Dear Signor Machiavelli,
You may not know me but my name is Lorenzo Baldovinetti. I have recently read
an excerpt from your paper The Prince. When reading it there were a lot of points in which I
thought you gave very good advice. Such as knowing how to measure a prince’s power by
whether they are “strong enough to stand on his own feet in case of need, or weather he is in
constant need of help from others.” This is something I do very well when it comes to Genoa
because I don't depend on other people’s power and instead I use my own. Another point I
agreed with was not being too merciless or generous of a leader because it could bring harm to
the city in the long run. As I said your paper gave very good advice and there were things that
even I could improve on which is whether it is better to be loved or hated. I always thought that it
would be best for the people to love me because then they would not want to overthrow me. But
when you put it as being “ feared in such a way that, even if he gets no love, he gets no hate
either”. I realized that if we were to go under attack that my people would turn on me in a
instance even if I was the nicest ruler they ever had. Just to save their own skin. While a lot of
the ideas you wrote about I agreed with others such as wanting to isolate your city from others I
have a question about. Since Genoa's business is many focused around water being that we're
a maritime citystate.
How would we go about isolating ourselves when we're always importing
and exporting goods. Especially since our strongest army is the navy. Overall think that your
paper will help all prince’s to be and even current princes to learn the correct way to rule their
territory. I know for a fact that it has helped me tremendously.
Sincerely,
Lorenzo Baldovinetti

Dear Niccolo Machiavelli

I am writing this letter to you about your The Prince. I was really admired and impressed by your point of view.  And I especially want to talk about your ideas about How to Measure the Strength of any Prince and on Cruelty and Clemency with you today.

One way to determine if a Prince is good is to measure the strength of his state.  As you mentioned in the article, whenever a man has fortified and well supplied and could stand on their own foot in case of need, people will be slow to attack him because men are wary abut hard tasks. I am strongly agree with your point, because a prince’s destiny will be pretty depended on their army and citizens because they are the significant parts of defeating the enemies. And providing the fabulous living condition for citizens will make them feel positive about the country and leader, so when there are coming up a war, the prince will have enough people to join.

Another very important characteristic of a good prince is how he handles Cruelty and Clemency.  First, he should not mind being called cruel for what he does to keep his subjects untied and loyal.  Then a prince should made himself in such a way that, even if he gets no loves, he gets no hates either. Finally, he should make the conditions under his control but not by others.

These are the two points that I am extremely agree with you. 

Dear Signor Machiavelli,

            Recently I acquired a copy of your fine novel, The Prince, and I was delighted to see your ideas and thoughts on leadership aligning so well with my own. First of all, you wrote about being generous, but only when in the public light, and I could not agree with this more wholeheartedly. Whenever I begin contemplating a public event or work, I always ask myself “How will this bring me favor with the people?” And while some may see this as selfish, being loved by few means nothing if you have been ousted from your rule. I firmly believe that when doing anything, whether it be public or personal, you must take into account how your people will feel about your decision. You seemed to share this opinion when you wrote about taxes, and how increasing taxes to build public works is not worth it, if it costs you the favor of your people.

            Next, your ideas about conflicts, enemies and expansion could not have been more accurate. As you may well know, Genoa is a rather small republic, focused mainly on commercial expansion rather than border expansion. Also, you wrote about how you felt it was foolish to attempt to siege other cities when you wrote “It’s almost impossible for a prince with his armies to devote an entire year to siege while doing nothing else.” I strongly agree with this statement, however many of my fellow politicians believe that now since Genoa has amassed economic power, we should attempt to begin gaining military power, but I believe otherwise.

            Finally I firmly agree about what you wrote on the topic of virtue and morality. You said that it was better to be feared than loved, but also that “every prince should prefer to be considered merciful rather than cruel, yet he should be careful not to mismanage this clemency of his.” I absolutely agree with this, and do my best to exercise mercy, but not be afraid of showing a harsh punishment, if the occasion arises. I find that if you let your clemency define your rule, then the people will mistake your mercy for weakness. Lastly, I concur with your view that a prince should know how to rule not only by force or only by law, but maintain a balance in his rule, and use force and law as he deem fit.

Regards,

Tiberio Fonte

Dear Signor Machiavelli,

 I have recently gotten the chance to read excerpts from you work, The Prince. You made many good points and had good ideas throughout the work. I especially agreed with the section where you were talking about how to balance money. The ability to be able to tax the people you rule but still keep them happy is a very delicate job for a person of power. People will respect a leader who has wealth and they will enjoy projects that the leader will be able to fund.

One thing that you talked about that I will remember when I am in charge of people is the way leaders are seen. People have expectations for leaders and can be disappointed very easily. A leader is the topic of discussion and writing, so he should make sure his image is good in the eyes of the people. Something that you made clear was it’s not good to become too well liked or else you will be an even bigger target for your enemies. You want to make sure the people know that you are powerful and should be feared.

In order to stay in power you said a leader should have a standing army of men who are in good spirits and content with the current rule. I agree with this very much and plan to start recruiting men for protection. It is also very important to have friends in powerful positions. Your work has been very informative and helpful. I plan to use many of these techniques when I become a leader of people.

  

Sincerely,

Pietro Rosso