)
« Oh, as for that, it's all right, my boy: if it does not dis-
please you, I shall take her to her family on my return
France, and I shall only leave her when she no longer cares to
But to my mind, you may flatter yourself that she will
never recover from that stroke, poor little woman!
« Oh, as for that, it's all right, my boy: if it does not dis-
please you, I shall take her to her family on my return
France, and I shall only leave her when she no longer cares to
But to my mind, you may flatter yourself that she will
never recover from that stroke, poor little woman!
Warner - World's Best Literature - v26 - Tur to Wat
- “It is a woman.
" — I said, “Ah!
” without too much
surprise, and I began to walk tranquilly on.
He followed me.
« You do not care ? What I said then ought to astonish you. ”
_“I am but little astonished,” I said. — “Oh! but if I should
tell you how I left the sea, we should see. ” — “Well,” replied I,
» «
“why not try? That would warm you up, and would make me
forget that the rain is running down my back and out at my
heels. ”
“You must know first, my boy, that I was born at Brest. I
started by being the child of the troop, earning my half-rations
and my half-stipend from the age of nine; my father being a
soldier in the guards. But as I loved the sea, - on a beautiful
night while I was on leave of absence in Brest, I hid myself in
the hold of a merchant vessel leaving for the Indies: I was only
discovered in mid-ocean, and the captain preferred making me
a cabin-boy to throwing me overboard. When the Revolution
came I had made my way, and had in my turn become captain of
a little merchant vessel, — full of zest, having skimmed the ocean
for fifteen years. As the royal ex-marine- ma foi! the good
old marine - all of a sudden found itself depopulated of officers,
captains were taken from the merchant marine. I had had some
filibustering affairs, of which I may tell you later. They gave
me command of a brig of war named the Marat. The 28th Fruc.
tidor 1797 I received orders to weigh for Cayenne. I was to
convey sixty soldiers; and one exile, who was left over from the
one hundred and ninety-three taken on board by the frigate
La Decade a few days before. I had orders to treat this individ-
ual with consideration; and the first letter of the Directoire con-
tained a second, closed with three red seals, one amongst them of
unusual size. I was forbidden to open this letter before the first
XXVI–960
-
## p. 15346 (#294) ##########################################
15346
ALFRED DE VIGNY
degree of latitude north from the twenty-seventh to the twenty-
eighth of longitude, - that is, near to passing the line. This big
letter had a shape all its own. It was long, and so tightly closed
that I could not read between the angles, nor through the envel-
ope. I am not superstitious, but it made me afraid.
"I was occupied in putting this letter under the glass of the
clock when my exile entered my room; he held by the hand
a beautiful young girl, about seventeen years old. He told me
that he was nineteen; a fine-looking boy, though a little pale,
and too white for a man. His little wife was fresh and gay as
a child. They looked like two turtle-doves. It gave me pleasure
to see them. I said to them, 'Well, my children, you have come
to visit the old captain ? That is very good of you. I am tak-
ing you rather far away, but so much the better: we shall have
time to become acquainted. I am sorry to receive madame with-
out my coat, but I was nailing that great rascally letter 'way up
there. If you would help me a little? That made good little
children of them. The little husband took the hammer, and the
little wife the nails, and they passed them to me as I asked for
them; and she called to me, « To the right! to the left! captain! ”
laughing as she did so, for the pitching made my clock unsteady.
Ah! ' I said, little mischief! I shall make your husband scold
you, see if I do not. ' Then she threw her arms about his neck
and kissed him. They were really very nice. We immediately
became good friends. The trip was beautiful. I always did
have weather made to order. As I had none but black faces on
board, I made the two little lovers come to my table every other
day. It enlivened me. When we had eaten the biscuits and
fish, the little wife and her husband would remain gazing at each
other, as if they had never one another before. Then I
would begin to laugh with all my heart, and make fun of them.
They too would laugh with me. You would have laughed too,
to see us laughing like three imbeciles, not knowing what was
the matter with us.
They slept in a hammock, where
the vessel would roll them over and over like these two pears,
which I have here in my wet handkerchief. They were lively
and contented. I did as you do: I did not question. What need
was there that I should know their name and their affairs ? I
was taking them across the sea, as I would have taken two birds
of Paradise.
I ended after a month by looking on them
as my children. All day long, when I called them, they would
seen
.
## p. 15347 (#295) ##########################################
ALFRED DE VIGNY
15347
am
come and sit by me. The young man wrote at my table, — that
is, on my bed: and when I wished it, he would help me to keep
my course; he soon knew how to do it as well as I, and I was
sometimes forbidden to do it. The young woman would seat
herself on a little barrel, and sew. One day as they were thus
sitting, I said to them :-
« Do you know, little friends, that we make a fine family
picture as we are now? I do not want to question you; but
probably you have not more money than you need, and you are
both prodigiously delicate to spade and hoe, as the exiles do in
Cayenne. It is an ugly country; I tell you the truth: but I, who
an old wolfskin dried in the sun, I could live there like a
lord. If you have, as it seems to me you have (without wishing
to question you), a little friendship for me, I will willingly leave
my old brig, which is only a sabot now, and establish myself with
you, if it would please you. I have no more family than a dog,
and that worries me: you would be a little society for me. I
would help you in many things: I have saved up a nice little
heap, on which we can live, and which I shall leave to you when
I come to turn up my eyes, as we say politely. ' Astonished,
they looked at one another, apparently believing that I had not
spoken the truth; then the little one ran, as she always did,
threw herself on the bosom of the other, and sat on his knee,
all red and weeping. He pressed her close in his arms, and I
saw tears in his eyes too; he stretched out his hand to me and
became paler than usual. She spoke softly to him, and her
long blonde tresses fell on his shoulder; her twist had become
undone, like a cable which unrolls suddenly. That hair — if you
had seen it! it was like gold.
"As they still spoke low, the young man kissing her brow
,
from time to time, and she weeping, I grew impatient. Well,
does that suit you? I said at last. But — but, captain, you
are very good;' said the husband, but - you could not live with
deported convicts he lowered his eyes.
«T,' said I, do not know what you have done to be exiled;
but you shall tell me some day if you choose, or you shall not
if you choose. You do not seem to me to have a very heavy
conscience; I am very sure that I have done much more in my
life than you, poor innocents! For instance, as long as you are
under my guard, I shall not let you go: you need not expect
it; I would sooner cut your throats as I would two pigeons. But
(
## p. 15348 (#296) ##########################################
15348
ALFRED DE VIGNY
(
my child?
>
once my epaulet removed, I know no longer either admiral or any.
thing else.
«What I am thinking is,' he replied, sadly shaking his brown
head, slightly powdered as it was still worn in those days, that
it would be dangerous for you, captain, to seem to know us.
We
laugh because we
are so young; we seem to be happy because
we love each other: but I have some ugly moments when I
think of the future, and I do not know what will become of
my poor Laure. ' He again pressed the young wife's head to his
breast. (That was what I should say to the captain, was it not,
Would you not have said the same thing ? ?
"I took my pipe and got up; for I began to feel my eyes
growing moist, and that was not becoming to me.
«Come, come! ' I said: that will all be cleared up after a
while. If the tobacco is unpleasant to madame, her absence will
be necessary. She arose, her face all on fire and wet with tears,
like a child that has been scolded.
« And yet,' she said, looking at my clock, you two do not
think about it that letter! ?
"I felt as if something had struck me. I had a kind of pain
up
under
my
hair when she said that to me.
(Pardieu! I did not think of it,' I said. Ah, here indeed
is a pretty affair! If we have passed the first degree north, all
I can do is to throw myself overboard! ' I must be lucky: that
child reminded me of that devilish letter!
