A late LETTER From the City of FLORENCE, WRITTEN By Signior Fabricio Pisani a Counsellor of the Rota, Touching these present Distempers OF ENGLAND, Wherein He, with some of the prime Statesmen in Florence give their Judgements which way the said Distempers may be totally Composed.  
With some signal Remarks upon the Nativity of CHARLES the second, etc.  
LONDON, Printed in the Year, 1660.   

A Letter sent from the City of Florence Written by a Great Counsellor there, touching the present Distempers of England, wherein He, with some of the Prime Statesmen in Florence pass their Judgements which is the only way to compose the said Distempers.  
My Honored, and most Endeared Patron.  
IT is no small diminution to my former happiness that I have not received your commands any time these two months, which makes me lodge within me certain apprehensions of fear that some disaster might befall you in those new Distractions, therefore I pray be pleased to pull this thorn out of my thoughts as speedily as it may stand with your conveniency.  
We are not here so barren of Intelligence, but we have weekly advice of your present Confusions, and truly the severest sort of speculative persons here who use to observe the method of Providence, do not stick to say, that the hand of Heaven doth visibly stir therein, and that those Distractions in Army, State, and City are apparent Judgements from above, for if one revolve the Stories of former Times as I have done many (but you more) he will find that it hath been always an inevitable Fate which useth to hang over all popular Insurrections to end in confusion and disorders among the chief Actors themselves at last; And we have had divers examples thereof here among us, which hath caused us to be so long in quietness and peace.  
But truly Sir, give me leave to tell you that your Nation hath lost much of their Repute abroad all the World over in statu quo nunc; Some do laugh at you; Others do scorn, and hate you; And some do pity and comiserat you.  
They who laugh at you, think you are no better than Madmen having strange Maggots in your brains bred out of the fat of so long wanton plenty, and peace.  
They who scorn and hate you, do it for your Sacrilege, your horrendous Sacrileges, the like whereof was never committed on Earth since Christianity had first a hole to put her in.  
They who pity you are few, and We are of the number of Them, as well in the common sense of Humanity, as for the advantages, and improvement of Wealth which this State hath received by your Trading at Leghorn, for that Town doth acknowledge her prosperity, and that she is arrived to this flourishing Estate of Riches, of Buildings and bravety by the correspondence she hath had this latter Age with England in point of Commerce, which yet we find doth insensibly impair every day, and I believe you feel it more; Therefore out of the well-wishes, and true affections we bear unto England, some of the most serious, and sober'st Persons of this place who are well seasoned in the World, and have studied men under divers Climes, and conversed also much with Heavenly Bodies, had lately a private Junta, or meeting whereunto I was admitted for one, and two of us had been in England where we received sundry free Civilities; Our main business was to discourse, and descant upon these sad confusions, & calamitous condition wherein England with the adjoining Kingdoms are at present involved, and what might extricat Her out of this labyrinth of Distractions, and reduce Her to a settled Government; Having long canvased the business, and banded arguments pro & con with much earnestness, all our opinions did concentre at last in this point, That there was no probable way under Heaven to settle a fast, and firm Government among you, then for the Men that are now upon the Stage of power to make a speedy application to their own King, their own Liege Lord and Sovereign, whom God, and Nature hath put over them; Let them beat their brains, screw up their wits, and put all the Policy they have upon the tenterhooks as far as possibly they can, yet they will never be able to establish a durable standing Government otherwise, They do but dance in a circle all this while, for the Government will turn at last to the same point it was before, viz. to Monarchy, and this King will be restored to his Royal Inheritances Maugre all the Cacodaemons of Hell: Our Astrologers here specially the famous Antonio Fiselli hath had notes to look into the horoscope of his Nativity, and what predictions he hath made hitherto of him have proved true to my knowledge, He now confidently averrs, with the concurrence of the rest, that the aspect of all the stars, and conjunction of the Planets much favour him the next two years; Nam Medium caeli in Genitura Caroli secundi Regis Angliae juxta axiomata Astrologiae Genethliacae dirigitur ad radios Sextiles Lunae Anno Dom. 1660. & significat accessum ad Dominium, For the Medium caeli in the Geniture of Charles the second according to the axioms of Genethliacal Astrology is directed to the Sextile rays of the Moon and signifies an access to Dominion. Add herunto that a most lucky conjunction follows the same year, in the very Centre of the said King's horoscope betwixt Jupiter & Sol in the month of September.  
