First, in the worship of the holy Trinite, bring to mynde to calle, in the begynnyng of every good work, for grace. And sithe this litille epistle is wrote and entitled to courage and comfort noble men in armes to be in perpetuite of remembraunce for here noble dedis, as right convenient is soo to bee. And as it is specified by auctorite of the noble cenatoure of Rome Kayus son, in these termes foloweng: "Hoc igitur summum est nobilitatis genus, posse majorum suorum egregia facta dicere, posse eorum beneficiis petere honores publicos, posse gloriam rei publicæ hereditario quodam jure vendicare, posse insuper sese eorum partes vocare, et clarissimas in suis vultibus ymagines ostendere. Quos enim appellat vulgus nisi quod nobilissimi parentes genuere." De remedio casus Reipublicæ. [Sidenote: Anglorum nacio originem sumpsit ex nacione Trojanorum.] [Sidenote: Nota j^{o}. quod lingua Britonum adhuc usitatur in Wallia et Cornibea, que lingua vocabatur corrupta Greca.] Here folowethe the evident Examples and the Resons of comfort for a reformacion to be had uppon the piteous complaintes and dolorous lamentacions made for the right grete outragious and most {2} grevous losse of the Royaume of Fraunce, Duchee[gh] of Normandie, of Gascoyne, and Guyen, and also the noble Counte of Mayne and the Erledom of Pontife. And for relevyng and geting ayen the said Reaume, dukedoms, [and earldoms,] undre correccion of amendement ben shewed the exortacions and mocions, be auctorite, example of actis in armes, bothe by experience and otherwise purposid, meoved and declarid, to corage and comfort the hertis of [the] Englisshe nacion, havyng theire first originalle of the nacion of the noble auncient bloode of Troy more than M^l. yere before the birthe of Crist; in token and profe wherof the auncient langage of the Brutes bloode at this day remayneth[84] bothe in the Princedome of Walis and in the auncient provynce and Dukedom of Cornewale, whiche was at tho daies called corrupt Greke. [Sidenote: ij^{o}. lingua Saxonum alias lingua Germanorum.] [Sidenote: Dux Cerdicius applicuit in Britania tempore Regis Arthuri, et sic per favorem regis inhabitavit, et . . ex natione Grecorum.] And next after the mighty Saxons' bloode, otherwise called a provynce in Germayne, that the vaileaunt Duke Cerdicius arrived in this reaume, with whom[85] Arthur, king of the Breton bloode, made mighty werre, and suffred hym to inhabit here. And the Saxons, as it is writen in Berthilmew in his booke of Propreteis, also were decendid of the nacion of Grekis. [Sidenote: iij^{o}. Lingua Danorum ex nacione Grecorum. Rex Danorum Knott conquestum fecit.] And next after came the feers manly Danysh nacion, also of Grekis bene descendid, that the gret justicer king Knowt this land subdued and the Saxons' bloode. And sithen the noble Normannes, also of the Danys nacion, descendid be William Conquerour, of whome ye ben lyniallie descendid, subdued this lande.