greeting. I am removed to the farmhouse of La Strada at San Casciano for
a short time, having left Florence on account of the great heat and an
indisposition of my stomach, caused by a surfeit of raw ham and figs:
for it is the custom of this people, when the figs ripen, to make an
excursion to their villas, or the farms of their tenants, and having
brought with them a number of small hams, smoked and excellently well
flavoured, which they cut into thin slices, they sit in the shade of a
fig-tree, and make a great feasting. Messer Frescobaldi carried me to
such a feast at one of his neighbouring villas, and I, whether from the
novelty of the dish, which savours deliciously, and is exciting to the
palate, or from a natural intemperance of appetite, having eaten
immoderately of figs and ham, and having drunk a vast quantity of wine,
was seized on my return to Florence with violent pains and cramps in the
stomach, accompanied by much retching and colic. Messer Frescobaldi,
having sent for his physician to come to me, I was blooded eight ounces,
and am now somewhat recovered, though in much need of rest, and the
coolness of the country air.
"But since I am charged with the execution of your business rather than
with the recreation of mine own health, let me say that the matter of
the Lucca merchants is settled, on the terms mentioned in the enclosed
treaty, and such produce as you require will be sent as occasion offers,
whether by France or Antwerp, depending upon the state of the rival
nations; but in so far as is possible the goods will be shipped at Genoa
by the Fuggers, and carried thence to Antwerp, to be reladed at your own
charge, and carried to your brother at Boston, or on a ship of the
Fuggers' trading with England, in which case they will be delivered to
yourself at the sign of the Blue Anchor, in Chepeside. The late
ordinances directing that all shrouds shall be made of woollen, and
forbidding the export of raw wool out of England, and the question of
the staple, have caused much ill-feeling against English merchants, both
at Antwerp and Florence; wherefore I think it would be wise to
commission the Fuggers to buy for you, and to colour your goods with
their name, more especially in the Baltic trade. The same offices will,
at your request, be undertaken by Messer Frescobaldi here and throughout
Italy, both with the cloth merchants of Florence and the glass workers
and silk merchants of Venice; but, in matters connected with your trade
with the latter town, Messer Frescobaldi demands that you place a sum of
money in his bank, sufficient to cover the charges of the import and the
export duty, or, that such moneys as he may advance on your behalf for
the payment of these imposts be charged against you at one and a half
per cent. above the current rate, so that in the one case he hath the
use of your money, and in the other a large interest upon his own. You
will easily see by the treaty that I have relinquished to him rather the
shadow than the substance of what he desired; but I do feel it my duty
to beseech you that in every wise you show him such convenience and fair
dealing as you may, without hurt to your own prosperity, since by your
acting in this fashion he will be the less likely to repudiate the
contract as a cheat devised for his beguiling.
"Returning to mine own affairs. I am the guest of one Niccolo
Machiavelli, an honest and courteous man, with much wit, and knowledge
of the ancients. He was sometime in the service of the late Republic,
but was after suspected, and removed from his office by the Medici
faction. Having been racked on a false charge of treason, he retired
hither, and by a frugal expenditure hath somewhat mended his fortune, so
that he is embarrassed neither by the cares of wealth, nor the vexations
of poverty. At first, however, since a republican and popular government
considers all the citizens to be its servants, as much through their own
duty as from any hope of a fair remuneration, he, having been able to
save little of his pay, was in great straits, so that he was forced to
rise ere it was light, and spread nets for thrushes and quails,
superintend his idle workmen, and busy himself with a thousand trifling
cares: wherefore I think it more profitable to serve a tyrant than a
free people. He hath now acquired by his own efforts that leisure which
his public service and former poverty denied him, so that he can pass
his day in pleasant discourse, studying the diverse manners and habits
of men, or reading in his library, in which he doth greatly delight. The
library itself, in which I am now writing, is a long, airy room, having
a pleasant aspect toward the south-west; but it overlooks the courtyard,
and one is continually disturbed through the day by the foolish cackle
of hens and other farmyard racket. He told me that he chose the room on
his first coming hither, whereat his wife made a great clamour
complaining that he had taken for his own uses the one serviceable room
in the house, which is indeed the truth. She is well looking and I would
willingly see more of her; but she is a notable woman, and, as is usual
with her sex, occupied all day long by a thousand nothings, whereat I
think he is marvellously contented, esteeming himself fortunate in that
she differs from the majority of wives, who continually invade the
privacy of men, and use our apartments as their own. Set against the
walls are great chests of carven and painted wood, which contain his
manuscripts and printed books, the Latin poets as well as the historians
and orators, besides those Italian authors who have gained an eternity
of fame, more especially Dante Alighieri and Petrarch. Here, among this
choice store of what the world hath accounted noble in thought or
action, we sit far into the night with a flagon of wine between us, and
such entertainment as our own wits provide, relishing in our
conversation both the _sal nigrum_ of Momus, and the _sal candidum_
which Mercurius gave.
