from to—day, that goodness onceupon a t ime s ignified “ energy

,bravery, daring, strength of

character, pow er of endurance, power of attacking, power o fovercoming

,

” that i t did not mean “ harmlessness, absence offaul ts and v ices , negat ive v i rtue, female v i rtue, commercialSharpness and c leverness, mediocrity.

”

True,Gobineau did no t, l ike N ietzsche, hold Chris t ian ity

openly respons ible for th is transvaluation o f noble values intocow ard’s values , but he nevertheless agrees with h im as to th esource of thi s ev il by pointing with great emphasi s to the influence o f th e later Semitic race . To the earl ier Semi te, thewarrior - Semite , the Semite under h is k ings, he seems to havegiven fu ll approval . Thi s S e

’

m z

’

te- bla nc primit if , as he i scall ed in the E ssay is, according to the author, even a nearrelat ion to h is hero , th e A ryan , and h is actions , as those

B xv ii

INTRODUCTION

of unbroken conqueror tribes , found in Gob ineau a natural

a nd w il l ing admirer . Unfortunately these early w hite Semites

mixed the ir blood w ith lower races and thus degenerated .

Through th is mixtu re , the race o f Shem fell for ever from the

h igh pos i t ion it h eld in the a nc ient w orld;nay, i t even becamele fond carm p/cur of this anc ien t w orld, and by its intermarr iage w i th the pure and noble Aryan blood i t ru ined therace o f Rome . Here it w i l l be seen , we come across one o f

those deduc tions of Gob ine a u’

s which h e—to satisfy h is theorythat every degenerat ion arises from th e cross ing of raceshad to make, bu t which is nevertheless only a part ial truth .

For h ow,w e may a sk, could these insignificant Semit ic tribe s

spoi l the noble blood o f a whole mighty empire , even supposingthat some of them did intermarry with the Romans, which theJew s, as far a s we know,

never did to a great extent ? Andwhat, i t might be asked, l ed the proud Romans to intermarrywith such inferior beings ?This is, no doubt, a weak point in Gobine au

’

s system . heoverrates the physical effects o f a race and neglects itsspiri tual influence;he overlooks the influence of ideas andvalues . Surely a race may influence the world directly by itsblood but yet more frequent and much more powerful i s theindirect influence , the influence of ideas , and th is is theinfluence which the Jews have exercised . I t was by mean sof the ir ideas , not by means of their blood , that the Semiticrace broke the Roman Empire . I t w a s Christ iani ty, thatpopular accentuation of Judaism , which among the sl aves ,women , and w eakl ings o f Rome found such a ready acceptance, that slow ly but su rely undermined that unique andflourish ing empire . I t w a s Christiani ty that made the slavesequal to their masters, that, helped by decadent Paganphilosophy, poisoned the good consc ience and heal thyinst inc ts o f these masters

,and finally led them to intermarry

w i th Sl aves and barbarians . I t w a s intermarriage with thenon - race , w i th the people , that led to the ruin of Rome : i tw a s the mixture o f different classes much more th an the

xvi i i

INTRODUCTION

mix ture s of different races that produced th at decadent a ndserv ile chaos of the later Roman Empire .

But apart. from these minor Shortcomings there are startlingflashes of w i sdom in the E ssay, flashes w hich attest theunprej udiced and pagan atti tude of Gobine a u

’

s mind, andfurth er prove that Gobineau w a s a N ietzschean beforeN ietzsche . Gobineau sees the connec t ion between laterSemit ism and Democracy, he sees that Democracy is theenemy of all government and all society : All c ivil i sat ionsthat assume democratic forms are speedily ruined

,

” he says .In the question of S lavery, he is l ikewise in agreement withN ietzsche : “ Slavery,

”says our autho r

,

“ l ike all human institut ions

,rests not only upon constraint bu t upon other condit ions

as well . There i s no doubt that sl avery somet imeshas a legi timate basis, and w e are almos t justified inlaying down that in this case i t results quite a s much from theconsent of the slave a s from the moral and physical predominance of the master .Bu t the real gen ius of Gobineau , the clear thought, flashesout—j ust as that of Schopenhauer in his Parerga and

Paral ipomena —when he forgets his system and speaks o f

what he h a s seen and fel t .

Gobine a u’

s“ Philosophy of History, as we have seen, i s

to some extent forced and quest ionable, and even in i ts truerand indispu table parts i t h a s been more luc idly developedby Friedrich Nietzsche;but w hen the theory of the Essayleaves Gobineau he becomes a true p ioneer of thought . I amreferring here to a Sc ience—or rather an art , w hich, after thecollapse of w i redraw n metaphysics and ideal i s t tomfooleri es

,

will play the principal part in any further philosophy : the artof psychology, that is to say , the ins ight into the character ofhuman beings and the subsequent valuat ion of th is character .

I t is in th is that Gob ineau, a s a poet , excels . H is psychologyof the yellow race (Book I I I . , cap . 4 and 5)i s a masterp iece .

His descript ion of the purest and the noblest Aryan organisation

,tha t o f the B ra hmins , is o f the grea tes t value even to - day

xix

INTRODUCT ION

and of special interes t to Engli shmen;and while perus ingthese eloquent chapters (Book I I I ., cap . 1 and 2)we must notforget that i t w a s penned fifty years before MeredithTownsend, in his As i a and Europe,

” came to the sameconclusions . All through the book we meet with observationson the habi ts and thoughts of mankind which charm us bytheir truth and ins ight.The Essay, as w a s to be expected

,me t with l ittle success .

Who in this Spec ial ised w orld could take an interest in a workthat w a s based upon so many different sciences ? Already thediplomatists, a s we had seen

,had ignored Gobine au’

s ideas byplacing him amongst the littém teurs and profess ionalUtopians, while the profess ional Utop ians were not temptedto interest themselves in a man who had based hi s theoriesupon such an astounding serie s of facts. And those occupiedwith facts, the professional sc ientists, were then, as now ,

div ided into a great number of clans, each busying itself with acerta in se t o f facts

,and, i f honest, not over -much incl ined to

speak in publ ic about a book which w a s beyond their compreh ension . The Special isation O f our age , though of course betterthan an all - embracing d ile ttanti sm

,is a danger to al l truly

comprehens ive , philosophical works, which, even when noticedby men o f sc i ence

,are heart ily recommended only to the

colleagues of another Special i ty .

The archaeologist says that the book in quest ion belongs tothe department of anthropology, the anthropologist hands i tover to the philologis t

,the ph ilologis t Sh ifts the duty on to

the Or iental ist , the Oriental i st to the theologian,the

theologian recommends i t to the earnest attention of theh istorian , while the histo rian comple tes the vic ious c i rcle byhanding i t back to the archaeologist . These consc ientious menof science behave l ike a pol iceman whom,

du ring my studentdays , I met one n ight in an obscure quarter of Berl in and withwhom I struck up a friendship . I asked h im why he did no tarrest a certain drunkard who made such a terrible no iseand w oul d surely do harm to h imsel f or others ? I never

XX

INTRODUCTION

arres t a drunkard, he answered, i t means so much botherover a l i ttle thing : i f the wors t comes to the w ors t

,all I do

is to chase the fellow into another pol iceman’s beat, and th erethe o ther pol iceman, you se e , h a s the pleasure of running h imin and giving evidence against h im, a nd so on .

”

In our t imes, however, when a book is ignored or insufficientlyspoken about in public, i t is often taken seriously by a selectcircle nay, i t may even stir up , amongst a few, violent applauseor condemnation . And that i s what happened

,at least with

one man, in the case of Gob ine a u’

s E ssay . I t wa s h is mightyfr iend and patron

,Alexis de Tocqueville, the famous author

o f La D e’

mocra t ie en Ame’

rigue, who was touched on the rawby what he called Gobine au

’

s dangerous and pern icious

doctr ines .The epis tolary interchange betw een Tocquev i ll e and

Gobineau is all th e more interes t ing a s To cquev ille’

s answersare th e typ ical obj ect ions o f h is and of our own age .

Tocqueville was a typical L iberal representative of the nineteenth century—that is to say, a man whose opin ions (whetherhe knows i t or not)are based upon Christ ian prej udices. ForLiberal ism is a latent rel igion, Liberal ism is c rypto - Chri stianity,every L iberal is a Nazarene pries t in muft i . No doubt,Tocqueville w as a very enl ightened crypto - Chr istian, whocoul d not or would not absolutely close h is eyes to the dangerof democracy and other unpalatable fac ts, but, being aChri st ian, h is j udgments on the one hand are very pess imistica s regards human nature and h is proposals and remedies onthe other are coloured by a puerile optimism . The misgivingsand doubts which Tocquev i l l e has concern ing democracy aremany and grave, h is fatal ism and pess imism are as severe as o rseverer than Gobine au’

s but he saves himself from Gobine a u’

s

conclus ion by that pecul iar and tenacious hopefulness, whichis the outcome o f the cowardice so charac terist ic of theChrist ian th inker . Desperately he c l ings to the most unsubstantia ted assert ions , all the more desperately as they are his“ last straw ,

” and he knows that giv ing up for a moment means

xx i

INTRODUCTION

th e break - down o f h is whole system . W hich o f us h a s no t metsome ph ilOSOph ie Liberal , who

,l ike Tocqueville

,has th e

greatest contempt for h is contemporaries, who takes a gloomyview abou t the ir future

, who deplores their want of manl iness,character , daring a nd independence, but w h o will never drawth e right and stra igh tforward conclus ions from these facts ?He w il l point out that the env i ronment ought to be improved ,o r that education h a s been lacking , or that only the upperclasses are spoil t and the people are “ qui te sound he wil lpat iently wait for evolution ” or

“ progress ” to better th ings,

o r for co - operative and Soc ial istic reforms,nay, he wil l appeal

to rel igion and a rev ival o f‘

morality and ideal ism—h e w il l doanything, in Short, rather than utter an hones t yea or nay,rather than come to Gobineau’

s conclus ion that no apple tree ,by careful nurs ing, w i l l produce grapes, that no education canget out of a man any quali t ies w h ich are no t in him,

that baseblood cannot be turned into noble blood by any “ free ” patentmedicine, and that the

'

present race of Europeans has, withvery few exceptions, to be found in all nat ions and classesal ike, become a countless horde of helo ts who are in manyinstances even useless helots . I t is the shal low Christi anL iberalism of the pas t century that comes out in these lettersof Tocquev i l le to Gobineau, a Christ ian L iberal ism which i s,to be

i

sure , carefully wrapped up in high - sounding pr inc iplesand made palatable by the well—known exuberant phraseologyo f that numerous sect.Having rece ived the book on October 1 1 th , 1 853, M . de

Tocquev il le at once confesses that he h a s a great distrustof i t s princ iples and ideas because “ i t takes for granted,

”

he says,“ the fatal ity of consti tution , and this fatal ity is

appl ied no t only to indiv iduals bu t l ikew ise to that collect iono f ind iv iduals called a race .

”

On November 1 7th , 1 853, he repeats : You r doctrine i s asort of fatal ism , or, i f you l ike, of predest ination—which , o f

course, i s di fferen t from the fatali sm of S t. Augu stine, theJansenis ts , and the Calv inists , inasmuch as yours is based more

xxi i

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

INTRODUCTION

condemn . What Tocqueville thinks of h is contemporaries isreally much worse than what Gobineau th inks, for Gobineauonly compla ins o f their w eakness, adap tabil ity, impotence ,while Tocquevi lle despairs o f their very nature, and l ike a trueChristian a ll the more so

,the more potent th at nature is .

Thus Gobineau desp ises but loves at the same time, whileTocquevil le fears and loathes . But in Spi te of h is loath ingo f mankind around him, Tocqueville, a s a real L iberal, carefully avoids drawing any real is tic conclus ions from his observa tions . On the contrary

,he who fears the people

,wishes to

do someth ing for the people,he who despairs of their very

nature, wishes them to l ive on in fai th, love and hope forsomething better, which might poss ibly turn up ” (change ofgovernment, customs, etc ., etc .)without being able to give ashadow of a practical proof why this shou ld be better for them,

how i t should be brought about, and wh o Should bring i t about .Between the Scy ll a of a senseless optimism and the Charybdisof an unjust pess im ism he sa il s along, a nd if this L iberalChr istian did no t come to grief long ago through hi s want ofbalance and principle, i t was not h is meri t, i t was the absenceor any efficient counter- current which kept h is unstable barqueafloat during the last century . Quousque ta ndem ?

In a letter, dated July 3oth , 1 856, Tocquev i l le comes backto the charge that Gobine a u’

s ideas are extremely pernic iousand immoral . He l ikewise throw s out the hint, and r ightly, Ithink, that the system is host il e to the doctr ine of his Church,and that no one

,no t even that cynic M érimée

,would dare

to proclaim such views openly in modern France . Thisreproach i s repeated in a more outspoken way in a letter ofJanuary 1 4 th , 1 857 . Here Tocqueville wri tes : “ The veryessence of Christianity is the endeavour to make out ofhumani ty a S ingle family whose members Should be equallycapable of perfecting themselves and of becoming more andmore S imilar to each other. How can th is essence ofChrist ianity be reconci led with a doctrine of h istory whichpostulates d ifferent and unequal races, whose powers of

xx iv

INTRODUCTION

j udgment and ac t ion are more or less l im ited, and whoseoriginal disposi tions are someth ing fixed, and thus hinderssome of these races from attaining any sort of perfection ?Christian i ty, certainly has tr ied to make out of all humanbeings brethren, and equal brethren . Your doctr ine, however, considers them a t the very bes t l ike cousins, whosefather is in heaven . For you there are no other peoplein this world but the conquerors and the vanquished, mastersand slaves, and that by the very right of b irth . I therefore wish to po int out to you again that the perusal of

your boo k h a s made me very doubtful about your faith, yourrel igios ity.

I t i s astonishing—but in a way eas ily explained—thatGob ineau denies with indignation the charge of not beinga good Cathol ic . In one of hi s answers, which gives us a h intas to the or igin and cause of the Essay, he tells Tocquevillethat he h as seen the revolution with h is own eyes . On thisoccas ion all the dirty blouses have produced such a disgust inhim, have accentuated his ideas of j ustice and truth to suchan extent that, i f he had not been marr i ed, he woul d have beencapable of becoming a monk

,only in order to be as antagonist ic

to the spir i t of revolution as poss ible. Don’t doubt myreligion, he pleads most earnestly with Tocqueville . I f Isay I am a Cathol ic , it is the truth . Of course I am no t aperfect Cathol ic

,w hich I regret, though some day I hope to

be one, but at least I am a sincere Cathol ic, Cathol ic in heartand soul , and if I bel ieved for a moment l ike you that myhis torical i deas were in opposi t ion to the Cathol ic rel igion , Ishould give them up immediately .

”

Such were Gobineau’

s op in ions on his rel igion in early l i fe,

Opin ions which no doub t became somewhat modified later on .

But on the whole he really seems to have had,l ike severa l

o ther Cathol ic free spir i ts , no idea or consciousness of hi s ownwant of orthodoxy . All h is attention was concentrated uponthe v ic tor ious heretics

,upon our modern revolutionaries

,and

by fighting them to the utmost of h is pow er i t absolutely

XXV

INTRODUCTION

e sca pe d him that h e had abandoned h is Church, a Churchwhich , in spi te of its pagan varnishing cannot deny certain

moral principles and ideas—the equal ity of man, original sin,

free will and others, upon which the whole of Christianity isfounded . By fighting the here t ics Gobineau had becomea h eret ic h imself

,but a here tic after the fashion of the

Renaissance , a heretic a s many br i l l iant Popes had been beforeh im , that is to say , a heretic from above . He had left h isChurch unconsciously, but r ightly, for i t must be stated herethat no one who wishes honestly to fight the spiri t of revolut ion can remain, or should remain within even the Cathol icChurch . The Cathol ic Church is indeed the mo s t pagan ofthe Chris tian Churches;i t i s the most anti - Chr i st ian Churchin existence i t is a Church that to a certa in extent counteractsthe baleful doctrines of true Chri st ianity, for i t i s anaristocratic Church—but it i s s til l a Church;i t would ceaseto be a Church if it were to give up Christ iani ty al together :a non - Christian Church, l ike a plum cake without plums,would be an absurdi ty . Cathol ic ism w il l always keep upChrist ianity, and with Christ ianity the Spir i t of revolution .

Thus no true enemy of the revolution can remain evenw i thin the Cathol ic fold any more than Gobineau could .

But the mere fact that Gob ineau—a t first, anyhow—stillimagined h imself to be a faithful son of his Church , willprove h ow naturally the spiri t of an enl ightened paganismarises in our midst , h ow inevi table i s this grand aristocraticreact ion against modern democracy, how healthy the wholemovement is and how powerful i t w il l one day become . I t i sa movement which has fil led some minds w ith almost rel ig iousfervour, a very necessary fervour, by the bye, for democracyis i tsel f the outcome of a rel igion and can only be fought byanother rel igion . And i t i s a European movement, to be sure ,just l ike its enemy

,democracy;for Gobineau was by no

means the only unconscious pagan of hi s age . I n England wehave had the S imilar and sti l l mo re instruct ive case of Benj aminD israel i . This great man , for whom Chri st ianity w a s only

xx vi

INTRODUCTION

another form of J udaism, l ikewise cons idered himself all hisl ife a s a true son of Semiti sm, a s a p ill ar of hi s holy andancestral creed, a s a stalwar t defefl sor fidez

’

against theinfidels—and all h is l i fe he had not the sl ightest suspicion thatby fighting Engli sh L iberal ism

,Pur i tan i sm,

Nonconformity,he was not fighting, a s he thought, infidel i ty, but fa itb , that hewas really fight ing his own rel igion, or rather, the logicaloutcome of his rel ig ion .

Tocquev ille’

s letter of J anuary a 4 th , 1 857, i s the fit tingcoping- stone to this memorable correspondence . Ever S inceI have known you,

” Tocquev i lle writes in an apparent fi t ofindignat ion,

“ I have found you r temperament essem‘

ieZZement

frondeur. What end can be served by these pol it icaldiscuss ions between us ? We belong to tw o different camps,camps that absolu tely exclude each other. You cons ider thehuman race as consi sting of b ig children;and, besides, thesechildren are, according to you, degenerate and badly educatedChildren . I am , l ike you, o f the opinion that our presenthumani ty i s very badly educated, w h 1ch fact is the principalcause o f its miseries and w eaknesses, but I S incerely hold thata better education could remedy the ev il . At any rate, I donot consider myself as justified in renouncing this task ofeducat ion for ever. I bel ieve that one can stil l lead the humanrace towards better th ings, and th is by an appeal to i ts naturalhonesty and good Sense . In short, I wish to treat men asgrown - up be ings—perhaps I am wrong in th is . Y ou, Sir,

on the other hand, profoundly despise our human kind;atleast our special part of mankind;you cons ider our peoplenot only in a state of momentous d istress and submiss ion , butincapable of ever again ris ing to the surface . Thei r veryconst i tu tion , you th ink , condemns them to Sl avery. I donot al low mysel f such l iberty of thought about my people andcountry

,and I think that no one h a s any right to come to

such desperate v iew s concerning them . In my eyes,individual s and societ ies only become something throughl iberty. That l iberty is more difficul t to establ ish and to keep

xxvi i

INTRODUCTION

up in democratic societies l ike ours than in certain ar i s tocraticsociet ies that have preceded us, I have alw ay s admitted . Butthat the es tabl ishment o f democratic l iberty i s imposs ible, Ishall never be courageous enough even to think . That anyattempt in th is direc tion must fa il

,and that there is absolutely

no hope for its establ ishment—that is a thought with whichI w ou ld a sk God never to inspire me . No , no, I do notbel ieve , and I do not wish to bel ieve, that thi s human specie swhich is at the head of the vi s ible universe, has become thathorde of bastards which you think it, a horde which conse

quen tly Should be handed over withou t future hope of helpto a small number of herdsmen or keepers, who after all arenot better than we are and somet imes may be even worse .

With your k ind permiss ion I beg to say that I have lessconfidence in you than in the goodness and j ustice of ourFather in Heaven .

This letter breathes, if no t wisdom , at least honesty.

Gob ine au’

s principl e o f race,as Tocquev il le rightly sees

,can

never be discussed ” or“ explained ” or

“ taught, l ike thatSocrat ic v irtue

,w hich proved i ts democratic origin by the very

fact that i t could be taught . Gobine au’

s“ V i rtue

,

” his principle of race , cannot be transmitted in this easy Socrat ic way :i t must be fel t, and where i t i s not fel t, explanat ions andd iscuss ions are useless . But in Spite o f Tocquevil le andChrist iani ty, i t is fel t and will be fel t more and more, and oneday the dec is ion between the two different creeds, thatof Tocquev il le and that of Gobineau , will have to be madea decis ion, not of Parl iament, but of the battlefield : for thesons of the Europeans of to - day—unl ike the ir fathers, whofought for markets—wil l again fight for ideas.

xxvi i i

INTRODUCTION

GOBINEAU did no t l isten to de Tocqueville . No man whowants to do anyth ing in th is world can or should l i sten tohi s fr iends . Like the treasure—seeker in the Gerinan fairytale he must pursue h is lonely w ay, regardless of all thewarn ings, mysterious voices, fr iendly admonitions, frighteningprophec i es

,tempting oflers, and fond entreatie s that force

th emselves on hi s attention and seek to lead him astray . Ifhe gives in for a moment, i f he l istens, i f he turns to the rightor the left—so the tale runs—h e loses his treasure, his truth .

Gob ineau did no t l isten, and SO he found the way to h is truth .

But even the braves t have the ir hours of weakness anddespair, and if the brave soldier l ives to a certain age and hasexperi enced al l the meanness and vic iss i tudes of a hosti l eworld, he too, begins to yearn for less sol i tude and moregrati tude and may be tempted to make—what other and lessheroic people do all the ir l i fe long—a Sl ight compromise . I twas in his old age, w hen he was t ired and worn out, thatGobineau made a compromise which , I think, in the interes tof h is work, he w a s perfectly justified in making . He hadbecome a friend of Richard Wagner and allowed himsel f

'

tobe discovered by this man , wh o had not the sl ightest inkl ingof what Gobineau w a s driving at .I t was a real abyss that separated Gob ineau from Wagner .

F irs t of all Wagner had been a revolu t ionary,and Gobineau,

the gentilkomme, the bonnéte bomme of the ancient régimeabhorred all k inds of revolut ions and revolut ionaries . Heknew what to expect from revolut ions;he knew whatk ind of people a revolut ion brings to the top;he knew thata revolut ion only causes a react ion , and that betw een react ionand revolut ion the highest interests o f l i fe suffer

,and not only

suffer,but are often crushed . What had such a man to do with

Wagner ? True , Wagner was now an old man and had turned

xxix

INTRODUCT ION

into a romantic ist and a Christian . But such character ist icscould l ikewise never please a man like “

Gobine a u, who knew (orought to have known) that an old revolu tionary invariablybecomes e ither reactionary or a Christian, and who l ikewiseknew that revolution, romanticism and Chris t ianity are onlythe three progress ive stages o f the same decadent ailment .

Had not h e seen i t often enough ? First,the revolut ionary

makes the world ugl ier and s icker than i t ever was before ,then th e romanticist Offers th e hash ish of his art to alleviatethe torments o f the S ick , and when the patient

’

s sensesand intell igence are dul led and numbed the Christ ian stepsin and offers h is panacea of redemption to the “ S inner,

”

whose only S in is his s tup idity. Wagner had been throughall the three stages himself;he had been a revolut ionary,a romant ic ist and a Christ ian, he thus knew the needs ofh is t ime by h is own experience, and had some just ificat ionfor posing a s the principal adviser and phys ic ian, o r ratherquack doctor, to h is age . What had Gobineau in commonw i th thi s typ ical representat ive of a decadent and neuroticepoch ?

“ I cal l ‘ romantic ’ the s ick , and‘

c lassical ’ the heal thy,said Goethe . Gobineau, l ike Goethe, belonged to the fewhealthy minds, the few

“ lucky strokes ” o f nature , of that mostunlucky and unhealthy pas t century . He had been heal thyenough to diagnose the s ickness of h is time , and could notposs ibly ove rlook the s ickness of his new friend, Richard\Vagner, and his Bayreuth ian followers. The Germanisat ionof Christ ianity by means of a theatrical art

,the redemption of

the world by vegetables,the improvement of the race by more

love -matches and other fads of the actor genius,must cer

ta inly have caused many a smile to appear on the l ip s of thecrit ical Count . On the other hand he, no doubt, was toomuch of an bomme d z: monde to give hi s whole mind tohi s hi strionic host and the crowd of wild enthusiastsaround him . I t i s nevertheless on record that he invariablyentered a sort o f mild protest a gainst some of the more

XXX

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

INTRODUCTION

Very well, le t us dr ink the beer to the heal th of MartinLuther.” I t must have been a del ightful scene . Gobineaudr inking beer in the company of Germans to the health ofa supersti ti ous monk—does that not remind one of Louis XVI .

with the red cap of the revolut ion on h is head giving fr iendlynods to h i s people below ?

There is an article in the May- June number ( 1 88 1)of theBay reutlzer Bldtter, ent itled

“ Heroism and Chr i st ianity .

”

I t i s a j oint production of Montague and Capulet, of the Paganand the Ch ri st ian

,of Gob ineau and Richard Wagner .

Gobineau wrote the art icl e and Wagner added a prefaceof h is own to it—and thus i t became a most extraordinarydocument, reminding one of those Landsknecht - uniforms of

the M iddle Ages,of which one half was yellow and the, o ther

red, or perhaps, as in th is case, one hal f black and the otherwhite .

The black colour fittingly represents the gloom of Gob ineau’

s

thought . He again repeats in this article his pess imist ic v iewsof the European peoples whose distingu ishing features aresucked out by the ever- progressing vampire of democracy, amonster which the ir want of health and character i s unable toresis t . The views of the Essay are rei terated, but S ince h isres idence in Asia Gob ineau has noticed another c l oud uponthe hor izon of Europe;the yellow danger, the imminentMongol ian expansion . This danger he th inks is even moreaccentuated by the unconscious help i t rece ived from those“ European door- keepers,

” the Slavonic peoples, who will int ime be only too ready to hand Over to their As i at ic cous insthe keys of Europe . The gradual decadence of Europe—thusGob ineau concludes -was announced long ago in the E ssay :

the only mistake with which he had to reproach himself, is

that from an optimism pecul iar to youth he had thought thedevelopment of this decadence much slower than i t real ly wasand will tu rn out to be .

And now let us l i s ten to the innocent, the white, theChrist ian preface - W riter who naturally l ives in hope , in love,

XXX I I

INTRODUCTION

in fai th, and in other clouds . I n a very casual fashion, Wagner

at firs t repeats Gob ine a u’

s ideas about the degeneration anddecadence of man kind . He

,l ike Gob ineau , thinks that th is

degeneration w a s caused by the mixture of races w hich w a s

brought about by an initial faul t of the human race, inex

perienced in its youth a s i t then was . This in i tial faul t, i twill be seen, has already a somewhat Semitic flavour : for by

means of i t the concept of “

original sin” i s smuggled into the

system of Gob ineau . But Wagn er forgets or wishes to forget

that Gob ineau dec lare s th is fault to be absolutely fatal ,ineradicable;for Gobineau, not be ing a theologian or aTeutonic metaphysician

,preferred to st ick to sc ientific observa

tions, however disagreeable they might turn out to be. ButWagner knew what he was do ing when he decla red“ decadence ” to be a fault ” and a “

sin.

” A sin, of course,allows of redemption and by means of the redemption w hichour Chri st ian has to offer, Gobine au

’

s pessimism is turned intomore hopeful channels . Man

,no doubt, i s a damnable s inner

and a miserable decadent, but l ikewise a poss ible fu ture herothus Wagner’s secre t thought runs . I t is an astoundingassumption

,but what assumptions are impo ss ible to p ious

soul s,what benumbing of reason are they not capable of

For our composer,who w a s now a Christian, w a s as such no t

al lowed to lose hope in the s inner and the decadent, a s did thatgifted

,though perhaps too gloomy , Gobineau . Wagner, there

fore,in the latter hal f o f this article , Heroism and Christianity,

”

expresses the firm bel ief, that out of the chaos of stupidityand impotence

,which “

our friend Gob ineau ” has laid bare,salvation is st il l poss ible . True , the blood of the most nobleraces has deteri orated , but even for the most humble race andindividual there must be a way to h ope and h eal th . By means ofthat only genuine Christ ian Sacrament , which cons i sts in thesymbol ic consumption of the blood of Christ ,

” a div ine purification might be effected , and he, Wagner, would recommendthis Sacrament as a sure antidote against the degeneration of

xxxi i i

INTRODUCT ION

mankind which Gobineau had described in such a masterlymanne r in h is E ssay 0 11 the Inequali ty of Human Races .Rightly

,M . the intell igent French cri tic, who

u nfortu nately is not poet enough himself to appreciate to aproper degree e ither a Gobineau or a N ietzsche , says

“ Talkhistory to a mystic l ike Wagner ! Gobine a u

’

s labour onsuch a man is lost entirely . This th ick - Skinned interpreterof his thinks that the only consequence of Gobinea u

’

s

gloom and bitterness w i l l be to inspire a certain wholesome Shock to o ur thoughtless age , to Shake that easyop timism in which we sti l l indulge , and thus to prepare usgently for that holy path

,that path of s ighs and tears that

leads to Golgotha and the Cross . I s i t po ss ible to love eachother more and understand each other less than th is prefacerand hi s author have done ? ”

No, i t i s not;but, nevertheless, to thi s hopeless misunders tanding on the part of Wagner

,Gobineau owes his discovery

without h is bl ind friend, Gobineau might have remainedunknown to this very day . The whole world would havebeen poorer for it, but the loss wou ld have been mostly fel tby the Germans, with w hom Gobineau has become apopular hero , a protagonist of the Empire , a name to conjurew i th for all the enemies o f the Fatherland : Jews, Cathol ics,Poles, Latins, and other Second—rate people . But this popula rity of Gobineau in Germany—an irony a s great as that ofGob ine au

’

s discovery by a romantic music ian—is ent i rely dueto a misunderstanding of Gobineau on the part of theGermans

,a misunderstanding , however, w hich is to some

extent caused by what I cons ider a s one o f the rare flawsin Gobine a u’

s system itself.The hatred of the French Revolut ion and the doctrine

of the Equal ity o f man had thrown Gobineau into suchantagonism against everything around him that he finallybegan to hate France down to her very h istorical roots .

Ernest Seilliere : Le Comte de Gobineau e t l’

Aryamsme HistoriquePa ris, 1 9 0 3 (P

INTRODUCT ION

He wa s tempted to see char latan ism, theatrical i ty and

exuberant phrase -making (which are the Character is tics of ademocratic age)everywhere even in that grand early h is toryof the Lat in races, and thus became very unj ust, I think,to the whole of Graeco - Latin cul ture, and espec ially to themo st flouri sh ing ages of that culture, in Greece and Rome.

Henceforth hi s ideal in h istory became the Germanic tr ibesof the M iddle Ages, and their feudal inst i tut ions, which alloweda man to attach and defend hi s honour sword in hand—times,when a man was his own master s t il l and no t subj ected toth e law of P olis or Urbs. In P olis and Urbs the lawyers andphrasemongers would always prevail—among the warr ior tr ibesof the Franks, the Normans, the Lombards, the gl ib tongueof Sly plebeians had never to be feared, and a free and noblepersonal i ty never stood in danger of be ing suppressed.

Gobineau h imself,i solated as he was amongst h is plebe ian

surroundings,thought h imself related to those ancient and

noble tribes;he firmly bel ieved in hi s descent from a Scandinav ian and Germanic stock . He even wrote a bo ok,Otta r Jarl ,

” in which the history of his ancestors i s m inute lydescribed . This O ttar J arl i s a descendant of a Norwegianfamily of the ninth century, who, being a younger son, i sd is inheri ted from rural possess ions according to law and consequently obl iged to emigrate from Scandinav ia . He becomesa pirate

,descends upon the French coast

,and there founds

the feudal house of Gournay, the house from which Gobineauhimself cla imed descent . When our Count was FrenchM in is ter in S tockholm, he one day made an excurs ion withsome fri ends to those beauti ful i sles which, covered with p ines ,l ie dotted in crystal waters al l along the Swedish coast .B efore a group of imposing ruins, Gob ineau suddenly stoppedand said : I feel this i s the place where I hail from —a storywhich wil l set a good many people smil ing. But i t is a factwhich science , that satell ite o f poetical observation , may oneday elucidate—that very sens it ive people easily recognise theplace whe re their ancestors have l ived there are Jews wh o at

XXXV

INTRODUCTION

once feel at home in the South and among Orientals,and the.

French Count may have experienced a s imi lar sensation whenhis foot had touched that Scand inav ian Spot .Thus w e need no t deny that Count Gob ineau had Norman

blood in h is ve ins , but the conclus ion he draws from this fact ,the veneration he feels for thi s blood , ought to be somewhatcr i tical ly examined . I t w a s modesty after all on the part ofGobineau

,i t seems to me , i f he attributed h is nobil ity of

thought to his Norman and Germanic ancestry . For Gobineauwas , above al l, what these tr ib es never were , a man of daringthought . And the obj ect ion which I would raise toGob ineau

’

s ideal isat ion and veneration of the anc i ent Germansis just th is

,that they were sadly lacking in all the higher

elements of culture, sadly lack ing in what Gobineau possessed—in i deas . In stating this I do not underrate the value ofpersonal bravery and prowess as exh ibited by these Franks,Lombards, and Normans, because these are v irtues whichour industr ial age sadly l acks and urgently requires : butI do not cons ider these v irtues alone sufficient . I am of theOpin ion that they only const itute a kind of barbarian greatness which can never be compared w i th that cultured greatness, that comb inat ion of great thought and great ac tion whichwas the glory of G reece and Rome . Mili tary prowess w a spossessed by such a race as the Huns

,too;i t was possessed ,

and i s st il l possessed to some extent, by the Turks—but noone, I th ink , would set up Huns and Turks as model races formankind . Where, I Should l ike to ask the memes of CountGob ineau , are the ideas of h is beloved German ic tribes ? Havethey founded a rel igion l ike the Jew s ? Have they excelledin art, l ike the Assyrians, Babylonians , and Egyptians ? Inphilosophy and tragedy l ike the G reeks , in government andlaw l ike the Romans ? Have they bequeathed a holy orunholy book to the world—a book that could rival the OldTestament , the book of Manu, the tragedies of Sophocles , themanly history of Thucydides, the sweet poetry of Ovid andHorace ? No , they have no t . Th ey have had no ideas

,and

.

xxxvi

INTRODUCTION

though poetically endow ed l ike a ll youthful and martialpeoples, th is gift was never s trong enough to withstan d theonslaught o f Oriental thought

,and thus their song o f the

N ibelungs, their Beowulf, a nd even the ir Edda, have come downto us in a half - Christiani sed dress . They have had no ideas oftheir own to oppose to the Semitic idea : that is the reason,the only reason

,why they were conquered and converted by

the mere breath of a Chr i st ian miss ionary. I t was the wantof the inner Holy fire, the want of strong and burning pass ion ,i t was in short the poverty of the race which wil l put CountGobinea u

’

s much - beloved Germanic tribes for ever into thesecond rank , when compared for instance with that S im ilarconqueror- tribe—the Arabs. The Arabs, too, were a martialpeople, and when they left the ir desert, they were as poor inea rthly possess ions as were the Franks and Normans;theyhad no art as yet and sca rcely any wri t ten l iterature but, whenthey had conquered the world, when they had gained the irplace in the sun, they at once proved that the germ of the greatand the subl ime was at lea s t in them : they created that greatEmpire from the Tigri s to the Guadalquivi r in which art,science, and l iterature flourished, which kept the lamps ofHellen ic though t burning in the midst of Christ ian darknessand which the Christ ian ised Germanic tribes, the enemies ofl ight

,afterwards successful ly extinguished . Rightly, therefore,

and to th is very day those his torians, wh o though Chr i s t iansare honest historians , regret the fal l o f Granada .

Why did Count Gobineau , un iversal his torian that he w a s ,fail to allude to Arabic civ il i sat ion , fail to relate the story ofthe fal l of Granada ? I t is a story which might w ell haveappealed to him , as a poet , j ust as i t has appealed to a colleagueof h is, to one who w a s more nearly related to the ArabsHeinrich Heine . In November, 1 4 9 1 , Boabdil , the last k ing ofthe Moors , came out of Gra nada and gave the keys of the townto the v ictorious Cathol ic sovere igns , Ferdinand and I sabella.

Then,with a few fol lowers , he left for the south , but upon a

rocky eminence which commanded a last v iew of Granada he

xxxvh

INTRODUCTION

checked h is horse and, a s h is eyes for th e las t t ime wanderedover th e scenes of h is departed greatness, h is heart swelledand he burs t into tears .

“

Y ou do well ,” said h is mother, when

sh e saw him cry, to weep l ike a w oman for what you couldno t defend l ike a man .

” I t w a s a Semitic mother wh o couldspeak these manly words to her son, words, no doubt, thatcaused a Semit ic mother more pangs of pain than any other.I s i t not almost certain that over h is enthus iastic praise of thenoble Germanic blood , Count Gobineau forgot that therewa s in the world a noble Semit ic blood

,a bloo d all the

more important as i t st i ll exists amongst us almost in i ts racialpur i ty ?

BUT happy that author whose wri tings have a decided weakness somewhere or contain a palpable untruth, for he is sureto be discovered ! Unhappy that Homer wh o never nods,for he wil l nod for ever, and no discoverer or disc iple w il lawa ke him, and no pos teri ty wil l r is e up to do honour to hismessage . And thrice happy the au thor whose weaknessesare even misunderstood : s ic itur a d a slra

,only thus and then

is he sure to find the way to the heart of humanity.

Count Gobineau, as we have seen , had sung the praise ofthe noble Germanic b lood, of a blood w hich, as he thought,ran in his own veins, and which he rightly judged to bed ifferent from and superior to that of other mortals. I t wascertainly a faul t of h is rac ial system that he forgot even tomention the noble Arab ic blood, but this omission , after al l ,only Sl ightly interferes with the value of his book as anoriginal piece o f work . But precisely by this flaw, by theneglect o f the Semitic blood, by thi s praise of the nobleGermanic blood, has he endeared himsel f to the heart of theGermans

,who

,once the question of race came to th e fore

ground in European thought, were most eager to establi sh the ircl aim to a noble past and a noble blood . For the Germans are

xxx v i ii

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

INTRODUCTION

benefit, le t us re - in terpre t them,l e t us poetise them, vapor i se

them,unt il

I t is by means of this pow er of poetical interpretation , thatthe Germans have succeeded in making Gobineau a kindo f national hero . No doubt this w a s a great feat ofpoet ic l icence,

” but the l icence was j ust ified by success .Gobine a u

’

s name is uttered with the greatest respect al l overthe Fatherland, h is books and letters have near ly al l beentran slated : they have gone into many editions and areread all over the country

,and Gobine a u

’

s Renaissance—five t imes translated into German—h a s even been on

the répertoire of theatres . Many years ago , a GobineauSocie ty w a s formed in Germany;the ablest men of le tters,scient is ts and pol it ic ians became members;to be a Gobim’

ste

became a Sort of patr iotic duty—not to be a Gobiniste stampedone as an “ enemy o f the Empire .

” Gobineau has evenbeen se t up by these enthusiastic Teutonics a s a sort of antipope agains t N ietzsche, and i t h a s thus come about that theFrenchman i s venerated in modern Germany with th e sam efervour as N ietzsche the German , i s worshipped in France .

But h ow was i t done ? What has Gob ineau to do with modernGermany ? How could the Germans appropriate him ? Theanswer is : by means of their power of poet ical interpreta tion. I t is th is German gift which has allowed the Germannat ion, under the guidance of thei r princes and professors, toclaim Gobine a u

’

s system for themselves and to apply i t totheir own history

,past and present . They have made use of

Gobine au’

s weakness , h is exaggerated praise of the Germanconqueror tribes , but they have misunderstood or poeticallyinterpreted ” even th is weakness, and have quite innocentlytransferred hi s p raise o f the Germanic past to the Germa nicpresent , his praise of the Germanic hero to the praise ofthe modern German citizen .

To Gobineau, modern Germany was as contemptible acountry as modern France for i t was based , l ike France, upona plebeian revolution , the Protestant Reformation, which he

xl

INTRODUCTION

mo s t hear ti ly detested . And i t was not only the Germany ofthe Reformation that Gobineau disl iked;i t w as modern Germany as well;i t w a s the Empire i tself, that glory of theTeutomaniac

,that roused his doubts and his displeasure . Can

this cause wonder ? How could a profound thinker l ikeGob ineau overlook the flaw in this Empire, this powerfulorganisation w i thout aim ,

ideas o r reason, th is body Wi thout asoul

,this incarnation of material ism on earth ? How could a

psychologi st be dece ived by that ma sk of foggy philosophy,romant ic ar t and crazy idealism,

behind which the modernGerman tri es to hide hi s ignoble aspect ? How could he bebl inded by the success of such a motley c rew , gained as thissuccess was and is by the trampl ing dow n of every genuineind ividuali ty

,of every valuable idea, o f everything beaut i ful

and noble ? Thus even in the early days of the Empire, wese e our Count i n doubt about this modern Germany .

“ Iunderstand,

” he wr i tes to h i s friend , P rofessor Kellerma nn, ofTiibingen,

on August 1 8 th , 1 872 ,“ the motives which have

forced Germany into an excess ive concentrat ion of al l herpowers , but thi s very concentrat ion is the sures t way toparalyse al l intellectual action , and thus your organisation willcos t you so much , not only financ i ally, but also physically andmorally

,that I do no t th ink anyth ing good for the l ife of the

w hole or the parts can ensue from i t . What a true prophetspoke here ! And what deaf ears he found and stil l finds !O r, should I , as an excuse , say , w hat po etical ears ? Thewarn ings of this prophet are ignored by his audience, h is cone lus ions from the past are fals ified and misunderstood

,and

hi s message for the future—race—i s misappl ied by theseintox icated patr iots to the present day, to themselves . Forthe modern Germans pretend that they are a race, that theyare Gob inea u’

s ideal Germanic race,and that the ir success in

this world is due to their pure and noble blood . A brew er,when he grow s wealthy and successful , des ires a t itle andmust be on the look - out for a pedigree .

To the honour of tru th , however, i t ought to be stated that

xl i

INTRODUCTION

i t is no t the true Gobineau wh o h a s become the god o f the“

cu l tured modern G ermans . After all, Gobineau was toomuch of an honest w ri ter for th is, too l i ttle of an ideal ist, toomuch of a man wh o never shirked facts and had uttered terribletru ths, j ust a s S tendhal , Mer imee , Nietzsche, and other braveEuropeans had done . In order to make Gobineau palatableto the ordinary modern G erman, he had first to be remodelledand refashioned . I t is a full - blown Engl ishman who has doneGermany th is service

,an Englishman w ho has become

Germanised , and wh o—just a s converted J ews become moreChrist ian than born Christians—h a s become more German,more ideali stic , more o f a poet than even the best Germanmetaphysic ian . This man w a s Wagner’s son- in- law, M r.Houston Stew art Chamberla in .

Mr. Chamberlain’s book , Tke Founda t ions of tire N ine

teent/z CezzturyfiK is a double paean, a paean to modern Germany

and to Christiani ty in its Protes tant form , which latter, however, i f I understand Mr . Chamberlain rightly, is stil l open tosome improvement by the Teutonic genius , espec ially giftedas this genius i s in the high realms of rel igion . And not onlyin rel igion , bu t in other spheres a s well;for, according toMr . Chamberlain, ever s ince the s ixth century all men whohave produced anything in pol it ics, ideas, or art , w i thoutexception, belonged to the Germanic stock . Thus this stock

(in wh ich Mr . Chamberlain, for safety’

s sake, includes the Celtsand the Slavs

,but whose most gifted branch is the Teuton)has

created al l the great and good things in thi s world, while onthe o ther hand everything bad or infer ior is of Latin orSemitic origin . Great Latins and great Jews who appealedto Mr. Chamberlain’s taste are of course allocated by him tothe Germanic s tock . Thus Chr ist, as is proved by Mr.Chamberlain , w a s only born in a Jew ish mil ieu, but was a Jewneither by race nor spiri t (Vol. I . , p . 3 Thus the greatRenaissance was never a creation of the fine Lat in and

Th e Founda tions of th e N ineteen th Century , by Houston Stewa rtCh amberla in;tra nsl . by Joh n Lees (London, Th e pa ge quota tionsa re ta ken from thi s ed ition.

){l i i

INTRODUCTION

Southern spir i t, but a manifestat ion of the Germanic genius,which w a s racially predominant at that time in both northernand southern I taly. These ignoble Southerners, theseslavish children of the “ chaos of the peoples,

” with their“ mater ial ist ic ” Cathol ic Church govern ing them

,would never

have done anything without these pure—blooded ideal ist icTeutons who alone in th is world have kept up the ideas offaith, race, nobil i ty, and individual i ty. And a s in the past soin the present : all true cul ture i s Teutonic . For the Teu ton isthe art is t of the modern w orld, he i s

“ the only human being whocan be compared w i th the Hellene—in him , too, the str ik ingand specifically distinct ive character is the s imultaneous andequal development o f knowledge

, c iv i l i sati on and cu l tu re .

(Vol . I I . , p . As Lord Redesdale, who h a s written thepreface to the English translat ion, r ightly puts i t :

“ Thele itmotiv which runs through the whole book is the assert ionof the superiori ty of the Teutonic family to all the other racesof the world.

”

Though Chamberlain’s conclusions are very different fromGobine au

’

s, i t will on closer examinat ion be seen that theroot of Chamberla in’s system is to be found in Gobineau .

Gobine au’

s i s the idea of race, the idea of the pre - eminenceof th e Germanic stock, the idea of the rejuvenation of Romeby the invas ion of the Germanic tribes

,the idea o f the manly

and superior qual i t ies of these tribes as opposed to Latinand Semitic inferior i ty : as also is Gobine a u’

s the idea of thefraudulence and cowardice of the anc ient Greeks and th e l i ttl etrust to be put in their his tor ic narrat ives and the accountsof their v ictorie s. I feel quite certain that without Gobine au’

s

epos,“ The D ecl ine and Fall of the Aryan, Chamberlain

’sR i se and Progress o f the Teuton ” would never have beenwri t ten . I n place o f Gob ine au

’

s gloomy and final vaticinations

,of .course, a

“ happy ending ” had to be subst i tuted,that happy ending which is so dear to our theatricalmanagers;for no true tragedy could be endured by our

exhausted audiences, even were they composed of that

xl i i i

INTRODUCTION

llow e r o f the nations,the G ermans . I t would have been

folly for any o f them to produce a true Gobineau before thatdecadent publ ic , accustomed a s i t is to romantic optimism o r

nerve - racking bru tal i ties . Th e adaptation of Gobineau to amore modern taste w a s therefore essential , and in j ustice toth e adapter a nd populariser, i t shou ld be added tha t he h a sdone h is w ork w ell . He has suppressed the bes t thoughts ofGobineau

,w eakened the strong ones

,accentuated the bad

ones dimmed, darkened and dulled the whole, and then addedsome ideas o f h is own which

2though not in touch with truth ,

at least prove that our fortunate philosopher i s in thoroughtouch w i th someth ing else

,to wit , his age . As a matter o f

fact, i t i s no t diffi cul t to please one’

s age i f one belongs so

closely to i t a s Mr. Chamberlain. Qu iconque ressemble a n

peuple, Z’

e’

ment, a s Goethe used to say .

I n conformity with the sp ir i t of the age,Chamberlain is a

very rel igious and moral personal ity . No pagan, no Gob ineaugospel—and that in spite of Goethe—c ould have any generalsuccess i n Germany, where the upper classes hypocr i t icallycl ing to the Church in the vain hope o f keep ing down

,by

means of Christian i ty, the atheistic and revolutionary middleand lower classes , and where these latter s incerely but unconsciously adhere to the essence of Christian ity

,i ts moral ity

,

w hich is that o f submissive or revolutionary slaves . Even theCathol ics of Germany have something crude, bigoted andlow - churchy about them, which separate them ent irely fromtheir Cathol ic brethren, those semi- pagans o f F rance, I taly,and even Irel and . There is no country in Europe more hopelessly Nazarene than Germany and Chamberlain

,by baptis ing

that over- healthy pagan Gobineau and also otherwise water ingdown some of his ideas, at once appealed to those countlessthousands for whom water is everyth ing, and truth , other thanrel igious or moral , too intoxicating . M r . Chamberlain

, h ow

ever, did not only become a mere Nazarene , but a GermanNazarene—that i s to say, a Jew - hater . Gobineau

,too

,had

hated Semit ism , but Gobineau’

s hatred of Semit ism was of a

xl iv

INTRODUCTION

very different k ind . Gobine a u’

s was an honest Antisemitism, i t was, l ike N ietzsche

’s,an historical Antisemiti sm it had

noth ing whatever to do w i th modern Antisemitism, that moveme nt born from fear, envy, and impotence . This is how Coun tGob ineau speaks of the modern Jews : I n no period h a sdaring thought in the realm of philosophy been wanting inthe Jew. Nothing has changed with him in th is respect, andI could quote several learned men of Bagdad who , by theaudac i ty of thei r reasoning, are ent irely worthy of the mostheterodox spir its that their race h a s ever produced. The Jewishmind is, of its very nature, enquiring, and i t is eager to extrac tfrom the wealth of this world the element o f knowledgeas well as the element of gold .

” —(Ler R eligions et Zes

P h ilosoph ies dons Z’

As ie Centra le, p . Gob ine au’

s Antisemiti sm (th is must be upheld even in the tee th of GermanJewry, w hich on account of the Teutonic misrepresentation ofour author st il l looks askance at him)h a s nothing w hatever todo with modern Ant i semitism

,i t i s not the Antisemit ism of

people who are (as N ietzsche has bapt ised them)“ step

motherly treated by nature ” (so/zleckt w eggekommene): i t i san upright, a genuine, a gentlemanly Antisemit i sm, i t i s theAntisemit i sm of the aristocrat, who sees hi s very bloodthreatened by revolu t ionary rel igions . Both Nietzsche’sand Gobine au’

s Antisemitism, therefore2 included of courseChristianity . Chamberlain , however, turns this Anti semit ismof an izonne

‘

te li omme into the Antisemitism of the peopleand directs it , according to the

“ needs of the age ,” against

the modern Jews to the exc lusion o f Chr ist ians . He l ikewiseturns Gobinea u’

s ant i - classical and anti - Roman tendencies intomodern channels , that i s to say , against the modern Cathol ics ,the Jesu its , and that Roman Church which is sti l l such aneyesore to the German P rotestant . All th is , of course , wasdone in good fai th

,w i thout the wish to dece ive and enti rely

w i thout bad conscience on the part o f the author.The Founda t ions had a wonderful success . All thel eaders o f thought from the German Emperor down to the

xlv

INTRODUCT ION

humblest schoolmaster were overflowing with del ight . TheGerman Emperor had a copy of the book sent to everyschool, and all the schoolmasters of the Fatherland were busywith the addi tional help of the can e—in impress ing upon theminds and bodies of the German youths the ir heroic descent .What they had long suspected, but d id not dare

’ to think , wa snow proved beyond all doubt they were a noble

,a pure ra ce .

Just as Mol iere’s bourgeois gent il/zomme was astonished anddel ighted when he was told by someone

,that he wrote

prose,” the oourgeois a llema nd was perhaps less as toni shed

but even more charmed that he was h imself poetry ” andcul ture,

”that h is very blood was hero ic and holy

,that he was

a member of a race, a s a matter of fact, o f the noblestrace on earth . And out of thi s race, so Chamberlain hadassured him in hi s book

,there would “ blossom out a future

and harmonious cul ture such as the world had never seenbefore, a cul ture incomparably more beautiful than any ofwhich history has to tell, a cul ture in which men wouldreally be better and happier than they are at present ! ”

(See Author’s Introduct ion , p . xcvi i i .) God was in H is

Heaven,all w a s r ight with the wo rld, the triumph o f the

Teuton assured for ever. S ta nding upright in h is tr iumphalca r

,with flashing eyes and qu ivering nostr il s, this grandson of

Arminius, captain no more of barbarian hordes , but of industryand of “ cul ture ” was driven up the Capitol ine Hill to rece ivean enormous

,well - deserved laurel

'

wreath for h is square,capacious

,cultured head. Only one l i ttle impo rtant figure was

missing in th is noisy process ion . In order to check the {J'

Bptsof the v ic torious conqueror , in order to restrain that pri de whichinva r i ably comes before the fall, the Romans never forgot toemploy a slave, who was seen standing next to the hero uponth e quadriga and heard to whisper into h is ear from time tot ime the warning

,Remember that thou

,too , art mortal .

” Thissl ave was wanting;bu t instead of the slave a herd of slavishand time - serving authors and cri tics assured the pure - bloodedcaptain on the tr iumphal car that Chamberlain

’s book was the

xlvi

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

INTRODUCT ION

to them alone, and that not every stranger and outs ider hada right to participate in the Salvation . The idea of race, ofexclus iveness, o f the chosen people still haunted these Jew seven after they had become Christians

,and over the quest ion

of race (not over the ques tion wh et/zer the Mess iah had come,bu t to He had come)J ews and Christ ians soon separated .

Thus a modern J ew may pride himself on race,a modern noble

man, l ike Gobineau or N ietz sche, may pride h imself on race;but never a true and modern Christ ian, least of al l a GermanChristian . For the German Protestant Christ ian is againa récfza ufi é of the fi rs t Chris tian, he is (a s Mr. Chamberlainhimself sees) a Pauline Christ ian, that i s to say, a rebel, aheret ic, a democrat : j ust as the fi rst Christians rebelledagains t the Jews

,h e—by means of h is Reformation—has

rebelled against the aristocracy o f the I tal ian Renaissance,he ow es h is “ Empire,

” his present pos i tion in Europe, to hi srebel l ion. I t is l ikewise he who—indirectly by the samereformation—instigated the French Revolut ion;i t is he whohas brought all the democ ratic values to the front in modernEurope;i t is he who even to - day, with his four mill ions ofSocial ists , marches in front of all the European democrac ies .Only a few months ago (May 8th , 1 9 1 2)the German Reichstagby a great majority asked the Government to bring in a B illl egal is ing in the ir colonies marriages between whites andblacks . That w a s indeed German , democratic, and Christian;but such people shoul d never talk about race , for race was,i s

,and should be, the Germans

’ greatest abhorrence, anabhorrence which

,i f genu ine , everyone can understand, and

even tolerate to a certain extent . What cannot and must notbe tolerated is the confus ion o f these two contradictoryvalues—Race and Christ ianity.

I t w i l l be seen that my descript ion of the German a s ahopeless Nazarene ” needs some correct ion, the

“ hopelessness in h im being real ly more accentuated than theChrist ianity . I n plain Engl ish : the German is modernneither fish nor fl esh

,neither oil nor water , ne ither a Christian

INTRODUCTION

nor an ar is tocrat . A real ari s tocrat must abhor the idea of

Chr i stiani ty, j ust a s a good Christ ian ought to abh or the ideaof race . But the bad Chr i st ians and th e bad a r istocrats h avea less decided taste—they behave l ike that capr ic ious primadonna, who woke up one morning w ith the idea,

“ Tea is goo d,chocolate i s good, why not have both together ? ” and thenordered her ma id to bring her a cup o f tea and chocolatemixed . Mr . Chamberlain

,with unconscious humour, fre

quently po in ts in hi s great book to the dual istic natureof the German character—it is no doubt due to this dual isticnature of h is that dual istic books

,tea—and—chocolate books,

l ike Mr . Chamberlain’s,appeal to him so very strongly. S ixty

thousand copies of this “ philosophic ” produc tion have nowbeen sold in Germany . S imilia s im iZibus.

On th e w hole, however, Mr . Chamberlain h im self—my senseof just ice prompts me to s tate thi s—ought to be exemptedfrom the blame attached to h is German admirers and shouldnot be accused o f any wan t of cons istency in h is taste . Mr .Chamberlain h a s even a very pronounced judgment and hasalways protested against that astounding tendency of his readersto swall ow eve rything, to muddle everything, and to digestfor instan ce even such antagon ist ic natures

,as Gob ineau and

h imself. On several occasions, and with great eloquence, M r .

Chamberlain h a s stated” that he has nothing to do w i thGob ineau and that h is name should never be me ntioned inthe same breath even with that of the French Count, who wasa man o f quite d ifferent stamp . I t would be rash toconclude from this protest that he has the intention o f

deceiv ing his publ ic , that he w i shes to pose as an originalgenius , that he w ishes to impress upon mankind the fac t thathe i s not an epigone and popu lariser, bu t a c reat ive spiri t .This w ould be a great injustice to Mr . Chamberlain , who, i tmust be repeated , is, i f noth ing better, at least an honestman . The only conclus ion to which h is extraordinary andangry protest can lead us , is again a very honourable ,

‘ See amongst oth ers h is W eh r und Gegm w eh r (Munch en,

pp . 1 2 - 1 5.

D xl ix

INTR ODUCTION

though a negative one,namely , that M r. Chamberlain does

no t belong to the numerous and disagreeable class o f

snobs . For a snob is a man who tr ies to get into touchwith people above hi s s tat ion , and who , having gainedaccess to the charmed circle , boasts of h is dist inguishedacquaintances there have even been snobs, who have accusedthemselves of hav ing s tolen silver spoons from a lord’s table ,only in order to let other people know they have been there .

”

B u t Mr. Chamberlain i s qu i te a differen t man—h e too,h a s

been a t a lord’

s table, bu t he never boasts about i t, for hedoes not know that “ he was there .

” And there was plentyof beautifu l plate upon the table, but Mr. Chamberlainagain did not know that i t was s ilver. And the lord, whohad l ived in Oriental countries and had imbibed Eas ternmunifi cence with the air, had asked Mr. Chamberlain to helphimsel f freely to everything on the table with the inclus ion evenof some of the valuable plate . M r. Chamberlain consequentlypocketed many silver spoons, but he cons idered them justord inary spoons and d id not attr ibute to them any specialvalue . And then , when he came home, he procured plentyof shiny brass spoons (which look l ike gold), and partly wi ththe lord’s fine old s ilver and partly w i th h is own sh iny brasshe feeds h is nume rous “ Aryan ” public

,wh ich is not ve ry

expe rt in matters art ist ic and much prefers Mr . Chamberlain’sbrass spoons to the count’s old s ilver. I t were only to bew i shed that Gob ineau cou l d re turn from Walhal la andass is t once, as the guest of the evening, at such a grand“ Aryan ” dinner . No doubt he would experience a k ind ofsat isfac t ion for hav ing been a true though pessimis ticprophet of the future of the Aryan . But, good heavens, howsorry he would have been for having wasted hi s s ilver spo ons !

IN Oriental tow ns, towards evening, when the talk and thebustle of the market i s at i ts loudest, a voice from above is

INTRODUCTION

suddenly heard, ringing out into the crys tal air over housetops and bazaars, over gardens and fountains, over r ivers andcoffee - houses, a vo ice that drowns w i th its clear and metal l icforce the noisy talk o f the vulgar crowd in the market placebelow . I t is the vo ice of the Muezz in who from the top of theminare t calls the fai thful to prayer. Let us l isten to h im .

Let us forget the l i terary market place below with its J ew i shand Christ ian , French and German dealers in modern ideas,let us no longer heed that loud, crowded, and alas ! so emptyshopland, where the honest merchants are not intell igent,where the intell igent merchants are not honest, and wherethe crowds of sel lers and buyers are ne ither one nor the other .Let us l is ten to the vo ice from abo ve , le t us l isten to theMuezz in , le t us l isten to Gobine au

’

s own words and ideas .In l ight

,sweet, and joyful tones thi s vo ice r ings out of the

pages of Gobine a u’

s Les R eligions et les P h ilosopnies do ns

l’

As ie Centra le. The first chapter o f th is book on the moraland religious character of the Asiat ics

,has j ustly become

famous , and , w i th its lucid power o f argument, wil l come a s asurpr ise to many intell igent Europeans, accustomed as theyare to look down upon all Asiatics a s infer ior beings .

Gobineau is able to undermine many o f their prejudices, fo rsome o f the so - called Asiatic vices are only vices in the eyeso f the s imple -minded European , and really turn out to bev irtues

,i f only seen in the proper l ight . Thus

,that dreaded

Asiatic hypocrisy (a pract ice so common in Central As ia thati t h as rece ived the spec ial name of K etma n) i s , accordingto our explor ing ambassador, only a mask put on by the moreprofound Oriental mind in order to keep truth away frominferior or vulgar souls . Gobineau compares this behaviourof the modern Asiat ic w i th that of the Greek philosophers ,who l ikew i se taught that all truth of a superior kind shouldbe enveloped in mystery, for i t was not reasonable to throwhigher wisdom before inferior and unworthy beings . Butwhile thus paying a h igh compl iment to the intell igence andprofundity of the Asiat ic , Gobineau does no t forget that draw

D 2 l i

INTRODUCT ION

back which every high development of the poetical andpsychological facul ties must bring in i ts train. I t i s th is superabundance of thought which makes the Asiat ic as much of afantast ic dreamer as a superabundance of common sensemakes h is European brother a dry matter- of- fact creature .And i t i s this crowd of ideas and theories, which constantlychase and supplant each other in the mind of the As iat ic, thatare the cause and source of h is poli t ical weakness . This overintell igence, as i t might be called, isolates our Asiat ic fromhis fellow s to such an extent that col lect ive action (basedas i t alw ays must be upon uniformity of sentiment in a largenumber of people)becomes almost an impossibil i ty among thegif ted Asiatic races . As a consolat ion i t might be concededto the Asiat ic that fools find i t much easier to combine, firs tbecause they are obl iged to do so on account of their weakness, and then because no individual i ty of their own makesthem shr ink from ! too close a contac t with the ir brethren. I nAsia, Count Gobineau tel l s us, with an ironical s ide - glance atEurope

,fools are the greatest except ion .

But the bes t part of the book , and the greater part of i t, i sdedicated to the h istory of the Babists, a Persian sect foundedshortly before Gobineau came to Pers ia, by a young andspirited Persian wh o w a s called “ Th e Bab . I t i s a strangetale that our au thor has here to tell , a story which seems tous more than famil iar, reminding us a s i t does of the commonrel igious bonds of Asi a and Europe, of the holy tales of ourown gospel . Was i t the intention of Count Gob ineau—andth is i s a quest ion that wil l easily oc cur to a cr it ic who is accustomed to look for the meaning between the l ines—to wr i te aparody on the ancient document of the Christ ian faith ? I donot th ink so for a moment, for Gobineau had, l ike manyCathol ics, even free- th inking Cathol ics, a sort of shyness abouttouching upon rel igion in too outspoken a manner. I f therei s parody, i t i s entirely unconscious, bu t parody undoubtedlythere i s . There is the Saviou r, the

“ Bab ,” that is to say

,

“

th e only door by which one can reach the know ledge of

l i i

INTRODUCT ION

God, a quie t, studious, patient, and somewhat mystical youth ,une dine dance et un pen re

‘

v euse, a s Gobineau describeshim. He has quite a number of interest ing, though hardlynovel

,i deas in h is head : how to bring man happiness in th is

world,how to uni te under one eth ical roof the Jew, the

Chr i st ian, and the Moslem, how to emanc ipate and enlightenthe fa ir sex

,l ikewise how to be goo d and chari table though

ri ch, and how to be just and forgiving though deal ing withcrim ina l s and enemies . There was a fa int flavour o f

Buddh ist ic sweetness, I think, in this attractive personal ity,who by h is charming and pe rsuasive manner eas ily convertedal l those who came into contact w ith him. But these new converts

,less Buddhistic , of course, and more impuls ive than the

Master,tri ed to strengthen peaceful persuasion by other mea ns .

They openly accused th e author it ies of immoral i ty and corrup tion, they ran about the s treets looting, riot ing andthreaten ing and insul ting the mullahs (clergy), and thus

finally forced the Governme nt to intervene between them andtheir accusers—an intervention that caused a bloody revolat ion in two province s and was only suppresse d with thegreatest d iffi cul ty . The Saviour, as seems to be the hab it ofSaviours, had' promised to bring peace and happiness, but hadin real ity brought the sword—a sword, which, once unsheathed ,natu rally begins now to threaten h imself and h is two mo s tfai thful followers . And thus more and more the story begins

to remind us of Asia, never—changing Asia . Those i nauthor i ty

,again wrongly assuming that the execution o f the

Sav iour would suppress a rebell ion—have decided to do awayw i th h im . A sham action is brought against h im, he i ssearch ingly questioned by the judges, who are bent upon h isruin, he i s asked for miracles by the Mullahs, who doubt h isgi ft and h is insp iration, but he, according to hi s followers,confounds them all . Well , however, though he stands the test .he is nevertheless condemned to death by hi s persecutors ,frightened as these are about the progress of the rebell ion .

The day of execution has come. F rom early morning til l l ate

l i i i

INTRODUCTION

in the evening the Bab and h is two disciples a re conducted ,under the weight o f thei r chains

,through the town of Tabriz ,

the infur iated mob sc reaming and shaking the ir fis ts at them ,

striking th e defenceless v ic t ims in the face amid screamso f laughter at every successfu l blow . Then one o f thedisc iples , a s the resu l t of all the pain and shame heaped uponh im, gives w ay , and throw ing h imself on to the ground , beginsto w eep most b itterly . The captain o f the guard promisesh im freedom if he will curse the Ba b . And he curses theBab . Then the captain of the guard asks him to spit intothe Bab’s face . And h e spits into h is face

,and is then se t

free;bu t only in order to repent and commit afterwards, l ikeJudas , a sort o f expiatory su ic ide .

Then th e other follower, a r ich c i t i zen o f the town of Tabriz ,i s worked upon to give up the Bab with truly fiend ish cleverness his young wife and his children are fetched from thebazaar, they are confronted with him and they implore himto abjure h i s creed

,to l ive again happily w i th them as before

but the man simply turns hi s head and remains firm , onlyasking a s a favour to be executed before his Saviour. Thesun begins to set;the two are about to sufi er the extremepenalty, and when in front of a large crowd they both hangside by s ide over the wall of the citadel , wait ing to be shot, thefaithful disciple i s heard saying to the Bab : “ Master, art thousati sfied with me ? ” O Asia, there thou art once morewith thy fanatics , thy dreamers, thy rebels, w ith thy martyrs,who will ingly shed their blood for truth,

” and thy Saviourswho triumphantly w ear the crown of thorns ! There thou artonce more

,thou continent of eternal recurrences , putting to

shame thy l ittle s ister Europe with her innocent bel ief inprogress !

But st il l there i s progress , and the progress l ie s with thenarrator who th is t ime tells the holy story . I t is related in acold and sceptical manner

,very accurately to be sure

,but

not without touches of i rony and Voltairian wi t , by a manwho decidedly has some doubts about all Saviours and all

l iv

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

INTRODUCTION

Ha ve a look a t th e w o rld a round you . Do you recogni se its supremeba rba rism—no t a you th ful , bo ld , coura geous , pic turesque , h a ppyba rba rism , b ut a sa va ge ry th a t is ugly , tre a ch erous , repe l lent , i l lhumoured . th a t w i l l ki l l a ll a nd c re a te no th ing ? At a ny ra te , a dmire itssi ze , w h ich is inde ed e no rmous;a dm ire th e be a uti ful a rrangement of its

tripa rti te division;a t i ts h e a d , th e mo tley tribe o f th e ba bblers ! Th eyle a d eve ryw h ere , c a rry th e ke y s , co in ph ra ses, w eep on finding th emse lve sd ece ived , dec la re th a t th ey w o uld neve r h ave ima gined . H ere now

a re th e fo o ls ! Th ey a re everywh e re , in front , a t th e side , in th e rea r;t hey run a bout , bustle a nd grow exc ited , th e ir so le busine ss be ing to

prevent a nyth ing from becom ing ordered or dec ided be fore th ey a re in a

se ttled sta te th emse lve s . But w h a t is th e use o f th e ir becoming se ttled PHa rd ly h a s one o f th e ir compa nies dec la red itse l f sa tisfied th a n o th er

h ungry sw a rms c ome up a t a run to sta rt th e w h o le proce ss a fresh .

And finally , h ere a re th e be a sts. Th e ba bblers h a ve let th em loose .

Y ou a sk m e w h a t I ma ke of thi s pa ndemonium . I interpret it forw h a t it is—stupe fa ct ion ,

destruction a nd dea th .

Wou ld you wi sh to spa re thi s ra bble , i f you h e ld in your h a nds a surem ea ns o f de stroying it Th a t is your business As for me , lend me for

a moment th e th underbo lts of Jupiter a nd you sh a l l se e ! But I sh a l l onlydestroy so much a s is necessa ry o f th e irrespons ible h erd of be a stsI t is not fi t to discern a nyth ing I do not a ttribu te to it a sou l , a nd it isno t th e h erd ’

s fault i f it ca nnot b e contro l led . N or do I w ish to go in

for a ny vio lent m e a sure s a ga inst th e foo ls I I do no t dec la re to you th a t

th ey a re th e sa lt o f th e e a rth , but th ey a ssuredly a re th e pickle . W e can,

i f need b e , put up w ith th em , a nd i f w e h a ng a few o f th em occa siona l ly ,th e re st ca n b e employed , i f no t in h onoura ble , a t a ny ra te in use fuloccupa t ions . Be side s, it must be a dm itted , our pla ne t produces th em

na tura lly w ith out w a iting much to b e a sked Th e w orld , wh a tever w e

ma y sa y or do , could not succeed in getting rid of th em , nor perh a ps evenin dispensing w ith th em .

As to th e ba bblers , I sh ou ld b e merc i less . Th ey are th e va ingloriousa nd crim ina l a uth ors, th e so le a nd dete sta ble initia tors of uni versa ldegenera tion, a nd th e ra in of my fiery bo lts w ould ruth le ssly pour downupon th e ir perverse h e a ds . No , such a crew does no t deserve to livena y , th is croa king verm in ca nnot live a nd le t th e w orld live in orderlyfa shi on by its side . Th e grea t flourishing epoch s of Huma nity w ere th osew h en such repti les did not craw l upon th e steps o f pow er. Aw a y w ithth em

Wou l d anyone bel ieve that a passage of such honest indignat ion—against the people

,i f you pl ease , no t against the rul ing

c l asses—w a s penned in the middle of that mob - pettingn ineteenth century ? In the midst of the century o f revolu

tionary slaves ? I n the midst of the era of romanticism, sent imental i ty, b ru tal ity, eccentric i ty, and ideal ism ? St il l i t wa swritten , written , o f course , w i thout reaching the long ears ofthat democrat ic age , bu t w ri tten neve rtheless for a juster

lv i

INTRODUCTION

posteri ty—and the passage is found in what shou l d be con

sidered a s one of th e finest books of G obineau, a novel publish ed by him in 1 874 in S tockholm, called the P le

’

ion’es .

Whil e the Essay,and that in sp ite of its good points, w il l

always have to be considered as a youthfu l production, theman Gob ineau come s out best and ful ly developed in the bookof h is advanced years

,the P le

’

ia a’es . There is no more dis

ca ss ion here as in the Essay about colour and nobil ity, Gob ineauhas modified to a certain extent that sci entific idea of h is youngerdays about a fine Aryan race that had fallen readymade fromheaven , and w a s only spoiled by th e blood of inferio r stocks .

The art ist h a s here got the better of the phi losopher and h issystem, and, although the system w a s upheld by Gob ineau t il lthe end, i t does not interfere in the leas t w ith this novel .An d for thi s reason some of the Count’s dark pess imism h a s

become latent, there is hope in the book, for Gobineau has discovered a clea r ing in the dismal forest of democracy, he h a snoticed that there is some nobil i ty left on earth i n sp ite of allpopular laws

,al l fine l i terature, and all

“ spread of education .

True , these higher qual i t ies are only possessed by a very fewindiv iduals, who have managed to keep themselves, thoughwith great difficul ty, afloat after the universal shipwreck of

aristocratic c iv il isat ion . But what does it matter ? They arest il l there;Gob ineau has de tec ted them, he rejoices over thebr ill iant discovery , and w hat is more, he gives us i n this novelthe bright portraits of these men, standing out from the darkbackground of universal slavery around them . There are menand women to be met here, who, l ike certain stars in thenocturnal sky, brill iantly outshine the mill ions o fminor luminousbodies around them, men and women of l igh t and b rightness ,who greet each other with flash ing eyes over the heads of the irpoorer surroundings , men and women, who belong to thegreater stars on the human firmament

,who belong—hence the

ti tle of the book—to the P le’ia a’es .

In the first pages o f the novel we are introduced to some ofthe P léia a’es , three travellers, a Frenchman, a German , and an

lvi i

INTRODUCT ION

Engl ishma n . w h o begin the ir tale with the announcementare three ca lenders

,sons o f kings .

” Gobineau. theadmirer o f th e Orient, is imi tating here the tales of

“ Thousandand One N ights ,

” in which the Arab ian s toryteller regu larlybegins with , I am the son o f a king .

” These ma gical wordsthus Gobinea u explains—ind icate that “ the hero is endowed

with special gifts, w i th rare qual i t ies, which make himenti rely difi erent from the ord inary crowd of pe ople aroundhim .

” I am the son of a king,” however

,Gobineau takes care

to add , does not mean that he is really the son of a king,and

that h is father wa s not a merchant , artist, sold ier, i ronmonger,or stat ionmaster i t on ly signifies one th ing I am~ -no matterwhere I come from—of a generous and courageous temperament, and I am a stranger to most of those influences whichgenerally move and interest other human beings around me .

My taste i s not that o f everybody—I have my own feel ingson all subjects I do not love or hate according to the leadersand cr i tic ism of the papers . The independence of my ideas,the absolu te l iberty of my opini ons, are the certain ind icat ionsand pr iv ileges of my noble origin . And where dothese extraordinary qual i t ies come from ? Through the moutho f one of the other travellers Gobineau gives the answer.“ They ar i se from a sort of mysterious and native combinat ioni t i s a un ion in one indiv iduali ty, of those noble, or, i f you will ,divine qual i t ies , which h is ancestors long ago possessed to theful les t degree , qual i t ie s which the unwholesome and undigni

fied all iances with inferior beings may have suppressed,or

may have only disguised for some t ime, but which neverthelessdid not d ie entirely, but suddenly developed and blossomed outagain in these after - born

,the sons of the k ings .” The French

traveller adds to this : “ Thus there exist in the world of to- daya number of men , women and children , and that in all nationsal ike , whose personal ity i s composed of the most preciousatoms of their most prec ious ancestors, and who form anaristocracy o f perhaps no more than people in the wholeworld .

”

lvi i i

INTRODUCTION

But how shall they make themselves heard ? How is thisaristocracy, submerged and nearly drow ned a s i t is, to r iseagain to the top ? How can they surv ive in an age l ike thepresent ? Are no t those few aristocrats, discovered byGob ineau in all classes of the populat ion , much too isolated tobe able to withstand the torrent of vulgarity around them ?And how can they know one another, how can they hold ou ta help ing hand to one another ? I s not the aristocrat ic natureby itself adverse to that “ comb ination and “ union ” w hichhas rightly become the panacea of al l the weak , of all thedemocrats ? Does i t not rather prefer to stand alone ? Doesi t not even rejo ice in standing alone ? I s there not a certa inmixture of shyness and pride in the ari stocrat

,w hich forb ids

him to address others, to a sk others for help, to complain toothers, or even to Open his heart to others ? And i s thearis tocrat’s shyness not just ified

,has he not been taught by

hundreds of shameful experiences how he wil l be misunderstood, or w hat is w orse, what fine specimens of humanity willunderstand him or pretend to understand him Can he forgetthat i t w a s the “ Swine that rushed first into N ietzsche’sgarden ? I s he not in hi s innermost heart sure of the sadfate that he l ives i n a desert, of the sad fate that he h a s tol ive in a desert, and that h is only companions there , i f notswine

,w i l l be asses and camels ?

Gobineau h a s an answer to al l these questions, he knows aw ay out o f our diffi cul ties, he proves that—though no t shirk ingany o f the terrible facts of our w i ld present - day l ife—h e i sable to master th is l i fe

,he is able to be a true guide through

the wilderness o f th is l i fe . I t i s through the mo uth of theG erman Prince John Theodor that he gives a lesson to thoseisolated beings, w hose strength among the uncounted numbersof weak people is in danger of becoming broken , or

“ adaptedto the environment —a lesson , though , which is not a social ,a Chri st ian , or an altrui stic one . For the German Prince hasthe audacity to recommend to those aristocrats : “ Look afteryoursel f, se e that you do not lose yoursel f, don

’t t rouble about

l ix

INTRODUCTION

a nyth ing but the w el fare of your own souls . But, perhaps,th is a fter all is a Christ ia n lesson , for is i t no t l ikewise one ofth e imperat ive demands of the Christian rel igion to look afterone’s sou l ? And it is th is that the Prince recommends :

I consid er th e h one st ma n, th e ma n w h o fee ls in h imse lf a soul , h a s more

th an ever th e imperious duty o f reco i l ing ba ck upon h imse l f. Th is ispeculia rly th e w ork o f t imes such a s ours . All th a t soc ie ty loses does notdisa ppe a r, b ut ta kes re fuge in individua l l ives . Th e w h o le is sma l l,wre tch ed , sh ame ful , repulsive . Th e iso la ted be ing soa rs up a nd expa nds,a nd , a s in Egyptia n ruins, in th e m ids t o f a h e a p o f rubbish , m issh a pena nd unrecognisa ble debri s , crumbled a nd sh a ttered build ings , o ften difficultto re store , th ere survive a nd rise up tow a rds h eaven some giants, someobe lisks, w h ose h e igh t mai nta ins th e noblest idea , perh a ps a n idea superiorto w h a t w a s formerly th e temple or th e town now ra zed for ever;sonow a da ys men w h o a re iso la ted , but a t th e bo ttom more notew orth y, more

de serving o f our a dm ira tion th an w ere th e ir precursors, h e lp to keep upth e no tion of w h a t th e noblest a nd lo ftiest of God ’

s crea tures sh ould beTo w ork a t ourse lve s, to ra ise wh a t is good in us, to subdue wh a t

is evi l , to stifle or a t le a st to sh e lve our w orst instincts—th is is h ence forthour duty , th e only duty th a t is of a ny avai l

There is a Christian ring abo ut th is passage, i s there no t ?Yet i t cannot be Christian

,and i t is not Chr istian, for the

very reason that Gobineau pract ised what he preached,which

the Christ ian, at least if there is a shade of heal thy inst inctleft in him

,never does . And Gobineau pract ised what he

preached, though he, as an ari s tocratic wr i ter, a s a leader ofhumanity, had no need to do so, though he had full l ibertyto claim exceptional rights on account of h is except ionalduties .I t i s the du ty only of the Chr i s t ian—as a democrat—to l ive

up to his principles . This duty,however

,the Christian care

fully avo ids, and all the more carefully, the more of a Chri st ianhe is . A B ismarck , who

“ edi ts ” a fore ign telegram , causesa bloody w a r through it, and with al l this humbly goes toCommunion;a Tolsto i, who preaches the abol i t ion of privateproperty

,but hands h is own over to hi s wife—who re com

mends stric t chasti ty in his K renz ersona ta , but begets achild himsel f a year after i t s publ ication—that is Chri st ian,those (and many other d iscordant celebrit ies with them),w ere the true Christ ians, the great Christ ians o f the nine

lx

INTRODUCT ION

teenth century. But the non -Nazarene noblemen of thatt ime, such as Gobineau and Nietzsche, though at fulll iberty to l ive a hypocrit ical l ife, never did l ive i t, nor werethey obl iged to l ive i t, nor could they have l ived i t, for thepurity of their character and intel l igence would not haveallowed to them what it apparently allows to all p ious folk .

Not to them w a s i t granted to go through l ife ma king concess ions right and left, not the irs the strength to l ive a l ife of con

tradiction and despair, not thei rs the we akness never toapproach

,never to cri t ic ise Christian values;but no t theirs

e ith er that rel igi on o f the Redeemer who apparently redeemethHis faithful se rvan ts of any serious thoughts on an unprinc ipledexistence

,not theirs the rel igi on of the Comforter, who com

forte th them th rough all the discomfo rts of a bad conscience,so that they l ive honoured and i dol ised by all human kind toan old age !

There is no doubt that Gobineau’

s l ife in the mids t of thesecomfortable great and smal l Chris tians w a s no t a very enviableone . Nietz sche, as is w ell - known,

went mad over the sol i tudeof such an honest life in the mids t of vile and stup id sur

roundings, and of Count Gob ineau we know—if we could notread i t between the l ines of his wri tings—that he wasonly too frequently near the abyss of despai r . The p rinc ipalthought of great minds i s not to break , our author used toremark frequently, an opin ion doubly significan t , in the mouthof such a j oyful , w i tty, spi ri ted companion

,such a s according

to the testimony of al l contemporaries , G erman and Frenchal ike, Count Gobineau usual ly was . I n S tockholm ,

especially,he

‘

seems to have sufi ered. He went there alone , his wifestayed away from the northe rn cl imate for reasons of health ,and dur ing his whole Sojourn he apparently exper ienced onlyli tt le des ire to mix with the world at large . His lodgingswere in a very quiet

,and not even fashionable street

,h is whole

mode o f l i fe w as so s imple that hi s colleagues of other nat ionsfrequently scoffed at i t;the bel l outside h is chambers issaid to have consisted of a hare’s foot, and when this wa s rung ,

lx i

INTRODUCT ION

th e Count’

s only compa nion and serva nt, a Syr i an Chr i stian ,appeared and asked the v is i tor into a drawing- room, whosefurn iture was as old- fashioned and

“

out of season ” as theideas of its proprietor. Honoré M ichonm th is was the nameo f the servant—became Count Gobinea u’

s dragoman, whenhe went to Pers i a;he hated Europe as hearti ly as did hismas ter, but he loved h is master more than he hated Europe,and w a s so devoted to him that he would never leave himafterwards;he would have gone to the North Pole—so thetalk in diplomatic ci rcles ran—if F rance had stood in needof a representat ive there and had s ingled out Gob ineau asher Ambassador . Gob inea u was l ikewise heart ily attached toh im and l eft the whole manageme nt of h is modest establ ishment to the tender care of the Syrian , whose pr incipal taskwa s to look after two green parrots . But wh ile ordinaryminds are broken or converted ” by such uncongenialsurroundings a s two parrots and an exot ic servant undoubtedlyare , the sterner characters, as Gobineau rightly suggests inthe P le

’

ia a’es

,are elevated and spurred on by adverse c ircum

stances, and thus we owe to the sol i tude of Count Gobineaunot only h is best novel , but also that other book of his uponwhich h is fame principally rests , the book translated hereTfie R ena issa nce.

I t was only natural that the artist ic imagination of aGobineau w i ll ingly turned back to that golden time of thepost - Christ ian era , to that only time of the Chr istian erawhich was no longer Christ ian , to that t ime when Christ iani tylay vanquished and broken in the very heart of Chri st iani ty,in Rome i tself;to the t ime of the Renaissance . In h is predilect ion for the I tal ian Rev ival , Gobineau only proved oncei nore h is int imate and genuine relationship to that best school

o f European thought . to those few eminent poets and crit ics ,w ho had al l hated the Semitic infec t ion around them , whohad all abhorred the Christian revolut ionary spiri t, who hadall turned their backs upon the sl aves and the ir clamorousdesires for l iberty and equal i ty. In the age of the Renaissance

lxn

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

INTRODUCTION

what ruined them , he r ightly divines what had elevatedt hem . Just ice i tself speaks o ut o f the pages of the book,and that highes t k ind o f j ustice, a n innocent, childl ike,a poet

'

s j ust ice, a j ustice that is high above moralprej udices . Th e clear and benevolent sun of Gobine au’

s

th ought shines upon weak and s trong, upon Christ ians andNobles , upon Protestants and Cathol ics, upon populace andartists, upon saints and criminal s al ike

,and wherever i ts rays

fall , they w arm, they adorn, and they enl ighten . A man l ikeLuther, w i th whom Gobineau could hardly have had anysympathy, is brought nearer to o ur understanding, nay, toour heart;he too , that great destructive sp ir i t, that greatunconsc ious ev i ldoer

,could not have acted o therwise . A man

l ike Savonarola, that monster of moral i ty, that Pur i tan of the

renascence, that“ Bab ” translated into European and

Nazarene , i s appreciated by our poet, a l i ttle too much, onewould even think

,especially when this moral ist i s sa id to have

influenced the great M ichael Angelo, whose moral ity wascertainly of a different and higher order. And not only th emoral and revolut ionary heroes

,the rebel s and the Protestants,

open their hearts to the magical key of the Count’s genius,bu t l ikew ise their enemies, the Cathol ics, the faithful sons ofthe ancient Church, the opponents and repressors of theReformation . There i s Charles V . and his son,

Phil ip I I . ,stern and unbending both, typ ical re spre senta tive s of law andorder

,men, who, though rightly considering the

“ Calvin ist icand Lutheran abominat ion as a cancer in the flank of theChurch

,

” proceed to cure that cancer with fire and iron;favouring the Jesuit ical order, re - establ ishing the media valinquis it ion, re - introducing the Christ ian faith upon the Papalchair, and thus committ ing more murders and atrocit ies thanthat “ monster ” Caesar Borgia himself.And murders and atroc i t ies, wh ich Gob ineau in his inner

most heart u tterly condemn s , for, a s he i s carefu l to inform us,these crimes of the Reformation and the counter - Reformationwere , compared with those of Caesar Borgia , absolutely sense

lx iv

INTRODUCTION

less, because they were rel igious crimes . There is no t thesl ightest doubt that Count Gobinea u’

s sympathies,in spite o f h is

great tolerance and h is poetical benevolence tow ards even therel igious people of the per iod

,are enti rely on the s ide of th e

pagans, of the Popes and thei r art ists, on the s ide of aJul ius I I . and Ca sar Borgia, of a Machiavel l i, and MichaelAngelo. Nor is the reason for this far to seek : h is book iswritten in favour o f the Master -Moral ity

,and Gobine a u’

s secre tendeavour i s to throw suspic ion upon the prevail ing and all

powerful Moral ity o f h is good and brave,though neurotic,

feminine, and prosaic contemporaries . I n a manner that w il lfrighten many readers even to - day

,Gobine a u

’

s deep,manly

persuasion of one r ight and duty for me, one r ight and du tyfor you ” rings out of an audac ious scene, that scene, wherePope Alexander VI . defends h is son Ca sar Borgia before h iss ister Lucrez ia, whose husband

,Don Alphonso d

’

Aragon,

Caesar Borgia has j ust strangled

H e is not a monster, my daugh ter, but a ruler w h o could no t enter hi sdestined sph ere but a t th e price of th e most susta ined a nd some time s th e

most piti less effort . Listen to me , Lucre zia , a nd don’

t rai se your h a ndsto h ea ven . I am trying to aw a ken in y ou wh a t I know to b e true ,c lea r-cut a nd pow erful sentim ents My da ugh ter, you a re a s

bea uti fu l a s Pri de , y ou a re Strength itse lf ! Hence I w ill spea k to you .

K now th en th a t for th a t kind o f persons w h om fa te summons to

domina te o th ers , th e ordina ry rule s of l i fe a re reversed a nd duty becom es

quite different . Good a nd evi l a re li fted to a no th er, to a h i gh er region,

to a di fferent pla ne . Th e virtues th a t may b e a pplauded in a n ord ina ryw oma n w ould in y ou becom e vice s , m ere ly because th ey w ould only b esources o f error a nd ruin. Now th e grea t law o f th is w orld is , not to dothis or th a t , to a vo id one th ing a nd run a fter a no th er it is to live , to en

la rge a nd deve lop one’

s most a ctive a nd lo fty qua li ties, in such a w a ytha t from a ny sph ere w e c a n a lw a ys h ew ourse lve s ou t a w a y to one th a t

is w ider, nobler, more e leva ted . Never forget th a t . Wa lk stra igh t on.

Do only w h a t ple a ses y ou , but only do it , i f it likew ise serves you . Le a veto th e sma l l m inds, th e ra bble of underlings, a ll sla ckne ss a nd scruple .

Th ere is only one considera tion w orth y of y ou—th e e leva tion o f th e h ouse

o f Borgia a nd yourse l f .

But Cmsa r Borgia failed : the story o f h is ghastly death

i s v iv idly told in one of the scenes o f the Renaissance .

” And,w i th Cae sar Borgia , failed the w hole o f the Renascence :

through the quarrel betw een that pa r noé ile fra lrmn, the

lxv

INTRODUCTION

Chu rch and the Reformation (of which the less noble was theReformat ion), art, l i fe, health , beauty, everyth ing good andnoble and great w a s again banished from the world forcenturies. Thou hast conquered again, O Galilaean !

” Buthast Thou really conquered ? Has t Thou really succeeded ineradicating out of al l huma n breasts the yearn ing after someth ing h igher, nobler , and stronge r, hast thou really extin

guish ed in all human hearts the des i re for joy , for l ight, forw isdom , and for beauty ? Is the Renascence qu i te as dead asThou w ish e st and a s Thou th inkest, Thou humble and paleGal i laean , Thou enemy o f rosy cheeks and proud necks ?NO,

no , i t i s not dead, and i t w a s never a s dead asThou hadst hoped and desired, and how l i ttl e dead i tw a s, is proved by the following beautiful pages of theFrench nobleman

,who rightly lets h is M ichael Angelo predict

an eternal l ife for that grand age, in spite of Thy triumph andThy premature exaltat ion . We are bequeathing, thus run thelas t w ords of the aged M ichael Angelo,

“We are bequeath inga great legacy, great examples . The ear th is richer thani t w a s before our coming. What i s to disappear wil l notd isa ppear altogether The fields can rest and remainfallow for awh ile : the seed is in the c lods . The fog mayspread and the grey and w atery sky become covered with mistand rain

,bu t the sun i s above . Who knows what wil l

come again ?”

I know it—and know i t for a certainty —a new Renascence .

The daw n Of thi s age is upon us : soon the sun of reasonw i l l r ise again and h is first rays wil l d issipate the fog ofsupersti t ion and the n ightmare of democracy. May thefirst transl at ion of this truly great book help to prepare theAnglo - Saxon world for this coming new age ! May i t findreaders w orthy of i t s great ideals ! May i t give l ight ands trength to those upon w hose shoulders the heavy task of

leadership may be destined to fall !

OSCAR LEVY .

LONDON , 1 9 1 3 .

FTRST PART‘

S A V O N A R O L A

BOLOGNA .

1 4 92 .

Th e ga rden of th e mona stery of th e Fa th ers of St . Dominic . Midnigh t .Th e sky is c lea r, c loudless a nd de ep th e sta rs Spa rk le th e moonligh tpenetra tes even under th e a rchw a ys of th e square C lo isters, surrounding th e spa ce pla nted w ith grea t tree s a nd fra gra nt plants . On th e

moonlit w alls a re fresco pa intings red robes a nd blue c loa ks, pa l li dfa ce s, c la sped h a nds a ureo led h e a ds of sa ints,men -sa ints a nd w omen

sa ints, a ll ra dia nt w ith h a ppiness . In th e m idst of th e courtyard ,on a fligh t of fi v e or six stone steps, a ma rble cruc ifix , fa sh ioned inth irteenth -century style , portra ying on th e a rms of th e cruc ifix th e

wi tnesses of th e cruc ifix ion . Around th is cross, a broa d a venue w h ereth e Prior of th e monastery is w a lking;on h is righ t, Fra Giro lamoSa vona ro la a t th e la tter’

s side , Fra Silvestre Maruffi .

FRA G IROLAMO : Y e s ! The t ime has come . The hourstrikes ! Now or never is the moment to raise on high theWord of God and spread i t throughout the world . Darknesse tre a ts . Light is re—born

,and casts upon ancient error the

fu l l force Of its damning ray. How many demons are at workabou t our misfortunes ! How they stir the fire ! How theyfan the flame that seeks escape ! We mus t repel them ! Wemust make the present age less shamefu l than its precursor !We must shake men up from the somnolence of their forefathers, but not to pu t in its place the awakening of evil ! Wemust il lumine the nations—gu ide them—lead them—drivethem ! “ Ah , brother,

” you will say, how would an abort ionsuch a s you be

‘ capable o f a task l ike that ? ” You have readOf Dav id, and know the deeds Of that wretched shepherd ?

THE PRIOR : No doubt ! Bu t w hat voice from on highsummons you to so lofty an undertaking ?

FRA G IROLAMO God is speaking to me, God impels me !The conv iction that throttles me, the transports that I feelcanno t dece ive me !FRA S ILVESTRE : I t is true ! He is right ! H is learning.

h is eloquence , h is v i r tue , are no t these al l s igns ? Where doyou hOpe t o find s igns more strik ing ? I s he no t bound tomake use of his gifts ?

THE PRIOR : I deny noth ing . But why such vehemence ?

Can we no t go forward with measured step ? What is i t, after

THE RENAISSANCE

al l,that you claim,

Fra G irolamo ? I f I take your meaningar ight . i t is nothing less than to reform the Church and to leadback h igh a nd low al ike to the keep ing o f the Gospel

’

s laws .

DO you look on that task a s easy ? Do yo u forge t that thedoc to rs a nd th e counc il s have bu t la tely foundered on thi svery rock , not to mention the fac t that w e l ive under thec roz ier o f Alexander VI . ? What a momen t you are about toch oose , great God ! for speaking to the w orld of self- restraint !FRA G IROLAMO God know s no t a moment—allmoments are H is ! I tel l you once more th e hou r h a s struck ,i t is t ime to a ct ! All is changing in our present epoch, alreadyso different from the ages that have gone before al l is in frothand ferment from a fresh centre, with a fresh horizon , will theuniverse henceforth unfold to us its s ights . I t will make forgood if rel igion raises the c ross;i t w il l make for evil i f theever - active effor ts o f the wicked uproot and overthrow thistree o f shelter . See you not what is coming to pass ? Counterfe i t sages are ris ing up and tearing from the walls the mustyand worn - out tapestry that del ighted former ages . I taly isful l to burst ing of unbridled adventurers, o f upstart princes,Of h irel ing soldiers

,of tyrants of cit ies, despots of castles, rebel

peasants,quarrelsome burgesses, and al l inh eritarice s great and

small are the prey of th is rabble, j o ined by the wolves thatcome to us in packs from Spain and France . And for al l that,in the midst of these d isasters

,se e what is happening ! The

nations are awakening;they rub their eyes;for thei r morning meal these famished c reatures demand l iberty and peace;l iberty, I tel l you , and above all the peace and the just icew hereof thei r fathers never knew or tasted the savour . AndI , I cal l to them

“

Ask, above all, for faith Without faith,

th e rest is tasteless and tu rns to poison . But faith,where is i t ?

Where shal l we find its source again ? The clergy reek naughto f i t . The cardinals rend i t . The Pope ah

,the

Pope ! I will not tel l you what he is, you know too well !I f w e do not take care, there will issue from our unhappyChurch overgrown with brambles, from our rotting doctrines,

4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

wh ich I l ive ! I shall forge the weapons of the future andtry to put them in i ts hand ! The century that i s openingw i l l march on, regenerated , towards the endless waves Of

etern ity,engulfing for ever the uns ightly ru ins of evi l and of

its debaucheries !TI IE PRIOR : Then , to repea t i t al l in cool and soberlanguage, yo u dec lare w a r against all the powers of the earth ?

a ga ins t the w il l o f the Church, w a r agains t the mannerso f princes , w a r a ga ins t the weakness

,the indifference, the

caprice of all ? That is w hat you intend to do ?

FRA GIROLAMO : I intend to do it, I w il l do i t ! I f i tmeans death to me

,why not ? Are my bones worth

sparing ? Bu t if I succeed, and if, even when I amexecrated

,disgraced, c rushed, dead, I taly, our I taly ow es me a

shining faith, a val iant freedom , a j oyful v irtue , what groundw i l l you have for pi ty ?THE PRIOR None . Where do you begin your preach ing ?At Venice ?FRA G IROLAMO : Venice is gagged by worldly wisdom .

She w il l be the last to come to our s ide .

THE PRIOR : At Rome ?

FRA G IROLAMO Rome is the p illar o f salvation submergedin a se a of pest i lence . Bu t at F lorence men can a ct . The deathof Lorenzo de’ Medic i l eaves me a free field;he w ould haveprevented everything, for he w a s a pagan;but the authori tyof his son Piero is sapped at its roots. The masses and thenobles have suffered they know at l east how to talk of equityand morals, they have some idea of independence theyM ink, and al though they are not worth much, st il l w i th themi t is poss ible to attempt reform . Bes ides, at Florence thepeople loves me, i t l istens to me—I am expected .

THE PRIOR : Go then , brother;you have my blessing.

Embrace me,both o f you . Y ou are about to put into action

that which I sometimes dreamed,in days gone by, in my

youth , and which seems to me very diffi cul t . Perhaps youare right . I feel a deep sadness come over me .

6

SAVONAROLA

FRA GIROLAMO : I am filled with a boundless hope . You

fol low me, then, Fra Silvestre ?

FRA SILVESTRE : In death a s in l ife . I will never leave

your s ide .

FRA GIROLAMO : Come then ! Open the door . How the

countrys ide widens out before our gaze ! I t is the image of

the task we are abou t to undertake . DO you not se e anyone

on that white road w here o ur steps wil l take us ? I t is all l i t

up by the rays of the moon , and stretches far in" the direct ion

of F lorence .

FRA SILVESTRE : No , G i rolamo, I se e no one !

FRA GIROLAMO : Well, a s for me, I clearly discern the

features of two great faces !

FRA S ILVESTRE : Where, pray, brother ?FRA GIROLAMO There ! Look again ! They are Faithin God and Our Country ! Forward, Fra S ilvestre, forward !

After th e tw o monks h ave pa ssed th e ga rden ga te a nd th e Prior h a ssh ut it a ga in, two m en dressed in sh a bby ga rb, th e ir bre a sts nucovered , th e ir h a ir curly a nd dish eve lled , th e ir fa ces mean, a ppea rbehi nd an embra sure of th e w a ll .

FIRST ROBBER : Coward !SECOND ROBBER : Fool ! Do you not se e that they aretwo

F IRST ROBBER : Well , what of that ?SECOND ROBBER : In our trade w e shou ld always be a t

least two to one .

F IRST ROBBER : Bah ! I should have deal t a good knifethrust to the taller of them;a s to the shorter, a blow of thefi st would have been enough to make him roll l ike a ninepin .

So there are two excellent robes of wool lost to us . It’

s out

of the quest ion to prosper w i th pol troons of your k idney !SECOND ROBBER : Let us go and drink a dram at Ruddylocks’ perhaps the night wil l bring us a better opportuni ty.

THE RENAISSANCE

MILAN .

1 4 9 4

A h all in th e pa la ce—Ludovico S forza ,regent o f th e Milanese , is sea ted

before a grea t ta ble covered w i th a c lo th o f red ve lve t w orked w ithpa tterns o f go ld , s ilve r a nd c o lo urs . H e is dressed in bla ck sa tin,

se t o ff w i th embro ideries o f je t, a nd w e a rs a t h is w a ist a rich ly inla idda gge r. H e toys w ith h is glove . Around h im a re sea ted AntonioCo rna z a no , auth or o f th e poem on th e a rt o f w a r G iova nni Ach i llini ,a ntiqua ry , po e t, He l lenis t a nd mus ic ia n G a spa rdo Visconti , famed forh is sonne ts a nd c onsi dered by h is contempora ries th e equa l of Petra rchBerna rdino Luini , pai nter Liona rdo da V inc i .

LUDOVICO : Well ! this t ime,Master L ionardo

,have you

come back for good ?L IONARDO : S ire, I do no t deserve such severity . Yourhighness know s w ell that I am devoted to your service .

LUDOVICO : Y e s,at the moment you make me the fi nest

p rotestations in the world,I admi t;and, weary of Florence,

disgusted by the fanatical preachings of Fra G irolamoSavonarola

,angered at the enthus iasm they arouse, you are

ready (so you w ri te me)to invent me cannon , p ieces of artillery,mach ines of every kind

,to bu il d me bridges

,to trace the plan

Of our forts, to d ig canals, and finally to beau t ify our c i t ie sby palaces and churches , by statues and paintings . I knowquite wel l that you are capable of doing everything;but canyou also check your w ayw ard temper How many times haveyou changed your Op inions and you r fr iendships ! These arenot reproaches, my dear L ionardo, but frankly, you are asfickle a s a froward girl .L IONARDO (shaking his head): I cannot help smil ing atthe affect ionate charges of Your Highness , for, say what youwill , they st ill remain charges , and I confess that appearance s are al l against me . Yet no

,I am no t fickle ! I should

perhaps have spent my whole l i fe at Florence , but there is so

much to se e in the world , so much to learn ! I f I had dwelt al lthe t ime in the same place

,I shou l d perhaps lack two- thi rds

of the know ledge I have gained, and nevertheless I have no treached the hundredth part of all that I w ish to learn .

ANTON IO CORNAZ ANO : Perhaps i t would be better fo r

you, Master L ionardo, to give yoursel f up to a single pursuit,

8

SAVONAROLA

rather than to follow interests so many and so diverse . For

example, you are an admirable painter

—why seek your gloryelsewhere ?L IONARDO : Y ou talk like Bernardino .

BERNARDINO LUIN I Ah , master, i f you would only

consent to finish the p ictures you begin ! What happiness forme

,you r pupil ! W

’

hat lessons !L IONARDO None the less

,I could not renounce geometry

or mathematics .

GASPARDO VISCONTI : Y ou had far better increase thenumber of your poems and of your charming musical composi t ions . Fall in love only with the theorbo invented by

you !

LIONARDO : I shall return to i t and perfect i t . Music is

new in its first infancy, and wil l take a long t ime to grow up .

I t is not mus ic th at is the subject of interest at present .ACHILLINI Is i t the treat ise on optics ?

LIONARDO : No t even that .LUIN I : Then i t is anatomy . In that study at least there is

material for the painter.

LIONARDO : Anatomy is a fascinating sc ience . But I amabove all troubled because they refus ed at F lorence to adoptmy plan for the canal to Pisa . The greates t advantages wou ldhave resu l ted from i t and if I have come here

,i t is because in

defau l t of th is rej ected scheme you w i l l perhaps al low me tope rsuade you to pu t an end to the floods from which thepeasants suffer so much along the valleys of Chiavenna and

Valtelino . I have brought my plans .

LUDOVICO : Master L ionardo , to a man l ike you we mu stallow al l freedom to create at h is own sweet will , for he couldno t produce resu l ts other than admirable . But I know beforehand that a whim wil l seize you, and that you will leave meonce more . Y ou are admired and summoned by every prince .

Lorenzo th e Magnificent did all he coul d to retain you in themidst of the il lustrious men he kept about him He is dead,and that means one competi tor the less;but the Gonfalonier

THE RENAISSANCE

S oderini only le t you go with great d iffi culty;GaleazzoBent ivogl io makes the most lavish Offers to attract you toBologna

,and I am no t unaware that the Duke of Valentino is

h a s a ppointed you h is ch ief enginee r and arch itect . You willend by letting you rsel f be drawn away .

LIONARDO : I think no t, s ire, so long a s I enjoy yourbounties, for you have the greatest feel ing for the arts of anyprince in I taly . An admirable poet yourself

,you understand

the genius of poets;men are happy at your Court, they can

talk with you, they are understood by you,and the largesses

of your rich intellect are to me a hundred times more prec iousthan the gilded favours of the wealthiest purses. I wil l remaina s long a s you des i re .

LUDOVICO O , my friends, how sweet and beaut iful wouldl ife be if we could see i t gl ide l ike a river o f paradise betweenthe verdant and fru i tfu l banks of sc ience and art ! But youall know how different real i ty is from so glorious a fiction

,

and what mus t be undergone by the unfortunate men ordainedby Heaven to govern the nations ! I never feel a j oy trulyunalloyed save in the too brief moments when I am alone inyour company !LIONARDO : I t is a great misfortune that

,instead of be ing

our reigning duke , you are only the temporary regent o f theState . We l ive in an age that has need of men to lead thenations, and Lord Galeazzo , with h is weak heal th and h isscanty intell igence, i s noth ing but a downright chi ld . I craveyour pardon if I speak so openly, bu t I am only repeat ingbefore you w hat everyone says aloud, when you are not there,and that, too , al l over the Milanese and in all I taly .

VISCONTI : That is the precise truth . What a misfortuneto be governed at th is moment by so great a prince

,who is

condemned soon to abandon us to all the hazards of inex

perience and weakness !LUDOVICO : Your words affl ict me sorely, fr iends . I lovemy nephew Galeazzo;I love h is wife, the Duchess Isabella,and I only seek means of serv ing them albeit—I cannot h idelo

SAVONAROLA

it from myself,i t i s no precious metal that went to the mak ing

of my ward God guard us from th e misfortunes which theyoung man’s lack of abil ity forebodes to our house !ANTONIO CORNAZ ANO : S ire, I served a long whileunder the noble and valorous Lord Bartolommeo Colle one ,and I have seen many governments made and unmade . I f Imisread not the s igns of the times

,the Duchy h a s more need

than ever to be defended by a manly spiri t and held by astrong hand .

LUDOVICO Y ou see aright, Lord Antonio;I recognise inyour speech the tried warrior

,the dexterous -statesman, no less

than the scholar and the man of letters . My friends, with youI can talk freely of the great matters that engage our attention bes ides, there are no longer any secrets here .

LIONARDO : Y ou are abou t to reveal to us one that i svery great, s ire, and that alone interests me more than allothers : that is, to show u s the way in w hich noble andcourageous souls perceive

,represent , judge and hope to gu ide

the dest inies of empires .LUDOVICO : Listen to me then, philosopher, s ince themovements Of the human soul are to you so important

,and

look at me, painter, i f you wish to gaze upon a man Of resolution . Yo u know that two years ago Pope Alexander VI .assumed the Papal t iara . He w hom men called CardinalRoderigo Borgia thus became the head of the Church . Youall low er your heads w i th a troubled air ? I can well imaginethat;bu t I know the Pope , I know him through and through ,and I w i l l tell you this : he is a man gifted w i th lofty w i sdom ,

foresight and penetrat ion . H is eloquence,when occasion

demands , i s a s i rres i st ible a s is his art o f gripping the mindsof men and bending them to his purpose . As to hi s inflexibleperseverance, i t is that of a god, and by virtue o f th i s qual ity,the most dangerous in an opponent

,he i s in almost all

encounters assured o f success . There i s a man with whom theuniverse must reckon , and we all know that , w hen armed forwar and supremacy

,he knows no fai th

,no law, no rel igion ,

THE RENAISSANCE

no scruple,no mercy, and h a s bu t one interest in the world,

that of the house of Borgia as represented by his ch ildren .

He is a marvellous being . Up to now he h a s succeeded everywhere

,in spite o f being known fo r what he is . Hence all the

rea l statesmen o f the College of Cardinals , feel ing themselvesto be in great danger, have had recou rse to the only means ofsafety that remained they have taken to fl igh t . G iul iano dellaRovere s tays in h is episcopal c ity Of O st ia , surrounded byfort ifications and troops;G iovanni Colonna thinks himsel fsecure only in S icily. Giovann i de’ Medic i is in Florence .

For my part I confess that I am a s much afraid of the mana s are the Cardinals themselves . I know that h is son, theDu ke of V alentino is, would fain destroy us and depr ive us ofthe M ilanese;I know that the family h a s all ied itself to theAragonese, my enemies;I know that P iero de’ Medic i i sarraying h is Florentine s against me I know that from VeniceI can expect noth ing, save to be eaten up in the event of mygrow ing w eak . In th is s i tuation, i t h a s seemed to me profitable to determine firs t of all w here I should look for my mostformidable adversaries . There i s no poss ib il i ty of mistakeabout that—they are the Aragonese and the Florentines .They will attack me in the open field the very first day, hencei t is tow ards them that I must look first . I n doing so , I haveObserved

,not for the first t ime in my l ife

,that every condition

that seems at its wors t is no t so bad a s i t looks , and thatin analys ing i t with care w e can extract a heal th - giv ingsubstance from the direst po ison . Thus I found thatAlexander VI . w a s

,w i th regard to Ferdinand o f Naples and

the Medic i, in prec isely the same pos i t ion a s I . I accordinglysent my brother

,Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, to the Sovere ign

Pontiff, and w e have formed an all iance . At the same timeI approached the Venetians , who are no better disposedthan he to the house of Aragon , and in thi s w ay Ihave been able to counterbalance the Florentines by Veniceand the Aragonese by the Pope . At bottom i t i s but a frailand temporary scaffolding, a cardboard struc ture which will

1 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

Florence, I tell yo u,and w e must all get into the saddle at

once , a s we are , to go to Chiara before the King. I will l eaveyou and go and a sk Madam Beatrice

,my wife , to make haste,

sh e and the fai r ladies whom we are taking. The French loveth is k ind o fmeeting and the games that follow . GO, my lords ,put on your richest h abits

, you w i l l take my horses and I wil lpresent you to Charles VI I I .ACHILLIN I \Ve shal l be greatly honoured .

FLORENCE .

Th e court o f Luigi de ’

Buona rotti’

s li ttle h ouse . A roo f of beams in a

c orner, under whi ch Mich a e l Ange lo is w orking a t a sta tue of Herculestw enty ~ four fe e t h igh . On a n upturned w a sh -tub is sea ted Luigi ,h is fa th er, his a rms crossed a nd hi s fa ce troubled .

LUIG I Y ou are now twenty- two;by my reckoning youshoul d bear yourself at that age l ike a man . But you are andalways w i l l be nothing but a ch ild , useless to yourself andto others .

MICHAEL ANGELO I w ork as much as I can and deserveno hard words .

LUIG I : Since the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent, what I

had foreseen has come about . Y ou earn nothing .

Heavens ! Are you crying again ?

MICHAEL ANGELO (w ip ing h is eyes): I cannot th inkw i thou t sorrow o f my benefactor, to whom I owe so much .

LUIGI I f that man had not made your head sw ell, you wouldhave obeyed me and would be better off. Instead of enroll ingyourself among those idle artist fellow s and d isgracing yourself, yourself and the honour Of your family, by following thestonemason

’

s trade, you w ould now be in the s ilk business,and I should not se e you alw ays covered w i th plaster and yourhands in the mud .

MICHAEL ANGELO : When my deceas ed master had thekindness to admit me to the sculptor’s w orkshop in hi s gardensof S an Marco w i th Francesco Grana cci, he allowed me five

1 4

SAVONAROLA

ducats a month, and he always paid handsomely for what Idid. What i s more, i t i s out of cons iderat ion for me that you

have obtained that post in the Customs which gives bread toyou and all the family .

LUIGI : Besides, your comrade Torrigian i, in h is frenzy a t

seeing you too clever,bruised your face al l over, you forget

tlza t . That is the glorious advantage you have gained fromLorenzo the Magnificent ! I ’m sorry for you .

MICHAEL ANGELO : For good or ev i l , I am what I am .

You don’t intend to put me to - day into apprenticeship with aw eaver ?LUIGI Well

,that wou l d b e the bes t th ing to do . I t’s plain

that the Medic i wi ll not order any more pictures or statuesfrom you . Duke P iero is not l ike h is predecessor, and whatwill become of you ?MICHAEL ANGELO Duke P iero does not treat me badly .

Only yesterday evening he asked my adv ice about an antiquecornel ian which has been Offered him for sale .

LUIG I : And he h a s even made you fashion a statue of snow .

A noble task ! Honourable,forsooth ! The man uses you

as one uses a buffoon . The fi rs t fine day he’ll abandon you

to the spite of those daubers Of canvas in the midst of w homyou have chosen to l ive . I tel l you once more that I do notapprove of your great fr iendship with that Francesco Grana ccihe is a scamp . I am still more annoyed at you r frequentingthe company Of young Niccolo Machiavell i . I t i s true, he i s

of good birth, I don’t deny it, bu t they say he h a s no morals,

and he has got married to Marietta at an age w hen he ought

to think of nothing but making his way. He only bus ies

himself with the anc ient Romans ! Then, too, he i s without

means, and very soon he’l l want to borrow money from you,

i f he has no t done so al ready. Has he tried yet ?MICHAEL ANGELO : You know that I give you al l thatI earn .

LUIGI : Can I guess what you put a s ide ? But we’l l l eave

F 1 5

THE RENAISSANCE

that vexed quest ion . I don’t l ike Machiavell i;I think he i sconspiring against the government o f Duke P iero . No t

t hat I trouble much abou t the Medic i . They are alw ays on

the point b f being driven out, and decidedly we are s ick ofthem . I am qu i te aware also that worthy Fra G irolamo favoursgovernment by the people , and God forb id that I shouldoppose Fra G irolamo’s view s ! But I do not care for a man

’smeddl ing wi th affairs of State

"

when h e’

s a misbegottenc reature l ike that Machiavell i. What do you and he dotogether ? What do you talk about ? He w i l l draw you intosome piece of fool ishness . Just tel l me what plots you hatchwhen you go out together .Mich a e l Ange lo la ys his to o ls on th e se a t and sits on th e bench , h is

h ea d in h is h a nds.

What is the matter wi th you ? Are you ill ?MICHAEL ANGELO : I‘ have a bad headache .

LUIGI : It’s idleness that makes you i l l . I f you worked atsomething useful you would feel well .

Enter N icco lo Ma ch iave lliMACHIAVELLI : Messer Ludovico, I greet you in al lhumil i ty . Good morning, Michael Angelo .

LUIGI : I am bu sy, I have to go out,sir—and as for you,

Michael Angelo, remember that you are work ing there at atask that admits of no sl ackening

,and that you have no time

to chat . God guard you,Messer N iccolo .

Ex it .MACHIAVELL I : Ah ! my friend, I have come to tell youquickly w hat i t i s that fi l ls my soul with j oy. The Frenchwill be here in a few hours .

MICHAEL ANGELO : As friends ? As enemies ?MACHIAVELL I : Nothing is known . Negotiat ions arebe ing carried on if friendship cannot be establ ished, we shal lres ist l ike men and defend our country. But there’s more tocome ! P iero de’ Medic i commits nothing but foll ies . FraG irolamo ha s come over to our w ay of thinking, and i s j o in ingthe popular party, so that the coming of the French will causethe fal l of that haughty house whose pr ide st ifles our l ibert ies.

1 6

SAVONAROLA

MICHAEL ANGELO : I owe everything to the father, andwill not be reckoned among the foes of the children .

MACHIAVELLI : Y ou have a heart but remember that th einterests of your country come before your own . All is inferment;the water i s hot, burning, boil ing . The whole

people i s work ing i tself into a frenzy . Ah, Michael Angelo !

what a glorious moment ! I am going to se e l iberty, settled

order,wise government elsewhere than in the dead pages of

old books and in the abstract ions of my dreams ! Every manworthy of the name in Florence is on our s ide : Soderini,Valori, V e spuccio , Marsil io F icino, the schol ars, the art ists, all

devotees of high thinking,al l w el l - wishers towards mank ind !

MICHAEL ANGELO : I am not on your s ide . I will havenone of you. The Medici are my patrons, and it i s not to

my li king that Fra G i rolamo, instead of continu ing to preachvirtue to us a s Of old, meddles with pol i tics .

MACHIAVELLI : H is meddling is to a good purpose, and

when we can act, we must . Action alone i s worthy of a man .

MICHAEL ANGELO Come into my room . I have to dressand pack up my th ings .

MACHIAVELLI W here are you going,then ?

MICHAEL ANGELO : To Bologna, to se e Duke Galea zzoB entivogl io and if I am not wel l rece ived at Bologna

,I shal l

go to Venice . I shal l not remain in the mids t of th is turmoil

one cannot work in i t;bes i des, I have other reasons . I t i s

imposs ible for me any longer to endure . Well,come ! You

shall lead me up to the town gate .

MACHIAVELLI Before that I ’l l p rove to you that you a rewrong . Listen !

MICHAEL ANGELO Ta lk as much as you l ike;my mindis made up .

He goes ba ck into th e house .

I 7

THE RENAISSANCE

PIACENZA .

A pa la ce serving as residence to King Ch a rles V I I I . An ante -ch amber.Two French ca ptai ns.

F IRST CAPTAIN Is i t you, comrade ? Ah, le t me embrace

you !

SECOND CAPTAIN : Y ou are welcome . How well you

look ! Egad , what heal th !FIRST CAPTAIN : Ay , on my honour, we lead a fine l ife !Where do you hai l from ?SECOND CAPTAIN : Straight from Lyons . I br ing youtwenty—five l ancers fully- armed . I t cost me dear to raise them !Picked men al l !F IRST CAPTAIN You will find a hundred and one oppor

tunitie s of recouping yourself . Do you know that al l i s go ingwonderfully well ?SECOND CAPTAIN : Tel l me something of your fortunes .F IRST CAPTAIN : You haven’t heard ? Everyth ing isgoing splendidly ! At Turin we were received with openarms;and there, after a deal o f festivi t ies, we borrowed thediam onds and j ewellery Of the Duchess B ianca. She frowneda trifle at first, bu t we pawned the lot .SE iCOND CAPTAIN : What fun you mus t have had .

FIRST CAPTAIN : There’s twelve hundred good ducatsearned . At Casale, thé Marchioness of Montferrat gave us aball—s i lly creature ! and also showed us her j ewels . The sameas at Turin : we had a raffle .

SECOND CAPTAIN : SO th is country is a real paradiseand a promised land ?

F IRST CAPTAIN My oath upon i t ! What i s more, we arewell - establ i shed at Genoa, and the M ilanese troops give us ahelping hand . The Swiss

,i t is true, have sacked the c i ty of

Rapallo, inconsiderately, perhaps they might have plundere dless completely and avoided ki ll ing everyone;but, in general,the resul t h a s been good . The Duke d’Aubigny appri ses usfrom the Romagna that the Neapol i tans are showing the whitefeather and retreating before h im. When we have reached

1 8

K ING CHARLES V I II . OF FRANC I ‘7 0 [a re page 1 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

by a monk named Girolamo . A strange fellow ! And the irprince , a coward , a man o f straw , brow - beaten and gagged byG ino Capponi and al l the enemies of h is house , before whomhe can only tremble ! I cannot hear h is name even w i thoutfeel ing a desire to spit on him . (Laughter) He is incapableof recognis ing the benefits show ered on him by your Royalhouse !

THE KING I have been told that my ancestor Charlemagneand h is tw elve peers Buil t F lorence;is i t true ?DE COMMINES If they did not exactly build it

,at any rate

they helped i t to emerge from its ruins .

THE KING : Then the Florentines are my subj ects;theyare rebel s;my knightly vow compels me to chastise them,

and I shall carry i t out with a vengeance .

DE COMMINES : I t would be more pol it ic to gu ide thesepeople to better sentiments than to estrange them from us .S ince your Majesty has decided to go to Naples by way ofTuscany, w e mus t keep the road behind us Open .

DE BONNEVAL : The Lord d’

Argenton always seems tothink that w e might be defeated .

THE KING : I t i s true . Y ou have not a generous sp iri t, myLord—you are l ike my father .DE COMMINES : He w a s a great prince, and exceedinglyshrewd .

DE CHATILLON (very loud): The King has not invadedI taly to play the pedant, bu t rather to display to the world h isvalour, and aston ish i t by mighty feats of arms .THE KING I need no other models than the famous Gawain,Lancelot and Rinaldo, wh o performed such noble explo its .With God to aid me , I hope to do l ikew ise !

DE CHATILLON : That’s the way to talk ! What i s theuse of being a val iant knigh t and redoubtable conqueror i f onestops to reflect, to weigh , to balance, in a w ord, to play thefox ? ’Zounds, we shall go everywhere , everywhere ! On ourheads and our bell ie s ! With great sword—strokes

,with mighty

20

SAVONAROLA

lance - thrusts ! Without that, i t had not been worth while tocome so far !

BONNEVAL : Blows, battles, amours, feasts and triumphs !I f there is anything else, I shall go back .

THE KING (smil ing): They are right ! I feel the same !

GO to bed, Lord Phil ip;you are old, your heart has lost i tsglow.

ROME .

Th e ch amberofPope AlexanderV I .—Th e Pope , Giorgio Bosardi Burch a rd ,master of th e ceremoni es .

THE POPE : Master Bu rchard, my friend, stay a whil ebeh ind the door and see that no one comes to interrupt us .I have to speak to that l ad there .

BURCHARD : Y e s, Most Holy Father.He pa sses beh ind th e door.

THE POPE : Now,G iorgio , a ss that you are, pay me all

attention and try to understand . You are go ing to start to dayfor Constantinople, and you wil l make al l poss ible speed .

BOSARDI : Y e s,Holy Father .

THE POPE : Listen to me carefully. Y ou wil l only speakto the G rand Viz ier h imself, in the str ictest secrecy—youunderstand ?

BOSARDI Yes, Holy Father. I comprehend the intention ofYour Hol iness . I t i s only in the strictes t secrecy that I shal lspeak—and then cautiously—w i th the Grand Viz ierTHE POPE : And you will only be qu i te expl ici t w ith theSul tan Baja z e t in person .

BOSARDI That w a s my idea, Holy Father .THE POPE : Don

’

t ima gine yourself too knowing . I amquite aware that you are merely a fool , but in certain circumstances one does no t know w hom to trust , and you can nevercount for certain upon c lever men .

BOSARDI : Y e s,Holy Father .

THE POPE Y ou will say to the G rand Viz ier,i f you cannot

2 1

THE RENAISSANCE

speak firs t to the Sultan , that I send h im my sinceres t compl iments and give him my a postol ic benediction .

BOSARDI : Y e s,Holy Father .

THE POPE Y ou wil l add that I do not forget for a singleday, for a s ingle minute, h is affec tion for me, that I repay it toh im with interest, and you w i l l del iver to h im from me thischa rming Madonna o f G iovanni Bell in i for which he h a s askedme through h is master’s ambassador at Venice .

BOSARDI : I shall no t fai l to do 50 , Holy Father. TheMadonna has al ready been taken to Os ti a, and put on boardmy galley

, and I shall address the Sul tan Baja z e t and hismin ister in the words best suited to conv ince them of the mostfriendly sentime nts of your Hol ine ss towards the ir persons .

THE POPE Then,coming to essentials , you wil l begin by

reminding them how surprised I am, and with good reason,at not rece iving the two quarters al ready due of that annu ityO f forty thousand ducats, granted to Pope Innocent VI I I . from1 4 89 and you wil l not omit to insist on the fact that I deservei t quite as much as my predecessor, s ince I watch no lesscareful ly over Pr ince Z iz imi, brother to the Sultan , and do notle t h im pass o ut of my guardiansh ip .

BOSARDI : Your Hol iness may rest quite assured . I shal lmake h im renew payment of the annuity.

THE POPE This settled , you wil l descr ibe the frenz ied ambition of the King of France . You will explain that h is ma inidea in se iz ing the k ingdom of Naples i s to proceed to theattack of Constantinople, in orde r to gain the crown of theByzantine emperors . He is not yet at Florence at the presentmoment, he w ishes to come to my territory so a s to fight theAragonese;nevertheless, he already hides none of h isamb it ious aims , which threaten the security of the Ottomanthrone . He has told me of hi s p roj ects , he has told theVenetians, the Duke of M ilan , they are no secrets;but whathe confided to me in particular

,and what I am revealing to

Baja z e t, i s h is wish to take aw ay the P rince Z iz imi from me ,so that he can use him at the proper t ime and place against the

22

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

SAVONAROLA

Sultan . Baja z e t i s bound to be terr ified at such an idea—youwill point out to h im the ser ious consequences . SO far as Iam concerned, I shall not yield to Charles V I II .

’

s importunitiesI shall not del iver Z iz imi to the King Of France, so long as i ti s poss ible for me to res i s t;and i f finally, being no longer themore pow erfu l

,I am oblige d to le t my prisoner go, I shal l

arrange to hand h im over under such condit ions that theSultan need feel no anxiety abou t h im . Y ou can promise himthat from me . Bu t i t is an understood th ing that Bajaz e tmust me r i t so great a service . Y ou w i l l put these confidence sin a w ay that w i l l no t be compromis ing .

BOSARD I : I t is not diffi cul t to show the connection and thebearing of events w i thout saying a s ingle w ord about them .

THE POPE : As to the good offices w hich I expect from myally they are—to help me to drive the barbarians from I taly;and for this purpose i t would be usefu l to have at my disposal ,e i ther in the Romagna or in Apul ia, a good Turk ish army .

This w ould ensure o ur gaining the upper hand of the French,which w ould be advantageous to the Sultan a s well as to me .

That is you r miss ion—do you understand i t al l ?BOSARD I : Y e s, Holy Father—the annuity o f forty thousandducats

,and Tu rk ish troops in I taly.

THE POPE : Go, make all speed ! Send me good newspromptly . Burchard ! HO, Burchard !BURCHARD : Most Holy Father ?THE POPE : Conduc t this gentleman to the Holy Signatoryand have his le tters of cred i t del ivered to him a s well as theprivate letter w hich I am addressing to the Sultan . Ah ! i f Icould stop these French bandits before they reach Rome !

Enter a Ch amberla in

CHAMBERLAIN : An envoy of the Duke of Milan waitsw i thou t

,Holy Father.

THE POPE : Who is i t ? Ah ! good ! it’s the l i ttl e man !

The confidant ! Come in,my friend . How does my Lord

Ludov ico ? So h is nephew Galeazzo h a s died in h is arms ofa sudden illness

,and the aforesaid Gale a z z o ’

s l i ttle son,also ?

2 3

THE RENAISSANCE

THE ENVOY : Y e s, Most Holy Father .

THE POPE : Your master is subj ect to such misfortunes .

What says he

THE ENVOY : He says that Your Hol iness is no t keepingyou r w ord in the affair of Fra Girolamo . You humour th i s

fanatic , and h is preachings go on al l the t ime . No t to mentionthat the Florentine s would be more amenable and would

desert the French cause w i th all their heart, i f th is monk were

no t tu rning the ir heads;the North o f I taly is al l topsy- turvy .

The princes are very discontented;the clergy i s stil l moreso;they are going to lose their domains;Savonarola talksOf nothing less than of handing over to the s ick the ecclesias

t ical estate and even the sacred vessel s .

THE POPE : I find the Duke Of Milan’s so l ic i tude for HolyCh u rch rather amus ing . I shall not trouble about Savonarola

so long a s I have heav ier burdens on my hands . Why has

your master, in sp i te of h is promises , not already broken,with

the French ? Is he j esting ? I f the Venetians have taken no

ac t ion,they are at least making preparations and have given

us pledges . Are the Neapol itans and ourselves l ikely to awai t

your good pleasure indefinitely ? The Florentine s and your

master are the only part ies left who will not come to a dec is ion .

When w i l l i t al l end ?

THE ENVOY : A Roland for an Ol iver ! Act with s inceri ty

as regards Savonarola and w e wil l consider your interests .That is you r message from the Grand Duke .

THE POPE : GO and chat about all this with Don Cesare,and I w i l l see w h at can be done .

24

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

FLORENCE .

In front o f th e Medici Pa la ce—Th e squa re is fi l led w ith people . Suddencries , sh outs , roa rs a nd c lamours . A t th e doors o f th e pala ce a re

draw n up bands o f French a nd Sw iss cro ss -bowmen, muskete ers a nd

pikemen tw o compa nie s in ba tt le a rra y bodie s o f a rti l lery come upt hrough th e crow d a nd ta ke up th e ir position in front . At th e w indow s,numbers of French ca p ta ins a nd Officers, th e ir ca sques on th e ir h ea ds.

A PORTER (shaking h is fi st at the French): Oh, the ruffians !A BUTCHER : Cu rsed thieves ! See if I don’t sl i t theirbell ies, all of them, w i th my c leaver !A CITIZEN (mounted on a boundary - stone): C it izens, fr iends,don’t bel ieve a w ord of what they tell you o f these w retchesfrom across the mountains ! They

, our friends ! Friends,indeed ! They have taken Sarzana by storm and burnt i t;they have massacred men

,women and ch ildren ! Dreadful

s ights have been seen !CRIES IN THE SQUARE : Dow n with the French !CITIZEN (gest icu lat ing): We have driven out P iero de

’

Medic i ! He has gone to j o in h is scoundrelly brothers, theCardinal and the other one ! And these foreigners want tobring them back ! Is he not a coward ? I s he not a traitor ?We have dragged h is scutcheons in the mire , and now we areto restore them ? We have razed his palace to the groundand now we are to build i t up again ? It

’

s a scandal !VIOLENT SHOUTS : Death to the Medici ! Death to theFrench !

A YOUTH (l eaping on another boundary- stone): Yes, deathto them all ! They are fiends ! They are barbarians ! Afterthey made P isa revol t from us and threatened us with a siege ,we admitted them to our c i ty ! We have suffered Charles VI I I .

to make h is entry under a dai s l ike the Host ! We have letthem march through the streets in battle array, with lance onthigh l ike conquerors ! We have given them fla tterie s, com

pliments, embraces ! We have played them the Annunciat ionof the most Holy Virgin in the Church o f Santa Fel ice, andthat twice over because they a sked us to, and now they wantto enslave us

26

SAVONAROLA

THE CROWD : No ! NO ! No ! Death to the F rench ! Give

us cudgels and sw ords !

Grea t a gita tion th e people begin to arm th emse lves.

CAPTAIN TERRIDE (to hi s L ieutenant): Remain at thehead of the company and bid the men lower the ir visors .

I am go ing up there to relate what is happening.

LIEUTENANT : My Lord, one good charge at that crowd,eh ?CAPTAIN TERRIDE : Yes;but wait for the order . Norash measures !

He gets down from hi s h orse a nd goes into th e pa la ce.

A h a ll in th e Medi c i Pa la ce . Th e K ing, Philip of Savoy, Count de Bresse,M . de Piennes, M . de Bourdillon, M . d

’

Argenton;Offic ers in grea tnumber;Messer G ino Ca pponi a nd three Florentine commi ssa ries .

THE KING (stamping h is foot): I am master here ! I demandObedience !CAPPON I Your Majesty will have the goodness to tel l usonce more what you c laim

,and we shall report to the S igniory.

THE KING : SO be i t ! Give me all your attent ion;I shallno t repeat my words a third time, and if you are fractious, youshall smart for i t .DE P IENNES : Well spoken !THE KING : I w ish you to take back your prince, MesserP iero de’ Medici .

Applause from th e French .

CAPPONI : I am l isten ing.

THE KING : Will you take him back ?CAPPONI : I am l isten ing, and when we know what thepoin t at i ssue is

,w e shall answer .

THE KING : You do no t appear resolved to submit .CAPPONI : Y ou wil l se e that by resul ts . F or the moment,w e are l istening to Your Maj esty, so that we may know whatyou r wishes are .

THE KING : I say, then, that I desire fi rs t of all that Messer

27

THE RENAISSANCE

P iero be restored;secondly, that all the S igniory be henceforth o i my choos ing.

CAPPONI : That is wh a t you wish ?

THE KING Y e s, I wish that .CAPPON I Well , as for us, we do no t wish it .THE KING : You do not ?

CAPPONI : NO, we do not .THE KING : Body Of Christ ! You are bold indeed !CAPPONI At this moment we must be bold .

.THE KING (to one of h is Officers) Give me the treaty whichthese men are about to s ign immediately. Here, gentlemen,sit down at these tables;here is ink , here are pens , don’t b eobstreperous, my patience is near an end . S ign, sign , sign !CAPPON I (snatching the treaty from i ts bearer

’

s hands,tears i t in two) That i s how the Florentines behave towardstyran ts !THE KING (beside h imself): Let the trumpets blow !CAPPONI And we’ll se t the bell s ringing !

Ex it w ith his co l lea gues .

CAPTAIN TERRIDE (rushes into the room): O rders, s ire !The crowd in the square i s enormous, we are going to beattacked ! Your Swiss troops w anted to seize the Borgod

’

Ogni Sant i, they were roughly handled and repulsed .

What are your commands ?THE KING : Cal l back Messer Cappon i as quickly aspossible .

Th e King w a lks in a gita tion up and down th e room M . de Bourdillon

comes a nd w hi spers to h im si lence cries a nd sh outs a re h eardfrom th e mob in th e squa re .

Enter th e Florent ine deputies.

THE KING (tak ing Capponi’

s hand): Oh Capon, wickedCapon, you a re playing us a scurvy trick here !

CAPPONI I am Your Maj esty’s servant, and ready to se rve

you i n al l that i s reasonable .

THE KING : My servant !

CAPPONI The most loyal of servants.

28

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

not wish to go ? You th ink once more to crush th is unhappycity beneath your horses’ hoofs ? I tell you th is

THE KING : Pu t h im out !

CAPPON I : Have a care,s i re ! Wrath and rebell ion are

raging in Florence . I f you lay a hand on Fra G irolamo, youwill lay a hand on our love Of our country. Bel ieve me, bel ieveme ! Listen to h im instead of insulting him ,

otherwise thestones themselves will r ise up against you ! Y ou do not knowthe mean ing of a nation in frenzy !THE KING : What w ould you have , monk ?SAVONAROLA : I would recall you to your true self. Youhave no concern with F lorence i t is Naples that you requ ireNaples and the se a;and beyond, that Imperial Crown forwhich you are destined by Prov idence, the overthrow Of theTurks, the destruct ion o f the infidel and the proud name ofSupreme Head, no t of petty Florence, but Of al l Christendom !R i sk not , risk not, s ire, for a paltry fit of wrath , the loss O f therank which God reserves for you

,and the glorious treasures

which He heaps on your head ! Go where you r unparalleleddestiny calls you ! Rob not of its l iberties a poor l i ttle countrythat loves you do no t, l ike David, take away a poor man

’sewe lamb , when flocks

,vast and splendid, fal l to your share !

Beware of that ! I t i s you who , w i th an all—powerful hand,must reform the Church as a whole ! Leave petty affairs,busy yourself w i th great matters, and do not act so that youbecome one day a Saul, the spurned of God !

THE KING : This man speaks as if he were certain of whathe is saying . Are you sure

,shall I be Emperor of the East ?

SAVONAROLA : Who w a s i t that four years ago foretoldthat you wou ld descend upon us and be irres istible ? Whorevealed the fall of the Aragonese and your ent ry into Rome ?

THE KING : Yes,I shall enter Rome;you speak true.

SAVONAROLA : Go,then, s ire, and lose no t ime .

Enter an o fficer

OFF I CER : I f the F lorentine magistrates do not intervene

so5

SAVONAROLA

at once, w e shall be shut up in this palace . The streets arefilled w i th armed ci tizens, mad with evil pass ion .

CAPPON I (to h is colleagues): With the King’

s Order, le t uscome and prevent a terrible disaster .DE BOU RDILLON : S ire, I think we shall have to yield;we really have no place in th is town . We shall take our

revenge later on .

THE KING : You think so ?

SAVONAROLA (at the King’

s ear): Beware, s i re , theheavenly troops of angels are coming down against you fromon high !THE KING (to Capponi) Will you hold to your terms ?

CAPPONI : The money shall be paid to yo u this instant .THE KING (to h is retinue) To horse, gentlemen ! Our loveof Florence is distracting us from our affairs . This veryevening w e shal l be on the road to Naples . M . de P iennes,

you w i l l command the vanguard, and the skirmishers mustleave immediately.

FLORENTINES : Long live the King !

A ga te of th e c ity .—Assembla ge of th e people .

A C ITIZEN : At last, we se e no more than the tai l - end of

the ir stragglers ! They have gone,those accursed French !

May the dev il keep them to himself ! I f i t be no t FraG irolamo w ho del ivers us from them , who is i t, pray ?A TAILOR : He spo ke up stoutly to the King and gave hima piece of h is mind .

A LOCKSMITH : He said i t a ll to him just a s I say goodmorning ” to you, and the poor devil w a s mortally afraid .

A MASON : Fra G irolamo is a prophet o f God !THE CROWD : I f anyone doubts i t

,we’l l r ip h is guts out !

Kill him , kil l the v il la inous hound ! Long l ive G irolamo !Long l ive the prophet of God !

TI IE RENAISSANCE

Nea r th e Vene tia n frontier.—A camp o f six th ousa nd Vene tian a dventurers.

A wide pla in, ferti le , covered w i th tre e s, vines a nd wh ea t;on th e

h ori zon, vil la ges;a river flows th rough th e mids t, a nd th e so ldiers'

tents l ine its ba nks . On th e s lope o f th e river-ba nk , a w ooden booth ,w i th gre en fes toons , w h ere drinks a re so ld . Orderlies pa ss, lea dingth e ir h orses to th e d rinking - trough;men -a t -a rms , a rch ers , cross-bow

men, h a lberdiers, pikesmen,pea sa nt men a nd w omen, courtesa ns,

begga rs some w a lking , o th ers qua rre l ling ma ny a re se a ted be fore th eta vern, ch a tting , laugh ing , play ing a t dice a nd c a rds .

A MAN -AT—ARMS : Hurrah for love ! I am leaving thecompany of Alessandro del T iaro, and entering the service ofII Sca rio tto . To the devil w i th my first captain, the skinflint !Y o u die of hunger in h is troop !A CROSS - BOWMAN : I know him ! I have served underh im ! The brute h a s nothing but rough words for the soldier !A TRUMPETER : True . Now

,Batti sta d i Valmontone

there’s an honest condottiereA PEASANT (cap in hand): Most noble s ignors, I am apoor man .

A P IK ESMAN I t would be better if you were r ich and couldwager two good ducats w ith me on the throw of the dice .PEASANT : Pardon me , most noble s ignor pike sma n, I sweari t to you by the Madonna and the Child ! I am a very poorman , reduced to the most wofu l p itch of distress , and I havealso j ust lost my last cow ,

which two honourable l ight horsemen have carr ied off from me .

A DRUMMER : I know that man’s face . He wanders aboutall the camps—h e h a s always lost h i s las t cow;i t’s hi sprofess ion .

MAN -AT-ARMS : How much do you earn at this, taking oneyear w i th another ?

Th e pea sant goes o ff, putting on h i s cap a ga in.

A CROSS - BOWMAN : They say that the soldier robs thenat ive;I tell you that in the long run , w i th the ir inns andtheir damaged wares , the ir gaming - houses and brothel s

,their

everlast ing pleas and claims, it’

s the natives who strip the poorsoldier o f his last shirt and make him die on the straw.

A TRUMPETER : My word, you’re r ight ! But who is this

32

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

HER COMPANION : Beware of him . He h a s a w icked eyea nd a cleft hand . H is knife doesn’t st ick very fast to itssheath , I

’l l wa rrant .

On th e border o f th e camp , in th e m ids t of a fine ga rden full o f flow ers a ndpla nted w i th cypre sses , a li ttle pa la ce bui lt in th e la test style , w ithfo li age , a rca de s, double row s o f co lumns, s ta tues, a fla t roo f a nd a

loggia borne on terra - co t ta figures o f sa tyrs .

—A h a l l e lega nt ly pa inteda nd furnish ed , co ffe rs inla id w ith ivory a nd mo th er- o i -pea rl , ebonycupboa rds w ith sta tue tte s, Vene tia n gla sses , grea t diva ns—Nea rone of th e w indow s, turned so a s to rece ive th e best ligh t, a picturese t upon a n e a se l .—Signor D eifobo de l l ’ Anguilla ra , ca pta in -genera lof th e free - la nce s Ca pta in Don Sigismondo di Bra ndo lino;th e N ea

po li ta n poe t Ca riteo .

ANGUILLARA : Now , S ignor Ca riteo , you who a greatconnoisseur, a great vi rtuoso in ma tters o f art, what do youthink of th is picture ?CARITEO I t is by Barba relli, i f I am not mistaken !ANGUILLARA : Good sh ot ! I t’s by G iorgione, and one

o f his best , on my l i fe ! But I don’t wish to influe nce you .

give your candid op in ion !CARITEO I t is a splendid paint ing !ANGUILLARA I am very glad you think so . This trea su reh a s come this very moment, and they have j ust unpacked i t .CARITEO : Marvel lous ! Marve l lous, I tell you ! Thefasc inat ion of colour could go no further ! What is more,there is, as i t w ere , a charming reflect ion of the manner ofda Vinc i . Then, to come to essentials, what original i ty !

What s incer ity ! What fire ! There’s a man for you, thatG iorgione—one of the glorie s of our age !BRANDOLINO : All the same , I prefer the F lorentinepainters to the Venetian th eir des ign is far more severe, andthere is a mascul ine touch about the ir work that del ights me .

CARITEO : Bel ieve me , Giorgione and Bell in i are div inebeings ! Am I allowed to obse rve here that my lord De ifobo

d id not w i sh the artist to go and contemplate in heaven theincomparable or iginal of thi s Juno ? He showed he r tohim on earth .

