BRA 



eiolin!, and bom in i}So, at Terranuova, a fmafl town of 

 the republic of Florence, not far from Areizo. Deriving 

 from liis father no hereditary advantaRcs of rank or fortune, 

 he fonght emoUinient and diiliiiftion in the courfc of htcrary 

 fKirfuiti. Having acquired a competent knowledge of the 

 Latin and G:tek languacics at Florence, where his ftiidics 

 were ditiaed by Manuel Cryfojoras, he .emovcd to Rome 

 about the year 140: ; and here his literary reputation intro- 

 duced him to the notice of Boi.ifiice IX. who took him into 

 his fervice, and promoted him to the uifice of writer of the 

 apoll.ilic letters. At the period immediately preceding the 

 admiflion of Poggio into the pontifical chaiicciy, the Italian 

 liatcs had been convulftd by war and faction; but a treaty 

 liaviiig been concluded, juft before his arrival, between 

 Ijoiiifjcc and the riortntinc republic, the Roman court, 

 relieved from its dillraftion and anxiety, was become a fcciie 

 of luxury and difTipation. Poggio, however, retllled the 

 temptations which prcftnted tliemfelves to his lively fancy 

 a:id ardent coiiftiution'; and as the emoluments of his office 

 aHordcd only fcaiity means of gratification, he devoted 

 himfelf the more afliduoufly to the profccntion of his ilndies, 

 and to the cultivation of an acquaintance with thofe whole 

 converfalion might lead to the improvement of his mind. 

