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Full text of "Alfabeto christiano, which teaches the true way to acquire the light of the Holy Spirit. From the Italian of 1546; with a notice of Juan de Valdés and Giulia Gonzaga"

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BR  75  .V2713  1861 
Vald  es,  Juan  de,  d.  1541 
Alfabeto  christians  which 
teaches  the  true  w^v  1-^ 


N 


rue  way  to 


ALFABETO    CHRISTIANO 


^[1 UL^^     ^^'m:^^/^:^/^. 


JET.  '■'>'>.— MVKXXIV. 


OCT  12  1940  ' 


ALFABETO    CHRISTIAM^r.  !:i^ 


BY 


JUAN  DE  YALDES. 


WHICH   TEACHES   THE   TRUE   WAY   TO    ACQUIRE 
THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


FROil  THE  ITALIAN  OF  1546  ; 

^yITH  A  ^'OTICE  op  juax  de  valde's  axd  giulia  goxzaga. 


BY 


BEXJAMm    B.   AYIFFEX. 


VaLDISSIO    HlSPAjrrS    SCBlfTOnB    supebbiat    ohbis. 


D.  Ronen. 


^ 


LONDON: 
BOSAVOETH  &  HAEEISON,  215  EEGEXT  STEEET. 

1861. 

(OXLT  lOCi  COPIES  PEIXTED  TOK  PUBI.ICATIOX.) 


Et  principio  quidem  eo  te  modo  docere  incipiam,  qiw 
Solent  pueri  institui  in   scholis,    hoc   est,   quoddam   tihi 

SpIRITUALE  tradam  AlphABETUM.  —  Vita  D.  Joannis 
Tavleri.     Opera  omnia.     Paris.     1623. 

[The  pious  layman,  instructing  Tauler  in  the  way  of 

Christian  perfection,  says  to  him :  ] 
I  will  do,  then,  as  schoolmasters  are  accustomed  to  do 
to  their  children  when  they  first  go  to  be  instructed, — 
they  set  them  forward  with  the  alphabet,  and  so  shall 
I  do  to  thee.     I  shall  first  propose  to  thee  a  Spiritual 

Alphabet. —  Life  of  JohnTauler,  and  Alfabeto  Christiano,  p.  7. 

Et  voglio  sgannarvi  in  questo,  che  io  non  vi  do  qiiesie 
regole,  perche  stiate  legata  ad  esse,  perche  la  'ntentione 
mia  e,  che  non  vi  serviate  di  loro,  se  non  come  d^uno 
Alfabeto  Christiano,  per  mezzo  del  quale  possiate 
venire    alia    perfettione    Christiana. —  alfabeto  Christiano, 

fo.  44y"'- 

I  wish  to  undeceive  you  In  this,  that  I  do  not  give  you 
these  rules  that  you  should  be  bound  to  them,  because 
my  intention  is  that  you  should  use  them  only  as  a 
Christian  Alphabet,  by  means  of  which  you  may  come 
to  Christian  perfection. —  alfabeto  Christiano,  p.  125. 


(Only  lOO  copies  printed  por  PUBLICATIo^^) 


TO   LUIS   DE   USOZ  I  EIO, 


The  Alfabeto  Christiano  is  a  book  unknown  even 
to  bibliographers  for  the  last  three  centuries.  It 
had  its  origin  in  an  actual  conversation  between 
Juan  de  Valdes,  twin  brother  to  the  Latin  Secre- 
tary of  the  Emperor  Charles  the  Fifth,  and  Griulia 
G-onzaga,  Duchess  of  Trajetto  and  Countess  of  Fondi, 
at  Naples,  about  the  close  of  1535  or  the  bednnino- 
of  the  follo^\dng  year.  At  her  request  it  was  imme- 
diately afterwards  written  down  by  him  in  Spanish, 
to  promote  her  instruction  and  refresh  her  memory. 
It  now  essentially  conveys  to  us  the  spirit  and  sub- 
stance of  the  conversation  in  the  precise  form  and 
manner  in  which  it  then  took  place  between  them. 

To  whom  can  I  address  the  English  translation  of 
this  interesting  dialogue  with  greater  propriety  than 
to  him  who,  by  first  directing  my  thoughts  into  this 
channel  of  literary  research,  may  almost  be  considered 
to  have  been  its  discoverer  ?  A  friendship  whose  sin- 
cerity seeks  no  compliment  and  whose  freedom  asks 
no  favours  save  those  which  advance  the  common  ob- 
ject of  our  pursuit,  might  of  itself  afford  a  sufficient 
motive.     Yet  to  these  considerations  may  be  super- 

a  3 


VI 


added  the  fact,  that  his  liberality  has  furnished  the 
means  also  to  give  the  work  to  the  press ;  and  to 
render  it  at  the  same  time  more  worthy  of  acceptance 
to  the  Spanish  reader,  by  accompanying  the  Italian, 
now  the  only  original  text,  with  a  careful  transla- 
tion into  Spanish,  he  has  restored  it  once  more  to 
the  language  in  which  it  was  originally  written.*  The 
Spanish  manuscript  of  this  treatise,  like  that  of  the 
Ciento  i  cUez  Consider aziones,  not  havino^  been 
printed,  very  early  perished,  leaving  the  Italian  ver- 
sions to  serve  as  the  texts  for  all  the  succeeding 
translations  of  both  these  valuable  compositions. 
You  are  aware  how  amply  an  inquiry  directed  to 
this  section  of  writers  has  been  rewarded  by  the  dis- 
covery of  other  works  of  their  pens,  either  wholly 
forgotten,  or  of  such  rare  occurrence  as  to  be  all  but 
unique.  I  may  point  with  pleasure  to  fresh  editions 
restoring  to  them  a  renewed  existence;  and  readers 
may  now  turn  to  translations  of  some  of  them  from 
the  Latin  or  Italian  into  their  authors'  native  tongue, 
as  in  the  present  instance ;  thus  giving  them  another 
country  and  the  mind  of  another  people  for  their 
range  and  perusal.     In  the  first  place,  for  example, 

*  This  alludes  to  an  edition  1860-1  not  published,  printed 
in  Spanish,  Italian,  and  English  ;  whilst  his  generous  liberality 
applies  equally  to  the  present  edition  as  to  the  one  not  pub- 
lished. 

The  figures  on  the  margin  of  the  text — /.  2,f.  3,  &c.j  refer 
to  the  folios  of  the  Italian  original. 


Vll 


beside  tHe  present  volume,  I  may  mention  those  of 
Perez,  Yalera,  and  Enzinas ;  and  in  the  second  place 
those  of  Montes,  Sacharles,  and  Valdes  (1).  Led 
now  by  the  example  afforded  by  the  last-named 
writer  in  the  form  of  an  epistle,  to  no  one  with  so 
much  propriety  and  pleasure  as  to  yourself  could  I 
inscribe  the  present  translation  into  English,  together 
■with  such  remarks  as  have  arisen  upon  the  original 
volume,  the  dialogue,  and  the  speakers  introduced  in 
it :  not,  however,  that  such  observations  will  add  to 
your  information  on  the  subject,  but  as  a  convenient 
form  in  which  to  introduce  it  to  other  readers  ;  be- 
cause it  must  be  confessed  that  much  mistake  and 
confusion  are  to  be  found  in  the  notices  hitherto 
supplied  by  the  best  writers  respecting  the  present 
author  and  his  works. 

Accept,  therefore,  this  offering  of  secluded  labour, 
in  the  course  of  which  I  acknowledge  to  have  ga- 
thered some  grateful  lessons  of  instruction  for  myself, 
and  which  has  softened  not  a  few  of  the  languid 
hours  of  failing  years  and  declining  energies. 


I  selected  the  original  copy  of  the  Alfabeto 
Christiano  from  the  "  Catalogue  "  of  Giovanni  Gancia, 
bookseller,  of  Brighton,  in  the  year  1851,  not  having 
any  previous  knowledge  of  the  book,  and  attracted  to 
it  solely  by  its  title.     On  one  of  the  fairest  mornings 

a4 


VIU 


of  the  most  charming  month  of  the  year,  the  modern 
book-post,  that  beneficent  handmaid  of  advancing 
knowledge,  brought  and  laid  the  volume  upon  my 
breakfast-table.  You  will  doubtless  remember  how 
freely,  while  seated  beside  it,  the  eye  through  the 
open  window  expatiates  over  the  beauties  of  nature, 
unrolled  like  a  picture  before  it,  for  you  also  have 
looked  from  the  same  retreat  upon  the  same  delight- 
ful landscape.  It  is  spread  along  the  course  of  a 
small  valley  enriched  by  the  labours  of  careful  hus- 
bandry and  picturesque  with  noble  woods,  church 
spires,  and  cheerful  villages.  Nestled  on  the  edge  of 
the  woods,  at  one  end  of  the  vale,  is  seen  the  native 
town,  of  the  translator  of  your  national  poet  Garcilaso 
de  la  Vega  who  when  returning  from  the  African 
expedition  in  1535  with  Charles  the  Fifth,  made 
acquaintance  with  Juan  de  Valdes  at  Naples  ;  while 
at  the  other  extremity  of  the  valley  rises  the  hill 
whereon  stood  the  royal  mansion  at  which  Henry 
the  Eighth  was  domiciled  when  he  received  the  com- 
pliment of  the  golden  rose  and  the  title  of  ''  Defender 
of  the  Faith"  from  the  Pope  for  his  book  against 
Luther ;  and  whence  he  dictated  his  letter  of  thanks 
to  Leo.  There,  too,  Catherine  of  Aragon,  aunt  of 
Charles  the  Fifth,  was  residing  when  she  was  sum- 
moned to  attend  the  commissioners  of  divorce  at 
Dunstable.  With  these  recollections,  and  with  this 
scene  in   view,   at  the  first  temperate  refection  of 


IX 

the  morning,  alone,  and  with  nothing  to  divert  my 
mind  from  the  quiet  examination  of  the  newly-ac- 
quired volume,  I  made  my  first  acquaintance  with 
its  contents.  I  had  completed,  the  year  before,  a 
transcript  of  the  Cento  et  died  diuine  Considera- 
Uoni,  1550.  This  had  rendered  me  familiar  with 
the  style  of  Valdes  and  his  peculiar  mode  of  think- 
ing ;  so  that  the  perusal  of  a  few  pages  convinced  me 
that  this  could  be  no  other  than  a  work  written  by 
him  and  one  altogether  unknown.  It  left  no  doubt 
in  the  mind,  moreover,  that  the  real  interlocutors 
were  Giulia  Gronzaga  and  Juan  de  Valdes  himself ; 
and  I  felt  a  pleasing  conviction  that  whilst  it  would 
assist  in  clearing  up  the  uncertainty  which  had 
hitherto  attached  to  their  personal  relations  with 
each  other,  it  might  also  furnish  some  further  indi- 
cations of  their  natural  characters  and  dispositions. 
A  week  of  agreeable  leisure  was  absorbed  in  its 
perusal,  and  resulted  in  the  present  attempt  to  make 
the  English  reader  a  partaker  of  the  gratification  it 
had  afforded  me. 

When  the  book  first  came  into  my  hands  it  was  in 
the  original  vellum  wrapper ;  half  of  both  covers  had 
been  cut  away  and  supplied  by  paper.  The  clean- 
ness of  the  edges  showed  that  it  had  been  preserved 
with  no  inconsiderable  care ;  my  experience,  and  the 
condition  of  the  volume,  suggested  the  conjecture 
that  it  had  been  preserved,  during  the  three  centuries 


which  had  intervened  since  its  publication,  in  some 
southern  library,  where  damp  and  smoke  were  com- 
paratively unknown.  I  was  told,  however,  that  it 
came  from  the  collection  of  a  deceased  G-erman 
Bishop,  sold  by  his  nephew.  Bound  up  with  the 
Alfabeto  Christiano  were  two  other  treatises  by  ano- 
ther author,  a  disciple  of  Valdes,  but  of  Calvinistic 
opinions,  —  a  disciple  of  Valdes  in  the  sense  in  which 
Ochino  and  Peter  Martyr  were  his  disciples,  not  in 
that  of  Flaminio  and  Carnesecchi.  The  treatises 
are:  — 

1.  Opere  christlane  e  catholiche  di Messer  Hieronymo 

Savonese,  A  gloria  cV  Iddio,  et  vtilita  de  chri- 
stiani  stampede.  Colophon :  In  Gineura,  per 
Lorenzo  Merlino  e  Fratelli.  Nel  MD.XXXXIII. 
a  li  XXII.  di  Nouemhre  Stampata.  (124  leaves, 
sm.  8vo.,  Italic  letter.)  It  consists  of  six  doc- 
trinal epistles  written  to  individuals  from  va- 
rious cities  of  Italy  which  the  writer  visited  — 
Milan,  Verona,  Naples,  Bologna,  Eome,  and 
Mantua — between  April  1542  and  March  1543. 

2.  Pie  et  christiane  epistole,  composte  da  uno  seriio 

di  Iddio  alia  consolatione  de  fedeli  frategli  in 
Christo  Giesu  Signore,  e  Saliiatore  nostro, 
Delia  fede,  Delia  efficacia  della  fede.  Delle 
opere.    De  merit i.   Della  charita,    Impossibile 


XI 

e  senza  fe  de  piacere  a  IdcUo.  Pavlo  agli 
Ebrei,  cap.  xi.  (Without  place  or  date,  thirty-six 
leaves,  sm.  Svo.,  in  Eoman  letter.)  They  com- 
prise five  doctrinal  pastoral  epistles,  as  the  title 
shows,  each  having  the  same  exordium :  A  i  di- 
letti  frategli,  in  Christo  Giesu,  il  Seruo  di 
Christo,  gratia,  e  pace  dal  Signore, 

The  author  of  these  treatises,  according  to  Ver- 
gerio,  was  Giulio  da  Milano  (2).  Before  parting 
with  the  volume,  I  caused  it  to  be  bound  in  green 
morocco,  adding  to  it  another  brochure  which  came 
about  the  same  time,  and  under  nearly  similar  cir- 
cumstances, into  my  hands. 

3.  Regola  vtile  e  necessaria  a  ciascuna  persona  die 
cerchi  di  uiuere  come  fedele  e  buon  Christiano. 
Kuouamente  stampata.  Con  uno  Capitolo 
deuotissimo  di  Messer  lesu  Christo,  Composto 
pjer  il  SignoT  Bartolomeo  Caroli  Nohile 
Sanese.  Colophon :  In  Vinegia,  per  Bartholamio 
da  Lodrone  ditto  r  Irn,perador,  e  Francesco 
Venetiano,  M.D.XXXXIIL  (Sixteen  leaves, 
sm,  8vo.,  Italic  letter.) 

This  tract  professes  to  describe  the  "  life  of  a  truly 
Christian  gentleman,"  as  related  by  himself  in  the 
last  hours  of  his  life.      It  is  an  alumbrado  tracts 


Xll 

conceived  in  the  better  sense  of  the  term ;  and  that 
which  invests  it  with  peculiar  interest  is,  that  it  in- 
culcates the  sentiments  of  the  Alfabeto  Christiano  ; 
not  indeed  with  the  lucid  eloquence  and  clearness  of 
Valdes,  for  it  seems  to  be  rather  an  imaginary  life, 
in  a  form  of  narrative  selected  as  a  vehicle  of  the 
opinions  conveyed  therein ;  and  professes  to  have 
been  dictated  by  a  desire  to  point  out  the  true  path 
to  the  aspirations  of  the  pious  inquirer.  As,  however, 
it  embraces  general  views  similar  to  those  of  Valdes, 
and  contains,  various  passages  expressed  almost  in 
his  own  words,  it  leaves  no  doubt  on  the  mind  that 
the  writer  of  the  tract  was  well  acquainted  with  this 
work.  And  as  the  Alfabeto  Christiano  was  not 
printed  until  1546  and  the  tract  was  issued  in  1543, 
three  years  before,  I  should  infer  that  its  author 
must  have  had  access  to  the  manuscript  before  it 
appeared  in  print.  There  were  several  admirers 
of  Valdes  residing  at  Sienna,  —  Ochino,  Lattanzio 
Eangone,  Paleario,  —  and,  for  another,  the  name  of 
Caroli  may  have  been  an  assumed  one,  like  that  of 
Hieronymo  Savonese.  It  will  be  seen,  therefore, 
that  this  small  volume  of  original  pieces  now  consists 
of  four  distinct  parts ;  and  I  am  thus  precise  in 
describing  it  here,  in  order  that  the  copy  now  in  my 
hands  may  be  identified  in  future,  no  other  being  at 
present  known ;  and  that  it  may  be  distinguished  from 
any  others  which  may  hereafter  be  discovered.     The 


Xlll 


Alfabeto  Christiano  of  Valdes  is  not  to  be  con- 
founded with  other  books  having  a  similar  title  ;  for 
example,  the  "  Alphabetum  Christi  sen  virtutes  qiise 
adolescentes  ornant  aEalph.  Sadlero:  Monacae,  1 6 1 9 ; 
Dilingse,  1624;"  and  another  in  English,  "The 
Christian  Alphabet:  London,  1811 ;"  books  of  a  totally 
different  character ;  nor  have  we  any  other  reason  to 
suppose  that  it  was  translated  into  Latin  than  that 
the  title  of  Aljphahetum  Christianum  appears  in  the 
prohibitory  indices  down  to  the  latest  folio  one  of 
Madrid  in  1845,  whilst  the  Italian  title  by  which  it 
has  now  become  known  has  been  suppressed  after 
the  Catalogo  drawn  up  by  Giovanni  della  Casa  at 
Venice  in  1549.  It  stands  in  that  catalogue,  followed 
by  two  tracts,  also  anonymous,  which  we  know,  on 
the  authority  of  Vergerio,  were  written  by  Valdes,  and 
must  have  been  published  about  the  same  time  :  — 

Alfabeto  Christiano, 

Modo  di  tenere  nelV  insegnare,  et  nel  predicare 

cd  principio  della  religione  Christiana  (3). 
Qual  maniera  si  douerebbe  tenere  in  foimare 

i  figliuoli   de   Christiani   nella  Christiana 

religione. 

Here  Vergerio  merely  quotes  the  titles  as  they 
stood  in  Della  Casa's  catalogue,  —  "  La  expositione 
della  Oratione  del  Signore,"  and  just  after  "Alfabeto 


XIV 

Christiano,"  followed  by  ''  Modo  di  tenere,"  &c.,  and 
**  Qual  maniera  si  douerebbe  tenere/'  &c.,  vvithout 
any  allusion  to  the  author.  In  his  further  remarks 
in  another  place  he  expressly  mentions  that  the  two 
latter  tracts  were  written  by  Valdes,  giving  a  descrip- 
tion of  them  ;  whilst  he  is  silent  about  the  Alfabeto 
Christiano,  which  he  must  have  known  equally  with 
the  others.  The  cause  of  this  silence  was  doubtless 
that  one  of  the  parties  to  the  dialogue  was  yet  living. 
With  a  prudence  which  in  this  respect  he  observed 
in  other  instances,  he  forbore  to  draw  attention  to 
a  book  that  would  compromise  with  Valdes  so  well- 
known  and  high-born  a  personage  as  the  Duchess 
of  Trajetto.  It  was  printed  at  a  time  when  for  a  few 
years  the  press  of  Venice  was  comparatively  free,  and 
when  taking  advantage  of  this  liberty,  then  existing 
nowhere  else  in  Italy,  it  multiplied  the  tracts  of  the 
Reformation  by  thousands.  When  the  friends  of 
Valdes  were  afterwards  persecuted  at  Naples,  and 
his  name  condemned  by  the  authority  of  Eome; 
implicating  by  connection  with  him  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  members  of  the  noble  family  of  the 
<Tonzagas,  all  parties,  friends  equally  with  opponents, 
would  of  course  be  concerned  to  observe  silence  on 
the  subject,  whilst  all  the  friends  of  the  family  would 
be  urged  alike  by  religious  sentiment  and  by  family 
considerations  to  destroy  silently  and  irrecoverably 
every  copy  of  a  book  that  appeared  to  cast,  by  its 


XV 


association  with  her  name,  the  shadow  of  its  principles 
upon  those  who  were  allied  to  her.  It  is  not  then 
surprising  that  no  notice  of  its  existence  has  been 
conveyed  to  us  by  those  who  could  have  given,  if  it 
were  only  in  the  way  of  reprobation,  the  most  certain 
knowledge  of  its  contents.  We  can  only  wonder  that 
amongst  the  few  which  might  have  been  saved,  even 
about  the  period  of  its  issue,  any  stray  copy  of  a 
book  devoted  by  so  many  motives  to  destruction, 
should  have  outlived  all  its  hazards,  and  that,  by 
circumstances  apparently  casual,  an  exceptional  copy 
should  have  been  preserved  to  become  multiplied 
and  perpetuated  at  the  present  day.  The  danger  of 
being  known  to  possess  these  books  of  Yaldes  and 
of  other  Italian  reformers,  the  manner  in  which  some 
of  them  have  been  buried  for  ages,  and  the  circum- 
stances under  which  they  were  preserved  to  come 
forth  as  to  a  resurrection  of  fresh  life,  are  sho^vn  by  a 
circumstance  mentioned  by  M'Crie,  from  Fontanini, 
who  tells  us,  "  on  taking  do-^m  an  old  house  at  Ur- 
bino,  in  the  year  1728,  the  workmen  disinterred  a 
copy  of  Bruccioli's  Paraphrase  of  Paul's  Epistles, 
with  some  books  of  Ochino,  Valdes,  and  others  of 
the  same  kind,  which  had  remained  in  concealment 
for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half"  (4). 

If  I  were  to  indicate  any  individual  more  than 
another  to  whom  may  be  attributed  the  preservation 
of  the  writings  of  Juan  de  Valdes,  I  should  certainly 


XVI 

point  to  Pietro  Carnesecchi  as  the  person  to  whom 
the  distinction  is  due.  He  held  them  in  the  highest 
estimation.  He  had  the  most  favourable  opportu- 
nities of  obtaining  and  protecting  them ;  he  was  the 
cherished  friend  of  Cardinals  Pole,  Sadolet  and 
Bembo,  and  of  Marcantonio  Flaminio.  He  had  been 
secretary  to  Clement  the  Seventh,  and  afterwards 
Prothonotary  to  the  Apostolic  See.  One  of  his  pre- 
ferments was  an  abbey  at  Naples ;  he  possessed  also 
an  abbey  in  France,  passing  between  them  at  his 
pleasure,  sometimes  by  way  of  Florence  or  Venice, 
occasionally  by  that  of  Greneva  and  Lyons.  After 
the  death  of  Clement  he  retired  from  the  Eoman 
Court  to  Naples,  where  he  became  intimate  with 
Juan  de  Valdes.  He  was  in  that  city  in  December 
1540,  the  year  in  which  Valdes  died;  and  if  he  did 
not  himself  receive  his  last  confession,  which  is  very 
probable,  he  at  least  knew  what  it  was,  for  his  com- 
mendation of  it  formed  part  of  the  accusation  against 
him  on  his  trial  in  1567  before  the  Inquisition  at 
Eome ;  and  after  the  death  of  Valdes  he  succeeded 
to  the  confidence  of  Griulia  Gronzaga.  His  corres- 
pondence brought  her  also  under  the  suspicion  of  the 
Inquisition  on  two  occasions;  once  in  1545,  and 
again,  a  short  time  before  her  death,  in  1566.  He 
was  at  the  same  time  accused  of  having  been  in- 
doctrinated at  Naples  from  the  year  1 540,  with  princi- 
ples adverse  to  the  Romish  faith,  by  Valdes,  Ochino, 


XVll 


Flaminio  and  Galeazzo  Caracciolo ;  of  having  had  in- 
tercourse with  them,  reading  the  book  of  the  Bene- 
ficio  di  Christo  and  the  vjritinrjs  of  Yaldes;  and 
in  the  following  year,  December  1541,  at  Viterbo, 
treating  about  the  same  with  Flaminio,  Yittore 
Soranzo,  Bishop  of  Bergamo,  with  ApoUonio  Merenda, 
and  Luigi  Priuli.  The  accusation  further  charges 
aofainst  him  that  afterwards  in  Venice  he  held  com- 
munication  with  P.  P.  Vergerio  and  mth  Lattanzio 
Rangone  of  Sienna,  the  latter  a  disciple  of  Yaldes ; 
that  he  made  mention  of  having  at  Yenice  the  hooks 
and  interdicted  ivritings  of  Yaldes  at  the  house  of 
an  accomplice,  who,  notwithstanding  their  prohibi- 
tion by  the  Holy  Office,  preserved  them  in  order  to 
circulate  them  by  getting  them  "  printed  and  pub- 
lished, or  at  least  that  they  might  be  concealed  and 
preserved."  When  Yergerio  finally  withdrew  from 
Italy  in  October  1548,  he  carried  with  him  the  MS. 
of  the  Italian  translation  of  the  Cento  et  dieci  diuin^ 
Considerationi,  and  got  it  printed  and  published 
in  May  1550  at  Basle,  with  a  prefatory  commenda- 
tion by  Celio  Secondo  Curione.  When  Carnesecchi 
shortly  afterwards  went  to  France,  going  and  re- 
turning in  1551-2,  he  passed  through  Lyons ;  in  that 
city,  and  at  Paris,  and  in  the  Court  he  introduced 
from  Italy  a  book  by  Yaldes,  and  presented  it  as  a 
gift.  The  French  translation  of  the  Consider  at  loni 
was  printed  at  Lyons  in  1563,  and  again  in  Paris  in 

b 


XVlll 

1565,  for  which  his  previous  visits  would  seem  to 
have  prepared  the  way  by  his  recommendation  and 
introduction  of  copies  of  the  edition  in  Italian. 
Carnesecchi  is  accused  of  having  received  letters  from 
Lyons  and  Greneva,  and  of  having  in  1564  arranged 
with  an  old  friend  who  was  associated  with  him,  as 
keeper  of  the  books  and  writings  of  Valdes,  that 
they  should  be  sent  to  himself  by  safe  conveyance  to 
Venice,  being  anxious  as  well  to  preserve  them  as  to 
deliver  that  person  from  the  danger  which  threatened 
him  from  having  them  in  his  possession  (5).  The  dis- 
tinction made  between  the  ivritmgs  and  boohs,  and 
the  circumstances  respecting  them,  evidently  show 
that  Carnesecchi  had  the  authorised  care  and  posses- 
sion of  the  manuscripts  or  "  writings,"  or  probably 
the  Italian  translations,  and  that  he  diligently  pro- 
moted the  printing  of  them  at  Venice;  and  it  is 
scarcely  to  be  doubted  that  he  was  also  concerned  in 
those  editions  which  issued  also  at  Basle,  Lyons  and 
Paris,  and  Geneva  (6).  To  him,  therefore,  we  may 
fairly  attribute  the  first  publication  at  Venice  of  the 
present  work. 

We  are  not  certain  who  was  the  Italian  translator 
of  the  Cento  e  died  Considevationi  from  the  Spanish 
of  Valdes ;  it  was  probably  prepared  at  Naples,  where 
at  that  period  the  Spanish  and  Italian  languages  were 
equally  cultivated  by  lettered  persons.  We  should 
hardly  attribute  so  calm  and  patient  a  work  to  one 


XIX 


of  Vergerio's  restless  temper,  although  to  him  Carne- 
secchi  might  reasonably  commit  the  charge  to  carry 
it  into  Switzerland  and  to  get  it  printed  there.  The 
presence  at  Venice  of  the  Pope's  legate,  Giovanni 
della  Casa,  who  was  sent  to  discover  and  suppress 
such  publications,  and  who  was  pursuing  his  enquiries 
in  order  to  draw  up  his  prohibitory  Catalogue,  would 
effectually  prevent  the  printing  there  of  other  works 
of  the  same  class  after  the  year  1546.  The  dedica- 
tion on  the  reverse  of  the  Italian  title  of  the  present 
work  at  least  proves  that  its  Italian  translator  from 
the  original  MS.  of  Yaldes  was  Marco  Antonio 
jNIagno  of  Naples,  who  served  Griulia  Gonzaga  in  the 
capacity  of  Procuratore,  or  chief  agent ;  nor  may  it 
be  far  from  the  mark  to  connect  the  translations  of 
the  other  pieces  by  Yaldes  with  him  and  Carnesecchi. 
The  Due  Dialoghi,  by  the  brothers  Yaldes,  was  also 
printed  at  Yenice  in  1545,  the  year  preceding,  with 
a  dedication  addressed  to  Yirgilio  Caracciolo,  signed 
"  II  Clario  "  (Isidore  Clario).  This  volume  had  a 
large  and  rapid  circulation,  passing  through  six  edi- 
tions at  the  least,  which  may  yet  be  distinguished 
by  a  careful  comparison  from  each  other.  Alarm, 
however,  was  early  taken  by  the  printer ;  the  name 
of  Clario  was  suppressed,  and  the  signature  Gioan 
Antonio  di  Padoua  substituted ;  afterwards  the  dedi- 
cation was  wholly  omitted ;  in  some  copies  its  place 
was  partially  supplied  on  the  first  sheet  by  expanding 

b  2 


XX 

the  space  of  the  following  pages.  While  the  Due 
DicdogJd  was  rapidly  circulating  from  Venice,  the 
'^  Alphabeto  Christiano "  was  being  printed  there, 
in  the  same  year  that  Carnesecchi  was  the  first  time 
cited  to  Kome;  and  this  circumstance  checked  the 
printing  of  the  remaining  works  in  that  city.  Dis- 
missing these  preliminary  remarks,  we  will  now 
advert  as  briefly  as  may  be  to  the  two  eminent  indi- 
viduals whose  colloquy  forms  the  substance  of  the 
present  volume. 


Juan  de  Valdes. 

According  to  the  inconvenient  practice  of  trans- 
lating proper  names  of  persons  and  places  into  the 
form  of  the  language  in  which  they  were  used,  rather 
than  of  retaining  them  in  their  native  orthography, 
the  name  of  Juan  de  Valdes  has  been  variously 
written ;  thus,  Johannes  Valdesius,  Lat ;  Giovanni 
Valdesso,  Ital. ;  Jan  de  Val  D'Esso,  Fr. ;  and  John 
Valdesso,  Enrjl.^  were  originally  simply  Juan  de 
Valdes,  Spanish. 

Hernando  de  Valdes  was  perpetual  Regidor  of 
Cuenca,  a  city  of  New  Castile,  towards  the  close  of 
the  fifteenth  century  (7).  He  was  a  mayorazgo,  or 
hereditary  proprietor,  and  if  not  a  personage  of 
hi^>'h  degree,  he  was  an  hided  go,  of  liberal  fortune, 


XXI 


and  independent  circumstances.  It  has  been  con- 
jectured that  he  took  a  favourable  part  with  the 
Comunidades  when  they  rose  to  assert  their  liberties, 
but  lost  them  with  Padilla  on  the  fatal  field  of  Villa- 
lar  ;  and  that  the  following  copla  was  composed  by 
him  in  reference  to  the  independent  position  he  then 
held  and  continued  to  maintain. 

^^  Diez  marcos  tengo  de  oro^^  (8). 

Ten  marks  of  gold  for  the  telling, 

And  of  silver  I  have  nine  score, 
Good  houses  are  mine  to  dwell  in, 

And  I  have  a  rent-roll  more ; 
My  line  and  lineage  please  me, 

Ten  squires  I  count  at  my  call, 
And  no  lord  who  flatters  or  fees  me. 

Which  pleases  me  more  than  they  all. 

He  had  two  sons,  born  about  the  end  of  the  cen- 
tury, named  Alfonso  and  Juan.  They  w^ere  twin 
brothers,  who,  as  they  grew  up  and  arrived  at  middle 
life,  were  so  identical  in  person,  mind,  and  manners, 
that  they  w^ere  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  unless 
seen  together,  and  were  liable  to  be  mistaken  one  for 
the  other  when  seen  apart  even  by  those  who  were 
intimately  acquainted  with  them.  Juan  Grines  de 
Sepulveda,  historiographer  to  Charles  the  Fifth, 
A\Titing  from  Rome,  Sept.  7th  (1531  ?),  in  reply  to  a 
letter  from  Alfonso,  recommending  his  brother  Juan 
to  his  notice  and  good  offices,  says  ;  — 

b  3 


XXll 

You  ask  me  to  receive  your  brother  in  tlie  same 
manner  as  yourself,  if  he  should  come  to  me.  Can  I  re- 
ceive him  otherwise,  when  as  I  look  at  him,  whether  he  is 
standing  or  sitting,  whether  he  is  speaking  or  silent,  in 
short,  whether  he  is  in  action  or  doing  nothing,  I  fancy 
that  I  am  looking  upon  yourself?  And,  what  is  no  less 
remarkable,  he  so  closely  represents  you,  not  in  features 
alone,  but  also  in  talents,  learning,  manners,  and  even  in 
his  piu-suits,  that  again  and  again  he  appears  to  be  your 
very  self  and  not  your  brother  (9). 

This  identity  of  personal  appearance  may  have 
been  one  cause  of  their  being  mistaken  and  con- 
founded with  each  other  by  their  contemporaries, 
and  may  have  led  writers  afterwards  to  the  junction 
of  their  names  in  one,  as  Juan-Alfonso,  which  has 
occasionally  been  adopted  (10).  They  received  a  li- 
Ijeral  education  according  to  the  period,  when  learn- 
ing was  still  struggling  with  her  fetters ;  and  to  judge 
from  their  writings  and  from  the  duties  that  occupied 
them,  Alfonso  may  have  addressed  his  studies  to  ju- 
risprudence and  Latin  composition ;  Juan  to  his  native 
language  and  the  originals  of  the  sacred  Scriptures, 
Hebrew  and  Grreek.  And  if  Alfonso,  afterwards 
mixing  more  intimately  in  public  affairs  and  the 
lousiness  of  life,  drew  his  moral  and  religious  im- 
provement from  the  writings  of  Erasmus,  to  whom 
he  was  ardently  attached,  Juan  evidently  imbibed  his, 
like  Erasmus  himself,  from  the  direct  fountain  of 
the  sacred  writings.     They  were  not  versed  in  the 


XXlll 

commentaries  of  the  schools  ;  and  in  this  respect  the 
brother  reformers  had  an  advantage,  that  they  were 
not  theologians,  and  thus  had  not  afterwards,  in  the 
self-taught  progress  of  their  minds,  to  unlearn  the 
doubts  and  reasonings  of  sophistical  formulas.  They 
regarded  religion  not  as  a  system  or  a  science,  but 
rather  as  practical  morality,  divinely  exalted  and  en- 
lightened ;  as  inspired  doctrine,  having  its  existence 
in  the  daily  conduct  of  life  by  Faith. 

They  were  both  well  acquainted  with  Erasmus,  and 
were  strongly  attached  to  him  and  he  to  them.  Al- 
fonso de  Yaldes  laboured  in  every  way  for  his  interest 
with  the  Emperor  Charles  the  Fifth,  and  to  protect 
his  name  from  the  attacks  of  the  friars  and  his  works 
from  prohibition  with  which  they  threatened  them  ; 
especially  when  in  1527  the  Enchiridion,  which  had 
been  printed  in  Spain  in  Latin,  appeared  at  Alcala 
in  a  handsome  quarto  in  the  language  of  the  people. 
WTien  Dr.  Juan  Perez,  the  Emperor's  resident  at 
Kome  during  the  sack  of  the  city,  procured  from 
Clement  the  Seventh  a  brief  dated  the  1st  August, 
1527,  for  Don  Alonso  Manrique,  Archbishop  of  Seville 
and  Inquisitor-General,  that  he  might  silence,  under 
pain  of  excommunication,  any  one  who  spoke  against 
the  works  of  Erasmus,  he  was  directed  by  the  Grand 
Chancellor  to  send  it  to  Secretary  [Alfonso  de] 
Valdes,  as  one  who  best  knew  its  purpose  and  appli- 
cation (11).     But  the  friars  proved  in  the  end  too 

b  4 


XXIV 

strong  for  the  friends  of  Erasmus.  After  the  death 
of  Cardinal  ]\Ianrique,  some  of  his  works  which  were 
then  circulating  in  Spanish  were  prohibited ;  and  the 
brothers  themselves  had  in  a  short  time  to  rejoice  in 
their  escape  from  the  dangers  that  were  preparing  for 
them  in  Spain,  although  they  were  never  again  to 
see  their  native  country.  I  but  anticipate  this  cir- 
cumstance in  order  to  quote  two  brief  letters  from 
Erasmus  to  Juan  de  Yaldes,  which  express  the  cha- 
racter of  their  friendship,  and  clearly  establish  the 
twinship  and  similarity  of  the  brothers:  the  latter 
alludes  to  this  threatened  danger,  and  his  escape  from 
it. 

D.  Erasmus  to  Juan  de  Valcles. 

Most  accomplished  youth.  Your  brother,  Alfonso  Valcles, 
has  conferred  so  much  obligation  upon  me,  that  I  ought 
to  love  whatever  in  any  way  belongs  to  him.  But  [be- 
sides this]  you,  as  I  hear,  are  so  like  him  both  in  per- 
sonal appearance  and  readiness  of  mind,  that  you  might 
seem  to  be  not  twins,  but  one  individual.  I  think  it 
very  proper,  therefore,  to  love  you  both  alike.  I  hear  that 
you  are  given  to  liberal  studies,  in  order  that  you  may 
embellish  your  naturally  virtuous  disposition  with  every 
sort  of  adornment.  Why,  then,  should  any  one  exhort  you 
to  study  when  of  your  own  accord  you  follow  this  excellent 
pursuit  ?  It  is  more  to  the  purpose  to  congratulate  and 
praise  you.  Rest  assured  that  I  am  no  one's  more  than 
yoiu  brother's,  and  not  less  thine  than  his.  Farewell. 
Basle,  1st  March,  1528. 


XXV 

D.  Erasmus  to  Juan  de  Valdes. 

How  sensibly  I  feel,  my  dear  Valdes,  to  learn  by  your 
letter  what  great  troubles  and  dangers  have  afflicted  you  ; 
and  yet,  on  the  other  part,  how  lively  was  my  satisfaction 
to  know  that  you  bad  escaped  this  shipwreck  safely,  and 
already  found  yourself  secure  in  port  !  I  greatly  regret  to 
behold  Spain  afflicted  with  so  many  evils.  Oh  that  God 
M'ould  turn  the  hearts  of  kings  to  the  love  of  peace  !  Do 
not  grieve,  my  dear  youth,  nor  address  to  me  excuses  for 
your  long  silence.  Always  consider  the  letter  I  write  to 
youi'  brother  as  written  to  yourself,  and  I  shall  always 
reckon  his  answer  as  your  letter,  for  in  my  view  you  are 
not  merely  twins,  but  I  conceive  you  are  rather  one  single 
person  than  two  bodies.  That  you  should  hold  a  note  so 
slightly  written  as  mine,  to  be  one  of  your  chief  literary 
jewels,  I  quite  ap23reciate ;  and,  on  my  side,  my  dear  Juan, 
I  shall  treasure  with  great  esteem  the  memory  of  a  mind  so 
amiable  and  pure  as  yours  in  the  depth  of  my  heart.  It 
cannot,  then,  be  less  grateful  to  me  to  know  that  there  are 
so  many  good  men  in  Spain  who  heartily  love  me.  And, 
on  the  other  part,  it  gives  me  pain  that,  in  a  country 
favoured  with  so  many  privileges,  such  nests  of  vicious 
hornets  multiply  there,  that,  not  to  me  alone,  but  to  them 
also  whom  I  love,  they  should  cause  such  painful  disturb- 
ance ;  and  I  regret  your  share  of  it  almost  more  than  my  own. 
From  my  heart  I  congratulate  myself  for  you  and  for  as 
many  Spaniards  as  are  like  you,  because  I  see  that  you 
consecrate  all  your  efforts  and  studies  to  the  culture  of 
letters,  always  conducing  to  promote  the  sincerity  of 
Christian  piety  and  to  unite  them  to  it,  which  has  not 
been  done  by  many  among  the  Italians  until  now.  What 
worth  have  learning  and  letters  if  they  draw  the  mind 
away  from  religion  !  Farewell  (12). 
Basle,  21st  March,  1529. 


XXVI 

Martir  Rizo,  in  his  History  of  Cuenca,  informs  us 
that  one  of  the  brothers  rose  to  be  Secretary  to  the 
Emperor  Charles  the  Fifth,  and  that  the  other  became 
camarero,  G-entleman  of  the  Chamber,  to  the  Pontiff. 
This  would  be  Adrian  the  Sixth,  previously  Cardinal 
of  Tortosa  and  tutor  to  Charles.  Adrian  of  Utrecht 
was  a  man  of  unblemished  reputation,  upright, 
pious,  active,  very  serious,  full  of  benevolence  and 
pure  intentions,  a  lover  of  Flemish  art  and  polite 
learning,  and  a  friend  and  protector  of  Erasmus  from 
the  attacks  of  the  bigots  of  the  schools  and  "saints  of 
the  world."  He  sought  to  bring  about  the  peace  and 
concord  of  the  nations  of  Europe.  He  was  a  decided 
advocate  for  the  reformation  of  the  Church,  in  which 
abominable  practices  had  found  a  place  near  the 
^^  holy  chair  ;  "  abuses  in  spiritual  things,  exorbitant 
straining  of  prerogative,  everything  turned  to  evil. 
Adrian  set  to  work  with  scrupulous  conscientious- 
ness, yet  he  disappointed,  innumerable  expectations, 
for  his  pontificate  lasted  but  about  a  year,  so  that 
he  had  time  to  do  little  more  than  disturb  abuses 
and  encounter  opposition ;  and  Juan  de  Valdes  could 
have  remained  but  a  short  time  in  his  service  and 
confidence.  He  refers  in  all  probability  to  this  cir- 
cumstance in  his  fifty-first  "  consideration,"  in  which 
he  endeavours  to  explain  in  what  manner  God  makes 
Himself  to  be  felt,  by  a  parable  of  the  order  and 
dependence  of  the  Pontiff's  house,  where  all  that  dwell 


XXVll 

in  it  are* dependent  upon  him,  are  sustained  by  him, 
and  the  Pontiff  dying,  the  whole  household  breaks 
up ;  "  so  that  he  that  was  secretary  is  secretary  no 
longer,  and  the  same  of  all  the  other  officers  of  the 
household,  who,  on  the  Pontiff's  death,  lose  the  being 
which  his  life  gave  them"  (13).  Short  as  this  con- 
nection with  Adrian  must  necessarily  have  been,  it 
would  be  long  enough  for  an  intelligent  and  observant 
youth  to  become,  under  such  a  man,  well  acquainted 
wdth  the  state  of  things  at  Eome;  to  have  had  his 
mind  directed  to  the  reformation  of  morals  and  man- 
ners while  in  the  very  field  of  corruption ;  and  to 
learn  the  features  of  those  special  evils  which  are 
drawn  with  so  much  clearness  of  outline  in  the  Dia- 
log o  :  en  que  particularmente  se  tratan  las  cosas 
acaecidas  en  Roma  el  aiio  de  1527,  a  dialogue  in 
which  the  circumstances  are  particularly  discussed 
which  occurred  at  Eome  in  1527,  apparently  arranged 
by  Juan  de  Yaldes,  but  circulated  and  acknowledged 
as  a  work  by  his  brother  (14). 

Alfonso  had  risen  to  the  appointment  of  Latin 
Secretary  in  Ordinary  to  the  Emperor  in  the  Chancery 
of  Valladolid  under  Mercurino  de  Gratinara,  a  Pied- 
montese,  formerly  President  of  Burgundy,  made 
Grand  Chancellor  in  1518.  He  accompanied  the  Em- 
peror's court  to  Grermany  in  1520,  and  was  at  the  Diet 
of  Worms  in  1521.  He  addressed  to  Pedro  Martir  de 
Angleria  in  Spain  an  account  of  the  religious  disputes 


XXVlll 

in  Grermany,  from  the  time  of  Luther's  declaration 
against  indulgences  to  the  close  of  the  Diet  of  Worms 
(15).  Under  direction  of  the  Chancellor,  Alfonso  pre- 
pared several  tracts  in  defence  and  justification  of 
the  Emperor  in  the  face  of  Europe :  on  the  capture  of 
Francis  the  First  of  France  at  the  battle  of  Pavia  in 
1521  ;  on  his  release  from  captivity  and  the  cartel  of 
defiance  sent  to  the  Emperor;  and  on  the  evasions  and 
intrigues  of  Pope  Clement  the  Seventh  which  led  to  the 
sackofKomein  1527(16).  Besides  these  publications, 
which  were  strictly  political  and  put  forth  under  the 
Chancellor  by  official  authority  of  the  government,  in 
opposition  to  the  endeavours  of  the  Pope's  Nuncio 
to  prevent  them,  Alfonso  and  Juan  drew  up  two 
politico-religious  treatises,  having  the  same  object  in 
view,  the  justification  of  the  Emperor's  policy ;  one 
relating  to  the  King  of  France,  the  other  to  the  Pope 
his  ally  ;  both  combining  with  the  political  narration 
of  events  the  inculcation  of  sentiments  designed  to 
promote  a  sincere  reformation  of  religion  and  the 
Church.  In  these,  the  marks  of  the  hand  of  Juan 
are  seen  chiefly  in  reference  to  the  religious  parts. 
Altogether  they  leave  us  in  no  doubt  that  both  the 
brothers  were  concerned  in  their  composition.  The 
primary  aim  and  purpose  were  Alfonso's  ;  he  furnish- 
ing the  documentary  parts  and  argument,  whilst  Juan 
made  the  arrangement,  filled  up  the  characters  and 
pointed  the  religious  application.     These  two  pieces, 


XXIX 

cast  into  the  form  of  dialogues,  are  no  less  remarkable 
for  their  chaste  elegance  of  style  and  graceful  turns  of 
•wit  and  argument  than  for  theii'  truthful  illustration 
of  contemporary  history.      In  the  Dialogo  de  Mev- 
curio  y  Car  on,  the  character   of  Wolsey  is  shown 
in  its  well-known  colours  as  viewed  by  the  Spanish 
court,  and  it  contains  a  Spanish  translation  from  Latin 
of  a  letter  from  the  Emperor  to  Henry  the  Eighth.     It 
was  however  the  Dialogo  de  Lactancio  y  un  Arce- 
diano,  treating  of  the  circumstances  which  brought  on 
and  attended  the  sack  of  Eome,  that  most  affected  the 
fortunes  of  the  brothers,  because  it  prevented  them 
from  continuing  to  reside  in  Spain.     The  work  was 
composed  while  the  events  were  fresh  on  everybody's 
tongue,  and  was  carefully  considered  before  it  was  put 
forth.     It  was  submitted  to  the  judgment  and  revi- 
sion of  several  members  of  the  Emperor's  Council, — 
Matteo  Aleman,  his  Secretary;  Don  Juan  Manuel,  who 
had  been  his  resident  at  Eome ;  the  Grrand  Chancellor 
Mercurino  de  Gratinara;  also  to  some  of  the  most  emi- 
nent theologians  and  professors, — the  Archbishop  of 
Toledo's  Confessor;  Pedro  deLerma,  High  Chancellor 
of  the  University  of  Alcala,  and  others  distinguished 
for  their  learning  and  enlightened  sentiments ;  being 
chiefly  those  who  favoured  the  writings  of  Erasmus. 
The  precautions  thus  taken  to  fence  it  round  with  the 
pale  of  Romish  orthodoxy  were  not  sufficient  for  its 
protection.   While  it  yet  circulated  privately  in  manu- 


XXX 

script  amongst  the  author's  friends,  the  Apostolic 
Nuncio  to  the  Court  of  Spain,  Baldassare  Castiglione, 
procured  a  copy  of  it,  after  much  diligence,  through 
his  secretary,  as  it  appears  from  Alfonso  himself;  and 
having  read  it,  he  immediately  denounced  it  together 
with  the  writer  to  the  Emperor  as  at  once  libellous 
to  the  person  of  the  Pontiff  and  profane  and  impious 
towards  the  Church.  This  denunciation  coming  to  the 
ears  of  Valdes,  he  wrote  a  smart  letter  to  the  Nun- 
cio, in  which  he  acknowledged  the  authorship  and 
gave  particulars  about  it  that  now  have  become  in- 
teresting as  relating  to  our  subject  (17).  The  Nuncio 
returned  a  long  reply  both  to  the  letter  and  the  work, 
composed  of  weak  argument  and  personal  abuse, — 
insults  of  the  grossest  kind  that  could  be  offered  to  a 
Spaniard;  joined  with  threats  to  bring  the  power  of 
the  Inquisition  upon  him  ;  then  less  directed  by  the 
Inquisitor-Greneral  than  by  the  mob  of  ignorant 
friars,  from  whom  neither  the  Chancellor  nor  the 
Emperor  himself  could  long  have  shielded  the 
brothers,  or  have  protected  them  from  the  conse- 
quence of  a  service  performed  by  their  knowledge  and 
in  defence  of  their  policy.  These  were  the  circum- 
stances that  drove  Juan  from  Spain,  and  Avhich  by  di- 
recting his  course  to  Naples,  led  to  his  acquaintance 
with  Giulia  Gonzaga  in  that  city,  and  consequently  to 
the  production  of  the  work  before  us.  Some  pallia- 
tion may  be  found  for  the  intemperate  character  of 


XXXI 

Castiglione's  philippic,  in  the  consciousness  of  the  dis- 
astrous position  to  which  he  felt  that  his  diplomatic 
affairs  were  committed.  He  had  seen  his  acknow- 
ledged talents,  his  diplomacy  and  counsel  discon- 
certed in  Spain ;  his  credit  with  the  Consistory  of 
Eome  ruined;  the  Pope,  his  master,  brought  to 
the  verge  of  dishonour  in  the  sight  of  the  Catholic 
world,  and  of  ridicule  among  the  Grerman  Powers  ; 
and  to  his  unsuccessful  negotiations  rather  than 
to  the  crooked  ambition  of  the  Church  of  Eome 
Clement  attributed  the  sack  of  the  metropolis  of 
Christendom.  As  a  disheartened  and  bafSed  ambas- 
sador under  the  irritation  of  declining  health,  the 
suavity  of  the  man  of  fine  manners,  of  the  model 
courtier,  was  scarcely  to  be  found  under  the  control 
of  his  better  judgment;  whilst  death,  he  saw,  was 
fast  advancing  to  enshroud  his  bright  and  flattered 
career  in  undisguised  disgrace.  He  died  shortly 
afterwards  at  Toledo,  on  the  13th  February,  1529. 

His  death  and  the  departure  of  the  Emperor  from 
Spain  in  the  following  month,  to  be  crowned  at 
Bologna,  and  thence  to  proceed  to  Germany,  relieved 
the  brothers  from  the  imminent  danger  which  im- 
pended over  them,  —  that  danger  of  which  Erasmus 
speaks  in  his  letter  to  Juan.  Alfonso  accompanied 
the  Emperor's  Court.  On  the  journey  from  Bologna 
he  lost  his  patron,  Mercurino  de  Gratinara,  who  died 
at  Inspruck   in  May,   1530,  whilst  on   his  way  to 


XXXll 

attend  the  Diet  of  Augsburgb.  On  tbe  1 8tb  of  Jane, 
Alfonso  de  Valdes,  accompanied  by  bis  co-secretary, 
Cornelius  Scbepper,  a  Belgian  wbo  bad  been  in  tbe 
service  of  tbe  King  of  Denmark,  sougbt  an  interview 
witb  Melanctbon  respecting  tbe  principles  professed 
by  tbe  Lutberan  reformers,  in  order  to  disabuse  tbe 
Emperor's  mind  of  tbe  gross  perversions  instilled  into 
it  by  tbe  Spanisb  friars  and  controversialists.  Me- 
lanctbon drew  up  tbe  Confession  of  Augsburgb 
wbicb  Valdes  translated  into  Spanisb,  and  it  was  also 
translated  into  tbe  Walloon  language  for  tbe  Em- 
peror's perusaL  On  tbe  1st  November,  1531,  we  find 
bim  writing  from  Brussels  to  Sepulveda  at  Eome, 
recommending  bis  brotber  Juan  to  bis  notice,  wbo" 
bad  already  been  favourably  received  by  bim  in  tbat 
city.  Mention  is  made  of  bim  in  a  letter  written  by 
Erasmus  from  Friburg  witbout  date,  addressed  to 
Cornelius  Scbepper,  co-secretary  witb  Valdes,  to  en- 
quire about  bim : — 

Matters  with  me  are  obstinately  bad ;  my  life  is  ever  in 
danger.  I  beg  you  to  let  me  know  what  has  happened  to 
Alfonso  Valdes.  For  these  many  months  he  writes  not  a 
word.  Either  he  is  sick,  or  he  is  banished,  or  he  is  entirely 
altered  towards  me.  I  pray  you  also  to  let  our  Livinius 
know.  So  much  have  I  written  with  difficulty,  my  Cor- 
nelius (18). 

He  remained  witb  tbe  Emperor's  Court  during  tbe 
whole  of  tbe  year  1532  and  tbe  early  part  of  1533, 


XXXIU 

probably  up  to  the  time  when  the  Emperor  left 
Bologna  on  the  28th  of  February,  or  it  may  have  been 
up  even  to  his  embarkation  at  Grenoa  for  Spain  on  the 
9th  of  April.  After  the  early  part  of  the  year  1533 
we  certainly  lose  all  sight  of  Alfonso  de  Valdes. 

Francisco  de  Enzinas  being  in  prison  at  Brussels 
for  having  printed  his  Spanish  New  Testament  in 
1543,  is  addressed  in  the  language  of  warning  by 
one  of  his  aged  friends,  who  came  to  visit  and  con- 
verse ^vith  him,  in  this  manner:  "There  is  none 
"of  us  who  did  not  know  Alfonso  de  Valdes,  the 
"  Emperor's  Secretary,  as  a  good  man.  The  satellites 
"  of  the  holy  Fathers  could  never  endure  his  doc- 
"  trine  and  authority.  They  laid  such  snares  for  him 
"  that  if  he  had  returned  to  Spain  there  would  have 
"  been  an  end  of  him.  They  would  have  caused  him 
"  to  die  a  cruel  death,  the  Emperor  himself  could  not 
"have  saved  him"  (19).  This  much  appears  clear, 
that  he  never  returned  to  Spain;  had  he  done  so, 
his  name  might  have  furnished  another  page  to 
the  narratives  of  E.  Gr.  de  Montes,  in  his  most  au- 
thentic book  on  the  Spanish  Inquisition.  The 
place  and  period  of  his  death  are  not  recorded ;  the 
knowledge  of  it  is  much  to  be  desired  in  order  to 
establish  with  greater  certainty  the  authorship  of  a 
very  interesting  and  well-written  anonymous  dia- 
logue on  the  Spanish  language  upon  his  brother  Juan, 
to  whom  it  is  attributed  from  various  circumstances 

C 


XXXIV 

mentioned   in    the    ^YO^k    itself,   by   well-informed 
Spanish  writers  (20). 

We  are  frequently  obliged  to  receive  many  points 
of  history  and  biography,  doubtful  in  themselves  or 
scarcely  consistent  with  others,  upon  such  evidence 
as  we  have  before  us ;  and  we  accept  them  as  conclu- 
sive for  the  time,  until  more  extended  information 
enables  us  to  modify  our  former  assent.  Accepting 
thus,  with  no  marked  reservation,  the  authority  of 
Spanish  writers  that  Juan  de  Yaldes  was  the  author 
of  the  Dialogo  de  la  Leiigua,  and  for  this  conclusion 
they  advance  many  reasons,  it  furnishes  us  with 
some  interesting  particulars  of  the  later  period  of 
his  life,  which  I  shall  follow  in  this  place.  It  is  con- 
jectured that  he  mthdrew  from  Spain  shortly  after 
the  affair  with  Castiglione,  and  about  the  time  when 
his  brother  accompanied  the  Emperor  to  BologTia 
and  Grermany;  that  is,  early  in  the  year  1529,  and  that 
he  went  directly  to  Naples.  It  is  certain  that  the 
author  of  the  Dialorjo  de  la  Lengua,  after  remaining 
some  time  and  making  friendly  acquaintances  in  that 
city,  passed  on  to  Rome,  where  he  remained  two  years, 
keeping  up  a  correspondence  with  them  by  letters, 
and  returning  again  to  Naples :  this  would  bring  the 
date  when  the  Dialogo  was  discoursed  to  about  the 
year  1533.  Here,  and  in  the  vicinity,  he  continued 
to  reside.  He  was  appointed  Governor  of  the  Hospital 


XXXV 

of  the  Incurables,  San  Jacomo,  a  large  building,  now 
or  recently  the  palace  of  the  ministers  (21);  and  ac- 
cording to  various  writens,  none,  however,  of  whom 
knew  him  personally,  he  occupied  the  position  of  Se- 
cretary to  Don  Pedro  de  Toledo,  the  Viceroy.  No 
direct  proof  of  this  fact  has  yet  been  found,  although 
it  has  been  recently  sought  for  on  the  spot  with  con- 
siderable research  (22). 

At  Naples  Juan  de  Yaldes  delivered  up  his  mind 
to  study  and  the  improvement  of  his  o^vn  moral  and 
intellectual  nature.  His  society  was  sought  by  such 
of  the  nobility  as  were  most  distinguished  for  piety 
and  learning.  Several  of  the  most  eminent  preachers 
acknowledged  their  obligations  to  him  for  clearer 
views  of  Scripture  doctrine,  long  after  those  obliga^ 
tions  had  been  incurred  ;  among  those  who  were 
so  benefited,  may  be  mentioned  Peter  Martyr 
Vermilius,  and  Bernardino  Ochino.  Peter  Martyr 
preached  at  Naples  nearly  three  years  1538-1541. 
He  lectured  on  the  epistles  of  Paul  to  the  Corinthians 
in  the  church  of  S.  Pietro  ad  Ara,  where  he  drew  upon 
himself  particular  observation  by  the  manner  in  which 
he  questioned  the  generally  received  doctrine  of  Pur- 
gatory, when  expounding  the  passage  1  Cor.  iii.  12- 
15.  In  this  he  may  well  have  followed  Valdes,  who 
read  and  explained  about  the  same  time  the  same 
epistle  in  his  own  house.  As  early  as  1536,  Ochino 
preached  his  eloquent  sermons  in  the  church  of  San 

c  2 


XXXVl 

Griovanni  ^Mao'Sfiore ;  stirrino^  tlie  mind  of  the  crowds 
who  attended  to  hear  him  by  his  new  manner  of 
interpreting  Scripture,  not  by  distinctions  of  scho- 
lastic philosophy,  but  in  a  spiritual  sense  and  with  a 
most  fervent  diction.  Charles  the  Fifth  was  attracted 
to  hear  him  when  he  visited  Naples  on  his  return  from 
his  African  expedition,  and  he  has  himself  told  us 
the  impression  the  sermons  made  upon  his  mind,  by 
his  remark  that  the  eloquence  of  Ochino  might  make 
the  very  stones  shed  tears  (23).  Valdes  frequently  at- 
tended these  sermons.  He  persuaded  Giulia  Gonzaga 
that  they  would  calm  the  troubles  of  her  anxious 
spirit ;  and  he  informs  us  in  his  dedication  to  the 
present  volume,  that  it  was  on  their  return  together 
from  listening  to  one  of  those  discourses,  that  they 
entered  into  the  conversation  recorded  in  the  pre- 
sent volume;  a  dialogue  in  which  they  were  so 
deeply  interested,  that  only  the  lateness  of  the  night 
made  it  necessary  to  conclude  it.  Ochino  also  is  the 
Preacher  so  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Alfabeto 
OirRiSTiANO.  The  direct  reference  to  him  at  page 
181,  on  the  subject  of  Christian  Charity,  will  be 
found  clearly  expressed  in  the  sixty-fourth  sermon 
of  the  third  part  of  his  Prediche ;  and  numerous  ex- 
amples of  the  teaching  and  expressions  of  Valdes 
may  be  found  sown  as  it  were  throughout  the  others. 
In  the  year  1539  Ochino  returned  again  to  preach  at 
Kaples  in  the  Cathedral,  when  his  words  were  noted, 


XXXVll 

and  he  was  under  the  necessity  of  putting  a  guard 
upon  his  language  (24). 

