《君主论-the prince(英文版)》the prince(英文版)-第3章

prudence；　for　time　drives　everything　before　it；　andis　able　to　bring　with　it　good　as　well　as　evil；　and　evil　as　well　as　good。But　let　us　turn　to　France　and　inquire　whether　she　has　done　any　of　thethings　mentioned。　I　will　speak　of　Louis　＇XII＇　（and　not　of　Charles＇VIII＇）　as　the　one　whose　conduct　is　the　better　to　be　observed；　he　havingheld　possession　of　Italy　for　the　longest　period；　and　you　will　see　thathe　has　done　the　opposite　to　those　things　which　ought　to　be　done　toretain　a　state　posed　of　divers　elements。King　Louis　was　brought　into　Italy　by　the　ambition　of　the　Veians；　whodesired　to　obtain　half　the　state　of　Lombardy　by　his　intervention。　I　willnot　blame　the　course　taken　by　the　king；　because；　wishing　to　get　afoothold　in　Italy；　and　having　no　friends　there　……　seeing　rather　thatevery　door　was　shut　to　him　owing　to　the　conduct　of　Charles　……　he　wasforced　to　accept　those　friendships　which　he　could　get；　and　he　would　havesucceeded　very　quickly　in　his　design　if　in　other　matters　he　had　not　madesome　mistakes。　The　king；　hobardy；　regained　atonce　the　authority　which　Charles　had　lost：　Genoa　yielded；　theFlorentines　became　his　friends；　the　Marquess　of　Mantua；　the　Duke　ofFerrara；　the　Bentivoglio；　my　lady　of　Forli；　the　Lords　of　Faenza；　ofPesaro；　of　Rimini；　of　Camerino；　of　Piombino；　the　Lucchesi；　the　Pisans；the　Sienese　……　everybody　made　advances　to　him　to　bee　his　friend。　Thencould　the　Veians　realize　the　rashness　of　the　course　taken　by　them；which；　in　order　that　they　might　secure　two　towns　in　Lombardy；　had　madethe　king　master　of　two…thirds　of　Italy。Let　any　one　now　consider　with　what　little　difficulty　the　king　could　havemaintained　his　position　in　Italy　had　he　observed　the　rules　above　laiddown；　and　kept　all　his　friends　secure　and　protected；　for　although　theywere　numerous　they　were　both　weak　and　timid；　some　afraid　of　the　Church；some　of　the　Veians；　and　thus　they　would　always　have　been　forced　tostand　in　with　him；　and　by　their　means　he　could　easily　have　made　himselfsecure　against　those　who　remained　powerful。　But　he　was　no　sooner　inMilan　than　he　did　the　contrary　by　assisting　Pope　Alexander　to　occupy　theRomagna。　It　never　occurred　to　him　that　by　this　action　he　was　weakeninghimself；　depriving　himself　of　friends　and　those　who　had　thrownthemselves　into　his　lap；　whilst　he　aggrandized　the　Church　by　adding　muchtemporal　power　to　the　spiritual；　thus　giving　it　great　authority。　Andhaving　mitted　this　prime　error；　he　was　obliged　to　follow　it　up；　somuch　so　that；　to　put　an　end　to　the　ambition　of　Alexander；　and　to　preventhis　being　the　master　of　Tuscany；　he　was　himself　forced　to　e　intoItaly。And　as　if　it　were　not　enough　to　have　aggrandized　the　Church；　anddeprived　himself　friends；　he；　wishing　to　have　the　kingdom　of　Naples；divides　it　with　the　King　of　Spain；　and　where　he　was　the　prime　arbiter　ofItaly　he　takes　an　associate；　so　that　the　ambitious　of　that　country　andthe　malcontents　of　his　own　should　have　where　to　shelter；　and　whereas　hecould　have　left　in　the　kingdom　his　own　pensioner　as　king；　he　drove　himout；　to　put　one　there　who　was　able　to　drive　him；　Louis；　out　in　turn。