It has been already observed, that from the tenor of Poggio’s answer
to the complimentary letter of the duke of Milan, he appears not to
have given implicit credit to that prince’s professions of friendship
for the Florentine republic, and that he evidently expected that
the restless ambition of Filippo would again kindle the flames of
war. Events justified his prognostications. In the year 1439, the
administrators of the Tuscan government were so much alarmed by the
success of Piccinino, who had invaded the Venetian territories at the
head of the Milanese army, that they renewed their alliance with their
ancient friends, to whose assistance they sent a considerable body
of troops, under the command of Francesco Sforza. The duke of Milan,
with the view of compelling the Tuscans to withdraw their forces from
Lombardy, directed Piccinino to make an incursion into the territories
of Florence. Piccinino accordingly marched through Romagna, and made
himself master of several places in the district of Casentino. The duke
of Milan expected to have derived considerable assistance in the invasion
of the Tuscan territories from Vitelleschi, with whom he had for some
time carried on a secret correspondence, and who had, through hatred of
the Florentines, engaged to support Piccinino with a powerful body of
troops. But the secrecy with which this intrigue had been conducted did
not elude the vigilance of the administrators of the Tuscan government.
They fortunately intercepted certain letters addressed by the duke to
Vitelleschi, which revealed the particulars of the conspiracy. These
letters they communicated to the pontiff, who gave immediate orders for
the arrest of the perfidious patriarch. As Vitelleschi was then at Rome,
the execution of this commission was entrusted to Antonio Rido, the
commandant of the castle of St. Angelo. According to the instructions of
Eugenius, Vitelleschi was suddenly surrounded by a troop of horse, as he
was passing the bridge of St. Angelo, on his way to join the forces which
he had destined for the assistance of Piccinino. He was no sooner aware
of his danger, than he boldly drew his sword, and endeavoured to cut his
way through the soldiers who were sent to secure him. In the conflict he
was wounded in the neck, and growing faint with loss of blood, he was
overpowered and carried as a prisoner into the castle. On the twentieth
day of his confinement he died, as some say of his wounds, according to
the report of others, of poison. By whatever means he came to his end, so
atrocious were the cruelties which he had committed during the days of
his power, that his death occasioned universal joy, and was regarded by
thousands as a signal instance of divine retribution.[337]
Piccinino being by this event deprived of all hope of assistance was
obliged to depend upon his own exertions. In these circumstances he
was not dispirited. The successes which he had experienced in the
commencement of the campaign led him to entertain sanguine hopes of
crushing the Tuscan republic. But his confidence prepared the way for
his discomfiture and disgrace. His rash reliance on the valour and
discipline of his troops tempting him to engage the Florentine army under
very disadvantageous circumstances, he experienced a total defeat on the
twenty-ninth of June, 1440.[338] Nor did better success attend the arms
of the duke of Milan in Lombardy. His forces were put to the rout by
Francesco Sforza, on the banks of the river Oglio. Disheartened by these
losses, Filippo was disposed to an accommodation; and by the mediation
of Sforza, peace was again concluded between that prince and his allied
enemies in the autumn of the year 1441.[339]
In the preceding year, Niccolo d’Este, marquis of Ferrara, had
assiduously endeavoured to bring about this desirable event; and though
his mediation was unsuccessful, his friendly interposition served to
confirm the honourable character which he had so long sustained—that
of the promoter of peace. In such estimation did the duke of Milan
hold this virtuous prince, that he invited him to his capital, and
entrusted him with the government of his extensive dominions. This mark
of confidence was universally regarded as a prelude to the nomination of
Niccolo to the ducal throne of Milan; but the hopes which the friends of
virtue entertained of witnessing the happy effects resulting from his
advancement were destroyed by his death, which took place on the 26th of
December, 1441.
The sorrow experienced by the subjects of Niccolo, in consequence
of this event, was considerably alleviated by their observation of
the extraordinary good qualities of Lionello, his successor. In the
contemplation of the purity of morals, the solidity of judgment, and
the benevolence of heart, which adorned the character of this exemplary
youth, they forgot the illegitimacy of his birth; and when, prompted
by an enthusiastic respect for his virtues, they joyfully hailed him
as their sovereign, their choice was approved by the suffrages of all
the scholars of Italy. Lionello was indeed the favourite theme of
the applause of the learned. He not only encouraged the ardour, but
participated in the studies of the cultivators of the liberal arts.