The  religious  teaching  of  Valdes  was  of  a  more 
private  and  individual  character.  It  was  accom- 
plished by  personal  moral  influence  of  a  remarkable 
kind;  by  conversations,  and  letters  on  special  subjects 
and  occasions ;  by  frequent  periodical  readings  and 
discourses  in  his  own  house  at  Chiaja  or  Posilippo 
mth  his  friends  and  select  acquaintances.  Among 
his  female  hearers  were  Yittoria  Colonna,  Isabella 
Manrique,  and  others,  whilst  the  house  of  Giulia 
Gronzaga  afforded  a  place  of  meeting  for  them  not 
open  to  objection.  Griulia  Gronzaga  maintained  an 
establishment  suitable  to  her  rank  in  the  city  for 
her  household  and  the  transaction  of  her  affairs, 
although,  to  silence  scandal,  she  herself  took  up  her 
residence  in  apartments  in  the  Franciscan  nunnery 
of  Santa  Chiara. 

Valdes  explains  the  mental  process  he  pursued 
in  the  formation  of  his  own  religious  views,  in  the 
fifty-fourth  "  Consideration ; "  again  at  the  close  of 
his  Commentary  on  the  Eomans,  and  in  the  letter 
placed  at  the  end  of  the  Alfabeto  Christiano  by 
Marco  Antonio  Magno,  to  whom  it  was  probably  ad- 
dressed. Some  slight  and  interesting  allusions  in  the 
Bialogo  cle  la  Lengua  give  us  an  insight  into  the  man- 
ner of  his  readings  and  discourses  with  his  friends. 
He  held  frequent  intercourse  with  them  at  his  own  re- 

c  3 


XXXVlll 

sidence  in  the  city ;  bis  less  divided  leisure  was  given 
to  them  at  his  country  house,  situated  in  a  garden, 
on  the  shore  of  the  Bay  of  Naples,  near  Chiaja.  At 
this  country  house  Valdes  received  on  the  Sunday  a 
select  number  of  his  most  intimate  friends,  and  they 
passed  the  day  together  in  this  manner.  After  break- 
fasting and  taking  a  few  turns  round  the  garden,  en- 
joying its  beauty  and  the  pleasant  prospect  of  the 
shores  and  purple  ripples  of  the  bay,  where  the  Isle 
of  Capri  on  one  side  drew  the  eye  to  the  luxurious 
mansion  of  Tiberius,  and  Ischia  and  Procida  rose  in 
sight  on  the  other,  they  returned  into  the  house, 
when  Valdes  read  some  selected  portion  of  Scripture 
and  commented  upon  it,  or  some  "  divine  Conside- 
ration "  which  had  occupied  his  thoughts  during  the 
week  ; — some  subject  on  which  he  conceived  that  his 
mind  had  obtained  a  clearer  illumination  of  the 
truth.  The  themes  proposed  by  him  might  well 
have  been  the  Hicndred  and  Ten  Considerations , 
occupying  110  Sundays,  or  full  two  years,  if  followed 
up  consecutively.  After  this  they  discussed  the  sub- 
ject together,  or  they  discoursed  upon  some  other 
points  which  Valdes  himself  brought  forward,  until 
the  hour  for  dinner.  After  dinner,  in  the  afternoon, 
when  the  servants  were  dismissed  to  their  own  amuse- 
ments, his  friends  and  not  himself  proposed  the 
subjects  and  led  the  conversation,  and  he  had  to  dis- 
cuss them  agreeably  to  their  desire.    As  they  had  been 


XXXIX 

pleased  to  consecrate  the  morning  according  to  his 
wishes  in  the  serious  reading  of  the  "  Book  of  the 
Soul,"  or  upon  subjects  like  his  "  Divine  Considera- 
tions," he  in  return  devoted  his  acquirements  to  their 
gratification  on  themes  of  their  selection.  Such  was 
the  origin  of  the  Dialogo  de  la  Lengua,  a  dialogue  on 
the  Spanish  language,  which  occupied  seven  or  more 
sittings,  and  was  in  all  probability  much  more  copious 
than  the  text  which  has  come  down  to  us,  and  which 
furnishes  us  with  these  particulars.  At  nightfall 
Valdes  and  his  friends  returned  to  the  city  (25). 

The  Sunday  meetings  may  have  continued  four 
or  five  years.  These  sabbaths  of  studious  Christians, 
this  exchange  of  subjects,  this  interchange  of  thought 
between  the  proposers,  the  day,  the  pure  elevation  of 
mind  they  brought  as  it  were  with  them,  the  situa- 
tion, the  beauty  of  the  country,  the  transparent  skies 
of  a  southern  climate,  the  low  murmurs  of  the  bay, 
would  all  be  favourable  to  the  purpose  of  Valdes ;  and 
from  these  social  meetings  with  his  friends,  his  truly 
religious  works  appear  to  have  derived  their  origin 
and  form.  In  this  manner,  as  in  the  present  dialogue, 
were  produced  the  materials,  rather  spoken  than  writ- 
ten, of  those  excellent  productions,  brought  afterwards 
into  more  exact  shape,  for  the  service,  first  of  his  o"«t:i 
friends,  then  of  theirs,  and  particularly  of  Giulia 
Gronzaga.  They  were  all  ^^Titten  by  him  in  Spanish. 
None  were  printed  during  his  life-time  except  the 

c  4 


xl 


two  politico-religious  dialogues  written  in  justifi- 
cation of  tlie  Emperor.  The  translation  of  Matthew, 
of  the  Psalms,  and  Letters  on  particular  points  of 
doctrine  mentioned  by  himself,  Acliaro,  and  Aviso 
sobre  los  Interpretes  de  la  sar/rada  Escritura,  quoted 
by  Llorente,  appear  to  be  irrecoverably  lost. 

The  works  which  Ave  now  know,  having  been  since 
printed,  are  the  follomng :  — 

1.  Dialogo  de  Mercuric  y  Caron  :   en  que  allende  de 

muclias  cosas  graciosas  y  de  buena  doetrina  : 
se  cuenta  lo  que  ha  acaescido  en  la  guerra 
desdel  ano  de  mill  y  Quinjentos  y  vej-nte  y 
vno  hasta  los  desafios  delos  Eeyes  de  Francia 
y  Ynglaterra  hechos  al  Emperador  en  el  ano  de 
1528,  4to.  and  8vo.,  Gothic  letter,  3  editions  1529  ? 
* in  German,  4to.  Amberga,  1G09.  Frank- 
fort, 8vo.  .  .  .  .1643 

2.  Dialogo:  en  que  j^articularmente  se  tratan :  las  co- 

sas acaecidas  en  Roma :  el  ano  de  M.D.XXVII. 
A  gloria  de  Dios  y  bien  vniuersal  de  la  Re- 
publica  Christiana.  4to.  G.  L.  1529  ?  8vo.,  2 
editions,  s.  d.  et  a.    Roman  letter,  Paris,  8vo.     1586 

The  Sacke  of  Roome,  Exsequuted  by  the 

Emperour  Charles'  armies  euen  at  the 

Natiuitie  of  this  Spanish  Kinge  Philip. 

.  .  .  .  Translated  latelie  into  the  En 2:lish 

toungue  ....  London,  4to.  B.  L.     1590 

Dos    Dialogos    escritos    por    Juan    de    Valdes, 

ahora  cuidadosamente  reimpresos.  "  Valdesio 

Hispanus  Scriptore   superbiat   orbis."     8vo. 

Ano  de     1850 


xli 


Dve  dialoglii.  LVno  di  Mercvi-io,  et  Caronte  : 
Nel  quale,  oltre  molte  cose  belle,  gratiose,  et 
di  buona  dottrina,  si  racconta  quel,  clie  accade 
nella  guerra  dopo  Tanno  M.D.XXI.,  L'altro  di 
Lattantio,  et  di  vno  Arcliideacono  :  Nel  quale 
puntalmente  si  trattano  le  cose  auenute  in 
Eoma  neir  anno  I\I.D. XXVII.  Di  Spagnuolo 
in  Italiano  con  molta  accuratezza  et  tradotti,  et 
reuisti.  In  Venegia.  Con  gratia,  et  privi- 
legio  per  anni  dieci.  8vo.  Italic  letter,  5 
editions.     1  ed.  in  Roman  letter         .  .     1545 

3.  Dialogo  de  las  Lengnas  [written  about  1533]  in 

Gregorio    Mayans,    "  Origines   de  la  lengua 
Espanola,"  Tom.  II.  Madrid,  12mo.     1737 

Dialogo  de  la  Lengua  (tenido  azia  el  A.  1533) 
i  publicado  por  primera  vez  el  ano  de  1737. 
Ahora  reimpreso  conforme  al  MS.  de  la 
Biblioteca  Xazional,  unico  que  el  Editor  co- 
noze.  Por  Apendize  va  una  Carta  de  A. 
y aides.     8vo.  Madrid.  Ano  de     18 GO 

4.  Alfabeto  Cliristiano  clie  insegna  la  vera  via  d'ac- 

qvistare  il  hrme  dello  spirito  santo.     Stampata 
con  gratia  et  priuilegio.    Sm.  8vo.    (Venegia) 

I'Anno     154G 

The  same  text  reprinted  with  a  Spanish 

and  English  translation.     8vo.  London.      1861 
The  same  in  English  onlv.    8vo.    London.      1861 

5.  Modo  di  tenere  nell'  insegnare  nel  jDredicare  al 

pricipio  della  religione   Christiana.     A  tract 
of  13  leaves,  mentioned  bj  Vergerio  in  "  II 
•    Catalogo,"   printed   before    1549.      Not  dis- 
covered .....  1546? 
G.  Qualmaniera  si  dourebbe  tenere  in  formare  i  fi- 


xlii 


gliuoli  de  Cliristiani  nella  christiana  religione.  . 
1  leaf;  Vergerio.  Printed  before  1549.  Not 
discovered  .....  154G? 
Le  cento  et  dieci  diuine  Consideration!  del  S. 
Giouani  Yaldesso :  nelle  qnali  si  ragiona  delle 
cose  piu  utili,  piu  necessarie,  et  piu  perfette, 
della  Christiana  professione.     1  Cor.  ii.     8vo. 

In  Basilea.      1550 

The  same  reprinted  ;   "  con  Cenni  biogra- 

fici  sui  fratelli  Giovanni  e  Alfonso  di 
Valdesso,"  and  ample  notes,  8vo.  Halle.     1861 

** In  French,  8 vo.  Lyons.  .  .1563 

and  12mo.  Paris     1565 

In  Dutch.    Godsalighe  Anmerckingen  uyt 

het  Italiansche  overgeset.  A  copy  was 
in  the  library  of  Zach.  Conrad  Uffen- 
bach  at  Frankfort.  See  Biblioth.  UfFen- 
bach.  Francof,  1729.  Tom.  I.  p.  914, 
No.  27.     Not  discovered  .  .     1565 

In  Enojlish.     The  Himdred  and  Ten  Con- 

siderations    of   Signer   John   Valdesso. 
4to.    Oxford,   1638,    and   12mo.    Cam- 
bridge .....     1646 
Ziento  i  diez  Consideraziones  de  Juan  de  Valdes. 
Ahora  publicadas  por  primera  vez  en  castel- 
lano.    "  Valdesio  Hispanus  Scriptore  superbiat 
orbis."     8vo.  Ano  de     1855 

Las  ciento  y  diez  Consideraciones  del  Valdes,  tra- 
duzidas  del  Ytaliano^en  Eoman9e  (Spanish), 
4to.  [A  manuscript  in  the  City  Library, 
Hamburgh.  This  will  shortly  be  edited 
and  printed;  a  facsimile  of  tlie  title,  the 
first  Consideration,  and  the  colophon  showing 


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xlvii 

the  date  of  the  MS.,  has  been  taken  off  for 
that  work,  at  the  sole  cost  of  my  friend,  L.  de 
U.  i.  E.,  and  by  his  obliging  permission  it  is 
inserted  also  in  this  place.]    .  .  .      1558 

8.  Comentario,  o  declaracion  breve,  y  compendiosa 

sobre  la  Epistola  de  S.  Paulo  Apostol  a  los 
Eomanos,  muy  saludable  para  todo  Christiano. 
Compvesto  por  Ivan  Valdesio  pio  y  sincero 
Theologo.  Eom.  1.  En  Venecia  (Geneva), 
en  casa  de  Juan  Philadelpho.     8vo.  .  .     155G 

9.  Comentario  o  declaracion  familiar,  y  compendiosa 

sobre  la  primera  Epistola  de  san  Paulo  Apostol 
alos  Corinthios,  muy  vtil  para  todos  los  ama- 
dores  dela  piedad  Christiana,  compvesto  por 
Ivan  W.  pio  y  sincero  Theologo.  Psal.  119. 
En  Venecia  (Geneva),  en  casa  de  Juan 
Philadelpho.     8vo.    .  .  .  .1557 

La  Epistola  de  San  Pablo  a  los  Eomanos  i  la 
1.  a  los  Corintios.  Ambas  traduzidas  i  comen- 
tadas  por  Juan  de  Valdes.  Ahora  fielmente 
reimpresas.  "  Valdesio  Hispanus  Scriptore 
superbiat  orbis."     8vo.  Ano  de     1856 

*  A  version  of  the  Dialogo  de  Mercurio  y  Caron  from  the 
Spanish  into  German,  made,  as  it  seems,  shortly  after 
the  publication  of  the  original,  is  preserved^  in  manuscript 
in  the  library  of  Count  Ortenberg  at  Tambach  in  Fran- 
conia  :  vedi  Serapeum,  1844,  p.  122.  A  copy  in  German, 
printed  at  Amberg,  bearing  the  date  of  1G13,  is  in  the 
Grand-ducal  Library,  Gotha.  Both  these  are  mentioned 
by  Dr.  Edward  Boehmer,  in  his  ample  notes  to  the  CX. 
Considerationi ;   ed.  Halle,  1861,  p.  490. 

**  There  are  some  copies  of  the  French  translation  of  Le 
cento  et  died  diiiine  Considerationi,  Lyons,  1563,  which  bear 


xlviii 

the  date  IGOl;  they  are,  however,  only  a  spurious  issue  of  that 
edition.  They  have  the  following  title :  Les  divines  Considera- 
tions et  sainctes  meditations  de  lean  de  Val  D'esso,  Gentil- 
homme  Espaignol.  Touchant  tout  ce  qui  est  necessaire,  ijour 
la  jKi'/ection  de  la  vie  Chrestienne.  Traduites  par  C.K.P. 
Reueu'es  de  nouueaiiy  et  rapportees  fidelment  a  VExemplaire 
Espaignol  [which  is  not  true]  et  amplijiees  de  la  table  des 
principales  matieres  traictees  par  VAucteur.  A  Lyon.  Par 
Pierre  Picard.  IGOl.  The  title,  and  the  epistle  of  C.  S. 
Cm-ione  in  the  edition  of  1563,  8  leaves,  being  omitted, 
are  replaced  by  a  new  title  and  preface  of  4  leaves  only, 
thus  leaving  a  hiatus  of  8  pages ;  and  the  3  last  leaves  of 
sig.  Z  are  reprinted  in  order  to  omit  the  colophon  and  date. 
A  copy  is  found  in  the  Wolfenbuttel  Library,  and  in 
St.  Sepulchre's,  Marsh's  Library,  Dublin. 

It  may  be  conjectured  that  the  affair  of  Carnesecchi  not 
long  after  the  publication,  in  which  he  was  accused  of 
having  "  treated  "  of  the  books  of  Valdes  at  Lyons,  in  1564, 
may  have  alarmed  the  publisher,  and  induced  him  to  with- 
draw the  remaining  copies  from  sale.  They  were  kept  in 
stock  and  reappeared  in  this  spurious  form  after  the  lapse 
of  thirty-eight  years,  and  the  death  of  the  parties  concerned. 

In  the  Alfabeto  Christiano  only  have  I  found 
any  very  clear  indication  that  Valdes  might  have 
been  acquainted  with  the  "  Institutes  "  of  Tauler,  a,n 
example  of  which  I  give  in  the  Appendix,  pp.  230-5  ; 
and  the  expression  at  page  62:  "Another  rule  is, 
because  this  Mine  and  Thine  are  mortal  enemies  to 
Christian  charity,"  etc.,  seems  to  show  that  he  was  not 
unac(iuainted  also  with  the  "Theologia  Grermanica," 
a  work  of  a  similar  class. 


xlix 

Those  persons  Y/ho  have  sought  information  re- 
specting Valdes  in  the  pages  of  Bayle,  Bock,  Sandius, 
and  various  biographical  dictionaries,  copying  one 
from  the  other,  may  expect  something  to  be  said 
here  about  the  orthodoxy  of  his  religious  sentiments. 
I  think  that  his  own  opinions  are  so  clearly  expressed 
that  they  can  well  defend  themselves  and  commend 
their  author  to  the  sound  judgment  of  the  reader. 
Yet  if  it  be  desired  further  to  ascertain  the  ground 
on  which  those  writers  assumed  a  claim  on  him  as 
one  in  accord  with  themselves  respecting  the  doctrine 
of  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  of  his  belief  in  which  his 
writings  bear  such  ample  proof,  it  may  be  seen  by 
reference  to  the  hundred  and  ninth  of  his  Considera- 
tions :  "  On  the  Conception  which  I  have  at  present  of 
Christ; "  and  more  briefly  at  page  106  of  this  volume, 
where  it  is  of  similar  import,  and  these  passages  show 
how  groundless  was  the  assumption.  Nor  are  some 
writers,  on  the  other  hand,  strictly  correct  in  de- 
scribing him  as  a  Lutheran,  and  claiming  him 
for  a  Protestant.  Valdes  entered  less  than  almost 
any  thoughtful  man  of  his  time  into  the  battle  of 
hierarchies.  He  was  less  a  destroyer  of  error  and 
evil,  than  a  builder  up  of  truth  and  goodness.  He 
left  not,  himself,  the  profession  of  the  Church  of 
Eome,  nor  incited  others  so  to  do.  This  was  no  part 
of  his  religion.  He  looked  beyond  her  ceremonies 
and  pompous  ritual.     Taking  the  Xew  Testament  for 


1 


his  standard,  he  fixed  his  view  upon  the  things 
signified,  not  upon  the  symbols  exhibited;  being 
aware,  to  use  his  own  words,  how  "outward  cere- 
monies breed  inward  vices,"  and  that  the  mind  in- 
clined to  superstition  is  naturally  inclined  to  persecu- 
tion. He  was  more  Erasmian  than  Lutheran.  He 
had  the  advantage  of  not  having  been  brought  up  a 
priest,  and  was  therefore  not  called  upon  to  perform 
ceremonies  in  which  he  had  no  reliance.  Had  he  been 
a  priest,  his  conscience,  like  Martyr's  and  Ochino's, 
could  not  have  allowed  him  to  practise  the  rites  in 
the  sense  in  which  the  people  received  them ;  and  his 
principles  brought  to  this  test  must  have  driven  him 
to  a  more  definite  decision  respecting  them.  So  I 
infer,  at  least,  from  his  writings.  The  works  most 
clearly  ascertained  to  be  from  his  pen,  those  written 
during  the  later  years  of  his  life,  namely,  the  "  Alfa- 
beto  Christiano ;"  the  Commentaries  on  the  Epistle  to 
the  Eomans,  and  on  the  first  of  Corinthians ;  and  the 
"Hundred  andTen  Considerations,"  a  series  of  separate 
productions,  have  all  four  an  uniformity  of  character, 
of  consistency,  and  of  religious  purity,  and  all  of  them 
are  conceived  in  the  same  tone  of  humility,  modesty, 
and  in  a  truly  evangelical  spirit.  The  style  in  all  of 
them  manifests  a  mind  serene,  quiet,  and  self-pos- 
sessed; which,  while  it  is  active  and  highly  inquisitive, 
is  ever  subjective  to  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures. 
Tlie   understanding   and   reason   are   found   always 


guided  by  the  royal  latu  of  which  the  Apostle  James 
speaks ;  they  are  vigilant  over  the  passions  and  affec- 
tions. There  is  nothing  in  them  showing  inconside- 
ration,  hesitation,  or  impatience ;  nothing  assumptive 
or  dogmatic. 

With  a  mastership  exercised  over  his  appetites, 
Valdes  sought  to  apprehend  religious  truth  through 
the  just  medium  of  feeling  as  well  as  reason.  He 
brought  an  earnest  affection  for  right  wisdom  to  the 
bar  of  reason  and  a  well-regulated  understanding, 
and  tried  it  by  the  test  of  his  experiences  and  the 
declarations  of  the  Xew  Testament.  When  he  found 
Scripture,  experience,  the  heart  and  the  understand- 
ing all  concurring  to  elucidate  the  truth  he  sought  to 
find,  he  delivered  his  mind  to  absolute  trust  in  it,  and 
at  once  gave  it  life  by  applying  it  to  the  conduct  of 
life.  This  ought  to  remove  the  objection  of  mysti- 
cism from  his  writings  ;  and  the  same  reason  should 
rem6ve  it,  as  a  charge,  from  a  body  of  Christians  at 
the  present  day,  who  in  consequence  of  carrying  out 
their  reasonable  religious  convictions  into  daily 
practice,  have  not  inaptly  been  styled  the  most  En- 
glish of  the  English ;  that  is,  the  most  practical,  in  these 
respects,  of  a  nation  eminently  practical.  And  after 
all,  when  more  intimately  considered,  how  can  the  re- 
ligious relations,  although  clearly  known  to  himself, 
between  the  spirit  of  a  man  and  the  Divine  Spirit,  in 
which  relations  the  essential  quality  of  real  religion 


lii 


consists,  be  otherwise  than  mystical  to  others  who 
yet  wear  their  own  mystery  if  they  also  have  any 
essential  reliofious  sentiments  ?  Neither  did  Yaldes 
inculcate  an  ascetic  life.  He  mixed  with  men  and 
with  their  affairs,  striving  to  direct  them  to  a  foretaste 
of  that  true  felicity  in  this  life  which  they  might 
hope  to  enjoy  perpetually  hereafter;  and  in  this 
also  he  was  practical.  The  Dialogue  of  the  Alfabeto 
Christiano  endeavours  to  inculcate  in  the  mind  of 
Giulia  Gonzaga  such  purity  of  intention  and  thought, 
such  sacrifice  of  mere  distinction  of  rank  and  honour, 
such  quiet  suffering  of  injury,  such  a  manner  of 
l)eholding  Christ  in  God  and  again  God  in  Christ,  as 
clearly  to  show  that  the  religion  of  Valdes,  that 
which  in  every  man  should  be  truly  his  own,  his 
religion  of  the  heart,  was  indeed  the  religion  of  the 
New  Testament.  It  was  so  in  its  spiritual  meaning, 
in  a  sense  more  profound  than  the  Apostles  appear  to 
have  had  during  their  Lord's  ministry  and  presence 
whilst  here  upon  earth,  before  his  resurrection  and 
ascension.  And  this  brought  Juan  de  Valdes  to 
receive  the  doctrine  of  Justification  by  Faith  alone, 
in  an  acceptation  deeper  and  more  intimate,  although 
less  demonstrative  than  that  which  Luther  himself 
enunciated  to  reform  Europe.  This  he  taught  to  others 
in  the  manner  of  his  Divine  Master,  in  the  dwellinof- 
liouse,  or  walking  by  the  way,  or  when,  for  those  who 
liad   an  car  to  hear,  he  gave   them  to  understand 


liii 


things  of  highest  meaning  by  personal  communica- 
tions explained  by  parables  drawn  from  incidents 
familiar  to  their  circumstances  and  from  objects 
within  the  range  of  their  immediate  observation. 
Vesuvius  illustrated  the  earthquakes  of  mental  agita- 
tion ;  the  passage  from  the  Mole  to  Capri,  the  effect 
of  the  steadiness  of  faith ;  the  common  journey  from 
Naples  to  Spain,  the  travel  of  life ;  the  disease  of  the 
skin  so  well  known  in  earlier  ages,  that  the  cure  of 
interior  evils  cannot  be  effected  by  outward  services  ; 
the  proverbs  of  the  people,  our  conquest  of  ourselves ; 
and  that  a  successful  lawsuit  may  be  more  damaging 
than  its  failure. 

In  person  he  was  spare  in  body,  of  fair  and  pleasing 
countenance,  of  sweet  and  courteous  manners,  of 
pleasant  and  winning  speech  (26),  he  was  unmarried 
and  of  unblemished  life.  He  died  at  Naples,  about 
middle  age,  in  the  year  1540,  greatly  beloved  and 
honoured  by  his  numerous  friends,  whose  sentiments 
are  represented  in  the  well-known  letter  of  Jacomo 
Bonfadio  to  Carnesecchi,  written  shortly  after  the 
event. 

Jacomo  Bonfadio  to  Monsignor  Carnesecchi, 

I  have  heard  by  letter  from  M.  IMarc'antonio  Flaminio 
that  your  Lordship  has  had  a  very  severe  fever,  which  has 
brought  you  near  to  death,  and  that  now  you  are  not  out 
of  bed,  although  you  are  out  of  danger.  I  have  felt,  as  I 
ought,  the  greatest  uneasiness;  and,  reflecting  in  myself 

d 


liv 


how  temperate  you  are  in  all  tilings,  and  with  what  regu- 
larity you  order  your  way  of  living,  I  can  discover  no  other 
cause  for  your  sickness  than  too  fine  a  temjDerament,  which 
shows  its  spirit  to  be  divine.  As  the  Eomans  preserved 
those  statues  which  fell  from  the  skies,  may  God  preserve 
your  Lordship's  life ;  and  He  will  do  it,  so  that  one  of  the 
brightest  lights  of  Tuscan  virtue  may  not  be  early  ex- 
tinguished upon  earth.  Let  your  Lordship,  then,  under 
the  direction  of  God,  endeavour  to  improve  your  health, 
and  to  live  with  that  cheerfulness  with  which  you  were 
accustomed  when  we  were  at  Naples.  Would  we  were 
there  now  with  that  happy  comj^any  !  I  seem  now  to  see 
you  aifectionately  sigh  for  that  country,  and  frequently  call 
to  your  mind  Chiaja  and  the  charming  PosilijDpo.  Mon- 
signor,  let  us  confess  the  truth ;  Florence  is  all  beautiful, 
within  and  without, — this  cannot  be  denied  ;  yet  the  amenity 
of  Naples,  that  situation,  those  shores,  the  perpetual  spring 
there,  show  a  higher  degree  of  excellence.  There  Nature 
appears  to  rule  with  dominion,  and,  everywhere  presiding, 
smiles  and  rejoices.  If  you  were  now  at  the  windoAvs  of 
that  turret,  so  often  praised  by  us,  Avhile  the  eyes  Avere  cast 
by  turns  all  around  those  sunny  gardens  and  then  stretched 
along  the  spacious  bosom  of  that  smiling  sea,  a  thousand 
vital  spirits  Avould  multiply  about  the  heart.  I  remember 
that  your  Lordship  said  many  times  before  leaving,  that 
you  Avished  to  return,  and  as  often  invited  me  there.  May 
it  please  God  that  we  may  return  !  Yet,  thinking  on  the 
other  side,  Avhere  shall  Ave  go  now  Signer  Valdes  is  dead  ? 
This  has  truly  been  a  great  loss  to  us  and  to  the  world, 
for  Signor  Valdes  Avas  one  of  the  rare  men  of  Europe,  and 
those  Avritings  he  has  left  on  the  Epistles  of  Paul  and  the 
Psalms  of  David  most  amply  show  it.  He  Avas  Avithout 
doubt  in  his  actions,  his  speech,  and  in  all  his  conduct  a 


Iv 


perfect  man.  With  a  particle  of  his  soul  he  governed  his 
frail  and  spare  body  ;  with  the  larger  part,  and  with  his 
pure  understanding,  as  though  almost  out  of  the  body,  he 
was  always  raised  in  the  contemplation  of  truth  and  of 
divine  things.  I  sympathise  with  Messer  Marc'antonio 
[Magno  ?],  for  he  loved  and  admired  him  above  all  others. 
It  seems  to  me,  Signer,  that  when  so  many  talents  and  so 
much  learning  and  virtue  are  united  in  one  mind,  that  they 
make  war  uj^on  the  body  and  seek  to  ascend  as  soon  as 
they  can,  together  with  the  spirit,  to  that  mansion  from 
which  it  descended  ....  (27). 

From  the  Lago  di  Garda.     [1541  ?] 

GlULIA    GONZAGA. 

The  most  authentic  account  of  Griulia  Gronzaga  that 
I  have  been  able  to  meet  with  is  that  drawn  up  with 
much  care  by  Ireneo  Affo,  Vice-Librarian  to  the  Duke 
of  Parma ;  published  first  in  the  Raccolta  Ferrarese  in 
1781,  and  afterwards  enlarged  and  published  in  a  thin 
quarto  to  grace  the  nuptials  of  Count  Sanvitale  of 
Parma  with  a  descendant  of  the  Gonzaga  family  (28). 

GriULiA  GrONZAGA,  or,  as  she  signed  her  name  after 
her  marriage,  Giulia  de  Gonzaga  Colonna,  was  the 
eldest  daughter  of  Ludovico,  or  Luigi  Gonzaga,  Duke 
of  Sabbionetta,  a  branch  of  the  family  of  the  Dukes 
of  Mantua,  who  married,  in  1497,  Francesca  di 
Gianliugi  Fieschi,  of  Genoa.  Giulia  was  born  at  Gaz- 
zuolo  about  the  year  1499  (29).  As  she  grew  in 
years,  and  while  yet  young,  she  was  admired  by  all 

d  2 


Ivi 


who  beheld  her,  for  the  beauty  of  her  person,  the 
brightness  of  her  intellect,  and  the  virtues  of  her 
heart,  kindness,  courtesy,  and  discretion,  joined  with 
an  eno-aoino'  candour  which  won  all  hearts  in  her 

o    o      o 

favour.  The  poets  of  the  time  celebrated  her  in  their 
verses,  Ariosto,  Molza,  Bernardo  Tasso,  and  Porrino. 
She  was  herself  known  as  a  poetess  in  an  age  of  good 
writino-.  The  Sonnets  of  Donna  Griulia  are  scattered 
in  various  early  collections,  and  were  gathered  into  a 
volume  and  published  at  Bergamo  in  1750.  At  the 
early  age  of  thirteen  she  married  Vespasiano  Colonna, 
Duke  of  Trajetto  and  Count  of  Fondi  in  the  kingdom 
of  Naples ;  a  widower  of  the  mature  age  of  forty, 
with  a  daughter  named  Isabella.  Having  a  consti- 
tution rendered  infirm  by  his  military  service,  their 
happy  union  lasted  but  a  few  years.  He  manifested 
his  estimate  of  Giulia's  qualifications,  by  committing 
to  her  by  his  will,  at  so  early  an  age,  the  administra- 
tion of  his  estates,  and  the  guardianship  of  his 
daughter  Isabella,  the  sole  offspring  of  his  former  mar- 
riao'e.  Graced  with  talents,  wealth,  station,  youth, 
and  beauty;  retired  in  her  castle  of  Fondi,  Giulia 
received  the  most  pressing  solicitations  to  marry  a 
second  time ;  nor  were  there  wanting  many  reasons 
for  such  a  step,  if  but  for  the  protection  of  her  for- 
tune and  honour  in  an  age  of  misrule  and  violence. 
vShe  however  rejected  all  entreaties,  adopting  for  her 
emblem,  according  to  the  practice  at  that  tiine  of 


Ivii 


the  ladies  of  Italy,  the  flower  of  the  amaranth,  with 
the  motto  :  non  mokitura,  "  it  will  not  die,"  expressive 
of  her  unchangeable  attachment  to  her  deceased 
husband  (30). 

Her  daughter-in-law,  Isabella,  married  in  1528,  for 
her  first  husband,  Griulia's  brother,  Luigi  Gonzaga, 
lord  of  Grazzuolo,  surnamed  Eodomonte  on  account 
of  his  romantic  bravery.  The  Pope,  Clement  the 
Seventh  (Griulio  de'  Medici),  opposed  their  union, 
wishing  the  connection  for  his  nephew  Ippolito ;  but 
Isabella's  steady  attachment  to  Luigi  triumphed  over 
all  obstacles,  while  Ippolito  de'  ^ledici  vainly  made 
the  most  pressing  solicitations  for  Griulia  herself.  He 
translated  and  sent  to  her  the  second  book  of  the 
Eneid,  prefixing  a  dedication  to  her,  expressive  of  the 
warmest  attachment,  in  the  style  of  the  time  (31). 
After  her  husband's  demise,  two  candidates  arose  to 
assert  their  claims  to  the  estates  ;  Ascanio  Colonna  on 
one  side,  and  Napoleone  Orsini,  Abbot  of  Torfa,  in  the 
kingdom  of  Naples,  on  the  other.  The  Pope,  Clement 
the  Seventh,  substantiated  her  rights  by  her  husband's 
wuU,  and  Charles  the  Fifth,  as  sovereign,  commissioned 
her  brother  Luigi  in  1532  to  put  her  again  into  posses- 
sion. Whilst  endeavouring  to  recover  the  castle  of 
Nicovara,  he  was  wounded  in  the  assault  in  the  shoul- 
der by  a  shot  from  an  arquebus;  the  castle,  how- 
ever, yielded,  but  Luigi  died  from  the  effects  of  the 
wound  in  the  presence  of  Isabella,  at  the  age  of  thii'ty- 

d  3 


Iviii 

three  years,  recommeriding-  his  young  widow  to  Giulia's 
care,  and  leaving  an  infant  son  named  Yespasiano, 
then  scarcely  twelve  months  old.  As  soon  as  the  boy 
had  passed  the  years  of  infancy,  Isabella  having  mar- 
ried for  her  second  husband  Carlo  de  Lanoja,  Prince 
of  Sulmona,  he  was  consigned  by  virtue  of  his  father's 
will  to  the  guardianship  of  his  paternal  grandfather, 
and  at  his  death  in  1540  came  under  the  care  of  his 
aunt  Giulia  to  bring  up  and  educate,  being  then  about 
eight  years  of  age.  In  1533  Griulia  returned  to  Fondi, 
where  she  once  more  took  up  her  abode. 

Her  residence  at  Fondi  and  the  society  she  at- 
tracted to  it,  are  mentioned  in  the  poems  and  letters 
of  some  of  the  best  writers  of  the  tinxe.  They  made 
her  praises  known,  and  her  celebrity  was  not  con- 
fined to  Italy.  This  distinction  of  her  name,  together 
mth  the  maritime  situation  of  Fondi,  exposed  her  to 
a  stroke  of  unexpected  danger,  from  which  she  very 
narrowly  escaped.  In  the  twilight  of  a  September 
evening  of  the  following  year  the  galleys  of  Hyradin 
Barbarossa,  the  corsair,  who  afterwards  became  Dey  of 
Tunis,  were  discovered  off  the  Bay  of  Naples,  steering 
to  the  northward.  In  the  dead  of  night  he  came 
abreast  of  Fondi,  and  immediately  disembarked  his 
men.  Little  resistance  to  so  unexpected  an  attack 
could  be  made  by  the  townspeople,  and  the  inmates  of 
the  castle  had  retired  to  rest  for  the  night.  The  up- 
roar and  clamour  in  the  town  gave  the  first  alarm  at 


lix 


the  castle.  Giulia,  roused  by  her  domestics,  while  the 
corsairs  were  already  making  the  assault,  balzd  dal 
letto,  fled  by  a  passage  to  the  drawbridge  that  led  to  a 
gallery  in  the  rock,  and  climbing  through  an  opening, 
found  herself  upon  the  hillside.  A  horse  being  then 
procured,  she  mounted,  and  gave  free  rein  to  Valla- 
corsa,  where  she  rested.  Barbarossa  having  missed 
the  chief  object,  for  which  he  might  have  expected 
at  least  a  weighty  ransom,  and  finding  the  country 
alarmed  and  the  forces  assembling,  plundered  the 
town  and  re-embarked  with  the  booty.  Among  the 
nobility  who  hastened  to  the  defence  of  the  place  was 
one  who  had  a  more  personal  motive  than  the  rest. 
Ippolito  de'  JMedici,  rather  a  warrior  than  a  priest, 
although  he  had  now  given  up  secular  pursuits  and 
become  a  cardinal,  hearing  of  Griulia's  danger,  hastily 
assembled  a  body  of  horse  in  Eome  and  led  them  him- 
self to  her  rescue.  The  crisis,  however,  had  passed 
away ;  and  whilst  he  was  entertained  for  a  short  time 
with  gratitude  at  the  castle,  he  solicited  Giulia's  per- 
mission to  allow  her  portrait  to  be  painted  for  himself, 
—  a  favour  she  was  not  then  in  a  position  to  refuse, 
if  indeed  there  were  any  sufficient  reason  for  so 
doing.  Upon  his  return  to  Eome  he  sent  Seba&'tiano 
del  Piombo,  the  best  portrait-painter  of  the  time, 
to  Fondi.  He  went,  attended  by  a  retinue  of  four 
horsemen,  for  the  purpose.  He  was  entertained 
there  a  month,  and  returned  to  Rome  with  the  por- 

d4 


Ix 


trait :  a  divine  picture,  says  Vasari,  with  which  the 
Cardinal  was  highly  pleased  (32).  In  August  of  the 
following  year  he  passed  from  Itri  again  to  Fondi. 
Giidia  was  absent.  Kemaining  at  Fondi  during  the 
day,  he  returned  to  Itri ;  but  having  taken  cold,  he 
fell  sick  of  a  fever,  and  there  died. 

At  this  period,  1535,  Giulia  had  left  Fondi  and 
taken  up  her  abode  in  Naples,  where  she  occupied  a 
house  in  the  Borgo  delle  Vergini,  keeping  up  an 
establishment  and  servants  suitable  to  her  rank. 
There  she  transacted  business  and  received  visits,  but 
to  avoid  scandal  to  her  character  in  so  large  and 
promiscuous  a  city,  she  herself  took  up  her  residence 
at  the  Franciscan  convent  of  Santa  Chiara.  The 
Pope  granted  a  brief  to  allow  her  to  reside  there 
as  a  secular  person,  that  is,  as  one  not  bound  by 
the  rules  of  the  cloister  (33).  This  arrangement 
continued  uninterrupted  for  a  period  of  thirty  years, 
during  the  remainder  of  her  life.  Isabella  had 
married  Carlo  de  Lanoja,  Prince  of  Sulmona,  as 
])efore  mentioned.  In  the  double  connection  of 
daughter-in-law  and  sister-in-law,  she  now  stirred 
up  a  long  and  painful  contention  against  Giulia, 
asserting  that  the  testament  of  her  father,  Vespa- 
siano  Colonna,  by  virtue  of  which  Giulia  received 
the  income  of  the  estate  during  her  widowhood,  was 
null  and  void;  and  she  refused  besides  to  give  up 
certain  jewels  and  other  precious  heirlooms  which 


Ixi 


had  been  lent  to  her.  Lawyers  were  consulted,  and 
finding  the  case  ambiguous,  Giulia  was  inclined 
to  a  fair  compromise,  as  she  declared  in  a  letter  to 
her  brother,  Don  Ferrante  Gonzaga.  The  Emperor 
Charles  the  Fifth  coming  to  Naples  in  1535  on  his 
return  from  Africa,  the  case  was  laid  before  him.  He 
referred  it  to  the  decision  of  Don  Pedro  de  Toledo, 
the  Viceroy,  recommending  by  letter  dated  the  12th 
of  October,  1535,  that  the  cause  should  be  amicably 
disposed  of  by  mutual  agreement  (34).  After  various 
discussions  before  the  Viceroy  on  the  subject,  it  was 
adjudged  that  G-iulia  should  be  satisfied  with  her 
dowry  and  the  addition  left  to  her  by  her  husband. 
This  did  not  put  an  end  to  Isabella's  importunity, 
who  continued  the  contention,  wishing  for  herself  the 
addition  of  pinmoney  {sopradotte),  amounting  in  the 
aggregate  to  13,000  ducats.  She  required  that  a 
judicial  disposition  she  herself  had  made  should  be 
rendered  void,  although  the  validity  of  the  deeds  by 
which  it  was  settled  remained  unshaken.  Isabella 
then  offered  to  give  Griulia  500  ducats  annually 
for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  her  household, 
but  once  more  chano-ed  her  mind.  Hence  Charles 
the  Fifth  deputed  by  diploma  of  the  27th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1536,  three  members  of  his  council  as  com- 
missioners, to  give  judgment  as  justice  required. 
A  great  part  of  the  year  1536  was  spent  in  this 
unpleasant  affair.     On  the  8th  of  June,  1537,  Giulia 


Ixii 


wrote  to  her  brother  respecting  the  issue  of  the 
suit:  "The  judges  have  decreed  the  Signora  Isabella 
to  pay  me  2500  ducats  annually  in  quarterly  ipsij- 
ments,  (terza  per  terza),  £ind  1000  ducats  down  for 
lapsed  time."  Thus  ended  this  troublesome  affair,  to 
which  allusion  appears  to  be  made  in  her  conver- 
sation with  Valdes.  "  Many  years  have  I  lived  in 
the  manner  I  describe,  and  during  this  time,  as  you 
knoic,  various  circumstances  have  happened  to  me 
sufficient  to  disturb  a  tranquil  spirit,  more  especially 
a  soul  so  disquieted  as  mine." 

It  was  precisely  under  these  perplexing  circum- 
stances that  her  intimate  acquaintance  with  Juan  de 
Valdes  took  place  and  that  the  conversation  of  the 
Alfabeto  Christiano  was  discoursed.  These  inci- 
dents serve  to  explain  some  parts  of  the  dialogue :  the 
return  in  the  evening  from  hearing  the  preacher's 
sermon ;  the  prolonged  conversation  carried  on  in  her 
house  to  a  late  hour ;  how  Valdes  could  have  assisted 
her  in  her  outward  affairs  by  his  intercourse  ^yith 
the  Viceroy  and  the  Emperor ;  and  the  reason  why 
Valdes  endeavours  so  much  to  impress  upon  her 
mind  an  entire  dependence  upon  Grod  and  faith  in 
his  promises  for  outward  support ;  the  duty  of  for- 
giveness of  injuries ;  the  sacrifice  of  mere  worldly 
honour;  and  they  also  explain  a  certain  clause  in 
her  will,  by  which  she  directs  that  350  ducats  be 
paid  down  "to  the  Signora  Donna  Isabella,  Principessa 


Ixiii 

di  Sulmona  instead  of  a  certain  chalice  and  patena 
and  certain  pearls,  and  a  silver  basin  that  descended 
to  my  possession,  from  her  mansion,  and  which  may 
be  valued  at  this  sum"  (35). 

By  the  will  of  Ludovico,  his  paternal  grandfather, 
in  June,  1540,  the  tutelage  of  Isabella's  son,  Vespa- 
siano,  then  proceeding  Duke  of  Sabbionetta,  devolved 
upon  the  care  of  his  aunt  Griulia.  She  immediately 
despatched  Marco  Antonio  Magno  as  ambassador  to  the 
court  of  Charles  the  Fifth,  at  that  time  at  Brussels, 
to  secure  the  investiture  of  the  State  of  Lombardy 
for  her  nephew,  and  to  solicit  that  the  former  ad- 
ministrators of  the  State  might  be  superseded  by  the 
Cardinal  Ercole  Gronzaga  and  Don  Ferrante,  Viceroy 
of  Sicily,  his  brother  (36).  In  September,  1541,  the 
Emperor  issued  a  favourable  diploma,  and  imme- 
diately Griulia  proceeded  with  Vespasiano's  education, 
providing  for  him  the  best  instructors  in  Tuscan, 
G-reek,  and  Latin.  As  he  grew  up  he  evidenced  the 
fruits  of  her  care  and  judgment  by  his  general  cha- 
racter and  especially  by  his  love  of  letters.  He 
granted  to  the  Jews  a  license  to  establish  a  Hebrew 
press  at  Sabbionetta,  from  which  issued  several 
editions  of  the  Pentateuch,  Psalter,  and  rabbinical 
commentaries  (37).  He  died  in  1591,  and  in  him 
the  Dukes  of  Sabbionetta  became  extinct. 

Valdes  had  been  removed  by  death  from  the 
persecutions  to  come,  which  seem  to  have  been  fore- 


Ixiv 

shadowed  in  his  o^vn  mind,  towards  the  close  of  the 
year  1540.  Carnesecchi,  who  possessed  an  abbacy  at 
Naples,  was  there  in  the  December  of  that  year,  and 
was  probably  mth  him  in  his  last  hours ;  he  took 
the  place  of  Yaldes  in  Griulia's  confidence.  It  ap- 
pears that  she  was  the  "  Italian  Princess  "  to  whom 
he  was  afterwards  accused  of  having  recommended  two 
teachers  w^ho  were  sent  to  open  schools  in  her  territory 
for  the  instruction  of  children;  but  Avhose  opinions 
becoming  suspected,  they  were  apprehended  by  the 
Inquisition  (38).  When  he  was  called  to  Eome  about 
February,  1 546,  to  defend  himself  against  suspicions 
of  holding  erroneous  sentiments,  Griulia  G-onzaga  was 
questioned  about  her  correspondence  with  him.  He 
rebutted  all  the  imputations  of  his  accusers,  and 
returned  to  his  abbey  at  Naples,  where  he  then 
resided,  enjoying  the  fairest  reputation  with  the 
highest  personages  as  a  man  of  great  learning  and 
unspotted  integrity.  A  second  time,  in  1565,  during 
his  last  trial  under  Pius  the  Fifth,  Griulia's  name  being 
found  in  a  portion  of  his  correspondence  with  Calvin, 
her  latter  days  were  disturbed  by  the  vexations  of  the 
Holy  Office,  and  it  is  said  that  they  shortened  her 
days.  This  may  or  may  not  have  been  the  case,  for  she 
had  already  attained  to  a  mature  period  of  life.  And 
a  quiet  and  perhaps  welcome  death  in  a  home  where 
she  had  passed  nearly  one  half  of  her  life,  arrived  to 
prevent  any  further  molestation,  and  also  to  remove 


Ixv 


her  from  the  painful  knowledge  of  the  cruel  death 
which  shortly  afterwards  overtook  Carnesecchi.  Hav- 
ing made  her  will  a  second  time,  a  translation  of 
which  is  given  in  the  Appendix,  she  left,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  number  of  small  legacies,  her  nephew 
Vespasiano  her  heir.  In  the  full  possession  of  her 
mental  faculties  to  the  last  moment  of  her  life,  she 
expired  on  the  19th  of  April,  I066,  aged  sixty-seven, 
and  was  interred  in  the  church  of  Santa  Chiara,  ac- 
cording to  her  last  desire. 

Few  were  the  years  of  the  life  of  Valdes  after  the 
conversation  of  the  Alfmjeto  Christiaxo,  yet  during 
four,  or  at  the  most  five  of  them,  he  presented  to 
Giulia  his  translation  from  the  Grreek  of  the  G-ospel 
according  to  Matthew,  of  the  Psalms  translated  from 
the  Hebrew,  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Eomans,  also  from 
the  Greek,  with  a  commentary;  nor  could  she  be 
unacquainted  with  his  "Considerations"  and  his 
other  writings,  while  they  were  in  manuscript.  All 
those  that  we  know  of  with  certainty  had  also  been 
printed  some  years,  and  circulated  to  some  extent  in 
Italy  during  her  lifetime ;  and,  as  I  have  said  before, 
it  is  to  her  agent  or  procuratore,  Marco  Antonio 
Magno,  that  we  ow^e  at  least  the  translation  of  the 
present  work  from  the  Spanish  manuscript,  and  con- 
sequently its  existence  at  the  present  time. 

And  what  was  the  effect  upon  her  mind  of  the 


Ixvi 

relicrious  instruction  of  Valdes  ?  This  at  least  we 
know ;  that  besides  the  superintendence  of  her  ne- 
phew's education,  she  passed  her  years  in  visiting 
the  sick  in  the  hospitals,  relieving  them  with  her  own 
hands  ;  in  select  society,  avoiding  the  acquaintance  of 
mere  worldly  persons ;  and  in  the  constant  perusal 
of  Holy  Scripture,  that  volume  of  heavenly  refresh- 
ment, *^the  aliment  of  the  perfect,"  which  Valdes 
had  requested  her  to  substitute  for  his  own  writings. 
She  left  behind  her  a  character  eminent  for  the 
graces  of  her  mind ;  for  unspotted  purity  of  life,  in  a 
city  and  in  an  age  of  unrestrained  license  of  morals ; 
and  for  exalted  piety  carried  out  to  the  consistent 
practice  of  virtue; — a  character,  we  may  willingly 
believe,  such  as  Valdes  had  marked  out  for  her  at- 
tainment. Its  memory  therefore  for  these  qualities, 
more  than  for  the  distinction  of  rank  and  family, 
though  receiving  a  lustre  from  them  also,  has  come 
down  to  us  in  this  later  age,  joined  with  his  who  is 
now  known,  with  greater  certainty  than  was  appre- 
hended before,  to  have  been  "  at  once  her  guide,  and 
counsellor,  and  friend." 


BENJAMIN  B.  WIFFEN. 


Near  Woburn, 
7th  mo.  1861. 


NOTES. 


Note  1.     Page  vii. 

Perez:  Epistola  Consolatoria,  1560 — 1848;  and  Breve 
Tratado  de  Doctrina,  1560 — 1852.  Valera:  Tratado  para 
confirmar  lospobres  cativos  de  Berberia,  1594 — 1854,  and 
Aviso,  1600 — 1854.  Enzinas  :  Dos  Informaziones,  etc., 
1559 — 1857.  Secondly,  Montes  :  Artes  de  la  Inqiiisizion, 
1567 — 1851.  Sacliarles:  EspanolReformado,  1621 — 1854. 
Valdes  :  Ziento  i  diez  Consideraziones,  1550  — 1855.  To 
these  may  be  added  a  translation  into  Dutch,  made  about 
1620,  of  Valera's  Dos  Tratados,  remaining  in  MS.,  and  a 
translation  made  by  one  of  the  early  Spanish  reformers, 
1558,  of  the  ex.  Consideraciones,  now  in  manuscript  and 
shortly  to  be  printed. 

■     Note  2.     Page  xi. 

Vergerio  :  //  Catalogo  de  libri,  li  qvali  nvovamente  net 
mese  di  Maggio  nelV  anno  presente  MDXL  Villi,  sono  stati 
condannati^  et  scomunicati  per  heretici,  Da  M.  Giouan  della. 
casa  legato  di  Venetia  et  d'alcuni  /rati.  E  aggiunto  sopra 
il  medesimo  catalogo  vn  iudicio,  e  discorso  del  Vergerio^  4to. 
There  is  a  copy  in  the  library  of  the  British  Museum, 
619  d.  8;  there  is  another  in  the  Royal  Library,  Dresden, 
and  a  third  in  the  library  at  Zurich.     Vergerio  says  :  "  In 


Ixviii 

this  Catalogue,  among  many  otiiers,  is  tlie  name  of  Girolamo 
Savonese,  which  is  a  feigned  name.  Messer  Giulio  da 
Milano  being  then  a  prisoner  in  San  Gio.  Bragela  at 
Venice,  wrote  that  little  book  and  some  very  earnest 
letters ;  you  see  whether  he  feared  the  cruelty  of  the 
Pharisees  who  had  him  in  their  hands.  And  disguised  is 
that  other  :  di  Gratia  Dio  di  Monte  Santo  ;  these  epistles 
are  by  the  same  author  who  has  written  those  others  : 
della  fede,  deW  opere^  della  carita.,  and  another  of  more 
importance.  It  is  an  easy  thing  to  vary  a  name  a  little, 
and  it  may  do  much  good,  giving  the  faithful  to  rejoice  in 
the  glory  of  God,  and  enabling  the  tracts  to  circulate  safe 
from  the  cruel  snares  of  our  enemies."     Sig.  Cv. 

In  the  Bodleian  Library  are  :  Exhortatione  al  JSfartirio  di 
Giulio  da  Milano  riueduta  et  ampliata,  s.  1.  1552,  and  Tlie 
XLIII.  Sermon  of  M.  Giulio  of  Milane  touclvjng  tlie  Lordes 
Supper.  Dedicated  to  tlieiuorshypfidl  mystres  Anne  Carowe. 
31  leaves,  4to.  B.  L. 


Note  3.     Page  xiii. 

II  Catalogo^  etc.,  Aiiij^.  Haym  gives  an  edition  with  this 
title :  Modo  che  si  dee  tenere  nelV  insegnare,  et  predicare  il 
jyrincipio  della  Religione  Christiana.  Roma,  1545,  in  12mo. 
Biblioteca  Italiana,  3rd  Ed.,  1803,  vol.  iv.  p.  224. 


Note  4.     Page  xv. 

M'Crie,  History  of  the  Progress  and  Suppression  of  the 
Eeformation  in  Italy  in  the  XVIth  Century,  2nd  Edition, 
1833,  p.  355,  from  Apostolo  Zeno.  Note  al  Fontanini,  Bibl. 
della  Eloq.  Italiana,  torn.  1,  p.  119. 


Note  5.     Page  xviii. 

Report  of  the  Trial  and  Martyrdom  of  Pietro  Carnesecchi, 
etc.  Translated  fvm  the  original  MS.,  and  edited  icith  an 
English  translation,  facsimiles  of  signatures,  an  introduc- 
tion, and  illustrative  notes,  hy  Richard  Gihhings,  B.D.,  of 
Trinity  College,  Dublin,  &c.,  Dublin  and  London,  1856. 
This  record  of  the  official  sentence  of  the  Inquisition 
against  Carnesecchi  has  supplied  me  with  the  preceding 
circumstances  respecting  him.  Earely  do  ^Ye  find  a  small 
volume  of  xxxiii.  and  53  pp.  enriched  with  so  much  correct 
research,  varied  learning,  and  valuable  illustration,  as 
this. 

Also,  Lezioni  di  Antichita  Toscane  e  spezicdmente  della 
citta  di  Firenze  recitate  nelV  accademia  della  Crvsca  da 
Giovanni  Lami  Publico  professore.  In  Firenze,  1766,  Uo. 
vol.  ii.  p.  600  et  seq.  Lami  must  have  had  his  particulars 
about  Carnesecchi  from  the  Eecords  of  the  Inquisition  of 
Rome. 

Note  6.     Page  xviii. 

The  Comentario  .  .  .  sobre  la  Epistola  de  San  Pablo, 
Ajmstol  a  los  Romanos,  1556  ;  and  Comentario  .  .  .  sobre 
la  primera  Epistola  de  San  Pablo,  Apostol  a  los  Corintios, 
1557,  edited  by  Juan  Perez.  Although  they  bear  the  im- 
print of  Venice,  Hke  his  versions  of  the  New  Testament 
and  Psalms,  aU  of  them  were  evidently  printed  by  Crespiri 
at  Geneva. 

Note  7.     Page  xx. 

Martir  Rizo  :  Historia  de  la  Ciudad  de  Cuenca.  Madrid, 
1629,  fol.  p.  284.  "  La  casa  de  Yaldes  es  de  la  mas  anti- 
guas  y  principales  del  Eeyno  de  Leon  ;  "  and  after  having 

e 


Ixx 


named  some  distinguished  members  of  tlie  family,  amongst 
whom  was  the  Grand  Inquisitor,  Fernando  de  Yaldes, 
Archbishop  of  Seville,  he  continues  :  "  Un  Cavallero  deste 
apeUido  y  familia  llamado  Hernando  de  Valdes  vino  a 
poblar  a  la  ciudad  de  Cuenca  mas  ha  de  trezientos  y  cin- 
quenta  anos,  donde  dexo  casas  suntuosas,  Capilla  y  mayo- 
razgo  :  tuvo  muchos  hijos,  y  dellos  muy  noble  descendencia, 
que  por  su  notoria  nobleza  ascendio  uno  a  ser  Camarero 
del  Pontifice,  y  otro  "  [no  doubt  Alfonso  de  Valdes]  "  fiie 
Secretario  del  Emperador :  y  los  demas  descendientes  desta 
Casa  han  sido  Eegidores  y  Procuradores  de  Cortes  por  la 
ciudad,  y  estado  de  la  nobleza  de  Cuenca,  con  otras  grandes 
dignidades,  que  ocuparon  otros  en  Iglesias  destos  Eeynos, 
y  en  sei-vicio  de  sus  Eeyes." 

Pedro  Martyr  Angleria,  Epist.  D.CLXXXIX.  p.  380, 
writing  to  the  Marques  de  los  Velez  y  Mondejar  in  1520, 
mentions,  "  Alfonso  Valdesio,  magnce  spei  juvine  ciijus 
patrem  Fernandum  de  Valdes  rectorem  Concliensem  nostris  " 

Note  8.     Page  xxi. 
Dialogo  de  la  Lengua,  ed.  1860,  p.  153. 

Note  9.     Page  xxii. 

Jo.  Genesius  Sepulveda,  Opera.  Madrid,  vol.  iii.  Epist. 
xiv.  pp.  107-8. 

Note  10.     Page  xxii. 

Abate  Pierantonio  Serassi  in  Lettere  del  Conte  B. 
Castiglione.  Padova,  17G9-71,  4to.  vol.  ii.  p.  169.  Serassi 
might  have  corrected  himself,  havmg  the  copy  of  Valdes' 
letter  before  him,  signed  :  "  muy  certo  Serv.,  Alonso  de 
Valdes."     Llorente  speaks  doubtfully,  Historia  de  la  Inqui- 


Ixxi 

sicion  de  Espana,  ed.  Barcellona,  1835,  cap.  xxv.  Art.  I. 
p.  311. 

Note  11.     Page  xxiii. 

Llorente,  ed.  Barcellona,  1835,  cap.  xxi.  pp.  82-3. 

Note  12.    Page  xxv. 

Erasmus,  Opera,  Lugd.  Bat.  Epist.  M.XXX.  1165-6,  and 
Epist.  D.CCCC.XXXYII. 

Note  13.     Page  xxvii. 

The  Hundred  and  Ten  Considerations  of  Signor  John 
Valdesso.  Consideration  LI.  Oxford,  1638,  4to.  In  the 
edition  of  Cambridge,  1646,  12mo.,  the  editor  has  changed 
the  author's  words,  Papa,  nella  casa  diFapa,  to  "  the  Prince, 
the  Prince's  household."  Nicholas  Ferrar,  the  translator, 
gave  them  correctly  in  his  edition,  Oxford,  1638. 

Note  14.     Page  xxvii. 

It  appears  likely  that  it  was  on  account  of  the  Dialogo  en 
que  particulamiente  se  tratan  las  cosas  acaecidas  en  Roma, 
el  ano  de  M.D.XXVII.,  that  his  name  was  inserted  in  the 
prohibitory  Index  of  Venice,  1554.  Alphonsus  de  Valdes. 
Hispanus,  sig.  A  2.  See  a  reprint  of  this  Index  by  Joseph 
Mendham  in  An  Index  of  prohibited  Books  by  command  of 
the  present  Pope  Gregory  XVI.,  in  1835.  London,  1840. 
I  have  not  seen  it  elsewhere. 

Note  15.     Page  xxviii. 

Alfonso  de  Valdes  dates  his  letters  to  Pedro  Martyr 
Angleria  from  Brussels  prid  cal.  Sept.  (30th  Sept.)  1520, 

e  2 


and  from  Worms  3  id.  Mai  (lotli  May),  1521.      Martyris 
Epist.  C89.722. 

Note  16.     Page  xxviii. 

Belacion  de  las  nuevas  cle  Italia  sacadas  de  las  cartas 
que  los  capitanes  y  comisano  del  Emperador  y  Rey  imestro 
seiio?'  han  escripto  a  su  Majestad :  assi  de  la  victoria  contra 
el  Rey  de  Francia  como  de  otras  cosas  alia  acaecidas  : 
vista  y  corregida  por  el  senor  gran  Chanciller  e  consejo  de 
su  Majestad.  It  finishes  thus  :  Los  senores  del  consejo  de 
su  Majestad^  mandaron  d  mi^  Alonso  de  Valde's,  secretario 
del  illustre  senor  gran  Chanciller,  que  jiciese  imprimir  la 
prescjite  relacion. 

Alfonso  de  Valdes. 

