Vergerio remained at Venice and in its neighbourhood till the year 1530, when his brother Aurelio, having been appointed secretary to Clement VII., Vergerio determined to go to Rome to push his fortunes. His chief object being worldly advantage he resolved to enter the Church, convinced that in an ecclesiastical state this was the surest way to honour. (10) He was not unknown to cardinal Contarmi, at that time in high favour at Rome. This good cardinal, ever ready to forward the interests of his countrymen, presented him to the Pope with high eulogiums on his abilities.

It so happened that Clement was at that time looking out for a man of talent and agreeable manners, in whom he could thoroughly confide, to be sent as envoy to Germany. The young Vergerio made so agreeable an impression at first sight that he was immediately chosen secretary instead of his brother Aurelio. He was received into the palace, and admitted by the Pope to the closest personal intimacy.

In 1529 he was sent [as] Nuncio to Ferdinand king of the Romans to dissuade him from holding a Council in Germany. He was desired to entice the king to comply with the Pope's wishes by allowing him to draw contributions from the clergy, and even to melt down the silver plate and ornaments of the churches for the expences of the war against the Turks.

Clement was so satisfied with Vergerio's talents for [349] negotiation, that in 1533 he directed him to replace Hugo Rangoni, bishop of Reggio, at the court of John Frederic, Elector of Saxony. (11) Rangoni had been instructed to propose a free and general Council. The Elector required time to reply, but soon after expressed his satisfaction at the prospect of a free and unconstrained assembly, in which the word of God would decide all controversies. He could decide nothing however, he said, without the consent of those princes and towns who followed the Confession of Augsburg; he would lay the subject before the Assembly of Sinalcald, which was to meet on the 24th of June, and then reply to the Nuncio. We have already seen that the German Protestants resolutely refused to submit to any Council held under the authority of the Pope, and this was the substance of their answer to the Nuncio. Their reply, with the Pope's proposal, was printed and sent to the Emperor and to Rome. Clement, annoyed that his plans should be so openly disclosed, recalled Rangoni and sent Vergerio in his place. His orders were to follow his predecessor's instructions, but on no account to listen to any modified proposals, even from the king himself. All engagements about a Council were to be carefully avoided, as well as every arrangement which could in any way militate against the paramount authority of the Holy See.

On the accession of Paul III. in 1534 Vergerio was summoned to Rome to give an account of his mission, and then sent back to Germany with a more defined commission. He was directed to visit the Protestant princes and cities, and endeavour to persuade them to sanction the meeting of a Council in Italy. The Protestant divines were not to be overlooked,(12) and they were if possible to be won by promises and favours. (13)

[350] In compliance with these instructions Vergerio went to Wittemberg to see Luther, and to put in practice those arts of flattery and delusion with which the court of Rome is wont to ensnare its victims. The Nuncio assured Luther that the Pope and the sacred College held him in the highest esteem, and felt much grieved to lose a man who might have been so eminently useful, had he been disposed to devote his talents to the service of God, a service inseparable from the Church of Rome. His Holiness and all the Cardinals highly blamed the harshness of Cajetan, and the step taken by Pope Leo (14) had been distasteful to the whole Roman court. If Luther would return to the obedience of the Papal See he would receive the highest honours and favours. Vergerio, with engaging modesty, declined entering into controversy with Luther, but was desirous of pointing out to him how advantageous his submission to the head of the Church would be. A man, said he, must have a great deal of self-love and immeasurably idolize his own ideas, to trouble the world with his individual opinions. If it were a matter of conscience with him to change the religion in which he was born, and which he had professed for thirty years, love to his neighbour would have led him to conceal his sentiments, instead of disturbing the world by denouncing the religion of his forefathers. The Pope was now resolved to apply a remedy and convoke a Council at Mantua, where all the learned men in Europe might assemble to declare the truth, and shame those unquiet spirits who disturb the public peace. "Though our chief confidence should be placed on the divine goodness, yet God makes use of second causes, and it depends on you, Luther, whether the remedy proposed be efficacious or not. If you come to the Council and comport yourself with gentleness and charity, there is little doubt of success." Vergerio then cited the example of Enea Silvio, (15) who with all his labour and industry could never obtain more than a canonry at Trent as long as he followed his own opinions; but as soon as he laid them aside he became bishop, cardinal, and finally Pope. He reminded Luther also of Bessarione (16), who from being a monk at Trebizond was raised to the honour of the purple. (17)

[351] Those who know the character of Luther, (18) who was at this time "vigorous both in mind and body, fresh from the schools, and fervent in the Scriptures," will readily imagine that Vergerio's shallow reasoning and worldly promises would have no effect on the rough but spiritual mind of the reformer. What attraction could the most splendid earthly good have for the man who despised 'filthy lucre,' and who was accustomed to commune on divine subjects, and to breathe a holy atmosphere of thought unknown to the courtly Nuncio. He was a stranger to the ennobling nature of God's eternal truth, and plied Luther with such arguments as would have had weight with himself.

