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part05+-第49部分

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form a clear opinion。 The letters are well worthy of the man who



wrote the history of the Council of Trent and the protest of



Venice against the Interdict。







It is true that there has been derived from these letters; by his



open enemies on one side and his defenders of a rather sickly



conscientious sort on the other; one charge against him: this is



based on his famous declaration; 〃I utter falsehood never; but



the truth not to every one。〃 (〃La falsita non dico mai mai; ma la



verita non a ogniuno。〃)'1' Considering his vast responsibilities



as a statesman and the terrible dangers which beset him as a



theologian; that in the first of these capacities the least



misstep might wreck the great cause which he supported; and that



in the second such a misstep might easily bring him to the



torture chamber and the stake; normally healthful minds will



doubtless agree that the criticism upon these words is more



Pharisaic than wholesome。











'1' For this famous utterance; see notes of conversations given



by Christoph; Burggraf von Dohna; in July; 1608; in Briefe und



Acten zur Geschichte des Dreissigjahrigen Krieges; Munchen; 1874;



p。 79。











Sarpi was now spoken of; more than ever; both among friends and



foes; as the 〃terribile frate。〃 Terrible to the main enemies of



Venice he indeed was; and the machinations of his opponents grew



more and more serious。 Efforts to assassinate him; to poison him;



to discredit him; to lure him to Rome; or at least within reach



of the Inquisition; became almost frantic; but all in vain。 He



still continued his quiet life at the monastery of Santa Fosca;



publishing from time to time discussions of questions important



for Venice and for Europe; working steadily in the public service



until his last hours。 In spite of his excommunication and of his



friendships with many of the most earnest Protestants of Europe;



he remained a son of the church in which he was born。 His life



was shaped in accordance with its general precepts; and every day



he heard mass。 So his career quietly ran on until; in 1623; he



met death calmly; without fear; in full reliance upon the divine



justice and mercy。 His last words were a prayer for Venice。







He had fought the good fight。 He had won it for Venice and for



humanity。 For all this; the Republic had; in his later years;



tried to show her gratitude; and he had quietly and firmly



refused the main gifts proposed to him。 But now came a new



outburst of grateful feeling。 The Republic sent notice of his



death to other powers of Europe through its Ambassadors in the



terms usual at the death of royal personages; in every way; it



showed its appreciation of his character and services; and it



crowned all by voting him a public monument。







Hardly was the decree known; when the Vatican authorities sent



notice that; should any monument be erected to Sarpi; they would



anew and publicly declare him excommunicate as a heretic。 At



this; the Venetian Senate hesitated; waited; delayed。 Whenever



afterwards the idea of carrying out the decree for the monument



was revived; there set in a storm of opposition from Rome。 Hatred



of the terrible friar's memory seemed to grow more and more



bitter。 Even rest in the grave was denied him。 The church where



he was buried having been demolished; the question arose as to



the disposition of his bones。 To bury them in sacred ground



outside the old convent would arouse a storm of ecclesiastical



hostility; with the certainty of their dispersion and



desecration; it seemed impossible to secure them from priestly



hatred: therefore it was that his friends took them from place to



place; sometimes concealing them in the wall of a church here;



sometimes beneath the pavement of a church there; and for a time



keeping them in a simple wooden box at the Ducal Library。 The



place where his remains rested became; to most Venetians;



unknown。 All that remained to remind the world of his work was



his portrait in the Ducal Library; showing the great gash made by



the Vatican assassins。







Time went on; and generations came which seemed to forget him。



Still worse; generation after generation came; carefully trained



by clerical teachers to misunderstand and hate him。 But these



teachers went too far; for; in 1771; nearly one hundred and fifty



years after his death; the monk Vaerini gathered together; in a



pretended biography; all the scurrilities which could be



imagined; and endeavored to bury the memory of the great patriot



beneath them。 This was too much。 The old Venetian spirit; which



had so long lain dormant; now asserted itself: Vaerini was



imprisoned and his book suppressed。







A quarter of a century later the Republic fell under the rule of



Austria; and Austria's most time…honored agency in keeping down



subject populations has always been the priesthood。 Again Father



Paul's memory was virtually proscribed; and in 1803 another



desperate attempt was made to cover him with infamy。 In that year



appeared a book entitled The Secret History of the Life of Fra



Paolo Sarpi; and it contained not only his pretended biography;



