Life is little pleasing to me
when I see such difficulty in preserving it.
when I see such difficulty in preserving it.
Sarpi - 1868 - Life of Fra Paolo Sarpi
PAOLO SARPI L7/9
But when Fulgenzio only offered him money if he was in want,
the soldier exclaimed, "Beware of traitors, ye have need to do so.
God takes care of you who are better friars than others wish you were! "
This said, he disappeared.
It did not transpire whether this soldier--priest had any communica-
tion with Cardinal Bellarmine, or if it was to make Fra Paolo watch
against the same intended plot that he warned the friar, but the
instance about to be given of that Cardinal's true appreciation of his
old friend not only shows how his heart warmed towards him, but
demonstrates that in both there still remained virtue and Christian
charity. "The Cardinal sent his salutations twice to the Father, once
by a Roman secular, who told him by the Cardinal's command to guard
himself securely, because there was urgent need for such caution, and
again by Testoni a Venetian, a Roman friar on his way to Mantua.
He was commissioned by Cardinal Bellarmine, who mentioned Paolo
by naine, to salute the Father affectionately for him, to tell him that
he still retained his affection for him and to bid him note, that two
friars under the title of, " A life of the P. Paolo, " had written a libel-
lous work which they had presented to Paul V, who had given it to
the Cardinal for examination' in order to obtain his opinion of it,
with a view to its publication, but as the Cardinal knew the Father
well he told the Pope to believe that the work only contained notorious
calumnies, and their publication would only bring great dishonor on
the publisher.
Testoni told many such anecdotes to Fra Fulgenzio who observes
"that every kind of scandal both against his life and honor were
published, besides numerous libels to please the Court of Rome, but
the Father showed no sign of resentment or anger, one of his great
excellencies, and that which accompanied him to the tomb being his
gentleness, and all of his Order bore witness_ that they never heard
him seek revenge. " One of the authors was called P. Gioseffo, but
Fra Paolo, so far from returning evil for evil, although he- knew the
author of the libel above mentioned, did not punish him but permitted
him to enjoy an honorable employment; however, after Fra Paolo's
death, these calumnies and other delinquencies were the cause of his
banishment from the dominions of Venetia, but such was Paolo's charity
that when he received the greatest wrong his expression of counte-
nance Was most serene, and he endeavored to extenuate the offence as much
as possible, usually saying, that such an one's brain was touched, and that
in his position, or for his own interest, he could not do otherwise. '
1 MS.
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? 180 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1609.
It has been noticed that the Archdeacon Rubetti had been well received
at Rome; five hundred ducats per annum were immediately conferred upon
him by the Pope, the recipient declaring, " that he had defended the Re-
public of Venice against his will! " 1 It is easy to conceive the mischief
that this ecclesiastic could, and did do against the Republic, he was one
of the seven who had put his name to writings in her favor, he was now
an informer against her.
The Court of Rome still continued to tamper with the Republic's defen-
ders. " As to me, " writes Sarpi, "I not only believe, but I have daily
proof of the snares laid for me. I do all I can by way of caution, but
without either anxiety or solicitude. Without God no design can be ef-
fected, whatever pleases Him best is for good. With this I am content.
They will gain nothing by taking my life, and through me they will find
greater opposition when Iam dead than when I am alive. They have used
every means lately to gain the others both by promises and by threats. I
believe they will not gain any more from them than they have done. They
do not attempt to gain me; they say openly there is no"'hope of me but by
daggers. " ' What a miserable life was Sarpi's in one sense, never to know
what it was to be safe from an assassin's thrust, and yet how he was to be
envied! Tranquil amidst revengeful passions, forgiving to his greatest ene-
mies, intrepid in the midst of danger, casting the veil of charity over the de-
fects of those who had once been his friends, never swerving from the path
of honor although' one of peril, but living a life of faith on the Son of God,
and listening to the holy solace which has emboldened the persecuted, "All
things are yours, Whether life or death, or things present or things to come,
all are yours, for ye are Christ's and Christ is God's. " The Senate of Ve-
nice was not so forgiving, indeed public justice required that he, who had
once defended the Republic and now betrayed her, ought to be punished
at all events in some measure, and while the Archdeacon was publicly
proceeded against, the Senate showed their approval of Fra Paolo and his
fellow supporters, by awarding two hundred ducats to each of those who
had proved themselves the stedfast defenders, faithful servants, and loyal
subjects of the Republic.
But Fra Paolo would not accept the proffered gift, " lest it should be said
that he had defended the public for gain, " and there still remained in his
heart the cherished hope that better times would dawn upon his country,
and that " if he were not alive to serve it, others would. "
In a letter of this date he takes a rapid survey of various subjects, and
mentions that the Due dc Sully had withdrawn from the Reformed Church,
1 Letters (Sarpi) Marciana.
3 Jan. 6, to M. Groslot 1609.
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? Ar. 57. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 181
and attached himself to the communion of the Church of Rome. He adds,
" This is not 'true. " Sarpi had admired the Duke's conduct with regard
to the Jesuits, and does not appear to have ever expressed gratification on
hearing that any had quitted the Reformed, for this he has been censured.
Was it likely that he would when he desired reform in the Church of
Rome? He expressed approval of the confession of the Reformed Church
of France, especially of the. 3lst article, and observed " that the book would
survive whatever pains were taken for its suppression. " His tidings from
Rome augured ill for Fra Fulgenzio Manfredi. He had demanded a bis-
hopric, which had been refused, he had resisted public penance, but the
Archdeacon consented to perform it, and was seen barefooted, bearing a
candle, and visiting the seven churches. Whilst these measures were
enacted at Rome, Matthias had assumed the monarchy of Hungary, and
Sarpi comments frequently on the confusion which the Jesuits had caused
by their intrigues in Spain, France, Switzerland, and England.
It may be tedious to the reader to be obliged to read of these dis-
turbers of the peace of Europe so frequently as Sarpi mentions them,
but his biography cannot be written without a consecutive notice of
this body, of whom he was eager to obtain more knowledge. He had
studied Hosenmuller, but he had long been wishful to obtain the
Constitutions of the Jesuits, which were at last copied for him by
M. Castrine.
One might have supposed this body would have desisted from their
attempts to prejudice the Pope against Venetia, but he was still loud
incomplaint against Fra Paolo and the Republic, andthus expressed
his opinion to the French Ambassador.
" The Venetians employ three or four theologians at their own
charge to write against the authority of the Popes, and when the
book which the Frere Paul wrote by their command was shewn
by us to several learned theologians, they discovered eight pas-
sages which are palpably heretical; and we are informed by letters
from France, that many heretical books have been introduced into
Venice from Geneva. The Venetians think they derive great benefit
from the liberty they grant to all who inhabit their States, but they
do not reflectthat by this means they introduce heresy. An ambas-
sador from England, resident at Venice, is accompanied by a chaplain
who tampers with the nobles and citizens, and they spread the doctrines
of Luther and Calvin in such a manner that I believe," concluded
the Pope, "this Republic which has always been Christian, is about to
bury herself in heresy. " 1
1 M. de Bteves to H. M. Henry IV. Bib. Imra, MS.
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? 182 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1609-
Such bitter feelings against Fra Paolo at Rome were but a prelude
of greater evil. The time had not yet passed away when mistaken men
thought they did good service to the Most High God by destroying his
faithful servant.
" In his youth the Cardinal Borghese had studied at Perugia, where
Fra Bernardo had so ingratiated himself with him, that on the creation
of Borghese as Cardinal, Bernardo went to Rome in hopes of prefer-
ment. This friar was acquainted with two others, Francesco and Anto-
nio, and under pretext of study, the General of the Servites was
prevailed upon to send Francesco to Padua; and its vicinity to Venice
gave frequent opportunity to Francesco to visit Antonio who resided
at Fra Paolo's convent.
