Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A50367
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A true copy of a letter written by N. Machiavill in defence of himself and his religion translated from an original copy.
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Neville, Henry, 1620-1694.; Machiavelli, Niccolò, 1469-1527. Works. English. 1675.
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1691
(1691)
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Wing M141; ESTC R4918
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22,326
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35
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turvy and never stick at any thing for if once he halt he will fall and never rise again I hope after this I need say little to justify my self from the Calumny of advising these Monsters to break their Faith since to keep it is to lose their Empire Faithfulness and Sincerity being their mortal Enemies And Vguccione della Faggivola to one who upbraided him that he never employ'd honest Men answered honest Men will cut my throat let the King use honest Men meaning the King of Naples who was Established in this Throne and had right to it But that I may have occasion to justify my self against a little more than I am accused of I will confess that in a Work where I desired to be a little more serious than I was in this Book of the Prince I did affirm that in what way soever Men defended their Country whether by breaking or keeping their Faith it was ever well defended not meaning in a strict moral sence or point of Honour but explaining my self that de facto the infamy of the breach of word would quickly be forgotten and pardon'd by the World which is very true nay what if I had said that good success in any Enterprize a far less consideration than Piety to our Country would have cancel'd the blame of such a perfidy I might have alledged a thousand Examples for the truth of this to take one for all we see the treachery which Caesar whom I compare to Cataline used toward his fellow Citizens not only not detested by Posterity but even crowned with Renown and immortal Fame insomuch as Princes to this day as I have observed elsewhere think it an honour to be compared to him and the highest pitch of Veneration their Flatterers can arrive to is to call them by the name of one who violated his Faith and Enslav'd his Country I hope that in shewing as well these Tyrants as the poor People who are forced to live under them their danger that is by laying before the former the hellish and precipitous Courses they must use to maintain their Power and by representing to the latter what they must suffer I may be Instrumental first to deter private Citizens from attempting upon the Liberties of their Country or if they have done it to make them lay down their ill-gotten Authority and then to warn the rest of the Nobility and People from those Factions and Malignancies in their several Commonwealths and Governments which might give hope and opportunity to those who are Ambitious amongst them to aspire to an Empire over them However it prove I hope I am no more to be blamed for my attempt than that Excellent Physician of our Nation is who hath lately taken so much pains to compose an excellent Treatise of that foul Disease which was not long since brought from the New World into these parts wherein though he be forced to use such expressions as are almost able to nauseate his Readers and talk of such Ulcers Boils Nodes Botches Cankers c. that are scarce fit to be repeated especially when he handles the Causes of those Effects yet he did not intend to teach or exhort Men to get this Disease much less did he bring this lamentable infirmity into the World but describes it faithfully as it is to the end Men may be deterr'd and avoid the being infected with it and may discern and Cure it when ever their incontinence and folly shall procure it them I shall say no more in this matter but to conclude all make a protestation that as well in this Book as in all my other Writings my only scope and design is to promote the interest and welfare of Mankind and the peace and quiet of the World both which I am so vain as to believe would be better obtained and provided for if the Principles I lay down were followed and observed by Princes and People than they are like to be by those Maximes which are in this Age most in vogue For my self I shall only say and call you all to Witness for the Truth of it that as by my Birth I am a Gentleman and of a Family which hath had many Chief Magistrates of Justice in it so I have been used in many Employments of Great Trust both in our City and Abroad and at this Hour I am am not in my Estate one Penny the better for them all nor should I have been although I had never suffered any Losses by the Seizure of my Estate in the Year 1531. For my Carriage it hath ever been void of Faction and Contention I never had any Prejudice against the House of Medici