the cause of his opponents; who, by declining the challenge, gave rise to suspicions that they were unable to defend by reason those doctrines which they wished to enforce by violence and by threats. Plausible, however, as this conduct may appear on the part of Luther, it must be confessed that its success was much beyond what might reasonably have been expected from it; and that it was, in fact, little more than a veil thrown over the eyes both of his enemies and his friends. Both parties might, without any extraordinary sagacity, have perceived that between an entire obedience to the decrees of the Roman church, and a direct opposition to them, there is no medium. To doubt the supreme authority of the holy see in matters of faith, to call upon her to defend her doctrines by arguments, to question the rectitude of those opinions which have been silently and respectfully assented to for ages, to assert those of a contrary tenor, to enforce them not only by reason and scripture, but by sarcasm and abuse, and finally to impeach the authority of the church herself, by requiring the dispute to be heard by impartial judges, is to throw off all obedience, and to appear in open rebellion. Could the supreme pontiff lay aside his infallibility, and, surrounded by the venerable college of cardinals, enter into a dispute with a German monk on questions which involved both the spiritual and temporal authority of the holy see? Could the successor

of S. Peter betray the interests of his high office, and consent to submit the decision of points of faith to any inferior tribunal ? Was it to be tolerated, that an obscure individual should be allowed to range at large through the Holy Scriptures, the decisions of councils, and the decretals and bulls of two hundred successive pontiffs, in order to convict the church herself of error, and to combat her with her own weapons? If it had been possible that the pontiff and his advisers could have stooped to this humiliation, he must have appeared to the world as a self-convicted impostor, and the triumph of Luther would have been complete. But although the pope and his adherents were in no danger of disgracing themselves, by submitting their cause to the test of reason and scripture, yet they imprudently suffered themselves to be discountenanced and repulsed by the bold attitude and daring approach of their adversary; and Luther, individually, for a long time balanced

the scale against the whole Christian world, and at length broke the beam which he could not wholly incline in his favour. Warmly as the Protestant writers have inveighed against the arrogance and unbending pride of the cardinal of Gaeta, and the other opponents of Luther, 53 it is sufficiently clear, that the cause of the church was rather injured by the condescension and moderation which he experienced, as well as by the writers who entered with him into discussions on contested dogmas and intricate points of faith. The first measure adopted by Luther in the publication of his propositions at Wittemberg, was sufficiently hostile to have justified the pontiff in calling upor him for an unqualified submission, and in case of refusal or hesitation, to have separated him, as an infected limb, from the body of the church. Of the feeble conduct of the Roman see, both on this and on other occasions, Luther was well aware; and had employed his time to such advantage, that before Leo assailed him with the thunders of the Vatican he was already prepared to obviate their effects; to retort violence for violence, and abuse for abuse. Throughout all his writings, this great reformer has represented his own cause as the cause of truth, of religion, of justice, and of sound learning; and by the skilful management of these topics, his efforts were, in a great measure, crowned with success. Being thus aware of the weapons to which he owed his victory, he was enabled, after he had once established himself in the public opinion, to defend himself against those who presumed to differ from him, as he had before differed from the church of Rome; and the conduct of Luther, in enforcing his own peculiar dogmas, and silencing those who opposed his tenets, may justify the assertion, that if he had been pope instead of Leo X., he would have defended the church against a much more formidable adversary than the monk of Wittemberg.

CHAPTER XVI.

1518.

Encouragement given to men of talents at Rome-Italian poets-SanazzaroTebaldeo-Bernardo Accolti called L'Unico Aretino-Bembo-Beazzano Molza-Ariosto-His apologue respecting Leo X.-Effect of his writings on the taste of Europe-Vittoria Colonna-Veronica Gambara-Costanza D'Avalos - Tullia D'Aragona-Gaspara Stampa-Laura Battiferra — -La Poesia Bernesca-Francesco Berni-Character of his writings-His Orlando Innamorato-Teofilo Folengi-His Maccaronic poems and other worksImitators of the ancient classic writers-Trissino-Introduces the Versi Sciolti, or Italian blank verse-His Italia Liberata da' Goti-Giovanni Rucellai-His didactic poem Le Api-His tragedy of Oreste-Luigi Alamanni-His poem entitled La Coltivazione-General classification of the Italian writers-The Italian Drama.

