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HANDBOUND 
AT  THE 


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in  2007  with  funding  from 

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/v->y 


•y^jk^At  N^'vya_i 


LIBRA 

k      N.YOilK.    J 
CLASSICAiN '^ 


s^i3 


DISQUISITIONS 


AND 


CURIOSITIES, 


CRITICAL  AND  HISTORICAL, 


BY 


BENJAMIN  HEATH  MALKIN,  LL.D.  &  F.  S.  A. 

HEAD    MASTER    OF    BURY    SCHOOL. 


LONDON: 

PRINTED    FOR 

LONGMAN.  HURST,  REES,  ORME,  BROWN,  AND  GREEN, 

rATERN08TER-R0W. 

1825. 


I 


\o 


Lokdok: 

Printed  by  A.  &  R.  Spottiswoode, 

New-  Street-  Square . 


TO 


MY    FORMER    PUPILS. 


I  INSCRIBE  the  following  pages  to  you,  in  the  hope 
that  they  will  remind  you  of  times,  persons,  and 
places,  not  devoid  of  interest  in  your  estimation. 
Various  are  the  topics,  direct  and  collateral,  which 
have  been  the  subject  of  enquiry  and  discussion 
between  us,  arising  out  of  our  classical  reading. 
I  perhaps  have  not  overrated  the  measure  of  your 
respect  and  favourable  opinion,  in  supposing  that 
an  attempt  on  my  part  to  continue  our  literary  in- 
tercourse will  not  be  unacceptable  to  you.  On 
this  presumption,  I  have  devoted  my  intervals  of 
leisure  for  the  last  six  months,  to  the  collection 
and  examination  of  many  passages,  of  more  or  less 
ordinary  occurrence,  with  a  view  to  illustrate  the 
bearings  of  ancient  upon  modern  taste,  literature, 
and  opinions,  and  to  encouiage  you  to  a  more  va- 
ried and  extensive  acquaintance  with  Latin  and 
Greek  authors,  than  falls  within  the  compass  of 
school  instruction  or  public  lectures.  That  this 
collection  consists  of  articles,  neither  connected  in 
subject  nor  of  consecutive  arrangement,  is  at  once 
explained,  and  I  trust  justified,  by  tlic  consider- 
ation that  none  but  leisure  hours  could  with  pro» 

A  3 


IV  DEDICATION. 

priety  be  devoted  to  their  production.  Had  the 
v^ork  aspired  to  the  dignity  of  a  regular  treatise  on 
any  given  subject,  Horace's  term  of  gestation  would 
not  have  been  too  long  for  its  final  developement : 
but  in  detached  essays,  of  more  humble  preten- 
sion, where  the  mind  of  the  writer  shifts  rapidly 
from  theme  to  theme,  there  seems  to  be  little 
gained  by  the  anxieties  of  minute  revision,  or  the 
hesitation  necessary  to  more  important  lucubra- 
tions. In  the  papers  now  submitted  to  you,  light 
and  serious  topics  are  alternately  treated ;  such  as 
they  are,  with  all  their  imperfections,  they  are  the 
result  of  that  miscellaneous  reading,  which  forms 
the  occupation  and  amusement  of  my  privacy,  in 
furtherance  of  my  public  teaching. 

But  you  will  expect  me  to  address  you  in  the 
language  of  apology,  not  only  for  the  deficiencies 
of  the  present  attempt,  but  for  the  undue  execu- 
tion of  an  important  trust,  if  you  believe  what  you 
have  of  late  been  frequently  told.  It  seems  to  be 
the  fasliionable  doctrine  among  the  philosophers, 
that  the  system  of  our  public  schools  does  not  keep 
pace  with  the  advancement  of  the  age ;  and  that 
its  victims  are  thrown  upon  the  world,  without 
any  preparation  for  its  serious  business,  without 
any  clue  to  those  paths  in  which  they  are  indivi- 
dually to  walk. 

Before  I  attempt  to  repel  this  charge,  I  must 
observe  generally,  that  in  these  days  of  free  dis- 
cussion, the  lust  of  innovation  keeps  pace  with  the 
spirit  of  improvement.  Ancient  systems  and  es- 
tablished practice  are  convenient  foils  to  the  novel 


DEDICATION.  V 

conceptions  and  bold  theories  of  speculative  men. 
Projects  of  education  run  a  race  with  steam-en- 
gines and  rail-roads.  Schools  and  universities  are 
voted  to  be  slow  coaches  :  and  then  comes  forward 
a  prospectus,  undertaking  to  teach  all  the  professor 
knows  of  Latin  and  Greek  in  a  month  ;  to  give  a 
bird's-eye  view  of  the  whole  circle  of  sciences  in  a 
year ;  and  to  fortify  the  youthful  mind  against  all 
the  temptations  of  the  world  in  a  course  of  twelve 
lectures. 

The  sentiments  of  Locke  and  Milton,  on  the 
subject  of  education,  are  before  the  world,  and 
have  been  examined  in  every  point  of  view.  But 
old  Burton,  "  Democritus  Junior,"  the  Anatomist 
of  Melancholy,  has  the  following  passage  in  his 
quaint  style  :  —  **  But  and  if  Very  Trmth  be  ex- 
tant indeede  on  earth,  as  some  hold  she  it  is  which 
actuates  men's  deeds,  purposes,  ye  may  in  vaine 
look  for  her  in  the  learned  universities,  halls,  col- 
leges. Truth  is  no  Doctoresse,  she  taketh  no  de- 
grees  at  Paris  or  Oxford,  amongst  great  clerks, 
disputants,  subtile  Aristotles,  men  iiodosi  inge?iii, 
able  to  take  Lidlij  by  the  chi?i,  but  oftentimes  to  such 
an  one  as  myself,  an  Idiota,  or  common  person, 
no  great  things,  melancholizing  in  woods  where 
waters  are,  quiet  places  by  rivers,  fountains,  whereas 
the  silly  man  expecting  no  such  matter,  thinketh 
only  iiow  best  to  delectate  and  refresh  his  mynde 
continually  with  Natura  her  pleasaunt  scenes, 
woods,  water-falls,  or  Art  her  statelie  gardens, 
parks,  terraces,  Belvideres,  on  a  sudden  the  god- 
desse  herself  Truth  has  appeared,  with  a  shyning 

A  4 


VI  DEDICATION. 

lyghte,  and  a  sparkling  countenance,  so  as  yee 
may  not  be  able  lightly  to  resist  her."  Now  we 
humbly  maintain,  that  Truth  is  not  only  a  God- 
desse,  but  a  Doctoresse  :  that  she  may  be  looked 
for  in  universities,  halls,  and  colleges ;  and  we  fur- 
ther venture  to  hope,  in  those  public  schools  which 
prepare  the  student  for  his  probation  in  the  higher 
stages  of  academical  discipline. 

The  first  charge  against  us  is,  that  we  devote 
too  large  a  portion  of  irrevocable  time  to  the  at- 
tainment of  one  object,  namely  classical  learning. 
Here  a  question  arises,  whether  classical  learning 
be  really  one  object,  or  wliether  it  do  not  rather 
embrace  a  circle  of  important  objects.  It  seems  to 
me  to  furnish  a  supply  of  various  and  gradually 
accumulating  knowledge,  suggested  to  the  scholar 
incidentally,  through  the  medium  of  languages  to 
be  learned,  with  more  interest  and  effect  than 
would  be  produced  by  the  formality  of  systematic 
lectures,  and  at  a  more  early  period  than  any  at 
which  the  mind  would  be  strong  enough  to  en- 
counter the  severity  of  strict  philosophical  discus- 
sion. Did  my  limits  admit  of  examining  the  sub- 
ject in  all  its  bearings,  I  might  enlarge  on  the 
consideration,  that  he  who  knows  only  modern 
languages,  knows  no  language  at  all.  But  the 
prejudice  of  the  moment  seems  all  for  science.  Cer- 
tain philosophers  would  teach  the  young  idea  how  to 
shoot  with  the  cross-bow  of  geology  :  but  we  can 
herein  convict  them  of  belying  their  own  preten- 
sions to  method,  and  jumping  m  medias  res,  when 
they  would    start    their   little    geologues   in   the 


DEDICATION.  Vll 

career  of  knowledge  from  hie  lapis,  a  stone.  We 
on  the  contrary  adhere  to  the  principle,  so  often 
and  so  learnedly  inculcated  by  the  first  Lord 
Kenyon,  whose  legal  knowledge  was  unbounded, 
and  whose  fondly  displayed  power  of  quotation,  now 
and  then  overleaped  the  enclosures  of  the  Latin 
syntax,  stare  super  antiquas  vias.  On  this  sound 
constitutional  principle,  so  fit  to  be  adopted  by 
the  professors  of  learning,  we  set  out  from  ha^c 
musa,  a  song.  But  then  this  singing  propensity  of 
ours  is  alleged  as  one  of  our  principal  crimes.  We 
are  accused  of  making  poets,  whereas  they  ought  to 
be  born.  Now  assuredly  we  are  not  so  absurd  as  to 
suppose,  either  that  we  can,  or  that  the  gods  will, 
make  our  pupils  poetical.  It  is  supposed  that  we 
confine  our  efforts  to  fostering  an  annual  poet  or 
two,  for  the  purpose  of  supporting  our  own  repu- 
tation in  the  universities.  But  we  are  not  so  am- 
bitious as  to  aim  at  usurping  the  prerogative  of 
royalty :  nay,  the  king  himself,  who  can  do  no  evil, 
can  do  no  more  good  than  to  make  a  laureate  :  in 
which  capacity  Gibber  and  Pye  cliaunted,  and 
Southey  is  silent.  It  is  said  that  we  teach  an  art, 
which  not  one  in  five  hundred  of  our  pupils  will 
ever  practise  in  after  life.  That  is  highly  probable, 
and  by  no  means  to  be  regretted,  if  there  be  any 
truth  in  a  Spanish  proverb,  that  **  He  who  cannot 
make  one  verse  is  a  blockhead  ;  lie  who  makes 
more  is  a  fool.*'  I  have  relieved  you  from  the  first 
of  these  imputations,  and  I  warn  you  against  in- 
curring the  second.  But  should  the  muse  be  so 
spiteful  as  to  inspire  you,  send  not  the  effusions  to 


via  DEDICATION. 

me,  since  I  can  assure  you,  that  to  a  schoolmaster, 
sufficient  unto  the  day  is  the  authorship  thereof. 
Teaching  composition,  like  other  great  crimes,  car- 
ries its  punishment  along  with  it.  Why  then  do 
we  teach  composition  in  Latin  and  Greek,  and 
particularly  verse  ?  It  is  to  make  critics,  not 
poets.  It  is  to  ensnare  our  pupils  into  a  more  ex- 
tensive, and  a  more  curious  examination  of  the 
great  writers,  than  the  public  tuition  of  a  mixed 
body  would  allow.  The  practice  of  classical  com- 
position in  verse  and  prose  compels  a  composer  of 
any  talent  or  ambition  to  pull  to  pieces  the  whole 
phraseology  of  the  principal  authors  for  his  own 
use,  and  carefully  to  examine  their  thoughts  for 
the  purposes  of  adaptation.  Thus  an  acquaintance 
is  formed  with  their  contents,  and  an  insight 
gained  into  their  spirit,  not  to  be  acquired  by 
mere  mechanical  construction  in  a  lesson,  or  by 
yawning  over  the  notes  of  Delphin  or  Variorum 
commentators. 

We  are  further  accused,  not  only  of  making  an 
annual  poet,  but  of  making  an  annual  scholar ;  of 
cultivating  highly  soils  of  abundant  promise,  and 
suffering  the  light  lands  to  lie  fallow.  This 
vain  or  mercenary  conduct  I  indignantly  disclaim 
for  myself.  A  long  experience  of  the  public 
school  system,  and  an  extensive  acquaintance 
among  its  conductors,  enable  me  to  disclaim  it 
in  behalf  of  my  brethren.  I  feel  convinced  that 
there  is  no  set  of  gentlemen  at  the  head  of 
any  public  school  in  the  kingdom,  so  mean,  so 
unworthy  of  the  name,  as  to  betray  their  vice- 


DEDICATION.  IX 

parental  trust,  and  to  consign  those  pupils  to  igno- 
rance, who  are  not  blessed  with  brilliant  talents. 
The  frequently  recurring  failure  of  laborious  and 
painful  efforts  is  sufficiently  mortifying,  without 
being  imputed  as  a  fault ;  but  who  can  escape 
censure,  if  the  apathy  of  sluggish  minds,  or  the 
impracticability  of  dull  parts,  is  to  be  fixed  on  the 
instructors  as  arising  from  a  dereliction  of  their 
duty  ?  There  will  always  be  a  grenadier  company 
in  academical  as  well  as  in  military  bodies.  It  is  to 
be  feared  there  will  also  be  an  awkward  squad  :  but 
we  find  that  we  can  drill  those  prevailing  numbers, 
who  just  come  up  to  the  regimental  standard,  into 
useful  fighting  men. 

That  our  course  of  instruction  is  so  completely 
unprofessional,  is  with  me  a  merit,  rather  than  a 
defect.  We  teach  the  general  principles  of  reli- 
gion ;  but  we  leave  it  to  the  universities  to  form 
the  divine  :  we  leave  it  to  the  bar  to  form  its  own 
lawyers :  but  we  endeavour  to  lay  that  solid  found- 
ation, on  which  a  superstructure  of  any  order 
may  be  raised.  A  strong  objection  against  edu- 
cating with  professional  views  too  early,  is,  that 
all  j)rofessional  education,  not  to  speak  invidiously, 
has  an  eye  to  pecuniary  interest,  and  the  politic 
arts  of*  pushing  forward  in  life.  There  is  no  fear 
that  these  objects  will  not  occupy  the  mind  soon 
enough  :  and  it  is  highly  desirable  that  it  should 
previously  be  furnished  with  sentiments  of  inde- 
pendence, with  a  taste  for  the  liberal  arts,  with 
that  common  stock  for  the  intercourse  of  polite 
society,  which  distinguish  the  gentleman  from  the 


DEDICATION. 


recluse,  the  pedant,  or  the  plodder.  But  the  truth 
is,  that  besides  this  advantage,  classical  education 
does  make  preparation  for  the  peculiar  duties  and 
pursuits  of  after  life,  though  not  exclusively  or 
engrossingly :  in  addition  to  which,  it  furnishes  at 
the  time,  and  continues  to  furnish  through  life, 
something  valuable  in  itself  to  all  those  who  pos- 
sess it,  independently  of  its  subserviency  to  their 
more  necessary  pursuits,  and  independently  of  the 
mental  discipline  incident  to  its  acquirement. 

My  station  in  life  may  be  supposed  to  give  a 
bias  to  my  opinions  and  reasonings  on  this  subject. 
I  will  therefore  appeal  to  the  testimony  of  the 
great  Lord  Chatham,  as  simply  and  beautifully 
delivered  in  those  letters  to  his  nephew.  Lord 
Camelford,  for  the  possession  of  which  we  are 
indebted  to  Lord  Grenville  :  —  "I  rejoice  to  hear 
that  you  have  begun  Homer's  Iliad,  and  have 
made  so  great  a  progress  in  Virgil.  I  hope  you 
taste  and  love  those  authors  particularly.  You 
cannot  read  them  too  much  ;  they  are  not  only 
the  two  greatest  poets,  but  they  contain  the  finest 
lessons  for  your  age  to  imbibe  ;  lessons  of  honour, 
courage,  disinterestedness,  love  of  truth,  command 
of  temper,  gentleness  of  behaviour,  humanity,  and 
in  one  word,  virtue  in  its  true  signification.  Go 
on,  my  dear  nephew,  and  drink  as  deep  as  you 
can  of  those  divine  springs :  the  pleasure  of  the 
draught  is  equal  at  least  to  the  prodigious  ad- 
vantage of  it  to  the  heart  and  morals.  I  hope 
you  will  drink  them  as  somebody  does  in  Virgil, 


DEDICATION.  XI 

of  another  sort  of  cup :    Ille  impiger  hausit  spu- 
mantem  pater am,^^ 

Lord  Chatham,  it  should  seem,  did  not  hold  the 
opinion  expressed  by  a  German  writer,  who  says 
that  he  would  as  soon  insist  on  seeing  a  boy  with  a 
brandy  bottle,  as  a  book,  continually  in  his  hands. 
In  a  subsequent  passage,  the  great  statesman  who 
so  gracefully  and  benevolently  descends  into  the 
office  of  a  private  tutor,  advises  his  pupil  to  con- 
sider the  poets,  however  delightful,  as  subordinate 
objects  of  his  attention  :  — 

"  I  beg  a  copy  of  your  elegy  on  your  mother's 
picture :  it  is  such  admirable  poetry^  that  I  beg 
you  Yo  'plunge  deep  into  prose  and  severer  studies, 
and  not  indulge  your  genius  for  verse,  for  the 
present.  Finitimus  oratori  poeta.  Substitute  Tully 
and  Demosthenes  in  the  place  of  Homer  and 
Virgil ;  and  arm  yourself  with  all  the  variety  of 
manner,  copiousness  and  beauty  of  diction,  no- 
bleness and  magnificence  of  ideas,  of  the  Roman 
consul ;  and  render  the  powers  of  eloquence  com- 
plete, by  the  irresistible  torrent  of  vehement  argu- 
mentation, the  close  and  forcible  reasoning,  and 
the  depth  and  fortitude  of  mind  of  the  Grecian 
statesman." 

If  what  has  been  said  be  sufficient  to  justify  the 
choice  of  our  studies,  the  next  question  is,  whether 
we  'pursue  them  wisely  and  successfully.  It  will 
scarcely  be  contended,  that  with  the  advantage  of 
the  emulation  we  have  the  means  of  exciting,  we 
are  likely  to  be  less  qualified  teachers  of  the 
learned  languages,  than  those  who  devote  their 


Xll  DEDICATIONi 

talents  to   more  confined   numbers  or  individual 
objects  of  their  attention.     The  charge  to  which 
we  must  plead  guilty  is,  taking  a  longer  time  about 
it.     Perhaps,  however,  we  lay  up  a  larger  stock  of 
materials  in  the  course  of  our  teaching,  than  those 
who   make  a  merit  of  communicating  the  mere 
languages   in  a   shorter  time  than  ourselves.     In 
fact,   I  positively    deny   that  the  seven  or   eight 
years  passed  at  a  public  school  are  devoted  to  the 
acquisition  of  two  languages.     Simple  construction 
is  merely  mechanical ;  and  lectures  produce  little 
of  lasting  impression  even  on  adult  minds.     We 
endeavour,  in  our  upper  classes,  to  unite  the  in- 
terest of  lectures  with  the  discipHne  of  examination. 
Those   youths  who  make  full  use  of  the  oppor- 
tunities  offered    them  in  public   instruction,    and 
that  more  extensive  course  of  private  reading,  in 
which   it  is  our  habit   to  engage  boys  of  ardent 
mind   and   considerable   power,   acquire  with  the 
languages,  the  heart  and  soul  of  the  authors :  the 
facts  contained  in  their  histories,  their  principles  of 
public  conduct,  their  private  morals,  the  civil  and 
military  constitutions  of  their  countries,  with  their 
resemblances  and  discrepancies  in  reference  to  our 
own :  the  most  approved  rules  of  taste  in  poetry 
and  the  fine  arts,  and  their  effects  upon  modern 
literature.     I    should   think   but   meanly   of  that 
teacher,  who  could  read  Homer  with  his  class,  and 
not  occasionally  talk  to  them  about  Milton.     With 
as  little  favour  should   I   regard  the  intellectual 
energy  of  him,  who  could  read  page  after  page  of 
Cicero  with   his   pupils,    without   comparing   the 


DEDICATION.  Xlll 

Roman  Forum  with  the  practice  of  the  English 
Bar,  and  the  province  of  our  juries  with  the  office 
of  their  judices  ;  without  looking  at  the  senatus 
popuhisque  Romanics,  with  reference  to  the  con- 
stitutional functions  of  the  British  Parliament :  who 
could  read  the  two  great  orators  of  antiquity 
without  associating  the  name  of  Cicero  with  that 
of  Pitt,  and  the  name  of  Demosthenes  with  that 
of  Fox.  Still  less  could  I  apologise  for  the  neglect 
or  apathy  of  that  instructor,  who  should  pass  by 
any  occasion  which  either  the  best  or  the  worst 
philosopliy  and  morals  of  the  ancients  may  happen 
to  furnish,  of  impressing  on  the  minds  of  his 
hearers  the  superiority  of  the  wisdom  from  above, 
to  any  thing  that  the  wit  of  man  has  ever  yet 
devised ;  of  pointing  out  how  abhorrent  from 
Christian  principles  are  their  worst  doctrines,  how 
greatly  inferior  the  noblest  conjectures  of  their 
most  highly  favoured  minds.  With  respect  to  the 
mode  in  which  religious  convictions  are  most 
successfully  impressed,  I  feel  convinced  from  the 
habitual  practice  of  both  methods,  that  the  evi- 
dences of  Christianity,  those  at  least  which  are 
collateral,  are  more  favourably  received  when 
thrown  in  incidentally,  when  they  strike  with  a 
surprise,  or  steal  upon  the  mind,  than  when  they 
are  ushered  in  with  the  formality  of  prepared  lec- 
tures. All  those  who  are  extensively  conversant 
with  young  minds  and  feelings  must  know,  that 
what  is  necessarily  very  serious,  is  presupposed  to 
be  very  dull,  and  consequently  heard  witli  listless- 
ness,   or  perhaps  even   with   disgust.     The  only 


XIV  DEDICATION. 

painful  part  of  a  public  teacher's  office,  is  the 
constant  effort  required,  to  cheat  his  pupils  into 
attention:  and  he  who  will  not  introduce  consi- 
derable variety  of  topics,  who  is  too  pompous  to 
be  entertaining,  and  too  full  of  his  own  dignity  to 
throw  an  occasional  air  of  vivacity  over  subjects 
grave  in  their  general  tenor,  will  be  heard  with 
obtuse  ears,  charm  he  never  so  wisely. 

It  has  been  the  fashion  of  late  years,  especially 
with  that  class  of  persons  who  compliment  them- 
selves with  the  epithet  of  serious-minded,  and 
endow  their  own  confined  party  with  the  title  of 
the  religious  public,  to  insinuate  that  the  habits 
of  large  schools  are  somewhat  whimsical  in  point  of 
morality.  Now  it  is  unavoidable  that  where  con- 
siderable numbers  are  congregated,  and  a  certain 
portion  of  liberty  is  allowed,  irregularities  and 
abuses  should  occasionally  arise :  but  it  does  not 
therefore  follow,  that  the  accumulation  of  numbers, 
or  that  certain  extent  of  liberty,  must  on  the 
average  be  an  evil.  To  argue  the  point,  would  lead 
me  too  far  :  but  I  am  a  decided  enemy  to  keeping 
boys  in  perpetual  leading-strings.  At  the  same 
time,  where  there  is  option,  there  will  sometimes  be 
a  wrong  choice.  The  painful  part  to  a  master's 
feelings  is  the  necessity  of  setting  up  scarecrows  : 
a  necessity  which  falls  with  more  severity  on  the 
grieved  and  disappointed  parent,  than  on  the  worth- 
less son.  But  I  have  never  known  an  instance 
within  my  own  experience,  in  which  the  scarecrow 
has  faUed  to  perform  his  office.  On  whatever 
occasion  any  question  of  discipline  or  morals  has 


DEDICATION.  XV 

arisen  here,  a  very  large  majority  has  always  taken 
the  riglit  side ;  has  always  acted  rightly,  and  what 
is  even  of  more  importance,  has  thought  and  felt 
rightly.  As  a  set-off  against  the  superior  vigilance, 
or  rather  the  more  unrelenting  superintendence,  of 
private  or  domestic  education,  I  allege  the  system 
of  moral  discipline,  and  the  habit  of  moral  feeling, 
always  subsisting  among  you  independently  of  me  : 
a  system  and  habits  which  put  a  stern  negative  on 
every  thing  like  meanness  or  shuffling  ;  which  hold 
the  character  of  a  gentleman  to  be  of  the  very 
first  necessity.  In  no  instance  have  I  ever  known 
ungentlemanly  or  immoral  conduct  cheered  by  any 
individual  not  personally  implicated.  I  have  the 
pleasure  to  find  that  you,  my  friends,  support  in 
afler  life  the  character  you  have  borne  during  your 
residence  under  my  roof;  nor  need  I,  when  I  hear 
how  respectfully  you  are  spoken  of  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Cambridge,  where  you  are  so  numerous, 
entei*tain  any  fears  for  you,  on  a  comparison  with 
that  description  of  young  persons,  nursed  in  sup- 
posed innocence  and  security,  among  the  pet 
animals  of  a  lady's  drawing-room :  a  hat-box  con- 
taining kittens  on  one  side  of  the  fireplace;  a 
large  band-box  containing  the  heir  apparent  on 
the  otiier. 

On  looking  back  to  what  I  have  written,  I  con- 
ceive it  not  impossible  tliat  some  persons  may 
consider  it  as  the  quip  modest  in  favour  of  my 
own  individual  establishment :  but  this  would  not 
be  a  candid  construction  of  my  feelings  or  inten- 

a 


Xvi  DEDICATION. 

tions.  If  the  Cambridge  triposes  warrant  me  in 
considering  myself  as  in  any  degree  a  successful 
teacher,  I  unfeignedly  attribute  that  success,  not 
to  my  talents,  but  to  my  breeding.  That,  as  most 
of  you  know,  took  place  at  Harrow :  there  I  learned 
my  art,  and  on  the  model  there  furnished  have  I 
practised  it.  The  late  Dr.  Benjamin  Heath  was 
the  master  of  that  school  during  all  my  earlier 
time.  That  excellent  person  was  held  in  the 
highest  veneration  by  his  pupils,  and  was  not  only 
as  good  a  master,  but  as  good  a  man  as  ever  lived. 
In  him,  firmness,  which  was  neither  shaken  by 
difficulties  nor  exasperated  by  opposition,  imques- 
tioned  impartiality,  and  a  system  of  discipline 
founded  on  moral  propriety  and  practical  good 
sense,  were  the  features  of  his  public  ministry.  An 
opinion  then  very  generally  prevaiUng,  that  young 
persons  were  to  be  kept  in  a  state  of  awe,  gave  an 
appearance  of  sternness  to  his  outward  deport- 
ment ;  but  it  went  no  deeper  than  the  features  and 
the  wig.  All  the  rest  was  candour,  benevolence, 
and  zeal  for  the  interests  of  his  pupils. 

Like  the  general  run  of  immaculate  men,  he 
judged  the  frailties  of  others  with  a  lenity  which 
sinners  never  exercise  ;  and  smiled  in  private  at 
those  venial  errors  which  shook  down  a  tempest  of 
powder  with  the  thunders  of  official  denunciation. 

My  school  education  was  finished  under  his 
successor.  Dr.  Drury ;  to  whose  strenuous  en- 
couragement and  friendly  advice  I  feel  deeply 
indebted :  of  him  I  should  say  more,  were  it  not 
that  the  praise  of  the  living  is  too  often  considered 


DEDICATION.  XVU 

as  flattery.  He  has  long  since  retired ;  but  the 
name  still  flourishes.  For  myself,  I  cannot  but 
hope  that  the  labours  of  sixteen  years  have  given 
me  some  ground  of  my  own  to  stand  upon ;  but  I 
have  no  doubt  that  the  circumstance  of  my  bearing 
the  name  of  my  venerable  relative  occasioned  my 
earlier  services  to  be  received  with  partiality.  On 
the  nearly  identified  regulations  of  Harrow  and  Eton 
I  formed  my  system,  not  as  a  servile  copyist,  but 
as  a  free  and  faithful  follower.  But  while  I  adopted 
their  course  of  «tudy  and  modes  of  management, 
I  have  from  time  to  time  introduced  such  devi- 
ations, as  difference  of  local  circumstances,  and  the 
facilities  of  a  less  extensive  concern  induced  me  in 
the  exercise  of  an  independent  judgment  to  ap- 
prove. But  in  my  changes  and  additions,  as  well 
as  in  my  adoptions,  I  have  endeavoured  to  adhere 
to  the  spirit  wlien  departing  from  the  letter. 

Tlie  list  of  Harrow  worthies,  in  all  departments, 
ecclesiastical,  civil,  and  military,  did  my  limits  allow 
of  its  transcription,  would  furnish  a  triumphant 
evidence  of  practical  utility.  Among  the  earlier 
names  are  those  of  Baxter  the  philologist  and  an- 
tiquary, and  the  critic  Dennis,  more  celebrated 
than  well  esteemed. 

Bruce  the  Abyssinian  traveller,  Orme  the  his- 
torian of  Hindostan,  and  Hamilton  the  author  of 
iEgyj)tiaca,  form  no  mean  triumvirate  in  an  inter- 
esting department  of  literature.  8ir  William  Jones 
was  the  Crichton  of  his  age.  In  the  naval  and 
military  department,  we  have  the  names  of  Lord 
Rodney,  Lord   Hastings,    and  Colonel  Ponsonby, 

a*^ 


Xviil  DEDICATION. 

whose  noble  career  was  prematurely  terminated  in 
the  field  of  Waterloo.     Of  official  statesmen  our 
harvest  is  abundant :  Lord  Wellesley  began  at  Har- 
row, and  finished  at  Eton  ;  to  whom  add,  the  late 
Spencer  Percival,  Mr.  Robinson  the  present  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Exchequer,  Mr.  Peel  the  present  Se- 
cretary of  State  for  the  Home  Department,   the 
Duke  of  Manchester,  Lord  Westmoreland,   Lord 
Palmerston,  and  J^ord  Harrowby.  *     The  labourers 
in  the  unproductive  field  of  opposition  are  also  not 
a  few  :  independently  of  names  which  shall  be  re- 
served to  grace  other  than  the  political  department, 
there  are   those  of  the  Duke  of  Grafton,   Lord 
Euston,  Lord  Althorpe,   the   Duke  of  Hamilton, 
the  Marquis  of  Douglas,  Lord  Archibald  Hamil- 
ton,   Lord    Duncannon,    Lord    Grosvenor,     and 
many    others     of  later    standing.     To    Richard 
Brinsley  Sheridan  that  happened  which  never  hap- 
pened to  any  other  man :  on  the  same  evening  he 
was  in  three  places  at  once  ;  he  was  entertaining 
crowded  audiences  with  his  School  for  Scandal, 
and  Duenna,  at  the  two  theatres,  and  making  one 
of  his  most  brilliant  displays  of  eloquence  in  the 
House  of  Commons.    Among  those  of  the  nobihty 
honourably  distinguished  for  classical  pursuits  and 
acquirements,  may  be  mentioned  the  late  Earl  of 
Denbigh,  the  present  Earl  Spencer,  and  the  Earl 
of  Hardwicke   who   edited   the  collection    called 
«'  Athenian  Letters."     In  another  department  of 
literary  pursuit  we  have  the  Earl  of  Aberdeen,  the 

•  All  but  Lord  Wellesley  are  exclusively  Harrovians. 


DEDICATION.  xix 

president  of  the  Antiquarian  Society  ;  Mr.  Taylor 
Combe,  secretary  to  the  Royal,  director  of  the 
Antiquarian  Society,  and  keeper  of  the  antiquities 
and  coins  in  the  British  Museum.  The  Duke  of 
Devonshire  is  among  tlie  most  distinguished  col- 
lectors of  books,  and  works  in  the  fine  arts,  in  tliis 
collecting  country.  The  Earl  of  Elgin  brought 
into  England  (we  need  not  enter  into  controversy) 
the  finest  specimens  of  Grecian  sculpture  existing. 
Among  lawyers,  we  have  Mr.  East,  tlie  celebrated 
reporter,  and  a  name  which  cannot  be  mentioned 
without  deep  regret.  The  failure  of  Sir  John 
Richardson's  health,  and  his  unavoidable  retire- 
ment, have  grievously  disappointed  his  profession 
and  his  country.  His  promotion  was  entirely  ow- 
ing to  his  great  talents  and  unspotted  virtues. 
The  acuteness  of  his  conception,  the  clearness  of 
his  understanding,  and  the  soundness  of  his  legal 
principles,  led  the  public  to  look  forward  to  the 
most  substantial  benefits  from  his  judicial  services: 
and  though  the  profession  of  the  law  is  too  well 
stocked  with  talents  and  integrity  to  allow  the 
secession  of  any  individual  to  be  irretrievable,  it  is 
a  national  loss  that  the  interpretation  and  applica- 
tion of  the  laws  should  have  devolved  for  so  short 
a  time  on  such  a  man. 

This  catalogue  might  be  extended  to  many  more 
pages  J  but  such  extension  would  be  out  of  place. 
I  will  close  it  with  two  names,  which  will  only 
perish,  the  one  with  the  records  of  classical  learn- 
ing, the  other  with  English  poetry,  in  the  very 
highest  ranks  of  which  his  works  will  stand  to  the 

a  3 


XX  DEDICATION. 

last,  when  personal  malignity,  always  pursuing  the 
obliquities  of  superior  genius,  shall  have  expended 
its  stock  of  exaggerated  imputation.  You  will 
anticipate  the  names  of  Dr.  Parr  and  Lord  Byron. 
The  zeal  with  which  I  have  defended  our  public 
estabhshments  should  not  subject  me  to  the  suspi- 
cion of  looking  with  a  hostile  or  jealous  eye  on  the 
extensive  projects  of  education  now  afloat.  To  the 
unlimited  diffusion  of  knowledge,  whether  through 
the  channel  of  philosophical  institutions  for  me- 
chanics, or  the  erection  of  a  university  in  London, 
I  wish  success,  and  predict  it  from  the  growing 
spirit  of  the  age.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  soon  there 
will  not  be  a  totally  uneducated  person  in  this 
country.  The  effect  of  this,  so  far  from  being  a 
reasonable  subject  of  alarm,  would  be  as  advanta- 
geous to  the  higher  as  to  the  lower  classes  of  so- 
ciety. There  ought  to  be  no  danger,  lest  the 
peasant  should  tread  on  the  heels  of  the  courtier. 
The  education  which  the  working  population  of  a 
country  can  possibly  receive,  must  always  be  li- 
mited by  their  circumstances.  The  nature  of  those 
circumstances  will  always  prevent  it  from  being 
educated  up  to  the  higher  ranks.  Their  know- 
ledge must  be  of  a  practical,  money-getting  order. 
When  once  they  advance  beyond  mere  rudiments, 
the  ornamental  must  always  be  left  for  the  more 
fortunate.  Give  them  all  the  education  they  can 
possibly  receive,  no  evil  consequences  can  result 
from  its  extension.  The  only  danger  that  could 
arise,  would  be  in  the  very  improbable  case  of  the 
gentleman's  education  being  lowered  to  their  stand- 


DEDICATIO^^.  XXI 

ard.  But  even  in  the  equally  improbable  case  of 
tlie  general  standard  being  so  raised,  that  their 
average  knowledge  should  equal  or  surpass  that  of 
gentlemen  now,  it  would  still  be  our  own  fault  i 
they  were  educated  up  to  the  education  of  gentle- 
men then.  With  the  start  which  the  constitution 
of  society  has  given  us,  a  constitution  undergoing 
a  modification,  but  not  a  subversion,  from  the  pe- 
culiar spirit  of  the  times,  with  the  means  of  select- 
ing the  most  valuable  assistance,  with  a  large  por- 
tion of  leisure,  and  a  comparative  exemption  from 
the  anxieties  arising  out  of  hazardous  subsistence, 
we  should  deserve  little  compassion  if  we  suffered 
the  energies  of  poverty  to  rival  or  overmaster  the 
indolence  of  advantageous  position.  Should  the 
cultivation  of  the  popular  mind  rise  above  the 
most  cowardly  anticipations  of  those  who  see  more 
danger  in  improvement  than  in  deterioration,  no 
harm  would  really  be  done,  but  on  the  contrary 
much  good  :  for  unless  in  the  improbable  and  dis- 
graceful alternative  of  the  higher  classes  dege- 
nerating in  proportion  to  the  improvement  of  the 
lower,  the  education  of  the  poor  could  scarcely 
be  extended  without  forcing  the  rich  also  to  ex* 
tend  theirs.  But  the  education  of  the  common 
people  cannot  be  so  extended  as  to  engender  any 
prejudicial  confusion,  provided  the  education  of 
the  higher  classes,  however  it  may  become  ne- 
cessary to  enlarge  its  range,  continue  to  be,  as  it 
now  is,  mainly  directed  to  what  we  are  in  the 
habit  of  distinguishing  by  the  title  of  polite  litera- 
ture or  elegant  attiimnent.     The  superior  ad  van- 


XXU  DEDICATION. 

tage  of  competition  above  monopoly  is  not  more 
obvious  in  the  principles  of  political  economy  and 
their  application  to  the  commercial  system,  than 
it  is  likely  to  be  in  the  market  of  philosophy  and 
letters,  when  it  shall  be  open  to  the  purchasers  of 
every  country,  occupation,  and  degree. 

But  I  have  pursued  these  subjects  beyond  the 
modern  limits  of  a  dedicatory  address.  I  cannot 
conclude  without  expressing  much  pleasure  in  the 
conviction,  that  after  all,  I  have  ushered  a  much 
larger  proportion  of  good  than  of  evil  into  the 
world,  bad  as  it  is  represented  to  be.  I  can  wish 
nothing  better  for  the  generality  of  you,  than 
that  you  may  act  by  society  at  large  with  as  much 
good  faith  and  correct  feeling  as  you  have  mani- 
fested in  your  transactions  with  me.  I  will  close 
this  long  epistle  with  a  few  words  of  advice,  tran- 
scribed from  those  letters  of  Lord  Chatham,  to 
some  passages  in  which  I  have  already  called  your 
attention :  —  "  You  have  the  true  clue  to  guide  you, 
in  the  maxim  that  the  use  of  learning  is,  to  render 
a  man  more  wise  and  virtuous,  not  merely  to  make 
him  more  learned.  Made  tua  virtute  ;  go  on  by 
this  golden  rule,  and  you  cannot  fail  to  become 
every  thing  your  generous  heart  prompts  you  to 
wish  to  be,  and  that  mine  most  affectionately 
"V\dshes  for  you.  There  is  but  one  danger  in  your 
way,  and  that  is,  perhaps,  natural  enough  to  your 
age,  the  love  of  pleasure,  or  the  fear  of  close  appli- 
cation and  laborious  diligence.  With  the  last 
there  is  nothing  that  you  may  not  conquer  ;  and 
the  first  is  sure  to  conquer  and  enslave  whoever 


DEDICATION.  XXIll 

does  not  strenuously  and  generously  resist  the  first 
allurements  of  it,  lest,  by  small  indulgences,  he 
fall  under  the  yoke  of  irresistible  habit.  Vitanda 
est  improba  Sire?i,  Desidia,  I  desire  may  be  affixed 
to  the  curtains  of  your  bed,  and  to  the  walls  of 
your  chambers.  If  you  do  not  rise  early,  you  ne- 
ver can  make  any  progress  worth  talking  of:  if 
you  do  not  set  apart  your  hours  of  reading,  and 
never  suffer  yourself  or  any  one  else  to  break  in 
upon  them,  your  days  will  slip  through  your  hands 
unprofitably  and  frivolously  ;  unpraised  by  all  you 
wish  to  please,  and  really  unenjoyable  to  yourself. 
Be  assured,  whatever  you  take  from  pleasure, 
amusements,  or  indolence,  for  these  first  few  years 
of  your  life,  will  repay  you  a  hundred  fold  in  the 
pleasures,  honours,  and  advantages  of  all  the  re- 
mainder of  your  days." 

I  will  not  overlay  the  simplicity,  or  weaken  the 
force  of  this  wise  advice  from  a  wise  man,  by  add- 
ing any  thing  from  myself,  beyond  the  assurance 
of  my  being 

Your  faithful  and  affectionate  friend, 

BENJ.  H.  MALKIN. 

Burj/,  May  25.  1825. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Comparative  Estimate  of  Terence  and  Plautus 1 

On  the  Epicurean  Philosophy 26 

On  the  Aristotelian  Philosophy 52 

Character  of  Timon  the  Misanthrope 63 

Character  of  Apemantus 81 

Character  of  Alcibiacles 84 

On  Callimachus ]  13 

On  Horace 125. 

On  the  Characters  of  Titus  and  Berenice 157 

On  Caesar's  Commentaries 179 

On  the  History  of  Josephus.  —  On  Herod,  Mariamne, 

and  Herod  the  Tetrarch 187 

On  the  Character  of  Mucius  Sca?vola 242 

On  Cicero 248 

On  Seneca 285> 

On  Ausonius 304 

On  the  Character  of  Cinna 317 

On  the  Titles  and  Mythological  Character  of  Mercury  324 
On  the  Mythological  Character  of  Rhadamanthus....  331 

On  the  Mythological  Character  of  Pluto 333 

On  a  Sentiment  in  Catullus 335 

E<|uivoques  and  Amphibologies 338 

Acrostics 344 

Echo 345 

Leonine  Verses 346 

Expressive  Descriptions 350 

Verses  of  Whimsical  Construction • •• 354 


XXVI  CONTENTS. 

Page 

Roman  Notes 358 

Epitaphs 362 

Miscellaneous  Epigrams : 366 

Miscellaneous   Etymologies,  and  Peculiar  Meanings 

and  Usages  of  Words 373 

Miscellaneous  Passages  from  Horace 379 

Miscellaneous  Passages  from  Juvenal 388 

Miscellaneous  Passages  from  Virgil 397 

Quaint  Opinions,   Expressions,  and  Manners  of  the 

Ancients 413 

Sound  Moral  Doctrines  of  the  Ancients 418 

Popular  Tricks  and  Superstitious  Imaginations  of  the 

Ancients 420 

Miscellaneous  Passages  from  Plutarch 425 

Miscellaneous  Passages  from  Erasmus 427 

Passage  from  Sallust- 429 

Miscellaneous  Passages  from  Pliny  the  Natural  His- 
torian   430 

Passage  from  iElian  de  Natura  Animalium 434 

Mbcellaneous  Passages  from  Aulus  Gellius 435 

Miscellaneous  Passages  from  Cicero 439 

Poetical  Genealogies  and  Exploits  of  Fabulous  Per- 
sonages    442 

Miscellaneous  Passages  from  Persius 444 

Miscellaneous  Passages  from  Modern  Authors 446 

Miscellaneous  Passages  from  Homer ,  450 

Miscellaneous  Passages  from  Plautus 456 

Passage  from  Tacitus 458 

Passage  from  Quinctilian 459 

Passage  from  Aristophanes • 460 


CLASSICAL    DISQUISITIONS 

AND   CURIOSITIES. 


COMPARATIVE  ESTIMATE  OF  TERENCE 
AND  PLAUTUS. 


Ambigitur  quoties,  uter  utro  sit  prior ;  aufert 
Pacuvius  docti  famam  senis,  Accius  alti : 
Dicitur  Afrani  toga  convenisse  Menandro ; 
Plautus  ad  exemplar  Siculi  properare  Epicliarnii ; 
Vincere  Ca^cilius  gravitate,  Terentius  arte. 

HoRATii  Epist.  i.  lib.  2. 

Xhk  commentators  are  so  much  at  variance  re- 
specting Horace's  real  drift  in  liis  critical  epistles, 
whether  he  gives  certain  characters  as  his  own  or 
as  the  popular  opinion,  that  we  can  scarcely  avail 
ourselves  of  his  decisions,  but  as  we  find  them 
confirmed  by  other  and  tantamount  authorities. 
Among  the  principal  of  these  is  Varro,  who  thus 
sums  up  the  leading  characteristics  of  Ca?ciHus  and 
Terence  :  **  In  argumentis  Caecilius  poscif  palmam  ; 

B 


2  COMPARATIVE    ESTIMATE    OF 

in  ethesin  Terentius."  Horace's  gravilas,  therefore, 
as  illustrated  by  this  passage,  may  be  applied  to 
the  affecting  cast  of  Caecilius's  general  style  :  and 
that  application  is  confirmed  by  another  observation 
of  the  same  author :  "  Pathe  Trabea,  Attilius,  et 
Ccecilius  facile  moverunt."  Horace's  ars,  also,  to 
reconcile  it  in  a  similar  point  of  view  with  Varro's 
criticism,  may  be  understood  to  represent,  though 
by  too  vague  a  term,  that  delineation  of  manners 
which  is  the  obvious  meaning  of  Varro's  expres- 
sion, ethesin.  But  the  probability  is,  that  it  ratlier 
applies  to  the  discovery  of  the  double  plot,  or 
combination  of  two  stories  into  one,  which  the 
Latin  poets  invented  to  satisfy  the  craving  appe- 
tite of  their  audience,  too  little  refined  to  relish  the 
Greek  simplicity  and  unity.  Th^J^gree_of  per- 
fection to  which  Terence  carried  thiscontnv^nce, 
and  the  many  occasions  on  which  Plautus  contented 
himself  with  the  single  plot  of  tlie  old  comedy, 
form  a  strong  point  of  contrast  between  these  two 
dramatists  :  and  the  verb  properare,  in  the  line 
devoted  to  Plautus,  shows  that  such  contrast  was 
here  intended  in  reference  to  the  management  of, 
their  plots  ;  because  though  ars  might  refer  to  the 
manners,  properare  could  not ;  and  this  verb  must 
not  be  understood  merely,  as  by  some  critics,  to 
express  the  closeness  with  which  he  imitated,  or 
followed  up  Epicharmus  without  losing  sight  of  him ; 
an  apparent  attempt  to  put  more  into  the  verb  than 
it  has  room  to  contain ;  but  the  careless  rapidity 
and  inartificial  winding  up  of  his  plots,  in  which 
he  did  not  feel  it  necessary  to  be  more  exact  than 
his  model.  And  this  explanation,  which  places 
arte  in  substantial,  though  not  in  grammatical, 
antithesis  with  properare,  as  well  as  with  gravitate^ 


TERENCE    AND    PLAUTUS.  S 

seems  quite  consonant  with  that  curiosa  felicitas  in 
Horace,  enabling  him  to  make  single  words  do  the 
office  of  whole  sentences,  and  to  deliver  a  criticism 
or  a  sarcasm,  as  it  were  in  a  nut-shell.  These 
opposite  habits  of  composing  evidently  did  not 
arise  from  the  fluctuations  of  taste  in  the  audience, 
because  the  plays  of  each  kept  possession  of  the 
stage,  and  divided  the  sentiments  of  its  frequenters, 
long  after  the  respective  periods  of  their  natural 
lives ;  but  from  the  different  turn  of  mind  and 
dissimilar  talents  in  the  individuals. 

Plautus  was  a  perfect  master  of  the  Roman 
language ;  so  much  so,  that  Varro  is  stated  by 
Quinctilian  to  have  quoted  a  saying  of  ^lius 
Stilo  :  "  Musas  Plan  tin  o  sermone  locuturas  fuisse,  si 
Latine  loqui  vellent."  He  was  besides  gifted  with 
a  vein  of  forcible  raillery,  and  a  happy  union  of 
that  buflbonery  which  always  delights  a  mixed 
audience,  with  the  higher  qualities  of  real  genius ; 
there  was  in  him  a  combination  of  strong,  caustic, 
genuine  humour,  with  a  spirit  of  lively  repartee, 
and  a  facetious  turn  of  expression,  always  at  com- 
mand. He,  therefore,  had  the  means  of  securing  to 
himself  the  goodwill  of  his  audience,  independently 
of  curiosity,  or  the  complex  interest  of  a  fable. 

Terence,  on  the  other  hand,  confined  himself 
strictly  and  sometimes  timidly,  within  the  limits 
of  nature  and  every-day  life,  even  in  his  most 
tumorous  characters :  he  did  not  range  the  bound- 
less field  of  what  might  have  been  done  or  said, 
but  transcribed  what  he  had  seen  and  heard  in  his 
intercourse  with  mankind,  or  what  he  could  justify 
on  the  authority  of  his  Grecian  master.  The  fabric 
of  his  plots,  and  the  situations  in  which  he  places 
the  persons  of  his  drama,  are   often  at  variance 

b2 


4  COMPARATIVE    ESTIMATE    OF 

with  modern  notions  of  propriety  ;  but  he  carefully 
abstains  from  that  licence  and  coarseness  of  par- 
ticularising, from  the  adoption  of  that  most  blunt 
and  strongest  language,  (and  we  are  told  the  Muses 
would  have  been  somewhat  broad,  ladies  tliough 
they  be,)  in  Avhich  tlie  admirer  of  the  old,  and  the 
master  of  the  middle  comedy  indulged.  The 
consequence  was,  that  Terence  felt  it  necessary  to 
guard  against  the  charge  of  insipidity,  by  variety 
of  action  and  accumulation  of  incident. 

In  accounting  for  the  different  modes  in  which 
these  two  great  writers  conducted'their  fables,  we 
have  been  led  partly  to  anticipate  some  remarks 
on  their  habits  of  expression,   which  were  rough 
and    unbridled  in  Plautus,    but  smooth,   regular, 
and  polished  in  Terence.     Now  it  might  be  sup- 
posed that  delicacy  was  not  much  more  natural  to 
a  Carthaginian  slave,  than  to  a  hanger-on  of  the 
theatre,who  had  spent  his  substance  on  stage  dresses, 
and  had  reduced  himself  to  the  necessity  of  becoming 
a  baker's  servant,  to  gain  a  livelihood  by  working  at 
a  hand-mill.     But  the  condition  of  slaves  was  not 
always  disadvantageous,  as  we  know  by  the  exam- 
ple of  more  than  one  eminent  writer  born  in  that 
condition,  as  well  as  by  the  instance  of  Cicero's 
Freed-Man,  who  was  the  associate  of  his  literary 
occupations.     The  slave  in  question  was  so  for- 
tunate  as   to    fall   into   the   hands   of  Terentius 
Lucanus,  a  man  of  family,  and  a  member  of  the 
senate,  who  not  only  gave  him  a  good  education, 
as  was  the  custom  with  the  Roman  gentlemen  when 
they  picked  up  boys  of  promise,  but  at  a  manly 
age  presented  him  with  his  freedom,  and  introduced 
him  into  the  very  best  society.     It  was  through 
this  kind  conduct  of  his  master,   that  the  future 


TERENCE    AND    PLAUTUS.  5 

poet  became  acquainted  with  Scipio  and  Laelius.  * 
On  this  part  of  the  subject,  we  have  a  letter  of 
Cicero  to  Atticus,  in  w  hich  the  former  says,  **  Se- 

cutus   sum,  non    dico   CaeciUum ; malus 

enim  I^atinitatis  auctor  est:  sed  Terentium,  cujus 
Fabellse  propter  elegantiam  sermonis,  putabantur 
a  Lasho  scribi,  &c.'*t  This  passage  will  enable  us 
to  appreciate  the  style  of  both  without  disparage- 
ment to  either.  Plautus  was  said,  in  the  language 
of  a  preceding  quotation,  to  have  spoken  the  very 
Latin  in  which  the  Muses  must  have  expressed 
themselves,  had  they  been  born  and  bred  at  Rome. 
Cicero,  without  giving  any  opinion  of  it,  repeats 
the  gossip  of  Terence's  inability  to  write  in  so 
pohte  a  style,  and  the  consequent  transfer  of  his 
laurels  to  the  brow  of  a  man  of  fashion.  Eras- 
mus, one  of  the  best  judges  of  classical  literature 
at  the  revival  of  learning,  says,  that  there  is  no 
author  from  whom  we  can  better  learn  the  pure 
Roman  style  than  from  the  poet  Terence.  It  has 
been  further  remarked  on  him,  that  the  Romans 
thought  themselves  in  conversation  when  they 
heard  his  comedies.     When  the  respective  produc- 

•  This  intimacy,  stated  by  so  many  ancient  writers,  and 
alluded  to  by  himself,  renders  Bonnell  Thornton's  conjecture 
unnecessary,  that  he  was  employed  about  the  stage  like  Shak- 
speare,  and  an  actor. 

t  On  this,  hear  Terence  himself,  in  the  Prologue  to  the 
Adelphi :  — 

Nam  quod  isti  dicunt  malevoH,  homines  nobiles 
Eum  adjutare,  assidueque  una  scribere  : 
Quod  illi  maledictum  vehemens  existimant, 
Earn  laudem  hie  ducit  maximam,  qoum  illis  placet, 
Qui  vobis  universis  et  populo  placent ; 
Quorum  opera  in  bello,  in  otio,  in  negotio, 
Sue  quisque  tempore  usus  est  sine  superbia. 
B    3 


6  COMPARATIVE    ESTIMATE    OF 

tions  of  these  authors  are  examined  on  the  prin- 
ciples  of   common    sense   and   modern  taste,  as- 
sisted and  checked  by  the  authorities  above-quoted, 
the   result   of   the    comparison    as    to    style   will 
probably  be   found  as  follows.     Plautus  had   the 
raciness  of  early   language,  the  pith    of  original 
genius,  and  the  various  resources  of  a  man  who 
had  mixed  with  human  life  in  all  its  forms,  and 
had  kept  company  with   Nature  in  her   working 
dress  as  well  as  in  her  best  clothes.     Terence  was 
the  associate  of  gentlemen  :  and  though  the  ascrip- 
tion of  his  plays  to  Laelius  must  be  considered  as 
a  mere  suspicion,  arising  from  the  superior  elegance 
and  courtly  polish  of  their  language ;  it  is  both  pro- 
bable in  itselfi  and  appears  to  have  been  credited 
as  fact  by  the  ancients,  that  he  was  assisted  in  his 
compositions  both  by  him  and  Scipio,  as  amateur 
critics.     The  consequence   of  Terence*s  access  to 
such  high  society  was,  that  while  the  diction  of 
Plautus   was  more  poetical,  more   pointed,  more 
blunt,  and  more  rich  in  natural  touches,  he  himself 
maintained  a  decided  superiority  in  the  tone  of  gen- 
tlemanly conversation  ;  that  his  copy  of  the  Greek 
model  he   had   adopted  was  in  the  best  taste  of 
scholarship  ;  that  his  vivacity  excited  a  smile  rather 
than  a  laugh ;  his  morals  were  those  of  urbanity, 
not  of  severity ;  his  satire  tickled  without  stinging. 
Few  authors  have  furnished  a   larger  number  of 
maxims  for  the  government  or  illustration  of  com- 
mon life.     Goldsmith's  opinion  of  him  is  expressed 
in  his  complimentary  line  on  Cumberland  :  — 

The  Terence  of  England,  the  mender  of  hearts. 

Plautus,  therefore,  it  should  appear  from  his  writ- 
ings and  his  habits,  resembled  Shakspeare,  as  his 


TERENCE    AND    PLAUTUS.  7 

biographers,  right  or  wrong,  liave  represented  him  ; 
the  hero  of  the  deer-park,  of  the  street  before  the 
theatre,  or  the  stage  within  it.  Terence  was  more 
like  the  Congreve  or  the  Sheridan  of  the  court  of 
Queen  Anne  or  George  the  Third. 

The  palm  of  wit  remains  to  be  won,  or  to  be 
divided.  With  respect  to  the  positive  claims  of 
Plautus,  Cicero  and  Horace  take  opposite  sides. 
Cicero  classes  him  wdth  the  Attic  writers  of  the 
old  comedy,  with  the  Socratic  philosophers,  and 
with  the  elder  Cato.  August  company  for  the 
spendthrift  and  the  droll !  He  says  in  his  first 
book  De  Officiis :  **  Duplex  omnino  est  jocandi 
genus  :  unum  illiberale,  petulans,  flagitiosum,  ob- 
scoenum  ;  alterum,  elegans,  urban um,  ingeniosum, 
facetum.  Quo  genere  non  modo  Plautus  noster, 
et  Atticorum  antiqua  comoedia,  sed  etiam  philo- 
sophorum  Socraticorum  libri  referti  sunt:  mul- 
taque  multorum  facete  dicta;  ut  ea  quae  a  sene 
Catone  collecta  sunt,  qua?  vocant  aTro^^^syjaara.'* 
The  epithets  applied  to  the  second  genus  are  strictly 
and  abundantly  applicable  to  Plautus  and  to  the 
Attic  writers  of  the  old  comedy  ;  but  I  fear  neither 
can  be  exempted  from  some  of  those  assigned  to 
the  first.  Dr.  Hurd  ascribes  the  cause  of  this 
strong  predilection  in  favour  of  Plautus,  to  the 
conformity  of  the  old-comedy  wit  with  the  genius 
of  poj)ular  eloquence;  but  I  think  we  trace  it  also, 
in  part,  to  a  similar  conformity  of  natural  taste. 
Cicero's  own  wit  and  humour  were,  in  many  in- 
stances, neither  refined,  nor  decent,  nor  genuine. 
His  genius  in  his  Orations  appears  with  as  much 
dignity  and  elevation  as  brilliancy :  and  his  Trea- 
tise De  Oratore,  (with  the  exception  I  am  going  to 
state,  probably  the  most  perfect  of  his  works,)  is  not 

13    I 


8  UOMPAUATIVE    ESTIMATE    OF 

only  a  master-piece  of  exact  criticism,  but  carries 
the  beau  ideal  of  an  art  as  high  as  it  can  be  carried 
without  extravagance  :  Hke  Longinus,  he  gives  a 
current  exemphfication  of  his  principles  and  rules, 
in  the  march  of  his  own  eloquence.  But  I  could 
have  been  welLcontented,  looking  only  at  Cicero's 
credit,  (for  the  chapters  in  themselves  are  very 
curious,  and  eminently  useful  as  a  warning,)  that 
the  sections  in  the  second  book,  from  240  to  289, 
had  been  in  a  great  measure  filled  up  with  asterisks, 
and  multa  desunt ;  for  nothing  can  be  more  coarse 
than  much  of  the  humour  here,  and  still  more  in  a 
most  disgraceful  letter  in  the  collection  Ad  Fami- 
liares;  nothing  more  frigid  than  most  of  the  puns. 
Dr.  Hurd  seems  to  adopt  Cicero's  own  apology,  that 
"the  main  end  oi* jesting  at  the  bar  is,  not  to  acquire 
the  credit  of  consummate  humour,  but  to  carry 
the  cause,  iit  proficiamus  aliqiiid :  tliat  is,  to  make 
an  impression  on  the  people ;  which  is  generally, 
we  know,  better  done  by  a  coarser  joke,  than  by 
the  elegance  of  refined  raillery." — Notes  on  the 
Art  ofFoetry, 

Now  I  condemn  these  classed  laws,  specimens, 
and  models  of  joking ;  not  solely  on  the  ground 
of  coarseness,  but  because  many  of  the  exam- 
ples are  cold  and  vapid,  and  because  the  excur- 
sions of  wit  seem  to  be  properly  a  casual  adjunct 
to  parliamentary  or  forensic  eloquence,  rather 
than  an  integral  part  of  it  to  be  treated  profes- 
sorially.  The  Roman  orator,  it  is  true,  had  occa- 
sion projicere  aliquidy  translated  by  Dr.  Hurd,  to 
make  an  impression  on  the  people;  but  the  pro- 
miscuous audience  should  not  enter  into  the 
thoughts  of  the  modern  advocate,  who  addresses 
judges  and  juries,   supposed  to  be  grave  and  en- 


TERENCE    AND    PLAUTUS.  9 

lightened.  Ought  then  wit  to  be  excluded  from 
public  speaking,  whether  at  the  bar  or  in  par- 
liament ?  Certainly  not :  and  it  is  in  fact  more 
frequently  and  more  successfully  resorted  to  by 
modern  than  by  ancient  orators,  although  our 
speakers  have  little  occasion  to  make  an  impression 
on  the  common  people,  unless  on  the  hustings  at 
elections.  But  the  wit  of  Burke  and  Sheridan  in 
our  House  of  Commons,  and  of  Erskine  at  our 
bar,  was  born  with  the  occasion,  sudden,  vigorous, 
and  natural ;  not  hammered  and  manufactured  on 
tiie  anvil  of  rhetorical  system.  The  impromptu 
would  be  more  insipid  than  even  **  the  pathos  of 
a  week  old."  Rules  for  the  general  conduct  of  a 
cause,  for  the  selection  and  arrangement  of  topics 
and  arguments,  for  almost  every  thing  else  with 
which  the  advocate  has  to  deal,  are  strictly  in 
place,  and  will  be  useful  in  proportion  to  their 
justness  :  but  Rules  for  jesting  at  the  bar  !  It  is 
as  if  Mr.  Butterworth,  or  any  other  eminent  book- 
seller, were  to  insert  into  his  catalogue  of  law 
books.  The  Barrister^s  Joe  Miller. 
But  to  return  to  Plautus  :  — 

At  vestri  proavi  Plautinos  et  numeros  et 

Laudavere  sales  :  nimium  patienter  utrumque, 

Ne  dicam  stulte,  mirati.  Dc  Arte  Poet, 

An  attempt  has  been  made  to  soften  this  judg- 
ment  on  the  j)art  of  Horace,  and  to  reconcile  its 
apparent  severity  with  the  more  favourable  opinion 
of  Cicero  and  other  critics,  by  reading,  and  that 
on  MS.  authority,  non  for  ne.  The  criticism  would 
then  sUind  thus.  The  word  numeri,  strictly  taken, 
expresses  measure  and  versification  ;  whicli,  in  this 


10  COMPARATIVE    ESTIMATE    OF 

author,  are  oflen  confessedly  unequal  and  irregular. 
Some  have  supposed  that  the  term  is  used  with 
epistolary  freedom,  to  comprehend  language.  But 
there  seems  no  occasion  to  put  Horace  further 
beyond  the  pale  of  received  opinion  ;  since  this 
author's  purity  in  that  respect  is  universally  al- 
lowed :  his  works  are,  indeed,  a  magazine  of  Latin 
idiom.  His  sales,  we  are  told,  were  borne  too  pa- 
tiently, though  Cicero  heartily  admired  them,  as 
elegantes  et  urhanos.  That  praise  must,  however,  be 
taken  with  as  much  allowance  as  Horace's  censure  ; 
for  his  pleasantries  are  often  indelicate,  his  wit  low, 
and  his  jests  as  cold  as  Cicero's  own.  Indeed  the 
lighter  parts  of  Cicero's  writings,  as  observed  upon 
in  a  preceding  paragraph,  seem  to  furnish  a  com- 
ment ad  hominem,  on  his  apparently  unqualified 
approbation  of  Plautus.  But  Horace  rather  hint- 
ing than  pronouncing  a  censure  on  Plautus's 
faults,  if  we  read,  non  dicam  stulte,  the  indulgence 
expressed  by  nimium  patieriterj  is  ascribed  to  the 
prejudice  of  the  people  in  favour  of  his  beauties, 
which  is  said  not  to  he  Jbolisk,  that  is,  without 
foundation  or  positively  erroneous,  but  too  indis- 
criminate. But  this  reading  has  obtained  pos- 
session of  few  texts ;  and  the  reading  generally 
received  makes  Horace  say  that  the  admiration 
wsisjbolish  as  well  as  too  tolerant,  and  that  only 
delicacy  prevents  him  from  stating  it  so  in  plain 
terms.  The  truth  seems  to  be,  that  Horace  is  rather 
fighting  professionally  for  himself  and  his  con- 
temporaries, than  giving  his  private  and  personal 
opinion.  Poets  and  painters  have  in  all  ages  been 
prone  to  exclaim  against  the  superstitious  venera- 
tion of  old  masters,  as  discouraging  to  the  birth 
and  expansion  of  modern  genius.     Horace,  there- 


TERENCE    AND    PLAUTUS.  H 

fore,  lays  hold  of  a  tendency  in  the  old  comedian, 
as  a  topic  of  censure,  which  the  improved  delicacy 
of  the  Augustan  age  had  not  chastised  out  of  him- 
self. Neither  is  his  present  squeamishness,  as 
to  Plautus,  in  unison  with  his  approbation  ex- 
pressed elsewhere,  of  the  still  less  delicate  old 
comedy  :  nor  is  it  very  consistent  to  find  fault  with 
Plautus  on  tliis  head,  and  yet  to  relish  Aristo- 
phanes, who  must  be  included,  for  more  than  his 
versification,  in  the  general  advice,  — 

Vos  exemplaria  Graeca 
Nocturna  versate  maiiu,  versate  diurna. 

Afler  all,  Horace,  while  exhibiting  the  faults  of 
preceding  poets  in  a  strong  point  of  view,  for  the 
purpose  of  checking  the  extravagance  of  admiration, 
only  attributes  such  to  Plautus  as  are  common  to 
early  dramatic  writers  in  every  age  and  country : 
in  our  own,  not  only  to  the  Chapmans,  tlie  Lylys, 
and  the  Deckers,  but  to  Shakspeare,  Jonson,  and 
Fletcher. 

If  Horace  has  censured  the  too  coai*se  style  of 
Plautus,  Caesar,  on  the  supposition  that  the  follow- 
ing lines  are  truly  ascribed  to  him,  characterises 
Terence's  plays  as  devoid  of  comic  spirit :  — 

Tu  quoque,  tu  in  summis,  6  dimidiate  Menander, 
Poneris,  et  merito,  puri  sermon  is  amator ; 
Lenibus  atque  utinam  scriptis  adjuncta  foret  vis 
Comica,  ut  aj(juato  virtus  pollerct  honore 
Cum  Graccis,  neque  in  hac  despectus  parte  jaceres. 
Unum  hoc  maceror,  et  doleo  tibi  deesse,  Terenti. 

By  the  expression,  dimidiate  Menander^  it  is 
obvious  that  the  deficiency  is  not  to  be  understood 


Is2  COMPARATIVE    ESTIMATE    OF 

as  confined  to  the  comic  drollery  of  the  old  and 
middle  comedy,  with  which  Plautus  had  so  en- 
chanted the  dramatic  world,  as  to  continue  the 
reigning  favourite,  not  only  after  the  appearance  of 
Afranius  and  Terence,  but  througliout  the  Au- 
gustan age.  Caesar  evidently  represents  him  as 
defective  also  in  that  other  species  of  comic  height- 
ening in  which  the  Greek  comedians  of  the  new 
school  excelled.  When  he  calls  Terence  a  Me- 
nander  by  halves,  he  pronounces  him  to  be  a 
beautiful,  but  faint  shadow  of  his  Grecian  pro- 
totype. To  account  for  this  from  the  stubborn- 
ness of  the  Latin  tongue,  and  to  say  with  Dr. 
Hurd,  that  the  two  first  lines  are  complimentary, 
and  the  censure  confined  to  the  following,  may  im- 
prove-Terence's  relative  situation  with  Menander, 
about  whom  we  know  so  little,  but  it  leaves  the 
lack  of  vis  comica  where  it  found  it.  Menander, 
very  probably,  possessed  as  little  of  it ;  but  had 
Terence  felt  it  in  himself,  he  would  have  discovered 
precedents  and  models  for  its  practical  use,  with 
the  same  ease  and  success  with  which  he  copied 
the  urbanity  of  Menander.  But  in  fact  Terence, 
however  Mr.  Colman  may  plead  against  it,  was,  in 
some  of  his  plays,  little  more  than  a  translator  of 
that  author.  With  a  fund  of  original  humour,  he 
might  have  effected  a  coalition  of  the  old  and  new 
comedy  from  the  materials  before  him,  superior  to 
any  thing  in  the  Greek  in  every  respect,  excepting 
that  of  language.  But  there,  Quinctilian  puts  any 
approach  to  a  rival  grace  entirely  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, by  limiting  that  undefinable  subtlety  of  ex- 
pression to  one  dialect,  even  of  the  Greek.  "  Vix 
levein  consequimur  umbram,  adeo  ut  mihi  sermo 
Jpse  Romanus   non  recipere  videatur   illam   solis 


TERENCE    AND    PLAUTUS.  13 

concessam  Atticis  Venerem,  quando  earn  ne  Graeci 
qiiidem  in  aiio  genere  lingua?  obtinuerint." — Instit, 
Oral,  lib.  x.  1. 

One  truth  seems  to  apply  to  the  strictures  both 
of  Horace  and  of  Cassar.  Critical  censures,  espe- 
cially ^vhen  conveyed  in  verse,  which  so  narrowly 
confines  the  space  for  qualification,  and  furnishes 
so  strong  a  temptation  to  pointed  sayings,  are,  in 
most  cases,  expressed  too  positively,  and  with 
exaggeration.  The  loss  of  Menander's  works 
prevents  us  from  comparing  the  copyist  with 
his  original  ;  but  we  must  not  be  hurried  away  by 
the  idea,  that  because  originality  and  humour  were 
not  Terence's  strong  hold,  and  because  in  some  of 
his  pieces  he  was  a  professed  translator,  he  had  no 
portion  of  those  qualities.  There  are  touches,  both 
of  comic  humour  and  of  true  taste  in  his  works, 
scarcely  to  be  surpassed  in  point  of  spirit,  whatever 
advantage  in  point  of  elegance  a  more  tractable 
language  might  have  given  to  an  Attic  writer :  and 
touches  so  natural,  that  in  the  absence  of  matter- 
of-fact  testimony,  we  may  reasonably  infer  that 
they  were  native  and  not  adopted.  Donatus  first, 
and  aflerwards  Hurd  in  his  Horace,  have  referred 
to  the  following  as  a  peculiarly  happy  stroke  of 
character  in  the  Hecyra :  — 

Turn  tu  igilur  nihil  adtulisti  hue  plus  una  sententia  ? 

Laches,  the  speaker,  a  covetous  old  legacy- 
hunter,  has  been  eagerly  enquiring  what  his  kins- 
man Phania  had  bequeathed  him.  Pamj)hihis 
stops  his  mouth  with  the  moral  reflection,  that  he 
left  behind  him  the  praise  of  having  lived  well. 
"  Is  a  sentence  all  you  have  brought  home?*'   The 


14  COMPARATIVE    ESTIMATE    OF 

spirit  of  this  is  exquisite,  and  the  turn  truly  comic. 
Dr.  Hurd  says,  in  his  Dissertation  on  the  Pro- 
vinces of  the  Drama,  that  "  this  is  true  humour. 
For  his  character,  which  was  tliat  of  a  lover  of 
money,  drew  the  observation  naturally  and  forcibly 
from  him.  His  disappointment  of  a  rich  succession 
made  him  speak  contemptibly  of  a  moral  lesson, 
which  rich  and  covetous  men,  in  their  best 
humours,  have  no  high  reverence  for.  And  this 
too  without  design ;  which  is  important,  and 
shows  the  distinction  of  what,  in  the  more  re- 
strained sense  of  the  word,  we  call  humour^  from 
other  modes  oi pleasantry.  For  had  a  young  friend 
of  the  son,  an  unconcerned  spectator  of  the  scene, 
made  the  observation,  it  had  then,  in  another's 
mouth,  been  *wit,  or  a  designed  banter  on  the 
father's  disappointment." 

Of  this  humour,  distinguished  from  pleasantry, 
there  is  another  admirable  instance  in  the  Hecyra, 
and  that  in  the  same  character  of  Laches  :  — 

Odiosa  haec  est  aetas  adolescentulis  : 
E  medio  sequom  excedere  est.    Postremo  jam  nos  fabulae 
Sumus,  Pamphile,  senex,  atque  anus. 

On  this  Dr.  Hurd  further  remarks,  "  There  is 
nothing,  I  suppose,  in  these  words  which  provokes 
a  smile.  Yet  the  humour  is  strong,  as  before.  In 
his  solicitude  to  promote  his  son's  satisfaction,  he 
lets  fall  a  sentiment  truly  characteristic,  and  which 
old  men  usually  take  great  pains  to  conceal ;  I 
mean,  his  acknowledgment  of  that  suspicious  fear 
qfcontempty  which  is  natural  to  old  age.  So  true  a 
picture  of  life,  in  the  representation  of  this  weak^ 
nesSf  might,  in  other  circumstances,  have  created 


TERENCE    AND    PLAUTUS.  15 

some  pleasantry  ;  but  the  occasion  which  forced  it 
from  him,  discovering  at  the  same  time  the  amiable 
disposition  of  the  speaker,  covers  the  ridicule  of  it, 
or  more  properly  converts  it  into  an  object  of  our 
esteem^ 

There  is  no  character,  in  the  delineation  of  which 
Terence  excels  more,  than  in  that  of  the  quaint 
and  sometimes  splenetic,  but  kind-hearted  old  man. 
Micio  and  Demea  are  an  admirably  contrasted  pair 
of  brothers.  Chremes  and  Simo,  in  the  Andrian, 
are  naturally  drawn  and  consistently  supported. 
The  long  narrative  of  the  latter,  in  the  opening 
scene,  is  also  a  strong  confirmation  of  Diderot's 
remark  on  this  author's  especial  skill  in  conducting 
such  necessary  explanations.  The  French  critic 
notices  the  absence  of  wit,  or  display  of  sentiment^ 
which  he  says  are  always  out  of  place.  This  is 
perfectly  true  ;  hut  quiet  pathos,  and  the  natural 
mixing  up  of  amiable  and  selfish  feeling,  which  we 
encounter  so  much  more  frequently  in  life  than 
staring  exhibitions  either  of  virtue  or  vice,  are 
quite  compatible  with  the  narrative  parts  of  dra- 
matic poetry,  and  give  an  interest  and  a  heighten- 
ing to  it,  without  which  the  mere  relation  of  the 
tale  would  be  insipid.  Of  this  we  have  a  pregnant 
instance  in  the  following  passage  of  Simo's  story : — 

Ibi  turn  filius 
Cum  illis,  qui  amabant  Chrysidem,  una  aderat  frequens ; 
Curabat  una  funus  ;  tristis  interim, 
Nonnunquam  conlacrumabat.     Placuit  turn  id  mihi : 
Sic  cogitabam  ;  Hie,  parvee  consuetudinis 
Causa,  hujus  mortem  tam  fert  familiariter: 
Quid,  si  ipse  amasset  ?  quid  hie  mihi  faeiet,  patri  ? 
Haec  ego  putabam  esse  omnia  humani  ingeni, 
Mansuetique  animi  ofHcia. 


l(i  COMPARATIVE    ESTIMATE    OF 

Hurd,  in  his  Discourse  on  Poetical  Imitation, 
remarks  that  this  reasoning  on  Pamphilus's  con- 
cern for  Chrysis  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  the 
comment  of  the  Duke  in  Twelfth  Night,  on  Va^^ 
lentine's  report  of  Olivia's  grief  for  the  loss  of  a 
brother ;  and.  expresses  his  surprise  that  the  simi- 
larity of  sentiment  should  not  have  produced  a 
charge  of  plagiarism  against  Shakspeare,  according 
to  the  usual  habit  of  the  critics.  The  passage  is 
of  extraordinary  elegance  :  — 

O,  she  that  hath  a  heart  of  that  fine  frame, 
To  pay  this  debt  of  love  but  to  a  brother, 
How  will  she  love,  when  the  rich  golden  shaft 
Hath  kiird  the  flock  of  all  affections  else 
That  live  in  her  ? 

The  Bishop  closes  his  observations  with  the  fol- 
lowing liberal  remark :  — 

"  Common  sense  directs  us,  for  the  most  part, 
to  regard  resemblances  in  great  writers,  not  as  the 
pilferings  or  frugal  acquisitions  of  needy  art^  but 
as  the  honest  fruits  of  genius,  the  free  and  liberal 
bounties  of  unen vying  nature, ^^ 

On  the  subject  of  originality,  Terence,  whose 
plays  were  not  so  well  received  as  he  felt  that  they 
deserved  to  be,  thinks  it  necessary  to  vindicate 
his  own  system  of  borrowing,  in  regard  to  fables, 
in  all  his  Prologues  which  have  come  down  to  us : 
and  in  that  to  the  Eunuch,  he  still  further  apo- 
logises for  coincidence  of  characters,  by  alleging 
the  necessary  uniformity  of  moral  description :  — 

Quod  si  personis  iisdem  uti  aliis  non  licet : 
Qui  magis  licet,  currentes  Servos  scribere, 
Bonas  Matronas  facere,  Meretrices  malas, 


TERENCE    AND    PLAUTUS.  17 


Parasitum  edacem,  gloriosum  Militem, 
Puerum  supponi,  falli  per  Servum  Senem, 
Amare,  odisse,  suspicari  ?  Denique 
Nullum  est  jam  dictum,  quod  non  dictum  sit  prius. 


One  cannot  but  be  sorry,  that  a"  man  so  highly 
gifted,  and  apparently  of  such  an  amiable  charac- 
ter, should  have  been  so  much  hurt,  as  Terence 
evidently  was,  by  the  malice  of  his  calumniators 
and  the  want  of  general  popularity.  That  he 
should  have  been  personally  run  down  as  an 
imitator  was  peculiarly  unfair,  when  we  consider 
how  few  Latin  authors  there  are,  who  are  not  liable 
to  the  same  charge ;  and  that  after  Terence's  time, 
through  the  Augustan  age,  down  to  the  last  gasp 
of  classical  genius,  the  greatest  writers  not  only 
formed  themselves  on  the  Grecian  model,  but 
translated  more  or  less  from  their  Grecian  pre- 
decessors. If  Plautus  indulged  in  a  greater  licence 
of  plot  than  Terence,  it  was  not  because  his 
invention  was  in  that  respect  more  fertile,  but 
because  he  served  himself  from  the  more  va- 
riously furnished  storehouse  of  a  different  school. 
Indeed  Plautus  himself  seems  to  have  had  some 
doubts,  whether  his  own  adoption  of  the  liberties 
indulged  in  by  Aristophanes  and  others,  espe- 
cially in  the  introduction  of  high  and  reverend 
personages  for  low  and  ludicrous  purposes,  would 
be  tolerated ;  at  least  if  we  may  judge  by  the 
apology  he  thought  it  necessary  to  make  for  his 
Amphitruo,  in  the  prologue  to  it :  — 

Faciam  ut  commista  sit  Tragicocomaedia : 
Nam  me  perpetuo  facere  ut  sit  Comasdia, 
Reges  quo  veniant  et  Di,  non  par  arbitror. 
C 


18  COMPARATIVE    ESTIMATE    OF 

Quid  igitur  ?  quoniam  hie  servos  quoque  parteis  habet. 
Faciara,  sit,  proinde  ut  dixi,  Tragicocomaedia. 

As  a  specimen  of  Plautus's  humour  and  cha- 
racter, we  may  take  the  following  description  of  a 
servant's  life  in  place,  from  the  first  speech  of 
Sosia,  the  Currens  Servus,  in  the  first  scene  of  the 
same  play :  — 

Quid  faciam  nunc,  si  Tresviri  nie  in  carcerem  compegerint  ? 

Inde  eras  e  promptuaria  eella  depromar  ad  flagrum  ? 

Nee  eaussam  liceat  dieere  mihi,  neque  in  hero  quiequam 

auxilii  siet  ? 
Nee  quisqiiam  sit  quin  me  omnes  esse  dignum  deputent :  ita 
Quasi  ineudem  me  miserum  homines  octo  validi  eaedant :  ita 
Peregre  adveniens  hospitio  publieitus  aecipiar? 
Haee  heri  immodestia  eoegit,  me  qui  hoc 
Noctis  a  portu  ingratis  excitavit. 
Nonne  idem  hoc  luci  me  mittere  potuit  ? 
Opulento  homini  hoc  servitus  dura  est? 
Hoe  magis  miser  est  divitis  servos : 
Noetesque  diesque  assiduo  satis  superque  est, 
Quo  facto,  aut  dicto  adest  opus,  quietus  ne  sis. 

In  comparing  our  two  poets,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  guard  against  the  supposition,  that  Terence 
is  all  art,  and  Plautus  all  rough  nature  and  hu- 
mour. The  latter  has  contrivance  abundantly  at 
command,  though  he  had  not  arrived  at  the 
double  plot ;  and  is  peculiarly  happy  in  the  little 
circumstances  of  which  he  lays  hold,  to  help  for- 
ward his  fables.  Of  this  there  is  an  example  in  the 
Miles  Gloriosus,  Actus  2.  Scena  4.  v.  27. :  — 

Pa.  Pergin',    sceleste,    intendere,    atque    hanc    arguere? 

Ph.  Ecastor  ergo 
Mihi  haud  falsum  eveniat  somnium,  quod  noctu  hoc  som- 

niavi. 


r 


TERENCE    AND    PLAUTUS.  19 

Palaestrio  finding  it  difficult  to  make  Sceledrus 
disbelieve  the  evidence  of  his  own  eyes,  Philo- 
comasium  artfully  introduces  this  dream  of  hers, 
for  the  purpose  of  reconciling  the  belief  they 
wished  to  impress,  which  was  so  necessary  to  the 
success  of  their  object,  with  what  he  had  actually 
seen ;  and  the  appearance  of  Philocomasium  as 
her  own  twin  sister  immediately  afterwards,  per- 
suades Sceledrus,  prepared  as  he  was  by  the 
previous  recital,  and  by  the  anticipated  feeling, 
"ita  dorsus  totus  prurit,'*  **  prius  ob  oculos  sibi 
cahginem  obstitisse." 

There  are  some  points  of  humour  in  Plautus, 
of  which  no  modern  language  would  admit.  Of 
this  kind  is  the  following  speech  of  Hegio,  in  the 
Capteivi,  Actus  1.  Scena  2.  v.  56,  :  — 

Multis  et  multigeneribus  opus  est  tibi 
Militibus.  primum  dum  opus  est  Pistoriensibus. 
Opus  Paniceis,  opus  Placentinis  quoque. 
Opus  Tiirdetanis,  opus  est  Ficedulensibus : 
Jam  maritumi  omnes  milites  opus  sunt  tibi. 

There  is  a  sort  of  untranslateable  pun  on  the 
names  of  places,  as  Pistorium  and  Placentia,  Italian 
towns,  ascribing  to  the  inhabitants,  by  inference, 
the  pre-eminence  in  certain  trades,  which  were  in 
necessary  request  for  furnishing  out  entertainments. 
The  Pistorienses  are  both  Pistorians  and  bakers, 
of  which  he  says  there  arc  "  genera  aliquot :"  the 
Placentini,  both  Phicentians  and  pastry-cooks,  &c. 

Among  the  writers  of  modern  comedy,  Moliere 
comes  in  closest  contact  both  with  Plautus  and 
with  Terence.  L'Ecole  des  Maris  is  obviously 
taken  from  the  Adelphi  of  Terence,  but  with  an 

c  2 


SfU  COMPARATIVE    ESTIMATE    OF 

addition  of  interest  congenial  with  the  French 
taste.  In  the  Adelphi,  two  old  men  of  opposite 
characters,  a  father  and  an  uncle,  educate  a  son 
and  a  nephew  on  totally  opposite  systems.  In 
L'Ecole  des  Maris,  two  guardians  have  each  a  fe- 
male ward  committed  to  their  charge ;  and,  as  in  the 
Latin  play,  one  is  severe  and  the  other  indulgent ; 
but  in  the  French  play,  both  are  lovers.  The 
converse  of  Moliere's  subject  was  beautifully 
treated  by  Garrick,  in  a  little  piece  called  The 
Guardian,  the  hint  of  which  was  taken  from  La 
Pupile  of  Monsieur  Fagan,  a  writer  who  seems  to 
have  formed  himself  on  the  elegant  model  of 
Terence.  But  nothing  can  exceed  the  art  with 
which  Moliere,  in  his  Amphitrion,  has  borrowed 
from  Plautus,  who  had  before  availed  himself  of 
Euripides  and  of  Archippus,  as  the  originals  who 
had  treated  this  subject  among  the  Greeks,  and  from 
them  the  Latin  poet  introduced  it  to  his  country- 
men. Moliere  has  shown  a  very  just  taste,  both 
in  his  alterations  and  additions.  The  French  cri- 
tics assign  the  superiority  to  their  own  poet ;  but 
this  can  scarcely  be  conceded,  were  it  only  on  the 
consideration  that  he  is  so  much  further  removed 
from  originality.  Rotrou  had  produced  the  co- 
medy of  Les  8osies  thirty  years  before  Moliere. 
His  Cephalic  is  a  transcript  of  Plautus's  Thes- 
sala ;  and  their  only  use  in  the  fable  is  as  con- 
fidantes of  Alcmena.  But  Moliere's  Clean  this,  by 
being  made  the  wife  of  Sosia  in  addition  to  her 
other  connection  with  the  plot,  is  rendered  a  more 
iinportant  and  entertaining  personage. 

Another  instance  of  Moliere's  felicity  in  chang- 
ing and  adding,  occurs  in  the  conclusion  of  the 


TERENCE    AND    PLAUTUS.  21 

piece.  Plautus  has  recourse  to  the  old  pis-aller  of 
machinery :  and  Amphitruo  con  chides  gravely, 
though  perhaps  with  a  little  touch  of  sarcasm  :  — 

Nunc,  spectatores,  Jovis  summi  causa  clare  plaudite. 

In  Moliere,  Sosia  finishes  with  a  stroke  of 
humour.  Afler  observing  that  on  such  delicate 
occasions,  the  selection  of  complimentary  phraseo- 
logy is  a  matter  of  difficulty  between  the  parties, 
he  says :  — 

Le  grand  Dieu  Jupiter  nous  fait  beaucoup  d'honneur, 
Et  sa  bonte,  sans  doute,  est  pour  nous  sans  seconde ; 
II  nous  promet  rinfaillible  bonheur 
D'une  fortune,  en  mille  biens  feconde, 
Et  chez  nous  U  doit  naitre  un  fils  d'un  tres-grand  cceur. 

Tout  cela  va  le  mieux  du  monde ; 

Mais  enfin  coupons  aux  discours; 
Et  que  chacun  chez  soi  doucement  se  retire. 

Sur  telles  affaires  toujours, 

Le  meilleur  est  de  ne  rien  dire. 

Moliere  took  the  hint  of  L' Avare,  and  a  great 
part  of  the  comedy  itself,  from  the  Aulularia 
of  Plautus.  The  Latin  title  is  derived  from  auluj 
or  olla^  the  diminutive  of  which  is  aulula,  Tliis 
signifies  a  pot,  in  which  the  old  miser  Euclio  kept 
the  treasure  he  had  found.  The  very  humorous 
conduct  of  the  scene,  in  which  Euclio  in  the  Latin, 
and  Harpagon  in  the  French  play,  receive  the 
proposition  for  the  marriage  without  a  portion,  is 
implicitly  adopted  by  Moliere,  who  has  also  been 
bold  enough  to  adopt  Euclio's  address  to  the 
spectators,  aflcr  Strobilus  has  stolen  his  treasure. 
The   passages  are  so   strongly  illustrative   of  the 

c  3 


2^  COMPARATIVE    ESTIMATE    OF 

spirit   of  both,    that   I    shall   transcribe   them   at 
length :  —  , 

Obsecro  vos  ego,  mihi  auxilio, 
Oro,  obtestor,    sitis,    et   hominem  demonstretis,  qui  earn 

abstulerit, 
Qui  vestitu  et  creta  occultant  sese,  atque  sedent  quasi  sint 

frugi. 
Quid  ais  tu?  tibi  credere  certum  est.     Nam  esse  bonum, 

e  vultu  cognosco. 
Quid  est  ?  quid  ridetis  ?  novi  omnes.     Scio  fures  esse  hic 

complures. 
Hem,  nemo  habet  horum  !  occidisti.  die  igitur,  quis  habet  ? 

iiescis  ! 
Heu  me  miserum,  miserum !    perii  male  perditus !    pes- 

sume  ornatus  eo. 
Tantum  gemiti  et  malae  molestia  hic  dies  mihi  obtulit, 
Famem  et  pauperiem :  perditissumus  ego  sum  omnium  in 

terra. 
Nam  quid  mihi  opus  est  vita,  qui  tantum  auri  perdidi  ? 
Quod  custodivi  sedulo.     Egomet  me  defraudavi, 
Animumque  meum,  geniumque  meum.     Nunc  eo  alii  Iseti- 

ficantur, 
Meo  malo  et  damno :  pati  nequeo. 

Qui  peut-ce  etre?  Qu'est-il  devenu  ?  Ou  est-il?  Ou 
se  cache-t-il  ?  Que  ferai-je  pour  le  trouver  ?  Ou  courir  ? 
Ou  ne  pas   courir  ?    N'est-il  point  la  ?    N'est-il  point  ici  ? 

Quiest-ce?     Arrete.   Ren-moi  mon  argent,  coquin 

Ah  !  c*est  moi Que  de  gens  assembles  !    Je 

ne  jette  mes  regards  sur  personne  qui  ne  me  donne  des 
soup^ons,  et  tout  me  semble  mon  voleur.  He  ?  De  quoi 
est-ce  qu'on  parle  la  ?  De  celui  qui  m'a  derob^  ?  Quel 
bruit  fait-on  la-haut  ?  Est-ce  mon  voleur  qui  y  est  ?  De 
grace,  si  Ton  s^ait  des  nouvelles  de  mon  voleur,  je  supphe 
que  Ton  m'en  dise.  N'est-il  point  cache  la  parmi  vous? 
lis  me  regardent  tons,  et  se  m'ettent  a  rire. 

In  both  these  instances  comic  despair  is  carried 
to  the  utmost;  and  Harpagon,  seizing  on  his  own 


TERENCE    AND    PLAUTUS.  23 

arm,    is    a    bold,   but  happy   and  original    exag- 
geration. 

The  subsequent  scene  between  Euclio  and  Ly- 
conides  in  the  one,  Harpagon  and  Valere  in  the 
other,  is  a  specimen  of  natural  equivoque ;  a  re- 
course which  seldom  fails  on  the  stage,  even  when 
it  is  extravagant.  They  mutually  mistake  each 
other's  meaning  most  humorously:  and  the  Pot 
and  the  Daughter  being  both  of  the  same  gender, 
the  pronouns  are  let  in  to  play  their  part  with  very 
great  effect. 

Thus  far  the  ancient  and  modern  poets  go  hand 
in  hand  :  and  good  taste  will  bear  Moliere  out  in 
those  incidental  touches  of  humour  which  he  has 
superinduced.  Indeed  there  is  nothing  in  him  so 
extravagant  as  the  supposition  of  Strobilus,  that 
Euclio' s  desire  of  saving  carries  him  so  far,  as  not 
only  to  grudge  the  escape  of  smoke  from  his 
kitchen  chimney,  but  to  catch  his  own  breath  while 
asleep,  in  a  bag  fastened  to  his  mouth  and  jthroat. 
We  may  also  notice  the  *'  ostende  etiam  tertianC^ 
of  Plautus,  and  the  conceit  of  the  cooks  being  all 
of  Geryon's  race,  and  having  six  hands  a-piece. 
But  whether  Moliere  can  be  justified  when  he 
travels  so  far  out  of  the  record  as  to  superadd  new 
circumstances  to  tlie  character  of  the  miser,  may 
be  much  doubted.  I  feel  quite  clear,  that  to  re- 
present him  in  love,  albeit  that  passion  owes  its 
birth  and  deatli  to  avarice,  is  not  natural,  and 
therefore  a  fault.  Avarice  is  an  engrossing  and 
exclusive  tyrant.  The  making  Harpagon  a  usurer, 
and  that  towards  his  own  son,  renders  the  character 
more  complicated  than  that  of  Euclio,  who,  Jiaving 
become  rich  by  chance,  has  no  object  beyond  the 
safe  custody  of  his  treasure.     Harpagon 's  eagcr- 

c  4 


24  COMPARATIVE   ESTIMATE    OF 

ness  to  amass  by  accumulation  of  interest,  as  well 
as  to  save  by  abstinence  from  expense,  is  perfectly 
in  keeping  with  the  avaricious  character,  as  it  ap- 
pears in  modern  life,  and  therefore  may,  I  think, 
be  considered  as  a  judicious  graft  on  the  original 
stock. 

The  last  piece  of  Moliere  I  shall  notice  is,  Les 
Fourberies  de  Scapin.  In  this  hero  of  the  shoulder- 
knot,  the  French  poet,  without  direct  copying,  has 
brought  together  the  humours  of  both  Plautus  and 
Terence,  in  that  favourite  and  soul  of  the  ancient 
stage,  the  cur r ens  Servics,  qui  fallit  Senem.  He 
has,  however,  in  the  much  canvassed  scene  between 
Geronte  and  Scapin,  descended  to  farce,  and  to 
the  minor  humour  of  dialect.  But  the  general 
liveliness  and  rapid  succession  of  intrigue  is  quite 
in  the  style  of  Plautus,  especially  in  the  fictitious 
adventure  of  the  Turkish  galley.  The  art  with 
which  the  spectators  are  informed  of  the  intended 
stratagem,  by  means  of  one  character  talking  to 
himself,  on  the  supposition  of  being  alone,  and  of 
another  overhearing  and  forming  his  own  plans  by 
what  he  says,  is  very  much  in  Terence's  spirit. 
Indeed  Scapin  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  Davus, 
in  the  Andrian.  The  first  scene  of  the  piece  is 
also  cleverly  contrived,  where  the  *«  plot  is  insi- 
nuated into  the  boxes,"  by  means  of  a  monosyllabic 
and  tautological  footman,  who  performs  the  office 
of  Sosia  in  listening  dutifully  to  his  master's  story. 
But  it  is  time  to  close  these  remarks,  which  are 
becoming  too  desultory.  Enough  has  been  said 
to  prove,  that  Moliere  has,  on  the  whole,  shown 
taste  and  skill  in  adapting  Plautus  and  Terence  to 
modern  manners,  similar  to  what  those  masters  of  the 
Roman  comedy  have  exhibited,  in  the  dress  they 


TERENCE    AND    PLAUTUS.  25 

have  given  to  their  originals.  In  one  respect  the 
task  of  the  modern  was  more  difficult,  because  he 
found  it  necessary  to  make  his  characters  French, 
scarcely  with  the  exception  of  his  gods :  but  the 
Latin  authors,  in  many  cases,  did  not  even  take 
the  trouble  to  shift  their  scene  from  Athens. 


26 


ON  THE  EPICUREAN  PHILOSOPHY. 


'E'TrUovpog  6  VupyYiTTiog  eXsysv,  w  oXiyov  ov^*  Jxavov,  aXXa  tovtoo 
ys  ovUv  txavov. —  jElian.  Far,  Hist.  lib.  iv.  cap.  13. 

Diogenes  Laertius  mentions  four  persons  who 
bore  the  name  of  Epicurus.  This  circumstance 
has  led  Cruquius,  in  his  Commentary  on  Horace, 
to  doubt  whether  the  Gargettian  Epicurus  be  the 
founder  of  the  celebrated  sect.  "  Fuit  hie  Philo- 
demus  Epicurus  *  (ut  Strabo  scribit)  patria  Gada- 
raeus :  quem  Asconius  Pedianus  in  oratione  Cic.  in 
Lucium  Pisonem,  scribit  Epicureum  fuisse  ea  aetate 
nobilissimum :  sed  arbitror  apud  Asconium  le- 
gendum  esse  pro  Epicureum,  Epicurum  dictum,  ut 
habet  Strabo,  vel  hunc  ex  illo  restituendum  :  tamen 
Epicuri  cujusdam  (quem  etiam  Gargettium  nomi- 
nat)  frequens  est  mentio  apud  Stobasum."  This 
hesitation  seems  to  have  been  excited  by  the  passage 
in  Stobaeus  ;  but  Statins,  Cicero,  ^lian,  and  Dio- 
genes Laertius,  all  agree  as  to  the  birth-place  of 
the  founder :  which  is  so  far  material,  that  sup- 
posing the  Gargettian  to  be  a  different  person,  and 
only  a  follower,  he  would  remain  in  possession  of 
the  excellent  maxim  ascribed  to  him  by  ^lian, 
and  much  other  good  morality,  and  leave  the 
founder  with  nothing  but  a  burden  of  metaphysical 

*  Diogenes  Laertius  calls  Philodemus  an  Epicurean.  Gas- 
sendi  mentions  an  Epicurus  spoken  of  by  Galen,  as  a  maker  of 
plasters. — De  Vita  et  Moribus  Epicuri. 


ON  THE  EPICUREAN  PHILOSOPHY.      27 

nonsense  on  his  shoulders.  Assuming,  therefore, 
that  there  was  but  one  eminent  person  of  this  name, 
he  died  in  the  second  year  of  the  1 27th  Olympiad, 
129  years  after  Socrates,  and  27 1  before  Christ, 
and  consequently  was  contemporary  with  Alex- 
ander the  Great.  This  date,  which  Gassendi  says 
he  found  in  a  manuscript,  was  restored  by  Isaac 
Casaubon,  the  words  xa»  eIxoo-t^j  having  been  omit- 
ted by  transcribers  and  printers  of  D.  Laertius,  who 
copied  one  another,  through  the  inaccuracy  of  the 
first.  This  error  left  the  date  IO7,  and  led  to 
the  gross  anachronism  of  placing  his  death  in  the 
reign  of  Philip,  and  just  after  Alexander's  birth. 

Of  his  youth,  Diogenes  Laertius  gives  this  ac- 
count, not  much  to  the  honour  of  Chaerestrata  : — 

Ka»  yoiq  crhv  tJ  jxijt^i  TtEqiiovra  auTov  Is  ^a  oIx/8<a,  xaQagfJiOve 
avuyivwa'xsiv'  xu)  <rvv  tm  Trarg)  ygxfji[xoLrot  ^iSacrxeiv  XuTrgov 
Tivog  ixKT^atglov. 

Plutarch,  in  his  Disputatio  qua  docetur  ne  sua- 
viter  quidem  vivi  posse  secundum  Epicuri  Decreta, 
gives  some  curious  instances  of  Epicurus's  vanity. 
It  seems  he  disclaimed  being  at  all  indebted  to  any 
of  his  predecessors ;  and  was  continually  making 
minute  and  captious  objections  against  Democritus. 
We  have  not  the  means  of  refuting  or  verifying 
this  charge  of  disingenuous  pride  ;  but  we  know, 
historically,  that  if  he  made  the  assertion,  it  was 
false ;  because  Democritus  was  born  forty  years 
before  him,  and  he  borrowed  a  large  portion  of  his 
doctrine  from  the  writings  of  that  philosopher. 
Another  anecdote  on  the  same  authority  is,  that 
he  called  himself  the  only  wise  man.  •     The  tliird 

•  Diogenes  Laertius,  his  regular  biographer,  treats  such  sto- 
ries with  contempt,  and  maintains  his  entire  urbanity  towards 
all  descriptions  of  persons. 


28  ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY. 

involved  a  most  ludicrous  application  of  the  atomic 
system  to  the  circumstances  of  his  mother's  gest- 
ation :  her  body  contained  the  exact  quantity  of 
atoms,  the  concourse  of  which  was  necessary  to 
form  a  wise  man.  Which  of  these  two  propositions 
is  the  proof;  and  which  the  thing  to  be  proved  ? 

In  estimating  the  doctrines  of  Epicurus,  whether 
moral  or  philosophical,  it  will  scarcely  be  necessary 
to  look  for  materials  beyond  Cicero,  who  has  given 
a  copious  and  clear  exposition  of  them  :  and  his 
testimony  on  this  subject  is  so  much  the  more  va- 
luable, that  so  far  from  being  that  of  a  flatterer,  it 
was  not  that  of  a  friend.  From  a  letter  to  Mem- 
mius,  who  had  obtained  a  grant  of  a  ruinous  edifice 
at  Athens  belonging  to  the  Epicurean  college, 
and  intended  to  build  a  house  there  for  himself, 
but  which  grant  Cicero  requests  him  to  wave  in 
favour  of  his  friend  Patro,  we  learn  that  Cicero 
commenced  his  philosophical  studies  under  Phae- 
drus,  the  probable  predecessor  of  Patro  in  the 
college  ;  but  that  on  reflection,  and  in  the  maturity 
of  his  judgment,  he  abandoned  .the  sect  and  ab- 
jured its  principles.  He  retained,  however,  a  very 
high  respect  for  the  learning  and  personal  character 
of  his  early  tutor ;  but  assures  Memmius  that  his 
good  understanding  with  Patro  does  not  extend  to 
philosophy.  His  own  best  considered  habits  of 
thinking  and  rules  of  action  were  drawn  from  the 
Academy ;  and  are  set  forth  at  large  in  his  Tus- 
culan  and  Academic  Questions,  where  he  declares 
his  own  adoption  of  the  Socratic  system.  The 
object  of  his  treatise  De  Finibus,  was  to  give  a  his- 
tory of  the  ancient  philosophy.  Indeed,  in  his 
Tusculan  and  Academic  Questions,  and  in  his 
treatise  on  the  Nature  of  the  Gods,  as  well  as  in 


ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY.  29 

that  on  the  chief  Good  or  111  of  Man,  he  assumes 
alternately  the  character  of  a  Stoic,  an  Epicurean, 
and  a  Peripatetic ;  and  for  a  time  forgets  his  own 
principles  in  his  zeal  to  do  justice  to  those  whom 
he  temporarily  represents  :  but  in  his  private  cha- 
racter of  the  Academic,  he  turns  round  and  attacks 
them  all.  In  one  respect  this  dialogue  form  rather 
perplexes  philosophical  discussion.  The  reader  is, 
perliaps,  not  always  attentive  to  the  circumstance, 
whether  the  speaker  of  the  moment  be  the  author 
or  one  of  his  combatants.  This  has  occasioned 
Cicero  to  be  charged  with  many  inconsistencies, 
which  a  closer  application  to  the  course  of  the 
dialogue  would  have  reconciled.  But  this  mistake 
on  the  part  of  the  reader  must  be  entirely  his  own 
fault ;  for  the  great  Roman  is  a  model  of  perspi- 
cuity as  well  as  elegance,  in  the  conduct  of  these 
polite  and  learned  conversations.  It  may  be  re- 
marked in  passing,  that  the  moderns  who  have 
adopted  this  form  have  been  generally  unsuccess- 
ful. They  have  not  been  happy,  like  Cicero,  in 
identifying  themselves  with  the  character  which 
they  for  the  moment  assume  :  their  Dramatis  Per- 
sonce  are  too  evidently  brought  on,  merely  to  be 
pelted  :  it  is  clearly  seen  at  once,  whttt  the  author's 
system  really  is,  and  that  "  all  the  rest  is  leather 
and  prunella."  In  short,  the  grave  impatience  of 
modern  readers  has  determined,  that  philosophical 
disquisition  is  best  conducted  as  a  serious  business, 
without  theatrical  ornament  or  rhetorical  declam- 
ation. 

But  however  this  may  be,  Cicero's  form  of  com- 
position seems  peculiarly  adapted  to  our  purpose, 
wanting  as  we  do  to  appreciate  the  character  of  a 
philosopher,  whose  writings  have  not  come  down 


30  ON    THE   EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY. 

to  US  to  tell  their  own  tale.  Cicero  was  educated 
in  the  doctrine,  and  therefore  understood  it :  he 
weighed  it  in  the  balance  and  found  it  wanting, 
and  therefore  threw  it  off. 

With  respect  to  the  imputations  so  current  on 
Epicurus' s  moral  doctrine,  and  example,  there  is 
an  important  passage  in  Cicero  to  a  contrary  effect, 
De  Finibus,  lib.  i.  cap.  20.  :  — 

"  Restat  locus  huic  disputationi  vel  maxime  ne- 
cessarius,  de  amicitia,  quam,  si  voluptas  summum 
sit  bonum,  affirmatis  nullam  omnino  fore  :  de  qua 
Epicurus  quidem  ita  dicit :  omnium  rerum^  quas  ad 
beate  vivendum  sapientia  comparaverit^  nihil  esse 
mqjus  amicitia,  nihil  uberius,  nihil  jucundius.  Neque 
vero  hoc  oratione  solum,  sed  multo  magis  vita,  et  fk- 
ctis,  et  moribus  comprobavit.  Quod  quam  magnum 
sit,  fictae  veterum  fabulae  declarant :  in  quibus  tam 
multis,  tamque  variis,  ab  ultima  antiquitate  repe- 
titis,  tria  vix  amicorum  paria  reperiuntur,  ut  ad 
Orestem  pervenias,  profectus  a  Theseo.  At  vero 
Epicurus  una  in  domo,  et  ea  quidem  angusta,  quam 
magnos,  quantaque  amoris  conspiratione  consen- 
tientes  tenuit  amicorum  greges?  quod  fit  etiam 
nunc  ab  Epicureis." 

This  representation  is  confirmed  by  the  state- 
ment of  Laertius,  somewhat  hyperbolical,  that  whole 
cities  could  not  have  contained  the  multitude  of 
his  friends.  We  also  find  that  he  improved  upon 
the  Pythagorean  community  of  goods.  Every  in- 
dividual continued  master  of  his  own  property  and 
patrimony :  but  a  system  of  mutual  kindness  and 
assistance  was  recommended  in  principle,  and  so 
carried  into  effect  in  practice,  as  to  have  pro- 
duced that  state  of  society  and  friendship  so  elo- 
quently described  by  Cicero.    We  have  concurrent 


ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY.  31 

testimony  to  prove,  that  the  moral  practice  of  the 
sect,  touching  this  class  of  duties,  did  not  dege- 
nerate for  some  ages  ;  and  that  its  disciples  enjoyed 
profound  peace  among  themselves,  while  others 
were  torn  to  pieces  by  party  quarrels.  *  They  are 
distinctly  traced  down  to*  the  second  century,  and 
from  the  union  which  then  subsisted  between  them, 
it  seems  probable  that  they  continued  a  compact 
and  mutually  well  affected  body  for  some  time 
longer. 

The  testimony  of  Cicero,  in  the  second  book, 
chap.  25.,  is  still  stronger  to  the  correctness  of 
Epicurus's  personal  conduct :  — 

"  Ratio  ista,  quam  defendis;  praecepta,  quae  di- 
dicisti,  quae  probas ;  funditus  evertunt  amicitiam : 
quam  vis  earn  Epicurus,  ut  facit,  in  caelum  efferat 
laudibus.  At  coluit  ipse  amicitias.  Quasi  quis 
ilium  neget  et  bonum  virum,  et'comem,  et  huma- 
num  fuisse.    De  ingenio  ejus  in  his  disputationibus, 

non  de  moribus  quaeritur Ac  mihi  quidem, 

quod  et  ipse  bonus  vir  fuit,  et  multi  Epicurei  fue- 
runt,  et  hodie  sunt  et  in  amicitiis  fideles,  et  in 
omni  vita  constantes,  et  graves,  nee  voluptate,  sed 
officio  consilia  moderantes,  hoc  videtur  major  vis 
honestatis,  et  minor  voluptatis.  Ita  enim  vivunt  qui- 
dam,  ut  eorum  vita  refellatur  oratio.  Atque  ut  cae- 
teri  existimantur  dicere  melius,  quam  facere  :  sic  hi 
mihi  videntur  facere  melius,  quam  dicere." 

Here  is  a  distinct  declaration,  that  the  principles 
of  the  sect  had  not  led  to  those  practical  evils, 
which  the  dangerous  tendency,  and  in  some  re- 

*  "  Ea  quae  Epicuro  placuerunt,  ut  quasdam  Solonis  aut  Ly- 
curgi  leges  ab  Epicureis  omnibus  servari.'* — Themistius  apud 
Gassendunif  de  Vita  et  Moribus  Epicuri. 


32  ON    THE  EPICUREAN  PHILOSOPHY. 

spects  the  absurdity  of  the  theory  would  seem  na- 
turally to  have  involved. 

To  this  Seneca  also  bears  testimony.  Now  he 
was  a  leader  of  the  Stoics  ;  and  consequently  in- 
clined to  censure  Epicurus  on  grounds  in  the 
least  degree  plausible.  In  Epist  21.  he  thus  speaks 
of  the  frugal  fare  in  the  garden  of  Epicurus  :  — 

"  Eo  libentius  Epicuri  egregia  dicta  comme- 
moro,  ut  istis,  qui  ad  ilia  confugient,  spe  mala 
inducti,  qui  velamenturn  seipsos  suorum  vitiorum 
habituros  existimant,  probem,  quocumque  ierint, 
honeste  esse  vivendum.  Cum  adierint  hos  hor- 
tulos,  et  inscriptum  hortulis,  Hospes  hie  bene 
manebis,  hie  summum  bonum  voluptas  est :  paratus 
erit  istius  domicilii  custos,  hospitalis,  humanus,  et 
te  polenta  excipiet,  et  aquam  quoque  large  mini- 
strabit.  Et  dicet :  Ecquid  bene  acceptus  es  ?  Non 
irritant,  inquam,  hi  hortuli  famem,  sed  extin- 
guunt :  nee  majorem  ipsis  potionibus  sitim  faciunt, 
sed  naturali  et  gratuito  remedio  sedant." 

Seneca  here  confesses,  that  the  best  cheer 
Epicurus  gave  his  guests  was  bread  and  water. 
The  following  lines  of  Juvenal  confirm  this  :  — 

In  quantum  sitis  atque  fames  et  frigora  poscunt : 
Quantum,  Epicure,  tibi  parvis  sufFecit  in  hortis : 
Quantum  Socratici  ceperunt  ante  Penates. 

SaL  14. 


We  have  the  evidence  of  Laertius,  that  chastity 
was  enforced,  not  only  by  precepts  from  the  pro- 
fessor's chair,  but  by  personal  example.  This  his 
antagonist,  Chrysippus,  imputed  to  insensibility, 
as  we  are  informed  in  Vita  Epicuri :  —  "  Scribit 
Stobaeus   quempiam  fuisse   qui  et  non  iri  captum 


ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOrHY.  33 

amore  virum  sapientem  dixerit,  et  ipsius  Epicuri 
exemplo  inter  cagteros  id  probarit :  Chrysippum 
autem  contradixisse,  et  Epicurum  quod  attineret, 
excepisse  nihil  ex  ejus  exemplo  concludi  quoniani 
fbret  avaid^YtTos,  sensu  carens."  This  uncandid  ex- 
position of  an  admitted  virtue  only  proves,  that 
the  odium  theologician  is  the  lineal  descendant  of 
the  odiwn  philosophicum.  But  be  that  as  it  may, 
we  receive  evidence  from  various  sources,  that 
Epicurus  and  his  disciples  were  exact  in  the  prac- 
tice of  virtue,  and  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  men 
trustworthy  in  all  offices  of  friendship  or  integrity. 
They  were  neitlier  buffoons  nor  profligates. 

Cicero  has  a  passage,  De  Natur.  Deor.  lib.  i. 
cap.  33,,  which  seems  not  quite  consistent  with  the 
urbane  character  elsewhere  given  of  him,  and  sup- 
ports the  charge  brought  by  Plutarch  and  others, 
that  he  professed  to  be  avrog/Saxros  :  — 

"  Sed  stomachabatur  senex,  si  quid  asperius  di- 
xeram  ?  cum  Epicurus  contumeliosissime  Aristo- 
telem  vexaverit:  Phaedoni  Socratico  turpissime 
maledixerit:  Metrodori,  sodalis  sui,  fratrem,  Ti- 
mocratem,  quia  nescio  quid  in  philosophia  dissen- 
tiret,  totis  voluminibus  conciderit :  in  Democritum 
ipsum,  quem  secutus  est,  fuerit  ingratus :  Nausi- 
phanem,  magistrum  suum,  a  quo  nihil  (or  nonnihil 
according  to  Pearce's  conjecture)  didicerat,  tarn 
male  acceperit." 

That  Epicurus  should  have  quarrelled  with 
Timocrates,  can  be  matter  neither  of  wonder  nor 
reproach,  when  we  find  that  refractory  disciple  not 
only  deserting  the  sect,  but  representing  his  master 
as  a  glutton  and  a  drunkard,  and  joining  in  those 
other  slanders  on  the  part  of  the  Stoics,  which 
are  so  clearly  refuted  in  Gassendi's  Life  of  Epi- 

D 


34  ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY. 

curus.     Among  the  most    scandalous  of  these  is 
that  relating  toLeontium,  in  Athenaeus,  lib.  xiii. :  — 

OvT0§  ovv  'ETrlxoupo^  ov  Asovt«ov  £t;^ev  lpa;jU.ev>)V,  t^v  sttI 
eraipeia  8<aj3o>5TOV  ysvofxevYiv ;  v}  Bs  06^,  oVs  (p*Xo(ro<peiV  YJg^ctTO, 
iTTUua-oiTO  hTOLiporJ(TOL,  TToia-l  Ts  ToTj  'ETTixoy^s/oij  (TUVTJv  ev  TO* J 
HrjTroig,  'ETTixoupcu  8e  xat  ocvu(pctv^6v'  oarr  exslvov  TroXXijv  <ppovTi8a 
TTOJOUjEASVOV  auT>3Jj  TOUT  6jtA<pav/^eiv  S»a  twv  Trpof  '  l^pfxoip^ov  Itti- 
(TToXcoy. 

This  is  the  Hermachus  of  Diogenes  Laert.  x. 
15.,  and  of  Cicero  De  Finib.  ii.  30.,  of  the  old 
editions  of  Athenaeus,  of  Seneca,  and  of  Plutarch. 
But  Villoison  shows,  from  the  subscription  of  a 
bronze  statue  found  at  Herculaneum,  and  from  an 
unpublished  treatise  of  Philodemus  on  rhetoric, 
that  the  name  is  as  given  by  Schweighaeuser,  on 
these  authorities,  Hermarchus.  He  is  mentioned  by 
Philodemus,  as  it  appears,  as  a  very  celebrated 
philosopher,  and  v^ras  the  heir  and  successor  of 
Epicurus. 

With  respect  to  the  numerous  letters  ascribed  to 
him,  on  which  it  has  been  attempted  to  establish  a 
disadvantageous  impression  of  his  personal  charac- 
ter, a  large  collection  of  them  is  stated  to  have 
been  forged  for  scandalous  purposes :  — 

auTOv   8ia|3e/3A>]xgv,     iTTitrToAaj    <pspMv    TrevTrjKOvroe,    aasXyels,    cij 
'ETTixou^ou'    x«»   Ta   fij  XpCa-iTTTTOV    oiva(psp6[ji>svu    eTTKrroKict,    wg 

'ETTiXOUpOU   (TUVTaJaj. 

With  respect  to  the  pious  frauds,  according  to 
the  morality  of  rival  schools,  and  the  system  of 
defamation,  by  which  an  unfavourable  impression 
of  Epicurus  was  produced,  as  well  as  the  insidious 
use  made  of  his  doctrine  by  some  of  his  disciples, 
we  have  again  an  unsuspicious  witness  in  Seneca, 
De  Vita  beata,  cap.  12.     *<  Ita  non  ab  Epicuro  im- 


OS    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY.  35 

pulsi  luxuriantur,  sed  vitiis  dediti,  luxuriam  suam 
in  philosophiae  siim  abscondunt :  et  eo  concurrunt, 
ubi  aiidiunt  laudari  voluptatem.  Nee  aestimatur 
voluptas  ilia  Epicuri  (ita  enim  mehercules  sentio) 
quam  sobria  et  sicca  sit:  sed  ad  nomen  ipsum 
advolant,  quaerentes  libidinibus  suis  patrocinium 
aliqiiod  ac  velamentum." 

In  the  same  spirit  of  calumny,  a  letter  appears 
in  the  second  book  of  Alciphron,  professedly 
written  from  Leontium  to  Lamia.  It  begins 
thus :  — 

OtJSiv  ^wrapsa-TOTipov  cog  eoixsv  Icrri  7raX<v  /xsipax/suo/xevou  Trpso-- 
/3'Jtou.  ola  jxe  '^nUovpog  ovTog  hoixsl,  irocvra  Koi^opSiVy  %avTOL 
inroTTTsvoov,  e7ri<rT0kag  aStaXurouj  jxoi  ypix.(paiv,  exBicoxoov  ex  tov 
xif%ou»  [j^oi  Tr,v  'A^poS/rrjv  el  AScovij  t]v  ^S>]  eyyvg  oydoYjuovToc 
yeyovwg  enj,  oux  av  axnoxi  r)ve<r^6iJi,i^v  (pQeipicovrog  xa)  ^ih.ovo<rovvTos 
xa»  xflfTaTre'R-iXryjxevoy  eu  fxaXct  7r6xoi§  avTi  ttIXoov, 

This  letter  carries  internal  marks  of  forgery. 
Leontium  represents  her  old  lover  as  eighty  years 
of  age :  now  Epicurus  died  in  his  seventy-second 
year,  and  Leontium  died  before  him.  In  proof 
of  this  we  find  in  Gassendi,  that  she  was  either 
the  wife  or  the  mistress  Metrodori,  sodalis  sui,  as 
Cicero  has  it ;  and  that  they  left  a  son,  mentioned 
in  Epicurus's  will,  as  an  orphan  recommended  by 
his  friend  Metrodorus.  This  anachronism  is  de- 
cisive; and  there  are  other  suspicious  circum- 
stances about  the  letter.  In  the  passage  above 
quoted,  she  says,  that  he  sent  her  letters  written  in 
such  a  style  that  no  ingenuity  can  solve  their  mean- 
ing; and  in  another  passage,  she  says  she  will 
rather  change  this  land  for  some  other,  ^  t«^  iTio-ro- 

Xjij  awTOv  Tflif  hoKrfraa-TOvs  «V8^o/xai.       Again  shc  Speaks  of 

him  in  point  of  language,  as  if  ex  KaT»«3oxi«j  npwro; 
Ti|v  'ExxiiSa  fx«v.     Now  it  is  very  unlikely  that  his 

D    2 


36  ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY. 

letters  should  be  disjointed,  when  we  have  the 
testimony  of  Diogenes  Laertius,  that  perspicuity 
was  the  sole  object  of  attainment  in  his  style. 
With  respect  to  the  Cappadocian  brogue  or  slang 
imputed  to  him,  there  certainly  is  a  passage  in 
Athenaeus  immediately  before  that  just  quoted, 
where  his  style  is  represented  as  inelegant:  and 
Casaubon,  in  his  notes,  affirms  that  Epicurus  could 
not  speak  the  Greek  language  correctly.  He 
does  not  state  his  authority  for  that  assertion ;  so 
that  it  may  possibly  be  no  better  than  this  lady's 
supposititious  sarcasm  on  his  Cappadocian-like  dia- 
lect. But  the  expressions  of  Athenaeus  are  easily 
reconcilable  with  those  of  Diogenes  Laertius. 
The  probability  is,  that  aiming  at  perspicuity,  he 
neglected  the  ornaments  of  eloquence  :  his  periods 
might  be  unmelodious,  and  his  style  rather  let 
down  to  vulgar  capacity,  than  raised  to  the  level 
of  polished  society ;  but  clearness  and  connection 
were  necessary  in  a  writer  or  a  lecturer,  who  wished 
to  lead  his  classes  through  the  intricacies  of  so 
perplexed  a  labyrinth. 

Metrodorus,  as  well  as  Timocrates,  is  said  to 
have  deserted  the  standard  of  his  leader.  Against 
this  supposition,  Gassendi,  De  Vita  et  Moribus 
Epicuri,  adduces  the  following  argument.  "  Sane 
si  Metrodorus  a  vivente  adhuc  Epicuro  defecisset, 
quaesitum  non  fuisset  ex  Arcesila  (qui  duodecim 
annis  Epicuro  super vixit)  cur  homines  a  cceteris  ad 
Epicureos,  ah  Epicureis  vera  ad  cceteros  non  com- 
migrarent''  Had  two  conspicuous  instances  of 
desertion  been  before  the  public,  such  a  question 
would  scarcely  have  been  put  to  Arcesilaus.  But 
whatever  may  be  thought  of  that  proof^  and  Bayle 
treats  it  with  great  contempt,  it  is  not  probable 


ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY.  37 

that  the  son  of  a  person,  who  had  been  inconstant 
in  so  important  a  matter  as  sectarian  adherence, 
wonld  be  kindJy  mentioned  in  the  will  of  his  in- 
jured friend :  or  at  all  events,  however  placable 
that  friend  miglit  be  in  his  nature,  the  seceder 
must  have  had  a  more  tlian  usual  share  of  assurance, 
to  have  been  the  first  proposer  of  such  an  adoption. 
But  to  the  continuance  of  the  friendship  between 
Epicurus  and  Metrodorus,  we  have  Seneca's  tes- 
timony. After  speaking  of  RutiUus,  Epist.  79. 
"  Nunquid  non  sorti  suae  gratias  egit,  et  exsiHum 
suum  complexus  est  ?  De  his  loquor,  quos  illu- 
stravit  fortuna,  dum  vexat :  quam  multorum  pro- 
fectus  in  notitiam  evasere,  post  ipsos  ?  quam 
multos  fama  non  excepit,  sed  eruit  ?  Vides  Epi- 
curum,  quantopere  non  tantum  eruditiores,  sed 
haec  quoque  imperitorum  turba  miretur.  Hie 
ignotus  ipsis  Athenis  fuit,  circa  quas  delituerat. 
Multis  itaque  jam  annis  Metrodoro  suo  superstes, 
in  quadam  epistola,  cum  amicitiam  suam  et  Metro- 
dori,  grata  commemoratione  cecinisset,  lioc  no- 
vissime  adjecit,  Nihil  sibi  et  Metrodoro  inter  bona 
tanta  nocuisse,  quod  ipsos  ilia  nobilis  Graecia  non 
ignotos  solum  habuisset,  sedpene  inauditos.  Num- 
quid  ergo  non  postea,  quam  esse  desierat,  inventus 
est?  numquid  non  opinio  ejus  emicuit?  Hoc 
Metrodorus  quoque  in  quadam  epistola  confitetur, 
se  et  Epicurum  non  satis  eminuisse  :  sed  post,  se  et 
Epicurum,  magnum  paratumque  nomen  habituros, 
apud  eos  qui  voluissent  per  eadem  ire  vestigia." 

Chrysippus  and  Epicurus  are  represented  as 
the  two  most  vohmiinous  writers  of  the  jJliilo- 
sophical  tribe.  Diogenes  Laertius,  lib.  x.  num. 
26.,   gives  the  pahii  to  Epicurus,     riyovt  8e  iro^uypa- 

I)  3 


38  ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY. 

But  Chrysippus  was  so  animated  with  a  spirit  of 
rivalship,  that  no  sooner  had  Epicurus  put  forth 
one  book,  than  he  wrote  another ;  and  that  with 
so  much  more  haste  than  good  speed,  that  he  fell 
into  continual  incorrectness  and  repetition,  in  con- 
sequence of  not  allowing  himself  time  to  read  over 
his  rough  copy.  On  this  subject  we  have  a  pas- 
sage in  the  life  of  Chrysippus,  lib.  vii.  num.  181. 

Ka)  'A7roXXo8a>po5  8s  6  *A6>)ya7oj  iv  tJ  <ruv«ycoyjj  tmv  Soy/xarcov 
^ov\o[Jisvo§  "TTdpKTTavsiv,  0T»  T«  'ETTixoypou  oIksIcc  8uvajU.6<  ys- 
ycoifj^lJ'evu,  xa»  uTrapocSsToc  ovrct,  [Ji.vpicp  ttXs/o;  so-t)  toov  XpU' 
a-h'Trov  /3</3a/«jv,  i^ricriv  ovToog  avTYi  t^  As^ei,  E»  yap  tij  otps\oi 
Twv  Xpuo-iWou  /3</3x/ajv    o<t'  aWoTpiu  7roipetTs$enui,    xsvog  olutm  6 

Xo^prr^s  xuraXeXsl^l/sTon,  The  number  of  volumes  writ- 
ten by  Epicurus  is  stated  at  three  hundred,  without 
a  single  quotation  :  Chrysippus,  on  the  contrary, 
is  represented  as  a  mere  compiler,  confining  him- 
self to  the  collection  of  authorities. 

Without  entering  into  the  minutiae  of  an  exploded 
philosophy,  the  leading  doctrines  of  Epicurus  are, 
the  atomic  system,  in  which  he  deviates  from  the 
dogma  of  Democritus  concerning  the  soul  of 
atoms ;  a  set  of  opinions,  which  lead  in  their  con- 
sequences to  impiety,  whatever  might  be  the  inten- 
tion or  the  practice  of  their  author,  concerning  the 
nature  of  the  gods  :  and  his  method  of  explaining 
liberty. 

St.  Augustin,  in  his  refutation  of  Democritus, 
has  pointed  out  a  difference  between  him  and 
Epicurus,  which  has  not  been  noticed  by  writers 
in  general.  "  Quanquam  Democritus  etiam  hoc 
distare  in  naturalibus  quaestionibus  ab  Epicuro 
dicitur,  quod  iste  sentit  inesse  concursioni  ato- 
morum  vim  quandam  animalem  et  spiritalem :  qua 
vi  eum  credo  et  imagines  ipsas  divinitate  praeditas 


ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY.  39 

dicere,  non  omnes  omnium  rerum,  sed  deorum,  et 
principia  mentis  esse  in  iiniversis  quibus  divinitatem 
tribuit,  et  animantes  imagines,  quae  vel  prodesse 
nobis  soleant  vel  nocere.  Epicurus  vero  neque 
aliquid  in  principiis  rerum  ponit  praeter  atomos, 
id  est,  corpuscula  quaedam  tam  minuta,  ut  etiam 
dividi  nequeant,  neque  sentiri,  aut  visu,  aut  tactu 
possint :  quorum  corpusculorum  concursu  for- 
tuito,  et  mundos  innumerabiles,  et  animantia,  et 
ipsas  animas  fieri  dicit,  et  deos  quos  liumana 
forma  non  in  aliquo  mundo,  sed  extra  mundos, 
atque  inter  mundos  constituit :  et  non  vult  omnino 
aliquid  praeter  corpora  cogitare :  quae  tamen  ut 
cogitet,  imagines  dicit  ab  ipsis  rebus,  quas  atomis 
formari  putat  defluere,  atque  in  aniiTium  introire 
subtiliores  quam  sunt  illae  imagines  quae  ad  oculos 
veniunt." 

These  are  vain  speculations ;  but  scarcely  more 
so  than  the  distinction  of  the  Peripatetics  between 
matter  and  the  material  soul  of  brutes,  the  hy- 
pothesis of  automata,  or  that  of  the  soul  of  the 
world. 

On  the  unavoidable  tendency  of  the  atomic 
philosophy  to  atheism,  Seneca  has  a  strong  and 
pointed  passage,  accompanied  with  a  candid  ex- 
ception  against  any  inference  disadvantageous  to 
the  personal  piety  of  Epicurus,  and  a  compliment 
to  the  disinterested  and  philosophical  grounds  of 
that  piety.  "  Tu  denique,  Epicure,  Deum  inermem 
facis.  Omnia  illi  tela,  omnem  detraxisti  potentiam, 
et  ne  cuiquam  metuendus  esset,  projecisti  ilium 
extra  motum.  Hunc  igitur  inseptum  ingcnti 
quodam  et  inexplicabili  muro,  divisumque  a  con- 
tactu  et  a  conspectu  mortalium,  non  liabes  quare 
verearis :    nulla   illi    nee   tribuendi,    nee    nocendi 

D  4 


40.  ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY, 

materia  est.  .  .  .  Atqui  himc  vis  videri  colere, 
non  aliter  quarn  parentem  :  grato,  ut  opinor,  animo : 
aut  si  non  vis  videri  gratus,  quia  nullum  habes 
illius  beneficium,  sed  te  atomi  et  istaa  micae  tuae 
forte  ac  temere  conglobaverunt,  cur  colis  ?  Propter 
majestatem,  inquis,  ejus  eximiam,  singularemque 
naturam.  Ut  concedam  tibi:  nempe  hoc  facis 
nulla  spe,  nullo  pretio  inductus.  Est  ergo  aliquid 
per  se  expetendum,  cujus  te  ipsa  dignitas  ducit: 
id  est  honestum." — De  Beneficiis,  lib.  iv.  cap.  19. 

Thus  much  for  the  lofty,  but  cold  and  inefficient 
principle  on  which  it  was  attempted  to  reconcile 
the  eternal  existence  of  matter  with  the  philosophy 
of  piety  !  But  the  duties  of  piety  are  appointed  to 
be  practised  in  the  temples  and  in  the  streets,  and 
not  to  be  treated  as  subjects  of  curious  speculation 
in  the  library,  to  feed  the  reveries  of  abstraction, 
or  give  play  to  the  subtleties  of  argument.  Reli- 
gion, whether  considered  in  the  light  of  philo- 
sophy, or  as  involving  the  practical  rule  of  life,  is 
not  to  be  treated  as  a  question  between  the  Deity 
and  the  student,  but  between  the  Deity  and  the 
people  :  it  is  neither  a  code  of  honour  for  the 
gentleman,  a  string  of  propositions  for  the  theorist, 
nor  a  body  of  laws  for  the  politician  or  the  legis- 
lator, to  overawe  the  many-headed  beast.  It  is  a 
system  of  faith,  a  rule  of  practice,  and  a  fund  of 
consolation  to  all  God's  creatures  ;  and  the  lowest 
are  as  capable  as  the  highest,  the  most  dull  as 
capable  as  the  most  acute,  the  most  shallow  as 
capable  as  the  most  profound,  of  comprehending 
its  plainness,  and  of  appropriating  its  benefits  both 
temporal  and  eternal. 

The  asinine  position  in  which  his  atoms  have 
placed  Epicurus,   between   Fate   and    Liberty,    is 


ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY.  41 

perplexing  to  him,  and  ludicrous  to  the  spec- 
tators. But  we  must  not  look  at  him  too  con- 
temptuously on  that  account,  when  we  consider 
the  extreme  difficulty  which  modern  and  Christian 
metaphysicians  find,  in  settling  the  limits  between 
free-will  and  necessity.  The  question  is  not,  and 
probably  never  will  be  set  at  rest.  The  insu- 
perable difficulty  seems  to  be  this.  If  we  go  the 
whole  length  of  the  former,  we  seem  to  deny  the 
prescience  of  God ;  for  how  could  any  being 
know,  a  year  ago,  or  ten  thousand  years  ago,  how 
I  shall  act  an  hour  hence,  when  I,  a  perfectly  free 
agent,  am  not  now  determined  how  I  shall  act, 
and  do  not  mean  to  make  up  my  mind  till  the  last 
moment  ?  On  the  other  hand,  if)  to  avoid  Scylla, 
we  run  upon  the  Charybdis  of  necessity,  we  incur 
the  double  danger,  of  setting  ourselves  free,  as 
machines  and  not  accountable  agents,  from  all 
moral  responsibility,  and  of  making  the  Deity  not 
only  the  cause,  or  to  say  the  least  of  it,  the  unpre- 
venting  by-stander,  but  even  almost,  if  not  quite, 
the  perpetrator  of  evil.  No  Christian  philosopher 
will  commit  such  suicide,  as  to  leap  into  either  of 
these  gulfs:  and  therefore  all  endeavour,  some 
more  successfully  than  others,  to  steer  a  middle 
course  between  them :  or,  to  change  the  meta- 
phor,  they  endeavour,  like  skilful  artists,  to  se^ 
lect  such  parts  of  each  system  as  will  work  up 
best  together,  and  dove-tail  into  a  uniform  and 
practical  piece  of  machinery.  I  am  not  going  to 
be  so  rash,  as  to  enter  far  u])on  this  subject ;  but  I 
think  we  may  feel  our  way  to  it,  and  make  some- 
thing like  an  approach,  in  the  following  manner. 
How  would  an  ordinary,  average  man  act  in  such 
or  such  circumstances  ?     To  this  question  a  person 


4S  ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY. 

of  sound  sense,  and  much  knowledge  of  the  world, 
will  know  how  to  return  a  shrewd,  and  probable 
answer.  In  fact,  the  question  is  asked,  and 
answered,  and  that  not  only  speculatively  and 
curiously,  but  the  answer  is  acted  upon,  every  day. 
Should  the  question  be  put  respecting  the  friend 
of  this  sensible  man,  whose  general  character, 
private  sentiments,  peculiarities  and  oddities  are 
known  to  him  ;  his  quantum  of  wisdom  and  good 
conduct  in  his  grave  capacity,  as  a  member  of 
parliament  or  a  churchwarden,  his  nonsense  and 
folly  in  the  recesses  of  his  family;  the  answer 
wdll  be  justified  by  the  event  in  a  large  majority  of 
cases.  But  as  no  man  can  fathom  all  the  depths 
of  his  nearest  friend's  heart ;  or,  if  he  could,  his 
own  reach  of  reason  would  not  be  far  enough  to 
comprehend  and  estimate  unerringly  all  he  might 
have  found  there ;  in  a  minority,  bearing  some 
assignable  proportion  to  the  majority  of  cases,  the 
answer  will  fail  in  some  points  or  altogether.  Yet 
this  attempt  at  prescience,  whether  successful  or 
unsuccessful,  has  no  interfering  influence  over  the 
liberty  and  independence  of  the  friend  so  specu- 
lated upon:  for  we  assume  the  whole  discussion 
to  take  place  with  strangers,  without  the  know- 
ledge of  the  party.  Should  this  party,  having 
acted  wrong,  be  subsequently  called  to  account, 
and  having  received  a  hint  that  his  friend  had  been 
prophesying  his  delinquency,  plead  predestination 
as  his  apology,  no  jury,  no  commissioners  of  bank- 
rupts would  listen  for  a  moment  to  such  a  plea : 
the  court  would  so  entirely  doubt  its  sincerity, 
that  they  would  scarcely  quarter  him  on  the 
Lunatic  Asylum  instead  of  committing  him  to 
gaol.     The  only  difference  between  the  prescience 


ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY.  4>3 

of*  the  wise  man  and  that  of  the  Deity,  but  that  a 
most  important  one,  is  that  the  first  is  fallible,  the 
last  inflillible.  But  that  infallibility  has  no  ten- 
dency whatever  to  exonerate  the  evil  doer.  It 
lays  no  more  previous  obligation  to  do  evil,  than 
would  the  fallible  prognostication  which  happened 
to  be  true,  but  might  have  been  false. 

