A ii Signature mark indicating the second leaf of the first quire of the printed book.

TO THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS AND

NEARLY ALL PEOPLES IN OUR time, Most Illustrious Prince, worship God: yet none do so with the best reason—which is the best thing to do—save for the wise alone. For some adore God because, by honoring Him, they hope for many good things, and by scorning Him, they fear great evils. Thus, this is not love, nor is it veneration, but rather hope or fear. And even if this fear or hope were not in vain (though they certainly are empty if they refer to mortal outcomes rather than the rewards of the soul), nevertheless, the cause of the best action would not be the best. But now (in my opinion), this way of divine worship is not only improper but even futile in those people.

There are others who worship God out of their own custom, or that of others. And just as these are worthy of absolutely no praise, so too those who honor God solely out of fear of the laws—who are certainly wicked—ought to be less blamed. There are also those for whom it is a matter of profit to have honored God, such as the priests. Others, under this name, hunt for a certain reputation for integrity. Thus, just as the former should be called mercenaries Cardano uses this term to describe those who treat religious devotion as a commercial transaction for personal gain. if they do it for no other reason, so too the Truth itself has condemned the latter with the name of hypocrites.

Certain others, more ambitious than the rest, adore God because they think they themselves are His special concern. Therefore, you would not praise them so much for adoring God as you would blame them for promising themselves so much based on a presumptuous opinion. Therefore, only the wise—who honor God because He is the best and most excellent, even if He bestowed no benefit upon us—worship and honor Him correctly. For by honoring the best and holding the wicked in hatred, we ourselves are made better; furthermore, it is because He is simultaneously the cause of all our goods: whether as the first author He brings all things to pass, or (as the Philosophers Cardano likely refers here to the Aristotelian and Neoplatonic traditions regarding divine providence and the governance of the cosmos. will have it) He governs and moderates things already existing through Himself. I believe that wise men ought to maintain a similar reasoning in honoring Princes: namely, that they should honor only those who are the best, and best [deserving] of...