No wonder that Luther, while still in the body and subject to human infirmity, was filled with indignation at the idea of bartering his highest heavenly hopes for an idle name or a purple robe. Paolo Sarpi says his answer was like himself, harsh and vehement He told Vergerio he was quite indifferent as to what the court of Rome thought of him; that though he was but an unprofitable servant, his great desire was to occupy himself in the service of God; he could see no connection between this service and the Church of Rome, unless indeed darkness could be joined to light No circumstance of his life had been of such real advantage to him as the harshness of cardinal Cajetan, and the severity of Leo X., and he received it as the wholesome teaching of divine providence. At that time he was not thoroughly instructed in the doctrines of faith; he had only discovered the evil of Indulgences, and would willingly have been silent had his adversaries been so likewise. But the severity of the court of Rome had obliged him to study the Scriptures, and had led him to discover other errors and corruptions in the Roman Catholic religion, errors which he could not conscientiously dissimulate or conceal. The Nuncio had honestly confessed he did not understand theology, that great science in which all religious opinions were concentrated. If he had not himself admitted his ignorance the tenour of his arguments made it [352] evident. Luther denied that the doctrines which he preached could be called new, except by those who believed that Jesus Christ, the Apostles, and the Fathers had lived as the Popes do. As to disturbing the world, those who read the Scriptures know that it is an essential property of the Gospel to rouse people from their lethargy. It separates even the children from the fathers, it gives life to those who receive it, and brings condemnation when rejected. The great defect of the Church of Rome was its worldly policy, its desire for temporal power and earthly dominion. This is the wisdom which passes for folly (19) in the sight of God; while the court of Rome, on the other hand, despises all who trust to the promises of God and put the concerns of their Church into His hands. It was not, said Luther, in his power to make the Council minister to the advantage of the Church, for that would depend entirely on those who were masters of its liberty. If the assembly would sincerely ask the aid of the Holy Spirit, and bring the disputed points to the test of Scripture without mixing up worldly artifices or interests, he would attend and act in a christian and temperate manner: not with the idea of conciliating the Pope or any earthly power, but for the service of Jesus Christ, and the peace of the Church. He knew however that no dependence was to be placed on an assembly of men who were learned but not religious, for it was just those very men, the sages of the world, who readily embraced the most absurd errors. He would not receive anything from Rome which was unsuitable to a minister of the Gospel. As to the examples of advancement which Vergerio cited, they made no impression on him, for he despised vain imaginations and false grandeur. If he were really ambitious he could already boast, as Erasmus wittily observed, "that a poor man like Luther was capable of enriching others," for Fisher bishop of Rochester had been made cardinal, and Schomberg archbishop of Capua, solely on his account. In conclusion he told the Nuncio that he as fully believed in the truth of the doctrines he held as if he had seen what was declared in the Scriptures with his bodily eyes; and that he felt persuaded that the Pope, the Nuncio, and the whole Roman court would sooner embrace his opinions than he theirs.

This resolute speech quenched all hope which Vergerio [353] might have entertained of shaking the firmness of the reformer; he tried other ministers of the Gospel at Wittemberg and elsewhere, but met with the same reply from all whose opinions were of any value. If some yielded to his persuasions, they were men of such inferior qualities that they carried no weight. (20)

This is Sarpi's account of the interview between the Nuncio and Luther: but Pallavicini denies that the Pope commissioned Vergerio to see Luther; and states that the Nuncio, being obliged to pass through Wittemberg, was received with great honour by the governor, who waited on him at table during supper. Next morning at breakfast he went to offer him the same attention, accompanied by two divines, Martin Luther and John Bugenhagius. (21) The Nuncio was told that the court and the members of the university being absent on account of the plague, these were the only persons at Wittemberg fit to bear him company, and converse with him in Latin. The Nuncio could do no less than listen to their conversation. He found that Luther spoke very barbarous Latin, and set him down for a proud, malicious, rash kind of person, with very coarse manners. Among other things Luther said, "Have you heard a report in Italy that I have the character of being a great German drunkard?" This and other speeches the Nuncio reported in a letter to Cardinal Pole's secretary, and described Luther's manners and dress. This is Pallavicini's account. (22) The truth probably lies between the two narratives; the meeting might have been contrived by others, and yet the substance of the conversation narrated by Sarpi be correct. Be this as it may, Vergerio returned to Rome and assured the Pope that the Protestants would never sanction any council that was not perfectly free, and held in some convenient place within the limits of the empire. Nothing was to be expected from Luther or his associates, and force of arms would alone reduce the strength of the Protestant party.

