Chap. III. through S w I s 
as much in the Riches within, as it is inferior to them 
in the Outfide, which is quite flay’d, if I may fo fpeak, 
but on Defign to give it a rich Outfide of Marble. In 
a Chapel within this Church, the Bodies of the Great 
Dukes lie depofited, till the famous Chapel is finifhed *, 
but I was much fcandalized to fee Statues with Nudities 
here, which I do not remember to have feen any where 
elfe in Churches. I will not offer at a Defcription of 
the glorious Chapel, which as it is, without Doubt, 
the richeft Piece of Building that perhaps the World 
ever faw, fo it goes on fo flow, that tho* there are many 
always at Work, yet it doth not feem to advance pro- 
portionably to the Number of Hands that are em- 
ployed in it. 
Among the Statues that are to be in it, there is one 
of the Virgin, made by Michael Angelo^ which repre- 
fents her Grief at the Paflion of her blefled Son, that 
^ath the moft Life in it of any Statue I ever faw. But 
the famous Library, that belongs to this Convent, took 
up more of my Time than all the other Curiofities of 
Florence ; for here is a Colledion of many Mariufcripts, 
mofl: of them Greeks that were gather’d together by 
Pope Clement VII. and given to his Country : There 
are very few printed Books mixed with them ; and thofe 
Books are fo rare, that they are almofl; as curious as 
Manufcripts. I faw fome of Virgil'^ Poems in old Ca- 
pitals. There is a Manufcript in which fome Parts 
both of 'Tacitus and Apuleius are written ; and in one 
Place, one in a different Hand had writ, that he had 
compared thofe Manufcripts ; and he adds a Date to 
this in Olibrius*^ Time, which is about Twelve hundred 
Years ago : I found fome Diphthongs in it call into 
one Letter, which furprized me *, for I thought that 
Way of Writing had not been fo ancient. But that 
which pleafed me moft was, that the Library-keeper 
affured me, that one had lately found the famous Epif- 
tle of St Chryfo§fom to Cafarius^ in Greeks in the End 
of a Volume full of other Things, and not among the 
Manufcripts of that Father’s Books, of which they 
have a great many : He thought he remembered well 
the Place where the Book flood ; fo we turned over 
ail the Books that flood near it, but I found it not : 
he promifed to look it out for me, if I came back that 
Way ; but I changing my Defign, and going back 
another Way, could not fee the Bottom of this. It is 
true, the famous Magliabecchi^ who is the Great Duke’s 
Library-keeper, and is a Perfon of Vv^onderful Civility, 
and full of Candor, as well as learned beyond Imagi- 
nation, aflured me, that this could be no other than a 
Miftake of the Library-keeper’s •, he faid, fuch a Dif- 
covery could not have been made without making fo 
much Noife that he muft have heard of it : He added, 
there was not one Man Jn Florence that either under- 
ftood Greeks or that examin’d Manufcripts *, fo that I 
could not build on what an ignorant Library-keeper 
had told me. Florence is much funk, for they do not 
reckon that there are above fifty thoufand Souls in it ; 
and other States, that were once great Republicks, 
fuch as Sienna and Pifa, while they retained their 
Liberty, are now fhrunk into nothing 5 it is certain, 
that all three together are now not fo numerous 
as any one of them was Two hundred Years 
ago. Leghorn is full of People, and all round Florence 
there are a great many Villages *, but as one goes over 
Tufcany^ it appears fo difpeopled, that one cannot but 
wonder to find a Country, that hath been the Scene of 
fo much A6lion, and fo many Wars, now fo poor, and 
in many Places the Soil is quite neglecfted, for 
Want of Hands to cultivate it; and in other Pla- 
ces where there are more People, they look fo 
poor, and their Houfes are fuch Ruins, that it 
is fcarce accountable how there fhould be fuch Poverty 
in fo rich a Country, which is full of Beggars ; and the 
Style a little altered from what I found it in Lombardy ; 
for whereas they begged for the Sake of St. Anthony^ 
here all begged for the Souls in Purgatory ; and this was 
the Style in all other Parts of Italy through which I 
paired. 
