2 BRITISH PHYSICIANS. however, only followed the example of his grandfather, Cosmo de Medici, who had, some years before, established at Florence an academy expressly for the cultivation of the Platonic Phi- losophy, and had collected from all parts (by means of foreign correspondents) manuscripts of the Greek, Latin, and oriental languages, which formed the foundation of the Laurentian Library. Cosmo died in 1464, at the age of seventy-five, and was succeeded by Lorenzo, who, without affecting the title of sovereign prince, reigned at Florence, in the greatest splendour, and adorned the city v/ith the most costly and noble edifices. He assembled around him the most ingenious and learned persons of the age ; and, to increase the treasures already collected by his predecessor, em- ployed John Lascaris, at his own expense, to pro- cure the writings of the antients in Greece and Asia Minor. Angelo Poliziano was the teacher of the children of Lorenzo, and when Linacre arrived at Florence, he was allowed the privilege of at- tending the lessons of the same preceptor. He began the study of Greek, under Demetrius Chal- condylas, who had fled from Constantinople, when it was captured by the Turks. This event, so im- portant in its consequences, had taken place in 1453 ; and the Greeks, among whom some re- mains of learning were still preserved, being scat- tered by these barbarians, took shelter in Italy, and imported, together with their admirable lan- guage, a tincture of their science, and of their refined taste in poetry and eloquence. These un- fortunate refugees had found a welcome reception under the roof of Cosmo de Medici ; and in re
