em
to put him to death upon the road. Jacopo and Rinato were condemned
within four days after the murder of Giuliano. And though so many deaths
had been inflicted that the roads were covered with fragments of human
bodies, not one excited a feeling of regret, except that of Rinato; for
he was considered a wise and good man, and possessed none of the pride
for which the rest of his family were notorious. As if to mark the event
by some extraordinary circumstance, Jacopo de' Pazzi, after having
been buried in the tomb of his ancestors, was disinterred like an
excommunicated person, and thrown into a hole at the outside of the city
walls; from this grave he was taken, and with the halter in which he
had been hanged, his body was dragged naked through the city, and, as
if unfit for sepulture on earth, thrown by the populace into the Arno,
whose waters were then very high. It was an awful instance of the
instability of fortune, to see so wealthy a man, possessing the utmost
earthly felicity, brought down to such a depth of misery, such utter
ruin and extreme degradation. It is said he had vices, among which were
gaming and profane swearing, to which he was very much addicted; but
these seem more than balanced by his numerous charities, for he relieved
many in distress, and bestowed much money for pious uses. It may also
be recorded in his favor, that upon the Saturday preceding the death
of Giuliano, in order that none might suffer from his misfortunes, he
discharged all his debts; and whatever property he possessed belonging
to others, either in his own house or his place of business, he was
particularly careful to return to its owners. Giovanni Batista da
Montesecco, after a long examination, was beheaded; Napoleone Franzesi
escaped punishment by flight; Giulielmo de' Pazzi was banished, and
such of his cousins as remained alive were imprisoned in the fortress
of Volterra. The disturbances being over, and the conspirators punished,
the funeral obsequies of Giuliano were performed amid universal
lamentation; for he possessed all the liberality and humanity that could
be wished for in one of his high station. He left a natural son, born
some months after his death, named Giulio, who was endowed with that
virtue and felicity with which the whole world is now acquainted; and
of which we shall speak at length when we come to our own times, if
God spare us. The people who had assembled in favor of the Pazzi under
Lorenzo da Caste