"At first, seeing the ingenious and subtle mind of my friend, I was at a
loss to account for his apparent failure in assuring his own fortune;
but, knowing him better, I see that his judgment, never at fault in
dealing with things afar off, may be perplexed and misled when it comes
to bear upon present affairs; being so great in himself he doth
sometimes forget of what poor account in Europe are his countrymen
to-day. He is at present making a series of discourses upon politics,
which he reads in the gardens of Cosimo Rucellai, where the meetings of
the Academy are held. It was at one of these meetings, after the company
had dispersed, that I first had speech of him; in which traverses,
though the chief subject of his discourse is Livy's history of the Roman
Republic, he draweth his examples from many sources, and showeth how
mankind hath always been prone to the same faults, and in like
circumstances will always act in a like manner without regard for the
lessons and warnings of the past.
"In the intervals of preparing these discourses against their occasions,
and of refining those which he hath read, he giveth much time and labour
to the polishing of a little treatise or manual for princes; a work full
of seasonable matter, which I have read with much profit and agreement,
for he reasons not, as the schoolmen use, from some abstract theory of
the universe, with which all events must be forced into harmony, but
gathering together the facts of common experience, he derives from the
perfect understanding of them the principles of his philosophy;
wherefore I say that he hath invented a new science, and added a tenth
muse to the choir of Apollo. And to show you the satiric nature of the
man, I must tell you, that having dedicated his treatise of _The Prince_
to Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici, in the hope of some advancement and
reward, and being disappointed of this hope, in the dedication of his
_Discourses_ to Zanobi Buondelmonte and Cosimo Rucellai he says, 'Though
I have been mistaken on many occasion, yet certainly I have made no
error in offering my _Discourses_ to you. For in this I think to have
shown some gratitude for benefits received, and to have abandoned the
path habitually trodden by those who make a trade of writing, and whose
custom it is to dedicate their works to some prince, to whom, in the
blindness of their ambition or of their avarice, and in the pouring out
of their empty flatteries, they attribute all the virtues, instead of
making him blush for his vices. To avoid falling into that vulgar fault
I have made choice, not indeed of a prince, but of those who merit to be
princes.... Moreover, historians give greater praise to Hieron, a plain
citizen of Syracuse, than to Perseus, King of Macedonia, for Hieron
lacked none of the qualities of kingliness, except the name, while
Perseus had no other than the kingdom.' So doth he think to repay them
for their neglect.
"This satiric quality doth characterise all his writing, whether he be
dealing with the sacred or the profane; indeed he doth make no
difference between the books of Moses and the books of Livy, but treats
both in the same way, as the record of past events; and though God
forbid that I should seem to doubt the truth of Scripture, yet it is my
opinion that the writings of Moses are not to be apprehended by the
plain man, being full of mystery and divinity, which only a clerk can
expound. Thus, in one place, after enumerating the great law-givers of
old; Moses, Cyrus, Romulus, Theseus, and the like, he adds: 'And though
perhaps I ought not to name Moses, he being merely an instrument for
carrying out the divine commands, he is still to be admired for those
qualities which made him worthy to converse with God; but if we consider
Cyrus and the others who have acquired or founded kingdoms, they will
all be seen to be admirable, and if their actions and the particular
institutions of which they were the authors be studied, they will be
found not to differ from those of Moses, though he was instructed by so
great a teacher.'
