He is, indeed, a man unique upon earth--a true phoenix." Scarcely was he gone, when the Cardinal of Boulogne, making pleasantries on the word phoenix, turned into ridicule both the praises of Cabassole and him who was their object.

Francesco Bruni, in writing to Petrarch about the kindness of the one Cardinal, thought it unnecessary to report the pleasantries of the other.

But Petrarch, who had heard of them from another quarter, relates them himself to Bruni, and says:--"I am not astonished.

This man loved me formerly, and I was equally attached to him.

At present he hates me, and I return his hatred.