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Article SKETCHES OF CELEBRATED CHARACTERS. ← Page 2 of 7 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Sketches Of Celebrated Characters.
the inhabitants of the Florentine republic , instead of being dissipated in imposing projects and ruinous expedients , circulated in their natural channels , giving happiness to the individual , and respectability to the state . If he was not insensible to the charms of ambition , it was the ambition to deserve rather than to enjoy ; and he was always cautious not to exact from the public favour more than it mig ht be voluntarily willing to bestow . The approximating
suppression of the liberties of Florence , under the influence of his descendant , may induce suspicions unfair to his patriotism ; but it will be difficult , not to sa } - impossible , to discover , either in his conduct or his principles , any thing that ought to stigmatize him as an enemy to the freedom of his country . The authority which he exercised was the same as that which his ancestors had enjoyedwithout injury
, to the republic , for nearly a century , and had descended to him as inseparable from the wealth , the respectability , and the powerful foreign connexions , of his family . The superiority of his talents enabled him to avail himself of these advantages with irresistible effect ; but history suggests not an instance iifwhich they were devoted to any other purpose than that of promoting the honour and
independence of the Tuscan state . It was not by the continuance , but by the dereliction of the system , that he had established , and to which he had adhered to the close , of his life , that the Florentine republic sunk under the degrading yoke of despotic power ; and to his premature death we may unquestionably attribute not only the destruction of the commonwealth , but all the calamities that Italy soon after sustained .
In his private life , Lorenzo is represented as an affectionate and constant husband , a kind and fond parent . Politiano had the care of his three sons ; Piero , dis inguished by a series of misfortunes too justly merited ; Giovanni , afterwards Pope Leo X ; and Guiliano , byalliance to the Royal House of France , afterwards Duke of Nemours . The writings of Lorenzo de Medici are distinguished by a vigour of imaginationan accuracy of judgmentand elegance of stylew " hieh
, , , afforded the greatest example of improvements , and entitled him , almost exclusively , to the honourable appellation of the Restorer of Italian Literature . The idea of adapting the country dialet / t , or rustic language , to poetry , first occurred to Lorenzo de Medici ; to him it was owing , that the ill-judged representation of Mysteries , which were more of dumb shewor pantomimethan dialoguebegaii
, , , to assume a more respectable form , and to be recited in dialogue . Lorenzo first taught his countrymen to dignify their carnival processions with sentiment , and toacldtotheirpoignancy the charms of poetry . Another trait of his political life deserves to be mentioned :. he first formed that political arrangement , which was more fully developed , and more widely extended in the succeeding centuryand which has
, since been denominated the Balance of Power . Just as he intended to retire from public business , he was seized with a slow fever , which reduced him at once into such a state of debility as totall y precluded all hopes of recovery , and carried him off , in the hei ght ' of his reputation , and at a premature period of life , April 8 , 1492 ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Sketches Of Celebrated Characters.
the inhabitants of the Florentine republic , instead of being dissipated in imposing projects and ruinous expedients , circulated in their natural channels , giving happiness to the individual , and respectability to the state . If he was not insensible to the charms of ambition , it was the ambition to deserve rather than to enjoy ; and he was always cautious not to exact from the public favour more than it mig ht be voluntarily willing to bestow . The approximating
suppression of the liberties of Florence , under the influence of his descendant , may induce suspicions unfair to his patriotism ; but it will be difficult , not to sa } - impossible , to discover , either in his conduct or his principles , any thing that ought to stigmatize him as an enemy to the freedom of his country . The authority which he exercised was the same as that which his ancestors had enjoyedwithout injury
, to the republic , for nearly a century , and had descended to him as inseparable from the wealth , the respectability , and the powerful foreign connexions , of his family . The superiority of his talents enabled him to avail himself of these advantages with irresistible effect ; but history suggests not an instance iifwhich they were devoted to any other purpose than that of promoting the honour and
independence of the Tuscan state . It was not by the continuance , but by the dereliction of the system , that he had established , and to which he had adhered to the close , of his life , that the Florentine republic sunk under the degrading yoke of despotic power ; and to his premature death we may unquestionably attribute not only the destruction of the commonwealth , but all the calamities that Italy soon after sustained .
In his private life , Lorenzo is represented as an affectionate and constant husband , a kind and fond parent . Politiano had the care of his three sons ; Piero , dis inguished by a series of misfortunes too justly merited ; Giovanni , afterwards Pope Leo X ; and Guiliano , byalliance to the Royal House of France , afterwards Duke of Nemours . The writings of Lorenzo de Medici are distinguished by a vigour of imaginationan accuracy of judgmentand elegance of stylew " hieh
, , , afforded the greatest example of improvements , and entitled him , almost exclusively , to the honourable appellation of the Restorer of Italian Literature . The idea of adapting the country dialet / t , or rustic language , to poetry , first occurred to Lorenzo de Medici ; to him it was owing , that the ill-judged representation of Mysteries , which were more of dumb shewor pantomimethan dialoguebegaii
, , , to assume a more respectable form , and to be recited in dialogue . Lorenzo first taught his countrymen to dignify their carnival processions with sentiment , and toacldtotheirpoignancy the charms of poetry . Another trait of his political life deserves to be mentioned :. he first formed that political arrangement , which was more fully developed , and more widely extended in the succeeding centuryand which has
, since been denominated the Balance of Power . Just as he intended to retire from public business , he was seized with a slow fever , which reduced him at once into such a state of debility as totall y precluded all hopes of recovery , and carried him off , in the hei ght ' of his reputation , and at a premature period of life , April 8 , 1492 ,