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MACCHIAVELLI MACE. 



from the unconscious influence of his time. They 

 are well weighed and thoroughly understood. 

 Others believe that Macchiavelli a object was to 

 make tyrants odious; but tyrants, such as he describes, 

 need no colouring to make them abhorred. Others 

 maintain that Macchiavelli treated the question of 

 tyranny, in the abstract, without reference to 

 morality, not in order to give advice, but as a mere 

 scientific question, on the ground of lord Bacon, that 

 44 there be not any thing in being or action which 

 should not be drawn and collected into contemplation 

 and doctrine;" just as a person might write a treatise 

 on poisons, investigating all their effects, without 

 touching on their antidotes. But could a mind like 

 Macchiavelli's, if his object had been merely scienti- 

 fic discussion, liave contemplated, long and closely, 

 crimes so shocking to his love of liberty, without 

 ever betraying his horror? Could we believe a man 

 to possess a pure spirit, who could write a long and 

 scientific treatise on the seduction of innocence, as 

 skilful in its way as Macchiavelli's in his, though 

 such a treatise might afford much interesting analy- 

 sis of the springs of human conduct? In our opinion, 

 the Prince must be considered as a work written for 

 a certain purpose, time, and person, although particu- 

 lar questions, doubtless, are often treated abstractly, 

 and the application left open. As a whole, the 

 Prince is not to be considered, originally, nor in its 

 execution, as a mere scientific treatise. Many ques- 

 tions are left undiscussed; the titles of the chapters 

 are often of a general nature, while the chapters 

 themselves are not. Macchiavelli's feeling was, that 

 union and freedom from a foreign yoke were even 

 more important than civil liberty; that they formed 

 the very elements of the life of a nation. In the first 

 part of his career, he had been thoroughly Florentine 

 in spirit, but his misfortunes forced him to elevate 

 his views, to become Italian; and, for the purpose of 

 saving Italy, he could have seen, with patience, even 

 Florence enslaved. No noble-minded Italian has 

 written or sung, since Dante's di dolor ostello, with- 

 out giving vent to his grief for the unfortunate condi- 

 tion of his beautiful country; and Macchiavelli, one of 

 the noblest spirits of Italy, burned to see her united 

 and freed from foreigners. He sought the cure of 

 Italy ; yet her state appeared to him so desperate, 

 that he was bold enough to prescribe poison. But 

 it must be kept in mind that he does not advise all 

 the measures which he discusses. He often treats 

 them like mechanical principles in the abstract, and 

 leaves the consideration of their expediency in prac- 

 tice to him who wishes to make the application. 

 Undoubtedly Macchiavelli believed that many things 

 are permitted for the purpose of uniting a distracted 

 country, which would be criminal in any other case; 

 and, to determine the true spirit of his famous work, 

 the reader should have a full knowledge of the history 

 of the age. If he had written at the present day, 

 he must have recommended very different means. In 

 the last chapter of the Prince, he calls upon Lorenzo 

 of Medici to save his country. Lorenzo was the 

 nephew of pope Leo X. Julian, brother to Leo, was 

 expected to become king of Naples, while Lorenzo, 

 a man of a warlike and fierce spirit, was expected to 

 unite the country between the Tuscan and Adriatic 

 seas, and to found a kingdom of Tuscany. On him 

 all eyes were turned, and him it was Macchiavelli's 

 purpose to urge to the deliverance of Italy. Mac- 

 chiavelli was tar from being alone in expecting sal- 

 vation for Italy only from a conquering king. Poly- 

 dore Virgil, in 1526, when he dedicated his work 

 De Prodigiis to Francesco Maria of Urbino, expres- 

 sed this opinion. Twenty years earlier, John 

 Anthony Flaminius said the same to pope Julius; and 

 Varchi says, " Italy cannot be tranquil until ruled by 



one prince." Some of the best observations on Mac- 

 chiavelli are to be found in a work probably little 

 known to our readers, professor Ranke's Zur Kritift 

 neuerer Ceschichtschreiber (Berlin and Leipsic, 

 1824.) 



In regard to Macchiavelli's personal character, 

 even his enemies acknowledge that he was kind and 

 affable, a friend of the virtuous, industrious and 

 brave. He was one of the greatest thinkers of his age, 

 indefatigable in the service of his country, and frugal 

 in his manner of life. He well deserves the inscrip- 

 tion placed over his tomb in the church of Santa 

 Croce, in Florence 



Tanto nomini nu/lum par elogium. 

 Nicolau* Maccniavelli 



Obiit An. A. P. V. 

 The reader will recollect the stanza in Childe Harold 

 (canto four, stanza liv.), in which his remains are de- 

 scribed as lying in company with those of Galileo, 

 Michael Angelo, and Alfieri. 



MACCHIAVELLISM, in politics; that system 

 of policy which overlooks every law, and makes 

 use of any means, however criminal, to promote its 

 purposes. The word originated from an erron- 

 eous view of Macchiavelli's Prince. See Macchia- 

 velli. 



MACE. Clubs of various descriptions are found 

 among almost all savages, formed of a hard and 

 heavy wood, some broad and flat, others round, 

 angular, long or short, some plain and rude, others 

 neatly carved. From this simple implement, the 

 mallet, hammer of arms, and mace originated, which 

 were generally used, of old, both in Great Britain 

 and on the continent of Europe. The gradual pro- 

 gress of improvement having rendered armour 

 impenetrable by edged weapons, some instrument of 

 effectual demolition became necessary. An author 

 on military affairs, of the sixteenth century, recom- 

 mends a leaden mallet, five feet long. The mallet 

 was wielded with both hands, and horsemen had it 

 hung by a thong or chain from the pommel of the 

 saddle. The hammer of arms greatly resembled a 

 common hammer. It differed from the mallet in 

 being square or a little rounded or convex, while one 

 side of the mallet was square and the other pointed 

 or edged. The mace, in its simplest form, is only an 

 iron club, short and strong. Its shape varied among 

 different nations and at different times. One, still 

 preserved, is of iron, two feet one inch long, with a 

 hollow handle, and a head seven inches long, consist- 

 ing of seven iron leaves perpendicularly fixed round 

 a cylinder, and equidistant. The whole weighs three 

 pounds nine ounces. Two maces, said to have 

 belonged to Roland and Olivier de Roncevaux, 

 famous champions under Charlemagne, were pre- 

 served in France towards the beginning of the last 

 century, and perhaps later, consisting of a handle 

 two feet long, to which an iron ball was attached by 

 a triple chain. It appears that the ball was fre- 

 quently covered with iron spikes, and was attached 

 to the handle by a single chain. Mr Grose states, 

 that similar implements were long used by the trained 

 bands of London, under the name of morning stars. 

 (See Battle- Axe, and Arms.') At present, the mace 

 is used as an emblem of the authority of officers of 

 state (e. g. the speaker of the house of commons), 

 before whom it is carried. It is made of the precious 

 metals, or of copper, gilt, and ornamented with a 

 crown, globe, and cross. 



MACE ; the outer, fleshy, and coriaceous cover of 

 the nutmeg. When the fruit is gathered, the mace 

 is carefully separated from the nut, dried in the sun, 

 and afterwards is packed in chests of different sizes, 

 in which state it is obtained in commerce. See Nu(- 

 meg. 



