FOREIGN QUARTERLY REVIEW. VOLUME XXVI. OCTOBER, 1840, AND JANUARY, 1841. AMERICAN EDITION. NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY JEMIMA M. MASON, CORNER OF BROADWAY AND PINE STREET. 1841. THE FOREIGN QUARTERLY REVIEW, NO. LI. FOR OCTOBER, 1840. ART. I.-Die Römischen Päpste, ihre Kirche und ihr Staat, von Leopold Ranke. [The Ecclesiastical and General History of the Popes of Rome during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.] 3 vols. Berlin. 1834-1840. we must love to see manifested in a writer of history: his eyes are neither closed to the imperfections of his own party, nor unobservant of the bright qualities that have adorned many pious Romanists. Justice is dealt out with evenhandedness on friend and foe. The fault, the leading fault of Ranke, THE work before us in all respects evi- is a tendency to view Protestantism distinct dences the great labour and unwearied toil from Catholicism. In effect they are the bestowed upon it by its learned author. We same. Protestantism and Romanism vary can scarce help expressing both our re- extremely, but the former does not essen. gret and our pleasure that such pure sources tially differ from Catholicism, which Romanof authentic information have been developed ism unquestionably does. The Confession to one amply able to use them beneficially of Augsburgh negatives no tenet of Cathofor all. We say regret, for who does not licism. The still simpler confession of the lament the limitation that does not enjoy the persecuted Waldenses* retains every eleliberty of perusing MSS. amid numerous ment of Catholicism. We shall have occanations, on which but a few eyes could sion to revert more than once to this leading alight, calculated to use them with the faith defect in our author. Ranke commences of the annalist, the wisdom of the philoso. with showing that the Roman emperor pher, and the piety of the believer. Berlin, united church and state in his own person; Vienna, Venice, Rome, all have ministered but that Christianity emphatically distinto the immense mass of erudition before us. guished that which is God's from that which The Vatican, indeed, was not thoroughly is Cæsar's. We apprehend that Paganism searched, from some religious jealousy to a and Romanism possessed similar features as Protestant historian; but the Borghese, Do- absorbents, but that with the latter there ria, Barberini, and numerous other private was no existence of the state in any mixed records, possibly more valuable than all the question; in such cases the church, like the public documents, were opened with great rod of Moses, extinguished the inferior liberality to the northern stranger. A principle. The emperor, therefore, appearwork, filling up an hiatus that had existed ed mild in comparison with the ecclesiastic. too long, has been the result of this laborious investigation. In various passages we are led to think the writer inclines to the Romanist, in others to the Protestant persuasion; yet he makes candid avowal in his preface of his Protestant views, with a spirit which *The modern reader of this beautiful composition must think with fearful shuddering on the declaration of the leader of the expedition against them: "We have spared neither age, nor sex, nor rank; we have smitten every one with the edge of the sword." "If plagues or earthquakes break not heaven's de Why then a Borgia or a Catiline ?” sign, But Protestantism, we apprehend, asserting | check was needed to the ordinary powers, the agency of both, the union of both, draws or else the worship of India would have closer on the Bible, which clearly distinguish- scarce been inferior to that of Christendom; es between the church and the state. Pepin infallibility being assigned not simply to mer felt the inconvenience of a weak state title but monsters. to his conquered possessions; he sought to amend it by a religious sanction. The keys of conquered cities were laid by him on the altar of Saint Peter's, and hence arose the only power of the keys. The Bible pas- A compliment justly paid by Pope to the son sages adduced in support of that power, as of that disgrace of the fifteenth century they are applied to all the apostles, cannot Alexander VI., who ascended the papa be limited to one. Charlemagne ratified throne in 1492, and with whom we begir the donations of Pepin; they were then our view of our author's work, as he lived thankfully received; little did the uncon- in the sixteenth also. Alexander had evi. scious successors of Gregory II. imagine dently no belief in another world, and there. that the time would ever arrive when the fore determined to make the most of this. states of the