The
inconstancy
of the human mind must serve as my excuse.
Petrarch
Petrarch argued pretty freely
against the political character of the ancient orator. The same opinion
as to Cicero's weakness seems rather to have gained ground in later
ages. At least, it is now agreed that Cicero's political life will not
bear throughout an uncharitable investigation, though the political
difficulties of his time demand abundant allowance.
Petrarch departed next morning for Verona, where he reckoned on
remaining only for a few days; but it was impossible for him to resist
the importunities of Azzo Correggio, Guglielmo di Pastrengo, and his
other friends. By them he was detained during the remainder of the
month. "The requests of a friend," he said, on this occasion, "are
always chains upon me. "
Petrarch arrived, for the sixth time, at Vaucluse on the 27th of June,
1351. He first announced himself to Philip of Cabassoles, Bishop of
Cavaillon, to whom he had already sent, during his journey, some Latin
verses, in which he speaks of Vaucluse as the most charming place in the
universe. "When a child," he says, "I visited it, and it nourished my
youth in its sunny bosom. When grown to manhood, I passed some of the
pleasantest years of my life in the shut-up valley. Grown old, I wish to
pass in it my last years. "
The sight of his romantic hermitage, of the capacious grotto which had
listened to his sighs for Laura, of his garden, and of his library, was,
undoubtedly, sweet to Petrarch; and, though he had promised Boccaccio to
come back to Italy, he had not the fortitude to determine on a sudden
return. He writes to one of his Italian friends, "When I left my native
country, I promised to return to it in the autumn; but time, place, and
circumstances, often oblige us to change our resolutions. As far as I
can judge, it will be necessary for me to remain here for two years. My
friends in Italy, I trust, will pardon me if I do not keep my promise to
them.
The inconstancy of the human mind must serve as my excuse. I have
now experienced that change of place is the only thing which can long
keep from us the _ennui_ that is inseparable from a sedentary life. "
At the same time, whilst Vaucluse threw recollections tender, though
melancholy, over Petrarch's mind, it does not appear that Avignon had
assumed any new charm in his absence: on the contrary, he found it
plunged more than ever in luxury, wantonness, and gluttony. Clement VI.
had replenished the church, at the request of the French king, with
numbers of cardinals, many of whom were so young and licentious, that
the most scandalous abominations prevailed amongst them. "At this time,"
says Matthew Villani, "no regard was paid either to learning or virtue;
and a man needed not to blush for anything, if he could cover his head
with a red hat. Pietro Ruggiero, one of those exemplary new cardinals,
was only eighteen years of age. " Petrarch vented his indignation on this
occasion in his seventh eclogue, which is a satire upon the Pontiff and
his cardinals, the interlocutors being Micione, or Clement himself, and
Epi, or the city of Avignon. The poem, if it can be so called, is
clouded with allegory, and denaturalized with pastoral conceits; yet it
is worth being explored by any one anxious to trace the first fountains
of reform among Catholics, as a proof of church abuses having been
exposed, two centuries before the Reformation, by a Catholic and a
churchman.
At this crisis, the Court of Avignon, which, in fact, had not known very
well what to do about the affairs of Rome, were now anxious to inquire
what sort of government would be the most advisable, after the fall of
Rienzo. Since that event, the Cardinal Legate had re-established the
ancient government, having created two senators, the one from the house
of Colonna, the other from that of the Orsini. But, very soon, those
houses were divided by discord, and the city was plunged into all the
evils which it had suffered before the existence of the Tribuneship.
"The community at large," says Matthew Villani, "returned to such
condition, that strangers and travellers found themselves like sheep
among wolves. " Clement VI. was weary of seeing the metropolis of
Christianity a prey to anarchy. He therefore chose four cardinals, whose
united deliberations might appease these troubles, and he imagined that
he could establish in Rome a form of government that should be durable.
against the political character of the ancient orator. The same opinion
as to Cicero's weakness seems rather to have gained ground in later
ages. At least, it is now agreed that Cicero's political life will not
bear throughout an uncharitable investigation, though the political
difficulties of his time demand abundant allowance.
Petrarch departed next morning for Verona, where he reckoned on
remaining only for a few days; but it was impossible for him to resist
the importunities of Azzo Correggio, Guglielmo di Pastrengo, and his
other friends. By them he was detained during the remainder of the
month. "The requests of a friend," he said, on this occasion, "are
always chains upon me. "
Petrarch arrived, for the sixth time, at Vaucluse on the 27th of June,
1351. He first announced himself to Philip of Cabassoles, Bishop of
Cavaillon, to whom he had already sent, during his journey, some Latin
verses, in which he speaks of Vaucluse as the most charming place in the
universe. "When a child," he says, "I visited it, and it nourished my
youth in its sunny bosom. When grown to manhood, I passed some of the
pleasantest years of my life in the shut-up valley. Grown old, I wish to
pass in it my last years. "
The sight of his romantic hermitage, of the capacious grotto which had
listened to his sighs for Laura, of his garden, and of his library, was,
undoubtedly, sweet to Petrarch; and, though he had promised Boccaccio to
come back to Italy, he had not the fortitude to determine on a sudden
return. He writes to one of his Italian friends, "When I left my native
country, I promised to return to it in the autumn; but time, place, and
circumstances, often oblige us to change our resolutions. As far as I
can judge, it will be necessary for me to remain here for two years. My
friends in Italy, I trust, will pardon me if I do not keep my promise to
them.
The inconstancy of the human mind must serve as my excuse. I have
now experienced that change of place is the only thing which can long
keep from us the _ennui_ that is inseparable from a sedentary life. "
At the same time, whilst Vaucluse threw recollections tender, though
melancholy, over Petrarch's mind, it does not appear that Avignon had
assumed any new charm in his absence: on the contrary, he found it
plunged more than ever in luxury, wantonness, and gluttony. Clement VI.
had replenished the church, at the request of the French king, with
numbers of cardinals, many of whom were so young and licentious, that
the most scandalous abominations prevailed amongst them. "At this time,"
says Matthew Villani, "no regard was paid either to learning or virtue;
and a man needed not to blush for anything, if he could cover his head
with a red hat. Pietro Ruggiero, one of those exemplary new cardinals,
was only eighteen years of age. " Petrarch vented his indignation on this
occasion in his seventh eclogue, which is a satire upon the Pontiff and
his cardinals, the interlocutors being Micione, or Clement himself, and
Epi, or the city of Avignon. The poem, if it can be so called, is
clouded with allegory, and denaturalized with pastoral conceits; yet it
is worth being explored by any one anxious to trace the first fountains
of reform among Catholics, as a proof of church abuses having been
exposed, two centuries before the Reformation, by a Catholic and a
churchman.
At this crisis, the Court of Avignon, which, in fact, had not known very
well what to do about the affairs of Rome, were now anxious to inquire
what sort of government would be the most advisable, after the fall of
Rienzo. Since that event, the Cardinal Legate had re-established the
ancient government, having created two senators, the one from the house
of Colonna, the other from that of the Orsini. But, very soon, those
houses were divided by discord, and the city was plunged into all the
evils which it had suffered before the existence of the Tribuneship.
"The community at large," says Matthew Villani, "returned to such
condition, that strangers and travellers found themselves like sheep
among wolves. " Clement VI. was weary of seeing the metropolis of
Christianity a prey to anarchy. He therefore chose four cardinals, whose
united deliberations might appease these troubles, and he imagined that
he could establish in Rome a form of government that should be durable.
