In this strain he continued to exhort his hearers to charity, faith, and concord with such succeeding earnestness and fervor that he was exhausted and almost ill for several days after.  These sermons were less eloquent than some of the others, since he was too deeply moved for reflection or for studied effects; but the tenderness with which he spoke dominated and soothed the people, who, fresh from the tumults without, entered this place of peace to hear the words of the Gospel.  So magical was the power of Savonarola’s voice in those days that, in all this great stir of public excitement, not a single excess was committed, and the revolution that seemed on the point of being effected by violence on the Piazza was quietly and peacefully accomplished within the walls of the palace.  And this miracle, unprecedented in Florentine history, is unanimously attributed by the historians of the time to Savonarola’s beneficial ascendency over the minds of the people.

On November 4th, the seigniory called a special meeting of the Council of Seventy, in order to decide what course to adopt.  All the members were adherents and nominees of the Medici, but were so enraged by the cowardly surrender of the fortresses that they already had the air of a republican assembly.  According to the old Florentine law and custom, no one was allowed to speak unless invited to do so by the seigniory, and was then only expected to support the measures which they had proposed.  But in moments of public excitement neither this nor any other law was observed in Florence.  On this day there was great agitation in the council; the safety of the country was at stake; the seigniory asked everyone for advice, and all wished to speak.  Yet so much were men’s minds daunted by the long habit of slavery that when Messer Luca Corsini broke through the old rule, and, rising to his feet uninvited, began to remark that things were going badly, the city falling into a state of anarchy, and that some strong remedy was required, everyone felt amazed.  Some of his colleagues began to murmur, others to cough; and at last he began to falter and became so confused that he could not go on with his speech.

However, the debate was soon reopened by Jacopo di Tanai de’ Nerli, a youth of considerable spirit, who warmly seconded Corsini’s words; but he too presently began to hesitate, and his father, rising in great confusion, sought to excuse him in the eyes of the assembly by saying that he was young and foolish.

Lastly Piero di Gino Capponi rose to his feet.  With his finely proportioned form, white hair, fiery glance, and a certain air of buoyant courage like that of a war-horse at sound of trumpet, he attracted universal attention and reduced all to silence.  He was known to be a man of few but resolute words and of still more resolute deeds.  He now spoke plainly and said:  “Piero de’ Medici is no longer fit to rule the state; the republic must provide for itself; the moment has come to shake