CHAP. VIII.
Whilst the pontiff was guarding his interests in Italy, the council of Basil was studiously employed in driving him to extremity. The decrees of that assembly, whereby the payment of annates into the pontifical treasury was prohibited, and the positive restrictions which it had imposed upon the head of the church in the distribution of the temporal powers and honours attached to the holy see, compelled Eugenius to adopt decisive measures. Setting the council at defiance, he continued to levy the taxes upon ecclesiastical promotions, which had been so expressly condemned as simoniacal, and deprived of their benefices all those who, in compliance with its requisitions, refused to pay the sums which he demanded as his due. In the continuance of his nearest relatives in places of power and trust, he evinced a similar contempt of the ordinances of the synod. Irritated by these acts of contumacy, the assembled fathers, on the thirty-first day of July, 1437, formally impeached the pontiff as obstinately impeding the desired reformation of the church—as violating the ecclesiastical constitutions—as guilty of the scandalous offence of selling benefices to the highest bidder, and bestowing them on unworthy candidates, in compliance with the desire of powerful men. After reciting these and various otherheads of accusation against him, they summoned Eugenius to appear and answer for himself within the space of sixty days, under pain of incurring such penalties as the council, in case of his refusing to comply with its requisitions, should think fit to impose upon him.[291]
Far from being intimidated by these menaces, Eugenius, in full consistory held at Bologna, issued a bull, whereby he transferred the council from Basil to Florence. On the twenty-sixth day of September, the fathers of Basil, by a formal act, declared this proceeding of the pontiff null and void;[292]and on the first of October they again summoned Eugenius to appear and plead to the charges which had been exhibited against him; and on his failing to appear, either in person or by proxy, they pronounced him contumacious, and unanimously decreed that he should be proceeded against accordingly.[293]The pontiff having issued a second bull, summoning the representatives of the Christian community to Ferrara, for the purpose of effecting an union between the Latin and the Greek churches, the council, on the twelfth of October, prohibited all ecclesiastics, under pain of excommunication, from yielding obedience to the mandate of their spiritual sovereign.[294]
In the prosecution of these violent measures, the council was encouraged by Alfonso of Arragon. This prince was highly incensed against Eugenius, who had not only refused to bestow upon him the investiture of the kingdom of Naples, but had supported the claim of his competitor, the duke of Anjou, by sending Vitelleschi to his assistance at the head of a considerable army. Though the warlike patriarch did not conduct this expedition with his wonted success, the pontiff had, by thus imprudently interfering in the affairs of the kingdom of Naples, given great offence to the Arragonese monarch, who was naturally impelled to countenance the proceedings of an assembly which was labouring to repress the power of his adversary.[295]
The intrigues of Alfonso did not, however, deter Eugenius from maintaining his spiritual authority. On the eighth day of January, 1438, the council of Ferrara was, according to the tenor of his bull, opened with the customary solemnities.[296]When a sufficient number of the ecclesiastics were assembled to give dignity and authority to the proceedings of this new synod, he left Bologna, and repaired in person to Ferrara, at which city he arrived on the twenty-seventh day of January.[297]
The reconciliation of the Latin and Greek churches had, for many centuries, been a subject of earnest desireto the zealous advocates for an uniformity of faith amongst Christians. Whilst the Greeks possessed the shadow of independence, their acuteness in disputation was by no means inferior to the polemic ability of their antagonists; and they strenuously persisted in maintaining the dogmas in which they differed from the creed of their Latin brethren. But terror frequently produces docility. The emperor John Palæologus II. alarmed by the growing power of the Turks, which threatened his dominions with devastation and ruin, was induced to hope, that if he could by a personal conference accommodate his religious differences with the representatives of the Latin church, the European powers might be persuaded to lend him effectual assistance against the hostile attacks of the common enemy of the Christian name. When the members of the council of Basil were apprised of the conciliatory disposition of the Grecian monarch, they immediately issued a decree, whereby they engaged to pay the expenses which he should incur on his voyage to Italy, and during his residence in that country; and moreover undertook to maintain seven hundred persons of his retinue, including the ecclesiastics whom he might select to participate in their deliberations.[298]When Eugenius had determined to hold a counter synod at Ferrara, he was well aware that the Greeks would add considerable weight to the assembly which they should resolve to countenance by their presence. He accordingly sent a sufficient number of galleys to transport Palæologus and his attendants, and, at the same time, transmitted tothe Grecian monarch a considerable sum of money to enable him to make his appearance in Italy with a degree of splendour suitable to his exalted station. Palæologus, from the prejudices of royalty more disposed to accept the invitation of the sovereign pontiff than that of an ecclesiastical senate, embarked in the papal galleys, and arrived on the eighth day of February, 1438, at Venice, where he was received with the most flattering testimonies of respect. On the fourth of March ensuing, he made his public entry into Ferrara.