SECT. IX.
LI. What we have written in this discourse, if we attend precisely to the present state of Spain, can produce no other benefit to him who reads it, but that of an honest amusement; or at most, can only furnish the people here with a knowledge of some moral truths, the effects of which do not reach them, nor have they any experience of the consequences resulting from them; for neither the royal children of this day, who for the good of this kingdom proceed to grow and increase in virtue, nor those who are appointed to instruct them, stand in need of my advice; but rather, my theory is marked out by their steps, and copied from their practice. Besides, it is the general condition of all cautions and admonitions which are written to warn Princes, that they are only printed when they are not necessary. Nobody writes against tyranny, when a tyrant is seated on the throne; nobody against ambition, while an ambitious Prince reigns; nobody against avarice, while a covetous prince sways the sceptre. All maxims that issue from the press, which are opposite to the existing mode of ruling, are reputed satires upon government, so that the author by publishing them incurs the indignation of the Prince, and fails to benefit the public. His work is suppressed as offensive, and by that means his labour is totally lost, because the fruits of it can never be enjoyed, neither then, nor in any future time.
LII. From hence it follows, that the most opportune time to exhibit to the world treatises upon just and right policy, is that in which such policy is practised. It is then you should sow, for then you have a favourable prospect, that the seed will produce a good crop hereafter; and even then you may enjoy the produce in part; for the reigning Prince being confirmed that the road he pursues is right, is fortified in his good purposes. To him such doctrine serves as a cordial, and to future ages it acts as a preservative.