"Although these two friars were of the same province and had
long known each other, their intimacy was not agreeable to Paolo7
but he only expressed this in general terms to Antonio, who ap-
parently withdrew from Francesco; though in reality they met pri-
vately without the convent, but with permission. They, however, cor-
responded, and Francesco's letters were sent to Antonio by a Jew, who
having carried a letter to the convent when Fra Antonio was from
home gave it to the porter who took it to P. Paolo, telling him 'that
he had made the Jew confess that this was a common occurrence, '
and as the Jews are not only far sighted but timid, this Jew told him
'that he wished to declare that he would not be the bearer of any
more letters, because he did not know the business that was so secret
between them. ' P. Paolo called for Fra Antonio and gave him the
letters, but he charged him to break off all intercourse with Francesco
on pain of dismissal from his service. Fra Antonio endeavored to excuse
himself and turned the whole affair into ridicule, merely observing
that the only reason of his intimacy with Francesco was to get a
good dinner from him. Fra Antonio was believed to he more simple
than wicked, yet although forbidden to correspond the two friars
continued to do so privately, and also held a long conversation in the
vestry of the Servi. At parting, being too much engrossed in earnest
conversation to be conscious of what he did, Fra Francesco pulled a
parcel of soft wax out of his hose, with which it was intended to
take the impression of some keys, and from this impression false keys
were to be made. The wax had adhered to a small packet of letters;
Fra Francesco gave the wax into the hands of Fra Antonio, but unper-
ceived the packet of letters fell to the ground. The friars separated,
the one to his cell in the Servi, the other went his way.
"The Sacristan picked up the letters and carried them immediately
to Fra Fulgenzio Micanzio, who on reading them found them to be
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? JET 57. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 183
written in cypher, and on business of great importance. Fra Bernardo
had written to Francesco to solicit Fra Antonio to dispatch Paolo and
Fulgenzio at the Quadragesimale, ' that 500 scudi were ready and in
hand, and that 12,000 and more Were secure. In each letter he said
that he had spoken with the Holy Father and with the Fratello etc. ,
and that all were. anxiously awaiting the Quadragesimale, that the
Father General of the Servites entreated him not to doubt but that
he would be beatified, that the Holy Father had made all retire to
give him audience, with many similar particulars. These letters were
shown to P. Paolo by Fra Fulgenzio, but such was his meek self-
command, that he advised Fra Fulgenzio not to move in the matter,
but to keep silence, till all was more clearly discovered. But Fra
Fulgenzio had resolved otherwise, and without saying more, carried
the letters, eight in number, to the Most Excellent Inquisitor of State
Whom he informed how he had obtained them. Francesco, and soon
after Antonio were seized, and what followed remains secret in the
Archives of the State, but it was publicly knoWn that of the six
persons named in the letter by eypher, Fathers, Friars and Cousins,
except the General of the Servi, there was not one below the degree of
a Cardinal. "
"The orders were, at the Quadragesimale: 1? To stab P. Paolo
with a razor; 2? That something should be sent from Rome to put in his
food or in what he drank, and that thus with one bean they might
catch two pigeons (P. Paolo and Fulgenzio). But it was extremely
difficult, to administer poison to Paolo, on account of the great care
which was taken as to his food, as some bruicellato had been eaten in
the convent which caused illness.
. " The third and most likely way to make away with P. Paolo ap-
peared to these conspirators to be, that Fra Antonio should take the
impression of the keys of his cell with the wax above referred to,
that he should have false keys made from the impression, and that
Francesco, in the still hour of the night, should bring in secretly two
or three ruffians to murder the innocent P. Paolo. But God revealed
this infamous plot, and as the excellent Council of Ten wished to
ascertain the origin of this transaction, they gave sentence that if
Francesco did not communicate all he knew by a certain date, he
would be hanged. If he confessed the whole, he wasto be imprisoned
for twelve months, and then suffer perpetual banishment from Venetia.
Upon this, Francesco requested that search might be made in his
room at Padua, by a public functionary, where a large number of
1 Lent fast, also course of sermons preached during Lent.
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? 184 THE LIFE OF [. \. D. 1609.
letters in cypher and counter cypher were discovered concealed in a
cabinet, where all the above was clearly proved, as well as what the
government thought fit to conceal. " '
But lest Fra Fulgenzio he charged with exaggeration of this plot
against Fra Paolo Sarpi, will the reader' permit a further corroboration
of these facts from Fra Francesco Gio. Gratiani's own pen, although
it involves some repetition? Throughout a MS. letter to Pope Paul V,
Francesco calls himself " Fra Gio. " He tells of his reception of a let-
ter from Rome from Fra Bernardo of Perugia in the service of the
Cardinal Borghese; of his being asked to go to Venice to ascertain
from Antonio (Fra Paolo's secretary), if Fra Paolo was writing a
history of the Popes, as also of his being desired to advise Antonio
to leave Paolo's service.
These injunctions he says he obeyed, and easily got access to Fra
Antonio, as he had formerly known him, and found many volumes in
his cell of a pernicious nature, and specially notes, " Confessioni della
fede di alcune Chiese sparse in Francis, et in altre pmlel mondo, "
and that there were also many other heretical books shown to him by
Fra Antonio. who at first appeared afraid, but afterwards promised to
send some of the books to Fra Gio, and also to go to Padua to pass
eight or ten days with Fra Antonio, and confided to Fra Gio that
the great aim of Sarpi was to deal a good blow to the Popes of
Rome, and to show that all the troubles in the Church came into it
by the Popes.
Fra Gio also relates, that he immediately communicated with Fra
Bernardo at Rome, and sent him the title of Fra Paolo's book, telling
him that it had been taken from Fra Antonio's table, and continues,
" One morning, after he had celebrated mass, I took him to S. Giu-
stina, to the chapel of the blessed Virgin, into a remote secret place,
and reasoned with him in this manner: 'Fra Antonio, I wish to tell
you something very important, but before I tell you, you must swear
on the holy stone before the blessed Virgin. '
" Fra Antonio swore that he would not tell one living person. I
said, this negotiation was for the honour of God, for the good of our
holy Christian religion and of our Order; that I understood that they
wished to have some of the writings of Fra Paolo at Rome, and to
see under his hands his writings against the Roman pontitfs, and
that doing this would do honour to God, and to the Catholic religion.
And I showed him the said letter from Rome, and the intentions
of your Holiness, and of the Cardinal Borghcse. Fra Antonio on
1- MS.
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? arr. 57. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 185
seeing this letter, conceived high hopes of temporal weal," and Fra
Gio states, "that towards two o'clock in the morning they consorted
how to steal the writings of Fra Paolo, and that on that occasion Fra
Antonio said, 'Fra Gio Francesco, I wish to tell you an important
matter,' and then in lengthy phrase he related, how he had once
been asked to kill Fra Paolo; that he then could not imbrue his hands
in his blood, but he expressed himself now willing to rid the world
both of Fra Paolo and Fra Fulgenzio, if Bernardo would send the
poison from Rome. "
He added, "that nothing was easier than to poison them, as they
dined together after the other friars had dined. Upon Fra Antonio
saying, that he would write to Bernardo on this subject, Fra Gio
said he Would write first, and expressed a wish to have a copy of
the heretical book. "
The day after, Fra Antonio returned to Venice, and Fra Gio rose
early for matins and left the lamp burning. When he returned, Fra
Antonio had written and sealed his letter. Fra Gio opened it and read
it, and judging that its contents were not sufficiently obscure, he told
him so. On this Fra Antonio wrote him a second letter and sent it
to Rome, but other letters passed, and there is an acknowledgment
of 10 scudi. At length it occurred to Fra Antonio that it would be a
good plan if he took an impression of the keys of the room of Fra
Paolo, and it would thus be an easy matter to effect his death, and
on this being written to Rome, there came an answer to say, that
"this was the easiest and most approved way. "
Fra Gio further relates, that soon after this the impression of the
keys was taken by Fra Antonio, he intending to go afterwards to
Ferrara to have the keys made. He further promised to get some
leaves of Fra Paolo's books. Fra Gio mixed the wax and turpentine
wherewith the impression was to be made; but it was ill melted. The
reader knows the result. It was not the will of heaven that the world
should be defrauded of the writings of Fra Paolo Sarpi, and in place
of Fra Gio and Fra Antonio sending them to Rome to be committed
to the flames, and the whole body of the astonished Servi standing
around the murdered Fra Paolo, the Doge and Senate bewailing the
irreparable loss of their theologian and counsellor, just retribution over-
took the deluded friar. At two o'clock, Fra Gio, when at Maria d'A-
bramo, Piazzo di S. Marco, was seized by the sbirri, dragged to prison,
and shortly after examined before three nobles who, according to the
laws of Venice, were present at this inquisitorial inquiry, and was
charged with taking the impression of the keys of the Fra Paolo Sarpi.
