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COMMENTARIES
ON
CLASSICAL LEARNING,
BY
The Rev. D. H. JJRQUHART, M. A.
PREBENDARY OF LINCOLN,
{( Claffical /^miies extend the boundaries of human krowlcdge, and ppen fuch a new field of inquiry and observation a* Lad mankind to a j-tifcft acquaintance wiih the pcwus of the mind, with the heauties of poetry, the ufeiuinefs ol hjfiory, and the wifdom of phibfopby."
,JF THE ry\
1VERS1TY
0^to N DON
PRINTED FOR T. CADELL AND W. DAVIE S, STRAND. 1803.
Printed by A. Strahan, Printers- Street. -
3
TO
THE RIGHT REVEREND
GEORGE PRETTMAN,
LORD BISHOP OF LINCOLN.
MY LORD,
I fhould not have afked permiffion to infcribe this volume to your Lord- {hip, had I not been perfuaded, that both its motive and its objed would obtain your approbation.
At a time, when human learn^ ing is loudly decried by the igno- rant fanatic, I affured myfelf that its humblefl advocate would be fe-
cure
103-348
( iv )
cure of the countenance of a dif- tinguifhed Scholar.
In the concluding fedion of this work, prefuming on the continuance of public tranquillity, I ventijred to recommend the patronage of literal ture to our rulers. But, alas! that flattering profped feems ijiow to have vanifhed from our view. Still, though it be the lucklefs condition of fociety, that, amidft the din of arms, the ingenuous arts are ne- glected j yoiir Lord fhip will allow, that, as learning always offers a temporary afylum from the ills of life, it frequently invites us to turn our eyes from the horrors of war to the contemplation of obje&s, which afford confolation, inftruc-
tion,
( v )
tion, and delight. The man of letters finds alfo another powerful argument to ftimulate him in his favourite purfuit. r^pocnaiy $t$cL<rjto[ji6vogy is the ardent wifh of every mind which has been improved by early- culture, and is actuated by laudable emulation.
I have the Honor to be Your Lordfhip's
refpe&ful and obliged fervant,
D, H. URQUHART,
ADVERTISEMENT
TO THE
READER.
It is right to apprize the reader, that fome of the quotations in this volume were made from memory, and that the name of the author did not always occur.
Some paflfages from Pope are fo well known, as to render it unneceffary to men^ tidn his name at the end of each.
It is however proper to fay, that the ar- rangement of the Greek and Latin writers was formed on the model of Monfieur La Harpe's ingenious work, and that his fen- timents frequently appear in thefe Com- mentaries.
An apology for fo large a table of Errata muft be derived from a dangerous illnefs, which difabled the author, during the greater part of the time, from accurately correcting the Prefs.
a 2
CONTENTS,
SECTION I.
C/ N the general Advantages of ClaJJical Learning, and on its particular Advantages to the Lawyer — the Phy- Jician—the Divine— to the Naval and Military Officer —the State/man— the Poet —the Painter — the Sculp- tor—the Muftcian — and the Merchant, P<*ge I
SECTION II.
On the Epic Poets of Greece— Homer, Hefiod, Apollonius Rhodius, - - - - 67
SECTION III.
Lyric Poetry. Linus, Orpheus, Mufeus, Stefichorus, Sappho, Simonides, Anacreav, Pindar, - 1 00
SECTION IV.
Greek Tragedy. Thefpis, JEfchylus, Sophocles, Euripi- des, - - - - 124
SECTION V.
On Greek Comedy, the old, the middle, and the new, Ariflophanes, Menander, and many Writers, of whom only Fragments are extant. - - - 1 r r
8*
( * )
SECTION VI.
Pajloral Poetry, — Epig ram. — Theocritus.— Bion.— Mo f ~ chits.— Anthologia, - - Page 185
SECTION VII.
On Grecian Oratory. Pericles ', Lyftas> Ifocrates> Hype- rides, IfauSy AifchineSyDemofthencs, - - 192
SECTION VIII.
On the Grecian Hijlorians. — Cadmus. — Hecat&us. — He* rodotus. — Thucidydes. — Xenophon. — Poly hi us, — Dio- dorus Siculus. — Dionyfius of Halicarnajfus.—Appian. —Arian. — Dion Cajftus. — Herodiany - 226
SECTION IX.
Plutarch y - - - 279
SECTION X.
Grecian Satire > - - - - 287
SECTION XI.
On Roman Literature. — The Drama.—, Comedy. — Livius Andronicus, — Ennius. — Plautus.— Cacilius. —Terence. —Pantomime, - 293
SECTION XII.
Roman Tragedy.— Pacuvius. — Accius.— Varius.— Ovid. Seneca, - - - - 321
( xi )
SECTION XII.
Roman Satire* — Ennius. — Lucilius.—VarrQ. — Horace.— Juvenal. — Per/ius, - - Page 331
SECTION XIII.
Latin Epic Poetry. — Lucretius.— ~Virgil. — Ovid. — Lu- can.—Silius Italicus. — Valerius Flaccus. — Statius,
362
SECTION XIV.
Latin Elegy. Ovid.— Catullus. — Tibullus. — Propertius,
415
SECTION XV.
Martial. — Aufonius. — Claudian, - • 426
SECTION XVI.
Roman Oratory. — "The Gracchi.-— Cato. — Cicero^ 433
SECTION XVII.
Roman Moralifts and didaclic Writers. — Senec*. — S^uintilian.— Pliny the Tcunger, - - 465
SECTION XVIII.
Roman Hiftorians. — Julius Cafar. — Sallujl. — Zn/y.— Tacitus. — ^uintus Curtius, - • 495
( * )
SECTION XIX.
Latin Hijlorians of the Jecotid Clafs. — Trogus Pompeius — Juflin. — Florus. — Velleius Pater cuius. — Cornelius H epos, — Suetonius, - - Page 526
SECTION XX.
Conclufwn, - • - - - 535
COM.
COMMENTARIES
O N
CLASSICAL LEARNING.
SECTION I.
On the general Advantages of ClaJJical Learning, and on its particular Advantages to the Lawyer — the Phy-
.. Jician—the Divine— to the Naval and Military Officer -—the State/man — the Poet — the Painter— the Sculp* tor— the Mujician—and the Merchant.
1 hat the cultivation of the mental powers is amongft the higheft objects which can engage human attention, feems to be one of thofe proportions that demand and, receive a general aflent.
In every civilized age and country, the laborious and fuccefsful enquirer after ufefu}
B knowledge
2 COMMENTARIES ON
knowledge has either been diftinguifhed by the praifes of his contemporaries, or duly appreciated by the jufler deciiion of pof- terity. It is therefore not the leaft grateful of our fpeculative employments, to mark the progreffive gradations of mankind from a ftate of ignorance and barbariim, to one of elegance and refinement.
In fuch refearches our felf-love is grati- fied, and our patriotifm is warmed by the reflection that we are inhabitants of a country where art has embellifhed life, and icience enlightened the mind; where a fptrit of liberty which vindicates our civil rights, is, in a certain degree, the refult of that liberal information which has taught us to know their value.
If the intellectual faculties be the higheft boon which the Deity has bellowed on the mofl favored work of his creation, the' honor of the individual, and the interefts of fociety, depend upon the improvement of them. That a ftate of nature is a ftate ii of
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 3
of war, hiftory and experience combine to atteft 5 and though a fenfe of the iniecurity of fuch a ftate induced mankind to form a focial compact, its lirft elements were but an indigeited chaos, nor, until the mental faculties had been improved, were they ever duly difpofed in order and in har- mony. This becomes evident whenever we recur to thole Gothic ages anterior to the cafual invention of that uieful art, which like the birth-place of Homer, has been lb ftrenuoufly contefted. The annals of thole early times reflect no pleafing images on, the memory. Afli nutated in roughnefs to their brethren of the foreft, the Aborigines of our ifle difplayed none of the higher energies of the mind. The hut of the favage was little fuperior to the den of the wild beaft, and the ardor of the fportfrnan was analogous to the ferocity of his prey.
Our country was long difgraced by in- terline difcord and by domeftic cruelty. A feeble monarch now furrendered the rights he ought to have maintained, an ufurper
B 2 waded
4 COMMENTARIES ON
waded through murder to the throne, a tyrannous ariftocracy attacked the regal privileges, and a bigoted prieflhood fettered the rights of a vaffal people.
The revival of learning by enlightening the mind, and exciting habits of reflection, rendered men better adepts in the fcience of government, and taught them to doubt the purity of the national religion. Error will not ftand the teft of enquiry. Both were at length happily reformed : the fet- ters were taken from genius, and tafte, that refined quality which difcriminates excel- lence, began to diftinguifh the candidates for literary fame. The mind of man, natur- ally inquifitive, and eager to difcover the fources from which knowledge was origi- nally derived, is dire&ed to two countries as the parents of every thing valuable and ornamental in fcience. Their precious relics at firft cafually found, and now happily fecured from farther ruin, ought . to be explored and venerated by almoft all v defgriptions in fociety, becaufe every man 9 whfr
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 5
who is placed above the neceffity of manual labour, would find the higheft utility and the moft exquifite pleafure to be the reward of his refearches. That which is emphati- cally ftyled Claffical Learning, the works of the poets, orators, and hiftorians of Greece and Rome, contains every thing that can awaken the genius and improve the tafte. Perfect models of both are ex- hibited in their epic, lyric, and dramatic wrriters, while their orators and hiftorians produce the moft ftriking examples of a difdain of the felfifh paffions, and that generous ardour for the public good which conftitutes unfufpeded patriotifrn.
That our parents and children are dear to us is the voice of nature; and where cuftom has not hardened the mind, a favage will obey its di&ates. But ages of refine- ment alone could inform us, that the patriot acknowledges a higher objedl of his regard, and that the claims which our kin- dred have upon our affections are fubordi- nate to the claims of our country.
B 3 <c Cari
0 COMMENTARIES ON
" Cari funt parentes, cari libcri, feci mil nes omnium caritates complexa eft pa- tria."
It appears no difficult tafk to point out the advantages of Claflical Learning in all coniiderable iituations of life. Ample in- deed is the range of knowledge which expands itfelf to the view of the jurifpru- -dent. He mould be enabled by laborious ftudy, to deduce the principles of natural and politic law from the nature and the Hate of man; to difcern that what is juft and unjuft has been notified to us by the principles of moral inftindt ; to trace civil fociety to its original formation ; to obferve how it has been refolvcd by the genius of a people into the democratic, ariftocratic, or monarchical form of government. He ought to be thoroughly acquainted with the difference in their leading principles, to maik the confequences which refult from thence to their civil and criminal code, to the form of their judgments, and the In- fliction of their punifhments. It behoves
him
CLASSICAL LEARNING. J
him to know what it is that determines the purity of well conflituted ftates, and the caufes which lead to their corruption ; to perceive how the fmalleft deviation from their original principles is attended with a ferious injury, while if thofe be firmly maintained, a change often becomes an amendment ; to enquire in what manner the various forms of government provide for their fafety by defenfive, or attempt their aggrandifement by offenfive opera- tions ; and above all, to inveftigate the laws that guard political liberty and human hap- pinefs.
But to accomplifh the Englifli lawyer, it certainly is not fufficient that he be per- fectly acquainted with the oral cuftoms and the written laws of his own country. The profeflbr of a liberal fcience will beft know how to appreciate them, if he has contem- plated the wifdom of ancient legiflators in the mirror of their inftkutions. The laws of Draco, Solon, and Lycurgus, will in- form him of the manners of the times
b 4 and
"$ COMMENTARIES ON
and the vices of the Athenian and Spartan people. They will enable him to trace the aberrations of the human heart in the pu- nishments denounced againft crimes, and thoroughly to learn the nature and the hiftory of his fpecies. Without facrificing our Alfred and Edward " to the manes of Theodofius and Juftinian," he will derive no fmall pleafure and utility from obferving what laws the matters of the ancient world borrowed from the nation they fubdued ; and, whib he marks their progrefs from fimplicity to refinement, and from refine- ment to corruption, he will confefs that an acquaintance with the inftitutions of Greece and Rome* is more than ornamental to the Engiifh lawyer. Numerous examples to evince this truth might be found upon the bench and at the bar ; but as the compari- fon of living characters is fometimes invi- dious, the praife of them is not always unfufpedted. But the author of the Com- mentaries of the Laws of England is a fplendid inftance of the efficacy of clafiical learning. In his immortal work, the luc\-
dus
CLASSICAL LEARNING. $
dus or do and the copia verb or um are fo happily combined, that while every pro- feffional man may trace the country in which he is to travel, every man of tafte beholds its beauties with admiration.
And here indeed the queftion might fairly reft, did not recollection point alfo to that.accomplifhed fcholar who fo long and fo ably prefided over the higheft court of law in this country. Of whom alas ! the poet's prediction is verified :
" For Murray, long enough his country's pride, " Is now no more than Tully or than Hyde."
Claffical learning feems to be indifpenfi- ply requifite to gentlemen of the medical profeffion. The very terms of their art are borrowed from the Greeks, and to their \vorks they are excited to apply by the moft laudable motives, an ardor after knowledge* and a veneration for excellence. It rauft gratify them to obferve the marked pre- eminence which Homer gives to the phy- fician, at a time when valour was efteemed
above
JO COMMENTARIES ON
above all other qualities, and fynonimous with virtue itfelf.
4I'?lf.og yap av/jf 7raX\uv ccvjcc^og qXkuy.
In thofe times of Simplicity difeafes were few, and chymiftry had made but fmall advances towards perfection. The man, therefore, whofe knowledge of the nature of fimples coold teach him how to miti- gate the anguifh of a wound, was juftiy efteemed during the Trojan war as of fur- pa-fling dignity- and worth.
We are taught by the ancient mythology that iEfculapius was the god of phyfic> and that Hygeia, the goddefs of health, was his daughter \ but the more fober and more credible page of hiftory informs ws, that experience was long reforted to before the art of medicine was converted into a fcience. The Babylonians obliged themfelves by an exprefs law, to carry their fick into places of public refort, and to enquire of all who paffed by, whether they ever had felt or
CLASSICAL LEARNING. II
feen any fuch diftemper as the Tick perfon laboured under, and what was done to remove it. The progrefs of phyfic was certainly very flow, although Herodotus calls this, as it really was, viftog <ro§o]<£\Gq, a moft prudent inftitution, and the bed which could be contrived at that time.
Homer was acquainted with the ye^ iiopixirj) or the proper means by which the evils of old age may be alleviated. The prefcription is giv£n by UlyfTes to his father Laertes :
" Warm baths, good food, foft fleep, and generous wine, ** Thefe are the rights of age, and fliould be thine,"
Pythagoras firft recommended univerfal moderation and temperance, and Iccus the phyfician of Tarentum, enforced and exemplified this precept fo ftrongly, that the repaft of Iccus became a proverbial phrafe for a plain and temperate meal.
Hippocrates, juflly ftyled the father of phyfic, rendered it fo completely a fcience,
that
11 COMMENTARIES ON .
that his defcent, by his father from iEfcula- pius, and by his mother from Hercules, is forgotten in the eulogium which is his due as a man of profound learning and unim- peached integrity.
He thought it not fufficient to know the eflence of particular bodies, but the con- flituent principles of the univerfe. En- riched with every fpecies of knowledge, he enlightened experience by reafoning, and he re&ified theory by practice.
The rules he lays dowrn for forming the phyfician, are worthy to be engraven in letters of gold ; for they exhibit profound knowledge, confummate integrity, and an irreproachable life.
In early times it was affirmed that his doctrine, adopted amongft all nations, after thoufands of years wrou!d ftill continue to work thoufands of cures ; that the moft extcnfive empires would be unable to dif- pute with the little ifland of Cos, the glory
of
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 13
of having produced this man ; and that in the eyes of perfons of real wifdom, the names of the greateft conquerors would be holden in lefs eftimation than that of Hip- pocrates.
Amid ft the many valuable precepts which this great legiflator has left, there are fome few, at leaft there is one, at which the imperfe£l morality of the divine Plato revolts. He'cenfures Hippocrates for pro- tracting the exiftence of weak perfons ; being of opinion that an infirm conftitu- tion is an obftacle to the practice of virtue : and he adds, that iEfculapius would not patch up habitual invalids, left they fhould have children as ufelefs as themfelves ; for he was perfuaded, that it is an injury both to the community and to the infirm perfon himfelf, that he fhould continue in the world, even though he were richer than Midas.
Surely '
14 COMMENTARIES ON
Surely then we are no longer juflified in blaming the Hottentots, who expofe their decrepid parents in the woods, when a philofopher is found to advife fuch inhuman condudt as this ; or to wonder at the cuf- tom of the Padsean Indians, of whom Herodotus relates, that when any man fell fick amongfl them> his next neighbour killed him immediately.
A learned phyfician who wrote in the middle of the laft century, declares, that many of the rules which Hippocrates left, although delivered above two thouiand years ago, are among the beft we have •even at this day ; and that the works of Galen, who flourifhed in the rpign of Mar- cus Antoninus, are ftill reforted to as the bafis and the model of all that has been .advanced, ever fince his time, on the im- portant fuhjeds which he treats.
To fuppofe then the modern phyfician either ignorant of his art as praftifed by
the
CLASSICAL LEARNING* IJ
the ancients, or of the language which has tranfmitted it to pofterity, would be a folecifm in times of general information* and a difgrace to a liberal profeffion.
If the labout of learning the Spanifh. language could be compenfated by the pleafure of reading Don Quixote in the original, it is better worth the while of the phyfician to become acquainted with Thu- cydides, in order to draw much profeffional light from the defcription of the plague which defolated Athens*
The empiric trufts to practice only, and the credulity of the multitude, for the efta- blifhment of his undeferved reputation ; but the regular phyfician founds his prac- tice on the bafis of theory, and ftill ac- knowledges Hippocrates and Galen to be the preceptors and legiflators of his art.
But technical knowledge however pro- found, would be an inadequate accomplifti- ment to him j for he is expected to be con-
verfant
l6 COMMENTARIES ON
verfant with all the departments of inge* nuous learning.
To the fuccefsful pra&itioner of an art in fome degree conjectural, we look with a reverence not granted to the world at large; but if his converfation be confined merely to his profeffion, we withdraw much of our refpe£t from fuch narrownefs of acquirement. The confidence which Alexander repofed in Philip we are unwil- ling to bellow on meannefs and on igno- rance. In our phyfician we expect to find copioufnefs of information, and fuavity of manners; and thefe are exclufively the re- fult of. an ingenuous education.
It is furely unneceffary to infift that claffical learning ought to form a part of the education of a clergyman. Subfervient as it is to the main obje£t of his purfuit, it will always be infeparable from his pro- feffional ftudies. No one but a claffical fcholar can, properly fpeaking, be a Divine,
The
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 17
The oracles of facred truth are beft to be underftood in their original language ; and the retirement and the leifure incident to the clerical character form an imperious claim of profound and general information.
It has been the liberal policy of this country, to diffufe a fpecies of learning through all the clafles of fociety. It is its boaft, to enlighten the mind, as well as to exercife the hand, of the lower orders. The code of their religious duties is ren- dered acceffible to all ; nor does it appear probable, that the ftriking inftances of knowledge perverted to evil will ever clofe it to their pofterity. The ranks of fociety have been elegantly compared to a pyramid- rifing from a broad foundation, and di- minifhing to a point as it rifes. Not only ftation, therefore, but knowledge fhould be progreffive, and the degrees of each fhould be in exa£t proportion and harmony with' the other. To the chriftian teacher all the flores of Pagan antiquity fhould be dif- clofed, Hiftory, the mirror of human life,
c muft
l8 COMMENTARIES ON
mull neceflarily be the obje£t of his con- templation. To trace the knowledge of a Creator from the earlieft ages of the hea- then world ; to fee the faint image of a Redeemer in the vi&ims and oblations which they offered ; to mark the prophe- cies of a true religion faintly fhadowed by the oracles of thofe which were falfe, im- plies no fmall acquaintance with the lan- guage and the cuftoms of early times.
To fhew the Mofaic Hiftory verified by the pages of profane learning, and revela- tion confirmed by the evidence of perfons hoftile to its diffufion, is a tafk which re- quires no mean proficiency in the works of the Claffic Authors.
To compare the do&rines of chriftianity with the tenets of the various feds that preceded it, afks an intimate acquaintance with the writings of the philofophers of Greece and Rome,
But
CLASSICAL LEARNING. Ip
But this fubjedt is become more intereft- ing from the peculiar temper of the times in which we live. It is a fentiment amongft felf-taught inftru&ors, that hu- man learning is at leaft ufelefs, if not inju- rious to a clergyman ; and the perfon who gratifies his own vanity with the notion of a partial and celeftial illumination, or im- pofes the idle tale on the credulity of others, finds his perfonal credit to depend upon the removal of that venerable pillar which ftrengthens the hallowed edifice of religion. The Goths of ignorance are always nume- rous and violent, and it will require the combined efforts of its fteady friends to join in the defence of found claffical learning, as intimately conne&ed with the fupport of facred truth.
It is the bufinefs of the pulpit orator, like that of qvery other, partly to convince his hearers by argument, and partly to allure them by perfuafion. To effect this purpofe, who of fober judgment will com- c 2 par$
20 COMMENTARIES ON
pare the clamorous zeal of the unlettered enthufiaft, with the aids which genuine piety has received from eloquence, from learning, and from tafte, as difplayed in the writings, of Barrow, of Lowth, and of Blair ?
It may perhaps by fome be doubted if a claflical education be compatible with the early period at which naval gentlemen ufually enter upon their profeffion. This involves the queftion, whether the acquifi- tion of the dead languages require fo many years as are generally allotted to them*: Under a judicious affiftant, where much is required to be done in a little time, much might probably be effe&ed ; and the ground-work laid fo firmly and fkilfully, as to enable the young proficient to employ the intervals of an a£tive life in raifing the fuperftru&ure. It mult be confefled that his technical knowledge will be little bene- fited by an acquaintance with the ancient aautical art. The timid navigator, wTho, as
yet
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 21
yet having no compafs to direct him, rarely ventured to fail at any confiderable diftance from the fhore, mult appear only an objed: of contempt or compaffion, at -a period when naval ta&ics have reached perfe&ion.
In this view of the fubje<3:, no argu- ment of utility can be drawn from a fami- liarity with the claffics.
But frequent as the ambition or the phrenzy of mankind has rendered the re- currence of war, the naval officer is not al- ways engaged in atchievements of perfonal valour and in a£ts of patriot heroifm.
There are many hours in which he ho- nors the fociety that honors him by his prefence and his converfation.
In the intervals of peace, and at length in the retirement from an arduous fervice, mute attention always hangs upon the eventful ftory of his life.
c 3 A
32 COMMENTARIES ON
A mind ipmroved by early culture, and manners foftened by as good an education as time and circumftances will allow, are required to give dignity and grace to the relation of interefting events, and to the defcription of other climes.
It feemed in former times to be the falfe pride of the members of this pro- feflion, to exhibit an exterior as rough as the elements with which they were conver- fant; but the gentleft courtefy is now found to be confident with the braveft hearts, and wherever the mind has been duly cultiva- ted, the gallant defenders of their country are at the fame time its brighteft orna- ments.
Gentlemen of the military profef- fion may derive much ufeful inform- ation from an acquaintance with claf- fic authors.
Long before the monk by a pernicious chemiftry had facilitated the art of {laugh- ter,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 23
ter, ancient ta&ics had made a very confi- derable progrefs. From a Greek hiftorian, and from a Roman warrior, they may de- rive many precepts highly important to their art,
Polybius and Caefar are authors more ufeful in the field than in the clofet : they have higher attractions for the fcientific foldier, than for the cloiftered fcholar. The valour of our contemporaries, it is true, re- quires not to be Simulated by ancient examples ; but the fchoolboy may be train- ed to afpire after the character of the hero, by contemplating the illuftrious models of Greece and Rome*
He who aims at excellence of any kind, is naturally induced to place before his eyes, and to obferve as in a mirror, fome diftinguifhed pattern of it.
The military fcholar will equally applaud
the love of country and the contempt of
c 4 death*
24 COMMENTARIES ON
death, whether exhibited in ancient or in modern inftances, and be ready to yield his teftimony to that undying record of virtue, which equally immortalizes an Epaminondas and a Wolfe.
The knowledge of univerfal hiftory is effential to the Statefman. Thoroughly tp underftand and appreciate the conftitution of his own country, he muft be familiarly converfant with that both of ancient and modern ftates. It behoves him to know by what wife regulations they -arofe to greatnefs and to glory, and by what errors in their adminiftration they funk into re- proach and ruin. Since four great monar- chies, bearing the appearance of impregna- ble ftrength and liability, have difappeared from public view, and live only in the records of the hiftorian, it becomes him, by literary refearch, to explore the caufes of their decay. He will find it to be the eager, but vain defire of man, to ftamp immortality upon his works; and that
when.
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 2J
when, like father Paul, a patriot defires his country to be perpetual, he facrifices the dictate of reafon to the willies of his heart, the refult of his experience to the ardour of his hopes. The hiftory of empires has been truly faid to be that of the mifery of mankind ; the hiftory of learning, that of their grandeur and their happinefs. It is not only curious but inftru£tive to follow this revolution in the religion, government, and manners which have fucceffively defo^ lated and corrupted the world. The con- traft of the infancy with the grandeur of Rome, is worthy the attention of the ftatefman. In reading the iEneid of Virgil, he will be inftru&ed in all thefe points, and cannot fail to be ftruck at the comparifon of a fmall town covered with ftraw, to the fame town become the capital of the univerfe, of which " the houfes were palaces, the citizens princes, and the provinces empires."
The pages of' Tacitus {hould be his fre- quent and attentive ftudy ; for by reading
them,
26 COMMENTARIES ON
them, he will read mankind. He will perceive fcenes of horror afted at Rome unexampled but in our own times, and paint- ed in colours which will never fade. A fran- tic people under the Praetorian bands and the German legions, friends to anarchy and leagued againft civil government, fum- mon his deepeft attention.
In the manners of the Germans he will perceive the origin of the Britifh conftitu- tion ; and in the life of Agricola, the day- fpring of that liberty which is the boaft of Englishmen, and the wonder of foreign Hates. He will fee that if the Greeks had not a fecond time been flaves, the Latins would again have been barbarians. Con- ftantinople, it is true, fell beneath the fword of Mahomet ; but when the Medici re- ceived the persecuted mufes, and Erafmus cultivated them, Homer penetrated into regions unknown to Alexander, and Horace became the delight of countries invincible by the Romans- Thofe ages of reviving wifdjom found that- it wras excellent to
perufe
CLASSICAL LEARNING. Q.*J
perufe the ancients, and to admire them. The warrior read them in his tent, and the ftatefman ftudied them in his clofet. The keen eye of Grotius pierced through the veil of antiquity. By its light he read the oracles of facred truth, with whofe powerful weapons he combated fuperfti- tion and ignorance, and with whofe amiable precepts he foftened the rigours of war. A retrofpe£l of paft times will perhaps tend to render the ftatefman not only the lover of literature, but the public and avowed patron of learned men. When aflailed by the war-whoop of enthu- fiafm againft profane learning, his mind, foaring to a nobler height and taking a wider furvey of things, will perceive that when found learning flourifhes, and good tafte prevails, the maintenance of focial order and legitimate government is recog- nized amidft his higheft duties by the en- lightened citizen.
It has been contended that a poet is born and not made, and the declarations of a
Roman
28 COMMENTARIES ON
Roman and a Britifli bard are adduced in favor of this hypothefis. But neither Ovid nor Pope would have afferted that he was not indebted to the great models he had before him, for many of his pretenfions to poetical reputation. The two epic poets amongft the ancients, whofe works have immortalized their names, befides the con- current advantages refulting from the cli- mate of the countries, and the (late of the times in which they lived, were pofleffed of all the learning then in the world. No one can doubt this affertion refpedting the friend of Auguftus; and a little inquiry- will fatisfy us as to the acquired knowledge of Homer. Homer was educated by Phe- mius, one of the bards probably whofe public recitations contained and conveyed all the learning of thofe early times. To his office was attached a dignity of which the moderns can form a very inadequate conception,
Hq
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 2<)
He charmed the ears of a fimple age by the fp.ontaneous efFafions of unwritten and harmonious verfe; he inftru&ed them in the hiftory of their progenitors ; he enter- tained them with agreeable allegory and fable ; and, while he aftonifhed them with finging the harmony of the univerfe and the viciffitudes of nature, he profefled to be under the immediate diredlion of the gods. Though he could not boaft of wealth or power, his fituation was always attended with eafe and honor. He was well re- ceived at the courts of kings, neceflary at facrifices, and reverenced by the people. *
At that period, the philofopher, the divine, and the legiflator were all united in the fame perfon : fuch was Orpheus and his fcholar Mufeus ; and all the ancient law- givers employed the mufes to difpenfe their inftru&ions and recommend theit morals.
In fuch a fchool was Homer taught.
He was firft placed in the houfe of his
1 3 mailer
30 COMMENTARIES ON
mafter to be inftru&ed in poetry and phi- lofophy, and he afterwards fucceeded him in his office.
There were poems in exiftence before the Trojan war ; and in allegory and fable, Homer found many celebrated models worthy of his imitation. Partly from ftudy and partly from travel, he had become learned in all the wifdom of Egypt, and acquainted with all the arts of Phoenicia. His poverty as a man conftituted no fmall part of his happinefs as a poet ; for when he aflumed the profeffion of a ftrolling bard, he difplayed the higheft effort of his de- lightful art When the council of the Amphi&yons were met at Delphi to con- fult on the general welfare of Greece, his hymn to Apollo and Diana expreiTes the felicity attendant on his fituation. u Hail> heavenly powers, whofe praifesl fing," fays the bard, " let me alfo hope to be remem- bered in the ages to come ! And when any one born of the tribes of man comes hither
5 weary
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 31
a weary traveller, and inquires who is the iweeteft of the finging men that refort to your feafts, and whom you moft delight to hear ? then do you make anfwer for me, It is the Wind man that dwells in Chios j his fongs excell all that can be fung."
At the Pythian games the public a&ors were the rhapfodifts; and it was long before the mufcular could vie with the mental, be- fore horfe racing and wreftling made part of the entertainment. Although Euftathius fays of Homer, that he breathed nothing but verfe, and was fo poiTeffed with the heroic mufe as to fpeak in numbers with more eafe than others in profe ; yet no infpira- tion can account for his being a great genealogift, a correct hiftorian, and an admirable geographer. From Orpheus and Mufeus he is faid to have borrowed largely: nor was he the author of the Polytheifm of the Iliad, or the inventor of its religious and philofophical allegories, but recorded them as he received them from the Egyp- tians.
42 COMMENTARIES ON
■ *j
tians. In addition, therefore, to the ad- vantage of living at a period of fociety, when he could from obfervation delineate the varieties of the human character, kings, princes, warriors, artifans and peafants ; when his mind had been expanded, and his views enlarged by foreign travel, he fearched diligently every avenue to fcience, and verified the aflertion I have made, that he poffefTed himfelf all the learning then in the world.
Horace propofes the queftion refpecting the fuperior advantage of genius and learn- ing to a poet, and determines them to be equally necefTary to the perfection of his artj
" Ego nee {ludium fine divite vena, ** Nee rude quid profit video ingenium : alterius fie u Altera pofcit opem res, et conjmat amice."
It would be fuperfluous to bring any argument to prove how much the epic poet of our own country was indebted to claf- fical learning ; for this is evident on the flighted perufal of his works. In what
fublime
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 33
fublime ftrains does he acknowledge his obligation to the <foftering nurfe of ancient literature.
« Behold ! Where on the JEgean fhore a city (lands Built nobly, pure the air, and light the foil, Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts j And eloquence, native to famous wits Or hofpitable, in her fweet recefs, City or fuburban, ftudious walks and fhades.,,
In this country we have had many in- fiances of poets who could not boaft of a literary education; and however we may admire the effufions of untutored enthu- fiafm, it is impoffible to contend with fuc- cefs, that their wood-notes wild would not have been improved by culture and an acquaintance with the works of the an- cients, thofe archetypes of genius, thofe fepofitaries of learning, thofe models of fine writing, and perpetual ftandards of good tafte.
Not only a contemplation of the works ©f art, but an acquaintance with the writ- ID ings
34 COMMENTARIES ON
ings of the ancients is effential to the painter. Their animated defcriptions, and the pre- cious relics, unfortunately too few, which have come down to pofterity, compel him to deplore the ravages which time and vio- lence have made upon the graphic art. He perceives, however, that Greece was the unrivalled arbiter of form, that the minds of the Greeks were elevated with the notion of a celeftial origin, that their lhapes were moulded by a mild and genial climate, and their fpirits animated by the nature of their civil polity. It has been elegantly faid that in the infancy of Grecian art, the Graces rocked the cradle, and Love taught it to fpeak.
The ftory of the Corinthian maid who fhadowed the figure of her lover by lamp- light on a w7all, may perhaps be only a legendary tale; but by appealing to our fympathy, it feems almoft to deferve our belief. To the modern painter the account of the origin and progrefs of his art fliould unqueftionably be familiar. Reynolds and
Fufeli
CLASSICAL LEARNING. $$
Fufeli have delighted to trace it from the firft mechanical eflay ; from fimple outline, to the magic fcale of Grecian colours ; to diftinguifh the three clafles of painting, the epic, the dramatic, and the hiftorical ; the firft of which prepared, the fecond efta- blifhed, and the third refined it. The origin of all the arts is involved in obfcurity and obumbrated by fable ; and while Pliny- has preferved the fcanty materials of the one we are now contemplating, he loudly complains of the want of exadtnefs in the Greek writers on the fubjeft. An imitation of painting is obvious to the view of the fcholar, when Homer acquaints him with the employment of females in the higher ranks of life. Helen works on tapeftry a reprefentation of the battles fhe had caufed, and the haplefs Andromache is called from a fimilar occupation to be informed of the fall of the illuftrious and much lamented defender of Troy. The praife of early excellence will be liberally beftowed by the learned artift on Polygnotus. His emula- tion will be excited by the art of Zeuxis,
P % who
36 COMMENTARIES ON
who in a clufter of grapes could deceive the birds, and by the fuperior (kill of Par- rhafius, who in the imitation of a curtail* deceived, and therefore furpafled, his rival. The name of Apelles will be ever venerated by him whom learning has enabled to ex- plore the avenues of tafte ; and his obfer- vation to a young artift will be a warning voice ^gainft a fondnefs for meretricious ornament ; — " Young man ! not being able to make your Helen beautiful, you have refolved to make her fine." His literary curiofity will be gratified by an endeavor to trace the high antiquity of painting in Egypt, and by perceiving the honor which was paid to the loweft profeffor of the art in China.
Pliny will inform him that it was carried to perfe&ion before the foundation of Rome. The inhabitants of Etruria were the fivft who connected the practice of it with the ftudy of nature ! the tombs of the Tarquins ftill remain as vefliges of their .ikill, and the vafes of Campania demon-
ftrate
CLASSICAL LEARNING, 37
ftrate how well the Grecian colonies taught the inhabitants of Italy the imitative arts.
An acquaintance with the writings of the Greek hiftorians and dramatics, a thorough knowledge of the mythology o£ the ancients, and of the works of Virgil and Ovid, would accomplifh the education of the painter. No picture of antiquity is more celebrated than the facrifice of Iphr- genia, the mafter-piece of Timanthes the Cynthian, His pencil could delineate the forrow of the prieft, the regret of Ulyfles, and the fytnpathy of Menelaus, but unequal to depicture the feelings of the father, he threw a veil over his face. Can the artifl feel the force of mind which the author of this melancholy flory poflefled, or be con- fcious of half the beauties of the piece, if he be ignorant of the language which has confecrated it to immortality ?
Sir Jofhua Reynolds, in one of his dif- coujrfes to the royal academy, Tvery truly
V 3 observes,
38 COMMENTARIES ON
obferves, that he who is acquainted with the works which have pleafed different ages, and different countries, and has formed his opinion on them, has more materials, and more means of knowing what is analogous to the mind of man than he who is conver- fant only with the works of his own age or country.
Nothing but a liberal education can enable the artift to exhibit that ethic of painting which is the acme of the art.
In an ancient fpecimen, where the fpec- tator could diftinguifh UlyfTes by his feverity and vigilance, Menelaus by his mildnefs, and Agamemnon by a kind of divine majefty, an air of freedom in the fon of Tydeus, of ferocity in Ajax, and of alert- jiefs in Antilochus, was difcovered, that chara&eriftic of tranfeendent excellence which induced Ariftotle to denominate Polygnotus a painter of the manners. from the fame fource alone can the artift
derivq
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 3<)
derive that vigor of mind which will enable him to counteract the fpirit of the age in which he lives. With nature and the works of the belt matters before him, Raphael was prevented by the want of education, from reaching the ideal of the ancients. Apelles foared into regions of empyrean purity; Raphael did but tread the earth, although he moved with majeftic dignity. When the art revived, the Roman fchool was diftinguifhed by the learning of its matters. While the magnificence derived from its commerce with the eaft, charac- terifed that of Venice, and dictated its gaudy tafte ; the grovelling manner of the Dutch artifts may be accounted for from the habits of their countrymen. It is their delight to imitate the loweft objects ; the taverns, the fmith's (hop, and the vulgar amufements of boors. Hence it may be concluded, that grace and elegance are the handmaids of learning, and that learning confers upon the fine arts their irrefiftible attractions.
a 4 U
40 COMMENTARIES ON
If the mind of the Sculptor be unin- formed, his art will be merely a mechanical one.
The ancient reliques have fo decided a fuperiority over the fineft works of modern times, that the generous emulation which will ftimulate the artift to imitate what perhaps never will be equalled, is conne&ed with a natural curiofity to learn from what caufes their excellence proceeded.
This eagernefs of enquiry can only be gratified by having recourfe to clafiic authors, where he will find the poet, the mythologift, and the hiftorian contending to afford him information.
Fancy has traced the origin of fculpture to the wilds of Scythia, and imagined the head of the Urus to have been the fymboi of the Deity. .
u The bull's ftern front to which rude myriads knee^ «« The favorite idol of benighted zeal."
Some
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 41
Some authors give us the fame account of the origin of fculpture as of painting ; and the tale of the Corinthian maid, though twice told, is never heard with fcorn.
In facred writ, the lamentation of a father for the premature death of a child, •which induced him to confole himfelf with the formation of his image, is mentioned not only as a teft of parental affe&ion, but as the origin of idolatry. " For thus in procefs of time an ungodly cuftom grown ftrong was kept as a law, and graven images were worfhipped by the command- ment of kings." The Egyptians very early applied themfelves to this art, and Lucian an Aflfyrian and a fculptor, fpeaks of them as diftinguifhed by their meritorious efforts \n its infancy. Love, forrow and fuperfti- tion combined in the produ&ion of fculp- ture. Long before ftatues appeared, the trunk of a tree was worshipped by the f hefpians as their Juno, and ftones of a
cubic
42 COMMENTARIES ON
cubic form were confidered as fymbols of the divinity,
A thoufand years were requifite to bring the art to perfe&ion ; and the intelligent fculptor muft be delighted at the contraft of the pointed ftake, which was the firft Minerva of the Athenians, with the perfedl works of Phidias and Praxiteles.
The age of Alexander the Great, fome- what more than three centuries before the ehriftian sera, was the epoch of all the arts and fciences; from which period they began to decline.
The Grecian fculptors reprefented the tortures of Prometheus with unrivalled ability. The fcholar who thrills with horror at the defcription of iEfchylus, feels his mind relieved by doubting the authen- ticity of the ftory, and by yielding his aflfent to the report that Prometheus was a fervant high in the confidence of Ofiris an
Egyptian
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 43
Egyptian monarch, and that he was punch- ed for communicating the arts of Egypt to the ruder Greeks; that the officer who guarded him was flam by Hercules, and the prifoner fet free.
x The ftory of Daedalus is the amufement of our early years, but we are not then taught to confider him as the father of Grecian fculpture. When he efcaped from the rage of Minos, fable gives him the invention of wings; but Paufanias fays that he executed a ftatue of Hercules, in return for his having buried his fon Icarusf whofe body had been caft upon a fhore. The reprefentation of the dance of Ariadne in bas relief, is mentioned as a work of great celebrity by Homer,
4* A figured dance fucceeds, fuch once was fceq
In lofty GnofTus for the Cretan queen,
Formed by Daedalean art, a comely band
Of youths and maidens, bounding hand in hand $
The maids in foft cymars of linen dreft,
TJie youths all graceful in the glofly veft.'*
The
44 COMMENTARIES ON
The farther -the Sculptor {hall be enabled to fearch the ftorehoufes of ancient learn- ing, the higher dignity will be attributable to his elegant art. He will find the talents of Phidias to have been fo remarkable as to form an xva. in the hiftory of fculpture. The genius of this Athenian, matured un- der the reign of Pericles, excited him to convert the marble brought by the Perfians as a trophy of their victory, into a memo- rial of their defeat. The artift who tranf- mitted to pofterity the figures of thofe intrepid patriots that dared to oppofe the tyranny of Hipparchus, rendered fculpture the means of exciting a patriot ardor in the minds of an enflaved people, and of perpetuating the memory of thofe who perifhed in the defence of public liberty. He was adored by the Athenians, and the name of Praxiteles will exift, while thofe of Harmodius and Ariftogiton fliall be remem^ bered.
The approach to the heart is quicker by the eye than by the ear what effect muft
tfcfa
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 45
thefe ftatues have had upon contemporary- beholders, when Lowth informs us, that the fong of Harmodius would have gone further to put an end to the tyranny of the Csefars, than all the Philippics of Demofthenes.
Sculpture not only explains ancient hift- ory, but unfolds ancient manners. A ftatue of a man rubbing himfelf after the ufe of the bath, delighted the fancy of Tiberius ; and he removed it from the baths of Agrippa, to his own chamber. The people clamored for its reftoration, and compelled the tyrant to yield in a trifling conteft, whom they had not the fpirit to oppofe in his invafion of their liberties. The Romans had a fingular inaptitude for this elegant art, which feems not reluc- tantly confeffed by the beft of their poets.
41 Excudcnt alii fpirantia mollius aera."
Still they had tafte or rapacity enough to
import the beft ftatues from the country
13 they
46 COMMENTARIES ON
they had fubdued, and by an unworthy fpecies of deceit, which was not the parent of a generous rivalfliip, they often erafed the Grecian infcripticns, and inferted falfe titles of their own countrymen.
It is not to be wondered at, that the ftatue of Alexander, after the conqueft of Macedon, fhould adorn the portico of Me- tellus, or that Csefar
«« Sighed at the fculptured form of Ammon's fon."
But it is impoflible not to defpife the fraud of the great Conftantine, who put his own name on the ftatue of x^pollo.
Indeed deceptions of every kind were common, Phsedrus informs us, that thofe who had pieces of fculpture to fell, erafed the name of an inferior artift, and fubfti- tuted that of Praxiteles.
Too much admiration cannot be ren- dered to the Grecians for the excellence to 3 which
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 47
tvhich they carried the art of fculpture, nor too much refped for the ufes to which they applied it. It was with them an honorable and a lafting tribute to departed wrorth, and a powerful ftimulus to laudable emulation. The poet and the orator fhared its honors with the hero and the patriot ; and it is a high eulogium on the republican fpirit of the Athenians, that their juftice and gratitude induced them to ere£t a ftatue to Pififtratus, for having col- ledled and publifhed the works of Homer,
Sculpture muft be in ftri£t alliance with learning, fince it has been faid that if time had reftored only the Laocoon, the Belvi- dere Apollo, and the Medicean Venus, a lover of the arts might confider his kindnefs equivalent to his literary benefi- cence, in preferving the compofuions of Demofthenes, Plato, and Homer.
Much has been faid on the influence of climate on the human mind, and both the ancients and the moderns have extended it
too
4-3 COMMENTARIES ON
too far. Bcaotia and Attica were adjacent countries, and if the ftatues found at Thebes, were generally the work of fo- reign artifts, it fhould be remembered that there was a law in that country, by which fculptors and painters who did not excel, were liable to a fine : a moft injudicious regulation, and of itfelf fufficient to check the labor of induftry, and reprefs all the energies of genius ! Where fuch obftacles did not oppofe them, an unwholefome atmofphere could not extinguifh the poetic fire of Pindar, nor cloud the philofophic fpirit of Plutarch. The hiftory of fculp- ture will prove it to be an art connected with the fublimeft fentiments, and the beft affedtions of the foul ; and the artift who is unacquainted with the writings of the an- cients, muft be contented to remain a fer- vilc copier, or at beft to exercife the chif- iel of the ignorant mechanic, undire&ed by the mind of the mafter.
Although very little of the pra&ical part of mufic is come down to us, yet the won- derful
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 49
derful effedt of this delightful art on the fenfibility of the ancients, is an induce- ment to us to examine the various teftimo- nies of its effect in foftening the manners, promoting civilization, and humanizing men naturally favage and barbarous.
Pythagoras, the Samian philofopher, endeavoured to demonstrate, that the uni- verfe was fabricated by a mufical fcale. On account of their particular talent, Apol- lo was confidered as the higheft of the gods* and Orpheus of the demi-gods ; and the graveft of writers, the hiftorians and philo- fophers of Greece, contend with the poets in their praifes of mufic.
The learned mufician will know from. Herodotus, that it was long difputed be- tween the Egyptians and Phrygians, which of them firft cultivated the art, for man in- vents, but does not create. Sacred and profane hiftorians derived moft of the arts from Egypt. By geometry they afcer- tained the boundaries of private property
E which
5& COMMENTARIES ON
which the overflowing of the Nile had obliterated. The antiquity of their archi- tecture, the oldeft profane hiftorian could not difcover. To Egypt the world is pro- bably indebted for the knowledge of har- mony, and the geometrical menfuration of founds. There the profeffion of mufic was hereditary in the priefthood ; a prac- tice adopted by the Hebrews, and their Mercury was faid to have invented the lyre by accidentally ftriking his foot againft the fhell of a tortoife, on the banks of the Nile. The oldeft inftrument of mufic demonftrates man to have been originally a hunter and a fifher ; for the lyre was com- pofed of two parts the horn of an animal, and the fhell of a fifh. The hymns to Bacchus, preferved in the Greek writers, are fuppofed to have originated in Egypt ; and the enquirer into the origin of the art, will find it to have had admiffion into the religious ceremonies, public feftivals, and focial amufements of mankind. The mufi- cian was fo highly efteemed in ancient times, that Quintilian informs us he was l honored
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 5I
honored with the name of prophet and of fage : from Phoenicia, in fcripture denomi- nated Canaan, mufic pafled into Greece, where to the fabulous reports of its mira- culous efficacy, a voluntary credulity yielded its affent.
It was faid to poflfefs not only the more credible power of repreffing the paffions, but the medicinal quality of curing difeafes*
Terpander is reported to have appeafed a violent fedition by mufic ; and Solon by finging an elegy of his own compofition, to have excited his countrymen, the Athe- nians, to the renewal and termination of a war with Salamis.
It was aflerted that fevers were removed by fong, and that deafnefs was cured by the found of the trumpet ; that Thales delivered the Lacedaemonians from a pef- tilence by the fweetnefs of his lyre 5 and that the found of inftruments was fuccefsfully employed in the cure of madnefs, epilepfy,
E 2 and
$2 COMMENTARIES ON
and fciatic gout. Homer reprefents Aga- memnon as confiding the chaftity of Clytemneftra to the guardianfhip of aMufi- cian, until whofe difmiffal, her feducer iEgifthus had no power over her aflfe&ions.
" At firft with worthy fliame and decent pride The royal dame his lawlefs fuit denied ; For virtue's image yet poffefled her mind, Taught by a matter of the tuneful kind. Atrides parting for the Trojan war, Configned his youthful confort to his care. True to his charge, the bard preferved her long In honor's limits, fuch the power of fong."
Ariftotle fays that the Tyrrhenians never fcourged their flaves but by the found of flutes, in order to give fome counterpoife to pain.
How highly the ancients appreciated this art, may be known by the account we read of Amphion having raifed the walls of Thebes, by the magical influence of his lyre.
If
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 53
If this induced the Thebans to fortify their town, we can readily acquiefce in the interpretation given by the poets, and in the wonderful powers poflefled by the artift. The mufes were originally only fingers in the fervice of Ofiris, the Egyp- tian Bacchus ; they were deified^in Greece, denominated the daughters of Jupiter, and fome of them derived their names from the excellence of their voice.
The defcriptions of the orgies of Bacchus are the raoft voluptuous of ancient poetry. This god of pleafure is regaled with mufic as well as wine, and the Dithyrambics which gave birth to dramatic reprefentation are coeval with his worfhip.
The Sirens of Sicily are in the common- place book of every claflical fchoolboy; and the wife Ulyfles although cautioned by the following warning of Circe, found great difficulty in refitting their fedu&ion :
E 3 Next
54 COMMENTARIES ON
** Next where the Sirens dwell you plough the feat," Their fong is death, and makes deftru&ion pleafe. Unbleft the man whom mufic wins to ftray Nigh th« curfed more, and liften to the lay ; No more that wretch mall view the joys of life, His blooming offspring, or his beauteous wife."
Every one feels an intereft in marking the progrefs of an art, which in the rudeft ages of the world, was firft the delight of fhepherd-princes, next of ploughmen, and then of affbeiated man ; when all that depended on proportion, appertained to the fcience of harmony. To whatever profeffion the moft illuftrious ehara&ers were deftined, a large portion of their time was applied to mufic. Nee fides didicit, nee natare, was difgraceful to every one of fortune and of birth. The fabulous ac- counts of Chiron, of Amphion, Orpheus, Linus and Mufseus, ferve at leaft to fhew the general opinion of the art. Hercules is faid to have learned mufic in the fchool of Chiron, antf aj* interesting painting,
fave4
, CLASSICAL LEARNING. $$
faved amidft the ruins of Herculaneum, exhibits the young Achilles receiving inftrudion on the lyre from the fame pr«# ceptor.
To Linus at the annual facrifice to the Mules, the higheft honors were paid, and an altar and a ftatue ere&ed to him on mount Helicon. The ftory of Orpheus and Eurydice contains perhaps the higheft eulogium which any art has ever received.
The inftruments of mufic were few du- ring the Trojan war, A torch, the fhell of a fifh, and the voice of a herald was fuc- ceffively the fignal of battle. The bard had a place of honor at all the banquets of the Greeks, and Penelope tnforms us of the entertainment he afforded to the enraptured guefts.
t* Phemius ! let' ac"ts of gods and heroes bold, What ancient bards in hall and bower have told, Attempered to the lyre, your voice employ, Such the pleafed ear will plrink w;thJi.lcntjpy.,,
e 4 The
$6 COMMENTARIES ON
The two offices of poet and mufician were combined in all the Grecian games, and Alcseus and Sappho, Simonides and Pindar fuftained both thefe characters. But to mufic at the public games, a ftill higher dignity was attached ; for it was there ren- dered fubfervient to the facred caufe of liberty. Not only Rhapfodifts were ap- pointed to fing the verfes of Homer, but Harmodius and Ariftogiton who had op- pofed the Pififlraiidas and Ariftobulus who had delivered the Athenians from the power of the thirty tyrants, were the fubjects of their mellifluous praifes. That art indeed xnuft have been juftly efteemed which could boaft of Socrates, Plato, and Pericles as its profefTed admirers and patrons.
The learned author of the Hiftory of Mufic has fhewm it to have been flowly progreflive in Greece. That the firft at- tempts were rude and fimple, that rhythm was attended to before tone or melody, that iniiruments of percuffion preceded all
others^
CLASSICAL LEARNING, 57
others, that the fteps in the dance, and the feet in poetry, were marked with precifion before founds were refined ; that the flute imitated, and the lyre accompanied the voice in its inflexions of forrow and of joy ; and what excites the curiofity of the fcholar, that the irregularities in the veri- fication of the later Greeks, were an indul- gence to the inftrumental performer.
From the public games mufic pafled to the ftage, where the chorus was fubfervient to the melody of the lyrift, and from being the humble companion of poetry, became its fovereign.
The Romans borrowed all the liberal arts from other nations ; before Greece was known to them they derived their mufic from Etruria, a country peopled by a Gre- cian colony, to which their youth were fent for education. Dionyfius Halicar- naflus fays, that Romulus and Remus acquired at Gabii the knowledge of the Greek language, mufic, and the ufe of
arms.
58 COMMENTARIES ON
arms. In the time of Numa the Salii danced to the flute, and Servius Tullius inftituted military mufic. In funerals mufic became an accompaniment, and it was con- ftantly attached to the Roman drama. Mufic, in the later periods of Rome, was chiefly confined to flaves ; in Greece, it was juftly confidered as a liberal art, and appropriated to freemen* This circum- ftance may account for the pre-eminence it reached in the latter country. That capricious tyrant Nero is faid to have ap* peared on the flage at Naples as a public finger, and to have compelled the judges in a thoufand contefts, to affign to him the prize.
Though the fcience of mufic is certainly obfcure and difficult, the knowledge of the theory of Grecian harmony, will tend greatly to elucidate it ; and the learned pra&itioner will be highly gratified by feeing the prodigious effe&s afcribed by the ancients to the favorite obje£t of his purfuit, and the intimate connection which .** it
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 59
it has always had with manners, policy and religion. Who would not defire to know the hiftory of an art, which under the guidance of philofophy, has been faid to be one of the fublimeft gifts of heaven, and the nobleft inventions of men ?
There is no country in the world where commerce leads to wealth by fo direct and ihort a road as in England. The Englifli merchant is every where celebrated for the liberality of his conduct ; and a certain portion of claffical attainments would to no rank of fociety be both more ornamental and more ufeful. Riches rapidly conduct to honors and diftinction, and it is highly requifite that ignorance Ihould not difgracc the elevated ftation to which induftry has climbed. That a knowledge of the dead languages facilitates the acquirement of the living ones, which are effential to a man of extenfive concerns, is an aflertion as incon- trovertible as it is general.
But
60 COMMENTARIES ON
But it is alio the frequent ambition of gentlemen engaged in commercial bufinefs, to become magiftrates and members of the fenate, where their decifion and their advice on queftions of the greateft import to the intereft of individuals and of their country, is looked to with refpeftful deference.
To every man in public life, the capacity of delivering his fentiments without per- plexity or hefitation, is mod defirable. This cannot be acquired by habit alone, for the foundation of all eloquence is a knowledge of the fubjecT:, and one of its principal conftituents is purity of language ; both thefe refult from education and re* flection.
Riches can then only be regarded as the means of happinefs when they produce a defire for virtuous diftin&ion ; but if the poffeflbr has negle&ed the culture of the mind, they ferve but to expofe him to ridi- cule and contempt.
In
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 6l
la vain will it be that he refort to a i'plendor of equipage and retinue to coun- terbalance the defeat of education, for there can be no counterpoife to poverty of mind in oftenfible fituations. How evident is this in fuch perfons of noble birth as debafe themfelves by moral inactivity and mental indolence, who wafte the precious years of youth in the amufements of the turf or the gaming table, which had been well employ- ed in mufing on the banks of the Ids, or in exploring the treafures of the Bodleian.
But although to every commercial man, public life may not have equal attra&ions, yet claffical learning will furnifli to every one a feaft of luxury. In his occafional retreats from the buftle of bufinefs, it will be the folace of his labour, and the fouroe of rational entertainment. He will learn from it the proper ufe of profperity, and be eager to poffefs the endowments which conftitute its value. In a ftate of nature, bodily ftrength or perfonal valour decides 6 the
62 COMMENTARIES ON
the fuperiority of man ; but in the prefent ftate of fociety, all but the loweft clafles are fummoned to mix fpeculation with a&ion, and the higher energies of the mind are required to dignify their worldly condi- tions.
It is faid by Montefquieu, that commerce is a cure for the molt deftru&ive prejudices, and that wherever there is commerce, there we meet with agreeable manners.
That an intercourfe with other nations, and an acquaintance wTith their manners, will enable us by comparifon to improve our own, is a propofition not to be denied ; but if this intercourfe be merely a barter of commodities, furely from fuch traffic a polifhed urbanity cannot proceed. It is probable that a fpirit of trade may fix in the mind a fentiment of exadt and fcrupu- lous juftice, but it requires education to expand that rigid principle both in its de- mands and its conceffions.
The
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 6$
The fame author juftly obferves, that the great enterprizes of merchants are always necefiariiy connected with the affairs of the government; but experience will notjuftify his affertion that they are not fuited to monarchical, but only to republican go- verments : indeed a fubfequent chapter of his own work contradicts it ; for he there fays, that the Englifh know better than any other people upon earth how to value thefe great advantages, religion, commerce and liberty. It is impoffible to look back to the earlieft effects of commerce in this country without veneration and gratitude. We owe to it the firft check which was given to ariftocratical power, that giant in ftrength, and tyrant in oppreffion ; we owe to it the recognition of the equal rights of all the citizens, and the dawn of that civil liberty which diffufes its bleflings over the whole community.
The commerce of the ancients, even in the days of Alexander, was fo infignificant .Mwtt when
64 COMMENTARIES ON
^when compared with that of modern times, that however it might amufe the leifurc hours of the merchant to ftudy the writings of their hiftorians, with a view to obtain information on this point, he would pro- bably not find it of much practical utility to him.
Still like the liberal arts, he would per- ceive it migrating from one quarter of the globe to another, as conqueft expelled or freedom offered it an afylum. His pre- judices in favour of his native country, would unqueftionably be gratified by ob~ ferving, that while the proudeft cities in Afia, whofe commerce once convened all the nations of the world, now exift only in the pages of Livy and of Sfrabo, a gloomy foreft, an ifland of barbarians, girt by rocks and beaten by feas, difplays a fcene at which the falfe pride of Cicero would have revolted : — " The fame people at once the fords and fadors of the univerfc."
Having
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 6$
Having thus endeavoured to {hew the advantages of claffical learning in its refer- ence to the feveral profeffions, it is my defign to attempt an illuftration of this do&rine, by an outline of the life and a brief review of the works of the principal poets, orators, and hiftorians of antiquity.
