What respecter
of the wise was ever so pious, what supporter of them so
efficient, what patron of the sciences, of virtues, and of books
so generous? And by these not only are the hearts of the living
enlightened to the glory of God and the advance of virtue, but
even more in coming ages will posterity be illumined. Can the
happy memory of deeds so great pass away? Nay, but it will be a
benediction forever.
A statute has been made in the words of your supplicant, and is
to be forever in force, which will never fail in prayers in your
behalf but will serve as an enduring memorial. Wherefore,
although the fame of others may ebb with the flow of time or
perish through being overshadowed by the rising of greater men,
yet your fame cannot perish under the cloud of oblivion nor can
it, of a truth, be obscured by the shadow of greater
benefactions.
If the great conquests of Alexander come to our ears, renewed day
by day through the devices of the wise Greeks who committed such
deeds to writing, how much more will this University, your
devoted supplicant, bear witness to your magnificent deeds to the
end of time, not only by her prayers but also in her writings?
Nay, were the tongues of all to be silent the fact itself would
bear witness more than speech, the fact, to wit, that one hundred
and thirty-nine most precious volumes of theology, medicine, and
the seven liberal sciences have been deposited in our library
from your own collection, as an eternal witness to your
surpassing virtues and munificence.
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