"I looked quickly at my marine map; and when I saw that
there was still a week ahead of us, my head felt easier, but not
my heart, - I could not tell why.
«It is because the Directory does not joke about the article
obedience! ' I said. "Good!
once more afloat this time.
Time few so quickly that I had entirely forgotten it. '
“Well, sir, we remained all three with our noses in the air,
looking at that letter as if it were going to speak to us. What
struck me very much was that the sun, which slipped in through
the skylight, lit up the glass of the clock, and made the big red
seal and the other little ones seem like features of a face in
the midst of fire.
« Would not one say that the eyes were starting from his
head? ) I said to amuse them.
««Oh! my friend,' said the young woman, “it looks like blood
stains. '
-
I am
(
## p. 15349 (#297) ##########################################
ALFRED DE VIGNY
15349
(c
« « Bah! bah! ' said her husband, laying her arm in his, you
are mistaken, Laure: it looks like a card of announcement of
a marriage. Come and rest yourself, come: why let that letter
bother you ? '
“They went off. I remained alone with that big letter; and
I remember that while smoking my pipe, I continued to look at
it, as if those red eyes had attached mine to them by drawing
them ever as do the eyes of a serpent.
« The night was more beautiful than any I had ever seen in
my life so near the tropics The moon rose on the horizon as
large as a sun; the sea cut it in half, and became all white, like
a cloth of snow covered with little diamonds. I was glad to hear
nothing. I love silence and order. I had forbidden all noises
and all fires. Nevertheless I perceived a small red line almost
under my feet. I should have got into a temper instantly; but as
it was in the cabin of my little convicts, I wished to be sure of
what they were doing before I grew angry. I had only to bend
down: I could see through the big hatchway into the little room,
and I looked. The young wife was on her knees praying. A
small lamp threw its light on her. I thought I would slip away,
but I said, 'Bah! an old soldier, what does it matter? ' And
I remained to see. While she prayed, her husband took the
ends of her long hair and kissed them noiselessly. When she had
.
finished she made the sign of the cross, with the air of going to
paradise. She got up, kissed him, and stretched herself in the
hammock, into which he had tossed her without saying a word,
one sets a child on a seesaw. There was a choking heat:
with pleasure she felt herself swinging with the motion of the
vessel, and seemed to begin to fall asleep. My friend,” said she,
half asleep, are you not sleepy? Do you know that it is very
late?
"On a beautiful morning I awoke, astonished to feel no motion
of the vessel. We had fallen in a dead calm, and it was on the
first degree of north latitude and the twenty-seventh of longi-
tude. I poked my nose out: the sea was as smooth as a bowl of
oil. The sails, all spread, fell glued to the masts like empty bal-
loons. I said quickly, “I've got time enough before me yet to
read you,' looking sideways at the letter. I waited till sundown
that night. But it had to come: I opened the clock and quickly
took out the sealed order. Well, my dear sir, I held it there for
a quarter of an hour before I could make up my mind to read it.
as
.
## p. 15350 (#298) ##########################################
15350
ALFRED DE VIGNY
me
At last I said, “This is too much! ) and I broke the three seals
with one thumb-stroke; and the great red seal I ground into dust.
After I had read it I rubbed my eyes, thinking I was mistaken. I
re-read the letter, entirely; I read it over again; I began it again
at the last line, and went up to the first. I did not believe it.
My legs trembled a little under me; I sat down; I felt a twitch-
ing of the skin on my face; I rubbed my cheeks a little with
rum, and I poured some in the hollow of my hands, and I pitied
myself for being such a fool: but it was only an affair of a
moment. I went up into the open air. Laurette was so pretty
that day that I did not want to go near her: she wore a little
white dress quite simple, her arms bare to the shoulder, and her
long hair hanging as she always wore it.
“I made a sign to the young man to come and speak to me
on the quarter-deck behind. She turned. I do not know how I
looked, but — she took him by the arm violently, and said, “Oh!
do not go: he is so pale! '
"He came, though, close to on the quarter-deck; she
looked at us, leaning against the great mast. We walked to and
fro for a long time without speaking. I was smoking a cigar,
which I found bitter, and I spat into the water. He followed
me with his eyes; I took his arm: I was choking; on my word
of honor I was choking.
« Ah, here! ' I said to him, tell me something of your his-
tory, my little friend. What in the devil have you done to those
dogs of lawyers there, setting themselves up like the King's five-
franc pieces? They seem to have a bad grudge against you.
It's funny! '
“He shrugged his shoulders, hanging his head (with such a
sweet air, the poor boy), and said to me:
“O my heavens, captain! no great thing, I assure you:
three couplets of vaudeville on the Directory, that is all. '
“Impossible! ' I said.
«O my God, yes! The couplets were not even very good,
I was arrested the 15th Fructidor, and conducted to La Force;
condemned first to death, then through benevolence to exile. '
« It is curious,' I said. (The Directeurs are very susceptible
comrades; for that letter, you know, gives me the order to shoot
(
you. "
"He did not answer, but smiled, putting a good enough face
on it for a young man of nineteen. He only looked at his wife,
## p. 15351 (#299) ##########################################
ALFRED DE VIGNY
15351
>
C
see me.
and wiped his forehead, from which great drops of sweat fell.
had fully as many on my face, and other drops in my eyes.
“I began again: -
« It seems to me those citizens did not wish to do this busi-
ness on land: they thought that here it would be kept more
quiet. But it is very hard on me, my. child; for though you are
a good child, I cannot but obey. The sentence of death is there
all regular and correct, the order of execution signed with flour-
ish and seal. Nothing has been left out. '
"He bowed to me politely, blushing.
«I ask for nothing, captain,' he said in a voice as sweet as
usual. 'I should be distressed to make you fail in your duty. I
only want to speak a little with Laure, and pray you to protect
her in case she should survive me, which I do not believe she
will.
)
« Oh, as for that, it's all right, my boy: if it does not dis-
please you, I shall take her to her family on my return
France, and I shall only leave her when she no longer cares to
But to my mind, you may flatter yourself that she will
never recover from that stroke, poor little woman! '
« (My brave captain, you will suffer more than I in what
remains for you to do, I feel sure; but what can we do? I may
count upon you to keep for her all that belongs to me, to pro-
tect her, to see that she receives what her old mother may leave
her, may I not? - to guarantee her life, her honor? And also
to see that her health is cared for. See, I must tell you further
that she is very delicate,' he added in a lower voice: (her chest
is often affected so that she faints many times a day; she must
always wrap herself well. But you will replace her father, her
mother, and me, as much as possible, will you not? If she could
keep her rings, which her mother gave her, I should be very
glad. But if it is necessary to sell them for her, it must be
done. My poor Laurette! •see how beautiful she is. '
“I pressed his hand as a friend; but he still held mine, and
looked at me in a curious way.
« (Look here: if I have any advice to give you,' I added, it
is not to speak to her about it. We will arrange the thing so
that she shall not know it, or you either, be sure of that: that
concerns me. '
“Ah! that is different,' said he: I did not know. That
would be better indeed. Besides, good-bys, good-bys, they
weaken one. '
## p. 15352 (#300) ##########################################
15352
ALFRED DE VIGNY
(
“Yes, yes,' I said to him, 'do not be a child: it is better so.
Do not embrace her, iny friend; do not embrace her if you can
help it, or you are lost. '
“It seemed to me that he did not keep the secret well; for
they walked arm in arm during a quarter of an hour.
"Night came all of a sudden. It was the moment I had
resolved to take. But that moment has lasted for me up to this
day, and I shall drag it after me all my life, like a ball. ”
oh,
« They
Here the old commandant was forced to stop. I was careful
not to speak, for fear of turning the course of his ideas; he
began again, striking himself on the breast:-
(That moment, I tell you - I cannot yet understand it. I felt
a fury seizing me by the hair; and at the same time I do not
know what made me obey, and pushed me on. I called the offi.
cers, and said to one of them, Come, a skiff overboard, as we are
now executioners! You will put that woman into it, you will take
her farther and farther away until you hear gun-shots! Then
you will return. ' To obey a piece of paper! for after all, that
was what it came to. There must have been something in the
air which pushed me on.
