Aeneas Sylvius lived wholly in the
interest which lay near, without troubling himself about the problems
and contradictions of life. His Catholic orthodoxy gave him all the
help of this kind which he needed. And at all events, after taking part
in every intellectual movement which interested his age, and notably
furthering some of them, he still at the close of his earthly course
retained character enough to preach a crusade against the Turks, and to
die of grief when it came to nothing.
Nor is the autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, any more than that of
Pius II, founded on introspection. And yet it describes the whole man--
not always willingly--with marvelous truth and completeness. It is no
small matter that Benvenuto, whose most important works have perished
half finished, and who, as an artist, is perfect only in his little
decorative speciality, but in other respects, if judged by the works of
him which remain, is surpassed by so many of his greater
contemporaries--that Benvenuto as a man will interest mankind to the
end of time. It does not spoil the impression when the reader often
detects him bragging or lying; the stamp of a mighty, energetic, and
thoroughly developed nature remains. By his side our modern
autobiographers, though their tendency and moral character may stand
much higher, appear incomplete beings.
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