The Prophetic Tapestry [pp. 666-675]

The Prophetic Tapestry: or, The Grapes of dmbra.
letters shall make her such monuments, as Goths
and Vandals cannot overthrow, and as fade not be
"I dream of a burnished sky,
In the pride of its gorgeous light,
And I start from my happy sleep and sigh F or here ther e i s naught as bright.
"I dream of a fount in its sparkling dance,
Leaping out friom the vine-leaves' shade,
Which catches the sun's last lingering glance,
As his golden glories fade.
"Would that the winds had power,
There to bear my fond adieu;
The thoughts of my heart around to shower They'd show thee that heart died true.
",Yes! blighted by Death's cold hand,
Broken and crushed it may lie;
Yet, true it hath lived to its far-off land And thus, even thus, will it die!"
neath the touch of time.
Among those, who had most influence on this
era, was the family of the Medici. No other family
in Italy, perhaps, gave so much aid to the cause of
letters, and certainly none exercised a greater influence on the destinies of the Italian people. And
to Lorenzo de Medici, in particular, is the world
indebted for most of those efforts, which dispelled
the darkness of the Middle Ages, and caused the
light of intellectual day again to dawn upon earth.
Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano, had succeeded
their grandfather Cosmo in his love of literature
and the Arts, and in the affections of the Florentine
republic. Without the official appointment, they
were at the head of the state, and controlled its
government. For several years after the death of
their father Piero, by means of Lorenzo's youthful
wisdom, the republic occupied a position, which
was at once peaceable, prosperous, and happy.
Allied with the Duke of Milan-possessing the
friendship of the King of Naples owning agreea ble relations with the King of France, and enjoying
the good will of the Pope-the prosperity of Flo rence seemed secure. But a stormni was gathering
among the elements of the papal see, which was
destined to break upon Florence and the Medici;
with what effect may be developed in the progress
of this story.
Pope Sixtus IV., that ambitious and unprincipled
pontiff, had been at one time the friend of Lorenzo
de Medici, and had favored his interests to such a
degree, that Lorenzo was on the point of asking
from him a cardinal's hat for his brother Giuliano.
But in the year 1474, it suited the views of the
pope to seek possession of the city of Castello,
whose sovereignty he attempted to wrest from
Niccolo Vitelli. The Florentines, by advice of the
Medici, gave aid to Vitelli, and thus excited the
wrath of the pope; who had already begun to fear
and envy the growing power and influence of the
Medici. Lorenzo was now removed by the pope
from the post of treasurer to the holy see, and
Francesco de Pazzi, an implacable enemy of the
Medici, appointed in his stead. The Pazzi were
one of the noblest families in Florence; but obscured by the superior splendor of the Medici, they
were animated by jealousy and hatred of them, and
were excited thereby to seek their downfall. Francesco de Pazzi was said to have been a bold, ambitious man, and without principle-a fit subject,
therefore, for the plot which was engendered by
the pope, himself, and Girolamo Riario, for the destruction of the Medici. This Riario was nephew
to the pope, who had purchased for him the sovereignty of Imola, with the title of count; and it had
been for him that Sixtus had sought the government of Castello. Devoid of honor and of scruples,
he readily entered into the design of assassinating
There was a pause: slowly her eyelids closed,
As though in weariness she sank to sleep,
Were't not too still-too statue-like for sleep,
What was it? It was Death! So like the swan
She had breathed out her soul in melody
And passed away from earth, witlh music's note
Yet quivering on her lip. R. A. P.
OR,
A STORY, IN SIX CHAPTERS.
ITALY IN THIE FIFTEENTH CENTURY! HIow rapidly the thick coming phantoms of thought obey
the incantation of those words, and gather about
the graves of many memories! Behold the scene!
The might and the majesty of imperial Rome
had gone down forever-the foot of the Goth and
the Gaul has trampled the turf that rests on her
glories; and the dark pall of ignorance and superstition enshrouds all Italy in gloom. Behold the
scene again!
Learning has com-ie from the Levant-the clarion
of the returning crusader had heralded her approach. Those sister-genii of the Arts-Poetry,
Sculpture and Paintingo-now follow in her footsteps; and in the guardian shades of Florence, and
the palaces of the Medici, they find a resting-place
and a home. The softened radiance of their influences gilds the mountain-tops of Italy, and mellows
the light that sleeps upon her sunny slopes. Her
poets now are fain to dream, that, though her power
is prostrated, her glory is not gone; that, uponi the
ruins of her political structure, and amidst the conflicting strifes of her petty dynasties, the revival of
666
[SEPTF,iVIBER,
THE PROPHETIC TAPESTRY:
THE GRAPES OF AMBRA.
Passi7i?, digni quidem p,iletuo sumus
-Luctu, qui mediis (heu mise7-i) sacris
Illuni, illun,,,;uvenem, vi.ditnus, 0 nefas!
Stratu7,-?, sacrilegia manu!
Politiano, ad Gentilem Episcopum.
CHAPTERI.