I saw from afar the young man
it was horrible to see — kneel before his Laurette, and kiss her
knees, her feet.
« These small boats hold six men,” he continued.
threw themselves into it, and carried Laure off with them, with-
out her having time to cry, or speak. Oh! there are things for
which no honest man can console himself if he has caused them.
There is no use in saying one forgets such things.
"I was speaking to you still, I think, of the little Laurette!
Poor woman! How stupid some men are in this world! The
officer was fool enough to steer the boat before the brig. After
this, it is right to say we cannot foresee everything. I counted
upon night to hide the business; and •I did not count upon the
light of twelve guns fired all at once. And, ma foi! from the
boat she saw her husband fall into the sea, shot.
“If there is a God up there, he knows how what I am going
to tell you happened; as for me, I do not know, but it was seen
and heard, as I see and hear you. At the moment of the shot
she raised her hand to her head as if a ball had struck her
brow, and sat in the boat without fainting, without crying, with-
out speaking, and returned to the brig when they wanted, and as
they wanted. I went to her, and spoke to her for a long time,
## p. 15353 (#301) ##########################################
ALFRED DE VIGNY
15353
and as well as I could. She seemed to listen to me, and looked
me in the face, rubbing her forehead. She did not understand,
and her brow was red, and her face all pale. She trembled all
over as though afraid of every one. That trembling remains
still with her. She is still the same poor little one: idiot, or
imbecile, or crazy, as you choose. Never has a word been drawn
from her, except when she asks to have taken out what she has
in her head.
“From that moment I became as sad as she; and I felt some-
thing in me that said to me, “Stay by her the rest of your
days, and take care of her. ' I have done it. When I returned to
France, I asked to pass with the same rank into the land troops;
having a hatred to the sea, because I had thrown into it inno-
cent blood. I sought for Laure's family. Her mother was dead.
Her sisters, to whom I took her insane, would have none of her,
and proposed to put her into Charenton. I turned my back on
them, and kept her with me.
“Ah! my God, comrade, if you wish to see her, it rests only
with yourself. "
“Is she in there? ” I asked.
«Certainly, here! Wait! ho! ho! mule. ” And he stopped his
poor mule, which seemed relieved at the command. At the same
time he raised the oilcloth of his little cart, as if to arrange the
straw which almost filled it; and I saw something very painful.
I saw two blue eyes, large beyond measure, admirable in shape,
looking out of a pale emaciated face, inundated with straight
light hair. She looked at us a moment, trembled, smiled faintly
at me. I noticed with astonishment that on her long fingers she
had two diamond rings.
»
## p. 15354 (#302) ##########################################
15354
PASQUALE VILLARI
(1827-)
T has been said that the history of any given nation can be
clearest understood and best written by a member of that
nation, as obviously fitted by temperament to enter into
that sympathy with the past which is the first requisite of the his-
torian. The truth of this is exemplified in the case of Pasquale Vil-
lari, a modern Italian historian, whose noted lives of Savonarola and
of Machiavelli owe their value as much to the author's comprehension
of the Italian temperament as to his thorough and extensive scholar-
ship. The first volume of the Life and Times of Savonarola' was
published in 1859, the second in 1861. In writing this history, Villari
had to deal with one of the most complex periods of Italian develop-
ment, when the Renaissance was approaching its zenith, introducing
into European life the elements out of which the modern world was
to be formed. Like other transitional periods, it was fraught with
much that seems inexplicable and contradictory, even to a far-removed
generation; furthermore, Villari had to treat of a character concern-
ing the estimate of whose place and work in the world a historian
might easily go astray. Savonarola in his perfect simplicity is one of
the most unintelligible figures of history, when regarded, as is usually
the case, as a mediæval friar of a profound and mystic devotional
genius. Villari does not question the genius, but he places Savonarola
where he belongs, in the modern and not in the medieval world.
“It cannot be denied that he had the spirit of an innovator; and indeed,
the main purpose of our work has been to insist on this point. Savonarola
was the first to raise the standard announcing the uprisal of the truly original
thought of the Renaissance at the close of the great epoch of humanistic learn-
ing. He was the first man of the fifteenth century to realize that the human
race was palpitating with the throes of a new life; and his words were loudly
echoed by that portion of the Italian people still left untainted by the prev-
alent corruption. He accordingly merits the title of prophet of the new civil-
ization.
Columbus discovered the paths of the sea, Savonarola those of
the soul;
he endeavored to conciliate reason with faith, religion with
liberty. His work may be ranked with that of the Council of Constance, of
Dante Alighieri, of Arnaldo of Brescia: he aspired to the reform of Christian-
ity and Catholicism that has been the constant ideal of the greatest minds of
Italy. ”
## p. 15355 (#303) ##########################################
PASQUALE VILLARI
15355
Villari thus renders an enormous service to the life and work of
Savonarola. Seen in this light, the Dominican friar of San Marco
becomes the embodiment of the better elements of the Renaissance;
he perished because his environment was chiefly made up of the
lower elements of that great growth in the direction of the new
world. A Florence leavened by the Medici surrounded the prophet.
Villari has described this environment with wonderful penetration,
using the slightest details as explanatory of the central figure. For
these reasons his 'Life of Savonarola' is pre-eminent among the other
biographies of the great Dominican.
In his Niccolo Machiavelli and His Times,' he approaches his
subject in the same rational and sympathetic manner. The first
volume of this work is devoted to a survey of the principal Italian
States, — Milan, Florence, Venice, Rome, and Naples, — of the politi-
cal condition of Italy at the end of the fifteenth century, and of the
literature of the period. In this way he prepares the reader for a
comprehension of the character of Machiavelli, by the comprehen-
sion of the social and political conditions which produced him. In
his own words, he studied Machiavellism before Machiavelli. ) His
estimate of the great politician is singularly original and striking: he
proceeds upon the assumption that Machiavelli's noted maxim, “The
end justifies the means," was but a corollary to a much more com-
prehensive principle,-namely, that the whole is greater than the
parts; that the welfare of society is of more importance than the wel-
fare of the individual. He first points out that the political and social
state of the Italy of Machiavelli's time was directly productive of the
theories of statecraft embodied in The Prince. ) "All private rela-
tions were ruled by Christian morality, or at all events professed
unquestioning adherence to its precepts; but it was forsaken in pub-
lic life, where it was supposed to have no practical value. Good
faith, loyalty, and Christian goodness would have subjected to cer-
tain destruction any prince or government that should have actually
obeyed their dictates in political matters. The State would have cer-
tainly fallen a prey to the enemy; would perhaps have dissolved
into anarchy. ” Machiavelli “clearly saw that statecraft has ways
and means of its own, which are not the ways and means of private
morality: that on the contrary, the morality of private life may some-
times check a statesman in mid-career, and render him vacillating,
without his being either a good or a bad man; and that it is mainly
vacillation of this kind that leads to the downfall of States. There
must be no vacillation, he said, but a daring adoption of the meas-
ures demanded by the nature of events. Such measures will always
he justified when the end is obtained. And the end in view must
be the welfare of the State. He who obtains this, if even he be a
>>
## p. 15356 (#304) ##########################################
15356
PASQUALE VILLARI
wicked man, may be condemned for his wickedness; but as a prince
he will deserve everlasting glory. . . . Such is the true meaning of
Machiavelli's maxim, that the end justifies the means.