34

SAVONAROLA

ANGUILLARA (sm i l ing): You’re a tel l - tale , and that

’

s a

crime which the ladi es do no t forgive . Speaking ser ious ly,you recognise the l ikeness ?

CARITEO : Y e s, I do , although the genius of the pain te r is

far from equal to the un imaginable perfect ions of the model .

ANGUILLARA : To be sure , the model is not bad .

BRANDOLINO Signor De ifobo is lucky in every respect .CAPTAIN BARTOLOMMEO FALCIERA (on the thre shold): May I speak to you,

my Lord ?

ANGUILLARA : \Vh a t do yo u w ant ? I am busy, captain .

Still , come in . W hat i s i t ?

FALCIERA : On the accusat ion of some w retched peasants,one of my best caval iers h a s been arrested by the provosts,and rumou r has i t that you have ordered him to be hanged .

ANGUILLARA : I know a llabou t i t . Your caval ier shall behanged . I am sorry on your account, but he shall be hanged .

FALCIERA : But consider, my lord, the losses you arecausing me . For four years I have been shaping this man ,paying all h is expenses he is a stout fel low and a skilled mana t- arms;of course I have made him advance s, and he owesme not less than fifteen ducats . I shal l lose them .

ANGUILLARA : I t is very annoying, I admi t;but I willnot have the country folk il l - treated

,and he wh o does so is

hanged . This is my rule , and I shall not depart from it . Thatidiot of you rs goes quietly roast ing the right leg of a vil lagerfrom the neighbourhood

,and promises him a s much for h is

left leg, i f he does not hand over h is money . (Laughter)It

’

s the greatest nonsense on earth ! Are w e in Germany, orFrance

,or even at Naples ? In that case i t would be

very d ifferent, I coul d w ink at it out of regard for you,

and what is more , i t w ou ld not be w orth while to takeumbrage . But

,dev i l take i t ! We are in I taly, and if

th e adventu rers treat labou ring men in this fash ion , w e shallsoon be exposed to famine , a nd they

’l l fal l upon us a s i f wew ere w ild beasts . I disl ike these evi l prac tices—they must be

35

THE RENAISSANCE

given up . ply our t ra de le t us do so qu ietly and w ithoutmolest ing others who ply theirs . You r ma n shal l be hanged .

FALCIERA : My luck is ou t ! At o ur last brush with theVenet ia ns . I had one of my dragoons down , and he died of it .ANGUILLARA : Did the enemy take the l iberty of kill ingh im , by any chance ?FALCIERA : Ye gods , no ! The lads o f the other side, onthe contra ry

,helped us to pick up o ur corpse they were the

troops of Captain Ercol e Bentivogl io . The poor devil s implyhad an apoplectic stroke caused by the heat and the weight o fh is armour.ANGUILLARA : I t can’t be helped;but console yourself,Captain Falc iera . From time to t ime w e must endure theblow s of adversi ty

,and Seneca w ould tel l you so in finer

language than I . S it down all the same and take a glass ofthis l ight w ine of Friul i , which is really no t at al l bad .

FALCIERA (with a s igh): To your health, noble S ignor !

Enter Messer V incenzo Quirini, Venetian sena tor, rich ly dressed ina robe of red broca de w ith grea t green a nd ye llow stripes, a go ldench a in a bout h is neck , a nd in his h ands h is biretta of bla ck ve lve ttrimmed w ith a string of big pe a rls a h a ndsome fa ce , verysw a rth y , sh ort bla ck h a ir, curly bla ck bea rd , e a rrings set w ithrubies.

QUIRINI (to Anguillara): What a pleasure it i s to see you !

God guard you, my illustr ious fr iend ! Allow me to embraceyou !ANGUILLARA (running to him and press ing h im to hisheart): \Vh a t ! is i t you ? Ah ! Signor V incenzo ! Whatfel ici ty my noble , my illustrious comrade in arms !

QU IRINI With all my heart I sa lute Signor Ca riteo and th emost excellent gentlemen whom I se e . To be brief, the mostserene S igniory sends me to you a s envoy . We should beglad to know i f you would enter our pay.

ANGUILLARA : My engagement with the Aragoneseexpires in a month . How much do you offer me ?

QU IR INI : Twelve thousand ducats a month , ready money.

ANGUILLARA : \Me shal l no t come to terms at that figure.

36

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

OU IRINI : Certa inly ce rta inly a nd w e shou ld evengive you th e sum you desire w i thout to o much hes i tat ion , werei t not tha t sla nderous tongues tax you w i th never letting you rtroops fight , fo r fear of damaging them .

ANGUILLARA (emphat ically): My V i ew , l ike that of allgenuine soldiers

,is to w in battles and decide campaigns by

manoeuvring . I h ave no wish to massa cre men unnecessarily .

Such a princ iple is a s clear a s crystal ! What folly, what savagecruel ty to let poor dev i ls of sold iers be k illed o r w ounded forthe mere pleasure o f hitt ing at a venture ! Good enough forSw iss , Frenchmen , Spaniards barbarians all ! W e areI tal ians !

Q UIRIN I Unfortunately these barbarians attack w i th mightand main, and at that game they are bound to end by winningthe day .

ANGUILLARA : As long as I l ive, I shal l conduct war

according to rules .

OU IR INI : What th ink you o f our discuss ion, most i llustriousS ignor poet

, you who eternally portray us the god Mars raging

amid the bleeding battal ions ?

CARITEO : Eve ry age h a s i ts fashions, and poets general lyimagine what does not fit in w i th real l i fe .

ANGUILLARA : An exce l lent answer ! Besides, dearSignor Vincenzo, a sk your Alv iane , wh o seems wedded to themost serene Republ ic, s ince he serves no o ther power;he w illtel l you w hether he cares to sacrifice hi s men without reason .

All the same,there’s an honest fellow for you !

OU IRINI : We refuse him neither honour nor money;wehave given him the town and territory o f Pordenone .

ANGUILLARA : He h a s made a pa radise of i t . You see

none there but art ists, men of lette rs, people of talent;h isacademy i s famed far and wide . Pu t me in a pos i t ion to leadas refined and exalted a l ife, and I will serve you a s well as he .

OU IRINI : Y ou would promise to stand firm when oc cas ion

demanded i t,even if i t should cost you some l ives ?

38

SAVONAROLA

ANGUILLARA : Let us be completely frank ! Againstother condott ieri

,never ! I t would ‘be fine , honourable, l oyal ,

to infl ict losses on a comrade who might the next day over

throw my troops and with whom I might hereafter find myselfunder the same flag under fresh enl istments ! Never, I tel lyou ! But barbarian s wh o show no cons ideration, I wil lattack with al l my heart, and you wil l not refuse to i ndemnifym e, so much for each man slain , so much for each manwounded

,so much for each horse

,tak ing into account loss of

baggage . Does that sui t you ?

QU IR INI \Ve are beginning to understand each other .

ANGUILLARA Then w e can draw up the agreement . Thatwill be to -morrow morning, i f you please , and for the moment,w i l l you sup w i th us ?

BRANDOLINI I notify that La Morella is here .

QU IR INI : Really .

ANGUILLARA : Bravo ! How the fire leaps to h is cheeks !

QU IRINI : But your camp,my dear fri end, is at once an

Athens and an Ama thus’f !

BRANDOLIN I : Moreover w e have mus icians of mo s tuncommon merit, and that incomparable dancer G ian Pagolo .

And Signor Ca rite o and Serafino Aqu i l ino are go ing to readto us the ir latest poems .

ANGUILLARA : Come, to table !

OU IR INI : One w ord more , I beg ! I f w e manage to agreea s to the engagement, and you enter the service of theRepubl ic , you r troops w i l l no t harry the peasantry overmuch ?ANGUILLARA : I keep stric t d isc ipl ine, you may rely on

that . Ask the Captain here, Messer Bartolommeo Falciera ,what he thinks o f my disc ipl ine . He {h a s just had a taste of i t .QU IRINI We make a great po int of that;i t is worth gold .

ANGUILLARA : Enough o f bus iness for to - day—l et us

think now only o f amusement . Come to supper !

A town in a nc ient Cyprus devoted to th e worsh ip of Venus—Tr.

39

THE RENAISSANCF

VEN ICE .

A ch amber in th e Duke ’

s pa la ce—Th e th ree S ta te Inquis itors sitting .

A ta ble covered w i th le tters a nd pa pers .

F IRST INQUIS ITOR (le tter in h i s hands) This is the news .

The French , after their insolent t riumph at Rome and Naples,have left the latter c ity in a state of utmost d isorder. Noreason or restra int or fores ight ! The Aragonese are chasing

them the Papal troops are harassing them . They go by full

day’

s marches wi thout stopping,and are str iv ing to reach and

cross the Apennines .

SECOND INQUIS ITOR : I t was decided yesterday that weshould abandon neutral ity . Has the order to at tack gone

forth ? I s our army in good condition for fighting ?

TH IRD INQUISITOR : Here are the la sf reports of the

most i llustrious Provvedi tori, and of our General, the Marquis

of Mantua;then the Senator, Messer Vincenzo Quirini,announces to us that he h a s come to terms with the Count

dell’ Anguillara . Thus w e have forty thousand men,and the

F rench are at most seven thousand .

SECOND INQUIS ITOR : I f Fra G irolamo Savonarola

harboured a l i ttle wisdom in h is rhetorical head, i t would notbe hard for him to dig before the enemy such a trench a s

they could not cross;but instead of th ink ing of affairs, he

dreams of moral reform !

F IRST INQUIS ITOR : I have rece ived a note from the

head of the arsenal at Padua . The last consignments of

stores for o ur troops have left . Nothing i s w anting to the

general equipment . The prov is ions are abundant .

SECOND INQUISITOR : We can have every hope . I t is

now importa nt to th ink wh a t w e shall do after an almost certain

4 0

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

MAC HIAVELL I : Wh ether th ey do so o r no , I sh ould not

ca re to predict a nyth ing. for the i r King is a feather- brain , and

h is inspirations come to h im from every wind that blows . But

I am no t sat isfied w i th our pos it ion at home .

VALORI : Why so,pray

,Messer N iccolo ? The government

o f the people is well - establ ished;th e resu l ts o f the last elections w ere admirable;our ma gistrates are men of firmness

and moderat ion , and, in spite o f the seven years i t has lasted ,Fra G irola mo

’

s reputation w i th our populace se ems al l the

younger—it h a s al l the savour and all the cred i t o f novel ty .

I cons ider that th ings are going a s well a s they can .

VESPU CCIO And they are bound to go well,i f only because

w e no longer have the Medic i . I am ready to face every c on

ce iv able misfortune save that of seeing the ir family re - establ ishits detestable influence .

VALORI : There can be no question abou t that .

MACHIAVELL I : I only wish I could share you r opin ion,

but I do no t look on affairs in so favourable a l ight . We

want a Republ ic that is democrat ic and stable , w here every

one w orks and enj oys a well - balanced l ibe rty . To obtain sucha resul t, I agree w i th Signor V e spuccio;w e do no t need theinfluence of those pow erfu l famil ies which weigh down one

s ide of the scale-s and make i t s ink too low . On thi s scoreI , above all, rej ect the Medic i . Yet i t seems to me that ou rgovernment works on springs a tr ifle too stiff, hard and taut,wh ich w i l l lead to troublesome explos ions .

VESPU CCIO Why ? Because P iero’s c reatures are roughlyhandled ? Where is th e harm ? Nay, i t is a necessi ty;th eydo rightly in punish ing these folk, so a s to show that i t is not

w el l to follow the ir ex ample . You hold that Fra G i rolamo’spartisans carry their zeal too far ? True, perhaps their ways

of preaching V irtue and caus ing i t to be practised are no t a lways

courteous;but, deuce take i t ! you cannot make omelettes

4 2

SAVONAROLA

without breaking eggs. Fra Girolamo himself bel ieves a

l i ttl e too seriously in what he says, and betw een you andme

,a sm ile comes to my l ips rather often when I se e him

vehemently decla im against some human weakness or other

which i s not worth al l the uproar he makes . But wh at do you

expec t ? We have need of h im;i f the masses o f Florenceand the heated enthus iasts did no t imagine that the good

Frate w a s open ing the gates of pa radise and reforming the

w orld, do you suppose that the mere love of good governmentw ould keep them on our s ide ? More than one o f them w ou l d

care but l i ttl e for the w elfare w e are securing him, and wouldinfin itely prefer the idleness of a v ic ious hanger - oh of the

Medic i to the w ise and w ell - ordered l ife of a respectable

c i t izen .

VALORI I have a higher opinion of our fel low - c i t izens,Messer Ve spuccio , and I take i t for granted that the greater

par t of mankind are v i rtuous by nature , and will ing to fol lowthe right path when it is pointed out.

F ICINO : For my part, i f I am allowed to state my V iew,I

am deeply moved and affected by the universal effort whichraises a w hole people tow ards the e nchanted spheres of the

Good and th e Beauti ful . What can be more admirable than tose e all the noble pass ions leagued against the ev i l ones

,and

the churches always ful l, while the taverns are empty !

MACHIAVELLI : I am like you, that is to say, I observew i th extreme interest the debates of the Counc il s

,while at

the same t ime the excellent administrat ive measures give me

the impress ion of an activ i ty w el l d irected in theory. How

ever, I do not know whether this s i tuation can last .

VESPUCCIO : Why, pray, do you feel these doubts ?

MACHIAVELLI :'

There is to o much outward calm and too

l i ttl e inner repose . Those w ho are sati sfied are sat i sfied

e ither too pass ionately, l ike S ignor V e spucc io , or too systema ti

cal ly, l ike Signor Valori ,

4 3

THE RENAISSANCE

VESPUCCIO : For myself, as is well known, I hate the

Medici . and the moment that their happiness decl ines mine i s

in the ascendant;nothing could be more natural .VALORI : I assure you,

S ignor N iccolo, that, taking every

th ing into account,and guarding against the exaggeration of

one’

s des ires, there are good grounds for sati sfact ion .

MACHIAVELLI I woul d rather you had no need to prove

the fac t to you rsel f. \Vh a t is certain is that under their mask

the part ies opposed to our settlement are more exasperatedthan ever. The Arrabbiat i, for the last few weeks, have even

Openly manifested an impudence wh ich gives me food for

reflect ion;the Palleschi are almost on the point of avowingtheir intention of bringing back th e heirs o f Lorenzo the

Magnificent;the Compagna cci raise their heads and, in theopen street , u tter the ir coarse insul ts agains t Fra G irolamo . Inotice that many let them have the ir say and even laugh atthe ir sall ies , though disapprov ing of them all the while . As

for the Tepidi, we know for certain that they are making

recru its among those who are w earied by a renunciat ion of

every pleasure—somewhat too rigorous a discipl ine for theman of average temperament . Finally, the neighbouringgovernments, the Milanese, the Sienese, and others , are

frightened by the exorc isms of our saintly preach er. He ischarged with wishing to despoil the rich for the benefi t of thepoor, and with being an arch - demagogue . Rome is a party

to th e game, and multipl ies i ts admonitions. Only yesterday

there came one,and Fra Girolamo is forbidden to continue

preaching.

VESPU CCIO : I t is a most feeble prohib i t ion, and Fra

G irolamo will disregard it entirely . What are your conclusions ?

MACHIAVELLI : We ought, perhaps, to demand less per

fection from the Florentines,and proceed to govern them

not as we might w ish,but as we can .

4 4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

MAIDSERVANT : The sermon ! the sermon ! the se rmon ‘

Fra G irolamo is preach ing at Santa Maria del F iore ! Al l theFathers of San Marco will be there ! And the S igniory ! and

the gu i lds ! and everybody ! The sermon ! Do you under

s tand ?

HELLENIST : Oh,the sermon , true—there is a sermon .

I se e no drawback in going to a sermon .

MAIDSERVANT No drawback ? What do you mean ?

You’re making game of me ! I f you don’t come to the sermon,

you can bo il your soup yourself . I shal l ce rtainly not stayw i th an unbel iever.

HELLENIST : You would be quite r igh t, my girl ! You’

re

a good girl ! I am glad to se e such fee l ings in you . Go ! Ishall put on my maroon gown and follow you .

MAIDSERVANT : Don’t lose too much time;don’t beginmus ing as usual you won

’t find a place . Wait a minute !Here are your Horae !

HELLENI ST : I tell you I shall be there before you !

Ex it ma idservant.

Hm ! I nterrupted in the study of this d ifficul t passage togo and hear the trash w i th which they regale the ears of themob ! The sense of this most importan t phrase dependsen tirely on the syllable on w h ich we put the accent ! The

antepenul t imate ! Y e s, the antepenult imate, I qui teunderstand

,bu t then we’l l see I have to go and stupefy

myself w i th th is Savonarol a’s rubb ish ! What slavery !Oh, the dullards ! Oh, the fanatics ! When shall we bedel ivered from them

,ye immortal gods, Muses and

Nymphs ? But I must make haste , so a s no t to incu r the

risk o f persecution . It’

s a w onder already that the pol ice

have not paid me a v i s it ! When wil l this tyranny end ?

4 6

SAVONAROLA

THE APENN INES.A wild landsca pe moss -covered rocks, pines stripped and flung a t random

an enormous pla in a t th e foot of th e h e igh ts;th e Ta ro mea nderingthrough th e pla in;th e vi lla ge of Fornov o in th e d istance—Frenchdeta chments a re a rra yed in ba tt le -order on th e low est s lopes o f th e

mounta in;every moment th ere pa ss ordnance companies, ba nds of

Albanian mercena ries, Ga scons, Germa ns, Sw iss;drivers lea d piecesof arti llery a nd carri a ges la den wi th ba gga ge . On th e righ t , a t some

dista nce , a Venetian outpost , composed of Da lma tian infa ntry a nd

some Ita lian men - a t -a rms, th e ir brea stp la tes gleaming in th e sun;most h a ve th e ir visors low ered , a nd a ll sta nd, wi th la nce in rest, rea dyfor a tta ck—On a hi llock forming a n e leva ted pla teau, King Ch a rlesV I I I . is h a lf lying down amid trusses of straw;h e is surrounded bynumerous courtiers a nd ca pta ins among th em a re to b e dist inguish edPhi lippe de Commine s, Lord d

’

Argenton M . Eti enne de Vesc ,Senesch a l of Beauca ire;M . de Bourdillon, M . de Bonneva l, M . de

THE KING : I have promised the P isans my protect ion—Ish al l not go back on my word and hand these people over tothe Florentine s I don’t want to hear any more about i t !Bes ides, I came to I taly in order to prove myself chivalrousand please my lady, and not to w r i te, read or sign mustypapers ! No more talk of negot iat ions

,please ! I shall attack

the enemy w i thin an hour !DE COMMINES : I t would be better to temporise and l i stento reason . I f w e do not induce Savonarola and the F lorentinesto ai d us , w e run a great r isk of never gett ing aw ay fromhere.

THE KING : I tel l you I have performed exploits morebril l iant than those of my forbears ! I have conquered I taly !I have tr iumphed at Rome and at Naples before the eyes ofthe world ! Everywhere I have planted my gibbets and myj udges;I have proclaimed my world -w ide sovere ignity, andthat only a few days ago . I f I now go back to France , i tis merely because I have been betrayed ! Let these wretchedFederals insu l t me , a nd, by my blood and bones ! they

’ll beplaying into my hands !

DE COMMINES : I implore Your Majesty to reflect that,

after all , to speak the plain truth , w e are beating a retreat a s fas ta s w e can . We shall be lucky i f the retreat i s no t turned into

4 7

THE RENAISSANCE

a rout, for that i s what faces us at the moment . Rememberthat the enemy outnumber us by four to one;one need onlyopen one

’

s eyes to see that ! I therefore think i t essentialto l isten to Savonarola’s proposal s and to restore P i sa to theFlorentine s, as in any case we have pledged our word to do .

THE KING : I shal l l isten to nothing ! Your F lorentines arecowards, cheats, scoundrels . I

’

ll grind them to powder !DE COMMINES : We are not in a posi tion to threaten .

THE KING : You are always afraid of everything !DE COMMINES : We might at least be prudent . Before us isthe army of the Venetians and of th at same Duke of Milanwho inv i ted us here;behind us the troops of the Pope , andthe Aragonese in pursu it;we are much in need of someonewho wil l help us .THE KING : Our swords wil l suffice ! My fleet is certainto have re - taken Genoa by now .

DE COMMINES : I regret to inform Your Maj esty that thefleet h a s j ust been defeated at Rapallo . A great number ofgalleons , galleasses, galleys , store - ships and frigates weredestroyed or taken the remainder fled, i t i s not known where .THE KING : We shall not be beaten at Fornovo , I give youmy word . Order the artillery to advance ! Here is Seigneurde Gié .

MARSHAL DE GIE (on horseback , in armour, sword inhand, with officers of h is staff): I salute Your Maj esty andcome to take my orders .THE KING : What is the enemy do ing ?MARSHAL : Seeing themselves so strong and us so weak ,they are marching in fine order. They are known to possesstwo thousand five hundred fully- equipped lancers, twothousand Albanian mercenaries and suffic ient infantrymen toamount to s ixteen thousand men.

THE KING Monseigneur de G ie, you are a doughty knight !I rely upon you . In fighting I shall try to be of some use incommanding I am useless give orders, take your dispositionsat your own good pleasure . I shall be the first to obey.

4 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

THE BATTLE .

Th e French tro ops h ave j ust ch a rged . Th e King, sword in h and, ra isesh is visor;h is foreh ea d s treams w ith sw ea t , h is eyes sh ine likeligh tnings. H is h orse is pa nting. Th e la nces w a ve like corn in a

fie ld , a nd th e gonfa lons flame a nd undula te . Ba nners of every h uea re flying , displaying th e co lours of th e escutch eons;trumpet a nd

c la rion bla sts , rumbling o f drums a nd ta bors cries in th e pla in, w a r

c ries , cries o f ra ge a nd pa in c louds of dust rise from every qua rtera dull no ise of th e disch a rge o f cannon h ere a nd th ere a re seen th e

dea d , th e w ounded , in h ea ps, in row s, fa llen a t random .

BOURDILLON (saluting the King w i th h is sword): Your

Maj esty is doing wonders !

THE KING : Speak to me frankly,Bourdillon, as to your

bosom friend . Have I borne myself well ?

BOU RDILLON By the saints ! better than Amadis !THE KING : A grand thing is war ! My heart is exal ted to

the heavens ! Forward ! See ! The mellay is furious on the

left ! Forward,knights, l e t us charge !

He once more low ers his v isor, bra ndish es h is sword a nd goes 0 3 withth e crowd , wh ich cries : Long live th e K ing ! Sa int Denis !Fra nce

ANOTHER PART OF THE BATTLEFIELD .

Th e Sw iss in deep forma tion.

CAPTAIN RUTTIMANN OF LUCERNE : Ho, my

children,look at the Gascons ! They’ve done the ir work !

The Albanians are in headlong fl ight ! I f you don’t hurry up,there’l l be no plunder : your comrades will have taken the pick !

SOLDIERS : It’

s true,it

’

s true, forward !

CAPTAIN : Lower arms ! Charge ! Hard !

Th e Sw iss fl ing th emse lves w ith fierce h a lberd th rusts on a squa drono f Mila nese men-a t -a rms, wh ich is broken in a n insta nt and ta kesto fligh t slaugh ter, sh outs, drums, trumpets.

SO

SAVONAROLA

ON THE ALLIES’ S IDE .

An eminence .—Th e Marquis of Mantua , genera l of th e Veneti an a rmy;

ca pta ins of free - la nces a nd Albanianmercenari es, th e two Provvedi tori ,nobles of th eir suite .

—In th e pla in, th e va rious Mi lanese and Venetianregiments begin to w a ver.

FIRST PROVVEDITORE : Bu t,my Lord Marquis, I don

’tunderstand what i t all means ! The mos t serene S igniory h a s

given the men the ir pay to the uttermost farthing ! You havehad all that you asked for ! Y ou want for nothing provisions, guns, ammunit ion . Why don’t the troops holdthe ir ground ?

MARQUIS : I am giving orders;I have no t ime to answer you .

He spea ks to several o fficers, wh o go off ra pid ly in different directions.

Th e arti llery comes up .

SECOND PROVVEDITORE : I t i s into lerable ! I shallmake a report ! I t seems to me that the cross - bowmen aretak ing to fl ight !FIRST PROVVEDITORE : The s i tuation is extremelyserious .MARQUIS : Our centre is certainly behav ing badly .

SECOND PROVVEDITORE : My lord Marquis, we have aright to question you, and it i s your duty to answer !MARQUIS : Don’t you cons ider that the M ilanese are givingus poor suppo rt ? I do not know w hat their General Gaya z z o i sth inking of.

F IRST PROVVEDITORE : Have him arrested !

SECOND PROVVED ITORE : Reflect,for God’s sake,

reflect, my noble colleague ! Such a case is no t prov idedfor in our instructions. Your proposal is very daring l

MARQUIS : By St . Mark ! What I feared is coming to pass !The Albanians are d isbanding to loot the baggage ! Ourinfantry are no longer covered on thei r right ! They arecrushed by the cavalry ! They fly !THE TWO PROVVEDITORI : All is lo st ?

MARQUIS : Faith , almost ! Don’t stay there, gentlemen !

The Gascons are com ing up at a gall op ! Let us ral ly o urmen !Th e French bugles sound a ch a rge th e Ba tt le o f Fornovo is lost for

th e Venetia ns a nd Mila nese .

SI

THE RENAISSANCE

FLORENCE .

Sa ndro Bottice l li ’s stud io .—An immense h a ll o f grea t h e igh t—A crow d o f

arti sts in pic turesque and h ere a nd th ere ra th er disorderly costume

severa l occupied on la rge c a nva ses a re perch ed on sca ffo ldingso th ers a re finish ing pic tures or sketch ing th em on ea se ls .

—Sa ndroBo ttice lli , Luca Signore l li , Domenico Gh irla nda io , a nd Fra Benede tto ,

minia ture pai nter h e w ea rs th e h a bit of a Dominica n a nd bends overa missa l p la ced on a sma ll ta ble h e is i llumina ting it, ta ki ng minutequa nti ties of co lours from bow ls th a t h e h a s a round . 1 1 Crona ca ,a rchi tect .

SANDRO (in a pla intive tone): This i s my las t day as a layman, and this canvas will be my last work henceforth, I shallonly think of lamenting my s ins .FRA BARTOLOMMEO DI SAN MARCO : You wil l dowell, and we shal l do wel l to follow your example . Salvationis worth more than talent

,and the palm of the elect outweighs

the crown of genius . Amen !

ARTISTS : Amen ! Amen !

SIGNORELLI My children,I th ink you are go ing too far.

There are good points about the holy doctrine of Fra Girolamo .

But to dress l ike the poor,as many of you affect , to renounce

all the pleasures of l ife, to groan from morning t il l evening,and above al l, to return to the dry forms and angular des ignsof the old masters—that is no t worshipping God in heart andbrain , and I do not se e that i t is of much use .

IL CRONACA : The Good is absolute, and admits of nodivis ion .

SIGNORELLI : The Goo d is infinite;i t admits of nonarrowness .

Enter th e sculptor Torrigiani , ma gnificent ly dressed , h is biretta lowdown over hi s eyes . He slams th e door.

TORRIGIANI : May the dev i l confound you,

snufflinghypocrites that you are ! I ’l l smash in the face of the firs tman wh o prates to me of that humbug Fra G irolamo !BOTTICELLI Y ou wil l be damned, Torr igian i !TORRIGIAN I And pray, why ? I am a better Chr ist ian thanyou ! Idiot ! He’s a pretty prophet for you ! A fla tterer

of the mob ! A phrase -monger ! A frant ic hypocr ite !

52

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

morn ing til l n ight l ike a rainspou t,without anyone having an

idea why ?FRA BARTOLOMMEO : As for you, with your brave showof velvet and embroider ies , your plumes and your gildedponiard and your r ings , you insul t the poverty of your brothers !TORRIG IANI : Of my brothers of my brothers ? Andhave you all, rabble that you are , the impudence to style yourselves my brothers ? Wait a l i ttle

,until you know how to

design a torso and to grasp and render a foreshortening as Ido , before you pose a s my cous ins even ! There’l l be sometime to wai t ! My brothers are dead ! They were the artistsof ancient Rome !DOMENICO GHIRLANDAIO : Learn how to chisel usheavenly Madonnas, pure, chaste and severe, and we shall beable to admire you !TORRIGIAN I : May heaven crush you ! What are theseshouts

He runs towa rds th e door.

IL CRONACA : Go—to your death ! They are the childrenof the c ity, who, massed in sacred bands , proclaim the KingJesus, tear the clothes o f people dressed l ike you,

and beatand arres t the evil -minded so as to escort them to gaol .Go ! go !TORRIGIANI : Those packs of mad curs won’t touch mewithout my stabb ing a dozen of them ! Good - bye ! I ’l l l eaveth is lunatic asylum ! I will not come back until we are freeto portray Mars and Venus ! Art, look you, poor tatterdemalions that you are, is the sole v irtue , the sole greatness ,the sole truth ! There IS nothing that finds more favour inthe s ight of God ! Your portion is fal sehood , ignorance,pedantry

,baseness ! Mine i s refulgent genius ! Long l ife to

Art ! Long l ife to l ight ! Down w i th darkness ! I’l l go andenl i st in the Spanish troops, and w age a war to the deathagainst you !BOTTICELLI : Yesterday you were all for dr iv ing thebarbarians from I taly. You have found the w ay !

54

SAVONAROLA

TORRIG IAN I : We’ll exterminate the French first and thenthe Aragonese ! Good - bye vermin !

A PAINTER (gl iding down rapi dly from a scaffolding): Hisinsolence is too much ! There ! There’s one for you !

Hurls his knife a t him, th e kni fe misses its a im and sticks into th ew all .

TORRIGIANI (going out): A poor shot ! I’ll pay you out

for that, i f I have to wait twenty years .

Th e interior of th e church of Santa Repara ta .-A va st , dense ly -pa cked

crowd . All th e alta rs a t th e side s a re hidden in flow ers th e c a nd lesa nd ligh ts glitter;th e sta tues of sa ints a re dressed in th e ir finest robesof silk, ve lvet a nd broca de , a nd loa ded wi th j ew e ls;th e sme l l ofincense fi lls th e bui lding new comers a rrive every moment a nd ma keth e crow d surge ch i ldren, sch oo lboys, young men a re perch ed on th ew indow ~ si lls a nd a lta r screens;ma ny c ling to th e fri e zes of th e

c o lumns th e Signiory occupies th e pew s fa c ing th e pulpit . Pro foundsflence .

FRA GIROLAMO (in the pulp i t): Florenc e ! Florence !God has not spared thee His warnings ! He does not denythem to thee ! He loves thee as He loves H is Church . Buttruth is gloomy;hearken to her ! Thy l ife is spent in bed,in goss ip, in idle conversat ions, in infamous orgies, in namelessdebaucheri es ! Thy l ife, F lorence, is the l i fe of swine !

Tremors in th e congrega tion .

Thou answerest me B rother, thou sparest me not !” I shall

not spare thee at al l ! What right hast thou to dread reproofs

i f thou hast no fear of punishments ? Did I predict them ?Answ er ! Answer ! Did I , or did I no t le t thee knowwhat was threaten ing ? This poor brother who is nothing

,

who is noth ing w orth, who by h imself knows nothing,has he no t been inspired by God and by Jesus ourKing to del iver thee from the Medici and snatchth ee from the claws of the French ? And whath as happened ? Hast thou forgotten al ready ? TheMedic i eat the bread of Venice, and the F rench . the

55

THE RENAISSANCE

French , only too happy to have been able , against all l ikel ihood, to scra pe through w i th a v ictory at Fornovo , have fled ,panting and humbled , to the very depths of their country,and there they rema in . Fear no t ! They wil l retu rn no

more !Pro found emotion.

Therefore,however small a gleam of reason thou mayest have

left,thou wil t remember that I always told thee it would be

thus,that my w ords have never proved vain

,and thou wil t

bel ieve me thi s t ime when I say to thee : Government by thepeople is the best for thee ! God h a s granted i t to thee bymy hand ! Keep i t ! Suffer no one to assail i t;he whoassail s i t is insul ting God, and is guilty of impiety;he i s insul ting Jesus our King , he i s guil ty of treachery, of high treasonwil t thou pardon such a wretch , wallowing in crimes so

heinousCri es of ra ge .

My lords of the E ight , I tel l you that such scoundrels—thosewho disturb the publ ic peace and call themselves as beforeWhite or Grey—mus t be punished ! Do not hes i tate ! Tenflorins fine ! I f they repeat the c rime , fou r lashes ! I f theypers ist, the dungeon for l ife ! And now

,Florence, feed thy

poor—they are l imbs of Jesus our King ! I t is not meet thatthe people go hungry when the rich are gorged. Henceforthwheat wil l cost no more than a shil l ing the bushel for thosewho cannot pay more .

Sensa tion.

When everyone has enough to eat h is fil l, the work i s notyet begun;al l the main pa r t s ti l l remains to do . Y ou willanswer me Brother, you are insat iable We have the government of God , we have the char i ty of God, we have . Youhave legions of vices, growing rank in your souls ! All he llholds revel there, you know i t only too well, and not one ofyou is better than another ! .Perhaps you w i l l make me

excuses for the soldiers, coarse folk ! for the merchants, minds

56

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

SAVONAROLA

corrupted by gain ! for the young men, empty heads ! for th ewomen, fool ish cre atures ! Very well . Wi l l you findexcuses also for the s imoniacal, l ib id inous, adul terous, drunken,thiev ing priests who, from the See of St . Peter down to thehumblest confess ional of the humblest par ish, draw you afterthem on their road to perdit ion No more of these affl ict ions !of these abominations ! of these Babylonian enormi ties !Sw eep them away ! sweep them aw ay ! otherwise , Florence,thou ar t los t ! I sw ear to thee that thou art lost ! The cup of

patience is drained ! I t has not a drop left ! The sword of

vengeance is upon thee ! Ah ! hapless one ! I t is

l owered ! i t str ikes !Cries of terror

You answer : Brother, what do you a sk for ? ” I a sk for

noth ing . I t is God wh o will have no more of frivolous amusements ! Have you not wasted your l ives enough ? No moreparades where the women try to captivate ! N 0 more balls,they are perdit ion ! No more taverns, they are bru t ishness !No more gam ing

,i t is . Ah ! that ma kes you uneasy ?

Y ou w ould rather renounce your share o f paradise than thatshameful practice ? We l l , I w i l l be merc i ful . Gamble

,i f

you must ! but abandon the dice ! Take knucklebones !Gamble, but never formoney ! Gamble for salads, nuts, roots !Poor creatures

,you laugh

,and I

,I cry to the faithful

When you se e in the s treets or the houses misgu ided personsgive themselves up to thei r pass ion fo r games o f chance, shrinknot from snatch ing the c ards from the ir hands, and you,

mylords of the Eight, arrest them;imprison them ! Therack

Th e sermon continues .

57

THE RENAISSANCE

IN THE SQUARE .

Be fore th e Church .—Groups of chi ldren.

YOUNG BON I (crying and shouting): Oh - h - h !

A BOY : What ’s the matter w ith you ?Th e o th er ch ildren ga th er round him

YOUNG BONI A big brute h a s j ust thumped my head withh is fist I t

’

s that man walking aw ay there .

SECOND BOY : Why did he hit you ?YOUNG BONI : Because I wanted to pull off h is Venetianlace collar.THE CHILDREN : Oh, the beast. Let

’s run after him !

Let’s tear him to pieces !THIRD BOY : Don’t do anything, he

’s a monster ! It’

s

Torrigiani, the sculptor, a compagna cco ! He loves ne itherGod nor the Holy V irgin ! He

’

s too strong fo r us !Tw o girls pas s a do zen chi ldren surround th em

F IRST BOY : My sisters,in the name of Jesus Chris t, King

of thi s ci ty, and of the Virgin Mary, our Queen, I commandyou to take off those j ewels and strip yourselves of all thatvelve t.FIRST GIRL : We’l l obey you at once, dear child . Letus go into our house .

FOURTH BOY : I know them, they’re pas t praying for !

We already urged them the day before yesterday to be lessimmodest;they’s always starting afresh .

SECOND GIRL : I t takes t ime to sew new dresses, youmust understand, my l ittl e friend !F IFTH BOY : Let’s pul l off everything !

Th e band rush es a t th e tw o damse ls a nd tears to pieces th eir finerya nd th eir h ea d -dresses.

S IXTH BOY : Good ! two necklaces ! earrings ! bracelets !

chains ! Let’s give them to the poor !

Oth er chi ldren run up .

F IRST CHILD : What are those women crying for ?A BOY OF TWELVE : They are sinners whom we’ve ledback to virtue . And you,

where do you come from ?

58

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

WIFE N0 , not you, but the spiri t that po sse sses you . Whykeep that horr ible book which the Prophet caused to be burntin the Open square ? Have you not a copy of thatDecameron ,

”s ince I mus t name it ?

NERLI You'

re making a lo t of din about a book which hasbeen in everyone’s hands for centuries .WIFE : For long ages everyone has been working his owndamnation , a nd i t i s t ime to stop .

NERLI : I want peace, and this t ime I tell you that in allser iousness .CHILD : Do you se e , mamma, he has the book and othersalso which Fra Girolamo h a s forb idden ! Y e s

,I know it . Let

us burn,burn these books !

WIFE : Y e s, my darl ing, don’t b e afraid ! I shal l no t allow

what I ought not to al low .

NERLI This is raving madness, and I insist on your calmingdown , Monna Lisa;otherw ise , I shall take such stepsWIFE I t is useless to try and browbeat me you won

’t succe ed;in spi te of you I ’l l work out my salvat ion !CHILD : Yes, mamma, do work out your salvation ! Workout your salvation, mamm a lWIFE Y e s, deares t ! fear not !NERLI : Thi s is a house of demoniacs in a ci ty of madmen,and this F lorence , which before was only a baggage, i s nowbecome a lunatic s ince that cursed monkWIFE (beside herself): Ah ! do not blaspheme Fra Girolamo,I implore you !NERLI : I ’l l send Fra G irolamo to the dev il i f I please, and

you, too ! Do you hear ?

WIFE And I , you monster, I’ll run and denounce you to the

Eight and demand an exemplary punishment for suchwickedness .CHILD Yes, mamma ! Papa must be punished !

NERLI May heaven confound you all !

60

SAVONAROLA

ROME .

JUNE, 1 50 0 .

Th e Va tican.—A room in th e pontifical a pa rtments—Alexander V I .

Lucre zia Borgia ,Duch ess of Bisagli a . Sh e is in deep mourning,

sea ted in a n a rm -ch a ir, much di straugh t a nd h er fa ce sta ined w ithtea rs .

ALEXANDER VI . : Y e s, i t i s true . Your brothe r Cesareis the culpri t . He went into the room where your unhappyhusband Alfonso lay

,with h is w ounds in bandages;he

strangled him . I confess i t you would be told anyway you would not take four steps in the city withouthear ing of i t . I had rather you learnt i t from me, so thatw e can cons ider together what ought to be done in suchc ircumstances , which cannot be al tered .

Lucre zia sobs into h er h andkerchi e f a nd wri ngs h er h ands .

The essential character of all sorrow, however great i t may be

(and yours is very great, my daughter, and more j ustified thanany other sorrow can be) the character of all sorrow is

that i t is follow ed by obl iv ion .

LUCREZIA Ah ! Holy Father !

ALEXANDER VI . : I am speaking to you reasonably .

Persons in our stat ion must alw ays be reasonable,otherwise

they become meaner than anyone else . Sorrows, the mostb i tter despairs , al l th at comes to shock u s and rob us of somepossess ion or oth er, these cruel reverses of fortune

,al l th is

appears only in order to be forgotten . A day wil l come whenyou you rself w i l l be astonished to find yourself hardly able torecal l th e featu res and perhaps the name of thi s husband

,

whose loss at present affl ic ts you with a gr ie f that seems toyou in tolerable .

LUCREZIA : To lose him ! To lose him like this !Murdered by my brother ! at the moment when he wasoverjoyed at the b irth of h is son ! What kind of a monsteris h is murderer ?

ALEXANDER VI . : He i s not a monster,my daughter

,but

a ruler who could not enter h is dest ined sphere but at the

6 1

THE RENAISSANCE

pr ice of the most sustained and sometimes the most pi t ilessefforts . L i sten to me

,Lucrez ia . and don

’t raise your handsto Heaven . I do not speak to you e ither to j ust ify DonCesare fool ishly or to insu l t you;I am trying to awaken inyou what I know to be clear - cut

,true, and powerful sentiments ,

and to enable you to pass through a cris i s in which youth andexperience do no t admit of your showing yourself in yourmost heroic l ight .LUCREZIA : I am a miserable widow mourning for aninnocent husband, sl aughtered by the most infamous oftraitors !ALEXANDER VI . : What i s the use of words so violent ?Let us consider, Lucrez ia . Y ou know that I love you,from the depths of my heart ?LUCREZIA : I know also to what horrible susp ic ions andaccusations the affect ion of your Holiness exposes my honour !But I am in despair, and I care about noth ing any more inthe worldALEXANDER VI . : People sa y that I am both your fatherand your lover ? Lucrezia, l et the world, le t that mass ofgrubs, as absurd as they are feeble, imagine the mos trid iculous tales about the strong. In the ir powerlessness tounderstand the aims o f our sou l s, they se e o nly in them theeccentric;they cannot analyse the workings and st il l lessperce ive the bearing, and they th ink to discover in themysterious bosom of this unknown the stupid infamies forw hich they can hardly find a name . Let these gusts of futil i tyw hirl about your head without finding an entrance . Let usspeak only of the th ings that matter. You must shake off

this despondency . Your s i tuat ion requires that;you mustnot, and I w i l l not let you, shut yoursel f up in sol itude;I willnot allow you to return to Nepi, w here you desire at thismoment to bury for ever yourself and your sorrows . Thatwill not do . Nature herself opposes such a step;you areyoung

,beautiful , energetic, intell igent, active;you need l ife ,

and l i fe needs you . Stay with us . stay in this world to rule

62

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

SAVONAROLA

it ! You say you have lost a husband wh o wa s clear to you ?I regret, I deplore th i s as you do, and I would have givenmuch to spare you the pang . Nevertheless, you are MadamLucrez ia Borgia;your blood is among the noblest know n;you are Duchess of Bisaglia and Sermoneta, Princess of

Aragon,perpetual Governor of Spole to you are looked upon

as almost the equal of c row ned heads;you w ere born w i ththe inst inct of queen ing i t over the nations, and your mindI know how elevated it is—w i l l never allow you to w i thdrawfrom this task .

LUCREZ IA : Once upon a time, may be, I took pleasure inwatch ing the course of affairs and touching the w ires thatmake them move . That t ime is past . I have dec ided tobusy myself no more w i th anyth ing bu t my son

,and , when I

have the pow er, w i th my vengeance .

ALEXANDER VI . Take care,Lucrez ia ! Never repeat to

anyone bu t me so dangerous a word . Your broth er knowsw hat he wants and w ants w hat he has a r ight to . I t isnecessary that h is plans should succeed , and if one day hecame to think he had been deceived in you, and that you arenot really the strong and intell igent woman he c la ims you tobe;i f, i n short , he found in you a h indrance and not a help ,you w ou ld no t be more secure against h im than w ere yourbrother G iovann i and you r unfortunate husband whom hestabbed under my very c loak and so many othersLUCREZ IA : Don Cesare is the last person to frigh ten me ,and , i f he defies you, he w i l l no t defy me !ALEXANDER VI . : That is how I love to se e you , and nowI recogn ise you ! The l ittl e middle—c l ass w idow h a s disa p

pe a red ! I t is the Queen , the Sovereign , who speaks ! Mydaughter, yo u are at this moment as beautifu l a s Pride ! Y o u

are strength itsel f ! Hence I w il l speak to you . Don Cesare h a snever had the least intent ion of hurt ing you, and you wil lunderstand that i f you reflec t a l i ttl e . \Vhen , two years ago ,

w e made you leave G iova nni Sforza,and married you to Don

Alfonso o f Aragon , w e obeyed necessi ty a nd m ade a n

(33

THE RENAISSANCE

i rreproachable match . Although your consort was only thenatural son of the King of Naples

,we gained through him a

mighty ally, a nd at that moment i t was imposs ible to secureanyth ing better for our ulterior proj ec ts . S ince then, thingshave greatly al tered . The indomitable energy of DonCesare, h is adroi tness, his wealth of resource, the favourableopportuni ties which he has seized, and from which he hassqueezed all the j uice, al low us now to enj oy the favour, theclose friendship , the affect ion of the successor o f Charles VI I I .We have and shal l have by th is means what the Span ishwould never have given us;and you can imagine how unsui table Don Cesare then cons idered an Aragonese all iance, atthe p recise moment when we were compelled to become Frenchhea rt and soul , and wi th most scrupulous care to avoid giv ingumbrage to that mo st fool ish

,most credulous, most susp icious

of pr inces, Louis XII .

LUCREZIA : And this was the obj ect forwhich Don Alfonsowas murdered ?ALEXANDER V I . : This and no other. I admit that therewere other ways of going about the business . Y ou couldyourself have persuaded the unfortunate Don Alfonso toabandon h is father, hi s family and his country .

LUCREZIA (sobbing): He w ould have done anyth ing I

asked h im !ALEXANDER V I . We will not go over that ground again .

Don Cesare was wrong in the form in the matter hereasoned correctly, and so far from h is wish ing any ill to you ,I shall prove to you that he only th inks of your elevation .

LUCREZ IA : I d ispense h im from that .ALEXANDER VI . : In j udging your brother

,there is one

truth above al l that you mus t take into account, and perhapssuch an examination would also be useful in explain ing youto yoursel f . We are not sh ifty, inconstant I tal ians;we areSpaniards and, where v iolence i s conce rned, an innate tendeney impel s us to the shortes t cut . What ou r compatrio tsare doing in the New Indies—the hardness of the Duke of64

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

fi lled o ur sails and the ship of our fortunes having taken tothe high sea s, we at once se t you free from this moderatehappiness, and took you w i th us on our own voyage . At thatperiod it wa s a great gain to acqu ire for you some sort of aprince;we sought, we found, w e gave you one . Times havechanged once more the falcons have been turned into eaglesthe ir prey must be more lordly;they w ish you to have ashare;w hat suited you once sui ts you no more;you arew orth something better. What would yo u say to a sovereign,

really sovereign throne ? To a husband belonging to one of

the noblest houses in the w orld—himself handsome,brave ,

intrepid, one of the best generals in“ I taly, marked out for thehighes t dest inies

,one who loves you to adoration and asks

for your hand ?LUCREZIA : I do not know of whom you speak, and do notcare e ither.ALEXANDER VI . : I speak of Don Alfonso d’Este, son andheir of Duke Ercole of Ferra 1 a I speak of your true greatness

,of your future, of your happiness;of the future, the

happiness, the l ife of your son. Y ou hear,Lucrez ia ?

LUCREZIA : At the moment I am incapable of l is tening tosuch proposals or to argue on whatever just ice they may have .

ALEXANDER VI . : That I can well imagine . But you cannevertheless already make up your mind that i t i s not conv enient for you to return to Nep i . To persuade you the more,I ‘ w il l tel l you of a design I have formed in concert with DonCesare, which will prove to you my affection and yourbrother’s devotion to your true interests .

LUCREZIA : I should l ike to know what you mean .

ALEXANDER VI . : Business compels me to leave Rome forsome time . Y ou w i l l remain here

, you w i l l take my place .

The government w il l be put in your hands , you will have thesole right of opening and reading dispatches

,of taking reso

lut ions and o f giving orders . I have commanded my mosttrusted Cardinals to confer with you whenever you think fit .Thus, Lucrezia , you w il l rule the Papal States and the world ,

66

SAVONAROLA

spiri tual and temporal . I know that you are w orthy of

grasping th e importance of such a task . Bel ieve me . Giveup those tears that are unw orthy of you, s imply because theyare useless . Think of the glory o f your house, o f the fu ture

of our settlements, and remember that all other considerations

vanish before so lordly an ambition . Know henceforward thatfor the k ind of persons whom fate summons to dominateothers

,the ordinary rules of l i fe are reversed , and duty

becomes quite different . Good and ev i l are l ifted to another,to a higher region, to a different plane . The v irtues that may

be applauded in an ordinary w oman w ould in you become

v ices, merely because they would only be sources of error and

ru in . Now the great la w of the w orld is not to do this or that ,to avoid one thing and run after another;i t is to l ive , toenlarge and develop our most act ive and lofty qual it ies, insuch a way that from any sphere w e can always h ew ou rselves

out a way to one that i s w ider,more airy, more elevated .

Never forget that . Walk straight on . S imply do what youplease, but only so far as l ikew ise sui ts your interests . Leave

to the small minds, to the rabble of underl ings, all slacknessand scruple . There i s only one consideration worthy of you

the elevat ion of the House of Borgia and of yourself;and Ihope that in so serious a reflection there is enough to dry your

tears and to make you accept that w hich,being henceforth

an accomplished fact,h a s become indifferent. I leave you

,

Lucrezia, and call upon you to consider yourself a s one who

w il l soon be Duchess of Ferrara and at present represents forthe nat ions the Vicar o f God !

THE RENAISSANCE

VEN ICE .

A room in a pa lace of th e Gran Ca na le .—Piero de ’

Medici , wa lking up a nd

down w i th a troubled a ir, h is h a nds bes ide h is ba ck h is broth er, th e

Cardina l G iova nni de ’

Medic i, a fterw a rds Pope Leo X . , now nine teenyea rs o f a go;h is cousin G iulio de '

M edici, a f terw a rds Pope C lementV I I . ,now K nigh t o f S t . J o h n a nd Prior o f Ca pua;Berna rdo Dov isi da

Bibbiena , stew a rd o f th e Ca rdina l ’s h ouse and sometime priva tesecre ta ry to Lo renzo th e Ma gnificent.

B IBBIENA : That our affairs are in a bad way i t would bepuerile to deny , but I do no t think there i s any need, LordP iero, for such despair a s yours .PIERO : I have made mistakes

,terr ible mistakes . I ought

not to have ceded so much to the French when I tried to turnthem aside from Florence . After coming to an understandingwith them I ought at least to have cal led them to my aid beforeleaving for Bologna, where that miserable G iovanniBent ivogl io

,forgett ing what he owes to our father’s memory,

has compelled us to recognise h ow l i ttle he is worth h imself,and to take fl ight here . Ah ! i f ever I succeed in raisingour fallen fortunes, he shall know,

he shall know whatvengeance means . Bu t that i s not my chief vexat ion —as Itel l you, what trouble me most are my own mistakes .GIOVANNI : Brother, brother, don

’t fret so ! I stayed atF lorence after you,

and I assure you that there was nothingto be done . Our enemies had so arranged everything andworked upon the minds of the cit izens that our dismissal wasa foregone conclus ion . Luca Cors ini, Jacopo de

’

Nerli, al lthose envious folk had st irred up even the most easy- goingpeople . I n vain I spoke to them, they did not l isten to me;I had to withdraw

,I even had stones thrown at me .

Savonarola was against me . I t was he who persuaded theDominicans of San Marco to expel me from their convent ,w here I had at first found refuge .

PIERO : A house that w e founded .

GIOVANNI : Be not so distressed , brother . I t i s highlyprobable, I repeat, that Fra G irolamo had perverted the mindsof the good Fathers, otherwise they would not have acted asthey did . I t w a s a dreadful sight , that infuriated mob

68

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

even more rapidly than other interests . For my part I amconv inced tha t the Medic i w il l one da y return to Florence, andw i l l recover their power and prest ige .

G IOVANNI : Indeed I think that i s probable . France isobeying a new King , this Lou is XII ,

w ho,I am told, i s

possessed of a th irs t for conquest even more than the lateCharles VI I I .;what he wants is no t only Naples , but theMilanese . A 11 understand ing may perhaps be arrived at;bes ides, Savonarola cannot last for ever . He is beginning tow ear out men’s patience . The Republ icans are no t united;many of our part isans are returning to th e c i ty and are notmolested there . Why

,young M ichael Angelo

,to quote no other

instance , had fled to Bologna, and the Aldobrandini had evenprocured him work at San Petronio;none the less , he wentback to Florence and is tolerated there .

GIULIANO : Better s t il l,they accep t our money. In

accordance w ith your orders, Signor P iero, I sent some to

Tornabuoni. He w r i tes me that the number of h is pens ionersis on the increase . My Lord G iovanni , w i l l you come and vis it

T itian’s s tud io ?

G IOVANNI With pleasure . I will le t you see my new

l iveries for our gondol iers .P IERO Go and amuse yourselves . I wil l wr i te some lettersw i th B ibbiena .

70

SAVONAROLA

FLORENCE .

A shop parlour.—Tw o merch ants a t ta ble .

FIRST MERCHANT : Take another helping of this pastry .

Fra Girolamo’s P iagnoni can’t se e us .SECOND MERCHANT Y ou are ve ry k ind . I have a w eakdigest ion and dare no t take any more . I repeat, England is

a country for making fine profits.

FIRST MERCHANT : I n s ilks,certainly, and st ill more in

w ines . Last year I sent four casks of rather poor qual ityto my agent in London . He made a good profit . I w il l inglygive Engl ishmen cred it .SECOND MERCHANT : That’s j ust wha t I say;they’remen o f sol id w orth .

FIRST MERCHANT : All the more , I prefer the Flemish .

There are some really excellent merchants in Antw erp .

SECOND MERCHANT : Betw een ourselves, woul d i t notbe better if Fra Girolamo—whom, I beg you to observe, Ivenerate in other respects —if Fra Girolamo caused to behanded over to us on easy terms al l the beau t iful objec ts heorders to be destroyed ? Those good Flemings w ould buythem from us .FIRST MERCHANT : I agree . The w orthy Frate is

unapproachable on that po int . Besides,you cannot speak

to him so freely a s you could before . He gets angry at thefirs t word, and insu l ts you .

SECOND MERCHANT : I t must be confessed thatincorrigible s inners cause him much heartburning .

FIRST MERCHANT : Don’t speak of i t ! I don’t knowhow he res ists . S till, he wou ld have done better in keeping that fine golden -flow e red tapestry ! We should havesold i t

,and that for ready money . The prophet i s preaching

this evening at San Nicola . Do you never go and hear him ?

SECOND MERCHANT : What do you mean ? I make i ta sacred duty

,and w ould not for a nyth ing in the w orld incur

the charge o f lukew a rmness;fo r. betw een ou rselves . I’

have

7 1

THE RENAISSANCE

some very fine things here , and don’t want to attract too much

attention .

F IRST MERCHANT : My case precisely, neighbour. In

these sl ippery t imes one mus t be w ary . Come ! le t us bestart ing . The church will be ful l . Are you tak ing a candle ?

SECOND MERCHANT : I never fail to , i t looks well . See,it

’

s a regular ship’s mas t !

FIRST MERCHANT : Mine is j us t a s good.

Exeunt, laugh ing .

Fra G iro lamo’

s ce ll . H e is lying a t fu l l length on h is couch , coveringh i s eye s w ith h is crossed a rms. Se a ted on stoo ls a re Fra S i lvestreMa ruffi , Fra Domenico Buonv icini .

FRA GIROLAMO : My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?

FRA S ILVESTRE : I t is you, master, who forsake yourselfw e never weary o f tell ing you so .

FRA DOMENICO : I,too

,canno t understand thi s prostra

t ion of your energies .

FRA GIROLAMO : I am at the end of my strength . Maythe Lord Jesus summon me back to H im ll

H e h ides his fa ce on th e pi llow and w eeps loud ly.

FRA DOMENICO : What a misfortune to se e such a man

fallen a prey to such weakness !FRA GIROLAMO (ri s ing to hi s feet, crosses his arms andlooks at his fr iends): Do you wish me to admit i t ? A burdenh a s been weighing on my heart for more tha n a year. I mustr id myself of the load . Listen to me, then . I fear that I haveblundered ! I am l ike a traveller who , hav ing started for theheavenly Jerusalem, shou ld find himself suddenly, by takinga wrong turning

,in the neighbourhood o f Hell !

FRA S ILVESTRE B ut, master, what is that you are in needof now ? Have you not succeeded beyond all expectat ion ?Every day Florence takes a new step on the road to perfec ~

t ion;you are the sole master, they bel ieve in none but you ,they

.

love none but you,they desire none but you ! The rest

72

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

N igh t—A G a rden—A G irl .—A LoverTHE GIRL : I am so frightened . If my brothe r sus

pe cted anything ! Go aw ay, I implore you !

LOVER : No ! Your brother is running about the streets toinsul t the Piagnoni . Don’t be afraid ? Y ou are afraid ? Well ,calm yoursel f I w il l go ! At any rate , do you love me ?

GIRL : I think so . I don’t know . I love you justnow . Do you w i sh me to deceive you ? Why attachyoursel f to me ? I am fickle . I do not know mysel f. Ilove yo u, my friend , my dear friend ! To - morrow

,I daresay

I shan’t love you any more . I have alw ays been frank withyou .

LOVER : Words l ike these are meant to k il l me . Nomatter ! I shall cheri sh you, adore you, serve you ! I amyou rs . I want to d ie for you !GIRL : I am so fr ightened ! Kiss me here on thecheek . Poor Fabriz io ! I do love you at th ismoment ! Why so distressed ? Have you not great work todo ? Occupy yourself with the Medici .LOVER : I trouble as l i ttle about the Medic i a s about the iradversaries . My only task i s to love you . Farewell ! Fivedays from now withou t seeing you !

G IRL : Five days ? it’s too much ! Pass th is w ay to -morrow;I may perhaps be able to let you come upstairs .

LOVER : And if I am observed ?

GIRL : It’

s al l one to me !

LOVER There is nothing in the world so lovely, so attractive ,so graceful, so fascinat ing a s you !

G IRL : Farew ell ! Don’t repine . Think a l i t tle of me,will

you?

LOVER : Another k iss !

GIRL : No , to—morrow ! G ive me your hand , that

’

s enough .

Farewell .

LOVER : Do you love me ?

GIRL : I don’t know .

74

SAVONAROLA

LOVER : Wh en you’ve made me die of despair, you’l l know,

perhaps . Farewell !

ROME

Th e Pope ’

s room .—Alexander V I .;Ca rdina l Fra ncesco Picco lomini;th e

Mi lanese envoy .

CARDINAL : I tel l you, Most Holy Father, i f you do notmake an end o f Fra Girolamo, he w il l make an end of you .

THE POPE : You have a grudge against h im because herefused you five thousand florins . Do you th ink I am unawareo f your intr igues ? Y ou are all up in arms against th is chatterbox . He tel ls you home truths . Very hard to bear ! He h a stold me home tru ths, too ! Do I trouble about them ? Do Imake any pretence of be ing a saint ? I w ish to l ive in peace .

Enough of complaints ! I shall no t take any further notice .

I am old;I will d ie qu ietly, in spi te of you;I wil l se t up mychildren . Leave me in peace !CARDINAL : But, Holy Father, i t is just your peace that isin quest ion . Only l isten to Ludov ico Sforza’s message to you.

THE POPE I don’t want to hear anything that wear ies meor puts me in a temper .ENVOY These are no t w ords in the air that I am conveyingto you. I have facts and proofs .

THE POPE Keep them to yourself .ENVOY : Savonarola has w ri tten to al l the crowned heads;he asks for a Counci l and your depos i t ion .

CARDINAL : I t is the absolute truth,and many pr inces a re

already w on over .THE POPE Rumours and calumnies .

ENVOY : Here is the letter to the King of France ! Weintercepted i t from a courier . I t is s igned by Fra G i rolamo—here is h is seal .THE POPE : Blood o f th e Madonna ! The dog,

the w re tch ,the coward , the thief, the scoundrel ! I t is true afte r all ! Ah !

you desire my ruin ! Let my counc i l be called together

75

THE RENAISSANCE

let notice be given to D0 11 Cesare and Donna Lucrez ia andDonna Vano z z a ! This time, it

’

s al l over with him !CARDINAL I told you i t wou ld have to come to this . Yourbr iefs sneered at, your orders trampled under foot, your namerev i led in the Open pulp i t every day, every hour ! He treats

you a s he w ould the most despicable of men .

THE POPE I am h is mas ter , and he shal l know i t ! I willtear th is Girolamo’s soul from h is belly

,and he will learn what

i s to be gained by rebell ing against me !

FLORENCE .

A square—A group of a rtisans meets a returning crowd .

A WORKMAN : Hi, you people ! The prophet promised topass through the flames of a pyre to confound hi s slanderers;has he done i t ?

A CITIZEN : He ? My word,no !

ANOTHER ARTISAN : What he has not ? So theFranciscans have l ied ?SECOND CITIZEN : No t at al l . F ranciscans and Fathersof San Marco hurled taunts at each other from a safe distance,and neither s ide, after a day of debates, has ventured tor i sk the fire, as they boasted loudly they would . I have beenwaiting s ince this morning with many others to see the s ightMy opinion is that we are duped . Fra Girolamo i s not worthmuch .

A WEAVER : I begin to think so , too .

A WOMAN : Much good it did to forb id dancing . I havebeen tel l ing you for some t ime past, he is nothing but ahypocrite !A BAKER : I ’m going in to supper;I snap my fingers at al lthe monks in the universe .

Th e Pa la zzo Vecchio .—Counc i l chamber.—Th e Gonfa lonier;th e E igh t .

THE GONFALONIER : Fra Girolamo w a s altogetherw rong in putt ing himself forward as he has done i n this

76

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

PRlORS Certa inly , certa inly . There are good points a bo utthe suggest ion .

Th e country ne a r Flo rence—Th e Arno in th e ba ckground;mea dow s

a nd trees .

A YOUNG ENGRAVER This new work o fAlbrecht DurerI fi nd very absorbing ! I fear that w e I tal ians cannot yetmake the most of Finiguerra

’

s invention . Yet i t is the gloryo f the Florent ines ! I w il l study the German manner;I willd iscover its processes, a nd i f I don

’t do better, or at least qui tea s well. I shall d ie of despai r.

FLORENCE .

Th e convent of Sa n Ma rco .—Th e ch o ir o f th e church .

-A grea t crowd ,

wh ere in most of th e men a re a rmed;monks , likew ise a rmed;FraG iro lamo , Fra S i lvestre , Fra Sa cromoro , Fra Buonv icini , Francesc oVa lori , Luca degli Albiz z i, Ve spuccio .

FRA GIROLAMO Calm yourselves, my brothers ! mychildren ! I t is the moment for showing yourselves intrepid !DO no t let yourselves be a prey to fear, noth ing is in danger !FRA SACROMORO : Res t assured , my Father ! we shallal l d ie rather than abandon you.

FRA GIROLAMO I t is God whom you must serve, not me .

FRA SILVESTRE : What mean those howls ?FRA BU ONVICINI The enemy is enter ing the church . Aterrible mo b ! Brutal faces !LUCA DEGLI ALBIZ Z I Don

’t le t us l ose a minu te . F raG irolamo

,give the order to load !

FRA GIROLAMO Can you think of such a th ing ? In theLord’s temple !LUCA DEGLI ALBIZ Z I : Are yo u j e sting ? Is i t better tobe massacred ? Let us attack before they attack us, and Ipromise you w e shall stil l be the stronger .FRANCESCO VALORI Fo rmercy’s sake , Messer Luca, nomadness ! Restrain yoursel f ! The Medic i’s supporters wil lnot fail to say that w e are provoking them . Let us showourselves generous .

78

SAVONAROLA

LUCA DEGL I ALBIZ Z I : Show yourselves blockheads !The chill of cowardice is creeping over you, and you are notsorry to cal l that disease p rudence . Go ! go ! you are lost ! Ihave no

'

desire to del iver my bones to these wretches, and I amleaving Florence;le t them come to my house, and they willget a shower of arquebusades there ! Farewell ! Let thosewho have warm blood in their ve ins be marching !

Draws hi s sword ex it, surrounded by his friends.SEVERAL VOICES : We follow you ! we follow you !

D isch arge of musketry . A man comes up running .

THE RUNNER : F ra G irolamo ! Where i s F ra G irolamo ?FRA GIROLAMO Here I am !THE RUNNER : The Signiory banish you ! the Com

pagna cci bring you the order ! Oh, my God ! my God ! Theirone des i re is to murder you ! They are mo re than e ighthundred ! more than three thousand ! They are running up !

They have j ust k illed two men ! Here they are ! Hideyourself ! save yourself !FRA GIROLAMO (to the monks): To your cell s, brothers !

I f die one must, i t is there ! O Florence ! F lorence '

Grea t uproa r, th e w omen sh ri ek and fly into th e ch a pe ls. Th eCompagna cci a nd th e Arra bbia ti fire th eir cross- bows, sh out andbe la bour th e crowd .

A COMPAGNACCO : Be off, you scum ! The S ignory confisca te s all th e property of laymen who remain here !FRANCESCO VALORI (to his offi cer): I s th is true, sir ?OFFICER : Absolutely t rue ! The E igh t have no otheridea than to restore order

,and I advi se you to withdraw .

VALORI So you wish to kill Fra G irolamo ?THE OFFICER On the contrary

,we wish for peace, and to

that end w e are separating the combatants .FRA SACROMORO I t’s a scandal .A COMPAGNACCO : Hold your tongue

,fat monk

,or I’l l

r ip your guts out !FRA GIROLAMO The crowd is overpowering us . Let usgo into the Cl o isters .

79

TI IE RENAISSANCE

FRA SACROMORO : Le t us ring the bell s to warn ourpeople .

VALORI : l entreat you,do nothing of the sort ! Be

moderate ! Be calm ! Be self- restrained ! I’

l l run and urgethe Priors to pu t an end to al l th is .

FRA BUONVICINI : Let us defend ourselves ! To arms !

Th e monks w i th di ffi culty dra g Fra G iro lamo into th e convent a nd

c lo se th e do ors . Figh ting in th e church .

A di la pida ted , ba re ly furnish ed room .—Ser Berna rdo Nerli;h is w i fe , a

s ick ch i ld sleeping in a cra d le .

SER BERNARDO : Eight soldi for a will and four soldi forthe grant;that makes tw elve soldi . Add seven deniers forthe old yellow coat I have j ust sold, that gives us twelve soldi,seven deniers .WIFE : I think the child is less feverish .

SER BERNARDO : May heaven hear you , my love !Yes, he i s not so red . I resume ! Twelve soldi, sevendeniers ! Then, too , our neighbour the tailor h a s promisedme a measure of corn for the sonne t which I have to givehim thi s evening

,on the occasion o f h is niece’s betrothal .

WIFE : It’

s a piece of great good fortune;and we stil l havehal f the quarter of k id left .SER BERNARDO : I think then we may consider ourselvesra ised above penury .

WIFE : But I said so yesterday;I sho uld have no anxie ty, i fonly the l i ttle one . were better !SER BERNARDO : Oh , my dearest ! May God preserve him to us !

Arquebusa des a re h eard .

When w il l they have ended their d in,those ruffians ! Fra

G i rolamo and h is adversaries, I shou ld l ike to see them in thehottest of hell s ! So long a s they exist, there will be no meansof earning a l ivel ihood !WIFE : Ah

,you’re right indeed ! Instead of preaching and

talk ing so much , they’d do better to let us work !

80

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

Th e interior of th e convent of Sa n Ma rt a—Th e C loisters;th e monk.Fra G irolamo;th e h owling mob inva des th e courtya rd .

FRA GIROLAMO : What do they want ?FRA BUONVICINI : To take you ! I will not leave yours ide .

FRA GIROLAMO : But what harm have I done them ?They loved me yesterday ! No matter ! Res ist, my children !FRA SACROMORO : Enough of imperil l ing the convent .Y ou are our shepherd;the good shepherd gives his l i fe forhis flock .

FRA GIROLAMO : Yes ! you are right . I will go to mydeath . Ungrateful people, what do you want ?AN OPTIM IST : The Signiory merely asks you to giveyourself up . We don’t intend doing you any harm .

A h a i l of stones is th rown a t Fra G iro lamo .

A COMPAGNACCO (strik ing him with hi s fist): Prophesywho is s trik ing you !ANOTHER : There ! Take thi s k ick

,too l

A th ird tw ists his fingers h e utters a cry

A WOMAN : Ah, the coward, h e’

s crying !AN ARRABBIATO : Come along ! The E ight are ask ingfor you !FRA GIROLAMO : I ’m coming ! Don’t inj ure my brothers !Ah

,Florence ! All is over !

A room in th e Pa la zzo Vecch io .—Th e commissa ri es of th e Pope , Romo l ino ,

a nd Fa th er Torria no , genera l of th e Dominicans th e Gonfa lonierPiero Popo leschi .

POPOLESCHI : We have done al l for the best, and wehope that H is Hol iness will be sat isfied .

ROMOLINO : That remains to be seen .

POPOLESCHI : We have had Fra Girolamo condemned tothe stake and to be hanged afterwards . What more do youwant ? His two acolytes, F ra S ilvestre and Fra Buonv icini,wil l suffer the same penalty . Not gentle measures ! F inal ly,the chief P iagnoni are either exiled or fined;PagolantonioSoderini i s fined three thousand florims , and Ser Niccolo

82

SAVONAROLA

Machiave lli, who i s as poor as Job, two hundred and fifty.

I do not know what more can be expected of us .ROMOLINO : You have taken some time to atone for yourerrors

,S ignor Gonfalonier.

POPOLESCHI : What do you expect ? We had to pleasethe people and howl with the wolves . When the windchanged, we were del ighted to go in the right direct ion, and

yo u see what we have done.

ROMOLINO : I t’s not so bad . Now,to work ! We are

charged with examining your way of procedure in F raGirolamo’s trial , but, whatever we find out, we shall make agood fire, because I bear with me the condemnat ion . Bringin the witnesses .

Th e monks of San Ma rco a re brough t in.

Good—day,good - day, my Fathers . You know w hat tne culpr i t

has dared . Y ou have seen him at work . Explain yourselves .I s he justly condemned ? I a sk the one who h a s been po intedout to me a s the most honest . Father Malatesta Sa cromoro ,come forward !FRA SACROMORO : Monsignore, for seven years we havebel ieved what Fra Girolamo taught . He was our V icarGeneral . He abused his: authori ty over our minds .ROMOLINO : At any rate

,you are thoroughly convinced

of that,from now on ?

FRA SACROMORO : Profoundly .

ROMOLINO : This i s a worthy man . So, my friend, youcons ider the counts of the indictment perfectly authentic .

