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GIOVANNI PAPINI—A
NEW APOSTLE.
THE FAMOUS BOOK HE
HAS WRITTEN.
"Who is Giovanni Papini[?] writes
Henry James Forman in the "Bookman."
"There is a thrill in the thought that
to-day virtually unknown to English-<*>
lups wi^ be a hcHisfh'>.d ivord. l!y a
Mfigie boo?-:, vis -fj£<? of Christ.' lie
s-eenf di-sti:ied to become one of tl;e
world's great figures. In luly the l>ook
has a!i<>ady created wbat is virtual y a
sensation, and a'u Kiirope aud America
wil! Hjon be in posse^ion of it. Kdition
after edition k> cominjr from the prdt^cs
in Florpnee. and tranx'ations are hems
made all ovur the world. Tin- publication
of a book like that ie undeaiably au ar
resthjg event. I
A Fiery HaU-r. |
""Lnliko Hyron, he had published some
twenty-throe vo'.umes in luiJy befoiv his
'Life o; t_Tirist,' and every one of lhc:n,
almost, his a da--b o: viti-iol in it. He
.vas in a Diauacr like Dante and Pietro
Arctino in one. He had u?j hfs::a.:ion in
?Ai?niaUsiiv j>e??pie -Aith the l,itten~t ~;i-
profarium. In his *ritiii)i, as in liii life.
he bristled *ilh aevrbity and iio-tility
"If there ?-as an unpieasant tnith to trll
anyone to his laco,' he conle=ses. I
was the first to blurt it ojt, Tvlthout
; beaUng about the hij*h or any cira-umlo
, cutius. If only 1 knew a maii's hidden
weakness I \va s The one to aiK;<iun.c it
openly to iim before everybody." He
was a hater rather t!ian a lover of ills
kii.d, a niasler ot iuvective. Anarchisi..
atheist, nihilist, his one iiriH belie:, for
a time at ieasl, tias that euivide for the
cutirc Luman race Jas the only silva
tion'. Aud doit, wit.'iin the ;*ast fen"
years, the past few month* virtuaUy, he
has written .1 book tliat its already trans
lated, or being translated, into a dozen
languages, that turn* j(k iia^k upnn ail
criticism or analy^U, that ha* Kir it*
oue aim and goal the calling back of the
human race, or rather of calling it anew :
to the religion of love! j
Papini's Secret " !
T.Vhat is the secret? Dow did it hap
pen? Was :i a audden conversion, or a
grow to? What manner oi man is PapiniT
I wish I could paint him a<i he i^, this
wa- evangeUet of the .<tudy—this ne*
huund of heaven, with liin gaunt frame,
bt> shock of curling, dark liair, like
a l>opuJar pianist, his thin, pallid, oiiYe
tiuted face, like an asceticV. The deep
sunken eyef of the student scrutinise you
myopical.y from behind large, round spec
ta."lcs3, that gleam somewhat cokJiy, with
a chill aJoofneas. Yet there is an appeal
ing wearine^j about the tyes, a-s of one
who has labored much in pro
found thought, and kept ionc vigils
over books. There is a. sense of
struggle about the man, of hope lon?
del tired, or terrific energy expended iv
tljai chilly book-lined in the modes:
Florentine flax. 4nd yet. 100, you have a. ,
iwiiug ttaal tiie strusjie i.< only beginning, i
His irriting tabk is dean, like a city j
man's. There is no -Utter of napens, only
a blotter aud on ash-tray.
"Hi.- iittx- d.ia?hter, Giooonda. who had
opened the <iuur ior me, called out blithe
jy:
*? 'Uabbo, n? agnate —daddy, here's a
mail to see yoa,' and went on about ber
own affairs.
" 'And what," demanded Sijnor Papini.
peeriug closely, 'do England and imerioi
a-i-ji to know about me?'
*?' They wish to know something of your
life aud hisrory,' I toid him. 'But first of
all they wish to knoV how you came to
write the Storia di Cristo."
** "It was the war,' he broke oat rapidly,
as though hU epee;h had been long pent
up in him. ''When the war oime. and na- ]
tion af:er nation pluutsed in almost -wrai- '
ncr thought or care, offering up hokwausts
of it? men, destroying, burning, kiliin?—
then I laughed with all the joyica? bitter
ness oi having one's faddest convictions con
armed. That is precisely what I beliewed
and thoozht about the human raoe: that
it was criminal and imbecile, that ir -a-a.s
noapaUk? of Kood and turned only to evil,
tbax its dominant desire was only to d?
ftroy and to kilJ, to kill and in destroy.
