EPISTLE

permit me, if it please you, that I
might undertake the defense
of their cause under the respect
of your Name: and that
furthermore I might take the boldness to
interest you in it, foreseeing
that posterity—which will find
nothing among all that
these great personages The author refers to the historical figures or ancestors whose reputations he is defending.
have done that can enter into
comparison with your perfec-
tions—will take them for mere
charms original: "charmes"; here meaning illusions or fables rather than magical spells., if you refuse to the
memory of these illustrious men
the discharge A legal or formal exoneration from blame or debt. that they me-
rit by your favor from the