Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/792

 786 MACHIAVELLI to Whitneyville. The value of foreign com- merce for the year ending June 30, 1873, was $149,213; entrances, 34 of 1,836 tons; clear- ances, 157 of 23,940 tons. The entrances in the coastwise trade were 102 of 72,691 tons; clearances, 3 of 656 tons ; number of vessels belonging to the port, 198 of 21,697 tons; built during the year, 26 of 7,027 tons. A few vessels are employed in the cod and mackerel fishery. The town contains an iron f oundery, manufactories of sash and blinds and of har- ness, several ship-building establishments, a savings bank, three hotels, two weekly news- papers, and six churches. The first permanent settlement was made in 1763. The town was incorporated in 1784. MACHIASPORT (pop. in 1870, 1,526), on Machias bay, at the mouth of Machias river, was separated from Machias and incorporated as a distinct town in 1826. It has an excellent harbor, and contains several boat and ship-building establishments. MACHIAVELLI, Mccolo, an Italian statesman, born in Florence, May 3, 1469, died there, June 22, 1527. His father, Bernardo Machia- velli, was a lawyer who traced back his ances- try to Hugo, marquis of Tuscany, about the middle of the 9th century ; his mother, a wo- man of talent and a poetess, was descended from the counts of Borgo Nuovo, who flour- ished in the 10th century. Many of his ances- try on both sides had filled the most impor- tant offices in the republic of Florence; of the Machiavellis 13 had held the post of gon- faloniere of justice, and 53 that of prior. In June, 1498, Niccolo entered the service of the state, having been chosen to the office of chancellor of the second chancery of the seign- iory. In the following month he was appoint- ed secretary to the " ten of liberty and peace," a body of magistrates to whom was intrusted the supreme government. In this office, to which he owes his title of secretary of the Florentine republic, he continued 14 years. The position of Florence at that period was one of great importance, and the relations of the republic with the principal powers of Eu- rope were such as required the highest quali- ties of statesmanship for their proper conduct. Machiavelli was charged with the political cor- respondence of the government, both foreign and domestic, and with a wide range of diplo- matic functions. He was employed in 23 for- eign embassies, among which were four to the court of France and two to the emperor Maxi- milian. He was also intrusted with various commissions to the cities dependent on Flor- ence. His first mission was to France in 1500, and his fourth and last to that court was in 1611. In 1502 he was envoy from the repub- lic to Cesare Borgia, duke of Valentino ; and in 1507 he was sent as ambassador to the empe- ror. Plis correspondence with his government during these missions was extensive, and his despatches are models of diplomatic style, forming one of the most instructive and enter- taining collections of state papers that have ever been published. In the internal adminis- tration of Florence, the sagacity and energy of Machiavelli were as conspicuous as in his diplomatic correspondence. The practice of employing mercenary troops he regarded as one great cause of the weakness of the Italian states ; and having studied in all its details the art of war, he exerted himself with ardor to organize a national militia, which for a time acquitted itself successfully in the field. But, distracted by faction and embarrassed by the weakness and vacillation of the chief magis- trate Piero Soderini, who had been made gon- f aloniere for life, the republic was unable long to contend with her formidable enemies, the pope and the emperor, who had combined to restore the Medici by force of arms. The mil- itary and political institutions of the republic were swept away together, and in 1512 the Medici returned in the train of foreign invaders from their long exile. Though his project of a national militia had failed to preserve Florence from her own dissensions and the overwhelm- ing force of her enemies, Machiavelli clung to it with patriotic tenacity. To vindicate it from some popular objections, and to refute some prevailing errors on the subject of military science, he wrote at this time his work on the "Art of War," which however was not printed till 1521. This treatise is in the form of a dia- logue between Cosimo Eucellai, a Florentine gentleman, and Fabrizio Colonna, an officer in the service of Spain. The new government soon began to persecute Machiavelli. Three decrees were passed against him within the course of ten days. By the first two he was deprived of office and condemned to a year's banishment from the city ; the third decree mitigated his sentence to a simple prohibition to enter the palace of the seigniory. He went into retire- ment, but the freedom with which he spoke and wrote on public affairs displeased the govern- ment ; and in the following year (1513) he was accused, apparently without reason, of being concerned in an extensive conspiracy just dis- covered against the cardinal de' Medici (shortly afterward Leo X.), and thrown into prison. He was put to the torture, but confessed nothing. For some time he was kept chained in a dun- geon, but soon after the accession of Leo X. to the papacy he was included in an amnesty and was liberated. That pope, who possessed great influence in the government of Florence, and admired Machiavelli's literary merit, at length began gradually to recall him to public life. He consulted him on various important affairs of state, and invited him to prepare a plan for the government of Florence. In 1521 he sent him on a mission to the Franciscan friars at Carpi. He was next employed to direct the new fortifications of Florence, and subsequent- ly sent to Venice on a mission of importance. While there he received the welcome tidings that his name had been again inserted in the list of citizens of Florence who were held eligible to office. He found in Pope Clement