tical as well as his guzzling qualities, and doing full as much justice to Liber Pater as to the Muses, they entwined a rough wreath of poppies, cabbage, and laurel, and placing it solemnly upon his temples, unanimously declared him "Arch-poet." Querno, inflated by an honour so far above his most sanguine expectations, thought himself quite competent to appear before the Pope, was presented, and displayed before his Holiness his versifying talents. Leo soon perceived how great an addition the improvisatore might prove to the hilarity of his entertainments, and accordingly ordered him to be regularly admitted. In the notion of making the hope of gratifying his gluttony an incentive to his muse, he was always kept at some distance from the table, and little delicacies were occasionally sent him to provoke him to exertion. After he had devoured these with the most disgusting avidity, the Pope had him placed nearer to himself, and, filling a tumbler of the choicest wine, promised it to him on the express condition, that he should immediately produce two extemporaneous verses at least, which, if he failed to do, or his verses were not approved, he was condemned not only to forfeit the wine, but to swallow an equal quantity of pure water or of wine very considerably diluted. On one of these tantalizing occasions disappointment seems to have produced what expectation could not, and Querno, very appropriately, on receiving his penance, exclaimed: "In cratere meo, Thetis est conjuncta Lyco Querno had expressed a very pardonable exultation in his talent by the following line : 66 : 'Archipoeta facit versus pro mille poetis." Leo replied: 66 Et pro Querno: mille aliis archipoeta bibit." "Porrige quod faciat mihi carmina docta, Falernum." "Hoc etiam enervat debilitatque pedes ;' alluding to the gout to which the poet was a martyr. The usual lot of jesters was at length that of poor Querno. The applause of one moment was often effaced by the insults of the next; and we are told that some pointed witticisms did, on one occasion, so irritate the feelings of his patron, as to earn for the protégé very violent marks of his displeasure. An additional mortification was provided for him in the great superiority of Marone, and between the caprice of the Pontiff, and the occasional outrages of his company, he retired from court in disgust. Giraldi, from whom this account is principally taken, mentions other poets of the same description, who, like Querno, were introduced to Leo in the hope of establishing their own fortunes upon the gratification of their patron, and like him, instead of favour or patronage, received little but mockery and derision. Among these he particularly names one Giovanni Giraldi, who, for his absurd libels upon poetry, was frequently publicly whipped by order of his Holiness-a species of discipline, which, happily for many poets of the present day, has now become obsolete. Baraballo, Abate di Gaeta, is likewise more famous for his inordinate vanity and absurd conceit than for any real merit. He seems to have been one of those ennuyeux whom Molière describes― "Au palais, aux cours, aux ruelles, aux tables At any rate he carried his stupid vanity so far as to compare his improvisations to the sonnets of Petrarch, and actually claimed the honour which that poet had received, of being crowned in the Capitol. This idea opened a fine prospect of amusement to Leo and his court; his pretensions were acknowledged by acclamation, and it was arranged that his coronation should take place upon the festival of Saint Cosmas and Damian. The Pope was so enchanted with the ludicrous anticipation of Baraballo's self-complacency, and of his utter insensibility to the real nature of the part he had to play, and of the applause he was to receive, that he determined to give every possible éclat to the farce, and assemble all Rome to witness the ridiculous exhibition. Baraballo, too, within sight of the very summit of his ambition, was anxious that the ceremony should proceed with the utmost magnificence, and this inclination received every encouragement from the courtiers, who naturally concluded that the more pageantry surrounded him the greater would be their dupe. It happened about this time that a very large elephant had been presented to Leo by the King of Portugal, and it was suggested, and finally agreed, that the elephant should convey the improvisatore to the Capitol. On the appointed day the Eternal City was on the alert to catch a glimpse of the procession; every avenue to the Vatican was crowded to suffocation; elegantly dressed ladies, the rank and beauty of Rome, of course, decorated the windows, Femmes Savantes. and the air resounded with vivas and shouts in honour of Baraballo. He had arrived betimes at the palace, whence the cortège was to proceed, and was feasting upon the honour that awaited him, when a deputation was announced from Gaeta, where the friends of the Abate enjoyed some consideration. The deputation was admitted to the presence of Baraballo, who received them in the costume which was worn by the triumphant generals of ancient Rome. Clad in a garment of purple, embroidered with gold, he was surrounded by facetious wags, who were loading him with congratulatory mockeries. Baraballo, elated by this new mark of attention from his fellow-citizens of Gaeta, had begun in pompous verse to express his acknowledgments for the interest they took in his good fortune, when they interrupted him by earnest entreaties not to dishonour his family and stamp ludicrous notoriety upon his birthplace, by exposing himself to the jests and ribaldry of strangers. This unexpected rebuff, instead of cooling the ardour of Baraballo, only roused him to exertion. He burst into a violent paroxysm of rage, vented in impromptu verse the most violent imprecations upon the deputation, whom he accused of mean and sordid envy of the distinction he had reached, and leaving them abruptly and in anger, mounted his elephant amid the suppressed titter of the court and the acclamations of the populace. He had