When, amidst various literary pursuits, I first applied my mind to
the compilation of history, I determined, lest I
Should appear
ungrateful to my native land, to describe, to the best of my
abilities, my own country and its adjoining regions; and
afterwards, under God's guidance, to proceed to a description of
more distant territories. But since some leading men (whom we have
both seen and known) show so great a contempt for literature, that
they immediately shut up within their book-cases the excellent
works with which they are presented, and thus doom them, as it
were, to a perpetual imprisonment; I entreat you, illustrious
Prelate, to prevent the present little work, which will shortly be
delivered to you, from perishing in obscurity. And because this,
as well as my former productions, though of no transcendent merit,
may hereafter prove to many a source of entertainment and
instruction, I entreat you generously to order it to be made
public, by which it will acquire reputation. And I shall consider
myself sufficiently rewarded for my trouble, if, withdrawing for a
while from your religious and secular occupations, you would kindly
condescend to peruse this book, or, at least, give it an attentive
hearing; for in times like these, when no one remunerates literary
productions, I neither desire nor expect any other recompense. Not
that it would appear in any way inconsistent, however there exists
among men of rank a kind of conspiracy against authors, if a
prelate so eminently conspicuous for his virtues, for his
abilities, both natural and acquired, for irreproachable morals,
and for munificence, should distinguish himself likewise by
becoming the generous and sole patron of literature. To comprise
your merits in a few words, the lines of Martial addressed to
Trajan, whilst serving under Dioclesian, may be deservedly applied
to you:
"Laudari debes quoniam sub principe duro,
Temporibusque malis, ausus es esse bonus."
And those also of Virgil to Mecaenas, which extol the humanity of
that great man:
"Omnia cum possis tanto tam clarus amico,
Te sensit nemo posse nocere tamen."
Many indeed remonstrate against my proceedings, and those
particularly who call themselves my friends insist that, in
consequence of my violent attachment to study, I pay no attention
to the concerns of the world, or to the interests of my family; and
that, on this account, I shall experience a delay in my promotion
to worldly dignities; that the influence of authors, both poets and
historians, has long since ceased; that the respect paid to
literature vanished with literary princes; and that in these
degenerate days very different paths lead to honours and opulence.
I allow all this, I readily allow it, and acquiesce in the truth.
For the unprincipled and covetous attach themselves to the court,
the churchmen to their books, and the ambitious to the public
offices, but as every man is under the influence of some darling
passion, so the love of letters and the study of eloquence have
from my infancy had for me peculiar charms of attraction. Impelled
by this thirst for knowledge, I have carried my researches into the
mysterious works of nature farther than the generality of my
contemporaries, and for the benefit of posterity have rescued from
oblivion the remarkable events of my own times. But this object
was not to be secured without an indefatigable, though at the same
time an agreeable, exertion; for an accurate investigation of every
particular is attended with much difficulty. It is difficult to
produce an orderly account of the investigation and discovery of
truth; it is difficult to preserve from the beginning to the end a
connected relation unbroken by irrelevant matter; and it is
difficult to render the narration no less elegant in the diction,
than instructive in its matter, for in prosecuting the series of
events, the choice of happy expressions is equally perplexing, as
the search after them painful. Whatever is written requires the
most intense thought, and every expression should be carefully
polished before it be submitted to the public eye; for, by exposing
itself to the examination of the present and of future ages, it
must necessarily undergo the criticism not only of the acute, but
also of the dissatisfied, reader. Words merely uttered are soon
forgotten, and the admiration or disgust which they occasioned is
no more; but writings once published are never lost, and remain as
lasting memorials either of the glory or of the disgrace of the
author. Hence the observation of Seneca, that the malicious
attention of the envious reader dwells with no less satisfaction on
a faulty than on an elegant expression, and is as anxious to
discover what it may ridicule, as what it may commend; as the poet
also observes:
"Discit enim citius meminitque libentius illud
Quod quis deridet, quam quod probat et veneratur."
Among the pursuits, therefore, most worthy of commendation, this
holds by no means the lowest rank; for history, as the moral
philosopher declares, "is the record of antiquity, the testimony of
ages, the light of truth, the soul of memory, the mistress of
conduct, and the herald of ancient times."
This study is the more delightful, as it is more honourable to
produce works worthy of being quoted than to quote the works of
others; as it is more desirable to be the author of compositions
which deserve to be admired than to be esteemed a good judge of the
writings of other men; as it is more meritorious to be the just
object of other men's commendations than to be considered an adept
in pointing out the merits of others. On these pleasing
reflections I feed and regale myself; for I would rather resemble
Jerome than Croesus, and I prefer to riches themselves the man who
is capable of despising them. With these gratifying ideas I rest
contented and delighted, valuing moderation more than intemperance,
and an honourable sufficiency more than superfluity; for
intemperance and superfluity produce their own destruction, but
their opposite virtues never perish; the former vanish, but the
latter, like eternity, remain for ever; in short, I prefer praise
to lucre, and reputation to riches.
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