Under the auspices of Guarino Veronese, he had acquired a profound
knowledge of classical literature, which enabled him accurately to
appreciate the merits of the candidates for literary fame. The promotion
of Lionello to the sovereignty of Ferrara was highly gratifying to the
feelings of Poggio. Several years previously to this event, he had
been induced by the fame of the elegance of taste which distinguished
Lionello’s juvenile compositions, to address to him a letter, in which
he highly commended his love of literature, and strenuously exhorted him
diligently to pursue those studies which he had so happily begun.[340]
The request which he made to this illustrious student to prosecute an
inquiry after the lost decads of Livy has been already noticed. The
homage which Poggio paid to the talents of Lionello gave rise to an
epistolary intercourse, the refraining fragments of which afford a
striking specimen of the unreserved friendship and liberal familiarity
which a community of studies sometimes produces between persons who
occupy very distant stations in the ranks of society. The freedom with
which Lionello permitted his learned correspondent to communicate to him
his opinions, is conspicuous in a letter addressed by Poggio to Guarino
Veronese, requesting him to inform their patron of the surprize and
concern which he had experienced on receiving the intelligence of his
having bestowed some distinguished honours on an unworthy candidate.[341]
Of the character of this candidate Poggio gave his sentiments in the
following letter to Lionello himself, which is interesting on account of
the information which it contains with respect to the value of books at
this period.
“A few days ago there occurred in the chamber of his holiness a discourse
on the subject of Jerome’s epistles. Happening to be present on this
occasion, I observed, that I had in my possession two very handsome
volumes of those epistles; on which one of the company remarked, that
he had offered me eighty florins for them, but could not obtain them
at that price. To this I replied, that the cardinal of St. Xystus had
often importuned me to let him have the volumes in question, for which
he would willingly pay me one hundred florins, and think himself obliged
by the bargain; and that I should in all probability have sold the books
at that price, had I not been prevented by Niccolo Niccoli, who with his
accustomed moroseness declared, that by so doing, I should give an a
indication of a sordid and abject mind. On this our friend Aurispa said,
that you very earnestly wished to add these epistles to your collection,
and desired me to sell them to you, assuring me that you would cheerfully
pay any price which I should fix upon them. With some reluctance I
complied with his request, and I write to inform you, that I am willing
to part with the books for the price which has been already offered
for them, namely, one hundred ducats. It remains for you therefore to
determine whether you will purchase them at that price. It is a matter of
indifference to me what your determination may be; for I do not part with
the volumes with a view of raising money, but merely through a desire of
obliging you. This however I will say, that no person in Italy possesses
in the same compass a larger or a more correct collection of epistles
than those which are contained in these two volumes.
“Your friend, the knight of Rieti, when he came to this town some time
ago to gratify his love of ostentation (for he wished his folly to be
known to every body) told a certain citizen of Ferrara, that you had
shewn him the letter which I wrote concerning him to Guarino. I do not
think that this is the fact; but I wish you would inform me whether in
this matter he adheres to his usual practice of lying. On his departure
hence he told some persons that he was going to visit his uncle; to
others he asserted, that you had nominated him your ambassador at
Florence. He would think himself undone were he to utter any thing but
falsehood. He must needs be full of truth; for no truth ever passes
through his lips.”[342]
Lionello transmitted to Poggio the hundred ducats, at which he
appreciated his copy of the epistles of Jerome. He intimated to him,
however, that some of the learned men of Ferrara thought the price an
extravagant one; and he desired that it might be understood, that in
acceding to the terms proposed by his correspondent, he intended to make
him a present of the excess above the real value of the book. In reply to
these observations, Poggio maintained the correctness of his estimation,
in opposition to the judgment of the Ferrarese connoisseurs, which he
treated with great contempt; and humorously observed, that he thankfully
accepted the gift mentioned by Lionello, not on account of its intrinsic
value, but as an earnest of future munificence; “for,” said he, “it is
the custom of worthy princes, such as you are, to persevere in what they
have well begun.”[343]
If the ducat be estimated at ten shillings English money, the epistles
of Jerome were purchased by Lionello at the expense of fifty pounds
sterling.[344] From the history of Filelfo it appeals, that at this
time the salary of a public professor of literature rarely exceeded
four hundred ducats; so that the price of a couple of volumes absorbed
one-fourth of the sum which was deemed an adequate annual recompence for
the services of a man of consummate learning. The exhibition of these
facts will demonstrate the difficulties which obstructed the paths of
learning in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It will also tend to
make the modern scholar sensible of the tribute of gratitude which he
owes to the inventor of the typographic art.
