CHAP. VIII.

DOMESTIC character of Lorenzo de' Medici-Accused of being addicted to licentious amours-Children of Lorenzo-His conduct towards them-Politiano accompanies them to Pistoia-They remove to Caffagiolo-Dissentions between Politiano and Madonna Clarice-He retires to Fiesole and writes his poem intitled RUSTICUS-Piero de' Medici-Giovanni de' Medici-Lorenzo discharges his debts and quits commerce for agriculture-Villa of Poggio-Cajano-Careggi-Fiesole and other domains-Piero visits the Pope-Giovanni raised to the dignity of a cardinal-Admonitory letter of Lorenzo-Piero marries Alfonsina Orsini-Visits Milan-Learned ecclesiastics favoured by Lorenzo-Mariano Gennazano-Girolamo SavonarolaMatteo Bosso-Death of Madonne Clarice-Assassination of Girolamo Riario-Tragical death of Galeotto Manfredi prince of Faenza.

HAVING hitherto traced the conduct of Lorenzo de' Medici in public life, we may now be allowed to follow him to his domestic retreat, and observe him in the intercourse of his family, the education of his children, or the society of his friends. The mind of man varies with his local situation, and before it can be justly estimated, must be viewed in those moments when it expands itself in the warmth of confidence, and exhibits its true colours in the sunshine of affection. Whether it was from the suggestions of policy, or the versatility of his natural disposition, that Lorenzo de' Medici turned with such facility from concerns of high importance to the discussion of subjects of amusement, and the levity of convivial intercourse, certain it is, that few persons have displayed this faculty in so eminent a degree. "Think not," says Politiano, writing

to

Domestic character of Lo

renzo.

66

to his friend(a), "that any of our learned associates, eventhey who have devoted their lives to study, are to be es"teemed superior to Lorenzo de' Medici, either for acuteness in disputation, or for good sense in forming a just "decision; or that he yields to any of them in expressing "his thoughts with facility, variety, and elegance. The

σε

66

66

examples of history are as familiar to him as the attend"ants that surround his table, and when the nature of his subject admits of it, his conversation is abundantly sea"soned with the salt collected from that ocean, from which "Venus herself first sprung(b)." His talent for irony was peculiar, and folly and absurdity seldom escaped his animadversion(c). In the collections formed by the Florentines, of the motti e burle of celebrated men, Lorenzo bears a distinguished part; but when expressions adapted to the occasion of a moment, are transplanted to the page of a book, and submitted to the cool consideration of the closet, they too often remind us of a flower cropt from its stalk, to be preserved in arid deformity. Possibly too, those who have assumed the task of selection may not have been accurate in their choice, and perhaps the celebrity of his

(b)

-Lususque Salesque,

Sed lectus pelago, quo Venus orta sales,

Says Jacques Moisant, Sieur de Brieux. v. Menagiana, tom. i. p. 59, where the author has traced this sentiment from Plutarch to Politiano, and downwards to Victorius, Heinsius, and de Brieux. "Quelque belle & fine, au reste," says he, " que soit cette pensée, usée aujourd'hui comme elle est, on n'oserait plus "la repétér."

(c)" Quum jocabatur, nihil hilarius; quum mordebat nihil asperius."

Valori, in vitâ p. 14.

name may have been an inducement to others to attribute to him witticisms unworthy of his character. Yet the bonmots of Lorenzo may rank with many of those which have been published with importance, and read with avidity (a). Grazzini has also introduced this eminent man as amusing himself with a piece of meditated jocularity, in order to free himself from the importunate visits of a physician, who too frequently appeared at his table; but for the veracity of this narrative, we have only the authority of a professed novelist (b). Nor is it likely that Lorenzo,

(a) Several of them are related by Valori, and many others may be found in the Facetie, Motti et Burle, di diversi Signori, &c. Raccolte per Lod. Domenichi. Ven. 1588. One of his kinsmen, remarkable for his avarice, having boasted that he had at his villa a plentiful stream of fine water, Lorenzo replied, If so, you might afford to keep cleaner hands. Bartolommeo Soccini, of Sienna, having observed, in allusion to the defect in Lorenzo's sight, that the air of Florence was injurious to the eyes. True, said Lorenzo, and that of Sienna to the brain. Being interrogated by Ugolino Martelli, why he rose so late in the morning, Lorenzo in return inquired from Martelli why he rose so soon, and finding that it was to employ himself in trifles, My morning dreams, said Lorenzo, are better than thy morning's business. When Soccini eloped from Florence, to evade his engagements as professor of civil law there, and being taken and brought back, was committed to prison, he complained that a man of his eminence should undergo such a shameful punishment. You should remember, said Lorenzo, that the shame is not in the punishment, but in the crime.

Val. p. 14. Dom. p. 121 &c.

(b) Anton-Francesco Grazzini, detto Il Lasca. Novelle, Ed. Lond. 1756. La terza Cena, Nov. x. The argument of this novel is as follows. "Lorenzo "vecchio de' Medici da due travestiti, fa condurre Maestro Manente ubriaco "una sera dopo cena segretamente nel suo palagio, e quivi e altrove lo tiene, senza sapere egli dove sia, lungo tempo al bujo, facendogli portar mangiare da "due immascherati; dopo per via del Monaco buffone, da a credere alle persone, "lui esser morto di peste, perciocchè cavato di casa sua un morto, in suo scambio “lo fa dissotterare. Il Magnifico poi con modo stravagante manda via Maestro

66