The sun., 1879-02-23

second ia awaited with great an Kiety, M tho
bathing mystery will then bo solved which, still,
hangs about tho purpose of Tho Prince"
Prof. Nilnri lrns devoted his life to tho discoy.
cry OF documents which cnst now iaht on tho
historical events Of his country. and he has
been most sucecssiu In his undertaking. Tho
introduction alone labOut 800 pagcs) Of Yilari's
MnchiayellL" in which he discusses the civil
and literary conditions OF the Italian Rsnais-
sance, might we'll stand as an independent work.
such as would form tho glory of any great
scholar The delinoaiion Of the personages
that figure in this volume is such monument
ol psychological criticism ms 1t has very seldom
he0n our good fortune to meet. He might be
compared to Motley, II tho latter had not stained
his work with such strongly pronounced
partisUnship. With a. full knowledge Of tho
material" says n recent reviewer " he controls
and treats il In the manner of n master. His
pages are full Of dignity Had thcrc been
little more proportion observed in distributing
the materials. We should hardly have had ono
fault TO ind with the writer. Tho inusirious au-
thor's constant effort to present us Machiavelli
as he was, without accusing or eXcusng him.
will soon n defect to those who insist that tho
historian must bc moraizer Tho work. ms il
stands IL a precious example Of history hy
posltIyist such ns Villari claims to be-" The
carnestncss Italians dis play in tho study Of
their history is also shown by tho fact that of
latc years three remarkable new volumes have
appeared ON MachiayelH ono by Gioda. n second
by Niti. and third Ivy Tommasini. which last
has received prize from the city Government
OF Florence. Nor can forbcnr mentioning tho
studies on Michael AngGlo that were published
on the occasion of his centennial.
Since Mommsens time score OF German
scholars have takon the trouble Of contradicting
nearly all the traditions upon which Italian his
tory wns based. Sometimes they were right.
and their doctrines were gladly accepted in
ltdy. But often they tri1cd too much with tho
importance o' monuments and proofs. and ltal-
ian students were not slow in showing thnt they
counted among themselves scholars who could
outdo eVon German criticism. Prof. GncsOuO
has lately corrected beyond rebuke many Of
these errors OF Mommssn and other historians.
which threatened to mislcnd tho Judgment OF
tho rising generation. Gnosotto's " Eloqucnce
in Athens and llomo" is as deep and learned
study OF ancient history and literature as ono
could over wish to sec. although the ease and
clearncss of the didactic style in which tho
authors thoughts are embodied render il we'll
suited to the wants OF young students. 1t Is
weil-known fact that Mommscn inflicted a hard
blow upon tho reputation Of Cicero Tho se-
vcre words OF this most learned of learned Ger
mans still sound in our ears with which tho
Latin philosopher and orator is portrayed as
." a duh politician. without foresight purpose.
and character; a democrat and an urisiOcrat: u
tool IN the hands Of dcspots; u narrow-minded
egOtist. who broke only walls OF pastoboArd: /:
who never determined upon anything serious
ly. either in good or evil: as low writer rs he
was politician: journalist in the meanest
sense Of the word. redundant in words. but
poor indeed In thought" These words Of the
great historian find their roiutaton in the work
quoted above and we wonder how authoriia-
tive the formers opinion on many points OF
Latin history and literature would prove honco-
forth. IL tho world would but consider only n
few pages Of tho book by the Italian Professor.
Another German. the great apologist Of Lu-
crotia Borgia. will by no means fsol happier
than Mommsen. sinaa tho publication ls7Sl Of
" C;rsar B1rgia.' by Edward Alvisi. More than
200 pages Of minute printing IN this volume are
ned with documents, mostly new. and many
oi them actually disinterred by the author him
scli. and OF the most various character coming.
rs they do. both from. enemies and friends
from witnesses and actors In the great drama
that marked the close Of the fifteenth century.
AMI the opening OF tho sixteenth. Ssnor
Alyisi has coolly and impagtially examined and
compared all these documents. and from the
conflic; Of opinions has brought forth with
truth. Whilc he clears tho Boreias OF many
crimes that hayo weighed so FAR on their mem
ory. lac has asreriain0i the reality Of others
hitherto either doubtful or unknown, and fully
sufficient TO Justify the horror with which the
name has long been associated. To give an idea
Of tho historical importance OF this book. it
may be stated that the alleged poisoning OF the
Cardinal Da Corneto. which. owing TO n mis-
take Of tho valet. cost the life OF the poisoner
himself. Pope Alexander VI. and Of his son.
Cesar B9rgla. Is but u fable. Signor Alvisi
proves that the supper took place at tho Car
dinals country seat. and that Alexander and
his son died about q month later. at Rome Of
the plague that WAS ravaSing Itrly mt that time.
and which was probably communicated to them
hy the Cardinal Borgih d Monreale. Archbishop
of Frrrnra who died at Rome. in the Pope's
apartments. eighteen days previous 10 the lat
ter's death. No less important is that portion
of the volume in which the author deals with
the ambitious projects OF the uniAcation oi Italy.
that hayo been attributed to the Duke Valentino
by many historians. and hinted at by Machia-
velli II another Gregorovius should have n
mind to proclaim CHsar BorSia first King Of
Italy. at least de J'ue. II not DE Jaci0 he will
find the WAY pretty well barred by Aiyisrs
work. unless. like many Of his countrymen. he
should bs contented to be styled "a dreamer in
the attire Of an historian"
The fancies Of poets vanish oyermorc utterly
before the severe examination OF tho Italian
s'u .euts OF history. How would Schiller and
A'iieri isel II they could see how ill-shaped
their Don Carlos comes from their hands In u
very interesting Series Of Memoirs Published
hy the Depuation of History for the Province
% Emilia" Marquis Joseph Campori offers a
paper with new documents derived from his
O'yn and the Estense Archives, which throws