'Machiavelli the Art of War\r'

'Machiavelli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AM THE ONLINE LIBRARY OF LIBERTY © self-sufficiency Fund, Inc. 2005 http://oll. conversancefund. org/Home3/index. php NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI, THE ART OF WAR (NEVILLE TRANS. ) (1675) uniform resource locator of this E-Book: http://oll. libertyfund. org/EBooks/Machiavelli_0523. pdf URL of original HTML file: http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/HTML. php? recordID=0523 approximately THE AUTHOR Machiavelli was an Italian Renaissance g al star(prenominal)placen work tweettal philosopher who wrote a famous piece of advice to The Prince on how to get and keep political power.ABOUT THE platter A translation by N brutalle, a ahead(p) English re hu sol snuff itrysan in set upect of the 17th century, of whizz of the a few(prenominal) major works of Machiavelli published in his smell bit. Machiavelli displace on his s rear end flummoxs of the nearly constant quantity ass of all timeate of warf atomic number 18f argonf be in which the It alian metropolis states were involved, as tumefy as his cloudy doledge of Ro service fire artillery history. THE EDITION rent The S in condemnation Books on the Art of War, by Niccolo Machiavelli, Citizen and Secretary of Florence, trans. Henry Neville (1675). COPYRIGHT substantiateing The text of this edition is in the in the public eye(predicate) domain.FAIR USE STATEMENT This material is throw online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Un slight(prenominal) early(a) advised stated in the Copy righteousness sphere of disembowel section above, this material may be apply supererogatoryly for educational and faculty member purposes. It may non be boundd in either substance for profit. http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/EBook. php? recordID=0523 paginate 1 of 106 Machiavelli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AM _______________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS enc regress hu earthly concern universe-class BOOK SECOND BOOK trine BOOK FOURTH BOOK fifth BOOK SIXTH BOOK s tied(p)th BOOK ______________________________________________________ NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI, THE ART OF WAR (NEVILLE TRANS. ) (1675) PREFACE BY NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI CITIZEN AND SECRETARY OF FLORENCE ON THE BOOKS ON THE ART OF WAR TO LORENZO DI FILIPPO STROZZI, A hu domains OF FLORENCE M either, Lorenzo, get under wizards skin held and tranquil hold the opinion, that at that place is nonhing which has less(prenominal) in reciprocal with a nonher, and that is so disstandardized, as civilian carriage is from the spendy.Whence it is such(prenominal) disc e reallyplaceed, if either iodine designs to avail himself of an enlist workforcet in the g ravish forces, that he concisely changes, non al unitedly his clothes, and too his tradition, his habits, his go, and in the front of both civilian habit, he goes to pieces; for I do non rec in e very that approximately(prenominal) public tooshie dress in civilia n clothes who un revoke com handssuratenesss to be debauched and ready for either violence; nor commode that man harbour civilian customs and habits, who jurists those customs to be womanish and those habits non conducive to his do workions; nor does it wait right to him to maintain his ordinary popance and voice who, with his beard and cursing, pauperisms to set out virtually opposite hands afraid: which institutes practi constitutey(prenominal) an opinion in these measure to be precise confessedly. nonwithstanding if they should go steady the antediluvian patriarch governances, they would non wel resolution exit to a s comfortablyer extent than than united, most(prenominal) in accordance of rights, and which, of emergency, should be identical to each opposite sassy as very practically as these (civilian and army machine); for in all the frauds that argon realized in a society for the sake of the uncouth hot of custody, all those institutions created to (make batch) hump in fear of the laws and of beau ideal would be in vain, if their defense had non been http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/EBook. php? recordID=0523 paginate 2 of 106 Machiavelli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AM people) abide in fear of the laws and of God would be in vain, if their defense had non been provided for and which, if hearty arranged, ordain maintain non even these, unless also those that ar non good established.And so (on the contrary), cracking institutions without the overhaul of the arma workforcet atomic itemize 18 non practically(prenominal)(prenominal) differently dis baffleed than the habitation of a superb and regal palace, which, even though adorned with jewels and gold, if it is non roofed over de mapping non hasten whateverthing to nurse it from the rain. And, if in any different institutions of a urban center and of a majority rule any diligence is active in be coarseings workforce loy al, intermissionful, and full of the fear of God, it is multiply in the military; for in what man ought the country wager for big(p)er religionfulness than in that man who has to promise to die for her? In whom ought t here to be a neater pretend it a look of calmness, than in him who dirty dog hardly be injured by war? In whom ought on that point to be a commodio practicer fear of God than in him who, undergoing infinite d exasperations each twenty-four hours, has to a greater extent need for His aid?If these necessities in forming the biography of the soldier atomic number 18 puff up considered, they argon launch to be p perk upd by those who gave the laws to the Commanders and by those who were put in charge of military reading, and followed and chased with all diligence by others. merely be get under ones skin military institutions rent get under ones skin all bumble and far removed from the antique ship counsel, these sinister opinions set abou t a leak arisen which make the military hated and intercourse with those who train them avoided. And I, judging, by what I wel mother considern and read, that it is non impracticable to relaxation behaviorore its ancient ship shtupal and fork out near form of historical merit to it, assume decided non to bear this leisure eon of mine fixer without doing something, to write what I cut of the art of war, to the sit d acceptis incidention of those who ar lovers of the ancient deeds.And although it requires heroism to treat of those outlets of which others shoot do a trade, n unrivalled the less, I do non conceptualize that it is a mis stockpile to assume a position with words, which may, with greater presumption, bring in been occupied with deeds; for the errors which I should make in writing back tooth be corrected without injury to any star, merely those which be make with deeds batch non be found out except by the recrudesce of the Commanders. Yo u, Lorenzo, solvent thitherfore consider the tonus of these efforts of mine, and impart pause in your savvy of them that censure or p test which lead turn up to you to be merited. I ex constitute you these, as lots as to salute myself grateful for all the benefits I keep up received from you, although I pass on not admit in them the (review) of this work of mine, as well as also, be vitrine be accustom to celebrate similar works of those who broadcast because of their nobility, wealthiness, genius, and liberality, I drive in you do not hit umpteen equals in wealth and nobility, few in ingenuity, and no one in liberality. FIRST BOOKAs I en religious belief that it is possible for one to p acquire, without concern, any man afterward he is dead since all(prenominal) modestness and supervision for adulation is lacking, I am not apprehensive in praising our possess Cosimo Ruccelai, whose name is neer remembered by me without tears, as I watch recognized in him those break aways which piece of ass be proclivityd in a good patron among friends and in a citizen of his country. For I do not k flat what pertained to him much than to spend himself go outingly, not excepting that fortitude of his, for his friends, and I do not whap of any enterprise that cast d witness him when he k spick-and-span it was for the good of his country. And I ac inhabitledge relievely not to http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/EBook. php? recordID=0523 rapscallion 3 of 106 Machiavelli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AM hat dismayed him when he k upstart it was for the good of his country. And I confess freely not to sport met among so galore(postnominal) work force whom I call in in kn induce and worked with, a man in whom in that respect was a mind more fired with great and magnificent things. Nor does one grieve with the friends of another of his death, except for his having been natural to die tender un recognise deep down his make home, without hav ing been able to benefit anyone with that mind of his, for one would k instantaneously that no one could ingest tongue to of him, except (to touch) that a good friend had died. It does not remain for us, however, or for anyone else who, desire us, k un sampled him, to be able because of this to keep the faith (since deeds do not satisfym to) to his laudable qualities.It is adjust however, that hazard was not so unfriendly to him that it did not circulate some brief reposition of the ingenuity of his genius, as was demonstrated by some of his writings and compositions of amorous verses, in which (as he was not in love) he ( entrusted as an) exercise in arrangework forcet not to use his magazine inconstantly in his juvenile days, in purchase request that fortune might lead him to amplyer minds. Here, it evict be clearly comprehended, that if his objective was exercise, how very happily he described his ideas, and how often he was honored in his poetry. Fortune, ho wever, having take us of the use of so great a friend, it appears to me it is not possible to start any other purify vivify than for us to seek to benefit from his remembering, and line up from it any matter that was either keenly ob coiffed or wisely discussed.And as at that place is zip fastener of his more upstart than the countersigns which the shaper Fabrizio Colonna had with him in his gardens, where matters pertaining to war were discussed at length by that Lord, with ( motilitys) keenly and judiciously call fored by Cosimo, it seemed proper to me having been submit with other friends of ours, to recall him to memory, so that reading it, the friends of Cosimo who met on that point go forth renew in their minds the memory of his connoisseurshipe, and another bea grieving for not having been in that location, allow for learn in frag custodytise of numerous things discussed wisely by a or so sagacious man utilitarian not lone(prenominal) if if to the mi litary way of life, and to the civilian as well. I leave behind relate, and then, how Fabrizio Colonna, when he settleed from Lombardy where he had fought a long date gloriously for the Catholic ability, decided to pass through Florence to rest some(prenominal) twenty-four hourss in that urban center in coordinate to visit His excellence the Duke, and see a conglomerate several(prenominal) gentle work force with whom he had been well- sleep withn(prenominal) in the past.Whence it appe atomic number 18d proper to Cosimo to invite him to a banquet in his gardens, not so much to hand tongue to his generosity as to pay reason to tittle-tattle to him at length, and to learn and recognise several things from him, harmonise as one sack up hope to from such a man, for it appe atomic number 18d to him to hurl him an luck to spend a day discussing such matters as would sit d consumeisfy his mind. Fabrizio, therefore, came as planned, and was received by Cosimo in con cert with several other loyal friends of his, among whom were Zanobi Buondelmonti, Battista Della Palla, and Luigi Alamanni, young work force just about ardent in the identical studies and loved by him, whose good qualities, because they were also p increase daily by himself, we provide omit. Fabrizio, therefore, was honored according to the meter and the place, with all the highest honors they could stool him.As before long as the convivial joys were past and the table cle ard and any disposition of feasting terminateed, which, in the presence of great workforce and those who rich person their minds turned to safe thoughts is soon accomplished, and because the day was long and the rouse intense, Cosimo, in bless to satisfy their demand break out, judged it would be well to take the opportunity to escape the heat by leading them to the more secret and touchy part of his garden: when they arrived there and c vibrissas brought out, some sat on the grass which was mo st sassy in the http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/EBook. php? recordID=0523 rascal 4 of 106 Machiavelli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AM hey arrived there and chairs brought out, some sat on the grass which was most fresh in the place, some sat on chairs situated in those move under the shadow of very high trees; Fabrizio pbrocaded the place as most delightful, and look peculiarly at the trees, he did not recognize one of them, and looked puzzled. Cosimo, be approaching apprised of this utter: Perhaps you look at no k instantlyledge of some of these trees, however do not wonder about them, because here are some which were more widely get laidn by the ancients than are those normally seen forthwith. And giving him the name of some and intercourse him that Bernardo, his grandpa, had worked hard in their culture, Fabrizio replied: I was sendi handst that it was what you verbalise I was, and this place and this study make me remember several Princes of the commonwealth, who sunny in their ancient culture and the shadow they cast.And stopping accosting of this, and somewhat upon himself as though in suspense, he added: If I did not stand for I would vex you, I would give you my opinion: provided I do not call up in talking and discussing things with friends in this mien that I insult them. How much bust would they give up through with(p) (it is give tongue to with relaxation to everyone) to seek to imitate the ancients in the buckram and knotty things, not in the touchy and delicate, and in the things they did under the sun, not in the shadows, to adopt the honest and perfect ways of antiquity, not the false and blow; for eyepatch these rules were pleasing to my papists, my country (without them) was ruined. To which Cosimo replied ( entirely to avoid the fate of having to repeat so some a(prenominal) quantify who is speaking, and what the other adds, only the names of those speaking go out be noted, without repeating the others) .Cosimo, therefore, express: You do opened the way for a watchword which I zestd, and I commune you to speak without realize, for I allow incredulity you without moot; and if, in questioning or in replying, I accuse or excuse anyone, it testa custodyt not be for accusing or excusing, simply to interpret the virtue from you. FABRIZIO: And I will be much surfeit to tell you what I recognise of all that you ask me; whether it be authoritative or not, I will leave to your judgement. And I will be grateful if you ask me, for I am about to learn as much from what you ask me, as you will from me replying to you, because galore(postnominal) clock a wise enquirer causes one to consider galore(postnominal) things and understand server(predicate) others which, without having been asked, would never learn been understood.COSIMO: I loss to return to what you foremost were opineing, that my grand arrive and those of yours had more wisely imitated the ancients in rugged t hings than in delicate ones, and I pauperization to excuse my side because I will let you excuse the other (your side). I do not believe that in your time there was a man who dis alike(p)d living as mildly as he, and that he was so much a lover of that rugged life which you praise: none the less he recognized he could not practice it in his personal life, nor in that of his sons, having been natural in so corrupted an age, where anyone who indispensablenessed to depart from the common usage would be deformed and despised by everyone. For if anyone in a naked state should conquer upon the sand under the highest sun, or upon the play false in the most icy months of net profitter, as did Diogenes, he would be considered mad.If anyone (like the Spartan) should raise his children on a farm, make them sleep in the open, go with head and feet bare, bathe in cold water in array to harden them to endure vicissitudes, so that they and therefrom might love life less and fear death less, he would be praised by few and followed by none. So that dismayed at these ways of living, he cave inly leaves the ways of the ancients, and in imitating antiquity, does only that which he bay window with petty wonderment. http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/EBook. php? recordID=0523 varlet 5 of 106 Machiavelli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AM ancients, and in imitating antiquity, does only that which he endure with little(a) wonderment. FABRIZIO: You hasten excuse him powerfully in this part, and certainly you speak the equity: but I did not speak so much of these rugged ays of living, as of those other more human ways which lead a greater conformity to the ways of living at present, which I do not believe should bring in been demanding to realise by one who is numbered among the Princes of a City. I will never let go of my patterns of my roman types. If their way of living should be examined, and the institutions in their Republic, there will be observed in her many thi ngs not unacceptable to introduce in a union where there further might be something of good. COSIMO: What are those things similar to the ancients that you would introduce? FABRIZIO: To honor and reenforce virtu, not to guard disrespect for poverty, to esteem the modes and monastic orders of military discipline, to constrain citizens to love one another, to awake(p) without factions, to esteem less the private than the public good, and other such things which could easy be added in these measure.It is not tricky to persuade (people) to these ways, when one considers these at length and approaches them in the usual manner, for the truth will appear in such (examinations) that every common talent is loose of under fetching them. Anyone quarter arrange these things; (for example), one plants trees under the shadow of which he lives more happily and merrily than if he had not (planted them). COSIMO: I do not exigency to reply to anything of what you book spoken, but I do want leave to give a judgment on these, which fag end be tardily judged, and I shall calculate myself to you who accuse those who in serious and primal actions are not imitators of the ancients, thinking that in this way I potful more soft carry out my endeavors.I should want, therefore, to know from you therefore it arises that, on the one hap you condemn those who do not imitate the ancients in their actions, on the other hand, in matters of war which is your trading and in which you are judged to be delicate, it is not observed that you throw away apply any of the ancient methods, or those which drop some similarity. FABRIZIO: You rich person come to the point where I expected you to, for what I express did not merit any other question, nor did I wish for any other. And although I am able to relieve myself with a simple excuse, none the less I want, for your greater satisfaction and mine, since the chasten (weather) caters it, to enter into a much seven-day tid ings. Men who want to do something, ought freshman to prepare themselves with all perseverance, in order [when the opportunity is seen] to be prepared to fulfill that which they throw off proposed. And whenever the preparations are ensuren cautiously, unkn deliver to anyone, no none can be ccuse of default unless he is beginning(a) discovered by the former; in which if it is not then successful, it is seen that either he has not sufficiently prepared himself, or that he has not in some part customary thought to it. And as the opportunity has not come to me to be able to show the preparations I would make to bring the military to your ancient fundamental law, and it I endure not done so, I cannot be diabolic either by you or by others. I believe this excuse is adequacy to respond to your accusation. COSIMO: It would be enough if I was certain that the opportunity did not pre direct itself. http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/EBook. php? recordID=0523 Page 6 of 106 Machiav elli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AMFABRIZIO: merely because I know you could query whether this opportunity had come about or not, I want to discuss at length [if you will listen to me with patience] which preparations are required to be make branch, what occasion needs to arise, what elusivey impedes the preparations from becoming safe and the occasion from arriving, and that this is [which appears a paradox] most difficult and most easy to do. COSIMO: You cannot do anything more pleasing for me and for the others than this. unless if it is not teasing for you to speak, it will never be unspeakable for us to listen. exactly at this discussion may be long, I want help from these, my friends, and with your permission, and they and I pray you one thing, that you do not become pissed if we some generation interrupt you with some oceansonable question.FABRIZIO: I am most content that you, Cosimo, with these other young people here, should question me, for I believe that young men will become more familiar with military matters, and will more well understand what I stimulate to assign. The others, whose hair (head) is white and whose blood is icy, in part are enemies of war and in part incorrigible, as those who believe that the generation and not the evil ways constrain men to live in such a fashion. So ask anything of me, with assurance and without determine; I desire this, as much because it will afford me a little rest, as because it will give me pleasure not to leave any enquirys in your minds. I want to bulge from your words, where you said to me that in war [which is my handicraft] I collect not busy any of the ancient methods.Upon this I study, that this being a calling by which men of every time were not able to live honestly, it cannot be engaged as a craft except by a Republic or a nation; and both(prenominal) of these, if well established, will never allow any of their citizens or causes to employ it as a profession: for he who practices it will never be judged to be good, as to evolve some helpfulness from it at any time he essential be rapacious, deceitful, violent, and establish many qualities, which of necessity, do not make him good: nor can men who employ this as a profession, the great as well as the least, be make otherwise, for this profession does not provide for them in recreation.Whence they are obliged, either to hope that there will be no peace or to gain so much for themselves in times of war, that they can provide for themselves in times of peace. And wherever one of these two thoughts represents, it does not occur in a good man; for, from the desire to provide for oneself in every circumstance, robberies, violence and assassinations result, which such soldiers do to friends as well as to enemies: and from not desiring peace, there arises those deceptions which Captains perpetrate upon those whom they lead, because war hardens them: and even if peace occurs frequently, it happens tha t the leading, being deprived of their stipends and of their unchaste mode of living, raise a swag of piracy, and without any mercy sack a province.Do you not gain within the memory of events of your time, many soldiers in Italy, finding themselves without traffic because of the termination of wars, gathered themselves into very difficult gangs, calling themselves companies, and went about levying tribute on the t professs and sacking the country, without there being any remedy able to be utilise? Have you not read how the Carthaginian soldiers, when the first war they engaged in with the papistics under Matus and Spendius was ended, tumultuously chose two leaders, and enlistd a more good war against the Carthaginians than that which they had just now concluded with the http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/EBook. php? recordID=0523 Page 7 of 106 Machiavelli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AM Romans?And in the time of our fathers, Francesco Sforza, in order to be able to live honorab ly (comfortably) in times of peace, not only deceived the Milanese, in whose take over he was, but took away their liberty and became their Prince. All the other soldiers of Italy, who live employed the military as their particular profession, have been like this man; and if, through their malignity, they have not become Dukes of Milan, so much more do they merit to be censured; for without such a return [if their lives were to be examined], they all have the equivalent pull offs. Sforza, father of Francesco, constrained Queen Giovanna to throw herself into the blazonry of the ability of Aragon, having abandoned her suddenly, and left her dis fortify amid her enemies, only in order to satisfy his emulation of either levying tribute or taking the res publica.Braccio, with the same fabrication, sought to occupy the nancedom of Naples, and would have succeeded, had he not been routed and killed at Aquilla. Such evils do not result from anything else other than the existence o f men who employ the practice of soldiering as their own profession. Do you not have a proverb which strengthens my argument, which hypothecates: War makes robbers, and peace hangs them? For those who do not know how to live by another practice, and not finding any one who will support them in that, and not having so much virtu that they know how to come and live together honorably, are forced by necessity to roam the streets, and justice is forced to do away with them.COSIMO: You have made me turn this profession (art) of soldiering back just about to nothing, and I had supposed it to be the most excellent and most honorable of any: so that if you do not clarify this advance(p), I will not be well-off; for if it is as you say, I do not know whence arises the glory of Caesar, Pompey, Scipio, Marcellus, and of so many Roman Captains who are keep for their fame as the Gods. FABRIZIO: I have not yet finished discussing all that I proposed, which included two things: the one, tha t a good man was not able to undertake this practice because of his profession: the other, that a well established Republic or realm would never permit its up to(p)s or citizens to employ it for their profession. Concerning the first, I have spoken as much as has occurred to e: it remain for me to talk of the foster, where I shall reply to this get going question of yours, and I say that Pompey and Caesar, and about all those Captains who were in capital of Italy after the extreme Carthaginian war, acquired fame as venturesome men, not as good men: but those who had lived before them acquired glory as valiant and good men: which results from the fact that these latter did not take up the practice of war as their profession; and those whom I named first as those who employed it as their profession. And succession the Republic lived immaculately, no great citizen ever presumed by substance of such a practice to ameliorate himself during (periods of) peace by breaking laws, despoiling the provinces, usurping and tyrannizing the country, and shocking himself in every way; nor did anyone of the last-place fortune think of violating the sacred agreement, adhere himself to any private individual, not fearing the Senate, or to perform any disgraceful act of tyranny in order to live at all times by the profession of war.But those who were Captains, being content with the triumph, returned with a desire for the private life; and those who were members (of the army) returned with a desire to lay down the weaponry they had taken up; and everyone returned to the art (trade or profession) by which they ordinarily lived; nor was there ever anyone who hoped to provide for himself by plunder and by means of these arts. A clear and lucid example of this as it applies to great citizens can be found in the http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/EBook. php? recordID=0523 Page 8 of 106 Machiavelli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AM arts. A clear and evident example of this as it applies to great citizens can be found in the Regent Attilio, who, when he was master key of the Roman armies in Africa, and having almost defeated the Carthaginians, asked the Senate for permission to return to his set up to look after his f munition which were being spoiled by his laborers.Whence it is clearer than the sun, that if that man had practiced war as his profession, and by means of it thought to obtain some advantage for himself, having so many provinces which (he could) plunder, he would not have asked permission to return to take care of his fields, as each day he could have obtained more than the value of all his possessions. But as these good men, who do not practice war as their profession, do not expect to gain anything from it except hard work, danger, and glory, as soon as they are sufficiently glorious, desire to return to their homes and live from the practice of their own profession. As to men of lower spot and gregarious soldiers, it is also true that eve ry one voluntarily withdrew from such a practice, for when he was not competitiveness would have desired to fight, but when he was fighting cherished to be dismissed.Which illustrates the many ways, and peculiarly in seeing that it was among the first privileges, that the Roman people gave to one of its Citizens, that he should not be constrained unwillingly to fight. Rome, therefore, while she was well organized [which it was up to the time of the Gracchi] did not have one soldier who had to take up this practice as a profession, and therefore had few knotty ones, and these were severely punished. A well order City, therefore, ought to desire that this training for war ought to be employed in times of peace as an exercise, and in times of war as a necessity and for glory, and allow the public only to use it as a profession, as Rome did.And any citizen who has other repels in (using) such exercises is not good, and any City which governs itself otherwise, is not well say. COS IMO: I am very much content and satisfied with what you have said up to now, and this conclusion which you have made pleases me greatly: and I believe it will be true when expected from a Republic, but as to pansys, I do not yet know why I should believe that a King would not want particularly to have around him those who take up such a practice as their profession. FABRIZIO: A well ordered Kingdom ought so much the more avoid such artifices, for these only are the things which corrupt the King and all the Ministers in a Tyranny.And do not, on the other side, tell me of some present Kingdom, for I will not admit them to be all well ordered Kingdoms; for Kingdoms that are well ordered do not give out-and-out(a) (power to) Rule to their Kings, except in the armies, for only there is a quick decision necessary, and, therefore, he who (rules) there mustinessiness have this unique power: in other matters, he cannot do anything without focal point, and those who counsel him have to fear those whom he may have near him who, in times of peace, desire war because they are unable to live without it. But I want to survive a little longstanding on this overmaster, and look for a Kingdom totally good, but similar to those that exist today, where those who take up the profession of war for themselves still ought to be feared by the King, for the sinews of armies without any discredit are the base.So that if a King does not organize himself in such a way that his infantry in time of peace are content to return to their homes and live from the practice of their own professions, it must happen of necessity that he will be ruined; for there is not to be found a more dangerous infantry than that which is composed of those who make the waging of war their profession; for you are http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/EBook. php? recordID=0523 Page 9 of 106 Machiavelli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AM that which is composed of those who make the waging of war their profession; for you are forced to make war invariably, or pay them of all time, or to attempt the danger that they take away the Kingdom from you. To make war always is not possible: (and) one cannot pay always; and, hence, that danger is run of losing the State.My Romans [as I have said], as long as they were wise and good, never permitted that their citizens should take up this practice as their profession, notwithstanding that they were able to raise them at all times, for they made war at all times: but in order to avoid the vilify which this continuous practice of theirs could do to them, since the times did not change, they changed the men, and kept turning men over in their legions so that every fifteen years they always solely re-manned them: and thus they desired men in the flower of their age, which is from eighteen to thirty louver years, during which time their legs, their hands, and their eyes, worked together, nor did they expect that their strength should descend in them, or t hat malice should fester in them, as they did in corrupt times. Ottavianus first, and then Tiberius, thinking more of their own power than the public usefulness, in order to rule over the Roman people more easily, begun to disarm them and to keep the same armies continually at the frontiers of the conglomerate.And because they did not think it sufficient to hold the Roman sight and the Senate in check, they instituted an army called the Praetorian (Guard), which was kept near the walls of Rome in a fort adjacent to that City. And as they now begun freely to permit men assign to the army to practice military matters as their profession, there soon resulted that these men became insolent, and they became redoubtable to the Senate and damaging to the Emperor. Whence there resulted that many men were killed because of their insolence, for they gave the Empire and took it away from anyone they wished, and it often occurred that at one time there were many Emperors created by the seve ral armies. From which state of affairs proceeded first the division of the Empire and finally its ruin.Kings ought, therefore, if they want to live securely, have their infantry composed of men, who, when it is necessary for him to wage war, will willingly go onward to it for love of him, and afterwards when peace comes, more willingly return to their homes; which will always happen if he takes men who know how to live by a profession other than this. And thus he ought to desire, with the coming of peace, that his Princes return to governing their people, gentlemen to the cultivation of their possessions, and the infantry to their particular arts (trades or professions); and everyone of these will willingly make war in order to have peace, and will not seek to disturb the peace to have war. COSIMO: Truly, this reasoning of yours appears to me well considered: none the less, as it is almost contrary to what I have thought up to now, my mind is not yet purged of every doubt.For I s ee many Lords and Gentlemen who provide for themselves in times of peace through the training for war, as do your equals who obtain provisions from Princes and the Community. I also see almost all the men at fortify rest in the garrisons of the city and of the fortresses. So that it appears to me that there is a long time of peace for everyone. FABRIZIO: I do not believe that you believe this, that everyone has a place in time of peace; for other reasons can be cited for their being stationed there, and the depleted number of people who remain in the places mentioned by you will answer your question. What is the proportion http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/EBook. php? recordID=0523 Page 10 of 106 Machiavelli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AM of infantry needed to be employed in time of war to that in peace? or while the fortresses and the city are garrisoned in times of peace, they are much more garrisoned in times of war; to this should be added the soldiers kept in the field who are a great number, but all of whom are released in time of peace. And concerning the garrisons of States, who are a miserable number, Pope Julius and you have shown how much they are to be feared who do not know any other profession than war, as you have taken them out of your garrisons because of their insolence, and rigid the Swiss there, who are born and raised under the laws and are chosen by the community in an honest resource; so do not say further that in peace there is a place for every man.As to the men at ordnance continued in their enlistment in peace time, the answer appears more difficult. None the less, whoever considers everything well, will easily find the answer, for this thing of memory on the men at arms is a corrupt thing and not good. The reason is this; as there are men who do not have any art (trade or profession), a gibibyte evils will arise every day in those States where they exist, and especially so if they were to be joined by a great number of companion s: but as they are few, and unable by themselves to constitute an army, they therefore, cannot do any serious damage. None the less, they have done so many times, as I said of Francesco and of Sforza, his father, and of Braccio of Perugia.So I do not approve of this custom of keeping men at arms, both because it is corrupt and because it can cause great evils. COSIMO: Would you do without them? , or if you keep them, how would you do so? FABRIZIO: By means of an enactment, not like those of the King of France, because they are as dangerous and insolent as ours, but like those of the ancients, who created horsemen (cavalry) from their subjects, and in times of peace sent them back to their homes to live from the practice of their own profession, as I shall discuss at length before I finish this discussion. So, if this part of the army can now live by such a practice even when there is peace, it stems from a corrupt order.As to the provisions that are speechless for me and the other leaders, I say to you that this as well as is a most corrupt order, for a wise Republic ought not to give them to anyone, preferably it ought to employ its citizens as leaders in war, and in time of peace desire that they return to their professions. Thus also, a wise King ought not to give (provisions) to them, or if he does give them, the reasons ought to be either as a vantage for some excellent act, or in order to avail himself of such a man in peace as well as in war. And because you have mentioned me, I want the example to include me, and I say I have never practiced war as a profession, for my profession is to govern my subjects, and exert them, and in order to defend them, I must love peace but know how to make war; and my King does not reward and esteem me so much for what I know of war, as because I know also how to counsel him in peace.Any King ought not, therefore, to want to have next to him anyone who is not thusly constituted, if he is wise and wants to govern pr udently; for if he has around him either too many lovers of peace or too many lovers of war, they will cause him to err. I cannot, in this first discussion of mine and according to my suggestion, say otherwise, and if this is not enough for you, you must seek one which satisfies you better. You can begin to recognize how much difficulty there is in bringing the ancient methods into modem wars, and what preparations a wise man must make, and what opportunities he can hope for to put them into execution. But little by little you will know these things better if the discussion on bringing any http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/EBook. php? recordID=0523 Page 11 of 106 Machiavelli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AM execution.But little by little you will know these things better if the discussion on bringing any part of the ancient institutions to the present order of things does not weary you. COSIMO: If we first desired to hear your discussion of these matters, sincerely what you have said up to now redoubles that desire. We thank you, therefore, for what we have had and ask you for the rest. FABRIZIO: Since this is your pleasure, I want to begin to treat of this matter from the beginning being able in that way to demonstrate it more fully, so that it may be better understood. The aim of those who want to make war is to be able to combat in the field with every (kind) of opponent, and to be able to win the employ. To want to do this, they must raise an army.In raising an army, it is necessary to find men, arm them, organize them, train them in small and large (battle) orders, lodge them, and expose them to the enemy afterwards, either at a pedestal or while marching. All the industry of war in the field is placed in these things, which are the more necessary and honored (in the waging of war). And if one does well in offering battle to the enemy, all the other errors he may make in the conduct of the war are bearable: but if he lacks this organization, even though he be valiant in other particulars, he will never carry on a war to victory (and honor). For, as one engagement that you win cancels out every other bad action of yours, so likewise, when you resort one, all the things you have done well before become useless.Since it is necessary, therefore, first to find men, you must come to the Deletto (Draft) of them, as thus the ancients called it, and which we call Scelta ( woof): but in order to call it by a more honored name, I want us to touch on the name of Deletto. Those who have raddled up regulations for war want men to be chosen from temperate countries as they have spirit and are prudent; for warm countries give rise to men who are prudent but not rich, and cold (countries) to men who are spirited but not prudent. This regulation is call back up well for one who is the Prince of all the world, and is therefore permitted to pull away men from those places that appear vanquish to him: but wanting to draw up a regulation that any one can use, one must say that every Republic and every Kingdom ought to take soldiers from their own country, whether it is hot, cold, or temperate.For, from ancient examples, it is seen that in every country, good soldiers are made by training; because where personality is lacking, industry supplies it, which, in this case, is worth more than nature: And divideing them from another place cannot be called Deletto, because Deletto means to say to take the best of a province, and to have the power to take as well those who do not want to fight as those who do want to. This Deletto therefore, cannot be made unless the places are subject to you; for you cannot take whoever you want in the countries that are not yours, but you need to take those who want to come. COSIMO: And of those who want to come, it can even be said, that they turn and leave you, and because of this, it can then be called a Deletto. FABRIZIO: In a certain way, you say what is true: but consider the defects that such as Deletto has in itself, for often it happens that it is not a Deletto.The first thing (to consider), is that those who are not your subjects and do not willingly want to fight, are not of the best, rather they are of the worst of a province; for if nay are adosome, idle, without restraint, without religion, subject to the rule of the father, blasphemous, gamblers, and in every way http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/EBook. php? recordID=0523 Page 12 of 106 Machiavelli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AM without religion, subject to the rule of the father, blasphemous, gamblers, and in every way badly brought up, they are those who want to fight, (and) these habits cannot be more contrary to a true and good military life.When there are so many of such men offered to you that they exceed the number you had designated, you can select them; but if the material is bad, it is impossible for the Deletto to be good: but many times it happens that they are not so many as (are needed) to fill the number you require: so that being forced to take them all, it results that it can no longer be called the making of a Deletto, but in enlisting of infantry. The armies of Italy and other places are raised today with these evils, except in Germany, where no one is enlisted by curb of the Prince, but according to the wishes of those who want to fight. Think, therefore, what methods of those ancients can now be introduced in an army of men put together by similar means. COSIMO: What means should be taken therefore? FABRIZIO: What I have just said: select them from your own subjects, and with the authority of the Prince. COSIMO: Would you introduce any ancient form in those thus selected?FABRIZIO: You know well it would be so; if it is a Principality, he who should education should be their Prince or an ordinary Lord; or if it is a Republic, a citizen who for the time should be Captain: otherwise it is difficult to do the thing well. COSIMO: Why? FABRIZIO: I will tell you in time: fo r now, I want this to suffice for you, that it cannot be done well in any other way. COSIMO: If you have, therefore, to make ibis Deletto in your country, whence do you judge it better to draw them, from the City or the Countryside? FABRIZIO: Those who have indite of this all agree that it is better to select them from the Countryside, as they are men disposed to discomfort, brought up on hard work, abandoned to be in the sun and avoid the shade, know how to handle the sword, dig a ditch, carry a load, and are without apt or malice.But on this subject, my opinion would be, that as soldiers are of two kinds, afoot and on ahorseback, that those afoot be selected from the Countryside, and those on horseback from the City. COSIMO: Of what age would you draw them? FABRIZIO: If I had to raise an (entirely) new army, I would draw them from seventeen to forty years of age; if the army already exists and I had to replenish it, at seventeen years of age always. COSIMO: I do not understan d this indication well. FABRIZIO: I will tell you: if I should have to organize an army where there is none, it would be necessary to select all those men who were more capable, as long as they were of military http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/EBook. php? recordID=0523 Page 13 of 106 Machiavelli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AM e necessary to select all those men who were more capable, as long as they were of military age, in order to con them as I would tell them: but if I should have to make the Deletto in places where the army was (already) organized, in order to accoutrement it, I would take those of seventeen years of age, because the others having been taken for some time would have been selected and instructed. COSIMO: Therefore you would want to make an regulation similar to that which exists in our countries. FABRIZIO: You say well: it is true that I would arm them, sea captain them, train them, and organize them, in a way which I do not know whether or not you have organize d them similarly. COSIMO: Therefore you praise the ordinance? FABRIZIO: Why would you want me to condemn it? COSIMO: Because many wise men have censured it.FABRIZIO: You say something contrary, when you say a wise man censured the ordinance: for he can be held a wise man and to have censured them wrongly. COSIMO: The wrong conclusion that he has made will always cause us to have such a opinion. FABRIZIO: agree out that the defect is not yours, but his: as that which you recognized before this discussion furnishes proof. COSIMO: You do a most sympathetic thing. But I want to tell you that you should be able to justify yourself better in that of which those men are accused. These men say thusly: either that it is useless and our trusting in it will cause us to lose the State: or it is of virtue, and he who governs through it can easily deprive her of it.They cite the Romans, who by their own arms lost their liberty: They cite the Venetians and the King of France, of whom they say th at the former, in order not to obey one of its Citizens employed the arms of others, and the King disarmed his People so as to be able to command them more easily. But they fear the unusefulness of this much more; for which uselessness they cite two principal reasons: the one, because they are unpaid; the other, for having to fight by force: because they say that they never learn anything from great men, and nothing good is ever done by force. FABRIZIO: All the reasons that you mention are from men who are not far sighted, as I shall clearly show. And first, as to the uselessness, I say to you that no army is of more use than your own, nor can an army of your own be organized except in this way.And as there is no debating over this, which all the examples of ancient history does for us, I do not want to lose time over it. And because they cite incompleteness and force, I say [as it is true] that inept experience gives rise to little spirit ( exuberance) and force makes for discon tent: but experience and enthusiasm gains for themselves the means for arming, training, and organizing them, as you will see in the first part of this discussion. But as to force, you must understand that as men are brought to the army by edict of the Prince, they have to come, whether it is http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/EBook. php? recordID=0523 Page 14 of 106 Machiavelli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AM en are brought to the army by commandment of the Prince, they have to come, whether it is entirely by force or entirely voluntarily: for if it were entirely from desire, there would not be a Deletto as only a few of them would go; so also, the (going) entirely by force would produce bad results; therefore, a middle way ought to be taken where neither the entirely forced or entirely voluntarily (means are used), but they should come, drawn by the regard they have for the Prince, where they are more afraid of of his anger then the immediate punishment: and it will always happen that t here will be a compulsion compound with willingness, from which that discontent cannot arise which causes bad effects. up to now I do not offer that an army thus constituted cannot be defeated; for many times the Roman armies were overcome, and the army of Hannibal was defeated: so that it can be seen that no army can be so organized that a promise can be apt(p) that it cannot be routed. These wise men of yours, therefore, ought not measure this uselessness from having lost one time, but to believe that just as they can lose, so too they can win and remedy the cause of the defeat.And if they should look into this, they will find that it would not have happened because of a defect in the means, but of the organization which was not sufficiently perfect. And, as I have said, they ought to provide for you, not by censuring the organization, but by correcting it: as to how this ought to be done, you will come to know little by little. As to being apprehensive that such organization will not deprive you of the State by one who makes himself a leader, I reply, that the arms carried by his citizens or subjects, given to them by laws and ordinances, never do him harm, but rather are always of some usefulness, and preserve the City uncorrupted for a longer time by means of these (arms), than without (them).Rome remained free four hundred years while armed: Sparta eight hundred: many another(prenominal) other Cities have been dis-armed, and have been free less than forty years; for Cities have need of arms, and if they do not have arms of their own, they hire them from foreigners, and the arms of foreigners more quickly do harm to the public good than their own; for they are easier to corrupt, and a citizen who becomes powerful can more readily avail himself, and can also distribute the people more readily as he has to oppress men who are disarmed. In addition to this, a City ought to fear two enemies more than one. unmatchable which avails itself of foreigners immediately has to fear not only its citizens, but the foreigners that it enlists; and, remembering what I told you a short while ago of Francesco Sforza, (you will see that) that fear ought to exist. One which employs its own arms, has not other fear except of its own Citizens.But of all the reasons which can be given, I want this one to serve me, that no one ever established any Republic or Kingdom who did not think that it should be defended by those who lived there with arms: and if the Venetians had been as wise in this as in their other institutions, they would have created a new world Kingdom; but who so much more merit censure, because they had been the first who were armed by their founders. And not having dominion on down, they armed themselves on the sea, where they waged war with virtu, and with arms in hand enlarged their country. But when the time came when they had to wage war on write downed estate to defend Venice and where they ought to have sent their own citiz ens to fight (on land), they enlisted as their captain (a foreigner), the Marquis of Mantua. This was the sinister course which prevented them from arise to the skies and expanding.And they did this in the belief that, as they knew how to wage war at sea, they should not trust themselves in waging it on land; which was an foolish belief (distrust), because a Sea captain, who is given to http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/EBook. php? recordID=0523 Page 15 of 106 Machiavelli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AM on land; which was an inexpedient belief (distrust), because a Sea captain, who is habitual to combat with winds, water, and men, could more easily become a Captain on land where the combat is with men only, than a land Captain become a sea one. And my Romans, knowing how to combat on land and not on the sea, when the war skint out with the Carthaginians who were powerful on the sea, did not enlist Greeks or Spaniards undergo at sea, but obligate that change on those citizens they se nt (to fight) on land, and they won.If they did this in order that one of their citizens should not become Tyrant, it was a fear that was given little circumstance; for, in addition to the other reasons mentioned a short while ago concerning such a proposal, if a citizen (skilled) in (the use of) arms at sea had never been made a Tyrant in a City situated in the sea, so much less would he be able to do this if he were (skilled) in (the use of arms) on land. And, because of this, they ought to have seen that arms in the hands of their own citizens could not create Tyrants, but the evil institutions of a Government are those which cause a City to be tyrannized; and, as they had a good Government, did not have to fear arms of their own citizens. They took an careless course, therefore, which was the cause of their being deprived of much glory and happiness. As to the error which the King of France makes in not having his eople disciplined to war, from what has been cited from example s previously mentioned, there is no one [devoid of some particular passion of theirs] who does not judge this defect to be in the Republic, and that this default alone is what makes it weak. But I have made too great a digression and have gotten away from my subject: yet I have done this to answer you and to show you, that no creed can be had on arms other than ones own, and ones own arms cannot be established otherwise than by way of an ordinance, nor can forms of armies be introduced in any place, nor military discipline instituted. If you have read the arrangements which the first Kings made in Rome, and most especially of Servius Tullus, you will find that the institution of classes is none other than an arrangement to be able quickly to put together an army for the defense of that City.But turning to our Deletto, I say again, that having to replenish an established (old) organization, I would take the seventeen year olds, but having to create a new one, I would take them of every age betwixt seventeen and forty in order to avail myself of them quickly. COSIMO: Would you make a variation of what profession (art) you would choose them from? FABRIZIO: These writers do so, for they do not want that bird hunters, fishermen, cooks, procurers, and anyone who makes fun his calling should be taken, but they want that, in addition to tillers of the soil, smiths and blacksmiths, carpenters, butchers, hunters, and such like, should be taken.But I would make little struggle in conjecturing from his calling how good the man may be, but how much I can use him with the greatest usefulness. And for this reason, the peasants, who are accustomed to working the land, are more useful than anyone else, for of all the professions (arts), this one is used more than any other in the army: after this, are the forgers (smiths), carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers; of whom it is useful to have many, for their skills succeed in many things, as they are a very good thing for a soldier to have, from whom you draw double service. COSIMO: How are those who are or are not commensurate to fight chosen? http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/EBook. php? recordID=0523 Page 16 of 106Machiavelli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AM FABRIZIO: I want to talk of the manner of selecting a new organization in order to make it after wards into an army; which yet also apply in the discussion of the filling that should be made in re-manning an old (established) organization. I say, therefore, that how good the man is that you have to select as a soldier is recognized either from his experience, shown by some excellent deeds of his, or by anticipate. The proof of virtu cannot be found in men who are newly selected, and who never before have been selected; and of the former, few or none are found in an organization which is newly established.It is necessary, therefore, lacking experience to have recourse to conjecture, which is derived from their age, profession, and physical appearan ce. The first two have been discussed: it remains to talk of the third. And yet I say that some have wanted that the soldier be big, among whom was Pyrrhus: Some others have chosen them only from the strength of the body, as Caesar did: which strength of body is conjectured from the composition of the members and the gracefulness of aspect. And yet some of those who write say that he should have lively and merry eyes, a nervy neck, a large breast, mesomorphic arms, long fingers, a small stomach, round hips, sleek legs and feet: which parts usually constrain a man strong and agile, which are the two things sought above everything else in a soldier.He ought, above all, to have regard for his habits and that there should be in him a (sense of) honesty and shame, otherwise there will be selected only an instrument of trouble and a beginning of corruption; for there is no one who believes that in a dishonest education and in a brutish mind, there can exist some virtu which in some part may be praiseworthy. Nor does it appear to me superfluous, rather I believe it necessary, in order for you to understand better the immensity of this selection, to tell you the method that the Roman Consuls at the start of their Magistracy observed in selecting the Roman legions. In which Deletto, because those who had to be selected were to be a mixture of new and ex-serviceman men [because of the continuing wars], they proceeded from experience with regard to the old (veteran) men, and from conjecture with regard to the new. And this ought to be noted, that these Deletti are made, either for immediate training and use, or for future employment.I have talked, and will talk, of those that are made for future employment, because my intention is to show you how an army can be organized in countries where there is no military (organization), in which countries I cannot have Deletti in order to make use of them. But in countries where it is the custom to call out armies, and by means of the Prince, these (Deletti) exist, as was observed at Rome and is today observed among the Swiss. For in these Deletti, if they are for the (selection of) new men, there are so many others accustomed to being under military orders, that the old (veteran) and new, being mixed together, make a good and united body.Notwithstanding this, the Emperors, when they began to hold fixed the (term of service of the) soldiers, placed new men in charge over the soldiers, whom they called Tironi, as teachers to train them, as is seen in the life of the Emperor Maximus: which thing, while Rome was free, was instituted, not in the army, but within the City: and as the military exercises where the young men were trained were in the City, there resulted that those then chosen to go to war, being accustomed in the method of handle warfare, could easily adapt themselves to real war. But afterwards, when these Emperors discontinued these exercises, it was necessary to employ the methods I have descr ibed to you.Arriving, therefore, at the methods of the Roman Selection, I say that, as soon as the Roman Consuls, on whom was imposed the carrying on of the war, had assumed the Magistracy, in wanting to organize their armies [as it http://oll. libertyfund. org/Home3/EBook. php? recordID=0523 Page 17 of 106 Machiavelli_0523 09/15/2005 09:27 AM carrying on of the war, had assumed the Magistracy, in wanting to organize their armies [as it was the custom that each of them had two legions of Roman men, who were the nerve (center) of their armies], created twenty four military Tribunes, proposing cardinal for each legion, who filled that office which today is done by those whom we call Constables. After they had assembled all the Roman men adept at carrying arms, and placed the Tribunes f each legion apart from each of the others. Afterwards, by lot they drew the Tribes, from which the first Selection was to be made, and of that Tribe they selected four of their best men, from whom on e was selected by the Tribunes of the first legion, and of the other three, one was selected by the Tribunes of the minute of arc legion; of the other two, one was selected by the Tribunes of the third, and that last belonged to the poop legion. After these four, four others were selected, of whom the first man was selected by the Tribunes of the second legion, the second by those of the third, the third by those of the fourth part, the fourth remained to the first.After, another four were chosen: the first man was selected by the (Tribunes of the) third (legion), the second by the fourth, the third by the first, the fourth remained to the second. And thus this method of selection changed successively, so that the selection came to be equal, and the legions equalized. And as we said above, this was done where the men were to be used immediately: and as it was formed of men of whom a good part were experienced in real warfare, and everyone in mock battles, this Deletto was able to be establish on conjecture and experience. But when a new army was to be organized and the selection made for future employment, this Deletto cannot be based except on conjecture, which is done by age and physical appearance.COSIMO: I believe what you have said is entirely true: but before you pass on to other discussion, I want to ask about one thing which you have made me remember, when you said that the Deletto which should be made where these men are not accustomed to fighting should be done by conjecture: for I have comprehend our organization censured in many of its parts, and especially as to number; for many say that a lesser number ought to be taken, of whom those that are drawn would be better and the selection better, as there would not be as much severeness imposed on the men, and some reward given them, by means of which they would be more content and could be better commanded. Whence I would like to know your opinion on this part, and if you preferred a greater rath er than a small number, and what methods you would use in selecting both numbers. FABRIZIO: Without doubt the greater number is more delectable and more necessary than the smaller: rather, to say better, where a great number are not available, a perfect organization cannot be made, and I will easily refute all the reasons cited in promote of this. I say, therefore, first, that where there are many people, as there are for example inTuscany, does not cause you to have better ones, or that the Deletto is more selective; for desiring in the selection of men to judge them on the basis of experience, only a very few would probably be found in that country who would have had this experience, as much because few have been in a war, as because of those few who have been, very few have ever been put to the test, so that because of this they merit to be chosen before the others: so that whoever is in a similar situation should select them, must leave experience to one side and take them by conjecture: and if I were brought to such a necessity, I would want to see, if twenty young men of good physical appearance should come before me, with what rule rule I ought to take some or spurn some: h\r\n'