1

generally of all other things, so thou offend no man privately no man shall offend thee; which undoubtedly is one principal cause that draweth so many strangers thither." In a similar spirit, the institutions of the other states were discussed. But they offered few lessons to the English student of government. Italy had without a doubt degenerated from its former condition. Sidney's and Languet's letters are full of expressions of disgust at the servility found there. Thomas long before had noted that the Romans, in spite of the recollections of their former liberty, were held in such subjection by the Pope that they dared not stir.2 Last of all, Dallington spoke of the discontent of the Tuscans, who found the yoke lie heavy on their backs, and ended his book with the two-edged saying, Qui sub Medicis vivit, misere vivit.

CHAPTER IV

THE ITALIAN DANGER

I

A NEW era dawned in England with Elizabeth's accession to the throne. The long preparation of previous years was to bear its fruit during her reign, and amid the dangers which then threatened the nation, a generous enthusiasm swept over England, and made of those years an heroic period in its history. One of the main reasons, perhaps, of the greatness of the Elizabethan Age, lay in the growth of national consciousness. Kindred feelings and sentiments were infused into every class, while a new social structure was replacing the old distinctions of mediæval feudalism. The period was also characterized by the wide diffusion of Italian culture, and its spread from the powerful but necessarily narrow court circle to the educated middle classes. With the progress of the age, travel abroad, which meant especially Italy, became even more common, until it was regarded as a necessary complement to the education of a gentleman; while in England, during this time, the Italian language was taught and Italian fashions extensively copied. A reaction, however, set in. The growth of Puritanism encouraged

novelists to attack the "Circean Charms" of Italy and point out their pitfalls and perils. The "Italianate Englishman," as he was then known, became alike an object of satire and reproach.

3

The reaction against Italy was not altogether unexpected. There had always existed in England a dislike for anything foreign, noticed by all the early travellers. Italians had questioned William Thomas regarding the English incivility to strangers, and he replied that it was then a thing of the past,1 yet Petruccio Ubaldini, writing later, thought it inadvisable for strangers to travel in England without a royal pass, as the inhabitants would find out how their own compatriots had been treated in the stranger's country, and if badly, the traveller would not be very secure. Florio likewise complained that the masses were very discourteous toward strangers. This hatred of everything foreign, existing in the minds of all untravelled Englishmen and running counter to the excessive imitation of Italian fashions, stirred up a feeling which found its outlet in the invectives launched against Italy and the "Italianate Englishman." The cry was joined in by others who, having been in Italy themselves, had been shocked by its open wickedness. Satirists, eager for new sensations, scholars and statesmen, pamphleteers and moralists all joined hands in condemning what had been the fashion of the age. Florio in vain attempted feebly to defend the Italians, 2 Ms. cit., f. 230 et seq.

1 Pilgrim, p. 6.

8 First Fruites, ch. 12.

urging that great virtues flourished in Italy side by side with vice. His was almost the only note raised in defence; all else was invective and condemnation.

It must be said that there was justification for much of the anti-Italian feeling which then sprang up. Even Erasmus in his day had complained that many of the scholars who went to Italy in search of learning returned with a knowledge of evil practices they had acquired there. As travel became more and more of an amusement, and as its educational value, while perhaps not entirely lost sight of, was yet slighted, it was pleasure alone which many travellers sought for abroad, where remoteness from criticism gave license to their desires. Temptations lay before them in Italy, which, even if found in England, were there, at least, kept within strict limits. The richness of Italian life had not departed in a day, and long after the downfall of its liberties in the very midst of political servitude faint glimmers of former splendor remained in its celebrations and festivals. Too often the young Englishman, travelling there for the experience which was to fit him for the service of his prince and state, saw little beyond vice of every kind. In many cases he was himself fresh from the university, for the first time, perhaps, his own master, with abundant money at his command; and around him he found those willing to pander to him in all ways, and in case hist conscience revolted, to ease his qualms with the sophistry of which they were masters. It was not so much 1 Second Fruites, Introd. 2 Epist., CCCLXIII.

that vice was more widely spread in Italy than before, but rather that the counterbalancing virtues had departed, and it alone remained. Liberty, crushed in Italy, left sensuality and treachery. Former virtues might still remain, but they were beneath the surface. The ordinary English traveller in Italian cities saw only their worst side, often caring for no other. As Ascham expressed it, he witnessed greater freedom to sin in his nine days' stay in Venice than he had ever heard of in nine years in London.

There can be no doubt that Italy had degenerated from its former condition. The country which had been the foster-mother of all Europe was at length exhausted. Even to the Italians this decay was noticeable. They deplored the past greatness of their land; superfluous titles had alone increased; the day for deeds had gone by. Italy, however, still traded on its past fame, when first in Europe it had discovered the ancient world. But its fate had been sealed from the day when Rome was sacked and pillaged, and the last stand for liberty had been made on the walls of Florence. Venice might still continue in apparent magnificence to be queen of the Adriatic, but even her life-blood had been sapped. The living glory of Italy was soon to leave it. In the influence of its teachings beyond the Alps, rather than in its own deeds, its greatness was mainly to continue.

Foreign observers likewise commented on the degeneracy of Italy; some said that the long years of servi

1 Della Casa, Galateo, p. 42.