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thee; for advice proceeding from the hoary head of long experience would
be wiser and of greater service to all. It appears to me, that those who
talk of driving Cosmo out of Florence would do well to consider what is
their strength, and what that of Cosmo. You have named one party,
that of the nobility, the other that of the plebeians. If the fact
corresponded with the name, the victory would still be most uncertain,
and the example of the ancient nobility of this city, who were destroyed
by the plebeians, ought rather to impress us with fear than with hope.
We have, however, still further cause for apprehension from the division
of our party, and the union of our adversaries. In the first place, Neri
di Gino and Nerone di Nigi, two of our principal citizens, have never
so fully declared their sentiments as to enable us to determine whether
they are most our friends our those of our opponents. There are many
families, even many houses, divided; many are opposed to us through
envy of brothers or relatives. I will recall to your recollection two
or three of the most important; you may think of the others at your
leisure. Of the sons of Maso degli Albizzi, Luca, from envy of Rinaldo,
has thrown himself into their hands. In the house of Guicciardini, of
the sons of Luigi, Piero is the enemy of Giovanni and in favor of our
adversaries. Tommaso and Niccolo Soderini openly oppose us on account of
their hatred of their uncle Francesco. So that if we consider well what
we are, and what our enemies, I cannot see why we should be called NOBLE
any more than they. If it is because they are followed by the plebeians,
we are in a worse condition on that account, and they in a better; for
were it to come either to arms or to votes, we should not be able to
resist them. True it is, we still preserve our dignity, our precedence,
the priority of our position, but this arises from the former reputation
of the government, which has now continued fifty years; and whenever we
come to the proof, or they discover our weakness we shall lose it. If
you were to say, the justice of our cause ought to augment our influence
and diminish theirs I answer, that this justice requires to be perceived
and believed by others as well as by ourselves, but this is not the
case; for the justice of our cause is wholly founded upon our suspicion
that Cosmo designs to make himself prince of the city. And although we
entertain this suspicion and suppose it to be c