Florence, the City of Intelligence—­Cupidity, Curiosity, and the Love of Beauty—­Florentine Historical Literature—­Philosophical Study of History—­Ricordano Malespini—­Florentine History compared with the Chronicles of other Italian Towns—­The Villani—­The Date 1300—­Statistics—­Dante’s Political Essays and Pamphlets—­Dino Compagni—­Latin Histories of Florence in Fifteenth Century—­Lionardo Bruni and Poggio Bracciolini—­The Historians of the First Half of the Sixteenth Century—­Men of Action and Men of Letters; the Doctrinaires—­Florence between 1494 and 1537—­Varchi, Segni, Nardi, Pitti, Nerli, Guicciardini—­The Political Importance of these Writers—­The Last Years of Florentine Independence, and the Siege of 1529—­State of Parties—­Filippo Strozzi—­Different Views of Florentine Weakness taken by the Historians—­Their Literary Qualities—­Francesco Guicciardini and Niccolo Machiavelli—­Scientific Statists—­Discord between Life and Literature—­The Biography of Guicciardini—­His ’Istoria d’Italia,’ ‘Dialogo del Reggimento di Firenze,’ ‘Storia Fiorentina,’ ’Ricordi’—­Biography of Machiavelli—­His Scheme of a National Militia—­Dedication of ’The Prince’—­Political Ethics of the Italian Renaissance—­The ’Discorsi’—­The Seven Books on the Art of War and the ’History of Florence.  P. 246.

CHAPTER VI.

‘The prince’ of Machiavelli.

The Sincerity of Machiavelli in this Essay—­Machiavellism—­His deliberate Formulation of a cynical political Theory—­Analysis of ’The Prince’—­Nine Conditions of Principalities—­The Interest of the Conqueror acknowledged as the sole Motive of his Policy—­Critique of Louis xii.—­Feudal Monarchy and Oriental Despotism—­Three Ways of subduing a free City—­Example of Pisa—­Principalities founded by Adventurers—­Moses, Romulus, Cyrus, Theseus—­Savonarola—­Francesco Sforza—­Cesare Borgia—­Machiavelli’s personal Relation to him—­Machiavelli’s Admiration of Cesare’s Genius—­A Sketch of Cesare’s Career—­Concerning those who have attained to Sovereignty by Crimes—­Oliverotto da Fermo—­The Uses of Cruelty—­Messer Ramiro d’ Orco—­The pessimistic Morality of Machiavelli—­On the Faith of Princes—­Alexander vi.—­The Policy of seeming virtuous and honest—­Absence of chivalrous Feeling in Italy—­The Military System of a powerful Prince—­Criticism of Mercenaries and Auxiliaries—­Necessity of National Militia—­The Art of War—­Patriotic Conclusion of the Treatise—­Machiavelli and Savonarola P. 334.

CHAPTER VII.

The popes of the renaissance.

The Papacy between 1447 and 1527—­The Contradictions of the Renaissance
Period exemplified by the Popes—­Relaxation of their hold over the
States of the Church and Rome during the Exile in Avignon—­Nicholas
V.—­His Conception of a Papal Monarchy—­Pius ii.—­The