clearly Rome*. The miserable condition of the whole peninsula, in the age of Dante, is undisputed matter of history, which records a general demoralization, attributed mainly to the corrupt example of the priesthood and especially of the Head of the Church, and to the perpetual strife among the different independent states, and the rival factions of Guelphs and Ghibellines, which was fomented by the ambition of the Popes, in their struggle with the Emperor to obtain a predominant influence. To expose these evils, and to remove them by effecting a reformation in the civil and religious condition of the country, is the immediate object, the "finis propinquus," of the Commedia, which was invented, Dante says, not for a speculative but entirely for a practical purpose, "Non ad speculandum, sed ad opus inventum est totum (Ep. ad Kan Gran).

reform are openly diswith little disguise in

The two leading objects of the closed in the De Monarchia, and the Commedia; they consist in the project of forming all the independent states of Italy into a federal government having the Emperor for its head, and in restricting the supreme power of the Pope to spiritualities alone. To effect this last great change, the states of the Church were to be restored to the Empire, from which, he maintains, they had been illegally severed by Constantine and others: "Constantinus alienare non poterat Imperii dignitatem, nec Ecclesia recipere. Scindere Imperium, Imperatori non licet."-De Monarchia, lib. iii.

Both sovereigns were to be entirely independent of each * Com. Anal. v. ii. p. 531.

other; and like two suns, the one of temporal, the other of spiritual influence, were to shed vigour and happiness throughout the universe. The rights of the Emperor were to be defined by laws, framed on the principle that the monarch is constituted for the people, not the people for the monarch. "Non enim cives propter consules, nec gens propter regem, sed e converso, Consules propter cives, Rex propter gentem." (De Monarchia.)

The rights of the Pope were to be supreme in religion, and no limitation of power is expressly stated: some check however must have been contemplated, to guard against human fallibility, and a continuance of the monstrous abuse of excommunication, which experience had shown to be incompatible with the independence of sovereigns and national tranquillity.

"Già si solea con le spade far guerra;

Ma or si fa togliendo or qui or quivi
Lo pan che 'l pio Padre a nessun serra."

"War once had for its instrument the sword;
But now 't is made, taking the bread away
Which the good Father locks from none."

Par. c. xviii. 127.

Cary.

By the union of the states of Italy under a powerful but limited monarch, Dante persuaded himself that liberty and social order, and peace, both foreign and domestic, would be best secured. He hoped too that by the ecclesiastical re

"Inter alia bona hominis potissimum sit in pace vivere. Pax universalis est optimum eorum quæ ad nostram utilitatem ordinantur. Conclusio certa est quod ad optimam mundi dispositionem necesse est Monarcham esse."De Monarchia, lib. i.

"Dante volle persuadere che la voglia di mantenere ciascun paese la sua

form morality and religion would be restored; and that the Pope, by being deprived of temporal sovereignty, the great incentive to ambition and political intrigue, would devote his energies to the good government of the Church and the improvement of the moral condition of the Christian world, and that the age of gold would be renewed.

"Anime belle e di virtute amiche

Terranno il mondo, e poi vedrem lui farsi
Aureo tutto, e pien dell' opre antiche."

Petrarca.

The De Monarchia is a most important work in illustrating the Commedia and in declaring the political principles of Dante, and must have been most offensive to the See of Rome, which asserted the indefeasible and indispensable right of crowning the Emperor. Its argument is, that a universal Monarch is necessary for the welfare of mankind, that the Roman Emperor is of right that Monarch, and that he owes not his crown to the Pope, but to God alone. Dante concludes the work however with the following strong expression of his respect for the Catholic religion and its Head:-" The true decision of this question is not to be so strictly interpreted as to imply that the Roman Prince is in no respect subjected to the Roman Pontiff; for felicity in this mortal life is ordained only for the attainment of that which is immortal; let Cæsar then show that reverence to Peter which a firstborn son owes to his father; so that he, being illumined with

libertà, senza la dipendenza da una potestà superiore a tutti, commettea discordia fra le città, e le urtava in perpetua guerra: la quale gl' Italiani con le stesse loro forze consumava."-Gravina Rag. Poet.

the light of paternal grace, may have the more virtue to illumine the circle of the earth, over which he is placed by Him who is Governor of all things spiritual and temporal*.”

The evils that had ensued from the grant of territory by Constantine to Pope Sylvester, and from the union of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities, are denounced in various parts of the Commedia.

IN THE INFERNO.

"Di voi Pastor s'accorse il Vangelista." (Inf. xix. 106—117.)

"Of shepherds like to you, the Evangelist

Was ware, when her, who sits upon the waves,
With kings in hateful commerce, he beheld;
She who with seven heads tower'd at her birth,
And from ten horns her proof of glory drew,
Long as her spouse in virtue took delight.
Of gold and silver ye have made your god,
Differing wherein from the idolater,

But that he worships one, a hundred ye?

Ah Constantine! to how much ill gave birth,

Not thy conversion, but that plenteous dower

Which the first wealthy Father gain'd from thee!"

IN THE PURGATORIO.

Cary.

“Però, se'l mondo presente disvia.”

(Purg. xvi. 82—114.)

"If then the present race of mankind err,

Seek in yourselves the cause, and find it there.

"Young from her Maker's hand, the soul inclines

There is much that is strange, fanciful and impracticable in this curious political pamphlet, which has been omitted. It was condemned to be burnt, as heretical, by Cardinal Poggetto, legate of John XXII.; it was condemned also, together with Dante's letter to the Sovereigns of Italy, by the Council of Trent.-See Balbo, Vita di Dante.

To whate'er yields her joy. Of some slight good
The flavor soon she tastes; and, snared by that,
With fondness she pursues it, if no guide
Recal, no rein direct her wandering course.
Hence it behoved, whose piercing view

Might mark at least the fortress and main tower

Of the true city. Laws indeed there are,
But who is he observes them? None; not he,

Who goes before, the shepherd of the flock;
Who chews the cud, but doth not cleave the hoof.
Therefore the multitude, who see their guide
Strike at the very good they covet most,

Feed there and look no farther. Thus the cause

Is not corrupted nature in yourselves,

But ill-conducting, that hath turn'd the world
To evil.

Rome, that turn'd it unto good,

Was wont to boast two suns, whose several beams
Cast light on either way, the world's and God's.
One since hath quench'd the other; and the sword
Is grafted on the crook; and, so conjoin'd,

Each must perforce decline to worse, unaw'd

By fear of other. If thou doubt me, mark

The blade: each herb is judged of by its seed."

IN THE PARADISO.

"L'altro che segue, con le leggi e meco.”

Cary.

(Par. xx. 55-60.)

"See Constantine, who with Rome's laws and arms

Pass'd o'er to Greece, to yield the Shepherd room,

From good intent producing evil fruit;

Now knoweth he how all the ill derived

From his well-doing doth not harm him aught,

Though it have brought destruction on the world."

Cary.

The moral spirit of the Commedia, in exciting to good and deterring from evil, is its most prominent feature; the Inferno and Purgatorio being exhibitions of the misery and punish