Note 51 — Chapter XIV
Reading edition
The title is the same as before. In addition to the old address to his reader, however, Villeneuve now appends these lines:—
Ad Eundem.
Si terras et regna hominum, si ingentia quæque Flumina, cœruleum si mare nôsse juvat, Si montes, si urbes, populos opibusque superbos, Huc ades, hæc oculis prospice cuncta tuis.
Which may be paraphrased thus:—
This world and all its kingdoms wouldst thou know, What mighty rivers to blue oceans flow, What mountains rise, what cities grace the lands, Thick-peopled, rich through toil of busy hands,— —If for such lore thou hast a mind to call, Open this book, and there survey it all.