not proceeded very far before some misgivings overtook him of the honorary character of the proceedings: the gibes of the people became at length too unequivocal to be mistaken-he saw through the double entendre, or the insincerity of every fresh compliment he received, and by the time he arrived at the Ponte S. Angelo he had become excessively impatient, and had given his attendants several indications that their fulsome flattery was offensive. Shame and mortification still chained him to his seat, and had not an impediment occurred where it was not expected, this extravagant pantomime must have been consummated. Luckily, however, for the Abate further than the Ponte S. Angelo the elephant would not move. The beast seemed to have conspired with the Nine. Sisters to prevent the profanation of an honour until then only enjoyed by their darling votaries, and nothing could induce it to proceed. It was soon understood that another conveyance would be supplied to complete the burlesque; but in the midst of the hurry Baraballo had disappeared, and having doffed his triumphal robes, sneaked to his lodging. From the failure and exposure of the two last-mentioned improvisatori, it will appear that off-hand versification, without intrinsic merit, was not sufficient to procure applause either from the learned or the vulgar. No poet was considered to have attained perfection in the art until he was able to treat with accuracy and precision the theme appointed for his amplification. Music, too, that twin sister of Poetry, in her primitive unsubdued existence, was the inseparable companion of extemporaneous recitations, and the mere effusion of verse was held a very mediocre performance unless enhanced by the charms of song and the sweet notes of the lyre. But some instances are recorded of improvisatori, who, to varied and extensive accomplishment added profound learning and erudition. Towards the end. of the fifteenth century flourished Bernardo Accolti, son of Benedetto, secretary of the Republic of Florence, the celebrated historian. He was a native of Arezzo, and from his extraordinary talent in improvisation obtained the name of "l'Unico aretino." It is to be regretted that little of the poetry of the improvisatori of his age has been preserved by their historians, but in the absence of such testimonies of ability the suffrages of their contemporaries must be admitted as evidence, and the proficiency of Bernardo will not be doubted when supported by the authority of Ariosto, who, speaking of him in his 46th canto, says— Il cavalier che tra lor viene, e ch'elle- El gran lume aretin, l'unico Accolti. Cassio da Narni is not less flattering in his testimony of Accolti Vedevasi poi l'Unico aretino Un nuovo Orfeo, con la citra al collo Che invidia gli ebbe non pochi anni Apollo. The applause which Accolti received at the court of Urban and afterwards of Leo the Tenth was almost without example. When it was understood that he was about to recite, the shops in the neighbourhood were closed, crowds assembled to listen to him, and cardinals, ambassadors, and the most distinguished literati of Rome were regular attendants. Pietro Bembo, in a letter to the Cardinal of Saint Maria, 19th April, 1516, furnishes other instances of the poet's ability, and throws some light upon its employment. He says he had lately heard from Accolti, who was still very assiduous in his attentions to a young lady of whom he had long been enamoured; that when he wrote he had the most encouraging prospect of success, for that she had desired him when he next came not to forget his lyre, and le doubted not that by its assistance he should be able to describe his passion in such glowing colours as would overcome the hesitation of his mistress. This certainly was turning the talent of improvisation to some account, but from the silence of Bembo it would appear, in this instance, that it was not successful. The Conte Mazzuchelli, in his account of the improvisatori of this age, makes particular mention of Aurelio Brandolini. He was the son of Matteo di Giorgio Brandolini, of a noble Florentine family, and when very young was afflicted with a defluxion in his eyes, terminating in total blindness-a misfortune which acquired for him the name of Lippus, and which he beautifully deplores in a sonnet written when very young to Lorenzo de' Medici 66 Risguarda alla mia cieca adolescenza "Che in tenebrosa vita piango e scrivo "Com' uom che per via luce l'abbandona." The fame of Aurelio's extraordinary talent soon reached the ears of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, who at that time was making every exertion to attract men of letters, and particularly Italians, to his court. By this prince he was prevailed upon to leave Italy, and he seems to have enjoyed some lucrative employment in the University of Buda, founded by that prince. After the death of Matthias he returned to Florence, and entered into the religious order of the Augustinians, in which he became a distinguished preacher. Although blind many cities in Italy witnessed the display of his talents from the pulpit, and the numerous testimonies of his contemporaries furnish abundant evidence of his success. His talent, however, in extemporaneous versification obtained for him a much greater celebrity than his oratorical powers, and from the account which Matteo Bosso sends of him from Verona, to one Girolamo Campagnola, a citizen of Padua, he seems to have possessed the power of treating the most intricate and difficult subjects with consummate ability. "If I might be allowed the expression (says Bosso) he yields not on the lute to Amphion or Apollo. Certainly "he is superior to the most celebrated poets: their produc"tions are the result of much labour and meditation, while in "his recitations music and composition unite in instantaneous "combination. It would be difficult for you to conceive "the fertility of his imagination, the retentiveness of his "memory, or the extraordinary facility with which he ad"justs the most elegant language to his beautiful concep |