He partook of it with that
devotion which was to be expected from one who was so sincere, it
drew tears from the eyes of all present, and the remarkable example
of one so well prepared to pass to a' blessed life was deeply impressed
on all.
devotion which was to be expected from one who was so sincere, it
drew tears from the eyes of all present, and the remarkable example
of one so well prepared to pass to a' blessed life was deeply impressed
on all.
Sarpi - 1868 - Life of Fra Paolo Sarpi
The impress
of the seal of the pontificate was to be effaced, if gradually yet surely,
from the land, the Papacy received a blow from the resistance of
Sarpi to Paul V, from which it has never recovered; -no bull of
excommunication ever reached Venetia in after days; rulers and
subjects were forced to believe that the power of the Pope, and what
he termed the rights of the Church were wrongfully usurped, and
some gave credit to the opinions of Sarpi that the Pope was neither
Supreme Pontiff, nor infallible ruler of the Church, but merely Bishop of
Rome and liable to err, as did St. Peter and all men.
Sarpi enjoyed his high reputation for learning till the end of his
1 Appendix.
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? mr. 69. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 213
life, and when permitted, he sometimes received people of distinction.
"Many princes honored him with letters, and one royal personage, on
sending his son to Italy, told him that he must not fail to visit the
' Orbfs term; ocullus. ' " He had however little time for visitors,
especially as he now had a new charge. The Nuncios had caused
disquiet by many infractions on existing laws, they were the medium
of the demands of the Auditor of the papal chamber, which Fra
Paolo thought were often as unlawful as superstitious, and he there-
fore proposed that a scrutiny of all Laws should be made by a cano-
uist appointed for the purpose. The Senate immediately appointed
Paolo, who discharged this duty till his death, when a counsellor,
called " Theologian for . the revision of Papal Bulls," succeeded him.
The Nuncios were thus deprived of some power, as they had been in
the habit of yielding entirely to the interests of the Court of Rome.
These duties, however, increased the burden of labor which Paolo had
to perform, and was induced to undertake from conscientious motives,
not from gain, for as through life, so now in old age, he was indif-
ferent to Wealth. . ' ' .
" His latter years were spent very monotonously, owing to his being al-
most a prisoner except when the public service or his profession required
him to go abroad. His food was a little bread toasted on coals, to escape ill
intent, and having no relation but a very old cousin, he had nothing to
wish for his family. In him ambition was wholly dead, and now he was
content that any one rather than himself, should enjoy the merit of any of
his scientific discoveries. "
" Such was his fidelity in the public service, that the prince honored him
in a manner which had never been done before; he had free access to the
two secret archives, and free permission to examine all the writings of the
State as also of the government.
"His memory was so extraordinary, that he could immediately put his
hand on any MS. he wished to examine, and as these Archives contained
public documents of laws, treaties of peace and war, truces, confederations,
negotiations, with all the despatches for centuries past from all parts of the
world, in old volumes which it was difficult to decipher, this was no easy
matter.
" There could be no greater proof of the entire confidence of the Govern-
ment in the integrity of Sarpi, than the permission thus given to him to
examine and arrange its most secret Archives. It was a work of interest
but very arduous, and his health suffered from it, for on Easter day, when
in his accustomed place in the Segreta, he was suddenly seized with cold
as if he had been frozen, accompanied by hoarseness and numbness. He
had never had any catarrh before, but from this and ague he now suffered
Z
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? 214 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1622.
severely for three months, yet he never changed his way of life, or relaxed
his laborious occupation, a diminution of his strength was apparent, and
he often said that he never was well after this illness. " '
There was little to cheer him from Rome, the power of the Jesuits being
very great there, in consequence of the countenance they received from
the Pope and his nephew. They soon gave trouble to Venice, but Fra Paolo
counselled the Senate not to give way. The Jesuits wished to be reinstated
in a Greek College which they had once possessed, but he plainly told the
government that if they were established thergthe sons of ignorant people
would be educated in the maxims of a society inimical to it. This remon-
strance was not likely to please the Curia; but Paolo did not consult his own
interest; he was well aware of the opinion which the new Pope held of his
being the Counsellor of the Republic, as on his accession, Gregory XV
said, " that there never would be a perfect peace between the Apostolic see
and Venetia, except such an one as Fra Paolo Sarpi chose. " On this Fra
Paolo not only determined to relinquish the public service, but to quit the
States of Venice. He was in declining years; but on many accounts it
would have been a sacrifice i-f he had left his country. The King of Great
Britain had not been able to prevail upon him to leave it, and the State
certainly would not have permitted him to do so. He had however resolv-
ed to go to the Levant, Constantinople, or elsewhere, and had obtained
information from travellers, particularly from a Jew who had often made
the journey; he even provided himself with a passport, and had every
thing ready to meet any adverse fortune, and was determined to depart,
rather than that his prince or country should receive any ill, although he was
sure that the Senate would rather have gone to war on his account than
withdraw their protection. It was not however so to be, and Sarpi was to
suffer neither from the threatened malevolence of the Pope Gregory, or
of his successor, Urban VIII. Ere the latter had ascended the pontifical
throne, Fra Paolo Sarpi was beyond the reach of wrong.
It was unlikely that the publication of so remarkable a work as his
History of the Council of the Church would not be productive of great
opposition by the Papal Nuncios and other adherents of the Curia, one
instance of this may suffice, and again the attack came from one who had
forsaken the reformed religion.
The Prince de Conde? , immediately on the appearance of Fra Paolo's
History of the Council of Trent, had made enquiries concerning it of
the Venetian ambassador at Paris, who had informed the good Servite,
and this appears to have influenced him in not wishing to meet the
Prince when he came to Venice. It was in vain that he excused him-
? MS.
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? AT 70. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 216
selfllhe Prince insisted so peremptorily, that the Senate gave orders that
he was to be received. A meeting without the walls of the Convent
was appointed, at the house of the afore--mentioned ambassador who
was lately returned from Paris. The conversation was taken down, and
a more desultory one has seldom been heard; the Prince endeavcring
to discover Sarpi's opinions, but he left the Prior to answer for him in
general terms as to the mass and as to his being a foe of the Jesuits, but
it is apparent that the Prince knew that he did not agree withhim, he
then questioned Sarpi on the religious sects, on the Reformed Church
of France, the superiority of the Council over the Pope, the liberty of
the Gallican Church, whether it was lawful to employ men at arms of
different religions, the excommunication of Princes, but above all, who was
the author of the History of the Council of Trent.
" The Prince blamed the Huguenots, without even touching upon the
most trivial points of their doctrine, the Father dexterously diverted
him from this topic, by alluding to the valor and prudence of his
father and grandfather; as to the Pope and Councils and their rela-
tive superiority, he put the Prince in mind of the Sorbonne and the
change and degeneracy of France since the admission of the Jesuits,
and the difference between the old and modern Sorbonnist, Without touch'
ing on the point of superiority, as the Father wished to have done.
And as to the liberty of the Gallican Church, the Father passed it over
in general terms, saying that the Parliament of France and the Sor-
bonne had maintained these liberties as the natural right of all Chur-
ches, but that in France they had been better defended than elsewhere. As
to the employment of soldiers of different opinions in religion, he only
observed that Julius II had employed the Turks at Bologna, and
Paul III the Grisons in Rome, whom he called angels sent by God to
defend him, and yet they were heretics. They then discoursed diflhsely
on the excommunication of Princes, and the Father obliged the Prince to
speak of Gregory VII, and made him confess that he had seen many
public and private documents by which it appears, that if the Pope had
not made such pretensions as to forbid princes to be present at mass,
and other services of the Church, controversies would not have attained
such a height; but the chief point was as to excommunication, whether
princes under it had cause of complaint, as excommunication was only
a spiritual sentence; whether they should be exposed to the rebellion
of their subjects, and to the plots of those who watched for their lives
or sought to deprive them of their crowns.
" As to the Father being the author of the History of the Council
of Trent, he told the Prince that it was he who had divulged this in
France, and had said as much to the Venetian Ambassador then resi-
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? 216 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1622.
dent at the Court of the Most Christian King, so that the Ambassador
was obliged to write to the State, and he only answered further, that
at Rome it was well known who was the author, and with all his
turnings and windings the Prince could get nothing more out of him.
"Such was the celebrated conversation of the Prince of Conde? with
Sarpi, and such the admirable way in which he parried the attacks of
the Prince. On no occasion did he ever avow that he was the author
of the History of the Council. If
We have the account of the above from Fulgenzio, who was present
and who describes the Father 'as a rock against which the waves dashed
harmlessly. There is a longer account of these interviews signed by Fra
Paolo to the Senate. ' Now let us notice the last work which Fra Paolo is
known to have written, the MS. is intitled, Notes on the Popes. He spoke
well of Paul V; the Pontiff was dead, and Sarpi veiled his failings.
