No More Learning

Although deformed in person, the Duke inherited the taste of his an-
cestors for horses, of which he had preserved a celebrated breed, on one of
which Francis I, King of France, was mounted at the battle of Pavia, and
as war horses they were also greatly esteemed by the Emperor Charles V.
In the Castle of Ombria, there is an equestrian statue of Francis I, in
full armour on one of these celebrated horses, as the monarch went out to
the battle of Pavia. The fortunes of war were adverse; and when the
King, no longer mounted on his splendid charger, entered the convent of
the Certosa, by the breach made by the cannon into its church, the royal
9 July 2, 1609.
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? 24 THE LIFE OF [s. D. 1574.
prisoner took up the words of the choir which had just been chanted
Ps. oxrx, 70, and, kneeling before the great altar, ejaculated aloud,
" Lord, it is good for me that I have been afflicted,
That I might learn thy statutes. "
It happened that a mule of one of this celebrated race of horses was
about to be foaled, and the Duke requested Fra Paolo to observe the
heavens during a whole night, especially at the moment of the birth of
the foal. He did so, and having reduced his observations to writing, copies
were sent to the most famous astrologers of Europe, with this notice,
" That at such a time there' was an illegitimite birth in the house of the
Duke of Mantua, " and it long afforded amusement to this Prince to
peruse the various answers which were returned to him; as some predicted
that what in reality was a foal, would be a cardinal, or a military com-
mander; would attain to a mitre, or even to the Popedom!
But there was no truth in the reports then prevalent, that Fra Paolo
left the Court of Mantua because of this story of the foal; or that he
feared banishment because a youth, who had been instigated by Codogno
a Servite, had been justly imprisoned by that prince. Both of these re-
ports were contradicted by Fra Paolo. The true cause of his leaving
Mantua was, that a life at the Court of any Prince was totally at va-
riance with his habits and tastes, and his friends were too importunate . in
their demands upon his time. The death of the good Bishop Boldrino
also might have rendered his stay in Mantua undesirable, but Boldrino
was taken to endless rest from a scene of disquiet, as every year added
'greater difficulties to those eager to tread the path of reform within the
Church of Rome.
Fra Paolo looked down with a calm and settled philosophy on
prejudice and all that opposed truth; he extracted useful knowledge from
all phases of the human race with whom he was conversant, men of every
grade and of divers climes. Moderation in all things was his scrupulous
study; he did not believe in his own infallibility, or in the infallibility of
another, but he learned as well as taught with great modesty, and loved
to applaud rather than to detract. He knew by his own observation, as
well as from his associates at Mantua, by what means the-court of Rome
had supported and continued to support its supremacy, and from this
early period of his life down to the hour of his death, although a faithful
member of the Church of Rome in its ancient usage, he was ever opposed
to the high pretensions of its Court, and on various occasions at Milan, at
Venice and at Rome, he resisted its dictates, when he conceived them to
be contrary to the Holy Scriptures, to the Fathers, or to the Civil or the
Canon law. It seemed strange to those who only sought . th'ei1'f,own'_ ag-
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? 15122. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 25
grandizement, that a humble Friar should desire to leave the Court of Man-
tua, and the reports before mentioned were probably spread by such
persons; but that Fry Paolo did leave Mantua, not only with the consent
of the Duke but regretted by all, is certain. His was no transient fame.
His blameless life, the splendor of his talents, and the faithful discharge
of his duties at the Cathedral, were indelibly impressed on the people of
Mantua, and they were often wont to say, " Non venira mai phi un Fra
Paolol "
On his return to Venice, his old associates soon perceived how indus-
triously he had been occupied, both before and after taking his degree as
Bachelor, and that he was unchanged by the flattery of the great, the
witty, or the lettered courtiers of the Duke of Mantua. But perhaps it
may be supposed that his convent life now differed from what it had been
formerly, and that he threw off restraint within the walls of his home, and
lived unworthy of his former self. Far from it. Fra Fulgenzio expressly
says, " Paolo added to his learning such integrity in his religious deport-
ment that, although so young, he was venerated by all as the embodied
idea of modesty, piety, and every Christian virtue. Some things may ap-
pear paradoxical, but as they are not only facts, but so well known to
many living witnesses to their truth, he who questions them must wear
a mask of eflrontery, his tongue must be poisoned by falsehood, and his
heart corrupted by malignity and passion. " This is strong language, but
Fulgenzio well knew the aspersiong/Which had been cast on his friend and
master, and he therefore continues. " Let the Friars tell, let these nume-
rous witnesses declare if they ever heard F. Paolo swear or say an unbe-
coming word, or ever saw him angry, and this not only in youth, but
when he was in the service of the Republic of Venice. It was marvellous
that a youth, not above twenty two years-of age, was not only versed in
the learning common to those who dwell in convents, but that he was so
profoundly skilled in science, besides humanity, logic, philosophy, and
theology. He understood the Canon law perfectly and had also a competent
acquaintance with civil law, mathematics, as also medicine; he understood
the nature of simples, herbs, minerals and their transmutations, and was
conversant with various languages, besides Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Chal-
dee. This erudition would have been extraordinary in mature age, but it re-
ceived such additional lustre from the sanctity of his manners that the
actual spring tide of his youth gave reason for still greater expectation, cl-id
God preserve his life to riper years. Truly the knowledge alone of all that
hurr/ran intellect can attain, however admirable it may be, does not impart
perfection; even devils are known to possess great knowledge, but goodness
utilizes knowledge; and piety, religion and virtue may be said to be the
life of the bo=ly, and this varied knowledge of science, united with 1pm-
44
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? 20 THE LIFE OF [. \. D1576.
