Restores his do minions to peace. The pontificate of Leo X. is celebrated as one of the most prosperous in the annals of the Romish church. At the time when he assumed the chair, the calamities of Italy were at their highest pitch, that country being the theatre of a war, in which not only all its governments were engaged, but which was rendered yet more sanguimary by the introduction of the French, Helvetian, and Spanish troops. A council, which had long established itself at Pisa, under the influence and protection of the king of France, thwarted the measures, and at times overawed the authority of the holy see; and in addition to all her other distressés, Italy laboured under great apprehen sions from the Turks, who constantly threatened a descent on that unhappy country. The address and perseverance of Leo surmounted the difficulties which he had to encounter ; and during his pontificate, the papal dominions enjoyed a degree of tranquillity beyond any other state in Italy. In his relations with foreign powers, his conduct is no less entitled to approbation. During the contests that took place between those powerful monarchs Charles V. and Francis I. he distinguished himself by his moderation, his vigilance, and his political address, on which account he is justly celebrated by an eminent historian of our own country t 66 ate quanto farei Pietro mio figlio; e vi prego lo introduciate e lo raccomman"diate caldissimamente a N. S. (il papa) che non potreste farmi maggior "piacere, &c." Yet when the same Alessandro had arrived at the pontificate, he so far forgot or disregarded his early obligations, as forcibly to dispossess Lucrezia, the daughter of his benefactor, then in a very advanced age, of her residence in Rome, to make way for one of his nephews. This incident is related by Varchi. Storia Fiorentina lib. xvi. p. 666. country, as the only prince of the age, who observed "the motions of the two contending monarchs with a "prudent attention, or who discovered a proper solicitude "for the public safety." (a) formation. Leo was not however aware, that whilst he was composing the troubles which the ambition of his neighbours, or the misconduct of his predecessors had occasioned, he was exciting a still more formidable adversary, that was des- Rise of the Retined, by a slow but certain progress, to sap the foundations of the papal power, and to alienate that spiritual allegiance which the Christian world had kept inviolate for so many centuries. Under the control of Leo, the riches that flowed from every part of Europe to Rome, as to the heart of the ecclesiastical system, were again poured out through a thousand channels, till the sources became inadequate to the expense required. To supply this deficiency, he availed himself of various expedients, which whilst they effected for a time the intended purpose, roused the attention of the people to the enormities and abuses of the church, and in some measure drew aside that sacred veil, which in shrouding her from the prying eyes of the vulgar, has always been her safest preservative. The open sale of dispensations and indulgencies for the most enormous and disgraceful crimes, was too flagrant not to attract general notice. Encouraged by the dissatisfaction which was thus excited, a daring reformer arose, and equally regardless of the threats of secular power, and the denunciations of the Roman see, ventured to oppose the opinion of NN (a) Robertson, Hist. of Cha. V. book i. of an individual to the infallible determinations of the church. At this critical juncture, Luther found that support which he might in vain have sought at any other period, and an inroad was made into the sanctuary, which has ever since been widening, and will probably continue to widen, till the mighty fabric, the work of so many ages, shall be laid in ruins(a). It is not however so much for the tenets of their religious creed, as for the principles upon which they founded their dissent, that the reformers are entitled to the thanks of posterity. That right of private judgment which they claimed for themselves, they could not refuse to others; and by a mode of reasoning as simple as it was decisive, mankind arrived at the knowledge of one of those great truths which form the basis of human happiness. It appeared that the denunciations of the church were as ineffectual to condemn, as its absolution was to exculpate, and instead of an intercourse between the man and his priest, an intercourse took place between his conscience and his God. But turning from the advantages which the world has "derived (a) The causes and progress of the reformation are traced by Dr. Robertson, in his history of Charles the V. book ii. in a manner that would dispense with any further elucidation, even if it were more intimately connected with my subject. This celebrated historian has taken occasion to refute an assertion made by Guicciardini, and after him by Fr. Paolo, that Leo X. bestowed the profits arising from the sale of indulgences in Saxony, upon his sister Maddalena, the wife of Francesco Cibo. Guicciar. lib. xiii. Sarpi, Storia del Concil. Trident. cap. i. Whatever might have been the abuses committed by Leo, in converting to the use of his own family the treasures of the church, it is sufficiently apparent that in this instance, the accusation is unfounded. v. Robertson, Hist. Cha, V. book ii. in note. The derived from the errors of Leo X. we may be allowed for to so so eminent a patron of letters, and have considered the age of Leo X. as rivalling that of Augustus. Leo has not however escaped the reproach of having been too lavish of his favours to authors of inferior talents, and of having expended in pompous spectacles, and theatrical representations, that wealth which ought to have been devoted to better purposes (a). But shall we condemn his conduct, if those who had no claims on his justice, were the objects of his bounty? or may it not be doubted whether this disposition was not more favourable to the promotion of let ters, Age of Leo X. ་་་་ (a) Tirab. Storia della Let. Ital. v. viii. par. i. p. 19. Andres orig. e progressi d'ogni Letteratura, v. i. p. 380. library re stored. ters, than a course of conduct more discriminating and severe? Whatever kindness he might shew to those who endea voured to amuse his leisure by their levity, their singularity, or their buffoonery, no instances can be produced of his having rewarded them by such distinguished favours as he constantly bestowed on real merit ; and whilst we discover amongst those who shared his friendship, and partook of his highest bounty, the names of Bembo, Vida, Ariosto, Sadoleti, Casa, and Flaminio, we may readily excuse the effects of that superabundant kindness, which rather marked the excess of his liberality, than the imperfection of his judgment. In the attention paid by Leo X. to the collecting and The Laurentian preserving ancient manuscripts, and other memorials of literature, he emulated the example of his father, and by his perseverance and liberality, at length succeeded in restoring to its former splendor, the celebrated library, which on the expulsion of Piero de' Medici, had become a prey to the fury or the cupidity of the populace. Such of these valuable articles as had escaped the sacrilegious hands of the plunderers, had been seized upon for the use of the Florentine state; but in the year 1496, the public treasury being exhausted, and the city reduced to great extremity, the magistrates were under the necessity of selling them to the monks of the fraternity of S. Marco, for the sum of three thousand ducats (a). Whilst these valuable works were (a) Eodem anno (1500) libri heredum olim Petri Medicis a conventu nostro trium milium Ducatorum pretio comparati, quos supra memoravimus in horrendo casu nostro, ex jusso dominationis Florentinæ in palatium comportatos, et |