I  do  not  know  whether  we  may  not  be  assisted 
in  unravelling  this  tangled  thread,  by  the  very 
perplexities  of  Epicurus. 

To  secure  his  liberty,  he  thought  it  necessary  to 
deny  that  every  proposition  is  either  true  or  false. 
He  was  afraid  of  the  affirmative  ;  Chrysippus  could 
not  support  his  fatality  with  the  negative,  and 
thought  it  inconsistent  with  common  sense.  Cicero 
gives  the  following  account  of  the  controversy. 
**  Itaque  contendit  omnes  nervos  Chrysippus,  ut 
persuadeat,  omne  a^/w/xa  aut  verum  esse,  aut  fal- 
sum.  Ut  enim  Epicurus  veretur,  ne,  si  hoc  con- 
cesserit,  concedendum  sit,  fato  fieri,  quaecumque 
fiant:  (si  enim  alterutrum  ex  aeternitate  verum 
sit,  esse  id  etiam  certum :  et,  si  certum,  etiam 
necessarium :  ita  et  necessitatem,  et  fatum  con- 
firmari  putat)  sic  Chrysippus  metuit,  ne,  si  non 
obtinuerit,  omne,  quod  enuntietur,  aut  verum 
esse,  aut  falsum,  non  ten  eat,  omnia  fato  fieri,  et 
ex  causis  a?ternis  rerum  futurarum.  Sed  Epicurus 
declinatione  atomi  vitari  fati  necessitatem  putat. 
Itaque  tertius  quidam  motus  oritur  extra  pondus 
et  plagam,  (deviating  from  the  perpendiciilar,  which 
he  holds  to  be  the  natural,  and  a.s  it  were  instinctive 
tendency  of  the  atom,)  cum  declinat  atomus  inter- 
val lo  minimo.  Id  appellet  ix«;)^i(rroy.  Quam  de- 
clinationem  sine  causa  fieri  si  minus  verbis,  re 
cogitur  confiteri Hanc  rationem  Epicurus 


44  ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY. 

induxit  ob  earn  rem,  quod  veritus  est,  ne,  si  semper 
atomus  gravitate  ferretur  naturali,  ac  necessaria, 
nihil  liberum  nobis  esset,  cum  ita  moveretur  animus, 
ut  atomorum  motu  cogeretur.  Hinc  Democritus, 
auctor  atomorum,  accipere  maluit,  necessitate  omnia 
fieri,  quam  a  corporibus  individuis  naturales  motus 
avellere."— Z)^  FatOy  cap.  10.  But  Cicero  had 
before  said,  cap.  9.,  that  he  need  not  have  denied 
the  doctrine,  maintained  not  only  by  Chrysip- 
pus,  but  by  Leucippus  and  Democritus  from 
whom  he  borrowed.  "Nee  magis  erat  verum, 
Morietur  Scipio,  quam,  Morietur  illo  modo :  nee 
minus  necesse  mori  Scipionem,  quam  illo  modo 
mori:  nee  magis  immutabile  ex  vero  in  fal- 
sum,  Necatus  est  Scipio,  quam  Necabitur  Scipio  : 
nee,  cum  haec  ita  sint,  est  causa,  cur  Epicurus 
fatum  extim^escat,  et  ab  atomis  petat  praesidium, 
easque  de  via  deducat,  et  uno  tempore  suscipiat 
res  duas  inenodabiles ;  unam,  ut  sine  causa  fiat 
aliquid,  ex  quo  exsistet,  ut  de  nihilo  quippiam 
fiat,  quod  nee  ipsi,  nee  cuiquam  physico  placet; 
alteram,  ut,  cum  duo  individua  per  inanitatem 
ferantur,  alterum  e  regione  moveatur,  alterum 
declinet.  Licet  enim  Epicuro,  concedenti,  omne 
enuntiatum  aut  verum,  aut  falsum  esse,  non  vereri, 
ne  omnia  f ato  fieri  sit  necesse  :  non  enim  geternis 
causis,  naturag  necessitate  manantibus,  verum  est 
id,  quod  ita  enuntiatur  :  Descendit  in  Academiam 
Carneades:  nee  tamen  sine  causis:  sed  interest 
inter  causas  fortuito  antegressas,  et  inter  causas 
cohibentes  in  se  efficientiam  naturalem.  Ita  et 
semper  verum  fuit,  Morietur  Epicurus,  cum  duo  et 
septuaginta  annos  vixerit,  Archonte  Py tharato ;  ne- 
que  tamen  erant  causae  fatales,  cur  ita  accideret: 
sed,  quod  ita  cecidisset,  certe  casunirii,  sicut  ceci- 
dit,  fuit.'' 


ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY..  45 

In  this  illustration  touching  the  period  of  Epi- 
curus's  death,  Cicero  seems  to  have  laid  hold  of 
the  subtle,  but  true  distinction,  that  there  were 
no  necessary  causes  why  he  should  die  just  at  that 
time  ;  but,  its  having  so  happened,  shows  that  it 
was  so  to  happen  from  accidental  causes.  Now 
the  question  is,  whether  the  tertius  motus  of  Epi- 
curus, whimsical  as  it  is  in  his  application  of  it, 
may  not  enable  us  to  avoid  the  extremes  of  pre- 
destination or  the  denial  of  foreknowledge.  We 
probably  increase  our  own  difficulties,  by  looking 
too  exclusively  at  the  final  act  as  a  single  point, 
which  confessedly  must  either  be  or  not  be,  and 
negligently  passing  over  all  that  vacillation  of 
purpose  and  alternation  of  opinion  on  the  part  of 
the  person  ultimately  acting  either  right  or  wrong, 
which  Epicurus  would  ascribe  to  the  atoms  de- 
clining from  the  direct  line  in  the  vacuum^  but  which 
middle  state  of  mind  is  as  much  the  subject  of  that 
foreknowledge,  with  the  exact  moment  at  which 
hesitation  shall  subside  into  resolution,  as  the  overt 
act  which  closes  the  whole.  The  foreknowledge 
in  question  therefore  is  prophetic,  and  it  is  judicial ; 
but  it  is  not  compulsory.  As  the  subtlety  of  the 
distinction  can  only  be  rendered  tangible,  to  those 
who  are  not  habituated  to  these  discussions,  by 
familiar  illustration,  the  foreknowledge  of  God 
may  perhaps  be  best  reconciled  with  the  free-will 
of  man,  the  mercies  of  his  moral  providence  with 
the  allowance  of  evil  in  the  world,  by  running  a 
parallel,  but  at  a  vast  distance,  between  his  conduct 
and  that  of  an  earthly  father.  The  father,  wise 
and  experienced,  is  anxious  to  preserve  the  in- 
nocence and  virtue  of  his  son  ;  but  is  aware  of  all 
the  influence  which  the  temptations  o^  the  world 
exercise  over   the   young   and   thoughtless.     He 


46  ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY. 

might  indeed  ensure  his  great  object  by  locking  his 
son  up,  or  at  least  by  never  trusting  him  out  of  his 
sight :  but  he  considers  that  forced  virtue  is  no 
virtue  at  all ;  that  a  slave,  however  well  he  may 
conduct  himself,  holds  not  the  moral  rank  of  a  free 
man.  He  therefore  throws  his  son  into  general 
society,  at  the  risk  of  his  plunging  into  all  manner 
of  vice,  and  with  the  certainty  that  he  will  fall 
into  many  errors.  How  then  is  his  paternal  watch- 
fulness to  be  reconciled  with  this  abandonment? 
By  the  indirect  mode  of  its  operation.  He  looks  at 
his  son's  movements  from  a  distance,  he  exercises 
an  unperceived  influence,  by  means  which  though 
artificially  contrived,  appear  to  the  subject  acted 
upon  not  only  natural,  but  accidental.  But  these 
means,  because  they  must  not  be  visible  nor  ope- 
rate by  force,  do  not  always  accomplish  their  end : 
and  the  father  foreknows  such  occasional  failure, 
for  which  he  provides  this  remedy.  He  lays  such 
a  train  of  consequences,  he  graduates  such  a  scale 
of  penalty,  that  the  first  transgression  shall  operate 
as  a  warning,  the  second  shall  produce  suffering, 
but  without  absolute  ruin,  the  third  shall  be  accom- 
panied with  such  severe  results,  as  shall  be  calcu- 
lated to  ensure  repentance  without  engendering 
despair.  Superinduce  upon  the  erroneous  calcu- 
lations of  man,  perfection  and  unerring  wisdom, 
and  you  have  something  like  a  theory  of  Divine 
Providence,  not  at  variance  with  free  agency.  * 

*  After  all,  I  am  conscious  of  having  rather  removed  the 
difficulty  one  step  higher,  than  explained  it  away.  Prescience 
itself  seems  accounted  for  by  the  analogy  given  in  illustration ; 
but  the  question  remains  how  to  reconcile  it  with  power,  and 
that  power  almighty.  The  earthly  father,  though  he  foresee 
evil,  cannot  prevent  it ;  the  Heavenly  Father  might,  but  does 
not.  We  must  here  limit  our  opinions  within  the  sphere  of 
revelation,  and  abandon  vain  philosophy. 


ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY.  4? 

But  to  return  to  Epicurus;  we  have  not  yet 
done  with  that  precious  contrivance  of  his,  the 
decHnation  of  atoms.  Rather  than  give  up  his 
point  to  his  adversary,  he  proposes  an  hypothesis 
connecting  two  propositions,  between  which  there-^* 
is  neither  connection  nor  dependence.  The  soul 
of  man  is  composed  of  atoms,  which  have  the 
common  property  of  other  atoms,  that  they  move 
necessarily  in  right  lines ;  but  the  atoms  com- 
posing the  soul  are  in  one  respect  sui  generis,  that 
they  decline  a  little  from  the  straight  way :  there- 
fore the  soul  of  man  is  a  free  agent.  It  is  impos- 
sible not  to  ask.  Wherefore  ?  Let  us  hear  Cicero's 
criticism  on  this  declination.  "  Hoc  persaepe 
facitis,  ut,  cum  aliquid  non  verisimile  dicatis,  et 
effugere  reprehensionem  velitis,  afFeratis  aliquid, 
quod  omnino  ne  fieri  quidem  possit ;  ut  satius 
fuerit  illud  ipsum,  de  quo  ambigebatur,  concedere, 
quam  tam  impudenter  resistere :  velut  Epicurus, 
cum  videret,  si  atomi  ferrentur  in  locum  inferiorem 
suopte  pondere,  nihil  fore  in  nostra  potestate,  quod 
esset  earum  motus  certus  et  necessarius ;  invenit, 
quo  modo  necessitatem  effugeret,  quod  videlicet 
Democritum  fugerat.  Ait  atomum,  cum  pondere 
et  gravitate  directo  deorsum  feratur,  declinare 
paullulum.  Hoc  dicere  tuq^ius  est,  quam  illud, 
quod  vult,  non  posse  defendere."  —  De  Natura 
Deor,  lib.  i.  cap.  ^5.  So  must  we  think  :  and 
the  apology  of  Epicurus  for  the  liberty  taken  by 
this  class  of  his  atoms,  that  they  have  deviated 
from  the  up  and  down  of  their  fellows  only  paul- 
lulum, reminds  me  of  an  amusing  passage  in 
Froissart.  The  quaint  old  historian  soflens  down 
the  act  of  the  Count  de  Foix,  in  kilhng  his  son 
and  heir,  Gaston,  by  alleging  ill  luck,  an  evil  hour. 


48  ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY. 

the  boy's  weakness,  and  the  extreme  smallness  of 
the  point  of  the  knife :  in  short,  he  killed  his  son 
paullulum.  The  circumstances  of  the  murder, 
and  the  causes  which  led  to  it,  are  altogether 
whimsical.  The  count  had  promised  his  subjects, 
with  whom  Gaston  was  a  favourite,  that  he  would 
not  put  him  to  death,  though  he  deserved  it ;  but 
would  only  chastise  him  by  two  or  three  months' 
imprisonment,  and  then  send  him  on  his  travels. 
The  youth  took  his  confinement  in  dudgeon,  and 
would  not  eat.  The  count  fell  into  a  passion  at 
this,  and,  in  the  words  of  my  late  friend  Mr. 
Johnes's  translation,  "  without  saying  a  word,  left 
his  apartment  and  went  to  the  prison  of  his  son. 
In  an  evil  hour,  he  had  in  his  hand  a  knife,  with 
which  he  had  been  paring  and  cleaning  his  nails, 
he  held  it  by  the  blade  so  closely  that  scarcely  the 
thickness  of  a  groat  appeared  of  the  point,  when, 
pushing  aside  the  tapestry  that  covered  the  en- 
trance of  the  prison,  through  ill  luck,  he  hit  his 
son  on  a  vein  of  the  throat,  as  he  uttered,  «  Ha, 
traitor,  why  dost  thou  not  eat  ? '  and  instantly  left 
the  room,  without  saying  or  doing  any  thing  more. 
The  youth  was  much  frightened  at  his  father's 
arrival,  and  withal  exceedingly  weak  from  fasting. 
The  point  of  the  knife,  small  as  it  was,  cut  a  vein, 
which  as  soon  as  he  felt,  he  turned  himself  on  one 
side  and  died."  Let  it  not  be  supposed,  however, 
that  the  Count  de  Foix  was  a  monster  :  he  behaved 
like  the  rest  of  the  world  on  melancholy  occasions  : 
"  he  ordered  his  barber  to  be  sent  for,  and  was 
shaven  quite  bare :  he  clothed  himself,  as  well  as 
his  whole  household,  in  black." 

Carneades,  according  to  Cicero,  invented  a  more 
subtle  solution  than  that  of  the  Epicureans.  "  Acu- 


Oli    THE   EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY.  4^ 

tius  Carneades,  qui  docebat,  posse  Epicureos  su- 
am  causam  sine  hac  commenticia  declinatione 
defendere.  Nam  cum  doceret,  esse  posse  quen- 
dam  animi  motum  voluntarium,  id  fuit  defend! 
melius,  quam  introducere  declinationem,  cujus 
praesertim  causam  reperire  non  possent.  Quo 
defenso,  facile  Chrysippo  possent  resistere.  .  .  . 
.  .  .  De  ipsa  atomo  dici  potest,  cum  per  inane 
moveatur  gravitate  et  pondere,  sine  causa  moved, 
quia  nulla  causa  accedat  extrinsecus.  Rursus 
autem,  ne  omnes  a  physicis  irrideamur,  si  di- 
camus,  quidquam  fieri  sine  causa,  distinguen- 
dum  est,  et  ita  dicendum,  ipsius  individui  hanc 
esse  naturam,  ut  pondere  et  gravitate  moveatur, 
eamque  ipsam  esse  causam,  cur  ita  feratur.  Si- 
militer ad  animorum  motus  voluntarios,  non  est 
requirenda  externa  causa.  Motus  enim  volun- 
tarius  eam  naturam  in  se  ipse  continet,  ut  sit  in 
nostra  potestate,  nobisque  pareat:  nee  id  sine 
causa.  Ejus  enim  rei  causa,  ipsa  natura  est" — 
De  Fato,  cap.  11.  This  is  ingenious:  but  it  does 
not  seem  to  exempt  us  from  the  fatality  of  the 
Stoics.  These  voluntary  motions  of  the  soul, 
though  not  dependent  on  external  causes,  are 
dependent  on  the  nature  of  the  soul,  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  motion  of  gravity  depends  on  the 
nature  of  atoms.  Nor  do  we  escape  from  the 
difficulty  on  the  Platonic  system :  for  that  pro- 
ceeds on  the  supposition  that  matter  had  a  soul, 
even  before  God  framed  the  world.  Plutarch 
discusses  tliis  question,  De  Animae  Procreatione, 
in  Timaeo  Platonis.  In  the  course  of  that  treatise, 
he  thus  expresses  himself,  with  respect  to  the 
doctrine  of  atoms :  — 


v50  ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY. 

cTiv,  cyj  uvdiTiov  sTTSKTayovTi  xlvria-iv  ex  toO  {ji,v)  ovtos'  avro)  Sb 
xoixlav  xcti  auxo^aiiioviotv  tog-olutyiv,  erigug  re  'Gxeg)  (rtoy^ex,  fj^vpiotg 
aroTtiois  xal  hvo-^egeloi^,  ctWiotv  sv  Tctig  ocg^oug  ovk  k^oocrois,  xctT 
eTToixoXov^Yja-iv  ysyovevtxt  Xsyovariv. 

Lactantius  ascribes  the  popularity  of  the  Epi- 
curean doctrine,  not  to  its  merit,  but  to  the  alluring 
term  of  pleasure.  "Epicuri  disciplina  multo  cele- 
brior  semper  fuit,  quam  caeterorum,  non  quia  veri 
aliquid  afferat,  sed  quia  multos  populare  nomen 
voluptatis  invitat." — Divin,  Instit.  lib.  iii.  cap.  17* 

After  the  revival  of  learning  in  the  fiileenth 
century,  Epicurus  began  to  be  spoken  of  in  more 
favourable  terms,  at  least  in  point  of  morals,  than 
the  undistinguishing  character  of  barbarous  ages 
and  the  prejudices  of  schoolmen  and  monks  had 
previously  allowed.  Gassendi  says,  "  Cum  Epi- 
curus infamis  fuisset  habitus  tota  ilia  pene  saecu- 
lorum  serie,  qua  literae  bonae  sepultae  jacuerunt ; 
vix  tamen  libros  humaniores,  pulvere  excusso,  re- 
diisse  in  manus  ante  duo  fere  saecula,  quam  omnes 
pene  eruditi  symbolum  pro  eo  contulerunt." — De 
Vita  et  Moribus  Epicuri. 

Among  many  others,  some  of  whom  held  up 
Epicurus  as  the  man,  of  all  the  ancient  philoso- 
phers, who  came  nearest  to  the  truth  ;  some,  on 
the  other  hand,  were  content  with  apologising  for 
his  errors ;  Gassendi  mentions  Arnaud  of  Provence. 
"  Andreas  Arnaudus  Forcalqueriensis  in  hac  Pro- 
vincia  Prosenescallus  in  libello,  cui  nomen  Joci, 
Apologiam  pro  Epicuro  inter  caetera  edidit,  brevem 
illam  quidem,  et  foliolis  paucis  ;  sed  in  qua  tamen 
ea  delibantur  ex  Laertio  praesertim,  atque  Seneca, 
unde  convincatur,  quod  vir  ille  pereruditus  initio 
proponit,  fuisse  Epicurum  irijustius  lacessilum,  et 
laniatum  ah  obtrectatoribics,** 


ON    THE    EPICUREAN    PHILOSOPHY.  51 

There  are  several  remarks  scattered  up  and 
down  both  Coelius  Rhodiginus  and  Alexander  ab 
Alexandro,  on  the  doctrines  of*  Epicurus,  and  the 
character  of  the  Epicureans.  Sir  William  Temple, 
in  the  second  part  of  his  Miscellanea,  has  an  ele- 
gant and  ingenious  article  on  the  subject  of  gar- 
dening, written  in  the  year  1685,  in  which  he 
descants  upon  the  gardens  of  Epicurus,  and  de- 
fends their  owner  with  considerable  address.  The 
essay  is  well  worth  perusal,  both  as  to  its  matter, 
and  as  a  specimen  of  the  author's  style. 

I  shall  close  the  present  subject  with  a  cu- 
rious passage  from  Pliny,  from  which  it  appears 
not  only  that  Epicurus  was  worn  on  rings  and 
engraved  on  cups,  as  a  family  omen  of  good  luck, 
but  that  "  lidem  palaestras  athletarum  imaginibus, 
et  ceromata  sua  exornant,  et  vultus  Epicuri  per 
cubicula  gestant,  accircumferuntsecum." — Natur. 
Hist,  Hb.  XXXV. 


£  ii 


52 


ON  THE  ARISTOTELIAN  PHILOSOPHY. 


Macrobius  gives  an  account  of  an  author  who 
expresses  himself  thus  :  "  Turn  ille :  Recte  et  hoc 
Aristoteles,  ut  caetera.  Nee  possum  non  assentiri 
viro,  cujus  inventis  nee  ipsa  natura  dissentit." — 
Saturn,  lib.  vii.  cap.  6. 

The  quantity  of  Latin  and  Greek  in  these  pages 
is  much  to  be  regretted :  because  in  consequence 
thereof  the  information  will  reach  but  few  ladies, 
that  the  occasion  on  which  this  high  comphment 
was  paid  to  the  infallible  philosopher,  whom  Nature, 
the  head  of  the  sex,  could  not  well  venture  to  con- 
tradict, was  most  honourable  to  them.  As  philo- 
sophy was  the  topic  of  some  of  Cicero's  dialogues, 
oratory  of  others,  so  the  subject  of  the  question  in 
hand  was  wine :  respecting  which  Aristotle,  it 
seems,  had  laid  down  the  following  dogma ;  that 
women  get  drunk  very  seldom,  but  old  men  very 
often.  The  name  of  the  gentleman  who  admitted 
the  fact,  in  consideration  of  the  authority,  was 
Disarius  :  but  the  very  words  above  quoted  inti- 
mate, that  he  was  borne  down,  not  convinced. 
Referring  this  point  to  the  test  of  family  expe- 
rience, let  us  look  at  less  hyperbolical  testimonials 
to  the  character  of  a  philosopher,  who  still  exercises 
a  considerable,  though  diminished  influence  over 
the  opinions  of  the  learned  and  the  scientific.  But 
as  his    works  are  extant    to  tell  their  owh   tale. 


ON    THE    ARISTOTELIAN    PHILOSOPHY.  56 

and  as  his  opinions  are  before  the  world,  operative 
in  themselves,  and  the  subjects  of  frequent  criti- 
cism, not  the  mere  objects  of  literary  curiosity,  my 
remarks  on  them  will  run  into  no  considerable 
length. 

"  Cum  omnis  ratio  diligens  disserendi  duas  ha- 
beat  partes  ;  unam  inveniendi,  alteram  judicandi : 
utri usque  princeps,  ut  mihi  quidem  yidetur,  Ari- 
stoteles  fuit." — Cicero?i.  Topic,  cap.  2. 

Casaubon  thus  expresses  his  opinion  of  Aristotle's 
superiority  to  tlie  Stoics,  in  the  knowledge  of  logic  : 
•*  Logicae  peritiam  commendat :  de  qua  multum 
se  Stoici  jactabant :  ego  pueros  puto  fuisse,  prae 
divino  Aristotele  :  et  eorum  in  hoc  genere  scripta 
Sfixov  xa»  (pxr}voiipov,  pras  Aristotclis  Organo  :  quo  opere 
omnia  mortalium  ingenia  (divina  aut  de  rebus 
divinis  semper  excipio:)  longe  superavit."  —  In 
Per  stum,  sat.  v.  lin.  86. 

Rapin  has  this  passage  in  his  Reflections  on 
Logic  :  —  II  ne  parut  rien  de  regie  et  d'etably  sur 
la  Logique,  devant  Aristote.  Ce  genie  si  plein 
de  raison  et  d'intelligence,  approfondit  tellement 
Tabysme  de  Tesprit  humain,  qu'il  en  penetra  tous 
les  ressors,  par  la  distinction  exacte,  qu'il  fit  de 
ses  operations.  On  n'avoit  point  encore  sonde  ce 
vaste  fond  des  pensees  de  Thomme,  pour  en  con- 
noistre  la  profbndeur.  Aristote  fut  le  premier,  qui 
decouvrit  cette  nouvelle  voye,  pour  parvenir  a  la 
science,  par  Tcvidence  de  la  demonstration,  et  pour 
aller  geometriquement  a  la  demonstration,  par  Pin- 
faillibilite  du  syllogisme,  I'ouvragc  le  plus  accom- 
ply,  et  refibrt  le  plus  grand  de  Tesprit  humain. 
Voili  en  abreg6  I'art  et  la  methode  de  la  Logi(jue 
d*  Aristote,  qui  est  si  seure,  qu'on  ne  pent  avoir  de 
parfaite  certitude   dans  le  raisonneinent  que   par 

£  3 


54  ON   THE    ARISTOTELIAN    PHILOSOPHY. 

cette  methode :  laquelle  est  une  regie  de  penser 
juste,  ce  qu'il  faut  penser." — Num.  iv.  p.  374> 
375. 

That  both  the  Logic  and  the  Physics  of  Aristotle 
are  the  productions  of  an  exalted  genius,  copious 
in  invention,  and  profound  in  appreciation,  is  what 
no  one  will  pretend  to  dispute  with  his  panegyrists: 
but  his  defects  are  also  so  numerous,  as  to  have 
made  the  emancipation  of  our  schools  from  his 
dominion  a  subject  of  congratulatory  joy.  He  for- 
sook the  path  of  his  most  eminent  predecessors. 
The  natural  philosophers  before  him  had  accounted 
for  the  changes  in  the  outward  form  of  matter, 
from  some  new  modification  of  its  particles ;  but  he, 
in  his  book  De  Generatione  et  Corruptione,  main- 
tained the  doctrine  of  generation,  properly  so 
called.  He  likewise  introduced  a  countless  num- 
ber of  forms  and  qualities,  distinct  from  sub- 
stance, which  bewildered  his  followers,  and  filled 
their  mouths  with  a  jargon  about  entities,  and  so 
forth,  to  abolish  which,  and  to  substitute  the  ra- 
tionality of  experimental  philosophy,  required  the 
practical  good  sense  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
and  such  a  genius  as  that  of  Bacon  to  give  it  its 
proper  direction. 

In  Father  Rapin's  Comparison  of  Plato  and 
Aristotle,  he  refers  to  Baronius's  Ecclesiastical  An- 
nals of  the  years  120  and  208,  and  to  the  twenty- 
seventh  chapter  of  Eusebius's  History,  for  the  fact 
of  divine  honours  paid  to  this  philosopher. 

"  Les  Carpocratiens  furent  condamnez  pour  avoir 
mis  I'image  de  ce  Philosophe  avec  celle  de  Jesus 
Christ,  etpour  I'avoir  adoree  par  une  extravagance 
de  zele  pour  sa  doctrine.  Les  Aetiens  furent  ex- 
communiez  par  PEghse,  et  par  les  Aniens  meme. 


Oy    THE    ARISTOTELIAN    PHILOSOPHY.  55 

dont  iJs  estoient  sortis  :  parce  qu'ils  donnoient  a 
leurs  disciples  les  Categories  d'Aristote  pour  Ca- 
techisme.  Les  Antinomiens  allerent  jusques  a  cet 
exces  d'impiete,  que  de  porter  plus  de  respect  a  ce 
sage  Payen,  qu'a  la  Sagesse  increee." — Page  392. 

In  another  passage  of  the  same  work,  he  finds 
out  a  curious  reason  for  the  strong  cry  of  the  first 
reformers  against  the  Peripatetics.  "  Mais  rien 
ne  fit  plus  d'honneur  a  la  doctrine  de  ce  grand 
homme  dans  le  siecle  passe,  que  les  invectives 
atroces  de  Luther,  de  Melancthon,  de  Bucer,  de 
Calvin,  de  Postel,  de  Paul  Sarpy,  et  de  tons  ceux 
qui  ecrivirent  alors  contre  PEglise  Romaine.  Car 
ils  ne  se  plaignent  tons  d' Aristote  que  parce  que  la 
solidite  de  sa  methode  donne  un  grand  avantage 
aux  Catholiques  pour  decouvrir  les  ruses  et  les 
artifices  des  faux  raisonnemens,  dont  se  sert  Phe- 
resie  pour  deguiser  le  mensonge  et  detruire  la 
verite." — Page  412.  Here  is  an  admission  on  the 
part  of  the  Father,  that  Aristotle  was  deposed  in 
our  schools,  and  Protestantism  (for  we  must  not 
ask  him  to  call  it  Reformation)  established  in  our 
churches  almost  simultaneously  :  he  says,  because 
Aristotle's  method  of  disputing  was  formidable  to 
innovators :  we  say,  because  the  rank  luxuriance 
of  his  system  overshadowed,  choked  up,  and  hin- 
dered the  growth  of  true,  healthful,  and  vital  re- 
ligion. 

Suidas  makes  Aristotle  Nature's  secretary  :— "Ot» 

»l;  vouv  ov  ou5ev  t<ru)g  ex§*jv  tcuv  p^^»]<rt/xcov,  ei  x«i  Ti^vixamgov 
•(TTi  KOi)  tregiTTOTsgov  i^ngyoia-fjiivov,  TragaiTeTc-^ai. 

To  his  reputation  as  a  teacher  during  his  life- 
time,  we  have  the  sanction  of  Philip's  judgment : — 
"  Neque   vero   hoc  fugit    sapientissimum    regem, 

E    i 


56  ON    THE    ARISTOTELIAN    PHILOSOPHY. 

Philippum,  qui  hunc  Alexandro  filio  doctorem 
accierit,  a  quo  eodem  ille  et  agendi  acciperet  prae- 
cepta  et  loquendi."  —  Cic»  de  Orat,  lib.  iii. 

It  was  after  the  residence  of  Aristotle  for  three 
years  with  Hermias,  that  Philip,  king  of  Macedon, 
made  himself  master  of  Thrace,  and  almost  of  all 
Greece.  Knowing  Aristotle's  high  character,  he 
wrote  him  a  very  civil  letter  of  invitation,  propos- 
ing the  office  of  tutor  to  his  son  Alexander,  who 
was  then  about  fourteen  years  old.  Aristotle  ac- 
cepted the  office,  and  continued  for  eight  years  in 
the  train  of  tlie  young  prince.  The  subjects  of  his 
tuition  were,  eloquence,  natural  philosophy,  morals, 
politics,  and  the  occult  sciences.  On  this  latter 
subject,  Plutarch  speaks  of  a  private  system  of 
philosophy,  which  the  professor  withheld  from  all 
but  his  royal  disciple,  with  respect  to  whose  zeal 
for  knowledge,  we  have  the  following  account :  — 
"  Alexandro  Magno  rege  inflammato  cupidine  aiii- 
malium  naturas  noscendi,  delegataque  hac  com- 
mentatione  Aristoteli,  summo  in  onmi  doctrina  viro, 
aliquot  millia  hominum  in  totius  Asiae  Graeciaeque 
tractu  parere  jussa,  omnium  quos  venatus,  aucupia, 
piscatusque  alebant:  quibusque  vivaria,  armenta, 
alvearia,  piscinae,  aviaria  in  cura  erant :  ne  quid 
usquam  genitum  ignoraretur  ab  eo :  quos  percun- 
ctando,  quinquaginta  ferme  volumina  ilia  praeclara 
de  animalibus  condidit :  quag  a  me  collecta  in 
arctum,  cum  iis  quae  ignoraverat,  quaeso  ut  legentes 
boni  consulant,  in  universis  rerum  naturae  operibus, 
medioque  clarissimi  regum  omnium  desiderio,  cura 
nostra breviterperegrinantes." — Plin.  1.  viii.  cap.  16. 

Plutarch  tells  us,  that  Alexander  was  angry  with 
his  preceptor  for  having  published  any  part  of  his 
lectures  ;  and  under  the  influence  of  such  feelings, 


ON    THE    ARISTOTELIAN    PHILOSOPHY.  57 

had  paid  particular  attention  to  Xenocrates.  Aris- 
totle was  so  highly  offended  at  this,  that  he  became 
a  party  to  Antipater's  conspiracy.  That  blockhead 
Caracalla  aped  Alexander  in  every  thing,  and  fan- 
cied himself  to  be  involved  in  similar  destinies. 
He  had  taken  it  into  his  head  that  Aristotle  had 
contributed  to  Alexander's  death,  and  therefore 
expelled  the  Peripatetic  philosophers  from  Alexan- 
dria. But  the  opinion  that  there  was  any  per- 
manent misunderstanding  between  the  prince  and 
the  philosopher  was  entirely  unfounded.  Alex- 
ander gave  no  credit  to  the  suggestion  of  treason  ; 
and  after  Callisthenes's  death,  and  in  the  full  ca- 
reer of  victory,  he  gave  Aristotle  commission,  as 
the  above  passage  of  Pliny  informs  us,  to  pursue 
the  history  and  philosophy  of  animals  with  the 
utmost  vigour,  and  to  the  greatest  extent.  *'  Per- 
secutus  est  Aristoteles  animantium  omnium  ortus, 
victus,  figuras." — Cic,  de  Fin.  lib.  v. 

Aristotle's  method  was  diametrically  opposite  to 
that  of  Plato  and  Pythagoras : — **  Siquidem,  quae 
illi  de  substantiis  intelligibilibus,  aut  numeris,  et 
reliquis  hujusmodi  dixere,  ea  Aristoteles  ad  res 
corporeas  transtulit,  sensuique  subjectas." — Bessar. 
Card,  in  Calum.  lib.  ii.  cap.  4.  Plato's  system  is,  that 
to  arrive  at  the  knowledge  of  things,  we  must  be- 
gin with  universals  and  descend  to  particulars. 
Aristotle's  doctrine  is,  that  from  the  knowledge  of 
particular  things  addressing  the  senses,  we  rise  to 
the  knowledge  of  general  and  immaterial  things. 
He  lays  down  the  following  as  an  unquestionable 
principle  :  **  Nihil  est  in  intellectu  quod  non  fucrit 
prius  in  sensu."  According  to  the  constitution  of 
man,  there  can  be  no  certainty  in  our  judgment  of 
sensible  things,  by  any  other  criterion  than  that  of 


58  ON    THE    ARISTOTELIAN    PHILOSOPHY. 

the  senses.  In  this  position  he  completely  coin- 
cides with  the  modern  experimental  philosopher. 
Plato's  maxim  is,  to  arrive  at  the  knowledge  of 
things  by  ideas,  which  are  to  be  considered  as  their 
originals  :  Aristotle's  is,  to  arrive  at  the  knowledge 
of  them  by  the  effects,  which  are  the  expressions 
and  the  copies  of  those  ideas.  The  order  esta- 
blished by  Plato  is  that  of  nature,  following  herself 
out,  in  a  progress  from  cause  to  effects  :  Aristotle's 
order  goes  to  the  cause  by  means  of  the  effect. 
But  sense  is  fallible :  for  which  reason  the  know- 
ledge of  universals,  founded  on  the  knowledge  of 
particulars,  is  faulty  in  principle,  and  liable  to  error 
in  practice.  Aristotle  endeavours  to  find  the  means 
of  rectifying  the  principle,  and  rendering  it  infal- 
lible, by  what  he  calls  his  universal  organ. 

In  a  book  of  Cicero  before  quoted,  Aristotle  is 
represented  as  possessing  talent  so  superior  to  all 
other  talents,  that  few  persons  can  keep  pace  with 
him.  "  Quod  quidem  minime  sum  admiratus,  eum 
philosophum  rhetori  non  esse  cognitum,  qui  ab 
ipsis  philosophis,  praeter  admodum  paucos,  igno- 
raretur." — Topic,  cap.  1. 

The  general  character  of  his  opinions,  making 
allowance  for  the  maze  in  which  all  Greek  phi- 
losophy was  involved,  was  that  of  wisdom  and 
sound  judgment,  regularity  and  solidity,  giving 
more  satisfaction  to  the  mind  than  the  system  either 
of  the  Stoics  or  the  Epicureans.  Altered  as  are  the 
habits  of  philosophising,  there  are  few  rational  max- 
ims of  which  some  trace  and  impression  is  not  to 
be  found  in  him,  however  encumbered  by  hard 
terms  or  obscurity  of  expression.  No  person  ever 
entertained  a  higher  opinion  of  human  reason,  and 
few  have  carried  it  so  far.     A  passage  has  already 


ON    THE    ARISTOTELIAN    PHILOSOPHY.  59 

been  quoted  from  Pliny :  he  thus  mentions  him  in 
another  place  : — "  Sed  idem  Aristoteles,  vir  immen- 
sge  subtilitatis,  qui  id  ipsum  fecit,  rationem  con- 
vexitatis  mundi  reddit,  qua  contrarius  Aquilo  Africo 
flat."  The  obscurity  with  which  he  is  reproached, 
must  in  justice  be  partly  attributed  to  his  subjects, 
and  to  the  profundity  with  which  he  treats  them. 
He  soars  into  the  clouds,  and  dives  into  tlie  deep. 
He  aims  at  developing  all  the  secrets  of  nature  : 
the  precipices  are  his  pathway :  the  ordinary  road 
of  truth  is  left  to  common  minds  ;  and  he  delights 
to  travel  where  he  can  have  but  few  companions. 
His  writings  have  more  force  than  elegance  ;  and 
they  certainly  are,  however  pardonably,  deficient 
in  clearness.  This  fault  is  in  some  measure  pro- 
duced by  the  extreme  conciseness  of  his  style; 
which  occasions  a  constraint  and  embarrassment  in 
his  elocution.  His  manner  seems  more  calculated 
to  surprise  than  to  persuade  :  it  would  be  neces- 
sary, it  has  been  observed,  to  hear  him  speak  to 
understand  his  doctrine.  An  affectation  of  obscu- 
rity on  some  occasions  conceals  what  Pythagoras 
concealed  under  symbols,  and  Plato  under  alle- 
gories. This  disposition  to  outrun  those  whom  he 
professes  to  guide,  has  been  very  instrumental  in 
undermining  his  popularity  with  the  moderns  :  and 
Bacon,  in  his  Essays,  accuses  him  of  ostentation : 
but  strangely  enough,  he  associates  Socrates  and 
Galen  in  the  charge.  Casaubon,  on  the  contrary, 
in  his  notes  on  Laertius,  in  the  same  spirit  in  which 
he  panegyrises  him  in  the  Commentary  on  Persius, 
says  that  none  but  sophists  and  rhetoricians,  pro- 
verbially superficial,  ever  speak  ill  of  him.  He 
quotes  the  sentiment  of  an  ancient  philosopher  to 


60  ON    THE-  ARISTOTELIAN    PHILOSOPHY. 

that  effect,  who  says  that  the  criticisms  of  his  cen- 
surers  recoil  upon  themselves. 

With  respect  to  his  style,  it  meets  with  Cicero's 
approbation  in  his  Brutus.  "  Quis  Aristotele  ner- 
vosior,  Theophrasto  dulcior?  Lectitavisse  Platonem 
studiose,  audivisse  etiam  Demosthenes  dicitur: 
idque  apparet  ex  genere  et  granditate  verborum." 
Rapin  thinks  he  can  never  say  enough  on  the 
discovery  of  the  syllogism.  **  Et  cette  construction 
du  syllogisme,  qui  est  la  veritable  Logique  d'Aris- 
tote  est  si  parfaite  en  son  genre,  qu'on  n'a  pu 
depuis  y  rien  ajouter,  ny  rien  diminuer,  sans  la 
gater.  Quand  on  a  le  sens  droit,  on  ne  peut 
souffrir  d'aiitre  maniere  de  raisonner,  ny  d'autres 
principes  du  raisonnement,  que  ceux  d'Aristote. 
Et  comme  I'on  dispute  de  tout  temps  contre  la 
raison  :  parce  que  c'est  d'ordinaire  Topinion  qui 
gouverne  le  monde :  les  siecles  sensez  ne  se  sont 
distinguez  des  autres,  que  par  Testime  qu'ils  ont 
faite  de  la  Logique  d'Aristote.*'  —  Reflexions  sur 
la  Logique. 

Among  the  moderns  who  have  formed  them- 
selves on  the  ancients  Descartes  holds  a  distin- 
guished place.  He  was  one  of  the  first  who 
united  Geometry  with  Physics.  To  exquisite  skill 
in  the  former,  he  added  a  strong  imagination, 
fertile  in  new  and  curious  ideas.  It  is  true,  he 
raised  for  himself  a  superstructure  on  a  sandy 
foundation  ;  and  therefore  it  did  not  stand  :  but  at 
all  events  he  performed  the  service  of  Samson,  in 
pulling  down  the  temple  of  the  Philistines.  His 
principles  of  motion,  figure,  and  extension,  were 
nearly  the  same  with  those  of  Democritus  and 
Epicurus.  An  amusing  story  is  told  by  Rapin, 
that  Father  Mersene,  who  was  his  resident  at  Paris, 


ox    THE    ARISTOTELIAN    PHILOSOPHY.  61 

having  mentioned  one  day  in  a  company  of  learned 
men,  that  Monsieur  Descartes,  who  had  acquired 
a  high  character  in  Geometry,  was  drawing  up  a 
system  of  Natural  Philosophy,  in  which  he  ad- 
mitted a  vacuum^  the  system  was  ridiculed  by 
Robertoul  and  some  others,  who  prophesied  that 
on  such  a  foundation  it  would  come  to  nothing. 
Father  Mersene  wrote  to  him,  that  a  vacuum  was 
just  then  out  of  fashion  at  Paris.  On  this  inform- 
ation, Descartes  felt  himself  obliged  to  change  his 
scheme,  in  conformity  with  the  notions  of  the  Natural 
Philosophers  in  vogue,  for  whose  support  he  was  a 
candidate,  and  to  admit  the  plenum  of  Leucippus. 
"  Ainsi  Texclusion  du  vuide  devint  par  politique 
un  de  ses  principes."  To  obviate  the  difficulties 
started  by  Gassendi,  he  invented  his  doctrine  of 
subtle  matter,  which  was  to  suit  itself  to  all  the 
solid  interstices,  between  the  larger  solid  bodies, 
necessarily  clogging  and  interfering  with  each 
other,  unless  we  allow  some  fluid,  yielding  matter 
to  give  way  to  the  motions  of  the  other.  Thus  did 
he  endeavour  in  some  measure  to  reconcile  the 
two  opinions  of  the  plenum  and  the  vacuum :  to 
which  temporising  conduct  he  was  probably  in- 
duced, not  merely  by  the  ambition  of  being  the 
most  fashionable  philosopher,  but  by  the  strong 
hint  given  to  the  learned  world  in  general,  in  the 
person  of  Galileo,  who  was  at  this  time  thrown  into 
the  Inquisition,  for  asserting  the  earth's  motion. 
Tlie  consequence  of  this  complaisance  to  the  taste 
of  the  age  was,  that  Descartes  was  not  himself 
satisfied  with  his  own  after-thought  of  the  plcfium 
and  subtle  matter,  and  therefore  supports  it  with 
less  than  his  natural  power,  especially  in  what 
regarded  the  principle  of  motion.     Divines  have 


f>^  ON    THE    ARISTOTELIAN    PHILOSOPHY. 

with  much  justice  objected  to  his  metaphysics,  from 
the  sceptical  tendency  they  encourage.  They  are 
set  forth  in  his  Meditationes  de  prima  Philosophia. 
In  the  first  of  these  he  propounds  the  reasons  why 
we  ought  to  doubt  of  all  things  in  general,  the 
advantage  of  which  he  states  to  consist  in  delivering 
us  from  all  kinds  of  prejudices  arising  from  edu- 
cation and  commonly  received  but  unexamined 
impressions ;  and  even  disengaging  our  minds  from 
sense,  that  we  may  not  any  longer  doubt  of  the 
things,  which  we  shall  afterwards  discover  to  be 
true.  But  is  it  certain  that  we  shall  discover  these 
truths  ?  Does  he  not  ask  us  to  give  up  much  more 
than  he  can  satisfactorily  engage  to  replace  by  his 
system  ?  His  method  resembles  that  of  the  Pytha- 
goreans, spoken  of  by  Aristotle,  who  do  not  so 
much  endeavour  to  assign  a  reason  for  the  things 
which  they  explain,  as  to  make  every  thing  bend 
to  the  principles  they  have  assumed  j  in  like 
manner  he  seems  not  to  consider  his  system  as 
made  to  suit  the  sensible,  and  therefore  we  may 
suppose  actual  constitution  of  things,  but  the 
sensible  and  actual  constitution  of  things  as  made 
to  suit  his  system. 


63 


CHARACTER  OF  TIMON  THE  MISANTHROPE. 


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zavTO.  fXikXuiv  ouv  oixoSojXfTv  tov  toVov,  g^ouA^3»jv  8»j/xo(r/a 
f7^ogtTf7y  Tva  av  a^a  Tivf^  f<&eAa)(rtv  vfxwv,  ngtv  ixxofn^vat  t^v 
cuxijv,  ayray^cavrai,  TeKevT'fjaravTog  5g  auToO  xai  Ta^g'vT0j''AA>)(r« 
vxagoi  t^v  ^aXaanav,  ciXicr^i  Ta  vrgov^ovra  tou  alyiaXou*  xa»  to 

•  The  comic  writer  of  that  name. 

f  This  feast  took  place  on  the  second  or  middle  day  of  the 
Anthe«teria. 


64  CHARACTER    OF 

xOjU-a  trsgiffXdov,  oiouTOv  xu)  uTrgoo'TreXoia'TOV  otv^gdyjrco  9r«wo/ijxf 
Tov  ra^ov.      'Hv  8*  l^nysy^ajutjagvov, 

K«i   toOto    jotev   auTOV   sti    ^covra  'creTro/Tjxevaj    Aeyoucri,   to   8? 
Tl{x,oov  [t^KTotv^qomos  Icroixeco'    aXXa  -cra^sXdf, 

Taura  ]x=v  -BTsgi  Ti/u-wvoj  aTro  woXXaJv  oXlya, 

Plutarchus. 

Xhe  character  of  Timon  derives  its  principal  in- 
terest from  Shakspeare's  adoption.  The  question 
of  Shakspeare's  learning  is  set  at  rest  by  Dr.  Far- 
mer's conclusive  essay  on  the  subject,  equally 
satisfactory  as  a  curious  collection  of  facts,  and  a 
model  of  argumentative  criticism.  He  certainly 
did  not  understand  the  Greek  language  ;  but  there 
was  already  an  English  Plutarch,  from  which  he 
versified  closely  in  all  his  dramas  connected  with 
ancient  history.  Painter  had  also  described  Timon 
as  "  a  manhater,  of  a  strange  and  beastly  nature," 
in  his  Palace  of  Pleasure ;  but  the  cause  of  his 
misanthropy  is  not  assign ed*  Shakspeare  has 
described  the  cause  as  well  as  the  effect :  and  has 
evidently  taken  his  hint  from  the  beginning  of  the 
passage  above  quoted,  where  the  temporary  feel- 
ings of  Antony  furnish  Plutarch  with  the  only 
ground  for  introducing  anecdotes  of  Timon  at 
all.  Dr.  Farmer  conjectures,  from  a  passage  in 
an  old  play,  called  Jack  Drum's  Entertainment, 
or  Pasquil  and  Katherine,  of  the  year  1601,  that 
Timon  was  not  new  to  the  stage.  Mr.  Steevens 
thinks  the  allusion  in  a  single  line,  and  that  by  way 


TIMON    THE    MISANTHROPE.  ()5 

of  comparison,  might  with  as  much  probabiUty 
refer  to  Plutarch  or  the  Palace  of  Pleasure.  But 
Mr.  Strutt,  the  engraver  and  antiquary,  was  pos- 
sessed of  a  manuscript  play  on  the  subject,  written, 
or  at  least  transcribed,  about  the  year  I6OO,  pro- 
bably a  year  before  Jack  Drum's  Entertainment, 
and  ten  years  before  Timon  of  Athens.  The 
passage  on  which  Dr.  Farmer  forms  his  conjecture 
might  refer  to  this  play  :  but  it  is  immaterial ;  as 
there  are  much  stronger  grounds  for  supposing 
that  Mr.  Strutt's  play  was  not  unknown  to  Shak- 
speare.  Of  this  there  is  a  very  curious  evidence 
in  the  second  banquet-scene.  The  last  line  of  it, 
and  of  the  third  Act,  is  this :  — 

One  day  he  gives  us  diamonds,  next  day  stones. 

Now  in  the  second  scene  of  the  first  Act,  he  had 
requested  the  first  Lord  to  "  advance  this  jewel," 
to  prefer  it ;  to  raise  it  to  honour  by  wearing  it. 
But  at  the  second  banquet,  he  had  thrown  no 
stones  at  his  guests ;  he  had  only  thrown  warm 
water  in  their  faces,  and  empty  dishes  at  their 
heads.  In  the  parallel  scene  of  the  more  ancient 
drama,  there  is  no  warm  water :  but  painted 
stones,  resembling  artichokes,  form  a  part  of  his 
entertainment.  There  can  therefore  be  little  doubt, 
that  Shakspeare  intended  to  adopt  that  incident, 
but  forgot  it  in  the  carelessness  of  composition : 
in  closing  the  scene,  he  recollected  it ;  and  without 
troubling  himself  to  look  whether  he  had  inserted 
it  or  not,  he  took  it  for  granted  he  had  made  Timon 
fling  the  artichokes  with  their  dishes,  and  without 
any  propriety  made  the  fourth  Lord  mention  those 
missiles  in  antithesis  with  the  former  jewels. 

F 


66  CHARACTER    OF 

There  is  another  circumstance  which  increases 
the  probability  of  his  being  acquainted  with  this 
play,  or  with  Some  other  English  story  besides 
those  of  Plutarch  and  Painter.  There  are  several 
incidents  in  Timon  of  Athens,  evidently  originating 
with  Lucian :  but  that  admirable  dialogue,  the 
<lelight  of  the  classical  reader,  had  not  been  put 
into  an  English  dress  at  the  period  in  question. 
I  shall  give  a  passage  or  two  of  Lucian,  as  a  speci- 
men of  his  humour.  The  reception  of  Philiades 
and  T)emea,  after  they  were  aware  that  he  was  pos- 
sessed of  great  sums  of  gold  which  he  had  dug  up 
in  the  woods,  is  paralleled  by  his  treatment  of 
the  Poet,  the  Painter,  and  the  Senators,  wliich 
winds  up  his  character  in  Shakspeare  :  — 

TI.  T/j  ovTog  6(rTiv  6  'crgocriMV,  6  oiva<paXoiyrlot§  ;  fI>»X<a5»;f, 
tcoXaxaiv  otTruvruiV  6  ^deXvgoiTUTog.  ovTOg  ds  'crotp'  ljM.oy  aygov 
oKov  Xoi^oov,  xa)  rjj  ^Dyarpi  tffqolxa,  8oo  raXavra,  ju-io-div  tow 
i-jraivov,  oirore  aLo-avra.  /xf,  'cravTcov  aiuivdiVTUiv,  iiovog  inr€ge7Fvivs<rev, 
i'KO[jiO<roifji,fvo^  (fihxwTigov  elvui  roov  xuxvooVj  lireiSav  vocrouvra 
•cT^coY]v  elSe   jxe,    xa)   -orgocriixflov    Ivixov^la^   8gOjU.5voj,    c7A>jyaj   6 

<I>I.  *i2  T^j  avaKr^uvrlus  !  Nuv  Tlficovu  yvcagli^srs ;  vvv 
TvuQcovi^rii  fl\o^  xa)  (ru/xwo'njj  ;  TOtyotgovv  ^Ixonu  'CXSTrovQev  ovto§ 
a^oigiu-TOs  wv,  *Hju,s7j  Be  ol  ■craXa*  '^uvYjQeig  xu)  fwe(p»;^oi,  xa* 
^[loren,  ofAco;  jjjivfiotl^eixiv,  mg  /x^  wrjTDjSav  Soxw/xsv.  XaT^«,  w 
^e<riroroL*  xcti  o^aig  touj  fjntxgovg  tovtov^  xokuxag  ^vKoi^ri,  tovj 
tin  rr^s  rgotxe^Yig  (xovov,  tol  uKKcx.  Se  xo^axcov  ouSev  Sia^e^ovTaj* 
oux  m  mKTTevTsa  rwv  wv  ooSevi*  iB-avrej  ap^a^itrroi,  xcti  nrovrjool, 
*Eya>  he  raXavrov  (toi  xd/a/^cov,  cog  s^oig  xsrgog  ra  xxTSTrslyovra. 
X^^^^^h  *^'^^'  ^^0^  ?^*}  vrXria-lov  yjxov<ra  uig  tErXouTOirjj  UTgpjxgysfl>j 
Tiva  -arXoSrov.  Hxco  roiyagoOv  Tawra  (ts  vouSsTri^rcov  xolItoi  (r6 
ye  orjToo  ffo^o$  m,  <y6Uv  T<ra>f  Ss^o-jj  tcSv  «rap'  l/xoD  Xoyoov,  og  xa) 
TO)  N^(rTO§i  TO  Seov  tsrapaivea-enxg  av.  TI.  "Eo-Tai  TavTa,  co 
«l>jXiaS);.      nx^v    aXX«   'aT§o<n9ij    cog   xoc)   (re   <pi\o<pgovr}<rofitn    rp 


TIMON    THE    MISANTHROPE.  Qj 

S<x^^A);.      <t>I.    AvS^cuTTOi,  xstrkxyu  tov  xpxvlou  utto  tow  avaotWou, 
hioTi  TO.  (TW/x^e^ovra  evou$sTOVv  olutov. 

There  is  much  wit  in  the  decree  which  Demea 
brings  making  him  out  a  conqueror  at  the  Olym- 
pic games ;  and  when  Timon  says  that  he  never 
was  there,  the  sycophant  says,  Well !  but  you  will 
be  there.  The  decree  then  makes  him  fight  against 
the  Peloponnesians ;  to  which  he  again  makes  the 
following  slight  objection  of  impossibility,  notwith- 
standing which  the  decree  proceeds  in  all  solemnity 
and  magnificence,  to  detail  the  honours  voted  to 
him.  The  decree  itself  affords  a  specimen  of  an 
Athenian  parliamentary  address :  — 

TI.  YIu>s  'y  5«a  yoig  to  {jly)  e%eiv  onku,  ovte  -BT^oeypaipijv  h 
TOO  xoiTctXoycu,  AH.  Mhgta,  toL  vrsfi  (rawToO  Xsyeij*  fjjxelf 
ayjxqi(TTOi  av  eTijjXSv  ajxvijaovoDvTcj.  "  "Et*  8s  xat  ^Yi'pl<r[J.ciTX 
ypa^oiv,  xocl  cru/x^ouXeucov,  xat  (TTgotTYiycov,  ov  jxixpct  w(psXri(re  rriv 
vroKiv  'Etti  TOUTOij  airoLiTi  SeSoxTai  t^  ^ovXi^^  xa)  tco  S^jU'W,  xa) 
TJj  'HXia/flt  xara  ^uXctf,  x««  toij  ^Yjfxoig  i5/«,  xa«  xo<vij  t»rSi<n, 
^gucovv  avu<j-Tr,<rui  tov  T//xcova  fffonqoi  t^v  *A5>)vav  Iv  tj;  kxqo- 
iroKeii  xsgavvov  ev  ttj  8ef<a  ep^ovra,  xa»  axTTva;  Itti  tJ  xeipaXj* 
x«i  (TTgi^avciocrai  auTov  ^pv(roig  a-Tspxvoig  eWa*  xat  otvoixr}gu-> 
y^r^yoLi  Tovg  (TTs^uvovg  TYjfjiegov  A<ovycr/oij  rgayoo^oig  xaivoTj^ 
"X^^****  yae  8**  avTOv  Bel  T^/xg^ov  Ta  Aiovu(na.  El-Trg  t^v 
yvw/Aijv  Aijjxeaj  6  pTfToog  (rvyyevrjc  auToD,  ay^i<mv;  xal  |xafl>jT^y 
auTou  CUV.  Kai  yiig  pi^To)^  uqio-roc  6  Tlixcov,  xa\  to.  aXXa  wavr* 
OTOcra  av  s7gXoi. 

The  character  of  Timon  in  Shakspeare  is  gra- 
dually and  finely  developed.  In  the  outset  he  is 
the  munificent  patron,  and  the  accomplished  cour- 
tier, the  model  of  condescension  and  generosity, 
with  a  fashionable  air  of  affected  modesty  :  — 

O,  by  no  means, 
Honcbl  Ventidius :  you  mistake  my  love; 

y2 


68  CHARACTER    OF 

I  gave  it  freely  ever ;  and  there's  none 

Can  truly  say,  he  gives,  if  he  receives : 

If  our  betters  play  at  that  game,  we  must  not  dare 

To  imitate  them ;  Faults  that  are  rich,  are  fair. 

But  what  he  has  already  given  is  not  sufficient 
for  the  occasion.  He  fancies  he  could  deal  out 
cards,  and  distribute  kingdoms  without  grudging 
them :  — 

I  take  all  and  your  several  visitations 
So  kind  to  heart,  His  not  enough,  to  give ; 
Methinks,  I  could  deal  kingdoms  to  my  friends. 
And  ne'er  be  weary.  —  Alcibiades, 
Thou  art  a  soldier,  therefore  seldom  rich, 
It  comes  in  charity  to  thee  :  for  all  thy  living 
Is  'mongst  the  dead ;  and  all  the  lands  thou  hast 
Lie  in  a  pitch'd  field.   • 

The  usual  consequences  of  even  virtuous  pro- 
fusion have  befallen  Timon.  He  is  beggared 
through  want  of  prudence.  But  he  takes  comfort 
to  himself  from  the  reflection,  that  his  ruin  was 
not  occasioned  by  the  pursuit  of  guilty  pleasures:  — 

Come,  sermon  me  no  further : 
No  villainous  bounty  yet  hath  pass'd  my  heart; 
Unwisely,  not  ignobly,  have  I  given. 
Why  dost  thou  weep  ?     Canst  thou  tlie  conscience  lack, 
To  think  I  shall  lack  friends  ?  Secure  thy  heart ; 
If  I  would  broach  the  vessels  of  my  love. 
And  try  the  argument  of  hearts  by  borrowing, 
Men,  and  men's  fortunes,  could  I  frankly  use, 
As  I  can  bid  thee  speak. 

The  limits  of  an  essay  will  not  allow  us  to  follow 
all  the  gradations  of  character;    having  selected 


TIMON    THE    MISANTHROPE.  GQ 

the  traits  most  at  ,  variance  with  the  ultimate 
misanthropy,  but  leading  through  self-culpatory 
reflections  on  the  past,  with  a  strong  hope  resting 
on  a  favourable  opinion  of  human  nature,  founded 
on  the  careless  observation  of  a  person  too  noble 
and  too  splendid  to  sift  narrowly,  and  again  dis- 
appointed in  that  liberal  construction,  we  must 
follow  Tim  on  to  the  woods :  — 

0  blessed  breeding  sun,  draw  from  the  earth 
Rotten  humidity ;  below  thy  sister's  orb 

Infect  the  air !   Twinn'd  brothers  of  one  womb,  — 

Whose  procreation,  residence  and  birth, 

Scarce  is  dividant,  —  touch  them  with  several  fortunes ; 

The  greater  scorns  the  lesser :  Not  nature. 

To  whom  all  sores  lay  siege,  can  bear  great  fortune, 

But  by  contfempt  of  nature. 

Raise  me  this  beggar,  and  deny't  that  lord ; 

The  senator  shall  bear  contempt  hereditary, 

TTie  beggar  native  honour. 

It  is  the  pasture  lards  the  brother's  sides, 

The  want  that  makes  him  lean.     Who  dai-es,  who  dares, 

In  purity  of  manhood  stand  upright, 

And  say,   This  mail's  ajiatterer?  if  one  be. 

So  are  they  all ;  for  every  grize  of  fortune 

Is  smooth 'd  by  that  below:  the  learned  pate 

Ducks  to  the  golden  fool :  all  is  oblique ; 

There's  nothing  level  in  our  cursed  natures. 

But  direct  villainy.     Therefore,  be  abhorr'd 

All  feasts,  societies,  and  throngs  of  men  ! 

His  semblance,  yea,  himself,  Timon  disdains : 

Destruction  fang  mankind  !  —  Earth,  yield  me  roots  \ 

Idiggiftg, 
Who  seeks  for  better  of  thee,  sauce  his  palate 
With  thy  most  operant  poison  !     What  is  here  ? 
Gold  ?  yellow,  glittering,  precious  gold  ?  No,  gods, 

1  am  no  idle  votarist     Roots,  you  clear  heavens ! 
Thus  much  of  this  will  make  black,  white;  foul,  fair; 

F  ,3 


to  CHARACTER    OF 

Wrong,  right ;  base,  noble ;  old,  young ;  coward,  valiant. 
Ha,  you  gods  !   Why  this  ?  What  this,  you  gods  ?  Why 

this 
Will  lug  your  priests  and  servants  from  your  sides; 
Pluck  stout  men's  pillows  from  below  their  heads : 
This  yellow  slave 

Will  knit  and  break  religions;  bless  the  accurs'd; 
Make  the  hoar  leprosy  ador'd ;  place  thieves, 
And  give  them  title,  knee,  and  approbation, 
With  senators  on  the  bench  :  this  is  it. 
That  makes  the  wappen'd  widow  wed  again ; 
She,  whom  the  spital-house,  and  ulcerous  sores 
Would  cast  the  gorge  at,  this  embalms  and  spices 
To  the  April  day  again.     Come,  damned  earth, 
Thou  common  whore  of  mankind,  that  put'st  odds 
Among  the  rout  of  nations,  I  will  make  thee 
Do  thy  right  nature. — [march  afar  off^"] — Ha  !  a  drum  ? 

—  Thou'rt  quick, 
But  yet  I'll  bury  thee  :   Thou'lt  go,  strong  thief. 
When  gouty  keepers  of  thee  cannot  stand :  — 
Nay,  stay  thou  out  for  earnest.  [Jceepiyig  some  gold. 

It  has  been  observed  that  Plutarch  gave  the 
tone  to  our  author's  delineation  of  the  character. 
The  old  translation  of  Plutarch's  Life  of  Antony 
furnished  him  with  a  learned  term,  as  well  as  with 
an  anecdote  in  relation  to  Alcibiades,  which  he  has 
ingeniously  adapted  to  his  purpose  in  the  present 
scene :  — 

I  am  misantkropos,  and  hate  mankind. 
For  thy  part,  I  do  wish  thou  wert  a  dog, 
That  I  might  love  thee  something. 

The  following  answer  to  Alcibiades's  question 
is  in  Shakspeare's  best  style :  — 


TIMON    THE   MISANTHROPE.  Jl 

That, 

By  killing  villains,  thou  wast  born  to  conquer 

My  country. 

Put  up  thy  gold ;  Go  on,  —  here's  gold,  —  go  on  'r 

Be  as  a  planetary  plague,  when  Jove 

Will  o*er  some  high-vic'd  city  hang  his  poisoa 

In  the  sick  air :  Let  not  thy  sword  skip  one : 

Pity  not  honour'd  age  for  his  white  beard. 

He's  an  usurer :  Strike  me  the  counterfeit  matron ; 

It  is  her  habit  only  that  is  honest  i 

Let  not  the  virgin's  cheek 

Make  soft  thy  trenchant  sword :  spare  not  the  babe. 

Whose  dimpled  smiles  from  fools  exhaust  their  mercy, 

But  mince  it  sans  remorse :  Swear  against  objects ; 

Put  armour  on  thine  ears,  and  on  thine  eyes ; 

Whose  proof,  nor  yells  of  mothers,  maids,  nor  babes, 

Nor  sight  of  priests  in  holy  vestments  bleeding. 

Shall  pierce  a  jot.     There's  gold  to  pay  thy  soldiers ; 

Make  large  confusion ,  and,  thy  fury  spent. 

Confounded  be  thyself!      Speak  not,  be  gone. 

His  curses  upon  Phryniu  and  Timandra  are 
coarse,  but  full  of  that  pithy  expression,  in  which 
our  elder  poets  gave  themselves  full  scope.  The 
Oioderns  have  gained  much  in  delicacy,  but  lost 
much  in  force,  and  in  that  caustic  satire  and 
reprehension,  which  makes  vice  wince  instead  of 
tickling  it.  Afler  the  departure  of  Alcibiades  and 
his  beagles,  Timon  bursts  out  into  the  following, 
angry  soliloquy  :  — 

That  nature  being  sick  of  man's  unkindness. 
Should  yet  be  hungry  f  —  Common  mother,  thou, 

Whose  womb  un measurable,  and  infinite  breast, 
Teems,  and  feeds  all ;  whose  self-same  mettle, 
Whereof  thy  proud  child,  arrogant  man,  is  puff'd, 
Engenders  the  black  toad,  and  addtr  blue, 

r  4 


7^  *''    CHARACTER    OF 

The  gilded  newt,  and  eyeless  venom'd  worm ; 
Yield  him,  who  all  thy  human  sons  doth  hate, 
From  forth  thy  plenteous  bosom,  one  poor  root ! 
Ensear  thy  fertile  and  conceptions  womb. 
Let  it  no  more  bring  out  ingrateflil  man  ! 
Go  great  with  tigers,  dragons,  wolves,  arid  bears ; 
Teem  with  new  monsters,  whom  thy  upward  face 
Hath  to  the  marbled  mansion  all  above 
Never  presented  !  —  O,  a  root,  —  Dear  thanks  ! 
Dry  up  thy  marrows,  vines,  and  plough-torn  leas ; 
Whereof  ingrateful  man,  with  liquorish  draughts, 
And  morsels  unctuous,  greases  his  pure  mind. 
That  from  it  all  consideration  slips  ! 

Timon's  severity  to  Apemantus  is  bitter  beyond 
all  bitterness,  as  Dr.  Johnson  expresses  it.  He 
had  not  virtue  enough  for  the  vices  he  condemns. 
We  may  add,  that  with  a  deep  insight  into  human 
nature,  our  author  makes  Timon  apologise  for 
himself  at  the  expense  of  his  brotlier  Cynic,  by  a 
proud  reference  to  his  own  early  fortunes,  which 
shows  that  though  he  outwardly  professed  con- 
tempt of  mankind,  he  had  an  inward  feeling  that 
it  was  necessary  to  his  satisfaction,  to  stand  as 
well  in  public  estimation  and  in  his  own,  as  his 
nature  and  circumstances  would  permit.  The 
speech  is  in  the  entire  spirit  of  aristocracy,  show- 
ing itself  naturally  in  unnatural,  at  least  unusual 
circumstances:  — 

Not  by  his  breath,  that  is  more  miserable. 

Thou  art  a  slave,  whom  Fortune's  tender  arm 

With  favour  never  clasp'd ;  but  bred  a  dog. 

Hadst'thou,  like  us,  from  our  first  swath,  proceeded 

The  sweet  degrees  that  this  brief  world  affords 

To  such  as  may  the  passive  dings  of  it 

Freely  command,  thou  would'st  have  plunged  thyself 


TIMON    THE    MISANTHROPE.  73 

In  general  riot ;  melted  down  thy  youth 

In  different  beds  of  lust ;  and  never  learn'd 

The  icy  precepts  of  respect,  but  followed 

The  sugar'd  game  before  thee.     But  myself, 

Who  had  the  world  as  my  confectionary ; 

The  mouths,  the  tongues,  the  eyes,  and  hearts  of  men 

At  duty,  more  than  I  could  frame  employment : 

That  numberless  upon  me  stuck,  as  leaves 

Do  on  the  oak,  have  with  one  winter's  brush 

Fell  from  their  boughs,  and  left  me  open,  bare 

For  every  storm  that  blows  ;  —  I,  to  bear  this, 

That  never  knew  but  better,  is  some  burden  : 

Thy  nature  did  commence  in  sufferance,  time 

Hath  made  thee  hard  in't.   Why  should'st  thou  hate  men  ? 

They  never  flatter'd  thee :  What  hast  thou  given  ? 

If  thou  wilt  curse, — thy  father,  that  poor  rag, 

Must  be  thy  subject ;  who,  in  spite,  put  stuff 

To  some  she  beggar,  and  compounded  thee, 

Poor  rogue  hereditary.     Hence  !  be  gone  !  — 

If  thou  hadst  not  been  born  the  worst  of  men, 

Thou  hadst  been  a  knave,  and  flatterer. 

The  tirade  against  the  thieves  bears  considerable 
resemblance  to  Albumazar ;  and  there  has  been 
much  contest  among  the  critics  for  the  right 
of  eldership  between  the  two  :  — 

Nor  on  the  beasts  themselves,  the  birds,  and  fishes ; 

You  must  eat  men.     Yet  thanks  I  must  you  con, 

That  you  are  thieves  professed ;  that  you  work  not 

In  holier  shapes :  for  there  is  boundless  theft 

In  limited  professions.     Rascal  thieves, 

Here's  gold  :  Go,  suck  the  subtle  blood  of  the  grape. 

Till  the  high  fever  seeth  your  blood  to  froth, 

And  so  'scape  hanging :  trust  not  the  physician  ; 

His  antidotes  are  poison,  aftd  he  slays 

More  than  you  rob :  take  wealth  and  lives  together; 

Do  villainy,  do,  since  you  profess  to  do't. 


74  CHARACTEil    OF 

Like  workmen.     I'll  example  you  with  thievery : 
The  sun's  a  thief,  and  with  his  great  attraction 
Robs  the  vast  sea :  the  moon's  an  arrant  thief, 
And  her  pale  fire  she  snatches  from  the  sun : 
The  sea's  a  thief,  whose  liquid  surge  resolves 
The  moon  into  salt  tears :  the  earth's  a  thief, 
That  feeds  and  breeds  by  a  composture  stole 
From  general  excrement :  each  thing's  a  thief. 
The  laws,  your  curb  and  whip,  in  their  rough  power 
Have  uncheck'd  theft.     Love  not  yourselves ;   away  : 
Rob  one  another.     There's  more  gold :   Cut  throats ; 
AH  that  you  meet  are  thieves :  To  Athens,  go. 
Break  open  shops  ;  nothing  can  you  steal. 
But  thieves  do  lose  it :  Steal  not  less,  for  this 
I  give  you ;  and  gold  confound  you  howsoever  ! 
Amen.  [Timon  retires  to  his  cave. 

The  momentary  approach  to  reconciliation  with 
mankind,  to  softness  and  composure,  on  expe- 
riencing the  kindness  and  fidelity  of  his  steward, 
is  happily  shaded  off*  from  the  frenzy  into  which 
he  had  been  driven,  by  the  baseness  and  ingra- 
titude of  the  world :  — 

Had  I  a  steward  so  true,  so  just,  and  now 

So  comfortable?     It  almost  turns 

My  dangerous  nature  wild.     Let  me  behold 

Thy  face.     Surely,  this  man  was  born  of  woman.  — 

Forgive  my  general  and  exceptless  rashness, 

You  perpetual-sober  gods  !   I  do  proclaim 

One  honest  man, — mistake  me  not,  —  but  one; 

No  more,  I  pray,  —  and  he  is  a  steward. — 

How  fain  would  I  have  hated  all  mankind. 

And  thou  redeem'st  thyself;    But  all,  save  thee, 

I  fell  with  curses. 

Methinks,  thou  art  more  honest  now,  than  wise ; 

For,  by  oppressing  and  betraying  me. 

Thou  might'st  have  sooner  got  another  service : 


TIM  ON    THE    MISANTHROPE.  ^5 

For  many  so  arrive  at  second  masters, 

Upon  their  first  lord's  neck.     But  tell  me  true, 

(For  I  must  ever  doubt,  though  ne'er  so  sure,) 

Is  not  thy  kindness  subtle,  covetous, 

If  not  an  usuring  kindness ;  and  as  rich  men  deal  gifts. 

Expecting  in  return  twenty  for  one  ? 

The  scene  with  the  Poet  and  the  Painter  has 
been  already  mentioned  as  parallel  with  Liician. 
It  closes  thus :  — 

You  that  way,  and  you  this,  but  two  in  company :  — 
Each  man  apart,  all  single  and  alone, 
Yet  an  arch-villain  keeps  him  company. 
If,  where  thou  art,  two  villains  shall  not  be, 

[to  the  Painter, 
Come  not  near  him. — If  thou  would'st  not  reside 

[to  the  Poet. 
But  where  one  villain  is,  then  him  abandon. — 
Hence  !  pack  !  there's  gold,  ye  came  for  gold,  ye  slaves : 
You  have  done  work  for  me,  there's  payment :  Hence  I 
You  are  an  alchymist,  make  gold  of  that :  — 
Out,  rascal  dogs  !        [exit^  beating  and  driving  them  otU. 

In  the  following  speech,  Shakspeare  alludes  to 
the  grounds  for  Timon's  half  friendship  for  Alci- 
biades,  as  laid  down  in  the  anecdote  related  by 
Plutarch  :  — 

Well,  sir,  I  will ;  therefore  I  will,  sir ;  Thus,  — 

If  Alcibiades  kill  my  countrymen. 

Let  Alcibiades  know  this  of  Timon, 

That  —  Timon  cares  not.     But  if  he  sack  fair  Athens, 

And  take  our  goodly  aged  men  by  the  beards. 

Giving  our  holy  virgins  to  the  stain 

Of  contumelious,  beastly,  mad-brain'd  war ; 

Then,  let  him  know, —  and  tell  him,  Timon  speaks  it. 

In  pity  of  our  aged,  and  our  youth. 


76  CHARACTER    OF 

I  cannot  choose  but  tell  him,  that — I  care  not, 
And  let  him  tak't  at  worst ;  for  their  knives  care  not. 
While  you  have  throats  to  answer :  for  myself, 
There's  not  a  whittle  in  the  unruly  camp. 
But  I  do  prize  it  at  my  love,  before 
The  reverend'st  throat  in  Athens.     So  I  leave  you 
To  the  protection  of  the  prosperous  gods. 
As  thieves  to  keepers. 

Had  Shakspeare  been  a  classical  scholar,  we 
should  have  been  told  that  he  had  borrowed  this 
last  expression  from  the  Medea  of  Euripides, 
where  the  expression  ©ewv  vctlhs  fj^axugfjov  is  the  style 
given  to  the  men  of  Athens. 

In  the  following  passage  he  seems  to  have 
borrowed  from  himself,  and  to  have  recollected  the 
soliloquy  in  Hamlet,  written  at  least  ten  years 
before  Timon  of  Athens.  Here  also  he  might 
have  been  suspected  of  having  copied  an  image 
of  Prometheus  in  ^schylus  : — 

Av(r^elfx,eg6v  ye  'creXayoj  ocTYjpSig  Su)jj. 

The  whole  speech  is  not  unlike  part  of  the  Ana- 
paests, spoken  by  lo,  in  the  same  play  :  — 

ITveu/xaTi  jxagycOj  yXMO'trris  oixgocTvjg' 

Commend  me  to  them ; 
And  tell  them,  that,  to  ease  them  of  their  griefs. 
Their  fears  of  hostile  strokes,  their  aches,  losses. 
Their  pangs  of  love,  with  other  incident  throes 


tiMON    THE    MISANTHROPE.  77 

That  nature^s  fragile  vessel  doth  sustain 

In  life's  uncertain  voyage,  I  will  some  kindness  do  them : 

1*11  teach  them  to  prevent  wild  Alcibiades'  wrath, 

Mr.  Kemble  would  here  have  had  to  maintain  a 
second  warfare  with  the  gallery,  on  the  subject  of 
aclies  and  akes.  That  the  galleries  should  have 
combated  his  correct  pronunciation,  was  naturally 
to  be  expected :  but  marvellous  to  relate,  persons 
who  from  their  education  and  rank  in  life  would 
be  offended  at  a  hint  of  ignorance  or  want  of  cri- 
tical judgment,  have  sided  with  the  mob  against 
metre  and  known  usage.  They  seem  to  suppose 
that  the  Enghsh  language,  perhaps  the  most  fluc- 
tuating of  all,  has  been  always  stationary,  and  its 
immediate  modes  immemorial !  Will  they  have  the 
goodness  to  try  if  they  can  read  the  third  line  of 
the  last  quotation  any  way  but  one,  and  retain  the 
verse  upon  the  tongue  ? 

Having  incidentally  mentioned  the  name  of  Mr. 
Kemble,  I  cannot  help  expressing  my  regret,  that 
Timon  was  never  added  to  the  list  of  Shakspeare's 
characters,  of  which  he  was  for  so  many  years  the 
best  commentator  and  illustrator.  One  such  living 
exposition  i§  worth  all  the  notes  that  were  ever 
written.  Various  and  opposite  opinions  have  been 
entertained,  respecting  the  comparative  merits  of 
Kemble  and  Garrick.  Those  who  are  not  old 
enough  to  remember  the  latter,  and  the  number 
who  do  remember  him  will  soon  be  very  small, 
cannot  arbitrate  between  the  combatants.  We 
have  heard  much  of  Garrick 's  eye  and  brow ;  of 
his  expressive  lip,  and  fine  tones.  The  testimony 
is  as  strong  as  to  any  historical  fact,  and  we  have 
as  much  reason  to  believe  it,  that  he  Iiad  a  power 


78  CHARACTER-  OF 

of  expressing  the  passions  incident  to  the  character 
he  represented,  and  consequently  a  dominion  over 
the  feeHngs  of  his  audience,  never  exceeded  by 
predecessor  or  contemporary,  and  probably  not 
surpassed  by  any  successor.  But  there  is  one 
ground,  which  Mr.  Kemble  occupied  alone  :  that 
of  the  philosophical  and  moral  actor.  His  scholar- 
ship, and  a  Roman  cast  of  person,  peculiarly  fitted 
him  for  Coriolanus  and  Cato  ;  and  would  have  en- 
abled him  to  re-embody  and  re-animate  the  Grecian 
misanthrope.  Besides  these,  there  was  a  cast  of 
character  which  Garrick  seemed  to  think  beneath 
him  ;  for  the  theatrical  records  show  that  it  was  then 
consigned  to  performers  of  the  second  class.  But 
who  has  seen  Mr.  Kemble  represent  the  melancholy 
and  philosophical  Jaques,  or  attended  on  the  moral 
lessons  of  the  disguised  Duke  in  Measure  for  Mea- 
sure, without  rational  pleasure  and  real  improve- 
ment? In  this  respect,  however,  I  know  of  no 
dramatic  experiment  so  hazardous,  and  of  no  suc- 
cess so  decisive  and  triumphant,  as  that  of  the 
modern  play  called  Deaf  and  Dumb.  In  this,  a 
highly  gifted  member  of  Mr.  Kemble's  family* 
not  only  made  dumbness  eloquent,  but  recom- 
mended a  most  important  institution  of  charity,  by 
showing  its  mode  of  relief  without  occasioning  the 
disgust  usually  attendant  on  the  exhibition  of  any 
natural  defect ;  and  at  the  same  time  proved  the 
triumph  of  a  fine  and  cultivated  mind  over  the 
most  hopeless  of  infirmities  :  while  he  himself  made 
an  old  grey-headed  clergyman  preach  such  a  ser- 
mon, as  drew  crowded  congregations  night  after 

♦  Mrs.  C.  Kemble,  at  that  time  Miss  De  Camp. 


TIMOX    THE    MISANTHROPE.  79 

night,  and  rendered  the  benches  of  the  theatre 
auxiHary  to  the  pews  of  the  church. 

Those  who  remember  Mr.  Kemble  with  a  pleas- 
ing regret,  may  imagine  how  he  would  have  wound 
up  the  character  in  the  delivery  of  the  closing 
speech  :  — 

Come  not  to  me  again :  but  say  to  Athens, 
Timon  hath  made  his  everlasting  mansion 
Upon  the  beached  verge  of  the  salt  flooil  ; 
Whom  once  a  day  with  his  embossed  froth 
The  turbulent  surge  shall  cover;  thither  come. 
And  let  my  grave-stone  be  your  oracle.  — 
Lips,  let  sour  words  go  by,  and  language  end : 
What  is  amiss,  plague  and  infection  mend  ! 
Graves  only  be  men's  works ;  and  death,  their  gain  ! 
Sun,  hide  thy  beams  !  Timon  hath  done  his  reign. 

After  this,  Timon  appears  no  more,  and  here  the 
play  had  better  end. 

This  play  was  altered  by  Shadwell,  and  restored 
to  the  stage  in  1 678.  Travellers  have  mentioned 
that  there  were  the  ruins  of  a  building  near  Athens, 
which  was  designated  as  Timon's  Tower. 

Dr.  Johnson's  criticism  on  this  play  seems  cold, 
and  parsimonious  of  praise.  "  The  play  of  Timon 
is  a  domestick  tragedy,  and  therefbre  strongly  fas- 
tens on  the  attention  of  the  reader.*'  I  cannot 
think  that  its  domestic  nature  constitutes  its  charm. 
It  is  in  subjects  of  deep  pathos,  that  domestic  tra- 
gedy seizes  on  the  feelings  of  the  spectator.  I 
should  rather  attribute  its  interest  to  the  pecu- 
liarities of  mind  it  exhibits,  and  the  studies  of  hu- 
man nature  it  furnishes.  **  In  the  plan  there  is 
not  much  art,  but  the  incidents  are  natural,  and 
the  characters  various  and  exact"     The  moral  it 


80        CHARACTER  OF  TIMON  THE  MISANTHROPE. 

enforces  is  justly  stated  by  the  critic,  and  cannot 
be  mistaken  by  the  spectator  or  the  reader.  "  The 
catastrophe  affords  a  very  powerful  warning  against 
that  ostentatious  liberality,  which  scatters  bounty, 
but  confers  no  benefits,  and  buys  flattery,  but  not 
friendship." 

Callimachus  continues  Timon's  misanthropy  even 
after  death,  in  the  following  epigram  :  — 

To  (TKOTO^*  ujxecov  yoig  •BrAej'ovej  elv  *AtS>). 


81 


CHARACTER  OF  APEMANTUS. 


Little  has  descended  to  us  from  antiquity  re- 
specting this  person.  He  is  most  known  by  the 
mention  made  of  him  in  the  passage  from  Plutarch 
at  the  head  of  the  last  article.  He  is  there  stated 
to  have  been  the  only  man  admitted  to  intimacy 
with  Timon  after  the  latter  had  contracted  his  mis- 
anthropical habits.  Yet  sympathy  of  feeling  and 
manners  did  not  prevent  Timon  from  being  at 
times  crusty^  as  it  is  called,  with  his  friend :  wit- 
ness the  compliment  which  passed  at  the  feast  of 
sacrifices  for  the  dead.  Apemantus  could  not 
simply  remark  that  the  dinner  was  good,  without 
being  taken  up^  and  told  that  his  presence  spoiled 
it  The  inducement  for  mentioning  a  personage 
with  whom  we  have  such  slender  acquaintance,  is 
to  show  the  skill  of  Shakspeare  in  discriminating  it 
from  a  character  of  so  much  general  similarity  as 
that  of  Timon.  Plutarch  tells  us  that  they  asso- 
ciated from  sympathy  of  feeling  and  of  manners  : 
had  that  sympathy  been  entire,  Shakspeare  would 
not  have  introduced  a  polygraphic  copy  of  his  own 
picture.  But  one  was  the  misanthrope  of  expe- 
rience and  bitter  disappointment :  the  other  was 
the  misanthrope  of  Cynic  philosophy.  One  was 
the  hatred  of  feeling ;  the  other  of  pride  and  af- 
fectation. 

o 


82  CHARACTER    OF    APEMANTUS. 

Warburton  says,  that  this  character  of  a  Cynic 
is  finely  drawn  by  Lucian,  in  his  Auction  of  the 
Philosophers,  and  that  Shakspeare  has  copied  it 
well.  There  appears  to  be  a  want  of  exactness  in 
this  remark.  We  have  before  seen  that  Shakspeare 
could  only  have  copied  Lucian  at  second  or  third 
hand,  as  that  witty  writer  had  not  been  translated 
in  his  time.  "  This  character  of  a  Cynic"  would 
justify  the  reader  in  inferring,  that  Lucian  had 
drawn  Apemantus :  he  has  indeed  drawn  the  Cynic 
in  glowing  colours  j  but  the  sitter  is  Diogenes,  not 
Apemantus.  The  observation,  however,  is  not 
substantially  objectionable.  Shakspeare  had  pro- 
bably met  with  the  draft  of  a  Cynic,  borrowed 
from  Lucian,  either  anonymous  or  under  the  name 
of  Diogenes ;  and  finding  that  Apemantus  was  the 
companion  of  Timon,  justly  concluded  that  "  the 
knight  of  the  shire  might  represent  them  all ;"  the 
disciple  of  the  sect  might  inherit  the  mantle  of  his 
master.  It  might  not  improbably  be  supposed, 
that  he  found  this  outline  in  Mr.  Strutt's  manu- 
script play :  but  it  is  not  so.  The  personce  dra- 
matis have  Philargurus,  a  covetous  churlish  old 
man  ;  but  no  Apemantus,  a  churlish  philosopher. 

A  single  specimen  of  Apemantus  is  all  that  our 
limits  will  allow  :  — 

Hey  day,  what  a  sweep  of  vanity  comes  this  way  ! 
They  dance  !  they  are  mad  women. 
Like  madness  is  the  glory  of  this  life, 
.   As  this  pomp  shows  to  a  little  oil,  and  root. 
We  make  ourselves  fools,  to  disport  ourselves ; 
And  spend  our  flatteries,  to  drink  those  men, 
Upon  whose  age  we  void  it  up  again. 
With  poisonous  spite,  and  envy.     Who  lives,  that's  not 
Depraved,  or  depraves  ?  who  dies,  that  bears 


CHARACTER  OF  APEMANTUS.         83 

Not  one  spurn  to  their  graves  of  their  friend's  gift  ? 
I  should  fear,  those,  that  dance  before  me  now, 
Would  one  day  stamp  upon  me :  It  has  been  done ; 
Men  shut  their  doors  against  a  setting  sun. 

This  anathema  against  dancing  might  have  sub- 
jected our  poet  to  the  charge  of  classical  plagiarism, 
had  his  means  of  reading  been  sufficiently  extensive 
to  support  it.  Cicero,  in  his  Oration  for  Murena, 
seems  to  look  at  this  exercise  with  puritanical  ab- 
horrence. "  Nemo  enim  fere  saltat  sobrius,  nisi 
forte  insanit :  neque  in  solitudine,  neque  in  con- 
vivio  moderato  atque  honesto." 


o  2 


84 


CHARACTER  OF  ALCIBIADES. 


Alcibiades  furnishes  an  jmportant  and  curious 
study  of  human  nature.  Splendour  of  birth  and 
personal  beauty  seem  to  have  been  the  two  circum- 
stances, which  gave  his  character  its  form  and 
pressure.  He  was  nearly  related  to  Pericles  ;  but 
by  what  tie,  is  disputed  among  authors.  Suidas 
says,  he  was  the  son  of  Clinias  and  Pericles's  sister. 
Valerius  Maxim  us  calls  Pericles  his  uncle  ;  but 
Plutarch  tells  us  he  was  the  son  of  Dinomache,  the 
daughter  of  Megacles.  Whatever  was  the  relation- 
ship, Alcibiades  was  brought  up  under  the  guar- 
dianship, and  in  the  house  of  Pericles. 

In  Isocrates,  there  is  an  oration,  De  Bigis,  pro- 
fessing to  be  delivered  by  the  son  of  Alcibiades, 
containing  a  defence  and  panegyric  of  his  father. 
He  there  enters  into  a  long  genealogical  deduction  : 

Kai  TO  TeXsuralov  'AXx*^*aSr)f,  xaj  KA6<(rdev>)j,  6  jitev  CTgoj  vra." 
T^oj,  6  8g  ^qos  jW->)T§05  wv  vrqoTTcnr'nos  rott  fsarqog  toujxov,  (rrqa' 
TYjy^<ravTe§,  tyi§  (^vyYi^  xotT^yuyov  tov  8^ju.ov,  xai  touj  rvgavvottg 
e^s^uXoVj  xai  xuTssyjo-uv  exslvit^v  TrjV  Srj/xox^ar/av,  1^  ^j  ol  -croXTTa* 
•STgog  jxev  otv^piuv  ovtm$  gTraiSsu^yjcravj  oocts  tov§  ^oiq^oigovg  touj 
Itt)  nrucrctv  eXdovraej  t^v  'EXXaSa^  jitovoi    vixav  [xoi^ofj^evoi.      He 

then  goes  on  to  state  that  Alcibiades' s  father  and 
his  own  grandfather  fell  in  the  battle  of  Cheronea. 

^K'TnTgOTTsu^  Ss  Otto  ITegixXgouj,  ov  vruvTsg  uv  6[jio\oy^<rotisv  oog 
ccti(pgove(TTaTOV,  xul    Sixajorarov,   xa»  (to^ootutov  ysysvri<r^oci   twv 

CToXiTwv.  It  appears  clearly  in  Herodotus,  that  Clinias 


.  CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBlADES.  85 

•was  the  son  of  the  Alcibiades  meant  in  the  first 
passage  of  Isocrates,  and  father  of  the  Alcibiades 
whose  fame  was  afterwards  so  celebrated  in  Greece, 

Tuiv  Se  'l&kkyjvctiv  xuroi  ro-urr^v    t^v   rjff^sgriv   Yjgi<TT£V(rotv  'Ad)jvaTo<, 

x«i  'A^ijva/wv  KxemY)^  6  'Axxi^i<x^sca.  Plutarcli  ccnsures 
Pericles  for  negligence  in  his  office  of  guardian ; 
for  lie  appointed  Zopyrus,  an  old  Thracian  slave  of 
obstinate  temper,  to  be  his  schoolmaster.*  All  the 
ancients  concur  in  admiration  of  his  extraordinary 

comeliness.  PluUu'ch  says,  ou  yag,  chs  Evgnrl^rig  gAsye, 
TTOLVToov  TMV  xxKwv  xou  TO  jxeToVco^ov  kol\6v  eo-Tiv,  but  that  the 

figure  of  Alcibiades  retained  its  attractive  character, 
through  the  advantage  of  a  naturally  vigorous  and 
healthy  temperament. 

On  the  subject  of  his  lisping,  Plutarch  quotes 
a  passage   from  the  Vespae  of  Aristophanes :  — 

Tj  8g  ^a)v»i  xai  TYiV  rguuXorriTet  sfjiTrge^on  \eyqv<Ti,  xaJ  rw 
XuXm  TFi^uvoTYiroe.  'GJctgcKry/iv,  x°^§^^  e7HTe\ou(rotv.  fj,s[xvY}Ton  Se  xat 
^AgKTTO^ixvT^g  avTOV  t>3j  TgccvKorrfzo^  Iv  ol^  STncxcuTrrei  Qeoogov, 

EiT*  *AXxi^ia8r)f  eItts  -Trgog  jtxs  Tgau\l<rccs, 
'OXas  &SODX0V  ;    TryV  xe^rtX^v  xoXotxos  e^si, 
^OgQcoi  ys  TOUT  'AXx</3<a5>jj  eTgoi6\i(re. 

Ka»  "Ag^iTTTCos  Tov  ulov  ToO  'AXx*^ia8ow  trxowrrcov^ 

BaSi^ei,  <p»;(r»,  Sioxsp^XiSwj,  ^oifjiuTiov  ekxMV,  ottm^  ejx^g^^j  tw 

Kkava-otv^tviusTon  ts  xa*  TgotvXl^sTai, 

Cicero  begins  a  letter  to  Cselius  with  a  similar 
ridicule  of  fashionable  affectation,  where  he  spells 
the  name  of  Hirrus,  Ccelius's  competitor  for  the 
ffidileship,  according  to  the  lisping  pronunciation. 

•  Alcibiadcs's  early  partiality  for  Homer  if  well  known. 
G    3 


86  CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES. 

"  Non  enim  possum  adduci,  ut  abs  te,  postea 
quam  aedilis  es  factus,  nullas  putem  datas :  prae- 
sertim  cum  esset  tanta  res,  tantae  gratulationis ; 
de  te,  quia  quod  sperabam :  dein  Hillo,  balbus 
enim  sum,  quod  non  putaram." 

Aristotle,  De  Republica,  discusses  the  advantages 
and  disadvantages  of  music  in  the  education  of 

boys.  TIoTsgov  Be  dii  fjt^uv^avsiv  uutov^  alovru^  re  xa»  X*'?" 
oueyoOvra?,    ?   ft,^,   xa^ocTreg   i^-cjo^jj-Sij   'srgoTsgoVj  vf5v  Aexreov.  — 

Lib.  viii.  In  the  course  of  the  chapter,  Aristotle 
represents  Minerva  as  finding  a  flute  and  throwing 
it  away,  Alcibiades  had  supported  his  own  juve- 
nile resolution  against  learning  the  flute,  by  a 
reference  to  the  same  anecdote,  fifty  years  before 
Aristotle  ;  and  his  ridicule  was  the  means  of  con- 
fining musical  accomplishment  among  gentlemen 
to  the  lyre.     Plutarch  introduces  him :  —  AuXshooo-oiv 

eov,  e^ij,  0)j/3ai'a;v  Trcti^e^*  ov  yot.g  ttrcttn  SjaXeyeC'&ai.  ^jx7v  8s 
TOij  *A^i^vutoigf  coj  o\  vTctTegs^  Xeyova-iv,  ag^yjyhig  *Ad)jv5  xa» 
vctTgms  ^A-KoWoov  eo-r/v  civ  rj  /xev  eppirj/e  rov  avXoVy  6  Ve  xa» 
Tov  avXYiTYjv  l^eSeige. 

Xenophon,  in  the  first  book  of  his  Memorabilia, 
introduces  a  conversation  between  Antipho  and 

Socrates,  thus  :  — "A^iov  U  uutou,  xa«  «  tzrgog  'AvTiipcovra 
TOV  (TOfpiOT^v  disXs^^vjy  fji.v}  'sra^aXjTreTv.  'O  yoig  'Avriipcov  trore 
fiovXoiJiSvos  Toyj  (rvvovaioca-roig  uuroo  TrugsXea-^oci,  'Cjgoo'sX^oov  too 
%MXQUTSt,  TsagovruiV  OLitTMV,  eXs^s  raSe*  co  ^doxgocreg,  eyob  )xey 
oofjLrjv  Touj  (p»Xo(ro(pouvTaj  guSaijtxovecrTggoy;  %§>iva»  ylyvscr^ur  au 
Ss    fjio)  SoxsTj  Tuvuvrla   t^j  <TO(pla$  atroXsXayxevai.      SocratCS 

of  course  throws  his  antagonist  on  his  back  after 
his  usual  manner,  concluding  that  to  want  nothing 
is  the  condition  of  a  God,  and  to  want  next  to 
nothing  the  state  of  humanity  nearest  to  that  con- 
dition. 

Whether  this  be  the  Antipho,  held  up  to  ridicule 
by  Plato  in  his  Menexenus,  is  uncertain :  the  an« 


CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES.  87 

cients  themselves  have  not  agreed  on  the  point. 
But  the  sophist  mentioned  by  Xenophon  was  cer- 
tainly the  personal  enemy  of  Alcibiades,  and  wrote 
defamatory  invectives  against  him  ;  so  that  it  is 
not  improbable,  some  of  the  most  disreputable 
stories  extant  may  be  libels.  Athenaeus,  Deipno- 
soph.,  lib.  xii.  cap.  5,  quotes  an  ill-natured  speech 
of  Antipho,  respecting  the  motive  of  his  going  to 
Abydos.  Plutarch  does  ample  justice  to  the  sin- 
cere and  honourable  friendship  of  Socrates,  and 
the  discrimination  of  Alcibiades,  in  preferring  the 
wise  philosopher  to  all  the  flatterers  and  vota- 
ries of  pleasure  by  whom  he  was  surrounded :  — 

OuSev  yag  ^  ti^>j  nxegieo'^ev  b^m^sv  xct)  t^rsgiefgu^s  Tolg  Xe- 
yojxevoij  ccyoL^oi^  TO<rouTOV,  M(TT  argooTOV  Otto  (^iXocro^jaj  yevea-^ai, 
xa»  hoyoi;  otTrgo(riTOV  vroLppr^a-loLV  xai  Srjyjxov  e^ou<riVy  0(tois  *AXxi- 
^la^Yj;  Miis  1^  «^X^?  ^guTTTOixevog  xa»  oc7rox\slo{Jt,evo$  uno  Touy 
%jQOS  "/oigiv  k^ofJuXoovTcov  eWocxovcrai  rou  vou^stouvto$  xoc)  itoH' 
ZsuovTOCy    OfMo^    xm    su^utccg    eyvwgi<Te    ^coxparij  x«i    CTgocr^xaro, 

cruy^^,  xal  koycov  axouo-aj  ov^  ^Sov^v  oivuv^gov  egus-ou  ^rjgeuovlos, 
ov^i  ^iX.rifji,u}oov  xai  ^au<rea)s  rsgoa-oLilouvlo^,  aW'  hXey^ovlos  to 
ffu^gov  T>]j  ^^X^^  avTOOj  xai  Trts^ovvlos  tov  xevov  xai  avoijrov 
tD^ov, 

"Eyrltii'  uXexlcog  SoOXov  (0(  xklvas  isrlsgov. 

His  frolic  at  Anytus's  supper  party  is  related  by 
Phitarch  witliout  any  mention  of  Thrasyllus,  the 
only  circumstance  which  can  plead  any  apology  for 
it     Atlienaeus  introduces  it  thus  :  —  'Ewjxcojxao-aj  8e 

vroU  605  "Awlov,  egocfYjv  ovlot^  xxi  crXowtnov,  o-uvewixwjxa^ov?©^  auTco 
ran  kralqwv  ho^  OgotduKXou ,  (rioy  "BTevijrwv  8*  ouroj  *)v)  'GrgQicmv 
T»  (dqcurCKkaa  tu  ^/xiVij  twv  norripiwv  tu>v  tin  rw  xuhixslut  crgoxsi- 
Ijifvwv,  fxeX«u<ri  tou;  axoXowdoyj  awof ige«v  tgrgoi  tov  0guau\\ov 
.tW    QUTUi     fiXo^^yijo-flt/xevof    tov  ''Avy7ov    uvxrikKoKrih*    .  L/Oe* 

G  4 


88  CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES. 

not  this  remind  the  reader  of  Lord  Byron  ?  Would 
he  not  have  been  likely  to  administer  poetical 
justice,  in  contempt  of  legal,  much  after  the  same 
manner  ? 

The  next  anecdote  given  by  Plutarch  is  much 
to  the  credit  of  Alcibiades.     It  relates  to  av^gwtsrov, 

ws  <pa<riv,  ov  tjroKXoL  xsxlrifjievov,  anroloixevov  Ze  zjavlu,  xa»  to 
(Twcty^ev     els    kxalov    g-otli^gois  too  'AAxi^iaSj;    'Sjgo(r(pegov}ot,    xet) 

ho[ji,evov  Xa^eTv.  Alcibiades  took  him  under  his  pro- 
tection, and  made  him  outbid  the  old  farmers  of 
the  revenue. 

The  character  of  an  arrogant  and  dissipated 
young  nobleman  was  likely  to  fall  under  the  lash 
of  so  severe  and  impartial  a  historian  as  Thu- 
cydides.  In  the  15th  chapter  of  the  8th  book,  he 
ascribes  his  ill-will  and  intrigues  against  Nicias  to 
the   following   motive :  —  *Ev>jy6   8g  zTgo^vfioTUTu  t^v 

fgalslav  *AXx*^<a5>)j  6  KXsi viov,  /3ouXojttgvoj  tw  re  Nix/a  evav' 
TioD(rdai,  wv  x«»  eg  to,  aXXct,  Siaipo^oj  ra  vroXdixa.,  xai  orr  avtou 
liOL^okmi  eii.vri<T^Yiy  xai  /ttaXifa  fgctli^yi^a-cxl  re  iTridvjxcov,  xat 
IXzar/^oov  'SixeXluv  re  8/  txoroD  xa»  Ka^>)8ova  X^^ea-^ctr  xa)  toL 
T§ia  ajtta  £UTy;^^<raj,  ^gri[ji.oi(ri  re  xa)  8o^>j  w^eXvjasiv,     Further 

on,  Thucydides,  who  weighs  men's  probable  mo- 
tives in  a  nicely  poised  scale,  gives  Alcibiades, 
in  a  supposed  speech  to  the  Lacedemonians,  an 
opportunity  of  assigning  an  honourable  motive  for 
abandoning  the  cause  of  his  country,  and  enlisting 
under  opposite  banners  :  — "E^e)  w$  ye  ^waU,  xa»  ou^ 

aiJi.uqiri(Te(T^ai  ol/tai  yvw/x>)?,  cravy  ^a^crw*  xui  x^lgoov  ovhv)  ot^tw 
Zoxelv  viJiuiv  elvoHy  e]  tJ  Ifxotvlou  fji^eloi  tmv  'CToXefJuooloiTaJV,  (piXdiroXtg 
taro7g  Zoxwv  elvai,  vvv  eyxqciiuig  e'UTegy(oii,a.i'  ouSs  O'CTQTrlevea-^cii  fjLOU 
e]g    TYjV  <pyya8«x^y  vrgo^vfiictv   tov  Koyoy.      He    asCribcS    llis 

conduct  to  the  wickedness  of  his  enemies. 

The  following  anecdote  proves  beyond  all  ques- 
tion the  strong  attachment  of  this  ^ay  youth  to 


CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES,  89 

his  philosophical  friend.  After  the  defeat  of  the 
Athenians  at  the  battle  of  Delium,  Socrates  was 
retreating  on  foot :  Alcibiades  brought  him  safe 
out  of  the  field,  in  spite  of  the  enemy  who  pressed 
furiously  forward,  and  made  a  very  considerable 
slaughter. 

A  speech  of  Andocides  against  Alcibiades  is 
preserved  in  the  Oratores  Gracci  of  Aldus,  and  the 
Oratores  Veteres  of  Stephens,  in  which  both  his 
public  and  private  character  are  virulently  at- 
tacked. * 

Plato  has  two  dialogues  between  Socrates  and 
Alcibiades ;  one,  De  Natura  Hominis,  the  other 
De  Voto.  Socrates,  as  usual,  drives  his  pupil  into 
a  corner.  The  oratory  of  Alcibiades  has  been  much 
commended  by  the  ancients ;  but  even  with  them, 
though  the  fact  be  highly  probable,  the  report  seems 
to  be  little  more  than  that  of  common  fame.  The 
speeches  of  Thucydides  are  admirable  as  charac- 
teristic illustrations ;  but  they  are  not  parliament- 
ary reports. 

Alcibiades  was,  like  other  statesmen,  a  New- 
market man.  He  won  the  first,  second,  and  third 
prizes  in  person ;  his  chariots  won  twice  in  his 
absence.  He  is  said  to  have  put  Eupolis  to  death 
for  writing  a  satire  against  him ;  in  which  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  the  verse  quoted  by  Aulus 
Gellius :  —  **  Eupolidis  quoque  versus  de  id  genus 
hominibus  consignatissime  factus  est,  xaXeTv  agis-o$, 
klvvoLTuiroLTQi  keyetv:  quod  Sallustius  uostcr  imitari 
volens,    loqiuiXf    inquit,    magis,    (/nam  Jacu?idus.** 


•  The  excellent  edition  of  the  Oratores  Attici  by  Bckker, 
from  the  Clarendon  Press,  1823,  supersedes  the  necessity  of 
any  other,  except  to  the  professed  collector. 


90  CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES. 

Eupolis,  a  native  of  Athens,  is  honourably  men- 
tioned by  QuinctiHan  and  by  Horace,  who  both 
rank  him  with  Aristophanes  and  Cratinus.  His 
fragments  are  scattered  up  and  down  in  many 
ancient  authors,  and  have  been  collected  by 
Grotius. 

Alcibiades  and  Phaeax  are  accused  of  having  bor- 
rowed the  consecrated  plate,  and  having  refused  to 
return  it,  after  profaning  it  by  secular  uses,  till  the 
«ve  of  the  sacred  processions  in  which  it  was  to  be 
exhibited.  The  object  of  this  retention  is  alleged 
to  be,  that  strangers  might  consider  it  as  a  private 
loan.  *     Phaeax  is  likewise  mentioned  by  Thucydi- 

des,  lib.  v.  cap.  4.  :  — 4>a/a^  Se  6  'EgoKnrgaTOv,  Tghog  aoTOf, 
'A^Yivctioov  'CTgjXTrovTcov,  vauc*  8uo  eg  'IraX/av  x«*  iSixeAiav 
fcrgea-^BvlYji    v-aro    rov  uvtqv  ^govov  l^e^Aeucrg. 

Nicias  and  Alcibiades,  though  not  always  the 
most  sincere  friends,  leagued  together  to  turn  the 
tables  on  Hyperbolus,  who  had  levelled  a  sentence 
of  ostracism  against  either  one  of  them,  or  Phasax. 
This  Hyperbolus  was  the  constant  butt  of  the 
<jomic  writers,  and  especially  of  Plato.  He  is 
mentioned  by  Plutarch  in  the  Lives  of  Alcibiades,> 
Aristides,  and  Nicias. 

The  best  apology  that  can  be  made  for  the 
treason  of  Alcibiades  to  his  country,  which  no 
injuries  can  ever  justify,  is  the  hospitality,  subsist- 

*  "X2v  xoit  Tov  *AXxi^«a5r]V  lcr))7»wv7o,  xu)  enuToc  vvroXoifji^avovles 
ol  [xaXisrct  Tui  'AXx»/3ia8>)  uy^o^Lsvoi,  efxtjodobv  ovTi  (r<^l<nv  avTols 
fxr}  TOV  hrjfj^ou  /Se^a/coj  'crgoefotvon,  xot)  vofji,i(roL\fls$,  el  uvtov  e^sXa- 
crsiaVf  'CxguiTOk  ay  eivcn,  efi,eya.\vvov,  ku)  e^ooov  cb$  Itti  Si^jxou 
xctlaXv(rei  roc  re  fivs'ixoi  xeu  yj  toov  *E^jaaJv  nregixoTxyY)  yevoHo'  xol\ 
ohZev  eTij  auTwv  o,  t<  ot5  jxer'  exi/vou  evrguyPr^*  e7ri\eyovle$  rexfAtigiu, 
TYjv  uKXyiv  oivTOV  e$  roL  ex!Tilrihe6iJ.aloi  «w  8>)jxo7ix^v  vrugoivo[ji,ioiv,  — 
Thucyd,  lib.  vi.  cap.  28.  -  . 


CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES.  §1 

ing  anciently  on  so  curious  a  footing,  between  his 
family  and  the  Lacedemonians.  In  consideration 
of  this  tie,  he  had  taken  particular  care  of  the 
prisoners  captured  at  Pylos.  Yet  in  this  act  he 
was  thwarted,  and  his  jealousy  roused  by  the 
ascendency  of  Nicias,  who  had  procured  peace 
and  the  consequent  liberty  of  the  captives;  so 
that  he  eclipsed  Alcibiades  in  popularity  both  at 
home  and  abroad.  The  jealous  feeling  towards 
Nicias  has  been  touched  upon  before :  it  found 
vent  when  the  Lacedemonians  had  formed  an 
alliance  with  the  Boeotians,  and  had  delivered 
Panactus  to  the  Athenians  with  dismantled  forti- 
fications. Alcibiades  seized  on  this  opportunity  to 
inflame  the  minds  of  his  countrymen,  and  to 
involve  Nicias  in  a  portion  of  the  current  odium. 
The  intrigue  by  which  he  supplanted  Nicias  in  the 
confidence  of  the  Lacedemonians,  is  thus  de- 
veloped by  Thucydides :  — 

Kai  Xeyovlig  ev  tJ  /SouXjj  -crsgi  re  rouToov,  xoii  d)s  avToxgaTogef 
^xov<n  cre^J  xsrotvlcov  ^vfj.^Yjvui  tmv  hoL(p6q(tiVy  tov  *AXxi^*«5»jv  k(p6§ouv, 
jx^  xa»,  >jv  I?  TOV  Srjjxov  Tavra  Xeyaxnv,  e'sruyuycovloci  to  i^\ri^og, 
x«i  aTTOJO-^rj  ri  'Agyeloov  ^vix.[LCf)(lo(,'  [/i,ri^avSiTon  de  Tjxgo^  avTolf 
TOiovSe  Tt  6  *AXxi^ja8»)j'  touj  AocKS^uifxovloug  «Te/de«,  w/fiv  otvTol$ 
iovg,  riv  /x^  hii.o\Qyy\(TQi<TiV  ev  tw  8^jw,w  uvloxgoiToge$  ^xnv,  Yl6\ov  re 
aoToig  ano^w(reiv,  "sreidsiv  yug  avrog  ^A^rivaloug  wa-rzsg  xa»  vuv 
avIiXeyuVf  xaJ  raXXa  ^oyaXXa^siv,  pou\6fji,svo$  he  avrovg  Njx/ou 
Tf  acror^(rai,  ravru  sTrgalrif  xa)  Sirco$  Iv  tm  ^|xco  S/oeoaXcuv  auroug 
if  ow8fv  aXijdff  ev  vw  t'xo\i<riVy  otiSe  keyov(nv  ouSeVoTtf  ruula,  tow; 
*Agyftovg  xu)  'HXe/ou^  xai  Mavrivcaj  ^v[ji,fjioi^ous  VTOiri(ri^,  xa\ 
iyivtlo  ovTCtij.  ireilri  yag  ej  tov  lr^[i.ov  trapeXdo'vlej,  xat  ewepou- 
Tw/xfvoi  oux  t^ourav  (JiXTTfeg  ev  ttj  /3ouXj}}  otvTOxpuTogtg  ^xeiv,  oi 
*A-SjyaTo»  ouxiti  i^veip^ov7o'  aXXa  toD  'AXxi^iaSou  croXXai  jWroAXov 
4  VTfOTtgov  xaloi^ouivlog  rutv  Aotxe^ai/xovicuv^  ccri^xooo'v  Tf  xai  eroi/xoi 
V^**  •y^wj  vjufiayayovhi  rouj  *A^e»ouj,  x«»  Tou;  /xeT*  oty7wv,  fwjx- 


92  CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES. 

T>)    8*    Ufspocloi   exx\ri<rloi  6  Nix/aj,  Kcti-arsp  toov  AuxedoiiiJ^ovloov 
avTcov   ^TTulrifjievMV,    xa*    auroj   B^r\T:ctly)i/.syos    terep    toD   |tt)j    ayro- 
xpoiTogsg    6[j,o\oyy](rai    ^xsiv,    Ofxoo^  Toi$  Auxs^uifx,ovlois  e^>j  %p^vai 
tplKovg  fji,oi\Kov  ylyvsa-^ocij  xai  STriar^ovlccs  to.  nrqos  'Apysiov;,  'SJii^.'^on 
ETi  wj  avTOVSf  xa*  elSevai  o,  t/  8iavoouv7ar    Xsycav,  ev  [xsv  tco  (t<^Z' 
Tsgcti  xccKcu,  Iv  Ss  toJ  kkelvuiv  u'crgsTrsl,  rov  'Ct6Ks[ji,ov  ava^aXXe<r3«i, 
<r^/<n   jxsv  y«^  su    kfooTWv  rcuv  zrguyixoiTcov,  ch§  eTr/TrXeTfOV   agis-ov 
sTvai  8<acrco(rao-dai  ti^v  twrpuyluv  eKslvoig  Es  Suru;^ow<r«v,  OTila^ij-a 
eZpYifxa    shon  diocxivlvvs6<rui,    bttsio-s   re  cr£ju.\t/a<    'cjgs<r§et§,  wv  xai 
aurog  ^v,  xs\s6(rovlag  AaxeSaijaov/ouj,  etri  8/xa<ov  8iavoouv7a<,  Fla- 
vax7ov  Tg  op.&ov  aTToSjSova*,    xat  * AixflyroXtv  xot)  t^v    BoKtiloov  ^ufji' 
fiot^iav  aviivaiy  ^v  /x,^  Ij  raj  CTrovSaj  Icr/cocrij  xcc^aTrsg  e1gv)lo,  aveu 
aWYjXctiV  fJLYi^sv)  ^v[j.^oe.ivsiv,    fl-crsTv    Tf  IxeAeuov,   oVi  xa)  <r(ps'i§,    el 
e^ouAov7o    a&iXsTv,    ^8>j    av   'A^ye/ouj  ^vpi^fji^u^ovg  -creTroiJjor^ai'   wj 
vrotgslvotl    y   auTouj  aurou  toutou  evexa,     6i;t£  t<   aAXo  hsxotXovv, 
ZTOLvloc  eiffifelkotvleg,    aTreVsjavI/av   touj   -CTegi  rov   Nix/av  wpsV/Seij* 
xa*    a.ipixo[ji.£vaiv    uvtwVj     xoc)    onruyyeiXuvTMV    to.  re   uWu,     xa) 
reXog  el'STOvluiVf    on   e\    fXrr]   rYjV   ^v[j:,[x,u^iciv  ocvYj<TOV(n    Boicolol$  [jl^ 
ea■^ov<^^v   is  rots  (ntov^ois,   vroivia-ovlon  xu)  avro)  'Agy:lov$,  xoi)  tou; 
jxsT*  avriov,  ^vixfjia^ovi*  r^v  [liv  ^vixfji,u^lotv  ol  Aaxs8aiju,ovio<  Boico- 
rolg   ovx  espacrav   av^creiv,  eTrixgalouvlcov   rcov  zreg)  rov   Heva^rj  rov 
"E^opov  Taura  ylyv-<T^otif  xa)  o(roi  oiXXoi  tJjj  aur^f  yvwfxris  ^craiv, 
T0O$  Sg  ogxous,   Seo/xevou    Nix/ou,    av6Vgco(rav7o.    l:po^g»TO    yag   jx^ 
zravlot    ureXri    e^oiv    a'WgA.dyj,    xa»    8<a/3A>j3^  (^oisreg  xu)  eyevelojy 
atrios   ^oxwv   elvoti  toov  'urgo;  AaxgSaijw-ov/ouj   (TTrovSoov*    avap^wg^- 
(Totvtog  Tg  auToO,  wj  r}xov<Ta.v  ol  'Adyjvaioi  ouSgv  Ix  t^j  Auxedctifxovog 
'orerffgotyfxevov,    ev^vg    Si*    o^Jjj  el^ov    xou    vofxl^ovleg  ahxela-^aif 
erv^ov  yoig  'usotgovlsg  ol  'Agyeloi,  xa)   ol  ^6fx.[j,u^oi,  'sxagciyotyovlog 
'AXxi^iaBou,    hTTOiriaravlo    (nrov^ug    xa)    ^UfXfxa^lav    wgog    aurobi 
ryjvh. 

The    remark     of   Plutarch    on    this    precious 
roguery  is  well  worth  attention  :  —  Ka*  rh  jxev  rgoTrov 

ov^e)s  ri^g  vxgdi^sws  gTrjivg*,   jxg'ya  S'  rivro  zreTrgayi^eyov  viar'  avrou. 


CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES.  QS 

8ia$^(ra<  xa)  xgutoivai  rfeXoTrovvrjo-ov  oXiyov  SsTv  aTracav,  xu) 
Toa-avToi;  aa-frldoig  ev  r,fxsgix  fji,ia  CT£^»  Motvlivsiuv  uvhra^ut  Aaxs- 
^uiixovlois,  xai  tffoppctilarui  twv  'A^ijva/oov  otywvot  xotlaa-xsvacrai  xa\ 
xlv^uvov  otVToigj  sv  Z  fjLsyoi  fxh  otiSev  ^  v(xt)  -BT^oo-edtjxs  xgalvjaroKTiv, 
tl  8*  lo-f aX>j(rav,  s^ov  ^v  t^v  AaxsSa/joiova  'crg^iysvlo-'^au      The 

consequence  was  the  battle  of  Mantinca,  in  which 
the  Athenians  were  beaten  without  adding  much 
to  the  confidence  or  to  the  resources  of  the  Lace- 
demonians. 

The  web  of  Alcibiades's  poHcy  was  curiously 

WrOUgllt  : *AXxi/3«a8T)j  yag,  OTS  aTrrJs*  ex  t^c  ocg^T^g  ^§r]  |tx.e7a- 

-TrfjXTrloj,  fTTifajitsvoj  oti  ^6ufo»7c,  jU,>)vyH»  toTj  roov  '2.vgaxova-la)v  (plXoig 
roig  sv  Usa-YiVYj,   ^vvsi^ws  to  jxeXXov. ThllCljd,  \\h.  vi.  Cap. 

Q(S,  Without  any  genuine  and  rational  patriotism, 
he  was  continually  stirring  up  the  young  men  of 
Athens  to  aim  at  the  empire,  not  only  of  the  sea 
but  of  the  land  ;  and  reminding  them  of  the  oath 
they  had  taken  in  the  temple  of  Aglauros.  Attica 
was  a  barren  tract ;  and  they  had  sworn  to  con- 
sider any  country  as  their  own,  which  abounded 
in  corn,  wine,  and  oil. 

Among  the  military  effeminacies  .  of  Alcibiades, 
was  that  of  carrying  a  shield  of  gold  in  the  wars, 
with  the  ensign,  a  Cupid  bearing  a  thunderbolt, 
instead  of  the  owl,  or  the  olive,  or  Minerva  herselfi 
the  usual  and  recognised  devices  of  the  Athe- 
nians. 

Demosthenes,  in  his  oration  against  Midias,  speaks 
.with  mingled  praise  and  censure  of  Alcibiades  :  — 

/iiytiM  roivvv  vroTe  iv  ttj  nroXii^  xctloL  rr\v  nroiXonoiv  exelvriv  eutoti- 
fxovi'av,  'AXxi€ia8»)j  yeve(r^ai,  co  (rxf\|/a<rdf ,  t/vcov  eue^e<riwv  virag*' 
yjjuduiv^  xa)  -cjolcuv  tivcov  xcr^of  tov  S^p-ov,  tffwg  e^g'^(rav^'  vfMiv  ol 
XT^oyovoi,  iirnlij  ^ii\vgog  xa)  uSgi<rvii  welt  ScTv  thar  x«»  oox, 
iTfixao-ai  Iriworj  M>t$/av  'AAxi^ia^T)  /SouXojXffvo;,  tovtou  ft,tfi,vr\fi.at 
Tou  }s,6yov. 


94.  CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES.* 

The  slaughter  of  all  the  adult  males  among  the 
Melians,  a  crime  unlike  those  generally  committed 
by  Alcibiades,  is  stated  by  Plutarch  to  have  taken 
place  under  a  decree  promoted  by  him.  But 
Thucydides,  who  gives  an  account  of  the  affair 
with  the  Melians,  ending  in  this  nefarious  trans- 
action, in  the  last  three  sections  of  his  fifth  book, 
neither  mentions  such  decree,  nor  names  Alci- 
biades. It  has  been  suggested  that  he  wished  to 
have  the  carnage  thought  the  effect  of  a  sudden 
transport  of  the  soldiery,  and  not  a  deliberate  act 
of  cruelty  on  the  part  of  the  Athenians.  If  so, 
what  becomes  of  the  severely  impartial  historian  ? 
He  certainly  gets  over  the  massacre  as  fast  as  he 
can,  in  a  single  sentence ;  but  had  there  been 
such  a  decree,  and  Alcibiades  its  promoter,  it 
would  have  been  unlike  his  usual  proceeding  to 
have  suppressed  the  fact.  Melos  was  one  of  the 
Cyclades,  and  a  Lacedemonian  colony.  That 
Alcibiades  was  the  officer  who  blockaded  it,  is  true. 
His  force  amounted  to  thirty-six  ships,  and  three 
thousand  men.  He  could  not  take  the  island  till 
the  second  year,  after  he  had  received  a  reinforce- 
ment under  Philocrates.  It  but  too  often  hap- 
pened in  ancient  times,  that  troops  were  exas- 
perated by  being  detained  long  at  a  siege,  and 
committed  ravages  which  their  officers  were  unable 
to  prevent.  Effeminacy,  and  the  violation  of  public 
decency,  are  offences  of  more  probable  imputation. 

On  this  subject  Athenaeus  relates  an  anecdote, 
immediately  preceding  that  of  Anytus  and  Thra- 
syllus,  in  a  chapter  before  quoted: — 'A^jxoVevo?  8* 

^A^vivr}<riv  If  'OXojotTr/aj,  Suo  tjjlvuxug  av£^)]xev,  'AykotoipMvlos  yga- 
9^v'  Siv  6  jxev  el^ev  'OXyjXTriaSa  xcti  Flu^jaSa  ^^(puvoua-as  avTov 
sv  U  iicOe^co  NejM.e«  ?v  x«^»)/Aey>),  xoi)  h)  rm  yovaTwv  avrijs  'AA- 


CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES.  95 

xjj3<aS>)?,    xctWmv  (potivofxsvo^  tmv  yvvaixeloov  'Sjgoa-cuTTwv.      This 

Aglaophon  was  the  father  of  Polygnotus.  He  is 
mentioned  in  good  company  by  Cicero,  De  Orat. 
iii.  7«  •  —  "  Una  est  ars  ratioque  picturaa,  dissimil- 
limique  tamen  inter  se  Zeuxis,  Aglaophon,  Apelles : 
neque  eorum  quisquam  est,  cui  quidquam  in  arte 
sua  deesse  videatur." 

Ambition  showed  itself  under  contrasted  forms 
in  Alcibiades  and  his  guardian  Pericles :  in  the 
former,  headstrong,  inconsiderate,  and  personal ; 
in  the  latter,  prudent,  statesman-like,  and  patriotic. 
Pericles  knew  the  lust  of  conquest  to  be  the  na- 
tional error  of  the  Athenians ;  and  his  authority 
was  always  exerted  to  restrain  its  extravagance. 
He  died  in  the  third  year  of  the  Peloponnesian 
war.  During  his  lifetime,  they  had  felt  a  longing 
desire  to  mix  themselves  up  with  the  divisions  of 
the  Sicilians ;  but  when  the  check  of  his  disappro- 
bation was  removed,  they  aimed  at  the  conquest  of 
the  island,  and  banished  two  of  their  generals  and 
fined  a  third,  for  not  having  effected  it.  Alci- 
biades lent  himself  to  these  lofty  notions,  and  with 
an  imprudence  the  reverse  of  his  guardian's  policy, 
suggested  the  entire  occupation  of  the  island,  in- 
stead of  that  gradual  conquest  which  only  they 
had  hitherto  meditated.  *  But  Socrates  was  warned 
by  that  genius,  who  was  fabled  to  have  waited  on 
him,  and,  fable  apart,  is  true  wisdom,  that  this 
career  would  not  be  ultimately  successful.     Meton 


•  Mr.  Mitford,  I  find  on  consulting  him  since  I  wrote  this  pas- 
sage, does  not  consider  the  project  of  Alcibiades  as  so  im- 
prudent ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  speaks  of  it  as  "  extensively 
founded.*'  I  do  not  dispute  so  high  an  authority,  but  as  there 
is  historical  warrant  in  the  expressed  opinions  of  Socrates  and 
Mcton,  I  have  allowed  the  passage  to  stand. 


96  CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES. 

the  astronomer  read  no  favourable  destiny  in  the 
stars,  and  wished  to  exempt  his  son  from  the 
hazards  of  the  campaign.  He  affected  madness, 
set  his  house  on  fire,  and  conveniently  recovering 
his  senses,  petitioned  the  people  to  let  his  son  stay 
at  home  to  comfort  him.  Nicias  also  opposed  a 
wise  and  cautious  policy  to  the  arrogance  and  im- 
petuous rashness  of  his  opponent.  But  violence 
carried  its  point  against  counsel  and  experience. 
The  arguments  on  both  sides  are  so  admirably 
constructed  by  Thucydides,  in  speeches  which 
he  probably  framed  from  traditionary  heads  or 
remnants  of  their  respective  harangues,  that  I 
should  insert  them  but  for  their  extreme  length : 
I  will  therefore  give  them  as  condensed  by  that 
excellent  historian  of  Greece,  Mr.  Mitford  :  — 

"  To  urge  to  Athenian  tempers,"  Nicias  said, 
"  that  in  reason  they  should  rather  take  measures 
to  secure  what  they  alreddy  possess,  than  ingage  in 
wild  projects  for  farther  acquisition,  I  fear  will  be 
vain  ;  yet  I  think  it  my  duty  to  endevor  to  show 
you  how  rash  and  unadvised  your  present  purpose 
is.  Within  Greece  you  seem  to  imagine  yourselves 
at  peace :  yet  some  of  the  most  powerful  states, 
of  the  confederacy  with  which  you  have  been  at 
war,  have  not  yet  acceded  to  the  treaty,  and  some 
of  the  articles  are  still  controverted  by  all.  In 
short,  it  is  not  a  peace,  but  meerly  a  dubious  sus- 
pension of  hostilities,  prolonged  by  ten-day  truces, 
which  will  hold  only  till  some  misfortune  befal  us, 
or  till  Lacedaamon  give  the  word  for  war.  At  the 
same  time  your  antient  subjects,  the  Chalcidians  of 
Thrace,  have  been  years  in  a  rebellion  which  they 
are  still  maintaining ;  and  some  others,  whom  you 
esteem  dependent  states,  pay  you  but  a  precarious 


CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES.  97 

obedience.  Is  it  not  then  extreme  impolicy  to 
incur  needlessly  new  and  great  dangers,  with  the 
view  to  increase  a  dominion  alreddy  so  insecure  ? 

"  As  to  the  dominion  which  Syracuse  may  ac- 
quire in  Sicily,  which  some  desire  to  represent  as 
highly  alarming,  far  from  an  object  of  apprehen- 
sion,  it  would  rather  give  us  security.  For  while 
Sicily  is  divided,  each  state  will  court  the  favor  of 
the  Lacedaemonians,  who  profess  themselves  the 
protectors  of  independency ;  but  when  once  the 
Syracusans  are  masters  of  all,  they  will  be  less 
forward  in  connection  with  Laceda^mon,  and  more 
cautious  of  opposing  the  Athenians ;  whose  cause 
is  similar  to  theirs,  and  whose  interest  congenial. 

**  For  myself,"  continued  Nicias,  "  at  my  years, 
and  after  the  long  course  of  services  in  which  my 
fellowcitizens  have  been  witnesses  of  my  conduct, 
I  may  venture  to  say  that  no  man  is  less  anxious 
for  his  personal  safety.  I  have  large  property, 
through  which  my  welfare  is  intimately  connected 
with  that  of  the  commonwealth.  But  we  owe  both 
life  and  fortune  to  our  country  ;  and  I  hold  that 
man  to  be  a  good  citizen  who  is  duly  careful  of 
both.  If  thert  there  is  among  you  a  young  man, 
born  to  great  wealth  and  splendid  situation,  whose 
passion  for  distinction  has  nevertheless  led  him  far 
to  exceed,  in  magnificence,  both  what  suited  his 
means  and  what  became  his  situation ;  if  he  is 
now  appointed  to  a  command  above  his  years,  but 
with  wiiich,  at  his  years  especially,  a  man  is  likely 
to  be  delighted ;  above  all,  if  repairs  are  wanting 
to  a  wasted  fortune,  which  may  make  such  a  com- 
mand desirable  to  him,  tho  ruinous  to  his  country, 
it  behooves  you  to  beware  how  you  accede  to  the 
advice  of  such  a  counscUor.     1  dread  indeed  the 

u 


98  CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES. 

warm  passions  of  that  crowd  of  youths,  the  follow- 
ers and  supporters  of  the  person  of  whom  I  speak  : 
and  notwithstanding  the  decree  of  the  last  assem- 
bly, all  men  of  sober  judgement  ought  yet  to  inter- 
fere, and  prevent  rash  undertakings,  of  a  magnitude 
that  may  involve,  with  their  failure,  the  downfall 
of  the  commonwealth.  If  therefore,  honored  as  I 
am,  by  the  voice  of  my  country,  with  appointment 
to  the  chief  command  of  the  intended  expedition, 
I  may  presume  to  advise,  it  shall  be,  that  the 
expedition  be  not  undertaken  ;  that  the  Sicilians 
be  left  still  divided  by  their  seas  from  Athens ; 
that  the  Egestans,  as  without  communication  with 
Athens  they  ingaged  in  war  with  the  Selinuntines, 
so,  without  our  interference  they  accommodate 
their  differences ;  and  that,  in  future,  the  Athe- 
nians ingage  in  no  alliances  with  states  which,  in 
their  own  distress,  will  claim  assistance,  but  in  the 
distress  of  Athens  could  afford  none." 

Alcibiades,  thus  particularly  called  upon,  mounted 
the  bema  to  reply.  He  began  with  insisting  upon 
his  just  pretension  to  the  high  command  to  which 
he  was  raised,  and  with  glorying  in  the  extra- 
vagances of  which  he  was  accused.  "  My  ances- 
tors before  me,"  he  said,  "  have  been  honored  for 
that  very  conduct  which  is  now  imputed  to  me  as 
criminal.  I  own,  and  it  is  my  boast,  that  I  have 
exceeded  them  all  in  magnificence,  and  I  claim 
merit  with  my  country  for  it.  The  supposition 
had  gained,  throughout  Greece,  that  Athens  was 
ruined  by  the  war.  I  have  shown  that  an  indi- 
vidual of  Athens  could  yet  outdo  what  any  prince 
or  state  had  ever  done.  I  sent  seven  chariots  to 
the  Olympian  festival,  and  gained  the  first,  the 
second,  and  the  fourth  prizes:  and  the  figure  I 


CHARACTER    OF    ALCIB FADES.  99 

maintained  throughout,  at  that  meeting  of  the 
wliole  Greek  nation,  did  not  disparage  the  splen- 
dor of  my  victory.  Is  this  a  crime?  On  the 
contrary,  it  is  held  honorable  by  the  customs  of 
Greece,  and  reflects  honor  and  renown,  even  on 
the  country  of  those  who  exhibit  such  magnificence. 
With  regard  then  to  my  extravagance,  as  it  has 
been  called,  at  home,  whether  in  public  entertain- 
ments or  in  whatever  else,  perhaps  I  may  have 
drawn  on  me  the  envy  of  some  of  our  own  citi- 
zens :  but  strangers  are  more  just ;  and  in  my 
liberality  and  hospitality  they  admire  the  greatness 
of  the  commonwealth. 

"  If  then  even  in  these  things,  comparatively 
meer  private  concerns,  I  have  deserved  well  of  my 
country,  let  it  be  inquired  what  my  public  con- 
duct has  been.  Glory,  I  will  own,  I  ardently 
desire ;  but  how  have  I  sought  to  acquire  it,  and 
what  has  been  my  success  ?  Have  I  promoted 
rash  enterprize?  Have  I  been  forward,  as  it  is 
said  youth  is  apt  to  be,  to  ingage  the  common- 
wealth, wildly  and  without  foresight,  in  hazardous 
war?  or  was  it  I  who,  by  negotiation,  without 
either  danger  or  expcnce  to  yourselves,  brought  all 
Peloponnesus  to  fight  your  battles  for  you  against 
Laceda^mon,  and  reduced  that  long-dreaded  rival 
state  to  risk  its  existence  at  Mantineia,  in  arms 
against  its  own  antient  allies  ?  If  such  have  been 
my  services,  on  first  entering  upon  public  business, 
you  need  not,  I  hope,  fear  but  my  greater  expe- 
rience will  now  be  advanta  geous  to  you. 

•*  With  regard  then  to  Nicias,  who  has  long 
and  honorably  served  you  in  the  high  situation 
of  general  of  the  commonwealth,  tho  he  haa  been 
expressing   himself  acrimoniously   against   me,    I 

II  ^ 


100  CHARACTER    OF    ALCTBIADES. 

reddily  acknowledge  his  merit,  and  have  no  objec- 
tion to  serve  with  him :  on  the  contrary,  I  think 
it  would  become  your  wisdom  to  employ  us  toge- 
ther. Nicias  has  the  reputation  of  cautious  pru- 
dence, and  singular  good  fortune ;  I  am  said  to 
be  more  than  prudently  enterprizing.  For  want 
of  enterprize  his  wisdom,  and  the  good  fortune 
witli  which  the  gods  have  been  accustomed  to 
bless  it,  will  be  unavaiUng  to  the  commonwealth  : 
checked  by  his  prudence,  my  disposition  to  enter- 
prize cannot  be  dangerous. 