bity, made this young Friar so revered for his noble qualities, that, as is
customary in Venice among the young nobles if any wearing an unsuita-
ble habit, or conversing or acting unbecomingly were required to enter
the presence of one of the Chief Senators, he would first assume a dress
befitting the occasion, so in the Order of the Servi (for even the Friars,
especially the young, are not always under rule or with their bows bent), on
the ' appearance of Fra Paolo, all became composed, all scurrility and
sport were set aside, as if his presence had been a censor's rod, so that it
passed into a common saying, " Here comes la sposa, let us change our
conversation. " Such power had the presence of this man of known probity
and purity of life over the manners of others, and yet he was so pleasing
to all and so humble that I have not known any one who could say he
had ever been heard to use a harsh word, unless in the discharge of his
public duties, or even a gesture which implied rigor to others, although he
was very severe upon himself. " '
During Fra Paolo's residence at Mantua, Aretino had succeeded Zac-
cheria as twenty third General of the Order of the Servi, and he had been
replaced by Morello. Neither of these Generals had been able to effect any
improvement in the Constitutions of the Servi, but the subject was still
agitated, and Fra Paolo only waited a favorable opportunity to forward it,
notwithstanding present opposition.
But, occupied as he was with the affairs of his own Order, he was still
an attentive observer of the public afifairs of Venetia. The boast of the
Sultan was not an idle one, and the Servite saw the ill gotten island of
Cyprus wrested from the Republic at the price of sixty thousand Turkish
lives. But the victory of Lepanto again crushed the Ottoman navy, and
delivered Venice from fear of invasion, filling the land with the melody of
a free people chanting Te Deum, in place of the bitter wail of slaves
groaning beneath the Moslem.
Fra Paolo was too valuable a coadjutor to be allowed any long respite
in the privacy of his convent, and Milan was now destined to become for a
time his place of residence. Milan, one of the most populous and opulent
cities of Italy, enclosed at that time Within its walls of ten miles circuit
between two and three hundred thousand souls, and was adorned by
upwards of one hundred churches, besides a vast number of monastic
buildings. There, the memory of Saint Ambrose was then, as now, revered
by all who,/like Fra Paolo/regarded true worth; and his veneration for
Saint Augustine is shewu by the respectful deference with which he
always cites that great Father of the Church.
On one side of the Church of Saint Ambrose at Milan is the Chapel
EMS.
' _-. ;u
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? A51'. 24. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 27
where Saint Augustine, won from error by the teaching of Saint Ambrose,
received baptism at his hands; and it was also at Milan, according to
tradition, that these two holy men were wont to sing together the noble
anthem " Te Deum laudamus, " of which Saint Ambrose is said to have
been the composer. _
The ritual of the Church of Milan differd from that of Rome except
in the office of consecration, and when Gregory VII, in the 11th century
attempted to impose celibacy on the Clergy, those of Milan strenuously
opposed it as an " innovation, " and even pronounced the Pope and his
Court to be heretics, and as Arnulphi reports, they were only prevented
from making a formal separation from the Romish Church by the arms of
Estembald. ' This innovation, unknown in the early ages of that Church,
has however remained ever since, and produced evils of great magnitude.
It was in fact only in the eleventh century that the authority of the
Pope was established in Milan, and it was not till that period that the
Archbishop received from Rome his Archiepiscopal pall. At the present
period, A. D. 1575, the see of Milan was worthily filled by the Cardinal
Archbishop Carlo Borromeo, who, bent on the thorough reformation of
his diocese, summoned Fra Paolo (though fourteen years his junior), to aid
him in that important work. Much against his will, Fra Paolo was
commissioned not only to hear confession in other churches besides
those of his own order, but in company with the other Counsellors of the
Cardinal to give judgment in cases of conscience. He did not leave any
written condemnation of it, but that he did not approve of being himself
a confessor, may be gathered from the fact, that his name having been
duly sought by a member of the Church of Rome, who was at great pains
to ascertain the truth, the name of Fra Paolo Sarpi is not to be found
amongst those who heard confession. The power exercised by the Jesuits
by constant confession was strongly censured by him, and one thing is
certain that his confessions were chiefly made to God. He trode a very
thorny path, but every step of his ascent brought him nearer that heaven
to which he climbed.
