. The report of Marco
Foscari on the state of Florence, already quoted more than once,
contains a curious aristocratic comment upon the shop-life of
illustrious Florentine citizens. See Appendix ii. Even Piero de'
Medici refused a Neapolitan fief on the ground that he was a
tradesman.

A very lively picture of the modes of life and the habits of mind
peculiar to the Italian burgher may be gained by the perusal of Agnolo
Pandolfini's treatise, _Del Governo della Famiglia_. This essay should
be read side by side with Castiglione's _Cortegiano_, by all who wish to
understand the private life of the Italians in the age of the
Renaissance.[1] Pandolfini lived at the time of the war of Florence with
Filippo Visconti the exile, and the return of Cosimo de' Medici. He was
employed by the republic on important missions, and his substance was so
great that, on occasion of extraordinary aids, his contributions stood
third or fourth upon the list. In the Councils of the Republic he always
advocated peace, and in particular he spoke against Impresa di Lucca. As
age advanced, he retired from public affairs, and devoted himself to
study, religious exercises, and country excursions. He possessed a
beautiful villa at Signa, notable for the splendor of its maintenance in
all points which befit a gentleman. There he had the honor on various
occasions of entertaining Pope Eugenius, King Rene, Francesco Sforza,
and the Marchese Piccinino. His sons lived with him, and spent much of
their spare time in hawking and the chase. They were three, Carlo, who
rose to great dignity in the republic, Giannozzo, still more eminent as
a public man, and Pandolfo, who died young. His wife, one of the
Strozzi, died while Agnolo was between thirty and forty; but he never
married again. He was a great friend of Lionardo Aretino, who published
nothing without his approval. He lived to be upwards of eighty-five, and
died in 1446. These facts sufficiently indicate what sort of man was the
supposed author of the "Essay on the Family," proving, as they do, that
he passed his leisure among princes and scholars, and that he played
some part in the public affairs of the State of Florence. Yet his view
of human life is wholly _bourgeois_, though by no means ignoble. In his
conception, the first of all virtues is thrift, which should regulate
the use not only of money, but of all the gifts of nature and of
fortune. The proper economy of the mind inv