叉叉电子书 > 文学电子书 > 君主论-the prince(英文版) >

第13章

君主论-the prince(英文版)-第13章

小说: 君主论-the prince(英文版) 字数: 每页3500字

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!



iberal; I reply: Either a prince spendsthat which is his own or his subjects' or else that of others。 In thefirst case he ought to be sparing; in the second he ought not to neglectany opportunity for liberality。 And to the price who goes forth with hisarmy; supporting it by pillage; sack; and extortion; handling that whichbelongs to others; this liberality is necessary; otherwise he would notbe followed by soldiers。 And of that which is neither yours nor yoursubjects' you can be a ready giver; as were Cyrus; Caesar; andAlexander; because it does not take away your reputation if you squanderthat of others; but adds to it; it is only squandering your own thatinjures you。And there is nothing wastes so rapidly as liberality; for even whilstyou exercise it you lose the power to do so; and so bee either pooror despised; or else; in avoiding poverty; rapacious and hated。 And aprince should guard himself; above all things; against being despisedand hated; and liberality leads you to both。 Therefore it is wiser tohave a reputation for meanness which brings reproach without hatred;than to be pelled through seeking a reputation for liberality toincur a name for rapacity which begets reproach with hatred。CHAPTER XVIICONCERNING CRUELTY AND CLEMENCY; AND WHETHER IT IS BETTER TO BE LOVEDTHAN FEAREDING noentioned above; I say that everyprince ought to desire to be considered clement and not cruel。Nevertheless he ought to take care not to misuse this clemency。 CesareBorgia was considered cruel; notwithstanding; his cruelty reconciled theRomagna; unified it; and restored it to peace and loyalty。 And if thisbe rightly considered; he will be seen to have been much more mercifulthan the Florentine people; who; to avoid a reputation for cruelty;permitted Pistoia to be destroyed。 Therefore a prince; so long as hekeeps his subjects united and loyal; ought not to mind the reproach ofcruelty; because with a few examples he will be more merciful than thosewho; through too much mercy; allow disorders to arise; from which followmurders or robberies; for these are wont to injure the whole people;whilst those executions which originate with a prince offend theindividual only。And of all princes; it is impossible for the new prince to avoid theimputation of cruelty; owing to new states being full of dangers。 HenceVirgil; through the mouth of Dido; excuses the inhumanity of her reignowing to its being new; saying:              Res dura; et regni novitas me talia cogunt              Moliri; et late fines custode tueri。 '1'Nevertheless he ought to be slow to believe and to act; nor should hehimself show fear; but proceed in a temperate manner with prudence andhumanity; so that too much confidence may not make him incautious andtoo much distrust render him intolerable。Upon this a question arises: whether it be better to be loved thanfeared or feared than loved? It may be answered that one should wish tobe both; but; because it is difficult to unite them in one person; ismuch safer to be feared than loved; when; of the two; either must bedispensed with。 Because this is to be asserted in general of men; thatthey are ungrateful; fickle; false; cowardly; covetous; and as long asyou succeed they are yours entirely; they will offer you their blood;property; life and children; as is said above; when the need is fardistant; but when it approaches they turn against you。 And that princewho; relying entirely on their promises; has neglected otherprecautions; is ruined; because friendships that are obtained bypayments; and not by greatness or nobility of mind; may indeed beearned; but they are not secured; and in time of need cannot be reliedupon; and men have less scruple in offending one who is beloved than onewho is feared; for love is preserved by the link of obligation which;owing to the baseness of men; is broken at every opportunity for theiradvantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which neverfails。Nevertheless a prince ought to inspire fear in such a way that; if hedoes not win love; he avoids hatred; because he can endure very wellbeing feared whilst he is not hated; which will always be as long as heabstains from the property of his citizens and subjects and from theirwomen。 But when it is necessary for him to proceed against the life ofsomeone; he must do it on proper justification and for manifest cause;but above all things he must keep his hands off the property of others;because men more quickly forget the death of their father than the lossof their patrimony。 Besides; pretexts for taking away the property arenever wanting; for he who has once begun to live by robbery will alwaysfind pretexts for seizing what belongs to others; but reasons for takinglife; on the contrary; are more difficult to find and sooner lapse。 Butwhen a prince is with his army; and has under control a multitude ofsoldiers; then it is quite necessary for him to disregard the reputationof cruelty; for without it he would never hold his army united ordisposed to its duties。Among the wonderful deeds of Hannibal this one is enumerated: thathaving led an enormous army; posed of many various races of men; tofight in foreign lands; no dissensions arose either among them oragainst the prince; whether in his bad or in his good fortune。 Thisarose from nothing else than his inhuman cruelty; which; with hisboundless valour; made him revered and terrible in the sight of hissoldiers; but without that cruelty; his other virtues were notsufficient to produce this effect。 And shortsighted writers admire hisdeeds from one point of view and from another condemn the principalcause of them。 That it is true his other virtues would not have beensufficient for him may be proved by the case of Scipio; that mostexcellent man; not of his own times but within the memory of man;against whom; nevertheless; his army rebelled in Spain; this arose fromnothing but his too great forbearance; which gave his soldiers morelicence than is consistent with military discipline。 For this he wasupbraided in the Senate by Fabius Maximus; and called the corrupter ofthe Roman soldiery。 The Locrians were laid waste by a legate of Scipio;yet they were not avenged by him; nor was the insolence of the legatepunished; owing entirely to his easy nature。 Insomuch that someone inthe Senate; wishing to excuse him; said there were many men who knewmuch better how not to err than to correct the errors of others。 Thisdisposition; if he had been continued in the mand; would havedestroyed in time the fame and glory of Scipio; but; he being under thecontrol of the Senate; this injurious characteristic not only concealeditself; but contributed to his glory。Returning to the question of being feared or loved; I e to theconclusion that; men loving according to their own will and fearingaccording to that of the prince; a wise prince should establish himselfon that which is in his own control and not in that of others; he mustendeavour only to avoid hatred; as is noted。1。 。。。against my will; my fate;   A throne unsettled; and an infant state;   Bid me defend my realms with all my pow'rs;   And guard with these severities my shores。CHAPTER XVIIICONCERNING THE WAY IN WHICH PRINCES SHOULD KEEP FAITHEVERY one admits how praiseworthy it is in a prince to keep faith; andto live with integrity and not with craft。 Nevertheless our experiencehas been that those princes who have done great things have held goodfaith of little account; and have known how to circumvent the intellectof men by craft; and in the end have overe those who have relied ontheir word。 You must know there are two ways of contesting; the one bythe law; the other by force; the first method is proper to men; thesecond to beasts; but because the first is frequently not sufficient; itis necessary to have recourse to the second。 Therefore it is necessaryfor a prince to understand how to avail himself of the beast and theman。 This has been figuratively taught to princes by ancient writers;who describe how Achilles and many other princes of old were given tothe Centaur Chiron to nurse; who brought them up in his discipline;which means solely that; as they had for a teacher one who was halfbeast and half man; so it is necessary for a prince to know how to makeuse of both natures; and that one 

返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0

你可能喜欢的