The Pope then sent Vergerio to Naples to see the Emperor, who had just returned from his successful expedition in Africa. (23) [354] After hearing Vergerio's report, the Emperor signified that on his progress to Germany he should pass through Rome, and would confer with the Pope. They had long secret consultations together on the affairs of Germany and Italy. The Roman Pontiff's counsels were all in favour of war; but the Emperor was already engaged in a war with France about Milan, and thought an attack upon the Protestants unseasonable. Paul III. suggested a league with the Venetians to keep the French in check. Charles, who knew that the Pope secretly coveted the duchy of Milan for his grandson, professed himself not indisposed to a war in Germany, but before he resorted to violence he wished to see what could be done by a council. The Pope acquiesced, indulging the hope of being able to overawe the council by the presence of troops.

In the year 1536 Vergerio was rewarded for his services by the gift of the bishopric of his native place, Capo d'Istria. There was some difficulty in his collation to the benefice, as Ferdinand, king of the Romans, claimed the right of patronage. On the 24th of June Vergerio wrote to Aretino (24):

[357] A second letter, written from France to the Marchioness of Pescara, is even more interesting than the first, as it gives a detailed account of his conversations with the queen of Navarre. It makes us deeply regret that we have not access to the written minutes of these conversations on the state of the Church, which lasted four hours. A recital of the manner in which this pious and accomplished queen treated spiritual doctrines would be inestimably precious. Vergerio's letter confirms the account given by various historians of the piety and religious zeal of this distinguished princess. The most convincing proof of her having cordially embraced the glad tidings of the Gospel in all their fulness and freeness, is her poem, Miroir de l'Ame pecheresse, headed by a verse of the 51st Psalm, Seigneur Dieu, crée en moy cceur net. (29) This poem was condemned by the Sorbonne because it set forth Christ as the only means of salvation and justification, and made no mention of saints and monks. The king however, at the entreaty of his sister, obliged the divines to revoke their censure.

Amid the ignorance and intolerance of priests and monks, it is refreshing to meet with a noble and virtuous princess coming forward to advocate the spiritual truths of the Gospel in such humble and devotional strains.

To the Lady Marchioness of Pescara.

To M. Luigi Alemanni.

"Most Magnificent Brother,

From the correspondence already given we perceive that Vergerio was progressing in divine knowledge, and becoming increasingly desirous of serving God in spirit and in truth. In proportion as he advanced himself he became more desirous to encourage others to walk in the right way. He wrote a letter of advice to a young lady at Mantua, called Camilla di Valenti.

In her reply she addresses him with much respect as a father, thanks him for his advice, and expresses a great wish to follow it, and to be led by his example to walk in the paths of virtue. His advice seems to have been that she should learn Latin in order to be able to read the scriptures. Translations in Italian were rare and difficult to be had. Camilla had so far complied with Vergerio's counsel as to be able to write a Latin letter, which she sends him, and says she had written it with the view of studying the Holy Scriptures. As she mentions her mother and brothers she was probably unmarried.

Vergerio replied as follows:

To the Lady Camilla Valenti.

[363] Vergerio, without knowing it, was a Protestant at heart, since he protested against the errors of the Roman Catholic Church, and sought a remedy in the scriptures. But he dreamed, as many short-sighted men have done, that the Church would reform itself, and when purified draw all men under its influence. Three hundred years have passed away and no nearer approach has been made to reform. Instead of progressing it has degenerated. In the sixteenth century the world was nearer to a right judgment of the papacy than it is now. Reforms in discipline and doctrine were then thought essential; now its grossest errors are spoken of with conventional respect. The temporal throne of the Pope is indeed shaken, but it is proposed to strengthen and enlarge his spiritual dominion.

To M. Ottonella Vida.

At the close of the year 1540 we find Vergerio at the Diet of Worms, not in any professional capacity from the Pope, but rather as the envoy of France, though he was in fact employed by Paul III. to report the state of parties.

About this time Vergerio wrote an address (45) on the peace and unity of the Church, in which he argued that a national Council was not the best means of attaining the desired end. (3) Copies of this address were circulated with the view of disturbing the Diet because it bore some resemblance to a national synod. [366] Campeggio in public, and Vergerio (46) in private, contrived to lengthen out the debate and to delay the conference. We have already seen (47) the lamentable issue of this Diet, and how unavailing were the efforts and good intentions of eminent men on both sides in presence of the repressive authority of the Pope.

While at Worms he wrote the following letter to the queen of Navarre.

To the Queen of Navarre.

Peter Paul Vergerio to Cardinal Contarini.

Vergerio arrived at Rome from Worms on the 25th of January 1541, and a few weeks after he wrote the following letter to Galeazzo Florimonte, bishop of Sessa.