"This is either too simple, or too subtile, for men of godly and pious
dispositions. Indeed, I think that by indulging his delight in irony he
hath made himself distrusted; for the depravity of human nature is such,
that, where two interpretations can be put upon words, mankind will
ordinarily choose the sense which is evil instead of that which is good.
Witness the following, on ecclesiastical princedoms: 'All the
difficulties of ecclesiastical princedoms precede their acquisition: for
they are acquired by merit or good fortune, but are maintained without
either, being upheld by the venerable ordinances of religion, which are
all of such a nature and efficacy that they secure the authority of
their princes in whatever way they may act or live. These princes alone
have territories which they do not defend, and subjects whom they do not
govern; yet, though undefended, their territories are not taken from
them, nor are their subjects concerned at not being governed or led to
think of throwing off their allegiance; nor is it in their power to do
so. Accordingly these princedoms alone are secure and happy. But
inasmuch as they are sustained by agencies of a higher nature than the
mind of man can reach, I forbear to speak of them; for, since they are
set up and supported by God himself, he would be a rash and presumptuous
man who should venture to discuss them.' It hath a double edge, and
though some may be found to declare the intention innocent, since the
book is addressed to a relative of the Pope, I would rather infer from
that the greater daring of the author. But lest you yourself, who are
curious in such matters, should doubt whether the intention be malicious
or innocent, I shall explain further his opinions, both in the matter of
Moses, and in the matter of ecclesiastical princedoms. For in two
discourses at the Rucellai gardens, at which I was present, he returned
to these subjects, and said: 'In fact no legislator has ever given his
people a new body of laws, without alleging the intervention of the
divinity; for otherwise they would not have been accepted. It is certain
that there exist many benefits of which a wise and prudent man foresees
the consequences, but nevertheless of which the evidence is not
sufficiently striking to convince all minds. To resolve that difficulty
the wise man hath recourse to the gods.... The Florentines believe
themselves to be neither ignorant nor rude, and, nevertheless, Fra
Girolamo Savonarola made them believe that he had conversations with
God. I do not pretend to decide if he were right or wrong, for one
should not speak without respect of so extraordinary a man. I only say,
that a great multitude of people believed him, without having seen
anything supernatural which could justify their belief; but his whole
life, his knowledge, and the subject of his discourses, should have been
enough to make them give credence to his words. One must never be
astonished at having failed to-day, where others once succeeded; for
mankind, as I have said in my preface, are born, live, and die,
according to the same laws.'
"And if you, Master Bates, would ask me how it is possible that such
matters should be so spoken of, openly, in this country, which licence
would not be permitted elsewhere, I shall offer in reply his own words
on ecclesiastical princedoms. For he says: 'Certainly, if religion had
been able to maintain itself as a Christian republic, such as its divine
founder had established, the States which professed it would have been
happier than they are now. But how is she fallen! and the most striking
proof of her decadence is to see that the peoples bordering on the
Church of Rome, that capital of our religion, are precisely the least
religious. If one examines the primitive spirit of her institutions, and
when he sees how far her practice hath departed from them, he might
easily believe that we are approaching a time of ruin or of retribution.
And, since some assert that the happiness of Italy depends on the Church
of Rome, I should bring against that Church several reasons which offer
themselves to my mind, among which there are two extremely grave, and
which I think, cannot be denied. First, the evil examples of the court
of Rome have extinguished in this country all devotion and all religion,
which fact carries in its train innumerable inconveniences and
disorders; and as, wherever religion reigns one must believe the
existence of good, so wherever it hath disappeared one must suppose the
presence of evil. We owe it then, we other Italians, to the Church and
to the priests that we are without religion or morals, but we owe them
one other obligation, which is the source of our ruin; it is that the
Church has always stirred up, and stirs up incessantly, the division of
this unhappy country.'
