AN EPIGRAM; from the Gentleman's Magazine. RIAR Paul, in his cell, made his exit of late, FRIAR Of the gravel fome fay; but no matter for that; Who's there! cries the Dæmon, on guard; Quoth the other Who above ate his god, may below eat the devil! HOPE PERSONIFIED. From Lorenzo de' Medici. By WILLIAM ROSCOE. MMENSE of bulk, her tow'ring head the fhews, IM Her floating treffes feem to touch the skies, Dark mifts her unfubftantial fhape compofe- For ever varying to the gazer's eyes, Illufive beings round their fovereign wait- And fond conjecture-always form'd at will! THE HAPPINESS OF A COUNTRY LIFE. By the fame. HY fplendid halls, thy palaces forgot, a charm fupply: Or, doft thou feek, from our feverer lot, Thus I replied "I know no happier life, Freed from the hated jars of civil ftrife, The The weed ambition 'midft your furrow'd field What the heart thinks the tongue may here difclofe, The Author calls upon the Faculties of his own Mind to exert themselves to great and useful Purposes. By WM. RoscoF. From the fame. R ISE from thy trance, my flumb'ring genius rife, That throuds from Truth's pure beam thy torpid eyes! Awake, and fee, fince reafon gave the rein To low defire, thy ev'ry work how vain. Ah think how fair thy better hopes had sped, At At length thy long-loft liberty regain, Tear the ftrong tie, and break th' inglorious chain; Crufh'd by her hand, fhall mourn his humbled creft. On the Death of POLITIAN, occafioned by a fall from a Stair-Cafe, as he was playing on his Lute. AN ELEGY on the Death of his Friend LORENZO DE' MEDICI; by the fame. W HILST borne in fable state, Lorenzo's bier The tyrant death his proudest triumph brings, Smite with delirious hand the founding ftrings. He ftopt, he gaz'd: the ftorm of paffion raged; And prayers with tears were mingled-tears with grief! For loft Lorenzo war with fate he waged; And ev'ry god was call'd to his relief. The tyrant fmil'd, and mindful of the hour, When from the fhades his confort Orpheus led- He fpoke, and fpeaking, launch'd the fhaft of fate, Politian mafter of th' Aufonian lyre! VOL. XXXVII. [*L] Account Account of Books for 1795. The Life of Lorenzo de' Medici, called the Magnificent. By William Rofcoe, 4to. 2 vol. 1795. IT T was afferted, probably with juftice, by Gibbon, that there is no fcholar in Afia who might not receive acceffions to his knowledge from the perufal of the work of d'Herbelot, a native of the remote and unbelieving countries of the west. It might perhaps be affirmed, with equal propriety, that the most learned men of Ifpahan and Conftantinople would profit by the ftudy of the oriental writings of fir William Jones. We know with certainty that d'Anville was capable of inftructing the inhabitants of the banks of the Nile and the Euphrates, in the ancient geography of Egypt and Affyria.None of thefe triumphs, of learned induftry, however, over the obftacles of a foreign language of diffimilar manners, and of diftance both in time and place, are in our opinion fo ftriking as that which is exhibited in the work now before us. In all the inftances to which we have alluded, the nations which fuffered themfelves to be furpalled in their own national literature, by foreigners, had declined from their ancient fplendour. In fome of the examples, thofe nations had become altogether rude and barbarous. It excites no wonder that the fcholars of Oxford and Gottingen fhould be more familiar with the hiftory of Pericles, and more converfant with the writings of Thucydides, than the wretched and ignorant inhabitants of modern Athens :-but that difcoveries fhould be made in the literature of one of the moft polite and learned nations of Europe, by a foreigner who had never vifited that country, who was not profeffionally devoted to ftudy, who did not enjoy the ease of lettered leifure, but who was immerfed in the purfuits of an active and laborious profeffion, is a circumftance to fingular and fo wonderful, as to be of itself fufficient to confer to mean degree of intereft and importance on the work of Mr. Rof coe. That Italian poems of the 15th century, unknown, to the scholars of Italy in the prefent age, fhould be given to the public by an attor ney of Liverpool, is a fact which we believe to be unparalleled in the hiftory of literature. The reader will naturally be curious to learn how a writer, in the circumftances of Mr. Roscoe, could have been encouraged to attempt a In the eye of Mahommedans-unbelieving. work work not implying merely the addition of elegance and philofophy to the narrative of facts already known, which a Hume, a Robertfon, or a Gibbon, might have beftowed in their closets, but containing valuable and important acceffions to the ftock of our hiftorical knowledge. This curiofity will be beft fatisfied by the author himself.-Speaking of the labours of his predeceflors, he lays, Such being the attempts that had been made to exhibit to the public the life and labours of Lorenzo de' Medici, I conceived that there could be no great degree of arrogance in endeavouring to give a more full and particular account of them: nor was I deterred from the undertaking by the confideration, that Providence had placed my lot beyond the limits of that favoured country. "Ch' Appenin parte, e'l mar circonda el' Alpe." 'The truth is that, in a remote part of this remote kingdom, and deprived . of the many advantages peculiar to feats of learning, I faw no difficulty in giving a more full, diftinct, and accurate idea of the fubject than could be collected from any performance I had then met with. For fome years paft, the works of the Italian writers had amufed a portion of my leifure hours; a partiality for any particular object generally wakens the defire of obtaining farther information refpecting it, and from the perufal of the Italian poets, I was infenfibly led to attend to the literary hiftory of that cultivated nation. In tracing the rife of modern literature, I foon perceived that every thing great and eftimable in cience and in art revolved round Lorenzo de' Medici, during the fhort but fplendid æra of his life, as a common centre, and derived from him its invariable prefervation and fupport. Under thefe impreffions, I began to collect fuch fcattered notices refpecting him as fell in my way; and the Florentine histories of Macchiavelli and Amirato, the critical labours of Crefcimbeni, Muratori, Bandini, and Tiraboschi, with other works of lefs importance of which I then found myself poffelfed, fupplied me with materials towards the execution of my plan. I had not however proceeded far, before I perceived that the fubject deferved a more minute inquiry; for which purpose it would be neceflary to refort to contemporary authorities, and if poffible to original documents. The impracticability of obtaining in this country the information of which I stood in need would perhaps have damped the ardour of my undertaking, had not a circumftance prefented itfelf in the highest degree favourable to my purpose. An intimate friend, with whom I had been many years united in ftudies and affections, had paid a vifit to Italy, and had fixed his winter refidence at Florence. I well knew that I had only to requeft his affiftance, in order to obtain whatever information he had an opportunity of procuring, from the very fpot which was to be the scene of my intended hiftory. My inquiries were particularly directed towards the Laurentian and Riccardi libraries, which I was convinced would afford much original and interefting information. would be unjuft merely to say that my friend afforded me the affiftance I required; he went far beyond even the hopes I had formed, and [*L2] It his |