e, who didst die for love
of us and for our sins; forgive, forgive, O Lord, the Florentine people,
that would fain be thy people."

In this strain he continued to exhort his hearers to charity, faith, and
concord with such succeeding earnestness and fervor that he was exhausted
and almost ill for several days after. These sermons were less eloquent
than some of the others, since he was too deeply moved for reflection or
for studied effects; but the tenderness with which he spoke dominated and
soothed the people, who, fresh from the tumults without, entered this
place of peace to hear the words of the Gospel. So magical was the power
of Savonarola's voice in those days that, in all this great stir of
public excitement, not a single excess was committed, and the revolution
that seemed on the point of being effected by violence on the Piazza was
quietly and peacefully accomplished within the walls of the palace.
And this miracle, unprecedented in Florentine history, is unanimously
attributed by the historians of the time to Savonarola's beneficial
ascendency over the minds of the people.

On November 4th, the seigniory called a special meeting of the Council of
Seventy, in order to decide what course to adopt. All the members were
adherents and nominees of the Medici, but were so enraged by the cowardly
surrender of the fortresses that they already had the air of a republican
assembly. According to the old Florentine law and custom, no one was
allowed to speak unless invited to do so by the seigniory, and was then
only expected to support the measures which they had proposed. But in
moments of public excitement neither this nor any other law was observed
in Florence. On this day there was great agitation in the council; the
safety of the country was at stake; the seigniory asked everyone for
advice, and all wished to speak. Yet so much were men's minds daunted by
the long habit of slavery that when Messer Luca Corsini broke through the
old rule, and, rising to his feet uninvited, began to remark that things
were going badly, the city falling into a state of anarchy, and that some
strong remedy was required, everyone felt amazed. Some of his colleagues
began to murmur, others to cough; and at last he began to falter and
became so confused that he could not go on with his speech.

However, the debate was soon reopened by Jacopo di Tanai de' Nerli, a
youth of considerable spirit, who warmly seconded Corsini's words; but
he