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owe the entire work of Columella, the prortrvafior- of Cal- 

 purnius's Bucolic, and lin: lecovery of the works of Mani- 

 liuR, Lucius Septimius, Caper, Eutychius, and Prohus. 



After the depofnion of JohiiXXII. Poggio remained for 

 • Jome time in iulpence with regard to his future dcftination ; 

 and it does not appear tliat he held any office under Murtln 

 V. who was cleeted to the papal fee, although, afttr the 

 diffolution of the council of Conilance in 1418, he travc'leJ 

 in the fuite of the new pontifl to Mantua. At this time he 

 paid a vifit to England, in confequeiice of an Invitiitiou 

 from Beaufort, bilhop of Winchtfter ; but difappointed in 

 his expedtations of preferment, adequate to his vii.\v3 and 

 wilhes, he impatiently waited a favourable opportunity of 

 returning to liis native country. 



At length, vii. in 1420, wlien the difTenfions refpefling 

 the pontilicatc were finally fettled, and Martin V. was re- 

 cognized as the true fucoeflor to the papal throne, Foggio 

 arrived at Rome, and accepted the clSce ot fecrttary, to 

 vvhicli he was reeouunended by the cardinal ot St. Eultbius. 

 A quarrel having taken place between his two friends 

 Leonardo Aretino and Niccolo Niccoli, he interpofed as 

 mediator, and fucceeded in accomplifhing a reconciliation. 

 In 14^9 he availed himfelf of an interval of tranquillity, in 

 prefenting to public notice his firft literary prodattion, 

 which was a " Dialogue on Avarice," and which feems to 

 have polTefl'ed coufiderable merit. In this dialogue he took 

 occafion very feverely to fatirize thofe Francilcan friars, 

 who were dillmguiihedby the title of" Fratres Obfervantias," 

 a new order foiuided by Bernardo of Siena. This was 

 folio A-ed, at a more advanced period of life, by a " Dialogue 

 on Hypocrify," a compoiition which abounds in the keen 

 farcafms of polifhed wit, and in acute obfervations on tlie 

 human charafter. In both thefe dialogues he boldly ex- 

 prefles the contempt he entertained for thofe ccclefiaftics, who 

 adopted the religious habit as a convenient clcak for the 

 concealment of indolence or luxury ; and who, by the mere 

 appearance of extraordinary fandlity, endeavoured to attain 

 that worldly honour which at the fame time they afFefted to 

 defpife. The freedom with which he expofed l\ie vices not 

 merely of individuals, but of whole clalTes of religious 

 hypocrites, manifelled a great degree of virtuous refolution, 

 and merited no meao praife. After ttie acce.lion of Euge- 

 iiius IV. to the papal throne, a conteil occurred between 

 him and the council of Bafil, which terminated in the 

 depofition of the pontiff, and his (lit;ht to Flerence ; and 

 Poggio, in attempting to follow him thither, was captured, 

 and for fome time detained in confinement. However, by 

 tlie payment of a ranfom, which his pecuniary circumftances 

 rendered very oppreflive, he was fet free, and finally accom- 

 plifhed his retreat to Florence. Durmg his refidence in 

 this city, he had an opportunity of tellifying his ardent 

 attachment to the hoi]fe of Medicis, by entering into a 

 literary contelt, or rather a kind of lampoon war, with 

 Fi-lelfo, an avowed enemy of chat family, in which they feem 

 to have vied with each other in inventing fallehoods of the 

 moff atrocious kind, and in difgraeing their pages by the 

 moltmalevolentandindecentcalumnies. This conteft between 

 two of the mofl learned men of the age was condufled in a 

 manner, which, however it might have contributed to the 

 amufement of their contemporaries, entails lalfing difgrace 

 oa both parties, in the judgment of poilerity. Poggio, foon 

 after the termination ot this conteft, determined to fix his 

 permanent refidence in the Tufcan territory, and with 

 this view he purchafed a villa in the plealant difirift of 

 Valdarno. The Tuican government favnureil his purpoles 

 of retirement, and paffed a 'jublic aft, which exempted him 

 9uad his children from the payment of all pubUc tases. 