Villari con-
cludes his history by demonstrating that Machiavelli's conception of
Italy's needs was essentially a true one.
.
>>
«Italy had become incapable of a religious reformation like that accom-
plished in Germany. Instead of springing towards God, as Savonarola had pre-
dicted; instead of seeking strength in a new conception of faith, she aimed at
a recomposition of the idea of the State and the motherland. She saw in the
sacrifice of all to the universal good the only possible way of political and
moral redemption. The unity of the regenerated country would have inevitably
led to the re-establishment of morality; would have rekindled faith in public
and private virtue, and discovered a method of sanctifying the purpose of life.
This idea, vaguely and feebly felt by many, was the ruling thought of Machi-
avelli. . . . At the present day, when Italy's political redemption has begun,
and the nation is constituted according to the prophecies of Machiavelli, the
moment has at last come for justice to be done to him. ”
Villari himself has had that acquaintance with public affairs which
is invaluable to the historian. Born in Naples in 1827, he became
involved in the revolutionary movement which broke out in Naples in
1848, and took refuge in Florence. His exile proved of great benefit
to him as a historian, his researches in the archives of the city lead-
ing him to write the histories of Savonarola and Machiavelli. After
the publication of the former work, the chair of modern history in the
University of Pisa was bestowed upon him.
In 1862 he published a
work on Latin and English Civilization'; in 1877 the first volume, and
in 1882 the second volume, of Niccolo Machiavelli) were published.
Critical Essays' appeared in 1876, and Art, History, and Philosophy
in 1884. He also wrote political pamphlets, some of which had great
popularity. In 1866 he was sent to the Italian Parliament by the elect-
ors of Arezzo, but he did not become prominent as a politician. He
is now professor of modern history in the Florentine Institute; he is
also a member of the Superior Council of Public Instruction.
(The Life of Savonarola) and (Niccolo Machiavelli? have been
translated into English by the wife of Villari. The style of these
works is clear, forcible, and in the best sense popular.
## p. 15357 (#305) ##########################################
PASQUALE VILLARI
15357
SAVONAROLA
From (Life and Times of Girolamo Savonarola)
SAY
AVONAROLA was of middle height, of dark complexion, of a
sanguineo-bilious temperament, and of a most high-strung
nervous system. His dark gray eyes were very bright, and
often flashed fire beneath his black brows; he had an aquiline
nose and a large mouth. His thick lips were compressed in a
manner denoting a stubborn firmness of purpose; his forehead,
already marked with deep furrows, indicated a mind continually
absorbed in meditation of serious things. But although his
countenance had no beauty of line, it expressed a severe nobility
of character, while a certain melancholy smile indued his harsh
features with so benevolent a charm as to inspire confidence at
first sight. His manners were simple, if uncultured; his language
rough and unadorned. But on occasion his homely words were
animated by a potent fervor that convinced and subdued all his
hearers.
While in the monastery of St. Dominic he led a silent life,
and became increasingly absorbed in spiritual contemplation. He
was so worn by fasting and penance that when pacing the clois-
ters, he seemed more like a spectre than a living man. The
hardest tests of the novitiate seemed light to him, and his supe-
riors were frequently obliged to curb his zeal. Even on days
not appointed for abstinence he scarcely ate enough to support
life. His bed was a grating with a sack of straw on it and one
blanket; his clothing of the coarsest kind, but strictly clean; in
modesty, humility, and obedience he surpassed all the rest of the
brethren. The fervor of his devotion excited the wonder of the
superiors, and his brother monks often believed him to be rapt
in a holy trance. The cloister walls seemed to have had the
effect of restoring his peace of mind by separating him from the
world, and to have purified him of all desires save for prayer and
obedience.
In the year 1481, serious alarms of war were threatening Fer-
rara from all sides. Already many of the inhabitants had fled,
and before long the university in which the Dominicans taught
theology was closed. Thereupon, either from economy or as a
measure of precaution, the superior of the order dispatched the
a
## p. 15358 (#306) ##########################################
15358
PASQUALE VILLARI
greater part of his monks elsewhere. Savonarola was directed
to go to Florence; he thus bade a last farewell to his family,
friends, and native town,- for he was destined never to see them
again.
On this, his first arrival in Florence, in 1481, he entered the
monastery of St. Mark, where the brightest and also the saddest
years of his life were to be passed. And inasmuch as the name
of Savonarola is always associated with that of St. Mark, it will
be well to say a few words on the convent's history.
At the beginning of the fifteenth century it was a poor, half-
ruined building, inhabited by a few monks of the order of St.
Sylvester, whose scandalous life occasioned numerous complaints
to be laid before the Court of Rome. Finally, Cosimo the Elder
obtained the papal permission to remove these monks elsewhere,
and granted the house to the reformed Dominicans of the Lom-
bard congregation. Then, deciding to rebuild it, he charged the
celebrated architect, Michelozzo Michelozzi, with the work; and
six years later, in 1443, the monastery was finished at a cost of
36,000 forins. Cosimo was never sparing of expense for churches,
monasteries, and other public works fitted to spread the fame of
his munificence and increase his popularity. While the convent
was in course of erection, he had been very generous in helping
the Dominicans; and now that the work was so successfully com-
pleted, he was not satisfied until he could endow them with a
valuable library. This, however, was a difficult undertaking and
one of considerable expense; since it was a question of collecting
manuscripts, which just then commanded exorbitant prices.
the opportune decease of Niccold Niccoli, the greatest manuscript-
collector in Europe, enabled Cosimo to fulfill his purpose. Nic-
coli had been one of the most learned men of his day, and spent
his whole life and fortune in acquiring a store of codices that
was the admiration of all Italy. He had bequeathed this treas-
ure to Florence; but having also left many debts behind him, 'his
testamentary dispositions had not been carried out. Accordingly
Cosimo paid off the debts; and reserving a few of the more pre-
cious codices for himself, intrusted the rest of the collection to
the monastery of St. Mark. This was the first public library
established in Italy; and the monks kept it in such excellent
order as to prove themselves worthy of the charge. St. Mark's
became almost a centre of erudition; and being joined to the
## p. 15359 (#307) ##########################################
PASQUALE VILLARI
15359
congregation of the Lombard Dominicans, the more learned
brothers of the order resorted to Florence, and increased the
new convent's renown. The most distinguished men of the time
frequently came to St. Mark's to enjoy conversation with the
friars. It was during these years that Fra Giovanni da Fiesole,
better known as Fra Beato Angelico, was employed in covering
the convent walls with his incomparable works. But above all
their treasures of art and learning, the brethren chiefly gloried in
their spiritual father and founder, St. Antonine.
During his first days in Florence, Savonarola was accordingly
half intoxicated with delight. He was charmed by the smiling
landscape, the soft lines of the Tuscan hills, the elegance of the
Tuscan speech. Even before reaching the town, the gentle man-
ner of the country-folk he met on the way had predisposed him
to expect happiness in this fairest of Italian cities, where art and
nature contend for the palm of beauty. To his deeply religious
mind, Florentine art seemed the expression of a divine harmony,
a proof of the omnipotence of genius when inspired by faith.
The paintings of Fra Angelico appeared to have filled the clois-
ters of St. Mark with a company of angels; and as he gazed
upon them, the friar felt transported into a blessed sphere like
unto the world of his dreams. The sacred memories of Anto.
nine; the saint's deeds of charity, still enduring and still vener-
ated by the brotherhood; the friars themselves, so superior in
culture and refinement to any that he had yet known,- all com-
bined to make him believe his lot cast among real brethren of the
soul. His heart expanded with ingenuous hopes; he forgot all
past disappointments, and did not anticipate the still sadder trials
awaiting him when he should have been long enough in Florence
to understand better the nature of its inhabitants.
