EEBO page image 406 Now, if thou which art the reader, thinke that I (vnacquainted with mattets of state, especiallie in an other countrie, better knowne to all men than to my selfe) am far vnable to breake the dangerous ice of such matters, and so more vnme [...] to enter into the bosome of princes (whose harts as Salomon saith are vnsearchable) should for my vnaduisednesse seeme worthie the punishment of Prometheus, that stale the fier from Iupiter, and caried it abrode into the world, bicause the affaires of princes are not to be made common, to be submitted to the cen|sure of their subiects, nor to be written vntill the ashes of all those whome the things concerne were vtterlie con|sumed: thou must yet remember that men haue escaped punishment in dealing with higher matters than with things of chronicles, or of such like which onelie touch the life of the bodie. And therefore in punishing there|of vpon Prometheus, Iupiter went beyond himselfe. For if the greater, that is for matters touching the soule, went not onelie free from punishment, but receiued eternall reward, as after shall appeare, how much more should Prometheus haue beene spared, that but onelie medled with the bodie? Now it is manifest that in diui|nitie and matters of the soule (a thing that so far exceedeth the bodie as the sunne dooth the moone, as angels doo inferior creatures, and as light dooth darkenesse) there be manie which haue lept into heauen, and by contem|plation placed their pen amongst the sonnes of God in writing, and laieng abrode to the world (as much as in them laie) the vnsearchable works of the Almightie, whereof we cannot comprehend the least cause, order or perfection, and haue therefore not onelie not receiued punishment, but eternall reward both in bodie and soule; as Enoch was translated to paradise; Elias taken vp in a fierie chariot; Paule rapt vp into the third heauen, with manie others. For which cause I saie, if they which lepped into matters farre beyond the reach of men, to ex|presse in the meanest degree of perfection, were not punished for medling therein, and writing thereof; much lesse ought I to be punished with Prometheus in medling with the discourse of matters vpon the earth, and such as concerne the actions of mortall creatures, as battels, mutations of kingdoms, death of princes, and such other earthlie accidents. Into which yet I would not haue so rashlie descended, or taken so hard a prouince in hand, had not (as before I said) the commandement of such as I durst not gainsaie, interponed it selfe as a shield to receiue and beat backe the sharpe darts of enuious toongs. For which cause sith I was bound to him by desart, and that he had better opinion of me than there was cause whie; I feared not (though I deemed it the part of him which doubted the iudgement and reproch of the wiser sort, not to haue hazarded his credit) to enter into this dangerous sea, being not so much furnished with hope to performe it well, as desirous to discharge the request of him, and to shew the hope I conceiued at the well acceptance thereof by thee. In which discourse I had rather good reader thou shouldest complaine of want of sufficiencie in me to performe so hard a thing: than that he should mislike of my goodwill in answering his desire. And should I feare to enter heereinto, being a thing meet onelie for great councellors and men priuie of matters of estate; as though there were no place for Greeke poets but onelie to Homer and Sophocles; and for Latine poets, but to Virgill, Ouid, and Horace? Did the singularitie and amplenesse of Platos knowledge in philosophie feare Aristotle to write in the like argument? Or hath Ari|stotle staied the pen of others? Shall no man be painters but Appelles or Zeuxis, or caruers or grauers but Phi|dias and Lysias? Shall no man be orators but Cicero, Quintilian, and Demosthenes? Shall none write histories but Caesar, Liuie, Sabellicus, Paulus Iouius, Comineus, Guicciardine, or such like? Or shall none deliuer their tra|uell to the world bicause they cannot write in English as did sir Thomas Moore, sir Iohn Checke, Roger Askam, Gefferie Fenton, or Iohn Lilie? Yes trulie, for when they haue doone their best, and written what they can, a man may yet imagine a far more excellent thing, euen of and in that wherein they haue best trauelled, written, pain|ted, or graued, and that euen by the selfe same thing which they haue doone. And more good reader thou canst not doo either vpon the basenes of my stile, the disorder of the matter, or the barrennesse of supplieng of things requisit for the furnishing and maiestie of an historie, than to suppose and saie that a better forme and method of writing, a more ample discourse for the matter, and a sweeter stile for the manner might haue beene had for the historie of Scotland, than that which I haue set downe. Wherefore if the best writers be subiect to these faults, that when they haue spent all their wit, eloquence, and art, there is yet somewhat to be desired in them, as well as in me the meanest writer, I am content to beare all speeches, and desire thee to thinke what I would doo, and not what I should doo; to excuse me by others, and not to condemne me with others; to accept this in that sort as I haue meant it, and rather with mildnesse to pardon my imperfections, than with malice to barke at my well meaning. Besides which, if thou shalt deeme this worke and continuation of mine for Scotland, ought to haue been consecrated to the fauourable acceptance, and honourable protection of him to whom the first volume was dedicated; I answer (besides that I am to him an estranger, and not to beg vndeserued fauour of anie person, and that the first patrone of this Scotish historie is now in the low countries beyond the seas) this is a thing by me so slenderlie doone, that it meriteth not his honourable iudgement, or the learned view or patronage of anie other of the nobilitie. For if it had, I would then haue bestowed the same vpon those to whom I haue alreadie consecra|ted my selfe, whatsoeuer I am, hauing long before this couenanted with my bodie, onelie to tie it vnto their good commandement. For hauing but one heart, I cannot dilate it to serue and offer it selfe to manie persons, considering that where is but one heart, there must needs be but one waie: and he that will bestowe one heart vpon manie persons, must diuide the same into manie portions, and so dismember it, that in the end it will be no heart at all; or els he must go to the shambles to prouide manie sheepes hearts, to bestow vpon those manie to whom he will bind his manie seruices: for which causes I may neither choose a new patrone, nor dedicate this to the old, but onelie to thee the fauourable reader. Now before I knit vp this exordium (which may seeme to thee in respect of the following historie, to be like the towne, the gates and entrance whereinto being verie great, oc|casioned Diogenes to will the inhabitants to shut those great gates, least that little towne did run out thereat) I am to admonish thee good reader, that in all my former additions to the historie of Scotland, I haue neither word for word, nor sentence for sentence, set downe the writings of Lesleus or Buchanan, but haue chosen out the matter as I thought best and apt to my desire. After which sort I haue likewise in this my continuation of the an|nales of that countrie, not set downe or deliuered things to the world in that sort and stile as I haue receiued intelligence thereof, but onelie culled foorth such matter as both the time wherein we liue, the matter whereof I intreat, and the method required therefore, may well beare and chalenge. Thus hauing laid before thee, that he writeth best that trulie writeth publike affaires, that I was commanded by my deere freends to enter into this sand: that I cannot discourse of this historie as I willinglie would: that I ought not to forbeare to write bicause I cannot in stile and matter equall the best: that they are to be pardoned that attempt high things: that I haue purposelie in generall dedicated this labour to the common reader, and not in particular to anie honourable person: and hoping that thou wilt pardon all imperfections, I sparinglie enter into the continuation of the an|nales of Scotland (being such as thou maist be content to read, and I am contented to write) in this sort as heere followeth, making my first entrance thereinto with the death of the earle of Lennox, with whome Holinshed finished his chronicle, and so to the matter, after this long and tedious deteining of thee from the same.

Francis Thin.