Excerpt from Studies of Modern Mind Character at Several European Epochs The sixteenth century in Italy was an age Of transition from spirited if ill - organised autonomy to a dull level Of Spiritual and secular despotism. It presents the spectacle of a country foremost in the Opening of the march Of modern civilisation suddenly finding itself the helpless Object of rival' rapacity to ruder but stronger states its leading men, Whose minds and characters had been formed in the liberal school of world-wide Commerce and uncontrolled self-government, suddenly compelled to transfer their political activity, if they were still bent on exerting it, from the councils Of their country to the courts and cabinets of overbearing native or foreign princes. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.