Vergerio, however, was resolved to attempt removing some of the superstitious images from his church, and began by exposing the folly of worshipping St. Christopher and St. George on horseback; the latter was the patron and protector of Pirano, a place within his diocese. The friars took the alarm, and two strong parties formed themselves; the one against all change of these time-honoured follies; the other, supporters of the bishop. Bembo's son, the podestà, rather leaned to established usages. His father, the cardinal, wrote to him that if the bishop was partial in his dealings and favoured one party more than another, Matteo was not to regard his affection for the [371] man, but decide the causes brought before him with justice and impartiality. This was the first stone thrown against the bishop; the authorities being against him, complaints were made to the papal Nuncio, La Casa, at Venice; he was accused of heresy, and a censure was passed upon him. His friend Aretino wrote that in the end this would turn to good, as he was known to be a good christian and a faithful bishop, and entreated him to believe that these evil reports would finally bring him as much lustre, as the renewal of the swan's feathers increases her beauty. (61)

After the expressed disapprobation of the Nuncio, Vergerio found his position as a bishop untenable, and went to take counsel with his friend cardinal Hercules Gonzaga (62) at Mantua. Annibale Grisone, a canon, preached openly against the bishop, and knew so well how to work on the passions of the ignorant populace that he attributed the long drought and failure of crops to Vergerio's impiety in not respecting the ancient traditions. On the 13th of January 1546 he wrote from Mantua to Muzio his fellow-townsman, complaining of this persecution, but at the same time he received it as a mark of the divine favour, and said that he was proud to suffer for the name of Christ. (63)

But Muzio's tendencies unfortunately lay in another direction; he was a friend of Grisone, and already much prejudiced against Vergerio, whose letter contained some unguarded (64) expressions upon divine influence; this alarmed the stickler for free-will, and he returned for answer that he thought his opinions unsound and tinged with Lutheranism. Finding he could not count on Muzio as a friend, and fearing to write his own condemnation, Vergerio left his letter unanswered, and [372] retired to the town of Riva, on the borders of the lake of Garda, (65) belonging to his friend cardinal Madrucci, bishop of Trent.

Vergerio was very desirous of taking his place as bishop at the Council of Trent. Uncertain how he would be received he wished to have permission to appear before the Council and justify himself. He had been at Riva only a month when he wrote to Madrucci as follows:

During his absence his enemies had not been idle. To the [373] bishop's great indignation the Nuncio sent the police (sbirri) to search his palace at Capo d'Istria for heretical books, (67) and the number of them found there formed one of the principal articles of accusation against him. Three were most especially obnoxious. One, called a diabolical book, Pasquino in Estasi, (68) a satire on the Pope and the Roman Catholic religion; Il Beneficio di Christo, and Il Summario della sacra scrittura. In vain he defended himself by quoting the canon which enjoins bishops to read heretical books in order to detect their errors, and that they may be confuted at Rome. The friars were the prime movers of this persecution against Vergerio; his reforms touched their gains as well as their manner of life. If neither St. George nor St. Christopher were to be worshipped, what would become of the profit derived from their images. The bishop had stripped them of their false glory, and dared to declare that these holy images were idols. (69) What need of farther proof of his heresy? In explanation he observed that the word etSaXov in Greek meant image, from elSco to see, and quoted Cicero, who says, imagines quoe idola sunt.

A friar named Bonaventura Gurone, guardian of the zoccolante (wooden shoes), was enraged against the bishop because he reproved him for having prepared some rails for an altar on which to hang votive offerings. They were to be offered in gratitude for the miraculous cures which the anticipated Virgin, not yet painted, was to perform. Gurone consulted with another priest, whom the bishop had admonished for leading an immoral life. "Come," said he, "let us accuse the bishop and get him sent away, and then you can do as you please." Another of his accusers, a friar of the third order of St. Francis, had promised five ducats to a woman if she would say that a female had appeared and [374] ordered her to tell the people to visit her image five times in the church of Santa Maria de' Campi. This absurd story was believed by the credulous multitude, till Vergerio sifted the matter and proved the imposture. He brought the woman before the podestà, Alvino Dora; she was convicted of falsehood and she and her two accomplices were sentenced to a short imprisonment.

This and other judicial acts, tending to unveil the hypocrisy of the friars, were made articles of accusation against him. It was said he had spoken of the monkish orders with contempt, and sneered at the practice of dressing the dead in the habit of St. Francis, and had declared that the soul could reap no benefit from the body wearing this monkish dress, and that it was only an expedient to get money, which would be better spent in feeding and clothing the poor. Another friar came forward to complain that the bishop had reproved him for having announced from the pulpit that he had in his possession a tooth of St. Apollonia, which was a sovereign remedy for toothache. So ignorant and malicious were these priests of Baal, that they averred the bishop had said that the books of St. Augustine and the writings of St. Paul ought to be thrown into the fire. This he positively denied, but owned that such were the corrupt lives of the friars that he had said it were better for a church to be burned down than for it to be made a place for unholy communications. One witness, Alvini Calino, was thought to bring a very serious accusation, when he stated that he had heard the bishop say the miracles painted on the walls of the temple at Loreto were not really performed there.

