Machiavelli, Volume I | Page 9

remaining chapters of The Prince and elsewhere
in his writings, it is the thought and memory of Valentinois, transmuted
doubtless and idealised by the lapse of years, that largely inform and
inspire the perfect Prince of Machiavelli. But it must not be supposed
that in life or in mind they were intimate or even sympathetic.

Machiavelli criticises his hero liberally and even harshly. But for the
work he wanted done he had found no better craftsman and no better
example to follow for those that might come after. Morals and religion
did not touch the purpose of his arguments except as affecting policy.
In policy virtues may be admitted as useful agents and in the chapter
following that on Cæsar, entitled, curiously enough, 'Of those who by
their crimes come to be Princes,' he lays down that 'to slaughter fellow
citizens, to betray friends, to be devoid of honour, pity and religion
cannot be counted as merits, for these are means which may lead to
power but which confer no glory.' Cruelty he would employ without
hesitation but with the greatest care both in degree and in kind. It
should be immediate and complete and leave no possibility of
counter-revenge. For it is never forgotten by the living, and 'he
deceives himself who believes that, with the great, recent benefits cause
old wrongs to be forgotten.' On the other hand 'Benefits should be
conferred little by little so that they may be more fully relished.' The
cruelty proper to a Prince (Government, for as ever they are identical)
aims only at authority. Now authority must spring from love or fear. It
were best to combine both motives to obedience but you cannot. The
Prince must remember that men are fickle, and love at their own
pleasure, and that men are fearful and fear at the pleasure of the Prince.
Let him therefore depend on what is of himself, not on that which is of
others. 'Yet if he win not love he may escape hate, and so it will be if
he does not meddle with the property or women-folk of his subjects.'
When he must punish let him kill. 'For men will sooner forget the death
of their father than the loss of their estate.' And moreover you cannot
always go on killing, but a Prince who has once set himself to
plundering will never stop. This is the more needful because the only
secure foundation of his rule lies in his trust of the people and in their
support. And indeed again and again you shall find no more thorough
democrat than this teacher of tyrants. 'The people own better broader
qualities, fidelities and passions than any Prince and have better cause
to show for them.' 'As for prudence and stability, I say that a people is
more stable, more prudent, and of better judgment than a Prince.' If the
people go wrong it is almost certainly the crime or negligence of the
Prince which drives or leads them astray. 'Better far than any number of
fortresses is not to be hated by your people.' The support of the people

and a national militia make the essential strength of the Prince and of
the State.
[Sidenote: National Defence.]
The chapters on military organisation may be more conveniently
considered in conjunction with The Art of War. It is enough at present
to point out two or three observations of Machiavelli which touch
politics from the military side. To his generation they were entirely
novel, though mere commonplace to-day. National strength means
national stability and national greatness; and this can be achieved, and
can only be achieved, by a national army. The Condottiere system, born
of sloth and luxury, has proved its rottenness. Your hired general is
either a tyrant or a traitor, a bully or a coward. 'In a word the armour of
others is too wide or too strait for us: it falls off us, or it weighs us
down.' And in a fine illustration he compares auxiliary troops to the
armour of Saul which David refused, preferring to fight Goliath with
his sling and stone.
[Sidenote: Conduct of the Prince.]
Having assured the external security of the State, Machiavelli turns
once more to the qualities and conduct of the Prince. So closely packed
are these concluding chapters that it is almost impossible to compress
them further. The author at the outset states his purpose: 'Since it is my
object to write what shall be useful to whosoever understands it, it
seems to me better to follow the practical truth of things rather than an
imaginary view of them. For many Republics and Princedoms have
been imagined that were never seen or known to exist in reality. And
the manner in which we live and in which we ought to