that would maintain a State of different Language and
conditions. King Lewis was brought into Italy
by the Venetians ambition, who would have gotten for
their shares half the State of Lombardy: I will
not blame his comming, or the course he took, because
he had a mind to begin to set a foot in Italy; but
having not any friends in the country, all gates being
barred against him, by reason of King Charles his
carriage there, he was constrained to joyn friendship
with those he could; and this consideration well taken,
would have proved lucky to him, when in the rest of
his courses he had not committed any error. The
King then having conquered Lombardy, recovered presently
all that reputation that Charles had lost him; Genua
yeelded to him, the Florentines became friends with
him; the Marquess of Mantua, the Duke of Ferrara,
the Bentivolti, the Lady of Furli, the Lord of Faenza,
Pesaro Rimino, Camerino, and Piombino, the Lucheses,
Pisans and Sienses, every one came and offered him
friendship: then might the Venetians consider
the rashness of the course they had taken, who, only
to get into their hands two Townes in Lombardy, made
the King Lord of two thirds in Italy. Let any
man now consider with how small difficulty could the
King have maintained his reputation in Italy, if he
had followed these aforenamed rules, and secured and
defended those his friends, who because their number
was great, and they weak and fearful, some of the Church,
and others of the Venetians were alwaies forced to
hold with him, and by their means he might easily
have been able to secure himself against those that
were mightiest: but he was no sooner got into
Milan, than he took a quite wrong course, by giving
ayd to Pope Alexander, to seize upon Romania, and
perceiv’d not that by this resolution he weakned
himself, ruining his own friends, and those had cast
themselves into his bosom, making the Church puissant,
by adding to their Spiritual power, they gaind their
authority, and so much temporal estate. And having
once got out of the way, he was constrained to go
on forward; insomuch as to stop Alexanders ambition,
and that he should not become Lord of all Tuscany,
of force he was to come into Italy: and this sufficed
him not, to have made the Church mighty, and taken
away his own friends; but for the desire he had to
get the Kingdome of Naples, he divided it with the
King of Spain: and where before he was the sole
arbitre of Italy, he brought in a competitor, to the
end that all the ambitious persons of that country,
and all that were ill affected to him, might have
otherwhere to make their recourse: and whereas
he might have left in that Kingdome some Vice-King
of his own, he took him from thence, to place another
there, that might afterward chace him thence.
It is a thing indeed very natural and ordinary, to
desire to be of the getting hand: and alwaies
when men undertake it, if they can effect it, they
shall be prais’d for it, or at least not blam’d:
but when they are not able, and yet will undertake