On the 15th of August, 1546, Vergerio published a full defence of himself against all the above accusations, together with a pastoral letter addressed to his diocese. To prove the folly of the legends so credulously swallowed by the multitude, he recited the ridiculous story of St. George, which was in itself a vindication. He shewed that Giacomo de Voragine classes this story among Apocryphas Scripturas, and that it was acknowledged as such by Paul III., and taken out of the breviary in consequence. As to having made free remarks to his friends on the evil of old abuses, he justified himself by referring to the canons, where it is commanded to sustain the truth even against the most ancient customs, and quotes St. Cyprian, who says, "consuetudo sine veritate vetustas erroris est, ancient practices not founded on truth [375] are errors." The worship of St. Christopher had been left out of the breviary, and for the honour of the church they ought to discard such old wives' fables. (70) He answered the accusation of disrespect to images by explaining that there was in a church an ill-shapen figure of St. George on horseback of pasteboard, as large as life. Near to this gigantic figure a representation of the king's daughter was suspended, and by her side an enormous beast. All these pasteboard gods hung down so low as to occupy a great portion of the church. He was accused of saying, "Throw down that great horse;" but it was not this figure which he had ordered to be removed, but the image of St. Anne, put up by some women in the church of Pirano, before which lamps were kept burning. It was an indecorous exhibition of a figure of wood lying on a bed, supposed to be giving birth to the Virgin Mary. All the women flocked to worship this figure, (71) and he was certainly very desirous of having it removed; but his wish had not been accomplished, for it was there still. He did not deny having said that it was better to give the oil to the poor than to burn it before the images of St. Anne and the Virgin; and he recollected having observed, when he saw the leaden seals (72) stamped with the heads of Peter and Paul, "Who would ever have thought of your heads being used for this purpose!" In short the whole of the accusations put together only proved that he was a reformer of crying abuses and traditional follies. There was no appearance of his being tinged with a shade of heresy, properly so called. Whatever might have been his doctrinal opinions he had not manifested them. He wished to do what he conceived to be his duty in discouraging these superstitions, as they were for the majority the whole of their religion. The bishop's good intentions were evident, and all good men were shocked at this attack on him.

The evidence against him was not strong enough to condemn or even to cite him to Rome, and he was not declared a heretic. Muzio, his townsman, a ready polemical writer, complains that [376] those persons who were sent to Capo d'Istria to take evidence against him were more Lutheran than the bishop. His enemies however were determined to ruin him, and combined their forces for this purpose. Annibale Grisone, Muzio, and Antonio Elio finally drove him from his untenable position of a reformer within the Roman Catholic Church. Antonio Elio owed his position to Vergerio's brother Aurelio, a knight of Rhodes; who while secretary to Clement VII. had taken this Elio, a man of ignoble birth, into his service and thus made his fortune. Vergerio reproaches him with ingratitude to his benefactor.

This Aurelio Vergerio was the elder brother, and seems to have had much influence at Rome, for Pietro Paolo said that he could have had the bishopric, but that they both agreed it was better to bestow it on their younger brother Giovan Battista. Our Vergerio gives an interesting account of a conversation which took place when Aurelio paid him a visit at Venice while he was in the Pope's service: "He opened his heart to me, God is my witness that this is true, and said he had discovered that the papacy was altogether a human policy, guided by worldly motives and not commanded by Christ." He died shortly after at Rome, and was supposed to have been poisoned by a salad. In the year 1548 our Vergerio had also to mourn the loss of his youngest brother Giovan Battista, bishop of Pola. Of him the survivor said, "He was a good man but of no great learning; God gives to each their several gifts. He lived for eighteen years at Pola, doing his duty as a resident bishop as far as he had light, as many can testify. Towards the end of his life it pleased God to enlighten him, and he began to understand that it was the papacy which had disturbed and disordered all Christendom. Once convinced of this, he laid aside his former views and adopted ours. Several of his canons and other priests followed his example, and some are now exiles for the truth, such as Rasoro (73) and Gernasio. As his death drew near he left his own bishopric and came to me; he died in my arms in a most christian manner, and was buried like a christian, not having time or opportunity to set any farther example or fulfil his desire to do something for the glory of God. [377] His relations did what they could; enough that there were no friars' superstitions or blasphemies, that is, auricular confession or unction with rancid oil. He wrote nothing but a paraphrase on the Psalm, 'Blessed are the undefiled, &c.,' which I afterwards printed. In short there can be no doubt that he was one of the elect of God, and one of those whom you call Lutheran; he is even noted in two or three of your Catalogues. This I say for the glory of God."

