doubt not that we shall conquer at last, and even in death shall fight more successfully than in life."

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A spirit like this is dangerous to the throne of iniquity. Can its voice of just rebuke not be silenced by promises of honours? Alexander having failed by threatening, now tried the effect of these arts of flattery which Rome knows so well how to use. One day he sent for a bishop of the Dominican order, and said, I desire you to answer these sermons of Savonarola. Holy father," replied the sagacious prelate, "I am prepared to fulfil your demands, yet permit me to remark, if I am to vanquish, I must be supplied with arms." "Arms! what arms!" exclaimed the astonished pontiff. "This monk," responded the bishop," says we ought not to keep concubines, commit simony, or be guilty of licentiousness. If in this he speaks truly, what shall I reply." "What then must we do with him?" inquired his holiness. "Reward him," answered the other, "give him a red hat, make him a cardinal, and a friend at once." With this advice Alexander was highly pleased, and employed the crafty Ludovico to carry into effect the stratagem on the integrity of the man of God. The wily messenger, clothed in the splendour and importance of the exalted personage he represented, sought out the humble monk, in his cell, in the cloister of Careggi. For three days he plied him with arguments to retract his hard words against the pontiff; and seeing the stern reformer still unconvinced by reasoning, he offered him, as the crowning inducement, the cardinalate. "Come," said Savonarola, "to my sermon to-morrow morning, and you shall hear the answer." What was the amazement of the timeserving diplomatist next day, when, instead of hearing a grateful acceptance expressed of the splendid offer, he heard Savonarola denounce more boldly than ever the sins of the church, and declare, in regard to the proffered cardinal's hat, "No other red hat will I have than that of martyrdom, coloured with my own blood." Verily," said Ludovico, "this is a true servant of God," and returned to Rome.

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Dull as the debased mind of Alexander was to the appreciation of anything noble in conduct, this self-denial and integrity of Savonarola, seems to have at first touched his cold heart. When Ludovico reported the result of his mission, the pontiff replied, "Yes, that is a servant of God, nothing will move him. But let it be." The last words were full of meaning, and told that though his judgment was partly convinced, he was resolved not to follow the right. Henceforth, then, as the reformer will not bow to the image of corruption, there is to be in bis history a contest between unrighteous power and holy truth. In the year 1496, Savonarola was cited a second time to Rome in terms of affected kindness, but as usual, in such cases, it was the wolf in sheep's clothing, and the order was disobeyed. These stratagems adopted at Rome, to wile him into the snare of his blood-thirsty enemies, opened his eyes in great part to the arrogancy of the pontiff's claims to infallibility, and he boldly, in the lent of 1497, declared in his sermons "There have been many bad popes-all may err." Taking the decided step, therefore, of disclaiming the supreme authority of the Roman pontiff, he ventured on what was, in that age, a perilous measure, of suggesting, namely, the necessity of convoking a general council to deliberate on the reformation of abuses in the church. In the letters

he wrote to the princes of Europe for this purpose, he expresses freely his sentiments as one who " goes forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed." "God will," says he, " renew his church by many trials. I have, for eight years in the heart of Italy, called all to repentance and love, and laboured to set forth the christian faith in the fulness of its glory. Therefore I have come into many dangers and difficulties which increase daily, but they are sweet to me through the love of Christ, for I know that it is nothing new; but all who wish to live godly in Christ Jesus, must suffer persecution. Know, then, I most emphatically give you assurance that this Alexander the sixth is no pope, not only because he has bought the papal chair with scandalous simony, and because of his many public vices, but also on account of his many secret wicked actions, which, at fitting time and place, we will bring to light. Yes, I say to you that he is no christian, and believes in no Almighty God." The effect which these stirring words produced on the proud pontiff may be easily conceived; but it was his policy to hide his deadly rage under the mask of dissimulation. At last the hour came when it was deemed proper to throw off all guise of friendship, and to declare open war, so that, in May 1497, sentence of excommunication was pronounced on Savonarola by the pope. For a time he desisted from preaching, that he might cut off all occasion of cavilling; and, though unanswerable defences were written of his conduct by warm friends, he addressed an affecting letter to his beloved flock, giving his reasons for present silence. Many of the worldly citizens, too, had been galled by his plain reproofs of their sins, and their love to him was waxing cold. He needed to be wise as a serpent, and harmless as a dove. The crafty Alexander meanwhile, eager to draw him into his toils, intimated his willingness to withdraw the censure, if Savonarola would appear at Rome to explain his conduct. The object of the proposal was so manifest and so base, that it decided the man of God as to his course. On the first Sabbath of February, in the year 1498, he again appeared in the pulpit, and dispensed the Lord's Supper to his flock, delighted to behold him again among them. Being now bolder than ever in tearing the veil from the image of the beast and revealing the sins which every where reigned, the pontiff, on hearing the tidings of his temerity, became frantic with rage, and threatened, unless effectual measures were taken to silence the blasphemer, as he was called, Florence would be laid under an interdict. In the signory, consequently, few were now in his favour, but he was not the less faithful to the truth. In March of this year, he sent a letter, professing entire confidence in Christ, the Chief Shepherd, and complaining of the bitter persecutions he suffered from Rome. He concluded with this remarkable language:-" 0, would that your holiness would not delay to consider the salvation of your soul."