At the outfet of this inquiry, I wifh pre- cifely to ftate the motive which has induced me to enter upon it, left fuch of my readers as might expe£t to find the laborious in- veftigations of the commentator, or the accute obfervations of the critic in this work, fhould be difappointed and difgufted by the perufal of it. My fole purpofe is to enforce an important truth, — the utility of a liberal education to individuals and to fociety. If perfons of each fex, and of various ages and conditions, fhall find their accefs to this difcuffion rendered more eafy by its being conducted in our vernacular lan- guage, and diverted of all parade of learning; and if literary men fhall not difdain to approve a work which, having
F that
66 COMMENTARIES ON
that object in view, has aflumed a popular air; their fufFrages will vindicate the nature of my plan, and their candour will palliate the defeds of its execution.
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 67
SECTION II.
On the Epic Poets of Greece— Homtry He/Iod, Apollonlus Rhodlus.
The climate of Greece, and the lively imagination of the people, their cuftoms and their religious rites, were all peculiarly- favourable to poetry.
Thefe circumftances fhould be prefent to our minds when we compare ancient and modern literature. It fhould be remem- bered that, nature being always the fame,, the firft poet who gave a defcription of the fpring, of ftorms, of the night, of beauty, and of battles, was likely to make the ftrongeft impreffion on the readers; and every fucceeding one to appear only a copier or a plagiarift. It feems fair to reafon thus when we perufe the pages of Homer, as it may tend, although not to
F 2 leflen
68 COMMENTARIES ON
leflen our veneration for excellence, yet by calming our raptures to enable us more corre&ly to appreciate his merit. Poetry is the firft art, which civilized nations have cultivated, and the epic the earlieft poetry. Second, in order of time, to the Holy Scriptures, and to the works of Indian and Chinefe writers, are the poems of Homer. The few fragments of Orpheus which we pofTefs are fcarce worthy to contradict this aflertion, but they ferve to prove that the firft employment of the mufe was to cele- brate gods and heroes. The epic is the recital in verfe of an a&ion probable, heroic, and interefting. Not bound By the ftrid rules of hiftoric truth, it muft, however, be guided by moral probability. Confecrated to great fubje&s it becomes heroic; and it is rendered interefting becaufe it captivates the imagination, and penetrates the foul.
Of all the productions of which the hu- man underftanding is capable, epic poetry is unqueftionably the higheft, fince it in- cludes the beft qualities of every fpecies of writing. It cannot, therefore, but afford
us
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 69
us amufement and inftru&ion to recall to our memory thofe great matters, whofe names are immortalized by the fuperior nature of their works, and the unrivalled afcendancy of their genius.
Homer was born, probably, about nine hundred years before the chriftian asra, and three hundred after the Trojan war. Of fo great a writer we are naturally anxious to inquire into every particular of the life, but here our curiofity will not be gratified. He is known only by his works; for though feven cities contended for the honour of giving him birth, no authentic documents
emain to decide the conteft. His imputed poverty is not well afcertained, fince it is even doubtful whether the reception which he every where met with in his travels, did honor to the compaffion or to the hofpitality of his hofts. At all events, he amply recompenfed their kindnefs by the recital of his incomparable poems. From very early times much induftry has been wafted by learned men on the birth-place of Homer; and if the Emperor Adrian
F 3 was
70 COMMENTARIES ON
was willing to rely on the anfwer of the Oracle who fixed it at Ithaca, pofterity lefs credulous refufes to acquiefce in fuch fuf- picious authority; Perhaps the town of Smyrna and the ifland of Chios exhibit the beft pretenfions to that honor. But the queftion is furely unimportant, fince human nature has the honor of his genius, and the world at large can boaft the treafure of his works. It is not, however, unamufing to contemplate the fabulous accounts we have received of him.
Euftathius declares him to have been born in Egypt, and nurfed by the prieftefs Ifis, whofe breaft fupplied him with honey inftead of milk ; that one night the infant was heard to fet up cries which refembled the fong of nine different birds ; and that the next day there were found in his cradle nine turtle-doves who played with him. Diodorus Siculus tells us, that Homer had found a manufcript of a certain Daphne, prieftefs of the temple of Delphi, who had an admirable talent for rendering in
good
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 71
good verfe the oracles of the gods, and that thence Homer tranfcribed them into his poems. Others make him defcended in a right line from Apollo, from Linus, and from Orpheus. It is alfo fabled that long before his time, a woman of Memphis, whofe name was Phantafy, had compofed a poem on the Trojan war. All thefe prove the tafte of the Greeks for allego- rical tales, and compofe the higheft poffible eulogium on the greateft of poets.
His verfes were firft fung in Ionia by the rhapfodifts or reciters. Not being then collected into books, they would chant fome favorite part of them ; the quarrel of Achilles with Agamemnon, or the death of Patroclus, or the parting of He&or and Andromache. Lycurgus, in his voyage to Ionia, firft collected and brought them to Lacedsemon, whence they fpread through the whole of Greece, In the time of Solon and Pififtratus, Hipparchus, fon of the latter, made a new copy at Athens by order of his father, which was currently in ufe till the time of Alexander the Great. That
F 4 prince
/
72 COMMENTARIES ON
prince commanded Callifthenes and Anax- archus carefully to review the poems of Homer, which muft have been altered in paffing through fo many hands and fo many countries. Ariftotle was confulted about this edition, which was called the cafket ; becaufe Alexander inclofed a copy of it in a fmall box of ineftimabie value, taken on his journey from Arbela, amidft the fpoils of Darius. This he always kept under his pillow, faying that the mod precious cafket in the whole world fhould contain the fineft work of human genius.
After the death of Alexander, Zenodorus of Ephefus again revifed this edition, under the reign of the firft of the Ptolemies. Finally, under Ptolemy Philometer, five hun- dred years before Chrift, Ariftarchus, fo celebrated for his tafte and underftanding, undertook the laf* /evifion of the poems of Homer. This eclipfed all the others; it is the one which has come down to us, and feems to have fuffered few effential altera-* tions.
No
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 73
No fubjecT: could have been found to operate fo forcibly on the feelings of the Grecians, as that of the fiege and deftru£- tion of Troy. The recital of the interefting ftory muft at once have gratified their vanity, excited their military ardour, and warmed their patriotifm. That the choice of his fubje£t was not more happy than the execution of his plan, is a commenda- tion beftowed on Homer by the beft critics of every age. Horace places him above the chiefs of the Academy and the Portico; and though Plato would banifh him, to- gether with all other poets, from his repub- lic, yet he confeffes that his early refpecT: and love for his writings, ought to chain his tongue; that he is the creator of all the poets who have followed him.
The fable of the Iliad, diverted of its epifodes, is remarkably fimple and concife. " One of the Grecian generals, difcontented with the commander in chief, retires from the camp, deaf to the call of duty, of rea- fon, and of his friends ; he fcruples not to abandon the public weal to his private
refentment ;
74 COMMENTARIES ON
refentment ; and his enemies, profiting by his mifcondu£t, obtain great advantages over his party, and kill his bofom-friend. Vengeance and friendfhip induce him to re-affume his arms, and he overcomes the chief of the enemy*"
Whoever carefully perufes the Iliad, wiil find the execution of the work to be not lefs judicious than the plan, which was to demonftrate the evils arifing from difcord amongft rulers.
The defcription that Homer gives of characters is throughout confident, and his manner, though fimple, is fublime. His images are finifhed pictures, his reflections are moral axioms. His imagination is rich in a fuperlative degree ; and his knowledge is univerfal. He is of all profeffions, poet, orator, mathematician, philofopher, geo- grapher, and artifan. In the order of his ftory there is a variety, and in the relation of it an energy, which are produced by elevation of genius; and his verfes, which delight the ear by their rhythm and
their
CLASSICAL LEARNING. J$
their cadence, denominate him the true poet of nature.
In reading the twelve firfl books of Homer, we are ftruck with the Ample yet noble progrefs of the work. We admire the artifice of the poet, who fuffers the intervention of the gods to terminate a bat- tle between Menelaus and Paris, which muft otherwife have terminated the war. Our attention is fummoned to that part where Helen pafles before the old Trojans, who regard her with admiration, and are no longer aftonifhed at feeing Europe and Afia bleeding on her account. Her con-, verfation with the aged Priam, when fhe makes known to him the principal chiefs of Greece, is particularly interefting. The fcene between Hedor and Andromache when the hero returns to order a facrifice, and then departs from Troy rAever to re- enter it, has not been celebrated too often or too much.
Thefe are delightful epifodes, which agreeably vary the uniformity of the prin- cipal a£tion.
In
76 COMMENTARIES ON
In the ninth book, Homer appears as a dramatift and an orator. In the fpeeches of Phoenix, of Ulyflfes, of Ajax, and in the anfwer of the inflexible Aqhilles, we may difcern models of all kinds of elo- quence. We are then carried to the field of battle where the contending armies dif- play every effort of prowefs. The Greeks are driven within their entrenchments, and their fhips become their laft afylum. The Trojans haften in crowds to force this barrier, and Sarpedon pulls down one of the battlements of the wall ; Heftor hurls an enormous ftone againft the gates; they fly open, and he loudly calls for a torch to fire the fhips ;
" Hade, bring" the flames ! the toil of ten long years Is linimedj and the day defired appears,"
Almoft all the chiefs of Greece are wounded, and retired from fight. Ajax is the only rampart of his country, which he ftill protects with his valour and his fhield ; at length, though opprefled by fa- tigue,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 77
tigue, and driven to the fhips, he yet repels the victors -,
** Ev'n to the laft, his naval charge defends;
Now makes his fpear, now lifts, and now protends* Ev'n yet the Greeks with piercing fhouts infpires, Amidft attacks and death, and darts and fires."
The flames *at length appear riling from the fhips; and this was* the date which Achilles had fixed to his rage. He then yields to the entreaties of his friend ;
" Arm, arm, Patrocius ! Lo ! the blaze afpires, The glowing ocean reddens with the fires. Arm, ere our veffels catch the fpreading flanre, Arm, ere the Grecians be no more a name."
It has been juftly obferved by Mr. Gib- bon, that the 16th book of the Iliad af- fords a very clear idea of the polytheifm of the Greeks, and that it contains fome prodigioufly fine fimilies. When encou- raged by Apollo, who promifes him the aid of Jove, how glorious is the ardour and how powerful the effect of He&or's fortitude !
«' Urged
*]8 COMMENTARIES ON
" Urged by the voice divine, thus Heclor flew, Full of the god, and all his hoft purfue ; As when the force of men and dogs combined Invade the mountain goat, or branching hind ; Far from the hunter's rage, fecure they lie, Ciofe in the rock, not fated yet to die ; When Io ! a lion moots acrofs the way, They fly ; at once the chafers and the prey. So Greece that late in conquering troops purfued, And marked their progrefs thro' the ranks in blood, Soon as they fee the furious chief appear, Forget to vanquifli, and confcnt to fear.*'
Pope.
It is from the Iliad that Longinus fele&s his examples of grand ideas, and grand images. He takes an inftance of it from the 20th book, where Jupiter gives permiffion to the gods to mingle in the quarrel with the Greeks and Trojans, and to defcend into the field of battle. He himfelf gives the fignal by making his thunder found from the height of heaven ; and Neptune, ftriking the earth with his trident, makes the fummits of Ida to tremble. You fee, fays Longinus, the earth fhaken to its foundation, Tartarus
difcovered,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 79
difcoVered, the machine of the world over- turned, and heaven and hell, mortals and immortals* all together in the combat and in the danger.
In the moral pictures of Homer, there is no one more captivating than that where the anger of Achilles is reprefented as yielding to the foft emotions of friendship. Patroclus, ever mild and amiable, feems to convey a portion of his fpirit to the inexo- rable hero. The contraft of paffions which & exhibited by Achilles, when he is in- formed of the death of Patroclus ; his ten- der care and pious offices to his corpfe ; the interview between him and Priam, when the afflicted monarch falls proftrate before the murderer of his fon ; are paf- fages which in point both of poetical merit and tragic effect, have never been excelled.
It has been objected to Homer, that he has degraded his gods by reprefenting them as uoder the influence of fome of the mod defpicable of the human paffions : but it lhould be recollected that this was the vul- 1 gar
80 COMMENTARIES ON
gar creed, and that if the gods of Virgil are beings of more dignity and worth, it is becaufe the age was more enlightened and refined. It is the duty of the philofopher to correct the falfe notions that prevail amongft men ; it is the office of the poet to reprefent them as they exift: the one is the reformer, the other the hiftorian of his time. ImprefTed with the force of this objection againft Homer, fome of his ad- mirers have aflferted that the mythology is merely allegorical : that the air was defig- nated by Jupiter, fire by Vulcan, the earth by Cybele, and the fea by Neptune, may be true ; but to declare that Jupiter means only the power of God, Deftiny his will, Juno his juftice, Venus his pity, and Minerva his wifdom, is a fentiment fo re- plete with abfurdity, that it can never ob- tain the affent of a rational critic.
The manners of the times furnifh a fi-
milar if not a fufficient apology for the
heroes of Homer, as for his gods. Praife
was the prerogative of bodily ftrength : he
4 who
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 8l
who could fuftain the greateft weight of armour, and pierce through cuirafles and bucklers, had the higheft rank in the Gre- cian table of precedence.
In forming our judgments on ancient modes, we mult diveft ourfelves of the prejudices of habit and education. Mo- dern arms and modern honor, place all gentlemen on a level ; but in the Iliad, it is common to fee a warrior retreat without fhame, confeffing that another is his fupe- rior in ftrength. iEneas does not blufh when he fays to Achilles, I well know that you are more valiant than I am, (which means, I know you are ftronger,) but if fome god would aflift me, I could conquer you.
This intervention of the deities raifed the warrior in the opinion of his contem- poraries ; for it conftituted no fmall fhare of his merit, to be a favorite of heaven. This too ferved a9 an excufe for every error, and for every crime. When Agamemnon would juftify himfelf for injuring Achilles, he fays, fome god sill g had
82 COMMENTARIES* ON
had difturfyed his reafon. Achilles ex- horts Patroclus to avoid Hedtor, for he had always near him fome prote&ing deity.
It has been faid that the valour of Achilles excites no admiration, becaufe he is invul- nerable. This is a popular miftake ; an invention of later date, and no where to be found in the Iliad. Achilles is wound- ed in the hand ; and there is great addrefs in the poet, who reprefents his hero firm and undaunted in his mind, although he is confeious that he fhall die before the walls of Troy, He knows that his youth and beauty, and the divinity of his mother will avail him nothing; that he facrifices every thing to glory; and though he car- ries conqueft all around, that he marches to inevitable death. All thefe circum- ftances fix our attention on Achilles, for whom we feel that intereft which always attaches to extraordinary men. The tranfeendant genius of Homer is fhewn, in making the retirement of his hero the fpring which gives adion and energy to
the
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 83
the poem : even at the moment when. He&or has driven the Grecians to their fhips, and their deftru&ion feems inevita- ble, our attention is carried from the fury of the fight, from flames and death, to contemplate Achilles in his tent, tranquilly lamenting the lofs of fo many brave men, vi&ims to the rage of Agamemnon ; and exulting at the dreadful abafement of his pride.
It has been objedted to Homer, that he exhibits his Chiefs employed in the moft fervile offices ; Achilles, for inftance, pre- paring the repaft for the deputies of the army. Nothing furely can be more falfe than this criticifm : if it be true, that a great genius " pleafes more when he daz- zles lefs," it is equally fo that a hero fum- mons a greater portion of our efteem, when he exhibits the mild attributes of courteoufnefs and humanity :
N When pure affe&ion thinks no office mean."
Were a poet to treat of that point in hifto-
xj where Curius receives the deputies
g z of
84 COMMENTARIES ON
of Pyrrhusj>who come to bribe him with prefents, would he withhold the circum- ftance of the herbs which he prepared himfelf, and placed before them, faying, " You fee that he who- lives in this man- ner, has no want of any thing. The Ro- mans do not care about having gold them- felves; they wifh to command thofe who have it."
The moft reafonable cenfure brought againft the author of the Iliad, is the te- dious repetition of combats which occupy nearly half the work : the nature of his fubje£t is however partly an apology, and the richnefs of imagination with which he has ornamented them, in a great degree redeems the fault. " One while he de- fcribes the character, age, and nation of the dying hero ; at another time he defcribes different kinds of wounds and death ; fometimes by tender and pathetic ftrokes he reminds the reader of the aged parent, who is fondly expe&ing the return of his mur- dered fon 5 of the defolate condition of the
widows
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 8$
widows who will now be enflaved, and of the children that will be dafhed againft the ftones." A Grecian would have heard thofe recitals with enthufiam, which we perufe with coldnefs and faftidioufnefs.
Envy is infeparable from excellence : two centuries and a half before the Chris- tian a?ra, Zoilus, a fophift, a defclaimer, and a hungry critic, prefented his ftriftures on the works of Homer, to Ptolemy Phila- delphus ; but the monarch of Egypt re- je£led them with difdain. The temerity of the defamer was feverely punifhed by the inhabitants of Smyrna, who ordered him to be burned, as a memorial of their regard for a poet, whom they claimed as their citizen.
Had Homer feen the criticifms of Zoilus, he would perhaps have been equally un- moved with the epic poet of our own country, when his bookfeller offered him five pounds for the copyright of his Para- dife loft. Like Milton, he would have known that immortality was the price of
c 3 his
86 COMMENTARIES ON
his works, and that the difcerntnent of pofterity would fpontaneoufly pay it.
The Emperor Caligula has completed his character by having endeavoured, hap- pily in fcvain, to deftroy the productions of Homer, The witty and the powerful were amongft his adverfaries ; yet though the fplendor of his name irritated pride and envy in a fimilar degree, neither fpecies of enmity could lefTen his reputa- tion.
Merit which can fuftain fuch proofs, is gold tried by the furnace. Our admira- tion of Homer yields only to his genius and his fame : three thoufand applauding years have confecrated his name, and we exult to find a poet fo great, and mankind fo juft,
Longinus fays, that " Homer in the Odyffey is like the fetting fun, which is ftilj great to the eyes, but we no longer feel its warmth. It is no longer the fire which animates the whole of the Iliad, that height of genius which never debafes itfelf, that
activity
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a&ivity which never repofes, that torrent of paffions which hurries us away, that crowd of fidions happy and probable; but as the ocean at the moment of its reflux, and when it leaves its (hores, is ftill the ocean, the old age of which I fpeak, is ftill the old age of Homer."
Thofe who are difpofed to depreciate the Odyfley, fay of it, that its fables are only fitted for the amufement of children, that its progrefs languifhes, that the poem drags on from adventure to adventure without attracting attention or exciting intereft. That the fituation of Penelope and Telemachus is the fame during twenty- four books, — a conftant re-iteration of out- rages on the part of the fuitors, and funilar complaints on the part of the mother and the fon. That Ulyfles is in Ithaca fo early as in the 12th book; that he lives a very long time with Eumaeus difguifed as a beggar, while the a£Uon of the poem does not advance a ftep. That in the menial offices and indignities fuftained by him there, Homer has outraged the effeft of g 4 contraft>
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contrail, and palled all the bounds of deco- rum. That the meeting of the hufband and the wife fo long expe&ed, is cold and unprodu&ive of the effe&s of which it is fufceptible ; and, what is revolting to good fenfe, that fcarcely had Ulyfles been re- cognifed by Penelope, before he informs her that fate condemns hiip again to tra- verfe the world with an oar upon his fhoulder until he meet a man who may take it to fan his corn :-~
" To this the king : ah, why mull I difclofe A dreadful ftory of approaching woes ? Why in this hour of tranfport wound thy ears ? When thou mull learn what I mull fpeak with tears, Heaven by the Theban Gholl thy fpoufe decrees Torn from thy arms to fail a length of feas."
It is obje&ed too, that the fojourning of Ulyffes in the ifland of Calypfo and of Circe, offers nothing interefting to the reader ; and that if Calypfo be the original of Dido, it is a drop of water converted into a pearl : that in his defcent to the fhades below, UlyfTes entertains himfelf with a crowd of ghofts who are abfolutely Grangers
to
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to him, and who recount adventures in which he is entirely uninterefted.
Thefe ftrictures are undoubtedly too fevere, and not warranted by the impref- iion which the perufal of the Odyfley makes upon our minds.
It prefents us with a pleafing pi&ure of ancient manners, with the virtues of hofpi- tality and refpe£t for age, of patience, pru- dence, wifdom, temperance and fortitude. Menelaus, Neftor and Eumseus, difplay the firft ; Telemachus is a ftriking inftance of the fecond, together with courage, candour and noblenefs of nature; and the others fhine in an unexampled manner in the character of Ulyfles. The addrefs of Eu- maeus to his unknown mailer, is very attractive.
u The fwain replied ; It never was our guife To flight the poor, or ought humane defpife. For Jove unfolds our hofpitable door, 'Tis Jove that fends the ftranger and the poor."
If Ulyfles be too much degraded by his difguife, and too long in inaction, yet thefe circumftances produce a. fufpenfion
and
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and an attention to the cataftrophe, which render it more bold and lively. The flaughter of the fuitors is traced with colours which recal the pictures of the Iliad. Of the two poems the moral of the Odyfley is preferable. The qualities I have mentioned are of general concern, and all ranks of life may be benefited by the cultivation of them. The Iliad has been called the ma- nual of monarchs, and it undoubtedly furnifhes an awful leflbn againft the impe- tuofity and tyranny of power. But its ufefulnefs is lefs extenfive, as its applica- tion is more limited. Of the fubjccls of the Odyfley one is perfedly in unifon with the nature of refentment, the other with our experience. Ulyfles is driven by the fury of the winds and waves, becaufe Nep- tune was juftly enraged at his treatment of his fon Polypheme; and the devaluation and ruin confequent upon his abfence from home, allowing fomewhat for poetical em- bellifhment, would occur in any family where the beauty of .the miftrefs fhould invite fuitors, and the rapacity and info- 2 lence
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 91
lence of fervants fhould be without control. The progrefs and cataftrophe of the poem, are equally probable as the plan.
When a ftorm has compelled Ulyfles to afk the hofpitality of the Phaeacians, they entertain him in a manner fuitable to the kindnefs and fimplicity of the times. A bard then fumiflied the higheft entertain- ment at every feaft, and Demodorus recited the interefting ftory of the fall of Troy. We may eafily imagine what an effedt this would produce on Ulyfles, and that the curiofity of the king Alcinous and his aflembled guefts would lead to the difcovery of the ftranger. Although modern refinement renders fimi- lar incidents impoflible, we feel no repug- nance in believing, that the Phseacians were moved by the relation of his melancholy ad- ventures to fo great a degree, as to conduct him fafely to Ithaca. There the circum- ftance of his faithful dog, who recognifes him with all the acutenefs and affection which inftindt boafts, and then expires at his feet, affefts the reader in the mod m Uvely manner ; and the doubts, and fears,
and
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and hopes of Penelope, are the natural fuggeftions of a mind long habituated to misfortune, at the fudden dawn of unex- pected happinefs.
It is the glory of Homer to have been an original writer. The arts have been brought to perfection in corrupt times ; but poetry- may challenge to itfelf this honorable dis- tinction, that it attained its higheft excel- lence in an age of purity and Simplicity.
Homer has been truly faid to be the great fource whence all the Greek writers derive their chief excellence. He gave rife to all the various kinds of compofition ; he is the beft poet and orator in the various kinds of elocution ; he excels all mankind in grandeur, vehemence, fweetnefs, and accu- racy of ftyle.
There is, however, a queftion which naturally fuggefts itfelf on this fubjeCt. Admitting the fad, we are defirous to know the caufe of Homer's pre-eminence above all fubfequent poets. At firft view it mould feem paradoxical, that all the writers of every age and country muft
yield
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yield the palm to him, fince his compofi- tion, his ftyle, his di&ion, his manner, his fublimity, have prefented a model to their eyes, which while it inftru&ed and formed tKeir underftanding, has ever ftimulated them to a defire of competition and of ex- cellence.
Sir William Temple has refolved the doubts of every fceptic in this interefting enquiry. " Of all the numbers of man- kind," fays he, " that live within the com- pafs of a thoufand years, for one man that is born capable of making a great poet, there may be a thoufand born capable of making as great generals or minifters of ftate as the moft renowned in ftory. Con- junctures and manners are not fufficient to produce poets. Greece and the climate of Afia, though in a proper temperament, for the fpace of two or three hundred years, produced only one Homer. Something more than thefe is necefTary, an univerfal and elevated genius, .a quality as rare as it is valuable : certainly many circumftances of life, many advaqtages of education, and 5 opportunities
94 COMMENTARIES ON
opportunities of knowing mankind, are neceffary ; great travelling, and wide ob- fervation.
HESIOD.
Of the precife period when Hefiod was born we have no certain account, but Afcra in Bceotia is faid to have been the place of his nativity* He who fearches moft anx~ ioufly for the date of that event, finds himfelf loft in the clouds by which anti- quity is obfcured. Whether he wrere anterior to the time of Homer, his contemporary, or fucceflfor, has been a fubjedt on which an- cient writers have differed ; and their con- trary afTertions ftill require the corrobora- tion of proof. One thing is certain, that he had feen his works, for he has entire verfes which are borrowed from him. My- thology feems to have had twro fathers ; and thefe moft ancient poets may alike lay claim to the production.
Only two complete poems written by him are ftill extant, the one entitled Works
and
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and Days, the other the Theogony or the Birth of the Gods. The firft contains precepts of agriculture, from which proba- bly Virgil firft conceived his idea of the Georgics. But reflections which would do honor to a philofopher, are interfperfed throughout the work. It is divided into three parts, the one mythological, the other moral, the laft dida&ic.
Hefiod begins by recounting the fable of Pandora; and if he be the inventor of it, no fcanty portion of praife is due to his imagination. We feel a confiderable gra- tification on its firft perufal ; and it is never read with difguft. He defcribes alfo the birth of Venus, and of thofe coy females, the nine daughters of Jupiter and Mnemo- fyne.
Then follows a defcription of the differ- ent ages of the world, which has been imitated by Ovid; but the former poet adds one to the general number. Like every writer on this fubje£t, he confiders himfelf as living in the age of iron ; this age, there- fore,
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fore, muft have been of wonderful dura- tion.
A courfe of morals fucceeds to his my- thology ; it is addreffed to his brother Perfeus, with w;hom he had been engaged in a law-fuit refpe&ing their paternal fuc- ceffion ; and in this part of his work, precepts of hufbandry are blended wijh leflbns of wifdom. He was a prieft of the Temple of the Mufes on Mount Helicon, and the gravity of his office was well fuited to the inftru&ions which he gave. The conclufion of the work is a tiflue of the moft abfurd fuperftitions. Particular days of the month are ftated as favorable to the celebration of marriage, to the fhearing of fheep, and to the produ&ion of children. Experience has not confirmed the hypo- thefis, which was the fuggeftion of the groffeft ignorance.
The Theogony fatigues the reader with its long catalogue of gods and goddefies of every fpecies ; but at the end of the work it repays him for his labour by an animated
defcription
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defcription of the war of the gods againft the giants. This defcription, indeed, to- gether with that of winter in the Works and Days, is worthy to be compared with the fined pafTages of Homer. The picture of Tartarus where the Titans are thrown down by the thunder of Jupiter, has certain traits of refemblance to the Hell of Milton fo , ftriking, that the one was probably the model of the other. A very fingular co- incidence, if we confider the difference in the religious fentiments of the authors. It is not true, as has been afferted, that Hefiod vanquilhed Homer in a poetical conteft at the funeral of Amphidamas ; but his verfes, which are poffeffed of elegance of ftyle and fweetnefs of poetry, were written on tablets in the temple of the mufes, and the Greeks compelled their children to learn them by heart.
Cicero confers upon him a handfome eulogium ; but Quintilian will not allow that he often rifes to excellence. He grants him only the praife which belongs to fmoothnefs of language, and refufes him
H the
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the palm that is due to fuperiority of talents.
JPOLLONIUS RHODIUS.
This writer was born at Naucratis in Egypt, about two hundred and thirty years before Chrift. He was furnamed the Rho- dian from his refidence in that ifland. His education was the beft, for Callimachus and Panaetius were his preceptors. He was one of the keepers of the famous library of Alexandria under Ptolemy Evergetes. No- thing remains of his writings but his poem on the Expedition of the Argonauts in four books. The plan of his work has been generally confidered as having too little of the epic in it. It is too hiftorical in the order of the facts, and overcharged with epifodes, which are introduced without feleclion,and told without effect. In fome parts the execution is not deftitute of merit. The love of Medea for Jafon, is painted in glowing colours; and Virgil has not dis- dained to borrow ideas from Apollonius.
But
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But he has given to Dido a force of ex- preflion from which the Greek poet is far diftant. His plagiarifms are few, and his fuperiority is infinite.
n 2
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SECTION III.
Lyric Poetry. Linus, Orpheus, Mufeus, Stefichorus, Sappho, Simonider, Anacreon, Pindar.
The origin of lyric poetry is loft in fable. Linus has been faid to be the inventor of rhythm and melody, and being bom at Thebes in Bceotia, is one amongft many inftances to prove how little is the influence of climate and local fituation on original genius. The poetry of the Greeks being always accompanied by mufic, produced that enthufiafm both in the hearer and the compofer, which was eafily excited in men remarkable for the fenfibility of their or- gans. The Mantuan bard affigns to Linus, in his fixth eclogue, the moft diftinguifhed place amongft the favorites of the mufes, and honors him with the appellation of their interpreter. Mortals of great celebrity
were
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were frequently dignified by a fuppofed celeftial origin ; and the fon of Ifmenias the mufician, who had this tribute paid to his art by a certain king of Scythia, that he preferred his mufic to the braying of an afs, was poetically defcended from Mercury and Urania. Similar legendary tales in- form us, that he was killed by a ftroke of the lyre from his pupil Hercules, and that Apollo deprived him of life for prefuming to imitate him.
It is unfortunate for his fame, that none of his poems remain to enable pofterity to eft i mate the quantity of truth which is blended with fiction, or to determine how well qualified Linus was to be the rival of a God.
Orpheus, whether the fon of a Thraciau king, or of Apollo, is generally faid to have been the offspring of Caliope, and to have attained a reputation fuperior to that of his preceptor Linus, becaufe he rendered poetry and mufic tubfervient to the ceremonies of religion.
h 3 Thefe
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Thefe ceremonies he borrowed from the Egyptians and introduced into Greece. He inftituted the myfteries of Bacchus, and the Eleufinian Ceres in imitation of thofe of Ifis and Ofiris. Some fragments attri- buted to him are preferved, which have no corruption of polytheifm, but which a chriftian and a philofopher may perufe with no fmall gratification.
" God alone exifts of himfelf and by himfelf; he is in all things ; no mortal can fee him, and he fees every thing. He alone in his juftice diftributes the evils which afflict mankind, war and mifery. He governs the winds which agitate the air, and he lights the fires of the thunder. He fits on high in the heavens on a throne of gold, and the earth is under his feet. He ftretches his hand to the utmoft limits of the ocean, and the mountains tremble to their foundations. It is he who made every thing in the univerfe, and who is at once the beginning, the middle, and the end." This fragment preferved by Suidas, feems to give fome fan£tion to what has
been
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been eonfidered a fanciful notion of Bifhop Warbu'rton, refpedting the grand fecret in the Eleufinian myfteries. But if the unity of God were the belief of fages, the popular creed was eflential to the prefervation of focial order amid ft* a people whofe imagi- nation was ardent, and whofe minds on this important fubje£t were unenlightened.
So correct was the conduct of Orpheus, that whoever led a life of more than ordi- nary purity, was faid to be his fcholar. Indeed, his elevated fentiments of Deity would naturally operate on his morals and his heart, for poetry in his time was always intimately connected with ethics and reli- gion.
Mufseus was the difciple of Orpheus, and prefided over the Eleufinian myfteries at Athens.- Virgil in his fixth iEneid, places him at the head of the poets in the Elyfian Fields, where they celebrate thofe who are worthy of Apollo. None of his compofitions remain. In fearching into antiquity, we have perpetually to lament the depredations which time and violence and
h 4 bigotry
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bigotry have made on the proudeft monu- ments of genius and of (kill. But it is fome confolation to reflect that if the offer were given us to exchange what has been preferved for that which has been loft, we fhould not for a moment hefitate in retain- ing the valuable relics of which we are in pofTeffion.
Where is the literary epicure of refined tafte, who would fteal a moment from the enchanting entertainment with which Ho- mer and Pindar are ever ready to prefent him, in order to lament the lofs of thofe lefler dainties that Bacchylides and Mu- fasus might once have afforded ?
Thefe lyrical writers flourifhed nearly thirteen centuries before the chriftian sera ; and of many others who fucceeded them, after a lapfe of feveral centuries, we poffefs only a dull catalogue of names, and a few fragments contained in Athenceus.
Amongft thefe is Alcseus, who lived about fix hundred years before Chrift, a native of Mitylene, and the fuppofed in- ventor of the harp, and of Alcaic metre.
His
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His works are faid to have been ferviceable to the public manners ; concife, dignified and accurate in the ftyle, and not diflimi- lar to that of Homer. Still he could de- fcend to trifle on fubjedts of fport and love, and to pay his addrefles to the much cele- brated inventrefs of Sapphic verfe.
Poets have not been very remarkable for their courage. Alcseus fled from a battle in which Pittacus delivered his country from the power of the Athenians, and his arms were fufpended in the Temple of Minerva, as a monument of his dis- grace.
Horace in defcribing the amufement of the manes in Elyfium, fays,
" Whene'er Alcasus lifts the {train, To deeds of war and tyrants flain ; In thicker crowds the fhadowy throng Drink deeper down the martial fong."
Stefichorus was a native of Himera in
Sicily ; he lived about five hundred and
feventy years before Chrift, and received
his name from fome alteration that he
4 made
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made in the chorus which he fung to the accompaniment of his harp. Of twenty- fix books which he wrote in the Doric dia- led, but a few lines have reached pofterity. His merit muft have been confiderable, for his funeral was magnificently celebrated at the public coft, by the inhabitants of Catana ; and Phalaris the tyrant of Agri- gentum, eredled a temple to his name, and decreed him divine honors.
About fix hundred years before the chriftian sera, Sappho, equally "renowned for beauty, poetry, and ill-requited love, gave celebrity to the Ifle of Lefbos, the place of her nativity. The ufual cure for lovers, a leap from mount Leucate, put a period to her woes and her exiftence ; and the fpecimens of her talents which have reached us, a hymn to Venus, and an ode to Lefbia, together with the appellation of the tenth mufe, given to her by the an- cients, have induced the literary world to lament the lofs of her three books of lyrical compofitions, her elegies, and her epigrams.
Philips
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Philips has done himfelf fo much credit by his tranflation of thofe odes, that my readers will probably not cenfure me for tranfcribing the firft flanza of one of them.
" O Venus ! beauty of the {kies, To whom a thoufand temples rife ; Gaily falfe in gentle fmiles, Full of lovt -perplexing wiles. O Goddefs ! from my heart remove The wafting cares and pains of love."
Plutarch compares Sappho to Cacus the fon of Vulcan, who breathed nothing but flame ; and Horace fays, that the fire of her love ftill burns in her verfes. It is well obferved by Mr. Addifon, of this un- fortunate poetefs " that he does not know by the character that is given of her works, whether it be not for the benefit of man- kind, that they are loft. They were filled with fuch bewitching tendernefs and rap- ture, that it might have been dangerous to have given them a reading. From the time of Homer till that of Sappho, there is almoft a total blank in literature ; nor are 1 any
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any produ&ions preferved between the time of Sappho and Anacreon, who flou- rifhed at the diftance of feventy years from each other. Between Anacreon and Pin- dar, another chafm appears. After this the works of the tragedians, hiftorians, and philofophers were produced, all within three hundred years ; the moft illuftrious period of human genius !"
Simonides a celebrated poet of Cos, was born about five hundred and thirty-feven years before Chrift, and lived in the court of Hipparchus the Athenian tyrant. He wrote elegies, epigrams, and dramatical pieces, efteemed for their fweetnefs and elegance. He compofed alfo an epic poem on Cambyfes king of Perfia ; and another on the battle of Salamis. It was his hap- pinefs to be courted by all the princes of Greece and Sicily. Phsedrus fays when a houfe fell upon the guefts at a feaft, the gods fpared the life of Simonides. He obtained a prize in the eightieth, and fur- vived to the ninetieth year of his age. The Syracufans ere&ed a monument to
his
CLASSICAL LEARNING. IO9
his memory. His ftyle was fo formed for exciting pity, that fome critics have de- clared him in that refpedt, to excel all other writers. Plato mentions him with praife, and Dionyfius places him amongft thofe poliflied writers who excel in a fmooth volubility, and flow like plenteous and perennial ftreams.
The ftory of Danae enclofed in a cheft with her infant Perfeus, and thrown into the fea by her father, is related by the poet in very beautiful verfes.
The following is, I fear, an inadequate attempt at a tranflation :
•' While forrow chills thy mother's breaft,
Sleep feals thy lovely eyes my boy j Clofe cradled in thy darkfome cheft,
No fears thy innocence annoy. Unheard, the winds around thee howl,
The waves unfeen their fury try ; Enveloped in thy purple ftole,
Sweet fleep can all their power defy. Did'it thou the impending danger know,
And fears that rack a parent's heart, Then would'ft thou liften to my woe>
And from thy peaceful flumbers dart.
But
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But ftill fleep on my beauteous child,
Ye waves to Halcyon calm fubfide ; Sleep too my griefs, left accents wild
Should wake and fcare my darling pride.,,
From thefe poets, of whom fo few frag- ments remain, we pafs on to one who is immortalized by all the devotees of plea- fure, and whofe name will probably de- fcend to pofterity, with thofe authors who have deferved to be remembered by the utility of their labors. About five hun- dred and thirty years before Chrift, Ana- creon was born at Teos in Ionia. This vo- luptuous bard feems to have had no other ambition, than to love and to fport ; no other defire of glory than to fing his loves and his joys. Plato will have him to have been royally defcended from Codrus the laft king of Athens ; if that account be true, his fpirit was perfectly different from that of his progenitor. He lived a long time at Samos in the court of Polycrates, who was a tyrant only in name. This prince prefented him with five talents, which
with
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with a difintereftednefs equal to the muni- ficence of his patron, he refufed. He is faid to have been a martyr in the caufe he adored, and to have been choked by a grape ftone in the eighty-fifth year of his age. His poetry is replete with fuch deli- cacy and grace, as to render all attempts to tranflate it into the Englifh language unfatisfa£tory : a language encumbered with coarfe confonants, can never exprefs the fweet ftrains of Anacreon. He does not write in the formal manner of a per- fon who means to attract the public eye, but he appears at table with his Grecian beauties, where flowers are interwoven in his locks, and he joins them in the dance with all the frolic gaiety of youth.
Sometimes he affumes his lyre, and in Lydian ftrains, he pours forth a hymn to the rofe.
I hefitate in prefenting the following Odes from a tranflation of this enchanting poet.
" The rofe, love's favorite flower divine, Shall grace our circling bowls of wine ;
With
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With its fair leaves our temples bound,
The toaft and laugh {hall both go round* v
Rofe, fweeteft flower, fpring's partial love,
Delight of all the gods above ;
With thee, the boy of Venus crowned,
The Graces joins in mazy round.
Crown me, and inftant, God of wine,
Strains from my lyre mall reach thy fhrine :
Whilft decked with rofes, I prepare,
To trip it with the well-made fair."
If he fpeaks of age or of death, it is not to brave them with Stoic apathy, but to exhort himfelf to lofe nothing of all that can difrobe them of their terrors.
'< Care fleeps whene'er I drink my wine, Then why thus anxioufly repine ? Since fadnefs cannot death defer, Why does my life from reafon err. With Bacchus let us revels keep, For while we drink our forrows fleep."
Sometimes he invites his miftrefs to a de- lightful retreat, fuch as would furnifh a painter with a fubjecT: for his art.
« Sit in this made : the lovely tree Expands its tender leaves for thee : Soft is each branch that on it grows, Hard by, Perfuafion's fountain flows :
So
CLASSICAL LEARNING. II3
So exquifite a lodging nigh, Who in his fenfes would pafs by ?"
It is an opinion I am not likely to fur- render, that whoever would perceive the foftnefs of the colouring, the happy mix- ture of light and ihade, the eafy, fimple graces of Anacreon, will find them only in the original compofition.
In quitting Anacreon to contemplate the firft of lyric poets, the tranfition is parti- cularly ftriking.
Bceotia boafts the nativity of Pindar, who lived* at the time of the expedi- tion of Xerxes, about four hundred and eighty years before our Saviour, and was then about forty years old.
Paufanias fays, that the inhabitants of Delphi were commanded by an oracle of Apollo, to fet apart for Pindar, one half of the firft-fruit offerings brought by the religious to his fhrine, and to allow him a place in his temple. The iron chair in which he was accuftomed to fit, and fing his hymns in honor of the god, was fhewn to Paufanias many centuries after, as a re-
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lie not unworthy the fandity of the place. Unhappily for the learned world, his hymns to the heathen deities are loft, and his odes only remain. Horace fays of this poet, that to relifh him thoroughly, we ought to tranfport ourfelves to the time in which he lived.
The theory is indifputable, but the practice is difficult. We are fo full of modern ideas, manners, and prejudices, that we do not eafily obey any admoni- tions to defert them. The account of Hercules and Thefeus, the adventures of Cadmus, and the war of the giants, the Olympic games, and the Argonautic expe- dition, do not touch us as they did the Greeks ; and the odes which contain only allufions to thefe ftories, are not fufficient- ly ftriking to excite any very pleafurable emotions in us : but the hiftory of their country would be fupremely interefting to the Greeks; and while their fables were in a great degree their hiftory, they alfo contained the eflence of their religion. The Olympic, Ifthmian, Pythian, and
Nemean
CLASSICAL LEARNING. II5
Nemean games, were all in their origin, religious ads ; folemn feftivals in honor of their gods. The poet therefore a&ed agreeably to the fentiments of the people, when he blended the names of the deities who prefided over thefe games, with thofe of the Athletae who triumphed at them. The enraptured hearers have been falfely fuppofed to have difpenfed with the regu- lar order of compofition, and willingly to have furrendered method and clearnefs to harmony of numbers, and fublimity of di&ion. Congreve on the other hand fays that cc there is nothing more regular than the odes of Pindar, both as to the exact obfervation of the meafures and numbers of his ftanzas and verfes, and the perpetual coherence of his thoughts. For though his digreffions are frequent, and his tranf- itions fudden, yet is there ever fome fecret connexion, which though not always ap- pearing to the eye, never fails to commu- nicate itfelf to the underftanding of the reader." The firft Pythian ode of Pindar was compofed in honor of Hiero, king of I 2 Syracufe,
Il6 COMMENTARIES ON
, Syracufe, a vi&or in a chariot race. Of fuch fpedtacles the Greeks were fo ena- moured, that they could not fufficiently celebrate him who had procured himfelf the beft coachmen and the fleeted horfes ; for to thefe, after all, the praife of vidtory was due.
From an invocation to his lyre, and a defcription of the effe&s produced by its' delightful harmony, he pafles on a fudden to the defcription of Typhaeus, the terror of the gods ; at length after numerous
confli&s, chained under Mount iEtna.
■
" Now under fmoking Cuma's fulphurous coail,
And vaft Sicilia, lies his tortured breaft, By fnowy iEtna, nurfe of endlefs froft,
The mighty prop of Heaven, for ever preft : Forth from whofe flaming caverns iffuing rife
Tremendous fountains of pure liquid fire, Which veil in muddy mift the noon -day fides ;
While wrapt in fmoke the eddying flames afpire, Or gleaming through the night with hideous roar, Far o'er the reddening main huge rocky fragments roar."
West.
Hiero reigned over Sicily, it was natu- ral therefore for the poet who mentioned
jEtna
CLASSICAL LEARNING. II7
jEtna to fpeak of Typhaeus, and thus to gratify the paffion of the Greeks for de- fcriptive poetry.
Every vi&or at the public games was folicitous to have Pindar for his panegyrift, which accounts for the great number of odes written by him on the fame occafion. Certainly there cannot be a ftronger tefti- mony of his extraordinary powers, than is deducible from the manner in which fimilar fcenes are reprefented to the reader. His exalted ideas of the deity are worthy to be imprinted on the mind of a chriftian. " God dire&s all events according to his will ; God who feizes the towering eagle in his flight, outruns the marine dolphin, overthrows proud mortals, and beftows a never-fading glory on the humble."
In the third Pythian he fays,
**■ His burning thunderbolt is winged with death."
The odes contain many references to hiftorical fa&s, which have not defcended to our times ; many allufions to perfons and places of which we have never heard ; and thefe throw fometimes a veil of ob-
1 3 fcurity
Il8 COMMENTARIES ON
fcurity over them, through which we can-* not penetrate..
?ut good fenfe defies the obliteration^ of time, and the judicious refle&ions and the moral fentiments of Pindar, atone for the obfcurity of particular parts.
He, is not lefs celebrated for the tender- nefs than for the fublimity of his fenti- ments. It is impoffible to read many paf- fages without being fenfibly afFe&ed by them ; as where the. aged iEfon recognifes his fon Jafon, an all accomplifhed youth whom he had lamented as dead ; or where Antilochus rufhes with eagernefs againft Memnon, and gives himfelf a willing facri- fice to fave the life of his father Neftor — aa a&ion which has carried with it the renowr^ of piety throughout all fucceeding ages.
He yields a due eulogium to conquerors of the loweft order, and with a noble fpi-; rit of independence difdains to be the flat- terer of kings. To them hi§ admonitions are bold and forcible : " Be juft in all your actions, faithful in all yoyjr words, and .remember that thoufands of witneffes haye
their
CLASSICAL LEARNING. II9
their eyes fixed upon you." Pindar teaches us, with the wifdom of the philofopher, to be contented with our ftation, and to pre- fer mediocrity to greatnefs ; with the mo- ralift to cultivate truth, and to pradife fin- cerity, and to leave to pofterity the exam- ple of a fpotlefs name. He concludes that the firft of human bleffings is to be virtuous, the fecond to be praifed ; and that the man who at the fame time enjoys both thefe diftin&ions, is arrived at the fummit of earthly felicity.
" The firft, the greateft blifs on man conferr'd,
Is in the acts of virtue to excel ; The fecond to obtain their high reward,
The foul- exalting praife of doing well. Who both thefe lots attains is blefs'd indeed, Since fortune here below can give no richer meed."
As a poet his vigorous genius is bold, irregular, and impetuous. When he foars to heaven, it is with the eagle's flight,
*' With terror in his beak, and lightning in his eye."
When he rufhes amidft the lifts of man, it U with the fury of the war-horfe,
If '' Whofe
120 COMMENTARIES ON
" Whofc neck is clothed with thunder."
The images he ufes are fublime, and the didion is refplendent. He gives an air of majefty to all his fubjeds, fo that the rea- der is raifed from the grofs atmoiphere of earth, and conveyed into regions of empy- rean purity. It is faid by Weft that his faults are the excefs of his acknowledged beauties, of his poetical imagination, his warm and enthufiaftic genius, his bold and figurative expreffion, his concife and fen- tentious ftyle.
The praifes he beftowed on the vidors in the plains of Olympia, were at once au excitement and a reward of their patriot- ifm. They recalled to their memory their recent vidories over the Perfians, and ani- mated them to every gallant deed in de- fence of their liberty. Indeed the exercifes in general of the Grecian youth, were in- tended to render them ftrenuous defenders of their country.
The beauty of Corinna might win from him thofe prizes which were not due to her
compositions ;
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 121
compositions ; but while he furpafled every other competitor in the public aflemblies of Greece, it might be no difgrace to Apollo to (hare with him the offerings of his al- tar.
Pofthumous honors are not only a tri- bute of juftice, but an incitement to lauda- ble emulation. The nobleft employment of ancient ftatuary was to perpetuate the memory of the deferving ; and fix cen- turies after his death, Paufanias faw with admiration the tribute which the Thebans had paid to their countryman. His worth is fealed by the atteftation of enemies, as well as by the enduring record of his friends. Dionyfius Halicarnaffus fays that Pindar is admirable for the choice of his words and of his thoughts : that he has grandeur, harmony, copioufnefs, order, vigour in his exprefiions ; and all this ac- companied with a certain gravity and force, but always mixed with an agreeable fweetnefs : that he is wonderful in his fen- tences, his energy, his figures, his addrefs in expreffing the manners, his amplifica- tions,
122 COMMENTARIES ON
tions, his elocution ; and above all for that integrity of mind which appears in his writings ; where temperance, piety, and greatnefs of foul are difplayed throughout. The teftimony to his tranfcendant merit given by the firft of Roman lyric poets, in the fourth ode of his fecond book, deferves our recolle&ion,
" He who afpires to reach the towering hefght Of matchlefs Pindar's heaven-afcending flrahi, Shall fink, unequal to the arduous flight ; JLike him who, falling, named the Icarian main. Prefumptuous youth ! to 'tempt forbidden fkies, And hope above the clouds on waxen plumes to rife, Pindar, like fome fierce torrent fwollen with fhower§ Or fudden cataracts of melting fnow, Which from the Alps its headlong deluge pours, And foams and thunders o'er the vales below, With defultory fury borne along, Rolls his impetuous, vaft, unfathomable fong."
Francis,
Let us hear too our own unrivalled Britifti poet $
f Four fwans Main a car of fjlver bright,
With heads advanced, and pinions ftretched for flight j Here, like fome furious prophet, Pindar rode, And feemed to labour with the infpiring god, Acrofs the harp, a carelefs hand he flings, And bpldly links into the founding firings.
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 123
The figured games of Greece the column grace ; Neptune and Jove furvey the rapid race. The youth hang o'er their chariots as they run ; The fiery fteeds feem darting from the Hone ; The champions in diftorted poftures threat ; And all appears irregularly great."
Temple of Fame.
When the Spartans razed the city of Thebes, they fpared the houfe which Pin- dar had inhabited, and Alexander difplay- ed a fimilar veneration For the prince of ly- rifts.
How infignificant then is the influence of climate on the genius and character of man, fince Boeotia can boaft of Epaminon* das as its hero, and of Pindar as its poet !
124 COMMENTARIES ON
SECTION IV.
Greek Tragedy. Tbefpis, JEfchylux, Sophocles-y Euripides*
I ragedy was in its origin only a ruflic fong in honor of Bacchus, f who had found out the fecret .of drawing wine from the grape.
The god is fabled to have communicated the invention to Icarius, an inhabitant of Attica, who one day obferving a goat in the a£t of deftroying his vines, facrificed him to his benefa&or. The peafants who were witneffes of the fcene, danced round the vi£tim ; and this cafual frolic became an annual cuftom, and in procefs of time a very folemn rite.
In ruftic antiquity all was facred ; fports and amufements were converted into fefti- vals, and temples were frequently meta- morphofed into theatres. The prize con- tended
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I 25
tended for by the earlieft poets was a cafk of wine; and the Bacchic hymn, ilnce called tragedy, was denominated the fong of the cafk or of the vintage.
The progrefs of the drama to perfection was regular, but flow. To relieve the finger from the preffure of fatigue, Thefpis, a native of Icaria, above five hundred and thirty years before Chrift, introduced a fingle a£tor on the ftage who perfonated fome hero, and pronounced a difcourfe which was called an epifode. Improving on this fimple plan, he exhibited the fame fpeaker in various parts of the imperfect drama, as the narrator of an uniform ftory. For this purpofe he eredted , a temporary ftage upon a cart, and conveyed his rough machinery from town to town, where the faces of his a£tors fmeared with the lees of wine, were the amufement and admiration of a people fond of pleafure, but as yet un- enlightened by tafte.
iEfchylus not long poflerior to Thefpis, muft however be regarded as the true in- ventor of tragedy. He was born in Attica,
of
126 COMMENTARIES ON
of an old and honorable family, and divided his time between philofophy, war, and the theatre. He was initiated in the dodtriner of Pythagoras ; he was prefent at the battle of Salamis, and wounded on the plains of Marathon. The triumphs of his country* therefore, he was well able to celebrate on the ftage ; and in his tragedy of the Per- fians, he difplayed a victory in which him- felf had borne no inconfiderable part. Abftradted from the nature of the fubjedts which were reprefented, tragedy muft have produced a far more powerful efFedt upori the Greeks than on the moderns.
It was exhibited by the magiftrates to the whole colledlive body of the people in an immenfe amphitheatre. So mild was the air, that no other canopy than that! of fimple linen was required, and while the magnificence of the ftru&ure captivated the eye, the ear was charmed by the declama- tion of the adtors, which was fuited to a regular rhythm and movement given by an orcheftra of wonderful extent. When we add to this, that the events they cele- 1 3 brated
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I27
brated were domeftic, and the heroes their own countrymen, that the epochs were ever prefent to their memory, becaufe the details were the leffons of their childhood, we (hall no longer be furprifed at the eager intereft which was felt by the Greeks in fcenical entertainments.
To poetical genius, iEfchylus joined a fpirit inventive of every thing that regards mechanifm and theatrical decoration. He formed thofe majeftic robes which the mi- nifters of the altar borrowed for the cere- monies of religion. The theatre ornamented with the beft paintings of the time, repre- fented all obje&s conformably to the rules and effects of perfpedlive. The ancient, like the modern ftage, exhibited temples, fepulchres, armies, fleets, flying cars, and apparations. He inftituted a choir of figure dancers, and was the creator of panto- mime.
The apparatus of the theatre was analo- gous, and indeed neceflary to its fize. The actors were mounted on ftilts ; the maflcs they wore, augmented the natural founds of
the
128 COMMENTARIES ON
the voice, and veffels of brafs placed in the concavities of the theatre, re-echoed them in a manner and degree altogether incon- ceivable by us. The whole tended to form a fpeftacle which enchanted a people whofe fouls were equally fenfible to harmony and alive to glory.
When iEfchylus added a fecond a&or to the individual reciter of Thefpis, Dialogue the germ of tragedy began ; before this innovation, the exhibition was only a fpe- cies of epic poetry, but the tranfition from the epopee to tragedy was more natural and eafy than from the fimple chorufles of Bacchus to the invention of Thefpis.
If delufion be at all neceflary to the audience of a theatre, they would be with lefs difficulty deceived into the opinion that the reprefentation was a reality wheri two adtors were introduced, than when the fame a&or played firft the part of Aga- memnon and then of Achilles.
Homer, under the guidance of a fuperior understanding, feledted one fubjedt which he has conduced through the whole of his
5 poem.
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 1 29
poem. The fame ' principle adtuated iEf- chylus in the choice of one grand, illuf- trious, interefting aftion. He knew that tragedy is but an epic poem abbreviated, that they chiefly differ in the developement of the fubjedt, that the former ought to be lefs charged with incidents, and more lively than the latter. The military genius of iEfchylus is evident in his works; and he was indebted to his martial profeflion for his acquittal before the Areopagus, when accufed by the priefts for exhibiting the myfteries of religion upon the ftage. The wounds he had received at Marathon, pleaded his caufe better than his inno- cence.
When far advanced in life, Sophocles, then only twenty-four years of age, became his fuccefsful competitor in a poetical con- teft. He then quitted his country, and retired to the court of Hiero king of Sicily, the friend and protestor of literary men. Here he died in the fixty-fifth year of his age ; and the credulity of the times liftened to a tale, that an eagle miftaking his bald
K head
130 COMMENTARIES ON
head for a ftone, dropped a tortoife upon it to break the fliell, which inftantly de- firoyed him.
Of nearly a hundred tragedies written by iEfchylus* only feven have come down to us; and on thefe, by different critics, extravagant cenfure and unqualified praife have been beftowed. It has been faid that they all favour of the infancy of the art, and that their beauties are more thofe of an epic poem than of tragedy. That the plan of the Prometheus is monftrous ; that the Perfians is without any trace of a&ion or plot ; that the Agamemnon is coldly atro- cious ; that the Coephori is nothing but the well known fubjeft of Eledtra and Oreftes ; and that the Furies is more eftranged from our manners than the Prometheus ; that the Suppliants is a very abfurd ftory, and that the Seven Chiefs at Thebes, except in the chorufles, is extremely tedious.
Thefe ftri&ures do not proceed from the coldnefs of criticifm, but from the gall of fatire.
It
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I3I
It may give us fome idea of the eftima- tion in which iEfchylus was holden by his contemporaries, when we are informed that forty of his tragedies were rewarded with the public prize ; and this is an une- quivocal teftimony of his extraordinary merit.
So powerful was the effe£t of his genius in exciting martial ardor, that the people marched immediately from the theatre to the battle of Marathon. The engines of terror were fo much at his command, that many perfons died at the exhibition of the Furies. The Agamemnon, the Coephori, and the Furies, form one complete ftory. Agamemnon had promifed his wife Cly- temneftra that if he fhould take Troy, he would apprize her of it by a burning torch placed' on an eminence, which was to be repeated by other torches till the light mould reach to Argos. The information thus communicated by this telegraph of ancient times, and his arrival with his captive Caflandra, the prophetic daughter "k 2 of
I32 COMMENTARIES ON
of Priam, were not fo defired by Clytem- neftra as the news of his defeat.
With the affiftance of iEgifthus, her paramour, fhe projects and perpetrates the murder of her hufband ; and this tragedy, written when ^Efchylus was in the decline of life, deferved the high applaufe and re- ward which it received. The paflions are carried to the higheft pitch, the prophecies of Caflandra are terrific to the greateft degree. Such are her agonies of divination, that we contemplate with filent wonder, an human imagination capable of furnifh- ing her with the ideas, and with words to give them utterance. -
In the Agamemnon, the crime is punifh- ed only by thefe predi&ions ; but we find the continuation and the dreadful cata- ftrophe in the Coephori and the Furies, which depi&ure the revenge of Oreftes on the murderers of his father, his madnefs, and his re-eftablifhment on the throne.
The opening of the Coephori, or carriers of libations to the tomb of Agamemnon,
is
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 13 J
is Angularly ftriking and noble ; the vene- ration paid by the Greeks to the memory of their parents, and the ceremonies which attended their funerals, ftill excite agreeable fenfations in the feeling mind, although every trace of fuperftition has departed.
When Oreftes implores Jupiter to aid him in his proje£t of vengeance, the force and energy of his expreffions feem to defy tranflation. The fufpenfe, the hopes and fears of Ele£tra till Oreftes appears ; his eloquent prayer to Jupiter, after the firft tranfports of their meeting to preferve the few relics of an illuftrious family ; the conflict which pafles in his breaft between the defire of obeying the oracle and fatif- fying his revenge, and the confcioufnefs of the dreadful punifhment which would re- fult to himfelf from his obedience to the god ; thefe various emotions of tendernefs, filial piety, indignation, and terror, have feldom been exhibited in a more impreffive manner, and are fufficient to evince that iEfchylus was a mafter of the tragic art,
k 3 and
134 COMMENTARIES ON
and capable of producing in his audience thofe effects which hiftory has recorded.
If there appear fomewhat of abfurdity in the plan and conduct of the Furies, ftill it difplays an ancient and noble painting of the remorfe which flings a guilty con- fcience. Do not imagine, fays the Roman orator, as you fee reprefented in fables, that thofe who have committed any thing impious, are really terrified and agitated by the torches of Furies. Their own wicked^ nefs, their own fears, are the furies that torment them ; their own crimes affedt them with madnefs; their own evil thoughts and confcioufnefs affright them ; thefe are to the impious conftant and domeflic furies, which day and night demand from wicked children the punifhments due to them by their parents. The fubjed: of thefe tragedies has produced more than a temporary intereft ; fince, befides being con- tended for by the three Greek tragedians, it has been reprefented with general ap- probation on modern theatres.
The
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 1 35
The Seven Chiefs at Thebes poflefles beauties of a very appropriate kind. The chorufles, one of the mod: brilliant parts of JEfchylus, are here particularly admira- ble. The piece is full of noble traits, and warlike movements ; the fufpenfions are extremely affecting, and the fpedtacle it exhibits is truly aftonifhing.
The fubjecl: of the Perfians is the defeat of that people at the battle of Salamis. If it be read by us with indifference, we can eafily acquiefce in the applaufe beftowed upon it by the Athenians.
Its recitals, defcriptions, prefages, dreams, and lamentations, which now appear tedi- ous and infipid from the abfence of a com- plicated plot, called forth correfpondent paffions in contemporary fpe&ators, and gratified that ardent love of their country which every circum fiance they faw tended to excite within their bofoms.
The Prometheus combines tendernefs with elevation and grandeur. The uncon- querable fpirit of the fon of Japetus, ex- hibits a fpecies of the fublime very different
K 4 from
136 COMMENTARIES ON
from that fortitude which refults from firm- nefs of nerves or inflexible obftinacy of mind. He whom misfortune cannot fubdue, and whom torture cannot move ; he who pro- FefTes to refill the tyranny of a "cruel deity, and braves every effort of his power, the vulture that tears, and the lightening that blafts, difplays a character fo far fuperior to that which common life prefents, either in the philofopher or the *hero, that we regard him with the veneration due to unexampled magnanimity.
If jEfchylus be fometimes obfcure, he is very often fublime ; if his plots be inarti- ficial, his characters are well fuftained. He thoroughly underftood the difpofitions of the Athenians ; he knew them to be fond of liberty, idolaters of their country and of their cuftoms, and difdainful or indifferent about thofe of other nations.
If the fubje&s he treated were fimple, they were interefting ; if few in number, they were fele&ed with judgment. On the Grecian ftage, we muft not look for love or galantry. The fpedtators, political and
ambitious
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 137
ambitious in their views and their purfuits, would have been (hocked at the reprefenta- tion of paffions unworthy the majefty of the tragic theatre. The overthrow oi ftates, the fplendor of republics, the conflid of the higher paffions, were objects con- formed to their chara&er. The writings of -/Efchylus received perhaps a colour from his profeffion as a foldier. They are vivid, bold, and impetuous ; and have been refem- bled to a torrent which rolls down rocks, forefts, and precipices.
If his language be fometimes too figura- tive, if his epithets be occafionally too harfh, ftill the claffic can never forget the obligations which he owes to him who firft introduced dialogue on the ftage, rectified the office of the chorus, produced the beau- ties of fcenic decoration, and muft ever be confidered as the great inventor of the ancient drama. When the prize was voted to Sophocles in preference to him, he ap- *1 JL* pealed from the fentence of the judges to the opinion of pofterity, who decreed that bis tragedies fhould be performed at the 4 public
I38 COMMENTARIES ON
public expence. A ftatue ajui a painting which defcribed his conduct at Marathon; confecrated his memory at Athens.
SOPHOCLES.
Sophocles was born at Colone, a town of Attica, four hundred and ninety-feyen years before the birth of Chrift.
It is rather a remarkable co-incidence, that both he and iEfchylus acquired repu- tation in arms as well as in poetry, So- phocles was a commander in the army of Pericles, and was elevated to the dignity of archon, the firft honor in the republic of Athens. He is faid to have written one hundred and twenty tragedies, of which feven only remain. In domeftic life he was lefs fortunate than in his public career ; his children, difappointed in their eager wifhes for his death, and folicitous for the immediate poiTeflion of his fortune, ac- cufed him of infanity before the Areo- pagus.
He
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I39
He was acquitted by reading to his judges his play of CEdipus at Colone, which reprefents an old man defpoiied by his children. More flexible and indulgent than CEdipus, he forgave their crime, and admitted them again to his favor.
He lived to the age of ninety, and is reported to have died through excefs of joy at having obtained a prize in the Olympic games.
Sophocles added a third fpeaker to the dialogue, and advanced the drama in every refpect to perfection. He has no unnecef- fary prologues or epifodes, no violations of probability. His explanations are fine, his plans fagacious, his dialogues noble and animated. His ftyle is never too figura- tive like that of iEfchylus, nor too familiar like that of Euripides. The language of nature, and the eloquence of misfortune, are often with him carried to the higheft point of excellence. Such is the language of the panegyrifts of Sophocles ; and it muft be confefled, upon a review of his
writings,
I40 COMMENTARIES ON
writings, that the ftyle of panegyric is the voice of truth.
Ariftotle defines tragedy to be an imita- tion of fome a&ion that is important, entire, and of a proper magnitude, by em- bellifhed language, effeding through terror and pity, the correction and refinement of the paffions.
In the Eumenides the chorus confifted of fifty furies, whofe habits, gefture, and whole appearance, was by the art of the poet rendered fo formidable as to frighten the whole audience. A decree was im- mediately iiTued to limit the number of the chorus. The chorus filled up the vacant parts of the drama, particu- larly in an afTecling tragedy, better than the jigs of an Englifh orcheftra, which break in upon and enfeeble the warmed fenfations of the human heart, by a ftrange and unjuftifiable interruption.
The play of CEdipus Tyrannus when brought to the teft, will be found fully to correfpond with the definition given by the
great
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I4X
great mafter of criticifm. The ftory of a monarch of a neighbouring country, whofe misfortunes were unparalleled, muft have wonderfully interefted an Athenian au- dience ; for the perufal of it fixes the at- tention, and excites the fympathy of every reader, though ages have elapfed, and though the fcene of adtion is fo diftant.
Of the proper decoration of tragedy, we cannot conceive a better idea than from the fcene that firft prefents itfelf. The view is fplendid and multiform : on one fide appears the royal palace with different profpe&s of Thebes : the peftilence which rages i the city has aflembled a crowd of trembling citizens. On all fides groans of lamentation are heard, and the bodies of the dying and the dead obftrucl the paffen- ger in the flreets. Eager every where is the refort to the temples of the gods, and fuperftition alone affords a ray of hope to the wretched fuppliants. In the vefiibule of the palace a triple row of boys, .of youths, and of priefts, is difcovered prol- trate at the altars. CEdipus, routed by the
mournful
142 I COMMENTARIES ON
mournful clamour, comes forth, and then begins the moft interefting part of the dra- ma, namely the fable.
We read of the fall of empires with lefs emotion than is excited by the woes of a imgle family ; nor does Virgil's account of the fatal night in which Troy fell, ftrike the mind with fimilar regret.
The conduct of the fable is in every view correfpondent to the ftri&eft rules of the Stagyrite. From the prologue the mind is kept in an awful fufpence and dread ; the difcoveries are moft artfully conducted 5 the revolutions are of the moft tremendous kind ; and unexampled horror attends the cataftrophe. The manners are fuch as become the illuftrious perfonages of the drama; and as they always receive a tincture from the temper of the times, they ihew us that Athens was arrived at its high- eft ftate of politenefs in the time of Sopho- cles. He lived at the moft brilliant sera of the Athenians; in an age of grandeur, replete with the magnificence of riches, of monuments, and o£ fpectacles ; an age of
poets,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I43
poets, philofophers, orators, hiftorians, heroes, and great men in every department, above all in that of tragedy ; and was one of the three contemporary authors who raifed it to its higheft eminence.
The diction of the CEdipus Tyrannus is uniformly elegant ; the odes are fometimes highly beautiful, fometimes peculiarly fub- lime. The fentiments are fuch as become the fituation of all the fpeakers, and thofe of the chorus are the refult of benevolence, patriotifm, and piety. When (Edipus re- commends his children to the care of Creon, the heart of every parent is thrilled at his expreffions.
*■ My fons are men, and wherefoever fortune
May place them, cannot want the means of life; They fliall not burthen thee : but, oh ! my friend, What will become of my unhappy daughters, With tendered love, beneath a father's hand Cherimed fo long ? O take them to thy care, Thou belt of men ! O might I but embrace them ; But (bed a tear o'er their difaftrous fate ! Might I bi fiitTcred but to touch them here, I mould rejoice, and think I faw them ftill."
Franklin.
7 The
144 COMMENTARIES ON
The introdudion of mufic on the Gre- cian theatre, feems to have been attended with the beft effects. The reftrided cho- rus, confiding of fifteen perfons, always in- terefted in the fubjed of the drama, fills up the vacuity of adion, by addrefling the gods in fupplicating ftrains, or by uttering fentiments well worthy of a democratical people.
If terror and pity be the true ingredients of tragedy, we cannot refufe our aflent to the affertion of Scaliger, that the CEdipus Tyrannus is the moft tragical of all drama- tic compofitions.
But if the end of poetry be to inftrud as
well as to pleale, I am bold enough to
think that there is an objedion againft the
fable of CEdipus, and a defed in the re-
quifites which Ariftotle demands. It leaves
the mind in a flate of abiolute defpair : the
heart is not meliorated, the underftanding
is not improved. It does not combine
tragic efled with moral tendency; for it
enforces no important truths to regulate the
condud of human lite.
"It
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I45
It is faid by Franklin, " that the play of Philo&etes, though extremely barren of dramatic incidents, and diverted of every theatrical ornament, abounds at the fame time in fuch amiable fimplicity, fuch ftrength of colouring, and propriety of chara&er and manners, as may render it even more pleafing to the judicious and claffical reader, than thofe plays of Sopho- cles where the fable is apparently more interefting." There is certainly more dif- ficulty in fpeaking to the heart by the ex- preffion of true fentiments, than in gaining attention by a train of events. When we confider that this play is conftituted of only three perfonages in a defert ; that it never languifhes for an inftant, but, on the other hand, that the intereft rifes and fup- ports itfelf by the moft natural means ; that Philo&etes is in himfelf one of the moft theatrical perfons we can conceive, uniting the greateft bodily miferies with refent- ments the moft natural ; that the cry of vengeance is with him only the cry of op- preffion ; in fhort, that his part is through- ly out
I46 COMMENTARIES ON
out a perfed model of tragic eloquence : we (hall agree that thofe are juftified, who think they find in this piece the fineft dramatic invention which antiquity can boaft.
EURIPIDES.
Euripides was about twelve years younger than Sophocles, and born at Salamis in the midft of the fetes which celebrated the de- feat of Xerxes ; an event that has rendered the name of that ifland fo illuftrious. His birth was humble, but his eagernefs for literary acquifitions was very remarkable. Anaxagoras taught him natural philofo- phy, Prodicus inftru&ed him in rhetoric, and the great Socrates was his matter in moral philofophy.
To acquire the power of writing tragedy, he is faid to have fequeftered himfelf from the world, and to have lived for a confider- able time in a wild and horrid cave, calcu- lated to infpire him with ideas of terror and fublimity. The jealoufy natural to
rivals
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I47
rivals exifted for a while between him and Sophocles ; but reflection, the frequent cor- rector of the paflions, at length reconciled them, when they rendered reciprocal juftice to each other, and exhibited mutual proofs of unequivocal friendfhip. Envy and un- popularity, the too conftant attendants on genius, induced him to quit Athens, and to accept the invitation of Archelaus king of Macedon, to refide within the precincts of his court. Here he enjoyed the favor of royal munificence, and the tranquillity of learned eafe. But who has ever been able to boaft of continued happinefs ! Removed from the feat of competition and ridicule, he fuffered a domeftic calamity greater than ufually falls to the lot of man. He loft his wife and three children at one time, and the dire event is faid to have been always prefent to his mind. It had a powerful influence on his temper and his fpirit, and produced that plaintivenefs of manner which is fo confpicuous in his writings. Athenams fpeaks of an epigram written by l 2 him
I48 COMMENTARIES ON
him on the lofs of his family, of which this is the fenfe. " O fun, who travelled over the immenfity of the heavens, haft thou ever feen fo dreadful a calamity ? What a mother and three children torn at once from my fight !" In this fimple, pa- thetic, and afFe&ing ftyle, does he exprefs the feverity of his anguifh.
His death was very unfortunate, for he was torn to pieces by the dogs of Arche- laus; but honors were heaped upon him when he was no longer confcious of their value. The Athenians demanded his body to give it an honorable burial, but Arche- laus refufed to reftore it, being defirous to preferve to his country the remains of a great man ; and the Athenians were redu- ced to the honorable confolation of railing a cenotaph to his memory.
A fmall but valuable portion of his plays, nineteen out of eighty, are come down to us : againft fome of thefe the voice of critic cifm has been loudly indignant. The Bacchantes has been faid not to deferve the
name
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I49
name of tragedy, but to be a dramatic monfter without fhape or comelinefs; It is indeed, throughout, an eulogium on wine and temulence.
The Suppliants has more of the tone of tragedy, but the fpecies of intereft it con- tains is purely national, and could not exift but among the Greeks. It is a ques- tion about burial, and Sophocles alone knew how to place in fcenes like thefe a fpecies of beauty that is equally linking and permanent.
The Oreftes refembles an opera rather than a tragedy ; the marvellous is employ- ed without art, and the events are accumu- lated without preparation, and without ef- fect
The Medea has been imitated by a crowd of authors. There is in that bold forcerefs, a certain fplendor that captivates every beholder. The female character, ren- dered furious by the defertion of him for whom fhe had facrificed every thing, is enfeebled only by her crimes, and by the coldnefs of Jafon.
l 3 ' sun
%50 COMMENTARIES ON
Still the refentments of a wife outraged by an ungrateful man, her defire of ven- geance, her maternal tendernefs, and the diffi mulation with which fhe conceals her fell defigns, produce emotions fo terrific and fo pathetic, as to furnifli fcenes which have never been furpafled.
The Iphigenia in Aulis may be regarded not only as the mafter-piece of Euripides, but as the tragedy in which the dramatic art has reached the fummit of perfection.
The conteft between nature and ambi- tion, which forms the bafis of the character of Agamemnon ; the joy which appears at the arrival of the mother and the daughter, a circumftance of heart-rending woe to the father ; the moving fcene between him and Clytemneftra ; the horror produced by Areas — " He attends at the altar for the facrifice;" the pretended marriage of Achil- les ; the defpair of Clytemneftra proftrate at the feet of the only defender that remains to her daughter ; the noble indignation of the young hero whofe name is fo impro- perly ufurped ; the tranfports of maternal
tendernefs
CLASSICAL LEARNING. ijt
tendernefs defending a daughter againft an inhuman Kufband ; the modeft refignation of the vidtim, and the fervent and filial prayers fheaddrefles to her father; all thele beauties are the exclufive prerogative of Euripides.
The character of Andromache in the play which bears her name, that of Alcefte, that of Medea, many fcenes of the Trojans, the three firft ads of the Hecuba, the two plays of Iphigenia, are monuments of a great genius, and vindicate Ariftotle in deno- minating Euripides the 'mod tragic of poets.
If he want the fublimity of iEfchylus, if he do not pofTeis the fweetnefs of Sopho- cles, he balances thefe advantages by fo much pathos and moral fentimcnt as to exhibit the moft touching fcenes of the Grecian drama.
The following lines on the origin and progrefs of the drain a, are fubmitted to the candour rather than to the criticifm of the reader:
i 4 * Err
»52 COMMENTARIES ON
" Ere art had fmoothed, or fcience had refined The unpolifh'd marble, and uncultured mind Where fam'J Uyfius rolled his filver tide, The'Attic mufes rofe with patriot pride. Here firft Melpomene's foft bofom heav'd, Awaked to life, and triple aid received ; Here the bed patrons rear'd her tender form, And taught her mind to glow like nature warm ; Gave foft eyed Pity, poured Diftraaion wild, And lent Perfuafion's tongue to Virtue's child. Thofe generous thoughts which patriot fouls engage, Were formed and cherifhed by the Athenian ftage ; Thofe arts which mark refinement's early dawn Here burft to light, and beamed a golden morn. The God of war appeared in vivid ftone, And beauty's queen in breathing canvas (hone. Yet rifing Commerce fcarce her fails unfurled, When Roman eagles fought the eaflern world ; Soon as they came, fierce rapine marked their way, Sad was the fcene, for beauty was the prey ; Soon as they came, fell Conquefl: flapped her wing, And every tuneful mufe forgot to finer ; Borne from their Greece to drag the victor's chains, And fwell triumphant pomp on Latian plains.
Long did they mourn their native freedom loft, Their much loved patrons, and congenial coaft ; While Tyber's ftreams, with human blood fupplied, O'erflowed his banks, and roll'd in barb'rous pride : The tragic mufe whom love had erft infpir'd Now felt her bread by wildeR paffions fir'd ; Caught the fierce manners of a Roman foul, The reeking dagger, and the poifon'd bowl ;
Shewed
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I53
Shewed nature's law3, by cuftom's force withftood, And female foftnefs pleafed with fcenes of blood. This her fad tafk, till Latium's happier days, When every art received its meed of praife ; When every mufe might boaft a patron's name. And Rofcius claimed a fhare in Tully's fame ; Again me urged the liberal tear to flow, Nor virtue blufhed to weep at tales of woe 5 No favage pafiions Pity now dethrone, But all again is Attic, and her own.
Awhile (he grew beneath the foftering hand,
Till Gothic fury fcoured corruption's land ;
When boding augurs fpoke the awful doom
Of art and fcience, Majefty and Rome,
Chafed from her feat, fhe drooped her languid head,
Her charms forgotten, and her vigour fhed ;
Campania's every elegance lay wafte,
And the mufe (lumbered through long nights of tafte.
At learning's fecond dawn again fhe rofe,
And genius refcued her from bigot foes
With joy elate, from all reftraint fet free,
Awhile fhe wantoned in her liberty.
Her early patrons, formed in rougher mould,
Approved her zonelefs veil, and geflures bold.
In vain contending lovers fought her fmile,
When Britain's guardian (hewed her Britain's IUC
She viewed the profpect which his zeal difplay'd,
And matchlefs beauties ftruck the ravifh'd maid ;
No more fhe mourns the fcenes of early love,
Her Homer's martial fields, her Plato's grove ;
No more UyfTus is her envied boaft,
But freedom's fmiling plains and fea-gtrt coall ;
Twai
154 COMMENTARIES ON
'Twas (he who gave to Shakfpeare's deathlefs page, The glowing thoughts that fire the rifing age ; 'Midft fcenic beauties bade the artift trace The forms of fprightly eafe and heaven-born grace ; Taught the young fculptor's hand to ftamp the mien Of love's fly god, and beauty's peerlefs queen ; Well pleafed for Britain's iflc her Greece to quit Where Spartan virtue blends with Attic wit."
CLASSICAL LEARNING, I55
SECTION V.
On Greek Comedy, the old, the middle, and the new. Anjlophanes, Menander0 and many Writers, of whom only Fragments are extant.
As the manners are its obje&s, comedy, it is probable, would have preceded tra- gedy, which delineates the paffions, had not a cafual circumftance given priority to the latter. The drama was originally under the patronage of the magiftrates; and it was not till a late period that they exhibited comic chorufTes to the people; but although many centuries elapfed before comedy was written, yet, a thoufand years anterior to Chrift, there were a£tors who played for their own advantage. Its complexion indeed was then of the moft extravagant kind. It was an extempore village mafk, where ignorance was invited to applaud the grotefque mimickry of the low and I impudent
Ij6 COMMENTARIES Ott
impudent buffoon. The ancient comedy- appeared under three forms, and as many appellations.
It is at this day not eafy to determine if it had only a fingle, or many contemporary inventors ; but it's mutations appear to havearifen not only from the genius of the
writers, but from the laws of magiftrates, and the change of the popular government. Sufarion and Dolon have been called the inventors of comedy, which was acted at Athens on a moveable fcaffold five hundred and fixty-one years before Chrift. But a ftatue of brafs ere&ed to Epicharmus, the Syracufan fchoolm after, announces him, by the infcription on its pedeflal, to have been the firft writer of comedy. He lived four hundred and fifty years before Chrift, during the reign of Hiero the tyrant of Sicily, who punifhed him for certain im- proper jefts exhibited before his queen.
All the ancient dramatic writers furnifh us with a fubjecT: of admiration in the num- ber of their works. Epicharmus is faid to have written fifty comedies ; and from the 4 fpecimen
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 157
fpecimen of his manner of writing, pre- ferved in a few fragments which have reached us, we have reafon to lament the lofs of the entire compofnions. The author of the Obferver has afforded much enter- tainment to all readers of curiofity and tafte, by prefenting them with many pieces from the ancient comic writers in an En- glifh drefs. An occafional quotation from them will I think not be unacceptable to my readers, who, recollecting from whence they are copied, may perhaps apply to the fame fource for a larger portion of fimilar amufement.
Epicharmus introduces a perfon of igno- ble birth, thus addrefling an old woman who had boafted of her anceftry j
" Good goffip, if you love me, prate no more ; What are your genealogies to me ? Away to thofe who have more need of them J Let the degenerate wretches if they can, Dig up dead honor from their fathers' tombs. And boail it for their own. Vain, empty boaft J When every common fellow that they meet, If accident hath not cut off the fcroll, Can fhew a lift of anceftry as long. You call the Scythians barbarous, and dcfpife them ;
Yet
I58 COMMENTARIES ON
Yet Anacharfis was a Scythian born :
And every man of a like noble nature,
Though he were moulded from an JEthiop's loins,
Is nobler than your pedigrees can make him."
Epicharmus had four contemporary poets who were joint fathers of comedy, but not a veftige remains of their works. A decree which continued in force only two years, prohibiting the reprefentation of comedies, is a convincing proof of the fentiments of the magiftracy on the fubjed, if not of the licentioufnefs of the early dra- ma. It appears then that the comic mufe was not firft introduced, as Horace fays, but re-inftated under Eupolis, Cratinus, and Ariftophanes. Thefe writers of the old comedy, reprefented the habits, ges- tures, and airs of thofe whom they wifhed to expofe to public fcorn. Even perfonal defe&s were not fecure from ftri&ures offeverity. Horace has drawn the cha- racter of thefe poets in a few mafterly ftrokes.
" The comic poets in its earlieft age, Thus paint the manners of the Grecian ftage.
Was
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I59
Was there a villain who might juftly claim* A better right of being doomed to fame, Rake, cutthroat, thief, whatever was his crime, They freely iligmatized the wretch in rhyme."
Francis.
But it was not the expofure of vice or folly, with which thefe writers were con- tented. Nothing was fpared in fo libertine a ftate as Athens, not even the firft magis- trates, nor the judges who had the power to fandtion or profcribe the comedies.
The works of Eupolis and Gratinus are loft ; of the former we have only the titles of twenty of his comedies, and a few frag- ments. It was his character that he ter- rified vice by the feverity of his lafhes ; but he was deftitute of all purity and all grace of ftyle. He flourifhed about four hun- dred and thirty-five years before Chrift, but the fcanty memorials of ancient times fur- nilh us with no other particulars of his pro- feffion or his life.
Cratinus was the countryman of Eupo- lis, and fomewhat his fenior. It is record- ed of him, that he abounded in imagina- tion*
l6o COMMENTARIES ON
tion, and was in pofleffion of an orna- mented ftyle. He obtained nine prizes at the public games, and fuccefsfully repelled the attack of Ariftophanes, who had ridi- culed his infirmities in a comedy denomi- nated the Flaggon. He obtained the laurel from his opponent, and fhortly after expi- red amidft the exultations of his victory. Thirty comedies, the effufions of his genius, have perifhed in the abyfs of time, and fcarcely left a wreck behind.
Of the old comedy we fhould have known nothing but the name, had not a part of the writings of Ariftophanes been refcued from the made of oblivion. He was a native of iEgina, a fmall ifiand near Peloponnefus, born about four hundred and thirty-four years before Chrift, and acqui- red by his talents, what he had no legal title to by his birth, the privileges of a citi- zen of Athens. He flourifhed in an age of illuftrious men, when the philofophy of Socrates, the oratory of Demofthenes, and the drama of Euripides, were the admira-. tion of the polifhed ftates of Greece.
During
CLASSICAL LEARNING. l6l
During the Peloponnefian war, he ap- peared lefs as a comic writer whofe obje£t it was to amufe the people, than as a cenfor of their government, and a general reformer.
Of above fifty comedies, eleven only have defcended to pofterity ; and of his cha- racter as a writer, it may perhaps be pro- per to form an accurate eftimate, by adopt- ing the mean between the two extremes of his ceniurers and his panegy rifts.
It has been objected to him by the for- mer, that he is carelefs in the conduit of his fables, that his fictions are improbable^ and that his jefts are obfcene: that his raillery is rudenefs ; that his language is obfcure, embarrafled, low, and trivial ; that his frequent play upon words, and his mixture of ftyle tragic and comic, are in bad tafte.
Plutarch fays that his poetry is a courte- zan on the ftool of repentance, who affe&s the airs of a prude, but cannot place her impudence under fuch reftraints as to be pardoned by the people. That his fait
m is
10a COMMENTARIES ON
is bitter, fharp, cutting, and ulcerating. He much difapproves his puns and and- thefes, and thinks his jokes more likely to excite a hifs than a laugh ; his amours lefs gay than indecent ; and in fhort that it is not (b much for fcnfible people that he has written, as for men confumed by envy calumny, and debauchery.
The enemies of his fame are however at leaft balanced by the zeal of his admirers* The divine Plato, who wras his contempo- rary, gives him a diftinguifhed place in his banquet ; and is reported to have fent a co- py of the plays of Ariftophanes to Diony- fitis the tyrant, exhorting him to read them with attention, if he wiflied to know tho- roughly the republic of Athens. He adds this hyperbole of praife — that the graces fought for a durable manfion, and fixed at length in the bofom of Ariftophanes.
His works are faid to have been refcued from the deftrudtion to which all the comic writers were deftined, by the tafte of St. Chryfoftom, who placed them under bis pillow, as Alexander did the Iliad of
Homer,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 1 63
Homer, to read them at night before he went to fleep, and in the morning at waking.
A modern French encomiaft, Madame Dacier, <c fays that no man has had more art in finding the ridiculous, nor more adroitnefs in exhibiting it. That his man- ner is delicate, his fancy fertile, and his criticiftn juft. That the Attic fpirit, of which the antients fo loudly boaft, appears more in Ariftophanes than in any other author of antiquity. But that which we ought the mod to admire in him is, that he is always fo much mafter of the fubje£t he treats, that without conftraint he finds the method of producing thofe evects which at firft appeared the rnoft foreign to it. That his ftyle is as agreeable as his fpi- rit ; that befides its purity, neatnefs, and force, it has a certain fweetnefs which fo agreeably flatters the ear, that there is no-> thing comparable to the pleafure of reading him. When on common topics, he is not low ; when fublime, he rifes without ob- fcurity, and is then equal to iEfchylus and M 2 to
164 COMMENTARIES ON
to Pindar. That his wit is of various kinds, general and local ; his powers of humour unrivalled. That his fatire againft vice, leaves no fhelter to ignorance or immora- lity. That whoever has ftudied the re- mains of ancient Greece, but has not read Ariftophanes, cannot know all the charms and all the beauties of the language."
Ariilotle defines comedy to be a picture of human nature worfe and more deform- ed- than the original. The firft part of this definition only feems to be correfl:, and thofe critics who accufe Ariftophanes of adopting the latter part of it, feem to forget that the applaufe given to a writer by the general voice of his contemporaries, at a time.wThen envy interpofes its baneful influence, may be confidered as the true teft of his merit.
The comedies of Ariftophanes being written during the Peloponnefian war, an intimate acquaintance with the events of that period is required, to enable us tho- roughly to underftand his allufions.
He
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 165
He has been much cenfured for his ridi- cule of Socrates. The fchools of the fophifts were fair objects of derifion ; their contra- dictory firft principles, their daemons, clouds, water, and fire ; their devices to catch the vulgar, and the affected rigour of their manners, were fit fubje&s for the ftriftures of the fatirift.
In the play of the Clouds, Ariftophancs laughs at the doctrine of the philofopher, and fhews how the cunning of his difciples might draw fuch inferences from it as would annihilate all fubordination, and give colour to every fpecies of difhonefty and fraud. The fon who beats his father, and who defrauds his creditors, arguing philo- fophically that he has a right to do fo, is an inftance of the facility with which the fcholars of Socrates could pervert the pre- cepts of their mailer.
Although the interval between the re- prefentation of this play, and the trial of Socrates, was twenty-five years, it prepared the unjuft procefs againft that incompara- ble man, for the accufations of Anytus M 3 were
1 66
COMMENTARIES ON
were precifely the fame with thofe which the poet brings againft the philofopher. If it be obferved that fuch a fpedtacle of buf- foonery and impiety was never enduredain any other nation, it may be anfwered that the Athenians, efcaped from the tyranny of the Pififtratides, patted to the extreme of liberty, and to all the abufes of democracy. Thefe abufes were balanced by the patriot fpirit that animated all Greece at the mo- ment of the invafion of Darius and Xerxes. But as danger produced virtue, victory brought luxury and corruption in its train. Athens was the mod powerful, the richeft, the vaineft, and the mod diflblute of all the republics of Greece, in the time of Pericles, which was that of Ariftophanes.
On the other hand, the Archons found the fchools fo detrimental to the morals of youth, that they expelled the mafters ; and the Lacedaemonians, a grave and virtuous people, fuffered no philofophers to open feminaries of education.
It is the bufmefs of comic writers to paint the manners as they rife. Thefe are
perpetually
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 167
perpetually changing : in'paffing to pofte- rity, they come to a new world which does not recognife them ; the fame obje&s and the fame tafte of ridicule do not exift in diftant ages ; and hence it is that the mufe of Ariftophanes appears to us with the wildnefs of a bacchante, and that (he feems to carry under her tongue the poifon of the viper or the afp.
But is not comedy to be an image of common life ? Is it not her province to exhibit on the theatre the. prevalent vices and follies of the age, and to correct them by the fear of ridicule ?
Ariflophanes might plead the cuftom of the times, in vindication of his introducing individual chara&ers into his drama. A better tafte prevailed a fhort time after, and it is more grateful to our feelings to fee general vices attacked upon the ftage, than the defe&s of particular perfons expofed to public derifion.
" Bond ig but one, but Harpax is a feore."
M 4 It
l68 COMMENTARIES ON
It is not wonderful that Plutarch, a Greek, a courtier, and one who lived in the time of Trajan, fhould be offended with the ftyle of Ariftophanes. Its variations, however, were fuitable to the variety of his characters. Quintilian greatly approves the old comedy, and fays that it almoft ex- clufively retains the Attic purity ; that it is energetic, elegant, and graceful ; and, next to Homer, is better adapted to form the orator than any other compofition.
But it muft be confefled that mortifica- tion and chagrin Simulated Ariftophanes to vilify the moft refpe&able chara&ers. He hated and burlefqued Euripides, Socrates^ and Anaxagoras, becaufe they defpifed his comedies too piuch to attend the reprefen- tation of them, and denominated them fcandalous farces : perhaps they ought to have remembered, that comedy is the flave of the reigning tafte. Ariftophanes, as it is well faid by the author of the Obferver, f fnakes ufe of choruffes, fome fo fanciful and imaginary, as to be obliged to create
as
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 169
as it were a new language for them. Gods and heroes demand a fwelling tragic pomp, fuch as that of the tragedians ; and this ex- cellence is difcrimination of character. If we are allowed to argue and decide by events, we fhall not be difpofed to lavifh a large {hare of blame on him for his expo- fure of the fophifts, from the reflection that the liberties of Athens were victims at the fhrine of falfe philofophy. When Arifto- phanes attacked Pericles, whofe name was revered throughout Greece, the Athenians were not difpleafed, becaufe they confi- dered it as a fymbol of republican equality. A comic poet was then a party man, who offered his advice on public affairs, and fpoke on the ftage as declaimers did in the affemblies of the people. The fubjed: of the Acarnanians, for inftance, is entirely a political one. "When Athens and Lace- daemon had mutually ravaged each other, and a negociation for peace was propofed, the generals Cleon and Lamachus refill the • overtures, which Ariftophanes advifes them to accept. He burlefques thefe generals
^without
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without due difcrimjnation : he reprefents Cleon in his true character, intriguing and eloquent ; but he does not treat Lamachus with the candour which is his due ; Lama- chus, a noble foldier who died fighting for his country before Syracufe !
The Athenians, light and frivolous, heard with more attention the fatire of their comic poets, than the more labored and ferious harangues of their orators". With refpedt to the charge of indecency of language, it may be obferved, that the Greeks had a general cuftom of living with courtezans in the mod free and unreferved manner in their own houfes, while their wives were kept with great ftridtnefs in the interior, intent on domeftic affairs, and the nurture of their children. This fort of life, which the religion of the Athenians fanfti- fied, would have a natural tendency to pro- duce laxity of manners and converfation ; and perhaps every exception we take to the writings of Ariitophanes, may find a pal- liation in the reigning modes, the fpirit, and the government, of Athens. There is,
at
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 171
at firft view, a feeming contradiction in the chara&er of the Athenians, who punifhed a contempt of the gods with the utmoft Severity, and yet allowed it in Euripides and Ariftophanes. Comedies were not per- formed by public authority more than three or four times in a year : but thofe were the feafls of Bacchus, when unbri- dled licence was allowed both to the wri- ters and the a£tors. Judges named by the ftate examined the merit of the pieces be- fore their reprefentation, and the fuffrages of the majority determine^ which fhould be crowned as victorious, and exhibited with all poffible pomp to the people.
An olive crown was affigned to Arifto- phanes in a public aflembly; nor is it fair to acquiefce in the partiality of which his judges have been fufpeded, fince felicita- tion and cabal, caprice and prejudice, have in all ages been imputed by the unfuccefsful candidates, and fometimes perhaps too juftly, to the deciders on literary fame.
The following are fome pleafant frag- ments of the writers of the old comedy,
who
IJZ COMMENTARIES ON
who fee m to have abounded both in wit and fentiment.
Crates a comic poet, and a celebrated a£tor, two characters very frequently com- bined at that time, has left us the following refle&ions on old age.
*' Thefe (hrivelled finews, and this bending frame, The workmanship of time's ftrong hand proclaim ; Skilled to reverfe whate'er the gods create, And make that crooked which they fafhion ftraight. Hard choice for man ! to die, or elfe to be That tottering, wretched, wrinkled, thing you fee f Age, then, we all prefer ; for age we pray ; And travel on to life's laft lingering day. Then finking flowly down from worfe to worfe, Find heaven's extorted boon our greateft curfe."
Pherecrates a comic writer contemporary with Plato and Ariftophanes, and the in- ventor of one of the metres ufed by Horace, " Grato Pyrrha fub antro" has left only a few lines, and thofe no very flattering teftimony to the fobriety of his country-* women.
" Remark how wifely ancient art provides
The broad-brimmed cup with flat expanded fides 5
A cup
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 1^3
A cup contrived for man's difcreter ufe,
And fober potions of the generous juice.
But woman's more ambitious, tbirfty foul,
Soon longed to revel in the plenteous bowl :
Deep and capacious as the fwelling hold
Of fome flout bark, (he (haped the hollow mould ;
Then turning out a vefTel like a tun,
Simpering, exclaimed, Obferve ! I drink but one."
Amipfias, another writer at the fame period, has left us the titles only of his plays, but from them we may form a cor- rect judgment of their tendency. They are, the Gamefters, the Glutton, the Beard, the Adulterers, and the Philofo- pher's cloak. Every relique of their works {hew, that with an unfparing hand they laihed all the prevailing vices of their country, and that their inftruments of punifhment infli&ed wounds too deep and fevere for the delicate texture of the Athe-* nian character.
Impiety having fucceeded to lnfolence, the licence of which Socrates was the vic- tim, was at length reftrained by law, and the middle comedy was fubftituted for the old. In this the writers traced living cha- racters
174 COMMENTARIES ON
rafters under' fictitious names, and the people delighted in finding out the refem- blance. Controlled by the Macedonian princes, the mufe of Ariftophanes was com- pelled to take a milder ftrain ; and death had flopped the impetuous tongue of De- mofthenes. The bitter Cratinus himfelf was compelled to war only with the dead, and to ridicule the Odyfley of Homer.
The author of the Obferver juftly re- marks, that the loofe hold which the efta- bliflied religion had upon the minds of the common people, arifing probably from the influence of the new philofophy, may be feen in fome of the writers of the middle comedy, whofe fatire againft the gods would not have been tolerated" in iEfchylus or Ariftophanes,
Diodorus was a native of Senope, a city of Pontus, the birth-place of many eminent poets and philofophers. The following fragment written by him remains, and was fpoken by a perfon fuftaining the character of a parafite. " All other arts, have been of man's invention without the help of the 1 1 gods ;
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I75
gods; but Jupiter himfelf, who is our part- ner in trade, firft taught us how to play the parafite; and he, without difpute, is of all the gods the greater!:. 'Tis his cuf- tom to make himfelf welcome in every houfe he enters, rich or poor, no matter which ; wrherever he finds the dinner table neatly fpread, the couches ready fet, and all things in decent order, down fits he without ceremony, eats, drinks, and < makes merry, and all at free coft, cajoling his poor hofl: ; and in the end, when he has filled his belly and bilked his club, cooly walks home at his leifure."
Very copious collections from the writers of the middle comedy have been made, and well tranflated by the fame ingenious author. .
Eubulus, a native of Atama in Lefbos, a celebrated poet, and the author of fifty comedies, introduces Bacchus laying down thefe temperate and moral rules :
" Three cups of wine a prudent man may take; The firft of thefe foi conftitution's fake:
The
I76 COMMENTARIES Otf
The fecond to the girl he loves the bed : The third and laft to lull him to his reft : Then home to bed. But if a fourth he pours, That is the cup of folly and not ours. Loud noify talking on the fifth attends ; The fixth breeds feuds and falling out of friends. Seven beget blows and faces^ftained with gore ; Eight, and ths watch patrole breaks ope the door. Mad with the ninth, another cup goes round, And the fwilled fot drops fenfelefs on the ground. "
Plato was ftyled the prince of the middle comedy. The following are his lines on the tomb of Themiftocles :
" By the fea's m?.rgin on the watery ilrand, Thy monument Themiftocles mall ftand : By this directed to thy native more, The merchant mail convey his freighted ftore. And when our fleets are fummoned to the fight, Athens mail conquer with thy tomb in fight."
The licentioufnefs of the Athenian ftage being thus in fome degree corrected, a way- was made for the introdu&ion of the third epoch called the New Comedy,
This was an exquifite refinement of the rnagiftrates, who having firft abolifhed real
2 names,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I77
names, they now abolifhed real fubjeds, and a too flanderous chorus. The poets were therefore reduced to the neceffity of pro- ducing on the ftage, fubjeds and names of pure invention, by which the theatre was both purified and enriched, for then comedy ceafed to be a Megsera armed with torches, and became an agreeable and innocent mirror of human life.
Such was the comedy of Menander, of whom Quintilian fays, that he has obliterated the name of all the writers in that depart- ment, and thrown them into the fhade by the tranfcendency of his own luftre. Me- nander was born, about three hundred and forty-five years before Chrift, at Athens, and educated under the peripatetic philo- fopher Theophraftus. He began to write for the ftage at twenty years of age, and did not difgrace his compofitions by per- fonal fatire, but was replete in the elegance of ftyle, refined wit, and corred judgment. Terence borrowed all his plays from him but his Phormio and Hecyra, hence Csefar ftyled him the Demi-Menander. Of a hun-
*J dred
I78 COMMENTARIES ON
dred plays, only fomc fragments and titles remain, containing fentiments of various kinds, moral, fublime, and gloomy. The teftimonies in his favour are numerous and refpeftable. Quintilian fays he eclipfes every writer of his clafs ; Dion Chryfoftom recommends him as a model for all who
jftudy to excel in oratory.
The ftyle of Menander, fays Plutarch, is always uniform and pure. He has the addrefs to adjuft himfelf to the different characters without neglecting the comic in any degree, where the nature of the object renders it neceffary. He attained a per- fection to which no artizan has known how to reach. For what man has ever had the art to form a mafk calculated alike for children and women, divinities and heroes? but Menander has found this happy fecret. His works difparage thofe of the philofophers ; and he is, with regard to them, a meadow enamelled with flowers, where one delights to refpire -an air that is pure.
He
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I79
He does not neglect the comic, nor out- rage it. He never lofes fight of nature, and the fupplenefs and flexibility of his ftyle has never been furpafled. It is like a limpid ftream which, running between ir- regular and tortuous banks, takes all forms without loling aught of its purity. He writes like a man of fpirit, a man of the world ; he was made to be read, repre- fented, learned by heart ; to pleafe in all places, and at all times ; and in reading his pieces, we are not furprifed to find that he pafled as a man who expreffed himfelf moft agreeably, both in converfation and in wri- ting, of any of his age.
How can we fufficiently lament the lofs of an author of w^hofe excellence we may form fome judgment, both from the tefti- mony of the ancients, and the valuable works of Terence, who clofely imitated, if he did not literally tranflate him !
Menander was drowned as he wras bathing ; fome fay he drowned himfelf becaufe Philemon triumphed over him in a poetical conteft.
n 2 The
l80 COMMENTARIES ON
The fragments of his works cited by- various authors are not very favourable to his philanthropy. There is one, however, of a comic turn from the minftrel, pointed at avarice*
•' Ne'er truft me, Phemius, but I thought till now That you rich fellows had a knack of fleeping A gbod found nap, that held you all the night. And not like us poor rogues who tofs and tumble, Sighing ah me ! and gtumbling at our being. But now I find, in fpite of all your money, You reft no better than your needy neighbours, And forrow is the common lot of all."
The new comedy continued from the death of Alexander of Macedon to that of Menander. It was a fplendid aera, abound- ing in comic writers of great celebrity, of whom we have now only a barren catalogue of names. Philemon, the fuccefsful rival of Menander, feems to have been plaintive and melancholy in his writings.
The author of the Obferver confirms this opinion by his tranfiation of the fol- lowing fragments :
CLASSICAL LEARNING. ?8l
11 O Cleon, ceafe to trifle thus with life, A mind fo barren of experience Can hoard up nought but mifery, believe me; The (hip-wrecked mariner muft fink outright Who makes no effort to regain the more. The needy wretch who never learned a trade And will not work, muft ftarve. What then ? you cry My riehes ! frail fecurity : — my farms, My houfes, my eflate : alas ! my friends, Fortune makes quick defpatch, and in a, day Can ftrip you bare as beggary itfelf. Grant that ye now had piloted your bark Into good fortune's haven, anchored there, And moored her fafe as caution could devife ; t Yet if the headftrong paflion feize the helm And turn her out tofea, the ftormy gufts Shall rife, and blow you out of fight of port, Never to reach profperity again. What tell you me ? have I not friends to fly to ? I have : and will not thofe kind friends protect me ? Better it were you mould not need their fervice, And fo not make the trial. Much I fear Your finking hand would only grafp a made."
The fame poet fings thus alfo :
M Still to be rich, is ftill to be unhappy j Still to be envied, hated, and abufed, Still to commence new law-fuits, new vexation^ ; Still to be racking, ftill to be collecting, Only to make your funeral a feaft And hoard up riches for a thriftlefs heir. Let me be light in purfe, and light in heart ,
n 3 Give
18:
COMMENTARIES ON
Give me fmall means, but give content withal. Only prcferve me from the law, kind gods ! And I will thank you for your poverty."
Philemon lived above a hundred yeau and feems to the lateft period of his life to have derived his happinefs from his mufe.
This was the laft fpecies of Grecian comedy, and the Romans fhewed their high eft^mation of it, for they did not at- tempt to imitate the works of Menander, but were the fervile and literal tranflators of them. The models indeed had much merit to recommend them, and from the fcanty fpecimens that remain, we may pre- fume that they abounded in juft opinions cf life and manners; by indulging their talent for ridicule on topics of a general nature, they were more likely to benefit fociety than their predeceffors, who grati- fied their fpleen by the representation of perfonal defe&s, and the expofure of the vices and the follies of individuals.
This is an imperfed, but as far as it goes, I truft, a juft account of the progrefs of
4 the
CLASSICAL LEARNING. • l8j
the Grecian drama. It owed its origin mod unqueftionably to the peruiul or" the poems of Homer ; and Pififtratus, who ob- tained them by public proclamation from the rhapfodifts, and preferved them from political interpolations, and the mutilations of defective memory, mud be coniidered as worthy the perpetual veneration and gratitude of learned men. The tafte of an age and country may in general be known by the particular fpecies of its literary works. ' It appears wonderful to us at this day, to be told that Euclid had collected three thoufand plays, and that his collection was imperfect, and that when Terence was writing, Rome had two thoufand Greek comedies. But we mud not imagine that an idle fondnefs for fpectacles actuated the Athenians in their rage for theatrical amufe- ments ; the reprefentations came home both to their bufinefs as republicans, and to their boibms as men. In their dra na we fhall find, as Francklin has obferved, M a moft exact and faithful picture of the manners of Greece, its religious and civil
n 4 poiLy,
184 COMMENTARIES ON
policy, fublimity both of fentiment and di&ion, regularity, fymmetry and propor- tion, excellent moral aphorifms and reflec- tions, together with a moft elegant and amiable fimplicity diffufed throughout every page. Befides this, it was not as with us a mere matter of amufement, but the channel of public inftru&ion, and the inftrument of public policy,"
CLASSICAL LEARNING, I 8j
SECTION VI.
Pajioral Poetry. — Epigram, — Theocritus.— Bion.—Mof • cbus.-mAnthologia.
i astoral poetry is more at variance with our experience than any other. Our climate, and the ignorance of our (hepherds, gives it an air of fi&ion and of fable which takes away much of the pleafure it might otherwife afford to the reader.
But in ancient times every fhepherd was mufical and poetical ; and in Sicily to this day there are contentions between the ruftic performers on the flute.
Theocritus was born, nearly three cen- turies before the chriftian sera, at Syracufe. He has written thirty eclogues, and the Doric dialed gives him a decided pre- eminence in this fpecies of poetry. Some of his lines on the paflions are well expref- fed. That poem in which he reprefents a
fhepherdefs
l86 COMMENTARIES ON
fhepherdefs employing magic to bring back a fugitive lover, has-been confulered as one of the mod impaffioned pieces which the ancients poffefTed. His predo- minant chara&er is fimplicity, but this fimplicity fometimes defcends to groffheis. He prefents the reader with too many indifferent circumftances, and his fubje.cls have too much refemblance. Contentions on the flute, and quarrels between fhep- herds, are to us infipid in themfelves, and tirefome by their repetition. They neither excite our curiofity, nor awaken our fym- pathy. The half-attentive reader begins with languor and finifhes with difguft. Bion and Mofchus were contemporaries of Theocritus, the one of Smyrna, the other of Syracufe. They both wrote with eafe and elegance. Their IdylHa pofTefs a pecu- liar delicacy, and their elegies are tender and fentimental.
The ode of the former on the death of Adonis has been much celebrated, and in- deed in general the verfes of both thefe poets feem to have been written with more
care
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I 87
care than thofe of Theocritus, but are not wholly devoid of affe&ation.
The lover of rural fcenes will be grati- fied by the images which theyprefent him, and cannot fail to admire the fweetnefs and elegance of the poetry.
GREEK EPIGRAM.
In the modern fenfe of the word, the epigram is, of all kinds of poetry, that which approaches neareR to fatire, fince it has the fame objects, cenfure and raillery. The word now applies to an ingenious thought or turn of expreffion, which con- ftitutes the merit of a fhort poem. But the term in itfelf fignifies only an infcrip- tion, and it has retained amongft the Greeks its etymological acceptation. The epigrams colle&ed by Agathias, Planudes, Conftantine, Hierocles and others, which compofe the Greek Anthologia, are but little more than infcriptions for reli- gious offerings, for tombs, ftatues and monuments. They are for the mod part
extremely
l88 COMMENTARIES ON
extremely fimple, in conformity to their objeft, which is only to relate a fa<ft.
Thofe upon a ftatue of Niobe, on the ad- venture of Leander and Hero, on the Venus of Praxiteles, and on Hercules, feem moft to refemble the modern epigram. The laft, written by Plato, is one of the prettied. Lais on her return from Greece, confecrates her looking-glafs in the temple of Venus with thefe lines :
■ « Venus, take my votive glafs, Since I am not what I was ; What from this day I mall be, Venus, let me never fee,"
The following epigram on Troy, a legi- timate proof that the Greek word imported an infcription, has been fo happily imitated by Dr. Aikin, that the reader will require no apology for the infertion of it :
" Where, haplefs Ilium ! are thy heav'n- built walls, Thy high embattled towers, thy fpacious halls, Thy folemn temples filled with forms divine, Thy guardian Pallas in her awful fhrine, The mighty Ht£or, where ? thy fav'rite boaft, And all thy valiant fons, a numerous hoft ; Thy arts, thy arms, thy riches and thy ftate ; Thy pride of pomp, and all that made thee great ?
Thefe,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. l8g>
Fhefe, proftrate all, in duft and ruins lie,
But thy tranfcendent fame can never die.
'Tis not in fate to fink thy glories paft ;
They fill the world, and with the world (hall lift."
LTCOPHRON.
Lycophron was born at Chalcis in Eubcea in the time of Ptolemy Philadel- phus, about two hundred and feventy-fix years before Chrift, when a galaxy of learned men gave fplendour to the age. All that remains of his writings, except the mere titles of fome tragedies, is a work intitled the Caffandra, containing the fup- pofed prophecies of the daughter of Priam uttered during the Trojan War. They are delivered, by the keeper of the tower in which {he was lodged, to the king. Lyco- phron has been acculed of great obfeurity : but, as the reader is informed at the outfet that the prophetefs was dark in her pre- fages, he cannot furely, after that informa- tion, expe& to find the poet afford him a very intelligible recital.
In defence of this writer, it has been faid
that the nature of his poem involved dif-
2 ficulty
IgO COMMENTARIES ON
Acuity in it ; but as he has always under- flood himfelf, by due labour and attention he may be uuderftood by the reader : that where it was permitted him to be clear, no poet is mQre fo : that he has all the fire, of Pindar, and contains paffages which would gladly have been claimed by the firft writers in Greece and Rome : that when Horace delivers the beautiful pro- phecy of the deftruction that was to be the confequence of the rape of Helen, he is a dole imitator of the Caffandra.
It ieems to have been the cuftom with the Latin poets to confider the works of the Greeks as a common (lock which they had a right to pillage: but the poem of Lycophron has been fo little read, that many plagiarifms from him have efcaped cMervation. There is a certain intellectual cowardice in the generality of fcholars* which renders them unwilling to attack the works of authors who have too rafhly been condemned and laid a fide for a fuppofed impenetrable obfcurity.
He
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I9I
He who has the fpirit to think for him- felf, and the refolution to encounter labour, will find that the apparent difficulties of Lycophron are not infuperable as he at firft conceived ; but that they yield to the pet fevering efforts of application.
Every obftacle is eafily removed wThen the powers of mechanifin are furnmoned to the aid of individual ftrength. A vigorous exertion of the fame talents which finds connexion in the choruffes of iEfchylus, will difperfe the clouds that darken the prophecies of Caffandra.
I92 COMMENTARIES ON
SECTION VII.
On Grecian Oratory. Pericles, Lyfias, Ifocrates, Hype- rides, If&us, JEfchines, Demojlhenes.
W hen we pafs from poetry to eloquence* objects the moft ferious and important, ftudies the moft fevere and demanding the deepeft reflection, take place of the fports of the imagination.
I do not mean to fay that imagination is not eflential to the orator ; or that the poet, in the moft lofty flights of enthufiafm, ought to lofe light of reafon ; but the one predominates in eloquence, the other in poetry. The tranfition, however, is from the amufements of youth to the labours of maturerage ; for, poetry is converfant with pleafure, eloquence with bufmefs. Poetry is a ferious occupation to the writer only, and a delightful entertainment to the reader of tafte and feeling. But when the orator
declaims
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 193
declaims, or the ftatefman deliberates in a popular affembly, eloquence is a moft ufeful art, and well calculated to attract the vene- ration of the citizens. It fhews that there is a natural connection between genius and virtue, and that knowledge and talents are the true inftruments of national fafety and felicity. If they have fometimes deviated from their original inftitution, the inference is, that being a fpecies of power, they have in bad hands been perverted into inftru- ments of oppreflion. No argument is hence to be drawn againft their dignity or their value.
The qualifications neceflary to form the orator have been delineated by one of the gr^ateft that ever appeared, and are fo numerous as to render men of common acquirements hopelefs of obtaining them.
When the theatre reprefents to us tem- ples, palaces and groves, the fpe&ator is enchanted by the fpectacle ; but he ought
to remember that the artift who produces
*
this agreeable illufion, muft have ftudied the effects of perfpe&ive, the advantage
o gf
194 COMMENTARIES ON
of light and fhade, and the magic of co- lours.
It is a remarkable trait in the hiftory of the human mind, that there have been only two republics which have left to the world perpetual models of poetry and eloquence. It is as from the bofom of liberty that thofe lights of good tafte were twice dif- fufed which now illuminate the polifhed nations of Europe. Of thefe two great empires, nothing remains except the recol- lection of annihilated grandeur, but the fine arts are the noble inheritance which we have recovered from the ruins of Athens and of Rome.
It is in Athens, fays Cicero, that the firft orator exifted, and this orator was Pericles. He flourifhed, about four hun- dred and twenty years before Chrift; and although Pififtratus and Clifthenes, who preceded him, had merit for their time, and Themiftocles poffeffed the art in a confiderable degree, yet before him there was no true eloquence. The names of many orators who were contemporary with
Pericles
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I9J
Pericles remain, but as none of their works are in exiftence, we can only loofely con- jecture the reigning tafte of the age. Their ftyle was fententious, but on account of its precifion* it was fomewhat obfcure. From perceiving the effefts which a well compofed difcourfe could produce, there ftarted up a race who offered themfelves as profeflbrs of the art of oratory. Gorgias Leontinus, Thrafimachus, Protagoras, Pro- dicus Hippias, and many others obtained celebrity in their profeffion ; but it was not much in favour of their art that they de- clared themfelves capable of making a bad caufe appear a good one.
Lyfias, the fon of Cephalus, was a native of Syracufe, and born about four hundred and fixty years before our sera. Imme- diately after his birth his father removed to Athens, and there he carefully educated his lbn. In his fifteenth year, Lyfias ac- companied the colony which the Athenians fent to Thurium ; and after along refidence in that place, returned home in his forty- feventh year. He diftinguifhed himfeif
o 2 by
I96 COMMENTARIES ON
by the pure ftyle of his orations, of which thirty- four only remain out of two hundred and thirty. The manners of the Athenians may be feen in a clear point of view in his firft oration, and the learned reader will think that the fcene lies in London, and that the event has taken place in the nine- teenth century.
The moft celebrated lawyer at the Eng- lifli bar would be delighted with the perufal of this oration, and not difdain on a fimilar occafion to defend his client with the arms of L\fias. He furvived to the eighty-firft year of his age.
Ifocrates was born at Athens about four hundred and -thirty-feven years before Chrift. His father was a maker of mufical inftruments. He never fpoke in public, but opened a fchool of eloquence* Thirty- one of his orations are (till extant. His fchool, which was open fixty years, was the moft celebrated in Greece, and ren- dered great fervice to the art of oratory, as Cicero attefts in thefe words : " He was a great orator, a perfect matter of the art, 1 i and,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I97
and, without fhining in the roftrum, with- out quitting his own houfe, arrived at a degree of celebrity which no one elie had attained. He wrote well, and taught others to write well. He knew better than his predeceflbrs the oratorical art in all its departments. But, above all, he was the firft to underftand that if profe ought to have the rhythm of verfe, it ought at leaft to have numbers, and an harmony which are proper to itfelf." The remains of his orations infpire the reader with the higheft veneration for his abilities, and his virtues. He was intimate with Philip ; and to this the Athenians owed fome years of peace. The afpiring ambition of that monarch however, difgufted him ; and after the battle of Chseronea he did not furvive the difgrace of his country, but died after refu- fing aliment for four days, in the ninety- ninth year of his age. The fevere conduit of the Athenians againft Socrates had fo highly difpleafed him, that he put on mourning the very day of his death.
o 3 The
I98 COMMENTARIES ON
The beauties of language may fucceff- fully be fought for in Ifocrates. The fmoothnefs of his ftyle, the eafe, the ele- gance, the delicacy, and the fweetnefs of his expreffions, captivate every ear that is attuned to harmony. His attention to excellencies of this fort was laborious and minute. Ten years, he confefles to have been employed on one of his orations, and many of the others are the fruit of long protracted induftry. The qualifications with which nature endowed Ifocrates, he wifely cultivated and improved. His knowledge was fuperipr to his rhetoric. While we admire the orator, we reverence the philofopher, and are enchanted at his delivery of truths which evince an en- lightened underftanding and an upright heart. The love of his country was an aftive principle which warmed him to en- thufiafm, but it did not exclude the more generous principle of philanthropy. The great orator of Greece could difcern no- thing worthy of praife but in his native
Athens,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. I99
Athens, and Rome exclufively might boaft the eulogies of Tully ; but merit, whether in Greek or Barbarian, was recognized by Ifocrates. He well knew that genius and virtue are not the growth or invention of any particular country, but the ornament and pride of every one where they flou- rifh.