It was not without considerable reluctance that Eugenius had yielded to
Francesco Sforza the dominion of the Marca d’Ancona; and he had long
waited with impatience for the occurrence of some favourable opportunity
to wrest from that chieftain the territory which he had so unwillingly
conceded to him. In the year 1442, he flattered himself that he should
be enabled to accomplish this object of his earnest desire. Regnier of
Anjou being then closely besieged in the city of Naples by Alfonso
of Arragon, had solicited the assistance of Sforza, who dispatched
a body of troops to make a diversion in his favour. Eugenius taking
advantage of this conjuncture, formally deprived Sforza of the office of
Gonfaloniere of the holy see, which he bestowed on his rival Piccinino.
In obedience to the orders of his new sovereign, Piccinino immediately
invaded the Marca, and made himself master of the city of Todi. This
incursion compelled Sforza to withdraw from Naples the forces which
he had destined to the relief of Regnier, who after the loss of his
capital was compelled to quit Italy, and to retire into Provence.[345]
Eugenius seeing Alfonso thus firmly established on the Neapolitan throne,
not only agreed to terms of pacification with him, but endeavoured to
procure his assistance in depriving their common enemy of the dominion
of the Marca. The Florentines, who had constantly entertained very
friendly dispositions towards Sforza, openly interposed to counteract
the measures which Eugenius had adopted to expel their favourite general
from the territories of the church. This political difference gave rise
to a coolness between Eugenius and the administrators of the Tuscan
government, in consequence of which the pontiff determined to quit the
city of Florence, and to repair to Rome. He accordingly set out on
his journey on the seventh of March, 1443, and on the ensuing day he
arrived at Siena, in which city he continued to reside till the month of
September.[346]
Soon after the pontiff’s arrival in Siena, his court was deprived of
an illustrious member, by the death of Nicolao Albergato, cardinal of
Santa Croce.[347] In this event Poggio was deeply interested, as that
eminent ecclesiastic, who was distinguished by his liberal patronage
of learned men, had long honoured him with his affectionate esteem. In
grateful respect for the memory of his deceased friend, Poggio undertook
to record his virtues in a funeral eulogium. From this document it
appears, that Nicolao Albergato was a native of Bologna, the descendant
of an honourable family. At an early age he dedicated himself to the
study of the civil law, in which he made a considerable proficiency. But
when he had attained to years of maturity, his religious zeal induced
him to bid farewell to the cares of the world, and to enter into the
monastic fraternity of the Carthusians. So exemplary was his observance
of the severe rules of this strict order, that, soon after his admission
into it, he was appointed to the office of superior. The fame of his
austerity, his prudence and discretion, having reached his native place,
on the occurrence of a vacancy in the episcopal throne of Bologna, his
fellow citizens unanimously invited him to preside over their spiritual
affairs. It was not without considerable reluctance that he undertook
this arduous office, by the discharge of the duties of which he, however,
confirmed and increased his reputation. Exerting his utmost endeavours
to restrain the licentiousness of the clergy, he studiously set his
brethren an example of the most decorous correctness of manners, and
of the utmost purity of moral conduct. His charity was diffusive, but
discriminating. He assiduously sought for the children of distress, who
were induced by the ingenuous emotions of shame to hide their poverty
in uncomplaining retirement, and he secretly relieved their wants. His
patriarchal virtues attracted the notice of Martin V., who without any
solicitation on his part raised him to the dignity of cardinal. After
his advancement to this high honour, he was employed by that pontiff and
by his successor Eugenius IV. in various negotiations of the greatest
importance, in the conduct of which he evinced a degree of skill in the
transaction of business, which would have done honour to one who had been
from his early youth versed in the active concerns of life. His latter
years were years of pain, occasioned by the pangs of an excruciating
disease, which he bore with the most exemplary patience, and from which
he was relieved by the welcome hand of death, in the sixty-eighth year of
his age.[348]
Had the cardinal of Santa Croce been rendered illustrious by no other
circumstance, his patronage of Tommaso da Sarzana, who under the
appellation of Nicolas V. became one of the brightest ornaments of
the pontificate, would have been in itself sufficient to secure to
him the praises of posterity. Tommaso was the son of Bartolomeo dei
Parentucelli, a professor of arts and of medicine in the city of Pisa.
