severity, or to a haughty bearing from a humble._
Among the crafty devices used by Appius to aid him in maintaining his
authority, this, of suddenly passing from one character to the other
extreme, was of no small prejudice to him. For his fraud in pretending
to the commons to be well disposed towards them, was happily contrived;
as were also the means he took to bring about the reappointment of the
decemvirate. Most skilful, too, was his audacity in nominating himself
contrary to the expectation of the nobles, and in proposing colleagues
on whom he could depend to carry out his ends. But, as I have said
already, it was not happily contrived that, after doing all this, he
should suddenly turn round, and from being the friend, reveal himself
the enemy of the people; haughty instead of humane; cruel instead of
kindly; and make this change so rapidly as to leave himself no shadow
of excuse, but compel all to recognize the doubleness of his nature.
For he who has once seemed good, should he afterwards choose, for his
own ends, to become bad, ought to change by slow degrees, and as
opportunity serves; so that before his altered nature strip him of old
favour, he may have gained for himself an equal share of new, and thus
his influence suffer no diminution. For otherwise, being at once
unmasked and friendless, he is undone: