CHAP. XVII.
Of Cruelty and Clemency, and whether it is better to be loved than feared.
I now pass on to other qualities which are requisite in those who govern. A prince ought unquestionably to be merciful, but with propriety and within bounds. Cæsar Borgia was accounted cruel; but it was to that cruelty that he was indebted for the advantage of uniting Romania to his other dominions, and of establishing in that province peace and tranquillity, of which it had been so long deprived. And every thing well considered, it must be allowed that this prince shewed greater clemency than the people of Florence, who, to avoid being deemed cruel, suffered Pistoia to be destroyed. When it is necessary for a prince to restrain his subjects within the bounds of duty, he should not trouble himself about the reproach of cruelty, because he will find; in the end, that he shewed more humanity in making a few necessary examples, than those who by too great indulgence encourage disorders which produce robberies and murder. For tumults like these overturn the go-
