contend with the Swiss, or to go to war without them.
The French armies are therefore partly mercenaries, and partly national. This mixture renders them better than troops which are either all mercenaries or all auxiliaries, but far inferior to those raised in their own country; and what I have just said is a sufficient proof that France would be invincible if they had adhered to the military regulations established by Charles VII. But such is the imprudence of men, that they undertake things from which they promise themselves advantages, but a secret venom is hidden under these promising appearances as in the hectic fever I have before described.
Thus the prince who remains ignorant of evils till it is too late to prevent them is not truly wise, and this wisdom is allotted to very few of them.
The first cause of the decline of the Roman empire was that of taking the Gauls into their pay, which brought these barbarians into credit at the expence of the Roman soldiers.
A prince who cannot defend his dominions without the assistance of foreign troops is ever at the mercy of fortune, and without resource in adversity. It is a generally received maxim, that there is nothing so weak as a power that is not supported by itself, that is to say, that is not defended by its
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