the introduction of the Reformed opinions into Italy, and the causes of their progress. And here, in recording the patronage at that time given to the cultivation of the learned languages and of sacred literature, to the translation of the Scriptures and the composition of commentaries upon them, the following remark naturally suggests itself: "In surveying this portion of history, it is impossible not to admire the arrangements of Providence, when we perceive monks, and bishops, and cardinals, and popes, active in forging and polishing those weapons which were soon to be turned against themselves, and which they afterwards would fain have blunted, and laboured to decry as unlawful and empoisoned." p. 50. But, besides this, many other things contributed to the dissemination of the Reformed doctrines in Italy. The writings of Luther, Melancthon, Zuingle, and Bucer, early found their way thither, and were read with approbation. Two years had scarcely elapsed from the first appearance of Luther's writings against indulgences, when he received the following information, in a letter from John Froben, a celebrated printer at Basle: "Blasius Salmonius, a bookseller at Leipsic, presented me, at the last Frankfort fair, with several treatises composed by you, which, being approved by all learned men, I immediately put to the press, and sent six hundred copies to France and Spain. They are sold at Paris, and read and approved of even by the Sorbonists, as my friends have assured me. Several learned men there have said, that they of a long time have wished to see such freedom in those who treat Divine things. Calvus, also a bookseller of Pavia, a learned man, and addicted to the muses, has carried a great part of the impression into Italy such favour have you gained to yourself and the cause of Christ, by your constancy, courage, and dexterity.” pp. 31, 32. Even the repeated military invasions which Italy suffered, were rendered subservient to the diffusion of the light of the Gospel among its inhabitants. "The troops which Charles V. brought from Germany to assist him in his Italian expeditions, and the Swiss auxiliaries who followed the standard of his rival Francis I. contained many Protestants. With the freedom of men who have swords in their hands, these foreigners conversed on the religious controversy with the inhabitants on whom they were quartered. They extolled the religious liberty which they enjoyed at home, derided the frightful idea of the Reformers which the monks had impressed in the minds of the people, talked in the warmest strains of Luther and his associates as the restorers of Christianity, contrasted the purity of their lives, and the slender income with which they were contented, with the wealth and luxury of their opponents, and expressed their astonishment, that a people of such spirit as the Italians should continue to yield a base and implicit subjection to an indolent and corrupt priesthood, which sought to keep them in ignorance, that it might feed on the spoils of their credulity." pp. 57, 58. And here both the reflection of Dr. M'Crie and the facts which he records are highly interesting. "It is one thing to discover the errors and abuses of the Church of Rome, and it is another, and a very different thing, to have the mind opened to perceive the spiritual glory and feel the regenerating influence of Divine truth. Many, who could easily discern the former, remained complete strangers to the latter, as preached by Luther and his associates; and it is not to be expected that these would make sacrifices, and still less that they would count all things loss, for the excellent knowledge of Christ. Persons of this character abounded at this period in Italy, But the following extracts shew that many of the Italians received the love of the truth, and they paint in strong colours the ardent thirst for an increase of knowledge, which the perusal of the first writings of the Reformers had excited in their breasts. It is now fourteen years' (writes Egidio a Porta, an Augustinian monk on the lake of Como, to Zuingle) since I, under the impulse of a certain pious feeling, but not according to knowledge, withdrew from my parents, and assumed the black cowl. If I did not become learned and devout, 1 at least appeared to be so, and for seven years discharged the office of a preacher of God's word, alas! in deep ignorance, I savoured not the things of Christ; I ascribed nothing to faith, all to works. But God would not permit his servant to perish for ever. He brought me to the dust. I cried, Lord, what wilt thou have delightful voice, me to do? At length my heart heard the delightful voice, Go to Ulric Zuingle, and he will tell thee what thou shouldst do.' O ravishing sound! my soul found ineffable peace in that sound. Do not think that I mock you; for you, nay, not you, but God by your means, rescued me from the snare of the fowler. But why Having thus treated the subject Friuli, Ancona, the Roman territories, and Rome itself. For particulars the reader must be referred to the volume; but a few interesting points shall be selected. One of the most remarkable circumstances in this history is, the high character for rank, talent, and elegant literature of the principal patrons, both male and female, of the Reformation in Italy. Among these, the celebrated Renée, duchess of Ferrara, stands eminently distinguished. She was the daughter of Louis XII. of France, and married the reigning duke, Hercules II. in the year 1527. "Distinguished for her virtue and generosity, of the most elegant and engaging manners, speaking the French and Italian languages with equal purity, and deeply versed in the Greek and Roman classics, she attracted the love and admiration of all who knew her. Before leaving her native country, she had become acquainted with the Reformed doctrine, by means of some of those learned persons who frequented the court of the celebrated Margaret, queen of Navarre; and she was anxious to facilitate its introduction into the country to which her residence was now transferred. For some time she could only do this under the covert of entertaining its friends as men of letters, which the duke, her husband, was ready to encourage, or at least to wink at. The first persons to whom she extended her protection and hospitality, on this principle, were her own countrymen, whom the violence of persecution had driven out of France."[Among these were the poet Clement Marot, and John Calvin.]—“But the Reformed doctrine was propagated chiefly by means of those learned men whom the duchess retained in her family for the education of her children. This suited to the liberality of her own views was conducted on an extensive scale, and the munificence of her husband... Chilian and John Sinapi, two brothers from Germany, instructed them in Greek, and, being Protestants, imbued their minds with sound views of religion. Fulvio Peregrino Morata, a native of Mantua, and a successful teacher of youth in various parts of Italy, had been tutor to the twoyounger brothers of duke Hercules, and, having returned finally to Ferrara in 1539, was re-admitted to his professorship in the university. Like most of his learned countrymen, Morata's mind had been enfrst part of his life; but having met with grossed with secular studies during the Celio Secundo Curio, a refugee from Piedmont, he imbibed from him the knowledge of evangelical truth, and a deep sense of religion. Esteemed as he was for his learning and integrity, he became still more celebrated as the father of Olympia Morata, one of the most learned females of the age, whom he educated with a zeal prompted by parental fondness and professional enthusiasm." pp. 68-74. Curio and the admirable Olympia Morata will demand our notice hereafter. Under the protection of Renée, there is no doubt that Reformed principles made considerable progress in the duchy of Ferrara, though the politics of the duke were fluctuating, and influenced by the Pope. Subsequently the dutchess herself suffered much for her religion. At the suggestion of the Pope, and with the concurrence of Hercules, Henry II. of France sent Oritz, his inquisitor, to the court of Ferrara. "His instructions bore, that he was to acquaint himself accurately with the extent to which the mind of the duchess was infected with error; he was then to request a personal interview with her, at which he was to inform her of the great grief which his Most Christian Majesty had conceived at hearing that his only aunt,' whom he had always loved and esteemed so highly, had involved herself in the labyrinth of these detestable and condemned opinions; if, after all his remonstrances and arguments he could not recover her by gentle means, he was next, with the concurrence of the duke, to endeavour to bring her to reason by rigour and severity..... he was, in her presence, to entreat the duke, in his majesty's name, to 'sequester her from all society and conversation,' that she might not have it in her power to taint the minds of others; to remove her children from her; and not to allow any of the family, of whatever nation they might be, who were accused or strongly suspected of heretical sentiments, to approach her; in fine, he was to bring them to trial, and to pronounce a sentence of exemplary punishment on such as were found guilty, only leaving it to the duke to give such directions as to the mode of process and the infliction of the punishment, as that the affair might terminate, so far as justice permitted, without scandal, or bringing any public stigma on the duchess and her dependents. The daughter of Louis XII., whose spirit was equal to her piety, spurned these conditions, and, refusing to violate her conscience, her children were taken from under her management, her confidential servants proceeded against as heretics, and she herself detained as prisoner in the palace..... The duchess continued for some time to bear with great fortitude the harsh treatment which she received, aggravated as it was by various acts of unkindness from her husband; but on the accession of that truculent Pontiff, Paul IV., in the year 1555, the persecution began to rage with greater violence; and it would seem that the threats with which she was anew assailed, together with the desire which she felt to be restored to the society of her children, induced her to relent and make concessions. On the death of the duke, in 1559, she returned to France, and took up her residence in the castle of Montargis, where she made open profession of the Reformed religion, and extended her protection to the persecuted Protestants. The Duke of Guise, her son-in-law, having force, sent a messenger to inform her, that one day come to the castle with an armed if she did not dismiss the rebels whom she harboured, he would batter the