825 angelic doctor to penetrate the light of his virtue and wisdom, I shall contemplate only one ray. I shall confirm with arguments of no small importance that by a vote from the entire senate of all the wise in agreement, the title of Angelic Doctor is justly given to him. I ask from you, most Learned Hearers, because of your devotion toward the common Patron of the learned and great reverence for the Angelic Doctor, that you would hear me not only attentively, but also kindly. For in your benevolence you ought to [help] bring it about, that I satisfactorily accomplish the duty undertaken, and that you all will leave this esteemed assembly with the utmost satisfaction. No one doubts that the future character of men is wont to appear in earliest childhood. What each [will be], indeed who [he] shall be in the age of manhood, is first demonstrated in infancy. A mother gifted with a good disposition, by certain indications from his state, actions, skills, and functions, can form a ready conjecture about the infant whom she warms in her bosom. But if certain things regarding the impulse of nature have been connected with prodigies, who would not judge that these signs are unlikely to be false prediction of certain events? For what do the serpents crushed by Hercules in his infancy denote, other than his future strength, by which the entire world was to be purged of pernicious monsters?7 What did the honey that bees made in the mouth of little Pinder indicate, other than his mellifluous eloquence8 by which he hitherto nourishes and delights Greece? What do the seven eagles found in the bosom of the boy Marius designate, other than his seven consulates, which he carried out as much for the glory of the Roman people as for his own glory?9 7 Cf. Mingazzini, Paolino, art. Ercole (Hercules): EI XIV, 191-193; cf. also: Parandowski, Jan, Mitologia, Warszawa 1990, p. 175. 8 Cf. Kopalinski, Wladyslaw, Słownik mitów i tradycji kultury, Warszawa 1987, 945-946. 9 Cf. Levi, Mario, A., art. Mario, Gaio (C. Marius): EI XXII, 353-355. Cf. Plutarchus, Vitae commparatae illustrium virorum, Graecorum et Romanorum, Venice 1572, p. 207 (s.v. C. Marius).
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