THE STATIONER TO THE READER.
25 lines✦
t is not any Private respect of gain, Gentle Reader, for the slightestPamphlet is now adayes more vendible then the Works of learnedest men;but it is the love I have to our own Language that hath made me diligentto collect, and set forth such Peeces in Prose and Vers as may renew thewonted honour and esteem of our tongue: and it's the worth of these bothEnglish and Latin poems, not the flourish of any prefixed encomions thatcan invite thee to buy them, though these are not without the highestCommendations and Applause of the learnedst Academicks, both domesticand forrein: And amongst those of our own Countrey, the unparalleledattestation of that renowned Provost of Eaton, Sir Henry Wootton: I knownot thy palat how it relishes such dainties, nor how harmonious thysoul is; perhaps more trivial Airs may please thee better. Buthowsoever thy opinion is spent upon these, that incouragement I havealready received from the most ingenious men in their clear andcourteous entertainment of Mr. Wallers late choice Peeces, hath oncemore made me adventure into the World, presenting it with theseever-green, and not to be blasted Laurels. The Authors more peculiarexcellency in these studies, was too well known to conceal his Papers,or to keep me from attempting to sollicit them from him. Let the eventguide it self which way it will, I shall deserve of the age, by bringinginto the Light as true a Birth, as the Muses have brought forth sinceour famous Spencer wrote; whose Poems in these English ones are asrarely imitated, as sweetly excell'd. Reader, if thou art Eagle-eied tocensure their worth, I am not fearful to expose them to thy exactestperusal.
✦