 Literary purfuits were now become falhiunable, and the 

 chaiader of the fcholar was often found united with that of 

 the man of the world. To tiiis ciicumllauce it is natural 

 to afcnhe the union of lcariiin>r, politenefs, and knowledge 

 of the human heart, which iVines lb confpicuoudy in the 

 writings of Poggio. In 1404 he fiiftaiutd a confideraMe 

 lofs by the death of his patron, Boniface ; but his diilinguidi- 

 ed merit lecommended him to the favourable notice of the 

 fuccrflbr to the papal fee. Innocent VI 1. ; who continued 

 him in his office, and treated him with particular kindiicfs 

 and refpedl. During the diflr;ic\io'.is of the Roman court, 

 which fucceeded thed^ath of Innocent in 1406, Fo;,'gio ex- 

 changed the intrigues and diffenfions of the pontifical palace 

 for the tranquil delights of friendlliip, which he enjoyed at 

 Florence in the fociety of his literary acquaintance, and par- 

 ticularly in the patronage and cordial ellecm of the cele- 

 brated N.ccolo Niccoli. He fcems, however, to have re- 

 tained his fituation in the pontifical chancery ; and having 

 afted as apoftolical fcribe to Alexander V. he occupied the 

 fame office in the houfchold of John XXII. that pontiff's 

 fucceffor. At the council of Conllance, in 14 15, the death 

 of Manuel Cryfoloras, t!ie iiillvudor of his youth, afforded 

 him an opportunity of celebrating his praifes in a funeral 

 oration, and of dedicating to his memory an appropriate 

 and elegant Latin epitaph. Upon the dcpofitioa of John 

 at this council, and the confequcnt difperlion of the pontifi- 

 cal houfehold, Poggio remained at Conltaiice, and em.ployed 

 his intervals of leifure in ftudying the Hebrew language, 

 under the direftion of a Jew who had been converted to the 

 Chriftian faith. But in this language he fcems to have made 

 no great progrefs ; nor, indeed, was he dcfirous of provid- 

 ing himfeif, by a knowledge of the oriental tongues, with 

 the weapons of religiuus controverfy. As he was not dif- 

 pofed to call in queillon the prevaihvg creed, he was inclined 

 to think that St. Jerome's trandation of the Jewifh Scrip- 

 tures was amply fufficient for all the purpofcs of his Chrif- 

 tian faith. Biblical (Indies fccm not to have fuitedhis tafte 

 and inclination ; and lhtTo''oie his proficiency in them was 

 not very confiderable. The vigour of his mind might like- 

 wife have luffered fomc relaxation from the precarioufncfs of 

 his fituation, and the gloomy and d.fcoiiraging profpe£ts 

 which pr.-'fcnted themfclves with regard to his future prefer- 

 ment. Finding no amufement in varyinir Of extending his 

 ijlerary purfuits, hcaltogether fulpeudcd hisHudics ; and in 



BRA 



the fprlng of the year I4i<5, he avafled himfelf of the leifuK 

 afforded him, by the termination of his fun£\ions as fecrcUry 

 to the Jcpofed pontiff, to make an extuifion to the baths of 

 Baden. On his return to Conllance he was prefent at the 

 trial of Jerome of Prague ; and of this trial and the latl end 

 of Jerome he gave a vcr)- ciicumftantial and intercfting ac- 

 count, in a letter to his friend Leonardo Areuus. " He 

 Hood undaunted and intrepid," fays Poggio, " not messly 

 contemning, but, like another Cato, longing for death. He 

 was a man worthy to be had in cverlafting remembrance. I 

 do not com.mend him for entertaining Iriitimcnts hollile to 

 the conllitution of the church : but I admire his learning, 

 his extenfive knowledge, tlie fuavity of his eloquence, and 

 his ability in reply. But I am afraid that all thefe endow- 

 ments were bellowed on him by nature, in order to effect his 

 deftruftion." He thus concludes ; " He may have been hereti- 

 cal in his notions, and obftiiiate in perfevcring in them, but he 

 certainly died like a philofopher. I have rehearfed a long 

 llory, as I wiflted to employ my leifure, in relating a tranll 

 a£lion which furpaffes the events of ancient hillory. For 

 neither did Mutius fuffer his hand to be burnt fo patiently 

 as Jerome endiued the burning of his whole body; nor did 

 Socrates drink the hemlock as cheerfully as Jerome fubmitted 

 to the fire." The feeling manner in which he defcribcs ther 

 trial and execution of Jerome, evinces a heart, which daily 

 intercourfe with bigotted believers and licentious hypocntea 

 could not deaden to the impulfes of humanity. The mani- 

 fcil iuterell which he took in the fate of a man, who was 

 held up by the church as an object of unqualified abhorrence, 

 awakened the fears of Leonardo on his account ; and he ad- 

 vifed him to exercifc a greater degree of caution. 



During thevacancyof the pontifical throne, Po/gio improv. 

 ed his leifure by an expedition of no Imall importance to the in- 

 tereils of literature. Having received information that m.any 

 ancient MSS. of clalFic authors were fcattered in various 

 monalleries, and f:ther repofitories in the neighbourhood of 

 Conllance, he determined to refcue them from the hands of 

 thofe who, ignorant of their value, were i offering them to 

 perifh. In the monaller/ of St. Gall he found, among 

 other MSS., a complete copy of Qiiintilian, buried in rub- 

 bifh and duft ; and alfo the three tjiil and one half of the 

 fourth books of the Argonautics of Valerius Flaccus, and 

 Afconius Pedianus's comment on eight of Cicero's orations. 

 In a monallery of the monks of Clugny, in the town of 

 Langres, he found a copy of Cicero's oration for Caecina; 

 and in his other refearchcs he difcovered the following ora- 

 tions of the fame author, the lofs of which had been long 

 deplored by the learned : viz. " De lege Agraria contra 

 RuUum, lib. i. et lib. ii." " Contra legem Agrariam ad 

 populum ;" and " In L. Pifonem." A copy of thefe ora- 

 tions is prcfervcd in the abbey of Sta. Maria at Florence, with 

 a memorandum afcribiiig the difcovery of this and alfo of 

 three others, viz. " Pro C. Rabirio Pifoiie ;" " Pro C. Rahirio 

 perduellioiiis reo;" and " Pro Rofcio coma;do," to Poggio ; 

 but the three lall are torn from the volume. To him alfo, in 

 concurrence with Bartolomeo di Montepelciano, we are in- 

 debted for reffoiing to light the poem of Sillus Italicus, Lac- 

 tantius's ti-eatife, " De ira Dei et opificio hominis," Ve- 

 gctius " De Re militari," Nonius Marcellu.-', Ammiarais Mar» 

 celhnus, l..ucretlus. Columella, and Tertullian. Poggio 

 llkewifc: added to the eight comedies of Plautus, known be- 

 fore his time, twelve more ; and by the alTiduity of his own 

 refearchcs, and thofe of others employed by him, he difcover- 

 ed a fragment of Aulus Gellius, a copy of Julius Frontinus, 

 " De aquieduftis," and eight books of Firmicui's treatife 

 on the mathematics. From Cologne he procured the fif- 

 teenth book of Petronius Arbiter ; and to his exertions we 



owe 



