you no less than them. Every war that is necessary is just; and it is humanity to take up arms for the defence of a people to whom no other resource is left. All circumstances concur to facilitate the execution of so noble a project, for the accomplishment of which it will only be necessary to tread in the steps of those great men whom I have had an opportunity of mentioning in the course of this work, For though some of them, it is true, were conducted by the hand of God in a wonderful manner, though the sea divided to let them pass, a cloud directed their course, a rock streamed with water to assuage their thirst, and manna fell from heaven to appease their hunger, yet there is no occasion for such miracles at present, as you possess in yourself sufficient power to execute a plan you ought by no means to neglect. God will not do everything for us; much is left to ourselves, and the free exercise of our will, that so our own actions may not be wholly destitute of merit. If none of our princes have hitherto been able to effect what is now expected from your illustrious house, and if Italy has continually been unfortunate in her wars, the evil has arisen from the defects in military discipline, which no person has possessed the ability to reform. Nothing reflects so much honour on a new prince as the new laws and institutions established under his direction, especially when they are good, and bear the character of grandeur. Now it must be acknowledged that Italy soon accommodates herself to new forms. Her inhabitants are by no means deficient in courage, but they are destitute of proper chiefs; the proof of this is in the duels and other individual combats in which the Italians have always evinced consummate ability, whilst their valour in battles has appeared wellnigh extinguished. This can only be attributed to the weakness of the officers, who are unable to ensure obedience from those who know, or think they know, the art of war. Thus we have seen the greatest generals of the present day, whose orders were never executed with exactness and celerity. These are the reasons why, in the wars in which we have been for the last twenty years engaged, the armies raised in Italy have been almost always beaten. Witness Tarus, Alexandria, Capua, Genoa, Vaila, Bologna, and Mestri. If therefore your illustrious house is willing to regulate its conduct by the example of our ancestors, who have delivered their country from the rule of foreigners, it is necessary, above all things, as the only true foundation of every enterprise, to set on foot a national army; you cannot have better or more faithful soldiers, and though every one of them may be a good man, yet they will become still better when they are all united, and see themselves honoured, caressed, and rewarded by a prince of their own. It is therefore absolutely necessary to have troops raised in our own country, if we wish to protect it from the invasion of foreign powers. The Swiss as well as the Spanish infantry are highly esteemed, but both have defects which may be avoided in the formation of our troops, which would render them superior to both of those powers. The Spaniards cannot support the shock of cavalry, and the Swiss cannot maintain their ground against infantry that is equally resolute with themselves. Experience has fully shown that the Spanish battalions cannot resist the French cavalry, and that the Swiss have been beaten by the infantry of Spain. And though there has not been any thorough trial with regard to the Swiss on this point, yet there were a sort of specimen at the battle of Ravenna, where the Spanish infantry came in contact with the German troops, who fought in the same order as the Swiss. Upon that occasion, the Swiss, having with their accustomed vivacity, and under the protection of their bucklers, thrown themselves across the pikes of the Germans, the latter were obliged to give way, and would have been entirely defeated, if their cavalry had not come to their relief. It is necessary therefore to institute a military force possessing neither the defects of the Swiss or the Spanish infantry, and that may be able to maintain its ground against the French cavalry, and this is to be effected, not by changing their arms, but by altering their discipline. Nothing is more likely to make a new prince esteemed, and to render his reign illustrious. Such an opportunity ought eagerly to be embraced, that Italy, after her long sufferings, may at least behold her deliverer appear. With what demonstrations of joy and gratitude, with what affection, with what impatience for revenge, would he not be received by those unfortunate provinces, who have so long groaned under such odious oppression. What city would shut her gates against him, and what people would be so blind as to refuse him obedience? What rivals would he have to dread? Is there one Italian who would not hasten to pay him homage? All are weary of the tyranny of these barbarians. May your illustrious house, strong in all the hopes which justice gives our cause, deign to undertake this noble enterprise, that so, under your banners, our nation