ROME. 



is. " Tlie dominion of priefls," fays Gibbon, " is 

 molt odious to a liberal fpirit." Petrarch was now the 

 oracle of the Italians, and as often as Porcaro revolved the 

 ode, which defcribes the patriot and hero of Rome, lie 

 applied to himfelf the vifions of the prophetic bard. His 

 fir it trial of the people's feelings was at the funeral of 

 Eugenius IV. In an elaborate fpeech he called the Romans 

 to liberty and arms. For this att he had, by the exifting 

 laws of the ftate, forfeited his life ; but the benevolence of 

 the new pontiff, who viewed his character with pity and 

 dlcim, attempted by an honourable office to convert the 

 patriot into a friend. He was again guilty of the lame 

 offence, and was a fecond time pardoned. The humane 

 pontiff now removed him from the fecne of temptation to 

 I'olorma, with a liberal allowance for his fupport, and the 

 eafy obligation of prefenting himfelf each day before the 

 governor of the city. But he formed a party at Rome, 

 and a new confpiracy was excited. His nephew, a daring 

 youth, affembled a band of volunteers, and on the appointed 

 evening a fealt was prepared at his houfe for the friends of 

 the republic. Their leader, who had cfeaped from Bologna, 

 appeared among them in a robe of purple and gold: Ins 

 voice, his countenance, his geftures, befpoke the man u h > 

 had devoted his life to the glorious caale. In a ftudied 

 oration, he expatiated on the motives and the means of 

 their enterprize ; the name and liberties of Rome ; the 

 floth and pride of their ecclefiaftical tyrant ; the active or 

 paflive confent of their fellow citizens ; three hundred fol- 

 diers and four hundred exiles, long exercifed in arms or 

 in brooding over their wrongs ; the licence of revenge to 

 edge their fwords, and a million of ducats to reward their 

 victory. " It would be eafy," he faid, " on the next day, 

 the feitival of Epiphany, to feize the pope and the cardinals 

 before the doors, or at the altar, of St. Peter ; to lead them 

 in chains under the walls of St. Angelo ; to extort, by the 

 threat of inltant death, a furrender of the caftle ; to afcend 

 the vacant Capitol ; to ring the alarm-bell, and to reftore in 

 a popular ailembly the ancient republic of Rome. While he 

 was triumphing in his own mind, he was already betrayed. 

 The fenate, witli a ltrong guard, inverted the houfc ; the 

 nephew of Porcaro cut his way through the crowd, but the 

 unfortunate Stephen was drawn from a cheft, lamenting tl. at 

 his enemies had anticipated by three hours the execution of 

 his delign. After filch manifeft and repeated guilt, the pope, 

 though ltill inclined rather to pity than puniihment, could 

 fay nothing in his favour. Porcaro, and nine of his accom- 

 plices, were hanged ; and amidit the fears and invectives of 

 the papal court, the Romans pitied, and almoll applauded, 

 thefe martyrs of their country. " But," fays the eloquent 

 hiitorian of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 

 " their applaule was mule, their pity ineffectual, their liberty 

 for ever extinct ; and, if they have lince rilen in a vacancy of 

 the throne or a fcarcity of bread, inch accidental tumults 

 may be found in the bofom ot the molt abjedt fervitude." 

 Of the ftruggles of the people oi Rome we have, there- 

 fore, nothing more to record. 



But the independence of the nobles, which was fomented 

 by difeord, furvivcd the freedom of the commons, which 

 mull be founded in union. Rapine and opprcflion were lung 

 maintained by the barons ot Rome ; their houles were a 

 fortrefs and a (ancillary : and the criminals whom they pro- 

 tected from the law, repaid the hofpitality with tin fervice 

 of their fwords and daggers. The private iuterells of the 

 pontiffs, or their nephews, fometimea involved them in thefe 

 domellic feuds. Under the reign of Sixtus IV. Rome was 

 detracted by the battles and lieges of the rival houfes; after 

 the conflagration of his palace, the prothonotary Colonna was 



tortured and beheaded ; and Savelli, his captive friend, was 

 murdered on the fpot, for refuting to join in the acclamations 

 of the victorious Urfini. But the popes no longer trem- 

 bled on their throne : they had ftrength to command, if they 

 had refolution to claim, thf obedience of their fubjedts ; and 

 the ilrangers who obferved thefe partial diforders, admired 

 the eafy taxes and wife adminiftration of the ecclefiaftical 

 ftate. 



