Evening star., 1928-05-20
The Story of Civilization
Continued from Third page.l

organizes q state. or lays down laws In
St. must necessarily assume that all
men are had, and that they viii follow
the wickedneSS Of their own hearts
whenever they have q free opportunity
to do SO. Men never do good
except through necessity"
Conception Of the State.
what enobles this mass of human
raw material. Machiavelli thinks, is
neaderShip. genius that takes the clay
and moldS &c into organized grandeuI
and power. Machiavelh idealises the
state and Its master. because the
state is with him still an ideal, briliian;
with the colors of imagination; it is
shot yet reality. imperfect and regret
HAble, blotched with a thousand sins:
not for four years yet will Luther pin
his thesis to the door of Wittenberg
5Church and begin the age Of states and
NnationS. But what a prefnonition of all
Mhis lies In the prince. Here Europe be-
s1RinS to be conscious OF itself: recognizes
fhe decay Of the Catholic theology and
Nhe reappearance OF pagan morals have
ssnade the church unable to continue its
SWAY over the turbulent continent: a
Enew system of order must come. Re-
1igion may remain, but only as means,
rs mystic sanction for laws whose real
source and ultimate assurance are IN
some dominating viii; but the leader
himself will not believe: he viii be be-
yond good and evil. above all theology
and all morals.
So Machiavelli hopes. He filings him
1kelf angrily against all moral limitations
on the state: laws are made by the
state, not for It; they apply within It,
not to its OWE conduct or its relations
ayrl~ 4x-sTl fhNYls
no morality among nations. when 1t
&c an absolute question of the welfare
of our country. then justice or injustice,
mercy or cruelty - must be set aside,
and we must seek only whatever course
may preserve the existence and liberty
spf the state II is useless TO try TO be
tvirtuous in power. Good men" says
AEachiavelli. 'are always pauperS.
ror there is such q distance between
how men do live and how men ought
TO live that he who leaves that which
is done for that which ought to be done
Hearns sooner his destruction than his
preservation. and the man who follows
honesty in all his actions must needs
go TO ruin among SO many that are dis
honest"
( Obviously. virtue must be REDEEMED
We must cleanse and renew ourselves
by going back to our origins and fresh
sening our roots. What did the Romans
@mean by virtue? They meant virility:
they meant thai masculine combination
fof intellect and power Of character,
force Of decision and action with clarity
of perception and thought which We
see in Caesar, the greatest Roman of
Nhem all With Marcus Aurelfus virtue
Becomes Christian. and Rome becomes
&enile and weak. The weak are always
- N1-n w4~ Dc
hon. IN this world not Of justice, but
sof fora ed intelIetto. II the people can
sOverthrcw O government by force or
Cumming. very well; let them do il and
DE praised: but If they are put down,
the government by that very fact
demonstrates its fitness for rule; above
hi things q society needs discipline,
obedience. and leadership.
Might Makes Right.
The ideal government, then. is that
bf the dictator. for his rise shows his
ability, and 1t Is vel that all the nation
klaould follow such man. THE wise
Aounder OF q commonwealth who aims
mot at personal power but at the gen.
&raI eood ought TO use every
kdort to obtain exclusive and full au-
Hhority: and no wise intellect viii ever
ind fault with any extraordinary action
employed by him For though
che act accuses him. the result excuses
nina Therefore the conduct Of
1Caesar BWgia. 50 bitterly denounced
1n Florence. Is perfectly just from the
kxalted point Of view of state necessity:
#t would be well for the rulers Of
%F1orence to follow his example, and
Verge by their strength and win the
IHnntty Of Italy. II should not well
Nmow what better rules might give 70
y new prince than the pattern OF
Caesar RCrgia's actions" Only through
such O man win italy be lifted up to
tta place among the nations.
Did Italy listen? Lorenzo acknowl-
edged the dedication, sent the author
kw0 TASKS Of wine, and forgot him and
his book In 1927. when Machiavelli
1was an old man Of So years, his name
was proposed again as secretary Of the
sFlorenfine Republic - votes we're cast
for him. ES5 against. Within few
months Og that parting blow he died,
enyytng peasants who cannot think.
"A Spirit That Survives.
his morals. which shock us. did not
shock his time: they expressed his time.
no one vas disturbed by them: Pope
Clement VII pasxonized the publication
OF Machiaveiflfs works. Some ruling
families complained that he had di-
Ezllged the secrets Of government. but
Is there was little fear of his book
failing into the hands Of the proletariat.
or piercing their comprehension. no one
took the matter very seriously. The
italians have good nose for hypocrisy.
and By contrast they liked the brave
randor Of this imaginary despot. Ma
poleon carried the prince 70 Egypt With
him, and his profusely annotated copy
was found II his carriage at Waterloo.
And at this moment 1t is the spirit of
MachiayeIh that rules and unites Italy.
As for US. Machiayeli. can have no
horrors: We have studied q little his
tory. and have looked occasionally be-
n3in6 the show windows Of democracy.
Merry probably he was wrong. and ends
that require brutal means are not worth
the blood they spill. but "girtuous in
Gigaztion at mis- expense" as old Burck-
hsxot said. "n thrown away on us. who
have seen In what sense political
morality is understood by the states
1nen Of CUR own century" We thank
JEaciaiavelli, as Bacon did. for describ-
ing how men behave, rather than how
they should behave: little realism is q
tonic for our ideals. We shall know the
the despot for what he is the next time
he falls 10 our lot, and though we
a1ail IN ali likelihood be unable To
GepoSe him, We shall destroy him with
p1r smiles a. the top Of his game.
Tragedy Of Wrong Choice.
Pass now from northern 10 southern
1taiy. aid look az the little town Of
1z0la, near Naples and VeeuyiuK. Here.
IN 1913. the most passionate Of phlloSo-
asi1ere was born, with half the fire Of
the volcano In iais blood To his FAM
3ly name, Bruno, he added the name
G1ordano when, At 10, he plunged into
q Dominican monastery. II was a
pivotal mistake. On which great tFag~
edy was 70 hang: he was 70 FeTnar9
sadly that IL the first button Of ones