seldom so wholly destitute of honour as to repay benefits by so revolting an ingratitude: secondly, because victory is rarely so very complete as to place the conqueror in a state to violate all the laws of propriety. If, on the other hand, he whose fortune the prince espouses should be vanquished, he may in time retrieve his losses, and acknowledge this mark of preferėnce and esteem.
A prince ought never, except as I have already said where he is forced to it by events, to take the part of a neighbouring state more powerful than himself, because he lies at his mercy should he be the conqueror. 'Twas thus that the Venetians were ruined by unnecessarily allying themselves with France against the Duke of Milan. The Florentines, on the other hand, could not be blamed for having embraced the cause of the Pope and the King of Spain, when they marched their forces against Lombardy, because in so doing they yielded, as I have already shewn, to the law of necessity. After all, there is no party perfectly sure of success, and we often avoid one danger only by encountering a greater; human prudence consists in avoiding the worst.
Princes ought to honour talents and protect the arts, particularly commerce and agriculture. It is peculiarly important that they should secure those who exercise them against the dread of being overcharged with taxes, and of seeing themselves
