upon
thieving and upon false coining is characteristic of the citizen of
the greatest commercial city of the world. In all this, if we must use
the misleading words, he is more Guelf than Ghibelline. It is true
that he constantly opposed the influence of Boniface VIII. in the
affairs of Florence, but Boniface was a disturbing and reactionary
force that opposed the legitimate development of the Guelf policy of
the Florentine democracy. It is true that he is a passionate advocate
of an ideal Empire, and that he looks to the Emperor to heal the
wounds of Italy, but the more carefully his writings are studied the
more clear does it become that what he seeks in the Emperor is not a
champion of Teutonic feudalism and supporter of the territorial
nobility, but a power that will make Roman Law run all through Italy,
and will hold the turbulent nobles in check. The Empire and the
Emperor mean to Dante justice and peace secured by the enforcement of
Roman Law. Whatever this is, it is not the Ghibellinism of Farinata or
the Ubaldini. It is true, however--and here if anywhere Dante is open
to the charge of temporary desertion of his principles--that after his
exile he, together with other Whites, entered into a league with the
Ubaldini, the most obstinate of the traditional foes of the commercial
community of Florence. This was a desperate act, which, however
reprehensible or deplorable, cannot be taken as indicating the
deliberate adoption of a policy in contradiction to the whole tenor
of his life and thought. We may well suppose that the sense of the
hollow and indeed dishonourable nature of such an alliance was one of
the considerations that induced him to sever himself from the exiles
and "make a party for himself."

Lastly, he was an enthusiastic admirer of Henry VII., and he even
goaded him on to the attack of Florence. But Henry himself, who came
to Italy with the sanction of the Pope, came with the earnest desire
to heal and soothe. The Ghibellines proper felt that they had more to
fear than to hope from him.

We cannot say, then, that Dante's politics changed. Nor can we define
his position by calling him a Guelf or a Ghibelline, or both. His
political ideals were his own. They were the outcome of his life and
thought, intensely personal, as was all else about him. They cannot be
labelled, but must be studied in his life and in his works.

If we are to use the current terms at all, we shall perhaps come
nearest to the