but Honoured the Persons of all those of that Family whom I knew and the Memory of such of them as Liv'd before me whom I acknowledge to have been Excellent Patriots and Pillars of our City and Common-wealth During the turbulent times of Piero and after his Expulsion out of Florence though my Imployments were but Ministerial my Advice was ask'd in many Grave Matters which I ever delivered with Impartiality and Indifference not espousing the Heady Opinions of any much less their Passions and Animosities I never sided with any Party further than that the Duty of my Charge oblig'd me to serve the prevailing Party when possest of the Government of our City this I speak for those Changes which happen'd between the Flight of the said Piero de Medici and the Horrid Parricide committed by Clement the 7 th upon his Indulgent Mother joyning with his greatest Enemies and uniting himself with those who had used the most Transcendent Insolence to his own Person and the highest Violence and Fury the Sun ever saw to his poor Courtiers and Subjects that so accompany'd he might Sheath his Sword in the Bowels of his own Desolate Country At that time and during that whole Siege I must confess I did break the Confines of my Neutrality and not only Acted as I was commanded barely but rouz'd my self and stirr'd up others Haranguing in the streets and places of the City the People to defend with the last drop of their Blood the Walls of their Country and the Liberty of their Government taking very hazardous Journeys to Ferruccio and the rest into the Mugello and other parts to bring in Succours and Provisions to our languishing City and Acting as a Soldier which was a new Profession to me at the Age of above Sixty when others are Dispenced from it For all which I had so intire a Satisfaction in my Mind and Conscience that I am perswaded this Cordial made me able to support the Sufferings which befell me after our Catastrophe and to rejoyce in them so far that all the Malice and Cruelty of our Enemies could never draw one word from me unsuitable to the Honour I thought I merited and did in some sort enjoy for being instrumental to defend as long as it was possible our Altars and our Hearths But all that I have undergone hath been abundantly Recompenced to me by the Favour and Courtesie of the Most Excellent Seigneur Cosimo who hath been pleas'd to offer me all the Preferments the greatest Ambition could aspire to which I did not refuse out of any scruple to serve so incomparable a Prince whose Early Years manifest so much Courage Humanity and Prudence and so Fatherly a care of the Publick Good but because I was very desirous not to accept of a Charge which I was not able to perform my Years and Infirmities having now brought me to a Condition in which I am fitter to live in a Cloyster than a Palace and made me good for nothing but to talk of past times the common Vice of Old Age so that I did not think it Just or Grateful to Reward this Excellent Person so ill for his Kindness as to give him an useless Servant and to fill up the place of a far better This is all I think fit to say of this matter I chuse to address it to you Messieur Zenobio for the constant Friendship I have ever Entertain'd with you and formerly with your Deceased Father the Companion of my Studies and Ornament of our City And so I bid you Farewell This 1st of April 1537. FINIS
Condition it then is I mean to defend it from being Changed or Invaded by the Craft or Force of any Man although it be the Prince or Chief Magistrate himself provided that such taking up of Arms be Commanded or Authorised by those who are by the Orders of that Government legally intrusted with the Custody of the Liberty of the People and Foundation of the Government This I hold to be so far from Rebellion that I believe it laudable nay the Duty of every Member of such Commonwealth for that he who Fights to Support and Defend the Government he was born and lives under cannot deserve the odious name of Rebel but he who endeavours to destroy it If this be not granted it will be in vain to frame any mixt Monarchies in the World yet such is at this day the happy Form under which almost all Europe lives as the People of France Spain German Poland Swethland Denmark c. Wherein the Prince hath his share and the People theirs which last if they had no means of recovering their Rights if taken from them or defending them if invaded would be in the same Estate as if they had no Title to them but liv'd under the Empire of Turkey or of Muscovey And since they have no other Remedy but by Arms and that it would be of ill Conquence to make every private man judge when the Rights of the People to which they have as lawful a Claim as the Prince to his are Invaded which would be apt to produce frequent and sometimes causeless Tumults therefore it hath been the great Wisdom of the Founders of such Monarchies to appoint Guardians to their Liberty which if it be not otherwise exprest is and ought to be understood to reside