How hard it is on the great mass of mankind, that this meanness is so seldom disjoined from the zeal of popular championship! New power, like new wine, seems to intoxicate the strongest heads.

How disgusting it is to see the restorer of Roman liberty dazzled like a child by a scarlet robe and its golden trimming! Nevertheless, with all his vanity, Rienzo was a better friend to the republic than those who dethroned him.

The Romans would have been wise to have supported Rienzo, taking even his foibles into the account.

They re-admitted their oligarchs; and, if they repented of it, as they did, they are scarcely entitled to our commiseration.
Petrarch had set out late in 1347 to visit Italy for the fifth time.

He arrived at Genoa towards the end of November, 1347, on his way to Florence, where he was eagerly expected by his friends.