position on this subject, in fact, appears to have been substantially the same with that of Tertullian, S. Basil, and S. Jerome. Partial justice has been done to Savonarola as a powerful logician and a learned theologian. His intimate knowledge of the Scriptures was something exceptional-not a mere rote knowledge, for it is said he knew them by heart, but a searching and thorough familiarity which showed a wonderful intellectual and spiritual grasp of their body and spirit. HIS PHILOSOPHY. As a philosopher, he has been credited by all writers with a familiarity with the systems of Plato and Aristotle, then dominant; but his latest Italian biographer, Villari, shows satisfactorily that, in his theological writings, he reasons with so much freedom and independence that he had practically freed himself from the dominion of Aristotle.* His early biographers made neither attempt nor pretence to do more than relate the material facts of his career. Later writers, with more attention to his published works, saw more clearly his intellectual power, although his philosophical productions were almost entirely neglected. M. Perrens does indeed direct attention to them, but merely as "des catéchismes sans prétention." Rudelbach † is so engrossed with his sharp search for Protestant ideas that he takes no notice of his philosophical education as exaggerated. We concur in this judgment, which is, moreover, in accordance with the instructions on this subject emanating from the Holy See. At the same time, we are strongly convinced that there is a very considerable amount of truth in the criticisms of the Abbé Gaume on the actual method of education * writings. Meier perceives that in philosophy "he shows a judgment and critical power of his own"; while Poli, in his additions to Tennemann, remarks his order and clearness. "Not to acknowledge Savonarola as a powerful logician,” says Rio, in his remarkable work on Christian art," an accomplished orator, a profound theologian, a genius comprehensive and bold, a universal philosopher, or rather, the competent judge of all philosophy, would be an injustice which history and his contemporaries would not tolerate." The same author goes on to give him credit for the possession of faculties rarely found united with those which make the logician and the theologian. He says: "One might imagine without doubt that it would be more just to deny him the possession of that rare gift of an exquisitely acute and intuitive perception of the beautiful in the arts of imagination, which is not always the privilege of the greatest genius, and which supposes a sensibility of soul and a delicacy of organs too difficult to meet with, either the one or the other, in a monastic person devoted to the mortifications of the cloister; and yet it is no exaggeration to say that both are found united in a very high degree in Savonarola." The historian Guicciardini, who had made special study of Savonarola's works, says: "In philosophy, he was the most powerful man in Italy, and reasoned on it in so masterly a manner that it seemed as if he had himself created it." Although the mass of published works of Savonarola may be truly called enormous, very many of his even in strictly Catholic colleges, and that it productions never appeared, most of needs to be made more Christian.-ED. C. W. It may well be doubted whether this was a real advantage. -ED. C. W. Hieronymus Savonarola und seine Zeit. Aus den Quellen dargestellt. Von A. G. Rudelbach. Hamburg. 1835. his manuscripts having been destroy * Girolamo Savonarola, aus grösstentheils Handschriftlichen Quellen dargestellt. Von Fr. Karl Meier. Berlin. 1836. ed, or, in a few instances, but lately brought to light. Among these latter, Villari mentions a compendium of all the works of Plato and Aristotle, regularly catalogued as in the library of S. Mark. Some of his smaller treatises also survive, and the same author recognizes the writer's originality and the bold hand (la mano ardita) of Savonarola in such passages as these: “We must, in all cases, proceed from the known to the unknown; for thus only can we arrive at truth with any degree of facility. Sensations are nearest and best known to us; they are gathered up in the memory, where the mind transforms individual sensations into one general rule or experience; nor does it stop here, but it proceeds further, and from many united experiences arrives at universal truths. Therefore, true experience resolves itself into first principles -primary causations; it is speculative, free, and of the highest nature."* ancients, that not only dare they not say anything in opposition to them, but abstain from saying anything not already said by them. What kind of reasoning is this? What additional strength of argument? The ancients did not reason thus ; why, then, should we? If the ancients failed to perform a praiseworthy action, why should we also fail ?" And this sentiment he constantly presents in various forms; not in theory alone, moreover, but in practice; not only in the special discussion of philosophy, but in its practical application. His Triumph of the Cross, which is generally accepted as his greatest work, is an exposition of the whole Christian doctrine by reason alone. He thus states it in his preface: "As it is our purpose to discuss the subject of this book solely by the light of reason, we shall not pay regard to any authority, but will proceed as if there had not existed in the whole world any man, however wise, on whom to rest our belief, taking natural reason as our sole guide." And he adds: "To comprehend things that are visible, it is not necessary to seek the acquaintance of things invisible, for all our knowledge of the extrinsic attributes of corporeal objects is derived from the senses; but our intellect, by its subtlety, penetrates the substance of natural things, by the consideration of which we finally arrive at a knowledge of things invisible." Savonarola's definition of veracity, strikingly acute and clear, is one not likely to have been made by a man at all weak either in philosophy or moral principle. It is well worth attention: "By veracity we understand a certain habit by which a man, both in his actions and in his words, shows himself to be that