This these judges had learned from the letters which had been found.
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? 186 THE LIFE OF - [A D. 1609
Fra Gio laid the whole blame upon Fra Antonio, who was likewise
in prison, and from his living tomb Fra Gio complains to the Pope
of his treatment as he stood before his judges. I
Fra Fulgenzio acted Wisely in giving information to the State against
Francesco, as it is certainthat if he and Antonio had been at large they
would soon have found means to destroy both Fulgenzio and Fra Paolo
But what did Fra Paolo? Did he seize a dagger and wound his foes to
death? Did he mingle a cup of poison, and brood over the deadly potion till
he bore it to the hands which had been outstretched against him ? Did he
feign himself their deliverer, and wile them to the waters around them
there to plunge them to their grave? N o! The wronged, the oftstricken but
noble hearted Servite stooped to no such revenge, to his inmost soul yet
thrilled the heavenly tones of the Immaculate One, who in his agony and
death besought Heaven's forgiveness for his murderers, and never Was
Paolo so truly great, so deservedly worthy of praise, so endeared to all who
loved him, as when he threw himself on his knees before the Senate and
asked forgiveness of his bitterest enemies.
Yet it is easy to perceive that Fra Paolo was grieved that friars of
his own Order had sought to do him wrong, but he did not relinquish
his task, he persevered in dictating his works, or in correcting them
with his own hand, and all who esteemed and venerated him were still
more careful of him than they had been prior to this conspiracy. No go-
Vernment ever took more sedulous care of the life of a public servant
than did the Doge and Senate of Fra Paolo Sarpi; but he especially
acknowledged the Higher Power that had saved him from destruction.
" I have escaped, " he writes, " another great conspiracy against my
life even the servants of my room have had a hand in it. It pleased
God to frustrate their designs, but I am greatly affiicted that men
should be imprisoned' on my account.
Life is little pleasing to me
when I see such difficulty in preserving it. " He continues his letter
with a few notes on public events, intermingled with remarks on a pub-
lication which had interested him. He makes various comments on
Fra Fulgenzio Micanzio's sermons, and from other MSS. it is certain
that Fra Paolo continued to preach as he had formerly done; the fol-
lowing epistle is interesting.
" I did not receive the packet from M. Castrinc, which brought
yours of the 17th March inclosed, till the day after the courier went
away, this day fortnight, though I have letters from different friends
1 The above, with many other details, is in a MS. purporting to have been
actually written by the infamous Fra Gio F. Gratiani. The MS. is authentic,
and it is believed never to have been printed.
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? MT. 57. ] FHA PAOLO SARPI 187
within that time. I do not know how that packet came to such ill_
fortune. This was the reason I did not write to you by the last
dispatch. .
" As to the subject of the question which is now on foot, I won-
der what is the reason that those who hold the affirmative, and see by
the Scriptures that the Lord's coming will destroy that tyranny, are not
contented therewith by waiting for that time, but would needs prevent it
by not receiving the admonition which Christ our Lord gave to S. Peter,
when by arms he endeavoured to hinder the divine decree of His death.
But no one has strength enough to keep 1nan from building his projects
more upon human means than upon those which are divine. Even Father
Ignatius so relied upon these as if there were none superior.
" The things which happened to the Patriarch on the 1st of May have
been very important; and since that, these have been followed by others
as Weighty, and so there are every day,_but the Republic always main-
tains its dignity. There has been some provision made as to those confes-
sors who scrupled at such of their votaries as had any of the writings
which were published in defence of the Republic by them; and this pro-
vision is tolerably secure, and it is ordered by a clause that friar of
who was turned away a year ago for this business and desired pardon, of-
fering himself to be tried, be still confined in his cell.
" Father Fulgenzio has preached just as you have heard him do two
years ago. He has met with great opposition from this nuncio, who
has complained of him, saying that he could not deny but that the
doctrine was good, but nevertheless he was not bound to stay till the
preacher was declared an heretic. And the Pope, making a complaint
against him, has said that that preaching of the Scriptures is a suspicious
thing; and that he that keeps so close to the Scriptures will ruin the
Catholic faith.
" The audiences which attend his sermons have been very numerous
and increasing; there have been there sometimes six hundred of the no-
bility. He has continued to speak the plain truth, proving it by the Word
of God, without reproving anyone by name; and, above all, it has been
his way to reprove that ignorance which would adopt the opinions of others
in place of understanding one's own duty. Now there cannot be a more
mortal offence to the Jesuits than this is, to have no other foundation for
all their divinity than the ignorance of the public. As for what you ask
me with regard to the mitre, I can tell you with certainty. The Pope of
Rome has two mitres, one with two points, similar to those worn by hi-
shops, and this he only uses at masses, and other sacred offices. The other
is round, with three crowns, as you have seen the Pope pourrtjyed; this
he wears in processions out of the church, but never at. divine service. The
7}\
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? 188 THE LIFE OF [AIL 1609.
first of these, as you know, is ancient, the last is not above three hundred
years old. ' .
" I have been often in the Pope's vestry, and have handled all his mitres,
and all his Regna Mundi (for so they call these round ones; the others are
called Mitres) and I can assure you that there is no letter whatsoever upon
any of them: certainly he that says so never saw any of them.
" The endeavour to gain M. Casaubon, methinks, is just like that which
'ZEsop"s fox used to put tails out of fashion, when Reynard had lost his in
a trap.
" The truce with the States, has at last delivered us from the pain
of expectation. I don't know which way the Spanish power will turn
itself. I have a good mind to think that that nation believes an uni-
versal peace best for their own advantage. It is true that God oftentimes
makes things turn quite contrary to the designs of men. His sacred will
be done!
" As to the designs against my life, since they could not be without in-
trigues and private practices, and they never did me'any real mischief, it
is not convenient to proceed to the punishment of the offenders; the busi-
ness is not yet over, but I do use, and have used, all the interest I can
(and I shall succeed in it), to' have everything hushed up; and being wil-
ling to commit myself to God's protection, I must also follow His com-
mandments, in forgiving those who wrong me.
" I have received from M. Castrine (together with your letters of the
30th of March), some quires of paper on which are inscribed the Consti-
tutions of the Jesuits. I see by them that what part was possible has been
taken out of them,' and I have not yet read the whole contents, but I
already see they contain what is of use to me, and I am greatly obliged
to that gentleman for them, but more to you, sir, to whom I am first
indebted.
" Monsieur Asselineau tells me that you have a mind to have a picture of
the Vice Deo. ' I will do what I can to procure one for you if it be possible.
Monsieur Castrine told me a short time since that he would fain have
one or two. I tried over all the city to get one, but I could not meet with
any to be sold; and knowing of none here but one, which the owner va-
lued highly. But I am in hopes that one who has been two years in Rome
will bring me a copy, and if he does I will get it from him by all means,
that I may gratify you. '
" The advice of the truce makes no change to us. We are sure that if
1 It Was Scaliger who wrote that the word, ' Mysterium' was around the triple
crown.
3 Appendix.
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? arr. 57. ] FBA PAOLO SARPI 189
the Spanish designs be to make commotions in Italy, the Pope would not
stop them, if he had any hand in it; but if they wish for peace the Pope,
with all his power, will not be able to make them stir. We are very well
satisfied by what is past and done. '
" We are in such a state of things that truly we are almost come to
M. de Bourg's Litany, Sancte Turca, libera nos, (Holy Turk, deliver us! ).
God grant that the Swiss do not at last quarrel among themselves. I see
the Spaniards have access to them, and the Jesuits great power over them.
This is a rugged ugly point to think of, for if two such sorts of people as
they are, get into the hearts and affections of the Swiss people, Europe
must look for perpetual revolutions, and Italy would weep bitterly. But
even the leaf of a tree never falls without the will of God the Lord, to
whom we must submit our will. And thus I leave off troubling you any
further, and kiss your hands. " '
Venice, April 28th 1609.
