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Excerpt from The Civil History of the Kingdom of Naples, Vol. 1 of 2: Wherein Is Contain'd, the History of That Kingdom (Comprising Also the General Affairs of Europe) Under the Romans, Goths, Greeks, Longobards, Normans, and the Princes of the House of Swevia, 'Till the Death of the Emperor Frederick II. In the Year 1250 A B R ito N, feparated from the rei't of the World, thinking that Others had confin'd the Reach of human Underfianding to too narrow a Compafs, fhew'd that he had Courage enough for fo great an Undertaking. This was the famous Arthur Duck who would not confine himfelf to his own Country of England, but went, in Search of the Ufe and Authority of the Roman Laws in the new Dominions of Chriftian Princes, as well to the neighbouring as the remoter Countries: He made diligent Inquiry after them, for Example, in the neighbouring Dominions of Scotland and Ireland5 he went over to France and Spain 5 to Germany, Italy 5 and alfo came to our Kingdom 5 befides, he travell'd as far as Poland, Bohemia, Hungary, Den mark, Swedeland, and to {till remoter Parts. But even this Work, tho' very fa mous, has clearly demonflrated to the World, that this Undertaking was not to be perform'd by one Man 5 feeing that altho' by his great Care, and Travelling into diverfe Parts of Europe, fuch as France, Germany, and Italy, he has been able, in a great meafure, to remove the many Difficulties in the Profecution of his Un dertaking 5 neverthelefs the Event has demonftrated, that tho' he may have per form'd it exaétly in England, Scotland, Ireland, and in fome Countries not far di flant from them 5 yet in other Parts, and efpecially in our Kingdom, we fee that he has demean'd himfelf like a Stranger 5 and, by following the common Guides, falls into many Blunders, having only furnifh'd us a very flight Account of the Praé'cice and Authority both of the Roman, and thofe Laws of our own, that have been introduc'd by the different Princes who have govern'd us. Neither has his Ingenuity allow'd him to diffemble it in the Conclufion of his Book; expeéting to be pardon'd by Strangers, if in treating about their Laws and Cufioms he has been fo fparing5 and he confeffes, that he had no Other Defign, than to incite the Lawyers of other Countries, that, by following his Example, they might do in their own Countries, or Provinces, what he had done with relation to England. A little before Arthur Duck, fome Writers on this Subjeét, without much Travelling, confin'd themfelves to their own Countries. Innocentius Cironius 1, Chancellor of Thouloufe. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
