A Conversation with Machiavelli · Pair 18 of 39
Editor's summary Machiavelli holds that a new prince who does not turn to civil life does best to make everything new: the methods are most cruel, but whoever rejects the good path and would keep his state should take the other. Guicciardini sorts the cases by the people: where a change of prince matters little and lawful rule is unfamiliar, strong remedies are unnecessary; where the inclination is contrary, a kingdom long under one line one could hope to win by good treatment, but a people inclined to liberty requires them. Therefore what benefits can win should be won, since violent remedies, though they secure, weaken, above all a prince without his own arms; therefore the prince needs the spirit for extraordinary remedies when necessary, and the prudence to miss no chance for humanity and benefits, not taking as an absolute rule what Machiavelli says, who always liked such remedies beyond measure.
Un Principe nuovo in una Città o Provincia presa da lui, debbe fare ogni cosa nuova.
A new prince, in a city or province taken by him, must make every thing new.
Argument. The case before the precept. The subject is any new prince of a city or a state who does not turn his rule, by kingdom or by republic, to civil life; weak foundations make the precept the more pressing, they do not define the case. That is the prince I.25 set aside at its close: whoever would order an absolute power by the path of a republic or a kingdom must keep the shadow of the ancient ways, whoever would make the absolute power the authors call tyranny must renew every thing. For this prince the best remedy for holding the principate is to make every thing anew in the state. The instances follow in a run of infinitives: new governments with new names, new authority, new men; making the poor rich.
History. David, the shepherd made king (1 Samuel 16 to 2 Samuel 5), is joined to a verse of the Magnificat, Mary's song in Luke 1.53, which Machiavelli makes a relative clause on David by adding qui. The verse's reversal of hungry and rich is the programme in small: those raised by the new prince owe him everything.
Argument. The list goes on from offices to the land and the people: build new cities, unmake some of the old, move the inhabitants, leave nothing intact, and, coordinated with these, that there be no degree, order, standing or wealth which its holder does not acknowledge as from the prince. Here the sentence turns to "you", as if the precept were spoken to the prince, and back to the third person for the model, Philip of Macedon, who with these ways rose from a small king to prince of Greece; of whom, Machiavelli reports, one who writes of him says that he used to move men from province to province as herdsmen move their herds. questi modi, "these ways", enters here, and the verdict will be pronounced on it.
History. Philip II (r. 359-336 BC) won the hegemony of Greece at Chaeronea in 338 BC. Machiavelli does not name the writer; Justin's epitome of Pompeius Trogus (8.5-6) is the likeliest source, where Philip transfers peoples and cities as shepherds drive their flocks now to winter, now to summer pastures. The 1554 edition has the perfect, "transferred", where the 1824 has the imperfect of habit.
Argument. The verdict falls on the same modi named with Philip: these ways are most cruel, enemies of every way of living, not only Christian but human, and any man (the chapter's first word again) must flee them and wish rather to live a private man than be king with such ruin of men. That condemnation is unreserved. Then Nondimeno: whoever will not take that first path of the good, when he wishes to maintain himself, it is fitting that he enter this ill. The necessity is conditional on two acts of will, refusing the good and wishing to maintain oneself, and the verdict is not withdrawn by it. The middle paths that men take are called most damaging, because men do not know how to be wholly good or wholly bad.
Cross-reference. Guicciardini divides the case by the people the prince takes over, not by the prince Guicciardini .01. For those inclined to liberty he grants strong remedies but would have the prince gain by benefits whatever part can be gained; whether that mixture is one of the middle paths condemned here is the reader's question, not one either author poses. Guicciardini closes on Machiavelli's taste for extraordinary remedies; set beside this paragraph's verdict on the same ways, the edition leaves the two to stand together.
Text. The last clause promises an example in "the present chapter". The example, Giovampagolo Baglioni, who had Julius II in his power at Perugia and did not dare to use it, is the matter of I.27, whose rubric takes up the clause (Sanno rarissime volte gli uomini essere al tutto tristi, o al tutto buoni); I.27 dates the pope's expedition 1505, where the histories give 1506. The 1554 edition reads seguente, "following", which fits; the 1824 presente is kept as printed (D282).