church would be claimed by a He was wise in his generation. Machiavell king on the throne of Charlemagne, on the says of him, "Non fece mai altro che ingan. ground of this very donation, and no retreat nare uomini, nè mai pensò ad altro, e semconceded to the vassal pope from following pre trovò soggetto da poterlo fare; e non fu the policy of his suzerain. Charlemagne mai uomo che avesse maggiore efficacia ir received in consequence the crown of the asseverare, e che con maggiori giurament Western empire. But Charlemagne and affermasse una cosa, é che l'osservasse his successor Lothaire considered the pope meno; nondimanco sempre gli succederono as substantially belonging to the French gli inganni ad votum, perche conosceva bene empire, as Ranke justly shows by the nomi- questa parte del mondo," (Mach. Il Principe. nation, on the part of the latter sovereign, of Firenze, 1831.) A naïve confession. Cer. his own judges at Rome, and annulling con- tainly both Pope Alexander and Cæsar fiscations which the pope had imposed. But Borgia possessed in an eminent degree this this notion was certainly not one on which great statesman's quality of being feared as the popes of succeeding centuries designed rulers. Machiavelli, on the subject of wheto govern-it was not held by him whose ther the love or fear of the sovereign ought palfrey an emperor led, nor by him who to be the dominant spirit to instil in the kicked off the emperor's crown in 1191. It people, gives it in favour of the latter. was not the notion of 1450. But from the Concludo adunque tornando all' esser te. very assumption of high authority we may muto ed amato che amando gli' uomini a date its decline. Still assumption, supported posta loro, e temendo a posta del principe, by even an exterior of piety, would have deve un principe savio fondarsi in su quello protracted the papal power for centuries; che è suo, non in su quello che è d'altri; but when the ecclesiastic possessed more deve solamente ingegnarsi di fuggir l'odic than the ordinary failings of man, pretending come e detto." to tenfold the virtues of his race combined, men's eyes, even in the mistiness of the fifteenth century, became opened to discern between good and evil.* Some powerful *The Romanists spoke out freely on this subject, and the coarsest language of the Reformers hardly equals the celebrated passage in the "In ferno," connected with the gift of Constantine :- Quando colei, che siede sovra l' acque, Se non ch' egli uno, e voi n' orate cento? Overlooking this latter prudent caution of the crafty Florentine, Cæsar Borgia, Machiavelli's hero, fell. It was peculiarly unfor tunate in the case of Alexander, that he who first attempted nepotism in the papacy in a large way, should have had such a son to make trial of the possibility of the principle. Alexander and Cæsar succeeded against the Sforzas, the Malatestas, and the Manfredi, and then, with a sang froid peculiar to themselves, both threw off the party that had aided them to this pitch of greatness, and, unincumbered with the ordinary feeling of mortality, butchered their friends. Yet there came even an earthly visitation. "Alexander," says Ranke, "thus saw his warmest wishes fulfilled, the barons of the land annihi. lated, and his house about to found a great heredi. tary power in Italy. But already he had begun to feel of what excesses hot and unbridled passions are capable. Cæsar would share his power neither power. The Venetians affirmed that it was with kinsman nor favourite. He had caused his his design to be lord and master in the game brother, who stood in his way, to be murdered and of the world, and the Florentine Machiavelli thrown into the Tiber. His brother-in-law was attacked, and stabbed on the steps of the palace by his orders. The wounded man was nursed by his wife and sisters; the sister cooked his food, in order to secure him from poison, and the pope set a guard before his house, to protect his son-in-law from his son; precautions which Cæsar derided. He said, What is not done by noon may be done by evening.' When the Prince was recovering from his wounds, Cæsar burst into his chamber, drove out the wife and sister, called an executioner, and or. wrote of him, "No baron was so insignifi. cant as not to despise the papal power formerly. Now a king of France stands in awe of it." Julius added to the see Parma, Piacenza, Reggio. Venice herself trembled at his attempts. The papacy rose in worldly power, but it was fast sinking in spiritual ascendency. "My kingdom is not dered the unfortunate prince to be strangled. He of this world," the great law of him from used his father as a means to power, otherwise