There was also amongst his MSS. a chronological list of illustrious per-
sons in the handwriting of Franzano, divided into twelve small columns,
beginning 2021 BC. and ending A. D. 1622, with notes by Sarpi.
Plots against his life were now less frequent, but it was not unusual
for Sarpi's enemies to charge him with hypocrisy. It is a vast but easily
broken web which the envious weave over the good. And the Cardinal
Sforza, who appears to have done so but only for amusement, used to call
Fra Paolo a hypocrite, on purpose that he might hear Fra Amante defend
him. This he did, as well as Asselineau, in conversation with M. Villiers,
who plainly told the Nuncios, that Fra Paolo took an unusual me-
thod from that of hypocrites, who only appeared outwardly pious, but
that he never made any outward show but lived in the strictest retirement.
That no one had ever seenhim do a hypocritical action, such as telling his
heads when he went through the streets, kissing medals, speaking with
pretended spirituality, or clothing himself sordidly, that he was cleanly
in his attire which although poor was becoming, and this was the touch-
stone, he did not aspire to rank nor honor, he did not care' for money,
or to receive anything from any body, and he was not austere, but gentle
and agreeable to all, and that he had always heard every one speak in
commendation of his 'great virtue and strict integrity, but that he would
be glad to hear from the Nuncio what grounds he had for believing the
contrary that he might know what to credit. The Nuncio was suddenly
surprised by this question, and wishing to extricate himself from his
dilemma, blamed the life and actions of the Father, but here he was
foiled, because, on the Ambassador again pressing him to say in what,
and if he called it hypocrisy that he never flattered the Court, nor sought
1 Arch. Ven.
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? /ET. 70. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 217
ecclesiastical dignities, nor fled retirement, nor wore long rosaries, nor
told his beads, nor was seen at stations in the Churches, nor wore bad
clothing, the Nuncio offered no reply. H
" Similar conversations passed at the different Courts after the com-
motions in Spain, between the Ambassador Contarini and the King
of France, and with the Nuncio Ubaldini, who censured the Father's
Writings with great severity.
" (Angelo) Contarini on the other hand, a man of singular candor, suavity,
and gentle nature, of strong understanding and therefore not contentious,
answered him that he could not argue with his Lordship, as he Was
neither a theologian nor a jurisconsult, but that as to the Father's
writings, he was certain that they were neither so void of learning nor
so impious as the Nuncio said they were, which was evident by the
learned and scientific professors who commended them, but that as to
his life and manners he was positive, not only from hearsay but from
his own knowledge, that they were both irreprehensible, and the
Ambassador concluded by repeating that he led a holy, retired, and
exemplary life. To which the Nuncio answered, that it was on ac-
count of his irreprehensible life that he believed him to be a bad man
and a hypocrite. "
" Such," exclaims Fulgenzio, "was the comparison of these prelates
of the Roman Court with the doctrines of Christ and his Holy Apos-
tles, who taught us to know faith by their works, and the tree by its
fruit! " And after an enumeration of Fra Paolo's life--long virtues, his
friend concludes thus, "' and if these be the signs whereby Christ has
taught us to know hypocrites, let it be referred to the judgment of
others, for neither God nor man will permit the innocent to be so
unfortunate as that those tyrants who had power over their lives,
should also have power over their fame and memory. The righteous is
like the palm tree which rises above the weight of calumny, and God
never willed that tyrants should have power over them. " '
Without pausing long on the death of Foscarini, who was well known
to Fra Paolo, we need only notice that his letter, with a bequest to
the good Servite to pray for his soul, was refused by him. ' Fra Paolo
did not believe in purgatory, of this there are many proofs besides
Pallavicino's remarks. Nor did he wish to accept money from an enemy
of the state; but it is only justice to Foscarini to add, that he was
declared innocent, which was entered on the records of the Council of
Ten, where the writer of these pages saw it. 3
1 MS.
1 Letter to the Signory. F. P. S. , 28th April 1622.
_3 Registro 39. Criminale, 0011 X, 1622, Giugno 16: " Fu dichiarato innocente. "
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? 218 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1623.
Sarpi never recovered from the illness from which he had suffered in
his sixty ninth year, " but with his usual resolution he bore up as
well as he could, till he entered on his seventy first year; it was then
evident that his great soul was about to dislodge.
" It was impossible to keep him warm, and he had such an entire
loss of appetite that it was impossible to procure any food for him
that he did not dislike, he was surprised at his want of sc1f-com-
mand. He masticated with difficulty, bent double, and walked with
great weariness to his gondola, or up stairs. He slept but little, and
his dreams were no longer unintelligible and incongruous, but distinct,
natural, speculative, and as he was very observant of everything, he
told his friends/that this showed a gentle rising of the soul from the
body. " '
Notwithstanding all these demonstrations of declining health, Sarpi
did not give up his studies or his work at the Ducal palace, and
when Marco Trevisano, whose freedom of speech and truth were much
liked by the Father, would often reprove him for his intemperate love
of study and toil, as if he were insensible to approaching age, he
heard him speak with pleasure, but he Went on as before. On several
occasions his strength seemed to fail him, and he was obliged, in
walking through the Merceria, to lean on the arm of Fra Marco. He
did not conceal his illness, he showed that he expected death, but spoke
of it as freely and cheerfully as if it had been a matter of indifference,
a debt to nature, a long rest after a weary day's journey. "
He was often heard to repeat, besides ejaculatory prayers, many
passages from the Holy Scriptures, and he frequently said, "Nunc
dimittis servum tuum Domine etc. " " Now lettest thou thy servant
depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. " To his familiar
friend he would say, " Ahl we are near the end of the day. " On one
occasion when they were occupied with the affairs of the province and
spoke of the nomination of a Prior, he said "I shall not be here. " '
The following minute particulars of his last illness are given by
Fra Fulgenzio. " On Christmas day, the festival of the Nativity of our
Lord, when we saluted him with the usual compliments, 'Ad multos
annos, Sancte Pater,' he immediately answered, ' that this year would
be his last' and he spoke so seriously, that it was evident that he
did so with greater earnestness than he usually spoke of the brevity
of life. There can be no doubt but that he felt very ill, because in
general he made no change when he had fever; but on the Epiphany '
1 MS.
1 MS.
-" January 6.
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? mm. 71. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 219
his illness increased, and at his return from the palace, where he had
been summoned three times, he was worse. During the two following
days he could neither eat nor sleep, but he would not remain in bed.
On Sunday he rose, celebrated mass and dined in the refectory. After
dinner, Signor Seehini came to see him, and remained with him for
some time, he told the Padre that he thought he was very ill, he
confessed he was, and that he was obliged to lie down upon a chest
in his clothes with a coverlet over him. He continued much the -same
till the following Friday, occupying himself as usual in reading and
writing, and when outstretched upon his chest, and too weak to do it
himself, others read to him. On Monday morning, having dressed
himself, he was suddenly seized by a complete prostration of strength
both in his hands and feet; he could not stand without support, and
could not move his hands without tremor; this was followed by such
a loathing of food that it required all his resolution even to try to
take any. His faculties were unimpaired; his tranquillity and cheerful-
ness never forsook him, and till the day on which he died he comfort-
ed those around him by cheerful remarks saying. 'I have consoled you
as long as I could, and now I can do do no more, it is your part to
cheer me. ' The physicians supposed his disorder to be epilepsy, some
suspected poison, but there were no signs of either, it was rather a
decay of nature.
" On Wednesday, he wished to leave his room, as if eager to meet
all his old companions in the refectory once more, he went to dinner,
but, as it was at some distance from his rooms besides the stairs, he
was obliged to be supported thither, trembling all over. Nevertheless,
he received every visitor, conversed as usual, said nothing of his ill-
ness except to his doctor and that very briefly but to his friend and
physician Asselineau he spoke of his state without any reserve, beg-
ging him not to tell Fra Fulgenzio because it would grieve him, but
he knew that the Padre's last hours were near.
