《君主论·第十一章·教会的君主国》第1节
It only remains now to speak of ecclesiastical principalities, touching which all difficulties are prior to getting possession, because they are acquired either by capacity or good fortune, and they can be held without either; for they are sustained by the ancient ordinances of religion, which are so all-powerful, and of such a character that the principalities may be held no matter how their princes behave and live. These princes alone have states and do not defend them; and they have subjects and do not rule them; and the states, although unguarded, are not taken from them, and the subjects, although not ruled, do not care, and they have neither the desire nor the ability to alienate themselves. Such principalities only are secure and happy. But being upheld by powers, to which the human mind cannot reach, I shall speak no more of them, because, being exalted and maintained by God, it would be the act of a presumptuous and rash man to discuss them. Nevertheless, if any one should ask of me how comes it that the Church has attained such greatness in temporal power, seeing that from Alexander backwards the Italian potentates (not only those who have been called potentates, but every baron and lord, though the smallest) have valued the temporal power very slightly—yet now a king of France trembles before it, and it has been able to drive him from Italy, and to ruin the Venetians—although this may be very manifest, it does not appear to me superfluous to recall it in some measure to memory.
注释摘要
这一节的开头，马基雅维利处理的是全书分类体系中最后一个类型：教会的君主国。他讲得很快，甚至故意收住了话头。他用一种高度概括的方式说，这种国家所有的困难都只发生在获取的阶段，因为获取它要么靠能力，要么靠幸运，而一旦到手，维系它却不需要这两样东西中的任何一样。原因在于，维系它的是一种特殊的支撑力，来自宗教的古老制度。这种制度在他看来力量如此强大，性质如此特殊，…