FRA SACROMORO : Certainly, Monsignore .

ROMOLINO : In your opinion, i t is with reason that FraG irolamo and h is accompl ices have been condemned by thejustice temporal ?FRA SACROMORO : I see no obj ection .

ROMOLINO : I commend your candour and the sp ir i t oftruth that animates you . Withdraw, my friend;l et theculprits be brought in .

Th e so ldiers bring Fra Giro lamo, Fra Si lvestre, a nd Fra Buonv icini,bound with cords

83

THE RENAISSANCE

ROMOLINO : Fra G irolamo , you are awa re that your most

reverend General and myself represent H is Hol iness, the Pope,

here,and that we are suffic i ently cognisan t of all your impos

tu res . It w ou ld avail you noth ing to tel l us falsehoods . Make

a ny statement you w ish in your defence .

FRA GIROLAMO For seven years I have preached in thisc i ty. I have done my best to establ ish in i t moral i ty and the

love of God. I may often have been mistaken . I am only a

poor human being, and as such I have erred but I have aimedat noth ing but good .

ROMOLINO Y ou are impudent ! Y ou have l ied l ike a

dev il ! Your own deposi tions bear witness to that, and i t i s anexcess of insolence to come here and use such language a s

you do !

FRA GIROLAMO My flesh is weak and does no t support

my soul . I confess i t wi th tears : I have s inned agains t tru th

in dec laring on the rack what is not true . I am unable toendure torture . But I disavow the w ords wrenched from me

by pain .

ROMOLINO : Come, come, we are not your dupes ! Whatyou confessed is our prOperty ! We bel ieve it ! You areacting a part now !

FRA BU ONV ICINI : I t i s you who are insulting a saint !

God will punish you !

FRA GIROLAMO : Alas,my toil, my pain, my labour, my

des ire to do good,have profited nothing ! I wished to save

the faith I have failed ! My il lusions are shattered . I have

followed w i l l - o ’- the -w isps . Better that I should die—I have

long yearned for death .

ROMOLINO : This i s past al l bearing ! Let th is obstinate

man be put to the torture again, otherwise he wil l do’

nothing

but contradic t u s .Th e torturers se i ze Fra G iro lamo .

84

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

FRA GIROLAMO : My friend, my son, forget no t that wehave nothing to do save what is the will o f Him Who i s inthe heavens !FRA SILVESTRE : I wil l address this misguided mob !FRA GIROLAMO : No ,

S ilvestre, i f you love me, not asyllable ! Poor Florence ! Poor I taly ! I wouldhave given so much to save them ! Why do they make uswai t l ike this ?CAPTAIN GIOVACCHINO : I t

’

s that brute the B i shop of

Vaison , w ho , instead o f coming to degrade you , a s he ischarged to do, goes on chatt ing with the commissaries !

Th e crowd before th e sta ke and th e gibbets.—Popula ce, monks, c itizens,

women, chi ldren.

A MAN : He was roundly tortured,the vil la in !

A WOMAN : What did they do to him ?A MAN : He received the strappado more than six t imes .That’s tough—what ? He

’

s broken in every l imb.

A CHILD Well done !A MERCHANT Y ou l i t tle rascal, they ought to do th e sameto you for having broken the mirrors in my shop a fortnightago .

THE CHILD : Oh,I wa s told to break them,

and so I brokethem !AN OLD WOMAN : The child’s r ight ! We’ve al l beenbefooled by th is brute, who condemned us to fast from oneyear’s end to another !AN ARTISAN : What fools we were ! Ah

,he’s cl imb ing

up the ladder ! There he i s at the top ! Aren’t theygoing to burn him al ive ?A GIRL : I hope they are . Tell me, s ignor sold ier, isn

’t heto be burnt ?THE SOLDIER : He’ll be hanged first, my pretty lass .THE GIRL : Oh, what a pi ty ! I

’ve come such a long wayto see the s ight ! Thank you, signor soldier.

86

Laugh ter.

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

only h is shirt ! Is i t done ? Good ! And now,Savonarola,

I sever you from th e Church mil i ta nt and the Churchtriumphant !SAVONAROLA : That last a c t is beyond your power !THE BISHOP : Have h is accompl ices been stripped ?FRA SEBASTIANO : Y e s

,Mons ignor , here they are in their

sh irts, l ike h im .

THE B ISHOP : He shall se e them execu ted . Hangmen , toyour workFRA SILVESTRE : I n mam/5 M a s , Domina "

He is h anged .

BUONV ICINI : My turn, is i t not ? Farewell , F ra Girolamo !SAVONAROLA : Farew ell for a moment, you mean .

Buonv icini is h anged .

THE BISHOP : And now for you, arch - heretic !Savonaro la looks a t th e crowd th e execut ioners se i ze h im.

IN THE SQUARE .

A CITIZEN (to h is w ife): I t wa s rather a fine ceremonyimposing, even ! But I th ink i t

’s go ing to rain . Let’sgo home .

THE WIFE : Yes,my love , le t

’s go home . I ’m afraid Imight catch cold .

Messer N icco lo Ma ch iave lli ’s h ouse—A room;Ma ch iave l l i is sitting a t

a ta ble covered w i th pi les o f books a nd papers—I t is evening.Twi ligh t .

MACHIAVELLI : Poor G i rol amo ! So they havefinished w i th h im ! They tracked him down for years, andat last they have run him to earth surrounded taken

killed him ! I t was the only possible ending ! Th e

man l ived in a dream ! He had buil t up for hims el f, fromh is earl iest years, a poem of rel igion , purity, honour, wisdom,

uprightness . Because he imagined the real isation of al l thesegood and beauti ful fancies to be possible, he took i t for

Into th y h ands, 0 Lord—Tr.88

SAVONAROLA

granted, and did not see that the less the world knows of suchthings, the more i t talks about them . Poor Girolamo !

Because he was innocent of all excess ive passions, neither agambler, nor a l ibertine, nor a mi ser, nor a spendthrift, nor acoxcomb, nor a clown, he thought the human beings aroundh im perfectly capable of r idding themselves of al l evil , and itnever even entered h is head that the greater part of his fel lowcitizens

,if not almost al l ye s, my God ! we may a s well say

all, with a few exceptions are h ewn l ike the idols of theMoab ites

,with eyes that se e no t and ears that hear no t. There

is no r isk at al l in displaying to them at le isure the wholestock of virtues . They wil l never understand w hat i t al lmeans, and will end by laughing l ike boob ies . PoorG i rolamo ! To suppose that puri ty is anything but a mereabstract ion , a spec ial attr ibute o f some few isolated souls !And in consequence o f this blunder, of this most seriousblunder, he tried to establ ish in our m idst the reign o f

peace, l iberty and justice, for which we are paying by civi lw a r, v iolat ion of rights, massacres, blood on the pavements ofthe streets, and your own death, Savonarola, and, what is more ,the certain return of the Medici ! This is the result of lay ingdow n false premisses and bl inding oneself to the true natureof men . Hapless creatures ! For myself

,I have never

been more clear - s ighted , and I now bid an everlast ing farewell to the il lus ions by which I w a s once spellbound . For awhile my combinat ions of l ib erty and order led me astrayP iero Sode rini had a juster v is ion . I stand correc ted . Bu thenceforth , in the name of heaven ! what must w e aim at ?

Is our poor I taly condemned to bear for ever the yoke of

petty despots and street - corner tyrants ? Is sh e a defencelessprey to the attacks of pi tiless foreigners ? Can one no t

conce ive for her, w i thou t being gu il ty of fool ish ideal ism ,

some higher fate than the shamefu l o rgies in which weare w al low ing ? I taly

,I taly, mother o f so many great men ,

hearth o f so many fires,rallying - point o f so ma ny forces !

I f among the ruffians w h o drench us every day with blood there

89

THE RENAISSANCE

were only a Sull a, an Octavius—in t imes of tumult, in epochsof convulsion l ike ours, such strokes of luck are normal , theyare a part o f the inev i table ! Now who could be thatMahomet that Tamerlane that robber Saviour ? ASforza ? No ! they are empty sepulchres AGonzaga ! Stil l less ! A Malatesta A Bagl ione

. A Bentivogl io . . To lord i t over a c i ty by means of afew dozen cu t throats

,they have no loftier ideal than that !

To murder , poison , betray, r ise , fal l . that is the ir lot !Always the same game . But in the midst o f th is insolen tand ferocious gang, I mark one nevertheless He is awhole head taller than the rest . He h a s other and higheraims . He is no less perverse;he wants infinitely more, andthat is an enormous advantage ! What a singular and formidable being ! Shrewd and cunning as the dragon , treacherousas the leopard, amb itious a s the eagle , he is not afraid of

shouting aloud in the face of our terror - stricken intriguersAut Ce sa r, ( tut nih il f

’f I shou ld no t be surprised if throughall these crimes, and on th e bleeding mass of disasters heapedup by the murderous recti tude of Girolamo , we w ere some daysaved by the corrupt cleverness and audacity of Cesare Borgia !But wh a t a noise ! Oh , it

’

s noth ing . I t’s Monna Marietta,my wife She is scolding the ma id . I am going out so

as to avoid being scolded myself;I have other matters toconsider.

END OF THE FIRST PART

E ith er Ce sa re or noth ing—Tr.

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

CESENA .

rso z .

Th e esplana de be fore th e c ita de l .—Tents;m ilita ry boo th s;French a nd

I ta lian men-a t -a rms.—Don Mich e le , ca ptain of a dventurers a nd

intima te Of Don Cesa re Borgia , ch a tt ing w ith Mgr. Burch a rd , ma ste r

of ceremonies to th e Pope . Th ey a re wa lking up a nd down, th e irh a nds beh ind th eir ba cks .

DON MICHELE : While our master d ic tates his dispatches,let us withdraw, and I will inform you of w hat H is Hol inessdesires to know .

MGR . BURCHARD : We may a s well stay here. TheseFrenchmen do no t understand a w ord of w hat we are saying .

DON MICHELE : You are right . We must no t look toomuch a s i f w e w ere seeking sol i tude and harbouring mysteries .

MGR . BURCHARD : Don Cesare seems lost,hopelessly lost !

H is condottieri , leagued against him ,have taken his strong

holds one after another ! The Duchy o f Urbino is in revol t;the former prince h a s been rece ived with acclamations by thevery

‘ people who so j oyfully hailed hi s departure . In a word,the worst ha s befallen you;you cannot extricate yourselffrom th e to ils . Such is our view at Rome .

DON MICHELE Y o u forget a fundamental po int . Whencecomes our strength ?MGR. BURCHARD : Ah, you w i l l tel l me that Alexander VI .is behind you

,that you are supported by h is hand . But

cons iderDON MICHELE : One w ord only ! Alexander VI . madeus a cardinal;w ho made us a prince ?MGR . BURCHARD : Lou is XII . , King of France;but hei s w i thholding h is protec t ion from you , turning against you ,even threatening you,

we hear .DON MICHELE Y ou fail to go beneath the surface . Whydid Lou i s XI I . show us favour ?MGR . BURCHARD : Because of the Cardinal d’

Ambo ise .

DON MICHELE Admirable ! We promised d’

Ambo ise thesuccess ion to Alexander;we are stil l promis ing that . Bes ides,

93

THE RENAISSANCE

we are useful peo ple;our services have some weight, and, togo no further, the recent expedit ions to the M ilanese and toNaples are our work . God be praised, we proved at the sackof Capua that we were men o f energy !MGR. BURCHARD : The deuce you did ! You sparednoth ing. But your happiness has withered l ike the grass ofthe fields;se e how i t i s mown down by the very hand thatsowed the seed .

DON MICHELE : You are mistaken . I have j ust come backfrom Milan with my Lord . Our affairs are se t in order againwe are in higher favour than ever;my Lord spoke and actedso skilfully that there was no chance of be ing hard on us forour l i ttl e peccadilloes.MGR. BURCHARD : The Pope wil l be del ighted with thisnew s

,but i t should have come sooner. There i s nothing left

for you to save . While you were quenching the flames on ther ight, they gained ground on the left and consumed everyth ing.

DON MICHELE : Come,come

,Monsignor Burchard, don

’talw ays look on the seamy s ide of things l ike thi s !

MGR. BURCHARD : Your strongholds taken or in revolt !

DON MICHELE : Well, we shall re - take them .

MGR . BURCHARD : How ? Y ou have no more troops . TheOrs ini, the Duke of Grav ina with Pagolo , had hired you outtheir companies now they have changed sides and, from thatvery cause

,here you are at loggerheads with al l their house !

DON MICHELE : I t’s a nuisance . We shall have our work

cut out . Above all, I regre t Vitello z z o Vitell i;he is a greatwarrior ! Nor do I console myself more eas ily for the defect ion

of Olivero tto da Fermo . But al l the same, I repeat, nothing

i s lost .

MGR . BURCHARD You are not unaware that the Venet ians

have declared against you ?

DON MICHELE : I know it only too well .

MGR.BURCHARD : The Aragonese are about to a ttack you

DON MICHELE : That we must expect .

94

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

CESARE BORGIA

MGR BURCHARD : You have not a ducat left, and the HolyFather is not in a position to make you any advance .DON MICHELE : We can, however, find ways and means bypromises .MGR. BURCHARD : The Florentines wil l not fail to j oinforces with your opponents .DON MICHELE : There you are mistaken . A secretary ofthe S igniory has j ust arrived . When men negotiate, they donot strike .

MGR . BURCHARD : Holy Madonna ! Have you seen th iss ecretary ?DON MICHELE : I received h im mysel f and shook handswith him . He is no phantom created by hope, but really oneof our friends, Messer N iccolo Machiavell i .MGR. BURCHARD : I am del ighted to hear i t ! But inreal i ty

,nothing can avail you,

I se e you are too far gone !DON MICHELE : Allow me to show you things in a lessgloomy light.MGR . BURCHARD : You are certainly coolness incarnate,but I doub t whether the Pope considers you infall ibl e .

DON MICHELE : I f,l ike you , I only took into account the

goodw i l l of Louis XI I . , the hundred lances furnished by thatworthy Mgr . de Candalle—whom I see over there eat ing hisclove of garl ic l ike the true Gascon he is—the handful ofI tal ian companies that remain to us

,the shifty diplomacy o f the

F lorentines and other odds and ends, I should perhaps shareyour anx i e ty . Bu t you do no t se e , no , you do not grasp withboth hands , a s I do, our anchor of salvat ion !

MGR . BURCHARD And what is that ?

DON MICHELE : What i s i t ? The indomi table energyof the D uke of Valentino is . So long a s I se e h im calm ,

sel fpossessed , unbending, te rribl e, I cannot feel the sl ightest doub tor fear .

MGR . BURCHARD : Don Cesare is a mighty brain,I admi t.

He has resources ! There is certainly a great range in hi sa stuten ess .

95

THE RENAIS SANCE

DON MICHELE Better s til l , in h is fearlessness ! And thatis a contagious virtue which he is able to insp ire in his friends .MGR BURCHARD : A subtle pol i t ic ian he is—the subtles tof the subtle ! I grant you the tru th of that . But al l thesame, h is affai rs are going badly, so badly that he woul dperhaps be better adv i sed to take refuge in Rome than toattempt th e struggle against fate . That is the proposal I amcharged by H is Holiness to make .

DON MICHELE : Mention i t to h im, and in hi s smil e youwil l read the mean ing of scorn ! So long a s he stays upright,no shipwreck is poss ib le . Bu t if you trust me, le t us end our

walk and go in again . The Duke might notice our absence,and he is no lover of as ides .MGR . BURCHARD : I think you are right . When he isuneasy, he become s, li ke the Pope, susp icious and dangerouseven towards his fr i ends .

In a h ouse of th e town—A room serving a s a study .—Don Cesa re

Borgia,Duke of Va lentinois, is sea ted a t a ta ble w ith dispa tch es a nd

letters.

DUKE (loudly): Admit S ignor Machiavel l i ! Welcome ,Messer N iccolo ! What new s from Florence ?MACHIAVELL I : Nothing but good, my lord.

DUKE : I am glad to h ear i t. Are you t ired after yourj ourney, or would you rather tel l me at once the obj ect of yourmission ? I have pressing business which compel s me to loseno t ime .

MACHIAVELL I : With your Highness’ permiss ion , I wil llay before you the message I am charged to b ring .

DUKE I wil l l is ten .

MACHIAVELLI : My lord,while you were at M ilan wi th

Louis XI I .DUKE : I will te ll you beforehand that the k indnessespromised me from that quarter vanished l ike Smoke before myexplanations .

MACHIAVELLI S til l your Highness had left in your Sta tes

96

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

r idicu lous to th e last degree , noth ing less ! This rais ing ofshields i s so impotent ihat , I confess to you , I never thoughtfor the moment that I was in the sl ightest per i l .MACHIAVELL I : The Signiory has not looked on thingsin quite the same l ight as your Highness . I t ha s seen thatyou are henceforth w ithout troops;that your captains, indetaching themselves from you, leave you disarmed , totallyd isarme d;that your men , who have only belonged to youfor a few months, qui t you w i thout a pang and even

,in some

places, w i th unconcealed joy . Y ou are in the good books ofthe French;you tellme so , I bel ieve i t, and moreover I haveseen troops of the ir nation h ere abo-uts marching with yours .H i s Hol iness, too, will not fail you , that i s qui te p robable, ye tperhaps he wil l find i t al l he can do to defend his own sel f inRome agains t the agitations of the Ors in i and the V i tel l i . Youthink you are on friendly terms with the Germans and evenwi th the Aragonese;that i s in any case quite a novel ty, andwe might have reasons for be ing of a different opin ion . Andsurely, my lord, suppose that your captains, instead of losingthe i r t ime in parleys in the Perugian country, in arguing,counter- argu ing and talking wildly—if Pagolo , Vitello z z o ,

Olivero tto , the Gravina, the Pe trucch i, the Bagl ion i and therest had simply seized your person while you were alone,undefended , off your guard at Imola, i t i s not e asy to see howyou would have freed yourself from the imbrogl io . This i sthe v i ew taken at F lorence, and thi s is why i t was thoughtthat our help would not be inopportune but i f the fri endshipof our noble s ignors has taken a wrong road here and h a stroubled i tsel f to no purpose, you wil l surely excuse the actfor the intent ion .

DUKE We will talk with absolute openness ! Noth ing couldbe more acceptable to me than your coming, and you will thankthose who sent you on my behal f. At Imola the other davI was not so

'

embarrassed as you appear to imagine . Bel ieveme

,I had more than one string to my bow . I possessed not

only the means o f saving mysel f, but the certainty of triumph .

98

CESARE BORGIA

The s ituation,however, I wil l not deny, was in some respe cts

othe r than I could have wished From now onw ards all haschanged The arbiter, the master, i s myself ! My dearMachiavell i, do you wish a proj ect to come to grief ? Thenhave i t carr ied out by a coal i t ion . All a single indiv idual’sconcentrat ion of will i s only j ust enough to accompl ish thatd iffi cul t th ing, an action . Now they have formed a party toplot against me my advantage over them is that I have onlymyself to decide on my l ine of defence . Here I am at thehead of a strong body of I tal ian cavalry, which they have givenme t ime to get together, o f five hundred French lancers whichthey have given me time to summon, and, what is far moreprecious, I have the friendship of the Florentines which theyhave given t ime to r ipen . You are no t rescuing me

,cer

ta inly, but you are serv ing me at a most suitable juncture .

MACHIAVELLI : The noble S igniory will cons ider the

punishment of the perjurors as w ell - earned, however severe i tmay b e .

DUKE : There is no quest ion of anything of that sort. Insome cases , clemency i s imperative . Not that one can haveany scruple about punishing notorious trai tors and murderers

l ike V itello z z o and Oliverotto I taly is welter ing in blood from

their crimes . Nevertheless,my intentions are most concil ia

tory. Bautista ! Y e s. Conduct the S ignor Secretaryto my Chamberlain . Let him be given good lodging and all

that he can des ire . Messer N iccolo i s my particular friend .

BAUTISTA : Yes,your Highness .

MACHIAVELL I : You overwhelm me with k indness,my

lord .

DUKE : Farew ell .

DUKE (alone) Those Florentines ! They are most t imelyin coming to my aid ! Bu t if I do not take care

, they willsoon have tw isted their service into a halter to s trangle meat the proper place and time . The ir sudden friendship is only

99

THE RENAISSANCE

the outcome of their hatred towards the O rsin i . They cons ider me less sol id and therefore less dangerous than thatancient house . A mushroom has no roots and never growsso high as an o ak. and they take me for a mushroom !From this day forth I shall have to distrust Florence morethan I ever d id ! Ho

,Giova n-Maria !

GIOVAN -MARIA : What is your H ighness’ pleasure ?DUKE : Go and se e where Don M ichele and Mgr. Burchardare . Ask them to come and speak to me.GIOVAN -MARIA : The two gentlemen are awaiting yourgood pleasure .

DUKE : Then let them come in !Enter Don Mich e le and Mgr. Burch ard .

Our affairs are going better, but no t so wel l that the dangerdoes not continue to be tremendous .MGR. BURCHARD : The F lorentines have sent an envoy toyour Highness . Are you assured in that quarter ?DUKE : Suffic iently;and on that foundation we are go ing tobuild . Y ou, Bu rchard, go straight to Bologna;do not returnto Rome to the Holy Father until I send you back . AtBologna, you will find out what might induce GiovanniBentivogl io to break off from the league . You, Michele, willgo to the condott ieri, and here are the instructions whichI had just wri tten when this Florentine arr ived. You will notfai l to dazzle the ir eyes with the new all iance, and you willmake all the use you can of this weapon .

DON MICHELE : I will do my best, your Highness .DUKE : Both of you wil l wri te to me as soon a s you havesucceeded in merely gaining a hearing. An adversary whodiscusses i s not resolute . He must be put down sooner orlater. Go ! I f I w eather this storm , the most v iolent thath a s ever assailed me, I shall remain master of all the Romagna .

DON MICHELE : No,my lord , of all I taly !

DUKE : Pos sibly . I really cannot say which would pleaseme better—to re ign over so fair an empire, to drive out everys ingle one of these wretched Gaul ish and German barbarians

lOO

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

CESARE BORG IA

or to hang these dukes, princes and podestas o f the anci entmould. Fools that they are, they have not an inkl ing of thenecess i t ies of the new age ! They ri ddle me wi th th ei r insultsa s a Spanish bu l l is r iddled by the banderil los !DON MICHELE : All happiness will come to you at ones troke, perfect a s heavenly bl i ss ! I k iss your Highness’

hands .

MGR . BURCHARD And I, too .

DUKE Go ! Nei ther of you spa re the couriers !

S INIGAGLIA .

Th e condo tti eri’

s camp—Th e tent of th e counci l of w a r. Around a la rge

ta ble a re se a ted Vitello z z o V itelli, Oli v erotto da Fermo , S ignor P aga lo

Orsini , th e Duke of Gra v ina, capta ins of a dventurers.

GRAVINA Peace ! No quarrell ing ! We have all beenr igh t, we have all been w rong, and myself the first . We oughtto have taken Cesare w hen w e had h im in our power at Imola

,

and killed h im . But to spl i t now would be an e ven greaterblunder .PAGOLO (striking the table with h is fis t): And I , I tel l youthat nothing is even compromised ! By God ! we command tenthousand soldiers , and a few sorry French lancers won’tfrigh ten a man o f my house .

OLIVEROTTO : I am of your opin ion;I occupy theadvanced posts w i th my company, five hundred horse and athousand archers . Let the Borgia th ink of test ing me

,he’ll

have a w arm w elcome !VITELLOZ Z O These are fine t i rades

,but the cold truth is

that w e have done noth ing of what w e schemed . TheV alentino is is al ive , and he ought to be rott ing at this momentunder six fee t o f earth . Bu t he i s no t ! We have talkedinstead of acting, and our enemy is l aughing at us . TheBentivogl io

,w h o promised us h is aid

,turns a deaf ear;

Gu idubaldo accepts congratu lations at Urbino, and doesnoth ing

.The Florentines have not even sent us an answer .

For my part,I assu re you , I prophesy a very black future !

1 0 1

THE RENAISSANCE

FAGOLO : Shall I be frank ? You weary me with yourj eremiads . When free - lances have the ir cuirass on their backand the ir sword at their s ide, such doleful looks are contemptible .

VITELLOZ Z O : All your v iolence and bragging does no talter th e real posi tion in the sl ightest. When you are hanged,broken on the wheel, or poisoned, much good your rash valourwill have done you !GRAVINA Peace, peace, my friends ! Would i t no t be betterto discuss, in perfec t calmness, what had bes t be done ?V ITELLOZ Z O (ri s ing and walking agitatedly across theroom, his hands raised to heaven): Heavens, how bl ind menare ! With what an impetus do they rush to their ruin ! Whatfrenzy has seized us, that we throw o urselves in all l ightnesso f heart into so il l - planned an enterprise ?OLIVEROTTO Bahl nothing was more reasonable ormore necessary. We are in the pay of the Valentinois, truebut with what obj ect ? He i s allowed to hold the lands wehave conquered

,l ands that we wish to occupy and to rule .

That is the view we have taken . We command our troops;they need pay

,which he suppl ies . Noth ing s impler ! But

w e are the real masters;I will not suffer him to give h ims el fairs of forgetting that and expect to play the monarch . That’sthe gist of the matter .PAGOLO : I agree . Y ou talk l ike a b ishop, Oliv erotto .

Money and pleasu re for our men , pleasure and money for us,and the whole world may go to the devil ! Captains of freelances must loo k for

,desire and put up with no other system .

OLIVEROTTO And we have a thousand times had

grounds to be angry at see ing th is Valentino is aim at h isinterests and not ours . What ? He wants to govern ? To playthe prince , the real pr ince ?V ITELLOZ Z O : I t

’

s certain that he cuts his officers’ throatswhen they plunder the peasant for themselves and no t for him .

PAGOLO H is officers—ye s, he is their master;but hedared to utter the most outrageous threats against me regarding

1 0 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

excellent gen tl emen . I am del ighted to see you all in suchfine fettl e .CAPTAINS : Thanks, Don Michele ! You are in the samecase , i t seems ?DON MICHELE : Oh

,much tormented

,I assure you ! S ince

you and he have appeared no longer to agree, my Lord i svery downcast and makes us lead a most melancholy existence .

PAGOLO : Plague take your Lord ! He’

s a man of no faith !

DON MICHELE : How so , pray ?PAGOLO : I s i t not clear that he wants to play the despot ?When he h a s made himself one with our aid, we shall have0 11 our hands all the powers o f I taly, while our most dangerousadversary will be the very man who, owing everyth ing tous, will make his peace at our expense ?DON MICHELE : As I did not come here to dandle youwith il lus ions, nor to reply at random to fanc i ed charges,le t us have method in our discuss ion

,I beg you . To begin

with you , S ignor Pagolo ,what is the meaning of your com

plaints ? I s not your pay issued regularly, even before itfa lls due ?

PAGOLO : I

DON MICHELE : Pardon me, my good, my worthy Pagolo !You shall soon answ er me as you w i sh, al l that you wish anda s length ily a s you please;but firs t, you must know whomyou have to deal w i th in me;that i s why I have to explainmysel f. I am a man who is frank , s incere, loyal;I amsimple, I indulge in no fine phrases. I swear i t by thegenuine love I bear you

,and by my eternal salvation,

w hich I hope not to lose ! Why then should I tel l you anything which i s no t scrupulously true ? Have confidence in me

,

al l four o f you, and let me speak to you from the fu lness ofmy heart ! No

,Pagolo , no, my comrade , the Duke h a s not

done you the sl ightest wrong;on the contrary, he hasfavoured and honoured you part icularly, and he does the sameto the houses of Ors in i and Vitell i . Accordingly

,what I say

in your case,I vouch for equally on behalf of these other

1 0 4

CESARE BORGIA

captains . So far a s the past i s concerned,you can make no

reproach agains t my mas ter.OLIVEROTTO : I beg a thousand pardons, Michele, butDON MICHELE : Pat ience, patience ! Let me finish ! Inthe past, I repeat, no shadow h a s crossed your path but whatof the future ? Ah, you fear the future ? You imagine theDuke so ambit ious to re ign alone that he might have occasionto ignore your services ?GRAVINA : That would no t be imposs ible .

VITELLOZ Z O I , for my part, should not be surpr i sed .

DON MICHELE : Well, I should be very much surpri sed ifhe did . Apart from all quest ions of ingratitude, i t would beso ri diculous and undiplomatic. Le t us consider . TheD uke i s supported by the French ?OLIVEROTTO : Supported ? I t i s they who created himfrom th e sl ime, as God created Adam !DON MICHELE Yes, but what d id Adam do ? He at onceplotted against God, because we never love our creator he istoo humil iating a master. Do you understand that ?

VITELLOZ Z O : To defend himself against the French , hereckons on the Pope .

DON MICHELE And does he also reckon on theimmortali ty o f the Pope ? Will Alexander VI . l ive for ever ?Do we guarantee you that ? No So , according to you,

whenhis Hol iness goes down to hi s grave , we are agreed to go andbu ry ourselves there too ? You are mistaken

,w e want to l ive

,

and in order to l ive and to reign,we reckon on you and

on no other !PAGOLO : This is someth ing new .

DON MICHELE : I am, perhaps , too open, and I beg you inany case not to repeat my w ords to the Va lentino is . Theymust remain between ourselves . What I tell you i s absolutelycorrect We des i re and w e seek no other friends bu t you !Because , to reveal to you al l that I th ink , there will a ssuredlycome a time when we shall have to break with th e Florentines

,

how ever w ell w e ma y stand with th em for the present .

1 0 5

THE RENAISSANCE

THE FOUR CAPTAINS (a ll together): What are yousaying ? You stand wel l with the F lorent ines ? Are youcerta inDON MICHELE : Why, one o f the ir secretaries, MesserN iccolo Machiavell i, i s with us at th is moment. I t i s easy to

prove i t to you , and .

FAGOLO : Why do youpause ? Come, Michele, no reticence !We have always been friends !DON M ICHELE : No ! I must not tell you what I had on

the t ip of my tongue . I le t myself go too far with you . Y ou

wil l not fail to repeat to the Valentino is someth ing of what Isay . However l i ttl e i t may be, i t w il l al ready be too much formy secur i ty . No let us change our l ine of discuss ion .

Don’t press me,I beg. I t i s my ru in you are compass ing .

Once more , a hundred times, no ! My fr iends, Iimplore you , let us come to an understanding ! I willrelate you one detail one only . You swear to meto be discree t ?THE FOUR CAPTAINS : On our honour and on al l theGospels !DON MICHELE : God ! How wrong I was to le t myselfgo ! From Messer N iccolo we learnt the proposals of

all iance you made to th e Florentines . They have sent theValentino is your very letters, and offer money and troops;they have wri tten to G iovanni Bent ivogl io that i f he shouldhave the misfortune to keep his w ord to you

,they would

at once take ac tion against h im. That i s what I confide toyou . You shall know no more , not if you ask me t illto -morrow . Besides

,all this i s most painful for me !

VITELLOZ Z O : I don’t see what i t i s that troubles you so .

The Bolognese,according to you, are betraying us;the

Florentines are Judases, you have at your heel s a wholeregiment of men - a t- arms;are you making game of us withyour airs and graces ?DON MICHELE : And in six months, what will become ofus ? There i s no doubt that, with so many opponents to

1 0 6

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

disposed to come to terms, would you have a reasonablepro posal to make to us ? I mean , a prOpo sal which wouldsecure o ur being sheltered , absolu tely, completely shelteredagainst the rancour of the most rancorous of men ?DON MICHELE I cannot imagine what r isk you could run ,being, as I se e , at the head of your own troops . You have nointention of parting with them, I suppose ?GRAVIN I : Certa inly no t ! But yo u have troo ps al so, andif, through misplaced confidence, w e le t ourselves be takenby surprise .

DON M ICHELE : In that case, I repeat, i t is we who shouldbe at the mercy of our foreigners, and I thought I had madeyou real ise how l ittle that was to our l iking. Then, too, whatyou have done h a s no t vexed the Duke so much as you seemto imagine. He did not think himself in great danger;heclearly perceived that you had spared him at Imola;besides ,he know s of old the hostil e feel ings of the F lorentines towardsyour famil ie s . At bottom, he looks upon your conduct as asheer piece of folly on the part bf honest bu t imprudentsoldiers . You are not obl iged, gentlemen, to be profound andfar- seeing s tatesmen . Do you want b igger pay, a br i ll iantcourt, gay ceremonies, good cheer ? Then come back to us;we receive you w i th open arms . Above all , don

’t cheri sh wildnot ions;you are not by a long way such culprit s as youfear ! Now , w hile you are making up your minds , Iconfess to you I sho uld l ike some supper.PAGOLO : I will take you to my quarters, i f you l ike .

DON MICHELE No,no, don

’t put yourself out for my sake .

Cont inue your del iberat ions;anyone wil l show me the way.

GRAVINA : Pagolo can accompany you. We shall have timeto speak of al l these matters this even ing or to -morrowmorning. Enough of bra in - rack ing for one s itt ing.

V ITELLOZ Z O : I must admit that my brain is bursting;Ican’t stand any more .

DON MICHELE : Ah , my dear s ignors, my friends , my goodfriends, you will not forget your promises, wil l you ? You will

1 0 8

CESARE BORGIA

not reveal to the Duke the indiscretions I have been guilty

of ? I le t my tongue run away with me, you know, ratherrashly, bu t without evil intention, Heaven is my witness !THE FOUR CAPTAINS : Rest assured, we shall tell

nothing, old fox !

CESENA.

Cesare Borgi a’

s study.—Th e Duke , severa l confidentia l a gents, couriers

a nd secreta ries. Some are ra pid ly writ ing dispa tch es, th e oth erssta nding up a round th eir ma ster.

DUKE : No post ?

A SECRETARY : N 0,your Highness, not yet .

DUKE : Let me know a s soon a s one arrives . We must loseno t ime . Antonio, are you ready ?ANTONIO : Y e s, your Highness, my horse i s at the door.DUKE : Go and v is i t for me the peasants of the Apennine .

Address yourself, for choice, to the Cerroni, and, among these,to the Ravagl i famil ies . I f the Rinaldi are w i l l ing to l istento yo u, you w il l of course rece ive them cordial ly;but I havemore hold over the others . In short, don

’t overlook anyone,and make me a s many friends as you can .

ANTONIO : Y e s, my lord .

DUKE Promise money, promise freedom ,promise above al l

vengeance and th e sacking of towns w hich , by not submitt ingat once , w ou ld compel me to take them by assaul t .ANTONIO : Y e s

,my lord . The peasant is very fond of

sacking tow ns .DUKE Let h im have his way . Take care to coax the baronswh o are popu lar with the country- folk

,and br ing over to our

s ide a s many a s you ca n .

ANTONIO I know them all , and i f I offer them the prospectof overthrow ing the free - lances .DUKE : Do your best, I give you a free hand . Go . Now

for you, Alfonso !ALFONSO : Here I am , my lord .

DUKE Go to Forll. I must win over the Guelph s th ere,and

,

1 0 0

THE RENAISSANCE

to that end , offer them my protection against the Ghibe ll ines.

As the latter are the s tronger , le t us attract to our s ide thosewh o a re most in need of al l iance . Y ou wil l do the same onyour w ay at Faenza and at Ravenna, but jus t the reverse atRimin i , where the Guelphs dominate . There you wil l workabove al l upon the Gh ibell ines . Now go ! You others, haveyou your instruct ions ?SEVERAL AGENTS : Y e s, my lord .

THE DUKE : Go then ! and succeed !Exeunt a gents .

Y ou,Martino, I will send you to U rbino . This i s what you

must do to have Guidubaldo killed or ban ished for me . Liste ncarefully.

On th e gla c is.—Th e French a rch ers and th e men-a t -arms play a t ninepins and lea p - frog.

A ma n-a t -a rms is w a lking with two a rch ers , a t th e same pla ce wh ereDon Mich e le a nd Mgr. Burch ard were wa lking.

MAN -AT-ARMS : I tel l you the Eyquem are one of thegood famil ies of Bordeaux

,and w hen the father bought th e

cas tle of Montaigne, everyone said : All the better, it’

s a

good stock ! ”

F IRST ARCHER : Yes, but no t one of th e first of th e town.

The Le stonna c are far more ancien t !

SECOND ARCHER : They may be anc ient, but the Colombiare stil l older . That’s what I always heard my father say .

THIRD ARCHER : I have nothing against that. I t seemsthat they had mayors and judges of their name in the time ofth e Engl ish rule !MAN -AT—ARMS : So I was assured . Those were goodtimes, those of the Engli sh ! The town paid no imposts,there was no salt - tax , and wine cost next to nothing.

SECOND ARCHER : Are you going to turn Engl ishmannow ?MAN -AT-ARMS : So help me God ! I should turn what I

1 1 0

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAIS SANCE

that no one but yourselves h a s the r ight to love the divineMuses and understand real beauty. I f this chain is not the

work of Robetta , w hich would greatly astonish me, I’l l wager

you my Venus, the mos t perfect picture of Guido of Bologna,a gainst you r glass o f Gu il laume of Marse illes, that it

’

s from

the w orkshop of Giovanni d i Goro !

DON MICHELE : The glass i s yours , for th is chain i s

actually by Robetta . We know at court how to choose th ings,you’ll admi t !

PAGOLO : How is Count Cast igl ione ?

DON MICHELE : S til l a loyal servant of the Orsini house .

PAGOLO We approve of h im for such sentiments . But I’m

ti red out. A whole day on horseback , v i si ting the guardhouses ! What a nuisance these misunderstandings are ! Let

us go to bed what say you ?

DON MICHELE What say I ? I’m nearly dropping off !

PAGOLO : I f you write to the Duke this evening,do not

fail to assure his Highness that he has been quite m isled as

regards me . No, after all , don’t tell h im anything !

I w ould no t have him imagine .

DON MICHELE : O h , you big ba by ! I’l l tel l h im you are

h is friend,a s he is yours . Good - night !

I I 2

CESARE BORG IA

CESENA.

Th e Valentinois’

study.-Don Cesare Borgia;Ma ch iave l li;Bautista .

BAUTISTA : A dispatch, my lord .

DUKE : Well,give i t me . Messer N iccolo, I do not wish

the Signiory of Florence to be ignorant of any detai l of my

dispute w i th my condottieri . This is what Don Michele wr ites .He gives th e d ispa tch to Ma ch iave lli , wh o rea ds it .

You se e that Pagolo Orsin i i s on the way to pacify and lead

back h is comrades . Vitello z z o res ists;st ill , he will go withth e others he w il l come l ike the others . I shal l havehim there , in my hands, Messer N iccolo, l ike the others !

MACHIAVELLI : I see clearly, you r Highness . He will

come—they wil l al l come . Every moment the ir hearts sink

lower, and their heads oh , their heads are already gone !

I se e that they propose that you shou l d j oin them so a s tomake war upon us .

DUKE : They don’t know what to invent next ! F ore

see ing my refusal , they offer . me a fresh comb ination .

MACHIAVELLI : To take S inigaglia and give i t you ?

DUKE : I shal l answ er by tell ing them to summon the place

to surrender and that I am coming to thei r aid, and I will go .

MACHIAVELLI : Have you enough fol lowers to be secure

in the hands of these men ?

DUKE : Enough follow ers ? I let them know (for i t w a s

they w ho w ere afraid) th at I w a s going to dismiss al l my

troops except M . de Canda lle’

s company and a smal l number

of I tal ian dragoons . I have kept my word . All left an hour

ago .

MACHIAVELL I : You are going to imperil yourself l ike

this, my Lord ?

DUKE : There are moments when the safest spot on earth

is in front of the l ion’s j aws ! Some day you will understand

that . Y ou are stil l young.

1 1 5

THE RENAISSANCE

MACHIAVELLI : I am cur ious to know what an air you

wil l assume towards these traitors .

DUKE Nothing but gentleness,Messer Niccolo, nothing but

clemency ! You smile ?

MACHIAVELLI : I am smil ing,your Highness, at the want

of agreement between the honey of your words and the fire

of your glances .

DUKE : Pol it ics are great matters, Messer Niccolo, and mustnot be faced l ightly. What is this , Bautis ta ?

BAUTISTA : A note, my lord .

DUKE (reading): Ah , ou r game is going well ! The

Bentivogl io offers me h is friendship and a family al l iance .

MACH IAVELLI All the same, Signor Giovann i i s not much

incl ined to domestic affect ions .

DUKE : He is a man o f ac tion . One night he had a fine

skirmish with a pack of Opponents : two hundred hounds at

a s ingle blow . That cannot fail to bring glory to a young

boar . But these men of the anc i ent famil ies always betray

the degenerate in some point or other . I t is not enough to

be able to stab or make others s tab . The Bent ivogl io l acks

brains,and h a s never been able to keep a coherent idea in hi s

head . See,he is breaking away from my free - lances !

MACHIAVELLI You have made good headway this week .

DUKE : Not bad ! Don’t l et us stop in the middle of theroad . Let us march straight, fi rmly and quickly. They are

sounding to horse . We shall star t a t once for S inigaglia .

MACHIAVELLI (pens ively): I t i s most probable most

probable those me n are mad enough to expect you .

DUKE What, expect me ? They’l l come to meet me, never

doubt ! Fate e ither leads man or drags h im . I have fooled

them twenty times, dece ived them a hundred times . They

know how l i ttle secondary considerations weigh with me .

Yet look at them ! How their reason totters more and more

1 1 4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TI IE RENAISSANCE

SIN IGAGLIA.

Th e tent o f th e Orsini .—Fa go lo , Vitelloz z o , V itelli .VITELLOZ Z O : The tow n is taken;but the castle w il l no tagree to surrender to anyone bu t the V alentino is in person .

Shal l I tel l you what I think ?

FAGOLO Y e s.

VITELLOZ Z O : The rogue of a Governor has been inst iga ted by the Duke h imself to take th is step . He has anunderstanding w i th the Borgia .

PAGOLO You scent tr ickery everywhere;perhaps you areright . But what are we to do ? S ince we have re turned tothe Borgia

’

s pay, we cannot discuss such matters .V ITELLOZ Z O : The resul t will be that having stipulatedwith M ichele that w e should remain in our cam p and he in his,we shall find ourselves under h is c laws—for he wil l certainlycome .

PAGOLO That i s clear. I console myself by reflect ing thatthis cri t ical s i tuation cannot last long. I confess I am anxiousI would rather know at once what course to take . I hope theDuke h a s none but good intentions .VITELLOZ Z O : What are the grounds for your hope ?

FAGOLO What leads you to think he wil l quarre l s traightaway with the four leading condottier i of I taly ? Our support,our protect ion is worth gold . Our heads

,once cut off, would

be worth nothing. Then , we have at our backs those twogreat, i llustrious, pow erful houses of the Vi tell i and the O rs ini,the most splendid in the Romagna, and therefore in the wholeworld . How many cardinal s

,bishops and lords are there

w hom it woul d do no good to provoke !

VITELLOZ Z O : Once I am murdered i t will matter l i ttl e tome whether the murderer has made a blunder.

FAGOLO Bah , rashness l i es in ant icipating everything ! Let

us swim: with the stream : with skil l we shall b e able to cutacross and reach the bank .

VITELLOZ Z O : I can only say that I feel sick at hear t.

1 1 6

CESARE BORGIA

PAGOLO Well,then i t is you who will d ie—not I , wh o have

confidence .

Trumpets—Enter Gravina , Oliv erotto a nd Don Mich e le .

GRAVINA : To horse ! Our squadrons are afoot .

PAGOLO What news ?GRAVINA : The Duke i s coming. His runners are already

in s ight .

V ITELLOZ Z O M ichele ! Michele ! You are betraying us ,you villain !DON MICHELE : What ? Betraying you ? Explain your

self, s ir . Is i t I that decides ?

OLIVEROTTO : He is right . Grav ina and I had the call

to horse sounded . As the castle wil l only surrender to the

Borgia,that explains why he comes . I t is an unforeseen

event, that is al l . Do you wish to be hemmed in between the

enemy and the master ?

VITELLOZ Z O : I do not know how things stand;I assureyou, I vow to you that we are lost . All my warnings havebeen unavail ing. The Troj ans would not bel ieve Cassandrae ither, nor the Jews their prophets .

OLIVEROTTO : The devi l take you ! You are speak ingto one who is experienced in ambuscades;was i t no t I whohad my uncle G iovanni Fogl iani and his c reatures killed whilethey

,poor fools, thought they were quietly si tt ing down to

supper wi th me ? You wil l go pol i tely to meet the Valentino is,

and I will stay before the town gate with my companies . I fanyone show s any s ign of l aying hands on you

,w e are by fa r

the stronger and—we shall see !

DON MICHELE : Nothing cou ld be pla iner. One must be

bl ind not to se e i t, and as soon as w e consent to such an

arrangement , you are bound to real ise that we act in good

faith .

PAGOLO : T rue . Come ! to horse ! The Duke arrives !

1 1 7

THE RENAISSANCE

Th e country be fore Sinigaglia—At some d ista nce , in th e background , th etown ga te , h e ld by th e free - la nc es ' foot - so ld iers. Squa drons in

ba tt le arra y, Oliv ero tto a t th e ir h ea d , w ith h is officers. In front , th e

troop o f th e Va lenti no is, inferior in numbers to th e compa nies o f th e

condo tti eri drawn up on t he righ t th e Duke , Ma chi ave l li, Se igneurde Ca nda lle , Ba lth a za r Ca stiglione , Don Mich e le , Don Ugo , Ma rca n

tonio da Fa no,Leniolo , Mgr. d

'

Allegri, a nd o th er ca pta ins, a ll on

h orseba ck.

DUKE Michele

DON MICHELE : My lord ?

DUKE : Bring your horse up to mine . Put his head forward .

Now,l is ten ! Here are our free - lances approaching . When

I have spoken to them , two of you will take each of themso as to do them honour you understand ? And you

wil l not leave the ir s ide .

DON MICHELE : No, my lord .

DUKE : What does this mean ? Oliverotto has remainedbehind ?

DON MICHELE : Yes,your H ighness . He is over yonder

at the head of his troops . That w a s the arrangement theymade.

DUKE : Pass behind us,take a détour

,rej o in Olivero tto and

,

at al l costs, bring him here . At all costs ! Y ou understand

me and promise to do so ?

DON MICHELE : But, my lord

DUKE : You hear me ? You promise me ! Lose no

time;be off at once !Don Mich e le gallops off. Th e Ca pta ins come up and sa lute .

DUKE : Welcome, friends ! Heaven be praised, there are nomore misunderstandings betw een us . I might have some

reason to scold you for your foll ies, but what is there that our

affection and—I may confess—our true interests do notforgive ? Your hand, Duke de Gravina ! Greeting, V itel

lozzo ! Greeting, Pagolo ! Come to my s ide . I never feel

near enough to you. My strength l ie s i n my soldiers’ lances .

GRAVINA : We have s inned, Monsignor, forgett ing what

1 1 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

OLIVEROTTO : AI1 , you villa in !

He is knocked down by a blow o f th e fist . Th e courtiers and th e

sold iers h url th emse lve s on th e o th ers a nd ga g th em .

DUKE : Take these men into the next room and keep watch

over them . I want to know what Mgr. de Candalle i sdoing.

DON MICHELE (at a window): The free - lances did not

awai t the charge . They are in headlong fl ight, and the

French, wh o have massacred many o f them,are d isbanding

and pillaging the houses of the town.

DUKE : Run and see that a dozen of those savages are

hanged ! N0 one shall be allowed to do anything without myorders .

Wh ere is M ich elo tto ?

M ICHELOTTO (executioner): Here I am , my lord .

DUKE : Have you new ropes ?M ICHELOTTO : Quite new;and my axe, my cu tlass andmy ass istants .

DUKE : Go in there . I wil l w atch you at work . Strangle

one after the other ! I w i l l look on .

Exi t Don Mich e le h a sti ly .

M ich elotto unro lls his ropes from round h is w a ist and goes into th eroom.

Come,gentl emen

,a l ittl e amusement after so much hard work !

He opens th e door, fo llow ed by h is ret inue;stampings, terriblesh rieks, th en s i lence a nd la ugh ter.

Th e h ouse occupied by th e Duke—A terra ce looking out on to th e sea

moonli gh t—After supper;th e Duke is h a l f lying down on cushionsMa chi ave lli Don Mich e le;musicians fin ishing a motet .

DUKE : I am very fond of this new mus i c . We are in a

great century,Messer N iccolo. Everything is be ing renewed .

The other evening I had read to me a passage of V irgil,exceedingly beautifu l , l ike every product of that divine

1 20

CESARE BORGIA

intel lect, and I noted this phrase : A majestic order i s comingto b irth .

” I t seems that i t i s thus in our present age . How

true i t is of these days ! The air that h a s j ust been performedis t inged with the softest melancholy. Go , my children, Ihave no further need of your services for this evening . Letthem each be given a gold florin. Michele, are you certainthat the French looters wh o attacked S inigaglia have beenhanged ?

DON MICHELE : Yes, my lord . Perhaps i t w a s a trifleoverdone . Y ou said a dozen , and I fear there are more .

DUKE : The j oke i s rather good . And the looting ?

DON MICHELE Stopped at once, Monsignor .

DUKE : That w a s the chief thing. You will have the menw h o have been hanged taken down . They wil l be quartered,and a port ion of each w il l be fixed up in the differen t streets ofthe town . I t is a s w ell that my subjects should know that Ido not allow them to be oppressed .

DON MICHELE : They know i t already,my lord, and are

showering benedictions on your name .

DUKE They wil l have to know it even better,and therefore

do as I command . What is more, don’t omit to spread the

report that my special des i re is to destroy the F rench . Our

people cannot be too strongly roused to hate these savages ,and the ir hatred mu st be mingled with contempt . Go , Michele .

Ex it Don Mich e le .

We have just solved our problem , Messer N iccolo .

MACHIAVELLI : I wil l make so bold as to offer your

Highness a s ingle observat ion .

DUKE Speak frankly, by all means .

MACHIAVELLI Seeing that you have preferred just ice tomercy

,w a s there no t some risk in executing the two Ors in i ?

Their house i s pow erfu l .

DUKE I had wri tten to Rome . Thi s morning I learnt thatthe Cardinal , the Archb ishop of F lorence , and Messer J acopoda Santa Croce have been surprised and arrested

,a s l

1 2 1

THE RENAISSANCE

recommended to H i s Hol iness . Without th is success there

would have been some hitch in’my progress .

MACHIAVELLI : Then .there seems to me no flaw in thescheme .

DUKE Observe that i t means not four rogues less in I taly,bu t the four condottieri who are by far the most formidable !

After them there remains only small fry , such a s can be

accounted for withou t much trouble . By means of steel andhemp I have staunched a horrible wound. Some centur ie s

from now men will hardly be able to bel ieve that such a systemever existed . Captains of troops attached to no party, no state,no government—e ntering and leav ing th e service of princesat thei r w illh e a ting up the princes

’ substance under the pretext of pay and that of their subj ects by every form of capr i ce !What an anomaly ! What fol ly ! And from this source camethe Sforza, who took Milan, and after them the Carmagnola,the terror of Venice . Upon my l i fe

,I have done you all the

most signal service you could poss ibly demand !

MACHIAVELL I : Beyond all quest ion,my lord, and thank s

to you, I , too, can repeat the words of Virgil : M agnu: na rcitur

om’o. And now , by forming mil it ias recruited not from

brigands but from sons of farmers, such as wil l obey not the ircaptains but the ir sovereigns

, you w i l l complete your task.

DUKE Time is needed—t ime, not to give me a respi te, butto all ow the intell igence of nations a chance of ripening . Howmuch there is to change ! The great must be curbed, the l it tlekept in the ir places, money must be procured, and for allthese needs certain and appropr iate means must be devised .

How many varied forms of action become necessary ! Theseare the fru i ts of the wil l;they grow, they develop, they bud,and then they burst . Let us not force the crop too greatly

,or

i t w i l l fail ! Time and pat ience are required : no slackness,

no sleepiness, and no haste !

MACHIAVELL I To put a constrain t not on others but ononesel f is the virtue of the strong.

1 22

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAIS SANCE

FERRARA.

A loggia in th e duca l pa la ce—Donna Lucre zia Borgia , se a ted in a go ldtas se l led a rm -ch a ir is ga zing a t th e country nea r h er, lea ning a ga instone o f th e co lumns th a t support th e roo f, Don Alfonso d

'

Este , h erhusba nd .

ALFONSO : I must confess your brother h a s freed himsel fwell from this entanglement . He approached the Gordianknot at first with cau t ion, he handled i t with skill , he se izedi t with resolut ion, and he cut i t l ike an Alexander.LUCREZIA : He is now far stronger and safer than ever.

Such a c ri s is st imulates those who pass i t successfully . Therefore it seems to me that you had best be on your guard againstthe Duke of Va lentino is .

ALFONSO : Do you not think, Lucrezia, that he has doneall the princes an eminent serv ice ? Henceforth we who holdthe sceptre wil l also alone hold the sword .

LUCREZIA : That may be, but I want you to think, aboveall , of the increase of prestige and power which the Duke o fValentino is has acquired . I a sk myself what he will wantto do with itALFONSO : Surely he will begin by strengthening h is posit ion in the Romagna

,and for some time he wil l have h is hands

ful l w i th the Venet ians and the Aragonese . He will therefore need our help , and I shall dole out j ust enough assi stanceto prevent h im from fall ing, without sett ing him firmlyupright .

LUCREZ IA : I fancy you do not really understand DonCesare . He is no t the man to n ibble thus at the grapes offortune . You may take i t for granted that he will make sureof the Romagna in such a way a s to spare no one . Beforelong he w i l l strike a mighty blow, and I am conv inced thateven at this moment his actual possessions a re h is least cons iderat ion .

ALFONSO : Wh at do you expec t h im to attempt ? How

ever indefatiga ble he may be , he must take some time toregain his balance . Besides, I have noth ing to fear from him,

1 24

CESARE BORG IA

for th e s imple reason that our mainstay—that is,France—is

the same, and I am certain that Louis XI I . would not let me beattacked .

LUCREZIA : I do not say that the Duke of Valentinois is

thinking of attacking you, and I do not flatter myself that I ca nguess what he is thinking of. But, taking things in the lump ,and know ing him a s I do

,I feel certain that he is plann ing to

keep what he holds, not by supporting it, but rather by enl argingit. He will begin by attacking one of his neighbou rs, I knownot w hich;but he will crush that neighbour, and I cons iderthat each fresh access ion of strength makes him formidable tous, seeing that if Fate herself pu t the whole world into h ishands M . de V a lentino is w ould never sa y That i s enough .

”

As for Louis XI I . , he has indeed good reasons for keepingfa ith with you,

and you ca n do much for or agains t h im;buth is i rrepress ible w eakness for h is Minister, M . d

’

Ambo ise , andthe unhealthy ambit ion which draw s that favouri te towards thePapal t iara, the skill that the Duke of V alentino is has shownin persuading him that he h a s the sole d isposal o f the Papacyafter the death of Alexander VI .—these are reasons more thanenough for my broth er

'

to be all - powerful with the French .

Y ou wil l say they woul d make a gr ievous blunder in helpinghim to grow too s trong . But blunders—it seems to me thathuman affairs are woven o f hardly any other stuff .

ALFONSO : I am impressed by your arguments . I beginto se e , in fac t, that Don Cesare’s greatness is becomingdangerous. All the same, I cannot guess what k ind of precautions I ought to take . To show defiance .

LUCREZ IA : Would be the w orst pol icy. On the contrary,

you are Don Cesare’

s natural ally, and it i s not advisable toappear to forget that .ALFONSO : I have j us t sent one of my officers to congra tu

late him ou the execution at Sinigaglia .

LUCREZIA : Suppose you were secretly to adv ise theVenetians, the F l orentines, and even the Aragonese to be ontheir guard , seeing that w e do not know whom the Duke o f

THE RENAISSANCE

Va lentino is wil l assa i l next In this way you woulds trengthen the power of res istance without appearing to do so,and would be doing good serv ice to an enemy who w ould lateron repay you in kind .

ALFONSO : Y ou are right—that is th e l ine I shall follow .

LUCREZIA : I n any case , i t cannot do you any harm. I

must no t forge t to read you this amus ing letter.ALFONSO : F rom whom is i t ?LUCREZ IA : F rom your s ister, the Duchess of Mantua . Youknow that young Florentine sculp tor

,Michael Angelo

Buona ro tti, of whom they are beginning to talk so much ?

ALFONSO : He does admi rable work, and I shou l d be veryglad to attrac t him to our court .LUCREZIA : Well

,th is Michael Angelo has made a statue

of Eros, so beautiful that Lorenzo the Magnificent advisedh im to let i t pass for an antique . The Cardinal of San G iorgio,who h a s l i ttle knowledge o f the fine arts .ALFONSO He

’

s an inveterate fool and :ignoramus .LUCREZ A : Y ou are hard on him;but in this case hejustifies your remarks . He bought the s tatue . By chance helearnt afterwards that i t w a s modern . Y ou can imagine hisdiscomfiture . He frets and fumes, and in h is contempt for aw ork that h a s become for h im unworthy to be looked at, hewishes to sell i t . The Duke of Vale ntino is gets w ind of thea ffair . Y ou know how exqu is i te h is taste is;he immediatelybuys the despise d masterp iece and makes a present of i t toyour s is ter;sh e tells me the story, and is bes ide herself withjoy .

ALFONSO : Y e s, we must certainly have Michael Angelohere. He is young, he is a fine art i st, and he wil l become oneof the master- craftsmen of I taly .

LUCREZIA : I am entirely o f your opin ion . Bes ides , ourcourt must surpass all the oth ers , and now that the French areestabl ished at M ilan, al l the men of genius and learn ingassembled at such expense by Ludov ico Sforza are homeless .Would you no t be glad to welcome here Antonio Corna z ano ,

1 26

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

is no ne ed for me to be very clever. I t pleases me to hearth at you know more of these things than all the other captains

o f o ur time .That is enough fo r my glory , and while you se e

some culverin cast, I will, by you r leave , take my walk with

my ladies in the ga rdens w e have just planted .

ALFONSO : Go , Lucrez ia;I k iss your hand .

A V ILLAGE IN THE ROMAGNA .

Assembly o f th e secre t soc ie ties known a s P a cifici. - Armed pea sa nts;tw o bra vos.

FIRST BRAVO (salut ing): Bea ti P a cifici/

LEADER OF THE PEASANTS : You are honest men;w e th ank you for hav ing both come .

F IRST BRAVO : We should not have cared to miss theappointment . Y ou sh ou ld have a better op in ion, mostillustr ious S ignors, o f our eagerness to offer our services tosuch respectable gentlemen a s yourselves .

LEADER : Thanks for your kind words . So you have been

sent by h is Highness ?FIRST BRAVO Y e s

,Don Cesare Borgia, Duke of

Romagna,and no other, h a s dispatched us to you . Here is a

r ing he h a s del ivered to u s a s token of gratitude .

LEADER : That is jus t a s we unders tood . Take seats,gentlemen;you mus t be t ired .

FIRST BRAVO : I t is good to sit down . This caval ier andI have just r idden a stage of twenty leagues without stopping,and how ever accustomed one may be to the fatigues of war,one can hardly be blamed for being a l i ttle sti ff in the legs .LEADER Y ou know perhaps for what reason your presencehere is requested ?

FIRST BRAVO The Duke gave us some idea .

LEADER Withou t offence, are you a s sure of your comradeas of yoursel f ? The affai r in question i s del icate , and it iscomfor ting to know w i th whom one has to deal .F IRST BRAVO : I applaud your prudence . Know that my

1 28

CESARE B ORG IA

friend is one of the champions of our age . Y ou might almostapply to him the famous j est of Plu tarch, in h is admirableRoman history

,w hen in speaking of an excellent captain he

said to h im : He would not dare to remain in a room alonewith a looking- glass, he wou l d be afraid of seeing h is own

reflec tion .

” Indeed, when thi s caval ier dons his martial air,th e effec t i s te rrify ing ! I f he speaks but l ittl e, i t i s because hei s al l act ion .

LEADER Now let us come to our business . The task is toget r id of Malatesta .

BRAVO : Nothing eas i er .LEADER Bu t do you know that he never walks out withouta long troop of counsellors at h is heel s ?

BRAVO That matters l i ttle ! My comrade and I are in thehabit of surmounting the mos t thorny difficulties. Only tellme what k ind of solut ion you w ant .LEADER : I do not take your mean ing .

BRAVO Is i t enough for you i f S ignor Malatesta gets whatw e sw ordsmen cal l a firs t notice, w hich would keep him to hisbed le t us say for a month or two ? I f you needno more to satisfy you, say so .

LEADER : We wou ld rather make an end of him .

BRAVO Admirable ! Carry things through to the end, eh ?Perfec t ! That point is settl ed ? Good ! Now we’l l come tothe means . Have you any preference ? How wou l d you l ikeyour man to be dispatched ?LEADER As quickly and a s safely as possib le .

BRAVO So I understand my comrade and I never do th ingsby halves . As w e have to deal with one who is forewarnedand on h is guard , I make you the follow ing proposal .LEADER What is that implement ?

Th e specta tors c rowd round to look .

BRAVO Ah , a l i ttle masterpiece ! Yet to outward seeminga table - fork , and noth ing more ! See what a pretty fork i t is,al l in burnished and chisel led si lver ! Do you no t admire thisfigu re placed above the three prongs ? Watch ! I press l ike

N 2 1 29

T IIE RENAISSANCE

this upon th e head the feet r ise impe rceptibly .

Look ! There is a hollow . Do you se e this hollow ?

THE PEASANTS : Ay , ay , w e do .

BRAVO : W'

ell , i f in th is hol low I put a preparation, a l i ttlepow der

, some drops of l iqu id, and if the carver, at the moment o f

carv ing the meat for the guest whom I have in v iew, manages

th e fork deftly. Y ou understand ? The powder or

the pot ion falls on the morsel which th e hungry man i s to carryto h is l ips . That i s al l there is in i t , and for fi fty ducats or soI shall w in fo r mysel f the friendship o f any servant you choosein the Malatesta household .

LEADER An excellent device but i f th is servant, with thew ork in h is hand and the ducats i n h is pocket, went and toldhis master all , in the hope o f raising another sum,

we should

get no return for our money . No ! We prefer to deal with

you alone .

BRAVO : I only proposed my idea to you because it i s really

a charming one , and the instrument is st il l unknown ! One o f

my best friends i s the inven tor . Y ou don’t want i t ? Ve ryw ell ! I w i l l get at h im some other w ay , and a s for finding th eme ans, that is my affai r . Let me se e ! The glass sti le ttobreaking in the w ound would do pretty well . I wil l cons ider ! Do you ins ist on the w hole matter being settled

by a fixed date ?

LEADER : The sooner the better .

FIRST BRAVO : I understand ! Here we are at thefi fth of May. My comrade - in- arms and I ought to find ourselves on the 20 th o f June at Vicenza

,where the most serene

S ignory of Venice honou red us w ith a miss ion . Betweennow and then , you r discuss ion with S ignor Malatesta will beover;you can count upon my word .

LEADER : Many thanks ! Here a re a hundred ducats inadvance .

BRAVO : No matter ! No matter ! It’

s of no conse

1 30

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TI IE RENAISSANCE

Romagna—to destroy the tyrannies of every sort , to humblethe great and ra ise the low ly . Do w e follow that lead ?

THE ASSEMBLY : Y e s ! ye s ! Long l ive the V alentino is !

LEADER : Shall we w ri te to the D uke tha t he can count

upon us ?

THE ASSEMBLY : Let us write ! Long l ive the Valen

tino is ! Bea /i P a cifici .

’ We’

l l burn F lorence !

MILAN .

Th e interio r o f th e ca th edra l .—High ma ss is be ing ch a nted severa l c lericsin th e ch o ir a gre a t crowd in th e na ve a nd a t th e ba ck .

IN THE CHOIR

A CANON (on h is knees): How w eak is my heart ! Howcold my soul ! Alas ! I have not the power to penetrate deeplyinto the ineffable bounties of my God ! I w ou ld fain raisemyself to the Throne of the Almighty ! I would fain losemyself in its rays ! My God ! help me ! My God !uphold me !

He prostra tes himse lf .

SECOND CANON : Are you d ining with u s at the Archbish op’s ?

THIRD CANON I am ! We shall have a most superb troutSECOND CANON : I t w ill not be eatable if that idio t of aFra Lorenzo does no t make haste and finish h is mass . (Toa choir boy .) Here, my child !CHOIR BOY : Y e s, Monsignor.SECOND CANON Go and tell Fra Lorenzo to hurry up .

CHOIR BOY (to th e offic iat ing priest): The P r ior, DomPaolo , begs you to finish quickly.

FRA LORENZO What is he troubl ing about ? I am notdin ing at the Archbishop’s . Attent ion, fool ! Dominus

v obz'

scum !

CHORISTERS : E l cum sfi irilu tam.

”

Th e Lord be with you And wi th th y spiri t l—Tr.1 32

CESARE BORGIA

IN THE NAVE .

A MENDICANT FRIAR : Buy indulgences ! indulgences !

They are to be had at al l prices ! B rother Christ ians , buyindulgences !

A GAILY - DRESSED WOMAN Heavens,how h o t i t is !

Fans h erself .

SECOND WOMAN : I t’s unbearable ! Pass me your bottleof smell ing- salts, Monna B ianca, I beg you, I have forgottenm ine !THIRD WOMAN : With pleasure—here i t i s ! What afalse villain that Fel ipe i s !

F IRST WOMAN : My dear, he paid me court long enoughfor me to know what to th ink of him .

FOURTH WOMAN : That may be, but he’s good

- looking !They’re rais ing th e Host !

All th e women knee l a nd bea t th eir brea sts.

A MAN (to an old dame in spectac les reading her missal):Madam madam wil l you buy rosarie s blessed by theHoly Father ?

THE OLD DAME : Leave me in peace !

THE MAN : Madam wil l you buy a rel i c of the greatS t . Ambrose ? A bone from his elbow ! Not dear !And authentic !

THE OLD DAME I tel l you to leave me in peace !THE MAN : Do you w ant any fine soap or Spanish gloves ?

THE OLD DAME : I f you don’t leave me in peace

,I ’ll cal l

the beadles !Th e man goes off.

AT THE BACK .

Two c itizens, near a ch a pe l, te lling th eir h ea ds, th e ir caps under th eir a rms .

F IRST C ITIZEN : E 2 bened iclus fruclzzs v entrz’

s mi.That doesn’t prevent the rascal ’s having gone off without

paying for the three dinners he ow es me , and may the plague

I 33

THE RENAISSANCE

se iz e me i f he'll ever pay ! j esus / Amen ! Aw , Ma ria ,

gri t/fa pla za , Dom iuc.

SECOND CITIZEN : (21 1 i or in ca elis , I

told you so fi fty t imes ! How stupid o f you to give credi t tostudents ! Look h ere , Ser Gugl ielmo, did I tel l you so or d idI not N ome/z 1 1mm, a a

’t 'czz ia t rvgm/mf" Deuce take

them,the students ! If they were to pay, they would no

longer be students !A CAVALIER (to an old w oman) See , dear Lorenz ina, hereis the note !OLD WOMAN I tel l you once more , i t

’s very d ifficul t ! Sherebuffed me and th reatened to le t her mother know !

CAVALIER Here’s another sequin !THE OLD WOMAN : I

’

ll try to conv ince her bu t onlybecause of my great affec tion for you . I f I make you a sign,

s tand behind her;you can speak to her then a s much as youl ike .

CAVALIER : May heaven insp ire you,or I shall lose my

w ager .Th e Sa nctus begins.

TWO MENDICANTS (c rying at the top of the ir voices)For the crusade ! For the crusade ! Give for the crusade !Del iver the Holy Tomb ! For the crusade ! Lords andladies , take p ity on the poor Chris tians slaughtered every dayby fh e savage Turks ! For the crusade !

Th ree evil - fa ced boys nea r a pil la r.

F IRST BOY : I s i t that gentleman,yonder ?

SECOND BOY That one w i th the sunburnt complexion andthe l i ttle black moustacheTHIRD BOY : Y e s and the black doublet .SECOND BOY : A ruff round h is neck , his r ight hand in atorn glove the other ungloved ?THIRD BOY : The very man .

And blessed th e fru it of th y w omb Ha i l,Ma ry

,fi lled w ith gra ce ,

Lord w h ich a rt in h ea ven,h a l low ed b e th y name

, th y kingdom come

1 34

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

noticed ! Do you think , Monna Pomponia, that I don’t know

these tr icks ? Do you think you c a n hoodwink me ?

WIFE : W ho dreams o f hoodw inking you ? Let me just sayone more Ave.

NOTARY : You ca n say i t a s you go along. What are youdoing now ?

WIFE : I am going to take some holy water, i f I can, but

there is a great c rowd round i t .A CAVALIER : Will you permit me, madam , to offer yousome ?THE LADY : Mos t w il l ingly, s ignor . (Very low .) Comeat tw o o ’clock . He w i l l be gone out for the day . Come !THE CAVALIER : Where ?

THE WIFE : In the low er room . Go away, he’s turn ing

round !

NOTARY : Come ! Shall we be finished to - day or to ~

morrow ? Who is that gentleman who gave you holy water ?HIS WIFE : I don’t know;I have never seen h im before .

LACKEYS (pushing back the c rowd): Room ! room ! roomfor her Grace the Duchess !

Everyone goes out of th e church th e orga n goes on pla ying .

1 36

CESARE BORGIA

ROME

Cardina l Corneto ’

s vineya rd—A room look ing out over th e gardens ,

through grea t w indows decked with vine - leaves .- Pope Alexander

V I . Don Cesa re Borgi a .

THE POPE : True ! Although the sun h a s sunk , the heati s stil l overpow ering. S till, I never fel t stronger than I donow . The grandeur of your schemes

,the daring of your

resolut ions, give strength to my w il l . All is turning out a sw e w ish . We are on the verge of a decis ive moment, notonly for yo u, Don Cesare, bu t for all I taly . Our triumphw il l be hers

,for he is a poor s tatesman w hose success profi ts

none bu t h imself,and the arrangement of this w orld is such

that w hen th e w ise man sees h is des igns prosper, the dul lmass of petty men reap the advantage . That is w hat j ustifi esthe means . We are about to strike an audacious blow . Ido no t attempt to hide that, and yo u know i t as w el l a s I do .

