D E D I C A T I O N .

Indeed, you have wished to be educated without end; so that by inspecting the archives of republics and penetrating the secrets of kingdoms, you—about to guide the reins of empire—might clearly perceive through their example and memory what is to be imitated and what is to be avoided. And thus, having attentively weighed the various accidents and causes of human fates, as much of smiling as of raging fortune, you emerge more cautious and better equipped, taking lessons from the famously useful deeds of the ancients, both sacred and profane, for the practice of very similar achievements. How many things remain here for me to say concerning the admirable gifts and protections of your mind, by whose support you are strengthened to sustain the weight of the world without exhaustion; but however much I say, more will yet remain to be looked upon with reverent admiration and suppressed in silence, rather than me trusting that I could encompass the magnitude of virtues—already manifest by their own light—within the narrow limits of a meager oration. I shall remain silent here regarding the remarkable abundance of eloquence infused into you, as if by Mercury The Roman god of communication and eloquence himself; the most perfect faculty of all Mathematics and Harmonics The study of musical and mathematical proportions granted by Apollo, joined with the discipline of Ethics, the governor of souls; and all the equipment of total wisdom with which your breast, GREAT CAESAR original: "MAGNE CÆSAR"; a title for the Holy Roman Emperor, has been sufficiently armed by Pallas Athena/Minerva, goddess of wisdom and war herself, which the entire world looks up to and venerates. Yet it does not seem right for me to be silent here regarding that incredible patronage of letters and most kind love, by which you have embraced all the muses in your innermost heart. To this you also recently added a singular gift, as magnificent for your praise as it is for the increase of the public good; for you, who knew that nothing is so necessary for a Caesarean duty as the study and skill of foreign languages—in which you are wonderfully equipped—and being about to pour the riches of your great soul into others, have founded in your metropolis of Vienna an academy original: "athenæum" of Oriental languages by a rare example and the undoubted instinct of God. You did this so that even thus you might join the Eastern empire to the Western in a confederation through the reciprocal commerce of languages, certainly to the great benefit of the Christian republic and the immortal glory of your most august name. But I do not wish to be rash or injurious toward the magnitude of such great works, which o—