In fhort, the difpeopling of Tufcany^ and moft of 
the Principalities of Italy^ but chiefly the Pope’s Domi- 
V O L. II. N U MB. 1 1 I, 
iERLAND, ^C. 617 
nious, which are more abandoned than any Other, feern“ 
ed to flow from the Severity of the Government, the 
Decay of Trade, and the Weight of the Taxes, which, 
notwithftanding that Decay of Trade, are ftill kept up ; 
befides, the vaft Wealth of the Convents, where the 
only People of Italy are to be found, that live at their 
Eafe, and in great Plenty, and makes many forfake all 
Sort of Induftry, and feek fuch a Retreat ; fo that the 
People do not increafe fall enough to make a new Race, 
inftead of thofe whom a hard Government drives away. 
It muft needs furprize an attentive Traveller, to fee not 
only the Venetian Territory, which is indeed a rich Coun- 
try, but the Bailiages of the Switzers^ and the Coaft 
of Genoa^ fo full of People, when Tufcany^ the Patri« 
mony, and the Kingdom of Naples have lo few Inha- 
bitants. In the Coaft of Genoa there is, for many Miles, 
as it were, a conftant Traft of Towns and Villages, 
and all well peopled, though they have fcarce any Soil 
at all, lying under the Mountains, that are barren, and 
that expofe them to a moft uneafy Sun, and lie upon a 
boifterous Sea, that is almoft always in a Storm ; that 
affords very few Fifli ; yet the Gentlenefs of the 
Government draws fuch Multitudes thither, and thofe 
are fo wealthy that Money brings but Two per Cent, 
But to balance this, fo ftrange and wild a Thing is the 
Nature of Man, at leaft of Italians^ that I was told, 
the worft People of Italy are the Genoefe^ and the moft 
corrupted in their Morals, as to all Sorts of Vice ; fo 
that though a fevere Government and Slavery are con- 
trary to the Nature of Man, and to human Society, to 
Juftice and Equity, and to that effential Equality among 
Men ; yet, on the other Hand, all Men cannot bear 
that Eafe and Liberty that become the human Nature. 
The Superftitioii of Italy^ and the great Wafte of 
Wealth in their Churches, particularly thofe prodigious 
Maffes of Plate with which their Altars are covered on 
Holidays, fink their Trade extremely ; for Silver being 
in Commerce, what Blood is in the Body, when fo 
much is dead, and circulates no more, it is no Wonder 
if fuch an unnatural Extravafation of Silver occafions a 
great Deadnefs in Trade. I had almoft forgot a Re- 
mark that I made on the laft Hill of the Apennines^ juft 
above Florence, that I never faw fuch tall and large Cy- 
preffes any where, as grew all over that Hill ; which 
feemed a little ftrange, that Tree being apt to be ftarv’d 
by a cold Winter among us, and there the Winters are 
very fevere. All the Roads in Tujeany are very rugged, 
except on the Sides of the Arno ; but the Uneafinels of 
the Road is much qualified by the great Care that is 
had of the Highways, which are all in very good Con- 
dition. The Inns are wretched, and ill furnilhed both 
for Lodging and Diet ; This is the Plague of all Italy, 
for except in the great Towns, one really fuffers fo 
much, that the Pleafure of Travelling is much abated 
by the Inconveniencies that one meets in every Stage 
through which he paffes. 
22. I am now in the laft Stage of my Voyage ; for 
fmee my laft, I have not only got to Rome, but have 
been in Naples ; and have now fatisfied my Curiofity Ib 
fully, that I intend to leave this Place within a Day or 
two, and go to Civita Vecchia, and from thence by Sea 
to Marfeilles, and avoid an unpleafant Winter’s Journey 
over the Alps, It is true, I lofe the Sight of Turin, Ge- 
noa, and fome other Courts ; but though I am told 
thefe deferve the Pains of the Journey, yet when one 
rifes from a great Meal, no Delicacies, how much Ib- 
ever they might tempt at another Time, can provoke 
his Appetite : So I confefs freely, that the Sight of Na- 
ples and Rome have fo filled my Stomach that Way, 
that the Curiofity of feeing new Places is now very low 
with me ; and indeed thofe I have of late feen are fuch, 
that Places, which at another Time would pleafe me, 
would now make but a flight and cold Imprefllon, 
All the Way from Florence, through the GreatDuke’s 
Country, look’d fo fad, that I concluded it muft be the 
moft difpeopled of all Italy ; but I changed my Note 
when I came into the Pope’s Territories at Centino, 
where there was a rich Vale all uncultivated, and not fo 
much as flocked with Cattle. But asv I palTed from 
Mont Fiafeone to Viterbo, this appeared ftill more ama- 
7 S zing I 