"On Thursday morning, ' he sent for the Prior, and begged him to
commend him to the prayers of the Fathers, and when service was
finished that he would be pleased to administer the holy communion
to him, and added that he had lived in the poverty of the Order,
having nothing of his own; that all which had been granted to him
according to the rules of the Order, remained in his rooms. The Padre
then gave the small key of a cupboard to the Prior in which was the
remainder of his salary from the Serene Republic. This cupboard, and
another where he kept state papers, Were the only ones which he kept
1 January 12.
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? 220 THE' LIFE oF [A. n. 1623.
locked. He dressed himself as usual, and spent all the morning in
listening to Fra Fulgenzio and Fra Marco, who by turns read the
Psalms, the narrations of the Holy Evangelists, and the Passion of
Christ to him; he made them pause at intervals while he remained in
devout meditation, but such was his languor that his efforts to kneel
were wholly ineffectual. As soon as the service in church was conclud-
ed, at the sound of a smell bell, the Prior and all the friars with
torches in their hands brought the most Holy Sacrament to him as he
lay on his bed dressed in his usual habit.
He partook of it with that
devotion which was to be expected from one who was so sincere, it
drew tears from the eyes of all present, and the remarkable example
of one so well prepared to pass to a' blessed life was deeply impressed
on all.
He did not wish any one to watch him during the night; he always had
said it was ostentatious, that it incommoded others without doing him any
good, that it disturbed him as he thought he disturbed others, and that he
could not suffer another to lose his rest for him. He would not permit Fulgen-
zio to remain with him, and rose and dressed himself the following morning.
He had always scrupuously attended to all the rules of the Convent; he
would not take broth or meat or any other food but that usual in Lent,
and when eating his dinner he turned playfully to the cook saying, " Fra
Cosmo do you treat your friends thus, to make them break fast days? "
It was not superstition, but a firm and acquired habit to observe whatever
was ordered even to the minutia in things not essential. In the evening,
three attendants remained with him, but although he required to have
some one to give him restoratives, he helped himself, remaining perfectly
quiet, and was only heard sometimes to ejaculate, " O God! "
On Saturday, the only day he remained in bed, he was in great weakness
of body but in full vigor of mind. The most Serene Prince and the most
excellent Senate sent for Fra Fulgenzio to question him as to the state of
the Padre's health. The mournful answer was, that he believed his life
was drawing fast to a close, and that his case was hopeless. The most
excellent Signor Ottavino Buono wished to know what was the state of
his mind. Fulgenzio answered, that although in great bodily weakness,
his judgment and memory were the same as they had ever been when he,
Maestro Paolo, served his Serenity and the Senate for seventeen years, and
had counselled them in their greatest difficulties. The same day he recei-
ved visitors; and when the Most excellent Signor Bassadonna came in,
the Padre took off his cap and thanked him for his visit; when he was
gone, he heard reading for a considerable time with great attention.
There were then three question regarding matters of grave importance
submitted to him. Fra Paolo, two hours before midnight, wrote an an-
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? mr. 71. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 221
swer and sent it to the college, and the same evening it was read in
the Senate and his advice followed.
Night coming on, and weakness increasing, the Passion of our Saviour
was read to him from the gospel of John. He spoke of his own sins and of
his strong confidence in the blood of Christ, and often repeated, " Quem
proposuit Deus mediatorem per fidem in sanguine suo, " from which he
seemed to receive great consolation; he repeated, though with great faintness
various passages from St Paul, protesting " that he had nothing to present,
to God but misery and sins, yet nevertheless he desired to be plunged in
the abyss of divine mercy, " and this he expressed with so much submis-
sion and yet so much cheerfulness, that all present wept. His strength
totally failing, he received extreme uuction, and about three o'clock was
again visited by those physicians who had seen him shortly before. But
as he had not been previously visited by Tebaldi, the Padre told Fra
Fulgenzio to give him an account of his illness. And on his having told
this physician of his failure of strength on the previous Monday, the Pa-
dre raised his head and exclaimed, " Failure of mind ? "
" N o Padre " said he, " strength of body, for as for your mind it has always
retained its constancy; " but on the physician wishing to give him some
slight hope of life Fulgenzio, who knew how little the Padre regarded
either to live or to die, said, " the Father is not one to whom you need
speak either with disguise or ceremony. Tell him that he has been a pa-
tient sufferer. " To this the Father gave signs of assent. The Doctor then
said that his pulse told that life was passing away, that it would close -
that night, and in a few hours. On hearing this the Father's counte-
nance was overspread by a happy smile, and he said. " Blessed be God,
whatever pleaseth Him pleaseth me, and with His aid we shall rightly
perform this last act. " On the physicians wishing him to take some re-
storative he said, " Let us now forget these trifles, but will you Signor explain
two things of which I am in doubt. First, I feel certain and am fully per-
suaded that whatever you give me is very good, and certain of this I take
it, but whenever I taste it, it seems as if my brain was changed and as if it
be? came horrid and abominable. The second is " and here his breath failed
him, and his physician seing that life was ebbing away ordered some cor-
dial, and at eight o'clock some rare muscat that he would send him. This
he took about six o'clock, saying " This appears to me to be very strong. "
He continued to speak to those around him many memorable Words,
and repeated passages of the Holy Scriptures with great devotion, often
saying, " Now let us go where God calls us. " His attendants, seeing that
his voice began to fail, begged him to take a little rest, at which he smiled.
Eight o'clock struck, upon which he called for Fra Cosmo andsaid " It is
eight oiclock, give me what the physician ordered. " But he could only take
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? 222 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1623.
a small portion of it. He then called Fra Fulgenzio to him, and command-
ed him to leave him with these memorable words which are graven for
ever on his heart, " Now stay no longer to see me in this state, it is not
needful; go to your rest, and I will go to God whence we came, " and he
desired Fulgenzio to kiss him. And although Fulgenzio knew well how much
such an example of constancy would support and strengthen his own mind, he
left him, not indeed that he wished to leave him, but to obey his commands,
which were to ask all the Fathers to pray for him. So he called the Prior
and the other friars to come around his bed, and in their prayers to com-
mend his soul to God. He could no longer speak, but with his eyes, and
by signs he shewed that he retained his senses to his latest breath.
" His death was accompanied by two remarkable circumstances. By a
last effort, for his mind was totally absorbed in God, he crossed his hands,
then fixing his 'eyes on the crucifix before him, he looked on it for a short
time, then looked downwards, and shutting his eyes, with a smile breathed
his soul into the hands of God. "
Such was the end of this illustrious man, and it pleased the divine Dis-
poser of all events that witness of it was given by a public document upon
oath subscribed by the whole College of the Reverend Fathers of the
Servi who were present.
"Most Serene Prince, God has called his faithful servant and my be-
loved M. P. Paul from the labours of this world to the repose of Paradise,
and I, who would have given my life to be the ambassador of the intelli-
- gence of his convalescence to your Serenity, am now but the herald of his
death, a death to me most mournful, and the severest blow I have ever
experienced, but to him fraught with happiness, as crowning all the
actions of his life. I
" Living, he was ever to us all, and to all the Order of the Servi, a model
of the sublimest virtues that can adorn the Christian, and dying, he emi-
nently exhibited that faith and perfect resignation to God's will, that every
true servant of Christ should possess.
" My mind is so confused and oppressed with grief, that I can ill describe
his last actions, all admirable for their true piety. This I will say that his
was a most happy death, because he obtained that to Which his thoughts,
labors and studies were all directed, to die in the service of your Serenity.
" And if it be true, as is generally admitted, that death unmasks life
(because in all human actions, either through art or interest, some dis-
simulation or fraud may he mingled, but death removes all falsehood and
shows every one as he is), happy was my dear master who in two circum-
stances of his death exhibited the image of his life, and a most perfect
portrait of that piety which is commanded by the Holy Spirit of God,
Honora Deum et Principem. His soul was firmly fixed on God (besides his
I
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? E1'. 71. ] FHA PAOLO SARPI 223
having consigned all that he had for his own use into the hands of the
Prior), he asked and received the Holy Sacraments with great devotion,
confession with his Ordinary Spiritual Father, and the most Holy Eucharist
from the Prior, with the attendance of all the Chapter, and extreme
unction from the hands of his amanuensis, Fra Marco. The last words he
said to me, in a low voice, and with the greatest devotion, after he recited
his brief and usual prayers, and having kissed me and exhorted me to go
to repose, were these, " Go to rest, and I will return to God whence we
came. " With these last words his lips were closed in eternal silence. The
zeal he evinced in your Serenity's service may be learned from the fact
that in all his illness only one uncollected sentence escaped his lips.
" Let us go to Saint Mark's, for I have more than ordinary business to
do. " Thus, so intent was he on the service of your Serenity, that when he
could no longer control his speech, by force of habit he thus expressed
himself. _-1-.