Hyperides had every advantage which could attend the education of an orator, for he was taught by Plato and by Socrates. We learn that he was frequently oppofed to Demofthenes, and from this circum- ftance we may form fome judgment of his merit.
One only of his orations is extant, a fair fpecimen of his ability ; but Longinus, who read them all, decides his character. He fays that Hyperides has all the qualities wanting to Demofthenes, but that he never elevates himfelf to the fublime.
Amidft the firft orators in the fecond
rank, is Ifseus the preceptor of Demofthenes,
born about three hundred and eighty years
before Chrift* He was born at Chalcis in
o 4 Euboea,
20O COMMENTARIES ON
Euboea, and when he came to the feat of learning, he placed himfelf under the in- ftru&ion of Lyfias. His eloquence was vigorous and energetic; and thofe qualities obtained him the praife and imitation of his illuftrious pupil. Ten out of fixty-four of his orations are extant, and they vindi- cate the approbation bellowed upon him by Demofthenes.
JEfchines flourifhed at Athens about three hundred and forty-two years before Chrift. It was his glory to have been the rival of Demofthenes, and his difgrace to have been bribed by Philip of Macedon.
To his envy of the former we are in- debted for the two orations De Corona, when Ctefiphon propofed to reward the patriotifm of his friend, and the fpeakers exerted all their powers, the one in op- pofing, the other in defending the pro- pofal.
However well known the fubjecl, it may not be improper to refer to thefe two celebrated fpeeches in confidering the lite- rary character of thefe diftinguifhed orators.
There
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 201
There could not be produced a ftronger proof of their abilities, for each of them employed more than four years in pre- paring himfelf for the conteft. Their ani- mofity was fo well known throughout Greece, that it drew together an immenfe concourfe from all parts to fee the combat between thefe two great men who had become fo celebrated by their rivalry.
After their defeat at Chasronea, the Athenians, fearful of being befieged, began to repair their walls. Demofthenes ad- vifed the meafure, and was charged with the execution of it. In this office he ac- quitted himfelf fo nobly that he furnifhed from his private fortune, a confiderable fum for this patriotic purpofe. Gtefiphon de- manded of the Athenians that they fhould honor him with a crown of gold as a reward of his generofity. The decree pafled, importing that the proclamation fhould be made in the theatre during the feftival of Bacchus, when all Greece was aflembled to behold the fpe&acle. jEf- chines had long been the enemy of
Demofthenes,
202 COMMENTARIES ON
Demofthenes, and the " Odium in longum jacens" gladly feized on the prefent favour- able occafion to difplay itfelf.
He was pofleffed of great talents, and a happy organization, which he had exer- cifed ^very early in life, having been bred up a comedian. But he had alfo a venal foul, and was one of the J many orators who had bartered his independence for money.
< The prefent accufation of iEfchines turned on three points of law.
That no citizen charged with any admi- niftration fhould be crowned, and that Demofthenes had been charged with the expence of the public fpe&acles, and the reparation of the walls.
That a decree of coronation carried by the fenate fhould not be proclaimed elfe- where than in the fenate itfelf, whereas that of Ctefiphon ought to have been proclaimed according to its tenor in the theatre.
That the decree imported that the crown was to be given to Demofthenes. for the
fervices
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 20$
fervices which he had rendered to the ftate, while, on the contrary, Demofthenes had done nothing but injury to the ftate.
Notwithftanding the brilliant eloquence of iEfchines, we difcern every moment the feeblenefs of his arguments, and the arti- fice of his falfehoods. He gives a forced fenfe to all the laws he cites, and a malig- nant interpretation of all the a&ions of his adverfary. He accufes him of every thing in which he is himfelf culpable ; he re- proaches him with being fold to Philip, whofe penfioner he himfelf is, and the more he feels the defe&s of his proofs, the more he accumulates his expreffions of calumny and detra&ion.
iEfchines begins by infifting upon the religious veneration which all men ought to have for the laws of their country, and particularly in a free ftate. This is the bafis of his exordium, and he treats it with that noble gravity which becomes the fubjedt. We may pafs over the juridical part of the oration, and come to that Yfhere iEfchines flatters himfelf with the 1 poffeffion
204 COMMENTARIES ON
poffeffion of the vantage ground, namely, the bad fuccefs of the war, and the delin- quency of the orator who had advifed it. Here he exerts all his abilities to make Demofthenes unpopular and odious. He invokes the fhades of thofe citizens who had fallen, and furrounds him with their avenging manes, forming them around him as a rampart from which he thinks it im- poflible for him to efcape.
The world are too often guided in their opinions of men and things, by the impro- per criterion of events. * But fo far were the Athenians from imputing their mif- fortunes to the advifer of the war, that they had unanimoufly appointed him to the honor of pronouncing the funeral eulogy on the foldiers who had died in it, and to whom a monument had been raifed at the public expence. This appointment wras fo defirable, that many orators, and amongft them iEfchines, had been candidates to ob- tain it. From the two principal points which iEfchines treats in the latter part of his difcourfe, it is plainly fhewn what a
great
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 205
great* degree of terror the eloquence of Demofthenes infpired. For he endeavours to prefcribe to him the precife mode of his defence, and petitions the judges to oblige him to conform to the fame order as he had done in his accufation. Finally, he at- tempts to prove that Ctefiphon ought to defend himfelf ; and that, when in com- pliance with the ufual form, he Ihould fay, permit me to call Demofthenes to fpeak for me, that they mould from that mo- ment refufe to attend to him. The art of iEfchines here feems to defert him ; his demand was revolting to common fenfe, as well as to juftice, and could not be granted, Demofthenes, not Ctefiphon, had been the main objecl: of attack, and jEfchines was injudicious in a double view, both in al- lowing his fears of his rival to appear, and in pevfuading himfelf that the judges of Athens would deprive themfelves of the pleafure of hearing fo great an advocate in his own caufe.
But iEfchines well knew that misfortune, which exafperates a people, frequently
renders
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renders them unjuft, and is apt to excite refentment againft the innocent caufe of it. He thought it likely that he would fink under the weight of the public difafters, and that as events were all hoftile to him, he would not find an adequate apology in the purity of intention. He was befides amply furnifhed with all thofe common- place arguments which are fo powerful in aiding a weak caufe — the blood of fo many citizens fhed in the war, the devaftation of cities, the grief of families, which he details with all the infidioufnefs of art, the bitter- nefs of indignation, and the perfidy of hatred. Demofthenes was extremely wife, as well as fpirited, in refufing to purfue the plan of defence which the artifice of iEfchines had prefcribed to him, when he would have obliged him to anfwer firft to the infraction of legal forms. He well knew that the legal difcuflion, already too long in the fpeech of iEfchines, would ap- pear ftill more tedious by a repetition ; that k would refrigerate his exordium, weary and difguft his audience. It was his bufi-
nefs
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 207
nefs to prove that he deferved the crown, by placing before their eyes all that he had done for the ftate. The pi&ure he draws of his adminiftration, traced with all the glowing colours he poffefled, muft have tended to humiliate his adverfary, by ag- grandizing himfelf in the eyes of the Athenians, and placing his caufe in the mod favourable point of view. He well knew how to infinuate himfelf into the hearts of his hearers, by the delicate man- ner in which he bears teftimony in favour of his own conduct.
It is the Athenians who have done every thing; his thoughts, his refolutions, have always been theirs. His advice has always been in congfuity with their fentiments. Whence we may conceive to what degree he muft pleafe a people naturally vain, and how little furprizing it is, that he ob- tained all their fuffrages.
When he comes to the moft difficult part of the queftion, he thus addreffes iEfchines; " Unhappy man ! If it be the public difafters which have given you fuch auda- city,
2o3 COMMENTARIES ON
city, and which, on the contrary, you ought to lament, together with me, I chal- lenge you to exhibit a fingle inftance in which I have contributed to the misfor- tune. Wherever I have been ambaffador, have the envoys of Philip had any advan- tage over me ? No, never ; not in any place, neither in Theflaly, nor Thrace, nor Byzantium, nor Thebes, nor Illyri- cum. But that which I accomplimed by words, Philip overturned by force ; and you complain of me for thisv and do not blufh to demand of me an account of it. This fame Demofthenes whom you repre- fent to be fo feeble a man, you will have it, ought to have prevailed over the armies of Philip ; and with what ? with words 1 for I had only words to ufe : I had not the difpofal of the arms, nor the fortune of any one. I had no military command, and no one but you has been fo fenfelefs as to de- mand from me the reafon of it. But what could, wThat ought an Athenian orator to have done ? To fee the evil in its birth, to make others fee it, and that is what I
have
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 209
have done. To prevent as far as it was poC- fible the delays, the falfe pretences, the oppofition of interefts, the miftakes, the faults, the obftacles of every fpecies fo common amidft republics jealous of each other : and that is what I have doile. To oppofe to all thefe difficulties zeal, prompt- nefs, love of duty, friendfhip, concord : and that is what I have done. On any of thefe points, I defy any one to find me in fault ; and if they afk me how Philip has prevailed, all the world will anfwer for me : by his arms which have invaded every thing ; by his gold which has corrupted every thing. It was not in my power to combat either the one or the other ; I had neither treafures nor foldiers : but as far as was in my power, I dare fay this, I have conquered Philip — and* how ? by re. fufing his prefents, by refufing to be bri- bed. When a man allows himfelf to be bought, the buyer may fay that he has triumphed over him ; but he who lives in- corruptible, may fay that he has triumphed over the corrupter* So then as much as it
P depended
2IO COMMENTARIES ON
depended on Demofthenes, Athens has been vi&orious, Athens has been invin- cible."
This fpeech is the firft in point of orato- rical argumentation that ever was made ; we may think we ftill hear the acclama- tions which purfued it : nothing could refill . a genius of fuch force ; they do honor both to the head, and to the heart.
When Demofthenes deigns to come to the legal details, he deftroys in a few lines the ibphifms accumulated by iEfchines un- der the pretended violation of the laws in the form of the coronation, ordered by the decree of Ctefiphon. jEfchines had very adroitly feized that part which feemed favo- rable to him, and which he could not have done withotit catching at the words of the law. Demofthenes withdraws rapidly from a fubjeft which is dryly contentious, and roufes himfelf to new rhetorical argumen- tation. Having refuted the different points of accufation preferred againft him, he expofes the ftates of Greece at the mo- 4 ment
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 211
mcnt when he undertook the adminiftration of the public affairs ; the ambition, the intrigues of Philip, and the venality of orators fuch as iEfchines, who ferved that prince at the expence of their country. How nobly does he exprefs himfelf on the fubject of the war againft Philip, which he had been reproached with having advifed ! What a fublime ejaculation of patriot en- thufiafm, and how infignificant at the mo- ment does iEfchines appear when com- pared with him ! He recalls the recollec- tion of that terrible day when the news of the capture of Platsea was brought to Athens, which opened a paflage for Philip into Attica. The Athenians muft either have remained expofed to an invafion, or united themfelves with the Thebans, their ancient enemies.
We ought here to recoiled that the Greeks regarded the Macedonians as bar- barians, and that the different dates of Greece, though often divided amongft each other, thought themfelves bound by a fpecies of national confraternity to combat
p 2 every
212 COMMENTARIES ON
every thing that was not Grecian. It was not till after the reign of Philip, whofe in- fluence was fo powerful, and under Alex- ander, who caufed himfelf to be named generaliflimo of Greece againft the Per- fians, that the Macedonians mingled amongft the other Greek nations in the general league againft their common ene- mies. Demofthenes founds his peroration upon the honor which they had done him, in confiding to him the funeral eulogy of the citizens killed at Chaeronea. iEfchines had compelled him to this by making it a lubjedt of reproach ; and as he had himfelf vainly folicited the office, he draws from it an additional triumph for himfelf, and a new humiliation for his accufer.
It muft be confefled, that the profufion of perfonal allufions on both fides, appears at this day very objedionable ; but it was authorifed by the coarfenefs of republican manners, and at that period had its full effe<3.
An Athenian accufer could not exercife his talent without confiderable hazard ; for
unlefs
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unlefs a fifth part of the votes were with him, he was condemned to baniftiment. This happened to iEfchines '• having reti- red to Rhodes, where he opened a fchool of rhetoric, it is very remarkable, that his firft eflay was the recital of the two fpeeches which had caufed his condem- nation. It is difficult to conceive how he had the courage to read to his fcholars that of Demofthenes. It is not a crime to be lefs eloquent than another perfon, but how could he without a blufh confefs that he had been convicted of being a calumniator and a bad citizen ? When iEfchines had read the fpeech of Demofthenes, and the greateft applaufe was given to it, he very ingenuoufly exclaimed, " What would you have faid had you heard him deliver it ?" This accounts for the remarkable exclama- tion of Demofthenes, meaning that adtion is the fovereign quality, the firft, the fecond, and the third part of eloquence.
iEfchines wrote three orations, and nine . epiftles, the former only are extant. They
p 3 received
£14 COMMENTARIES ON
received the name of the graces, as the lat- ter did of the mufes.
The greateft part of the works of Demofthenes have for their objeft the roufing the indolence* of the Athenians, and arming them againft the artful ambi- tion of Philip. Under this name we may comprehend not only the four harangues which particularly bear the title of Philip- pics, but all thofe which refpedt the dis- putes of the Athenians with the " man of Macedcn," fuch as the three orations gene- rally called Olynthiacs, that on the propo- fal of peace to Philip, that which was made on the occafion of the letter of the fame prince, and that which is entitled * On the Cherfonefe."
In reafoning, and in emotion, confifts the eloquence of Demofthenes, No man has ever given to reafon more penetrating and inevitable weapons. Truth is in his hand a piercing dart which he throws with as much rapidity as force, and without ceafmg repeats his attack, His ftyle is
nervous
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 2IJ
nervous and bold, analogous to a foul free and impetuous. He rarely condefcends to add ornament to his thoughts. This care appears below him ; he only thinks of conveying them to the hearts of his hearers. In his rapid march he draws them whither- foever he pleafes, and that which diftin- guifhes him from all other orators is, that the attention he gains is to the object of which he treats, and not to himfelf. Of others, we fay they fpeak well ; of De- mofthenes, he is in the right. Sentiments and paffions conflitute the affe&ions of the foul — compaflion and vengeance, love and hatred, emulation and fhame, fear and hope, prefumption and humility; — in all thefe Demofthenes excels. He has not ufed the tender pathetic, becaufe his fub- je&s would not bear it ; but he has in a fuperior manner managed the vehement pathetic, which is peculiarly adapted to declamatory oratory. An orator mud be a logician, he mult feize the connexion and oppofition of ideas ; mark with precifion the main point of a difputed queftion, dif- p 4 cover
2l6 COMMENTARIES GN
cover the mazes in which it has been invol- ved ; define his terms, apply the principle to the queftion, and the confequences to the principle, and then break the threads of fophiftry, in which perfidy would en- tangle ignorance. All thefe powers be- longed to Demofthenes, the moft terrific vrarrior that ever ufed the armour of words. When he attacks his adverfary, it is Entellus driving Dares from one fide of the arena to the other.
ei Praecipitemque Daren ardens agit sequore toto " Creber utraque manu pulfat verfatque Dareta."
This great man had governed Athens by his oratory for twenty years ; the conteft therefore between him and ijifchines was a deadly one, for in Athens and Rome banifhment was confidered as a fort of capital punifhment. Whilft he had there- fore on one fide his mortal enemy, and on the other his affembled country, the one ■yvhiph outraged, the other, which honored him, his foul muft have been elevated by all the fentiments of national grandeur, and
warme4
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 21J
warmed by all the emotions of perfonal indignation.
Thoroughly to underftand the impor- tance attached to the character of an orator, we fliould know that it was a fpecies of jnagiftracy, and conveyed fo much power to Demofthenes, that Philip faid, of all the Greeks, he feared only him. His temperament was naturally melancholy, and this gave him a ferioufnefs and feve- rity of manner, which much contributed to heighten the eftimation of his moral character. It was this which produced a boldnefs that would declare itfelf fo loudly againft Philip, and againft Alexander the conqueror of the world. Demofthenes always treats them with a haughtinefs which kings have never experienced from any other individual, who had no autho- rity but what was derived from his reputa- tion, no power but what depended on his eloquence.
Atticifm is faid to confift in a perfe&
purity of language, an entire freedom from
plj affeftation, in a certain noble fimplicity,
I which
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which ought to have the air of converfa- tion, although much more dignified and elevated. In all thefe qualities Demo- fthenes excelled. He had received from na- ture a vaft and elevated genius, and a cou-* rage and application which nothing could ever check. When accompliftied with all the knowledge requifite to his profeffion, he placed himfelf for the practical part of it under the care of the beft aftors on the theatre, who, by their recitation of verfes from Sophocles and Euripides, convinced him of what importance pronunciation is to eloquence. Hence he acquired, in addi- tion to his native vehemence, fo animated an exterior, that his hearers felt to the bot- tom of their hearts the effect of his action. Longinus fays of him that he does not , fucceed in moderate movements, that he wants flexibility, and has a certain degree of harfimefs, which knows not how to manage pleafantry. It was for the fublime that Demofthenes was born : nature and ftudy had given him every thing that could conduce to this. He united all thofe qua- lities
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 2I<)
lities which conftitu.te the great orator ; a tone of majefty, a vehemence, a richnefs of endowments, addrefs, rapidity, and vigor in the higheft degree,
Valerius Maximus reports that he had a piercing vivacity in his eyes, which had a wonderful effect in rendering his counte- nance menacing and terrible. That he could give an inflexion to his voice, a tone to his words, an air to his whole perfon, which riveted the attention and com- manded the admiration of all who heard him.
Dionyfius Halicarnaflus makes it evi- dent, that Demofthenes fometimes imitates him, and copies thofe qualities which neither Lyfias nor Ifocrates could boaft, as that vehemence and ardour, roughnefs and acrimony which give fpirit and force to oration, and are wonderfully fuccefsful in raifing the paffions ; and that he entirely avoids his obfeurity, uncommon phrafes, prepofterous figures, and irregular arrange- rnent of periods. That he retains only what is ufeful and intelligible j his fliort,
abrupt,
220 COMMENTARIES ON
abrupt, and pungent fentences ; his euthy- memes which are of admirable ufe in ora- tory, when properly introduced. Of all uninfpired writers, he is certainly the firft mafter of the fublime.
Cicero, having complimented the other Grecian orators, fays, Demofthenes unites in himfelf the purity of Lyfias, the fpirit of Hyperides, the fweetnefs of ^Efchines, and in power of thought and movement of difcourfe, he is above them all ; in a word, we can imagine nothing more divine.
This all-accomplifhed orator was de- fended of very low parents, his father having been only a blackfmith. He was born about three hundred and eighty-two years before Chrift. Having loft his pa- rents when he was young, he fell into the hands of tutors who, through negligence or parfimony, took no care of his educar tion. His mother feconded this negled by a falfe tendernefs to her fon. He was indeed of a delicate conftitution, which would not permit his being much prefled by ftudy : fo that at the age of fixteen, the
period
CLASSICAL LEARNING, 221
period fixed for the learning of rhetoric inftead of placing him under Ifocrates, who then had the higheft reputation, they fent him to the rhetorician Ifseus, where the expence was kfs ; and in whofe fchool he learned thofe bad habits, of which after- wards he took fuch pains to divert him- felf.
This circumftance accounts for the ne- glect of his early education, but he after- wards became the pupil and ftudied the works of the beft preceptors. The fortune acquired by his father in trade enabled him to place himfelf under their care, and the acquirements he derived from them gave him the power of exhibiting the firft fruits of his education in an eloquent and fuccefsful fpeech againft his guardians, who had embezzled his eftate. The difficulties he laboured under from nature and from habit, and the means he ufed to remove them, are too commonly known to need repetition, but it may be an encouragement to thofe who have fimilar defers, whether natural or acquired, to be reminded that he
got
±2t COMMENTARIES ON
got the better of an hefitation in his fpeech by reciting with pebbles in his mouth ; of diftorted features, by fpeaking before a mirror ; and that he ftrengthened a weak voice by running up the fteepeft hills, and, by declaiming aloud on the fea fhore, taught himfelf to brave the tumult of a popular affembly. Hence the eloquence which wras natural to Cicero, was the effect of much perfonal exertion in Demofthenes- This was inftigated by the moft laudable ambition of becoming an orator ; this it was that enabled him to vanquifli the bad inclinations of an age which pants only fof pleafure, although he lived in a city aban- doned to delicacy and debauchery. Still he found it neceffary for a time to retire from the buftle of the world, and having fliaved one half of his head, that a fenfe of decen- cy might compel him to be invifible, he applied himfelf entirely to the ftudy of eloquence. His paffion for the acquifition of this art, was firft excited by the applaufe which he faw given to Calliftratus in a caufe lie pleaded, and from that moment
it
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 223
it was the increafing objed of his contem- plation and defire.
It has indeed been faid that the firmnefs of Demofthenes £b long immoveable, his difintereftednefs fo long fuftained, at length was found to faulter ; that, having for fome time elevated his voice againft the tyranny of Alexander, with the fame vehemence aa he had attacked Philip, he in the end allowed himfelf to be bribed ; that twen- ty talents and a golden vafe induced him to feign illnefs that he might not mount the roftrum ; and that this diflionorable conduct loft him the affe&ions of the peo- ple, and compelled him to leave Athens as a banifhed man : Dinarchus, a venal orator, was his acculer. But Paufanias treats the charge as a calumny ; and it is fair to doubt the report, fince his end, in the eye of an heathen the moft courageous and laudable, appears a complete refutation of it. Returned to Athens after the death of Alexander, he did not ceafe to declaim againft the tyranny of the Macedonians until Antipater their king had obtained fuch
power,
224 COMMENTARIES ON
power, as enabled him to feize all thd orators who declared themfelves his ene- mies.
Demofthenes attempted flight, but, find- ing himfelf in danger of being captured by his purfuers, he had recourfe to poifon, which he always carried with him, as an antidote againft a difgraceful death. Taking the cup in the prefence of Archias, who prefled him to yield to the conqueror of Greece, he faid, " Tell your mailer that Demofthenes will owe nothing to the ty- rant of his country." Thus perifhed this great man at the age of fixty.
As feveral reafons concurred to give a decided pre-eminence to the poetry of the Greeks, fo the inftitutions of Athens exci- ted the talents of the orator, and called every one who diftinguifhed himfelf in that tranfcendent art to places of diftin&ion. They occupied them in the government of their country, and rivalry and praife were the incitement and the reward of genius and of learning. Greece was in the envied polfeffion of the moft tuneable language the
world
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 1Z$
world has ever known ; and the diale&s gave a grace and variety, a force and em- phafis to the expreffion of the fpeaker, in vain attempted amidft the poverty of mo- dern tongues.
In refleding on the productions of the ancients, the poet and the orator of modern times will be led to confider the advan- tages which the former had to boaft both in point of climate, language, and political arrangements. Thefe confiderations will not prevent the moft vigorous efforts of in- genious minds to a laudable although hopelefs competition, and may at once fur- nifh them with a fubjed of defpair and confolation.
256 COMMENTARIES ON
SECTION VIII.
On the Grecian Hiftorians.-^C admits. — Hecataus. — Hero* dotus.—Thucidydes. — Xenophon. — Polybius. — Diodorus Siculus. — Dionyfius of HalicarnaJJ'us.—Appian. — Ar- rian.—Dion Cajfius. — Herodian.
.History feems in its origin to have been only a colle&ion of fimple fadts entrufted to oral tradition and engraven on the memory by the affiftance of poetry, or elfe recorded by public monuments calculated to perpetuate the remembrance of impor- tant events.
It has been frequently committed to the durable memorials of brafs and ftone, of ftatues and medallions. Of the latter, a great number have efcaped the ravages of time ; and have not only gratified the cu- riofity of the antiquary, but enabled men of laborious and ufeful refearch to clear
up
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 227
tip difputed points of hiftory and to efta- blifli the epochs of the remoteft ages.
The early writers were compelled by their education and other circumftances to confine their hiftory to the account of a fingle city or ftate, becaufe they were igno- rant of the fituation of the different nations of the world. Above five hundred years before Chrift, Cadmus wrote an account of the antiquities of Miletus the capital of Ionia, his native country; and Hecataeua his countryman, ventured to extend his views to Egypt, and to throw a ray of light on geography by his defcription of the earth. But thefe topographers were not deferving the name of hiftorians ; and their reputation, whatever it might have been, was loft in the blaze of glory which ftiortly after their day furrounded the great father of hiftory.
Herodotus was born about four hundred
and eighty-four years before Chrift at
Halicarnaflus in Caria. The troubles of
his country firft brought him into Greece^
0^2 where
228 COMMENTARIES OK
where his talents obtained him a welcome reception.
It is to him we are indebted for the lit- tle we know of the ancient dynafties of the Medes, Perfians, Phoenicians, Lydians, Greeks, Egyptians, and Scythians. He had the merit of conne&ing the events of time and place, and forming one regular whole from a number of detached parts. The Greeks acknowledged their high obli- gations to him, for unfolding to them the hiftory of the then known world for two hundred and forty years. He fhewed them nations jealous and difquiet, difunited by intereft yet conne&ed by the alliances produced in times of war, fighing for liber- ty and groaning under tyranny. When he read publicly at the Olympic games his account of the bloody contefts between the Perfians and the Greeks from Cyrus to Xerxes, compofed in his thirty-ninth year^ his veracity receives an atteftation from the high honor which was given to him at this great afTembly of the Greeks. The name ** of
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 229
of one of the mufes was beftowed on each of his nine books by his contemporaries* and will be attached to them as long as the writings of the hiftorian (hall exift.
" His eager country, in the Olympic vale
Throngs with proud joy to catch the martial tale. Behold where Valour, reiting on his lance, Drinks the fweet found in rapture's filent trance : Then with a grateful fhout of loud acclaim, Hails the juft herald of his country's fame."
Hayley.
Herodotus has frequently been accufed of neglecting that fincerity which is the higheft merit of an hiftorian, to record the marvellous and incredible. Such accufa- tions may probably be in a great meafure repelled. The moderns are too apt to doubt every thing which is contrary to their expe- rience, and to impute to Greek hiftorians a defire of gratifying their countrymen in their eager love for whatever was connect- ed with novelty or with fable. The de- fcriptions given of Egypt by Herodotus, have frequently been verified by travellers in points where he was difcredited ; and it <L3 fhould
2$0 COMMENTARIES ON
fhould always be obferved, that where he receives his account from others, he does not vouch for their authenticity but re- ports only that he had heard. This parti- cularly applies to thofe incidents which relate to the Aflyrians and Medes and to the earlier part of the Egyptian hiftory.
Some errors have certainly been detected and expcfed by Ctefias, who was phyfician to Artaxerxes at Sufa, refpe&ing Affyria and Perfia, but of whom only fragments femain.
Plutarch has fpoken with difrefpeft of
Herodotus ; but be it recolle&ed that he
was a Theban, and that his countrymen.
had abandoned the caufe of Greece and
become the auxiliaries of Xerxes. It was
a difgrace which could only be effaced by
arraigning the truth of the hiftorian who
recorded it* The ftory which concerned
all Greece, all Greece in a public affem-
bly declared to be true ; ^nd honored the
reciter of it, with a more public and
fplendid encomium than any other writer
pan boaftf
Such
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 2^1
Such were the fentiments of his contem- poraries ; and to the lateft posterity, he has conveyed an account of the moft cele- brated country in the world and ren- dered intelligible the relations of its poets.
It has perhaps with more grounds been faid, that if we look for clear method, deep refledion, or acute criticifm in this author, we fhall probably be difappointed. That though his relation of fads is inte- refting from its fimplicity, and his de- fcriptions are attradive by their vivacity j yet he does not dive deeply into charaders, nor form a corred judgment of political inftitutions. From an avidity of relating events, he does not flop to confider their caufes or juftly and accurately to beftow blame and approbation. Moral truths and common fads, fine fpeeches and bad adions, good laws and tyrannical edids, are tranfmitted in the fame manner, with- out any analyfis of charaders or of princi- ples j and the condud of men is defcribed 0^4 like
232 COMMENTARIES ON
like the vegetation of plants, without a fingle reflexion from the hiftorian.
But the ftyle of Herodotus is fo elegant, that Dionyfius declares him to be one o* thofe enchanting writers whom you read to the laft fyllable with pleafure and (till wifh for more : and his admirers contend, that he is fimple and unaflfedted in the choice of his words and that his metaphors approach to poetry; that no writer has more exadtly founded the depth of his own genius ; that he has no irregular fallies of wit, no turgid fwell of didtion, no tower- ing flights of imagination.
It is very eafy to perceive that he is an imitator of Homer. He refembles him in copioufnefs of invention, elegance ofphrafe; in fweetnefs, cafe, and perfpicuity ; and unlike all others, what he has imitated he has equalled. Theophraftus, that vene- rable Greek and candid critic, allows that he'firft introduced ornaments into the ftyle of hiftory, and carried the art of writing to perfe&ion.
The
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 233
The fpeech of Xerxes in the feventh book, has been refembled to that of Hec- tor when calling on his foldiers to burn the Grecian fhips. The tone of an arbi- trary prince who confiders mankind * as flaves, is exa&ly exprefled in the language of the hiflorian. *
" For the fake of Darius and the other Perfians, I will never ceafe till I take and burn Athens. For thefe reafons I am pro- voked to make war againft them. Thus will we extend the Perfian empire, till it have no confine but the Iky. The fun {hall fee no land adjacent to our domi- nions. I will traverfe all Europe, and reduce the whole earth under your fway."
The beautiful defcription of an eclipfe in the fame book, when Xerxes had lafhed the ocean for its difobedience and thrown a bridge over the Hellefpont, has been juft- ly compared to the darknefs fpread over the body of Patroclus.
'< In one thick darknefs all the fight was loft. The fun, the moon, and all the ethereal hoft
Seemed
2J4 COMMENTARIES ON
Seemed as extinct ; day ravifhed from their eye6 ; And all Heaven's fplendor blotted from the fides."
Another quotation has been made from the fame part of the work, in which the author evidently borrows an idea from Homer.
Artabanes the uncle of Xerxes tells him, that he is endowed with prudence but is led aftray by the converfation of wicked men.
" Juft as they fay, the breath of the winds falling on the fea, the moll ufeful of all things to mankind, hinders it from en- joying its own natural ftate."
The allufion is certainly a very beautiful one ; and well reprefents the fituation of a mind naturally tranquil, when agitated by the furious paflions of others.
The hiftorian in many other inftances borrows the figures, fentiments, and ex- prefTions, of the poet who will ever be left in the exclufive pofleffion of innumerable graces which are not attainable by any imitator.
But
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 235
But Herodotus was not only a poeti- cal, he was an oratorical hiftorian. Cicero, the beft judge of ftyle, confiders him in this light : and fays that no elo- quence ever pleafed him like his ; nothing fo alluring, fo gentle and fo ftrong, fo ravifhing and fo convincing. In Herodo- tus he finds nothing of that harihnefs that offends in many of the profe writers. The foft ftyle glides like the clear ftream of fome deep river, keeping its courfe unin- terruptedly along and every where alike. It is Cicero who gives him the honorable title of father of hiftory, not for his anti- quity but his excellence. To fo great an authority, the world will readily defer ; and when they obferve the futility of the ob- jections brought againft him, they will obferve that the waves of calumny dafli themfelves in pieces againft the jocks which they labour to undermine.
THUCIDTDES.
Thucidydes was only thirteen years younger than Herodotus, and defcended
from
3^6 COMMENTARIES ON
from one of the firft families in Athens, He was bred a foldier ; but having been prevented by Brafidas the Lacscdemonian general from relieving the befieged city of Amphipolis, he was punifhed by banifh- ment. At JEgina, a fmall ifland of the Peloponnefus, where he died at the age ©f fifty after a refidence of twenty years, he wrote his hiftory. His fondnefs for travel fbftained him in his misfortunes; and a large fortune brought him by his wife, enabled him to afce-tfain every thing con- nected with his defign. He ferved his country both by his fword and by his pen. As his appointments had acquainted him with the affairs of his own republic, his, exile opened to him thofe of the Lacedae- monians ; which to a writer at a diftance, party zeal would have obfcured. This circumftance fortunate for the world, ena- bled him to colled materials for the hiftory of the Peloponnefian war; of the greateft part of which he was an eye witnefs.
Of the twenty-feven years the term of
its duration* he has left the annals of
4 twenty-.
CLASSICAL LEARNING* Itf
twenty-one ; and the remainder were writ. ten by Xenophon.
No writer was ever better prepared to be an hiftorian by the combination of know- ledge and probity, than Thucidydes. The foldier, the ftatefman, and the philofo- pher, are difcoverable in his works.
They contain the precepts of wifdom he had learned from Anaxagoras, and the leC fons of eloquence he had received from the orator Antiphon. To thefe may be added an averfion to injuftice and a paffion for virtue. The excellence he attained, was the refult of early emulation ; for being prefent at the age of fifteen on the occa- fion when Herodotus recited his hiftory at the Olympic games, he was fo much affec- ted as to burft into tears.
It has been objected to him, that his ftyle is fo concife as to be obfcure and harih, and that he ufes both novel and obiblete words ; that his language is unpolifhed, and the ftru&ure of his fentences pre- pofterous.
Dionyfius
2^8 COMMENTARIES Otf
Dionyfius Halicarnaffenfis finds many faults in him, with a view of giving the fuperiority to his countryman Herodotus ; he fays that he obferves no connection, and falls into a drynefs of ftyle which renders his difcourfes hard and fettered. His panegyrifts declare, that thejuftnefsand dignity of his fentiments when after re- peated perufals they are underflood, re- quite the pains which are required for the difcovery ; that the narrative part, is a model worthy of imitation.
The debate between the ambafTadors of Corinth and Athens in the firft book, is managed in a clear and elegant manner. The troubles of Corcyra, gave the hiftorian an opportunity of making a digreffion on the factions which arife in a ftate and the diforders which enfue. His reflections on the fubjedt, are worthy the particular at- tention of politicians, legiflators, and ftatef- men. His defcription of the plague at Athens, has been imitated by the beft of the Latin poets and extolled by every reader 9 of
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 239
of learning and of tafte. Lucretius bor- rows copioufly from it in his fixth book ; Virgil both in his third JEneid and third Georgic ; and Ovid and Statius have had it in their view. Thucidydes aims rather at the fublimity of Pindar, than at the fimplicity of Homer. The admirable fpeech which Pericles makes in the firft book when he advifes the Athenians to go to war, exhibits fentiments of greatnefs and elevation. 4< Let us not regret the lofs of our lands and cduntry houfes, let us regret the lofs of our liberty. We were not made for our eftates, but our eftates for us. I fear our own vices, more than all the advantages of our enemies. Great and perilous enterprizes alone conftitute glory and reputation."
But the funeral oration of the fame fpeaker in the fecond book, appears to contain every beauty of which the fub- je£t is capable. Ifocrates imitated it in his panegyric, and Plato in his Menexe-
J1US,
When
24° COMMENTARIES OK
When he fpeaks of the manners and government of Athens, he fays, " Our ftate is popular, becaufe its end is the pub- lic good, not the aggrandifement of indivi- duals ; and honor is not given to birth, but to merit. We love politenefs without loving luxury ; and we apply ourfelves to the ftudy of 'philofophy, without abandon- ing ourfelves to that effeminacy of idlenefs which is the ordinary companion of this ftudy. We only efteem riches for their life; and do not think it a reproach to be poor, but not to do that which muft be done to avoid poverty."
The politenefs of the Athenians, is -well oppofed to the Spartan roughnefs and feve- rity. Of the former he fays, u We re- frefh the mind with frequent recefles from labour, by our annual feftivals and games and our elegant entertainments in private. Thefe pleafures thus frequently renewed, expel all melancholy.
" Pindar fays, that joy is the beft phyfi- cian to labour, the wife fongs of the Mufe fweeten our toils."
Of
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 24I
Of his countrymen he obferves :
" Our brave and noble deeds are fo many illuftrious proofs of our power, and will make us the admiration of the prefent and future ages. We want no Homer to found our praifes ; our courage has opened to us a paffage through every land and fea, and we have every where erected eternal monuments of our hoftility or beneficence. By giving their bodies to the public, they have procured to themfelves immortal praife.
" The whole earth is a monument to illuftrious men ! The infcription on a do- meftic tomb is not the only teftimony of their virtue; but even in remote nations, the memory of their glorious a&ions is engraven more deeply on the hearts of men, than on the marble at home.,,
" Fortune," fays Pindar, " often wrefts from brave men their glory. You know the fate of Ajax, who, when fupplanted by the corrupt arts of his inferior, fell upon his fword. But Homer by his divine poetry, has made all mankind honor and admire
R hi*
2^2 Commentaries on
his virtues ; the immortal Mafe goes on fublimely founding through all ages, and fpreads the unextinguillied fplendour of heroic deeds over the fruitful earth and boundlefs ocean."
Accuracy, impartiality and fidelity cha- radlerife Thucidydes, and no refentment againft the Athenians for their fevere treat- ment is evident in any part of his work. He mentions his banifhment but (lightly, and reprefents Brafidas, whofe glory eclipfed his own, as a man eminently great. His ftyle is ardent, rapid and bold. He deli- neates his fubjecT: with a few happy ftrokes, and leaves much to the imagination of the reader. The following is the comparifon made between him and the hiftorian of Halicarnaffus by Quintilian.
" Thucidydes is compreffed, brief, and always equal to himfelf. Herodotus, fweet, clear, and diffufe ; the former great in ex- citing the vehement, the other the fofter affections ; that in animated fpeeches, this in calmer ones ; that in force, this in beau-
ty."
Herodotus
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 243
Herodotus certainly had a higher fub- jedt, for it included all that was great in Europe and Afia, amongft the Greeks and the Barbarians. It has been faid that his great defire to pleafe made him fometimes deviate from truth. Without deciding a queftionable point, it may be aflerted that his character was deftitute of that folidity and love of labour which are requifite to a faithful hiftorian.
In thefe refpe&s, and in many others, Thucidydes had the advantage. Attach- ment to truth appears in him a fettled and religious principle, and his piety is a pro- minent feature in his works.
In the feventh book, fpeaking of a vir- tuous but unfortunate General, he fays, " Thus perifhed Nicias, who of all thofe of his time was leaft worthy to perifh in that manner on account of his having always been attached to the fervice of the gods."
Marcellinus, who has left a fragment of his life, afferts that he was defcended from the blood royal of Thrace, and that Mil* tiades and Cimon, two illuftrious generals
k 2 of
244 COMMENTARIES ON
of Athens, were numbered amongft his anceftors. A confcioufnefs of noble birth might probably tend to infpire him with thofe high fentiments of honor and dignity for which he is confpicuous almoft above every ancient writer. Cicero fays of him, " that he furpaffes in noblenefs of ftyle, and in the art of eloquence, all thofe who have written ; he is fo full of great fenti- ments, that the number of his thoughts almoft equals that of his words, and he is fo accurate and concife in what he fays, that it is difficult to determine if he moft adorn things by words, or words by things. That he has a dignity of mind, a force of imagination, a vigour of language, a depth of reafoning, a clearnefs of conception, ima- gery, colours, and expreffions, of which all .the other Greek hiftorians are deftitute."
Thefe are not the endowments of nature only, but partly the acquifitions of ftudy. His biographer accordingly tells us, that lie attached himfelf to an excellent pre- ceptor, Prodieus of the ille of Cos, for the exatt choice of terms, and to Gorgias
9 Leontinus
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 245
Leontinus for order and arrangement; that he learned perfuafion of Socrates, and formed himfelf on the model of Pindar for the fublime.
To an inftitution fo perfed, was added the great advantage which is always de- rived from a noble emulation. The ap- plaufe acquired by Herodotus was a daily incentive to his induftry, and excitement to his genius. He flood upon the moulders of the giant and took in a wider field of obfervation. He marked his excellencies and defeats, and, difdaining to be a fervile copier, he merited the praife of a judicious critic.
He confidered Herodotus as having undertaken too extenfive a fubjecT:, and determined to avoid a fimilar error ; he thought him a cold narrator of fads, and to that we owe the eloquence he difplays. He cenfured his hiftory as prolix, and willingly facrificed fome beauties to con- cifenefs. The Attic dialed of Thucidydes was appropriated to fire and fpirit, to dig- nity and elevated fentiments, as the Ionic
r 3 of
246 COMMENTARIES ON
of Herodotus was to all the fofter ones. Thucidydes works upon the paffions ; Herodotus entertains the fancy rather than captivates the heart. The one is an ora- torical, the other a poetical hiftorian.
Thucidydes derived many advantages from an intimate acquaintance with So- crates, Plato, Critias, Alcibiades, Pericles, and all the other great men of an age the mod polilhed that the Greeks had known. This circumftance tended to fill his mind with fuch great ideas and found principles as were eminently ufeful both to the man and to the hiftorian. Learned as he was, he knew the world ftill better than books ; he had deeply ftudied mankind, and could penetrate to the mod hidden receffes of the heart. He could trace the effects of rivalry, jarring interefts and paffions ; and from thence he draws thofe lively, ardent, pathe- tic defcriptions with which he embellifhes his work. From thence he takes his nar- ration of battles, fieges, warlike expeditions, and all thofe agitations which happen in republics. From this fruitful fource, the
knowledge
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 247
knowledge of human manners, he repre- fents every thing naturally and corre&ly, and by an irrefiftible eloquence commands the attention of his readers. He was in- deed completely eloquent before Ariftotle had written rules for the art. His ftyle is the image of his mind ; the one ferious and dignified, the other manly, vigorous, and replete with that force and energy which diftinguifh him from all other authors. His high notion of the fublime rendered him inattentive to trifling matters, which revolts the prudifh grammarian. He difregarded change of tenfes, numbers and perfons, provided he could infert more warmth and vehemence into his di&ion. If his narration be not always connected, the error proceeds lefs from the nature of his difpofition than from that of his fubjeS: the war had no fettled principle ; the campaigns were not formed by preconcerted regula- tions; all paffed tumultuoufly according to the movement of the oppofing interests and pafTions of thofe who waged it. If the ufe of hiflory be to give inftru&ion
R 4 under
248 COMMENTARIES ON
under the form of examples, where is this to be found fo well as in Thucidydes, who affords a feries of moral leflbns fuited to the % greateft perfons, and delivered in the great- eft manner. The natural dignity of hi9 way of thinking, and his judicious applica- tion of rhetorical figures, give at the fame time weight and fplendour to his fenti- ments. Sound reafoning and exa£t judg-* ment complete the whole of his literary chara&er. Trifling errors are to be par- doned where there is fo much of excellence; the brighteft fire is occafionally clouded by fmoke, the lovelieft landfcape is fometimes intercepted by vapour.
XENOPHOK
About four hundred and forty-nine years before the chriftian aera, Athens boafted the birth of this elegant hiftorian. In the fchool of Socrates he acquired all thofe martial talents, domeftic virtues, and philo- sophical endowments which diftinguilhed a" life protra&ed to the extraordinary age of
ninety.
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 249
ninety. The teftimonies he has left accord with the appellation beftowed upon him. by his countrymen : they called him the Attic Bee ; and from the fvveetnefs of his ftyle he appears to have well deferved the title.
He added feven books to the hiftory of Thucidydes, wrote an account of the life and actions of Cyrus the Great, and of the retreat of the ten thoufand Greeks, whom, after the defeat and fall of their leader, he conducted home in a perilous march of eighteen hundred miles, with a refolu- tion and fagacity which have never been excelled. ,
A modern poet thus chara&erifes him :
* O rich in all the blended gifts that grace Minerva's darling fons of Attic race ; The fage's olive, the hillorian's palm, The victor's laurel, all thy name embalm. Thy fimple diction, free from glaring art, With fweet allurements fleals upon the heart, Pure as the rill that Nature's hand refines, Clear as thy harmony of foul it mines."
Hay-ley.
While
250 COMMENTARIES ON
While the foldier has always admired his talents in conducting, and the fcholar in defcribing the retreat^ the philofopher and ftatefman have alike been delighted with his charming work of the inftitution of Cyrus. His contemporaries regarded him with veneration, and Scipio and Lu- cullus perufed him with avidity. He had the charms of Attic eloquence, with a Spartan foul. When he wras facrificing to the god, his head crowned with flowers, meffengers arrived to tell him that his fon was killed in the battle of Mantinea ; he took up the chaplet and burfl into tears: but when they added that his fon, fighting to the laft breath, had mortally wounded the general of the enemy, he re-affiimes his chaplet ; " I knew," faid he, " that my fon was mortal, and his glory ought to con- fole me for his death."
When the work of Thucidydes fell into his hands, he not only ingenuoufly publifhed it, but himfelf added the tranf- a&ions of the war fubfequent to the period
where
CLASSICAL LEARNING. %$ I
where the former had left it. This con- tinuation is come down to us under the name of the Hellenica.
The Cyropsedia has frequently been called a romance. The objecT: of the writer was probably to pleafe the elder Cyrus, by defcribing the character of an accomplished prince ; and many converfations and fome events are imaginary. But truth is ftill blended with fiction, as in the account of the capture of Babylon, which was a real event. His imitations of Homer may be traced by the mod carelefs reader. The decifive battle in the feventh book betwixt Cyrus and the AfTyrians has traits of {hik- ing refemblance with many of the combats in the Iliad.
The Hiftorian obferves, that
" In that quarter of the army there was a great flaughter of men, a great noife of clafhing arms and darts, great cries of the combatants, fome calling on others, fome exhorting, fome invoking the gods.
The
252 COMMENTARIES ON
The poet fings,
" Now fhieid with fhield, with helmet helmet clofed ; To armor armor, lance to lance oppofed. Victors and vanquifhed join promifcuous cries, And fhrilling fhouts and dying groans arife."
Pope*
In the fourth book, Xenophon fhews himfelf mafter of the pathetic, where he introduces Gobrias recounting to Cyrus the murder of his fon by the Aflyrian prince, to which cruel deed he had been incited by his envy of him as a fuperior markfman.
" My only fon, O Cyrus ! beautiful and virtuous, who loved and honored me with fuch a filial tendernefs and refpecT:, as made a father happy ;— this fon the pre- fent king deprived of life, plunging a fpear into the bofom of my dear and only child; and I, unhappy man, carried home a dead body inftead of a bridegroom, and at this age buried this excellent and darling fon, murdered in the bloom of life."
In
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 253
In the expedition of the younger Cyrus, being himfelf a principal actor, his imagi- nation is much more vivid, and his didtion much more ornamented.
When he defcribes his* countrymen rufh- Ing to the battle, he fays, " As they pro- ceeded, when any part of the phalanx by their quick advance outftripped the reft, making the line fwell out like a billow^ thofe left behind began to run, and at the fame time an univerfal fhout was heard, fuch as is made in the exclamation to Mars."
At the beginning of the third book, when many of the generals had fallen victims to the treachery of Tiflfaphernes, the reflections of the army on their wretch- ed fituation, throws them into a ftate bor- dering on defpair. " Few tafted meat that night, few kindled fires ; many neglected the duty of the camp; every man threw himfelf down, but was unable to fleep through grief and regret at the lofs of his country, parents, wife and children." This has been well refembled to the perplexity
of
2J4 COMMENTARIES ON
of Agamemnon in the ninth and tenth Iliad, after the defeat of the Grecians :
*' Now o'er the fields, dejected, he furveys
From thoufand Trojan fires the mounting blaze, Hears in the pafiing wind their muiic blow, And marks diftinct the voices of the foe. Now looking backward to the fleet and coaft, Anxious he for rows for the endangered hofi. He rends his hairs in facrifice to Jove, And fues to him that ever lives above. Inly he groans, while glory and defpair Divide his heart, and wage a doubtful war."
Perhaps however the moft interefting, certainly the moft celebrated, part of the Anabafis is that where the author defcribes the exultations of joy in the Grecian army on their firft difcovery of the fea, the firft harbinger of a fafe return to their coun- try.
" A great fhout was raifed at the fight of fo welcome an object ; Xenophon, alarmed, for he commanded in the rear, the poll of danger and of honor, mounts a horfe, and rides up with ibme other officers to enquire into the caufe of this tumul- tuous noife ; and immediately they hear the
foldiers
CLASSICAL LEARNING. Z$$
foldiers crying, the fea ! the fea ! and con- gratulating one another."
The beautiful words of the original lan- guage are an inftance in which the found is an echo to the fenfe.
Thefe natural effufiohs of furprize and of delight affed the reader with the moft lively fympathy, fuch as a laboured de- fcription would vainly have endeavoured to excite.
Xenophon was more captivated by the ftyle of Herodotus than by that of Thuci- dydes, and there are many paffages in which he has imitated him. The ancient orators and hiftorians ufed that figure in rhetoric the moft freely, which bed ac- corded with their difpofition. Thucidydes has frequently recourfe to the hyperbaton, becaufe his prevailing qualities wrere force and fpirit. In Xenophon the metaphor is moft confpicuous, becaufe his character was eale and fimplicity. " The Graces," fays Quintilian, " formed his ftyle, and the goddefs of Perfuafion dwelt upon his lips/' 2 Befides
2$6 COMMENTARIES ON
Befides fweemefs, Xenophon has alfo variety of language equally adapted to great occafions and to familiar dialogues. The chain of his compofition feems to have been formed at once, and difpofed link by link with perfect regularity. It always has the fame lucid order, the pro- duction of a clear head, and always con- veys the fame amiable fentiments, the offspring of an upright heart. The num- ber of fpeeches in the writings of this hiftorian feems to be his greateft defedt. They are very numerous in Thucidydes, but they are not too numerous becaufe they are fo fpirited. They abound in H rodo- tus, but their elegance fecures them from criticifm. The fimplicity of Xenophon renders them tedious and dull, when intro- duced on trivial occafions $ but when a proper one occurs, he yields not to any adept in declamation ; as when Cyrus re- commends unanimity in an army. His dying fpeech to his fons alfo is not more remarkable for its good fenfe, than for its eloquence,
la
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 2$*}
In his attempts at wit he generally fails. The effufions of fancy and imagination are ftriking when they are unpremeditated ; but he whofe conception is flow and labour- ed, can never expect a happy delivery.
His philofophy appears in his account of the memorable a&ions and fayings of Socrates, and in his apology for that divine man.
His fentiments on the fubje<3: of death, were the fame with thofe of his preceptor, whom he nearly refembled in all the quali- ties of his mind ; but to Plato he was a ri- val and an enemy.
No writer was ever more rationally reli- gious : Herodotus had a refpecT: for forms, Xenophon for the eflence. He always treats the fubjecT: in a manner fo awful and folemn, as fhews it to be the venera- tion of the heart.
If his ftyle fometimes appear cold, it h always pure : if his works feem deficient in bufinefs and in buftle, they are always re- plete with inftrudion : if the ftory be dull, .
s it
258 COMMENTARIES ON
it contains a fober and ufeful leffon of morality.
His general excellence will excufe, though it may tend to difcover a few tri- fling defedts ; as the fmalleft flaws are moft eafily diftinguifhable in the brighteft dia- monds.
It is unpleafant to refledt on the number of authors in every department of learning, of whom little more has reached pofterity than either their mere names, or a few fragments which ferve but to excite regret at the deftru&ion of their labours.
Learning indeed has been a veflel tofled and fhattered in a tempeftuous ocean, and we are too apt to prize every piece of wreck which has been caft upon the fhore^ however trivial and ufelefs. Many hifto- rians who lived between the time of Xeno- phon and Polybius are in this predicament ; and ifTheopompus the difciple of Ifocrates obtained a prize for the beft funeral oration in honor of Maufolus, when his mafter was his competitor j Quintilian, who places
him
CLASSICAL LEARNING, 2$g
him next to Herodotus and Thucidydes, muft have had a far more certain criterion to decide his merit, than pofterity can boaft in the fcanty relics of his works. That Philiftus was a perfpicuous, and Ephorus a voluminous writer ; or that the genius of Clitarchus was lefs queftionable than his veracity, are fa£ts which we can know only by teftimony : nor can we ap- preciate either their abftra£t or comparative deferts, fince the violence or the accidents of time have left them only the " bafelefs fabric of a vifion."
POLTBIUS.
Polybius was born at Megalopolis in Peloponnefus, about two hundred years be. fore Chrift. He poffefled advantages which few perfons can boaft ; for his father was not only a man of rank and family, but a general and a ftatefman. The advantages he derived from thefe fortunate circumftances, gave a colour to every incident of his life.
s z From
26o COMMENTARIES ON
From his youth he was inftrudted in the fcience of politics, and his education was as finifhed a one as an anxious and accom- plished parent could make it. He attended his father when he went ambaflador to Egypt ; and his diligence in acquainting him- felf with every thing refpedting that country, was a prelude to the confummate knowledge which he afterwards attained of the quarters of the globe which were then known.
His patriotifm difplayed itfelf in fighting againft the Romans as the enemies of his country; but when the defeat of Perfius ex- pofed that cowardly monarch to the derifion of his conqueror, Polybius was fpared the mortification of being dragged as a Have to adorn a triumph which his perfonal valour would have deferved.
True merit is always acknowledged by a generous enemy. The fatal battle of Pydna and the cowardice of his fugitive com- mander, left him a captive ; in which fituation he was conducted to Rome : yet Scipio and Fabius admired his virtues, and by every effort of honourable folicitation acquired his
friendfhip,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. l6l
friendfhip. His profeffion of a foldier was ftill dear to him, and the victor of Carthage eagerly fought the affiftance of thofe military talents of which he had long known the extent and the value.
The love of his country was unbounded, and he evinced it to the laft moment of his exiftence. When it became a province to Rome, his power and influence tended to confole and leffen its diftrefles ; and when Scipio was dead, he returned thither and pafled the remainder of his life, which ter- minated in the eighty-fecond year of his age by a fall from his horfe.
Whilft he lived amongft the Romans, fo conftant was his application to ftudy and fo fuccefsful was the refult of it, that he is faid not only to have made himfelf matter of their language, but to have become better acquainted with their laws than their own ftatefmen.
Such was his ardour after military know- ledge, that he traced every ftep of Hannibal's march over the Alps and every conquefl: of Scipio in Spain. His acquaintance at Rome,
s 3 the
262 COMMENTARIES ON
the beft and greateft men in the republic, refpeded and efteemed him ; Conftantine confulted him as an oracle of truth ; and the Greeks ereded ftatues to him as their friend and protector.
With thefe acquirements he wrote an univerfal hiftory in forty books, from the commencement of the fecond Punic war to the conqueft of Macedon by Paulus iEmilius ; an eventful period of fifty-three years. Of thefe, five books only are entire, with fragments of the fucceeding twelve.
Polybius is not eloquent like Thucidydes, nor poetical like Herodotus, nor perfpicuous like Xenophon. He gives us the firft rough draught of his thoughts, and feldom impofes on himfelf the trouble to arrange or me- thodize them. They are often vague and defultory, and not unfrequently deviate en- tirely from the fubjed.
His ftyle has no cadence, rhythm, or meafured harmony ; and by thefe defeds one of the nobleft hiftoriesis greatly injured : but his language only can be cenfured, for in the higher qualities of an hiftorian he has
no
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 263
no fuperior. A love of truth predominates in his writings, he has judgment to trace effedts to their caufes, he has knowledge of his fubje<3: drawn from every fource that could produce it, he has boldnefs of mind which prompts him to declare what he knew, and he has impartiality which forbids him to conceal it. His defcription of a battle has never been equalled ; and it muft gratify every military man whofe education enables him to perufe Polybius, to compare ancient with modern tadlics. On thefe occafions he exhibits all the warmth and vehemence in recital which diftinguifhed him in the field ; it is then evident, that he does not calmly and coldly relate what he had heard, but that he paints in vivid colours the fcenes he had witnefled. His writings have been admired by the warrior, copied by the politician, and imitated by the hif- torian. Brutus had him ever in his hands, Tully tranfcribed him, and many of the fined paflages of Livy are the property of the Greek hiftorian.
s 4 His
264 COMMENTARIES ON
His chara&er however is much depre* ciated by an imputation of atheifm, from which his panegyrifts have not been able to defend him. He declared the gods to be a fraudful invention, the offspring of priefts and politicians; and all religion he denomi- nated fuperftition. The fa£t is undeniable ; and it admits of no excufe, unlefs we fuppofe him fo difgufted w7ith the abfurdities of the popular creed, as to avert his eyes from thofe convincing arguments which every objecT: in creation afforded to the reflecting heathen for the exiftence of a deity,
DIODORUS SICULUS.
The few remaining Greek hiftorians are not confidered amongft the firft clafs of writers 5 and in eftimating the merit of their works, much allowance has been claimed for them on account of the declining ftate of the Greek language at the time they wrote.
Whether the effects refulting from this caufe be not exaggerated, may probably.be
difcerned
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 265
difcerned by a recurrence to their ftyle and manner ; and that may enable us to form a general judgment on the fubjed.
Diodorus Siculus was a native of Argyra in Sicily, and did not precede our Saviour quite half a century. Fifteen books are all that remain of forty, which contained an account of Egypt, Perfia, Syria, Media, Greece, Rome, and Carthage.
This extenfive work defcribes every im- portant event from the invafion of Xerxes to the year of the world 3650. Whoever wifhes fully to enjoy the ancient poets, mud firft be mafter of the ancient theology. In Diodorus is to be found the fabulous hiftory of Greece, the iuppofed creation of the world, and the whole fyftem of polytheifm. We muft have recourfe to him for informa- tion refpe&ing both Greeks and Barbarians, during the period of which he treats ; and when his relations fail to obtain the acqui- efcence of our minds, we fhould remember that like Herodotus he does not pledge Jiimfelf for their veracity.
He
266 COMMENTARIES ON
He had induftry, the firft merit of a compiler ; and he had judgment in fele&ing from books whatever might be ufeful to his plan. He has preferved fome important parts of works extant in his time, which but for him would have been loft to the world.
