body to tell it, you injure yourself, and lessen your reverence; wherefore a wise prince ought to go a third way, and select out of his state certain discreet men, to whom only he is to commit that liberty of speaking truth, and that of such things as he demands, and nothing else! But, then, he is to inquire of everything, hear their opinions, and resolve afterward as he pleases, and behave himself toward them in such sort, that every one may find with how much the more freedom he speaks, with so much the more kindness he is accepted, that besides them he will hearken to nobody; that he considers well before he resolves; and that his resolutions once taken are never to be altered. A prince, therefore, is always to consult, but at his own, not other people's pleasure, and rather deter people from giving their advice undemanded.

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A prince who has no wisdom of his own can never be well advised, unless by accident he commits all to the government and administration of some honest, discreet man. If a prince, who has no great judg mént of his own, consults with more than one, their counsels will never agree, nor he have ever the cunning to unite them; every man will advise according to his own interest or caprice. These will always prove bad, unless by necessity they are compelled to be good. It is clear that good counsels proceed rather from the wisdom of the prince, than the prince's wisdom from the goodness of his counsels.

24. How Princes lose their Dominions.

"No defences are good, certain, and lasting, which proceed not from the prince's own courage and virtue, after he has embellished and fortified his principality with good laws, good force, good friends, and good example.

25. Of Fortune.

"It is an old opinion, that the affairs of the world are so governed by fortune and divine Providence, that man can not by his wisdom correct them. This may be true of one half of our actions, but fortune leaves the other half, or little less, to be governed by ourselves. It shows its power where there is no predisposed virtue to resist it. A prince who relies wholly upon fortune, being subject to her variations, must of necessity be ruined. That prince will be successful whose manner of proceeding concerts with the times. In things leading to the end of their designs, as riches and honor, we see men have various methods of proceeding, which may possibly all be successful; while two persons, equally cautious, one of them prospers and the other miscarries, so that two persons by different operations do attain the same end, while two others steer the same course, and one of them succeeds and the other is ruined. One, however good, if the face of affairs and the times change, and he changes not with them, will be certainly ruined. There is no man to be found so wise, that knows how to accommodate or frame himself to all vicissitudes and varieties.

"While the obstinacy of princes consists with the motion of fortune, it is possible they may be happy; but when once they disagree, the poor prince comes certainly to the ground. It is better to be hot and audacious, than cautious and apprehensive, for fortune is a woman, and must be Hectored to

keep her under; and 'tis visible every day she suffers herself to be managed by those who are brisk and audacious, rather than by those who are cold and phlegmatic in their motions, and therefore (like a woman) she is always a friend to those who are young; because being less circumspect, they attack her with more security and boldness."

An exhortation to deliver Italy from the barbarians concludes the work.

These "barbarians" rule still in the best parts of Italy. You will now be able, with the help of the general history of Europe (Asia) and America, to answer easily the question: exactly what difference there is between the European and our own "statesystem;" viz., that the first depends upon the principle of selfgovernment applied to public business, the latter upon―legitimacy. After the downfall of Napoleon I.'s empire, all the princes of Europe, Turkey included, met in congress at Vienna, and restored the European political system upon the principle of legitimacy, as they called it, adding the gracious promise of constitutional forms of monarchy. They expressly declared the Napoleonides outside the pale of legitimacy; but one of them has again ascended the throne of France! You see how little faith sensible men should place in such a system, where so much depends upon sheer accident, and the management of the public affairs is made the property-right of a few "legitimate" families, viz. such as believe and pretend to be created by God, to possess and rule the people.

Our system is the product of common sense and plain business necessity, the European that of property-rights in men; ours is made only for the rule of the unruly, the European for the government of men and land; ours is stable for all times to come, provided we keep the several parts of it in strict order with reference to population, state, size, and business; the stability of the European depends upon the frail thread of the life of one or a few persons, and similar accidental circumstances beyond the control of men; ours, finally, depends upon prospective law, the European upon present customs, without the least guaranty for the future. What pity that men abuse also the best things! What would be the United States if their excellent system had been carried out well?

But there is still time enough to do it. We are free yet. Hope then for the best. In this hope let us now part.

PART SECOND.

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.

LETTER I.

Object of a State Constitution. - Introduction to the Constitution of the State of New York. - Preamble. - Union-Slighting.

My intention at first was to limit my political conversation with you to the federal constitution, under which we all live, in whatever state we reside; even when travelling in foreign countries, and sailing on distant seas we depend upon its. protection. But after

I bade you adieu, and had indulged in a sober, second thoughtalways a good one-I concluded to place one of our state constitutions in parallel with it, to show better their coördinate working in society, and whether it be harmonious or not. It is the same artistical idea which induced me to place "The Prince" in parallel with Washington.

I have for this purpose selected the constitution of the state of New York, because this is, as the most populous, a kind of leading state, and it is proposed to take the sense of the people at the ensuing election (November, 1858) whether it shall be amended or not. For the latter reason I have also added a few remarks on the state constitution of Maryland. I should, perhaps, have altered the form and addressed these letters to the voters of these states; but as "I speak by permission, and not of commandment, according to my proper gift of God," I will continue in the familiar manner, hoping also to avoid thereby the sus

picion of an intention to bias the vote, although I sincerely wish that in my humble efforts I may be able to excite an intense interest on the subject.

The obvious aim of a state constitution, in our Union, must be to prescribe the forms of a government for the realization of justice and order in regard to the municipal political affairs. Accordingly it should be framed, first, from a desire not to interfere with the business province of the federal constitution, as this has been carefully planned from the view not to interfere with the scope of the state constitutions; and secondly, not to meddle with the free social business of which I have spoken in the first part. To this may be added, that in our Union, and free unsubject society, a state is not exactly required for the governing of persons, but only for the management of certain public affairs; because in such society is the real ruler of persons the principle of self-government, which requires every one to control himself well in personal and social regard. This being the most difficult task men—although endowed with reason for this very purpose have to perform, the state institution is calculated in single instances to force them into a proper self-control, in order to preserve justice and prevent injury and anarchy. Without this force a state constitution is nothing to speak of.

If this is well understood, it is not so very difficult to comprehend the real object of a state constitution, especially after the framers of the federal constitution have set up such a master-piece of an organic law for the management of the national affairs.

A political system of this frame, and good execution, should, if this sublinarian world is not a failure withal, impress upon the people living under it a noble character; for as the maternal education moulds the character of an individual, so form the political institutions that of nations. This moral influence of our political systém upon our nations and mankind was the beacon-light of hope for those who struggled for years for the deliverance of a proud prince, in order to be free, or the masters of their own destiny. Government can only promote liberty by keeping the lawless and dishonest at bay with the help of an effective judiciary.

Let us, then, examine with diligence the constitution of the state of New York, to ascertain how far it answers to this purpose: