IB 



MACHUVKLU. NMC-COLO. 



MACHIAVELLI, NIC 



t) 



*HMnii to tlMir exeontive, by appointing a gonfalonier* 



isfiilii. a kind of dictator for life. They chow for tlil* office Piero 

 a nun upright and dlalntoreoWd, and without children, and 

 I lea* Uk.ly to excite loepieioo. or jealou.y. About the same 

 WM aent on a mfcniin to Duke Valentino, the 

 who wnt then at Imola in Romagna. Borgia had 



firajjiii'Ui Borgia, who WM tben at Imola ia Romagna. Borgia ni 

 JMtnnaiaid from Lombardy, from an interview with Louis XII., 

 to which he endeavoured to dear himaelf from the charge of having 

 eountananetd the hwurrecUon against Florence, and moreover to 

 nUtela aaeietano* from the; French king for the purpose of lubduing 

 ffiliri. which he intended to make the capital of his duchy. 



Daring nil abeeoce in Ixxnbar.lv. bis own friend, ami former col- 

 bagwe, Vitelloeao Vitelli, Baglionl of Perugia, the Or-ini, and 

 OUvrrotto da Fermo, alarmed at the Increasing ambition and cruelty 

 of Bans*, -H--I 1 ' < to forsake him, and entered into a secret league 

 with Reotivoglio of Bologna and Petrucoi of Siena, who were his 

 a*thrd en east** At the same time they invited the Florentines to 

 join Ihim Bat M Borgia WM protected by France, whoee displeasure 

 the rtorentin** were afraid of incurring, they sent Maehiavelli to make 

 puftjsabM of Mendahip to Borgia, and at the same time to watch 

 Us ntovenMOta. to dsaaover hi* real intentions (which was not an easy 

 thing, for Borgia WM the closest man of the age), and to obtain *ome- 

 thing in return for their frirmUhip. The account of this mi-sion is 

 extreeaely curiooa. There WM deep dissimulation on both sides : 

 Borgia hated Florence M much M the Florentines hated him ; but 

 they w. re both kept in chrck by the fear of France, and both Borgia 

 and JlachUvelh mad* the fairrst and apparently moat candid profes- 

 sion*) toward* eaeh other. Borgia even a-.umc.i a confidential tone, 

 and began to tell MaebJavdU of the treachery of hi* form, r friends ; 

 he added that he knew bow to deal with them, and WM only waiting 

 far hi* own Urn* ; hr also expatiated on hi* well-disciplined forces, his 

 artillery, and the aaautenca be expected from France ; and all this in 

 order to (orMuds the Florentine* of the great value of his friendship, 

 and that thy should give him a condotta, that i* to say, tha chief 

 eomauDd in their army. Borgia however had to do with a nego- 

 dator who, though young. WM a match for him. " I answered," 

 a*j. HacbJavelli, in the 21at letter of that miisicn, "that hi* 

 excellency the duke must not le compared to the generality of othrr 

 lulian lord*, bat that be most be considered M a new potentate in 

 luly, with whom it b more fit and becoming to make a treaty of 

 alliane* than a mere condotta or mercenary convention. And 1 added 

 that M alliances are maintained by arm*, which are the only binding 

 security for cither party, )our lordship* (the magistrates of Florence) 

 could not see what security there would be for them if three-fourth* 

 or three-fifth* of your force* were to be in the hanil* of the duke." 

 I the negotiation* went on about the condotta, wuiUt Borgia WM 

 Mating another itrok* of hi* usual policy. Machiavelli had a 

 iacte of it at Oisni, where a certain Kimino, a confidential agent 

 of Borgia, and, M eueh, hateful to the people, WM suddenly arrested 

 ly order of hi* maeter, and the next morning (on the 2Uth of 

 Deormber) WM found in th* middle of the square cut into two piece* : 

 "Such," my* HaehUvelli, "ha. been the duke's pleasure, for he 

 wbhee to show tl-al I* can do and undo hi* own men M he think* 

 proper Oa the last day of Decemb. r. Borgia, followed by Machia- 

 velli. marched with hi* troop* to Biuigaglia, where the Ortini, 

 ViUll ano, and OUverotto were waiting for him, to have a conference 

 and settle m.laaa, A* *oon M bis truop* bad entered th* town be 

 aneetad those ohirfa, strangled two of them that very night, and kept 

 th* Or>l.l in prison ULtii be beard that Li* father, the pope, had 

 seenred th* pemoo of their relative Cardinal Onini at Rome, after 

 which the? aleo were put to death. On that very night Borgia cent for 

 Maebiavelll, (ad said that b* had don* a great earvioe to Florence in 

 -If^-g th* world of thoo. men who were the *ow*n of dboorJ. He 

 then espnosed hi* wi,b to attack Siena and revenge himself on 

 Petrueet, bat th* Florentine*, being cautioned by Maobiavelli, took 

 annsare* to thwart hi* plan*, and I'etrucci WM aaved. Machiavelli 

 l*te*td to Floreeo. In January 1603, after three eventful month* 

 mil In th* court and camp of Borgia, which WM th* mot complete 

 aohool of that policy which b* afUrwerds Illmtrated in hi* Uvatlse 

 Del Principe.' Hi* Utter* (fifty-two in number) written during that 

 Won nave a otrtnin dramatic character which awaken* feeling* of 

 nrpnse, terror, and Intone* curiueily. Hachiavelll wrote also a 

 <steeh.il report of the Btaigaglia tragedy : ' Dtnerixion* del modo 

 tonate dal Dwca Valentino par asBSnauar* Vitelloiio Vitelli, Ollverotte 

 a Ferno. U B*jr. P.golo * U Dnea dl Oraviaa Oreiaf U* obtained 

 on* than from Borgia by thk nilntioo. a fro* pantaga through 

 tneJMBS to all FleruUn* traveller* and merchant*, and their goods 



In Angwt of that **m* year IMS, Alexander VI. died, and hi* 

 *n*c***or, Plo* 111, died a few day. after. A new cooelav* being 

 asismilii In Ootober, the FlomnUne* sent MaoUaveUi to Rome, where 

 he WM pneont at th* elmtioB of Jahua IL. and toon after witnwed 

 th* (an ef Centra BorcK who WM arr*>teH at OitU by order of the 

 pap*, and all bta Ul gotten dominion* were ukto from him. Hi* 

 troop*. In paeatog U, rough Toaeaay, were di*aru*d and diabanded 

 t^feoaMy to Machiavelli's *eom advioa. 



la January. 1&04, MaebiavelU we* erot to France to rouse Louis XII. 

 the danger Ifcmituhg W* FUranee and the Mat* of Milan from 



to the 



the Spaniard*, who were advancing from Maple* towards North Italy. 

 Tha truce between France and Spain put an end to this mission. 

 After sevrral minor mimiion* to Piomliino, to ItaRliuni of Perugia, 

 I'etrucci of Siena, and the Duke of Mantua, Machinvelli was sent, in 

 August 1500, to Tope Julius II., whom he met on his march to dii- 

 poaaes* Baglioni of Perugia and Bentiroglio of Dologna, whither the 

 Florentine envoy followud him, and returned in October. (' Opere 

 di Maohiavelli : Legaxioue oeconda alln Corte di Koma.') He then 

 wrote ' ProvrUione per istituire Jlilizio Naiionali nella Kepubliea 

 Fiorcntina.' He had always blamed the employment of mercenary 

 troops and oondottieri, which was an old custom of the Florentines. 



In December 1607, Machtavelli was sent to the Kuiperor Maximilian 

 in Germany, who had Minified big intention of going to Italy to be 

 crowned, and had demanded money of the Florentines. He proceeded 

 by Geneva and Constance, where, finding that the emperor had moved 

 southwards by the Tyrol, he followed him to Bolzano. The Venetians 

 however opposed the paasage of Maximilian, nnd Machiavelli returned 

 to Florence in June ISO?. On his return he wrote several repo; 

 the affairs of Germany, beside* the letter* which he had sent home during 

 hi* mission. ' Kapporto sullu cone di La Magna; ' ' Diseorso aopru lo 

 coae dell' Alemagna ; ' ' Kltratti di Lamagna.' In February 1 509, he 

 was >ent to the camp before Pisa, which wai again besieged by the 

 Florentines and he thence addressed a report on the state of aff.iirs 

 ' Disconio fatto al Magistrate dei Dieci sulle cose di 1'isx' In June of 

 that year Pis* lurrendered, through famine. 