His language is devoid of elegance, and his arrangement has been made with too little attention to order or to method.
It is probably, not owing to his being contemporary with Auguftus, that the ftyle of his Greek is harfh, but that like the ftyle of every compiler, it is reftrained by fetters.
In the parts that are original, he writes with much more eafe, and this circumftance feems to give a colour to the foregoing obfervation.
Diodorus deferves to be read, but not to be imitated. Utility rather than pleafure will be derived to the fcholar from the perufal of his works ; what he finds in other authors will be rendered familiar by
a pre-
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 267
a previous acquaintance with him ; as the march of an army is facilitated, by the rugged but ufeful office of the pio- neer.
DIONTSIUS of HALICARNASSUS.
When the polite arts had taken their weft ward flight, and the patronage of Augus- tus invited every man of talents to Rome, Dionyfius came thither, a few years after the birth of Chrift ; and affords a ftriking proof, that genius and application, forming themfelves on models of excellence, can overcome all the difadvantages arifing to an author who writes when a language has declined from its priftine purity.
His di&ion is as varied, as that of the different authors whom he imitated. It contains the charafteriftics of diffufion, con- eifenefs, and familiarity, — in the refpe&ive parts where he wiflied to fhew them. Xenophon and Herodotus are his favorite authors \ and like the latter, he relieves his
work
C68 COMMENTARIES ON
work by lively epifodes and happy digret fions.
The ufe he made of fuch illuftrious authorities, was to form a flyle corredl, expreffive, and elegant; and genius model- ing imitation, rendered it completely his own.
The fubjeds he treats are the antiquities of Rome, for the period of three hundred and twelve years ; of which only the eleven firft books out of twenty are now in exift- ence. They wTere the refult of twenty-four years of ufeful labour ; and difplay the cor- rect chronologer, the judicious critic, and the faithful hiftorian. Abandoning all fable, difdaining every thing of the marvellous and miraculous, he delineates the conftitu- tion and government of a country to which he wyas a foreigner, with far more accuracy than any of the writers who were Romans.
Native authors fometimes carelefsly re- port tranfa&ions to which they are familiar, prefuming upon a fimilar acquaintance with themfelves on the part of their readers ;
and
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 269
and ftrangers are more careful and more minute in their investigations, and lefs tin£lured with national pride and par- tiality.
Like them however when he traces the Romans to their origin and would give us an account of the inhabitants who pre- ceded them in Italy, it is not to be won- dered at that he lofes himfelf in the ob- fcurity of fuch diftant ages ; but that credu- lity is furely cenfurable which induced him to believe that he faw his way through the impenetrable fhade.
Dionyfius participated every advantage which the moft polifhed period of Rome could afford him. He obtained a know- ledge of men and manners , by an acquaint- ance with all the witty and the learned who floriflied in the court of Auguftus. Con- verfation, a powerful teft of genius and information, acquainted him with every thing refpe&ing the empire of the world which he could not learn from books. His talents were furnifhed with materials from
every
270 COMMENTARIES ON
every fource which could difplay them; and in the perufal of his works, we (hall not be difappointed in our fearch both for profit and for pleafure.
APPIAN.
At a late period, more than a hundred and forty years after the birth of Chrift, flourifhed Appian, a native of Alexandria.
He wrote an account in twenty-four books of all the countries which had been fubdued by the Romans ; but time has much mutiliated his work : ftill, fome of the mod important events in the Roman hiftory may be found in this author.
The Syrian, Parthian, Punic, and civil wars from the time of the Gracchi, are ably written by him ; and in many inftances the ftory is comprefled into a fmall compafs. He has been accufed of general plagiarifm* and of adopting the ftyle of every author from whom he pillaged in fuch a manner as to have none of his own,
if
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 271
If he cannot be defended from this charge, it muft however be allowed by his ac- cufers that he is a pilferer of judgment; fince he not only has copied much im- portant matter, but has omitted every thing fabulous and abfurd. If the incidents be old, the manner of relating them gives them an appearance of novelty, and produces a confiderable degree of intereft in the reader. The adtions are not blended as in mod other hiftories, but the order of time in which they happened in each particular country is obferved. There feems fome- thing to recommend this plan; for it affords a connected hiftory of places and of people, not deranged by the deviations of a general or an army. He is fo minute in his rela- tions, that we may perceive he means to deliver only what is true; but his extreme partiality to the Romans leaves him without a poflible vindication. That he fhould be well inclined to the people with whom he found a welcome reception and by whofe government he was advanced to offices % of
272 COMMENTARIES ON
of ftate, is the natural impulfe of a grateful mind; but praife and blame are a facred charge repofed in -the hiftorian, and never to be attributed but by the laws of juftice and of truth.
Arrian lived about one hundred and thirty-fix years after Chrift, and was born at Nicomedia the capital of Bithynia, once a very powerful country of Afia Minor. He was no lefs celebrated as a philofopher, than as a foldier, the favourite fcholar of the ftoic Epi&etus, the faithful hiftorian of Alexander's expedition, and the Periplus of the iEgean fea. The emperor Antoninus had fufficient wifdom to difcern, and liberality to reward his merit : he made him conful, andgave him the government of Cappadocia. When the Greek language was in its higheft purity, no writer ever furpafled Arrian in that beft attribute of ftyle. Form- ing himfelf on the example of Xenophon, he participated the fweetnefs of his model. The foftnefs of his language has not ex- cluded ftrength and vigour, nor do his *9 - flowing
CLASSICAL LEARNING. £73
flowing periods convey a meaning that is vague or uni^preffive. His fpeeches are peculiarly his own, and combine a power- ful addrefs to the paffions with arguments that are folid and convincing. On thefe occafions bis figures are happily fele&ed, and well illuftrate the points which he would enforce. His epithets are neither exuberant nor are his metaphors jumbled ; and if his matter be not comprefTed into the fmalleft compafs, it is at leaft not loofely extraneous. His ftory is told with a plain and pleafing familiarity: whenever he quits the main fubjedt, it is evidently his intention to relieve the reader from tbe fatigue of a long and uninterrupted narra- tion; and though he avoids fcepticifm, which has been called " one of the nerves of the mind," he is no credulous reporter of legendary tales, but an hiftorian of un- doubted integrity and truth.
The defcription he gives us of Alexan- der's conquefts affects us with a mixture of pleafure and concern ; we perufe his ac- count of them with fuch a degree of fatif-
T fa&ion.
C74 COMMENTARIES ON
fa&ion, as makes us regret that we have no knowledge of the fucceeding periods but what the imperfect remains of Photius have conveyed to us.
He who forms his ftyle on that of ano- ther, is as likely to copy the defeats as the merits of his original ; and if a languor and a tamenefs ibmetimes appear in parts which a livelier fpirit would have impro- ved, he might plead the example of Xeno- phon as his authority, though not his vin- dication.
DION CASSIUS.
In a general reference to claffic writers > it may be proper to glance at thofe of infe- rior reputation, although their memorials be fcanty, and not replete with entertain- ment to the reader.
Nicasa in Bithynia was the birthplace of this writer, who was about two hundred and thirty years pofterior to our Saviour.
It is grateful to have recourfe to times Vvh^n the labours of the fcholar were hold-
4 en
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 2J$
en in repute by minifters and princes ; fince the fame talents which have raifed men to an eminence in learning, might frequently be a valuable acquifition to the fervice of the ftate. Dion Caffius was cal- led to adorn the higheft minifterial offices in the Roman empire, by Pertinax and his three immediate fuccefTors; and the fame induftry which he difplayed in fpecu- lative, accomplifhed him for the purpofes of a£Uve life. In an unwearied application of ten years to the fubje£t, he compofed a hiftory of which only very imperfedt frag- ments are in exiftence.
He is a clofe and not unfuccefsful imi- tator of Thucidydes, and, like all imitators, exhibits his faults as well as his beauties : for, if like him he fometimes be a fublime writer, like him he introduces the fame bold figures and the fame irrelevant matter. His words are judicioufly chofen and pro- perly arranged ; nor is he deftitute of the beauties of variety and the harmony of pe- riods. Could %re ever be reconciled to long fentences and parenthefes, this writer T 2 would
2j6 COMMENTARIES ON
would mediate their excufe : but that whid* has disfigured the hiftory of Clarendon, is too often repeated to be pardoned in Dion Caflius. Had Thucidydes never written* his renown would have been more emi- nent. His veracity as an hiflorian yields to his partiality to Csefar ; nor is it any proof either of the independence of his mind or the found nefs of his judgment, that fuccefs appears in his view to be the certain criterion of merit, and that his fuf- frage is always in favour of the fortunate, at the expence of the unhappy.
Dion believed that a familiar fpirit con* ftantly attended him as the monitor of his conduct, and the advifer and prompter of his literary compofitions. Such fuperfti- tlon may ferve occasionally to embolden and reprefs the ardour of the foldier in the day of battle, and may by turris be ufeful and difadvantageous to the mariner. The poet who thinks he feels the influence of his infpiring god, may reach to fublimity by the aid of his enthufiafm : but when once the hiflorian difobcys the dictates of
fober
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 277
fobef reafon, his veracity is as much to be doubted, as the religion of the credulous devotee, who believes or pretends to be- lieve in a partial illumination from heaven.
Herodian was born at Alexandria about two hundred and fifty years after the Chriftian sera; but he removed at an early period of his life to Rome, where he was employed in many civil offices, and wrote a hiftory of the times, in eight books, from the death of Marcus Aurelius to Maximi- nus, comprizing nearly feventy year?.
The imitation of his ftyle is more defi- rable than difficult. It pofTefTes eafe with- out negligence, and delicacy without affec- tation.
Herodian is a methodical and an accurate writer ; his digreffions are natural and his precepts are worthy to be engraven on the memory. It is no objection to his work that the fubjed is fo limited, for he was thence enabled to relate circumftanees of which he had been an eye-witnefs ; while his official fituation opened to him all the T 3 hidden
278 COMMENTARIES ON
hidden motives of a&ion, all thofe fecret fprings which regulate political manoeuvres*
To knowledge fo unclouded, he added a correct judgment and a perfect integrity; and few of his predeceflbrs could boaft more of the qualities which conftitute a good hiftorian.
The curiofity of the learned reader will be highly gratified by the defcription which he has given of the Roman cere- monies, and of the adulation of a corrupt and declining people in the apotheofis of their emperors*
CLASSICAL LEARNING, 27O
SECTION IX.
PLUTARCH.
1 lutarch was born at Chasronea a cele- brated city of Boeotia, fomewhat lefs tfiafr a century after Chrift, of a family refpedt- able in ftation and eminent in talents.
His education was acquired at Delphi, a place which the temple of Apollo has confecrated to perpetual remembrance. While the Pythian prieftefs labored with the oracles of the god, Ammonius difpen- fed to his youthful difciples the more intel- ligible precepts of natural and moral philo- fophy.
Plutarch improved the difcipline of a fchoolmafter by the advantages of foreign travel. His country employed him early in life on an important embafly to Rome, where he himfelf became a teacher of
T 4 youth,
z8o COMMENTARIES ON
youth, after having explored the literary treafures of Egypt and 6f Greece.
The capital of the world was at that time the principal feat of erudition ; and learned men could not then complain of that coldnefs and negleft which they have frequently experienced from perfons in power.
It would have been an honorable infcrip- tion on the column of Trajan, that he was the friend of Plutarch, and that he called him from a humble and laborious employ- ment, to be the conful of Rome and the governor of Illyricum.
When death had clofed the eyes of his munificent patron, the love of his native foil induced him to revifit Chseronea, where he lived to a very advanced age, during which his exulting countrymen heaped upon him all the honors they had to b$* #ow.
Here he proje&ed, and here he com- pleted, his lives of illuftrious men, a work which has been honored with unbounded 3 praife,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 281
praife, and yet perhaps never praifed be- yond its defert.
This remark however muft be accompa- nied with an exception; for, when fome of his panegyrifts declare that if it were in their option to fave only one work of the ancients from deftruction, it fhould be the lives of Plutarch, the encomium is extra* vagant and unjuft.
Biography is no where more agreeable, and hiftory no where fo efientially moral, as in this writer. It is the man who occu- pies him more than the event, and in deli- neating individuals he does not accumulate particulars, but contents himfelf with giving felect traits of character. His parallels are perfect compofitions both in ftyle and manner. In his admiration of mining qua- lities, he does not forget properly to efti- mate thofe which are ufeful and folid : he carefully examines and duly appreciates every thing ; confronts the hero with him- felf, the actions with the motives, the fuc- cefs with the means, the faults with the cxcufes. Juftice, virtue, and a love of
truth
*82 COMMENTARIES ON
truth are the fole objects of his eftecm ; and his judgment is formed with as much re- ferve as gravity. His reflections are a trea- fure of wifdom and found policy, and ought to be engraven on the hearts of all thofe who are emulous to direct their pub- lic and private life by the unerring rules of integrity.
When he quits his moral walk, we ftill perceive him to be a laborious inquirer •nto phyfical and metaphyfical fubjedts. Concurring with Ariftotle and Plato, he imbibed with avidity their doctrines of truth and error, and zealoufly refuted the paradoxes of the Stoics. The form of the Socratic dialogue he adopted in order to enforce his arguments, which are not al- ways fraught with inftrudtion or convic- tion. The banquet of the feven fages, and the queftions of the table, have been quo- ted as inftances where the matter is futile however the entertainment may be plea- fing ; but the latter, like the converfation of polifhed focieties, has a mixture of debate without afperity, gaiety without buffoon.
ery,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 283
cry, Tallies of wit, aphorifms and anec- dotes, which attradl and never weary the attention.
His religious fentiments are thofe of Plato, and a chrifiian may applaud his ex- hortations to men to abftain from judging of the defigns of Providence, and to refign to its difpenfations the management of the world. He cites with approbation a paf- fage of Pindar, which fliews that great poets reafoned on this fubject like great philofophers. " God, the author and the matter of every thing, is alfo the author and the mafter of juftice. To him alone it appertains to determine when, how, and till what time, each ought to be punifhed for the evil which he has done."
On thefe ferious and important points, however, his comparifons are not always juft : as, when he refembles a generous and delicate friend, who obliges without wifh- ing to be known, to the deity who loves to benefit mankind without their percei- ving it, becaufe he is beneficent in his na- ture,
The
284 COMMENTARIES ON
The bleffings we receive from Gods however thrown away upon the carelefs mind, are intended to imprefs us with a due fenfe of his mercy and his goodnefs ; nor is gratitude Jefs a duty than veneration and fear. Such gratitude meliorates the heart which it inhabits : Plutarch was not entirely ignorant of this truth, for he cites with praife this maxim of Pythagoras, <fi When we approach God by prayer, we become better."
It has been objefted to Plutarch, that his narration is not always fo methodical as it might be ; but it fhould be remembered, that he always prefumes on a previous knowledge of general hiftory in his rea- ders,
He has alfo been accufed by a French critic, M. Dacier, of being deftitute of all the graces of language, harmony, and ar- rangement. Neither the time in which hq wrote, nor the country in which he was born, were likely to render him faultlefs in his ftyle. Many centuries had elapfed between the days of Pericles and of Adrian .
and
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 20J
and the bogs of Boeotia were never fufcep- tible of Attic purity. Still he is not defi- cient in clearnefs, in dignity, and in force. He is fometimes too figurative for the lan- guage of hiftory, fometimes too abftradt and philofophical for the fimple tone of biography : but genius will have its ex- curfions, and a fuperior underftanding will indulge itfelf in its aptitude for deep reflec- tion.
The fpeeches he introduces are in perfect unifon with characters and with times, and fo great is his general merit, that every reader will excufe a few partial defeats.
If his language be fometimes inharmo- nious, the fentiment is corredt and true. While we admire the fplendour of the dia- mond, we difregard the coarfenefs of the fetting.
It has been faid, that he is more accu- rate in his detail of fads in his lives of Greeks than of Romans. Perhaps his knowledge of the Latin language and of Roman characters was imperfect, and this circumftance will furnifh a better apology
than
fc86 COMMENTARIES ON
than arifes from the partiality to his coun- trymen, which has been attributed to him with as little reludtance as authority.
He is reported to have been a favourite author with a celebrated perfon, now no more, who long prefided over the higheft court of Britifh jurifprudence.
If the petty tranfadtions of this fublunary world be worthy of his regard, it will be a fubjed: of regret to that great man, to perceive that the incidents of his own life* worthy doubtlefs of a more durable record, fhould fo long be obfcured by the im- penetrable dullnefe of a technical biogra- pher.
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 287
SECTION X. Grecian Satire.
LUC IAN.
XT AD the birth of Quintilian been a little later, he would not have been authorifed in faying that fatire exclufively belongs to the Romans. " Satira qaldem tota nojlra eji." The teftimony of ancient writers rather than the remains of their writings, may ferve to convince us that Archilochus and Hipponax might have challenged every fub- fequent fatirift in the afperity of their ridicule.
So bitter was the gall in which they dip- ped their pens, that the perfons whom they attacked could find no refuge from the poignancy of their feelings but in the laft aft of human weaknefs ; and it is no wherfc recorded that the poets exhibited any fort of contrition for having beeo the caufe of
fuicide.
288 . COMMENTARIES ON
fuicide. Satire is indeed to be found in all nations. It feems the diftate of nature to refent injuries and to ridicule abfurdity.
Lucian was born at Samofata in Syria, fomewhat lefs than a hundred years after the chriftian aera. The poverty of his father prevented him from obtaining the advantage of an early education : having firft been difgufted with the mechanical labour of a fculptor, for which he was ap- prenticed to an uncle ; and afterwards with the artifices then confpicuous in the life of a lawyer, the fecond object of his attention ; he refolved to purfue no trade or profeffion, but to devote himfelf entirely to ftudious occupations.
His talents foon rendered him eminent in philofophy and eloquence; ihefe he im- proved and difplayed in all the polifhed countries of Europe and Afia ; and the Emperor Aurelius did homage to his own difcernment of them when he appointed htm to a civil office under the Roman governor of Egypt.
Many
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 289
Many of the learned men of thofe times are faid to have furvived to an extraordinary age ; and the long period of ninety years enabled Lucian to mark the follies and ap- preciate the merit of mankind by the teft of perfonal experience.
His dialogues, written in the Attic ftyle, and with truly Attic wit, entitle him to be confidered as the mod entertaining of all the Greek profe writers. They contain in feledt portions the whole of the ancient mythology. The gods and their votaries are the conftant fubjed of his ridicule; and indeed while we deplore his atheifm, it muft be confeffed, that the popular fyftem of the heathens was too abfurd for reverence. But if his fatire was directed againft a falfe religion, he no where exhibits a veneration for that which was founded on the bafis of truth : but it is aflerted by fome writers that he was deftroyed by dogs for his impious profanation of chriftianity.
His dialogues are portions of the drama, in which his chara&ers are admirably fuf- tained throughout. His wit is fubtle, and
u the
2<)0 COMMENTARIES ON
the effeft he would produce irrefiftible. His language has every merit which fuch compositions can contain. It is not lefs elegant than fimple ; not lefs animated than correct When he delineates the prevailing vices of the times in which parafites and fortune-hunters abounded, he is fo happy in his portraits of meannefs and of avarice, that the difguft which he excites always terminates in fatisfaction at the punifhment he inflifts upon them. Here his morality has a fterling value, fince it is pointed to the inftruftion of every age*
If ridicule be not the teft of truth, it is at leaft the formidable foe of error, and ftern avenger of vice ; and in this view the dia- logues of Lucian may tend to improve the youthful mind, which they will not fail to delight. He however who is pofleffed of the fhining but dangerous quality of wit, is too apt to be deftitute of prudence or dif- crimination. He flays indifcriminately both friend and foe. The fatirift who fo well burlefqued the morofe and unfocial difpo* fition of the cynics, has nothing to urge in
his
CLASSICAL LEARNING* 29I
his j uftification, when, without any dif- tin&ion, he aflumes the fame weapons to attack the almoft fuperhuman virtues of Socrates and the almoft divine doctrines of Plato.
It appears wonderful to refled that Lu- cian, born in Syria, and in the time of the Antonines when Greek and Roman letters were equally decayed, fhould be worthy to be confidered as a claffic writer, both in the purity and elegance of his di&ion. Other inftances have however been men- tioned, and he may be added to the num- ber, to prove, that genius difdains all the fetters of time and place, and often throws a vivid though a tranfient light on ages of obfcurity.
Thefe fketches of the lives and writings of the principal poets, orators, and hifto- rians of Greece, may ferve to evince the efficacy of education in that country. It was this which gave fuch fuperiority to Athens, and fuch celebrity to its citizens ; and the object of the prefent writer will be
u 2 anfwered
2gi COMMENTARIES ON
anfwered, if the flight reference he has made to the works of the ancients fhall induce his readers to examine the fubjedt more accu- rately and deeply, fince the refult mull be a thorough convidtion of the value of Claflical Learning.
If it be afked why the earlieft authors of the three departments of the belles lettres ftill remain in poffeffion of the vantage ground of excellence and fame; it is not enough to fay that nature firft prefented her various objefts to their view, which rendered their reprefentations as original as their genius : fince the molt fuperficial examiner will find that true pre-eminence was acquired by a degree of perfonal indus- try that has in no age or nation been ex- celled. " If ever the human intellect was cultivated to the extent of its powers; if ever the arts were carried to the fummit of perfedion; if ever generous competition effe&ed more than the love of gain ; it was unqueftionably in Greece."
CLASSICAL LEARNING, 293
SECTION XL
On Roman Literature. — The Drama. — Comedy.— Livius Andronicus. — Ennius. — P/autus.—Caci/ius.— Terence. ^"Pantomime.
VV hoever contemplates the rife and pro- grefs of the Roman empire, will eafily ac- count for the late appearance of learning amidfl that celebrated people.
Being defcended from fhepherds, and deriving much of their population from the refufe of neighbouring nations, their high- eft art was agriculture, and their favourite employment was war. Their manners, of courfe, were affimilated to their occupa- tions, and thofe were far remote from foft- nefs and from elegance.
If other teftimonies to evince this afler- tion were required, we have one of un- doubted authority in the declarations of a bard, who was enlightened by all the learn-
u 3 ing
294 COMMENTARIES ON
ing of an accomplifhed age, and polifhed by all the refinements of a court.
'< More {killed fhall others mould the brazen form, Or bid the marble glow like nature warm ; Excel in legal eloquence fevere, Or trace with brighter ken the ftarry fphere : Roman, thy fterner character fuftain, And bind round fubjugated realms the chain ; Be thefe thy arts ! the laws of peace to impofe, And fparing proftrate, crufh refitting foes."
In all unpolifhed nations the germs of poetry are found ; for they are the native produds of the intelledual wafte, and the firft objedts of human cultivation. So early as the time of Romulus, fongs of triumph were in ufe ; and gratitude to their tutelary gods di&ated the firft metrical compofitions of the Romans. Their whole liturgy indeed was poetical ; to thefe fuc- ceeded their Fefcennine verfes, fung at their feafts, after the vintage or harveft, con- taining praifes of the ruftic divinities, and the extemporaneous jefts and farcafms of clowns. ,
Advancing like all human things by flow gradations, thefe farcafms of indivi- duals
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 295
duals aflumed the form of dialogue, the licentioufnefs of which it was found necef- fary to reftrain by law, after they had for three centuries been the delight of the peo- ple. We are authorifed by the opinions of Horace and of Livy, not to lament the lofs of produ&ions which the tafte of Auguftus condemned to conflagration.
Chance however contributed to the me- lioration of Roman poetry. The dejedUon confequent upon a peftilence at Rome, nearly four hundred years before Chrift, induced the people to invite a troop of players from Tufcany, to amufe them at their public feftivals. Ignorant of the lan- guage fpoken by thefe players, they were contented that the reprefentation fhould be merely gefture, aflifted by the delightful accompaniment of the flute, and this was at leaft a cure for melancholy, if not an an- tidote againft the plague.
We may properly refer the origin of the Roman drama to Livius Andronicus, a freedman of Salinator, and the preceptor gf his fons, who lived about two hundred
u 4 and
2g6 COMMENTARIES ON
and forty years before Chrift, and who was for a confiderable time the fole writer for the ftage. He is faid to have been lefs polifhed even than thofe to whom he ex- hibited his works; and Cicero condemns him as not worthy of a fecond perufal. He probably formed himfelf on the model of the old Grecian comedy, and was replete with perfonal allufions, which were lefs congenial to the difpofition of the Romans, than of the Greeks.
The writers who were coeval with An- dronicus or his immediate fucceflbrs, ap- pear to have been only fervile imitators of the Greeks ; and if very little remains of their writings, it feems to be becaufe very little was worthy to be preferved. The names of Nsevius, Aquilius, and many others are fcarcely remembered ; fragments of them remain, and the fcantinefs of the gleanings will not allow us to believe that the harveft was abundant.
Ennius enjoyed a higher reputation ; for Lucretius fays of him, that he was the firft of the Roman poets who deferved a
lading
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 297
lafting crown from the mufes. The infe- rior Roman dramatifts were actors as well as poets, and wrote both tragedies and co- medies ; but that was never attempted by writers of more eftablifhed reputation : there is no tragedy of Menander or Terence, no comedy of Euripides or Accius. The quiet which fucceeded the fecond Punic war, afforded them leifure to improve their poetry. They bad the benefit of the beft models before them, and, when this cir- cumftance is confidered, we fhall probably be more furprifed at their defects than at their merits.
There is one radical error in the Roman comedy ; the language only is Latin, the perfonages and fcenes entirely Grecian. It feems as incongruous to defcribe common life in a foreign country, as to clothe an ancient ftatue in modern drapery.
The firft age of Roman poetry was more remarkable for ftrength than for refine- ment ; but it is curious to obfcrve, and impoffible to reconcile, the different fenti- ments of the three great Roman critics on
the
iVERSITY
298 COMMENTARIES ON
the fame fubjeft : Cicero pafles a high eulogium on the old dramatic writers, Horace is as unbounded in his cenfure of them, and Quintilian is the moderator be- tween both.
The beauty of the Attic dialed: probably rendered the Grecian dramatifts fuperior to rivalry ; befides which, it fhould be re^ membered that the imitator rarely ap- proaches the merit of his original. It has been thought that our anceftors who raifed that Palladium of Englifh liberty, the trial by jury, were guilty of an error when they prefcribed the jurors to come from the vicinage, in order that they might correct the falfities of evidence by their private knowledge of the fafts. In criticifm the paffions and prejudices of the writer mingle, often imperceptibly to himfelf, in his deli- neation of the works of others. Cicero was perhaps milled by his proximity to the times of which he wrote, and Horace in fome degree warped from his wonted can^ dour by the nature of his febjed. The moderation of Quintilian feems to eftablifli » a pre-
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 299
a preference in favour of his judgment. He compares Ennius to a facred grove, in which the old oaks appear rather venerable than pleafing ; and by this figure we may fairly appreciate the merit of all the earlier comic poets of Rome.
About two hundred and twenty years before the Chriftian aera, Plautus was born at Sarfina in Umbria. No certain tradition of his family has reached us ; but vague accounts of his failure in trade, and a con- fequent application to the 'moil fervile offices, have been attefted and contradi&ed by different authors.
That he was poor, from whatever caufe, there feems to be no doubt; but his pover- ty was probably a ftimulant to his genius, though it might be an enemy to the cor- reftnefs of his writings.
He wrote twenty-five comedies, of which we are in poffeffion of nineteen. His death happened about one hundred and eighty years before Ghrift, on which pccafion his countryman Varro infcribed an epitaph on his tomb, of which the 4 following
300 COMMENTARIES ON
following tranflation may convey an imper- fect idea :
" The comic mufe laments her Plautus dead ; Deferted theatres mow genius fled ; Mirth, fport, and joke, and poetry bemoan, And echoing myriads join their plaintive tone."
He who is unwilling to decide for him- felf on the merits of Plautus, will probably be perplexed by the varying fentiments of critics. He will be told by fome that his uniformity is fuch as always to have the fame perfonages in the drama. There is always a young courtezan, an old perfon who fells her, a young man who buys her, and who makes ufe of. a knavifh valet to extort money from his father; a parafite of the vileft kind, ready to do any thing for his patron who feeds him; a braggadocio foldier, whofe extravagant boafting and ribaldry have ferved as a model for the Copper Captains of our old comedy. To thefe cenfures he will find it added, that the ftyle and dialogues are taftelefs ; that the wit is buffoonery of the loweft fort;
i that
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 30I
that he was ignorant of that fpecies of gaiety which ought to reign in comedy, and of the pleafantry properly belonging to the theatre; that thefe fhould arife naturally from the chara&er and fituation of the aftor, and be conformed to them exaftly ; that his dialogues are long narrations, in- terfperfed with tedious foliloquies; that his a&ors come in and go out without a reafon ; that perfons who are in a great hurry con- tinue upon the ftage a full quarter of an hour ; and that he introduces the loweft proftitutes with the mod vulgar and inde- cent language and manners.
The admirers of Plautus declare him to have a fertility of invention never equalled by any writer before or fince his time* together with an unrivalled judgment in the choice and conduct of his fable ; that his chara&ers are drawn from nature ; and that the richeft vein of eafe runs through all his works ; the perufal of which is accompanied not with calm fatisfa&ion but with infinite delight.
When
3°2 COMMENTARIES ON
When we are confidering thefe oppofite opinions, we ought to recollect that Plautus had not only a great reputation in his own time, but preferved it beyond the Auguftan age. Varro fays, if the mufes had fpoken Latin, it would have been in the language of Plautus. Cicero and Quintilian each afford him a high encomium, notwithftanding Terence had already written. They par- . ticularly commend his knowledge of the Latin tongue, although he wrote before the language had arrived at perfection; and the former fays, that his wit is elegant, urbane, ingenious, and facetious. Horace, indeed, fays, a We have admired the verfes and the jefts of Plautus with a complaifance which may be denominated folly." But for five hundred years Plautus wras a favorite at Rome, although the language had become more poll died and corred:, and criticifm and polite literature had made rapid ftrides. He muft be confeffed to have a fund of comic humour and gaiety; and that his imitator, Moliere, owes much of the appro- bation he has received to the original from
which
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 303
which he drew his characters. In ancient comedy where fhall we find more enter- tainment than in the Amphitrion and the Menseehmi?
Some apology may be made for the defefts of Plautus, arifing from the tafte of the times in which he wrote. If his wit be often falfe, it was relifhed becaufe it was the fafhion of his day. A better tafte in the public would have produced an exube- rance of finer wit in him.
It was not allowed to comic writers to reprefent on the ftage any miftrefles but courtezans : the delicacy of true love there- fore could not be exhibited by the writers of the drama. If Plautus was carelefs, and poor and mercenary, the vivacity of his genius counterbalances thefe defe&s. All the bufinefs and buftle of comedy are to be found in his fcenes. Variety too belongs to him, for the incidents are equally numerous and pleafant.
He has alfo adapted his plays to theatri- cal reprefentation ; and in that refpedt he
carries
304 COMMENTARIES ON
carries away the prize from the elegant friend of Scipio.
Such is the language of thofe who are admirers of Plautus ; and if on a perufal of this author we are induced to think that it is the language rather of panegyric than of truth, let us not forget the thunder of ap- plauding theatres which always attended the reprefentation of his plays.
The general praife of his contemporaries, feconded by that of feveral fucceeding ages of learning and of tafte, is furely fufficient to difparage all the ftri&ures of modern criticifm.
If it be true that his jefts are rough, and that his wit in general is coarfe, bearing a fimilitude to the old comedy at Athens, it muft be confeffed that, more than any other comic writer, he has confulted his own genius ; and that his ftrength and fpirit are fuch as to attract and gratify the attention of every reader who is not of a difpofition more than commonly faftidious.
Csecilius flourifhed about a century and a half before Chrift, and was the author of
thirty
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 305
thirty comedies, of which the high and general eulogium of antiquity has induced the literary world to lament the lofs. Horace acknowledges the energy of his mufe; and Cicero, while he defcribes his language as incorred, declares him to be the befl comic writer which his country had ever produced, both with refpe£t to the dignity of his chara&ers and the vigour of his fentiments.
TERENCE.
That a native of Africa, the purchafed Have of a Roman fenator, whofe name he afterwards bore, fhould acquire the higheft reputation as a comic writer, is fo Angular a fadt in literary hiftory, as would at firft view induce us to withhold our aiTent from it.
But when we confider that his generous mafter not only conferred upon him his freedom, but furnifhed him with the means of acquiring all the accomplifhments of a fcholar, and introduced him to the acquaint- ance of the mod learned men in Rome, our doubts will vanifh, and our admiration will clecreafe,
A The
306 COMMENTARIES ON
The friend of Scipio and Lselius, the aflbciate of Lucretius and Polybius, muft have had the bed opportunity of improving his natural talents by every thing which po- lishes the manners and improves the mind.
The difadvantage of humble birth was thus happily removed by fuch an intro- duction into fociety, and fuch a patronage as genius can rarely boaft. The gem was refcued from the dark caves of ocean, and its pure brightnefs ftill irradiates the world.
Terence was born about a hundred and ninety-four years before Chrift ; and upon a careful review of the models of the Greeks, willingly furrendered the palm of origin- ality to be the imitator or tranflator of the elegant Menander.
He began to write at twenty-five years of age ; and his dramatic labours were proba- bly confined to the fhort period of ten years.
But it was a period of bodily health and mental vigour ; for its fruits were not only rich but abundantly copious; fince we have to lament that only fix of his plays have
reached
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 307
reached us, out of more than a hundred which he produced.
The fine moral or rather truly chriftian fentiment exhibited in the Andrian, his firft play, where it is faid, that man is interefted in all the concerns of his fellow beings, might well be received with that thunder of applaufe, which fucceeding ages have not failed to repeat ; it was the harbinger of a lafting fame ; and though the fentence be perpetually quoted it is never heard without approbation.
In the choice of his fubjects there is a certain dull uniformity, partly arifing from the redactions placed upon the ancient drama. No miftrefs could be reprefented on the ftage who was not a courtezan; but Terence has endeavoured to attach a con- fiderable intereft to the character by repre- fenting his females as infants ftolen from their parents and fold by fraud or accident. He has alfo given them a degree of refpect, by exhibiting them as endued with a paffion for a fingle object on whom they lavifh all their tendernefs and conftancy, and for whom they confider the world well loft.
x 2 He
3°8 COMMENTARIES Otf
He has been faid to have no buffoonery^ licentioufnefs, or groffnefs, but to have beeft the only one of the comic writers who has brought the language of gentlemen on the ftage ; the language of the paffions, the true tone of nature. But furely the impudence of fervants throughout his plays would in- duce the reader to imagine that the licence of the Saturnalia had been perennial, and furnifhes a contradidion to this aflertion of his panegyrifts.
If we concur with them in thinking that the moral of his drama is found and inftruc- tive; that his pleafantry has goodtafte; that his dialogue unites clearnefs, precifion, and elegance ; and that he penetrates to the in- moft receffes of the heart ; we rauft allow with the opponents of his fame, that we fhould be better gratified by finding more force of invention in his plots ; more intereft in his fubje&s; more genuine fpirit in his chara&ers. Julius Csefar feems to have appreciated his merits juftly when he faid : " And you, Demi-Menander,are placed near our great writers, and you deferve it by the
purity
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 309
purityof your ftyle. Could but the beauty of your compofition have joined to itfelf that comic vein which was poffeffed by the Greeks; then would you not have been .their inferior in the dramatic lift. That is what you want, Terence, and what I fp much regret."
Terence began his career with the hap,- pieft aufpices. When he had compofed his Andrian and prefented it to the sediles, who were in the habit of purchafmg dramatip works for the gratification of the people at the fhows, before they would conclude a bargain, they feat it to Cascilius for his opinion.
The old man ordered Terence to read a part of it to him as he was lying on his couch. Before he had finifhed the firft fcene, Caecilius raifed himfelf up with evi- dent marks of furprife and pleafure and in- vited him to fupper. He afterwards heard the whole of the piece, and beftowed upon him fuch praifes as were equally creditable %o both the parties.
x * Hit
3IO COMMENTARIES ON
His Eunuch received more approbation than any of his plays. It was a£ted twice in one day; and the fum of thirty pounds, for which he fold the copy-right, was hitherto without precedent in the annals of the Roman ftage.
It is I believe generally confefifed, that the ftyle of Terence is the perfection of the Latin language. It is equally celebrated for accuracy and elegance. No forced antithe- fes, no glaring ornaments deform it ; and it has flood the teft of the fevereft criticifm in the clofet. The poetry of Terence, compared to that of the Auguftan age, has been faid to be the Ionic order, compared to that of the Corinthian ; not fo fplendid or fo rich, but equally if not more exadt and pleafing. If it excel the language of his age, it was the language fpoken in the accomplifhed fami- lies of the Lselii and the Scipios ; and per- haps we may afcribe to the advantage de- rived from their elegant converfation, thofe well written dialogues which Cicero and Quintilian conceive him unable to have compofed without their affiftance.
That
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 3H
That Terence is a cold and a tame writer will not willingly be confefled by thofe who have witnefled the exhibition of his plays at one of the firft feminaries of youth in this country. Thofe fcenes cannot be wholly de- ftitute of fire which difplay fo vivid a portion of it on their claflic ftage. An audience of fcholars and of critics will perhaps always be in doubt, whether a larger portion of the pleafure they receive from the reprefentation be due to the compofition of the author, or to the talents and fpirit of the performers,,
During the firft three ages of Roman comedy, the writers were the fervile imita- tors of the Greeks. But foon after the time when Terence had quitted Rome, Afranius and others whofe compofitions are loft, de- livered the ftage from the tyranny of foreign perfonages, and exhibited thofe pieces only in which the ftories and the characters were Roman.
Horace applauds the fpirit of thofe who ventured upon this innovation ;
" Nee minimum meruere decus veftigia Graeca Aufi defcrcre, et celebrare domeftica facta."
X 4 From
312 COMMENTARIES Ott
From this period, comedy was divided mto two fpecies, which took their names from the different habits of the two coun- tries. The Roman comedy was fubdivided into four kinds ; the firft of which, borrow- ing its name from the drefs of plain citi- zens, was called the togata, and, when per- fons of diftinflion were introduced, the prse- textata. This was of a ferious nature, per- haps like the fentimental comedy of modern times.
The fecond was of a comic caft, deriving its name Tabernaria from a town or place of refidence where the perfons met whofe characters were exhibited.
The Atellana was the third fpecies, in which the aftors not fpeaking from written dialogue?, trufted to the fpontaneous efFufions of their fancy; and it had this privilege, Aat the fpeftators could not oblige them to unmafk. Another exclufive advantage alfo belonged to the adtors in the Atellana; they retained the right of freemen and the powe? of enlifting in the army.
The curious account given by Dr. Hurd
of the Satyrs, Mimes, and Atellanes, is
worthy
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 313
worthy an attentive perufal. He {hews us that the latter was an entertainment fo called from Atella, a town of the Ofciin Campania. The language and characters were both Dfcan, and their provincial dialed was a fource of pleafantry at Rome.
In thefe three fpecies the fock was al- ways worn by the performers.
The fourth fpecies, the Mimus, was a fort of farce, in which the aCtors were barefoot.
At the funeral of Vefpafian, we find from Suetonius, that his character was reprefented in a mimic piece according to the Roman cuftom.
The leading feature of Vefpafian's cha- racter was avarice, of which a remarkable inftance is recorded. A town in Italy was about to ereCt a ftatue to him ; when he faid to the deputies, ftretching out his hand, f* Gentlemen, here is the bafis ^vhereon you muft ereft your ftatue."
In allufion to this circumftance, the
^Oiov Favor Archimimus, who played the
par^ of the emperor, having afked the di- rectors
314 COMMENTARIES ON
re&ors of the ceremony, what would be the expence of his interment, and finding that it would amount to fome millions of crowns, cried out, u Gentlemen, let me have a hundred thoufand crowns, and you may throw my body into the river."
The divifion of the declamation between two a&ors took place at a very early pe- riod of the Roman drama. The anecdote is fomewhat curious. Livius Andronicus, about one hundred and twenty years after the theatres had been opened, was accufto- med, like the Grecian writers, to appear as an a&or on the ftage. The people, ap- plauding fome of his fjpeeches, cried out iC again" fo often, that he became perfectly inaudible by hoarfenefs, and was obliged to have a flave to recite his verfes, while he retained the gefture and the a&ion.
It is faid by Macrobius, that Cicero ufed to contend with Rofcius, who fhould beft deliver the fame fentiment, each making ufe of the talent in which he excelled. Rofcius exhibited, by a mute a&ion, the
fcnfe
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 315
fenfe of the phrafe which Cicero compofed and recited. Cicero afterwards changed the words and turn of the phrafe, without enervating the fenfe ; and Rofcius was obliged on his part to exprefs the fenfe by- other geftures, without weakening it by action.
Mafks were introduced into Greece by iEfchylus ; Rofcius Gallus was the firft a£tor who wore a mafk at Rome, which he did with a view to conceal the defedl of fquinting. The mafks were thought fo effential to the character, that they ufed to prefix to their pieces, together with the dramatis perfonse, the figure of the mafk. The intricacy of the Amphytrio and the Mensechmi, turning upon the miftake of pne perfon for another, is rendered much more credible when we confider the gene- ral ufe of mafks. It was befides cuftomary to make men a£t female characters, and this mode of concealment was therefore indifpenfibly neceffary.
The mafks were alfo requifite to the immenfe fize of the unroofed theatres.
Within
316 COMMENTARIES ON
Within the mouth was an incruftation of horn, to increafe the natural found of the voice, that it might be heard by the fpeo tators, fome of whom were placed twen- ty-four yards from the ftage.
The Roman adors had enormous fala>- ries. Horace mentions a famous prodigal, who had gained two hundred and fifty thoufand pounds by his profeffion ; Pliny fays that Rofcius received five thoufand pounds a year ; and Macrobius fpeaks of his having a falary of forty-five pounds a day entirely for his own ufe. The greateft number of the adors wrere born flaves, and fubjed to a very rigorous apprenticefhip. The moil eminent of them would never fpeak a word in a morning before they had methodically unfolded their voice, letting it loofe by degrees that they might not hurt their organs. During this exercife they continued in bed ; after having aded, they lay down, and in this pofture as it were folded up their voice again, raifing it to the higheft tone they had reached in their declamation, and deprefling it after- wards
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 317
Wards fucceffively to all the other tones, till they funk it to the loweft.
From the time of Terence, we hear little of any comic writers ; and what may appear very remarkable is, that in the Auguftan age every fpecies of poetry was in its greateft excellence except the drama- tic, and that its fubftitute the pantomimic art fhould not only have had its rife in that elegant period, but have become the fa- vourite amufement of the emperor and his accompliflied minifter.
For above a hundred years the ftage could boaft the exclufive poffeflion of the Roman poets, and to the degeneracy of the fcenic exhibitions Zofimus imputes the corrupt manners of the Roman. people, and the misfortunes of the empire.
Pylades and Bathyllus were the firft who a&ed whole plays without any articulation ; the former excelled in tragic, the other in comic fubje&s.
The impudence of thefe pantomimes may be known by the following anecdote. The fpe£tators one day complaining that
the
318 COMMENTARIES ON
the gefticulation of Pylades in the repre* fentation of the Hercules Furens was extra- vagant, he took off his mafk and cried out, " Don't you know, you fools, that I am a&ing a greater fool than yourfelves ?"
The approbation afforded to thefe m af- ters of gefticulation was as general as it was extravagant. Caffiodorus calls them men whofe eloquent hands had a tongue, as it were, on the tip of each finger ; men who fpoke while they were filent, and who could recite a whole play without opening their mouths ; men, in fine, whom Poly- hymnia, the mufe prefiding over mufic, had created in order to fhew that there is no neceffity for articulation to convey our thoughts to others.
Seneca the elder, a man of the graveft profeffion, confeffes that his tafte for pan- tomime was a real and irrefiftible paffion. In Italy both ancient and modern, conver- fation has always been more a bufinefs of gefture than in this country ; and the lan- guage of the Grand Signior's mutes, fo well underftood by their countrymen,
would
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 319
would be unintelligible in the north of Eu- rope.
Lucian, who wrote a century after the Chriftian sera, was a zealous partifan of thefe dumb comedians. He fays that a king whofe dominions bordered on the Euxine fea, happening to be at Rome in the reign of Nero, begged a pantomime of him, to make him his general interpreter in all languages.
In reflecting on this fubjefl:, it is im- poflible not to fuppofe that the geftures of thefe a&ors were far more fignificant than either our experience or our imagination enables us to conceive. The literati of the Auguftan age would probably not have difputed the pofition of Dr. Hurd, that " to touch the heart by an interefting ftory is the end of tragedy, to pleafe our curiofity and perhaps our malignity by a faithful reprefentation of manners is the purpofe of comedy, and to excite laughter the fole and contemptible aim of farce." Of a far fuperior nature muft have been that fpecies of entertainment which fub-
fifted
320 COMMENTARIES ON
lifted aS long as the empire, for they both fell together when Rome was taken and plundered by Totila in five hundred and forty-fix ; the fatal epoch which marks the almoft entire extin&ion of fcience and of art.
CLASSICAL LEARNING. J2I
SECTION XiL
Roman Tragedy.— Pacuvius. —Accius.—Varius.—Ovid. -—Seneca*
The Romans borrowed their tragedy en- tirely from the Greeks. It was firft known to them in the time of the fecond Punic war, about two hundred and eighteen years before our xra. Dionyfius and Hiero had in Sicily been diftinguifhed patrons of Grecian learning ; and the conqueft of the fouthern parts of Italy, and above all of Sicily and Syracufe which yielded to the Roman arms, had a few years before be- gun to familiarife them with the fine arts of poetry and eloquence.
Pacuvius, a native of Brundufium, above two hundred and twenty years before Chrift, wrote the firft tragedies which the iEdiles thought worthy of their patronage. Few fragments remain, but they were the admiration of bis contemporaries arid fuc-
y ceflbrs.
3^2 COMMENTARIES ON
ceflors. Cicero, like Virgil, a lover of antiquity, highly efteemed him, and fays that all his veries were ornate and well written ; and Horace confers upon him the palm of learning. He lived to a very ad- vanced age ; but it does not appear that he ever reprefented Roman characters or fub- jects, but fuch only as had been previoufly exhibited on the Athenian ftage. One tragedy, however, compofed on the ftory of Brutus and Tarquin, is an exception to this remark.
Accius lived about one hundred and thirty-nine years before Chrift. His genius is faid to have been very great ; and his ftyle, although unpolifhed, exceedingly vi- gorous and occafionally fublime. He borrowed his fubje&s from Sophocles; but, as all his productions are loft, we can only prefume upon his merits from the cafual and brief allufions made to his works by claflic authors.
Varius, the companion of Horace in his journey to Brundufium, wrote a play cal-
6 led
classical learning: 323
led the Thyefles which poffeffed exquifite merit.
Ovid wrote a Medea, and Caefar an CEdipus; Cicero turned into Latin verfe many pieces of Euripides and Sophocles, of which there are fome fhreds in his works. But the only entire plays which have come down are under the name of Seneca : their number is ten, all on Greek fubje&s except his O&avia. The beft-in- formed critics believe that the CEdipus, Hippolitus, Medea, and the Trojans are the work of Seneca the philofopher ; who was born about twelve v years after the Chriftian aera, whofe works have rendered him fo refpe&able, and whofe unhappy end has excited fo much compaffion. It is thought that the other fix plays were the productions of different authors who affumed his name to obtain for them a cele- brity which their own would not have conferred, as many comic authors publifhed their works under the fignature of Plautus. Before the art of printing was known, this fpegies of fraud was equally common and Y 2 eafy.
3*4 COMMENTARIES OK
eafy. The four firft tragedies are better than the others, but in them all there is very little conformity to the tragic ftyle. The fineft fubje&s of Euripides and Sopho- cles evaporate in long declamation and in an inflated ftyle.
Emptinefs, bombaft, a mafs of gigantic defcriptions, a clafhing of far-fetched anti- thefes, an involved concifenefs of phrafe, and an infupportable diffufenefs in the thoughts, are the prominent features of thefe unhappy imitations which have left their authors fo far behind their celebrated models. They are not, however, abfolutely devoid of every fpecies of merit ; they have fome beauties, and critics have dif- cerned and acknowledged them : fome in- genious, and fome bold thoughts ; fome brilliant traits, eloquent paflages, and thea- trical ideas are here and there to be found. The love of Phaedra for Hyppolitus the fon of her huflband Thefeus, is the fubjed: of the beft of thefe tragedies. When reje&ed by Hyppolitus, me accufes him to her huf- band of having attempted to feduce her,
The
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 325
The father liftens to the accufation, banifhes the fuppofed feducer, and implores Nep- tune to punifh him. As he flies from Athens, his horfes are frightened by a fea monfter, who convey him to trie (hore, and drag him over rocks and precipices, where he is trampled under their feet, and crufhed by the wheels of the chariot. When the ftory is known at Athens, Phsedra confefles her crime and hangs herfelf.
In one refpect the play is better conduc- ted by Seneca, than by its original author. The Roman tragedian makes Phaedra her- felf declare her paffion for Hyppolitus, which the Grecian lefs adroitly intrufts to the intervention of a nurfe. Seneca con- cludes the piece with the confeflion of Phsedra as to her own guilt ; an atteftation of the innocence of the prince, and her fuicide, are the neceflary tributes to poetical juftice. Seneca feems to have totally mif- underftood the proper office of the chorus. Dr. Hurd has fully illustrated this point in his commentary on Horace's Art of Poetry. In the third adt of the Hyppolitus, when y 3 " it
$26 COMMENTARIES ON
" it ought to have warned againft credulity and to have pitied the deluded father," it declaims on the unequal diftribution of good and ill.
This is owing to an injudicious imitation of Euripides, without any attention to cha- racter or fituation.
French writers have made much ufe of particular paffages from thefe tragedies, which they found remarkable either for the foundnefs of their fenfe or the energy of their expreffion. Seneca embraced the Epicurean philofophy, which was much ftudied at Rome ; and fome of his boldeft fentiments have been copied by Lucretius.
In one of his plays the chorus, the moral perfonage in all the ancient tragedies, chaunts this verfe :
•' There is nothing after death, death is even nothing."
In the Agrippina are the two following lines;
u One hour after my death, my departed foul Shall be what it was an hour before my birth.'*
Liberty
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 327
Liberty of opinion at Rome on this fub- je£l is indifputable. The laws only requi- red that the eftablifhed religion fhould be treated with refpeft.
The many plagiarifms which have been made from this author, prove him to have been a poet not unworthy of attention nor of praife ; but the fmall reputation which he has as a tragedian, and the paucity of his readers are an evidence of this truth, which writers fhould ever retain in view, that it is not the fcanty merit of fome bril- liant paflages which will attrafl: the regard and veneration of pofterity. We may be furprifed by fparks, but are pleafed only with rays of light. Labour more intenfe, and beauties more copioufly diffufed, are required to raife durable monuments of literary fame.
If however while we look for ftrokes of a fine imagination in Seneca, we are difguf- ted with empty conceits, the fault perhaps is to be lefs imputed to the poet than to the age ; for the declamatory modes of the Y 4 fchoola
328 COMMENTARIES ON
fchools had fo vitiated the public tafte, as to render it infenfible to every beauty except fuch as depended on the ftru&ure of fentences. It is certainly a fubjeft of regret, that the only writer we have of Roman tragedy fhould prefent us with fo obje&ionable a ftyle.
The theatres of the Romans, which at firft were built of wood, and by no means of expenfive archite&ure, gradually noti- fied a people who fet no bounds to their luxury. C. Antonius entertained the city with ftage-plays in which the fcenes were covered with filver. Julius Caefar made the whole furniture of folid filver. Pom- pey's theatre contained forty thoufand people, was furrounded by a portico, and had a fenate houfe or court of law adjoin- ing to it adapted to the fitting of the judges ; all which wTere finifhed at his own expence, and adorned with the fculpture of the fineft mafters. At one end of it was a temple to Venus, to which her vota- ries afcended by the feats of the theatre.
Every
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 329
Every fpecies of amufement that prize fighters and wild beads could afford, were furnifhed as an addition to the more ra- tional entertainment of the drama. The former revolted the refined tafte of Cicero, who fays of fuch fport, " that it fatiates while it pleafes, and is forgotten as foon
as it is over."
We may judge of the immenfe wealth of individuals at Rome, when we are told that no monarch in modern times could exhibit fuch fhews as fome of the principal fubje&s of that city. The thea- tres, like thofe of Greece, were opened at day-break, and the various entertainments ufually continued till the evening. Mufic lent its delightful aid, and Horace com- plains that the recitation had been ftripped of its ancient gravity by the fubflitution of inftruments as large as the trumpet, for the fimple flutes which in former times were ufed at the theatre.
The faults of thofe who executed the declamatory part, became more evident
in
33° COMMENTARIES ON
in proportion as the declamation attained a greater refejnblance to finging; and it fhould feem as if that noble art dege- nerated into fuch meafures as conftitute the recitative of the modern Italian opera.
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 33I
SECTION XII.
Roman Satire. — Ennius.— -Liicilius.—Varro. — Horace.— * Juvenal* — Perfius.
Satire, the produce of the old comedy, was the fir ft fort of poetry that followed the dramatic, and a fcyon from the fame root ; but the Roman fatirifts did not imitate the Greeks, either in the form of their verfe or Jn the nature of their fubject.
Satire is a word originally Latin 5 it figni- fies a mixture of all forts of fubje&s, but has been particularly applied to works which have raillery and pleafantry for their pbjeft.
Of the writings of Ennius, which were epic, dramatic, and fatirical, nothing re- piains but a few fragments colle&ed from the quotations of claflic authors. He lived about two hundred years before Chrift; and the friend of Scipio was honored with an epitaph which may be thus tranflated :
M The lifelefs form of aged Ennius view, Who your brave anceftors' achievements drew :
Of
3$2 COMMENTARIES ON
Of fighs and tears let none the tribute give, For ftill upon the lips of men I live."
Lucilius, a Roman knight, was born at Aurunca, about one hundred and forty-nine years before Chrift. Although he wrote in the time of Scipio Africanus, he had even in the Auguftan age fuch zealous partizans that they were difpleafed with Horace for comparing his poetry to a ftream which rolls down much dirt amidft its native purity. Of thirty fatires a few verfes only remain ; and if by his great fuperiority to his predeceffors he was confidered as the founder of Roman fatires, this fuperiority appears to have proceeded rather from his learning and his boldnefs, than from his fmoothnefs or elegance. Quintilian, who thinks the judgment of Horace too fevere, does not place himfelf amongft thofe ardent admirers of Lucilius; who not only preferred him to all writers of fatire, but to poets of every defcription.
The envious and malignant are always
willing to allow the bitternefs of inve&ive
to atone for the want of tendernefs in com-
pofition.
P. Terentiua
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 3$$
P. T^rentius Varro was born fomewhat lefs than half a century before Chrift. He was a voluminous writer, but none of his fatires have reached our time. Quintilian fays, there is another and earlier fpecies of fatire compofed by Varro, the mod learned of the Romans. He blended feveral kinds of verfes ; and not only intermingled profe with verfe, but Greek with Latin.
If an attention to fomething like chrono- logical order render it proper to allude to thofe writers whofe labours have been loft to pofterity; after the perufal of a dull and tedious catalogue of names, we are generally confoled by others who will be holden in univerfal veneration until the Goths of ig- norance fhall diffufe a fecond darknefs over the civilized wrorld.
HORACE.
Q^ Horatius Flaccus was born at Ve-
nufia, fixty-five years before Chrift. His
father, though only a freedman, by fome
£iid to have been a collector of taxes, by
4 others
334 COMMENTARIES ON
others a fifhmonger, gave him the moft liberal education, and received from him the well-earned tribute of filial gratitude. The rudiments of learning he acquired un- der the beft teachers at Rome; and his education was completed by an attendance on the le&ures of the firft philofophers at Athens. To talents of the b,righteft kind, he joined an eager and afliduous application: it is no wonder therefore that we find in him an all-accomplimed fcholar. Unfor- tunately for his military, rather than his literary fame, he became a tribune to Bru- tus ; for when he had difgraced himfelf by his cowardice at the battle of Philippi, he entirely abandoned the profeffion of arms, and applied himfelf to the cultivation of poetry. In an age^ when genius was re- fpeded by the great, he was recommended and introduced by Virgil and Varius to the emperor and his minifter ; and the liberal patronage they afforded him, vindicates the warm panegyric with which he repays their favour,
6 ' He
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 335
He died at about the age of fifty-fix ; and his end was probably accelerated by the lofs of Maecenas, whom he furvived only a few weeks, and near whofe tomb he was interred. He declared Auguftus his heir, but was too weak to be able to affix a fignature to his will.
The works of this incomparable author, equally the delight of our early and ma- turer years, our companion in retirement and our aflbciate at the feftive board, have fo often been the theme of commentators, paraphrafers, critics, and admirers, that it is not eafy to difcover a fingle beauty in them which has at this late period been un- explored. On the prefent occafion nothing new rauft be expe&ed ; but the contem- plation and thepraife of acknowledged ex- cellence can fcarcely produce fatigue by repetition.
Horace, perceiving that Lucilius had wandered very frequently from his fubjedt, that he was negligent in his compofition and incorrect in his metre, aimed to avoid the faults of his predecefTor. But the peculiar
excellencies
336 COMMENTARIES OK
excellencies of his fatires, are the utility of his moral precepts and the delicacy of his raillery. If we find in them no poetical harmony, the defecl: is amply compenfated by merit of a fuperior kind.
With the keeneft ridicule they purfue the follies and put to fhame the vices of mankind. In this Horace found no model amongft the Greeks, nor any one worthy of imitation amongft his own countrymen. Where fhall we meet in a profane writer better inftru&ions how to regulate human defires ; to diftinguifh truth from falfhood; ideas from realities ; and to remove all hurtful prejudices from the mind? Who- ever reads them without reforming his errors, is in the fituation of the invalid who ren- ders his malady incurable by refufing to apply the antidote.
