The first epistle (sine titulo) of Petrarch exposes the danger of the bark, and the incapacity of the pilot.
Hæc inter, vino madidus, ævo gravis, ac soporifero rore perfusus, jamjam nutitat, dormitat, jam somno præceps, atque (utinam solus) ruit . . . . . Heu quanto felicius patrio terram sulcasset aratro, quam scalmum piscatorium ascendisset.
This satire engages his biographer to weigh the virtues and vices of Benedict XII. which have been exaggerated by Guelphs and Ghibelines, by Papists and Protestants (see Memoires sur la Vie de Petrarque, tom. i. p. 259, ii. not. xv. p. 13 - 16). He gave occasion to the saying, Bibamus papaliter.