When a Nation is in war, the presence of a deliberative body is injurious and often fatal. The turbulent, the ambitious greedy of distinction, of popularity, of power, erect themselves by their own authority into advocates of the people, defending those who are not attacked, as advisers of the Prince, they will know all, rule all, direct all, they become successively censors, factious and rebels. There is no Nation however small which had the right to set itself free, that has not rescued itself from the dishonour of obeying the Prince imposed by an enemy in the hour of victory.
Patriotism is a word which represents a noble idea.
The fate of a Nation may sometimes depend upon the position of a fortress. It strengthens the bonds between nations to have the same civil laws and the same monetary system. In a conquered country benevolence is not humanitarianism. It is a general political axiom that a conqueror must not inspire a good opinion of his benevolence until he has demonstrated that he can be severe with malefactors. Nothing renders a nation so despicable as religious despotism.