a misfortune for Florence, which it would be difficult to
describe. Though young, he had the qualities of virtuous maturity. He
bore a real affection toward the citizens, was parsimonious of the
moneys of the Commune, prodigal of his own; while a foe to vice, he was
not too severe on those who erred. Though he began his military life at
twenty-three, he always bore the cuirass of a man at arms upon his
shoulders day and night on active service. He slept very little, was
sober in his diet, temperate in love. The Florentines did not love him,
because it is not possible for men used to freedom to love a ruler; but
he, for his part, had not sought the office which was thrust upon him by
the will of others. Madonna Alfonsina, his mother, brought unpopularity
upon him; for she was avaricious, and the Florentines, who noticed every
detail, thought her grasping: and though he wanted to restrain her, he
found himself unable to do so through the high esteem in which he held
her. Maddalena, his wife, died six days before him, after giving birth
to a daughter Catherine.' This is the, no doubt, highly favorable
portrait of the man to whom Machiavelli dedicated his _Principe_. The
somewhat negative good qualities of Lorenzo, his prudence and parsimony,
his freedom from despotic ambition, and dislike of dangerous service,
combined with his deference to the powerful members of his own family,
are very unlike Machiavelli's ideal of the founder of a state. Cesare
Borgia was almost the exact opposite. The impression produced by
Vettori's panegyric is further confirmed by what he says about
Lorenzo's disinclination to undertake the Duchy of Urbino.[5]

[1] P. 297.

[2] P. 300.

[3] Ibid.

[4] P. 306.

[5] P. 321. See too p. 307.

But to return to the early days of Leo's pontificate. Vettori marks his
interference in the affairs of Lucca as the first great mistake he
made.[1] His advisers in Florence had not reflected 'what infamy it
would bring upon the Pope in the opinion of all men, or what suspicion
it would rouse among the princes, if in the first months of his power he
were led to sanction an attack by the Florentines upon the Lucchese,
their neighbors and allies. How too could the burghers of Florence, who
had urged him to this step, remind the pontiff that he ought to moderate
his desire of gaining dominion for the Church and for his kin, by the
example of former Popes, all of whom, in the interest of thei