De consolatione ethnica et christiana, censura theologica

TO THE YOUTHS MOST ORNAMENTED BY THE
SPLENDOR OF THEIR FAMILIES, THE GLORY OF
THEIR ANCESTORS, AND THE HAPPINESS OF
THEIR INTELLECTS, JOHANN
& ADAM, GEIZCOFLER, cousins,
& ERASMUS HORVVORT.
GREETINGS.

A decorative drop cap D features floral and foliate motifs.I am delighted, most noble youths, by that candid sentiment of Cicero: We all good men always favor nobility, because it is useful to the Republic that men should be noble and worthy of their ancestors, and because the memory of famous men who have deserved well of the Republic, even those who are dead, ought to hold value among us.

But for this flourishing Nobility, which resides in this Basel Academy and other well-constituted gymnasiums of virtues and doctrines, I wish that, original: σὺν θεῷ with God, they might unite the most honest Graces with the most learned Muses: and with excellent doctrine, the glory of Virtues and the best morals. I wish them to contemplate the heroic examples of those who excel in the temperament of Mars and Minerva: and who rightly judge that the fatherland must be defended not only by arms, but also by laws, the study of discipline, and one's own example, to be adorned.