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The Prince (Translated by Ninian Hill Thomson with an Introduction by Henry Cust)
The Prince (Translated by Ninian Hill Thomson with an Introduction by Henry Cust)
The Prince (Translated by Ninian Hill Thomson with an Introduction by Henry Cust)
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The Prince (Translated by Ninian Hill Thomson with an Introduction by Henry Cust)

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Originally published in 1532, nearly five years after the author’s death, “The Prince” is a pioneering work of modern political philosophy for which Niccolo Machiavelli is best remembered. Intended to be a treatise on ruling for princes, “The Prince” is one of the world’s first and most impactful works of political science. In the book Machiavelli offers many bits of practical advice on how to rule and even though the book was written in the early 16th century the ideas are still very relevant today. Where “The Prince” differs from other political literature is in its separation of the lofty idealism of morality and ethics from the practical demands of governing. It is this very aspect of Machiavelli’s work that has made his name synonymous with an almost immoral opportunism. It has been argued that Machiavelli himself was not quite as devious in reality as his work would suggest but that he takes up this style in his work in order to present a provocative treatise that recognizes the pragmatic demands of governance. The impact on Western civilization of Machiavelli’s work cannot be overstated, and in “The Prince” we find a concise exposition of his political philosophy. This edition follows the translation of Ninian Hill Thomson, includes an introduction by Henry Cust, and a biographical afterword.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 17, 2015
ISBN9781420951912
The Prince (Translated by Ninian Hill Thomson with an Introduction by Henry Cust)
Author

Niccolo Machiavelli

"Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are.""It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones."- Niccolò Machiavelli

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Reviews for The Prince (Translated by Ninian Hill Thomson with an Introduction by Henry Cust)

Rating: 3.7169899779724656 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Interesting
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    While I understand that his take is controversial, I have to tell you, it makes sense. It's not nice, but it is practical.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The Prince. Niccolo Machiavelli. 2008. Our book club chose this classic of how to get and keep political power because it was an election year. What surprised several of us was how mild it seemed. We decided we were no longer idealistic and had lived too long to be shocked at what lengths a man in power will go to maintain that power
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    First time reading it since my 1989 Great Books course at Evergreen. A lot of fun to teach. The Dover edition, so far as I can determine, is perfectly serviceable, and, presuming I'm rating the right book, is improved vastly by including excerpts from The Discourses. Complicates things nicely for the students.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I'm weirdly pleased that The Prince lives up to its reputation: it is indeed Machiavellian. Here's his advice on conquering self-governing states (i.e. democracies): "The only way to hold on to such a state is to reduce it to rubble." Well then.

    I'd like to say that any guy whose last name becomes a synonym for evil is a badass, but Machiavelli wasn't; he was a failed minor diplomat who wrote this in a failed attempt to get reemployed. Stupid attempt, too; anyone who hired him would be advertising that he espoused Machiavellian values. This book was published. And as he himself advises, "A leader doesn't have to possess virtuous qualities, but it's imperative that he seem to possess them."

    So I'll go with this: anyone whose last name becomes a synonym for evil has written a good book.

    I hope to match that effect with my first novel. Working title: "Unicorns are Pretty."

    So if Machiavelli was such a loser, how did his book get so famous? It's not because it's great advice; it sortof isn't. I think it's because it's just a ton of fun to read. It's chock full of over-the-top quotes like the ones above. It's really funny.

    Which brings up a recurring topic for debate: did he intend for this to be taken seriously, or is it satire? I think it's the former: mixed in with the zany stuff is a fair amount of common-sense advice. He could certainly have included that to make the zany stuff pop more, or to camouflage it a bit, but I prefer to think he meant the whole thing seriously. And it's not like any of it is advice someone hasn't followed at some point. (See my first quote above: yeah, we've tried that.)

    Translation review: this is the very latest translation. Parks has gone to great trouble to reduce the crazy complexity of Machiavelli's sentences - I know this from reading his excellent Translator's Note - and I appreciate that. He's also tried hard to make it accessible to modern audiences, and sometimes I think he's tipped a tiny bit overboard on that front. "When a ruler occupies a land that has a different language...then things get rough." "Difficult" would have been perfectly clear; "rough" is too colloquial. We want to be able to read our classics, but we don't need to pretend they were written yesterday.

    That's a relatively minor complaint, though; this is a clear and easy translation. Good intro, too. And a glossary of proper names at the back, so you can sort out the various contemporary figures you don't recognize.

    I'll close with my favorite quote: "It's better to be impulsive than cautious; fortune is female and if you want to stay on top of her you have to slap and thrust."

    Machiavelli: kindof a dick.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A very sharp commentary on the art and business of politics when ruling a nation/people. As it did for previous generations this 16th Century tome has many pertinent pointers for today's would-be establishment elite: however, the pitfalls of power & being consumed by the desire for authority that it also mentions have been neglected by so many ill-equipped & haplessly inadequate Leaders of the 20th/21st centuries it would appear many of them were not concentrating when they read Machiavelli's masterpiece!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A Great Book!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Thought rereading this might shed some light on the Trump presidency until I realized that there is a crucial difference between realpolitik and realityTVpolitiking.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Fascinating historical perspective.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    If I were more of a historian I would have been able to dive deeper into this book. Missing some context, I struggled with a few bits and pieces of Machiavelli's statements, but the rest of his ideas and examples are pretty easy to follow. I see how this book, in the hands of the wrong person, could lead to cruelties, however, I also totally see what the book is getting at, and I enjoyed reading it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Now understand why it's a classic 
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Well, you probably know about this book. Now, I'm sure that I could have read it much more closely and come up with some very interesting material to think about. But honestly- it's just not that interesting. If you're easily shocked or titillated by the idea that powerful people are powerful because they're immoral, you will be shocked and titillated. If you didn't spend your formative years reading Cicero's 'De Oficiis,' on the other hand, you won't be surprised. And honestly, if you've read a newspaper in the last century, Machiavelli won't teach you anything. He has a bunch of nice stories to illustrate his points, but without knowing the context of the stories he tells it's difficult to know why I should care. The chapter on republics is interesting, granted. But to be honest I think I'd rather read someone who knows a lot about Machiavelli than the man himself. Skinner, here I come.