" I ought not to omit his last act. The Prior with all the Fathers joined
in the most affecting prayers, amidst floods of unfeigned tears, and after
having remained for a long time with his hands immovable, he crossed
them on his breast and fixing his eyes on a crucifix that stood opposite
' to him, he closed his lips with a smile, and looking downwards gave up
his Spirit to God.
" I have wished, by these few particulars which happened in the pres-
ence of so many Fathers, to give this brief but confused account of the
last hours of your faithful and loyal servant, believing it to be my duty
to do so, in order that if it pleases you to direct any thing concerning his
funeral before we make any arrangement, on letting us know your com-
mands they may be properly executed. "
G-razie, etd.
_ '_ - J'-'~
The Doge immediately ccminanded a magnificent funeral at the public
expense, which the Prior acknowledged thus:
" Your Serenity having deigned with your usual piety and munificence
to aid our sacristy with alms for the funeral of your deceased servant, the
Fathers all united to celebrate his funeral with such demonstrations as
were in their power. The four monastic Orders, the Dominicans, Francis-
cans, Eremitani, ' and Carmelites, all immediately responded to the
invitation, about two hundred monks, besides those of the two monasteries,'
amidst the acclamations and tears of a concourse of people who had come
. 'I .
to witness the funeral of a holy man, gifted with the rarest intellect.
1- Reformed Franciscans.
2 Of the Servi.
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? 224 THE LIFE ' OF [A. D. = I623.
" One may consider it as a holy impulse, that all thus wished to honor
the earthly remains of this holy man who had been received into heaven.
" These last ceremonies having been performed publicly, before such a
multitude, to the honor of God and to the consolation of your Serenity,
of whom he was the servant, I have wished to give you these particulars,
and they will be confirmed by all the Fathers of the Convent and signed
by their own hand. " .
Grazie. \
Io Frat'AMANTE DA BnEsom, Priore nel Convento dei Servi.
Io Frate Bnnnnnrro Fnnao.
Io Fra Aeosrmo, affermo quanto si contiene in detta scrittura.
Io Fra Funennrro.
Io F3 GIOvANNI DA VENETIA.
Io Fra SEmsrrAuo DA VENETIA.
Io Fra RAFAELO DA VERom.
Io Fra AmsRocro CIGNANI DA VENETIA.
Io Fr? fGRieeme Pnrnn DA VENETIA.
Io Fra GncnrEmuo DA VENETIA.
Io Fra Grovmsr FRANCESCO segurta, DA VENETIA.
Io Fra GUGLIELMO DA VENETIA.
Io Fra Grosnrr DA VENETIA.
Io Fra VALENTINO DA VENETIA, Vicario di ll/Ionastero.
Io Fra Mmco DA VENETIA. -
Io Fra Pmrno DA VENETIA, Socio della Provincia.
Io Fra BASILIO DA VENETIA, Sacrestano.
Io Fra Fnnonrrrro DA VENETIA , Sindaco e Procuratore del
Monastero. \ . '
- - MM /4" ~
fig; PIETRO D'UD1NE. 4 %Mub_
Io Fra PrnrRo DI RovADo.
Io Fra Zossnuo DA VENETIA.
Mournful as was the sight, still the Venetians were permitted to
look once more on him they revered. It was the custom in Italy to
carry the dead to the grave with the face uncovered; and as few
hours had intervened between the death and burial of Fra Paolo Sarpi,
little change had taken place on the countenance, it was still over-
spread by a smile, still fresh in color, and finer even in death than
in life. ' Nobles, citizens, and people attended his funeral, and wept their
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? Ii'. 71. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 225
common loss; although seventy one years of age, his intellect was
still so vigorous, that the Doge and Senate regarded the death of
Sarpi as one of the heaviest clouds that could overcast the political
horizon. '
To many of the nobles he was a genial companion and adviser;
while those of the youthful patricians who could find access to him,
prized his society. The citizens not only loved him, but were proud
that he was one of them; the people venerated him, and had they
been permitted would have superstitiously honored him after death;
he was ever the friend of the poor.
In spite of all this, the document from the Superior of the Convent
to the Doge was necessary to refute the falsehoods which were spread,
that Paolo Sarpi " died with frightful howlings and cries at sight of
apparitions; and that dreadful noises were heard in his cell. " The
same fables had been told when the pious Doge Leonardo Donato
died,1 and probably the disbelief of Fra Paolo in the doctrine of pur-
gatory incited some to spread a report that his soul was thus in tor-
ment, in and after death. But as Fra Paolo had written of the great
and good Doge Leonardo Donato, "He is in glory; " so might Fra
Fulgenzio Micanzio write of "his beloved Master. "
The reader will not linger on whatever of superstition dimmed the dying
cell of the great Fra Paolo Sarpi; it was not that he had taken the habit of
a friar, it Was not that he loved and served his country, it was not that he
had died in the communion of the Church of Rome that enabled him to
meet death with asmile; it was, as he had often said, by the grace of
God. He had nothing to present before God except sin, but he trusted
solely to the blood of the Immaculate One. If a pure and holy life, a life
of self-denial could have gained heaven, the life of Fra Paolo Sarpi would
have done so; but while he strove to fulfil the command of heaven to
be perfect, he freely confessed he was not. He laid all his genius, all
his learning, his life, his all, at the foot of the cross of Christ, content to be
nothing. It was not that he did not value human wisdom, but that he valued
the wisdom of heaven more, and however unintelligible to some were
his remonstrances against superstition, he persevered in his search after
and defence of the truth. He had found the mighty truths of religion
in the pages of the Holy Scriptures, and he believed and said that he
served the highest and eternal interests of his countrymen by remain-
ning in communion with the Church of Rome in the hope of reform,
if not in his time, by those who would come after him. By faith in
the Redeemer he saw that the crust of scholastic obscurity, superstition,
1 Appendix.
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? 226 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1623.
love of money, and wordly distinction prevailed more than any desire
to make known the gospel, and like the great Cardinal Pole, Conta-
rini, and many other members of the Church of Rome, he Was glad
when he could present the simple tidings that the Saviour had died to
open the kingdom of heaven to all believers, to his fellow mortals. A
clear view of the particular reforms which Sarpi desired in the Church
cannot be obtained without a careful perusal of his whole works, and
few have time to undertake the task. His approval of the Liturgy of the
book of common prayer shewed What he thought of the mass and that
he did not believe in transubstantiation, he believed that the sacrament
ought to be given in both kinds. In the course of this biography his opinions
with regard to faith in the Saviour, the worship of the Virgin Mary
and of the saints, indulgences, confession, the temporal power and the
infallibility of the Pope, cannot have escaped notice. If they were only
shadowed forth, it was not because Sarpi did not distintly agree in many
of the fundamental truths of religion that he did not join the Reformed.
He was willing to suff'er, that future ages should benefit by what he
left to them, a warning that he hoped would ring the knell of all that
would rob the Monarch of the Universe of that honor due only to
Deity, a warning which echoed through Europe, a warning which yet
vibrates, although ages have passed since the eloquence of Sarpi' rivet-
ted the hearts of dying men on the Saviour, as He alone who died
to save all who call upon him.
He has been blamed by some for not following the steps of the
German reformer; but Sarpi had not, as the great German had, the
support of his prince.
His letters and the evidence afforded by some of his contemporaries
testify that Sarpi wished a greater separation from the Court of Rome,
but above all the fall of the temporal power of the Pope. And there
can be no doubt, that as soon as the present monarch of Italy gives
sanction to still greater reform within the Church of Rome, this will
follow. The liberality of the policy of the illustrious Victor Emmanuel
is too well known to need any comment here. For 'whatever Sarpi
advocated he made direct appeal to the Scriptures, and the reader
will remember his quotation of the remark of Paul V on the sermons of
Fra Fulgenzio Micanzio. Let it be borne in mind, that Sarpi felt that
he could not conscientiously leave the Church of Rome; he believed
and said, that with all her defects, she was like the Church of Corinth,
a Church of Christ, and although he took the part of the Reformed, cor-
responded with them, welcomed them to his cell, and showed them
many acts of friendship, yet in some instances he thought them too
vehement. It has been seen that by some of the church of Rome he
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? zar. 71. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 227
was called an atheist, because he refused to believe in many of the
superadded dogmas and superstitions of his own, and former times;
but it has been shown that an atheist was the only member of a com-
munity whom he declared unworthy of tolerance; he was too wise not
to know that atheism is but a signal of distress torn to fragments
on the top--mast of a vessel without weight or ballast, which ventures to
cross the rough waves of time, without a rudder or without a compass.