Established from the 1824 edition (WIT-NM-DISC-1824-IA), page-image-backed, which governs. Collated against the 1554 Giglio printing, Venice (WIT-NM-DISC-1554-IA), which is comparison evidence only.
Paragraph divisions are editorial. The witness prints the chapter as one unbroken block.
come nel presente capitolo per esempio si mostrerà — 1824. The 1554 witness reads come nel ſeguente capitolo per eſſempio ſi moſtrera. Checked on the leaf (fol. 41v). The 1554 reads seguente, "following": the example of men who can be neither wholly good nor wholly bad (Giovampagolo Baglioni and Julius II at Perugia) is in I.27, whose rubric repeats the clause. The 1824 presente was read by both readers on the sampled page; it construes and is kept as printed (D38; D282).
Edificare oltra di questo nuove Città, disfare delle vecchie — 1824. The 1554 witness reads Edificare oltra di queſte nuoue citta,disfare delle fatte. Checked on the leaf (fol. 41r). Two differences. queste for questo ("besides these [things]" for "besides this"), at a letter the scans break, escalated under D203(b) and kept (D281). delle fatte, "some of those made", for delle vecchie, "some of the old ones": the 1554 speaks of unmaking what has been built, the 1824 of unmaking the old.
con nuova autorità — 1824. The 1554 witness reads con nuoue auttorita. Checked on the leaf (fol. 41r): the 1554 has the plural, "new authorities", against the 1824 singular, at a letter the scans break; escalated under D203(b) and kept (D281). The English is unaffected.
dice, che tramutava gli uomini di Provincia in Provincia — 1824. The 1554 witness reads dice, che tramutò gli huomini di prouincia in prouincia. Checked on the leaf (fol. 41r): the 1554 has the perfect, "transferred", for the 1824 imperfect of habit, "used to transfer".
Orthography, capitalization, word division and punctuation follow the governing witness throughout; no reading is hybridized between witnesses.
Qualunque diventa Principe o di una Città o di uno Stato. "Whoever becomes prince either of a city or of a state": principe, prince (glossary); stato, state (D265), here the dominion a prince holds, set beside the city and, in the rubric, the province.
e tanto più quando i fondamenti suoi fussero deboli. "And so much the more when his foundations should be weak": fussero is subjunctive, and "should" keeps it from reading as a past fact. The clause raises the degree of the precept that follows; it does not limit it to weak princes. fondamento, foundation (glossary).
e non si volga o per via di Regno o di Repubblica alla vita civile. "And does not turn, either by the path of a kingdom or of a republic, to civil life": the condition that makes the case. A prince who turns his rule into a kingdom or a republic is the one I.25 told to keep the shadow of the ancient ways; this chapter is for the one who does not. via, path (D131), as per via di Repubblica, o di Regno at NM I.25 .03. vita civile, civil life: the noun vita, where earlier chapters have the infinitive vivere civile, "civil living" (NM I.9).
il migliore rimedio ch'egli abbia a tenere quel Principato. "The best remedy that he has for holding that principate": abbia is "has", and a tenere says what the remedy is for; this is not avere a + infinitive (D261). tenere, hold (glossary, I.23); Principato, principate (glossary).
sendo egli nuovo Principe. "He being a new prince": the absolute construction kept.
fare ogni cosa di nuovo. "To make every thing anew": di nuovo, anew, against the rubric's nuova, new.
come è, nelle Città fare nuovi Governi. "As is, in the cities, to make new governments": come è introduces the instances, and the list runs in asyndeton through .01 (D12), infinitive after infinitive; .02 joins with e (e insomma, e che, e pigliare). The witness has only commas, and the English keeps them, so that whether making the poor rich is one of the things done nelle Città stays as open as in the Italian. governo, government (D262); fare, make, and di nuovo, nuovo, anew, new, carry the list.
con nuova autorità. "With new authority": autorità, authority (glossary). The 1554 edition reads the plural, nuove auttorità, "new authorities"; escalated as a word at a letter the scans break, and kept (D281; NM-DISC-I26-D003).
fare i poveri ricchi, come fece David quando ei diventò Re. "To make the poor rich, as David did when he became king": David, the shepherd who became king (1 Samuel 16-2 Samuel 5). The verse that follows is the Magnificat's (Luke 1.53), which the Vulgate prints without qui; Machiavelli's qui makes David its subject. He applies Mary's words to David's act; whether he took them for a psalm cannot be told from the text. In sense the verse echoes Psalm 107.9 (106.9 in the Vulgate). Kept as printed.
qui esurientes implevit bonis, et divites dimisit inanes. Latin, left in italic (D14): "who filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he sent away empty"; the relative qui, absent from the Vulgate of Luke 1.53, takes David as antecedent. The 1824 prints it in italic; the 1554 flags it with marginal inverted commas.
Edificare oltra di questo nuove Città, disfare delle vecchie. "To build, besides this, new cities, to unmake some of the old ones": edificare, build (glossary); disfare, unmake, the opposite of fare, make, which the chapter is built on; delle vecchie, partitive, "some of the old ones". The 1554 edition reads oltra di queste, "besides these [things]", escalated and kept (D281), and delle fatte, "some of those made", for delle vecchie (NM-DISC-I26-D002).
cambiare gli abitatori da un luogo ad un altro. "To change the inhabitants from one place to another": abitatori, inhabitants, as NM I.1.
non lasciare cosa niuna intatta. "To leave no thing intact": cosa niuna, no thing, keeping the cosa of the rubric's ogni cosa.
né grado, né ordine, né stato, né ricchezza. "Neither degree, nor order, nor state, nor wealth": grado, degree (glossary); ordine, order (glossary). stato here is a man's standing, not a dominion; the edition keeps "state" (D265), in its older English sense of rank or condition ("a man of low state"), and the facing page shows the same word as at .01.
che chi la tiene non la riconosca da te. "Which he who holds it does not acknowledge [as] from you": riconoscere da, to acknowledge as received from, as NM I.11 abbia a riconoscere. The sentence turns to the second person here, and back to the third with per sua mira; the English keeps both turns. la takes the last of the list, ricchezza, and through it the whole.
pigliare per sua mira Filippo di Macedonia padre di Alessandro. "To take for his mark Philip of Macedon, father of Alexander": mira, the mark aimed at. Philip II of Macedon (r. 359–336 BC).
di piccolo Re diventò Principe di Grecia. "From a small king became prince of Greece": the hegemony of Greece after Chaeronea (338 BC). Principe keeps the edition's "prince" (glossary).
E chi scrive di lui, dice. "And he who writes of him says": Machiavelli names no author. The likeliest source is Justin's epitome of Pompeius Trogus (8.5–6), where Philip moves peoples and cities as shepherds drive their flocks now to winter, now to summer pastures.
tramutava ... tramutano. "Used to transfer ... transfer": one verb for Philip and the herdsmen, as the Italian; the imperfect is of habit. The 1554 edition has the perfect, tramutò (NM-DISC-I26-D004).
come i mandriani tramutano le mandrie loro. "As herdsmen transfer their herds": mandriani, mandrie, one root, kept in "herdsmen", "herds".
Sono questi modi crudelissimi. "These ways are most cruel": the verb first in the Italian, not the predicate; plain English order (D263). modi, ways (glossary), the same word as Philip's questi modi just before.
nimici d'ogni vivere, non solamente cristiano, ma umano. "Enemies of every living, not only Christian but human": vivere, the infinitive as a noun, living (as vivere civile), here any way of living together.
e debbegli qualunque uomo fuggire. "And any man whatever must flee them": dovere, must (D274); gli, them, the ways. qualunque uomo repeats the chapter's first word, Qualunque: whoever becomes prince, any man whatever.
e volere piuttosto vivere privato, che Re. "And wish rather to live private than king": volere, wish (D117); privato, private, as FG I.10 ridursi privato and NM I.10 in istato privato. The Italian sets privato and Re side by side without a noun; so does the English. piuttosto, rather; FG's più presto ... che (D135) is also "rather ... than", a recorded collapse.
con tanta rovina degli uomini. "With so much ruin of men": rovina, ruin (glossary).
Nondimeno colui che non vuole pigliare quella prima via del bene, quando si voglia mantenere, conviene che entri in questo male. "Nonetheless he who does not wish to take that first path of the good, when he wishes to maintain himself, it is fitting that he enter into this ill": the period opens on colui and turns to the impersonal conviene without a main verb for him; the English keeps the break. nondimeno, nonetheless (glossary); conviene, it is fitting (D85), not "he must"; bene / male, good / ill (glossary, I.2). mantenere, maintain (glossary): the prince maintains himself, as I.25's reformer maintains a state.
quella prima via del bene. "That first path of the good": either the path just named, living private rather than king, or the first case of .01, the turn by kingdom or republic to civil life (per via di). The English keeps "path" for via all three times (.01, here, vie del mezzo) and does not choose; via, path (D131).
certe vie del mezzo. "Certain middle paths": as NM I.6 questa via del mezzo, "this middle path" (D131). Guicciardini's reply recommends gaining by benefits whoever can be gained, which is close to what Machiavelli here calls a middle path; Canestrini's note to the reply (not carried) quotes this clause.
dannosissime. "Most damaging": dannoso, damaging (D106).
né tutti buoni, né tutti cattivi. "Either all good or all bad": cattivo, bad (D03). tutti agrees with uomini and is predicative: wholly good, wholly bad, not "all men". The thought is taken up in the rubric of I.27, Sanno rarissime volte gli uomini essere al tutto tristi, o al tutto buoni, with tristi, wicked, for cattivi.
come nel presente capitolo per esempio si mostrerà. "As will be shown by example in the present chapter": the Italian puts the place first; plain English order (D263). per esempio names the means of showing, "by example"; where it introduces an instance it stays "for an example" (FG I.4). The example the clause promises, Giovampagolo Baglioni, who did not dare to seize Julius II at Perugia, is given in I.27, whose rubric takes up the clause before. The 1554 edition reads seguente, "following", which fits the sequence of chapters; the 1824 presente was read by both readers and is kept as printed (D282; NM-DISC-I26-D001). The 1824 reading may be a slip, but it is Italian and construes, and the edition does not correct a reading that construes (D38).
Un principe nuovo, in una città o provincia presa da lui, debbe fare ogni cosa nuova.
A new prince, in a city or province taken by him, must make every thing new. Canestrini's setting of the chapter title, in lower case, with commas round the place; its stop is faint (D110). It is heading apparatus, not Guicciardini's (D32).
Argument. Guicciardini sorts the case by the people, not by the prince. There are cities and kingdoms that take little account of a change of prince and are not used to being governed so legitimately that they cannot bear one who dominates little politically; there remedies so strong are not necessary to found the principate, and a discontented private man can be gained, provided his discontent rests on his own interest, with advantage and honour. The difficulty is where the people's inclination is wholly contrary to the new government, and there he divides again: cities used to being free that come under a tyrant, and kingdoms long under one line that love its name and memory. The kingdoms, he allows, one could hope to gain with good treatment, which in the end could make the old princes forgotten.
Note. For those whose inclination is liberty he grants the strong remedies: no sweetness will root out of them the desire not to acknowledge a superior, and to govern (D287): freedom from subordination, and a share in the government. Three conclusions follow, each drawn with però, consecutive. Therefore strong remedies are required in such a case, the prince having before his eyes that the part which can be gained by benefits is to be gained, because violent remedies, if on one side they secure him, on the other make weakness in a thousand ways, above all for a prince not founded on his own arms. Therefore it is required that the prince have the spirit for extraordinary remedies when necessary, and nonetheless be so prudent as to let slip no occasion of establishing his affairs by humanity and benefits. He ends by declining to take what the writer says as an absolute rule, and by a judgment on the man: extraordinary and violent remedies always pleased him beyond measure.
