I shall, in the next place, speak something of my Undertakings, in
writing the Lives of these Renowned Poets. Two things, I suppose, may
be laid to my charge; the one is the omission of some that ought with
good reason to have been mentioned; and the other, the mentioning of
those which without any injury might have been omitted. For the first,
as I have begg'd pardon at the latter end of my Book for their
omission, so have I promised, (if God spare me life so long) upon the
first opportunity, or second Edition of this Book, to do them right. In
the mean time I should think my self much beholding to those persons
who would give me any intelligence herein, it being beyond the reading
and acquaintance of any one single person to do it of himself.

And yet, let me tell ye, that by the Name of Poet, many more of former
times might have been brought in than what I have named, as well as
those which I have omitted that are now living, namely, Sir _Walter
Rawleigh_, Mr. _John Weever_, Dr. _Heylin_, Dr. _Fuller,_ &c. but the
Volume growing as big as the Bookseller at present was willing to have
it, we shall reserve them to another time, they having already
eternized their Names by the never dying Histories which they have
wrote.

Then for the second thing which may be objected against me, That I have
incerted some of the meanest rank; I answer, That comparatively, it is
a less fault to incert two, than to omit one, most of which in their
times were of good esteem, though now grown out of date, even as some
learned Works have been at first not at all respected, which afterwards
have been had in high estimation; as it is reported of Sir _Walter
Rawleigh_, who being Prisoner in the Tower, expecting every hour to be
sacrificed to the _Spanish_ cruelty, some few days before he suffered,