A mind irritated by disappointment and disgrace is but ill prepared to bear with patience the lashes of satiric wit. The cardinal of St. Angelo was by no means pleased with the jocular style of Poggio’s letter; and though he affected to answer it in a similar strain of levity, he appears to have written with the ill grace which generally betrays the attempt to conceal resentment under the veil of good humour; and in the course of his epistle, his vexation burst forth in an angry reproof of the irregular life of his correspondent. Unfortunately the morals of Poggio were not entirely free from reproach.—Whilst the uncertainty of his future destination had prevented him from entering into the married state, his passions had gained the mastery over his principles, and he had become the father of a spurious offspring. Reminding him of this circumstance, “you have children,” said the cardinal, “which is inconsistent with the obligations of an ecclesiastic; and by a mistress, which is discreditable to the character of a layman.” To these reproaches Poggio replied in a letter replete with the keenest sarcasm. He pleaded guilty to the charge which had been exhibited against him, and candidly confessed, that he had deviated from the paths of virtue. “I might answer to your accusation,” said he, “that I have children, which is expedient for the laity; and by a mistress, in conformity to the custom of the clergy from the foundation of the world. But I will not defend my errors—you know that I have violated the laws of morality, and I acknowledge that I have done amiss.” Endeavouring however to palliate his offence—“do we not,” says he, “every day, and in all countries, meet with priests, monks, abbots, bishops, and dignitaries of a still higher order, who have families of children by married women, widows, and even by virgins consecrated to the service of God? These despisers of worldly things, as they style themselves, who travel from place to place, clothed in coarse and vile raiment, with downcast looks, calling on the name of Jesus, follow the precept of the apostle, and seek after that which is not their own, to use it as their own, and scorn to hide their talent in a napkin. I have often laughed at the bold, or rather impudent profession of a certain Italian abbot, who waited on Martin V., accompanied by his son, who was grown up to man’s estate. This audacious ecclesiastic, being interrogated on the subject, freely and openly declared, to the great amusement of the pope, and the whole pontifical court, that he had four other sons able to bear arms, who were all at his holiness’s service.” After noticing other scandalous enormities, which brought disgrace upon the character of some ecclesiastics of those times, Poggio thus concluded—“As to your advice on the subject of my future plans of life, I am determined not to assume the sacerdotal office; for I have seen many men whom I have regarded as persons of good character and