Borromeo had himself been created Cardinal and Archbishop by his
uncle Pius IV, when under twenty years of age, and though he had been
accustomed to live in splendor at Rome, and might have dreaded the
displeasure of the Pontiff for whom he held the public and privy seal and
acted as Grand Penitentiary and Legate of Bologna and Romagna, he
at once dismissed eighty of his servants immediately after reform had
been recommended by the Council of Trent, laid aside his robes of silk,
fasted weekly, often daily, and subsequently renounced the coat of arms
1 L. xv. c. 6, 9, 10.
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? 28 ' THE LIFE OF [s. D. 1574
which his noble family had long borne. As Protector of many religious
Orders, the Cardinal had powerto enquire into the abuses which had
been a cause of scandal in some of these, but Fra Paolo knew that
this inquiry had not been by all of them well received. While some
had bowed to his decisions against malpractices, others had resented
his interference, and Donato Farini of the Order of the Umiliati had
carried his resentment so far, as actually to discharge the contents of
his arquebuss at the Cardinal Archbishop, as he knelt at prayer in
his own chapel. It did not pass unobserved, that at the moment this
gross outrage was committed the words of the anthem, " Non turbatur
cor vestrum necque formidet " had just been sung; but the Archbishop _
was almost unharmed. Swift justice overtook the culprit, though against
the will of the good prelate, who besought the Pope to spare the Umiliati,
and the whole Order was suppressed. ' 4 ' ['/&/
But this assault did not daunt the ardor of the /Cardinal w-he'was-
indomitable, and when Fra Paolo went to Milan he found that he was
enforcing stricter discipline than had been known for a long period.
Borromeo also founded seminaries for youth, and deserves great credit as
the originator of Sunday schools. He also contributed to the reformation
of the music of the Church services, which had greatly degenerated, and
the harmony of earth, better attuned to sacred words, now poured its
strains on the delighted ear.
The papers of the literary Society published under the title of the
" Noctes Vaticanae " prove, that the Cardinal had a taste for literature,
but the cares of his diocese when Fra Paolo was at Milan superseded. all
else. Imitating the Saints Augustine and Ambrose, Borromeo shared his
meals with his clergy, and Fra Paolo was his hidden guest. Bread and
water formed the chief part of his food and beverage, and it is not pro-
bable that his guest was supplied with more luxurious fare. The face of
the Cardinal bore deep traces of austerity and self infliction, it was care-
worn and attenuated; the eye was eager, the nose very sharp and promi-
nent, the mouth full, large, and expressive of decision, but the whole
countenance pourtrayed more fervor than sagacity. His manners were
gentle, his humility unfeigned, sincere and upright, he pursued his plans
with unwearied energy, and at length eff'ected a great apparent reformation
at Milan. '
But the Cardinal was more zealous of outward reform than Fra Paolo,
not that the former was any less than the latter an example of holy living.
He had in fact been regarded as a saint long before he was enrolled as
such by canonization in the calendar of the Church of Rome, but while
the Cardinal augmented the feasts and fasts of the Church, for example
instituting as he afterwards did, " The procession of the holy nail; of. our
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? arr. 22. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 29-
Lord, " and endeavoring to prohibit the eating of meat on Sunday, Fra
Paolo regarded these as nonessentials, and like the great and good Car-
dinal Gaspar Contarini, turned his thoughts rather to the important
doctrine of faith in the blood of Christ, " a jewel which the Church kept
half concealed, " but equally true Cardinal de la Pole had said in
writing to the Cardinal Contarini, " that Scripture taken in its profoundest
connexion teaches nothing but this doctrine. " The writings of Fra Paolo
re echo this doctrine stated by Contarini in the treatise on justification.
This work had considerable influence, indeed that is the supposed reason
of its having been so changed and interpolated, that a copy of the original
can scarcely be found; but the treatise stands out still in bold relief, a sa-
lutary lesson to the church of Rome and to all, and these words show that
it is a mistake to allege that the above doctrine was, or is, totally lost to
the Church of Rome.
" If the question, " wrote the Cardinal Gaspar Contarini, " on which
of these two kinds of righteousness we would rely, that inherent in us,
or that imputed in Christ, a man of piety will reply, that he can trust
alone to the latter. Our righteousness is only inchoate, incomplete, full
'of defects; the righteousness of Christ, on the other hand, is true, perfect,
thoroughly and alone pleasing in the eyes of God: for its sake alone can we
be justified before God. " And these words also tell to all within the pale of the
Church of Rome what was the sound belief of a Cardinal -Legate of the
sixteenth century, " a man much esteemed for his singular worth and /4072! ;
learning, " and that the doctrine which the Church of Rome held in her
earliest age, that which the Saviour delivered to the Apostles, that which
they and some of the Fathers, especially Saint Augustine, held, is that
which her best informed and wisest members still hold, irrespective of
the decrees of the Council of Trent. It should be borne in mind that the
doctrine of " faith in Jesus Christ alone, " 'is the common ground upon
which all believers in Christ agree, or ought to agree, and then it will no
longer appear singular that Sarpi corresponded with or welcomed to his
cell, those who were, and those who were not, members of Rome's com-
munion. He debarred no one from his society, and there can be no doubt
but his mind became more expansive by intercourse with those who held
opinions which the Jesuits only had banished in the last Council.
