' ACCOUNT ~ 
might have destroyed the works of 
Lucretius and Quintilian ; and who 
can help feeling the most poignant 
regret, when he considers that, at 
that critical and interesting period, 
@ little more early or more fortu- 
nate search might have preserved: 
the Decades of Livy ? Though, how- 
ever the more early history of the 
house of Medici does not possess 
so general an interest, it is not 
without important political in- 
struction. We find that this family, 
which at length acquired absolute 
power in the republic of which they 
were citizens, paved the way to 
that despotic authority by being 
champions for popular privileges 
and leaders of the democratic party. 
This is the path which, in almost 
every age, has béen trodden by 
those who have shackled the liber- 
ties of their country. It was from 
the shoulders of the rabble that 
Pisistratus, Cesar, and Cromwell, 
mounted the throne: and the pa- 
trons of licentiousness have almost 
uniformly proved to be only candi- 
‘dates for tyranny. Far be it from 
us tomake any inference from these 
facts which might discourage great 
and generous minds from exertions 
in the defence of liberty, the noblest 
exercise of the human faculties in 
the service of mankind ; and equal- 
ly distant is it from our wishes to 
impede the progress of such minds, 
and to defraud them of that glory 
which is their just reward, by dif- 
fusing a base, ignoble, and harassing 
distrust of their purity: but, if our 
voice could have any authority or 
effect, we should never cease to in- 
culcate on the citizens of free states 
the necessity of suspecting the ho- 
nestly of violent men, of detecting, 
the tyrant in the disguise of the de- 
magogue, and of perpetually distin- 
guishing those who contend for the 
OF BOOKS. [*165 
laws, the constitution, and the: lis 
berties of their country, from those 
who would sacrifice that constitution 
and those laws under pretext of vi- 
sionary philanthropy, but often 
merely for the purposes of interested 
ambition :—Homines non tam com= 
mutandarum quam evertendarum re= 
rum cupidé. 
The second chapter of Mr. Ros= 
coe’s work is employed in describ- 
ing the early periods of the life of 
Lorenzo, and the administration of 
Pierro de’? Medici, who was inferior 
in abilities both to his father Cosmo 
and his son Lorenzo; and whose 
life is distinguished by little else: 
than that- patronage of literature 
which was hereditary in his family. 
In the ‘third chapter, we find Lo-’ 
renzo himself, as the first citizen of 
Florence, without any name or ap~' 
pearance. of supreme magistracy,' 
called tothe administration of the 
affairs of the republic; with a sin-" 
gular and undefinable species of au 
thority, somewhat similar to that 
which Pericles enjoyed at Athens, 
and which satisfied the ambition of 
Pompey, at Rome. The authority 
and ascendancy of a powerful citi- 
zen guided the public affairs, withs 
out violating the forms of a free 
constitution. Salva Libertate Po» 
tens. 
Several curious subjects are treat- 
ed in this chapter. ‘Ihe city of, 
Florence is perhaps the only.one of 
which the ‘* Merchants” literally 
became *¢ Princes.” Mr. Roscoe 
has presented us with some very 
striking proofs of the wealth of the 
house of Medici. Ina period of: 
only thirty-seven years, they had’ 
expended, in works of charity or’ 
public utility, a sum of not less than 
663,755 florins; and if we’ take 
into the account the value of money 
360 years ago, this sum will appear 
[*L, 3] almost 
