第2部分(第4/7 頁)

ers　themselves　there；　alsobecause　the　others　would　not　wish　to　take　Lombardy　from　France　in　orderto　give　it　to　the　Veians；　and　to　run　counter　to　both　they　would　nothave　had　the　courage。And　if　any　one　should　say：　King　Louis　yielded　the　Romagna　to　Alexanderand　the　kingdom　to　Spain　to　avoid　war；　I　answer　for　the　reasons　givenabove　that　a　blunder　ought　never　be　perpetrated　to　avoid　war；　because　itis　not　to　be　avoided；　but　is　only　deferred　to　your　disadvantage。　And　ifanother　should　allege　the　pledge　which　the　king　had　given　to　the　Popethat　he　would　assist　him　in　the　enterprise；　in　exchange　for　thedissolution　of　his　marriage　and　for　the　hat　to　Rouen；　to　that　I　replywhat　I　shall　write　later　on　concerning　the　faith　of　princes；　and　how　itought　to　be　kept。Thus　King　Louis　lost　Lombardy　by　not　having　followed　any　of　theconditions　observed　by　those　who　have　taken　possession　of　countries　andwished　to　retain　them。　Nor　is　there　any　miracle　in　this；　but　much　thatis　reasonable　and　quite　natural。　And　on　these　matters　I　spoke　at　Nanteswith　Rouen；　when　Valentino；　＇1＇　as　Cesare　Borgia；　the　son　of　PopeAlexander；　was　usually　called；　occupied　the　Romagna；　and　on　CardinalRouen　observing　to　me　that　the　Italians　did　not　understand　war；　Ireplied　to　him　that　the　French　did　not　understand　statecraft；　meaningthat　otherwise　they　would　not　have　allowed　the　Church　to　reach　suchgreatness。　And　in　fact　it　has　been　seen　that　the　greatness　of　the　Churchand　of　Spain　in　Italy　has　been　caused　by　France；　and　her　ruin　may　beattributed　to　them。　From　this　a　general　rule　is　drawn　which　never　orrarely　fails：　that　he　who　is　the　cause　of　another　being　powerful　isruined；　because　that　predominancy　has　been　brought　about　either　byastuteness　or　else　by　force；　and　both　are　distrusted　by　him　who　has　beenraised　to　power。1。　So