VIII. In reality, conquering Princes are so totally bad, that they are
not even good to themselves. They are bad neighbours, as is notorious;
they are bad to their subjects, who in the end are equal sufferers with
the others; because by the excessive contributions that are extorted
from them, they are drained of their property, and in the obstinate
wars in which their Princes engage, are deprived of their lives. It is
true they conquer; but ten battles gained cost more men to a nation
than two or three lost. If we were to add to this, the loss incurred in
consequence of the neglect and decay of arts, manufactures, commerce,
and agriculture; at winding up the bottom you will find, that with the
exception of a few military men, who have been exceedingly fortunate
and successful, or whose services have been liberally rewarded, and
also with that of a few others, who have enriched themselves by
plunder, or the spoils of their own country; the conquerors are left in
as bad a situation as the vanquished.
IX. These ambitious spirits bring on their subjects another injury,
which is sufficiently serious, though less noticed than the former;
and that is, that being totally occupied with the idea of aggrandizing
their power by all possible ways and means, they do not only endeavour
to augment it externally, and among strangers, but also internally, and
among their own subjects. They are not only desirous of ruling over
the most vassals they can, but are also anxious to domineer the most
they can over their own subjects. It is not so easy to satisfy ambition
in this second way, as in the first; for by adopting it, without
an addition of subjects, he, who will disembarrass himself of the
restriction of laws, may form an empire without limits; and an empire
reduced to despotism, if, instead of estimating it by the number of
those who are to obey, you make the computation according to the number
of things that may be commanded, is an infinite one.
X. Finally, conquering Princes are evils to themselves; for as the
dropsical thirst of accumulating new subjects is never satiated, the
anxieties of their hearts are never quieted: _Plusque cupit, quo plura
suam demittit in alvum._ Their backs are turned on all they have
acquired, and they turn their eyes on what remains for them to acquire.
From hence it follows, that this last being always in their view,
has more power to inquiet their minds by irritating their appetite,
than the other has to calm their souls by insinuating the happiness
of possession, and the pleasure of enjoyment; and we may add to this
anxiety, the dread of poison or the knife, which are the ordinary
finishers of the lives of conquerors.
XI. There only remains to them, as the fruit of all their labours and
toils, a single good, which they cannot enjoy, and therefore should
not be reckoned to them as a benefit; that is, their names being
celebrated in future ages; a tribute, which is paid to their ashes by
the folly of mankind, and than which no tribute is more unjust. If the
remembrance of conquerors was to be recorded in phrases dictated by
the understanding, they would be described in terms of execration, not
applause. Whoever sets about celebrating a Nimrod, an Alexander, or a
Romulus, may with equal reason, employ himself in celebrating a tiger,
a dragon, or a basilisk. I find the same qualities in the three eminent
heroes, as in the three furious wild beasts, to wit, a great strength
and power to commit mischief, and a great inclination to do it.
XII. I can’t refrain from laughter, when I reflect on the Romans, who
were masters of the world, being vain of fixing the origin of their
empire in Romulus. There was nothing in the deeds or character of this
man, which could reflect lustre on his descendants. If you look to his
birth, you will find that his mother was nothing better than a common
prostitute. If you consider his life and profession, you will find
that he was a daring and enterprising robber, who, being made captain
of others like himself, erected his infamous gang into a republic. The
rape of the Sabines, if the story is true, proves that Romulus, and
all his followers, were looked upon as despicable and vile, and as
a nuisance, by all Italy, because no other people chose to give them
wives, or to intermarry with them; and it was necessary, in order to
have women, that they should steal, and take them by violence. The life
of Romulus was taken away by the same ministers he himself had raised,
they not being able to bear with, or endure him. But such is the
blindness of the world, that the same person who was deemed unworthy to
live among men, and who was put to death on that account, is presently
afterwards placed among the deities.
XIII. Other great conquerors met with the same lot; they were abhorred
while living, and worshipped when dead. Nimrod was the first object
of idolatry. They changed the name Nimrod, which signified rebel,
into that of Bel, Baal, or Baalim, which signifies Lord. This is the
Jupiter Belus of antiquity. Alexander fell a victim to poison, from the
resentment of Antipater, and presently there were victims sacrificed on
the altars to Alexander. They had scarce murdered Cæsar in the capital,
as an enemy to his country, when they venerated him in Heaven, as the
tutelar deity of the republic. The raising men to the rank of deities,
was a great error in the Gentiles; but the raising those to that rank,
who on account of their vices should have been degraded from the rank
of men, was a much greater.