In the common acceptation of the term, Horace was not an epicurean : for modera^ tion in defires, that mother of wifdom ; and a pure confcience, the foundation of happi- nefs, heearneftly and frequently exhorts his followers to maintain. To be indulgent to
others
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 337
others and fevere to ourfelves are hinges of his moral precepts. He fpeaks with rapture of the pleafure of retirement ; of the attrac- tions of friendfhip ; of the delights of a rural and peaceful life ; and of the love of our country.
In the firft book of the fatires it is his obvious endeavour to eradicate vice; ; and in the fecond to difpel thofe prejudices which infeft the human mind. Such only is the epicurifm of Horace.
The epiftles are an appendix to the fa- tires : they not only exhibit a forcible ftyle of writing, but contain a valuable fyftem of ethics. Socrates refuted before he taught, well knowing that the ground ought firft to be cleared from weeds before it be fown with corn. The fatires are the purifiers of paffion, and the epiftles are the lelTons of virtue to fill up the vacancies in the mind. His addrefles to Maecenas are not the language of a mean parafite, but the effufions of a grateful heart to its bene- factor. The minifter when dying recom- mended him to his prince in thefe few re-
z markable
33^ COMMENTARIES OW
markablc words : " Remember Horace, as you would remember me." Auguftus in a letter to the poet upbraids him for conceal- ing from pofterity in his writings their inti- mate friendfhip ; and hence he takes occa- sion to write that fine epiftle to him, begin- ning with the words, " Cum tot fujlineas"
By a critic it has been obferved, that his epiftles are amongft the moft valuable productions of antiquity. That except thofe of the fecond book, and one or two in the firft, they are of the familiar kind, abounding in moral fentiments and judi- cious obfervations on life and manners. He had cultivated his judgment with great ap- plication ; and his tafte was guided by an intuitive perception of moral beauty, apti- tude, and propriety.
Horace has been accufed of being a cour- tier, but when do we find in him the buftle, the inquietude, the love of place and of power, incident to that chara&er ?
It mould alfo be remembered, that thofe
who detefted the profcriptions of O&avius*
cfteemed the government of Auguftus: it
3 would
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 339
Would be injuftice to Horace and to Virgil to reproach them for having celebrated a reign which for forty years conftituted the happinefs of Rome, and procured to Augus- tus, after his death, the fears and regrets of the whole empire.
Horace was particularly introduced here to take his place; and a diftinguiflied one he may claim, amongft the writers of Roman fatire ; but as it was impoffible not to confi- der him at the fame time in the light of a moral teacher, fo it may be right to contem- plate him as a lyric poet in the prefent view* rather than under a diftinel: head. From the foundation of Rome till the time of Auguftus, the Romans had no other lyric poetry than their firfl extemporary eflays, the hymns of the Salii, which were a col- lection of fongs chanted by the priefts as early as the reign of Numa in honor of great men. He was therefore the firft, and, pro* perly fpeaking, the only lyric poet amongft the Romans; and we cannot fufficiently admire his happy imitations of all the mo- dels which the Greeks afforded him. ' He z 2 refembles,
34° COMMENTARIES ON
refembles, at pleafure, Alcazus, Stefichorus, and Sappho. If he muft yield to Pindar, he is unqueftionably fuperiorto Anacreon; and his inferiority to the Theban lias by fome critics been attributed to the defects of the PwOman mufic, which, unlike the Grecian, could not accommodate itfelf to the proper divifions of the ode. They had no inftru- ment but the flute, the lyre, and the fiftrum, lately imported from Egypt.
In Horace are combined the poet, the critic, the moral philofopher, and the man of the world. The ode, which was a fhort poem compofed for the harp and admitted every kind of verfe, allowed alfo every fort of fubjecT:.
His odes are pathetic, heroic, and ama- tory ; the feventeenth of the fecond book is of the firft kind, and was written during the laft illnefs of Msecenas. " Cur me que- rdis exanhnas UnsV It has been well ob- ferved of him, that he has given to a rough language the tender and delicate modula- tions of theeaftern fong $ that in variety of
fentiment
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 341
feutiment and felicity of expreffton he is fu- perior to every competitor of either nation. Elegant without affedation, and moral even in the midft of gaiety.
Of the heroic odes, one of the mod cele- brated is that to Fortune where he invokes her, and recommends Auguftug and the Ro- mans to her care. He deplores the civil war and the general corruption of man- ners. Some ideas contained in this ode, beginning " 0 Diva^gratum qua regis An- tium" are taken from the twelfth of Pindar's Olympics. The poet feems here divinely in- fpired. He mounts into the heavens; he de- fcends to the fhades below to fly with For- tune around, through, and over the fea. On a fudden he reprefents her under a formida- ble appearance, and depi&ures Neceflity with its dreadful engines. Then he gives her a more pleafing retinue, Hope and Fidelity. He exhibits her mourning in the palaces of great men who have been dif- graced; he marks the condudl of falfe friends at her departure, " who watch the
z 3 fign
342 COMMENTARIES ON
fign to hate ;" and finally he recommends Auguftus to her partial care.
Horace has about thirty amorous odes, which evince the fine and delicate tafte of which he was poffefled. They are origi- nal compofitions, having no models in other poets: they are chefs-d'ccuvre6 polifhed by the fineft tafte. The fub- je£t of them is equally pleafing in all lan- guages, and amongft every refined peo- ple. In the ode to Pyrrha, c< %uis multa gracilis^ ?5V." there is a mixture of fweet- nefs and reproach, of praife and fatire, which has always been the life of this fpecies of commerce, and the bafis of the converfation of lovers, Scaliger calls this ode the pureft ne&ar.
In his addrefs to Venus, " 0 Venus , regU tia Cnidi Papbiquc" the poet difplays the tranfcendency of his talents in a few lines beautiful and dele&able beyond a parallel,
" Cum tU) l^ydia^ Telephi" has the fpirit and foftnefs of Sappho ; and the dialogue between Horace and Lydia is a poem con* fecrated to the Graces,
Horace
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 343
Horace can equally inflame the mind by his enthufiafin, and calm it by his philo- fophy. Whence can ftronger arguments for contentment be drawn than are con- tained in his admirable ode to Dellius ? In no uninfpired writer was the fhortnefs of life ever depictured in more ftriking co- lours. It contains the difparagement of wealth and the confolation of poverty ; and if perfect equanimity could be attained by reafon and reflection, the fweet ftrains of the poet would infallibly produce it.
His hymn to the praife of the gods and of illuftrious men is didated by the pureft infpiration ; and the ode written at the cele- bration of the fecular games by the com- mand of the emperor, when three whole days and nights were devoted to the fefti- val, may claim the palm when put in competition with the fineft compofitions of the Greeks.
In the Art of Poetry, which has been fo
ably criticifed that I forbear to add an
opinion which would have no weight,
z 4 Horace
344 COMMENTARIES ON
Horace vindicates his choice of lyric poetry while he gives rules for the conduct of the drama. In this poem fome readers have found an " unity of defign and accuracy of compofition, while others confider it as containing only an unconnected fet of pre- cepts written with a view to reform the Roman ftage."
Upon the whcrte he feems to unite in himfelf the excellencies of Anacreon and of Pindar : he has the gaiety of the one and the enthufiafm of the other. The Theban bard, by dwelling for ever on the fame fubjedt, retains always the fame tone ; but Horace has all tones, and every one in perfedtion. When he takes his lyre, and is feized with the poetic fpirit, he is at once either tranfported into the council of the gods, to the ruins of Troy, or to the fum- mit of the Alps ; and his mufe always rifes to the fubjedt which infpires it. He is majeftic in Olympus and charming with his miftrefs. It cofts him no more to paint with traits fublime the foul of Cato or of Regulus, than enchantingly to fing 2 the
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 345
the careflfes of Lalage or the coquetries of Pyrrha.
Such was Horace, the delight of his contemporaries and of every man of learning and of tafte in every fubfequent age.
He is the author of all antiquity who feems to have made the happieft union of the gentleman and the fcholar, whofe ge- nius was expanded by culture, and whofe excellent education would have availed little but for the tranfcendency of his natu- ral endowments.
If the parent of a numerous family were to perceive his houfe on fire, and that he had the power to fave only one child from definition, his equal affedion would forbid difcrimination or choice, and the firft who prefented himfelf to his arms would be fecure of his protection. But if the art of printing had not happily pre- cluded the poflibility of a fimilar accident ever happening to the works of the an- cients, and a conflagration more terrible than that of Alexandria fhould threaten to
inyolye
346 COMMENTARIES ON ,
involve them in one general ruin, where is the fcholar of tafte who would not pafs by a crowd of poets, orators, and hiftorians with all the voluminous lumber of com- mentators and critics in order to refcue his favourite Horace from the flames ?
JUVENAL.
There is no poet of whofe life fewer ac- counts have reached us than of Juvenal.
He is faid to have been born at Aquinum, fifty years after our Saviour; and that like every other man of letters he eagerly repaired to Rome. He was a declaimer and a fatirift ; and both his fpeeches and his writings exhibited the boldnefs rather than the prudence of his chara&er.
That he (hould unrefervedly reprove the vices of fuch an emperor as Nero, excites in us a great degree of furprize ; a flill greater? that he did it with impunity, ^
During the life of the tyrant he remained unmolefted. His fucceffor, Domitian, fent
him
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 347
him into exile under the pretence of ap- pointing him governor of a province on the confines of Egypt. The toils of office were irkfome to a man nearly four-fcore years of age ; and it was with extreme joy that he returned to Rome in the reign of Tra- jan, where he died about the year one hun- dred and twenty-eight.
He is the only poet of his time who was endued with a republican foul. The writers of the Auguftan age acquiefce willingly in the extinction of liberty, and freely enjoy the bleffings conferred upon them by the partiality of an arbitrary prince.
For this indeed they might plead fome apology. The bloody revolution which ftifled the laft fighs of Roman freedom, had not yet abfolutely corrupted the foul. While the cruel but politic O&avius had ftrewed the road to defpotifm with flowers, the public manners were by no means fo depraved as in the reigns of Tiberius, Cali- gula, and Nero. It happened at Rome as it feems to have done in recent times, that the remembrance of the horrors attendant on
civil
348 COMMENTARIES ON
civil difcord made them adore the author of the new calm. They derived a fpecies of happinefs from no longer dreading to find tjieir names in tables of profcription ; and amidft the amufements of the amphi- theatre and the circus they forgot to vindi- cate the privileges of a citizen, of which for many ages their fathers had been fo zea- lous.
If any one of a more daring fpirit were defirous to afk of Auguftus by what right he ere&ed himfelf a mafter of the world, one look from the ufurper would frown him into filence. But the atrocities of the reign of Nero, and the unconquerable temper of Juvenal forbade him to fink into indiffe- rence or lethargy; nor were there, as in the former period, any enjoyments to counter* balance the misfortunes and the miferies of the times. Juvenal commenced his career therefore by doing that for morals and for liberty, which Horace did for decorum and good tafte. He profefTed himfelf their champion and friend. He equally de- claimed againft the public vices, and againft
ufurped
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 349
ufurped power; and recalled to the minds of the Romans the happy days of their vir- tue and independence.
His mufe was as vigorous as his mind ; but the attempt to abolilh vice was an enter- prize as ufelefs as it was bold.
He lived in an age when all patriot ardor was extind:. The citizens were not only become flaves, but enervated by all the crimes which luxury numbers in her train. The executioner was then more required than the cenfor or the fatirift. The facred name of liberty was never mentioned; and the hiftory of that period is but a catalogue of perfidies, imprifonments, and aflaffina- tions.
In conjunctures like thefe, Juvenal de- fpiied the light armour of ridicule, fo familiar and becoming to his predeceflbr : he bran- difhes the broad fword of invecYive, and, running from the throne to the tavern, he ftrikes at every one whom he perceives to be a traitor to virtue. Auftere and conftant to his principles, he fometimes rifes even to the tone of tragedy ; and if he laugh, his
laugh
350 COMMENTARIES ON
laugh is even more formidable than his rage,
f{ Seldom he fmiles, and fmilcs in fuch a fort As if he mocked himfelf ; And fcorned his fpirit that could be moved To fmile at any thing."
Shaksfeare.
He concerns himfelf only about vice and virtue, fervitude and freedom, folly and wifdom. To truth he facrifices all meaner views. The di&ates of urbanity and the views of policy he confidered dear only to thofe whofe morals are but external appear- ances. His plan was certainly of the no- bleft kind, to exhibit the degradation of human nature when guided folely by its defires. The fpirit which dictated his fatire was a regard for the public good ; and when in his rage he immolates his vi&ims, they are fo odious and deformed that we can- not lament their fate. When he has com- bated wickednefs, he mounts to the fource of evil and diffipates the delufion of ficti- tious virtues. His fine harangues againft our vain prejudices are ftronger than any
arguments,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. $$1
arguments, and feem to have been ani- mated and fortified by the habit of thofe fcholaftic difputations which had occupied his youth.
His panegyrifts affert that the blemifhes which ftain his writings belong rather to his age than to the author, yet a flight re- currence to them will probably convince his readers, that feverity was congenial to the conftitution of his mind. His zeal fometimes appears exceffive, and his attacks ' unpardonable, becaufe they were indifcrimi- nate.
Some of his fatires were written under Trajan, fome under Adrian, one only under Domitian, and him he had the temerity to praife.
His general tone is equally bitter in aH thefe reigns ; and it is a folecifm in his hif- tory, and a blot in his reputation that he had no eulogy for Trajan, that model of good princes: who could condefcend to praife Domitian, that monfter of mankind.
An oppofite conduct would have given him celebrity as a writer as well as a mora-
lift:
351 COMMENTARIES ON
lift : but he feems never to have known what Tacitus well underftood, that contraft beftows on ftyle as it does on painting ; its intereft, its charms and its variety.
One therefore of the faults of Juvenal is a monotony, which often revolts and fome- times fatigues the reader. It has been ob- jected to him, and not entirely without rea- ibn, that he fees nothing but monflers, and paints nothing but obje&s of deformity; that he always difgufls and never confoles, allowing not his reader to repofe for an. inftant on a iingle foft and agreeable fenti- ment. His cenfure of the female character is certainly without excufe, becaufe it does not balance their virtues againft their faults, but is an indifcriminate libel againft the whole fex. In Pliny, a contemporary mo- nument, fome are mentioned who profefied morals, humanity, the love of talents and of merit. A young man once abufing women as an abandoned race ; one of them fenfibly obferved that he had certainly forgotten that he had a mother.
Objections
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 35J
Objections likewife have been made to his flyle. He has been accuied of a painful harfhnefs of di&ion 5 blamed for the ufe of accumulated and extravagant metaphors ; for verfes replete with fcientific epithets, and fo thickly let with Greek Words as to render the construction particularly difficult.
Other critics however, and amongfl them Mr. Gibbon, have thought very differently of his flyle ; they have confidered his veri- fication fuperior to mod of the Latin poets, and particularly fuited to his fubjecT: and his difpofnion, often fmooth, harmonious^ and animated, although he never facrifices fenfe to found.
If he be fometimes a caricaturing he is
frequently a juft painter ; his fatire on the
..nobles is very fine ; and his defcription of
the courtiers of Domitian, in the fourth
book, has perhaps unrivalled excellence.
His tenth fatire on the vanity of hltmari wifhes potteries very diftinguifhed beauties bu: the arguments he would draw from it are not quite conclufive; nor are all the examples an illuftration of the ilntimenf :
A A i(
354 COMMENTARIES ON
it is net true that great talents, long life, and high ftation are not proper obje&s of our defire, becaufe they have fometime9 difappointed the expectations, and fome- times been injurious to the felicity of their poffeffors; and Mr, Gibbon has well ob- served, that though Sejanus furnifh an in- ftance of popular inconftancy, yet Alexan- der is certainly not an inftance in point ; that, u Here the poet has failed to diftin- guifh between thole wifhes, the accom- plishment of which could not fail to make us miferable, and thofe whofe accomplifh- ment might fail to make us happy. Abfo- lute power is of the fir ft kind, long life of the fecond." The misfortune of Alexander confifted in being cut off in the midft of his fnccefs.
It has been thought by fome, that the grofs manner in which Juvenal expofes vice to ridicule, rather encourages than difarms the licentious and the debauched.
But as the avowed advocate for virtue,
he confidered his provocations great, and
revenged them accordingly. In fome in-
6 ftance, s,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. T>SS
ftances, the two great Roman fatirifts have fallen on the fame fubje&s ; and where Horace is pleafant, Juvenal is fevere ; the one only laughs at vice, the other cruflies it under his feet ; the one is the comic, the other the tragic fatirift.
In verfification and numbers, Juvenal has the advantage over his predeceffor. While the fentiments are jtift, manly, and elevated, the expreffions and the verfe are noble, and well adapted to the fublimity of the thoughts. To the brighteft talents, he added the pureft morals ; and the reader who refpe&s the clearnefs of his head, cannot fail to revere the goodnefs of his heart.
He may perhaps be called the laft of the Roman poets. After his time the decline of genius was followed by the corruption of tafte. The fophifts ufurped the name of orators and the place of poets, and compi- lers and commentators darkened the face of learning. The Romans might theri fairly be called by the name which they A a 2 applied
3j6 COMMENTARIES ON
applied to all the world except the Greek?, barbarians.
When the fierce giants of the north in- vaded the Roman empire, they mended the puny breed. They reftored a manly iplrit of freedom, and after the revolution of ten centuries, this fpirit inftigated inqui- ry, and freedom became the happy parent of fcience and of talte.
PERSIUS.
Aulas Perfius Flaccus was a native of Volaterrse, and born about thirty years after Chrift. His family was equeftrian, and his fortune was confiderable. When twelve years old he was fent for education to Rome, where he ftudied philofophy under the ftoic Cornutus, the ableft precep- tor of his time, and became accomplifhed in all the learning of his age. What is ufually called fcience was at that "period little known. The laws of the folar fyftem were not yet invefiigated, and fmall pro-
grefs
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 357
grefs wa> made in the knowledge of nature. The teachers of the various lefts deviated into ipecious difcufllons more ingenious than ufeful ; into fubjeds too abitruie to have any influence on life and manners.
Perfius died at a very early period, but the fix fatires he has left are not a very copious production of thirty years.
The warmed friendship fubfifted be- tween him and Cornutus, and when the latter prefented to the lifters of his pupil a large ium ^of money which Perlius had left to himfelf, his condud attefted the generofity of his mind, rather than the fraternal afTedion of his friend.
The fubjeds treated of by Perfius are ; the vanity of the poets of his time; the unwiilingnefs of youth to acquire the knowledge and the pradice of morals ; the badneis of the government of Nero, ob- liquely rather than diredly attacked. The manner of his writing has been generally cenfured by modern critics ; but we fliould remember that he was • read with avidity a a 3 by
358 COMMENTARIES ON
by his contemporaries, and that from their tribunal an appeal will fcarcely he allowed.
At this remote period we lofe much of the pleafure which the perufal of him might otherwife afford, from our ignorance of the characters which he defcrihes. The portraits .were drawn from nature, and recognifed by thofe who could trace their fimilitude to the originals.
His peculiar attributes are, gravity of ftyle, feverity of morals, great good fenfe, and much concifenefs. The excefs of thefe virtues becomes a defe£t : he that is only juft is apt to be harfh ; he that is always fage is occafionally fevere : the concifenefs of Tuvenal is* one caufe of his obfcurity. A father of the church is faid to have thrown his fatires on the ground, faying, " Since you will not be underftood, remain there." Another threw them into the fire with this jeft ; " Let us burn them to make them clear."
While fome critics difallow him any merit, others place him above Horace and
Juvenal ;
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 259
Juvenal ; truth lies between thefe extremes. Quintilian fays of him that he has defer* ved much true glory : his expreffions are fometimes very happy, his precepts gene- rally thofe of a wife man, and they were committed to the memory as moral pro- verbs : but ftill he has the fault of obfeu- rity ; and clearnefs is the iirft merit of every writer.
It has been faid for him, that, wifhing to attack Nero and not daring to do it openly, he concealed his meaning, by de- fign. But obfeurity, his prominent fault, is apparent throughout his whole work ; ftill it is not the effecl; of a confufed ap- prehenfion, nor of a fearch for recondite ideas ; it proceeds from the multitude of ellipfes, the fuppreffion of intermediate members of the fentence, the frequent ufe of the boldeft figures, which crowd into a fingle verfe too great a number of circum- ftances more or lefs feparated the one from the other, and offer to the under- ftanding too many objecls to be embraced at one time...
A a 4 The
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The ftructure of his dialogue is To im* periect, that it requires a painful attention io follow the fpeakers, to fill up the con-r nedtion, and to join a thread which is perpetually broken. When this is done we perceive that all is juft and confequen- tial, and only complain that he feems to think intelligibility too common a quality of ftyle, and appears to wifti that his meaning fhould rather be conjectured than intuitive.
His ProfopopeYa of Avarice and Pleafure, the one awakening the man, the other ex- horting him to fleep, fo that the unhappy wretch knows not which to attend to, is extremely fine. It is much to the credit of Perfius that he was a real admirer of Horace : he characlerifes him in his fatires, often avails himfelfof his ideas, and fhews that his works were entirely familiar to him.
In a fatire addreffed to his tutor, he paints with noble and tender traits the fin- cerity of his regard for him.
In this fatire it has been well obferved, that u there is a more agreeable picture
of
CLASSrCAL LEARNING. 361
-<
of domeftic comfort than might be expect- ed in the family of a Stoic/'
How blcft With thee to pnfs the livelong dny, With thee at eve the frugal board to (hare,
In toil and red our kindred minds difplay,
While m ;dcil meals unbend the brow of care.
His kind monitor reftrainea him from publishing his fatires during the life of Nero, but this caution did not fecure him from a premature death. He was executed by order of the government.
Cefius Baflus, a lyric poer, to whom Perfius add re fled one of his fatires, was more bold and more fortunate. He was the publifher of his# works, and yet his temerity remained unpunished. To com- plete the eulogium of Perfius in refped to the moral part of his character, it ought to be remembered that he was the friend, of Thrafea, of whom Tacitus faid, that Nero determined to deftroy him, when he wiGied to attack virtue itfelf.
§6% COMMENTARIES ON
SECTION XIIL
Latin Epic Pcetry, — Lucretius*— Virgil. — OviJ.--Lu- cati.—Silius Italicus. — Valerius Flaccus. — Statius.
.About ninety years before our aera, T. Lucretius Carus was born at Rome, biu received the principal part of his education at Athens. He was a difciple of the feft of Epicurus, and the firft writer amongft the Romans who united philofophy with poetry.
The tradition which declares him to have written his poetry in the lucid intervals of a delirium, is fcarcely credible ; but when it is faid that a wearinefs of life impelled him to fuicide fo early as in his forty-fourth year, the tenets of his mafter which vindi- cated his conduct will command our belief pf the facl:.
His philofophical opinions are contained in a work intitled, " De Rerum Natural
the
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 363
the language of which has by fome critics been confidered fuperior to that of every other Latin author. They aflfert that, when his fubjedt will allow it, he exhibits more life and fire than Virgil ; that he then breaks out like lightning from a dark cloud with unequalled force and bright- nefs. It has been well obferved, that a mixture of obfolete words gives him an air of folemnity, and that the refolution of diphthongs inftils into the Latin the melo- dy of the Greek language.
The Mantuan bard has certainly no lines more forcible than are contained in the epifode of Cacus, which are elegant and harmonious. The defcriptions of a pefti- lence and of the delights of love are the mod diftinguifhed parts of the poem, and no one has more highly coloured both the frightful and attractive in nature. The conclufion of the third book, where Nature upbraids her ungrateful children for their impious difcontent, is a fine relic from the elaborate difputations that precede it. Towards the end of the fifth book, every
reader
3^4 COMMENTARIES CN
reader is charmed with the delicious fcenes there unfolded, and the defeription of the commencement and refinement of art* Lucretius well defciibes rural fimplicity, and the domeflic happinefs of innocent and contented poverty.
Virgil in his Georgics has been his imi- tator, and Ovid thought his poem would enddre till the diffolution of the earth. Many modern poets have imitated Lucre- tius, and the fame monk of Florence, Poggio Bracciolini, who refcued the invaluable in- ftittites of Quintilian from deftrucHon, has by wini perfons been confidered to have conferred an incalculable favour on pofte- hty when he preferved the difciple of Epicurus. Dr. Warton calls him a fculptor- poet, from the bold relief of his images; and indeed his luminous ftyle has obtained him more panegyrifts than his fentiments deferve.
He is the avowed advocate of atheifm and impiety. Adopting for his bafis the atoms of Democritu^ the fortuitous forma- tion
• CLASSICAL LEARNING. 365
tion of the world, he di'fgufts the votaries of true religion and of found philofophy.
The fluggard gods of Epicurus, funk in the calm of a perpetual lethargy, are as repugnant to our better notions of a Su- preme Intelligence, as the vicious deities which consumed the popular fuperftition of Greece and Rome.
Falfe philofophy has ever been mingled with falfe religion ; the doctrine of gravi- tation was not unknown to Lucretius, and he ftrenuoufly attempts in his firft book to refute the idea that the univerfe has a centre to which every thing tends by the great law of nature.
Perhaps the moral tenets of Epicurus have been mifunderftood, and Lucretius may have been lefs read than he deferves, from a general mifapprehcnfion of the tendency of his tenets.
The author of the feci taught that happi- nefs could only proceed from the cultiva- tion of the mental powers, and from a ftricl attention to virtue. This is what he denominated pleafure, and his accompli (lied
difcinle,
3^6 COMMENTARIES ON
difciple, in conformity to his inftitution, ufes every rational diffuafive againft vice, and every incentive to virtue : but the foundation of all morals, the a&ive fupef- mtendence of an omniprefent being finds no place in his fyftem of nature.
Lucretius fays, that his work is written in verfe from the fame motive as actuates phyficians who, when they give worm- wood to children, fmear the outfide of the cup with honey.
But Quintilian obferves, that there is fome caufe to fear left the wormwood fhould predominate. The mafterly genius of the poet is every where confpicuous, and, had he lived under Auguftus, he would perhaps have chofen a happier fubjeft, and proved a formidable rival to the beft poets of that illuftrious age.
AUGUSTAN AGE.
At the head of the writers of this mort diftinguifhed period, it is to be lamented that we cannot place the Emperor and his
minifter
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 367
minifter but by the teftimony of ancient authors. Were we in poffeffion of the re- cords of their literary fame, they might have confoled us in fome degree in our refledions on cruelty and arbitrary power; Learning would have boafted of its tri- umph when it perceived a tyrant feeking for repofe in the bofom of literature, as well as endeavouring to atone for profcrip- tions and maffacres by calling forth talents, and by patronifing merit. Suetonius in- forms us that Auguftus wrote both verfe and profe, and that Maecenas was an author on a variety of fubje&s, dramatic and bio- graphical.
The temper of the former was probably mollified by the entire defeat of his ene- mies and the acquifition of unlimited power ; and it was no lefs grateful to the vanity than to the tafle of both, to counte- nance fuch poets as would prefent them with that polfon which is fo " fweet to the age's tooth."
VIRGIL.
368 COMMENTARIES ON
VIRGIL.,
About feventy years before Chrift, the birth of Puhlius Virgilius Maro gave cele- brity to Andes, a fmail village near Mantua. His education was begun at the neighbour- ing town of Cremona, a place remarkable for the formation of tafte and the exercife of talents, and completed at Milan, the diftinguifhed feat of all the ingenuous arts.
When the republican forces under Bru- tus and Caffius had experienced a fatal defeat at Phiiippi, and lands were divided among! i the foldiers of the conquerors, all the property of Virgil /was included in the forfeiture.
This apparently unfortunate event was the caufe of his future profperity and emi- nence. In his dillrefs he wifely repaired to Rome, folicited and obtained the patro- nage of Maecenas, by whofe means and thofe of Afinius Pollio he obtained an in- troduction to the Emperor Anguftus, and 5 was
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 369
was fhortly after favoured with the reftora. tion of his eftate. By the liberality of his imperial patron and his courtiers, his cir- cumftances foon became affluent.
It is almoft unneceflary to obferve of a writer who is in the hand of every fchool- boy, that his works are paftoral, agricul- tural, and epic.
In all his poems, critics have declared him to be a plagiarift. Befides his acknow- ledged imitations of Homer, they have accufed him of borrowing from Ennius, Pacuvius, and Accius, as well as from his contemporaries Lucretius, Catullus, and Varius. Macrobius fays, that his fecond book of the iEneid, which contains the fine defcription of the fack of Troy, was borrowed almoft word for word from a Greek poet whofe works are loft, and whofe name was Pifander.
The firft production of Virgil was his Bucolics, confiding of ten eclogues, written in imitation of the Idyllia of Theocritus, begun in the twenty-ninth year of his age, and completed in three years.
b b It
37° COMMENTARIES ON
It has been obferved, that there is fuch an incongruity between the 11 m pie ideas of the iwain and the polifhed language of the courtier, as to render it very difficult to reconcile them by any arts of compofition ; that the Doric dialed of Theocritus muft ever give to the Sicilian bard a pre-emi- nence in this fpecies of poetry ; that there are in the Bucolics of Virgil the native manners and ideas without any of the rufticity of paftoral life.
Thofe critics who give the preference to Virgil have faid, that as he is more varied, he is alfo more elegant than Theocritus ; that his fhepherds have more fpirit without ever having too much, that his harmony has an inexpreflible charm, a mixture of fweetnefs and of art, which Horace confi- ders with reafon as a particular prefent which the Mufes have made to him ; that he interefts more than the Sicilian poet in the fports and amours of his ruftics, and has no negligence or languor ; that it is impoffible to read thefe poems without committing them to memory, or at leaft
without
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 37I
Without defiring to read them over and over again.
In atteftation of the excellence of the Bucolics, we are told that the Romans were fo enamoured of them that they were fre- quently recited upon the ftage, and that Cicero, hearing fome of them, exclaimed, Magna /pes altera Roma !
His next compofition was the Georgics, the idea of which was taken from the Works and Days of Hefiod ; but there is no other fimilarity than that of their com- mon fubject. Hefiod delivers his precepts of agriculture with the utmoft fimplicity : Virgil has embellifhed his work with all the dignity which fublime verification can beftow. It is addrefled to Maecenas, at whofe requeft it was undertaken, and di- vided into four books. The firft treats of ploughing; the fecond of planting; the third of cattle ; and the fourth of bees, their food, polity, and difeafes. The whole concludes with the beautiful epifode of Ariftseus and Eurydice. The Georgics were written at Naples, and employed him feven years. BB2 Confidered
37^ COMMENTARIES ON
Confidered as dida&ic poems, and adapted to the climate of Italy, they have the high- eft claim to merit. As poetical compofi- tions, their elevated ftyle, the beauty of their fimilies, the fentiments interfperfed in them, and the elegance of their di&ion, excite the admiration of every judicious reader. During four days which Auguftus paflfed at Atella on his return to Rome, to refrefh himfelf from fatigue after the battle of A&ium, the Georgics were read to him by the author, who was occafionally re- lieved in his tafk by his friend Maecenas.
It is fuggefted by Mr. Gibbon, that Au- guftus was highly delighted with the Georgics from a motive lefs creditable both to himfelf and to the bard, than that of found criticifm and good tafte. That he rejoiced in every thing which could recon- cile his foldiers to a peaceful life ; and that the defcription given by Virgil of the re- pofe and happinefs of the country grati- fied him as a politician, when he perceived the effeft which it produced on the vete- rans of his army.
They
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 373
They, infenfibly became enamoured of the innocent and ufeful employments of agriculture, and waited with patience for a long courfe of years, before the Emperor had edablifhed a treafury to repay them for their military toils.
In this inftance, poetry like raufic had " charms to footh the favage bread ;" and while it conveyed the founded precepts of a ufeful art, was fubfervient to the moft important purpofes of the date.
The poems of Homer, and the laws of the epic which had been fo ably formed and promulgated by Aridotle, were an ad- vantage to Virgil in his compofition of the iEneid, which few poets have had fo fa- vourable an opportunity to enjoy.,
The iErieid was written at the particular defire of Augudus, who was ambitious of having the Julian family reprefented as lineal defendants of the Trojan iEneaS. The character of the hero of the poem has been faid to be faulty on account of its coldnefs ; that he is never wanned or impafTioned, although perpetually in tears b b 3 or
374 COMMENTARIES ON
or at prayers; that his defeition of Dido is neither gailant nor heroic ; that the de- fcription of the fports in the fifth book refrigerates the reader ; and that the laft fix , books deferve to be generally condemned. The foundation of a ftate which was to be the cradle of Rome, and the arrival of a ftranger announced by ancient oracles, who difputed with a prince for the daughter of a king to whom that prince was betrothed, are the fubje&s of them. The different people of Italy divide between the two rivals, and raife in the reader an expectation of action and of intereft. But what is the refult ? In place of thefe, we find a mo- narch who is not mafter of his houfe, and has not a will of his own, who, after having received the Trojans wTith cordiality, per- mits his queen and intended fon^in-law to carry on the war againft them, and fhuts himfelf up in his palace that he may take no part in it ; Lavinia too, a mere mute, although the deadly conteft is on her ac-: count ; and the queen after the defeat of the Latins commits filicide, but excites no 6 pity,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 375
pity. Turnus is killed by iEneas, without producing the leaft intereft in the vi&ory of the one, or in the fall of the other. That the battles are an abridgement of thofe of Homer, with lefs difFufivenefs, but with lefs fire alfo, and referable petty fkir- mifhes amidft barbarous colonies. That in the feventh book the poet carries us into a new world, and introduces us to perfonages abfolutely unknown: Ufens, Tarchon,and Mezentius are very different from Ajax, He&or, and Diomed ; and the antiquities of Italy, which flattery induced him to pe- netrate, are as obfcure as thofe of Greece are illuftrious. That the tranfient intereft we feel in favour of the young Pallas the fon of Evander, of Laufus the fon of Me- zentius, of Camilla the queen of the VoU fcians, cannot compenfate foil the want of that general intereft which ought to move the whole machine of the epic.
If pofterity, feverely juft, take cognifance
of thefe defects; ftill fufficient merit remains
in the iEneid to entitle its author to the
appellation of the prince of Latin poets,
P B z}. which
376 COMMENTARIES ON
which his contemporaries beftowed upon him.
The fecond, fourth, and fixth books are univerfally regarded as the mod finifhed performances which epic poetry ever pro- duced in any nation.
The filial piety and misfortunes of iEneas, after the cataftrophe of Troy, ftrongly in- tereft the reader in his fubfequent adven- tures. The pi&ure of that city in flames can never be enough admired.
The charafler of Dido appertains entirely to the author, and has no model in all an- tiquity.
The prophetic rage of the Cumsean Sibyl difplays the enthufiafm of the poet.
The epifode of Nifus and Euryalus, that of the funeral of Pallas, and that of the buckler of iEneas, are the perfe&ion of the art of painting.
Virgil is not more confpicuous for ftrength of defcription than propriety of fentiment, and when he takes a hint from the Grecian bard, he does not fail to im- prove upon it.
One
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 377
One inftance may fuffice. In the fixth book of the Iliad, while the ' Greeks are making great flaughter amongft the Trojans, He&or, by the ad- vice of Helena, retires into the city to defire that his mother would offer up prayers to the goddefs Pallas, and promife her a noble facrifice if fhe would drive Diomed from the walls of Troy. Imme- diately before his return to the field of battle, Hedor has his laft interview with An- dromache, whom he meets with his infant fon, Aftyanax. Here occurs one of the moft beautiful fcenes in the Iliad, where the hero takes the boy in his arms, and pours forth a prayer that he may one day be fuperior in fame to his father. In the fame manner jEneas, having armed himfeif for the decifive combat with Turnus, addreffes his fon Afcanius in a beautiful fpeech, which, while it is expreffive of the ftrongeft paternal affection, contains a noble and emphatic admonition fuitable to a youth who had nearly attained the period of manhood.
He
37^ COMMENTARIES ON
He certainly owed much of his excel- lence to the wondeiful powers of Homer. His fufceptible imagination was captivated by amiable traits of the OdyfTey, and. warmed by the fire of the Iliad. Impro- ving the characters of the gods, he fuftains their dignity with fo uniform a luftre that they feem truly divine.
Mr. Gibbon obferves, " that the more we know antiquity, the more we admire the art of this poet. His fubject was narrow. The flight of a band of exiles, the corn*, bat of fome villagers, the eftablifhment of an ill-fortified town ; thefe are the tra- vels, fo much vaunted, of the pious iEneas. But the poet has ennobled them, and he well knew by ennobling them how to ren- der them the more interefting. He em- bellifhed the manners of the heroic ages, but he embellifhed without difguifing them. Father Latinus and the feditious Turnus are transformed into powerful monarchs. All Italy feared for its li- berty. iEneas triumphs over men and gods.
He
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 379
" He never feems more matter of his art, than when defcended to the fhades below with his hero : his imagination appears to be enfranchifed : Romulus and Bru- tus, Scipio and Ci^far, fhew themfelves there fuch as Rome admired or feared them."
It adds much to the celebrity of Homer, that he wrote in an age when the intellect was not generally improved by cultivation, and that he was indebted for his inex- hauftible refources to the capacity of hie own mind.
Virgil, on the contrary, lived in a period
when literature had attained to a high ftate
of improvement. Perhaps Homer lived
and died in a ftate of poverty ; Virgil was
enabled by the affluence of his circum-
flances to allot twelve years to the com-
pofition of his iEneid, which even at his
death was unfinished, and, by a pious ne-r
gleet of the dying injunctions of its author,
refcued from the deftru&ion to which he
deftined it. The wifh of the poet for the
deftrudtion of his work probably arofe
from, his perceiving it to want uniformity
380 COMMENTARIES ON
and unity. Had he lived, he would either have conne&ed or obliterated the detached parts of the latter books.
A remarkable circumftance refpedingthe chara&er of Virgil as a poet is the equable perfection of his ftyle. It is at once the delight and the defpair oF all who efteem and cultivate Latin poetry.
Where is the fcholar, mature in years and judgment, who does not admire the colouring and the variety of his pictures, and that unvaried harmony, which does not only play upon the ear but penetrates to the foul ? If he do not equal Homer in in- vention or in the richnefs of imagination in the aggregate, it has by fome been con- tended that he furpaffes him in the fplen- dour of certain paifages, in correftnefs, and in tafte.
In the perufal of this fine poem, there is no part which ftrikes the reader more for- cibly than the defcent of iEneas to the fhades below ; and the effect it produces on the mind would be much lefs powerful, if we were to aflent to the hypothefis of a very learned critic, Dr. Warburton, that it is
only
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 38 I
only a figurative defcription of the initia- tion into the Eleufinian myfteries.
Every one of the circumftances of the defcent convinces Mr. Gibbon, that Virgil defcribes a real not a mimic world ; and that the fcene lay in the infernal regions, and not in the temple of Ceres. The An- gularity of the Cumean fhores, the lake Avernus, the black woods which furround- ed it when Virgil came to Naples, were fuited to gratify the fuperftition of the people. It was generally believed that this dreadful flood was the entrance of Hell, and an oracle was eftablifhed on its banks, which pretended by magic rites to call up the departed . fpirits. The converfation between iEneas and the prieftefs may con-. vince us that this was a defcent to the fhades, and not an initiation. " Facilis defcenfus Averni" &c.
That every ftep may lead us to the grave is a truth, but the myfteries were open only a few days in the year. The defcent of the myfteries was laborious and dan- gerous ; the return . to light eafy and I certain;
382 COMMENTARIES Oft*
certain ; but in real death this order is in-* verted. If we confider the awful fcene as a mimic fliow exhibited in the temple of Ceres by the contrivance of the prieft or the legiflator, all that was terrible or pa- thetic difappcars at once ; the melancholy Palinurus, the wretched Deiphobus, the indignant Dido, and the venerable An- chifes, — " tenuemfme vlrihus umbram"
The ftricTiures of that able critic Mr, Gibbon, on the fanciful and ingenious pofi- tion of the bifhop contained in his mifcel- laneous tracts, are worthy the attention of every fcholar; and there will probably be few readers whom he does not convince, that the opinion which is oppofite to his own would deprive the Mantuan bard of a large portion of his deferved praife, as it would tend to make the fpirit of one of the fineft parts of the iEneid entirely evaporate in lifelefs allegory.
Virgil is faid to have received two thou- fand pounds from O&avia, the fifter of the emperor, for the incomparable verfes in which he introduces the name of her fon
Marcellus*
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 383
Marcellus, whom fhe had lately loft. If this were the conduct of a courtier, how untrue is he to himfelf when he reprefents his hero affifting the Etrufcans to punifh their former tyrant Mezentius : Mr. Gib- bon thinks that " fuch opinions, publifhed by one who has been efteemed the creature of Auguftus, (hew that, though the republic was fubverted, the minds of the Romans were ftill republican." He is alfo of opi- nion that, had this part of the work been recited before the court, the reward given him for his former compliments to the reigning family would have been with- holden.
In every point of view Virgil appears to advantage as a writer ; it is undeniable, that he does not merely recite the labours of ruftics or an uninterefting ftory of tra- vels, but is a new Orpheus, whofe lyre induces favages to depofe their ferocity, and whofe hero unites them by the ties of manners and of laws.
iEneas is the minifter of celcftial ven- geance, the protedor of opprefled nations,
who
384 COMMENTARIES ON
who launches thunder on the head of the guilty tyrant, but is foftened by the unfor- tunate vi£tim of his fury, the young and pious Laufus, worthy of a better father and a more propitious deftiny.
Virgil determined to correal his poem, which he polifhed with a fcrupulous and painful accuracy at Athens, the renowned feat of eloquence and philofophy. In the delightful gardens of Epicurus, he con- ceived that he fhould have full leifure to complete an immortal work, but the arrival of Auguftus from the eaft fruftrated his defign; and on his return to Rome with his imperial patron, he was feized with ficknefs at Megara, and expired at Brundufium in the fifty-fecond year of his age. The place of his education he defired to be the place of his interment ; and his tomb ftill exifts within two miles of Naples near the road to Puteoli.
He is faid to have written an infeription for his mpnument, which, in two fimple lines tells the place of his nativity and his burial, together with the fubje£t of his
poems.
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 385
poems. But the verfes are fo unworthy of his mule that they probably are fpurious.
His. fortune he divided between the em- peror and his minifter, and his friends Varius, Plotius, and Tucca. Thefe be- quefts, the unfufpicious teftimonies of gra- titude and friendfhip, evince the goodnefs of his heart ; and the proofs which pofte- rity have received of the excellence of his underftanding, and the corre&nefs of his tafte, will be acknowledged by them as long as learning .fhall be hallowed, and fuperior talents regarded with admiration.
OVID.
Publius Ovidius Nafo was defcended from an Equeftrian family, and born at Sulmo about forty-two years before the Chriftian sera. No expence was fpared to render his education complete. He acquired the firft rudiments of it at Rome, and when he was qualified to affume the manly gown, Athens numbered him amongft her illus- trious fcholars. The high reputation ao- quired by the great orators of his time
c c was
386 COMMENTARIES ON1
was a ftrong inducement with his father to deftine him for the profeffion of the law ; but nature, which in a few inftances, and probably in a very few, gives an irrefiftible bias to the mind, reverfed the deftiny. Like Pope, he feems to have been born a poet, and his own declaration to this effedt may be tranflated by the well-known line of the Britifh bard : ■
<c I llfped in numbers, for the numbers came."
He could boaft that all the literati of that enlightened age were his friends, and, for a while, that the emperor was his mu- nificent patron : but a fatal cloud hung over his head ; he was fuddenly difgraced at court, and banifhed for life to Tomos, the capital of the lower Msefia. The nature of his offence ftill remains a myf- tery ; the pretence was that his verfes tend- ed to corrupt the morals of the Roman youth.
The fentence, which was pafled by Au- guftus, Tiberius confirmed \ and the plain- tive
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 387
tlve tone of many of his compofitions is to be referred to the habitual melancholy which attended his exile. He fcarcely furvived it eight years, and was interred at Tomos before he had attained the fixtieth year of his age.
His Metainorphofes, the firft amufement of our juvenile years, comprifed in fifteen books, is one of the handfomeft prefects which antiquity has made to us. Every thing in this work is attractive to the youthful mind, from the feparation of the elements which are in the place of Chaos, to the fplendid apotheofis of the Emperor Auguftus. It is impoffible to admire too much the flexibility of his imagination and of his ftyle in taking fucceflively every tone, clofely adapting himfelf to the nature of his fubje£t, and by his art diversifying the cataftrophe, of which the foundation is always the fame, namely, a tranfmutation of form. How admirable is the variety of his colours, always well fuited to the dif- ferent pictures which he draws ! His ex- preflions are fometimes exalted to fublimity,
c ^ 2 fometimes
388 COMMENTARIES ON
fometimes fimple even to familiarity ; now horrible and terrific, now tender, gay, fmiling, and fvveet. He raifes, foftens, af- frights the mind, as he reprefents the palace of the fun, the plaints of love, the fury of jealoufy, and the terrors of vice. He de- fcribes with equal eafe and accuracy com- bats as amufements, heroes as fhepherds, the cave of Envy as the cottage of Phile- mon. Every reader is charmed with the delightful poem of Pyramus and Thifbe. Its beauties are ever pleafing becaufe they are natural, and the cataftrophe of the un- fortunate lovers fails not to excite univerfal fympathy ; a tale fo haplefs in {trains fo delightful was furely never told ! If there be any reader whom the perufal of this incomparable poem does not affedt, he is neither to be envied for the vivacity of fait feelings, nor for the foundnefsof his judg- ment.
Mythology furnifhed her richeft ftores to Ovid, an unrivalled advantage which was pofleffed by the ancients. It added the brightelt plumes to pagan writers, and
9 enabled
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 389
enabled them to foar to empyrean heights on the wings of fuperftition. But a purer religion, and a more refined tafte, have reftrained the flight of modern bards ; and reafon and truth, the bed guides of the orator and the hiftorian, have been found to damp the ardour of poetic enthufiafm.
The ftyle of Ovid has been accufed of gaudinefs, but it is the exuberance of real richnefs; for his ornaments are not produ- ced by labour nor by effort. Spirit, gaiety, and facility, three qualities which never abandon him, conceal occafional negligence and trifling ; and it may more truly be faid of him than of Seneca, that he is " graced by defedt," and pleafes even by his faults.
His three books of amours, the pro- duction of his youth, have all the frefli- nefs of the age when they were compofed. Though he has not the fenfibility, nor the elegance, nor the precifion of Tibullus, nor the paflion of Propertius ; though he may be reproached with a frequent repeti- tion of the fame ideas, and fometimes with bad tafte ; yet what a crowd of ingenious
c c 3 thoughts
39^ COMMENTARIES ON
thoughts and agreeable images do they contain ! Corinna was the feigned name of his miftrefs, and iome have believed that this Corinna was no other than Julia the daughter of Auguftus. What pathos is there in his complaints, what protections and what oaths !
The next piece, which probably was fent with the other, is addrefled to the chambermaid of whom Corinna was juftly jealous : he accufes her of having given occafion to the fufpicion of her miftrefs ; be reproaches her with blufhing like a child while he ga£es at her ; he recals to her memory with what fang-froid he knows how to lie, with what intrepidity he perjures himfelf when under the necef- fity of producing a juftification, and finifhes by rcquefting a meeting with her. In theie poems he difplays his real character. When he promifes his miftrefs to be conftant, he does not mean to deceive her, but is him- felf deceived. He is a general lover, and his infidelities are as numerous as the ob~ je&s, of his paffion. But the moil amufing
paffage
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 39I
pafiage of the work is where he complains with an apparent ferioufnefs of his irrefifti- ble propenfity to love.
The Art of Love is another well known production of this author. In the firfl book he treats of the choice of a miftrefs, in the fecond the means of pleafing and at- taching her. Ovid, fo ardent in his amours, is cold and erroneous in his theory. It is lefs difficult to fucceed in detached pieces than in a regular poem, where the plan muft be preferved from the beginning to the end, and where the fpirit ought to be fuftained throughout.
In the firft book, a thoufand verfes are fpent in teaching his difciples how to fearch for a miftrefs. The heart immediately replies, that fhe is found without a fearch, and that fuch an arrangement was never made but in the head of a poet. Ovid fends them into public places, temples, fpedacles, the town, the country, the baths, to find fome one to whom they may ex- prefs their partiality. She will not fall from the clouds, he fays; you muft feek for
c c 4 her.
392 COMMENTARIES OH
her. Many trifling circumftances are in- troduced, and feveral infipid epifbdes un- worthy of a didadic poem. The rape of the Sabines, and the fable of Pafiphae, are no very decent examples in proof of the affedtion of the female fex. The ferious queftion which he agitates, about being at once the lover of the chambermaid and her miftrefs, (hews that his precepts are in con- formity with his example. As a poetical fally which evaporates in words, fuch opi- nions may be excufed ; but to reduce them into practical do&rines, is to infult the moral fenfe of decency and decorum. Upon the whole, this part of .the work is but a meafured warbling, and difcovers the facility of faying nothing in feeble and negligent verfes.
The fecond canto begins with a long epifode on the adventure of Daedalus and Icarus, as ill-drawn as thofe which precede it. There is here a queftion about the art of pleafing, in which it muft be con- fefted that Ovid does not. appear in his novitiate. Then follows an epifode of
Venus
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 393
Venus furprifed with the god Mars, the only one which is to the point, but its beauties are fullied by the obje&ionable .nature of the fubjed,
The third book of the Art of Love is pro-
feffedly written for the inftru&ion of the
fair fex, of whom he wifhes to afk pardon
for his infidelities. He teaches them the
whole art of deception; obferves that they
are lefs deceitful than men ; and adds, that
as they give us arms againft themfelves, it
is but juft to furnifli them with weapons
of defence ; that he gives this advice by
the order of Venus herfelf. He advifes
them about their drefs, exhaufts the 'whole
fcience of the toilet, prefcribes bounds to
their laughter in fubfervience to the ftate
of their teeth, and is remarkably great and
deep in trifles. It is, however, irnpoflible
not to render homage to the fertile variety
of a writer who applies himfelf to fo many
kinds of writing with confiderable fuccefs.
His Fafti originally confifted of twelve
books, of which only half the number are
in our pofTeflion. They contain a beautiful
defcription
394 COMMENTARIES ON
defcription of the ceremonial tranfa&ions of the Romans : and the lofs of the other books has been very generally lamented by fcholars.
The moft pleafing paffages have been faid to be the origin of facrifices, the ad- venture of Lucretia, the feftival of Anna Perenna, the origin of the name of May, and the difpute of the goddeflfes for that of June.
His Heroics are a fort of amorous epiftles, twenty-one in number ; they have a high degree of poetical enthufiafm, but are indecorous in the general turn of the thought, and grow tirefome from the identity of the fubjeft.
Whether it be Penelope to Ulyfles, Dido to iEneas, Sappho to Phaon, it is the fame as when Phillis complains of Demophon, and other miftrefles of their inconftant lovers. Plaints, reproaches, and regrets are exprefled in very elegant language, but the ear grows weary of the repetition of filch whining fentiments as have no power to reach and interefl the heart..
His
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 1>9S
His Triftia, compofed during his exile, prove that, though his vivacity was gone, he retained his genius for poetry. In melancholy but harmonious ftrains he be- wails his unhappy fituation, and depre- cates the rage of the inexorable Auguftus. His elegies are of a fimilar defcription, and that on the death of Tibullus will be efteemed as long as the works of both the authors fhall be read.
His tragedy of Medea, of which only fragments remain, is mentioned by Quin- tilian as a proof of what his genius could have effected had it been reftrained within the bounds of decorum.
Upon the whole, his praife is that of ta- lents, learning, and elegance ; his defects, indecency of expreffion, forced conceits, and a profufion of ornament.
Such is the poetical character of Ovid in the abftract ; but when placed in contraft with Virgil, Horace, and Tibullus, thefe faults .are fo confpicuous as to mark the firft decline of genuine tafte amongft the
Romans,
WCAN.
396 COMMENTARIES OK
LUC AN.
M. Annseus Lucanus was a Spaniard, a native of Corduba, and bora before the middle of the firft century.
If it be believed that his talents firft recommended him to the notice of the Emperor Nero, it was probably his flattery of him that facilitated his admiffion to office. Before the time limited by law, he was appointed augur and quseftor. Buoyed up by this unprecedented fuccefs, and for* getting that tyrants can no more tolerate a fuperior in intelle&ual attainments than in power, he engaged in a literary conteft with his patron.
Nero wrote a poem on the fubjedl of Niobe, Lucan upon that of Orpheus, and his victory over his imperial matter was the caufe of his ruin. Perceiving himfelf the deftined vidlim of refentment, he weakly refolved to furnifh an apology for it, and joined in a hopelefs confpiracy with Pifo, a man whofe virtues attracted the good, and
whofe
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 397
whofe pliant temper rendered him dear to the voluptuous.
After the defeat of Pifo, which termina- ted in his fuicide, Lucan had no favour allowed to him but the choice of his death. His veins w~ere opened in a warm bath, and he met his fate with philofophi- cal intrepidity, at the early period of twen- ty-fix years, when health and life are in their meridian.
The only relic of his literary reputation is contained in a work written on a fubje£t better adapted for an epic poem than mod others, and denominated Pharfalia, from the battle which terminated the deadly con- teft between Caefar and Pompey.
By fome critics Lucan has been faid to poffefs beauties peculiar to himfelf, and of a confummate luftre ; that he was verfed in all the learning of his age, and fecond to none in eloquence; that his choice of words is happy, and his expreffion bold and animated; that there is a dignified tone of gravity and authority in his poem ; that his ftrength is equalled by his imagination,
for
39^ COMMENTARIES Ott
for that the natural warmth and impetuo- fity of his temper ftamp an interefting character on a great part of his work; that he is very fortunate in affeding and engaging the paffions ; that his defcriptions are fublime images of the things they re- prefent; that where he is concife he is happi- ly fententious ; where diffufe, elegant to a great degree.
A clofer and more accurate perufal of Lucan will probably not juftify fo fplendid an encomium. His poem fo often deviates from the- dignity of the epic, that it may rather be confideied as a hiftory in verfe, written certainly with confiderable talent. It is owing to partial traits of force and grandeur rather than of general excel- lence, that it has been faved from obli- vion.
While we read Virgil in continuation, it is difficult to read a fingle book of Lu- can.
With much fpirit, and even with much genius, it is poffible that an author may be deficient in that art of writing, which has
6 its
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 399
its origin in a natural tafte, and is brought to maturity by labour and by time. Why isLucan fo little efteemed, notwithftanding the praife wich is generally, and therefore juftly, given to certain parts of the Pharfalia ? It is that his imagination, which is always in fearch of the fublime, is often miftaken in the choice. It is, that it is wholly unac- companied by that found judgment which prevents exaggeration in the painting, in- flation in the ideas, languor and fuperfluity in the details.
It has been faid of Lucan, that " he is like the foldier in the ninth book of his Pharfalia, who in palling the faddy defarts of Africa was bitten by a ferpent, and fwelled fo much as to be loft ia the tu- mours of his own body."
When to this it is added, that his verfes are all turned in the fame mould, he may be faid to be equally monotonous to the ear and to the underftanding. His beau- ties are fo furrounded and inclofed by his faults, that the reader denies hirafelf the pain of fearching for the one on account of
the
4CO COMMENTARIES Oft
the difguft which is excited by the othef* This aflertion may be corroborated by our recurring to a very remarkable fentence, when Caefar, on his paffage from Epirus to Italy, is affailed by a tempeft, and pro- nounces this famous fentence, addrefled to the trembling pilot : " Why are you afraid ; you carry Csefar and his for- tune r
The fentiment is fo truly grand and ele- vated, that an accumulation of words can only ferve to weaken it. The poet, on this fine occafion for fublimity, by extrava- gant hyperboles, and an intolerable pro- lixity of detail, deftroys the whole effecl: of the fentence, and difgufts every reader of tafte and feeling. He defcribes a ridi- culous combat of the winds, coldly and unfeafonably perfonified in gigantic bom- baft, which is oppofite both to reafon and to truth. What can be more out of place than that verbofe boafting of Csefar, which is fubftituted for the noble expreflion that hiftory makes him pronounce ?
To
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 40I
To {hake heaven and earth, to raife all the feas of the globe, to make nature fear- ful of falling into chaos, and all this on account of a boat beaten about on the little fea of Epirus, is a defcription abfolutely falfe in nature, and an unpardonable abufe of figurative language. The tedious re- lation compels us to forget Csefar, and it is Gsefar who fhould exclufively occupy our attention. When the fleet of iEneas is aflailed by a tempeft, twelve verfes is fufficient for Virgil to give the mod lively and ftriking account of it.
A ftorm defcribed with the fame con- cifenefs, energy, and truth, had made every reader tremble for the fate of a great man on the point of feeing one moment of im- prudence annihilate the higheft deftinies. Perhaps the picture had been more agree- able, if Lucan had employed a fpecies of fidion of which he was always too fparing; if he had reprefented Olympus attentive and divided ; the gods obferving whether the foul of Caefar could fuftain a moment of danger and of trial, uncertain if the D D waves
402 COMMENTARIES ON
waves would not ingulf the threatened mafler of the world, and if Neptune would not efface from the book of fate the day of Pharfalia, and the flavery of Rome.
As no fubjed can be conceived more capable of elevating the mind, it would have permitted fidion without injuring the veracity of hiflory. Could not the gods and the Romans have aded together in the fame fcene, and been worthy one of the other ? Could not defliny have been introduced where the fate of the world was concerned I
The phantom of his country in tears, which appeared to Csefar on the banks of the Rubicon ; this fine fidion, unhappily the only one found in the poem,fufficiently proves what afliftance he could have drawn from fable.
Lucan has, however, certain pre-emi- nent beauties in his defcription of charac- ters. Such Is the funeral eulogy of Pompey, proaounced by Cato : fuch is the portrait of Cato himfelf, and the account of hia
marriage
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 403
marriage withMarcia; his march amongft the Africans; and his fine anfwer to the noble fpeech of Latinus upon the oracle of Jupiter Amnion. But nothing can exceed the portraits of Caefar and Pompey, put in oppofuion in the firft book, which are written with incomparable tafte. The merit exhibited in thefe portions of the work are great, and has rendered him worthy the regard of pofterity.