And in another letter to M. Groslot there is the following passage:
" The Father Fulgenzio Micanzio has done as becomes a true Catholic;
he has preached the gospel of Christ our Lord, and abstained from all
personalities. He has not therefore given satisfaction either to Rome or to
her adherents, because it is impossible to do so, unless they, instead of
Christ, be the subject preached. ' The Pope latterly said of him that his
sermons were good, but also bad, that he rested too much upon Scripture,
which, if anyone did, he would ruin the Catholic faith. These words are
not much approved here, I therefore praise them and hold them true.
" I see that men, as did the Church in the Acts of the Apostles, agree
together not to do what they will, but What God wills. "
About this time Sarpi continued his correspondence with M. Hott-
man; he admired his efforts for unity in the Church. " I like M. Hott-
man much, he is a man of great understanding; I saw a collection of his
writings some months since on the matter of agreement. I praise his
zeal, and the means he proposes are excellent, but we must await a good
opportunity or the effect will be contrary. The science of opportunity, said
Socrates, is the only and great leading science in the world. I hold that
many of the differences between us are merely verbal, they make me smile,
others might be calmly endured, and others composed, but all are agreed
in this that agreement is impossible. Two litigants will never agree so long
as there is any hope of either conquering; but where both are sure they are
1 Sarpi to M. Groslot.
3 Loro e Cristo, quarto case, come a dire: la dottrina o divinita loro, in luogo di
quella di Cristo.
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? 190 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1610.
in the right, there is no use to talk of agreement. Both parties hold it for
certain they will be victorious, one by divine the other by human means.
At to the first, to enter into the secrets of God is a hard thing to do, nor
is it right, and the second is forbidden. "
Much as theology occupied his mind, astronomy and the other sciences still
engaged his attention, and the improved construction _of the telescope by
Galileo facilitated his study of the orbs which are seen in all their brightness
in the Venetian sky. A telescope in a very circumscribed form had been
brought from Holland, and by application united to genius Galileo produced
one greatly superior. Fra Paolo took an unwearied interest in all Galileo's
studies, and there can he no doubt but that the learned Servite afforded
him every facility in his power to prosecute his discoveries. " Venice had
the merit of patronizing Galileo. There is still existing a decree which
appoints him to the chair of mathematics in Padua, and praises him for
having lately invented an instrument derived from the secrets of per-
spective for rendering objects visible at a great distance. " '
12th. Feb. 1610.
Galileo wrote to Sarpi to inform him of his discoveries as to the planet
Saturn and the motion of the planet-Venus; but while he was pleased to
trace the stars and planets in their course, he was far from being sa-
tisfied with the aspect of public affairs; the political sky lowered and
this acute -politician feared a storm. He received his letters as usual
from M. Bruslart, and from France, and writing to M. Castrine, he
sends him a little work " On Beneficiary Matters. " It was published by
Paolo Sarpi, but without his name. Extracts from its pages prove
that he had fully studied the question of church government, as also
the rise and progress of the Papacy, and his remarks upon the Popes
evince that he was fearless in speaking truth, and showed what Italy
would be, if she regarded the Pope only as Bishop of Rome. ' This
remarkable work received the unqualified praise of the learned then, as
now, and there is no doubt of its authorship, as the letter above men-
tioned was seen by Foscarini amongst the MSS. of Fontanini.
Of this book Mr. Gibbon writes, " In the treatise Delle Materie Be-
neficiare of Fra Paolo, in the fourth and best edition of his works,
the Papal system is deeply studied and freely described. Should Rome
and her system be annihilated, this golden volume may still survive, a
philosophied history and a salutary warning. " Mr. Hallam observes,
" Nothing was more worthy of remark, especially in literary history,
than the appearance of one great man, Fra Paolo Sarpi, the first who
1 Reg. Senate Terra. 26 Aug. 1609. R. Brown.
3 Appendix.
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? M. 58. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 191
'in modern times and in a Christian country shook the fabric not Only
of papal despotism, but of ecclesiastical independence and power, for
it is to be Observed that the Pope was contending for what were cal-
led the rights of the Church not for his own supremacy over it. Sarpi
was a man of extraordinary genius, learning, and judgment; his phy-
sical and anatomical knowledge was such as to have caused at least
several great discoveries to be assigned to him. His reasoning was con-
cise and cogent, his style perspicuous and animated. A treatise, Delle
Materie Beneficiare, in other words, on the rights, revenues, and privi-
leges in secular matters, is a model in its way. The history is so
short, and yet so sufficient, the sequence so natural and clear, the
proofs so judiciously introduced, that it can never'be read without de-
light and admiration of the author's skill. And this is the more strik-
ing to those who have toiled at the verbose books of the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, where tedious quotations, accumulated not
selected, disguise the arguments which they mean to confirm. Except
the first book of Machiavelli's History of Florence, I do not remember
any earlier summary of facts so lucid and pertinent to the object. That
object was neither more or less than to represent the wealth and pow-
er- of the Church as ill gotten and excessive. The treatise on bene-
fices led the way, or rather was the seed thrown into the ground that
ultimately produced the many efforts both of the press and of public
authority to break down these privileges. "
But we must pass on to an event by which Europe was alarmed,
amid preparations of War, the death of Henry IV; there Was reason to
apprehend evil results; but the Servite was reassured by the nobility
of France being true to the crown, and the people peaceful.
Another painful event at Rome also demands our attention; the
wretched Manfredi, having failed to procure advancement there, was
tried for his life under pretences of which Sarpi seems ignorant.
" Fra Fulgenzio (Manfredi) went away as you know in the beginning
of August 1608, with an ample patent of safe conduct and a particular
clause in it that nothing should be done against his honor. At Rome
they tampered with him to induce him to abjure and to do public
penance, but he refused, and referred to his safe conduct. At last persis-
ting in his denial to do public penance, he contented himself with
making a secret abjuration before a notary and two witnesses, and this
by a new declaration by the Cardinals that it should he understood as
done without dishonor or prejudice to him. Time passed, sometimes things
went well sometimes ill, when one evening Cardinal Panfilio the Pope's
Vicar suddenly sent some sbirri to apprehend him, pretending that he had
done something, I know not what, connected with his office. They put him
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? 192 THE LIFE OF
[A. D. 1610.
W!
N
in prison in the tower of Nona where men are imprisoned for ordinary '
ofi'ences. They then seized and examined his papers, this done, they removed
him to the prison of the Inquisition. They then made three charges
against him, that he had prohibited books, held correspondence with the
heretics of England and Germany, and written articles against the Ro-
mish Catholic doctrine, in particular that Saint Peter was not above
the other Apostles, that the Pope is not head of the church, that the
\Co'neil of Trent was neither a lawful nor a general Council, that there are
many heresies in the church of Rome, and many other such things.
'" To these charges he answered, 'that as to the books, he did not
know they were prohibited, as to his correspondents, none of them
were declared heretics, as to the writings under his own hand, they
were imperfect, and 'not his real opinions, but only memoranda for
consideration of these points. ' These answers did not satisfy the
Iuquisitors; they were determined to bring him to the torture, and
on this being intimated to him he answered, that he was not amenable
to torture, but that they might do as they pleased, he threw himself
upon their mercy. On the 4th of July he was brought into the Church
of St. Peter's, where there was a numerous concourse of people, and
being placed upon the ground, his crimes were read and his sentence
passed on him.
"He was sentenced to be excluded from the pale of the Church as
a relapsed heretic, and delivered over to the Governor of Rome to be
chastised, but without drawing blood. At this ceremony, which lasted
an hour, Fra Fulgentio stood with his eyes lifted up to heaven, but
never spoke a word, and it was a common opinion that he had a gag
in his mouth.
"The ceremony being finished, he was conducted to the Church of
S. Salvatore, in Laura, and there degraded, and the following morning
hanged and burned in the Campo de' Fiori. There are various opinions
as to whether these things which are laid to his charge are true, or
are calumnies; but some, presupposing that they were true, do not
hesitate to say that he was wronged, because on account of the safe
conduct, the abjuration and looking upon him as relapsed was not to be
turned to his prejudice. I know not how to judge, but the beginning
and end, a safe conduct, and a great fire; what passed in the interim is
hidden, but from this we may conclude that the Pope has little favour
to Venice. We have had many other indications of this, and therefore the
Padre Paolo had better be cautious. He therefore does not fail in or-
dinary care, but leaves all to God, being certain that whatever God does
will be good.