In July 1510 Machinvelli was sent to France a third time. The 

 Cardinal d'Amboiae waa lately dead. The object of this mUsion was 

 to encourage the French court to maintain the alliance with the 

 pope and the emperor against the Venetians (the league of Cauibrai), 

 and to induce Louis to prevent the Swim from enlisting in great 

 numbers in the service of the pope, fur fenr that Julius, feeling himself 

 independent, should take some now whim iuto his head. And thin in 

 reality happened soon after ; for, while Machiavelli was in France, 

 Julius formed a league to drive the French out of Italy. The U-tt rs 

 of this mission are very important. The audiences of Louis to Macliu- 

 velli, and the conference, of the latter with the cardinal of Parin, the 

 chancellor of France, and other*, nnd his rollections on the pope, on 

 the projects of Louis, on the proposal made by the Kinperur Maximilian 

 to l.'iuix, of dividing Italy between tht-m, which Louis refused to 

 accede to, are extremely interesting. Machiavelli returned to Florence 

 in September 1510, having consolidated the alliance of Florence with 

 France. 



On bis return he wrote his second 'Decennale,' or short chronicle, 

 in term rima. The first 'Decennale' went as far as 1504, afi> r the 

 fall of the Borgia*. The f econd ' Decennala ' comes down only to the 

 year 1510, but Machiavelli intended to complete it till 1514. In 

 September 1511 he wa* sent again to France, concerning the council 

 which assembled at Pita, by order of Louis XII., to try and depose 

 Pope Julius, which council however broke up without effecting any- 

 thing. Machiavelli fell ill, and coon returned home. In 1612 the 

 battle of Ravenna waa fought, Ua*ton de Foix was killed, and the 

 French loet Italy. Julius, who wa* irritated against Florence for 

 having sided with the French, engaged the Spanish viceroy of Naples 

 to send a body of troop* against it, and re-cetabluh the Medici by 

 force. The catastrophe took place aoon after. 



In September 161 '2, when Uiuliano and Giovanni de' Medici, the sons 

 of Lorenzo, re-entered Florence by means of the Spanish infantry, and 

 overthrew the popular government, the gonfuloniere Soderiui made his 

 escape, and the secretary MaohUvelli, with others of th<- popular party, 

 was di-miseed from office, and banished for a time from the city. In 

 the following year a conspiracy wa* discovered against the Medici, in 

 which Machiavelli was accused of having participated ; being am su-d 

 in February 151.), ha was put to the torture, which was the usual 

 means then employed under all the government* of Florence and of 

 Italy, of examining persona accused of stute crime*. He however 

 maintained that be had nothing to coufets. From his prison of Lc 

 Stinche he wrote a sonnet to Giuliauo de' Medici, who was then 

 governor of Florence, his brother Giovanni having gone to the conclave 

 at Hume, where he wa* elected pope by the uauie of Leo X. The 

 sonnet, which is half sad, half humorous, describing hi. sulfi ringn, his 

 own torture, the annoyance of hearing the screams of the other 

 pri-onera, and the threats he bad of bring hanged, is given by Artaud 

 in hi* biography, entitlrd 'Machiavel, son Udnie et scs Krreurs,' 

 2 vota. 8vo, l'ri, 1833. He wa* goon after released, in consequence of 

 a pardon sent from Koine by Leo X. to all those concerned in the 

 conspiracy. Before however the pardon arrived, two of them, 1'ietro 

 Boeeoli and Agoetino Capponi, had been executed. 



Macbfavelli now withdrew for several years from public life, and 

 retired to hi* country-house at Son Casciano, about eight miles from 

 Florence. During this [retirement ho wrote his discourses upon I.ivy, 

 bis book* on the art of war, and his 'Principe.' The book ]>'.! 

 Principe,' or 'De Principatibus,' for that was the original tit! 

 not intended for publication ; it was written by the author for the 

 private perusal firnt of Uiuliano, and then of Lorenzo de' Medici, 

 afterwards duko of Urbino, son of 1'icro and grandson of Lonnzo 

 the Magnificent, who wa* appointed by Leo X. governor of Florence, 

 his uncle Uiuliano having removed to Home, Machiavelli, in n letter 

 discovered only in 1810, and addressed to his friend Vettori, then at 



