The sun., 1900-07-22

making: erotic compositions. Latin rhymes.
limitations OF Catullus. Italian songs. limitations
OF Petrarch. won for him en- undeserved repu-
ta'ion as a poet and well-merited fame ~ IN
intellectual and charming companion. return
ing point Of his life came in i43i when Cardinal
Capranica being accidentally In Siena on his
way to Basle. took him for his secretary.
The fifteenth century was the golden age OF
private secretaries; the most accomplished
humanists worked In this capacity In the chan
ccries Of Popes. Princes and Cardinals. where.
rs seekers for favor. they pursued fortune
amid labyrinth OF Intrigies. ilenceforwnrd.
for twenty-five years, Eneas Sylvus led
restless and wandering life IN Germany. a coun-
try which seemed barbarous In the eyes OF most
Italians. but In Piccolomni. awoke. for the
nrst time. the sympathy OF foreigner. tie
dedicated some Of his writings to its history
and geography. Beyond the Alps, !Eneas
| Sylvius served several masters in quick success
sion a. secretary. always studying mankind
with an eager desire for knowledge, and. with
acute observation. jottlng down witty notes OF
all that he beheld Life vas his school he owed
more to xperI once than did almost any other
man OF his time. Not that experience made OF
him strong character. or urged him 10 under-
take great deeds. What II did for him was to
develop him into many sided man and an ac-
complshed humanist II is interesting to re-
call that In tho course Of his extensive travels.
he visited England and Scotland He played
! a considerable part In the Council OF Basie the
reforming principles Of which. opposed 10 the
views Of the Papscy he upheld In his Dialogues.
At Frankfort. whittier he had been sent a. an
envoy Of the Council, he was crowned Poet
Laureate by the Emperor Frederick ILL.,, who
gave him post In the Imperial Chancery, where
he soon became the conhdant OF the celebrated
Chancellor Caspar schlick. Eaally versed 10
the affairs Of the Empire and Of the Roman
Clria. he strove necessarily to acquire benefices
that should raise him out OF poverty. He was
not inspired by any ardent longing for virtue.
nor was he stirred by the sublime longngs Of an
exalted nature. In word, there was nothing
great in him, Endowed with fascinating gifts.
this man of brilliant parts possessed no enthhs-
asms II cnnrot be said that. before he as
cended the Papal Chair, he pursued any aim
beyond his own advantage. He followed many
paths without committing an crime and with
ont evincing any malice but without strict con-
scentousness. acquiring favor by fattery and
pleasant manners not conquering esteem by
virtue Of strength. Ilis finely strung nature
and exquisite aesthetic taste preserved him from
low vices.
That a man such az Piccolomini should be-
come Pope was a novelty Characteristic OF the
new age. since his career had been essentially
that of travelling secretary, He did not
issue from n convent. nor had he followed any
decided ecclesiastical calling, or filed tho po-
sition Of prince of the Church. unil. In 1859,
Calixtus III. had created him Cardinal even
then he was 40 poor that he was forced 10 con-
IL n. L,gl
belonged 10 any party. bur had led bistling.
Diplomatic career for the most part outside
Of Italy. Al, the humanists and rhetoricians,
the "Bohemians" OF the fifteenth century.
whose ideal of fortune eliminated In an Epis-
copal sce. now saw with delight thata lax poet
and writer OF their time might rise TO the Papal
throne. as well as holy asc,tirs In the devout
Middle Ages When the literary friends Of
his past life learned that Piccolomini called
himself Plus H. they probably inferred that
he had chosen the name. not because II had been
borne by Roman Emperor. but because Virgil
had bestowed it on .Fneas. In Nicholas V.
the Plpal throne had been occupied by humans
tic learning In Plus H., the accomplished man
Of the world. II was ten1nted by the aesthetic
rhetorical genius of a modern and versatile
age. Intellect inspired by the genius Of an
y,
fec'on of cultivated and gifted personality.
Popes of the past, such as Gregory VII, Alex
ander III. and Innocent III. beheld through
tho twilight Of the Middle Ages had begun
to look like gigantic mythical figures, BY their
sido the form OF a man such as Plus ii. seemed
Insignificant and profane; but It was at least a
portrait belonging TO a world which in every
section had become more humane and liberal
than that With ad been ruled over by those
solitary dengods Saints, 1t Is true, might
sigh for the sublime ideal Of the Middle Ages
which, with the awful grandeur OF It's Christian
virtues, was sinking beyond hope Of rescue In the
current OF a secular and classic epoch.
When Hneas Sylvius assembled the Sacred
Chair at the age Of 81 his health was shattered
Tortured by gout. the familiar aIlment OF
the Popes. small and feebly built, already bald
and Of pale and aged aspect, his eyes alone
revealed the soul within. In him the literary
world expected a great Meccnas. Flelfo and
his associates promised themselves an AuSIs'an
Age, but soon turned away In dlsilluson from
Pope who would no longer have any inter-
course with them. Like many men who. having
risen to power. turn their backs on their past.
Plus II. put literature aside. The thought
OF his earlier life and Of the principles which
filled him at times with disq,hetude. He would
have sacrificed vast wealth to wipe away the
remembrance of his dongs at Basle, or to de-
sroy some OF his writings, more especially
his Dialogues the love letters and other like
productions. As late as i+63, about year be-
fore his death, no repeated the "retraction"
uttered when he accepted the pontilcate, In
which he likened himself TO st. Paul and ST
Augustlne-"reject 4Eneas." no said, and re-
tain Plus This recantation. which he ad-
dressed 70 body OF surly theoogans in Co
l0gne, bears no trace Of hypocrisy. neither
does 1t express the contrtion Of a profoundly
rcpentant devotee. II is &C onfession, written in
the elegant and rhetorical style OF man well ac-
quainted with tho world. who soaces himself
with the axiom that TO err Ia human SO far
as other men were concerned, the recollection
OF his frivolous past which had not been
suhied by any crime. soon vanished amid the
genial humanism OF his day. and. II ever the
errors of youth may be pardoned 70 age, Plus
| ii. might claim forgiveness. His life as Pope
was unspotted. He was temperate mild,
benevolent and indulgent and was univer-
sally beloved. lie was not, TO be sure, qualified
for the part Of universal monarch or even that for
OF ruler OF the States OF the Church. His highly
| cultivated but unvtrile intellect required
! different horizon. Unless his Papacy, how
ever were TO remain unrecordcd ne having
| performed no task Of historical importance.
I 10 Al - ha lfaI