This was addressed to Fra Ippolito Chizzuola, who after Vergerio had left Italy published an invective against him. (74) Among other things the friar accuses him of forsaking the doctrines of his ancestors: to this futile argument he replied that if his ancestors had lived in this age of light (75) they would have embraced the same doctrines which he by the grace of God had been enabled to receive; and "I am sure," he added, "they would have been the last people in the world to reprove me, gifted as they were both with talent and influence, if I may be allowed thus to laud them."

While Vergerio was under the pressure of persecution, his friend the cardinal of Mantua wrote in his favour to the cardinal of Trent, saying, "he preached well and set a good example to his flock, but that his enemies had reported something he had said in the pulpit to the Nuncio La Casa at Venice, who cited him to appear." Gonzaga begs Madrucci to have this matter set at rest, that Vergerio may return to his bishopric. He adds:

The cardinal of Mantua continued steadily to defend Vergerio, and wrote the following letter to cardinal Farnese, the Pope's grandson, in his favour:

"Most Illustrious and Reverend Sir,

Towards the close of the year 1548 Vergerio was dismissed from his bishopric by the legate. He obeyed, and retired to Padua: the legate enjoined him to go to Home to justify himself, but the cardinal of Mantua dissuaded him from venturing on this step, as the Pope was prejudiced against him. The legate, desirous of getting him within his grasp, cited him to appear at his episcopal palace, from whence he had been banished by a monitorio a few weeks before. This was only a pretence to entrap him, for he knew he would not appear; the summons having been disregarded, emissaries were sent to take him; but Vergerio, having received timely warning, fearing his life was in danger, fled to the Grisons country. This was just what his enemies desired; if they could not get hold of him for the Inquisition to handle, the next best thing was to drive him to confess himself a heretic.

This decisive but unwilling step broke up all connection with the Church of Rome. In a consistory held at Rome by Paul III. he was declared contumacious, deprived of the episcopal dignity, and pronounced to be an apostate and heretic. (81) It is doubtful whether Vergerio would ever have brought his mind to separate himself from the Romish hierarchy but for a tragical scene which he witnessed at Padua in 1548.

Francesco Spira, a distinguished lawyer, had zealously embraced the reformed opinions, and lost no opportunity of communicating them to his friends and neighbours. This was reported to the legate at Venice, and Spira was cited to appear before him: though aware of his danger he obeyed the summons, and in presence of the legate was subjected to a most scrutinizing [381] examination. Under the influence of fear he confessed he had been in error, promised obedience to the Church, and craved pardon for having departed from the faith of his forefathers. The legate, pleased with his submission, accepted his excuses, but insisted as a condition of forgiveness that on his return home he should make reparation for his former errors by publicly disavowing them. He assented, but on his return home he bitterly repented having made this engagement. At length, overcome by the entreaties of his family and friends, who pointed out the certain destruction which hesitation would bring upon him, he consented to make the public recantation required by the legate. But the struggle between terror and conscience was too violent; the consciousness of having offended his heavenly Father to please the apostle of error preyed so deeply on his mind, that he fell into a pitiable state of mental and bodily disease. Such was his desperation that he believed he had committed the unpardonable sin of lying to the Holy Ghost, lost all hope of the mercy of God, and of eternal salvation. He was removed from Cittadella to Padua; every possible remedy was tried to recover the tone of his mind; his friends and physicians in vain endeavoured to console him by speaking of the sovereign mercy of God. He believed himself irremediably doomed to the punishment of hell, and declared that he already felt the torments of the damned. That he not only could not love God, but that his heart was filled with hatred towards Him: argument was useless, for reason was dethroned. He refused all nourishment, and expired in the most frightful state of mental alienation. (82)

So melancholy an instance of human weakness and misfortune impressed the minds of men with universal terror. Vergerio, not naturally a very strong minded man, was so shocked at witnessing the miserable effects of inquisitorial power that he resolved to put himself beyond its reach, and immediately fled to the Grisons country. His flight however was more the consequence of fear than of any decided opposition to the religion of Rome, and at first he hesitated about entering into [382] controversy with the Church. In proof of this the following passage of a letter he wrote some time after shews he had by no means made up his mind to take up his lot with the reformers.

" Besides this undertaking I might perhaps be useful in matters pertaining to religion, owing to the friendship existing between me and the learned men of Germany; when either by means of a Council, or in the negotiation of some agreement or arrangement, your Excellency will see what I am able to do." (83)