A  tract  of  8  leaves,  4to.,  without  date  or  place  of  print- 
ing. Note  1,  p.  18,  in  an  article  by  the  Marques  P.  J. 
Pidal,  de  Juan  de  Valdes  y  de  si  es  el  autor  del  Didlogo  de 
las  Lenguas,  in  Revista  Hispano- Americana.  Entrega  1, 
1848. 

Invictissimi  Romanorvm  Imperatoris  Caroli  hvivs  nominis 
qviuti,  ac  Ilispaniarvm  Regis  catholici  ad  Dvo  Clementis 
septimi  Pontificis  Romani  brevia  responsio,  in  qva  ah  ipso 
Pontifice  appellat:  petitqve  generalis  christianorvm  omniv 
Concilii  congregationem  cvm  nonnvllis  aliis  litteris,  atqve 
actis  jivhlicis.  Qvorvm  catalogorvm  in  proxima  ixigina  iii- 
venies.  Cvm  p)rivilegio  imperiali.  Colophon :  Impressum  est 
Complutij  per  Michaelem  De  Eguia.  Anno  M.D.XXVII. 
die  decimo  Mensis  Aprilis.     36  leaves  in  folio. 

In  the  British  IMuseum  and  Bodleian  Libraries  are  various 
editions  with  titles  slightly  varied  from  the  above,  which 
was  the  first  and  official  edition  for  Spain.  ComiDluti,  1527. 
BasU,  s.  a.     Antwerp,  1527,  8vo.      Dresden,  in  German, 


Ixxiii 

1529,  4to.  In  French  in  MS.  (British  Museum).  Mo- 
guntia,  1527,  4to.,  with  an  imperial  Hcense  signed  AljiJwnsus 
Valdesms,  probably  the  official  edition  for  Gennany.  The 
Pope's  Nimcio  endeavoured,  but  in  vain,  to  prevent  their 
publication.  II  sig.  CancelHero  ....  ha  fatto  stampare 
I'Apologia  del  Ee  di  Francia  e  la  sua  Risposta  con  mille 
altre  delle  cose  passate  e  trattate  ;  medesimamente  si  stam- 
pano  i  Capitoli  deUa  Lega,  e  credo  ancora  la  risposta  del 
Breve,  dove  S.  Santita  allegava  le  cause  della  guerra ;  me- 
desimamente certe  lettere  del  Christianissimo  agli  Elettori 
del  Imperio  e  la  risposta,  e  alcun'  altre  tai  cose,  alle  quali 
io  avereivoluto  rimidiare,  e  far  die  non  si  inihlicassero, 
ma  non  ho  potato.  Di  Valledolit  alii  xviii.  di  Marzo 
M.D. XXVII.  —  Serassi,  Lettere  del  B.  Castiglione.  Padova, 
1769-71,  vol.  ii.  p.  144. 

Note  17.     Page  xxx. 

For  the  earliest  notice  of  this  letter  I  am  indebted  to 
M.  Young,  author  of  the  Life  and  Times  of  Paleario,  1860, 
2  vols.  8vo.,  —  a  work  of  great  research  made  dui'ing  a  re- 
sidence of  some  years  in  Italy,  containing  new  and  varied 
information  respecting  the  chief  Italian  reformers  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  especially  of  the  reputed  author  of  the  Bene- 
ficio  di  Giesu  Christo.  Before  the  publication,  a  copy  of 
the  letter  wan  kindly  sent  to  me.  It  Avill  be  found  prmted 
in  the  Appendix  of  that  work.  The  letter  of  Alfonso  de 
Valdes  and  the  reply  to  it  will  be  found  in  Lettere  del 
Conte  B.  Castiglione,  dalV  Abate  Pierantonio  Serassi. 
Padova,  1769-71,  4to.  vol.  ii.  pp.  169-202,— taken  from  a 
copy  by  an  Italian  hand.  Both  the  Letter  and  Reply  are 
more  coiTCCtly  printed  as  an  Aj^pendix  to  (Valdes')  Dialogo 
de  la  Lengua  in  the  edition  of  Madrid,  1860,  pp.  1-71. 

e  3 


Ixxiv 

Note  18.     Page  xxxii. 

Vita  Des.  Erasmi  edit.  Paulus  G.  F.  N.  Meriila  Liigd. 
Bat.  1607,  4to. 

Note  19.     Page  xxxiii. 

Novimus  Alphonsum  Valdesium,  Secretariiim  Impera- 
toris,  hominem  praestantem,  cni  propter  doctrinam  et  auc- 
toritatem,  qua  excellebat,  ejusmodi  insidias  paraverant 
satellites  sanctorum  patrum  monaclii,  ut  si  in  Hispaniam 
reversus  fuisset,  non  simplici  mortis  genere  vitam  illi 
ademissent  sancti  religiosi,  quorum  e  manibus  semel  com- 
prehensum  ne  Imperator  quidem  ipse  extorquere  potuisset. 
(Fol.  188.)  Historiam  inearcerationis  sive  captivitatis  et 
liberationis  Francisci  de  Enzinas,  a  MS.  preserved  in  the 
library  of  the  Poyal  Christian  Gymnasium  at  Altona,  a 
copy  of  which  has  been  furnished  me  by  the  care  of  Profess. 
Johan.  Llicht.  See  also  the  French  translation,  Histoire 
de  I'estat  dv  Pais  bas,  et  de  la  religion  d'Espagne.  Par 
rran9oys  du  Chesne  [Enzinas],  1558,  8vo.  p.  151. 

Note  20.     Page  xxxiv. 

Didlogo  de  la  Lenrjua  {tmiiclo  dzia  el  A.  1533)  i  imhlicado 
■por  iwimera  vez  el  ano  de  1737.  Aliora  reimpreso  conforme 
id  MS.  de  la  Bihlioteca  Naziondl,  unico  que  el  Editor 
conoze.  For  Apendize  va  una  Carta  de  A.  Valdes.  Ma- 
drid, ano  de  18G0,  8vo.  The  editor  strongly  advocates 
the  authorship  by  Juan  de  Valdes,  and  gives  at  some  length 
the  reasons  for  his  belief  See  also  the  Marques  P.  J. 
Pidal  in  Itevista  Hispano- Americana,  entrega  1,  1848, 
pp.  18-30.  Ticknor,  Historia  de  la  Literatura  Hispanola. 
Tomo  ii.  p.  105  note.  The  account  in  the  additions  to  the 
same  vol.,  p.  512,  by  the  Spanish  editor,  is  confused;  D. 


Ixxv 

Casiano  Pellicer  attributes  it  to  Alfonso  de  Valdes.  There 
are  passages  in  tlie  Didlogo  de  la  Lengua  addressed  to 
Valdes,  the  principal  speaker,  which  appear  to  refer  by 
turns  to  each  of  the  brothers.  "  I  know  not  whether  you 
w^ould  ventiu'e  to  say  so  in  the  Chancery  of  Yalladolid  " 
(p.  78),  would  seem  to  allude  to  the  secretaryship  of  Alfonso 
under  Gatinara  the  Grand  Chancellor.  Again,  in  a  passage 
suppressed  by  Mayans  at  p.  137 :  "  Since  you  defend  the 
friars,  I  wish  to-day  more  to  defend  the  King  of  France 
against  the  Emperor ;  "  being  a  tart  allusion  to  the  Dialogo 
de  Mercuric  y  Caron,  written  by  Valdes.  "  I  never  in  my 
life  saw  a  man  more  attached  to  writing ;  at  home  he  is 
always  in  fact  a  St.  Juan  the  Evangelist,  pen  in  liand,  so 
that  I  believe  he  writes  at  night  what  he  does  by  day,  and 
in  the  day  what  he  dreams  by  night."  (P.  16.)  This  ap- 
pears to  allude  to  the  name,  Juan,  and  his  scripture  studies. 
Again  :  "You  did  not  learn  this  Spanish  bravery  in  St.  Paul. 
Valdes.  —  It  is  enough  that  I  learnt  it  of  St.  Peter,  and  in 
Eome  "  (p.  149)  ;  a  double  allusion  probably  to  his  Com- 
mentaries on  Paul's  Epistles,  and  to  his  certain  residence 
in  Rome  in  1531.  The  proverbs:  "  Quien  a  si  venze,  a 
nadie  teme  "  (p.  125),  and  "  de  andar  por  los  ramas  "  (p, 
203),  are  used  also  in  the  Alfabeto  Christiano,  pp.  38, 
44.  Any  doubt  respecting  the  authorship  might  probably 
be  solved  by  the  discovery  of  what  became  of  Alfonso  after 
the  Diet  of  Katisbon  in  1532. 

Note  21.     Page  xxxv. 
Vita  di  Giulia  Gonzaga.     Manuscript. 

Note  22.     Page  xxxv. 
Simler   in  Epitome  Conradi  Gesneri  Tiguri,  1555,  fol. 
111^.    Joannes   Valdesius   secretarius    regis   [pro-regis?] 

e  4 


Ixxvi 

Xeapolitaiii,  scripsit  clialogais  Cliaruntem  et  Mercurium 
impressos  Italice,  item  considerationes  pias  et  doctas  itidem 
excusas,  item  in  Psalmos  aliquot  in  evangelinm  Mattliei  et 
Joannis,  et  qusedam  alice.  Simler  may  have  received  in- 
formation from  Peter  Martyr  Vermilius^  or  from  Ochino  ; 
but  Curione,  who  mentions  Juan  de  Valdes  in  Pasquillus 
extaticus  as  early  as  1545,  that  is,  five  years  before  he 
edited  the  CX.  Considerationi,  and  who  could  have  had  his 
information  about  Valdes  equally  from  Peter  Martyr  and 
Ochino,  both  there  and  in  his  preface  to  the  latter  work,  is 
silent  on  the  subject  of  Valdes  having  been  Secretary  to  the 
Viceroy  of  Naples.  Simler,  and  most  of  the  writers  who 
have  followed  him,  may  have  confounded  the  secretary- 
ship of  Alfonso  to  the  emperor  with  Juan's  certain  resi- 
dence and  death  at  Naples. 

Note  23.     Page  xxxvi. 

Antonio  Caitaldo  in  Raccolta  dell'  Istoria  del  Regno  di 
Napoli,  vol.  vi.  p.  G6. 

Note  24.     Page  xxxvii. 

Peter  Martyr's  sentiments  on  Purgatory  may  be  com- 
pared with  those  of  Valdes  in  his  Comentaiio  sobre  la 
Primera  Epistola  a  los  Corintios.  Edition  1856,  pp.  58- 
Gl. 

Ochino  knew  Valdes  at  Naples  early  in  the  year  1536, 
again  in  1539 ;  Valdes  died  in  that  city  about  the  close  of 
the  year  1540.  Ochino  printed  one  volume  of  his  PrerZ/c/ze 
(seiTOons)  at  Venice  in  1541,  before  his  departure  from 
Italy.  An  enlarged  edition  was  printed  at  Geneva  in 
1543-4  in  five  small  volumes  or  parts,  the  first  part  in 
italic,  the  others  in  Roman  letter ;  a  co])y  of  this  edition  is 


Ixxvii 

in  the  library  of  the  British  Museum,  1359,  a.  1-5. 
Haym  gives  an  edition,  in  five  parts  or  volumes,  s.  1.  et  a. 
(printed  at  Basle,  1543),  which  seems  to  be  the  edition  I 
have  used.  Some  copies  of  this  edition  were  issued  with 
the  name  of  Thomaso  da  Siena  in  the  title. 

The  influence  of  the  teaching  of  Valdes  upon  the  mind 
of  Ochino  may  be  discovered  throughout,  and  there  is 
scarcely  a  point  of  doctrine  advanced  in  the  Alfabeto 
Christiano  that  is  not  to  be  found,  frequently  repeated  in 
the  expressions  used  by  Valdes  and  dilated  upon  in  the 
Prediche.  Crossing  a  ford,  used  at  i^p.  49  and  80  of  the 
Alfabeto^  may  be  read  in  the  Qiiarta  parte,  j'^^^^^ka  vii. 
Peace  of  conscience  at  p.  30  in  pred.  xxviii.  To  know 
one's  self,  to  read  in  our  own  book,  at  p.  200,  in  pred.  xii. 
Fear  of  hell  and  love  of  paradise,  at  pp.  185-6  in  pred.  xxiv. 
Pui-poses  of  the  coming  of  Christ  in  the  world,  at  pp.  lOG-7 
in  the  Seconda  parte^  predica  xii.  The  general  Pardon,  at 
p.  223  in  pred.  xxiii.  The  creed,  at  p.  110  in  the  Terza 
jMrte,  predica  iiii.  The  direct  allusion  to  the  "  Preacher," 
at  page  181,  from  Avhich  it  would  seem  that  Valdes  had  in- 
structed him  in  his  view  of  alms-giving,  will  be  found 
in  Terza  parte,  p)J"6dica  Ixiiii.,  Qual  sia  V  ordine  della 
carita. 

Having  pointed  out  this  coincidence  to  the  Spanish 
translator,  he  is  of  opinion  that  Ochino  was  luidoubtedly 
"  the  Preacher  "  so  fi-equently  mentioned  by  the  speakers 
in  the  dialogue;  and  to  corroborate  this  view  he  has  fur- 
nished the  following  passage  literally  translated  from  Gian- 
none,  Istoria  di  Napoli,  lib.  xxxii.  cap.  5.  pp.  81-2.  La 
Haya,1753  :...."  Tenia  en  aquellos  tiempos  mucho  re- 
nombre  en  Italia,  i  por  fama  de  gran  Orador  era  mui 
zelebrado,  Bernardino  Occhino  de  Siena,  fi-aile  Capuchino, 
el  qual  se  habia  hecho  famoso,  sobre  todos  los  otros  de  su 


Ixxviii 

tiempo,  tanto  por  su  doctrina,  i  eloquenzla,  i  por  austeridad 
de  vida,  como  tambien  por  un  modo  nuevo  suyo  de  pre- 
dicar  el  Evangelic,  no  con  disputas  escolasticas,  i  otras 
extravaganzias,  como  liazian  otros  basta  su  tiempo,  sino 
con  espi'ritu,  i  veliemenzia,  i  con  fervor  admirable,  por  lo 
que  se  habi'a  adquirido  gran  credito,  no  solo  zerca  del 
Pueblo,  sino  tambien  zerca  de  los  mayores  Prinzipes  de 

Italia procuraron,  que  en  la  Cuaresma  de  aquel 

aiio  de  1536,  viniese  a  predicar  a  Napoles  :  el  vino,  con 
satisfaczion  grandisima  de  la  Ziiidad,  que  tuvo  el  gusto, 
hallandose  alii  entonzes  el  Emperador  [Carlos  V.],  de 
liazerlo  tambien  oir  por  tan  gran  Prinzipe.  Predico  el  en 
S.  Juan  Mayor,  con  tanto  aplauso  i  admirazion,  que  babia 
desbancado,  tod#s  los  otros  Predicadores,  pues  que,  a  porfia, 
todo  la  Ziudad  corria  a  sus  Sermones :  i  refiere  Gregorio 
Rosso,  testigo  de  vista  que  en  aquellas  dias  de  Cuaresma, 
iba  a  oirle,  con  fi-ecuenzia,  el  Emperador,  a  la  iglesia  de 
S.  Juan,  con  muclio  gusto  suyo,  a  cause  de  que  (como  el 
dize)  predicaba  con  [tal]  espiritu,  i  devozion  [tan]  grande, 
que  hazia  llorar  los  piedras." 

A  treatise  by  John  WicklifFe,  written  so  early  as  1380, 
has  furnished  Ochino  with  his  manner  of  treating  the  sub- 
ject of  Antichrist  in  his  Predica  LXV.  in  the  Seconda 
imrte  delle  prediche ;  L'  Imagine  d'  Antechristo,  as  may 
be  seen  by  a  comparison  of  it  with  "  Of  Antechrist  and 
his  Meynee "  (followers),  in  "  Three  Treatises,  by  John 
WycklyfTe,  D.D.,  now  first  printed  from  a  manuscript  in  the 
library  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  by  James  Henthorn 
Todd,  D.D.,  Dublin,  1851,"  pp.  cxv.-cliv.  Ochino  would 
have  probably  read  it  in  Latin.  His  sermon  on  Antichrist 
was  translated  into  Spanish,  and  circulated  as  a  tract  about 
the  year  1558  with  the  title  ^^  Imogen  del  Antecliristo  com- 
l)uesta  primcro  en  Italiano  y  despues  traducida  en  Romance 


por  Alonso  de  penaflierte."     See  the  edition  1840,  12mo. 
It  a^^peared  also  in  French  before  the  year  1551. 


Note  25.     Page  xxxix. 

Dialogo  de  la  Lengua.     Madrid,  18G0,  p.  xxiii. 

II  Valdes  leggeva  in  sua  Casa  Vistesse  Epistole  che  leg- 
geva  P.  Martire.  II  Flaminio  in  quel  di  Sessa  e  di  Caserta 
faceua  Sermoni  di  Vita  Sjnrituale. 

Yaldes  read  in  his  own  house  the  same  Epistles  as  Peter 
Martyr  ...  In  that  of  Sessa  and  of  Caserta,  Flaminio  de- 
livered Sermons  on  the  Spiritual  Life. 

Antonio  Caracciolo,  Vita  e  Gesti  di  Paulo  IV.  British 
Museum,  Harleian  MSS.  No.  1763,  fol.  113  vto. 


Note  26.     Page  liii. 

Accadde  appresso,  cioe  nel  1535  che  con  Carlo  V.  venae 
in  Roma  un  D.  Gio.  Valdes  nohile  Spagnuolo  ....  Era 
costui  {mi  disse  il  Card,  di  Ifonreale,  che  se  lo  ricordava) 
di  helV  aspetto  e  di  dolcissime  maniere,  ed  cZ'  un  jmrlare 
soave  ed  attrativo ;  faceua  professione  di  Lingue  e  di  sacra 
Scrittura,  s'  annido  inNapoli.  A.  Caracciolo.  Vita  e  Gesti 
di  Paulo  IV.  MS. 

"  It  happened  about  this  time,  that  is,  in  the  year  1535, 
there  came  with  Charles  V.  [from  Naples]  to  Pome  one 
Don  Juan  de  Valdes,  a  Spanish  nobleman."  ..."  lie  was, 
as  the  Cardinal  of  Monreale,  who  remembered  him,  told 
me,  of  a  fair  countenance,  very  sweet  manners,  and  attrac- 
tive speech  ;  he  professed  a  knowledge  of  languages  and  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  He  was  settled  at  Naples."  Charles 
V.  arrived  at  Naples  from  Tmiis,  Nov.  25th,  1535. 


Ixxxii 

Perche  spesso  ad  uno  opprcsso  da  grave  male  ressempio  d'un  mag- 
gior  allegerisce  il  martire :  non  trouando  io  a  la  pena  mia  altro 
rimedio,  tiolsi  Vanimo  aV  incendio  di  Troia,  e  misurando  con  quello  il 
mio,  conobhi  senza  dubhio  nessun  onale  entro  a  quelle  mura  esser 
auuenuto,  che  nel  mezzo  del  mio  petto  un  simil  non  si  senta,  loquale 
ccrcando  in  parte  sfogare  di  quel  di  Troia  dolendomi  ho  scoperto  il 
mio :  onde  lo  mando  a  uoi,  accioche  egli  per  uera  somiglianza  id 
onostri  gli  affanni  miei  poi  che  ne  i  sospiri,  ne  le  lagrime,  ne  7  color 
mio  ue  V  han  potuto  mostrar  giamai. 

Note  32.     Page  Ix. 

The  picture  of  Giulia  Gonzaga,  painted  by  Sebastiano, 
went  into  the  collection  of  Francis  I.  of  France,  at  Fon- 
tainebleau.  A  portrait,  said  to  be  the  same,  having  the 
attributes  of  a  saint,  S.  Agatha  or  S.  Apollonia,  the  nimbus 
and  pincers,  afterwards  adorned  the  Borghese  palace  at 
Rome.  It  was  purchased  by  the  Rev.  W.  Holwell  Carr, 
and  bequeathed  by  him  to  the  National  Gallery,  London, 
together  with  a  companion  picture  by  the  same  master 
containing  portraits  of  the  painter  and  his  patron,  that 
represents  the  artist  taking  up  a  purse  from  a  document 
which  the  Cardinal  appears  to  have  just  written. 

Note  33.     Page  Ix. 
Vita  di  Giulia  Gonzaga,  MS. 

Note  34.     Page  Ixi. 

The  letter  is  given  in  Spanish  by  Affo  ;  it  is  addressed 
to  Giulia  Gonzaga,  signed  by  Charles  V.,  and  counter- 
signed by  his  secretary  Idiaques.  Memorie  di  tre  Prin- 
cipesse,  p.  40. 

Note  35.     Page  Ixiii. 
See  the  Will  in  the  Appendix  III.  pp.  235-242. 


Ixxxiii 


Note  36.     Page  Lxiii. 

La  valerosa  Matrona  speclihen  tosto  Marc'antonio  Magno 
suo  Procuratore  all'  Imperador  Carlo  V.,  non  solamente  a 
fine  d'  impeti-are  al  Nipote  1'  Investitura  dello  Stato  di  Lom- 
bardia,  ma  per  ottenere  eziandio,  clie  fossero  mutati  gli 
amministratori  dello  Stato  medesimo,  cliiedendo,  clie  lore 
si  suiTogassero  il  Cardinal  Ercole  Gonzaga,  e  Don  Ferrante 
Vicere  di  Sicilia  fratello  di  lui.  La  qual  cosa  parendo  a 
Cesare  molto  ragionevole,  fu  di  buon  grado  accordata,  e 
fu  spedito  il  diploma  favor evole  il  giorno  6.  di  Settembre 
1541.  —  Affo,  Vita  di  Vespasiano  Gonzaga,  pp.  4-5. 

Note  37.     Page  lxiii. 

Affo  gives  a  list  of  the  Hebrew  books  printed  at  Sabbio- 
netta,  amounting  to  thirty-one,  in  his  Vita  di  Vespasiano 
Gonzaga  duca  di  Sahbionetta,  etc.  Parma,  1780,  4to.  pp. 
145-168. 

Note  38.     Page  Ixiv. 

Trial  and  Martyrdom  of  Pietro  Carnesecchi,  etc.,  by 
Richard  Gibbings,  1856,  p.  22.  Lami,  Antichita  Toscane 
e  spezialmente  della  citta  di  Firenze,  1766,  4to. 


Facsimile  of  the  ancient  Title. 


ALPHABETO 

C  H  R   I  ST  I  A  N  O, 


CHE    INSEGNA  LA  VERA 

VIA  D'ACQ^VISTARE 

IL     LVME    DELLO     SPI  = 

RITO      SANTO. 


^ 


Stampata    con   gratia  i5f  priuikgio 
PJnno    M.    D.      XL  VI. 


MAECO    ANTONIO    MAGNO 

to  the  Most  Illustrious  Lacly^ 

the  Signora  Donna  Giulia  Gonzaga^ 

his  Patroness, 

Having  read  the  dialogue  in  the  Spanish 
language^  entitled  Alfabeto  Christiano,  written 
hy  a  person  who  truly  did  not  seek  honour  to 
his  name^  yet  who  has  indeed  acquired  it, -a 
treatise  inciting  the  reader  to  Christian  piety 
more  than  any  I  have  ever  read, -it  seemed  to  me 
that  it  would  still  more  excite  me  to  pursue  the 
true  way  of  Christ,  which  it  teaches,  if  I  trans- 
lated it  into  our  Italian  language  as  closely  as 
my  knowledge  would  permit.  And  not  being 
solicitous  to  write  the  Tuscan  dialect  in  other 
respects  than  so  as  to  make  it  well  understood, 
I  use  almost  the  same  words  that  the  author 
himself  employed.  And  thus  I  send  to  your 
most  Illustrious  Ladyship  the  effigy  of  yourself, 
that  you  may  see  whether  I  have  known  how 
to  make  it  discourse  as  persuasively  in  your 
language,  as  the  author  of  the  work  has  made  it 
conduce,  hy  such  divine  arguments,  to  the  love  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  in  his  own. 


TO    THE    MOST    ILLUSTRIOUS     /.  2. 

LADY,    SIG^NOEA 
DOTsTjS^A    GIULIA    GOIN^ZAGA. 


Constrained  by  the  commands  of  your  most 
Illustrious  Ladyship,  contrary  to  my  own 
opinion,  I  have  written  in  form  of  dialogue  all 
that  religious  conversation  in  which  we  were 
so  deeply  interested  the  other  day  when 
returning  from  the  Sermon,  that  only  the 
night  made  it  necessary  for  us  to  break  it  off. 
If  I  rightly  remember,  no  point  on  which  we 
then  discoursed  is  here  omitted,  nor  is  any 
subject  we  then  discussed  left  unexamined. 
Read  it  when  you  have  leisure ;  and  if  anything 
be  wanting,  or  is  superfluous,  or  if  anything 
afresh  occur  to  you  in  reply  to  what  is  here 
stated,  inform  me  of  it ;  because  by  erasing  the 
one  and  inserting  the  other,  the  Dialogue  will 
at  length  be  left  perfectly  conformable  to  your 
wishes ;  for  my  purpose  in  writing  it  has  solely 
been  to  please  and  satisfy  your  Ladyship. 

A3 


This  reason  may  serve  at  the  same  time  as 
an  answer  to  such  persons  who,  on  reading 
this  Dialogue,  may  think  it  much  too  strict 
and  rigid,  and  as  a  reply  to  others  to  whom  it 
may  appear  as  much  too  free  and  unguarded : 
they  not  reflecting  that  I  did  not  discourse  it 
with  them,  nor  write  it  for  them,  but  I  dis- 
course it  with  your  Ladyship,  and  write  \tfor 
your  Ladyship;  including,  however,  all  such 
persons  who,  in  your  name,  and  as  an  affair 
entirely  your  own,  may  incline  to  make  use 
and  avail  themselves  of  it. 

Li  return  for  the  labour  I  have  for  several 
days  employed  in  writing  this  treatise,  I  desire 
from  your  Ladyship  only  two  things.  One  is, 
that  you  may  give  to  that  which  you  will  here 
read,  no  trust  or  belief  further  than  as  it  ap- 
pears and  is  made  clear  to  you,  that  it  has 
foundation  in  the  Scriptures,  and  invites  and 
leads  you  forward  to  that  perfect  Christian 
charity  which  is  the  mark  by  which  Christ 
desires  that  His  followers  should  be  distin- 
guished from  all  other  persons.  The  other 
thing  is :  that  you  make  use  of  this  Dialogue  as 


children  use  a  Grammar  when  they  learn  Latm, 
in  the  manner  of  a  Christian  Alphabet, 
in  which  you  may  learn  the  rudiments  of 
Christian  perfection,  making  it  your  aim,  the 
elements  being  attained,  to  leave  the  alphabet 
and  apply  your  soul  to  things  more  important, 
more  excellent,  more  divine.  It  is  expedient 
that  your  Ladyship  do  as  I  say,  as  much  for 
your  own  advantage  as  for  my  safety.  Because 
if  you  do  so,  I  shall  not  then  have  fallen  into 
the  error  of  those  persons  who  sell  their  own 
writings  and  imaginations  at  the  same  price 
for  which  they  barter  holy  Scripture,  nor  your 
Ladyship,  into  the  mistake,  far  more  hurtful 
than  beneficial,  into  which  those  persons  fall, 
who  with  a  pious  simplicity  apply  themselves 
to  the  mere  writings  of  men,  without  looking 
for  something  far  beyond  them.  It  frequently 
happens  to  such  persons,  that  finding  in  those 
writings  the  milk  of  the  doctrine  of  rudi- 
ments, -^they  take  so  much  relish  in  it,  that  f- 
persuading  themselves  they  can  gain  from  it 
the  higher  consolations  that  belong  to  Chris- 
tian perfection,  they  are  not  careful  to  go 
onward,   seeking  the   aliment  of  the  perfect 

a4 


3. 


Christian,  which  is  to  be  found  in  the  sacred 
Scriptures  alone.  Because  those  only  in  some 
measure  accommodate  themselves  to  the  capa- 
city of  them  that  read,  who  at  the  first  give 
the  milk  of  the  word  and  afterwards  present 
the  stronger  food  to  the  more  proficient  for 
their  nourishment.  Hence  it  arises  that  such 
persons,  depending  upon  men  and  always  read- 
ing their  writings,  remain  imperfect,  and  yet 
frequently  judge  of  and  satisfy  themselves  that 
they  are  most  perfect.  Now  desiring  that 
your  Ladyship  may  never  judge  nor  satisfy 
yourself  that  you  are  perfect,  but  that  you 
may  be  so  in  reality,  both  in  the  view  of  God 
and  of  the  world,  I  wish  you  not  so  to  read  this 
composition,  nor  to  hold  it  in  greater  estima- 
tion than  ought  to  be  given  to  the  writings 
of  one  who,  desirous  to  gratify  you  in  this 
Christian  object,  only  points  out  to  you  the 
way  by  which  you  may  arrive  at  Christ  him- 
self and  become  united  with  Him. 

And  I  desire  that  your  Christian  intention 
may  be,  to  make  Christ  the  peaceful  possessor 
of  your  heart,  in  such  a  manner  that  He  may 
absolutely  and  without  contradiction  rule  and 


regulate  all  your  purposes.  And  when  your 
Ladyship  shall  have  done  this,  believe  me  that 
you  will  not  feel  the  want  of  anything  whatso- 
ever in  this  present  life  that  can  give  you 
entire  contentment  and  repose.  Because  Christ 
himself  will  dispose  all  things  and  provide  the 
most  pleasant  banquets  for  you,  even  the  know- 
ledge of  his  Divinity,  in  which  in  quietness 
and  confidence  you  shall  lie  down  and  slumber. 
And  when  I  shall  know  and  see  that  your 
Ladyship  is  in  this  glorious  state,  assured  and 
certain  of  your  spiritual  progress,  I  shall  not 
hesitate  to  believe  that  my  intention  in  this 
work  has  been  altogether  one  of  Christian  con- 
cern, and  that  your  Ladyship  has  perused  it 
with  a  mind,  pure,  humble,  and  discreet. 

May  God,  our  Lord,  make  it  suitable  for 
your  most  illustrious  Ladyship's  need,  and  for 
the  object  which  I,  as  your  most  affectionate 
servant,  perpetually  desire ! 


11 

ALFABETO    CHRISTIANO.  /.  4. 

GlULIA    GONZAGA.        JuAN   DE   YaLDES. 

GiULiA.  I  have  so  much  confidence  in  our 
friendship,  that  I  seem  as  though  I  could 
freely  communicate  to  you  even  those  things 
that  we  scarcely  discover  to  the  ears  of  a  con- 
fessor. Therefore,  wishing  now  to  impart  to 
you  some  things  nearer  to  me  than  life  itself, 
I  entreat  you,  if  you  have  not  more  important 
business  elsewhere,  to  listen  attentively  to 
what  I  wish  to  say  to  you.  And  notice,  if 
you  think  you  cannot  attend  closely  to  me 
now,  through  having  your  thoughts  engaged 
elsewhere,  tell  me  with  all  freedom ;  for  if  so, 
I  can  defer  it  to  another  day. 

Yaldes.  On  the  contrary,  Signora,  I  gain 
a  favour  by  whatever  you  command  me ;  and 
you  know  already  that  I  have  no  business 
which  can  hinder  me,  especially  in  what  re- 
lates to  your  service. 

GiULiA.  Now,  setting  aside  all  vain  rhetoric 
and  useless  ceremony,  which  between  us  are 
quite  superfluous,  I  wish  you  to  know  that  I 


12  ALFABETO 

live  almost  continually  so  dissatisfied  with 
myself,  and  in  like  manner  with  everything 
in  the  world,  and  so  out  of  conceit  with  them, 
that  if  you  saw  my  heart,  I  am  sure  you 
would  pity  me ;  for  in  it  you  would  find,  if 
not  confusion,  at  least  inquietude  and  per- 
plexity. And  of  these  I  have  now  more, 
now  less,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  cir- 
cumstances that  present  themselves.  But  I 
never  feel  so  much  calmness  of  mind,  that 
wishing  to  settle  it,  I  can  conclusively  under- 
stand what  it  is  that  I  would  wish  for,  or 
what  thing  would  satisfy  it,  or  with  what  it 
would  rest  contented.  Hence,  I  cannot  con- 
ceive what  can  now  be  oiFered  to  me,  suffi- 
cient to  remove  this,  my  confusion  of  mind, 
appease  my  inquietude,  and  resolve  this  per- 
plexity. Many  years  have  I  lived  in  the 
manner  1  describe,  and  during  this  time,  as 
you  know,  various  circumstances  have  hap- 
pened to  me  sufficient  to  disturb  a  tranquil 
spirit,  much  more  a  soul  so  disquieted  and 
confused  as  mine.  Besides  this,  you  know, 
that  at  the  first  sermons  I  heard  from  our 
Preacher,  you  persuaded  me  by  your  words, 


CHRISTIANO.  13 

that  by  means  of  this  doctrine,  I  should  be 
able  to  -tranquillise  and  settle  my  mind  in 
peace;  but  now,  at  last,  I  find  it  altogether 
the  reverse  of  what  I  thought.  And  although 
I  attribute  this  more  to  my  own  imperfections 
than  to  any  defect  in  him,  yet  altogether  it 
gives  me  pain  to  perceive  that  my  hopes  have 
not  succeeded.  This  disappointment  might 
be  tolerable,  yet  it  is  the  worse,  that,  instead 
of  being  cured  of  one  infirmity,  I  have  entered 
into  another,  without  being  released  from  the 
former.  This  is  a  most  heavy  and  cruel  con- 
trariety, so  much  so,  that  I  feel  so  weary  and 
disgusted  with  myself,  that  tears  frequently 
come  into  my  eyes  through  not  knowing  what 
to  do  with  myself,  or  what  to  lean  upon.  The 
sermons  of  the  Preacher  -^have  engendered  /.  5. 
this  contrariety  in  my  mind.  Through  them  I 
see  myself  violently  assailed,  on  one  side  by 
the  fear  of  hell  and  the  love  of  paradise,  and 
on  the  other  by  the  dread  of  people's  tongues 
and  the  love  of  the  world's  honour.  In  this 
manner  two  kinds  of  fears  and  two  of  affec- 
tions, or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  two  aff'ec- 
tions  of  fear  and  two  diff'erent  ones  of  love, 


14  ALFABETO 

are  what  figlit  within  me,  and  have  kept  me 
such  as  I  am  for  some  days.  If  you  could 
feel  what  I  now  feel,  you  might  truly  wonder 
how  I  can  pass  it  off  and  conceal  it  as  I  do. 
This  is  what  I  find  within  me,  and  in  this 
state,  good  and  bad,  which  I  have  described  as 
well  as  I  have  known  how,  my  concerns  remain. 
Now,  since  you  have  shown  so  much  affection 
and  good  will  to  aid  me  in  my  outward  affairs, 
I  entreat  you  to  be  ready  to  assist  and  counsel 
me  in  these  interior  things,  because  I  very 
well  know,  that  if  you  are  willing,  you  have 
more  skill  to  assist  me  in  these,  than  in  the 
others. 

Valdes.  Say  freely,  Signora,  all  that  you 
wish  to  ask  of  me,  and  you  may  be  assured 
that  I  will  always  expend  in  your  service  all 
that  I  know  and  am  able  to  do. 

GiULiA.  In  such  confidence  I  have  en- 
tered into  this  conversation  with  you,  in 
the  first  instance,  in  order  that  you  may  tell 
me  from  what  cause  you  believe  the  con- 
fusion, doubt,  and  perplexity  spring,  which 
for  so  long  a  time  I  have  felt  in  my  mind,  and 
whether  you  think  they  can  be  remedied,  and 


CHRISTIANO.  15 

what  means  can  be  used  for  the  purpose. 
This  said,  you  will  tell  me  concerning  the 
contradictions  that  have  arisen  in  me  after  I 
heard  these  sermons,  whether  it  would  be 
possible  by  any  way  to  quiet  my  mind,  either 
by  assent,  or  really  by  resistance,  because  this 
tempest  of  affections  and  appetites,  of  imagina- 
tions and  diversities  of  will,  it  cannot  endure 
much  longer ;  and  I  wish  you  not  to  lose  time 
with  excusing  yourself  by  your  usual,  not  to 
say  feigned  humility,  which  in  such  a  case 
you  are  accustomed  frequently  to  use. 

Yaldes.  On  the  contrary,  mthout  more 
reflectioil,  I  will  at  once  make  a  beginning. 
Yet,  I  wish  you  first  to  make  me  one  promise. 

GiULiA.     What  promise? 

Valdes.  It  is  this,  that,  if  I  make  you 
truly  comprehend,  from  what  cause  your  con- 
fusion, inquietude,  and  contradictions  proceed, 
and  show  you  the  way  by  which  you  can  be 
freed  from  them,  you  will  give  me  your  assur- 
ance and  word,  that  you  will  walk  in  it. 

GiULiA.  If  in  this  manner  I  might  be  so 
certain  that  you  would  do  what  you  say,  as  I 
am  certain  that  in  such  case  I  would  do  what 


16  ALFABETO 

you  ask  of  me,  I  should  already  begin  to  quiet 
myself. 

Valdes.  Now  then,  I  hope,  not  so  much 
from  any  skill,  or  sufficiency  of  my  own,  as  in 
the  aiFection  and  willingness  I  have  to  serve 
you,  and  likewise  in  your  lively  understand- 
mg  and  lucid  judgment,  and  above  all  in  the 
grace  of  God,  that  before  I  leave  this  place,  you 
shall  not  only  learn  what  you  wish,  but  you 
shall  know  and  understand  the  way  by  which 
you  can  free  yourself  from  your  former  in- 
firmity and  its  consequences.  Be  very  atten- 
tive, Signora,  because  upon  every  single  thing 
which  I  shall  say  to  you,  you  can  reply  to  me 
what  may  occur  to  you. 

GiULiA.     I  will  do  so. 

Yaldes.  Then  in  order  to  understand, 
/.  6.  -^Signora,  whence  proceed  the  travail  and  con- 
fusion, which  you  say  you  have  felt  for  so 
many  years,  I  wish  you  would  turn  over  in 
your  memory  how  that  man  is  made  in  the 
image  and  likeness  of  God. 

GiULi  A.  Let  me  understand  what  this  image 
and  likeness  of  God  is. 

Valdes.     I  wish  rather  that  St.  Paul  may 


CHRISTIANO.  17 

explain  it  to  you,  and  thus  you  will  under- 
stand it  by  what  he  says  to  the  Colossians, 
where,  admonishing  them  to  speak  the  truth 
one  to  another,  he  counsels  them  to  put  off 
the  Old  man  with  his  deeds,  and  to  put  on 
the  New  man,  who  is  renewed  in  knowledge 
conformable  to  the  image  and  likeness  of  Him 
who  created  him,^  And  you  will  also  under- 
stand it  by  what  St.  Paul  again  says  to  those 
of  Ephesus,  reminding  them,  that  by  becom- 
ing Christians  they  have  learned  to  put  off  the 
Old  man  and  to  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  and 
clothed  with  the  New  man,  who  is  created  in 
the  image  and  likeness  of  God.^  From  this  it 
appears  that  in  such  a  degree  as  man  possesses 
and  retains  in  himself  the  image  and  likeness 
of  God,  in  the  same  measure  he  sees  and 
knows,  understands  and  relishes  spiritual 
things,  in  a  spiritual  life  and  conversation. 
This  truly  known,  and  what  objects  you  set 
before  your  mind  well  scrutinised,  you  will 
understand  clearly  how  all  the  inquietude,  all 
the  travail,  all  the  confusion  you  feel,  arises ; 
because  your  soul  desires  you  to  procure  its 
»  Col.  iii.  9,  10.  2  Eph.  iv.  22-24. 

B 


18  ALFABETO 

restitution  to  the  image  of  God  to  which  it 
was  created,  and  of  which  it  appears  you  have 
deprived  it.  Submitting  to  your  appetites, 
and  persisting  in  crossing  this  image,  you 
have  put  before  it  things  earthly  and  tran- 
sitory, not  by  any  means  worthy  of  that  ex- 
cellence for  which  it  was  created.  For  this 
reason  it  cannot  be  satisfied,  or  contented  with 
any  of  these  things.  It  seems  to  you  that  it 
knows  not  what  it  wishes  for,  and  hence  you 
know  not  how  to  set  before  it  that  which  it 
would  desire.  This  state  of  mind  that  hap- 
pens to  you,  ever  befalls  worldly  persons  who 
having  attained  to  a  reflective  intellect  and 
clear  judgment,  knowing  truly  that  their  souls 
lind  not,  nor  ever  can  find,  entire  satisfaction 
in  outward  things,  turn  themselves  to  seek 
for  it  in  things  relating  to  the  mind.  Yet  as 
the  supernatural  Light,  by  which  alone  truth 
is  discovered,  seen,  and  known,  is  wanting  to 
them,  they  go  wandering  in  a  labyrinth  of  ap- 
pearances and  opinions.  And  thus  some  seek 
happiness  in  one  thing,  some  in  another.  I 
think  it  not  worth  while  to  refer  here  to  ex- 
amples, because  this  is  not  the  point  of  your 


CHRTSTIANO.  19 

proposition.  It  is  enough  that  you  know  this, 
that  all  these  persons  deceive  themselves,  and 
can  never  shadow  out,  nor  reach  to  the  symbols 
of  the  things  in  which  true  happiness  consists, 
who,  if  they  had  had  a  little  of  the  light  of 
faith,  would  most  easily,  and  with  the  grace 
of  God,  have  acquired  it,  and  thus  they  would 
have  quieted  and  pacified  their  souls.  Have 
you  now  understood  the  -^cause  whence  your  /•  7. 
inquietude,  confusion,  and  labour  proceed? 

GiULiA.     Yes,  very  well. 

Valdes.  Now  then  you  know  that  they 
may  surely  be  remedied,  and  that  the  remedy 
is  in  your  own  hands. 

GiULiA.     In  my  hands? 

Valdes.  Yes!  in  your  hands.  Because 
whenever  you  determine  yourself  to  do  what 
I  tell  you,  and  which  St.  Paul  tells  you, 
respecting  the  renewing  and  restoring  within 
you  the  image  and  likeness  of  God,  you  will 
find  peace,  quiet,  and  repose  of  spirit. 

GiULiA.     And  how  must  I  do  this? 

Valdes.  By  withdrawing  it  from  things 
fallen  and  transitory,  and  by  applying  it  to 
those  that  are  fixed  and  eternal ;  not  wishing, 

b2 


20  ALFABETO 

nor  endeavouring  to  feed  it  with  things  cor- 
poral, but   spiritual,  not  nourishing  it  with 
things  worldly,  but  with  things  celestial.    And 
in  this  manner  your  spirit  finding  its  proper 
aliment,    and  seeing  itself  clothed  with  the 
New  man  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  which 
it  was  created,  it  will  always  live  content  and 
cheerful ;    and  here  in  this  present  life  it  will 
begin  to  taste  of  that  felicity  which  it  expects 
to  enjoy  for  ever  in  the  life  eternal,  being 
thus  that  the  happiness  of  man  consists  in  his 
knowledge  of  God  and  of  Christ  shown  by  the 
light  of  faith,  and  in  the  union  of  the  soul  with 
God  through  faith,  hope,  and  charity.    To  this 
happiness  only  the  true  Christian  can  arrive. 
GiULiA.      I  should  well  believe  this  you 
say,   because   indeed   it   appears  founded  in 
reason,   but   as   I  know  many  persons  who 
have   as  much,  and  perhaps   more  cancelled 
the  image  of  God  than  I  have  done,  and  who  ' 
do  not  present  to  their  minds  things   more 
spiritual  than   I   present  to  mine,  yet  they 
live  in  pleasure,  finding  content  and  satisfac- 
tion in  the  things  of  this  world;    so  that  I 
know  not  what  to  believe. 


CHRISTIAXO.  21 

Yaldes.  Such  persons'  minds  dwell  in  a 
low  and  vulgar  state,  and  therefore  low  and 
mean  objects  give  them  satisfaction.  But  a 
spirit,  generous  and  refined  like  yours,  cannot 
calm  itself  and  take  repose,  except  in  that 
greatness  for  which  it  was  created.  Hence,  I 
repeat,  if  you  are  disgusted  and  live  with 
your  mind  in  confusion,  it  is  because  you  do 
not  turn  it  to  things  spiritual  and  divine,  and 
because  you  continually  -^x  its  consideration 
upon  these  low  and  transitory  concerns.  You 
will  better  understand  it  by  this  comparison. 

Two  persons  set  out  from  this  place  to  go 
to  Spain.  One  of  them  is  so  careless  and  for- 
getful of  his  purpose,  that  whenever  anything 
amusing  or  delightful  occurs  on  the  way  he 
not  only  partakes  of  it  and  enjoys  it,  but 
quite  forgets  his  principal  journey,  and  grati- 
fies his  body  and  mind,  stopping  on  the  road. 
The  other  on  the  contrary  is  so  solicitous  and 
punctual,  that  with  all  the  entertainments 
and  feasts  that  are  offered  to  him  he  will  not 
taste  or  enjoy  any,  because  he  knows  and  is 
sure  that  he  is  not  to  remain  there ;  nay,  they 
are  frequently  displeasing  and  distasteful  to 

B    3 


22  ALFABETO 

him,  considering  them  as  hindrances  and  in- 
terruptions of  his  journey.  And  such  earthly- 
minded  persons  even  now  have  a  want  of 
satisfaction  in  these  things  whenever  their 
principal  journey  becomes  more  impressed  on 
their  remembrance,  and  although  at  times 
/  8.  they  forget  -^themselves  and  lose  sight  of  their 
object,  there  remains  impressed  upon  their 
memory  altogether  a  something,  I  know  not 
what,  which  causes  them  to  find  no  true 
enjoyment  in  anything  that  the  journey  pre- 
sents to  them. 

Such  are  we  in  this  life.  We  are  all  born 
and  created  to  know  God,  to  believe  God,  to 
love  God,  and  after  this  state  of  existence  to 
enjoy  God.  And  yet  there  are  some  who  feed 
on  the  pleasures  of  this  world,  not  only  delight- 
ing and  giving  themselves  up  to  rest  in  them, 
but  who  are  wholly  forgetful  of  that  other 
life  for  which  they  were  created.  There  are 
also  others  who,  being  offered  the  same  de- 
lights and  pleasures,  enjoy  them  not,  nor  take 
relish  in  them;  nay,  they  are  often  insipid  and 
distasteful,  keeping  always  in  view  that  other 
life  for  which   God  created  them.      And  al- 


CHRISTIAXO.  23 

thougli  for  a  time  these  forget  themselves, 
losing  the  remembrance  of  the  other  life,  yet 
because  God  stands  ever  at  the  door  and  calls 
them,  it  will  be  impossible  that  they  should 
find  relish  and  enjoyment  in  things  of  this 
world;  and  if  they  expect  or  endeavour  to 
find  them  here,  they  will  live  in  confusion, 
disgust,  and  inquietude,  as  you  are  living, 
Signora.  In  the  same  manner  then,  like  him 
Avho  knows  how  to  taste  of  the  things  of  this 
world,  yet  does  not  enjoy  them  as  things 
suitable  to  his  better  nature,  or  that  will  be 
lasting,  but  who  looks  at  them  as  tlie  curious 
beholder  views  them,  turning  away  from  the 
recreations  and  banquets  offered  to  him  by  the 
way, -I  wish,  Signora,  you  to  do  the  same. 
Turn  within  yourself,  open  the  ears  of  your 
soul,  so  that  you  may  hear  the  voice  of  God, 
and  think  as  a  true  Christian  that  in  this  life 
you  can  have  no  other  real  contentment  and 
rest,  than  what  will  come  to  you  by  means  of 
the  knowledge  of  God,  through  the  faith  and 
love  of  God.  Settle  your  mind  in  this  con- 
sideration; most  earnestly  putting  aside  all 
those  things  that  are  transitory  and  cannot 

B   4 


24  ALFABETO 

endure.  Doing  this,  I  promise  that  you  will 
occupy  a  much  shorter  time  in  quieting, 
soothing,  and  giving  peace  to  your  mind  than 
you  have  spent  in  disturbing  it.  And  if  you 
do  not  thus  overcome  it,  I  am  content  that 
you  should  never  give  credit  to  anything  I 
may  say  to  you. 

GiULiA.  Truly  I  believe  that  you  have 
divined  the  source  whence  my  infirmity  pro- 
ceeds, without  erring  in  a  single  point.  0 
God,  do  thou  assist  me !  How  blindly  do  we 
worldly  persons  go  on !  Even  now  I  am  sure 
that  you  have  divined  how  to  give  me  the 
medicine  by  which  I  shall  be  healed  of  my 
weakness.  It  only  remains  that  I  put  my 
trust  in  God  and  take  it.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  it  will  heal  me,  so  much  the  more  having 
such  a  physician  as  you  on  my  side. 

Valdes.  The  true  physician  of  the  soul  is 
Christ  crucified.  Put  all  your  confidence  in 
Him  alone,  and  you  will  discover  the  remedy. 
GiULiA.  From  what  you  have  said,  one 
doubt  has  come  to  my  recollection,'  on  which 
I  am  often  accustomed  to  think ;  I  entreat  you 
to  tell  me  how  it  appears  to  you. 


CHRISTIANO.  25 

Yaldes.     Ask  it  freely. 

GiULiA.     I  wish  to  know  from  you  how  it 
comes  to  pass  that  people  fall  into  -^such  blind-  /.  9. 
ness,  and  go  on  lost  in  the  things  that  gratify 
the   senses,   forgetful  chiefly  of  those   which 
they  ought  continually  to  care  for? 

Valdes.  These  are  remains  of  original 
sin. 

GiULiA.  This  is  what  I  do  not  compre- 
hend. They  say,  God  pardons  original  sin 
in  baptism.  Since  it  is  thus  he  pardons  us, 
how  is  it  that  there  remains  with  us  these  evil 
inclinations  and  this  blindness,  being  so  pre- 
judicial to  our  salvation? 

Yaldes.  Signora,  you  must  understand 
it  in  this  manner.  In  original  sin  two  things 
are  to  be  considered,  one  the  guilt,  the 
other  the  inclination  to  evil,  which  is  that  of 
which  you  speak.  And  it  is  thus ;  in  baptism 
through  faith,  God  pardons  us  the  guilt  of 
sin,  and  as  to  the  inclination  to  evil  he  goes 
on  medicating  and  curing  it  by  his  grace,  little 
by  little,  in  such  a  manner,  that  a  person  may, 
by  the  grace  and  favour  of  God,  so  much 
perfect  himself  as  almost  to  come  to  lose  all 


26  ALFABETO 

evil  inclinations,  all  unrestrained  appetites, 
and  all  inordinate  affections  that  reign  in  us 
throudi  oriQ:inal  sin.  Conformable  to  this  is 
that  saying  of  St.  Augustine,  that  the  Spirit 
of  God  restores  and  renews  in  us  the  image 
and  likeness  of  God  to  which  we  were  created. 
But  you  Avill  understand  it  better  by  this 
example. 

A  great  nobleman  has  a  servant  whom  he 
loves  and  to  whom  he  shows  much  grace  and 
favour.  This  servant  commits  a  serious  of- 
fence against  his  lord,  for  which  he  not  only 
deprives  him  of  all  favour  and  grace,  but  with 
just  indignation  sentences  him  to  death.  It 
happens  at  the  time,  that  a  person  in  high 
favour  with  the  nobleman  entreats  for  that 
servant,  to  whom,  in  consideration  for  such 
person,  he  graciously  gives  pardon  of  his 
life,  and  although  he  does  not  admit  him 
to  the  same  place  in  his  favour  as  before  he 
had  sinned,  he  gives  him  the  entry  of  his 
palace  and  chamber,  so  that  he  may  in  time 
return  to  occupy  the  station  in  which  he  stood 
at  first. 

GiULiA.     By  this  example  I  completely  com- 


CHRISTIANO.  27 

prehend  it,  and  am  so  well  satisfied  that  I  re- 
main tranquil,  and  am  mthout  any  scruple 
as  to  this  point.  So  you  may  believe  that  you 
have  accomplished  not  a  little. 

Valdes.  If  I  were  conversing  with  a  person 
of  a  low,  gross,  and  unpolished  understanding, 
I  might  well  think  I  had  already  done  some- 
thing ;  but  addressing  whom  I  do,  I  have  need 
of  a  little  diligence  to  make  you  capable  to  re- 
ceive the  truth  in  a  manner  that  shall  not  leave 
me  wherewith  to  pride  myself,  if  it  were  only 
for  the  credit  you  give  to  my  words. 

GiULiA.  Come  now,  no  more  of  this.  Let 
us  come  to  the  subject,  and  tell  me  your  sen- 
timents about  the  mental  contradiction  that 
I  feel. 

Valdes.  I  say,  Signora,  that  as  I  pity  and 
regret  that  you  are  living  under  the  confusion 
of  mind,  of  which  we  have  just  now  spoken, 
so  also  I  am  pleased  and  satisfied  that  you  feel 
the  contradiction  of  which  you  speak. 

GiULiA.     Why  so? 

Valdes.  I  will  tell  you.  I  regret  the  con- 
fusion, because  it  proceeds  from  your  fault, 
as  we  have  said,  and  tends  to  your  injury,  -^as  /  10. 


28  ALFABETO 

you  yourself  experience  ;  and  I  am  pleased  at 
the  contradiction  of  mind,  because  I  know  that 
it  proceeds  from  this  :  that  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  produces  its  first  effect  in  you. 

GiULiA.  Why  do  you  call  this  contradiction 
the  first  eff'ect  of  preaching  the  Gospel? 

Yaldes.  Because  the  first  thing  that  light 
does  when  entering  into  a  dark  room  is  to 
scatter  the  darkness  unseen  before,  and  to  dis- 
cover and  show  what  is  not  seen  in  the  obscu- 
rity; so  in  the  same  manner,  when  the  light 
of  evangelical  truth  begins  to  shine  in  the  soul 
of  a  worldly  person,  dispersing  in  some  de- 
gree the  darkness  and  obscurity,  as  well  of  the 
senses  as  of  human  reason,  it  scatters  and 
chases  away  in  light,  what  the  darkness 
covered,  and  then  when  such  a  person  turns 
within  himself  he  begins  to  feel,  that  what  he 
before  regarded  as  good  is  evil ;  what  he  judged 
to  be  true  is  false ;  and  that  which  seemed  to 
him  sweet  is  bitter.  And  because  of  our  in- 
capacity and  fragility,  the  light  of  this  evan- 
gelical truth  shines  not  so  much  at  first  in  our 
souls  as  would  sufiice  to  scatter  from  them  at 
once  all  the  obscurity,  so  that  they  could  clearly 


CHRISTIANO.  29 

and  manifestly  know  the  nature  and  exist- 
ence of  these  things.  It  then  happens  that, 
the  darkness  contending  with  the  light,  and 
human  reason  with  the  Christian  spirit,  these 
contests  cause  them  to  feel  those  earthquakes  of 
inward  contradiction  that  you,  Signora,  now 
feel.  We  have  so  many  instances  of  this,  as 
well  in  the  history  of  Christ  which  the  Evan- 
gelists wrote,  as  in  what  St.  Luke  wrote  of 
the  acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  also  in  the 
epistles  of  St.  Paul,  that  if  I  wished  to  quote 
all  the  passages  one  by  one,  I  should  spend  all 
our  time  in  doing  this;  and  not  to  spend 
the  time  in  doing  so,  I  will  leave  them  for 
you,  since  you  have  the  New  Testament  in 
Italian,  to  read  them  there  yourself,  I  pointing 
them  out  to  you.  I  only  wish  to  tell  you  this : 
that  you  should  consider  these  contradictions 
of  mind  which  you  feel,  as  a  gift  and  blessing 
from  God,  and  you  should  make  use  of  them 
as  such,  giving  place  to  the  Light  as  it  shines 
more  and  more  in  your  soul.  In  this  manner 
you  will  become  freed  from  the  contradiction, 
and  will  put  yourself  into  a  capacity  to  receive 
the  other  gifts  of  God,  which  will  be  sweet 


30  ALFABETO 

and  well-flavoured.  May  God  preserve  you, 
Signora,  from  not  feeling  this  contradiction, 
because  not  to  feel  it  is  a  sign  of  hardness 
and  obstinacy. 

GiULiA.  In  conclusion,  this  is  the  decision ; 
that  I  cannot  conclude  to  understand  both 
you  and  the  other.  All  the  Preacher's  theme 
is  to  say,  that  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
soothes  and  pacifies  the  conscience,  and  now 
you  say  quite  the  contrary.  I  know  not 
what  to  say,  except  that  I  do  not  understand 
you. 

Yaldes.  Then  I  will  make  you  understand 
us,  and,  comprehending  it,  you  will  know  that 
we  both  speak  rightly,  and  that  there  is  no 
contradiction  in  our  lano;uao^e.  And  it  is  thus : 
the  Preacher  says  very  truly  that  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  soothes  and  pacifies  the  con- 
science. Yet  you  must  understand  that  it 
produces  this  effect  in  all  those  persons  who 
f.  11.  -^receive  and  embrace  Christ  through  faith,  in 
a  way  that  by  means  of  preaching  the  Gospel, 
which  announces  remission  and  pardon  of  sin 
by  Christ,  faith  soothes  and  pacifies  the  con- 
science, yet  only  of  those  persons  who  have 


CHPJSTIANO.  31 

living  and  entire  faith.  So  also  I  speak  truly 
that  the  same  preaching  begets  contradiction, 
terror,  and  dismay,  yet  it  is  in  those  persons 
who  hear  the  preaching,  although  they  do 
not  thereon  determine  to  embrace  the  truth 
through  faith,  nor  keep  it,  except  as  it  may 
be  merely  for  a  rule  of  moral  doctrine.  Find- 
ing that  it  is  opposed  to  their  affections  and 
appetites,  and  desiring  to  make  it  conform  to 
them,  at  one  time  they  desire  one  thing,  and 
at  another  time  they  wish  another,  and  not 
concluding  to  determine  themselves,  they  truly 
feel  one  of  the  effects  of  the  gospel  preaching, 
but  do  not  enjoy  the  fruition  of  it.  Have  you 
understood  it? 

GiULiA.  Yes,  very  well.  But  I  do  not  un- 
derstand why  you  are  pleased  to  see  me  in  this 
state  of  contradiction. 

Valdes.  Because  it  is  a  sign  that  you 
hearken  to  the  doctrine;  and  although  the 
evangelical  preaching  does  not  exercise  in  you 
its  chief  office,  which  is  that  described  by  the 
Preacher,  I  may  be  glad  that  at  least  it  exe- 
cutes the  office  of  the  Law,  which  is  what  I 
describe  to  you,  and  1  hope,  in  the  grace  of 


32  ALFABETO 

God,  that  after  the  preaching  has  performed 
in  you  the  office  of  the  Law,  it  will  then  exer- 
cise the  service  of  the  Gospel. 

GiULiA.  I  imagine  that  I  can  nearly  un- 
derstand what  you  wish  to  explain,  but  I 
shall  have  pleasure  in  learning  a  little  more 
particularly  what  is  the  office  of  the  Law,  and 
what  the  office  of  the  Gospel. 

