IIEFORMATION. 
of liis pontificate by the encouragement of 
literature and the patronage of tlie arts, 
was fostering in his bosom an enemy to de- 
stroy his peace and degrade las power. The 
seeds of learning which his father, Lorenzo 
de' Medici, had sown, and he so plentifully 
watered, sprung up to choak his pleasures, 
and reward him with trouble. No sooner 
had the human mind begun to be eman- 
cipated from its slavery, than it employed its 
newly restored liberty in bold and presnnip- 
tuous investigations into the conduct of Uie 
Roman Pontiffs, the extravagancies of the 
Papal court, the foundations of church 
governments, and the truth of established 
doctrines. The errors and misconduct of 
the clergy were exposed to the shafts of 
ridicule and the remonstrances of reason. 
The hardy and intrepid genius of Dante, 
which placed the vicars of Christ in the in- 
fernal regions, lighted np the fire of Pe- 
trarca, and encouraged him to identify the 
court of Rome with that of ancient Babylon. 
He made the vices and errors of the Church 
the subject of his sonnets, and the constant 
theme of his abuse. Protected by their 
genius, and respected for their charactei’, 
these two great men not only escaped the 
censures of the Holy See, but emboldened 
the populace to question the infallibility of 
a church which had nothing but luxury in 
its train, and learning for its boast. The 
entertaining work of Boccaccio exposed 
the debaucheries of the religious, and open- 
ed the eyes of the people ; and the emanci- 
pation of the' human race, from the ignomi- 
nious shackles of ignorance and priestcraft, 
was hastened by the celebrated Facetia; of 
Poggio, and the writings of Burchiello, 
Pulci, and Franco. To the light which 
these men threw upon the corruptions of 
the church, and the licentiousness of the 
Holy See, the patronage of painters, sculp- 
tors, and poets, and the protection and main- 
tenance of biift'oons and jesters, afforded but 
a poor defence. Leo X. loved and admired 
men of learning, notwithstanding their learn- 
ing was often employed to expose his extra- 
vagancies, and endanger the church. 
These exposures, had begun to be made 
during the pontificate of Sixtus IV. and that 
Pope, and his immediate successors, less 
remiss to tlje concerns of the church than 
Leo X. had taken some measures to ward olF 
the danger ; but instead of applying the only 
preventative, by reforming their morals and 
their lives, the heads of the church sought 
to stifle investigation by threatenings and 
punishment. Several very severe restric- 
tions had been laid upon the publication 
of those works which had a tendency to 
open the eyes of the people, and expose 
the errors and vices of the church. These 
restrictions were, however, in a great mea- 
sure neglected, by the ardent love of litera- 
ture which so eminently characterised the 
conduct of Leo X. That pontiff forgot 
even his own safely amidst poets, painters, 
sculptors, wits, and entei taimnents. 
What tended also to pave the way for 
the reformation, was the rage which at 
that time prevailed among the learned 
for Grecian literature and the Pagan my- 
thology. The barbarous latinity of the 
middle ages gav'e way to tlie refined beau- 
ties of poetry and classical learning. The 
paganism of Cicero, and the beauties of 
V irgil, were made to illustiate and adorn 
the sublime mysteries of the Christian 
faith ; and Jupiter, Apollo, and Diana, were 
deemed fit representatives of the persons 
of the Blessed Trinity, and luminous illus- 
trations of Christian platonism. The doctrine 
of atonement, by the sufferings of Christ, 
w'as explained and enforced by the exam- 
ples of the Decii and of Curtins ; of Cecrops, 
Menaecius, and Iphigenia ; of Socrates and 
Phocion ; ot Epaminondas, Scipio, and Aris- 
tides. The doctrines and practices of Pa- 
ganism being thus honoured by the ministers 
of the church, no wonder that the poets, 
particularly Pontano, Sanazzaro, and Ma- 
I'ullus, should constantly endeavour to adorn 
even their sacred poems, with a reference 
to tlie mythology of Greece and Rome. 
AVith this mixture of Paganism and Chris- 
tianity, the mysteries of the Platonic philo- 
sophy were incorporated. Those refine- 
ments of the Platonists, which were so inge- 
nuously infused into the devotion of Lorenzo 
de’ Medici, were propagated among the 
learned by the labours of Marsilio Ficino, of 
Pico of Mirandula, of his nephew GiarnFi an- 
eesco, of Girolamo Benivieni, and others. 
The liberties thus taken with the Chris- 
tian faith, and with the peculiar dogmas of 
the Romish church, natiirally begat a de- 
gree of scepticism in the minds of those 
by whom they were indulged ; and from 
them it spread, more or less, over the minds 
of the multitude,, and prepared the way for 
a general reformation in the creed and dis- 
cipline of the church. 
At length the dangci- arising from these 
unbounded speculations became too evi- 
dent to pass any longer unnoticed ; accord- 
ingly, in the eighth session of the Council 
of the Lateran, several decrees were passed 