At the time of Savonarola's coming, Lorenzo the Magnificent
had reigned in Florence for many years, and was then at the
height of his power and fame. Under his rule all things wore
an air of prosperity and well-being. The factions which had so
frequently distracted the city had long been extinguished; all
refusing to bend beneath the Medicean yoke were either impris-
oned, exiled, or dead: and general tranquillity reigned. Con-
tinually occupied with festivities, dances, and tournaments, the
Florentines, once so jealous of their rights, seemed now to have
forgotten the very name of freedom.
## p.
surprise, and I began to walk tranquilly on.
He followed me.
« You do not care ? What I said then ought to astonish you. ”
_“I am but little astonished,” I said. — “Oh! but if I should
tell you how I left the sea, we should see. ” — “Well,” replied I,
» «
“why not try? That would warm you up, and would make me
forget that the rain is running down my back and out at my
heels. ”
“You must know first, my boy, that I was born at Brest. I
started by being the child of the troop, earning my half-rations
and my half-stipend from the age of nine; my father being a
soldier in the guards. But as I loved the sea, - on a beautiful
night while I was on leave of absence in Brest, I hid myself in
the hold of a merchant vessel leaving for the Indies: I was only
discovered in mid-ocean, and the captain preferred making me
a cabin-boy to throwing me overboard. When the Revolution
came I had made my way, and had in my turn become captain of
a little merchant vessel, — full of zest, having skimmed the ocean
for fifteen years. As the royal ex-marine- ma foi! the good
old marine - all of a sudden found itself depopulated of officers,
captains were taken from the merchant marine. I had had some
filibustering affairs, of which I may tell you later. They gave
me command of a brig of war named the Marat. The 28th Fruc.
tidor 1797 I received orders to weigh for Cayenne. I was to
convey sixty soldiers; and one exile, who was left over from the
one hundred and ninety-three taken on board by the frigate
La Decade a few days before. I had orders to treat this individ-
ual with consideration; and the first letter of the Directoire con-
tained a second, closed with three red seals, one amongst them of
unusual size. I was forbidden to open this letter before the first
XXVI–960
-
## p. 15346 (#294) ##########################################
15346
ALFRED DE VIGNY
degree of latitude north from the twenty-seventh to the twenty-
eighth of longitude, - that is, near to passing the line. This big
letter had a shape all its own. It was long, and so tightly closed
that I could not read between the angles, nor through the envel-
ope. I am not superstitious, but it made me afraid.
"I was occupied in putting this letter under the glass of the
clock when my exile entered my room; he held by the hand
a beautiful young girl, about seventeen years old. He told me
that he was nineteen; a fine-looking boy, though a little pale,
and too white for a man. His little wife was fresh and gay as
a child. They looked like two turtle-doves. It gave me pleasure
to see them. I said to them, 'Well, my children, you have come
to visit the old captain ? That is very good of you. I am tak-
ing you rather far away, but so much the better: we shall have
time to become acquainted. I am sorry to receive madame with-
out my coat, but I was nailing that great rascally letter 'way up
there. If you would help me a little? That made good little
children of them. The little husband took the hammer, and the
little wife the nails, and they passed them to me as I asked for
them; and she called to me, « To the right! to the left! captain! ”
laughing as she did so, for the pitching made my clock unsteady.
Ah! ' I said, little mischief! I shall make your husband scold
you, see if I do not. ' Then she threw her arms about his neck
and kissed him. They were really very nice. We immediately
became good friends. The trip was beautiful. I always did
have weather made to order. As I had none but black faces on
board, I made the two little lovers come to my table every other
day. It enlivened me. When we had eaten the biscuits and
fish, the little wife and her husband would remain gazing at each
other, as if they had never one another before. Then I
would begin to laugh with all my heart, and make fun of them.
They too would laugh with me. You would have laughed too,
to see us laughing like three imbeciles, not knowing what was
the matter with us.
They slept in a hammock, where
the vessel would roll them over and over like these two pears,
which I have here in my wet handkerchief. They were lively
and contented. I did as you do: I did not question. What need
was there that I should know their name and their affairs ? I
was taking them across the sea, as I would have taken two birds
of Paradise.
I ended after a month by looking on them
as my children. All day long, when I called them, they would
seen
.
## p. 15347 (#295) ##########################################
ALFRED DE VIGNY
15347
am
come and sit by me. The young man wrote at my table, — that
is, on my bed: and when I wished it, he would help me to keep
my course; he soon knew how to do it as well as I, and I was
sometimes forbidden to do it. The young woman would seat
herself on a little barrel, and sew. One day as they were thus
sitting, I said to them :-
« Do you know, little friends, that we make a fine family
picture as we are now? I do not want to question you; but
probably you have not more money than you need, and you are
both prodigiously delicate to spade and hoe, as the exiles do in
Cayenne. It is an ugly country; I tell you the truth: but I, who
an old wolfskin dried in the sun, I could live there like a
lord. If you have, as it seems to me you have (without wishing
to question you), a little friendship for me, I will willingly leave
my old brig, which is only a sabot now, and establish myself with
you, if it would please you. I have no more family than a dog,
and that worries me: you would be a little society for me. I
would help you in many things: I have saved up a nice little
heap, on which we can live, and which I shall leave to you when
I come to turn up my eyes, as we say politely. ' Astonished,
they looked at one another, apparently believing that I had not
spoken the truth; then the little one ran, as she always did,
threw herself on the bosom of the other, and sat on his knee,
all red and weeping. He pressed her close in his arms, and I
saw tears in his eyes too; he stretched out his hand to me and
became paler than usual. She spoke softly to him, and her
long blonde tresses fell on his shoulder; her twist had become
undone, like a cable which unrolls suddenly. That hair — if you
had seen it! it was like gold.
"As they still spoke low, the young man kissing her brow
,
from time to time, and she weeping, I grew impatient. Well,
does that suit you? I said at last. But — but, captain, you
are very good;' said the husband, but - you could not live with
deported convicts he lowered his eyes.
«T,' said I, do not know what you have done to be exiled;
but you shall tell me some day if you choose, or you shall not
if you choose. You do not seem to me to have a very heavy
conscience; I am very sure that I have done much more in my
life than you, poor innocents! For instance, as long as you are
under my guard, I shall not let you go: you need not expect
it; I would sooner cut your throats as I would two pigeons. But
(
## p. 15348 (#296) ##########################################
15348
ALFRED DE VIGNY
(
my child?
>
once my epaulet removed, I know no longer either admiral or any.
thing else.
«What I am thinking is,' he replied, sadly shaking his brown
head, slightly powdered as it was still worn in those days, that
it would be dangerous for you, captain, to seem to know us.
We
laugh because we
are so young; we seem to be happy because
we love each other: but I have some ugly moments when I
think of the future, and I do not know what will become of
my poor Laure. ' He again pressed the young wife's head to his
breast. (That was what I should say to the captain, was it not,
Would you not have said the same thing ? ?
"I took my pipe and got up; for I began to feel my eyes
growing moist, and that was not becoming to me.
«Come, come! ' I said: that will all be cleared up after a
while. If the tobacco is unpleasant to madame, her absence will
be necessary. She arose, her face all on fire and wet with tears,
like a child that has been scolded.
« And yet,' she said, looking at my clock, you two do not
think about it that letter! ?
"I felt as if something had struck me. I had a kind of pain
up
under
my
hair when she said that to me.
(Pardieu! I did not think of it,' I said. Ah, here indeed
is a pretty affair! If we have passed the first degree north, all
I can do is to throw myself overboard! ' I must be lucky: that
child reminded me of that devilish letter!
"I looked quickly at my marine map; and when I saw that
there was still a week ahead of us, my head felt easier, but not
my heart, - I could not tell why.
