by Nicolo Machiavelli
translated by W. K. Marriott
transcribed by Jimmy Moore
Chapter II
Concerning Hereditary Principalities
I will leave out all discussion on republics, inasmuch as in another place I have written of them at length, and will address myself only to principalities. In doing so I will keep to the order indicated above, and discuss how such principalities are to be ruled and preserved.
I say at once there are fewer difficulties in holding hereditary states, and those long accustomed to the family of their prince, than new ones; for it is sufficient only not to transgress the customs of his ancestors, and to deal prudently with circumstances as they arise, for a prince of average powers to maintain himself in his state, unless he be deprived of it by some extraordinary and excessive force; and if he should be so deprived of it, whenever anything sinister happens to the usurper, he will regain it.
We have in Italy, for example, the Duke of Ferrara, who could not
have withstood the attacks of the Venetians in '84, nor those of
Pope Julius in '10, unless he had been long established in his
dominions. For the hereditary prince has less cause and less necessity
to offend; hence it happens that he will be more loved; and unless
extraordinary vices cause him to be hated, it is reasonable to
expect that his subjects will be naturally well disposed towards
him; and in the antiquity and duration of his rule the memories and
motives that make for change are lost, for one change always leaves
the toothing for another.
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