Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1901-09-12

family, and whose husband was the
lord of Bologna, made a pompous and
noisy entrance into Savonarola's
church while he was officiating. The
commotion of the admiring Floren-
tines was rodolent of the servitude of
the period. Though the family of the
Lord of Bologna was so influential
that it was said God almighty would
hesitate to damn one of Them
Savonarola stopped for a moment in
his sermon saying "here comes an evil
spirit to disturb this word ofGod!"
The naughty lady entered the church
with less of a retinue and decidedly
less aplomb the succeeding Sabbath
and the christening through rude and
pointed speech did her world of
good.
Such was the man whom Lorenzo
the magnificent now called to Florence
to play off against the vatican and
whom neither prince nor pope, neither
the vatican nor the court could
swerve from the path of truth and
duty as he believed both to be limned
out by Christ. In truth Savonarola
indicated the dignity of religion
against the mercenary vandals who
would destroy it. He made the world,
the flesh and the devil so shaky in the
polity of Florence four hundred years
ago as they hadn't been since the CON-
ing of Christ himself Savonarola
strong. eloquent and righteous with
true religion was on one side. The
world, the fish and the devil backed
by both church and state were on the
other. An issue so pointely made
could not last long, One or the other
would have to give way.
Lorenzo as personifying the state
was the first to surrender. The
debauched dictator was about to die,
he sent messenger for Savonarola's
presence and priestly blessing. Lor-
EMO was man with excellent COM
mon sense Notwithstanding his bad
and sinful life and knowing that the
intercession of wretched padre
would have only infiamed and insulted
an already angry God he sought for
L.
and righteous exponent of the life and
examples of Christ Savonarola's an
swer was worthy of him. He offered
to help Lorenzo to the throne of grace
upon these three conditions First,
Lorenzo was to make a declaration of
faith in God and his church. This con-
dition shows that Savonarola differed
largely from the subsequent career of
those reformers of whom Luther is
probably the best type. Savonarola
unlike Luther, never cease to be a
Catholic in spirit, sympathy and affilia-
tons. The second condition was that
Lorenzo was to restore to the people
all the illegal tribute he had wrung
from them in order to enrich his
family and to endow churches and to
build libraries. Thirdly he was to re-
store also the political liberties of the
republic of Florence. Lorenzo gladly
offered to comply with the first of
these conditions, but he declined the
last two. Savonarola now left the |
death chamber and the tyrant went to |
heaven without an exequatur.
So the magnificent holy boycott was |
proclaimed from Rome against |
Savonarola. A secret society was or.
ganized in Florence for the purposes
of his persecution. The pulpit from
which he uttered the truths of his crea.
tor was filled with the refuse and filth
of the streets. Nails were hammered
upwards so that their points protruded
through the pulpits upon which he
used to strike his hands in driving
home TO the hearts of men the great |
truths which inspired him. He was
eventually burned in the public square
Of Florence, May %. 1898.
Contrast the lives and characters of
the two men-of Lorenzo and the al.
most forgotten friar-recall the &C.
curats application of Lowelps line:
Truth forever on the scaffold; wrong
forever on the throne"
and wonderingly asked also whether
such can be as true of Heaven as IL