but what claimed to be Sarpi's own letters and other documents



showing him to be an adept in scoundrelism and hypocrisy。 Its



editor was the archpriest Ferrara of Mantua; but on the



title…page appeared; as the name of its author; Fontanini;



Archbishop of Ancira; a greatly respected prelate who had died



nearly seventy years before; and there was also stamped; not only



upon the preliminary; but upon the final page of the work; the



approval of the Austrian government。 To this was added a pious



motto from St。 Augustine; and the approval of Pius VII was



distinctly implied; since the work was never placed upon the



Index; and could not have been published at Venice; stamped as it



was and registered with the privileges of the University; without



the consent of the Vatican。







The memory of Father Paul seemed likely now to be overwhelmed。



There was no longer a Republic of Venice to guard the noble



traditions of his life and service。 The book was recommended and



spread far and wide by preachers and confessors。







But at last came a day of judgment。 The director of the Venetian



archives discovered and had the courage to announce that the work



was a pious fraud of the vilest type; that it was never written



by Fontanini; but that it was simply made up out of the old



scurrilous work of Vaerini; suppressed over thirty years before。



As to the correspondence served up as supplementary to the



biography; it was concocted from letters already published; with



the addition of Jesuitical interpolations and of forgeries。'1'



Now came the inevitable reaction; and with it the inevitable



increase of hatred for Austrian rule and the inevitable question;



how; if the Pope is the infallible teacher of the world in all



matters pertaining to faith and morals; could he virtually



approve this book; and why did he not; by virtue of his divine



inerrancy; detect the fraud and place its condemnation upon the



Index。 The only lasting effect of the book; then; was to revive



the memory of Father Paul's great deeds and to arouse Venetian



pride in them。 The fearful scar on his face in the portrait spoke



more eloquently than ever; and so it was that; early in the



nineteenth century; many men of influence joined in proposing a



suitable and final interment for the poor bones; which had seven



times been buried and reburied; and which had so long been kept



in the sordid box at the Ducal Library。 The one fitting place of



burial was the cemetery of San Michele。 To that beautiful island;



so near the heart of Venice; had; for many years; been borne the



remains of leading Venetians。 There; too; in more recent days;



have been laid to rest many of other lands widely respected and



beloved。











'1' For a full and fair statement of the researches which exposed



this pious fraud; see Castellani; Prefect of the Library of St。



Mark; preface to his Lettere Inedite di F。 P。 S。; p。 xvii。 For



methods used in interpolating or modifying passages in Sarpi's



writings; see Bianchi Giovini; Biografia di Sarpi; Zurigo; 1847;



vol。 ii。 pp。 135; et seq。











But the same persistent hatred which; in our own day; grudged and



delayed due honors at the tombs of Copernicus and Galileo among



Catholics; and of Humboldt among Protestants; was still bitter



against the great Venetian scholar and statesman。 It could not be



forgotten that he had wrested from the Vatican the most terrible



of its weapons。 But patriotic pride was strong; and finally a



compromise was made: it was arranged that Sarpi should be buried



and honored at his burial as an eminent man of science; and that



no word should be spoken of his main services to the Republic and



to the world。 On this condition he was buried with simple honors。







Soon; however; began another chapter of hatred。 There came a pope



who added personal to official hostility。 Gregory XVI; who in his



earlier days had been abbot of the monastery of San Michele; was



indignant that the friar who had thwarted the papacy should lie



buried in the convent which he himself had formerly ruled; and



this feeling took shape; first; in violent speeches at Rome; and



next; in brutal acts at Venice。 The monks broke and removed the



simple stone
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