The Translator to the Reader There is nothing, gentle reader
(the Word of God alone set apart) which so much beautifies and
adorns the soul and mind of man, as does the knowledge of good
arts and sciences: as the knowledge of natural and moral
Philosophy. The one sets before our eyes the creatures of God,
and in the earth beneath: in which as in a glass, we behold the
exceeding majesty and wisdom of God, in adorning and beautifying
them as we see: in getting unto them such wonderful and manifold
proprieties, and natural workings, and that so diversely and in
such variety: farther in maintaining and conserving them
continually, whereby to praise and adore him, as we are taught
by Saint Paul. The other teaches us rules and precepts of
virtue, how, in common life amongst men, we ought to walk
uprightly: what duties pertain to ourselves, what pertains to
the government or good order both of a household, and also of a
city or commonwealth. The reading likewise of histories conduces
not a little to the adorning of