At Milan, Fra Paolo had opportunities of acquaintance with this wide-
spread Order. The Confessor of the Cardinal Borromeo was one of the
Jesuits; fourteen of them had been invited to Milan by the Cardinal, and
they, as well as some others, were called " reformed priests. " Like many
of the faithful he had great expectations from them, but these- issued in
disappointment. At an early stage the acumen of Fra Paolo discerned that
their novel doctrines were untenable, and their teaching subversive of
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? N THE LIFE OF [A. n. 1576.
sound morality. Their great influence was gained by confession and elo-
quent sermons, for while the former overawed, the latter allured and
fascinated the weak minded and unwary, who were easily seduced by men
well trained in the art of bending the will to their purposes.
But it was not long before the services of Fra Paolo were required
in his Convent at Venice as Reader of Philosophy; and his audience
was composed, not only of the friars of his own Cloister, but of many
secular Clergy. His lectures were distinguished by " clearness of method,
lucid ideas, and pr-ofundity of thought. "
When Fra Paolo left Milan, the angel of death had not yet stricken that
devoted city, and the Cardinal Borromeo had not yet entered on his lau-
dable work of self devotion, in tending with skill and tenderness all who
were sinking beneath the noxious breath of the pestilence; but in the
early dawn of the following year the plague stalked like a mighty giant
through the fertile plains, the mountain heights, and the densely populated
cities of Italy, and desolated that beautiful land. In Venice, Titian, with
many other persons of note, fell beneath its power, and amid the general
mortality Isabella Sarpi, the mother of Fra Paolo, was numbered with the
dead.
It was in truth an era of long and deep anguish to Venetia, the land
was filled with wailing, yet every effort for the restoration of health was
as powerless as the voice of a pilot to still the rage of the storm. Seven
hundred was the frightful amount of death from sunrise till sunset, and
forty thousand was the total number of victims. But at length the course
of the plague was arrested. The Doge and the Senate proposed that the
mourning survivors should rear a church in honor of the Holy Redeemer.
Two hundred deaths had been notified to the Senate on the day previous,
but it is a well attested fact that on the day following that on which
this pious offering was made, only four persons died of the plague.
The foundation of the Church S. S. Il Bedentore was laid by the Doge
and Patriarch, and " a solemn procession of the whole Clergy of the
city, " 1 followed by the religious Orders; and if ever a human heart
was stirred to its depths, it must have been that of Fra Paolo, when
he and the prostrate and stricken assembly, amid stifled sobs, suppressed
groans, and bitter tears, knelt to crave one look, one tender look of sym-
pathy and regard from heaven.
On the following year this Church, the masterpiece of Palladio, rose
in all its fair beauty and perfect symmetry. It stands on the Island of the
Giudecca, and its fine dome is well seen from the opposite shore beyond the
Piazzetta of S. Marco. There is comparatively little change in this structure,
* Ssnsovino. Del Sistieri di. Dorsa Duro, lib. 6,, continued by Martinioni.
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? mr. 24. ] ' ma PAOLO saarr 111
its fine features have crested the waves of time. May every eye that /
rests on it rise, as did the eye of Fra Paolo, in profound adoration to the
most Holy Redeemer! It is impossible to tread its nave of vast but sim'
ple grandeur untouched by the memory of the succour lent by Heaven to
Venetia in the hour of her woe. How often on his way to the Ducal pa-
lace in after years did Fra Paolo view with emotion this votive fane! How
would his love of architecture admire its unrivalled proportions! and how
higher far would his thoughts ascend, when turned to sadness by the
scene before him, they would naturally flow towards the fond mother who
had taught him his first lessons of holy wisdom, gentleness, and humility,
now laid cold as the marbles which adorn the Church of the Redeemer!
About this time Fra Paolo heard with sorrow of the League against the
Reformed. The Pope Was about to send his troops against men who had
done nothing to provoke such treatment. Far other were the thoughts of
Fra Paolo, he bridged over all differences between them and the Church
of Rome, and discovered points of union where lesser spirits only found
cause of cavil or persecution, he judged the difference of both parties to
be exaggerated. He knew that several doctrines of the Church had been
utterly lost sight of, or not even discussed by the last Council, and he
never suffered any difference of opinion to dull the brightness of friendship.
