Thus Justiniani Convicts Himself Of Falsehood, And Proves
Himself Inconsiderate, Rash, And Malicious.
When he had occasion to speak
of so renowned a person who reflected so great honour on his country,
Although the admirals parents had even been very mean, it had been more
decent in mentioning his origin, as other authors have done, to have said
that he was of low parentage or come of very poor people, instead of
falsely calling him a mechanic, as he did in his Psalter, and afterwards
in his Chronicle. Even supposing he had not contradicted himself, reason
might have shewn that a man who had been bred up in a mechanical
employment, must grow old in it to become a perfect master, and could not
from his youth have travelled into so many countries, or have attained so
much knowledge and learning as his actions demonstrate; more especially in
those four principal sciences which were so indispensably necessary to fit
him for what he performed, astronomy, cosmography, geometry, and
navigation. It is not much to be wondered that Justiniani should be guilty
of untruth in this circumstance, which is hidden, since he has inserted
above a dozen falsehoods in half a sheet of paper in his Psalter, in
matters concerning this discovery and navigation, which are well known.
These I shall briefly mention, without staying to give him any answer,
that I may not interrupt the series of the history; and because from its
tenor, and by what has been written by others on that subject, the
falsehood of his writing will distinctly appear.
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