"  To  come  then  to  the  question  more  imme- 
diately before  the  assembly,  the  opportunity  now 
offered  to  the  commonwealth,  for  acquisition  in 
Sicily,  ought  not  to  be  neglected.  The  power  of 
the  Sicilians,  which  some  would  teach  you  to  fear, 
has  been  much  exaggerated.  They  are  a  mixed 
people,  little  attached  to  one  another,  little  at- 
tached to  a  country  which  they  consider  as  scarcely 
theirs,  and  little  disposed  to  risk  either  person  or 
fortune  for  it ;  but  always  reddy  for  any  change, 
whether  of  political  connection,  or  of  local  estab- 
lishment, that  may  offer  any  advantage,  or  relieve 
from  any  distress.  Nor  is  their  military  force 
such  as  some  have  pretended ;  several  Grecian 
states  and  all  the  barbarians  of  the  iland,  will  be 
immediately  in  your  interest.  *  Distracted  then  by 
faction,  as  it  is  well  known  the  rest  are,  negotiation, 
well  managed,  may  soon  bring  more  to  your  party. 

"  But  it  is  endevored  to  alarm  you  with  appre- 
hensions of  invasion  from  Peloponnesus.  With 
regard  to  this,  late  experience  has  demonstrated 
what  may  suffice  us  to  know.  The  Peloponnesians 
are  always  able  to  overrun  the  open  country  of 
Attica  even  when  none  of  our  force  is  absent  on 


CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES-  101 

fbrein  service ;  and,  should  the  expedition  now 
proposed  take  place,  they  can  do  no  more.  Ought 
we  then  to  abandon  allies,  whom  treaties  ratified 
by  oath  bind  us  to  protect?  Is  it  a  just  reason  for 
so  failing  in  our  ingagements,  that  those  allies  are 
unable  to  afford  us  mutual  protection  ?  It  was 
surely  not  to  obtain  Egestan  forces  for  the  defence 
of  Attica  that  the  treaty  was  made ;  but  to  pre- 
vent our  enemies  in  Sicily  from  injuring  Attica, 
by  finding  them  employment  within  their  own 
iland.  It  has  been  by  readiness  to  assist  all, 
whether  Greeks  or  barbarians,  that  our  empire, 
and  ALL  empire,  has  been  acquired.  Nor,  let 
me  add,  is  it  now  in  our  choice  how  far  we  will 
stretch  our  command ;  for,  possessing  empire,  we 
must  maintain  it,  and  rather  extend  than  permit 
any  diminution  of  it ;  or  we  shall,  more  even  than 
weaker  states,  risk  our  own  subjection  to  a  forein 
dominion.  I  will  then  detain  you  no  longer  than 
to  observe,  that  the  command  which  we  possess  of 
the  sea,  and  tlie  party  of  which  we  are  assured  in 
Sicily,  will  sufficiently  inable  us  to  keep  what  we 
may  acquire,  and  sufficiently  insure  means  of  re- 
treat if  we  should  fail  of  our  purpose  ;  so  that, 
with  much  to  hope,  we  have,  from  any  event  of 
the  proposed  expedition,  little  to  fear.  I  am 
therefore  firmly  of  opinion  that  your  decree  for  it 
ouglit  not  to  be  rescinded." 

When  the  question  had  been  thus  fully  argued, 
Demostratus  moved,  that  the  preparations  for  the 
war  and  the  entire  control  of  it  sliould  be  vested 
in  the  generals.  The  Greeks  followed  up  all  public 
resolutions  by  sacrifices  and  festivals.  It  haj)pened 
unluckily,  that  just  before  the  sailing  of  the  expe- 
dition, the  feast  of  Adonis  took  place.     Looking 

H  3 


102  CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES, 

at  the  identity  of  ceremonies  at  their  festivals,  there 
is  reason  to  beHeve  that  Osiris  and  Bacchus  were 
only  other  names  for  the  same  deity.  But  be  that 
as  it  may,  the  lugubrious  observances  of  this  rite 
were  very  discouraging  to  the  superstitious  feelings 
of  the  Athenians.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  citi- 
zens to  wear  mourning  on  this  occasion :  coffins 
were  set  out  at  the  door  of  every  house.  The 
statues  of  Venus  and  Adonis  were  carried  in  pro- 
cession, accompanied  by  certain  vessels  called  the 
gardens  of  Adonis,  because  they  were  filled  with 
earth  after  the  manner  of  garden-pots,  and  corn, 
herbs,  and  lettuce  raised  in  them,  which  were  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  ceremony  to  be  thrown  into 
the  sea  or  some  river. 

It  is  remarkable  that  such  a  festival  was  not  only 
held  in  Greece,  where  indeed  few  ceremonies  ori- 
ginated, but  in  Egypt,  and,  as  we  learn  from  holy 
writ,  in  Judea  during  the  period  of  its  idolatry.  It 
had  all  the  character  of  a  funeral.  Greek  my- 
thology informs  us  that  Adonis  was  slain  by  a  wild 
boar  ;  on  which  event,  possibly  historical,  they  not 
only  grafted  a  love-story,  but  a  miracle,  in  the 
annual  death  and  revival  of  Adonis.  But  the  story 
was  Syrian  ;  for  Thammuz  had  been  deified  by  that 
people,  after  being  killed  in  hunting  on  Lebanon^ 
whence  the  river  Adonis  descends.  Hence  the 
Greeks  got  the  apparently  strange  ceremony  of  the 
garden-pots  as  well  as  the  yearly  decease.  At 
certain  seasons  the  river  brought  down  a  red  soil 
from  the  mountain,  which  discoloured  its  otherwise 
transparent  water.  This  was  considered  to  be  the 
blood  of  Thammuz,  and  a  natural  signal  that  his 
death  had  then  taken  place.  The  corn  and  other 
articles  were  cast  in  as  a  viaticum  for  the  passing 


CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES.  103 

soul;  and  the  only  alteration  the  Greeks  made 
seems  to  have  been  that  of  substituting  the  geogra- 
phical for  the  historical  or  fabulous  name.  Milton 
has  described  both  the  Syrian  and  Jewish  rite,  in 
Paradise  Lost,  book  i. : — 

Thammuz  came  next  behind, 
Whose  annual  wound  in  Lebanon  allured 
The  Syrian  damsels  to  lament  his  fate 
In  amorous  ditties  all  a  summer's  day ; 
While  smooth  Adonis  from  his  native  rock 
Han  purple  to  the  sea,  supposed  with  blood 
Of  Thammuz  yearly  wounded :  the  love-tale 
Infected  Sion's  daughters  with  like  heat ; 
Whose  wanton  passions  in  the  sacred  porch 
Ezekiel  saw,  when,  by  the  vision  led. 
His  eye  survey'd  the  dark  idolatries 
Of  alienated  Judah. 

The  loud  lamentations  of  the  women  are  parti- 
cularly marked  by  Ezekiel,  as  among  the  greater 
abominations.  "  Then  said  he  unto  me,  son  of 
man,  hast  thou  seen  what  the  ancients  of  the  house 
of  Israel  do  in  the  dark,  every  man  in  the  cham- 
bers of  his  imagery  ?  for  they  say,  the  Lord  seeth 
us  not;  the  Lord  hath  forsaken  the  earth."  By 
the  expression,  ex^ery  nian  in  the  cJiambers  of  his 
imagery,  is  meant  the  imagery  he  kept  in  his  own 
house,  like  the  sculptured  representations  in  the 
temple.  "  Then  he  brought  me  to  the  door  of 
the  gate  of  the  Lord's  house  which  was  toward 
the  jiorth  ;  and,  behold,  there  sat  women  weeping 
for  Tammuz."  The  gate  toward  the  north  is 
evidently  set  down  as  an  aggravation,  because  it 
was  nearer  to  the  tcmjile  tlian  the  other  gates. 
Now  Tammuz,   or  Thanunuz,  is  clearly  the  same 

H   4 


104  CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES. 

as  Adonis,  which  is  the  name  of  the  river  near 
which  he  lost  his  life.  In  short,  there  is  reason  to 
think  that  this  Syrian  idol  was  the  Dioni/sius  of  the 
Indians,  the  Osiris  of  the  Egyptians,  the  Liber  of 
the  Romans,  the  A^6vv<^os  and  BgoV»oj  of  the  Greeks, 
as  well  as  their  Adonis :  and  that  Bacchus,  or  Bar- 
Chus,  means  the  son  of  Chus,  who  was  in  fact 
Nimrod. 

The  female  lamentation,  reprobated  by  the  pro- 
phet, took  so  great  a  lead  on  account  of  the  sorrow 
felt  by  Venus,  under  whatever  name  she  might 
pass.  The  Greeks,  besides  changing  the  name, 
made  a  dramatic  addition  to  the  plot.  We  know 
that  Adonis  had  a  powerful  rival  in  Mars ;  who,  it 
seems,  in  a  fit  of  jealousy,  transformed  himself  into 
a  wild  boar,  and  took  his  revenge  in  that  shape. 
The  river  was  discoloured  with  the  blood ;  but  a 
few  drops  were  diverted  to  a  purpose  for  which 
florists  may  be  thankful  to  this  day :  tliose  *•  gouts 
of  blood'*  performed  the  elegant  and  delicate  office 
of  tinging  the  anemone !  Nor  have  we  done  with 
tlie  beneficial  effects  of  this  dye,  as  far  as  regards 
flowers.  Venus,  among  other  outward  marks  of 
desolation,  went  slip-shod :  roses  in  those  days 
were  all  white ;  but  they  had  thorns,  as  now ; 
thorns  scratch;  and  feet  bleed,  unless  protected  by 
neat^s  leather :  so  that  to  the  skin-deep  wounds  of 
the  goddess  we  owe  that  endless  variety  and  deli- 
cate gradation  of  ruddy  hues,  by  which  our  modern 
gardens  are  embellished. 

Ovid  alludes  to  the  alternate  death  and  life :  — 

Luctus  monumenta  manebimt 
Semper,  Adoni,  mei :  repetitaqiie  mortis  imago 
Annua  plangoris  peraget  simulamina  nostri.      Met.  lib.  x. 


CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES.  105 

Orpheus  has  a  hymn  on  the  subject,  of  which 
this  is  the  conclusion  :— 

Kougri,  xa\  Zoge*  'orSia'i  xuXov  ^aXog  oclev  "AScov*, 
2/3gvyujw,evo^  Xa/X7rccv  ts  xaXoils  sv  xvx\a<Tiv  cogat^' 
Au^idaXi^j  hixegcas,  ttToXvvjgals,  daxgvoTifxe, 
*Aykoi6iJi,og<ps,  xvvT^ysalais  ^ulgoov,  ^u^v^alrof 
'Ijxe^ovooj,  KuTT^iSof  yXuxegov  ^akog,  egvos   egwlos* 
Usga-e^ovrig  l^acri'CjXoxajXOu  XexlgoKTt  Xo^sudsij* 
'Ov  zjols  fx,6V  votisig  xmo  Taglagov  risgosvlot, 
'H8g  nruXiv  Trgos  "OXujxttov  aye^s  Se/xaj  wgioxugTaov 
*EAdg,  ILaxctg,  ii.u^<n  <psgcav  xagvovs  otTTO  yulri^. 

Nothing  can  be  more  elegantly  poetical  than  the 
touches  of  Theocritus  on  this  subject.  The  com- 
mon sense  of  the  fable,  and  fables  all  have  common 
sense,  however  disguised,  is  this.  Adonis,  after 
his  death,  was  to  pass  six  months  with  Venus,  and 
six  with  Proserpine  :  to  die  and  revive  every  year. 
Proserpine's  turn  is  while  the  sown  seed  lies  in  the 
ground,  and  that  of  Venus  from  the  first  appear- 
ance of  the  blade  till  its  fall  under  the  sickle.  This 
corroborates  his  identity  with  Bacchus ;  for  the 
rise  and  descent  of  the  sap  in  the  vine  may  be 
expressed  by  the  same  type.  This  early  benefactor 
therefore  probably  subjected  various  products  of 
the  earth  to  cultivation,  and  hence  the  vessels  of 
corn  and  other  vegetables  in  the  sacrifice. 

But  to  return  to  the  solemn  rite  at  the  period  in 
question.  The  mournful  part  of  it  cast  a  gloom 
over  the  minds  of  a  people  so  susceptible  of  omens ; 
and  the  feeling  was  aggravated  by  another  circum- 
stance* The  Athenians  had  terminal  figures  at 
their  doors,  surmounted  with  the  head  of  Mercury, 
These  statues  were  all   mutilated  in   one   night. 


106  CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES. 

The  Corinthians,  of  whom  the  Syracusans  were  a 
colony,  sent  out  under  Archias,  one  of  the  Hera- 
clidae,  were  reported  to  have  done  this,  in  the  hope 
that  such  an  apparent  prodigy  might  discourage 
the  Athenians  from  the  prosecution  of  the  war. 
While  men's  minds  were  thus  agitated,  Alcibiades 
was  alternately  popular  and  unpopular.  Those 
orators  who  were  apparently  his  friends,  but  really 
his  enemies,  suggested  the  propriety  of  giving  him 
full  scope,  but  holding  him  to  a  severe  responsi- 
biHty.  On  their  arrival  at  the  theatre  of  military 
operations,  Nicias  produced  a  scheme  for  the  con- 
duct of  the  war,  in  which  he  was  opposed  by  Al- 
cibiades. Lamachus  had  a  project  originally  dif- 
ferent from  both.  Not  finding  himself  competent 
to  carry  this  into  eflfect,  he  made  common  cause 
with  Alcibiades,  who  sailed  to  Sicily,  and  seized 
Catana  by  surprise.  He  also  got  possession  of 
Agrigentum  by  a  similar  stratagem.  His  subtilty 
in  the  intrigue  of  military  tactics  enabled  him  to 
insinuate  himself  into  one  of  the  forts  of  Syracuse. 
He  was  recalled  on  an  impeachment,  at  the  instance 
apparently  of  his  bitterest  enemy,  Androcles,  with 
whom  Andocides  associates  Pythonicus.  One  of 
Alcibiades's  slaves,  Andromachus,  Agariste  the  wife 
of  Alcmaeonides,  and  Lydus,  a  slave  of  Phereclus, 
took  the  lead  in  the  several  informations.  Teucer 
of  Megara,  though  pleading  guilty  himself,  did  not 
accuse  Alcibiades.  His  confession  of  facts,  and 
appeal  against  his  accomplices,  not  only  procured 
his  pardon  from  the  people,  but  a  thousand 
drachmas  as  a  reward.  The  mutilation  of  the 
statues  was  a  main  article  of  charge ;  for  the  peo- 
ple had  recovered  from  the  absurdity  of  consider- 
ing it  as  preternatural,  and  attributed  it  to  the 


CHARACTEll    OF    ALCIBIADES.  107 

malicious  frolic  of  some  domestic  enemy.  Dio- 
clides  produced  a  slave  who  deposed  that  he  had 
seen  more  than  three  hundred  men  at  work  upon 
the  Mercuries.  He  named  forty,  among  whom 
were  Andocides  with  his  father  and  several  of  his 
family  :  but  Andocides  convicted  him  of  falsehood, 
and  the  accuser  was  sentenced  to  death.  Ando- 
cides himself  accused  four  citizens,  who  eluded 
their  sentence  of  banishment  by  previous  flight. 

Alcibiades  was  sufficiently  open  to  prosecution 
on  charges  of  political  ambition ;  but  they  chose 
to  attack  him  on  ecclesiastical  grounds.  Eumol- 
pus,  a  Thracian  wha  settled  at  Eleusis,  had  or- 
ganised the  mysteries  of  Ceres.  His  descendants 
succeeded  to  the  priestly  office  under  the  patrony- 
mic title  of  Eumolpidae,  and  when  the  line  was  ex- 
tinct, the  designation  was  conferred  on  the  elective 
college.  Alcibiades  was  accused  of  violating  the 
rules  of  the  institution,  by  having  woni  a  robe  like 
the  official  dress  of  the  high-priest,  and  assuming 
his  heraldic  appellation ;  by  appointing  a  torch- 
bearer,  and  others  of  his  companions  as  mystae. 
This  it  was  which  threw  him  into  the  arms  of 
Sparta,  and  occasioned  the  speech  in  Thucydides 
quoted  in  the  early  part  of  this  article.  He  is  said 
to  have  possessed  the  property  of  the  chameleon, 
and  though  contrary  to  his  previous  habits,  to  have 
assumed  the  simplicity  and  austerity  of  Spartan 
manners.     But  this  was  merely  colourable :    for 

Plutiirch  says,  ToTj  8*  aX>)3ivo<j  uv  n^  eire(pu)vri(riv  uvtou  vrot' 
^f<ri  x«»  'CTgocyfjLao'iVy  "Efiv   ^    uxXui  ywij.*      Tifxxlixv  yag  rr/V 


•  Spoken  by  Elcctra  of  Helen,  in  the  Orestes  of  Euripides, 
in  refcrfnce  to  personal  solicitude  and  the  vanity  of  youth, 
continwul  into  old  age. 


108  CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES. 

"AyiSoj  yvvocixu  tov  ^udiXioi^,  s-gotlsvofxsvov  xa)  a7ro8»jjtAOuv7oj,  outm 
he(p^e^gsv  cofs  xa)  xusiv  1^  *AXx</3«a8oy,  xct)  /x,^  agvei(r^ui'  xaV 
T£Xoy(r*jj  'UTUiluqiOV  oippev,  e^oo  jw,ev  Aea>v7u;^»8>)V  x«Ae»(rd«i,  to  8* 
ivlos  uvTOU  ^i^vgi^ofxevov  ovojxu  ^gos  tu$  (pl\us  xu)  tov$  OTraSouj  vtto 
T^f  fji^rilpos,  'AXx»^«a8r)V  elvai.  Too-ouroj  egcoj  x«7e7p^g  t^v  oiv^guyirov. 

After  the  miscarriage  of  the  Athenians  in  Sicily, 
the  Lesbians,  under  the  patronage  of  th^  Boeotians, 
and  the  people  of  Cyzicum,  under  that  of  Pharna- 
bazus,  offered  to  quit  the  interests  of  Athens  and 
join  those  of  Sparta.  But  the  Chians  put  them- 
selves under  the  protection  of  Alcibiades  ;  and  by 
his  persuasion,  succours  were  sent  to  them  in  pre- 
ference to  all  the  others.  But  it  was  not  possible 
that  he  could  long  wear  the  mask,  or  the  plain- 
dealing  Spartans  be  long  duped  by  it.  He  foresaw 
his  danger,  and  sought  the  protection  of  Tisa- 
phernes.  The  princely  style  in  which  the  viceroys 
of  Asia  Minor  lived  suited  him  better.  Xenophon 
describes  the  palace  of  Pharnabazus  at  Dascylus  in 
Ionia.  The  gardens  of  Tisaphernes  were  not  less 
distinguished  by  the  elegance  of  their  taste ;  and 
so  highly  pleased  was  the  satrap  with  his  Grecian 
ally,  that  he  distinguished  the  most  magnificent  of 
his  pavilions,  watered  by  refreshing  streams,  and 
encompassed  by  verdant  meadows,  by  the  name  of 
Alcibiades,  which  it  long  continued  to  bear.  But 
in  this  new  connection  he  was  still  restless ;  and 
wished  to  re-establish  himself  at  Athens,  if  he 
could  but  secure  himself  against  the  resentment  of 
the  people.  He  knew  that  the  principal  Athenians 
on  military  duty  at  Samos  were  afraid  of  Tisapher- 
nes and  the  Phoenician  fleet :  he  therefore  sent  a 
private  messenger  to  them,  to  hold  out  the  hopes 
of  his  procuring  the  friendship  of  Tisaphernes  for 
them  by  intrigue,  and  to  suggest  to  the  nobihty 


CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES.  109 

the  measure  of  taking  the  government  into  their 
own  hands,  for  the  preservation  of  themselves  and 
their  country,  and  the  repression  of  democratic 
insolence.  Phrynichus  was  the  only  officer  who  did 
not  accede  to  the  proposal ;  and  his  refusal  led  to 
a  long  series  of  projects  against  each  other,  and 
cajolement  of  all  the  contending  powers,  whicli 
ended  by  Phrynichus  being  stabbed  in  full  assembly 
by  one  of  Hermon's  soldiers  on  guard.  The  Athe- 
nians sat  in  judgment  on  Phrynichus  after  death, 
found  him  guilty  of  treason,  and  decreed  crowns 
to  Hermon  and  his  party  for  having  killed  a  traitor. 
A  change  in  the  constitution  was  now  deter- 
mined on.  The  first  proposition  was,  that  none 
but  the  dregs  of  the  people  should  be  excluded 
from  a  voice  in  the  government.  A  corporation 
of  ^ve  thousand  wealthy  citizens  was  to  be  char- 
tered, and  they  were  to  represent  and  act  for  the 
people.  •  But  when  Pisander  and  his  fellow-com- 
missioners, who  had  been  sent  by  the  prevailing 
interest  at  Samos,  found  their  strength  equal  to 
the  task,  they  dissolved  the  old  government.  Five 
prytanes  were  elected,  with  power  to  choose  a 
hundred :  each  of  the  hundred  were  empowered 
to  choose  three,  and  the  four  hundred  were  to  form 
a  senate,  with  uncontrolled  power,  and  the  ixve 
thousand  were  retained  on  the  merely  colourable 
pretext  of  giving  advice  to  the  efficient  body  when 
they  might  condescend  to  ask  it.  But  when  they 
liad  gained  this  object,  they  paid  little  attention  to 
the  remonstrances  of  Alcibiades,  to  press  the  war 
vigorously ;  for  they  dreaded  the  surly  disHke  of 
the  citizens  to  the  recent  changes,  and  thought 
that  the  partiality  of  the  Lacedemonians  to  oHgar- 
chy  would  induce  them  to  relax  their  accustomed 


110  CHARACTER    OF   ALCIBIADES. 

vigour.  The  state  of  affairs  at  home  induced  the 
party  at  Samos,  who  were  discontented  at  the  re- 
sult, to  propose  returning  home  :  but  Alcibiades 
prevented  so  ruinous  a  measure,  by  arguments  ad- 
dressed to  the  army  in  general,  and  prophetic  de- 
nunciations of  danger,  and  by  personal  entreaties 
to  some,  and  the  appUcation  of  force  to  others.  In 
this  he  was  much  assisted  by  Thrasybulus,  who 
had  a  strong  pair  of  lungs,  and  stretched  them  to 
the  utmost  in  his  harangues. 

Alcibiades  also  promised^  that  the  Phoenician 
fleet  which  the  Lacedemonians  expected,  should 
either  join  the  Athenians  or  remain  neuter.  In 
furtherance  of  this  he  went  to  Tisaphernes,  and 
had  influence  enough  with  him  to  prevent  his 
forwarding  the  sliips,  which  had  already  advanced 
as  far  as  Aspendus,  a  maritime  city  of  Pamphylia, 
between  Rhodes  and  Cyprus.  The  Lacedemonians 
therefore  were  disappointed.  The  motive  to  which 
Thucydides  ascribes  this  duplicity  on  the  part  of 
Tisaphernes,  is  a  desire  so  to  balance  the  conflict- 
ing powers  of  the  Greeks,  as  to  weaken  all  the 
belligerents. 

The  disolution  of  the  Four  Hundred,  and  the 
re-establishment  of  democracy,  were  favourable  to 
the  return  of  Alcibiades.  By  way  of  distinguish- 
ing that  projected  event,  he  brought  eighteen  ships 
to  the  succour  of  the  Athenians,  at  a  crisis  when 
their  fleet  and  that  of  Sparta  had  been  engaged 
from  morning  till  night  off  Abydos,  with  nearly 
equal  advantage  on  both  sides.  After  this  victory 
he  went  to  visit  Tisaphernes,  who  put  him  under 
arrest :  but  after  thirty  days,  he  procured  a  horse 
and  made  his  escape  to  Cla^omense  ;  and  by  way 
of  revenge,  pretended  that  Tisaphernes  had  pri» 


CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES.  HI 

vately  set  him  at  liberty.  On  joining  the  Athe- 
nians, he  bore  down  upon  the  Peloponnesian  fleet, 
which  was  riding  at  anchor  before  the  port  of 
Cyzicum.  With  twenty  of  his  best  ships,  he  broke 
through  the  enemy,  pursued  those  who  abandoned 
their  vessels,  and  made  a  great  slaughter.  The 
Athenians  took  all  the  enemy's  ships,  and  made 
themselves  masters  of  Cyzicum.  The  Lacedemo- 
nian general  was  found  among  the  slain.  The 
consequences  of  this  victory  are  strongly  stated  by 

Plutarch  :— IToXXoov  8g  xa»  vexgwv  xa)  oWXcov  x^a7>i<ravTef, 
Ta.$  Ti  vavg  airoKrcti  tXa^ov,  ^eigco(rafji,svot  8e  xoti  Ky?4X0v,  lxX»- 
tTOv7of  ToD  4>a^va|3a^ou  xa)  twv  UsXonrovvYio'loov  Siatpda^lvlcov,  06 
fjiovov  Tov  'E\KYia"jrovlov  sl^ov  ^e^ulco^,  ocXXoi  xa«  t>3J  aAX>)5 
^xXua-cnis  *^^y\>^ouTctv  xolIoL  x^aroj  touj  AaxeSajjowv/ouj. 

The  soldiers  of  Alcibiades  became  exceedingly 
insolent.  Thrasyllus  having  miscarried  in  an  at- 
tempt upon  Ephesus,  the  Ephesians  erected  a 
trophy  of  brass,  to  perpetuate  the  Athenian  infamy. 
Alcibiades's  men  bitterly  reproached  those  of  Thra- 
syllus, on  account  of  this  new  and  mortifying 
circumstance ;  for  trophies  had  been  made  of  wood 
till  that  time,  that  memorials  of  national  hostility 
might  not  be  too  durable.  Indeed  both  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  seem  to  have  disapproved  of  stone 
or  iron,  as  materials  for  those  monuments  of  tri- 
umph. Cicero  has  a  curious  passage  on  the  sub- 
ject :  —  Ea  est  hujusmodi :  Cum  Thebani  Lace- 
da^monios  bello  superavissent,  et  fere  mos  esset 
Grajis,  cum  inter  se  bellum  gessissent,  ut  ii,  qui 
vicissent,  tropseum  aliquod  in  finibus  statucrent, 
victoria?  modo  in  pra^sentia  declarandae  causa,  non 
ut  in  pcrpetuum  belli  memoria  maneret ;  a^ncura 
statuenint  tropaeum." — De  Invent,^  lib.  ii.  The 
case  is   brought    before   tlie  Am])hictyons,    and 


112  CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES. 

stated  on   both   sides  with   logical   and  juridical 
precision. 

Alcibiades,  after  performing  many  other  ex- 
ploits, sailed  into  the  Hellespont,  and  took  Selym- 
bria,  a  city  of  Thrace,  on  the  coast  of  the  Pro- 
pontis.  In  the  action,  with  characteristic  rash- 
ness, he  exposed  himself  to  unnecessary  danger. 
After  the  treaty  with  Pharnabazus,  he  went  against 
Byzantium.  Cydon,  Ariston,  and  Anaxicrates 
secretly  engaged  to  deliver  up  the  place,  on  con- 
dition that  it  should  be  protected  from  plunder;  and 
Alcibiades  honourably  fulfilled  his  engagement. 

Duris  the  Samian,  who  lived  in  the  time  of 
Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  boasted  of  his  descent  from 
Alcibiades.  He  is  commended  for  his  accuracy 
by  Cicero,  Epist.  ad  Att.  lib.  vi.  He  is  arguing, 
that  no  historian  can  stand  his  ground,  if  occa- 
sional error  is  to  be  too  severely  imputed.  Tiiis 
Duris  is  placed  in  very  respectable  company: 
—  "  Num  idcirco  Duris  Samius,  homo  in  historia 
diligens,  quod  cum  multis  erravit,  irridetur  ?  Quis 
Zaleucum  leges  Locris  scripsisse  non  dixit  ?  Num 
igitur  jacet  Theophrastus,  si  id  a  Timaeo,  tuo 
familiari,  reprehensum  est  ?  Sed  nescire,  proavum 
suum  censorem  non  fuisse,  turpe  est ;  praesertim 
cum  post  eum  consulem,  nemo  Cornelius,  illo 
yivo,  censor  fuerit."  This  Duris  describes  in 
glowing  colours  the  triumphal  return  of  Alcibiades ; 
the  oars  keeping  time  to  the  flute  of  Chrysogonus, 
who  had  gained  a  victory  in  the  Pythian  games : 
while  Callipedes,  the  tragedian,  gave  direction  to 
the  rowers,  in  all  the  splendour  of  his  theatrical 
paraphernalia.  The  admiral's  vessel  he  described 
as  entering  the  port  with  a  purple  sail,  in  token  of 
BacchanaUan  revelry.     All  this  is  in  perfect  keep- 


CHARACTER    OF    ALCIIHADES.  113 

ing  with  the  character  of  Alcibiades  :  but  neither 
Xenoplion,  Justin,  nor  Athenaeus,  mention  any 
such  particulars ;  and  as  Plutarch  tells  us,  that 
Theopompus  and  Ephorus  are  equally  silent,  the 
probability  is  that  Duris  had  exaggerated.  He 
might  have  thought  it  an  honour  to  be  descended 
from  the  Rochester  or  Buckingham  of  ancient  days, 
and  have  given  these  gay  anecdotes  with  pious 
imction. 

With    respect   to    the    decree    for     his     recall, 

Plutarch  says  ; To    ftev  ovv  vl/^^^io-jxa  rr,;  xoc^o^ov  irgors^ov 

ex.eKvgooJo  Kgiliov  tou  KccWoti<r^gov  yga^l/otvlog,  w$  avrog  ev  Tulg 
iXeyelotig  •oTSTro/Tjxev,  imoiii[j,vr}<TXMV  tov  'AAx«^<a5>jv  t^j  X«C'7of  sv 

rvwixri  8*  ?  (re  xotlrjyccy^  eyai  ToiuTriv  ev  a.xoL<Ttv 

ETttov,  xai  yqcc'\fcis  rougyov  t^qcctrct  Tods. 
2<pgay»f  S*  ^jxere^oij  yKunlrj^  eir]  rojcrSecri  xfirai. 

Critias  was  uncle  to  Plato's  mother,  and  at  this 
time  the  friend  of  Alcibiades.  But  the  friendship 
of  the  ambitious  is  of  short  duration.  When  one 
of  the  Thirty  Tyrants,  the  remembrance  of  former 
ties  did  not  prevent  him  from  conceiving  the 
bitterest  enmity  against  Alcibiades,  and  impressing 
it  on  the  mind  of  Lysander,  that  his  destruction 
was  necessary  to  the  tranquillity  of  Athens  and 
the  safety  of  Sparta.  Critias  was  afterwards  put 
to  death  by  Thrasybulus,  when  he  delivered 
Athens  from  the  usurpation  of  the  Thirty. 

Plutarch,  in  the  above  passage,  quotes  the  ele- 
gies of  Critias.  Some  fragments  of  them  are  also 
preserved  in  Athenaeus.  His  father's  name,  Cal- 
Iseschrus,  is  compounded  of  xaWo^  and  ata-xiou  like 
Onslow,  with  the  etymological  and  antithetic  motto, 
Festina  lentc. 


114  CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES. 

During  Alcibiades's  stay  at  Athens,  a  proposal 
was  made  on  the  part  of  the  mob  to  invest  him 
with  absolute  power.  The  principal  citizens  were 
alarmed  at  this,  and  promoted  his  early  embark- 
ation on  military  service.  The  more  to  expedite 
his  departure,  they  gave  him  the  choice  of  his 
colleagues.  His  election  fell  on  Aristocrates  and 
Adimantus ;  but  their  commission  extended  no 
further  than  the  joint  command  of  the  land  forces, 
After  a  successful  battle,  tlie  difficulty  of  raising 
money  to  put  the  pay  of  his  own  seamen  on  a  level 
with  that  of  the  Lacedemonian  mariners,  gave  rise 
to  a  new  accusation.  He  found  it  necessary  to 
go  into  Caria  for  this  purpose,  and  left  the  care  of 
the  fleet  to  Antiochus,  a  skilful  pilot,  but  with  all 
the  temerity  of  one  inexperienced  in  command. 
This  Antiochus  was  the  man,  wlio  recovered  the 
quail  for  him,  which  had  escaped  from  under  his 
robe  while  he  was  in  a  crowd,  giving  money  towards 
a  donativ^e  to  the  people.  This  slight  circum- 
stance had  made  so  lasting  an  impression  of  kind- 
ness misplaced,  tliat  Alcibiades  now  entrusted  him 
with  the  command  of  the  fleet  in  his  absence. 
Antiochus  was  left  with  positive  orders  not  to 
fight ;  but  he  could  not  resist  the  apparent  oppor- 
tunity of  distinguishing  himself,  and  was  com- 
pletely beaten  with  the  loss  of  life.  Lysander 
took  fifteen  ships,  and  retired  with  his  fleet  after 
the  action  to  Lesbos.  The  Athenians,  in  disgust 
at  this  miscarriage,  lent  a  willing  ear  to  the 
charges  brought  against  Alcibiades  by  his  enemies, 
and  made  a  new  distribution  of  mihtary  offices. 
Ten  commanders  were  appointed,  in  which  list  his 
name  was  omitted.  The  commission  by  which  he 
was  superseded,  was  composed  of  Conon,  Diome- 


CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES.  115 

don,  Leontes,  Pericles,  Erasinides,  Aristocrates, 
Archestratus,  Protomachus,  Thrasyllus,  and  Aris- 
togenes. 

For  the  three  succeeding  years,  the  twenty-fifth, 
twenty-sixth,  and  twenty-seventh  of  the  Pelopon- 
nesian  war,  having  quitted  Athens,  Alcibiades  was 
hovering  about,  and  making  war  on  his  own 
account.  In  the  first  of  these  years,  Conon,  after 
making  incursions  into  the  enemy's  country,  was 
defeated  by  CaUicratides.  In  the  second,  the 
Athenians  fought  a  battle,  and  obtained  a  victory 
at  Arginusae ;  on  which  occasion  they  gave  a 
memorable  instance  of  ingratitude  and  injustice. 
Theramenes  brought  a  charge  against  the  victorious 
generals,  that  they  had  left  the  bodies  of  the  dead 
unburied.  This  would  have  been  thought  inde- 
corous, as  a  matter  of  feeling,  in  modern  times : 
but  so  entirely  were  this  sensitive  and  superstitious 
people  scandalised  at  the  neglect,  that  they  sen- 
tenced six  of  the  ten  commanders  to  death. 
Tydeus,  Menander,  and  Adimantus,  were  ap- 
pointed successors.  Towards  the  latter  end  of  the 
following  year,  the  Athenians  under  them  sailed 
to  -^gos-Potamos,  on  the  borders  of  the  Helles- 
pont, opposite  to  Lampsacus,  where  Lysander  was 
stationed,  and  offered  him  battle  every  morning. 
The  remainder  of  the  day  was  passed  in  disorder, 
and  careless  contempt  of  their  opponent,  of  which 
Alcibiades,  though  out  of  office,  was  sufficiently 
patriotic  to  warn  them,  but  without  effect.  The 
result  was,  a  defeat.  In  the  twenty-eighth  year, 
Lysander  took  Athens,  burnt  the  shipping,  and 
destroyed  the  Long  Walls. 

Alcibiades  had  retired  into  Bithynia.  There 
he   lost  tlie   principal    part  of  his  property,   by 

I  2 


116  CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES. 

robbery  on  the  part  of  the  Tliracians.  Themis- 
tocles  had  arrived  at  the  Persian  court,  just 
after  Artaxerxes  had  succeeded  Xerxes,  and  had 
obtained  the  patronage  of  the  king.  On  the 
strength  of  this  precedent,  Alcibiades  deter- 
mined to  soUcit  his  protection.  He  felt  that 
if  trial  were  but  made  of  his  services,  his  preten- 
sions would  be  much  more  honourable  than  those 
of  Themistocles,  who  had  sought  the  king's  aid 
against  his  countrymen  ;  but  he  meant  to  have 
exerted  his  influence  in  their  behalf  But  these 
intended  efforts  were  prevented  by  his  untimely 
death  under  the  hands  of  assassins,  at  a  village 
in  the  mountainous  part  of  Phrygia.  This  savage 
act  appears  to  have  been  devised  by  Lysander  at 
the  suggestion  of  the  Spartan  magistrates.  Magseus 
and  Susamithres,  the  brother  and  uncle  of  Lysan- 
der,  were  sent  to  negotiate  with  Pharnabazus, 
who  lent  himself  to  the  treachery  under  the  mean 
influence  of  political  jealousy.  The  murderers 
were  afraid  to  face  their  victim,  and  therefore  set 
his  house  on  fire.  Of  this  he  stopped  the  progress 
by  throwing  clothes  and  hangings  upon  it.  He 
then  saUied  forth  sword  in  hand.  The  barbarians 
dared  not  encounter  him,  but  slew  him  from  a  dis- 
tance with  darts  and  arrows,  and  retreated.  Ti- 
mandra  covered  the  body  with  her  own  robes,  and 
buried  it  in  a  town  called  Melissa.     Of  Timandra, 

Plutarch  says  :  — Taurrjj  Xeyova-i  ^vyulsga  ysvia-^ai  A  alga, 
TYjv   Kogiv^loiv   jtxev  crgotrayogcU^eTo-av,  ex  Ss  'Txxagcov  SjxeXixou 

'aoxi(T[/,oiTos  ai^fji^oLKoDlov  yevojxevijv.  Timandra  is  the  name 
by  which  this  mistress  of  Alcibiades  is  generally 
known :  but  Athenaeus  calls  her  Damasandra. 
He  had  always  two  mistresses  in  his  train.  Athe- 
naeus gives   the  second   the  name    of  Theodota ; 


CHARACTER    OF    ALCIBIADES.  117 

and  asserts  that  the  funeral  pomp  was  principally 
furnished  by  her.  Whichever  of  the  two  contri- 
buted the  larger  share,  it  seems  to  have  been 
liberal  in  proportion  to  their  means;  for  they 
erected  a  monument,  which  lasted  to  the  time  of 
Athenaeus,  who  actually  saw  it.  The  Emperor 
Adrian  perpetuated  the  memory  of  this  great  man, 
by  erecting  a  statue  of  Parian  marble  on  the  basis 
of  this  monument,  and  ordering  an  annual  sa- 
crifice of  a  bull  to  his  manes. 


tS 


118 


ON  CALLIMACHUS. 


Callimachus  was  the  son  of  Battus.  Suidas 
places  him  in  the  reign  of*  Ptolemy  Philadelphus, 
at  whose  court  he  resided  about  the  year  280 
before  Christ.  There  is  however  some  doubt 
whether  the  patronymic  Battiades  may  not  refer 
to  the  descent  of  which  he  boasted  from  King 
Battus,  the  founder  of  Cyrene,  of  which  town  the 
poet  was  a  native. 

In  an  epitaph  on  his  father,  whoever  he  might 
be,  he  has  paid  his  filial  duty,  and  returned  his 
early  obligations,  if  verse  can  repay  them.  The 
lines  are  a  beautiful  specimen  of  this  kind  of 
composition.  The  old  man  addresses  those  who 
may  happen  to  visit  his  tomb  :  — 

"O^-^g  Ijxov  VTOiga,  (rYifji,u  (pegeig  vroda,  KuWifiu^ov  fxe 

"lo-d*  Kvgrivaiov  -craiSa  re  xai  yivelviv, 
"Elhlri;  S*  a|u.<pco  xev   6  /xlv  rffols  'srctlglBos  onXwv 

^Hg^ev,  6  S*  YJei(rsv  xgsi(T(rovoi  ^ota-xoivlrii* 
Ou  ve[jiS(ng*   Moucrai  yotg  0(rovg  TSov  Ofjifjiotli  TrotlBotg, 

Suidas  says  he  wrote  eight  hundred  pieces  :  — 

K«l  er*"  otvTco  Toi  ysygoLiLit^svoL  ^i^xioi  vTreg  t«  cu Twv  85 

aurou    ^i^xioiv  If)    xai   raura*   *Iouj   af if<s.    !Se]U,eA»)«     "Agyoug 

•  *Axpi€ioVf  the  reading  of  the  Anthologia.    Dr.  Blomfield  in- 
troduces the  more  elegant  reading,  Mij  Xo|f  into  the  text. 


jON  callimachus.  119 

o}xi<r[x.ol.  *A^xa5»a.  r\uvxos.  'EXtt/Ssj.  "^ochgixoi  ^Poiji.ci}oi, 
fji^ivov  els  ua-a^siuv  jtoii  koihglaVj  bIs  tivo,  "l^iVj  ysvo[x,svov  e^^gov 

ToD  KcckXifjiuxov.  He  goes  on  to  enumerate  many 
other  works,  of  which  only  a  very  few  fragments 
have  come  down  to  us. 

Madame  Dacier  edited  Callimachus  in  the  year 
l674f.  The  edition  ranges  with  the  Delphin 
Classics,  and  is  the  only  Greek  work  which  does 
so.  In  her  Dedicatory  Epistle  Viro  illustri  Petro 
Dajiieli  Huetio,  she  says,  "  In  Graecis  Litteris  nil 
elegantius,  nil  tersius,  nil  politius  unquam  fuit." 

The  recent  edition  by  Dr.  Blomfield,  the  present 
Bishop  of  Chester,  is  now  become  the  standard. 
With  respect  to  the  merits  of  the  poet,  he  mentions  in 
his  preface  the  unfavourable  opinion  of  Dr.  John- 
son and  of  Ernesti,  against  which,  without  giving 
his  own,  he  sets  those  of  Politian,  Muretus,  and 
Ruhnken.  As  the  lady,  whose  panegyric  runs  so 
high,  is  not  added  to  this  triumvirate,  we  may 
suspect  that  His  Lordship  does  not  hold  female 
criticism  and  scholarship  in  any  great  veneration, 
at  least  in  the  classical  line.  Ancient  testimonies 
may  be  added  to  the  modern.  Ovid,  in  his  Cata- 
logue of  Poets,  settles  his  character  very  deci- 
sively :  — 

Battiades  semper  toto  cantabitur  orbe ; 
Quamvis  ingenio  non  valet,  arte  valet. 

Amor,  lib.  i.  cleg.  15. 

To  torture  these  words  into  any  sense  but  that 
which  they  obviously  bear,  is  both  hypercritical  and 
unnecessary :  but  it  seems  probable  from  another 
passage,  that  the  disparagement  is  to  be  attributed 

1  4 


1^0  ON    CALLIMACHUS. 

rather  to  poetical  jealousy  and  the  spirit  of  rivaU 
ship,  than  to  cool  and  unbiassed  judgment :  — 

Est,  quae  Callimachi  prae  nostris  rustica  dicat 
Carmina :  cui  placeo,  protinus  ipsa  placet. 

Lib.  ii.  eleg.  4. 

It  should  seem  from  this  that  it  was  the  height 
of  his  ambition  to  be  considered  as  superior  to 
Callimachus;  and  that  he  should  at  once  fall  in 
love  with  a  mistress,  who  would  but  pay  him  that 
compliment. 

The  ancient  testimonials  to  Callimachus  have 
been  peculiarly  liable  to  question  and  equivocation. 
Propertius,  in  the  thirty-fourth  elegy  of  his  second 
book,  has  this  couplet :  — 

Tu  satius  Musis  meliorem  imitere  Philetam, 
Et  non  inflati  somnia  Callimachi. 

Here  the  word  wow,  may  be  construed  two  ways. 
The  most  natural  interpretation  seems  to  be,  to 
take  it  with  the  participle  inflati,  and  then  it  is  per- 
fectly consistent  with  another  couplet :  — 

Inter  Callimachi  sat  erit  placuisse  libellos, 
Et  cecinisse  modis,  Dore  poeta,  tuis. 

Lib.  iii.  eleg.  9. 

But  Scaliger  attaches  non  to  a  second  imitere,  and 
thus  converts  the  praise  into  a  censure.  Now 
this  seems  the  more  improbable  from  another 
passage,  which  runs  thus  :  — 

Ennius  hirsuta  cingat  sua  dicta  corona : 
Mi  folia  ex  hedera  porrige,  Bacche,  tua, 

Ut  nostris  tumefacta  superbiat  Umbria  libris, 
L'mbria  Romani  patria  Callimachi. 


ON    CALLIMACHUS.  121 

It  seems  very  unlikely  that  he  should  intend 
any  general  censure,  when  he  wishes  to  be  con- 
sidered as  the  Roman  Callimachus.  To  reconcile 
this  difficulty,  and  yet  maintain  his  construction, 
Scaliger  supposes  that  he  aimed  at  a  particular 
piece  which  his  friend  might  think  of  translating. 
If  this  conjecture  be  right,  probably  the  poem 
which  Scaliger  conceives  to  be  alluded  to  is  right 
also :  namely,  Ta  ATria,  a  harsh  and  obscure  work, 
if  we  may  believe  Martial,  who  says  :  —  "  Legas 
JEtia,  Callimachi,"  speaking  of  a  person  who  took 
pleasure  in  obscure  wTitings.  It  is  further  to  be 
observed,  in  proof  that  even  Scaliger  did  not  think 
the  sarcasm  involved  in  his  construction  general ; 
that  in  the  passage  of  the  ninth  elegy  of  the  third 
book,  the  two  old  readings  were  Coe  poela,  and 
Dure  poeta.  Scaliger  himself  proposed  to  read 
Pure  Poeta,  for  Dure.  But  the  substitution  of 
0  for  w,  instead  of  P  for  Z),  has  been  established 
in  the  text  of  all  the  later  and  most  approved  edi- 
tions. Quinctilian  also  says  :  —  "  Tunc  et  elegiam 
vacabit  in  manus  sumere  cujus  princeps  habetur 
Callimachus.'* — Institutio7iesOratoricp,\ih,x,  cap.  1. 

To  establish  the  real  character  of  a  poet,  who  is 
said  to  have  composed  eight  hundred  pieces,  of 
which  only  some  hymns  and  epigrams  remain,  is 
extremely  difficult ;  and  may  have  led  my  respected 
friend,  the  Bishop  of  Chester,  to  decline  the  task : 
for  if  he  will  not  venture  to  appreciate  a  Greek 
poet,  who  shall  ?  Certainly  not  I :  and  therefore  I 
shall  only  subjoin  specimens  ;  and  leave  the  reader, 
which  perhaps  is  the  safest  and  best,  though  the 
privative  mode  of  criticism,  to  form  his  own  deci- 
sioii  according  to  his  natural  taste  and  judg- 
ment. 


122  ON    CALLIMACHUS. 

The  conclusion  of  the  hymn  to  Apollo  shows 
that  he  had  a  satirical  turn,  even  in  his  religious 
compositions.  His  enemies  alleged,  that  he  was 
incompetent  to  the  composition  of  any  extended 
work.  He  answers  them  sarcastically  by  versifying 
the  proverb,  Meya  ^j^x/ov,  fxsya.  xotxh.  But  he  wrote 
his  Hecate,  a  lost  work  of  magnitude,  to  refute 
the  calumny. 

*0  <pd6vos  'AttoXXcovos  is  ovotlu  Xa^gios  elirsv, 
OtJx  uyufjiMi  Tov  aoi8ov,  o§  ou^,  o<ra,  vovloSf  as/Ssi. 
Tov  ^Qovov  "AttoXXcov  -oroSi  t*  ^Xacrev,  wSe  t*  IsiTrev 
*A(r<rvglov  zxola.fj,oio  jxeyug  poosj  a.\Ku  tu  iroWu 
AvfJi,cclu  yYjs  x.ci)  'croAAov  s<f  vduh  <j-ug<peTOV  eXxeh 
AyjoI  S*  ovx.  otTTo  •BJ«v7oj  v^cag  (pogeov<n  MeXKrcai, 
*AXX*  ijTif  xct^ug^  T£  xct)  oc^gaavlos  ocvspttsi 
n/Jaxoj  e^  UgYi§  oXlyri  Xi^aj,  uxgov  oiaHov, 

The  following  passage,  in  the  hymn  to  Jupiter, 
contains  an  important  sentiment.  Tlie  poet  is 
speaking  of  Jupiter's  title  to  the  empire  of  Heaven, 
as  acknowledged  without  jealousy  by  his  two  bro- 
thers ;  and  he  is  philosopher  enough  to  question 
the  rationality  of  the  old  story  ;  which  makes  the 
three  sons  of  Saturn  divide  the  three  kingdoms 
by  lot :  — 

4>av7o  "oroLXov  Kgov/8j)(n  8<a  "^^'X^  8co/x.a7a  velfxai' 
T/f  hs  X*  en  OvXvfj^vco  re  xoti  aVSi  xX^gov  egva-a-cci, 
*'0$  fjioiXa.  ft^  vsv»>jXoj  ;   hn   la-otiT^  yotg  eoixs 
n^Xac-^ai*   TO.  Be  toVctov  otrov  Si«  TrXeTfov  e^ovo'i. 

The  farewell  prayer  to  the  deity  has  an  extra- 
ordinary mixture,  which  in  a  very  early  poet  might 


ON    CALLIMACHUS.  123 

be  considered  as  simple  and  natural,  but  in  a  cour- 
tier savours  of  sarcasm  or  luxury  :  — 

Xctigs  iJi^sya,  K^ov»8>j  vFocvimeglocls,  IcHrog  laonv, 
Acorog  a9r>j/xovir)j«  Tea  8'  egyixocloc  t/j  xsv  ast^oi  ; 
06  ysvsT,  ovK  £$■«!•   tI$  X£V  A»oj  sgyfJioiT   aeia-at  ; 
'Kalge,  'crotTsg,  ycdg   oihhi*   8/8ou  8*  agslriv  t   oi<psvov  ts. 
Out  ags1^5  oireg  0X^05   sTrls'oilon  oivdgocs  ois^eiv, 
OwT*  agelri  a<pevoio*   S/Sou  5*  ugeTYjv  re  xoc)  ok^ov. 

As  a  specimen  of  his  sepulchral  poetry,  we  may 
take,  in  addition  to  his  inscription  on  his  father,  the 
following  epitaph  on  a  friend  drowned  at  sea :  — 

"Q/peXe  ]tt>)S*  eyBVOvlo  ^oot)  ves^*   ou  yag  av  ^jW-eTj 

YlcCila.  AiOxXslhv  ^cottoXiv  efsvofisv 
NOv  8*  6  fjiev  elv  aX^  mov  (^egeron  Vfxuj*  ocvlt  S*  ixelvou 

Ouvo/M.a  x«}  xsygov  cr^jtta  vrotgsg^oiJi^sQa, 

But  the  most  distinguished  of  his  very  numerous 
pieces  were  those  in  the  elegiac  strain,  of  which 
only  Minerva's  Bath  has  come  down  to  posterity. 
Yet  his  compositions  in  this  line  constituted  the 
firm  foundation  of  his  character  among  the  an- 
cients, who  estimated  his  merit  in  this  elegant  and 
pathetic  style  most  highly.  The  poem  on  Queen 
Berenice's  hair  still  lives  in  the  translation  of  Ca- 
tullus, and  proves  that  he  was  worthy  to  rank  with 
the  Roman  triumvirate  in  the  expression  of  such 
natural  thoughts,  as  Ovid,  who  imputes  art  without 
genius  to  him,  could  not  equal  with  all  his  wit  and 
refined  imagery.  It  seems  that  Ovid  was  like 
le  commun  des  Martyrs ;  and  saw  most  clearly 
those  faults  in  others,  which  were  most  rank,  but 
to  which  he  was  completely  blind,  in  himself.  The 
following  lines  will  give  some  notion  of  the  turn  of 


124  ON    CALLIMACHUS. 

thought.     The  star  is  supposed  to  speak  in  the 
language  of  compliment  to  its  mistress :  — 

Sed  quamquam  me  nocte  premunt  vestigia  Divum, 

Luce  autem  canae  Tethyi  restituor; 
(Pace  tua  fari  haec  liceat,  Rhamnusia  virgo ; 

Namque  ego  non  ullo  vera  timore  tegam  ; 
Non,  si  me  infestis  discerpant  sidera  dictis, 

Condita  quin  veri  pectoris  evoliiam) 
Non  his  tam  laetor  rebus,  quam  me  abfore,  semper 

Abfore  me  a  dominae  vertice  discrucior ; 
Quicum  ego,  dum  virgo  quondam  fuit,  omnibus  expers 

Unguentis,  una  millia  multa  bibi. 

Sidera  cur  retinent  ?  utinam  coma  regia  fiam : 
Proximus  Hydrochoi  fulgeret  Oarion. 

The  general  character  of  the  hymns,  which  con- 
stitute the  largest  portion  of  this  Greek  poet's  extant 
works,  partakes  much  of  the  lyric,  though  written 
in  heroic  verse  ;  they  are  composed  in  a  free  style, 
with  much  spirit,  and  full  of  curious  matter,  illus- 
trative of  other  authors  on  subjects  of  rites,  ce- 
remonies, and  mythology.  The  accumulation  of 
epithets  and  proper  names,  or  what  the  French 
call  sobriquets^  may  appear  tiresome  to  the  reader 
who  reads  only  for  momentary  entertainment; 
but  the  mythologist,  the  enquirer  into  early  anti- 
quity, the  comparer  of  idolatrous  errors  with  the 
true  knowledge,  the  investigator  of  the  fallacious 
paths  which  polytheism  trod,  after  its  descent  from 
the  immoveable  mountain  of  one  and  undivided 
truth  ;  of  the  labyrinth  and  the  darkness  in  which 
it  wandered  after  the  light  was  hidden  from  its 
eyes,  and  the  guide  withdrawn  from  its  steps, 
in  consequence  of  its  waywardness  and  obstinacy, 
may  find  much  food  for  speculation  in  the  Hymns 
of  Callimachus. 


125 


ON  HORACE. 


Sapiens,  vitatu  quidque  petitu 
Sit  melius,  causas  reddet  tibi :  mi  satis  est,  si 
Traditum  ab  antiquis  morem  servare,  tuamque, 
Dum  custodis  eges,  vitam  famamque  tueri 
Incolumem  possim  :  simul  ac  duraverit  aetas 
Membra  animumque  tuum,  nabis  sine  cortice. 

HoR.  lib.  i.  sat.  4-. 


Xi  GRACE,  as  an  article  in  biography,  lies  within  a 
very  narrow  compass.  Suetonius  despatches  him 
in  three  pages.  His  story  may  be  told  almost  in 
three  lines.  He  was  a  man  of  humble  birth,  pa- 
tronised  for  his  talents,  which  were  of  the  most 
marketable  kind  :  brilliant,  and  convivial.  He  be- 
came a  court  poet,  and  consequently  a  rake.  Had 
he  not  been  a  time-server  and  a  turn-coat,  he  could 
not  so  have  risen :  but  he  was  not  a  malignant 
turn- coat,  and  he  did  not  vilify  his  brother  poets 
of  more  strict  principle,  either  alive  or  dead.  In 
fact,  he  lived  on  terms  of  friendship  and  good-will 
with  all  of  them  who  were  respectable.  He  was  a 
poet  of  that  class  in  society,  which  in  modern  lan- 
guage is  termed  the  man  of  fashion  ;  and  however 
his  Hfe  or  his  writings  might  fall  short,  or  even 
offend  against  what  the  strict  moralist  or  the  divine 
might  require,  we  shall  find  him  to  have  retiiined 
more  right  principle,  more  genuine  feeling,  more 
heart,  than  a  licentious  court  usually  leaves  to  the 


126  ON    HORACE. 

ministers  or  the  masters  of  its  revels.  In  this  point 
of  view  it  is  interesting  to  examine  Horace's  cha- 
racter, as  exhibited  by  himself  in  his  Satires  and 
Epistles. 

His  filial  piety  was  most  creditable  to  good  feel- 
ing. He  was  far  from  the  affectation  of  wishing 
to  sink  his  parentage  :  on  the  contrary,  he  delights 
in  talking  of  his  father ;  and  represents  him,  both 
in  the  passage  at  the  head  of  this  essay,  and  in 
others,  in  a  most  interesting  light.  Yet  Horace, 
with  his  usual  good  taste,  is  not  led  by  partiality  to 
make  too  much  of  his  father.  The  old  man  was 
lihertinus :  consequently  must  have  been  plain  in 
his  habits,  and  appears  to  have  been  of  more  than 
average  soundness  in  understanding ;  but  the  pro- 
priety of  the  character  is  strictly  preserved,  and 
has  been  warmly  eulogised  by  the  critics.  The 
father  disclaims  any  power  of  argumentation,  and 
tells  his  son  that  Sapiens,  the  philosopher,  will  not 
only  teach  him  what  is  better  to  be  avoided,  and 
what  to  be  pursued,  but  will  assign  the  reasons  why 
one  action  is  right  and  another  wrong,  and  will 
give  him  that  insight  into  the  nature  of  things, 
which  none  but  a  professor  or  a  habitual  student 
can  communicate.  The  knowledge  necessary  for 
this  purpose  he  disclaims,  and  is  too  modest  to 
consider  himself  as  qualified  to  engage  in  a  discus- 
sion on  morals  as  an  abstract  question.  But  he 
can  tell  his  son  what  custom  will  exact  from  him ; 
he  can  preserve  vitamfamamque  ;  the  object  of  his 
care  is  to  guard  him  against  rashness,  and  to  hinder 
him  from  incurring  those  dangers,  which  dissolute 
habits  of  life  never  fail  to  produce. 

The  passage,  of  which  I  have  quoted  a  portion, 
may  be  considered  as  a  summary  of  parental  duty. 


ON    HOllACB.  127 

conveyed  by  the  striking  example  of  a  person,  who 
performed  that  duty  in  both  its  branches,  with  no 
other  advantage  than  that  of  good  sense,  conscien- 
tiously and  anxiously  exerting  itself.  Horace  tells 
us  in  the  preceding  lines,  that  his  father  had  laid 
up  something  to  provide  for  the  subsistence  of  his 
children  in  comfort,  though  with  frugality;  and 
that  he  exhorts  them  therewith  to  be  content.  In 
the  lines  quoted,  he  represents  him  as  anxious  for 
their  reputation.  The  prudent  conduct  of  the 
father  was  amply  rewarded  by  the  gratitude  of  the 
son,  who  by  these  sketches  of  biographical  piety, 
has  raised  a  monument  of  fame  to  that  father,  not 
so  splendid  indeed,  but  as  durable  as  his  own.  Nor 
is  the  skill  with  which  the  lessons  of  the  father  are 
represented  to  be  enforced,  less  remarkable  than 
their  intrinsic  wisdom.  Moral  lectures,  when  too 
long  or  too  severe,  disgust  young  minds  :  this  father 
renders  his  palatable,  by  describing  in  a  beautiful 
metaphor  the  approaching  period  when  his  child's 
advancement  in  the  acquisition  of  learning,  in 
bodily  and  mental  strength,  will  render  those  arti- 
ficial and  extraneous  assistances  no  longer  neces- 
sary :  nabis  sine  cortice, 

Horace's  tender  sentiments  of  gratitude  to  his 
father  appear  again  in  sat.  6. :  — 

Nunc  ad  me  redeo  libertino  patre  natum, 
Quern  rodunt  omnes  libertino  patre  natum. 

The  repetition  in  these  two  lines  is  evidently  de- 
signed to  tell  us,  that  he  is  invulnerable  by  such 
attacks,  and  ready  to  re-echo  the  Ubertinus  to  those 
who  would  bawl  it  in  his  ears.  A  few  lines  further, 
he  makes  his  birth  almost  an  occasion  of  boast* 
ing :  — 


128  ON    HORACE. 

Ut  veni  coram,  singultim  pauca  locutus, 

(Infans  naihque  pudor  prohibebat  plura  profari) 

Non  ego  me  claro  natum  patre,  non  ego  circum 

Me  Satureiano  vectari  rura  caballo, 

Sed,  quod  eram,  narro:  respondes  (ut  tuus  est  mos) 

Pauca:  abeo;  et  revocas  nono  post  mense,  jubesque 

Esse  in  amicorum  numero. 

The  line  in  parenthesis  leads  to  an  incidental 
remark,  that  Horace,  with  all  his  wit,  was  not  only 
no  great  talker,  but  naturally  bashful  and  timid, 
both  which  properties,  often  the  concomitants  of 
superior  genius,  are  fully  thougli  concisely  described 
by  the  expression,  Infans  namque  pudor. 

Some  apology  may  seem  necessary  for  so  long  a 
descant  on  common  and  easy  passages.  It  may, 
perhaps,  be  sufficient  to  allege  the  pleasing  strain 
of  those  passages ;  the  sense  and  intelligence  dis- 
played in  every  clause  of  them  ;  the  expression  of 
the  poet's  mind  in  his  graver  moods.  Horace's 
amatory  and  bacchanalian  songs  are  elegant  and 
spirited  ;  his  talent  for  humour,  as  a  good-natured 
satirist,  is  in  the  highest  degree  mirth-provoking ; 
but  there  is  something  better  than  all  this  :  there 
is  a  just  though  not  austere  philosophy,  interspersed 
through  all  his  writings,  whether  lyric,  satirical,  or 
critical,  which  checks  levity  in  its  downward  career 
towards  vice,  and  surprises  mere  literary  disquisi- 
tion and  critical  taste  into  the  service  of  morality. 

Horace  was  probably  indebted  in  no  inconsider- 
able degree,  to  the  prudential  counsels  of  his 
father,  for  that  discriminating  observation  of  human 
nature,  which  gave  a  peculiar  tone  of  amenity, 
a  widely  varied  style  and  manner  to  his  satirical 
and  didactic  writings,  so  as  to  prevent  his  in- 
structions from  being  offensive  to  the  proudest  or 
the  most  fastidious  of  his  readers  :  — 


ON    HORACE.  1^9 

Ergo  non  satis  est  risu  diducere  rictum 

Auditoris  (et  est  quaedam  tamen  hie  quoque  virtus  ) : 

Est  brevitate  opus,  ut  currat  sententia,  neu  se 

Impediat  verbis  lassas  onerantibus  aures ; 

Et  sermone  opus  est,  modo  tristi,  saepe  jocoso, 

Defendente  viceni  modo  rhetoris,  atque  poetae, 

Interdum  urbani,  parcentis  viribus,  atque 

Extenuantis  eas  consulto.  Lib.  i.  sat.  10. 

From  the  description  before  given  of  his  father's 
method,  it  seems  to  have  first  taught  him  that 
prejudices  are  most  sure  to  be  removed,  and  con- 
verts most  sure  to  be  gained,  to  any  system  or  set 
of  opinions  we  adopt,  by  not  seeming  to  advocate 
them  too  pertinaciously.  The  great,  especially,  are 
wrapt  up  in  themselves  and  their  own  importance. 
While  others  look  up  to  literature,  science,  and 
philosophy,  they  look  down  on  those  accom- 
plishments with  an  eye  of  mere  patronage.  The 
apologist  for  virtue  must  be  candid  in  his  views, 
and  plausible  in  his  address :  his  praise  must  not 
sting  those  who  neglect  it  too  poignantly,  his  pre- 
tensions must  not  be  so  high  as  to  discourage  those 
who  wish  to  follow  it.  Horace's  father,  though  no 
philosopher,  possessed  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
world:  the  son  imbibed  the  art  of  dealing  with 
various  characters,  of  applying  himself  innocently 
to  their  prejudices,  and  of  enforcing  what  he  knew 
better  than  themselves,  by  arguments  adapted  to 
their  previous  habits  and  cherished  hopes.  This 
Aristippus-like  assumption  of  attractive  shapes,  this 
versatility  of  agreeable  talent,  this  fitness  for  the 
commerce  of  the  world,  is  totally  distinct  from  a 
genius  for  intrigue,  from  the  machinations  of 
cunning,  or  depravity  of  moral  purpose.     In  this 

K 


130  ON    HORACE. 

view  of  the  subject,  no  two  poets  ever  wrote  on 
principles  more  opposite  than  Juvenal  and  Horace. 
The  former  attacks  the  mischievous,  the  worthless, 
and  the  contemptible,  with  all  the  violence  of  de- 
clamatory fury.  He  is  eloquent  and  he  is  poetical : 
but  it  is  the  eloquence  and  the  poetry  of  unbridled 
invective  against  the  disturbers  of  human  happiness. 
The  latter  entraps  the  giddy  and  the  vain  into 
better  and  more  correct  manners,  by  the  sportive- 
ness  of  his  fancy,  the  variety  and  solid  sense  of  his 
remarks.  He  has  energy  to  convince,  address  to 
persuade,  acuteness  to  anticipate  and  obviate  ob- 
jections :  poetry  and  raillery  are  alternately  re- 
sorted to ;  the  dulce  and  the  utile  are  mingled  in 
agreeable  proportions. 

In  nothing  is  Horace  to  be  more  admired,  than 
in  his  friendly  dispositions,  especially  towards  dis- 
tinguished persons,  whose  rival  claims  to  court 
favour  might  not  unnaturally  produce  a  spirit  of 
jealousy  and  disunion.  His  agreeable  meeting 
with  Plotius,  Varius,  and  Virgil,  on  the  sea-coast 
at  Sinuessa,  a  town  about  eighteen  miles  from 
Formiae,  on  the  Sinus  Setinus,  as  described  in  the 
narrative  of  his  journey,  has  a  most  engaging  air  of 
reality  and  substance  in  point  of  attachment :  — 

Postera  lux  oritur  multo  gratissima ;  namque 
Plotius  et  Varius  Sinuessae,  Virgiliusque, 
Occurrunt ;  animae,  quales  neque  candidiores 
Terra  tulit,  neque  queis  me  sit  devinctior  alter. 

Lib.  i.  sat  v. 