which he really is, neither more nor less." This, though not a legal, is a moral, duty, for it is a debt which every man in honesty owes to his neighbor, and the manifestation of truth is an essential part of justice. Savona rola was, in fact, the first to shake off the yoke of ancient authority in philosophy. He alone, if we cept Lorenzo Valla, who spoke more as a grammarian than a philosopher, dared to declare against it. "Some," he says, "are so bigoted, dred years ago. The Truth of the Christian and have so entirely submitted their understandings to the fetters of the ex This passage certainly does not prove Savonarola to have been a great philosopher.ED. C W. We have spoken of the large number of Savonarola's published works. There would not be space in an arti cle like this even for a list of his *Translated in England more than two hun Faith; or, The Triumph of the Cross of Christ. By Hier. Savonarola. Done into English out of the Author's own Italian copy, etc. Cambridge John Field, Printer to the University. There is also a modern translation by O'Dell Travers Hill, F.R.G.S., a handsome edition. Hodder & Stoughton, London. 1868. popular treatises on practical religious duties, of which four were published in one year alone (1492). These were On Humility, On Frayer, On the Love of Christ, and On a Widow's Life. With all their pious fervor, they are marked by strong practical judgment, and it is but little wonder that the people of Florence should have been enthusiastic in their admiration of a priest who, in all the various lines of his duty as teacher, as confessor, and as preacher, was always equal to his high calling. His harshest critics have said of him that, so violent was the asceticism he taught and preached, he opposed matrimony, and would have turned Florence into a convent. They are more than answered by the following passage from A Widow's Life-Libro della Vita Viduale: "Widows are like children-under the special protection of the Lord. The true life for them to lead is to give up all worldly thoughts, and devote themselves to the service of God; to become like the turtle-dove, which is a chaste creature; and thus, when it has lost its companion, no longer takes up with another, but spends the rest of its life in solitude and lamentation. Nevertheless, if for the education of her children, or through poverty, or for other good and sufficient motive, the widow desire to marry again, let her do so by all means. This would be preferable to being surrounded by admirers, and so expose herself to the risk of calumnies and to a thousand dangers. Let the widow who is not inclined to maintain the strict decorum, the somewhat difficult reserve, becoming her position, rather return to the dignified life of a married woman; but let those who feel that they possess strength and temper of mind equal to the demands of their state become a model to other women. A widow ought to dress in sober attire, to live retired, to avoid the society of men, to be gravity itself, and to maintain such severity of demeanor that none may dare utter by word or show by a smile the least want of respect. By such a life, she will be a continual lesson to other women, and will render it unnecessary for a widow to use words of counsel by which to acquire influence over others. It is unbecoming a widow to be prying into the lives and failings of other persons; it is unbecoming for her to be or even appear to be vain, nor ought she, for the sake of others, to forget what is due to herself." SCHOLAR AND POET. Mention has already been made of Savonarola's devotion to the task of teaching the novices of the order, not only by his famous "damask rosebush lectures which all learned Florence crowded to hear, but his classes of the humanities and physical sciences. Not content with this, and desiring that the monks of his convent should live by the fruit of their own labors, he established schools in which they might learn painting, sculpture, architecture, and the art of copying and illuminating manuscripts. department of oriental languages, where Greek, Hebrew, Turkish, and Chaldean were taught. In urging their cultivation, he said he hoped that he and his brethren would be sent by the Lord to spread the Gospel among the Turks. He also opened a When, after the expulsion of the Medici, the Florentine signiory, on account of the financial embarrassments of the republic, resolved to sell the Medicean library, there was great danger that this magnificent accumulation, then the most valuable collection of Greek and Latin authors known in Europe, and specially rich in the most precious MSS., would be either scattered or fall into the hands of strangers. There was no private citizen in Florence wealthy enough to purchase it. Savonarola, who fully appreciated its value, and who had already brought up the library of his own convent to a high standard, making it accessible to all, and the first free library in all Italy, resolved that these treasures should not leave the city. His first act of authority as prior had been to enforce the original rule of S. Dominic as to the poverty of the order. The saint's last words were: "Be charitable, preserve humility, practise poverty with cheerfulness: may my curse and that of God fall upon him who shall bring possessions into this order!" Nevertheless, under certain so-called reformed rules, the convent at Florence had adopted the power of holding property, and its wealth in landed possessions had greatly accumulated. Savonarola's first reform was to enforce the practice of poverty in the order, while the absence of landed income was to be supplied by the labors of the monks and a yet more rigid economy. It so happened that the sale of the convent property, in pursuance of this reform, had just been made, and Savonarola had at his command a sum of two thousand florins—a large amount for that period. His convent bought the library for three thousand florins, paying two thousand on account, and binding themselves to liquidate the balance, which was a claim held by a French creditor, in eighteen months. This transaction occurred precisely during the period of the celebrated bonfire of vanities, at which Savonarola is unjustly charged with having destroyed