The merriment lasted all the time of the
incumbency of Pius the Fourth. With the
plenary absolution of the Church in his pocket,
Canon Carnesecchi laughed his laugh, kept up
his correspondence with Italian heretics in all
parts of Europe, lived hand-and-glove with
the "tainted ones" in his own city, and was
often to be seen at Cosmo's table.

But in 1566 Pius the Fourth died. And who
should be elected to succeed him but that
terrible Fra Michele the Inquisitor—- he under
whose inquisitorship Carnesecchi had been
condemned during the papacy of Paul the Fourth!*
Surely the canon must have turned pale when
the news of this election was brought to
Florence. Surely had he been wise he would have
lost not a moment in putting the Alps—- ay, and
the ocean—- between him and that terrible friar,
now grown to be Pope Pius the Fifth.
Probably he trusted in his plenary absolution, and
in the protection of his powerful patron Cosmo.
How grimly the old Inquisitor would have
smiled, had he been told that a once-condemned
heretic thought so to escape from his hands.
Duke Cosmo protect a heretic! Has he no
longer any desire, then, to be made grand-duke?

* See volume i., page 412.

A few months after his elevation, the new
inquisitor pope wrote a letter to Duke Cosmo,
and sent it by the hand of no less a man than
the Master of the Sacred Apostolical Palace.
"Beloved son, and noble sir," writes the zealous
and austere pope to the blood-stained profligate
duke, in very apostolical, but not very classical,
Latin, " we send you the Master of our Sacred
Apostolical Palace, on a business which in the
highest degree concerns the service of the
Divine Majesty and the Catholic religion. He
will present to you this our letter. And were
it not for the exceeding heat of the weather—-
(the letter is dated the 20th of July)—- we
should have entrusted this commission to
Cardinal Paceco himself, so earnestly have we the
matter at heart, and so important do we
consider it. You may receive the communication
of the above-mentioned Master of the Palace
with as much confidence, as if we ourselves
were speaking face to face. And may God so
bless you as we give you from our heart our
apostolical benediction!"

This letter was handed to Duke Cosmo as he
sat at table. The Master of the Apostolical
Palace was at once admitted. An autograph
letter from his Holiness could not be too much
honoured by immediate attention. Besides,
what could the Holy Father have to say to so
excellent a son of the Church as Cosmo, that
could mar the conviviality of the banquet?
Canon Carnesecchi was among the guests that
day. The reverend messenger's business was
soon told—- much, we may fancy, in the manner
of that of the policeman who enters a thieves'
house-of-call to tell some member of the
fraternity that he is "wanted." The reverend
Canon Carnesecchi is wanted at Rome on
accusation of heresy! No small consternation,
we may fancy, sat on the faces of those around
the princely board. What answer? What was
to be done? To give up a subject to Fra
Michele, of terrible fame, omnipotent as sovereign
pontiff, was to send him, not only to certain death,
but to certain torments. But it is easy to elude,
if not to refuse, the demand. A gracious reception,
an answer on the morrow, &c., and the
hideous treason to humanity may be avoided.
The accused may in an hour or two be safe
across the frontier.

But Cosmo knew well how such favours as
he wanted of Rome could be won at the hands
of Pius the Fifth. If doubt and consternation
sat on every face around his "hospitable"
board, the princely host was in no wise affected
by either. His answer to the Holy Father's
demand was prompt and decisive. There is
the man. Take the heretic from among us;
and tell the Holy Father that " if he had
demanded of me to give up my own son, the heir
to my crown, on such a charge, I should have
done it as readily!"

The words are historical. Evidently here was
a man to be made grand-duke, or anything else.
Pope Pius the Fifth felt the full value of
such a pillar of the Church, and was keenly
touched by such exemplary devotion. He
returned him a letter of thanks, expressing his
extreme satisfaction, and saying that it would
be well indeed for the Church and the service
of God if the other princes of Christendom
were like him. He told him that he assuredly
would never forget his good service. And the
sincerity of his ferocious gratitude may be
estimated from an anecdote preserved for us, of
his turning to a crucifix, and uttering an earnest
prayer that his life might be spared until he
should have an opportunity of rewarding so
pious and admirable a prince!

It would be of small interest, thank Heaven, to
English nineteenth-century readers to be told the
thirty-four distinct positions, proved to have been
advocated by Carnesecchi, which were all
pronounced to be " either heretical, or erroneous,
or rash, or scandalous." It is enough to say
that none of them contain aught that could not
be held by a good Christian, or, indeed, aught
that militates against any Church doctrine,
except manifest and special abuses. Of course
there could be no doubt about the result. To
aggravate the unpardonable nature of the
guilt proved against Carnesecchi, it was added
that he had contemplated escaping to Geneva,
there to wallow in heresy unrestrained. The
ecclesiastical power handed him over to the
secular power. The Pope, that is, as bishop,
handed him over to the Pope as king; and
as the former feels it incompatible with the
sacred nature of his office to take away life,
it was left to the latter to condemn the
enemy of the former to be burned. It
was intimated to him that his life would be
spared, if he would retract and recant. But
he refused. As he had twice before evaded
Rome's persecution by declaring himself
orthodox, it must be concluded, either that he had