the grief of surrounding friends which now burst forth and was suppressed no longer.'

This narrative of Politian is followed by Roscoe, who, however, adds in an illnatured way, that Savonarola made the visit "for factious purposes." There is another account of this interview, which is given by Count Gianfrancesco Pico, nephew of John Picus, which Sismondi, who throughout passes unfavorable judgments on the Medici, is disposed to follow. Savonarola, now prior of St. Mark at Florence, was sent for to receive the confession of the dying man. He asked whether he adhered to the true faith and received a favorable answer. He then required a promise of restitution of any property of others which might be unjustly withheld from them. Then he demanded that Lorenzo should restore the republic, if he lived, to its old state of freedom, to whom he made no reply and so received no absolution. This is like Savonarola, who no doubt regarded Lorenzo as an elegant worldling, and a foe of the liberties of the State. But the express statement of Politian that the sacrament was administered before, and that the priest gave a parting blessing, together with the absence of all bitterness towards him, which would have peeped out if he had played such a part towards the dying man, show that the first account, which is from an eye witness, is also more probable in itself.

Lorenzo de' Medici had a fortunate and rare union of qualities in his character. He was sagacious, prudent, and selfgoverned; free from pride although fond of display; decent in his life and notwithstanding a charge of licentiousness made against him by Machiavelli, yet, even in this respect, so far as is known, without a blemish. If he seldom had an important part to act in politics, yet in the few critical periods of his life he showed wisdom and judgment. He was placed at the head of Florence practically as a prince inheriting family influence, but in name as a private citizen on an equality with the rest. Had he given up his hereditary position, probably he and his party would have had the fate to live as exiles like the Albizzi and the Strozzi. Had he pressed forward to take the name of sole authority, his life would have been the forfeit for the

attempt. He thus had to walk a narrow path, and tried to transmit to his son Pietro the lesson he could not learn that he was merely a private citizen.

His tastes extended through all the branches of literature and art. No mean poet himself, if not one of the revivers of Italian poetry, which had so much suffered from an exclusive humanistic leaning, he enjoyed the poetry of others, whether grave, gay, or ludicrous. He relished the society of literary men, and entered with sympathy into their studies. There were few to whom he felt more drawn than to Politian, Marsilius Ficinus, and John Picus of Mirandola. His acquaintance with the Platonic philosophy was not, perhaps, very profound, but he greatly enjoyed discussions which involved the principles of that school. All the arts found him possessed of a sensitive soul. He admired and cherished the early marks of talent in Michael Angelo Buonarotti, he raised a bust to the memory of Giotto in one of the churches of Florence, employed Filippo Lippi, the younger, in decorating one of his country seats, loved scenery and gardening, collected antiques, of various kinds, established a school for the study of the antique, and had so much repute of skill in architecture that the king of Naples consulted him about his plans, and took a friendly interest in every kind of talent. Eloquence also attracted him. For a distinguished preacher, Mariano of Genazzano, he built a monastery and enjoyed both his sermons and his conversation. Mr. Roscoe attributes it to his influence that Savonarola was sent to Florence by the Dominican order. Lorenzo's family life was creditable to him. With his wife, although the marriage was one of convenience, he lived on terms of affection and respect. He joked and played with his children, of whom seven by Madame Clarice lived to grow up; and indeed he was fond of humor, made many bon mots himself, and abounded in pleasantries when he mingled with the people.

It may be made a question how far he was a patron of letters and of art. Mr. Roscoe seems to assume that everybody in Florence, who was distinguished for any kind of genius or skill, was fostered by him, if not helped by him into support

and fame. But the truth is, we believe, that while he did much to advance the culture of his time by his patronage, and more by his countenance and sympathy, scholars and artists were less dependent on the wealthy than they had been in the days of his grandfather, Cosimo; and moreover, his revenues could not have sufficed for a very wide and generous encouragement of genius. It was no great patronage if Ficinus had the post of a professor, as well as a living in the church, or that Politian was the principal family tutor, or that another tanght Greek to the boys of the family. Still, we cannot see the justice of Mr. Libri's remarks, where he charges Lorenzo and his family with want of patronage, with allowing Leon Battista Alberti, the distinguished architect, to languish, and with putting Michael Angelo in an uncomfortable position of dependent inferiority.

