Note 683 — Chapter XXXVI · FROM THE IONIC REVOLT TO THE BATTLE OF MARATHON. (continued 2)

Machiavel, in the twenty-ninth chapter of his Discorsi sopra T. Livio, examines the question, “Which of the two is more open to the charge of being ungrateful,—a popular government, or a king?” He thinks that the latter is more open to it. Compare chapter fifty-nine of the same work, where he again supports a similar opinion.

M. Sismondi also observes, in speaking of the long attachment of the city of Pisa to the cause of the emperors and to the Ghibelin party: “Pise montra dans plus d’une occasion, par sa constance à supporter la cause des empereurs au milieu des revers, combien la reconnoissance lie un peuple libre d’une manière plus puissante et plus durable qu’elle ne sauroit lier le peuple gouverné par un seul homme.” (Histoire des Républ. Italiennes, ch. xiii, tom. ii, p. 302.)