He  never  loses  an  opportunity  of  extolling 
Virgil.  In  the  following  passage  he  tells  us  that 
Vaiius  carried  epic  dignity  to  such  a  height  ut  nemo 


ON    HORACE.  151 

of  the  Latin  poets :  for  VirgiPs  JEneid  had  not 
yet  appeared.  He  also  describes  the  characteristic 
merit  of  Fundanius  on  comic,  and  of  PoUio  on 
tragic  subjects,  in  iambics,  pede  ter  percusso.  As 
these  authors,  all  but  Virgil,  are  lost  to  us,  I  shall 
transcribe  the  passage  :  — 

Arguta  meretrice  potes,  Davoque  Chremeta 
Eludente  senem,  comis  garrire  libellos, 
Unus  vivorum,  Fundani :   Pollio  regum 
Facta  canit  pede  ter  percusso  :  forte  epos  acer, 
Ut  nemo,  Varius  ducit :  molle  atque  facetum 
Virgilio  annuerimt  gaudentes  rure  Camoenae. 

Lib.  i.  sat.  10. 

This  passage  helps  to  ascertain  the  date  of  the 
satire.  It  could  not  be  composed  before  the  year 
72s,  because  the  Georgics  were  not  finished  till 
then,  and  they  as  well  as  the  Bucolics  are  cer- 
tainly included  in  the  character  of  7nolle  atque 
facetum.  The  temple  of  Apollo  Palatine  being 
dedicated  about  726>  renders  it  probable  that  the 
satire  was  written  in  7^^7>  ox  728,  seven  or  eight 
years  before  Virgil's  voyage  to  Greece,  recorded  in 
Horace's  prophetic  farewell  ode. 

In  a  line  and  a  half,  tlie  delicacy  of  sentiment 
and  language,  the  art  of  treating  plain  and  common 
subjects  without  rudeness,  the  power  of  giving  a 
tender  feeling  and  a  refined  colouring  \,o  rural  topics, 
whether  in  the  pastoral  or  didactic  style,  which 
might  have  afforded  subject  matter  for  the  length- 
ened panegyric  of  an  ordinary  poet,  are  here 
concentrated  without  loss  either  of  substance  or  o^ 
flavour.  The  term  Jace turn  is  used  in  its  most  ex- 
tended sense,  to  represent  whatever  is  graceful  and 
beautiful,  the  height  of  elegance  and  ornament, 

K    2 


132  ON    HOEACE. 

as  well  as  witty  and  agreeable  expression.  Th$ 
other  adjective  is  used  metaphorically,  and  likens 
the  drawing  of  his  characters  and  descriptions  to 
the  finest  wool  of  his  shepherd's  sheep. 

His  tender  affection  for  his  friends  breaks  out 
on  all  occasions  of  absence  or  return,  of  quarrel  or 
reconciliation.  In  a  letter  to  Julius  Florus  he 
enquires  into  the  several  particulars  of  which  he 
wanted  to  be  informed :  — 

Juli  Flore,  quibus  terrarum  mililet  oris 
Claudius,  Augusti  privignus,  scire  laboro. 

Lib.  i.  epist.  3. 

It  concludes  with  a  vow  to  sacrifice  to  the 
tutelary  gods  on  his  return,  and  a  strong  attempt 
to  repair  the  breach  of  brotherly  friendship  : — 

Debes  hoc  etiam  rescribere,  si  tibi  curae, 
QuantaB  conveniat,  Munatius ;  an  male  sarta 
Gratia  nequicquam  coit,  et  rescinditur  ?  At  vos 
Seu  calidus  sanguis,  seu  rerum  inscitia  vexat, 
Indomita  cervice  feros,  ubicunque  locorum 
Vivitis,  indigni  fraternum  rumpere  foedus, 
Pascitur  in  vestrum  reditum  votiva  juvenca. 

He  here  not  only  bears  testimony  to  the  sacred- 
ness  of  fraternal  ties,  and  hints  at  the  calamitous 
consequences  of  their  violation,  but  augurs  from 
his  long  experience,  that  the.  balance  having  once 
been  deranged,  its  readjustment  is  uncertain,  and 
too  likely  to  be  but  temporary.  He  puts  it  to 
Florus  as  strongly  as  his  conciliatory  system  will 
allow,  whether  his  own  youthful  blood  and  inexpe- 
rience be  not  the  main  obstacle  to  the  restoration 
of  permanent  harmony,  and  gives  a  pious  hint  of 


ON    HORACE.  133 

that  most  effective  peace-maker,  a  good  dinner  at 
meeting  after  absence. 

So  on  the  return  of'Pomponius  Numida,  of  the 
Plotian  and  Emilian  families,  from  the  Spanish  war, 
after  an  absence  of  three  years,  Horace  invites  a 
party  of  friends  and  schoolfellows,  and  gives  vent 
to  the  transports  of  renewed  association  with  sa- 
crifices, songs,  and  dances,  in  the  thirty-sixth  ode 
of  the  first  book  :  — 

Et  thure  et  fidibus  juvat 

Placare,  et  vituli  sanguine  debito, 
Custodes  Numidae  Deos ; 

Qui  nunc  Hesperia  sospes  ab  ultima 
Caris  multa  sodalibus, 

NuUi  pluratamen  dividit  oscula, 
Quam  dulci  Lamiae,  memor 

Actae  non  alio  rege  puertiae, 
Mutataeque  simul  togae. 

The  age  mtUatce  togce^  of  assuming  the  manly 
gown,  was  in  the  fifteenth  year  in  Horace's  time  : 
but  a  custom  prevailed  under  the  emperors,  when 
discipline  of  every  kind  began  to  be  relaxed,  of 
dispensing  with  one  year  of  the  regular  probation. 
The  toga  was  of  different  kinds,  in  point  of  length, 
colour,  and  ornaments,  according  to  the  respective 
rank  and  profession  of  the  wearers.  The  ordinary 
sort  was  a  large  woollen  cloak  in  form  of  a  semi- 
circle.    It  was  worn  over  the  tunic. 

It  may  be  remarked,  that  Hesperia  ah  ultima  is 
not  used  like  the  epithet  ultima  to  Thule^  but  as 
a  geographical  designation.  All  the  western  part 
of  Europe  was  called  Hesperia ;  astronomically 
from  the  stir  Hesperus,  accompanying  the  setting 
sun  J    mythological ly  from    a   son   of  Atlas,  who 

k3 


134  ON    HORACE. 

reigned  in  those  parts.  When  therefore  Hesperia 
stands  without  an  epithet,  or  with  that  of  pro^ma, 
it  represents  Italy ;  when  with  ultima^  it  is  appro- 
priated to  Spain,  as  lying  farther  to  the  west. 

Hitherto  we  have  described  the  kindness  of  his 
sentiments  towards  his  friends :  the  friendship  of 
great  men  towards  himself  was  equally  honourable 
to  his  character.  He  was  courted  by  men  of  all 
parties.  To  recount  tlie  names  which  are  scattered 
through  his  works  would  be  endless ;  but  he  enu- 
merates among  his  personal  intimates,  Cassius, 
Brutus,  Messala,  Lolhus,  Pollio,  Agrippa,  Maece- 
nas, and  Augustus :  — 

Cum  tibi  sol  tepidus  plures  admoveret  aures. 
Me  libertino  natum  patre,  et  in  tenui  re 
Majores  pennas  nido  extendisse  loqueris, 
Ut,  quantum  generi  demas,  virtutibus  addas; 
Me  primis  urbis  belli  placuisse  domique ; 
Corporis  exigui,  praecanum,  solibus  aptuni, 
Irasci  celerem,  tamen  ut  placabilis  essem. 

Lib.  i.  epist.  20, 

He  here  throws  in  a  humorous  account  of  his 
own  person  and  temper.  The  complaint  of  be- 
coming prcBcanus  seems  rather  whimsical,  if  that 
appalling  event  did  not  take  place  till  the  age  of 
forty,  as  we  may  gather  from  his  ode  on  the 
return  of  Augustus  fi'om  Spain,  and  we  may  infer, 
in  addition,  that  the  whiteness  did  not  become 
universal  till  ten  years  afterwards. 

There  is  no  author  so  well  deserving  of  attention 
as  Horace,  for  the  curious  and  discriminate  use  of 
epithets.  Sol  tepidus  is  not  to  be  applied  in  the 
foregoing  passage  to  the  excessive  heat  of  the 
sun,  which  he  would  have  expressed  by  calidtcSy  as 


ON    HORACE.  135 

being  hot  in  contradistinction  to  cold  :  tepidus  is  the 
mean  between  the  two  extremes,  or  moderately 
warm ;  and  here  signifies  the  evening  sun,  when 
the  air  is  more  mild  and  temperate  than  at  mid-day. 
Horace's  skill  and  prudence  in  the  recommend- 
ation of  a  friend  is  conspicuous  in  his  letter  to 
Claudius  Tiberius  Nero,  descended  from  the  an- 
cient family  of  the  Claudii,  who  were  of  Appius 
Claudius's  race.  He  introduces  Septimius  in  the 
most  favourable  point  of  view,  with  a  well-turned 
compliment  to  the  patron  he  wished  to  interest. 
He  insinuates  that  the  prince  admits  none  into  his 
retinue,  but  men  of  the  most  nice  probity :  he 
ascribes  all  the  qualities  to  Septimius,  which  would 
entitle  him  to  honour  and  dignity  in  so  distin- 
guished a  situation.  Dignum  mente  domoquey  ^c. 
is  a  splendid  but  delicate  panegyric  on  the  patron 
and  the  candidate  :  — 

Septimius,  Claudi,  nimirum  intelligit  unus, 
Quanti  me  facias  :  nam  cum  rogat,  et  prece  cogit. 
Scilicet  ut  tibi  se  laudare  et  tradere  coner, 
Dignum  mente  domoque  legentis  honesta  Neronis, 
Munere  cum  fungi  propioris  censet  amici. 
Quid  possim  videt  ac  novit  me  valdius  ipso. 

Lib.  i.  epist.  9. 

As  Horace  was  pleased  with  his  friends  and 
acceptable  to  them,  he  was  also  contented  with  his 
actual  fortune,  which  is  a  leading  feature  in  the 
composition  of  an  agreeable  character :  — 

Ergo  ubi  me  in  montes  et  in  arcem  ex  urbe  removi, 
Quid  prius  ilhistrem  Satiris  musaque  pcdestri  ? 
Nee  mala  me  ambitio  pcrdit,  nee  plumbcus  Auster, 
Autumnitsque  gravis,  Libitinae  qua[;stus  ocerba?. 

k4 


136  ON    HORACE. 

Matutine  pater,  seu  Jane  libentius  audis, 
Unde  homines  operum  primos  vitaeque  labores 
Institimnt  (sic  Dis  placitum)  tu  carminis  esto 
Principium.  Lib.  ii.  sat.  6. 

I  shall  now  lay  before  the  reader  some  passages, 
illustrative  of  Horace's  wit,  and  humorous  deli- 
neation of  character. 

One  of  his  earliest  compositions  was  written  in 
revenge  against  Publius  Rupilius  Rex,  a  native  of 
Praeneste,  who  had  affronted  him  by  spitting  out 
his  pus  at  que  venerium  ^  his  malice  and  abuse.     The 
story  begins  thus  :  — 

Proscripti  Regis  Rupili  pus  atque  venenum 
Hybrida  quo  pacto  sit  Persius  ultus,  opinor 
Omnibus  et  lippis  notum  et  tonsoribus  esse. 

4   Lib.  i.  sat,  7. 

Purblind  people  and  barbers  seem  at  first  sight 
a  strange  combination ;  but  it  shows  the  extent  of 
Horace's  experience  and  the  acuteness  of  his  re- 
mark. Persons  who  have  a  defective  sight  are 
curious  about  every  thing  that  passes,  and  weari- 
some with  the  number  and  irrelevancy  of  their 
enquiries.  Nature,  when  curtailed  of  one  sense, 
always  endeavours  to  work  double  tides  with 
another.  The  ears  make  good  the  deficiency  of 
sight,  and  contrariwise.  But  why  are  barbers  pe- 
culiarly inquisitive  ?  Because  their  shops  are  the 
resort  of  a  promiscuous  assemblage  at  leisure  hours, 
a  principal  mart  of  vulgar  news  and  vague  gossip ; 
by  retailing  of  which  the  tonsor  himself  at  once 
gratifies  his  own  appetite  and  earns  popularity  with 
his  customers. 


ON    HORACE.  137 

With  respect  to  the  narrative,  Rupilius  Rex  had 
been  proscribed  by  Augustus  in  the  time  of  his 
triumvirate,  and  had  withdrawn  to  the  army  of 
Brutus.  He  was  jealous  of  Horace's  superior  for- 
tune, as  holding  the  office  of  tribune  in  the  army, 
and  indulged  in  mean  scurrilities  on  the  score  of 
his  servile  extraction.  Horace  retaliates  by  des- 
cribing the  contest  of  Rupilius  before  Brutus  with 
a  merchant  who  had  business  in  Asia,  by  name 
Persius.  The  poet  calls  him  Hybrida,  the  mon- 
grel, because  his  father  was  a  Greek  and  his  mother 
an  Italian.  Rupilius  considered  himself  as  a  per- 
son of  great  importance ;  and  the  ridicule  is 
heightened  by  the  elevated  tone  and  mock  epic 
of  the  description.  Nothing  can  be  more  keen 
than  the  satire  conveyed  in  the  equal  match  of  the 
disputants.  The  two  gladiators,  Bithus  and  Bac- 
chius,  w^ere  not  better  paired.  The  historically 
allusive  pun  at  the  conclusion  may  be  thrown  out 
as  a  bone  to  the  snarlers  at  that  universally  con- 
demned, but  much  practised  species  of  wit. 

The  ninth  satire,  in  which  he  draws  the  picture  of 
an  impertinent  fop  and  poetaster,  is  so  excellent  that 
it  lives  in  every  man's  memory.  The  combination 
of  literary  and  personal  impertinence  is  the  greatest 
of  all  nuisances  in  society  :  Horace  laid  hold  of  a 
precious  specimen,  and  displayed  it  in  the  most 
ludicrous  point  of  view.  Fops  may  be  divided  into 
two  classes;  the  unconscious  and  the  conscious. 
Horace's  is  of  the  latter  description,  and  the  prince 
of  coxcombs.  The  circumstance  of  seizing  the 
hand  of  a  person  with  whom  he  had  little  or  no 
acquaintance,  is  highly  characteristic  of  indehcate 
boldness;  and  the  stiff  civihty,  the  **  Your  humble 
servant"  of  Horace,  represents  in  the  most  lively 


138  ON    HORACE. 

manner  the  well-bred  rebuff  which  fine  gentlemen 
so  well  know  how  to  administer  :  — 

Accurrit  quidam  notus  mihi  nomine  tantum, 
Arreptaque  manu,  Quid  agis,  dulcissime  rerum  ? 
Suaviter,  iit  nunc  est,  inquam ;  et  cupio  omnia  quae  vis. 

Not  that  the  intrusion  could  be  so  shaken  off. 
Sometimes  Horace  stops  short ;  then  he  walks  fast, 
but  in  vain.  His  inward  prayer  for  Bolanus  to 
relieve  him  is  full  of  pleasantry,  as  we  must  suppose 
him  to  have  been  a  person  capable  of  being  pleased 
with  so  self-conceited  a  talker.  Paucorum  homi- 
num,  applied  to  Maecenas,  as  a  person  of  judg- 
ment in  the  selection  of  his  intimates,  is  borrowed 
from  Terence,  where  it  is  applied  by  Thraso  to 
the  King  of  Persia,  and  derives  its  humour  from 
the  proverbial  notoriety  of  the  phrase.  It  was 
wittily  addressed  to  Scipio  by  Pontius.  Scipio^ 
one  evening  invited  two  or  three  friends  to  sup  on 
fish.  He  was  going  to  detain  another  party  who 
accidentally  called  in  afterwards.  Pontius  took 
him  aside,  and  cautioned  him  against  promiscuous 
familiarity.  "  Your  fish  is  paucorum  hominumJ'^ 
The  pleasantry  of  the  passage  is  much  heightened 
by  the  fop  considering  himself  as  a  fit  member  of 
Maecenases  select  society.  Horace's  answer  fur- 
nishes an  elegant  compliment  to  Maecenas,  in  that 
collateral  and  unobtrusive  mode  of  eulogy,  which 
practised  and  judicious  courtiers  are  skilful  in  em- 
ploying. A  story  apposite  to  the  subject  of  this 
satire  is  told  of  Aristotle.  An  impertinent  fellow 
related  some  fact,  and  asked  him  if  it  was  not 
wonderful.  "  No !  but  it  is  wonderful  that  any 
man  with  two  sound  legs  will  stop  to  hear  you." 


ON    HORACE.       ,  139 

In  the  third  satire  of  the  second  book,  Horace 
gives  a  fictitious  dialogue  between  himself  and  Da- 
masippus,  a  Stoic  philosopher,  who  was  paying  him 
a  visit  in  the  country.  In  another  scene  between 
Damasippus  and  Stertinius,  the  latter  excepts  none 
but  the  philosophic  sage  from  the  general  imputa- 
tion of  human  folly.  This  character  he,  as  a  Stoic, 
maintains  to  be  no  where  found  but  on  his  own 
system.  Horace's  object  is  to  ridicule  the  severity 
of  modern  philosophers,  and  their  exaggeration  of 
the  principles  established  by  the  founders  of  their 
respective  sects.  His  peculiar  skill  is  displayed  in 
giving  a  ludicrous  turn  to  what  is  ostensibly  grave 
and  rational,  not  with  the  design  of  undermining  the 
foundations  of  truth,  but  of  pulling  away  the  gro- 
tesque additions  which  deface  its  superstructure. 
For  this  purpose  he  listens  with  an  air  of  compo- 
sure to  their  philosophical  lessons.  They  deal  out 
folly  and  madness  in  large  portions,  and  give  him 
his  full  share.  Stertinius,  among  others,  details 
the  maxims  of  Staberius,  and  his  hope  that  poste- 
rity would  know  what  vast  riches  he  had  left  be- 
hind him,  from  the  information  of  the  inscription 
on  his  monument :  — 

Quid  simile  isti 
Grsecus  Aristippiis  ?  qui  servos  projicere  aurum 
In  media  jussit  Libya,  quia  tardius  irent, 
Propter  onus  segnes. 

Horace  shows  an  inclination  to  be  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  his  own  folly,  which  is  the  only 
truth  the  schools  are  not  calculated  to  teach,  and 
to  see  his  own  picture  drawn  to  the  life.  Both 
Damasippus  and  Stertinius  utter  excellent  pre- 
cepts, and  express  them  in  lively  and  natural  terms. 


140  ON    HORACE. 

The  mind  would  at  once  assent  to  every  thing  they 
propose,  but  for  occasional  bursts  of  extravagance, 
which  turn  them  and  their  theories  into  jest,  and 
are  made  to  serve  the  moi'al  purpose  of  humbling 
philosophical  pride  in  general,  and  the  arrogance 
of  Damasippus  in  particular. 

In  the  next  satire  he  adopts  an  opposite  topic  of 
ridicule  against  the  imputed  doctrine  of  the  Epi- 
cureans, who  made  pleasure,  as  it  was  said,  to 
consist  in  sensuality.  He  represents  those  cook- 
ing philosophers,  who  have  since  been  denominated 
epicures,  as  slight,  insignificant  and  contemptible. 
Catius  says :  — 

Quill  id  erat  curse,  quo  pacto  cuncta  tenerem  ; 
Utpote  res  tenues,  tenui  sermone  peractas. 

In  the  next  he  describes  in  the  most  ingenious 
manner  the  sordid  practices  of  persons,  whose  aim 
was  to  succeed  by  flattery  to  the  inheritance  of 
childless  old  men.  But  the  speculation  was  carried 
a  degree  further :  — 

Si  cui  praeterea  validus  male  filius  in  re 
Praeclara  sublatus  aletur,  ne  manifestum 
Coelibis  obsequium  nudet  te,  leniter  in  spem 
Arrepe  officiosus,  ut  et  scribare  secundus 
Haeres,  et,  si  quis  casus  puerum  egerit  Oreo, 
In  vacuum  venias  :  perraro  haec  alea  fallit. 

The  word  sublatus  refers  to  that  savage  custom 
among  the  ancients,  which  left  the  exposure  of 
children  to  the  option  of  the  fathers.  They  were 
laid  on  the  ground  immediately  on  their  birth  :  if 
the  fathers  took  them  up,  they  acquired  civil  rights 
by  this  adoption,  and  were  educated  under  the 
parental  roof. 


ON    HORACE.  141 

The  eighth  satire  is  one  of  the  most  entertaining. 
Horace  introduces  the  description  of  a  miser's  en- 
tertainment, by  the  following  question  to  Fun- 
danius : — 

Ut  Nasidieni  juvit  te  coena  beati  ? 

Nam  mihi  quaerenti  convivam,  dictus  heri  illic 

De  medio  potare  die. 

Men  of  sobriety  among  the  Romans  began  their 
entertainments  in  the  evening.  This  avaricious 
person,  aiming  at  the  reputation  of  a  boon  com- 
I)anion,  for  a  single  day  of  rare  recurrence,  begins 
his  feast  at  noon,  in  the  spirit  of  a  true  reveller. 
The  flashes  of  wit  and  humour  succeed  each  other 
so  entirely  without  interval,  that  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  do  them  justice  without  transcribing  a 
long  poem  in  every  scholar's  hands. 

But  if  Horace  laughs  at  his  friends  and  all  man- 
kind, he  feels  no  reluctance  to  represent  himself  in 
a  fantastical  point  of  view :  — 

Si  quaeret  quid  agam,  die,  multa  et  pulchra  minantem, 
Vivere  nee  recte  nee  suaviter  ;  baud  quia  gr&ndo 
Contuderit  vites,  oleamque  momorderit  aestus, 
Nee  quia  longinquis  armentum  segrotet  in  agris  ; 
Sed  quia  mente  minus  validus  quam  corpore  toto, 
Nil  audire  velim,  nil  discere,  quod  levet  aegrum; 
Fidis  ofFendar  medicis,  irascar  amicis, 
Cur  me  funesto  properent  arcere  veterno ; 
Quae  nocuere  sequar ;  fugiam  quse  profore  credam ; 
Romse  Tibur  amem  ventosus,  Tibure  Romara. 

The  epithet^c^w  must  be  considered  as  applying 
not  only  to  medicis,  but  to  amicis.  By  the  latter 
are  meant  the  ancient  philosopliers,  who  act  as 
physicians  to  the  mind,   and  administer  remedies 


142  ON    HORACE. 

against  worldly  anxiety  and  sorrows,  by  directing 
their  patients  to  simple  and  natural  enjoyments,  by 
strengthening  them  against  the  fear  of  death,  and 
setting  before  them  their  imperfect  views  of  hap-« 
piness  in  a  future  life. 

In  the  third  satire  of  the  second  book  he  gives  a 
similar  portraiture  of  himself  through  the  mouth  of 
Damasippus  :  — 

Atqui  vultus  erat  multa  et  praeclara  minantis, 
Si  vacuum  tepido  cepisset  villula  tecto. 

We  must  now  look  at  Horace  as  a  philosopher  : 
and  in  passing  to  this  part  of  his  character,  we  may 
notice  his  fondness  for  a  country  life  as  a  proof  that 
he  was  not  a  courtier  at  heart,  but  that  he  could 
adorn  the  freedom  and  tranquillity  of  a  rural  retreat 
with  all  the  charms  of  poetical  feeling :  — 

Perditur  haec  inter  misero  lux,  non  sine  votis : 

O  rus,  quando  ego  te  aspiciam  ?  quandoque  Hcebit, 

Nunc  veterum  libris,  nunc  somno  et  inertibus  horis, 

Ducere  solicitae  jucunda  oblivia  vitae  ? 

O  quando  faba  Pydiagorae  cognata,  simulque 

Uncta  satis  pinguL  ponentur  oluscula  lardo  ? 

O  noctes,  coenaeque  Deum  !  quibus  ipse,  meique. 

Ante  Larem  proprium  vescor,  vernasque  procaces 

Pasco  libatis  dapibus.  Lib.  ii.  sat.  6. 

Virtue  and  competence  are  here  set  forth  in  the 
most  amiable  light,  and  the  place  pointed  out  where 
they  may  be  enjoyed  in  the  highest  perfection. 
The  peaceful  evenings  and  social  suppers  in  the 
country  are  called  the  nights  and  repasts  of  the 
gods,  because  the  happiness  found  at  them  was  un- 
alloyed.  There  is  a  tone  of  genuine  feeling,  a 
recollection  of  rational  enjoyment  in  these  lines. 


ON    HORACE.  143 

which  convince  us  that  Horace  was  not  acting  tlie 
philosopher,  but  expressing  his  real  sentiments. 
Yet  grave  as  the  passage  is,  he  could  not  resist  a 
stroke  of  satire  at  the  kindred  of  Pythagoras  to  the 
bean,  ^vhich,  according  to  him,  having  been  pro- 
duced from  the  same  corruption,  and  at  the  same 
time  with  man,  was  to  be  treated  witli  filial  absti- 
nence and  reverence.  But  Horace  was  no  Pytha- 
gorean, and  could  eat  his  beans  and  bacon  with  a 
safe  conscience,  and  a  farmer-like  appetite. 

On  another  occasion  he  expresses  impatience  to 
see  his  country-seat,  and  illustrates  the  persuasions 
to  rural  enjoyment  by  a  most  ingenious  compa- 
rison. It  was  a  proverbial  saying,  that  no  slaves 
were  so  happy  as  the  servants  of  priests.  Instead 
of  coarse  household  bread,  they  lived  on  the  cakes 
offered  to  the  gods  by  votaries.  Yet,  as  it  some- 
times happened,  they  were  so  glutted  with  this 
"  cheesecake  diet,"  that  they  ran  away  from  their 
master's  house  to  get  a  shce  of  ordinary  bread.  In 
like  manner  Horace  is  sickened  of  town  gaieties, 
and  runs  into  the  country  for  a  taste  of  simple, 
unadulterated  pleasures :  — 

Quid  quaeris  ?  vivo  et  regno,  simul  ista  reliqui 
Quae  vos  ad  coclum  fertis  rumore  secundo  : 
Utque  sacerdotis  fugitivus,  liba  recuso ; 
Pane  egeo  jam  mellitis  potiore  placentis. 

Lib.  i.  epist  10. 

Rure  ego  viventem,  tu  dicis  in  urbe  beatum. 

Lib.  i.  epist.  1 4. 

His  account  of  his  Sabine  farm,  in  his  epistle  to 
Quintius,  furnishes  a  pleasing  specimen  of  his  de- 
scriptive  powers.     Along   a  valley,  between  the 


144  ON    HORACE. 

Teverone  and  Ciirrese,  a  ridge  of  hills  ran  from 
north  to  south,  divided  by  another  valley  from  east 
to  west,  where  lay  the  territories  of  Blandusia  and 
Mandela.  The  mountain  Lucretilis  was  in  the 
centre  of  Blandusia.  One  of  its  sides,  called  Ustica, 
gave  the  name  to  Horace's  house  and  lands.  The 
Digentia  had  its  source  in  the  district  of  Ustica, 
and  flowed  through  Blandusia  and  Mandela,  wa- 
tering a  wood,  which,  with  a  temple  in  it,  was 
dedicated  to  the  goddess  Vacuna :  — 

Continui  monies,  nisi  dissocientur  opaca 

Valle;  sed  ut  veniens  dextrum  latus  aspiciat  Sol, 

Laevum  discedens  curru  fugiente  vaporet. 

Lib.  i.  epist.  16. 

This  being  the  bent  of  Horace's  taste,  though 
he  was  not  a  didactic  writer,  many  notices  are 
scattered  through  his  works,  which  throw  light  on 
ancient  agriculture.  Among  others,  we  learn  that 
the  shepherds  drove  their  flocks  alternately  in 
summer  and  winter,  to  the  distant  pasturages  of 
Calabria  and  Lucania. 

It  has  been  observed  before  that  our  poet's  cha- 
racter is  not  to  be  rated  by  his  table  songs.  He 
takes  many  opportunities  of  censuring  the  volup- 
tuousness of  his  contemporaries,  and  commending 
the  temperance  and  frugality  of  the  early  Roman 
heroes : — 

Hos  utinam  inter 
Heroas  natum  tellus  me  prima  tulisset ! 
Das  aliquid  famae,  quae  carmine  gratior  aurem 
Occupat  humanam  ?    Grandes  rhombi  patinseque 
Grande  ferimt  una  cum  damno  dedecus. 

Lib.  ii.  sat.  2. 


ON    HORACE.  l<^ 

The  necessity  of  virtue  and  wisdom,  without 
which  freedom  is  a  snare  and  not  a  blessing,  con- 
stitutes a  favourite  topic  with  him.  In  the  satire 
in  which  Davus  takes  the  privilege  of  the  Saturn- 
alia, the  poet  puts  into  the  mouth  of  his  Grecian 
slave,  by  way  of  making  the  object  of  preference 
more  characteristic  and  less  offensive,  a  description 
of  Rome,  as  a  sink  of  impurity  ;  of  Athens,  as  the 
seat  of  learning  and  virtue.  In  earlier  and  more 
Jieroic  days,  a  person  would  have  been  considered 
as  a  coxcomb,  and  a  violator  of  public  decency, 
had  he  appeared  with  more  than  one  ring.  In  the 
more  luxurious  times,  it  was  the  fashion  to  wear 
three.  He  describes  the  inconsistency  of  mankind, 
in  vacillating  between  virtue  and  vice,  in  a  very 
spirited  portrait :  — 

Saepe  notatus 
Cum  tribus  annellis,  modo  laeva  Priscus  inani, 
Vixit  insequalis,  clavum  ut  mutaret  in  horas ; 
iEdibus  ex  magnis  siibito  se  conderet,  unde 
Mundior  exiret  vix  libertinus  honeste  : 
Jam  moechus  Romae,  jam  mallet  doctus  Athenis 
Vivere ;   Vertumnis,  quotqiiot  sunt,  natus  iniquis. 

Lib.  ii.  sat.  7. 

In  a  letter  to  Maecenas,  he  attacks  two  of  the 
most  common  vices,  which  throw  impediments 
in  the  way  of  human  liappiness.  The  first  is 
avarice  and  ambition  warring  with  united  forces  ; 
the  second  is  levity  and  inconstancy  in  the  objects 
of  pursuit  For  these  two  diseases  he  proposes  two 
remedies  :  truth,  and  honesty  or  honour :  what  the 
Greeks  term  v^eVov,  the  Latins  decorum,  whicli 
is  Cicero's  word  throughout  the  first  book  of  Iiis 
Offices.     His  definition  of  it  includes  the  practice 


146  ON    HORACE. 

of  all  the  virtues ;  a  course  of  action  worthy  of 
human  nature.  He  seems  indeed  to  consider  it 
as  the  leading  distinction  between  the  instinct  of 
the  lower  animals  and  the  reason  of  man  :  —  "  Nee 
vero  ilia  parva  vis  naturae  est  rationisque,  quod 
unum  hoc  animal  sentit,  quid  sit  ordo ;  quid  sit, 
quod  deceat ;  in  factis  dictisque  qui  modus." 

Horace  exhibits  himself  here  in  an  interesting 
light;  as  abjuring  slighter  composition,  and  devoting 
himself  to  philosophy,  which  consists  in  the  con- 
templation and  knowledge  of  things,  and  to  what 
he  calls  the  decens,  or  that  conduct  of  which  the 
verum  is  the  parent.  He  professes  however  to  be 
the  votary  of  no  sect.  Truth  was  his  choice, 
wherever  he  could  find  it.  His  experienced  scru- 
tiny had  discovered  the  forte  and  the  feeble  of 
every  sect :  we  have  seen  in  repeated  instances, 
how  he  calls  them  back  from  their  fallacies,  and 
winds  a  retreat  when  they  have  lost  their  game,  and 
are  pursuing  the  counterscent  of  prejudice.  He 
was  the  huntsman,  not  one  of  the  hounds :  had  he 
belonged  to  the  pack,  his  cry  might  have  been 
louder  than  the  rest,  but  its  articulation  would 
have  been  lost  in  the  hubbub  and  confusion  of  the 
field :  — 

Nunc  itaque  et  versus  et  caetera  ludicra  pono ; 

Quid  verum  atque  decens,  euro  et  rogo,  et  omnis  in  hoc 

sum; 
Condo,  et  compono,  quae  mox  depromere  possim : 
Ac  ne  forte  roges,  quo  me  duce,  quo  lare  tuter , 
NuUius  addictus  jurare  in  verba  magistri, 
Quo  me  cunque  rapit  tempestas,  deferor  hospes. 

Lib.  i.  epist.  1. 

Truth  accomplishes  the  philosopher,  and  virtue 

makes  the  man  happy.     The  sincere  enquirer  after 


ON    HORACE.  147 

both,  to  be  successful,  must  be  earnest,  consistent, 
and  unwearied  in  his  endeavours  :  he  must  think  for 
himself;  without  rejecting  either  the  discoveries  or 
the  experiences  of  others.  Difficulties  vanish  before 
assiduous  research,  and  proficiency  is  the  reward 
of  perseverance.  Plato  has  a  fine  passage  on  this 
subject,  in  the  sixth  book  of  his  Republic  :  — *Hyou- 

/xgv>jj  8^  aX)j^e»aj,  oux  av  ttoIs,  olixuiy  (^aT/xev  auTy}  x^§^^  xaxwv 
axoXoodijo-a*.  Ua>$  yug  ;  *AW*  vyie$  re  xa.)  [d,eTgiov  yj^oc'  ui  xa) 
ccoppocrvvriv  67re(r^a.i, 

The  next  epistle,  to  Lollius,  contains  precau- 
tions against  ambition,  avarice,  debauchery,  and 
passion :  — 

Semper  avarus  eget :  certum  voto  pete  finem. 

The  miseries  and  inconsistency  of  avarice  have 
furnished  an  abundant  topic  to  all  writers  on  morals 
and  manners.  From  the  following  passage  of 
Cicero  pro  Roscio,  we  learn  how  easy  it  is  for  those 
who  are  not  blinded  by  avarice,  to  detect  the  ma- 
chinations of  the  avaricious  man,  or  to  lead  him  to 
his  own  ruin :  —  **  O  praeclarum  testem,  judices  ! 
O  gravitatem  dignam  expectatione !  O  vitam 
honestam,  atque  ejusmodi,  ut  libentibus  animis  ad 
ejus  testimonium  vestrum  jusjurandum  accommo- 
detis !  Profecto  non  tam  perspicue  istorum  male- 
ficia  videremus,  nisi  ipsos  coecos  redderet  cupiditas, 
et  avaritia,  et  audacia." 

Sat.  Sed  quibus  captus  dolls, 
Nobtros  dabit  perductus  in  laqueos  pedem  ? 
Ininiica  credit  cuncta.     Atii.  Non  poterat  cap!, 
Nisi  capere  vellet     Regna  nunc  sperat  mea  : 
Hac  spe  minanti  fiilmen  occurret  Jovi ; 
Hac  spe  suhibit  gurgitis  tumidi  min&^; 


148  ON    HORACE. 

Dubiumqiie  Libycae  Syrtis  intrabit  fretum ; 
Hac  spe,  quod  esse  maximum  retur  malum, 
Fratrem  videbit.  Seneca  in  Thyeste,  286. 

In  an  epistle  to  Numicius,  our  author  proves  that 
the  admiration  of  unworthy  objects  is  a  principal 
cause  of  misery :  — 

Hunc  solem,  et  Stellas,  et  decedentia  certis 
Tempora  momentis,  sunt  qui  formidine  nulla 
Imbuti  spectent.  Lib.  i.  epist.  6. 

Horace's  reasoning  stands  on  this  foundation. 
Nothing  is  naturally  so  calculated  to  excite  the 
astonishment  and  raise  the  admiration  of  the  human 
mind,  as  the  structure  of  the  universe,  the  uni- 
formity of  motion  in  the  bodies  that  compose 
our  system,  the  revolutions  of  the  seasons,  and  the 
complicated,  yet  methodised  arrangement  of  exist- 
ing things.  Some  pliilosophers  have  seen  hu7ic  solem, 
et  Stellas,  and  yet  have  admired  nothing.  If  they 
have  not  been  moved  by  these  wonders,  if  their 
hearts  have  not  been  affected  by  the  connection 
between  themselves  and  this  stupendous  machinery 
of  material  splendour,  how  can  we  admire  the 
inferior  glories  of  the  mine  or  of  the  palace  ?  How 
can  we  value,  or  even  withhold  our  contempt  from 
the  trappings  of  state,  or  the  frivolity  of  popular 
applause,  and  the  ephemeral  triumph  of  political 
honours  ?  This  world  contains  nothing  which  a 
wise  man  would  admire.  The  hierarchies  of 
heaven  obey  the  will  of  their  Creator :  the  im- 
pression their  magnificence  should  make  on  us,  is 
to  lead  us  to  look  down  on  them,  and  up  to  their 
first  Mover. 


ON    HORACE.  149 

The  last  point  of  view  in  which  we  have  to  look 
at  Horace,  is  the  literary  and  the  critical.  The 
scope  of  his  ambition  in  his  writings,  was  to  please 
judges  of  a  certain  cast :  — 

Nam  satis  est  equitem  mihi  plaudere,  ut  audax, 
Contemtis  aliis,  explosa  Arbuscula  dixit. 

Lib.  i.  sat.  10. 

The  Equites,  or  Knights,  are  here  taken  for  the 
nobility  at  large,  and  especially  those  of  a  cultivated 
mind.  To  stand  well  with  posterity,  we  must 
please  our  contemporaries  of  the  best  taste.  Each 
age  furnishes  a  few  ;  no  age  furnishes  many.  But  a 
reputation  so  established  is  preferable  to  the  shouts 
of  the  vulgar,  which  are  silent  after  the  first  explo- 
sion :  a  fame  founded  on  enlightened  approbation 
is  like  the  swell  of  a  well-tuned  instrument ;  barely 
audible  when  the  tone  is  first  emitted,  but  increas- 
ing in  progressive  vibration,  till  it  fills  the  area 
within  which  it  is  confined.  As  his  own  critic,  he 
maintains  his  claim  to  originality,  though  he  had 
been  accused  of  plagiarism  :  — 

Libera  per  vacuum  posui  vestigia  princeps, 

Non  aliena  meo  pressi  pede.  Lib.  i.  epist.  1 9. 

He  maintiiins  that  he  had  discovered  a  path 
unknown  to  the  poets  of  his  country,  and  that  he 
18  a  guide,  not  a  follower :  but  he  acknowledges 
that  he  has  imitated  the  Greeks,  and  points  out 
how  his  countrymen  may  imitate  him,  instead  of 
copying   what   is   least  valuable.      In  the  second 

L  3 


150  ON    HORACE. 

epistle  of  the  same  book,  he  Jays  down  rules 
for  reading  the  poets  in  general  with  advan- 
tage :  — 

Fabula,  qua  Paridis  propter  narratur  amorem 
Graecia  Barbariae  lente  collisa  duello, 
Stultorum  regum  et  populorum  continet  aestus. 

The  fable  is  what  the  Greek  critics  call  jxufloj, 
or  the  disposition  of  the  subject.  Order  and 
arrangement  of  parts  are  necessary  to  the  compo- 
sition of  a  poem.  We  hear  much  of  the  probable 
and  the  improbable  in  a  story.  It  matters  not  how 
absurd  or  improbable  be  the  end,  provided  the 
means  be  natural  and  probable.  Tasso  and  Ariosto 
please  not  only  the  lovers  of  the  marvellous  and 
the  extravagant,  but  the  very  readers  of  taste  and 
judgment  who  most  affect  the  correctness  and 
purity  of  Virgil.  Were  probability  of  story  indis- 
pensible,  -^sop's  fables  would  never  have  pene- 
trated beyond  the  nursery:  yet  they  have  been 
edited  by  those  who  were  competent  to  comment 
on  the  Iliad.  The  difference  between  the  fabuHst 
and  Homer,  setting  aside  the  graces  and  splendours 
of  poetry,  which  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  pre- 
sent question,  is  that  ^sop  makes  beasts,  the  poet 
makes  men,  his  heroes.  The  mode  of  conducting 
the  actions  of  the  heroes  is  strictly  analogous  ;  the 
moral  of  either  apologue  is  rational. 

The  character  of  Horace's  genius  as  a  critic  is 
principally  to  be  drawn  from  his  epistles  to  the 
Pisos  and  to  Augustus.  There  are  two  kinds  of 
the  epistle  J  the  elegiac  and  the  didactic.  The 
former,  the  characteristic  of  which  is  sensibility  of 


ON    HORACE.  151 

nature  and  elegance  of  mind,  or  perhaps  more  pro- 
perly tenderness  of  heart,  is  Ovid's  province.  The 
latter  requires  superiority  of  sound  and  common 
sense,  an  extensive  knowledge  of  human  life,  and 
the  polish  of  high  breeding  and  courtly  address. 
Here  Horace  reigned  without  a  rival,  in  that  deli- 
cate department  of  moral  criticism,  which  partakes 
more  of  refined  sentiment  than  of  scholastic  learn- 
ing or  precision.  In  the  epistle  to  Augustus, 
he  ridicules  the  unmeaning  admiration  of  anti- 
quity :  — 

Naevius  in  manibus  non  est,  et  mentibus  haeret 
Psene  recens  ?  adeo  sanctum  est  vetus  omne  poema. 

But  this  is  far  from  being  uttered  in  contempt 
of  the  poets  who  preceded  him.  We  admire  the 
masculine  understanding,  the  easy  expression,  the 
unsophisticated  representation  of  life  and  manners 
in  the  old  writers  of  our  own  country.  Horace 
entertained  no  less  candid  and  rational  esteem 
for  the  early  Roman  poets,  who  formed  them- 
selves on  the  model  of  Eupolis,  Cratinus,  and 
Aristophanes :  — 

Illi,  scripta  quibus  comocdia  prisca  viris  est. 
Hoc  stabant,  hoc  sunt  imitandi ;  quos  neque  pulclier 
Hermogenes  unquam  legit,  neque  simius  iste, 
Nil  praeter  Calvum  et  doctus  cantare  Catullum. 

Lib.  i.  sat.  10. 

This  Hermogenes  Tigellius  was  a  literary  as 
well  as  a  personal  dandy.  He  was  the  favourite 
musician  of  Augustus ;  insipid  in  his  tastes,  more 

L  4 


152  ON    HORACE. 

barbarous  in  his  delicacy,  than  the  utmost  bar- 
barism of  unadulterated  roughness.  Yet  this 
fellow  thought  it  genteel  to  affect  antiquarian 
literature ;  and  professed  himself  the  partisan  of 
Lucilius,  whom  Horace  swears  he  never  read. 
Horace  was  the  advocate,  and  the  model  of  cor- 
rectness ;  but  it  was  only  to  counteract  this  egre- 
gious foppery,  that  he  for  a  moment  attempted  to 
dam  up  the  ancient  spring  of  genuine  poetry.  His 
ear  could  not  reconcile  itself  to  the  ruggedness  of 
verse  in  Lucilius :  but  in  a  passage  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  last-quoted  satire,  he  apologises  for 
his  presumption  :  — 

Quis  tarn  Lucili  fautor  inepte  est, 
Ut  non  hoc  fateatur  ?  at  idem,  quod  sale  multo 
Urbem  defricuit,  charta  laiidatur  eadem. 

Horace  repels  the  imputation  of  contradictory 
criticism.  He  admits  the  wit  and  pleasantry  of 
the  old  bard's  writings,  which  had  animated  the 
coarse  merriment  of  a  preceding  generation ;  but 
finds  himself  bound  to  enter  his  protest  against  the 
harshness  of  his  versification.  The  two  positions, 
which  the  witlings  of  his  day  had  endeavoured  to 
represent  as  contradictory,  are  perfectly  in  unison 
with  the  true  principles  and  consistency  of  cri- 
ticism. 

Horace's  Lucilian  satires  are  a  curious  part  of 
his  critical  works.  However  ready  to  admit  the 
general  merit  of  Lucilius,  the  correctness  of  man- 
ners and  taste  in  the  Augustan  age,  his  own  station 
at  court,  as  the  arbiter  elegantiarum,  made  it  ne- 
cessary   for  him  to  establish  a  Procrustes'  bed  of 


ON    HORACE.  153 

criticism,  to  wliicli  the  dimensions  of  the  old  poet 
were  incommensurate.  Yet  the  fashionable  cry  was 
at  this  time  for  the  ancients  :  that  of  Hermogenes 
for  Luciliiis,  that  of  Demetrius  for  Calvus  and 
Catullus,  and  we  have  already  seen  that  Plautus 
was  more  popular  than  Terence.  The  court 
therefore  was  divided  into  parties ;  and  it  was 
necessary  for  Horace,  witli  whom  popularity  was 
as  it  were  a  stock  in  trade,  to  unite  with  one  with- 
out giving  mortal  offence  to  the  other.  He  had 
to  parry  as  well  as  to  thrust ;  and  this  consideration 
will  enable  us  to  reconcile  the  seeming  incongruities 
of  his  critical  opinions.  In  writing  critically,  he 
had  objects  ulterior  to  criticism.  The  galled 
jades,  who  winced  at  his  censures,  thought  to  elude 
their  point  by  crying  up  the  broad  blunt  satire  of 
a  former  poet :  Horace,  who  had  no  malignity, 
and  less  vigour  than  his  predecessor  Lucilius,  the 
satirist  of  a  coarser  age,  or  than  his  successor  Ju- 
venal, the  satirist  of  a  period  still  more  corrupt 
than  his  own,  was  obliged  to  exercise  the  arts  of 
])leading  in  behalf  of  that  tender  treatment,  by 
which  alone  he  could  manage  and  regulate  the 
loose  and  slippery  morals  of  a  luxurious  court  and 
people. 

Dr.  Hurd  says,  the  epistle  to  Augustus  is  an 
apology  for  ttie  Roman  j)oets.  His  epistle  to  the 
Pisos  is  a  criticism  on  the  Roman  drama,  accord- 
ing to  this  critic,  and  not  on  the  art  of  poetry  in 
general.  Baxter  is  of  the  same  opinion.  **  Satira 
hsBC  est  in  sui  saeculi  poetas,  prascipue  vero  in 
Romanum  Drama."  .We  find  indeed  desultory 
remarks  on  all  departments  ;  but  nothing  like  a 
principled  system  of  criticism,  an  ars  et  institutio 
poelica.     The  most  that  can  be  made  of  it  is  a 


154  ON    HORACE. 

miscellaneous  collection,  if  we  consider  poetry  at 
large  as  the  subject  of  the  piece.  Under  the 
influence  of  this  latter  prejudice,  says  Dr.  Hurd, 
"  several  writers  of  name  took  upon  them  to  com- 
ment and  explain  it :  and  with  the  success  which 
was  to  be  expected  from  so  fatal  a  mistake  on 
setting  out,  as  the  not  seeing  that  the  proper  and 
sole  purpose  of  the  author  was,  not  to  abridge  the 
Greek  critics,  whom  he  probably  never  thought  of; 
nor  to  amuse  himself  with  composing  a  short  cri- 
tical system,  for  the  general  use  of  poets,  which 
every  line  of  it  absolutely  confutes;  but,  simply  to 
criticise  the  Roman  drama.  For  to  this  end,  not 
the  tenor  of  the  work  only,  but,  as  will  appear, 
every  single  precept  of  it,  ultimately  refers."  This 
eminent  critic  displays  much  ingenuity  in  re- 
medying the  mischief  of  so  fundamental  an  error. 
Instead  of  considering  it  as  an  epitome  of  the 
Greek  critics,  according  to  which  notion  it  would 
often  be  difficult  to  reconcile  him  with  his  sup- 
posed authorities,  and  oflen  necessary  to  create 
conformities  never  thought  of  by  the  author. 
Dr.  Hurd  establishes  a  unity  in  the  subject,  and 
a  connection  in  the  method.  On  his  hypothesis, 
what  as  a  maxim  or  remark  on  universal  poetry 
would  seem  slight,  unsatisfactory,  or  unconnected, 
appears  in  its  proper  place  in  the  general  order  of 
ths  author's  reflections,  as  illustrating  the  state  of 
the  Roman  theatre  at  particular  periods.  The 
especial  rules  of  composition  are  all  directed  to 
the  formation  of  a  Roman  dramatist,  whose  business 
it  is  to  derive  instruction  and  assistance  from  the 
kindred  families  of  the  poetic  art ;  and  hence  it 
is,  that  in  a  treatise  on  the  stage,  we  glean  occa- 
sional information,  but  no  consistent  and  regulated 


ON    HORACE.  155 

theory  of  the  epic,  the  didactic,  the  elegiac  and  the 
satirical  styles. 

Horace  and  Virgil  have  given  much  offence  by 
their  flattery  of  Augustus.  The  former  in  the 
epistle  to  Augustus  :  — 

Prsesenti  tibi  matures  largimur  honores, 
Jurandasque  tuum  per  numen  ponimus  aras, 
Nil  oriturimi  alias,  nil  ortum  tale  fatentes. 

Their  only  apology  is  to  be  found  in  the  uni- 
versal incense  of  extravagant  adulation,  oflered  up 
by  all  the  court  poets  of  the  Augustan  age.  The 
blasphemous  practice  of  erecting  altars  to  the  em- 
perors, took  its  rise  under  the  tyranny  of  Julius 
Caesar.  The  senate  had  enjoined,  by  an  express 
decree,  that  the  Romans  should  swear  by  Caesar's 
health  and  safety,  even  in  his  lifetime.  Balbus 
says  in  a  letter  to  Cicero,  *'  Haec  quam  prudenter 
tibi  scribam,  nescio :  sed  illud  certe  scio,  me 
ab  singulari  amore  ac  benevolentia,  quaecumque 
scribo,  tibi  scribere  :  quod  te  (ita,  incolumi  Caesare, 
moriar)  tanti  facio,  ut  paucos  aeque  ac  te  caros 
habeam."  —  Ep,  ad  Att,  This  passage  shows  that 
Cffisar  was  at  this  period  an  every-day  oath.  He 
has  no  more  to  do  than  Jove  or  Pallas  with  the 
subject  of  the  sentence  into  which  he  is  paren- 
thetically introduced ;  so  that  this  vow  of  self- 
devotion  for  his  sake  has  not  even  the  merit  of 
what  Sheridan  calls  sentimental  swearing.  Those 
who  Iiave  gone  this  length  will  go  further.  The 
following  passage  from  Dio  completes  the  farce :  — 

AXX*)v  Tf  Tivfli  tlxdva  i$  tov  tou  Kuptvou  vaov  ^too  avixrjTm 
ixtypa^lfotyregf  xa)  oikXrif  if  tov  KawiTwXiov  vrapoi  touj  /3ao'iXeu<r«v- 
T«j  TOTi  eyr^'Peu/xp,  ayidi<r«v.  —  Lib.  xliii. 


156  ON    HORACE. 

When  we  see  a  senate  thus  enslaving  itself,  and 
voting  idolatry  by  Act  of  Parliament,  we  cannot 
wonder  that  the  gay  satellites  of  a  court  should 
follow  the  example  of  the  conscript  fathers,  the  po- 
te7it,  grave,  and  reverend  Seniors,  though  at  a 
respectful  distance  from  the  exaggerations  of  their 
flattery.* 

*  The  length  and  general  scope  of  this  article  will  not  admit 
of  any  present  review  of  Horace  as  a  lyric  poet.  Lipsius  says 
in  a  letter  to  Cruquius,  "  Horatio,  mi  Cruqui,  in  Lyricis  merito 
illud  Homericum  dabimus,  .  .  .  jTj  xo/pa»oj  trw." — Epistolicarum 
Qucestionum,  lib.  ii. 


157 


ON  THE  CHARACTERS  OF  TITUS  AND 
BERENICE. 


Tacitus  and  Josephus  are  the  two  authors  from 
^hom  the  character  of  Titus  is  principally  to  be 
drawn.  Tacitus  is  supposed  to  have  been  raised 
to  the  office  of  quaestor,  and  probably  to  the  rank 
of  senator,  by  Vespasian.  His  gradation  through 
the  magistracy  was  progressive  under  Titus,  till  he 
reached  the  functions  either  of  tribune  or  aedile.  He 
tells  us  in  his  annals,  that  he  was  one  of  the  college 
of  fifteen,  and  invested  with  the  office  of  prgetor,  in 
the  time  of  Domitian.  Both  these  historians  painted 
from  the  life,  and  under  personal  obligation.  Tacitus 
had  been  promoted  by  Titus,  Josephus  had  been 
treated  with  mildness  and  generosity  by  him,  and  had 
submitted  to  him  his  history  of  the  Jewish  war,  which 
the  conqueror  of  Jerusalem  not  only  approved,  but 
subscribed  with  his  own  hand,  and  gave  orders  for 
its  publication.  Tacitus  commences  the  second 
book  of  his  history,  by  remarking  that  fortune  was 
preparing  an  important  scene  in  another  quarter  of 
the  world,  and  laying  the  foundation  of  a  new 
imperial  family,  destined  at  first  to  flourish  in 
prosperity,  and  in  the  end,  after  a  disastrous  reign, 
to  be  hurled  from  its  pre-eminence  by  a  dread- 


158  ON    THE    CHARACTERS    OF 

ful  catastrophe.  The  fate  of  the  people,  alter- 
nately beneficial  and  calamitous,  was  identified  with 
the  destinies  of  its  successive  sovereigns.  Rome 
prospered  under  Vespasian  and  Titus,  but  suffered 
severely  during  the  reign  of  Domitian.  The 
tyrant  was  stopped  in  his  career,  and  the  Flavian 
family  became  extinct. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  book,  Tacitus  describes 
in  an  interesting  manner,  but  with  his  usual  bre- 
vity, the  talents,  accomplishments,  person,  and 
character  of  Titus.  He  was  at  this  time  in  his 
twenty-eighth  year.  By  the  favour  of  Narcissus, 
to  whom  his  father  Vespasian  paid  court,  he  was 
educated  in  the  palace  with  Britannicus,  the  son  of 
Claudius.  The  destined  heir  to  the  empire  was 
cut  off  by  Nero's  villany :  but  Titus,  who  then 
seemed  to  be  stationed  far  below  the  seat  of  im- 
perial ambition,  survived  to  reign  in  glory,  and 
with  the  high  esteem  of  the  Roman  people.  On 
this  subject  there  is  a  story  in  Suetonius,  that 
Claudius's  favourite  freedman,  Narcissus,  Titus's 
early  patron,  consulted  a  fortune-teller  about  the 
destiny  of  Britannicus.  The  huckster  of  futurity 
obstinately  persisted  in  his  prediction,  that  the 
young  prince  would  never  reign,  but  that  Titus, 
who  was  standing  by,  was  born  to  sovereignty. 

While  Galba  was  supposed  to  be  still  in  posses- 
sion of  supreme  power,  Vespasian  sent  his  son 
from  Judea  to  congratulate  that  emperor.  At 
Corinth,  Titus  received  intelligence  of  Galba's 
murder.  An  uncertain,  probably  a  disputed  suc- 
cession, presented  but  a  choice  of  difficulties.  He 
resolved  to  proceed  no  farther  than  Greece.  On 
setting  sail  from  Corinth,   he  directed  his  course 


TITUS    AND    BERENICE.  159 

towards  Rhodes  and  Cyprus.  "  Iiide  Syriam 
audentioribus  spatiis  petebat."  At  Cyprus  he 
visited  the  temple  of  the  Paphian  Venus,  and  con- 
sulted her  Oracle.  The  answer  was  auspicious, 
and  he  returned  to  his  father.  Tacitus  mentions 
a  prevailing  impression,  that  his  connection  with 
Berenice,  sister  to  Agrippa  the  Second,  and  wife  of 
Herod,  king  of  Chalcis  in  Syria,  secretly  influenced 
this  retrograde  movement.  This  part  of  Titus's 
histoiy  will  be  looked  into  hereafter.  * 

On  the  death  of  Vitellius,  a  decree  passed  the 
Senate,  appointing  Titus  his  father's  colleague  in 
the  consulship.  When  Vespasian  began  to  turn 
his  thoughts  towards  Italy,  he  determined  to  leave 
his  son  Titus  in  the  command  of  the  army,  and  to 
confer  on  him  the  prosecution  of  the  war  against 
the  Jews.  The  speech  of  Titus  to  his  father  at 
parting,  places  his  character  in  a  most  amiable 
point  of  view.  Its  sole  object  seems  to  have  been, 
to  plead  in  favour  of  Domitian.  He  cautioned 
Vespasian  against  being  rashly  incensed  by  insinu- 
ations of  criminality.  Towards  his  own  son,  it 
were  but  just  to  be  unprejudiced  and  mild.  A 
numerous  issue  affords  more  firm  support  to  the 
imperial  dignity  than  fleets  and  armies.  Friends 
drop  off  by  deatli,  and  abandon  us  to  follow  more 
inviting  fortunes :  they  renounce  us  in  disgust  at 
the  disappointment  of  unreasonable  or  impossible 
expectations.  But  blood  forms  an  indissoluble  tie, 
especially  between  princes,  in  whose  fate  all  their 
kindred   must  be  involved :  nor  can  brothers  be 

*  Fuerc,  qui  accensum  desidcrio  Berenices  Regina,  vertuse  iter 
crederent,  Neque  abhorrcbat  a  Berenice  juvenilis  animus :  sed 
gcrendin  rebus  nullum  ex  eo  impedimentum.  —  Historiarum, 
lib.  ii.  cap.  2. 


160  ON    THE    CHARACTERS    OF 

expected  to  live  in  unity,  but  undir  the  influence 
and  example  of  their  common  parent. 

After  serving  with  his  father  in  Britain,  in  Ger- 
many, and  in  Judea,  with  the  winning  behaviour 
and  address  ascribed  to  him  by  Tacitus,  it  is  no 
wonder  that  he  gained  a  complete  ascendency  over 
his  soldiers.  In  the  fiflh  book,  his  army  is  de- 
scribed as  consisting  of  the  fifth,  tenth  and  fifteenth 
legions,  which  had  served  under  Vespasian,  the 
twelfth  from  Syria,  and  two  others  from  Alexan- 
dria, with  twenty  cohorts  of  allies,  and  eight 
squadrons  of  horse.  The  lyings  Agrippa  and  So- 
hemus  accompanied  him,  King  Antiochus  sent 
auxiliaries,  and  the  Arabs  took  the  field  against  the 
Jews,  whom  they  hated.  With  this  tremendous 
force  Titus  encamped  near  Jerusalem,  and  besieged 
the  city.  The  fifth  and  tenth  legions  here  men- 
tioned, had  been  brought  from  Alexandria  in  the 
time  of  Nero,  when  Vespasian  sent  his  son  for 
them  fi'om  Achaia,  while  he  himself  passed  over 
the  Hellespont,  and  went  by  land  into  Syria,  where 
he  collected  the  Roman  forces,  and  organised  the 
subsidiary  armies  of  the  neighbouring  kings. 

It  is  at  this  period,  that  Josephus  takes  up  the 
history  of  Titus.  He  sailed,  as  has  been  stated, 
from  Achaia  to  Alexandria,  earlier  than  w^as  gene- 
rally practicable  in  winter.  With  the  forces  for 
which  he  was  sent,  he  marched  expeditiously  and 
unexpectedly  to  Ptolemais.  He  found  his  father 
there  with  the  fifteenth  legion,  to  which  he  joined 
the  forementioned  fifth  and  tenth,  which  were  the 
most  distinguished  in  the  service.  Eighteen  co- 
horts followed  these  legions.  Five  others  came 
from  Caesarea,  \vith  one  troop  of  horsemen,  and 
five  other  troops  of  horsemen  from  Syria. 


TITUS    AND    BERENICE.  I6l 

The  filial  piety  of  Titus  was  conspicuous,  when 
a  report  was  circulated  in  the  army  that  the  gene- 
ral was  wounded.  The  Romans  were  thrown  into 
extreme  disorder  at  the  sight  of*  Vespasian's  blood  ; 
and  the  agony  of  the  son,  with  the  regard  they  had 
for  the  fatlier,  spread  so  general  a  panic,  that  a 
large  portion  of  the  multitude  lefl  the  siege  in 
surprise  and  confusion. 

In  the  course  of  this  war,  Trajan  also  displayed 
that  liberal  spirit  which  appeared  to  so  much  ad- 
vantage in  his  afler  life.  Having  gained  the  vic- 
tory of  Jotapata,  he  sent  messengers  to  Vespasian 
requesting  him  to  send  his  son  that  he  might  take 
possession  of  the  city.  Titus  came,  and  his  men 
immediately  occupied  it :  but  the  inhabitants  got 
together  and  offered  the  Romans  battle  in  the 
narrow  streets.  The  women  also  threw  whatever 
came  to  hand,  and  with  the  assistance  of  the  fight- 
ing men  held  out  for  six  hours.  It  ended  in  total 
defeat,  and  the  slaughter  of  young  and  old,  partly 
in  the  open  air,  and  partly  in  their  own  houses. 

At  this  time  Josephus  deHvered  himself  up  to 
the  Romans.  As  the  brave  are  generous,  his  af- 
flictions and  his  age  excited  the  pity  of  Titus,  who 
reflected  also  like  a  philosopher,  that  no  condition 
of  human  life  is  certain.  So  arbitrary  is  the  power 
of  fortune,  and  so  rapid  the  vicissitudes  of  war, 
that  he  who  but  a  while  ago  was  fighting,  has  flillen 
into  the  hands  of  his  enemies.  By  uttering  these 
sentiments  aloud  he  brought  others  to  the  same 
compassionate  feeling  with  himself,  and  excited  a 
general  commiseration  for  Josephus.  The  histo- 
rian, who  tells  his  own  tale  with  the  utmost  mo- 
desty, addressed  a  speech  to  Vespasian  after  he 
had  desired  all  but  Titus   and  two  of  their  friends 


l62  ON    THE    CHARACTERS    OF 

to  withdraw.  It  contains  a  very  remarkable  pas- 
sage. He  tells  the  Roman  general,  that  though 
he  only  thinks  he  has  taken  Josephus  captive,  that 
Josephus  is  actually  come  as  a  messenger  of  great 
tidings  :  and  that  had  he  not  been  sent  by  God,  he 
knew  the  law  of  the  Jews  under  certain  circum- 
stances, and  how  it  becomes  generals  to  die.  Now  by 
the  law  of  the  Jews  is  generally  understood  the  law 
of  Moses  ;  but  self-murder,  in  preference  to  slavery 
under  heathens,  is  no  where  to  be  found  as  a  maxim 
of  that  law.  It  is  probable  that  the  allusion  is  to 
some  doctrine  of  the  Pharisees,  Essenes,  or  Hero- 
dians,  or  to  some  strained  interpretation  substituted 
for  the  just  consequences  to  be  drawn  from  the  law 
of  God  as  delivered  by  Moses.  Josephus  did  not 
on  this  occasion  obtain  his  liberty  from  Vespasian  : 
but  suits  of  clothes  and  many  precious  gifts  were 
bestowed  on  him,  with  much  personal  civility. 
This  mild  and  obliging  conduct  was  continued 
under  the  influence  of  Titus,  who  contributed  his 
full  share  to  the  honours  conferred  on  Iiim. 

The  valour  of  Titus  in  the  expedition  against 
Taricheae  is  recorded  in  the  third  book  of  the 
Jewish  war,  chap.  10.  Trajan  had  arrived  with  four 
hundred  horsemen  before  the  general  battle.  As 
the  reputation  of  the  victory  would  be  diminished 
by  sharing  it  with  so  many,  the  soldiery,  inflamed 
by  a  spirited  harangue  of  Titus,  fell  into  an  ex- 
traordinary fury.  Titus  made  his  own  horse  march 
first  against  the  enemy,  and  the  others  followed 
with  a  great  noise,  extending  themselves  on  the 
plain  to  the  width  of  the  enemy's  front.  This 
manoeuvre  made  them  appear  much  more  numerous 
than  they  really  were.  The  Jews  soon  fell  back, 
and  Titus  pressed   upon  the  hindmost  with  much 


TITUS    AND    BERENICE.  l63 

slaughter.  Some  he  fell  upon  in  crowds,  others 
he  confronted,  and  trod  them  down  as  they  stood 
encumbered  by  their  own  numbers.  He  cut  off 
their  retreat  to  the  wall,  and  turned  them  back 
into  the  plain  :  till  at  last  they  forced  a  passage  by 
their  own  weight,  and  escaped  into  the  city,  the 
tumult  in  which  was  extreme.  Titus  made  another 
speech  to  his  soldiers  while  under  the  wall,  in 
which  he  called  to  them  not  to  delay  when  God 
was  giving  the  Jews  up  to  them.  He  appealed  for 
the  certainty  of  victory,  to  the  noise  within  the 
city,  where  tliose  who  had  got  away  from  the  Ro- 
mans were  in  an  uproar  against  one  another.  As 
soon  as  he  had  finished  his  speech  he  leaped  upon 
his  horse,  rode  to  the  lake,  and  was  the  first  to 
enter  the  city,  but  was  immediately  supported  by 
his  people.  After  the  city  was  taken,  the  slaughter 
continued  :  for  the  foreigners  who  had  not  fled, 
made  opposition.  The  natives  were  killed  without 
fighting  :  for  they  abstained  in  the  hope  that  Titus 
would  extend  his  right  hand  as  a  pledge  of  am- 
nesty, which  they  the  more  expected,  as  conscious 
that  they  had  not  consented  to  the  war.  When 
the  authors  of  the  revolt  were  slain,  Titus  stopped 
the  further  effusion  of  blood,  and  took  pity  on  the 
innocent  inhabitants.  The  Roman  affairs,  and  the 
tumults  which  took  place  under  Galba,  Otho,  and 
Vitellius,  are  touched  on  by  Josephus,  but  the 
detail  is  given  by  Tacitus,  Suetonius,  and  Dio. 

