_Tanreat, (néndum poete titulo décoratus) 
, «though ‘his talents for poetry had long been 
recognized by his countrymen ; it is pro- 
hable, therefore, that one of hes additional 
Gnarks of honour conferred on him at 
t_ 4 this time by his fellow-citizetis, was that 
of the Lanreat. It ought to be observed 
* that» Padpa‘was at this time one of the 
»  figst, seminaries of learning in Europe, 
> +. fd this literary distinction ‘abhanees the 
alue’ of the honour shewn to Mussato 
on this ‘occasion. Aiter an interval of 
" @ many eenturics, during which it had fal- 
len into ‘disusé, it was revived for him, 
% alout forty years before the time when 
“Petrarch was."honoured with the poetic 
wreath, The most esteemed poets then 
in Padua, after Mussato, were his friends 
Tovatus and Bonatinus;’the former, in 
the opinion of Petrarch, ‘¢ poetarum 
-omnium quos vel sua vel patrum vidit 
ztas, si xii tabulas non miscuisset cum 
Musis, facile princeps” But the suffrage 
of the learned as well as that of the vulgar 
confirmed the title of Mussato to this 
dignity. ‘The ceremony of his coronation 
was marked with great pomp and solem- 
nity. The bishop of Padua, at the head 
of a procession composed ef all ranks 
and orders, amid the sound of trumpets 
and other instruments of music, went to 
the house of the bard elect, and invested 
him with his honours, by placing. on his 
head a crown of laurel, ivy, and myrtle 
intermingled, and by putting on his hands 
2 kind of cloves made of goat-skins. 
«6 Munwe enim tragicis vatibus hircus erat.” 
The day was dedicated to mirth, fes- 
tivity, and the pratses of the poet, ‘The 
courts of justice wae shut up, all kind 
of labour was suspended, the tradesmen 
and artificer: forgetting their wonted em- 
ployment, (like the Abderites of Sterne, ) 
acknowledged the influence of poesy, 
and partook in the general rejoicings. 
gore University and Senate of Padua de- 
Creed that the day of the ‘coronation - 
should be annually held sacred, and de- 
voted to the commemoration and repe- 
tition of the same ceremony. 
Mussato continued after this actively 
employed in the service of his country. 
He appeals with confidence to the bishop 
of Padua, Paganus dela Turre, asa wit- 
ness of his unremitted eforts in behalf 
of the republic; and in his History re- - 
counts the various engagements he had 
with the forces of Canis Grandis della 
Scala, for the recovery of Vicenza. At 
length, however, 1n an action near that 
eity, having received eleven wounds, and 
¥ 
> 
Memoirs of Albcriinus M ussatus. 
fDec. 1; 
his horse. falling in consequence of some 
planks giving way on the bridge on. 
which he happened to be engaged, he 
threw. hiniself into the water to avoid 
being taken, and even in that situation 
bravely attempted to defend himself, till 
at length overpowered by numbers, he 
was led a prisoner mito the city. 
Whilst he continued here, Canis 
Grandis della Scala brought with. bim 
some of the chief persons of his court to 
visit Mussato; and, as he tells us, was 
pleased to remind him how ‘officious he 
had been in thwarting his interests both 
at the courts of Heury (for before their 
last revolt, the emperor had heen pre- 
vailed on by Mussato to leave Vicenza 
Subject to the state of Padua) and after. 
wards at Padua also. Mussato, whose 
soul felt neither the wounds of his body 
nor its captivity, boldly replied, “That 
his threats or reproaches were alike ob- 
jects of indifference to him;. he had shed 
his blood in asserting the libecties of his 
country, and that if death was his des- 
tiny, it could not be more glorious.” 
Peace being soon afterwards concluded 
(November 18, 1314,) between the Pa- 
duans and Cant della Scala, Mussato* 
was, of course, restored to liberty. 
But Padua was now become a scene 
of. factious turbulence ; its affairs were 
rapidly declining: the politic prince of 
Verona had a large, party within its bo- 
som, preparing the state for a voluntary 
submission to his yoke. In the year 
1319, Mussato went on a public mission 
to Fideeaae. and several other states of 
Italy, to solicit succours for his country= 
men. While on this expedition, he was 
seized, as we learn from his poems, at 
an inn near Florence, with a dangerous 
fever. Ile was removed by order of the 
bishop of Florence to his palace, and re- 
stored to health by his humane atten- 
tions. During this illness be imagined 
himself transformed into a bird, and in 
ac a, 
Ct When Dante, who was of the Gibeline 
patty, incurring the hatred of Boniface VIII. 
had his house dese and his _property pil- 
laged, he found refuge and protection in the 
_ favour of Canis della Scala: but this the un- 
fortunate bard lost by an unlucky bon mot, 
The prince conversing one day in his palace 
with Dante, pointed to his favourite buffoon, 
who was receiving from all sides the. caresses 
of the courtiers, and asked the poet how such 
a senseless fellow gained the favour of all 
in so much greater a degree ‘than himself, 
who was a man of such talents and learning ? 2 
Dante replicd, “ It is because every one che- 
rishes most, what most resembles himself.” 
‘ @ postical 