Quintilian fays that Lucan is to be ranked amongft orators rather than poets. This eulogium on his fpeeches is in a great degree juft; for though they are not wholly exempt from that declamation which injures his ftyle, yet they poflefs real grandeur, and excite fympathetic emo- tion.
His fubjecT: prefents him with many circumftances which are fufceptible of the pathetic, but the ftiffnefs of his ftyle re- fufes to admit it. ' The feparation of Pompey and Cornelia, when he fends her into the Ifle of Lelbos, and the difcourfe which accompanies their adieu, are almoft D D 2 the
4°4 COMMENTARIES ON
the only inftances in which the poet makes the epic approach for a moment to drama- tic intereft. His charader of Caefar, at firft fo ably drawn, is disfigured as the poem proceeds ; which cannot be excufed by his hatred to the oppreflbr of liberty. A republican could not pardon Csefar for the foundation of an empire wThich Nero inherited; but he might have confined him- felf to deploring the perverted ufe of ex- traordinary talents, which he turned againft his country, after having exerted them in its defence. Had he fent back his army before he paffed the Rubicon, he would certainly have been loft. The hatred of his enemies affifted the fortune which led him on. The blind partiality of the fenate in favour of Pompey, the weaknefs of Cas-far in fupporting the idol whom he had railed, the long hatred of the auftere Cato againft the voluptuous Csefar, brought into action the beft troops of the republic, whofe every proceeding was an error. The fenate inconfiftently confented to flat- ter the pride of Pompey, who wifhed to
be
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 405
be the firft in the ftate, while they eon- demned the arrogance of Casfar, who re- fufed to be the fecond. This could only- end in giving a mafter to Rome.
The preference manifefted by the fena- tors in favour of Pompey, arofe, probably, from their political diflike to a leader of the people. The remembrance of the quarrels between Marius and Sylla ought to have animated them in a delire for liberty, and infpired them with a hatred to tyrants.
All the propofals made by Csefar before he pafled the Rubicon had very plaufible pretences : to eftablifh equality, and to fecure himfelf againft his enemies. It is not always that political men are ferious in overtures of accommodation, Caefar pro- bably wiflied his propofals to be refufed, and might fecretly have formed his deter- mination to reign ; but he offered to lay down his arms if they would confer upon him the confulfhip and a triumph. Both he had deferved, and the poft was without queftion necefTary for his fecu- rity.
D D 3 . The
406 COMMENTARIES ON
The jealoufy of Pompey, and the pufilla- nimity of the fenate, concurred in refufing his reafonable demands ; and the important refult is known to every one in the lead acquainted with the Roman ftory.
The vidory of Dyrrachium encouraged Pompey to fight the fatal battle of Phar- falia. Had he pufhed his victory over the vejteran legions, Cxfar allowed that he would have been undone ; but when in the laft adion he quitted the heights, and defcended into the plain to engage his ad- verfary, this one miftake forfeited forty years of glory.
Lucan is unjuftto the perfonal character of Casfar. Hiftory has recorded his cle- mency to the Romans who furrendered to him ; but the poet reprefents him as a fe- rocious and fanguinary tyrant. Lucau perpetually calls for arms againft defpotifm, and implores civil war, as being far pre- ferable to flavery. Poetry is in general lefs fearful of arbitrary power than elo- quence. Its voice is ufually more confe- crated to pleafure than to inftrudion; to
illufion
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 407
illufion than to truth ; and its char oris may even have attractions for deipots who have tafte. Virgil has prudently abftained from the praifes of liberty, and fatal was the effect of the temerity of Lucan.
Let us not, however, imagine that the flavery of Rome gave the final blow to poetry as it did to eloquence. Its decline was the inevitable confequence of its ma- turity. A corruption of genuine tafte and of found principles was the necefTary effect of the inquietude and the feeblenefs of the human mind, which is not willing to reft contented with what is good, but deviates into boundlefs error, from a fruitlefs fearch aftervifionary p erfedtion.
The reign of good emperors, fromNerva to the Antonines, in fome degree revived the fpirit of poetry ; and fome few epic writers give a certain degree of celebrity to their age.
C. Silius Italicus was a lawyer of great eminence, who voluntarily retired from his lucrative profefTion, to pay his adora- tion at .the fhrine of the Mufes.
d d 4 He
408 COMMENTARIES ON
He was conful in the frxty-eighth year of the firft century, but afterwards lived in privacy, and compofed a Poem, which has reached pofterity, on the fecond Punic war, in feventeen books. In this work, he fcru- puloufly purfues the order and the detail of facts from the fiege of Saguntum to the defeat of Hannibal, and the fubmiflion of Carthage. He exhibits Juno with her in- veterate hatred againft the defcendants of JEneas, and her ancient love for the rival of Rome.
The ftyle of this writer is pure, but fo feeble as never to rife to excellence. He has but few verfes worthy to be retained in the memory, and his beft fentiments are but tranfcripts from Livy.
It has been obferved, that " his fubjecl: was well chofen, and that he poffefled a confiderable fhare of learning, and much knowledge of the human heart. He has alfo fhewn much judgment in the plan and conduct of his work, but he wanted power for the execution."- The fire of poetry evaporates with the advance of life, and
the
JITY
CLASSICAL LEARNING 409
the old man could not rekindle the Pro- methean heat which is neceflfary to an epic poem.
If he creeps on the ground, he is free from affectation, or obfcurity, or bombaft ; and it has been well obferved, that the poet, who annually facrifices at the tomb of Virgil, would have attained a higher re- putation could he have imbibed a portion of the fpirit which belonged to his idol.
To avert the evils of a lingering difeafe, he ftarved himfelf in the feventy- fifth year of his age ; and his memory is regarded with that refpe£t which is bellowed oa mediocrity of talents.
VALERIUS FLA CCUS.
In the reign of Vefpafian flourifhed Valerius Flaccus, who has left nearly eight books of a poem, on the fubjed of the Argonauts. His early death prevented his finifhing a work, which has by fome critics been confidered as next to the JEneid of Virgil. As a writer, he has more animation than Silius, more corredtnefs
than
4IO 'COMMENTARIES ON
than Statius, and lefs bombaft than Lucan. He has been blamed for having almoft tranflated the Argonautics of Apollonius Rhodius ; wherever he has quitted his ori- ginal, he difplays a genius fuperior to the Greek ; and it is to be lamented, that he who could have invented a plan, would condefcend to imitate an inferior. The ruggednefs of fome of his verfes is com- penfated by the harmony of others. His compofition probably wanted only revifion, to have poffefled an equal {hare of merit, and to have conferred on its author a higher place amidft the poets of Rome.
STATIUS.
Near the termination of the firft century, and in the reign of Domitian, Papinius Statius was born at Naples, Time, which has devoured many of the ineftimble works of the Greek tragedians and the Roman hiftorians, has been more favourable than juft to the works of this author. His Thebaid, in twelve books, is on the fubje£t
of
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 4II
of the quarrel between Eteocles and Poly- nices, which terminated in the murder of each other.
It is well known that they were the fruit of the unhappy marriage of CEdipus with his mother Jocafta, and that it was agreed between them, that, after the death of their father, each mould reign alter- nately for a year. That Eteocles, at the expiration of that period, refufed to refign the empire to his brother. That after much bloodfhed between the fupporters of each party, it was agreed that they mould decide the difpute by fmgle combat. In this they both fell; and fable tells that their afhes feparated themfelves on the burning pile as if incapable of reconciliation. Thefc wicked men thus accomplifhed by their crimes that maledidion of their father which they merited.
Statius wrote alfo another epic poem called the Achilleid ; of which two books are extant, but which were unfinifhed at his death. It is better written than the Thebaid, and his defcription of the beha- viour
412 COMMENTARIES ON
viour of Achilles at the feaft made by Ly- comedes for the Grecian ambafiadors has been generally admired. Four books of poems, under the denomination of Sylvae, have likewife defcended to pofterity ; they are fometimes natural, elegant and eafy, but they are in general debafed by florid language, and by a falfe glare.
Through a long courfe of ages of igno- rance, chance has preferved fome inferior productions from that dud which ftill covers, and perhaps will eternally cover, many of the rnoft valuable works of anti- quity. On account of his inflated ftyle, and his bad tafte, it is more painful to read Statius than Silius Italicus, though he cer- tainly has more poetical fancy, and though, in the midft of his trifles, there are fome traits of brilliancy. The beft part of the Thebaid is the combat between the two brothers, and the other parts of the eleventh book. This poet enjoyed, during his life, a great reputation. The art of writing verfes is faid to have been an heir-loom in his family ; that he received it from his
father,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 4I3
father, and lived to fee his fon receive the laurel crown at the Alban games, as he had done himfelf.
Martial tells us, that the whole city was in motion to go and hear him when he re- peated his verfes, and that the recital of the Thebaid was a feftival for the Romans.
But at that period, the public tafte was much depraved ; for, though he has many beautiful expreffions and ftrokes of genius, his ftyle is in general a tiffue of affectation and bombaft.
The writings of Statius are at this day known only to a few men of letters, whofe curiofity renders them folicitous to be ac- quainted with all that the ancients have left them.
At the conclufion of the Thebaid, the poet addrefles his Mufe, and defires her not to pretend an equality with the divine iEneid, but to follow at a refpe&ful dis- tance, and adore the footfteps of its author. His Mufe certainly obeyed him ; but ftill he promifes himfelf immortality, and reckons much on the honor which pofterity
will
414 COMMENTARIES ON
will render him. It would have been more wile in him to reft contented with the ap- plaufe of his own age, than to have appealed to future ones.
But he had not fufficient perfpicuity to fee that he lived in the decline of learning, and his vanity prompted him to believe, that the (hour of ignorance was the trum- pet of fame.
CLASSICAL LEARNING, 415
SECTION XIV.
Latin Elegy. Ovid. — Catullus. — Tibullus. — Propertius.
I he Romans, in elegy and love-verfes, were the imitators of the Greeks; but the originals are unfortunately loft, while the imitations remain.
We know very little of the elegies of Callimachus, and nothing of thofe of Phi- letas and Mimnermus, but by the reputa- tion which they had amongft the ancients, and by the favourable teftimonies of the beft critics of antiquity. Although the word is of Greek derivation, and fignifies complaint or lamentation, it has not always been plaintive, but deftined fometimes to the celebration of the gods, fometimes to that of the return or the birth-day of a friend. It hats been before mentioned, that the beft elegy extant is that of Ovid on the death of Tibullus 5 but both happy and un- 6 happy
4*6 COMMENTARIES ON
happy lovers have made it the vehicle of their fenfations.
In this clafsof writers, Quintus Vale- rius Catullus is diftinguifhed. He was born at Verona early in the century which preceded the nativity of our Saviour; he died in his forty- fixth year, and numbered amongft his acquaintance and friends the moft cele- brated literary characters of the age.
It has been faid that he borrowed fo largely from Callimachus, as to render it fortunate for his fame that the works of the Grecian poets are now only fragments. The late invention of the art of printing, which we have fo much reafon to deplore, may have prevented the dete&ion of many plagiarifms of which we are not aware. Catullus fometimes profeffedly tranflated from Callimachus. The tranflation of the Coma Berenice has been faid to retain all the fpirit and to convey all the beauties of the original poem. His epigrams have by fome been thought to poffefs particular ex- cellence, and to furpafs thofe of Martial, and every other writer of that inferior fpe- 2 cies
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 417
cies of poetry. By others they have been confidered as unworthy of his talents ; and as a proof of the aflfertion, it has been re- corded that Csefar took no other revenge on him for an attack upon himfelf than by inviting him to fupper. This argument, however, feems not to poffefs any confi- derable weight, fince the motive which a&uated the inviter is at leaft problema- tical.
The verfes on Lefbia's fparrow, and the cpithalamium of Thebes and Peleus, {hew that the genius of Catullus, which excelled in graceful fubje£ts, could elevate itfelf to the fublime of paffion. The epifode of Ariadne abandoned by the ungrateful The- feus in the ifle of Naxos, is among the few pieces of the ancients in which not the lover but love itfelf is made to fpeak. The author of the iEneid has from this poem borrowed not only ideas and expreffions, but even entire verfes ; and Ariadne has been the handmaid who has decorated the Dido of Virgil. Such a writer would have reached the fummit of Parnaflus, had he
e B . been
418 COMMENTARIES ON
been endued with a fufficient (hare of pa-*
tience to ftruggle for fame by the rugged
acclivities of labour.
But Catullus was fond of pleafure and
of travel, both which are hoftile to the
leifure and the retirement fo neceflary to
men of letters. ' On the marriage of his friend Manlius
he wrote a charming poem, which is an inftance to prove that however common or trite the fubje£t, genius makes every thing appear comely and new. Catullus was born in poverty, but the generofity of friends exalted him to affluence. His writ- ings which have reached usare few; bnt lefs than a hundred pages didlated by fuch talents, have ferved to render their author a refpedable claffic. His compofuions, at once fimple but elegant, are the offspring of the moft luxuriant imagination ; and the fuccefsful imitator of the Greek writers would have obtained a higher reputa- tion, had the delicacy of his expreffions always correfponded with the purity of hist ftyle.
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 419
TIBULLUS.
Aulus Albius Tibullus was a Roman knight, the contemporary and friend of Ovid, who willingly refigned the toils of war for the indulgence of literary eafe and indolence.
Poets are not always remarkable for prudence. Had he imitated the pliability of Virgil^ his lands forfeited under the triumvirate might perhaps have been re- ftored to him by Auguftus. He has left four books of elegies, which announce him as the poet of fentiment, and the prince of that fpecies of verie. His ftyle is fo ele- gant, his tafte fo pure, and his composition fo irreproachable as to render him fuperior to all his rivals. He has alfo a fecret charm of expreflion which tranflation cai- not reach, but which can only be under- ftood by the heart.
He had a particular tafte for thofe rural
delights which fo well accord with the
paflion of love. Tibullus fings of mora
E E 2 than
420 COMMENTARIES ON
than one miftrefs ; Delia is the firft object of his affe&ion, and infpires the fweeteft of his fongs ; but Nemefis and Neaera replace her in their turns. He had the happy art of attaching thofe to whom he was himfelf attached ; the two former attended his funeral, and exhibited unequivocal teftimo- nies of genuine forrow : they were both courtezans ; but at Athens and at Rome there were fome of this defcription who held a diftinguifhed rank, not only by their underftanding, but by their fidelity to a fingle object.
It has been faid, that " a gentle folem- nity, a pleafing languor, and an indulgence in melancholy, are the true and genuine fpirit of elegy ; complaint is almoft its natural language, and if love under what- ever circumftances commands its voice, it i& becaufe love is the fofteft of all paffions, and is too often unhappy."
If this be a true definition of elegy, Tibullus deferves the palm of unrivalled excellence. Though gentle, he is not dull ; though humble, he is not mean. The
fympathy
CLASSICAL LEARNING. ,421
fympathy of the reader ever attends him ; and the labour of production was to him a new enjoyment, becaufe it was the delight- ful tafk of painting the fcenes through which he had patted. He fpeaks to our fouls when he defcribes his own, and is almoft the only poet who has been able to arrive at fame by finging of his pleafures.
PROPERTIUS.
The third candidate for fame as a writer of elegies amongft the Romans was Sextus Amelius Propertius, defcended from an Eque (Irian family, and refembling Virgil in being admitted to the favour of the em- peror, although his father had been the friend of Antony.
Propertius was a man of confiderable learning, and in the four books of elegies which have reached pofterity, he has been blamed for fuch a perpetual ufe of mytho- logy, that his citations from fable are faid to refemble more the common-places of a poet than the addrefles of a lover. One E I 3 thing
422. COMMENTARIES ON
thing is remarkable in his works, that he is the only writer of amatory verfes who has celebrated but one miftrefs. He often tells Cynthia, who was a Roman lady of di- flinguifhed beauty, that fhe fhall ever be the object of his fongs, and he keeps his word with her.
Not that his heart was as conftant as his Mufe ; for, like Ovid, he avows himfelf in pra&ice to be a general lover : he even confefles to Cynthia, that he has fome partiality for Lycinna ; but fo little, fo very little, that it is not worth the mentioning.
If we are to judge of Cynthia by the portrait which he draws of her, it muft be confefled that fhe does not appear to de~ ferve much fidelity. No woman furely had ever fo eager a difpofition to torment a lover, and no lover ever appeared fo un- happy, or fo much lamented his fate, as Propertius. .But his character, as it refpe&s his attachment, is fometimes found in common life ; for after all the reproaches with which he loads his miftrefs for her pride, her cruelty, and caprice, he always
concludes
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 423
concludes with an entire refignation to her will. He murmurs at the yoke, but ftill it is fo dear to him that he wiflies to fuftain it for ever.
His conftaat alternations of praife and of reproach fhew us that the different feelings of his mind were in complete fubfervience to the fickleaefs of her conduct. Some- times me is a goddefs, at other times far below humanity. Now he attributes to her all the frefhnefs of youth ; now he tells her fhe is already antiquated. After five years of impatient endurance of her tyranny he breaks his chains, and his adieus are imprecations in every poffible form. The reader doubts, and the lady probably doubted the fincerity of his difguft, for in- difference is never violent.
i. This refolution, however, clofes the third book, but Cynthia re-appears in the fourth; and confident of her power, comes to fearch for her flave at a country houfe where he was at fupper with two of his rivals. Her fury terrifies his companions,
who leave him to fettle the quarrel with- E e 4 out
4H COMMENTARIES ON
out their afliftance. Cynthia having beaten him well, confents to pardon him only on thefe hard conditions : that he will never walk under Pompey's portico ; that he will not go into the country in an open carriage ; and that at the public fpe&acles, he will always keep his eyes fixed on the ground. To all this Propertius fubfcribes ; and the amorous flave only revenges him- felf by new and vain imprecations.
The diftinguifhing quality of his verfe is fpirit, and Ovid has well cbara&erifed it when he talks of the fires of Propertius, " No man was ever fuch a lover ; he burns in every line ; his paffion is as earned and vehment as that of Tibullus is foft and gentle. But he cannot be entitled to the prize which was contended for by the three writers of Roman elegy ; for his learning fometimes renders him abftrufe, and his ftyle is by no means devoid of affectation."
Forty years were an early but not a premature termination of a life fo harafled by the ferocity and abfurdities of an arbi- trary woman.
The
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 425
The verfes which defcribe thefe tumults of paffion have fufficient merit to gratify our curiofity ; but as they produce no refpeft for the virtues of the imperious miftrefs, they excite no pity for the mif- fortunes of the pufillanimous lover.
64Z COMMENTARIES ON
SECTION XV. . Marti al.<^-Atifojrius. — Claudian*
JVIartial was a Spaniard, and born at Bilbilis about thirty years after Chrift. As foon as he arrived at manhood he re- -paired to Rome. By his talents and flat- tery he recommended himfelf to the Em- peror Domitian. After his death he fati- rized his benefactor ; and being difappoinU ed in his hope of gaining the favour of his fucceffor he returned to his native coun- try, and died there at the age of feventy- iive.
He has left fourteen books of epigrams ; and fo prolific was his mufe, that fhe, is faid to have produced no fewer than twelve hundred, three-fourths of which might well have been fupprefled.
They have come down to us in the beft order, as he himfelf arranged them ; and
, , •■ they
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 427
they retain the dedications at the head of each bock. If this be a fubjeft of congratu- lation to the learned, it will certainly not confole them for the lofs of fo many of the works of Livy, Salluft, and Tacitus.
Epigram is ftyled by Dryden the lowefl fort of poetry; and it has been faid that Martial, at the bottom of the hill, diverts himfelf with gathering flowers, and fol- lowing infe&s very prettily. If he made a new year's gift, he fent with it a diftich. If a friend died, he wrote an epitaph. If a ftatue was erected, he wrote an infcrip- tion. If he wifhed to pleafe the great, his ftyle was turned to panegyric.
The firft book is indeed entirely a pane- gyric on Domitian, againfl whom it would be more agreeable to perufe a fatire. Then follow extravagant praifes on the wonderful fpe&acles which he exhibited to the people. This fhews what importance the Romans attached to this fpecies of magnificence, and at the fame time how difficult it was to flatter this mafter paffion of the empe- ror.
428 COMMENTARIES ON
ror. Martial is often extremely reprehen- fible in the choice of his fubjeft, and gives fccpe to an imagination not reftrained by judgment or decorum. Sometimes he wearies the reader with the prolixity or ambiguity of his preambles. In giving praife and cenfure he appears to be go- verned more by prejudice or policy than by juftice and truth ; and he is more at- tentive to wit than to morals. But his compofition has extraordinary merit. It is in general both correct and elegant; and his fancy is prolific of beautiful images. In attic wit he furpafles every other wri- ter, and is familiar with every kind of verfe.
Pliny the younger obferves of him, that perhaps his writings may not obtain im- mortality, but that he wrote as if he was convinced that they deferve it.
The opinion of critics on the fubjed of Roman poetry has been this — that from the firft Punic war to the time of Auguftus, that is, in the days of its youth, it was
fcrong
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 429
ftrong and nervous, but not beautiful; in the Auguftan age it combined both, was manly and polite ; from the beginning of Nerva's reign to the end of Adrian's, taw- dry and feeble.
It is a fufficient proof of the decline of learning, and of tafte in the latter period, when we are told that Virgil and Horace were dethroned from their legitimate feat of empire in the public opinion, and that Lucan and Perfius were the ufurpers, who feized the fceptre, and reigned without controul in their ftead.
JUSONIUS.
Aufonius lived in the fourth century, and was preceptor to Gratian. By the interefl of his royal pupil he was advanced to the confulfhip. In ancient times the poet and the ftatefmen were frequently combined, but in modern ones the phenomenon would be very extraordinary.
No one excels Aufonius in imagination
or invention, in ftrength of language or
8 in
430 COMMENTARIES ON
in keenefs of wit. But his faults at leaft counterbalance his merit; for his fancy^ which is inexhauftibkj is never chaftifed by a fenfe of propriety or decorum. His language is inelegant, and the inequality of his pieces is the confequence of negligence, an unpardonable fault in a writer. He who prefumes to folicit the public attention, ought certainly to omit no means in his power to deferve it ; and the ufeful qualities of diligence and accuracy, give refpecta- bility to moderate talents and atone for many defects in compofition.
ft ftiould feem as if it had been impoffi- bleto corrupt the chaftity of Virgil's mufe; but the ill-placed induftry of Aufonius has effected this unjuftifiable piirpofe, and his Cento Nuptialis will be an eternal mo- nument of his difgrace.
CLAUD IAN.
Towards the end of the fourth century,
and in the reign of Honorius and Ar~
cadius, Claudian ;wrote feveral poems,
9 which
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 43I
which are fcarcely worthy the name of epic. His Rape of Proferpine flood higheft in his own efteem, and the opinion of critics has confirmed the judgment which he formed of it. But genius not under the guidance of difcretion, is ever found to be equally dangerous in writing and in con- duct. His flights are often extravagant although beautiful, and his figures are too bold to be endured by the lovers of correct compofition.
The purity of his language and the melody of his numbers, obtained him the praife of Scaliger. Of wit he has the hap- pieft vein ; and it is a fubjedt both of fur- prife and concern, that as the latter part of his life was paflfed in retirement and lite- rary eafe, he did not employ it in cor- recting the inequalities of his work, and weighing them by that flandard of tafte of which, from his admiration of Virgil, he had formed no incompetent idea.
He would then perhaps have poflefled much of the majefty of the Mantuan bard, and might -have claimed the diftinguifhed
honour
43^ COMMENTARIES ON
honour of exhibiting an exception to the corrupted ftyle which deforms all the poetry, not only of his own age, but of the three centuries which preceded him.
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 433
SECTION XVI.
Roman Oratory. — The Gracchi* — Cato. — Cicero,
Oratory, though long cultivated, had not made any remarkable progrefs at Rome, until the time of Cato the cenfor and the Gracchi. No clear idea is left us of their predeceflbrs, except that they were far from reaching perfection ; for although they pofTefTed genius, it was neither under the diredion of art, nor polifhed by the refining influence of tafte. But they were deftitute of that elegance, that harmony, that method of arranging words and con- figuring periods, all which occupy fo diftinguifhed a place in the bufinefs of an orator, who is no lefs obliged than the poet to confider the ear as the avenue to the heart. Vehemence and pathos were the chara&eriftics of the Gracchi, gravity and energy thofe of Cato. The Gracchi appear to have been in the number of thofe who F f were
434 COMMENTARIES ON
were firft inftru&ed in Greek learning. This accomplifhment they owed to the care of their mother Cornelia, the daughter of Scipio Africanus, a woman whofe name will be venerated in every age, as long as learning (hall be honoured, and virtue fhall be loved.
But ftill the Latin language was not then brought to perfe&ion, nor did it ap- proach its acme till the feventh century of Rome, an epoch dignified by Antony, CrafFus, Scsvola, Sulpitius, and Cotta, who fuftain fo diftinguifhed a part in the dialogue of Cicero de Oratore.
Of thefe celebrated characters, and of the whole hiftory of Roman eloquence, no monuments remain, but fuch as are con- tained in the writings of Cicero.
Marcus Tullius Cicero wasborn at Arpinum, a city of the Sabines, now part of the kingdom of Naples, about one hundred and ten years before Chrift. He was of equ eft rian origin ; but the term of new man was applied to him, becaufe he was
the
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 4^5
the firft of his family who had borne any office in the ftate.
The leading circumftance which ftrikes every attentive perufer of the life of this great man, is the wonderful care which was taken of his education by his father, and the zeal with which the ingenuous youth feconded his efforts.
The Gracchi were not more indebted for their acquirements to the inftitution of their noble mother, than was Cicero for his unrivalled accomplifhments to the never- ceafing attention of his parent. That wife and tender parent quitted his elegant re- treat at Arpinum, in order that his fon might attend, during the day, a public fchool at Rome, over which a Greek maf- ter of eminence prefided. The progrefs he made in his learning aftonifhed his fchool-fellows ; and fo rapid was the diffu- fion of his fame, that many of their parents came to fee the extraordinary youth.
When Cicero alTumed the manly gown,
at the age of fixteen, he was placed under
the care of Q^Mucius Scsevola the augur,
F F 2 the
436 COMMENTARIES ON
the principal lawyer and ftatefman of his age. This was an advantage of incalculable value, and entirely unknown to modern times. In Rome, boys became proficients in the laws of their country by learning the twelve tables by heart, at the fame time that they acquired an eafy and perfed: knowledge of the Greek language, by- reading it without the pernicious aid of a tranflation, — a pra&ice which always re- tards, and in this country, too frequently prevents the acquirement of it altogether. Cicero, when a boy, would fuftain a difpute on any legal fubjedt with the greateft lawyers of his age. He alfo attended the pleadings at the bar, and the public fpeeches of the magiftrates, ftill reading and taking notes at home, and tranflating the orations of the beft Greek orators.
His imagination was conftantly excited by the pra&ice of poetry, and his under- ftanding enlarged by the refearches of phi- lofophy. As armies were placed under the command of ftatefmen, Cicero made a cam- paign, in the focial war, with the Conful A. Pompeius Strato, the father of Pompey 4 the
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 437
the Great. But the greateft excitements to his induftry were the fame and fplendour of Hortenfius, a celebrated orator, whom he mentions in the warmed language of encomium. An a&ive and laudable emu- lation exercifed him, day and night, in logical difputes, in Greek and Latin de- clamations, and in every poffible form of oratory : when to this was added the con- verfation of the learned and polite, the re- fult was fuch, that at the age of twenty-fix he appeared at the bar, pofTefTed of unex- ampled accomplifhments.
This account which is given to us of the early years of Cicero, equally creditable to his father, his tutors, and himfelf, will evince the efficacy of claffical education, by an inftance where it produced the wonder of his age. He was indeed fo far from placing any implicit confidence in his na- tural talents, that he applied as diligently, and cultivated them as afliduoufly, as if they had been of an inferior defcription.
This is an ufeful leflbn to thofe who,
trufting to a certain quicknefs of parts with
which nature has endowed them, difdain
F F 3 the
43§ COMMENTARIES ON
the drudgery of application, that is requi* fite to the accomplifhment of the fcholar, however bright and diftinguimed his genius.
When Cicero firft appeared as a lawyer, Hortenfius was denominated the king of the bar; he had the honor therefore of contending with this formidable adverfary, and the glory of obtaining the efteem of him, whom he excelled. But it appears, that the eloquence of his rival wanted that folid foundation of clofe reafoning, which is one of the requifites of an able pleader. Splendour and ornament conftituted the principal merit of his fpeeches; and his a&ion was more fuited to the ftage than to the bar. What pleafed in youth had fewer attractions in mature age, when a judi- cious audience expe&s all the weight and dignity which belong to knowledge and experience. The truth feems to be this, that Hortenfius declined in the opinion and favour of the public in proportion as Cicero was elevated. This unequal conteft clouded their intimacy. The latter thought
3 he
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 439
he had reafon to complain of the conduct
of his rival during his exile; but at his
death he paid him a fincere tribute of
1
regret.
The firft public or criminal caufe in which Cicero engaged, was in the defence of Rofcius, charged with the murder of his father, by two of his relations who had actually aflaffinated him.
Amidft the profcriptions of Sylla, they hoped to fecure the eftate of Rofcius, which they had bought for a trifle, by a charge of parricide.
In this caufc, the avenue to his future fame, Cicero fhewed an intrepidity which was highly creditable to him ; for, through fear of the dictator, all the great lawyers had, with a pufillanimous concurrence, refufed to undertake the defence of the accufed.
It is our happy lot to live in an age and in a country, when in ftate queftions, not only innocence is fure of a defender, but even guilt will find an advocate to urge its extenuations*
F F 4 Such
44° COMMENTARIES ON
Sucli were not the times, when Chryfo- gonus, the freed-man of Sylla, and the par- taker of his plunder, unexpectedly found one lawyer who dared to expofe himfelf to the refentment of a moft powerful enemy.
When all the world were mute, Cicero ventured to fpeak. The ardour of virtue animated the firft efforts of his youth, and exhibited a fine contraft to that timid and paltry caution, which refrigerates maturer years.
This noble conduit was one of the beft recolledtions, that confoled him in his fub- fequent misfortunes. He mentions it to his fon with pleafure; and cites his own example as a leffon of that generous fpirit, which thinks no more of danger, whilft it is engaged in the prote&ion of inno- cence.
Having pafled two years in the practice of his profeffion, he repaired to Athens, and there he lived in the fociety, and availed himfelf of the inftru&ion of fcholars in every department of fcience ; there com- menced his friendfhip with Atticus, and
that
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 44I
that honorable connexion was fevered but by death ; there he acquired that tempered adtion, that chaftifed fancy, and that ftrength of voice, which accomplished him as an orator ; and there he cheriihed thofe patriotic fentiments which on many occa- fions gave a colour to his future life.
Thefe were the fentiments which actuated him in his accufation of Verres. It is true that he carried into this caufe very great advantages ; he was in the flower of his age, and in the full career of his honors ; he had exercifed the quseftorfhip in Sicily with credit, and had been eledted Edile. The Roman people, charmed with his elo- quence, and perfuaded of his integrity, lavifhed upon him, on all occafions, the moll marked eulogiums. But in attacking Verres, he had formidable obftacles to encounter, for the culpric was fupported by the credit of every thing mod powerful in the ftate. The great, who confidered it one of their privileges to entrench themfelves in the government of the provinces by the mod alarming extortions, made a common caufe
with
442 COMMENTARIES ON
with him ; and forefeeing in his punifhment an example to terrify themfelves, employed all the methods in their power to with- draw him from the fe'verity of the laws. Cicero, to whom the Sicilians had addrefled themfelves, as to the natural protestor of a province, to which he had been Quxftor, repaired to Sicily, to obtain the evidence which he required againfl: the accufed. He had demanded more than three months for his voyage ; but having learned that it was determined to protradt the trial until the following year, when Metellus fhould be Praetor, and Q^ Metellus and Hortenfius confuls, all defenders of Verres, he collect- ed his information in fifty days, and re- turned to Rome at the moment when they leaft expeded him.
Confidering that the pleadings would oc- cupy many hearings and much valuable time, he proceeds immediately to the tefti- monialproof,in which for every fa£t he cites the witneffes, that Hortenfius might exa» mine them.
The
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 443
The evidence was fo clear, the depofi- tions fo concurrent, the fentiments of the afiembled multitude fo unanimous, that Hortenfius dared not reply, but advifed Verres to exile himfelf previous to the paf- fing of the fentence.
This circumftance was the reafon that, of the feven fpeeches written by Cicero againft the delinquent, only two were fpoken. He left the reft as a model of the manner in which an accufation ought to be fuftained. The two laft fpeeches are gene- rally regarded as examples of perfe&ion. They have for their objeft, the one the robberies and the rapines of Verres, the other his cruelties and barbarities. The firft is remarkable for a variety and rich- nefs of detail, by which a crowd of rob- beries are recounted, without producing fatiety to the reader; the fecond is admir- able for its vehemence and pathos, by which Cicero excites pity in favour of the op- preffed, and indignation againft the cri- minal. Whilft thefe fpeeches difplay the incomparable powers of the orator, they
likewifc
444 COMMENTARIES ON
likewife exhibit a horrid picture of arbi- trary authority exercifed by the Roman governors in their provinces, and of the abufes which were praftifed when corrup- tion of manners prevailed over the wifdom of die laws. In this view they are a lefTon to ftatefmen, and a warning to every na- tion that yet retains its freedom. When we read a detail of atrocious and innume- rable crimes, a fingle one of which deferved death, we refleft with indignation on the defedr. of the Roman jurifprudence, which had more regard for the name of citizen than for that diftributive juftice which pro- portions punifhments to offences.
This code of laws, worthy of eulogy in many other refpedts, allowed that a Ro- man citizen who condemned himfelf to exile, fhould be confidered as fufficiently punifhed. Verres, having in his exile led a miferable life, returned during the pro- fcriptions of Odavius and Antony ; but imprudently refufing to prefent the latter with, the beautiful Corinthian vafes and Grecian ftatues, the relics of his Sicilian
plunder,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 445
plunder, he was placed amidft the number of the profcribed, and perifhed together with the innocent and virtuous.
The hiftoryofthe Catiline confpiracy is fo well known, that perhaps wearinefs may attend the repetition of it ; but if we would thoroughly appreciate the fpeeches of Cicero, we muft recur to the fituation of the republic at the time.
The ancient fpirit of Rome no longer exifted. The degradation of the mind followed the corruption of the manners. Marius and Sylla had proved, that the Ro- mans could endure tyrants. Love of li- berty, and the laws founded on equality, could not fubfift with that monftrous power, and thofe enormous riches of which the conqueft of fo many countries had put the Romans in pofTeffion. Julius Csefar, fufpe&ed of being a party in the confpi- racy, hurt at the pre-eminence of Pompey, and the predile&ion, which the fenate had fhewn him, thought only of reviving the fpirit of Marius. Pompey, without afpir- ing publicly to the tyranny, wifhed that the
troubles,
44-6 COMMENTARIES ON
troubles and diforders arifing from the fac- tious difpofition, which reigned throughout the ftate, might reduce the Romans to the fceceflity of placing themfelves under his prote&ion, by naming him Di&ator.
The great, to whom the fpoils of the three parties were inefficient for their luxury and defires, feared every thing that might reprefs their exadions, and raife the authority of the laws. A fmall number of citizens, with Cicero at their head, fuftained the republic when on the brink of ruin, and became the objedts of declared or concealed hatred to all, who were interefted in the overthrow of the ftate.
In this fortunate conjun&ure, Catiline formed his well-known projeft. Of the four fpeeches of Cicero againft him, there are two particularly deferring our admira- tion, fince it is evident from the circum- fiances, that the orator had fcarcely any time to prepare them. Hiftorians tell m in what way he preferved his fpeeches, which were made upon the fpur of the oc-
cafion.
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 447
cafion. He was accuftomed to place fhort- hand writers in the fenate, who wrote al- moft as faft as he fpoke. That art, fo early- invented, was afterwards loft ; but the in- vention, renewed in our days, belongs to Cicero.
Some perfons not well acquainted with Roman manners and the hiftory of the times, have been furprifed that the Conful did not immediately arreft Catiline, after the clear information of the confpiracy given him by Fulvia. The decree of the fenate had furnifhed him with the power ; but the whole body of the nobles, jealous to an excefs of their privileges, would have revolted, if he had deprived a patrician of his liberty, not only unconvi&ed but unac- eufed. In his addrefs to the criminal in the fenate, " How long, O ! Catiline, will you abufe our patience ?" we recog- nize the orator and the ftatefman.
It is a moft pleafing refledion to the hiftorian, whenever an inftance occurs in which the delineation of genius is at the
fame
44-8 COMMENTARIES ON
fame time the record of virtue; but the honour apparently attributable to Cicero is in no fmall degree fullied, when we recoi- led that there was a time, when he had refolved to defend Catiline, in order to ob- tain the confulfhip the more eafily ; " That if he obtained his acquittal, he might be the more ready to ferve him in their com- mon petition.'*
When, however, Cicero had determined to take the better part, his conduft in a difficult conjuncture is worthy of the greateft praife.
Salluft, whofe enmity to him is evident, fpeaks of the elegant fpeech pronounced on the occafion by Cicero, which he afterwards publifhed. This procured an almoft unani- mous fentence of death to be given by the fenate againft the confpirators, which was executed immediately.
" They have lived," were the few words which were ufed by the conful to the affembled partizans of the confpira- tors, by which he for ever damped all their
hopes
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 449
hopes of fuccefsful rebellion, and difperfed them in an inftant with amazement and terror.
It was night, and Cicero was conduced home by the principal men of the city, and amidft the acclamations of all the people. They placed flambeaux at the gates of their houfes to light him on his way. The women from the windows fhewed him to their children as he pafled. Some time after, Cato before the people, and Ca- tulus in the fenate decreed him the name of " Father of his country ;" a glorious title, which, in after-times, adulation at- tached to the imperial dignity, but which Rome, while free, fays Juvenal, gave to no one but Cicero.
It would be a fruitlefs tafk to refer to his various orations, of which the text carries its own comment to fcholars, and which the induftry and talents of Middle- ton have placed in fo favourable a light before the Englifh reader ; but it is impof- fible not to hint at his defence of Mursena, g g which
450 COMMENTARIES ON
which not only fhews the flexibility of his genius, difplays the ardour of his friend- fhip, and the purity of his eloquence, but ftrikes us with aftonifhment, if we con- fider the moment, when it was underta- ken.
At a period, when one fhould think, that the danger of the ftate would fully occupy his mind, fince he was engaged in watch- ing every ftep of the confpiracy fo clofely, that he could with difficulty allow himfelf any hours of fleep, did he find leifure to oppofe Cato and Sulpicius, and to become the ftrenuous and fuccefsful advocate of Mursena.
While we fee the great orator, pafling from the fublime to the fimple, and ex- hibiting fo adroitly all the charadteriftics proper to that kind of compofition, his art of difcuffion, his choice of examples, his agreeablenefs of turn, his delicacy and plea- fantry, are infinitely more worthy our ad- miration, if we confider, that they were difplayed amidil forced intervals and paufes
of
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 4JI
of anxiety and apprehenfion for the exift- ence of the republic.
Cicero exhibited much refolution in his fpeeches againft Antony, who was no lefs an enemy of the ftate than of himfelf* They were fourteen in number, and he called 'them Philippics, becaufe they had it for their object to animate the Romans againft Antony, as Demofthenes animated the Athenians againft Philip.
The fecond was particularly famous amongft the Romans, and pafTed for a di- vine work, for fo Juvenal denominates it* Although never fpoken, it waspublifhed in Rome and Italy, and read with avidity. Antony never pardoned the author, and this was the principal caufe of his death.
Cicero cannot be reproached with being wanting to his duty at the truly lament- able period, when Antony was all-power- ful.
" When young, I defended the republic ; I will not abandon it in my old age. I have braved the fword of Catiline ; I will not tremble at yours !"
G G 2 But
452 COMMENTARIES ON
But intrepidity was not his permanent chara&eriftic. When the enmity of Clo- dius produced his banifhment, even his panegyrifts blufh at his pufillanimous de- fpondence. He, who had eagerly ftolen every moment in his power from his pro- feffional purfuits to refrefh himfelf with the elegant repaft afforded him by the per- ufal of the Greek authors, might furely in his misfortunes have derived from them the fame rational entertainment : he who, when at Athens, faid, that there were many things, which he never could have borne, had he not taken refuge in the port of Phi- lofophy, with his friend Atticus, the compa- nion and partner of his ftudies, ought furely, in his folitude, to have drawn confolation from fimilar refearches : but his mind was deflitute of that firmnefs which renders men fuperior to adverfe fortune ; and in a letter to Terentia during his exile, he be- wails his unhappinefs, and confefTes, that it is the effe£t of his cowardice.
In the civil war between Pompey and
Caefar, the fame imbecility difgraced him.
i His
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 45$
His irrefolution, in his letters to Attims, is in no fmall degree reproachful to him : for who, that pretends to the character of a patriot mould hefitate in the choice of his party, when he perceived, that on the one fide is all the juftice, and on the other all the power ? His attachment to Pompey was undoubted ; and it is no apology for repairing fo late to his camp, that he had perfpicacity enough to forefee the iflue of the conteft.
When the day of Pharfalia decided the victory againft his friends, prudence might induce him to abftain from any far- ther unavailing oppofition to the conque- ror : but it furnifhes no eulogium upon a man, whofe life was already turned of fixty, that he compofed a poem in honour of Csefir, for the paltry purpofe of retaining the provinces of the Gauls, How feeble was the energy of that virtue which could not reprefs the proftitution of his talents but evaporated in a dishonourable confef- fion, " that he found it difficult to digeft the meannefs of recantation !"
o G 3 With
454 COMMENTARIES ON
With juft fentiments, but wavering re- folution, no one in high ftations can be truly great. Cicero is not a fingle inftance to prove the truth of this affertion. The future hiftorian of our own country may find perhaps a parallel example, and per- ceive that, in lefs perilous conjunctures, perfonal intrepidity has been fometimes wanted to give dignity and refpeft to genius the moft refined and attainments the moft extenfive.
Allow to Cicero all the attraction in the chara&er of Caefar, arifing from a fimilarity in their tafte, as men of letters, or a ftronger argument deducible from his artful and mild demeanour, which might excite fome hope, that he would reftore the republic ; yet if thefe would have furnifhed a vindication of forbear- ance, they will not fuftain any apology for adulation.
If this queftion did not bring its own fo- lution, the difpofition of Cicero is clearly evinced, when placed in contrail with that of Brutus, by a reference to their cor-
refpondence
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 455
refpondence refpedting Odtavius. In this it mull be confeffed, that the one difcovers himfelf a time-ferving politician, the other a bold and unyielding republican.
If honefty be policy, cunning is not wif- dom ; Odtavius felt no fcruple to give up dubious adherent to the refentment of a powerful colleague ; and the fugitive could fcarcely hope to redeem the errors of a life, advanced to its grand climacteric, by meeting with apparent calmnefs the irre- fiftible ftroke of the aflaffin.
If the conduct of Cicero be a proof of the weaknefs of human nature, his works are a fplendid atteftation of the powers of the human mind. Livy fays that, to praife Cicero, the panegyrift muft be another Cicero ; and in the time of Quintilian, his name was given to any one whom they wifhed to defignate as fupremely eloquent. Ages have ratified the cuftom, and immor- talized the orator.
It would be abfurd to revive the much-
contefted queftion refpedting the fuperio-
rity of the Greek or Roman orator, which
c g 4 at
456 COMMENTARIES ON
at laft will be decided by the varying tafte of different readers. We cannot judge by the inftantaneous effe&s of their eloquence upon the audience; but Philip and iEfchines, Antony and Catiline, beft knew its force. Both had the fame fuccefs, both exercifed the fame empire over the foul. Perhaps the powers of each were beft fuited to the conjunctures, which called them into a£tion. It is a melancholy, but an inconteftable truth, that the troubles of a ftate are favour- able to the orator : but, as the art of medi- cine would be of no avail but for difeafes ; fo, if eloquence be fubfervient to the paf- fions, it is eloquence alone which can com-, bat them.
The different character of the Greeks and Romans may furnifh us with an argu- ment to evince the parallel merit of De- mofthenes and Cicero in the mode of fpeaking, which each of them adopted. In Athens there wras but one power, that of the people ; it was an abfolute democracy. The Athenians were fickle, carelefs, fond of repofe, idolaters of pleafure, confident of
their
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 457
their power, and jealous of their glory. They required to be ftrongly excited ; and the natural talents of Demofthenes were of neceffity modified by the knowledge, which he had of his hearers. His object, there- fore, was to ftrike the inattentive multitude with violence, well knowing that if he gave them time to breathe, or to repofe on the agreeablenefs of ftyle, or the beauties of diction, all would be loft. " By the advice of Demofthenes, the people of Athens re- folve and decree," is the common formulary preferved in the hiftorians of Greece.
It was not the fame at Rome ; there was a diverfity of powers, and a complication of interefts to be managed. Although the fovereignty refided, in fact, in the people, without being fo eftablifhed in theory, the adminiftration was in the fenate, except where the tribunes carried an affair before the affembled people and caufed a plebi- fcitum to pafs.
As law required the concurrence of the two orders, hence frequent difputes arofe between them. The Romans were more
ferious,
458 COMMENTARIES ON
ferious, more reflecting, more moral, than the Athenians ; at no time would they have borne the reproofs which Demofthenes lavifhed without fcruple. Cato alone in- dulged himfelf in them, and they excufed it on account of his ftoicifm and his virtue. A difference in the auditory muft produce a difference in eloquence.
The two charaCteriftics of Cicero, as an orator, are infmuation and ornament, for he had to manage both the fenate and the people. Quintilian calls him the great com- mander of the human affe&ions. Pliny admires the man who could perfuade the multitude to give up their bread, their pleafure, and their injuries, to the charms of his eloquence.
After the conqueft of Greece, an ornate ftyle acquired irrefiftible attractions at Rome, in proportion as tafte and luxury began to prevail. They attached a great value to didion above all other qualities at the bar, where the pleadings were pro- longed as much for the amufement as for the inftruction of the audience; fo that
Ciceio
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 459
Cicero applied more care than Demofthenes to richnefs of expreffion, becaufe it was expe&ed of him. Lovers of Atticifm have reproached him with a profufion of orna- ment, and Quintilian, his paffionate ad- mirer, felt himfelf obliged to juftify him on that point.
The gravity of fenatorial debate would not bear all that vehemence, which was ne- ceflary to Demofthenes, in his harangues before the people, to fix their attention ; and the Philippics of Cicero are, on this account, lefs animated than thofe of the Greek orator.
Except in a few inftances, he referved the thunders of his eloquence for the judi- cial contefts. There he had a career pro- portioned to the abundance and the variety of his means. This was the triumph of his talents. But even in this point he dif- fered from Demofthenes, who flew diredtly at his enemy, always attacking and ftriking; in lieu of which, Cicero makes a formal fiege, prepares himfelf for all events, and
furrounds
460 COMMENTARIES ON
furrounds his enemy on every fide, until he crufhes him.
It has been obferved by Dr, Middleton, li that his treatife on the complete orator is a (landing monument of his abilities, and that it marks the way, by which he forms himfelf to that charader, which will "never be equalled till there be found united in any man the fame parts and the fame induftry." In his government in Afia, he was always up before day-break, walking in his hall, with his doors open, as he ufed to do when a candidate at Rome, which he fays was not at all troublefome to him from his old habit and difcipline. When the civil war removed him from the govern- ment, in his elegant retreats he fubftituted the delights of philofophy for the labours of eloquence and of office. At this period he compofed thofe works, of wThich a part is loft, but which formed a complete courfe of the philofophy of the Greeks. They were the produce of five laborious years, written amidft the ftorms, which often threw him
into
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 461
into the waves of public difcord, and in which, together with the Roman liberty, he was at length ingulfed. The obje£t of five differtations in dialogue, which he calls the Tufculan Queftions, becaufe the fcene is laid at Tufculum, one of his coun- try houfes, is to inquire into the confti- tuents of happinefs: and he has remarked five ; — contempt of death; patience under pain; firmnefs in the different trials of life; a habit of combating the paflibns ; finally, the perfuafion that virtue ought not to feek any recompence, but in herfelf. This theory is taken from the doctrines of the academy and the portico, adorned and corrected by Cicero. All that philofophy poffefles, worthy of regard in metaphyfics and in morals, is here embellifhed by elo- quence ; and whatever is defective mud not be imputed to the author, when we recoiled:, that revelation alone has fupplied it to us.
Cicero offers very pjaufible arguments for the immortality of the foul, and me- mory appears to him to be a wonderful
faculty
462 COMMENTARIES ON
faculty, which cannot belong to matter. To thofe, who deny the immortality of the foul, becaufe they do not conceive what it can be, when feparated from the body, he gives this rational anfwer: And do you underftand better what it is in its union with the body ? I think ; therefore I exift ; fays Defcartes.
The veneration of Cicero for the divine Plato was profound; it is therefore no won- der, that he fhould concur with him on this moft important fubjeft.
In his excellent treatife on the nature of the Gods, the intention is to prove the ex- iftence of a Providence, and to juftify his ways ; to ridicule and refute all the dogmas of thofephilofophers, who either difbelieved the creative power of a Supreme Being, or who pourtrayed their deities, more abfurd and more vicious than human beings.
Amongft the ancient moral treatifes, none is better adapted to the perufal of youth than that on the various duties of man. His treatifes on eld age and friendfhip meet a panegyrift in every reader. The
1 1 former
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 463
former is moft particularly attra&ive, and would almoft make old age defirable*, Cicero was, and had a friend ; his letters to Atticus atteft this truth. Here we find the chara&eriftics of true friendfhip accurately traced, the beft precepts for the prefervation of it inculcated, and the odious fentiment of an ancient expofed, who faid, that lC we ought to love, as if we muft one day hate." Cicero carried his refearches into the re-, gions of philofophy, and ably conduced the moft abftrufe queftions of moral and metaphyfical fcience. As a philofopher, his mind was clear, capacious, penetrating, and infatiable of knowledge. As a writer, he was endowed with every talent that could captivate either the tafte or the judgment. The being of a God, the immortality of the foul, a future ftate of rewards and pu- nifhments, and the eternal diftin&ion of good and ill, thefe were the fubjefts of his inquiries, and he has placed them in a more convincing point of view than they were ever reprefented to the Pagan world. His arguments, di&ion, zeal, and eloquence,
place
464 COMMENTARIES ON
place him on the fummit of human cele- brity.
" The letters of Cicero, of which
1
there are four hundred to Atticus, are all written in the genuine fpirit of the beft epiftolary compofition ; familiar, but ele- vated, eafy but elegant, they difplay him in the focial relations, — a warm friend, a zealous patron, a tender hufband, affec- tionate brother, indulgent father, and a kind mafter ; they exhibit an ardent love of liberty and the conftitution of his country, much interefting defcription of private life, and of public tranfadtions and characters."
To the lover of eloquence copious and diffufe, Cicero will ftand without a rival ; to him, whom a ftyle of energy and com- preffion captivates, the Grecian orator will appear tranfcendent in dignity and in fame: but every candid critic, and every man of modefty and decorum will allow, that egotifm and vanity have debafed the high attainments, and fullied the fplendid pages of the Roman orator.
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 465
SECTION XVIL
Roman Moralijls and didaclic Writers. — Seneca.— ®hiintilian.— Pliny the Younger.
Roman eloquence, precipitated in the fate of Roman liberty, was deprived of its dignity, elevation, energy, boldnefs, and importance. It would not fhew itfelf in the aflemblies of a people, who had no longer any power; and in the delibera- tions of the fenate, it could only be difplay- ed in humility and adulation.
The tribunals of juftice were no longer worthy of its voice, fince the public judg- ments had loft their credit and their ma- jefty, where they difcuffed only petty interefts, and where all the reft depended upon the will of an individual.
A free ftate is the proper field of elo- quence. It produces antagonifts, con- tefts, dangers, and triumphs. Men take h h their
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their rank according to their faculties and their merit. Under an arbitrary govern- ment, civil and political life cannot be com- pared to a broad road, where every man may endeavour to out-ftrip his competi- tor ; but to a narrow defile, where every one marches in filence and with cautious fteps.
Such was the condition of the Romans after the time of Auguftus ; whofe reign afforded a brilliant epoch of the perfe&ion of tafte in language, and in the fine arts, but faw true eloquence expire with the repub- lic and with Cicero.
SENECA.
There are generally reckoned ^three ages in Latin letters : that of Ennius, Accius, Pacuvius, and Cato the cenfor, when the language-was yet rude, as the manners of the people were grofs ; that of the Grac- chi, who wrere the firft, that tempered the Roman rufticity by the politenefs of Greek learning ; and finally, that of Cicero, in
which
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 467
which are comprized Craflus, Antony, Casfar, and Hortenfius, but the great orator gives a name and celebrity to the epoch,
L. Ann^us Seneca was a Spaniard, educated at Rome, where his father be- came one of the equeftrian order. He was a lawyer of confiderable eloquence, but, from a fear of the jealoufy of the • emperor Caligula, relinquished his profef- fion y and, after he had been chofen QuseC* tor, was banifhed to Corfica, on a charge of too great intimacy with Julia Livilla the daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina.
After the death of the former, and the marriage of the latter with the Emperor Claudius, Seneca was recalled, and appoint- ed preceptor to her fon Nero.
In fuch a reign, it is not likely that the precepts of a philofopher could be tolerated, An idle pretence of his having engaged in a confpiracy enabled his pupil, .then become Emperor, to command him to deftroy him- felf ; and the calmnefs with which he re- ceived the mandate, and the confolation, with which he encouraged his friends du- H H 2 ring
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ring the lingering procefsof his death, fifft unfuccefsfully attempted by the opening of his veins, then by a draught of poifon, and at laft effe&ed by the fuffocation of a ftpve, have rendered him an objed of pity and refpeft. He died before he had completed the fifty-third year of his age. His writ- ings are on moral topics ; and he is juftly admired for his refined fentirnents and virtuous precepts.
It is faid by a panegyrift, " that no man ever produced greater or jufter maxims. His concifenefs imprints them on the memory, and their number is not fuperior to their value. In the character of a true moralift, he furpafles all the heathens.'* His firft work is on Anger, addreffed to Novatus; he argues ftrefiu- oufly againft it, in oppofition to the Peripatetics, and urges the retraining of it* His fecond treatife is on Confolation, addreffed to his mother Helvia, in his ba- nifhment, fuggefting every poflible argu- ment in its favour. A treatife on Provi- vidence, in which he vindicates its exiflx 2 ence
CLASSICAL LEARNING, 469
cnce and the exiftence of evil, is conduct- ed with great force of argument. The trad: on Tranquillity of Mind, though con- fufed in the arrangement, contains a variety of juft obfervations. The difcourfe on the Conftancy of a Wife Man is his beft. That on Clemency, addreffed to the Emperor, is worthy of a peruial ; and thofe on the Shortnefs of Human Exiftence and on a Happy Life, are truly admirable. He had originally been a difciple of the ftoic phi- lofophy ; but a fear of perfonal fafety, which ?vas endangered by the threats of Tiberius againfi all thofe who abftained from the ufe of meat, induced him to relax in his feverity. As long as adulation could ferve his purpofe, Seneca praitifed it without bounds ; but found, as flatterers have often done, that tyrants are not only cruel but capricious.
Nothing perhaps is more dangerous in a writer than genius without genuine tafte .
The rays of light which he cafually emits
ftrike every beholder. The mifts which
pbfcure him are remarked but by a few.
HH3 A*
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As Seneca was endowed by nature with more fpirit than genuine talents, he was more interefted in decrying ancient elo- quence than in endeavouring to excel it. He did not ceafe, fays Quintilian, to de- claim againft thofe great models ; becaufc he perceived that his own manner of writ- ing was very different from theirs, and that his glittering fententious ftyle, pof- fefling the charm of novelty, had a pro- digious vogue with the Romans while his favour at court and his fortune continued to encreafe. To be in the fafhion it was neceflary to write like Seneca.
His letters to Lucilius on moral and philofophical fubjedte have nothing of epif- tolary eafe, but are replete with rheto- rical, and fometimes with puerile declama- tion.
The turn of his thoughts is frequently forced, obfcure, tortured, and afFe&ed. All thefe vicious qualities are to be found in his pages; but ftill the thoughts are in- genious, and the moral, like that of the ftoics, is noble and elevated, It teaches
a con-
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 47I
a contempt both of life and death, tends to exalt human beings above tranfitory obje&s, and to place virtue above all things.
But ftill the warmth of Seneca is that of the head, rather than of the heart. He is the rhetorician of the portico > Cicero the orator of morality. Their objedl is the fame, and their principles are coincident ; but, fuch is the difparity in their manner, that the academician has more real efFedt than the ftoic. The fage of Cicero is a man, that of Seneca a chimera.
In his philofophical notions, there is neither connexion, clearnefs, nor precifion. He is a ftoic who acknowledges no other good than virrue -, he is a materialift who declares that good to be a body. The paffions alter the features of the counte- nance, and therefore the paffions are cor- poreal. The virtues ad by contact with the body ; courage impels, moderation reftrains ; therefore the virtues are mecha- nifm, and mechanifm is body. The good of the body is corporeal, the good of man is the good of the body ; therefore good is tf h 4 corporeal.
47* COMMENTARIES ON
corporeal. Such is the inconfequentia! reafoning of Seneca.
It is ftrange that a man who had accefs to the writings of Plato, Ariftotle, and Cicero, who might have learned even from Pythagoras, that the foul in us is like har- mony in inftruments, the refult of founds, of meafure and motion, ftiould have pro- fited fo little by lights which had been fo generally difFufed.
The moft accredited philofophers had believed that fpirit and matter, the foul and the body, were two fubftances neceflarily heterogeneous. Four hundred years had elapfed fince Ariftotle had diftinguifhed the fubftances and the modes, the fubje&s and the attributes of being; and the ignorance of Seneca on this fubjedt cannot therefore be excufed like his ignorance in phyfics, which has its apology in the fmall progrefs that fcience had made at that period.
