young prelates, though
now admittedly a man of saintly ways, had been a very pretty fellow
himself in his lusty young days in Siena; we know that Roderigo's
uncle--the Calixtus to whom Pius II refers in that letter as of "blessed
memory"--had at least one acknowledged son.(2) We know that Piero and
Girolamo Riario, though styled by Pope Sixtus IV his "nephews," were
generally recognized to be his sons.(3) And we know that the numerous
bastards of Innocent VIII--Roderigo's immediate precursor on the
Pontifical Throne--were openly acknowledged by their father. We know, in
short, that it was the universal custom of the clergy to forget its vows
of celibacy, and to circumvent them by dispensing with the outward
form and sacrament of marriage; and we have it on the word of Pius II
himself, that "if there are good reasons for enjoining the celibacy of
the clergy, there are better and stronger for enjoining them to marry."

1 He was not ordained priest until 1471, after the election
of Sixtus IV.

2 Don Francisco de Borja, born at Valencia in 1441.

3 Macchiavelli, Istorie Fiorentine.

What more is there to say? If we must be scandalized, let us be
scandalized by the times rather than by the man. Upon what reasonable
grounds can we demand that he should be different from his fellows; and
if we find him no different, what right or reason have we for picking
him out and rendering him the object of unparalleled obloquy?

If we are to deal justly with Roderigo Borgia, we must admit that, in
so far as his concessions to his lusts are concerned, he was a typical
churchman of his day; neither more nor less--as will presently grow
abundantly clear.

It may be objected by some that had such been the case the Pope would
not have written him such a letter as is here cited. But consider a
moment the close relations existing between them. Roderigo was the
nephew of the late Pope; in a great measure Pius II owed his election,
as we have seen, to Roderigo's action in the Conclave. That his interest
in him apart from that was paternal and affectionate is shown in every
line of that letter. And consider further that Roderigo's companion
is shown by that letter to be equally guilty in so far as the acts
themselves are to be weighed, guilty in a greater degree when we
remember his seniority and his actual priesthood. Yet to Cardinal
Ammanati the Pope wrote no such admonition. Is not that sufficient proof
that hi