to prosecute his studies, or, what is more probable, from a hatred of the servilities and hypocrisy necessary to make a good courtier, he declined the latter offer. "The desire of enriching himself," observes one of his Tory biographers, "seems never to have possessed him; his errors were of a very different character." Unfortunately for Buonarroti's own prospects, they were indeed of a very different character; for if to unite, to a thorough knowledge of the causes of human misery, an ardent love of his fellow-creatures, and a burning desire to rescue them from tyranny and slavery, at the risk of every personal sacrifice and danger be an error, no man was ever more deeply involved in error than Buonarroti. His life was a continued error of this kind. Hence the many difficulties and perils of his revolutionary career; hence his participation in Babeuf's "Conspiracy for Equality;" and hence is now devolved on the writer of this the task of aiding to transmit this last monument of his patriotism and glory to the admiration, we trust, of the good and the oppressed of all nations.
When the French Revolution broke out, it was natural that a mind constituted like Buonarroti's should catch the electric spark that thrilled all generous hearts with the hope of a new era. He accordingly entered into it with all the ardour of an Italian, and with an energy of character which showed that the soul of Michael Angelo was inherited by his illustrious descendant. Making no secret of his feelings, he boldly announced, and became a propagator of, the new principles. The Grand Duke was soon alarmed; his predilections for Buonarroti as a man were lost in the terrors he inspired as a politician. To the Duke's own fears were added those of his courtiers and ministers. Buonarroti was, of course, calumniated and defamed. He was accused of ingratitude, as though the Grand Duke had a right to his conscience, in return for the Order of Knighthood conferred on him; and, by way of marking the Court's abhorrence of revolutionary principles, Buonarroti was exiled from Tuscany. From this period commenced at once his career of misfortune and glory.
He first took refuge in Corsica with his wife and children, and soon after his arrival began to publish a