he whom that power was claimed, became a was utterly regardless of him. He killed Peroti, statute of excision. Alexander VI., for the Alexander's favourite, while clinging to his patron, indulgence of his own vices and temporal and sheltered by the pontifical mantle-the pope's face was sprinkled with his blood. There was a power, had declared officially that indulgenmoment at which Rome and the papal states were ces delivered souls out of purgatory. Ur. in Cæsar's power. He was a man of the greatest ban II. originally hit on the invention of in personal beauty; so strong, that at a bull-fight he dulgences as an easy recompense for the cleft the head of the bull with one stroke; liberal, Crusaders. Leo, the successor to Julius, and not without traits of magnanimity, but volup. tuous and sanguinary. Rome trembled at his name. instituted a general sale of them. Hume Cæsar wanted money and had enemies; every appears to have imagined that no deleteri. night murdered bodies were found in the streets. ous effect was produced by indulgences on Men lived in seclusion and silence; there was none the moral habits; because, to use his own that did not fear that his turn would come. Those whom force could not reach were taken off by words, "A man could both purchase them poison. There was one point on earth where such at a low rate, and hell fire, the magistrate, a state of things was possible, namely, at which the plenitude of secular power was united to the supreme spiritual jurisdiction: this point was occupied by Cæsar. There is a perfection even in de pravity. Many of the sons and nephews of popes attempted similar things, but none ever approached Cæsar's bad eminence. He was a virtuoso in crime." and remorse of conscience, still remained as powerful checks on evil." But this sagacious writer, in the use of these words, forgets the language of indulgences, the pleasing belief in the plenary power of the pope, not disbelieved, on the evidence of Dr. Doyle, in the nineteenth century, to say nothing of the twelfth. Now an indulgence perfectly neutralized these checks, restoring, according to the form in Seckendorf, the person to that innocence and purity which he possessed in baptism, and that when he died, the gates of punishment should be shut, and the gates of the paradise of delight should be opened and if he died instanter, this grace should be in full force when he was at the point of death.-Seck. Comment. lib. i. 14.* p. To such an extent had this traffic proceed No important facts become eliminated in the progress of a monster who was narrowing his attention to the committal of every possible crime in the confined limits of an Italian principality, where evil became more visible still from its contracted scene of operation. His death, if we can trust the MS. account which Ranke has inserted in his valuable Appendix, which is full of docu ments of extraordinary interest, was caused by his head cook. An intended victim, one of the richest of the cardinals, gained over this man; and the pope swallowed a bonne bouche which he designed for his victim, and * Maimburgh, the Jesuit, describes the sale of indulgences as follows: " Exemplo Julii Pontificis had instructed his own cook to prepare. He (Leo) ad indulgentias refugium habuit. Has ubiwas succeeded by Julius II., and in Borgia's que terrarum publicare curavit factas omnibus, quæ case happily that general law held which pecuniam impensam ad structuram St. Petri solvewas observable in all the successors to the rent, potestate vescendi ovis, et casco tempore Quadragesimæ et eligendi sibi confessionarium. papal chair, that with the life of the pope the Bona fide agnoscendum est quod Pontifices qui power of his descendants terminated. Rus-postea successerunt in dispensatione spirituali hujus sell remarks in his History of Modern thesauri multum cautiores fuerunt. Tezelius ordiEurope, that "Borgia, without knowing it, nis sui religiosos in partem laborum associaverat. laboured for the patrimony of St. Peter;", urgendo, ita exaggerabant indulgentiarum pretium "Hi susceptum munus ut sæpe fieri solet ultra limites and in effect he did so, for Julius contrived ut occasionem darent populo credendi certum esse to rid himself of Cæsar Borgia, and yet to secure his possessions. Bold as was the bull-cleaving Borgia, Julius was equally determined to have no second at the game he played for-temporal unumquemque de salute et de liberandis ex purga. torio animabus,quam primum soluta pecunia, literas, quibus concessio indulgentiarum significabatur, redemisset. Augebat scandalum quod sublegati in popinis versarentur et partem nummorum turpiter prodigerent.-Maimb. de Luther." |