"Ah, the pity of it--the pity of it!" Fra Giulio had exclaimed. "They
should show mercy--he is still so young a man!"
"Ay, young enough to need much discipline," bravely muttered a friar
who dared to disbelieve in their prodigy.
"Silence!" commanded Father Gianmaria, who was now the Superior, in a
stentorian tone; for within these walls there was no appeal from his
judgment or his temper. "The man who speaks only what he _knows_ is old
in wisdom;" and turning he addressed the company in great dignity: "It
doth appear that Rome approveth Fra Paolo's rendering and hath gravely
censured the Inquisitor who hath cited him, commanding him to meddle
only with that of which he hath some understanding."
"There are then tale-bearers whose jealousy would ruin our Paolo!" Fra
Giulio had exclaimed in anxiety.
"It was none other than Fra Paolo himself who carried the tale," the
Superior retorted in scorn of the old man's weak affection. "Fra Paolo
refused to appear before the Inquisitor who had cited him, who, he
alleged, knew not Hebrew nor Greek, and had therefore no knowledge upon
which to base his judgment; and on this ground Fra Paolo appealed to
Rome.
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