takesomeotherkindofwickednessundertheirpatronage，andwonderatthedepravityoftheirancestors。Noristhisall。Posterity，thathighcourtofappealwhichisnevertiredofeulogizingitsownjusticeanddiscernment，actsonsuchoccasionslikeaRomandictatorafterageneralmutiny。Findingthedelinquentstoonumeroustobeallpunished，itselectssomeofthemathazard，tobearthewholepenaltyofanoffenceinwhichtheyarenotmoredeeplyimplicatedthanthosewhoescape。Whetherdecimationbeaconvenientmodeofmilitaryexecution，weknownot；butwesolemnlyprotestagainsttheintroductionofsuchaprincipleintothephilosophyofhistory。
Inthepresentinstance，thelothasfallenonMachiavelli，amanwhosepublicconductwasuprightandhonorable，whoseviewsofmorality，wheretheydifferedfromthoseofthepersonsaroundhim，seemedtohavedifferedforthebetter，andwhoseonlyfaultwas，that，havingadoptedsomeofthemaximsthengenerallyreceived，hearrangedthemmoreluminously，andexpressedthemmoreforcibly，thananyotherwriter。
Havingnow，wehope，insomedegreeclearedthepersonalcharacterofMachiavelli，wecometotheconsiderationofhisworks。Asapoet，heisnotentitledtoaveryhighplace；4butthecomediesdeservemoreattention。
[Footnote4：IntheoriginalessayMacaulayhadheresomecriticalremarksonthepoetryofMachiavelli，butheomittedthemonrepublication。]
The\"Mandragola，\"inparticular，issuperiortothebestofGoldoni，andinferioronlytothebestofMoliere。Itistheworkofamanwho，ifhehaddevotedhimselftothedrama，wouldprobablyhaveattainedthehighesteminence，andproducedapermanentandsalutaryeffectonthenationaltaste。