all losses. There is likewise some resemblance between the court
and the game of dice, as the poet observes:-


"Sic ne perdiderit non cessat perdere lusor,
Dum revocat cupidas alea blanda manus;"


which, by substituting the word CURIA for ALEA, may be applied to
the court. This further proof of their resemblance may be added;
that as the chances of the dice and court are not productive of any
real delight, so they are equally distributed to the worthy and the
unworthy.

Since, therefore, among so many species of men, each follows his own
inclination, and each is actuated by different desires, a regard for
posterity has induced me to choose the study of composition; and, as
this life is temporary and mutable, it is grateful to live in the
memory of future ages, and to be immortalized by fame; for to toil
after that which produces envy in life, but glory after death, is a
sure indication of an elevated mind. Poets and authors indeed
aspire after immortality, but do not reject any present advantages
that may offer.

I formerly completed with vain and fruitless labour the Topography
of Ireland for its companion, the king Henry the Second, and
Vaticinal History, for Richard of Poitiou, his son, and, I wish I
were not compelled to add, his successor in vice; princes little
skilled in letters, and much engaged in business. To you,
illustrious Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, equally commendable