As Sarpi went to and fro to the Ducal palace, and oftentimes to
the Ducal chapel (now St. Mark's Cathedral), at the hours of prayer,
his eyes must have rested on these words over the entrance: " Ego
sum illud ostium, per me si quis introierit servabitur. " S. Johan
X, 9. " Ego sum via illa, et illa veritas, et vita illa. Nemo venit ad
Patrem nisi per me " S. Johan xrv, (i.
of the seal of the pontificate was to be effaced, if gradually yet surely,
from the land, the Papacy received a blow from the resistance of
Sarpi to Paul V, from which it has never recovered; -no bull of
excommunication ever reached Venetia in after days; rulers and
subjects were forced to believe that the power of the Pope, and what
he termed the rights of the Church were wrongfully usurped, and
some gave credit to the opinions of Sarpi that the Pope was neither
Supreme Pontiff, nor infallible ruler of the Church, but merely Bishop of
Rome and liable to err, as did St. Peter and all men.
Sarpi enjoyed his high reputation for learning till the end of his
1 Appendix.
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? mr. 69. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 213
life, and when permitted, he sometimes received people of distinction.
"Many princes honored him with letters, and one royal personage, on
sending his son to Italy, told him that he must not fail to visit the
' Orbfs term; ocullus. ' " He had however little time for visitors,
especially as he now had a new charge. The Nuncios had caused
disquiet by many infractions on existing laws, they were the medium
of the demands of the Auditor of the papal chamber, which Fra
Paolo thought were often as unlawful as superstitious, and he there-
fore proposed that a scrutiny of all Laws should be made by a cano-
uist appointed for the purpose. The Senate immediately appointed
Paolo, who discharged this duty till his death, when a counsellor,
called " Theologian for . the revision of Papal Bulls," succeeded him.
The Nuncios were thus deprived of some power, as they had been in
the habit of yielding entirely to the interests of the Court of Rome.
These duties, however, increased the burden of labor which Paolo had
to perform, and was induced to undertake from conscientious motives,
not from gain, for as through life, so now in old age, he was indif-
ferent to Wealth. . ' ' .
" His latter years were spent very monotonously, owing to his being al-
most a prisoner except when the public service or his profession required
him to go abroad. His food was a little bread toasted on coals, to escape ill
intent, and having no relation but a very old cousin, he had nothing to
wish for his family. In him ambition was wholly dead, and now he was
content that any one rather than himself, should enjoy the merit of any of
his scientific discoveries. "
" Such was his fidelity in the public service, that the prince honored him
in a manner which had never been done before; he had free access to the
two secret archives, and free permission to examine all the writings of the
State as also of the government.
"His memory was so extraordinary, that he could immediately put his
hand on any MS. he wished to examine, and as these Archives contained
public documents of laws, treaties of peace and war, truces, confederations,
negotiations, with all the despatches for centuries past from all parts of the
world, in old volumes which it was difficult to decipher, this was no easy
matter.
" There could be no greater proof of the entire confidence of the Govern-
ment in the integrity of Sarpi, than the permission thus given to him to
examine and arrange its most secret Archives. It was a work of interest
but very arduous, and his health suffered from it, for on Easter day, when
in his accustomed place in the Segreta, he was suddenly seized with cold
as if he had been frozen, accompanied by hoarseness and numbness. He
had never had any catarrh before, but from this and ague he now suffered
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? 214 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1622.
severely for three months, yet he never changed his way of life, or relaxed
his laborious occupation, a diminution of his strength was apparent, and
he often said that he never was well after this illness. " '
There was little to cheer him from Rome, the power of the Jesuits being
very great there, in consequence of the countenance they received from
the Pope and his nephew. They soon gave trouble to Venice, but Fra Paolo
counselled the Senate not to give way. The Jesuits wished to be reinstated
in a Greek College which they had once possessed, but he plainly told the
government that if they were established thergthe sons of ignorant people
would be educated in the maxims of a society inimical to it. This remon-
strance was not likely to please the Curia; but Paolo did not consult his own
interest; he was well aware of the opinion which the new Pope held of his
being the Counsellor of the Republic, as on his accession, Gregory XV
said, " that there never would be a perfect peace between the Apostolic see
and Venetia, except such an one as Fra Paolo Sarpi chose. " On this Fra
Paolo not only determined to relinquish the public service, but to quit the
States of Venice. He was in declining years; but on many accounts it
would have been a sacrifice i-f he had left his country. The King of Great
Britain had not been able to prevail upon him to leave it, and the State
certainly would not have permitted him to do so. He had however resolv-
ed to go to the Levant, Constantinople, or elsewhere, and had obtained
information from travellers, particularly from a Jew who had often made
the journey; he even provided himself with a passport, and had every
thing ready to meet any adverse fortune, and was determined to depart,
rather than that his prince or country should receive any ill, although he was
sure that the Senate would rather have gone to war on his account than
withdraw their protection. It was not however so to be, and Sarpi was to
suffer neither from the threatened malevolence of the Pope Gregory, or
of his successor, Urban VIII. Ere the latter had ascended the pontifical
throne, Fra Paolo Sarpi was beyond the reach of wrong.
It was unlikely that the publication of so remarkable a work as his
History of the Council of the Church would not be productive of great
opposition by the Papal Nuncios and other adherents of the Curia, one
instance of this may suffice, and again the attack came from one who had
forsaken the reformed religion.
The Prince de Conde? , immediately on the appearance of Fra Paolo's
History of the Council of Trent, had made enquiries concerning it of
the Venetian ambassador at Paris, who had informed the good Servite,
and this appears to have influenced him in not wishing to meet the
Prince when he came to Venice. It was in vain that he excused him-
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? AT 70. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 216
selfllhe Prince insisted so peremptorily, that the Senate gave orders that
he was to be received. A meeting without the walls of the Convent
was appointed, at the house of the afore--mentioned ambassador who
was lately returned from Paris. The conversation was taken down, and
a more desultory one has seldom been heard; the Prince endeavcring
to discover Sarpi's opinions, but he left the Prior to answer for him in
general terms as to the mass and as to his being a foe of the Jesuits, but
it is apparent that the Prince knew that he did not agree withhim, he
then questioned Sarpi on the religious sects, on the Reformed Church
of France, the superiority of the Council over the Pope, the liberty of
the Gallican Church, whether it was lawful to employ men at arms of
different religions, the excommunication of Princes, but above all, who was
the author of the History of the Council of Trent.
" The Prince blamed the Huguenots, without even touching upon the
most trivial points of their doctrine, the Father dexterously diverted
him from this topic, by alluding to the valor and prudence of his
father and grandfather; as to the Pope and Councils and their rela-
tive superiority, he put the Prince in mind of the Sorbonne and the
change and degeneracy of France since the admission of the Jesuits,
and the difference between the old and modern Sorbonnist, Without touch'
ing on the point of superiority, as the Father wished to have done.
And as to the liberty of the Gallican Church, the Father passed it over
in general terms, saying that the Parliament of France and the Sor-
bonne had maintained these liberties as the natural right of all Chur-
ches, but that in France they had been better defended than elsewhere. As
to the employment of soldiers of different opinions in religion, he only
observed that Julius II had employed the Turks at Bologna, and
Paul III the Grisons in Rome, whom he called angels sent by God to
defend him, and yet they were heretics. They then discoursed diflhsely
on the excommunication of Princes, and the Father obliged the Prince to
speak of Gregory VII, and made him confess that he had seen many
public and private documents by which it appears, that if the Pope had
not made such pretensions as to forbid princes to be present at mass,
and other services of the Church, controversies would not have attained
such a height; but the chief point was as to excommunication, whether
princes under it had cause of complaint, as excommunication was only
a spiritual sentence; whether they should be exposed to the rebellion
of their subjects, and to the plots of those who watched for their lives
or sought to deprive them of their crowns.
" As to the Father being the author of the History of the Council
of Trent, he told the Prince that it was he who had divulged this in
France, and had said as much to the Venetian Ambassador then resi-
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? 216 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1622.
dent at the Court of the Most Christian King, so that the Ambassador
was obliged to write to the State, and he only answered further, that
at Rome it was well known who was the author, and with all his
turnings and windings the Prince could get nothing more out of him.
"Such was the celebrated conversation of the Prince of Conde? with
Sarpi, and such the admirable way in which he parried the attacks of
the Prince. On no occasion did he ever avow that he was the author
of the History of the Council. If
We have the account of the above from Fulgenzio, who was present
and who describes the Father 'as a rock against which the waves dashed
harmlessly. There is a longer account of these interviews signed by Fra
Paolo to the Senate. ' Now let us notice the last work which Fra Paolo is
known to have written, the MS. is intitled, Notes on the Popes. He spoke
well of Paul V; the Pontiff was dead, and Sarpi veiled his failings.
