“ WHILE PASSING DOWN THE SERIES OF SUCCEEDING YEARS, AS THROUGH THE INTERIOR OF SOME ANCIENT TEMPLE, WHICHI DISPLAYS ON EITHER HAND THE STATES OF DISTINGUISHED FRIENDS AND BENEFACTORS, WE SHOULD STAY FOR A MOMENT IN THE PRESENCE OF EACH, DOING JUSTICE TO THE HUMBLE, ILLUSTRATING THE OBSCURE, PLACING IN A TRUE LIGHT THE MODEST, AND NOTING RAPIDLY THE MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL TRAITS, WHICH TIME HAS SPARED; TO THE END THAT INGRATITUDE, THE PROVERBIAL SIN OF REPUBLICS, MAY NOT ATTACH TO THE REPUBLIC OF LETTERS; AND THAT WHOEVER FEEDS THE LAMP OF SCIENCE, HOWEVER OBSCURELY, HOWEVER SCANTILY, MAY KNOW, THAT SOONER OR LATER, HIS NAME AND VIRTUES SHALL BE MADE CONSPICUOUS BY ITS LIGHT, AND THROUGHOUT ALL TIME ACCOMPANY ITS LISTRE." Josiah Quincy's History of Harvard University, I. 6. |