PREFACE, 20-24 



heir, to prevent its being thought that my lifetime 

 bestowed anything on ambition : accordingly I do 

 a good turn to those who seize the vacant position, 

 and indeed also to future generations, who I know 

 will challenge us to battle as we ourselves have 

 challenged our predecessors. You will deem it a 

 proof of this pride of mine that I have prefaced " 

 these voliunes with the names of my authorities. 

 I have done so because it is, in my opinion, a pleasant 

 thing and one that shows an honourable modesty, to 

 own up to those who were the means of one's achieve- 

 ments, not to do as most of the authors to whom I 

 have referred did. For you must know that when 

 collating authorities I have found that the most 

 professedly reHable and modern writers have copied 

 the old authors word for word, without acknow- 

 ledgement, not in that valorous spirit of Virgil, 

 for the purpose of rivalry, nor with the candour 

 of Cicero who in his Republic declares himself a 

 companion of Plato, and in his Consolation to his 

 daughter says ' I follow Crantor,' and similarly as to 

 Panaetius in his De Officiis — volumes that you know 

 to be worth having in one's hands every day, nay 

 even learning by heart. Surely it marks a mean 

 spirit and an unfortunate disposition to prefer being 

 detected in a theft to repaying a loan — especially as 

 interest creates capital. 



There is a marvellous neatness in the titles given 

 to books among the Greeks. One they entitled 

 Krjpiov, meaning Honeycomb ; others called their 

 work Kepas 'A/xaX^eias, i.e. Horn ofPleniy (so that you 

 can hope to find a draught of hen's milk * in the 

 volume), and again Violets, Muses, Hold-alls, Hand- 

 books, Meadow, Tablet, Imprompiu — titles that might 



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