The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-01-12
Incidents in the Life of the Famous
Monk ARE Recalled by Viii.
liam E. Curtis.
AIDED OVERTHROW OF THE NEDlCIS
Bitter Constroversy as to Merits OF The Political
and Religious Reformer Has Con-
tinued Through Gen.
turtles.
Especial Correspondence of the Chicago
Record Herald)
BY William E. Curtis.


Record Herald)
Florence. Dec. 10.-The other night I
saw the Salvation Army holding a meet
ing upon the very spot in the Piazzo
Signoria where Savonarola was burned
for heresy by the order of Alexander
s. Borgia, the wicked Pope, on the % of
May, 1893 Thus extremes meet in
Florence as elsewhere, stretching over
a gap of 400 years
War ragged around Savonarola in his
lifetime and has never ceased since his
death. Some people consider him a
saint--the Dominican moks celebrate the
anniversary of his death-some vain
vandal and charlatan, and others
fanatic of unsound mind. When 1 ask
ed a prominent prelate of the Catholic
church how Savonarola was regarded by
unprecedented minds in the church OF
this generation he quoted Pope Plus
VII, who said that when ne went to
heaven he should find out the explana
tion of two great mysteries which had
always puzzled him, the immaculate
conception and the character of SavOn-
memory sacred, and one of the largest
n1onasteries in the city has been given
UP for a museum in which his relics are
exhibited to the public. There are three
cells in the old Dominican monastery of
San Marco which he occupied when he
was prior. One of them was his little
chapel or oratory, another his cell and
the third his study and business office
where he received visitors, and you can
see there the hair shirt which he wore.
his rosary, Bible, with copious marginal
notes, and breviary, the desk and chair
he used, copies of his sermons written
in microscopic penmanship. his trea-
tse against trial by fire" and his
wooden crucifix, before which he knelt
in prayer many times a day
Savonarola was only % years old when
he entered the Dominican order; he was
Is when he became famous all over Eu-
rope for his eloquence, and he was 43
when he went to martyrdom. SayonarOla
was a political preacher, and his was
the first voice raised on the continent
of Europe in favor of human liberty
No matter whether he was a Fanatic
or a charlatan, his words are immortal,
they We're Numbered from the pulpit of
San Lorenzo, and his ideas of political,
moral and religious freedom ana the
liberty CT conscience and thought arc
as sacred now as then. He will remain
in the worlds history as an apostle OF
progress and Christian morals and a
martyr TO his love for his fellow men;
but in the history Of the church his
! oil ell l.a
his name will never be found among the
list Of saints.
His sermons attracted SO many hear
ers that it was necessary for him. to
preach in the cathedral, and it is said
that all the mercantile houses in Flor
ence used to close during his services
/ because business was entirely suspend
! ed, and crowds Of people came to town
| from the neighboring country during the
/ night and slept on the steps Of the cathe-
/ dral waiting for an opportunity to hear
him. His sermons were eXtemporane-
4 Gus, but many of them have been trans
| mitted TO US by admirers who took
notes during their delivery. He preach
/ ed with fierceness and vehemence and
! magnetic influence which convinced
men against their will, and he must
4 lldN AAfAtt oOAilN ny LAOLiC IOWcIs
/ He began his work at Bologna. and was
called to Florence in 1889 by Lorenzo
| de Medici the magnificent" who en-
/ couraged genius, learning and elo-
| quence; but it was not long before he
was the leader of the party opposed to
the De Medicis and denounced his
patron from the pulpit as fiercely as he
/ denounced the pope Lorenzo sent for
him. Savonarola refused to go. saying
| that he was serving God and not the
/ De Medicis. Lorenzo threatened him.
Savonarola prophesied the death Of the
duke, which happened a few days later.
/ On his deathbed Lorenzo sent for the
| friar to confess him. Savonarola told
him that three things were necessary
for absolution-to have faith, to make
restitution for the wrongs he had COM
mitted and to grant liberty to the Flor
entines To the first two proposals
Lorenzo assented, but when the last
was made he turned his fact to the wall
and died without receiving absolution.
When Alexander VI. called Savonarola
to Rome and forbade him to preach he
denounced the pontiff more vehemently
than ever. The pope accommodated
him. Savonarola declined to accept the
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