But when Fulgenzio only offered him money if he was in want,
the soldier exclaimed, "Beware of traitors, ye have need to do so.
God takes care of you who are better friars than others wish you were! "
This said, he disappeared.
It did not transpire whether this soldier--priest had any communica-
tion with Cardinal Bellarmine, or if it was to make Fra Paolo watch
against the same intended plot that he warned the friar, but the
instance about to be given of that Cardinal's true appreciation of his
old friend not only shows how his heart warmed towards him, but
demonstrates that in both there still remained virtue and Christian
charity. "The Cardinal sent his salutations twice to the Father, once
by a Roman secular, who told him by the Cardinal's command to guard
himself securely, because there was urgent need for such caution, and
again by Testoni a Venetian, a Roman friar on his way to Mantua.
He was commissioned by Cardinal Bellarmine, who mentioned Paolo
by naine, to salute the Father affectionately for him, to tell him that
he still retained his affection for him and to bid him note, that two
friars under the title of, " A life of the P. Paolo, " had written a libel-
lous work which they had presented to Paul V, who had given it to
the Cardinal for examination' in order to obtain his opinion of it,
with a view to its publication, but as the Cardinal knew the Father
well he told the Pope to believe that the work only contained notorious
calumnies, and their publication would only bring great dishonor on
the publisher.
Testoni told many such anecdotes to Fra Fulgenzio who observes
"that every kind of scandal both against his life and honor were
published, besides numerous libels to please the Court of Rome, but
the Father showed no sign of resentment or anger, one of his great
excellencies, and that which accompanied him to the tomb being his
gentleness, and all of his Order bore witness_ that they never heard
him seek revenge. " One of the authors was called P. Gioseffo, but
Fra Paolo, so far from returning evil for evil, although he- knew the
author of the libel above mentioned, did not punish him but permitted
him to enjoy an honorable employment; however, after Fra Paolo's
death, these calumnies and other delinquencies were the cause of his
banishment from the dominions of Venetia, but such was Paolo's charity
that when he received the greatest wrong his expression of counte-
nance Was most serene, and he endeavored to extenuate the offence as much
as possible, usually saying, that such an one's brain was touched, and that
in his position, or for his own interest, he could not do otherwise. '
1 MS.
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? 180 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1609.
It has been noticed that the Archdeacon Rubetti had been well received
at Rome; five hundred ducats per annum were immediately conferred upon
him by the Pope, the recipient declaring, " that he had defended the Re-
public of Venice against his will! " 1 It is easy to conceive the mischief
that this ecclesiastic could, and did do against the Republic, he was one
of the seven who had put his name to writings in her favor, he was now
an informer against her.
The Court of Rome still continued to tamper with the Republic's defen-
ders. " As to me, " writes Sarpi, "I not only believe, but I have daily
proof of the snares laid for me. I do all I can by way of caution, but
without either anxiety or solicitude. Without God no design can be ef-
fected, whatever pleases Him best is for good. With this I am content.
They will gain nothing by taking my life, and through me they will find
greater opposition when Iam dead than when I am alive. They have used
every means lately to gain the others both by promises and by threats. I
believe they will not gain any more from them than they have done. They
do not attempt to gain me; they say openly there is no"'hope of me but by
daggers. " ' What a miserable life was Sarpi's in one sense, never to know
what it was to be safe from an assassin's thrust, and yet how he was to be
envied! Tranquil amidst revengeful passions, forgiving to his greatest ene-
mies, intrepid in the midst of danger, casting the veil of charity over the de-
fects of those who had once been his friends, never swerving from the path
of honor although' one of peril, but living a life of faith on the Son of God,
and listening to the holy solace which has emboldened the persecuted, "All
things are yours, Whether life or death, or things present or things to come,
all are yours, for ye are Christ's and Christ is God's. " The Senate of Ve-
nice was not so forgiving, indeed public justice required that he, who had
once defended the Republic and now betrayed her, ought to be punished
at all events in some measure, and while the Archdeacon was publicly
proceeded against, the Senate showed their approval of Fra Paolo and his
fellow supporters, by awarding two hundred ducats to each of those who
had proved themselves the stedfast defenders, faithful servants, and loyal
subjects of the Republic.
But Fra Paolo would not accept the proffered gift, " lest it should be said
that he had defended the public for gain, " and there still remained in his
heart the cherished hope that better times would dawn upon his country,
and that " if he were not alive to serve it, others would. "
In a letter of this date he takes a rapid survey of various subjects, and
mentions that the Due dc Sully had withdrawn from the Reformed Church,
1 Letters (Sarpi) Marciana.
3 Jan. 6, to M. Groslot 1609.
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? Ar. 57. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 181
and attached himself to the communion of the Church of Rome. He adds,
" This is not 'true. " Sarpi had admired the Duke's conduct with regard
to the Jesuits, and does not appear to have ever expressed gratification on
hearing that any had quitted the Reformed, for this he has been censured.
Was it likely that he would when he desired reform in the Church of
Rome? He expressed approval of the confession of the Reformed Church
of France, especially of the. 3lst article, and observed " that the book would
survive whatever pains were taken for its suppression. " His tidings from
Rome augured ill for Fra Fulgenzio Manfredi. He had demanded a bis-
hopric, which had been refused, he had resisted public penance, but the
Archdeacon consented to perform it, and was seen barefooted, bearing a
candle, and visiting the seven churches. Whilst these measures were
enacted at Rome, Matthias had assumed the monarchy of Hungary, and
Sarpi comments frequently on the confusion which the Jesuits had caused
by their intrigues in Spain, France, Switzerland, and England.
It may be tedious to the reader to be obliged to read of these dis-
turbers of the peace of Europe so frequently as Sarpi mentions them,
but his biography cannot be written without a consecutive notice of
this body, of whom he was eager to obtain more knowledge. He had
studied Hosenmuller, but he had long been wishful to obtain the
Constitutions of the Jesuits, which were at last copied for him by
M. Castrine.
One might have supposed this body would have desisted from their
attempts to prejudice the Pope against Venetia, but he was still loud
incomplaint against Fra Paolo and the Republic, andthus expressed
his opinion to the French Ambassador.
" The Venetians employ three or four theologians at their own
charge to write against the authority of the Popes, and when the
book which the Frere Paul wrote by their command was shewn
by us to several learned theologians, they discovered eight pas-
sages which are palpably heretical; and we are informed by letters
from France, that many heretical books have been introduced into
Venice from Geneva. The Venetians think they derive great benefit
from the liberty they grant to all who inhabit their States, but they
do not reflectthat by this means they introduce heresy. An ambas-
sador from England, resident at Venice, is accompanied by a chaplain
who tampers with the nobles and citizens, and they spread the doctrines
of Luther and Calvin in such a manner that I believe," concluded
the Pope, "this Republic which has always been Christian, is about to
bury herself in heresy. " 1
1 M. de Bteves to H. M. Henry IV. Bib. Imra, MS.
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? 182 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1609-
Such bitter feelings against Fra Paolo at Rome were but a prelude
of greater evil. The time had not yet passed away when mistaken men
thought they did good service to the Most High God by destroying his
faithful servant.
" In his youth the Cardinal Borghese had studied at Perugia, where
Fra Bernardo had so ingratiated himself with him, that on the creation
of Borghese as Cardinal, Bernardo went to Rome in hopes of prefer-
ment. This friar was acquainted with two others, Francesco and Anto-
nio, and under pretext of study, the General of the Servites was
prevailed upon to send Francesco to Padua; and its vicinity to Venice
gave frequent opportunity to Francesco to visit Antonio who resided
at Fra Paolo's convent.
