THK DECLINE AND FALL

132

ch\p. the Greeks; yet it must be confessed that they

, 1 X '!l, were seconded and surpassed by the ardour ofEmulation the Latins. Italy was divided into many inde-and pro- pendent states ; and at that time, it was the am-

gress of*. . ...

tiieLatins bition of princes and republics to vie with eachother in the encouragement and reward of litera-

NicholasV tlire.

1455! been adequate to his merits

The fame of Nicholas the fifth* has not

From a plebeianorigin, he raised himself by his virtue andlearning: the character of the man prevailedover the interest of the pope ; and he sharpenedthose weapons which were soon pointed againstthe Roman church. 1 He had been the friend ofthe most eminent scholars of the age : he becametheir patron; and such was the humility of hismanners, that the change was scarcely discerni-ble either to them or to himself. If he pressedthe acceptance of a liberal gift, it was not as themeasure of desert, but as the proof of benevo-lence; and when modest merit declined hisbounty, “ accept it,” would he say with a con-sciousness of his own worth ; “ you will not al-“ ways have a Nicholas among ye.” The in-fluence of the holy see pervaded Christendom;and he exerted that influence in the search, notof benefices, but of books. From the ruins of

• See the Life of Nicholas V. by two contemporary authors, Janot-tus Manettus (tom. iii, p. ii, p. 905*962), and Vespasian of Florence(tom. xxv, p. 267*290), in the collection of Muratori; and consult Tira-bosclii (tom. vi, p. p. 46 52, 109) and Hody in the articles of Theo-dore Gaza, George of Trebizond , &c.

1 Lord Bolingbroke observes, with truth and spirit, that the popesiu this instance were worse politicians than the muftis, and that thecharm which has bound mankind for so many ages was broken by themagicians themselves (Letters OU the Study of History , 1. vi, p. 165,166, octavo edition, 1779).