His mother Andreola was a native of Sarzana. He had scarcely attained to
the age of seven years, when he experienced an irreparable misfortune in
the death of his father. In consequence of this event Andreola removed
from Pisa to Sarzana, where she soon consoled herself for the loss of
Bartolomeo, in the arms of a second husband. This new connexion was
rendered unhappy by the illiberality of her spouse, who looked upon his
step-son with a jealous eye, and embittered the days of the unoffending
youth, by the harshness of his behaviour towards him. This unfortunate
circumstance rendered Andreola very anxious concerning the future
destination of her son, which, however, she flattered herself was at
length fixed by supernatural interposition.—When Tommaso was about ten
years of age he was seized by the plague, by which dreadful malady he was
soon reduced to the last extremity. Exhausted with fatigue, occasioned
by her unremitting attendance upon her favourite child, Andreola sunk
into a disturbed slumber, during the continuance of which an angel
seemed to appear before her, and to promise that the object of her care
should recover from his disease, if she would promise to dedicate to the
priesthood the life which, for this high purpose alone, the mercy of God
would vouchsafe to spare. Waking from her dream, Andreola made a solemn
vow that she would fulfil the direction of the heavenly messenger—and
her child recovered. In pursuance of her sacred engagement, when
Tommaso had attained the age of twelve years, she sent him to commence
his studies at Bologna. The rigid moroseness of her husband, however,
would not permit her to furnish the youthful student with any means of
supporting himself. At this feeble age, therefore, the future pontiff
was banished from an uncomfortable home, and sent forth into the wide
world, with no resources but his genius, his virtues, and the generosity
of the benevolent. These apparently inauspicious circumstances called
into exertion an energy of mind which cannot be too highly applauded.
For the space of six years Tommaso applied himself to his studies with
astonishing diligence, and soon made considerable progress in various
departments of knowledge. When he had attained his eighteenth year, his
literary reputation induced two eminent citizens of Florence to invite
him to undertake the education of their children. This invitation Tommaso
readily accepted; and from his eighteenth to his twenty-second year, he
was engaged in the laborious employment of initiating his pupils in the
rudiments of learning. Having at the end of four years from the time of
his arrival in Florence, by strict economy, accumulated a sum of money,
which he deemed sufficient to enable him to prosecute his studies with
advantage, he returned to Bologna. His literary accomplishments had now
gained him the countenance of several respectable friends, at whose
recommendation he was admitted into the family of Nicolao Albergato, who
was then the bishop of that city. By his prudence and good conduct he
gained the esteem of his patron, who soon promoted him to the stewardship
of his household. In the midst of the multifarious employments which
devolved upon him in consequence of his acceptance of this office,
Tommaso found leisure to fathom the depths of scholastic theology. When
he had attained the age of five-and-twenty, in discharge of his mother’s
vow, he enrolled himself in the priesthood. He continued to live in the
family of Nicolao Albergato for the space of twenty years, at the end
of which period the death of that prelate obliged him to seek a new
patron. His well-known virtues soon obtained for him the countenance and
support of Gerardo d’Andriani, cardinal of Santa Maria Transtevere. In
the suite of this dignitary he accompanied Eugenius to Rome, to which
city the papal court was transferred on the twenty-eight of September,
1443. He had not long resided in the pontifical capital before he was
distinguished by the favour of Eugenius, who on the death of his second
protector took him into his service, and appointed him sub-deacon of the
apostolic see, and soon afterwards promoted him to the honourable office
of vice-chamberlain.[349]
During his attendance upon the pontiff at Bologna Poggio enjoyed frequent
opportunities of becoming thoroughly acquainted with the singular merits
of Tommaso, whose proficiency in literature and ingenuous manners had
some years before engaged his esteem, and conciliated his affection. Nor
was Tommaso insensible of the good qualities of Poggio. A memorial of
the mutual regard which subsisted between these able scholars, exists
in the dedication of a Dialogue _On the Unhappiness of Princes_, which
Poggio published in the year 1440, and which he inscribed to his friend
