dian spices and Greek books was often imported in the same vessel."* After governing Florence with great splendor for thirty years, Cosmo died, universally lamented, and his grateful countrymen inscribed on his tomb the well-deserved title of "Father of his Country." Lorenzo dé Medici, surnamed the Magnificent, was placed, at the early age of twenty-one, by the death of his father, Piero dé Medici, at the head of the government of Florence. Macaulay, in his article on Machiavelli, describes, in a few eloquent passages, the state of Italy at this period: "The admiration," he says, "of learning and genius became almost idolatry among the people of Italy. Kings and republics, cardinals and doges, vied with each other in honoring and flattering Petrarch. Knowledge and prosperity continued to advance together. Both attained their meridian in the age of Lorenzo the Magnificent. From the oppressions of illiterate masters, and the sufferings of a brutalized peasantry, it is delightful to turn to the opulent and enlightened states of Italy, to the vast and magnificent cities, the ports, the arsenals, the villas, the museums, the libraries. With peculiar pleasure every cultivated mind must repose on the fair, the happy, the glorious Florence,-on the halls which rang with the mirth of Pulci; the cell where twinkled the midnight lamp of Politian; the statues on which the young eye of Michael Angelo glared with the frenzy of a kindred inspiration; the gardens in which Lorenzo meditated some sparkling song for the May-day dance of the Etrurian virgins.+" For a whole century after the death of Petrarch, no poet, worthy of the name, had been known in Italy. But, during the last quarter of the fifteenth century, Lorenzo de Medici successfully used his influence, his power, and his genius, in restoring the Italian poetry to its pristine splendor. He was himself a poet and a patron of poets, a scholar and a friend of scholars. Under his wise and liberal government Florence became the garden of Italy, the happy seat of the arts and sciences, the academy of literature, the school of philosophy, the blooming bower of taste and refinement. It was his delight to retire from the fatigues of public business to a beautiful retreat in the vicinity of the city, where, in the congenial society of poets, philosophers, and painters, whom his Decline and Fall, vol. vi., p. 338. 1850. enlightened generosity had attracted, he passed the time in literary conversation, serene contemplation, and refined recreation. Leo X., the second son of Lorenzo dé Medici, was born at Florence, in the year 1475. Destined from his infancy for the church, he was educated with great care by the celebrated Politian, assisted by the ablest scholars of that age. The remarkable proficiency which he made in his studies, and the gravity of his deportment, entitled him at an early age to mingle as an equal in those meetings of men of genius and learning which frequently took place in the palace of the Medici. Associating so freely with these distinguished men, and residing under the eye of his father, who was considered an infallible judge in everything relating to literature and art, those seeds of knowledge and taste were planted which afterwards bore such ripe and rich fruit. At the age of fourteen, he was elevated to the dignity of cardinal, with the understanding that he should not assume the insignia of his rank, or be admitted as a member of the college, for the space of three years. On this occasion his friend and preceptor Politian addressed the following letter to the reigning pope, Innocent VIII.: "This young man is so formed by nature and education, that being inferior to none in genius, he neither yields to his equals in industry, nor his teachers in learning, nor old men in gravity. He is naturally honest; and so strictly educated that he never lets fall an immodest or even light expression. He does not distinguish himself by his action, gesture, or gait, or by anything else that may give an ill impression of him. Though a young man, his judgment is so matured that even the old respect him as a father. He sucked in piety and religion even with his nurse's milk, and prepared himself for the sacred office even from the cradle."* In the mean time, the young cardinal left Florence and repaired to Pisa, in order to pursue the studies of theology and ecclesiastical jurisprudence at the famous academy of that place, which Lorenzo had lately re-established with great splendor. Here he remained calmly pursuing his studies, under the direction of some of the most accomplished scholars of Europe, until the expected day at length arrived which was to admit him among the princes of the Christian church. At the time when the Cardinal dé Medici took his seat in the * Politiano, Let. V., Book 8. sacred college, it was filled by several men of conspicuous talents, but of wide diversity of character, some of whom afterwards played an important part in the affairs of Europe. The oldest member of the college was Roderigo Borgia, who afterwards became pope, taking the name of Alexander VI. Another member of the college was Francesco Piccolomini, nephew of Pius II. He was created cardinal by his uncle in the year 1460, when only seventeen years old. The exemplary purity of his life, and his zeal in discharging the duties of his office, caused him to be chosen by his colleagues to repair the evil which Alexander VI. had inflicted on the Christian world; but the short period of twenty-six days, during which he enjoyed the supreme dignity under the name of Pius III., defeated the happy hopes which had been formed on his election. Giuliano della Rovere was another eminent member of the sacred college at this time. His bold, active, and martial spirit seemed to mark him as a man better suited to wield the sword than the crozier. He succeeded Pius III. on the pontifical throne, under the name of Julius II. Italy had now been for several years the home of happiness and peace, which had introduced into that country an abundance, a luxury, a refinement, almost unexampled in the annals of mankind. Instead of contending for dominion and power, the sovereigns of that delightful region attempted to rival each other in taste, in splendor, and in elegant