The truth is, that his revenues were inadequate to the style of magnificence, above the private man but below the prince, which his position required him to adopt. Giovanni, father of Cosimo de' Medici, at his death, in 1428, left property to the value of 178,221 florins of gold; or, at the rate of $2.43, nearly $434,000. Cosimo and his brother Lorenzo carried on the business of the house until the decease in 1440 of the latter, to whose only son, Pier Francesco, a property in the concern, of 225,137 florins, was then found to be due. In 1451, Pier Francesco being now of age, his property was paid over to him, and he was to share equally in the traffic and other concerns of the family with Pietro and Giovanni, sons of Cosimo. Giovanni died without heirs in 1463, and the property of Pietro, which at his death went to Lorenzo and Giuliano, was valued at 237,989 florins, or less than 700,000 dollars. Giuliano was assassinated, as we have seen, in 1488, and left no lawful heirs of his body, so that probably Lorenzo became the owner of the main part of his father's estate. Whether there were not landed properties unincluded in this inventory, may perhaps be a matter of doubt. Such a property, if properly employed, might have been adequate for the wants of the first citizen of Florence; but Lorenzo seems not to have been a man of business; his display was great, and his expenses were greater. In

the tournament, which occurred at Florence in 1469, his outlay was 10,000 florins. Lorenzo by and by abandoned commerce, and turned his property into real estate, built or enlarged country houses, made collections of coins, sent Lascaris out to Greece after manuscripts and the like, and lived on such a scale of expense that income was anticipated before it was due. At length, in 1490, either he or the republic was treading on the verge of bankruptcy, when the interest on the public debt was reduced from 3 to 14 per cent., and debts of his were paid out of the public treasury, to the amount of 100,000 florins.* Nothing puts him more signally in the attitude of a prince than this transfer of his debts to the public account, for which, no doubt, the plea was that he had spent large sums in the State's service.

As a contrast to this bad economy, growing out of his position in the republic, we may notice the fortunes of the other branch of the family, descended from Cosimo's brother. They remained in a private station, kept and increased their property, and when disasters fell on Lorenzo's family, were able to hold up their heads, until, in the sixteenth century, they reached the dignity of dukes of Tuscany, through a splendor borrowed from their more illustrious relatives.

Lorenzo must have seen in his later years that the place of his family in the State was insecure, for he took decided measures to open for them new avenues of influence and power. He condescended to marry one of his daughters to Francis Cibo, son of pope Innocent VIII., and through the same pope had his son John created a Cardinal when he was only thirteen years of age. When John, as Leo X., filled the papal throne, he was able, and did his best, to sustain and revive the fortunes of the family.

(To be concluded in the next Number.)

*Comp. Lorenzo's ricordi, append. to Roscoe iii, no xii. Roscoe i. chap. 3, p. 179. Comp. ii. chap 8, p. 180, Sismondi, vol. xi. pp. 6, 182, etc., Leo, Gesch. v. Ital., iv, 401. Roscoe does not seem willing to comprehend the subject. The florin we have put with Sismondi at four times the rate Roscoe assigns to it. Lorenzo was magnificent and prodigal, but the appellation, "il magnifico," was only the ordinary title of respect to prominent men.

ARTICLE II.-THE PORTUGUESE IN INDIA: A HISTORIC EPISODE.

Obras de L. de Camoens, Principe dos Poetas de Hespanha, Seg. Edic. Lisb. 1782 and 1783. 4 vols., 12mo.

THERE is a country in the south of Europe that, outside of its boundaries, is rarely mentioned even in diplomatic circles. Its territory is small and its political influence still more insignificant. In literature it presents but one prominent name, and the history of its past achievements, whatever they may be, is now neglected. That country is Portugal. But effete as may be her condition now, there is a page in history on which her name is emblazoned with a glory that should not be dimmed by the remorseless touch of oblivion; there are deeds recorded in her chronicles productive of such universal and beneficent results as to demand the lasting gratitude of mankind; and there are three characters associated with these events, whose names, honorable in any age, should alone suffice to preserve the glory of Portugal in perpetual remembrance. Helps, in his masterly narrative of the Spanish conquest, says, "the history of almost every nation tells us of some great transaction peculiar to that nation, something which aptly illustrates the particular characteristics of the people, and proclaims, as we may say, the part in human nature which that nation was to explain and render visible." The part played by Portugal in the progress of the world was to open a passage to the East Indies. The avidity with which the Dutch, French, and English have successively followed in the wake of the Portuguese navies, and the commercial advantages already enjoyed and the moral benefits likely to come in after ages, by the possession of India by the Europeans, sufficiently attest the grandeur of the dominion discovered under the auspices of Prince Henry, conquered by Albuquerque, and rendered immortal in the sublime epic of Camoens. It may not be