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    revived from the dark ages—had flourished under the fostering wing of the spirit of liberty , and were just terminated by the ingress of that storm of war , which burst over the land in the first French invasion . Guicciardini thus expresses his deep sense of the fatal consequences of that event : —

    " The 9 th of September , 1494 , Charles arrived at Asti , bringing with him into Italy the seeds of innumerable calamities , horrible events and confusions ; for , from this passage derived their origin , not only changes of dominions , subversion of kingdoms , desolation of countries , destruction of cities , and cruel slaughters ; but also new fashions , new customs , new and bloody ways of making war , and diseases unknown in those days : besides , the foundation and arts of government , which

    connected the union of our princes , have been ever since so unhinged , that they could never after be reinstated ; so that a door was left open for barbarous nations to invade and oppress us /'—Guicc . Trans , by Goddard , Vol . i . p . 132 . The political ability and energy of Cosmo saved Florence in the midst of this devastation . He preserved the state entire , and left it prosperous and at peace ; the seat of learning , of science , and of art , as in its early period of g lory . He is not to be regarded as a despot , but as a man raised to sovereign power by the necessity of the times according with his own efforts , and wielding that power with firmness and wisdom . That the absolute authority possessed by Cosmo waft always regarded by a limited portion of the nobles and citizens as an infringement of their ancient liberties ( which Cosmo could not have destroyed , inasmuch as the Florentines had possessed no such liberties during a full century anterior to his time ;) — is no doubt true ; but this is fat from sufficient to justify M . de Sismondi in his frind climacteric , that " Cosmo de' Medici maintained iihself on the throne in spite of the whole nation he

    governed . "—( Hist . Repub > It at , v . 16 , p . 201 . ) Elder historians and contemporaries show that this was by no means the case ; nor is it very reasonable to think , even had there been a large standing army kept up for the purpose of setting the will of a whole nation at defiance , that he cbiild have thus maintained his position , and with su <* h permanent peace . After his final establifeUment on the Ducal throne , there were no more pbpular tumults , open attacks , or attempts at assassination . Learning , science , th ' e fine arts , and the internal prosperity of his cotnitry , occupied all his time , which was n 6 t , therefore , wasted iigl the " cruelties " and " suspicions" Whereof He is impugned by hia modern historian .

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    Cosmo de * Medici . 241

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    No . 124 . Q

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 1, 1837, page 241, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1830/page/51/