l the vacancy. Messer Tommaso's presence in Florence
was both a source of strength to Lorenzo and his house, and a menace.

When the subject of the embassy to Rome--the chief diplomatic
appointment of the Republic--was broached, Messer Tommaso, with the
utmost sincerity, expressed his fervent wish to meet Lorenzo's views in
every respect, but he expressed, quite emphatically, his disinclination
to undertake such an arduous duty. Not only did he plead the infirmities
of age, but declared that his wife, Madonna Dianora, would never leave
Florence. Her love of her own city and its people equalled that of her
sister, the Domina Magnifica Lucrezia--their social, charitable and
literary interests were alike and equal.

Here was a condition of affairs which called for the exercise of the
greatest tact and ingenuity, and Lorenzo committed the task of
overcoming the scruples of his uncle and aunt to his mother. Her efforts
were entirely successful, and Lorenzo, with a deep sigh of relief,
handed Messer Tommaso his credentials, and personally conducted him and
his suite to the Porta Romano, and thence speeded him upon his journey.

* * * * *

Francesco de' Pazzi was cast in a very different sort of mould--the very
antithesis in character, demeanour, and aspiration to Tommaso de
Soderini--he has very appropriately been called "the Cataline of
Florence." Possessed of immense wealth, much of which had come to him
from his father, Messer Antonio, he rapidly dissipated it by selfish
extravagance: no man surpassed him in the virtue or the vice--which you
will--of self-seeking.

In the bitterness of an overweening and mortified ambition he rejected,
with the utmost discourtesy, Lorenzo's overtures, at the same time
remorselessly exposing his intentions, and vowing that no Pazzo should
"go round the corner" for a Medico! Messer Francesco displayed
unreservedly the true character of his family: he was in truth the
"Mirror of his race"--"_L'implacabile Pazzi_."

The descent of the Pazzi was one of the most ancient among the noble
families of Tuscany. The senior branch claimed Greek descent, and its
members were early denizens of the hill-country about Fiesole. Leaders
of men, they became adherents of the aristocratic party--the
Ghibellines--and were consistent and energetic in their allegiance to
the Emperor. The junior branch of the Pazzi were dwellers in the Vale of
Arno--men of peaceful predilections