He had not lived long in retirement, when he formed a matrimonial connection with a Tuscan young lady, of the name of Vaggia ; a step, which, however proper or commendable it might otherwise have been, the circumstances in which he was then situated, ren de red highly disgraceful. His treatise on the important question, An seni sic uxor ducenda, might satisfy his friends of the propriety of marry ing, at the age of fifty five, a young woman, who had not yet seen eighteen summers. But we cannot conjecture what arguments could justify him in paving the way for such a mar riage, by dismissing a woman who had borne him twelve sons and two daughters, four of which chil dren were still alive, and who were thus deprived of an inheritance, which he had secured to them by a bill of legitimation, and doomed to all the hardships of penury and disgrace. Yet, if we may credit his own assertions, the forlorn situation, into which he plunged the objects of his former attachment, occa sioned him but little remorse, and he enjoyed, with his young consort, a happiness unalloyed by the dis parity of their years.
The literary reputation of Poggio was now com pletely established, and widely diffused. His works were eagerly sought after ; and several eminent scho lars, who had been gratified by the perusal of some of his letters, requested him to prepare a collection of them for publication. The request was too gra tifying to be resisted. A volume of his epistles was soon submitted to the inspection of the public; a copy of which is still preserved among the manu scripts of the Riccardi library at Florence. This vo lume had scarcely been prepared for publication, when he experienced a severe loss in the death of Nic colo Niccoli, to whom most of the letters it contains had been addressed. Poggio paid the last tribute of gratitude to his earliest anti steadiest friend, in a fune ral oration, replete with the eloquence and pathos of true affection.
Amidst the duties and the cares of domestic life, Poggio still found Leasure to cultivate his favourite stu dies. In 1440 he published a Dialogue on Nobility, a work which greatly increased his reputation, by its clear arrangement, its elegant diction, and the abundance of classical allusions and references with which it is enriched. This dialogue was soon followed by another, On the unhappiness of Princes ; in which, says his biographer Shepherd, " Poggio dwells with so much energy on the vices of exalted rank, that it may reasonably be•suspected, that resentment and indignation had at least as much influence in its com position, as the suggestions of philosophy. His liter ary spleen is discernible in the sarcastic observations• which he introduces, on the indifference with which the rulers of Italy regarded his researches after the lost works of the writers of antiquity ; in the detail which he gives of the neglect and scorn which Dan te, Petrarch, and Boccacio, experienced from the great men of their times ; and, in the general obser vations which he makes upon the contempt with which mighty potentates too frequently regard the labours of the learned. The effusions of moroseness, which occur in this dialogue, are however intersper sed with precepts of sound morality, and the historic details with which it abounds, are at once entertaining and instructive."
The prudence, or the merits, of Poggio had ena bled him to retain his office as secretary, under seven successive pontiffs ; yet he had never been promoted to any of the superior departments in the Roman chancery. But when Tommalo de Sarzano, his par ticular friend, ascended the pontifical chair, with the name of Nicholas V. new prospects of promotion open ed upon him ; and, in a congratulatory oration which he addressed to his friend on his preferment, he took care to remind him, that it would be the greatest glory of his pontificate to become the patron of men of ge nius, and that he himself, with whom he was con nected by a similarity of studies, and who had be come a veteran in the service of the Roman court, had a peculiar title to expect from his munificence the means of an honourable retirement. His hopes were more than realized by the generosity of Nicholas, who enriched him by liberal presents, and seemed to take pleasure in distinguishing him by peculiar marks of regard. The elation of prosperity appeared to give new energy to the mind of Poggio, and to in spire him with fresh ardour in the prosecution of his studies. These happy effects of his change of for tune, were soon displayed in his Dialogue on the vi cissitudes of Fortune, which, for sublime philosophi cal maxims, illustrated by a detail of striking histo rical events, is by far the most interesting of his com positions, and may well challenge a comparison with any production of the age in which he lived. This dialogue was introduced with a dedicatory epistle to his new patron ; and, as a fresh proof of his confidence in that enlightened and liberal pontiff, he soon after published his Dialogue on Hypocrisy, already men tioned ; the boldness of which, in lashing the vices and follies of the clergy, had it appeared in the time of .Eugenius, would probably have cost him his life. His talent for satire was again exerted, at the request of Nicholas, in an invective against Ama dxus of Savoy, who, under the title of Felix, persist ed in arrogating the honours of the pontificate. Ni cholas soon assigned him the more honourable task of translating into Latin the works of Diodorus Sicu lus, and the Cyropadia of Xenophon. The plague, which raged in various parts of Italy, during the ce lebration of the jubilee in 1450, dispersed the mem bers of the pontifical court, and, during this period of danger, Poggio paid a visit to his native place. It was on this occasion he published his Facetia, a work which, though the general dulness and indeli cacy of its jokes be releived by some lively sallies and entertaining anecdotes, is as unworthy of the talents of Poggio, as it is discreditable to the taste and the principles of the officers of the Roman chancery, whose " pointed jests and humorous stories" are re gistered in the Facetige. In 1451, he published his Historia disceptativa Convivalis, with a dedication to Cardinal Prospero Colonna. In this work he insti tutes a comparison between the professions of medi eine and civil law, both of which he holds up to ridi cule.