When I was employed by this State in Paris not many years ago, I had occasion to make my address to your young King, and when I observed his Physiognomy, and the Lineaments of his face, I seemed to discern in it something extraordinary above vulgar countenances, & that he carried a Majesty in his very looks, and noting besides the goodly procerity, and constitution of his body he seemed to be cut out for a King.  
Now, in point of extraction, and lineage it cannot be denied but he is one of the greatest born Princes that ever was in the world, for whereas his Grandfather, and Father were allied only if you regard Foreign Consanguinity, to the House of Denmark & the Guises, this King bears in his veins not only that blood, but also the bloods of all the great Princes of Christendom, being nearly linked to the House of Bourbon and France, to the House of Austria, and consequently to the Emperor, and Spain, as also to the Duke of Savoy, and our Gran-Duke: Moreover he is nearly allied to all the greatest Princes of Germany, as the Saxe, Brandenburg, Bavaria, the Palsgrave, & to the Duke of Lorain who descends in the directest line from Charlemagne; Add hereunto that the young Prince of Orange, is his Nephew, and which is considerable he is a pure Englishman born, whereas your two former Kings were Forreners. The Queen his mother is of as glorious an extraction, which makes me admire the frontless impudence of some of your poor Pamphletors who call her ever and anon the Little Queen notwithstanding that the world knows Her to be the Daughter of Henry the Great, and Queen of Great Britain, which Title and Character is indelible, and must die with Her.  
Hereunto may be adjoined, that this young King is now mounted to the Meridian of his Age, and maturity of judgement to govern, and doubtless he is like to make a rare Governor, having this advantage of all other Sovereign Princes in the world to have been bred up in the School of Affliction so long, to have Travelled so many strange Countries, and observed the humours of so many Nations.  
But to come to the Cardinal point of our Communication, after divers debates, & alterations how England might be brought to a stable condition of tranquillity & perfect peace, to her former lustre, and glory, the final result of all, ended in this, that there was no other imaginable means to do it then for you to make a timely and fitting humble address unto your own King, and without question it is in his power to grant you such an absolute pardon, such an abolition of all things passed, such a gracious Amnestia, such Royal concessions that may extend to the security of every person for the future that was engaged in these your revolutions, both touching his life and fortunes; Unless their guilt of conscience be such that like Cain or Judas they think their Sin is greater than can be forgiven them.  
Now the mode of your application to Him may avail much, for if you chop Logic with him too far, and stand upon Puntillios', and too rigid terms, if you show your selves full of fears, jealousies, and distrusts it will entangle, and quite mars the business, for in a Sovereign Prince there must be an Implicit, unavoidable necessary trust reposed by his people which all the Laws that man's brain can possibly invent cannot provide against; Therefore if you proceed in a frank, and confident true English way you may work upon his affections more powerfully, and overcome him sooner so, then by any outward Arms, This way will make such tender impressions upon him that he will grant more than you can possibly expect.  
