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.
The Grand Duke personally was a very wealthy man, as well as, in respect to his own habits, a most simple liver.

The necessary expenses of the little state were small; and taxation was so light that a comparison between that of the Saturnian days in question and that under which the Tuscans of the present day not unreasonably groan, might afford a text for some very far-reaching speculations.

The Tuscans of the present day may preach any theological doctrines they please to any who will listen to them, or indeed to those who won't, but it would be curious to know how many individuals among them consider that, or any other recently-acquired liberty, well bought at the price they pay for it.
The Grand Duke was certainly not a great or a wise man.