pur.i- An:. 41 



but tliat the classical courser might be induced ** antiques 

 exquirere fontes," 



T' examine all, and bring from all away "''' ^ * i"^- 



Their various treasures as a lawful prey ; 



to compare the beauties and defects of the several authors who 

 have treated on the same favourite subject ; and that the issue 

 of the comparison might be the illustration of the Nicomedian 

 courser. 



To the classic reader (" cui nihil neque non lectum est, Ausomus Sym- 



'■ macho. Gnphus. 



neque non intellectum") no apology is necessary for the num- 

 ber of the extracts made from writers who must ever be prized, 

 while pure and correct taste prevails : and to the courser, who 

 with his academic gown has laid on the shelves of his library 

 the authors of Greece and Rome, to be no more disturbed, 

 hke " the rude forefathers" of the rustic cemetery. 



Each in his narrow cell for ever laid ; 



and who " wonders" with Sir John Daw in " The Silent Ben Jonson's 



Epicoene, actii. 



Woman," that " those fellows have such credit with gentle- ^c. 3. 

 men;" there is a summary power vested in himself, of re- 

 ducing the number to the measure of his own taste and 

 capacity. Such, however, not having been the fate of " the Churchill "The 



Author." 



crabbed authors" with myself, I confess that I have found it 

 difficult to check my pen in transcribing apposite and ex- 

 planatory quotations from these early friends. For in the 

 language of old Gervase, " the minde being preoccupied and 

 busied with a vertuous search, is ever ready to catch hold of 

 whatsoever can adorne or illustrate the excellencie of the thins: 

 in which it is imployed." 



