D E D I C A T O R I A.

O conjunction, long and ardently sought by the common consent of all mortals with burning desire. What need is there to confirm this with reasons? Wherefore (most illustrious Heroes), it will seem in no way strange to you if I permit this book on Marriage, illustrated by your singular name (in which you ought to observe above all that I act as a Jurist, not a Theologian), to fly among the learned and gradually creep toward your judgment. For clinging to its tracks, it will be shaded by the sails of fame and rumor, the bedding of virtue, and all coverings, lest it wither away from the winds or the heats of envy. For so the Abydocomae, or Sycophants, who in all things behave themselves with little modesty—as the Abideni, notorious craftsmen of calumnies, burning with lies, flaming with trickery, boiling with slanders, shaken by the evils of rashness, and broken by the terrors of shame—against this