When Vergerio arrived at the Grisons Vicosoprano was without a pastor, and the inhabitants gladly received him as their minister, and gave him the yearly stipend of one hundred and fifty crowns. (84) Crowds of refugees from Italy crossed the Alps to the beautiful vallies of the Grisons, where the Italian language was spoken, and where the freedom of speech and liberty of conscience denied by the Romish Church was freely enjoyed. In this country and the Val Settina Vergerio had many opportunities of preaching. Once he arrived at a small town called Pontesina, at the foot of Mount Bernino, immediately after the death of the parish priest The whole population of the village was assembled, with the judge at their head. Vergerio offered to preach; some objected, but the judge, more enlightened than the rest, expressed a desire to hear what the stranger would say, and he mounted the pulpit. His audience were so pleased with his sermon that they requested him to preach again the next day; which he did, and seized the opportunity of setting forth with much eloquence and fervour the chief doctrines of the Gospel. Justification by faith and the benefits of Christ's death were the subjects of his discourse, and he made such a happy impression on his hearers that with one voice they expressed a desire for a continuance of such preaching; and one of the Reformed ministers Bartolommeo Silvio of Cremona, was unanimously entreated to settle among them as their pastor. (85)

He greatly contributed to the increasing spread of the [383] Reformed opinions, and had the pleasure of consecrating the church of Poschiavo in the Val Bettina to the Protestant faith. The Diet had issued a declaration of religious liberty, and claimed their right to profess the Reformed religion. In the year 1550 Vergerio printed no less than twelve treatises, tending to rouse the lukewarm or to confirm the wavering; his chief forte was expatiating on the persecutions of the Church of Rome, and there can be no doubt that his frequent reproaches were sensibly felt as assaults against the despotism of the papacy. This kind of composition was more suited to the character of his mind than entering upon doctrine. The more serious and spiritual Reformers of Switzerland stood somewhat aloof till they clearly understood his opinions on important points. Some have one talent and some another; there can be no doubt that the better gift is that spiritual grace named charity; yet his controversial talents were eminently useful in sapping the foundations of priestly power. By holding up the abuses of superstition before the glass of the Gospel he destroyed their influence and exposed them to contempt and neglect. His voluminous correspondence with the Zurich Reformers proves his earnest desire to cooperate with them, and his diligence and activity among the Italian converts. From these letters we learn that he paid a visit to Zurich, and became personally acquainted with the zealous and able men who fought so valiantly for the maintenance of divine truth, and to whom the Christian world is so deeply indebted for their advocacy of sound scriptural doctrine. Vergerio, in one of his letters to Rodolph Gualter, alludes to some defamatory reports which had been circulated of his being too fond of eating and drinking; he appeals to those who knew his manner of life to defend him from such calumnies, (86) and begs them to write a letter in his favour to the ministers of the Grisons. With this request they cheerfully complied, and at the close of the same year he thanks them for the consolation afforded by their letter to the Synod. (87) Speaking of the reassembling of the Council, he says, "it will be free to the Pope's bishops, but to no one else. I am [384] preparing a treatise which will unfold the insidious arts of the Roman Catholic Church, which I will bring to you, as I think I have in my head some important ideas." (88) The following month he sent this new publication to Zurich, and wrote to Gualter that he had "circulated a great many copies in Italy to rouse those who are asleep, and who still put faith in the promises of antichrist." After spending ten days in visiting the churches in Val Settina he intends setting out for Zurich; meanwhile he begs Gualter, as he understands Italian so well, to translate his book into Latin. (89)

Already was there some confusion in the churches of the Val Settina; the ignorance and self-love of the converts made them unwilling to submit to any regulation or restraint; delighted with their freedom from the weight of the Roman yoke they were averse to every kind of organization. Vergerio discerned the danger, and his habits of business enabled him to counteract its ill effects. He wrote that "there were many antichrists, many wolves in sheep's clothing, and many false brethren." Agostino Mainardi, (90) pastor of Chiavenna, and his zealous assistant Giulio of Milano, (91) were very active in disseminating divine truth and in collecting the people into a regular congregation. All seemed to be going on well till the arrival of Camillo Renato, (92) a native of Sicily. He belonged to that brilliant class of meteoric minds distinguished by the gifts of eloquence. Characters of this description are generally incapable of detecting the subleties of error. They may be sincere christians, but unless their imaginations have been chastened by a lengthened acquaintance with divine truth they are unfit to be teachers. Untrained in arrangement of thought, unchecked by the fear [385] of being wrong, the rushing stream overflows its banks, and they deem themselves inspired when they are only misled. In the words of the eloquent but misguided Irving, "one cannot but love their zeal, and admire the ringlets of their childish beauty, and the freshness of their downy cheeks; but ah! what shall these avail in the fierce and fiery controversy, when a man must brave the battle's edge and snatch the martyr's crown from the midst of the fire!" These are reflections which every nascent church should lay to heart; they are more peculiarly suitable to Italian converts; born in a land of beauty and of song, the steeds of their fiery imaginations need a wholesome curb. Sincerity is not all in religion; we must add to our faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge temperance, to temperance patience, to patience godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity, and be perpetually growing in christian experience of our own hearts, and in what has been called the good sense of the Gospel, but it is more properly an advanced knowledge of divine truth which enables us to discern more clearly the wonderful combination of several links which form a perfect whole. It is an historical fact that the chief errors in religious belief have arisen from the separation of revealed truths from their chain of connection. Any one doctrine exclusively exaggerated loses its balanced position in the Divine Oracles and opens the way for error. To obviate these dangers, and to keep the congregations in the Grisons sound in their creed, Vergerio drew up a simple and scriptural confession of faith, (93) which he signed himself, and persuaded the other ministers to sign. (94)

