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was pleaded in a solemn trial at Rome ; but chap.after hearing the advocates, h the tribune ad- LXX *journed this weighty and invidious cause, whichwas soon determined by the sword of the Hun-garian. Beyond the Alps, more especially atAvignon , the revolution was the theme of curio-sity, wonder, and applause. Petrarch had been and ceie-the private friend, perhaps the secret counsellor, pTtrarcinofRienzi: his writings breathe the most ardentspirit of patriotism and joy; and all respect forthe pope, all gratitude for the Colonna, was lostin the superior duties of a Roman citizen. Thepoet-laureat of the capitol maintains the act, ap-plauds the hero, and mingles with some appre-hension and advice the most lofty hopes of thepermanent and rising greatness of the republic . 1
While Petrarch indulged these prophetic vi-Hijvice»sionSj the Roman hero was fast declining fromthe meridian of fame and power; and the peo-ple, who had gazed with astonishment on theascending meteor, began to mark the irregularityof its course, and the vicissitudes of light andobscurity. More eloquent than judicious, moreenterprising than resolute, the faculties of Ri-enzi were not balanced by cool and command-ing reason: he magnified in a tenfold proportion
k The advocate who pleaded against Jane could add nothing to thelogical force and brevity of his master's epistle. Johanna! inordinatavita proecedens, relentio potestatis in regno, neglecta vindicta, viralter susceptus, et excusatio subsequens, necis viri tui te probantfuisse participem et consortem. Jane of Naples and Mary of Scot-land have a singular conformity.
1 See the Epistola Hortatoria de Capesscuda Republica, from Pe-trarch to Nicholas Rienzi (Opp. p 535-540), and the fifth eclogue orpastoral, a perpetual and obscure allegory.
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