«It is because the Directory does not joke about the article
obedience! ' I said. "Good!
once more afloat this time.
Time few so quickly that I had entirely forgotten it. '
“Well, sir, we remained all three with our noses in the air,
looking at that letter as if it were going to speak to us. What
struck me very much was that the sun, which slipped in through
the skylight, lit up the glass of the clock, and made the big red
seal and the other little ones seem like features of a face in
the midst of fire.
« Would not one say that the eyes were starting from his
head? ) I said to amuse them.
««Oh! my friend,' said the young woman, “it looks like blood
stains. '
-
I am
(
## p. 15349 (#297) ##########################################
ALFRED DE VIGNY
15349
(c
« « Bah! bah! ' said her husband, laying her arm in his, you
are mistaken, Laure: it looks like a card of announcement of
a marriage. Come and rest yourself, come: why let that letter
bother you ? '
“They went off. I remained alone with that big letter; and
I remember that while smoking my pipe, I continued to look at
it, as if those red eyes had attached mine to them by drawing
them ever as do the eyes of a serpent.
« The night was more beautiful than any I had ever seen in
my life so near the tropics The moon rose on the horizon as
large as a sun; the sea cut it in half, and became all white, like
a cloth of snow covered with little diamonds. I was glad to hear
nothing. I love silence and order. I had forbidden all noises
and all fires. Nevertheless I perceived a small red line almost
under my feet. I should have got into a temper instantly; but as
it was in the cabin of my little convicts, I wished to be sure of
what they were doing before I grew angry. I had only to bend
down: I could see through the big hatchway into the little room,
and I looked. The young wife was on her knees praying. A
small lamp threw its light on her. I thought I would slip away,
but I said, 'Bah! an old soldier, what does it matter? ' And
I remained to see. While she prayed, her husband took the
ends of her long hair and kissed them noiselessly. When she had
.
finished she made the sign of the cross, with the air of going to
paradise. She got up, kissed him, and stretched herself in the
hammock, into which he had tossed her without saying a word,
one sets a child on a seesaw. There was a choking heat:
with pleasure she felt herself swinging with the motion of the
vessel, and seemed to begin to fall asleep. My friend,” said she,
half asleep, are you not sleepy? Do you know that it is very
late?
"On a beautiful morning I awoke, astonished to feel no motion
of the vessel. We had fallen in a dead calm, and it was on the
first degree of north latitude and the twenty-seventh of longi-
tude. I poked my nose out: the sea was as smooth as a bowl of
oil. The sails, all spread, fell glued to the masts like empty bal-
loons. I said quickly, “I've got time enough before me yet to
read you,' looking sideways at the letter. I waited till sundown
that night. But it had to come: I opened the clock and quickly
took out the sealed order. Well, my dear sir, I held it there for
a quarter of an hour before I could make up my mind to read it.
as
.
## p. 15350 (#298) ##########################################
15350
ALFRED DE VIGNY
me
At last I said, “This is too much! ) and I broke the three seals
with one thumb-stroke; and the great red seal I ground into dust.
After I had read it I rubbed my eyes, thinking I was mistaken. I
re-read the letter, entirely; I read it over again; I began it again
at the last line, and went up to the first. I did not believe it.
My legs trembled a little under me; I sat down; I felt a twitch-
ing of the skin on my face; I rubbed my cheeks a little with
rum, and I poured some in the hollow of my hands, and I pitied
myself for being such a fool: but it was only an affair of a
moment. I went up into the open air. Laurette was so pretty
that day that I did not want to go near her: she wore a little
white dress quite simple, her arms bare to the shoulder, and her
long hair hanging as she always wore it.
“I made a sign to the young man to come and speak to me
on the quarter-deck behind. She turned. I do not know how I
looked, but — she took him by the arm violently, and said, “Oh!
do not go: he is so pale! '
"He came, though, close to on the quarter-deck; she
looked at us, leaning against the great mast. We walked to and
fro for a long time without speaking. I was smoking a cigar,
which I found bitter, and I spat into the water. He followed
me with his eyes; I took his arm: I was choking; on my word
of honor I was choking.
« Ah, here! ' I said to him, tell me something of your his-
tory, my little friend. What in the devil have you done to those
dogs of lawyers there, setting themselves up like the King's five-
franc pieces? They seem to have a bad grudge against you.
It's funny! '
“He shrugged his shoulders, hanging his head (with such a
sweet air, the poor boy), and said to me:
“O my heavens, captain! no great thing, I assure you:
three couplets of vaudeville on the Directory, that is all. '
“Impossible! ' I said.
«O my God, yes! The couplets were not even very good,
I was arrested the 15th Fructidor, and conducted to La Force;
condemned first to death, then through benevolence to exile. '
« It is curious,' I said. (The Directeurs are very susceptible
comrades; for that letter, you know, gives me the order to shoot
(
you. "
"He did not answer, but smiled, putting a good enough face
on it for a young man of nineteen. He only looked at his wife,
## p. 15351 (#299) ##########################################
ALFRED DE VIGNY
15351
>
C
see me.
and wiped his forehead, from which great drops of sweat fell.
had fully as many on my face, and other drops in my eyes.
“I began again: -
« It seems to me those citizens did not wish to do this busi-
ness on land: they thought that here it would be kept more
quiet. But it is very hard on me, my. child; for though you are
a good child, I cannot but obey. The sentence of death is there
all regular and correct, the order of execution signed with flour-
ish and seal. Nothing has been left out. '
"He bowed to me politely, blushing.
«I ask for nothing, captain,' he said in a voice as sweet as
usual. 'I should be distressed to make you fail in your duty. I
only want to speak a little with Laure, and pray you to protect
her in case she should survive me, which I do not believe she
will.
)
« Oh, as for that, it's all right, my boy: if it does not dis-
please you, I shall take her to her family on my return
France, and I shall only leave her when she no longer cares to
But to my mind, you may flatter yourself that she will
never recover from that stroke, poor little woman! '
« (My brave captain, you will suffer more than I in what
remains for you to do, I feel sure; but what can we do? I may
count upon you to keep for her all that belongs to me, to pro-
tect her, to see that she receives what her old mother may leave
her, may I not? - to guarantee her life, her honor? And also
to see that her health is cared for. See, I must tell you further
that she is very delicate,' he added in a lower voice: (her chest
is often affected so that she faints many times a day; she must
always wrap herself well. But you will replace her father, her
mother, and me, as much as possible, will you not? If she could
keep her rings, which her mother gave her, I should be very
glad. But if it is necessary to sell them for her, it must be
done. My poor Laurette! •see how beautiful she is. '
“I pressed his hand as a friend; but he still held mine, and
looked at me in a curious way.
« (Look here: if I have any advice to give you,' I added, it
is not to speak to her about it. We will arrange the thing so
that she shall not know it, or you either, be sure of that: that
concerns me. '
“Ah! that is different,' said he: I did not know. That
would be better indeed. Besides, good-bys, good-bys, they
weaken one. '
## p. 15352 (#300) ##########################################
15352
ALFRED DE VIGNY
(
“Yes, yes,' I said to him, 'do not be a child: it is better so.
Do not embrace her, iny friend; do not embrace her if you can
help it, or you are lost. '
“It seemed to me that he did not keep the secret well; for
they walked arm in arm during a quarter of an hour.
"Night came all of a sudden. It was the moment I had
resolved to take. But that moment has lasted for me up to this
day, and I shall drag it after me all my life, like a ball. ”
oh,
« They
Here the old commandant was forced to stop. I was careful
not to speak, for fear of turning the course of his ideas; he
began again, striking himself on the breast:-
(That moment, I tell you - I cannot yet understand it. I felt
a fury seizing me by the hair; and at the same time I do not
know what made me obey, and pushed me on. I called the offi.
cers, and said to one of them, Come, a skiff overboard, as we are
now executioners! You will put that woman into it, you will take
her farther and farther away until you hear gun-shots! Then
you will return. ' To obey a piece of paper! for after all, that
was what it came to. There must have been something in the
air which pushed me on.