He had many learned friends amongst the Reformed, and his expressions
of esteem for them were unfeigned. The affairs of Rome also occupied his
attention; Gregory XIII had conferred the title of Grand Duke on Cosmo
di Medici, which gave great umbrage to enlightened politicians; and
men of religion asked, " What right had an ecclesiastic to confer such a
dignity? "
But tidings from more distant climes were satisfactory, the Sultan was
on good terms with the Republic, the power of Spain decreased in the
Low Countries, and the Prince of Orange was well established in his king-
dom, and weary of the tyranny of Spain, Italy showed strong symptoms of
rebellion.
Venice, though she had suffered much by fire and famine, war and
pestilence, was now delivered from these ills; her beautiful port was crowded
with galleys, and her active commerce again flourished, it was lessened,
but still vigorous. Those who have trod her broad quays, seen the lustre' of
an evening sun light up the crafts that now enter her port, can picture to
themselves what the scene was when fleets of galleys and hundreds of
merchantmen rode at ease in that safe harbour, when the gondolas shone
in all the magnificence with which they were then adorned. No stronger
contrast can be conceived, than the noise and bustle of the harbour of
Venice and the stillness of the Convent of the Servi. Far from the place
of mart or festivity, it retains even now, in all its ruin, the stamp of deep
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? 32 ' THE LIFE or i . [A. D. i1'576-'
solemnity; its site however is not gloomy, nor in those days was one of
its inhabitants. It was not only the fame of Fra-Paolo's acquirements which
drew the learned to his cell, but also his cheerful conversation; and foreign
travellers openly said, that they " had no other object in visiting Venice
than to see Fra Paolo? Many of these carried Albums, and when requested
to write in these, he Wrote -either some wise precepts from an ancient
author or thus, from the Holy Scriptures. " 1 From intercourse with
well informed persons he had early tidings of passing events, a great boon
at a time When communication was neither rapid nor certain between any
countries. His interest in the Gallican Church was uniform, although he
did not think its liberties perfect by any means , still he thought
them very preferable to the liberty enjoyed by the Church of Rome in
Italy.
It was during this year that he made the acquaintance of M. de Fer-
rier ' who again came to Venice from Paris on an embassy from Hen-
ry II to obtain a loan of money, and to announce peace between the Pa-
pists and the Reformed. This bold assertion of the rights and liberties of
the Gallican Church gave umbrage to some of the Italian Clergy present
at the Council of Trent, where this liberal and high minded Frenchman
had not hesitated to ask the Fathers of the Council to follow the example
-of Josiah, by causing the Book of the Law to be read which he said
"had been concealed by the malice of men. " He had also demanded the resto-
ation of many ancient usages, that the cup in the Holy Sacrament should
be administered to the people, prayers and catechisms taught, and the
Psalms sung in the French language, he had also petitioned against plu-
ralities, and had demanded a proper definition of the doctrines of images,
relics, and indulgences, with all the eloquence that charmed the parlia-
ment. He had pressed these claims and maintained their justice by quota-
tions from the Holy Scriptures, and from the writings of Saint Augustine,
Saint Ambrose, and Saint Chrysostom, but all in vain. These sentiments,
however, with the mature experience and unblemished integrity of de
Ferrier, made him esteemed by Fra Paolo. Equally distinguished by his
diplomacy as by his knowledge of law, de Ferrier, although a lover of
antiquity, was still a lover of reform. He knew in what odour France held
the Inquisition, and how the far sighted Chancellors Segfier and l'Hopi-
tal had prevented its introduction into France, and was therefore well able
to dilate to him on the wrongs done to France at the Council 'of Trent.
He had looked for reformation, not for confirmation of dogmas which had
been the additions of Popes or of former, but not general, Councils; but
1 MS.
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? - E1'. FRA PAOLO SARPI 33
the French ambassador, like many others in Italy, had been disappointed.
It is no difficult matter to picture Sarpi and M. de Ferrier in close con-
verse in the Convent of the Servi on the affairs of the Council, when the
memory of Paolo eagerly stored up what de Ferrier related, in order to
incorporate in his history of the Council a relation of those facts to which
no one but M. de Ferrier, on the part of his royal Master, could be privy.
Among the other friends of Fra Paolo at this time, the noble du Ples-
sis Mornay may be mentioned, his piety and learning were valued by him,
as well as his wisdom in the Cabinet. '
But to proceed. The Pontiff, who had high views of the Papal power,
still gave annoyance to the Republic of Venice. Rome was gradually climb-
ing towards that height which she attempted to hold in the seven-
teenth century, when, counselled by Fra Paolo, Venice resisted her de-
mands. '
The death of Maximilian made no change in the aspect of public affairs,
as his son continued friendly to Venetia.