[299]The ceremonials used upon this occasion were wisely adapted to flatter the pride of the emperor, and to dissipate the jealousy which he might be presumed to entertain of the pretensions of the bishop of Rome. When he arrived at the pontifical residence, Eugenius advanced to meet him at the door of his apartment, declined receiving from him any mark of distinctive homage, and conducted him to a seat on his left hand. The same discretion was manifested in settling the arrangements of the council, where the Greek ecclesiastics were received with all due honour and respect. The proceedings of that assembly were by no means rapid. After the first session, it entered upon no public acts for the space of six months. At the end of that time, the plague having made its appearance at Ferrara, and the near approach of the pontiff’s inveterate enemy Piccinino, who had taken the cities of Bologna, Imola, and Ravenna,[300]exciting the fears of its leading members, Eugenius transferred theorthodox synod to Florence, at which city he arrived on the 24th day of January, 1439. His departure from Ferrara was so precipitate, that it might justly be denominated a flight; and in order to avoid the soldiers of Piccinino, he was compelled to take a circuitous route by Modena, and through the passes of the Pistoian mountains. He was soon followed by Palæologus and the deputies of the Greek church, together with the other members of the council.[301]Nothing of importance occurred in the deliberations of that assembly till the sixth day of July.[302]On this memorable day, the great work of the union of the Latin and Greek churches was in appearance completed, by the assent of the Grecian deputies to a decree, whereby the disputed points, the discussion of which had for so long a space of time excited discord between the two grand divisions of the Christian community, were decided by the concurrence of the highest authorities. The points in question were, 1st. Whether leavened or unleavened bread should be used in the communion of the body of Christ. 2nd. Whether the souls who dwelt in purgatory were purified by elemental fire. 3rd. Whether the bishop of Rome was the supreme head of the church: and 4th. Whether the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father and the Son, or from the Father only. On the three first of these questions the Greeks assented without any pertinacity of opposition to the dogmas of their Latin brethren. The fourth afforded matter of acute and lengthened disputation, and the subjugationof the prejudices of the learned ecclesiastics of Constantinople called forth not only the polemic skill of the most irrefragable doctors of the Latin church, but also the political talents of the ablest negotiators of the Roman court. Vanquished by intrigue rather than by argument, persuaded rather than convinced, the attendants of Palæologus, with the exception of two obstinate theologians, at length concurred in the decree which announced to the Christian world, that the wordfilioquewas legally inserted in the Nicene creed, that there is a purgatory of fire, and that the body of Christ is to be made of unleavened bread.[303]This decree having been solemnly promulgated, the Greeks quitted Florence on the 26th day of August, and returned to Constantinople.
Whilst the council was sitting at Ferrara, the cause of decency and morality was vindicated by the passing of a solemn censure upon a collection of epigrams entitled Hermaphroditus, which was ignominiously consigned to the flames in the most public part of the city. The author of this publication, which exceeds the grossest effusions of heathenism in the rankness of obscenity, was Antonio Beccatelli, a native of Palermo, from which circumstance he is commonly distinguished by the appellation of Panormita. Beccatelli was born in the year 1394, of an ancient and honourable family.[304]When he had finished his studies in the university of Pavia, he entered into the service ofFilippo Maria, duke of Milan, who studied history under his instructions, for which he liberally requited him, by the payment of an annual stipend of eight hundred crowns of gold.[305]Being wearied by the distractions occasioned by the frequent wars which disturbed the peace of Lombardy, Beccatelli quitted Milan some time between the years 1432 and 1436, with the intention of residing in his native city. He did not, however, long continue in retirement; for the fame of his wit and learning having reached Alfonso, king of Naples, that liberal prince invited him to his court, bestowed upon him the honourable office of private secretary, and treated him with the most distinguished regard. He continued to occupy stations of the highest eminence under Alfonso and his successors till the time of his death, which event took place on the 6th of January, 1471.[306]
The Hermaphroditus of Beccatelli is dedicated to Cosmo de’ Medici. A copy of this work was communicated to Poggio, who was so much scandalized by its obscenity, that he wrote to Beccatelli a friendly letter, in which he highly commended the elegance of his style, but exhorted him to be in future more delicate in the choice of his subjects. “I am bound,” said he, “by the obligation of mutual affection, which is imposed upon us all, to admonish you to turn your attention to graver topics.
