12 Literarum caracteres satis ex dictis patet quoniam maioribus nostris Carmenta conces-

13 serit, cum iam ex arcada devenisset ytalica. Sic et gramatice facultatis prima dedisse
semina creditum, que in ampliorem segetem successu temporum prisci traxere; quibus
adeo fuit propitius Deus, ut, hebraicis grecisque literis parte maxima glorie dempta,
omnis quasi Europa amplo terrarum tractu nostris utatur.
Quibus delinita facultatum omnium infinita splendent volumina, hominum gesta
Deique magnalia perpetua servantur memoria, ut, que vidisse nequivimus ipsi, eis opi-
tulantibus, cognoscamus. His vota nostra transmictimus et aliena cum fide suscipimus,
14 his amicitias in longinquo iungimus et mutuis responsionibus conservamus. He Deum
– prout fieri potest – nobis describunt; he celum terrasque et maria et animantia cuncta
designant; nec est quod queras possibile, quod ab his vigilans non possis percipere;
harum breviter opere, quicquid amplitudine mentis complecti atque teneri non potest,
15 fidissime commendatur custodie. Que tamen, etsi aliis ex his non nulla contingant, nil
tamen nostris commendabile aufertur.
Ceterum ex tam egregiis dotibus quedam perdidimus, quedam dedimus et non nulla
16 adhuc fere nomine potius quam effectu tenemus. Verum, quomodocunque de ceteris
nostro crimine a fortuna actum sit, nec germana rapacitas, nec gallicus furor, nec astutia
anglica, nec hispana ferocitas, nec alicuius alterius nationis inculta barbaries vel insultus
hanc tam grandem, tam spectabilem, tam oportunam latino nomini gloriam surripuisse
potuit unquam, ut sui scilicet iuris prima literarum possent aut auderent dicere elementa
et longe minus suum compertum fuisse grammaticam; quas, uti comperimus ipsi, sic
17 etiam dedimus ultro, nostro tamen semper insignita vocabulo. Unde fit, ut, quanto
longius feruntur, tanto magis latini nominis amplientur laudes et honores, clariusque
vetustissimi decoris, nobilitatis et ingenii testimonium deferunt et incorruptum nostre
perspicacitatis servant, etiam indignante barbarie, argumentum.
Cuius tam eximii fulgoris, etsi Deo datori gratias agere debeamus, multum tamen
laudis, caritatis et fidei Carmente debemus. Quam ob rem ne a quoquam, tanquam
ingrati, iure redargui possimus, ut illud pro viribus in eternam memoriam efferamus,
piissimum est.
From what has been said, it is clear that the letters of the alphabet were given to 12
our ancestors by Carmenta after she had ceased to be an Arcadian and had become
an Italian. She is also believed to have planted the first seeds of grammar, and these 13
were harvested by the ancients over the course of time. God so favored Carmenta’s
achievements that the Hebrew and Greek languages have lost the greatest part of their
glory while a vast area covering almost all of Europe uses our alphabet.
An infinite number of books on all subjects has rendered the Latin alphabet il-
lustrious: in its letters is preserved a perpetual remembrance of divine and human
accomplishments so that with the help of Latin characters we know things which we
cannot see. In Latin characters we send our requests and receive with trust those made
by other people. Through these characters we enter into friendship with people far
away and preserve it by reciprocal correspondence. Latin characters describe God for 14
us insofar as that can be done. They show forth the sky, the earth, the seas, and all living
things; there is nothing open to investigation that one cannot understand by careful stu-
dy of its letters. In short, Latin characters enable us to entrust to faithful guardianship 15
whatever the mind cannot embrace and retain. Nor does the fact that a number of the
same advantages may be true of other alphabets detract in the least from the merits of
our own.
Some of these noble gifts of Roman civilization we have lost, some we have given
away and some we still preserve, in name at least if not in practice. But regardless 16
of the effects of fortune and our neglect on these other gifts, neither the rapacity of
the Germans, nor the fury of the Gauls, nor the wiles of the English, nor the ferocity
of the Spaniards, nor the rough barbarity and insolence of any other nation has been
able to take away from the Latin name this great, marvelous, and serviceable glory.
These other nations could never say, or have never dared to say, that the invention of
the alphabet was rightfully theirs, much less the invention of grammar. We discovered
these things, and we gave them freely to others, though always marked with our Latin
name. Hence it happens that the more remote their origin, the greater are the praise 17
and the honor of the Latin name; they make clearer the evidence for our ancient honor,
nobility, and intellect, and preserve an incorruptible proof of our genius, however the
barbarians may rage.
Although we should thank God who gave us this singular glory, nevertheless we
owe Carmenta, too, great praise and gratitude. And so it is proper and just that we exert
ourselves as much as possible to render her name eternal so that no one can accuse us,
with good reason, of being ungrateful.