innumerable classical manuscripts. Space fails us to speak of Savonarola as a poet. Like many other boys, he scribbled verses in his early youth, and wrote a poem, De Ruina Mundi, at the age of twenty. There is something anticipatory of Byron in the sadness and gloom of its tone: "Vedendo sotto sopra tutto il mondo, Ogni virtute, ed ogni bel costume, Né pur chi de' suoi vizi si vergogni." Seeing the whole world in confusion; every Virtue and every noble habit disappeared; no shining light; none ashamed of their vices." We find in his youthful productions, says Villari, "both vigor and poetic talent, but united with negligence of form." Later in life, he wrote numerous spiritual lauds, composed for the purpose of counteracting and taking the place of the degrading carnival songs in vogue under the Medici. As poetry, they possess no special merit. Villari mentions several of his canzoni, written when he was a young man, and cites one in praise of S. Catherine of Negri, in three long stanzas of fifteen lines each, in which he finds great delicacy and exquisite tenderness of feeling. He also refers to some of his Latin compositions modelled on the Psalms, which are eminently poetical. one of them, he celebrates the praises of God, saying: "I sought thee everywhere, but found thee not. I asked the earth, Art thou my God? and I was answered, Thou deceivest thyself: I am not thy God. I asked the air, and was answered, Ascend still higher. I asked the sky, the sun, the stars, and they all answered me, He who made me out of nothing, he is God; he fills the heavens and the earth; he is in thy heart. I then, O Lord, sought thee far off, and thou wast near. I asked my eyes if thou hadst entered by them, and they answered, We know colors only. asked the ear, and was answered that it knew sound only. The senses, then, O Lord, knew thee not; thou hast entered into my soul, thou art in my heart, and thou makest manifest thyself to me when I am performing works of charity." Owing to his terribly earnest denunciation of pagan excesses in poetry and painting, and his indignation at their imitation by Christians, Savonarola has been held up as the enemy of both poets and poetry, and this even in his own day. To this charge he replied in his work on The Division and Utility of all the Sciences, one part of which treats of poetry. We select a few of its points. He begins: "It never entered my mind to say a word in condemnation of the art of poetry. I condemned solely the abuse which many had made of it, although I have been calumniated on that account by many persons, both in speaking and writing. The essence of poetry is to be found in philosophy. If any one believe that the art of poetry teaches us only dactyls and spondees, long and short syllables, It is on such passages as these that Savonarola's enemies base their charges of enmity to poetry, etc. The charges are unfounded. His æsthetic opinions were in harmony with the purest principles of art, and his sense of the true and the beautiful was always acute. "In what does beauty consist ?" he asks, in one of his sermons. "In colors? No. In figures? No. Beauty results from harmony in all the parts and colors. This applies to composite subjects; in simple subjects, beauty is in light. Look at the sun and the stars-their beauty is in light; behold the spirits of the blessed-light constitutes their beauty; raise your thoughts to the and the ornaments of speech, he has certainly fallen into a great mistake. The object of poetry is to persuade by means of that syllogism called an example, expressed with elegance of language, so as to convince and, at the same time, to delight us. And as our soul has supreme delight in song and harmony, the Almighty-he is light and is beauty ancients contrived the measures of versification, that, by such means, men might be more readily excited to virtue. But measure is mere form; and the poet may itself. The beauty of man and woman is greater and more perfect the nearer it approaches to the primary produce a poem without metre and with Beauty. But what, then, is this beau out verse. This, in fact, is the case in the Holy Scriptures, in which our Lord makes true poetry consist in wisdom; true eloquence in the spirit of truth; hence, our minds are not occupied with the outward letter, but are filled with the spirit." . . . He then goes on to denounce "a fallacious race of pretended poets, who know no better than to tread in the footsteps of the Greeks and Romans; keep to the same form, the same metre; invoke the same gods, nor venture to use any other names or words than those they find in the ancients. . . . This is not only a false poetry, but one most pernicious to youth. We find the heathens themselves condemning such pocts. Did not Plato himself declare that a law ought to be passed to expel those pocts from the city who, by the allurements of the most corrupting verses, contaminate everything with vile lusts and moral degradation? What, then, are our Christian princes about? Why do they not issue a law to expel from their cities not only these false poets, but their works also, and all the works of ancient authors who have written on libidinous subjects and praise false gods? It would be well if all such works were destroyed, and none were allowed to remain except such as excite to virtuous conduct." ty? It is a quality resulting from a due proportion and harmony between the several members and parts of the body. You would never say that a woman was handsome because she had a fine nose and pretty hands; but when her features harmonize. Whence comes this beauty? Inquire, and you will find it is from the soul." Addressing himself to women, he said: "Ye women who glory in your ornaments, in your head-dresses, in your hands, I tell you that you are all ugly! Would you see true beauty? Observe a devout person, man or woman, in whom the Spirit dwells-observe such an one, I say, while in the act of prayer, when the countenance is suffused with divine beauty, and the prayer is over. You will then see the beauty of God reflected in that face, and a countenance almost angelic." We have thus endeavored, in referring to Savonarola's acquirements, and by presenting him to our readers in a variety of mental aspects, to |