But, had it not been for
this, I should have loved Martin Luther as myself, not in order to free
myself from the laws which Christianity, as generally understood and
explained, lays upon us, but in order to see this swarm of scoundrels
(questa caterva di scelerati) put back into their proper place, so that
they may be forced to live either without vices or without power.'
The same Guicciardini is of opinion that we are in the dark as to all
that is supernatural, that philosophers and theologians have nothing
but nonsense to tell us about it, that miracles occur in every religion
and prove the truth of none in particular, and that all of them may be
explained as unknown phenomena of nature. The faith which moves
mountains, then common among the followers of Savonarola, is mentioned
by Guicciardini as a curious fact, but without any bitter remark.
Notwithstanding this hostile public opinion, the clergy and the monks
had the great advantage that the people were used to them, and that
their existence was interwoven with the everyday existence of all. This
is the advantage which every old and powerful institution possesses.
Everybody had some cowled or frocked relative, some prospect of
assistance or future gain from the treasure of the Church; and in the
centre of Italy stood the Court of Rome, where men sometimes became
rich in a moment.
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