The Prince | Page 4

honour is done to me for the little skill I have.
Therefore, my son, if you wish to please me, and to bring success and
honour to yourself, do right and study, because others will help you if
you help yourself."

OFFICE Aet. 25-43--1494-1512
The second period of Machiavelli's life was spent in the service of the
free Republic of Florence, which flourished, as stated above, from the
expulsion of the Medici in 1494 until their return in 1512. After serving
four years in one of the public offices he was appointed Chancellor and

Secretary to the Second Chancery, the Ten of Liberty and Peace. Here
we are on firm ground when dealing with the events of Machiavelli's
life, for during this time he took a leading part in the affairs of the
Republic, and we have its decrees, records, and dispatches to guide us,
as well as his own writings. A mere recapitulation of a few of his
transactions with the statesmen and soldiers of his time gives a fair
indication of his activities, and supplies the sources from which he
drew the experiences and characters which illustrate "The Prince."
His first mission was in 1499 to Catherina Sforza, "my lady of Forli" of
"The Prince," from whose conduct and fate he drew the moral that it is
far better to earn the confidence of the people than to rely on fortresses.
This is a very noticeable principle in Machiavelli, and is urged by him
in many ways as a matter of vital importance to princes.
In 1500 he was sent to France to obtain terms from Louis XII for
continuing the war against Pisa: this king it was who, in his conduct of
affairs in Italy, committed the five capital errors in statecraft
summarized in "The Prince," and was consequently driven out. He, also,
it was who made the dissolution of his marriage a condition of support
to Pope Alexander VI; which leads Machiavelli to refer those who urge
that such promises should be kept to what he has written concerning the
faith of princes.
Machiavelli's public life was largely occupied with events arising out of
the ambitions of Pope Alexander VI and his son, Cesare Borgia, the
Duke Valentino, and these characters fill a large space of "The Prince."
Machiavelli never hesitates to cite the actions of the duke for the
benefit of usurpers who wish to keep the states they have seized; he can,
indeed, find no precepts to offer so good as the pattern of Cesare
Borgia's conduct, insomuch that Cesare is acclaimed by some critics as
the "hero" of "The Prince." Yet in "The Prince" the duke is in point of
fact cited as a type of the man who rises on the fortune of others, and
falls with them; who takes every course that might be expected from a
prudent man but the course which will save him; who is prepared for
all eventualities but the one which happens; and who, when all his
abilities fail to carry him through, exclaims that it was not his fault, but

an extraordinary and unforeseen fatality.
On the death of Pius III, in 1503, Machiavelli was sent to Rome to
watch the election of his successor, and there he saw Cesare Borgia
cheated into allowing the choice of the College to fall on Giuliano delle
Rovere (Julius II), who was one of the cardinals that had most reason to
fear the duke. Machiavelli, when commenting on this election, says that
he who thinks new favours will cause great personages to forget old
injuries deceives himself. Julius did not rest until he had ruined Cesare.
It was to Julius II that Machiavelli was sent in 1506, when that pontiff
was commencing his enterprise against Bologna; which he brought to a
successful issue, as he did many of his other adventures, owing chiefly
to his impetuous character. It is in reference to Pope Julius that
Machiavelli moralizes on the resemblance between Fortune and women,
and concludes that it is the bold rather than the cautious man that will
win and hold them both.
It is impossible to follow here the varying fortunes of the Italian states,
which in 1507 were controlled by France, Spain, and Germany, with
results that have lasted to our day; we are concerned with those events,
and with the three great actors in them, so far only as they impinge on
the personality of Machiavelli. He had several meetings with Louis XII
of France, and his estimate of that monarch's character has already been
alluded to. Machiavelli has painted Ferdinand of Aragon as the man
who accomplished great things under the cloak of religion, but who in
reality had no mercy, faith, humanity, or integrity; and who, had he
allowed himself to be influenced by