"My mind doth see you, sitting, perchance, in your garden, by the dial,
as is your wont after the business of the day is over, and mocking me,
that I have found a new prophet. But, indeed, it doth seem so to me, and
I am content to sit in his company gleaning the ripe ears of his wisdom.
And if I have out-wearied your patience with my praise of him, whose
every word hath the force of a deed, let me remind you of a summer day
in the garden of your old house at Boston, how we plucked the apricocks
from the espaliers, while you read to me the discourses of Sir Thomas
More upon Augustine's _De Civitate Dei_, when, if I did not gape, it was
but from politeness and my great respect for yourself. For this man doth
stand among his countrymen like a giant in a city of pigmies,
overlooking their petty disputations, and reading the future from the
mirror of the past. He doth foresee the ruin of the Church, the birth of
Empires, the dawn of a new greatness for the world, the emancipation of
the peoples from the ecclesiastical tyranny of to-day. He standeth like
one prophetic upon Pisgah. He doth see that the world must be freed from
this pestilence of monks. He says: 'Our religion, having shown us the
truth and the only way of salvation, hath lessened in our eyes the worth
of worldly honours.... The ancient religions offered divine honours only
to those illustrious with worldly glory, such as famous captains, and
leaders of the Republic; our religion, on the contrary, only sanctifies
the humble, and men given to contemplation rather than to an active
life; she hath placed the _summum bonum_ in humility, in the contempt
for worldly things, and even in abjection; while the pagans made it
consist in greatness of soul, in bodily strength, and in all that might
help to make men brave and robust. And if our religion asks us to have
strength, it is rather the strength to suffer evils than to do great
things. It seems that this new morality has made mankind weaker, and
given the world over as a prey to the wicked.'
"All these sayings have sunk deep into my mind, as you may well perceive
by the length of this letter. He hath taught me that, since the
conditions of life are always the same, a man who hath strength and wit
may rise to the same eminence in these days as the heroes of old time
did in the past.
"I have sent to my lord the Cardinal a present of furs, which I pray you
see conveyed to him with my humble duty. The cloak of furs is for
yourself, and the necklace of amber beads for your good lady. Your
advice I follow in my way of life; but, my good Will, sometimes I do
regret the old times, when you and I were younger, and fond of wenches;
or, perchance, when they were fonder of us. Three things I look forward
to seeing next Spring: the fresh face of an English country maid, a
Royal pageant on the Thames, and a bank of primroses with the rain on
them."
Folding the paper neatly, he addressed it; and taking a sardonyx gem
from his finger sealed up the edges with four seals. Then returning the
ring to his finger, he considered his small, white, fat hands, pursing
up his lips, with a curious air of meditative self-satisfaction. Lifting
up his eyes again, after this pleasant relaxation of the mind, he found
Machiavelli, who had entered softly so as not to disturb him if he were
writing, looking at him with a gently ironic smile; and he started,
somewhat annoyed that even for a moment he should have been taken off
his guard.
"If you are occupied, Messer, I shall not disturb you. Do not move. I
hope that you have asked for whatever you may have desired. Marietta
tells me that you have been busy with your correspondence."
"I have also read a little," answered Cromwell.
"Ah, I see! the _De Monarchia_. I marvel always, Messer, that in spite
of the overwhelming evidence of human depravity, men are to be found in
every age who base their conceptions of the ideal state upon the
hypothesis that mankind is naturally good."
"It is at least certain that each individual considers himself good,"
Cromwell said.
A light smile was the only reply. Machiavelli wore a long Florentine
cloak reaching down to the ankles; loosening it a little he flung the
ends back over the arms of his chair, and stretched his legs. His
clothes were of the finest Florentine cloth, well-made, but a little
worn--black and dark green in colour; he wore a collar of fine linen
fitting close about the neck; his cloak was of brown home-spun. Every
detail showed a scrupulous care for his appearance, but also a frugality
of means. Cromwell, equally sober in his black and tawny, allowed
himself little vanities; a gold chain with pendant jewels, and the white
lawn collar neatly goffered, as also were the wrist-bands.