“The licence which is allowed to youth may bepleaded in excuse of the indelicacy of your late publication, and you can indeed allege in your defence the example of Virgil, and of other writers. But it is now incumbent upon you to have done with lasciviousness, and to apply yourself to severer studies, lest your moral character should be estimated by the impurity of your writings. You know, that we who profess ourselves Christians cannot claim the same indulgences as those who were ignorant of their duty. But I am in all probability teaching one who is wiser then myself. I am persuaded, that on this subject you agree with me in opinion.”[307]
To this salutary admonition Beccatelli replied in a long epistle, in which he endeavoured to extenuate his fault, by quoting as precedents the occasional pruriences of composition of a long list of ancient poets and philosophers. He also attempted to vindicate himself by a few sophistical arguments.[308]His reasoning was easily confuted by Poggio, who in a second letter examined with laudable acuteness his precedents and arguments, and fully demonstrated their insufficiency to vindicate the licentiousness of imagery which disgusted every modest reader, whose eyes happened to glance upon the impure pages of the Hermaphroditus.[309]
Whilst Eugenius was thus employed in subduing the heresy of the east, he laboured under the high displeasure of the synod of Basil. After a repetition of the various processes which had been issued against him when he first refused to acknowledge their authority, the rebellious fathers proceeded on the twenty-fifth of June, 1439, to depose him from his pontifical honours. In the act of deposition which they passed against him, they impeached him of contumacy and disobedience to the commands of the church—they declared that he was a violator of the canons, a disturber of unity, guilty of simony and perjury. They furthermore denounced him as an incorrigible schismatic and heretic, and a destroyer of the rights andpossessions of the church.[310]On the fifth of November, 1439, they filled up the measure of their offences by electing Amedeus, duke of Savoy, to the pontifical chair.[311]Amedeus, wearied by the cares of government, had lately resigned the ducal sceptre to his eldest son, and had withdrawn to the hermitage of Ripaille, a tranquil spot delightfully situated on the southern side of the lake of Geneva, where he proposed to dedicate the remainder of his days to devout meditation and prayer. When the intelligence of his election to the pontificate was announced to him, he lamented the severity of his destiny, which summoned him again to mingle in the cares and temptations of a wicked world: but either seduced by the charms of pontifical authority, or regarding the voice of the representatives of the Christian community as the voice of God, he repaired to Basil, where the ceremony of his coronation was performed with studied magnificence, on the twenty-fourth of July, 1440.[312]
In the course of this contest between the councils of Ferrara and of Basil, Eugenius derived considerable assistance from the advice and support of Cardinal Julian, who, being at length convinced by experience of the numerousevils arising from the precipitancy of the German synod, of the probable occurrence of which he had been forewarned by Poggio, had withdrawn from Basil, and by timely submission had easily made his peace with his offended master.[313]The conversion of Julian was promoted by the assiduous endeavours of Ambrogio Traversari. Before his accession to the pontifical throne, Eugenius had honourably distinguished this learned ecclesiastic by his friendship, and he did not forget him in the hour of his exaltation. The general of the order of Camaldoli, who was impeached of various evil practices, having resigned his office, Ambrogio was, by the influence of the pontiff, appointed to succeed him on the 26th day of October, 1431.[314]Inspired with gratitude for this act of friendship, he readily undertook the office of watching over the interests of his benefactor at the council of Basil, which he was deputed to attend, as the representative of the city of Florence.[315]In combating the enemies of the pontiff in that seditious, but enlightened assembly, he manifested a high degree both of spirit and ability. His residence at Basil was however but of short duration. Before the expiration of three months after his arrival in that city, he was despatched by Eugenius into Germany, with instructions to use his utmost endeavours to detach the emperor Sigismund from the interests of the council. Having executed this important commission with more fidelity than success, in the spring of the year 1436he returned to Florence, where he strove to forget the intrigues of courts and synods in the discharge of the duties of his office, and in the resumption of his studies. In the year 1438, he was again summoned from retirement, to engage in the violence of theological disputation. The pontiff having had sufficient experience of his skill in conducting affairs of the greatest moment, delegated to him the important office of opening the council of Ferrara.[316]In the minute and delicate discussions of doctrinal points which took place in this assembly he bore a distinguished part. On this occasion he signalized his knowledge of the Greek language, by frequently acting as interpreter between the respective representatives of the eastern and western churches;[317]and it has been asserted, that his skill in intrigue was not less conducive than his acuteness in disputation to the settlement of the doctrine of the double procession.[318]Ambrogio did not long survive the accomplishment of this pious work. When the reconciliation of the Greek and Latin churches had been effected, he once more retired to the tranquillity of his monastery, where he died on the 20th of November, 1439. His remains were first deposited in the abbey of St. Salvadore in Camaldoli, and were afterwards transferred to a religious retreat belonging to his order, situated in the district of Casentino. The writings of more than one of his contemporaries make mention of a common report, that lilies grew upon his grave inthe depth of winter, and that when these miraculous flowers were with pious wonder gathered by his surviving brethren, their place was immediately supplied by the production of successive harvests.[319]Though the testimony of these witnesses may, in an age of scepticism, be deemed insufficient to establish the belief of this marvellous tale, the circulation of such a report evinces the celebrity of Ambrogio’s fame, and the opinion which was generally entertained of the extraordinary sanctity of his life.
Ambrogio Traversari is justly regarded as one of the literary luminaries of his age. His knowledge was various and profound. He was well versed in the Hebrew scriptures. It has been before observed, that the conferences which took place between the deputies of the Latin and Greek churches in the council of Ferrara, gave him an opportunity of displaying the uncommon proficiency which he had made in the Grecian language. Rendering his literary acquirements subservient to the duties of his profession, he dedicated a considerable portion of his time to the translation of the Greek fathers. Diogenes Laertius is the only profane author whose works he illustrated by aLatin version. His style is flowing, but so unpolished, that he seems to have fallen into the erroneous opinion, that an attention to the elegancies of composition is unbecoming those who are dedicated to sacred offices. His manners appear to have been simple, and his dispositions benevolent. With his learned contemporaries he maintained an extensive correspondence. A large collection of his letters was published by P. Martene in the third volume of his Ancient Monuments. This collection was afterwards republished, with several additions, by P. Canetti; and lastly, the Abate Mehus, in two splendid folio volumes, printed at Florence in the year 1759, has favoured the public with a very correct impression of Ambrogio’s epistles and orations, to which he has prefixed a most elaborate history of his life, and of the revival of literature in Florence. These epistles, and the Hodœporicon, or journal kept by Traversari of the observations which he made in the course of several journeys which he took to various parts of Italy, after his elevation to the generalship of his order, afford much curious information concerning the manners and customs of the times in which he lived.