Yes, I laughed, and 1 was gfcid Uiat my
deep-rooted conviation was so amply justi
fied. In same, however, this mood ot sajf- j
-in? and Uittemws pawed by. F ras tor- I
men ted by the question, nrtry shoxxl ihi.-' ]
!ie? WTiy all thi9 kiHing and naiming and '
destruction*' Sijnor PipfnL snolcal ;
rapidly as he talked, and his <>yes beMad j
his sgwetacles ajwmjed Urn di?ant speca- i
latiy? look of abstract tlion?**: that *-as
trvioently more normal to him than the
dwelling upon objects near by.
The Only Solution.
" 1 began to read history,' he went on.
"and more and more hiaiory. I srent back
to the earliest historic*; tames, as iar back
as 2500 B.C. md always it was the
same, the development of peoples and <
nations fed to wjt. It led to -war owing
to the failure of religion, of religion actu
ally based upon -the true spirit of love.
\V*r and dtstrix-tioD ?eemed to be the
natural climax. I began to esaTnine the
historr of capitalism and industmli^m,
the dev?!onmont of Italy, of Eiropc. since
the fifteenth century, aud the iiptho:, 1
found, had been always the same: war and
destruction. Was there any a^y lo
avoid this horrible tr"?5C-dy, to
to do away with it permanetrdv'r
'Die only solutaon,' he continued solemnly
and more slowly, 'was to chansr the
of mankind—to turn X towards refcian.'
fc¥^nor Papini talfl a clear emphasis uiwn
e??ry one of these words, a? ibou^li to
Ijoint the enormity of this coneiusicm tor
him.
"He savr clearly n3 the consequences of
such a conirlutjiin for "hi 3 Kor
him ti> beijere ia an idea was Jo embrace
it irithoat reservation, with al" the ?acrfty
<it H's command. He s:?v all liii pa*t sud
dentiy swept away, and all the fnture of
ai-tack, and ridicule, and aitm.<a, by foe?
of the past, by friends of tli- past—a r??
eiiaU'nce of atru^'e an>l ooniJut. But the
way alr.ivdv by rlt?r before blou As i
a. man of courage ho could nit r>or>-* but |
fo".L>w ji_ He -was on the ni3JVh-?to a
new tfe. 'Thai was aV^rt five years aeo,'
lie went on n?re rxni-fiy- 'Tlicu I re-rvad
Tnstoy aji'l lXwoiev^'riy. I qient m :ny
mouths of Foul-gearohins thoas'hc And
cqagtiintlr I kept retumini trt the same
iiKSVajMlbie conclit-??n: U.e fe\-er
f?j- dosTuction. a3ain>iL tie rapacity *rd
tbe tril Uiai a-"V :n uj. the on.y c-Hsnler
vaiHniT fort-e a-as the spirit a:' rri ci >n as
set forth in tbe BiMe^-in tlie <?o?peU—Uie
ly-ir^t of true Cliri-~tia;iity.' \
"Then it xas that the id?i Cikme io him
to AT.ic the "L-lfe of fsirii=t,' <i storr,
up;lher .vi*>oti!jr ii'ir erilic?'.. for lavm. n
li> a modern layTU.ui. irssel si.ip:ly upon
fie s-itury o;' Ih,> Four inisv!—ti maie
Christ live 320T1 for prrsent-dav i.miiaalfes-.
.\rj that L^ the bo?ik he believes lit :iai
mitten.
Hh Youth.
v "Poverty lias been PononiV !??. fr?m
b rUi. fie aras "<? Caxalier tint Ui-i?-3
hes jack ujkki riches i.fee Another St.
rrancas. l'<r\TTty and he have l?>e-:i a tor:
<r SiaaiMSse twins aJ! the ilavs <>f lii< exi-:
<cr.ee. ?'. Ik-'.icvc iv ixivprtv lor ;h?<\rt-^v,'
lie fJiJ .'j>iij>)y -a!i!'n iv,> ti!l; t .l t i ;i. "Xot
ii. niistrj-. ials<2 y:rj Ith:' Ital jn ml-ierni
w'.iirji ni?a.:s <ii-srfltitio!il, for thi*n :n?
thcuihi .." ?Ti*i #Jv? work is posslj c. ?lut
p-lfulo.jnnir |)'>vcrn- is po.>d for the thiniier
li.Miry ' and h." slii^ik lii* heo.l for
bid^in^'.y. depreraX;n^l\ .
"Weil. Vw ni <iii- >unt^rod i;o -ni'i
deadly lKTii od abi ai-rivall ir? til** w"->:.ii.