"Although these two friars were of the same province and had
long known each other, their intimacy was not agreeable to Paolo7
but he only expressed this in general terms to Antonio, who ap-
parently withdrew from Francesco; though in reality they met pri-
vately without the convent, but with permission. They, however, cor-
responded, and Francesco's letters were sent to Antonio by a Jew, who
having carried a letter to the convent when Fra Antonio was from
home gave it to the porter who took it to P. Paolo, telling him 'that
he had made the Jew confess that this was a common occurrence, '
and as the Jews are not only far sighted but timid, this Jew told him
'that he wished to declare that he would not be the bearer of any
more letters, because he did not know the business that was so secret
between them. ' P. Paolo called for Fra Antonio and gave him the
letters, but he charged him to break off all intercourse with Francesco
on pain of dismissal from his service. Fra Antonio endeavored to excuse
himself and turned the whole affair into ridicule, merely observing
that the only reason of his intimacy with Francesco was to get a
good dinner from him. Fra Antonio was believed to he more simple
than wicked, yet although forbidden to correspond the two friars
continued to do so privately, and also held a long conversation in the
vestry of the Servi. At parting, being too much engrossed in earnest
conversation to be conscious of what he did, Fra Francesco pulled a
parcel of soft wax out of his hose, with which it was intended to
take the impression of some keys, and from this impression false keys
were to be made. The wax had adhered to a small packet of letters;
Fra Francesco gave the wax into the hands of Fra Antonio, but unper-
ceived the packet of letters fell to the ground. The friars separated,
the one to his cell in the Servi, the other went his way.
"The Sacristan picked up the letters and carried them immediately
to Fra Fulgenzio Micanzio, who on reading them found them to be
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? JET 57. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 183
written in cypher, and on business of great importance. Fra Bernardo
had written to Francesco to solicit Fra Antonio to dispatch Paolo and
Fulgenzio at the Quadragesimale, ' that 500 scudi were ready and in
hand, and that 12,000 and more Were secure. In each letter he said
that he had spoken with the Holy Father and with the Fratello etc. ,
and that all were. anxiously awaiting the Quadragesimale, that the
Father General of the Servites entreated him not to doubt but that
he would be beatified, that the Holy Father had made all retire to
give him audience, with many similar particulars. These letters were
shown to P. Paolo by Fra Fulgenzio, but such was his meek self-
command, that he advised Fra Fulgenzio not to move in the matter,
but to keep silence, till all was more clearly discovered. But Fra
Fulgenzio had resolved otherwise, and without saying more, carried
the letters, eight in number, to the Most Excellent Inquisitor of State
Whom he informed how he had obtained them. Francesco, and soon
after Antonio were seized, and what followed remains secret in the
Archives of the State, but it was publicly knoWn that of the six
persons named in the letter by eypher, Fathers, Friars and Cousins,
except the General of the Servi, there was not one below the degree of
a Cardinal. "
"The orders were, at the Quadragesimale: 1? To stab P. Paolo
with a razor; 2? That something should be sent from Rome to put in his
food or in what he drank, and that thus with one bean they might
catch two pigeons (P. Paolo and Fulgenzio). But it was extremely
difficult, to administer poison to Paolo, on account of the great care
which was taken as to his food, as some bruicellato had been eaten in
the convent which caused illness.
. " The third and most likely way to make away with P. Paolo ap-
peared to these conspirators to be, that Fra Antonio should take the
impression of the keys of his cell with the wax above referred to,
that he should have false keys made from the impression, and that
Francesco, in the still hour of the night, should bring in secretly two
or three ruffians to murder the innocent P. Paolo. But God revealed
this infamous plot, and as the excellent Council of Ten wished to
ascertain the origin of this transaction, they gave sentence that if
Francesco did not communicate all he knew by a certain date, he
would be hanged. If he confessed the whole, he wasto be imprisoned
for twelve months, and then suffer perpetual banishment from Venetia.
Upon this, Francesco requested that search might be made in his
room at Padua, by a public functionary, where a large number of
1 Lent fast, also course of sermons preached during Lent.
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? 184 THE LIFE OF [. \. D. 1609.
letters in cypher and counter cypher were discovered concealed in a
cabinet, where all the above was clearly proved, as well as what the
government thought fit to conceal. " '
But lest Fra Fulgenzio he charged with exaggeration of this plot
against Fra Paolo Sarpi, will the reader' permit a further corroboration
of these facts from Fra Francesco Gio. Gratiani's own pen, although
it involves some repetition? Throughout a MS. letter to Pope Paul V,
Francesco calls himself " Fra Gio. " He tells of his reception of a let-
ter from Rome from Fra Bernardo of Perugia in the service of the
Cardinal Borghese; of his being asked to go to Venice to ascertain
from Antonio (Fra Paolo's secretary), if Fra Paolo was writing a
history of the Popes, as also of his being desired to advise Antonio
to leave Paolo's service.
These injunctions he says he obeyed, and easily got access to Fra
Antonio, as he had formerly known him, and found many volumes in
his cell of a pernicious nature, and specially notes, " Confessioni della
fede di alcune Chiese sparse in Francis, et in altre pmlel mondo, "
and that there were also many other heretical books shown to him by
Fra Antonio. who at first appeared afraid, but afterwards promised to
send some of the books to Fra Gio, and also to go to Padua to pass
eight or ten days with Fra Antonio, and confided to Fra Gio that
the great aim of Sarpi was to deal a good blow to the Popes of
Rome, and to show that all the troubles in the Church came into it
by the Popes.
Fra Gio also relates, that he immediately communicated with Fra
Bernardo at Rome, and sent him the title of Fra Paolo's book, telling
him that it had been taken from Fra Antonio's table, and continues,
" One morning, after he had celebrated mass, I took him to S. Giu-
stina, to the chapel of the blessed Virgin, into a remote secret place,
and reasoned with him in this manner: 'Fra Antonio, I wish to tell
you something very important, but before I tell you, you must swear
on the holy stone before the blessed Virgin. '
" Fra Antonio swore that he would not tell one living person. I
said, this negotiation was for the honour of God, for the good of our
holy Christian religion and of our Order; that I understood that they
wished to have some of the writings of Fra Paolo at Rome, and to
see under his hands his writings against the Roman pontitfs, and
that doing this would do honour to God, and to the Catholic religion.
And I showed him the said letter from Rome, and the intentions
of your Holiness, and of the Cardinal Borghcse. Fra Antonio on
1- MS.
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? arr. 57. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 185
seeing this letter, conceived high hopes of temporal weal," and Fra
Gio states, "that towards two o'clock in the morning they consorted
how to steal the writings of Fra Paolo, and that on that occasion Fra
Antonio said, 'Fra Gio Francesco, I wish to tell you an important
matter,' and then in lengthy phrase he related, how he had once
been asked to kill Fra Paolo; that he then could not imbrue his hands
in his blood, but he expressed himself now willing to rid the world
both of Fra Paolo and Fra Fulgenzio, if Bernardo would send the
poison from Rome. "
He added, "that nothing was easier than to poison them, as they
dined together after the other friars had dined. Upon Fra Antonio
saying, that he would write to Bernardo on this subject, Fra Gio
said he Would write first, and expressed a wish to have a copy of
the heretical book. "
The day after, Fra Antonio returned to Venice, and Fra Gio rose
early for matins and left the lamp burning. When he returned, Fra
Antonio had written and sealed his letter. Fra Gio opened it and read
it, and judging that its contents were not sufficiently obscure, he told
him so. On this Fra Antonio wrote him a second letter and sent it
to Rome, but other letters passed, and there is an acknowledgment
of 10 scudi. At length it occurred to Fra Antonio that it would be a
good plan if he took an impression of the keys of the room of Fra
Paolo, and it would thus be an easy matter to effect his death, and
on this being written to Rome, there came an answer to say, that
"this was the easiest and most approved way. "
Fra Gio further relates, that soon after this the impression of the
keys was taken by Fra Antonio, he intending to go afterwards to
Ferrara to have the keys made. He further promised to get some
leaves of Fra Paolo's books. Fra Gio mixed the wax and turpentine
wherewith the impression was to be made; but it was ill melted. The
reader knows the result. It was not the will of heaven that the world
should be defrauded of the writings of Fra Paolo Sarpi, and in place
of Fra Gio and Fra Antonio sending them to Rome to be committed
to the flames, and the whole body of the astonished Servi standing
around the murdered Fra Paolo, the Doge and Senate bewailing the
irreparable loss of their theologian and counsellor, just retribution over-
took the deluded friar. At two o'clock, Fra Gio, when at Maria d'A-
bramo, Piazzo di S. Marco, was seized by the sbirri, dragged to prison,
and shortly after examined before three nobles who, according to the
laws of Venice, were present at this inquisitorial inquiry, and was
charged with taking the impression of the keys of the Fra Paolo Sarpi.
