The Prince | Page 5

such motives, would have been
ruined. The Emperor Maximilian was one of the most interesting men
of the age, and his character has been drawn by many hands; but
Machiavelli, who was an envoy at his court in 1507-8, reveals the
secret of his many failures when he describes him as a secretive man,
without force of character--ignoring the human agencies necessary to
carry his schemes into effect, and never insisting on the fulfilment of
his wishes.
The remaining years of Machiavelli's official career were filled with
events arising out of the League of Cambrai, made in 1508 between the

three great European powers already mentioned and the pope, with the
object of crushing the Venetian Republic. This result was attained in
the battle of Vaila, when Venice lost in one day all that she had won in
eight hundred years. Florence had a difficult part to play during these
events, complicated as they were by the feud which broke out between
the pope and the French, because friendship with France had dictated
the entire policy of the Republic. When, in 1511, Julius II finally
formed the Holy League against France, and with the assistance of the
Swiss drove the French out of Italy, Florence lay at the mercy of the
Pope, and had to submit to his terms, one of which was that the Medici
should be restored. The return of the Medici to Florence on 1st
September 1512, and the consequent fall of the Republic, was the
signal for the dismissal of Machiavelli and his friends, and thus put an
end to his public career, for, as we have seen, he died without regaining
office.

LITERATURE AND DEATH Aet. 43-58--1512-27
On the return of the Medici, Machiavelli, who for a few weeks had
vainly hoped to retain his office under the new masters of Florence,
was dismissed by decree dated 7th November 1512. Shortly after this
he was accused of complicity in an abortive conspiracy against the
Medici, imprisoned, and put to the question by torture. The new
Medicean people, Leo X, procured his release, and he retired to his
small property at San Casciano, near Florence, where he devoted
himself to literature. In a letter to Francesco Vettori, dated 13th
December 1513, he has left a very interesting description of his life at
this period, which elucidates his methods and his motives in writing
"The Prince." After describing his daily occupations with his family
and neighbours, he writes: "The evening being come, I return home and
go to my study; at the entrance I pull off my peasant- clothes, covered
with dust and dirt, and put on my noble court dress, and thus
becomingly re-clothed I pass into the ancient courts of the men of old,
where, being lovingly received by them, I am fed with that food which
is mine alone; where I do not hesitate to speak with them, and to ask for
the reason of their actions, and they in their benignity answer me; and

for four hours I feel no weariness, I forget every trouble, poverty does
not dismay, death does not terrify me; I am possessed entirely by those
great men. And because Dante says:
Knowledge doth come of learning well retained, Unfruitful else,
I have noted down what I have gained from their conversation, and
have composed a small work on 'Principalities,' where I pour myself
out as fully as I can in meditation on the subject, discussing what a
principality is, what kinds there are, how they can be acquired, how
they can be kept, why they are lost: and if any of my fancies ever
pleased you, this ought not to displease you: and to a prince, especially
to a new one, it should be welcome: therefore I dedicate it to his
Magnificence Giuliano. Filippo Casavecchio has seen it; he will be able
to tell you what is in it, and of the discourses I have had with him;
nevertheless, I am still enriching and polishing it."
The "little book" suffered many vicissitudes before attaining the form
in which it has reached us. Various mental influences were at work
during its composition; its title and patron were changed; and for some
unknown reason it was finally dedicated to Lorenzo de' Medici.
Although Machiavelli discussed with Casavecchio whether it should be
sent or presented in person to the patron, there is no evidence that
Lorenzo ever received or even read it: he certainly never gave
Machiavelli any employment. Although it was plagiarized during
Machiavelli's lifetime, "The Prince" was never published by him, and
its text is still disputable.
Machiavelli concludes his letter to Vettori thus: "And as to this little
thing [his book], when it has been read it will be seen that during the
fifteen years I have given to