m into flame.

Savonarola was an unconscious part of the great "humanist" movement.

Savonarola, John Knox, the Wesleys, Calvin, Luther, the Puritans,
Huguenots, Quakers, Shakers, Mennonites and Dunkards--all are one. The
scientist sees species under all the manifold manifestations of climate,
environment and local condition.

Florence was a republic, but it is only eternal vigilance that can keep
a republic a republic. The strong man who assumes the reins is
continually coming to the fore, and the people diplomatically handled
are quite willing to make him king, provided he continues to call
himself "Citizen."

Lorenzo de Medici ruled Florence, yet occupied no office, and assumed no
title. He dictated the policy of the government, filled all the offices,
and ministered the finances. Incidentally he was a punctilious
Churchman--obeying the formula--and the Church at Florence was within
his grasp no less than the police. The secret of this power lay in the
fact that he handled the "sinews of war"--no man ever yet succeeded
largely in a public way who was not a financier, or else one who owned a
man who was. Public power is a matter of money, wisely used.

To divert, amuse and please the people is a necessity to the ruler, for
power at the last is derived from the people, and no government endures
that is not founded on the consent of the governed. If you would rule
either a woman or a nation, you had better gain consent. To secure this
consent you must say "please."

The gladiatorial shows of Greece, the games, contests, displays, all the
barbaric splendor of processions, music, fetes, festivals, chants, robes
and fantastic folderol of Rome--ancient and modern--the boom of guns in
sham battles, coronations, thrones and crowns are all manifestations of
this great game of power.

The people are children, and must be pleased.

But eventually the people reach adolescence: knowledge comes to them (to
a few at least) and they perceive that they themselves foot all bills,
and pay in sweat and tears and blood for all this pomp of power.

They rise in their might, like a giant aroused from sleep, and the
threads that bound them are burst asunder. They themselves assume the
reins of government, and we have a republic.

And this republic endures until some republican, coming in the name of
the people, waxes powerful and evolves into a plutocrat who assumes the
reins, and the cycle goes its round and winds itself up on th