There was at Florence next to no police of any kind,
but the streets were perfectly safe by night or by day.
There was a story, much about that time, which made some noise in
Europe, and was very disingenuously made use of, as such stories are,
of a certain Florentine and his wife, named Madiai, who had been, it
was asserted, persecuted for reading the Bible. It was not so. They
were "persecuted" for, _i.e._ restrained from, preaching to others
that they ought to read it, which is, though doubtless a bad, yet a
very different thing.
I believe the Grand Duke (_gran ciuco_--great ass--as his irreverent
Tuscans nicknamed him) was a good and kindly man, and under the
circumstances, and to the extent of his abilities, not a bad ruler.
The phrase, which Giusti applied to him, and which the inimitable
talent of the satirist has made more durable than any other memorial
of the poor _gran ciuco_ is likely to be, "_asciuga tasche e
maremme_"--he dries up pockets and marshes--is as unjust as such
_mots_ of satirists are wont to be. The draining of the great marshes
of the Chiana, between Arezzo and Chiusi, was a well-considered and
most beneficent work on a magnificent scale, which, so far from
"drying pockets," added enormously to the wealth of the country, and
is now adding very appreciably to the prosperity of Italy. Nor was
Giusti's reproach in any way merited by the Grand Ducal government.
Pages:
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113