Valdes.  Indeed  it  is  most  proper,  Signora, 
that  you  should  comprehend  both  of  them. 
Know  then  that  the  Law  is  the  rule  of  con- 
science, and  it  is  thus,  that  conscience  is  no 
other  than  the  Law  understood;  whose  office 
is  to  evidence  sin,  and  also  to  increase  it. 
St.  Paul  means  both  by  experience,  and  as  he 
truly  had  experienced  it,  he  writes  to  the 
Romans,  in  that  his  most  excellent  epistle, 
and  says  himself,  that  the  Law  works  wrath, 
because  persons  are  angry,  disgustful,  and  va- 
riable when  restricted  by  the  Law.  (Rom.  viii. ) 
He  says  more,  that  the  Law  is  spiritual,  for 
it  is  not  observed  in  its  integrity,  nor  rightly 
understood,  unless  the  person  is  a  spiritual 
person.  The  prophets  call  the  Law  a  heavy 
yoke,  a  rigorous  sceptre,  and  other  names  of 


CHRISTIANO.  33 

this  kind,  which  signify  severity.  And  when 
God  gave  the  Law  to  Moses,  the  people  of 
Israel,  who  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain, 
saw  great  lightnings  and  thunderings,  so 
that  all  trembled  with  fear  and  dismay.  All 
say,  that  these  things  signify  the  terror, 
alarm,  and  conflict  of  the  affections  which  the 
Law  generates  in  those  minds  to  whom  it  is 
given.  But  with  all  this,  you,  Signora,  ought 
to  know  that  the  Law  is  very  needful  to  you, 
for  if  you  had  not  the  Law  you  would  not 
have  conscience,  and  if  without  conscience, 
sin  would  not  be  known,  and  if  sin  were  not 
known,  we  should  not  humble  ourselves,  and 
if  we  did  not  humble  ourselves,  we  should 
not  -^obtain  grace,  if  we  did  not  obtain  grace,  /  i: 
we  should  not  be  justified,  and  not  being 
justified,  our  souls  would  not  be  saved.  And 
this  I  believe  St.  Paul  wishes  to  be  understood 
where  he  says,  that  the  Law  is  as  a  school- 
master or  governor  who  leads  and  conducts  us 
to  Christ,  although  by  means  of  faith  we  are 
justified.^  Here  you  perceive  the  office  of  the 
Law.     The  GospeL executes  the  same  office  in 

1  Gal.  iii.  24. 
'  C 


34  ALFABETO 

those  persons  who  receive  it  only  as  law;  but 
in  them  who  receive  it  as  an  ambassador  or 
messenger  of  grace  its  especial  office  is  to 
heal  the  wounds  made  by  the  Law,  to  preach 
grace,  peace,  and  remission  of  sins;  to  calm 
and  pacify  the  conscience ;  to  give  strength  to 
accomplish  what  the  Law  shows  us  to  be  the 
will  of  God,  and  by  which  the  enemies  of  the 
soul  are  warred  with,  and  by  which  they  are 
overcome  and  beaten  down  to  the  ground. 
And  thus  Christ  comes  to  them  compassionate, 
humble,  pacific,' and  full  of  love  and  charity, 
and  not  terrible  and  alarming  like  the  Law. 
In  this  manner  the  Law  teaches  us  what  we 
have  to  do,  the  Gospel  gives  us  spirit  by  which 
we  are  enabled  to  fulfil  it.  The  Law  makes 
the  wound,  the  Gospel  heals  it,  and  finall}^, 
the  Law  slays,  the  Gospel  gives  life.  I  do 
not  care  to  go  on  confirming  this  with  the 
authority  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  not  to 
occupy  the  time. 

GiULiA.  You  have  done  very  well.  Do 
not  trouble  yourself  if  you  do*  not  quote  your 
authorities;  when  you  shall  say  anything 
that  appears  difficult  to  me,  I  w411  ask  you 


CHRISTIANO.  35 

to  prove  it  to  me  by  some  authority  from 
Scripture. 

Valdes.  Let  it  be  so.  And  since  you 
have  already  understood  the  office  of  the  Law 
and  of  the  Gospel,  by  this  too  you  will  more 
clearly  discover  the  source  whence  springs 
the  contradiction  that  you  feel,  it  will  be  as 
well  that  we  go  forward. 

GiULiA.  I  wish  first  that  you  would  tell 
me  a  little  more  about  this  subject. 

Valdes.  I  know  not  what  more  to  tell 
you,  if  I  do  not  go  into  particulars. 

GiULiA.     Now  this  is  what  I  wish. 

Yaldes.  The  Preacher,  Signora,  by  his 
sermons,  has  awakened  in  your  remembrance 
what  you  already  had  conceived  of  heaven  and 
hell,  and  has  known  so  well  how  to  picture 
it  to  you  that  the  fear  of  hell  makes  you  love 
heaven,  and  the  love  of  heaven  makes  you 
dread  hell.  And  in  connection  with  showing 
you  this,  he  tells  you  that  you  cannot  fly  from 
hell  except  through  the  observance  and  keep- 
ino;  of  the  law  and  the  doctrine  of  Christ. 
And  as  he  declares  this  to  you  in  a  manner 
it  seems  to  you  that  you  cannot  perform  with- 

c  2 


X 


36  ALFABETO 

out  hazard  of  being  whispered  about,  dis- 
esteemed,  undervalued,  and  considered  as  little 
by  people  of  the  world,  the  forecast  for  the 
future  life  conflicting  within  you  on  one  side, 
and  on  the  other  an  unv/illingness  to  bear  the 
troubles  of  this,  so  the  contradiction  you  feel 
is  generated.  All  this  is  born  of  the  amor 
propria  with  which  you  love  yourself.  You 
fear  hell  for  your  own  interest,  you  love 
/;  13.  ^heaven  for  your  own  interest,  you  fear  the 
confusion  of  the  world  for  your  own  interest, 
you  love  the  glory  and  honour  of  the  world 
for  your  own  interest.  Thus  in  everything 
you  fear  and  love,  if  strictly  noticed,  you  will 
discover  yourself  there. 

GiULiA.  Then  whom  do  you  wish  that  I 
should  find  in  my  own  things  if  not  myself? 

Yaldes.  I  wish  that  you  should  again 
find  God,  and  not  yourself,  if  you  wish  to  be 
free  from  contradiction,  confusion,  inquietude, 
discontent,  and  a  thousand  other  discomforts 
beside,  from  which  you  can  never  become 
freed  ;  but  when  you  find  God,  you  will  find 
peace,  serenity,  quietness,  content,  cheerful- 
ness, and  courage,  and  such  an  infinitude  of 


CHRISTIANO.  37 

spiritual  blessings,  that  you  will  not  know  how 
to  gather  them.  Now  if  you  wish  to  slight  him, 
and  if  you  are  willing  to  deprive  yourself  of 
heaven  and  bind  yourself  to  hell,  through  un- 
willingness to  go  a  little  out  of  yourself,  and 
enter  into  God,  why,  see  you  to  it.  For  my- 
self, I  assure  you  that  there  is  nothing  in  the 
world  that  could  give  me  equal  satisfaction 
and  content,  than  to  see  you  walk  in  this 
Christian  path,  because  I  know  your  mind  so 
well  inclined,  I  hold  it  certain  that  if  you 
begin  to  enamour  yourself  with  God,  you  will 
surpass  in  the  victory  of  holiness  many  of 
those  saints  who  stand  in  heaven. 

GiULiA.  Indeed  I  desire  no  other  thing; 
God  knows  my  wishes. 

Valdes.  Then  why  do  you  not  take  what 
you  desire? 

GiULiA.  Because  I  do  not  know  how  to  do  so. 

Valdes.  Force,  force,  Signora,  is  the  only 
means  the  Gospel  concern  demands.  And  so 
Christ  said :  "  from  the  days  of  John  the  Bap- 
tist until  now,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  sufFereth 
violence,  and  the  violent  take  it  by  force."  ^ 

1  Matt.  xi.  12. 

c  3 


38  ALFABETO 

Thus  if  you  wish  to  take  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  do  violence  to  yourself,  and  so  you 
will  fear  nothing,  because,  as  a  Spanish  lady 
of  high  rank  said,  although  I  think  not  upon 
this  subject  iQiiien  a  si  venze^  a  nadie  teine], 
he  who  conquers  himself  fears  no  one. 

GiULiA.  Let  us  leave  mere  words  ;  the 
fact  is,  that  I  indeed  believe  all  my  confusion, 
my  inquietude,  and  my  contradiction  of  mind 
would  cease  by  entering  upon  the  way  of  God, 
and  for  this  reason  I  would  resolve  to  enter 
upon  it  immediately,  but  it  seems  to  me  so 
difficult  to  find,  that  I  dare  not  set  myself  to 
seek  it. 

Yaldes.  What  do  you  see  that  makes  it  so 
troublesome  to  find  ? 

GiULiA.     I  see  few  who  walk  by  that  road. 

Valdes.  In  this  you  are  so  far  right  that 
few  walk  in  it.  But  you  should  know,  that 
this  does  not  arise  so  much  from  the  difficulty 
of  the  way  as  from  our  own  evil  nature  and 
imperfection.  And  because  I  desire  to  con- 
firm you  in  this  truth,  I  wish  you  to  know 
that  in  the  present  life  you  will  discover 
five  kinds  of  persons.     Some  there  are  who 


CHRISTIANO.  39 

know  not  the  way  of  God,  neither  wish  to 
know  it,  because  they  foresee  that  by  walking 
in  that  way  they  must  deprive  themselves  of 
their  amusements  and  pleasures.  And  these 
persons,  although  they  do  not  speak  it  witli 
the  lips,  yet  from  the  heart  they  use  the 
lano-uao-e  that  Job  utters  when  noticino;  the 
wickedness  of  the  impious:  "Depart  from  us, 
-^for  we  desire  not  the  knowledge  of  thy  ways."  ^  /  H* 
The  same  says  David :  "  the  fool  hath  said  in 
his  heart  there  is  no  God,"  ^  because  in  reality, 
they  wish  that  there  were  no  God.  You  will 
find  other  persons  avIio  know  the  way  of  God, 
but  overcome  by  their  affections  and  appetites, 
they  do  not  conclusively  determine  to  walk 
in  it.  Christ  says  of  such :  "  the  servant  who 
knew  his  lord's  will  and  did  it  not  shall  be 
beaten  with  many  stripes."  ^  And  truly  it  is 
so  also  here  in  this  world.  Such  persons 
feel  a  continual  remorse  of  conscience  which 
keeps  them  discontented  and  without  enjoy- 
ment. 

You  will  find  another  kind  of  persons  who 
desire  and  have  the  will  to  learn  and  know  the 

»  Job  xxi.  14.  2  ps^  xiv.  1.  ^  Luke  xii.  47. 

c  4 


40  ALFABETO 

way  of  God,  but  being  bound  by  tlie  love  of  the 
things  of  this  present  life,  and  taking  supreme 
delight  in  them,  they  are  not  willing  to  give 
them  up,  and  so  they  do  not  dispose  themselves, 
in  a  manner  that  God  should  teach  and  show 
them  his  way.  Satan  directly  sets  before  such 
persons  certain  masked  passages,  which  he 
gives  them  to  understand  are  the  right  paths, 
and  they,  blind  with  love  of  themselves,  wil- 
Ungly  yield  themselves  to  be  deceived  and  in- 
jured by  supposing  that  God  carries  them 
whilst  it  is  the  devil  who  is  leading  them. 
Hence  are  born  superfluous  ceremonies ;  hence 
arise  pernicious  superstitions ;  hence  come  false 
worships.  God  says  of  such  persons  by  Isaiah : 
"they  seek  me  daily,  wishing  to  learn  and 
know  my  ways  like  people  who  have  lived 
righteously,  and  have  not  abandoned  the 
justice  and  judgment  of  the  Lord  their 
God."i 

You  will  find  another  kind  of  persons  who 

are  willing  to  know  the  way  of  God  and  dispose 

themselves  towards  it.     These  hearing  in  their 

souls  the  voice  of  Christ  which  says  :  "turn 

^  Isaiah  Iviii.  2. 


CHMSTIANO.  41 

within  you,  ye  who  go  wandering  ;  that  is  not 
the  right  path  in  which  you  are  walking  for 
you  cannot  go  by  that  to  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."  These  turn  within  themselves,  and 
perceiving  that  they  are  lost,  leave  the  road 
they  are  pursuing,  and  before  they  take  any 
other  course  pray  unto  God  that  he  would  show 
them  the  true  way.  And  the  disposal  is  this. 
Such  persons  are  presently  sensible  of  Christ, 
who  says  to  them:  "whoever  will  walk  by  the 
true  and  certain  way,  let  him  deny  himself,  take 
up  his  cross,  and  follow  me^,  imitating  me  in 
what  he  can,"  and  they  are  sensible  that  in 
another  place  of  Scripture  he  declares  this  to 
them :  "learn  of  me,  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  of 
heart,  [and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls."  ^] 
And  thus  they  immediately  enter  by  the  way 
of  denial  of  their  own  will  and  by  the  way  of 
patience  and  true  humility. 

You  will  find  some  other  persons  who  know 
the  way  of  God  and  walk  by  it,  some  with 
more  and  greater  fervency  than  others,  yet  in 
a  manner  that  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  go 
out  of  the  way  nor  forsake  it.  They  go  on 
1  Matt.  xvi.  24.  ^  Matt.  xi.  29. 


42  ALFABETO 

well,  and  these  in  truth  are  but  few,  as  you 
say,  Signora,  although  they  are. not  so  few  as 
you  thmk,  because  their  j^ath  being  spiritual, 
/.  15.  they  cannot  -^be  seen  but  by  spiritual  sight, 
nor  are  they  possibly  known  except  by  persons 
who  walk  by  the  same  road.  These  live  in 
continual  care  not  to  offend  God ;  and  if  at 
times  they  fall  into  any  mortal  sin  through 
weakness,  overcome  by  temptation,  they  turn 
immediately  to  God,  confess  their  offence,  and 
have  no  need  of  many  preparations  for  the 
confession,  for  as  David  says,  speaking  of  him- 
self, their  sin  is  ever  before  their  eyes. ^  These 
very  persons  have  some-  negligences  and  de- 
fects which  are  signs  that  their  minds  stand 
not  entirely  mortified.  Indeed  their  defects 
and  negligences  are  often  made  to  be  the  cause 
of  their  improvement,  because  they  repent  and 
humble  themselves,  and  thus  learn  to  mis- 
trust themselves  and  to  confide  in  God.  For 
this  reason  St.  Paul  says  that  all  things  work 
together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God^, 
and  hence  he  says  in  another  place  that 
there  is  nothing  to  bring  condemnation  to 
^  Ps.  li.  3.  2  Rom,  yiii  28. 


CHEISTIANO.  43 

them  who  having  entered  upon  this  road, 
stand  united  to  Christ  Jesus  by  faith  and 
love.^ 

The  first  persons  are  the  wicked ;  the  second, 
the  blind ;  the  third,  the  unsteady ;  the  fourth, 
the  prudent ;  the  fifth,  the  holy.  In  this  man- 
ner you  can  see  that  if  few  persons  walk 
by  the  Christian  way,  it  is  more  through  their 
impiety,  blindness,  and  fickleness  than  through 
its  difiiculty;  and  knowing  this,  you  should 
have  no  fear  of  finding  it.  And  since  you, 
Signora,  as  I  think,  are  one  of  the  fourth  sort 
of  persons,  set  yourself  to  listen  to  the  voice 
of  Christ,  for  he  will  put  you  forward  by  the 
true  way ;  and  consider  it  certain  that  directly 
you  shall  have  entered  upon  it  you  will  feel 
no  more  confusion,  inquietude,  travail,  or  per- 
plexity ;  in  short,  you  will  not  feel  any  of  those 
conflicts  of  mind,  but  on  the  contrary  yo 
will  experience  great  peace,  cheerfulness,  satis- 
faction, and  supreme  content. 

GiULiA.  All  that  you  have  said  satisfies 
me.  And  since  I  absolutely  wish  to  enter 
upon  this  way,  it  remains  for  you  to  lead  me 

^  Rom.  viii.  1. 


U  ALFABETO 

by  the  hand,  instructing  me  in  those  footsteps 
by  which  I  believe  you  have  walked. 

Valdes.  I  know  not  what  more  you  wish 
to  learn  from  me  of  that  which  the  Preacher 
tells  you  every  day. 

GiULiA.  I  am  w^eak,  and  cannot  make  such 
resistance  to  my  inclination  as  the  Preacher 
speaks  of. 

Valdes.  I  already,  in  good  part,  under- 
stand you,  Signora.  What  need  have  you  to 
go  by  the  branches  ?  ^  I  know  well  what  you 
would  wish. 

GiULiA.  What  rudeness !  Since  you  know 
it,  why  do  you  not  mention  it  ? 

Valdes.  Because  I  wait  that  you  should 
ask  it  with  your  o^vn  lips. 

GiULiA.  Do  me  this  favour  then,  since 
you  know  it,  to  mention  it ;  and  if  you  divine 
it,  I  will  tell  you  the  truth  without  reserve. 

Valdes.  I  am  content  with  this.  You, 
Signora,  w^ish  to  be  freed  from  the  trouble- 
some things  that  come  and  go  through  your 

^  An  Italian  and  Spanish  proverb,  used  by  Valdes : 
andare  per  li  rami?  Orig.  Dejemonos  de  andar  por  las 
ramas.     Dialogo  de  la  Lengua,  p.  203,  ed.  1860. 


CHRISTIANO.  45 

imagination,  and  being  convinced  tliat  this  is 
the  true  way  to  free  you  from  them,  you  wish 
me  to  show  you  some  royal  and  ladylike 
road  -^by  which  you  may  be  able  to  get  to  God  /.  16. 
without  turning  away  from  the  world,  and  by 
which  you  can  attain  to  interior  humility 
without  showing  it  outwardly;  possess  the 
virtue  of  patience  without  the  occurrence  to 
you  of  what  would  exercise  it;  despise  the 
world,  but  in  a  manner  that  the  world  may 
not  contemn  you;  clothe  your  soul  with 
Christian  virtues  without  despoiling  the  body 
of  its  accustomed  ornaments;  nourish  your 
soul  with  spiritual  viands  without  depriving 
the  body  of  its  usual  banquets ;  you  wish  to 
appear  good  in  the  sight  of  God  without  ap- 
pearing ill  in  the  eyes  of  the  world;  and  in 
short  by  this  path  you  wish  to  be  able  to  lead 
your  religious  life,  but  in  a  mode  that  no  per- 
son of  the  world,  even  with  the  great  fami- 
liarity and  intercourse  he  might  have  with 
you,  could  discover  in  your  life  more  than 
he  at  present  knows.  Have  I  divined  your 
sentiments  ? 

GiULiA.     Very  nearly;  or  at  least  if  you 


46  ALFABETO 

have  not  divined  them  you  can  say  that  you 
have  gone  to  the  turn  of  the  mark. 

Valdes.  This  is  sufficient  for  me  to  war- 
rant my  saying,  that  according  to  my  per- 
ception, you  are  more  ready  to  free  yourself 
from  the  conflict,  than  you  feel  to  assent  to 
the  verdict. 

GiULiA.  Yet  do  you  not  always  tell  me 
that  a  bad  compromise  is  better  than  a  good 
verdict  ?  ^ 

Valdes.  Yes,  I  say  so,  but  not  in  this 
case,  in  which  the  compromise  is  very  dan- 
gerous, and  terribly  hurtful.  Know  you  not 
that  Christ  says,  that  we  cannot  serve  God 
and  the  world;  either  we  must  serve  the 
world  and  despise  God,  or  we  must  love  God 
and  despise  the  world  ?  ^  And  have  you  not 
understood  what  Job  says,  !hat  the  life  of 
man,  here  in  this  world,  is  but  a  constant 
warfare?  But  know  that  the  warfare  is  be- 
tween the  flesh  and  the  spirit,  when  the  flesh 
draws  us  towards  the  world,  and  the  spirit 

'  Proverb  :  Mas  vale  mala  avenencia  que  buena  sen- 
tencia,  used  by  Valdes  in  reference  to  Isabella's  suit 
against  Giulia.  2  Matt.  vi.  24. 


CHRISTIANO.  47 

draws  us  towards  God.      And  sad  for  those 
who  do  not  feel  this  warfare ! 

GiULiA.  Now  then,  I  well  understand  and 
experience  both,  and  I  wish  that  without  more 
laying  it  upon  me,  you  would  decidedly  tell  me 
whether  your  mind  is  sufficient  to  put  me  in- 
to a  way  which  leads  somewhat  to  that  which 
you  have  described,  although  it  be  not  so  loose, 
for  I  am  not  so  subjected  to  my  appetites  as 
you  must  think,  according  to  what  you  have 
expressed  by  your  words. 

Yaldes.  If  I  knew,  Signora,  anything  in 
your  manner  of  life  and  outward  conversation 
disgraceful  or  base,  or  that  you  had  any  relic, 
or  any  show  or  appearance  of  evil,  I  ^v^ould 
freely  tell  you,  that  my  mind  is  not  sufficient 
for  me  to  satisfy  you  in  what  you  desire,  be- 
cause it  being  necessary  in  such  case  that  you 
should  depart  from  all  that  might  be  evil,  it 
would  be  necessary  that  there  should  be  seen 
in  you  a  diiferent  person  from  her  whom  we 
now  see  and  know.  But  knowing  your  way 
of  life  and  conversation  to  be  so  decorous, 
your  manners  as  regular  as  can  be  wislied  for 
in  such  a  lady,  and  seeing  that  all  the  re- 


48  ALFABETO 

formation  necessary  to  you  in  order  to  con- 
quer and  obtain  the  end  you  desire  consists  in 
the  affections  and  appetites  of  the  soul,  which 
corrected  and  reformed,  it  would  be  an  easy 
/  17.  thing  to  reform  the  exterior -^in  what  appears 
to  have  need  of  reformation,  I  am  bold  to  tell 
you,  my  mind  is  equal  to  set  you  in  the  way 
you  desire,  without  worldly  persons  perceiv- 
ing it  in  you,  in  such  a  manner  that  if  you 
engage  yourself  to  it,  with  the  grace  of  God, 
before  many  days  have  passed,  you  will  begin 
to  feel  the  peace  of  conscience  and  the  other 
benefits  which  spiritual  persons  enjoy. 

GiULiA.  If  you  do  this  I  shall  remain  for 
ever  obliged  to  you. 

Valdes.  With  the  grace  of  God  I  will  do 
this  now;  and  I  only  wish  that  you  should 
remain  obliged  to  God  himself,  from  whom 
I  wish  you  to  acknowledge  every  good  that 
comes. 

GiULiA.  I  will  endeavour  to  do  what  you 
say.     Now  do  that  which  belongs  to  you  to  do. 

Valdes.  1  am  content.  But  first  tell  me 
whether  you  have  ever  crossed  any  stream 
by  a  ford. 


CHRISTIANO.  49 

GiULiA      Yes,  I  have,  many  times. 

Yaldes.  And  have  you  considered  how 
that,  by  looking  upon  the  water,  it  seemed 
as  though  your  head  swam,  so  that  if  you 
had  not  assisted  yourself,  either  by  closing 
your  eyes,  or  by  fixing  them  on  the  opjDosite 
shore,  you  would  have  fallen  into  the  water 
in  o^reat  dano-er  of  dro wnino-  ? 

GiULiA.     Yes,  I  have  noticed  it. 

Yaldes.  And  have  you  seen  how  by  keep- 
ing always  for  your  object  the  view  of  the 
land  that  lies  on  the  other  side,  you  have  not 
felt  the  swimming  of  the  head,  and  so  have 
suffered  no  danger  of  drowning  ? 

GiULiA.     I  have  noticed  this  too. 

Yaldes.  Then  if  you,  Signora,  wish  to 
cross  the  running  flood  of  the  thmgs  of  this 
world,  do  in  the  same  manner.  Look  not 
upon  them  with  your  affections,  so  that  such 
danger  may  not  happen  to  you  as  befalls  them 
who,  gazing  on  the  stream,  fall  into  it  and 
are  drowned.  And  endeavour  to  keep  the  view 
of  your  soul,  fixed  and  nailed  with  Christ,  on 
the  cross.  And  if  at  any  time,  through  want 
of  care,  you  set  your  eyes  upon  the  things  of 

D 


50  ALFABETO 

the  world,  in  such  a  manner  that  you  feel 
your  heart  incline  to  them,  turn  back  upon 
yourself,  and  return  to  fix  your  view  upon 
Christ  crucified,  and  in  this  way  your  course 
will  go  on  well.  And  therefore  I  Avish  you, 
Signora,  to  take  above  all  things,  for  your 
principal  purpose,  to  enamour  yourself  with 
Christ,  regulating  all  your  works,  all  your 
words,  all  your  thoughts  by  that  divine  com- 
mand which  says :  "  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  with  all  thy 
mind,  and  with  all  thy  strength,  and  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself."  ^  And  I  say,  hold  fast 
this  command  as  your  principal  rule,  for 
Christian  perfection  consists  in  loving  God 
above  all  things  and  your  neighbour  as  your- 
self. 

GiULiA.  I  marvel  at  what  you  say,  because 
I  have  all  my  life  been  told  that  friars  and 
nuns  are  in  the  rule  of  perfection  by  the  vows 
that  they  make,  if  they  observe  them. 

Yaldes.     Let  them  say  so,   Signora,  and 
o-ive  credit  to  me  that,  whether  friars  or  non- 
friars,  they  possess  so  much  of  Christian  per- 
1  Luke  X.  27. 


CHRISTIANO.  51 

fection  as  they  have  of  faith  and  love  of  God, 
and  not  a  grain  more. 

GiULiA.     It  would  much  please  me  -^if  you  /  is. 
could  make  me  comprehend  this. 

Yaldes.  I  will  do  it  very  willingly.  You 
must  know,  Signora,  that  the  human  heart  is 
naturally  inclined  to  love;  in  such  way,  it 
must  either  love  God  and  all  things  for  God, 
or  it  must  love  itself  and  all  thino^s  for  itself 
That  which  loves  itself  does  all  thino;s  for 
itself.  I  mean  to  say  that  it  is  so  far  moved 
to  them  as  its  own  self-interest  invites  it,  and 
thus  if  it  love  anything  beyond  itself,  it  loves 
it  for  itself  and  for  its  own  interest,  and  if  it 
have  any  love  towards  God,  it  has  it  for  its 
own  interest  and  in  no  other  respect.  Such  a 
one,  friar  or  non-friar,  because  he  has  his  affec- 
tion in  a  state  of  disorder,  having  placed  it  in 
himself,  never  knows  how,  or  in  what  man- 
ner, he  ought  to  love  created  things.  Eather 
when  he  desires  to  dispose  himself  to  love  God, 
because  he  does  not  conceive  how  to  go  out  of 
himself,  he  never  discovers  the  way,  and  there- 
fore goes  continually  wandering  in  mere  ap- 
pearances, and  thus  being  always  confused  and 

d2 


52  ALFABETO 

variable  in  his  affections,  bad  or  good,  he  lives 
much  out  of  the  life  of  Christian  perfection ; 
and  so  much  the  more  will  he  live  further 
from  it  as  the  more  he  becomes  enamoured 
of  himself,  although  he  may  be  very  perfect 
in  outward  observances ;  because  God  requires 
the  heart. 

He  who  loves  God  performs  everything  he 
does  for  him.  I  would  say  that  he  is  moved 
to  this  by  the  love  he  bears  to  God,  and  this 
he  does  with  as  much  warmth  and  earnestness 
as  the  degree  of  affection  moves  or  incites  him. 
And  thus  if  he  love  anything  beside  God,  he 
loves  it  for  the  sake  of  God,  and  because  God 
Avills  it  so,  and  he  likewise  loves  himself, 
because  he  knows  that  God  wills  that  he  be 
loved.  Such  a  one,  friar  or  non-friar,  because 
he  has  his  love  ordered  in  God,  takes  hence 
the  mode  and  manner  how  he  should  love  all 
created  things,  and  is  most  regulated  and 
ordered  in  his  love,  and  loves  nothing  inordi- 
nately. And  now  his  good  works  please  and 
are  grateful  before  God,  because  he  is  moved 
to  work  by  the  impulse  of  love,  because  as 
God  is  love,  so  no  work  is  grateful  to  him  that 


CHRISTIANO.  53 

is  not  done  by  love.     Agreeable  to   this   is 
what  St.  Augustine  says :  "  good  works  follow 
them  who  are  already  justified,  and  do  r^ot 
go  before  in  him  who  has  to  be  justified."     I 
mean  to  say  that  works  are  good  when  done  by 
a  person  already  justified,  and  none  can  be  jus- 
tified unless  he  stand  in  love  and  charity  with 
God  and  his  neighbour.     In  such  manner  a 
person  will  be  more  perfect,  the  more  he  con- 
tinues fervent  in  this  love.     You  can  confirm 
this  truth  yourself  by  considering  how  you 
estimate  what  a  person  does  in  your  afiuirs 
when  you  know  that  he  is  not  moved  to  do  it 
by  the  aff*ection  he  bears  towards  you,  but  by 
some  other  design  of  his  own.     But  since  you 
"svish   one  not  born  under  the  obligation  to 
love  you,  to   serve   you   for   love,  as   all   of 
us  are  born  to  love  God,  think  whether  God 
would  at  least  require  from  us  the  same  that 
you  wish;  how  much  more  *^from  those  per-  /.  19. 
sons  who  are  regenerate  and  born  again  in 
Christ,   by   the   new,    spiritual    regeneration 
through  faith  and  baptism ;  because  such  of  us 
have  a  fresh  obligation  to  love  God.     Speak  I 
of  one  obligation  ?  rather  should  I  say  infinite 

D  3 


54  ALFABETO 

obligations,  since  we  see  that  he  loved  us  in- 
finitely, and  Christ  loves  us,  and  by  infinite 
modes  and  ways  he  sought,  and  still  seeks,  to 
bring  us  to  himself  and  to  unite  us  with  him- 
self through  grace  and  love.  Keflecting  on 
this,  I  am  sure  you  will  make  yourself  capable 
of  this  truth,  that  Christian  perfection  con- 
sists in  loving  God,  and  that  each  one  will  be 
so  much  more  perfect  as  he  shall  so  much  the 
more  love  God,  whether  he  make  monastic 
vows,  or  whether  he  make  them  not,  provided 
only,  that  he  keep  the  vow  that  he  made  in 
baptism  by  which  we  are  Christians. 

GiULiA.  I  rest  satisfied  now  with  what  you 
have  said  of  perfection,  in  such  a  degree  that 
I  already  know  from  your  argument  what  I 
had  not  kno^vn  until  now.  And  since  you 
wish  me  to  take  for  my  chief  purpose  the  love 
of  God  and  of  my  neighbour  in  order  to  become 
a  perfect  Christian,  and  I  determine  to  do  so, 
it  will  be  well,  if  you  please,  to  mention  some 
rules  by  which  I  may  know  and  understand 
what  it  is  I  ought  to  do,  and  how  I  must 
conduct  myself  not  to  swerve  from  the  love  of 
God  and  of  my  neighbour  ;  because  I  wish 


CHRISTIANO.  55 

absolutely  to  give  myself  up  to  be  enamoured 
with  God,  so  much  so  as  may  deprive  myself 
of  your  favour,  and  the  favour  of  a  hundred 
others  like  you. 

Yaldes.  Be  deprived  of  favour!  No! 
Learn  rather,  Signora,  that  in  this  divine  love 
there  is  no  jealousy,  because  it  is  communicable 
from  itself.  And  it  is  thus,  that  so  much  the 
more  you  love  God,  so  much  more  you  will 
rejoice  that  God  loves  others  of  us,  and  that 
God  should  be  loved  by  others  of  us.  But 
leaving  this,  until  you  learn  it  in  time  by 
experience,  I  say,  Signora,  that  there  are  no 
better  rules  for  this  that  you  ask,  than  those 
God  has  given  to  us  in  his  most  perfect  law, 
which  we  understand  not  like  the  Jews,  but  as 
Christians,  in  the  form  and  manner  in  which 
Christ  declared  it.  It  teaches  us  what  we 
ought  to  do  in  order  not  to  swerve  from  the 
love  of  God  and  of  our  neighbour. 

GiULiA.  If  it  be  not  troublesome  to  you, 
since  you  say  that  the  rules  of  the  law  of  God 
are  right  for  what  I  desire,  it  will  be  well  that 
you  should  briefly  describe  the  way  in  which 
you  understand  them. 

D  4 


56  ALFABETO 

Yaldes.  I  will  do  so  very  willingly,  be- 
cause I  know  this  is  the  entrance  to  lead  and 
conduct  you  in  the  way  I  have  pointed  out. 
But  as  I  desire  that  my  words  should  not 
generate  scruples  in  your  conscience,  I  wish 
to  apprise  you  first  of  this,  that  I  will  explain 
to  you  the  law  of  God,  not  in  a  manner  that 
you  are  obliged  to  observe  it  under  pain  of 
mortal  sin,  but  in  the  way  that  all  those  per- 
sons should  understand  it  who  desire  to  be- 
come so  much  masters  of  their  own  affections 
and  appetites  as  that  they  may  in  all  things  be 
obedient  to  the  Spirit.  For  thus,  as  he  goes 
in  peril  of  poison  who  carries  a  viper  or 
scorpion  in  his  bosom,  so  he  goes  in  danger 
/.  20.  /of  mortal  sin  who  bears  about  his  affections 
and  appetites  active  and  entire. 

GiULiA.  You  have  found  out  the  scruples. 
Take  no  further  care,  but  begin  to  tell  me,  for 
I  shall  remain  so  attentive  that  perhaps  I  shall 
not  lose  a  single  word. 

Yaldes.  You  ought  to  do  so.  You  will 
take  for  the  first  rule  to  make  God  in  such  a 
manner  absolute  lord  of  your  heart  that  you 
do  not  hope  or  confide  in  any  created  thing, 


CHRISTIANO.  57 

nor  love  or  fear,  except  God  alone.  In  a  man- 
ner that  then  you  may  be  able  to  count  that 
you  keep  your  heart  ordered  conformably 
to  this  rule,  when,  despoiled  of  all  mere  human 
affections,  you  shall  feel  within  you  that 
neither  prosperity  will  elevate  you,  nor  ad- 
versity depress  you,  honours  will  not  make 
you  proud,  nor  injuries  abase  you,  and  with 
all  this  you  shall  continue  to  believe  in  Christ, 
hope  in  Christ,  love  Christ,  and  live  safely 
and  contentedly  with  Christ,  embracing  the 
cross  of  Christ,  and  taking  it  as  sweet  to  suffer 
with  Christ,  having  in  abhorrence  the  glory 
of  the  world,  and  holding  the  pleasures  of  the 
world  as  bitter. 

And  since  it  is  not  enough  that  the  heart 
be  kept  in  this  manner  if  the  lips  do  not  con- 
form to  it,  it  is  proper  that  you  take  as  a 
rein  to  them  the  second  rule^  and  this  will  be 
that  you  continually  praise,  magnify,  invoke 
and  bless  the  name  of  God,  slighting  and 
holding  in  little  consideration  your  own  name 
and  glory,  in  such  manner  that  all  the  honour 
and  glory  may  be  attributed  to  the  omnipo- 
tent  God,   to  whom  your  words   go  always 


58  ALFABETO 

directed.  And  because  the  divine  Majesty 
is  much  offended  by  our  oaths,  we  should 
ever  hold  in  remembrance  those  words  of 
Christ,  where,  after  he  has  reminded  us  that 
we  should  by  no  means  swear  at  all,  he  says : 
"let  your  communication  be  yea,  yea;  nay, 
nay  ;"^  meaning  to  say,  that  when  we  would 
affirm  a  thing,  we  should  assert  it  with  a  sim- 
ple YES ;  and  when  we  would  deny  a  thing,  we 
should  deny  it  by  the  like  simple  no.  Because 
when  more  than  this  is  said,  it  is  a  sign  that 
the  heart  is  not  well  ordered. 

Again,  since  God  is  not  satisfied  without  be- 
ing absolute  lord  of  our  hearts  and  of  our  lips, 
but  wishes  to  govern  our  actions,  take  for  the 
third  rule  to  make  an  offering  to  God  of  your 
whole  will,  referring  it  in  all  and  for  all  to  his 
divine  Majesty,  in  such  mode  that  he  may 
regulate  it  and  govern  it  without  your  put- 
ting into  your  concerns  anything  of  your  o^\ai. 
And  this  remitting  of  yourself  to  the  divine 
will,  you  should  know,  Signora,  is  the  cele- 
brating of  the  Christian  sabbath,  for  by  bodily 
rest  is  understood  the  spiritual  rest,  and  by 
1  Matt.  V.  33-37. 


CHRISTIANO.  59 

servile  labours  are  understood  tlie  works  of  sin. 
St.  Paul  entreats  us  to  make  this  offering,  say- 
ing :  "  I  beseech  you  therefore,  brethren,  by  the 
mercies  of  God,  that  ye  present  your  bodies  a 
living  sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  unto  God,"  ^ 
in  a  manner  that  you  entirely  offer  to  him  all 
your  will,  all  your  understanding,  all  your 
memory.  And  I  entreat  -^you  also,  that  you  /  21. 
do  not  conform  your  conduct  to  the  conduct 
of  persons  of  the  world,  and  that  you  be  trans- 
formed by  the  renewing  of  your  mind,  that 
you  may  know  and  understand  the  will  of 
God.2 

See  here,  Signora,  three  rules  according  to 
the  three  commandments  of  the  law  of  God, 
which  are  so  spiritual  that  while  you  observe 
them,  you  may  be  certain  that  you  truly  love 
God  in  the  manner  he  desires  to  be  loved.  And 
consider  that  you  will  be  so  much  nearer,  or 
farther  from  this  love,  as  you  feel  your  affec- 
tions and  appetites  remain  nearer,  or  farther 
from  conformity  with  these  three  rules,  which 
I  entreat  you  to  print  on  your  memory.  And 
though  it  will  indeed  be,  that  while  you  live  in 
1   Eom.  xii.  1.  ^  Rom.  xii.  2. 


60  ALFABETO 

conformity  with  tliese  rules,  living  with  love 
to  God  you  will  live  in  love  to  your  neighbour, 
it  may  therefore  seem  in  a  manner  superfluous 
to  give  you  any  rule  for  this,  yet  considering 
that  God,  to  assist  our  weakness,  has  also  given 
us  rules  by  which  we  may  live  in  love  towards 
our  neighbour,  I  am  willing  to  repeat  them. 
And  so  you  will  take  those  already  given,  as 
well  as  these  now  mentioned,  as  rules  of  God 
and  not  mine. 

The  first  rule  will  be,  such  being  the  will  of 
God,  that  with  inward  obedience  you  obey  and 
be  submissive  to  your  parents,  to  your  seniors, 
to  your  superiors  in  whatever  pre-eminence  or 
authority  they  may  be,  not  opposing  them,  nor 
murmuring  at  them.  And  observe,  Signora, 
that  you  do  not  think  to  satisfy  yourself  with 
exterior  observance,  because  God  is  not  satis- 
fied that  his  commands  be  kept  only  in  ap- 
pearance, but  he  chiefly  desires  the  heart. 

And  because  the  worldly  things  most  cor- 
rupting to  Christian  charity  are  strifes,  hatred, 
and  enmities,  from  Avhich  proceed  homicides, 
I  wish  you  to  take  for  the  second  riile^  that 
you  make  your  mind  patient,  quiet,  pacific, 


CHRISTIANO.  61 

humane,  compassionate,  all  feelings  of  hatred, 
anger,  and  retaliation  being  eradicated  and 
banished.  Doing  this,  you  will  live  conform- 
ably with  that  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ  which 
in  short  says,  that  we  should  not  be  angry 
against  our  neighbour,  nor  scorn  him  by  out- 
ward signs,  nor  revile  him  with  injurious 
words.  And  consider,  that  you  cannot  do 
this,  unless  you  have  first  composed  your 
mind  in  the  manner  I  have  told  you.  And 
that  you  may  conceive  the  great  importance 
of  this,  consider  what  St.  John  says :  "  whoso- 
ever hateth  his  brother  is  a  murderer."  ^ 

In  this  way,  although  you  are  not  homicidal, 
it  is  enough  if  there  move  in  you  tlie  feelings 
of  wrath,  retaliation,  rancour,  and  ill-will. 
Begin,  then,  Signora,  henceforward  to  make 
this  self-denial,  for  the  sooner  you  begin  it  the 
sooner  you  will  come  out  of  it,  and  pass  on 
to  the  third  rule.  This  will  be,  that  you  en- 
deavour, as  much  as  possible,  to  hold  all  -^your  /.  22. 
outward  senses  subjected,  in  such  manner, 
that  nothing  rude  or  disreputable  may  ever 
pass  through  them  to  the  mind.     For  God 

1   1  John  iii.  15. 


62  ALFABETO 

desires  that  your  actions,  your  words,  and 
your  thoughts  may  be  chaste  and  modest. 
And  in  order  to  be  able  to  fulfil  this,  it  is 
proper  that  you  keep  your  feelings  so  subdued 
as  I  have  said.  It  is  proper  also  that  you  be 
temperate  in  eating,  in  drinking,  and  sleeping, 
in  intercourse  with  worldly  persons,  and  in 
short  in  all  those  things  that  can  generate  in 
your  mind  any  unlawful  desire.  Know  surely 
that  as  well  to  preserve  your  mind  pure  and 
spotless,  as  also  not  to  offend  Christian  charity, 
it  is  necessary  that  all  the  sensual  appetites, 
from  which  spring  many  hindrances  to  the  love 
of  our  neighbour,  should  die  out.  Therefore 
Christ,  closing  the  entrance  of  such  thoughts  to 
us,  says : "  whosoever  looketh  on  a  woman  to  lust 
after  her,  hath  committed  adultery  with  her 
already  in  his  heart."  ^  So  that  he  who  wishes 
not  to  sin  desires  the  affections  and  appetites 
towards  sinful  things  within  him  to  die  out. 

Another  rule  is,  because  this  mine  and  thine 

are  mortal  enemies  of  Christian  charity,  God 

provides  us   a   healthy,   wise,   and  necessary 

doctrine,  which  you  may  take  for  the  fourth 

J  Matt.  V.  28. 


CHRISTIANO.  63 

rule.  This  is,  that  you  subdue  in  your  heart 
all  desire  and  appetite  for  those  things  which 
people  of  the  world  call  good,  in  such  degree, 
that  not  putting  any  happiness  in  them,  you 
do  not  even  wish  for  what  you  have  not ;  and 
that  you  possess  those  things  you  have,  not  as 
o^\aier,  but  as  a  trustee,  so  that  if  you  were 
wronged  you  would  not  be  so  disturbed  as 
that  you  should  come  to  feel  ill-will  towards 
the  person,  or  those  persons,  who  took  them 
from  you.  Then,  having  your  mind  so  well 
ordered,  you  will  willingly  do  what  Christ 
says,  whether  as  to  leaving  the  cloak  to  him 
who  would  bring  you  into  litigation  for  the 
gown  (gonnella),  or  as  to  giving  up  your 
property  to  them  who  demand  it.^  This  is 
Christian  liberality,  and  this  is  the  true 
poverty  so  much  praised  and  commended  in 
the  holy  Scriptures.  And  I  certainly  believe 
that  David  for  this  calls  them  poor  who  so 
serve  and  obey  God.  And  most  surely  hold 
that  this  is  the  true  way  to  root  out  and  expel 
cursed  avarice,  which  is  so  intimate  an  evil 
that  they  are  little  aware  of  it  who  are  most 
1  Matt.  V.  40-42. 


64  ALFABETO 

addicted  to  it.  But  ask  St.  Paul  the  incon- 
veniences that  follow  from  it,  and  he  will  tell 
you  that  covetousness  is  idolatry.^ 

Thus  as  God  wishes  us  not  to  offend  divine 
love  by  the  lips,  he  lays  down  the  second  rule 
which  I  have  mentioned,  speaking  of  the  care 
you  ought  to  take  for  the  love  of  God,  so  also 
for  the  care  of  the  love  of  our  neighbour,  he 
lays  down  a  rule  over  the  tongue,  and  this 
will  be  the  fifth  rule.  This  is,  that  you  keep  the 
tongue  well  ruled  and  governed,  and  only  use 
it  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  for  the  religious 
/.  23  or  -^physical  good  of  your  neighbour  and  your 
own,  taking  away  and  removing  from  you 
every  occasion  that  may  lead  or  induce  you 
to  let  anything  escape  from  your  lips  that  of- 
fends, or  may  offend,  the  most  lowly  or  abject 
individual  of  all  who  are  found  in  the  world. 
And  that  you  may  see  how  important  this 
is,  I  wish  you  to  know  that  St.  James  says : 
"  if  any  man  offend  not  in  word,  the  same  is  a 
perfect  man."^  And  notice,  Signora,  that  I  do 
not  tell  you  that,  in  order  to  keep  the  com- 
mandment of  love  towards  his  neighbour  per- 
*  Col.  iii.  5.  ^  James  iii.  2. 


CHRISTIANO.  65 

fectly,  a  person  must  do  all  these  things  pre- 
cisely, for  I  do  not  say  so;  but  that  a  person, 
who  wishes  to  be  perfect,  must  keep  all  his 
affections  so  obedient  and  well  regulated  that 
when  it  may  be  needful  for  the  honour  of  God 
to  do  so,  he  will  not  find  in  himself  a  repugnance 
to  them. 

In  conclusion,  I  may  say  that  you  ought  to 
compose  your  mind  in  conformity  with  these 
five  rules  which  you  have  heard,  if  you  wish  to 
attain  to  the  love  of  your  neighbour  perfectly, 
and  maintain  yourself  in  it,  which  Christ  com- 
prises in  a  single  rule^  saying  :  "Do  unto  others 
what  you  "wish  others  should  do  unto  you."^ 
And  it  is  so,  that  there  is  no  person  in  the  world 
who  is  not  pleased  by  being  obeyed  by  them 
who  ought  to  obey  him ;  nor  is  there  an  in- 
dividual who  is  not  pleased  to  preserve  his  life, 
or  not  to  have  ill-will  or  hatred  from  another  ; 
nor  any  who  are  not  pleased  that  people  en- 
tertain no  ill  thought  of  their  wife,  children, 
sisters  or  relatives,  especially  as  to  disreputable 
deeds ;  nor  is  there  any  one  who  is  not  pleased 
to  be  assisted  and  succoured  in  his  necessities 
1  Matt.  vii.  12. 


QQ  ALFABETO 

and  who,  if  he  have  property,  does  not  en- 
deavour not  to  be  wronged,  or  encroached 
upon  ;  and  finally,  there  is  no  one  who  is  not 
pleased  when  everybody  speaks  well  of  him, 
and  who  is  not  grieved  by  the  contrary.  So 
that  doing  to  our  neighbour  all  that  would 
please  us  that  he  should  do  towards  ourselves, 
we  should  accomplish  the  law  of  God,  since 
we  keep  ourselves  in  accordance  with  them  in 
love  and  charity.  And  on  this,  as  Christ  says, 
hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets.^  To  this 
you  can  resolve  all  that  is  written  in  the 
sacred  Scriptures. 

GiULiA.  You  have  kept  m.e  so  much  sur- 
prised after  you  began  to  enter  into  these 
rules,  considering  what  perfection  is  necessary 
in  order  to  live  in  conformity  with  them,  that 
I  have  been  unwilling  to  reply  to  anything 
that  you  have  said.  But  now  that  you  have 
finished,  I  wish  you  to  tell  me  whether  all 
those  persons  are  condemned  who  do  not  live 
with  the  purity,  sincerity,  and  circumspection 
that  you  have  described  in  these  rules. 

Yaldes.     St.  John,  in  one  of  his  epistles, 
1  Matt.  xxii.  40. 


CHRISTIANO.  67 

says  ;  "My  little  children,  these  things  I 
write  unto  you,  that  ye  sin  not.  And,  if  any 
man  sin,  we  have  an  advocate  with  the 
Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous.  And  he 
is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins."  ^  This  same 
I  say  to  you,  Signora,  that  I  set  before  you 
this  perfection,  in  order  that  labouring  and 
•^attaining  to  live  conformably  to  it,  you  may  /  24. 
never  sin.  But  should  you  commit  sin,  I 
wish  you  to  remember  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
your  advocate  before  his  Eternal  Father,  who 
satisfied  for  our  sins  and  for  the  sins  of  the 
whole  world.  So  you  may  not  think  that 
the  persons  will  therefore  be  condemned,  who 
have  not  so  mortified  their  appetites  as  I 
say  that  I  ^vish  you  to  hold  yours,  according 
to  these  rules  that  I  have  shown  you.  Yet 
I  wish  you  to  know,  that  those  persons 
who,  not  arriving  at  this  perfection,  but 
having  opened  their  eyes,  and  known  their 
evil  way  and  discovered  the  way  which  Christ 
teaches,  according  to  what  I  have  here  told 
you,  if  they  would  be  saved,  endeavour  and 
strive  to  walk  in  this  path,  truly,  as  far  as 
1   1  John  ii.  1,  2. 

E  2 


68  ALFABETO 

human  weakness  allows,  mortifying  the  Old 
man,  and  renewing  the  New,  whilst  they  do 
not  arrive  at  perfection,  they  confess  in  the 
sorrow  of  their  soul  that  they  are  not  what 
God  would  wish  them  to  be.  Having  this 
lively  conviction,  they  use  most  affectingly 
the  expression  of  the  Lord's  prayer :  "  forgive 
us  our  debts,"  and  those  of  David  :  "  Create 
in  me  a  clean  heart,  0  God!  and  blot  out 
my  transgressions;  therefore  I  acknowledge 
my  iniquity,  and  my  sin  is  ever  before  me."  ^ 
If  all  who  walk  by  the  Christian  way  would 
always  thus  perfectly  live  as  we  have  said, 
St.  John  would  not  have  said :  that  if  we  say 
we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves,  and 
the  truth  is  not  in  us^;  and  a  just  man  fall- 
eth  seven  times  and  riseth  up  again.^  And 
know,  Signora,  that  he  is  a  just  man  because 
he  goes  by  the  way  of  justification  {giustitia)^ 
which  is  that  which  Christ  taught  us.  He 
who  falls  through  weakness,  and  turns  to 
arise  again  through  the  faith  and  trust  that 
he  has  in  Jesus  Christ,  will  be  forgiven  :  and 
these  are  the  infirmities  which  St.  Paul  means, 
1  Ps.  li.  3,  10.       2  1  jo^n  i^  Q^       3  Prov.  xxiv.  16. 


CHRISTIANO.  69 

when,  speaking  of  Christ,  he  says  :  that  we 
have  a  high  priest  who  can  have  compassion 
on  our  infirmities,  having  been  himself  clothed 
with  the  garment  of  humanity.^  The  whole 
affair  consists  in  leaving  at  once  the  way  of 
the  world,  and  entering  upon  the  way  of  God, 
and  after  having  entered  upon  it,  falling  and 
rising,  stumbling  and  not  falling,  everything 
goes  well  for  us.  Hence  fear  not  the  purity 
of  this  Christian  perfection.  And  so  I  entreat 
you  rather  that  you  may  enamour  yourself  of 
it,  for  1  warrant  you,  that  you  would  never 
have  understood  it,  if  God  had  not  first  in- 
ternally taught  it  to  you.  And  because  he 
gives  you  to  understand  it,  proper  it  is  that 
you  should  dispose  yourself  to  experience  it. 

GiULiA.  I  would  wish  this ;  that  you  would 
let  me  comprehend,  for  what  purpose  God  sets 
before  us  a  rule  so  painful  to  observe,  that  we 
have  always  to  confess  ourselves  his  debtors  ; 
for  it  has  in  appearance  an  odour,  I  know  not 
how,  of  tyranny. 

Yaldes.  Eather  know,  Signora,  that  God 
has  shown  the  love  he  bears  towards  us  as 
1  Heb.  iv.  15. 


70  ALFABETO 

well  in  this  as  in  all  the  rest  he  has  done  for 
/.  25.  us  ;  for  so  arrogant  is  the  -^human  mind,  that 
unless  it  were  acknowledged  debtor  to  fulfil 
the  whole  law,  it  would  not  consider  itself  as  a 
sinner ;  and  unless  it  considered  itself  a  sinner, 
it  would  not  fear  the  judgment  of  God;  and 
unless  it  feared  this,  it  would  not  humble  it- 
self; and  unless  it  were  humbled  it  would  not 
gain  the  grace  of  God ;  and  without  his  grace  it 
could  not  become  justified  before  Him,  and 
if  not  justified,  then  not  saved.  Now  think 
whether  this  singular  blessing  of  God  may  not 
be  as  good  as  all  the  others!  And  know, 
Signora,  that  so  much  as  a  person  in  this  pre- 
sent life  will  be  more  perfect,  and  will  stand 
more  united  to  God  in  love  and  charity,  so 
much  the  more  will  he  humble  himself  be- 
fore God,  as  more  knowing  his  imperfection 
and  the  necessity  he  has  that  God  would  con- 
tinually pardon  him  his  faults,  and  purify  and 
accept  his  actions.  Therefore  David  calls,  not 
those  persons  who  never  sinned,  blessed,  for 
all  have  sinned ;  but  he  calls  them  blessed 
to  whom  God  pardons  the  sins  they  commit.^ 

^  Ps.  xxxii.  2. 


CHRISTIANO.  71 

Do    you   rest    satisfied   with   this    explana- 
tion? 

GiULiA.     Yes,  I  rest  satisfied,  you  can  now 
proceed  further. 

Yaldes.  I  wish  you  now  to  consider  that  in 
this  present  life  we  sin  in  three  ways,  through 
evil  design,  through  ignorance,  and  through 
weakness.  They  sin  by  evil  design  who  neither 
know  the  way  of  God,  nor  wish  to  know  it. 
According  to  St.  Paul,  the  sin  of  these  is 
punished  by  blindness  and  obstinacy  in  sin.^ 
God  pronounces  a  similar  sentence  by  Jere- 
miah. These  with  difficulty  raise  themselves, 
as  Jeremiah  says.  Through  ignorance  they 
sin,  who,  not  caring  to  discover  the  way  of 
the  Lord,  depart  from  Him.^  He  is  ready 
to  pardon  these,  according  to  St.  Paul,  for  so 
he  says,  that  because  he  sinned  through  igno- 
rance in  persecuting  the  Christians,  God  had 
mercy  on  him.  They  sin  through  weakness, 
who  having  entered  upon  the  way  of  God,  wish 
in  no  manner  to  oiFend  his  divine  Majesty,  but 
at  times  fall,  overcome  by  temptation.  David 
was  one  of  these,  and  one  of  such  was  Peter, 

1  Rom.  i.  28.  ^  Jer.  v.  4. 

s4 


72  ALFABETO 

when  he  denied  Christ.  The  sin  of  such  as 
these  God  pardons  more  readily  than  any 
others,  because  as  soon  as  they  know  it,  they 
speedily  humble  themselves  and  thus  quickly 
regain  the  grace  of  God.  It  even  frequently 
happens  that,  humbled  by  the  sin,  they  walk 
more  resolutely  on  the  Christian  way.  Thus 
David  shows  it  occurred  so  with  him,  say- 
in  o:  :  "  Good  for  me  was  it  that  thou  hum- 
bledest  me,  that  so  I  might  learn  thy  for- 
giveness."^ I  have  wished  to  tell  you  this 
because  you  raise  in  your  conscience  all  sorts 
of  scruples,  which  are  commonly  born  of 
self-love,  and  slight  knowledge  of  God,  being 
certain  that  walking  by  this  Christian  way  you 
will  not  sin,  except  through  weakness.  God 
mil  quickly  forgive  you  for  this  in  which  you 
so  oiFend,  by  the  humility  with  which  you 
mil  ask  his  pardon,  and  through  the  faith  and 
/.  26.  trust  that  you  will  maintain  in  -^Jesus  Christ. 

GiULiA.     You  have  entirely  given  me  life 
by  this,  for  you  had  kept  me  greatly  terrified. 

Valdes.     If  you  wish  to  banish  all  fear 
from  your  soul,  love  Christ,  Signora,  for  no 
1  Ps.  cxix.  71. 


CHRISTIANO.  73 

fear  can  ever  dwell  in  the  soul  whicli  sets  its 
view  with  a  lively  and  efficacious  sentiment 
on  Christ  crucified,  considering  with  entire 
faith  that  Christ  made  atonement  and  pay- 
ment for  it.  Now  I  say,  Signora,  in  conclu- 
sion, that  these  rules  will  lead  you  to  the  love 
of  God  and  of  your  neighbour,  and  will  pre- 
serve you  in  both.  And  then  you  will  know 
by  experience  the  fruits  of  charity,  according 
as  St.  Paul  describes  them,  saying :  "  Charity 
suffereth  long,  and  is  kind;  charity  envieth 
not ;  charity  vaunteth  not  itself,  is  not  puffed 
up,  doth  not  behave  itself  unseemly,  seeketh 
not  her  own,  is  not  easily  provoked,  thinketh 
no  evil,  rejoiceth  not  in  iniquity,  but  rejoiceth 
in  the  truth ;  beareth  all  things,  believeth  all 
things,  hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things."^ 
You  will  also  know,  that  which  St.  John 
says:  that  perfect  love  casteth  out  all  fear 
from  the  conscience.^  For  they  who  truly 
love  have  no  fear. 

GiULiA.     I  am  already  satisfied  with  what 
refers  to  charity.     May  it  please  God  to  make 
me  feel  and  relish  it  in  my  soul  as  well  as  you 
1  1  Cor.  xiii.  4-7.  ^  i  John  iv.  18. 


U  ALFABETO 

have  made  it  penetrate  my  understanding. 
But  because  at  times  I  have  heard  you  say 
that  charity  is  the  fruit  of  faith,  I  wish  you  to 
tell  me  something  relating  to  faith. 

Yaldes.     It  is  true,  as  you  say,  that  I  have 
told  you  that  charity  is  the  fruit  of  faith.    And 
do  you  know  why  I  said  so  ?     Because  I  am 
sure  that  where  lively  faith  is,  there  is  charity. 
And  know,  Signora,  that,  as  fire  cannot  fail  to 
warm,  so  a  lively  faith  cannot  fail  to  work 
deeds  of  charity,  and  you  must  imagine  that 
faith  is  like  a  tree,  and  charity  is  the  fruit  of 
the  tree ;  as  the  tree  when  it  is  dried  up  yields 
no   fruit,  so   faith  wanting   in   the   heart  of 
a  person,  there  is  no  charity.      And  notice, 
Signora,  that  when  I  speak  of  faith,  I  do  not 
understand  by  faith  a  mere  historical  belief  of 
the  history  of  Christ,  for  this  can  well  exist 
without  charity,  and,  therefore,  St.  James  calls 
the  faith  bad  Christians  have,  a  dead  faith, 
such  as  the  evil  spirits  of  hell  have.^     But 
understand  that  when  I  say  faith  I  mean  to 
speak  of  that  faith  which  is  alive  in  the  soul, 
acquired  not  by  industry,  nor  human  contri- 
*  James  ii.  17-19. 


CHRISTIANO.  75 

vance,  but  by  means  of  the  grace  of  God  com- 
municated with  supernatural  Light .  This  faith 
gives  credit  to  all  the  words  of  God,  as  well 
to  his  threatenings  as  to  his  promises,  so  that 
when  it  hears  said  what  Christ  said :  that  he 
who  will  believe  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved, 
and  that  he  who  will  not  believe  shall  be  con- 
demned; giving  such  credit  to  these  words  as 
holding  them  for  a  certainty,  it  has  not  the 
least  doubt  of  salvation. 

GiULiA.  In  this  we  so  well  agree,  both  you 
and  I;  because  in  believing,  no  one  shall  be 
before  me. 

Yaldes.  Do  not  presume,  Signora,  that 
•^you  believe,  for  very  spiritual  must  he  be  /•  27. 
who  would  have  a  faith  so  lively  as  to  be 
fit  to  be  justified  by  it.  Rather  know  that 
you  are  weak  in  the  faith,  and  call  upon 
Christ  with  the  Apostles  :  "  Lord,  increase  my 
faith!"  and  say  with  the  lunatic's  father: 
"Lord,  I  believe,  help  thou  mine  unbelief!"^ 
and  in  this  manner  you  will  gain  more  than 
by  persuading  yourself  that  you  believe.  It 
is  a  great  thing,  Signora,  to  obtain  from  our 
1  Mark  ix.  24. 


76  ALFABETO 

souls  that  they  entirely  confide  in  God.     You 
will   see  it  by  this:   that  if  you  are  asked 
whether  you  believe  the  articles  of  the  faith, 
one  by  one,  you  will  ansvv^er  yes ;  but  if  inad- 
vertently, on  your  coming  to  confession,  they 
should  ask  you  whether  you  believe  that  God 
has   pardoned   all   your   sins,   you   will  say, 
you  think  so,  but  that  you  are  not  certain. 
Now  know  that  this  uncertainty  arises  from 
want  of  faith,  because  if  you  entirely  relied 
upon  the  words  of  Christ,  who  says  to  the 
priests^  that  whatsoever  they  shall  bind  on 
earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven ;  and  whatso- 
ever they  shall  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed 
in  heaven ;  and  if  you  shall  truly  believe  that 
which  you  confess  in  the  Creed  when  you  say 
that  you  believe  the  remission  of  sins,  you 
will  not  hesitate  to  say  with  a  full  voice,  feel- 
ing grief  in  your  soul  for  the  offence  done  to 
God,  and  having  confessed  it,  that  you  hold 
it  certain  that  God  has  pardoned  all  your  sins. 
Do  you  wish  to   see  clearly  and  manifestly 
how   you  do  not   entirely  confide    in    God? 
Tell  me  with  what  thing  you  would  rest  most 
^  He  said  this  to  his  Apostles^  Matt,  xviii.  18;  John  xx.  23. 


