which it had been long deprived; and he adds, that his conduct evinced more clemency than that of the people of Florence, who, to avoid being thought cruel, suffered Pistoia to be destroyed. From whence he concludes, that a prince is not to regard the reproach of cruelty, when the object is to keep his subjects in their duty, as it will prove in the end more humane to make a few necessary examples, than by too much indulgence to encourage disorders, robbery, and murder, which frequently draw after them the ruin of the state. A happy medium, however, should be endeavoured to be attained, between love and fear; but if the union of the two should be impossible, he recommends the latter, on account of the natural ingratitude of mankind[1]. It is, however, to be recollected, that when fear degenerates into hatred, it proves fatal to the prince.
- ↑ Proclivius est injuriæ, quam beneficio vicem exsolvere, quia gratia oneri, ultio in questio habetur tacituo.