before his virtues had been brought forward to public observation by
his acquisition of distinguished honour and great emolument. In this
dedication Poggio notices the common error of men, who are so much
struck with the pomp and grandeur of the great, that they take it for
granted, that power and magnificence confer on their possessors the gift
of true felicity. He observes, however, that those who rise above the
level of vulgar intellect ought to be convinced that happiness does not
depend upon the external blessings of fortune, but that it is the meed
of virtuous dispositions. He professes that it is his object to persuade
men of this truth; and remarks that a work which is intended to promote
this happy end, may with the strictest propriety be addressed to an
ecclesiastic, who in the whole course of his conduct has demonstrated,
that he has studied to be virtuous, rather than to be rich or great.[350]
After this preface, Poggio proceeds to state, that in the summer of the
year in which he followed Eugenius IV. to Florence, to which city the
pontiff was banished by the fury of the Roman populace, he happened to
pay a visit to Niccolo Niccoli, whose house was the common resort of the
learned. Here he found Carlo Aretino and Cosmo de’ Medici, with whom
he entered into conversation on the politics of Italy. After having
recounted to his friends the hardships which he had lately suffered when
he was taken captive by the soldiers of Piccinino, he complained of the
unsettled life which he led in consequence of his attendance upon the
Roman court, which in the course of thirty-four years that had elapsed
since his admission into the pontifical chancery, had never continued for
two years together in the same place. On this Carlo Aretino remarked,
that Poggio was discontented with a situation which the generality of
men regard as an object of envy, since the pontiffs and their superior
servants are usually deemed masters of every circumstance necessary
to the insurance of a happy life. In consequence of this observation,
Niccolo Niccoli gave it as his opinion, that whatever advantages the
attendants and courtiers of great potentates may derive from the control
which they acquire over public affairs, princes themselves lead a life
of anxiety and care, and endure all the inconveniences, whilst others
reap all the benefits of empire. Such is the introduction to the Dialogue
_On the Unhappiness of Princes_, in the body of which Niccolo Niccoli is
represented as detailing the miseries of exalted rank. On this copious
subject he dilates at considerable length, proving from history that
the best princes are liable to the bitterest woes incident to human
nature. Gaining courage as he proceeds, he attempts to demonstrate that
eminence of station is unfriendly to virtue. Examining the conduct of
the most renowned chieftains, both monarchs and demagogues, who have
rendered themselves conspicuous in the annals of the world, he impeaches
them of avarice, cruelty, intemperance, pride, and unbridled ambition;
and appeals to his auditors, whether men who are thus enslaved by their
passions, can possibly be deemed happy. Arguing upon the position,
that man is the creature of the circumstances in which he is placed,
he maintains, that the possession of uncontrolled authority betrays
the powerful into vice, inasmuch as it frees them from those salutary
restraints which are necessary to the confirmation of good principles.
Hence, he observes, it frequently happens, that men who have adorned a
private station by their virtues have become the disgrace of human nature
when they have been raised to the summit of power.
From this train of argument Niccolo draws the conclusion, that as
happiness seems to be banished from the palaces of the great, if she
resides any where on earth, she must be found in the abodes of private
individuals, who have the wisdom to set bounds to their desires, and to
dedicate themselves to the cultivation of their intellectual powers.
The conduct of these men he proposes as an object of imitation, and
exhorts his friends to the study of those principles of philosophy which
will render them happy in themselves, and fearless of the power, and
independent of the favours of the great.[351]
Such is the tenor of the Dialogue _On the Unhappiness of Princes_, in
which Poggio dwells with so much energy on the vices of exalted rank,
that it may reasonably be suspected that resentment and indignation
had at least as much influence in its composition as the suggestions
of philosophy. In perusing this work, the reader is perpetually led to
recollect, that its author was a citizen of a proud republic, and a
zealot in the cause of learning. His democratic asperity bursts forth
in copious enumerations of the follies and vices of sovereign princes.
