Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/288

264 264 ITALIAN WARS. PART But, while no spark of generous patriotism seem- '■ — ed to warm the bosoms of the Italians ; while no Internal _ ^ «. . prosperity. gcnsB of public good, or even menace of foreign m- vasion, could bring them to act in concert with one another,^ the internal condition of the country was eminently prosperous. Italy had far outstripped the rest of Europe in the various arts of civilized life ; and she everywhere afforded the evidence of facul- ties developed by unceasing intellectual action. The face of the country itself was like a garden ; " cultivated through all its plains to the very tops of the mountains ; teeming with population, with riches, and an unlimited commerce ; illustrated by many munificent princes, by the splendor of many noble and beautiful cities, and by the majesty of religion ; and adorned with all those rare and pre- cious gifts, which render a name glorious among the nations." '° Such are the glowing strains in which the Tuscan historian celebrates the prosperity of his country, ere yet the storm of war had descend- ed on her beautiful valleys. Intrigues of This sccuB of domcstic tranquillity was destined to be changed, by that terrible invasion which the ambition of Lodovico Sforza brought upon his coun- try. He had already organized a coalition of the northern powers of Italy, to defeat the interference of the king of Naples in behalf of his grandson, 9 A remarkable example of this Greek empires, had no power to occurred in tlic middle of the fif- still the voice of faction, or to con- teenth century, when the inunda- ccntrate the attention of the Italian tion of the Turks, which seemed slates, even for a moment, ready to burst upon them, after lo Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. i. overwhelming the Arabian and lib. 1, p. 2.