accomplishments. Their palaces became a kind of polite academy, in which noble ladies and gentlemen found a constant exercise for their intellectual talents; and courage, rank, and beauty did not hesitate to associate with taste, learning, and wit. Italy was at this time inhabited by the most polished people in Europe. All the polite arts and sciences were cultivated with an ardor and a success elsewhere unknown. Her colleges were the most famous in the world, and filled with the most learned professors which Europe could furnish. Crowds of enthusiastic youths thronged the academic halls, • Guicciardini, whom Macaulay calls the Tuscan Thucydides, gives the following just and splendid description of Italy at this period: "Ridotta tutta in somma pace e tranquillità, coltivata non meno né luoghi piu montuosi e piu sterile che nelli pianure e regioni piu fertile nè sotto porta ad altro imperio che de suoi medisimi, non solo era abbondantissima d'abitatori e di rechezze; ma illustrata sommamente dalla magnificenza, di molti principi, dallo splendore di molti nobilissimé e bellissime citta, dalla sedia e mæésta delle religione, fioriva d'udomini præstantissimi nell' amministrazione delle con pubblichi; e d'ingequé molto noboli in tutti le scienze, ed in quolunque arte preclara ed industrioza."-Guic., lib. 1. eager for the acquisition of knowledge. The Greek and Latin languages were assiduously studied, and, in some instances, written with an elegance and an ease which rivalled the most celebrated productions of the ancients. The ducal court of Milan was, at this period, the residence of several distinguished artists and scholars, who were attracted thither by the liberality of Lodovico Sforza, who then directed, in the name of his nephew, the government of that place. Among the artists, the celebrated Leonardo da Vinci occupied the most conspicuous place. He was a prodigy of versatility-being at once a poet, a painter, a musician, a sculptor, an architect, an engineer, a geometrician-in fact, there was no branch of science, art, or literature with which he was not familiar. His enchanting wit, splendid person, and elegant address made him one of the chief ornaments of the court of Milan. His conversation charmed all who approached him. Princes and peasants, philosophers and fools, were alike captivated by the variety of his acquirements. He possessed rare and opposite faculties of mind; an extraordinary memory, a rich imagination, a plastic will, a persevering industry, a remarkable capacity of invention, and an overruling reason holding all these various gifts in perfect control. He was not one of those modest men of merit who hide their light under a bushel. He was completely convinced of his talents, and did not hesitate to let the world know it. He once wrote a letter to the Duke of Milan, in which he speaks of his abilities as a civil and military engineer and architect, adding: "Furthermore, I can execute works in sculpture, marble, bronze, or terra-cotta. In painting, also, I can do what may be done as well as any other, be he who he may." This great painter had no political preferences; he attached himself with equal facility to the Duke of Milan and Francis I. his enemy: he served with the same pleasure the court of Rome, the republic of Florence, and the princes of Europe. Leonardo's masterpiece is his Last Supper, in the refectory of the Dominican convent at Milan. The artist has seized the moment when the Divine Redeemer announced to the assembled apostles the astounding intelligence that one of them is about to betray him. With admirable skill he has succeeded in expressing the doubts and anxiety experienced by the apostles, and their earnest desire to know by which of them their Lord and Master is to be betrayed. In their different faces appear love, terror, anger, grief, and bewilderment. The head of the Man-God is perhaps the most sublime achievement of Christian art; the ineffable sweetness and majesty of that august face could only have been conceived by a soul often. immersed in heavenly contemplation. So completely did this glorious painting engross the attention of the artist, that he sometimes remained from morning until night with. out tasting food. Francis I. was so much pleased with this splendid work of art that he wished to have it removed to France, but that being impracticable, he invited the artist to visit the French court, where he was received with distinguished favor, and, after residing there for several years, died at last in the arms of his royal patron. This happy state of tranquillity was not destined to continue, and in a few years this lovely land of poetry and art had to endure all the horrors of ruthless war. On her fair plains the kings of France and Spain contended for the possession of Naples and Milan; the peaceful academies of learning were invaded; the students were dispersed; art languished; literature was in danger of being neglected; the iron age seemed about to be revived in Italy. One of the most prominent characters during this period of Italian history was the famous, or rather infamous, Cæsar Borgia. This extraordinary man was the son of Alexander VI. He was quietly pursuing his studies when his father was elevated to the tiara. He hastened to Rome to congratulate his father upon his new dignity, and was created a cardinal. But the quiet life of a churchman did not satisfy the restless ambition of Cæsar Borgia, and he soon abandoned it for the more active life of a soldier. There was no crime too monstrous, there was no undertaking too bold, for this consummate villain. He was one of the most cultivated men of his age, and affected to patronize men of learning and genius; he was gifted with an eloquence which few could resist; under his soft, silken manners he concealed the cunning of the serpent and the ferocity of the tiger; when unsuccessful in arms he resorted to artifice, of which he was an accomplished master. The darling object of his ambition was to establish a kingdom for himself upon the ruins of the Italian states. Several princes of Italy opposed him. By a masterpiece of dissimulation he succeeded in getting them into his power, and soon after caused them to be put to death. Macaulay * pro • Essays, Art. Machiavelli, p. 30. 1861. |