A. D.I 684. • 615 



Louis XIV of France, in the plenitude of his power, delighted to 

 exert his infolent fuperiority by heaping public difgracc on feebler 

 ftates. Of this we have a pregnant inflance in his treatment of the de- 

 cayed repubhc of Genoa. He pretended, in the year 1682, that the 

 republic had held certain fecret practices with the Spanilh governor of 

 Milan, of which he accufed and admonillied them by his ambafiador 

 St. Olon. 



The duke of Mantua had made a treaty with Louis to take all the 

 fait uled in his country from France. St. Olon demanded of Genoa, 

 not only a free paflage for the falc through their territories, but aUb 

 leave to ei'eft magazines thereof at Savona. And he alio demanded that 

 the republic fhould pay to the heirs of the count de Lavagne, formerly 

 a rebel Genoefe, who were then fettled in France, the amount of the 

 effeds which that count's rebellion had made to be forfeited to the 

 flate. 



Both thefe niodefl demands were juftly looked on with indignation 

 by the Genoefe, more efpecially that of the folt, as interfering with 

 their own commerce. The French author ot the Hiflury of Genoa 

 neverthelefs adds, that, though this demand might indeed fecm fome- 

 what uncommon, yet the republic on this occalion ought to have yield- 

 ed in favour of a prince, now looked upon by all the world as the ar- 

 biter of the fate of Europe. 



There w^as yet a third inftance of infolence which exceeded both the 

 former, viz. Louis's declaration, that in cafe Genoa fliould fend to fea 

 four new galleys they had juft built, he would conftrue it as an hoflility 

 againft himfelf, and would in that cafe feize on all their fliips and ef- 

 fects, wherever they could be found. In fliort, Spain having broke with 

 France, in the year 1684, ^^'^'^ the Genoefe refuling to comply with the 

 above arbitrary demands, and putting themfelves under the protection 

 of Spain, Louis determined to bring down their pride, as he termed 

 it, by bombarding their ftately capital city, and laying it almofl entire- 

 ly in allies with his bombs and cannon, and thereby alio dellroying 

 multitudes of their citizens. Not content with this cruel proof ot his 

 power and refentment, he obliged the republic, by a treaty in the year 

 1685, to fend the reigning doge, or head of their ftate, in his ducal 

 robes to Verfailles, with four of the principal fenators, there folemnly 

 to aik pardon of the grand monarch in the mod abjedt manner : they 

 were thereby alfo bound to difarm their new galleys, and to reduce their 

 navalforce to its former flate of fix galleys only. So low was this ftate 

 now fallen, whole naval power had formerly been the terror of all the 

 ftates on both fides of the Mediterranean. They were moreover obliged 

 to difcharge all the Spanifli troops quartered on their territories, to re- 

 nounce the league with Spain made fince 1683, and finally, to pay 

 1 00,000 crowns to the heirs of their rebel fubject, &:c. After their 



