310

THE DECLINE AND FALL

CHAP.

LXIX.

merit of Adrian’s mole, the tower of Crescen-tius, or, as it is now called, the castle of St. An-gelo. Both the father and the son were the pa-rents of a numerous progeny; their riches, thefruits of usury, were shared with the noblest fa-milies of the city; and so extensive was their al-liance, that the grandson of the proselyte was ex-alted by the weight of his kindred to the throneof St. Peter. A majority of the clergy and peoplesupported his cause: he reigned several years inthe Vatican , and it is only the eloquence of St.Bernard, and the final triumph of Innocent thesecond, that has branded Anacletus with theepithet of antipope. After his defeat and death,the posterity of Leo is no longer conspicuous;and none will be found of tbe modern noblesambitious of descending from a Jewish stock.It is not my design to enumerate the Roman fa-milies which have failed at different periods, orthose which are continued in different degreesof splendour to the present time.' The old con-sular line of the Frangipani discover theirname in the generous act of breaking or dividingbread in a time of famine; and such benevolenceis more truly glorious than to have enclosed,with their allies the Corsi, a spacious quarter ofthe city in the chains of their fortifications: theSavelli, as it should seem a Sabine race, havemaintained their original dignity; the obsoletesurname of the Capizucchi is inscribed on the

* Muratori has given two dissertations (xli and xlii) to the names,surnames, and families of Italy . Some nobles, who glory in theirdomestic fables, may be offended with his firm and temperate criti-cism yet surely some ounces of pure gold are of more value thanmany pounds of base metal.