Cassandra Fedele

"The serenity of our faces and the happiness of our hearts are the greatest testimony to the appearance of majesty. For there you have the most reliable witnesses of our sentiments. For that which is harbored in the heart shines forth as though through a window, and that which you cannot hear because of this speaker’s lack of eloquence can be perceived through comments from the populace and from the eyes of everyone here just as joy is palpable in the looks of those who are rejoicing. Thus it is that, since everyone is over. come with incredible joy, and you with your joyous gaze have brought kudos and felicity, all men think that this illustrious day should not only be marked, as they say with a white stone, but everyone thinks the day should be commemorated each year with solemn honors. For no matter how ignorant one may be by nature, is there anyone who would not embrace the memory of the queen of the Sarmatians? Who would not marvel at the greatness of her august and holy presence? Who would not worship and revere her as though she were a goddess?In order to respond to so many distinguished and renowned women, which I can do, I shall say that the saying "the fickle herd can feed on heavenly air" certainly can never be, since, while the divine beauty of your mind and body has slipped away from my heart and mind, the memory of your name will remain so deeply ingrained in everyone’s mind that no age will ever obliterate it.But to say something myself to celebrate the greatness of your fame, which has traveled to the ends of the earth while I have remained silent, I would gladly spend all the days of my life. Nor is there anything that could please me more or that I could hope for more than that, not because I think your name would be embellished by my work and industry, but so that in glorifying you I might hope that my life too might be consigned to immortality."