. Lucretia Borgia. lty with the consciousness that he was the High Priestof the Church, Gods representative on earth? There areabysses in the human soul to the depths of which no glancecan penetrate. How did he overcome the warnings, thequalms of conscience, and how was it possible for himconstantly to conceal them under a joyous exterior? Couldhe believe in the immortality of the soul and the existenceof a divine Being? When we consider the utter abandon with which Alex-ander committed his crimes, we are forced to concludethat he was an atheist and a materialist. There is a timein the life of
. Lucretia Borgia. lty with the consciousness that he was the High Priestof the Church, Gods representative on earth? There areabysses in the human soul to the depths of which no glancecan penetrate. How did he overcome the warnings, thequalms of conscience, and how was it possible for himconstantly to conceal them under a joyous exterior? Couldhe believe in the immortality of the soul and the existenceof a divine Being? When we consider the utter abandon with which Alex-ander committed his crimes, we are forced to concludethat he was an atheist and a materialist. There is a timein the life of every philosophic and unhappy soul whenall human endeavor seems nothing more than the de-spairing, purposeless activity of an aggregation of pup-pets. But in Alexander VI we discover no trace of aFaust, nothing of his supreme contempt of the world, ofhis Titanic skepticism; but we find, on the contrary, thathe possessed an amazingly simple faith, coupled with acapacity for every crime. The Pope who had Christs 290. CARDINAL au engraving by G. Benaglia. DEATH OF ALEXANDER VI mother painted with the features of the adulteress GiuliaFarnese believed that he himself enjoyed the special pro-tection of the Virgin. Alexanders life is the very antithesis of the Christianideal. To be convinced of this it is only necessary to com-pare the Popes deeds with the teachings of the his actions with the Commandments: Thoushalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not kill; thou shaltnot bear false witness, The fact that Rodrigo Borgia was a pope must seemto all the members of the Church the most unholy thingconnected with it, and one which they have reason bitterlyto regret. This fact, however, can never lessen the dignityof the Church—the greatest production of the human mind—but does it not destroy a number of transcendentaltheories which have been associated with the papacy? The execrations which all Italy directed against Alex-ander could scarcely have reached Lucr
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