BOOKS AND WRITERS
IT was Hume's verdict that Machiavelli had lived in too early an age of the world to be a good judge of political truth ; his studies had been confined " to the furious and tyrannical governments of ancient times," or to " the little disorderly princi- palities of Italy." Perhaps Hume himself was too complacent in his own early age of the world, since the maxims of force and fraud seem now more easily understood and- applied. Consequently Machiavelli has had another vogue as a guide to the permanent conditions of success in politics. He is still more often quoted than read and remains an " -ism " rather than an individual ; and his modernity appears rather in the questions which he asked than in the particular answers which he gave to them. To ask of any specimen of political behaviour " Success or failure 7 " rather than " Desir- able or undesirable 7 " was to disclose, or to seem to disclose, a new experimental inquiry, one more new science splitting off from the nucleus of theology and metaphysics ; ask always, " What are the conditions of success in this kind of enterprise ? " and you will obtain an experimental answer ; by the use of ordinary inductive methods discoveries can be made in the craft of politics which will be as serviceable as advances in engineering ; technical advice from the political expert will be at the disposal of anyone needing to buttress or demolish a government, whatever his particular aims and interests may be. It is not surprising that contemporary American writers, such as Mr. James Burnham, should be carried away by their enthu- siasm for the supposed inventor of this experimental study of political success ; the insistence that political maxims must be verified in ex- perience fits, or appears to fit, the prevailing mood of " operational- ism " and to be fashionably " scientific " and unmetaphysical. But that Machiavelli should be made the founder of A scientific approach to politics is only the latest of his many posthumous misfortunes ; his writings show no such modern or Baconian conception of science and no such conception of politics. His conception of political wisdom was simple, classical (" pagan " according to Father Walker).
Men muddle their affairs unnecessarily because of their confused intentions and incompetence.; they do not formulate their practical problems clearly. Naturally they all want a measure of security and therefore of power and freedom within their society ; men of greater energy naturally want greater power. But they do not pause to think how their ends are most likely to be attained, using the analogies of past failures and successes to guide them. The historian can point to certain classical mistakes of method being repeated over and over again, and constantly lead- ing to similar disasters. Machiavelli's protest is against the ignorance of technique of the casual amateur of power who has not studied the masters of his craft ; his admiration of a skilful manoeuvre by the great Romans is almost aesthetic, an enjoyment of style and of watching expert work well done ; his contempt of careless good intentions, le niufiisme, is like Flaubert's, and his attitude comes near to being " politics for politics' sake '.' as art for art's sake. Fortune is uncertain and no political situation is stable ; but if one coolly studies the age in which one lives and forces at work in it, one may learn to mould the situation to some large design ; one may even rival in difficult performance the great virtuosi of the past. But the politician, like the artist, can only learn his technique by studying and imitating the classical examples. It is stupid and frivolous to enter the tournament of politics without learning the skills of the game ; and it is exasperating for the profes- sional critic to see gifted amateurs failing because of a lack of elementary training. The great mass of people are at all times absorbed in supplying their own immediate needs, and occur only as the raw material of politics ; but those who have the energy and opportunity to compete in the game presumably wish to succeed ; and to succeed is to survive to the end near the centres of power.
As Father Leslie Walker suggests, this doctrine scarcely amounts to the beginnings of a new science, in spite of all that has been woven around it. The underlying theory is simply the classical historian's theory of cycles of greatness and decline, in which virtue fades into luxury as we recede from a heroic age in the past. Machia- velli's greater originality lies in the mere idea of politics as an auto- nomous activity with its own self-justifying skills, and of the true historian as the professional commentator and critic.., In addition there is the fascination of Machiavelli's own hard temperament and personality: his quiet pessimism about human behaviour and his hatred of intellectual muddle : his clear view that all human arrange- ments are temporary and that there can be no rest or finality anywhere: his fear that Italy would remain petty and servile, his admiration of endurance and of resolution to be free.
" Three centuries have borne enduring witness to his political veracity," wrote Acton as against Hume. But it seems to me that Hume's judgement was essentially right and for something like the reasons which he implies. Machiavelli's conception of political craft and professional skill applies very well to the classical world of conspiracy and war among dispersed powers, or in any period or place before the effects of an industrial revolution are felt. But he seems remote and impractical in a world of mass communications and publicity, in which propaganda has largely replaced diplomacy and in which there seems no safety in military victory. The units of power have become too large and unwieldy for astute combina- tions ; the change of scale makes the ancient analogies of city politics wholly useless. Derived from the conditions of local or party politics, in which even now professional skill in manoeuvre more quickly succeeds, the idea of cleverness and of " realism " may fatally mislead on a larger scale, where -simple choices are required. Guicciardini accused Machiavelli of pedantically deriving too much from Roman analogies ; it is a greater pedantry to apply methods of analysis fitted to Italian city politics to the balance of power today. Machiavelli's problem was to build by manoeuvre and combination a central power in Italy ; but in the present, semi- final stage of national politics, when the last concentrations of power are being made, most princes and republics confront a final uncon- ditional choice—which side ? It seems useless at this stage to translate such a question of choice into a question of prudence, as a Machiavellian must ; the game of politics loses its point if no one can recognisably win by manoeuvre. One might as well return to simple moral judgements of right and wrong.
There has recently been published a completely furnished edition of the Discourses* with most useful cross-references, appendices and notes, and a plain and summary introduction. Father Walker of course dissociates himself from Machiavelli's not very Christian attitudes, but in effect gives a more fair and less weighted account of him than many more enthusiastic interpreters. It is a pity that the Discourses are to remain a rare library masterpiece, because the habit of reading Machiavelli can certainly become a very great pleasure. His attitude td experience is so sharply conveyed as never to be forgotten ; -while reading hiin one sees history as a spectacle of opportunities for men of wit and energy to leave an example of greatness, as in reading Hobbes one has the sense of a social order weakly suspended over the brutality which lies beneath. These are both permanent ways of thinking of public affairs ; for, this reason alone, as vivid exaggerations of the commonplace, Machiavelli and Hobbes will survive. On reflection it may seem absurd to convert questions of policy into questions of technique, and to attach value only to energy and skill in performance, irrespective of ultimate ends ; it may be argued that one cannot act qua politician or qua artist, but must always act, and be responsible for acting, as an undecided person : it seems that not all our activities can be regarded as performances, to be assessed as good or bad by the criteria appropriate to the particular part we are playing ; we are surely involved in the choice of the part as soon as we rehearse the proper performance of it. These are arguments for the philosophical incompleteness of Machiavelli ; but he writes as a professional who had practised his craft from first-hand enjoyment, and anyone who has enjoyed politics as a spectacle must enjoy Machiavelli. STUART HAMPSHIRE. * The Discourses by Niccolo Maclliauelli. Translated and edited by Leslie J. Walker; S.J. (Routledge " Rare Masterpieces," 2 Vols., £5 5s.)
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