. A I .

. EPISTLE .

BY YOUR SHOUT, you stir us by the example of Your life; by the magnetism of Your LOVE and kindness, You draw us; by the uprightness of Your CHARACTER, You instruct us; BY YOUR MOUTH, for as many words as You pour out, You establish just as many Laws; BY THE DEED itself; through Justice in Your investigations, Steadfastness in times of doubt, Prudence in Your counsels, and through Fortitude and Clemency, You so temper the consonant-dissonant original: consono-dissonos; Kircher, who was a renowned music theorist, uses a musical metaphor here. He suggests the Emperor acts as a composer or conductor, resolving the "discordant" or clashing interests of his subjects into a "concordant" or harmonious state. movements of Your Subjects, that You seem to draw the minds of all into an absolute harmony. Indeed, I would prefer to pass over the excellence of these virtues in silence rather than touch upon them too sparingly.

But let me turn my pen to the study of true wisdom and the sciences, by which You are laudably occupied whenever You obtain some free time from the Burden of the World original: Mole Mundi; a classical and Baroque trope referring to the heavy weight of imperial responsibility, often likening the ruler to the Titan Atlas who carried the celestial sphere on his shoulders. which You sustain. It is to You, most Wise CAESAR,