... Hanc syllogen generalem materiae probatoriae

escapes. Antonius Faber in his Code, book 4, title 14, definition 1, no. 1, and as it were the soul’s sustenance and most delightful speech, which the mind always embraces, as Plato, of highest prudence and authority among the Greeks, says (as is cited in the principium of law 2, ff. de nundin), Ventura de Valentia in Parthen. litig., book 2, chapter 8, no. 2. Yet it shines forth most brilliantly, like the rays of the meridian sun, primarily from the conflicts of mutual disputations by arguing for and against, chapter 7, cause 35, question 9, law 18, § 26, ff. de muner. et honor., Modestinus Pistor[iensis], vol. 2, consilium 22, no. 1 & following, seeing as it is observed by so many eyes and insinuated into so many senses, law 8, at the end, C. qui testam. fac. poss., Heigius, part 1, question 10, no. 9, Aristotle, book 8, Ethica Nicomachea, chapter 1. e) For little is accomplished by verbose assertions and scrupulous circumlocutions, or those contrary to the disposition of legitimate sanctions, law 39, § 1, C. de appell., law 4, § last, C. de recept. arbitr., Heringius in the said treatise, chapter 22, no. 59, with the 2 following, and chapter 25, no. 160 & following, Surdus, decisiones 17, no. 2, since almost nothing is an immense good, Novella 3, in the principium. However, a more concise and succinct treatment must be instituted and tempered so that the principal points, from which the stronger and more valid faculty of denomination is sought, law 1, ff. de testibus, Modestinus Pistor[iensis], in the said vol. 2, consilium 21, no. 13, are not suppressed by silence, and the whole work does not contract the open stain and blemish of imperfection, by argument of law 1, ff. de orig. iuris, Cubach in his book Generalia Brocardica, chapter 21, Brocardica 9 and 11. f) Understand this according to the measure of the wit and capacity by which I measure myself, by argument of law 185, ff. de R. I. For human nature is such that not all are set among the highest, nor, in turn, are all set among the lowest, Novella 5, chapter 9. And to sin in nothing at all is more of divinity than of mortality, law 2, § 14, in the principium, C. de iure vet. enucl., Fr[anciscus] Mantica, book 12, de coniecturis ultimarum voluntatum, title 17, no. 41, and the 4 following, Alemannus, palaestra 1, consultationes iuridicae, folio (to my numbering) 713. Now, with heavenly favor assisting, I strive directly to bring the present proposal to effect.

POSITIO II.

g) Lest, with beginnings and origins not having been recounted, we treat the august sanctuaries of legitimate science and the very subject matter of interpretation with unwashed hands, law 1, ff. de O. I., Mascardus in the said vol. 1, de probationibus, in the prooemium, no. 5 & following, Erasmus Roterodamus, Chiliades 1, centuria 9, adagium 55. Therefore, I[ustinianus] 4, in the prooemium of the Institutes. But I shall bring forth the final cause, the reason, and the intent of our disposition through the medium of writing, Modestinus Pistor[iensis], in the said vol. 2, consilium 21, no. 50, and consilium 36, no. 21. We deem it necessary to fortify and premise προθεωρήματα [preliminary considerations] in this place. Such are primarily: the investigation of the primeval rise and origination of our subject matter, Definition, and Division. We shall speak of the former now; the following pages will provide surety for the remaining two. Thus, it provides a more evident understanding to those who consider it, said law 1, ff. de orig. iuris, Rulandus in the said treatise, part 1, book 1, chapter 2, number 1 & following, Ventura de Valentia in Parthen. litig., book 1, chapter 4, no. 1, with the 2 following, Ioh[annes] Cammannus, disputatio 1, de Regalibus, thesis 11. For it is shameful to wish to determine before one understands the terms, by argument of law 27, ff. qui testam. fac. poss., Heringius in the said treatise, chapter 2, no. 4. So too with our Legislators, the most faithful followers of the Stoic sect, and in this genre driven to excessive license (I might almost say ineptitude), Heigius to the principium of the Institutes, de Testamentis ordinandis, no. 1 and 2, Donellus, book 1, commentaria 4, letter D, where Hillig[er] is [cited].