With Poggio, Ambrogio maintained the most familiar intimacy. The friendship of these industrious revivers of literature originated in the community of their studies, and was confirmed by mutual acts of good will. But the jealousy with which Poggio regarded the whole body of monks led him to suspect, that Ambrogio, after his advancement to the generalship of his order, divested himself of that simplicity and singleness of heart which may be reasonably expectedfrom those who make a profession of extraordinary sanctity, and that he disguised the selfishness of ambition in the garb of pretended humility.[320]This suspicion, however, he advanced with becoming doubt; and perhaps justice to Ambrogio might trace its origin to that superior gravity which he might think it incumbent upon himself to assume, when he was called to fill offices of high dignity, and which might sometimes restrain that familiarity with which he was accustomed to converse with Poggio and his other friends, when he dwelt, in cloistered seclusion, a simple monk of Camaldoli.
Whilst Ambrogio was employed at Ferrara in the correction of creeds, and the conversion of heretics, Poggio was occupied by domestic cares in the retirement of his Tuscan villa. In the year 1438 his wife presented him with a son, to whom he gave the name of Pietro Paulo. Amongst the number of his friends who congratulated him on this event was Cincio, one of the apostolic secretaries, a descendant of the noble Roman family of Rustica.[321]Monsieur L’Enfant has published the letter which Cincio wrote on this occasion, wherein he intimates to Poggio his firm persuasion, that this child, being the offspring of a man of consummate learning, and of a mother descended from an honourable family, will be naturally inclined to every thing excellent and praise-worthy. In the prospectof his being educated at Florence, also, he finds a presage of his future attainments in knowledge and in virtue. Anxious for the welfare of an infant born under such happy auspices, he admonishes his friend, that should any consideration induce him to prohibit Vaggia from performing the first duty of a mother, it would be incumbent upon him to be fastidiously careful in the choice of a nurse. “Let her be,” says he, “a woman of a robust constitution, of good complexion, as well as of a good disposition, and also of ingenuous manners; for nurses have a wonderful influence in forming the habits of children.” He then exhorts Poggio assiduously to watch over the progress of his son’s understanding, and to inculcate upon him lessons of the strictest temperance. After having enlarged upon these topics, he concludes in the following terms:—“Lastly, I must inform you, that your presence is very earnestly desired in the Roman court. Come, then, and we will celebrate the birth of your son in a friendly festival. You shall be the master of the feast, and you shall have the honour of entertaining as your guests a number of Latin and Greek philosophers. We will converse upon a variety of topics, particularly upon the nature of pleasure. The exquisiteness of the dishes, and the excellence of the wine, will ensure the alluring goddess abundance of advocates. Even I, who have just been vilifying her, as not to be tolerated in human society, may possibly on this occasion once more enter into her good graces.”[322]In reply to this friendlyepistle, Poggio assured Cincio that in the choice of a nurse for his infant son, he had paid due regard to the qualities enumerated by him, and that he would spare no pains in his education; but at the same time, in opposition to the opinion of his correspondent, he maintained by many arguments, and by examples of great weight, that education is of little avail in the formation of character, independently of a naturally good disposition of mind.[323]
During the time when the domestic concerns of Poggio caused him to be absent from the pontifical court, the list of his correspondents was enlarged by the name of a sovereign prince, who occupied the foremost rank amongst the potentates of Italy, namely Filippo Maria, duke of Milan. This restless chieftain had in the year 1436 renewed hostilities against the Florentines, in contempt of the pacification which had been concluded at Ferrara, only three years before that period. This war was not, however, of long duration. The Florentines, being dissatisfied with the conduct of the Venetians, their allies, concluded a separate peace with the duke on very advantageous terms, in the year 1438.
The alliance between the Florentines and the Venetians had always been a most formidable obstacle to the ambitious projects of Filippo, and he had nothing more at heart than to create a jealousy between those two republics. It was probably with a view of engaging the party ofthe Medici in his interest, that soon after the conclusion of the above-mentioned peace, he addressed to Poggio a long epistle, in which he artfully attempted to gratify his well known enthusiastic love of his native country, by a studied eulogium on the Florentine state, and also endeavoured to conciliate his favour, by assuring him that he had always entertained the highest respect for his personal qualities and his literary attainments. It appears from the commencement of Filippo’s letter, that some persons having stigmatized the Florentines as a short-sighted people, Poggio had remarked that the duke of Milan was well qualified to prove the contrary.[324]The duke, affecting not to be sensible of the sarcasm couched in this observation, professed to be greatly flattered by the high opinion which Poggio appeared to entertain of his talents; and commending the zeal which he manifested in defending the reputation of his country, declared, that so far from finding the Florentines short-sighted, he had always witnessed their skill, their prudence, and their sagacity. The valour of the Tuscans, he observed, his ancestors had experienced to their cost. Nor was he himself insensible of the power of their arms, or of the wisdom of their councils. In the late war they had soskilfully and courageously frustrated his hostile attempts, that they had proved themselves truly worthy of the blessings of freedom. Nor were the Florentines less accomplished in the arts of peace than in those of war. Their moderation was universally acknowledged. By their patronage of the liberal sciences they had acquired an honourable distinction amongst the states of Italy. A people of this character, Filippo observed, he could not but esteem and love; and he protested that he would henceforth be as assiduous in cultivating their friendship, as he had lately been active in troubling their repose. He advised Poggio to treat the malevolent speeches of calumniators with contempt; and at the close of his epistle, he assured him that he would always be ready to exert his power and abilities to promote the welfare of the Tuscan republic.
