These were the sentiments of Poggio, in the season of serious meditation. On another occasion, when irritated by the sarcasms of Cardinal Julian, he ascribed his abjuration of the priesthood to a somewhat different motive. “Nolo esse Sacerdos, nolo Beneficia; vidi enim plurimos, quos bonos viros censebam, maxime autem liberales, post susceptum sacerdotium avoras esse et nulli deditos virtuti, sed inertiæ, otio, voluptati. Quod ne mihi quoque accidat veritus, decrevi procul a vestro ordine consummere hoc, quidquid superest, temporis perigrinationis meæ; ex hâc enim magnâ capitis Sacerdotum rasurâ, conspicio non solum pilos abradi, sed etiam conscientiam et virtutem.”—_Poggii Epistolæ lvii. ep. xxvii._ [122] See Tonelli _Epistolarium Poggii, lib. i. ep. 18._ [123] _Ambrogii Traversarii Opera, tom. ii. p. 1122._ [124] _Poggii Opera, p. 69._ [125] _Ibid, p. 36._ [126] _Poggii Opera, p. 474._ [127] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 93._ [128] _Poggii Historia Flor. lib. iv. v._ Martin was particularly offended by a ballad, the burthen of which was _Papa Martino non vale un quattrino_. _Ibid, p. 203. apud notas._—_Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 103._ [129] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 97._ [130] Bologna surrendered to Braccio after a short siege, July 15th, 1420. _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 98._ [131] _Platina, p. 398._ [132] _Muratori Annali, tom. ix. p. 93._ Baldassare Cossa is generally distinguished by the pontifical appellation of John XXIII. He was however in fact only the twenty-second of that name who filled the papal chair. The mistake in his designation arises from the extraordinary circumstance of the annalists of the holy see having admitted into the series of pontiffs the famous pope Joan, who it is asserted, on succeeding Leo IV. in the pontificate, assumed the name of John VII. This ecclesiastical Amazon is said to have been an Englishwoman, who went in man’s attire with her lover to Athens, where she made such a proficiency in her studies, that she rose through the subordinate degrees of clerical preferment to the supreme honours of the pontificate. It is further alleged, that having become pregnant by one of her domestics, she was seized with the pains of labour, as she was conducting a procession to the church of St. John Lateran, and expired in the street. This improbable story is related by Platina, who observes, however, that though it is commonly believed, it rests upon doubtful authority. He informs us, that those who maintain the truth of this narration, allege in proof of its authenticity, two circumstances, namely, that the pontiffs always avoid passing through the street where this untoward accident is said to have happened: and that on the installation of a newly elected pope, he is obliged to undergo a ceremony, which would infallibly detect any attempt at a repetition of the above-mentioned imposture. With regard to the first of these allegations, Platina