THE tranquillity which Italy now enjoyed, and the favour and munificence of the supreme pontiff, at length called forth and expanded those seeds of genius, which, although they had been sown by the provident hand of his father at the close of the preceding century, had, under the dark and stormy pontificates of his predecessors, narrowly escaped entire destruction. From the time of the elevation of Leo X. the city of Rome had become the general resort of men of talents and of learning from all parts of Italy; who being attracted, as well by the charms of that literary society which was there to be met with, as by the well-known disposition of the pontiff to encourage and reward superior merit, either chose that place as their stationary residence, or paid it long and frequent visits. Nor was it only to the grave and the learned that Rome held forth its attractions. Whoever excelled in any art or accomplishment that could afford amusement; whoever, in short, could render himself either the cause or the object of mirth, was certain of receiving at Rome, and even in the pontifical palace, a hearty welcome, and often a splendid reward.

In the gay tribe that exist only in the sunshine of prosperity, the poets hold a distinguished rank; but the fountain of Poetry

ran at this time in two separate currents, and whilst some of them drank at the Tuscan stream, a still greater number imbibed the pure waters from the Latian spring. In considering the state of polite letters at this period, it will be necessary to keep in view this distinction; and our first attention will therefore be turned towards those writers who are chiefly known to the present times by their poetical productions in their native tongue.

Among those few men of distinguished talents who, after having ornamented the academy of Naples, had survived the desolation of their country, and whose exertions contributed to the preservation of a true taste in Italian composition, Sanazzaro must not be forgotten. His Italian compositions seem to have been chiefly produced before the pontificate of Leo X., and it has already been remarked, that the superior applause obtained by Pietro Bembo in his Italian writings, is supposed to have induced Sanazzaro to direct his talents towards the cultivation of the Latin tongue. It may, however, with justice be observed, that if the Venetian excel the Neapolitan in elegance and correctness of style, yet in vigour of fancy and strength of expression, the latter has generally the advantage. Nor can it be doubted, that if he had persevered in his exertions, and undertaken a work deserving of his talents, he would have established a reputation as an Italian poet, which would scarcely have been excelled by that of any other writer of whom Italy can boast.5

54

Another surviving member of the Neapolitan academy was Antonio Tebaldeo. He was a native of Ferrara, born in the year 1463, and educated to the profession of medicine; in which, however, it is not probable that he made any great proficiency, as it appears that from his youth he had been devoted to the study of poetry, and was accustomed to recite his verses to the music of his lute. A collection of his poems was published by his cousin, Jacopo Tebaldeo, at Modena, in the year 1499; contrary, as it has been said, to the wishes of the author, who was sensible of their inaccuracies and defects. was probably for this reason that he turned his attention to Latin poetry, in which he is acknowledged to have been more successful than in his Italian compositions.* Soon after the

Tirab. vi. ii. 151.

It

elevation of Leo X., Tebaldeo took up his residence in Rome, and the pontiff is said to have presented him with a purse of nve hundred ducats in return for a Latin epigram in his praise.* A more authentic testimony of the high favour which he had obtained with the pontiff appears in a letter, yet preserved, from Leo to the canons of Verona, recommending to them one Domizio Pomedelli, a scholar of Tebaldeo, "whom, says he, speaking of the master, "I greatly esteem, both for the proficiency which he has made in useful studies and for his poetical talents." 55 His approbation is also expressed in terms of equal kindness, on recommending Tebaldeo to the office of superintendent of the bridge of Sorga; an employment which probably required no personal attendance, and certainly produced a considerable income, as the pontiff adds, as a reason for his interference, "that it might enable Tebaldeo to support himself in affluence." After the death of Leo X. Tebaldeo continued to reside in Rome, but with his great patron he appears to have lost the means of even a competent support, and was obliged to resort to Bembo, who afforded him a temporary assistance. He lived until the year 1537, and for a considerable time before his death was confined to his bed, 66 having no other complaint," as we are informed by one of his friends, "than the loss of his relish for wine. At the same time he poured forth his epigrams with greater profusion than ever, and was surrounded at all hours by his learned friends;" but after the invectives which he had written against the French, some of which we have before had occasion to notice, it may surprise us to hear that he had "become their warm partisan, and an implacable enemy to the emperor." From the censures of Muratori, who considers Tebaldeo as one of the corrupters of the literary taste of the age,† he has been defended by several authors, and among the rest by Baruffaldi and Tiraboschi; the latter of whom, although he acknowledges his defects, asserts his claim to rank among the best poets of his time.‡

Not less celebrated for his poetical effusions, and much more distinguished by his exquisite skill in adapting his verses to the

* Giornale d'Ital. vol. ii. p. 376. + Lettere di Princ. vol. iii. p. 38.

Murat. della perfetta Poesia, lib. iv.