The Istoria Fiorentina is a succinct narrative of the events of Italian History, especially as they concerned Florence, between the years 1378 and 1509.  In other words it relates the vicissitudes of the Republic under the Medici, and the administration of the Gonfalonier Soderini.  This masterpiece of historical narration sets forth with brevity and frankness the whole series of events which are rhetorically and cautiously unfolded in the Istoria d’ Italia.  Most noticeable are the characters of Lorenzo de’ Medici (cap. ix.), of Savonarola (cap. xvii.), and of Alexander VI. (cap. xxvii.).  The immediate consequences of the French invasion have never been more ably treated than in Chapter xi., while the whole progress of Cesare Borgia in his career of villany is analyzed with exquisite distinctness in Chapter xxvi.  The wisdom of Guicciardini nowhere appears more ripe, or his intellect more elastic, than in the Istoria Fiorentina.  Students who desire to gain a still closer insight into the working of Guicciardini’s mind should consult the 403 Ricordi Politici e Civili collected in the first volume of his Opere Inedite.  These have all the charm which belongs to occasional utterances, and are fit, like proverbs, to be worn for jewels on the finger of time.

The biography of Niccolo Machiavelli consists for the most part of a record of his public services to the State of Florence.  He was born on May 3, 1469, of parents who belonged to the prosperous middle class of Florentine citizens.  His ancestry was noble; for the old tradition which connected his descent with the feudal house of Montespertoli has been confirmed by documentary evidence.[1] His forefathers held offices of high distinction in the Commonwealth; and though their wealth and station had decreased, Machiavelli inherited a small landed estate.  His family, who were originally settled in the Val di Pesa, owned farms at San Casciano and in other villages of the Florentine dominion, a list of which may be seen in the return presented by his father Bernardo to the revenue office in 1498.[2] Their wealth was no doubt trivial in comparison with that which citizens amassed by trade in Florence; for it was not the usage of those times to draw more than the necessaries of life from the Villa:  all superfluities were provided by the Bottega in the town.[3] Yet there can be no question, after a comparison of Bernardo Machiavelli’s return of his landed property with Niccolo Machiavelli’s will,[4] that the illustrious war secretary at all periods of his life owned just sufficient property to maintain his family in a decent, if not a dignified, style.  About his education we know next to nothing.  Giovio[5] asserts that he possessed but little Latin, and that he owed the show of learning in his works to quotations furnished by Marcellus Virgilius.  This accusation, which, whether it be true or not, was intended to be injurious, has lost its force in an age that, like ours, values erudition less than