Page:The Prince.djvu/194

Rh In proof of thiş assertion, I shall never cease to quote the example of Cæsar Borgia. He made himself master of Forli and Imola with auxiliaries, wholly French; bụt perceiving that he could not rely on their fidelity, he had recourse to mercenaries, those who commanded the Orsini and the Vitelli, from whom he thought he had less to fear. But finding afterwards that there was no morę safety in those than the others, he resolved to get rid of them all, and from that time never employed any other than his own national troops,

Now, if we would know the immense difference there is between these two kind of troops, we need only compare this duke's campaigns, when he used the troops of the Orsini and the Vitelli, with those which he made at the head of his own; for we never knew the whole extent of his abilities till he was absolute mąster of his soldiers.

I am desirous of confining myself to examples drawn from the modern history of Italy; but that of Hiero of Syracuse, of whom I have already spoken, is so stropgly in point, that I think I ought not to omit it. That city had confided to him the commạnd af its troops, which were composed of foreigners in its pay. This general soon found how very little he had tọ expect from these mercenaries, the conduct of whose generals was nearly on a par with that of our present Italians. But seeing that he could not without danger either