BONACCORSO PITTI. -(1335-1425.)

Pitti is an ancestor of the great Pitti of the fifteenth century, after whom the royal palace at Florence is still named, and his reputation as a chronicler is well deserved. He may, indeed, be described as one of the originators in Italy of that form of literature, which, under the name of " Memoirs," is so much appreciated at the present time.

He belonged to the Neri and to the Pitti ; that is to say, to a family which had always occupied a high position in the State, and which, by means of the wealth subsequently acquired in trade, became the equal of princes and a rival of the Medici.

His life was one long romance, and his adventures are comparable with those of Benvenuto Cellini, Casanova, and the Chevalier Eon. He became a type for the anecdotic history of the Florentines, and the real value of the memoirs which he has left is that they give us a realistic picture making due allowance for exaggeration of the life of a great number of Florentines at the beginning of the fifteenth century.

Fond of gaming and duelling, a libertine, adventurous, very well read, crafty, skilful in trade, quite capable of a serious demeanor when he pleased, full of ambition, activity, and courage, and with an aptitude for rising with the tide without allowing it to carry him off his feet, he played the most opposite parts, and engaged in all kinds of business, while there was not a country in Europe which he did not visit at one time or another.

He was one of those many Lombards who during the fourteenth century went in quest of fortune all over the world. They combined trade and gambling, speculation and politics, ever ready to induce the public to make hazardous investments or to lend them money at a high rate of interest. Rolling in wealth one day, they lived like princes, while the next they could not muster the money to pay their hotel bill. Every now and then they returned to their country and took part in the struggle of parties, the result that they often rose to power if they did not lose their lives in the fray. Bonaccorso went through all these adventures, and was famous for his gallantries in Bavaria. He gained the friendship of the Dukes of Orleans and Berri in Paris, when, in company with Bernardo da Cino, another financial adventurer of the same kidney, be went thither from Avignon, where they had been endeavoring to effect a reconciliation between the Anti-pope Benedict XIII. and Boniface IX. This forms a singularly interesting episode in his life, as he went through all sorts of vicissitudes at play, and fought a duel with Montluc. Nevertheless he succeeded in being looked upon as a man of genuine importance by the Florentines, who sent him to seek the alliance of the French King against the Duke of Milani and in 1418 his son Luca was in a position to be a freeholder, and to purchase the house and land of the defunct Roberto de Rossi for four hundred and fifty gold florins. This is the site of the great Pitti Palace.

Towards the close of his life, tired, in all probability, of scouring in the world, Bonaccorso settled down at Pescia, which is the last place referred to in his memoirs, and it was there that he wrote the story of his life from day to day, his dashing style reminding one, as I have said, of Cellini and Casanova. He noted down every detail, and mixed with the happiest effect the anecdotes of his private life with the more important events of history. When the assassination of the Duke of Orleans, which was destined to exercise so much influence upon the course of French history, occurred (November 23, 1407), his diary contains the note: "I made a hundred gold florins to-day by a bargain in wool." He was at that time master of the horse to the Duke of Orleans.

In 1423 he was still captain at Castellaro in the Romagna, and by his orders seven inhabitants at Forli, who had schemed to open the gates of the city to the Duke of Milan, were beheaded.

His memoirs were not published until 1720, three centuries after he wrote them, the title being, " Crocks de Buonaccorso Pitti, con Annotazioni. Florence, 1720, in quarto."

AGNOLO PANDOLFINI. -(1360-1446.)

Gifted with profound wisdom, Pandolfini is the type of the upright citizen who, so far from seeking honors, has them forced upon him. He was a genial writer and moralist, too, and his book, entitled "I1 Governo dells Famiglia," is one of the standard works in Italy. Tiraboseld and Quinqueni, who are nearly always trustworthy, do not speak of Pandolfini, doubtless because he was not a brilliant writer. But if he did not distinguish himself by any great action, his career was a useful and benevolent one. Born at Florence in 1360, and the son of a merchant who had made his fortune at Naples, he was, from an early age, independent, and being a man of considerable erudition and full of wisdom, he was twice elected to the Signoria, in 1397 and 1408 5 and was three times Gonfaloniere of Justice.

