New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-05-12
} .sAvoNARoIlA
THE LIFE or A GREAT REroRsfER

By Professor Pasquhls VIarL Ti"sfrst lions
F fwo vo Tnas sss ID. Ev. $40: 40 Serb
Edr Wexford .r,.o or
u Ia surprising that ViiiHns .s, o..
gayouarolas should have remained =" :. a..
more tkan twenty years. Tor nos on'y
most correct and thorough h'SDo's ~ 60 ~
80 M. ne,,oa sxtant, but the suolec' - y.
s-s... "a ,,o,oytsnce. rendering all new hsnt
- $3.50 ard valuable. Savonaros' more
- ,s,aa moro than most historical nsures
49, a.. defamation of misrepresentation, ~
isua ,.odern writers have cost upon. nm
.,-.s..s,,g srspdcion Of charlatanisrzh or the
vs. - s,,yrna of childish superstition ana
...s..r sisnor viilari was the first TO clear
- "a aaurstjons Of error and malice whioh
-. !. i,ne . eeriod obscured this femsrK"n@
- ana 70 present him as he really was
sa,.nsand., indeed, Of singular eompiehltS ous
s-sxhsi the MODEST and purest personahW VI
~ ass. and the most shining hope oil one oase
repubNc that:heunded him 10 o oruei ana Sn"'''-
fui death ,.,u 81. y,.,v NJ
~. st,Asnti oentury--ygas plunged in corruption
..,s,..h,y and dsspotism. The Church was @'
49,. io,oes, mint Of degradation. The Papacy
-. =, che hands Of the Borgias. One fonun
,ro,s,. than another had for years been enuowe ,
..,,,n, che tripIe crown by College OF Caru'iHN
1890 vo,ss were almost openly put up LOT Saio
,ras. r-oa,saov Of Alexander the Sixth SURPASSED
ahe .ssvoo.aia,e predecessors. Every crime
' .I,nSa, Was committed by the Pope ana
-. - anna Assassination wss the ORDINARY
-..,,oa ~ re,noying rivals and enemies ana "ne-
s,.s, fatled poison was freely resorted TO- p,N,n
.~,,,cs have sought 10 rehabilitae l'ucfS"" 1850
xvs,b doubtful success, but If Fame has eAus -
,sy evil deeds, there Is no room ioh s.
a. the evil deeds which were commute" -
~ her Fhe immortality and deoauohcr! Va
Roman Court scandahzed the cohsc'eA''c S.,...-
stimulated the sensual to imi'a''on. -"n;oi
,.ro1Ism. venality, where the most 'eii''
- ,so sins nractised in high places In Florence
~. s,is ~ 4he Medici had eliminated N .no
.....,,on. career Of Lorenzo the magnincen"
n,'s Eborties Of the Floreutines hao oeeu
s..,,oyed Init they were expected 70 console
,hsr,,s,vcs with contemp lston OF court "n'cn
sos,sred letters and Arts and which encour"seu
.,aas nv maintaining profuse luxury ~ W"
~, INCH a stage that the young oeVon"r lO
sntsreS In the modest vesturc OF Donniu''"n
monk. , 49,.
r,or, childhood he had been unlike o'ner
.,,aren II is aid that in early youth he us
riavca a mystical bent; that he saw Visi'ii'' o-
"a h,,,snB nloof from other boys, and was gwen
- i.ro nrooaings and meditations. lie WIS net'nO
-, tSs rrofession Of medicine, but preoonius
49,, a,onred A word into his heart one DAY wn'en
a.t.y,nined his vocation. Thenceforth the ouutOH
sIone wonid satisfy him, and after siVihS ~
"a reelection, hts resolve was mSei' aud W. -
himself OF the temporary'absence OF MS p"fVus'
ga 80 ara was received IN the clotstr' Ai"l
-. s.. ~vss,.eut 70 Florence, where he entered inc
p.,th.,aood of ST. Marks, and where nus tsue
go hso,n. There was nothing conseniai 70
hi, ,n the existing state Of the Church lie lou"u
.a ynl;ts Of Florence occupied by clerical tr'heIs
,sho a,yned 20 please the prevailing diF '.on"
.as.s for classical erudition; who modeiiea tne,r
s.o,,a. mon Priscian and stuffed II fun OF 1teeK
-,...atsors Plato and Aristotle divided the a'
s.,,,o- and devotion OF laypen ond ciencs'
seholars sought new manuscripts. NrVu'sos cur
i.sssd xems, The Fiorenune society was 'na' 80
x,v,dly reproduced by George Eliot IN inc pages
OF R0mola." in short.
.Georse Eliot, however, with all her genius
,sver eorupaeheoded Savonarola, and mas zone
htr, far less than Justice in her powerful
f,ow. indeed. Was IL possible for hcr' WIN not
pn.,s,vist na1erialisrn, TO understand character
SI's go rerhans thnn my other in history,
h,,nded the spiritual with the naterlmf o"Von-
.so1. a. sbo,vn forth by Villari, appears man
49,, ont OF due time; Hebrew Prophet Oh inc
r,U. sst down amid the corrupt frroiouh Sen
ia, Ackle Florentines OF the fifteenth century
From the first the reader Is impeHed 70 ASK hili'
,es whence the monk derived the aohorreh"e "
-. .,a .ytI ,hioh drove him into righteous WRATH
ava misunderstanding energy Of protest, warning anu
a.r,re.atscn. To the soeptic, indeed TINS phe
oomepon IA insxplicshle for heredlw WA "o.
sneoupt for IL nor education, nor the ini'ue"0o Y.
Che environment. In nothing ID saVonafom "ors
remarkable than m his entire ahenntion IRON 'io
-. :, n,s ,,,ne IN fact This may be said OF
al, great reforners, It is true, but 70 say VI
oth.s. docs not lessen the difficulty Of accounting
g.. q, an nurely nateralist lines. A still more
,,s,n,exinr subject is that Of the prophecies Oh
,h. monk Of 81. Marks. Villsri himself evidently
acss not know how TO deal with CHS queSuoh
Tbe sscts puzzle him. Most biographerS OF saVoiE
ia have either belonged TO the class which &c
80 ,sithous HESITATION all that Is ascrDcd 70
s.tr4s and holy persons or 70 the CLASS winch
whatever savurs Of the supernatural ss I'M
xorthv even OF serious consideration. olehoi
yfIiari however, is a conscientious HISTORIAN anu
no ands himself confronted by incontroVer'o"
evidence, not only that Savonnroia uttered proPne
- hat that in O number Of specific instances
80. ,.o,hecies received fulflmerts. Such was
.ho ,ntnion of his contemporaries suoh was
sis nss,oexsion of advanced thinkers and thorough
scegytses like Machiavelb.
+, "a evident that this fulfiment OF prophecy
a. an element of great perpexiy' mourning 10
.sxser than 70 treat an alleged prophet as q We
60. bu, when what is prophesied really comes
~ rnss the case is altered, and IL becomes neceo
ssry 70 ipd another solution of the phenomena
The best Professor villari can do is to suggest
with = vsgusness suitable to 50 obscure sub
-. ,h.. When the monk found himself In the
-, ma mind became 10 excited, exalted, and as
:. were EXPANDED, that he uuconsciOuSly pro,
$3.50 h,mseif into she future and saw as actual
$1,000 ,binps which were yet unaccomplished.
,, ,rt. in,rrpretation satisfies any one, well and
sood To our thinking It leaves the question Just
where it was. But it does not leave the charsc1e,
AZ sayonarola where his earlier biographies ppaCe
a. for tts exhibits in him something which, whetner
a can hs understood not is certainly not 70 oe