《君主论·第十九章·应当避免受轻视与憎恨》第6节
Among the best ordered and governed kingdoms of our times is France, and in it are found many good institutions on which depend the liberty and security of the king; of these the first is the parliament and its authority, because he who founded the kingdom, knowing the ambition of the nobility and their boldness, considered that a bit to their mouths would be necessary to hold them in; and, on the other side, knowing the hatred of the people, founded in fear, against the nobles, he wished to protect them, yet he was not anxious for this to be the particular care of the king; therefore, to take away the reproach which he would be liable to from the nobles for favouring the people, and from the people for favouring the nobles, he set up an arbiter, who should be one who could beat down the great and favour the lesser without reproach to the king. Neither could you have a better or a more prudent arrangement, or a greater source of security to the king and kingdom. From this one can draw another important conclusion, that princes ought to leave affairs of reproach to the management of others, and keep those of grace in their own hands. And further, I consider that a prince ought to cherish the nobles, but not so as to make himself hated by the people.
注释摘要
马基雅维利在这一段里转向一个实证范例，试图说明制度设计如何帮助君主避开憎恨。他举出的样板是当时的法国，在他看来那是治理得最好的王国之一。他没有空泛地称赞，而是直接点出一项具体制度：议会及其权威。这里说的议会，主要是指当时的巴黎高等法院，它不是现代意义上的代议机构，而是一个拥有司法审查和登记国王法令权力的高等法庭。马基雅维利把设立这一机构的功劳归于“王国的奠…