with
apprehension; but what gave every one greater alarm, and offered
sufficient occasion for the declaration of war, was the expedition made
by the duke against Furli. Giorgio Ordelaffi was lord of Furli, who
dying, left Tibaldo, his son, under the guardianship of Filippo. The
boy's mother, suspicious of his guardian, sent him to Lodovico Alidossi,
her father, who was lord of Imola, but she was compelled by the people
of Furli to obey the will of her deceased husband, to withdraw him from
the natural guardian, and place him in the hands of the duke. Upon
this Filippo, the better to conceal his purpose, caused the Marquis of
Ferrara to send Guido Torello as his agent, with forces, to seize the
government of Furli, and thus the territory fell into the duke's hands.
When this was known at Florence, together with the arrival of forces at
Bologna, the arguments in favor of war were greatly strengthened, but
there were still many opposed to it, and among the rest Giovanni de'
Medici, who publicly endeavored to show, that even if the ill designs of
the duke were perfectly manifest, it would still be better to wait and
let him commence the attack, than to assail him; for in the former case
they would be justified in the view of the princes of Italy as well as
in their own; but if they were to strike the first blow at the duke,
public opinion would be as favorable to him as to themselves; and
besides, they could not so confidently demand assistance as assailants,
as they might do if assailed; and that men always defend themselves more
vigorously when they attack others. The advocates of war considered it
improper to await the enemy in their houses, and better to go and seek
him; that fortune is always more favorable to assailants than to such
as merely act on the defensive, and that it is less injurious, even when
attended with greater immediate expense, to make war at another's door
than at our own. These views prevailed, and it was resolved that the ten
should provide all the means in their power for rescuing Furli from the
hands of the duke.

Filippo, finding the Florentines resolved to occupy the places he had
undertaken to defend, postponed all personal considerations, and sent
Agnolo della Pergola with a strong force against Imola, that Ludovico,
having to provide for the defense of his own possessions, might be
unable to protect the interests of his grandson. Agnolo approached Imola
while the forces of the Florentines w