Preface to Desiderius

Severus to his dearest brother Desiderius, greetings. I had made up my mind, my brother, you who think as I do, to keep private the little book I had written about the life of Saint Martin, and to keep it within the walls of my own house. I did so because I am not gifted with much talent, and I shrank from the criticism of the world. I feared, as I think will happen, that my rather unpolished style would displease my readers, and that I would be judged to deserve everyone’s blame for having too boldly taken up a subject that ought to have been left to truly eloquent writers. [a]

But I have not been able to refuse your request, made again and again. For what is there that I would not grant out of regard for your love, even at the cost of my own modesty? Still, I have handed the work over to you on the firm understanding that you will show it to no one else, and I have your promise on that. Even so, I fear that you will become the means of its being published to the world; and I know well that once it is out, it can never be called back. If this happens, and you learn that others are reading it, please kindly ask the readers to pay attention to the facts reported rather than to the language in which they are told. Ask them not to be offended if the style happens to grate on their ears, because the kingdom of God does not consist in eloquence but in faith. Let them also remember that salvation was preached to the world not by orators but by fishermen, although God could certainly have taken the other course, had that been advantageous.

For my part, when I first set my mind to writing what follows, because I thought it a disgrace that the excellent qualities of so great a man should stay hidden, I resolved not to be ashamed of mistakes in grammar. I did this because I had never gained any great knowledge of such things; or, if I once had some taste of studies of that kind, I had lost all of it through neglecting them for so long. But after all, so that I need not make such a tiresome defense of myself in the future, the best course will be for the book to be published, if you think it right, with the author’s name left off. To do this, please erase the title the book bears on its front, so that the page says nothing. Let the book proclaim its subject, which is quite enough, and tell nothing of its author.