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Account of John of Ravenna.

to the teftimony of Sicco*, one of the moft celebrated of his fcholars, he not only taught the Roman Eloquence, but alfo the fcience of Moral Philofophy, with fuch fuccefs and applaufe, and improved his fcholars fo much by his life and example, that, according to univerfal opinion, he far excelled all the profeffors of thofe fciences who had ever before appeared. That he was here of confiderable fervice in reviving the study of the Latin language, and of the works of the ancient Romans, was acknowledged by all his fcholars, and is confirmed by the following teftimony of Blondus +:

"About the fame period, Ravenna produced that learned grammarian and rhetorician Johannes, of whom Leonardus Aretinus used to say, that he firft introduced into Italy, after a long period of barbarism, the study of the Latin language and eloquence, now fo flourishing; a circumftance which deferves to be enlarged on in the prefent work. Thofe well acquainted with Roman literature know, that after the periods of Ambrose, Jerom, and Auguftin, there were none, or very few, who wrote with any elegance, unless we add to these good writers, St. Gregory, the venerable Bede, and St. Bernard. Francis Petrarcha was the first who, with much genius and ftill greater care, recalled from the duft the true art of poetry and of eloquence. He did not attain to the flowers of Ciceronian eloquence, with which many are adorned in the prefent century, but this was owing rather to a want of books than of talents. Though he boafted of having found at Vercelli Cicero's letters to Lentulus, he was unacquainted with the books of that great Roman De Oratore, Quintilian's Inftitutes, the Orator, the Brutus and other writings of Cicero. John de Ravenna was known to Petrarch both in his youth and in his old age.

Adolefcens tum ego poetas, et inftituta Tullii audiebam. Legebat tunc hac in civitate Padua, literarum nutrice, Johannes Ravennas vir et fanctimonia morum, et ftudio ifto excellens, atque fi poteft fine invidia dici, ceteris, qui magiftri artis hujus in terra Italia ufquam degerent et doctiffimi haberentur, quantum recordari videor, omnium judicio præferendus. Hoc namque a præceptore non eloquentia modo, quam ex ordine legeret, fed mores etiam, ac quædam bere honefteque vivendi ratio cum doctrina, tum exemplis difcebatur.Sicco Polentonus, Ap. Mehus I. c.

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He was not more converfant with the ancients than Petrarch; and, as far as I know, left no works behind him. By his excellent genius, however, and, as Leonardus Aretinus fays, by the particu lar difpenfation of God, he was the pre ceptor of this Leonardus, of Petrus Pau lus Vergerius, of Annebonus de Padua, of Robert Roffi, of James Angeli of Florence, of Poggius and Guarino of Verona, of Victorinus, Sicco, and other men of lefs note, whom he incited to the ftudy of better knowledge, and to imitate Cicero, if he could not form them or inftruct them completely."

"About the fame time Manuel Chry foloras, a man as virtuous as learned, came from Conftantinople to Italy, and inftructed in the Greek language, partly at Venice and partly at Florence and Rome, all the before mentioned scholars of John de Ravenna. After he had continued this inftruction for fome years, thofe unacquainted with the Greek language and the ancient Greek writers, were confidered, in Italy, as more igno rant than thofe unacquainted with the Latin. A great many young men and youths were inflamed with an enthufiaftic defire for the works of the ancient Greeks and Romans. At the time of the council of Conftance, in the beginning of the fifteenth century, many of my countrymen endeavoured, by fearching the neighbouring cities and convents, to discover fome of the Roman manufcripts which had been loft. Poggius firft difcovered a complete copy of Quintilian, which was foon followed by the letters of Cicero to Atticus. As our youth applied to the ftudy of these works with the utmost diligenee, that celebrated grammarian and rhetorician, Cafparinus de Bergamo, opened a school at Venice, fuperior to the former, and in which young perfons were encouraged to ftudy the ancient languages and writers. About the fame time flourished Petrus Paulus Vergerus, Leonardus Aretinus, Robert Roffi, James Angeli, Poggius and Nicolaus de Medici, whom Aretin had long instructed. Guarinus alfo had begun to instruct many at Venice, and Victorinus at Mantua, when Philip III. Duke of Milan, recalled Cafparinus as his fubject, from Venice, to Padua and Milan. The en creating ftudy of ancient literature was much promoted by Gerard Landriano, Bishop of Lodi, difcovering under fome ruins an old copy of Cicero, written in characters fcarcely legible, which, among other rhetorical writings of that great

Roman,

Account of John of Ravenna.

