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Untitled Article
Although Rieci was attached to the principles of the Janaenwts , his mode * ration was so well known that he was judged a proper person to allay by his presence at Rome the animosity of the two parties , and an his visiting that city in 1775 , to congratulate the new Pope , Pius VI ., oa his accession to the
Holy See , he was offered a bishopric in the Roman states . But he steadily refused the tempting proposal , and it would be injustice to him to assign his reason in any other words than his own : " I perceived the roeks I should have to encounter in the perilous career of preferment in the Roman court , and considering all its intrigues and cabals , I became convinced , that in * no PLACE IN THE WORLD IS THE ATTAINMENT OF HIGH POSTS OP
DISTINCTION SO INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE PRESERVATION OF INTEGRITY and honour as at Rome . If there be any man who has succeeded in combining them under this government , he deserves to be looked upon as rara avis in terris , an object o £ curiosity and wonder . Such horror and disgust were excited in my mind by the tricks and dissimulation practised by the Roman bishops , that I could not refrain from reproving some with whom I was acquainted , "—De Potter , Vol . I . p . 22 . On his return to Florence Ricci was appointed his Vicar by the Archbishop of Florence , Incontri , a
situation corresponding in precedence to that of Dean in the English Church , but having the higher functions attached to it of a judge in the ecclesiastical tribunals . From becoming more nearly acquainted with the abuses and corruptions of the hierarchy , in this situation Ricci first formed his design of devoting himself to ecclesiastical reform ; and considering the root of the evil to lie in the prejudices and extravagant notions of their own power infused into the minds of the clergy in the course of their education , he formed a plan for a theological college , in which sound learning should go hand in hand with moderate principles *
In consequence of the death of Ippoliti , Bishop of Pistoia and Prato , in the year 1779 , that see being vacant , was offered to Ricci . Although he had already declined more dazzling prospects of worldly greatness , yet , as the court of the patriotic and enlightened Qrand Duke Leopold did not present similar seductions to those of the court of Rome , nor require the sacrifice of any honest principle , this preferment was accepted . * And we have
? The author of the Eloge , a Catholic and ecclesiastic , enlarges much on R . ' s unwillingness to accept this preferment . We should rather imagine that a post being now offered him in which dignity and affluence could be united with extensive usefulness , he gladly accepted it . In turning over the leaves of a dull book , the life of one of 11 . s predecessors at Pistoia , Mons . Visdomini Coitigiani , by Guadagni , in which , according to the custom oi monkish biography , a separate chapter id given to every human virtue and duly ascribed to the subject , we met with the following trait of naivete . On receiving from Cosmo III . the intelligence of his appointment , Cortigiani , who was in needy circumstances , replied , " May it please
your I . R , H . the Lord knows how unfit I am to fill so high a post w his church , and your Highness , how unable I am to pay my consecration fees . " The sum paid to the pope on their consecration by the Tuscan bishops , amounts , in some iniBtances , the writer has been informed , to a whole year ' s revenues , to be paid in advance . Cosmo handsomely replied , " With regard to your first objection , you will allow me to judge of your qualifications ; and with respect to your second , I have given orders at Rome for the payment of your fees in ready cash . " With respect to jhe " tfolp Mpiscopari" of bishops , the following anecdote Is in circulation in Florence . In the course of last year , when the Grand Duke informed the present Bishop of Leghorn of his nomination , he replied , " He was wholly unworthy of so high a situation , but that he would consult the Madonna / ' " The Madonna ? " observed the 0 . D ., "Non sono lo che to nomtoo ? " " What oeed of the Madonna to interfere > J $ jt jnot / who appoint ? *
Untitled Article
Mumoir of Scipfo di Riort . < 4 &
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1828, page 443, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2562/page/11/
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