walls with his cannon: she boldly replied, 'Tell battlements, and see if he dare kill a king's your master, that I will myself mount the daughter. Her eldest daughter, Anne of Este, whose integrity of understanding and sensibility of heart were worthy of a better age,' was married to the first Francis, duke of Guise, and afterwards to James of Savoy, duke of Nemours; two of the most determined supporters of the Roman Catholic religion in France; and if she did not, like her mother, avow her friendship to the Reformed cause, she exerted herself in moderating the violence of both her husbands against its friends." pp. 215-218. We had occasion, in a former part of our present volume (p. 36), to of a remarkable letter from some lay before our readers the substance principal citizens of Bologna to Planitz, the Elector of Saxony's ambassador to the Imperial court, then held in that city, entreating his good offices in favour of the Reformation. From the present work it appears that John Mollio, a native of Montalcino, in the territory of Sienna, was a principal instrument of promoting the Gospel at Bologna. He had entered in his youth into the order of Minorites; but, instead of wasting his time, like the most of his brethren, in idleness or superstition, he had devoted himself to the study of polite letters and theology. By the careful perusal of the Scriptures, and certain books of the Reformers, he attained to clear views of evangelical truth; which his talents, and his reputation for learning and piety, enabled him and the sacraments; pronounced the power claimed by the Pope and his clergy dressed his judges in a strain of bold and to be usurped and Antichristian; and adfervid invective, which silenced and chained them to their seats, at the same time that it cut them to the quick... Galled, and gnashing upon him with their teeth, like the persecutors of the first Christian martyr, the cardinals ordered Mollio and his companion, who approved of the testimony he had borne, to instant execution. They were conveyed accordingly to the Campo del Fior, where they died with the most pious fortitude." pp. 277-279. to recommend, both as a preacher and an academical professor. After acquiring great celebrity as a teacher in the universities of Brescia, Milan, and Pavia, he came, about the year 1533, to Bologna. Certain propositions, which he advanced in his lectures, relating to justification by faith, and other points then agitated, were opposed by Cornelio, a professor of metaphysics; who, being foiled in a public dispute which ensued between them, lodged a charge Of all the states of Italy, Dr. of heresy against his opponent, and M'Crie remarks, Venice afforded procured his citation to Rome. the greatest facilities for the propaMollio defended himself with such gation of the new opinions, and the ability and address, that the judges, safest asylum to those who suffered appointed by Paul III. to try the for their adherence to them. This cause, were forced to acquit him, derepublic was then among Popish, claring that the sentiments which what Holland became among Prohe had maintained were true, altestant states. Among those who though they were such as could not contributed most to propagate the be publicly taught at that time Reformed opinions there, were Pietro without prejudice to the apostolical Carnesecchi, Baldo Lupetino, and He was therefore sent back Baldassare Altieri, a correspondent to Bologna, with an admonition to of abstain for the future from explaining the Epistles of St. Paul: but, continuing to teach the same doctrine as formerly, and with still greater applause from his hearers, Cardinal Campeggio procured an order from the Pope to remove him from the university. see. At a subsequent period he was not suffered to escape with so light a penalty. "After the flight of his brethren Ochino and Martyr, in 1542, Mollio was frequently in great danger, and more than once in confinement, from which he had always providentially escaped. But after the accession of Pope Julius III. he was sought for with great eagerness, and, being seized at Ravenna, was conducted under a strong guard to Rome, and lodged in a strait prison. On the 5th of September 1553, a public assembly of the Inquisition was held with great pomp, which was attended by the six cardinals (inquisitors) and their episcopal assessors, before whom a number of prisoners were brought with torches in their hands. All of them recanted and had penances imposed on them, except Mollio, and a native of Perugia, named Tisserano. When the articles of accusation against Mollio were read, permission was given him to speak. He defended the different doctrines which he had taught, respecting justification, the merit of good works, auricular confession, Luther's; of whom the two former, and probably the last also, died martyrs in the cause. They will again call for our attention. The evangelical doctrine had made such progress in the city of Venice between the years 1530 and 1542, that its friends, who had hitherto met in private for mutual instruction and religious exercises, held deliberations on the propriety of organizing themselves into regular congregations, and assembling in public. In Naples, Juan Valdez deserves attention, as having, according to the testimony of a contemporary Popish historian, "caused a far greater slaughter of souls than all the thousands of heretical soldiery" who