The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-04-27

TT Is difficult TO rise to power, or
hold it, without poison or the
knife; Caesar Borgia kills his
brother, and then kills Peroso.
the favorite of his father, Pope
Alexander vi, while Peroso is in
AleXander's arms: the blood OF the
dead man spurts up into the Pope's
face. but he dares noU protest, lest
Caesar kill him next. II is in the
midst of this violence and license
that the finest period of the
Renaissance developed.
Under such conditions natural
selection works unimpeded; men
become great, or they accept slavery,
or they die. Literal slavery re-
appears. even in the papal court:
Clement V legitimizes the enSlave-
ment of Venetion prisoners; In
nocent VIII receives a hundred
Moorish slaves as a gift from
Ferdinand of Spain; in 1901 Capuan
women are sold as slaves for low
price in Rome.
1T is a time" says Burcknardt,
when man is forced to be either
hammer or anvil. and when person.
ality is a greater power than the
most indisputable right
No other period in history pre-
sentS SO many passionate and COM
handing figures, so many men and
women who stand out audaclousiy
from the rank and file. making
their own manners and their own
morals. They are themselves" with
a vengeance; they walk erect and
proud. and neither humility nor
modesty is known to them; they
believe, if a murder is performed
skillfully, with a nicely OF plot and
a minimum of trace. the murderer
is admired rather than condemned;
he too is an artist.
Nothing is cheaper here in
Naples" says a contemporary, than
human life; assassination is a COM
modify which even a modest purse
can buy. The commandments are
in allegiance, and all prejudice in
favor of morality has been put
aside; men scorn to be good; they
are now resolved to be great Such
is the atmosphere of the ReEaiss-
ance.
IMAGINE, then, the loneliness of
L a saint in the midst of this
violence, this corruption, this in
decency and this impiety. Imag-
inc Dante and Luther made one; a
Protestant before the Reformation,
a Puritan before Cromwell; a man
Of puny stature, drawn dark face,
intense emotions, and gigantic will;
a plain speaker, with burning eyes
that held his audience spellbound,
despite the imperfections of his
oratory; a jeremiah predicting the
fall and ruin CT his city, and brave
ly denounciny it for its sins.
Savonarola had come to Florence
from Farrara, where he had seen
the light of day in 1852; he had
rebelled against being made to
study medicine, having resolved to
become a saint; he had Stunned all
play and pleasure. and at an early
age had taken the VOWS of a Do
minican monk. Now. in 1891, he
YVES a prior of a convent of San
Marco, which the Medici had built;
and from his pulpit there he poured,
upon the city he loved, the laws Of
his denunciatiCns.
His soul was almost shriveled by
the sights he saw in the streets and
in the homes of Florence, and by
the secrets that we're revealed to
him in the confessional. He had
visions in which he mounted into
heaven, knelt at the feet of Christ,
and heard the Son of God to com
mand him to purge and redeem
Florence.
He preached first to the women,
who alone came to the church; and
then. his words having lured men
to him. too. he found his chapel
crowded to the doors every time he
spoke: and the news spread through
ont the city that here, in this flood
of condemnation, the Florentines
might find a new delight.
They came to scott. and remained
to pray: his passion and his fervor
pierced their indifference and hos
tility; at last his own religious zeal
flowed over into them, and at his
command they brought their lux
uries from their homes. even pre-
cious PAINTINGS and musical instru-
ments. and flung them into the fire
| before the church, in great Burn
/ ing of the VenitieS" Merchants Of
fered $4,000 forms for objects of art
/ or costly garments, but they were
refused for moment Florence was