In his answer to this extraordinary letter, Poggio expressed the grateful sense which he entertained of the polite condescension manifested by the duke, in thus honouring a private and obscure individual with his unsolicited correspondence. He assured Filippo that he was highly gratified by the flattering terms in which he had complimented him on his literary attainments, but yet more by the eulogium which he had pronounced upon the city of Florence, and by the pledge which he had given of his friendship for the Tuscan state. He then expressed his hope, and indeed his confidence, that the pacific professions of the duke would not be found fallacious, but that his actions would prove the sincerity ofhis declarations. Proceeding to remind him of different conjunctures in which the Florentines had testified their good will towards him, he observed to his illustrious correspondent, that whenever the administrators of the Tuscan republic had engaged in hostilities against him, they had not been prompted to take up arms by the ambitious hope of extending their territories, but by a determination to defend their liberties. “And if,” said he, “liberty ought to be dear to any people, it ought to be dear to the Florentines; for freedom is the very essence of our constitution. We are not ruled by the arbitrary will of an individual, nor by a faction of nobles. The mass of the people enjoy an equality of rights, and the way to civic honours is open to all. Hence it happens, that the high and the low, the noble and the ignoble, the rich and the poor, unite in the defence of their common freedom, and that in so glorious a cause they spare no expense, shrink from no labour, and dread no danger.” Poggio then proceeded to express his persuasion, that in the wars in which the duke had engaged against the Florentine state, he had imagined that he was fighting in defence of his honour and glory; for it was not to be supposed, that so generous a prince could for a moment entertain the unworthy desire to oppress a republic, whose power and splendour, the consequences of its free constitution, were the pride of Italy. Nothing, he assured the duke, could be more grateful to his feelings, than the friendly dispositions towards his countrymen announced in his letter, which he fondly regardedas the herald of a lasting peace. “Peace,” said he, “I must always regard as preferable to war—provided it be not the cloak of insidious stratagem. You see,” continued Poggio, “that your condescension encourages me to express my sentiments with the utmost freedom. At the same time do not imagine that I mean to insinuate any doubt of your sincerity. I am confident that your well known wisdom will prompt you to lay the foundations of a firm and lasting friendship, which will be mutually advantageous to yourself and to the Florentine state. Let this be your conduct, and you will find me a joyful herald of your praise; and inconsiderable as my talents may be, my efforts will be the means of exciting others, whose abilities will do ample justice to your merits.”[325]
If it was the intention of the duke of Milan, by thus honouring Poggio with the offer of his friendship, to make an experiment upon his vanity, the tenor of the foregoing answer to his condescending epistle must have convinced him that his experiment had entirely failed. Divesting himself of the humility of the papal secretary, Poggio addressed his illustrious correspondent with the firm ingenuousness of a citizen of a free state. He pleaded the cause of his country with all the energy of liberty; and though he prudently smoothed the harshness of distrust by the polish of urbanity, the penetration of Filippowould easily discern, that he was far from giving implicit credit to his professions of friendship for the Florentine republic.
Whatever might be the views of the duke in this affair, not many months had elapsed after the occurrence of this interchange of suspicious civility, before he found that the privileged walls of the palace of Milan could not protect a literary delinquent from the rage of scholastic vengeance; and that the interposition of his patronage could not deter Poggio from reiterating his attacks upon Francesco Filelfo. It has been already related, that this wandering professor, when he was compelled to fly from Florence, withdrew to Siena, where he arrived early in the year 1435. In this city he commenced a series of lectures on rhetoric, for which he was remunerated by the payment of an annual salary of three hundred and fifty gold crowns.[326]His literary labours were however disturbed by the apprehensions which he entertained of the machinations of his adversaries. But his fears for his personal safety did not restrain the intemperance of his pen. On the thirteenth of August, 1437, he transmitted to one of his friends, named Pietro Pierleoni, a new satire against Poggio and Cosmo de’ Medici. Soon after the publication of this satire, he visited the baths of Petriolæ, where he had not long resided before he received a letter from Siena, informing him that a man of a very suspicious appearance had been making minuteinquiries into his present situation and habits of life. On the receipt of this letter Filelfo returned to Siena, where he soon recognized in the person in question, the ruffian who had formerly made an attack upon him in the streets of Florence. He immediately gave the necessary information to the captain of the city guard. This officer without loss of time apprehended the villain, from whom, according to the barbarous practice of the times, he endeavoured to extract a declaration of the object of his visit to Siena by the pains of the rack. By this uncertain mode of investigation, the prisoner was compelled to confess, that he came to that city for the purpose of assassinating Filelfo. The captain of the guard did not deem it necessary to inquire whether any person had suborned him to perpetrate so execrable a deed; but the ready conjecture of Filelfo fixed upon the Medici an imputation, which a direct interrogatory ably introduced on a new distension of his sinews, would have induced the wretched Filippo to confirm by a judicial