‘Nobis jam abituris.’—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 1017. Footnote 785: ‘Sed etiam cardinales, papam quoque ipsum, condemnare non dubitant.’—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 1017. Footnote 786: ‘Melior et sanior pars a majore vincatur et opprimatur.’—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 1018. Footnote 787: ‘Nequid fraudi sit, quod quisque senserit, dixerit, egerit.’—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 1018. Footnote 788: ‘Variis artificiis regum animos incendunt atque armant adversus eos.’ _Corp. Ref_. ii. p. 1024. Footnote 789: ‘Nihil enim optatius quam ut latissime propagetur pia doctrina et multarum gentium concordia.’—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 1026. Footnote 790: Mémoires de Du Bellay, p. 243. Footnote 791: Genesis xii. 3. CHAPTER XVIII. THE GOSPEL IN THE NORTH OF ITALY. (1519 TO 1536.) [Sidenote: Condition Of Italy.] The Reformation had also commenced in Italy. As the knowledge of the ancient languages, literary pursuits, and cultivation of the intellect flourished more in that country than elsewhere, it seemed natural that it should be among the first to open itself to the light of the Gospel. In the midst of superstition, many elevated minds were to be found whom the formalism of the Roman Church could not satisfy. The corruption of the clergy and of religion had sunk deeper in Italy than in the rest of Christendom, so that the magnitude of the evil made the necessity of a remedy more keenly felt. Accordingly, although many obstacles appeared to close the peninsula against the entrance of evangelical doctrine; although national pride, the interest which the Italians of every class seemed to have in the continuance of the papacy, the hostility of the governments, and above all the overwhelming power of the pontifical hierarchy, erected barriers everywhere, which seemed more insurmountable than the Alps, there was at that time an electric current between Italy and the reformed countries that nothing could stop. The Reformation had hardly sent forth its first beams of light, the flame had hardly risen over Germany and Switzerland, when, in the regions beyond the mountains, from Venice and Turin to Naples, isolated spots of light gleamed out amidst the darkness. The evangelical doctrine, in general not much appreciated by the people, found an easy access to the hearts of many cultivated men. Italy was a vast plain, in which were numerous uncultivated fields and barren heaths: but a liberal hand having been opened over it, the seeds of life which fell from it found here and there good soil, and, at the breath of spring, the blade and the ear sprang forth. A fierce storm, mingled with thunder and lightning, afterwards burst upon those fields; the light of day was hidden, and the obscurity of darkness once more covered the country. But the light had been beautiful, and its appearance, although fugitive, deserves to be remembered, if only as a pledge to make us hope for better days.