In  the  fifth  book,  chap.  ^.,  Josephus  gives  the 
order  of  Titus's  army  on  liis  march  through  the 
enemy's  country,  states  his  arrival  at  Jerusalem, 
the  great  danger  to  which  he  was  exposed,  and  his 
extraorilinary  valour.  The  auxiliaries  sent  by  the 
kings  marched  first,  with   all  the  other  auxiliaries 

M    2 


164  ON    THE    CHARACTERS    OF 

following  them  ;  then  those  who  were  to  prepare 
the  roads,  and  measure  out  the  camp.  Next  came 
the  commanders'  baggage,  protected  by  the  other 
soldiers  completely  armed.  Titus  himself  followed 
with  another  select  body,  after  him  the  pike-men, 
and  after  them  the  horse  belonging  to  that  legion. 
It  was  the  Roman  usage  for  the  general  to  go  in 
state,  in  the  front  of  his  army.  Titus  marched  be- 
fore the  main  body  through  Samaria  to  Gophna,  a 
city  garrisoned  by  Roman  soldiers,  which  had 
formerly  been  taken  by  his  father.  After  a  night's 
lodging,  he  marched  on  another  day's  march,  and 
encamped  in  what  the  Jews  called  the  Valley  of 
Thorns^  near  a  village  whose  name  meant  the  Hill 
of  Saul,  about  thirty  furlongs  from  Jerusalem.  In 
his  way  to  the  city  with  a  small  band  he  was  inter- 
cepted ;  and  many  darts  were  thrown  at  him  while 
he  was  without  head-piece  or  breast-plate :  for  he 
went  out  to  reconnoitre,  not  to  fight.  But  they  all 
passed  aside  witliout  hurting  him,  or  even  touch- 
ing his  body.  Josephus  says  that  they  seemed  to 
miss  him  on  purpose,  and  only  to  hiss  as  they 
passed  by  him.  As  he  marched  forward,  his  op- 
ponents flew  off  in  great  numbers,  while  the  few 
who  shared  his  danger  kept  close  to  him,  though 
wounded  on  their  backs  and  sides.  Their  only 
chance  of  escape  was  to  assist  Titus  in  forcing  a 
passage,  that  he  might  not  be  encompassed  before 
he  could  get  away.  He  succeeded,  and  returned 
in  safety  to  his  camp.  On  another  occasion,  dur- 
ing a  sally  of  the  Jews,  Titus  was  left  with  a  few 
others  in  the  midst  of  an  acclivity.  His  friends  de- 
spised their  own  danger,  and  were  ashamed  to  desert 
their  general  :  but  they  endeavoured  to  dissuade 
him  from  running  into  such  dangers.     The  Jews 


TITUS    AND    BERENICE.  l65 

they  represented  as  desperate,  and  fond  of  dying. 
They  ought  therefore  to  be  met  by  the  common 
soldiery.  He  was  commander  in  chief,  and  lord 
of  the  habitable  globe,  on  whose  safety  the  public 
interests  all  hung  :  his  fortunes  were  too  important 
to  be  risked  in  sudden  skirmishes  with  the  enemy. 
These  suggestions  Titus  seemed  not  even  to  hear ; 
but  opposed  those  who  ran  on  him,  and  smote  them 
on  the  face  ;  forced  them  back,  and  slew  them. 
He  fell  upon  great  numbers  as  they  marched  down 
the  hill,  and  thrust  them  forward.  His  opponents 
were  so  astonished  at  his  courage  and  his  strength, 
that  they  could  not  fly  directly  to  the  city,  but 
declined  from  him  on  both  sides,  and  pressed  after 
those  that  fled  up  the  hill.  Still  he  fell  upon  their 
flank,  and  arrested  their  fury.  In  the  mean  time, 
disorder  and  terror  fell  upon  the  Romans,  who 
were  fortifying  their  camp  at  the  top  of  the  hill, 
on  seeing  the  flight  of  those  who  had  deserted 
Titus.  The  whole  legion  was  dispersed,  as  think- 
ing that  the  sallies  of  the  Jews  were  insupportable, 
and  that  Titus  was  himself  put  to  flight :  for  they 
conceived  that  had  it  been  otherwise,  the  body 
would  never  have  been  dispersed.  This,  however, 
was  soon  retrieved :  Titus  continued  to  press  on 
those  that  were  near  him,  and  enabled  the  legion 
to  return  and  fortify  their  camp.  He  and  his 
chosen  few  still  opposed  the  enemy,  and  prevented 
them  from  doing  farther  mischief.  Josephus  «ays, 
that  if  he  may  be  allowed  neither  to  add  any  thing 
out  of  flattery,  nor  to  diminish  any  thing  out  of 
envy,  but  to  speak  the  plain  truth,  Caesar  twice 
delivered  that  entire  legion  out  of  jeopardy.  The 
moral  he  inculcates  is,  that  the  success  of  wars  and 
the  danger  of  kings  are  under  the  providence  of 

M  3 


166  ON    THE    CHARACTERS    OF 

God.  It  is  singular  that  he  should  call  Titus  both 
a  king  and  Ccesar,  while  Vespasian  was  alive,  and 
Titus  no  more  than  the  emperor's  son,  and  the 
general  of  the  Roman  army.  Josephus  probably 
considered  him  as  associated  in  majesty  with  his 
father,  in  consequence  of  the  dreams  declaring 
them  both  kings,  which  the  historian  had  recorded 
in  book  iii.  chap.  ^.  We  must  remember  here, 
that  the  Roman  emperors  never  assumed  that  title ; 
but  the  Jews  gave  it  promiscuously,  even  to  te- 
trarchs,  as  in  the  case  of  Archelaus  in  the  New 
Testament.  "  But  when  he  heard  that  Archelaus 
did  reign  in  Judea  in  the  room  of  his  father  Herod, 
he  was  afraid  to  go  thither.'*  —  Matthew,  chap.  ii. 
**  ftlate  saith  unto  them,  shall  I  crucify  your  king? 
The  chief  priest  answered.  We  have  no  king  but 
Caesar."  —  John,  chap.  xix.  So  Peter  states  what 
Christianity  requires  on  this  subject:  **  Submit 
yourselves  to  every  ordinance  of  man  for  the  Lord's 
sake :  whether  it  be  to  the  king,  as  supreme  ;  or 
unto  governors,  as  unto  them  that  are  sent  by  him 
for  the  punishment  of  evil  doers,  and  for  the  praise 
of  them  that  do  well."  —  1  Pet.  chap.  ii. 

Titus  always  exhibited  an  anxious  concern  to 
save  Jerusalem ;  and  would  have  done  so,  had  he 
not  been  overruled  by  the  counsels  of  Providence 
for  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy.  On  the  fifth  day 
of  the  siege,  when  no  signs  of  peace  came  from  the 
Jews,  he  divided  his  legions  and  began  to  raise 
banks,  both  at  the  tower  of  Antonia*,  and  at  John's 
Monument.  But  knowing  that  the  preservation  or 
destruction  of  the  city  would  be  his  own  gain  or 

*  This  tower  of  Antonia  stood  higher  than  the  floor  of  the 
temple,  or  court  adjoining ;  so  that  they  descended  thence 
into  the  temple. 


TITUS    AND    BERENICE.  16? 

loss,  while  lie  pursued  the  siege  earnestly,  he  left 
no  means  untried  to  bring  the  Jews  to  a  sense  of 
their  error,  and  mixed  good  counsel  with  military 
operations.  The  temple  was  the  peculiar  object 
of  his  care.  He  was  deeply  affected  with  its 
danger,  for  which  iie  reproached  John  and  his 
party  bitterly.  **  Have  you  not,  vile  wretches  as 
you  are,  put  up  this  partition-wall  before  your 
sanctuary  by  our  permission  ?"  The  wall  of  se- 
paration between  Jews  and  gentiles,  with  its  pillars 
and  inscription,  and  all  the  other  appurtenances  of 
the  temple,  are  fully  described  by  the  historian. 
"  Have  you  not  been  permitted  to  erect  pillars  at 
due  distances,  and  to  engrave  a  prohibition  on  them 
in  Greek,  and  in  your  own  tongue,  that  no  fo- 
reigner should  go  beyond  that  wall  ?  If  any  do  so, 
have  we  not  given  you  leave  to  kill  him,  though 
he  were  a  Roman  ?  And  what  do  you  do  now, 
pernicious  caitiffs  ?  Why  do  you  trample  on  dead 
bodies  in  this  temple  ?  Why  do  you  pollute  it  with 
the  blood  of  foreigners,  and  even  of  your  own  Jews? 
I  appeal  to  tlie  gods  of  my  own  country,  and  to 
every  god  that  ever  had  regard  to  tliis  place, 
which  now  seems  to  be  disregarded  by  all  of  them ; 
I  appeal  to  my  own  army,  to  those  Jews  who  are 
now  with  me,  and  even  to  yourselves,  that  I  do  not 
compel  you  to  defile  this  sanctuary  ;  and  if  you 
will  but  change  the  place  of  %hting,  no  Roman 
shall  come  near  or  offer  any  affront  to  it :  nay, 
more,  I  will  endeavour  to  preserve  your  holy  house 
in  spite  of  yourselves."  It  is  clear  therefore  that 
these  seditious  Jews  were  the  immediate  instru- 
ments of  their  own  destruction,  and  that  the  con- 
flagration of  their  city  and  temple  was,  humanly 
speaking,   the  result  of  their  own  devices.     Both 

M  4 


lG8  ON    THE    CHAKACTERS    OF 

here  and  elsewhere,  Josephus  shows  how  earnest 
and  constant  were  the  endeavours  of  Titus  to  save 
both.  On  another  occasion,  he  commanded  part 
of  his  army  to  quench  the  fire,  and  to  make  a  road 
for  the  more  easy  marching  of  the  legions.  He 
then  assembled  the  commanders,  and  consulted 
with  them  what  should  be  done  about  the  holy 
house.  Some  thought  it  would  be  best  to  demolish 
it,  because  the  Jews  were  in  the  liabit  of  assembHng 
there,  and  would  never  abstain  from  rebelHon  while 
it  was  standing.  Others  gave  it  as  their  opinion, 
that  it  might  be  saved  if  the  Jews  would  leave  it, 
and  not  make  it  a  depot  of  arms :  but  if  they  per- 
sisted in  making  it  the  seat  of  war,  it  must  be  con- 
sidered not  as  a  temple,  but  as  a  citadel ;  and  the 
impiety  of  burning  it  would  be  on  the  heads  of 
those  who  should  compel  that  measure.  But  Titus 
said,  that  although  the  Jews  should  fight  from  that 
lioly  house,  we  should  not  take  vengeance  on  things 
inanimate,  instead  of  the  men  themselves ;  nor 
would  he  vote  for  setting  fire  to  so  vast  a  work, 
because  the  mischief  would  recoil  on  the  Romans, 
to  whose  government  it  would  be  highly  orna- 
mental. Fronto,  Alexander,  and  Cerealis  grew 
bold  on  this  declaration,  and  agreed  to  the  opinion 
of  their  general.  The  assembly  was  then  dissolved, 
and  Titus  issued  orders  to  the  officers,  that  the  rest 
of  the  forces  should  lie  still,  and  the  most  cou- 
rageous be  selected  for  this  attack. 

Titus's  speeches,  on  all  occasions,  to  his  troops, 
are  highly  animated.  He  considered  that  the 
alacrity  of  soldiers  in  war  is  chiefly  excited  by 
hopes  and  fair  words :  that  encouragement  and 
promises  make  men  forget  their  hazards,  and  some- 
times even  despise  death.     He  begins  an  exhort- 


TITUS    AND    BERENICE.  l69 

ation  to  liis  army  thus :  —  "  My  fellow-soldiers, 
to  exhort  men  to  what  has  no  peril,  is  on  that 
very  account  inglorious  both  to  them  and  to  the 
speaker,  as  it  proves  his  cowardice  as  well  as 
theirs."  The  speech  is  long,  and  exhibits  through- 
out the  notions  the  Romans  had  of  death,  and  of 
their  happy  state  who  die  bravely  in  war,  contrasted 
witli  that  of  those  who  die  ignobly  in  their  beds 
by  sickness.  Ammianus  MarceUinus  speaks  thus 
of  the  Alani :  —  "  Judicatur  ibi  beatus,  qui  in 
proclio  profuderit  animam :  senescentes  enim  et 
fortuitis  niortibus  mundo  digressos,  ut  degeneres 
et  ignavos  conviciis  atrocibus  insectantur:  nee 
quidquam  est  quod  clarius  jactent,  quam  homine 
quolibet  occiso :  proque  exuviis  gloriosis,  inter- 
fectorum  avulsis  capitibus  detractas  pelles  pro 
phaleris  jumentis  accommodant  bellatoriis.  —  Lib. 
xxxi.  cap.  2.  Strabo  ascribes  the  same  opinions  to 
the  Massagetae,  in  his  account  of  whom  he  abridges 
Herodotus.  The  whole  passage  is  curious,  and 
shows  how  superstitions  reciprocally  connect  them- 
selves :  — 

Aeyelon  8g  xa»  toiuvtcx.  -crspi  tmv  MacrcraysToov  on  xctloi- 
xownv  01  jxev  &p»)*  riveg  S'  auroov  treS/a'  oi  he  sArj,  a  'GTOiov<riv  ol 
CTo7a/M,oi'  ol  8s,  Toig  h  rolg  eXscri  vyjo-ov^'  fjLu\ifa  ds  <poc(n  tqv 
"Apa^ov  aro7ajtAOV  x«7axXy^eiv  t^v  %cogav  'crav7ap^^  <r^tl^o[j.svov'    tx- 

apxlois  ^oL\oi<r<Ta,Vy  Iv*  8g  imvco  vrpog  tov  xoXttov  tov  'Tpxotviov 
3iov  te  rjkiov  fxovov  i^yovvloir  toutco  Se  *7r7rodu7o0(rr  yufxH  h*  exafoj 
fti'av,  ^puivlon  '6e  xcti  Tois  OLhXuiv  oux  a^avooj*  6  8s  (jnyvufxevoi  tw 
aXXo7^ia,  T^v  (paphgav  i^aplufrag  fx  t^^  otfjia^ri^  ipotvt^aog  fxiyvular 
3av«7oj  8c  vojtti^6T«i  ZToig  uulols  oLpi^o^y  oruv  yyipoKroivTti  xotTctxO" 
»»<r<  /*i7fli  T6UV  mpoSctleluiv  xgicuv,  xa.)  ocvufx)^  ^pM^uxrr  Tohs  8e  voVw 
•d«vo»7aj  p/»7oy(riv  cij  ourt^tliy  xa.\  oc^iovg  Ovo  dijpicuv  ^t^gwa-^ar 
uya^oi  8i  Jwwarai  xai  vi^oi'  to^oij  8ff  p^^vrai,   xa)  f^axcti^cus, 


170  ON    THE    CHARACTERS    OF 

•)(^qv<Tcti,  xa»  S<aS^jxa7a  Iv  t«7j  fxu^ong'  oi  re  jWo*  p^^U(ro;3^aX<voi, 
/Aao-p^aXif^ggj  Ze  ^pva-oi'  oigyvgog  8*  ou  ylvelan  'srctg'  avroig,  <r/8r)^oj 
8'  oKiyo;'    -^ocKxlg  8e  xa»  %§U(rof  aipdovoj. — Lib.  xi. 

Plutarch,  De  Alexandri  Magni  Fortuna  aut 
Virtute,  imputes  similar  sentiments  and  practices 
respecting  death  to  the  Sogdiani,  the  neighbours 
of  the  Massagetae :  — 

Tr^v  8g  * AKs^avdpov  ■BraiSs/av  av  gTri^XsTrijf,  'Tgxuvovg  yufx^eiv 
gTra/Sgocre*  xa»  yeoogyslv  IS/Sa^gv  'Apoi^ai<j-lou§'  xat  SoySiavouj 
eTTSKre  Truregoig  rgeipsiv,  xot)  [xr)  ^ovgygiv  xai  Flg^o-aj  cre^gcr^ai 
jutijTg^af,  aXAa  jx^  yafxelv. — Aoyoj  a. 

The  reUgion  of  the  Roman  camp  consisted 
almost  entirely  in  worshipping  and  swearing  by  the 
ensigns.  The  Romans,  accordingly,  on  the  flight 
of  the  seditious  into  the  city,  and  the  burning  of 
the  holy  house  itself,  brought  their  ensigns  to  the 
temple,  and  placed  them  opposite  to  its  eastern 
gate.  They  offered  sacrifices  to  them,  received 
Titus  with  acclamations,  and  hailed  him  Imperator, 
as  was  their  usual  practice  on  any  signal  success, 
and  the  slaughter  of  many  enemies.  There  were 
hiding-places,  or  secret  chambers,  about  the  holy 
house,  the  walls  of  which  are  supposed  to  be  still 
traceable.  On  the  fifth  day  after  the  above  cele- 
bration, the  priests  found  themselves  compelled  by 
hunger  to  abandon  these  retreats.  They  were 
brought  to  Titus  by  the  guards,  and  pleaded  for 
their  lives:  but  he  replied,  that  the  period  of 
pardon  was  past.  It  was  only  on  the  account  of 
the  temple  that  they.could  hope  to  be  saved,  and 
that  was  destroyed.  It  was  part  of  the  priestly 
office  to  perish  with  the  house  to  which  they 
were  attached.  He  ordered  them  to  be  put  to 
death.     As  for  the  Jewish  tyrants,  a  bridge  parted 


TITUS    AND    BERENICE.  I7I 

them  from  Titus.  The  multitude  stood  on  each 
side  :  those  of  the  Jewish  nation  about  Simon  and 
John,  in  the  hope  of  pardon  ;  the  Romans  in 
curious  expectation  awaiting  the  reception  of  their 
prayer.  Titus  charged  his  soldiers  to  restrain  their 
fury,  and  to  let  their  darts  alone.  He  then  ad- 
dressed a  speech  to  them,  through  an  interpreter 
appointed  by  himself,  as  a  sign  that  he  was  the 
conqueror.  He  hoped  that  they  were  now  satiated 
with  the  miseries  of  their  country.  They  had  no 
just  notions  either  of  the  Roman  power  or  of  their 
own  weakness  ;  but  with  the  rashness  and  violence 
of  madmen,  had  brought  their  people,  their  city, 
and  their  temple  to  destruction  by  their  attempts. 
He  upbraided  them  with  their  ingratitude  to 
the  Romans,  who  had  permitted  the  Jews  by  an 
especial  privilege  to  collect  their  sacred  tribute, 
and  send  it  to  Jerusalem. 

On  the  arrival  of  Titus  in  the  city,  he  admired 
its  various  places  of  strength,  and  especially  the 
strong  towers  which  the  tyrants  had  so  imprudently 
relinquished.  When  he  saw  their  height,  the  size 
and  solidity  of  the  stones,  the  exactness  of  their 
joints,  their  breadth  and  length,  he  acknowledged 
that  the  conquest  of  the  city  was  to  be  ascribed  to 
God,  who  was  his  assistant  in  this  war.  He  con- 
ceived that  only  God  could  have  ejected  the  Jews 
from  their  strong  holds  ;  and  that  neither  human 
hands,  nor  machines,  the  work  of  such  hands, 
could  have  overthrown  such  towers.  This  was  his 
language  to  his  friends.  His  conduct  was  consis- 
tent with  his  usual  generosity :  he  gave  their 
liberty  to  those  who  had  been  left  in  bondage  by 
the  tyrants  in  the  prisons. 

He  Uien   thanked   the    army,    and   distributed 


172  ON    THE    CHARACTERS    OF 

rewards.  The  list  of  all  who  had  performed  great 
exploits  in  the  war  was  read.  He  called  them  to 
him  by  their  names,  commended  them  pubhcly, 
and  seemed  to  rejoice  as  much  in  their  prowess,  as 
in  his  own. 

But  the  celebration  of  his  brother  Domitian's 
birth-day,  and  that  of  his  father,  tarnished  the 
honours  of  his  usual  clemency.  He  was  at  this 
time  at  Caesarea ;  and  considered  the  splendour  of 
this  solemnity  as  a  fit  occasion  for  inflicting  the 
principal  part  of  the  punishment  intended  for  the 
Jews.  Some  were  slain  in  fighting  with  wild  beasts, 
some  in  conflict  with  one  another,  and  others  were 
burnt.  The  number  of  those  who  perished  in 
honour  of  this  holiday  exceeded  two  thousand  five 
hundred.  After  this,  he  went  to  Berytus,  a 
Roman  colony,  the  coins  of  which  are  still  extant. 
He  next  went  to  Antioch.  The  people  were  so 
delighted,  that  they  could  not  keep  within  their 
walls  ;  but  advanced  more  than  thirty  furlongs  to 
give  him  the  meeting.  They  received  him  with 
acclamations,  and  besought  him  to  expel  the  Jews 
from  their  city.  He  heard  their  petition  patiently, 
but  did  not  yield  to  their  request.  He  did  not 
stay  at  Antioch,  but  continued  his  progress  im- 
mediately to  Zeugma  on  the  Euphrates,  whither 
messengers  came  to  him  from  Vologeses,  king  of 
Parthia,  and  brought  him  a  crown  of  gold,  on  his 
victory  over  the  Jews.  He  accepted  this,  en- 
tertained the  messengers,  and  then  returned  to 
Antioch.  He  refused  a  second  application  against 
the  Jews  of  Antioch,  and  permitted  them  to  con- 
tinue in  the  enjoyment  of  their  former  privileges. 
He  then  departed  for  Egypt.  In  the  course  of  his 
progress  he  went  to  Jerusalem,  and  was  greatly 


TITUS    AND    BERENICE.  173 

moved  at  the  sight  of  the  ruins,  and  the  remem- 
brance of  its  ancient  splendour.  So  far  was  he 
from  boasting  of  his  conquest,  that  he  grieved 
over  tlie  ravages  he  had  made.  He  cursed  the 
authors  of  the  revolt,  who  had  brought  such  a 
punishment  on  the  city.  Such  a  calamity  he  did 
not  consider  as  necessary  to  establish  his  own 
character  for  martial  courage. 

Joseph  us  gives  an  account  of  his  visit  to  the 
sabbatic  river,  in  the  course  of  his  travels.  It  was 
once  very  famous :  we  need  scarcely  say  it  has 
disappeared.  Instances  of  periodical  fountains 
and  rivers  are  not  uncommon  in  modern  geo- 
graphy ;  where  they  are  generally  found  in  such 
positions  as  to  enable  philosophy  to  account  with 
some  probability  for  their  phenomena.  But  none 
of  their  periods  are  that  of  an  exact  week.  They 
will  probably  for  the  most  part  depend  either  on 
ordinary  tides,  or  on  spring  tides.  According  to 
Josephus,  this  river  ran  every  seventh  day,  and 
rested  on  six  :  according  to  Pliny,  it  ran  six  days 
successively,  and  rested  on  the  seventh  :  but  it  is 
to  be  observed,  that  in  neither  author  is  the  seventh 
day  of  the  river  the  sabbath  of  the  Jews.  After 
Titus's  journey  into  Egypt,  he  passed  over  the 
desert  very  suddenly,  and  came  to  Alexandria. 
He  then  determined  to  go  to  Rome  by  sea.  His 
father  met  and  received  him.  The  citizens  made 
a  splendid  appearance,  and  conceived  the  greatest 
joy  on  seeing  Vespasian  and  his  two  sons,  Titus 
and  Domitian,  reunited.  After  a  few  days,  they 
determined  to  have  but  one  triumph,  common  to 
both.  The  senate  had,  indeed,  decreed  a  separate 
triumph  to  each  ;  but  as  their  exploits  were  di- 
rected to  the  same  object,  they  chose  to  mingle 


174  ON    THE    CHARACTERS    OF 

glories,  and  present  themselves  conjointly  to  the 
eyes  of  the  multitude. 

But  Titus,  with  all  his  virtue,  was  no  Joseph. 
He  seems  to  have  caught  the  contagion  of  pleasure 
from  his  father.  We  may  suppose  that  the  blood 
of  the  AbsoliUes  was  always  impatient ;  as  we  have 
some  reason  to  believe  that  it  still  continues  to  be. 
The  passions  of  Titus  broke  forth  without  restraint 
in  his  youth.  One  can  only  wish  that  Queen 
Berenice,  of  whose  beauty  he  was  enamoured  in 
Palestine,  had  been  more  worthy  of  his  affection. 
Her  birth,  and  marriage  to  Herod,  have  been 
already  mentioned.  After  his  death  she  was 
married  again  to    Polemon.      On   this   Josephus 

remarks  :  —  Ou    jot^^v    lw»    -bjoXu    o-uve/Aeivev    6   yufx^os^     uXKa 
Bepvjxij  li    axo\ct(rlaVf  oo§    s(pci(rciv,  xa7aAs»We<  tov  IToXejowova.  — 

Antiq.  Jud,  lib.  xx. 

Ambition  was  evidently  a  considerable  ingredient 
in  her  amours.  She  formed  intrigues  to  set  the 
crown  on  the  head  of  Vespasian,  from  whom  if  he 
came  to  the  empire,  she  had  more  to  hope  than 
from  his  competitors.  We  learn  this  from  Tacitus. 
"  Mox  per  occultos  suorum  nuntios  excitus  ab 
urbe  Agrippa,  ignaro  adhuc  Vitelho,  celeri  navi- 
gatione  properaverat.  Nee  minore  animo  Regina 
Berenice  partes  juvabat,  florens  aetate  formaque, 
et  seni  quoque  Vespasiano  magnificentia  munerum 
grata."  —  Hist.  lib.  ii.  cap,  81. 

Agrippa  and  Berenice  made  their  voyage  to 
Rome  in  the  fourth  consulship  of  Vespasian,  and 
in  the  72d  year  of  Christ.  Josephus  makes  her  to 
be  sixteen  when  her  father  died,  in  the  third  year 
of  the  Emperor  Claudius,  and  the  44th  of  Christ. 
She  was  therefore  forty-four  on  her  arrival.  Xiphi- 
linus,  in  the  life  of  Vespasian,  tells  the  story  thus :  — 


TITUS    AND    BERENICE.  I'JS 

Tolg  8g  ITapdois  •TrokefMco^elo'i  wpo$  Tivaj ,  xa»  t^^  tffOLq  avioii  a-ufx- 
f/,a^ias  Seij^gitriv,  oux  e^ovj^YiosVy  elyrobv,  oti  oo  -cr^ocn^xs*  auTco  ra 
aWoTgia.  -CTokvcrpxyfjiOvslv  Bsgovlxri  he  \a-)(ijqa.g  re  rjv^si,  xal  Sia 
toDto  xat  I J  T);v  'Pcojxijv  p,sTa  tov  a^skipou  tou  'AyghTra.  TjXde* 
xai  6  jxev  f^sarTjyixcwv   tjjxcov  ^^<co^tj,  ^  Se  ev  rw  x;tuXxtIco  cox)]<re, 

xa»  Tw  T/to)  o-uvey/yvsTo.  —  Epitome  Diouis, 

Titus  is  supposed  to  have  promised  marriage. 
However  that  may  be,  the  connection  filled  the  city 
with  discontent  and  popular  clamour.  That  she 
was  a  princess  of  the  Jewish  nation  probably  ren- 
dered the  public  voice  so  loud  against  her.  Her 
lover  was  not  so  abandoned  to  his  passion,  as  to 
brave  the  rage  of  popular  prejudice.  He  wisely 
resolved  to  sacrifice  his  private  pleasures  to  political 
prudence,  and  the  peace  of  the  city. 

Suetonius  describes  his  mode  of  living  at  this 
time,  and  their  reluctant  parting,  with  a  brevity 
and  point  which  might  well  pass  for  Tacitus :  — 
**Nec  minus  libido,  propter  exoletorum  et  spado- 
num  greges,  propterque  insignem  regina?  Berenices 
amorem,    cui  etiam    nuptias  pollicitus    ferebatur. 

Berenicem  statim  ab  urbe  dimisit,  invitus 

invitam."  —  Titus. 

Aurelius  Victor  copies  Suetonius  almost  verbally 
in  his  Epitome  :  —  "  Denique  ut  subiit  pondus  re- 
gium,  Berenicem  nuptias  suas  sperantem  regredi  do- 
mum,  et  enervatorum  greges  abire  praecepit.'*  He 
had  said  just  before,  **  In  quibus  Caecinam  consu- 
larem  adhibitum  coena?,  vix  dum  triclinio  egressum, 
ob  suspicionem  stupratai  Berenices  uxoris  sua?,  ju- 
gulari  jussit.'*  The  substance  of  this  passage  also 
is  taken  from  Suetonius,  and  will  account  for  the 
carelessness  of  Aurelius  Victor  in  calling  her  his 
wife  and  mistress  in  two  passages  nearly  consecutive. 
In  the  first  passage  of  Suetonius  she  is  neither 


176  ON    THE    CHARACTERS    OF 

mentioned  nor  alluded  to;  conspiracy,  not  adultery, 
being  there  laid  as  the  ground  of  Aulus  Caecina's 
assassination.  Aurelius  Victor,  for  some  reason 
or  other,  chose  to  relate  the  fact  as  given  by 
Suetonius,  but  to  assign  a  different  motive,  and 
make  Berenice  lavish  of  her  favours.  In  this  un- 
gallant  humour,  he  calls  her  the  wife  of  Titus, 
either  neghgently,  or  to  enhance  her  guilt:  but 
when  he  comes  to  a  passage  where  Suetonius 
states  her  actual  condition  with  respect  to  the 
emperor,  he  gives  the  fact  as  it  lay  ready  to  his 
hand. 

There  is  some  little  confusion  as  to  the  time  of 
the  divorce  :  whether  under  Vespasian,  or  after 
Titus  had  taken  possession  of  the  crown.  Dion, 
or  his  epitomiser  Xiphilinus,  are  supposed  to  place 
it  in  the  former  reign,  contrary  to  the  authorities  of 
Suetonius  and  Aurelius  Victor.  But  it  will  be 
found  that  Xiphilinus,  though  no  other  author 
does  so,  mentions  Berenice's  being  twice  sent  away ; 
once  under  Vespasian,  and  again  under  Titus: 
and  this  will,  in  the  main,  reconcile  his  account 
with  the  generally  received  winding-up  of  the  in- 
trigue. He  relates  the  first  dismissal  immediately 
after  the   passage   quoted  above,  and  begins  the 

reign  of  Titus  thus  :  — 'O  U  drj  Thog  ouSev  ovrs  (povixhy 
orjTe  hgooTixov  fxovug^'^a'ag  sTrpcc^sv,  aAA«  X^>;roj,  xal'Trsg  l;n/3oi»- 
AsudsJjj  xat  <ru)<ppu)Vf  xctiTOi  xa)  rr\g  Bs^ovjxtjj  If  'Pw/;t>jv  aZ^n;  l\- 

^ouo-rj?,  lysvero.  This  Statement  makes  the  second  at- 
tack on  Titus's  affections  ineffectual.  The  mode  of 
their  ultimate  parting,  as  stated  by  other  historians 
to  have  taken  place  when  he  was  emperor,  is  too 
generally  admitted  to  make  it  credible  on  a  single 
authority,  that  he  ever  resisted  her  allurements 
when  present :  the  probability  is,  that  he  dismissed 


TITUS    AND    BERENICE.  177 

her,  invitus  invitam,  during  his  father's  reign,  with 
a  promise  of  recal  in  his  own  :  that  he  kept  that 
j)romise,  but  that  the  popular  objection  was  too 
obstinate  to  render  perseverance  safe;  for  his 
excesses  were  always  tempered  by  prudence :  and 
that  when  he  again  determined  to  part  wuth 
her,  by  way  of  softening  the  disappointment  to 
both,  he  again  threw  out  a  hint  of  better  times, 
and  got  rid  of  her  by  representing  this  separ- 
ation as  only  temporary.  But  the  biographers 
of  the  period,  writing  many  lives  with  all  prac- 
ticable brevity,  had  no  room  to  multiply  identical 
incidents ;  they  therefore  related  the  beginning 
and  the  end  of  an  adventure,  and  left  the  detail 
to  be  filled  up  by  the  sagacity  or  the  imagination  of 
the  reader. 

Pliny  mentions  a  town  bearing  the  name  of 
Berenice  :  —  "  Berenice,  oppidum  matris  Philadel- 
phi  nomine,  ad  quod  iter  a  Copto  diximus." — Nat. 
Hist,  lib.  vi.  The  inference  from  this  passage,  that 
Pliny  concluded  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  had  built 
the  city,  because  it  bore  his  mother's  name,  is  ut- 
terly unfounded.  As  there  were  several  women 
of  exalted  rank  who  bore  the  name  of  Berenice,  so 
were  there  several  towns  so  called,  probably  in  me- 
mory of  tlie  different  princesses. 

The  farewells  of  Titus  and  Berenice  have  fur- 
nished the  French  stage  with  tragedies  from  Ra- 
cine and  Corneille,  who  were  each  employed  by 
Henrietta  of  England  on  so  unpromising  a  subject, 
unknown  to  each  other.  Corneille's  piece  failed  : 
that  of  Racine  had  a  run  of  thirty  nights  ;  and  has 
been  revived  on  the  appearance  of  any  new  actor 
and  actress  capable  of  supporting  characters  of 
such  great  difficulty.     So  supported,  it  has  always 


178  CHARACTERS    OF  TITUS    AND    BERENICE. 

been  found  affecting  in  representation.  That  one 
of  these  great  poets  should  have  failed,  and  the  other 
have  eminently  succeeded,  is  accounted  for  by  the 
opposite  bent  of  their  genius.  That  of  the  one  is 
strong  and  elevated,  that  of  the  other  gentle,  dex- 
trous, and  elegant.  The  pathetic  is  the  forte  of  the 
latter,  the  sublime  of  the  former. 


179 


ON  CiESAR'S   COMMENTARIES. 


l^iESAR  was  confessedly  the  greatest  general  Rome 
ever  produced  ;  and  tlie  people  of  Rome  were  so 
renowned  for  their  knowledge  in  the  art  of  war, 
that  it  is  equally  interesting  and  useful  to  find  their 
military  customs  traced  out,  and  the  individual  ac- 
tions of  so  accomplished  a  commander  recorded,  in 
Commentaries  written  by  the  hero  of  the  story. 
Nothing  in  this  work  is  more  striking,  than  the 
consummate  prudence  and  circumspection  of  this 
enterprising  man,  especially  in  relation  to  surprises. 
He  was  also  particularly  attentive  to  the  safety  of 
his  convoys,  and  to  the  maintenance  of  a  free  com- 
munication with  the  countries  whence  he  received 
his  supplies.  Nor  was  he  less  prudent  and  expert 
in  turning  alliances  to  account ;  as,  for  instance,  in 
the  case  of  that  pretended  one  with  the  ^duans, 
which  he  made  one  of  his  principal  engines  to  com- 
plete the  reduction  of  Gaul.  The  suddenness,  the 
rapidity,  the  disposition  of  his  marches,  have  only 
been  equalled  by  the  Corsican  of  modern  days  in 
the  zenith  of  his  triumphs.  From  his  narrative  of 
his  own  movements  when  he  besieged  Gergovia, 
we  may  calculate  that  on  one  occasion  he  marched 
fifty  miles  in  twenty-four  hours.  He  exhibited 
great  skill  in  marshalling  his  army  in  various  forms, 
according  to  the  information  he  was  sedulous  in 

N   2 


180  ON  cjesar's  commentaries. 

procuring,  as  to  the  greater  or  less  distance  of  the 
enemy.  His  conduct  in  this  respect  was  especially 
curious  and  judicious,  when  he  marched  against 
the  Nervians.  During  his  celebrated  campaign  in 
Spain  he  compelled  a  veteran  army  to  surrender 
as  prisoners  of  war,  without  striking  a  blow,  by  a 
happy  choice  of  posts  and  consummate  address  in 
improving  the  advantages  afforded  by  the  nature 
of  the  country.  Another  object  of  solicitude  was, 
to  contrive  his  marches  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
station  his  camp  near  some  navigable  river,  and  to 
secure,  as  has  been  before  mentioned,  a  country  in 
his  rear,  whence  he  could  be  supplied  easily,  and 
at  a  reasonable  rate,  with  every  thing  necessary  for 
the  subsistence  of  his  army.  Intrenched  encamp- 
ments formed  an  essential  part  of  military  discipline 
among  the  Romans ;  and  Caesar  gave  his  sanction 
to  the  practice,  by  constantly  following  it  in  his 
wars  with  the  Gauls.  The  globus,  or  circular  order, 
was  a  disposition  of  which  he  speaks  in  his  Com- 
mentaries, as  highly  advantageous  in  cases  of  dan- 
ger and  extremity  :  and  the  Duke  of  Wellington 
seems  to  have  made  arrangements  analogous  if  not 
identical,  on  the  field  of  Waterloo,  while  waiting 
for  the  arrival  of  the  Prussians. 

Pompey,  in  the  decisive  battle  of  Pharsalia,  by 
the  advice  of  Triarius,  commanded  his  soldiers  to 
receive  Csesar's  assault,  and  to  sustain  the  shock  of 
his  army,  tvithout  removing  from  their  position. 
His  motive  for  this  was  the  opinion,  that  Caesar's 
men  would  be  disordered  in  their  advance ;  and 
that  his  own,  by  not  moving,  would  retain  their 
ranks  undisturbed.  On  this  system  Caesar  remarks, 
that  according  to  his  own  judgment,  the  advice 
was  contrary  to  exery  principle  of  reason  :  for  he 


ON  C/ESar's  commentaries.  181 

nrgues  that  there  is  a  certain  ardour  and  alacrity 
of  spirit  natural  to  every  man  when  he  goes  into 
battle,  which  no  commander  should  repress  or  re- 
strain, but  rather  should  increase  and  push  it  for- 
ward. The  event  fully  justified  the  general  criticism, 
and  proved  it  to  be  well-grounded  in  practice,  as 
well  as  warranted  by  speculation  on  human  cha- 
racter. In  this  battle  against  Pompey,  Caasar  not 
only  took  advantage  of  his  antagonist's  erroneous 
theory,  but  surprised  him  by  material  innovations 
on  the  Roman  manner  of  embattling. 

When  Caesar  fought  against  Ariovistus  and  the 
Germans,  he  placed  the  best  men  in  the  wings  of 
his  army.  This  may,  on  the  first  blush^  appear 
impolitic  ;  as  the  centre  is  likely  to  give  way  :  but 
in  that  case,  the  wings  will  wheel  upon  the  enemy, 
encompass,  and  destroy  the  choicest  men  if  placed 
in  their  main  battle. 

The  ancient  mode  of  fortification  is  well  de- 
scribed by  Cassar,  especially  the  walls  of  the  city 
of  Bourges,  in  the  seventh  book  of  his  wars  with 
the  Gauls.  He  used  the  musculus  at  the  siege  of 
Marseilles.  The  planks  of  the  roof  were  covered 
with  bricks  and  mortar,  over  which  hides  were  laid 
to  prevent  the  mortar  from  dissolving  by  tlie  water 
poured  down  upon  it  by  the  besieged.  To  secure 
it  from  stones  and  fire,  it  was  again  covered  over 
with  thick  quilted  mattresses  properly  prepared. 

The  moving  towers  were  a  peculiar  feature  of 
ancient  warfare.  When  once  they  were  brought 
up,  a  place  seldom  held  out  long.  Those  who  had 
no  ground  of  confidence  but  in  the  height  of  their 
ramparts,  must  sink  at  once  into  despair  on  seeing 
the  enemy  in  possession  of  an  elevation  to  com- 
mand them.     The  people  of  Namur  made  a  jest  of 

N   3 


182  ON  c;esar's  commentaries. 

Caesar's  tower,  while  it  was  at  a  distance:  but 
when  it  was  seen  moving  rapidly  towards  them, 
they  demanded  to  capitulate.  Caesar  tells  us  that 
they  believed  it  to  be  a  prodigy  ;  and  were  utterly 
astonished  that  men  of  ordinary  size  should  think 
of  carrying  so  vast  and  heavy  a  machine  to  their 
walls. 

Caesar  was  a  master  of  circumvallation.  That 
formed  before  Alesia  consisted  of  fascines  instead 
of  turf,  with  its  parapet  and  fraises  made  of  large 
stakes,  whose  branches  were  cut  in  points,  and 
burnt  at  the  ends,  like  stags'  horns.  The  battle- 
ments lie  mentions  were  like  the  modern  embra- 
sures for  cannon.  Caesar's  lines  being  very  high, 
it  was  indispensibly  necessary  to  have  a  platform 
with  a  slope,  in  the  form  of  steps,  to  prevent  the 
earth  from  falling  away. 

The  following  specimen  of  the  author  will  best 
explain  the  ground  enclosed  between  the  two  fosses, 
which  is  by  far  the  most  curious  part  of  the  block- 
ade :  —  "Erat  uno  tempore  et  materiari  et  frumen- 
tari,  et  tantas  munitiones  fieri  necesse,  diminntis 
nostris  copiis,  quae  longius  ab  castris  progredie- 
bantur :  et  nonnunquam  opera  nostra  Galli  tentare, 
atque  eruptionem  ex  oppido  pluribus  portis  facere 
summa  vi  conabantur.  Quare  ad  haec  rursus  opera 
addendum  Caesar  putavit,  quo  minpre  numero  mi- 
litum  munitiones  defendi  possent.  Itaque  truncis 
arborum,  aut  admodum  firmis  ramis  abscissis,  atque 
horum  dolabratis  atque  praeacutis  cacuminibus,  per- 
petuae  fossae  quinos  pedes  altae  ducebantur.  Hue 
illi  stipites  demissi,  et  ab  infimo  revincti  ne  revelli 
possent,  ab  ramis  eminebant.  Quini  erant  ordines 
conjuncti  inter  se  atque  implicati,  quo  qui  intra- 
verant,  se  ipsi  acutissimis  vallis  induebant.  .... 


ON    CiESAR's    COMMENTARIES.  183 

Ante  hos,  obliquis  ordinibus  in  quincuncem  dispo- 
sitis,  scrobes  triuni  in  altitudinem  pedum  fodie- 
bantiir,  paullatim  angustiore  ad  summum  fastigio. 
Hue  teretes  stipites  feminis  crassitudine,  ab  sum- 
mo  praeacuti  et  praeusti,  demittebantur ;  ita  ut  non 
amplius  iv.  digitis  ex  terra  eminerent  Simul  con- 
firmandi  et  stabiliendi  caussa  singuli  ab  infimo  solo 
pedes  terra  exculcabantur :  reliqua  pars  scrobis  ad 
occultandas  insidias  viminibus  ac  virgultis  intege- 
batur.  Hujus  generis  octoni  ordines  ducti,  ternos 
inter  se  pedes  distabant.  .  .  .  Ante  haec  taleap  pe- 
dem  longaB,  ferreis  hamis  infixis,  totae  in  terram 
infodiebantur ;  mediocribusque  intermissis  spatiis, 
omnibus  locis  disserebantur,  quos  Stimulos  nomina- 
bant."  The  other  line,  to  prevent  succours  from 
without,  was  exactly  the  same  as  this. 

The  most  curious  and  remarkable  sieges  on  an- 
cient record  are  those  of  Plata3a  by  the  Lacedae- 
monians and  Thebans  ;  of  Syracuse  by  the  Athe- 
nians; ofLilybaeum,  Syracuse,  Carthage,  and  Nu- 
mantia  by  the  Romans;  but  above  all,  that  of 
Alesia  by  Julius  Caesar,  and  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus 
Vespasian.  These  two  last  are  so  circumstantially 
described  in  all  their  details,  the  former  by  Caesar, 
who  planned  and  conducted  it ;  the  latter  by  Jo- 
sephus,  who  Avas  an  eye-witness  of  all  that  passed, 
that  an  attentive  reader  will  find  every  thing  worth 
knowing  on  the  subject,  and  be  qualified  to  form  a 
clear  and  comprehensive  judgment  of  the  perfec- 
tion attained  by  the  ancients,  and  especially  by 
the  Romans,  in  this  leading  branch  of  the  military 
art 

But  the  discovery  of  gunpowder  has  occasioned 
so  entire  a  revolution  in  the  art  of  war,  that  the 
interest  felt  in  the  perusal  of  these  Commentaries 

N  4 


184  ON    CJESAR*S    COMMENTARIES. 

would  be  much  lessened,  unless  in  the  estimation  of 
military  antiquaries,  were  it  not  that  the  narrative 
relates  simply  and  unaffectedly,  what  the  author 
himself  performed  at  the  head  of  his  army. 

Hirtius,  in  Praef.  lib.  viii.  de  Bello  Gall,  speaks 
thus  respecting  the  execution  of  these  works  :  — 
"  Constat  enim  inter  omnes,  nihil  tam  operose  ab 
aliis  esse  perfectum,  quod  non  horum  elegantia 
commentariorum  superetur :  qui  sunt  editi,  ne 
scientia  tantarum  rerum  scriptoribus  deesset ; 
adeoque  probantur  omnium  judicio,  ut  praerepta, 
non  praebita  facultas  scriptoribus  videatur." 

The  following  is  the  character  Cicero  gives  of 
them,  in  Bruto,  cap.  7'5. :  —  "  Atque  etiam  com- 
mentarios  quosdam  scripsit  rerum  suarum ;  valde 
quidem,  inquit,  probandos.  Nudi  enim  sunt,  recti, 
et  venusti,  omni  ornatu  orationis,  tamquam  veste, 
detracto.  Sed  dum  voluit  alios  habere  parata, 
unde  sumerent,  qui  vellent  scribere  historiam  :  in- 
eptisgratum  fortasse  fecit,  qui  volent  ilia  calamistris 
inurere :  sanos  quidem  homines  a  scribendo  de- 
terruit.  Nihil  enim  est  in  historia  pura  et  illustri 
brevitate  dulcius." 

But  these  opinions  of  Hirtius  and  Cicero  re- 
specting Caesar's  Commentaries,  were  not  without 
dissentients  of  high  rank  in  the  critical  world. 
Asinius  Pollio  thought  them  careless,  and  often 
untrue :  and  he  considered  this  as  accounted  for 
in  some  cases,  by  credulity  on  Caesar's  part,  when 
unfounded  or  exaggerated  statements  were  made 
to  him ;  in  other  cases,  by  his  personal  share  in 
the  transactions  recorded,  which  led  him  to  give, 
perhaps  unconsciously,  a  false  colouring  to  his 
own  exploits,  either  from  self-love  or  lapse  of  me- 
mory.    The  imputation  thus  conveyed  by  Pollio, 


ON    CyESAR's    COMMENTARIES.  185 

has  been  attributed  to  his  jealousy  as  a  contem- 
porary author,  and  a  member  of  the  same  profes- 
sion, ecHpsed  by  the  glory  of  the  great  conqueror. 
But  these  censures  seem  unnecessarily  ascribed  to 
any  sinister  motive.  Pollio  tracked  him  through- 
out his  whole  career,  as  a  captain,  a  historian,  and 
an  orator.  An  observer  so  acute,  and  so  much  in 
the  secret,  might  become  acquainted  with  many 
circumstances  stated  erroneously  or  even  falsely 
by  the  author,  for  want  of  caution  or  the  means  of 
verifying  them  :  he  might  have  convicted  him  even 
of  some  fabulous  narratives,  and  yet  have  left  much 
for  us  to  admire,  much  from  which  we  may  derive 
instruction. 

It  has  been  affirmed  that  Caesar  did  not  write 
the  three  books  of  the  civil  war,  and  even  that 
Suetonius  was  the  author  of  the  seven  books  on  the 
Gallic  War.  But  Vossius  has  vindicated  Caesar's 
title  to  the  authorship  of  the  Commentaries,  as  they 
stand  in  the  editions,  though  he  does  not  voucli 
for  his  accuracy  or  veracity  on  all  occasions. 

There  are  few  great  works,  of  which  literary  envy 
and  malignity  have  not  endeavoured  to  despoil  their 
authors.  The  testimony  of  ancient  writers,  the  pas- 
sages quoted  by  them  from  these  Commentaries, 
leave  Caesar  in  full  and  unquestionable  possession 
of  his  property  in  them.  There  may  be  faults  in 
him  as  an  author,  there  may  be  local  corruption  in 
the  manuscripts  :  but  the  works  have  come  down  to 
U8  as  genuine,  and  as  worthy  of  our  acceptance  in 
point  both  of  matter  and  style,  as  is  consistent  with 
the  frailty  of  human  nature  when  unassisted.  The 
opinion  that  the  extant  Commentaries  are  not  Cae- 
sar's may  possibly  have  arisen  from  a  confusion  of 
circumstances  between  two  works.     It  is  believed 


186 

that  he  wrote  Ephemerides,  containing  a  journal  of 
his  hfe ;  but  they  are  lost.  Servius  has  quoted  a 
very  remarkable  circumstance  from  this  lost  work  : 
—  "  Hoc  de  historia  tractum  est :  namque  Caius 
Julius  Caesar,  cum  dimicaret  in  Gallia,  et  ab  hoste 
raptus,  equo  ejus  portaretur  armatus,  occurrit  qui- 
dam  ex  hostibus,  qui  eum  nosset,  et  insultans  ait, 
Ccesar,  Ccesar :  quod  Gallorum  lingua  dimitte  si- 
gnificat :  et  ita  factum  est  ut  dimitteretur.  Hoc 
autem  ipse  Caesar  in  Ephemeride  sua  dicit,  ubi 
propriam  commemorat  felicitatem." — In  jEu,  lib. 
xi.  ver.  7^3. 

Plutarch,  in  Caesare,  quotes  the  Ephemerides ; 
by  which  he  probably  meant  the  work  referred  to 
by  Servius.  It  is  true,  the  substance  of  the  passage 
occurs  in  the  fourth  book  of  the  Commentaries ; 
but  the  same  personal  anecdotes  must  frequently 
have  been  told  in  both  works.  Had  Plutarch  not 
meant  the  Ephemerides,  he  would  scarcely  have 
adopted  the  term  in  preference  to  another  in  com- 
mon use,  signifying  Commentaries.     Thus  Strabo  : 

Lib.  iv.  init,  T. 

Frontinus  relates  many  of  Caesar's  stratagems 
not  mentioned  in  the  Commentaries ;  and  must  in 
all  probability  have  read  them  in  the  Journal ;  the 
loss  of  which  must  be  lamented  by  readers  of  every 
class,  and  especially  by  those  who  consider  biogra- 
phy among  the  most  interesting  of  studies,  and 
find  more  to  profit  and  delight  in  the  history  of  the 
statesman's  private  mind,  than  in  the  official  papers 
of  his  administration. 


187 


ON   THE   HISTORY   OF   JOSEPHUS.— ON    HEROD, 
MARIAMNE,  AND  HEROD  THE  TETRARCH. 


JosEPHUs  says  at  the  end  of  his  Antiquities  of 
the  Jews,  that  no  person  was  so  well  quahfied  as 
Himself,  to  deHver  these  accounts  to  the  Greeks 
witli  accuracy.  Those  of  his  own  nation  freely 
acknowledged,  that  he  far  exceeded  them  in  the 
learning  belonging  to  Jews,  to  which  he  had  taken 
much  pains  in  adding  that  of  the  Greeks.  Though 
his  usual  habit  had  been  to  speak  his  own  tongue, 
he  thoroughly  understood  the  Greek  language,  but 
could  not  pronounce  it  with  sufficient  exactness. 
The  Jews  held  an  opinion,  that  there  is  no  merit 
either  in  the  acquisition  of  foreign  languages,  or  in 
smoothness  and  elegance  of  composition.  They 
looked  on  that  kind  of  accomplishment  as  common, 
and  easily  acquired  by  slaves  as  well  as  by  free 
men.  At  the  end  of  this  work,  the  author  de- 
clares his  intention,  God  willing,  to  give  the  public 
an  abridgment  of  the  Jewish  war,  and  to  carry 
the  narrative  down  to  the  day  on  which  he  is 
writing,  which  is  in  the  thirteenth  year  of  Domi- 
tian,  A.  D.  93.  It  is  not  known  whether  he  carried 
this  project  into  execution.  His  motive  probably 
was,  to  correct  several  mistakes  in  the  first  two 
books  of  the  War,  written  in  his  youth,  when 
he  was  comparatively  an  incompetent  antiquary. 
Many  passages  occur  in  authors,  avowedly  quoted 


188  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

from  him,  which  are  not  now  extant.  They  might 
possibly  be  contained  in  that  compendium.  Yet 
many  of  his  references  to  works  of  his  own,  which 
have  not  come  down  to  us,  and  many  of  his  errors, 
belong  to  still  earlier  times.  Neither  he,  nor  any 
one  else,  ever  quotes  this  abridgment.  The  pro- 
bability therefore  rather  inclines  against  the  public- 
ation. He  wrote  his  own  life  as  an  Appendix  to 
the  Antiquities,  more  than  seven  years  after  they 
were  finished  ;  and  this  might  perhaps  supersede 
the  other  work.  At  the  same  time,  he  announces 
another  intended  treatise,  in  not  less  than  three 
books,  concerning  God  and  his  essence,  and  con- 
cerning the  Jewish  laws,  why,  according  to  them, 
some  things  were  permitted  to  the  Jews,  and  others 
prohibited.  This  last  he  had  promised,  should 
God  afford  him  time  for  it,  at  the  conclusion  of 
his  preface  to  the  Antiquities.  We  have  not  much 
reason  to  believe  that  he  ever  published  any  of 
them.  The  death  of  his  friends  at  court,  Vespa- 
sian, Titus,  and  Domitian,  the  accession  of  Nerva 
and  Trajan,  with  whom  he  had  no  personal  ac- 
quaintance, his  removal  from  Rome  to  Judea,  with 
the  subsequent  course  of  events,  might  easily  inter- 
rupt his  progress  as  an  author. 

The  great  value  of  Josephus  consists  in  the 
testimony  borne  by  an  opponent  to  many  facts  of 
Gospel  history.  It  is  stated  in  Scripture,  that 
John  the  Baptist  was  beheaded  by  order  of  the 
younger  Herod.  Josephus  confirms  this :  and 
mentions  Herodias  by  name,  as  his  brother's  wife, 
whom  Herod  had  married  after  divorcing  his  own. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  Aretas,  king  of  the 
Petrean  Arabians.  Her  husband  was  not  dead 
when  Herod  took  her.     Aretas  made  war  against 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  189 

him  on  account  of  this  dishonourable  conduct- 
Herod's  whole  army  was  destroyed  in  a  battle. 
His  adultery  might  sufficiently  account  for  the 
divine  displeasure ;  but  Joseph  us  attributes  it  to 
liis  cruelty  towards  John.  He  also  relates  that 
Herod  lost  his  kingdom,  and  was  banished  to  Lyons 
with  Herodias.  He  states  in  the  eighteenth  book, 
that  many  of  the  Jews  considered  this  destruction 
as  a  judgment  from  God  for  the  murder  of  a  good 
man,  wlio  had  taught  them  \drtue  in  their  actions, 
and  piety  in  their  sentiments.  He  then  enters  into  a 
discussion  on  the  efficacy  of  baptism  to  purific- 
ation, externally  in  reference  to  the  body,  internally 
on  the  supposition  that  the  soul  is  previously 
purified  by  righteousness,  as  preached  by  John. 
Herod  is  represented  as  fearing  that  his  persuasive 
power  might  raise  sedition ;  for  the  people  seemed 
entirely  at  John's  disposal.  By  way  of  prevention, 
Herod  sent  him  a  prisoner  to  the  castle  of  Ma-» 
chcErus,  where  he  was  put  to  death.  Josephus  goes 
on  to  speak  of  our  Saviour :  —  "  There  was  about 
this  time  one  Jesus,  a  wise  man,  if  he  may  be 
called  a  man  ;  for  he  did  marvellous  works.  He 
taught  those  who  were  willing  to  receive  his  doc- 
trine, drawing  over  to  him  many,  both  Jews  and 
Gentiles.  He  was  the  Christ." 

Josephus  is  principally  to  be  received  as  a  wit- 
ness against  himself.  The  head  and  front  of  John's 
offending  was  the  declaration.  It  is  not  lawful  for 
tliec  to  have  thy  brother's  wife. 

Josephus  also  relates,  that  Jerusalem  was  taken 
in  the  reign  of  Vespasian,  forty  years  afler  the 
Jews  had  dared  to  put  Jesus  to  death.  James, 
bishop  of  Jerusalem,  tlie  brother  of  our  Lord,  was 
tiirown  down  from  the  temple  at  the  same  time, 


190  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

and  slain  by  stoning.  But  the  most  striking  ad- 
mission on  the  part  of  the  Jewish  historian  is,  that 
when  Pilate,  instigated  by  the  principal  men  among 
the  Jews,  had  decreed  that  he  who  was  the  Christ 
should  be  crucified,  those  who  had  loved  him  from 
the  beginning  did  not  forsake  him.  He  appeared 
to  them  alive  the^  third  day  after  his  death,  as  the 
inspired  prophets  had  foretold.  The  famous  name 
of  Christians  taken  from  him,  and  the  sect,  are  still 
in  being. 

Tacitus,  in  his  History,  lib.  v.  cap.  2-9.,  retails 
so  many  crude  and  contradictory  stories  relating  to 
the  original  of  Jerusalem,  that  one  cannot  but 
wonder  his  good  sense  did  not  revolt  from  such 
absurdities.  For  instance,  he  took  the  African 
Ethiopians  under  Cepheus,  who  are  known  to  have 
been  blacks,  for  the  parents  of  the  Jews,  known  to 
have  been  whites.  Whenever  he  comes  nearest  to 
the  truth,  he  gives  a  disguised  version  of  Josephus. 
As  thus :  —  **  David  first  cast  the  Jebusites  out 
of  Jerusalem,  and  called  it  by  his  own  name.  Un- 
der our  forefather  Abraham  it  was  called  Solijma. 
Some  say  that  after  that  time.  Homer  mentions  it 
by  that  name  of  Solyma.  Now  the  whole  time 
from  the  warfare  under  Joshua  our  general,  against 
the  Canaanites,  and  from  that  war  in  which  he 
overcame  them  and  distributed  the  land  amone: 
the  Hebrews,  this  whole  time  was  five  hundred  and 
fifteen  years.'' — Joseph,  Antiq.Yih,  vii.  cap.  3.  sect.  3. 
**  Alii,  Judaeorum  initia,  Solymos,  carminibus  Ho- 
meri  celebratam  gentem,  conditam  urbem  Hiero- 
solyma  nomine  suo  fecisse.  Plurimi  auctores 
consentiunt,  orta  per  -^gyptum  tabe,  quae  corpora 
foedaret,  Regem  Bocchorim,  adito  Hammonis 
oraculo,  remedium  petentem,  purgare  Regnum  efc 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  IQl 

id  genus  hominum,  ut  invisum  Deis,  alias  in  terras 
avehere  jussum." — Tacitus,  History  of  the  JewSy 
lib.  V.  cap.  2,  3.  This  latter  doctrine  is  very  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  Josephus,  who  truly  observes 
on  this  occasion,  that  the  gods  are  not  angry  at  the 
imperfections  of  bodies,  but  at  wicked  practices. 
Tacitus  represents  Moses  to  have  credit  given  to 
him,  as  Duci  ccelesti.  He  therefore  admits  at  least 
a  profession  on  the  part  of  Moses,  that  he  received 
bis  laws  from  God.  He  relates,  that  Moses  dis- 
covered a  plentiful  vein  of  water  for  the  Jews.  This 
he  probably  took  from  Josephus,  who  represents  the 
relief  as  a  miracle,  Antiq.  lib.  iii.  cap.  1.  sect.  7. 
But  if  Tacitus  suppresses  one  miracle,  he  substitutes 
another :  for  he  states,  that  six  hundred  thousand 
men,  to  which  number  the  Jews  amounted,  tra- 
velled above  two  hundred  miles  in  six  days,  over 
tlie  deserts  of  Arabia,  and  conquered  Judea  on 
the  seventh. 

The  Israelites  were  to  be  kept  separate  from  the 
idolatrous  nations  by  circumcision  and  other  cere- 
monies. This  Tacitus  represents  as  esteeming 
whatever  is  sacred  among  the  Romans  to  be  pro- 
fane, and  establishing  what  in  other  nations  is 
unlawful  and  impure.  The  veneration  said  to 
have  been  paid  in  the  Temple  to  the  image  of  an 
ass,  is  refuted  by  Tacitus  himself  in  the  very  next 
section  :  — "Igitur  nulla  simulacra  urbibus  suis,  ne- 
dum  templis,  sinunt.'*  Again,  on  occasion  of 
Pompey's  entry  into  tlie  temple,  after  the  conquest 
of  Jerusalem  :  —  "  Inde  vulgatum,  nulla  intus  De- 
um  effigie  vacuam  sedem  et  inania  arcana."  That 
the  ox,  worshipped  in  Egypt  for  the  god  Apis, 
was  slain  as  a  victim  by  the  Jews,  is  a  mere  random 
gISMSy  in  the  spirit  of  heathefiism.     He  says,  they 


192  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

abstain  altogether  from  the  flesh  of  swine  ;  and 
gives  as  a  reason,  that  an  animal,  subject  to  the 
same  leprous  disease  which  infected  their  whole 
nation,  is  not  deemed  proper  food.  Now  it  is  very 
unlikely  that  they  should  have  perpetuated  by  an 
ordinance  the  memorial  of  an  epidemic  calamity, 
which  must  have  rendered  them  odious  to  strangers, 
and  subjected  them  to  general  scorn. 

The  Jews  had  originally  but  one  solemn  fast  in 
the  year ;  the  day  of  expiation.  The  frequent 
fastings  of  the  modern  Pharisees  probably  led 
Tacitus  to  represent  them  so  differently.  So  un- 
leavened bread  was  used  only  at  the  Passover. 
He  represents  it  as  in  general  use. 

Tacitus  seems  either  not  to  know,  what  any  Jew 
or  any  Christian  could  have  told,  or  for  some  rea- 
son to  dissemble  his  knowledge,  that  the  seventh 
day  and  the  seventh  year  of  rest  were  instituted,  to 
commemorate  the  rest  of  the  Sabbath,  after  six 
days  of  creation.  It  is  a  most  uncandid  hypothe- 
sis, that  the  seventh  year  is  devoted  to  repose,  in 
consequence  of  their  natural  propensity  to  sloth. 
He  seems  never  to  have  heard  of  their  jubilee. 

The  disbelievers  in  real  miracles  are  often  entrap- 
ped into  suppositions,  which  involve  thebelief  of  false 
or  absurd  ones.  Suspecting  that  the  sluggishness  of 
the  Jews  may  not  sufficiently  account  for  the  Sabbatic 
institution,  he  gives  the  opinion  of  some  antiquaries, 
that  it  was  a  ceremony  in  honour  of  Saturn.  Now 
it  happens,  that  the  Greek  and  Roman  denomin- 
ation of  Saturn's  day  for  the  seventh  was  not  of 
very  ancient  standing :  so  that  the  Jews  must,  in 
the  days  of  Moses,  or  long  before,  have  prophe- 
tically anticipated  that  particular  division  of  the 
week,  before  it  took  place  :  for  it  is  very  unlikely 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  193 

tliat  they  should  ever  have  heard  of  Saturn,  either 
as  a  planet  or  as  a  god,  till  they  adopted  the  ido- 
latries of  the  neighbouring  nations.  That  the  sun, 
moon,  or  stars  exercise  any  influence  over  human 
affairs,  was  not  a  Jewish,  but  a  heathen  opinion. 
Neither  Jews  nor  Christians  were  allowed  to  med- 
dle with  astrology.  Tacitus  seems  to  have  engaged 
deeply  in  it.  He  acknowledges  the  antiquity  of 
Moses,  and  of  his  Jewish  establishment.  Many  of 
the  heathens  were  disinclined  to  own  this.  But  he 
charges  him  with  corrupt  and  impure  institutions, 
without  specifying  them.  He  also  accuses  the  Jews 
of  nourishing  a  sullen  hatred  to  the  rest  of  man- 
kind ;  but  Josephus  proves,  that  though  his  pecu- 
liar people,  they  considered  God  as  the  universal 
father.  Tacitus  indeed  often  commends  them  where 
they  are  faulty,  and  falsifies  their  merits.  Some 
of  the  learned  consider  circumcision  as  derived 
from  the  Egyptians  ;  but  we  know  from  the  book 
of  Genesis,  that  it  was  a  token  of  the  covenant. 
In  one  passage,  Tacitus  tells  us,  that  they  forget 
their  parents,  their  brethren,  and  their  children ; 
in  another,  that  their  fidelity  and  kindness  to  one 
another  are  unalterable.  How  are  these  contra- 
dictions to  be  reconciled,  unless  he  mean  that  the 
interests  of  the  nearest  kindred  were  not  to  inter- 
fere with  implicit  obedience  to  the  divine  com- 
mand, as  in  the  great  instance  of  Abraham's  sacri- 
fice? Entire  resignation  is  indeed  the  leading 
principle  both  of  Jewish  and  Christian  piety. 

The  custom  of  burying,  instead  of  burning  the 
dead,  which  Tacitus  traces  to  the  Egyptians,  pre- 
vailed among  the  Hebrews,  as  early  as  the  days  of 
Abraham,  long  before  the  Israelites  went  into 
Egypt. 


194  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

Tacitus,  however,  makes  ample  concessions  to 
the  piety  of  the  Jewish  nation,  in  the  worship  of  one 
God,  of  infinite  power,  seen  only  with  the  mind's 
eye,  and  in  the  absolute  condemnation  of  all 
idolatry,  and  every  attempt  to  give  a  representation 
of  the  Deity,  wrought  into  the  human  form  with 
perishable  materials.  On  this  ground,  he  says,  they 
refused  to  introduce  the  statues  of  the  Caesars 
into  tlieir  temple.  These  important  admissions 
were  to  be  derived  only  from  Josephus,  and  it  is 
plain  that  Tacitus  borrowed  all  that  is  valuable  in 
his  portrait  of  the  Jews  from  him.  Hence  also  he 
probably  took  the  fact,  that  there  was  a  vine 
wrought  in  gold  in  the  front  of  their  temple. 
From  this,  he  says,  some  have  inferred,  that  Bac- 
chus was  the  object  of  their  adoration.  He  admits, 
however,  that  the  Jewish  forms  of  worship  have  no 
conformity  with  the  rites  of  Bacchus.  The  vine  is 
indeed  mentioned  by  Josephus  as  a  magnificent 
ornament :  but  no  mention  is  made  either  by  him, 
or  in  any  part  of  the  Bible,  of  what  Tacitus  asserts, 
that  the  Jewish  priests  were  crowned  with  ivy. 