Vergerio wrote to Rodolph Gualter at Zurich in 1551 that he had reconciled Camillo with the minister and church of Chiavenna, and obliged him to sign a confession of faith. (95) This [386] confession, drawn up by Vergerio to stop the spread of the Anabaptist opinions and keep the converts close to the doctrines of the Gospel, proves the soundness of his faith. As a whole it must be generally approved; and when we recollect that it is the work of a man brought up for so many years under the Roman ritual, we cannot but commend the diligence with which he must have studied the Scriptures before he could have attained such clear views of divine truth. Some of his premises, especially on baptism, are not borne out by Scriptural authority, and seem to have been dictated by a spirit of conservatism when surrounded by innovators. His object was evidently not to destroy but to build up, and it was scarcely possible wholly to divest himself of the ecclesiastical idea which the Roman Catholic Church attached to baptism. While Vergerio was devoting all the energies of a very active mind to the spread of the Gospel, and like St. Paul continually employed in abundant labours, Pope Julius III., though a very lukewarm churchman, after his elevation to the papacy, sent Paolo Odescalchi as legate into the Grisons country with the title of Apostolic Nuncio and Inquisitor, to preach to the Italian refugees and exhort them to return to the obedience of the Church. Vergerio did not allow his bull of office to circulate unnoticed, but wrote some very pointed remarks on its contents. (96) But this Romish foray made Vergerio's position more dangerous, and he began to think of taking refuge in Switzerland. There was a continual interchange of letters between the Swiss and Italian reformers; they translated each other's works into their several languages, or into Latin, for more extensive circulation. In March 1551 Vergerio wrote:

By a private hand he wrote—

Vergerio in his first publications only attacked the despotism of the Pope over the bishops and over the Council, and manifested his displeasure against La Casa and Muzio, (104) who had prevented his carrying out the reforms in his diocese which he had so much at heart; but when they in turn attacked him in writing, then he let loose his indignation against the Church of Rome and its partisans, and made use of strong and bitter but not untrue language against its corruptions. His pen was ever in motion till the latest hour of his life. A list of his books, eighty-nine in number, has been compiled, but it does not include all. (105)

It does not come within our plan to follow him out of Italy. His talents for negotiation were so highly appreciated that he was employed by D. Ferrante Gonzaga, governor of Milan, to arrange some affairs at Wilna. From thence Vergerio wrote on the 6th of November 1556, after he had openly declared himself a Protestant, to Ferrante Gonzaga:

In this letter he drops the title of bishop. (106)

He was invited to Tubingen by the duke of Wittemberg, and there in the year 1561 he had a discussion with the Nuncio, Delfino, who made an unavailing effort to persuade him to return to the Roman Catholic Church. (107) Vergerio died at Tubingen on the 4th of October 1565, and was buried on the 7th in the church of St. George. A sermon was preached at his fonerai by Jacobo Andrea, from 1 Tim. i. 12, 13. The preacher drew a parallel between the life of Paul and that of Vergerio, both having been adverse to the truth, and both having "obtained mercy because they did it ignorantly and in unbelief." An epitaph was written on Vergerio, comparing him with St. Paul. (3) He was not popular with any party; accustomed to associate with a higher class of persons, after he left the Church of Rome he was thought to assume too much authority over the simple converts. One reason of his unpopularity was that he declared he was "neither Lutheran, Zuinglian, nor a Calvinist, but a Christian," and thus lost the support of all parties. (108) We must not lose sight of the fact that he was rather driven out of the Church by persecution than from strong convictions of its unscriptural doctrines. His great forte was exposing the abuses and corruptions of the Roman Catholic Church, and this he did so well that posterity is under great obligations to him for the information contained in some of his works. We shall briefly note one or two.

The Catalogue of prohibited books (109) issued by Dalla Casa [390] the papal Nuncio in the month of May 1549, (110) called forth Vergerio's utmost indignation. He republished it in Italian (111) with notes and remarks, and the following preface:

Vergerio to his Christian Brethren.

Berni died at Florence in 1536. Vergerio added to the stanza of Berni the three famous sonnets of Francesco Petrarca, beginning —

The third is the strongest: nothing more true or more severe has ever been written against Rome.

A modern Italian (117) has admirably pourtrayed the antipathy of Rome to every species of reform. Speaking of the famous three days at Paris, he says, " A Catholic nation must perforce relinquish all hope of liberal government whatever; and the despotic power of the Pope cannot exist where liberal institutions prevail. When freedom reigns the Pope weeps, as Pasquin and Marforio say: