there,--an apotheosis which reminds us
of the worst slavery of imperial Rome under Caligula and Domitian.
Some of the greatest names of Italy, such as Petrarch, Boiardo,
Ariosto, the wonderful prodigy Olympia Morata, and the celebrated
poetess Vittoria Colonna--the friend of Michael Angelo--were connected
with this brilliant court. The well-known French poet Clement Marot
fled to it to escape persecution in his native country. Calvin found a
refuge there for some months under the assumed name of Charles
d'Heppeville, during which he converted the duchess to the reformed
faith. The father of Tasso visited it when it was at the height of its
splendour and renown. Hercules II., the then reigning prince, son of
Lucrezia Borgia, had earned a great reputation for his literary works
and patronage of the fine arts; and his wife, the friend of Calvin,
the youngest daughter of Louis XII. of France, was even more
remarkable for her talents, being equally skilled in the Latin and
Greek languages. This renowned couple drew around them a circle of the
most accomplished men and women in Europe, in whose congenial society
Bernardo Tasso spent a few months of great enjoyment, delighting all
by his wit and social qualities.

But notwithstanding all this magnificence and love of learning, the
house of Este, among its other contradictory qualities, was
distinguished for capriciousness and meanness. Even Muratori, their
ardent panegyrist, does not attempt to conceal this blemish. We must
deduct a good deal from the high-sounding praise which the courtly
writers of Italy bestowed upon this house for its splendid patronage
of literature, when we remember that Ariosto, who passed his life in
its service, was treated with niggardliness and contempt. He had a
place assigned him among the musicians and jugglers, and was regarded
as one of the common domestics of the establishment. Guarini, the
well-known author of the _Pastor Fido_, contemporary with Tasso, met
with much indignity in the service of Alphonso II.; while Panigarola
and several other distinguished men were compelled to leave the
service of the ducal family by persecution. Benvenuto Cellini, who
resided at the court of Ferrara twenty-five years before Tasso, gives
a very unfavourable account of the avarice and rapacity which
characterised it; and Serassi, the biographer of Tasso, remarks that
the court seems to have been extremely dangerous, especially to
literary men. It was not th