Some Foreign Historians as the French Comines, and our Guicciardin do cry up the English Nation for using to love their King in a more intense degree than other people, and to regard his honour in a higher strain, to support which they have been always so ready, and cheerful both with their persons and purses; There is now a fair opportunity offered to rake up the embers of these old affections, and to recover the Reputation of true Englishmen; There is no people but may sometimes stand in their own light, go astray, and err, for Error was one of the first frailties that were entailed upon Man (and his posterity) as soon as he was thrust out of Paradis; 'Tis a human thing to err, but to persevere in an error is diabolical; You shall do well and wisely to follow the example of the Spanish Mule, who out of a kind of wantonness being gone out of the high beaten road into a by path, which led her to a dirty narrow lane full of pits and holes, at last she came to the top of a huge hideous Rock where she could go no farther, for before her there was inevitable destruction, and the lane was so narrow that she could not turn her body back, thereupon in this extremity she put one foot gently after another, and Crablike went backward until she came again to the common road; This must be your course, by a gentle retrogradation to come into the King's high road again, and there is no question but He will meet you more than three parts of the way, If you do not, truly in our opinions you will precipitat your selfs down a Rock of inevitable destruction; For Heaven & Earth are conspired to restore Him, and though all the Spirits of the Air should join with you, you shall not be able to oppose it. I presume you are not ignorant how the two great Monarches of Spain and France (which may be said to be the main Poles whereon Europe doth move) have comprehended him within the private capitulations of peace, The Emperor hath promised to wed his quarrel, and there is no Prince or State in Christendom but would gladly reach a friendly hand to restore him, being deprived of his birthright, and his Royal indubitable Inheritance (as you your selves confess) for observing the fifth Commandment, for obeying his Father and Mother; From which Birthright he may be said to have been thrust out when he was in the state of Innocency, being but in a manner a Child, and very young then.  
Now touching your selves I will not flatter you, but plainly tell you that you have not one friend any any where beyond the Seas, nay your great Confederate the Swed (as I had good intelligence) could upbraid one of your Ambassadors that are now there, that He had not washed his hands clean since they had been embrued in his Princ's blood.  
The time that I sojourned in England I was curious to read your Annals, and to make some inspections into your Laws, and Method of Government, as also into the Genius of the people, and I find there is no species of Government that suits better with the nature of the Inhabitants, the quality of the Clime, and relates more directly to the civil constitutions, Laws, and Customs of the Land then Monarchal; The I'll of Great Britain hath been always a Royal Island from her very Creation, from her Infancy, she may be said to have worn a Crown in her Cradle, and although she had four or five Revolutions and changes of Masters, yet she still continued Royal, whereunto alludes a saying that I observed in your old Records, Britannia ab initio mundi semper fuit Regia, & Regimen Illius simile illi caelorum: Great Britain hath been from the beginning of the World Royal, and her Government like that of the Heavens.  
Therefore, all these premises being weighed in the balance of true judgement you shall do well, and wisely to recollect your selves, and call in your hopeful young King, whose Title your consciences do acknowledge to be unquestionable, otherwise it is not only improbable but impossible for England to be Herself again, and to be settled in any stable Government which may reach to posterity; you may wind up your wits as high as you can, you may consult with your first, second, and third thoughts, but you will never be able to settle a fixed Government, you will be still at a loss, your Deputies will be like a skeyn of ravelled thread, you will be in a labyrinth of confusions, and the end of one, will be still the beginning of another.  
To conclude, the current & concurrent opinion of all Ministers of State here both Foreign and Florentine is, that if you do not make a timely application to your King, you will have all the Princes of Christendom about your ears, and what a sad calamitous Country, what an Akeldama will England be then? Therefore if there be a true patriot, and public soul amongst you, if there be ever any drops of true English blood running in your veins, or the least spark of national fire & affections glowing in your bosoms toward your own dear Country, prevent these imminent dangers, and invite your King by discreet and moderate proposals; The gallant Samnit General could tell the Romans who had over powered them, that if they gave them easy and gentle capitulations they would perform them, but if they would tie them to too high and strict terms, they would observe them no longer than they could have opportunity to break them.  
Touching the affairs of Italy, we are like to have a general blessed peace this side the Alps, and Lombardy who hath been so pitifully harassed a long time, and hath had her face so often scratched, is in a fair way to recover her former beauty; Signior Giovanni Palavicino, and D. Lorenzo Minuccio convey their most affectionate respects unto you, and so doth  
Your Entire, and Faithful Servant. F. P. Florence this 12th, of Octob. 1659.  
FINIS.