opponents in the city counsels of Cosimo--"_il Padre della Patria_."
Messer Niccolo, his brother, carried on the feud, and was, with
Diotisalvi Neroni, Agnolo Acciaiuolo, and others, banished in 1455, for
their complicity in the abortive attempt to assassinate Piero de'
Medici.

Messer Tommaso, more prescient and prudent, threw in his lot with the
Medici, and was chosen by Piero, not only as his own chief counsellor
and intimate friend, but as the principal adviser of his two young
sons--Lorenzo and Giuliano. He had, moreover, allied himself to the
Medici by his marriage with Dianora de' Tornabuoni, sister of Domina
Lucrezia, Piero's wife.

All the same, he kept his own counsel and took up a perfectly
independent line of action, being quite remarkable for his display of
that most pronounced characteristic of all good Florentines--the
placing of Florence first--"_Firenze la prima!_"

At the meeting, at Sant' Antonio, his rising to speak was the signal for
general applause. In a few generous words he eulogised the gentle
virtues of Piero and bemoaned his premature death. In a longer and more
serious oration, on the conditions politically and socially of Florence
and of the whole State, he put before his hearers two uncontrovertible
considerations, to guide them in the exercise of the selection of a new
_Capo della Repubblica_,--first. The maintenance of unity and
tranquillity; and second. The preservation of the _status quo_.

Many and friendly were the interruptions of the oration, and over and
over again shouts were raised for "_Tommaso Soderini il Capo!_"
Gracefully he bowed his acknowledgment, but, with much feeling, declined