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Of Comforte the fyrst Booke
AMonge suche and so manye auncient monuments as pe∣rished in ye Barbarian warres: would God (that at least Mar∣cus Tullius bokes of comforte, written at the deathe of his daughter, had beene tyll this day preserued. For as in all o∣ther matters hee declared him selfe more then a man, so may it be thought that herein he had writ∣ten most excellently: the matter being neyther cō∣mon, fayned or touchinge others, but procedinge from his own naturall affection and extreme per∣turbation of mynde. And suche is the condicion and qualitie of comfortinge, as al be it no persua∣tion or eloquence were there in vsed, yet wan∣teth it not reason and sufficiente proofe to trye it selfe: wherein so excellente, wise, and eloquente a man as Marcus Tullius hauing trauailed: it muste be presumed he framed a worke not only worthy prayse, but also aboue all expectacion.
And albeit these auncient warres haue among many other noble workes depriued vs of so lear∣ned a boke, yet haue we thought mete to entreate thereof (not because it is so praiseable as amisse it cannot be praysed) but also so necessary (as in all thinges whiche of necessitie must be had) better it is to haue the worst, then none at all. For exam∣emple we see, that houses are nedefull, such as can