him to understand they were "not dreaming." He said,
"he believed it, for he had robbed them of their sleep." When Pope
Pius was endeavoring to induce the different governments to join in
an expedition against the Turks, he said, "he was an old man, and had
undertaken the enterprise of a young one." To the Venetians ambassadors,
who came to Florence with those of King Alfonso to complain of the
republic, he uncovered his head, and asked them what color it was; they
said, "white;" he replied, "it is so; and it will not be long before
your senators have heads as white as mine." A few hours before his
death, his wife asked him why he kept his eyes shut, and he said, "to
get them in the way of it." Some citizens saying to him, after his
return from exile, that he injured the city, and that it was offensive
to God to drive so many religious persons out of it; he replied that,
"it was better to injure the city, than to ruin it; that two yards
of rose-colored cloth would make a gentleman, and that it required
something more to direct a government than to play with a string of
beads." These words gave occasion to his enemies to slander him, as a
man who loved himself more than his country, and was more attached
to this world than to the next. Many others of his sayings might be
adduced, but we shall omit them as unnecessary. Cosmo was a friend and
patron of learned men. He brought Argiripolo, a Greek by birth, and one
of the most erudite of his time, to Florence, to instruct the youth in
Hellenic literature. He entertained Marsilio Ficino, the reviver of the
Platonic philosophy, in his own house; and being much attached to him,
have him a residence near his palace at Careggi, that he might pursue
the study of letters with greater convenience, and himself have an
opportunity of enjoying his company. His prudence, his great wealth, the
uses to which he applied it, and his splendid style of living, caused
him to be beloved and respected in Florence, and obtained for him the
highest consideration, not only among the princes and governments of
Italy, but throughout all Europe. He thus laid a foundation for his
descendants, which enabled them to equal him in virtue, and greatly
surpass him in fortune; while the authority they possessed in Florence
and throughout Christendom was not obtained without being merited.
Toward the close of his life he suffered great affliction; for, of his
two sons, Piero and Giovanni, the latter, of whom he