had lately overrun the country. He was a Spanish gentleman, who went to Germany with Charles V., by whom he was knighted and sent to Naples, where he acted as secretary to Don Pedro de Toledo. "Possessed of considerable learning and superior address, fervent in piety, gentle in disposition, polite in manners, and eloquent in conversation, he soon be came a favourite with the principal nobi. lity, and with all the enlightened men, who, at certain seasons, resorted in great numbers to the Neapolitan metropolis. Valdez did not take on him the office of a preacher, and he is an example of the extensive good which may be done by one who keeps himself strictly within the sphere of a private station. By his private instructions, he not only embued the minds of many distinguished laymen with the knowledge of evangelical truth, but contributed materially to advance the illu mination and to stimulate the zeal of others, whose station gave them an oppor tunity of preaching the Gospel to the people, or of instilling its doctrines into the minds of the ingenuous youth whose studies they superintended. Among these were Ochino and Martyr, two individuals .....who produced a strong sensation in their native country, and distinguished themselves afterwards in the Reformed churches on this side the Alps." p. 107. Peter Martyr is well known: of Ochino we shall speak hereafter. By the blessing of God on the labours of these individuals, assisted by John Mollio, now a preacher in the monastery of S. Lorenzo, a Reformed church was established at Naples, which included persons of the first rank in the kingdom: but while it was yet enjoying peace, and daily increasing in numbers, it was deprived of Valdez, to whom it chiefly owed its formation. He died in the year 1540, deeply la mented by many distinguished persons, who owned him as their spiritual father. "I wish we were again at Naples," says Bonfadio, in a letter to Carnesecchi. "But when I consider the matter in another point of view, to what purpose should we go there now, when Valdez is dead? His death, truly, is a great loss to us and to the world; for Valdez was one of the rarest men in Europe, as the writings left by him on the Epistles of St. Paul and the Psalms of David abundantly demonstrate. He was, beyond all doubt, a most accomplished man in all his words, actions, and counsels. Life scarcely supported his in firm and spare body; but his nobler part and pure intellect, as if it had been placed without the body, was wholly occupied with the contemplation of truth and Divine things. p. 121. Lucca, says our author, the capital of a small but flourishing republic situated on the Lake of Genoa, had the honour to reckon among its inhabitants a greater number of converts to the Reformed faith than perhaps any other city in Italy. This was chiefly owing to the labours of Martyr. But this fa voured church afterwards furnished occasion of grief to the faithful pas tor, and warning to all professed Christians "not to be high-minded, but fear." "Scarcely had Paul IV. mounted the Papal throne, when orders were issued for the suppression of the Lucchese con venticle. According to a preconcerted plan, its principal members were in one day thrown into the dungeons of the Inquisition; and at the sight of the instru ments of torture the stoutest of them lost their courage, and were fain to make their peace with Rome on the easiest terms which they could purchase. Peter Martyr, whose apology for his flight they had with difficulty sustained, and whose example they had refused to follow when it was in their power, felt deeply afflicted at the dissipation of a church in which he took a tender interest, and at the sudden defection of so many persons in whose praises he had often been so warm. In a letter which he addressed to them on the lamentations, when I think that such a occasion, he says, 'How can I refrain from pleasant garden as the Reformed church at Lucca presented to the view, has been so laid waste by the cruel tempest as scarcely to retain a vestige of its former cultivation? Those who did not know you might entertain fears that you would not be able to resist the storm; it never could have entered into my mind that you would fall so foully. After the knowledge you had of the fury of Antichrist, and the danger which hung over your heads, when you did not choose to retire, by availing yourselves of what some call the common remedy of the weak, but which, in certain circumstances, I deem a prudent precaution,-those who had a good opinion of you said, These tried and brave soldiers of Christ will not fly, because they are de termined, by their martyrdom and blood, to open a way for the progress of the Gospel in their native country, emulating the noble examples which are given every day by their brethren in France, Belgium, and England. Ah, how much have these hopes been disappointed! What matter of boasting has been given to antichristian oppressors!-But this confounding catastrophe is to be deplored with tears rather than words!" pp. 253-255. We will notice only one other individual, as connected with this part of the history. "The person to whom the inhabitants of Sienna were most indebted for their illumination, was Arnio Paleario, a native of Veroli in Campagna di Roma, who was learned men in Italy... Cardinal Sadoleti, on a footing of intimacy with the most in the name of his friends, set before him |