CHRISTIAXO.  77 

without  care  and  be  most  at  ease  with,  and  in 
what  you  would  most  confide  to  assure  your- 
self that  you  have  this  year  wherewith  to  live 
upon;  whether  with  a  good  sum  of  money 
that  you  have  in  a  bank,  or  in  that  which 
Christ  promises  to  them  who  seek  the  king- 
dom of  God,  when  he  says  to  them :  "  Take 
no  thought,  saying,  what  shall  we  eat,  or  what 
shall  we  drink,  or  wherewithal  shall  we  be 
clothed?  Since  God  takes  thought  for  you; 
seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  God  him- 
self will  provide  for  you  all  these  things?"^ 

GiULiA.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  I  should 
have  most  confidence  in  the  money  in  the 
bank.  But  if  I  knew  myself  so  perfect  as 
to  merit  that  God  should  take  thought  of 
me,  perhaps  I  should  then  trust  more  in  the 
words  of  Christ. 

Yaldes.  Rather  it  is  the  contrary.  The 
more  perfect  you  might  be,  so  much  the  want 
of  merit  would  you  find  in  yourself.  And 
it  is  thus,  that  he  who  stands  nearest  to 
the  grace  of  God,  stands  farthest  from  think- 
ing that  he  merits  it.  And  for  this  reason 
1  Matt.  vi.  31-33. 


78  ALFABETO 

St.  Paul  said  that  by  the  grace  of  God  he  was 
what  he  was ;  not  attributing  anything  to  his 
own  merit. ^  So  that,  Signora,  if  you  have 
little  confidence  in  the  words  of  Christ,  it  is 
not  because  of  what  you  say,  but  through  not 
giving  credence  to  them;  and  this  is  the 
greatest  injury  you  can  do  towards  God. 

GiuLiA.  You  are  too  sharp  with  me. 
You  will  soon  make  me  to  believe  that  I  have 
not  faith. 

Yaldes.  I  do  not  wish  you  to  believe  that 
you  have  it  not,  but  I  wish  you  to  think  that 
/  28.  what  you  -^have  is  a  dead  faith ;  and  I  wish  you 
to  pray  very  urgently  to  God,  that  he  would 
quicken  it  and  make  you  strong  in  that  faith, 
for  according  to  St.  Paul:  without  faith  no 
one  can  please  God  ^ ;  and  if  you  are  willing 
to  notice  this,  you  will  find  that  in  nothing 
can  your  friend  offend  you  so  much  as  by  not 
giving  credence  to  your  word;  and  on  the 
contrary,  nothing  can  do  you  greater  service, 
or  give  you  more  pleasure,  than  by  his  giving 
entire  faith  to  whatever  you  shall  say  to  him. 

GiULiA.     In  this  you  so  rightly  speak  the 
1   1  Cor.  XV.  10.  2  Heb.  xi.  6. 


CHEISTIANO.  79 

truth,  that  it  extremely  grieves  me  when  I 
am  not  believed,  and  I  am  greatly  pleased 
when  others  give  me  credence. 

Yaldes.  Since  you  know  this  of  yourself, 
you  ought  at  least  to  think  the  same  of  God. 
And  thinking  so,  you  should  labour  to  confine 
and  subject  your  intellect  to  the  obedience  of 
faith ;  thus  you  would  learn  to  confide  in  God 
and  to  give  entire  faith  to  his  words,  as  much 
so  when  he  threatens,  as  when  he  promises. 
Not  to  dwell  much  upon  this,  I  may  say,  that 
if  we  put  all  our  confidence  entirely  in  Christ, 
giving  entire  faith  to  all  his  promises,  we 
shall  not  depend  upon,  nor  be  so  bound  to 
created  things,  in  which  we  put  more  confi- 
dence than  we  do  in  Christ,  since  we  are 
carnal  and  we  judge  of  things  only  so  far  as 
the  outward  sense  represents  them  to  us,  and 
so  we  make  no  count  of  the  interior.  I 
could  well  tell  marvellous  things  if  I  wished 
to  begin  to  praise  faith  to  you,  but  this  is 
enough  to  know,  that  you  will  be  so  far  a 
Christian  as  you  shall  know  that  you  confide 
in  Christ ;  it  being  thus :  that  to  be  a  Christian 
person,  is  to  be  justified ;   and  no  one  can  be 


80  ALFABETO 

justified  except  by  faith,  because  the  just  live 
by  faith.i 

GiULiA.  Never  have  I  been  able  to  com- 
prehend conclusively  what  difi*erence  there 
is  between  faith  and  hope;  and  it  would 
gratify  me  to  know  from  you,  in  what  manner 
you  make  them  to  diifer. 

Yaldes.  I  do  not  wonder  that  you  do  not 
understand  this,  because  the  same  thing  oc- 
curs to  many  learned  persons.  Know  then 
that  faith  is  exercised  in  the  things  of  the 
present  life,  hope  in  those  of  the  life  eternal. 
This  you  should  understand  in  this  way. 
You  wish  to  go  from  the  Mole  to  the  Isle  of 
Capri,  but  you  know  not  how.  I  come  to  you, 
and  say,  "trust  yourself  to  me,  Signora;  for 
I  will  lead  you  on  foot  by  the  hand  without 
your  being  drowned  in  the  passage,  and  when 
crossed  over  I  will  place  you  in  that  spot  of 
the  island  where  you  desire  to  be."  You,  al- 
though it  appears  to  you  a  thing  beyond  all 
reason,  give  credence  to  my  words,  and  con- 
fiding in  them,  you  take  my  hand  and  walk 
through  the  water.  See  here,  faith  carries 
1  Rom.  i.  17. 


CHRISTIANO.  81 

you,  and  you  are  at  tlie  same  time  borne  up 
by  the  expectation  of  enjoying  the  satisfaction 
you  have  said  you  should  feel  when  you  should 
find  yourself  upon  the  island.  Do  you  now 
comprehend  the  difference  ? 

GiULiA.     Yes,  very  well.  ^ 

Yaldes.  Now,  turning  to  our  subject,  I 
wish,  Signora,  that  you  set  before  the  view 
of  your  soul  the  idea  of  Christian  perfection, 
according  to  what  we  have  discoursed,  and 
that  you  *^set  yourself  to  be  enamoured  of  it,  /  29. 
and  when  enamoured  of  it,  you  will  not 
satisfy  yourself  until  you  have  reached  very 
near  to  it ;  and  consider  that  you  will  then 
be  near  it  when  you  shall  know  in  truth  that 
your  heart  is  not  inclined  to  love  anything 
out  of  God,  nor  your  tongue  taste  sweetness 
in  naming  any  other  name  than  that  of  God, 
and  this  only  when  naming  it  for  his  glory. 
And  when  you  shall  feel  that  you  are  not  in- 
clined to  perform  anything  that  may  not  be 
conformable  to  the  will  of  God;  and  w^hen 
you  shall  find  your  mind  most  obedient  and 
submissive  to  your  superiors,  and  far  removed 
from  all   ire  and   all  revenge   and 


82  ALFABETO 

Med  with  peace  and  humility;  and  as  far 
removed  from  all  sensual  vice  that  you  will 
not  find  in  it  a  thought  that  is  not  chaste ;  and 
so  poor  in  spirit,  that  you  would  incline  your 
desire  to  nothing  more  than  to  preserve  what 
it  has  ;  and  so  fervent  in  love  towards  your 
neighbour  that  you  not  only  never  speak  to 
his  prejudice,  but  if  you  hear  others  speak  so, 
you  excuse  and  exculpate  him  as  much  as 
possible :  by  all  this  I  wish  to  say,  that  when 
you  shall  feel  yourself  as  dead  to  the  outward 
affections  and  appetites  as  to  the  interior,  that 
neither  the  estimation  of  the  world  exalts  you 
nor  its  dishonour  abases  you,  that  neither 
anger  overrules  you  nor  envy  molests,  nor  less 
the  flesh  disturbs  you; -then  well  and  truly 
may  you  believe  that  you  are  indeed  near  to 
Christian  perfection.  I  say  not  that  you 
should  imagine  you  are  not  in  a  good  state, 
when  you  are  not  so  much  advanced  in 
Christian  perfection  as  I  have  said ;  but  I 
say  that  until  you  feel  and  know  this  perfec- 
tion within,  such  as  I  have  depicted  it,  you 
should  not  fail  to  entreat  God  continually 
that  he  would  increase  it  in  you,  although 


CHRISTIANO.  83 

you  should  come  to  perform  miracles ;  and  on 
the  other  side,  until  you  should  feel  yourself 
very  strong  and  firm  in  this  Christian  perfec- 
tion, I  would  not  wish  that  you  should  think 
you  had  gained  anything.  This  is  the  perfec- 
tion to  which  Christ  invites  us  when  he  says : 
"  be  ye  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  in  heaven 
is  perfect."^  St.  Paul  invites  us  to  the  same, 
saying  to  us :  "be  ye  therefore  followers  of 
God  as  dear  children :  "  ^  and  in  another  place 
saying :  "follow  me  as  I  have  followed  Christ."^ 
To  the  same  I  invite  you,  and  to  the  same  I 
desire  you  to  ask  me  to  come  by  words  and 
by  works. 

GiULiA.  0  my  God,  what  would  I  pay  to 
see  a  Christian  so  perfect  as  the  one  you  have 
here  pictured!  for  me,  I  would  strip  myself 
of  all  that  I  have. 

Yaldes.  And  would  it  not  be  still  better 
to  see  yourself  as  perfect  a  Christian  as  I  have 
here  described? 

GiULiA.    Yes,  but  this  is  impossible  1 

Yaldes.  How  impossible?  Do  you  not 
know  what  Christ  says:  that  all  things  are 

1  Matt.  V.  48.  2  Eph,  y.  i.  3  i  Cor.  xi.  1. 

r  2 


84  ALFABETO 

possible  to  him  who  attains,  as  it  were  natu- 
rally, to  put  his  whole  confidence  in  God?  ^ 

GiULiA.     I  have  indeed  heard  say  so,  but  I 
am  weak. 

Valdes.  And  yet  so  much  the  more  you 
are  weak  so  much  greater  will  be  the  grace 
of  God  which  will  make  you  strong;  if  then 
you  confess  in  sincerity  that  you  are  weak, 
/  30.  -^and  trust  in  Christ,  he  will  strengthen  you. 
Do  you  not  know  what  the  Gospel  says,  that 
the  things  that  are  impossible  with  men  are 
possible  with  God?  ''^ 

GiULiA.     I  desire  it  so  much  that  I  dare  not 
expect  it. 

Yaldes.  Now  if  you  wish  it,  ask  it  of  God, 
and  entreating  him  for  it,  as  St.  James  says, 
confidently,  he  will  give  it  you^,  and  I  promise 
you  that  it  will  not  be  wanting  to  you.  A 
grand  thing  this,  that  persons  wish  to  be 
believed  in  their  promises,  being  naturally 
fickle,  and,  as  David  calls  them,  liars,  and  that 
they  are  not  willing  to  give  credence,  nor 
trust  themselves  to  the  promises  of  God !  I 
truly  believe  that  this  may  be  the  greatest 
1  Mark  ix.  23.       2  L^ke  xviii.  27.        ^  James  i.  5. 


CHRISTIANO.  85 

injury  that  a  person  can  do  to  the  divine 
Majesty,  so  also  to  believe  and  trust  in  his 
promises  is  the  most  grateful  sacrifice  that  can 
be  made  to  him. 

GiULiA.  I  do  not  care  to  detain  you  longer 
upon  this  point,  unless  you  begin  to  guide  me 
in  this  way  of  Christian  perfection ;  since  you 
already  keep  me  so  enamoured  of  it,  that  it 
seems  as  though  I  could  not  live  content  un- 
til I  unite  with  it,  if  not  entirely,  at  least  in 
such  a  degree  as  may  be  needful  to  me,  that 
my  concerns  may  become  accepted  in  the  sight 
of  God.  But  it  is  understood  that  you  always 
have  regard  to  lead  me  so  privately  that  no 
person  be  sensible  of  me,  because,  if  I  can  be 
excused,  I  wish  not  to  give  occasion  for  talk 
among  the  people. 

Yaldes.  I  will  do  what  you  say ;  but  notice, 
Signora,  that  again  I  wish  you  to  promise  me 
to  govern  yourself  by  what  I  shall  say  to  you, 
because  I  shall  not  be  willing  to  have  lost  my 
time,  and  that  you  should  remain  the  same 
individual  as  before. 

GiULiA.  Trust  me ;  and  I  promise  you 
that,  with   the   grace   of  God,  before   many 

F   3 


86  ALFABETO 

days  you  will  see  the  effect  of  your  words 
ujDon  me. 

Yaldes.  With  this  confidence  I  shall  re- 
cover heart  to  disclose  to  you  what  I  know 
and  have  been  able  to  understand  of  this 
way  of  Christian  perfection.  And  before  I 
begin  to  show  you  the  stages  by  which  you 
must  walk,  I  wish  you  to  know  this:  that 
St.  Paul,  in  many  places  of  his  epistles,  divides 
man  into  two  parts,  one  he  calls  the  flesh,  and 
the  other  the  spirit ;  one  the  Old  man,  the 
other  the  New  man.  And  know  that  by  the 
Old  man  he  means  man  unquickened  by  the 
grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  by  the  New  man 
he  means  man  already  made  alive  by  the  grace 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  Old  man  he  calls  the 
flesh ;  and  he  calls  it  the  body  subject  to  sin. 
Whence  it  appears  that  under  the  title  of  flesh 
he  means  the  whole  man,  soul  and  body,  with- 
out the  Holy  Spirit,  and  nature  without  grace. 
The  same  is  proved  by  what  he  says  in  another 
part,  that  the  flesh  strives  against  the  spirit 
and  the  spirit  against  the  flesh,  in  which  con- 
flict, if  the  soul  yields  itself  to  be  overcome 
by  the  flesh,  and  with  it  mingling,  it  becomes 


CHRISTIAXO.  87 

altogether  carnal ;  and  if  it  yield  itself  to  be 
persuaded  by  the  spirit,  conjoining  with  the 
spirit,  it  becomes  wliolly  spiritual.  St.  Paul, 
therefore,  almost  ahvays  -^divides  man  into  /  31. 
two  parts,  I  say  almost  always,  because  in 
one  or  two  places  he  appears  to  divide  him 
into  three,  that  is,  into  spirit,  soul,  and  body. 
You  have  already  understood  what  is  the 
Old  man,  flesh  and  body  subject  to  sin ;  and 
what  is  the  New  man,  soul  and  spirit ;  there- 
fore mind  well  which  of  these  lives  in  you, 
because  thus  the  wound  better  known,  you 
may  be  able  to  apply  the  medicine.  Know 
also,  according  to  St.  Paul,  the  appetites 
and  affections  of  the  flesh  are  death,  and 
are  enemies  to  God,  because  they  are  neither 
willing,  nor  do  indeed  become  subject  to  the 
law  of  God.^  Know  further,  that  the  outward 
fruits  of  the  flesh  are  homicides,  wrongs, 
fleshly  lusts;  and  the  internal  are  ambition, 
avarice,  envy,  wrath,  revenge.  Know,  too,  that 
according  to  the  same  St.  Paul,  the  efl'ects  of 
the  spirit  are  life  and  peace  ;  he  w^ould  say, 
that  by  means  of  the  spirit  the  soul  lives,  and 
^  Rom.  viii.  7. 

F  4 


88  ALFABETO 

the  conscience  remains  peaceful  and  at  rest. 
Know  yet  more  that  the  fruits  of  the  spirit 
are  charity,  cheerfuhiess,  sincerity,  peace,  be- 
nignity, goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance. 
So  that  one  and  the  same  person  is,  according 
to  nature,  the  Old  man ;  and  according  to  grac6, 
the  Newman.  The  Old  man  does  not  join  to 
the  things  that  are  from  the  Spirit  of  God, 
rather,  blinded  by  his  human  reason,  he  con- 
siders them  as  vain  and  uncertain.  The  New 
man  judges  all  things,  and  cannot  be  judged 
of  any.  From  all  this  that  is  said,  you  can 
gather,  Signora,  that  your  soul  stands  in  one 
of  these  three  states;  either  it  has  mingled 
with  the  flesh  and  become  carnal,  or  it  is  united 
with  the  Spirit  and  become  spiritual ;  or  it  is 
now  in  the  battle,  the  flesh  wishing  it  for  it- 
self, and  the  Spirit  inviting  it  to  itself.  And 
it  is  proper  that  you  make  this  examination, 
because  if  your  soul  is  found  with  the  flesh, 
you  should  commend  yourself  to  God,  and  by 
these  rules  give  favour  to  the  Spirit,  for  thus 
it  begins  to  combat  and  come  forth  with  the 
victory ;  and  if  you  find  it  joined  with  the  Spi- 
rit, endeavour  with  constant  prayer  to  preserve 


CHRISTIANO.  89 

it  so;  and  if  you  find  it  undetermined,  use 
force  to  yourself,  that  it  may  very,  very  soon 
be  determined  to  be  embraced  and  united  with 
the  Spirit,  so  that  you  may  thus  become  wholly 
spiritual,  and  recover  that  image  and  likeness 
of  God,  to  which  it  was  created.  And  reflect, 
Signora,  that  it  is  impossible  that  you  are  not 
in  one  of  these  three  states,  for  thinking  on 
this  I  am  sure  that  you  will  very  closely  exa- 
mine what  is  that  state  in  which  you  are. 

GiULiA.  I  have  already  well  examined  it, 
and  I  know  it  much  more  clearly  by  what  you 
have  said.  Make  account  that  I  am  in  the 
worst  state,  and  conform  your  language  to  this 
presumption. 

Yaldes.  Since  so  it  is,  commending  you 
with  heartfelt  affection  to  God,  for  his  help  in 
this  work,  with  all  your  mind  be  very  attentive. 

GiULiA.     Leave  that  to  my  care. 

Valdes.  The  first  step  you  have  to  take  in 
this  way  is  in  truth  to  know,  that  until  this 
time  you  have  been  going  out  of  the  way,  al- 
though -^you  thought  you  were  going  by  the  /.  32. 
right  vfay.  And  because  I  am  sure  that  you 
have  amply  known  this  from  the  Preacher's 


90  ALFABETO 

sermons,  I  do  not  care  to  detain  myself  in  ex- 
plaining it  to  you. 

GiULiA.  You  do  right.  Because  although 
the  Preacher  may  not  have  shown  it  to  me, 
yet  I  have  well  understood  it  from  what  you 
have  often  said. 

Yaldes.  This  is  well,  and  since  you  know 
that  you  are  out  of  the  way,  the  second  step 
will  be  to  aj^ply  your  will  to  resolve  to  walk 
by  this  way,  that  the  Preacher  has  discovered 
to  you,  and  which  I  think  more  particularly  to 
show  to  you.  And  I  likewise  think  certainly 
that  you  are  already  taking  this  step,  for  the 
Preacher's  sermons  must  have  set  and  disposed 
your  soul  in  a  manner  that  you  know  what  it 
is  that  concerns  you,  and  indeed,  you  desire 
already  to  walk  by  the  direct  way. 

GiULiA.  So  much  so,  I  promise  you,  that  I 
desire  it  more  than  you  think. 

Yaldes.  Consider  this  desire,  Signora,  as 
the  gift  of  God.  Now  because  it  is  not  enough 
to  have  a  thing  in  the  will,  unless  we  design 
to  put  it  in  practice,  the  third  step  is  that  you 
not  only  resolve  to  leave  the  way  by  which 
it  appeared  to  you  that  you  were  walking  to 


CHEISTIANO.  91 

Christ,  but  now  to  take  this,  by  which  with- 
out any  failure  you  will  find  Christ.  And, 
consider,  that  when  you  have  made  these 
three  steps,  they  Avill  have  wrought  in  you 
the  effect  of  these  words  with  which  first  John 
the  Baptist,  and  afterwards  Christ,  began  their 
preaching,  saying:  Poenitentiam  agite,  appro- 
pinquavit enim  regnum  ccelorum;  that  is,  "Re- 
pent, for  the  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand;"  ^ 
as  though  they  had  said :  "  Turn  within  you,  ye 
who  go  wandering,  turn  to  the  good  way,  be 
aware  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  nigh." 

GiULiA.  As  soon  as  I  knew  that  the  course 
I  held  was  not  good,  I  desired  to  find  the 
right  way,  and  proposed  within  myself  to  walk 
by  that,  if  God  would  give  me  grace  to  find  it. 

Yaldes.  Since  you  cannot  walk  by  this 
way  without  the  favour  and  grace  of  God,  and 
these  God  gives  not,  except  to  them  who  leave 
sin,  and  who  leave  being  employed  in  things 
that  may  lead  to  sin,  and  in  curious  arts,  the 
fourth  step  is  that  you  prepare  the  soul  to 
celebrate  the  Christian  Sabbath.  I  mean  to 
say  that  you  cease  from  sin ;  and  it  does  not 
1  Matt.  iii.  2. 


92  ALFABETO 

satisfy  me  that  you  may  have  no  outward 
sin,  because  I  wish  that  you  begin  to  withdraw 
from  those  within,  since  you  know  that  they 
are  those  that  deprive  you  of  the  grace  of  God. 
And  I  wish  you  to  leave  oiF  inquiring  into 
things  curious  or  vain,  and  that  you  strictly 
separate  from  you  all  that  company  and  con- 
versation which  tends  to  remove  from  God, 
and  to  draw  away  your  mind,  and  from  which 
nothing  useful  can  follow  for  the  end  that  you 
undertake,  that  of  living  unto  Christ  and  not 
to  the  world.  I  greatly  desire  that  God  would 
move  your  mind  with  that  large  impulse  of 
/.  33.  spirit  which  he  put -^into  those  of  Ephesus,  Avho 
hearing  the  preaching  of  Paul  were  converted 
to  Christ,  and  brought  the  books  in  which  they 
learned  and  exercised  their  curious  arts,  and 
burned  them  in  the  presence  of  all  who  were 
there  assembled.^ 

But  if  you  do  not  find  in  yourself  this  ear- 
nestness of  spirit,  I  shall  be  satisfied,  for  the 
present,  if  you  lay  aside  all  such  curious  books 
in  a  corner,  for  I  let  you  know  that  they  are 
a  very  great  hindrance  to  one  beginning  to 
^  Acts  xix.  19. 


CHRISTIANO.  93 

walk  in  this  way.  And  you  see  already  that 
you  can  put  away  all  these  impediments  with- 
out exciting  outward  notice. 

GiULiA.  I  see  clearly  that  it  is  useful  for 
me  to  do  so,  but  I  do  not  see  how  it  can  be 
done  without  evident  appearance. 

Yaldes.  How  not  ?  Is  not  your  mind 
capable  to  direct  yourself  so  discreetly  that 
leaving  these  things  you  do  not  show  that  you 
leave  them? 

GiULiA.  Go  on,  and  in  this  thing  I  will  act 
as  you  advise  me,  which  1  can  do  because  I 
wish  in  this  to  be  governed  more  by  your  dis- 
cretion than  by  my  own. 

Yaldes.  This  is  sufficient  for  me.  Now 
since  it  is  not  enough  to  leave  the  evil  unless 
you  apply  yourself  to  the  good,  it  is  necessary 
that  from  this  day  forward  you  take  some 
portion  of  the  time  you  lost  in  these  curious 
things,  to  enter  deeply  into  a  knowledge  of 
the  world. 

And  this  will  be  the  fifth  step'.  You  will 
know  the  world  to  be  false,  for  there  is  no- 
thing in  it  that  has  not  more  show  than  sub- 
stance;  a  deceiver,   because   it  never  fulfils 


94  ALFABETO 

what   it  promises,    for   all  its   foundation  is 

laid  upon  things  fallen  and  passing  away  ;  an 

enemy  of  God,  because  it  is  always  trying  to 

divert  us  from  the  way  of  truth,  and  lead  us 

into  that  of  falsehood  and  lying  ;  inconstant, 

never  persevering  in  the  same  opinion.     In 

short,  recall  to  your  memory  that  beautiful 

tragedy  that  you  heard  the  Preacher  relate,  by 

which  he  showed  that  people  in  this  world  are 

no  other  than  actors  of  a  tragedy  \  it  being 

that  our  existence  has  no  more  certainty  than 

theirs,  nor  is  one  dissimilar  from  the  other, 

except  that  the  actors'  continues  some  hours, 

and   ours   some  years.     You   will   go  on  in 

this  knowledge  every  day,  for  so  much  as  the 

more  you  know  the  world  in  this  way,  so  much 

the  more  will  you  abhor  it. 

And  this  abhorrence  will  be  the  sixth  step. 

1  This  figure  is  used  by  Chrysostom,  probably  after 
one  of  the  Greek  poets  (S.  Chrysost.  Homil.  in  1  ad 
Timoth.  p.  314);  more  than  a  thousand  years  later  it 
was  used  by  the  evangelical  Preacher  Ochino,  at  Naples, 
to  instruct  his  audience;  it  was  reproduced  here  by 
Valdes,  and,  after  another  century  and  a  half,  made  cur- 
rent English  in  the  well-known  words  of  Shakspeare : 
"  All  the  world's  a  stage, 
And  all  the  men  and  women  merely  players,"  &c. 


CHPJSTIANO.  95 

I  msh  to  say,  that  your  motive  for  knowing 
the  world  may  not  be  to  settle  you  there,  but, 
by  passing  through  it,  to  abhor  the  world. 
This  will  help  you  to  lose  the  relish  of  worldly 
things.  Such  are  honours,  dignities,  stations, 
lordships  and  riches,  all  which  things  by  this 
consideration  you  will  cease  to  value,  and  hold 
them  as  little,  desirous  to  win  Christ  and  live 
with  Christ  from  the  example  of  St.  Paul,  who 
counted  all  these  things  as  dung  and  dross, 
having  fixed  his  whole  purpose  toAvin  Christ.^ 
And  thus  St.  Paul  himself  enjoins  us :  "Be  not 
•^conformed  to  this  world ;  but  be  ye  trans-  /.  34. 
formed  by  the  renewing  of  your  mind,  that  ye 
may  prove  what  is  that  good,  and  acceptable, 
and  perfect  mil  of  God."  ^  Then  having  know- 
ledge of  the  world,  you  must  abhor  it.  Or,  to 
speak  more  correctly,  when  you  have  entered 
a  little  into  a  knowledge  of  the  world  and  of 
its  abominations,  you  will  take  a  little  more 
time  to  enter  into  a  knowledge  of  yourself, 
and  this  will  be  the  seventh  step. 

0  Signora !    of  what  consequence  it  is  that 
a  person  should  know  how  to  have  acquaint- 

1  Phil.  iii.  8.  2  Koni.  xii.  2. 


96  ALFABETO 

ance  with  himself.  I  am  sure  that  if  we  truly 
knew  it,  we  should  apply  much  more  study 
and  diligence  to  this  than  to  any  other  object 
whatever. 

GiULiA.  In  what  does  this  importance  con- 
sist? 

Valdes.  In  this,  that  if  you  do  not  know 
yourself,  you  can  never  cease  to  love  yourself 
inordinately.  And  while  you  have  this  self- 
love  you  cannot  love  God.  And  whilst  you 
do  not  love  him  you  cannot  do,  say,  or  think 
anything  that  may  be  to  his  honour;  and  not 
being  to  his  honour,  consider  whether  it  would 
be  to  the  service  of  your  soul. 

GiULiA.  So  might  I  know  others  as  fully 
as  I  know  myself. 

Valdes.  And  still  in  this,  Signora,  con- 
sists the  deception;  that  not  knowing  your- 
self, you  think  you  do.  I  give  you  to  know 
that  he  must  be  a  very  spiritual  person  who 
entirely  knows  himself. 

GiULiA.  I  believe  it  may  be  so.  And  since 
this  knowledge  is  of  so  much  importance,  in- 
struct me  what  I  must  do  to  know  myself. 

Valdes.     The  first  thing  you  ought  to  do 


CHRISTIANO.  97 

is  to  persuade  yourself  that  you  do  not  know 
yourself.  The  second  is,  to  know  indeed  the 
necessity  you  have  to  know  yourself.  The 
third  is,  to  pray  God  that  he  would  open 
the  eyes  of  your  understanding  so  that  you 
could  know  yourself.  The  fourth,  to  occupy 
yourself  a  little  every  day  in  examining 
your  affections  and  appetites  which  incline 
you  to  disobey  God.  This  inclination  you 
must  consider  comes  to  you  through  ori- 
ginal sin,  and,  therefore,  you  should  hold  it 
as  the  more  pernicious,  because  it  is  natural 
to  you,  and  so  this  causes  you  to  love  your- 
self without  restraint,  and  to  desire  every- 
thing for  yourself.  Hence  you  will  learn  to 
trust  not  at  all  in  yourself ;  so  will  you  live 
always  above  yourself.  After  this,  jo\i  may 
run  a  little  over  your  past  life,  and  you  will 
find  many  defects,  which  will  lead  you  to 
know  what  you  are.  You  will  discover,  as 
David  discovered,  much  inward  iniquity  and 
much  rebellion  against  God.  With  him  you 
will  learn  that  every  man  is  false  and  a  liar ; 
that  is  to  say,  that  he  has  an  ill  opinion  of  the 
things  of  God.     You  will  know  with  Jeremiah 


98  ALFABETO 

that  the  heart  of  man  is  perverse,  and  you  will 
know  what  God  says :  that  the  imagination  of 
the  thoughts  of  the  human  heart  are  evil 
continually  \  and  you  will  discover  in  yourself 
inucli  ingratitude  that  you  have  used  against 
God.  You  will  know  this  every  time  you  ex- 
amine, on  one  side,  the  blessings  you  have 
received  from  his  hand,  as  well  as  the  general 
ones  that  all  people  in  the  world  partake  of, 
also  the  j^articular  favours  you  enjoy,  es- 
/;  35.  pecially  -^the  benefit  of  the  suiFering  of  Christ 
and  of  your  having  been  drawn  to  the  know- 
ledge of  it,  so  that  you  possess  and  rejoice  in 
it ;  and  on  the  other  side,  when  you  examine 
your  actions,  in  all  of  which  you  have  shown 
great  ingratitude,  in  evil  deeds,  by  having  of- 
fended God  who  gave  you  the  being  you  have, 
.and  who  redeemed  you  by  his  most  precious 
blood;  and  in  those  acts  that  appear  to  you 
good,  because  you  will  understand  how  you 
did  them,  not  through  your  love  to  God,  but 
the  love  of  yourself,  since  you  have  been  living, 
not  in  the  love  of  God,  but  in  the  love  of  your- 
self. This  being  the  vice  of  ingratitude,  it  is 
*  Gen.  vi.  5. 


CHRISTIAXO.  99 

so  mucli  the  more  abominable  and  vile  in  you, 
as  that  you  have  received  probably  more  of 
the  gifts  of  God  in  person  and  in  mind  than 
any  other  individual  now  living.  Think,  then, 
whether  you  have  reason  to  stand  ill  with 
yourself  and  to  suspect  every  evil,  and  thus 
you  will  live  always  carefully  watchful  over 
yourself. 

It  is  proper  that  you  enter  every  day  into 
the  knowledge  of  this  deficiency  and  ingrati- 
tude, not  to  remain  there,  but  to  pass  forward 
to  the  eighth  step.  This  will  be  self- abhorrence. 
To  this  you  will  readily  come,  because  as  mucli 
better  you  know  yourself,  so  much  the  more 
will  you  abhor  and  suspect  yourself  of  all  evil ; 
and  although  you  will  not  entirely  abhor  your- 
self, you  will  at  least  lose  the  love  you  bear 
towards  yourself.  For  this  reason  as  much 
more  and  better  a  thing  is  known  that  is  evil 
in  itself,  much  more  it  is  to  be  hated.  I  do 
not  say  that  you  should  show  your  self-abhor- 
rence by  misusing  your  person,  but  by  despoil- 
ing your  heart  of  its  self-love,  which  is  the 
greatest  hindrance  we  have  to  grace,  it  being 
the  case  that  we  have  no  enemy  so  deadly  as 

G   2 


100  ALFABETO 

this ;  for  it  is  tliat  which  in  every  possible  way 
and  manner  labours  to  separate  us  from  God ; 
rather  it  keeps  us  in  so  blind  a  state  and  so  car- 
ried away  by  it,  that  we  scarcely  remember 
God,  and  hence  the  prophet  Micah  says :  "  a 
man's  enemies  are  those  of  his  own  house."  ^ 
Therefore,  Signora,  if  you  wish  to  walk  lightly 
along  this  Christian  path,  entering  frequently 
into  a  knowledge  of  your  own  misery  and 
weakness,  labour  to  banish  this  mortal  enemy, 
self-love,  from  your  breast.  And  know  for 
a  certainty  that,  when  this  is  driven  out,  the 
Holy  Spirit  may  quickly,  quickly  come  and 
dwell  in  you. 

And  as  you  go  on  stripping  your  heart  of 
self-love  you  will  go  forward  clothing  it  with 
the  love  of  God,  it  is  then  proper  that  you 
advance  very  soon  to  the  ninth  step.  This  is, 
that  as  you  take  a  small  portion  of  the  day  to 
enter  into  a  knoAvledge  of  yourself,  in  order  to 
come  by  this  to  disenamour  yourself  of  your- 
self, so,  without  dwelling  long  upon  this,  you 
take  another  small  portion  of  time  to  enter 
into  acquaintance  with  God,  in  order  thus  to 
1  Micah  vii.  6. 


CHRISTIANO.  101 

enamour  yourself  with  him.  This  you  will 
readily  come  to,  seeing  that  the  more  anything 
good  in  itself  is  known,  so  much  the  more  it  is 
loved.  And  that  you  should  the  more  wil- 
lino^lv  enter  into  this  knowledo-e,  know  what 
^  Christ  says :  "  and  this  is  life  eternal,  that  y:  36. 
they  might  know  thee  the  only  true  God, 
and  Jesus  Christ,  whom  thou  hast  sent ;  "^  and 
that  the  wise  man  says,  that  the  knowledge 
of  God  is  perfect  justification;  and  that  to 
know  justification,  and  the  properties  (virtu) 
of  God  is  the  root  and  foundation  of  immor- 
tality. 

GiULiA.  You  make  account  that  as  I  have 
not  known  how  to  know  myself,  so  I  have 
less  known  how  to  understand  God.  Teach 
me  how  I  can  know  him. 

Valdes.  There  are  three  ways  by  which 
persons  have  arrived  and  do  come  to  a  know- 
ledge of  God.  One  is  by  the  light  of  nature. 
This  light  the  Gentile  philosophers  had,  and 
this  those  people  have  at  the  present  day  to 
whom  Christ  is  not  known.  St.  Paul  spoke  of 
this  knowledge  when  he  said,  that  by  the  visible 

1  John  XV ii.  3. 

o  3 


102  ALFABETO 

tilings  of  creation  people  come  to  a  knowledge 
of  the  invisible  things  of  God.^  And  it  is  thus : 
that  reflecting  on  this  mundane  frame  of  things 
in  which  they  behold  so  much  that  is  excel- 
lent, they  go  on  investigating  and  imagining 
Avhat  they  do  not  see,  and  by  the  one  and  the 
other  they  arrive  at  the  knowledge  that  God 
who  made  these  things  is  omnipotent.  And 
going  on  farther,  to  the  consideration  of  the 
admirable  providence  with  which  he  governs 
and  regulates  all  things,  in  such  a  manner  that 
one  does  not  interfere  with  another,  rather  one 
assists  and  serves  the  others,  they  arrive  at 
the  knowledge  that  God  is  supremely  wise,  and 
is  indeed  wisdom  itself.  Again,  besides  this, 
passing  on  to  the  consideration  of  the  equality 
with  which,  witliout  distinction,  all  these  bless- 
ings, earthly  and  celestial,  are  distributed  to 
tlie  people  of  the  world,  they  know  that  God  is 
supreme  goodness.  In  this  way  people  of  the 
world,  having  only  the  light  of  Nature,  reading 
in  the  volume  of  created  things,  have  known 
and  do  now  know  in  God  omnipotence,  wis- 
dom, and  goodness. 

^  Rom.  i.  20. 


CHRISTIANO.  103 

Another  way  to  the  knowledge  of  God  is 
by  sacred  Scripture ;  I  mean  by  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, which  gave  a  knowledge  of  God,  but  im- 
perfectly, exhibiting  him  as  angry,  cruel,  and 
vindictive  ;  and  therefore  it  calls  him  a  God 
of  vengeance,  and  Lord  of  hosts,  and  such  simi- 
lar severe  names.  In  this  manner  the  blind 
Hebrews  knew  God  ;  yet  altogether  it  is  a 
less  obscure  knowledge  than  that  the  Gentiles 
possessed,  although  they  would  yet  serve  as 
slaves,  indeed  they  even  now  serve  as  such. 
The  third  way  of  knowing  God  is  by  Christ.  \)(,\-c 
This  way  is  the  certain,  clear,  and  safe  way ; 
this  is  the  straight,  royal,  and  noble  way. 
And  know,  Signora,  that  in  knowing  God 
through  Christ  consists  the  whole  being  of  a 
Christian  ;  for  to  know  God  through  Christ 
it  is  necessary  first  to  know  Christ  himself. 
And  because  we  cannot  know  Christ  by  the 
light  of  Nature,  nor  by  other  human  industry, 
if  God  does  not  internally  illumine  and  open 
the  vision  of  our  souls,  I  say  that  this  know- 
ledge of  God  through  Christ  is  supernatural 
knowledge  for  which  the  special  grace  of  God 
is  necessary.     And  that  it  is  the  trutli,  that 

G  4 


104  ALFABETO 

we  cannot  have  the  true  knowledge  of  God 
except  through  Christ,  Christ  himself  demon- 
strates, saying:  "no  man  can  come  to  him, 
/  37.  except  his  EternaKFather  draw  him."  ^  And 
he  shows  it  again  by  his  answer  to  Peter,  when 
Peter  acknowledged  him  to  be  the  true  Son  of 
God,  saying  to  him :  "blessed  art  thou,  Simon 
son  of  John,  for  this  thou  hast  not  gained  by 
human  reason,  nor  by  the  light  of  Nature,  but 
my  Father  who  is  in  heaven  has  revealed  it 
unto  thee."'^  When  we  know  God  through 
Christ,  we  know  him  as  loving,  benign,  mer- 
ciful, compassionate,  because  we  find  in  Christ, 
love,  benignity,  mercy,  and  compassion.  See 
here,  Signora,  three  ways  of  knowing  God, 
according  to  three  different  kinds  of  people 
who  have  had,  and  still  have,  a  knowledge  of 
God.  And  because  the  two  first  are  not  to 
your  purpose,  you  will  let  them  pass,  and 
only  exercise  yourself  in  the  third,  which  is,  to 
know  God  through  Christ.  But  in  order  that 
this  exercise  may  be  profitable,  it  is  proper 
that  you  should  learn  to  know  Christ,  not  by 
knowledge  gained  by  custom,  nor  acquired  by 
1  John  vi.  44.  2  Matt  xvi.  17. 


CHRISTIANO.  105 

the  intellect  and  human  industry,  but  by  the 
light  of  faith  inspired  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  It 
is  needful  for  you  in  this  manner  to  learn 
rightly  to  know  Christ  if  you  wish  to  come 
perfectly  to  know  God  through  Christ. 

GiULiA.  I  know  not  that  I  have  anything 
to  reply  to  you ;  so  much  it  seems  to  me  that 
I  know  Christ  well,  if  there  be  not  some  other 
secret  cognizance  to  which  I  have  not  arrived. 

Yaldes.  Now  this  secret  cognizance  is 
what  I  said  persons  must  come  to  by  inspira- 
tion. And  therefore  we  should  not  think  the 
public  cognizance  of  Christ  sufficient,  which 
an  assassin  or  a  traitor  has.  St.  John  unde- 
ceives us,  saying :  "  he  that  saith,  I  know  him, 
and  keepeth  not  his  commandments,  is  a  liar."  ^ 

GiULiA.  You  seem  to  me  to  straiten  me 
much,  and  I  feel  it  so  much  the  more  as  I  have 
nothing  to  answer  you.  Now  then  for  your 
life  let  us  not  lose  time,  but  open  a  little  to  me 
the  way  by  which  I  may  enter  into  the  true 
cognizance  of  Christ. 

Yaldes.  I  mil  give  you,  Signora,  some 
principles,  by  means  of  which,  commending 

^   1  John  ii.  4. 


106  ALFABETO 

yourself  to  God,  he  will  himself  reveal  the  rest 
to  you.  And  so  I  say,  since  you  already  be- 
lieve that  Christ  is  truly  God  and  truly  man, 
as  God,  equal  with  his  Eternal  Father  and  one 
and  the  same  with  Him,  the  true  cognizance  of 
Christ  consists,  Signora,  in  knowing  and  con- 
sidering to  what  purpose  the  Son  of  God  came 
into  the  world ;  and  was  made  man ;  why  he 
suiFered ;  and  why  he  arose  again. 

GiULiA.     I  wish  to  learn  from  you  how  you 
consider  these  three  things. 

Valdes.     You  may  consider,  Signora,  that 
Christ  came  into  the  world  to  make  satisfaction 
for  original  sin.     Because  this  having  been  an 
infinite  crime  in  respect  to  God  who  was  of- 
fended, it  was  necessary  that  the  satisfaction , 
should  be  infinite,  and  this  could  not  be  made 
except  by  God  himself,  who  is  infinite.     There- 
fore the  Son  of  God,  made  man,  has  made  satis- 
faction for  the  sin  of  the  first  man,  and  together 
with  his,  for  all  the  sins  of  all  persons  who  had 
been,  were  then,  are  now,  and  shall  be;  and  to 
/  38.  /them  who  forsake  the  benefit  of  this  propitia- 
tion it  will  be  wanting  by  their  own  fault. 
Christ  came  to  qualify  men  that  they  might 


CHRISTIANO.  107 

become  the  sons  of  God.  He  came  to  show 
us  the  way  to  heaven.  He  came  to  con- 
found the  pride  of  the  flesh,  and  to  preach  hu- 
mility of  spirit.  He  came  to  destroy  death. 
He  came  to  break  the  power  of  the  devil.  He 
came  to  g-ive  and  to  communicate  with  us  of 
his  own  Spirit  by  which  we  might  do  the  will 
of  God,  for  by  the  Law  alone  had  God  before 
declared  his  will  to  us,  but  the  Law  did  not 
give  us  the  power  by  which  we  could  fulfil  it. 
He  came  to  show  us  the  love  that  his  Eternal 
Father  bears  to  the  human  race,  which  is  most 
perfectly  seen  and  known  in  Christ.  And  in 
short,  he  came  to  open  to  us  the  gates  of  Para- 
dise, and  to  qualify  us  so  that  we  might  enter 
therein. 

Now  considering  these  causes  for  which 
Christ  came,  think  you  whether  you  could 
acquire  by  any  other  means  than  by  the  Son 
of  God  made  man,  so  many  and  such  singular 
blessings.  Besides  this,  when  you  wish  to 
consider  wherefore  he  suffered,  Christ  himself 
shall  teach  you,  saying :  cum  exaltatus  fuero  a 
terra  omnia  traham  ad  meipsum^  that  is,  "  and 
I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw 


108  ALFABETO 

all  things  unto  me;"^  as  though  he  said:  in 
order  to  uproot  people  from  the  things  of  this 
world,  and  enamour  them  with  the  things  of 
life  eternal,  it  is  needful  that  I  be  crucified; 
and  saying  in  another  place  that  it  was  neces- 
sary he  should  suffer  on  the  cross  that  all  who 
believed  in  him  might  be  saved.^  And  know 
for  a  certainty  that  there  is  nowhere  that  we 
can  better  know  God  than  in  Christ  crucified. 
I  can  say  yet  more,  that  if  the  contemplation  of 
Christ  crucified  does  not  disenamour  you  of  the 
things  of  the  world  and  enamour  you  of  the 
things  of  God,  you  will  be  always  miserably 
bound  to  created  things.  So  much  so,  that 
one  of  the  reasons  why  I  think  St.  Paul  calls 
Christ  the  mediator  between  God  and  man^  is, 
because  we  can  neither  know,  believe,  nor  love 
God,  but  by  contemplating  Christ  crucified; 
who  suffering,  made  it  sweet  to  suffer;  and 
enduring,  made  it  easy  to  endure ;  and  being 
injuriously  treated,  made  injuries  sweet;  and 
flying,  gave  to  death  itself  a  relish.  Do  not 
these  reasons  appear  to  you  most  sufficient 
why  Christ  should  have  suffered?  Does  it  not 
^  John  xii.  32.      2  L^ke  xxiv.  46.      3  j  xim.  ii.  5. 


CHRISTIANO.  109 

seem  to  you  that  Christ  has  shown  so  much 
love  in  this  as  to  satisfy  us  why  we  should  dis- 
enamour  ourselves  of  self-love,  and  enamour 
ourselves  with  God  ?  But  considering  still 
further,  you  will  find  that  Christ  arose  from 
the  dead  that  we  might  arise  with  him,  as  well 
in  spirit  in  this  life,  as  in  body  in  the  life  eter- 
nal. And  the  spiritual  resurrection  is  when 
through  dying  to  the  Old  man  we  come  to 
be  revived  in  the  New  man.  This  is  the  pass- 
ing from  death  unto  life  ;  and  thus  as  Christ 
through  dying  came  to  the  resurrection,  so  we 
by  -^denial  of  self  come  to  the  newness  of  life.  /  39. 
And  this  is  what  Christ  says  to  Nicodemus : 
"  except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of 
God."  ^  i  You  will  consider  also  in  Christ, 
that  he  ascended  up  on  high  to  raise  our 
souls  to  the  contemplation  of  heavenly  things. 
To  these  St.  Paul  invites  us,  saying  :  "  if, 
brethren,  ye  are  raised  spiritually  with  Christ, 
raise  your  minds  to  things  above,  where 
Christ  sits  at  the  right  hand  of  his  Eternal 
Father;  search  out  the  things  on  high,  not 

^  John  iii.  5. 


no  ALFABETO 

those  that  are  upon  the  earth."  ^  And  lastly, 
consider  that  Christ  sent  the  Holy  Spirit  that 
we  might  be  taught  the  truth  of  these  things, 
that  thereby  all  love  of  earthly  things  ba- 
nished away,  we  might  be  inflamed  with  the 
love  of  spiritual  things,  and  through  means  of 
it  recover  and  restore  within  us  that  image 
of  God  to  the  likeness  of  which  we  were 
created. 

By  these  considerations,  Signora,  God  aiding 
you,  and  favouring  you  with  his  grace,  you 
may  be  enabled  to  come,  little  by  little,  to  the 
perfect  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  through 
Christ  to  the  true  knowledge  of  God.  And 
thus  you  will  go  on  by  it,  loving  God  and 
loving  Christ.  In  the  same  manner  you  will 
go  forward  verifying  in  yourself  those  truths 
that  you  confess  in  the  Creed,  in  a  mode  that 
what  you  now  confess  through  obedience, 
merely  subjecting  your  intellect,  you  will  then 
confess  through  some  experience.  In  this 
manner,  that  as  joined  with  the  first  cogni- 
zance of  God  by  the  light  of  Nature,  which 
the  Gentiles  had,  united  with  the  knowledge 
»  Col.  iii.  1,  2. 


CHRISTIANO.  Ill 

gained  of  him  through  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  Testament  which  tlie  Jews  have,  a  person 
can  with  truth  say  that  he  believes  in  one  God, 
the  Father,  omnipotent  Creator  of  heaven  and 
earth  ;  so  also  and  much  better  than  they, 
after  you  have  known  Christ,  and  through 
Christ  known  God,  and  through  God  returning 
to  know  Christ  [more  fully],  you  will  be  able 
to  say,  or  to  speak  more  correctly,  you  will 
say  with  truth,  feeling  in  your  soul  that  which 
you  say,  the  same  the  others  have  said  and 
confessed ;  and  passing  beyond  these,  you  will 
declare  with  truth  that  you  believe  in  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  our  only  Lord.  You 
will  believe  him  to  be  so  because  the  love  and 
obedience  with  which  you  know  that  Christ 
showed  himself  most  obedient  to  the  will  of 
God  and  all  the  other  divine  perfections  that 
you  know  to  be  in  Christ,  will  certify  you  that 
Christ  is  the  Son  of  God;  and  the  sweetness 
and  charity  that  you  will  consider  in  Christ 
will  constrain  you  to  hold  him  alone  as  your 
absolute  Lord.j 

And    passing   further   in    the    truth,   you 
will   believe   that   he  was  conceived   by  the 


112  ALFABETO 

operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ;  because  the 
admirable  perfection  you  will  know  to  be  in 
Christ  will  assure  you  that  his  generation,  or 
conception,  was  not  an  ordinary  occurrence, 
but  truly  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  And 
^^dth  this  assurance  entering  more  profoundly 
/  40.  -^into  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  you  will 
chastely  confess  that  he  was  born  from  the 
womb  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  because  you  will 
understand  that  such  perfection  could  not  be 
born  but  of  a  most  perfect  mother,  and  yet  it 
is  consistent  that  she  was  a  virgin  before  the 
birth,  in  the  birth,  and  after  the  birth. 

After  this,  when  you  shall  feel  within  your 
soul  that,  contrary  to  all  natural  reason, 
suffering  is  sweet  to  you,  affliction  grateful, 
and  glorious  the  cross,  knowing  truly  that 
glory  would  not  be  found  in  trouble,  nor 
honour  in  calumny,  if  Christ  had  not  dignified 
both,  then  with  living  faith  will  you  confess, 
that  Christ  suffered  under  the  presidency  of 
Pontius  Pilate.  And  when  you  shall  have 
crucified  and  buried  mth  Christ  your  Old 
man  with  all  his  affections  and  appetites,  you 
will  not  have  any  doubt  in  believing  and  con- 


CHPJSTIANO.  113 

fessing  that  Christ  was  crucified,  dead  and 
buried. 

After  this,  when  you  become  in  any  man- 
ner free  from  the  burden  of  your  appetites 
and  affections,  considering  that  thus  as  Christ 
has  freed  you  from  that  hell,  so  also  he  freed 
the  holy  fathers  from  Hades  (limho)^  you  will 
believe  in  truth  that  Christ  descended  into  hell. 

And  when,  passing  further  on,  you  feel  the 
enlivening  of  the  New  man,  and  by  this  you 
will  see  that  you  are  raised  with  Christ,  you 
will  be  constrained  to  confess  that  Christ 
himself,  the  third  day  rose  from  the  dead. 
And  when  you  shall  see  and  feel  that  all  your 
desires  are  directed  to  the  Spirit,  all  walking 
on  towards  heaven,  you  will  know  that  Christ 
already  is  in  heaven,  seated  on  the  right  hand 
of  the  Father,  and  thus  you  will  confess  it. 
Your  soul  at  once  inflamed  with  desire  that 
the  world  may  behold  Christ  glorified,  since 
it  already  saw  him  suffering,  taking  it  for 
certain  it  must  be  so,  you  will  confess  that 
Christ  must  come  to  judge  the  living  and  the 
dead.^  And  because  the  Holy  Spirit  who 
^  1  Cor.  XV.  52. 

H 


114  ALFABETO 

dwells  in  you  will  open  your  eyes,  you  will 
recognise  the  same  Spirit  in  many  other  per- 
sons, agreeable  to  what  David  says:  Qui 
timent  te,  videhunt  me^  et  Icetahuntur :  that 
is,  "they  that  fear  thee  will  see  me  and  be 
glad;"^  with  the  whole  heart  and  a  ready 
tongue  you  will  confess  the  Holy  Spirit.  With 
the  same  knowledge  you  will  believe  the  holy 
catholic  Church  and  the  spiritual  communion 
of  holy  persons  who  are  in  it.  Thus,  you 
will  truly  know  that  Christ  has  here  on  earth 
a  Church  universal,  holy  by  participation 
with  the  holiness  of  Christ,  which  Church 
contains  and  embraces  good  and  bad,  and 
which  holds  a  spiritual  union  of  holy  persons 
maintained  by  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
who  live  in  faith,  hope,  and  charity.  And 
knowing  that  you  have  confessed  your  sins  to 
y:  41.  a  priest  *^of  this  universal  Church,  and  being 
absolved,  having  given  credit  to  the  absolution 
that  he,  on  the  part  of  God,  has  given  you, 
feeling  the  soul  peaceful  and  quieted,  you  will 
confess  in  truth  that  in  this  universal  Church 
is  remission  of  sins. 

^  Ps.  cxix.  74. 


CHRISTIANO.  115 

Besides  this:  when  by  inward  experience 
you  have  felt  the  truth  of  all  the  rest  that 
a  faithful  Christian  ought'to  believe,  you  will 
not  doubt  of  the  confession  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  body.  This  will  be  so  much  the  more 
easy  for  you  to  confess,  as  you  will  have  con- 
fessed the  resurrection  of  Christ,  having  be- 
gun to  feel  in  your  soul  the  advantage  of  it. 
Finally,  when  you  shall  feel  and  enjoy  so  much 
of  the  sweetness  and  love  of  Christ  here  in  this 
world  as  is  to  be  felt  and  enjoyed,  taking  this 
sense  and  enjoyment  for  an  earnest  of  what  you 
will  yet  have  to  feel  and  enjoy  in  the  other  life 
to  which  you  will  expect  certainly  to  go  to 
rejoice  perpetually  with  Christ,  you  will  not 
hesitate  to  confess  the  Life  Eternal. 

And  now,  when  you  hold  such  inward  ex- 
perience, yours  will  be  living  and  true  faith, 
because  you  will  have  the  experience  of  it 
within  you.  Now  mark  well,  Signora,  and 
consider  the  fruit  you  will  gather  from  the 
knowledge  of  God  through  Christ.  And  con- 
sidering that  you  will  be  so  much  a  Christian 
as  you  have  this  knowledge  of  God  by  Christ 
lively  in  your  soul,  I  am  sure  you  will  willingly 

h2 


116  ALFABETO 

forget  so  mucli  of  yourself,  entering  into  this 
divine  cognizance ;  in  which  you  ought  to  en- 
ter many  times  a  day,  if  you  wish  to  walk 
by  this  Christian  path.  I  also  desire  that 
you  will  do  so,  Signora,  for  I  wish  you  to 
begin  at  once  to  walk  in  it,  and  that  the  time 
may  not  slip  away  in  mere  desires,  therefore  I 
will  not  say  more  to  you  than  has  been  said 
about  this  knowledge  of  Christ.  I  hope  well 
in  God's  goodness  that  as  you  begin  to  enter 
upon  this  way  you  will  find  so  many  things 
of  which  I  have  not  known  how  to  make  men- 
tion here,  that  since  you  now  keep  me  so  long 
talking,  so  you  will  then  keep  me  but  a  short 
time  in  speaking. 

GiULiA.  Rather,  it  has  gratified  me  so  much 
to  hear  you  discourse,  that  the  greatest  dis- 
pleasure you  have  done  me  has  been  the  pass- 
ing so  briefly  through  subjects  so  high  and 
so  important.  Besides,  I  tell  you  that  wishing 
not  to  interrupt  you,  I  omitted  to  ask  you 
some  things  that  occurred  to  me ;  but  as  they 
have  already  gone  from  my  memory  it  is  of  no 
consequence.      Go  on. 

Valdes.     I  know  not  what  more  to  say  to 


CHRISTIANO.  117 

you  on  this  subject,  except  that  I  wish  what 
has  been  already  said  may  be  used  by  you 
more  as  a  way -mark  to  point  to  the  entrance 
of  the  knowledge  of  God  and  of  Christ,  than  as 
an  introduction  into  it,  because  the  introduc- 
tion must  be  made  by  the  special  gift  and  grace 
of  God,  which  you  ought  always  most  affec- 
tionately to  ask  for,  and  when  you  so  ask  it  of 
him,  I  promise  you  that  he  will  not  deny  you. 

GiULiA.  Great  is  the  power  that  the  word 
of  God  has !  I  say  so  because  I  assure  you, 
of  all  the  arguments  I  hear  from  you,  there 
is  none  that  so  freshly  increases  the  resolu- 
tion I  have  to  -^walk  by  this  Christian  path.      /.  42. 

Valdes.  All  these  new  resolutions  you 
ought,  Signora,  to  embrace,  and  acknowledge 
to  come  from  the  hand  of  God.  And  know 
that  my  words  cannot  be  sufficient  for  this  if 
the  Holy  Spirit  did  not  stand  within  yourself, 
soliciting  you.  Now  because  in  nothing  can 
people  entirely  know  and  comprehend  the 
love  God  bears  to  us,  his  mercy,  his  compas- 
sion, his  benignity,  except  in  Christ,  for  this 
reason  I  say,  Signora,  that  the  most  certain 
way  and  the  most  royal  road  to  come  to  a 

h3 


118  ALFABETO 

knowledge  of  God  is  to  know  him  through 
Christ.  And  so  Christ  himself  says :  "  I  am 
the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life,"^  and  so  the 
Eternal  Father  draws  us  to  know  Christ,  and 
Christ  leads  us  to  know  the  Eternal  Father, 
and  we  cannot  come  to  Christ  [God?J  but  by 
Christ,  and  life  eternal  consists  in  knowing 
God,  and  in  knowing  Christ.  Hence  Christ 
himself,  speaking  to  his  Eternal  Father,  says : 
"this  is  life  eternal,  that  they  should  know 
thee,  the  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom: 
thou  hast  sent  into  the  world."  '^ 

GiULiA.  I  pray  God  that  he  would  give  me 
grace  to  know  him  in  truth,  even  as  he  wishes 
to  be  known. 

Valdes.  Signora,  hold  firm  confidence  in 
God  that  you  will  certainly  know  him,  and 
knowing  him  you  will  endeavour  to  enamour 
yourself  of  him,  using  this  knowledge  for  this 
purpose. 

And  this  will  be  the  tenth  step.  I  desire, 
that  exercising  yourself  in  the  knowledge  of 
God  and  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  you 
enamour  yourself  of  God  and  of  Christ:    I 

1  John  xiv.  6.  2  joiin  xTii.  3. 


CHRISTIANO.  119 

mean  to  say  that  you  begin  to  enamour  your- 
self of  God  and  of  Christ.  Because  I  have 
already  told  you,  in  what  has  passed,  suffi- 
ciently of  this  love;  referring  to  that,  I  do 
not  wish  to  detain  you  by  saying  anything 
particularly  of  the  necessity  we  have  for  it, 
what  wonderful  effects  it  produces  in  the  soul 
where  it  exists  lively  and  fervent,  and  how, 
according  to  St.  John,  "God  is  love;  and  he 
that  dwelleth  in  love  God  dwells  in  him,"  ^ 
which  is  surely  a  different  dignity  and  other 
happiness,  than  living  to  the  world  and  the 
world  living  in  us.  I  say  then  that  I  wish  to 
pass  by  all  this,  and  come  to  tell  you  and 
assure  you  that,  as  by  means  of  the  know- 
ledge of  yourself  you  will  lose  your  own  self- 
love,  so  much  through  the  knowledge  of  God 
will  you  gain  of  the  love  of  God.  And  this 
is  to  go  out  of  yourself  and  to  enter  into 
God. 

GiULiA.     It  is  a  usual  saying  that  what  is 

not  seen  is  so  far   not   understood.     I   had 

heard   tell  a   thousand   times  of  this   going 

out  of  a  person's  self  to  enter  into  God,  but 

*  1  John  iv.  16. 

h4 


120  ALFABETO 

never,  in  all  I  have  heard,  has  it  been  accom- 
plished to  my  comprehension  until  now. 

Yaldes.  You  are  so  much  the  more  under 
obligation  to  love  God  since  he  has  preserved 
you  so  long  in  this  world  as  to  come  to  know 
this,  which  until  now  you  have  not  under- 
stood. 

