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    wetold ^ tatve ^^ S ^^^ Iet ^^ mM this period , had not tkc extradlndiijary m ^ lmmmitii ^ H ^^ Ji ^^ mt&ii ^ i ^ Lm superiors by the freedom eflife anlfead ver * ioas . » . ¦ ¦ , ' >•* ¦? j : * The cooepkruous pait which w ^ s acted by Jerome Say 0 niiroV ^ tQ \ yard » the close of the 15 th e « fttttryf-m % ht seem to entitle him to be ranjcedainotog # c earl y Italian Reformers . But there is much di&culty iu forming any thing like a s&lisfactoi

    opinion , concerning his character aud pretensions , from-t ^ e very contradictory accounts of his life , which have . been drawn up by his friends and his enemies . By Catholics he was considered a turbulent fanatic , who pretended to divine communications and the spirit of prophecy , in order to delude the populace ,

    and dispose them to aid his schemes of sedition against the Florentine government . Protestants , on the contrary , have regarded him as a pious Befkrmer , and honoured his memory as a martyr . Gabriel Naude , in his Apolbgie des grans hommes accusez ; de'Magie , ( Bayle , art . Savonarola , note L , ) enumerates the

    following Protestant testimonies in his favour : €€ Beza , Vigner , Cappel , du Plessis Moraai , and all the Lutherans of Qermany , generally style ^ a jnunar oja in thei r books , the faithful witness of the truth , the forerunner of the Evangelical Reformation , the scourge of the great Babylon , the sworn enemy of the Rriman

    Antichrist ; and to conclude , in ' one word , with Jessenius a Jessen , the Luther of Italy ; and I am surprised they do not call him the John Huss of that country , since they both were put to death in the same manner , were both Heresiarchs , and are both marked with great letters in the Register and Journal pf their Mar 7 tyrs , as appears from the following verses , which they placed under his picture : —

    ' En Monachus so $ eg # ; rerum scrutator acutusy / . Martyrio ornatu $ % 8 puonarola pius . ' Behold the ^ abo ^» monk , the acute inquirer into thing ^ the pious Savonarola , who- was honoured with martyrdom / " *

    Savonarola was , no doubt , in one respect , " the scourgeof the great Babylon , and the sworn enemy of the * Roman Antichrist ; " since , ijn direct defiance of the Pope ' s commands , he publicly preached against the doctrines of Popery ,, arid

    the pretensions of the Roman clergy ' . But he continued in communion wfth that Church which he so vehemently denounced a 6 Antichristian , and woVe m % monkish hfibi ^ t to the last . r rhe circum ^ stances which > led to . iiis death are ouicxus ta the fervour of tKe disputed which Iris

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    Mm-^ o v ^^^ m ^^^^ transmi ? to posteri ^ Ire na ^ es ^ opinions of such perio ^ S y to the g ^ iififc fires . that terminated the lives # d consumed the badi £ fe of the authors : That numerous individuals , in ^ Iiaiy ^ distinguished alike bth ^ r sta ^ jj ^>

    y their talents and their acquir ^ mfeBits , viewed with : approbation wtml t ^ il transacting on the other side of % tie Alps , in the early part of t | iel € tb century , is well known . Some of tfaeke acted upon their convictions , and in public discoTirses , and by their * wriV ings , advocated the principles of the

    Swiss or the Sa ^ onvfteformers . But , in the end , they found all their efforts to be unavailing as to any permanem practical good , and those" of them who were fortunate enough to escape the ministers of the Inquisition , sought their personal security in flight and exile . ¦{ r-v

    Among the earliest attempts to introduce the Reformjtt ^ n int o Italy , musjb be placed those which wexe niaoe at Naples , about the year IS 8 & . T& £ merit' of being the original mover in these proceedings seems to be justly due to John Valdesius , or Vofcdesso , *

    doctrines had created , a friar of hi § convedt offered to prove their trutn , by . submitting , in company with any of life * adversaries , to the ordeal of nre , not doubting that he should , by an evident miracle , come out of it Uninjured . i % e challenge was accepted n&y a Franctec&ii monk . But Savoqarola ' s champion re

    fusing to enter the nre without beingf perniitted to carry with him the host , < y consecrated wafer ,- —a proposal wjrfcjk was deemed sacrilegious apd' profia ^ ffi ^ r-r the populace became incenetiaV . % Mf 4 Savonarola , and conveyed him to ^ fM ^ iil He was aftetwai-ds put to tKe ^ wwffe , and being condemned to de ^* fi | was ; conformably to his aentence /* ^ tr ^ aiigled and burnt at Florence on the 23 $ of'lVJSk y ^ 1498 .-. ¦ , ¦ ' — li ^ ' - > ' '> ' - ' ' f

    ' * ; Antonio Caracciollj (< 2 ottectanea His * torioa 4 e Vit ^ PaapiW . Colon .- 1612 ^ 4 to . p . 2 3 ^ , ) assigns a Somewhat earlier oirigra to the attempt at Reformation at Naples ; , ascribipg it to the arrival iii that city of a bo (| y of ^ ermau s 6 ia / e % who hod been ' ¦ QtfjBtogtiji In thSS iw |^> M ^ iiiej In otl * ev resftects hfa account agrees \ siiM th . e : « tl ^ ni » , glv « San ' thrt e ^ . > « _ HM i ^ 0 iT b ^ % g 8 / !; - he ^ -wi | te ^ .- '•«¦ |^ H tirbem Ncapolim , & Petx * ipso , A ^ ggoJ

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    : Wimm ^ mim ^ ' ^^^ m ¦; . y ^ : jJM

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1822, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2508/page/3/