Page:Essays, Moral and Political - David Hume (1741).djvu/186

 or Vice, human Nature is susceptible of; nor what may be expected of Mankind from any great Revolution in their Education, Customs, or Principles. Machiavel was certainly a great Genius; but having confin'd his Study to the furious Tyranny of antient Sovereigns, or the little disorderly Principalities of Italy, his Reasonings, especially upon Monarchical Government, have been found extremely defective; and there scarce is any Maxim in his Prince, which subsequent Experience has not entirely refuted. A weak Sovereign, says he, ''is incapable of receiving good Counsel; for if he consult with several, he will not be able to choose among their different Counsels. If he abandon himself to one, that Minister may, perhaps, have Capacity; but he will not be long a Minister: He will be sure to dispossess his Master, and place himself and his own Family upon the Throne''. I mention this, among innumerable Instances, of the Errors of that Politician, proceeding from his having liv'd in too early an Age of the World, to be a good Judge of political Truth. Almost all the Princes of Europe are at present governed by their Ministers, and have been so for near two Centuries; and yet no such Event