There was also amongst his MSS. a chronological list of illustrious per-
sons in the handwriting of Franzano, divided into twelve small columns,
beginning 2021 BC. and ending A. D. 1622, with notes by Sarpi.
Plots against his life were now less frequent, but it was not unusual
for Sarpi's enemies to charge him with hypocrisy. It is a vast but easily
broken web which the envious weave over the good. And the Cardinal
Sforza, who appears to have done so but only for amusement, used to call
Fra Paolo a hypocrite, on purpose that he might hear Fra Amante defend
him. This he did, as well as Asselineau, in conversation with M. Villiers,
who plainly told the Nuncios, that Fra Paolo took an unusual me-
thod from that of hypocrites, who only appeared outwardly pious, but
that he never made any outward show but lived in the strictest retirement.
That no one had ever seenhim do a hypocritical action, such as telling his
heads when he went through the streets, kissing medals, speaking with
pretended spirituality, or clothing himself sordidly, that he was cleanly
in his attire which although poor was becoming, and this was the touch-
stone, he did not aspire to rank nor honor, he did not care' for money,
or to receive anything from any body, and he was not austere, but gentle
and agreeable to all, and that he had always heard every one speak in
commendation of his 'great virtue and strict integrity, but that he would
be glad to hear from the Nuncio what grounds he had for believing the
contrary that he might know what to credit. The Nuncio was suddenly
surprised by this question, and wishing to extricate himself from his
dilemma, blamed the life and actions of the Father, but here he was
foiled, because, on the Ambassador again pressing him to say in what,
and if he called it hypocrisy that he never flattered the Court, nor sought
1 Arch. Ven.
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? /ET. 70. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 217
ecclesiastical dignities, nor fled retirement, nor wore long rosaries, nor
told his beads, nor was seen at stations in the Churches, nor wore bad
clothing, the Nuncio offered no reply. H
" Similar conversations passed at the different Courts after the com-
motions in Spain, between the Ambassador Contarini and the King
of France, and with the Nuncio Ubaldini, who censured the Father's
Writings with great severity.
" (Angelo) Contarini on the other hand, a man of singular candor, suavity,
and gentle nature, of strong understanding and therefore not contentious,
answered him that he could not argue with his Lordship, as he Was
neither a theologian nor a jurisconsult, but that as to the Father's
writings, he was certain that they were neither so void of learning nor
so impious as the Nuncio said they were, which was evident by the
learned and scientific professors who commended them, but that as to
his life and manners he was positive, not only from hearsay but from
his own knowledge, that they were both irreprehensible, and the
Ambassador concluded by repeating that he led a holy, retired, and
exemplary life. To which the Nuncio answered, that it was on ac-
count of his irreprehensible life that he believed him to be a bad man
and a hypocrite. "
" Such," exclaims Fulgenzio, "was the comparison of these prelates
of the Roman Court with the doctrines of Christ and his Holy Apos-
tles, who taught us to know faith by their works, and the tree by its
fruit! " And after an enumeration of Fra Paolo's life--long virtues, his
friend concludes thus, "' and if these be the signs whereby Christ has
taught us to know hypocrites, let it be referred to the judgment of
others, for neither God nor man will permit the innocent to be so
unfortunate as that those tyrants who had power over their lives,
should also have power over their fame and memory. The righteous is
like the palm tree which rises above the weight of calumny, and God
never willed that tyrants should have power over them. " '
Without pausing long on the death of Foscarini, who was well known
to Fra Paolo, we need only notice that his letter, with a bequest to
the good Servite to pray for his soul, was refused by him. ' Fra Paolo
did not believe in purgatory, of this there are many proofs besides
Pallavicino's remarks. Nor did he wish to accept money from an enemy
of the state; but it is only justice to Foscarini to add, that he was
declared innocent, which was entered on the records of the Council of
Ten, where the writer of these pages saw it. 3
1 MS.
1 Letter to the Signory. F. P. S. , 28th April 1622.
_3 Registro 39. Criminale, 0011 X, 1622, Giugno 16: " Fu dichiarato innocente. "
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? 218 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1623.
Sarpi never recovered from the illness from which he had suffered in
his sixty ninth year, " but with his usual resolution he bore up as
well as he could, till he entered on his seventy first year; it was then
evident that his great soul was about to dislodge.
" It was impossible to keep him warm, and he had such an entire
loss of appetite that it was impossible to procure any food for him
that he did not dislike, he was surprised at his want of sc1f-com-
mand. He masticated with difficulty, bent double, and walked with
great weariness to his gondola, or up stairs. He slept but little, and
his dreams were no longer unintelligible and incongruous, but distinct,
natural, speculative, and as he was very observant of everything, he
told his friends/that this showed a gentle rising of the soul from the
body. " '
Notwithstanding all these demonstrations of declining health, Sarpi
did not give up his studies or his work at the Ducal palace, and
when Marco Trevisano, whose freedom of speech and truth were much
liked by the Father, would often reprove him for his intemperate love
of study and toil, as if he were insensible to approaching age, he
heard him speak with pleasure, but he Went on as before. On several
occasions his strength seemed to fail him, and he was obliged, in
walking through the Merceria, to lean on the arm of Fra Marco. He
did not conceal his illness, he showed that he expected death, but spoke
of it as freely and cheerfully as if it had been a matter of indifference,
a debt to nature, a long rest after a weary day's journey. "
He was often heard to repeat, besides ejaculatory prayers, many
passages from the Holy Scriptures, and he frequently said, "Nunc
dimittis servum tuum Domine etc. " " Now lettest thou thy servant
depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. " To his familiar
friend he would say, " Ahl we are near the end of the day. " On one
occasion when they were occupied with the affairs of the province and
spoke of the nomination of a Prior, he said "I shall not be here. " '
The following minute particulars of his last illness are given by
Fra Fulgenzio. " On Christmas day, the festival of the Nativity of our
Lord, when we saluted him with the usual compliments, 'Ad multos
annos, Sancte Pater,' he immediately answered, ' that this year would
be his last' and he spoke so seriously, that it was evident that he
did so with greater earnestness than he usually spoke of the brevity
of life. There can be no doubt but that he felt very ill, because in
general he made no change when he had fever; but on the Epiphany '
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? mm. 71. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 219
his illness increased, and at his return from the palace, where he had
been summoned three times, he was worse. During the two following
days he could neither eat nor sleep, but he would not remain in bed.
On Sunday he rose, celebrated mass and dined in the refectory. After
dinner, Signor Seehini came to see him, and remained with him for
some time, he told the Padre that he thought he was very ill, he
confessed he was, and that he was obliged to lie down upon a chest
in his clothes with a coverlet over him. He continued much the -same
till the following Friday, occupying himself as usual in reading and
writing, and when outstretched upon his chest, and too weak to do it
himself, others read to him. On Monday morning, having dressed
himself, he was suddenly seized by a complete prostration of strength
both in his hands and feet; he could not stand without support, and
could not move his hands without tremor; this was followed by such
a loathing of food that it required all his resolution even to try to
take any. His faculties were unimpaired; his tranquillity and cheerful-
ness never forsook him, and till the day on which he died he comfort-
ed those around him by cheerful remarks saying. 'I have consoled you
as long as I could, and now I can do do no more, it is your part to
cheer me. ' The physicians supposed his disorder to be epilepsy, some
suspected poison, but there were no signs of either, it was rather a
decay of nature.
" On Wednesday, he wished to leave his room, as if eager to meet
all his old companions in the refectory once more, he went to dinner,
but, as it was at some distance from his rooms besides the stairs, he
was obliged to be supported thither, trembling all over. Nevertheless,
he received every visitor, conversed as usual, said nothing of his ill-
ness except to his doctor and that very briefly but to his friend and
physician Asselineau he spoke of his state without any reserve, beg-
ging him not to tell Fra Fulgenzio because it would grieve him, but
he knew that the Padre's last hours were near.
"On Thursday morning, ' he sent for the Prior, and begged him to
commend him to the prayers of the Fathers, and when service was
finished that he would be pleased to administer the holy communion
to him, and added that he had lived in the poverty of the Order,
having nothing of his own; that all which had been granted to him
according to the rules of the Order, remained in his rooms. The Padre
then gave the small key of a cupboard to the Prior in which was the
remainder of his salary from the Serene Republic. This cupboard, and
another where he kept state papers, Were the only ones which he kept
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? 220 THE' LIFE oF [A. n. 1623.
locked. He dressed himself as usual, and spent all the morning in
listening to Fra Fulgenzio and Fra Marco, who by turns read the
Psalms, the narrations of the Holy Evangelists, and the Passion of
Christ to him; he made them pause at intervals while he remained in
devout meditation, but such was his languor that his efforts to kneel
were wholly ineffectual. As soon as the service in church was conclud-
ed, at the sound of a smell bell, the Prior and all the friars with
torches in their hands brought the most Holy Sacrament to him as he
lay on his bed dressed in his usual habit.
