TO THE Right Honourable Sir William Trumball, One of the Lords Commissioners OF HIS Majesty's Treasury.

THo' I have long been Ambitious of giving some pub∣lick Instance of the Vene∣ration Page  [unnumbered] I have for You, I would not have presum'd to have done it now, had not the Book, of which what follows is a Transla∣tion, been written by an Embassador, and dedica∣ted to a King. The Character which you have so honourably maintain'd, not only at the Court of that Prince, but with an Emperor greater than that of Morocco, entitles You to the Protection of more finish'd Works than this; Page  [unnumbered] the Author of which, tho' a Person of great Skill in Business, perhaps not un∣justly, thinks himself not altogether vers'd in the nice way of Writing: Yet his Book contains so many pleasant and useful Remarks, and may disco∣ver so many Mysteries to the piercing Eyes of a sound Politician, that You are Master of too much Goodness not to allow it a Place, on that Score, a∣mong that admirable Col∣lection Page  [unnumbered] which You possess no less in Your Mind than in Your Library. Fear, not, SIR, I should, like many Dedicators, attempt a Panegyrick instead of an Epistle; I know You are so far from being the least indulgent to such a Pra∣ctice, that You more care∣fully avoid Addresses of this Nature, than some, who deserve them less, industriously encourage them. For still Your Modesty seeks as much to Page  [unnumbered] keep Your other Vertues veil'd, as most of us Wri∣ters do to discover them; and it has brib'd some of them into a Concealment of Your real Merit, in a more liberal Manner than the Vanity of many has recompens'd a Publicati∣on of their imaginary Worth. I dare not then pretend to mention those Qualifications that endear You to Your Country; nor am I so partial to my self as to desire You to Page  [unnumbered] protect the Original or the Translation of this Book from the Censures of the Reader, to whom I freely abandon it.

My whole Design is merely the Acknowledg∣ment of Favors receiv'd; tho' at the same time You cannot pardon this with∣out conferring a new one; since I know You would have bestow'd on me fresh Marks of Your Genero∣sity, had I consented to spare You the Blush which Page  [unnumbered] the sight of this will raise. But, SIR, even those who are not able to return Obligations, if of a grate∣ful Principle, do not love to be too much indebted; and 'tis some Ease at least to Acknowledge when we cannot Requite. I only beg then, to let all those who will read this know, That I have the deepest Sense imaginable of Your obliging Good∣ness, that singular Huma∣nity, or rather Charity, Page  [unnumbered] which, as it extends to ma∣ny of our unhappy Refu∣giés, has made me a sharer in the Effects of Your Bounty, doubtless much more than the most tole∣rable of my Attempts as a Writer. You pitied a Man, who, having the real Love of a Loyal English Subject for the Great Prince under whom we live, endeavours to ap∣pear as much an En∣glishman as he can, even in his Writings, since he is Page  [unnumbered] driven on the barren Coast of Parnassus, that idle Bu∣siness Poetry, for want of better. May Heaven still preserve You for the Good of Mankind, and more particularly of Your Country, to whom You so wholly devote Your Self; and may You be∣lieve me with the greatest Zeal and Respect,