His literary spleen is discernible in the sarcastic observations which
he introduces by the medium of Niccolo Niccoli, on the indifference with
which the rulers of Italy regarded his researches after the lost works
of the writers of antiquity; in the detail which he gives of the neglect
and scorn which Dante, Petrarca, and Bocaccio experienced from the great
men of their times; and in the general observations which he makes upon
the contempt with which mighty potentates too frequently regard the
labours of the learned. The effusions of moroseness which occur in this
dialogue are, however, interspersed with precepts of sound morality, and
the historic details with which it abounds are at once entertaining and
instructive. To which it may be added, that Poggio has exhibited in this
composition a striking, and in all probability a correct delineation of
the temper and manners of the splenetic, but sagacious disputant Niccolo
Niccoli.[352]
This dialogue was not well calculated to conciliate the favour of
sovereign princes. But the patronage of the great was not the object of
its author’s wishes. It was sufficient for Poggio that it was received
with approbation by the learned, and that it secured to him the esteem
of Tommaso da Sarzana, and other private individuals, whose kind regard
might compensate the depredations made amongst his comforts by the
ravages of death. For he was now arrived at that period of life in which
man is generally called to experience the severest of trials, in being
doomed to survive his friends. He had already lamented the death of
Niccolo Niccoli. He had attended, a mournful assistant at the funeral
of Lorenzo de’ Medici. Leonardo Aretino was the only associate of his
early studies, who was left to sympathize with him in the recollection
of their juvenile pleasures. In the strength of Leonardo’s constitution,
Poggio fondly hoped that he had an assurance, that the happiness which
he derived from his friendly attachment would be prolonged to the close
of his own mortal career. But in the commencement of the year 1444, a
violent disease suddenly bereft him of the sole surviving companion
of his youthful years. In Leonardo he lost not only a kind, but also
a powerful friend. Soon after that accomplished scholar had fixed his
residence in Florence, he was called by the favour of the people to
fill some of the most important offices of the state. By his faithful
discharge of the duties of these offices he acquired such a high degree
of popularity, that he was at length promoted to the chief magistracy of
the Florentine republic.
So great was the estimation in which he was held by his fellow-citizens,
that when his death was announced, the administrators of the government
charged three members of the council of ten to conduct his funeral
rites with the most solemn magnificence at the public expense.[353]
In order to express in the most signal manner their respect for the
memory of the deceased, they also determined publicly to decorate his
remains with a laurel crown. The rare occurrence of this testimony of
honour (of the conferring of which only three instances had hitherto
occurred in the long series of the Florentine annals)[354] rendered it
the more illustrious. In pursuance of the orders of the magistrates,
the body of Leonardo arrayed in silken robes was carried in an open
coffin to the public square of the city. On his breast was laid, as a
memorial of his patriotism, his history of the Florentine Republic. The
funeral procession was attended by all the officers of state, except the
Gonfaloniere, by the embassadors of foreign princes who happened at this
time to reside in Florence, by a considerable number of learned men, and
by an immense concourse of the citizens, who were not more attracted
by the novelty of the ceremony, than by their respectful remembrance
of the virtues of Leonardo. In the presence of this august assembly
Gianozzo Manetti advanced to the head of the bier, and there pronounced
a funeral oration in praise of the deceased, towards the conclusion of
which he fulfilled the decree of the magistracy, by crowning him with the
laurel wreath. The friends of Leonardo whose judgment was enlightened
by the principles of true taste, must have lamented that the task of
celebrating his virtues was delegated to Gianozzo Manetti. The speech
which he pronounced on this occasion is a most miserable composition,
abounding in puerilities, vulgar in its style, irrelevant in its topics,
and most tediously diffuse.[355] It is highly probable, that the vexation
experienced by Poggio, on seeing the memory of his beloved friend thus
disgraced by the folly of his panegyrist, induced him to endeavour
to supersede the wretched effusion of Gianozzo by a composition more
worthy of the lamented subject of the public grief. However this may
be, certain it is, that the funeral oration which he published on this
melancholy occasion affords a striking contrast to that which wearied
the ears of the learned men who attended the obsequies of Leonardo. It
is at once dignified and pathetic. Lucid in its arrangement, and well
proportioned in the distribution of its parts, it is a monument of the
sound judgment of its author. The account which it contains of the life
and writings of Leonardo is succinct and clear. In his delineation
of the moral portraiture of that extraordinary man, Poggio evinces a
distinctness of perception, and an accuracy of discrimination, which are
highly honourable to his understanding; whilst the delicacy with which
he softens down the faulty features of Leonardo’s character, attests the
warmth of his affection for the beloved depository of his most secret
thoughts.[356]
Leonardo Aretino was perhaps the ablest scholar of his age. He took the
lead amongst the industrious students who unlocked the secret treasures
of literature by the translation of the works of the Grecian authors.