declaration. An acknowledgment of guilt having been thus extorted from the culprit, the captain of the guard proceeded to condemn him to pay a fine of five hundred pounds of silver. Filelfo, not satisfied with this penalty, appealed to the governor of the city, who proceeding upon his recorded confession, punished the offender by cutting off his right hand. Nothing indeed but the earnest request of Filelfo would have prevented the chief magistrate from dooming the wretch to the punishment of death. Filelfo was not, however, prompted by any emotions of compassion to desire that the life of theassassin might be prolonged. “I interfered to prevent his execution,” said he, in a letter to Æneas Sylvius, “because I wished that he should live mutilated and disgraced, rather than that he should be freed by a speedy death from the anguish of a suffering mind. For as it is the duty of a man of a magnanimous spirit to forgive slight offences, so justice and prudence require us to inflict vengeance on a common enemy of the human race.”[327]Filelfo was so much alarmed by the appearance of the Tuscan bravo, that he did not deem himself secure in the precincts of Siena. He accordingly returned from thence to Bologna.[328]After a short residence in that place, in the month of May, 1439, he repaired to Milan, to which city he was attracted by the munificence of the duke.[329]Encouraged by the protection of this powerful patron, he exulted in his security, and proudly bade defiance to his enemies. Mistaking the emotions of wrath for the inspiration of the muse, he poured forth torrent after torrent of abusive verses. Ringing over and over again the changes of virulent scurrility, he renewed his attack upon the person and reputation of Poggio. The vengeance of Poggio was not long dormant. He moved to the combat with the cumbrous artillery of a long invective, in which he continued his invidious strictures on the life and conversation of his adversary. Adverting in the beginning of this composition to thescandalous imputations which had been aimed at him by Filelfo, he thus compared his own history with that of his antagonist. “Of myself I shall only say, that in consequence of these crimes which you impute to me, I have lived with honour and dignity in the service of seven successive pontiffs, from whom I have experienced the most satisfactory proofs of their kind regard; whilst you, adorned as you represent yourself to be with virtues, have been wandering about like a Scythian flying from city to city; oppressed with poverty, continually reduced to the necessity of suing for foreign aid, never able to retain a fixed habitation for any length of time; but, like a harpy, spreading such a foul contagion wherever you come, that they who afforded you an asylum were soon compelled to banish you.”[330]—Upbraiding his antagonist with the obscurity of his origin, Poggio affirmed that he was the offspring of an adulterous intercourse between a parish priest and the wife of a rustic, whose hands, he said, were so rough with continual labour, that he was accustomed to use them instead of a curry comb in dressing his horses.[331]Tracing the course of Filelfo’s early life, he noticed his residence in Padua, and his visit to Venice and Constantinople, from all which places he affirmed that he was driven by the infamy of his vices. Narrating his transactions after his return to Italy, he charged him with fraudulently retaining certain books, in payment for which he had received sumsof money from Leonardo Giustiniano and Guarino Veronese. He also enumerated many more instances of his alleged dishonesty. Amongst other imputations of this nature, he asserted, that Filelfo, being once admitted into Leonardo Aretino’s library, took advantage of the absence of his host to steal a box of gold rings. He reminded him of the precipitancy of his flight from Florence, and affirmed that he left Siena in disgrace, and fled to Milan in circumstances of the utmost distress. Having exhausted all the topics of obloquy which suggested themselves to his fertile imagination, Poggio concluded his invective with the following peroration. “Since you are conscious that these things are true, I wonder that you do not withdraw from the light, and fly from the aspect of men into some distant solitudes, where the villany of Filelfo is unknown. But your mind, delighting in wickedness and blinded by passion, your obscene manners, your abandoned life, your secret vices, hurry you headlong to your fate, drive you onward by the instigation of the furies, prevent you from profiting by wholesome counsel, and render you insensible of the distinction between right and wrong. As Hercules traversed the world to benefit mankind by his labours, so you have visited every country and climate to disgust them by your vices. Whither would you betake yourself should you be deprived of the countenance of your present patron? You have now wandered like a common mendicant through every district of Italy. What will you do if your present resources fail you? Whose assistance will you implore? To whose protection will you commend yourself? I know what youwill do. You will enlist into some army; and, such is your ambition, you will have the vanity to aspire to the chief command. But you will make your exit at the gallows—an exit well befitting a man of your vicious character. For when your patron shall perceive that he does not obtain praise, but ignominy from your ridiculous writings his sentiments will be changed, and he will drag you from your obscene retreat, and inflict upon you the punishment due to your crimes.”[332]
The exhibition of a few specimens of the virulence which distinguished the hostility of these learned gladiators is perhaps necessary to give a true idea of the character of the combatants, and of the times in which they lived. It may also be subservient to another useful purpose. The odious nature of vice, as well as the beauty of virtue, is most strikingly demonstrated by examples; and perhaps nothing will tend more to convince men of the folly of evil speaking, lying, and slandering, than the perusal of the invectives of Poggio, and the satires of Filelfo.
