We may safely esteem that this is the culminating struggle
of his life. We may well understand the solemn pause that ensues, the
retirement to solitude, there to review the position before the only
court of appeal that remains to him,--that inward voice of conscience,
that inward sense of right, which is the immediate presence of God
within. But we never doubt what the decision will be. "I must obey God
rather than man; I cannot recognise that this voice--even of God's
vicegerent--is the voice of God. Necessity is laid on me, which I dare
not gainsay, to preach this Gospel of God's kingdom, as, even on earth, a
kingdom of righteousness, truth, and love."
Such is one phase of the Savonarola here portrayed to us; and herein is
placed before us the secret of his greatness and strength. This firm
assertion of the highest right his consciousness recognises, amid all
difficulty, hardness, and disappointment; this persistent endeavour by
precept and example to rouse men to a truer and better life than their
own varied self-seekings; this unflinching struggle against everything
false, mean, and base,--these things make him a power in the State before
which King and Pope are compelled to bow in respect or fear.
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