(*) "With chalk in hand," "col gesso." This is one of the _bons mots_ … — The Prince

The Prince — Niccolò Machiavelli

(*) "With chalk in hand," "col gesso." This is one of the _bons mots_ of Alexander VI, and refers to the ease with which Charles VIII seized Italy, implying that it was only necessary for him to send his quartermasters to chalk up the billets for his soldiers to conquer the country. Cf. "The History of Henry VII," by Lord Bacon: "King Charles had conquered the realm of Naples, and lost it again, in a kind of a felicity of a dream. He passed the whole length of Italy without resistance: so that it was true what Pope Alexander was wont to say: That the Frenchmen came into Italy with chalk in their hands, to mark up their lodgings, rather than with swords to fight."

Endroit: CHAPTER XII -- HOW MANY KINDS OF SOLDIERY THERE ARE, AND CONCERNING MERCENARIES · ¶160
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