The Republic sent him on -missions to Martin V., the Emperor Sigismund, and King Ladislaus, from the latter of whom he obtained the cession of the territory of Cortona, as an indemnity for the losses sustained (Turing the Naples campaign. In 1414, 1420, and 1431 he occupied the post of Gonfaloniere, and he was invariably called upon to arbitrate between his fellow-citizens in their ever-recurring intestine quarrels. With the sagacity for which, as I have said, he was famous, he had foreseen the disasters of Lucca, and had done all in his power to dissuade the Balia from entering upon that war. He was the friend of Cosimo the Elder, whose influence he constantly seconded, and when the latter was exiled, his protests brought about his recall. He was less successful in regard to Palla Strozzi, who was a relative of his wife's, and took his exile so much to heart that he withdrew from public life. He led a very peaceful existence at his villa of Ponte a signa (or Gangalandi), universally respected, ever ready to show hospitality to great and small, receiving the visits of sovereigns and pontiffs, and anticipating with a serene conscience the approach of death. It was here that he wrote his " I1 Governo della Famiglia," in language as elevated as the ideas expressed in it. A very lucid summary of this book, though only extending over fifteen pages, is due to the pen of Dandolo.

LEONARDO BRUNI ARETINO. -(1369-1443.)

Leonardo Bruni, who is buried at Santa Croce, in the splendid tomb erected at the cost of the Florentine Republic by Bernardo Rossellino, was one of the revivers of Greek and Latin literature in the fifteenth century, and the sphere of his action was altogether pacific. His only connection with politics was when he was employed upon some conciliatory mission, or in rendering homage to some foreign sovereign or the chief of some neighboring state. He, was famous for his learning and eloquence, and his character seems to have stood as high as his learning.

Leonardo, born at Arezzo, was educated in Florence, just when the study of Greek was being brought into vogue by the influence of the savants who had come from Constantinople. He studied under Manuel Chrysoloras, and through the influence of Poggio he was appointed Apostolic Secretary to Pope Innocent VII., who was inclined to think him too young when he first saw him, though on coming to cross-question him, he recognized the young man's great abilities. The successors of that pontiff retained him in their service, and he held the same post under Gregory XII., Alexander V., and John XXIII.

The Republic of Florence, anxious to secure a citizen of such merit, appointed him Chancellor, a post which he retained until the time of his death.

When the Council of Constance deposed John XXIII., Leonardo, looked upon as a rebel, fled with him on foot, incurring, during three days, dangers of every kind and great privations.

Like this pontiff, who died there and was interred in the baptistery of San Giovanni, in a superb tomb carved by Donatello, he found refuge at Florence, and in 1415, while in peaceful retirement at Arezzo, wrote the " History of Florence," a manuscript copy of which is to be found in every Italian library. This work produced a great sensation, and the Florentine Government sent him the freedom of the city and settled upon him a pension, the reversion of which was to go to his children. It was then that he was induced to accept the post of Chancellor, and he died while in office, his conduct shedding an additional lustre upon this dignified post.

He was a man of noble demeanor and tried probity, his high character manifesting itself in every act of his life. All the foreigners who passed through Florence were anxious to make his acquaintance and pay him their respects, while upon one occasion a learned Spaniard, who had been presented to him, insisted upon remaining on his knees all the time that the audience lasted. He died suddenly in 1443, to the deep regret, not of Florence alone, but of all Italy.

The Republic intrusted the celebrated Gianozzo Manetti with the preparation of the funeral oration. The coffin was placed upon a platform on the piazza of Santa Croce, and Manetti laid a wreath upon the brow of the dead man, upon whose breast had been deposited a copy of his " History of Florence." Bernardo Rossellino, who had been instructed to erect the mausoleum, took this ceremony for his subject, and left behind him a work which is justly regarded as one of the most perfect ever shaped by human hands.

His native Arezzo, jealous of Florence, was anxious to rival her by rendering the last homage to his remains, but Florence would not part with them.

His works are very numerous, consisting for the most part of translations from Latin and Greek manuscripts and historical works, though he also wrote several biographies, including those of Dante and Petrarch. The best account of this learned man, who interests us all the more because his image is brought so vividly before us by the chisel of Rossellini while so many other men of the fifteenth century are mere abstractions, is to be gained from the work of Abbe Mehus.