Cross-reference. Machiavelli's case is the prince who does not turn to civil life Machiavelli .01; Guicciardini's first period describes such a prince from below, one who "dominates little politically", and says where remedies so strong are not needed. His free peoples, who will not acknowledge a superior, refuse what Machiavelli's prince is to exact: that no degree, order or wealth be held except as acknowledged from him Machiavelli .02.
Cross-reference. Both make the extraordinary remedies conditional, on different grounds: Machiavelli on the prince's will, refusing the good path quando si voglia mantenere, when he wishes to maintain himself Machiavelli .03; Guicciardini on necessity, quando sia necessario. Machiavelli has also called these ways most cruel and to be fled by any man. Guicciardini does not refer to that verdict; his charge that such remedies "always pleased" Machiavelli "beyond measure" and Machiavelli's own verdict on them stand side by side in this edition, which does not settle the friction.
Established from Canestrini 1857, Opere inedite vol. 1, pp. 1–65 (WIT-FG-CONS-1857-CANESTRINI) — the editio princeps, which governs. Collated against Palmarocchi 1933 (WIT-FG-CONS-1933-PALMAROCCHI): page images and the Wikisource transcription consulted as collation evidence, not reproduced (LICENSE §5).
in sul rispetto dello interesse proprio. The 1857 witness reads in sul rispetto d[a/e]llo interesse proprio (an a-shaped letter). The 1933 witness reads in sul rispetto dello interesse proprio. Both readers see an a; they split on which form they preferred, each giving the other as alternative. Dallo barely construes after rispetto; the scan prints e without its crossbar throughout. A reading, not an emendation (D279).
interesse; sono; petto. The 1857 witness reads dello interess[e/a] proprio; che son[o/ò] stati; del p[e/a]tto loro (damaged letters). The 1933 witness reads dello interesse proprio; che sono stati; del petto loro. Each letter doubtful to both readers, and each alternative a word (interessa, sonò, patto); none of the alternatives construes in its place. Readings, with the 1933 edition (D280).
che quella parte che si può guadagnare co' beneficii, di guadagnarla — 1857. The 1933 witness reads che quella parte che si può guadagnare co' benefíci, di guadagnarli. Read by both passes. Canestrini's guadagnarla agrees with quella parte; the 1933 guadagnarli takes the men the part is made of. Not a letter the scan breaks; the sense is the same.
quello desiderio di non ricognoscere superiore di governare — 1857. The 1933 witness reads quello desiderio di [non] ricognoscere superiore, di governare. Canestrini prints non, read by both passes; the 1933 edition brackets it as an editorial supply, which suggests its manuscript lacks it, and points superiore, di governare, making the governing a second desire. Canestrini governs; the English takes di governare with superiore.
Orthography, capitalization, word division and punctuation follow the governing witness throughout; no reading is hybridized between witnesses.
Sono alcune città o regni. "There are some cities or kingdoms": regno, kingdom (glossary). The reply opens by dividing the cases Machiavelli's chapter takes as one: Qualunque diventa Principe o di una Città o di uno Stato (Machiavelli .01).
tengono poco conto delle mutazioni del principe. "Take little account of the changes of prince": mutazione, change, the noun of mutare (D272); the reply has it again, singular, at non contento della mutazione. The 1933 edition prints delle mutazione.
né sono anche solite a essere governate sì legittimamente. "Nor are they even used to being governed so legitimately": solite, used to, as le città solite a essere libere below; one English phrase for both.
uno principe che domini poco politicamente. "A prince who dominates little politically": he dominates, and in a way little political; dominare, the verb of dominio, dominion (glossary), so "dominate", not "rule". politicamente, the adverb of politico, as Machiavelli's vivere politico, "political living" (glossary, I.6): rule by laws and orders. The cities that can bear such a prince are those not used to it.
non sono necessarii remedii sì forti a fondare il principato. "Remedies so strong are not necessary to found the principate": remedio / rimedio, remedy (glossary), Machiavelli's il migliore rimedio (Machiavelli .01). Both spellings occur in the reply and both are "remedy". necessario, necessary, kept apart from bisogna (D260). Canestrini's note reference stands after sì forti; his note, not carried, quotes the opening of Machiavelli's chapter.
