XIV. vious and his guilt was universally admitted; CHAP. but the reasons which actuated the other cardinals who were regarded as his confederates are not so apparent, and it is highly probable that the crime of some of them merely consisted in their not having revealed to the pope those expressions of resentment which Petrucci had uttered in their presence. (a) By some it was supposed that the duke of Urbino, who had already attempted by his letters to interest the college of cardinals in his favour, had prevailed on a part of its members to engage in this hazardous attempt; whilst others did not hesitate to represent it as merely a contrivance of the pontiff to extort large sums of money from the richer cardinals; but against the last supposition the confession of several of the delinquents in open consistory is a sufficient answer. Upon strict grounds of positive law the execution of Petrucci may perhaps be justified; almost all countries having concurred in punishing a projected attempt against the life of the sovereign, in the same manner as if (a) This conjecture is confirmed by a letter from several dignified ecclesiastics and noblemen at Rome, to Henry VIII. requesting his interference in behalf of the cardinal Ríario. The letter, which throws considerable light on this transaction, is given in the Appendix, No. CXLV. A. D. 1517. A. Et. 42. A. Pont. V. XIV. CHAP. if the crime had been actually committed; but the shameful violation of every principle of humanity exemplified in the execution of the subordinate instruments of his guilt, can never be sufficiently execrated. Are such punishments intended as a retribution for the crime? Justice then degenerates into revenge. Are they for the purpose of deterring others from like offences? Care should then be taken not to render the offenders: objects of compassion, and to prevent that re-action of opinion which loses the guilt of the criminal in the cruelty of the judge. (a) Are they intended to correct the excesses and to improve the morals of a people? How can this be effected by spectacles that outrage humanity, and which by their repetition, steel the heart against all those sentiments by which the individual and general safety of mankind are se cured, much more effectually than by gibbets and halters, racks and chains. A. D. 1517. A. Et. 42. In punishing the authors and abettors of this insidious attempt against his life, Leo was well (a)" Sed plerique mortales postrema meminere, & in "hominibus impiis, sceleris eorum obliti, de pœna disse runt, si ea paullo severior fuit." Salut, Catil. cap. 51. No well aware that he had created new enemies among their friends and supporters, whose resentment was not to be disregarded; nor had he observed without alarm the conduct of the other members of the college, almost all of whom had interested themselves with great warmth in behalf of their guilty brethren. He therefore took additional precautions for his safety, and was usually surrounded by his guards who attended him even during the celebration of divine service; not to protect him against a foreign enemy, but to secure the chief of the Christian church against the more dangerous attempts of the members of the sacred college. In this disgraceful and melancholy state of the Roman see, Leo had recourse to an expedient on which he had for some time meditated, and which in a great degree relieved him from his apprehensions. In one day he created an additional number of thirty-one cardinals.(a) Among these were several of his relations and friends, some of whom had not yet obtained the habit of prelacy; a circumstance which gave rise to no small dissatisfaction amongst the more rigid disciplinarians of the Roman see. On the VOL. III. N whole (a) 26th June, 1517. XIV. CHAP. whole, however, it must be acknowledged that in point of talents, rank, experience, and learning, the persons now called to support the dignity of the Christian church were not surpassed by any of those who had of late enjoyed that honour. Of these, one of the most distinguished by the solidity of his judgment, the extent of his acquirements, and the sanctity of his life, was Egidio of Viterbo, principal of the order of Augustines, who had long lived on terms of familiarity with the pontiff. Of the elegance of his taste he had in his youth given a sufficient specimen in his poetical writings;(a) but his riper years had been devoted to more serious studies; and Leo, who had long consulted him in matters of the first importance, availed himself greatly of his advice in selecting the other persons on whom it might be proper to confer this high dignity. The principal of the Domenicans, Tomaso de Vio, and of the Franciscans, Cristoforo Numalio, were also at the same time received into the college; and although this might be attributed to the wish of the pope to avoid the appearance of partiality to the Augustines, by the choice made of Egidio, yet it A. D. 1517. A. Pont. V. A. Et. 42. XIV. it is acknowledged that they were men whose CHA P. personal merits well entitled them to this distinction;(a) and the former of them, who from the place of his birth was denominated the cardinal of Gaeta, or Cajetanus, soon after. wards acted an important part in the religious controversies which agitated the Christian world. Another distinguished person now elected into the college, was Lorenzo Campeggio of Bologna, who had already served the pontiff on several important embassies and who was afterwards appointed legate to England, to decide, in conjunction with Wolsey, the great question of divorce between Henry VIII. and Catharine of Aragon; where he obtained by the favour of that monarch the episcopal see of Salisbury.(b) Among those whom Leo selected from his personal knowledge of their virtues and their acquirements, may also be enumerated Giovanni Picolomini archbishop of Siena, a near relation of the pontiffs Pius II. and Pius III.; Niccolo Pandolfini of FloN 2 rence; (a)" Homines sane doctrinâ et moribus spectatissimos." Fabron. vita Leon. x. 121. (b) Ariosto denominates him the ornament and honour of the Roman senate; and Erasmus has addressed to him several letters, in terms of great respect. A. D. 1517. A. Et. 42. A. Pont. V. |