ABSTRACT
HAUING beene eftsoones, and by manie requested, to register and write the historie of such noble acts doone in our times, which I haue either seene my selfe, or haue heard it crediblie reported; I was for my excuse woont to alleage the wickednesse of the time, wherein, by reason of the excessiue riotousnesse which so aboundeth, all things are so farre out of order, and men so carefull to pamper vp the bodie, that the mind, which of his nature is free, is now in captiuitie, and cannot haue his libertie. Neuerthelesse, considering, and diligentlie aduising with my selfe, how necessarie the knowledge of those things will be to our posteritie, and how nothing is more pernicious and hurtfull to a good wit, and an honest disposition, than to lie wallowing in idlenesse and sloth; I did at length with much adoo yeeld my selfe to those requests, and resolued my selfe to satisfie the same. But yet what can be more presumptuous than to write when time serueth not, & leisure wanteth? Or to desire our owne bookes to be commonlie read, and yet at no leisure to read our selues? Or that we should be subiect to the examination and sifting of a malicious reader, and an enuious iudge, and yet we not at leisure to examine our selues? Tullius, the founteine and welspring of all eloquence, being on a time requested to make an oration, is said he did excuse himselfe, because he had not studied nor read the daie before. If so famous a man, and the father of all eloquence, did so esteeme the benefit of studieng, what shall others of a farre meaner estate and learning thinke of themselues? For true it is, the wit of man if it be not reuiued with continuall and dailie reading waxeth faint and dull, and with reading it is increased and nourished as it were with a naturall food and sustenance. For as the full barns are soone spent, if they be not new stored; and the stocke of great wealth and treasure soone wasted & consumed, if it be not repared; euen so the knowledge of man being not dailie renewed by reading and perusing of other mens works dooth soone perish and decaie. We are compact and doo consist of two natures, the one temporall, the other eternall; and hauing respect to both, are to norish both, the earthie part with things transitorie and earthie according to the time, the heauenlie part with things perpetuall and euerlasting. The bodie for the time hath his cares; but the mind, which of his nature is free, and which cannot be shut vp, and as it were imprisoned, is neither vnder the power-of vs, nor of anie others; let it therefore inioie his owne and proper libertie which to it apperteineth, and inioie the freedome to it belonging. As for the outward man, let him wander and straie, and be troubled about manie things, let him follow vaine and trifling toies, and doo all things as will lusteth, & let him be subiect to the miserable condition of the flesh: but the inward man, which as the kernell is inclosed in the shell, let him inioie that right and priuilege which God hath giuen vnto it; let it be so warded and. defended, that being, in troubles, it be not troubled; and being solitarie, it be not destituted. God and the king haue ech of them their seuerall power and empire ouer vs: the king hath power onelie ouer the bodie, but the secret and incomprehensible part within vs, namelie the soule, God onelie possesseth, and he alone knoweth and searcheth the same. For it is a most noble and excellent thing, passing all other the gifts of God vnder heauen, being incomprehensible, and yet comprehending all things, and most euidentlie declaring the diuine power which is in it. For by a certeine naturall agilitie which is in him he comprehendeth all the foure corners of the world, and in a maruellous secret celeritie dooth discerne the whole world and all that therein is: it hath the knowledge and vnderstanding of all arts, sciences & knowledges: he is onlie knowen to him that is vnknowen, seene of him that is not seene, & côprehended of him which is incomprehensible. God forbid therefore, that the continuall exercises of this soule should be hindered with vaine and worldlie cares, whereby things for a time omitted or set aside should perish or be forgotten: for what is the bodie to the soule but a heauie burthen, a paine, & as it were a prison, which though not holding him, yet hindering him? For what the shell is to the kernell, the same is the flesh to the spirit, both of them carrieng his owne impediment arid burthen. Wherefore right noble now earle of Poitiers, but shortlie which shall be king of England, & duke of Normandie, hauing the force and helpe of this, 1 haue yeelded my selfe, and haue now written and drawen out the historie of the conquest of Ireland, and the subduing of the barbarous nation of the same in these our daies, and haue dedicated the same vnto your highnesse: that by recording the gifts thereof, and seeing how your father did grow in renowme and honor, so the same also may increase in you: and as you are knowen to be the right heire of your fathers inheritance, so you may succeed him also in his vertues and victories to your great honor. I haue hitherto trauelled in this rude and rough matter after a grosse manner, but hereafter more fullie, and in better order to be expressed and set foorth, as time and yeares shall increase, and as I shall be more at full instructed.