Roman, contained the whole books De Oratore, with his Brutus and Orator. This faved Cafparinus the trouble of fupplying the books of Cicero De Oratore, as he had attempted to supply the works of Quintilian. As no one was found in all Milan, who could read this old manufcript, of Cicero, an ingenious young man of Verona, named Cafmus, was fo fortunate as first to transcribe the books De Oratore, and to fill all Italy with copies of a work which was univerfally fought for with the utmost avidity. I myself, in my youth, when 'I went to Milan, on the bufinefs of my native city, tranfcribed, with as much ardour as fpeed, the Brutus of Cicero, and fent copies of my tranfcription to Guarinus at Verona, and to Leonard Juftiniani at Venice, by which means, this work was foon difperfed all over Italy. By thefe new works eloquence acquired new fire; and hence it happens, that in our age, people fpeak and write, better than in the time of Petrarch. The ftudy of the Greek language, befides the abundance of new and useful knowledge which it difclofed, was attended with this great advantage, that many attempted to tranflate Greek works into Latin, and thereby improved their ftyle much more than they could have done without that practice. After this period, fchools for teaching the ancient languages increased in Italy, and flourished more and more. Moft cities had fchools of this kind; it gives one pleasure to obferve, that the fcholars excelled their mafters, not only when they left them, but even while they were under their tuition. Of the scholars of John de Ravenna, two of the oldeft, Guarinus and Victorinus, the former at Mantua, and the latter at Venice, Verona, Florence, and Ferrara, inftructed an immenfe number of pupils, and among thefe, the Princes of Ferrara and Mantua. George of Trebifonde, when he lectured at Rome, had, for his auditors, befides Italians, many French, Spaniards, and Germans, among whom fometimes there were men of rank and eminence. Francifcus Philelphus, who had been taught at Conftantinople by Chryfoloras himself, inftructed a great many young men and youths in the Greek and Latin languages at Venice, Florence, Siena, Bologna, and, laft of all, at Milan. In the above quotation, the fhare which John de Ravenna had in revising and diffufing a knowledge not only of the Roman, but also of the Grecian literature, is fo clearly reprefented, that no farther

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teftimony is neceffary to establish his claim to celebrity.

After John de Ravenna had taught at Padua, he removed for the like purpose to Florence, where, as appears, he inftructed young people, for fome time, without being exprefsly invited by the government, and without being publicly. paid for his labours. In the beginning of his refidence at Florence, he feems to have been recommended by Colucius to the learned Charles de Malatesta. "There lives here at prefent," fays Colucius, in one of his letters, "a teacher of great merit, John de Ravenna---he is," continues he, "of mature age; irreproachable in his manners, and fo disposed in general, that if you receive him, as I hope and wish, among the number of your intimate friends, you will find him an agreeable and incomparable affiftant to you in your labours and studies. What can be more defirable to you than to poffefs a man who will lucubrate and labour for you; and who, in a short time, can communicate to you what you could not obtain by your own exertions without great difficulty. I do not know whether you will find his like in all Italy; and I therefore wifh, that, if you confide in my judgment, you will receive John de Ravenna in the room of your late learned friend, James de Alegretti." It is not known, whether John de Ravenna went to refide with Malatesta or not. It is, however, certain that the former, in 1397, (the fame year in which Manuel Chryfoloras came to Florence) was invited thither by the magistrates of that city, with the promife of an annual falary, to inftruct young people in the Roman language aud eloquence; that John de Ravenna, at the period when he entered into this honourable engagement, was forty-five years of age; and that the fcholars of John de Ravenna were, at the fame time, fcholars of Chryfoloras. Saluratus Colucius, in all probability, was the caufe of this invitation; as he was acquainted with the fervices of John de Ravenna, and knew how to appreciate them. "We know," fays he, in one of his letters to John de Ravenna, "and all who refpect you know alfo, that none of the moderns, or even ancients, approached fo near to Cicero as you; and that to the moft wonderful beauty and powers of fpeech, you join the deepest knowledge." Johnde Ravenna, like Chryfoloras, and moft of the teachers of the Greek and Roman languages in the beginning of the fifteenth century, was,

no

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Conduct of the Bank Directors.