alcuno particulare. "Some particular [man]": particulare as a noun, a private person, in the edition's word (D93); the noun is supplied in brackets (D53).
uno principe savio. "A wise prince": savio, wise, kept apart from prudente, prudent, at the end of the reply.
ha molti modi di guadagnarlo. "Has many ways of gaining him": modi, ways (glossary), as Machiavelli's questi modi (Machiavelli .02, .03): Guicciardini's ways are of another kind. guadagnare, gain, held through the reply (four times): the verb of winning men over, set against Machiavelli's making every thing new.
pure che questa displicenza sia fondata in sul rispetto dello interesse proprio. "Provided that this displeasure be founded upon respect to his own interest": pure che, provided that, a condition on the kind of discontent; rispetto, respect (glossary, "respect to"); proprio, his own. Both readers saw an a at dallo; read dello (D279; FG-CONS-I26-D001). Both doubted the last letter of interesse and the 1933 edition agrees with their preference (D280; FG-CONS-I26-D002).
a contentare gli uomini collo utile e con l'onore. "To content men with advantage and with honour": utile as a noun, advantage, the material good paired with honour; the adjective stays "useful" (più presto dannoso che utile, "rather damaging than useful", D135).
la inclinazione del populo. "The inclination of the people": inclinazione, inclination, as FG I.12; populo, people (glossary).
come sono le città solite a essere libere, quando vengono sotto uno tiranno; come e' regni. "As are the cities used to being free, when they come under a tyrant; as [are] the kingdoms": two instances of the contrary inclination, in parallel; the second verb is supplied in brackets (D53). The pointing after tiranno was doubtful to both readers; the 1933 semicolon is followed (D110).
che sono stati lunghissimamente sotto una progenie. "Which have been very long under one lineage": lunghissimamente, the elative of lungamente, "long" (D140). progenie, a line of descent: "lineage", since English "progeny" now means offspring. Both readers doubted a speck over the o of sono; read sono (D280; FG-CONS-I26-D002).
che amano comunemente quello nome e quella memoria. "Which commonly love that name and that memory": the antecedent of che is the kingdoms, that is, their peoples. memoria comes back in the next clause, la memoria de' principi passati, and the English keeps one word.
benché questi si potria sperare di guadagnare co' buoni trattamenti. "Albeit these one could hope to gain with good treatment": benché, albeit (D31). si potria sperare, one could hope: conditional, not "it can be hoped". questi, the kingdoms, is fronted as the object of guadagnare; the English keeps it first because it is set against the next sentence's a quelli che hanno per inclinazione la libertà: these can be gained, those cannot by good treatment (D263, contrast). trattamenti is plural; English "treatment" takes it as a mass noun.
e' quali al fine potrebbono fare dimenticare. "Which in the end could make ... be forgotten": e' quali, the good treatments.
Ma a quelli che hanno per inclinazione la libertà. "But for those who have liberty for their inclination": the cities used to being free, now named by their inclination. a quelli is the dative of the judgment, "for those"; libertà, liberty (glossary).
il trattarli bene. "Treating them well": the nominal infinitive (D109).
eradicare del petto loro. "Eradicate from their breast": both readers doubted the e of petto; read with the 1933 edition (D280; FG-CONS-I26-D002).
quello desiderio di non ricognoscere superiore di governare. "That desire not to acknowledge a superior, to govern": two infinitives, both objects of the one desiderio, standing side by side without e; the English keeps the asyndeton (D12) and supplies only the comma, which Canestrini does not print and the 1933 edition does (D287). superiore di + infinitive, "a superior in governing", is not a natural construction, and it would reduce the desire to an objection to hierarchy. The first infinitive is freedom from a superior; the second, in the context of cities used to being free, is most naturally the wish to hold the government and take part in it; the English leaves it unreflexive, as the Italian does, rather than narrow it to "govern themselves". ricognoscere, the older form of riconoscere, "acknowledge", as Machiavelli's non la riconosca da te (Machiavelli .02): the free refuse the acknowledgement Machiavelli's prince demands. Canestrini prints non; the 1933 edition brackets it as an editorial supply (FG-CONS-I26-D004).
