the clean contrary to what should have
been done by him 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 b