no doubt, engaged, at firft, only for a few years; when thefe were elapfed the engagement was renewed, perhaps for the last time in 1412, and he was bound, befides teaching the Roman eloquence, to read publicly, and explain in the cathedral, on feftivals, the poems of Dante*. John de Ravenna did not long furvive the above renewal of his engagement; for an anonymous writer, who, in 1420, finifhed "A Guide to Letterwriting, according to the Principles of John de Ravennat," fpeaks of his preceptor as of a man not then in existence.

T. P. I.

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

SIR,

HE article I fent to

jected by a committee of Bank Directors, though it was the unanimous opinion of himself and Mers. BYRNE, FITTLER, LOWRY, SHARP, and BARTOLOZZI, that the fpecimen prefented by Mr. TILLOCK was not copyable by any known art of engraving.

It appears too, from Mr. LANDSEER'S communication, that, notwithstanding the infamous ftile in which the notes of the bank are executed, the engraver to the bank reckons himself an artift fuperior to any of the above gentlemen; for he attempted to copy Mr. TILLOCK's fpecimen, though fuch artists had declared it beyond their power to do it. Whether is the modefty of the Directors in fetting up their opinion in direct oppofition to that of the artifts, or their En

Tin Decem flat, your Magazine graver in attempting what they declared

fee, has excited fome attention. It is a matter that very much concerns the public, and, I hope, the answers that have already appeared, will tend to call forth further information on the fubject.

A Private Banker has, in your last, doubted the poffibility of the Bank Directors' refufing a plan to prevent forgery, recommended in the manner I formerly ftated; while at the fame time he allows, that, if it fhould turn out that they had, he knows no language that can do juftice to their demerits. I am not furprized that he should hefitate in crediting fuch a fact; for the arguments advanced by him to fhew the improbability of their acting a part fo unaccountable---fo culpable---are fuch as would have deterred any fet of men of common understanding from adopting the conduct that has been manifefted, on this occafion, by the Bank Directors. But, whatever may have been his doubts on this point when he laft wrote to you, they must have been completely removed by the letter that appeared in your laft from Mr. LAND

SEER.

That artift anfwers the queftion I had put to him, by ftating, in pofitive terms, that a plan had been offered to the Bank by a Mr. TILLOCK, which was re

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beyond their power, most to be admired, an the prefent occafion?

Is fuch confummate folly, not to fay Are thefe men to have the power of determincriminality, to receive no check? ing finally on a matter of fuch importance, and to the decision of which they members of the community still to be fubare fo completely incompetent? Are the jected to loffes and frauds, and the ignorant and vicious to be tempted to the commiffion of a crime which the Bank power of preventing?

had the

The Bank Directors have a facred truft committed to their care; and they ought to recollect that, independent of the tribunal in this country that has a power bunal of public opinion, there is a trito call them to account for the neglect of a duty fo important as that of preventing forgery. If they continue to leave the public at the mercy of every bungling engraver's apprentice, when they have the power of fecuring them against forgers, rited men, who have power and influence it is to be hoped that fome public-fpibufinefs properly inveftigated. fufficient, will step forward, and get this

That a plan which, by increafing the difficulty, would diminish the number of forgeries, has actually been offered to the bank, the public has already been informed, by Mr. LANDSEER, an artist of the firft eminence, and engraver to his Majefty. In a matter of fo much moment, it is to be hoped every one who has the means will give what further information he may have in his power, through the medium of your Magazine. The other artists, and the author of the plan, owe it as a duty to inform the public what has been done in this affair, and, I perfuade

Welsh Poetry of Cyveilioc.

perfuade myself, will need no further arguments to induce them to come forward. The public, or those whofe immediate duty it is to watch over their interefts, will then know how to proceed in a matter that demands fuch a ferious invefti

gation. Could I hope that this bufinefs would receive that attention which it merits from all 'concerned, I might then promife myself that I fhould never in future be

A SUFFERER BY FORGERY.