"Do you think this treatise a foolish book?" asked Cromwell bluntly.
"Dante was great in everything," answered Machiavelli. "He could not
write foolish things; but he could be mistaken in his reasons, and as to
the capacity of human nature. His ideal Emperor, his ideal Pope, would
be gods, not men. His notion of the Church stripped of its temporal
possessions is a chimera. As religion exists to-day, asserting its
precedence over the State, or even its opposition to the State, it
splits society in two, and divides it against itself. The religion of
the pagans was merged in patriotism, and before a greater stability in
social affairs is possible, mankind must either return to that ideal, or
religion be considered as a matter for every individual to practise as
he thinks best."
He spoke with little or no inflection of the voice, resting his chin on
one hand. As he sat always with his head slightly bent, when he looked
at his companion, with bright eyes under compressed brows, his face had
an expression of stealthy alertness.
"Yes," said Cromwell; "if we turn away from Italy, and consider the
other nations, we find that in every country the Church has an
organisation, powerful and rich, which the State has to bribe; but since
the Church has this organisation, acting directly on the mass of the
people, and willing to support the State, in exchange for certain
privileges and immunities, our princes find it convenient to govern by
its help; and since the greater part of government consists of temporary
expedients, statesmen will not be led easily to forego this
convenience."
"That little book was written when Boniface VIII. sat in the chair of
Peter. It is simply a protest against the ambition and arrogant
pretensions of the popes. Innocent III. and Gregory VII. could launch
their thunders against kings more or less successfully; but the anger of
Boniface went out like a flame fallen in water; his selfish lust for
power led to his complete downfall, and the victory of Philip. But
Philip's victory caused a revulsion of feeling in the Pope's favour, so
that Dante, though he hath thrust Boniface into Hell, yet calleth him
Christ's Vicar, and doth compare his sufferings to Christ's Passion.
Even Philip did not attack him openly, but used covert weapons, Sciarra
and all the Colonnesi being his secret allies, and carrying with them
the gonfalon of the Church; in what he did openly, Philip used
traditional means, as summoning a council, and accusing the Pope of
heresy. Still, I say to you that henceforth the great States will war
continuously against the Church."
"And how should they attack her? Upon what side is the Church to be
assailed?"
"Through the monks. 'The fat bellies of the monks' are become a proverb
in Europe. Every people itch with the vermin. They have made the
practice of poverty the most lucrative of trades. Their greed, their
lewdness, and their obscenity, are the matter of every ballad, and the
butt of every wit. And yet they are one of the chief supports of the
Church, ever replenishing her treasuries with the offerings of the poor,
and the fruit of their traffic in pardon and indulgences."
"I have observed," said Cromwell, "that, though kings have often
despoiled the monasteries, such depredations have not increased their
popularity; for, though the people do not defend the property of the
monks when it is attacked, after a time the weight of their opinion is
on the side of the Church, and they accuse the officers of the State of
rapacity and harshness, and the King himself of greed."
"The people are too often ground between the upper and nether
mill-stones of Church and State," said Machiavelli; "to them both
tyrannies are equally hateful. And, also, Messer, the plundering of the
monasteries hath nearly always been an act of kingly greed, to furnish
the material for war and forge the instruments of a harsher tyranny. But
let the King make his people his accomplices...."
He finished the sentence with a smile.
"Yes," said the other slowly; "yes."
He considered his soft, white hands, and pondered the matter as if it
were an ordinary question of daily business. His fleshy face with a
bright colour about the cheek-bones, the small, pointed nose, the
watchful eyes, revealed nothing; but the mere quietness with which he
considered the question was, in a sense, a revelation. Lifting his eyes
again he spoke quietly.
"I see here," he said, turning the pages of the _De Monarchia_, "that
Dante attributes the great power of the Roman Empire to the direct
action of the divine providence. The Empire to him is a thing divinely
ordained, and Augustus is the divine monarch."