To - morrow , w hen it aw akes, Rome w i ll learn the names of

the cardinals wh o are to die to - night . I sa y once more, i ti s a bold stroke, bu t i t i s necessary. We must str ike terrorinto our enemies, and, by a sw eeping confiscation of theproperty which the death of the cardinals will l eave open to us,provide for the pressing needs of your Tuscan enterprise .

This po int gained, we shall be able to d ispense for good withthe help of France .

DON CESARE : There w il l be no one left to cause us

anxiety . The ship of our hopes , propelled by its own motion ,w i l l sail on even if no w ind drives i t. For my part

,I defy

fortune to break the chain w i th w hich I have bound her arms .

THE POPE : Our guests w i l l soon arrive . I fancy I hearthem . Ah ! Don Cesare , who of them suspec ts that hew i ll never l eave this room al ive ? But I see that I haveno t go t No, I have no t. Strange ! How couldI have forgotten ?

DON CESARE : What have you forgotten ?

THE POPE : A mere tr ifle ! B u t I must no t remainw i thout i t . Cal l Caraffa !

I 317

THE RENAISSANCE

DON CESARE : Here he is in the ante - chamber. Comein

,Ca ra ffa;th e Holy Father w ishes to speak to you .

THE POPE Caraffa,return qu ickly to the Vatican . Go

into my room . Look for and bring me that l i ttl e goldenbox wh ich conta ins you know ?CARAFFA : A consecrated w afer ?

THE POPE : That’s i t . Go !CARAFFA : Wh at, you haven

’t i t on you ?

THE POPE : Well, i t w a s a piece o f carelessness—I forgotit , j ust th ink !CARAFFA : How can one overlook a th ing that shel ters onefrom every danger ?

THE POPE : Y ou are qu i te right . Go and look for mybox;don’t lose a minute , do you hear ? I shall no t be a t

peace until I have my box in my pocket .CARAFFA : I ’l l run ! Ex it .THE POPE : Have you taken precautions, Don Cesare, so

that everything w illbe carried out withou t a h itch ?DON CESARE : There are six flagons of Spanish w ine .

You r butler, Matteo , put the powder in i t under my eyes .

and I instructed him to serve the mixture only to those whomI shall point out to him . Matteo is a man to be trusted .

THE POPE : No doubt . In any case , I repeat, take everyprecaution .

DON CESARE (smil ing): Have no fear .THE POPE I l ike your determined spir i t . But how hoti t is ! Ho , there !A SERVANT : Most Holy Father ?

THE POPE Tel l Matteo to bring us some wine;I am dyingo f thi rst .DON CESARE I too shall be glad to dr ink

,and after that

w e’ll have a w a lk in the sh ade o f th e garden while wai ting forour guests .

Enter tw o la ckeys bea ring on a tray two cups and a flagon of w ine .

THE POPE : Why doe s not Matteo come himself when Isend for him ?

1 38

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

CARD INAL CORNETO'

S V INEYARD .

Th e dining -room. S ta tues , pic tures, rich ta pestri e s from Fla nders, gre a tc a rved Sidebo a rds , mosa ic paving . A va st ta ble covered w ith go lda nd si lve r pla te o n a gre a t dish in th e c entre a ro a s t pe a cock, dressedin its fe a th e rs

, th e ta i l sprea d o u t a pyram id o f fruits;grea t va sesfilled w i th flow e rs .

—Pope Alexa nde r, Don Ce sa re Borgia th e Ca rdina lsCa s te lla r

,Romo lino

,Fra ncesco S oderini

,Copis, N icco lo d i Fiesco ,

Spra ta ,Co rne to , I lo ris , Ca sanova ,

Va lentino;Ch amberla ins, but lers ,la ckeys , pout ifica l gua rds on duty a t th e doors.

THE POPE (s i tt ing down to table): A fine evening ! Anevening fo r merriment , for encounters of wit . I know nopleasure to compare w i th that of supping in good andbril l iant compa ny.

CARDINAL CORNETO : What happiness, what fel ici ty tocelebrate thus w i th your Holiness the distinguished favourwhich you have deigned to bestow on us all by raising us tothe Cardinalate !THE POPE : I t i s a very great pleasure to satisfy one’sfriends and j ust ice at once .

CARDINAL COPIS (whispering to h is neighbour, Cardinald i F iesco): Do you not find the Holy Father strangely pale ?

CARDINAL DI F IESCO (whispering): I was j ust goingto draw your attention to the drawn features of the Duke of

Valentino is .

CARDINAL ROMOLINO (whispering to Cardinal Valentino): I f I had been able to cry o ff

,I should not have come .

I d ist rust this sort of ceremony .

THE POPE : Cardina l Romol ino , s ince the affair of theheret ic Savonarola

, you have never ceased to give us proofsof your notable friendship . Y ou se e that I have recognised i t .CARDINAL ROMOLINO Most Holy Father, my devotionto your person h as ever been unbounded !CARDINAL SODER INI (whispering to Cardinal Castellar)

°

The Pope is indeed l iv id th is evening . What has he in storefor us ? I would give much not to be here .

CARDINAL CASTELLAR : So w ould I . I t is stifling in thisroom .

DON CESARE BORGIA : I feel unwell . I don’t know

1 4 0

CESARE BORGIA

what is the matter with me . I must go out . I canbear i t no longer. My head is reel ing . What is thematter wi th you

,Holy Father ?

THE POPE : I don’t know . I think . Ah, whatagony !

H e fa lls to th e ground . Th e guests rise , dumbfounded . Don Ce sa reBorgia tries to w a lk a few steps , th en rolls on th e floor.

Confus ion .

THE POPE (to the butler w h o raises h im) Listen lis ten .

Go aw ay, all of you ! Where did they take the wine thatw a s given me a l ittle while ago ?

BUTLER : I t w a s one o f the bottles put as ide by H is Highness the Duke .

THE POPE In that case,my son and I are lost !

H e fa ints.

DON MICHELE (enter ing brusquely): I hear that H isH ighness is il l

Goes to th e Duke .

Speak to me, my lord .

THE DUKE : Come close to me .

Don Mich e le knee ls beside h im.

I am poisoned . So i s the Pope . Have us carried tothe Vatican . Call out all my tr0 0 ps . Se ize the Forto f St. Angelo ! Save the treasure ! I f we are attacked,defend us l ike a tiger ! defend me !

H e loses consc iousness .

CARDINAL CORNETO : My lords, the Holy Father is veryill . We must cons ider the Church the publ ic peace !I am returning to Rome .

ALL THE CARDINALS : Let us not separate ! We’l l gow i th you—to you r house . We must decide what had best bedone .

Exeunt th e Ca rdina ls.

DON MICHELE (to the servants and soldiers): Take thefirst l i tters you can find ! Qu i ck ! to the Vatican ! Thefi rst man that stumbles I ’l l strike dead !

1 4 1

TI IE RENAISSANCE

THE PUBLK D SQUARE .

Grea t concourse o f Ci ti zens,w omen, ch i ldren,

boa tmen, porters, va ga bonds .

-Sh outs, tumu lt . Ba rrica des a re be ing ra ised a t th e stree t corners .

CROW D : He is dead ! The devil take his soul .

Alexander’s soul ! Hell is afraid o f him ! The monster !

He w anted to po ison all the cardinals ! He ha s poisoned

himself ! He did no t forget h is son ! It’

s well done ! Are

they dead ? They are dead ! No ! Y e s ! They are to be

buried this evening ! The V alentino is i s not dead ! I tel l

you he is ! Let us dig them up ! To the Tiber ! To theTiber ! To the Tiber w ith the ir carcasses ! No holy ground

for the anti - Christ !

A FRESH TROOP (running up): To arms ! The Borgia’

s

men are breaking into the houses ! To the barricades ! We’ll

defend ourselves !Trumpets, drums, a rquebusa des

A MAN (exasperated): The Ors in i are looting the friends of

the Borgia ! A troop of them‘

h a s j ust been massacred !

THE CROWD : Bravo ! Fire, sack , blood !Rumbling of cannon

What’s that ?

CRIES FROM ANOTHER END OF THE SQUARE :

The Fort of S t . Angelo is fir ing on the Ors in i ! To arms !

Against the Borgia and the Barons ! The Spaniards and th e

Colonna wil l come in and make havoc everywhere !

A VOICE Here are the French ! They are giv ing no quarter !

CROWD : To the barricades ! Defend yourselves ! To the

river w i th the Pope !A company of so ldiers ch a rges th e popula ce

CROWD : Save you rselves ! The dev i l take the hindmost !

Firi ng from bo th sides, many ki lled and wounded;th e populace flies ,forms up a ga in in th e street a nd sh oots a ga in;a melee . Th ecannon continues to roa r.

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

CARD INAL CORNETO’

S HOUSE .

A la rge pa inter! ch amber.—Ga th ering o f th e Ca rdina ls o ffic ers of a ll kinds,

secre ta rie s, monks .

CARDINAL COPI S : I am no t yet myself again ! Thosemonsters des igned to poison us , and their deed reco iled on

th emselves .

CARDINAL DI F IESCO : We are assured that Cesare is

no t dead .He had himself kept for an hour in iced water ,

w here his b i tter a gon ies caused him te rr ible convuls ions . They

say also that the physici ans opened the entrails of two l ivemu les and plunged h im right into that horr ible tomb , hopingthat he wou ld recover his strength .

CARDINAL CASTELLAR : I do not th ink that M ichele

w ou l d show so much v i olence if he did not reckon on h is

master’s recovery .

CARDINAL CORNETO : Sti ll, Alexander is dead, r ightenough ! I t

’s horrible ! Some porters put him in his coffin !They kicked h is body to pieces;i t w a s swollen by thepoison and fall ing into shreds . The soldiers mocked at thepriests wh o w ished to pray . I t is monstrous !CARDINAL SODER INI : My lords, my lords , w e are nothere to argue , but rather to save th is i l l - starred c i ty . All thedemons who possessed Alexander seem to have escaped fromh is corpse only to assail us the more easily . Murder, pillage,arson , crimes , ou trages, noth ing is wanting ! And we who, atthis moment, represent the sole lawful authori ty, do we cometo no dec i s ion ? Are we to spend our t ime in talking,shivering and w eeping ? Come, what are your orders ! I cal lon you to show your intel l igence , harden your hearts ! Let amanly resolu tion spring from your heads l ike an armedM inerva ! G ive us an aegis to cover the city

’

and the world !

CARDINAL VALENTINO We must raise troops at onceand oppose them to the factions !

CARDINAL CASANOVA : I second that proposal,and if

the Sac red College w i l l depute the task to me,I undertake to

I 4 4

CESARE BORG IA

obtain a prompt resul t . There are many captains presen t inRome who will a ccept my terms .ALL : Well spoken ! Act accordingly !

CARDINAL CASANOVA : I hasten to perform my miss ion .

Count upon my zeal !Ex it w ith h is fo l low ers.

CARDINAL ROMOLINO : Let us immed iately summonthe ambassadors . I f no t, the Colonna will come to an agreement with Spain , and the Ors in i w i th France;the Venetiansw i llbegin intrigu ing in the Romagna, and the F lorentines wil lprepare unsu rmountable difficu l t ies with the popu lace . Incall ing at once upon the Ch rist ian princes to uphold ou rauthori ty—the only law ful one , for w e are the fu tu re Conclave—w e render them incapable o f doing us h arm . Bes ides, theEmperor w i l l be on our s ide .

Universa l a ssent .CARDINAL VALENTINO In the hurry of events

,I fore

saw the Opin ion of our venerable b rother,and I made the

ambassadors promise to present themselves here . I am toldthat they are awaiting your good pleasure .

ALL Let them come in ! Let them come in !Enter th e amba ssa dors o f Fra nce

,Spa in, th e Empire , Venice , Florence ,

Mila n,th e Sw iss League s—Grea t tumult under th e window s.

Arquebusa des cont inue . Th e c a nnon o f th e Va t ican a nd of FortS t. Ange lo a re h ea rd .

CARDINAL CORNETO Welcome,my Lords Ambassadors .

The Church of Christ h a s need o f i ts ch i ldren . We summon

you in orde r to c l aim th e support due from the Christ ianprinces to thei r Holy Mother . We are at a cris is . What isyour reply ?

FRENCH AMBASSADOR My Lords Cardinals,befo re all

,

my duty compels me to enter a solemn protes t against anoutrage .

CARDINALS : An outrage ? On our part ?SPANI SH AMBASSADOR : I will see the truth vindicated .

FRENCH AMBASSADOR : I f I were here in a pr ivatecapac i ty, Your G ra ce w ould no t use such a ph rase twice .

But

0 2 1 4 5

THE RENAISSANCE

my master’s honour takes precedence of mine . Listen to whathas j ust happened;I cannot disgu ise my indignation .

CARDINAL CORNETO My Lord Ambassador, the city isbu rn ing

,sed i tion is r ife could we no t l isten to your complaints

at a more seasonable moment ?FRENCH AMBASSADOR : I f I am not given a hearing, I

w i l l go .I arrived at the door o f th is pala t e before the Lord

Ambassador o f Spain . His noblemen threw themselves uponmine

,and while they were drawing swords, the Ambassador

passed in front of me and came in first . That is my plaint !Well

,my Lords

,has a Prince of Aragon the right to precede

the Mos t Chris tian King ? When there i s a quest ion ofapproach ing you

,shal l the eldest son of the Church come after

the others ? I demand at once a ful l reparation .

Ente r th e Ca rdina ls G iulia no de l la Rovere and Picco lomin i .THE EMPEROR’S AMBASSADOR : I t i s at any rate

strange th at , when I am here , other crowns should c l aimprecedence .

FRENCH AMBASSADOR (heatedly): How do you mean ,sir

SPANI SH AMBASSADOR (putt ing h is hand to h is sword)I know bu t one way of speaking and one of replying .

CARDINAL DELLA ROVERE : So, gentlemen , th is 15

what you have to sa y to the Sacred College ? At the momentwhen the Holy C ity is becoming the prey of the riotous whenfrom this spot you hear the fir ing of cannon , arquebusades ,blasphemies, and when through these windows, ye s, throughthese w indow s the fires of the incendiaries appear before our

outraged eyes—instead of coming to our a id,you display to

us the unhappy rivalr ies caused by your vani ty ! By thewounds and the death o f Jesus my Sav iour, you are mak ingmock of us

,my Lord Ambassador of France .

FRENCH AMBASSADOR : My Lord G iul iano dellaRovere, I cannot allow you to use such a tone, and there is nored hat that shall cheat me of a n insolent adversary !CARDINAL DELLA ROVERE (walk ing straight towards

1 4 6

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

CESARE BORGIA

him): Read this letter, read this order and low er your forehead ! Lower it, sir, lower i t, lower sti l l—and obey ! Ou rvenerable brother, the Cardinal d

’

Ambo ise,the revered

minister of the King,your master, writes you this ! You

recognise the sign and sea l ? Well, read ! He orders you toput French troops at the Conclave’s disposal , and the Conclaveorders you to make them quit the town.

FRENCH AMBASSADOR My Lord Cardinal, i t i s no lesstrue that .CARDINAL DELLA ROVERE (whispering to him): Youshall have complete reparation at a more opportune moment .FRENCH AMBASSADOR : Every d iffi cul ty is smoothedover. Our French companies w il l leave the c ity, a s you willhave i t so . I wil l add , how ever, that the Duke of Valentinois

offers to uphold your authori ty.

SEVERAL CARDINALS : Then he is not dead ?CARDINAL PICCOLOMINI : He is very il l, bu t to al lappearances he i s master of h is body a s he h a s always beenmaster of others’ wil l . I am not in favour of accepting hisproposals .CARDINAL COPIS : Take care ! he has become reconciledwith the Orsini . We must no t show a hostile front to thatpow erfu l family, w hich is asking i f i t may ass ist us .

FRENCH AMBASSADOR : I shoul d adv ise you not toquarrel w i th the Duke o f Valentino is . He is a man of subtleintell ect;he holds the strongest pos it ions;h is artillery isnumerou s , and h is coffers are fu ll to overflow ing w i th money.

SPANISH AMBASSADOR : I f an arrangement i s come tow i th the Duke o f Va lentino is , I demand , in the name of theCathol ic King, that our troops and our all ies be also admitted ,among others

,Don Prospero Colonna and all the men of his

house .

FRENCH AMBASSADOR : That will be opening the doorto anarchy !SPANISH AMBASSADOR : Anarchy, i t seems to me , iseven better represented by you than by us .

I 4 7

THE RENAISSANCE

CARDINAL DELLA ROVERE : This is the dec is ion of theSacred College . The Conclave is to meet as soon as possible

in order to fi l l the va cancy to the throne . Never was theremore reason to wish for the salutary presence o f a SovereignPontiff than at this terrible cris is , when bodies a nd souls areequally in peril ! I t is not proper that so august an assemblyshou ld be held amid the clash o f a rms . No

,gentlemen , no !

I t is not right . i t sh all no t be ! French , Aragonese , Colonna,Ors in i , al l who have sword in hand shal l go : the Duke ofV a lentino is shall go l ike the rest . None bu t Papal troopsshal l remain here !

FRENCH AMBASSADOR : My Lord Cardinal,I can hardly

bel ieve that the King, my master, w il l approve of suchmeasures .CARDINAL DELLA ROVERE : My heart is stil l upl iftedby the noble sentiments j ust expressed to me by our venerablebrother the Cardinal d’

Ambo ise .

“ Cardinal della Rovere,”

said th i s truly great man to me, I should be ashamed if I ,a prince of the Roman Church

,gave the sl ightest s ign of

intending to force the hand of the Conclave;the Conclavemust be free in i ts choice . The army of the Most Chris tianKing will depart from the w alls o f Rome. Those were thevery w ords of this admirable minister. You w i l l show himyour recognit ion, my Lords, of this magnanim ity, and I doubtnot that the Holy Ghost will d ic tate to you what you mustdo in order to rew ard all his v i rtues .

Th e French and Venetia n amba ssa dors look a t ea ch oth er in ama z ement .

CARDINALS : There’s no doubt th is is a masterstroke !CARDINAL CASANOVA (aside to Cardinal Romol ino):

What a cunning move is th is of G iul iano’s ! Thus w e are r i d

of the French Pope !

CARDINAL ROMOLINO (aside): I w a s afraid before

that we could no t avo id him . Are you minded to vote for

Giul iano ?

1 4 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TI IE RENAISSANCE

THE VATICAN .

A room wi th c losed curta ins—Don Cesa re Borgi a lying down, thin a nd

w orn Don Mich e le.

DON CESARE : Come nearer I cannot speak loud

have you done ?

DON MICHELE : we remain masters, completely masters

of the quarter . Your men are firm and loyal . I compromised

them by the looting o f some houses . They know that i f theydisband they w i l l b e w iped ou t.DON CESARE : Hell

,what pain I am in !

DON MICHELE : The Cardinal s send you word to leave

the c ity within three days . The French are gone .

DON CESARE;Then the Cardinal d’

Ambo ise gives up the

idea of be ing Pope ?

DON MICHELE : Giul iano dell a Rovere has persuaded him

that he w ould be Pope w i th greater glory by leaving the

Conc lave fu l l l iberty.

DON CESARE : I had forgotten that among the French the

show of glory ecl ipses the real ity .

DON MICHELE : You will se e—Giul iano wil l get h imselfelec ted .

DON CESARE : I doub t i t . They are too afraid of h is

talents and of h is feroc ity. I have no means of maintaining

myself here . Let us yield with a good grace, while we can

st il l negotiate . We will a sk the Card inals to le t me go off with

my artillery,my tr0 0 ps , my money - chests

,and under the

guarantee that I shall not be attacked .

DON MICHELE : A poor outlook !

DON CESARE : I f I were up,I should act differently. At

this moment, my only aim is to gain time.

DON MICHELE Then you will no t lose courage ?

DON CESARE BORGIA : So long a s I breathe,the world is

mine ! I have my foot on i t s neck !

1 50

CESARE BORGIA

FLORENCE .

Th e convent and h ospita l de Tinton‘

, a t Sa nt ’ Ono frio .—A grea t w orksh op

marbles, some sketch ed out , oth ers finish ed, oth ers st ill unw orked in

th e rough bench es,stoo ls—Mich a e l Ange lo Buona ro tt i

,bus il y

w orking a t a va st ca rtoon—K nock ing a t th e door.—Mich a e l Ange lo

goes to look through a w icket , ma ke s th e key turn in th e lock a nd

opens .

MICHAEL ANGELO : As i t is you, come in .

FRANCESCO GRANACCI : I have been at the Palazzo;your glory is complete .

MICHAEL ANGELO (applying h imself again to his work):Tell me h ow things are going .

He kisses him .

GRANACCI : Your glo ry is at its height, I tel l you ! All themasters who are at Florence are crowding around your workin amazement . Ah , the cartoon o f the War of P isa is animmortal w ork—no one disputes i t ! People never weary ofexamining this mi rac le, and those who are copying i t discoverin i t a thousand beau ti es which ordinary admirers will neversuspectM I CHAEL ANGELO : I did my best .GRANACCI : But you’ll do yet greater things !hardly bel ievable , bu t I bel ieve i t .

MICHAEL ANGELO I shall do w hat the holy goodness of

my Creator h a s given me the power to do . A s I have w orked

up to th is day, so I shal l go on . I f the cartoon h a s gained the

approval i t deserves , I rejo ice from the depths of my soul;bu t if I w ere never to execute anything better

,I would gladly

die , for I have much more to say ! Who are the mastersw hom you saw before my draw ing, and who praised i t ?

GRANACCI : First came da Vinc i w i th al l h is pupils . Hew ent into endless raptures .

MICHAEL ANGELO He is the mos t insincere man I know,

and in the matter of loquac ious pol i teness he h as nothing tolearn . All h is w ords are honey- sw eet l ike his pain t ing .

Messer L ionardo h a s a soul that is subtle, but no t frank or

1 51

THE RENAISSANCE

s trong . He detests me, and I return the compliment .Nevertheless, he i s a great painter . Who came next ?GRANACCI : Ridolfo Ghirlandaio .

MICHAEL ANGELO : Ah, he is a friend ! Heaven blessh im

,h e

’

s a worthy son of h is father ! I have to thankDomenico for many k ind serv ices . Ma y heaven forsake meif ever I forget that !GRANACCI : Then I saw in the c rowd Bacc io Bandinell i ,le Berugue tta ,

Andrea del SartoMICHAEL ANGELO (rais ing his head): What did Andreasay ?

GRANACCI : Oh , Andrea as he heard some ignoramuses declare that a foreshortening wa s too st iff or a nosetoo long

,he looked at them coldly, took a stool , sat down ,

and,putting a cartoon before h im

,began to copy.

Mich a e l Angelo bites his l ip, crosses h imse l f, and goes on working .

GRANACCI Well, that i s what Sanz io d id also .

MICHAEL ANGELO : That Raphael that boyhe is not a child o f God ! I am not ve ry fond of him, Grana cci.

St ill , I should no t care to say in truth,what he is

driving at I do not wish never mind ! I w i l l no t speakevi l of him !

Re turns to hi s work .

GRANACCI : For my part,I shall begin from to -morrow to

follow the example o f Andrea del Sarto , and of him whomyou cal l the boy . I shall not be sati sfied until I have fin i sheda complete copy o f the masterp iece .

MICHAEL ANGELO : Y ou must also invent something onyour own account .GRANACCI : Oh , I—as in the past, I shall do decorationsfor fest ivals;that is my lot;I have no genius, I know quitewell . I love Beauty—that is all—and I am better fitted to bea lover than a painter .MICHAEL ANGELO (heatedly): They are al l the same lWhat cringing dogs men are ! I f you must be a slave at allcosts , find at least a worthier form of slavery;but when some1 52

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAIS SANCE

bu t w ork a nd the intoxication of creat ing can give l ife savour.

In itsel f, l i fe is w orth nothing !GRANACCI I w i l l do what you wish , save that I wil l not bej ea lous of you . I shou ld be a laughing - stock even to myself.Have you heard the new s ?

MICHAEL ANGELO : I take no interes t in news .

GRANACCI A new Pope h a s been elected,the P iccolomini .

H is name now is Pius I I I .

MICHAEL ANGELO : Since he is Pope, he must berespected .

GRANACCI They say that Cesare Borgia .

MICHAEL ANGELO I care nothing for the Borgia, or the

Sforza, or anyone . I am an artis t, and can se e in the world

nothing bu t my work, and above al l, the Holy Faith . I for

bear to enquire why the Lord God (blessed be Hi s name !)hasput into the world so man y princes, captains, and podestas who

devour one another . They should have no other occupation

than to perform virtuous acts, to punish vice and to protec tthe arts . What they do is the very reverse . God ought

to suppress them . I t is true,however, that we should then

fal l into the hands of the populace, the foulest beast that ever

craw led the ground . Have you ever known a man of no b irth

to become a good art ist ?

GRANACCI I never considered the point .

MICHAEL ANGELO If my fami ly were not sprung from

the Counts o f Canossa, I should not be what I am . I wish

these upstarts could be forb idden, on pain of death, ever to

dare to touch a chisel or a chalk . Bel ieve me,the world is

horrible . The mere thought o f i ts baseness is gall ing beyond

endurance . The day is waning;the l ight grows toodim for work . Let us walk by the rivers ide, and then we

will spend the evening in reading D ante.

1 54

CESARE BORGIA

NAPLES.

Th e Vicero y 's Pa la ce—A room richly decora ted w ith pa int ings a nd

gi ldings.—Be fore a. ta ble , covered w ith go ld -ta sse lled red ve lve t ,

and sea ted in a rmch a irs of broca de w ith ca rved ba cks, th e ViceroyDon Gonsalve de Cordova and Don Cesare Borgia , fa cing ea ch o th er.

Th ey sh a ke h ands.

DON CESARE : I place every confidence in your Excellency.

DON GONSALVO : I t i s not misplaced .

DON CESARE : Y ou are a great captain, the glory of thisage . The honour of your name is a w arranty for my safetyDON GONSALVO : Y ou do me justice .

DON CESARE : Of late I have seen nothing but flagrantinfamy. I had consented to give up to the Cardinal s ofthe Conc lave the Vatican and Fort St . Angelo , the keys tomy mastery of Rome

,and I th ereby show ed so striking a

moderation a s cannot be impugned even by my enemies . Yes,Don Gonsalvo , i f I have left Rome, i t w a s o f my own free will .After this generous act, the promises made to me were no tkept . Bes ides, the Cardinal d

’

Ambo ise has behaved l ike afe elin removing hi s army before th e fine phrases of G iul ianodella Rovere . The della Rovere did not fai l to secu re theelect ion of P iccolomini , wh o only l ived twenty- two days longer,and then he took the tiara h imself . I n th is ambit ious, v i olent ,false, perfidious and rapacious Jul ius I I . you and I have amost implacable fo e . Through hi s in trigues , my subjec ts inthe Romagna have r isen in revol t . Moreover, the Venetianshave taken my greates t stronghold;the fortune o f w a r hasdeserted me;I have been imprisoned and se t at l iberty . TheFrench behaved disgraceful ly towards me . I have servedthem too long and too wel l . To—day I am yours, I w ork foryou and the King, your master, and you may reckon on me asI reckon on you . Have I the r ight ?DON GONSALVO : I implore your Highness to be con

v inced of that . Besides , you have my word , Don Cesare .

DON CESARE : This assu rance i s most welcome andconsoles me fo r all my misadventu res . Once more , I a sk

I SS

THE RENAISSANCE

for nothing but to serve you w ell,a nd s ince you entrust me

w i th troops to act in Tuscany on behalf of the Medic i . youmust no t doubt that I am applying mysel f to the task withall my might , ta king account henceforth of no interests bu tthose of the Cathol ic King .

DON GONSALVO : I am extremely indebted to you foryour trouble .

DON CESARE : My intent ion is to embark this very day on

H is Maj esty’

s galleys,wh ich are in the harbour

,and I take my

leave of you .

DON GONSALVO : God be with you , you r Highness , andmay His Almighty Pow er guide you !DON CESARE : I again thank your Excellency for havingbeen a friend to me in my hour o f tribulat ion .

Th ey rise.

I beg you,Don Gonsa lvo

,to esteem me a s your most devoted

servant .

DON CONSALVO (embracing him): I t i s an honour thattouches me deeply.

DON CESARE : May Heaven preserve you r Excellency !

Th e a nte -ch amber of th e Viceroy ’

s room . At th e moment wh en Don

Ce sa re comes out from Don G onsa lv o’

s room, th e courtiers, o fficersa nd a ppa ritors rise a nd ta ke o ff th e ir h a ts .

DON NUNEZ CAMPE IO (Captain of the Viceroy’s body

guard , to Don Cesare): Monsignor , I arrest you in HisMaj esty’s name !

DON CESARE (recoil ing a few steps): What means this ?

I am the Viceroy’s friend ! I have his word !DON NUNEZ CAMPE IO : Here is his order . Read !

DON CESARE (examining the parchment): I t is blacktreachery !

DON NUNEZ CAMPE IO : You should be a good judge of

that . Your sword !

1 56

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

ROME.

Th e Pa la zzo Borgi a—Dori a Ma ria Henriquez,w idow of Giova nni Borgia

,

Duke of Ga ndia;h er daugh ter Do ira Isabe l la Borgia;a Dominica n.

DOMINICAN : Y e s , you r G race , and at once the Viceroy,Don Consalvo de Cordova , put h im on board His Maj esty’sgalleys and sent him to Spa in , wh ere we are assured that , i f heis not put to death

,he w i l l be condemned to a l ifelong

imprisonment .DUCHESS : May God pardon h im pardon h is crimes !There are few in th e unh appy nature of man with which heis no t soi led . I have never known in him either a hes i tat ion about wrongdoing or a temptation to repent . He h a snever , unti l th is h our, grasped th e sole v i rtue of Hell—thecertainty th at God w i l l win th e day. Alas ! Father I a sk

you before entering the cloister, you knew somethingo f l i fe . I t is no plebeian blood th at runs in you r veins .

I a sk you. Vt/h a t is a family l ike ours doing in the world ?

I t soil s i t ! Our house issued from c r ime,has been carried on

by crime , w al low ed in cr ime , borne aw ay by the most fu rious,the frothiest

,the muddiest w aves of c rime , and behold i t now

cast down ! Where is o ur insolent prosperity ? Nowhere !All in ruin ! No more c larions, no more triumphs, no morecurses . We have become a sight for the mob;i s ourexample an edifying one

DOMINICAN : Y e s,Madam, although otherwise than you

imagine .

DONA ISABELLA BORG IA : Y ou,Madam, and you,

Father,le t me explain my feel ings to you . True, I am but

s ixteen ,and I ought to l isten to you w i thout saying a word, i n

sui tabl e humil i ty;but I must submit to you what I feelto - day

,when w e have begun to approach the most dire poss i

bilitie s. My uncle, Don Cesare , murdered my father .What el se he did I do not c learly know , and I have no w ishto learn . I t is enough for me to behold under a mournfulshadow a red and funereal halo which seems to emanate fromour name . I know not how, and yet I wish to explain to you

CESARE BORGIA

th e feel ing inspired in me by this sight . This sight, I tellyou and fully believe it, the impress ion I get from this s ight,my mother’s ceaseles s tears, all these trouble me less perhapsthan i t should . My reason urges me to be profoundlysad

,but I am not . The only effec t upon me of these miser ies

i s to detach me completely, though withou t hatred or scornor i rr itat ion, from this world, w here such things are done andwhere the aspect of punishment and the continual experienceof victor ies gained by ev i l cannot arres t that ev i l and make i treflect I do no t hate the world ! I t does not fr ighten me;i t i s nothing to me ! I do not touch it at any point;I do notknow i f i t surrounds me;bu t i t has no pow er over me;andwhen I th ink of i t

,I receive a sort of impress ion o f pu re joy,

because I understand that I have noth ing in common with whati t loves or desi res .DUCHESS : Yet al l the sam e , we are among the worstch ildren of th is ev i l w orld;our flesh belongs to i t and i s atevery moment pierced by i ts tho rns .

DOMIN ICAN : Thus from the same obj ects you both derivewidely differen t moral nutri t ion . As for you, Madam,

theblow s of v i l l ainy have fal len on you and left the indel ibl e tracesof fear and pain . Y ou, Dona I sabell a, have heard storie s, bu ti n you rself you have no t fel t the pang . Only the echo ofvillainy h a s reached you . This i s how the deeds of men , intheir w eakness , se ize merely upon a narrow c ircl e;they lastbut the time of a l ightn ing flash , l eav ing behind a v ib rat ionwhich gradually grow s w eaker and disappears . Thei r ravagesgain l i ttl e ground

,and what remains afte r them what

remains is do you know ? The eternal splendourof l ife ! This l ight , there is no Satanic excess that can eversucceed in extingu ishing i t ! Behold you both , one downcastin renun c iation , the other joyous in detachment , both in a word ,march ing equally towards the unchangeable region o f the goodand the true .

DUCHESS : We , we two ,Father ? Y ou forget from what

an aw ful cavern we came !

I59

THE RENAISSANCE

DOMIN I CAN : That i s the most wonderful mystery in theuniverse and the very hub o f its ex is tence . Th e electuary i san extrac t of the viper

’

s venom,and from soil compounded of

fi l thy substances the rarest blooms raise the ir exqu is ite petal s !For me . for al l this people of Rome which , for so many years,h a s gazed on yo u,

do you no t th ink that your mere presenceis a benefac t ion ? In feel ing such different impress ions produced by the name that you h e a r, do you mistake the intentionof Prov idence ? And w hen men exclaim with rage andhorror : “ Cesare Borgia ! ” is i t a matter of indifference thatthey add w i th tenderness, w i th the tears of love in the ir eyes“ Maria and I sabella Borgia ” ? Ah , Madam, ah, my daughter,there is no lack of fools w h o

,seeing Alexander VI . crowned

with the tiara and Savonarola dragged to execution, cry outthat there is no God ! I f I were to answer them, when I lookupon you,

N 0 ! bu t there exists no ev i l,

”w ould my reasoning

not be w orth as much a s theirs ? There is evi l, there is good,a nd good gains the upper hand;i t makes less no ise, i t doesnot stru t or make parade or howl or strain i tself in order toinvade the fi rst ranks , but i t is present, i t acts, and i t will bethe hand which in the last resort will bless the work of theSeven Days !

DoNA I SABELLA (kneel ing before her mother): Don’t

w eep , Madam ! I implore you, don’t shake your head ! The

Padre speaks true ! I t grieves me to see you su ffer 50 ! YetI confess I have heaven in my heart ! God is

so great ! Bel ieve me ! Evil i t i s so trifl ing athing !

DUCHESS (w ip ing her eyes) We must pray for this unhappyman

,and in h is name wil l give bo unti ful alms.

DONA ISABELLA (kissing her mother, and undoing hernecklace): I

’l l g ive al l my j ewel s .

DOMINICAN : G ive them , my daughter . What I see

outweighs all the misdeeds of the criminal ,

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

warm yourself . Here’

s daybreak the enemy i s recommencingto fire upon us .A sh o t from a falcone t from a ba stion strikes th e sentry fu ll in th e

body .

Blood o f Ch rist ! There he i s down ! Don Cesare !He is dead ! Crushed in the mud l ike a worm, he, theproudest of fields ! A thousand mill ion devil s ! Wewon’t s tay here . Let us go and warm ourselves !

Th e ensign a nd h is so ld iers depa rt camp - fo l low ers se i ze th e sentinel ’sbody, strip it naked a nd th row it into

END OF THE SECOND PART

1 62

THIRD PART

JULIUS 1 1 .

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

Spaniards as well as the French , the Germans as well as theSw i ss , and that w ith fire

,sword

,excommunication and all the

thunders of the anathemas . I shall spare nei ther violencenor sc ruples ! For, mark me well , my son ! There are certainages when scruples are good for the confess ional and franklycriminal elsewhere

, s ince v irtue only consists in success .\Vh ile , I tel l you , I Spare noth ing, I charge you, Bramante ,to a c t in such a w ay th at the fire of the spir i t becomes apile so flaming that the ignorance and coarseness of formerages is consumed therein . The flame must blaze up so highthat poster ity wil l perce ive i t l ike a beacon that may guidei t for ever .IL BRAMANTE : A world overflows from your head intomine . Your ideas cry out to me : Work , Bramante '

JULIUS I I . : Obey them , and as I have not sent for you tolose time in digress ions , l is ten to my proj ects . The Vatican isto o small ! I t i s not a palace worthy of the Sovereign Pontiffof th e Christ ians , of th is successor of the Apostle wh o opensand shu ts the gates of w orlds . I need a lodging fi tted tos tr ike the nations with amazement and awe . So you wil lbu i ld me here two long and sumptuous galler ies w hich wil lcross the w idth o f the valley and w il l lead to the Belv idere .

You will muster there al l the beau t ies, all the elegances, allthe inventions of your art , and you wil l also put there allits audac itie s . Do not fear to do too much ! Regret noexpense . Remember, and never lose sight of this—thatyour imagination . how ever potent i t might h e , could neverfigure bu t as a dw arf by the s ide of the greatness of my will .IL BRAMANTE : I sh all try to exal t myself a s bes t I can .

I t w il l b e a long and painful task .

JULIUS I I . Painfu l ? I care not for that . Long ? I forbidi t . You w il l begin a t once , you w i l l w ork day and night.You w i l l give you rsel f no respite or peace unt il I tell you

,

“ Stop ! ”—and I shall not tell you that ! Before I die I w ishto se e myself what I am carrying out. When you sleep , whenyou eat, you are robbing me ! Listen again . Rome is d is

1 66

POPE JULIUS 1 1 .

page 1 66

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

JULIUS I I . I shou ld prove obstinate also , and your Raphael

wou ld not replace him for me . Go now, make haste , to thework ! I have other bu siness . The Venetian s and the Frenchare at l oggerheads . Now,

go !

VEN ICE .

Th e crowd fi l ls th e stree ts a nd th e church es—Firing o f a rti l lery in th e

dista nce—Th e Sena te Ha l l;from th e w indow s is se en th e Pia zzaSa n Ma rco crowded w ith people .

—Th e Sena tors form groups a s th eya w a i t th e session, a nd discourse w ith gra vity.

GIOVANNI CONTARIN I (to those surrounding him): Thesi tuation i s thi s : the battle of Agnadello lost

, six thousand

men left on the field, the Alv iane grievously wounded , and

all our provinces on term firma vying with one another incow ardice.

P IERO BEMBO : Nothing could be truer . But cit izens andpeasants, when one is reduced to trust ing in them, have never

defended their unhappy country in any other way.

GIOVANNI CONTARINI : Agreed;so I make them noreproach, and only cons ider facts . Caravaggio

,Bergamo ,

Cremona have surrendered of their own accord. B resc ia did

better . In order to give a pledge to the French, the inh abi

tants surprised the garri son and opened the ir gates . In br i ef,what took us centuries to jo in together and to govern, all

c rumbled away in a single day .

NANI : Perhaps we must take into account the fearfulcruel t ies in which the French indulged . The nat ions were

terror- stricken .

MARCO CONTARINI : Even were the conquerors k ind

hearted, the resul t would have been the same . Our S tates

in I taly lost;the Emperor entering Friul i and turn ing everything upside down;the Pope’s army threaten ing us fromRavenna the Gonzaga master of Lunato and of Asola the

1 68

7 0 [a re p a ge 1 68

[ I

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

ON THE P IAZZA SAN MARCO .

A MERCHANT (s topping a Senato r as he passes): Mylord, may I speak to you ?SENATOR : Be qu ick

,Messer Antonio . I am afraid I shall

be late for the sess ion .

MERCHANT : My lord, the merchants of the Rial to learntthat the most serene Senate h a s O ffered the Republ ic thefortunes of al l i ts members;they do the sa me with theirs .Let our chests be fetched away;they are full , and w e givethem with all our hearts .SENATOR : I thank you, S ignor Antonio, and the Signiorywill be informed Of your Offers . For the present, I advise youto go home and induce your fr iends to do l ikewise . Idle curiosityand useless agi tat ion must be left to the lower cla sses .Honest burghers should never cease from their business, what ~

ever may happen . TO stand in the p iazzas i s disorder, anddisorder is the very extreme of evil .CITIZEN Y ou are r ight, my lord . Come, Messer Giro lamo ,and you, my nephew, le t us go home . The care of saving theState belongs to wiser heads .

Exeunt . Th e Sena tor enters th e Pa la zzo .

A CONSTABLE (masked, to a group Of fishermen and boatmen): GO to the arsenal , all Of you ! Men are being enl i stedthere for the navy.

A SAILOR : We should l ike to know what the il lustriousSenate i s going to decide .

CONSTABLE : I t h a s already been decided that you wil l bewhipped if you remain playing the vagabond l ike thi s insteadOf help ing your country . Come, my lads, enough Of gossiping . Be OffTHE CROWD Long l ive St . Mark !

A ba rque a rrives, sw i ft ly row ed , a nd comes a longside of th e steps of

th e la nding-sta ge . Th e provveditore Andrea Gritti and severa lmen . a t o a rms la nd . At th is moment th e Sena te is com ing out .

G IOVANNI CONTARINI What ! you , Andrea ? Howdid you manage to pass the French l ines ?

1 70

JUL IUS II .

GRITTI I had to pass them .

BEMBO : What news

GRITTI : Excellent ! You bu i ld mills,I se e c isterns being

hollowed out;the wheat i s plenti fu l;the sluices of the canals

are rai sed . I f the danger is great, the resolution is no less;God is with our country !

NANI The Senate is about to congratulate your general for

not hav ing despaired Of fortune .

GRITTI A just and w ise measure . The Count Of Pe tigliano

di d all he could at Agnadello , and h is defeated troops are

already rall ied . We Shall hold our ground as long as we can .

CONTARIN I : The Ten are s itting . They have just sent

ambassadors to the P ope,praying him to abandon the league .

\Vh a t are the French doing at P us ino !

GRITTI : Mere foolerie s . They amuse themselves byfiri ng at the Campan i le , knowing that thei r bulle ts wil l never

get half-way. They cal l that insulting us .

CONTARINI : Come, come ! The country w on’t die ! TO

see you al ive and erec t, honest Gritt i, and to shake your hand

after the perils that have spared you Of l ate, that i s indeed

a mark Of div ine protect ion .

GRITTI (with tears in h is eyes): Long l ive St . Mark !

He goes into th e Pa la zzo wi th h is suite . Th e sena tors depa rt.

1 7 1

THE RENAISSANCE

BOLOGNA.

Th e Pope ’

s room.—Julius I I ca rdina ls, bish ops, ch amberla ins

,o fficers

of th e Sw iss a nd I talia n Gua rds .

JULIUS I I . (he is seated in an armchair, holding in hisha nds a stick which he raps on the ground whenever his discourse grows heated) Ah ! how happy I feel here ! Now theBolo

gnese are brought back to reason ! Let them try to k ick

once more , and the needle will enter the ir flesh a l i ttle moredeeply ! Henceforth

,they belong to the Church . Let them

try not to forget that . Y ou will convey them my words .Now , cal l in Michael Angelo Buonaro tti. Ah , here youare ! At last ! I t i s well ! Had I not threatenedto go and look for you myself at F lorence, you would not havecome back .

MICHAEL ANGELO : Most Holy Father, I thought that

you had no need Of me .

JULIUS I I . : Oh, you thought so ? I should be gl ad to

know what gave you that idea . Explain yourself freely,w i thout any fear. I fancy you are not afraid Of me .

MICHAEL ANGELO I am afraid Of you , Holy Father, butthe truth is the truth .

JULIUS I I . : Oh,you are afrai d of me ? Well , act as i f it

were of no consequence . Whatever put i t into your head tofly from Rome , when you know quite w el l that I wished youto stay there ?

MICHAEL ANGELO : Holy Father , while I w a s workingat th e same time at the S istine frescoes and at your statues,and when I had just finished the Moses Of which your Hol inessseemed to approve .

JULIUS I I . Oh , I seemed to you to approve Of your MosesI se emed to you . Ah

,I seemed to you . But go

on never mind !MICHAEL ANGELO : I asked for marbles;I got them .

I t w a s necessary to pay the sailors, and while they werelanding the blocks at Ripa

,I came to ask your Hol iness for

the money required .

1 72

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

JUL IUS II . : Well , and what d id I do then ? For, so far as

I know,I am not accustomed to put up with disrespect . I

must have done something.

MICHAEL ANGELO : I cannot understand what pleasure

you r Hol iness finds in torturing me thus . You know better

tha n I do what you did .

JULIUS I I . : Will you finish ?

MICHAEL ANGELO : S ince you drive me to it—th is i swhat you d id . You sent me five couriers, one after another,orderingme to return without delay under penal ty Of disgracebu t I am no t minded to be treated as a man Of so l i ttl e wor th .

I begged you to look for another sculptor.

JULIUS I I . : It is true that he pushed audacity so far as tosend me a message in these very terms . But continue .

MICHAEL ANGELO : Messer P iero Soderini notified methat the S igniory had received three briefs order ing me to

return to Rome under pain Of excommunication . Hence I

had to gO—I w ent, and here I am .

JULIUS I I . : SO that you did not come back Of your own

free wil l ? And some goss ips go tell ing everywhere,into th e

bargain , that you w anted to k il l me by throwing rafters on my

head from the top O f your scaffold ing on the Si stine, whereI had entered in spite Of you ! I ask you now what prince

i s so soft, so easygo ing, so stup id tha t he wil l suffer suchoutrages without taking vengeance .

A moment’

s silence .

A BI SHOP : Holy Father, your Hol iness wil l deign to takepity on th is poor man . He knows no t what he is doing . Such

people have l i ttle understanding and are entirely ignorantou ts ide their art .

JULIUS I I . (ris ing in fury and beating the bishop with his

staff): Tactless fool ! Pedant ! I diot ! Why do you permi t

yoursel f to insult my artist ? Did I insu l t him,eh ? Let

this w retch, this ass, th is blockhead, go home ! And you .

1 74

JULIUS I I .

Michael Angelo, come here—c ome nearer—come ! On yourknees . Here is my bless ing . Kiss the ring Of theF isherman ! Be no t vexed, my son, go and w ork . I w i l l give

you all the money I can . Make me many beau tifu l th ings !Y ou are indeed a creative god. GO, my son—never thinkagain Of leav ing me . You are the glory o f the Pope and o f

I taly .

Mich a e l Ange lo rises , crosses himse l f bow s a nd go es out .

A CHAMBERLAIN The Venetian Ambassadors have come

back for th e third t ime s ince this morning. They entreat your

Hol iness to rece ive them .

JULIUS I I . : They are bold ! DO they not know that Irefused ?

CHAMBERLAIN : They had express orders, Holy Father !

JULIUS I I . : These Venetians ! I tal ians but no t Of I taly,Chris tians against th e ir will ! They w ished to wres t theRomagna from me and forced me in sp ite Of myself to j o inhands with the French ! Behold them now

,reduced to the

las t extremity;w hat do they want now ?A VENETIAN CARDINAL ( as i de to the Pope): HolyFather, the Ambassadors are charged with every poss ible submiss ion . These are the points w hich you demanded andwhich they gran t : publ ic penitence for having offended you,

abandonment Of the benefice s depending on the State .

We cede you Ferrara , and th e right Of sail ing in the Adriaticw i thou t hav ing to pay tolls .

JUL IUS I I . (as ide): These are good disposi tions . Bringin your depu t ies . I f w e can come to an understanding

,no t

only shall I give up the all i ance with the French , but you wil l

help me to r id I taly Of them .

CARDINAL : Y e s, Holy Father .JULIUS I I . Let the Ambassadors come to find me to - night .

I refuse to receive them in publ ic . I t is no t yet time .

I 7S

THE RENAISSANCE

ROME .

A ga rden , cypresses, ba nks o f ro se - tre es a m a rble bench a mid gra sses a ndflowe rs;be hi nd th e benc h a n a ntique s ta tue O f Venus—Ra ph a e l, a la dy .

LADY : I love yo u more than yo u think , and in another way .

RAPHAEL : I bel ieve that you love me w ell . I f I requite i tto you,

o r rather if I give yo u love and you r heart only reflec tsto me , in ch arming flash es , l ike a fa ithfu l m irror, the tendernessthat I show er upon yo u,

1 8 that no t enough ?LADY Raphael , you do no t understand me . I love youfor my own part

,and so entirely that I am amazed h ow l i t tle

you unders tand i t .RAPHAEL : My dear love , w hy do you speak thus ?LADY : I t grieves me that a sou l l ike yours should fail to se ethe really prec ious favours heaped upon it, and l inger over w hatis less w orthy o f i tself and Of me . Why wou ld you no t allowme this pride o f bel iev ing that my affec t ion is w orth morethan my beau ty ?

RAPHAEL : I think i t is,more than you c a n des ire . Am I

Of a m ind so base a s to remark in you noth ing but th e fire

Of you r great splendid eyes , the soft roundness and bril l ianceOf your cheeks , the half - Open pomegranate of your l ips andthe suppleness Of that incomparable figure ? DO not bel ievei t ! I understand also

,and at least a s w ell , h ow noble and

generou s is your soul , and to w hat a point ri ses that intell ect ,so ju stly compared by more than one poet to the bold fl ighto f the bird w hich bears Jupiter into the bosom of the

Empyrean . I f I had to paint a noble S ibyl , i t i s you that Ishou ld choose;the div ine laurel w reathed about you r brow sw ould never have pressed a w orth ier brow ! Who does notrecognise in you the brill iant pupil of the most subl ime

ph ilosopher—ye s, the daughter of Plato ? Have you not beenseen . before an assembly Of sages in transports o f admirat ion

and pleasure , the day w hen you commented on the Phaedo ”

w i th an eloquence w orthy Of the orators Of Athens and Of

Rome ? Oh , most beautiful , most learned, most insp ired, and

1 76

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

JULIUS I I .

at the same time most seduct ive of women, why do you thinkthat I misunderstand you ?LADY : I am not what you say;I am sh e who loves Raphaeland is perhaps loved by h im in return .

RAPHAEL : Perhaps ?LADY N O glory could be greater than that . Is i t not naturalthat I shou ld think sometimes th at this Raphael, at thismoment on the plane Of eternal happiness

,seated at my feet

on this grass that sparkles l ike emeralds, his arm on my knee,h is fine hair, h is charming head so tenderly pressed betweenmy hands which you feel

,do you no t ? tremble with

a thril l Of th e deepest fel ic i ty—ye s, if I th ink sometimes thatthis Raphael

,perce iv ing and esteeming too much in me the

element that cannot endure, does no t think enough of myundying devot ion ! Look at me look at me closelyyes look at me thus . What do you find

,w hat do you

se e in the s inceri ty Of my eyes, save the ceaseless express ionOf my pass ion for your tr iumphs, your glory, the enhancementOf your genius ?

RAPHAEL : Heaven forb id that I should not understand !Frivolous attachments, my beloved, inconstant des ires,pass ing caprices are the beams Of a sun that w il l soon se t.

They give l ittle w armth or l ight, but brighten charmingly theord inary stages Of existence . He who enjoys them is notw rong . They are l ike fruits , bunches Of grapes , clusters of

cherr ies , green and luscious figs, hanging from the end Of abough under the gleaming fol iage . The joyous passer- bywould be w rong not to taste of them if he can take them , andnot to gaze at them w i th longing if he cannot reach . Yet dono t imagine that I devote myself to searching long for theinnumerable gifts di splayed everywhere before the transitoryappeti te Of the b irds Of heaven ! My folly

, or rather myweakness Of heart , i s not great enough for that .LADY : That is well said, Raphael . I feared that this wasno t your Opinion .

RAPHAEL : Y ou do not know me we l l, i f you suspec ted me

Q 2 I 77

THE RENAISSANCE

Of such a narrowness Of imaginat ion and Of heart . Suffer meto be a child that laughs and laughs.LADY : Like a brook that , a s i t runs over the pebbles, castsbefore the echoes the pearl s o f its laugher. Who would blame

yo u ? Is i t I that would blame you, dear ch ild ?RAPHAEL : B u t I know

,too, what a gulf divides pleasure

from happiness, and when the angel o f pure devot ion comesand s its in h is white dress, on the broken stone of the tombwhence he made l ife leap forth , I do not a sk h im,

Who are

you ?”for I feel in myself the power Of that which he h a s

done . Common imaginations,dul l wi ts bel ieve, perhaps, when

they shou ld not bel ieve , and doubt when they have no rightto doubt . They take the small for the great, the great forthe formless and Y ou ! Never think for that I m is ~

understand you ! DO not imagine that the noblenes s Of yournature is a l ight inv i s ible to me, that my eyes are bl ind . Iknow what you are, I feel your worth, I accep t what you giveme and I weigh fairly all the good that comes to me therefrom . I t i s your lover

,your true lover who speaks to

you but al so your fr iend ! My soul ! I t is your companion—w hat more can I say—it is your equal ! He hearsh is equal speak ing and l istens to her advice as i t deserves .LADY : My eyes are fi lled with tears but such sweettears ! I know not how to thank you for i t ! How have Ibeen so good that heaven has given you to me ? By whathave I deserved this ? I n truth, I know not .RAPHAEL : Nor I e i ther—I know not by what good worksI have been empowered to buy you , my treasure;but whylook for causes ? Are we less happy because we do not knowour happiness ?

LADY : You said so just now . I am a daughter Of P lato,and I take del ight in searching the origins Of heavenly things .RAPHAEL : Flowers are better than seeds, and fru its thanflowers .LADY : You are the man Of that which has blossomed

,of

that which is ripe, Of that which can be seen , tasted and

1 78

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

Liona rdo to me , to ea ch Of us, to all fu ture ages . You see : Iam no t myself the fountain- head whence flow s the stream Of

my art . and w i thou t reckoning th e examples Of antiquity, manyothers have served a s a ru le , a gu ide , a source forwhat you callmy genius .

LADY : \Vell ! you a re no t l ike Pallas Athene, that sprangfully- armed from th e brain o f a god. Y ou are hardly yet aman;the beau ty Of your face st il l keeps many Of thosea lmost feminine contou rs, the flow ers Of adolescence . NO one

cou ld be surprised if you first had to l isten to the op in ions Ofyour precursors and behold and est imate their d iscoveries . Butnow you know all . Achi lles h a s no need O f the lessons Of theCentaur , nor my Alexander Of the adm-onitions O f Ar istotl e .

What w a s placed in you r hands has borne frui t;you knowmore than Perugino

,more than Masaccio , more than Lionardo ,

more than all the rest together,and you are only beginning

l i fe . The whole w orld will learn from you, and you wil l learnnoth ing from anyone .

RAPHAEL : You are wrong once mo re . I shall alwayslearn , and from the w hole world . DO you wish me to confessto you in w hat respect I consider myself perhaps happier thanmy forerunners ? In thi s : each Of them remained shut up ina circl e . He knew the artists Of his c i ty, and had no othercompany . He bel ieved

,l ike you, that native talent has no

l imi ts and is enough for attaining any resul t . Nothing is moreuntrue . I shal l be great, I wh o am your Raphael , because Ilearn everywhere and from all;I never cease from invest igating . I t is Of l ittle moment to me to rumma ge under theroots of the frui t- tree—that all possess —but I want the treeand I w ant the fru i ts , and that is why , beloved , I am I .LADY Y ou are grace, you are charm , you are everything .

RAPHAEL NO,I repeat , I am no t everything . I am reason

,

perhaps . I am moderat ion . I am good judgment . I am, if

you w il l , w isdom and enl ightened taste;but I am not depth ,and above

'

all I am no t subl imi ty .

LADY : YVhO , then , i s both these last ?

1 80

JULIUS I I .

RAPHAEL Michael Angelo .

LADY : Michael Angelo ? That sombre,gloomy

,narrow,

Obscure, tortured sou l ? Y ou cannot think SO , Raph ael !TO compare such a man to yourself ! He resembles a demonOf darkness

,w hile you are the image Of the archangel w hose

name you bear . What whim Of modesty h a s taken h old Of

yo u now ?

RAPHAEL : I f I cou ld dive down into that melanchol ic soul ,I should bring up many smoke - grimed secrets from w hich hecan fashion gleaming gold . Vulcan , too ,

w a s a deformed god,

covered w i th soot,l iv ing in the ruddy slag Of h is Lemnian

smi thy. Yet none Of the gods th at w alked the azu re w ays,nei ther Phoebus Of the sun nor Mercury the flu te - player, w ereever a s mighty craftsmen a s he !LADY : NO ! Y ou are w rong ! There is nothing in commonbetw een the overflow ing life that is poured from your natureinto you r w orks, a lovable and inspiring force, and the savagebrutal ity Of him w hom you seem to envy .

RAPHAEL : Had I not copied a s h is pupil, as the mostattentive and humble Of pupi ls, the inimitable cartoon of P isahad not my uncle Bramante , in lett ing me secretly into theS istine chapel , given me the inest imable happiness of gazingon the c reat ions Of this all - powerfu l art ist, I shou ld no t bewhat I am

,I coul d not even dream Of w hat I might achieve .

Why do you l ow er you r head ? I shall execu te greater a ndnobler things than h e

,although he is a greater inventor than

I . He discovers , he know s h ow to discover;bu t i t is notgranted h im to separate s i lver from lead , o r a thousand stainsOf rust from the pu ri ty Of h is thought . As fo r me , beloved ,

perhaps I am no t the equal O f h im , the Jehovah o f a w orld;Ihave taken from all parts and from every hand what is mineh a s belonged to others . B u t then , I have enlarged , upli fted ,i lluminated everyth ing ! I am one w ho sets in order ! I haveno t trifled w i th copying one , steal ing from another, m ea nlyadju sting the shreds and p a tches sec retly borrow ed fromeveryone , w hich everyone had the righ t to recl a im later on.

1 8 1

THE RENAISSANCE

NO ! I melted al l together, and from these diss imilar elementsI c reated a force at a s ingle bound . I t. is from matter that iscompact and really my own that I am preparing, henceforth,to compose my works, ever add ing to it;this matter i s mixedaccord ing to my own v i ews, coloured a s i t su its me, hard atthe exac t point that I wish;and it is thus that I shall rearmonuments on w h ich I wil l imprint my seal and my right,which none will d ispu te . You se e , I praise myself in order to

re - assure you and to please you . Bu t I Show you my mind as

God h a s made i t, and no t a s in the dis torted image called upby pass ionate love . I do not magnify myself nor yet makemysel f smaller . And I have, above Michael Angelo and th e

rest, a prerogat ive Of which you do no t speak to me, and which

alone is w orth more than all that they possess .

LADY : I know i t, I see i t, I feel i t !RAPHAEL And what i s i t, pray ? I s i t so ma nifest ?

LADY : Ah , how manifest ! H ow i t sparkles in your glances,how i t i s discernible i n your face , in that god- l ike grace thatanimates your every movement ! You r prerogative , myRaphael , is to be happy ! Y ou are happy ! Happiness spreadher rose - coloured vei l above you r mother

’

s bed at the momentO f you r b irth . From your first step , from you r first smile, youwere beloved . I t seems as i f the years that , in l inked chain ,form your l i fe , have known no season but spring . Y ou have

thought, you have meditated, you have worked, you always

work;bu t w hat is trouble for others is always transmu ted foryou into easy pleasure . Y ou do no t know w hat i t is to workagainst the gra in . Y ou have been loved

,I said . You are

loved ! The great, princes, popes, most honoured ladies, adore

Raph ael;i f Ol d, they treasu re him l ike a cherished son, and,i f in the bloom Of youth, they do a s I do—they idol ise him !I am no t aston ished to se e you express candour

,virtue , inno

cence, and charm so w el l . Ev i l h a s been forb idden to

come near you ,and as you have never known anything but

love,h ow cou ld you be other than what you are ? Farewell

1 82

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENA IS SAN CE

NO ! I mel ted all toge tsr, and from these diss imil ar elementsI created a force a t a s igl e bound . It. is from matter that iscompac t and really my wn that I am prepar ing, henceforth,to compose my works

,ear add ing to i t th i s matter i s mixed

accord ing to my own v w s, coloured as i t su i ts me, hard atthe exac t po in t that I \ Sl’l;a nd i t i s thus that I shall rearmonuments on which Iw' ill imprint my seal and my right

,

which none will d ispute . You see , I praise myself in order tore - assu re you and to ple ae you But I show you my mind asG od has made i t, and n '

as in the dis torted image ca ll ed upby pass ionate love . I c no t magn ify myself nor yet make

mysel f smal ler . And I av e , above M ichael Angelo and th erest , a pre rogat ive of wh ii you do not speak to me, and which

a lone i s wor th more tha all tha t they possess .

LADY : I know i t , I see I fee l i t !

RAPHAEL And what;i t , pray ? I s i t so ma ni fes t ?

LADY Ah , h ow ma nifit ! H ow i t sparkl e s in your gla nces,

how i t i s d iscern ibl e in yur fa ce , in that god - l ike grace thatan imates you r every D v ement ! Your prerogat ive , myRaphael , i s to be happy ! You are happy ! Happiness spreadher rose - colou re d vei l abre you r mother

'

s b ed at the moment

o f you r b i rth . From:

voufirst s tep , from your fir st smil e , youwere beloved . I t seems 3 i f the years that , in l inked chain ,form you r l i fe . have kuon no sea son bu t sp r ing . You have

thought,you have meditred, you have w orked , you always

work;bu t w hat i s troubltfor others i s always transmuted foryou into easy pleasu re . bu do no t know w hat i t i s to work

agains t the gra in . You a v e been loved,I said You are

loved ! The great , prince <

popes, most honoured ladi es, adore

Raph ael;i f Old, they tre a i re him l ike

i f in the bloom of youth , rey do as I

I am not as ton ished to se cy ou

cence,and charm so w e l l .

come near you , and a s

love,how could you be

I R?

JULIL'

S l

farewell , my fri end;fa rew c fla i y love r . Fa rewe l l ,my idol .

RAPHAEL You a re go ing a lrcr z. 1 1

LADY : Already ? Y es, i t i s re a dy i t is too

soon ! Nevertheless,I have b : 1 here s ince th i s mo rn ing;

the sun i s going down , and the g l Of i t s rays seems to bedrowned in the gleaming purple 1 f 1 dying fires . Besides , I

hear voice s at the end Of the ga rden You r fri ends are comingto look fo r you . I would not ha ve 1 3m meet me .

RAPHAEL : S tay a moment, my a i red one;I w i sh to tel l

them to wai t for me in my house )0 not go yet , I implo re

you ! You have made me ta llz if everyth ing , but w hathave we said Of ourselves ?

LADY : Oh , that w e know well dough . Farew el l . Ise e La B ianch ina ! She makes me s ign. My l i tter h a s longbeen in the lane . How ra sh w e a i !

RAPHAEL : How cruel you are !

LADY : You are ungrateful, Rapha t

RAPHAEL : Till to -mo rrow , th e ? Here ? a t your

house ? On the Tibe r bridge ? W here ?

LADY : NO ! t o - morrow . . Vha t’

s to be done ’

We ll , le t us ri sk someth ing ! Cor: at ten o'

c lock in the

morni ng, at the Holy Apostles;I :a llgo there to hear if”

Mass, and I shal l be alone in th e chrch w ith La Ba rt h “

Farewell !

RAPHAEL : Farewell ! I wo rship Ou .

’

THE RENAISSANCE

early, and are working at Signor Agostino Ch igi’

s at thepictures Of Psyche .

RAPHAEL Let th em all be sen t w ord that I sh al l be theresoon ! I shal l go to my w orkshops , to the Vatican, and to

S ignor Ch igi’

s . G ive me the chalks .

H e begins th e portra it of Bea tri ce d’

E ste .

IL BRAMANTE : Good - day, nephew . The Pope w i shes to

speak to you . He cons iders that the w ork does not advance.You w i l l have a severe lec ture to face if you are not careful .RAPHAEL : Before anyth ing else , I shall finish this sketch .

I have i t in my head ! I t shall not escape me . SO sit down,uncle here in the shade Of these rose - l aurels . Here isa shelter made for you. A lemonade for Signor Bramante !

IL BRAMANTE : The fact i s that I am dead - tired . This

l ife , at my age, i s unbearable .

RAPHAEL : The l ife i s admirable for you as wel l as for me.I f i t shook us less

,how all would wither in our soul s !

IL BRAMANTE : Y ou are perhaps right a s regards certa inmoments;but there are others when one can stand no more .Jul iu s I I . i s an appall ing master;his exactingness is on a parwith h is genius .

RAPHAEL : He does not spare us;but is he indulgent tohimself ? Assuredly not. That is something to keep us in

a good temper . Here is a sketch Of which I need not be

ashamed, I think . I t wells up in my soul and runs on l ike

a l ive thing under the pencil ! As for the Pope,as for

myself, I do my best. What has he to complain of ? The

hall Of the Holy S ignatory is almost finished;what i s leftw il l soon be done . The picture Of Theology, a s I composed

i t in accordance w i th the ideas Of Count Cast igl ione and

Signor Ludov ico Ariosto, is finished . I shall le t that Ofphilosophy rest a while , because I have acquired a taste for

the Mass o f Bolsena , and the compos i t ion is Of such importanceto me that I shal l not rest until I have brought i t to a good

1 84

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

w i th your p ic ture O f H eliodorus that , unl ikely though it sounds,he wishes to contemplate h imself in the mids t of that greatcourt Of justice and that pow erfu l tumul t Of anc ient days ?RAPHAEL : Very true . I d id the cartoon last night. Bringi t, Francesco . Y o u w i l l go and se e i t and tell me your Opinion .

AGOSTINO CHIG I : The potentate who , humbling thesmaller princes to th e dust , plans the union Of I taly under thecrook Of St . Peter and our del iverance for ever from the fore ignspoilers , th is potentate , our Pope , cannot but have been gladwhen he received from you r hand , Raphael , the Spec tacle Of

the impious driven from the temple by the fiery sword Of theangel o f the Lord ! He himself is that angel !

B IBBIENA Ah, here are the cartoons !

Serva nts pla ce th e c a rtoons on th e ea se ls under th e Fa ttore’

s

direction.

SIG I SMONDO CHIG I The l ikeness Of the Pope i s striking.

SANSECONDO : That is h is proud and overbear ing mienbefore hi s foes !PERUZZI : You recognise yourself there, Marc -Antonio ? I ti s you who are one Of the porters of the pontifical chai r ?MARC -ANTON IO : I am no t the only one thus honouredby Raphael . Have you seen my companion ?TIBALDEO : Per Dio ! I s i t not S ignor G iovanni P ietro de’

FOl iari of Cremona ?

BACCIO PINTELLI : What ! the Secretary Of th e

Memor ia l s ?RAIMONDI : No other. The poor man is at the summi t Ofhis happiness and goes tell ing the tal e all over the ci ty .

B IBB IENA : He is right . Y ou have done for him,master

,

what God refused us all;you made him immortal .IL BRAMANTE : Take th ese cartoons w i th you to th e

Vatican . Th is will be the t rue means Of soothing the Pope .

Are you getting on w i th your Sketch ? I t is nearly t ime togo;the sun is sett ing .

RAPHAEL : I am ready . Fattore,I beg you,

my lad,have

th is clear head taken to my bedroom . I shal l work at i t th is

1 86

JULIUS I I .

evening w hen I come in . My blue velvet mantle ! my biretta

wi th ropes Of pearls ! B id a dozen of my men come with me !You w i l l accompany us ! Signor Bibb iena , all Of you ,

myfriends, stay and amuse yourselves . The house is l ike itsma ster, i t belongs to you . Signor Agostino, I shal l come to

your house w hen I leave the Vat ican . And I shal l see whatmy pup ils are doing .

AGOSTINO CHIG I : I shall run to welcome you . I al so

have to spea k to you Of the work on my chapel at Santa Mariadella Pace . When will you begin i t ?

RAPHAEL : Next week w i thout fa i l . Y ou do not forget,Messer, that to - day is S t Anne’s Day ? We are supping w ith

our worthy G erman Johannes Goricius.

AGOSTINO CHIGI : The Signora Imperi a i s bound to bethere . There is thus no reason to fear that S ignor Bibb ienaw i l l fai l to appear.B IBB IENA : Certainly no t;I think that the sam e may besa id Of you . The Imperia h a s a magnet in her eyes to draw

the hearts Of men .

Enter a pupi l of I ! Bramante .

PUP IL : Maestro, hasten to the Vatican . A misfortune has

happened .

IL BRAMANTE : Blood Of Christ ! w hat do you mean ?

PUPIL The wall of the new gallery Of the Belvedere h as justhad a crack all its length, and threatens ruin .

I L BRAMANTE How could i t be otherwise ? The Pope ispress ing so hard ! We have to work day and night, andscarcely know what w e are doing !

RAPHAEL : My tale is the same . The ill - fitted plasterscome Off w i th the paintings , or be ing badly prepa red , spoilthe colours . Good - bye , S i rs;I wil l come w i th you, uncle .

B IBB IENA AND THE OTHERS : Till th is evening then,

at the house Of Goricius.

RAPHAEL (to I ! Bramante , coming ou t Of the garden)

1 87

THE RENAISSANCE

Before al l , take me once more , as you pass , to the Sist ine . I

must go in there . Michael Angelo h a s ach ieved miracles;Imust understand them

,so a s no t to be behindha'nd . What a

w izard ! \Yh a t a maste r is this Buona ro tti !

IL BRAMANTE : SO fa r as portents are concerned , the

greatest that he h a s sh own me is certainly th is—that h e h a smade the Pope so pl iant a s to sh ow him more cons ideration

than he w ou ld to God th e Father !

RAPHAEL : YVe have no cause for complaint e ithe r, uncle .

We have no lack O f work .

IL BRAMANTE : NO one h a s . Jul ius I I . h a s no t enough

arms, legs, hearts, and heads to employ for what he wishes tocarry o ut. Nevertheless

,Michael Angelo remains the

favouri te . Remember that !

RAPHAEL (laughing): GO and repair your cracks ! Come,unc le , and you others , follow us !

Ex it, his a rm under Bramante'

s, surrounded by h is pupi ls and h is

serving -men.

1 88

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

ANNIBALE BENTIVOGLIO He w a s better . The presentPope dreams Of noth ing bu t the spol iation and massacre Of allth e princes .

GRAND MASTER : I am th inking it over;bu t we must giveth e horses a l ittle rest and let the men eat . (TO an Officer .)G ive the order to dismount . The troops are to fall out afterthe sentries have been posted . Ha s Captain Molard arrived ?

OFFI CER : He is coming in a moment . H is companies arebroken w ith fatigue .

GRAND MASTER : They are honest fellows let them havew ine served them . You come in good t ime, Captain Molard .

Many thanks for such prompti tude .

