Machiavelli, Niccolo

mak-e-a-vel'lee, Niccolo (1469-1527), an Italian writer and statesman. He was a native of Florence. He was descended from a noble family that had become impoverished in the revolutionary changes of that city. He appears to have been well educated, especially in the Latin language, but little is known of his early life. He came on the public stage soon after the expulsion of the Medici family. He held an important position as secretary of a body of ten men chosen to direct the government of the city. He had opportunity to know all that was to be known of the petty rivalries of the Italian states. He was sent on a number of diplomatic missions to France, Germany, and the neighboring cities. He may be said to have lived for years in the network of hypocrisy and crime for which this period of Italian history is noted.

On the return of the Medici family to power, Machiavelli was dismissed from office. Later he was arrested for alleged conspiracy against the leader of the Medicis, and was put to the torture. During his after years, which were spent in a hamlet near the city, he engaged in literary pursuits. Among his works are A History of Florence, The Art of War, Essays, and a number of comedies. His chief work is The Prince, a systematic discourse on the methods by which a politician may cause his state to rise in the world. It is a work without a shred of common honesty or principle. He views the people as so much wax to be molded by statesmen to their own purposes. This work, rather than his actual service in the world of diplomacy, has led to the adoption of the term Machiavellian for all that is crooked and unprincipled in statecraft.

As a man, Machiavelli was subtle and learned. He had read widely, particularly in Roman history and literature. He had traveled extensively and was well informed. Although he had a wife and six children, he ignored commonplace morality. His attitude toward the world was keenly intellectual, but unsympathetic and cynical. His career and writings would not be worth mention, were it not that they have had a tremendous influence in teaching politicians how to do the wrong thing. It may be said truthfully that his writings have had a pernicious influence. It is worth the student's while to read a few of the famous Italian's coldblooded sentences:

A prudent prince cannot and ought not to keep his word, except when he can do it without injury to himself.

Either make a man your friend or put it out of his power to be your enemy.

Under no circumstances should you help a rival power in any of his enterprises, for the prince who contributes to the advancement of another power runs the risk of ruining his own.

It is as useful to persevere in the path of rectitude, while one feels no inconvenience in doing so, as to know how to deviate from it when circumstances dictate such a course.

See Bismarck; Tallyrand; Metternich; Richelieu