'.JmduaJly. iii tho lioiir* aiul .iayv f (n-.~.d
?uirh :r? in his Fkwfntin^ the
while hi* vounsr daiishters. Viola .-uid
ct.ivH.ji. wvre lamdiinc and eh3-??-rini in a
pcisHJwrinc room. ther<> exmc out }i:s
fltorj'. bleni ;ind austere as fvvr. :'iC i>f
srfferinir amd "<?n:diK: ?ivl disi;>p->:titme Vi,
rtmiuiticent ?>f som? of t'lnae co- ni<-i.|!y .=;id
Hj-j-rcs tliaa Midiael Aitz.-lo pKcd to p- r
tray. Ui> aiTtohiozraphie. lioio!. '(."n
l_\>x.o Kinito,' t*?rns ivith v;i<- .vor.i-. 'L
h-ive never l>een :i thild. I iir_w T-v.?;r
UiJ a chiWlxxxi.' An-I tixt. I iis.-<i-.oroj.
.va<> jKrally true. He (ra.= born in \rn
rrnoe on -January IK l>*il. the sii ;l , ; jn^vr
poT^nts .iind of a family nu^n<'n?io ? ii?
-iaiion?. Hi.-- j'athur wa* ; i vurn:: J^e-^l^?kr r
in ? smzO Tray, in.l tft-day you nr.
*'*r? Ihe Jaw of l^iy>ini Txi*~tn -:'^*r- :i^^J
window-: oc" s^iops ?Icciiin? R.i (nnisiv a:rl
c3m?- in the Vira.rt -~f Fj?t>?m-v. vVh.it
cver theT.' may Wv. c lwv?n ii tfc<- il.irl;
i-otMns ?sf th" moler-:. lal>jr:.>?.? It-iJ^i:!
i: ?u.*!io"i Tte!rind tile shop, there w*s .it
thinly no piety Uiert- IT s nuniior '^.i 1
lif boy hupttHPd by strath. Vxxiusc ?>."
ber inbocn iTrHaarft. bat !f?M-firl kEt tho
faJjK-r should cry oot in wrath anic^
each ?ntiquated bigotry and .--apersiitioa.
! ""Kroni the moueui. lie could re*id, how
ever, yo:mj; I'apini discovered this small
ta'ilijjbt worid of hif? shot through trrth. a
*.tran;? and fcarfurl splendor— thr light of
the primed word, the jwinted jiase. In
;hnie narrow streets of old Florence, into
tho.se crzniped rooms, oherc broke through
: !ie dazTle that has nude and ai:j"red so
nia'-iy young lives, the .vorid of boofa.
Remaking Soah.
— 'Mi* 7^L*?ion became in know—to kn:>?v
? -tij in-i-A- ??isrj-lliins, -II thjet Jiad ever
lin'.-n jiriii".-*!. ??r-'?i<".^ti. or knoan N'j
thiu; !-ii?rtoor.r omnis?ieiiee imrame my
i:o.il. The *-:<jria J: Crifito,' he mid. '*as
writt.l.ll in lao years-, but coundqg ojt
intr-rniirtions and lime Jos;, it a<^fc>iiiy
look oniv al>o^i !ive ?ir si^ months.' \ml
iki.v lie Wlicves his fIXT r 'y uilj be ?iiii<ii j
Sr<viter. for iiavin; died to tiie old life,;
!(!? f?-e^ embarked upon a post. This book, '
2^ lvi ;innouD'xyr in the pre'sce to Tne
St.-ri:i. ;- <ledi<*led to the enterprise of j
"in :t rity "il;e Finrenco. with its lonii
ay.ii tenj*- :i.>L4ir\. tour or five !mndri*d
ye:ir> to- ;i <-oniTHralire":y yhort ]ieri<id.
A:i<l tip.- Pa;.ini of i-o-day t-.ui sr>e^ witli
jierfec: e<?m:ra-i r<' and *itbout .ifferution
latno iNiViinai'oia, iicjun in 14!'."i. In Iho-e
d-sj"-. Otir:Jt .vujj e.evtod iviOfr of ? ;orenoe
'iv ;l lirre maiority. The c i.ition. i*iy.?
]'.i].!?j:<t Vprrji.i a jnar'j^" tible: -IJII ro
v..ru-i U. After -".v.:r ii^ntlie.) y.-.ir.- of
;;^in?;"ion. he d-^laro^. the wriier of
l'i<- Sl..ri., ii -proud tn id.-ii;:-y hini
?e'"" n< 3 -uijoia and poldier of ("!irl-?t
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