§ XXXVIII et dernier
The Overloaded Favorite
A warning against heaping too many offices on one man, driven by the prince's laziness rather than genuine trust, leading to harm for the public and the favorite himself.
Haven't you heaped too many offices onto one man's head—whether to satisfy his ambition, or to spare yourself the trouble of having many people you have to deal with? As soon as a man is the man of the hour, people give him everything; they would have him alone do all things. It isn't that they love him—for they love nothing. It isn't that they trust him—for they distrust everyone's honesty. It isn't that they find him perfect—for they're often delighted to criticize him. No: it's that they're lazy and unsociable.1 They don't want to have to deal with so many people. To see fewer of them, and not to be watched closely by so many people, they'll have one man do what four would have great trouble doing well. The public suffers from it; business languishes; frauds and injustices become more frequent and harder to remedy.23 The man is overwhelmed—and would be very annoyed not to be. He has no time to think, to go deep, to make plans, or to study the men he uses: he's always swept along day by day by a torrent of details to dispatch.
The Hidden Cost of Laziness
The prince's laziness stifles talent, breeds countless injustices, and passes authority into harmful hands—a sobering reminder that indirect harm is still one's own responsibility.
Besides, this pile of offices on a single head—often a rather weak one—shuts out all the best subjects who could develop themselves and do great things. Every talent stays stifled. The prince's laziness is the real cause of it. The smallest reasons decide the greatest affairs. From that spring countless injustices. "Little about you," Saint Augustine said to Count Boniface, "but much because of you."4 Perhaps you'll do little harm yourself; but endless harm will be done through your authority placed in the wrong hands.5
Read the original French
N'avez -vous point entassé trop d'emplois sur la tête d'un seul homme, soit pour contenter son ambition, soit pour vous épargner la peine d'avoir beaucoup de gens à qui vous soyez obligé de parler ? Dès qu'un homme est l'homme à la mode, on lui donne tout, on voudroit qu'il fît lui seul toutes choses. Ce n'est pas qu'on l'aime ; car on n'aime rien : ce n'est pas qu'on s'y fie ; car on se défie de la probité de tout le monde : ce n'est pas qu'on le trouve parfait ; car on est ravi de le critiquer souvent ; mais c'est qu'on est paresseux et sauvage. On ne veut point avoir à compter avec tant de gens. Pour en voir moins, et pour n'être point observé de près par tant de personnes, on fera faire à un seul homme ce que quatre auroient grand'peine à bien faire. Le public en souffre, les expéditions languissent, les surprises et les injustices sont plus fréquentes et plus irrémédiables. L'homme est accablé, et seroit bien fâché de ne l'être pas. Il n'a le temps ni de penser, ni d'approfondir, ni de faire des plans, ni d'étudier les hommes dont il se sert : il est toujours entraîné au jour la journée, par un torrent de détails à expédier.
D'ailleurs cette multitude d'emplois sur une seule tête, souvent assez foible, exclut tous les meilleurs sujets qui pourraient se former et faire de grandes choses. Tout talent demeure étouffé. La paresse du prince en est la vraie cause. Les plus petites raisons décident sur les plus grandes affaires. Delà naissent des injustices innombrables. Pauca de te, disoit Saint-Augustin au comte Boniface, sed multa propter te. Peut-être ferez-vouspeu de mal par vous-même ; mais il s'en fera d'infinis par votre autorité mise en mauvaises mains.
Notes
- 1 ↩Here sauvage means shy of company / withdrawn from dealing with many people, not 'savage' in the modern English sense; the following sentences make the social-avoidance sense clear.
- 2 ↩Administrative sense: the dispatching of public business, not military expeditions.
- 3 ↩In this political-administrative register, surprises often means frauds or advantages obtained by taking justice unawares, not mere unexpected events.
- 4 ↩Source embeds the Latin maxim: "Pauca de te… sed multa propter te." Rendered for sense: little concerning you personally, but much done on your account / because of you.
- 5 ↩Normalized source reads "ferez-vouspeu"; translated as the intended "ferez-vous peu" (you'll do little).
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