e però in simile caso bisogna usare de' remedii forti. "And therefore in like case it is required to use strong remedies": simile, like (glossary); però, therefore (D22), consecutive. bisogna, "it is required": the edition's rendering of the impersonal bisognare, in every tense (D260); the reasons are in the note on bisogni at Machiavelli I.2. de' remedii, partitive, not rendered: "some strong remedies" would understate it.
avendo però innanzi agli occhi. "Having therefore before one's eyes": the second però. It is kept "therefore" (D22): the consequence drawn from the preceding judgment, that strong remedies are required for this case, is that the part which can be gained by benefits is to be gained, a consideration to be kept before one's eyes; the perché then gives the reason. Read as "however", it would be the adversative D22 excludes.
che quella parte che si può guadagnare co' beneficii, di guadagnarla. "That the part which can be gained with benefits, to gain it": che opens a clause whose subject is taken up by -la, and the infinitive has no governing verb; the English keeps the anacoluthon whole. beneficii, benefits, as at the close (co' beneficii). The 1933 edition reads guadagnarli, "to gain them", the men of that part (FG-CONS-I26-D003).
perché e' rimedii violenti, se da uno canto ti assicurano, dall'altro ... fanno in mille modi debolezza. "For violent remedies, if on the one hand they secure you, on the other ... make weakness in a thousand ways": da uno canto ... dall'altro, on the one hand ... on the other (D223); assicurare, secure (D219), Machiavelli's verb for the new prince in I.16; the second person ti is Guicciardini's, as Machiavelli's da te (Machiavelli .02). fare debolezza, "make weakness": fare kept as "make", the verb of Machiavelli's rubric. The pointing before perché was doubtful to both readers; the 1933 semicolon is followed (D110).
a uno principe che non sia fondato in sulle armi proprie. "To a prince who is not founded upon his own arms": armi proprie, own arms, a soldiery of one's own subjects (FG I.6), against hired or foreign troops. fondato, founded, as fondare il principato and fondata in sul rispetto above.
Però bisogna che il principe abbia animo a usare questi estraordinarii. "Therefore it is required that the prince have the spirit to use these extraordinary [remedies]": però, therefore (D22); animo, spirit (glossary); estraordinario, extraordinary (glossary, straordinario), the noun supplied from remedii (D53).
sia sì prudente, che non pretermetta qualunque occasione se gli presenti. "Be so prudent that he let slip no occasion whatever that may present itself to him": prudente, prudent (glossary); pretermettere, let pass, let slip; "pretermit" survives only in law. occasione, occasion (glossary). The negative governs qualunque: no occasion whatever.
di stabilire le cose sue con la umanità e co' beneficii. "Of establishing his affairs with humanity and with benefits": stabilire, establish; le cose sue, his things, his affairs; umanità, humanity, the quality Machiavelli's non solamente cristiano, ma umano (Machiavelli .03) names from the other side.
non pigliando così per regola assoluta quello che dice lo Scrittore. "Not taking thus for an absolute rule what the writer says": pigliare, take, Machiavelli's verb (pigliare per sua mira, Machiavelli .02; pigliare quella prima via, pigliano certe vie, Machiavelli .03). regola assoluta, absolute rule: What he denies is that it is absolute. lo Scrittore, Machiavelli, as lo scrittore at FG I.11; Canestrini capitalises it here, the English keeps lower case for both.
al quale sempre piacquono sopra modo e' remedii estraordinarii e violenti. "Who was always pleased beyond measure by extraordinary and violent remedies": the Italian delays its subject to the reply's last words, and the English passive keeps the remedies last (D18). A judgment on Machiavelli himself, not on the chapter; set it beside his own verdict on these ways, crudelissimi, to be fled by any man (Machiavelli .03). sopra modo, beyond measure: Guicciardini's charge is excess, set against his own sì prudente. The reply ends here; the stop is doubtful to both readers and the 1933 edition prints one (D110).