GiULiA.  You  are  right.  May  it  please 
God  that  I  may  know  how  to  profit  from  it. 

Yaldes.  So  much  will  you/lo  this  as  you 
constrain  your  will  to  confide  entirely  in  God. 
And  because  as  much  the  firmer  faith  exists 
/.  43.  -^in  our  soul,  so  much  more  fervent  is  charity, 
and  as  much  the  more  fervent  is  charity,  so 
much  stronger  is  faith,  I  wish  you,  Signora, 
to  refresh  in  your  memory  continually  what 
the  Church  commands  you  to  believe. 

GiULiA.  Then  this  alone  will  be  enough 
for  the  whole  day. 

Yaldes.  I  mean  only  the  Creed,  which  I 
wish  you  to  refresh  in  your  memory  every 
day,  not  by  repeating  it  by  rote  with  the  lips, 
but  by  simply  comprehending  and  considering 
it  with  the  mind ;  and  this  will  be  the  eleventh 
step,  ^ 


CHEISTIANO.  121 

Since  you  have  seen,  by  what  I  have  before 
told  you,  in  faith  is  readiness  to  believe  and 
confidence  in  believing  things  to  come,  you 
will  confirm  yourself  by  the  consideration  of 
things  past.  I  mean  to  say  that,  as  the  expect- 
ation of  the  effect  that  you  know  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  has  made  upon 
persons,  makes  you  sure  that  God  has  been 
true  in  the  past,  so  now  you  will  strengthen 
yourself  in  believing  that  he  will  be  so  in 
what  remains  to  be  accomplished ;  such  as  in 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  the  final  judg- 
ment, life  eternal,  the  condemnation  of  the 
wicked  and  the  salvation  of  the  good.  In  like 
confidence  you  will  confirm  and  strengthen 
yourself  by  bringing  to  remembrance  some 
promises  God  has  made  and  which  are  found 
accomplished ;  such  as  the  sending  Christ 
into  the  world  for  the  salvation  of  the  human 
race,  which  he  had  promised  to  the  patriarchs 
and  prophets  ;  and  such  as  the  promise  of 
succession  to  Abraham.  And  coming  down 
to  the  New  Testament,  you  will  recollect  that 
Christ  promised  that  he  would  rise  from  the 
dead,   and   he   arose  ;  he   promised   that   he 


122  ALFABETO 

would  send  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  he  sent  it; 
he  promised  that  faith  should  not  fail  in  the 
Christian  Church,  and  it  has  not  failed;  he 
promised  that  he  would  be  with  his  Christian 
people  to  the  end  of  the  world,  and  until  the 
present  time  he  has  been,  is  now,  and  will  be ; 
he  promised  that  when  the  Holy  Spirit  should 
come  to  the  apostles,  it  would  teach   them 
all  truth,  and  so  it  was  accomplished.     Now, 
finding,   Signora,    that  he  has  performed  all 
these  promises,  it  will  be  an  easy  thing  to  you 
to  give  belief  to  all  he  shall  say  to  you.     And 
so  when  you  are  sensible  that  he  tells  you  to 
have  no  anxiety  to  provide  the  things  of  this 
world,  but  to  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  his  righteousness,  and  that  he  will  pro- 
vide all  these  things,  you  will  believe  it,  and 
you  will  confide  in  him.     And  in  the  same 
manner,  when  with  confidence  in  his  bounty 
and  liberality  you  shall  hear  it  said  to  you 
that  Christ  promises  to  give  us  all  we  ask 
of  him,  you  will  hold  it  certain  that  he  will 
give  you  what  you  ask,  and  if  he  does  not 
grant  it,  you  will  believe  it  to  be  through  your 
unbelief;  in  this  manner  you  will  confirm  and 


CPIRISTIANO.  123 

strengthen  yourself  in  the  faith  in  proportion 
to  your  confidence.  And  since  thus  entering 
into  the  knowledge  of  God  and  of  Christ,  you 
will  enamour  yourself  with  God  and  with 
Christ  and  put  all  your  confidence  in  the  pro- 
mises of  God  through  Christ,  so  also  beloved 
of  God  and  of  Christ,  and  you  relying  -^upon  /•  44. 
God  and  upon  Christ,  it  is  proper  that  by  these 
means  you  pass  one  more  step  forward. 

This  will  be  to  confirm  yourself  in  the  ex- 
pectation of  eternal  life,  in  which  you  hope 
to  live  and  enjoy  God  and  Christ  for  ever. 
This  will  be  the  twelfth  step  in  this  Chris- 
tian way. 

In  the  consideration  of  this,  you  will  endea- 
vour to  dispose  your  mind  in  such  a  manner 
that  you  may  have  a  living  expectation  of  en- 
joying the  presence  of  God  in  glory,  so  firm 
and  certain  as  not  to  have  a  doubt  of  it.  And 
know  surely,  that  as  much  as  you  have  of  hope, 
so  much  you  will  have  of  faith ;  and  as  much 
as  you  have  of  faith,  you  will  have  so  much 
of  charity.  And  in  like  manner,  as  much  as 
you  have  of  charity,  so  much  will  you  have  of 
faith,  and  as  much  of  faith,  so  much  of  hope  ; 


124  ALFABETO 

because  these  three  Christian  virtues  always 
go  so  much  in  brotherhood,  that  one  never 
exists  without  the  other ;  I  mean  when  one 
exists  perfectly  and  lives  perfectly  in  the  soul. 
Are  you  satisfied  with  these  twelve  steps 
that  I  have  sho^vn  you? 

GiULiA.  You  may  think  that  if  they  satis- 
fied me  the  case  would  be,  that  I  should  be 
out  of  these  troubles  and  disgusts  in  which  I 
live,  as  you  well  know,  and  which  have  kept 
me  so  estranged  from  myself  that  if  you  had 
seen  me  before  you  would  not  know  me  now. 

Valdes.  Signora,  trust  in  Christ,  and  set 
yourself  to  go  to  him  by  this  way,  and  believe 
me  that  he  will  help  you  more  completely  to 
scatter  all  your  disgusts  and  troubles,  and  with 
such  good  companionship  there  is  nothing 
in  this  life  that  will  be  wearisome  and  dis- 
gustful, except  to  see  how  people  of  the  world 
offend  God  and  contradict  and  slight  his  law 
and  his  doctrine. 

GiULiA.  All  this  I  fully  believe.  But  what 
shall  I  do  in  order  to  remember  all  that  you 
have  said  upon  this  subject? 

Valdes.     If  you  do  not  recollect  the  whole, 


CHRISTIANO.  125 

it  will  be  sufficient  that  you  remember  a  part 
of  it.  And  I  wish  to  undeceive  you  in  this  ; 
that  I  do  not  give  you  these  rules  that  you 
should  be  bound  to  them,  because  it  is  my 
purpose  that  you  make  use  of  them  only  as  a 
Christian  Alphabet,  by  the  means  of  which 
you  may  come  to  Christian  perfection. 

Of  all  that  has  been  said,  I  shall  be  satisfied 
if  you  remember  that  the  first  step  is,  to 
know  that  the  way  in  which  you  have  been 
walking  to  the  present  time  cannot  conduct 
you  to  Christ. 

The  second  is,  that  you  hold  the  resolution 
to  walk  by  this,  which  without  fail  will  con- 
duct you  to  Christ. 

The  third,  that  you  determine  to  begin  to 
walk  by  it. 

The  fourth,  that  you  lay  aside  worldly 
manners  and  conversation,  which  tend  to  se- 
parate you  from  God,  and  that  you  put  away 
all  curious  speculations. 

The  fifth,  that  you  occupy  a  portion  of 
every  day  to  enter  into  a  knowledge  of  the 
world. 

The  sixth,  that  by  means  of  this  know- 


126  ALFABETO 

ledge  you  endeavour  to  slight  and  ablior  the 
world. 

The  seventh,  that  you  take  a  little  time 
every  day  to  enter  into  a  knowledge  of  your- 
self. 

The  eighth,  that  by  means  of  this  knowledge 
/.  45.  you  labour  to  free  -^your  heart  from  your  self- 
love. 

The  ninth,  that  you  take  another  small 
portion  of  time  to  enter  into  the  knowledge 
of  God,  and  that  you  enter  by  the  knowledge 
of  Christ. 

The  tenth,  that  through  this  knowledge  you 
enamour  yourself  with  God  through  the  me- 
dium of  Christ,  enamouring  yourself  in  like 
manner  with  Christ. 

The  eleventh,  that  as  well  by  the  narratives 
of  the  Old  Testament  as  by  those  of  the  New, 
you  confirm  faith  in  your  soul,  as  much  in 
belief  as  in  confidence. 

The  twelfth,  that  in  the  same  way  you 
confirm  and  strengthen  in  your  soul  the  ex- 
pectation of  Eternal  Life. 

And  because  I  wish  you  to  walk  by  this 
way  as  a  daughter  (Signora),  and  not  as  a 


CHEISTIANO.  127 

servant,  as  free  and  not  as  a  slave,  with  love 
and  not  with  fear,  take  notice  that  I  do  not 
wish  you  to  take  these  small  portions  of  time  »^ 
that  I  mention  for  these  considerations  super- 
stitiously,  setting  one  hour  apart  for  them 
more  than  another,  or  one  part  of  your  house 
more  than  another,  because  I  wish  you  to  take 
them  with  freedom  of  spirit,  at  the  hour  most 
agreeable  to  you,  and  in  the  part  of  the  house 
that  most  suits  you  ;  and  when  you  have  not 
any  other  convenient  time,  it  will  satisfy  me 
if  you  take  it  when  you  awake  in  bed ;  and  I 
shall  be  content  with  this,  that,  when  you  go 
walking  about  the  house  saying  the  Lord's 
prayer,  not  considering  or  minding  what  you 
are  repeating,  having  your  attention  occupied 
with  worldly  things,  and  sometimes  in  building 
castles  in  the  air,  you  consider  all  these  occa- 
sions as  time  lost.  And  you  already  see  that 
you  can  do  all  that  I  have  so  far  told  you  with- 
out any  worldly  person  hearing  or  noticing 
you.  And  you  also  perceive  that  all  this  is 
a  kind  of  service  that  no  one  can  hinder  or  dis- 
turb you  in,  except  solely  your  o^\ti  ill  incli- 
nation, forgetfulness,  and  carelessness  of  God. 


128  ALFABETO 

GiULiA.  I  see  it  well.  It  is  a  difficult 
thing  for  a  person  to  have  to  confine  her 
attention  upon  such  things. 

Valdes.  It  is  hard  at  the  first,  through 
the  repugnance  there  is  on  the  part  of  the  old 
nature,  but  it  presently  becomes  easy  as  that 
goes  on  dying.  Besides,  I  know  not  why  you 
should  suppose  the  daily  consideration  of  eight 
subjects  so  difficult ;  for  although  four  of  them 
are  distasteful,  the  other  four  are  so  lovely 
and  sweet,  that  they  are  sufficient  to  make  all 
the  others  sweet  and  tasteful  ;  so  much  the^ 
more,  as  these  considerations  do  not  occupy 
more  than  the  time  that  would  otherwise  be 
lost. 

GiULiA.  May  God  grant  me  his  grace,  be- 
cause I  go  on  perceiving  it  is  very  necessary. 

Valdes.  Yes,  he  will  give  it  you  while 
you  are  indeed  conscious  that  you  have  need 
of  it;  and  with  this  conviction  you  ^vill  ask 
it  of  him,  and  know  that  this  conviction  also 
comes  to  you  through  the  special  grace  of 
God.  Now  I  wish  you  to  recall  to  memory 
what  little  I  told  you  of  the  division  St. 
Paul  makes  of  man,  separating  him  into  the 


CHRISTIANO.  129 

Old  man  and  the  New  man.  I  do  not  know 
whether  you  clearly  recollect  what  I  said  to 
you  about  this. 

GiULiA.     I  fully  remember  it. 

Valdes.  Since  you  recollect,  without  re- 
peating it  -^I  may  say,  Signora,  that  you  must  /  46. 
begin  your  Christian  walk  by  the  mental  ex- 
ercise of  what  we  have  discoursed  in  the  twelve 
steps,  and  I  say  that  you  must  continue  it 
by  another  exercise,  which  also  I  wish  to  be 
mental,  so  that  you  may  go  forward  with  your 
view  of  gaining  Christ  without  losing  the 
world.  This  is,  that  you  live  with  continual 
care  and  vigilance  to  mortify  the  Old  man  in 
you  and  revive  the  New.  I  wish  you  to  know 
that  as  by  knomng  yourself  you  cease  to  love 
yourself,  and  by  knowing  God  you  will  come 
to  love  him,  so  that  as  far  as  you  leave  the 
love  of  your  own  self  love,  so  much  you  gain 
of  the  love  of  God  ;  and  so  neither  more  nor 
less,  as  much  as  you  mortify  the  Old  man,  so 
much  you  make  alive  the  New. 

GiULiA.  It  is  needful  that  you  tell  me  how 
I  must  make  this  mortification  and  vivifica- 
tion. 


130  ALFABETO 

Yaldes.  I  have  already  told  you  that 
making  the  mortification,  you  make  at  the 
same  time  the  revivification  of  the  New  man; 
and  you  will  make  the  mortification  by  denial 
of  your  OAvn  will ;  I  mean,  by  denying  and 
opposing  your  will  in  all  things,  little  as  well 
as  great.  And  know  certainly  that  no  one  can 
in  any  manner  go  to  Christ  without  this  denial 
of  the  will.  Because  our  will  being  naturally 
inclined  to  love  itself,  and  to  wish  entirely  the 
contrary  to  what  Christ  wills,  think  whether 
it  is  not  necessary  to  deny  it  and  conquer  it  in 
order  to  follow  Christ.  And  hence  Christ 
says  the  same :  "if  any  man  will  come  after 
me,  let  him  deny  himself,"  that  is  to  say,  deny 
his  self-will,  and  take  on  his  shoulders  the  cross 
of  his  labours  and  sufferings,  and  follow  me.^ 
St.  Paul  has  the  same ;  when  he  counsels  us  not 
to  do  whatever  we  wish,  he  means  to  say,  that 
we  deny  our  wills.  And  that  God  is  ofiended 
by  our  following  our  own  wills  entirely,  appears 
clearly  in  what  he  says  by  Isaiah,  speaking  of 
fasts,  where  it  is  one  of  the  things  he  repre- 
hends, for  which  he  says,  why  our  fast  is  not 
1  Matt.  xvi.  24. 


CHRISTIANO.  131 

good  is,  because,  at  the  same  time  that  we  fast, 
we  keep  entire  our  own  wills. ^  And  this  is, 
because  so  long  as  our  wills  remain  entire,  the 
old  nature  remains  alive  ;  and  the  Old  man 
living,  the  flesh  with  its  appetites  and  affec- 
tions lives  and  reigns  within  us,  and  in  the 
same  manner  self-love  also,  by  which  we  are 
rendered  idols  of  pride  and  arrogance.  So 
that  in  every  way,  Signora,  it  is  proper  for 
you  to  exercise  yourself  in  this  denial  of  your 
own  will. 

GiULiA.     This  appears  to  me  to  be  a  hard 
step. 

Yaldes.  Hard  it  would  be  to  a  low,  ple- 
beian and  servile  mind,  but  to  a  mind  lofty, 
generous  and  courageous,  such  as  that  God 
has  given  you,  nothing  is  difficult ;  rather,  if 
you  rightly  consider,  it  is  a  harder  thing  to 
have  your  will  so  free  and  loose,  as  to  lead 
you  as  with  a  leash  to  everything,  whatever 
it  wishes  for  ;  this  is  cruel  and  unbearable 
•^servitude.  Does  it  not  appear  to  you  that  I  /  -l" 
am  right? 

GiULiA.     If  I  could  do  as  you  tell  me  as 

^  Isaiah  Iviii.  3.  ^ 

I  2 


132  ALFABETO 

certainly  as  I  know  tliat  you  are  very  right  in 
all  this,  I  promise  you  there  should  be  no 
person  in  the  world  who  would  set  foot  before 
me  in  this  Christian  way,  but  .... 

Yaldes.  Do  not  say  so,  for  your  life,  Si- 
gnora,  but  recover,  recover  heart ;  be  not 
dismayed;  think  that  the  weight  of  all  this 
you  have  not  to  bear,  but  Christ  for  yqu,  hence 
love  will  make  it  light  and  easy. 

GiULiA.  Well,  now  then,  since  it  must  be 
done,  let  us  not  waste  words.  Tell  me  how  I 
must  act  in  order  to  deny  my  will. 

Yaldes.  As  to  the  beginning,  it  is  proper, 
Signora,  that  you  take  this  for  granted,  that 
your  will  is  your  domestic  enemy,  always  in- 
viting you  to  things  that  separate  you  from 
God.  And  because  it  frequently  covers  such 
things  with  a  mantle  of  virtue  and  sanctity, 
determine,  Signora,  from  this  day  forward, 
not  to  do,  say,  or  think  anything  your  will 
offers  to  you  without  first  examining  it  very 
strictly,  applying  the  understanding  to  it,  in 
order  that  the  understanding  may  verify  it  by 
the  rule  of  the  law  of  God.  And  because  all 
things  are  either  good  in  themselves,  evil  in 


CHRISTIAXO.  133 

themselves,  or  indiiFerent,  be  on  the  watch, 
Signora,  and  when  the  will  would  invite  you  to 
do,  say,  or  think  anything,  examine  it  first,  as 
I  say,  by  the  rule  of  the  law  of  God  ;  and  if 
you  find  that  such  a  thing  is  wrong  in  itself, 
drive  it  from  your  fancy.  Command  your 
will  to  carry  you  no  further,  by  the  example 
of  Christ,  who,  when  the  devil  requested  his 
worship,  answered  him  with  the  law  of  God : 
'-^ Dominum  Deum  tuum  adorahis;^^  that  is, 
"  thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God."^  As 
though  he  said  :  I  will  not  worship  thee, 
because  the  law  of  God  ordains  that  none  shall 
be  worshipped  except  himself.  If  you  find 
the  thing  good  in  itself,  put  it  at  once  into 
practice  without  losing  the  opportunity.  And 
if  you  find  what  is  offered  to  your  mind  to  be 
indifferent,  think  a  little  over  it,  and  finding 
that  more  evil  than  good  may  come  of  it,  let 
it  alone  ;  or  finding  that  more  good  than  evil 
may  come,  take  it,  but  be  very  careful  that 
you  do  not  deceive  yourself;  for  the  devil  fre- 
quently transforms  himself  into  an  angel  of 
light,  and  often  the  flesh  moves  us,  and  we 
1  Matt.  iv.  10. 

I  3 


134  ALFABETO 

think  it  is  the  Spirit.  And  if  such  a  thing 
be  of  the  nature  that  it  can  be  neither  ill  nor 
good,  more  than  a  satisfaction  to  your  will, 
to  leave  it  or  take  it  is  of  little  consequence ; 
yet  it  is  quite  true,  it  may  be  better  to  leave 
it,  because  as  much  more  you  deny  your 
mil,  so  much  more  you  mortify  it.  But 
notice,  Signora,  what  I  say:  I  wish  you  to 
make  this  examination  continually,  and  never 
be  moved  to  do,  say,  or  think  anything  without 
first  taking  these  considerations  that  I  have 
mentioned. 

GiULiA.  I  will  constrain  myself  to  this  the 
best  I  can.  But  I  wish,  in  order  to  understand 
this  better,  that  you  would  explain  it  more  to 
me,  putting  it  practically. 

Valdes.     The  true  explanation  will  be  that 

/.  48.  you  begin  to  occupy  yourself  -^in  the  exercise 

of  it,  and  by  this  means  you  will  learn  more  in 

one  week  than  without  it  you  would  learn  in 

ten  years. 

GiULiA.  At  all  events,  I  shall  be  much 
gratified  if  you  will  tell  me  some  particulars 
of  it. 

Valdes.     I  say,  Signora,  that  because  our 


CHRISTIAXO.  135 

will  always  moves  itself  to  wish  something  for 
one  of  the  five  bodily  senses,  it  is  proper 
that  you  have  much  care  over  them,  not  leav- 
ing them  to  be  disordered  in  anything,  in  such 
manner  that  neither  by  the  eyes,  the  ears,  the 
taste,  smell,  or  touch,  anything  may  enter 
to  the  will  which  can  change  or  disturb  it. 
It  is  needful  to  exercise  this  care  even  so  far 
that  the  senses  may  continue  so  mortified 
to  the  things  of  the  world  that  they  find  no 
delight  in  them  ;  yet  neither  is  it  proper  to 
be  negligent  of  them,  for  by  our  carelessness 
their  influence  may  again  revive.  And  know, 
Signora,  that  so  much  as  you  mortify  the 
outward  senses,  so  much  will  you  revivify  the 
interior  ones.  And  this  will  be  certain,  that 
as  much  less  you  gratify  yourself  in  regarding 
corporal  things,  so  much  the  more  will  you 
take  pleasure  in  viewing,  with  lively  faith  and 
heartfelt  love,  things  spiritual.  So  much  less 
you  take  pleasure  in  hearing  light  and  trifling 
things,  the  more  will  you  occupy  yourself  in 
hearing  and  listening  outwardly  to  the  word 
of  God,  and  inwardly  to  divine  inspirations; 
and  thus  you  ^\aLl  hear  the  voice  of  God  when 

1   4 


136  ALFABETO 

he  shall  speak  within  with  your  soul.  As 
little  that  you  delight  in  outward  viands,  so 
much  the  more  will  you  inwardly  awake  and 
enliven  yourself  to  relish  interior  things  which 
are  the  feast  of  the  soul.  As  little  as  exterior 
odours  please  and  give  you  satisfaction,  so 
much  more  and  better  will  your  soul  scent,  as 
it  were,  things  divine  and  spiritual,  and  will 
say  to  Christ  as  the  good  spouse  :  Currimus 
in  odor  em  unguentorum  tuorum ;  t\\2it  \^ :  "we 
will  run  to  the  odour  of  thy  unguents."  ^  And 
as  much  less  the  body  enjoys  the  touch  of 
things  that  are  pleasurable  and  delightful  to 
it,  so  much  the  more  will  your  soul  aiFect  to 
be  nailed,  hands  and  feet,  with  Christ  on  the 
cross.  Hence  it  is  proper,  Signora,  that  you 
constantly  stand  prepared  in  the  denial  of 
these  outward  senses,  since  you  know  that  by 
this  means  you  will  enliven  the  interior. 
At  the  same  time  you  will,  little  by  little, 
mortify  in  yourself  the  respect  for  the  world ; 
for  so  much  the  more  will  you  estimate  the 
l)i\~ine  Being,  as  in  less  esteem  you  hold  the 
world.  You  will  mortify  every  feeling  of 
1  Cant.  i.  3. 


CHRISTIAXO.  137 

anger,  every  sentiment  of  retaliation.  You 
will  do  this  by  the  exercise  of  patience,  of 
suffering,  of  humility,  of  contempt  of  the 
world.  And  because  I  wish  these  Christian 
\drtues  to  be  ever  alive  in  your  soul,  I  desire 
that  you  examine  and  take  a  review  of  your 
mind  from  day  to  day,  to  know  hoAV  it  stands 
well  grounded  in  these  respects.  You  will  do 
this,  reflecting  truly,  and  in  a  lively  manner, 
how  you  receive  with  patience  any  adver- 
sity that  may  come  upon  you  ;  how  you  bear 
^an  injury,  or  a  burden  that  may  be  imposed  /  49. 
upon  you ;  how  you  conduct  yourself  when  a 
low  and  plebeian  person  takes  precedence  of 
you  ;  how  you  pass  through  the  confusion  of 
the  world  when  worldly  persons  despise  and  re- 
gard you  lightly.  I  wish  you  to  examine  at 
the  same  time  how  strong  you  are  in  faith, 
how  sure  in  hope,  how  fervent  in  charity. 
You  should  do  this  taking  into  account  how 
much  you  confide  in  the  promises  of  God  mth 
regard  to  outward  things.  Because  from  these 
you  may  form  a  judgment  how  far  }'ou  trust 
him  in  eternal  things.  For  indeed,  unless 
you  determine  to  confide  in  God  that  he  will 


138  ALFABETO 

provide  tilings  necessary  for  the  body  without 
your  anxiety,  I  know  not  how  you  can  resolve 
to  confide  in  him  that  he  will  give  you  the 
things  that  belong  to  the  soul,  or  how  you  can 
expect  to  enjoy  God  in  the  life  eternal.  And 
examining  all  your  works,  whether  they  go 
forward  directed  to  your  bodily  or  your 
spiritual  benefit,  or  directed  to  the  honour  of 
God  and  the  good  of  your  neighbour,  you 
will  know  that  you  are  so  far  advanced  in 
charity. 

I  desire  further,  that  when  this  examination 
has  been  made,  if  you  do  not  find  your  appe- 
tites and  feelings  so  mortified  that  those  vir- 
tues truly  live  and  reign  within  you,  turn  then 
your  soul's  regard  upon  Christ  crucified,  and 
say  from  the  heart  these  or  similar  words: 
"  Oh  Christ,  favour  me.  Lord,  with  thy  grace, 
so  that  in  thy  strength  overcoming  these  my 
appetites,  and  mortifying  these  my  senses,  these 
Christian  virtues  may  be  planted  and  grow  up 
in  my  soul,  so  that  thou,  my  Lord,  mayst  ever 
live  in  me,  and  I  in  thee !  " 

GiULiA.  How  have  you  given  me  fresh 
life  by  this !   You  have  not  said  here  anything 


CHRISTIANO.  139 

better.  But  I  wish  to  understand  from  you 
how  I  shall  know  that  I  have  made  this  mor- 
tification or  vivification. 

Yaldes.     I    have   already   told    you   that 
this  is  a  state  which  begins  in  baptism,  and 
continues  through  the  whole  life  of  man,  be- 
cause whilst  he  lives  he  always  finds  in  himself 
something   to  mortify.     For  these   appetites 
and  afi*ections  within  us,  through  original  sin, 
though   restrained,    always   grow  green   and 
come  to  shoot  again.     For  this  reason,  I  say 
to   you,  never  be  unwatchful,  thinking   you 
have  made  this  mortification,  until  you  are  so 
far  removed  from  anger  and  retaliation  that 
nothing  worldly  people  can  do  to  you  shall 
move  you ;  and  until  you  become  so  far  from 
desiring    or  wishing    for  anything  whatever 
held  and  possessed  by  your  neighbours,  that 
you  would  be  content  that  they  should  rather 
take  of  yours  than  that  you  should  unlawfully 
have  of  theirs ;  and  so  truly  chaste  as  never 
impure  thought    shall  reign   in   your  mind; 
and   so   far   from    speaking   in    prejudice   of 
your  neighbours,  that  you  may  at  all  times 
be  ready  to  excuse  and  defend  them.     When 


140  ALFABETO 

you  have  obtained  all  these  virtues  think  then 
that  you  have  mortified  the  Old  man.  And 
f.  50.  /when  you  shall  know  your  heart  so  filled  with 
love  to  God,  that  it  loves  nothing  out  of 
God,  and  if  it  love  anything,  it  loves  it  for 
God;  and  when  you  shall  feel  that  there  is 
nothing  more  savoury  and  sweet  on  your  lips 
than  the  name  of  God ;  and  when  you  shall  in 
truth  behold  ^^our  life  one  continual  Christian 
sabbath,  then  may  you  think  and  believe  that 
you  have  perfectly  vivified  the  New  man,  and 
not  before. 

GiULiA.  High  perfection  is  this  into  which 
you  wish  to  raise  me. 

Yaldes.  Even  when  I  may  wish  to  place 
you  in  this  state  of  perfection,  it  ought  not  to 
appear  great  to  you ;  since  God  has  given  you 
such  perfection  in  mind  and  in  person  accord- 
ing to  the  world,  it  would  not  be  a  gre^t  thing 
for  you  to  dispose  yourself  to  it,  for  he  may 
yet  give  you  the  perfection  of  the  spirit  ac- 
cording to  his  nature.  So  much  more,  as  I 
do  nft  wish  to  put  you  into  this  perfection  in 
an  instant,  but  I  show  it  to  you,  and  invite 
you  to  it ;   and  I  entreat  you  to  go  forward. 


CHRTSTIANO.  141 

walking  towards  it  at  your  good  leisure,  in 
such  manner  that  neither  haste  may  weary 
you,  nor  negligence  lead  you  to  turn  aside 
from  it. 

GiULiA.  You  give  me  fresh  life  by  this. 
Yet,  to  be  candid,  it  much  tries  me  to  have  to 
leave  some  conversations,  in  which  at  times  I 
take  some  little  pleasure,  and  some  curious 
things  with  which  I  pass  my  time,  for  I  fear 
that  if  I  leave  these  things,  1  shall  sink  into  a 
melancholy  humour  that  may  cause  me  to  live 
in  continual  tastelessness. 

[Yaldes.]  I  little  wish  to  be  so  rigorous  as 
to  ask  you  to  leave  all  these  things  at  once. 
It  will  be  well  for  you  to  leave  them,  but  if  it 
be  very  troublesome,  you  can  leave  them  little 
by  little,  but  on  such  conditions,  that  you  re- 
main not  in  them;  and  believe  me,  Signora, 
that  as  you  go  on  taking  pleasure  and  reUsh 
in  the  things  of  God,  you  ^vill  go  on  to  consider 
those  things  bitter  and  insipid  in  which  you 
now  find  pleasure  and  delight. 

GiULiA.  I  clearly  see,  in  short,  that  you  are 
accommodating  yourself  to  my  weakness,  not 
to  discourage  me. 


142  ALFABETO 

Yaldes.  Does  it  appear  to  you  tliat  I  am 
doing  wrong? 

GiULiA.  It  rather  seems  to  me  that  this  is 
the  better  that  you  do. 

Yaldes.  It  appears  well  to  you  for  this 
reason,  that  you  wish  it  Avell.  But  let  us 
leave  this  as  it  is.  I  am  willing,  Signora, 
to  give  you  yet  further  licence  in  order  that 
the  difficulty  that  will  arise  before  you  in  this 
path  may  not  lead  you  to  turn  aside  from  it. 
It  is  this :  that  if  you  are  not  able  so  entirely 
to  subdue  your  appetites  and  affections  in  such 
degree  as  to  be  absolutely  mistress  over  them, 
that  you  at  least  moderate  and  regulate  them 
in  such  a  manner  that  they  be  not  lords  over 
you.  The  Stoics  dream,  by  I  know  not  what 
precepts,  to  reduce  a  person  to  such  a  state 
that  they  cannot  be  troubled  or  perturbed  in 
any  way  by  their  affections ;  but  to  this  they 
are  never  able  to  arrive.  The  good  Christian 
should  not  seek  nor  endeavour  to  be  wanting 
in  affections,  for  he  will  never  succeed  mth  it, 
nor  is  it  well  that  he  should  succeed  with  it, 
but  he  ought  to  strive  to  be  lord  over  his  affec- 
tions in  such  a  manner,  that  his  perturbations 


CHPJSTIANO.    .  143 

and  trials  may  in  no  -^degree  be  able  to  separate  /  51. 
him  from  God.  I  mention  this,  considering 
that  the  Apostle  Paul,  feeling  these  perturba- 
tions and  troubles,  said :  Infelix  ego  liomo^  quis 
me  lib er obit  cle  corp ore  mortis  hujus?  that  is: 
"0  wretched  man  that  I  am !  who  shall  deliver 
me  from  the  body  of  this  death?" ^  This  he 
said,  feeling  troubled  and  disturbed  by  his  af- 
fections, and  therefore  he  desired  to  be  liberated 
from  the  prison  of  the  body,  although  he  was  so 
much  master  of  his  affections  and  so  superior 
to  them,  that  even  so  greatly  as  they  tempted 
him,  they  never  caused  him  to  fall.  The  im- 
perfect Christian  feels  these  disturbances  and 
troubles  more,  the  farther  he  lives  from  the 
mortification  of  the  Old  man.  And  so,  whilst 
he  is  not  lord  over  his  affections,  yet  not 
yielding  himself  to  be  lorded  over  by  them, 
falling  and  recovering  himself,  and  at  other 
times  stumbling  and  not  falling,  he  walks  on- 
wards towards  Christ ;  and  provided  he  always 
keeps  his  attention  directed  to  Christ,  God 
readily  pardons  his  slippings  and  his  falls. 
They  who  do  not  feel  these  troubles  and  dis- 
1  Rom.  vii.  24. 


144  .      ALFABETO 

turbances  are  those  persons  who  have  resigned 
the  lordship  to  their  aiFections  in  such  degree 
that  they  run  unchecked  along  with  them  with- 
out opposition.  I  am  not  willing  to  class  such 
persons  in  the  number  of  Christians,  not  to  do 
such  injury  to  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Now  since  the  war  against  the  appetites  is  dif- 
ficult, and  much  more  so  against  the  interior 
affections,  against  which  you,  Signora,  have  to 
fight,  I  wish  you  to  keep  in  your  remem- 
brance Christ  crucified ;  carry  him  at  all  times 
and  in  every  place  before  you  for  a  witness  of 
all  your  thoughts,  words,  and  actions,  and  as  a 
shield  to  preserve  you  from  the  assaults  that 
your  appetites  and  affections  will  make  upon 
you;  and  I  am  certain,  in  this  way  you  will 
not  do,  or  speak,  or  think  anything  contrary 
to  the  law  of  God,  because  you  would  be 
ashamed  to  be  seen  by  Christ  whom  you  bear 
with  you.  Although,  at  the  first,  you  will 
not  be  able  to  do  this  so  constantly,  I  am 
certain  that  after  a  time  you  will  be  able  to 
do  it  very  easily;  I  even  tell  you  that  very 
pleasant  and  tasteful  will  such  companionship 
be  to  you. 


CHRISTIANO.  145 

GiULiA.  So  I  believe  it,  and  so  hope  I  in 
God  that  he  will  grant  it  to  me.. 

Yaldes.  I  desire,  Signora,  this  also  of  you, 
that  you  let  not  a  night  pass  without  examin- 
ing before  you  go  to  sleep  in  Avhat  actions, 
what  words,  what  thoughts  you  have  spent 
that  dav,  beoinnino;  with  the  mornino;,  and 
going  through  the  day  until  night,  examining 
the  little  things  as  well  as  great ;  because  he 
who  allows  himself  to  be  overcome  by  little 
things,  will  more  readily  allow  himself  to  be 
vanquished  in  the  great. 

And  I  desire  you  heartily  to  censure  your- 
self for  time  ill  gained  and  ill  spent,  knowing 
in  truth  that  this  has  been  by  reason  of  your 
evil  inclinations,  and  purposing  to  have  more 
care  and  watchfulness  over  yourself  another 
day;  and,  for  the  day  well  spent,  I  wish  you 
to  give  -^thanks  to  God,  truly  acknowledging  / 
that  whatever  of  good  is  in  you  is  the  gift  of 
God,  and  whatever  of  evil,  is  of  your  own 
stock.  And  when  practicable  to  make  this 
examination  with  some  spiritual  person,  the 
benefit  no  doubt  will  be  much  greater ;  but  I 
am  satisfied  if  you  do  it  alone  by  yourself. 

K 


146  ALFABETO 

And  also  because  we  are  often  moved  to  good 
works  not  purely  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  but 
for  some  purposes  and  gratifications  of  our 
own  senses,  in  such  a  manner  that  our  self- 
love  and  not  the  love  of  God  incites  us  to  do 
them,  I  wish,  Signora,  that  these  also  which 
appear  to  be  good  works  you  should  suspect, 
and  with  this  suspicion  examine  them  very 
strictly;    because  if  it  were  possible  I  wish 
that  you  may  be  moved  to  all  of  them  purely, 
and  sincerely  for  the  love  of  God ;  and  believe 
me,  this  rogue,  self-love,  is  so  within  us  that 
it  wishes  to  have  its  part  in  everything.     In- 
deed I  desire  that  you  should  not  be  satisfied 
with  cutting  it  down,  but  I  wish  you  to  pull 
it  up  by  the  root  from  your  heart,  that  in  no 
way  it  may  come  to  grow  up  again.     I  wish 
more,  that  whenever  you  converse  with  any 
spiritual  person  you  communicate  to  him  and 
let  him  share  all  things  that  come  and  go 
through  your  fancy,  and  all  your  thoughts; 
for  if  the  person  be  spiritual,  he  will  know 
how  to  give  you  such  advice  respecting  any  of 
them  as  will  leave  you  well  satisfied  and  con- 
tented.    I  wish  also  that  you  give  leave  to 


CHRISTIANO.  147 

all  those  spiritual  persons  who  may  converse 
mth  you  that,  without  asking  permission,  they 
may  tell  you  what  they  feel  and  know  of  you 
in  your  words  and  conduct. 

I  ^vish  also  that  you  not  only  give  them 
leave  to  do  this,  but  that  you  entreat  and 
strongly  charge  them  to  do  so  ;  and  surely 
know  that  from  this  you  will  feel  a  wonderful 
spiritual  benefit. 

And  lastly  I  wish  you,  Signora,  to  refresh 
in  your  memory  from  day  to  day,  the  idea 
and  image  of  Christian  perfection,  in  the 
manner  we  have  here  painted  it,  that  putting 
this  on  one  side,  and  what  you  have  attained 
to  in  this  Christian  way  on  the  other,  you  can 
rightly  consider  how  near  you  find  yourself  to 
that  image  of  perfection,  or  how  far  from  it. 
Finding  yourself  at  a  distance,  I  wish  you  to 
return,  with  affectionate  impulse  and  effica- 
cious confidence,  to  Christ  crucified,  and  ad- 
dress him  from  the  heart :  "  0  Christ  Jesus, 
my  Lord  and  my  God!  breathe,  breatlie,  0 
my  Lord,  into  my  soul  the  breath  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  so  effectually  that  with  marvellous 
earnestness  I  may  keep  it  without  wavering 

K   2 


148  ALFABETO 

until  I  may  be  found  entirely  transformed  to 
this  state  of  Christian  perfection  that  I  hold 
before  my  view."  This,  Signora,  is  the  book 
in  which  I  desire  that  you  may  continually 
read,  for  in  this  you  will  learn  more  in  one 
day,  than  you  could  learn  from  all  the  rest 
in  the  world  in  a  hundred  years.  I  say  rather 
/.  53.  that  all  the  good  -''that  is  written  is  so  far  un- 
derstood and  relished  as  the  mind  of  him  who 
reads  stands  disposed  in  this  manner ;  so  much 
so  that  even  sacred  Scripture  is  poison  for  the 
mind  that  has  not  this  humble  disposition,  that 
which  I  desire  that  you  may  have ;  also  I  desire 
you  may  have  it  most  entirely,  since  you  have 
promised  me,  that  if  I  put  you  into  a  private 
way  by  which  you  can  go  to  God  without 
being  seen  by  the  world,  you  will  walk  in  it. 
And  if  that  which  I  have  shown  to  you  be 
not  of  this  nature,  I  am  content  that  you  do 
not  fulfil  your  word  to  me. 

GiULiA.  It  rather  appears  to  me  so  private 
that  I  find  no  difficulty  in  it  greater  than  its 
privacy;  not  because  it  does  not  appear  to 
me  very  good,  nor  because  I  have  any  other 
wish  than  I  first  had  to  walk  in  it,  but  because 


CHRISTIANO.  149 

it  is  so  inward,  that  as  I  did  not  find  the  way, 
or  perceive  it  with  my  bodily  sight,  I  know 
not  whether  I  can  discover  how  to  walk  by  it. 
Yaldes.  If  you  find  not  the  way,  it  is  be- 
cause you  have  not  yet  begun  to  walk  in  it. 
Begin,  and  you  wdll  see  whether  you  will  find 
the  way.  And  if  you  do  not  see  it  with  the 
bodily  eyes,  open  the  eyes  of  the  soul,  and  you 
will  then  see  it.  And  certainly  know,  that 
from  having  closed  these  latter,  all  the  evils 
and  sins  proceed,  into  which  persons  fall  in  this 
present  life.  Think  not  that  you  do  not  dis- 
cover the  path  to  walk  in,  because  you  will 
discover  it.  Confide  therefore  in  Christ,  and 
mistrust  yourself,  for  thus  you  must  enter,  and 
thence  you  must  continue  your  journey.  And 
because,  amongst  other  things  that  will  present 
themselves  to  you  in  it  to  disturb  and  hinder 
you,  worldly  honour  and  regard,  beyond  all 
comparison,  obstruct  the  way  more  than  all 
others,  and  as  I  surely  believe  that  these  lead 
many  more  souls  to  hell  than  any  other  hu- 
man passion  whatever,  I  wish,  Signora,  that 
you  persuade  yourself,  that  your  honour  and 
your  dishonour  depend  upon  yourself  alone, 

K  3 


150  ALFABETO 

in  such  manner  that  only  your  bad  actions 
bring  dishonour,  and  only  your  good  ones  bring 
you  honour.  And  in  this  way  not  placing 
your  honour  in  the  hands,  or  in  the  courtesy  of 
worldly  persons,  you  will  have  no  occasion  to 
inhale  honour  from  them,  nor  to  fear  dishonour 
from  them  ;  with  this  sentiment  you  will  con- 
verse and  have  intercourse  with  them  with 
much  freedom,  and  in  much  inward  superiority. 
This  is  a  thing  which,  when  talking  of,  seems 
very  easy,  and  yet  I  promise  you  that  it  is  so 
difficult,  that  blessed  is  he  who  sets  himself  to 
do  it,  and  most  blessed  is  he  who  carries  it  out. 
And  because,  after  this  respect  of  the  world, 
the  thing  that  most  hinders  persons  who 
wish  to  walk  by  this  Christian  path  is  the 
false  persuasion  that  we  have  formed  to  our- 
selves, believing  that  we  can  find  in  outward 
things,  satisfaction  and  contentment,  I  wish, 
Signora,  that  you  go  armed  against  this  false 
persuasion  with  a  certain,  strong  and  true 
opinion.  This  is,  that  you  assure  your  mind 
that  in  none  of  such  things  that  you  can  ac- 
quire of  yourself  without  a  third  person,  nor 
f,  54.  less  from  -^ those  that  persons  of  the  world  can 


CHRISTIANO.  151 

bestow  upon  you,  or  take  away  from  you,  can 
you  ever  be  able  to  find  entire  contentment, 
or  felicity  by  gaining  them,  or  dissatisfaction, 
or  unhappiness  in  the  loss  of  them.  And  it 
will  be  thus :  that  as  you  will  not  expect  to 
find  satisfaction,  or  happiness  in  riches  or  in 
station,  nor  in  the  other  things  that  the  world 
and  persons  of  the  world  give  and  take  ;  nor 
unhappiness  in  being  deprived  of  that  which 
you  find  you  have,  not  only  will  you  not  desire 
what  you  have  not,  but  you  will  possess  what 
you  have  in  such  a  manner,  that  when  you 
may  be  wronged  you  will  not  think  you  have 
lost  anything.  The  same  consideration  you 
can  extend  to  relatives  and  friends,  and  also 
to  your  own  person  ;  because  standing  in  this 
persuasion,  you  will  not  desire  health  of  body, 
nor  fear  sicloiess ;  you  will  not  desire  life,  nor 
dread  death,  since  neither  the  one  rests  in  your 
own  hand  to  preserve  it,  nor  can  you  fly  from 
the  other.  I  ask  you  not  to  make  yourself  so 
insensible  as  not  to  feel  these  afi^ections,  but  I 
ask  you  to  mortify  them  in  such  a  way  tliat 
although  your  mind  may  regret,  it  shall  not 
waver  or  disquiet  itself. 

K    4 


152  ALFABETO 

GiULiA.  This  appears  to  me  yet  more  diffi- 
cult than  the  other. 

Valdes.  Now  know,  Signora,  that  I  have 
learned  this  consideration  and  the  other  from 
a  heathen  Philosopher.  He,  by  these  things, 
so  difficult  as  you  view  them,  sought  only,  I 
know  not  what  tranquillity  of  mind.  Now  re- 
flect whether  they  ought  to  be  so  disagreeable 
to  a  Christian  mind  which  undertakes  to  walk 
more  readily  to  Christ,  and  to  go  out  of  itself, 
more  quickly  and  more  radically,  in  order  to 
enter  into  Christ.  And  therefore  I  supplicate 
you,  Signora,  before  you  put  yourself  into  this 
practice,  that  you  do  not  consider  it  as  difficult. 

GiULiA.  It  is  a  great  thing  for  a  person  to 
have  to  despoil  herself  of  those  natural  affec- 
tions, of  which  she  is  scarcely  conscious. 

Valdes.  I  will  tell  you  that  it  is  so  great, 
that  David,  feeling  the  difficulty  there  is,  not 
only  in  despoiling  himself  of  them  but  of 
knowing  and  understanding  them,  prays  God 
to  cleanse  him  from  these  hidden  and  secret 
things,  which  are  these  affections,  and  imme- 
diately adds,  also  from  presumptuous  sins.^ 
»  Ps.  xix.  12,  13. 


CHRISTIANO.  153 

The  sacred  Prophet  considered  that  among 
the  inward  and  secret  affections,  ambition,  as 
it  is  most  natural  to  man,  so  it  is  most  dan- 
gerous and  secret.  He  therefore  so  especially 
asks  assistance  from  God  to  overcome  it. 

GiULiA.  And  with  reason.  Therefore  I 
tell  you  in  truth  that  what  gives  me  most 
fear  when  I  think  of  walking  in  this  way 
that  you  teach  me,  is,  that  having  constantly 
heard  say  that  God  always  punishes  them  who 
join  him  with  temptations  and  persecutions, 
and  finding  myself  very  weak  to  resist  and 
bear  them,  I  think  I  shall  not  be  able  to  per- 
severe. 

Valdes.  It  pleases  me  to  hear  you  say 
this,  because  I  am  certain  that  causing  you  to 
turn  over  the  leaf  and  to  read  farther  on 
about  this  that  you  have  been  told,  you  will 
lose  the  fear  you  now  have.  Because  St.  Paul 
will  so  well  assure  you  about  this,  saying  to 
the  fearful  like  you,  that' God  is  just  -^and /. 
faithful,  and  that  he  will  in  no  way  suffer  us 
to  be  tempted  or  chastened  more  than  our 
strength  is  able  to  bear;  and  he  also  there 
says  that  God  will  assist  us  ^^'ith  his  grace. 


OO. 


154  ALFABETO 

the  more  lightly  and  easily  to  bear  them.^ 
So  that  you  can  hold  for  certain,  Signora, 
that  God  does  not  permit  any  one  in  this 
present  life,  to  be  more  tempted,  more 
chastened,  or  more  persecuted,  all  which  he 
knows,  than  their  strength  of  mind  may  be 
sufficient  to  endure.  Thus  to  the  strong  he 
promises  strong  temptations,  chastisements 
and  persecutions,  and  with  the  weak  he  bears 
himself  mildly.  We  have  an  example  of  this 
in  Job,  who  by  permission  of  God  was  tempted 
and  persecuted  by  Satan  as  much  as  his 
patience  was  able  to  bear.  But  observe  that 
God  had  always  his  hand  upon  Satan  that  he 
should  not  touch  Job's  life ;  so  by  this,  as  by 
what  David  says,  that  the  consolations  that 
God  iuAvardly  sent  to  his  soul  were  in  propor- 
tion to  the  misery  and  anguish  with  which  he 
was  afflicted,  you  may  be  confirmed  in  this 
truth,  that  God  chastens  and  tries  his  servants 
so  much  as  he  sees  they  are  able  to  bear,  and 
no  more.  So  that  for  such  cause  you  ought 
not  to  shrink  from  undertaking  this  Christian 
enterprise,  and  once  undertaken,  to  persevere 
1  1  Cor.  X.  13. 


CHRISTIANO.  155 

in  it,  until  you  go  through  it  valiantly ;  since 
it  is  as  St.  Paul  says :  they  only  receive  the 
cro^vn  of  glory  who  walking  by  this  way 
combat  bravely  against  their  adversaries. 

GiULiA.  You  have  given  me  fresh  life  by 
this,  for  I  assure  you  I  was  strongly  tempted 
by  this  fear. 

Yaldes.  Whenever,  Signora,  such  things 
come  into  your  imagination,  think  that  they 
are  the  work  of  the  devil,  and  always  resist 
them  with  the  shield  of  faith,  and  if  you  are 
not  able  by  this  to  destroy  such  imagination, 
mention  it  freely  to  some  spiritual  person 
whom  you  may  see,  who  will  know  how  to 
understand  it,  and  understanding,  will  know 
how  to  assist  you  in  it. 

GiULiA.  Such  persons  are  in  this  day  as 
scarce  as  white  flies. 

Yaldes.  So  much  the  more  should  you 
render  thanks  to  God,  since  he  has  placed  you 
in  the  position,  that  in  this  scarcity  you  speak 
of,  you  will  have  one  who  will  be  such  to 
you. 

I  wish  also  another  thing  of  you.  Cease 
from  this  time  to  employ  yourself  in  read- 


156  ALFABETO 

ing,  or  in  wishing  to  know  abstruse  subjects, 
although  they  may  be  sacred  things,  in  a 
manner  that  your  understanding  be  not  cu- 
riously occupied  with  them.  Because  at  this 
beginning,  the  reading  of  simple  things  that 
may  kindle  the  will,  will  be  much  more  use- 
ful to  you  ;  and  believe  me,  I  do  not  say 
this  without  great  reason.  And  because  I  am 
sure  that  in  this  Christian  exercise  you  will 
know  by  experience  the  truth  of  what  you 
have  heard  from  me,  and  many  other  most 
Christian  truths,  and  because  I  have  seen  by 
experience  that  many  persons,  as  soon  as  they 
know  them,  go  telling  and  talking  of  them 
f.  ^^.  without  any  consideration,  whence  -^some 
inconveniences  arise,  take  care,  Signora,  in 
such  case  to  know  how  to  direct  yourself 
wisely,  and  endeavour  to  do  like  the  good 
sheep  of  the  flock  that  show  to  their  shepherd 
what  herbage  they  feed  upon,  by  the  wool 
and  milk  they  give  him  ;  and  not  like  the 
poor  ones,  that  show  him  theirs  by  throwing 
it  up  by  the  mouth.  And  I  let  you  know, 
that  doctrine  dressed  and  digested  in  the  mind 
produces  its  fruit ;  and  that  what  immediately 


CHRISTIANO.  157 

escapes  by  the  mouth  does  not  nourish  the 
mind.  I  desire  that  you  may  hold  your  doc- 
trine in  the  soul,  and  not  on  the  tip  of  the 
tongue. 

GiULiA.  It  is  well ;  may  God  assist  me  in 
all  things,  and  do  you  likewise  aid  me  to  com- 
pose my  outward  conduct,  since  you  have  so 
well  shown  me  how  to  adorn  the  interior. 

Yaldes.  Adorn  the  interior  firstly,  Signora, 
and  I  promise  you  that  you  will  have  no  need 
of  my  council,  nor  that  of  any  one  in  the  world, 
how  to  compose  the  exterior.  That  you  may 
credit  me  in  this,  I  wish  to  show  it  to  you  by 
a  comparison,  and  if  it  be  somewhat  repugnant, 
disguise  it.  When  a  skilful  physician  would 
heal  a  scaly  body,  he  does  not  begin  to  cure 
it  by  scraping  the  blotches  outside,  for  he 
knows  that  if  for  the  present  he  thoroughly 
removes  them,  immediately  others  come  out 
again  afresh.  Nor  otherwise  does  he  begin  to 
heal  it  by  unguents,  because  he  knows  that 
whatever  removes  it  from  the  part  without 
drives  it  into  the  body  and  it  is  the  cause 
of  another  greater  disease.  But  if  he  be  a  good 
experienced  physician,  the  first  thing  he  does 


158  ALFABETO 

is  to  consider  the  cause  whence  such  a  disease 
proceeds.  This  understood,  he  causes  the 
patient  to  take  by  the  mouth  those  medicines 
which  he  knows  to  be  proper  to  heal  that 
disease  of  the  body  from  which  the  scales  pro- 
ceed, because  he  understands  and  knows  that 
the  inward  disorder  once  healed,  the  outward 
scales  fall  away  without  any  difficulty.  In  the 
same  manner  a  spiritual  physician,  when  he 
wishes  to  cure  a  vicious  body,  or  a  licentious 
one,  must  not  begin  by  removing  the  outward 
superfluities,  because  as  the  root  of  the  evil 
remains  within,  it  immediately  returns  to  come 
out  again,  if  not  in  the  same  way,  perhaps  by 
another  more  dangerous.  Nor  otherwise  must 
he  begin  with  the  unction  of  superstitious  ce- 
remonies and  outward  services,  which  whilst 
they  smooth  over  outward  vices,  put  them 
within ;  and  thus  the  disorder  becomes  more 
dangerous  and  hurtful.  But  if  the  physician 
be  one  of  experience,  the  vices  perceived  and 
the  outward  excesses  considered,  he  knows  the 
cause  whence  they  come,  and  this  known,  he 
gives  the  medicine  that  appears  to  him  neces- 
sary to  heal  the  inward  disease,  because  he 


CHRISTIANO.  159 

knows  certainly  that  once  healed,  the  vices 
and  excesses  will  cease  immediately.  Do  you 
comprehend  what  I  mean  to  say  ? 

GiULiA.  Fully.  And  although  you  have 
spoken  a  little  of  things  unpolite,  since  you 
have  spoken  well,  I  tolerate  the  allegory.  And 
as  you  do  not  wish  me  to  say  anything  upon 
this,  at  least  tell  me  how  I  ought  to  conduct 
myself  in  matters  of  outward  devotion. 

Valdes.     Take  this  -^interior  devotion  that  /  57. 
I   offer  you,  and  it  will  regulate  you  in  all 
others ;  but  explain  to  me  what  exterior  devo- 
tions you  mean. 

GiULiA.  Mass,  preaching,  reading,  prayer, 
fasts,  confession,  communion  and  alms.  I 
would  wish  you  at  all  events  to  tell  me  as 
briefly  as  you  please,  your  views,  respecting 
the  manner  I  ought  to  observe  in  my  exercise 
each  of  these  things ;  and  do  not  excuse 
yourself,  for  I  will  admit  of  no  excuse. 

Yaldes.  In  short,  Signora,  you  wish  to  be 
always  obeyed,  and  you  are  right.  So  much 
I  may  say,  you  ought  always  to  hear  mass  at- 
tentively. And  because  there  are  three  prin- 
cipal parts  in  it,  the  adoration  of  the  most  holy 


160  ALFABETO 

sacrament,  tlie  doctrine  of  the  gospel  and  the 
epistle,  and  the  prayers,  you  can  draw  benefit 
from  all  three.  From  the  adoration,  you  will 
draw  a  fresh  and  fervent  desire  to  incorporate 
yourself  by  faith  and  love  in  the  passion  of 
Christ,  and  to  slay  your  Old  man  by  Christ, 
and  to  resuscitate  your  New  man  with  Christ. 
From  the  doctrine,  you  will  always  take  some- 
thing on  which  to  think  during  that  day.  In 
this  way,  if  you  hear  the  priest  recite  the  gos- 
pel that  begins  :  In  pinncipio  erat  verhum^ 
when  he  adds  to  this,  dedit  eis  potestatem  jilios 
Dei  jieri^  his  qui  credunt  in  nomine  ejus^  he 
means  to  say :  "  God  gives  ability  and  power 
to  all  those  who  believe  in  his  name  to  become 
the  sons  of  God,"  you  can  continue  thinking 
on  the  supreme  goodness  and  mercy  of  God, 
with  which  he  calls  so  vile  a  creature  to  so 
high  and  excellent  a  dignity^  as  is  the  being 
a  daughter  of  God,  and  this  solely  by  beheving 
in  Christ.  In  the  same  manner  when  you  hear 
the  epistle  of  St.  Paul,  beginning :  Hoc  sentite  in 
vohis  quod  in  Christo  Jesu^  qui  cum  in  forma  Dei 
essetj  &c.,  that  is  to  say:  "  Brethren,  let  your 
^  In  the  orig'inal  divinita,  evidently  an  error. 


CHRISTIANO.  161 

minds  have  the  same  contempt  of  the  world 
and  of  your  own  estnnation  that  you  know 
Christ  Jesus  had,  who  being  the  Son  of  God 
humbled  himself  to  take  the  form  of  a  servant, 
in  which  he  conversed  here  in  the  world,"  ^- 
endeavour  to  dwell  in  thought  upon  the  pro- 
found humility  of  Christ,  in  such  a  manner 
that  this  reflection  may  confound  your  pride, 
make  you  altogether  humble,  and  desirous  to 
imitate  the  lowliness  and  meekness  of  Christ. 
In  this  way  you  can  always  gather  from  the 
epistle  or  from  the  gospel  some  considerations 
to  remain  with  you. 

GiULiA.  I  understand  it  already;  go  on 
further. 

Yaldes.  From  the  prayers  you  will  take 
occasion  to  elevate  your  soul  towards  God,  in- 
wardly praying  that  he  would  accept  what  the 
priest  asks  in  the  name  of  the  whole  Church. 

GiULiA.  And  does  it  seem  to  you  that  I 
ought  to  hear  mass  every  day  ? 

Yaldes.     On  feast  days,  if  possible,  do  not 
stay  away  from  any.     Of  the  others  you  will 
leave  only  those  which,  when  occupied  in  some 
1  Phil.  ii.  5-7. 

L 


162  ALFABETO 

work  of  charity,  you  cannot  go  to  hear  with- 
out taking  yourself  from  them.  You  should  go 
/  58.  to  hear  the  sermon  -^with  a  mind  lowly  and 
obedient,  as  though  you  went  to  hear  Christ. 
And  when  you  shall  hear  something  said  by 
the  preacher  that  appep^rs  to  you  good,  with  a 
secret  prayer  entreat  God  that  he  will  imprint 
it  on  your  memory,  and  grant  you  his  grace 
and  favour,  by  which  you  may  be  enabled  to 
put  it  into  practice. 

GiULiA.  And  if  the  preacher  be  one  of 
those  followed  by  the  world,  who  preach  not 
Christ,  but  vain  and  subtle  things,  or  about 
philosophy,  or  I  know  not  what  sort  of  theo- 
logy, or  about  their  dreams  and  fables,  do  you 
wish  me  to  go  to  hear  him? 

Valdes.  In  this  you  will  do  so  far  as 
seems  best  to  yourself.  For  my  part  I  can 
declare  that  of  the  whole  year  I  have  no  times 
worse  spent  than  those  that  I  lose  in  hearing 
some  of  those  preachers,  whom  you  have 
wisely  pictured,  and  so  I  seldom  hear  them. 

GiULiA.  This  is  not  being  willing  to  be 
exercised  in  the  virtue  of  patience. 

Valdes.     It  may  be  so  if  you  will.     But  I 


CHRISTIANO.  163 

wish  to  hear  Christ  preached  in  the  pulpit,  if 
it  be  possible.  It  is  very  true  that  however 
bad  may  be  the  preacher,  it  is  well  to  hear 
him,  if  it  be  only  because  that,  seeing  the 
necessity  Christian  souls  have  to  hear  the 
doctrine  of  Christ,  you  may  incite  yourself 
ardently  to  solicit  Christ  to  send  into  the 
Church  his  preachers  who  preach  and  teach 
his  most  holy  doctrine  purely  and  sincerely. 
Of  reading  I  have  told  you  already,  that  for 
the  present  I  would  wish  that  it  should  be 
in  the  most  simple  things,  those  that  would 
kindle  the  will  and  not  occupy  the  intellect. 
And  when  you  read  portions  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures,  keep  in  mind  that  God  is  speaking 
to  you,  and  therefore  you  should  go  to  the 
reading  of  it  with  an  humble  and  obedient 
mind;  and  consider,  that  you  read  not  to 
know  how  to  reason,  but  to  understand  how 
you  ought  to  live.  You  must  seek  in  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  medicine  against  tempta- 
tions by  the  example  of  Christ,  who  being 
tempted  by  the  devil  in  the  wilderness,  to 
each  of  his  temptations  answered  him  by  a 
passage   of    Holy    Scripture.       In   the   same 

L  2 


164  ALFABETO 

manner  you  must  seek  remedy  against  adver- 
sities, persecutions,  and  worldly  trials,  for,  as 
St.  Paul  says:  all  that  is  there  written  was 
written  for  our  instruction.^ 

GiULiA.  What  books  are  those  you  call  the 
most  simple? 