His Latin style is less encumbered with faults than that of any of
his contemporaries. Æneas Sylvius indeed declared it as his opinion,
that next to Lactantius he approached the nearest of any of the later
writers to the elegance of Cicero. The compositions of that celebrated
orator do not, however, seem to have been adopted by Leonardo as his
model. At least he did not in his writings attain the copious fluency,
or the graceful ease of diction which distinguish the works of Cicero.
But the luminous distinctness of his periods entitles him to no small
commendation. His sentences are never embarrassed or confused. He
conveys his meaning in few words, and does not fatigue his readers by
unreasonably dwelling upon his topics, or by repeating the same idea in
varied forms of expression. Hence, if his language is not polished to an
exquisite smoothness, it is sufficiently precise, and its deficiency in
melody is compensated by its strength.
At his outset in life, Leonardo had to struggle with the embarrassments
incident to a very contracted fortune, and was compelled by necessity
to practise the strictest economy. By the liberality of John XXII.
however, he acquired an increase of property which eventually became
the foundation of a very ample fortune. As man is the slave of habit,
he retained, in the midst of abundance, the attention to the minutiæ
of expence which was a duty imperiously incumbent upon him in the days
of his poverty; and his prudent exactitude sometimes approached the
confines of avarice.[357] He was also impatient in his temper, and too
apt to take offence.[358] The following anecdote however shews, that
if he was easily excited to anger, he had the good sense to be soon
convinced of his error, and the ingenuousness of spirit to confess it.
Having engaged in a literary discussion with Gianozzo Manetti, he was so
exasperated by observing that the bye-standers thought him worsted in
argument, that he vented his spleen in outrageous expressions against
his antagonist. On the following morning, however, by break of day, he
went to the house of Gianozzo, who expressed his surprise, that a person
of Leonardo’s dignity should condescend to honour him so far as to pay
him an unsolicited visit. On this Leonardo requested that Gianozzo would
favour him with a private conference. Gianozzo accordingly attended him
to the banks of the Arno, when Leonardo thus apologized for the warmth
of his temper.—“Yesterday I did you great injustice; but I soon began to
suffer punishment for my offence; for I have not closed my eyes during
the whole night; and I could not rest till I had made you a confession
of my fault.”[359] The man who by the voluntary acknowledgment of an
error could thus frankly throw himself upon the generosity of one whom
he had offended, must have possessed in his own mind a fund of honour
and probity. The failings of Leonardo were indeed amply counterbalanced
by his strict integrity, his guarded temperance, his faithful discharge
of his public duties, and his zeal in the cause of literature. This
being the case, it was with justice that Poggio prided himself upon the
intimate friendship which subsisted between himself and this truly
respectable character—a friendship which was not once interrupted during
the varied transactions of a period of forty-four years.
The remains of Leonardo were interred in the church of Santa Croce. On a
marble monument erected to his memory the following inscription is still
legible.
POSTQVAM LEONARDVS E VITA MIGRAVIT
HISTORIA LVGET ELOQUENTIA MVTA EST
FERTVRQVE MVSAS TVM GRAECAS TVM LATINAS
LACRIMAS TENERE NON POTVISSE.
Leonardo was succeeded in the chancellorship of the Florentine republic
by Carlo Marsuppini, more commonly known by the surname of Aretino,
a scholar no less distinguished by his literary acquirements than by
the dignity of his family. Carlo was the son of Gregorio Marsuppini,
a nobleman of Arezzo, doctor of laws, and secretary to Charles VI.,
king of France, by whom he was appointed to the government of Genoa.