Seneca has, however, a fpecies of ener- getic didtion occafionally, of which the following paflage is an example :
" The death of Callifthenes is an eter- nal ilain upon Alexander, which neither
his
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 473
his courage nor his military exploits will ever efface. When they fay that he has deftroyed thoufands of Perfians ; we will anfwer, and Callifthenes; when they fay that he has deftroyed Darius, the fovereign of a powerful empire ; we will anfwer, but he has killed Callifthenes : when they fay that he has fubje&ed every thing even to the ocean, that he has covered the ocean itfelf with new veffels, that he has extended his empire from an obfcure cor- ner of Thrace to the limits of the eaft; we will anfwer, but he has killed Callif- thenes : when he fhall even have eclipfed the glory of all the Kings and all the Heroes his predeceflbrs; he has done no- thing fo great, as the crime of having kil- led Callifthenes.5;
The repetition is oratorical, and gives confiderable effect to the fentences.
But Alexander did not kill Darius ; and the murder of the philofopher was not a crime of a deeper dye than that of the noble Clitus, or the innocent and aged Parmenio. To his panegyrifts it may be truly urged,
that
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that he is lefs moral than Cicero or Plu- tarch ; that inftead of an abundance of thoughts, he has only an abundance of phrafes turned into apothegms, to repeat the fame idea ; that his ftyle is deformed by forced turns and flafhes of wit, which may fometimes dazzle for an inftant, but the futility of which ftrikes every attentive fpedator.
He fays, well and happily, That the fu- nerals of children are always premature when mothers affift at them. He fays to Nero, to whom his treatife on Clemency is addreffed, The mod galling fervitude of grandeur is not to be able to defcend from it, but this neceflity is common to you with the gods. Heaven is their prifon. He fays that the gods do not fufFer profpe- rity to fall upon any but abjed and vulgar fouls. Seneca, who was very rich, and for a long time powerful and honoured, might have been afked, if he thought himfelf ab- jed before the Gods ?
His. morals are fometimes imperfed; as when he fays, " I do not propofe to equal
the
CLASSICAL LEARNING, 475
equal the moft virtuous, but to furpafs the wicked."
The ideas of ancient philofophy on the divinity were often abfurd. The beft of all are not exempt from error, and on this fubjed: natural inftinft has fometimes fur- paffed them.
Quintilian, while he renders juftice to the fpirit, the talents, and the knowledge of Seneca, fays, that his ftyle is throughout corrupt, and his example dangerous. He certainly contributed more than any writer to injure the public tafte ; for he had feduced the youth by the attractions of a tinfcl-led ftyle, of which they did not perceive the defe&s. He feems, indeed, to have erred by miftaking concifenefs for precifion. The former confifts in confining the thoughts within the fmalleft poffible fpace ; and by that means becomes inaccurate, obfcure, and equivocal : the latter confifts, in an exa<3: proportion between the idea and the ex- preffion ; it adds to the force of language, but does not at all detract from its clearncfs or its beauty.
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%JTINTILIJN.
If any thing could give additional value to the writings of Quintilian, it is the epoch in which they were compofed.
Marcus Fabius Quintilianus was a Spa- niard, born during the reign of the Em- peror Claudius, in the firft chriftian cen- tury, and appointed by the government of Rome a public teacher of rhetoric : he was alfo a barrifter of great eminence ; and after the laborious exercife of his two- fold office for the fpace of twenty years, he gave lading celebrity to retirement by the compofition of an immortal work.
All his promifed vifions of happinefs were, however, quickly diffipated by the lofs of his wife and two fons ; and he died in the year ninety-five, deje&ed in fpirit, and poor in circumftances.
For fifty years the world wTere not in poffeffion of his inftitutes, which were dis- covered by a monk of Florence in the tower of a monaftery.
Quintilian
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 477
QuintiUan is as praife-wor.thy for his refolution, 2s he is rqfpe&able for his ta- lents. In a degenerate age he conceived the bold projed of reviving found elo- quence, and of reftpring it to its ancient rights.
He did this firft by his example ; for his pleadings, which are unfortunately loft, are fajd to have been the only ones that re- called the age of Auguftus. He faw the pure eloquence of Cicero and Hortenfius, although for a while fuftained by Meffala and Pollio, foon precipitated to its fall by a crowd of rhetoricians who every where opened fchools for the art which they had difgraced. He became the reftorer of learning; and received the confular fafces from the Emperor Domitian, as a reward for the inftru&ion which he had given to his nephews.
His inftitutes were written when he was fixty years of age ; and though antiquity has tranfmitted his name to us with un- bounded praife, and Martial calls him the glory of the Roman toga, ftill his inva- luable
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luable work on the fubjeft of oratory con- tains his moft fplendid eulogium.
It is divided into twelve books ; and comprehends not only a perfect fyftem for the contemplation of the orators, but an able criticifm on the works of the Greek and Roman claffics. The general purport of the two firfl: books, are precepts worthy the attention both of parents and of tutors. He fhews the advantages of early application to ftudy, and the preference of public to private education, on the ground, that it better qualifies youth to live in fociety, for which they were deftined. A le&ure may be of more avail when given to an indi- vidual; but the form of public fchools, and the habit of public and fimilar exercifes, in his opinion excite genius by the fpur of emulation. The fenfations are njore lively when they are not folitary, and learning in public fchools is diffufed by conta- gion.
Quintilian condu&S the young fcholar
through the inftru&ion of his early years,
to the ftudy of eloquence ; and in addition
1 to
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 479
to languages and grammar, he recommends mufic and geometry, as the one forms the ear and gives him the fentiment of har- mony, the other accuftoms him to accuracy and method. He requires from him who prepares himfelf for eloquence, Vhat Cicero recommends in his treatife " On a perfeft Orator." The peroration of his firft book is a noble inftance of the enthufiafm of an accomplifhed fcholar. Youth are fo fufcep- tible of falfe tafte, that he exhorts them to adhere to the. perufal of the beft authors ; recommends Livy in preference to Salluft, but places Cicero before all others.
When he enters upon the fubjedt of eloquence, he difcufles all the frivolous queftipns which were then in vogue, and which are very uninterefting to us. He denies what we confider as a truth, that eloquence is the art of perfuafion ; and afferts what we probably may deny, that the name of orator does not belong to him, who is not at the fame time eloquent and virtuous. With refpedt to the firft
queftion
48$ COMMENTARIES ON
queftion he fays, the definition is incor- rect, fince eloquence is not the only thing that perfuades, for that beauty, and tears, and | mute ^applications, perfuade alfo. When Antony the orator, pleading for Aquilius* fuddenly tears off the habit of the accufed and exhibits the wounds he had received in fighting for his country ; the Roman people cannot refift the fpe&acle, but abfolve the criminal. The anfwer feems eafy and obvious ; the Roman people were not perfuaded, they were moved: and to fpeak corre&ly, beauty charms, tears foften, but eloquence perfuades.
With refpecT: to his fecond objection, the inftance of Csefar may refute it. Csefar, in the opinion of Cicero, was a very great orator* but he certainly would not have allowed him to be a virtuous character.
All the world will agree with Quintiliarf when he exalts the art of fpcaking, and {hews the pre-eminence which it gives to man above all other animals ; and a more attentive perufai of the writings of Cicero
and
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 48I
and Quintilian on the fubje£t might pro- bably tend to fupply the great defideratum in an Englifh education.
The art of eloquence, like other arts, is the efFedl of habit ; and in fo enlightened an age and country, it feems ftrange that an accomplifhed orator fhould ftill be regarded as a phenomenon. Whenever it fhall be- come a fafhionable part of the education of youth to learn to convey their ideas with as much care as they have acquired them, the wife fenator and the able fpeaker will more frequently be found in the fame per- fon ; and no long exercife is required to evince the affertion of Horace, " That if the fubject be well underftood, words will fpontaneoufly prefent themfelves."
Quintilian, like Ariftotle, mentions three kinds of oratorical compofition, the de- monftrative, the deliberative, and the judicial.
Funeral orations-are of the firft kind; amongft the ancients, thefe were delivered by the relations of the deceafed*
1 1 Julius
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Julius Ca?Jar, in pronouncing an eulogy on his aunt Julia, deduced their mutual origin from the goddefs Venus on the one fide, and from Ancus Martius, the fourth king of Rome, on the other. Thus, faid he, you will find in my family the fan£tity of kings, who are the matters of men ; and the majefty of the gods, who aire the mat- ters of kings.
Marcellus had been one of the greateft enemies of Casfar. Since the battle of Pharfalia he had retired to Mitylene, where he cultivated in peace that literature which he paffionately loved. In an aflembly of the people, his brother Caius threw himfelf at the feet ©f the di&ator to obtain his return. Caefar defired that the fuflfrages of the fenators fhould be taken individually. He wifhed to hear Cicero on a queftion which might exhibit the fenfibility of his friendfhip, and he was not deceived.
In place of a fimple form of compliment, Cicero addreffed to the di&ator the moft noble, the moft pathetic, and at the fame time the moft patriotic fpeech, that gratitude,
friendfhip,
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 483
friendfhip, and virtue, could di&ate to an elevated foul. It is impoffible to read it without admiration and emotion. - Blame is the predominant feature of ano- ther fpecies of demonttrative eloquence, of which the firft oration againft Catiline, cited in a former page, furnifhes a fpeci- men.
The deliberative eloquence is found in the writings of the hiftorians, in the Phi- lippics of Demofthenes, and in the orations of Cicero for the Manilian, and againft the Agrarian law.
It may not be inopportune to obferve, that thefe Agrarian laws never were in- tended to attach upon private property, but only to divide certain conquered lands amongft a number of the poorer citizens. It was never a queftion, whether all the lands of the ftate fhould be equally divided amongft them, until the barbarians of the north enflaved all the polifhed countries of Europe. The moft celebrated banditti of Rome, even the cut-throats of Catiline, did not conceive this plan. When the I 1 2 tribune
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tribune Rullus endeavoured to revive a law which was the ftalking-horfe of ambi- tious citizens, Cicero invited him. to conteft the point with him in public ; and nothing more was heard of that bugbear with which the tribunes had always been accuftomed to terrify the fenate.
The judicial kind of eloquence compre- hends all the affairs which are brought before courts of juftice. The moft remark- able of this fpecies was the difpute, men- tioned in a former part of thefe Commen- taries, between JEfchines and Demofthenes ; and the defence of the latter is confidered as the higheft of the judicial kind.
In the Areopagus, a court remarkable for its purity, a crier was charged to inter- rupt the pleader, who wandered from his fubjedt to endeavour to move the pity of the judges. In other courts, it was permit- ted the orator to affift himfelf with all his weapons; and in this art, Quintilian is of opinion that Cicero furpafles the Grecian orator.
la
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 485
In theory it feems either abfurd or im- proper to attempt to make an impreflion upon a judge, who either is, or ought to be an impaffible being. Demonftrative elo- quence is, in the opinion of Quintilian, fufceptible of all the ornaments of art. Deliberative eloquence ought to be more fevere and dignified ; judicial eloquence, ftrong in proof and convincing in argu- ment, free in expreffion, impetuous and impaffioned, and, laftly, powerful in ex- citing emotions in the judges. Of its five diftin£t parts, the exordium is to render the judges favourable and attentive, the narra- tion to explain the fad, the confirmation to eftablifh it by evidence, the refutation to deftroy the arguments of the adverfe party, the peroration to refume the fub- ftance of the difcourfe, and to engrave on the minds of the judges the impreffions which it is moft neceifary to give them.
In this part of an oration, fenfible ob- jects were found to have the greateft effe£t. We fee a tremendous example of it when Antony placed before the eyes of the Ro-
113 man
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man people the bloody robe of Caefar. Quintilian mentions fome inftances in which the ablurd exercife of this art en- tirely defeated its intention and its ufe. An advocate, pleading for a young woman whofehufband had been aflfaflinated, expect- ed that a great effecT: would be produced if his portrait were exhibited to the judges at the peroration ; but the perfons, to whom the office was entrufted, not knowing which wTas the peroration, every time the orator turned his head their way, failed not to hold out the portrait ; which when the fpeclators beheld, they found that he whom the widow lamented fo much was nothing but an old cripple. They immediately burft into laughter, and thought no more of {he pleader.
A certain perfon of the name of Glycon had brought a child into the court, with the hope that his tears and cries might foften his judges, and placed his tutor behind him to prompt him when he ought to begin. Glycon, full of confidence, addrelTed him at the critical period, and afked him why he
wept ?
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 487
wept ? It is becaufe my tutor pinches me ! exclaimed the child. Thus ended all the hopes of the orator.
The bufinefs of a fpeaker is threefold, to inftrucT:, to move, and to pleafe. He inftru&s by reafoning, he moves by the pathetic, he pleafes by elocution. In the latter are three predominant qualities, clear- nefs, correctnefs, and ornament. Quintilian treats of the arrangement of words, of numbers, and harmony of periods. Every fcholar, fenator, and public fpeaker, will read him with pleafure and advantage ; and although his object was to form his difciples for the Roman bar, and his work is more particularly applicable to their tri- bunals, yet it will open a wide field of inftru&icn to every one who fhall purftie the profeffion of the law in any age and in any country.
PUNT THE YOUNGER.
From Quintilian, the tranfition to Caius Plinius Secundus, his pupil, is eafy. He
1 1 4 was
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was born in Infubria about fixty years after our Saviour, and very early diftin- guifhed himfelf as a pleader at the Roman bar.
Enriched by a fucceffion to the eftate of L. Plinius Secundus his uncle, he refufed every reward for the defence of the inno- cent beyond the pleafure it afforded ; and, had his fpeeches been preferved, they would probably have refuted a modern maxim* that a legal opinion, not paid for, is not worth obtaining.
In addition to a mind which was capti- vated by the love and fuccefsfully engaged in the cultivation of letters, he poffefled a heart in which all the charities refided. He was amiable to his acquaintance, and he was benevolent to all. Had a longer life than that of little more than half a cen- tury been granted to him, it is probable that pofterity would have received more teftimonies of his genius and his virtues. His panegyric on Trajan is the language equally of praife and of truth, and is per* Jiaps the only work which may ferve as an 1 ' pbje&
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 489
objeft of comparifon with the ftyle of the preceding age. It was not publilhed for many years after he had returned thanks to the emperor for appointing him conful. Praife to benefactors, when extended to topics of general character, is often extra- vagant, and fometimes unjuft ; yet in this inftance, it had the rare advantage of being grounded on inconteftible fads. Hiftory accords with his eulogium, and, when with the portrait of a virtuous prince he contrafts that of the tyrants who had preceded him, the contraft renders it more ftriking and valuable. Pliny fays, his firft object is to render to a great prince the homage that is due to his virtues ; then to prefent to his fucceflbrs not rules of conduct, but a model which may teach them to deferve an equal fhare of glory by the fame means : that to dictate to fovereigns what they ought to be, is painful and prefumptuous ; to praife him who a£ts well, in fuch a manner that the eulogium may ferve as a leifon to others, &nd be a light to conduct them on their
way,
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way, is an enterprize not lefs ufeful and much more modeft.
After having ftigmatized the bafenefs and unwortlunefs of thofe Emperors who only checked the incurfions of the barbarians by pecuniary donations, and the purchafe of captives to be the ornaments of aa illufory triumph, he exhibits a very differ rent conduct in his illuftrious herq.
Every Emperor, at his inauguration, had a cuftom of diftributing money amongft the people. The orator here expreffes; himfelf nobly and with intereft on the cir- cumftances which accompanied the libe-* rality of Trajan. Another proof of the magnificence of the emperors, were ths fpoils and fpe&acles which they gave to the Roman people, who were idolaters of them. If any thing could produce a dif- talle for fuch reprefentations, it would have been the atrocity of the tyrants named the Csefars, who ftill found, in the amufements of the theatre and the combats of the cir- cus, an occafion to make their fubjeds
more
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 49!
more fenfible of their defpotifm and their cruelty. Such was their attachment to a particular charioteer or gladiator, that they never fcrupled to facrifice thofe who efpou- fed the oppofite party. Under the Greek Emperors, this infenfate rage was pufhed to fuch an excefs, that the faction of the Blues and the Greens, called fo from the liveries of the circus, occafioned more than once the moft horrible maffacres in Con- ftantinople. Before the time that Pliny wrote, Caligula, Nero, and Domitian had fignalized their foolifh paffion for gladia- tors and pantomimes, by the moft mon- ftrous excefTes. The fports given by Trajan feemed to have had another cha- racter; and this part of the panegyric, followed by an account of the punifhment of informers, difplays fuch beauties, that if Pliny had always written in this ftyle, he might well have been compared to Cicero. He felicitates the emperor on putting an end to informers, who had, by falfe accufations of treafon, deprived the flate of many valuable citizens, and en- riched
49^ COMMENTARIES ON
riched the imperial coffers with the fpoil of the vi&ims.
Trajan had lived a long time in a pri- vate condition. In that beft fituation for a reflecting mind, he had marked the abo- minable reign and tragic end of Domitian.
Adopted by Nerva, whofe reign was extremely fhort, Trajan appeared to the defponding empire as a being of fuper- human excellence. A man of fuch fpirit, as Pliny, could not fail to feize this circum- ftance, fo fortunate in it's kind ; and the ob- fervations he makes upon it are worthy of our perufal. With energy and elevation he juftifies the manner in which he fpeaks cf the tyrants who had opprefled Rome, and of the happinefs which the fubjeft of his panegyric had difFufed.
In the letters of Pliny, we fearch in vain for that familiar eafe and that difclofure of the heart, which are the proper chara&er- iftics of epiftolary correfpondence. It is much to be regretted, that we have only fuch letters as were written for pofterity ; however varied and agreeable their man- ner*
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 493
ner, in however amiable a light they ex- hibit the author, they are not a faithful image of his mind. Ten books of them were feledted by him, and prepared for the public. The names of the perfons to whom they afe addreffed are thofe of his con- temporaries moft celebrated for their talents and their virtues; and the fentiments he exprefles are worthy of fuch connexions. He interefts us equally for the friends whofe lofs he regrets — the vi&ims of Do- mitian, and for thofe who participated with him the bleffings of his patron's reign. But times of tranquillity do not affe<3: the reader like the violent revolutions of the age which Cicero defcribes. They poflels a higher attra&ion for the imagination, and furnifh a richer aliment to the curiofity. In hiftory, as on the theatre, nothing is lefs interefting than a happy people. Middle- top, in his life of Cicero, allows that rfie " Letters of Pliny are juftly admi- red by men of tafte, and that they fhew the fcholar, the wit, and the gentleman ; but that their poverty and barrennefs be-
8 tray
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tray the awe of a matter. All his {lories terminate in private life; there is nothing important in politics ; no great affairs ex- plained ; no account of the motives of public councils. He had borne all the fame offices with Cicero, whom in all points he affeded to emulate ; yet his honours were in effect but nominal, conferred by a fu- perior power, and adminiftered by a fu- perior will, and with the old titles of con- ful and proconful. We ftill want the ftatef- man, the politician, and the magiftrate. In his provincial command, where Cicero governed all things with a fupreme autho- rity, and had kings attendant on his orders, Pliny durft not venture to repair a bath or punifh a fugitive Have, till he had firft confulted and obtained the leave of Tra- jan.
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 495
SECTION XVIII. .
Roman Hijlorians. — Julius Cafar. — Salluft.—Livy.— Tacitus, — ®hiintus Curtius.
1 he Roman people were long celebrated for the prowefs of their arms and the wif- dom of their government, before any writer appeared amongft them. Literature did not commence with them, until the Roman fpirit had been formed for ages : it exhibited therefore not only a different character, but a totally different objedt, from that which it had in Greece, where it was firft excited by the imagination. The Romans defpifed the belles-lettres un- til the very moment when their philofo- phers, orators, and hiftorians, rendered the talent of writing ufeful to the ftate : fo that theirs is the only learning that in its origin was connected with politics.
We
49<5 COMMENTARIES Otf
We may remark certain chara&eriftU differences in the three epochs of the lite- rary hiftory of Rome ; that which pre- ceded the reign of Auguftus, the one which bears the name of that emperor, and that which may be reckoned from his death to the reign of the Antonines. Although Cicero died under the triumvirate, his genius appertains entirely to the republic. Though Ovid, Virgil, and Horace, were born during the republic, yet their writings are replete with monarchical influence. Even under the reign of Auguftus, fome authors, and particularly Livy, exhibit, in their manner of writing hiftory, a republi- can fpbit : but thefe are exceptions to the general obfervation, that the works of au- thors receive a colour from the exifting form of the government.
Although the Romans were lefs early addided to learning than the Greeks, and lefs captivated by works of the imagina- tion, they are by fome critics confidered as their fuperiors in the depth and foundnefs ef their underftanding ; and Quintilian has
been
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 497
been thought to have made too great con- ceffions when he compared Livy to Hero- dotus, and Salluft to Thucidydes ; that we, who are equally indebted to both thofe nations, ought in this inftance to differ from this judicious critic ; that the Latin his- torians are better painters and better orators than ihofe of Greece, with whom they have been compared ; that the colours of Livy are brighter, and thofe of Salluft ftronger; that the one excites more admi- ration by his brilliancy, the other by his energy.
JULIUS CMS JR.
It is faid, I think by Mr. Gibbon, that we are in want of a good life of Julius Csefar. The leading incidents of it are too well known to require repetition, and the nature of this work calls for a reference rather to his literary than his political cha- racter.
In perufing his commentaries on the
Gallic and civil wars, we feel a confider-
k k able
49$ COMMENTARIES ON
able intereft from the circumflance of his relating events, in which himfelf was per- fonally concerned, and in the account of which he has always been acquitted of par- tiality. He is circumftantial in the detail of fads, and he is delicate to a great degree in attributing to himfelf the merit he de- ferves. No one can be be placed in a higher clafs as a credible hiftorian. To have fought and to have written fo well has happened to no one but Csefar. His ftyle is formed on that of Xenophon, and it poffefles all the plainnefs and perfpicuity of his model. It is the pureft Latin, elegant without affectation, and beautiful without ornament. Where eloquence is at all necelTary, Caefar is eloquent, for he was an orator before he became an author. Hence fome of his panegyrifts have ob- ferved,that it was the heat of his eloquence which raifed a fufpicion of his being con- nected with the Catiline confpiracy.
If the commentaries may be confidered only as notes or outlines of an hiftory; what would have been the admiration of
the
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 499
the literary world, had the author com- pleted his work, fince the firft draught exhibits the general, the orator, the hifto- rian, and the fcholar !
SALLUST.
About eighty years before the Chriftian sera, Crifpus Salluftius was born in the country of the Sabines. He received his education at Rome, where he engaged in all the diffipation of the city, and exhibit- ed a remarkable inftance of diflblute con- dud:.
The contemplation of his writings is far more agreeable than that of his life. His preceptor, whofe name was Pretexatus, per- ceiving that his fcholar fhewed a predilec- tion for hiftory, gave him a fummary of the whole Roman hiftory, to choofe the par- ticular parts which he wiflied to treat of. He compofed the hiftory of the civil wars of Marius and Sylla until the death of Sertorius, and of the temporary troubles k k 2 excited
500 COMMENTARIES ON
excited by Lepidus after the death of the dictator.
Nearly the whole of this work is loft, and all we have to boaft are the Catiline confpiracy and the Jugurthine war.
His fame as an hiftorian, in the former work, is fullied by his evident prejudice againft Cicero, who ought to have rppeared the prominent figure on the canvafs. It is the duty of a faithful narrator not only not to fay any thing that is falfe, but alfo not to omit any thing that is true.
The fenate decreed thanks to Cicero for having delivered the ftate from imminent danger, without effufion of blood. This was a public act, mentioned by all the other hiftorians : Salluft does not men- tion it. Catulus and Cato gave to Cicero the glorious name of father of his coun- try, which Pliny and Juvenal have re- ported : Salluft does not mention it. The magiftrates of Capua, the firft muni- cipal town in Italy, decreed a ftatue to Cicero for having faved Rome during his confulate : Salluft does not mention ii it.
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 50I
it. The fenate granted him an unprece- dented honor; it ordained what they called fupplications in the temples, which had never been granted but to thofe who tri- umphed : Salluft does not mention it. In the Catiline war, every thing is accurately detailed except the adtions of Cicero. The fidelity of an hiftorian is concerned not only in exhibiting the puniihment of crimes, but the conduit and the reward of virtue.
But he had married Terentia, the repu- diated wife of Cicero, and his perfonal enmity prevailed over his candour and his juftice. Indeed he owed his fituation to a fortunate eledion of his party. When his debaucheries had ejected him from the fenate, he became a partizan of Caefar, and by his power was reftored to his feat. When governor of Numidia, he enriched bimfelf by peculation, but the fame circum- flance prefervcd him from punifhment ; and Caefar affords an additional example to that which is daily before our eyes, that k k 3 the
502 COMMENTARIES ON
the head of a party is feldom fcrupulous in the choice of his affociates.
It is faid that, when the people accufed him to the di&ator, Salluft was excufed from making his defence, by giving to the matter whom he had ferved a part of the money which he had ftolen, and fo fecured to himfelf the peaceable pofleffion of that magnificent houfe and thofe beautiful gar- dens at Rome, which ftill retain the name of their former owner, and which he en^ joyed till he was fifty years of age, the period of his death. When the general demeanour of Salluft is recalled to our memory, it excites a fmile in the reader, who finds him fo loudly declaiming againft the depravity of his age, and fo anxioufly wifhing for the revival of ancient manners, Salluft has been accufed of endeavouring to impofe upon pofterity by affecting great aufterity in his fentiments, and by holding out a mor^l which did not fpring from the heart : that he fearched for antiquated expreffions only to eftablifh a belief that
his
CLASSICAL LEARNING* 503
his principles, as well as his ftyle, had the virtuous feverity of the firft ages of the republic: that he borrowed the terms of Cato the cenfor, in order to make it appear that he in fome meafure refembled that model of virtue, to whom, in every refpeft, he was directly the oppofite,
In every thing that refpedts talents, Sal- luft is eminently great. He exhibits not only a thorough acquaintance with the vices of Rome, but a deep and accurate knowledge of human nature. He is every- where correct in his relation of events, and, except in a fingle inftance, juft in his deli- neation of characters. He fathoms the depths of human policy, and not only de- fcribes actions, but developes motives. In that refpedl he is fagacious as well as faith- ful, and executes with great ability the higheft part of the hiftorian's office.
The reader is always gratified when he Is enabled to trac6 effects to their caufes, is admitted to the cabinet as well as the camp, and obtains a clue which will open to him a way through the mazes of political life^
£ K 4 Thucidydes
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Thucidydes was his model ; but in nerve and force he is thought to be his fuperior.
Seneca fays, that in the Greek hiftorian you may retrench fomewhat without dimi- nifhing the merit of the diction, much lefs the plenitude of the thoughts. In Salluft, a fingle word fupprefled, the fenfe is de- ftroyed. While he is equally concife, ener- getic, and perfpicuous, his fentences are lefs broken, lefs harm, and more elegantly conftru&ed than thofe of Thucidydes. His defcriptions are uncommonly correct, and his fpeeches are particularly animated. Who has ever read the fpeech of Catiline to the confpirators, beginning with the words " Ni Virtus," without being ftruck with admiration at the great ability of the writer? It would indeed have enhanced his fame, had he tranfmitted to pofterity the noble and patriot addrefs of Cicerq to the rebel, when he was about to feat himielf amongft the fenators. The memorable exordium, " How long, O Catiline, will you abufe our patience?" rufties upon the fubjed with all the fire of
Pindaric
CLASSICAL LEARNING. S°S
Pindaric poetry, and the relation would have furniihed an eulogium on the tafte as well as thegtiftice of the hiftorian.
S illuft has been cenfured for the length of his harangues. Rapin fays, that foldiers do not declaim like orators. But his fpeeches are thofe of eminent men, per- fectly capable by education and talents to deliver them ; and they are appropriate both to the occafion and to the fpeakers.
Though Salluft be concife in the narra- tive part of his hiftory, he is completely accurate, and equally celebrated for brevity and for fire. The tedioufnefs of his intro- ductions is the only alloy to the excellence of his works. They are circuitous to no ufeful purpofe, for they do not conduce to the main defign, and are frequently as irre- lative as they are prolix. It may probably have happened to many an impatient reader, to have relinquifhed the pleafure which this author would have afforded him, from the difguft, which he muft have ex- perienced at the outfet. But the diligent fcholar will not fo foon give up the pur-
fuit :
506 COMMENTARIES ON
fuit : he refembles the labourer, who exerts himfelf, with unabated vigour, to remove a ponderous and ufelefs mafs of earth, from the confident expectation that it covers a vein of rich and valuable metal
LIVY.
About the middle of the century which preceded the birth of Chrift, Titus Livius, a native of Padua, appeared at Rome to give celebrity to the Auguftan age.
We have very little account of his life, but the defeat is fupplied by the pofleffion of a work which has no rival amongft the ancients. When in its complete ftate, it was compofed of one hundred and forty books, and embraced the whole hiftory of the Roman empire, from its foundation to the death of Drufus, who was adopted by Auguftus.
Of this ineftimable performance, only thirty-five books remain. This lofs, it is to be feared, is now irretrievable. Time and bigotry have probably concurred in
deftroying
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 507
deftroying this invaluable ftore of learning. The latter has been a reftlefs, violent, and too fuccefsful enemy to learning ; and many of the pages of this author have haply been obliterated to make room for the tales of a legendary faint or the maflfes of a fuperftitious monk.
So great was the reputation of Livy, and fo extenfively diffufed, that an inhabitant of Cadiz, a place at that time entirely out of the world, went from his country for the fole purpofe of feeing fo diftinguifhed a man, and returned as foon as his curiofity had been gratified. Upon this fubjed, it was well obferved by St. Jerom, that it is a very extraordinary circumftance, that a ftranger, entering a city fuch as Rome, fhould wifh to fee any thing there but Rome itfelf.
It is very remarkable, that, although pa- tronized byAuguftus, Livy dared to confer praife on the republican party, on Brutus, CafTius, and particularly on Pompey, info- much that Auguftus named him the Pom- peian.
In
508 COMMENTARIES ON
In the next reign, the conduct of go- vernment to authors was fo changed, that Cremutius Cordus, fearful of the re- fentment of Tiberius, ftarved himfelf to death for having denominated Caffius the laft of the Romans. Livy extols the rifing ftate of Rome as if fhe had then been the miftrefs of the world ; and perhaps in real grandeur and glory fhe more excelled, when fhe fought againft Pyrrhus and againft Carthage, than when her wudely extended empire emboldened her to affume that im- perious title. At the former periods, the re- public appeared in the afcendant, when for- titude, patriotifm, and probity, gave thetrueft dignity, and the brighteft luftre to its name.
Livy has been accufed of being a fabu- lous writer ; but the prodigies he fpeaks of are only reprefented as traditional, and formed part of an empire where all was prefage and divination. The bulk of the people were fuperftkious, and government turned this fupeiftition to the public ad- vantage. Irreligion alone has been found cffentially hoftile to focial and moral order.
The
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 509
The books of the Sibyls were always • holden facred, and confulted as occafions required. Perhaps even the fine genius of Livy might be tinctured with the po- pular creed as to fatalifm and divination* It has alfo been obje&ed to this writer, that his hiftory, in point of the fpeeches it contains, refembles a romance. It is fuffi- cient to fupport the veracity of an hiftory, if it gives the fubftance of what an eloquent man did or might be fuppofed to fay on a certain occafion. At Rome, no one could afpire to office without being obliged fome- times to addrefs three or four hundred fena- tors, fometimes an aflembled and tumul- tuous people. Legal accuiations and de- fences were the great vehicles of eloquence. The moft confiderable members of the (late were orators. Trifling difcuffions were carried before the praetors, at an inferior tribunal; but all important caufes were heard before a certain number of Roman knights, in a vaft forum, filled by an at- tentive multitude ; fo that he who expofed himfelfto this perilous proof, required to
be
$16 COMMENTARIES Ofcf
be very fure of his talents and his firmrtefk Eloquence, a rare quality in monarchies, was rendered by habit a common one in the republics both of Greece and Rome. In thofe ftates, the art of perfuafion carried with it a power, inconceivable by thofe, who live in countries, where it is the crea- ture either of authority or of influence. The hiftorian therefore has not too highly coloured the fentiments of the fpeaker, though perhaps he has varied or dilated the language, in which they were conveyed. If any one doubt whether the harangues given by Livy fuit the charac- ter and circumftances of the fpeakers; amongft many, that would tend to folve the doubt, let him perufe the difcourfe which Quintius Capitolinus, one of the greateft men of his time, and, what meant the fame thing when greatnefs and virtue were fynonymous, one of the beft citizens, addrefled to the Roman people, when the animofity of the two orders made them forget their common intereft, and be re- gardlefs of their common danger. The
JEqui
CLASSICAL LEARNING. Jit
iEqui and Volfci were at their gates, about three hundred years after the building of the city, and there was no preparation or difpofition to oppofe them. On this ocea- fion, Quintius mounts the tribune, and addrefles the people in a fpeeeh, wherein are aflembled all the means of perfuafion, which the art of oratory poflefles. The tone is noble, the ftyle pathetic, the dic- tion elegant and harmonious.
Quintilian fpeaks of the laBea ubertas of Livy. He is indeed a model of imitation to all, who would compofe in Latin, for his narration has fweetnefs, purity, and elo- quence. The high rank he holds amongft his contemporaries will always be fuftained ; he is ever intelligible, diffufive without tedioufnefs, and argumentative without pe- dantry.
The caufe of truth and virtue he uni- formly defends : and as the life of a fcholar is rarely replete with incidents, although that of Livy was extended to his fixty-fe- venth year, yet tradition has told us fo little of him, that his works, which on every 2 account
$lt COMMENT-ARIES ON
account may be recommended to the ftudy of youth, are the beft comment on his character. The hiftorical merit of this writer is the majeftic flow of his narrative ; in which, events follow each other with rapidity, yet without hurry or confufion : to this may be added, the continual beauty and energy of his ftyle, by which his rea- ders are tranfported from their clofet to the theatre of adlion.
The tafte, the judgment, the eloquence of the Auguftan age are no where more happily combined than in the pages of Livy. Be his fubjedt what it may, whe- ther it require force or delicacy, whether an army is to be infpirited to fome great achievement, or a fenate to be foftened into compliance, he touches it with a mafter- hand. Each, for the time, appears his chara&eriftic, till a fudden tranfition fhews him equally pofleffed of the oppofite.
Longinus fays of the fublime, that it pleafes every body, and pleafes at all times. The Roman hiftorian anfwers completely to this definition.
Nearly
CLASSICAL LEARNING. $1$
Nearly two thoufand years can atteft the general approbation, with which he had been read. Sublimer thoughts are found in no hiftorian, yet thofe of Livy are al- ways unconftrained and natural to the perfon, who utters them.
It has been obferved, that the writers of tragedy diverfify their fcenes by art ; and after the mind has been kept long upon the ftretch, by the reprefentation of fome great action, they throw in fomething of lefs im- portance to relax it.
Livy is faid to have adopted their plan ; and when he has excited all the pain and forrow his readers can beftow, he foothes them by fome engaging circumftance, that relieves the mind by diverting the atten- tion.
Judgment is a predominant quality in him. It is equally evident in his felectiori of words, and in his delineation of charac- ters. Not only are his Romans diftin- guifhed from the inhabitants .of other countries by their opinions and their man- ners, but from themfelves at the different L L jeras
5H COMMENTARIES ON
seras and under the different forms of their government.
This quality it is, which enables him to difcern what is proper to every chara&er, and to temper the fire of genius by difcre- tion. This warrants his panegyrifts in their warm eulogium, that " No man was ever great with fo much eafe, none was ever familiar with fo much dignity."
TACITUS.
" There yet remains to us," fays Quin- tilian, " a man who enhances the glory of our age, and is worthy to be remembered by pofterity ; whofe name will be dear to them, although now I do not mention it. He has many admirers, but no imitators ; for his love of liberty has injured him, though he has obliterated many things he had written. But you may difcern his highly exalted fpirit and his bold opinions, even in thole, which remain. He is indeed a truly phiiofophical hiftorian."
« His
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 515
*' His Roman voice in bafe degenerate days, Spoke to imperial pride in freedom's praife ; And with indignant hate, feverely warm, Shewed to gigantic guilt his ghaftly form."
Hayley.
In the firft chriftian century and in the reign of Nero, Tacitus was born of an ho- norable family. His father was a knight, and the Governor of Belgic Gaul ; and himfelf pafled through the gradation of civil offices, till, under the reign of Nerva, he was ap- pointed Conful. His works are a remnant of the Roman hiftory, of which twenty- feven years were completed by him, ex- tending from the fixty-ninth to the ninety- fixth year of Chrift, but of which only the firft and part of the fecond year have reached pofterity. He had written com- plete annals of Tiberius, Caius, Claudius, and Nero; the whole of thofe of Caius, and the beginning of thofe of Claudius, are loft. Of thirty books we have only fix- teen of this work, and five of his hiftory.
LL2 We
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We are, however, in pofleffion of two ineftimable compofitions of Tacitus; the one, a treatife on the manners of the an- cient Germans ; the other, a life of Agricola, whofe daughter he had married, and who had been governor of our ifland in the time of Domitian. Gibbon fays of Bri- tain, that " it fubmitted to the Roman yoke after a war of forty years, undertaken by Claudius the moft ftupid, maintained by- Nero the moft difiblute, and terminated by Domitian the moft timid of all the Em- perors." Before we confider the writings of Tacitus, it may be proper to recur to the times, in which he lived. His infancy was patted amidft the horrors of the reign of Nero ; he lived during the atrocities of Galba, the drunkennefs of Vitellius, and the robberies of Otho ; but having refpired fomewhat a purer air under Vefpafian and Titus, was obliged in his manhood to fuf- lain the hypocritical tyranny of Domitian.
Perhaps he may be faid to have lived at a time, when the condition of the human race was more unhappy than at any other in
the
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 517
the annals of the world. During four- fcore years, excepting only the Abort and doubtful refpite of Vefpafian's reign, Rome, fays Mr. Gibbon, groaned beneath an unremitting tyranny, which exterminat- ed the ancient families of the republic, and was fatal to almoft every virtue and every talent, that arofe in that unhappy period.
Tacitus was conftrained to bend the loftinefs of his foul and to relax the firm- nefs of his principles, not to the debafement of a courtier, but to the compliance of a fnbject who dared not to complain. In- capable of deferving the friendfhip of Do- mitian, he could not but deferve his hatred. His difguft he was obliged to conceal, and in fecret to lament the maffacre of inno* cent citizens and the wounds of his much- loved country. Prevented from giving vent to his feelings, Tacitus, in the de- lightful retreat which literature always affords to the virtuous in their difappoint^ ments, poured forth a torrent of com- plaint and indignation, which alone could tend to confole him. This is what h l 3 render*
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renders him fo interefting and fo animated a writer. When he inveighs, he does not declaim. A man ferioufly and deeply affe&ed cannot do fo. He paints, in colours moft vivid, and raoft true, all that flavery has to difguft, all that defpotifm and cruelty poflefs to terrify.
The hopes and the fuccefTes of vice, the depreffion of innocence and the abafement of virtue, all that he had feen, and all that he !iad fufFered, — he defcribes in fuch a manner, that his readers are rendered fpe&ators and almoft fellow-fufferers with himfelf. Tacitus has been fometimes called a gene- ral calumniator. But did not he who has fo feelingly traced the laft moments of Ger- manicus, and who has left fo unqualified a panegyric on Agricola, difcern virtue where it exifted,and beftow upon it afplendid and a willing encomium ? Tacitus was an orator of great eminence. He delivered a funeral oration on the death of Virginius, whom he fucceeded in the confulfhip ; and to- gether with the younger Pliny, who was his bofom friend, he conduced the famous
caufc
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 519
caufe of the Africans againft Marcus Prif- cus, accufed, as Pro-conful, of having re- ceived bribes in his office. He was fentenced to pay three hundred thoufand fefterces as a penalty, and to be banifhed from Italy.
Tacitus defervedly holds a very high rank amongft the hiftorians of Greece and Rome. His fummary view of thofe dif- aftrous times, is an awful pi&ure of civil commotion and the wild diftra&ion of a frantic people. All legitimate government , and of courfe all liberty, were at an end, when the Praetorian bands, the armies of Germany, and the legions of Syria aflumed the right of ele&ing Emperors without the authority of the fenate.
Tacitus probably furvived his friend Pliny, and died in the reign of Trajan. Although they differed in politics, they were the ornaments of their age, men of diftinguifhed talents, encouragers of litera- ture, and patrons of virtue. Tacitus had read mankind as well as books. He had all the powers that conftitute a fine genius ;
l l 4 he
520 COMMENTARIES ON
he had a thorough knowledge of all the modes of government then known in the world, was verfed in all civil affairs, and intimately acquainted with the policy of ftatefmen. What a picture does he give of Tiberius ! how are his art and treachery developed ! and how much does the nar- ration evince the propriety of a maxim, not always admitted, that truth only fhould be fpoken of the dead ! What painter can fo well pourtray the deftru&ion of the le- gions under Varus ? How is the light con- trafted with the fliade, when he exhibits the amiable portrait of Germanicus ; his death in Syria ; and the appearance of his wife Agrippina at the port of Brundufium, when (he quits the Ihip, leading her chil- dren and fuftaining the urn of her deceafed and murdered hufband \
In the lively defcription of the hiftorian, Meffalina dying becomes almoft an object of compaffion. His annals have been called an Hiftorical Picture-gallery; and thofe, who have denominated him a mifanthrope, had they recollected that he had " fallen
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 521
on evil times" ought rather to have diftin- guifhed him as the anatomift of the human heart.
His life of Agricola is a perfect model of biography; a mode of writing cultivated in the time of the old republic, but entirely difufed under the Emperors. This general, having carried his victorious arms from the fouth of Britain to the Grampian Hills, was recalled by Bomitian through envy of his fame, and lived for a few years, the remainder of his life, in the calm delights of a peaceful retirement. The hiftorian has written the life of his father-in-law, in language celebrated for its purity and ele- gance; and this performance has always been diftinguifhed for the many excellent inftrudtions and important truths, which it contains.
The ftyle of the Annals, the work of his old age, confifts of (lately periods and much pomp of expreffion ; that of the Hiftory is more fubdued and temperate, fparing of words and replete with fentU jnent. Tacitus has been reproached with
falling;
522 .COMMENTARIES ON
falling Into the error, mentioned by Horace, of becoming obfcure by attempting to be concife. He admits many Grascifms into his language ; and in imitation of the man- ner, introduced by Seneca, is fometimes florid and poetical. His treatife, on the manners of the Germans, is a compofition juftly admired for the fidelity and exa£t- nefs with which it is executed; and here the objections to his diction do not feem to have a place. His general language has been cenfured as being rather laboured than lofty, and his figures rather bold than juft. It is however confefled, that his faults arife not from a want of power but of modera- tion ; not from a deficiency of genius but of judgment ; that when he choofes to defcend from his exaltation, there is no author among the Romans, who writes with greater purity.
If a certain obfcuritv or afFe£tation be found to deform his ftyle and render it a dangerous model for the imitation of youth, exhibiting rather a mifapplication than a difplay of talents \ yet fuch is the dignity
and
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 523
and fuch the juftnefs of his fentiments, fuch the profound nefs of his underftanding and apparent goodnefs of his heart, as to render him at leaft the equal of any hifto- rian of any country.
$UINTUS CURTIUS.
Amongft the hiftorians of the firft clafs, we may place Quintus Curtius ; of whofe life very little is recorded, but who probably wrote in the firft century of our sera under the Emperor Vefpafian. He has written in a fhort volume, divided into ten books, the life of Alexander the Great. Fren- fhemius has fupplied very ably, the lofs of the two firft and one part of the laft book. The ftyle of this writer is very flowery and ornamented; but it well agrees with its fubje£t, for he wrote the life of a very extraordinary man. Curtius particularly excels in his defcription of battles, but in his fpeeches the author is generally too prominent a figure. The fpeech of the Scythians, is however an exception. It is
always
J24 COMMENTARIES ON
always read with pleafure, and has always been mentioned with praife.
He has been juftly charged with geo- graphical errors, and thefe have been recti- fied by Arrian. The accufation of having admitted much romance into his hiftory, is not correctly ftated; for Alexander does not appear to be a Iefs lingular character in, Qther authors, than in Quintus Curtius.
The praifes, which he Iaviflies on his herOj proceed from a congenial fpirit of bold enterprife. Intrepidity and fire are with him the fovereign qualities of a man ; for he had not fufficient coolnefs of judg- ment to enable him to diftinguifli the utility refulting from caution and from prudence. The ftory of the " World's great Vidor " is perfectly fuited to the genius of the hiftorian. They are equally warin, and violent, and rafh,
Curtius, however, though an ardent pa-. negyrift, is not fo entirely eftranged from j.ijftice as to difguife the faults of Alexan- der altogether. After he has- raifed him ' ?hqve the higheft of his fpecies, he makes x . fome
CLASSICAL LEARNING. J25
fome retribution to them, by occafionaily depreffing him beneath the loweft.
His ftyk has freedom, life, and plea- fantry ; but is too lofty and declamatory. He wants fimplicity, a diftinguifhed excel- lence in writing; and notwithftanding the elegance of his orations and the fine flow of his language, the reader of Quintus Curtius will return with redoubled eager- nefs to the perufal of Livy.
526 COMMENTARIES ON
SECTION XIX.
Latin Hiflorians t>f the fecond Clafs.—Trogus Pompeius, — JuJ^in* — Floras, — Velleius Pater cuius. — Cornelius Nepos. — Suetonius.
These are biographers or abbre viators. The three moft diftinguifhed of the firft kind are Juftin, Florus, and Paterculus.
In the reign of Antoninus Pius, about one hundred and fifty years after Chrift, Juf- tin epitomized the univerfal hiftory of Trogus Pompeius. This had contained all the great events from the beginning of the world to the age of Auguftus ; and as the earlieft fpecimen of the mode of writing on fo copious a fubjefl:, the lofsofthe original work is much to be regretted. Juftin is not a painter of the manners, but a good narrator of events. He has however fome traits of beauty ; and the portrait of Philip of Macedon, and the comparifon of
i that
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 527
that prince with his fon Alexander, claim and reward our attention.
Philip, fays Juftin, took more pains and had more pleafure in the preparation of a battle than in the arrangement of a feaft. Money was with him only a fmew of war. He knew better how to acquire tiches, than how to preferve them ; and living on plunder, was always poor. It coft him no more to pardon than to deceive. His converfation was fweet and alluring. He was prodigal of pro- mifes, which he did not keep; and whether he were ferious or gay, he had always a defign at the bottom. His con- ftant maxim was, to carefs thofe whom he hated, to inftigate quarrels between thofe who loved him, and fcparately to flat- ter each party, whom he had alienated from the other. He was poflefled of eloquence, had a ready apprehenfion, and a graceful delivery. He had for his fucceffor his fon Alexander, who had greater virtues and greater vices than himfelf. Both triumphed over their enemies, although by different
means.
528 COMMENTARIES ON
means. The one employed open force only; the other had recourfe to artifice The one congratulated himfelf, when he had deceived his enemies, the other when he had conquered them. Philip had more policy, Alexander more dignity. The fa- ther knew how to diflemble his rage, and fometimes to conquer it; the fon in hi? vengeance knew neither delay nor bounds. Bothloved wine too well ; but drunkennefs* which opens the heart, produced different effe&s in them. Philip in going from a feaft, went to feek for danger and expofed himfelf with temerity; Alexander turned His rage againft the aflbciates of his rivalry. The one often returned from battle, covered with wounds, received from his enemies ; the other rofe from table, defiled with the blood of his friends. The father wifhed to be loved ; the fori defired only to be fear- ed. Both cultivated letters, the former through policy, the latter through tafte. The one affe&ed more moderation to his enemies, the other had in reality more clemency and good faith. It was' with 5 thefo
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 529
thefe different qualities, that the father laid the foundation of the empire of the world, and that the fon had the glory of comple- ting the illuftrious achievement.
The little work of Juftin contains the hiftory of two thoufand years. It begins with Ninu?, the founder of the Aflyrian empire ; and the account of thofe early periods is much more dilated than the fize of the volume would induce us to expeft.
If he approach the beft Roman writers in purity and elegance, he is inaccurate as a chronologer; and when he mentions the Jews, he is a prejudiced hiftorian. Excel- lence of ftyle will not atone for the defefl: of fidelity; as talents, however diftinguifhed, cannot excufe the abfence of virtue.
FLORUS.
L. Annaeus Julius Florus was born a little more than a century after our Sa- viour, and compofed an abridgement of the Roman hiftory till the time of Auguftus, mm He
$$0 COMMENTARIES ON
He has the lingular ' merit of having in- cluded in one fmall volume, in four books, the annals of feven hundred years, without having omitted a fingle important fad. The confpiracy of Catiline is recounted in two pages, and yet nothing effential is omitted. His ftyle is fo florid as to have the appearance of poetry in deranged mea- fure. He has all the declamation of an orator ; and when we look for a correct recital of the hiftory of the Romans, we find a warm panegyric on many of their achievements.
On this account Florus muft be read without that confidence, which we repofe in many other authors. He is carelefs in chro- nology; and, being defirous of ftating fuch circumftances as ought to have occurred on particular occafions, he fometimes deviates from the fcrupulous accuracy of hiftorical truth.
CLASSICAL LEARNING. S31
VELLEIUS PATERCULUS.
Velleius Paterculus lived in the time of ^Tiberius, was of a refpe&able family, and ferved feveral campaigns under the emperor. He wrote a compendium of the hiftory of Greece and Rome, from the earlieft period to his own age. He is a ufeful author, and not deficient in eafe or elegance of ftyle* He is remarkably mild in his cenfures, but moft unaccountably extravagant in his praife of the Csefars. Auguftus is a god ; and Sejanus, the fawning and cruel mi- nifter of Tiberius, is extolled with en- comiums, which are due only to virtue. The obje£tion to his partiality is confined to the latter part of his work, and is com- mon to many hiftorians, whofe prejudices or whofe fears difguife or fupprefs their opinions. Paterculus has a happy and beautiful brevity of narration, which in a fmall compafs contains all the graces of ftyle, and is embellifhed with wife maxims and ufeful morals.
MJJ2 What-
S32 COMMENTARIES ON
Whatever ether hiftorians have recorded will be found in this writer, who poflefles in a lingular degree the merit of perfpicuity.
CORNELIUS NEPOS.
Of Cornelius Nepos we have received no authentic account, except that he was born at Hoftilia, near the banks of the river Po, in the reign of Auguflus, and, amongft other literary charaders, was honoured by the Imperial patronage. The work which has reached pofterity is his Lives of Illuftn- ous Greeks and Romans. The ftyle of it difplays the elegance of the age in which he lived; and while it contains a fummary of their principal adions, it is replete with judicious refledions upon them. He abounds in tafte, but not in force and ftrength. In reporting events, he does not enter into the details, which mark the cha- raderiftic traits of the adors, and which diftinguifh the perfpicacity of the hifto- rian.
Rome had not yet its Plutarch.
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 533
^SUETONIUS.
Somewhat more than a century after the Chriftian sera, C. Tranquility Suetonius was the fecretary of the Emperor Adrian. He has left a hiftory of the twelve Csefars, and is confidered fcrupuloufly exa£t and methodical. He omits nothing, which con- cerns the perfon whofe life he writes; and is a reporter of a&ions, but not a painter of the manners. He is a pleafant author to confult, for he is a detailer of anecdotes. In reflections he is very fparing, contenting himfelf with recounting events without feeling or exciting any emotion. The office of a narrator fatisfies his ambition ; and from the little intereft he takes refpedt- ing the condudl of his heroes, he has at- tained the praife of ftrid: impartiality.
The character of the emperors is no where more juftly reprefented, but the defcription of their vices has been thought unneceflarily minute.
M M 3 The
534 COMMENTARIES ON
The language of Suetonius is elegant j his narration eafy and perfpicyous.
Nature had been kind to him in her en- dowments, and he acknowledged her kind- nefs by the induftry with which he ap- plied to his education.
An acquaintance with thefe minor hifr torians is expected of the general fcholar.
Some beauties will pleafe, and fome in- formation will inftruft him in them all ; but after he has confulted them for the gratification of his curiofity, or the refrefh- ment of his memory as to particular facts, he will perceive, that his tafte can alone be duly formed, and his knowledge fufficiently amplified, by a frequent and attentive per- ufal of the three accomplifhed hiftorians of Rome.
CLASSICAL LEARNING, ^3S
SECTION XX,
Condition.
I N reviewing the pages of thefe commen- taries, whatever defeats I have perceived in the execution of my plan, I am ftill willing to flatter myfelf that the fovereign utility of claflical learning has not been rendered problematical by an inadequate defence.
It did not form a part of my intention to extend my view beyond the works of the ancient poets, orators, and hiftorians ; much lefs to attempt a delineation of the feveral fyftems of philofpphy, which reign- ed in Athens. But it is rmpoflible not to reflect upon the gardens of the Lyceum, where truth and error maintained a divided fway, but where learning was foftered in the bofom of retirement, and kept facred from the invafion of its ancient enemies, kufinefs and pleafure.
536 COMMENTARIES ON
On the banks of the IlyfTus, an alley of olives, or a grove of myrtles, feparated fyftems, and ferved as the boundary of the empire of Opinion. There the fan&uary of Wifdom was never clofed, and the facred fire was never extinguifhed. In that happy fhade, far from the importunity of vulgar cares, Greece formed fo many great men, of whom a fingle one might give celebrity to a nation. When the youths had learn- ed the gymnaftic exercifes, they paffed fuc- ceffively under the care of the gramma- rians, critics, and geometricians -, and after thefe effays, commenced their rural life* There they exerted prodigious efforts ; and it was almoft as painful to achieve a courfe of philofophy, as to accufiom themfelves to the hard exercifes of pugilifm. There as much emulation was excited as if it were a queftion of becoming an Areopagite or a demagogue.
In our own country, even in the heart of a city devoted to bufinefs, to politics, and to pleafure, learning ftill may boaft of more than one facred afylum. On the
b^nks
CLASSICAL LEARNING. $37
banks of the Thames and of the Itchen, the polimed language of Athens ftill capti- vates its votaries, and a purer philofophy than was taught in the Lyceum or the Aca- demy ftill refounds from thofe hallowed domes, which are warned by the ftreams of the Ifis and the Cam, May the day be far diftant, if it ever be deftined to appear, when the hiftorian of our ifle fhall have to recoixl a fimilar cataftrophe to that, which defolated Athens ! When Greece fell un- der the Chriftian yoke, Libanius fays that he faw whole troops of priefts and monks, armed with hatchets and flambeaux, run- ning through the country, burning the temples, breaking the ftatues, and leaving in their paflage only the fmoking wrecks of afhes and of ruins. At the fight of thefe fanatics, philofophy abandoned Greece to return thither no more.
Claffical learning is intimately connect- ed with the prefervation of religion and of the laws, and thofe who decry its value are the perfons moft decidedly hoftile to both.
IX While
5$3 COMMENTARIES Otf
While the anarchift, by fubtle difparagd- ment of moral ties, undermines the pillars of fociety, the fanatic and the bigot, by an outcry againft literary attainments, engage in the fame caufe, and are daily bringing their engines to the attack;
Under circumftances of fo ferious a kind, and in that leifure for refledion, which is afforded by the fufpenfion of the horrors of war, the intereft of our country might perhaps be confulted by the revival of thofe golden days, in which an Oxford was at once the pilot of the flate and the tutelary guardian of learning. Foftered by the rays of favour, the vigorous plant will flourifh, though myriads be envious of its growth. While, under its branches, genius ought to find a fhelter from the ills of life, to the fame made grandeur might retire for a temporary repofe from the toils of pleafure or the tumults of ambition. If it be permitted us to cultivate the arts, and to enjoy the bleflings of peace ; what can better deferve the patronage of ftatef- men than that knowledge, which ftrengthens
the
CLASSICAL LEARNING. 539
the bands of the community, while it po- licies and enlarges the minds of its mem- bers; which calls forth the brighteft ta- lents in an aiflive difplay of loyalty to a free conftitution, and furniflies them with an armour of proof in the defence of focial order and of public liberty ?
THE END,
Printed by A. Strahan, Printers-Street.
ERRATA.
.Page Line
22 i read improved
32 IO after poflefled himfelf infer t of
44 24 put a period after ear
45 6 after Demofthenes put a mark of Interrogatid/t 94 3 7«/iv7 inverted commas after, obfervation
104 21 /or AihenccusrW Athenaeus
J 52 20 infert inverted commas
153 16 /or med r<?tf J fled
154 8 eraje inverted commas after wit 177 20 /or In the read with
181 28 for racking read raking
209 7 after difficulties infert a comma
2 jo 8 for they do read it does
219 14 fl/V^r Dionyfius z'K^rf of
220 1 /or euthymemes read enthymemes - 234 21 after exprcflions eraje comma
247 "13 for revolts read difgu ft s
250 11 for God read Gods
— 17 for reaflumes read reafiumed
2 5* 3 for armor, armor read armour, armour
253 18 for throws read threw
256 15 read Herodotus
270 1 for difplay read produce
294 3 eraje inverted commas before More
*— 10 eraje inverted commas after foes
300 3 eraje inverted commas before The »
— 6 eraje inverted commas after tone
302 24 eraje that
303 3 /or Amphitrion rwJ A mphitryo
324 21 and 24 for Hyppolitus read Hippolytus
325 14 and 25/or Hyppolitus read Hippolytus 311 5 for fcyon read cion, and for root read plant
— 21 eraje inverted commas before The 339 5 for fears read tears
352 3 eraje jemicclon after painting
— 18 for monument read writer
363 23 for ha fine relic from read forms a fine contrail with
377 5 f°r Helena read Helenus
401 12 for is read are
409 7 /or faciinces r^ifacrificed
416 13 for poets read poet
417 12 /or Thebes ran/ Thetis.
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