CAPTAIN MOLARD : I have done my duty, my lord .

GRAND MASTER : Y ou know that we hold our MasterReynard .

ANNIBALE BENTIVOGLIO We are going to cut his tail .

HERMES BENTIVOGL IO : Or h is throat.GRAND MASTER : What new s do you bring from Ferrara ?

CAPTAIN MOLARD : Here is Mons ignor de Bayard, who

wil l give you some .

GRAND MASTER : Good evening, Captain Bayard,welcome .

BAYARD : Commend you to God, my lord, most devoutly.

Here are some who are better men than I , the Baron da Conti,the Baron de Fontrail les

,and the worthy Captain Mercurio

with his two thousand Albanians.

ANNIBALE BENTIVOGLIO : I s i t true that he ripped up

h is firs t cousin so well ?

BAYARD : He had him cut to p ieces with all h is men,and

the heads were carr ied on the lance points . I t w a s cruel,and I disl ike

,these savageries .

D’

ALEGRE : I t is no t war, but butchery.

ANNIBALE BENTIVOGLIO I t is vengea nce . When oner isks one’s own Skin, one h a s every right over those Of others .BAYARD : I am too humble a person to argue with so great

1 90

JULIUS I I .

a lord as you . For his part, Captain Mercurio i s brave, no

doubt . All the same , I had the looters, who st ifled the poor

inhab itants of V icenza in a cavern, put to death without mercy

and everywhere that marauders come under my hand I propose

to do the same to them . Bu t are‘ we here to tell stories ?

GRAND MASTER : Not altoge ther . We reckon that

to -morrow morning the people Of Bologna wil l have del ivered

up the Pope to me . S ignor Annibale has promised .

ANNIBALE BENTIVOGLIO : And I promise you that

King Louis i s about to be rel ieved Of h is excommunication,and the Duke Of Ferrara, I and my friends also .

OFFICER : A guard reports that Count G iovanni Francesco

P ico presents himself from the Pope to Speak to Monsignor.

GRAND MASTER : Ah ! so our arr ival i s known, and theHoly Father w ishes to avoid the eagerness Of h is people to

fly at him ! Bring in the Count I Shall l is ten to what h e h a s

to say.

1 9 1

THE RENAISSANCE

IN BOLOGNA .

A room in th e pa la ce wh ere th e Pope l ives—Julius IL ,i l l

,h a l f lying down

in a n armch ai r, surrounded by cush ions w h ic h h e upse ts every m inutea nd wh ich th e serva nts pick up. Ca rd ina l Regino , Lega te of Bo logna .

CARDINAL : Y ou mus t no t le t yourself be taken by thosev il lainous F rench .

POPE I Shall no t le t myself be taken . I t is I who shall takeand strangle and stamp upon my enemies . Y ou may countupon that . G ive me to dr ink !

A ch amberla in brings h im a gla ss o f grue l .

Ba h ! it’

s as b i tter a s gall . A glass of wine !CHAMBERLAIN : Holy Father, the physicia ns havee xpressly forb idden wine .

POPE What time did the couriers go to send my messagest o the Venetians and the Spaniards ?

CARDINAL Four hours ago ,at the first news that come to

us of the march Of the F rench .

POPE : The point is that our all ies Shou l d be here in time .

Have a letter wr i t ten to the B ishop of S ion b idding him hastenh is negot iations with the Swiss . Let a s many of these barb arians as can be scraped together be thrown into the M ilaneseterr i tory. The more harm they do to Louis XI I .

’

s troops,the

nearer wil l be our del iverance .

CARDINAL The Swiss are hones t numskulls;I reckon on

them completely. Devoted to the Church , obedient whenthey are well paidTHE POPE Bandits l ike the rest ! H a s no t Count G iovann iFrancesco yet re turned ?CARDINAL Not yet . He h a s a skilful tongue .

POPE : He does not need much subtlety to hoodwinkLouis XI I . That booby wou l d fain pass for a man of sub

stance , because he i s coarse , j ov ial , and weak of head as o fheart. As pr ince , he betrayed h is King;a s husband he madeh is firs t wife, who w a s a sain t, a s unhappy a s poss ibl e;atpresent

,he obeys a second, wh o i s a sheer termagant, and a s

for k ill ing and plundering, there is no one who does that

1 92

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

BEFORE BOLOGNA.

A w inter nigh t, da rk a nd co ld da y is beginning to dawn.-A pea sa nt 's

h ouse;Fre nch troops encamped a round . Grea t bust le Of pa tro ls o f

infa ntry a nd c a va lry;picke ts a nd sentries eve rywh ere . Th e town

is inve sted . Ligh ts a re se en in th e h igh e r stories o f some h ousesth a t comma nd th e rampa rt—Ne a r a big fire , a ta ble be tween th em,

th e Gra nd Ma ster o f Ch a union t a nd Count G iova nni Fra ncesco Pico .

COUNT : \Vell Monsignor,I will admit what you say.

The Holy Father d id not show himself so fa ithful as heshould have done to the League of Cambray . There aremany points to Obj ect to

,but of them we w i l l no t speak .

The Holy Father,I agree, abandoned the Most Chr ist ian

King after the battle of Agnadello;heGRAND MASTER : He made an all iance with our worstenemies, the Venetians;he tore them from our hands whenw e , th inking them half- dead, were abou t to del iver a finalblow;he detached the Emperor from our s ide;he i s st irringup the Swiss to attack us in short, he does us al l the mischiefthat he can . He shall b e chast ised ! And , by the death ofChris t, le t him give himsel f up with out so much chaffering.

COUNT : How should he do otherw ise ? When you havehim , what will you do with him ?

GRAND MASTER : A strong prison ! DO you think thereare none such ? and, l ater on, he

’ll be deposed , as he richlydeserves !

COUNT : Y ou are hard . The Pope in pr i son ? What willChristendom say and do ? And you, Monsignor, the hero of

this fine scandal , wil l you take upon yourself to give th eQ ueen, whose p iety i s so well - known, the absolut ions that thehumblest pries t will refuse her ?

GRAND MASTER : The devil ! Do you think you a re

frightening me ?

COUNT : I only w ish to open your eyes . What would yousay i f I brought you a Pope who, instead of being anembarrass ing prisoner

,proved a devoted friend ?

GRAND MASTER : You take me for a fool . Your devoted

1 94

JUL IUS I I .

friend—who robbed my brother of the tiara ! DO you thinkthat is one of those actions that one forgives ?

COUNT : True, but I only wanted to remind you Of thisaxiom : that when you w ish to serve both your master andyourself equally w e ll , yo u nearly always go wrong . I offeryou an understanding, I dec lare to you that w e can reach one

to your very great advantage . You refuse, very well;butObserve that you refuse .

GRAND MASTER : I refuse nothing. I only say, and Irepeat, that one canno t place the sl ightest confidenc e in you .

Ah , if you w ere a different sort of people ! thenCOUNT : Listen , for example, to what I shoul d propose toyou . Wi thdraw al of the ban Of excommunication against

you and your al l ies . Alfonso d’

E ste once more recognisedas D uke of Ferrara

,and restored to h is post of Gonfalonier of

the Holy Church . Would not that be a good start ? Weshould abandon the Venetians . You yourself w ou ldreceive a hundred thousand crow ns . Would an unders tanding be poss ible upon such terms ?

GRAND MASTER : One must remember that you arenotorious rogues otherw ise, do you imagine that for thesmall pleasure of giv ing mysel f such trouble, I should

COUNT : I make you the formal prOpo sal in the HolyFather’s name !

GRAND MASTER : Have you plenary powers ?

COUNT : Here they are .

GRAND MASTER : That w ould no t be enough for me .

COUNT : Body o f Bacchus ! you a re hard to deal with.

GRAND MASTER : I also require the re - instatement of

Signor Annibale Bent ivogl io in h is town of Bologna,and a

clause that the Pope shal l renounce the Roma gna.COUNT : I frankly confess to you that on th ese matters I

have no instruc t ions, and i t is probable that the Holy Father

will no t wish to have them broached .

GRAND MASTER : You a re j oking ! I f he refuses,I c lose

1 95

THE RENAISSANCE

my fist Is he no t caught ? Ha s he the l iberty of saying yesor

“ no

COUNT : Perhaps we shall submi t to every poss ibl e hardship but I do not think that H is Holiness will renounce e i therBologna or the Romagna .

GRAND MASTER : Then, to -morrow at dawn,I shall break

in you r doors and pu t my hand on your man .

COUNT Y ou are real ly dec ided

GRAND MASTER : I f you knew me better, you wouldd ispe nse with that question .

COUNT : In that case, and in the presence o f force, I yield.GRAND MASTER (laughing): Yo u do well . Bel ieveme, and now that we are friends , your master will at onceOpen me the doors . I am eager to embrace h im .

COUNT : But in that case he w ould be your prisoner underanother name .

GRAND MASTER (laughing): Take it as you will;I Shal lnot abate that condit ion .

COUNT We are in a serious dilemma I am going to repor tyour w ords to the Holy Father . He wil l decide .

GRAND MASTER : Offer him my respects as from asubmiss ive son of the Church .

COUNT : Now come, Monsigneur de Chaumont, could younot be less hard ?

GRAND MASTER : I am only taking precautions . Yourmaster will recognise my intent ions as better than he thought .

Y ou said three hundred thousan d crowns of gold ?COUNT : I said two hundred .

GRAND MASTER : I t wil l b e three hundred, i f you please .

When willyou return ?

COUNT : Give me until midnight .GRAND MASTER : Impossible ! You shall have two hours—not a minute more . We have already lost a deal of time in

talking .

COUNT : My lord, my lord, I entreat you . We wil l

1 96

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

Nea r a bivoua c fire—Ca p tain Ba ya rd , th e ba sta rd du Fa y , standa rdbearer Of h is a rti llery compa ny;Ca pta in Mo la rd , Ca pta in Sucker,lea ders of French a nd Germa n merc ena ries Ca pta in Ja cob Z emberg,comma nder of t he Sw iss . A rough ta b le is drawn up near th e fire

a nd loa ded w ith h ams,sausa ges , c hi ckens, bo tt les a nd cups of pewt er,

tin, h orn, or wood . Th e gue sts a re sea ted on bench es a nd stoo ls,w h ich h ave been sna tch ed from th e huts. Around th e ta ble , a windscreen constructed by th e so ldi ers by mea ns o i c loa ks piled on po les.

Pinew ood torch es burning a t th e end of long s ta kes pla nted in th e

eart h. Th e o f ficers a re supping, w a ited on by pa ges a nd lackeys .

SUCKER : I n war, I think nothing but valour of consequence .

For the rest I care bu t l i ttle .

BAYARD : In that, my friend, you do not Show yourselfparticularly w i se . I think valour of consequence, but diseretion j ust as much, because with discre tion we have disc ipl ine ,Of which too l i ttle has been seen in our armies up to the present .CAPTAIN MOLARD : When one of my men plays thedev il , I play the Satan, and he does no t come back . Bel ieveme, Monseigneur de Sucker, we should abandon the old savagemethods o f plundering, burning and massacring. These arefol l ies w hich ru in their authors . I am of Mgr . de Bayard

’sop inion .

BAYARD : Here is a fine—looking j oint, .and it comes veryuseful after so long a r ide a s that of to - day . S ince Mgr. deMolard i s will ing to approve my l ittle b i t of wisdom , I willtel l you that s ince my entering on the I tal ian wars, that i ss ince 1 4 9 4 , or something l ike seventeen years, I have seenmany notable changes .

DU FAY : I have no t long borne your standard, my Lord,yet I , too ,

have seen changes .BAYARD : When we came with King Charles

,of vic torious

memory, we w ere l ike good peasants,march ing from our

v i l lages, clumsy, badly dril led;and the I tal ians made fun ofus as we to - day make fun of our Landsknechts

,who appear

rus t ic to us, i f I may say so without offence to you,Monsieur

Sucker.

SUCKER : I n Germany w e have greater scholars than yours !The I tal ians, who raise their heads SO high , are not ashamed

1 98

JULIUS I I .

to apply to us for architects . We bu i l t them the ir Cathedralof M ilan, and our painters, such a s Alb recht Diirer

,give them

le ssons .

BAYARD : So you se e how r ight I am in saying that therehave been many novel tie s in the last few years . At the timeof the battle of Fornovo , you would never have heard, at abivouac, a captain of Landsknechts boasting of architects andpainters ! They thought then of noth ing but wine, women,plunder, and pictures and statues were only fit to be hackedto p ieces .

DU FAY : It’

s true ! Tod ay, we regard those who do so assavages and bru tes they are only the newcomers from F rance .

At the end of six months’ stay, one begins to take pleasu rein these beautiful things , and to become refined .

BAYARD : There is another point;in those days, no t forgold or s i lver could you have persuaded a man - a t—arms tofight . Now I know none braver than S ignor Alv iane , SignorAndrea Gritt i, and many others .

CAPTAIN MOLARD : And Pope Jul ius I I .Laugh ter.

BAYARD : True . I should l ike to se e the day whenthere’l l be fighting only among men Of w a r, and no morehar rying of these poor townsmen and countryfolk;they canno longer endure the strifes of pr inces .Z EMBERG There

'

s a terrible draught coming through thesecloaks ! My feet are frozen ! Scoundrels , can

’t you arrangethat construc t ion a tr ifle better ? I

’l l punch your heads, you

rapscall ions .Enter th e Gra nd Ma ster of Ch aumont, Y ves d

’

AlC~gre , offi cers, men

a t - a rms.

GRAND MASTER : Good - evening and good-morning ,

captains ! Have you a finger of wine to give me ? Thanks ,Monseigneur de Bayard ! To your health , gentlemen !

BAYARD : To yours , my lord , a nd may heaven gra nt whatyou r noble heart des ires !

All drink.

1 99

THE RENAISSANCE

GRAND MASTER : The Pope did not try to fly from yours ide ?BAYARD : I f he does not escape from yours, be assured thathe won

’

t from: mine . La ugh ter.

lN BOLOGNA .

A stree t nea r San Petronio.—Morning crow d of people

,a rtisans

merch a nts, nobles, so ldiers.

BUTCHER : I f i t only needs a push to turn the Pope out,

give i t him ! Long l ive the Bentivogl io !CROWD : Long l ive the Bentivogl io ! Long l ive Bologna !Liberty !Enter Franc ia a nd h is pupi ls. Francesco Ca ccia nirnici, Amico

Aspertino , pa inters.

Long l ive the school of Bologn a ! Down with the Romans !

A BAKER : Master F rancia,what do you say to all this ?

FRANCIA : I say that M ichael Angelo is an insolent fellow,

and his master i s no better than he . Long l ive the Bentivogl io !CROWD : Long l ive Bologna !CACCIANIM ICI : Yes, my children ! Long l ive Bologna !I s this beautiful ci ty less wor thy of being free than Florence ,than Lucca and so many other ci t ies ?CRO

'

WD No ! no ! Long l ive Bologna ! and the Bent ivogl io !AMICO ASPERTINO Everyone in hi s own home ! A freecity ! No subject ion !CROWD : Liberty ! L iberty ! Long l ive the Bentivogl io !BAKER : We need a pr ince who spends our money and hisin our city

,and no t e lsew here ! Who builds churches and

palace s for us,and not for the Romans ! Long l ive Bologna !

CROWD : Long l ive the Bent ivogl io ! L iberty ! l iberty !To the palace ! Down with the Pope !ASPERTINO : Let us go and break the statue of MichaelAngelo ! What say you !CROWD : Down with the statue !CACCIANIMICI : Y e s ! le t us go !

All th e c row d fo l lows h im , uttering loud sh outs .

20 0

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TI IE RENAISSANCE

M ICHAEL ANGELO : Here they are, Holy Father.POPE : Go to the spot, trace me the foundations immediately,and begin work . I also need mines, and from to - day you wil lse e to the installat ion of the cannon foundries of which youshowed me the plan .

MICHAEL ANGELO : I f I play the engineer and thefounder, I canno t play the sculptor and the painter. You willcomplain very soon that the works of the S is tine and thes tatues of your tomb are no t advan cing.

JULIUS I I . (strik ing his s t ick on the ground): Certainly, Ishal l complain

,and I have only too good reason to complain .

Idlers that you are ! Instead ofwearying me with your remarksyou should already ha ve finished your task ! Go !

Ex it Mich a e l Ange lo.

Cardinal of Pav ia, did you not j ust tell me that the Emperordes ired to be Pope in my place, and took the ti tl e of PontifexMaximusCARDINAL OF PAVIA : Yes, Holy Father;Loui s XII .

put th is folly into his ear.JULIUS I I : I t is an impertinence . I command the secretaries of the briefs henceforth to enti tle me Ca sar .” I amuniversal Emperor by right a s representing God on earth .

A disch a rge of a rt i llery is h eard.Good ! Here are the Bolognese gett ing my grapeshot in theirlegs .

Severa l pre la tes a nd bish ops approa ch a nd ma ke a pro found obeisance .

What do you want ?A BISHOP Your Hol iness’ person i s in terr ible danger. TheF rench, the people, al l are threaten ing you . Is i t no t a t imefor prudence and moderation ? I am impelled to use suchlanguage to you, Holy Father, by our venerable bre th en herepresent . Consider how your heal th is seriously affected ,and how bes ides , we are defenceless old men, and i f we mustsubm it to the outrages of the soldiery or those of the rebelpopulaceJUL IUS I I . : What does thi s imbeci le want ? What means

20 2

JULIUS I I .

all this verbiage ? Call my bearers;I want to be hoistedto the top of the cathedral so as to se e what is passing in thecountry. But no wait Cardinal of Pavia

,give me

your arm . Y ou here, Captain, approach . Your arm !Oh, I can walk ! Come !

ROME .

At th e h ouse of J a nus Coryc ia s of Luxemburg.—A la rge room w ith a

ce iling pa inted w ith a myth o logica l subj e c t;fre sco es on th e w a lls;mosa ic pa vements grea t va ses full of flow ers

, th e w indow s open ou t

upon a ga rden,a nd

,in th e ba ckground , one sees th e h ouse s o f a

quarter of th e town embow ered in tre e s—Ago stino Chi gi a nd h i s

bro th er Sigismondo Chigi , priest;ilBrama nte Berna rdo da B ibbiena;l’

Imperia Ra ph a e l th e chrono loger Ba rto lommeo Turini da Pesc iaGia como S ansecondo , th e music ia n;o th er guests .

—All th e compa nyis sprea d in groups over th e va st ro om , some sta nding, laugh ing a ndta lking, o th ers sitting on a rm -ch a irs, fo ld ing sea ts or cushi ons.

IL BRAMANTE (to Raph ael): Leave Madam Imperia fora moment, and l isten to w hat I have to sa y to you of MichaelAngelo .

RAPHAEL : Let me amuse myself for a moment . I am deadwith fatigue an d du l led w i th w ork . I f M ichael Angelointri gues against me

, you play the devil aga ins t h im—so weare quits .IL BRAMANTE : I th ink that you r l ightness o f heart is atleast equal to your talen t . Michael Angelo says eve ryw herethat what you know you have learnt from him .

RAPHAEL : True,he taught me something : but I do no t

th ink he lends countenance to the fol ly you attr ibute to him .

He is a man of fierce temper, but not a knave . After all, hei s at Bol ogna w i th the Pope;l e t us leave him in peace . Heoffered inc redibl e insu l ts to Master F ranc ia, my fr iend , wh ocannot pardon them .

IL BRAMANTE : Unhappily , the Buona ro tti is a ll- powerfulw ith the Holy Father

,and a s he does no t miss a s ingle occa

s ion of damaging you,there w i l l come a day when

RAPHAEL (impat iently): There will come a da y when , by

20 3

THE RENAISSANCE

v i rtue of se tting us one agains t the other, th e best friends ofeach of us W i l l have turned us to deadly enemies . That wouldbe d isgracefu l , and I shall res ist i t so far a s I can .

I L BRAMANTE I could have wished them at least to giveyou half the ce il ing of the S istine to do . But M ichael Angelogets everything !RAPHAEL : Have you no more to say to me ?IL BRAMANTE : Go and amuse yourself, a s you have no

blood in you r ve ins .RAPHAEL I cannot be angry with anyone, especially witha man I admire . Have I no t more work than strength toaccompl ish it ?

JANUS CORYCIU S : Master Raphael, have you seen thegroup of the Most Holy Virgin and Saint Anne executed forme by Master Andrea Sansovino

,in the Church of St .

August ineRAPHAEL : I admired i t to - day myself;i t i s one of thefinest works of our t ime . I do: not forget that you want fromme a portrait in that same church .

JANUS CORYCIU S : I entreat you , Master Raphael, reali seyour fine promises when wil l you begin ?

RAPHAEL : Listen ! I wil l do a S ibyl with a laurel -wreathabout her head . Does that sat isfy you ?JANUS CORYCIU S Y e s

, but wil l i t be a young or an oldsibyl ?BIBB IENA : Note , dear Raphael , that S ignor Coryc ius h asa passion for beauty.

RAPHAEL : My s ibyl is the most lovable be ing that Naturehas created, or the mind can conceive . But here is thevery reverend Cardinal G iovanni de’ Medic i.

Enter th e Ca rdina l. H e embra ces R a ph a e l.CARDINAL I love you as i f you were the child of my loins,and so well that I am almost j ealous of your friendship for theS ignor da B ibbiena .

B IBBIENA Monsignor Raphael loves so many things and som any people , and h a s a h eart so richly endowed w i th every

20 4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

M ICHAEL ANGELO : The French and the Bentivogl iosurp rised us at Bologna .

ALL Great God ! The Pope i s a pr isoner .

MICHAEL ANGELO : He trifled with the French, he

crushed the Bolognese . The Venetians and the Spaniards

had t ime to hurry to our aid;the F rench fled to Milan .

My Lord B ibbiena,are you coming ! I must return , without

wasting an hour, to direc t the s iege of La Mirandola .

THE CHRONOLOGER BARTOLOMMEO TURINIThe Pope is not coming back here ?

MICHAEL ANGELO : After La Mirandola,we Shal l take

Ferrara;then , we shall se e . Let us go .

JANUS CORYCIU S What a man the Pope is—a t h is age !AGOSTIN I CHIG I : He ! He has no age;he i s purely aninextingu ishable fire of energy . F rom this fire come whirlso f flame , of sparks and of smoke .

CARDINAL And volcan i c explos ions ! I p ity the poor ci ty

of La Mirandola and the unhappy Countess FrancescaTrivulz io . She w i l l be put outs ide with her children, l ike abeggar. Go

,my Lord B ibbiena, the Pope does not ca re to

wai t.

B IBB IENA : I fol low you, Maste r Michael Angelo . Good

even ing, Raphael, my boy;enj oy yourselfRAPHAEL : I shall do my best . Good- evening, Master

Buonarotti give me your hand .

MICHAEL ANGELO : VVh en I return ! Good evening,Monsignor and gentlemen .

Exeunt h e a nd Bibbiena .

IMPERIA : What a disagreeab le man !

JANUS CORYCIU S Let us begin merrymak ing ! Supper

is ready .

20 6

JULIUS LI .

LA MIRANDOLA .

A room in th e ca st le . Th e Countess Fra ncesca Trivulzio, h er ch i ldren,

h er w a itin g -w omen, omcers o f th e ga rrison a n envoy from th e Dukeof Urbino , comm ander of th e troops of th e Ch urch .

COUNTESS : I have given my answer, S ir . I Shall not

restore my c i ty to the Holy Father . I t i s the patrimony of

my children . I stand up fortheir rights and for j ust ice .

ENVOY : Madam , Mgr . the Duke of Urb ino has good artil lery

and more tr0 0 ps than you. I f you compel h im to make anassaul t, he w il l not answ er for the consequences .

COUNTESS I am the daughter of G ian Giacomo Trivulz io

my blood is not chilled by threats . Y ou have my last word .

Return to your master.

ENVOY : Madam,deign to cons ider .

COUNTESS : Show this captain out .

MILAN .

Th e Duca l pa la ce—Ga ston de Fo ix ,Duke of Nemours, capta in-genera l

o f th e French troops in I ta ly;th e Gra nd Ma ster of Ch aumont ,

Governor of th e Mila nese;th e Se igneur de C lermont -Monto ison,comma nder o f th e French a ux i li a ries given to th e Duke o f Ferra ra;th e Prince o f Anh a lt, genera l o f th e Emperor

’

s tro ops;Louis deBré z é , grand senesch a l o f Norma ndy , comma nder o f th e gent lemen

o f th e K ing 's h ouseh o ld th e Ca pta ins Ives d'

Alegre , Bonnet,M a ugiron th e ba stard of C leves and oth er o fficers. Counc i l of wa r.

GASTON DE FOIX : My Lords and Captains, i t i s the

des ire of the King not to drag matters out. He intends to

put an end to the enterprises of Pope Jul ius I I . This so - called

Pontiff,harsher to Christi an princes than i f he were the Turk,

wants to despoil everyone o f his property and enrich himself

20 7

THE RENAISSANCE

at the expense of al l . Nefariously all ied to the Spaniards,wh o are treachery itself, and to the Venetians , who might

be named the fathers o f l ies , this self- styled Holy Father does

no t conceal h is des i re o f sending us back across the Alps,by robbing us o f the Milanese . He wishes to take all, to

keep all . In th is laudable des ign , arous ing the Turk against

the Emperor a nd the Engl ish against us, he causes the

Atlantic coast and the plains of Hungary to be ravaged at

once . Hitherto we have done our best to temporise , and have

opposed all these tornadoes by patience and gentleness . P ro

ce eding by the way of reason, we assembled a council, few

in numbers, i t is true, but composed of doctors most worthy

of trust . Jul ius I I . did not scruple to raise the populace of

P i sa against this holy assembly, which we had to transfer

h ither so as to make i t secure . Henceforth, i t i s palpable that

only a war to the knife can satisfy the Sp ite of the Pope .

Accordingly,I repeat, we Shall no longer spare anything, and

the King desires that results should come speedily. That is

why I have called you together. So be pleased to inform me,

my Lords and Captains, whether your troops are prepared

to take the field,and what you think of the s ituation we are in .

D’

ALEGRE : S ince so many Seigneurs more notable than I

do not breathe a word, I embolden myself to Show you

again that if you intend to fight, i t must be done wel l, stoutly,vigorously

,without losing a minute

,for the enemy you have

in mind is one who has kept and will keep your hands full .

When Mgr. the Grand Master failed to take him at Bologna,the next day he w a s in the field l ike a needy adventurer of

tw enty. Captain Bayard set o ff on his track to surprise h im

he did not succeed, and Jul ius I I . , with his own hands, helped

to raise the drawbridge o f the castle of San Fel ice, which

preserved him from our doughty knight Now, th i s terrible

20 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

BEFORE LA MIRANDOLA.

Th e bre a ch—Th e d itch es are frozen. Th e men -a t -a rms a nd th e pontifical

tro ops under a rms tw o ba t teries a re sti l l a im ing to enla rge th e entry.Julius I I th e Duke o f Urbino , th e Ca rdina ls Ra ph a e l R ia rio , delCa rre tto

,Ga leo tto de l la Rove re , Fra ncesco Romo lino a nd Ludovico

Borgia Capta in G ia n Pa o lo Ba glione secret a rie s, ch amberlai ns,Sw iss gu a rds th e Pope a nd all th e members of hi s suite , c la d in fursa nd h o oded c loa ks;severe co ld .

JULIUS I I . : Well ! i s i t over ?

DUKE OF URB INO : The town has capitulated. One of

the walled - up doors i s to be broken in, so as to give a passageto you r Hol iness .

JULIUS I I . No ! I shal l enter by the breach . Where is theCountess F rancesca ?

DUKE She awaits your Hol iness in the castle .

JULIUS I I . She may retire where sh e will . Let us advance .

This evening we Shal l start for Ferrara .

Enter a. messenger.

MESSENGER Holy Father,Bologna is in the hands of the

French .

JUL IUS I I . : The Cardinal h a s surrendered the place ?

MESSENGER : The populace h a s r isen and opened thegates .JULIUS I I . So you left an insuffic ient garri son, FrancescoMaria ?

DUKE OF URBINO : Most Holy Father, I obeyed yourorders .

JULIUS I I . That means that, in your op in ion, the Cardina lof Pavia, th at Alido sio in w hom I have every confidence, i s afool, a coward, or a traitor ? Answer ?

DUKE OF URBINO I t seems to me that if someone mustbe w rong, i t

’s he rather th an I .

THE POPE : I will c lear up this matter . I feel verystrongly upon i t you may bel i eve that, and no con

s iderat ion wi l l stay my righteous anger . Where i s M ichaelAngelo ?

2 1 0

JUL IUS 1 1 .

MICHAEL ANGELO Here,Holy Father.

THE POPE : G ive orders promptly for the defences of the

P iazza to be repaired and pu t in a proper state . Do th e work

which we discussed,and retu rn to Rome w i th al l speed to

proceed with my tomb . W hen I se e what I se e and suffer

what I suffer, I feel the desi re to be in i t already. My cup of

so rrow i s ful l !

ROME.

A studio of sma ll dimensions.—Ca rved furniture , fine purple stufi s

,blue ,

go ld , silver;a n a nti que sta tue of Pa l la s;a bust o f Psych e;va sesfi lled wi th flow ers

,w h o se scent re fre sh es a nd perfume s th e room .

Ra ph a e l be fore h is ea se l w orking a t th e portra it of Monna Bea triceda Ferra ra .

RAPHAEL : I t i s not often that I find myself alone

alone for a long time able to think and feel as

I please not subjec ted to the w e ight of any immediate

idea that orders me about and treats me l ike a slave . No !

to - day,I am my own master, my sole compan ion . I enjoy

at my own sw ee t w i l l , and w i th nothing to dispute i t, every

whiff of del ight that comes to me from that pleasure of Sol i

tude,so penetrating, so l ively that the irri tated senses canno t

bear i t long . Man’

s imagination is so w eak ! He constantly

needs external aid to support h imself in the air, and wh en thi s

help is too rare , and is no t ceaselessly renewed, then the poor

bird fal ls, wearied out, and no longer moves . What a misfor

tune ! for i t feel s i tsel f far more l iv ing in those sh ort

moments where i t suffices to i tself ! I t is at such moments th at

I have conceived the most beau ti fu l th ings I ca n create . Y e s,

i t is then that I have come c loser to the Creator w h o made me

2 1 1

THE RENAISSANCE

what I am , to the heavenly objects that I can express, to the st il l

more d ivine tenderness that I can feel . Nature is deep;but the sou l that penetrates her is a flame ,

j oyous and bright !

I n va in do al l the calami t ies of earth and hell weigh on man,weigh on us above all

,us I tal ians

,harassed by the barbar ians

,

t he princes, the republics, the fac tions and so many varied kinds

of criminals . Joy, l ife, fertil i ty exalt us we swim , we arti sts, in

an Olympian empyrean . And the scholars, the poets, the men

of le tters,the antiquaries, the painters, the sculptors, the archi

teets, the engravers, the intagl io workers, the illuminators, all

that from some form or styl e has become capable of express inga thought, a shade of thought, an infini tes imal atom of an idea ,all i s at work, to ils, wil l no t be dis turbed, heaps effects upon

e fi e cts,and weathers all these storms with the l ight of genius

on i ts b row, a smile on i ts l ips, and its work in i ts hand ! W ho

gi ves us such a value, such a v irtue, th is power which wa s

never seen before ? Athens only knew the Greek inventions,an admirable arch itec ture , an incomparable sculpture, but

painting that w as a slave to i ts glorious s iste r, and sciences

l im i ted where poetry w a s no t. That was her dest iny ! As to

us, what higher r iches are showered on us, an d how far wideran arena i s open to our efforts ! Do not we possess what

an t iquity possessed, and also what our fathers learnt by them

selves ? We are able to portray, a s did Polyc letus and Zeuxis,the gods of pagan t imes, but also th e saints of heavenly Jeru

salem—the philosophers,but also the schoolmen . Wel l,

we shall be fi t for anything, we shall atta in anything, and the

universe, transmuted by our hands, will be re - fashioned;w eshal l have succeeded in expell ing, i f not evi l, at any rate its

most h ideous forms . I s not my sent iment true ? Could th e

pass ion that transports me lead me astray ? What would then

be the use of feel ing i t ? Why should heaven,from which i t

undoub tedly issues, send i t me, i f i t is to remain barren ?

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

has done wrong, he shal l be punished . Well,what does

th is mean ? Why this s i lence ? Will you speak ?Go and fetch me Alido sio .

CARDINAL OF SION : The Duke of Urb ino ha s j ust met

him in the street, in front of the palace he went to him

JULIUS I I . : Good ! He insul ted him . He is a featherbrain .

I shal l see to that

CARDINAL OF SION : No,Most Holy Father he

JUL IUS I I . By all the saints ! Would he dare to strike him ?

Raise h is hand against a prince of the Holy Roman Church ?

You wil l not say ? He did no t strike him,surely ?

CARDINAL OF S ION : Most Holy Father !

JUL IUS I I . : Blood of the Madonna ! Speak !

CARDINAL OF SION : He . h e s tabbed him !

JULIUS I I . S tabbed him . . Imposs ible

CARDINAL OF S ION : He stabbed him,and the Cardinal

of Pavia i s there below, k il led on the spot,and the crow d

around him . I saw them on the point of carrying away

the corpse .

Julius I I . co llapses and fa l ls ba ck into h is ch a ir. He covers h is eyesth en ra ises his h ea d, looks a round h im, and says in a du l l

vo ice

Go, allof you ! Yes, al l . Remain here

you Ma tthias !All depa rt except th e Ca rd ina l of S ion.

JULIUS IL : I have had much good fortune in my l ife .

I have suffered much misery many mishaps many

great disasters and yet, hi therto, I had never fel t the

d isgus t of shame, of hum i l iation , ofmeanness . I had never

fel t anything break with in me ! And i t i s my own nephew,

my nearest in flesh, in blood, in personal i ty, in will, in soul;2 1 4

JULIUS I I .

i t is thi s part of myself that has infl ic ted upo n me a degrada

t ion. And yet I ye s, my friend you have deal t

me a terrible blow . I feel weak , Matthias . I have no

more s trength . I do not know what is coming over me .

CARDINAL OF SION : God uses our nearest and dearest

to vis i t us with the sorest affl ic tions .

JUL IUS I I . : This is hardly to be borne . I t might at any

rate have happened at some other moment,for, to - day, you

know how our ed ifice is cracking at every point . I aim only

a t the highest glory o f the Papacy,a s you are well aware ,

Matthias . I wield a great pow er, i t i s true . But I aim at much

more than I attain I am consumed by des ires beyond the bounds

of poss ib il i ty . That is what I am . I real ise now : all

is crumbl ing and perishing. I stumble at every step .

Obstac les of every kind multiply beneath my feet Wicked

ness, meanness, arrogance, all the vices of hell intermingle and

are welded toge ther;they form an inextricable network, thatenmeshes me , st ifles me , and, as a final blow, behold now how

mad and bloody frenzy issues from the neighbourhood of my

loins,i ssues from my very blood

‘

to block my path ! Y ou

real ise that henceforth I am dishonoured . Y ou real ise i t ?

You se e i t ? You confess i t ? You, a brutal and callous

Sw iss ! My enemies rely on that self- styled Council , that

ridiculous assembly of w retched puppets ! That Santa Croce !

They already accuse me of be ing a drunkard

because I am old , because my face is reddened by w ork and

my hands tremble at t imes , although the weight o f my w i ll

is st il l too heavy for thei r th ick skulls . And that Lou is

of France,a c lodhopper , a vulgar peasant, w i l l sa y that I cut

Cardinals’ throats after the fa sh iori o f the s imoniacal poisoner

who was sw ept before me from the See of the Apostles !

What am I to do ? My ru in i s already accompl ished . l

2 1 5

THE RENAISSANCE

might as well l ie on the ground and abandon all to the vil lainyof my foes !

CARDINAL OF S ION : I t i s a great misfortune .

when one has some energy one ca n recover from any blow.

JULIUS I I . : Give me a glass of wine there,i n that

pantry. (He dr inks .) Never matter ! The blow is

hard . Alidosio surrendered Bologna, i t i s true s till ,he w a s a good servant . And my nephew my nephew !

The wretch is no more anything to me ! My nephew ! A

scorpion that rears h is head against me ! What earthly con

sideration would prevent me from crushing him ? No !

no ! no ! I shall make a terr ible example ! I f the crime

terrifie s, the punishment wil l terr ify stil l more ! Nothing l ike

i t wil l have been seen s ince the condemnation of B rutus’ sons,and we shall see what they say of i t !

CARDINAL OF SION : I think you would not be wrong .

S til l, cons ider .

JULIUS I I . : All shall per ish, save mysel f and the interests

of the Church L isten ! I am going back to Rome at

once;there, an inexorable tribunal will be formed . The

Duchy of Urbino will be re - united to the Church domains

The assass in shal l be arrested enchained

dragged into the pr i son of the Holy Office ! He Shall no t

come out al ive ! Write to the Cardinal s that I order them to

come to the Consistory.

CARDINAL OF SION : I will do so .

JULIUS I I . : Make a note of thi s : A Council, a real Council,

i s summoned without delay to the Vat ican,in order to aggra

vate and re - aggravate the excommunications launched against

Louis of France, Alphonso of Este and their supporters .

Have you written that ?

2 1 6

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

BRESCIA.

Th e town h as been ta ken by th e French a nd sa cked . Troops of so ldiers,men -a t -a rms

,Landsknech ts, a dventurers , sword in h a nd , furious w ith

ra ge , crow d th e stre e ts some o f th e h ouses a re burning doors a re brokenin w omen are dra gged by th e ir h a ir on th e pavement massa cre everyw h ere . Th e trumpe ts a nd th e drums sound a nd bea t to th e musterno so ldier h e eds th em a lmost a ll a re drunk. Th e uproa r, th e sh outinga nd sh rieking , th e a rquebus disch arges a re cease less—Ga ston de Fo ix

,

Ca pta in H irigoye , Ca ptai n Mo la rd , sword in h a nd;Ca pta ins Bonnet,M a ugiron, de Cleve s all h elrne ted a nd much h ea ted .

CAPTAIN MOLARD : Mgr. de Bayard h a s just beenseverely wounded !

GASTON DE FOIX : That’s unfortunate ! I s he dead ?CAPTAIN H IR IGOYE : Nearly ! I saw him stretched outon four pikes, and he was carr ied into a house .

A MAN -AT—ARMS (coming up at a gallOp): My Lord,Captain d

’

Alegre sends word to you that he h a s cut ofi someVenetians dragoons in the town . They were trying to escapeby the Santo - Nazaro gate . We beat them back on the P iazzabeing surrounded

,they surrendered . We hold them pri soners.

ALL THE CAPTAINS : Bravo ! A fine capture !

GASTON DE FOIX Have you any pr isoners of note ?

MAN -AT-ARMS : We hold the provveditore Andrea Gri tt i,Contarin i

,the podesta Giust in iani, some captains of the

Republ ic, and Coun t Avogadro .

CAPTAIN MOLARD : Excellen t ! The damned author ofthe revolt of B rescia, th e man to whom we owe this bloodyday !GASTON DE FOIX : Tell Se igneur d’

Al‘

egre that CountAvogadro is to be instantly beheaded in the open square , andh is body cut into a s many pieces a s there are quarters in thetown .

CAPTAIN MAU GIRON : Admirable just ice ! Every quarterShall have its portion ! Ah, the double trai tor ! That

’

s h is

worthy rew ardCAPTAIN H IRIGOYE : My Lord, I can no longer hold inmy Gascons ! I f means are not found for pu tt ing an end to

2 1 8

JULIUS I I .

the p il lage, i t wi l l be al l over with my companies;I defyanyone to rally them !

Capta in Ja cob d’

Empser comes up a t a run.

CAPTAIN JACOB : My Lord, my Lord, I can no longerhold in my Landsknechts ! They are fighting with theGascons !CAPTAIN H IR IGOYE Head of God ! Sir Jacob , you Shallansw er to me for it—I care a s l i ttle for your skin .

GASTON DE FOIX : Are you mad , Captain H irigoye?

Challenging one of your comrades ? Are you making gameof us ?CAPTAIN JACOB : The tru th is, we must separate theserascals, otherwise they will destroy each other.GASTON DE FOIX Captain Ma ugiron, take fifty cuirass iersof my company, and hammer at the Gascons and Landsknechtsuntil they le t go . Kill al l who keep on fighting !

CAPTAIN JACOB : I ’l l go also,to try and smooth matters

ovenCAPTAIN H IRIGOYE : Head of St . Antonine ! Belly of

S t Quene t ! Ah, a thousand mill ion scoundrel s ! My Gasconsare devouring everything ! Let us come and se e what isdoing, my dear Capta in Jacob !

They go out h a stily th e fifty men a t arms ga llop off.

A COMPANY SERGEANT Reinforceme nts, my Lord !Captain Jacqu in sends me to inform you that from the housetops they are kill ing the free - l ance s with stones and scaldingthem with boil ing pitch .

GASTON DE FOIX : My Lord o f Cleves , go to the spotwith your infantrymen .

BASTARD OF CLEVES : I don’t know w here they are !

There are no t ten of them together. I ’ll run there mysel f.

GASTON DE FOIX : Dragoons ! follow me !

He goes w ith th e rest of h is a rti llery compa ny a sh ow er o f ti les, furniture ,beams fa l l on th em from th e h ouse tops .

2 1 9

THE RENAISSANCE

A CONVENT.

Th e church ful l of women a nd ch ildren cries of terror

LANDSKNECHTS : Loot ! Loot ! The women are ours !

Massa cre and vio la tion.

THE INTER IOR OF A HOUSE .

Ca ptai n Ba yard w ounded , lying on th e floor. So ldiers of Ca ptain Molard'

s

compa ny w h o h ave brough t h im;a squire of th e captain;his va let ,th e Ba stard o f Cordon;th e la dy of th e h ouse , h er two daugh ters intea rs

, a ll th ree on th e ir knee s .

BAYARD : Have no fear ! Do not weep ! Madame and

you, mesdemoiselles, I vouch for your safely. Y ou Shal l not

suffer the least scratch . Comrades,go and keep watch at

the door ! Tell those who wish to enter that I am here. The

house is mine . Quick !

LADY : Ah, my Lord, save our l ives ! Save our honour !

We will pay a great ransom !

BAYARD : I did not become a dragoon to make money

Rest assured . I am losing bloo d ! Have me pu t on a bed !

Comrades, I wil l g ive you the equivalent of your share of

booty !

SOLD IERS and SQUIRES Thanks, many thanks, Captain,we wil l not desert you ! No one shall enter here !

WOMEN : Glory be to God, we are saved !

BAYARD Have no fear. Ah, Holy B lessed V irgin, what

agony !He faints.

220

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

a fter the battle of Ravenna—but that imbecile of a Frenchman,

Gaston de Foix, wins i t and then goes and gets killed , sothat h is victory is worse for his s ide th an a defeat ! I th oughth im ru ined before the Counc i l o f Milan—but he discredits thatcouncil

,musters another

,and retakes Bologna , no one knows

how ! He has h is foot on the Duke of Ferrara’

s neck and isgoing to dethrone him

,while the French, triumphant yester

day,abandon us and fly home, because th is accursed Pope,

from the depths of his calamit ies, r ises l ike Satan from thedepths of the abyss , and hurl s upon them thunderbolts of awfulpotency ! Behold the Swiss roll ing in fur ious torrents on theMilanese . Finally

, so far as we are concerned, i t i s not enoughthat we have jus t lost the protect ion of Louis XI I . , bu t therouted soldiers o f that miserable king must needs le t their

prisoner o f Ravenna, Giovann i de’ Medici , escape ! And now

Jul ius I I . sends h im to us at the head of the Papal army. The

s ituation is becoming intolerable !MACHIAVELLI : Jul ius II .

’

S plans are more to be dreaded

than those of the late Duke of Valentino is.

RUCCELLAI : How so , pray ?

MACHIAVELLI The Borgia worked only for himsel f his

work would, in any case, have ended with hi s l ife, for he had

no ch ildren . But the Pope works for the Church, and, at the

very least, he wil l bequeath traditi ons most per i lous to theindependence of the I tal ian S tates .VALORI : I t is deplorable to think that the major i ty of ourfellow- ci tizens imagine that with the government of theMedici , trade will be better. Mo reover, we are beginning tohave the art i sts ranged against us . Their tribe wants fest ivals

,

luxury and extravagance .

CAPPONI : A well - aimed dagger- thrust has often done agreat deal of good .

MACH IAVELLI O r a great deal of harm . Good evening,gentlemen . I go home feel ing very uneasy.

222

JULIUS II .

BARBERINO.

Th e c ity in th e ba ckground . Across country, a t th e foot of th e Apennines ,th e Spanish a rm y a nd th e Pa pal troops a re on th e m a rch tow a rdsFlorenc e by th e Plai n w h ich le a ds to Pra to—At th e h e a d of a c ompanyo f men -a t - a rms m arch Don Ra imondo de Ca rdona

,V ic eroy of Na ples,

Genera l of th e Le a gue;Ca rdina l Giova nni de ’ Medic i , Lega te o f th e

Ho ly Se e in th e Romagna a nd Tuscany th e Duke of Urbino ,Ca pta ins Vite lli a nd Orsini , oth er ofii cers.

DUKE OF URBINO Certainly, most reverend sir, the Holy

Father asks for nothing better than to see your familyre - instated at Florence and in possess ion of i t s rights . But

you want to go too fast, you are precip itating matters, and l

have express orders to a ct with prudence and circumspection .

CARDINAL GIOVANNI DE’ MEDICI : I f we proceed asyou are doing, a ll w il l be lost . The popular party w il l umdoubtedly be overthrown . The intriguers, the he irs o f

Savonarola, will disappear, but who will be se t up in the irplace ? That i s a thing which you cannot say, but which Ishould like to know .

DUKE OF URBINO I could no t destroy his Hol iness, noryou ei ther, nor anyone . Return to F lorence with yourkinsfolk, but in a private capac ity.

AN OFFICER (to Don Raimondo): Your Excellency, theFlorentine s have just re inforced the garrison of Prato w i th

two thousand foot and a hundred lancers, under the command

of Luca Savell i .

DON RAIMONDO I am sorry to hear i t . We lack artil leryand even provis ions .

DUKE OF URBINO : We must negotiate . I have orders

to make terms w i th the Florentines . I f they are will ing to

send back Soderini and admit the Medic i on th e footing of

ord inary citizens , I am ordered to declare myself sat isfied .

CARDINAL G IOVANN I DE’ MEDIC I : As there is noway of obtaining better terms, le t us send an envoy, and in the

meanw hile,le t us take a l i ttle rest under these trees .

223

THE RENAISSANCE

DON RAIMONDO : I obey you , my Lord;le t us dismountand do a s you wish .

Th ey stop th e ir h orses a nd dismount serva nts stretch a carpet undera tre e th e ca p ta ins sit down.

VEN ICE.

Th e Pa la zzo Gra denigo . Luigi Ma lipiero, Leona rdo Mocenigo, LuigiGra denigo. A large room w i th w indow s looking out on to th e la goon.

GRADENIGO : Welcome, noble Lords . I was almost

expecting the honour of rece iv ing you to - day, s ince the

weather is glor ious .MOCENIGO : We have come to find you, as we agreedyesterday, so that we can go and make a tour of the studiosof our painters .MALIPIERO : I will also propose a vis i t to the printingpress of our friend Manuz io . He has founded a new Greektype , and it is said to be exceedingly beautiful .GRADENICO : I shal l have much pleasure in see ing i t .S ignor Aldo is a hero of learn ing. The knowledge a ccumu

lated in hi s erudite head would suffice for the glory of a wholeregiment of Hellenis ts and Lat inisers . By the way, I havej ust rece ived a letter from S ignor Navagiero .

MALIPIERO : Is he stil l a t Pordenone with the val iant andwitty S ignor Alv iane ?

GRADENIGO : No doubt. He compl iments me highly onthe society of men of breeding and learning assembled by ourCaptain - General in thi s elegant sanctuary of the Muses .MOCENIGO : Is his poem making progress ?GR

'

ADENIGO : The fine work is nearing complet ion,and

Signor Nav agiero has read some of i t to his friends, with

every mark o f applause . But, i l lustrious S ignors, I think mygondola is at the landing - stage, and we must be go ing. Let

u s firs t betake ourse lves to Master Titian,then we will vis i t

Robusti and the others

224

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

BEMBO : I t is well sai d—and how well you remain mistressof fear, interests and love ! As to poetry, I have not told youenough how admirable i s your song o f yesterday evening ! Ipassed the nigh t in reading and re - reading it , in cover ing i twith kisses as a tw enty- year- old studen t would have done .

But why d id yo u write in Spanish ?LUCREZIA Spanish is my native tongue , and the sentimentI wished to express i s as s trong a s Spanish pass i on . Whathave you done with the lock of hair that accompanie d the

song ?

BEMBO : I t is in a vel lum envelope t ied w ith ribbon knots .I cannot bel ieve that ever was shepherd of Theocri tus or loverof Amaryll is happier than I !LUCREZIA : Do you know that the Florentines have donemany fool ish things ? The gonfalonie r, Se derin i, wa s unablee ither to make terms or to offe r a defence . He h a s beendriven out . The Medic i have returned , and are treated asordinary cit izens.BEMBO : An unworkable compromise ! The result will be

either a fresh banishment or a return to supreme power .

LUCREZ IA : The Pope hopes to take Tuscany for h imsel f.

BEMBO : Assuredly. I f only the French had been able tohold their own at M ilan ! But winn ing al l in a day and losingall i n an hour has always been the ir way !

LUCREZ IA : They are our all ie s and our support . At thismoment

,their misfortune is ours , but, in short (I will tel l you

in confidence)I could wish that Louis XI I . would never come

back . For in that case our fellow - countrymen,the Venetians,

w ou ld be forced to guard against the Holy.

Father’s encroach

ments . They would break with him and unite with DonAlfonso to guarantee the common l iberty. That is what I

shou ld l ike to arrange, and the Medici would not be unwill ingto enter this combination .

BEMBO : I t seems to me , indeed, ful l of wisdom and worthy

o f the head of Pal las whence i t issues . Let me think i t over,

226

I’E I R l! 5 C AR l)! NA LI N li l‘iM

I i llld l [J ‘ , ‘I I l I I [ I " u,"

HEM

Tofu” pa ge 220

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

dreamed of th is for the benefi t of h is own ideas . Now , weknow how we s tand we have all failed . To become beggars,prostrate before the Holy Father’s feet , is not des irable .Henceforth, we shall no t talk , bel ieve me , of the greatness ofthe whole, bu t only o f the independence of the parts . AS aphrase, i t sounds qu i te as well . Write, dear Lu igi, I pray you .

BEMBO : Your system is new to me , I admit;i t does notplease me too well . All my life I have professed oppos ite

v iews .LUCREZIA (smil ing) Y e s, and with great eloquence . What

conclusion do you draw ?BEMBO : But cons ider ! I f I taly’s forces a re to remainscattered , there cannot even be a quest ion of expell ing thebarbar ians.LUCREZ IA : Did you ser iously hope ever to succeed in that ?BEMBO : Clearly

,I thought

LUCREZIA : For the last ten years I have never thoughtanything of the kind if perhaps I did so in days gone by.

Besides, you are speak ing to a Spaniard, do no t forget that;people of my house and rank cannot Share all your fancies .What is coming over you ? Why, you seem quite moved by

my confidence s ! I thought you had some l ik ing for the

society of barbar ians ?

BEMBO : Do no t mock me too far. I admit, you have

given me quite a shock . I f we a re never to become free,we I tal ians;if w e must always undergo the caprices and theoutrages of foreigners, unhappy race that we are, what arewe to utter to heaven in our prayers save c ruel reproaches andcomplaints too well j ustified ?

LUCREZIA : How ungrateful you are ! These invaders ofyou r country, do you not gain the mastery of them ? Are younot for the w hole earth the centre of knowlege , of ideas, of

philosophies,of great thoughts

,and the workshop where the

Muses have taken up the ir abode in order to produce their

228

JULIUS I I .

magical creations ? IS i t not from you that the spark of geniuswhich traverses the world and gives i t new l ife ari ses ? Whatglory is equal to yours ? What pow er i s superior ?BEMBO : Agreed bu t he wh o is a giant in one aspect wishesto be so in all . Do not smile, I bow before your wisdom , andI take up my pen to obey you. I will work w i th you and foryou, and as you des ire I shall cons train myself to make yourplans succeed, because I am devoted to you . Yet, nev erth e

less, I also confess that I do not w i sh to lose the hope of myyouth, my l ife

’

s ideal . I long passionately for an Italy that

i s compact, s trong, dominant in every sphere,and were i t

even under the rul e and for the benefi t of the Holy See,I

should acquiesce and bless heaven for it After all , what isneeded for attaining success ? Only a few years more of l ifegranted to this Julius I I . , who is very embarrassing, I admit,but in many respects worthy of admirat ion . You yourself

agree to that on occas ion . And if luck will have it thatFrance and Germany remain governed by incapable rulers ,behold our dream real ised . Leave me my hopes .

LUCREZ IA : You are a grown - up child . I do not quarrelwi th your i l lus ions

,certain as I am that they wil l never prevent

you from serv ing me w el l . Y ou love th em, but you love me

more ! Yet reflect that they are foll ies, and that the ir

real isation w ould no t br ing happiness to you or to anyone else .

There is nothing great in this world save the love o f

art,the love of the things in the intellec t , the love o f

those whom one loves, and moreover, w hen l i fe in its cou rse

ha s raised you to one of those table - lands where th e flow ersbecome scarce r and the horizons more stern , perha ps you will

st il l find pleasure in wise reflec t ion on certain e ternal mattersabout w hich we trouble less in our first youth . Butenough ! Let us set to our work, and l i sten to me w ith al l

attent ion .

2 29

THE RENAISSANCE

ROME .

Th e Va tican—Th e Ho ly Fa th er’

s bedroom—Julius I I . in b ed. Berna rdoda Bibbiena;Cardina l of Sion;th e da ta ry Lorenzo Pucc i.

JULIUS I I . : All i s over. I am dying and I have

accompl ished nothing of what I have undertaken .

B IBB IENA : All is not over, Most Holy Father . YourHol iness h a s abundant strength left .JULIUS I I . : No longer enough . I have no t finished the

Vatican,nor the re - building of Rome, nor my tomb , nor any

thing . My art ists will disperse when I am no more.The Medici are again dominant in F lorence

,and I am losing

Tusca ny. Maximi l ian Sforza has recovered Milan .

The petty disorders are beginning afresh . They will have

to bring in the French,the Germans

,the Swiss

,the Spaniards

in brief, the greater disorders to crush the less—and to takein hand the whole work of reconstruction at fresh expense .

I am in terr ible pain . I am dying.

A PHYS ICIAN Your Hol iness must not be so exc i ted .

JULIUS I I . I have l ived in th e compass of a narrow circle .

To ch e ck the breaking—up, i t was necessary to destroy th epetty tyrants . To destroy the tyrants, we needed the

foreigners . With the foreigners, there i s no more I taly.

Do you know that, swarthy—face ?PHYSIC IAN : His Holiness’ pulse i s growing sensibly

weaker, and he i s wandering.

JULIUS I I . : Here I am in my bed nai led downMichael Angelo Raphael . The one is working

but th e other ? He is with some woman . And

the B ramante, what is he do ing ? Alfonso of Ferrarathe traitor ! My head’s awhirl . I am not sure

of the Venetians .B IBB IENA H is Hol iness’ words are no longer plain .

PHYSIC IAN I t i s only a matter of minutes .

JULIUS I I . : In tel lect gen ius l ife . savage ry

230

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

FOURTH PART

LEO X .

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

M ICHAEL ANGELO : You are a chatterer, Grana cci, and abl ind one , incapable of real is ing the meanness of what charms

you, and the profound w eakness of these men who del ight

you and who are worth so l ittl e .GRANACCI : Then prove to me that I am wrong, since youare so resolved to deprec iate everything.

MICHAEL ANGELO : That will not be d ifficul t. Stateyour absurd propos i t ions, and I will answer you.

GRANACCI : The Pope is the most enthusiast ic patron ofart that the world has ever known . You cannot deny thath is benefi ts rain down upon us l ike an unceasing and mostdel ic ious mannaMICHAEL ANGELO : Pope Leo X . i s not a lover of thearts . He is a lover of luxury, and that i s quite a differentthing. All that gl itters and brings him praise seems to himworthy of hi s patronage

,and his only intent ion is that th e

art s shall minister to h i s vani ty . What they express concernsh im but l ittle . The first o f mortals who practised luxurybegan, perhaps , to smooth the way by w hich the arts cameinto the world;but the second banished the arts in order toreplace them by bombast and falsehood .

GRANACCI : Ah , dear master, h ow you l ove to condemn !The Pope , ourgreat Pope Leo X .

,h ow harshly you judge h im !

Do you,then , prefer the austere sp ir i t of his predecessor ?

MICHAEL ANGELO : Jul ius I I . was the only true princethat my eyes have ever beheld . He was not a man for fle shlyenj oyment . He conceived nothing but the imposing, andadmitted nothing but strength . H is sol e preoccupation

,in all

matters , w a s to c reate and leave behind him the Churchtriumphant c rushing beneath her s inewy foot the res istance ofthe impious . He aimed at reforming the whole clergy, atdriving the barbarians from I taly;i f he repressed the revoltsof th e barons, o f the Colonna, the Vi tell i , the Ors in i , he alsosaw to i t that the c i ty was properly pol iced , and in h is t ime

a s ight never seen before ! no th ief or cutpurse daredto ri sk h is v il lainous face in the streets of Rome ! From h is

l’O l’E LEO X .

To [a ce page n o

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

my work, and you will spare yourself and me all idle corn

pliments .

MACHIAVELLI : I am not such a fool as to r isk any,

know ing you r temper as I do .

MICHAEL ANGELO : Where do you hail from ?

MACHIAVELLI : From Florence . I have come out ofpr ison , as you may have learnt .GRANACCI : Y e s you were entangled in Boscoli

’

s

consp i racy

MACHIAVELLI That was a most atrocious slander;I ama devoted servant of the Medici house .

MICHAEL ANGELO : Devoted ? H’

m ' Devoted.

I congratulate you there are others to whom youhave shown devotion .

MACHIAVELL I (shrugging his shoulders): We have allbeen y oung once ! I w a s caught in the snare of Fra Girolamo

Savonarola’s vagaries, as all the world knows .

MICHAEL ANGELO : Vagari es, i f you will—that i s whatthey cal l i t when we recommend honour, uprightness and

chasti ty. Yet the best thing in your l ife,Messer Niccolo, will

prove to have been that error of your you th .

MACHIAVELLI : Perhaps you are r ight , perhaps you are

wrong;what is certain is that th is kind of merit, humanity

being what i t i s, could never bring forth anyth ing good for

myself or for others .

MICHAEL ANGELO : So you reproach yoursel f with having

once sought the good of rel igion ? I have a strong des ire to

nai l your portrait in the shape of a gr inning devil somewhereon thi s wall.MACHIAVELLI : That would be a great honour for me .

In holy theology we have to bel ieve that the most cunningof devil s working to - day for the glory of hel l w ere, in theirbeginnings

,good l ittle angel s seeing no further than the ends

of their noses . What has corrupted them ? Experience. In

LEO X .

short , I used to bel ieve, l ike you, l ike Grana cci,.

l ike so manyothers, in th e poss ib il i ty of l iv ing at Florence and at the sametime keep ing honest . I t was a great misfortune for me

,and I

thus brewed myself a potion of disgrace from w hich,from

time to time, I have to swallow mouthfuls. That i s w hat Ihave done just lately. Nevertheless, I have finished the thirdact of my M a ndragem .

MICHAEL ANGELO : That w i l l b e a fine w ork , MesserN iccolo;for if you are a poor pol it ic ian, you are an excellentman of le tters , and that is some consolation.

MACHIAVELL I : A poor pol it ic ian ? Your verd ic t seems tome severe—but perhaps

,tak ing all in all , you are right . What,

have I meditated so much on history, commented so much on

Livy, read so much o f our Florentine annals and examinedthe governments and charac ters of al l nat ions, only to recognisein the end and confess to myself that I am bu t a poor

pol i t ic ian ?

H e sits down on a stoo l in a corner a nd rema ins pensive , his legs a nda rm s crossed, looking fix edly be fore him .

A poor pol i t ic ian ! I have,in fact, occas ionally been mistaken,

and the worst of all is that when I w a s right I w a s unableto inspire confidence in my ideas . I w il l plead a s my excuse

that there is no sc ience more conj ec tural than that o f pol it ics,not one in which forecasts are so l iable to be fal sified byunforeseen inc idents, by the sl ightest breath of wind . Why, if

sureness of v is ion , resoluteness in execu t ion , genius in ma nipu

l at ion were enough to ensu re success,the Duke of V alentino is

would undoubtedly have founded an I tal ian k ingdom and

determined ou r future .

MICHAEL ANGELO : The resul t w ould have been a thing

to make God the Father blush .

MACHIAVELLI : God the Father saw Ilelioga balus re ign ,and never blushed at al l He sees every day the worst rogue s

and ruffians pass success on from one to the other, and He is

U 239

THE RENAISSANCE

none the less cheerful . The late Jul ius I I . , excepting the man

I have j ust mentioned , wa s surpassed by none in greatness ofasp iration and energy o f ac tion .

MICHAEL ANGELO : True .

MACHIAVELLI : The oppos i t ion to him cons isted solely of

fools and madmen (I excep t the Duke of Ferrara);but as ithappened , he w a s old and had to die .

MICHAEL ANGELO : We Shal l never se e his l ike .

MACHIAVELLI : No ! I t remains no l ess true that the

world continues to go round and puts up with what it can find .

To - day i s the day of glory for fools . Sforza of Milan i s not

w orth a hollow nutshell . Frego so , at Genoa, i s an intriguer

of a low order, with treason in his hand, an ear for everyrumour

,aiming neither high nor low. Francesco Maria of

Urbino, a wretched a per of the Duke of Va lentino is, givesthe dagger - thrust a s nimbly a s h is master, but that is al l;hewil l totter on his legs until he fall s . The Medic i of Florencew ould not last three days if they did no t re ign at Rome withthe Pope . The Venet ians l ive, will l ive, will be strong,glorious

,pow erful

,but they are no t chrysal ides destined to

take w ings s trong enough to ri se into the atmosphere beyondthe middle region . Thus, in po int of fact, nothing is left inI taly but three powers : the Pope, the F rench, and theSpaniards .MICHAEL ANGELO : I am very pleased to hear you talk .

Well, now expound to us what i s your v iew of each of thesepowers and whom you cons ider l ikely to be left supreme.

MACHIAVELL I : I tell you once more, I have learnt to mycost that i f astrology is uncertain, pol i t ics are scarcely less so .

I have no wish to play the prophet . So far as the French areconcerned, here they are, for the moment, overthrown, drivenout;with the exception of the c itadel of Milan and two or

three hamlets , they have los t their footing in I taly. Theirnew King, M . d

’

Angouléme , seems more concerned wi th h ea tingthe b ig drum and amusing himself than wi th carry ing out

24 0

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

MICHAEL ANGELO : But,suppose that

,by some chance,

Francis I . were a better man than you think , and that Charles,on his s ide , l acked nei ther wi t nor heart ?MACHIAVELLI : On those two supposi t ions we canprophesy nothing further. All wil l depend on the strength ofbrain and appetite possessed by these two rulers . Theimpossible may become an everyday occurrence . I t i sno t often that great princes appear .GRANACCI : Y ou are right. Nevertheless , in these t imes ,even the weak have strength;al l grows on a large scale , andkings must needs attain greatness more ea sily than others .

MACHIAVELL I : I have met in my l ife more incapables

and more possessors of smal l wits than I had reason to expect .

Y ou will therefore allow me not to reckon too much on the

blossoming of merit, a nd to point out to you that, at th is

moment,the one who is nearest to gaining every thing is the

Pope .

MICHAEL ANGELO : My opinion of h im is not h igh .

MACHIAVELL I : Nor mine, ei ther;I regard him S imply asa respectable ari stocrat, of easy manners , tak ing care of his

mind a s he takes care of h is hands . But, just as with theaforesaid admirable hands he possesses, in hi s body, a pair ofbig

,prominent, goggl ing eyes that se e nothing (which makes

him resemble Nere—w i th whom he has also in common thetrai t of be ing a lover of all curiosi t ies) so in h is mind, whichis cul tivated with such care, one notices defects that deformthe whole . He displays exquis ite taste in everything, and hehas a kind heart. He talks no less val iantly to the v ilestbuffoons than to S adole to or Arios to;he orders frescoes andstatues and makes Raphael paint p ic tures, because these areexpensive trinkets, and, to achieve more outward glory, the

Pope would will ingly make a star h is plaything;but restassured that in his heart of hearts he prefers a hare hunt onhi s estate at Magl iana, or a dainty supper at the Vatican, to

24 2

LEO X .

the contemplation of al l your masterp ieces . At his suppers,they serve up balls of roast hai r and straw paste w hich makethe guests grimace

,to the exceeding j oy of the Sovereign

Pontiff,while a v igorous combat of burlesque invec tive brings

to l ight all the talents of Evangel ista Tarasconi and of Aretino .

MICHAEL ANGELO That i s almost w hat I have ju s t saidto Grana cci. Nothing can be expected from such a man .

MACHIAVELLI : Pardon me—al l things cons idered, eventsa re begi nning to take shape under his hands so well that ,w i thout having the enthusiasm of Savonarola , or the resolu teamb it ion of the D uke of V alentino is, or the energy of Jul ius I I . ,and all the w hile that he plays his games and blow s his soapbubbles

,he w il l end by giv ing us a united I taly. He w il l

retak e Naples, a fie f of the Church , from that unhappy Charles

of Spain,who does no t know how to keep what he h a s—and

he cannot fail , so easy is the task , to keep the King of

England, wh o is a pedant, a scribbler, and a bl ind devotee o f

the Holy See, so c lose to the s ide of France , that Francis 1 .

w il l never dare to leave hi s country in order to come andmeddle w i th ours . Then Leo w i ll Se ize the Milanese and keep

it , a s Ju l ius kept the Romagna.

MICHAEL ANGELO : In a way that is a rather fine

prospec t,yet i t does not enchant me .

MACHIAVELLI : Nor me either. I know very w ell why !

I taly h a s never been so bri l l iant as to - day. However, thisbrigh tness is not pure . There is too much v ice , too muchcorruption , and i f w e fal l in to the hands of the mos t corrupt of

pow ers and under the sw ay of the mo st grasping of cou rts thatever existed , I taly wil l w i thou t doubt be del ivered from theforeigner and united in one w hole;bu t, before a few yearshave elapsed

,we shal l se e her as exh austed morally as

phys ical ly. The monks and the priests will have enervated

her beyond hope o f recovery .

MICHAEL ANGELO : I bel ieve you;I am a devoted son

24 3

THE RENAISSANCE

of Ho ly Church;but so long a s the c lerics are what they are,I have l i ttle wish for th em a s rulers . In short, w e l ive in a

most unhappy age .

MACHIAVELLI : As unhappy as can be, and I have no

hope left in anything .

GRANACCI : May heaven take p ity on you both ! I f we

may bel ieve you, we are s inking into decadence . Tel l me ,Messer Niccolo

,are you in earnest ? Do you hold forth thus

before my master and in the S is tine chapel ? Have you ever

known a greater age ? Come, Messer Niccolo, you speak

without th inking. As for me, I bless heaven eve ry day for

having been born at such a time . When I talk to anyone , I

sometimes pay no heed to what he answers me—I l ook at hi sfeatures and say to myself—there is a character whose namewill endure on some page of his tory ! I scent in the air a perfume of ambros i a and immortal i ty : I breathe i t with al l mypower . Everyw here I admire, I rej o ice, and you, you bothcome and allege . Away with you ! you are men ofsaturnine minds

,of diseased imaginations, ingrates, yes , the

worst of ingrates,for you ought to show yourself more thankful

towards God for the great things which he has given you,each after his own fash ion, the power to do .

MACHIAVELLI : I do not know whether I do great th ings,but w hat I am quite sure of is that if the most reverendCardinal da Bibbiena had not thi s morning put half- a - dozen

crowns into my hands, I should not have the wherewithal tod ine . I will le t this be my last word

,and so , Master Michael

Angelo and my dear Grana cci, I leave you , happy to have seenyou and wishing you both continued heal th .

M ICHAEL ANGELO Farewell, friend Messer Niccolo. Seethat you finish your M a rza

’m gom—it is your masterpiece !

24 4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

EMILIO : I hardly know what to tell you.

ALL (clapp ing their ha nds): Come, no excuses;a story, as tory !EMIL IO : Since there is no w ay o ut o f i t, know that onceupon a t ime there l ived at Verona an old merchant namedSer Jacopo , who had a very young and beautiful wife . H is

neighbou r, one of the most gallan t knights of the town, hadformed the habit of looking over the wall , into Ser J acopo

’

sga rden , and (The story goes on.)

Th ree c iti zens pa ss, w a lki ng s ide by side .

F IRST C ITIZEN : I am perfectly certain of what I say. Myson Giu l io is but ten years old, and he wil l certainly be oneof the l ights of the age . That is Fra F il ippo’s opinion . Hedoes not hide i t

,and repeats i t to all whom he meets.

SECOND C ITIZEN : My so n Tomasso is qu i te‘ the equal ofyour son G iu l io , and he is only nine, not a day more orrather, ye s, eight days more, for he w a s born on the 1 4 th of

June,n ine years ago, and we are now at the 22nd. So he is

nine years and e ight days, and the Padre Roberto excl aimsto me every morning : Messer Pompeo, your son will bew hat do you cal l i t, Messer Annibale ?

F IRST C ITIZEN : Will be one o f the l ights of the age !

SECOND C ITIZEN : That i s exactly what the PadreRoberto says to me .

THIRD CITIZEN Good fr iends and neighbours, I congra tul ate you heart ily. F ra F i l ippo and Padre Roberto must bemen of great renown .

F IRST C ITIZEN Fra F il ippo has been my wife’s confessor,s ince she began to commit he r firs t sin ! We have everyconfidence in him . I should l ike to know i f he could bemistaken on such a point !SECOND CITIZEN : With u s i t i s just the same . When Imarr i ed, the Padre Roberto was already, a s i t were, ma ste r ofthe house . My wife wou l d no t buy an egg without asking hi sadvice , and when sh e is in a bad temper, which happens fairlyo ften

,I don’t know what wou l d become of me if th is Padre

24 6

LOVE SCENE

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

famil ies than I , and certainly i f thei r parents had made themmerchants or lawyers , they would no t cut such a dash .