On the fourth of June A. D. 1577 the Doge Morenigo died, and was
buried with great pomp in the Church of S. Giovanni and S. Paolo, where also
are the remains of Brfigandino, who, being betrayed by the Turks after the 61/
siege of Famagosta, suffered the terrible death of being flayed alive rather
than deny the name of Christ, his Redeemer. As a trophy, his skin was
preserved by his brutal enemies, but subsequently obtained at great cost
after the battle of Lepanto and taken to this place of rest. Little had the
Turks reflected, when they suspended this trophy to the bow-sprit of one
of their galleys, that they were only extending the fame of him they had
murdered, and proclaiming the power of a deathless principle, the religion
of Christ in the soul of the noble Brigandino, that same principle which
enabled Fra Paolo so often to face death without terror. These sentiments
were shared by Sebastiano Veniero, the veteran victor of Lepanto, ,
who was now elected to the dignity of Doge with great unanimity. His election supplied Pope Gregory with an occasion to propitiate the
Republic, and he therefore sent a gold rose to the Dogeressa. But as it was
the custom of the Popes to send the rose to such courts only as gave
strict allegiance to the Papacy, the Republic of Venice resented this dis-
tinction respecting the gift as a reflection on her independence, and M
although the Dogeressa retained the emblem of silence, the displeasure M1'
the Venetians slowly mouldered, like the fire which shortly after consumed
the Doge's palace, only to burst forth in greater volume. This is no figure
of speech, the olden palace, which occupied the same site as that which
now claims the attention of the curious, was a building of which the Ve-
netians were justly proud; it was nearly all burned to the ground. " The
Hall of the Grand Council, that of the Senate and that of the Scrutiny suf-
3
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? 34 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1578.
fered, " 1 and it was not till the flames reached the celebrated picture, Il Pa-
radiso, the largest oil painting in the world, that the fire yielded to human
efforts for its extinction. And great were these efforts, for which 1,500 ducats
were voted to the workmen of the arsenal, who had perilled their lives to
extinguish the flames; but they were true Venetians, men whose services
were always prompt at the call of their country, were neither selfish
nor venal, and they refused to touch the proffered gift. The palace could
be, and was rebuilt, that palace in which Fra Paolo was so often to give
counsel, but who could repaint the pictures of Bellini, of Paul Veronese,
Tintoretto, or of Pardenone? 1 Many of the portraits of the Doges painted
by Titian perished, and the catalogue of upwards of one hundred pictures
burned in that fatal fire, forms a dark page in the " Venetia Descritta " of
Sansovino. Amongst them were the portraits of personages familiar to
every reader of Venetian history; many of them are mentioned by Sarpi,
who saw the palace rise like a phoenix from its ashes more beautiful than
ever; but a year had not elapsed when its occupant the Doge died, leaving
a name that will go down to the latest posterity.
This Doge, Sebastiano Veniero, was succeeded by Nicolo da Ponte, and
Fra Paolo had the satisfaction to see a man of learning and science hold
the chief office in the State. During the first year of his government, Pa-
ruta was named Historiographer, but each succeeding historian, had he
chronicled the bare facts of the case, could only have told " that the in-
fluence of the King of Spain throughout Italy was on the increase. " To
this may be traced the decay both of Venice and of all Italy. ' So
said Sarpi: some have condemned his dislike to the influence of Spain, but
if such persons would consider that her monarchs curbed the liberty of
Italy, that they fostered bigotry and superstition, and upheld the power of
the Inquisition in spiritual matters, not only by encouragement of the
papal prohibitions on books, but by many other taxes, restrictions, and
vexations/7 would they not rather pity than blame the man who could not,
even in thought, bow beneath impending tyranny? Two strove for the
mastery, Philip of Spain and the Pope, as to who should "be absolute
sovereign of all Italy; " Fra Paolo Sarpi was afraid of both, Was he wrong?
