1806,] from the Age of Augustus to thai of Louis XIV. IS 



In rendering books as common and po- 

 pular ;is maniilbripts were rare and inac- 

 Cfllible, it has drawn fcience and truth 

 t'roni the retreats of letters, and (pread 

 them tliroiigli the univerfe. By this is 

 baUcncd the regeneration and new pro- 

 grcfs ot" the arts ; and to this great inven- 

 tion it is given to lay even to Rarbariiin, 

 " Thou llialt never revive !" — to in- 

 juftice, which licretofore coidd fcarcely 

 be denounced but to future times, " From 

 tliis moment of tliy ciime thou hearell 

 thy fentence pronounced to all the 

 T»orld !" — and to the man frauglit with 

 truth, *' Speak, and the whole eartlj 

 iiiall liear thy voice !" 



The full works of the prefs were dic- 

 tated fey the.J^aun Mules, who lialtened 

 to refpire tiie air of tlieir ancient conn- 

 ti'y; and it was juft tliat Italy fliould be 

 the fcene of this happy revolution. It 

 extended to every department of fcience, 

 thanks to the benignant influence of the 

 Houfe of JMedici, who, all-powerful at 

 Florence anrl Rome, there received the 

 arts banillied from C'onltantinople by the 

 Ottoman anns, and the fall of that phan- 

 tom of the Greek empire, reduced long 

 before to the walls of Byzantium. The 

 Medici had the glory to diftinguilli by 

 their name, ever dear to letters and tlie 

 arts, that great epoch of the lixteenth 

 century, the fiift which in poetry has 

 been the rival of the Auguftan age ; in 

 fculpture and architecture has retraced 

 tjiole line forms, elegant proportions, that 

 native exprellion, and thofe limple and 

 majellic defigns, till then known only to 

 tlie Greeks, and the Romans their imi- 

 tators ; and in painting has completed 

 tlie idea of the beautiful, and left the in- 

 *iriable model of perfection. 



The niagnificence and the talle of the 

 Medici follered that crowd of talents 

 ■which now fprang up in every quarter. 

 Italy was filled with thofe innumerable 

 examples of the linelir-painting which 

 eontiimc to draw foreigners from all the 

 polillicd parts of the world, and which 

 are flicwn with a national pride that has 

 palfed even into that rank of the people 

 who in every other eouiury are Itraiigers 

 I to the arts. The JMedici, and partieu- 

 ' larly the famous pontiif of Rome Leo X., 

 \ cuuliE'd e\ery library to be fearchcd for 

 tlie n)anulcripts of the ancients, and thefe 

 tlie prefs reproduced, enriched with learn- 

 ed and inllru/-ti\e comments. At that 

 I aufpirioiis inoiiient was eiitirelv removed 

 ' the thick ftiid pernici(jiis veil which a long- 

 , continued barbarifni had fpread over the 

 i VeautifS of .-Viiiiquity. siic uiofe fruui 



(Uirknefs, again clothed as when living, 

 like- thole tine Itatues which, buried for 

 ages amidft the ^v^ecks of earthquake? 

 and volcanos, fcem, when reproduced to 

 day, to fpring all new from the hands of 

 the nrtift. Hence that fpecics of idolatry 

 which Ihe at lirli; infpired. The learned 

 and commentators then formed a new fci 

 of bigots; fcience was pedantic ; and the 

 age that inuncd lately followed, by an- 

 -othcr excels, deemed it ridiculous. But 

 the well-informed and equitable ftill ac- 

 knowledge with pleal'uie the eifcutial fer- 

 vices we have recei\ed from thole indefa- 

 tigable fcholais, who kept their watch 

 amongll parchments, and buried them- 

 felves alive with the dead. 



Let us not reprcrach thein with an ex- 

 travagant ^affion for the objecl of their 

 labours, fiiice this paffion was itfclf ne- 

 ceflary to their conftancy under fuch an 

 enterprize : let us not complain that thev 

 have loaded their cimmientaries with ;t 

 minute and fometiuies unneceflary erudi- 

 tion, lince we are but too happy that they 

 have left to our rcfearchesonly the ein- 

 barraflTment of choice ! They have at 

 times loll themfelves in obfcure and lie- 

 rile paths ; but they were alf(j the tirll to 

 open and clear the great road on whicti 

 we now proceed ^vith fuch facility. They 

 might with a walte of fuftbring heap up 

 fome ufclefs materials ; but they were 

 the perfons who cultivated the field where 

 we at eale gather tbe fruit. Tliis fj'i\'0- 

 lous and prefumptuous age cannot be too 

 often told that there is no merit in defpif- 

 ing all things, but that thei-e is much ii>- 

 deed in proriting of every thing. Like 

 foohfh and prodigal heirs they fcornfully 

 futfer to moulder in their hands immenfe 

 trcafurcs obfcurely amailed by eager and 

 indullrious fofe/athcrs. 



Such were not Ariolto and Taffo, both 

 of whom, verfed in the ancient language 

 of Rome fufficiently to write it w ith fuc- 

 cefs, preferred the then greater labour of 

 illultrating that of modern Italy, in which 

 they Hill hold the highell rank. It ig 

 well known that Italy is to this day divi- 

 ded refpe6ting the fuperiority of Taflo or 

 Ariofto, as the French contend refpect- 

 ing Corneille and Racine, and the learn- 

 ed have long difputed concerning Dc- 

 mofthenes and Cicero ; but we pafs 

 that topic till we come to fpeak particu- 

 larly of foreign literature, our object here 

 being only to name thofe great men as 

 among the number whofe glory is that of 

 their country, and as two writers who 

 gave to the Italian language all the grac« 

 anil force of which it is fufceptible. 



At 