SECOND CITIZEN : Do you know w hat Mas ter ValerioB ell i earns by ca rv ing l i ttl e heads on cameos ? AndMasters Bridone and Marchetto

,s ingers and guitar players ?

And Padre Mari ano , who at one meal eats four hundred eggsand twenty carp ? I tel l you , to make one

’s mark in th isworld, one must be an art ist.THIRD CITIZEN : Doubtless;but it is not everyone whocan devote himsel f to such a craft;a certain natural talentis needed, and for my part I frankly confess that if I werecompelled to sw allow tw enty carp at dinner or to bu ild acathedral , I should be hard put to i t .F IRST CITIZEN : That is only because you lack practice.

Padre F i l ippo has told me a hundred t imes that i f I h ad beentaught when young I should certainly make as fine statuesin marble a s Master Buona ro tti himself .SECOND CITIZEN : That is perfectly true . My son shallbe a sculptor and dine with the Pope . There i s no sensiblefather of a family who does not nowadays look upon th ingsas w e do;my opinion is that the arts are the finest thing inthe world, and I am resolved to se t old- fashioned prejudicesat naught and march with the t imes .

Sea ted under a tree , two Domi nicans a nd a n Augustinian monk;twoCa rdina ls pa ss, ta lking and laugh ing, mounted on two ma gnificent lyh arnessed mules a t th e ir side , on a Spa nish j enny, a Venet ian nobledressed in bla ck ve lvet numerous gent lemen -in-w a iting a nd serv ants

in fine liveries.F IRST DOMINICAN : I do not know these most reverends ignors . Do you know the ir names ?AUGUSTIN IAN : Really, you do not know Cardinal sSadole to and B ibb iena ? The black - bearded gentleman whoaccompanies them i s S ignor Andrea Na vagiero , patric ian ofVenice

,no less famous. as man of letters than they are them

selves .SECOND DOMIN ICAN : I am curious to know what

24 8

LEO X .

S adole to and B ibbiena have done in the way of p ious worksto deserve their cardinal’s hats .AUGUSTINIAN The first, Father, one must render himthis j ustice, has at least done no great harm . He is a goodLa tin is t;the roundnesses of h is Latin period are admiredalmost as much as those of Bembo . A good fellow,

withou tmal ice;so long as he is al low ed to amuse himself, he hurtsno one .

F IRST DOMIN ICAN : B ibb iena I know from what welleducated people have told me of him . As to his moral s thereis noth ing good to be said He loves the gay and easy l ife

,

and h a s written the Ca la nd’ra—a fine comedy, bu t no t thework of a theologian. Pope Ju l ius I I . made this man h isconfidant;Pope Leo h a s alw ays made him h is, so that thereare hardly any negotiations or affa irs o f State in which he hasnot a finger. Wh en he has time to spare , he spends i t in thestudio o f Master Raphael , h is great friend, where morescandalous than edifying th ings are said and done .

SECOND DOMIN ICAN : What arrogance ! What pride !What a display of luxuries ! Where can they go, theseworldings, surrounded by thei r slaves ? What is thei r purpose ,these proud Babylonian satraps

,in the mi dst of the ir gay talk

and thei r bursts of laughter ? Assuredly, they do not go tochant the offi ces !AUGUSTIN IAN Pardon me , reverend Father, that is prec isely what they do . They chant the offices . I meanthe ir offices . A brill iant assembly o f w its, poets, artists ,l adies

,prelates and lords is assembling to - day with the banker

o f S iena , Agostino Ch igi;and there , they are proposing to

celebrate a sacrifice to th e goddess Venus , with doves , milk ,flowers , sonnets , madrigals , strings o f Sapphic and Adonicverses in G reek,

Latin,and th e vulgar tongue , and not one o f

the customary ri tes w i l l b e accompl ished without the aut hori tyof some great poet . Signor Gabriele Merino , wh o has justbeen made Archb ishop o f Bari beca use of th e excellence ofh is voice , w il l s ing th e epodes a nd pl a y th e seven - st ringed lyre;

24 9

THE RENAISSANCE

Francesco Pa olosa , the new Archdeacon , wil l be heard on theviol d’amore P iero Aaron

,Florentine

,Knight of S t . John and

Canon of Rimini, will accompany the goddess’s praises on his

rebec there w i l l be a quantity o f flute - players for the concert,and the aud itors w il l be crowned w i th roses . The al tar is in whitemarble w i th yellow ve ins;G i rolamo Santa Croce of Naples,in carv ing i t , h a s produced a miracle . The feast that ends theceremony w i l l be o f an abundance and a sumptuousness worthyo f the mos t i l lustrious epicures of antiquity . Le o X . is to bep resent at the ce remony, bu t under a mask . I hope you arenow re - assured a s to the devout‘ness o f our Cardinals ?

FIRST DOMINICAN : How scandalous ! I t is c lear thatth e anc i en t paganism

,aided by universal degeneration , is again

taking hold of u s on al l s ides .'

One hears of noth ing butevents s imilar to those you describe . Here they sacrifice toApollo, there to Pomona;at Venice , they have no t beenashamed to descend to the god

‘of All is over

w i th decency , and I know not what is to become of faith .

AUGUSTIN IAN : Fai th w il l b e l ike the s tar, darkenedby rain - clouds

,but nevertheless shining in the sky .

SECOND DOMIN ICAN The ecl ipse , I fear, w i l l l ast a longtime . Our Father Savonarola wished to fight the scourge,and perished in the attempt . Who w i l l tr iumph w here thisgreat saint found defeat ?AUGUSTIN IAN Perhaps a far lesser saint . We must no tbe d iscouraged

,w e mus t not give up the struggle . Good Should

not keep s ilent in the face of ev i l .F IRST DOMIN ICAN : Yet i t does keep s ilent . S ince thedeath o f our blessed brother, no one raises a voice , and theAntichr ist w ins the day .

AUGUSTINIAN : Let h im bew are ! Come nearer,Fathers, and let us speak low;I have impo rtant news totell . Come to this bench , apart there now we areall three safe .

SECOND DOMIN ICAN : Before tell ing us anything, and

Priapus.—Tr.

250

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

son of St. Augustine ! The closes t bonds unite us to you !Your glorious father insp ired our S t. Thomas, and i f, afterthe lamentable death of Savonarola, martyred by the brothersof S t. Francis

,we have to se e your worthy Luther exposed

to the mal ice o f these same persecu tors , th ink how our heartswill suffer in unison wi th yours !SECOND DOMINICAN : No, Father ! Do not give way todiscouragement;even in the midst of the direst s torm , Godsupports hi s Church . Let us hope that the Augustinians willachieve the salvation of rel igion

,and le t u s console ourselves

for the thought that we have not succeeded ourselves byreflecting that at any rate we have tried .

AUGUSTIN IAN : The blood o f yo ur martyr will producea r ich harvest .FIRST DOMINICAN : The Angelus i s ringing !

All th e be lls o f Rome begin to ring th e numerous groups a ssembledon th e Monte Finc io stop ta lking th e w omen on th e ir knees, th emen ba re -h ea ded, m a ke th e sign o f th e cross a nd rec ite th e

a nge li c Sa luta tion.

AUGUSTINIAN Let us pray l ike th is crow d,and, knowing

what we must a sk of heaven, le t us add this brief suppl icat ion :“ Most Holy Mother of God, se e that the reform of the Churchbe given to us, for, without th is remedy, all i s over w i thChristendom !

Th e three monks knee l and rema in a bsorbed in prayer.

LEO X .

MILAN.

Th e Duca l pa la ce—A room richly decora ted w i th carved ch ests, panoplies,va ses of go ld a nd silver;sea ted a t a sumptuous ta ble , K ing Fra nc is 1 .sups ga i ly, in th e compa ny o f hi s mi stress Ma dame Ma rie Ga udin,

Florimond R ob erte t, C lém ent Ma ro t, w ith M . de Pienne s, M . de

La utrec , and some oth er court iers . Squires, pa ges in th e roya l livery ,w alk from one pla ce to a no th er, ofi ering d i sh es to th e gue sts a nd

serving drink.

THE KING No , the Pope did no t expect to see me come sosoon ! I have swooped down on I taly as rap idly as my predecessors but they soon went back again, whereas I sha l l notlet myself be turned out .DE LAUTREC : I drink to the invincible Mars

,to the

knight of knights !THE KING : Thanks

,Lautrec. Besides, the t imes are

changed;I wil l no t have us French treated any longer a s

barba r ians and know - nothings . Why could not we,a s well

as the people on th is s ide of the Alps, acquire fine ma nners ,abandon all vulgar ways

,and grow used to the study of

le tters ?

MAROT : Knowing h ow to wie ld a sword and sport with alance is no reason for playing the part of a brute all one’s l i fe !THE KING : Assuredly not;but , on my word as a gentleman ! we shal l have a hard task in driving this truth into theth ick skulls o f our comrades . Except you wh o are assembledhere to - night , and a few others , our French are a pack of clumsyc lowns w h o can learn nothing ! The more ignoran t they are ,the mo re highly they value themselves . The CountCastigl ione said so to me the othe r evening, and he was notw rong .

ROBERTET : He w a s only too r igh t . Did Your Majestynotice the smile which passed th e l ips o f the Duchess o f Ferrarathe o ther day

,when you introduced to her that Lord o f Picardy,

who w a s so eage r to tel l h e r w hy the S t . Mael on o f h is villagech urch w a s far more beauti fu l than the maste rpiece o f Ghibert ithat wa s offered to our admirat ion Death o f Chris t ! ” cr iedthe honest soldie r a s he twirled h is mou stache , our St .

253

THE RENAISSANCE

N a clon i s al l p ainted in colour from head to foot,whereas your

statue is only a white s tone !THE KING : I confess, Roberte t, that when I heard thosewords and saw Madam Lucrez ia’s look, I fel t myself reddenup to my eyes . I n t ruth

,w e are nothing but clods ! But I

w i l l change all that . I mo s t certainly intend that Franceshall become as beaut iful a s I taly and no less adorned .

What has existed up to now in our kingdom we wil l des troyfrom top to bottom, and Paris and my other noble cit ies shal lal l d isplay to the sun a s many beautiful build ings and masterp ieces of art as are to be seen on th is s ide o f the Alps . Awayw i th our old cathedral s, our castles of anc ient t ime , andall th e coarse pract ice s of our forefathers ! I f God grants mel ife , I warrant you we shall not cu t less of a figure in the worldby our services to Apollo and hi s n ine lovely companions thanwe have done h itherto by our services to the god of war, andperhaps also the goddess of love . What th ink you of that,madam ?

MARIE GAUDIN (in low tones): Ah, S ire, how w ell yourMaj esty can turn charming phrases , and how your words fallinto the ear l ike a del ic ious morsel for the mind !THE KING : Fla ttere ss ! W ho was that tr im gallant.who was seen going into your ro oms this morning ?MARIE GAUDIN : Tremble, Sire, i t wa s an enemy of theinfi del !THE KING : I n that case I have nothing to fear. Butwho was i t ?MARIE GAUDIN : I tell you . A Knight of S t . John .

THE KING : This bold champion finds i t more pleasant tov i s i t fair ladies than to go in quest of the Turks .MARIE GAUDIN : You declare sometimes that i t i s farmore dangerous . Who tells you that the cruel ty is less ?THE KING : Upon my honour, you puzzl e me !

MARIE GAUDIN : Mons ieur de Lautrec ! Monsieur deLautrec ! The King is j ealous . Do you know ofwhom

254

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

I tal ians would do th ings in thi s way and offer presents toladies in so graceful a fashion ! Look gentlemen—i t’s thePepe

’

s por trai t se t in great d iamonds .MARIE GAUDIN I admire the portrait, but I am notinsensible to the frame ei ther.MAROT : Be sure

,madam

,that H is Hol iness foresaw that !

ROBERTET What otherwise i s the use , pray, of the inspiration of the Holy Ghost ?THE KING Was thi s what the Knight of St . J ohn brought ?MARIE GAUDIN Yes, with th is le tter. Y ou deservenot to have i t given you . Y ou d id not deign to beimpat ient even for a moment !THE KING I s there harm in bel iev ing bl indly in the loyaltyof the loved one ?

MARIE GAUDIN : I should be a fine sort of a fool i f Idecked myself in that v irtue ! There ! read !

THE KING (opening the letter): To the noble andillustrious l ady, Madame Marie Gaudin our beloveddaugh ter in Ch r ist .

” ah , wait until I have read i t first .

Th e Holy Father praises your beauty then yourv irtue .

MARIE GAUDIN : He might have dispensed wi th that lastpoint .THE KING : Next, he acquaints you with hi s des i re torecover Parma a nd P iacenza , and begs you to ask me to givethem back . I f you wil l pardon my saying so , the intercession will no t be of much use to him .

MARIE GAUDIN I hope i t will no t;but the diamonds arebeaut ifu l , are they no t, Master Clément ?MAROT : Alas , madam , less beaut iful than your eyes !THE KING : Will you be s i lent

,serpent ? I n a word

, our

poor Pope tries to repair the torn meshes of his net by meansof the most charming hands in the world . He knows thatthese l i ttle fingers hold my arms captive .

MARIE GAUDIN : Really ? The arms that fought so

val iantly with the sword , the other day, at Mar ignano ?

256

LEO X .

THE KING : Y e s,this mere l i ttle finger, which I kiss with

your permiss ion, could strike me down more quickly and effectively than the halberds of the Sw iss, and nevertheless.

MARIE GAUDIN And a s my paladin is so courteous,I

expect him to confi rm w hat I declared this morning to the

envoy of the Holy Father.

THE KING What did you decla re ? Y ou frighten me .

MARIE GAUDIN I said to the Knight of S t . John : Sir,i f the King, in his fil ial respect for the Church , fel t incl ined tocomply with the Pope’s w ish and restore h im Parma and

P iacenza—W hich h is predecessor, King Louis, wou ld neveragree to do—and if by ch ance the King gra nted me th e honouro f asking my opinion, I shou ld throw myself at my lord

'

s feet

and entreat him never to yield a jo t of h is kingly rights .”

And as he w a s somewhat astonished at the l ivel iness o f mylanguage

,I handed him the case and the letter, bu t he refused

to take i t back, and took h is leave w i th profound obe isances .

GUESTS : \Vell answered ! Bravely done ! Long l iveMadame Marie Gaudin !

THE KING (wh ispers) To -morrow you shal l have the pearlsyou covet, and I promise to pay for the estate w hich you arebuying in Tou raine .

MARIE GAUDIN : Sire , i t is needless . I could no t loveNyou more dearly ! Have you bought Da Vincrs Gioconda

THE KING : Yes,and at Florence I have bidden Master

Andrea del Sarto obtain for me all the ma sterpieces that

come under h is ken . The King of Spain , I know , has the

same aspirations a s I but , be sure , my friends , I wil l not yield

to him on this ground any more than on others . After thedeath o f Maximilian—a n event that we cannot have long to

w ait for—Charles w il l aspire to the Imperial crown;on myword as a gentleman , i t is I who shal l have i t ! I have taken

all the necessary steps . The son of Joanna the Mad also

wants to carry matters with a high hand in I taly;I wil l tw is t257

THE RENAISSANCE

h is arm for h im ! He wishes to gain a reputation for l ik ing

men o f learning and deserving thei r pra i ses;I shal l outstriphim in th i s sphere, and the glory wil l remain with me . Ha !i t w ould be fine to se e Salamanca more learned than theUnivers i ty o f Paris .

MAROT : I weep for joy ! France has never known such a

monarch ! Your name, S ire, will be il lustrious down to thelast ages of mankind !

THE KING : Ah, my friends, may God hear you and ra iseme above all my rival s ! Glory—yes

,I crave for glory ! Much

glory and much j oy, much gaiety and much pleasure, and morethan much of al l that adds grace to l ife ! Splendour

,bril l iance

,

fam e, love—more love than the heart can hold, infinite love,high, high above our heads !

MARIE GAUDIN : Long l ive the King !

ALL : Long l ive the King !

THE KING : As for His Hol iness the Pope, my fair child,my dear fr iends

,much good may his advances do h im ! The

days are over when by terrify ing the nations he could bend

thei r princes .

ROBERTET : Did we not see your predecessor,King Louis ,

excommunicated by the late Pope Jul ius, and none the worse

for i t ?

THE KING : INe did ! None of our subj ects grew restive

No one troubles any more about the Pope . Men know whatthe Papal Court i s worth , and how l ittle i ts priests resemble

the Apostles . Leo X . demands from Christians neither fa ith,hope, nor charity, but the ir purses, and I am resolved to check

his extort ions .

DE LAUTREC : I w ould rather see money in the pocketsof the King and his servants than in those of the : cardinals .

ROBERTET : No rational man thinks otherw i se .

MARIE GAUD IN : Nor rational woman e ither.

258

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

ROME .

A room in th e Va tica n—Leo X . sea ted nea r a w indow;Ca rdina l daBibbiena , Ca rd ina l Bembo , Ca rd ina l Sa dole to . At th e ba ck of th e

room, nea r th e door, K arl v on Ma lti tz, Saxon nobleman, w a iting tob e to ld to come forward.

LEO X . : I shal l attend to th is Wittenberg afi a ir myself, andI hOpe to d irec t i t in such a way as to put an end to theabsurd i ties by wh ich i t h a s been complicated . This Luther,agains t w hom the Franc iscans dec la im so loudly , i s no fool heis not an unlettered monk, as most of them are . He has wi t,learning and reason . He writes to me in a most pol i te tone,and I shal l support h im against the Te tz els, the E cciuse s, andall that troop of ridiculou s fanat ics . Such men are trying tokindle a fire in Ge rmany . I wil l not have i t !B IBBIENA : Your Holiness appears to me to take the patho f j ustice and expediency .

LEO X . : Res t assured of that . There is no rel igious quest ion at i ssue here i t i s purely a fo rmal d ifficul ty. Our peoplehave adopted crooked ways to obtain money, and I shall putour people in the wrong .

SADOLETO : I f your Hol iness’ predecessors had alwaysacted on such w ise principles, we should have no occasion todeplore the lamentable storie s of John Huss and Jerome ofPrague .

LEO X. : And, above all , of Savonarola. You may be surethat I shall no t al low that to begin again . This Fra Girolamowho, after all, was but an energumen , an enemy of my house,they have succeeded in making a saint through the absurdcruelty with which they treated him: Mart in Luther wil l notob tain from my hand the honour of ma r tyrdom .

BEMBO : This good Father wr i tes in an admirable s ty l e .

LEO X. : I have the greatest d istaste for the susceptib i l it ieso f the convent and the sacri sty. The Pope is a great prince,do not lose s ight of that truth in a few years the only powersleft on ear th , beside h im, wil l be the Emperor, the Kings ofFrance and England, and the Turks . The other sovere igns

260

LEO X .

will be but r ich lords without authori ty . Thus i t i s importantthat the Pope shou l d not gu ide h is conduct by the op inions andwarnings of monks . Tell Herr von Malt itz to come forward .

SADOLETO Come forward,Herr von Maltitz . H is Holiness

summons you .

VON MALTITZ : I am at his Hol iness’ orders, and cravethe honour o f kissing h is feet .LEO X . (making the s ign o f the Cross over him): Herr vonMalti tz, we are old acqua intances . Y ou have served me w ell .The captains - general of the Church have brought me suchfavourable reports of your explo its , your talents, and yourloyal ty, that in an important affai r l ike the one I have to com

munica te to you , I considered i t su itable to employ no otherdevoted servant than yourself.VON MALTITZ : Most Holy Father

,th is moment rewards

me beyond all my merits .LEO X . For the commiss ion that I am abou t to give you Ineed a warr ior and , at the same time, a supple cou rtier and ascholar. I can find these three personal i t ies in you, and forthat I bless my good fortune .

VON MALTITZ : All that l ie s in my power is assuredly atyour Holiness’ service .

LEO X . : You will go on my behalf to your natural Lord,Duke Frederick of Saxony. He is a prince of outstand ingwisdom , and I am happy to know that he i s respected by allwise monarchs and statesmen . Y ou will tell h im that I ampleased to se e him grant protect ion to our dear son in Christ ,Martin Luther . This Augu st inian monk is a most l earneddoctor;I do not w ish him to be harassed by c lumsy andindiscreet persons , such a s the inqu is i tor Tetzel , Ecc ius , theprofessor Hoffman and others appear to be . Y ou w i l l beg

H is Elec toral Highness to pu t yo u into communication w ithDom Martin

,to intervene betw een us and the good Father

so that the agreement may easi ly come about . W'

e must no thave ev il ly disposed persons continu ing to injure the reputat ion of so clever a man by spreading a report that he is fall ing

26 !

THE RENAISSANCE

from obedience, which I know him to be quite incapable ofdoing;and so as to testify to the august Elector , byi rrefragable evidence , all my fatherly affection, you will del iverto His H ighness the Golden Rose . I ordered one for himexpressly.

VON MALTITZ : The Elector, my master, will certainly feelboundless gratitude .

LEO X . : Do not fail to convince him firmly, and Dom Martinas well

,that I have no desire to raise fool ish quarrel s o r acri

monious d isputes. The Holy Father has learnt that manyabuses have crept into the opinions held with more or lessreason by doctors whose orthodoxy is perhaps not al togetherabove susp ic ion . Let us settle our differences without no i seand in a spiri t of mutual charity.

VON MALTITZ : Probably if we go to work in this way,the difficul ties wil l vani sh . Your Holiness breathes upon themso gently that not the slightest irri tat ion can remain .

LEO X . : Cardinal Sadoleto , give me the two letters whichare on that table .

SADOLETO : Here they are, Most Holy Father.LEO X. : I hand them over to you, Herr von Maltitz . One isaddressed to Herr Georg Spalatin , the other to the worthyMaster Degenh ard Pfeffinger. Among your Sovereign’scounsello rs, I know none who deserve so much consideration .

VON MALTITZ : They meri t such an honour, perhaps , bytheir respect for the Apostol ic See and the ir devot ion to yoursacred person .

LEO X. : I know, I know, Herr von Mal titz . You will begthem , in my name, to be good enough to show the E lectoronce more the real point at i ssue . I t i s e ssential that neitherhe nor Dom Martin should be in error about i t . True

,there

has been some abuse in the sale of indulgences, and above all ,I should not be surprised if i rregularit ies have crept into theway of procedure . Let me hear of suitable remedies

,and I

am ready to apply them . The important th ing is that themoney with which the Apostol ic Chamber has nei ther the

262

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

VON MALTITZ : I am somewhat embarrassed, for I fea rthat the Elector is

,l ike you, more stubborn on that po int than

on any o ther.BIEHIENA In that case, so much th e worse. Tell Freder ickth e Wise no t to chafe our hunger;we shall turn into tigers .

VON MALTITZ My eloquence wil l do i ts best . Good—bye,most reverend S ignors I mus t finish my preparations so as tostart to - morrow morning . I k iss your hands, and commendmyself to your good graces .

SADOLETO Suppose he were to fail in h is miss ion ?B IBB IENA : He will hardly succeed . For the rest, theground is cracking beneath our fee t.SADOLETO : And

,nevertheless, we are work ing to raise

our edifice to the sk ies .BIBBIENA : I t is the foundations that are being sapped .

SADOLETO : \fVe strengthen them as best we ca n withblocks o f s i lver, great blocks of si lver, and every day the needfor this material grows more press ing.

B IBB IENA : And every day i t becomes more difficul t toobta in . We use every poss ib le means . The taxes are r is ing,ri sing

,ris ing ! Burghers and peasants growl and threaten .

They are reduced to beggary, and trade i s being crushed andkilled . The pr iv i leges of the cities are assa iled, and throughthe crevices that w e make w e pu t all the fingers of both handsto grasp the l i ttle that is there . We sell offices , we sell l ivings,we sell b ishoprics, w e sel l patriarchates, we sel l the cardinal

’

s

hat;every day we invent some eccles iastical w are for sal e.

What is there that we do not sell ? We rather l ight - heartedlymade aw ay w i th Cardinal Petrucci

,at the t ime of the war

with Urbino and on account of the conspiracy of BatistaVercell i, and if the Cardinals Saul i and Riario have escaped,you know what their safety costs them !SADOLETO : Yes, them and many others;money ha s beenco ined on the back of the Sacred College by means of thesed ismal tr icks .

264

LEO X .

B IBBIENA : You are r ight. Y ou remember the thirty- fourpromotions that w ere made after that afi a ir, on the pretext o f

secur ing fai thful se rvants ? The profit of this finan cial operat ion was cons iderable , bu t the publ ic consc ience can neveryet have borne so heavy a burden . I f we now turn to cons iderour fore ign policy

,i t i s precisely the sam e . Gris t comes to our

mil l from annates, Peter’

s pence , mutations, and these famous

indulgences , the cause of the prese nt trouble . In sp ite of somany toils, so many preoccupations—le t us be candid

, so

much plundering—nothing is enough for us, we do not manageto fil l the void, and every day that passes drives us deeperinto an abyss of poverty . “7e must perforce cry piteously forhelp;our penury tortures and crushes us;w e know less andless how to get ou t of i t

,and—be assured ! w e shall end by

draw ing down upon us a v iolent protest from ou tragedChristendom;w e shall be deafened by a universalthe governments

,big and l ittle, w il l make us hear this last

decree : “

Y ou have impoverished us enough, yo u shall have

no more ! ”

SADOLETO : Dear friend , I fully antic ipate i t . Men arealready ask ing w hat right we can allege for consuming theworld’s substance .

B IBB IENA : Some good arguments ca n be put forward inour favou r. The Ch urch represents intell igence the treasuresthat we absorb serve to fo ster and strengthen sc ience

,art, and

other branches of c iv i l i sation .

SADOLETO They serve l ikew ise—le t us admit—to glorifyand to fatten indolence , v ice , and pervers ity .

BIBB IENA : I admit i t;bu t every c l oth h a s its seamy s ide .

Every cul tivated society is a corrupt soc i ety . M us t we on thataccount return to barbarism ? Barbarism

,perhaps , is

unmoved by the mercenary allurements of beauti fulcourtesans;but i t disembow els prisoners of war, and sme arswith blood the hideous faces o f i ts idols . Pardon me if I

Remove th em l—Tr.

265

THE RENAISSANCE

break shor t our conversation here . I have an appointment atmy house with our dear Raphael I have something to lec turehim abou t . I f you have no pressing business, come with meand add you r preaching to mine . W hat say you ?

SADOLETO With pleasure , my fr iend let us go .

Bibbiena a nd Sa dole to w a lk ma j e stica l ly out of th e room a nd crossth e ga l leries a nd Pa pa l a pa rtments;th e crow d o f serva nts a nd

so ldiers o f th e Ho ly Pa la c e opens be fore th em a nd sa lute s th emrespect fully. At th e foot of th e sta irca se th ey find th e ir own

o fficers , secre ta ries, tra in -bea rers, ch amberla ins, gent lemen a nd

serva nts of a ll gra des . Tw o ca pa risoned mules a re brough tfor wa rd a nd th e tw o dignita ries a re h e lped to mount . Th eyenter th e stre e ts of Rom e th e e scort opens a w a y for th em in

th e m idst o f th e multitude , w h ich opens a nd c loses a ga in. Fromt ime to time one or th e o th er of th e two princes of th e Churchra ises hi s h a nd a nd gives th e blessing to monks, w omen,

merch a nts, a nd poorer fo lk, w h o knee l a t sigh t of th em.

B IBB IENA : Wh at a motley assemblage of faces andcostumes !SADOLETO I never weary of the s ight . I t would st ir theidlest imagination . We see here samples of all the nationsof the earth .

B IBB IENA : What a haughty mien those Spaniards have !They are the dominant race of our age;and s ince they havediscovered the New Indies, there are no l imits to the ir pr ideor their rapac i ty. The lowest among them fancies himself al i ttl e k ing !SADOLETO : And there, i n the corner, those threePortuguese ! From the expression on their faces

, one canse e that the conquerors of Goa and Diu are no whit behindtheir ne ighbours of the Guadiana in arrogance and pre sumpt ion . But look also at those Frenchmen

,the ir noses i n the

ai r, t rai l ing th ei r swords,j est ing, and h ighly pleased wi th

themselves !

B IBBIENA : And there, there ! those honest Swiss, halfdrunk, j os tl ing the Germans !SADOLETO : Let me in turn poin t out to you those twoEngl ishmen, cold a s statues;they are stopping to stare con266

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

dame on her knees who i s presenting to you her two children .

SADOLETO : Certainly . sh e h a s a most respectableface . G ive her a ducat . I proceed . The men oflearn ing do us a deal of damage wi th thei r excess ive pass ionfor the past .B IBB IENA : You are right;nevertheless, one must admitthat the Fathers’ style is pitiable

,and as for that of the

Dec retals, frankly, i t fills me with shame .

SADOLETO : I do not deny it;but observe that by thiswe l ive . Our property is being spoiled and depreciatedWe deprec iate i t ourselves, you, Bembo, I and the Popemore than any o f us . He never i s at a loss for a j est, good ori l l - humoured, against the monks . All men of wit and tastedo the same . I do not say that: we are wrong. But how arewe to uphold an inst i tution when we declare from morningtill n ight that we do not bel ieve in its sanctity ?B IBBIENA : Do you know o f a remedy ?SADOLETO : There are di seases that come from temperament . The temperament of the Church is to l ive by abuses.So many reform s would be needed , and so far- reaching ! Ican imagine myself a reformer

,consenting to become a carpet

maker l ike S t. Paul , to sup on a raw onion in a dirty tavern !B IBB IENA (smil ing): You make me shudder.SADOLETO : Consider what Leo X . and each of ourreverend colleagues would answer to a proposal that theyshould do l ikewise ! Their indignation would

,moreover, be

shared by all the archb ishops,b ishops, abbots, priors, and

monks of Christendom, a s also by the princes,who would

suspect me of hypocr i sy, fanat ici sm and demagogy, andperhaps they would no t be wrong. Yet I am far from denyingthat from time to time an attempt at ascetic ism h a s i ts adv antages . I t is no bad thing that some arch—madman or other,looking for spir i tual adventures in the recesses o f his cell ,should diet himsel f on bread and w ater and scourge himselfas hard as he can . Not only do such frenzies del ight themasses by maintaining the tradition of the anchor i te s of the

268

LEO X .

Thebaid, successors of the worthy Corybantes and all thedevotees of I s is who have enjoyed lashing themselves eversince the world was created;but they serve later on as apretext for bu il ding fine churches in porphyry o r marble, at

th e invocat ion of the holy man , and for executing in hishonour admirable paint ings

,statues of marvel lous beauty, and

finally for creating wealthy l ivings for eccles iastics who have

noth ing in common with their saint . But of other resul ts I

can se e none .

BIBBIENA : Heavens , how mad men are ! Live and letl ive, is there anyth ing better or eas ier ? When the world i s

so beautiful , when charming obj ects abound everywhere, whenmen can make such pleasant and easy use of thei r time , their

minds and their hear ts !

SADOLETO : And, fai l ing all else, i s not curios i ty alone

enough to make l ife sweet ? \Nhat can be more interesting

than to watch the course of affairs ? For instance , the wisdomof the Veneti ans is highly instructive , while the fickleness of

the Florentines i s full of amusing surprises ! And here are the

French , adopting the love of arts l ike ourselves , and the newG ermanic Cae sa r, Charles V . , that young man of whom we yetknow noth ing , how curious to observe h is firs t steps !Why al l these shouts ? What an uproar ! What are

you doing, Ambrosio ? Why do you arres t th is man ?

OFF ICER : Reverend Mons ignor, he is a thief ! The con

stables are chas ing him , and he is trying to escape . We

have h im !

SADOLETO Let him go, poor thief ! Go , my son, go,run off and try to mend your ways . I was saying .

But here we are at your door, and there is Master Raphael .

Let us stop .

RAPHAEL (followed by some pupils and se rvants , approachesand hails the two Card inals): Most reverend Excellenc ies, I

k i ss your feet !

269

THE RENAISSANCE

BIBB IENA : G reeting—I am del ighted to se e you .

SADOLETO G reet ing,dear master, give me your hand .

Th e Cardina ls dismount, enter th e pala ce , exch ange greetingsRa ph a e l fo l low s th em th e th re e , convers ing toge th er, go up th egrea t stai rca se . Th e ir suite stops in a n enormous ga l lery;th eycontinue a nd enter a room decora ted w ith pictures and gi ld ings,w ith immense door-curta ins o f Leva ntine stuffs.

B IBBIENA Take a seat, friend, in th is armchair . S it down,

Raphael, my son;sit on th is stool;you come here to belectured.

RAPHAEL (smi l ing) I suspected as much from the wordingof your letter. I s i t because of my conversation ofyesterday with two of your most reverend col leaguesB IBB IENA : What did you tel l them ?RAPHAEL They were before my picture of th e Apos tles anddeclared that St . Pete r and St . Paul were too red. I a nsweredthat they could not be otherwise, when they saw the Churchadmin istered as i t is . I assure you these two S ignors went offwithout asking for more .

B IBBIENA (to Sadole to): You hear ? I t i s the commentaryto our conversation . Now, Raphael, we must come to othermatters to your interests

,my son ! Cardinal Sadoleto

wishes you well, a s I do , and we may talk openly before him.

RAPHAEL : Both of you are shower ing benefits upon me.I should be the most ungrateful o f men if I d id not recognisethat .

B IBB IENA : S ince the death of your betrothed, my poorniece

,my dear Maria

,I can' think of no plan for your settl ing

down . Have you no t yourself some scheme to th is end ? I ti s time to consider i t. You will no t always be young, and youhave just reached the age of thirty - seven . As for me, I am

growing o ld . I should l ike to see your future assured and

your l ife unfold i tself before you, s table , serene , and calm as itshould be

,for you to produce freely the masterpieces which

we have a right to demand o f you,s ince you are a being

unparal lel ed on thi s earth .

270

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENA ISSANCE

RAPHAEL : What a lofty tone you are adopting, mostreverend signor ! and I not ice from Monsignor Sadole to ’

s lookthat he shares your views .SADOLETO : Art, my son

,is one of God’s great creations

and quite equal , in my Opinion, to l iterature, in dignity and inpower. Nevertheless, a settled and well - balanced l ife bringsto its possessor the consolat ions necessary for the miser ie s ofexi stence.

RAPHAEL : I t seems to me that this end can be gainedwi thout i ts being needful to take a wife . Disturbance of customsand habits is an abominat ion to me;i t i s a source of steril ityfor the art ist, and the worst form of bondage . Bu t the meansof escaping i t are no more lacking to me than the desire . Iam certainly the weal thiest o f art ists, and in spite of the ratherexpens ive styl e that I keep up, which appears to menecessary for the satisfaction of my tastes and the freedomof my sp ir i t, I never cease to pay suitable attention to thisphase of my interests . At this moment

,in the Ci ty o f Rome,

I own an estate of two thousand ducats,which brings me in

an income of fifty gold crowns . The supervision of the w orkon St . Peter’s has been entrusted to me by the Pope since thedeath of I ! B ramante i t affords me an annual salary of threehundred ducats, and I am on the road to obtaining other ordersof the same kind shortly. His Hol iness, in commanding meto paint a new room in the Vat ican, has allotted me twelvehundred ducats for this purpose . A few days ago I wasappointed inspector of ancient monuments

,an office which

assures me large profits, and on all sides I am asked forpictures, and can name my

.

own price . In such a pos i t ion, Isurround myself at will with loyal and attentive servants,I l ead an unrivalled existence, and I have no need to instalin my house a w i fe and family—bringing more annoyance thanpleasure . Enough o f this;you would do w ell to come andv is i t the work at St . Peter’s with me , and then we will go andtake sherbet in my vineyard .

SADOLETO : He argues passably well, what say you ?

272

LEO X .

Indeed, he i s a pr iest l ike you, though serv ing a profane god~

head, and what I apprec iate most in my eccles iast ical duties i sthe happiness of th e cel ibate’s unhappiness .B IBB IENA : Good;I wil l talk no more of al l this . But

,

Raphael, I should l ike to see you take mo re care of your heal th .

You have too much work and too much amusemen t . I ama nxious when I hear of your attacks of fever;they alarm megreatly

, you are wearing yourself out too quickly.

RAPHAEL : I never fel t so strong or free in my l imbs . Ihave just been present at the excavat ions of the CampoV a ccine . I stayed three or four hours in the trenches . Whata del ightful morn ing i t h a s been Now le t us go to S t . Peter’s .

B IBB IENA : Well,le t us go ! I t is at least two days s ince I

saw you last, my dear son , and the t ime has passed slow ly.

SADOLETO Let us make up for i t !,I wil l read you, this

evening, w hen w e are w el l rested , the del ic ious elegyaddressed to the Pope by our friend , Guidus PosthumusSylvester . I t is one of the most str iking Latin poems I have

ever readH eu quam nostra levis, quam non diuturna vo lunta s

Qua rn iuv a t ingra tum seepe quod a nte fuit

and the rest in the same style . I t is admirable !

Ala s ! h ow fickle is our w i ll, h ow li ttle la sting, h ow o ften th a t wh ichw e loa th ed before de ligh ts us—Tr.

Y 2 0

73fl

THE RENAISSANCE

MICHAEL ANGELO 'S STUD IO.

A co ld a nd da rk re trea t. Th e nigh t is bla ck . A sta tue, sti l l a lmost inth e rough , on w h ich fa l ls th e ligh t o f a l ittle copper lamp

, h e ld byAntonio Urbino , th e a rti st’s serva nt. Mich a e l Ange lo is occupied infini sh ing a sort of ca rdboa rd h e lme t w i th open pea k, a rra nged so a s

to serve a s a recepta c le .

MICHAEL ANGELO Y ou see,Urbino Y ou said I should

not succeed ! I have succeeded perfec tly. Now,give me the

lamp .

URBINO : I t will no t keep upright in that ! I t wil l fal l andburn your hair . A fine idea of yours !

MICHAEL ANGELO I tell you i t wil l keep upright ! Whydo you refuse to admit that ?

URBINO : I t i s no t I that refuse to admit i t, but the lampthat will refuse to keep upright .

MICHAEL ANGELO Come, you obst inate creature ! give

me your lamp, and rol l this w ire firmly round the baseone more turn . Good ! Now

,I pu t the lamp inside .

I fa sten the wire here . You see ? I t will stay.

URB INO When you move about with that on your head youwill se t fire to the cardboard .

MICHAEL ANGELO : Not at all ! The aperture i s wide,and the flame has all th e room i t needs to waver from left toright . It

’

s splendid ! I shal l now be able to work at night,with l ighting e ffects on the marble which will give the finestresul ts .URB INO : I t would be far better if you went to bed . You

always have ideas th at occur to no one else .

MICHAEL ANGELO I t is quite convenient to carry. My

head is perfectly at ease . Pass me the hammer and the flat

ch isel here on the wooden box .

URBINO I tel l you that you would do far better i f you wentto bed instead ofworking l ike a wretched hirel ing . Y ou know

qui te wel l that Her Excellency the March ioness does not wish

you to over- exert yourself.

MICHAEL ANGELO Very well, you will go to-morrow to

274

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

to stay up, bu t the Ma rch ioness said to me : When yourmaster does not go to rest, do not go to rest e ither, and w eshal l se e i f he cares to tax the strength of his old servant .”

MICHAEL ANGELO : G ive me a few minutes more;thereis one thing to be finished .

URBINO : A few minutes , but not more . The Marchionessexpressly des ires .

MICHAEL ANGELO Very well then Tel l me a storyto keep me awake .

UREINO : I went to - day to your notary.

MICHAEL ANGELO : We won’t speak of that .URBINO He says that the two girl s whom you have doweredare qui te respectable .

M ICHAEE ANGELO : I am glad, Urbino . I wish them allhappiness;they are lovable children, though very ugly.

URB INO : I also saw your nephew. He came while youwere out .

MICHAEL ANGELO : Good . I f he should happen tocome back, tel l h im to leave me in peace and go about hi sbusiness .

URBINO He thinks, and that rightly, that h is most press ing

business is to thank you for the three thousand crowns whichyou , who are not rich, have given h im .

M ICHAEL ANGELO : He knows that I love h im;he hasno need to thank me .

URBINO : Master, the clock s tr ikes . an hour after

midnight .MICHAEL ANGELO : I have finished but I am

mortally hungry. Have you nothing to eat here ? Look in

the meal - tub .

URB INO : I wil l go and see . Ah ! your house i s kept ona poor footing indeed ! As soon as you have money, i t i s g iven

to the firs t comer .MICHAEL ANGELO : Man needs but l i t tl e for hi s body .

But al l h is st rength is insuffi cient to elevate h is soul .

276

LEO X .

UREINO Here’s some bread a tr ifle harda piece o f cheese, and even the end of a bottleMICHAEL ANGELO : Excellent ! Bring me all that .Ta kes ofi h is ca rdboard cap, puts th e lamp on a bench a nd ea ts,

sta nding up, looking a t h is sta tue . Loud knocking a t th e door.

Who can be coming at th is hour ? Look through the gri l l .URBINO W h o i s knocking ?A VOICE I t i s I , Antonio Mini . Open, master !i s I , your pupi l ! I have important news for you !MICHAEL ANGELO : My pupil, Antonio M in i ? Open !Is i t bad tidings ?

ANTONIO MIN I (entering): Oh, Master, a terribl e misfortune !MICHAEL ANGELO lNh a t i s the matter ? Y ou are qui tepale !MIN I Raphael i s dying ! No doubt he is dead by now .

MICHAEL ANGELO : Raphael ! God i n heaven !MINI : I

,

w as in h is studio w i th two of his pup il s,Timoteo

Vit i and Il Garofalo . I t was about three o’clock . A servantcame to say that the master was il l . He had had fever s inceyesterday evening .

MICHAEL ANGELO : S ince yesterday ? I am not sur

prised . He w a s a man of del icate complexion,hal f woman,

hal f child . He spent too much time at work and far too muchat h is pleasu res . I me t him

,

‘ four days ago , making excavat ions in the Campo Vaccino

,and I even remember warning

h im to bew are of d igging at thi s season o f the year . Y ou say

he is w orseN IN I I f he is not dead now ,

he wil l not last out t il l daybreak .

He had himsel f carr ied into h is studio , and I saw‘

h im , yes , Isaw him , w hite as a shroud , h al f- fainting, h is eyes fixed on hispicture of the Transfiguration . Near the bed

,wh ich had

been se t up for h im: in a hu rry,stood his friends , Cardinal s

B ibbiena , Sadole to and Bembo, and’ other Signors w hom I do

not know . At the p illow - side was the Holy Father,crying and wiping his eyes .

277

THE RENAISSANCE

MICHAEL ANGELO : Urbino , give me my cap and cloak .

I must go there ! Raphael Raphael dying ! MyGod

, is i t poss ible ? Quick, le t us go !URBINO : Here

,here

,master ! Give me time to l ight a

lantern I will l ight your way.

M ICHAEL ANGELO : You say there is no help for i t ? Areyou certain ? Have the phys ic ians been sent for ? What d idthey say ? What did they do ? Let us go !MINI : There was no lack o f physicians there was the HolyFather’s, Messer Jacopo of Brescia, then Messer Ga é tanoMarini

,and others . All looked very gloomy and shook the ir

heads;the ir eyes told us that their sc ience could do no more .MICHAEL ANGELO Come

,Urbino

,are you ready ?

URBINO : Here I i am, master !MICHAEL ANGELO : Walk in front, quickly !Th ey go out into th e stre et , wh ich is very da rk;h ow ever, th e ra in

h a s cea sed fa lling;th e c louds , ra pid ly ro l led upon one a noth er

by th e w ind , a re torn a sunder a nd sh ow a pa rt of th e orb of th e

moon, wh ich gives a fa int ligh t to th e h ouses a nd th e roa d . Agrea t noise of footsteps is h ea rd .

What i s this uproar ?URB INO We shall know after turning the corner of the lane !MIN I : Fo rward ! Mind that puddle of water

,master !

He supports Mich a e l Ange lo by th e a rm.

Ra pi dly a nd confusedly, th ere pa sses a numerous compa ny of officers ,so ld iers , serva nt s a nd torch -bea rers , wh ose torch es th row a red ligh ton th e h ouses;in th e m idst of th is procession , th e pontifical l itterw ith curta ins drawn.

MICHAEL ANGELO (to a chamberlain) What means this,S ir ?CHAMBERLAIN : I t i s the Holy Father returning to theVatican .

M I CHAEL ANGELO : I s RaphaelA VOICE : Raphael IS dead, and Michael Angelo aloneremains in I taly !

Th e procession pa sses Mich a e l Ange lo drops on to a stone bench . Th ec louds h a ve pa rt ed, a nd th e moon sh ine s in a c lea r sky

MICHAEL ANGELO : I remain , i t i s true .

278

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

that th e thunderbol t o f death h a s passed betw een him and me,now that I rema in here , my fee t in the mud of the world , whilehi s noble and charming countenance appears to me in thebosom o f God , shining with celest ial light , I see how insincereand petty I have been ! No no , Titian and the others,how ever admirable they may be , are not the equal s of thesetwo great depa rted . Abou t them

,and about me who remain,

the l ight i s wan ing and receding, the shadows are lengthening.

Y e s,here I am alone, and the icy breath of the tomb

that is Opening s tr ikes my face . \Vh a t wil l become of thearts ? And we , who have hoped so much, des ired so much,imagined so much, worked so much, what have we achieved ,what shal l we bequeath to them that come after us ? Not a

quarter of what we should have done .

Covers his fa ce w ith his h ands.

URBINO : Come , Master, you wil l take cold .

MIN I G ive me your arm, and let us go back to your house .

MICHAEL ANGELO Y e s w e must preserve our strength

and work as long a s we are throttled by the chain of l i fe .

280

LEO X .

THE P IAZ Z A NAVONE .

A French gentleman, an English gent leman

,a Flemish Franc iscan, a Cicerone .

CICERONE : When I saw you from a distance,I at once

said to myself, most excellent S ignors, Here are most important personages, to whom you r duty compels you immedia tely to make obeisance and offer your serv ices .FRENCHMAN : I am from Champagne

,and my estate o f

Brandicourt is well known . My friend comes from: London ,and we have hired the se rvices of thi s good Father at j ointexpense;he wai ts on us, brushes our c lothes , and takes notesof the observations we make in our travels .

CICERONE I am most happy to have the honour of meetingyour i l lustr ious Excellenc ies . I am a person of some note inthis city, and indeed I can well say that I ow e this far less tomy poor deserts than to the loftiness of my birth and to thecred it w hich my kinsfolk enj oy at the Holy Father’s cou rt . Iam glad to place at your d isposal al l that I can;I w il l showyou Rome in al l i ts most prec iou s deta ils, and will expound itscharms to you from point to point .ENGLISHMAN : That wi ll be very pleasant;but perhapsyou will expect us to pay you heavily ?

C I CERONE : Magnificent Signors, you shall give me whatever you th ink fit . In any case, be assured that I shall feeloverwhelmed by your k indness . I only want the honou r ofdoing you service .

THE ENGLI SHMAN : I w ish to know everyth ing !THE CICERONE Nothing is easi e r.THE FRENCHMAN : Y ou understand : my friend and Icame to I taly w i th the sole object o f saying afterwards , infine company

,

“ I have seen th is and that ! ” So i t w oul d bevery annoying to l earn to o late that there w a s something o r

other w e had not seen .

THE CICERONE : Have no fear . We will begin at thisvery moment , i f you please . Let us take th is road . Inpass ing

,I shall b id yo u a dmire the Campo Vacc ine;i t is the

place where the ancient Romans held the ir assembl ies .

28 1

THE RENAISSANCE

ENGLISHMAN : I wish to see i t a t once !C ICERONE : Y ou shal l see i t at once ! There the famousPompey wa s murdered .

FRENCHMAN Father Jean,write that in your note - book .

Fa th er J ean w rites,

C ICERONE Next , we shal l go and Vis i t the Vatican, whereone o f my cous ins, wh o sta nds h igh in the Holy Father

’

s confi

dence , w i l l take u s round for a tr ifle .

THE FRENCHMAN : I wish to se e the pictures of thatpa inter who died the other day

'

a nd w a s given so splendid afuneral . What was his name ?C ICERONE Y ou mean Master Raphael .FRENCHMAN : They say he wa s quite a quite aclever man . I am told that the King himself gave him acommiss ion .

ENGLISHMAN : Ah, ye s, that

’

s a man I should have beenglad to have seen . But

,after all, s ince h e

’

s deadWhen we have v is i ted the Vatican

,le t us go and dine in the

tave rn where they feed you best .C ICERONE Most il lustrious S ignors, that i s my veryintention

,and I will have a meal served you that wil l astonish

you .

ENGLISHMAN : Father Jean, you will take a note of thedishes and the way they are prepared .

FRENCHMAN : Could you not also introduce us to somecharming ladies ?C ICERONE : I have thought of that ! I know two, at thismoment

,to whom I will take you this evening, and you will

be del ighted with them . We will sup at their house;we willhave an instrumental concert, and you will thank me all yourl ives fo r the soc ie ty to which you wil l be admitted for I mustask yo u to bear in mind that they are ladies o f high standing ,

all ied to the most eminent famil ies in Rome . As they arevery fond o f foreign S ignors, I now and then give myselfthe pleasu re o f introduc ing some to them .

ENGL ISHMAN Father Jean , you w i ll se t down these ladies’

2 82

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

c erta inly no t cured . My li fe h a s be en too long. Too ma ny regrets, tooma ny vexa ti ons a t much th a t is pa st burden my h e a rt. Th e love of

l itera ture , th a t onc e h a d such pow er to de ligh t my leisure h ours, h a s losti ts spe l l;re li gion a lone keeps me up;i t o llers many threa ts a s w e l l a sprom i ses .

Th ese a re no t emo tions th a t one loves to communica te to a friend so

dear a s your most reverend Ex ce l lency. Y ou h a ve your troubles, youh a ve your a nx ie tie s I w ould gla d ly a fford you conso la tion. Ca n I do so

by w ea rying you w ith my ow n grieva nces ? I th ink not , a nd for th isrea son I w ri te to you se ldom;but a s I am w e l l a ssured th a t I am everpresent in your m emory , you must a lso be lieve th a t th e reco l lection of

you flits c ea se le ssly a bout eve ry c orner o f my h ea rt .Th ink o f th a t, a nd th ink of it a bove a ll a t th e moments w h en you can

a ssocia te me w i th th e service of G od. God a lone supports me , in God

a lone is my h ope a nd my desire I am ama zed th a t I ca n ever h a ve lookedin a ny o th er direc tion. I tremble be fore th e j udgments of Him,

Wh oserigour I h ave doubt less only too w ell deserved . But you h ave taugh t me

to h ope a lso in H is pity,a nd it seems to me sometimes th a t my fa ults, in

ma king me more submissive to th e e ffects of H is goodness, serve a t lea stto redouble th e a rdour o f my love for H im .

Fa rew e l l, my friend . Do not fa i l to th ank H is Ho liness for th e

a ffec tiona te w ords w ith w h ich h e w a s recent ly plea sed to h onour h is serva nt,a nd once more , pra y for h er w h ose ne ed o f pra yer is so grea t .

G iven a t Ferra ra , two da ys be fore th e K a lends o f J a nua ry.

LUCRETIA BORG IA,

Duch ess of Ferra ra .

284

LEO X .

BRUGES.

A panelled ch amber in carved oak. On th e frieze , th e a rms of th e Be lgianprovinc es

,pa inted a nd gilded a bove th e grea t ch imneyp iece , th e

bla zon of th e Empire;a ga inst th e w a ll, opposite th e sta ined -gla sswi ndow

,a grea t pa inti ng of th e Germa n Sch oo l representing th e La st

Judgment . On a ta ble , a li gh ted lamp , open dispa tch es—Ch a rles V . ,

in a n a rm - ch ai r be fore th e ta ble , w ri ting.

A PAGE (entering): The very reverend Cardinal of Utrechtis at your Imperial Majesty’s orders .

CHARLES V . : Let him come in .

ADRIAN Caesar has sent for me ?

CHARLES V . New s h a s reached me of the sudden death ofLeo X . I wish to discuss i t w ith you .

ADRIAN : Leo X . dead ? That was unexpected . He wasonly forty - six . Have you heard the details ?

CHARLES V . : My Ambassadors w ri te me that the Popechoked with j oy at learning of the capture of Milan and therou t of the French by h is troops . Bu t here is a secret repor t

from the master of the Holy Palace, Paris de G rass is, which

gives me grounds for bel iev ing that he w a s poisoned .

ADRIAN : Who can have murdered the Pope, and why ?

CHARLES V . : Did he not have Petrucc i put to death and

confiscate many persons’ property ? However that may be,

Leo X . is dead . Be seated .

Adria n ta kes a sea t nea r th e ta ble .

What do you th ink of th is event !

ADRIAN : Christendom is i n a sad pl ight . The French are

beaten;but they w i l l renew the confl ict .CHARLES V . Y ou are right . Franc is I . wil l no t be content

to l ive in peace . H is is a turbulen t nature;he h a s manyformidable defects and qual it ies . He w anted the Imperial

c rown . I gained i t . He w ants Burgundy, he wantsF landers;al l that he w ants he w ould have to wrest from me,and with God ’

s aid I w il l prevent it .

ADRIAN These are serious quest ions , bu t I confess to you,

Sire,that at th is moment, when I cas t my mind

'

s eye on the

2 85

THE RENAISSANCE

now empty See o f St . Peter, I am troubled for st il l more serious

reasons . Never was rel igion in so great a peril . For yearsi t has been travell ing towards a prec ip ice—now i t i s on thebnnk.

CHARLES V . I t is on the br ink, and the prec ip ice is bottom~

less. Y ou are right in saying that th is peri l i s more intenseand more formidable than the others

,for the whole world

,the

whole universe, depends on this power,Religion, which i s

ch arged with the mastery of heaven and earth;and i f th ispower to tters

,al l must c rumble away beyond hope of redemp

t ion . I wi ll not le t the edifice crumble .

ADRIAN : Y ou have already done great things in theh andl ing of rel igi ous quest ions in G ermany .

CHARLES V . The da ngers from this source are tremendous,and if I had no t sharply stopped the chariot which theimpetuous horses w ere whir l ing along, the ev i l would bealready pas t all remedy . I wil l no t tolerate heresy ! I willno t c ompromise w i th t h e w ors t of rebels, I wil l no t al low amoment

’

s rest or breathing- space to the supporters o f thesescandalous, poisonous, unpardonable outbreaks ! What ! Thefaith of Chr is t is menaced , and wh o defends i t ? I—Caesar !As for th e V icar of the Apostles, he fin ds (I am w ronghappily w rong . he found , I mean)that Luther wri tes wel l;he amused himself with hi s le tters

,he spoke only of gentleness

and patience regarding that firebrand ! I am there !Without me

,Hell would triumph !

ADRIAN : God h a s raised you up to be a G ideon .

CHARLES V . : I t is s trange that nei ther the Pope nor

Franc is I . understood where these innovations are leading us .

Yet one has only to observe the eagerness of the petty princesto adopt them and of private persons to go mad over them .

These damnable doctr ines exhale the po ison of independenceand anarchy . They would support the Electors against me ,

the vassal s agains t their suzerains, the swarming mob againstth e burgesses of the towns . The Pope imagined that from

286

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

LEO X .

leaving everyone the right of frothing at h is will,no more harm

would resul t than from lett ing peasants get drunk on Sundaynight. But there comes a moment when the drunkard is i l lenough to fall into a del irium , and I se e c learly that i t is timeto throttle l icence . The w orld is being fi lled w i th theinsolent pamphlets of an Ulrich von Hutten, not to mentionth e rest . Are you of my opin ion ?

ADRIAN : Most certainly. Two vices, going hand in hand,are fomenting disorder, the mortal fo e of rel igion and, inconsequence, of the world : eccles iastical pervers i ty andimpious tolerance

,the s ister of loose moral s .

CHARLES V . : So you share my v iew that the next Popewould have to break with the worldly hab its of previous reigns ?

ADRIAN : I f he hesitates , we are lost ! He wil l have to bea Pope , not a prince;a theologian , not a man of letters;anascet ic, not a voluptuary . Let him l ive on mou ldy bread and

coarse herbs, and not on elaborate dishes served on plattersof gold;I would see him use only wooden porr ingers ! Withhis beggar’s staff he must break the idol s of ancient paganism ,

w i th which the Holy Palaces are crammed,to the dire scandal

of consciences, and, so far from l istening with delight to therounded phrases of the Bembos and the Vidas, he must packoff all that crew to the pr isons of the Holy Office and makethem taste there the bitterest penitence . Yes, Caesar;penitence , peni tence , that alone can save the world ! I mean, savei t in this mortal l i fe from th e awful convulsions caused byl icence , and save i t i n the immortal l i fe from the avengingflames whose tortures w e grow more and more to deserve !

CHARLES V . : An austere and saintly Pope,an Emperor

resolved to share his labours and never to fal ter in the defenceand glorification of the Fai th , do you th ink that these two

powers,well cemented togethe r, cou ld succeed in saving th e

w orld ?

ADRIAN : There exis ts here below a sum- total o f domina

tion;i t i s never greate r or smalle r, but di fferent periods,

287

THE RENAISSANCE

different combinat ions with in states d istribute i t i n manydifferent w ays . What the Luthers and the ir supporters atth is moment des i re, what the insensate priests of the Papal

court tolerate, is the minutes t subdiv is ion of this prec ious

force;i t is being fr ittered away i n unworthy hands . But i fthe Pope and Caesar were in agreement to unite in themselvesthe whole sovere ign authori ty and to use i t solely for thetr iumph of the Cross, what a sight that would be ! Whatuniversal happiness !CHARLES V . I am the Caesar, and you are the Pepe !ADRIAN I do no t hes i tate to say that th is would be a greatmisfor tune for me, whose last years are in need of rest . Buti t would be a bless ing for men’s souls

,for I should spare no

effort in the work of salvation .

CHARLES V . : Y ou have not understood me . Read thesed ispatches . Th e Concl ave met immediately after the deathof Leo X . I presented the tru th before the Cardinal s’ eyes.They saw i t . They elec ted you . The Holy Ghost hasdescended upon you . Y ou are Pope, I tell you, as I amEmperor .

ADRIAN (j o ins h is hands and keeps them clasped againsth is breast . His eyes are closed

,and: h is l ips murmur a prayer

aloud . A mome nt’s s i le nce): I am myself again . What eventcoul d tax a feeble c reature more ? The hand of God is uponme;l e t the Holy Will be fu lfil led. I do not know, myson, whether, in what has occurred, your worldly wi sdom hasnot ac ted agains t the freedom of elec t ion . This is no t thetime to look into that . I d id not wish or ask for the ti ara .

With you or in sp ite of you,God does what he does well . I

am a poor man , o f humble birth , hidden away hitherto in thesquabbles of northe rn ci ties;I have never seen I taly, and Ishal l enter the Vatican l ike a ragged vagabond whose presencei s deemed an insu l t to the splendour of a Royal palace . Well ,I will insul t that splendour ! I wil l smite i t hard ! And if i t so

pleases the master who summons me, I will se t up in its pla ce

288

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

F IFTH PART

MICHAEL ANGELO

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

for its excesses , and behind this mob , Caesar shouts to meForw ard ! \Vhy don

’

t you go forward ?

MAR~U lS z I t is true ,

my Lord . A man so unhappy as youI have neve r known .

CONSTABLE Wh at cou ld I do ? How could I contrive toescape from th e v ice in which , fo r years past, I have fel t myselfcaugh t ! The most convenient w ay woul d have been to letmyself sl ip into the arms of Madame de Savo ie a nd l ive in hergood gra ces . I sh ould have been loaded with favours;theyw ould h a ve deigned . deigned ! to pay me for mytroub le by gran ting me for so v i le a career th e patr imony o f myrace ! King Francis w ou ld have forg iven my merits on

the score ofmy baseness with h is creatures, I shoul d havetaken part in the spol iations , and have been congratu lated .

Honour willed i t otherw ise Can you imagine, Marqu i s,wh at a troublesome beast this Honou r is ? Contrary, disordered

,quarrelsome, odious to any man of peaceful temper ?

I should have consented to ret ire , to stand as ide, to l ive on myestate

,to play the country squ i re

,to extinguish , to stifle all

the ac tiv i ty and desi re for good that I fel t w i th in me . Inshort, I w a s res igning myself to count in my family pedigree asnothing h i t one of those good idle lords, solely praiseworthyfor not hav ing allow ed the race to die out. No ! I made amistake ! Fly the court ? Not salute , not burn incense , notsay

“ Amen ” to the perpetual mass chanted in honour of

sacrosanc t royal ty ? I had the air o f a malcontent ! CouldI be allow ed to rest in peace ? I was harassed

,threatened

,

entrapped;I fled, and in accordance with the present law ,

I became all at once a monster;and the poo r worthy manw hom w e saw die before our eyes

,Marquis

,that M . de Bayard,

fortunate enough to have rece ived from heaven the s ignalhappiness of a simple and orderly exis tence , cursed me as hed ied . By my soul ! I am seized by a temptation to curse inturn Heaven , the angels , and God, w h o have dragged me to aplace w here, of my own free will , I should never have beentempted to go !

294

MIC II ELANG ELO BUONARRU TI

7 0 [a ct pa ge 294

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

number. i t is certa in tha t‘

your I tal ia n or German troops cons ist o f th e most thoroughpaced scoundrels ever seen .

CONSTABLE Y ou have just ar rived in camp,and you judge

them from firs t s ight . I d id no t know myself, before I hadexperience

,what th e Emperor w a s pu tt ing in my hands . I t i s

a red - h o t i ron . Th e Lutheran adventurers, ofwhom they havesucceeded in purg ing Germany, form the nucleus of my force .

I t is said that in days gone by the Popes Alexander and

Ju l iu s I I . enl is ted Turks they must have been lambs a s compared w i th my heretics;for them, to insul t or kill a priest isa l abou r of p iety . I go abou t this unhappy I taly

,answering

for the deeds and feats of these wretches .MARQUIS : Heaven has endowe d Caesar with a profoundintel lect God know s who could succeed in fathoming the darkunder- currents of the reasons that make him act .CONSTABLE : I could not, as regards what does not concern me . But in my own business I se e clearly . Nothingsharpens the wits so much a s long oppress ion and misfortune.

I feel , I guess , I foreshadow what is being done to c rush'

me;I unravel the mo tives . Caesar treats me as you misuse a horsethat does no t belong to you . On his Spanish, German ,F l emish comma nders he does not w ish to impose the crushingburdens that break the back and soil the s ides of a servan t;but on my back he puts a burden o f th is sort—on me whommy ev i l s tar h a s given into h is hands, and whose l ife and honourare to him: a matter of complete indifference . He must havea crime committed ! Without confiding anything to me , hesaddles me with the command of h is army, and it w a s onlywhen I found my tongue

,when I looked about me , when I

studied my l ieu tenants and my sold iers that I real ised how theformer were spies , and the latter the scum o f the earth . Y e s ,

Marquis,by the grace of Caesar, I am a b rigand captain . That

is the lot and profess ion of a Constable de Bou rbon;do youthink that the Seigneur de Bayard’s curse h a s borne fru it ?

MARQUIS Every word o f yours wrings my h eart . I recognise the truth of what you say . Caesar, under the pre tence of

296

MICHAEL ANGELO

a generosi ty that is expec ted of h is ra nk, aimed only, through

you, at damaging the royal house o f France;he is low eringand humil iating h is rival a s much a s he can . Y e s, my Lord ,you have good caus e to complain of Heaven . Fate h ad no

right to treat you thus. In leav ing your mother—country andyour l iege lord, you did a s I should have done in your place .

I know that now adays th is is a princ iple tending to take

root—that a man must undergo everyth ing,injust ice, c ruelty,

insolence accept everything w i th bow ed head, w hen these

ou trages are infl ic ted by those w ho have the power to

move the wires of the hollow and ridiculous dol l wh ich w e call

Our Country. She is an idol of w ood . She moves her armsand legs, Opens and c loses her mouth , roll s her eyes w ide . Any

quack who comes along can se t her in mot ion . They speakfor her, s ince o f herself she does not exis t . Yet for the benefit

of these rascals, and in the name o f th is art ific ial machine , theyhave invented I know not h ow many fine phrases;but theseare the precepts of slaves, o f helots, of wretches wh o have losttwo thirds of the ir ma nhood . A man h a s a right to rece ive a smuch a s he gi ves;i f h is country and his sovereign claimrespect , le t them respect themselves otherw i se

,w e no longer

ow e them anyth ing . You r sovereign , your country, h avestruck you in th e face , and you have returned the blow;youhave acted qu i te rightly, and have by no means deserved thehateful punishment of fal l ing under the dominion o f Caesar ,

and of being carried aw ay by this torrent against the w a lls o f

Rome,wh ich you are going to overthrow to you r own real

sorrow .

CONSTABLE : I t is t ime fo r you to go , noble Marqu i s . TheEmperor t reats you w i th a cons ideration which h e no longer

th inks due to me . You r orders are prec ise you are to leavethe army w i th you r companies and march on Na ples th is ve rynigh tMARQUIS : My hea rt bleeds . I would ra th er sta y w ith yo u

a nd support you r efforts to pu t some check upon the ev il .

297

THE RENAISSANCE

CONSTABLE : Y ou canno t. you must not . The Emperoris a generous master to you . Obey him . Good - bye !MARQUIS We shall meet again .

CONSTABLE I do no t kno w. I do not wish it. Goodbye ! W hen you are with the noble Marchioness, assure herof the respec ts o f her humble se rvan t .MARQUIS : Madam Vic toria know s well the greatness of

your soul , a nd I have often seen the tears come to her eyes andflood th em at the reci tal of your woes .

CONSTABLE : Good- bye ! To the end of my days I shallremember you, noble Fernando d

’

Avalos. I shal l recal l yourfr iendship for a dis inheri ted man you r peerless couragein the field , the nob il i ty of your soul, greater sti l l than thatof your rank . I shall remember you, Fernando !

Embrace me ! Good- bye !

THE MARQUIS : Good - bye, my lord , and may Heavengrow weary o f overw helm ing you with troubles that you donot deserve !

CONSTABLE : No matter ! Good- bye . Go !

The firs t streak of dawn mus t no t see you here . Bes ides,I hear my gaolers, my masters , my officers . They come toimpose their w i l l upon me , under pretext of carrying out m ine .

I w ould no t have a meeting betw een the purest l oyalty and th emeanest baseness . G 0 !

Th ey sh a ke h a nds th e Ma rqu is goes ou t .

Enter Ca pta in Georg v on Frundsb erg, comma nder o f th e Luth eranLa ndsknech ts;a ze a lous pa rtisan of th e Re former

,a th orough

so ldier,a gre a t plunderer;h e w ea rs a long w h ite bea rd, w hich

h a ngs dow n on h is cuira ss;Ca pta in Alessandro V ite lli , a nd PieroMa ria de

’ Ro ssi , comma nde r o f th e Ita li a n ligh t h orse;DenAntonio de Leyva , comma nder o f th e Tercios Ala rcon a nd

Lannoy, Spanish lea ders.

FRU NDSBERG : We are at your orders , my Lord . I f i tplease you,

w e w i l l hold a council and dec ide upon the finalmeasures

,so that immediately on the break of day, withou t

more ado,the assau l t may be made .

CONSTABLE : Take these stools , gentlemen , and be

seated . I have an idea to lay before you .

298

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

CONSTABLE : I do no t refuse but I say .

FRUNDSBERG : I say that you are marching ! Forward,my lord ! The Counc i l is over. I have conveyed to my men theorders you are going to give us yourself. Let the ten t beopened ! To horse !

Th e curt a ins o f t h e t ent a re vio lent ly pa rted . Th e day dawns;so ldiers ’

crie s a re h e a rd on a ll sid es;th e troops begin to move;c a va lry, infa ntry , rush to th e w a l ls of Rome . Th e ca nnon

t hunders on th e le ft, a nd t errible sh outs a re m ingled w ith th e

PE! 1 repe a ted firing. D isorderly bands surround th e tent .SOLDIERS : To th e assault ! To the assau l t ! The Constable !Where is he ? Let h im hasten ! Forward ! forward ! Monseigneur ! Monseigneur de Bourbon ! Come ! Death to thePope ! Death to the Cardinals ! To the sack ! To the sack !FRUNDSBERG : Well, my lord, what would you ? I f youtarry, I shall no t answ er for the consequences .

CONSTABLE My horse !SOLDIERS : Here he is ! Mount ! mount ! Come ! Longl ive Bourbon ! Death to the Pope ! Plunder ! plunder !

Th e Consta ble , Georg v on Frundsb erg, a ll th e ca pta ins get into th esa ddle , a nd th e troops surround th em a nd h ust le th em a long.

FRU NDSBERG (sword in h and) Valiant comrades ! Lookat my saddle bow ! See these ropes ! They are to bind thePope and his creatures !THE SOLDIERS : Y e s ! yes ! Let us take them ! Let ushang them ! Death ! sack ! plunder !AN OFFI CER (gallop ing up): I come from the Porta delPopolo ! The entry is

'

forced ! The artil lery has broken downeveryth ing;yet the c i t izens defend themselves, and w e needre inforcements .

FRUNDSBERG : Bravo , my lord ! Yours is the glory ofentering first !

Th e genera ls ga l lop off, fo llowed by th emen -a t -a rms , th e La ndsknech ts,w h o utt er loud cries a nd ch ant a Luth era n psa lm.

SOLDIERS : S ing with us, Constable ! s ing !

FRUNDSBERG : S ing, my lord . These fellow s w i l l onlyrun the fas ter for i t !CONSTABLE : I am no Lutheran !

30 0

(j ER)! AN LANDS K NEC ! IT

Tit /a rr pa ge 30 0

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

IN THE CASTLE OF ST. ANGELO.

A ch amber.—Pope C lement V I I Don Hugo de Monca da , Imperia l

Amba ssa dor.

THE POPE (in deep agitation): I t is a crime against theDeity . The Emperor, th i s t ime, in daring

‘

to assaul t ourperson, i s attack ing God himself. He will answer for it withh is hopes of eternal salvation .

MONCADA : I doub t net, Holy Father, that the Emperorw i l l be sorely grieved w hen he hears what has been done . I ti s you who le t loose these great d isasters, thi s dreadfulcatastrophe the blame does no t rest with him .