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

SIR,

IN the foregoing numbers of your valuable Magazine, I have given translations of the poetry of Hywel ab Owain; cotemporary with him was Owain Cyveilioc, another chieftain of Wales, diftinguished for being a poet, and a great patron of the bards. But we can boaft only of having preferved two of his compofitions; one of which, called the Hirlas, has been given to the public, though not fufficiently faithful, by the late Rev. Evan Evans, in his "Differtatio de Bardis," the other is given here, and is on the custom of the Welsh princes' making their periodical circuits at the three great feftivals of Christmas, Eafter, and Whitfuntide. Thefe circuits conftituted one confiderable means of fupport to them, as the different officers of their establishments were also entitled to be received, according to their ranks, amongst the vaffals, as may be feen by the various regulations in the Laws of Hywel, upon the fubject.

Englynion a gant teulu Owain Gyveiliog i Gylgau Cymrie.

TEULU Owain lary, Iluoz anhun trais
Yn eu traws arovun,

Fyrz cyrz cyvezau dyun,
Pa forz yz awn i Vortun?

Dos, wâs, yn ebrwyz, heb rozi geirda
I'r gwrda y fy yndi ;
Dywan wân, trywan trwyzi;
Dywed an dyvod i Geri.

Dôs, wâs, o Geri, ac arçovn wrthid,
Rhag an lîd-an lloçi
Diwez y doetham i ti;
Dywed y down Arwyftli.
Degycwyn, genad, gan vawrrydig dorv,
i dervyn Ceredig;
Dywan ar wyllt ar wallt pîg;
Dywed down Benwedig.

Dos o Benwedig, boen ovyz genad,
Gan yth wna cywilyz;
Dywan ar gynan gynyz;
Dywed y down. Veirionyz..
MONTHLY MAG. No. XXVIII,

105

Dygyçwyn, genad, gyvyl mordwy gwyrz,
Gorzyar ei gylçwy;
Dy wan, er traian tramwy;
Dywed y döwn Ardudwy.
Dygyçwyn genad, gain dervyn y wlâd
A wledyçwys Mervyn;
Dôs i wêt ar Nêft Nevyn;
Dywed an dyved Leyn.
Dygyçwyn, genad, o gylç dragon llary
Lliofawg ei galon;

Dôs, yarçawg arvawg, Arvon;
A dywed an dyvod Vôn.

Teulu Owain hael hawl diolaith Lloegr.
Lliofawg am anraith,

A enir wedy hir-daith:

A anwn ni yn Rhôs nofwaith?
Dôs, wâs, y genyv, ac nag annerç nêb,
Oni byz vy ngorzerę ;

Dywan ar vuan vein-erç ;
Dywed an dyvod Lanerç.
Dygyçwyn, genad, gadyr ardal teulu

Teilwng mêz o vual,

A dywan Dyno Bydwal;

A dywed an dyvod lâl..

Cygwyn i'w thervyn, pathawr eu hoewez
Dywan dyw calan Ionawr ;
Dywed an dyvod Vaelawr.
Dôs, wâs, na oluz, na olaith dy lwrw,

Hir-velyn eu gwaewawr;

Dy luziaw nid hawz-waith; Dywan o Vaelawr vawr-daith; Dywed an dyvod Gynllaith. Dôs, wâs, â cynghor, na cyngain an torv, Val teuluöz byçain; Dywan dwg rybuz hyzwain; Dywed an dyvod Vegain. Teulu Owain rwyv rhwystrafam wladoz: Poed gwlâd nev ein adlam! Cyrę cyvrwyz, cyvlwyz, cyvlam, Cyle Cymru cymmerafam.

TRANSLATION.

Verfes Jung by the Family of Owain Cyveiliac to the Circuits of Wales.

The family of Owain the mild, whom the retlefs hofts of violence frowardly threaten, on the paths of fongs and focial feafts, which way fhall we repair to Mortun?

Go, youth, quickly, without greeting the good man there, take thy courfe; penetrate through it; fay that we fhall come to Ceri.

Go, youth, from Ceri, we request of thee, for fear of our wrath, and the end we have in ftore to bring upon thee; fay that we come to Arwyfli.

