SECRETARY'S REPORT. 263 



united in one will ; " the bronze gates of the baptistery, on 

 which Ghiberti worked for fourteen years, and which Michael 

 Angelo declared to be worthy to form the gates of paradise, all 

 point to a period when, as Machiavelli declared, '' our city was 

 in a condition of unparalleled prosperity and success; when she 

 was affluent in people, treasure and honor; when she possessed 

 thirty thousand citizens capable of bearing arms, to which 

 seventy thousand might be added from the country. The entire 

 population of Tuscany obeyed her partly as subjects, partly as 

 allies, and though distrust and hatred prevailed between the 

 nobles and the people, yet, so far, no evil results had followed, 

 but all lived united and at peace." 



But war came upon her, as it may come upon other republics 

 and nations, and Guelphs and Ghibellincs broke in upon the 

 harmony, and destroyed the prosperity of the country, by their 

 private family quarrels tind their contentions, which led to 

 bloody and relentless war, till the Florentine republic sank, 

 after two centuries of prosperity, and foreign princes took the 

 reins which mad partisans could not hold. Republican liberty 

 fell, and notwithstanding a mild absolute government followed, 

 the people have longed in vain for the independence which they 

 so foolishly threw away. Judging from the tone of those with 

 whom we came in contact, there must be many here who are 

 burning for the struggle for liberty to begin, and all seemed to 

 look to Garibaldi as the champion wlio in some way or other 

 would lead them to a higher political life and being. 



It was almost impossible to sleep here, the noise in the streets 

 being kept up all night, troops of boys or men perambulating 

 the streets singing operas. Women stood along the sidewalks 

 frying pancakes, for sale all hot and steaming from the pan, 

 and thousands came early in the morning of Sunday to the 

 market, bringing fruits of every description, grapes, peaches, 

 pears, plums, fine and cheap, loaded on the bending backs of 

 stupid donkeys, and some with hens and chickens, with 

 immense red crowns, which are here, as in Genoa and Leghorn, 

 cooked and eaten as a great delicacy. Sometimes we would 

 see the lazy men riding, and the hard-working women leading 

 the horse or donkey with a cart loaded with vegetables. These 

 are trifling circumstances, to be sure, but they serve to show us 

 the characters and habits of the people. 



