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Untitled Article
being employed in ornamenting a lofty ceiling , lay down upon the scaffolding to rest himself ; how he saw the Duke behave shamefully- to a female relative in the great open hall below ; how the Duke perceived the scaffold shake , and ran up the ladder with his dagger in his hand ; how Vasari pretended to be fast asleep ; and the Duke went down again : — is altogether an improbable and melo-dramatic absurdity .
Mark Noble , who quotes the above Ratcliffic tale of romance , curiously adds in the same paragraph , that u the learned Thomas , " who knew the Duke personally , says , " He hath divers fair children by his wife , and loveth her so well , that in a manner he never goeth abroad ( unless it be to church ) without her , and is reputed to be a very chaste
man . " It would hence appear that where there are two " reputes" of an opposite kind concerning a man or woman , the repute which degrades has a preference in many minds over that which elevates . Cellini tells a very matter of fact , professional , and no less connubial story , about the Duchess wishing to purchase certain pearls , to which the Duke , perceiving they were not good , refused to consent , until " longer able to resist the love he bore the Duchess , whom he delighted to humour in all things , he said to Bernadone" Get thee gone , and treat for the pearls , for I am willing to do anything that will please the Duchess /' Cosmo built a fleet , of which he intended Garcia , his third son , should be the admiral , and he established the Order of St Stephen , partly to commemorate the victory of Marciano , but chiefly that the knights should command gallies to prevent the incursions of the Turkish and African pirates who infested the Tuscan coasts . M . de Sismondi chooses to consider that the order was instituted merely to divert the minds of the public , as of the nobility , from thoughts of liberty . He also says that Cosmo discouraged commerce , and quotes Galluzzi , De Thou , and Adriani as his authorities . They all say the reverse . It is true that the Duke forbade the Cavaliers of St Stephen to engage in trade or commerce ; but it seems highly probable that he did so merely to keep
down the power of the nobility by preventing their increase of wealth . Against the haughty and oppressive despotism of these nobles , with their bravos and castles ( for a picture of their conduct see the novel of / Promessi Sposi ) Cosmo had always defended the people . The fact is , he increased the commerce and wealth of the Florentines to a prodigious extent . See Galtutzi , De Thou , and Adriani . One quotation from these authorities will suffice . Galluzzi avers that there was a vast increase in commerce and all kinds of arts during the reign of Cosmo , in Florence , ** where security ,
Untitled Article
244 Cosmo de Medici .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 1, 1837, page 244, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1830/page/54/
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