He partook of it with that
devotion which was to be expected from one who was so sincere, it
drew tears from the eyes of all present, and the remarkable example
of one so well prepared to pass to a' blessed life was deeply impressed
on all.
He did not wish any one to watch him during the night; he always had
said it was ostentatious, that it incommoded others without doing him any
good, that it disturbed him as he thought he disturbed others, and that he
could not suffer another to lose his rest for him. He would not permit Fulgen-
zio to remain with him, and rose and dressed himself the following morning.
He had always scrupuously attended to all the rules of the Convent; he
would not take broth or meat or any other food but that usual in Lent,
and when eating his dinner he turned playfully to the cook saying, " Fra
Cosmo do you treat your friends thus, to make them break fast days? "
It was not superstition, but a firm and acquired habit to observe whatever
was ordered even to the minutia in things not essential. In the evening,
three attendants remained with him, but although he required to have
some one to give him restoratives, he helped himself, remaining perfectly
quiet, and was only heard sometimes to ejaculate, " O God! "
On Saturday, the only day he remained in bed, he was in great weakness
of body but in full vigor of mind. The most Serene Prince and the most
excellent Senate sent for Fra Fulgenzio to question him as to the state of
the Padre's health. The mournful answer was, that he believed his life
was drawing fast to a close, and that his case was hopeless. The most
excellent Signor Ottavino Buono wished to know what was the state of
his mind. Fulgenzio answered, that although in great bodily weakness,
his judgment and memory were the same as they had ever been when he,
Maestro Paolo, served his Serenity and the Senate for seventeen years, and
had counselled them in their greatest difficulties. The same day he recei-
ved visitors; and when the Most excellent Signor Bassadonna came in,
the Padre took off his cap and thanked him for his visit; when he was
gone, he heard reading for a considerable time with great attention.
There were then three question regarding matters of grave importance
submitted to him. Fra Paolo, two hours before midnight, wrote an an-
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? mr. 71. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 221
swer and sent it to the college, and the same evening it was read in
the Senate and his advice followed.
Night coming on, and weakness increasing, the Passion of our Saviour
was read to him from the gospel of John. He spoke of his own sins and of
his strong confidence in the blood of Christ, and often repeated, " Quem
proposuit Deus mediatorem per fidem in sanguine suo, " from which he
seemed to receive great consolation; he repeated, though with great faintness
various passages from St Paul, protesting " that he had nothing to present,
to God but misery and sins, yet nevertheless he desired to be plunged in
the abyss of divine mercy, " and this he expressed with so much submis-
sion and yet so much cheerfulness, that all present wept. His strength
totally failing, he received extreme uuction, and about three o'clock was
again visited by those physicians who had seen him shortly before. But
as he had not been previously visited by Tebaldi, the Padre told Fra
Fulgenzio to give him an account of his illness. And on his having told
this physician of his failure of strength on the previous Monday, the Pa-
dre raised his head and exclaimed, " Failure of mind ? "
" N o Padre " said he, " strength of body, for as for your mind it has always
retained its constancy; " but on the physician wishing to give him some
slight hope of life Fulgenzio, who knew how little the Padre regarded
either to live or to die, said, " the Father is not one to whom you need
speak either with disguise or ceremony. Tell him that he has been a pa-
tient sufferer. " To this the Father gave signs of assent. The Doctor then
said that his pulse told that life was passing away, that it would close -
that night, and in a few hours. On hearing this the Father's counte-
nance was overspread by a happy smile, and he said. " Blessed be God,
whatever pleaseth Him pleaseth me, and with His aid we shall rightly
perform this last act. " On the physicians wishing him to take some re-
storative he said, " Let us now forget these trifles, but will you Signor explain
two things of which I am in doubt. First, I feel certain and am fully per-
suaded that whatever you give me is very good, and certain of this I take
it, but whenever I taste it, it seems as if my brain was changed and as if it
be? came horrid and abominable. The second is " and here his breath failed
him, and his physician seing that life was ebbing away ordered some cor-
dial, and at eight o'clock some rare muscat that he would send him. This
he took about six o'clock, saying " This appears to me to be very strong. "
He continued to speak to those around him many memorable Words,
and repeated passages of the Holy Scriptures with great devotion, often
saying, " Now let us go where God calls us. " His attendants, seeing that
his voice began to fail, begged him to take a little rest, at which he smiled.
Eight o'clock struck, upon which he called for Fra Cosmo andsaid " It is
eight oiclock, give me what the physician ordered. " But he could only take
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? 222 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1623.
a small portion of it. He then called Fra Fulgenzio to him, and command-
ed him to leave him with these memorable words which are graven for
ever on his heart, " Now stay no longer to see me in this state, it is not
needful; go to your rest, and I will go to God whence we came, " and he
desired Fulgenzio to kiss him. And although Fulgenzio knew well how much
such an example of constancy would support and strengthen his own mind, he
left him, not indeed that he wished to leave him, but to obey his commands,
which were to ask all the Fathers to pray for him. So he called the Prior
and the other friars to come around his bed, and in their prayers to com-
mend his soul to God. He could no longer speak, but with his eyes, and
by signs he shewed that he retained his senses to his latest breath.
" His death was accompanied by two remarkable circumstances. By a
last effort, for his mind was totally absorbed in God, he crossed his hands,
then fixing his 'eyes on the crucifix before him, he looked on it for a short
time, then looked downwards, and shutting his eyes, with a smile breathed
his soul into the hands of God. "
Such was the end of this illustrious man, and it pleased the divine Dis-
poser of all events that witness of it was given by a public document upon
oath subscribed by the whole College of the Reverend Fathers of the
Servi who were present.
"Most Serene Prince, God has called his faithful servant and my be-
loved M. P. Paul from the labours of this world to the repose of Paradise,
and I, who would have given my life to be the ambassador of the intelli-
- gence of his convalescence to your Serenity, am now but the herald of his
death, a death to me most mournful, and the severest blow I have ever
experienced, but to him fraught with happiness, as crowning all the
actions of his life. I
" Living, he was ever to us all, and to all the Order of the Servi, a model
of the sublimest virtues that can adorn the Christian, and dying, he emi-
nently exhibited that faith and perfect resignation to God's will, that every
true servant of Christ should possess.
" My mind is so confused and oppressed with grief, that I can ill describe
his last actions, all admirable for their true piety. This I will say that his
was a most happy death, because he obtained that to Which his thoughts,
labors and studies were all directed, to die in the service of your Serenity.
" And if it be true, as is generally admitted, that death unmasks life
(because in all human actions, either through art or interest, some dis-
simulation or fraud may he mingled, but death removes all falsehood and
shows every one as he is), happy was my dear master who in two circum-
stances of his death exhibited the image of his life, and a most perfect
portrait of that piety which is commanded by the Holy Spirit of God,
Honora Deum et Principem. His soul was firmly fixed on God (besides his
I
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? E1'. 71. ] FHA PAOLO SARPI 223
having consigned all that he had for his own use into the hands of the
Prior), he asked and received the Holy Sacraments with great devotion,
confession with his Ordinary Spiritual Father, and the most Holy Eucharist
from the Prior, with the attendance of all the Chapter, and extreme
unction from the hands of his amanuensis, Fra Marco. The last words he
said to me, in a low voice, and with the greatest devotion, after he recited
his brief and usual prayers, and having kissed me and exhorted me to go
to repose, were these, " Go to rest, and I will return to God whence we
came. " With these last words his lips were closed in eternal silence. The
zeal he evinced in your Serenity's service may be learned from the fact
that in all his illness only one uncollected sentence escaped his lips.
" Let us go to Saint Mark's, for I have more than ordinary business to
do. " Thus, so intent was he on the service of your Serenity, that when he
could no longer control his speech, by force of habit he thus expressed
himself. _-1-.
" I ought not to omit his last act. The Prior with all the Fathers joined
in the most affecting prayers, amidst floods of unfeigned tears, and after
having remained for a long time with his hands immovable, he crossed
them on his breast and fixing his eyes on a crucifix that stood opposite
' to him, he closed his lips with a smile, and looking downwards gave up
his Spirit to God.