This these judges had learned from the letters which had been found.
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? 186 THE LIFE OF - [A D. 1609
Fra Gio laid the whole blame upon Fra Antonio, who was likewise
in prison, and from his living tomb Fra Gio complains to the Pope
of his treatment as he stood before his judges. I
Fra Fulgenzio acted Wisely in giving information to the State against
Francesco, as it is certainthat if he and Antonio had been at large they
would soon have found means to destroy both Fulgenzio and Fra Paolo
But what did Fra Paolo? Did he seize a dagger and wound his foes to
death? Did he mingle a cup of poison, and brood over the deadly potion till
he bore it to the hands which had been outstretched against him ? Did he
feign himself their deliverer, and wile them to the waters around them
there to plunge them to their grave? N o! The wronged, the oftstricken but
noble hearted Servite stooped to no such revenge, to his inmost soul yet
thrilled the heavenly tones of the Immaculate One, who in his agony and
death besought Heaven's forgiveness for his murderers, and never Was
Paolo so truly great, so deservedly worthy of praise, so endeared to all who
loved him, as when he threw himself on his knees before the Senate and
asked forgiveness of his bitterest enemies.
Yet it is easy to perceive that Fra Paolo was grieved that friars of
his own Order had sought to do him wrong, but he did not relinquish
his task, he persevered in dictating his works, or in correcting them
with his own hand, and all who esteemed and venerated him were still
more careful of him than they had been prior to this conspiracy. No go-
Vernment ever took more sedulous care of the life of a public servant
than did the Doge and Senate of Fra Paolo Sarpi; but he especially
acknowledged the Higher Power that had saved him from destruction.
" I have escaped, " he writes, " another great conspiracy against my
life even the servants of my room have had a hand in it. It pleased
God to frustrate their designs, but I am greatly affiicted that men
should be imprisoned' on my account.
Life is little pleasing to me
when I see such difficulty in preserving it. " He continues his letter
with a few notes on public events, intermingled with remarks on a pub-
lication which had interested him. He makes various comments on
Fra Fulgenzio Micanzio's sermons, and from other MSS. it is certain
that Fra Paolo continued to preach as he had formerly done; the fol-
lowing epistle is interesting.
" I did not receive the packet from M. Castrinc, which brought
yours of the 17th March inclosed, till the day after the courier went
away, this day fortnight, though I have letters from different friends
1 The above, with many other details, is in a MS. purporting to have been
actually written by the infamous Fra Gio F. Gratiani. The MS. is authentic,
and it is believed never to have been printed.
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? MT. 57. ] FHA PAOLO SARPI 187
within that time. I do not know how that packet came to such ill_
fortune. This was the reason I did not write to you by the last
dispatch. .
" As to the subject of the question which is now on foot, I won-
der what is the reason that those who hold the affirmative, and see by
the Scriptures that the Lord's coming will destroy that tyranny, are not
contented therewith by waiting for that time, but would needs prevent it
by not receiving the admonition which Christ our Lord gave to S. Peter,
when by arms he endeavoured to hinder the divine decree of His death.
But no one has strength enough to keep 1nan from building his projects
more upon human means than upon those which are divine. Even Father
Ignatius so relied upon these as if there were none superior.
" The things which happened to the Patriarch on the 1st of May have
been very important; and since that, these have been followed by others
as Weighty, and so there are every day,_but the Republic always main-
tains its dignity. There has been some provision made as to those confes-
sors who scrupled at such of their votaries as had any of the writings
which were published in defence of the Republic by them; and this pro-
vision is tolerably secure, and it is ordered by a clause that friar of
who was turned away a year ago for this business and desired pardon, of-
fering himself to be tried, be still confined in his cell.
" Father Fulgenzio has preached just as you have heard him do two
years ago. He has met with great opposition from this nuncio, who
has complained of him, saying that he could not deny but that the
doctrine was good, but nevertheless he was not bound to stay till the
preacher was declared an heretic. And the Pope, making a complaint
against him, has said that that preaching of the Scriptures is a suspicious
thing; and that he that keeps so close to the Scriptures will ruin the
Catholic faith.
" The audiences which attend his sermons have been very numerous
and increasing; there have been there sometimes six hundred of the no-
bility. He has continued to speak the plain truth, proving it by the Word
of God, without reproving anyone by name; and, above all, it has been
his way to reprove that ignorance which would adopt the opinions of others
in place of understanding one's own duty. Now there cannot be a more
mortal offence to the Jesuits than this is, to have no other foundation for
all their divinity than the ignorance of the public. As for what you ask
me with regard to the mitre, I can tell you with certainty. The Pope of
Rome has two mitres, one with two points, similar to those worn by hi-
shops, and this he only uses at masses, and other sacred offices. The other
is round, with three crowns, as you have seen the Pope pourrtjyed; this
he wears in processions out of the church, but never at. divine service. The
7}\
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? 188 THE LIFE OF [AIL 1609.
first of these, as you know, is ancient, the last is not above three hundred
years old. ' .
" I have been often in the Pope's vestry, and have handled all his mitres,
and all his Regna Mundi (for so they call these round ones; the others are
called Mitres) and I can assure you that there is no letter whatsoever upon
any of them: certainly he that says so never saw any of them.
" The endeavour to gain M. Casaubon, methinks, is just like that which
'ZEsop"s fox used to put tails out of fashion, when Reynard had lost his in
a trap.
" The truce with the States, has at last delivered us from the pain
of expectation. I don't know which way the Spanish power will turn
itself. I have a good mind to think that that nation believes an uni-
versal peace best for their own advantage. It is true that God oftentimes
makes things turn quite contrary to the designs of men. His sacred will
be done!
" As to the designs against my life, since they could not be without in-
trigues and private practices, and they never did me'any real mischief, it
is not convenient to proceed to the punishment of the offenders; the busi-
ness is not yet over, but I do use, and have used, all the interest I can
(and I shall succeed in it), to' have everything hushed up; and being wil-
ling to commit myself to God's protection, I must also follow His com-
mandments, in forgiving those who wrong me.
" I have received from M. Castrine (together with your letters of the
30th of March), some quires of paper on which are inscribed the Consti-
tutions of the Jesuits. I see by them that what part was possible has been
taken out of them,' and I have not yet read the whole contents, but I
already see they contain what is of use to me, and I am greatly obliged
to that gentleman for them, but more to you, sir, to whom I am first
indebted.
" Monsieur Asselineau tells me that you have a mind to have a picture of
the Vice Deo. ' I will do what I can to procure one for you if it be possible.
Monsieur Castrine told me a short time since that he would fain have
one or two. I tried over all the city to get one, but I could not meet with
any to be sold; and knowing of none here but one, which the owner va-
lued highly. But I am in hopes that one who has been two years in Rome
will bring me a copy, and if he does I will get it from him by all means,
that I may gratify you. '
" The advice of the truce makes no change to us. We are sure that if
1 It Was Scaliger who wrote that the word, ' Mysterium' was around the triple
crown.
3 Appendix.
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? arr. 57. ] FBA PAOLO SARPI 189
the Spanish designs be to make commotions in Italy, the Pope would not
stop them, if he had any hand in it; but if they wish for peace the Pope,
with all his power, will not be able to make them stir. We are very well
satisfied by what is past and done. '
" We are in such a state of things that truly we are almost come to
M. de Bourg's Litany, Sancte Turca, libera nos, (Holy Turk, deliver us! ).
God grant that the Swiss do not at last quarrel among themselves. I see
the Spaniards have access to them, and the Jesuits great power over them.
This is a rugged ugly point to think of, for if two such sorts of people as
they are, get into the hearts and affections of the Swiss people, Europe
must look for perpetual revolutions, and Italy would weep bitterly. But
even the leaf of a tree never falls without the will of God the Lord, to
whom we must submit our will. And thus I leave off troubling you any
further, and kiss your hands. " '
Venice, April 28th 1609.