    I should say, too, that the Cambridge edition is excellent. 'The Prince' is in desperate need of annotation, and the editors do an excellent job of making things clear without making the text unreadable.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A book still relevant today in the 21th century. Even if some of the described techniques are neither adviseable nor morally and legally possible in today's society.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The definitive classic in binary political logic. But then as someone once said, there are 10 kinds of people, those who understand binary and those who don't.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Read this simply because I had heard interesting things and it was indeed an interesting read with some interesting themes and ideas. A must for anyone considering politics.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is an excellent book. It is straightforward and easy to read. It was a political treatise that offered advice on how a prince could gain and keep power. The book is actually dedicated to one of the Medici family members. Many people belive the reason he did this was to win favor of Lorenzo de’ Medici, then-governor of Florence. Machiavelli was involved with politics but had lost his job so he had hoped to land a position within the Florentine government. Unfortuantely, this plan did not work for him. This is a great book and everyone should read it.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I can see how it had a huge influence in humanistic politics--it lends itself to realpolitik.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    My job requires me to function in a highly politicized work environment. I work with a large group of department heads, providing counsel on issues pertaining to the fine art of people management. Some of them are philosopher kings and others are callous despots. I have found that rereading THE PRINCE every few years reminds me of the basics. Whether the princes are in the courts of the Italian peninsula during the Renaissance or in the offices of a large corporation at the dawn of the 21st century, people with authority act in similar ways. There is much to be learned from this amazing little book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It's scary how informative this is. If you want to know what it's like to put aside your conscience and be a_real_politician, then reading this will not disappoint. It's prudent and insightful as to what was possible for a prince. (4 1/2)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Cold, calculating, and objectively cruel. You can't help but to think about today's political leaders.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    To many autodidacts, this book is a bible of political science, a gross misconception that reinforces the cynical view of politics perpetuated in popular culture. This wouldn't bother me if it weren't for the fact that people read the Prince, and then think there's no other bibles to political science. The Prince is to modern political theory what Sun Tzu is to Clausewitz's Von Krieg. It has come before, and is useful for tracing a linear path and building upon what comes before, but if you're a complete neophyte to political science and think this comes packed with all the answers, you're grossly off the mark, and your time would better be spent on John Locke's Second Treatise (which actually is a lighter read), Hobbes' Leviathan, Marx's First and Third Manuscripts, Burke's Reflections, or Rosseau's Social Contract. Highly recommended for political scientists to see the origin of their discipline.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Just too dry. If you read it slow and took notes it would probably be good.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I'm fascinated with politics, but I can't read this edition. The font and the paragraph structure are distracting from the actual words. My eyes would not let me finish it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Could it be that we have Machiavelli wrong? Is he really the devil? Having read his short treatise on what he suggests a newly crowned prince to do to maintain control of his territory, I admit that some of what he suggests is harsh, but I don't think he's evil. Not by a long shot.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Extremely Machiavellian. But actually tamer than one expects.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Princely Rule for Dummies, this scientific analysis of a social system is actually well-suited as a leadership guide to anyone wishing to gain and hang onto an important position of power in many areas of life, including politics and business. In this book, Machiavelli discusses the themes of power, human nature, warcraft, free will, virtue and more. It was originally written specifically for Lorenzo de Medici with his future as well as the government of 16th century Italy in mind, and does not necessarily include an all-encompassing view of Machiavelli's political thinking. In fact, based on his other works, I think we can conclude that the author preferred a republic form of government. Even within The Prince, Machiavelli tells us the purpose of politics is to promote a common good. A prince must strive to be virtuous, but virtue (or admired trait) should never take precedence over the state. For example, while generosity may be admired by others, it can be detrimental to the future of the state and should therefore be avoided.I wasn't sure how to rate this book as I'm not a political science major nor out to get ahead in business. It was thought-provoking and actually quite easy to read, considering the time of its authorship as well as the subject matter. The author provides many examples of great and not-so-great leaders and their power struggles, as well, so I'd definitely recommend it for anyone studying politics or history.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Used for classes and evil essays.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    You’ve witnessed it too, or something similar: Your city’s NFL team has a 13-point lead at home with six minutes to go, plus 1st down and possession—should be a sure win, right?—but then they turn over victory to the opponent, losing the game in regulation.It’s stuff like this that Machiavelli just hated. Except that, with Renaissance Italy bedeviled by an absence of NFL teams even the passage of five centuries hasn’t repaired, his annoyance was with princes whose misadventures cause them to blow it when trying to keep power.Machiavelli’s advice? Be prepared to flout fairness. That competitors and coaches should overreach the rules makes sense. It’s impossible to be penalized for an infraction each time. And once the game is over, no NFL victory is ever overturned, no defeat nullified, no team put on probation. So why would a Head Coach repudiate advices given in The Prince? Well, he might repudiate them if he doesn’t mind increasing the risk of losing his head (isn’t that what happens when the head coach is axed?). Otherwise . . .Going beyond the morality of winning at games, there is a fundamental question: Is it virtuous to speak the truth and keep promises? Machiavelli teaches, the editor of my edition advises, that the real or true standard is that no one should keep a promise when by doing so he would diminish his own power and when the conditions which occasioned the promise are gone.That’s troubling. But also brilliant at unveiling much of what is disappointing in political action and discourse to idealistic or more hopeful people. Word is such persons may find a less alienating brand of political thought in Niccoló’s The Discourses.Note on Translation: The Editor of the edition I read, Angelo M. Codevilla, stresses that he made his translation more literal than is the custom to better illustrate how Machiavelli uses language to subvert commonplace ideas about virtue. This seems a good objective but the translation is no easy text—I would not want to read one that’s even a little bit less welcoming.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is an interesting book on Political Philosophy, I think it falls under Realism.
    Machiavelli doesn't want to systematize but simply shares from his experience.
    As I kept reading the book, I had to reflect a lot of the ideas and try to draw conclusions from this world. I think, most of what he says stands True.

    I learnt about power distribution in a political system.
    Machiavelli says if it is concentrated with just one person (King), and people under him are servants, then if the King is toppled, it is easier to maintain the Kingdom in the long run. This reminds me of North Korea, I do not see a long future for it anyway.

    Meanwhile, if there are nobles, barons who share some influence then it will be difficult to maintain if toppled. I was thinking of China, which I used to think has a good political system.
    They do not waste time in election et cetera, however, the disadvantage in Chinese political system is that, if a new political party takes over, they will maintain the whole population under control. Meanwhile, it is difficult in America because the power is distributed differently. I can see how the Founders of America were cautious and knew all systems inside out.

