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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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658 Italian Reformation .
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esteem and veneration . As a preach er his fame spread throughout all Italy , and his popularity was unbounded . "He was held in such high estimation , " says a Catholic writer , " that he was considered the best preacher in all Italy , who , by a wonderful delivery and fluency of speech , turned the minds of his hearers as he
pleased , and this the more particularly because his life harmonized with his doctrine . * Some have affirmed that he was preacher and father confessor to the Pope , but the assertion seems to rest on insufficient evidence .
In 1538 , at a chapter held at Florence , he was chosen , by an unanimous vote , the general of his order , which he ruled with so much ability
* Bovenus , as quoted by Bayle , Art . Ochinus . Bayle gives the following account of Ochin from the Bishop of Amelia ' s Life of Cardinal Commendon : — " His old age , his austere way of living , the rough garment of a Capuchin , his long beard , which reached below his breast ,
his grey hairs , his pale and lean face , a certain appearance of a weak constitution very artfully affected * ti * e opinion of his holiness , wbich was spread all around , made him be looked upon as a very extraordinary man . Not the common people only , but even the greatest lords and
sovereign princes revered him for a saint . When he visited them , they used to go and meet him with the greatest demon - strations of love and esteem imaginable ; and waited upon him after the same
manner , when he went atvay . For his part , he made use of all the artifices that could support the good opinion men had of him . He always walked on foot in his journeys , and though he was old , and of a weak constitution , he was never
seen on horseback . When princes obliged him to lodge at their palaces * neither the stateliness of the buildings , nor the magnificent dresses , nor all the pomp of this world , could make him abate any thing of his usual poverty , nor omit the least mortification required by the statutes of his order . At entertainments he would never eat
but of one kott of meat , and even of the coarsest and most common , and he drank hardly any wine . He was desired to lie oa very good beds , richly adorned , to refresh himself a l | ttle Of the fatigues of h \ s journey ^; but he would only spread M « cloak upon the ground and lie on it . TJm * reputation he gained and the honours he received throughout all Italy are incredible . "
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and discretion as to r « ise it very considerabl y in the public estimation , and to obtain for himself the title of its second founder . After having held the office , with distinguished reputation for three years , he was again , in 1541 , at a chapter held at Naples , elected to the generalship . On this
occasion he evinced great reluctance to re-adcept the honour . His reasons for wishing to decline it have 'been variously represented . Some have thought that his reluctance Was merely assumed ; but others have conjectured , that it was occasioned by conscientious scruples respecting the faith of the Roman Church , which he would be
thus pledging himself to defend . It is certain that during his residence at Naples at this period he formed an intimacy with Valdesso and Peter Martyr , who had embraced some of the leading tenets of the Reformers , and were actively engaged in making proselytes . That from his
conversations with tnem , or by the perusal of the writings , of the Reformers . which they put into his hands , his confidence in the truth of his own system was shaken , is highly probable . He did not then , however , give any public evidence of a change iu his opinions , but after some hesitation and
resistance , suftered himself to be reinstated in his office as general of the Capuchins . In the year following ( 1542 ) he was , at the earnest solicitation of the inhabitants , appointed to preach at Venice , during the season of Lent . In the sermons which * oa this occasion , h 6 delivered to crowded
auditories , composed not merel y of the common people , but including many of the nobility - , it is stated that he introduced many things wbich appeared to some ot hia hearers to be at variance with the doctrine of the
Roman Church . Fortunately for the preacher , the Inquisition was not yet established at Venice , where it was not admitted till after the Council of Treat . But the Pope ' s Nuncio Jiaving received intimation of the obnoxious
words , summoned him to appear to render an explanation of his conduct . As Ochin had spoken in vague and general terms , | it > specific realisation could be proved against Win , fcnd he easily succeeded in making his peace . A few days subsequently to this idter-
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1822, page 658, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2518/page/2/
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