of the Renaissance, accustomed to the small theater of Italian diplomacy, schooled in the traditions of Lorenzo de’ Medici, swayed in his calculations by the old pretensions of Pope and Emperor, dominated by the dread of Venice, Milan, and Naples, and as yet but dimly conscious of the true force of France or Spain, to conceive that absolutely the only chance of Italy lay in union at any cost and under any form.  Machiavelli indeed seems too late to have discerned this truth.  But he had been lessoned by events, which rendered the realization of his cherished schemes impossible; nor, could he find a Prince powerful enough to attempt his Utopia.  Of the Republics he had abandoned all hope.

To the laws which governed the other republics of Italy, Venice offered in many respects a notable exception.  Divided from the rest of Italy by the lagoons, and directed by her commerce to the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean, Venice took no part in the factions which rent the rest of the peninsula, and had comparatively little to fear from foreign invasion.  Her attitude was one of proud and almost scornful isolation.  In the Lombard Wars of Independence she remained neutral, and her name does not appear among the Signataries to the Peace of Constance.  Both the Papacy and the Empire recognized her independence.  Her true policy consisted in consolidating her maritime empire and holding aloof from the affairs of Italy.  As long as she adhered to this course, she remained the envy and the admiration of the rest of Europe.[1] It was only when she sought to extend her hold upon the mainland that she aroused the animosity of the Italian powers, and had to bear the brunt of the League of Cambray alone.[2] Her selfish prudence had been a source of dread long before this epoch:  when she became aggressive, she was recognized as a common and intolerable enemy.

[1] De Comines, in his Memoirs of the Reign of Charles VIII. (tom. ii. p, 69), draws a striking picture of the impression made upon his mind by the good government of the state of Venice.  This may be compared with what he says of the folly of Siena.

[2] See Mach. 1st.  Fior. lib. i.  ’Avendo loro con il tempo occupata Padova, Vicenza, Trevigi, e dipoi Verona, Bergamo e Brescia, e nel Reame e in Romagna molte citta, cacciati dalla cupidita del dominare vennero in tanta opinione di potenza, che non solamente ai principi Italiani ma ai Re oltramontani erano in terrore.  Onde congiurati quelli contra di loro, in un giorno fu tolto loro quello stato che si avevano in molti anni con infiniti spendii guadagnato.  E benche ne abbino in questi ultimi tempi racquistato parte, non avendo racquistata ne la riputazione, ne le forze, a discrezione d’altri, come tutti gli altri principi Italiani vivono.’  It was Francesco Foscari who first to any important extent led the republic astray from its old policy.  He meddled in Italian affairs, and sought to encroach upon