views of men and morals
adopted in my previous chapters.

After touching on the sack of Prato and the consternation which ensued
in Florence, Vettori describes the return of the Medici in 1512.
Giuliano, the son of Lorenzo, was the first to appear: after him came
the Cardinal Giovanni, and Giuliano's son Giulio.[1] The elder among
their partisans persuaded them to call a Parlamento and assume the
government in earnest. On September 16, accordingly, the Cardinal took
possession of the palace, _fece pigliare il Palazzo_; the Signory
summoned the people into the piazza--a mere matter of form; a Balia of
forty men was appointed; the Gonfalonier Ridolfi resigned; and the city
was reduced to the will and pleasure of the Cardinal de' Medici. Then
reasons sons Vettori:[2] 'This was what is called an absolute tyranny;
yet, speaking of the things of this world without prejudice and
according to the truth, I say that if it were possible to institute
republics like that imagined by Plato, or feigned to exist in Utopia by
Thomas More, we might affirm they were not tyrannical governments: but
all the commonwealths or kingdoms I have seen or read of, have, it seems
to me, a savor of tyranny. Nor is it a matter for astonishment that
parties and factions have often prevailed in Florence, and that one man
has arisen to make himself the chief, when we reflect that the city is
very populous, that many of the burghers desire to share in its
advantages, and that there are few prizes to distribute: wherefore one
party always must have the upper hand and enjoy the honors and benefits
of the state, while the other stands by to watch the game.' He then
proceeds to criticise France, where the nobles alone bear arms and pay
no taxes, and where the administration of justice is slow and expensive;
and Venice, where three thousand gentlemen keep more than 100,000 of the
inhabitants below their feet, unhonored, powerless, unprivileged,
oppressed. Having demonstrated the elements of tyranny and injustice
both in a kingdom and a commonwealth reputed prosperous and free, he
shows that, according to his own philosophy, no blame attaches to a
burgher who succeeds in usurping the sole mastery of a free state,
provided he rule wisely; for all kingdoms were originally founded either
by force or by craft. 'We ought not therefore to call that private
citizen a tyrant who has usurped the government of his state, if he be a
good man; nor again to call a man the r