I 
640 Bijhop Burn 
ture, they, purfued the Maxims that had been laid down 
"while Florence remained a free State j but there was 
this Mifchief attended the Change of the, .Government 
from a Republick, that its Fate depehded no longer 
upon itfeJf, but upon that of the reigning Family, 
which has brought it into the Circumftances v/e fee it 
at prefent, which are very extraordinary, fince it no 
longer is the Inheritance of that Family, or of the 
Heirs of that Family, but by Way of Exchange has 
been given to the Duke of Lorrain^ who is at prefent 
Emperor, and thus labours under two additional Mis- 
fortunes % for as it had loft its Liberty before, fo now it 
has not only loft its Native Princes, who were always 
the Parents of their People, and fallen under a foreign 
Yoke, but has actually no Prince at all, and is become 
a Province lying at a great Diftance from the Refidence 
of its Sovereign. Thefe are, without Doubt, very grie- 
vous Misfortunes, the Confequences of which will be 
feen daily more and more. 
The other States of Italy have alfo fuffer’d much fince 
they were vifited by our Author ■, the Dutchies of Mi- 
lan, Mantua, and Guaftalla, are no more *, and it is 
doubtful whether the fame Thing may not be faid of 
Modena and Mirandola. The Republick of Genoa is 
certainly undone, if not fubverted j and the two laft 
general Wars have gone farther in depopulating di- 
ftrelfing, and impoverifhing Italy, than all ftie fuffered 
in the two Centuries before, and yet in that Time her 
Sufferings were not fmall. But notwithftanding all this, 
and though it is fcarce poffible for a Country to be 
more wretched than this really is at the Time we are 
writing, there is no Doubt that a few Years of Peace, 
and the rifing up of good Princes, might ftill recover it 
to as good a State as ever it was in for thefe five hundred 
Years. The Reader will from hence difcern the true 
Reafon, why the maintaining a Balance of Power in this 
Country is fo much the Intereft of all the Princes and States 
that are its prefentPofTeffors, and why the reft of theCrowns 
Europe, and the maritime Powers more efpecially, 
have alfo an Intereft in maintaining that Balance, which 
is of fo great Confequence to the Commerce of Europe, 
which can never be well regulated if that Balance fhould 
be overturned, and, by Addition of Conquefts, the greateft 
Part of this Country fall under the Dominion of any Prince 
much more powerful than the reft. We may alfo fee 
how wife and how right an Expedient it would be^ if 
all the Italian Powers would unite in a Confederacy for 
preferving the Peace of that Country, by eftabliftiing 
a perpetual Neutrality, which, as it would prejudice no 
one Power in Europe, fo if thofe concerned would go 
about it heartily, there could be no Doubt of their fuc- 
ceeding *, and this might not only lay a Foundation for 
their particular Happinefs, but prove a very good Pre- 
cedent for eftabliftiing the univerfal Tranquility of 
Chriftendom ; which if it be a BlelTing that we have 
fmall Hopes to fee, we may however have Leave to wifti, 
and pleafe ourfelves with the Profped of what would 
certainly prove the greateft and the moft univerfal Good. 
Thus we have taken Pains to accommodate the Ac- 
counts, Obfervations, and Remarks of Biftiop Burnet, 
made threefcore Years ago, to the prefent Times, at 
leaft with refpedt to Italy. It is very much to be re- 
gretted, that he did not give us a larger Account of 
his Journey through France, notwithftanding the Rea- 
fons affigned by him for omitting it. He fliews him- 
felf very* impartial in attributing the Perfecution of the 
Proteftants, to the Religion of the French King, rather 
than to the Haughtinefs and Cruelty of his Temper, and 
perhaps there was fqmething of Juftice in this, becaufe 
E Fraveh Book II. 
it is certain, that iil other Refpefls, this Prince 
was very far from ftiewing himfelf of a Blood-thirfty 
Temper, for there was but one Man of Quality put to 
Death, during his whole Reign,- the Chevalier de Rohan ; 
and the King banifhed his Mother for not demanding his 
Pardon, which at the fame time he declared he would 
have granted. It is very remarkable that our Queen 
Mary, who was a moft violent Perfecutrix, was alfo a 
Woman of a mild and gentle Temper \ which ftiews, 
that the beft Princes are capable of doing as bad Things, 
as the worft, when under the Influence of bad Counfeis. 
But perhaps it may not be amifs to inform the Englijh 
Reader, that the French Memoirs of this Reign, fuggeft 
a very different Reafon for this Perfecution, and though 
they do not lay it upon the King, they lay it as little upon 
the Priefts ; for the Account they give of it is this. 
Lewis XIV. was very defirous to fee the Proteftants 
converted, as he called it, and for that Reafon gave 
great Encouragement to fuch of the Clergy as applied 
themfelves to this Work. This gave Occafion to the 
Archbifhop of Paris, and the King’s Confeflbr, Father 
k Chaife, to have frequent private Audiences of his 
Majefty, which lafted an Hour or two at a Time. 
This gave fuch Umbrage to one of his Minifters, Mr. 
Loiivois, that he determined to put an End to it at any 
Rate, which induced him to propofe the new Method 
of converting by Dragoons, as the flaorteft and the 
moft effedtual. If there be any Truth in this, as in* 
deed there is too great Reafon to believe that this 
was the real Secret of that bloody Bufinefs, then 
it plainly ftiews, that both Princes and Priefts 
are liable to be impofed upon, and made the Tools of 
wicked and ambitious Statefmen, who confider No- 
thing but their own Intereft, and ftick at Nothing that 
may promote it. It was the fame Perfon that filled the 
Head of that Prince with thofe dangerous and deftruc- 
tive Views, that were fo fatal to the Peace of Europe ; 
the Pretence was his Mafter’s Glory, and the Intereft of 
the Crown of France, but the true Caufe was the Senfe 
he had, that it was impoflible for him to preferve his 
Power, or make himfelf necelTary to his Mafter, but in 
Times of War and Confufion, which therefore he made 
it his conftant Study to promote. The Surprizing of 
Strasbourg, and the eredting of Hunningen, were both 
his Schemes, and in ftiort, fo were all the bad Schemes 
in his Time. Befides, he firft taugfit the French Mi- 
nifters how to pradlife upon the German Princes, which 
they have continued to do ever fince ; and he made it 
his Boaft, that in a Time of full Peace he had added 
more to the Dominions of France than the greateft of 
her Generals in Time of War by their Conquefts ; And 
indeed this was fo true, that he brought four of the 
Eledlors to become in a Manner dependent upon that 
Crown, equally to the Difgrace and to the Danger of 
the Empire. But Refledlions of this Kind may lead 
us too far, and therefore we will put an End to them 
here, and with them to this Sc(ftion, that in the next 
we may carry the Reader into France, and give him a 
ftiort View of a Country, which in Point of Situation, 
Climate, and Produce, fcarce yields to any in Europe ; 
the Monarchs of which are the lefs excufable for aim- 
ing at univerfal Dominion, fince the Poireffion of it 
would hardly put more into their Power, than by qui- 
etly enjoying their own Territories, and attending only 
to the Welfare of their SuBjedts, they might, without 
Envy, Trouble, or Danger, find within their Reach. 
But Ambition is a Perfpedlive that diminifhes Objedts 
that are near, as much as it magnifies thofe at a Di- 
ftance, and confequently, ftiews both in falfe Lights. 
SECT. 