Poggio did not, however, waste the whole of the leisure time which he enjoyed in the retirement of his Tuscan villa, in the disgraceful occupation of bestowing a literary garb on the grossest abuse. At the commencement of the year 1440 he published his dialogue on Nobility, a work which greatly increased his reputation by the luminousness of its method, the elegance of its diction, and the learnedreferences with which it was interspersed. In a short prefatory address, by which he dedicated this dialogue to Gerardo Landriani, bishop of Como, he observed, that it was a remarkable circumstance, that this subject, which opened so wide a field for discussion, had been in a manner neglected by the learned. He professed his conviction of his own inability to do justice to it, but expressed his hopes that his example might induce scholars of more brilliant talents to correct his errors, and to supply his deficiencies.
The interlocutors of this dialogue are Niccolo Niccoli and Lorenzo de’ Medici, the brother of Cosmo. The scene of the conversation is laid in the villa of Poggio, which these lovers of the fine arts had visited for the purpose of inspecting some ancient statues which had been lately conveyed thither from Rome. The sight of these statues arranged in the garden of Poggio’s rural retreat reminds Lorenzo of the manners of the ancient Romans, who, he observes, were accustomed to adorn the halls of their palaces with the effigies of their ancestors, the lustre of whose nobility they imagined reflected honour on themselves. This remark draws from Niccolo a declaration of his opinion, that in founding their fame on the glory of their progenitors, they were greatly deceived, as the seat of true nobility is the mind. Lorenzo, granting the position, that virtue is a source of nobility, affirms that this honour may also be acquired by the ornaments of wealth and dignity. In proof of his assertion, he enlarges on the meaning of the wordnobilis, shewing, by various quotations from Latin authors, that it is used to signify ingeneral the quality of being remarkable, without any reference to the cause of notoriety. He moreover observes, that the common opinion of men attaches the idea of nobility to eminence of station, splendour of birth, and other adventitious circumstances of a similar nature. Niccolo, replying to this observation, that if the opinion of the vulgar is to be regarded, their ideas are so various upon the subject, that no certain criterion can be derived from them, is desired to enumerate the characteristics of nobility which occur in different countries. In compliance with this request, he thus describes the nobles of his native land. “To begin with the Italians, who have disseminated amongst other nations the arts which adorn human life, what a difference there subsists between the nobility of Naples, of Venice, and of Rome. The Neapolitans, who pride themselves on their patrician dignity, seem to imagine, that nobility consists in the indulgence of idleness and sloth; for they enter into no active pursuits, but live in indolence upon the revenues of their estates. They deem it unbecoming a nobleman to attend to agriculture, or to take any cognizance of the state of his affairs. They spend their time in loitering in the halls of their palaces, or in equestrian exercises. However bad a man’s moral character may be, or however mean his talents, if he be descended from an ancient family, he a ranks amongst the nobility. As to merchandize, they regard it with contempt; and so ridiculous is their pride, that though they be reduced to the most abject state of poverty, they would rather starve than suffer any branch of their family to form a matrimonial alliance with themost opulent tradesman. Nay, so great is their dislike of traffic, that they deem it more honourable to support themselves by robbery, than to gain a livelihood by engaging in any species of commerce. I know a Neapolitan of a most illustrious family, who was regarded by his brother patricians in so degrading a light, because he had exposed to sale a quantity of wine, the produce of his estates, that he experienced the utmost difficulty in marrying his daughter, though he was able to bestow upon her a very large fortune.
“To this absurdity the customs of the Venetians afford a striking contrast. In their state the nobility compose a kind of faction distinct from the body of the people, and are all engaged in merchandize. All those who have discharged public offices, and all the members of the senate, are graced with the honours of nobility. And so vain are they of this distinction, that the foolish and needy son of a foolish and needy father, looks down with disdain upon a plebeian, whatever may be his learning or his worth. The ranks of the Venetian nobility are sometimes recruited in an extraordinary manner. For he who has done any signal service to the state, however culpable may have been the means of which he has made use to promote this end, is immediately enrolled in the list of the patricians.
“The Roman nobles are taught to regard merchandize as a sordid pursuit, and they employ themselves in the cultivation of their lands, and in the breeding ofcattle. So far are they from thinking it beneath their dignity to convert their agricultural knowledge into a source of gain, that property thus acquired will raise ignoble families to the honour of noble birth.
“The Florentines seem to have more correct notions of nobility than any of the above-mentioned communities. For amongst us those are accounted noble who are descended from ancient families, and whose ancestors have held distinguished places in the administration of public affairs; but their nobility is by no means dependant upon the nature of their occupation. For some of them engage in merchandize; others live upon the income of their property, and amuse themselves with the rural diversions of hawking and hunting. The Genoese who live on the coast are all indiscriminately engaged in commerce, and their nobility depends upon their origin. The Lombard nobles reside in fortresses built upon the mountains, and, by their predatory excursions, strike terror into the traveller. The nobility of the Terra Firma of Venice live on the revenue of their estates, and spend their time in rural sports. Amongst them, nobility depends upon high descent, and independence of property. Why should I mention other nations whose customs differ but little from our own? The Germans esteem those noble who inherit a patrimony sufficient for their maintenance; and they bestow this title on those formidable plunderers who retire from towns and cities to the security of their castles. Throughout the whole of France the privilege of nobility is held by one uniform tenure. The Gallic lords live in the country,and think it a disgrace for a man of exalted birth to reside in a town. They despise merchants as a vile and abject race of beings. Prodigality and carelessness with regard to futurity they esteem a certain indication of a noble spirit. The nobility of France is continually increased by the accession either of the wealthy, or of the retainers of the great barons. For the sons of merchants and tradesmen who have inherited large fortunes from their fathers, by purchasing an estate and living in the country on its produce, compose an inferior order of nobility, and transmit to their sons all the honours of the aristocracy: and those who have lived in the service of the great barons, by receiving from their liege lords a grant of land, attain to the rank of nobility. The customs of the English are in this respect very similar to those of the French. In Spain nobility is attached to the descendants of ancient houses who are possessed of competent property, whether they reside in cities or in the country.”