Educated under the auspices of John of Ravenna, he attained to such a
proficiency in learning, that in delivering lectures on rhetoric he
became the successful rival of Filelfo in the university of Florence. His
literary reputation recommended him to the notice of Eugenius IV., who,
in the year 1441, conferred upon him the office of apostolic secretary.
This office he continued to hold till the voice of his fellow-citizens
summoned him to the discharge of more important duties.[360] The
friendly intercourse which had taken place between him and Poggio,
in consequence of their being natives of the same place, had been
strengthened by their common hostility against Francesco Filelfo. Nor
was it interrupted by their separation. Whenever Poggio found leisure
to visit the Tuscan capital, he experienced a welcome reception from
his ancient associate, in whose instructive converse he found the
most pleasing relaxation from the toils of his office, and from the
wearisomeness occasionally attendant upon the diligent prosecution of
literary studies.[361]
Whilst Poggio was lamenting the irreparable loss which he had sustained
by the death of Leonardo Aretino, he received intelligence of the sad
catastrophe of his old friend and correspondent, Julian, cardinal
of St. Angelo. This zealous churchman, who had been dispatched into
Hungary, vested with the office of pontifical legate, had heard with
indignation that Ladislaus VI., king of that country, had concluded a
truce for ten years with Amurath, emperor of the Turks; and strenuously
insisting upon the detestable doctrine, that no faith is to be kept
with infidels, he had persuaded the Hungarian monarch treacherously to
attack the Mussulmans, who, in reliance on the treaty which had been so
lately concluded, had withdrawn their forces into Asia. Justly irritated
by this act of perfidy, the Turks rushed to arms, and gave battle to
the Hungarians at Varna, a town in Bulgaria. The issue of the day was
most disastrous to the Christians. Ladislaus fell in the battle, his
forces were routed, and a body of the fugitives, in the course of their
flight, overtaking the unfortunate Julian, whose pernicious counsels they
considered as the original cause of their present calamities, fell upon
him, and despatched him with a multitude of wounds.[362]
The prejudices which Poggio entertained against the professors of
Mohamedism, or the partiality of his friendship for the cardinal,
rendered him insensible of the atrocity of the crime by which that
turbulent ecclesiastic had provoked his fate. From the fragments of an
oration which he composed on the occasion of the funeral of Julian, and
which are preserved by Mehus in his life of Ambrogio Traversari,[363]
he seems to have considered his character as a subject of unqualified
praise. The birth of Julian was obscure. He prosecuted his studies,
first at Perugia, afterwards at Bologna, and lastly at Padua. When his
education was finished, he entered into the household of the cardinal of
Piacenza, in whose suite he travelled into Bohemia, where he signalized
himself by his acuteness in theological disputation, and by the assiduity
of his labours for the conversion of heretics. On his return to Italy,
Martin V. rewarded his zeal in the defence of the orthodox faith, by
appointing him to the office of auditor of the chamber. He was afterwards
sent in quality of nuncio into France and England. Making mention of
his residence in the latter country, Poggio asserts that he did there
what no one had ever ventured to do before him: in a numerous assembly of
prelates, he uttered a vehement invective against the statutes which had
been enacted in the parliament, with a view of restraining the authority
of the court of Rome, and admonished his auditors to yield obedience to
the pope, rather than to the laws of their country: “a proceeding,” says
Poggio, “attended with great peril in a land the inhabitants of which
were not accustomed to such boldness.” This temerity procured Julian
the gift of a cardinal’s hat, which was bestowed upon him by Martin V.,
immediately on his return from England.[364] His second mission into
Bohemia, his pertinacity in summoning and presiding over the council of
Basil, and his conversion to the interests of Eugenius, have already
passed in review in the course of the present work.
The steady forbearance of Julian in refusing to enrich himself by the
acceptance of presents, which Poggio records with enthusiastic applause,
is a legitimate subject of commendation—but his zeal in the course
of proselytism is an indication of a narrow mind; and the treachery
which signalized the last official act of his life fixes on his memory
an indelible stain. So base indeed was his conduct on this occasion,
that his miserable end may be pointed out as an instance of the signal
vengeance which awaits the perfidious violators of solemn treaties.