    I was surprised to find that Machiavelli supports people who believe in God for defense (Army) are better. He goes on to say that it is easier to train them as they will be Loyal to you.
    The people who depend only on money will desert you. He says ministries who only think of them are fickle minded, this reminds me of political system of Tamil Nadu. I wonder how long the Government can run? Based on Machiavelli's writings, not long.

    He also talks about weakness of mercenaries, which, I think was one of the causes of downfall –– Roman and Ottoman Empire.
    The Ottoman Empire's Janissaries started to decline in power due to lack of training, corruption.

    The Roman empire started to bring mercenaries from Germanic tribes. There's always a tension between common people and nobles. Machiavelli says, common people are more important and the Prince ought to give them first priority.

    "As the observance of religious rites is the foundation of a republic's greatness, so disrespect for them is the source of its ruin."

    "Where a fear of God is lacking, the state must either fail or be sustained by a fear of the ruler which may substitute for the lack of religion."


  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Although The Prince is Machiavelli's best-known work, his Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius is a more comprehensive treatment of the same subjects.

Book preview

The Prince (Translated by Ninian Hill Thomson with an Introduction by Henry Cust) - Niccolo Machiavelli

cover.jpg

THE PRINCE

By NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI

Translated by

NINIAN HILL THOMSON

Introduction by HENRY CUST

The Prince

By Niccolò Machiavelli

Translated by Ninian Hill Thomson

Introduction by Henry Cust

Print ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-5190-5

eBook ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-5191-2

This edition copyright © 2015. Digireads.com Publishing.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Cover Image: Portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli (Florence, 1469 - Florence, 1527), Italian historian, writer, playwright, politician and philosopher, Oil on board by Santi di Tito (1536-1606), 104x85 cm / De Agostini Picture Library / Bridgeman Images.

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Dedication

Chapter I. Of the Various Kinds of Princedom, and of the Ways in Which They Are Acquired

Chapter II. Of Hereditary Princedoms

Chapter III. Of Mixed Princedoms

Chapter IV. Why the Kingdom of Darius, Conquered by Alexander, Did Not, on Alexander’s Death, Rebel Against His Successors

Chapter V. How Cities or Provinces Which Before Their Acquisition Have Lived Under Their Own Laws Are To Be Governed

Chapter VI. Of New Princedoms Which a Prince Acquires With His Own Arms and by Merit

Chapter VII. Of New Princedoms Acquired By the Aid of Others and By Good Fortune

Chapter VIII. Of Those Who By Their Crimes Come to Be Princes

Chapter IX. Of the Civil Princedom

Chapter X. How the Strength of All Princedoms Should Be Measured

Chapter XI. Of Ecclesiastical Princedoms

Chapter XII. How Many Different Kinds of Soldiers There Are, and of Mercenaries

Chapter XIII. Of Auxiliary, Mixed, and National Arms

Chapter XIV. Of the Duty of a Prince In Respect of Military Affairs

Chapter XV. Of the Qualities In Respect of Which Men, and Most of all Princes, Are Praised or Blamed

Chapter XVI. Of Liberality and Miserliness

Chapter XVII. Of Cruelty and Clemency, and Whether It Is Better To Be Loved or Feared

Chapter XVIII. How Princes Should Keep Faith

Chapter XIX. That a Prince Should Seek to Escape Contempt and Hatred

Chapter XX. Whether Fortresses, and Certain Other Expedients to Which Princes Often Have Recourse, are Profitable or Hurtful

Chapter XXI. How a Prince Should Bear Himself So As to Acquire Reputation

Chapter XXII. Of the Secretaries of Princes

Chapter XXIII. That Flatterers Should Be Shunned

Chapter XXIV. Why the Princes of Italy Have Lost Their States

Chapter XXV. What Fortune Can Effect in Human Affairs, and How She May Be Withstood

Chapter XXVI. An Exhortation to Liberate Italy from the Barbarians

BIOGRAPHICAL AFTERWORD

Introduction

‘I am at my farm; and, since my last misfortunes, have not been in Florence twenty days. I spent September in snaring thrushes; but at the end of the month, even this rather tiresome sport failed me. I rise with the sun, and go into a wood of mine that is being cut, where I remain two hours inspecting the work of the previous day and conversing with the woodcutters, who have always some trouble on hand amongst themselves or with their neighbors. When I leave the wood, I go to a spring, and thence to the place which I use for snaring birds, with a book under my arm—Dante or Petrarch, or one of the minor poets, like Tibullus or Ovid. I read the story of their passions, and let their loves remind me of my own, which is a pleasant pastime for a while. Next I take the road, enter the inn door, talk with the passers-by, inquire the news of the neighborhood, listen to a variety of matters, and make note of the different tastes and humors of men.

This brings me to dinner-time, when I join my family and eat the poor produce of my farm. After dinner I go back to the inn, where I generally find the host and a butcher, a miller, and a pair of bakers. With these companions I play the fool all day at cards or backgammon: a thousand squabbles, a thousand insults and abusive dialogues take place, while we haggle over a farthing, and shout loud enough to be heard from San Casciano.

But when evening falls I go home and enter my writing-room. On the threshold I put off my country habits, filthy with mud and mire, and array myself in royal courtly garments. Thus worthily attired, I make my entrance into the ancient courts of the men of old, where they receive me with love, and where I feed upon that food which only is my own and for which I was born. I feel no shame in conversing with them and asking them the reason of their actions.

They, moved by their humanity, make answer. For four hours’ space I feel no annoyance, forget all care; poverty cannot frighten, nor death appal me. I am carried away to their society. And since Dante says that there is no science unless we retain what we have learned I have set down what I have gained from their discourse, and composed a treatise, De Principatibus, in which I enter as deeply as I can into the science of the subject, with reasonings on the nature of principality, its several species, and how they are acquired, how maintained, how lost. If you ever liked any of my scribblings, this ought to suit your taste. To a prince, and especially to a new prince, it ought to prove acceptable. Therefore I am dedicating it to the Magnificence of Giuliano.’

Such is the account that Niccolò Machiavelli renders of himself when after imprisonment, torture, and disgrace, at the age of forty-four, he first turned to serious writing. For the first twenty-six or indeed twenty-nine of those years we have not one line from his pen or one word of vaguest information about him. Throughout all his works written for publication, there is little news about himself. Montaigne could properly write, ‘Ainsi, lecteur, je suis moy-mesme la matière de mon livre.’ But the matter of Machiavelli was far other: ‘Io ho espresso quanto io so, e quanto io ho imparato per una lunga pratica e continua lezione delle cose del mondo.’

Machiavelli was born on the 3rd of May 1469. The period of his life almost exactly coincides with that of Cardinal Wolsey. He came of the old and noble Tuscan stock of Montespertoli, who were men of their hands in the eleventh century. He carried their coat, but the property had been wasted and divided. His forefathers had held office of high distinction, but had fallen away as the new wealth of the bankers and traders increased in Florence. He himself inherited a small property in San Casciano and its neighborhood, which assured him a sufficient, if somewhat lean, independence. Of his education we know little enough. He was well acquainted with Latin, and knew, perhaps, Greek enough to serve his turn. Rather not ‘without letters than lettered,’ Varchi describes him. That he was not loaded down with learned reading proved probably a great advantage. The coming of the French, and the expulsion of the Medici, the proclamation of the Republic (1494), and later the burning of Savonarola convulsed Florence and threw open many public offices. It has been suggested, but without much foundation, that some clerical work was found for Machiavelli in 1494 or even earlier. It is certain that on July 14, 1498, he was appointed Chancellor and Secretary to the Dieci di Libertà e Pace, an office which he held till the close of his political life at fall of the Republic in 1512.

