But yet
the change from the known to the utterly unknown was unwelcome to the
people. They feared they knew not what changes and innovations in
their old easy-going if downward-tending ways. But Providence, in the
shape of the ambitions and intrigues of the great powers, had better
things in store for them than they dreamed of. The princes of the
Lorraine dynasty so ruled as not only quickly to gain the respect and
affection of their subjects, but gradually to render Tuscany by far
the most civilized and prosperous portion of Italy. The first three
princes of the Lorraine line were enlightened men, far in advance not
only of the generality of their own subjects, but of their
contemporaries in general. They were conscientious rulers, earnestly
desirous of ameliorating the condition of the people they were called
on to govern. Of the last of the line the same cannot in its entirety
be said. A portion of the eulogy deserved by his predecessors may be
awarded to him unquestionably. He was, I fully believe, a good and
conscientious man, anxious to do his duty, and desirous of the
happiness and well being of his people. But he was by no means a wise
or enlightened man. It could hardly be said that he was popular or
beloved by his subjects at the time when I first knew Florence. The
Tuscans were very far better off than any other Italians at that time,
and they were fully conscious that they were so.
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