Gregory the Great

For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and diligently search into the memory of the fathers.

They give us notice that 'the former generation' and 'the memory of the fathers' are not seen but 'searched,' because they will not have that to be seen therein, which lies open before the eyes of all men. But sometimes, like good men, they give some instruction of a moral kind, and shew how the present may be gathered from the past; and from the things which are even now withdrawn from our eyes by passing away, they shew how little there is in the things that are seen before our eyes.