should be. She had no rivals and no detractors. Hers had
been the wise power behind the throne, for her tactful counsels had
guided the actions of her husband unerringly.

Florence was greatly beholden to Domina Lucrezia--a debt which nothing
could repay. Her influence for good upon the Court, her munificence in
charity, and her unsparing unselfishness had not been without powerful
effect upon every one of those hard-headed, hard-hearted citizens. They
called to mind that well-known saying of the "Father of his
Country"--"the great merchant"--Cosimo: "Why, Lucrezia is the best man
among us!"

They reflected, too, upon the auspicious example set at the Palazzo
Medici, where the mother's part was conspicuous in the wise training of
her family and in the loving deference she received from her sons. And
as they gazed upon Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Medici--"the hope of
Florence"--they recognised in the former a statesman, already a ruler in
the making. Young though he was, he had widely gained a reputation for
shrewdness and energy, for Piero had taken his eldest son early into his
confidence, and had entrusted to him much important State business. He
had sent him with embassies to Rome, Venice, and Naples; he had
despatched him upon a round of ceremonious visits to foreign courts; and
had encouraged him to make himself acquainted with all Tuscany and the
Tuscans.

Lorenzo's accomplishments in the school of letters were known to all. He
was a scholar and a gentleman, and these points had great weight in
Florentine opinion. In figure and physiognomy he very greatly resembled
his grandfather. His dignified bearing greatly impressed the assembly,
whilst his unaffected modesty, pleasant courtesy, and graceful oratory,
gratified them all.

In Giuliano they had a typical young courtier, handsome, athletic,
accomplished, and enthusiastic. His physical charms appealed to every
one, for most Florentines were Greeks of the Greeks. A precocious boy of
sixteen years of age, he had the promise of a brilliant young manhood
and a splendid maturity.

The personal equation is always a prominent factor in human ambitions,
and nowhere was it more emphatically dominant than in the mutual
jealousies of the men of Florence. The "x+y" sign of absolute assurance
had its match and equal in the "x-y" sign of restrictive deference. If
one _Messer_ arrived at some degree of prominence, then the best way for
him to attain his end was to pit himself