It may be easily imagined that, from the constant revolutions to which Italy was exposed, the clashing interests and consequent altercations amongst its petty principalities, and the long-protracted wars the country had to wage against France and Spain, disputes and sanguinary frays must have been very frequent, and that, from the want of power, treachery was often resorted to. Convulsed by intestine discord, exposed to foreign hostility, suspecting the good faith of their allies, and oppressed by their various masters,--intrigue among the Italians became indispensable, and assassination was safer than open vengeance. We need not, therefore, be surprised that the policy of Machiavel should have been considered a national code; and in these weak states, we find that the stiletto was the weapon of diplomacy, as well as of popular animosity. In the cabinet, assassination became a science, in the streets it was an art; and more elaborate works have been written on duels, satisfaction of wounded honour, and the various qualifications of murder, by Italians, than by the natives of any other country.[32] There does not exist a more consuming and ardent passion, than an impotent thirst of revenge for injuries inflicted by those whose power we dread, and whose position is such as to place them beyond the reach of legal pursuit and of justice. Assassination in such a state of society becomes a natural impulse, when the wrongs of power drive the weak and the helpless to actual madness. It is therefore unfair to stigmatize a nation with the brand of cowardice, from the prevalence of this blood-thirsty practice. It is simply the result of a bad government, corrupted nobility, and a culpable or inefficient magistracy, when crimes may be considered as an unavoidable catenation between causes and effects; and there can be no doubt that the prevalence of duelling and gambling amongst the great, and of thieving amongst the lower orders, will lead to assassination.