I am carried away to their society.

And since Dante says "that there is no science unless we retain what we have learned," I have set down what I have gained from their discourse, and composed a treatise, _De Principatibus_, in which I enter as deeply as I can into the science of the subject, with reasonings on the nature of principality, its several species, and how they are acquired, how maintained, how lost.

If you ever liked any of my scribblings, this ought to suit your taste.

To a prince, and especially to a new prince, it ought to prove acceptable.

Therefore I am dedicating it to the Magnificence of Giuliano.' [1] This letter may be compared with others of about the same date.