I saw from afar the young man
it was horrible to see — kneel before his Laurette, and kiss her
knees, her feet.
« These small boats hold six men,” he continued.
threw themselves into it, and carried Laure off with them, with-
out her having time to cry, or speak. Oh! there are things for
which no honest man can console himself if he has caused them.
There is no use in saying one forgets such things.
"I was speaking to you still, I think, of the little Laurette!
Poor woman! How stupid some men are in this world! The
officer was fool enough to steer the boat before the brig. After
this, it is right to say we cannot foresee everything. I counted
upon night to hide the business; and •I did not count upon the
light of twelve guns fired all at once. And, ma foi! from the
boat she saw her husband fall into the sea, shot.
“If there is a God up there, he knows how what I am going
to tell you happened; as for me, I do not know, but it was seen
and heard, as I see and hear you. At the moment of the shot
she raised her hand to her head as if a ball had struck her
brow, and sat in the boat without fainting, without crying, with-
out speaking, and returned to the brig when they wanted, and as
they wanted. I went to her, and spoke to her for a long time,
## p. 15353 (#301) ##########################################
ALFRED DE VIGNY
15353
and as well as I could. She seemed to listen to me, and looked
me in the face, rubbing her forehead. She did not understand,
and her brow was red, and her face all pale. She trembled all
over as though afraid of every one. That trembling remains
still with her. She is still the same poor little one: idiot, or
imbecile, or crazy, as you choose. Never has a word been drawn
from her, except when she asks to have taken out what she has
in her head.
“From that moment I became as sad as she; and I felt some-
thing in me that said to me, “Stay by her the rest of your
days, and take care of her. ' I have done it. When I returned to
France, I asked to pass with the same rank into the land troops;
having a hatred to the sea, because I had thrown into it inno-
cent blood. I sought for Laure's family. Her mother was dead.
Her sisters, to whom I took her insane, would have none of her,
and proposed to put her into Charenton. I turned my back on
them, and kept her with me.
“Ah! my God, comrade, if you wish to see her, it rests only
with yourself. "
“Is she in there? ” I asked.
«Certainly, here! Wait! ho! ho! mule. ” And he stopped his
poor mule, which seemed relieved at the command. At the same
time he raised the oilcloth of his little cart, as if to arrange the
straw which almost filled it; and I saw something very painful.
I saw two blue eyes, large beyond measure, admirable in shape,
looking out of a pale emaciated face, inundated with straight
light hair. She looked at us a moment, trembled, smiled faintly
at me. I noticed with astonishment that on her long fingers she
had two diamond rings.
»
## p. 15354 (#302) ##########################################
15354
PASQUALE VILLARI
(1827-)
T has been said that the history of any given nation can be
clearest understood and best written by a member of that
nation, as obviously fitted by temperament to enter into
that sympathy with the past which is the first requisite of the his-
torian. The truth of this is exemplified in the case of Pasquale Vil-
lari, a modern Italian historian, whose noted lives of Savonarola and
of Machiavelli owe their value as much to the author's comprehension
of the Italian temperament as to his thorough and extensive scholar-
ship. The first volume of the Life and Times of Savonarola' was
published in 1859, the second in 1861. In writing this history, Villari
had to deal with one of the most complex periods of Italian develop-
ment, when the Renaissance was approaching its zenith, introducing
into European life the elements out of which the modern world was
to be formed. Like other transitional periods, it was fraught with
much that seems inexplicable and contradictory, even to a far-removed
generation; furthermore, Villari had to treat of a character concern-
ing the estimate of whose place and work in the world a historian
might easily go astray. Savonarola in his perfect simplicity is one of
the most unintelligible figures of history, when regarded, as is usually
the case, as a mediæval friar of a profound and mystic devotional
genius. Villari does not question the genius, but he places Savonarola
where he belongs, in the modern and not in the medieval world.
“It cannot be denied that he had the spirit of an innovator; and indeed,
the main purpose of our work has been to insist on this point. Savonarola
was the first to raise the standard announcing the uprisal of the truly original
thought of the Renaissance at the close of the great epoch of humanistic learn-
ing. He was the first man of the fifteenth century to realize that the human
race was palpitating with the throes of a new life; and his words were loudly
echoed by that portion of the Italian people still left untainted by the prev-
alent corruption. He accordingly merits the title of prophet of the new civil-
ization.
Columbus discovered the paths of the sea, Savonarola those of
the soul;
he endeavored to conciliate reason with faith, religion with
liberty. His work may be ranked with that of the Council of Constance, of
Dante Alighieri, of Arnaldo of Brescia: he aspired to the reform of Christian-
ity and Catholicism that has been the constant ideal of the greatest minds of
Italy. ”
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Villari thus renders an enormous service to the life and work of
Savonarola. Seen in this light, the Dominican friar of San Marco
becomes the embodiment of the better elements of the Renaissance;
he perished because his environment was chiefly made up of the
lower elements of that great growth in the direction of the new
world. A Florence leavened by the Medici surrounded the prophet.
Villari has described this environment with wonderful penetration,
using the slightest details as explanatory of the central figure. For
these reasons his 'Life of Savonarola' is pre-eminent among the other
biographies of the great Dominican.
In his Niccolo Machiavelli and His Times,' he approaches his
subject in the same rational and sympathetic manner. The first
volume of this work is devoted to a survey of the principal Italian
States, — Milan, Florence, Venice, Rome, and Naples, — of the politi-
cal condition of Italy at the end of the fifteenth century, and of the
literature of the period. In this way he prepares the reader for a
comprehension of the character of Machiavelli, by the comprehen-
sion of the social and political conditions which produced him. In
his own words, he studied Machiavellism before Machiavelli. ) His
estimate of the great politician is singularly original and striking: he
proceeds upon the assumption that Machiavelli's noted maxim, “The
end justifies the means," was but a corollary to a much more com-
prehensive principle,-namely, that the whole is greater than the
parts; that the welfare of society is of more importance than the wel-
fare of the individual. He first points out that the political and social
state of the Italy of Machiavelli's time was directly productive of the
theories of statecraft embodied in The Prince. ) "All private rela-
tions were ruled by Christian morality, or at all events professed
unquestioning adherence to its precepts; but it was forsaken in pub-
lic life, where it was supposed to have no practical value. Good
faith, loyalty, and Christian goodness would have subjected to cer-
tain destruction any prince or government that should have actually
obeyed their dictates in political matters. The State would have cer-
tainly fallen a prey to the enemy; would perhaps have dissolved
into anarchy. ” Machiavelli “clearly saw that statecraft has ways
and means of its own, which are not the ways and means of private
morality: that on the contrary, the morality of private life may some-
times check a statesman in mid-career, and render him vacillating,
without his being either a good or a bad man; and that it is mainly
vacillation of this kind that leads to the downfall of States. There
must be no vacillation, he said, but a daring adoption of the meas-
ures demanded by the nature of events. Such measures will always
he justified when the end is obtained. And the end in view must
be the welfare of the State. He who obtains this, if even he be a
>>
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PASQUALE VILLARI
wicked man, may be condemned for his wickedness; but as a prince
he will deserve everlasting glory. . . . Such is the true meaning of
Machiavelli's maxim, that the end justifies the means.
Villari con-
cludes his history by demonstrating that Machiavelli's conception of
Italy's needs was essentially a true one.
.
