God
is life. Live to seek God and life will not be without Him. The light
that then shone never left me. Thus I was saved from self-destruction.
Gradually I felt the glow and strength of life return to me. I renounced
the life of my own class, because it was unreal, and its luxurious
superfluity rendered comprehension of life impossible. The simple men
around me, the working classes, were the real Russian people. To them I
turned. They made the meaning of life clear. It may thus be expressed:--

Each of us is so created by God that he may ruin or save his soul. To
save his soul, a man must live after God's word by humility, charity,
and endurance, while renouncing all the pleasures of life. This is for
the common people the meaning of the whole system of faith,
traditionally delivered to them from the past and administered to them
by the pastors of the Church.

* * * * *

PASQUALE VILLARI

The Life of Girolamo Savonarola

Pasquale Villari was born October 3, 1827, at Naples. At the
age of twenty he produced his first literary effort, a Liberal
manifesto against Neapolitan Bourbonism, which necessitated
his flight from his native city. He retreated to Florence and
there wrote his work on "Savonarola," which at once achieved
fame and was translated into French, German, and English. His
next great book was his "Macchiavelli." Villari had been
appointed Professor of History at Nice, but left that city for
a similar position at Florence. He entered political life in
1862, and has sat as a Parliamentary Deputy several times. In
1884 he was made senator, and in 1891 he was minister of
public instruction in the Rudini Cabinet. Villari's essays on
Dante are much esteemed. His treatise on "The First Two
Centuries of Florentine History" is considered a standard
work. All his books have been translated into our language by
his English wife, Linda Villari, who is herself an
accomplished authoress.

_I.--1452-1494_

The House of Savonarola derived its ancient origin from the city of
Padua. In the beginning of the fifteenth century the family removed to
Ferrara where, on September 21, 1452, the subject of this biography,
Girolamo Savonarola, first saw the light. He was the third of seven
children of his parents. The lad became the favourite of his
grandfather, Michele, who wished to see him become a g