ITALIAN GARDENS OF THE RENAISSANCE 
At the same time he knew how to forgive, and when 
wounded by a Neapolitan, who resented an act of 
justice on his part, himself obtained the man’s pardon 
from the king. Unfortunately, with all these fine 
qualities there was a haughtiness about him, an utter 
carelessness of the opinion of men, which occasion¬ 
ally became irritating to those around him, and was 
the cause of quarrels with his best friends. This it 
was, probably, which wounded Boccaccio, and finally 
estranged even Petrarch. In the same way, his love 
of splendour gave great offence on one occasion to 
the Florentines, who regarded the banquets and en¬ 
tertainments which he gave in their city as ill be¬ 
coming the severity of republican simplicity. And 
yet this same man, who delighted in stately pageants 
and splendid festivities, and appeared in public 
in a silken tunic worked with feathers and gold, was 
remarkable in private life for the simplicity of his 
attire and the frugality of his repasts, being often 
heard to say that state was to be used not for the 
honour of the individual, but for the dignity of the 
office and majesty of the crown. 
But there was in reality a natural magnificence 
about the man which appears in all his actions. It 
was not only that he took pleasure in pomp and de¬ 
lighted to accumulate lands and titles, but everything 
he did was marked by the same love of splendour and 
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