In his answer to this extraordinary letter, Poggio expressed the grateful sense which he entertained of the polite condescension manifested by the duke, in thus honouring a private and obscure individual with his unsolicited correspondence. He assured Filippo that he was highly gratified by the flattering terms in which he had complimented him on his literary attainments, but yet more by the eulogium which he had pronounced upon the city of Florence, and by the pledge which he had given of his friendship for the Tuscan state. He then expressed his hope, and indeed his confidence, that the pacific professions of the duke would not be found fallacious, but that his actions would prove the sincerity of his declarations. Proceeding to remind him of different conjunctures in which the Florentines had testified their good will towards him, he observed to his illustrious correspondent, that whenever the administrators of the Tuscan republic had engaged in hostilities against him, they had not been prompted to take up arms by the ambitious hope of extending their territories, but by a determination to defend their liberties. “And if,” said he, “liberty ought to be dear to any people, it ought to be dear to the Florentines; for freedom is the very essence of our constitution. We are not ruled by the arbitrary will of an individual, nor by a faction of nobles. The mass of the people enjoy an equality of rights, and the way to civic honours is open to all. Hence it happens, that the high and the low, the noble and the ignoble, the rich and the poor, unite in the defence of their common freedom, and that in so glorious a cause they spare no expense, shrink from no labour, and dread no danger.” Poggio then proceeded to express his persuasion, that in the wars in which the duke had engaged against the Florentine state, he had imagined that he was fighting in defence of his honour and glory; for it was not to be supposed, that so generous a prince could for a moment entertain the unworthy desire to oppress a republic, whose power and splendour, the consequences of its free constitution, were the pride of Italy. Nothing, he assured the duke, could be more grateful to his feelings, than the friendly dispositions towards his countrymen announced in his letter, which he fondly regarded as the herald of a lasting peace. “Peace,” said he, “I must always regard as preferable to war—provided it be not the cloak of insidious stratagem. You see,” continued Poggio, “that your condescension encourages me to express my sentiments with the utmost freedom. At the same time do not imagine that I mean to insinuate any doubt of your sincerity. I am confident that your well known wisdom will prompt you to lay the foundations of a firm and lasting friendship, which will be mutually advantageous to yourself and to the Florentine state. Let this be your conduct, and you will find me a joyful herald of your praise; and inconsiderable as my talents may be,