" I have wished, by these few particulars which happened in the pres-
ence of so many Fathers, to give this brief but confused account of the
last hours of your faithful and loyal servant, believing it to be my duty
to do so, in order that if it pleases you to direct any thing concerning his
funeral before we make any arrangement, on letting us know your com-
mands they may be properly executed. "
G-razie, etd.
_ '_ - J'-'~
The Doge immediately ccminanded a magnificent funeral at the public
expense, which the Prior acknowledged thus:
" Your Serenity having deigned with your usual piety and munificence
to aid our sacristy with alms for the funeral of your deceased servant, the
Fathers all united to celebrate his funeral with such demonstrations as
were in their power. The four monastic Orders, the Dominicans, Francis-
cans, Eremitani, ' and Carmelites, all immediately responded to the
invitation, about two hundred monks, besides those of the two monasteries,'
amidst the acclamations and tears of a concourse of people who had come
. 'I .
to witness the funeral of a holy man, gifted with the rarest intellect.
1- Reformed Franciscans.
2 Of the Servi.
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? 224 THE LIFE ' OF [A. D. = I623.
" One may consider it as a holy impulse, that all thus wished to honor
the earthly remains of this holy man who had been received into heaven.
" These last ceremonies having been performed publicly, before such a
multitude, to the honor of God and to the consolation of your Serenity,
of whom he was the servant, I have wished to give you these particulars,
and they will be confirmed by all the Fathers of the Convent and signed
by their own hand. " .
Grazie. \
Io Frat'AMANTE DA BnEsom, Priore nel Convento dei Servi.
Io Frate Bnnnnnrro Fnnao.
Io Fra Aeosrmo, affermo quanto si contiene in detta scrittura.
Io Fra Funennrro.
Io F3 GIOvANNI DA VENETIA.
Io Fra SEmsrrAuo DA VENETIA.
Io Fra RAFAELO DA VERom.
Io Fra AmsRocro CIGNANI DA VENETIA.
Io Fr? fGRieeme Pnrnn DA VENETIA.
Io Fra GncnrEmuo DA VENETIA.
Io Fra Grovmsr FRANCESCO segurta, DA VENETIA.
Io Fra GUGLIELMO DA VENETIA.
Io Fra Grosnrr DA VENETIA.
Io Fra VALENTINO DA VENETIA, Vicario di ll/Ionastero.
Io Fra Mmco DA VENETIA. -
Io Fra Pmrno DA VENETIA, Socio della Provincia.
Io Fra BASILIO DA VENETIA, Sacrestano.
Io Fra Fnnonrrrro DA VENETIA , Sindaco e Procuratore del
Monastero. \ . '
- - MM /4" ~
fig; PIETRO D'UD1NE. 4 %Mub_
Io Fra PrnrRo DI RovADo.
Io Fra Zossnuo DA VENETIA.
Mournful as was the sight, still the Venetians were permitted to
look once more on him they revered. It was the custom in Italy to
carry the dead to the grave with the face uncovered; and as few
hours had intervened between the death and burial of Fra Paolo Sarpi,
little change had taken place on the countenance, it was still over-
spread by a smile, still fresh in color, and finer even in death than
in life. ' Nobles, citizens, and people attended his funeral, and wept their
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? Ii'. 71. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 225
common loss; although seventy one years of age, his intellect was
still so vigorous, that the Doge and Senate regarded the death of
Sarpi as one of the heaviest clouds that could overcast the political
horizon. '
To many of the nobles he was a genial companion and adviser;
while those of the youthful patricians who could find access to him,
prized his society. The citizens not only loved him, but were proud
that he was one of them; the people venerated him, and had they
been permitted would have superstitiously honored him after death;
he was ever the friend of the poor.
In spite of all this, the document from the Superior of the Convent
to the Doge was necessary to refute the falsehoods which were spread,
that Paolo Sarpi " died with frightful howlings and cries at sight of
apparitions; and that dreadful noises were heard in his cell. " The
same fables had been told when the pious Doge Leonardo Donato
died,1 and probably the disbelief of Fra Paolo in the doctrine of pur-
gatory incited some to spread a report that his soul was thus in tor-
ment, in and after death. But as Fra Paolo had written of the great
and good Doge Leonardo Donato, "He is in glory; " so might Fra
Fulgenzio Micanzio write of "his beloved Master. "
The reader will not linger on whatever of superstition dimmed the dying
cell of the great Fra Paolo Sarpi; it was not that he had taken the habit of
a friar, it Was not that he loved and served his country, it was not that he
had died in the communion of the Church of Rome that enabled him to
meet death with asmile; it was, as he had often said, by the grace of
God. He had nothing to present before God except sin, but he trusted
solely to the blood of the Immaculate One. If a pure and holy life, a life
of self-denial could have gained heaven, the life of Fra Paolo Sarpi would
have done so; but while he strove to fulfil the command of heaven to
be perfect, he freely confessed he was not. He laid all his genius, all
his learning, his life, his all, at the foot of the cross of Christ, content to be
nothing. It was not that he did not value human wisdom, but that he valued
the wisdom of heaven more, and however unintelligible to some were
his remonstrances against superstition, he persevered in his search after
and defence of the truth. He had found the mighty truths of religion
in the pages of the Holy Scriptures, and he believed and said that he
served the highest and eternal interests of his countrymen by remain-
ning in communion with the Church of Rome in the hope of reform,
if not in his time, by those who would come after him. By faith in
the Redeemer he saw that the crust of scholastic obscurity, superstition,
1 Appendix.
4s
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? 226 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1623.
love of money, and wordly distinction prevailed more than any desire
to make known the gospel, and like the great Cardinal Pole, Conta-
rini, and many other members of the Church of Rome, he Was glad
when he could present the simple tidings that the Saviour had died to
open the kingdom of heaven to all believers, to his fellow mortals. A
clear view of the particular reforms which Sarpi desired in the Church
cannot be obtained without a careful perusal of his whole works, and
few have time to undertake the task. His approval of the Liturgy of the
book of common prayer shewed What he thought of the mass and that
he did not believe in transubstantiation, he believed that the sacrament
ought to be given in both kinds. In the course of this biography his opinions
with regard to faith in the Saviour, the worship of the Virgin Mary
and of the saints, indulgences, confession, the temporal power and the
infallibility of the Pope, cannot have escaped notice. If they were only
shadowed forth, it was not because Sarpi did not distintly agree in many
of the fundamental truths of religion that he did not join the Reformed.
He was willing to suff'er, that future ages should benefit by what he
left to them, a warning that he hoped would ring the knell of all that
would rob the Monarch of the Universe of that honor due only to
Deity, a warning which echoed through Europe, a warning which yet
vibrates, although ages have passed since the eloquence of Sarpi' rivet-
ted the hearts of dying men on the Saviour, as He alone who died
to save all who call upon him.
He has been blamed by some for not following the steps of the
German reformer; but Sarpi had not, as the great German had, the
support of his prince.
His letters and the evidence afforded by some of his contemporaries
testify that Sarpi wished a greater separation from the Court of Rome,
but above all the fall of the temporal power of the Pope. And there
can be no doubt, that as soon as the present monarch of Italy gives
sanction to still greater reform within the Church of Rome, this will
follow. The liberality of the policy of the illustrious Victor Emmanuel
is too well known to need any comment here. For 'whatever Sarpi
advocated he made direct appeal to the Scriptures, and the reader
will remember his quotation of the remark of Paul V on the sermons of
Fra Fulgenzio Micanzio. Let it be borne in mind, that Sarpi felt that
he could not conscientiously leave the Church of Rome; he believed
and said, that with all her defects, she was like the Church of Corinth,
a Church of Christ, and although he took the part of the Reformed, cor-
responded with them, welcomed them to his cell, and showed them
many acts of friendship, yet in some instances he thought them too
vehement. It has been seen that by some of the church of Rome he
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? zar. 71. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 227
was called an atheist, because he refused to believe in many of the
superadded dogmas and superstitions of his own, and former times;
but it has been shown that an atheist was the only member of a com-
munity whom he declared unworthy of tolerance; he was too wise not
to know that atheism is but a signal of distress torn to fragments
on the top--mast of a vessel without weight or ballast, which ventures to
cross the rough waves of time, without a rudder or without a compass.
As Sarpi went to and fro to the Ducal palace, and oftentimes to
the Ducal chapel (now St. Mark's Cathedral), at the hours of prayer,
his eyes must have rested on these words over the entrance: " Ego
sum illud ostium, per me si quis introierit servabitur. " S. Johan
X, 9. " Ego sum via illa, et illa veritas, et vita illa. Nemo venit ad
Patrem nisi per me " S. Johan xrv, (i.
