se of years how great must be the accumulation! If the suit is
won through bribery, then the poor man can obtain no justice but only the
rich. The poor man will have no sure place of dependence, and subjects
will be driven to abandon their duty.

VI.--To punish vice and to encourage virtue is the rule in good ancient
law. The virtuous man must therefore be promoted, and the vicious man must
be surely punished. The man who is untruthful is a powerful instrument to
endanger the state and a keen weapon to destroy the nation. The flatterer
loves to tell the faults of the inferior to the superior, and also to
disclose the errors of the superior to the inferior. Such men are alike
unfaithful to the prince and unfriendly to fellow citizens, and in the end
fail not to stir up social disorder.

VII.--The duty of men in the government must be assigned according to their
capacity. When intelligent men take service the applause of the people
follows, but when bad men are in office calamities ensue. If wise officers
are put on duty the matters of state are well managed, and the community
is free from danger and prosperity prevails. Therefore in ancient times
the wise king never selected the office for the man, but always selected
the man to suit the office.

VIII.--Too often officers and their colleagues come early to their offices
and retire soon; so that the public work accomplished in a single day is
small. It is incumbent on them to devote sufficient time to their tasks;
if not, then the work of the government cannot be done.

IX.--Everything must be faithfully done, because fidelity is the origin of
justice. The distinction between good and bad, between success and
failure, depends on fidelity. When both prince and subjects are faithful
then there are no duties which cannot be accomplished, but when both are
unfaithful nothing can be done.

X.--Give up all thoughts of indignation and be not angered with others on
account of a disagreement of opinion. Each one may have a different point
of view and may therefore come to a different conclusion. If the one side
be right then the other must be wrong, or the cases may be just reversed.
It would be unjust to set down one man as surely wise and another as
positively stupid; because men cannot attain perfection in their
characters. It is impossible to decide either side to be perfectly right
or perfectly wrong. While you are angry with another who has a different
view from you, you