Sir, – Michael Sanfey (Opinion, December 10th) is wrong to describe Machiavelli as an "evil" genius and to suggest that in The Prince he was advising rulers to act "evilly". He was telling would-be rulers and rulers in 16th-century Italy how they must behave and act if they wished to acquire and hold power securely. His observation of Italian politics in that century gave him his insight. He was a gifted political scientist. – Yours, etc,
Dr DESMOND FENNELL,
Sydney Parade Avenue,
Dublin 4.
