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    ^ heiir * # ejfi ^ oiu 4 By the time that LiU ~ ther a&d . ZwitudiuB appeared in the field against the Rojnan power , there existed a very general , and , in some places , a very decide *! disposition to enter into their views of reform , and

    t $ -4 k ! diAlieir exertions to carry them into execution . This fact will sufficj . ently Recount- for the kind of recepticp they experienced from those who \ yere the first wfrtjaesses of their proceedings , as well as for the success , so far exceeding , probaj ^ y , their oyyn most sanguine expectation * * which

    ultimately crowned their efforts in theirhonourable but arduous undertaking . For whilst their l ^ &ours were , yi some instances , needed to awaken tjbue spirit of religious inquiry and independence in minds in which it had become torpid and inert under the

    chilling influence of a long and oppressive spiritual thraldom , it is perfectly evident that , in a great ntunber of other cases , tfcey had tittle Tmqre to 4 o than to encourage it ^ s workings , and to direct and apply its energies , where Jt had alread y broken its slumbers , and burst forth in active life and

    vigour . - For « ome time the visible progress of the Reformation , . so far as thte was manifested bv the open renunciation of the authority of the Kom ^ n Church , and the institution of a different form Of re&pa&i ) worship and discipline ,

    was restricted to Switzerland , and some districts of Germany . But though its public triumphs were limited to those pflafces , 'its friends , in other parts of lEurojpe , did not remain passive spectators of the great drama which was thfcfl -Sptlng . Occasional efforts Were rpttftein other quarters , at least fty inaivic ^ als ^ to tireak the Roman ypke .. but , owjng , perhaps , to the want of union and co-operation among those , who were , agreed in their views tod object ; owingTj too , in all probability , to the want of $ n active and

    intrepid leader , like Luther or Zwing-Iftfe , to whom all could locrk With confidence ; and , in some eases , owing ; h 6 i di ^ ribt , to the determined opposition 6 f Jt ^ e ci ^ il P 0 w $ r , and the extrenxe vigilance , j ^ fi be agents of ttye Inquisition . £ * . tteir j > rocee < lings were

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    foUowedby jxo . ve * y exteasur ^ last-^ Whi ^ r the doctrine and pretensions of the Church ofr ^ ftoiBe were thus freely canvassed and opposed u * Germany and Switzerland , it was gcace ^ ty possible that in Italy , where men Were piaced within a nearer view , and under the more immediate influence of the system , its ' follies and excesses should

    have escaped notice and animadversion . Indeed , at a period long anterior to that which is at present under consideration , we meet with occasional memorials of individuals who had openly impugned the papal authority . Amonirst these may be here mentioned

    Ceeco tfAscoli , who wrote a poem on the Nature of the Universe . Crescimbeni , the historian of the Vernacular Poetry of Italy , calls him Astrolago del Duca di Calavria , "the Astrologer of the l > uke of Calabria . " He says of him that he was the advocate

    or defender of emperors , of king 3 , and of the laws against the clergy and the pope : and , states that he was burnt at Florence on Hpie , 16 th of September , 1327 , for " his widked opinions . " *

    Some other names ini ^ ht be here introduced of persons w * o are known to have borne a public testimony against the corruptions of the Roman Vnurch ; f and there can be no doubt that many more of a similar character

    • L'Istqria della Vpl ^ r Poesia , scritta da Giovauui Mario de ' Credctnjbeni , 4 to . 1698 , p . 47 , " . II quale , per Je sue malvage opinioni fu arso in / Ftrenze /' &q . + Many of the Italian writers of the

    13 th and 14 th centuries aboVrnd with animadversions , mtire or less ' direct and severe , upon the prevailing corruptions of religion , the licentiousness of the priesthood , > and the pride and tyranny of the head of the church * Dante , who

    nourished towards the end of the 13 th , and in the beginning of the 14 th century , sometimes makes himself merry at the expense of the religious order * , in the situations he assigns them in the other

    world . Boccacio , a writer of the generatioji immediately following , has employed his Decameron to convey his censures of the same body * -jpaijy of the incidents of his tales beitt ^ draw n fro m their corrupt practices . And Petrarch ,

    who wrote odly a few years lajter *)* fcnown ta-have occasiop ^ ly directed W ft pea w tjEie , « 8 We way , > Qjm , Mv £ * fi ? * cvured the displeasure of hif ecclewasticai

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    'T a ' The-JX » mM&mik 0 i * MG ' ' . M ® gS i ¦

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1822, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2508/page/2/