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.For,as we said, the opinion, which does not gain at least a hundred votes,is void.10.We shall also easily see, that, once this council is established itsmembers cannot be reduced to a less number, if we consider the commonpassions of mankind.For all are guided mostly by ambition, and there isno man who lives in health but hopes to attain extreme old age.If then27 we calculate the number of those who actually reach their fiftieth orsixtieth year, and further take into account the number that are everyyear chosen of this great council, we shall see, that there can hardlybe a man of those who bear arms, but is under the influence of a greathope of attaining this dignity.And so they will all, to the best oftheir power, defend this law of the council.For be it noted, thatcorruption, unless it creep in gradually, is easily prevented.But as itcan be more easily supposed, and would be less invidious, that a lessnumber should be chosen out of every clan, than that a less numbershould be chosen out of a few clans, or that one or two clans should bealtogether excluded; therefore (Chap.VI.Sec.15) the number ofcounsellors cannot be reduced, unless a third, fourth, or fifth part beremoved simultaneously, which change is a very great one, and thereforequite repugnant to common practice.Nor need one be afraid of delay ornegligence in choosing, because this is remedied by the council itself.See Chap.VI.Sec.16.11.The king, then, whether he is induced by fear of the multitude, oraims at binding to himself the majority of an armed multitude, or isguided by a generous spirit, a wish that is, to consult the publicinterest, will always confirm that opinion, which has gained most votes,that is (Sec.5), [5] which is to the interest of the greater part ofthe dominion; and will study to reconcile the divergent opinionsreferred to him, if it can be done, that he may attach all to himself(in which he will exert all his powers), and that alike in peace and warthey may find out, what an advantage his single self is to them.Andthus he will then be most independent, and most in possession ofdominion, when he most consults the general welfare of the multitude.12.For the king by himself cannot restrain all by fear.But his power,as we have said, rests upon the number of his soldiers, and especiallyon their valour and faith, which will always remain so long enduringbetween men, as with them is joined need, be that need honourable ordisgraceful.And this is why kings usually are fonder of exciting thanrestraining their soldiery, and shut their eyes more to their vices thanto their virtues, and generally, to hold under the best of them, seekout, distinguish, and assist with money or favour the idle, and thosewho have ruined themselves by debauchery, and shake hands with them, andthrow them kisses, and for the sake of mastery stoop to every servileaction.In order therefore that the citizens may be distinguished by theking before all others, and, as far as the civil state and equitypermit, may remain independent, it is necessary that the militia shouldconsist of citizens only, and that citizens should be his counsellors;and on the contrary citizens are altogether subdued, and are laying thefoundations of eternal war, from the moment that they suffer mercenariesto be levied, whose trade is war, and who have most power in strifes andseditions.13.That the king s counsellors ought not to be elected for life, butfor three, four, or five years, is clear as well from the tenth, as fromwhat we said in the ninth section of this chapter.For if they werechosen for life, not only could the greatest part of the citizensconceive hardly any hope of obtaining this honour, and thus there wouldarise a great inequality, and thence envy, and constant murmurs, and atlast seditions, which, no doubt, would be welcome to kings greedy ofmastery: but also the counsellors, being rid of the fear of theirsuccessors, would assume a great licence in all respects, which the kingwould be far from opposing.For the more the citizens hate them, themore they will cling to the king, and be ready to flatter him.Nay, the28 interval of five years seems even too much, for in such a space of timeit does not seem so impossible to corrupt by bribes or favour a verylarge part of the council, however large it be.And therefore it will befar safer, if every year two out of every clan retire, and be replacedby as many more (supposing that there are to be five counsellors of eachclan), except in the year in which the jurist of any clan retires, and afresh one is chosen in his place.14.Moreover, no king can promise himself more safety, than he whoreigns in a commonwealth of this sort.For besides that a king soonperishes, when his soldiers cease to desire his safety, it is certainthat kings are always in the greatest danger from those who are nearesttheir persons.The fewer counsellors, then, there are, and the morepowerful they consequently are, the more the king is in danger of theirtransferring the dominion to another.Nothing in fact more alarmedDavid, than that his own counsellor Ahitophel sided with Absalom.[6]Still more is this the case, if the whole authority has been transferredabsolutely to one man, because it can then be more easily transferredfrom one to another.For two private soldiers once took in hand totransfer the Roman empire, and did transfer it.[7] I omit the arts andcunning wiles, whereby counsellors have to assure themselves againstfalling victims to their unpopularity; for they are but too well known,and no one, who has read history, can be ignorant, that the good faithof counsellors has generally turned to their ruin.And so, for their ownsafety, it behoves them to be cunning, not faithful.But if thecounsellors are too numerous to unite in the same crime, and are allequal, and do not hold their office beyond a period of four years, theycannot be at all objects of fear to the king, except he attempt to takeaway their liberty, wherein he will offend all the citizens equally.For, as Antonio Perez [8] excellently observes, an absolute dominion isto the prince very dangerous, to the subjects very hateful, and to theinstitutes of God and man alike opposed, as innumerable instances show.15.Besides these we have, in the last chapter, laid other foundations,by which the king is greatly secured in his dominion, and the citizensin their hold of peace and liberty, which foundations we will reason outin their proper places.For I was anxious above everything to reason outall those, which refer to the great council and are of the greatestimportance.Now I will continue with the others, in the same order inwhich I stated them.16.It is undoubted, that citizens are more powerful, and, therefore,more independent, the larger and better fortified their towns are
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