ON THE ANTI-PAPAL SPIRIT OF DANTE ALIGHIERI. THE elegant summary of M. Ozanam's sentiments on the philosophical and religious character of the writings of Dante should have concluded our remarks; but the striking antipapal spirit of the Commedia, in appearance at least, and especially in passages where it has been exposed for the first time by Professor Rossetti, seems to contradict its justness, and to call for a few further observations. It had been shown by Dionisi and others, that in the allegory of the three beasts, at the opening of the poem, the wolf, which irresistibly opposes the poet in his endeavour to ascend the hill of Virtue, is a type of the See of Rome. In the passages above alluded to, it is proved to demonstration that the lowest pit of the Inferno is intended by Dante to figure the city of Rome*; and that the triple-headed Lucifer who is * Com. Analitico, vol. ii. p. 531. fixed there* represents the Pope. Also, that the exclamation of Pluto Pape Satan, Pape Satan, aleppe," in the first line of the seventh canto of the Inferno, where the sin of avarice is punished, is to be read thus: 'Pap è Satan, Pap è Satan, aleppe." "The Pope is Satan, the Pope is Satan, our chief t." Satire so virulent and unqualified, which is not levelled against a corrupt individual High Priest merely, but is unrestricted, and seems to attack the office itself, was dangerous and indefensible; and therefore the old commentators wisely forbore to withdraw the veil which concealed it from the vulgar. In the Inferno we are shown Pope Celestine the Fifth among the crowd who are unworthy to cross the Acheron, and are tormented for having lived contemptibly, in apathy and selfishness, without any decided character, or any deed deserving to be remembered. "Mischiate sono a quel cattivo coro Degli angeli che non furon ribelli Ne fur' fedeli a Dio; ma per se foro." "This miserable fate Suffer the wretched souls of those, who lived Inf. iii. 37. Cary. * "Il maledetto, Da tutti i pesi del mondo costretto." "Nel punto Al qual si traggon d'ogni parte i pesi." + Spirito Antipapale, cap. 5. Par. xxix. 55. Inf. xxxiv. 3. We see Pope Anastasius the Second in a burning tomb suffering the punishment assigned to heresy (Inf. xi.)*. We see Pope Nicholas the Third in torture for simony (Inf. xix.). We see a pit prepared for the punishment of Boniface the Eighth for the same crime (Inf. xix.), into which pit his successor, Clement the Fifth, is also to be plunged at death (Inf. xix.). "Ma poco poi sarà da Dio sofferto Nel santo officio: ch'el sarà detruso "Him God will not endure Par. xxx. 145. I'the' holy office long; but thrust him down To Simon Magus, where Alagna's priest Will sink beneath him: such will be his meed." Cary. In the Purgatorio we find but two Popes: Adrian the Fifth, who is paying the penalty of his avarice (Purg. xix.), and Martin the Fourth of his gluttony (Purg. xxiv.). In the Paradiso not a single pope is met with†. Even the excellent and impartial pontiff Benedict the Eleventh, whose . short reign intervened between Boniface and Clement, and A blow, Foscolo observes, to the doctrine of Papal infallibility. "O sia che il poeta avesse appurato il vero, o si stesse alla tradizione del fatto, se ne giovò ad ogni modo con animo di negare la dottrina dell' infallibilità del Sommo Pontefice anche ne`dogmi.”—Foscolo, Discorso Sez. clxxxvi. Londra, 1842. + Pietro Ispano cannot be quoted as an exception; he is introduced in Par. xii. 134, but is not mentioned by Dante or the old commentators as having become Pope, though Cary, following Mariana, considers him to be John the Twenty-First. who exerted himself so much in favour of the exiled Ghibellines, is never mentioned. How are we to account for satire so sweeping and unjust? Is it that the image of Boniface the Eighth was always present to Dante's mind, and allowed him not to see any other character in a pope than that of his enemy? Was it designed to gratify the Emperor, who was in fierce collision with the Pope, and on whom the Ghibelline exile's hope of restoration to his country and fortune entirely depended? Or like St. Bernard two centuries earlier*, did a virtuous zeal and disgust at the unchristian conduct of the hierarchy provoke him to proclaim that the prophetic vision of the Apocalypse was realized; that Rome was Babylon, and the Pope was Lucifer and Antichrist? We are convinced that the unmeasured censure of the Church throughout the Commedia, and particularly in the magnificent allegory of the mystical car (Purg. c. xxix.)†, was the result of feelings as ardent and indignant as St. Bernard's, and of a painful conviction of the necessity of a great and speedy reformation; but at the same time that, notwithstanding the bitterness of his hostility, Dante was a faithful member of the Church of See Bishop Hurd's Seventh Sermon on the Prophecies. (Purg. c. xxix.) The Car is the Church of Rome; the Gryphon which draws it is Christ in his double nature; the Eagle, which first tears it and then enriches it with his plumes, is the Roman Empire; the Fox, which insidiously darts at it, is heresy; the Dragon, that tears the bed of the car, is the demon of avarice and schism; the brutal Giant, seated in the car, is Philip the Fourth of France; and the Woman at his side is the woman of Babylon, the Antichrist, the Pope, who "Puttaneggiar co' regi a lui fu vista.” (Inf. xix. 108.) Rome, "Pius in Christum, pius in Ecclesiam, pius in Pastorem."-De Monarchia. It cannot be denied that, irritated by personal wrongs and party spirit, Dante indulged in such satire of the vices of the Church, and such invectives against its head, as were imprudent and censurable, and must even have had a tendency, in a popular work like the Commedia, injurious to religion itself. Silvio Pellico has therefore ingeniously supposed a death-bed repentance of Dante, and made it the subject of a poem, La Morte di Dante, to which he has annexed the following appropriate preface: "Non ho mai capito in qual modo Dante, perch' egli fra i magnanimi suoi versi ne ha alcuni iratissimi di varii generi, sia potuto sembrare ai nemici della Chiesa Cattolica un loro corifeo; cioè un rabbioso filosofo, il quale o non credesse nulla, o professasse un cristianesimo diverso dal Romano. Tutto il suo poema, a chi di buona fede lo legga, e non per impegno di sistema, attesta un pensatore, sì, ma sdegnoso di scismi e d'eresie, e consonissimo a tutte le cattoliche dottrine. Giovani, che sì giustamente ammirate quel sommo, studiatelo col vostro nativo candore, e scorgerete che non volle mai esservi maestro di furori e d'incredulità, ma bensì di virtù religiose e civili." The satire of Petrarch upon the Court of Rome, then at Avignon, is not less bitter, nor less reprehensible, if intended to be disseminated generally, than that of Dante; as will appear by his three celebrated sonnets, which we shall give entire. SONETTO CV. "Fiamma dal ciel su le tue treccie piova, |