may
not easily be met with, yet if the majority of the state should happen
to be good men, should they prefer one uncorrupt governor or many
equally good, is it not evident that they should choose the many? But
there may be divisions among [1286b] these which cannot happen when
there is but one. In answer to this it may be replied that all their
souls will be as much animated with virtue as this one man's.

If then a government of many, and all of them good men, compose an
aristocracy, and the government of one a kingly power, it is evident
that the people should rather choose the first than the last; and this
whether the state is powerful or not, if many such persons so alike
can be met with: and for this reason probable it was, that the first
governments were generally monarchies; because it was difficult to find
a number of persons eminently virtuous, more particularly as the world
was then divided into small communities; besides, kings were appointed
in return for the benefits they had conferred on mankind; but such
actions are peculiar to good men: but when many persons equal in virtue
appeared at the time, they brooked not a superiority, but sought after
an equality and established a free state; but after this, when they
degenerated, they made a property of the public; which probably gave
rise to oligarchies; for they made wealth meritorious, and the honours
of government were reserved for the rich: and these afterwards turned
to tyrannies and these in their turn gave rise to democracies; for
the power of the tyrants continually decreasing, on account of their
rapacious avarice, the people grew powerful enough to frame and
establish democracies: and as cities after that happened to increase,
probably it was not easy for them to be under any other government than
a democracy. But if any person prefers a kingly government in a state,
what is to be done with the king's children? Is the family also to
reign? But should they have such children as some persons usually have,
it will be very detrimental. It may be said, that then the king who
has it in his power will never permit such children to succeed to his
kingdom. But it is not easy to trust to that; for it is very hard and
requires greater virtue than is to be met with in human nature. There is
also a doubt concerning the power with which a king should be entrusted:
whether he should be allowed force sufficient to compel those who do
not choose to be obedient to t