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第7章

君主论-the prince(英文版)-第7章

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 to the magistracy; and who; especiallyin troubled times; can destroy the government with great ease; either byintrigue or open defiance; and the prince has not the chance amidtumults to exercise absolute authority; because the citizens andsubjects; accustomed to receive orders from magistrates; are not of amind to obey him amid these confusions; and there will always be indoubtful times a scarcity of men whom he can trust。 For such a princecannot rely upon es; when citizens had needof the state; because then every one agrees with him; they all promise;and when death is far distant they all wish to die for him; but introubled times; when the state has need of its citizens; then he findsbut few。 And so much the more is this experiment dangerous; inasmuch asit can only be tried once。 Therefore a wise prince ought to adopt such acourse that his citizens will always in every sort and kind ofcircumstance have need of the state and of him; and then he will alwaysfind them faithful。CHAPTER XCONCERNING THE WAY IN WHICH THE STRENGTH OF ALL PRINCIPALITIES OUGHT TOBE MEASUREDIT IS necessary to consider another point in examining the character ofthese principalities: that is; whether a prince has such power that; incase of need; he can support himself with his own resources; or whetherhe has always need of the assistance of others。 And to make this quiteclear I say that I consider those are able to support themselves bytheir own resources who can; either by abundance of men or money; raisea sufficient army to join battle against any one who es to attackthem; and I consider those always to have need of others who cannot showthemselves against the enemy in the field; but are forced to defendthemselves by sheltering behind walls。 The first case has beendiscussed; but we will speak of it again should it recur。 In the secondcase one can say nothing except to encourage such princes to provisionand fortify their towns; and not on any account to defend the country。And whoever shall fortify his town well; and shall have managed theother concerns of his subjects in the way stated above; and to be oftenrepeated; will never be attacked without great caution; for men arealways adverse to enterprises where difficulties can be seen; and itwill be seen not to be an easy thing to attack one who has his town wellfortified; and is not hated by his people。The cities of Germany are absolutely free; they own but little countryaround them; and they yield obedience to the emperor when it suits them;nor do they fear this or any other power they may have near them;because they are fortified in such a way that every one thinks thetaking of them by assault would be tedious and difficult; seeing theyhave proper ditches and walls; they have sufficient artillery; and theyalways keep in public depots enough for one year's eating; drinking; andfiring。 And beyond this; to keep the people quiet and without loss tothe state; they always have the means of giving work to the munity inthose labours that are the life and strength of the city; and on thepursuit of which the people are supported; they also hold militaryexercises in repute; and moreover have many ordinances to uphold them。Therefore; a prince who has a strong city; and had not made himselfodious; will not be attacked; or if any one should attack he will onlybe driven off with disgrace; again; because that affairs of this worldare so changeable; it is almost impossible to keep an army a whole yearin the field without being interfered with。 And whoever should reply: Ifthe people have property outside the city; and see it burnt; they willnot remain patient; and the long siege and self…interest will make themforget their prince; to this I answer that a powerful and courageousprince will overe all such difficulties by giving at one time hope tohis subjects that the evil will not be for long; at another time fear ofthe cruelty of the enemy; then preserving himself adroitly from thosesubjects who seem to him to be too bold。Further; the enemy would naturally on his arrival at once burn and ruinthe country at the time when the spirits of the people are still hot andready for the defence; and; therefore; so much the less ought the princeto hesitate; because after a time; when spirits have cooled; the damageis already done; the ills are incurred; and there is no longer anyremedy; and therefore they are so much the more ready to unite withtheir prince; he appearing to be under obligations to them now thattheir houses have been burnt and their possessions ruined in hisdefence。 For it is the nature of men to be bound by the benefits theyconfer as much as by those they receive。 Therefore; if everything iswell considered; it wilt not be difficult for a wise prince to keep theminds of his citizens steadfast from first to last; when he does notfail to support and defend them。CHAPTER XICONCERNING ECCLESIASTICAL PRINCIPALITIESIT ONLY remains now to speak of ecclesiastical principalities; touchingwhich all difficulties are prior to getting possession; because they areacquired either by capacity or good fortune; and they can be heldwithout either; for they are sustained by the ordinances of religion;which are so all…powerful; and of such a character that theprincipalities may be held no matter how their princes behave and live。