The fpiritual thunders of the Vatican depend on the force 

 of opinion ; and if that opinion be fupplanted by reafon or 

 paffion, the found may idly wafte itfelf in the air, and the 

 helplefs prieft will be expofed to the brutal violence of 

 a i ble or plebeian adversary. But after their return from 

 Avignon, the keys of St. Peter were guarded by the fword 

 of St. Paul. Rome was commanded by an impregnable 

 citadel ; "the ufeof cannon is a powerful engine againft po- 

 pular feditions ; a regular force of cavalry and infantry was 

 enliiled under the banners of the pope ; his ample revenues 

 fupplied the refourcesof the war; and, from the extent of 

 his domain, he could bring down upon a rebellious city an 

 army of hollile neighbours and loyal fubjects. Since the 

 union of the duchies of Ferraro and Urbino, the ecclefiafti- 

 cal power extends from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic, 

 and from the confines of Naples to the banks of the Po ; and 

 as early as the fifteenth century, the greater part of that fpa- 

 cious and fruitful country acknowledged the lawful claims 

 and temporary fovereignty of the Roman pontiffs. For the 

 fucceffive changes that have occurred in Italy from that 

 time to the year 1811, we refer our readers to the article 

 Italy, in the New Cyclopaedia ; and we (hall, probably, 

 by the time we come to the article State, Holy Roman, be 

 able to give a farther account of the fubjeft, to the general 

 peace, we earneltly hope, of 1815. 



In the mean time, we (hall lay before our readers an ac- 

 count of Rome as it appeared in the fifteenth century to an 

 accurate and feeling mind, and then conclude the article with 

 fome account of the prefent ftate of the city. 



View of Rome in the Fifteenth Century. — In the lalt days 

 of pope Eugenius IV. two of his attendants, the learned 

 Poggio and a friend, afcended the Capitoline ; repofed them- 

 lelves among the ruins of columns and temples ; and from 

 that commanding fpot, they viewed the wide and various 

 profpec/t of defolation. The place and the object gave 

 ample fcope for moralizing on the viciffitudes of fortune, 

 which fpares neither man nor the proudeft of his works, 

 which buries empires and cities in a common grave ; and it 

 would naturally be inferred, that in proportion to her 

 former greatnefs, the fall of Rome was the more awful 

 and deplorable. The defcription of Poggio, who was 

 one of the firft that raifed his eyes from the monuments of 

 legendary, to thofe of clallic fuperllition, is as follows : 



I. Betides a bridge, an arch, a iepnlchre, and the pyra- 

 mid of Celtiu 11 , he could difcern, of the age of the republic, 

 a double row of vaults in the falt-ollicc of the Capitol, which 

 were inferibed witii the name and munificence of Catullus. 

 2. Eleven temples were vilible in fome degree, from the 

 perfect form of the Pantheon, to the three arches, and a 

 marble column of the temple of Peace, which Vefpafiao 

 eredted after the civil wars ot the .lewifh triumph. 3. Of 

 the number, which he rafhly defines, of feven thermit or 

 public baths, none were fullieiently entire to represent the 

 ufe ami diitribution of the feveral ['art 1 but thofe ot 

 Diocletian and Antoninus Caraealla Hill retained the titles 

 of the founders, and aftunilhed the curious fpectator, who, 

 in ohlerving their folidity and extent, the variety of marbles, 

 the Gze and multitude of the columns, compared the labour 

 and expence with the ufe and importance. Of the baths 



of 



