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Introductory Note
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that Lipsius had in his claim to fame, when, in hanging a votive silver pen before an altar of the Virgin, he wrote:
"O Blessed Virgin, this pen, the interpreter of my mind, which soared up as high as the sky; which searched the most hidden recesses of land and sea; which always applied itself to learning, prudence and wisdom; which dared to write a treatise on constancy; which explained civil and military matters, and such as relate to the taking of cities; which described, O Rome, thy greatness; which variously illustrated and cleared up the writings of the ancients,—that pen is now, O Blessed Virgin, consecrated to
