These attempts upon his life compelled father Paul to confine himself to his monastery, where he em- ployed his constrained leisure in the great literary composition by which he is chiefly remembered — The History of the Council of Trent {Ilistoria del Concilio Tnikntino di I'ietro Soave Polano) — a work which has been not more deservedly commended for its style as a model of liistorical composition than for the extent of its learning, the generous candor of its spirit, the unbiassed integrity of its principles, and the unosten- tatious piety of its sentiments. "While occupied in this and other lalwrs of minor import, a neglected cold produced a fever, and after lying for nearly twelve montiis on a bed of sickness, wliich was supported with the most edifying cheerfulness and jiiety, he expired in the beginning of the year IG'23. His memory was honored by the gratitude of the Venetian republic with a public funeral, which was distinguished l)y its mag- nificence, and the vast concourse of nobility and per- sons of all ranks attending it ; and the senate, out of gratitude to his memory, erected a nKniument to him, the inscription upon wiiich was written by John An- thony Venerio, a noble Venetian.
Father Paul was of middle stature : his head very large
in proportion to his body, which was extremely lean. He hud a wide forehead, in the middle of which was a very large vein. His eyebrows were well arched, his eyes large, black, and sprightly ; his nose long and big, but very even ; his beard but thin. His aspect, though grave, was extremely soft and inviting; and he had a fine hand. Cardinal Perron thought proper to deliver
: himself concerning our author in these terms : " I see nothing eminent in that man ; he is a man of judgment and good-sense, but has no great learning. I observe his qualifications to be mere common ones, and little superior to an ordinary monk's." But the learned ]\Iorhoff {Poli/kistoi: p. i'93 sq.) has justly remarked that " this judgment of Perron is absurd and malig- nant, and directly contrary to the clearest evidence; since those who are acquainted with the great things done by father Paul, and with the vast extent of his learning, will allow him to be superior, not only to
; monks, but cardinals, and even to Perron himself." Courayer, his French translator, says, in his Vie abregee de Fra Paolo, prefixed to the Hid. du Concile de Trent, that, "in imitation of Erasmus, Cassander, Thuanus, and other great men, Paul was a Catholic in general, and sometimes a Protestant in particulars. He ob- served everything in the Roman religion which could be practiced without superstition, and in points which he scrupled took great care not to scandalize the weak. In short, he was equally averse to all extremes : if he disapproved the abuses of the Romanists, he condemned also the too great heat of the Reformed ; and used to say to those who urged him to declare himself in favor of the latter that God had not given him the spirit of Luther." Courayer likewise observes that " Paul wish- ed for a reformation of the papacy, and not the destruc- tion of it ; and was an enemy to the abuses and pre- tences of the popes, not their place." Walton tells us
; that the contests between the court of Rome and the senate of Venice " were the occasion of father Paul's
I knowledge and interest with king James, for whose sake principally he compiled that eminent history of the re- markable Council of Trent ; which history was, as fast as it was written, sent in several sheets in letters by Sir Henry Wotton, Mr. Bedell, and others, unto king James and the then bishop of Canterbury, into Eng- land." "Wotton relates that James himself '"had a hand in it, for the benefit," he adds, "of the Christian world" {Reliqiiie Wottoniance, p. 486). This history
I of the Council of Trent was first published at London (1619, fol.), and dedicated to James I by Antony de
, Dominis, archbishop of Spalatro. It had been written by Paul in Italian, and sent in manuscriiit to England by Sir Henry Wotton, so that the English was the first
I edition. The Italian edition was first brought out in 1629 at Genoa, and was afterwards translated into Latin, English, French, and other languages ; and a new translation of it into French by Dr. Le Courayer, with notes critical, historical, and theological, was puldished at London in 17S6 (2 vols. fol.). Burnet's account of this work may serve to show the opinion
: which Protestants entertain of it. "The style and way of writing," says he, "is so natural and mascu- line, the intrigues were so fully opened, with so many
I judicious reflections in all the parts of it, that it was read with great pleasure, and it was generally looked on as the rarest piece of history which the world ever saw. The author was soon guessed, and this raised
! the esteem of the work ; f<ir as he was accounted one
I of the wisest men in the world, so he had great oppor- tunities to gather exact information. He had free access to all the archives of the republic of Venice, which has been looked upon for several ages as very exact, both in getting good intelligence, and in a most careful way of preserving it ; so that among their rec- ords he must have found tlie despatches of the ambas- sadors and prelates of that republic who were at Trent ; which being so near them, and the council Ijeing of such high consequence, it is not to be doubted but