Yaldes.  Those  I  used  at  one  time  are  a 
little  book  that  they  call  De  imitatione  Christi^ 
another  by  Cassia?!^  and  that  by  Saint  Jerome 
called  the  Lives  of  the  Hermits^  and  I  think  all 
these  are  in  Italian.     This  is  as  to  reading. 

Prayer  is  the  raising  of  the  mind  to  God 

with  desire  to   obtain  what  it  asks  of  him. 

The  manner  of  prayer,  and  what  should  be 

asked  for  in  prayer,  are  such  as  Christ  taught 

us  by  St.  Matthew:  "And  when  thou  prayest, 

thou  shalt  not  do  as  the  hypocrites,  for  they 

love  to  pray  in  the  congregations  of  the  people 

and  in  the  corners  of  the  streets  that  they  may 

be  seen  of  men  ;  verily  I  say  unto  you,  they 

/  59.  have   their   reward.     But   thou,  when  -^thou 

prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet,  and  when  thou 

hast  shut  thy  door,  pray  to  thy  Father  who  is 

in  secret ;  and  thy  Father  who  seeth  in  secret 

1  2  Tim.  iii.  16. 


CHRISTIANO.  165 

shall  reward  thee  openly."  ^  Christ  teaches  us 
by  these  words  that  our  prayer  should  be 
private,  as  well  to  avoid  vain  glory  as  because 
the  mind  outwardly  quiet,  more  easily  quiets 
itself  within.  And  Christ  immediately  says ; 
and  "  when  thou  prayest,  use  not  many  words, 
as  the  Gentiles  do."^  AVhence  he  shows  that 
he  wishes  few  words  to  be  used,  but  much 
faith  and  affection  in  prayer.  Afterwards  he 
says  :  In  this  manner  therefore  pray  ye : 
Pater  noster  qui  es  in  coelis^  &c.^  In  this  he 
instructs  us  that  we  should  not  ask  for  vain 
or  superfluous  things  in  prayer,  but  for  those 
only  which  seem  to  be  necessary  for  the 
glory  of  God,  for  the  salvation  of  the  souls  of 
our  neighbours  and  of  our  own,  and  for  the 
support  of  our  life.  Christ,  in  another  place, 
teaches  us  how  we  ought  to  pray,  saying: 
"  And  all  things  Avhatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in 
prayer,  believing,  ye  shall  receive."  ^  So  that 
in  order  for  prayer  to  be  right,  it  should  be 
in  private,  with  few  words,  with  much  desire, 
with  true  and  just  request,  and  with  entire 

1  Matt.  vi.  5,  6.         ^  ]\iatt.  vi.  7.         ^  Matt.  vi.  9. 
4  Matt.  xxi.  22. 

L  3 


166  ALFABETO 

faith  and  confidence  that  God  will  give  us 
what  Ave  shall  ask  of  him.  Also  Christ 
teaches  us  in  another  place  that  we  should 
be  importunate  and  persevering  in  prayer. 
Yet  because  vocal  prayer  frequently  kindles 
and  elevates  the  mind  to  mental  prayer,  I 
would  not  wish  you,  Signora,  to  oblige  your- 
self to  repeat  a  certain  number  of  psalms  or 
paternosters,  in  order  that  you  may  always 
stand  at  liberty,  for  then,  God  sending  to  you 
some  good  inspiration  in  prayer,  you  may  be 
able  to  dwell  in  it  as  long  as  you  feel  that 
your  soul  has  the  relish  of  it. 

GiULiA.  I  do  not  understand  this  unless 
you  explain  it  by  some  example. 

Yaldes.  I  mean  to  say,  that  when  saying 
the  paternoster,  you  come  to  repeat :  adveniat 
regnum  tuum^  "  thy  kingdom  come :  "  and  at 
that  passage  God  shall  show  you  the  felicity 
the  soul  enjoys  when  God  reigns  within  it, 
that  you  dwell  in  this  consideration.  In  the 
same  manner,  when  saying :  cor  mundum^  crea 
in  me  Deus^  et  spiritum  rectum  innova  in 
viscerihus  meis,  that  is  :  "Create  in  me  a  clean 
heart,  0  God,  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within 


CHRISTIANO.  167 

me/'^  you  should  feel  that  your  heart  begms 
to  be  warmed  with  desire  for  that  purity,  and 
your  bosom  begins  to  open,  anxious  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  may  be  renewed  in  it,  without 
going  on  with  the  psalm,  feed  the  fire  of  your 
heart  with  a  thought  of  Christ  crucified,  and 
open  wider  the  door  of  your  breast,  that  your 
heart  may  remain  purified  and  your  bosom 
go  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  You  will  do 
this,  without  being  obliged  to  a  certain  num- 
ber of  psalms  or  of  paternosters.  Do  you  now 
understand  it? 

GiULiA.     Fully. 

Yaldes.  Fasting,  as  it  regards  abstinence, 
rests  upon  holy  Scripture,  and  conduces  to 
Christian  charity.  For  this,  I  will  leave  it 
always  to  your  'discretion,  that  you  make  use 
of  abstinence  so  far  as  you  are  conscious  that 
it  is  necessary  to  you -^ to  destroy  the  old  nature  /.  60. 
and  vivify  the  new  ;  and  I  shall  be  always 
pleased  if  you  determine  the  abstinence,  more 
frequently  in  the  quantity  of  the  food,  than  in 
the  quality  of  it.  In  this  manner  you  can 
always  fast  when  you  wish,  without  any  one 

»  Ps.  li.  10. 

L  4 


168  ALFABETO 

being  sensible  of  it.  As  to  the  fasts  of  the 
Church  you  will  do  as  others  do,  and  for  this 
I  give  you  no  rule.  I  much  wish  to  advise 
you  of  this :  that  if  the  precepts,  as  they  say, 
are  obligatory  according  to  the  intention  of 
him  who  gives  them,  I  think  the  persons  are 
few  who  fulfil  the  precept  of  fasting. 

GiULiA.     Vfhy? 

Yaldes.  Because  few  persons  accomplish 
the  eiFect  that  the  Church  wishes  them  to 
gain  by  fasting. 

GiULiA.  From  w^hat  do  you  know  this  in- 
tention of  the  Church  ? 

Yaldes.  From  what  is  sung  in  the  prelude 
all  Lent,  saying  :  Qui  corporali  jejunio  viiia 
comprimis  mentem  elevas^  virtutem  largiris  et 
premia^  that  is :  '-'•  Thou  0  God,  who  by  bodily 
fasting  restrainest  the  passions,  elevatest  the 
mind,  bestowest  virtue  and  recompense." 
From  hence  it  appears  that  the  Church  in- 
tends that  we  Christians,  by  means  of  fasting, 
should  mortify  the  sensual  appetites  that  incite 
us  to  vice,  and  exalt  our  souls  towards  God,  in 
order  that  they  should  be  rewarded  with  the 
recompense  of  Christian  virtues. 


CHRISTIANO.  169 

Confession  is  so  inward  and  spiritual  a 
subject,  that  you  may  believe,  Signora,  that 
were  you  to  read  all  that  has  been  written 
upon  it,  and  if  you  heard  it  talked  of  by  the 
angels  of  heaven,  you  would  not  in  the  end 
know  how  properly  to  confess,  if  God  does  not 
first  move  your  heart  to  the  consciousness  of 
your  ignorance  and  misery,  so  that  you 
humble  yourself  before  the  presence  of  his 
divine  Majesty  ;  and  enlighten  your  under- 
standing and  inflame  your  will,  to  a  knowledge 
of  his  infinite  goodness  and  mercy,  so  that  you 
heartily  believe  in  Christ  and  love  Christ.  I 
wish  you,  Signora,  to  persuade  yourself  of  this 
truth,  so  that,  when  God  shall  touch  your  heart 
and  move  your  will,  giving  you  to  be  conscious 
that  by  your  sins  you  have  lost  his  grace,  and 
generating  within  you  a  horror  of  them  and  a 
desire  to  confess  them  in  order  to  return  and 
regain  his  grace,  being  sure  that  you  cannot 
knoAV  this  without  his  grace  and  favour,  -  you 
then  unreservedly  recommend  yourself  to  God, 
supplicating  him  to  open  the  eyes  of  your  un- 
derstanding, so  that  in  truth  you  may  know 
yourself,  and  to  enlighten  the  eyes  of  your  soul 


170  ALFABETO 

so  that  you  may  entirely  confide  in  Christ  and 
ardently  love  Christ.  This  is  the  first  pre- 
paration you  ought  to  make  for  your  confes- 
sion. And,  as  I  have  told  jou^  because  you 
must  go  to  confession  with  profound  humility, 
with  firm  faith  and  ardent  charity,  it  is  proper, 
Signora,  that  you  advance  to  humility  by  the 
knowledge  of  yourself,  into  which  you  ought 
deeply  to  enter,  in  the  manner  I  have  already 
told  you  ;  and  that  you  go  on  to  faith  and 
charity  by  the  knowledge  of  God,  in  which 
you  will  exercise  yourself  by  the  considerations 
which  you  have  just  before  heard. 

GiULiA.     I  should  much  wish  you  to  return 
/  61.  -^to  repeat  them  if  it  were  not  so  late. 

Yaldes.  It  will  be  enough  that  yourself 
when  alone  recall  tliem  to  your  remembrance. 
This  second  preparation  made,  I  wish  you, 
Signora,  to  examine  well  your  affections,  and 
what  things  incite  you,  whether  they  are  of  a 
nature  that  can  dravf  you  away  from  God. 
You  will  make  this  examination  setting  before 
you  the  law  of  God,  understood  in  the  manner 
we  have  discoursed  upon.  After  this,  I  wish 
that,    setting   on   one    side   these    inordinate 


CHPJSTIANO.  171 

affections  that  you  have  discovered  in  yourself, 
and  the  law  of  God  on  the  other  side,  you 
recall  to  memory  the  exercises  you  have  kept, 
the  things  with  which  you  have  employed 
yourself,  the  affairs  you  have  managed,  the 
people  with  whom  you  have  kept  company,  the 
persons  you  have  discoursed  about,  the  books 
you  have  read  in,  the  designs  you  have  formed 
and  the  thoughts  you  have  delighted  in.  I 
wish  you  to  examine  what  it  is  that  you  have 
done,  said,  or  thought,  which  may  be,  or  can 
be  contrary  to  the  law  of  God,  taking  them 
one  by  one,  beginning  from  the  first  day,  and 
running  down  to  the  day  when  you  wish  to 
confess. 

And  I  wish  you  besides,  to  examine  what 
in  all  this  time  you  have  failed  to  do,  say, 
or  think  that  might  have  conduced  to  the 
honour  of  God,  to  the  advantage  of  your  soul, 
and  to  the  spiritual  or  temporal  gain  of  your 
neighbours.  That  as  in  what  we  sin  by  com- 
mission we  show  our  iniquity  and  display  our 
ill  inclination  towards  God  and  towards  our 
neighbours,  so  neither  more  nor  less  in  what 
we  sin  by  omission  we  declare  our  little  faith, 


172  ALFABETO 

our  want  of  charity,  and  the  small  respect  and 
love  we  have  to  God  and  to  our  neighbours; 
and  as  we  have  said,  we  are  bound  to  love 
God  above  all  things,  and  our  neighbours  as 
ourselves. 

This  preparation  made,  and  feeling  your 
mind  already  humbled  by  the  knowledge  of 
your  own  wickedness  and  malignity,  very  firm 
in  faith  and  greatly  warmed  in  charity,  with 
the  greatest  horror  of  your  sins  and  feeling 
the  vexation  of  your  appetites,  you  will  put 
yourself  at  the  feet  of  the  confessor,  yourself 
bearing  anger  against  yourself  and  feeling  the 
same  confusion  that  vou  would  have  to  ask 
forgiveness  from  a  great  prince  from  whom 
you  had  received  the  greatest  favours  and  to 
whom  you  had  shamefully  committed  shock- 
ing treacheries.  And  so  with  such  prepara- 
tion, bringing  down  and  casting  to  the  ground 
human  arrogance  and  presumption,  you  will 
clearly  and  openly  disclose  to  him  everything 
in  which  you  are  conscious  you  have  disobeyed 
God  through  evil  intention,  through  ignorance, 
carelessness,  or  weakness.  And  if  the  confes- 
sor be  a  person  who  feels  and  relishes  spiritual 


CHPJSTIANO.  173 

things,  I  wisli  you  to  disclose  and  display  to 
him  the  affections  that  move,  incline,  and 
carry  you  on  to  the  offences  and  sins ;  because 
if  being  such  a  one,  he  will  give  you  advice 
by  which  you  may  be  able  to  mortify  them. 

GiULiA.     I  never  in  my  life  heard  such  a 
thing  said,  as  that  I  -^must  confess  my  affec-  /.  62. 
tions. 

Valdes.  If  you  are  umvilling  to  confess 
them  to  the  priest,  confess  them  to  God,  say- 
ing with  David :  Quoniam  iniquitatem  meam 
ego  cognosco^  and  more,  Ecce  enim  in  iniquita- 
tibus  conceptus  sum^  et  in  peccatis  concepit  me 
mater  mea^  that  is :  ''  for  I  acknowledge  my 
transgressions,"  and  more,  "  Behold,  I  was 
shapen  in  iniquity,  and  in  sin  did  my  mother 
conceive  me."^  And  so  much,  Signora,  as  the 
more  evils  you  have  cause  to  confess  while 
these  affections  live  within  you,  so  much  the 
more  and  the  better  ought  you  to  confess 
them,  because  you  will  more  abase  your  na- 
tural pride,  and  you  will  thus  exercise  your- 
self in  the  virtue  of  humility.  And  be  aware, 
Signora,  that  I  do  not  wish  you  to  be  scrupu- 
i  Ps.  li,  3-5. 


174  ALFABETO 

lous,  nor  superstitious  in  confession,  because 
it  is  sufficient  to  confess  to  the  priest  those 
things  you  are  conscious  to  have  done  with  a 
mind  disobedient  to  God,  about  which  you  so 
much  grieve ;  in  order  that,  knowing  you  can 
live  without  committing  them,  you  may  keep 
a  firm  intention  and  determination  never  to 
do  them  again.  But  of  failings  without  which 
we  can  scarcely  live  in  this  present  life,  that 
are  signs  of  a  mind  not  mortified,  you  will 
confess  yourself  continually  to  God,  suppli- 
cating him  to  favour  you  with  his  grace,  so 
that,  the  mortification  of  your  old  nature 
completed,  these  defects  may  cease  in  you. 

GiULiA.  Have  I  not  to  confess  these  fail- 
ings to  the  priest  ? 

Valdes.  Not  by  obligation,  because  they 
are  not  sins  that  belong  to  confession.  These 
properly  are  those  I  told  you  of  a  little  be- 
fore, from  which  David  prayed  to  be  cleansed, 
calling  them  secret  defects. 

Your  confession  made  in  this  manner,  and 
your  absolution  received  from  the  priest,  I  de- 
sire, Signora,  that  refreshing  in  your  remem- 
brance the  authority  that  Christ  gave  to  the 


CHRISTIANO.  175 

priests,  saying  to  them :  "  whatsoever  that  ye 
bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven ;  and 
whatsoever  ye  shall  loose  on  earth  shall  be 
loosed  in  heaven,"  ^  you  firmly  believe  that  God 
has  forgiven  all  your  sins  and  has  restored  you 
to  his  grace.  But  notice,  that  I  do  not  wish  you 
to  think  he  has  pardoned  them  for  the  reason 
because  you  have  confessed  them,  for  that  would 
be  to  attribute  to  yourself  what  is  not  yours. 
I  wish  therefore  that  you  should  think  that 
God  has  forgiven  you,  because  you  believe  in 
Christ,  love  Christ,  and  have  placed  your  hope 
in  Christ,  and  that  you  have  confessed  them 
because  God  desires  you  to  confess  them. 

GiULiA.  I  understand  this  well.  But  I 
v/ish  to  know  from  you,  what  is  your  opinion 
about  the  selection  of  a  confessor. 

Yaldes.  Because  I  hold  it  certain  that  a 
good  part  of  the  fruit  of  confession  consists 
in  a  good  confessor,  to  whom  it  belongs,  not 
only  to  make  absolution,  but  also  gravely  and 
severely  to  reprehend  the  sins,  and  to  animate 

1  This  was  said  to  his  Apostles  after  he  had  endued 
them  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  Matt,  xviii.  18.  See  par- 
ticularly John  XX.  22,  23. 


176  ALFABETO 

him  who  makes  the  confession  to  the  practice 
of  the  Christian  virtues,  and  to  offer  proper 
remedies  for  them  according  to  the  disposition 
of  the  person,  in  order  to  overcome  the  in- 
clinations and  appetites  that  incline  him  to 
/.  63.  sin  ;  ^1  wish  you,  Signora,  to  lay  out  all  your 
prudence  and  all  your  authority  in  the  selec- 
tion of  a  suitable  confessor.  If  such  a  one 
can  be  found  who  knows  and  understands  by 
doctrine  the  Christian  life,  and  who  has  ac- 
quired and  verified  by  experience  what  he  may 
have  read  in  books,  you  ought  to  rank  him 
before  all  others  and  take  him.  To  such  a 
one  you  may  communicate  your  failings,  for 
being  well  experienced,  he  will  know  how  to 
give  you  such  directions,  with  which,  mortify- 
ing the  affections,  you  may  go  onward,  leaving 
off  the  defects. 

And  because  such  a  person  is  rarely  found, 
when  you  have  to  make  choice  between  a 
learned  person  without  experience  in  this 
Christian  life,  and  an  experienced  person 
without  learning,  I  wish  you  much  rather  to 
take  the  experienced  one.  Because  in  the 
same  manner  as  a  person  will  know  how  to 


CHRISTIANO.  177 

give  you  a  better  relation  of  the  road  from 
this  place  to  Jerusalem  who  has  been  accus- 
tomed to  travel  along  it,  than  another  who 
knows  it  by  cosmography,  although  he  should 
know  the  science  better  than  Ptolemy  ;  so 
will  he  better  know  how  to  introduce  and 
guide  you  in  the  Christian  journey,  who  has 
himself  gone  and  still  goes  in  it,  than  another 
who  has  read  and  still  reads  about  it.  This, 
as  St.  Paul  says,  because  he  does  not  attain 
to  things  that  are  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  can 
in  no  manner  conduct  another  where  he  has 
never  gone  himself.  And  because  I  know 
that  it  will  be  the  better  for  you,  I  wish 
you  to  select  in  preference  a  confessor  with- 
out learning,  but  with  experience  in  spi- 
ritual things,  if  you  can  know  of  such  a 
one,  than  a  person  with  learning  only  :  and 
in  this  so  far  trust  me  ;  for  there  is  no  one 
blinder  than  he  who  persuades  himself -that 
he  sees.  And  be  advised,  Signora,  that  hav- 
ing found  a  confessor  experienced  in  this 
Christian  road,  I  wish  you  to  ask  his  opi- 
nion and  advice  in  all  your  concerns;  and 
to  trust  him  much  in  them  all.     So  also  it 

M 


178  ALFABETO 

seems  to  me  that  from  an  inexperienced  one 
you  should  accept  nothing  more  than  abso^ 
lution.  I  say  this,  because  I  know  by  ex- 
j)erience  such  confessors  frequently,  wishing 
to  appear  knowing,  tell  you  of  subjects  not 
belonging  to  the  duty  of  a  true  Christian, 
by  which,  against  your  will,  they  lead  you  to 
regard  them  lightly;  and  this  is  not  to  be 
considered  as  nothing  to  the  object  of  so  high 
a  sacrament.  I  think  you  may  rest  satisfied 
with  this. 

GiULiA.     Yes,  I  remain  so :  go  on  further. 

Yaldes.  Of  the  holy  communion,  in  which 
we  Christians  partake  of  the  most  precious 
body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  I 
wish  to  say  not  a  little  to  you,  because  I  think 
I  should  not  remain  satisfied  even  with  saying 
much  to  you ;  but,  considering  that  it  wants 
little  from  now  to  the  night,  and  that  a  great 
part  of  what  I  have  said  respecting  confession 
may  serve  for  the  communion,  I  will  pass 
over  this  briefly.  And  so  1  say,  Signora,  you 
should  bring  to  the  communion  an  ardent 
desire  to  unite  yourself  to  Christ,  by  faith, 
hope,  and  charity.     I  wish  you  to  quicken 


CHRISTIANO.  179 

these  three  virtues  in  your  soul  when  you  go 
to  communion.  I  wish  you  to  go  grounded 
in  humility,  -^ which  you  will  acquire,  as  I  /  64. 
have  frequently  told  you,  by  the  knowledge 
of  yourself.  I  would  have  you  to  go  full  of 
faith,  in  such  manner  that  you  firmly  believe, 
that  under  these  species  exists  the  true  body 
and  blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  This 
you  should  think  he  left  to  us  here  in  this 
world;  so  that  whenever  these  species  shall 
be  represented  to  our  bodily  sight,  we  should 
refresh  in  our  hearts  the  remembrance  of  his 
passion,  through  which,  by  means  of  his  most 
precious  blood,  he  established  a  new  covenant 
between  God  and  mankind,  annulling  and 
making  void  the  old.  And  the  new  covenant 
is,  that  we,  mankind,  should  believe  ourselves 
to  be  justified  by  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  that  Christ  justifies  us,  forgiving  our 
sins.  I  wish  besides,  that  you  go  full  of  con- 
fidence in  the  promise  of  Christ,  very  secure 
that  this  celestial  food  must  bestow  upon  you 
great  power  and  intrepidity  to  walk  with 
resolution  in  the  Christian  course ;  and  that  it 
will  protect  and  secure  you  from  the  assaults 

M  2 


180  ALFABETO 

and  conflicts  of  your  affections  and  sensual  ap- 
petites, and  thus  assist  in  the  mortification  of 
the  Old  man  and  in  the  revival  of  the  New  man. 
For  you  should  hold  it  certain  that  the  holy 
communion  of  the  most  precious  body  and 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  works  all  these 
effects  in  the  soul,  and  many  more.  And, 
therefore,  frequenting  the  communion  I  hold 
to  be  a  laudable  and  joyful  service,  especially 
with  persons  who,  having  set  the  idea  of 
Christian  perfection  before  their  view,  have 
begun  to  walk  towards  it.  And  so  I  wish 
}'0U,  Signora,  as  soon  as  you  begin  to  walk  in 
this  path,  to  begin  also  to  frequent  the  com- 
munion, going  always  to  it  with  the  prepara- 
tion that  I  have  said. 

Your  alms  will  be  in  proportion  to  your 
charity,  but  I  should  rather  say,  that  your 
almsgiving  will  be  good  in  proportion  as  it 
will  proceed  from  pure  charity  and  the  true 
love  of  God. 

GiULiA.  And  will  you  not  give  me  some 
rule  that  I  may  observe  in  dispensing  my 
alms? 

Yaldes.     I  shall  give  you  no  other  rule 


CHRISTIANO.  181 

than  that  of  charity.     Love  God,  and  you  will 
know  how  to  dispense  your  alms. 

GiULiA.  I  ask  it  because  the  Preacher  said 
one  day,  that  according  to  the  order  of  charity, 
we  were  more  under  oblio^ation  to  our  neio;h- 
hour  than  to  ourselves. 

Valdes.  What  the  Preacher  said  is  that 
well-ordered  charity  begins  from  God ;  and  that 
in  him  persons  learn  it ;  both  how  they  should 
love  themselves,  and  how  they  should  love 
their  neighbour.  And  he  said  more :  that  he 
who  lives  in  perfect  charity  frequently  post- 
pones his  own  individual  interest  for  the  good 
of  his  neighbour.  This  we  see  in  many  pas- 
sages in  St.  Paul;  who  says,  that  charity 
seeketh  not  its  own  interest.  As  to  distribut- 
ing alms,  St.  Paul  himself  without  any  differ- 
ence says :  Facite  honum  ad  omnes^  do  good 
to  all  men ;  and  wishing,  in  some  respects,  to 
come  to  particulars,  -^he  says:  but  chiefly  to  /  6^ 
the  household  of  faith.  ^  Keeping  to  that 
which  Christ  says :  "he  that  receiveth  a  pro- 
phet, in  the  name  of  a  prophet,  shall  receive 
a  prophet's  reward ;  and  he  who  receiveth  a 
1  Gal.  vi.  10. 

M  3 


182  ALFABETO 

righteous  man,  in  the  name  of  a  righteous 
man,  shall  receive  a  righteous  man's  reward."^ 
Does  it  appear  to  you  that  these  are  gifts  to 
be  forsaken? 

GiULiA.  Kather,  I  have  so  much  enjoyed 
to  hear  this,  that  I  would  die  with  pleasure  to 
know  some  righteous  person,  to  show  him  a 
thousand  favours,  and  do  him  a  thousand 
benefits,  to  be  myself  also  righteous. 

Yaldes.  a  pretty  contradiction  is  this! 
Do  you  not  perceive  that  in  this  case  you  are 
moved  by  your  own  interest,  and  not  as  Christ 
desires,  purely  by  his  love?  In  short,  I  see, 
Signora,  that  you  would  be  satisfied  to  do 
whatever  God  would  command  you  and  wish 
of  you,  provided  you  take  care  of  your  love  for 
yourself;  and  I  do  not  wonder,  because  there  is 
nothing  in  the  world  more  disagreeable  than 
for  persons  to  do  force  to  themselves ;  so  much 
more  in  things  belonging  to  the  soul  where 
outward  force  and  human  labour  are  insufii- 
cient.  But  in  short,  willino^  or  not  willing*,  I 
promise  you  that  you  must  give  your  love  up 
to  God. 

1  Matt.  X.  41. 


CHRISTIANO.  183 

GiULiA.     AVhat  rudeness ! 

Valdes.  Do  you  take  it  as  rudeness,  Si- 
gnora,  that  God  having  created  you,  in  order 
that  you  should  love  him,  and  having  in  so 
many  modes  and  ways  shown  his  love,  he  asks 
you  to  love  him? 

GiULiA.  Let  me  put  up  with  your  answer. 
Yet  if  I  were  able  to  do  it  so  readily,  I  pro- 
mise you  that  I  would  not  be  slow  to  do 
it ;  but  it  is  necessary  to  come  to  this  effect 
through  so  many  intricacies ;  and  to  tell  you 
the  truth,  I  do  not  know  how  you  mean 
this.  Since  God  commands  me  to  give  him 
all  my  love,  why  does  he  not  make  me  cer- 
tainly able  always  to  do  what  I  would  wish 
for  him  as  easily  as  I  could  give  hmi  this  gown 
{gonna)l 

Valdes.  The  impossibility,  or,  better  to 
say,  the  difficulty,  comes  to  us  from  original 
sin. 

GiULiA.  I  cannot  arrive  in  my  mind  to 
wish  well  to  that  Adam  when  I  remember  the 
evils  and  difficulties  that  he  puts  upon  us 
through  his  sin. 

Yaldes.     Turn  over  the  leaf,  Signora,  and 

m4 


184  ALFABETO 

at  every  turn  when  thinking  of  these  difficul- 
ties and  evils,  you  wish  ill  to  Adam,  wish  well 
towards  Christ,  who  by  his  obedience  enables 
you  to  fly  from  the  evils  and  difficulties  in 
which  the  disobedience  of  Adam  puts  you. 

GiULiA.  You  speak  well.  But  as  I  expe- 
rience the  evil  of  Adam's  disobedience,  and 
not  the  good  of  Christ's  obedience,  I  cannot 
so  readily  persuade  myself  to  love  Christ  as  I 
incline  to  wish  ill  to  Adam. 

Valdes.  You  will  find  also  another  thing 
more  than  sufficient,  if  you  well  consider  it,  that 
you  can  wish  ill  to  Adam  following  your  own 
will,  and  you  cannot  wish  well  to  Christ  with- 
out contradicting  your  own  will ;  and  to  Adam 
you  can  wish  ill,  loving  yourself,  and  you 
cannot  wish  well  to  Christ  without  leaving 
the  amor  propria  with  which  you  love  your- 
self. So  that  if  you  desire  not  to  wish  ill  to 
/.  66.  Adam  and  -^to  wish  well  to  Christ,  put  your- 
self to  experience  the  benefit  of  Christ  as  you 
now  experience  the  evil  of  Adam,  and  set 
yourself  to  deny  your  own  will  and  leave  your 
self-love ;  then  you  will  as  soon  experience  the 
good  of  Christ's  obedience,  more  efficaciously 


CHRISTIANO.  185 

than  you  now  experience  the  evil  of  Adam's 
disobedience. 

GiULiA.  What  pertinacity  you  have  with 
this  Self-love  and  this  Will !  Now  I  assure 
you  that  I  do  not  love  myself  so  much  as 
you  think. 

Yaldes.  I  do  not  think  that  you  love 
yourself  more  than  as  you  disclose  it  and 
declare  it  by  your  words ;  and  it  appears  to 
me  that  if  you  did  not  love  yourself  you 
would  not  wish  ill  to  Adam. 

GiULiA.  Now  then,  I  say,  I  do  not  desire  to 
wish  him  ill.  You  go  taking  my  words  in  a 
manner  that  makes  me  venture  to  say  that  1 
thought  they  never  came  from  my  lips. 

And  as  from  the  past  I  have  gained  good 
fruit  by  your  discourse,  I  wish  nothing  to  be 
left,  and  so  I  ■^vish  you  to  explain  one  thing 
which  keeps  me  much  confused,  and  in  which 
I  find  most  unpleasantness,  when  I  msh  to 
deliberate  about  my  entrance  upon  this  Chris- 
tian course.  Let  us  see  what  success  you 
will  give  me,  and  how  you  will  settle  it  for 
me  in  the  mind.  The  Preacher  says:  God 
only  accepts  those  good  works  that  we  do, 


186  ALFABETO 

moved  purely  by  the  love  of  God,  without 
being  moved  to  do  them  either  by  the  fear 
of  hell  or  desire  and  love  of  glory;  and  I 
certainly  believe  it  may  be  so,  since  he  says 
it.  Now  then,  to  tell  the  truth  and  to  talk 
freely  with  you,  mshing  to  examine  my  mind 
sincerely,  I  find  that  I  should  not  be  moved 
to  perform  anything,  if  it  were  not  through 
fear  of  that  hell  and  sometimes  by  the  love 
of  glory,  but  none  from  pure  love  to  God; 
because  I  know  from  myself,  that  if  there 
were  neither  Hell  nor  Paradise,  I  should  pass 
along  very  well  in  this  world,  living  morally 
and  laudably  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  in  this 
life  as  I  have  lived  until  this  time,  without 
concerning  myself  to  seek  beyond  it.  Now 
then,  this  being  so,  as  I  truly  know  it  to  be 
with  me,  and  that  also  being  true  which  the 
Preacher  says,  I  find  by  my  calculation  that 
all  I  shall  do  in  this  manner  will  be  lost,  since 
in  reality  I  know  that  I  am  not  moved  to  it 
by  love  to  God,  but  by  love  of  myself.  I 
cannot  conceive  in  what  way  you  will  know 
how  to  reconcile  this  to  me. 

Valdes.    So  might  I  drive  from  your  mind 


CHRISTIANO.  187 

all  your  self-love,  as  I  shall  know  how  to  settle 
this  point. 

GiULiA.     To  the  proof ! 

Yaldes.  You  have  a  slave,  Signora,  bought 
with  your  money,  and  although  he  is  vicious, 
roguish,  and  ill-inclined,  you  wish  him  well; 
and  in  order  to  prevent  him  from  putting  his 
roguery  and  vice  into  practice,  you  threaten 
him  with  the  galley  and  other  severe  punish- 
ments. If  this  slave  has  good  sense,  not 
to  be  sent  to  the  galleys  and  not  to  be  pun- 
ished, understanding  also  that  you  make 
these  threatenings  for  his  benefit,  he  not  only 
labours  to  restrain  his  vices  and  to  conquer 
his  evil  propensities,  but  he  begins  to  wish 
well  to  you.  You,  -^knowing  this,  begin  to  /.  61 
treat  him  well.  Feeling  and  enjoying  the 
good  treatment  and  the  affection  you  bear  to 
him,  be  begins  also  to  serve  you  diligently, 
so  that  you  confer  honour  upon  him,  and  you 
bestow  upon  him  those  benefits  that  he  wants. 
You  do  this,  and  in  thus  doing,  the  more  you 
show  him  the  love  you  bear  towards  him,  so 
much  the  more  the  love  and  good-will  that 
he  has  to  serve  you  increase  in  him.     In  this 


188  ALFABETO 

way  lie  already  abstains  from  vice  and  roguery, 
not  through  fear  of  the  galley ;  nor  is  he  dili- 
gent in  your  service  for  the  sake  of  the  good 
treatment  you  give  him,  but  for  the  sake  of 
the  good-will  and  affection  that  he  knows  you 
have  to  him;  and  although  there  were  no 
galleys,  and  although  you  might  not  treat  him 
well,  he  would  not  cease  to  serve  you,  because 
he  finds  himself  obliged  by  the  past,  and 
because  he  knows  that  you  deserve  to  be 
served  and  obeyed.  Now,  on  your  part, 
seeing  the  good  disposition  of  the  slave,  you 
make  him  free,  giving  him  a  charter  of  free- 
dom; hence  he  obeys  you  through  love  and 
not  through  fear,  and  serves  you  as  a  freeman 
and  not  as  a  slave,  and  through  gratitude  and 
not  through  interest. 

God  behaves  in  this  same  manner  towards 
us.  Because  he  knows  the  evil  disposition, 
the  malignity,  and  iniquity  of  which  we  are 
heirs  by  the  sin  of  our  first  parents,  wishing 
us  well  by  having  created  us,  and  having 
redeemed  us  by  the  most  precious  blood  of 
his  Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  in  order  that 
we  should  not  put  our  inordinate  passions  in 


CHRISTIANO.  189 

practice,  he  sets  hell  before  us.  And  hence 
arise  the  continual  threatenings,  of  which  the 
sacred  Scriptures  are  full.  Those  of  us  who 
open  our  eyes  and  believe  that  there  is  a 
hell,  and  know  that  God  will  certainly  do 
what  he  says  in  punishing  our  vices  with  the 
pains  of  hell,  labour  to  leave  off  our  vices 
not  to  incur  the  penalty ;  likewise  because  w^e 
know  in  some  degree  that  God  loves  us.  And 
in  such  case,  although  we  are  not  moved  by 
pure  love,  yet  God  seeing  our  obedience,  fur- 
ther opens  our  eyes,  so  that  we  perceive  the 
blessedness  of  Paradise.  Knowing  and  desiring 
this,  we  begin  to  apply  ourselves  to  do  the 
will  of  God,  so  that  he  may  give  us  his  glory. 
Xow  God,  accepting  our  good-will,  opens  our 
eyes  still  more,  so  that  we  know  on  one  part 
our  evil  nature,  and  on  the  other  his  infinite 
goodness.  With  this  knowledge,  we  begin  to 
be  enamoured  vdth.  God,  and  to  obey  and 
serve  him,  not  indeed  through  fear  of  hell, 
neither  through  love  of  glory,  but  solely  be- 
cause we  have  known  that  he  is  worthy  to 
be  loved,  and  that  he  infinitely  loves  us. 
Then  God  gives  us  a  charter  of  freedom,  yet 


190  ALFABETO 

we  quit  not  liis  service  by  having  freedom; 
rather  we  are  more  subject  and  more  obe- 
dient; not  indeed  as  slaves,  but  as  freemen; 
not  as  hirelings,  but  as  sons.  And  in  this 
consists  Christian  liberty.  Are  you  satisfied 
/68.  -^with  this? 

GiULiA.     Yes,  very  much ;  and  I  have  only 

^;;;i    one  doubt  remaining.      What   is   the   cause 

I  i;   that,  although  many  persons  serve  through 
fear  as   slaves,  and  as  mercenaries  through 

.',     interest,  they  never  come  to  serve  as  sons 

'      with  the  freedom  you  speak  of  ? 

Yaldes.  It  is  that  whilst  they  serve  as 
■  slaves,  and  whilst  they  serve  as  mercenaries, 
they  consider  and  hold  themselves  to  be  per- 
fect ;  and,  seeking  no  other  perfection,  they 
remain  always  in  that  servitude,  as  St.  Paul 
says :  "for  they,  being  ignorant  of  God's  righte- 
ousness, by  which  he  justifies  them  who  be- 
lieve in  him,  and  desiring  to  justify  themselves 
by  their  works,  have  not  submitted  themselves 
unto  the  righteousness  of  God."^  For  this 
cause  it  is  necessary  thBt  you  recall  to  your 
remembrance  what  I  said:  that  it  is  proper 
1  Rom.  X.  3. 


CHRISTIANO.  191 

to  keep  always  before  you  tlie  idea  of  Chris- 
tian perfection  in  the  manner  that  I  have 
depicted,  and  better,  if  better  could  be.  In 
order  so  to  think,  that  you  must  not  stop  in 
this  Christian  course  until  you  find  yourself 
very  close  to  it ;  as  because  always  that  you 
compare  your  perfection  with  it,  you  may  hold 
yourself  as  imperfect,  and  not  presume  upon 
yourself;  rather  you  have  always  legitimate 
cause  to  humble  yourself;  for  as  the  evil  an- 
gels lost  their  glory  by  pride,  so  God  desires 
us  to  gain  it  by  humility. 

GiULiA.  I  remain  indeed  satisfied  with 
this ;  and  if  you  tell  me  in  two  words  about 
Christian  liberty,  I  will  then  leave  you  to 
Go  with  God! 

Valdes.  You  know,  Signora,  that  Christian 
liberty  is  a  thing  which,  however  much  it  is 
reasoned  about,  and  however  good  the  con- 
duct be,  can  never  be  understood  if  it  be  not 
experienced ;  so  that  you  will  know  so  much 
of  it  as  you  experience  it  in  your  soul,  and  no 
more.  If,  Signora,  you  therefore  desire  to 
learn  it,  set  yourself  to  experience  it,  and 
you  will  have  no  necessity  that  I  should  tell 


192  ALFABETO 

you  about  it.  But  at  all  events,  I  wish  to 
say  this :  that  it  appears  according  to  what 
St.  Paul  says:  "though  I  be  free  from  all, 
yet  have  I  made  myself  servant  unto  all,  that 
I  might  gain  them  all  for  Christ  ;"Hhe  liberty 
of  the  Christian  is  in  the  conscience,  for  the 
real  and  perfect  Christian  is  free  from  the 
tyranny  of  the  law,  from  sin  and  from  death, 
and  is  absolute  lord  of  his  affections  and 
appetites.  And  on  the  other  part  he  is  the 
servant  of  all  as  to  the  outward  man,  because 
he  is  subject  to  serve  the  necessities  of  the 
body,  to  keep  the  flesh  subject,  and  to  serve 
his  neighbours  according  to  his  power,  either 
with  his  faculties,  if  gifted  with  them,  or  with 
o^ood  doctrine  if  that  be  added,  and  with  the 
example  of  a  good  and  holy  life.  So  that 
such  a  Christian  person  is  free  as  regards  the 
spirit,  acknowledging  no  other  superior  than 
God,  and  as  to  the  body,  he  is  subject  to 
everybody  in  the  world  for  Christ's  sake. 

You    have    already   understood,    Signora, 
whence  has  arisen  your  confusion  of  mind  in 
»   1  Cor.  ix.  19. 


CHEISTIANO.  193 

whicli  you  have  lived  until  now,  and  likewise 
the  remedy  that  you  can  use  for  it.  You  have 
understood  whence  -^the  contradiction  arises  /.  69. 
that  you  felt  within  you  after  you  heard  the 
Preacher,  and  in  what  manner  you  can  free 
yourself  from  it.  I  have  depicted  to  you  the 
idea  of  Christian  perfection.  I  have  shown  you 
twelve  steps  by  which  you  will  begin  to  walk 
to  Christ  without  being  seen  by  the  world.  I 
have  satisfied  you  of  some  doubts  that  have 
occurred  to  you.  Lastly,  you  have  understood 
in  what  Christian  liberty  consists.  It  now 
remains  for  you  directly,  directly  from  this 
night,  to  make  proof  of  going  in  those  steps 
that  I  have  taught  you.  Therefore  I  desire 
that  you  would  tell  me  in  the  morning  what 
you  think  of  them.  And  observe,  that  you 
always  pray  God  that  he  would  guide  and 
conduct  you  by  his  grace,  without  ever  con- 
senting to  withdraw  yourself  from  him.  Be- 
cause this  is  the  way  to  arrive  at  Christian 
perfection,  and  to  enjoy  Christian  liberty,  to 
which  when  you  shall  become  united  you  will 
be  able  with  truth  to  say  with  the  Prophet 
David :  Dominus  regit  me,  et  nihil  milii  deerit 

N 


194  ALFABETO 

In  loco pasquce  ihi  me  coUocavit ;  that  is,  ''the 
Lord  is  my  shepherd,  I  shall  not  want.  He 
maketh  me  to  lie  down  in  green  pastures."^ 

1  Ps.  xxiii. 


* 


CHRISTIANO.  195 


A  brief  summary  of  what  is  contained  in  the 
whole  Dialogue. 

How  we  should  understand  that  man  is  created 

in  the  image  of  God.  fo.  6 

In  what  consists  the  happiness  of  man.  fo.  7 
What  things  are  considered  in  original  sin. 

fo.  0 
What  is  that  which  we    Christians  gain   in 

baptism.  fo.  9 

Two  effects  that  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 

causes  in  Christian  minds.  fo.  10 

What  is  the  Law.  fo.  11 

What  is  the  fruit  of  the  Gospel.  fo.  12 

Whence  arises  the  difficulty  that  persons  meet 

with  in  the  way  of  God.  fo.   14 

Five  kinds  or  conditions  of  people.  fo.  14 

In  what  Christian  perfection  consists,  fo.  17 
The  nature  of  self-love.  fo.  12.  18.  33.  35.  51 
The  nature  of  the  love  of  God.  fo,  18 

A  brief  declaration  of  the  ten  commandments. 

fo.  19 
A  necessary  and  Christian  counsel  upon  the 

observance  of  the  commandments,      fo.  23 


196  ALFABETO 

A  Christian  and  evangelical  rule  tliat  com- 
prises all  the  commandments.  fo.  23 
A  doctrine  of  St.  John  which  consoles  them 
who  are  not  yet  united  to  perfection. 

fo.  23 

Three  ways  in  which  peoj^le  sin,  by  evil,  by 

ignorance,  and  by  weakness.  fo.  23 

The  fruits  of  charity  according  to  St.  Paul. 

fo.  26 
/.  70. /What  is  Faith.  fo.  26 

The  diiFerence  there  is  between  faith  and  hope, 
with  a  comparison.  fo.  28 

Division  of  man  according  to  St.  Paul.    fo.  30 
Twelve  steps  to  walk  towards  Christian  per- 
fection, fo.  31 
How  we  ought  to  know  the  world.  fo.  33 
How  we  ought  to  know  ourselves.           fo.  34 
That  persons  should  abhor  themselves,  fo.  35 
That  to  love  God  it  is  needful  to  know  God, 
and  that  there  are  three  ways  by  which  we 
may  know  him.                                       fo.  35 
One,  by  the  light  of  Nature.                    fo.  36 
Another,  by  the  Old  Testament.              fo.  36 
Another,  by  Christ.                                    fo.  36 
How  we  ought  to  know  Christ.               fo.  37 


CHRISTIAXO.  197 

A  sliort  and  pious  explanation  of  tlie  creed. 

fo.  39 
How  we  ought  to  love  God  and  our  neighbour. 

fo.  42 
How  we  ought  to  have  confidence  in  faith. 

fo.  43 

How  we  ought  to  be  certain  in  hope.      fo.  44 

That  the  exercise  of  the  Christian  should  be, 

the  mortification  of  the  Old  man  and  the 

revival  of  the  New.  fo.  46 

In  what  way  we  ought  to  deny  our  will. 

fo.  46 
In  what  way  we  should  mortify  our  five  senses. 

fo.  48 
That  we  are  to  mortify  the  inward  affections. 

fo.  48 
That  we  examine  every  night  what  we  have 
done  through  the  day.  fo.  51 

That  we  communicate  our  concerns  to  some 
spiritual  person.  fo.  52 

A  consideration  against  worldly  honour,  fo.  53 
Another  consideration  against  satisfaction  in 
outward  things.  fo.  53 

Consolation  against  tribulations  and  tempta- 
tions, fo.  54 

N   3 


198  ALFABETO 

How  we  should  guard  ourselves  in  acquaint- 
ance with  worldly  persons.  fo.  55 
That  we  must  rather  adorn  the  inward  man 
than  the  outward,  by  a  comparison,    fo.  56 
The  benefit  we  ought  to  draw  from  the  Mass. 

fo.  57 

How,  and  with  what  mind  we  ought  to  hear 

preaching.  fo.  58 

How  we  should  go  to  the  perusal  of  sacred 

Scripture.  fo.  58 

What  books  a  beginner  should  read.       fo.  58 

The  way  of  prayer.  fo.  58 

How  a  Christian  should  fast.     .  fo.  59 

Of  confession.  fo.  60 

What  the  confessor  must  be.  fo.  62 

How  to  prepare  for  the  communion,  and  who 

may  frequent  it.  fo.  63 

What  must  be  our  almsgiving.  fo.  64 

The  order  Christian  charity  holds.  fo.  64 

How  beginning  to  serve  God  through  fear  and 

through  interest,  we  may  come  to  serve  for 

love;  this  is  explained  with  a  comparison. 

fo.  66 
In  what  Christian  liberty  consists.  fo.  68 


CHRISTIANO.  199 

BY   THE   SAME   AUTHOR.  /  7i. 

IN  WHAT  MANNER  THE  CHRISTIAN 

should  study  in  liis  own  book,  and  what 

fruit   he  would   draw  from  the  study 

of  it,  and  how  the  holy  Scriptures 

serve  him  as  an  interpreter,  or 

commentary. 

Proposition. 

Having  frequently  heard  you  say  that  a 

Christian's  proper  study  ought  to  be  that  of 

his   own  book,  having  it   always   open    and 

constantly  reading  in  it,  I   have  wished   to 

know   what   is    my   book,  how   I    ought    to 

study  in  it,  and  what  advantage  I  shall  gain 

from  the  perusal  of  it,  in  reference  to  my 

Christian  knowledge.    And  since  you,  by  your 

language,  have  awakened  this  desire  in  my 

mind,  it  wiU  be  but  just  that  you  should  also 

satisfy  me. 

Reply. 

Whilst  a  man  studies  merely  in  the  books 
of  other  men,  he  becomes  acquainted  with  the 

N  4 


200  ALFABETO 

minds  of  their  authors,  but  knows  not  him- 
self. Now  as  it  belongs  to  a  Christian's  duty 
to  know  himself,  to  know  the  state  of  being 
that  he  possesses  as  a  child  of  God  through 
Christian  regeneration,  I  am  accustomed  to 
say  that  a  Cliristian's  proper  study  should  be 
in  his  oicn  Booh.  For  reading  in  this,  he 
learns  to  know  himself;  and  so  much  the 
more  and  the  better  he  knows  himself,  so 
much  more  easily  he  becomes  disenamoured 
of  himself  and  of  the  world,  and  becomes 
enamoured  with  God  and  with  Christ.  Such 
ought  to  be  your  purpose  in  this  reading  of 
your  own  book.  And  therefore  you  must  be 
advised,  that  in  the  perusal  of  your  own  book, 
you  must  not  think  that  God  will  consider 
you  such  as  you  imagine  yourself  to  be,  but 
you  should  be  convinced  that  he  -^dll  consider 
you  in  the  degree  in  which  you  stand  incor- 
porated in  Christ.  This  rightly  understood, 
which  is  of  great  importance,  know  then  that 
I  am  accustomed  to  call  my  mind  my  book; 
because  in  this  are  contained  my  opinions,  as 
well  the  false  as  the  true.  In  this  I  discover 
my  confidence  and  my  diffidence;  my  faith 


CHRISTIAXO.  201 

and  my  unbelief;  my  hope  and  my  negligence ; 
my  charity  and  my  enmity.  In  this  also  I 
shall  find  my  humility  and  my  presumption ; 
my  meekness  and  my  impatience ;  my  modesty 
and  my  arrogance  ;  my  simple-mindedness 
and  my  curiosity;  my  resolution  against  the 
world  and  my  deference  to  it;  my  firmness 
against  myself  and  my  own  self-love.  In 
short,  in  this  -^is  found  whatever  I  possess  of  /  72. 
good  by  the  favour  of  God  and  of  Christ,  and 
whatever  evil  I  have  acquired  by  my  natural 
depravity.  This  is  my  book.  In  this  I  read  ' 
at  all  times  and  every  hour  of  the  day,  and 
there  is  no  occupation  that  hinders  me  from 
this  reading.  Sometimes  I  turn  to  examine 
the  opinions  I  entertain  in  the  Christian  con- 
cern ;  on  what  I  rest  them,  how  I  understand 
them,  and  how  I  feel  them.  At  other  times 
I  set  myself  to  examine  what  degree  of  con- 
fidence I  have  in  the  promises  of  God;  how 
far  I  depend  under  all  circumstances  upon 
him ;  and  with  what  alacrity  I  put  in  practice 
what  I  know  to  be  the  will  of  God.  Again, 
I  take  into  consideration  how  firm  and  con- 
stant I  find  myself  in  faith  in  Christ,  believing 


202  ALFABETO 

myself  pardoned  by  God  and  reconciled  to 
God  in  Christ  and  through  Christ.  I  con- 
sider whether  the  Christian's  faith  has  its 
efficacy  within  me,  causing  me  to  change  my 
natural  disposition ;  and  whether  the  Clmstian 
life  has  made  me  change  my  former  state 
and  manners;  because  such  alteration  is  the 
Christian  renovation  and  regeneration.  At 
other  times  I  reflect  whether  there  exists  in 
me  such  a  desire  of  the  comins;  of  Christ  to 
judgment  as  exists  in  those  who,  longing  for 
it,  expect  it;  or  I  imagine  in  what  degree 
of  liveliness  this  desire  and  reflection  are 
found  in  me.  I  enter  at  other  times  into 
a  very  strict  account  with  myself,  examining 
how  far  I  love  God  and  Christ;  whether  I 
love  him  more  than  myself;  and  how  far  I 
love  my  neighbours,  and  whether  I  love  them 
as  well  as  I  love  myself.  From  these  I  go 
forward  examining  all  my  views  and  the  pur- 
poses which  move  me  to  put  them  into  prac- 
tice; and  I  constrain  myself  not  to  allow 
myself  to  be  deceived  in  any  of  them. 

If  then  I  perceive  that  I  am  going  forward, 
purely  directed  to  the  glory  of  God  and  of 


CHRISTIANO.  203 

Christ,  and  to  the  spiritual  and  eternal  good 
of  my  neighbours,  I  know  that  I  go  forward 
in  charity.  But  if  I  see  that  I  proceed  in 
attachment  to  my  own  honour  and  my  self- 
interest,  I  know  that  I  am  living  without 
Christian  love,  and  I  at  once  fly  for  succour 
to  Christ,  bringing  to  my  thoughts  that  God 
will  require  in  me  what  [I  see]  in  Christ. 
At  other  times,  taking  a  general  review  of 
my  religious  concerns,  I  estimate  the  measure 
of  my  humility  and  presumption ;  my  meek- 
ness and  impatience;  my  humility  and  my 
arrogance  and  pride;  my  simple-mindedness 
and  my  vain  curiosity ;  my  disregard  of  the 
world  and  my  respect  to  it ;  my  firmness  with 
myself  and  my  self-love  and  sensuality.  If, 
when  making  this  review,  I  discover  nothing 
wanting  to  be  carried  out  in  my  conduct  and 
intercourse  among  men,  I  go  on  thinking 
how  I  should  behave  myself  under  such  or 
such  a  circumstance  which  occurred  to  such 
and  such  an  individual.  Should  I  then  con- 
tinue unwavering  in  confidence,  firm  in  faith, 
earnest  in  hope,  fervent  in  charity?  How 
then  should  I  be  humble,  tender-minded,  de- 


204  ALFABETO 

/.  73.  cided-^with  regard  to  the  world,  not  valuing 
its  honours  or  its  dishonours,  resolved  with 
regard  to  myself,  not  esteeming  my  interests 
nor  my  inconveniences,  my  outward  enjoy- 
ments, nor  my  adversities? 

This  is  the  way  I  study  in  my  own  book. 
The  fruit  I  gain  from  such  perusal  is,  that  I 
arrive  at  a  much  better  knowledge  of  what 
I  am  and  of  what  I  am  worth  in  myself,  and 
what  through  God  and  through  Christ;  and 
so  I  arrive  at  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of 
the  benefit  to  be  received  from  Christ.  Thus 
I  learn  entirely  to  mistrust  myself,  entertain- 
ing a  much  lower  estimate  of  myself,  and 
learn  to  rely  unreservedly  on  God  and  upon 
Christ,  having  the  highest  conception  of  both ; 
and  I  come  to  accept  afresh  the  justification 
by  Christ,  in  whom  I  know  myself  justified, 
whilst  I  always  know  myself,  in  virtue  of 
myself,  unjustified.  And  this  is  the  conse- 
quence, that  the  more  continually  I  read  in 
this  my  book,  so  much  the  more  the  life  I 
have  by  the  grace  of  God  and  of  Christ  grows 
within  me,  and  that  which  I  have  as  a  son  of 
Adam  becomes  less.     Whence  it  comes,  that 


CHPJSTIANO.  205 

finding  always  fresh  things  to  read  in  this 
my  book,  and  seeing  how  much  I  advance  by 
studying  it,  I  so  much  enjoy  the  perusal  of 
it,  that  I  find  no  time  to  read  in  the  books 
of  others.  Indeed,  I  have  closed  them  all; 
leaving  open  only  the  holy  Scriptures,  which 
I  use  as  an  interj)reter  or  commentary,  the 
better  to  comprehend  my  own  book,  passing 
lightly  by  all  parts  that  do  not  serve  me  to 
this  purpose. 

When  I  wish  to  examine  whether  my  opi- 
nions in  the  Christian  faith  are  false  or  true, 
I  go  forward  comparing  them  with  those 
which  I  read  those  holy  men  held  who  wrote 
the  sacred  Scriptures.  Considering  the  con- 
fidence David  entertained  in  God,  and  how 
he  referred  all  things  to  him,  I  know  my  own 
confidence  and  mistrust,  and  begin  to  renew 
my  confidence.  Reading  the  holy  faith  of 
those  Christians  of  the  primitive  Church  who 
were  acknowledged  to  be  justified  and  sancti- 
fied in  Christ  and  by  Christ,  I  know  my  own 
faith  and  my  unbelief,  and  ask  of  God  that  he 
will  increase  my  faith.  Reading  the  parables 
delivered  by  Christ,   exhorting  us  to  stand 


206  ALFABETO 

continually  upon  the  watch,  expecting  his 
coming  to  judgment,  as  in  the  time  of  the 
Apostles  that  day  was  looked  for  with  longing 
desire,  I  know  my  own  hope  and  my  negli- 
<rence,  and  hereafter  I  learn  to  live  more  above 
myself.  Reading  the  effects  of  that  charity 
St.  Paul  describes,  writing  to  the  Corinthians, 
and  of  that  charity  which  prevailed  amongst 
the  first  Christians,  I  know  my  own  charity 
and  my  enmity;  and,  ashamed  of  myself,  I 
entreat  God  to  separate  me  from  myself  and 
unite  me  to  himself.  Reflecting  on  the  hu- 
mility and  meekness  that  Christ  effectually 
demonstrated  during  the  whole  course  of  his 
life,  and  especially  in  his  passion,  I  know  my 
own  humility  and  meekness,  my  ]3resumption 
and  impatience,  and  strongly  set  my  affection 
/.  74.  upon  meekness  and  -^humility.  Considering 
also  the  modest  and  simple  manner  in  which 
the  Christian  people  lived  at  the  first  pub- 
lication of  the  Gospel,  having  all  things  in 
common,  and  having  no  other  thought  than  to 
know  Christ  crucified,  I  know  my  own  mo- 
desty and  simplicity,  my  arrogance  and  vain 
curiosity;  and  come  to  abhor  all  vanity,  em- 


CHRISTIANO.  207 

bracing  simplicity  of  life,  Reading  how  re- 
solutely the  Apostles  stood  against  the  world, 
when,  being  seized  and  beaten  for  preaching 
Christ,  tliey  went  forward  contented  and 
cheerful,  seeing  that  they  had  suffered  for 
Christ ;  reflecting  how  I  should  submit  if  ever 
I  should  find  myself  in  like  circumstances,  I 
know  my  own  firmness  against  the  world  and 
my  regard  for  it,  I  come  to  desire  henceforth 
to  be  more  decided  asjainst  it.  Readino^  how 
superior  Paul  was  to  himself  when  he  said 
that  he  had  learned  in  all  states  therewith  to 
be  satisfied,  good  or  ill,  little  or  much;  and 
reflecting  whether  I  can  say  the  same  of 
myself,  I  know  my  denial  of  self  and  my  self- 
love,  and  begin  to  be  willing  to  suffer,  not  to 
deprive  myself  of  this  satisfaction  and  mark 
of  perfection.  Finally,  comparing  my  affec- 
tions and  appetites  with  those  I  read  of  in  the 
holy  Scriptures,  I  know  well  how  lively  or 
how  dead  they  are,  and  I  desire  to  give  them 
not  a  single  day  to  live. 

In  this  manner  holy  Scripture  serves  me  as 
an  interpreter  or  commentary,  the  better  to 
study  my  own  book  and  the  better  to  under- 


208  ALFABETO 

stand  it.  Jn  this  manner  I  comprehend 
whether  my  Christian  life  and  my  Christian 
self-denial  correspond  well  or  ill,  little  or 
much  with  my  Christian  faith  and  profession. 
Thus  I  become  gainer  of  two  things :  one  is, 
that  I  do  not  estimate  myself  by  the  opinion 
men  have  of  me,  whether  good  or  ill,  but 
by  that  which  I  entertain  of  myself,  always 
referring  myself  to  the  opinion  which  God 
has  of  me,  knomng  me  a  member  of  Christ. 
The  other  is :  that  little  by  little,  I  go  on  form- 
ing my  mind,  reducing  it  by  the  imitation  of 
Christ  and  his  saints  to  what  I  know  to  have 
been  in  him  and  in  them,  anxiously  desirous 
to  comprehend  and  follow  out  that  perfec- 
tion, in  which,  incorporated  and  made  a  mem- 
ber of  Christ,  I  am  comprehended,  aspiring, 
not  for  my  own  honour  nor  my  self-interest, 
but  for  the  glory  of  God  and  of  Christ,  and 
of  the  grace  of  his  Gospel,  that  God  may  re- 
gard me  as  just,  pious,  and  holy  in  myself,  as 
he  regards  me  just,  pious,  and  holy  in  Christ. 