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Poggio's fortune was inconfiderable ; but he contrived to 

 render his humble nmdion an objedt of attention to the 

 lovers of the liberal arts, by the treafures of his library, and by 

 a fmall colletlion of ftatues, whicli he dilpofed in fuch a 

 manner as to conditule a principal ornament of his garden, 

 and the appropriate furniture of an apartment which he 

 intended to dedicate to literary converfation. His attention 

 Icems toihave been long engaged by the ihidy of ancient 

 leulpture ; nor was he Icfs affiduous in refcuiiig its relics 

 from obfcurity, than in fearching for ilie beif writers of 

 antic]uity. With this view he made a diligent furvey of the 

 ruiris of ancient Rome, and inferted in the proemium to his 

 dialogue, " De Varietate Fortunx," a catalogue of the relies 

 of Roman architefture, which has beei\ introduced by 

 Mr. Gibbon in the 7 ill chapter of his " Decline and Fall of 

 the Roman empire." Poggio's refearches extended beyond 

 the precinfts of Rome, and his zeal for the rertoration of 

 the monuments of ancient fculpture induced him to vifit 

 Crypta, Ferrata, Tufculum, Ferentir.um, Alba, Arpinum, 

 Alatrinum, and Tiburtum ; and by means of friends he 

 direfted his refearches to Rhodes, Greece, and other c(jun- 

 tries. Whilll he was occupied in coUeftiug ornaments for 

 his rural refidence, he was employed at the requell of a 

 friend, Scipio of Ferrara, in compoling a diiTcrtation on the 

 comparative merits of Cxfar and Scipio ; wliich he clofcs 

 with tlie following general ftatement of his opinion, " that 

 the youth of Scipio was diftinguifhed by the purcft moral,"!, 

 whilil the early years of Caefar were rendered infamous by 

 his vices ; that the former, infpired with the fpirit of 

 patriotifm, by his fplendid military achievements refcued his 

 country from dellruflion ; and that the latter, prompted by 

 ambition, too fuccefsfuUy exerted his extraordinary talents 

 to effect the iubverfinn of the commonwealth : that confe- 

 quently, whilll Scipio was by no means inferior to Cxfar in 

 the fame of his military exploits, he was greatly hu 

 fuperior in virtue, which alone conllitutes the charafter of a 

 truly great man." Soon after the termination of a contro- 

 verfy which this publication occafioned, an event occurred 

 which, in all the circumftances that attmdtd it, reflects no 

 great honour on the charaifler of Poggio. At the age of 

 5 ■;, he married a young lady of a wealthy and honourable 

 family in her jSth year ; and to this alliance he facrifieed a 

 m.illrefs, by whi^m he had had izfonsand 2 daughters, and, 

 moreover, fet afiJe a bull of legitimacy which he had pro- 

 cured for them, in order that they might be enabled to 

 inherit his fortune. Not long after this event, in J437, his 

 friend Niccolo Niccoli died, and Poggio compofed and 

 pubhflied his funeral eulogium,in which are feveral traces of 

 eloquence and pathos. Although Poggio devoted much of 

 his attention to domellic duties, and to the improvement of 

 his Tufcan villa, he found leifui'e to renew his difgractful 

 literary conte'l with Filelfo ; and to compofe a work, which 

 redounded much more to h'i honour, entitled " A Dialogue 

 on Nobility," and publifhed iu 1440. This was followed, 

 by his " Dialogue on the unhappinefs of princes," in which 

 he dwells with lo much energy on the vices of exalted rank, 

 as to affrd room for fufpicion, that refentment and indigna- 

 tion had at leaft as much influence in its compofition as the 

 fuggeflions of philofophy. However, ihe cffufions of mo- 

 rofenefs that occur in this dialogue are iuterfperfed with 

 precepts of found morality, and the hiiloiic details with 

 whicfi it abounds are both entertaiiiing.and ir.flruCtive. 



In 1444 he loft Leonardo, the fole furviving cDrnpanios 

 of his youthful years ; and on this oecafion he pubhihed a 

 funeral oration, which was at oiic« djgulticd and pa- 

 thetic. 



Poggio, though he had held the office of apollolic fecre- 

 8 tarjr 



