among
their other displays of vanity, the size of their cloaks, "which cover
even their steeds, so that two beasts go under one skin." "Namely," says
the honest old commentator, "the beast of burden, and the beast who is
borne, who in truth is the more beastly of the two. And, indeed, were
the author now alive, he might change his words, and say, So that three
beasts go under one skin,--to wit, a cardinal, a harlot, and a horse;
for thus I have heard of one whom I knew well, that he carried his
mistress to the chase, seated behind him on the croup of his horse or
mule, and he himself was in truth 'as the horse or as the mule, which
have no understanding.'... And wonder not, Reader, if the author as a
poet thus reproach these prelates of the Church; for even great Doctors
and Saints have not been able to abstain from rebukes of this sort
against such men in the Church." Nothing of all this is to be found in
the Italian version.

But it is not only in omission that the translator shows his devotion
to the Church. He takes upon himself not infrequently to alter the
character of Benvenuto's narratives by the insertion of phrases or the
addition of clauses to which there is nothing corresponding in the
original. The comment on Canto XIX. of the "Inferno" affords several
instances of this unfair procedure. "Among the Cardinals," says
Benvenuto, "was Benedict of Anagni, a man most skilful in managing great
affairs and in the rule of the world; who, moreover, sought the highest
dignity." "Vir astutissimus ad quseque magna negotia et imperia mundi;
qui etiam affectabat summam dignitatem." This appears in the translation
as follows: "Uomo astutissimo, perito d' affari, e conoscitore delle
altre corti: affettava un contegno il piu umile, e reservato." "A man
most astute, skilled in affairs, and acquainted with other courts; he
assumed a demeanor the most humble and reserved." A little farther on,
Benvenuto tells us that many, even after the election of Benedict to the
Papacy, reputed Celestine to be still the true and rightful Pope, in
spite of his renunciation, because, they said, such a dignity could not
be renounced. To this statement the translator adds, "because it comes
directly from God,"--a clause for the benefit of readers under the
pontificate of Pius IX.

In the comment on Canto XIX. of the "Purgatory" occurs the following
striking passage: "Summus Pontificatus, si bene geritur, est summus
honor, summum onus, summa s