The writer must new claim the indulgent attention of the reader to
some account of Fra Paolo's studies, prefaced as it necessarily is with the
reasons for not citing from the Friars manuscripts in this instance. Many
of the MSS. of Sarpi remained at the Convent of the Servi, and they
were all collected and arranged in the year 1740, by Fra Josepho
Bergantino, who to the gifts of genius and a critical knowledge of Vene-
1 Calendar. Rawdon Brown.
2 Sismondi.
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? am. 26. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 35
tian antiquity added urbanity of manners, and his veneration for the
memory of Sarpi, which was also shown by his work " F. Paolo Giusti-
ficato, " made him well fitted for his task. Besides a large volume entitled
the " Schedaa Sarpianae, " there were five small volumes bearing this
title, " Pauli Sarpi collectanea quot quot domi forisque inveniri potuerunt
ab H. Josepho Berganteno H. C. A. in unum congesta 1740. "
All these perished in the fire which consumed the Library of the Servi
in the year 1769. ' But as Foscarini and Griselini had personally exa-
mined these MSS. the reader is not left without their observations on
these curious writings; both were of opinion that Paolo Sarpi had entered
on his wide field of research in the years in which he taught philosophy
in his Convent. This opinion was founded on their perusal of the " Pen-
sieri, " a MS. of two hundred pages much worn and damaged, which '
consisted of seven hundred thoughts on natural philosophy, metaphysics,
and mathematics, nearly all of which bore the date of 1578; and both
Foscarini and Griselini bear witness to their being " the marrow of scho-
lastic doctrine, " and " the type of more modern systems. "
After noticing the high aim which Fra Paolo took in known science,
how he had extracted as well as analysed the essence of natural philo-
sophy, and shewed that he had embraced all that men of the greatest
genius of the past and present century knew of the elements and nature
of bodies both terrestrial and celestial, their generation, properties and
qualities, how he had successfully unfolded all that relates to the nu-
trition of life, and of vegetable and animal matter, Griselini observes,
" What may be said of his thoughts on philosophy, may be equally affir-
' med of those on mathematics, which not only belong to pure geometry,
but to synthesis, analysis, the conic sections, mechanics, statistics, hydros-
tatics, hydraulics, hydrogaphy, aeromatria, pneuniatics, optics, dioptrics,
catoptrics, geocatoptrics, catodioptrics, the sphere, astronomy, acoustics,
and civil and military architecture," and Griselini adds," that these
Pensieri not only showed that Fra Paolo was versant in the Works of
Euclid, Archimedes, and Apollonius of Perga, but in those of Vitellio,
Alhazen the Arabian Mathematician and Optician of the 12th century,
and with the works of his contemporaries Ubaldo, Marquis del Monte, a
renowned writer on mechanics of the 16th century, and other philosophers
and mathematicians of note, precursors of the great Galileo. "
There was a translation of the work of this Oriental in the La-
tin language in the library of the Servi, Venice, prior to its destruction.
" Opticae Thesavrvs Alhazeni Arabis, libri' scptem nunc primum Editi
Eivsdem liber de Crepvscvlis et Nubium ascencionibus. Item Vitellonis
1 Appendix.
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? 36 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1578.
Thuringopoloni Libri X, omnes instaurati, figuris illustrati et aucti,
adiectis etiam in Alhazenum commentarijs a Federigo Resnero. " On
the margin of this volume, especially in the second book, there were
many notes in the handwriting of Fra Paolo.
Fra Paolo shewed that a solid immersed and saturated in water cannot
acquire more gravity than it has by nature, because water in water, not
' having gravity cannot give to the solid either more or less gravity. '
Such is nearly the doctrine of Galileo. Again, touching the velocity which
accelerates the fall of a heavy body attached to a cord or pendfnt thread,
his reasoning is similar-to that adopted by the Florentine philosopher
in his Dialogues. ' Sarpi shows that " an igneous vapor arising from the
water does not ascend quicker because the vapor is lighter than the air,
but because it is forced upwards by the water which compresses it, " and
he further remarks that " a body which weighs in the air double that of the
water, will descend in it in the same degree as the air ascends. " So Galileo
asserts that " the gravity of a solid, greater or less than that of the water,
is the true and proper sense of its sinking or not. " On comparison of
the ideas of the author of a method of Indivisibility with that of the
" Pensieri, " the same argument occurs as to the effect of mirrors whose
concavity is generated by a parabolical line; there is also similarity between
the " Pensieri " and the Lunar Astronomy of Kepler, as also Gregory in his
Comparative Astronomy. On dioptrics, Fra Paolo observes, " I have made
many experiments in this particular with looking glasses, spherical and
concave, convex and plane and having observed the effects produced by the
rays of the sun, and by the brightness of the moon and stars reflected on
the water, the reflection of the same will determine their place and dis-
tance. At different times the experiments were according to my method
of reasoning, but at other times, I found I was quite contradicted, which
is one argument for the belief that in many cases the broken and diver-
gent rays which meet our eyes converge, or are as if convergent. "-
The " Pensieri " also contained thoughts on Anatomy, although there
is presumptive proof that these threw considerable light on that science, it
is more probable that Fra'Paolo's discoveries of the valves in the veins,
and the dilitation of the uvea of the eye were made during 1582-5 when
for three years he made Anatomy a principal study.
The nomination of a friend of Sarpi to the Readership of the Ducal Chan-
cery must not be omitted. Aldus Manutius was one of a family held in vene-
ration by every lover of classical literature. The Aldine, or Italic character
perpetuates the name of Aldus the elder, as well as his edition of the Clas-
1 Pensieri MS. Sarpi. N" 13, 538.
2 Opera di Galileo. Tom. 1. 216.
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? air. 26. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 37
sies, but the studies of Aldus, the younger, of the libraries of Venice as
well as its stones, marbles and antiquities, and his arduous comparisons
of their inscriptions with upwards of 1,500 Roman inscriptions in order
to establish a correct orthography of the ancient Latin, were more than
sufficient to arrest the attention of Sarpi, and to make him seek the so-
ciety of Aldus Manutius, who was at a later period librarian of the Vati-
can, nor could he forget to whom he owed his knowledge of the ancient
Roman Calendar.
