Now to view as a whole so great an extent of subject matter, to harmonize and bring together so many diverse varieties of discourse, to connect smoothly what follows with what goes before, and to make all parts consonant one with another, was by no means an easy undertaking. Yet I did not desist, in spite of my age, until I had accomplished it, such as it is. It is, at any rate, written with devotion to the truth; its other qualities I leave to the judgement of my hearers.
But I urge all who intend to acquaint themselves with my speech, first, to make
allowance, as they listen to it, for the fact that it is a mixed discourse, composed with
an eye to all these subjects; next, to fix their attention even more on what is about to
be said than on what has been said before; and, lastly, not to seek to run through the
whole of it at the first sitting, but only so much of it as will not fatigue the
audience.