They reflected, too, upon the auspicious example set at the Palazzo Medici, where the mother's part was conspicuous in the wise training of her family and in the loving deference she received from her sons. And as they gazed upon Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Medici--"the hope of Florence"--they recognised in the former a statesman, already a ruler in the making. Young though he was, he had widely gained a reputation for shrewdness and energy, for Piero had taken his eldest son early into his confidence, and had entrusted to him much important State business. He had sent him with embassies to Rome, Venice, and Naples; he had despatched him upon a round of ceremonious visits to foreign courts; and had encouraged him to make himself acquainted with all Tuscany and the Tuscans. Lorenzo's accomplishments in the school of letters were known to all. He was a scholar and a gentleman, and these points had great weight in Florentine opinion. In figure and physiognomy he very greatly resembled his grandfather. His dignified bearing greatly impressed the assembly, whilst his unaffected modesty, pleasant courtesy, and graceful oratory, gratified them all. In Giuliano they had a typical young courtier, handsome, athletic, accomplished, and enthusiastic. His physical charms appealed to every one, for most Florentines were Greeks of the Greeks. A precocious boy of sixteen years of age, he had the promise of a brilliant young manhood and a splendid maturity. The personal equation is always a prominent factor in human ambitions, and nowhere was it more emphatically dominant than in the mutual jealousies of the men of Florence. The "x+y" sign of absolute assurance had its match and equal in the "x-y" sign of restrictive deference. If one _Messer_ arrived at some degree of prominence, then the best way for him to attain his end was to pit himself against another of his class nearest to him in influence. If _he_ was not to gain the guerdon, then his rival should not have it! This was the spirit which permeated the _raison d'etre_ of each noble lord in that great assembly. After the first wave of enthusiasm had passed, each man began to reflect that the best way, after all, for settling the contentious question of the Headship of the Republic, was to rule every one of the "magnificent six hundred" out of the running; and by taking the line of least resistance plump for the unassuming youths before them--Medici although they were. "_Signori!_" "_Signori!_" again ran through the lofty chamber, "_I Signori di Firenze!_" Some cried out "Lorenzo," and some "Giuliano," and others "_I tutte due_"--but shouts for Lorenzo waxed the loudest. Thus by general acclamation was the new _Capo della Repubblica_ elected.