LONDON,May 31,O.S.1748
DEAR BOY:I have received,with great satisfaction,your letter of the 28th N.S.,from Dresden:it finishes your short but clear account of the Reformation which is one of those interesting periods of modern history,that can not be too much studied nor too minutely known by you.There are many great events in history,which,when once they are over,leave things in the situation in which they found them.As,for instance,the late war;which,excepting the establishment in Italy for Don Philip,leave things pretty much in state quo;a mutual restitution of all acquisitions being stipulated by the preliminaries of the peace.Such events undoubtedly deserve your notice,but yet not so minutely as those,which are not only important in themselves,but equally (or it may be more)important by their consequences too:of this latter sort were the progress of the Christian religion in Europe;the Invasion of the Goths;the division of the Roman empire into Western and Eastern;the establishment and rapid progress of Mahometanism;and,lastly,the Reformation;all which events produced the greatest changes in the affairs of Europe,and to one or other of which,the present situation of all the parts of it is to be traced up.
Next to these,are those events which more immediately effect particular states and kingdoms,and which are reckoned entirely local,though their influence may,and indeed very often does,indirectly,extend itself further,such as civil wars and revolutions,from which a total change in the form of government frequently flows.The civil wars in England,in the reign of King Charles I.,produced an entire change of the government here,from a limited monarchy to a commonwealth,at first,and afterward to absolute power,usurped by Cromwell,under the pretense of protection,and the title of Protector.
The Revolution in 1688,instead of changing,preserved one form of government;which King James II.intended to subvert,and establish absolute power in the Crown.
These are the two great epochs in our English history,which I recommend to your particular attention.
The league formed by the House of Guise,and fomented by the artifices of Spain,is a most material part of the history of France.The foundation of it was laid in the reign of Henry II.,but the superstructure was carried on through the successive reigns of Francis II.,Charles IX.and Henry III.,till at last it was crushed,partly,by the arms,but more by the apostasy of Henry IV.
In Germany,great events have been frequent,by which the imperial dignity has always either gotten or lost;and so it they have affected the constitution of the empire.The House of Austria kept that dignity to itself for near two hundred years,during which time it was always attempting extend its power,by encroaching upon the rights and privileges of the other states of the empire;till at the end of the bellum tricennale,the treaty of Munster,of which France is guarantee,fixed the respective claims.
Italy has been constantly torn to pieces,from the time of the Goths,by the Popes and the Anti-popes,severally supported by other great powers of Europe,more as their interests than as their religion led them;by the pretensions also of France,and the House of Austria,upon Naples,Sicily,and the Milanese;not to mention the various lesser causes of squabbles there,for the little states,such as Ferrara,Parma,Montserrat,etc.
The Popes,till lately,have always taken a considerable part,and had great influence in the affairs of Europe;their excommunications,bulls,and indulgences,stood instead of armies in the time of ignorance and bigotry;but now that mankind is better informed,the spiritual authority of the Pope is not only less regarded,but even despised by the Catholic princes themselves;and his Holiness is actually little more than Bishop of Rome,with large temporalities,which he is not likely to keep longer than till the other greater powers in Italy shall find their conveniency in taking them from him.Among the modern Popes,Leo the Tenth,Alexander the Sixth,and Sextus Quintus,deserve your particular notice;the first,among other things,for his own learning and taste,and for his encouragement of the reviving arts and sciences in Italy.Under his protection,the Greek and Latin classics were most excellently translated into Italian;painting flourished and arrived at its perfection;and sculpture came so near the ancients,that the works of his time,both in marble and bronze,are now called Antico-Moderno.
Alexander the Sixth,together with his natural son Caesar Borgia,was famous for his wickedness,in which he,and his son too,surpassed all imagination.Their lives are well worth your reading.They were poisoned themselves by the poisoned wine which they had prepared for others;the father died of it,but Caesar recovered.
Sixtus the Fifth was the son of a swineherd,and raised himself to the popedom by his abilities:he was a great knave,but an able and singular one.
Here is history enough for to-day:you shall have some more soon.Adieu.