67-70.] At the close of this affair, so disgraceful to the Church and to his Order, Fra Paolo besought the Signory of Venice on his bended knees, as a return for services rendered by him to the State, that no public punishment should be inflicted on the culprits.

He could not bear, he said, to be the cause of bringing a blot of infamy upon his religion, or of ruining the career of any man.

Fra Giovanni Francesco afterwards redeemed his life by offering weighty evidence against his powerful accomplices.

But what he revealed is buried in the oblivion with which the Council of Ten in Venice chose to cover judicial acts of State-importance.
It is worth considering that in all the attempts upon Sarpi's life, priests, friars, and prelates of high place were the prime agents.[149] Poor devils like Poma and Parrasio lay ready to their hands as sanguinary instruments, which, after work performed, could be broken if occasion served.

What, then, was the religious reformation of which the Roman Court made ostentatious display when it secured its unexpected triumph in the Council of Trent?
[Footnote 148: _Vita di F.Paolo_, p.