ino, who seem to have incarnated the malevolence of
courtiers in its basest form. So far, there was a close parallel between
the careers of the two men at Ferrara.

[Footnote 176: See _Renaissance in Italy_, vol. ii. pp. 299, 300.]

[Footnote 177: _Lettere del Guarini_, Venezia, 1596, p. 2.]

But Guarini's wealth and avowed objects in life caused the duke from
the first to employ him in a different kind of service. Alfonso sent him
as ambassador to Venice, Rome, and Turin, giving him the rank of
Cavaliere in order that he might perform his missions with more dignity.
At Turin, where he resided for some time, Guarini conceived a just
opinion of the growing importance of the House of Savoy. Like all the
finest spirits of his age, Tassoni, Sarpi, Chiabrera, Marino, Testi, he
became convinced that if Italy were to recover her independence, it
could only be by the opposition of the Dukes of Savoy to Spain. How
nearly the hopes of these men were being realized by Carlo Emmanuele,
and how those hopes were frustrated by Roman intrigues and the jealousy
of Italian despots, is matter of history. Yet the student may observe
with interest that the most penetrating minds of the sixteenth century
already discerned the power by means of which, after the lapse of nearly
three hundred years, the emancipation of Italy has been achieved.

In 1574 Guarini was sent to Poland, to congratulate Henri III. upon his
election to that monarchy. He went a second time in the following year
to conduct more delicate negotiations. The crown of Poland was now
thrown open to candidature; and more than one of the Italian Princes
thought seriously of competing for this honor. The Grand Duke of Tuscany
entertained the notion and abandoned it. But Alfonso II. of Ferrara, who
had fought with honor in his youth in Hungary, made it a serious object
of ambition. Manolesso, the Venetian envoy in 1575 at Ferrara, relates
how the duke spent laborious hours in acquiring the German language,
'which no one learns for pleasure, since it is most barbarous, nor
quickly, but with industry and large expenditure of time.' He also
writes: 'The duke aspires to greatness, nor is satisfied with his
present State; and therefore he has entered into the Polish affair,
encouraged thereto by his brother the Cardinal and by his ambassador in
Poland.'[178]

These embassies were a serious drain upon Guarini's resources; for it
appears certain that if he received any appointments, t