THE PREFACE.

No part of History is more inftructive and delighting, than the Lives of Great and Worthy Men: the fhortnefs of them invites many readers; and there are fuch little, and yet remarkable paffages in them, too inconfiderable to be put in a general history of the age in which they lived, that all people are very defirous to know them. This makes Flutarch's Lives be more generally read, than any of all the books which the ancient Greeks or Romans writ.

But the lives of Heroes and Princes, are commonly filled with the account of the great things done by them, which do rather belong to a general, than a particular history; and do rather amufe the reader's fancy with a fplendid fhew of greatnefs, than offer him what is really fo useful to himself; and indeed the lives of princes are either writ with fo much flattery, by those who, intended to merit by it at their own hands, or others concerned in them; or with fo much fpite, by thofe who, being ill used by them, have revenged themfelves on their memory, that there is not much to be built on them: And though the ill nature of many makes what is fatirically writ to be generally more read and believed, than when the flattery is visible and coarse; yet certainly refentment may make the writer corrupt the truth of history, as much as intereft. And fince all men have their blind fides, and commit errors, he that will industrioufly lay these together, leaving out, or but flightly touching what fhould be fet against them, to balance them, may make a very good man appear in bad colours: So, upon the whole matter, there is not that reafon to expect either much truth, or great instruction, from what is written concerning Heroes or Princes; for few, have been able to imitate

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the patterns Suetonius fet the world in writing the Lives of the Roman Emperors, with the fame freedom that they had led them : But the lives of private men, though they feldom entertain the reader with fuch a variety of paffages as the other do; yet certainly they offer him things that are more imitable, and do present wifdom and virtue to him, not only in a fair idea, which is often looked on as a piece of invention or fancy of the writer, but in fuch plain and familiar instances, as do both direct him better, and perfuade him more; and there are not fuch temptations to bias those who writ them, fo that we may generally depend more on the truth of fuch relations as are given in them.

In the age in which we live, religion and virtue have, been propofed and defended with fuch advantages with that great force of reafon, and thofe perfuafions, that they can hardly be matched in former times; yet after all this, there are but few much wrought on by them, which perhaps flows from this, among other reafons, that thereare not fo many excellent patterns fet out, as might both in a fhorter, and more effectual manner recommend that to the world, which difcourfes do but coldly; the wit and ftyle of the writer being more confidered than the argument which they handle; and therefore the propofing virtue and religion in fuch a model, may perhaps operate more than the perfpective of it can do: and for the History of Learning, nothing does so preserve and improve it, as the writing of the lives of thofe who have been eminent in it.

There is no book the Ancients have left us, which might have informed us more than Diogenes Laertius's Lives of the Philofophers, if he had had the art of writing equal to that great fubject which he undertook; for if he had given the world fuch an account of them as Gaffendus has done of Peirefk, how great a ftock of knowledge might we have had, which by his unfkilfulness is in a great meafure loft: fince we

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muft now depend only on him, because we have no other, or better author, that has written on that argument.

For many ages there were no lives writ but by Monks, through whofe writings there runs fuch an incurable humour, of telling incredible and inimitable paffages, that little in them can be believed or proposed as a pattern: Sulpitius Severus and Jerome fhewed too much credulity in the lives they writ, and raised Martin and Hilarion, beyond what can be reafonably believed. After them, Socrates, Theodoret, Sozomen, and Palladius, took a pleasure to tell uncouth ftories of the Monks of Thebais, and Nitria; and those who came after them, fcorned to fall short of them, but raised their faints above thofe of former ages; fo that one would have thought that indecent way of writing could rife no higher and this humour infected even those who had otherwise a good fense of things, and a just apprehenfion of mankind, as may appear in Matthew Paris, who, though he was a writer of great judgment and fidelity, yet he has corrupted his history with much of that alloy. But when emulation and envy rofe among the feveral orders, or houses, then they improved in that art of making romances, inftead of writing lives, to that pitch, that the world became generally much scandalized with them: the Francifcans and Dominicans tried who could fay the most extravagant things of the founders, or other faints of their orders; and the Benedictines, who thought themselves poffeft of the belief of the world, as well as of its wealth, endeavoured all that was poffible ftill to keep up the dignity of their order, by out-lying the others all they could; and whereas here or there, a miracle, a vifion, a trance, might have occurred in the lives of former faints; now every page was full of thofe wonderful things.

Nor has the humour of writing in fuch a manner been quite laid down in this age, though more awakened, and better enlightened, as appears in the

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Life

Life of Philip Nerius, and a great many more: and the Jesuits at Antwerp are now taking care to load the world with vaft and voluminous collections of all thofe Lives that have already fwelled in eleven volumes of folio, in a small print; and yet being digefted accord ing to the kalender, they have yet but ended the month of April. The Life of Monfieur Renty is writ in another manner, where there are fo many excellent paffages, that he is justly to be reckoned amongst the greatest patterns that France has afforded in this age.

But while fome have nourished infidelity, and a fcorn of all facred things, by writing of thofe good men in fuch a ftrain, as makes not only what is fo related to be difbelieved, but creates a diftruft of the authentical writings of our moft holy faith; others. have fallen into another extreme in writing Lives too jejunely, fwelling them up with trifling accounts of the childhood and education, and the domestic or private affairs of those persons of whom they write, in which the world is little concerned by these they become fo flat that few care to read them; for certainly thofe tranfactions are only fit to be delivered to poflerity, that may carry with them fome useful piece. of knowledge to after-times.

I have now an argument before me, which will afford indeed only a fhort history, but will contain in it as great a character as perhaps can be given of any in this age; fince there are few inftances of more knowledge, and greater virtues meeting in one person. I am upon one account (befide many more) unfit to undertake it, because I was not at all known to him, fo I can fay nothing from my own obfervation; but upon fecond thoughts, I do not know whether this may not qualify me to write more impartially, though perhaps more defectively, for the knowledge of extraordinary perfons does moft commonly bias thofe who were much wrought on, by the tenderness of their friendship for them, to raise their style a little too high.

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