These princes alone have states and do not defend them; they havesubjects and do not rule them; and the states; although unguarded; arenot taken from them; and the subjects; although not ruled; do not care;and they have neither the desire nor the ability to alienate themselves。Such principalities only are secure and happy。 But being upheld bypowers; to which the human mind cannot reach; I shall speak no more ofthem; because; being exalted and maintained by God; it would be the actof a presumptuous and rash man to discuss them。Nevertheless; if any one should ask of me how es it that the Churchhas attained such greatness in temporal power; seeing that fromAlexander backwards the Italian potentates (not only those who have beencalled potentates; but every baron and lord; though the smallest) havevalued the temporal power very slightly …… yet now a king of Francetrembles before it; and it has been able to drive him from Italy; and toruin the Veians …… although this may be very manifest; it does notappear to me superfluous to recall it in some measure to memory。Before Charles; King of France; passed into Italy; this country wasunder the dominion of the Pope; the Veians; the King of Naples; theDuke of Milan; and the Florentines。 These potentates had two principalanxieties: the one; that no foreigner should enter Italy under arms; theother; that none of themselves should seize more territory。 Those aboutwhom there was the most anxiety were the Pope and the Veians。 Torestrain the Veians the union of all the others was necessary; as itwas for the defence of Ferrara; and to keep down the Pope they made useof the barons of Rome; who; being divided into two factions; Orsini andColonna; had always a pretext for disorder; and; standing with arms intheir hands under the eyes of the Pontiff; kept the pontificate weak andpowerless。 And although there might arise sometimes a courageous pope;such as Sixtus 'IV'; yet neither fortune nor wisdom could rid him ofthese annoyances。 And the short life of a pope is also a cause ofweakness; for in the ten years; which is the average life of a pope; hecan with difficulty lower one of the factions; and if; so to speak; onepope should almost destroy the Colonna; another would arise hostile tothe Orsini; who would support their opponents; and yet would not havetime to ruin the Orsini。 This was the reason why the temporal powers ofthe pope were little esteemed in Italy。Alexander VI arose afterwards; who of all the pontiffs that have everbeen showed how a pope with both money and arms was able to prevail; andthrough the instrumentality of the Duke Valentino; and by reason of theentry of the French; he brought about all those things which I havediscussed above in the actions of the duke。 And although his intentionwas not to aggrandize the Church; but the duke; nevertheless; what hedid contributed to the greatness of the Church; which; after his deathand the ruin of the duke; became the heir to all his labours。Pope Julius came afterwards and found the Church strong; possessing allthe Romagna; the barons of Rome reduced to impotence; and; through thechastisements Alexander; the factions wiped out; he also found the wayopen to accumulate money in a manner such as had never been practisedbefore Alexander's time。 Such things Julius not only followed; butimproved upon; and he intended to gain Bologna; to ruin the Veians;and to drive the French out of Italy。 All of these enterprises prosperedwith him; and so much the more to his credit; inasmuch as he dideverything to strengthen the Church and not any private person。 He keptalso the Orsini and Colonna factions within the bounds in which he foundthem; and although there was among them some mind to make disturbance;nevertheless he held two things firm: the one; the greatness of thechurch; with which he terrified them; and the other; not allowing themto have their own cardinals; who caused the disorders among them。 Forwhenever these factions have their cardinals they do not remain quietfor long; because cardinals foster the factions in Rome and out of it;and the barons are pelled to support them; and thus from theambitions of prelates arise disorders and tumults among the barons。 Forthese reasons his Holiness Pope Leo found the pontificate most powerful;and it is to be hoped that; if others made it great in arms; he willmake it still greater and more venerated by his goodness and infiniteother virtues。CHAPTER XIIHOW MANY KINDS OF SOLDIERY THERE ARE; AND CONCERNING MERCENARIESHAVING discoursed particularly on the characteristics of suchprincipalities as in the beginning I proposed to discuss; and havingconsidered in some degree the causes of their being good or bad; andhaving shown the methods by which many have sought to acquire them andto hold them; it now remains for me to discuss generally the means ofoffence and defence which belong to each of them。We have seen above how necessary it is for a prince to have hisfoundations well laid; otherwise it follows of necessity he 

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