may resume its ancient splendour, and, under your auspices, behold the prophecy of Petrarch at last fulfilled. Virtu contr'al furore Prendera l'arme et sia il combatter corto Che l'antico valore Ne gl' Italici cuor non è ancor morto. When virtue takes the field, For patriot blood still warms Italian veins, APPENDIX. [A.] JEROME SAVONAROLA. Florence, May 8, 1497. SINCE you are anxious to know everything concerning our brother Savonarola, I have to inform you, that after the two sermons of which you have received copies, he again preached on the Sunday of the carnival. In the course of his sermon he invited all his followers to communicate on the day of the carnival, when, he added, he would address his most fervent prayers to the Deity, that, if his predictions were not inspired by God himself, he would disavow them by a visible sign. It is said, that his motive for this daring assurance was to unite his own party the more firmly together, and animate them in his defence; for he apprehended that the new ministry which is already nominated, but not yet proclaimed, would be adverse to him. The proclamation took place, however, on Monday, and as he believed two-thirds of the members to be his enemies, and that the pope had issued a brief, summoning him into his presence on pain of interdiction, his apprehensions were great; and, of his own accord, or by the advice of his friends, he abandoned the design of preaching at St. Liperata, and went to St. Marco on the Thursday, when the ministry entered on their functions. He had said at St. Liperata that to remove all occasion of slander, and for the honour of God, he had resolved to retire, and he accordingly invited the people to go and hear him at St. Marco, while the women were at St. Lorenzo, to hear the sermon of brother Dominico. Savonarola, having thus retired to his convent, continued his sermons with a boldness altogether incomprehensible. Struck with the idea of his own dangers, and believing he would not fail to be attacked by the new ministry, he resolved on drawing a host of citizens into the same snare; he therefore commenced with expressions full of terror, which were well adapted to work upon the feelings of those who never examine into the truth of what they hear. He represented his adherents as the most worthy citizens, and his adversaries as the greatest villains in existence; nor did he neglect anything which could tend to strengthen his party, or weaken that of his enemies. As I was a witness of the scene, I can furnish you with a detail of some of the circumstances. The text of his first sermon at St. Marco was from these words of Exodus, Quanto magis premebant eos tanto magis multiplicabantur et crescebant. Before he entered on the explanation of his text, he declared the reasons which induced him to retire from St. Liperata, and added, Prudentia est recta ratio agibilium. He afterwards observed, that all men had an end, but different from that of Christians, whose end was Jesus Christ; but that of men, past and present, was different, according to their sects. Thus, then, we who are Christians ought to be extremely attentive to our end, which is Christ, to preserve his honour with much prudence and a careful discrimination of circumstances; to expose our lives for him when necessary, and conceal ourselves when circumstances demand that we should be concealed, according to the conduct of Jesus Christ and St. Paul. Such is the conduct that we ought to pursue, and such we have pursued. When it was necessary to defy the fury of our enemies, we defied it, because the honour of God and circumstances demanded that we should do so; and now, when the honour of God requires that we should yield to their wrath, we have not hesitated to comply with it. After this declaration he divided the city into two classes: the one, who fought under the standard of God, composed of his adherents; the other, who obeyed the laws of the devil; these were his adversaries. He then went into a very long detail of matters, and afterwards entered upon the explanation of the words of his text. He said that tribulation augmented the number of the good in two ways, in spirit and in number: 1. In spirit, as a man unites himself more closely to God in adversity; 2. In number. There are three species of men: 1. The good, who are our adherents; 2. The wicked, who are our enemies; 3. Those who are given to pleasure and voluptuousness, and are neither resolute in good nor evil, because they do not know how to discern the one from the other; but when a difference arises between the righteous and the wicked, quia opposita juxtà se posita magis elucescunt: this third class will discover the perverseness of the wicked and the simplicity of the righteous, and unite with the one and avoid the other, because man naturally shuns evil and seeks good; thus in adversity the wicked decrease, whilst the good increase, et ideo quanto magis premebant eos, &c. I have only given you a short outline of this sermon, as the limits of a letter would prevent my going into detail; I will only add, that he ended as usual, in vehement exclamations against his |