Page:The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart.pdf/57



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not venture in this but too turbulent time, full of disquietude, to molest your Illustriousness, oh, most Illustrious Lord! by this short letter, far less by the dedication of a book, were it not that the book is of those that aim at strengthening our minds and tranquillising them in God. I will explain how the matter stands. As in this my retreat and my painful inactivity, separated as I am from the cares of my vocation, I yet neither may be nor wish to be idle, I began within the last months to reflect on the vanity of the world (which I had various opportunities of beholding in divers places). Thus then was this work, which I offer to your Illustriousness, born under my hands. The first part depicts the follies and inanity of the world, showing how mainly and with great labour it busies itself with worthless things, and how all these things at last end wretchedly, either in laughter or in tears. The second part describes, partly as through a veil, partly and openly the true and firm felicity