Dedication

THere bee three thinges (Right worshipful) greatlie desired in this lyfe, Health, Wealth, & Fame: & it is a question which of these is cheefe; the sicke sayth Health, the couetous commendeth Wealth, and both these place good name last of all. But they be both partiall Iudges, because Health & Wealth, though they be neuer so good, and so great, end with the body, and are subiect to time. But honour, fame, renowne, and good report, doe tryumph ouer death, and make men liue for euer: Nunquā stigias fertur ad vmbras Inclyta virtus.

Immensum calcar gloria habet; there is not a greater inticement vnto vertue, then Fame & true glory: Spes famae solet ad virtutem impellere multos.

This made Alexander in honor of armes to emulate Achilles, Scipio Africanus to imitate Xenophons Cyrus, Caesar to patterne himselfe by Alexander, Selimus Prince of Turkes to trace the steps of Caesar, and Carolus Quintus to fire his thoughts at Philip Cominaeus his Lodouicus xi. King of Fraunce. Proceede (noble and heroyick Spirite) with young Troylus to ayme at Hectors glory. And as the pregnancie of your Hopes promiseth to be an Huniades to the Turkes, a Talbot to the French, and a Drake to the Spanyard; so also bee an Artaxerxes to Hippocrates, an Alexander to Pindarus and Aristotle, a Scipio to Ennius, an Augustus to Virgil, a Traian to Plutarch, and a Mecaenas to all Schollers. And then as the sworde dooth defend the penne of the Scholler, so the penne shal grace the sword of the Souldiour; & shall tunablie sonnet that paracleticall verse out of Horace: Dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori.

Learning indeede would bee soone put to silence, without the ayde & support of noble, bountifull, and generous spirits. In hope of which ayde and supportation, I present these diuine and celestiall meditations vnto your Worship, which, vnder the title of your protection, may doe as much good in England, as they haue done in Spayne, Portugall, Italy, Fraunce, and Germanie. Lodouicus Granatensis the Authour of these heauenly and spyrituall Meditations, hath so cunningly portrayed in this Treatise the myseries and calamities of this lyfe, and with such diuine eloquence depainted the future blessednes of the other, that for stile hee seemes to mee another Cicero, and for sounde and emphaticall perswasion, a second Paule. Whose diuine spirit, & heauenly writing, as it hath moued the Italians Camillus Camilli, Georgius Angelierus, Timotheus Bagnus, & Iohannes Baptista Porcacchius to translate his works into theyr language, and Michael of Isselt, to conuert thē into Latine, & Philippus Doberniner into the Germaine tongue, so also hath it mooued me, to digest thē into English; that nowe at the length our Country might enioy that rare Iewel, which those famous Countries doe so highly prize. For further commendation of the Authour and thys Booke, I referre your Worship to the present discourse, which I assure my selfe will worke those motions in you, that it shal neyther yrke you of your paines, nor mee of my labour. Thus boldlie presuming on your curteous acceptation, I commit you to hys sacred protection, who graceth heere vpon the earth the memories of the valiant and vertuous by the pennes of Schollers, and glorifieth them in heauen, with his chosen men of warre, who with Iosua haue fought his battailes, and with Dauid haue vnsheathed their swords to auenge his quarrell. London the 24. of Nouember. 1598.

At your Worships commaundement Francis Meres.