The　wish　to　acquire　is　in　truth　very　natural　and　mon；　and　men　alwaysdo　so　when　they　can；　and　for　this　they　will　be　praised　not　blamed；　butwhen　they　cannot　do　so；　yet　wish　to　do　so　by　any　means；　then　there　isfolly　and　blame。　Therefore；　if　France　could　have　attacked　Naples　withher　own　forces　she　ought　to　have　done　so；　if　she　could　not；　then　sheought　not　to　have　divided　it。　And　if　the　partition　which　she　made　withthe　Veians　in　Lombardy　was　justified　by　the　excuse　that　by　it　she　gota　foothold　in　Italy；　this　other　partition　merited　blame；　for　it　had　notthe　excuse　of　that　necessity。Therefore　Louis　made　these　five　errors：　he　destroyed　the　minor　powers；he　increased　the　strength　of　one　of　the　greater　powers　in　Italy；　hebrought　in　a　foreign　power；　he　did　not　settle　in　the　country；　he　did　notsend　colonies。　Which　errors；　if　he　had　lived；　were　not　enough　to　injurehim　had　he　not　made　a　sixth　by　taking　away　their　dominions　from　theVeians；　because；　had　he　not　aggrandized　the　Church；　nor　brought　Spaininto　Italy；　it　would　have　been　very　reasonable　and　necessary　to　humblethem；　but　having　first　taken　these　steps；　he　ought　never　to　haveconsented　to　their　ruin；　for　they；　being　powerful；　would　always　havekept　off　others　from　designs　on　Lombardy；　to　which　the　Veians　wouldnever　have　consented　except　to　bee　masters　themselves　there；　alsobecause　the　others　would　not　wish　to　take　Lombardy　from　France　in　orderto　give　it　to　the　Veians；　and　to　run　counter　to　both　they　would　nothave　had　the　courage。And　if　any　one　should　say：　King　Louis　yielded　the　Romagna　to　Alexanderand　the　kingdom　to　Spain　to　avoid　war；　I　answer　for　the　reasons　givenabove　that　a　blunder　ought　never　be　perpetrated　to　avoid　war；　because　itis　not　to　be　avoided；　but　is　only　deferred　to　your　disadvantage。　And　ifanother　should　allege　the　pledge　which　the　king　had　given　to　the　Popethat　he　would　assist　him　in　the　enterprise；　in　exchange　for　thedissolution　of　his　marriage　and　for　the　hat　to　Rouen；　to　that　I　replywhat　I　shall　write　later　on　concerning　the　faith　of　princes；　and　how　itought　to　be　kept。Thus　King　Louis　lost　Lombardy　by　not　having　followed　any　of　theconditions　observed　by　those　who　have　taken　possession　of　countries　andwished　to　retain　them。　Nor　is　there　any　miracle　in　this；　but　much　thatis　reasonable　and　quite　natural。　And　on　these　matters　I　spoke　at　Nanteswith　Rouen；　when　Valentino；　＇1＇　as　Cesare　Borgia；　the　son　of　PopeAlexander；　was　usually　called；　occupied　the　Romagna；　and　on　CardinalRouen　observing　to　me　that　the　Italians　did　not　understand　war；　Ireplied　to　him　that　the　French　did　not　understand　statecraft；　meaningthat　otherwise　they　would　not　have　allowed　the　Church　to　reach　suchgreatness。　And　in　fact　it　has　been　seen　that　the　greatness　of　the　Churchand　of　Spain　in　Italy　has　been　caused　by　France；　and　her　ruin　may　beattributed　to　them。　From　this　a　general　rule　is　drawn　which　never　orrarely　fails：　that　he　who　is　the　cause　of　another　being　powerful　isruined；　because　that　predominancy　has　been　brought　about　either　byastuteness　or　else　by　force；　and　both　are　distrusted　by　him　who　has　beenraised　to　power。1。　So　called　……　in　Italian　……　from　the　duchy　of　Valentinois；　conferredon　him