5
plished it may be ascertained by any one^ who
will give himself the pains of comparing the
present with preceding disquisitions. It would
be invidious and irksome, to enter into any
detaUed exposure of the deficiencies of his
predecessors, although occasion will necessarily
occur of stating some instances^ when the
works of the authors come to be described. It
is proper to observe^ that the subject of exami-
nation and discussion in this tract is, not the
diflSerent collections, all or any, of Tax», inno-
cent in themselves or relative to innocent mat-
ters, which are extant in abundance in various
parts of the Bullarium Magnum, and of which,
generally speaking, as the authors need not be
ashamed, so they studied not concealment.
Happy for Rome, if nothing more serious could
be objected to her. The reader, therefore, is
to be upon his guard against any attempt to
amuse and delude him by an ostentatious and
affectedly triumphant reference to these harm-
less documents*
It is not necessary, nor compatible with the
proposed limits of the present work, to state,
very formally or at length, the Origin of the
Tax», particularly the Penitentiarias, which
are obviously of the mala importance : some
b2