THE POPE : What, not wi th him ? Do you dare to denythat at this moment, at thi s very moment, w hen we hear thecri es of my subjects as they are be ing butchered

,when before

you there stands the successor of Peter chased to his last lai rl ike a wild beast—do you dare to deny that the perpetrators ofthese misdeeds are the soldiers of Cmsa r ? That these terribleassass ins ma rch under h is banners ? I s i t not your general swho lead them ? What do you mean ? Are you going tokill me ?

MONCADA : Holy Father, on my knees I implore you to becalrri . Be calm . Y ou are in no danger whatever

for the present, at any rate .

THE POPE : Do you assert that there is any longer morethan a s ingle wal l between the v i olati on ofmy person and the setigers thirsting for my blood ? The wal l i s weak, I knew i t .

My soldiers ? Y ou have counted them;thei r number i ssmall . What w i l l you do w i th me , Sefior de Moncada ?MONCADA : We have entreated you to rej ect the deceptiveand w orthless all iance wi th France . We have implored younot to make commo n cause w i th the Venetians, the Sw i ss, theFlorentin

'

es , that assemblage of States without honour or

pow er,wh ich is being driven on against the unchanging and

unconquerable might of th e Emperor by Franc is I . , our

prisoner of yesterday, a man of no fai th . Y ou have notl i stened to us . Y ou support the rebels . And , when our sole

30 2

M I CHAEL ANGELO

object i s to save rel igion, to restore peace and to pac ify I taly,you, Holy Fath er , you bolster up disorder and main tain th estandard of c rime in accordance w i th the misgu ided pol icy o f

your predecessors ! Su rely experience shou l d have taughtyou the dangers of such a cou rse .

THE POPE : No ! no ! no ! I have done w hat any ruler in

my place w ou ld have attempted . I have desired to p reserve

the digni ty o f the Holy See, th e l iberty o f the Christ ian State .

Your Imperi al eagl e digs its sh arp talons into the flanks o f a

pan ic- s tricken Europe;i t tr ies to devou r al l , to sw allow all !I f Caesar attained h is professed aims , no freedom w ould

remain in th is w orld . Have w e no t seen h im encroach w i thhi s w i ll even on the pontifical chair , wh en he se t up that

phan tom Pope,ou r predecessor, h is former tutor, a man o f

s traw,who , for tunately, did no t l ong make a laughing- stock

of the firs t throne in the w orld ?

MONCADA : Ca sar'

s aims are for the best, and for noth ing

else;he w i l l do the best ! Know , s ince you seem to have

forgotten i t,that there exist here below only two law fu l pow ers,

charged by God Himself w i th preserv ing order : th e Pope

and the Emperor . The rest is of the dev i l , or arises only by

acc ident . The Empire and the Papacy are everyth ing , and

w hen one of the tw o fa ils in i ts mission , i t fall s to the other

to uni te the two sceptres in one hand and achieve w hat

holy rel igion demands . Formerly the Suabian Emperors’“

betrayed thei r trus t;they w ish ed to estrange th e nations fromthe cradle of Jesus Ch rist;the great Popes, Innocent I I I . andG regory V I I , justly smote them w ith the pow erfu l c rook;since the beginning o f th is century

,and even before th en i t is

the Popes w h o , in the ir turn , have strayed from the path;they are w i thou t morals , w i thou t w i ll- pow er, they abandon thefaithfu l

,they allow the ir c le rgy to browse at will in th e

pastures of co rruption , dissolut ion , and heresy;they arei .e. , The Hoh cnstaufcri (1 1 38

—Tr.30 3

THE RENAISSANCE

themselves pagans ! Hence i t is Cae sar who w il l draw thesword and renew the w ork o f the Redeemer !THE POPE : By flooding th e c i ty w i th fil th from theLutheran s ink ?

MONCADA To you, Holy Father, to Le e , your predecessor,w e ow e the rise and development o f that canker in the s ideso f the Church ! Towards the man of W i ttenberg yo u shownoth ing bu t complaisance and most disastrous weakness . Y ou

al lowed th e princes o f the Empire to become spellbound by

that tra itor’

s words , and i t is w el l know n that if the matter

had rested w i th you alone , a l i ttle money, great God ! a pal trysum to which you l imited your des ires, wou ld have purchasedfrom you a scandalous compromise w i th the reformers .THE POPE Y ou slander the memory of Le o !

MONCADA He was occup ied with noth ing but statues ,pictures , books, verses , banquets and amusements , and, mark

me well ! this repu tation w i l l cl ing to him throughout the ages .Accordingly, Caesa r, seeing th e Faith dying on a truckle - bedof obl iv ion , w i th no one in her hou r of need to take compass ion on her l ips that thirst for pity

,Cae sar resolved to stay

the disorde rly career of th e age and lead men’s erring con

sci ences back to religion . At the same t ime, he w i l l br ingback under Imperial sway those rebels of all kinds who , s incethe beginning of the barbarous period

,have succeeded, to

the ir own disadvantage , in making themselves free . Caesa r i sspeaking in the name o f God. He is Caesar, he has the r ight .I t is necessary to save soul s for Heaven and uphold the title ofthe Roman Emperor . Here is no quest ion of the caprices ofI taly, w hich is bu t one prov i nc e;of the l icense of one , of th ew h ims of another;but, I tel l you once mo re , of universal salvation in th is w orld and the next;and you, as Pope, first of al l ,s ince you have no t wished to go w i th Cmsa r, you will obey

h im and bow to h is wil l !POPE : Thus spake those tyrants whose name h a s become abyword ! I am th e h ead of the Church , and th e breath o f Hell

30 4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

some spot or other where I am allowed to end in peace thedays that you grant me !

MONCADA My orders are peremptory;I could not departfrom them in the sl ightest detai l . Y ou wil l remain here

,Holy

Father, unti l you submi t to our r ighteous demands .THE POPE : Expound them . What is your des ire ?MONCADA : The means o f ensuring the tr iumph o f reason ,of j ust ice , of truth , and o f the interests of the Chu rch .

THE POPE : These are but phrases . Formulate your re

quirements . State expressly w h at Cae sar commands . That

which I should no t have agreed to yesterday, that which Ishould have refused two hours ago

,I am new perhaps humbled

enough to yield !

MONCADA : We dema nd your renunc iation of the alliancewith the French

,the Venetians, the Flo rentine s, the Sw iss, and

all who are evilly disposed . We demand that you becomeuni ted to us for good and all , a s c losely a s flesh to bone anda s the cre e k be to the sceptre .

THE POPE Ah, unhappy, thrice unhappy I taly ! Thy daysw ould then be over ! Thy princes, thy republ ics w ould be nomore

'

than slaves of th e Flemings ! Was this disgrace thepredest ined end o f thy glorious e fforts fo r more than a centurypast ? But speak, go on—I am l istening.

MONCADA : You w il l restore to us O st ia,Civ i ta Vecchia ,

Civ i ta Castellana, Parma , P iacenza , Modena, all that you st il lhold;Imperial garr i sons w i l l incl ine the inhab itants to learnthe w i l l o f Cmsa r. In the nex t place fou r hundred thousandducats w i l l be paid us a s compensat ion for the troops employedat th is moment in Rome , whom I shal l cause to be withdrawn .

F inal ly,w e sh al l occupy the castl e of St . Angelo .

THE POPE (hiding h is head in h is hands a moment, thenraising i t): I refuse .

MONCADA : Then I have noth ing further to say to you . Iwill take my leave . But , previously, I should l ike to be ableto inform Caesar that you thoroughly understand the s tate of

306

MICHAEL ANGELO

affai rs and the extent of your respons ib il i ty . Deign, Holy

Father, to consider the tu rn events are taking .

H e opens a w indow looking out on th e town .

Look at your w ork ! Say if you wish this to go on !

THE POPE : Y e s,I w i l l look, I w i l l se e your sacr i leges

all that you have ordered,arranged, planned and plotted for

months past ! Yes, I w i l l look ! Think not that I am a

womanish c reature ! I can behold a t le isure th e display of

your villainy ! I wil l no t fal ter—I w i l l no t w eep ! Well , Iw i l l look . I am looking ! There is a man being chased

now he i s disembowelled by a halberd stroke . Cer

ta inly I see ! His blood w i l l reco il—emwhose head ?Ah , my God ! w omen and children harri ed by your hireling

rabble of unbridled fiends ! Ah,what villainy ! Let me

see i t i s frightfu l ! Monks beaten bloody .

Oh , i t i s no t poss ible—no t poss ible ! Cardinals , greybeards clad in purple fettered, s truck down, dragged on

the pavements, beaten ! No no . I can look no

more What a hideous nightmare !

Tott ers a nd fa lls into a ch a ir. Don Hugo de Monca da bows and

goes out.

30 7

THE RENAISSANCE

A STREET.

Pikesmen, cross-bowmen

,Sw iss.

FIRST PIK ESMAN : We need a man to carry the bootyhome . Y ou are not going to put those coffers on yourshoulders ?

A SWISS I t w ould have been better to spare the boy. Hewou ld have served us a s a beast of burden .

F IRST CROSS - BOWMAN I t is always a pleasure to lodge

a bulle t in someone’s head;I don’

t regret my shot .

SECOND PIK ESMAN : Bes'

ides,we are avenging our

general;s ince the Romans have killed him ,le t us kil l the

Romans ! Look—here is a door that i s no t yet stove in !THE SWISS : We’l l b reak i t dow n !

Th e so ldiers a ssa i l th e door w ith th e butts of th e ir cross -bow s a nd

h a lberds. I t opens, 1 1 Rosso a ppears.

SOLD IERS (beat ing him): What, popinj ay, you don’t open

when you are paid a vis i t ? Y ou deserve a lesson ! We’l l

sack the house !

IL ROSSO Gentl emen , I have l ittle money—it is yours ! Bu tI am a painter, and I beg you no t to destroy my draw ings and

my br ic - a- brac .

SECOND CROSS - BOWMAN You’

ll see how we rate your

bric - a- b rac and yoursel f,too ! Str ip h im naked ! I t will be

fine spor t to use him as a mule, and he will feel the st ick more

thoroughly !

SOLDIERS Good ! Naked as a worm—and kick h im well !IL ROSSO Gentleme n, I implore you !

THIRD PIK ESMAN Y ou say you are a painter ?

IL ROSSO : Yes , I am a painter .

THIRD PIK ESMAN They say i t was a painter who killedthe Constable . We’l l serve you in the same way !A SWISS By the dev i l, no ! I t is agreed that he shal l carry

the coffers . We’

l l kil l h im afterwards;but let us loot thehouse at once !

30 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

FLORENCE.

A public squa re .

CELLINI Well ? what’s afoo t here ?SEVERAL VOICES : We ’re driv ing out the Medici again !Long l ive the l iberty of Florence !

CELLIN I : Now I have come from Rome, and have seenra re s ights !THE CROWD : Is the Pope se t free ?CELLINI : He

’

s caught l ike a rat in a trap . Nothing isallowed to pass i n to h im at Fort S t . Angelo;and what heand h is men have to l ive on

,God in h is infinite mercy alone

know s . In short,they are dying of hunger , and, all this w hile,

the Imperial troops continue making havoc of everything.

THE CROWD Y ou have seen th is w i th your own eyes ?CELLINI I have just come from the spot . I have seen , onthe deserted square, c rossed with tottering steps by drunkenand disbanded soldiers, heaps o f dead to the r ight and heapsof dead to the left a man dying at the corner of th is boundarys tone, a woman doubled up , her arms outspread , on that. WhatI have seen , is church doors battered in;surpl ices, s toles ,dalmat ics, trail ing in soiled tatters on the flagstone s of thebasil icas, or hanging in wretched rags on the sp ikes of thes ide chapel rail ings;candlesticks broken , al tar- lamps ex

tingu ish ed, and the al tars themselves overthrown, with fragments of glasses, necks of bottle s

,ham- bones, sordid scraps

of the free - l ances’ feasts;I have even seen statues broken ,the most prec ious canvases torn by the pikes;and as to theoutrages , the insul ts, the blows showered on the mosti llustr ious cardinals, arch ibish eps, dataries , protono tar ies ,they are too many for me to detai l . So common a thing is i tthat w hen, in the sol i tude of the c rossw

'

ays, one of these e rs twhile reverend Signors passes, hustled by some j eeringscoundrel of an archer—when there re - echoes the blow of abuffet administered to some venerable cheek, people do noteven turn the ir heads to find out more of the matter .THE CROWD : Shame ! shame ! We have cursed the

3 1 0

MICHAEL ANGELO

avar ice and the pride o f the Papal digni taries, bu t w a s i t

necessary that so much greatness and secul ar splendour shou l d

be trampled on by fee t so v i le ? What says Caesar to these

abominationsCELLIN I : Caesar, in his far - off Spanish palace , weeps , they

say , and laments over the sorrows of the successor to theApostles he orders prayers to be offered up for the ending of

so heinous a scandal;otherw i se, he takes no s teps to se t al imi t to i t

,and des i res to se e on h is knees even him w hose

sl ipper the w orld reverently kisses . One man alone, am id all

th is,has upheld the glory of I taly and ga ined a renow n that

w il l never die .

THE CROWD : Of w hom do you speak ?

CELLINI : I t is I , I alone w h o have avenged Rome be forehand for w hat sh e i s suffer ing, for w i th a shot from myinfall ible cross - bow I k il led the Constable de Bourbon , and youknow that

,w i th M ichael Angelo, I am the greatest artis t o f

my age . Now that you ha ve learn t w hat my eyes have seen,inform me in your turn o f w hat is happening here .

THE CROWD : Florence is free,and unless courage and

v i rtue are reduced to mere words without meaning, w e shallnever go back to the old bondage ! Savonarola

,the Saint, the

great, the subl ime Frate , h a s not l ived amongst us i n vain !His every w ord has remained a l iv ing thing ! All his maxim sa re being rev ived

,and this t ime no one shall be allowed to

bl ind us ! Wh at Savonarola ordered,we a re about

'

to carryout, and henceforth the w ork w il l no t be undone . We knowour enemies thoroughly;a Medic i Pope w ishes us no good;but what c a n h e do ? Cae sar w i l l turn an exasperated facetow ards us;bu t if he looks to the East, he w i l l se e the Turksthreatening h is Imperial possessi ons;nearer home theVenetians are overrunning the Romagna;and i f he turnstow ards the north , he w i l l perce ive the French retu rn ing .

forgetful o f the i r disaster at Pav ia and filled w i th a moreburn ing ardour than they have ever been before . Such are

3 1 1

THE RENAISSANCE

our friends , such are o ur avengers, such are our mainstays !

The l iberty o f Florence w il l l ive fo r ever !CELLINI : My children , rely upon me ! To you I dedicatemy sword;the whole world knows its worth . Moreover , youare no doubt aw are o f the eagerness with w hich Francis I .l i stens to my adv ice . Once more I say , rely upon me !

Florence is fo r ever her own mistress;henceforth no princeo r tyra nt sh al l se t h is foot upon her neck .

THE CROWD : Long l ive Florence !

AT THE CORNER OF THE STREET.

Ma ch ia ve l li , h is h a nds beh ind h is ba ck, w a tch es th e crowd pa ssing a nd

uttering cries o f joy .

MACHIAVELLI What a noise ! How they bellow ! Howthey s ing ! What sparkling eyes ! How that w ord “ l iberty ”

intoxicates them ! One would say i t w a s the firs t time intheir l ives that they uttered i t and exulted in th is fashion !The bird l ives in the ai r, the fish in the water, and the mobin noi se .

A company pa sses , dra gging in th e gutter a scutch eon w ith th e Medic ia rms, t ied to a rope . Drums, trumpets;th e crow d sings and

fo l low s Benvenute Ce l lini , w h o w a ves a flag.

CELLINI (at the top of his voice): Long l ive Florence !ALL : Long l ive Florence ! Death to the Medici !CELLINI : S ignor Machiavel l i, you are a great ci tizen—afr iend o f Savonarola !THE CROWD Long l ive Savonarola ! Long l ive Machiavel l i ! Long l ive Cell in i !CELLINI Ci t izens, you are magnificent ! Men of Florence ,

you are a great nat ion ! Y ou are coming with us,Machiavel l i ? We w il l carry you shoulder high ! Y ou havesuffered in the tyrants’ p risons !THE CROWD : Y e s ! ye s ! Let

’

s carry h im shoulder high !I n triumph !MACI I IAVELLI : Friends , I thank you ! Indeed , my heartoverflows with grati tude ! Bu t I am old I am il l I no longer

3 1 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

TI IE RENAIS SANCE

broken;the rest is out of tune . I reflect with pleasure upon

the chance o f my soon leav ing th is mortal covering that fi ts

me so badly.

MICHAEL ANGELO : I understand your wea riness . But

let us not speak of such matters;we should agree too well .\Vh a t is to become of I taly ? Whither is sh e going ? I left

Rome so as no t to fal l into the hands o f the Imperial vandals;I come to Florence, and I find everyth ing ups ide down , and

another o f these countless revolu t ions . The French, who

cannot defend the Pepe or do anything useful for themselvesor for us, have just pu t Pav ia to fire and sword;everywherethere is bu tchering, butchering . I know that in our youngdays they bu tchered in the same way.

MACHIAVELLI With a great d ifference then l ifeemerged from death, whereas now what emerges from death isan other death . DO you understand ?

MICHAEL ANGELO : Y es almost .MACHIAVELL I : Well , in the days when we w ere young,

you and I , the loot ing, the massacring, the outrages of everykind by no means prevented I taly, likew ise

'

young herself,from growing and acquiring fresh ch arms with fresh strength .

I t is no longer the same . Do you observe that I taly’

s historyw a s then made by I tal ians ? Now i t i s the French and theImperials who direct

,sow

,t il l and reap . I n former t imes ,

w e summoned the barbarians to our aid;mistakenly, withouta doubt ! but we looked upon them a s auxil iaries of w hom one

day or other, after the overthrow and destruction of our fellowcountryman the enemy, we w ere sure to be rid . Thus i t w a sthat the Sforza, the Pope, the Venetians, called in KingsCharles VI I I .

,Louis XI I . , and Ferdinand of Aragon in turn.

The D uke of V alentino is had no other thought . Adversariesof the most Oppos i te views and ambi tions w ere in agreementon thi s point, and th is is al l to their c redi t . N ew ,

the Pope,the M ilanese , the Fle rentine s, the men of Naples are merepuppets

,of which Francis I . and Charles V . pull the str ings

,

3 1 4

MICHAEL ANGELO

and our valour is nothing but an appendage to the valour ofthese two great sovereigns .

MICHAEL ANGELO : W e have become provinc ials,con

quered or soon to be conquered .

MACHIAVELLI : Worse th an that. We a re dotards ,exhausted by th e unmeasured fury of every pass ion;rich , tobe plundered;c lever , to be made to work;famous, to berobbed o f o ur glory;learned, to have our know ledge suckedout and transmitted elsewhere . We are lost souls , and wew allow in something low er than disgrace .

MICHAEL ANGELO Do you remember what you said tome and Francesco Grana cc i one day in the S ist in e Chapel ?

MACHIAVELLI : I w a s then argu ing from probabil it ies ,and thought the Holy See dest ined to concentrate all theinheri tances i n its hands . I d id no t gu ess w hat sort of a manCharles V . w a s , or even Franc is I .;the former i s the realPope ! He des ires nei th er reform , nor improvement, norchange . He thinks to keep up the old system , w i th its outwommerits, its present dec repitude;and, by trampl ing underfootth e incapable Pontiff and the pow erless Roman Curia , he hasresolved to ensure th e triumph of this w eakness and abasement. Bu t , bel ieve me, Mich ael Angelo , bel ieve me;we shalldoubtless perish beneath h is blow s

,for he has a strong arm;

bu t he w i l l perish even a s we he wil l stifle ne ither heresy northe spiri t of revolt , nor thei r consequences;not the might iestw i l l coul d stem the torrents on the downward course that theyhave al ready begun .

MICHAEL ANGELO Bu t,l ook you , a s regards Florence ,

the state o f affai rs does no t justi fy you r w ords . Once morethe Medic i have been dismissed , and the c i ty revert s to i tsanc ien t republ ican faith . The memory of Fra G irolamo isbeing re - l i t l ike the holy lamp that bu rns before thetabernacles . The reformer’s teachings are be ing invoked h is

w ords are recalled , h is precepts are re - establ ished , and tod aythe Pope w ill not come

,l ike Alexander o f old, to deal death

to our tenets . He has far too much on hi s own hands ! How

3 1 5

THE RENAISSANCE

is he to rescue h imself ? Could we no t come to an understanding with the Emperor, and look to him for the support, sofree o f r isk to h imself, of that pas t which we are caus ing tol ive anew ?MACHIAVELLI The past never l ives anew . The Pope is,indeed, ha rd pressed by Cae sar;Caesar holds h im captive,starves him, scou rges him soundly but do you no t se e

w hy ? Because th ey both serve th e sam e cause , and Caesarfinds his companion ineffic i ent and idle . When he has benth im to h is will

,he wi ll wish nothing but good to this poor

Pontiff the poor Pontiff’s cause is exactly h is own ! He w ou ldrather se e in h is place the Adrian VI . w hom he caused to beelec ted, an ignoran t pr ies t, a fanatic l ike h imself, hungry fordespotism in all its forms but he no longer has h im, and, w i l lynilly , he must put up w i th the Medic i . That is why hewill one day restore here the kinsmen of Clement VI I . , and,to prevent their fall ing again, he wil l invest them with an

authori ty that Lorenzo the Magn ificent never enjoyed;andthen, poor, ev i l , w icked, ignorant, corrupt, worthless fe e ls that

you are,wretched puppe ts of l iberty, you w i l l become the

subj ects of a lackey pr ince , and, by that same token, the mosthumil iated of men.

MICHAEL ANGELO You speak harshly,Messer N iccolo

you are yourself one Of the people whom you despise sothoroughly.

MACHIAVELL I I shall not be one . Death is at my heels .

Death wil l take me to where there is no further cause to blush .

May I never mee t a F lorentine i n the next w orld ! Listen tothem shou t ing

,those wretches, so rich in vo ice and so poor in

bra in . See them go past ! Their blood courses hotlythrough their veins, bu t not one o f them h a s ever entertaineda serious idea

,h a s ever s incerely bel ieved in w hat he w a s

do ing. They care for nothing bu t emot ion and idle talk .

MICHAEL ANGELO : That is no t w ell spoken , Niccolo .

Y ou are il l in body and mind , that excuses you;but I am surethat for all that you l ove your country, this Florence , so un

3 1 6

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

MICHAEL ANGELO : Y ou have been very unhappy, and

you have not been treated accord ing to your deserts .

MACHIAVELLI : I have a wife and children;I am of theoldest blood in Tuscany, as you well know . My ancestry goe sfar back . There i s no bread in my house .

MICHAEL ANGELO : True true i t i s a scandal !MACHIAVELLI I have learnt much my youth was bur iedin books I drank in , so to speak, the wisdom of antiquity withmy mother’s milk, so eager w as I to learn . What have Ibecome ? A poor secretary

,and nothing more .

MICHAEL ANGELO : You have been most hardly used,Master N iccole, and I real ise the,

bitterness of your heart .MACHIAVELLI : No , you do not real ise it . So long as Iwas kept in the lowest grades, and saw the goal of my mostjustifiable hopes recede further and further, I fel t my shoulderrubbed at every moment;I was thrown aside . The firstscoundrel who came along, a low fellow,

a pack - a ss, a man Of

no tal ent, no conscience , no b irth, w a s pushed in fron t of me .

All the same , I was overwhelmed with compl iments;themiss ions I fulfil led were new difficul t, new dangerous;I fulfilled them well , to no one

’s amazement;but the stream offlunkeys w ent on pass ing, and other flunkeys said to me,

“ Staywhere you are ! I have stayed there al l my l i fe, and I bel ievethat the humil iat ion, the d iscouragement, the disgust, thei ndignation that have gripped every corner of my heart haveaffected me even more than my poverty.

MICHAEL ANGELO : Alas, ala s , l ife i s sombre and evil;and when I remember that I too have had to undergo stup idi tyand impudent ign orance , I unde rstand w hat you feel .MACHIAVELLI : NO

,you do not understand . When Fra

G irolamo Savonarola came to preach his doctr ines, I was ayoung man I loved my fel low - creatures I loved my coun try;I loved I taly;I bel ieved in the possib ility of reason andvir tue . I exhauste d all my strength so a s to build th em ahouse . What h a s been the resul t O f my hopes ? Let us notspeak of i t . As

,however, I had stil l a l i t tle of credul i ty

3 1 8

MICHAEL ANGELO

left, I fancied that an able man l ike the Duke of Valentinois could create a noble kingdom, endow i t with wise lawsand good ordinances, send th e foreigne rs back to their homes—in short, that there w a s stil l something to be des ired . TheDuke ofVa lentino is failed . To—day, i t is the fash ion to regardh im as the most frightful of monsters, although, so far as individual or general cruelt ies are concerned, he never dreamed ofa ti the o f the useless brutal it ies carr ied out by Charles V .

,

among others the sack o f Rome and the re - establ ishment ofthe Inqu is i t ion . B u t the minds of men are so const i tu ted thatthey need a number of scapegoats to bear the burden of thecr imes of a per iod;naturally, they do not choose the wolves,who are doing mo st harm. They take th o se who can defendthemselves least

,those w hom the dogs have already rent or

throttled, because, above all , they are cowards themselves .MICHAEL ANGELO : Y ou are too b itter;i t i s true tha tyour heart is full of tears .

MACHIAVELLI : I have no more tears to shed . Onthe contrary, I am del ighted to se e h ow this wo rl d of

scoundrels, of madme n, of fools, of egois ts, who have kep t mein the rank of a starvel ing subal tern

,has done so well for i tself

that the most ignoble bondage wil l soon be no more on i tsbody than the rag that covers the most hopeless poverty !G lory be to God , I say ! they are more to be p itied than I .I am dying

,and the I tal ian world will l ive

,but utterly di s :

c redited. Y ou are all great men , I mean you and yourfr iends;but when you have disappeared, as you soon will,there will remain only you r im itators

,who wil l imitate you

badly;and then wil l come the apes, wh o w i l l transform yourheavenw ard fl ights in to ludicrous gambols;then i t wil l be allove r with your work . Let us go back home .

MICHAEL ANGELO : Yes,le t us go indoors . I wil l give

you my arm and take you back to your house . Among thegreat men o f whom yo u speak , you have you r place , N iccolo .

MACHIAVELLI : No t so ! I am o nly a huckste r o f ideas,and events p rove that I have been but a dreamer . There is a

2 B

THE RENAISSANCE

great d is tance between see ing and creating the truth . F romugl iness i tsel f you make immortal beauty, a s i t i s granted youto mould enchanting forms from the v iles t clay;your worldmay perish , you remain a god and you l ive . But I ? I haveunders tood what they should try to produce;I have shown

what is des irable . Have they carried out my plans ? No !What is l eft of me ? A poor devil bent double, wh o is goingto vanish, and there

’

s an end of i t ! So much the be tter ! Letus go back home .

M I CHAEL ANGELO Yes . For my part,I confess to you

that, with or without hope, I will serve my country;I will useall my knowledge to defend i t

,and i f i t must succumb

,I shall

at leas t have fulfilled a du ty, or what seems to me one .

MACHIAVELL I : Do not shrink even from giving yourblood what you will ach ieve on this occas ion

,as on others

,

wil l b e amply rep-aid you by posteri ty. Posteri ty will sayThat great artist, Michael Angelo, had no need of Florence,and yet he sacrificed this and that for her ! ” Come ! yourc rowns are ready;but I , i f I w ere a fool and wished to concernmyself w ith what is being done

,I should be used to brush the

c lo thes Of the high and mighty personages whom every revolution draws up from: i ts sl ime, and in the day of defeat theywould say to me : Old fe el, how w a s i t that you did not knowyour assoc iates better ?” They would be right . Good - bye ,Michael Angelo , I hope never to se e you again in th is world .

MICHAEL ANGELO (pressing h is hand): Good - bye !

Ma chia ve l li enters h is h ouse and sh uts th e door.Poor N iccolo sees only too clearly . I t matters l ittle;I havenot my wings t ied, i t is true I can go where I please . Fortune,with all her other cruel ties towards me, h a s at least no t sub

je cted me to any man’

s wil l . I w il l defend Florence, and if

Florence is wrong, I shall yet have satisfied an inst inct O f my

heart .

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

CORREGGIO : Allow me to w i thdraw .

CHU RCH\VARDEN Are you d ispleased at my frankness ?

CORREGGIO : Since , accord ing to you, Messer, I am no

painter, i t i s better fo r me no t to go on with my work, and

accord ingly I give i t up .

PRIOR You are no t going on with your work ?

CORREGG IO : NO, reverend Father;you can give i t tow hom you please .

PRIOR : An unheard- of proceeding !

CHURCHWARDEN Do you know that you could be com

pelled by a court of l aw to withdraw your unseemly threats ?

CORREGGIO : You may tel l the la w what you please,bu t

i t has no power to put the brush between my fingers .

THE PRIOR and THE MONKS (al l together): Then youw il l not be paid !

CORREGGIO God i s my w i tness that I need money, for my

house is quite bare;never mind ! I would rather lose everything and take my leave . I wil l only remind you that you

ow e me the pr ice of my Chris t in the garden of the Mount of

Ol ives .

CHURCHWARDEN My‘

epinion, reverend Father, i s that

you shoul d at once satisfy this grasping man, whose love of

gain shows that he is no artist .

PRIOR : Messer Allegri, th i s scene affec ts me in the highest

degree . I should never,never have supposed you so proud

and so wan ting in honou r. We will give you fou r crowns for

your p icture, to avoid further discuss ion .

CHURCHWARDEN : I t i s an ample remuneration

CORREGG IO : G ive me the four crowns and let me go .

PRIOR : Brother Honorio, take h im with you, and pay h im

the sum he demands—in copper co ins, of course . I am pained,my son

,deeply pained, and, to sa y truth , my soul is utterly

lacerated by your course of a CLlOIl.

322

MICHAEL ANGELO

CORREGG IO Fathers and you, Messer, I salu te you, and amsorry that my painting does not satisfy you .

Ex it w i th Broth er Honorio .

THE CHURCHWARDEN Y ou must no t be aston ished at

this scandal, reverend Fathers . These men of talent a re

v iolent,i l l - tempered, mad fellow s, most d isagreeable to

have to deal w i th . Under the pretext that they are superi orto o thers , they ride the high horse;i t is unbearable ! And

i f one only lets them hear unpalatable truths , you see whatresul ts .

PRIOR : Indeed,I have always thought that the most

o rdinary men w ere in ma ny w ays preferable to .

CHURCHWARDEN : Extraordina ry men . I think so ,

too . In every respec t the artists a re far too much favoured .

We shall have no trouble in finding some w orthy lad, modestand respectable

,to finish the church paintings—one who can

be treated w i th less ceremony. I take the task upon myself,and promise that your cupola w il l be only the more admirable

for being carr ied out accord ing to my ideas;for although Ido not paint

,i t is true, I am a perfect judge of th is sort of

w ares .

323

THE RENAISSANCE

BOLOGNA .

A stree t—C iti zens a nd a rti sa ns, gloomy a nd w h ispering,ga th ered in

front of a h ouse—Tw o tra ve l lers on h orseba ck pa ss.

FIRST TRAVELLER : VJ h a t means th is crowd ? Whythese troubled looks ? What’s afoot ?

SECOND TRAVELLER : An accident,I expec t . Gentle

men , le t us pass, i f you please .

FIRST TRAVELLER : There i s a woman in tears . Letus a sk the cause .

SECOND TRAVELLER : My cur ios ity is aroused a s much

as yours . That master j oiner looks an hones t ma n. Speakto him !

F IRST TRAVELLER (stopp ing h is horse and leaning overhis neck): Pardon, Messer !

JO INER (in the midst of a group): What i s your pleasure ,hI esser ?

F IRST TRAVELLER : Could you inform us, i f the ques

t ion is permitted, of the cause of this gathering,and why so

many are mourning ?

JO INER : Y ou know ,no doubt, the name o f Properz ia de

’

Ross i ?

FIRST TRAVELLER DO you me an that admirable young

girl wh o h a s executed so many fine statues,among others

the two marble angels that are the glory of the Cathedral of

San Pe tronie ?JO INER : The very same ! Her renown fill s all I taly .

Properz ia is dying.

SECOND TRAVELLER : My God , what are you saying !

Se young !

F IRST TRAVELLER : We are Lombards, and w e real ise

the j ust gri ef of the Bolognese.

SECOND TRAVELLER : My God ! ofwhat is a woman sobeautiful

,so accompl ished, go ing to die ? She who i s so

br i l l iant, so admired, so happy !

324

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

PHYS ICIAN : Messer Luigi, my poor friend ! bid yourwife farewell .

Th e husba nd re turns to th e bedside .

PROPERZ IA (in a very weak voice) Why don’t I die ?

FATHER : I cannot hear what you say, dear childyou feel better ?PROPERZ IA (ind ifferently): Y es .

HUSBAND (bending over her): I a sk but one thingthat you will not leave me . D o you hear me ?

PROPERZ IA : Yes .HUSBAND : Y ou wil l le t me love you . Y ou need notl ove me, i f you do not wish .

Properz ia looks a t him ,a t h er pa rents a nd th e room ,

a nd h a lf turnstowa rds th e w a l l.

Enter Fra Bento . H e sits a t th e h ea d of th e b ed.

FRA BENTO : Properz ia , I was present at your birth . Ihave a most tender l ove for you . You remember ?

PROPERZ IA : No .

FRA BENTO (to the others): Withdraw, I beg you;keepto the other end of the room . I must be alone with mypenitent .PHYSI C IAN : Be quick, F ra Bento, sh e i s near her end .

FRA BENTO : My daughter,my dear daughter m-

y

glorious daughter ! Y ou have sufi ered much . Tell methat you repen t al l wil l be pardoned you ! Speak now,

speak, in the name of your eternal salvation . I imploreyou ! Ah ! Holy Virgin ! She will not have time hereyes are growing dim!

Properz ia moves, a nd h er outstretch ed h ands seem to sea rch for

something.

My Properz ia , my child, you repent, do you not ?repent ? ‘

PROPERZ IA : I don’t know !Sh e dies .

MICHAEL ANGELO

VEN ICE .

Titia n ’

s w orksh op—Pictures fini sh ed or sketch ed . Tit ia n, old, w i th longw h ite bea rd

,a ca p of bla ck ve lve t on hi s h e a d , a robe o f red ta ffeta ,

a kni gh t ’

s go lden ch a in on hi s neck h e is se a ted in a n a rm—ch a ir byhi s s ide

,Aretino , wh ose fa ce is fu ll of fire , live ly, inte llec tua l, noble

gre a t liveline ss of gesture .

ARETINO : My friend, I mentioned you in my las t letterto Ca sar . A month ago, I praised you loudly in my versesaddressed to the Pope (which, by the way, have not rece ivedsufii cient payment, so that I shal l praise you st il l more loudlyin those I am about to send to the King of England, for thi salways annoys Paul I I I . , j ust as Clement VI I . was alwaysangry whenever I publ ished some panegyr i c of that hereticalmonarch). But why does the Roman court haggle w ithme ? In short, you wil l obl ige me by giv ing me a scoreof golden c rowns .TITIAN : This is a marvellous trade that you have invented,Messer Aretino . With three leaves of paper on w hich youfl ing in your s tyle a few gross fla tterie s, supported by half- adozen falsehoods , addressed to anyone you please, you earnmore money than any poet

,scholar or doc tor has ever been

able to scrape together in thirty years of to il and v igil .ARETINO Do you know why ?

TITIAN : Because men love praise .

ARETINO : And dread insult . I can scratch a s well a s

caress , and , in my flying leaflets that are greedily collec tedal l over Europe , no one cares to se e his name smirched in themids t of a c row d of petty slanders w hose truth matters l i ttl eto me . He w h o pays , is praised;he who does no t pay isroundly torn in p ieces , and my readers bel i eve equally whatever I print . B u t w hat w i l l you give me for my las t le tters ?

TITIAN : Ten golden crowns .

ARETINO You w i l l give me tw enty, my fr iend , and withoutfrowning into the bargain . The deuce and all ! I t seems tome that I am worth a good many fine orders to you,

a goodmany portraits ! My charge is not h igh .

TIT IAN : So be i t ! But you will do me the favour of saying

33 7

THE RENAISSANCE

also, here a nd there, that all those rascals who paint to - day inVenice are not worth all that fools dec lare .

ARETINO I suppose that the names of Veronese, Tintorettoand Bassano are to be mentioned, and garn ished wi th ep ithetsl i ttle to the ir l iking ?

TITIAN : Assuredly ! They are men who issued from myworkshop . They have treated me most dishonestly

,and I am

very vexed to see them sell their productions to the detrimentofmine , s imply because they have robbed me of certain secretswhich I had no intent ion of commun icating to them . Yet i t isno t these know - nothings who are most in quest ion .

ARETINO I w i l l not c onceal from you my opinion that theseknow - noth ings do some rather fine things all the same

,I will

say all the evil o f them that you wish, as well a s of that otherwhose name I have yet to learn .

TITIAN : The other i s P ari s Bordone . I have been pos itively insul ted by that vagabond .

ARETINO Insul ted ? How do you mean ?TITIAN : How do I mean ? Y ou astound me ! Did he no t,this good- for- noth ing

,this beggar, o btai n by intrigues the

order to paint the chapel of San N icola o f the Minor Brethren ?

Do you th ink I wil l endure such insolence ? A miserable

workman who is no t yet eighteen , i s to have a chapel given

h im, while I , an old man, one who—I venture to say- i s at

the pinnacle of his ar t, am here ? I wish to pain t the chapel,and I don’t intend that anyone, at Ven ice, shall poach on myprese rve s .ARETINO Stil l, the other artis ts must have some chances of

producing and of earning their bread . I cons ider you

unreasonable,Messer Titi an . Pari s B ordone is young, i t is

true,very young;you are the fi rst painter of the world, no

one disputes i t;bu t when I observe that , thanks to God, toyour talent

,and a l ittl e to my recommendations and eulogies,

you are by far the ri chest art ist in I taly, making and re -makingthe por traits of every po tentate and having a finger in every

328

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

MICHAEL ANGELO

enterp rise, I find you rather hard in not wishing other paintersto try their prowess by the side of yours .TITIAN These are mere words . I f I did not take care ofmyself, these shameless intriguers, w ho come every minutew i th the ir bad brushes and try to w in themselves a place inthe sun,

w ould soon make me forgotten, and then I should dieof hunger . Let us leave th is subj ec t, i t w ea r ies me;knowthat, so long a s I l ive, I shal l not brook, if I can help it, anycompetitor, any ri val . Will you help me , yes or no ?ARETINO : Admi t that you are a terr ible man, and real lyw i thout p i ty. W

'

hat vexations you caused G iorgione ! Hedied of them ! During your l i fe , happily a very long one , youhave done many mas terpieces

,but no fewer bad turn s to your

adversaries. And who are your adversaries ? You havej ust said—all w ho hold a brush in Venice .

TITIAN : I w i ll give you two drawings in red chalk;theyare there , in that portfol io, and each is worth at least fortycrowns of gold . I w i l l give you them, as I say , but you w i llserve my good pleasure in this matter of Paris Bordone .

I w i sh him to be removed from the chapel o f the M inorBrethren .

ARETINO : Y ou w i ll give me these two drawings ?TITIAN : I w il l—and I cons ider this a handsome present.ARETINO After all , it

’

s of smal l moment to me W hether thisBordone makes h is way or not. I t i s no t my bus iness . I shallwri te agains t h im , and , what is more, I shall speak to theP rocurators .TITIAN So that i s settled . Se t to work at once . For mypart, I shal l address myself to the doge , and if I can have th isupstart banished

,i t w ill be an excellent piece of work .

ARETINO : What I l ike in you is that at your age you areas determined , a s impetuous a s a youngste r. Y ou are a difficul t man to c ross, and I have al ready thought o f w ri tingyou a paral lel l i fe in the manner of Plutarch .

TITIAN With w hom w ould you compare me , pray ?ARETINO : With M icha el Angelo .

329

THE RENAISSANCE

TITIAN : A good idea;i t ought to be se t down in wri ting,in verse or prose, and tra nsmitted all over Europe;not onlywil l my fame increase , but I am sure that I shall sell morep ic tures .ARETINO I do no t know that my proposal i s al together toyour adva ntage . Th e older you grow,

the more high - handedand acrimoniou s you become . Y ou are no t easy of access

,my

friend to tel l you the truth is th e boldes t stroke I can ventureon, I o f w hom everyone, inc luding yourself, walks in dread.

Michael Angelo, on the o ther hand, who a few years ago hadthe gloomiest of d ispos i tions and the mo s t rebell ious of

tempers , grows gentler every day, and as he advances in yearsturns almost to saintl iness . Another point s trikes me . Iknow Michael Angelo well , but I also knew Raphael . I knewIlBrama nte, IlSansovino, Andrea del Sar to, and I have heardtel l much of the l ife and act ions of the great L ionardo . Allthese men had, and those of them wh o are yet al ive st il l have,an imagination enl ightened by principles that are trulysublime . They are admirable painters, bu t also philosophersthey love to reflec t upon the most abstrac t questions, and speakof Beauty l ike love rs happy enough to have gazed upon herunvei led form in the bosom of the c lear azure of the heavens .As for you , I have never seen you in an ecstasy of any sort.Y ou are , indeed , the most admirable painter the world has everproduced, and M ichael Angel o does not refuse you a place byhis s ide

,save that he ascribes to you certain defects in drawing.

But you are a painter who,with the power of possess ing all the

most excellent things that true and l iv ing Nature contains,seem never to have thought of anyth ing above her, and havenever l e t your mind soar to the quest o f an ideal .TITIAN : I have taken good care not to do so . I honour,a s I ought

,th e merit of the great artis ts whose na mes

you have j ust ment ioned . They have ach ieved a dmir

able things;they w ou l d have done stil l more if theyhad not lost a cons iderable part of their t ime in idledreams . A painter should pain t, and not hold forth l ike a

330

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

creat ions are defect ive in some po int or other if only becauseof the touch o f vulgarity which sh e lends to everything, she isnot to be copied in what sh e produces, but only to be heard inwhat sh e adv ises . That is why the painters of Florence andRome are great they always keep before them the i dea! whichNature sugges ts , and not the reality which she suppl ies .TITIAN Rest assured that I understand your precepts

,Messer

P iero . I have examined them myself and cons idered them inma ny senses . But do you know that i t i s a dangerous aspiration to seek to leave the hand of the only gu ide on whom theart ist can rely, in o rde r to hun t in the realms o f the imagination for paths where th is guide i s no longer with you ? Iadmire Raphael, I admire Michael Angelo , but i t i s easy to goastray in l istening to a demand to do as they do . Look atthei r pupils ! These self- styled worshippers of the idealbegin even now to grope in the dark, and the ir works alreadyshow the resul ts of the ir inexper ience . I n trying to createbetter than Nature, above Nature, they give us abortions anddistorted beings that lack the breath of l i fe . Remember thatth is evi l wil l go on increas ing;for my part, I consider that i tis imposs ible to be mistaken in doing as I do, and I am notd isposed to le t mysel f be led from my track . The greatestportrai t pa inter the world h a s ever known, is myself ! My

successor s w il l only have to walk in my footsteps in order to

earn praise .

ARETINO : I did not say that you were not wo rthy ofadmi ration .

TITIAN : You imply that I am inferior. You are wrong. Iyield to no man , and i t is most justly that Cae sar, and wi th himal l the k ings of the ear th

,al l the great lords, cover my canva se s

with wel l - earned gold . At bottom , Messer P iero, the rea lstanda rd of meri t for paint ings i s whether they sell , and atwhat p rice . That i s more or l ess the fashion of our time , andi t i s a good fash ion . In my youth, they attended l i ttle to this

po int, and above all your favourite arti sts claimed to be disinterested. Thei r pupi l s and successors are cured of th is

332

PIETRO ARETINO

7 0 [a n pa ge 33 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

BRUSSELS .

I 5SS

Th e Pa la ce—Th e Emperor’s s tudy;Ch a rles V th e h e ir a ppa rent Don

Ph ilip , K ing o f Engla nd a nd Na ple s,sta nding be fore h is fa th er;th e

la tter sea ted in a n a rm -ch ai r of bla ck lea th er.

CHARLES V . : Fo r what I have to say to you, Infante DonPhil ip, be seated, and pu t on your hat .

Th e h e ir a ppa rent obeys.

Certain ideas , which I have been revolving for about a yearpas t , have come to maturi ty, and i t is t ime to communicatethem to you . I intend to abdicate the power entrus ted to myhands by Heaven, and to transfer my sovereign ties to you .

DON PHILI P : Doubtless your Majesty h as suffi cien treasons for so important a resolve .

CHARLES V . : I am i l l, weak;I am weary . When I cons ider the w ay i n which so many monarchs reign or havereigned, I find th e task that has been set me a hard one .

B e s ides, facts speak for thems elves . In order to give you someidea of what my l ife has been , i t will suffice to recall to yourmemory what States are at th is moment uni ted under the swa yof our house . The Empire

,Flanders, Burgundy, and Arto is;

the kingdoms of Spain, compr is ing also Naples , the Milaneseand Sardinia;by you r marriage with Queen Mary I havej o ined England to th i s immense terri tory;my flag fl ies overthe fortresses of Africa, and the vast continent of the New

I ndies unres ist ingly obeys my law s . To maintain, conso l i

date and improve so huge a machine, my l ife has been nothing

but one long voyage . I have gone nine times to Germany,six t imes to my Span ish domin ions, seven t imes to France,ten times to the Netherl ands, twice to England, and

’ twice toAfrica;eleven time s my navies have taken me across theocean

,an ocean less stormy than the b illows of these unending

affairs which I have had constantly to supervise . Once more

I say, I am weary, and you are to take my place .

DON PHILIP : God forb id that I should hes itate to obey !

334

MICHAE L ANGELO

I am too well as sured of the firmness of Caesa r’s will to submitthe sl ightest object ion .

CHARLES V . : You are right to be guided by obedience,holy, glorious, al l - powerful obedience . Henceforth you wil lexact obedience from others, and i t is only proper and praiseworthy that you should invoke it at this moment . You haveclearly perce ived the two real pivots upon which the worl dmust turn , and i f I can c la im any merit w ith the E ternal Judgew hen I appear before Hi s throne, i t wi ll be that I have fac i l ita ted their movements . Henceforward all must be commandand submiss ion . There i s sti ll a vast amount of work to do inorder to ensure the domination o f these two princip les

,and

make absolute s i lence re ign around but I have already gainedmuch . When I took over the reins of power—as h istory musttel l you—al l w a s disorder;and senseless cus toms, laws, privileges and prerogat ives spread their anarchy over Chr is t ianlands;the nobles comm anded, the c i t izens d isobeyed

,the

peasants, a y , the very peasants in their v illages talked andc laimed the righ t of uttering and uphold ing the ir opinions !I taly

,less discipl ined than all the rest

,infatuated with her

knowledge and with the beauty of her achievements, shouted,made an uproar, and, attach ing the most sono rous names tothe most outrageous foll ies

,spoke of truth, justice, and l iberty,

and even threatened the consti tution of Holy Church . Ge rmany, coarser and more stiff-necked than her perverse andbril l iant s ister, went even faster than sh e by the abominablepamphlets of her scholars, sh e paved the way for the monstrousdoctr ine of Lutheranism . At this moment

,Don Phil ip,

Chris tendom ought naturally to have looked to the successorsof S t Peter for support. But there, unfortunately, the excessof evi l w as more particularly displayed . The Papacy i tself w asturning its back upon the Faith;i t was coquetting wi th themost dangerous invent ions of the modern spiri t . Hence youcannot wonder i f F ranc i s I . , l ike Henry VI I I . , saw spring upin the ir realms the Calv in is tic and Lutheran abominations;they underwent, l ike Leo X . , l ike Clement VI I the deleter ious

2 c 335

THE RENAISSANCE

influence they le t themselves be bewi tched, for a moment atleast, by ideas advantageous in semblance , bu t in real ity noless deadly to monarchy than to rel ig ion . \Vhen they real isedthe danger, they drew back, but too late;the ir S tates wereinvaded . For my part, I wa s no t led astray for a s ingle hour,and from the firs t minute that the disease showed itsel f, Ipronounced upon i t I res is ted i t w i th the most energetic antidotes . Y ou know h ow at first, attempting the most immediateremedies

,I tr i ed to rescue the Church through herself. I se t

Adrian in the chair o f the Apostles . He died almost in themoment of his enthronement, and the Cardinals, saturated withal l the orgies of the voluptuous hel l which held I taly in thrall,would make no further tr ial of a necessary disc ipl ine . In myvery teeth they threw me Clement VI I .

,who was worse than

his cousin . I n th is grave cri s is, I s topped at nothing;I forcedthe Pope to be a Pope, and to be up and doing;I ra ised thesw ord of the Empire against the crook, and smoteC lemen t VI I . on the head . I took Rome. I se t up a masterin F lorence . I drove F rance from the M ilanese for good andall finally, I crushed I taly . Look into th is c losely, Don Phil ip ,and you will se e that, by this l ast act, I have greatly s impl ifiedyour task . S ilence re igns now over the w hole Peninsula . Goon with my work . Remember that to change i ts cha racter i sto j eopardise at once the security o f your crowns and thesalvation of your soul .DON PHILIP : I have l istened to your Majesty wi thscrupulous attent ion . I can answ er that, as to the main point,the rigid maintenance of obedience

,I shal l have l i ttle to

reproach myself w i th to th e very end of my days . Certainly

you entrust me with a

'

ta sk that is s implified by the submiss iono f I taly : but what I apprec iate above all are the two leadingcreations of your re ign;th e increased power of the Inqu isit ion and the forma t ion o f the Jesu i t order . Through theseinstruments, steeled a s they are by an unbending spir i t o f

obedience, and dest ined to be made great use of by me, Ishal l be able to continue, in your foo tsteps, to save the Church

336

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

ROME .

I 559

Th e studio of th e Zucch eri . - Ta dde o a nd Federigo Z ucch ero;Giro lamo

S iciola nte , Ora zio S amma cchi ni , a nd o th er young pa inters. All workw ith th e utmost energy, some scrubbing immense ca nva se s, o th ers

pa inting scenery mounted on frames or finishing pictures o f variedSi zes.

FEDERIGO : I care nothing for nature or the ideal;i f youdally with these matters, you die o f hunger . The chief th ingis to acquire an indiv idual style;and when once you havegained th at style

,paint fas t and fur iously ! Then you wil l

ea rn money and fame .

TADDEO Take away this head,i t is finished ! By the way,

do you know how far the Barroccio and Durante del Nero havegot with the palace frontage ordered from them by CardinalFarnest ?SAMMACCH INI I t is at any rate well—advanced, i f no t quitefinished. They are working at i t l ike slaves, and in a weekthey have completed four nude figures twenty- five fee t inheight .FEDER IGO : There are ar tists for you ! Fast and fur ious,that’s a potent maxim ! How bril l iant h a s become the part whichval iant painters, virtuous sculptors and daring architects canplay in the world ! We are the cynosure of all eyes;men donot trouble, as in former days, about pol i t ics or rel igion theyth ink of nothing but art ! I have heard my father say that,in h is t ime, I taly was always aflame;men fought over themerest trifles;everyone had a thousand interests to discuss .To - day, thanks to the Emperor, thanks to the admi rable orderwhich h is armies have establ ished, we l ive in peace, we ea rnmoney, and we have no th ing left to desi re !TADDEO : Faith, I had many things to des ire when I wasemp loyed by G iovampiero of Calabria to pound his coloursfor h im, and his wife thrashed me to a j elly while sh e l e t medie of hunger .

FEDER IGO : One must have a l i t tle inconvenience at theoutset, but there i s nothing in that to d iscourage a great artist.

338

MICHAEL ANGELO

There are now adays a thousand w ays , formerly unknown, ofextr icat ing oneself from trouble . Some enter the householdo f a cardinal or a nobleman a s fam i ly painters, and are wellc lo th ed, and fed at the pages

’ table;others go off to France ,Germany and Spain , to carry out for the barbarians works forwhich they are paid fabulous prices;finally, w hen you havemade something o f a name for yourself, there is no worthycitizen who does not feel himself compelled to go down on hisknees before you so as to secure a masterp iece . Witness ourhonest postmaster

,Ma ttiuolo ,

who commiss ioned you,Taddeo ,

to paint the frontage of his house in Chiaroscuro, and Godknow s that you got no small sum for the three subj ects youportrayed for him from the story of Mercu ry .

S ICIOLANTE What you say is perfectly true, Master;buttake note also of ce rtain annoying customs that were unknownin days gone by .

FEDERIGO What customs , pray ?

S ICIOLANTE Formerly, the foreigners bought our picturesand took us aw ay to decorate the ir buildings . Now , thesesavages have learnt to paint

,and all over Rome you see

Frenchmen , F lemings, and Spaniards , who take trade awayfrom us .SAMMACCH INI : Y e s

,they often get a knife - blade in their

backs, do these intruders yet their number grows, and we arebeginning to suffer by i t, that

’s true .

TADDEO : The faul t rests with the Pope and the nobil i ty.

They forget the respect due to the grand styl e , and a sk for

novel ties . A cardinal w il l ve ry l ikely say : Come to myh ouse , you w ill se e th ere a unique painting;admirabl e subject !execut ion ful l o f fire ! It’s an ape sitt ing astride a unicorn andbit ing into a peach . The au th or is a new ly- arrived Fleming !Thereupon th e fools run to the F leming, and for six monthsyou se e nothing bu t apes , unicom s and peaches !

Enter th e a rch itect France sco di Sa n Ga l lo .

SAN GALLO Good morning, Master Taddeo . Greetings,

Federigo .

339

THE RENAISSANCE

TADDEO G ood morn ing, M a ster . Y ou seem to be in goodheal th, I am glad to se e .

FEDERIGO What is the matter ? Y ou are frowning . Are

you in a bad temper ?SAN GALLO : One might be

, for less . That old Buona rottimakes my l ife a misery . Because this madman once hadgen ius, people wil l not se e that h is wits are gone, and that hecommits nothing but foll ies .FEDERICO : I t i s a shame to see him, at h is age, stil l dispu ting the field with young ar tists . He ought to be bur ied

,

that M ichael Angelo !SAN GALLO : He wil l find the opportuni ty of ru ining thecupola of S t . Peter fro -m top to bottom . In vain do I warnthe Pope and the Ca rdinals , I - find no one bold enough toaffront this antique reputation in rags .FEDERIGO : They’re afraid of him ! He i s so overbearingand insol ent ! And what a narrow

,obtuse mind ! I tr ied to

explain to h im my new method of draw ing which is to makeart access ible to every intel l igence . He affected to laugh at itThe truth i s that lie is no t capable of understanding it in theleast .S ICIOLANTE We ought to be r id of these dotards . Theymay have been able to do something in thei r day. But ofreal greatness, of real del icacy, of the finesse and pol ish ofthings, they never had the sl ightest conception .

SAN GALLO : That i s indisputable . This scoundrel of aBuonarotti i s a tyrant, I maintain . He is alw ays repeating thathe has been w orking at the cupola o f St . Peter for seven teenyears past . As if that were a reason !FEDERIGO : I t i s a reason why h e should be dismissed atthe earl ies t opportuni ty. Let him give place to the youngermen

,who are in a hurry to win for themselves a fortune and a

reputation ! He ought to be forb idden fu rther to touch abrush , a chisel, or a pai r of compasses .

Enter Pirro Ligorio , a rch itect.

P IRRO LIGORIO : You are r ight . Buona rotti h a s fallen

34 0

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

1 560 .

A ch amber in th e Co lonna pa la ce . Dona V ittoria ,Ma rch ioness of Pesca ra ,

dressed in b la ck , rea ding besid e a l i ttle ebony ta ble , on w h ich a si lverlamp is se t. Tw o ma ids o f h onour a nd a duenna w ith e la bora te lydressed h a ir a re do ing needlew ork a t th e ba ck o f th e room Th e fireis li t in th e ch imney, a nd th e logs spa rk le no isi ly in th e midst of th eflame .

Enter a gent leman in wa iting.

GENTLEMAN : Madam,S ignor M ichael Angelo is at this

moment coming upstairs .MARCHIONESS : Good : l ight him the way !

Sh e rises and go es to m e e t Mich a e l Ange lo;th e la tter a ppea rs a t

th e top of th e la nding, prec eded by pa ges in th e livery of Ava losa nd h o lding torch es.

Good evening, fr i end . How are you ? I t i s rather cold thisevening.

MICHAEL ANGELO : I k iss your Excellency’s hands . Ifeel better than an old man h a s any right to expec t.

MARCHIONESS : Y ou have not come alone, I hope ?

MICHAEL ANGELO : No;s ince you have forb idden meto go at my own sweet will, without an attendant, I do so nolonger. Antonio l ighted me the way with h is lantern up tothe door of the palace , and there I found your servants, whotreated me l ike a noble lord .

MARCHIONESS Come and sit here , by the chimney- p iece .

In that arm - chair. Don’t move,Catarina . I wish to

wait on M ichael Ange lo . Good ! Put your feet near thefire .

MICHAEL ANGELO (seated): I le t you have your way,Marchioness . A soul l ike yours is at the summit o f greatness , and that summit i s virtue .

MARCHIONE SS (smil ing): What you say would be true ifi t were a quest ion of being useful to the poor, and, l ike our

Divine Sav iour, of washing the dusty fee t o f a few beggars .

But w ai ting on M ichael Angel o ? that i s no t muchhumil iation .

MICHAEL ANGELO To hear yo u, who would no t bel ieveanyth ing but the truth ? Open your eyes, Marchioness what

34 2

MICHAEL ANGELO

do you see ? A being weighted with years, assailed by all th eweaknesses of old age, putt ing forward h is withered andtrembl ing fingers, no t without diffi culty, to the blaze of the fire .

What else do you se e ? Scanty hairs , white hairs, on a forehead that assumes the t int of i vory, the cheeks sunken andfall ing. You behold a ruin, Marchioness, a human ruin ,the most deplorable, the mos t irreparable of all ruins .MARCHIONESS In speaking thus

,you make a picture, and

you render i t as powerful a s your thought. This old man,whom you try to humble before my eyes in all the abasementof h is weakness, rises, on th e contrary, exalts h imself by thevery fert i l i ty of your mind . But no, you are wrong, it isnot a p icture that I se e , i t i s the real ity, and I cannot imagineanything that can vi e with it in majesty and charm.

MICHAEL ANGELO : Y e s ! you se e this twofold infirmi tymatter in dissolut ion , and the immortal soul wh ich wil l soo n

spurn i t and fly away to the bosom of div ine infini ty .

MARCHIONESS I seem to se e , at my s ide, in my presence,in the hor i zon that l ies w i th in the range o f my vis ion, one of

those stars which Dante makes r ise in so smal l a number upto the ul timate place in his dazzl ing paradise

,one of those

stars with l iv ing lustre,which, as neares t to the e te rnal Trini ty ,

borrow thei r radiance from its l ight . Y ou are not old,

Michael Angelo , you l ive and will alw ays l ive;for that moste thereal

,mos t ac t ive , mos t powerfu l part o f human intelli

gence,a sure and unassailable gu ide of the un iverse, wil l never

cease to be .

MICHAEL ANGELO : I shal l soon leave the world . The

inner sap ferments in me and bur sts the worn- out bark of the

tree;the ge rm spl its the pod that surrounds i t;the seed,

arrived at matur i ty, sw ell s to l eave the pulp tha t is shrivel l ing.

I have l ived here bel ow long enough, and I a sk my Master to

recal l H is servant .

MARCHIONESS Y ou are weary of l i fe ?

MICHAEL ANGELO : On the contrary , I am greedy of l i fe .

34 3

THE RENAISSANCE

I w ish to shake off from the l imbs ofmy true being th ese fettersof flesh that bind them . I am ath irst fo r complete freedom ofspiri t . \Vh a t I c a n div ine , I am e age r to seize;what I ca ncomprehend , I yearn to behold . If, in my soj ourn here below,

I have grasped something and c a n express a port ion of thet ruth s wh ich I feel

,wh at shal l I no t succeed in accompl ishing

when once the w alls of barren rocks that surround me havefal len fo r ever into th e abyss o f th e pas t No

,no ! i t is not

death that I feel coming, but l i fe , l ife whose shadow alone wecan perce ive down here

,and which I shall soon possess in its

enti rety !MARCHIONESS : I th ink a s you do . We are two verydifferent be ings, my fri end . You are Michael Angelo;I amonly a woman , w i th enough understanding to measure thedistance that separates my sympathy from your indomitableenergy. Y ou have done much for the world , and whil e youth ought you were moulding the c l ay o f your statues

, you werereally endow ing human thought with new forms and express ions which i t had never known . I—what have I done ? Iloved wel l h im wh o i s no more . I have loved you w el lthat is al l .MICHAEL ANGELO : Then you have produced as muchas I have, quite as much . As long as Don Fernando d’

Av alos

w a s with us , show ing to I taly, to the soldiers, the scholars , th epopulace, that proud and noble countenance, al l shin ing wi ththe greatness of h is name , w i th the splendour of h is b irth , withthe lustre of his v irtues

,w ith the l ightnings o f h is mil itary

genius—a s long as Heaven left us Fernando d’

Av alos, theincomparable Marquis of Pescara, your noble husba nd , youloved him;and in his love you w ere a s gloriously happy as i ti s given to any w oman on earth to feel herself, to knowherself. Bel ieve me

,that w a s a noble occupation;and the

v ir tues gradual ly developed in you by the thrills of such alove undoubtedly become the masterpiece o f human worth .

MARCHIONESS : I have reflected upon this , and I thinktha t y ou are mistaken . However lofty a devotion may be,

344

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

THE RENAISSANCE

MARCHIONESS : \Ve often hear i t said that old age is

peev ish a nd discontented;that, to its eyes , everything isenveloped in a dark cloud , and the sweetest temper growssoured with years . In you the exac t oppos i te h a s happened .

I have known you morose, impat ient, irri tab le . Y ou were socompletely possessed by your own thoughts, that the genius ofothers remained to you a sealed book . I have seen you when

you understood none but yourself. As the snows of agehave gathered round your in tel lect, all has changed;i t seemsas if, in contrast w ith other men, you have acquired late inthe day a fullness, a freshness of l i fe

,clearness, precis ion ,

and wide range of vis ion, and a true knowledge of yourself andof others .MICHAEL ANGELO : Such i s indeed the case . Heaven, Iw i l l confess, endow ed me at b irth with an energy out of proport ion to my physical powers. I guessed more than I was ina position to se e

,and I saw further than I had the power to

reach . All that w a s being produced round about me struckme with terror;I feared that my insuffi c ient strength wouldbe diss ipated

,and I forced mysel f with rage and gloomy

obstinacy to concentrate my gaze upon that holy aim which Iwas afraid of m issing. Nevertheless , I fel t both my hOpe of

tr iumph and my dread of failure redouble , when I perce ivedthat every step , however to il some, hard and fatiguing it mightbe

,none the less drew me nearer to my goal . I spent my

whole l ife i n work and in spurr ing my act ivi t ies;I tr ied togra sp nature in al l her convolut ions at once, and I scaled herheights by clutch ing wi th my hands, my fingers

,my fee t, my

knees,my whole body, at every point where I could gain a

hold . I have been sculptor, painter, poet, arch itect, engineer,anatomist;I have carved coloss i in s tone and chisel ledstatuettes in ivory;I have traced out the ramparts of F lo renceand of Rome, I have se t up bast ions, bu il t outworks, measuredcounterscarps, and not far from the building whose wall Icovered wi th the revelation of the Last Judgment, I havesucceeded in rai s ing to the cl ouds the immense cupola of th e

34 6

MICHAEL ANGELO

Pr ince of Apostles . In a word, if I have not ach ieved allthat I wished, I have certainly done something. One day Isaw myself in a pos it ion a s high a s

,nay h igh er than , I could

ever have dream t or des ired . Popes, kings, the Emperor,princes

,honoured me . Artists proc laimed me the firs t among

their ranks,and I had nothing left to a sk for ei ther from

myself, w h o knew what I could do , nor from the world, whichgave me more than I had expected . Then , w hile I worked, myheart took a rest al l doubt, al l fear of los ing my w ay, vanished .

I found leisure to contemplate, to appreciate, to approve , tolove . I rr i tat ion and impatience ceased to drive me beforetheir fitfulgusts, and I became, for good or il l, the man that Iam to—day—one who needed age in order to be born , and hasbecome young only in h is old days .MARCHIONESS : What I love in you, Michael Angelo , i sthat, while you have ever before your eyes th e wretchedcourse which the genius of our contemporar ies i s taking, thepresent decadence arous

'

es i n you neither anger nor disgust .MICHAEL ANGELO : I t inspires me w i th a profound andtender pi ty . This w orld that I gaze upon is a companion withwhom I have accompl ished a long journey

,and, in contras t

w i th me , i t has grown w eary, i t h a s lost i ts v igour , i t stumblesand is nigh to fall ing by the w ayside

,whereas, for my par t ,

the hOpe o f the l ife I am about to enter on exal ts and intox icates me with the most glorious antic ipat ions . I n the dawn ofthe century, when we started together, my companion w a s

blooming with youth , bursting wi th health, and every prospec tmade him cast prouder and prouder looks towards thehorizon . While I fel t doubts

,my companion fel t none;I must

give him h is due there;young, impu ls ive , spoiled by theuncouth and perverse ages from whose hands he wa s escaping,his first thought w a s to rej ec t the ir precepts , a nd,

though he wasquite i n love wi th the art w hose charms he began to se e , itw as o f v i rtue and rel igion that he though t i n th e first place .

I knew Fra G irolamo Savonarola,madam

,and never h a s the

look of that august countenance faded from my memory . I

34 7

THE RENAISSANCE

have l ived upon h is teachings . Whether i t be that he askedtoo much of us, or that poor I taly presumed too much uponher strength and that her imaginat ion ou tstripped her honesty—I taly left h is hands and remained in those of v ice . Yet,never theless, sh e knew herself;sh e w a s consc ious of hersuperiori ty to the rest of the w orld . She despised the othercountries and used the ir resources for her own ends;sh e wasthe obj ec t of the ir admirat ion, and sh e knew it . She knewherself to be great

,and dreamed only of becoming greater .

Her art ists—you know wh at they were ! Now,al l is over .

The fire h a s gone out. I taly exis ts no more . Those w homw e desp ised are becoming our masters . The art ists haveper i shed . I am the last surv ivor of the holy company;theyw h o are called by the same glorious name that w e bore, arenow nothing but traffickers, and impudent traffickers to boot .\Ve had indeed to die ! We are dying badly, unhappily.

What matter ? There have been beautifu l spi ri ts, glorioussp i ri ts in thi s I ta ly, sh e that is henceforward enslaved andprostrate . I do no t regre t hav ing l ived .

MARCHIONESS : Alas ! I am less detach ed than you are .

I feel pained at the glorious th ings w e have left or are leav ing.

I t seems a s if, after being flooded w i th l ight, our totter ing stepsare going forw ard into the dark .

MICHAEL ANGELO We are bequeath ing a great legacy,great examples . The earth is r icher than i t w a s beforeour coming . Wh at i s to d isappear will not disappearal together . The fields can res t and remain fal low for awhile the seed is in the clods . The fog may spread and the

grey and watery sky become covered w i th mist and rain but

the sun is above . Who know s w hat w i l l come again ?MARCHIONESS : Y ou seem tired, my fr iend . Y our

‘

h ea d

i s nodding .

MICHAEL ANGELO : Y e s, I am weary . I w i l l l eave

you. I am eighty- n ine years old, Marchioness, and anyemotion t i res me a l ittl e;w e have talked o f very serious

matters thi s evening . Good - bye !

34 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

OTHER BOOK S

Edi t e d by Dr . O SCAR LEVY

OF I NTEREST TO READERS OF

GOBINEAU AND NIETZ SCHE

THE YOUNG NIETZSCHE : A Biogra phy. By ELIZABETHFORSTER-NIETZSCHE. 1 59 . (He inema nn )

THE WORKS OF FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE. First comple te a nd

a uth orised English transla tion in 1 8 v o lumes

Th e Birth o f Tra gedy . 28 . 6d. Th e J oyful Wisdom . 58 .

Ea rly Gre e k Ph ilo sophy a nd Thus Spa ke Z a ra thrustra . 6 8 .

o th e r Essa ys . 3 8 ° Gd'

Beyond Go od a nd Ev il. 3 8 . 6d.

Th e Ge ne a logy o f Mora ls . 3 s . 6d.

Th e W ill to Po w e r. TW O Pa rts ,53 . e a ch .

Th e Tw i ligh t o f Ido ls . 5s .

Th e Fu ture o f o ur Educ a tio na lInstitutions . 23 . 6d.

Th o ugh ts o u t o f Se a son .Two

Pa rts , 25. 6d. ea ch .

Huma n , Al l-To o -Hum a n . Two

Pa rts , 53 . e a ch . Th e Anti christ. 53 .

Th e Ca se o f Wa gne r. 3 s . 6d. Ec c e Hom o a nd Po e try. 6 8

Th e Dawn o f Da y . 53 . Inde x to W o rks . Gs .

(T. N . Foulis .)

ON THE TRACKS OF LIFE. By LEO G . SERA.With a Prefa ce

by Dr. OSCAR LEV Y . 7 s . 6d. (7 0 hn La ne .)

W HO IS TO BE MASTER OF THE W ORLD ? By A. M .

LUDOV ICI . W ith a Preface by Dr. OSCAR LEVY . 23 . 6d.

(T. N . Foulis .)

NIETZSCHE, HIS LIFE AND WORK S . By A . M . LUDOVICI.Wi th a Prefa ce by Dr. OSCAR LEVY . ls . (Cons ta ble)

HEINE’S ATTA TROLL . A Trans la tion by H ERM AN SCHEFFAUER ,

w ith Draw ings by WILLY POGANY . With an Interpre ta tion byDr. OSCAR LEVY . 3 3 . 6d. (S idgzvz

'

ck {5’ j a ckson .)

THE REVIVAL OF ARISTOCRACY . By Dr. OSCAR LEVY .

3 3 . 6d. (P robstka in)

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Univers ity of Ca liforniaSOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY

305 De Neve Drive Pa rking Lot 1 7 0 Box 951 388

LOS ANGELES , CALIFORNIA 90 095- 1 38 8

Return which itwas borrowed.