The Works of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Part 2

which I have so barked against that whole gigantomachy of the sciences and arts, and I have so stung all those most robust hunters of the sciences and arts with the most powerful bites, that as often as I revisit the work itself, I myself marvel at such a dog in a man, and one to whom nothing dog-like is lacking except for that one [trait of] adulation, although quite necessary for a courtier. Therefore, lest I seem to be a deserter of your observance, while I am unable to bestow gifts worthy of you and fruitful, drawn from the treasuries of the sciences, I at least offer you now this Cynical declamation from that same workshop of my ignorance and indignation as an argument of my observance toward you. I present this to you as a gift, I establish this as dedicated to you, intending to show gladly the magnitude of my spirit toward you, and what a vigilant guardian, what a keen-eyed watchman, what a bold soldier, and what a magnanimous leader you have acquired in me. For when, as if from a high watchtower, I denounce the enemies from afar, so that the citizens of divine literature may retreat into safer places, then I object myself to be lacerated by all for the salvation of them all, fighting hand-to-hand in the line of battle. By which deed I am so far from fearing envy, that I think gratitude is owed to me by all, who, as both watchman and soldier, denounce and fight for the work of public utility, by which human salvation is in peril, and furthermore, I offer myself as a leader to those who, leaving the labyrinth of human sciences, strive toward the fortress of truth. Accept therefore now, most worshipful Augustino, this declamation, such as it is, and hold it by your own right. For I know that if you love hunters and dogs, it cannot but be most pleasing to you. But I now [turn] from a dog into a crocodile, or a dragon, or some other fire-breathing serpent