The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-05-30

Of Florence he predicted the vengeance
Of an insulted Deity. and urged the peo-
pic to repent In truth. the peril Of the
church was greater than when imperial
Rome cast st. Ignatlus 10 the lions ana
filed the CatacOmbs with sainted dead,
for the revival of learning was inc
resurrection of Paganism Plato sup
planted Christ with the enlightened,
while an obsequious clergy complimented
the Christian religion on Its resemblance
10 Greek philosophy. Such was the age
TO which SavOnarOld declared that the
philosophers were in hell and that an
old woman knew more of saving faith
than Plato. The unregenerate mind IS
stin travelling around the whence and
whittier of eternity, and the orbit has
scarcely varied. Pythasoras and the
evolutions are nearly agreed on the
origin Of life. and our cleverest aSnostics
do not penetrate farther than Socrates
into the mysterious future
Savonarola alone saw the tendency OF
contemporary thought. and cndeavored to
arrest its fatal progress towards In
fidelity and not less keen was his Judg-
ment of the fine arts as an aid to hoii-
ness. lie realized that a piety which
was dependent on picture must be
weak in true devotion, and the aesthetic
qualification aroused by the contempla-
ton Of a Peruginesque Madonna very
. different from vital godliness.
IN 1892 the Prophet approached the
zenith Of his fame as a preacher. and
as the prior of san Marco he had dis
played the executive ability, which is
rarely found in combination with lofty
imagination and imprisoned Oratory
Crowds hocked to hear him, and the
Cathedral Of our Lady of the Lily echoes
the war-cry of the Champion of the
Cross, and listened spell bound 10 his
awful denunciatiOns OF the sins Of that
generation. The passng-bell tollcd for
Lorenzo, the Magnificent, in the April
of that year, and although he and
SavOnarola were radically opposed and
were at enmity, he sent for the Prior to
receive his last confession, saying that
he was the only honest friar that he
knew. When the dying Prince had fin
ished the recital. Savonarola told him
three things were necessary before he
could be absolved-a fun and lively faith
In Gods mercy; to restore what he had
unJustly gained. and TO give back liberty
to Florence To the first two Lorenzo
readily assented to the third he neither
could nor would, and he died without
the benedction.
Soon after came the great storm from
across the Alps, the invasion of the
French, an event so unparalleled In its
history that men beheld in It the scourge
Of God, which the Prophet had been
foretelling for three years.
tbs DTAlH SENTENCE.
While Charles VIII. and his victorious
army We're marching in triumph 10
Naples. the Florentines threw Off the
Mocicean yoke. and regaining the liberty
which they had lost. they called upon
Savonarola to give them constitution.
With great political sagacity he framed
for them a Grand Council modelled after
that of Venice, and the government
was declared a theocratic Republic. over
which Christ was elected king by the
viii OF the people. Alas IL was not
long before the tickle Florentines grew
weary OF this king and cried. Away
with Him.
one party sighed for the return OF the
Medici. the merchants. accommodated
by the Pope. were on the brink Of ruin,
the priests pronounced SaNonarola Q
hereto ard ecclesiastical hatred Joined
20 political auimosiiy soon made Of the
dauntless Prophet a prisoner in the high
tower Of the Palazzo Necchio. After
they had racked and tortured his BODY
until in his agony they extorted from
him admissions as 10 his prophecies,
which they were careful 10 supplement
SO as to ALLEVIATE his followers. the mock
cry Of a trial ended in the death SEN
terce. The eight years OF his ministry
at the San Marco, brief but ineffacoable
as Monte Marello. had reached the tragic
close which his clear vision had fore
seen. Near the walls OF his dungeon the
flames were ready for the victim, ant.
IN the presence OF the multitude that
illled the Piazza della Signoria the Bish-
op OF Nasona took from him the
Dominican robe. saying, Il separate thee
from the Church militant and trium-
plant"
MiiltantY Yes, but not triumphant;
that Is not yours" answered Savonaroia.
hFm ana combative In the supreme mo-
meht OF departure. As he was bound
10 the stake his dying words were:
The Lord has done as much for me-"
In the ashes his heart was found un-
consumed. and this cor-cordium was
thrown into the Arno. SO that through
fire and water Florence might give 10
the last OF the prophets the crowning
testimony Of his title to that exalted
name.
HIS TOMB A SHRINE
Scarcely had the smoke CT the sacrifice
ascended TO an accusing Heaven when
the reaction came and the populace real
tied with remorsefm sorrow the fuli
measure OF their guilt Retributive 1us-
Tee accorded TO him more than he