W. B.
THE SATYRICON OF PETRONIUS
THE SATYR OF
TITUS PETRONIUS ARBITER
_With its Fragments, recover'd at Buda_, 1688.
PART ONE
"I promis'd you an account of what befel me, and am now resolv'd to be
as good as my word, being so met to our desires; not only to improve
our learning, but to be merry, and put life in our discourse with
pleasanter tales.
"Fabricius Vejento has already, and that wittily, handled the juggle
of religion, and withal discover'd with what impudence and ignorance
priests pretend to be inspir'd: But are not our wrangling pleaders
possest with the same frenzy? who cant it? These wounds I receiv'd in
defence of your liberty; this eye was lost in your service; lend me a
hand to hand me to my children, for my faltering hams are not able to
support me.
"Yet even this might pass for tolerable, did it put young beginners in
the least way to well-speaking. Whereas now, what with the inordinate
swelling of matter, and the empty ratling of words, they only gain
this, That when they come to appear in publick, they think themselves
in another world. And therefore I look upon the young fry of
collegiates as likely to make the most helpful blockheads, because
they neither hear nor see any thing that is in use among men: But a
company of pirates with their chains on the shoar; tyrants issuing
proclamations to make children kill their fathers; the answers of
oracles in a plague-time, that three or more virgins be sacrific'd to
appease the gods; dainty fine honey-pellets of words, and everything
so said and done, as if it were all spice and garnish.
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