in the Estates of the Country which for that Reason as also to exercise their share in the Soveraignty as making Laws Levying Money c. are frequently to be Assembled in all those Regions in Europe before mentioned These are to assert and maintain the Orders of the Government and the Laws established and if it cannot be done otherwise to arm the People to defend them and repel the force that is upon them Nay the Government of Aragon goes further and because in the intervals of the Estates or Courts many accidents may intervene to the prejudice of their Rights or Fueros as they call them they have during the intermission appointed a Magistrate called El Iusticia who is by the Law and Constiâ—ution of that Kingdom to Assemble the whole People to his Banner whenever such Rights are incroacht upon who are not only justified by the Laws for such coming together but are severely punishable in case of refusal So that there is no question but that if the Kings of Aragon at this day very powerful by the addition of the Naples Kingdom and of Sicily and the Union with Castile should in time to come Invade their Kingdom of Aragon with the Forces of their New Dominions and endeavour to take from them the Rights and Priviledges they enjoy lawfully by their Constitution There is no question I say but they may though their King be there in person against them Assemble under their Iusticia and defend their Liberties with as much Justice as if they were Invaded by the French or by the Turk For it were absurd to think since the People may be legally assembled to apprehend Banditti Robbers nay to deliver a Possession forceably detain'd against the Sentence of some inferiour Court that they may and ought not to bestir themselves to keep in being and preserve that Government which maintains them in possession of their Liberty and Property and defends their Lives too from being Arbitrarily taken away But I know this clear Truth receives opposition in this unreasonable and corrupt Age when Men are more prone to Flatter the Lusts of Princes than formerly and the Favourites are more impatient to bear the impartiality of Laws than the Sonâ— of Brutus were who complain'd Legâ—s esse Surdas that is though they were fine Gentlemen in favour with the Ladies and Ministers of the King's â—leasures vet they could not Oppress Drink Whore nor Kill the Sbiri Officers of Justice in the Streets returning from their Night Revels but the Execution of the Laws would reach them as well â—s others who in the times of Tarquin it seems found the Prince more exorable Nay the very Divines themselves help with their fallacies to oppugne this Doctrine by making us believe as I said before that it is God's will all Princes should be absolute and are so far in a Conspiracy against Mankind that they assert that in the Text This shall the manner of your King be God was giving that People the Ius Divinum of Government when in truth he was threatning then with the Plagues of Monarchy But I spare the Divines here since I shall have occasion in Discoursing of my next Accusation to shew how that sort of People have dealt with God's Truths and with the Interests of Men and to be as good as my word I shall presently fall upon that Point having been so tedious already in the former I am charged then in the Second place with Impiety in villifying the Church and so to make way for Atheism I do not deny but that I have very frequently in my Writings laid the blame upon the Church of Rome not only for all the Misgovernment of Christendom but even for the depravation and almost total Destruction of Christian Religion it self in this Province But that this Discourse of mine doth or can tend to teach Men Impiety or to make way for Atheism I peremptorily deny and although for proof of my innocence herein I need but refer you and all others to my Papers themselves as they are now Published where you will find all my Reasons drawn from Experience and frequent Examples cited which is ever my way of arguing yet since I am put upon it I shall in a few Lines make that matter possibly a little clearer and shall first make protestation that as I do undoubtedly hope by the Merits of Christ and by Faith in him to attain Eternal Salvation so I do firmly Believe the Christian Profession to be the only true Religion now in the World Next I am fully perswaded that all Divine Verities which God then designed to teach the World are contained in the Books of Holy Scripture as they are now extant and received amongst us From them I understand that God Created Man in Purity and Innocence and that the first of that Species by their frailty lost at once their Integrity and their Paradise and intail'd Sin and Misery upon their Posterity That Almighty God to repair this loss did out of his infinite Mercy and with unparallel'd Grace and Goodness send his only Begotten Son into the World to teach us new Truths to be a perfect Example of Vertue Goodness and Obedience to restore true Religion degenerated amongst the