To the Most High, Most Powerful & Victorious

PRINCE

MY LORD

WILLIAM,

PRINCE OF ORANGE,

COUNT OF NASSAU, &c.

General of the land and naval armies,

Governor of the United Provinces, &c.

A large decorative drop cap 'M' featuring intricate floral patterns and scrollwork.My Lord,

I would have forgotten the respect that I owe to the glorious memory of His Highness, my Lord your FATHER, formerly the Sovereign Master of the profession which is the subject of the book I have the boldness to offer you; and I would be shamefully betraying the care I must take of my own reputation if I failed to present to you here the last words that I preciously gathered from the mouth of that great man, so as to preserve them eternally in my thought. I had rendered the humble duties of my service to him, and had beseeched him to be pleased that my French Fortification should appear in the light of day under the protection of his AUGUST name.