Like Tasso, he suffered from the spite of Alfonso's secretaries, Pigna and Montecatino, who seem to have incarnated the malevolence of courtiers in its basest form.

So far, there was a close parallel between the careers of the two men at Ferrara.
[Footnote 176: See _Renaissance in Italy_, vol.ii.pp.

299, 300.] [Footnote 177: _Lettere del Guarini_, Venezia, 1596, p.

2.] But Guarini's wealth and avowed objects in life caused the duke from the first to employ him in a different kind of service.

Alfonso sent him as ambassador to Venice, Rome, and Turin, giving him the rank of Cavaliere in order that he might perform his missions with more dignity.
At Turin, where he resided for some time, Guarini conceived a just opinion of the growing importance of the House of Savoy.