Fra Paolo was no stranger within the University of Padua, which was
regarded with peculiar favor by the Republic of Venice. Let the reader
view the modest Friar as he passes beneath the winged lion which adorns
its gates, and enters the College where he had so often listened to its
learned professors, now to receive a degree at their hands. The place where
Livy once dwelt, reflected honor on itself by giving honor to Sarpi, and
centuries after the Servite had received his degree, his countrymen could
point to the Matricular of that great University, and tell that there was
inscribed a name of which even Padua is proud. On his return from Pa-
dua, public affairs could not fail to interest Fra Paolo, because the inde-
pendence of his country was' dear to him, and the rich vein of liberty runs
through his works. What then must he have thought of the King of Spain
making a hasty peace with the Netherlands that he might possess the
Kingdom of Portugal? A like usurpation might await Venetia, and Paolo
gave good reasons for this supposition long before the plot of Ossuna.
'The occupation by the Pope of parts of the lands of the Romagna was
a cause of great discontent and bloodshed, nevertheless Venice was still
secure. _
Fra Paolo Sarpi took priest's orders when he was twenty seven years of
age, and afterwards passed much of his time in strict retirement, and in
acts of piety and meditation.
For some years subsequently he did not take wine, animal food did
not accord with his constitution, and his principal nourishment was bread
and fruit, his beverage water. The Servi partook of both animal food and
wine, but Fra Paolo's abstemiousness was only on account of his health. He
was very thin in body, having grave disorders of the liver, which caused
great weakness and pain, but he was not accustomed to relax either his
habits of devotion or study, and thought it a mistake, except in cases of
extremity, when an invalid deviated from his usual rule of life. When he
was about thirty years of age he was obliged to take wine /and he was
often heard to say that nothing had ever cost him so much as in this to
follow the advice of his physicians. " He always preserved the strictest disci-
pline over himself, and he could so command his affections, that if his
judgment was contrary to them, they could not move him. No dainty
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? 38 THE LIFE OF [A. D. 1579.
could excite his appetite if hurtful, and he took medicine as if it was
good food when he believed it to be beneficial. Such were his infirmities of
body that he never could be persuaded that his life would be prolonged
for a year, he thought each day might be his last, and said he never
remembered to have felt so as if he could live a year. To this may be at-
tributed the great progress which he made in his studies, in which he
was so engrossed that few days passed in which they did not occupy him
eight hours, but he had no intention of publishing any work till obliged
to do so for the public good. He was not resolute in action, but rather
appeared cold and reserved, for he who has little hope of long life seldom
applies himself to actions offgreat consequence. " 1
Since the institution of the Order of the Servi, Fra Paolo was the only
member who had been appointed Provincial at the early age of twenty
seven, but with the unanimous applause of the Chapter held at Verona,
he was now chosen to fill that office, which was one of trust, and required
not only temper and discretion, but ability to govern. The Provincial had
supervision of all the Convents of his Order within his province, he had
a voice in the provincial Chapters with power to elect ad interim the
officials of the Convent: he had the power if ' he pleased to transfer any
friar from one Convent to another, to reprove, correct, or even imprison
him, but the sentence was to be remitted for approval to the General. He
might inhabit any Convent he chose, travel at the common expense and
receive some emolument from all. Except in the case of insult or personal
provocation he was exempt from all reproof, took precedence of all friars
of inferior grade, appointed a lay brother to be his servant, and was free
of all public duty. _
Such Was the office to which Fra Paolo was elected in the city of Ve-
rona, justly termed " il Nobile. " It was of interest to a classical scholar,
such as Sarpi, from being the birth place of the magnanimous conqueror
Emilius, of Cornelius Nepos, of the poets Emilius/Macer and Catlllus, of
Pliny the Elder, the great Titus Vespasian, and of the cruel Domitian.
Some Latin authors pronounce Verona to have been a city of the
Cenomani, but Pliny places its site in Rhoetia. It was one of the twelve
cities of Etruria, and is said to have' taken its name from the illustrious
family of the Vera. Its ancient amphitheatre, its fortifications, its remains
of an ancient Naumachia, all would occupy the attention of Fra Paolo,
and to this student of architecture Verona afforded many objects on
which his eye would linger with just appreciation. From his Convent there,
his abode of peace, he could look down on the plains where Caius Mar-
cius met and defeated the Cimbri, and where Odoacer met the same fate
1 MS.
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? E1'. 27. ] FRA PAOLO SARPI 39
at the hands of Theodoric King of the Goths, but could Fra Paolo
imagine as he trode the Cathedral where the Lords of the Scala lie en-
tombed, that his fame would be spread by the learned Scaliger, who boast-
ed descent from these ancient governors of Verona?
Great reform had been effected in the discipline of the churches
there by Bishop Giberti, and Fra Paolo valued such.