>>2137
From Machiavelli's "The Prince":
"I will not here speak of republics, having already
treated of them fully in another place. I will deal
only with monarchies, and will show how the
various kinds described above can be governed and
maintained. In the first place, in hereditary states
accustomed to the reigning family the difficulty of
maintaining them is far less than in new monarchies;
for it is sufficient not to exceed the ancestral usages,
and to accommodate one's self to accidental circum-
stances ; in this way such a prince, if of ordinary
ability, will always be able to maintain his position,
unless some very exceptional and excessive force
deprives him of it ; and even if he be thus deprived
of it, on the slightest misfortune happening to the
new occupier, he will be able to regain it.
We have in Italy the example of the Duke of
Ferrara, who was able to withstand the assaults of
the Venetians in the year '84, and of Pope Julius
in the year '10, for no other reason than because
of the antiquity of his family in that dominion. In
as much as the legitimate prince has less cause and
less necessity to give offence, it is only natural that
he should be more loved ; and, if no extraordinary vices make him hated, it is only reasonable for
his subjects to be naturally attached to him, the
memories and causes of innovations being forgotten
in the long period over which his rule has existed whereas one change always leaves the way prepared
for the introduction of another. "