The functions of his Council were extremely varied, and in the hands of their Secretary became yet more diversified. They represented in some sense the Ministry for Home, Military, and especially for Foreign Affairs. It is impossible to give any full account of Machiavelli’s official duties. He wrote many thousands of despatches and official letters, which are still preserved. He was on constant errands of State through the Florentine dominions. But his diplomatic missions and what he learned by them make the main interest of his office. His first adventure of importance was to the Court of Caterina Sforza, the Lady of Forlì, in which matter that astute Countess entirely bested the teacher of all diplomatists to be. In 1500 he smelt powder at the siege at Pisa, and was sent to France to allay the irritations of Louis XII. Many similar and lesser missions follow. The results are in no case of great importance, but the opportunities to the Secretary of learning men and things, intrigue and policy, the Court and the gutter were invaluable. At the camp of Caesar Borgia, in 1502, he found in his host that fantastic hero whom he incarnated in The Prince, and he was practically an eyewitness of the amazing masterpiece, the Massacre of Sinigaglia. The next year he is sent to Rome with a watching brief at the election of Julius II, and in 1506 is again sent to negotiate with the Pope. An embassy to the Emperor Maximilian, a second mission to the French King at Blois, in which he persuades Louis XII to postpone the threatened General Council of the Church (1511), and constant expeditions to report upon and set in order unrestful towns and provinces did not fulfil his activity. His pen was never idle. Reports, despatches, elaborate monographs on France, Germany, or wherever he might be, and personal letters innumerable, and even yet unpublished, ceased not night nor day. Detail, wit, character-drawing, satire, sorrow, bitterness, all take their turn. But this was only a fraction of his work. By duty and by expediency he was bound to follow closely the internal politics of Florence where his enemies and rivals abounded. And in all these years he was pushing forward and carrying through with unceasing and unspeakable vigor the great military dream of his life, the foundation of a National Militia and the extinction of Mercenary Companies. But the fabric he had fancied and thought to have built proved unsubstantial. The spoilt half-mutinous levies whom he had spent years in odious and unwilling training failed him at the crowning moment in strength and spirit: and the fall of the Republic implied the fall of Machiavelli and the close of his official life. He struggled hard to save himself, but the wealthy classes were against him, perhaps afraid of him, and on them the Medici relied. For a year he was forbidden to leave Florentine territory, and for a while was excluded from the Palazzo. Later his name was found in a list of Anti-Medicean conspirators. He was arrested and decorously tortured with six turns of the rack, and then liberated for want of evidence.

For perhaps a year after his release the Secretary engaged in a series of tortuous intrigues to gain the favor of the Medici. Many of the stories may be exaggerated, but none make pleasant reading, and nothing proved successful. His position was miserable. Temporarily crippled by torture, out of favor with the Government, shunned by his friends, in deep poverty, burdened with debt and with a wife and four children, his material circumstances were ill enough. But, worse still, he was idle. He had deserved well of the Republic, and had never despaired of it, and this was his reward. He seemed to himself a broken man. He had no great natural dignity, no great moral strength. He profoundly loved and admired Dante, but he could not for one moment imitate him. He sought satisfaction in sensuality of life and writing, but found no comfort. Great things were stirring in the world and he had neither part nor lot in them. By great good fortune he began a correspondence with his friend Francesco Vettori, the Medicean Ambassador at Rome, to whom he appeals for his good offices; ‘And if nothing can be done, I must live as I came into the world, for I was born poor and learnt to want before learning to enjoy.’ Before long these two diplomats had co-opted themselves into a kind of Secret Cabinet of Europe. It is a strange but profoundly interesting correspondence, both politically and personally. Nothing is too great or too small, too glorious or too mean for their pens. Amid foolish anecdotes and rather sordid love affairs the politics of Europe, and especially of Italy, are dissected and discussed. Leo X had now plunged into political intrigue. Ferdinand of Spain was in difficulty. France had allied herself with Venice. The Swiss are the Ancient Romans, and may conquer Italy. Then back again, or rather constant throughout, the love intrigues and the ‘likely wench hard-by who may help to pass our time.’ But through it all there is an ache at Machiavelli’s heart, and on a sudden he will break down, crying,

Pero se alcuna volta io rido e canto

Facciol, perchè non ho Be non quest’ una

Via da sfogare il mio angoscioso pianto.

Vettori promised much, but nothing came of it. By 1515 the correspondence died away, and the Ex-Secretary found for himself at last the true pathway through his vale of years.

The remainder of Machiavelli’s life is bounded by his books. He settled at his villa at San Casciano, where he spent his day as he describes in the letter quoted at the beginning of this essay. In 1518 he began to attend the meetings of the Literary Club in the Orti Oricellarii, and made new and remarkable friends. ‘Era amato grandamente da loro . . . e della sua conversazione si dilettavano maravigliosamente, tenendo in prezzo grandissimo tutte l’opere sue,’ which shows the personal authority he exercised. Occasionally he was employed by Florentine merchants to negotiate for them at Venice, Genoa, Lucca, and other places. In 1519 Cardinal Medici deigned to consult him as to the Government, and commissioned him to write the History of Florence. But in the main he wrote his books and lived the daily life we know. In 1525 he went to Rome to present his History to Clement VII, and was sent on to Guicciardini. In 1526 he was busy once more with military matters and the fortification of Florence. On the 22nd of June 1527 he died at Florence immediately after

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