Savonarola was, however, now brought into new troubles by the misguided zeal of imprudent and ignorant friends. As early as 1496, some of his disciples, led on by fanaticism rather than by wisdom, had commenced a crusade against all works of art, and supposed sinful books in Florence, as fostering only the desires of the flesh. Unknown to their instructor, they had collected a large assemblage of children, and, walking them in procession, had raised their zeal to such a degree,

that they entered all the houses of the city where paintings were found, and begged to obtain them that they might be destroyed. Such was the enthusiasm awakened by the proceedings of these juvenile crusaders, that works of art, to the value of several thousand pounds, were collected, and, in presence of the magistrates and an immense assemblage, were committed to the flames. Savonarola was present on one of these occasions, and, though not meeting with his entire approval, we are not prepared to say that he might not have checked this outbreak of popular violence if he had been cordial in its opposition. But it is more pertinent to our purpose to remark, that these proceedings, as might have been expected, were followed by a violent re-action perilous to Savonarola and the interests of truth. The real cause, indeed, of a change of feeling towards him, was his faithfulness in reproving sins which many loved; but as men will seldom admit to themselves or others that it is truth itself, but only a faulty mode of advancing it that they oppose, this proved a defensible ground of opposition to the reformer.

But now his dangers from the same rash and fanatical friends were still greater. The adherents of Rome, well skilled in such tricks of spiritual legerdemain, demanded of the disciples of Savonarola a trial of their respective doctrines by ordeal. Dominico da Pescia, a zealous but most unwise friend of Savonarola, assented to the proposal. He heard of it with great grief and anxiety; but, as his mind was not yet clean escaped from the error of Roman portents, he lacked decision to say that truth is to be determined, not by signs from heaven, but by an appeal to the Bible alone. Preparations for the coming ordeal were therefore made, amid the most violent excitement of the multitude. The mode of trial was to be the passing through a large fire by an adherent of each system, and he who came out unhurt by the flames was to be declared the representative of the true doctrine. Many declared themselves willing to enter the fire, and at last two were chosen. Both monks stood prepared to take the decisive step, when the adherents of Rome eager to find a pretext to avoid the perilous ordeal, and at the same time to turn the tide of popular feeling against their opponents as preventing it-raised a clamour that Dominico da Pescia should not be allowed to enter the fire with the crucifix which he wore, dishonouring thus, the sign of the Lord's humanity. The latter refused to part with the supposed precious symbol of connexion with Jesus, and the proceedings were stayed amid the sarcastic sneers of the Romanists, and the indignant shouts of the disappointed populace. In the whole of this affair Savonarola was rather acted upon, than himself the actor; his fault lay in allowing himself to be led by juniors, whose false zeal he ought to have wisely restrained. But his enemies seized on the favourable moment for turning the feeling against him into frenzy; and the multitude, urged on by the hostile monks, made a tumultuous assault on the cloister whither he had secretly retired; so that the signory, now opposed to him, ordered him to be dragged to prison. The day for which Rome had long panted had now arrived, and its instruments at Florence were straining every nerve to accomplish the ruin of their faithful reprover. Once and again he was examined by torture, that he might confess error which would afford a show of

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reason for putting him to death. But it was in vain. Though in his paroxysms of pain, when he was rendered in a great measure unconscious of what he said, he uttered expressions which his tormentors eagerly construed into retractation, in his conscious moments he held fast the profession of his faith without wavering. On the 22d May, therefore, 1498, he, along with two others, was condemned to die, one councillor alone protesting against the unrighteous sentence by withdrawing, and declaring, My house shall never be polluted with the blood of the just." Savonarola prepared to die on the following day in the true spirit of a martyr. Part of it was spent in affectionate intercourse with his brethren who were to suffer along with him, but most of it he was engaged in meditation and prayer. When being stripped of his priestly robes by the official employed for this, he continued in devout thought; but on the latter pronouncing the words, "I separate thee from the church militant and triumphant," he firmly said, "From the church militant thou mayest separate me, but from the church triumphant that thou canst not do." When asked, as he proceeded to the scaffold, if he went composedly to meet death, he calmly replied, "Should I not willingly die for His sake who willingly died for me, a sinful man?” With this spirit of christian submission and hope, he was bound to the stake, and the faggots were lighted. When the first cloud of smoke had cleared away, he was seen with his right hand uplifted, as was his usual manner in addressing the people, but his spirit had gone to God; and in a few hours more his ashes were flowing down the Arno. “ Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, for the faithful fail from the children of men."