Meffenger, be fetting off, before an illuftrious band, to the confines of Ceredic; take thy courfe wildly on an arrow's wing; fay that we fhall vifit Penwedic.

Go from Penwedic, meffenger of honourable toil, fince no difgrace belongs to thee; range, and, with encreafed eloquence, fay that we fhall vifit Meirion.

Meffenger, be Tetting off, approaching the green

P

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Account of John of Ravenna.

ingly fcarce: the materials alfo are, in general, fo fcattered, many of them in books now almoft forgotten, and buried under the dust of libraries, that it would require a confiderable fhare of time and patience to collect them. Should ever a hiftory of this kind, however, be attempted, no one would deferve a more confpicuous place in it than John de Ravenna, the fcholar of Petrarch, who, though he left no works behind him to atteft his merit, may be justly confidered as one of the first revivers of the Greek and Latin languages in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. This learned man taught with as much fuccefs as his mafter, Petrarch, wrote; and, by the oral instruction which he gave in the principal cities of Europe, contributed greatly to the fupport of that revolution in the arts of teaching and learning, which Petrarch, by his example and writings, began. Without him, the light which Petrarch had kindled would, in all probability, have been either extinguished, or at least obfcured: and had he not excited in Italy a defire of being acquainted with the treafures of Roman literature, Manuel Chryfoloras would not have been invited to that country, and the Greek language would not have been cultivated fo early, and with fo much ardour. As little, in general, is known refpecting the life and character of this friend to letters, the following account of him may, perhaps, not be unacceptable to thofe fond of hiftorical refearches --John Malpaghino, commonly called John de Ravenna, from the place of his birth, was born in the year 1352, of a family diftinguifhed neither by riches nor nobility. His father, however, committed him to the care of Donatus, the grammarian, an intimate friend of Petrarch, who at that time taught the Latin with great applaufe at Venice. Donatus thought he difcovered fuch happy difpofitions in young Malpaghino, that he recommended him to Petrarch, not only as an excellent affiftant to facilitate his labours, by reading or tranfcribing for him, but as a youth of the most promifing talents, and worthy of being formed under the infpection of the greatest man of the fourteenth century.

It appears from fome of Petrarck's letters, for it is from thefe chiefly we can obtain information refpecting John de Ravenna, that he fully anfwered the expectations formed of him; and that he even gained the farcur and affection of his patron fo much, that he loved him

and treated him as if he had been his ow fon. In a letter to John de Certaldo *, Petrarch highly extols him, not only for his genius and talents, but also for his prudent and virtuous conduct. "He poffeffes," fays he, "what is very rare in our times, a great turn for poetry, and a noble defire to become acquainted with every useful and ornamental part of knowledge. He is favoured by the Mufes, and already attempts verses of his own; from which one can foretel, that, if his life be spared, and if he goes on as hitherto, fomething great may be expected from him.”

Not long, however, after this panegyric was written, young Malpaghino conceived an infuperable defire to see the world; and, notwithstanding all Petrarch's remonftrances, perfifted in his refolution of quitting him. Petrarch's paternal care and regard for his pupil ap pear, on this occafion, in the most favourable light, as may be seen in his letters to Donatus; and his whole behaviour, though the young man infifted on leaving him, without affigning a sufficient reafon for his precipitate and ungrateful conduct, does as much honour to his head as to his heart.

The precipitation with which John de Ravenna carried his plan into execution was not likely to make it anfwer his expectations. He departed without taking with him letters of recommendation which Petrarch offered him to his friends. He, however, purfued his journey over the Appenines, amidst continual rain, giv ing out that he had been difiniffed by Petrarch; but, though he experienced from many a compaffion to which he was not entitled by his conduct, he now began to awaken from his dream. He proceeded, therefore, to Pifa, in order to procure a veffel to carry him back towards Pavia; but being difappointed, while his money wafted as much as his patience decreafed, he fuddenly resolved to travel back across the Appenines. When he defcended into the Ligurian plains, he attempted to wade through a river in the district of Parma, which was much fwelled by the rains, and being carried by the force of the ftream into a whirlpool, he would have loft his life, had he not been faved by fome people who were accidentally paffing that way. After efcaping this danger, he arrived, penny

*Better known under the name of Boc

caccio or Boecace. Certaldo was the place of his birth.

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