PREFACE

...[the scent] of your ointments, nor having anything worthy of such a great Prelate original: "Antistite"; a high-ranking ecclesiastical leader, used here to honor the Archbishop's status. in which I might declare the inclination of my soul toward you, I have taken care to offer the Sixth Book of Mercury original: "Mercurij"; referring to Hermes Trismegistus, the legendary sage believed by Renaissance scholars to be a contemporary of Moses and a source of ancient wisdom., in which he discusses the dignity of man and the immortality of the soul with the greatest wisdom. Therefore, most Reverend Prelate, receive with a joyful brow and a grateful heart the Sixth [Book] of Mercury, coming forth under your most happy auspices—a perpetual monument of your great love toward me and of my respect toward you. Farewell, and relying upon the true wisdom of God the Father and Christ the Lord, continue to adorn the "Sparta" A classical proverb meaning "You have been assigned this task, now do it justice." It encourages the recipient to fulfill the duties of his specific office. which you have undertaken to adorn: do not cease to cultivate the Lord's vineyard which you tend: rule and feed eagerly the sheepfold which you must rule and the sheep which you have been commissioned to feed. Do this so that your Catholic people may persevere holily in the faith and the holy religion and obtain the dignity of the perfect man; and that the schismatics—Greeks, Armenians, Ruthenians original: "Rußi"; in this 16th-century context, it refers to the East Slavic populations of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth., Moldavians, and Wallachians—obeying your fatherly warnings, instructed by your healthy precepts, and conquered by your piety and gentleness, may acknowledge one shepherd on earth in the unity of faith. Thus may they find the way of salvation, through which they may come to behold and enjoy the supreme Shepherd of our souls in eternal happiness.