Thus did Savonarola live and die. We trust this brief sketch of his life and labours will prepare the church to do more justice to his memory than heretofore. We are not blind to his failings and deficiencies as a reformer of the church. As a religious man, he was too much wedded to the false glories of ascetism; and as a reformer, he laboured too much to lop off the unsightly branches, instead of laying the axe to the root of the corrupt tree. These defects led him to give undue prominence to a mere outward reformation, and hence he preached down sins, that the life of Christ might be manifested, rather than held forth Christ on the cross, that the dominion of sin might be destroyed. But, though only in its morning dawn, the light of reformed truth shone in him. Thou hast loved Jesus," says he in one of his prayers," and in Him alone art well pleased. I am a great sinner; but thou hast pardoned my many sins, washing them away by the blood of thy Christ. I ask not, O Lord, that thou shouldest hear us for our merits, but for thy mercy, for the love of thy Son. Look on the face of thine anointed." Again, in his preaching, "People of Florence, give yourselves to the study of the sacred Scriptures. The first blessing is understanding the Scriptures, the light of which has been almost extinguished in these dark days." With such words as these did Savonarola approach the throne of God, and in such language he constantly addressed the people. And here have we not expressed the two ruling principles of the reformation,-justification by faith in the blood of Jesus alone, and the supreme authority of the Scriptures as the guide of men to salvation. These hallowed and holy truths of the gospel, which Savonarola was honoured to seal with his

blood, were afterwards in Italy held forth with still greater clearness by such servants of God as Flaminio and Carnasecchi,-Curio and Paleario, -Algieri and Olympia Morata,-Gabriele Valliculi and Peter Martyr, -by whose labours the pure gospel was extensively made known and felt over Italy, till the cruel Inquisition set up its horrid form in the way of advancing truth, chased many of the godly to a better world, and brought a darkness over all the land, as it is to this day. Arise, O God, plead thine own cause, remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. W. R.

PUSEYISM.-No. I.

OUR readers are familiar, we dare say, with the word Puseyism, which has appeared so often of late in the periodicals of the day; but the greater number of them, we imagine, have but indistinct notions of the nature of the evil which, under this name, is invading so alarmingly the national Church of England, and devouring the small remainder of evangelical religion which still lives within her pale. We propose in this paper to give a short account of this new heresy, not troubling ourselves to append to our remarks any very careful refutation of its pernicious principles; for we fancy that, however congenial to the views in which English prelacy has trained her children, its leading doctrines are so remote from the genius of Scottish Presbyterianism, that there are a hundred other isms against which more than against Puseyism our readers have need to be put on their guard.

We have designated it a new heresy; and so it is, as known by the name of Puseyism. But the remark has often been made, that the errors, which have sprung up in different ages to alarm the fears of the pious and seduce the simple, may all be reduced to a comparatively small number; and that what seem at first new productions of the father of lies, are in reality, for the most part, only altered forms of old doctrines with which our predecessors in the faith had, in their day, to contend. This is certainly true of the tenets of the Oxford or Pusey school. These are undoubtedly only a revival of errors which have long been cherished by a party within the Church of England, and which have, at different periods of her history,* been more or less prominently brought into view; but which never were so systematically, nor, we are ready to allow, with so much learning and ingenuity, propounded and advocated as during the last few years; certainly never before obtained so extensive an influence, or, in connexion with the other signs of the times, threatened results so disastrous to the Protestantism of the country.

The popular name of the new creed has been borrowed from Dr Pusey; why we know not, unless the reason be, that of that series of publications called the "Tracts for the Times," issued at Oxford, which the party chose for disseminating their opinions, those numbers were perhaps the most able and erudite which came from his pen. But Newman, Keble, Palmer, Cary, and others among the university men, seem to have taken an equally prominent and active part with Dr Pusey, in teaching and propagating the system.

See, in illustration, Bp. Burnet's History of his own time.—Vol. ii., pp. 603, 604.