You  have  asked  me  to  tell  you  what  is  my 
BOOK,  and  how  it  should  be  studied,  and  what 


CHRISTIANO.  209 

advantage  is  to  be  drawn  from  it.  I  have 
replied  that  my  book  is  my  mind,  and  in  the 
study  of  it  when  I  examine  what  I  have  in  it, 
the  benefit  I  draw  from  it  is,  to  know  myself, 
to  know  God  and  Christ,  and  hence  to  mistrust 
myself  and  to  confide  -^in  God  and  in  Christ.  /•  '^^• 
I  have  told  you  how  the  sacred  Scriptures  ^ 
serve  me  as  a  kind  of  commentary  the  better 
to  understand  my  own  book.  It  remains  now 
for  you,  taking  the  course  I  have  described, 
to  apply  your  mind  immediately  to  this  most 
useful  study,  setting  aside  all  others.  If  at 
the  beginning  it  appear  difficult  and  insipid, 
do  not  for  this  reason  give  it  up,  because  I 
assure  you  that  the  same  belongs  to  this  study 
which  belongs  to  all  others  you  can  pursue ; 
what  at  the  first  was  dry  and  forbidding, 
when  advanced  to  the  middle,  becomes  easy 
and  has  some  pleasantness  in  it,  and  in  the  end 
is  most  sweet  and  delicious.  I  assure  you  be- 
sides, that  so  much  greater  will  be  the  enjoy- 
ment in  this  than  in  any  other  study,  as  the 
benefit  resulting  from  it  is  greater,  which  you 
-svill  find  if  you  will  make  the  trial.  It  is 
much  greater,  beyond  any  comparison,  tlian 

0 


210  ALFABETO 

all  that  is  drawn  from  all  other  studies.  They, 
without  this,  are  occasions  of  death  to  the 
religious  life,  for  by  them  human  wisdom 
makes  itself  strong  and  valiant  against  the 
Spirit.  Thus  other  studies  tend  to  make  man 
proud,  this  alone  overturns  and  casts  down 
human  wisdom  to  the  ground.  It  humbles 
man,  giving  him  the  knowledge  of  himself 
and  what  he  is  of  himself,  and  the  knowledge 
of  God  and  of  Christ  and  what  he  is  by  the 
favour  of  God  when  incorporated  in  Christ; 
thus  it  leads  him  to  the  recovery  of  that 
dignity  which  the  first  man  lost,  making  him 
like  to  Christ  and  consequently  like  God. 

To  him  I  ever  commend  you,  supplicating 
the  Divine  Being  to  send  you  his  Holy  Spirit 
for  Master  of  this  study;  and  do  you  ask  the 
same  for  myself,  and  for  all  them  who  wait 
for  glory,  honour,  immortality,  and  life  eternal 
with  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

I  wish  to  give  you  this  advice,  that  if,  when 
reading  your  own  book,  you  pause  for  the 
space  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  consideration 
of  the  being  that  you  have  as  a  son  of  Adam, 
reflecting  on  your  mistrust,   unbelief,  negli- 


CHRISTIANO.  211 

gence  in  waiting  for  Christ,  enmity  towards 
God,  your  ambition,  anger,  arrogance,  vain 
curiosity,  regard  for  tlie  world  and  your  self- 
love,  that  you  withdraw  for  three  hours  in  the 
consideration  of  the  being  you  have  through 
Christ  as  a  child  of  God,  reflecting  upon  that 
in  yourself  which  you  consider  to  be  in  him. 
Thus  mil  you  consider  your  confidence,  faith, 
hope,  charity;  your  humility,  tender-hearted- 
ness, modesty,  singleness  of  mind;  your  courage 
towards  the  world  and  towards  yourself;  at- 
tributing all  that  you  find  of  God's  gifts  in 
these  Christian  virtues  in  yourself,  to  your 
incorporation  mth  Christ.  It  is  proper  that 
you  should  do  this,  because  you  should  know 
that  although  it  appears  to  you  that  the  con- 
sideration of  the  being  you  have  as  a  son  of 
Adam  humiliates  you,  it  will  be  more  use- 
ful to  you  to  consider  the  being  you  have 
as  a  son  of  Gt)d  incorporated  in  Christ;  it  is 
indeed  the  reverse.  Because  it  is  thus  that  the 
consideration  A)f  your  own  proper  nature,  by  /  76. 
humiliating,  makes  you  mistrustful  and  weak, 
consequently  without  resolution ;  but  the  con- 
sideration of  the  life  you  have  by  incorpora- 

0-2 


212      ALFABETO  CHRISTIANO. 

tion  with  Christ,  by  humbling  you  much  more 
deeply,  increases  your  confidence  and  raises 
you  much  above  yourself,  and  thus  makes  you 
careful  and  thoughtful.  For  this  reason  I 
recommend  you,  that  passing  easily  from  the 
consideration  of  your  own  human  nature,  you 
pause  a  long  time  in  the  consideration  of  the 
being  that  you  have  through  Christ;  using 
the  consideration  of  your  own  nature  to 
estimate  better  the  being  you  have  in  Christ, 
and  to  know  that  as  much  as  you  have  resigned 
of  your  own  nature,  so  much  have  you  re- 
covered of  the  life  you  have  through  Christ. 
For  your  purpose  is  to  change  by  such  manner 
your  conduct,  in  order  that  you  may  appear 
before  the  judgment-seat  of  God  with  great 
firmness  and  assurance,  in  virtue  of  the  being 
you  have  attained  unto  in  Christ.  And  thus 
the  life  that  you  have  of  yourself  is  no  cause 
of  shame  or  confusion  to  you,  because  for 
this  is  granted  and  bestowed  upon  you  the 
Holy  Spirit,  sent  by  himself,  even  by  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord. 


APPENDIX 


215 

APPENDIX 
I. 

FoLLO^YiNG  up  the  Alfabeto  Christiano  by  other  writ- 
ings for  the  religious  instruction  of  Giulia  Gronzaga, 
—  the  Psalms  translated  from  Hebrew  into  Spanish, 
which  have  not  come  do^vn  to  us, — Valdes  presented 
to  her  his  translations  and  familiar  commentaries  on 
Romans  and  the  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  He 
prefixed  an  instructive  dedicatory  epistle  to  his 
manuscript  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Eomans  addressed 
to  her.  After  a  lapse  of  some  fourteen  or  fifteen 
years,  the  MSS.  of  these  commentaries,  much  worn 
by  use,  came  into  the  hands  of  his  countryman, 
Dr.  Juan  Perez  at  Geneva,  who  edited  and  cer- 
tainly printed  them  there,  although  they  bear  the 
imprint  of  Venice.  He  issued  them  in  two  small 
octavo  volumes,  in  1556  and  1557,  placing  the  dedi- 
catory epistle  of  Valdes,  whilst  Giulia  Gonzaga  was 
yet  living,  before  his  own  preface  to  the  Epistle  to 
the  Romans.  It  is  also  prefixed  to  a  handsome 
edition  of  the  Commentaries  reprinted  in  1856,  just 
three  hundred  years  later.  Nicholas  Ferrar  placed 
a  translation  of  it  at  the  end  of  the  "  Hundred  and 
Ten  Considerations  of  John  Valdesso  :  Oxford,  1638,'' 
4to.,  which  is,  however,  omitted  in  the  12mo.  edition 
of  Cambridge,  1646. 

O  4 


216  APPENDIX. 

I  revise  it  by  the  Spanish,  and  insert  it  here  as  re- 
lating appropriately  to  the  purpose  of  the  Alfabeto 
Christiano,  yet  it  must  be  understood  that  it  formed 
no  portion  of  that  volume  when  printed  in  1546. 


JUAN  DE   YALDES 

TO   THE   MOST   ILLUSTRIOUS   LaDY, 
SiGNOEA      DONNA      GlULIA      GONZAGA. 

I  AM  persuaded,  most  illustrious  Signora,  that,  by 
the  constant  perusal  of  the  Psalms  of  David,  which 
I  sent  to  you  last  year,  translated  from  Hebrew  into 
Spanish,  you  will  have  formed  in  yourself  a  mind 
pious,  confiding  in  God,  and  referring  all  things  to 
God,  as  David's  was.  Desirous  now,  that  proceeding 
onward,  you  may  form  in  yourself  a  mind  perfect, 
firm,  and  constant  in  things  belonging  to  the  Gospel 
of  Christ  as  St.  Paul  had,  I  send  you  these  epistles 
of  St.  Paul  translated  from  the  Greek  into  Spanish. 
By  the  continual  reading  of  them,  I  am  certain  that 
3^ou  will  make  great  progress  in  spiritual  edification. 
But  this  will  only  be,  provided  you  read  them  in 
order  to  form  and  establish  your  mind  according  as 
St.  Paul's  was  formed  and  established,  and  not  for 
the  purpose  of  vain  knowledge  or  curiosity,  as  some 


APPENDIX.  217 

i67ireligious  persons  do,  who  think  to  put  an  obligation 
upon  Grod  by  setting  themselves  to  read  St.  Paul,  like 
those  who,  being  Spaniards,  would  think  to  compli- 
ment a  Grreek  emperor  by  speaking  to  him  in  G-reek. 
I  wish  to  inform  you  of  this,  that  you  must  so  far 
imitate  David,  as  you  know  that  he  imitated  God, 
and  that  you  should  copy  St.  Paul  so  far  as  you  know 
that  he  imitated  Christ.  This  I  mention  because  it 
concerns  you  to  become  very  much  like  Christ  and 
very  much  like  Grod,  striving  to  recover  that  image 
and  likeness  of  G-od  in  conformity  to  which  the  first 
man  was  created.  And  I  am  not  satisfied  that  you 
should  think  to  regain  this,  having  only  David  and 
St.  Paul  before  you  as  patterns ;  because  at  best  that 
would  happen  to  you  which  occurs  to  the  painter 
who,  copying  a  portrait  drawn  by  another  painter,  not 
only  fails  to  attain  to  the  truthfulness  of  nature,  but 
does  not  even  reach  to  the  perfection  of  the  picture 
from  which  he  drew  it,  or  if  he  does  so,  it  is  as  by  a 
miracle.  I  say,  then,  that  this  does  not  satisfy  me. 
Because  I  wish  you  to  keep  David  and  St.  Paul  in 
view  as  patterns  only  so  long  as  your  mind  is  not 
capable  of  taking  Christ  and  God  for  your  patterns. 
Endeavouring  always  to  perfect  yourself  in  what  con- 
cerns piety,  and  in  all  that  belongs  to  the  Gospel, 
in  such  a  manner  that  as  your  mind  may  become 
able  to  take  Christ  and  G-od  for  patterns,  you  ^vill 
come  to  draw  your  portrait  to  the  nature  of  the  real 


218  APPENDIX. 

image  of  Christ  and  to  the  very  image  of  God,  so  that 
youT  picture  may  serve  for  a  pattern  to  others  in  a 
similar  manner  that  the  pictures  of  David  and  St. 
Paul  now  serve  for  patterns  to  you. 

And  if  what  I  say  appear  to  you  to  be  something 
new  and  not  used  in  practice,  know  that  it  is  not 
new,  but  that  it  is  ancient,  and  was  much  practised, 
although  not  being  understood  it  now  appears  to  be 
new  and  not  practised.  That  it  was  so,  appears  from 
what  St.  Paul,  writing  to  the  Corinthians,  tells  them, 
that  they  are  carnal  and  not  spiritual.  He  says  to 
them :  "  Be  ye  imitators  of  me,  as  I  also  am  an  imita- 
tor of  Christ ;  "  meaning,  imitate  me  according  as  I 
imitate  Christ.  Here  it  must  be  understood  that, 
had  the  Corinthians  been  spiritual,  he  would  not  have 
said  to  them  :  "  Imitate  me,  draw  your  picture  from 
that  which  I  have  drawn  of  Christ,"  but  he  would 
have  said  to  them,  as  he  said  to  the  Ephesians  who 
were  spiritual :  "  Be  ye  imitators  of  Grod,  as  dear  chil- 
dren; endeavour  to  recover  the  image  and  likeness 
of  God,  drawing  it  not  from  any  man,  but  from  God 
himself."  It  appears  before,  that  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord  himself  had  the  same  object,  as  in  one  part  he 
says :  "  Learn  of  me,  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  of  heart," 
and  in  another  :  "  Be  ye  perfect,  even  as  your  Father 
in  heaven  is  perfect."  You  see  here  that  in  coun- 
selling you  to  draw  the  picture  of  the  very  image  of 
Christ  and  of  the  very  image  of  God,  I  tell  you  no 


APPENDIX.  219 

new  or  unpractised  thing,  but  a  thing  ancient  and 
practised  by  Christ  himself  and  by  his  apostle,  St. 
Paul.     It  remains  that  commending  yourself  to  God 
you  apply  your  mind  to  it.     This  you  mil  do  by 
imitating  David  so  far  as  he  imitated  God,  and  is 
conformed  to  the  image  and  likeness  of  God,  having 
drawn  his  picture  from  God  himself;  and  imitating 
St.  Paul  so  far  as  he  imitates  Christ  and  is  conformed 
to  the  image  and  likeness  of  Christ,  having  drawn  his 
picture  from  Christ  himself.  And  do  not  rest  here,  but, 
passing  onwards,  consider  that  you  have  to  imitate 
God,  drawing  your  picture  to  the  life  from  the  very 
image  of  Christ,  and  the  very  image  of  God.     And 
therefore,  in  order  to  imitate  Christ,  and  to  draw  your 
picture  of  Christ,  the  continual  reading  of  the  his- 
tories of  Christ  will  be  of  much  service  to  you,  for 
they  have  much  efficacy,  containing  many  of  the  deeds 
of  Christ  and  many  of  the  words  he  spoke.     In  these 
I  understand  God  shows  much  greater  power,  moving 
persons'  hearts  by  them,  mortifying  them  and  renew- 
ing them,  than  in  any  other  that  are  found  written. 
I  think  by  the  favour  of  God  to  serve  you  with  these 
as  I  have  already  served  you  with  those  of  David  and 
St.  Paul. 

And  know  most  surely  that  as  by  reading  of  St. 
Paul  the  wonderful  effects  of  the  Cross  of  Christ  are 
known,  seen,  and  felt,  so  in  the  reading  of  the  histories 
of  Christ,  is  wonderfully  known,  seen,  and  felt,  the 


220  APPENDIX. 

very  Cross  of  Christ.     And  under  this  word  Cross  I 
understand  all  that  which  was  weakness  and  infirmity 
in  Christ,  as  much  in  what  he  himself  felt,  enduring 
hunger  and  thirst,  cold  and  heat,  with  all  the  other 
inconveniences  to  which  our  bodies  are  subject,  and 
in  suffering  affliction   and  anguish  for  some  things 
that  he  saw  amongst  men  and  in  men,  and  fearfully 
feeling    death,    as   well    as   in   what   he  outwardly 
showed  in  that  he  was  considered  to  be  a  man  low, 
base,  and  common,  and  was  treated  as  such,  and  as  a 
man  scandalous  and  dangerous,  and  as  such  was  cru- 
cified.    I  will  accomplish  this  that  I  say  of  the  his- 
tories of   Christ  when   and   how  it  may  please  the 
Divine  Majesty.     Meanwhile  lose  no  time,  endeavour 
every  day  to  make  yourself  more  like  God,  making  use 
of  reading  the  Psalms  of  David,  and  more  like  Christ, 
making  use  of  the  reading  of  St.  Paul,  in  which  you 
will  also   see  the   Cross   of  Christ,   although  not  so 
clearly  as  in  the  Grospels.     And  because  the  reading 
of  St.  Paul  being  commonly  held  to  be  more  difficult 
than  that  of  the  Gospels,  it  may  appear  strange  to 
you  that  I  have  given  you  St.  Paul  before  the  Gos- 
pels, I  wish  you  to  know,  that  according  to  my  compre- 
hension, there  is  without  any  doubt  greater  difficulty 
in  the  perfect  understanding  of  the  Gospels  than  the 
Epistles  of  Paul.     This  I  conceive  proceeds  from  va- 
rious causes  which  would  be  long  to  relate  here.     I 
will  only  say  this :  that  because  I  read  in  St.  Paul 


APPENDIX.  221 

the  ideas  and  experiences  of  St.  Paul,  and  in  the 
Gospels  the  many  thoughts  and  experiences  of  Christ, 
I  find  so  much  greater  difficulty  in  the  perfect  un- 
derstanding of  the  Grospels  than  in  the  perfect  un- 
derstanding of  St.  Paul,  as  I  conceive  that  the 
thoughts  and  experiences  of  Christ  were  more  exalted 
and  more  divine  than  the  ideas  and  experiences  of 
St.  Paul,  not  denying  that  as  to  the  general  sense, 
and  as  to  the  style,  the  Grospels  may  be  much  more 
intelligible  than  St.  Paul.  But  respecting  this  I  re- 
serve to  speak  more  at  large  when  it  may  please  Grod 
that  I  come  to  translate  the  Grospels. 

In  the  translation  I  have  wished  to  go  very  close 
to  the  letter,  rendering  it  word  for  word  as  much  as 
was  possible  for  me  to  do  so ;  and  even  leaving  the 
ambiguities  found  in  the  Grreek,  when  the  text  might 
apply  in  one  sense  or  another,  where  I  have  been 
able  to  leave  it  so  in  the  Spanish.  I  have  done  this, 
because  in  translating  St.  Paul  I  have  not  pretended 
to  write  my  own  conceptions  but  those  of  St.  Paul. 
It  is  very  true  I  have  added  some  Uttle  words  to  the 
text  where  they  appeared  to  me  needful,  but  some  of 
them  are  understood  in  the  Greek  text  although  they 
are  not  written,  and  others  seem  to  be  necessarily 
understood.  All  of  these,  as  you  will  see,  are  marked, 
in  order  that  you  may  know  them  for  mine  and 
use  them  as  you  please,  as  to  whether  you  read  them 


222  APrzypix. 

or  iK>i.     Tei  r»e  adTised.  thsu  as  ii  is  not  "irell  to  nmke 
c»f  little  aoeoicii  vhat  G-od  by  himself  maT  give  jon 
to  imdesstand  in  thi>  reauiing,  s.?  neither  is  it  veil 
for  yosa  to  trust  mnch  in  your  ovn  jndgmenl.  de- 
predating the  jtidgment  of  others.     It  is  not  veil 
for  yon  to  undeiTalne  yonr  ovn.  and  it  is  voise  for 
yon  to  miderrahie  tiiaa:  of  others. 

In  the  expbjmrions  that  I  hare  wriuen  upon  vhat 
I  have  transbted- 1  hsv-^  ------.:.  ": ■^-"'  -'re  mind  of  St- 

]^b1  as  mncJi  as  vas  — ^'—"^  ^   i:"vr:i 

Ms  ideas  and  not  my  c^?^^  :  2^1  if  I  have  aepajted 
trom  tl>f!m  in  anxthiiu^  it  -  -  rzi  turr'ii^ii  i^mc— 
ranee,  and  not  vOfoIly.     T  ^  -^  — lllinr-j  there- 

f ca>e  l:»e  glad  to  be  eor:  ; :   rei.  in  vhii 

max  not  haxe  been  ectrrecT  rf"  i^  -liia:  "sriddi 

might  gi~7  '   ■"'    '      \      -  -  ""-'.: 

maT  azisr  ._ ^       - 

tiiOTigh.  as  T-on  arf  -r 

vrirrnj^  has  been  to  sansrr  t  ,  .:      :  >  rr,  ~et  xr ^ '  ^ 


Tms  IS  my  p: 

the  S 

1^ ".   _ 


r^o  not  thint  thsT  t}i»e 


CO 


APPENDIX.  223 

not  agree  one  to  the  other ;  but  consider  that  they 
only  serve  you  more  readily  to  understand  what  is 
the  Latin  to  Avhich  the  Spanish  answers,  and  which, 
as  I  have  said,  is  conformable  to  the  Greek  text  and 
not  to  the  Latin,  because  St.  Paul  wrote  in  Greek, 
not  in  Latin. 

And  because  in  certain  cases  you  may  wish  to  read 
the  text  of  St.  Paul  ^\ithout  occupying  yourself  with 
my  explanations,  in  order  that  you  may  do  so  with 
greater  facility,  I  wish  to  inform  you  of  some 
particulars  which  will  open  the  way  and  render  the 
knowledge  of  the  mind  of  St.  Paul  more  easy.  I 
therefore  tell  you  that  by  the  word  Gospel,  St.  Paul 
means  the  proclamation  of  the  good  news  of  the 
general  Pardon  which  is  published  throughout  the 
world,  affirming  that  God  has  pardoned  all  the  sins 
of  all  men  in  the  world,  executing  the  severity  of  his 
justice  for  them  all  upon  Christ,  who  made  known 
this  general  Pardon  in  the  world,  and  in  whose  name 
all  those  who  make  it  known  proclaim  it,  in  order 
that  men,  moved  by  the  authority  of  Christ,  who  is 
the  Son  of  God,  may  believe  in  the  general  Pardon, 
and  confidins:  in  the  word  of  God  mav  hold  them- 
selves  as  reconciled  with  God  and  cease  to  seek  after 
other  means  of  reconciliation.  Whence  you  should 
understand  that  God  in  this  case  has  acted  and  con- 
tinues to  act  towards  mankind  like  a  prince,  his 
subjects  having  rebelled  and  through  their  rebellion 


224  APPENDIX. 

fled  the  kingdom,  who  gives  forth  a  general  Pardon, 
and  sends  it  to  be  proclaimed  by  his  Son,  in  order 
that  they  may  give  credit  to  the  Pardon  through  the 
authority  of  the  Son,  and  thus  confiding  in  the  prince's 
word,  they  may  return  to  the  kingdom,  desisting  from 
endeavours  to  procure  pardon  of  the  prince  in  any 
other  way  or  by  any  other  means  whatever.  It  is 
thus  to  be  understood  that  they  who  believe  Christ  is 
the  Son  of  God,  and  yet  give  no  credit  to  the  general 
Pardon  which  he  published  and  is  still  publishing,  not 
holding  themselves  reconciled  with  Grod,  and  going 
about  seeking  some  other  way  of  reconciliation,  not 
trusting  in  that  which  Christ  published  and  in  whose 
name  it  is  still  proclaimed,  do  the  same  thing  that 
the  subjects  of  that  prince  do,  who  believing  that  he 
who  publishes  the  general  Pardon  is  the  prince's  Son, 
yet  do  not  hold  themselves  forgiven,  and  therefore  do 
not  return  to  his  kingdom.*  And  I  understand  that 
neither  will  the  prince  to  whom  this  occurs  be  satisfied 
as  regards  his  intention  in  this,  that  he  did  not  seiid 
his  Son  except  with  the  purpose  that  being  known  as 
his  Son,  he  might  be  believed  in  what  he  declared ; 
nor  does  it  appear  that  Grod  is  satisfied  in  his  inten- 
tion in  them  who,  knowing  Christ  to  be  the  Son  of 
God,  yet  not  relying  upon  what  he  proclaims  on  his 
part,  do  not  hold  themselves  reconciled  with  God; 
his  intent  being  only  satisfied  in  them  who,  knowing 

*  See  the  "  One  Hundred  and  Ten  Considerations,"  Consid.  xiii. 


APPENDIX.  225 

Christ  as  the  Son  of  God,  and  confiding  in  what  he 
proclaims  on  the  part  of  Grod,  consider  themselves 
reconciled  with  Grod,  and  therefore  as  pious,  just,  and 
holy.  It  is  very  true  that  the  knowledge  they  have 
that  Christ  is  the  Son  of  Grod  who  yet  do  not  feel 
reconciled  with  Grod,  cannot  properly  be  called  knoiv- 
ledge,  being  more  properly  opinion  than  knowledge. 
Because  if  it  were  knowledge  it  would  produce  in 
them  the  effect  it  produces  in  others,  assuring  them 
of  their  reconciliation  with  Grod,  and  giving  peace  to 
their  consciences. 

Besides  this,  you  should  know  that  by  the  Letter 
St.  Paul  comprehends  all  that  a  man  does,  thinks,  and 
speaks  without  being  inspired  by  God  to  it,  although 
they  may  be  things  that  other  men  have  thought, 
said,  and  done,  being  inspired.  And  by  the  Spirit  he 
comprehends  all  that  a  man  does,  thinks,  and  speaks, 
being  moved  and  inspired  by  God  to  it.  It  was  the 
Letter  in  St.  Paul  to  separate  himself  from  the  con- 
versation of  the  Gentiles  in  Antioch,  not  to  scandalise 
the  Jews.  And  it  was  the  Spirit  in  St.  Paul  that 
reproved  him  for  it.  Further,  know  that  by  Faith 
St.  Paul  intends  the  belief  that  a  man  gives  to  tlie 
general  Pardon  which  Christ  published,  and  which  i? 
yet  published  on  the  part  of  Christ  and  in  his  name. 
And  by  Hope  he  means  the  patience  and  endurance 
with  which  the  believer  expects  the  accomplishment 
of  what  he  believes,  without  being  weary  of  waiting, 

P 


226  APPENDIX. 

and   without   ceasing   to    endeavour   after  what   he 
expects.     And  by  Charity  he  signifies  the  most  in- 
timate affection  with  which  the  man  who  believes, 
expects  and   loves  that  which  he  believes  and  waits 
for ;  loving  Grod  and  Christ,  of  whom  and  through 
whom  he  must  gain  what  he  believes,  expects,  and 
loves,  loving  also  all  things  that  are  of  God  and  of 
Christ.  You  should  know  besides,  that  b}^  the  Righte- 
ousness OF  God  St.  Paul  means  the  perfection  of  God. 
Thus  when  we  msh  to  say  of  a  man  that  he  is  perfect, 
we  say  that  he  is  righteous,  meaning  that  there  is  no- 
thing in  him  that  is  not  very  good,  and  in  effect  want- 
ing nothing.     By  the  Giiace  of  God,  he  signifies  the 
favour  God  does  to  man,  drawing  him  to  accept  the 
general  Pardon,  supporting  him,  and  enriching  him 
Avith  other  inward  favours  which  are  called  graces,  be- 
cause God  gives  them  gratuitously,  without  any  regard 
to  merits,  and  solely  because  it  is  his  will  to  bestoAv 
tliem.     By  the  Gift  of  God,  he  chiefly  means,  having 
given  us  Christ,  that  the  severity  of  his  justice  being 
executed  upon  him,  we  might  hold  the  general  Pardon 
as  certain ;  and  he  means  in  particular,  the  exterior 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  in  St.  Paul's  time  were 
abundantly  communicated   to   them  who   believed. 
By  Sin  he  almost  always  means  the  inclination  and 
appetite  to  sin  which  live  in  man  through  natural 
and  acquired   depravity;  and  I   say  almost  always, 
because  by  sin  he  sometimes  means  the  sacrifice  for 


APPENDIX.  227 

sin.  By  the  Old  Man  he  signifies  man  unregene- 
rated  and  unrenewed  by  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  by  the 
New  Man  the  man  regenerated  and  renewed  by  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

You  should  also  know  that  by  the  Flesh,  by  the 
Caknal  Man,  by  the  Body  of  Sin,  and  by  the  Law 
IN  THE  Members  he  means  the  same  as  by  the  Old 
man  ;  which  is  nature  without  the  Holy  Spirit.  By 
the  Law  of  God,  he  intends  that  which  God  gave  to 
the  Hebrew  people  by  Moses,  which  he  sometimes 
calls  the  Law  of  Death,  because  its  office  is  to  con- 
demn. At  other  times  he  calls  it  the  Law  of  Sin, 
because  it  stirred  up  in  man  the  inclination  and  ap- 
petite for  sin.  By  the  Law  of  the  Spirit  he  means 
Faith.  By  Circumcision  he  means  that  of  Judaism, 
and  by  the  Foreskin  he  means  that  of  the  Gentiles. 
And  lastly,  understand  by  Christian  Liberty  he 
comprehends  the  degree,  the  being,  and  the  dignity 
to  which  God  brings  the  man  who  accepts  the  grace 
of  the  Gospel,  and  who,  being  regenerated,  renewed 
and  made  a  child  of  God,  is  free  and  exempt  from 
those  things  to  which  other  men  are  subject,  in  so  far 
as  he  maintains  himself  in  th«  state  of  regeneration 
and  newness  of  life,  and  does  not  deprive  himself  of  the 
filial  relationship  in  which  he  is  guided  and  governed 
by  the  Spirit  of  God.  All  this  may  serve  you  as  a 
guide  by  which  you  may  attain  to  many  of  the  things 

you  will  read  in  St.  Paul. 

p2 


228  APPENDIX. 

And  because  you  may  be  surprised  to  see  that 
St.  Paul  setting  himself  to  reprehend  certain  vices 
in  some  of  those  persons  to  whom  he  writes,  and 
warning  them  of  those  vices  they  ought  to  be  upon 
their  guard  against,  mentions  some  that  are  shameful 
even  in  men  of  the  world,  and  this  appearing  to  you 
a  strange  thing  for  it  to  be  necessary  to  warn 
Christians  of  such  vices,  while  he  does  not  touch 
upon  the  more  inward  vices,  know  then,  that  in 
St.  Paul's  time,  because  there  were  some  who,  under 
a  plea  of  Christian  liberty,  made  licence  for  the  flesh, 
and  gave  themselves  up  to  sin  and  deceitfulness,  it 
was  necessary  that  St.  Paul  should  expressly  treat 
upon  that  in  w^hich  they  most  sinned.  It  was  also 
necessary,  at  that  period,  to  remedy  in  this  manner 
those  outward  vices  in  Christian  professors,  because 
they  did  not  look  upon  them  as  sinful,  nor  were  they 
ashamed  of  them,  through  the  false  persuasion  of 
Christian  liberty  into  which  they  fell,  and  through 
having  given  up  the  estimation  of  the  world.  In  the 
same  manner  it  is  now  necessary  to  correct  the 
inward  vices  of  Christian  persons,  who,  abstaining 
paitly  for  sake  of  Grod,  and  partly  for  sake  of  the 
world,  from  outward  vitu.'s,  fail  to  overcome  the 
inward  sins,  in  part  because  they  do  not  know  them 
as  vices,  and  in  part  because  the  world  holds  the 
giving  up  of  those  vices  as  itself  a  vice.  You  will  find 
in  St.  Paul  some  things  which  you  will  not   feel  in 


APPENDIX.  229 

yourself,  and  you  will  find  others  you  do  not  com- 
prehend, and  some  others  that  will  appear  strange  to 
you.  It  appears  to  me,  all  these  you  ought  to  pass 
by,  not  being  careful  to  weary  yourself  much,  in 
order  to  understand  them,  since  the  object  for 
which  you  set  yourself  to  read  St.  Paul  is  not  to 
comprehend  all  St.  Paul  says,  but  to  form  your  mind 
by  that  which  Grod  gives  you  to  understand,  and  feel, 
and  relish  in  St.  Paul.  I  advise  you  also  that  when 
you  begin  to  read  an  Epistle,  you  fail  not  to  read  the 
argument  written  before  it,  because  it  throws  much 
light  on  the  whole  Epistle. 

But  all  these  advices  are  as  nothing,  and  one  is  of 
more  value  than  all  of  them ;  this  is,  that  whenever 
you  take  St.  Paul  in  hand,  you  recommend  yourself 
to  Grod,  prapng  him  to  send  his  Holy  Spirit,  who 
may  guide  you  in  this  reading ;  and  seek  to  receive 
it  by  means  of  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God,  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord,  to  whom  be  glory  for  ever.     Amen. 


r  3 


230  APPENDIX. 


II. 


Jn  the  "  History  of  the  Inquisition  of  Spain,"  by 
Juan  Antonio  Llorente,  it  is  stated  that  a  piece  found 
amongst  the  papers  of  Carranza,  Archbishop  of  Toledo, 
entitled :  "  Aviso  sobre  los  interpretes  de  la  sagrada 
Escritura,"  was  attributed  to  Juan  de  Valdes.  It 
was  said  to  have  been  written  whilst  residing  at 
Naples,  in  the  form  of  a  letter,  and  that  its  argument 
was  contained  in  the  Christian  Institutes  of  Tauler. 
From  the  evidence  of  his  other  writings,  as  well  as 
from  his  own  declaration,  I  have  hitherto  considered 
as  I  have  elsewhere  expressed,  that  he  drew  their 
contents  almost  exclusively  from  his  own  mind  and 
the  diligent  reading  of  the  holy  Scriptures,  making 
constant  use,  as  he  himself  says  at  the  close  of  his 
Commentary  on  Eomans,  of  those  his  two  books. 
Prayer  and  Consideration,  in  a  manner  which  he 
more  fully  describes  in  the  fifty-fourth  of  his  "  Hun- 
dred and  Ten  Considerations."  These,  he  says,  assisted 
him  so  far  as  his  prayers  had  been  aided  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  and  his  considerations  had  been  helped  by  his 
experience  and  the  daily  reading  of  the  Scriptures. 
Yet  in  the  present  work,  besides  the  great  stress  laid 
upon  the  Christian  duty  of  denial  of  Self  and  of  Self- 
love,  there  are  various  passages  similar  to  some  found 


APPENDIX.  231 

in  Tauler's  Sermons  and  in  his  Christian  Institutes. 
The  same  sentiments  might  not  unnaturally  occur  to 
independent  minds  of  a  similar  constitution  when  ex- 
ercised upon  similar  topics,  as  for  instance  in  the 
works  of  Greorge  Fox,  William  Law,  and  other  writers. 
A  remarkable  coincidence,  however,  with  Tauler,  is 
shown  by  the  manner  in  which  the  sentiments  are 
expressed ;  a  mode  by  which  one  thing  is  so  evenly 
balanced  or  measured  with  its  correspondent,  that  it 
may  not  inaptly  be  styled  the  tanto  quant o  man- 
ner. This  may  be  noticed  in  the  "  Hundred  and  Ten 
Considerations,"  and  more  largely  in  the  Alfabeto 
Christiano.  An  instance  of  more  than  usual  length 
occurs  at  pages  135-6.  As  an  illustration  of  this 
style,  I  append  a  translation  of  an  extreme  example 
from  Tauler's  Institutes*,  which  Valdes  might  pos- 
sibly have  had  in  his  mind  whilst  he  was  writing  the 
dialogue. 

THE    ROOT    OR    CHAIN    OF    VIRTUES    AND    VICES. 

CHAPTER   YI. 

Since,  as  we  hold  with  certain  faith,  God  Almighty 
is  within  us,  yea,  even  nearer  to  us  than  we  are  to 
ourselves,  what  is  the  reason  that  we  have  so  little 

*  D.  Joannis  Thauleri,  Opera  Omnia.  Paris,  lG-23;  4lo. 
Institutionem,  pp.  668-9- 

p  4 


232  APPENDIX. 

perception  of  him  ?  Because  indeed  his  grace  does 
not  operate  in  us.  And  why  does  not  his  grace 
operate  in  us  ?  Because  in  truth  we  do  not  humbly, 
devoutly,  and  earnestly  desire  it.  Why  do  we  not 
seek  it  with  humiHty  of  heart  ?  Because  we  do  not 
love  Grod  with  the  whole  heart  and  with  all  the  senses. 
Why  do  we  not  love  God  with  all  the  senses  and  the 
whole  heart  ?  Because  we  do  not  know  him.  ^\Tiy  do 
we  not  know  him  ?  Because  we  are  not  acquainted  even 
with  ourselves.  Why  do  we  not  know  ourselves  ?  Be- 
cause we  do  but  feign  to  attend  to  our  way  of  living 
and  keep  watch  over  it.  Why  do  we  not  attend  to 
the  manner  of  our  lives  and  keep  watch  over  them  ? 
Because  the  eyes  of  our  understanding  are  blinded. 
Why  are  the  eyes  of  our  understanding  blinded? 
Because  their  sight  is  blinded  with  the  mire  and  clay 
of  these  transitory  things.  By  mire  and  clay  I  mean 
the  inordinate  love  and  delight  of  self,  of  the  creatures 
of  the  world,  of  our  own  bodies.  Why  are  the  eyes 
of  the  understanding  dimmed  with  mire  and  clay  ? 
Because  we  are  unwilling  to  die  to  our  passions  and 
become  converted  with  the  whole  heart  to  Grod. 
Hence  the  light  of  divine  grace  does  not  wholly  ope- 
rate within  us. 

Let  us  now  on  the  other  side  consider  the  chain 
of  Virtues.  Whoever  desires  to  become  enlightened 
with  the  inshinings  of  grace  and  true  knowledge 
contemns  the  love  of  the  world  and  turns  away  from 


APPENDIX. 


,06 


human  prudence  and  carnal  delights.  For,  as  much 
as  I  have  gained  of  divine  discretion,  so  much  also, 
denying  myself,  do  I  love  the  unpleasantness  of  the 
world.  As  much  as  I  love  the  unpleasantness  of  the 
world,  so  much  do  I  obey  God.  As  much  as  I  obey 
God,  so  much  do  I  rejoice  in  peace  of  mind  and 
serenity  of  conscience.  As  much  as  I  possess  of  peace 
of  mind  and  of  a  pure  conscience,  so  much  the  senses 
are  wise  and  the  understanding  is  pure.  As  much 
purity  of  understanding  I  have,  so  much  also  I  know 
my  God.  As  much  knowledge  that  I  have  of  my 
God,  so  much  I  walk  in  his  holy  fear.  As  much  as 
I  walk  in  holy  fear  before  God,  so  much  am  I  re- 
plenished with  his  love.  As  much  as  I  love  God,  so 
much  do  I  observe  his  precepts,  laws,  and  doctrines. 
As  much  as  I  keep  his  precepts  and  laws,  so  much 
also  do  I  avoid  sinning.  As  much  as  I  abstain  from 
every  sin,  so  much  do  I  watch  in  myself.  As  much 
as  I  live  \\dthin  myself  and  wait  in  myself,  so  much 
do  I  also  learn  to  know  myself.  As  much  as  I  advance 
in  knowledge  of  myself,  so  much  do  I  despise  myself. 
As  much  as  I  think  humbly  of  myself,  so  far  am  I 
from  any  desire  of  worldly  honour  or  of  any  earthly 
object  whatever.  As  small  as  my  desire  is  for  repu- 
tation or  any  worldly  benefit,  so  much  liave  I 
acquired  of  poverty  of  spirit.  As  much  as  I  am 
willingly  poor  in  spirit,  so  much  do  I  abstain  from 
siofhino'  after   those   thing-s  which  I  have  not     As 


'C5"*      O 


234  APPENDIX. 

much  as  I  restrain  my  wants,  so  much  am  I  patient. 
As  much  as  I  am  patient,  so  much  also  am  I  humble 
As  much  as  I  have  of  humility,  so  much  I  keep 
myself  from  slighting  them  who  slight  me.  As 
much  as  I  forbear  to  slight  them  who  slight  me,  so 
much  am  I  poor  in  spirit.  As  much  as  I  am  poor  in 
spirit,  so  far  am  I  from  following  my  own  will.  As 
much  the  less  I  seek  my  own  will  with  any  one,  so 
much  the  more  do  I  will  only  what  Grod  wills.  As 
much  as  I  desire  only  what  Grod  wills,  so  much  is  he 
willino^  to  what  I  wish.  And  thus  I  am  enlio'htened 
and  inspired,  and  become  one  and  the  same  in  this 
respect  in  spirit  with  him. 

But  to  arrive  at  this,  a  ready  and  unencumbered 
turning  away  from  every  created  object  is  required. 
Man  is  certainly  a  compound  of  time  and  eternity. 
As  much  more,  then,  as  he  rests  and  roots  in  temporal 
things,  so  much  farther  is  he  removed  from  eternal 
things.  These  then  appear  little  to  him,  as  any- 
thing placed  afar  off,  when  seen  from  a  distance,  looks 
smaller  than  it  is ;  nor  can  he  who  does  this  with 
eternity  ever  attain  to  true  peace,  but  soon  becomes 
blinded  and  lukewarm  in  divine  love,  and  at  the 
same  time  unsatisfied  and  unstable,  resting  on  these 
unstable  things  of  the  world  to  which  he  turns 
himself. 

Whoever,  then,  desires  to  stand  loose  and  free  from 
fault  or  imperfection,  in  the  first  place  it  is  needful 


APPENDIX.  235 

for  him  to  unburden  himself  of  his  love  and  affection 
of  created  things,  which  are  fallen  and  transitory. 
Scarcely  can  the  abundance  of  temporal  thinos  and 
the  love  of  Grod  exist  together  in  the  same  individual. 
Because  divine  love  is  a  fire  consuming  all  mere 
temporal  things,  making  a  space  for  celestial  and 
divine.  The  giving  up  of  all  temporal  things,  then, 
opens  an  entrance  for  those  which  are  wholly  divine 
and  eternal. 


III. 

GIULIA    GONZAGA'S   WILt. 

Translated  from  Raccolta  Fer7'arese,  torn,  viii,  ;  Vita  (U  Donna 
Giuiia  Gonzoga,  scritta  dal  P.  Ireneo  AJfo,  pp.  147-188. 

Death  at  length  drawing  near,  and  considering  her 
former  Will  which  had  been  made  seven  years  before, 
she  caused  another  to  be  drawn  up,  which  is  here 
given,  not  only  as  showing  the  last  intentions  of  her 
virtuous  heart,  but  also  because  such  documents  not 
seldom  serve  the  inquiries  of  literary  men  in  other 
respects. 

In  the  name  of  God  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.     Amen. 

I,   Donna   Giuiia   Gonzaga   Colonna,    wishing   to 


236  APPENDIX. 

make  my  Will  and  dispose  of  my  property,  and  to 
arrange  what  I  desire  to  be  executed  after  my 
decease,  —  In  the  first  place  offer  and  commend  my 
soul  to  the  Lord  Grod  Almighty,  my  most  longsuffer- 
ing  Father,  and  to  Jesus  Christ  his  Son,  my  Eedeemer, 
if  it  be  worthy  to  be  received  into  eternal  life.  And 
when  separated  from  the  body,  I  wish  and  direct  that 
this  may  be  interred  in  the  church  of  the  Franciscan 
nunnery  [Santa  Chiara],  where  I  have  lived  many 
years  and  reside  at  present  : 

I  make  and  constitute  the  most  Illustrious 
Vespasiano  [Gronzaga],  my  nephew,  universal  heir  of 
all  my  property,  excepting  only  the  underwritten 
legacies  and  bequests,  annulling  every  other  testa^ 
ment  that  I  have  made  in  time  past : 

I  leave  to  the  venerable  convent  of  San  Francisco, 
where  I  now  reside,  and  to  the  nuns,  a  thousand 
ducats  currency,  and  direct  that  they  be  paid  in  such 
manner  and  in  such  sums  as  they  shall  choose  : 

I  leave  to  the  Kev.  Sister  Oaterina  Strambone, 
Mother  of  the  said  convent  of  San  Francisco,  for  her 
habit,  twenty-five  ducats  currency  ; 

To  the  Sister  Aurelia  Eiccia,  nun  of  the  said  con- 
vent, an  annuity  of  ten  ducats  currency  during  her  life : 

To  Sister  Lucretia  Longa,  nun  in  the  said  convent, 
twenty  ducats,  paid  at  once : 

To  all  the  other  nuns  of  the  said  convent  of  San 
Francisco,  two  ducats  each,  currency,  paid  at  once  : 


APPENDIX.  237 

To  Sister  Sciabecha,  who  remains  in  the  peniten- 
tiary, an  annuity  of  six  ducats  during  her  life : 

To  the  Noble  Gio.  Battista  Peres  of  Naples,  [her 
maggiordomo]  an  annuity  of  a  hundred  ducats  cur- 
rency during  his  life : 

To  M.  Federico  Zannichelli  of  Sabbioneta,  three 
hundred  ducats  currency  : 

To  the  Noble  Sertorio  Pepe,  to  aid  in  placing  out 
his  two  daughters,  six  hundred  ducats  currency,  that 
is,  three  hundred  for  each,  and  they  are  to  be  paid 
immediately : 

I  leave  Cynthia,  my  slave,  to  the  said  Vespasian o, 
my  heir,  whom  I  direct  to  take  her  to  his  state  of  Lom- 
bardy,  and  when  he  has  understood  the  truth  of  what 
I  wished  to  know  from  her,  to  give  her  in  marriage 
in  that  province  with  two  hundred  ducats  currency  as 
dowry,  and  to  make  her  free  and  set  her  at  liberty : 

I  leave  to  Beatrice  Pisana,  daughter  of  the  Noble 
G-io.  Antonio  Pisano,  physician,  three  hundred  ducats 
currency,  which  her  father  is  to  put  out  on  security 
at  interest,  for  the  time  when  she  may  be  settled ; 
and  if  the  said  Beatrice  die  before  she  shall  be  set- 
tled, the  money  shall  serve  for  the  other  daughters  of 
the  said  Gio.  Antonio  : 

To  Cassandra  *  *  *  *  daughter  of  M.  Galieno, 
physician,  although  I  did  not  undertiike  to  settle  her 
in  marriage,  two  hundred  ducats  currency  and  a  com- 
mon bed,  furnished  with  sheet,  coverlet,  and  basin  : 


238  APPENDIX. 

To  Caterina  Schiavona,  my  maid-servant,  two 
hundred  ducats  currency,  and  a  common  bed  fur- 
nished with  sheet,  coverlet,  and  basin  ; 

To  the  two  little  Lombard  girls,  Livia  and 
Margarita,  whom  I  have  already  sent  back  to  Lom- 
bardy,  one  hundred  ducats  currency  to  each,  inclusive 
of  what  they  have  already  had  : 

To  the  little  girls  who  at  present  assist  in  the 
kitchen,  their  pajrment  for  the  time  they  have  served, 
according  to  the  promise  made  to  them,  and  ten 
ducats  currency  over  and  above  to  each  of  them  : 

To  Madame  Griulia  *  *  *  *  lady's-maid,  the 
payment  of  her  salary,  and  fifty  ducats  currency 
over  and  above,  paid  at  once  : 

To  Lucretia  Grnirfo,  the  payment  of  her  salary, 
and  twenty  ducats  currency  over  and  above,  paid  at 
once ; 

To  Giovanni  Grnirfo  of  Salerno,  my  man-servant, 
two  hundred  ducats  currency  : 

To  Petrillo,  whom  I  had  brought  up  in  my  house, 
a  thousand  ducats  currency.  If  dying  before  he  is 
of  age  to  dispose  of  it,  I  leave  the  half  of  the  said 
thousand  ducats  to  the  father  and  mother  of  Petrillo, 
which,  if  they  are  not  living,  are  to  be  divided 
amongst  the  kindred  of  Petrillo,  whom  I  strongly 
recommend  to  my  heir  : 

To  Metello  Semeone,  my  page,  a  hundred  ducats 
currency  at  once ; 


APPENDIX.  239 

To  the  Rev.  Bernardino  *  *  *  *  ^y\^Q  jg  at 
the  Hospital  of  the  Incurables,  the  usufruct  of  one 
hundred  ducats  currency,  during  his  life,  and  after 
his  death  the  one  hundred  ducats  are  for  the  said 
hospital : 

To  Sor.  Francisca's  eldest  friend,  ten  ducats  cur- 
rency, paid  at  once : 

To  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  gardener  to  the  Sig. 
Isabella  Bonifacio  of  Capo  di  Monte,  ten  ducats 
currency,  if  they  are  not  before  paid  : 

To  the  Rev.  Don  Pietro,  of  the  Incurables,  ten 
ducats  currency,  paid  at  once  : 

To  Lelio  Cristofani,  thirty  ducats  currency,  paid 
at  once : 

To  the  Chaplain  at  present  in  my  service,  twenty 
ducats  currency,  paid  at  once,  besides  his  appropriate 
salary : 

To  Madama  Antonia  *  *  *  ♦  lady's-maid, 
the  payment  of  her  salary,  and  twenly  ducats  cur- 
rency besides : 

I  beoj  that  Tiberio  del  Caonino  be  recommended 
to  Vespasiano,  my  heir,  and  that  he  will  for  my  love 
present  him  with  somi  gratification : 

To  the  Noble  Gio.  Vincenzo,  Abbot,  thirty  ducats 
for  a  mourning  cloak  : 

I  leave  to  M.  Honorato  Rosso,  brother  of  Catariiia 
Rosso,  formerly  my  maid,  three  hundred  ducats  cur- 
rency :  that  is,  one  hundred  ducats  for  him  and  one 


240  APPENDIX. 

for  [each  of  the  two]  children,  on  account  of  the  said 
Catarina's  services  : 

To  the  heir  of  the  Noble  Donate  Antonio  Altomari, 
physician,  fifty  ducats  currency : 

To  Camilla  Altomare,  daughter  of  the  said  Donate 
Antonio,  fifty  ducats  currency  : 

To  the  present  Confessor  of  the  Nuns  of  the  said 
Convent  of  San  Francisco,  for  a  cloak,  twenty  ducats 
currency,  paid  at  once  : 

To  all  my  house-servants,  their  expenses  for  one 
month : 

I  order  that  none  of  my  men-servants  or  maid- 
servants may  be  pressed  or  constrained  by  law,  or  in 
court,  or  otherwise,  to  give  account  of  what  money 
they  have  used,  or  of  anything  they  have  managed, 
and  I  free  and  absolve  them,  and  order  that  they  may 
not  be  molested  on  any  account : 

Item,  that  all  my  debts  and  legacies  be  paid  without 
suit  and  without  any  delay;  and  that  all  the  men  and 
maid-servants  be  paid  to  the  last  day  they  shall  have 
served,  besides  the  legacies  that  I  have  left  to  them : 

I  beg  the  most  illustrious  Signora,  Donna  Anna  de 
Arragon,  that  she  pray  to  our  Lord  for  me  : 

I  leave  to  the  Hospital  of  the  Nunciata  at  Naples, 
fifty  ducats  currency  at  once ;  to  the  Hospital  of  the 
Incurables,  another  sum  of  fifty  ducats ;  to  that  of 
the  Converts,  another  fifty  ducats ;  to  the  Monte 
della  Carita,  another  fifty  ducats ; 


APPENDIX.  241 

To  the  most  illustrious  Signora,  Donna  Isabella 
Colonna,  Princess  of  Sulmona,  three  hundred  and  fifty 
ducats  currency,  paid  at  once,  instead  of  a  certain 
chalice  and  patena,  and  certain  pearls  and  a  silver 
basin  that  descended  to  my  possession  from  her 
mansion,  which  may  amount  to  this  sum  : 

To  the  reverend  Suora  Lodovica  Maura  de  Gronzaga, 
my  sister,  nun  at  Mantua,  an  annuity  of  twenty  gold 
crowns  during  her  life,  to  be  paid  quarterly : 

To  the  Noble  M.  Marino  Spinello,  physician,  fifty 
ducats  currency : 

To  the  Noble  Grio.  Antonio  Pisano,  physician,  an- 
other sum  of  fifty  ducats  currency : 

To  the  heir  of  a  certain  person  settled  at  Paliano, 
whose  name  Signer  Scipione  deH'Offredo  will  recol- 
lect, one  hundred  ducats  currency,  paid  at  once,  and 
I  request  that  diligence  may  be  used  to  discover  the 
said  heir. 

If  ever  any  person  be  found  who  may  have  given 
me  offence  in  any  manner  whatsoever,  I  freely  pardon 
him,  and  bind  my  heir  not  to  make  any  resentment ;  I 
also  order  and  bind  my  said  heir  that  he  use  no  con- 
straint or  resentment  towards  the  said  Cynthia,  nor 
am  I  careful  that  he  should  learn  from  her  what  I 
wished  to  know  as  I  have  said  before,  but  that  he 
may  make  her  free  and  set  her  at  liberty,  and  give 
her  in  marriage  in  the  province  nf  Lombardy,  a.s  I 
have  said  before. 

Q 


242  APPENDIX. 

I  make  his  Excellency  Signor  Ascanio  Caracciolo  of 
Naples  and  the  Noble  U.  J.  D.  Grio.  Vincenzo,  Abbot 
of  Naples,  executors  of  this  my  present  Will,  to  whom 
I  give  all  power  in  the  most  ample  form. 

aiULIA  DE  GONZAGA  COLONNA. 


lY. 

DEATH    OF    GIULIA   GONZAGA. 

From  Baccolta  Ferrarese,  torn.  viii. ;   Vita  di  Giulia  Gonzaga, 
p.  188. 

*  *  *  "  But  not  to  turn  from  my  subject,"  says 
Ireneo  Affo,  "  and  not  to  separate  from  Griulia,  it  is 
proper  for  me  finally  to  relate  how  she,  who  was  affec- 
tionately nursed  [in  her  sickness],  piously  departed 
on  the  19th  of  April,  1566  ;  that  is,  on  Friday  the 
octave  of  Easter,  which  in  that  year  fell  on  the  14th 
of  the  month.  It  may  be  conceived  with  what  tender 
devotion  she  prepared  for  such  a  passage,  daily  re- 
membering so  solemn  a  period,  for  she  possessed  the 
faculties  of  her  mind  sound  and  free  to  the  latest 
sigh."  Of  all  this  we  are  assured  from  an  original 
letter  written  at  the  time  by  Gio.  Battista  Perez 
[Giulia's  maggiordomo}  to  Vespasiano  Gonzaga,  her 


APPENDIX.  243 

nephew  and  heir,  which  runs  in  these  terms :  "  It 
appears  to  me  that  I  should  fail  in  my  duty,  as  a 
servant  for  twenty-one  years  together,  towards  the 
deserving  memory  of  the  illustrious  lady,  my  Lady 
Donna  Giulia  de  Gonzaga,  your  aunt,  if  I  did  not 
offer  to  condole  with  your  Excellency  on  her  death. 

*  *  *  "  Her  Illustrious  Ladyship  died,  as  you 
will  have  heard  by  letter  from  Magnifico  Modignano, 
and  from  M.  Federico  Zanichelli,  to-day,  between 
the  21st  and  22nd  hour.  She  made  an  end  in  con- 
formity with  her  most  holy  life,  continuing  through- 
out sensible  to  the  latest  instant  when  that  sainted 
spirit  left  the  body.  Her  Will  has  been  opened,  and, 
as  you  may  have  learnt  from  the  before-mentioned 
Modignano  and  Zanichelli,  your  Excellency  is  left 
absolute  heir  of  her  property,  deducting  certain 
legacies,  the  Will  being  very  different  from  another 
she  had  executed  seven  years  ago." 

Perez  adds  to  his  letter  a  copy  of  the  will  from 
which  I  have  transcribed  this,  and  a  statement  of 
Donna  Giulia's  income,  from  which  it  appears  that, 
deducting  the  legacies,  there  would  remain  for  the 
heir  30,000  ducats  of  annual  income. 

Affo  concludes  with  these  remarks  :  "  This  Ijricf  but 
true  life  of  so  famous  a  princess  might  perhaps  have 
been  graced  with  other  details,  if  I  had  known  what 
has  been  written  upon  the  subject  in  another  memoir 
which   is  preserved   among  the  manuscripts  of  Dr. 


244  APPENDIX. 

Giuseppe  Valletta  of  Naples.  (See  Giornale  de'  Lit- 
terati,  torn.  xxiv.  p.  92.)  Yet  I  have  succeeded  in 
compiling  this,  omitting  other  eulogiums  passed  on 
Giulia  by  various  writers,  among  whom  I  ought  not 
to  omit  to  mention  Ariosto,  Orlando  Furioso,  canto 
xlvi.  st.  8,  &c.  Whoever  will  undertake  to  glean  this 
field  of  literature  will  certainly  not  find  it  one  barren 
of  noble  subjects;  and  the  labour  undertaken  might 
become  honourable." 

We  can  scarcely  do  less  than  recall  this  sentiment 
expressed  by  Affo,  some  eighty  years  ago,  and  by 
reprinting  the  Alfabeto  Christiano  we  have  en- 
deavoured to  contribute  what  was  in  our  power 
towards  the  object  he  desired. 


INDEX. 


Page 

Alfabeto  Christiano,  how 

discovered       .         .         .       vii 

preserved  and  printed  by 
Carnesecchi  (?)      .      xv.  xviii 

translated  from  the  MS. 
of  Valdes  into  Italian  by 
IMarco  Antonio    Magno         4 

written  for  Giulia  Gonzaga 
and  her  friends  only        .    5,  6 

to  be  used  as  a  grammar 
to  learn  the  rudiments 
of  Christian  perfection    ,     6,  7 

the  aliment  of  the  Perfect 
found  in  the  Scriptures 
alone       .         .         .         .    7,  8 

similarity  in  manner  to  Tau- 
ler's  Institutes    xlviii.  135,  230 

editions  of  .         .         .      xli 

GiuLiA  Gonzaga,  birth,  mar- 
riage, widowhood  .  Iv.  Ivi 
her  motto  and  emblem  Ivii.  Ixxxi 
escape  from  corsairs  .  .  Iviii 
her  portrait  .  .  lix.  Ixxxii 
Hippolito  de'  Medici,  to  Ixxxi 
resides  in  Naples,  1535  xxxvii.  Ix 
suit    between    herself    and 

Isabella  .         .         .         .       Ix 
directs  the  education  of  her 

nephew  Vespasiano         .    Ixiii 
friendship  with  Valdes        .       1 1 
his  epistles  dedicatory  ad- 
dressed to  her  .  5,  21G 
friendship  with  Carnesecchi 

xvi.  Ixiv 


Page 

Gidlia  Gonzaga  :  — 

attends  the  evangelical  ser- 
mons (of  Ochino)  at  Na- 
ples xxxvi.  12,  15,  35,  44, 
89,  181 

reads  the  New  Testament 
in  Italian         ...       29 

how  she  may  conceal  her 
change  of  views,     93,  129,  148 

her  death;  buried  in  the 
church  of  Santa  Chiara  .     236 

her  Will     .         .         .         .235 

Valdes,  Alfonso  de.  Alfonso 
and  Juan,  twin  brothers, 
sons  of  Hernando  de 
Valdes,  regidorof  Cuenca 

xxi.  xxiv-v 

his  official  publications  in 
defence  of  the  emperor 

xxriii.  Ixxii 

acknowledges  himself  the 
author  of  the  dialogue  on 
the  sack  of  Rome,  1527  .    xxx 

religio-political  dialogues     xxviii 

recommends  his  brother 
Juan  to  Sepulveda  at 
Rome,  1531    .         .         .  xxxii 

Sepulveda  to  Alfonso  .    xxii 

accompanies  the  Emperor  to 
Germany,  1529      .         .    xxxi 

visits  Melancthon;  Confes- 
sion of  Augsburgh  .         .  xxxii 

disappears  after  the  Diet  of 
Katisbon,  1532  .xxxii 


246 


INDEX. 


Page 

Valdes,    Juan    de,  in   the 

household  of  Adrian  VI.  xxvi 
believed  to  be  the   author 

of  the  Didlogo  de  la  Len- 

gua  .  .  xxxiv.  Ixxiv 
cause  of  his  leaving  Spain  .  xxix 
arrives     at     Naples,    1529, 

goes  to  Eome,  returniog 

again  to  Naples      .  xxxiv 

letters  of  Erasmus  to  .   xxiv.  xxv 
attends     the     sermons     of 

Ochino(?)  at  Naples  xxxvi.  5 
his     influence     at     Naples 

xxxv-vi.  Ixxvii 
manner     of    his    religious 

teaching  .  xxxvii.  xxxix 
assists    Giulia   Gonzaga  in 


her  affairs 
alludes    indirectly    to 

suit  with  Isabella    . 
his  opinion  of  her 
listof  his  known  writini 
acquainted    with 

Institutes  (?) 


.        14 

her 

46,  62-3 
47,  140 
_s  xl-xlviii 
Tauler's 
.  xlviii. 


his  epistles  to  Giulia  Gon- 
zaga      ...  5, 

his  orthodoxy;  not  a  Lu- 
theran    .... 

death  and  character    . 


230 

216 

xlix 
liii 


Page 

Absolution  .  .  .  .76 
Body  and  Spirit  .  .  .86-8 
Catholic  Church  .  .  .114 
Christian  liberty  .  .  .191 
Christian    perfection,   twelve 

steps  to  .  .  81,  89,  125-6 
Confession  .  .  .  .169 
Confessor,  choice  of        .         .176 

Creed 110 

Curious  books  .  .  92,  155 
Daily  examination  .       97,  127 

Faith  .  .  .  .74,  78,  80 
Fasting  .         .         .         .168 

Friars  and  non-friars      .  50,  52 

Gospel,  a  general  pardon  .  223 
Image  and  likeness  of  God    16,  17, 

110 
Internal  voice  .  23,  41,  135-6 
Law  and  Gospel    .         .  30-36 

Mass 159 

Prayer 164 

Rules  of  a  Christian  life  56-66 

Self-love  .  36,  99,  129,  146,  185 
Superstitious  ceremonies         .     158 

times  and  places  .  .  127 
Three  ways  of  knowing  God  104 
Self-examination  .  .  145,  201 
Self-knowledge  .  .  96-100 
Worldly  honour  and  regard  149-151 


Correspondence  of  the  "  Alfabeto  Christiano  "  loith  the 
"  ex.  Considerations." 


Christian  Alphabet     . 

.    page     7.  125,  Conslfl 

Crossing  a  river 

.        „      49,    80, 

Divinity  of  Christ 

•        „        9,  106, 

Image  and  hkeness  of  God 

•        „               16, 

Physician            .... 

.        „             157, 

Slave          

.        „             187, 

THE    END. 


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