And in another letter to M. Groslot there is the following passage:
" The Father Fulgenzio Micanzio has done as becomes a true Catholic;
he has preached the gospel of Christ our Lord, and abstained from all
personalities. He has not therefore given satisfaction either to Rome or to
her adherents, because it is impossible to do so, unless they, instead of
Christ, be the subject preached. ' The Pope latterly said of him that his
sermons were good, but also bad, that he rested too much upon Scripture,
which, if anyone did, he would ruin the Catholic faith. These words are
not much approved here, I therefore praise them and hold them true.
" I see that men, as did the Church in the Acts of the Apostles, agree
together not to do what they will, but What God wills. "
About this time Sarpi continued his correspondence with M. Hott-
man; he admired his efforts for unity in the Church. " I like M. Hott-
man much, he is a man of great understanding; I saw a collection of his
writings some months since on the matter of agreement. I praise his
zeal, and the means he proposes are excellent, but we must await a good
opportunity or the effect will be contrary. The science of opportunity, said
Socrates, is the only and great leading science in the world. I hold that
many of the differences between us are merely verbal, they make me smile,
others might be calmly endured, and others composed, but all are agreed
in this that agreement is impossible. Two litigants will never agree so long
as there is any hope of either conquering; but where both are sure they are
1 Sarpi to M. Groslot.
3 Loro e Cristo, quarto case, come a dire: la dottrina o divinita loro, in luogo di
quella di Cristo.
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? 190 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1610.
in the right, there is no use to talk of agreement. Both parties hold it for
certain they will be victorious, one by divine the other by human means.
At to the first, to enter into the secrets of God is a hard thing to do, nor
is it right, and the second is forbidden. "
Much as theology occupied his mind, astronomy and the other sciences still
engaged his attention, and the improved construction _of the telescope by
Galileo facilitated his study of the orbs which are seen in all their brightness
in the Venetian sky. A telescope in a very circumscribed form had been
brought from Holland, and by application united to genius Galileo produced
one greatly superior. Fra Paolo took an unwearied interest in all Galileo's
studies, and there can he no doubt but that the learned Servite afforded
him every facility in his power to prosecute his discoveries. " Venice had
the merit of patronizing Galileo. There is still existing a decree which
appoints him to the chair of mathematics in Padua, and praises him for
having lately invented an instrument derived from the secrets of per-
spective for rendering objects visible at a great distance. " '
12th. Feb. 1610.
Galileo wrote to Sarpi to inform him of his discoveries as to the planet
Saturn and the motion of the planet-Venus; but while he was pleased to
trace the stars and planets in their course, he was far from being sa-
tisfied with the aspect of public affairs; the political sky lowered and
this acute -politician feared a storm. He received his letters as usual
from M. Bruslart, and from France, and writing to M. Castrine, he
sends him a little work " On Beneficiary Matters. " It was published by
Paolo Sarpi, but without his name. Extracts from its pages prove
that he had fully studied the question of church government, as also
the rise and progress of the Papacy, and his remarks upon the Popes
evince that he was fearless in speaking truth, and showed what Italy
would be, if she regarded the Pope only as Bishop of Rome. ' This
remarkable work received the unqualified praise of the learned then, as
now, and there is no doubt of its authorship, as the letter above men-
tioned was seen by Foscarini amongst the MSS. of Fontanini.
Of this book Mr. Gibbon writes, " In the treatise Delle Materie Be-
neficiare of Fra Paolo, in the fourth and best edition of his works,
the Papal system is deeply studied and freely described. Should Rome
and her system be annihilated, this golden volume may still survive, a
philosophied history and a salutary warning. " Mr. Hallam observes,
" Nothing was more worthy of remark, especially in literary history,
than the appearance of one great man, Fra Paolo Sarpi, the first who
1 Reg. Senate Terra. 26 Aug. 1609. R. Brown.
3 Appendix.
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? M. 58. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 191
'in modern times and in a Christian country shook the fabric not Only
of papal despotism, but of ecclesiastical independence and power, for
it is to be Observed that the Pope was contending for what were cal-
led the rights of the Church not for his own supremacy over it. Sarpi
was a man of extraordinary genius, learning, and judgment; his phy-
sical and anatomical knowledge was such as to have caused at least
several great discoveries to be assigned to him. His reasoning was con-
cise and cogent, his style perspicuous and animated. A treatise, Delle
Materie Beneficiare, in other words, on the rights, revenues, and privi-
leges in secular matters, is a model in its way. The history is so
short, and yet so sufficient, the sequence so natural and clear, the
proofs so judiciously introduced, that it can never'be read without de-
light and admiration of the author's skill. And this is the more strik-
ing to those who have toiled at the verbose books of the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, where tedious quotations, accumulated not
selected, disguise the arguments which they mean to confirm. Except
the first book of Machiavelli's History of Florence, I do not remember
any earlier summary of facts so lucid and pertinent to the object. That
object was neither more or less than to represent the wealth and pow-
er- of the Church as ill gotten and excessive. The treatise on bene-
fices led the way, or rather was the seed thrown into the ground that
ultimately produced the many efforts both of the press and of public
authority to break down these privileges. "
But we must pass on to an event by which Europe was alarmed,
amid preparations of War, the death of Henry IV; there Was reason to
apprehend evil results; but the Servite was reassured by the nobility
of France being true to the crown, and the people peaceful.
Another painful event at Rome also demands our attention; the
wretched Manfredi, having failed to procure advancement there, was
tried for his life under pretences of which Sarpi seems ignorant.
" Fra Fulgenzio (Manfredi) went away as you know in the beginning
of August 1608, with an ample patent of safe conduct and a particular
clause in it that nothing should be done against his honor. At Rome
they tampered with him to induce him to abjure and to do public
penance, but he refused, and referred to his safe conduct. At last persis-
ting in his denial to do public penance, he contented himself with
making a secret abjuration before a notary and two witnesses, and this
by a new declaration by the Cardinals that it should he understood as
done without dishonor or prejudice to him. Time passed, sometimes things
went well sometimes ill, when one evening Cardinal Panfilio the Pope's
Vicar suddenly sent some sbirri to apprehend him, pretending that he had
done something, I know not what, connected with his office. They put him
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? 192 THE LIFE OF
[A. D. 1610.
W!
N
in prison in the tower of Nona where men are imprisoned for ordinary '
ofi'ences. They then seized and examined his papers, this done, they removed
him to the prison of the Inquisition. They then made three charges
against him, that he had prohibited books, held correspondence with the
heretics of England and Germany, and written articles against the Ro-
mish Catholic doctrine, in particular that Saint Peter was not above
the other Apostles, that the Pope is not head of the church, that the
\Co'neil of Trent was neither a lawful nor a general Council, that there are
many heresies in the church of Rome, and many other such things.
'" To these charges he answered, 'that as to the books, he did not
know they were prohibited, as to his correspondents, none of them
were declared heretics, as to the writings under his own hand, they
were imperfect, and 'not his real opinions, but only memoranda for
consideration of these points. ' These answers did not satisfy the
Iuquisitors; they were determined to bring him to the torture, and
on this being intimated to him he answered, that he was not amenable
to torture, but that they might do as they pleased, he threw himself
upon their mercy. On the 4th of July he was brought into the Church
of St. Peter's, where there was a numerous concourse of people, and
being placed upon the ground, his crimes were read and his sentence
passed on him.
"He was sentenced to be excluded from the pale of the Church as
a relapsed heretic, and delivered over to the Governor of Rome to be
chastised, but without drawing blood. At this ceremony, which lasted
an hour, Fra Fulgentio stood with his eyes lifted up to heaven, but
never spoke a word, and it was a common opinion that he had a gag
in his mouth.
"The ceremony being finished, he was conducted to the Church of
S. Salvatore, in Laura, and there degraded, and the following morning
hanged and burned in the Campo de' Fiori. There are various opinions
as to whether these things which are laid to his charge are true, or
are calumnies; but some, presupposing that they were true, do not
hesitate to say that he was wronged, because on account of the safe
conduct, the abjuration and looking upon him as relapsed was not to be
turned to his prejudice. I know not how to judge, but the beginning
and end, a safe conduct, and a great fire; what passed in the interim is
hidden, but from this we may conclude that the Pope has little favour
to Venice. We have had many other indications of this, and therefore the
Padre Paolo had better be cautious. He therefore does not fail in or-
dinary care, but leaves all to God, being certain that whatever God does
will be good.
