THE PRINCE
by Nicolo
Machiavelli
Written c. 1505
Translated by W. K. Marriott
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CHAPTER XXVI
An Exhortation To
Liberate Italy From The Barbarians
Note 1:
HAVING
carefully considered the subject of the above discourses,
and wondering within myself whether the present times were
propitious to a new prince, and whether there were the
elements that would give an opportunity to a wise and
virtuous one to introduce a new order of things which would
do honour to him and good to the people of this country, it
appears to me that so many things concur to favour a new
prince that I never knew a time more fit than the present.
In this chapter,
Machiavelli in some ways lets his heart speak,
and indulges in purple prose.
Back.
Note 2: This probably, though
exaggerated, comes close to what Machiavelli
felt: That his Italy was
"more enslaved
than the Hebrews, more oppressed than the
Persians, more scattered than the Athenians;
without head, without order, beaten,
despoiled, torn, overrun; and to have endured
every kind of desolation."
and that he much
desired to help rescue her. Back.
Note 3: Note Machiavelli is
addressing a prince. Very probably,
"It is seen how
she entreats God to send someone who shall
deliver her from these wrongs and barbarous insolencies. It is seen also that she is ready
and willing to follow a banner if only someone
will raise it."
does not express
his rational assessments, but his
hopes. Back.
Note 4:
Nor is
there to be seen at present one in whom she can place more
hope than in your illustrious house, with its valour and
fortune, favoured by God and by the Church of which it is
now the chief, and which could be made the head of this
redemption. This will not be difficult if you will recall to
yourself the actions and lives of the men I have named. And
although they were great and wonderful men, yet they were
men, and each one of them had no more opportunity than the
present offers, for their enterprises were neither more just
nor easier than this, nor was God more their friend than He
is yours.
Here flattery is freely
applied. Back.
Note 5: First,
"that war is just
which is necessary, and arms are hallowed when
there is no other hope but in them."
is a very
convenient faith for those ready to embark on
war, but is of the nature of self-glorification.
(See Mark Twain: "The
War-Prayer")
Next, Machiavelli
refers to supposed miracles he cannot have
believed in, just as he did not believe in a
Christian God, and very probably either in no
God at all or in one who was totally beyond
human understanding. Perhaps the people he
addressed were more credulous.
Incidentally,
"God is not
willing to do everything, and thus take away
our free will and that share of glory which
belongs to us."
is a sound and
tenable position on free will, whether one
attributes what happens to God or to Nature: If
human beings have a free will, indeed they do
have to make up their own mind about what they
believe and desire, and no one, not even God or
(the rest of) Nature, can do it for
them. Back.
Note 6: Here and further on in this last
chapter, Machiavelli calls
explicitly for "a new order", which he himself
has said was difficult to introduce. And indeed,
as a matter of historical fact, after the
Renaissance Italy fell in decline, and Italy was
united only in the 18th
Century. Back.
Note 7:
Hence it is
that for so long a time, and during so much fighting in the
past twenty years, whenever there has been an army wholly
Italian, it has always given a poor account of itself; as
witness Taro, Alessandria, Capua, Genoa, Vaila, Bologna,
Mestre.
One must admire
Machiavelli's courage, telling one of his
leaders, that Italian leaders are all
incompetent, and Italian soldiers undisciplined
and unintelligent, if also good in
duels. Back.
Note 8:
If,
therefore, your illustrious house wishes to follow those
remarkable men who have redeemed their country, it is
necessary before all things, as a true foundation for every
enterprise, to be provided with your own forces, because
there can be no more faithful, truer, or better soldiers.
And although singly they are good, altogether they will be
much better when they find themselves commanded by their
prince, honoured by him, and maintained at his expense.
Therefore it is necessary to be prepared with such arms, so
that you can be defended against foreigners by Italian
valour.
Here we again have
Machiavelli's Italian nationalism taking over
his pen. Back.
Note 9:
It is
possible, therefore, knowing the defects of both these
infantries, to invent a new one, which will resist cavalry
and not be afraid of infantry; this need not create a new
order of arms, but a variation upon the old. And these are
the kind of improvements which confer reputation and power
upon a new prince.
In fact, this passage
was one of Machiavelli's own pet beliefs how the
wars of his times should be
fought. Back.
Note 10: Given Machiavelli's
cynical realism,
"Nor can one
express the love with which he would be
received in all those provinces which have
suffered so much from these foreign scourings,
with what thirst for revenge, with what
stubborn faith, with what devotion, with what
tears. What door would be closed to him? Who
would refuse obedience to him? What envy would
hinder him? What Italian would refuse him
homage? To all of us this barbarous dominion
stinks."
again is hardly
what he held rationally, but very probably
expresses quite well what he felt, and what was
one of his main motives in writing "The
Prince". Back.
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