"Your Excellency's letters of the 15th of June and 9th of July reached me together, at the forest of Vincennes, only on the 10th instant, along with another addressed by you to the most serene King of Poland, which I have not failed to deliver in person to his Majesty, with such expressions as seemed suitably to convey your Excellency's good wishes. With these his Majesty was much satisfied and pleased, and he returns to your Excellency many thanks. I have not as yet been able to obtain his answer, as he went off suddenly to Fontainebleau, whither I now am on my way, and on my arrival shall get it sent you as soon as possible.
"I have read the summary of the trials of these rebels, of whom your Excellency advises me you had nine beheaded, as to which matter I have been glad to be informed, in order satisfactorily to answer those who occasionally speak of it; and also being at all times glad to learn that your affairs go on well and to your contentment. It is my conviction that you have acted most justly, and done everything for clear reasons; yet, I do not omit telling you that some people are perplexed at these events, saying, that your Excellency having granted a general pardon to all the conspirators, they cannot see by what right you afterwards let justice take its course against them. This I mention purposely that you may be informed of everything.
"It only remains to beseech that you will deign command my willing services, in whatever respect you consider me useful, as this is my ardent wish; and so I sincerely kiss your hands, praying God to grant you all happiness. From Paris, the last of September, 1573. Your Excellency's most devoted, and most obliged cousin,
"Ludovico Gonzaga."
The account of these disturbances, given by the Prince in his Autobiography, is as follows: "His father having by great liberality and magnificence deranged his finances, found it necessary to augment his revenue, and his subjects, unused to such burdens, began to offer resistance. The Duke, not to let himself be thwarted in that way, prepared to use force; but at last matters were restored to quiet, by their humbling themselves, and receiving his pardon, not without the punishment of some, as an example to the rest. At this juncture Francesco Maria contrived so to conduct himself, that his father had reason to be well satisfied with his services; and the people had no cause to be discontented with him, his uniform endeavour having been, to the utmost of his power, to mollify the one and moderate the other, which was in the end effected."
Of this dull reign little remains to be told. In the words of the same Memoir,—"Guidobaldo went to Ferrara in the autumn of 1574, to visit Henry III. of France, who was on his way from Poland, on the death of his brother Charles IX. Returning to Pesaro during great heats, he fell ill, and passed to a better life on the 28th of September, aged sixty. On hearing of his illness, Francesco Maria hastened to Pesaro from Castel Durante, where he generally stayed for the hunting season, and finding his father in great suffering, he attended him assiduously through the fatal malady. The funeral ceremonies were performed with much pomp, in presence of many deputies and ambassadors; and Giacomo Mazzoni pronounced a long and elaborate oration, commending his clemency, liberality, bravery, prudence, and other princely virtues." We are told by a contemporary chronicler that his illness was a quartan, which became a putrid fever, but that he bore it with patient and pious resignation, supported by the aids of religion. His funeral took place in the church of Corpus Domini, at Pesaro, in conformity with his own wish, mindful perhaps, in his last moments, of his recent quarrel with Urbino, where the ashes of his ancestors were laid.
The character of this Duke, drawn by the Venetian envoys, is quite as favourable as the few notices given us by Urbino writers. His habits were free and social, and his liberality to friends and favourites gave him a popularity at court which extended to his subjects and soldiery. In affairs of honour his judgment was often sought, and his decisions generally admitted. Though seldom in the field, he was considered an authority on military affairs, and, without rivalling the literary tastes of his son, he was a patron of letters, and especially of music.[*71] The device which he selected was a goal or winning-post, with a Greek inscription, "To the most devoted lover of worth"; and Ruscellai informs us that he acted up to the sentiment in encouraging merit. His hospitality is alluded to by Ariosto in Rinaldo's journey to Lapidusa, and Count Litta ascribes to him the institution of the Pacieri, an association of both sexes for the purpose of preventing litigation. It is true that his failings of character or temper were neither gilded by the military renown of his father, nor redeemed by the pious philosophy of his son; but so far as the meagre materials within our reach have enabled us to judge, no great faults have been brought home to him either as a sovereign or as a man. Indeed, we are enabled to adduce one satisfactory instance wherein, under circumstances peculiarly irritating to a person of impetuous disposition, his conduct was marked with great forbearance and gentleness. His favourite undertaking of fortifying Sinigaglia had been thwarted in 1556, from the obstinate refusal of money by a Jew, who, though sent to him for the purpose of effecting a loan, resisted his urgent persuasions to conclude it.[*72] After mentioning the circumstance in a letter to his confidential favourite Marchetti, he thus continues: "We avoided all expressions which might seem to approve of his discourse, and so left him. However, to you we shall just say that if they won't lend, may they meet with the like.[73] We shall seek some other course, and obtain by other means what is required for the operations. You may, therefore, after doing your best for this purpose in Sinigaglia, proceed first towards La Pergola, and then to Fossombrone, but there is no occasion to employ in this matter threats or severe language. On the contrary, you are only to seek out the people, to exhort and civilly urge them to what is wanted, but of their own free will, and by no other means; and if they will not agree, you need not break out upon them, but let it stand over, that we may see what can be effected in some other way."
In absence of any contemporary estimate of this Duke's character, we may cite one from the pen of a modern writer, himself a citizen of Urbino, and an enthusiastic student of its history. "Although possessing not the marvellous sagacity, the untainted justice, the quick intelligence in public affairs, nor the other brilliant and rare virtues of his ancestors and of his son, which have rendered their names great, their authority respected, their memory dear and popular; he had good sense, military experience, and much fondness for all liberal acquirements. He protected and honoured the first geniuses of his time; and his beneficent actions were splendid even beyond his means. Could one page be blotted from his life, too fatally memorable from its unjust and slippery policy, too detestable and disgraceful to his name; and had his manners been more affable, his nature less impetuous and violent, his temper less overbearing, and his resolutions less inflexible; the people of Urbino would probably have attempted no revolutionary movement, and he would have acquired much of the reputation left by his great-grandfather, and by his estimable son."[74]
For the fine arts he seems to have cared little, and his memory has suffered in consequence of this neglect. Angelo Bronzino is said to have painted him during the life of his father, but the only original portrait I have ever found of him is a miniature in the Pitti Palace. Bernardo Tasso was the laureate of his court, and we shall mention, in [chapter L.], the friendly welcome extended to that fortune-stricken bard during part of his life-long struggle. Bernardo Capello and Pietro Aretino were among his guests; and Ludovico Domenichini of Piacenza, having dedicated to him an Italian translation of Plutarch's Lives, visited Urbino in 1555 to present the work to his patron.
Guidobaldo left by his first wife one daughter,—