>>
«Italy had become incapable of a religious reformation like that accom-
plished in Germany. Instead of springing towards God, as Savonarola had pre-
dicted; instead of seeking strength in a new conception of faith, she aimed at
a recomposition of the idea of the State and the motherland. She saw in the
sacrifice of all to the universal good the only possible way of political and
moral redemption. The unity of the regenerated country would have inevitably
led to the re-establishment of morality; would have rekindled faith in public
and private virtue, and discovered a method of sanctifying the purpose of life.
This idea, vaguely and feebly felt by many, was the ruling thought of Machi-
avelli. . . . At the present day, when Italy's political redemption has begun,
and the nation is constituted according to the prophecies of Machiavelli, the
moment has at last come for justice to be done to him. ”
Villari himself has had that acquaintance with public affairs which
is invaluable to the historian. Born in Naples in 1827, he became
involved in the revolutionary movement which broke out in Naples in
1848, and took refuge in Florence. His exile proved of great benefit
to him as a historian, his researches in the archives of the city lead-
ing him to write the histories of Savonarola and Machiavelli. After
the publication of the former work, the chair of modern history in the
University of Pisa was bestowed upon him.
In 1862 he published a
work on Latin and English Civilization'; in 1877 the first volume, and
in 1882 the second volume, of Niccolo Machiavelli) were published.
Critical Essays' appeared in 1876, and Art, History, and Philosophy
in 1884. He also wrote political pamphlets, some of which had great
popularity. In 1866 he was sent to the Italian Parliament by the elect-
ors of Arezzo, but he did not become prominent as a politician. He
is now professor of modern history in the Florentine Institute; he is
also a member of the Superior Council of Public Instruction.
(The Life of Savonarola) and (Niccolo Machiavelli? have been
translated into English by the wife of Villari. The style of these
works is clear, forcible, and in the best sense popular.
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SAVONAROLA
From (Life and Times of Girolamo Savonarola)
SAY
AVONAROLA was of middle height, of dark complexion, of a
sanguineo-bilious temperament, and of a most high-strung
nervous system. His dark gray eyes were very bright, and
often flashed fire beneath his black brows; he had an aquiline
nose and a large mouth. His thick lips were compressed in a
manner denoting a stubborn firmness of purpose; his forehead,
already marked with deep furrows, indicated a mind continually
absorbed in meditation of serious things. But although his
countenance had no beauty of line, it expressed a severe nobility
of character, while a certain melancholy smile indued his harsh
features with so benevolent a charm as to inspire confidence at
first sight. His manners were simple, if uncultured; his language
rough and unadorned. But on occasion his homely words were
animated by a potent fervor that convinced and subdued all his
hearers.
While in the monastery of St. Dominic he led a silent life,
and became increasingly absorbed in spiritual contemplation. He
was so worn by fasting and penance that when pacing the clois-
ters, he seemed more like a spectre than a living man. The
hardest tests of the novitiate seemed light to him, and his supe-
riors were frequently obliged to curb his zeal. Even on days
not appointed for abstinence he scarcely ate enough to support
life. His bed was a grating with a sack of straw on it and one
blanket; his clothing of the coarsest kind, but strictly clean; in
modesty, humility, and obedience he surpassed all the rest of the
brethren. The fervor of his devotion excited the wonder of the
superiors, and his brother monks often believed him to be rapt
in a holy trance. The cloister walls seemed to have had the
effect of restoring his peace of mind by separating him from the
world, and to have purified him of all desires save for prayer and
obedience.
In the year 1481, serious alarms of war were threatening Fer-
rara from all sides. Already many of the inhabitants had fled,
and before long the university in which the Dominicans taught
theology was closed. Thereupon, either from economy or as a
measure of precaution, the superior of the order dispatched the
a
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greater part of his monks elsewhere. Savonarola was directed
to go to Florence; he thus bade a last farewell to his family,
friends, and native town,- for he was destined never to see them
again.
On this, his first arrival in Florence, in 1481, he entered the
monastery of St. Mark, where the brightest and also the saddest
years of his life were to be passed. And inasmuch as the name
of Savonarola is always associated with that of St. Mark, it will
be well to say a few words on the convent's history.
At the beginning of the fifteenth century it was a poor, half-
ruined building, inhabited by a few monks of the order of St.
Sylvester, whose scandalous life occasioned numerous complaints
to be laid before the Court of Rome. Finally, Cosimo the Elder
obtained the papal permission to remove these monks elsewhere,
and granted the house to the reformed Dominicans of the Lom-
bard congregation. Then, deciding to rebuild it, he charged the
celebrated architect, Michelozzo Michelozzi, with the work; and
six years later, in 1443, the monastery was finished at a cost of
36,000 forins. Cosimo was never sparing of expense for churches,
monasteries, and other public works fitted to spread the fame of
his munificence and increase his popularity. While the convent
was in course of erection, he had been very generous in helping
the Dominicans; and now that the work was so successfully com-
pleted, he was not satisfied until he could endow them with a
valuable library. This, however, was a difficult undertaking and
one of considerable expense; since it was a question of collecting
manuscripts, which just then commanded exorbitant prices.
the opportune decease of Niccold Niccoli, the greatest manuscript-
collector in Europe, enabled Cosimo to fulfill his purpose. Nic-
coli had been one of the most learned men of his day, and spent
his whole life and fortune in acquiring a store of codices that
was the admiration of all Italy. He had bequeathed this treas-
ure to Florence; but having also left many debts behind him, 'his
testamentary dispositions had not been carried out. Accordingly
Cosimo paid off the debts; and reserving a few of the more pre-
cious codices for himself, intrusted the rest of the collection to
the monastery of St. Mark. This was the first public library
established in Italy; and the monks kept it in such excellent
order as to prove themselves worthy of the charge. St. Mark's
became almost a centre of erudition; and being joined to the
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congregation of the Lombard Dominicans, the more learned
brothers of the order resorted to Florence, and increased the
new convent's renown. The most distinguished men of the time
frequently came to St. Mark's to enjoy conversation with the
friars. It was during these years that Fra Giovanni da Fiesole,
better known as Fra Beato Angelico, was employed in covering
the convent walls with his incomparable works. But above all
their treasures of art and learning, the brethren chiefly gloried in
their spiritual father and founder, St. Antonine.
During his first days in Florence, Savonarola was accordingly
half intoxicated with delight. He was charmed by the smiling
landscape, the soft lines of the Tuscan hills, the elegance of the
Tuscan speech. Even before reaching the town, the gentle man-
ner of the country-folk he met on the way had predisposed him
to expect happiness in this fairest of Italian cities, where art and
nature contend for the palm of beauty. To his deeply religious
mind, Florentine art seemed the expression of a divine harmony,
a proof of the omnipotence of genius when inspired by faith.
The paintings of Fra Angelico appeared to have filled the clois-
ters of St. Mark with a company of angels; and as he gazed
upon them, the friar felt transported into a blessed sphere like
unto the world of his dreams. The sacred memories of Anto.
nine; the saint's deeds of charity, still enduring and still vener-
ated by the brotherhood; the friars themselves, so superior in
culture and refinement to any that he had yet known,- all com-
bined to make him believe his lot cast among real brethren of the
soul. His heart expanded with ingenuous hopes; he forgot all
past disappointments, and did not anticipate the still sadder trials
awaiting him when he should have been long enough in Florence
to understand better the nature of its inhabitants.
At the time of Savonarola's coming, Lorenzo the Magnificent
had reigned in Florence for many years, and was then at the
height of his power and fame. Under his rule all things wore
an air of prosperity and well-being. The factions which had so
frequently distracted the city had long been extinguished; all
refusing to bend beneath the Medicean yoke were either impris-
oned, exiled, or dead: and general tranquillity reigned. Con-
tinually occupied with festivities, dances, and tournaments, the
Florentines, once so jealous of their rights, seemed now to have
forgotten the very name of freedom.
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