[83] Ex ea urbe nati sumus, an inexact expression, since neither was born in Florence, but a confession that they both felt themselves to be Florentine citizens.
[84] Sen., ii., 1 (Opera, p. 751). Note Dante's bitterly sarcastic characterisation of the Florentine readiness to express an opinion, in the Purgatorio, vi., especially lines 127 sqq.:
Molti han giustizia in cuor; ma tardi scocca,
Per non venir senza consiglio all' arco:
Ma 'l popol tuo l' ha in sommo della bocca.
[85] Fam., xi., 16 and 17.
[86] Fam., xiii., 5.
[87] Ep. Poet. Lat., iii., 24.
[88] Fam., xvi., 12 (vol. ii., p. 403). Cf. also Fam., xvii., 10.
[89] Cf. close of Fam., xvi., 12. For Boccaccio's words of protest, see Corazzini's edition of his letters, p. 47 sqq. Nelli did not join in the criticisms of the other friends, but advised him to do as he pleased. See his letter (x.), in the edition of Cochin.
[90] See the amusing instances cited by Voigt, op. cit., i., 446 sqq.
[91] Cf. Dietrich von Niehm, De Scismate, ed. Erler, p. 94.