s is
no honor. French and English castle-life, and the robber-knighthood
of Germany, he argues, are barbarous. Lorenzo pleads the authority
of Aristotle in favor of noble blood; Poggio contests the passage
quoted, and shows the superiority of the Latin word 'nobilitas'
(distinction) over the Greek term [Greek: _eugeneia_] (good birth).
The several kinds of aristocracy in Italy are then discussed. In
Naples the nobles despise business and idle their time away. In Rome
they manage their estates. In Venice and Genoa they engage in
commerce. In Florence they either take to mercantile pursuits or
live upon the produce of their land in idleness. The whole way of
looking at the subject betrays a liberal and scientific spirit,
wholly free from prejudice. Machiavelli ('Discorsi,' i. 55) is very
severe on the aristocracy, whom he defines as 'those who live in
idleness on the produce of their estates, without applying
themselves to agriculture or to any other useful occupation.' He
points out that the Venetian nobles are not properly so called,
since they are merchants. The different districts of Italy had
widely different conceptions of nobility. Naples was always
aristocratic, owing to its connection with France and Spain. Ferrara
maintained the chivalry of courts. Those states, on the other hand,
which had been democratized, like Florence, by republican customs,
or like Milan, by despotism, set less value on birth than on talent
and wealth. It was not until the age of the Spanish ascendency
(latter half of sixteenth century) that Cosimo I. withdrew the young
Florentines from their mercantile pursuits and enrolled them in his
order of S. Stephen, and that the patricians of Genoa carried
daggers inscribed 'for the chastisement of villeins.'

The precepts which are laid down for the use of his acquirements and his
general conduct, resolve themselves into a strong recommendation of tact
and caution. The courtier must study the nature of his prince, and show
the greatest delicacy in approaching him, so as to secure his favor, and
to avoid wearying him with importunities. In tendering his advice he
must be modest; but he should make a point of never sacrificing his own
liberty of judgment. To obey his master in dishonorable things would be
a derogation from his dignity; and if he discovers any meanness in the
character of the p