It is praiseworthy in a prince to govern well; but it is not less praiseworthy to provide a successor who shall govern better than himself.

This fame I now seek, not from ambition, but from love to my subjects.

You all know Albert, Duke of Austria, to whom in preference to all other princes I gave my daughter in marriage, and whom I adopted as my son.

You know that he possesses experience and every virtue becoming a prince.

He found Austria in a state of disorder, and he has restored it to tranquillity.
He is now of an age in which judgment and experience attain their perfection, and he is sovereign of Austria, which, lying between Hungary and Bohemia, forms a connecting link between the two kingdoms.
"I recommend him to you as my successor.