Having thus noticed the different ideas of nobility which are entertained in the European states, Niccolo proceeds slightly to animadvert upon the notions of the Asiatics upon this subject; and from this induction of particulars, he draws the general inference, that nobility, in the vulgar acceptation of the term, cannot be traced to any fixed principles. On Lorenzo’s intimating that the title of noble should be granted to all those who are esteemed so by the institutions of their country, Niccolo refuses his assent to this proposition, and proceeds to argue the matter at large with much sound reasoning, proving that nobility does notdepend upon externals. Lorenzo in reply to Niccolo adduces the definition of nobility proposed by Aristotle, who asserts in his dialogue on Politics, that the virtuous descendants of virtuous and wealthy ancestors are noble. This definition is examined by Niccolo, who maintains that it is faulty, because a virtuous man does not lose his nobility, should he happen to be deprived of his wealth. In opposition to the opinion of the Stagyrite, he quotes the opinion of Plato and the Stoics, who assert, that true nobility consists in virtue. Lorenzo acknowledges that virtue is requisite to true nobility; but still contends that to complete the idea of this distinction, to virtue must be added those external advantages which render a man conspicuous. Niccolo grants that these are desirable adjuncts; but at the same time adheres to his original position, that purity of moral principle is an indispensable characteristic of genuine nobility, and concludes the conference by inviting the company to enjoy the coolness of the evening in walking along the banks of the river.[333]
Though this dialogue on nobility was received with great applause by the generality of learned men, the description which it contained of the Venetian nobles offended the patriotic pride of Gregorio Coriario, prothonotary of the apostolic see, who remonstrated with Poggio on the unfavourable light in which he had represented the patricians of his country, as a kind of faction distinct from the body of the people, and as being ready to confer the highest civil honours on those who had served their country,even by dishonourable means. In reply to the animadversions of Gregorio, Poggio expressed his wish that he had communicated his dialogue to him previously to its publication, declaring that he would with the utmost readiness have altered or expunged any objectionable passage which might have been pointed out to him. At the same time he endeavoured to palliate the offence which he had committed against the dignity of the Venetian aristocracy, by observing, that he had adopted the wordfactiomerely to express the idea of a class or party of men, in which innocent or indifferent sense it was used by the best Latin authors. As to the second cause of displeasure, he protested that he had made the obnoxious assertion in question upon what he conceived to be good authority, and that he was persuaded that the Venetians had sometimes conferred the honours of nobility upon men of equivocal character. “You ask me,” continued he, “to quote some instance of the occurrence of this circumstance. Believe me, if I recollected any I would rather acknowledge myself in an error, than defend my cause at the expense of any one’s good name. I wish my lucubrations to be favourably received by the public. On this account it is much more my interest to praise than to condemn. I therefore beg that you will freely correct my mistakes, and do not fear exciting my displeasure. I esteem myself greatly indebted to you for that kindness which prompts you to be watchful over my honour, and zealous to prevent me from giving unnecessary offence. Nor must I forget to express the sense which I feel of the modesty and urbanity which render your letter the clear expression of the mildnessand gentleness of your manners.Florence, April 8th, 1440.”[334]
By introducing Lorenzo de’ Medici as an interlocutor in this dialogue, Poggio no doubt intended to preserve to distant times the memory of the familiar terms on which he had lived with one of the most illustrious citizens of Florence.
Lorenzo did not long survive the publication of this testimony of esteem. On the twenty-third of September, 1440, he paid the great debt of nature. In him Poggio was at once deprived of a father, a brother, and a friend—of one who was always ready to sympathize in his cares, and to assist him in his distresses.[335]Whilst Lorenzo lived he was free from anxiety with regard to pecuniary affairs, as in his liberality he constantly found the most copious resources in the hour of need. By the death of this generous benefactor, he was deeply affected; and as soon as his grief would permit him to collect his scattered thoughts, he hastened to celebrate the virtues of his deceased friend, in an eulogium on his character, whichhe addressed to Carlo Aretino. From this effusion of affectionate esteem, we learn that Lorenzo was endued with the elegance of taste, the liberality of spirit, and the urbanity of manners, which for so long a period distinguished all the branches of his renowned family. His kinsmen no doubt deemed his memory highly honoured by the respectful attendance of Eugenius IV. at his funeral obsequies.[336]But they were probably little aware, that the duteous zeal of an humble secretary would be more conducive to the diffusion and the permanence of his fame, than the splendour of a pontifical procession, or the grandeur of monumental memorials.