Part 20 (1/2)
”Here,” said he, ”you have what you required of me; and I have called it the Christian Alphabet, because, in fact, it contains but the A B C of Christian doctrine. Believe in nothing I have here set down that you cannot bring to the test of Scripture. And do not content yourself with this Alphabet, or with any mere writings of men, but drink of the pure water of life at its source. May Christ become the peaceful possessor of your heart, in such a manner as that He may absolutely and without contradiction rule and regulate all your purposes. When this is the case, you will not feel the want of anything whatsoever in this life to give you contentment and repose.”
She took the book with solemnity, and promised compliance with his wishes. This singular little work, of which, till lately, it was not known that there was a copy extant, does not profess to be more than what Valdes called it, and confines itself to inculcating the formation of the Divine image in the soul, if haply it might find Him, without attempting to attack the prevailing corruptions of the Church. In fact, this remarkable layman, who set so many Reformers forward on the path of martyrdom, did so by inculcating a few great truths, rather than by pulling down strongholds of error; and a certain cla.s.s of his disciples eventually brought discredit on him by veiling Reformed opinions under the punctilious observance of Romish practices. But not of these temporising spirits were Carnesecchi, Flaminio, or Vergerio; all of whom were of the school of Valdes.
CHAPTER XIX.
REST AND PEACE.
When the structure is built, the scaffolding is removed: when we are raised up to Christ, our earthly props are often knocked away.
Ochino was soon to leave Naples--Valdes was soon to leave this earthly world. For a little while the Church had rest: and then burst out a furious, fiery persecution. Its burning annals have no place in my story; but I will annex a chapter about it as an Appendix, for those who will not or cannot refer to the original sources.
An advance had taken place in Ochino's opinions, which, for a time, was felt rather than understood by his hearers. He appealed directly to the Scriptures in support of his doctrine, and bade them search for themselves. In spite of his boldness, he not only was allowed to continue to preach in the Cathedral, but, in a chapter held at Naples in 1541, was re-elected General of the Capuchins.
His departure from the Church of Rome was detected, however, by the jealous eye of Cardinal Pole, who wrote to Vittoria Colonna, urging her to beware of his influence, and even exacting from her a promise, which no woman of independent spirit would have given, that she would not read any letter addressed to her by Ochino, without consulting him or Cardinal Cervini. Vittoria gave this promise, and afterwards redeemed it by transmitting to Cardinal Cervini, not one letter, but a packet of letters written to her by Ochino; observing on them, in an accompanying note, ”I am grieved to see that the more he attempts to excuse himself, he condemns himself the more; and the more he believes he shall save others from s.h.i.+pwreck, the more he exposes himself to the deluge; being out of the ark which alone can save.”
Vittoria was at Rome, the head-quarters of intolerance, attending Fra Ambrogio's lectures in the church of San Silvestro, and sending her servant, after the sermon, to Michael Angelo, saying, ”Tell him that I and Messer Lattanzio are here in this cool chapel, that the church is shut and very pleasant, and ask him if he will come and spend the morning with us.” And when he came, their talk was not of polemics, but of painting, and of her building a convent on the slope of Monte Cavallo.
Vittoria, having put her hand to the plough, had drawn back; but Giulia had chosen the better part, and has attained the honour of being stigmatised in Romish records as ”suspected of heretical pravity.”
Oh! how she wept when Valdes died! They were tears of sweet and pure affection, unmixed with bitterness or gloomy foreboding, for he had been called, at the second watch, to his rest: and she had now a good a.s.surance of following in the same luminous track, upheld by the same right hand, straight up to heaven, without the intervention of a fearful purgatory.
He was called away in the strength of his manhood, for he was little more than forty, and his twin brother is lost sight of about the same time. Lovely in their lives, in death they were not long divided.
Peaceful, natural decline removed them from the persecutions that awaited their followers.
It is not hard to divine his last admonitions to Giulia. ”Search the Scriptures, for in them we know that we have eternal life. Pray, dear Signora! pray! As our Lord prayed on the mount, the fas.h.i.+on of His countenance was altered, and His raiment became white and glistening!
Doubtless, whenever _we_ pray, the expression of our countenance is altered in the sight of G.o.d, if not of man; and our raiment, the righteousness of Christ, becomes white and glistening. Oh, what an incentive to prayer! St. Matthew and St. Luke, you will find, in narrating the transfiguration, do not give us the preface--'_and as he prayed_.' But how important an addition it is! What a blessing that prayer drew down! It drew prophets and saints from heaven!”
”Valdes, dear friend! Would that my prayers might hereafter draw _you_ down from heaven to comfort me! Yet no; I recall the selfish wish.
Rather let me fancy you calling, 'Come up hither!'”
”Fancy our Lord so calling you, dear Signora, and it will be mere fancy no longer. All my teaching will have been in vain, if you covet human rather than divine sympathy and help.”
”But you have been to me as a brother.”
”There is a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother, Signora. Come, give me a text, ere you leave me, to dwell upon when you are gone.”
”'Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace.'”
”G.o.d grant it! And here is one for you, whose time has not yet come to be led forth. 'Behold! I have refined thee, but not with silver'--(not in the same way, that is; not with mere physical heat)--'I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.' See! there is something that escapes us at first. G.o.d not only says He has tested us, but that He has _chosen_ us. O, blessed to be the chosen of the Lord----”
”Valdes, I seek Him, but I know not that I have yet found Him----”
”Signora! 'let the heart of them rejoice that _seek_ the Lord.'”
While ma.s.ses were being sung and said for the soul of Cardinal Ippolito, the spirit of Valdes departed without a sigh. ”For so He giveth His beloved sleep.” But were Giulia's affections, which had been gradually refining, then left without a human object? No. By the will of his paternal grandfather, her nephew, Vespasiano, the little Duke of Sabionetta, came into her charge; and the education of the dear little boy, now eight years old, became her care. She procured the best and most enlightened tutors for him, in Tuscan, Latin, and Greek; and despatched an envoy to Charles the Fifth, to secure for him the invest.i.ture of the state of Lombardy, and to supersede its administrators by Don Ferrante and Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga.