, the puritan, and the evil thinker. The people must
obey the State and fight and die for its salvation, and for the Prince
the hatred of the subjects is never good, but their love, and the best
way to gain it is by 'not interrupting the subject in the quiet
enjoyment of his estate.' Even so bland and gentle a spirit as the poet
Gray cannot but comment, 'I rejoice when I see Machiavelli defended or
illustrated, who to me appears one of the wisest men that any nation in
any age hath produced.'

[Sidenote: The Art of War.]

Throughout both _The Prince_ and the _Discorsi_ are constant allusions
to, and often long discussions on, military affairs. The Army profoundly
interested Machiavelli both as a primary condition of national existence
and stability, and also, as he pondered upon the contrast between
ancient Rome and the Florence that he lived in, as a subject fascinating
in itself. His _Art of War_ was probably published in 1520. Before that
date the Florentine Secretary had had some personal touch both with the
theory and practice of war. As a responsible official in the camp before
Pisa he had seen both siege work and fighting. Having lost faith in
mercenary forces he made immense attempts to form a National Militia,
and was appointed Chancellor of the Nove della Milizia. In Switzerland
and the Tyrol he had studied army questions. He planned with Pietro
Navarro the defence of Florence and Prato against Charles V. At Verona
and Mantua in 1509, he closely studied the famous siege of Padua. From
birth to death war and battles raged all about him, and he had personal
knowledge of the great captains of the Age. Moreover, he saw in Italy
troops of every country, of every quality, in every stage of discipline,
in every manner of formation. His love of ancient Rome led him naturally
to the study of Livy and Vegetius, and from them with regard to
formations, to the relative values of infantry and cavalry and other
points of tactics, he drew or deduced many conclusions which hold good
to-day. Indeed a German staff officer has written that in reading the
Florentine you think you are listening to a modern theorist of war. But
for the theorist of those days a lion stood in the path. The art of war
was not excepted from the quick and thorough transformation that all
earthly and spiritual things were undergoing. Gunpowder, long invented,
was being applied. Armour, that, since the beginning, had saved both man
and horse, had now los