DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36838#0134
ALDO'S DEDICATION
his restoration to home and throne, and begs him to
accept the book as a mark of devotion to his person
and of admiration for his character.
' O good son of an excellent father/ he exclaims,
quoting from the 'Iliad/ ' could I, O Zeus ! father of
the gods Athene and Apollo, see ten such kings and
princes ! In these unhappy times, what would not be
our good fortune if our States were governed by
Kings who, according to the divine Plato's precepts,
were also philosophers ! You at least as a sovereign
answer to this description, since you have no wish
but to make your subjects happy, and your people,
aware of this, have twice recalled you to your realm
after you had been vanquished by the enemy's forces,
to be restored amid universal joy and acclamation.
See, then, how good, how useful it is even for
a monarch to be a philosopher ! Put philosophy
secures us many greater benefits, such, among others,
as unshaken courage in all the changes and chances of
life. " Let Fate and Fortune destroy all things mortal
to please their caprices, Hippoclides will take no heed."
Yes, in joy as well as in sorrow, the true philosopher
remains the same. Of this history has given us many
examples. As for you, we all know how admirable
you have been in the different phases of fortune. In
prosperity you have ever been just and kind, filled
with a gracious and unceasing benevolence, and when
Fortune has not smiled on you, as your virtues
deserved, your conduct has been such as to make
men think that you suffer nothing from adversity.
1 need only point to your courage and wisdom, in all
the troubles that you endured, in that hour when
you fled before your foes to escape capture, and God
Himself came to your help. And we are not the
only witnesses of your courage in evil fortune. All
Venice has seen and admired you. This, then, is
one of the advantages of philosophy.
' It is as a token of the high idea that I have of your
von. i. 6
his restoration to home and throne, and begs him to
accept the book as a mark of devotion to his person
and of admiration for his character.
' O good son of an excellent father/ he exclaims,
quoting from the 'Iliad/ ' could I, O Zeus ! father of
the gods Athene and Apollo, see ten such kings and
princes ! In these unhappy times, what would not be
our good fortune if our States were governed by
Kings who, according to the divine Plato's precepts,
were also philosophers ! You at least as a sovereign
answer to this description, since you have no wish
but to make your subjects happy, and your people,
aware of this, have twice recalled you to your realm
after you had been vanquished by the enemy's forces,
to be restored amid universal joy and acclamation.
See, then, how good, how useful it is even for
a monarch to be a philosopher ! Put philosophy
secures us many greater benefits, such, among others,
as unshaken courage in all the changes and chances of
life. " Let Fate and Fortune destroy all things mortal
to please their caprices, Hippoclides will take no heed."
Yes, in joy as well as in sorrow, the true philosopher
remains the same. Of this history has given us many
examples. As for you, we all know how admirable
you have been in the different phases of fortune. In
prosperity you have ever been just and kind, filled
with a gracious and unceasing benevolence, and when
Fortune has not smiled on you, as your virtues
deserved, your conduct has been such as to make
men think that you suffer nothing from adversity.
1 need only point to your courage and wisdom, in all
the troubles that you endured, in that hour when
you fled before your foes to escape capture, and God
Himself came to your help. And we are not the
only witnesses of your courage in evil fortune. All
Venice has seen and admired you. This, then, is
one of the advantages of philosophy.
' It is as a token of the high idea that I have of your
von. i. 6