The  chorography  of  Judea  comes  in  naturally 
in  Josephus,  before  Vespasian's  first  campaign. 
Tacitus  seems  to  have  formed  his  short  abridgment 
from  it.  Both  authors  mention  the  richness  and 
fertility  of  the  soil :  but  Tacitus,  not  very  con- 
sistently with  that  quality,  says  that  rain  is  seldom 
seen.  His  account  of  Jordan,  of  its  fountains 
derived  from  Mount  Libanus,  of  the  two  lakes  it 
runs  through,  and  of  its  stoppage  by  the  third, 
agrees  in  all  points  with  Josephus.  The  last  of 
these  lakes  he  vaguely  states  to  resemble  a  sea. 
Josephus  gives  its  measurement;  580  furlongs 
long,  150  broad.     Strabo  says,  that  a  man  could 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  195 

not  sink  into  the  water  of  this  lake,  so  deep  as  the 
navel.  Joseph  us  does  not  say,  that  the  slime,  or 
bitumen,  was  cast  out  at  a  certain  time  of  the 
year  only ;  and  Strabo  directly  states  the  con- 
trary :  Pliny  agrees  with  Tacitus.  Brotier  quotes 
the  authority  of  an  eminent  traveller  in  the  East, 
affirming  it  to  be  thrown  up  on  the  surface  of  the 
w^aters  during  the  autumn,  probably  from  the  places 
mentioned  in  the  Bible.  '*  All  these  were  joined 
together  in  the  vale  of  Siddim,  which  is  the  salt 

sea And  the   vale  of  Siddim  was  full  of 

slime  pits  ;  and  the  kings  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrali 
fled,  ^nd  fell  there ;  and  they  that  remained  fled 
to  the  mountains." — Genesis,  chap.  xiv.  This  con- 
cretion, after  floating  for  some  time,  is  driven  by 
the  wind  to  the  shore,  where  it  is  carefully  col- 
lected by  the  Arabs  for  their  own  use  and  profit, 
after  delivering  a  certain  proportion  to  the  Bassa 
of  Jerusalem.  Tacitus  and  Josephus  agree  that 
the  cities  burnt  by  fire  from  heaven  were  not 
exactly  in  the  place  where  the  lake  now  is,  but 
only  in  its  neighbourhood.  But  when  Tacitus 
says  that  the  Jews  were  of  all  slaves  the  most 
despicable,  lie  deserts  his  best  authority,  and 
slanders  them. 

Both  Josephus  and  Tacitus  give  a  true  account 
of  the  Jews,  preHminary  to  the  last  war,  tlie  pri- 
mary occasion  of  which  arose  out  of  the  concourse 
of  Jewish  supplicants,  but  without  arms,  who  came 
to  Petronius,  the  president  of  Syria,  to  state  their 
determination  not  to  place  Caius  Caesar's  statue  in 
the  Temple.  Tacitus  is  not  quite  accurate  on  this 
subject  in  his  history  ;  but  in  his  annals,  subse- 
quently composed,  he  corrects  his  statements  by 
the  authority  of  Josephus.     He  is  mistaken,  how- 

o  2 


19^)  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

ever,  in  what  he  says  about  Cumanus  and  Felix. 
Cestius  Gallus  succeeded  Petronius.  Josephus  says 
nothing  of  his  death.  Tacitus  mentions  it,  but  in 
the  failure  of  his  principal  authority,  without  par- 
ticulars. Josephus  takes  notice  in  general  of  the 
many  omens,  which  predicted  Vespasian's  advance- 
ment to  the  empire,  and  distinctly  adds  a  remark- 
able prophecy  of  his  own  to  the  same  effect. 

"  Initium  ferendi  ad  Vespasianum  Imperii  Alex- 
andriae  cceptum,  festinante  Tiberio  Alexandro,  qui 
Kal.  Jul.  Sacramento  ejus  legiones  adegit.  Isque 
primus  Principatus  dies  in  posterum  celebratus, 
quamvis  Judaicus  exercitus  v.  Non.  Jul.  apud  ipsum 
jurasset,  eo.ardore,  ut  ne  Titus  quidem  filius  expe- 
ctaretur,  Syria  remeans,  ut  consiliorum  inter  Mucia- 
num  ac  patrem  nuntius." — Historiarum,  lib.  ii.  cap. 
79.  This  agrees  with  the  History  of  Josephus,  that 
Vespasian  was  proclaimed  Emperor  in  Judea,  where 
he  then  was,  before  he  was  so  proclaimed  at  Alex- 
andria. It  requires,  however,  entirely  to  reconcile 
the  Jewish  and  Roman  historians,  that  the  Nones, 
or  perhaps  the  Ides  of  June  should  be  substituted 
for  the  Nones  of  July  in  Tacitus  and  Suetonius. 
The  interlacing  of  the  months  by  their  backward 
reckoning  occasioned  frequent  confusion  in  dates. 

The  miraculous  cures  imputed  to  Vespasian 
are  strongly  attested  by  both  parties.  The  pre- 
diction of  Josephus,  already  mentioned,  assumes 
Vespasian  and  Titus  to  be  raised  to  the  Roman 
empire,  and  to  command  against  Judea  and  Jeru- 
salem, not  in  the  ordinary  way  of  divine  providence, 
but  by  especial  interposition.  The  heathen  oracle  of 
Serapis  confirmed  the  approbation  of  heaven.  This 
was  probably  the  first,  and  the  only  truth  it  ever 
told,  further  than  as  propitious  auguries  tend  by 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  197 

encouragement  to  their  own  fulfilment.  It  is  not 
probable  that  this  was  merely  either  a  lucky  hit, 
or  even  a  wise  conjecture  on  the  part  of  the 
oracle.  All  history  concurs  in  the  discredit  into 
which  these  impostures  fell  from  the  time  of  our 
Saviour.  It  seems  to  have  been  the  will  of  Provi- 
dence, that  these  systematic  retailers  of  falseliood 
and  absurdity,  these  right-hand  instruments  of 
idolatrous  tlieology,  should  once  bear  testimony  to 
the  truth  before  their  final  extinction.  Their  death 
was  to  point  the  moral,  and  adorn  the  tale  of  their 
vicious  Hfe.  Josephus,  also,  standing  as  a  bound- 
ary-stone between  the  heathen  and  the  Christian, 
knowing  the  one  true  God,  and  a  member  of  his 
first  covenant,  but  not  receiving,  rather  than  reject- 
ing his  second,  was  evidently  chosen  as  an  instru- 
ment of  divine  operation.  He  was  the  most  fit 
instrument. 

According  to  an  admitted  maxim  in  philosophy, 
waste  of  power  is  defect  of  wisdom.  The  Deity 
never  acts  by  strong  means,  when  moderate  will 
suffice  ;  by  preternatural  means,  when  natural  ones 
will  produce  the  required  effect ;  by  remote  means, 
when  those  which  are  competent  are  near  at  hand. 
Josephus  met  all  occasions :  he  was  almost  the  only 
Jew  conversant  with  heathen  learning,  and  there- 
fore calculated  to  ingratiate  himself,  as  he  did, 
with  the  Roman  generals.  He,  therefore,  was 
selected,  not  like  the  Jewish  prophets,  for  the  per- 
manent and  exckisive  service  of  God,  but  as  the 
vehicle  of  occasional  inspiration.  We  are  not  to 
look  on  his  exercise  of  prophetic  powers,  as  the 
mere  ebullition  of  enthusiasm  guessing  right,  or 
of  personal  arrogance,  for  his  habitual  modesty  in 
speaking  of  himself  is  remarkable;    but  as  a   link 

o  3 


198  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

in  the  chain  of  means,  by  which  our  Saviour's 
touchstone  prophecy  of  the  almost  immediate  fall 
of  Jerusalem  was  to  be  fulfilled.  The  object  of 
that  prophecy  seems  to  have  been  principally,  that 
his  early  converts  might  have  some  striking  and 
notorious  fact  to  appeal  to,  as  a  voucher  for  the 
truth  of  their  belief. 

All  the  acting  parties  in  this  history,  heathen  as 
well  as  Jewish,  were  the  instruments  of  the  Deity, 
independently  of  that  influence  which  he  exercises 
through  the  medium  of  his  general  providence. 
He  might  indeed  have  raised  up  any,  the  most 
obscure  name  among  the  Romans,  to  carry  de- 
struction against  the  Jews,  as  a  divine  judgment 
for  their  sins.  But  strictly  defined  moderation  is 
a  part  of  infinite  wisdom.  Vespasian  and  Titus 
stood  exactly  in  such  a  situation  as  Romans,  that 
their  advancement  to  the  empire,  for  the  purpose 
of  executing  this  signal  military  vengeance,  was 
best  calculated  to  arrest  attention  and  impress  awe, 
without  bearing  the  external  stamp  of  miracle. 

We  have  already  seen  how  difficult  was  the  ac- 
complishment of  this  enterprise  in  the  hands  even 
of  such  accomplished  generals.  It  might,  in  truth, 
have  been  effected  by  a  babe  or  a  suckling ;  but 
the  Deity  does  not  make  his  wonders  unnecessarily 
cheap  among  the  heathen. 

We  have  also  seen  how  exactly  Tacitus  and 
Joseph  us  agree  in  the  personal  character  of  Titus, 
and  the  description  of  his  military  array. 

"  Igitur  castris,  ubi  diximus,  ante  moenia  Hiero- 
solymorum  positis,  instructas  legiones  ostentavit." 
—  Lib.  V.  cap.  10.  Titus's  first  camp  was  near  the 
Mount  of  Olives.  The  substance  of  the  parallel 
passage  in  Josephus  has  been  already  given.     Both 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  199 

authors  coincide  as  to  the  first  bickerings  and 
battles  near  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  and  as  to  the 
deliberations  among  the  Romans,  and  their  ultimate 
resolution,  that  it  would  not  seem  honourable  to 
stay  till  the  enemies  were  reduced  by  famine. 
They  also  give  a  concurrent  description  of  the 
city,  its  two  hills,  its  three  walls,  and  four  towers, 
as  well  as  the  pools  for  the  preservation  of  rain- 
water. Josephus  does  not  mention  tlie  cisterns, 
wliicli  Tacitus  says  they  constructed  in  conse- 
quence of  Pompey's  siege. 

Tacitus  mentions,  that  they  obtained  permission 
by  bribery,  in  the  reign  of  Claudius,  to  rebuild 
their  walls.  Josephus  says  nothing  of  this ;  nor 
does  he  handle  Claudius  so  severely,  as  do  both 
Tacitus  and  Suetonius.  Dio  says,  he  was  not 
covetous,  though  the  other  historians  represent  him 
as  corrupt  and  venal.  But  Josephus  might  have 
been  influenced  to  partiality  by  his  kindness  to  the 
Jews.  His  learning,  his  quiet  and  unambitious 
temper,  might  have  been  a  further  recommendation. 
His  deference  to  the  counsels  of  so  bad  a  minister 
as  Pallas,  and  his  mean  subjection  to  his  wife 
Agrippina,  who  at  last  poisoned  him,  have  ren- 
dered him  contemptible  in  the  eyes  of  posterity. 

The  portents  and  prodigies  liave  been  already 
mentioned  :  but  the  passage  in  Tacitus  is  suffi- 
ciently striking  to  merit  transcription  :  — "  Pluribus 
persuasio  fuerat,  antiquis  Sacerdotum  litteris  conti- 
neri,  eo  ipso  tempore  fore,  ut  valesceret  Oriens  pro- 
fectique  Juda?a  rerum  potirentur.  Quae  ambages 
Vespasianum  ac  Titum  pra^dixerant.  Sed  vulgus, 
more  humanai  cupidinis,.sibi  tantam  fatorum  ma- 
gnitudincm  interpretati,  ne  adversis  quidem  ad  vera 
mutabantur."  —  Lib.  v.  cap.  13. 

o  4 


200  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

Tacitus  directly  copies  the  testimony  of  Josephiis 
concerning  Christ  and  the  Christians,  given  under 
the  head  of  Titus.  The  fidelity,  love  of  truth,  and 
learning  of  Josephus  are  every  where  conspicuous; 
so  that  he  may  safely  be  trusted  as  an  authority, 
not  only  on  subjects  immediately  connected  with 
the  Jews,  but  on  the  affairs  of  foreigners. 

He  is  also  a  very  entertaining  historian,  on 
subjects  not  immediately  connected  with  the  in- 
terests of  religion.  Of  this  the  History  of  Herod 
will  furnish  an  example. 

Cassius,  on  his  flight  from  Rome,  obtained 
possession  of  Syria,  and  checked  the  career  of 
the  Parthians,  who  had  made  incursions  upon  it 
after  their  victory  over  Crassus.  As  he  came 
back  to  Tyre,  he  went  up  into  Judea  also,  and  fell 
upon  Taricheae.  He  soon  took  it,  and  carried 
about  thirty  thousand  Jews  into  captivity.  He 
slew  Pitholaus,  who  succeeded  Aristobulus  in  his 
seditious  practices,  and  that  by  the  persuasion  of 
Antipater  who  had  great  interest  with  him.  An- 
tipater  was  also  in  great  repute  with  the  Idumeans. 
Out  of  that  nation  he  married  a  woman  of  hiffh 
birth  among  the  Arabians,  by  name  Ci/pras,  not 
Cypris,  the  Greek  name  for  Venus,  as  some  critics 
propose  to"  read.  By  her  he  had  four  sons, 
Phasael,  and  Herod,  afterwards  king  ;  Joseph,  and 
Pheroras  ;  and  a  daughter,  named  Salome,  Hyr- 
canus  the  second  received  the  appointment  of  high- 
priest  from  Caesar.  As  he  was  of  an  inactive 
temper,  Antipater,  as  procurator  of  Judea,  made 
his  eldest  son  Phasael  governor  of  Jerusalem,  and 
of  the  adjoining  places,  but  committed  Galilee  to 
his  next  son  Herod,  when  he  was  about  twenty- 
five  years  of  age,  as  he  must  have  been,  if  Herod's 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  201 

age  be  rightly  stated  as  seventy,  at  his  death,  forty- 
four  years  afterwards.  His  courage  was  soon 
signaUsed.  Finding  that  one  Hezekias,  a  captain 
of  banditti,  was  over-running  the  neighbouring 
parts  of  Syria,  he  seized  and  slew  him,  with  a  great 
number  of  his  band.  This  procured  him  the 
affection  of  the  Syrians,  who  w^ere  anxious  to  be 
delivered  from  this  scourge.  They  sang  songs  to 
his  praise,  in  their  villages  and  cities,  for  having 
procured  them  peace  and  security  in  their  posses- 
sions. Thus  he  became  known  to  Sextus  Caesar, 
a  relation  of  Julius,  and  was  made  president  of 
Syria.  His  brother  Phasael  grew  jealous  of  all 
this,  and  determined  to  rival  Herod's  popularity 
in  his  own  government  of  Jerusalem.  But  his 
emulation  took  an  honourable  turn ;  for  he  ingra- 
tiated himself  with  the  inhabitants,  and  managed 
their  business  judiciously,  without  abusing  his  au- 
thority. In  the  mean  time,  it  became  known  that 
Antipater  had  sent  money,  which  he  had  prevailed 
on  Hyrcanus  to  furnish,  as  a  present  to  his  imperial 
friends  at  Rome  from  himself.  The  chief  men 
among  the  Jews  were  angry  at  this,  and  began  to 
be  afraid  of  Herod's  boldness  and  violence,  and  its 
termination  in  actual  tyranny.  They  went  to 
Hyrcanus,  and  accused  Antipater  publicly,  re- 
proacliing  the  high-priest  for  his  indifference.  They 
pointed  out  that  Antipater  and  his  sons  had  already 
usurped  the  government,  and  left  nothing  but  the 
name  of  king  to  Hyrcanus.  They  cautioned  him 
against  wilful  blindness,  or  a  time-serving  hope  of 
avoiding  danger  by  affected  carelessness.  Antipater 
and  his  offspring,  who  had  been  his  stewards,  were 
become  his  masters.  Herod  had  slain  Hezekias 
and  his  party,  and  thereby  had  trangressed  the 


20%  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

law,  which  forbids  the  destruction  of  any  man, 
however  wicked,  but  in  consequence  of  legal  con- 
demnation by  the  Sanhedrim.  Yet  he  had  done 
this  without  the  authority  of  Hyrcanus.  This 
latter  charge  refers  to  a  provision  in  the  law  of 
Moses,  that  even  in  criminal  causes,  and  espe- 
cially where  life  was  concerned,  an  appeal  should 
lie  from  the  lesser  councils  of  seven  in  the  other 
cities,  to  the  supreme  council  of  seventy-one  at 
Jerusalem.  In  reference  to  this  our  Saviour  says, 
**  Nevertheless,  I  must  walk  to-day,  and  to-morrow, 
and  the  day  following  :  for  it  cannot  be  that  a  pro- 
phet perish  out  of  Jerusalem."  —  Lukey  chap.  xiii. 

The  mothers  of  tliose  slain  by  Herod  raised  the 
indignation  of  Hyrcanus,  by  thronging  the  tem- 
ple every  day,  and  urging  the  king  and  people 
to  put  Herod  on  his  trial  before  the  Sanhedrim. 
Hyrcanus  consented,  and  Herod  obeyed  the  sum- 
mons. His  father  persuaded  him  to  come  with  a 
body-guard,  and  not  as  a  private  person.  He  ad- 
vised him  to  arrange  the  affairs  of  Galilee  to  his 
own  advantage,  and  then  to  set  out  with  a  body  of 
men  sufficient  for  his  own  security  against  his 
enemies,  but  not  so  numerous  as  to  alarm  Hyr- 
canus. Sextus  Caesar,  president  of  Syria,  wrote 
to  Hyrcanus,  desiring  him,  with  tlireats  in  case 
of  non-compliance,  to  procure  Herod's  acquittal. 
Hyrcanus,  who  loved  Sextus  sincerely,  determined 
to  comply  with  his  demand.  When  Herod  stood 
with  his  guards  before  the  Sanhedrim,  the  whole 
assembly  was  terrified  into  silence,  and  his  ac- 
cusers shrunk  from  their  charge.  A  righteous 
man,  above  all  fear,  whose  name  was  Sameas,  or 
Simeo7i,  Ihe  son  of  Shetach,  stood  up  and  made  the 
following  speech  :  —  ".  O  you,  that  are  assessors 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  203 

with  me,  and  O  thou  that  art  our  king,  never  pro- 
bably have  ye  known  a  parallel  case  ;  that  one  who 
is  to  take  his  trial  from  us  ever  stood  so  before 
us.  Every  one,  be  he  who  he  may,  that  comes  to 
be  tried  by  this  Sanhedrim,  presents  himself  in  a 
submissive  manner,  and  like  one  that  is  in  fear  of 
himself.  He  endeavours  to  excite  compassion,  by 
appearing  in  a  mourning  garment,  with  his  hair 
dishevelled.  This  Herod,  who  is  called  to  answer 
the  charge  of  murder,  stands  here  clothed  in  purple, 
with  his  hair  finely  trimmed,  with  his  armed  men 
about  him,  that  if  he  be  condemned  by  our  law,  he 
may  slay  us,  and  by  bearing  down  justice,  escape 
death.  Yet  I  make  not  this  complaint  against 
Herod  himself,  who  is  more  dear  to  himself  than 
are  the  law^s.  But  my  complaint  is  against  you 
and  your  king,  who  give  him  this  licence  so  to  do. 
Yet  take  you  notice,  that  God  is  great,  and  that 
this  very  man,  whom  you  are  going  to  acquit  for 
the  sake  of  Hyrcanus,  will  one  day  punish  both  him 
and  yourselves.*' 

Nor  was  Sameas  mistaken  in  his  prediction.  On 
the  accession  of  Herod  to  the  kingdom,  he  slew 
Hyrcanus  and  all  the  members  of  this  Sanhedrim, 
with  the  exception  of  Sameas  himselfi  whom  he 
held  in  high  honour  for  his  fearless  integrity. 
Sameas  had  also  purchased  his  forbearance,  by  per- 
suading the  people  to  admit  Herod  into  the  city, 
when  he  and  Sosius  besieged  it.  The  motive  of 
Sameas  was  to  prevent  the  effusion  of  blood,  as  he 
was  persuaded,  that  for  their  sins,  they  would  not 
be  able  to  save  themselves  out  of  his  hands. 

When  Hyrcanus  saw  the  effect  of  this  harangue, 
and  that  the  members  of  the  Sanhedrim  were  suf- 


204  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

ficiently  spirited  up  to  pronounce  sentence  of  death, 
he  put  off  the  trial  to  another  day,  and  privately 
advised  Herod  to  escape  out  of  the  city. 

Sextus  sold  the  post  of  general  of  the  Coelesyrian 
army  to  Herod.  Hyrcanus  was  in  fear  lest  Herod 
should  make  war  upon  him,  which  he  soon  did,  in 
resentment  of  the  trial  he  had  been  summoned  to 
undergo  before  the  Sanhedrim.  But  his  father 
Antipater,  and  his  brother  Phasael,  dissuaded  him 
from  assaulting  Jerusalem.  He  the  sooner  yielded 
to  their  arguments,  as  he  thought  it  sufficient  for 
his  future  hopes  to  have  merely  displayed  his 
strength  before  the  nation. 

He  got  into  favour  with  Cassius  and  the  Romans, 
by  strictly  exacting  the  required  taxes  from  Galilee. 
He  felt  it  prudent  to  cultivate  their  friendship  at 
the  expence  of  his  countrymen,  who  were,  how- 
ever, saved  by  this  apparent  harshness.  The 
curators  of  the  other  cities,  with  their  citizens,  were 
sold  for  slaves.  Cassius  reduced  four  cities  to  a 
state  of  slavery :  the  two  most  powerful  were 
Gophna  and  Emmausj  the  other  two,  Lydda  and 
Thamna. 

On  the  war  between  Cassius  and  Brutus  on  the 
one  side,  and  Augustus  Caesar  and  Antony  on  the 
other,  Cassius  and  Marcus  got  together  an  army 
out  of  Syria.  As  Herod  was  likely  to  be  of  much 
service  in  providing  necessaries,  they  made  him 
governor  of  all  Syria,  with  an  army  of  foot  and 
horse.  Antipater  had  recently  saved  Malichus, 
who  afterwards  murdered  him.  The  power  and 
hopes  of  Herod,  whom  the  Roman  generals  had 
promised  to  make  king  of  Judea,  made  Antipater 
the  sacrifice  to  the  wickedness  of  Malichus.     This 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.    •        ^05 

man,  alarmed  at  the  increasing  influence  of  the 
family,  corrupted  the  butler  of  Hyrcanus  to  admi- 
nister poison. 

When  Antipater's  sons,  Herod  and  Phasael, 
were  acquainted  with  this  conspiracy,  they  were 
violently  incensed.  Malichus  disclaimed  any  know- 
ledge of  the  murder.  Herod  resolved  immediately 
to  revenge  his  father's  death,  and  was  coming  on 
Malichus  with  an  army  for  that  purpose.  Phasael, 
the  elder  of  Antipater's  sons,  thought  it  better  to 
get  this  man  into  their  hands  by  policy,  and  thus 
avoid  the  appearance  of  beginning  a  civil  war  in  the 
country.  On  his  own  part,  therefore,  he  accepted 
the  denial,  and  affected  to  believe  that  Malichus 
had  no  hand  in  his  father's  death.  He  erected  a 
splendid  monument  to  Antipater.  Herod  went  to 
Samaria,  and  finding  them  in  great  distress,  he 
revived  their  spirits,  and  composed  their  differ- 
ences. 

At  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  he  returned  to  Jeru- 
salem, afler  sending  his  armed  men  before  him. 
Hyrcanus,  at  the  request  of  the  terrified  Malichus, 
forbade  foreigners  to  mix  themselves  witli  the 
people  of  the  country,  during  the  purification. 
Herod  despised  that  subterfuge,  and  came  in  by 
night.  Malichus  came  to  him,  and  bewailed  An- 
tipater. Herod  pretended  to  believe  his  lament- 
ation real,  though  he  had  much  difficulty  to 
suppress  his  angry  feelings.  He  wrote  a  melan- 
choly letter  to  Cassius,  who  hated  Malichus  for 
other  reasons.  Cassius  returned  an  answer,  giving 
him  authority  to  avenge  his  father's  death,  and 
sent  private  directions  to  the  tribunes  under  him, 
to  assist  Herod  in  a  righteous  action  Jie  was  under- 
taking.    He  put  Malichus  to  death. 


206  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

Herod   ejected  Antigonus  out  of  Judea,    and 
took  from  Marion  what  he  had  gained  in  Galilee. 
He   dismissed  the  Tyrian   garrison   with   civility, 
and  made  presents  to  some  of  the  soldiers  ;  but  he 
bore  no  good   will  to  the  city.     On  his  arrival  at 
Jerusalem,  Hyrcanus  and  the  people  put  garlands 
about  his  head.     He   had  already  contracted  an 
alliance  with  the   family  of  Hyrcanus,  by  having 
espoused  a  descendant  of  his  ;  and  for  that  reason 
Herod  took  the  greater   care   of   him,    as  being 
to  marry  the  daughter  of  Alexander,  the  son  of 
Aristobulus,  and  the  grand-daughter  of  Hyrcanus, 
by  which  wife  he  became  the  father  of  three  male, 
and  two  female  children.     At  this  time,  some  prin- 
cipal men  among  the  Jews,  went  into  Bithynia,   to 
accuse  Phasael  and  Herod.  Theysaid  thatHyrcanus 
was  nominally  king,  but  that  these  men  had  all  the 
power.     Antony  paid  great  respect  to  Herod,  who 
came  to  defend  himself  against  his  accusers.     So 
entirely   had  Herod  gained   Antony's  favour  by 
bribery,   that  his   opponents   could  not  obtain  a 
hearing.     And  here  it  is  to  be  noticed,  that  when- 
ever any  party  among  the  Jews  gained  the  Romans 
to  its  side,  or  whenever  any  decree  was  obtained 
in  their  favour  as  a  nation,    all-powerful   money 
purchased  the  restoration  of  the  right,  the  grant  of 
the  privilege,  or  inclined  the  balance  of  partisan- 
ship.    Josephus  furnishes  many  examples  of  this 
in  various  parts  of  his  history.     All  in  authority,  ^ 
whether  Romans  or  others,  considered  the  Jews  as^  [ 
peculiarly  marked  out  for  pillage  :  —  **  And  the 
chief  captain  answered.  With  a  great  sum  obtained  __ 
I   this  freedom."  —  Acts,    chap.  xxii.      St.  Paul'»  > 
ancestors  probably  purchased  the  like  freedom  for    ^^ 
their  family  by  money. 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  207 

Herod  and  his  partisans  were  again  accused  by 
the  most  powerful  of  the  Jews,  to  the  number  of  a 
hundred.  The  most  eloquent  among  them  were 
commissioned  to  speak.  But  Messala  contradicted 
them,  on  behalf  of  the  young  men,  in  presence  of 
Hyrcanus,  of  whom  Josephus  speaks  as  Herod's 
father-in-law.  In  respect  to  this  term,  it  is  to  be 
observed,  that  espousals  alone  w^ere  anciently 
esteemed  a  sufficient  ground  of  affinity.  Hyrcanus 
is  called  father-in-law  to  Herod,  because  his  grand- 
daughter Mariamne  was  betrothed  to  him,  though 
the  marriage  was  not  completed  till  four  years 
afterwards.  Antony  was  then  at  Daphne,  and 
heard  both  sides.  He  asked  Hyrcanus,  who  go- 
verned the  nation  best  ?  He  replied,  Herod  and 
his  friends.  Hereupon  Antony,  on  account  of  his 
reciprocal  hospitality  on  the  classical  footing  with 
Antipater,  when  he  was  with  Gabinius,  made 
Herod  and  Phasael  tetrarchs,  committed  the  public 
concerns  of  the  Jews  to  their  care,  and  wrote 
letters  of  confirmation.  He  bound  fifteen  of  their 
opponents,  and  was  going  to  kill  them;  but  Herod 
interceded  for  their  pardon.  It  has  been  before 
observed,  that  Antony  was  corrupted  by  the  money 
which  Herod  and  his  brother  had  given  him.  He 
therefore  gave  orders  to  the  governor  of  the  place 
to  punish  the  Jewish  ambassadors  who  were  given 
to  innovation,  and  to  settle  the  government  upon 
Herod,  who  went  out  to  them  in  haste,  with  Hyrca- 
nus, for  they  were  standing  on  the  shore  before  the 
city.  He  charged  tliem  to  depart,  denouncing  much 
mischief  if  they  proceeded  with  their  accusation. 
But  his  warning  was  vain.  Consequently,  the 
Romans  ran  upon  them  with  their  daggers,  slaying 
some,  and  wounding  more  :  the  rest  ran  home  and 


208     ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

hid  themselves,  in  great  consternation.  When  the 
people  made  a  clamour  against  Herod,  Antony 
was  so  enraged  at  it  that  he  slew  the  prisoners. 

Herod  had  much  difficulty  in  escaping  the 
snares  of  the  Parthians.  The  butler,  who  in  those 
days  seems  to  have  been  synonymous  with  the 
murderer,  was  sent  against  Herod.  He  had  it  in 
command  to  get  him  beyond  the  walls  of  the  city, 
and  to  seize  upon  him.  But  messengers  had  been 
sent  by  Phasael  to  inform  Herod  of  the  Parthian 
treachery.  When  he  knew  that  the  enemy  had 
seized  on  him  and  Hyrcanus,  he  went  to  Pacorus, 
and  to  the  most  powerful  of  the  Parthians,  as  to 
the  lords  of  the  rest.  They  dissembled  their  know- 
ledge of  the  affair,  and  asked  him  to  go  out  with 
them  before  the  walls,  and  meet  those  wlio  were 
bringing  him  his  letters ;  for  they  were  not  taken 
by  his  adversaries,  but  were  coming  to  give  him  an 
account  of  the  good  success  Phasael  had  met  with. 
Herod  did  not  credit  what  they  said,  for  he  had 
heard  that  his  brother  was  seized  upon  by  others 
also.  The  grand-daughter  of  Hyrcanus,  whom  he 
had  espoused,  also  warned  him  not  to  credit  them. 
This  made  him  still  more  suspicious  of  the  Par- 
thians ;  for  though  other  people  esteemed  her  but 
lightly,  he  held  her  to  be  a  woman  of  great  wisdom. 
Now  as  Pacorus  and  his  friends  were  considering 
how  they  might  bring  their  plot  to  bear  privately, 
because  it  was  not  possible  to  succeed  against  a 
man  of  so  great  prudence  by  an  open  attack, 
Herod  was  much  disturbed  in  mind,  and  more 
disposed  to  believe  the  reports  he  heard  about 
his  brother  and  the  Parthians,  than  to  give 
heed  to  what  was  said  on  the  other  side.  He 
therefore  determined,   that  as  night  came  on,   he 


ON    THE    HISTORY   OF    JOSEPHUS,    ETC.        $09 

would  make  use  of  it  for  his  flight,  taking  with 
him  the  persons  most  nearly  related  to  him,  with- 
out their  enemies  being  apprised  of  it,  and  not 
make  any  longer  delay,  as  if  the  danger  were  still 
uncertain.  His  mind  was  superior  to  the  fear 
natural  to  so  hazardous  a  condition,  and  his  cou- 
rage increased  with  his  difficulties.  As  he  passed 
along  he  cheered  his  companions,  and  entreated 
them  not  to  abandon  themselves  to  sorrow,  as  it 
would  destroy  the  only  hope  they  liad  in  flight. 
Malchus,  king  of  Arabia,  refused  to  receive  him, 
but  soon  repented,  and  came  after  him,  but 
without  success.  Herod  had  advanced  into  the 
road  to  Pelusium  ;  and  when  the  stationary  ships 
there  hindered  him  from  sailing  to  Alexandria,  he 
went  to  their  captains,  who  had  great  reverence 
and  regard  for  him.  By  their  assistance  he  was 
conducted  into  the  city  of  Alexandria,  and  re- 
tained there  by  Cleopatra.  Yet  she  was  not  able 
to  prevail  with  him  to  stop,  because  he  was 
hurrying  to  Rome,  notwithstanding  the  stormy 
weatlier;  for  he  was  informed  that  the  state  of 
Italy  was  very  tumultuous,  and  its  aflairs  in  great 
disorder.  Cleopatra  had  hoped  he  might  be  per- 
suaded to  be  commander  of  her  forces,  in  the 
expedition  she  was  planning,  but  he  rejected  her 
solicitations.  He  landed  at  Brundusium,  or  Bren- 
tesium,  or  Bg5vg>jo-/<ov  as  it  stands  on  some  coins. 

Antony  felt  compassion  for  the  reverses  of  He- 
rod's fortunes.  Reflecting  that  this  was  the  com- 
mon fate  of  those  who  are  placed  in  high  stations, 
and  that  they  are  liable  to  sudden  changes,  he  was 
ready  to  give  him  the  assistance  he  desired.  He 
called  to  mind  how  hospitably  he  had  been  treated 
by  Antipater,  and  Herod's  extraordinary  virtue  in 


510  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

having  formerly  bribed  him  for  the  office  of  te- 
ti'arch,  and  now  repeating  the  appHcation  to  be 
made  king  of  the  Jews.  The  contest  he  was  now 
engaged  in  with  Antigonus,  and  his  hatred  to  him 
as  a  seditious  person,  and  an  enemy  to  the  Romans, 
were  of  no  less  weight  than  his  regard  for  Herod* 
Caesar  was  still  better  inclined  to  forward  Herod's 
advancement,  and  to  assist  him  in  his  designs,  as 
remembering  the  toils  of  war  he  had  shared  with 
his  father  Antipater  in  Egypt,  the  hospitable  treat- 
ment and  peculiar  kindness  he  had  received  from 
him,  and  the  activity  he  saw  in  Herod  himself. 
He  wished  also  to  gratify  Antony's  zeal  for  Herod. 
He  therefore  called  the  senate  together.  Messala 
first,  and  afterwards  Atratinus,  produced  Herod 
before  them,  enlarged  on  the  benefits  they  had 
received  from  his  father,  and  reminded  them  of 
the  son's  good  will  to  the  Romans.  The  senate 
was  moved  by  these  reasons,  and  irritated  at  the 
Parthian  treachery.  Antony  then  came  in,  and 
proved  to  them  how  much  it  was  for  their  advan- 
tage in  the  Parthian  war,  that  Herod  should  be 
king.  They  all  voted  for  it  accordingly;  When 
the  senate  adjourned,  Antony  and  Caesar  went  out, 
with  Herod  between  them.  The  consul  and  the 
other  magistrates  went  before  them  to  offer  sacri- 
fice, and  to  deposit  the  decree  in  the  Capitol.  An- 
tony made  a  feast  for  Herod  on  the  first  day  of 
his  reign. 

The  chronology  of  Herod,  both  as  to  the  time 
when  he  was  first  made  king  at  Rome,  and  the 
time  when  he  began  his  second  reign  without  a 
competitor,  on  the  conquest  and  slaughter  of  An- 
tigonus, is  principally  derived  from  the  last  three 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  211 

chapters  of  the  fourteenth  book  of  Josephus's  An- 
tiquities of  the  Jews. 

Herod,  on  quitting  Italy,  sailed  to  Ptolemais, 
where  he  assembled  a  considerable  army,  both  of 
strangers  and  of  his  own  countrymen,  and  marched 
through  Galilee  against  Antigonus.  Silo  and  Ven- 
tidius  came  to  his  assistance  on  the  persuasion  of 
Dellius,  who  was  sent  by  Antony  to  assist  in  bring- 
ing Herod  back.  Herod's  army  increased  every 
day  as  he  advanced,  and  Galilee,  with  a  few  ex- 
ceptions, joined  him.  His  first  object  was  to  save 
those  who  were  besieged  in  the  fortress  of  Massada, 
because  they  were  his  relations.  But  it  was  neces- 
sary to  remove  tlie  obstacle  of  Joppa,  a  city  at 
variance  with  him,  that  no  strong  hold  might  be 
left  in  the  enemy's  possession  when  he  should  go 
to  Jerusalem.  When  Silo  made  this  a  pretence 
for  rising  up  from  Jerusalem,  and  was  thereupon 
pursued  by  the  Jews,  Herod  fell  upon  them  with  a 
small  body  of  men,  put  the  Jews  to  flight,  and 
saved  Silo  when  he  was  very  little  able  to  defend 
himself  After  this  Herod  took  Joppa,  and  then 
made  haste  to  rescue  those  of  his  family  who  were 
in  Massada.  Herod  had  now  a  strong  army.  As 
he  marched  on,  Antigonus  prepared  ambuscades 
in  the  passes  and  other  places  best  adapted  for 
them  ;  but  they  did  little  mischief  to  those  against 
whom  they  were  planned.  Thus  Herod  delivered 
his  family  out  of  Massada,  and  the  fortress  Bessa, 
and  then  went  on  for  Jerusalem.  The  soldiery 
with  Silo,  and  many  of  the  citizens  who  were  afraid 
of  his  power,  accompanied  Iiim."  As  soon  as  lie 
iiad  j)itclicd  his  camp  on  the  west  side  oi'  the  city, 
the  soldiers  on  guard  there  shot  their  arrows,  and 
threw  their  darts  at  him.  Great  numbers  made  a 
•  p  ^ 


212  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

sally,  and  fought  with  the  first  ranks  of  Herod's 
army  hand  to  hand.  He  ordered  proclamation  to 
be  made  about  the  wall,  That  he  came  for  the  good 
of  the  people,  and  for  the  preservation  of  the  city  ; 
not  to  revenge  himself  on  even  his  most  inveterate 
enemies,  but  with  the  desire  to  forget  their  most 
grievous  offences.  Antigonus,  in  reply  to  Herod's 
proclamation,  said  before  the  Romans  and  before 
Silo,  That  they  would  not  do  justly  if  they  gave 
the  kingdom  to  Herod,  who  was  no  more  than  a 
private  man,  and  an  Idumean,  or  half  Jew.  This 
assertion  of  Antigonus,  made  in  the  days  of  Herod, 
and  almost  to  his  face,  carries  much  greater  autho- 
rity than  the  pretences  of  his  favourite  and  flat- 
terer, Nicolaus  of  Damascus,  that  he  derived  his 
pedigree  from  Jews  as  far  backward  as  the  Baby- 
lonish captivity.  Josephus  always  esteems  him  an 
Idumean,  though  he  affirms  his  father  Antipater  to 
be  of  the  same  people  with  the  Jews,  and  a  Jew 
by  birth.  But  the  Idumeans  were  in  time  consi- 
dered as  identified  with  the  Jews. 

Herod  was  not  fond  of  lying  still.  He  sent  out 
his  brother  Joseph  against  Idumea  with  two  thou- 
sand armed  footmen,  and  four  hundred  horsemen, 
while  he  himself  went  to  Samaria,  and  left  his  mo- 
ther and  his  other  relations  there  ;  for  they  had 
already  departed  from  Massada.  He  then  went 
into  Galilee  to  take  certain  places  held  by  the  gar- 
risons of  Antigonus,  and  passed  into  Sepphoris ;  as 
God  sent  a  snow,  while  the  garrisons  of  Antigonus 
withdrew  themselves,  and  had  great  plenty  of  pro- 
visions. He  had  now  brought  over  to  him  all  Ga- 
lilee, excepting  the  inhabitants  of  the  caves,  and 
distributed  money  to  all  his  soldiers,  to  the  amount 
of  a  hundred  and  fifty  drachmae  apiece,  with  much 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  1213 

larger  sums  to  their  captains,  and  sent  them  into 
winter  quarters.  At  this  time  Silo  came  to  him 
again,  and  his  commanders  with  him,  because  An- 
tigonus  would  no  longer  pay  his  treachery,  having 
supplied  his  people  with  provisions  for  no  more 
than  one  month.  More  than  that,  he  had  sent  to 
all  the  country  round,  and  ordered  them  to  carry 
off  their  provisions,  and  retire  to  the  mountains, 
that  the  Romans  might  perish  by  famine.  But 
Herod  committed  the  care  of  the  supplies  to  his 
younger  brother  Pheroras,  and  commanded  him  to 
repair  Alexandrium. 

Antony  was  now  staying  some  time  at  Athens, 
and  Ventidius,  who  was  in  Syria,  sent  for  Silo,  and 
commanded  him  first  to  assist  Herod  in  finishing 
the  present  war,  and  then  to  send  for  their  confe- 
derates for  the  war  they  were  themselves  engaged 
in.  Herod  went  in  haste  against  the  robbers  in 
the  caves,  and  sent  Silo  to  Ventidius  while  he 
marched  against  them.  One  old  man  was  caught 
within  one  of  these  caves,  with  a  wife  and  seven 
children,  who  were  earnest  to  go  out,  and  surrender 
to  the  enemy :  but  he  stood  at  the  mouth  of  the 
cave,  and  slew  every  child  w  ho  attempted  a  passage, 
till  he  had  destroyed  them  all.  He  then  killed  his 
wife,  and  threw  the  dead  bodies  down  the  preci- 
pice, and  himself  afler  them,  preferring  death  to 
slavery.  Before  this  final  act  of  despair,  he  re- 
proached Herod  scornfully  with  the  meanness  of 
his  family,  notwithstanding  his  adventitious  royalty. 
Herod  wishing  to  prevent  the  execution  of  his  rash 
design,  stretched  out  his  hand,  and  offered  him 
assurances  that  his  life  should  be  safe.  All  the 
caves  were  at  length  entirely  reduced. 

Herod  joined  his  troops  with  those  of  Antony 
A  p  3 


214  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

at  the  siege  of  Samosata,  and  was  received  with 
great  honour.  His  post  was  in  the  rear.  On  one 
occasion,  when  the  iirst  ranks  had  passed,  an  am- 
buscade, to  the  number  of  about  five  hundred,  fell 
suddenly  on  them,  and  put  the  foremost  to  flight. 
The  king,  with  the  forces  about  him,  came  riding 
hard  and  immediately  drove  back  the  enemy. 
Thus  he  so  emboldened  his  own  men  to  go  on,  that 
those  who  ran  away  before  returned,  and  the  bar- 
barians were  slain  on  all  sides.  The  king  followed 
up  the  carnage,  and  recovered  all  the  baggage, 
with  many  beasts  of  burden  and  slaves.  He  then 
proceeded  on  his  march.  Many  of  those  who  had 
attacked  them  had  got  into  the  woods,  near  the 
passage  that  led  into  the  plain.  On  these  he  made 
a  sally  with  a  strong  body  of  men,  put  them  to 
flight,  slew  several,  and  rendered  the  way  safe  for 
those  that  were  to  come  after,  who  considered  him 
as  their  saviour  and  protector. 

On  his  arrival  at  Daphne,  near  Antioch,  mes- 
sengers came  to  inform  him  that  his  brother  Joseph 
was  slain  in  Judea.  This  was  not  unexpected  ;  as 
his  dreams,  or  as  he  conceived,  visions,  had  clearly 
foreshown  his  brother's  death.  In  the  course  of 
his  subsequent  campaign,  on  one  occasion  his  sol- 
diers got  on  the  tops  of  houses  which  were  full  of 
enemies,  pulled  up  the  upper  floors,  and  destroyed 
the  people  beneath.  This  must  have  been  effected 
by  ladders  from  the  outside.  It  appears  from  se- 
veral texts  in  the  New  Testament,  that  this  was 
no  uncommon  mode  of  ascending  on  ordinary 
occasions. 

The  generals  at  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  were  two : 
Sosius,  sent  by  Antony  to  assist  Herod,  and  Herod 
on  his  own  account,  to  take  the  government  from 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  215 

Antigonus,  who  had  been  declared  an  enemy  at 
Rome,  that  he  might  himself  be  king,  according  to 
the  decree  of  the  senate.  Josephus  fully  and  fre- 
quently assures  us,  that  above  three  years  passed 
between  Herod's  first  obtaining  the  kingdom  at 
Rome,  and  a  second  time  on  the  taking  of  Jeru- 
salem and  the  death  of  Antigonus.  The  history  of 
the  interval  twice  mentions  the  army  as  going  into 
winter  quarters.  This  may  be  supposed  to  belong 
to  two  several  winters,  though  he  says  nothing  of 
the  time  they  lay  in  those  quarters.  But  he  de- 
scribes the  long  and  studied  delays  of  Ventidius, 
Silo,  and  Macheras,  who  were  sent  to  see  Herod 
settled  in  his  new  kingdom,  but  seem  not  to  have 
had  sufficient  forces  for  the  purpose:  besides  which, 
it  is  clear  that  they  were  all  corrupted  by  Anti- 
gonus. He  also  gives  us  such  particular  accounts 
of  Herod's  many  exploits  during  the  same  interval, 
as  fairly  imply  that  interval,  before  Herod  went  to 
Samosata,  to  have  been  very  considerable.  We 
know  from  other  sources,  that  Tigranes,  then  king 
of  Armenia,  and  the  principal  manager  of  this  Par- 
thian war,  reigned  two  years  afler  Herod  was  made 
king  at  Rome.  Antony  did  not  hear  of  his  death, 
in  that  very  neighbourhood,  at  Samosata,  till  he 
was  come  thither  to  besiege  it.  After  this  Herod 
marched  an  army  three  hundred  and  forty  miles, 
through  a  difficult  country,  full  of  enemies,  and 
joined  with  him  in  the  siege  of  Samosata  till  its 
capture.  Herod  and  Sosius  then  marched  back 
with  their  large  armies  the  same  number  of  miles. 
When,  a  little  time  afterwards,  they  sat  down  be- 
fore Jerusalem,  they  could  not  take  it  by  a  siege 
of  less  than  five  months.  All  this  i)ut  together, 
satisfactorily  supplies  what  is  wanting  in  Josephus, 

p  4 


210        ON    THE    HISTORY    OF    JOSEPHUS,    ETC. 

and  establishes  the  chronology  of  those  times  be- 
yond the  reach  of  contradiction. 

With  respect  to  Herod's  marriage  with  the 
celebrated  Mariamne,  the  daughter  of  Alexandra, 
the  first  engagement  took  place,  after  he  had  been 
fighting  against  Antigonus  and  his  party  in  the 
avenues  of  Judea.  He  was  conqueror  in  a  pitched 
battle,  and  drove  Antigonus  away.  He  then  re- 
turned to  Jerusalem,  beloved  by  every  body,  for 
this  glorious  action.  Those  who  before  had  not 
been  favourable  to  him,  united  themselves  with 
him  now,  on  account  of  his  marriage  into  the 
family  of  Hyrcanus.  He  had  formerly  married  a 
woman  of  his  own  country,  by  name  Doris,  of 
no  ignoble  blood,  by  whom  he  had  Antipater.  He 
now  married  Mariamne,  the  daughter  of  Alexan- 
der, the  son  of  Aristobulus,  and  the  grand-daughter 
of  Hyrcanus.  By  this  marriage  he  became  related 
to  the  king.  But  the  marriage  was  not  finally 
solemnised  till  a  short  time  after  the  death  of  his 
brother  Joseph,  who  was  slain  by  Pappus,  the 
general  for  Antigonus.  Tiiis  Pappus  was  killed 
in  battle.  Herod  had  his  head  cut  off,  and  sent 
it  in  savage  triumph  to  his  brotlier  Pheroras.  This 
was  in  the  third  year  after  he  had  been  made  king 
at  Rome.  At  the  close  of  the  winter  he  marched 
to  Jerusalem,  and  brought  his  army  under  its 
walls.  He  pitched  his  camp  before  the  Temple, 
as  the  only  practicable  side  for  besieging  it.  It 
was  there  that  Pompey  took  the  city. 

When  the  war  about  Actium  was  begun,  Herod 
prepared  to  come  to  Antony's  assistance.  He  was 
already  delivered  from  his  troubles  in  Judea,  and 
had  gained  Hyrcania,  held  by  the  sister  of  Anti- 
gonus.     But  the   cunning  of  Cleopatia  hindered 


ON    THE    HISTORY    OF    JOSEPHUS,    ETC.        21? 

him  from  sharing  in  Antony's  hazards.  She  had 
laid  a  plot  against  the  kings  of  Judea  and  Arabia. 
She  therefore  prev^ailed  with  Antony  to  commit 
the  war  against  the  Arabians  to  Herod.  If  he 
were  victorious,  she  might  become  mistress  of 
Arabia:  if  he  were  defeated,  Judea  might  be 
hers.  Thus  she  hoped  to  play  these  kings  off 
against  each  other,  and  to  destroy  one  of  them. 
But  this  contrivance  tended  to  Herod's  advantage. 
At  the  very  fii*st  he  took  hostages  fi'om  the  enemy, 
and  got  together  a  great  body  of  horse.  He 
ordered  them  to  march  against  the  forces  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Diospolis,  and  conquered  that 
army,  although  it  fought  resolutely  against  him. 
When  Herod  came  to  Kanatha,  he  endeavoured 
to  manage  this  war  with  particular  prudence.  He 
gave  orders  for  a  wall  to  be  built  about  their 
camp.  The  multitude  did  not  comply  with  his 
directions.  They  were  so  emboldened  by  their 
recent  victory,  that  tliey  immediately  attacked  the 
Arabians,  and  defeated  them  at  the  first  onset. 
They  then  pursued  them  ;  but  snares  were  laid  for 
Herod  in  that  pursuit.  Athenio,  one  of  Cleo- 
patra's generals,  and  always  Herod's  opponent, 
sent  the  men  of  that  country  out  of  Kanatha 
against  him.  On  this  fresh  onset,  the  Arabians 
regained  their  courage,  and  returned.  The  two 
parties  joined  tlieir  numerous  forces  about  stony 
places,  that  rendered  the  passage  difficult,  and 
there  put  Herod's  men  to  the  rout.  The  slaugh- 
ter was  great ;  but  those  who  escaped  out  of  the 
battle  fled  to  Ormiza,  where  the  Arabians  sur- 
rounded their  camp,  and  took  it  with  all  the  men 
it  contained.  This  great  defeat  of  his  army,  and 
his  own  consequent  distress,  with  a  great  earth- 


218         ON    THE    HISTORY    OF   JOSEPHUS,    ETC. 

quake  in  Judea,  seem  to  have  produced  the  same 
effect  on  Herod,  as  times  of  affliction  bring  about 
with  most  men  :  that  of  making  them  at  least  tem- 
porarily religious.  There  is  no  other  instance  men- 
tioned in  Josephus,  but  this  under  peculiar  discou- 
ragement, largely  as  he  speaks  of  Herod  and  in 
minute  detail,  of  his  ever  thinking  to  supplicate  the 
Deity  with  sacrifices.  But  before  he  went  out  to 
his  next  battle  with  the  Arabians,  he  offered  the 
sacrifices  appointed  by  the  law.  He  then  without 
delay  led  the  Jews  against  the  Arabians,  passing 
over  Jordan,  and  pitching  his  camp  near  that  of 
the  enemy.  Nor  was  he  disappointed  in  his  hopes 
on  this  occasion.  The  Jews  felt  highly  encou- 
raged. Herod  then  observing  that  the  hostile 
army  was  utterly  disinclined  to  an  engagement, 
ventured  boldly  to  attempt  their  bulwark,  and  to 
pull  it  to  pieces,  that  he  might  get  nearer  to  their 
camp  and  fight  them.  Being  thus  forced  from 
their  trenches,  they  went  out  in  disorder,  without 
alacrity  or  the  hope  of  victory.  Yet  being  more 
in  number  than  the  Jews,  they  fought  hand-to- 
hand.  Indeed  their  military  position  was  such, 
that  they  were  obliged  to  put  a  good  face  on  the 
necessity  of  fighting.  The  battle  was  terrible,  and 
not  a  few  fell  on  both  sides.  It  ended  in  a  signal 
victory  over  the  Arabians,  who  had  so  lately  been 
the  conquerors.  The  earthquake  in  Judea,  also, 
had  so  raised  their  insolence,  that  they  presumed 
to  put  the  Jewish  ambassadors  to  death.  Now 
aU  was  consternation,  and  they  with  difficulty 
screwed  up  their  courage  to  the  sticking-place. 

Herod's  mind  was  soon  after  this  disturbed  by 
the  state  of  affairs  at  Rome,  and  jealousy  of  Hyr- 
canus.     An  occasion  of  venting  his  malignity  soon 


ON    THE    HISTORY    OF    JOSEPHUS,    ETC.         219 

occurred.  Hyrcanus  was  at  all  times  mild  in  his 
temper.  He  had  no  desire  to  meddle  with  public 
affairs,  nor  to  concern  himself  with  innovations. 
He  was  contented  witli  whatever  fortune  afforded 
him.  But  his  daughter  Alexandra  was  a  lover  of 
strife,  and  very  desirous  of  a  change  in  the  govern- 
ment. She  therefore  urged  her  father  not  to  bear 
for  ever  Herod's  injurious  treatment  of  their  family, 
but  to  anticipate  their  future  hopes,  as  he  safely 
might.  She  desired  him  to  write  to  Malchus,  then 
governor  of  Arabia,  to  receive  and  secure  them 
from  Herod.  If  they  were  to  go  away,  and  Herod's 
interests  to  fail  in  consequence  of  Caesar's  enmity, 
they  would  then  be  the  only  persons  capable  of 
assuming  the  government,  on  account  of  their 
royal  birth  and  popularity  witli  the  multitude. 
Hyrcanus  resisted  her  suit :  but  she  was  a  woman, 
and  a  contentious  woman  too.  She  pursued  her 
object  day  and  night ;  and  by  dwelling  on  Herod's 
treacherous  designs,  prevailed  with  him  to  intrust 
his  friend  Dositheus  with  a  letter,  declaring  his 
resolution.  He  desired  the  Arabian  governor  to 
send  some  horsemen,  for  the  purpose  of  conducting 
him  to  the  lake  Asphaltites,  300  furlongs  distant 
from  the  boundaries  of  Jerusalem.  He  consigned 
this  letter  to  Dositheus,  as  an  assiduous  attendant 
on  himself  and  Alexandra,  and  because  he  had 
many  motives  for  hostility  to  Herod,  for  having 
slain  his  kinsman  Joseph.  He  was  also  brother  to 
some  persons  formerly  slain  at  Tyre  by  Antony. 
But  his  resentment  on  these  accounts  was  not 
strong  enough  to  secure  his  fidelity  to  Hyrcanus. 
He  preferred  an  interest  with  the  present  king  to 
remote  prospects  with  a  presumptive  one,  and 
gave  Herod  the  letter,  who  immediately  sent  for 


220        ON    THE    HISTORY    OF   JOSEPHUS,    ETC. 

Hyrcanus,  and  questioned  him  about  his  league 
with  Malchus.  On  his  denying  it,  he  showed  the 
letter  to  the  sanhedrim,  and  put  him  to  death  in- 
stantly. Josephus  gives  this  account  from  Herod's 
own  Commentaries  ;  but  states  that  other  histo- 
rians tell  a  different  tale.  They  suppose  that 
Herod  did  not  find,  but  make  this  occasion,  by 
laying  an  insidious  snare.  According  to  them, 
Herod  and  Hyrcanus  were  once  at  an  entertain- 
ment, when  Herod  put  the  question  to  the  latter, 
without  appearing  to  be  displeased,  whether  he 
had  received  any  letters  from  Malchus?  The 
answer  was,  that  he  had  received  letters,  but  only 
of  common-place  civility.  The  question  was  again 
put,  whether  he  had  not  received  presents  ?  On 
his  reply,  that  he  had  only  received  four  riding- 
horses  from  Malchus,  Herod  charged  this  u])on 
him  as  corruption  and  treason,  and  gave  immediate 
orders  for  his  execution.  The  historians  urge  the 
mildness  of  his  temper  as  an  argument  of  his  inno- 
cence. In  his  youth  he  had  exhibited  neither 
temerity  nor  boldness.  When  he  came  to  be  king, 
he  committed  the  management  of  public  business 
to  Antipater.  He  was  now  above  fourscore  years 
old,  and  knew  Herod's  government  to  be  stable. 
Besides  this,  he  came  over  the  Euphrates,  leaving 
his  faithful  adherents  on  the  other  side  of  that 
river,  and  putting  himself  entirely  in  Herod's  power. 
They  consider  it  as  incredible  that  he  should  so 
depart  from  his  usual  character,  or  form  any  enter- 
prise for  the  purpose  of  innovation.  The  in- 
ference is,  that  this  was  a  plot  of  Herod's  own 
contrivance. 

As  soon  as  Hyrcanus  was  out  of  the  way,  Herod 
hastened  to  Caesar.     He  could  not  entertain  hopes 


ON    THE    HISTORY    OF    JOSEPHUS,    ETC.         ^21 

of  kindness  from  him,  on  account  of  his  friendship 
with  Antony.  He  suspected  Alexandra  of  taking 
this  opportunity  to  produce  a  revolt  among  the 
multitude,  and  foster  sedition.  He  therefore  com- 
mitted the  affairs  of  the  kingdom  to  his  brother 
Pheroras,  and  placed  his  mother  Cypras  and  his 
sister  Salome,  and  the  whole  family  at  Massada, 
giving  him  charge  to  take  care  of  the  government, 
if  he  should  hear  any  bad  tidings  of  himself.  Mu- 
tual misunderstanding  prevented  his  wife  Mariamne 
from  living  with  his  sister  and  his  mother.  He 
therefore  placed  her  at  Alexandrium  with  her  own 
mother  Alexandra,  and  left  his  treasurer  Joseph, 
and  Sohemus  of  Iturea,  to  take  care  of  that  fortress. 
Herod  was  confirmed  in  his  kingdom  by  Caesar, 
partly  in  consequence  of  Quintus  Didius  having 
written  word,  that  he  was  willing  to  assist  in  an 
affair  of  gladiators. 

Herod  had  five  children  by  Mariamne ;  two 
daughters  and  three  sons.  The  youngest  of  the 
sons  was  educated  at  Rome,  and  died  there.  He 
treated  the  two  eldest  as  of  royal  blood,  on  account 
of  their  mother's  noble  rank,  and  their  birth  after 
he  was  king.  His  love  for  Mariamne  was  very 
strong,  and  increased  from  day  to  day.  He  con- 
sidered all  his  other  anxieties  as  compensated  by 
the  possession  of  her.  But  she  returned  his  affec- 
tion with  consummate  hatred.  In  this  part  of  the 
story,  Josephus  is  inconsistent.  In  one  place  he 
represents  her  as  reproaching  Herod  with  the 
murder  of  her  father  Alexander,  as  well  as  her  bro- 
ther Aristobulus :  in  another,  he  gives  the  received 
story,  that  he  caused  her  grandfather  Hyrcanus 
to  be  slain,  not  her  fatlier  Alexander.  If  we  may 
be  allowed  to  read  p:rmidfhtficr  iov  fathery  the  name 


222        ON    THE    HISTORY    OF    JOSEPHUS,    ETC. 

neither  of  Alexander  nor  Hyrcanus  being  men- 
tioned, Josephus's  accuracy  and  consistency  will 
be  vindicated. 

The  dominions  of  Herod  were  now  enlarged, 
and  he  became  more  magnificent.  He  conducted 
Caesar  as  far  as  Antioch  after  their  interview. 
In  proportion  as  his  prosperity  was  augmented 
by  foreign  acquisitions,  his  family  distresses  in- 
creased on  his  return.  They  arose  chiefly  from 
his  wife,  in  whom  he  had  hitherto  considered 
himself  as  most  fortunate  ;  nor  could  any  hus- 
band exceed  him  in  affection.  But  she  upbraided 
his  mother  and  sister  openly  with  the  meanness 
of  their  birth,  and  spoke  of  them  with  unkind- 
ness.  These  bickerings  between  the  women  were 
of  long  standing;  but  their  hatred  at  length  broke 
out  into  mutual  reproaches  in  pubHc,  not  unac- 
companied with  suspicious  hints.  This  lasted 
a  whole  year  after  Herod's  return  from  Caesar, 
though  for  some  time  decency  had  been  in  a  great 
degree  preserved.  The  storm  burst  all  at  once. 
The  king  was  one  day  resting  on  his  bed  at  noon, 
when  his  fondness  induced  him  to  call  for  Mari- 
amne.  The  ebullitions  of  her  wayward  temper 
offended  him,  and  he  was  on  the  point  of  using 
violence  to  her.  His  sister  Salome,  noticing  that 
he  was  more  than  ordinarily  disturbed,  sent  the 
king's  cup-bearer  in  to  him  precipitately,  according 
to  a  design  long  in  preparation.  She  bid  him  tell 
the  king,  how  Mariamne  had  persuaded  him  to 
assist  her  in  preparing  a  love-potion  for  him.  He 
went  in  and  told  his  story  with  a  sufficient  degree 
of  composure  to  gain  credit,  yet  with  an  affectation 
of  hurry.  Finding  the  king  moved,  he  said  that 
the  love-potion  she  had  mixed  was  a  composition, 
whose   efiects    he  was  not  acquainted   with :    he 


ON    THE    HISTORY    OF    JOSEPHUS,    ETC.        223 

determined  therefore  to  give  this  information,  as 
the  safest  course  he  could  adopt  both  for  himself 
and  for  the  king.  Herod  was  in  ill-humour,  and 
his  anger  grew  more  violent.  He  ordered  Ma- 
riamne's  most  faithful  eunuch  to  be  put  to  the 
torture  about  this  potion,  because  it  was  not  pos- 
sible for  any  thing  to  be  done  without  his  know- 
ledge. The  most  acute  agonies  could  extort 
nothing  from  the  man  on  the  subject  in  question : 
but  he  said,  that  Mariamne  hated  Herod  in  conse- 
quence of  some  suggestion  on  the  part  of  Sohemus. 
Herod  cried  aloud,  that  Sohemus,  having  been  at 
all  other  times  faithful  to  him  and  to  his  govern- 
ment, would  not  have  betrayed  his  secrets  but  in 
more  intimate  conversation  than  ordinary  with 
Mariamne.  He  gave  orders  that  Sohemus  sliould 
be  seized,  and  slain  immediately.  He  allowed  his 
wife  to  take  her  trial :  but  got  together  his  most 
attached  people,  and  laid  an  elaborate  information 
against  her  for  this  love-potion  and  suspicious 
composition,  the  charge  concerning  which  was 
a  mere  calumny.  The  court,  seeing  the  bent  of 
his  mind,  passed  sentence  of  death ;  but  he  and 
some  others  suggested  that  she  sliould  only  be 
imprisoned  in  one  of  the  fortresses.  Salome  and 
her  party  laboured  hard  for  immediate  execution, 
using  prudential  arguments  to  the  king,  lest  the 
multitude  should  be  tumultuous  if  she  were  suf- 
fered to  live.  The  sentence  therefore  was  carried 
into  effect.  Alexandra,  on  seeing  this,  felt  how 
little  hope  there  was  that  she  herself  should  escape 
the  like  treatment  from  Herod.  She  therefore 
recovered  her  former  boldness.  To  show  her  ig- 
norance of  the  crimes  charged  against  Mariamne, 
she   indecently  reproached   her   daughter   in   the 


224        ON    THE    HISTORY    OF   JOSEPHUS,    ETC. 

hearing  of  all  the  people.  She  accused  her  of 
being  a  bad  woman,  ungrateful  to  her  husband, 
and  justly  punished  for  her  insolent  behaviour, 
and  unsuitable  returns  to  their  common  benefactor. 
She  acted  this  hypocritical  part  for  some  time,  and 
carried  her  outrage  so  far  as  to  tear  lier  hair. 
This  occurred  at  the  scaffold.  Both  the  spectators 
and  the  victim  were  shocked  at  such  dissimulation. 
The  daughter  looked  at  her,  but  uttered  not  a 
word,  and  seemed  to  feel  nothing  on  her  own 
account.  But  the  nobleness  of  her  mind  disco- 
vered itself  in  her  manifest  concern  for  her  mother's 
self-exposure.  She  then  proceeded  to  her  death 
with  unshaken  firmness  of  mind,  and  without 
changing  colour.  Her  last  moments  were  wortliy 
of  her  descent.  In  her  life  she  had  been  distin- 
guished for  chastity  and  magnanimity.  Her  fault 
was  want  of  moderation,  and  a  contentious  temper. 
Her  beauty  was  great,  and  her  appearance  majes- 
tic. The  stern  dignity  of  her  character  prevented 
her  from  proving  so  agreeable  to  the  king,  or 
living  so  pleasantly  with  him,  as  she  might  have 
done.  His  indulgence  and  fondness  were  un- 
bounded ;  and  this  sometimes  led  her  to  try  him 
beyond  bearing,  and  produced  unexpected  harsh- 
ness on  his  part. 

Afler  this  time  Herod  revolted  from  the  laws  ol' 
his  country,  and  corrupted  their  ancient  consti- 
tution, by  the  introduction  of  foreign  customs. 
That  constitution  ought  to  have  been  inviolate. 
When  the  religious  observances  which  were  wont 
to  inspire  the  multitude  with  piety  were  neglected, 
wickedness  generally  prevailed.  He  appointed 
solemn  games  to  be  celebrated  every  fifth  year  in 
honour  of  Caesar,  built  a  theatre  at  Jerusalem,  and 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  Q^5 

a  large  amphitheatre  in  the  plain.  In  the  theatre 
he  instituted  magnificent  plays  and  shows,  thifme- 
lici,  which  were  music  meetings,  and  chariot  races, 
where  the  chariots  were  drawn  by  two,  three,  or 
four  pair  of  horses.  The  sober  Jews  looked  on 
these  as  heathenish  sports,  tending  to  corrupt  the 
morals  of  their  nation,  to  bring  them  into  contact 
with  Pagan  idolatry  and  manners.  They  con- 
demned them  as  tending  to  the  immediate  dissolu- 
tion of  the  Mosaic  law.  Our  modern  masquerades, 
plays,  operas,  with  other  pomps  and  vanities  of 
the  world,  are  as  mercilessly,  but  with  less  reason, 
censured  by  a  certain  class  of  Christian  enthu- 
siasts. The  Jews  were  to  be  separated  from  the 
world  ;  we  constitute  it. 

A  mob  took  this  matter  up  offensively :  but 
Herod  got  clear  of  the  multitude,  and  allayed  the 
violence  of  their  passion.  The  greatest  part  of  the 
people  were  disposed  to  change  their  conduct,  and 
not  to  be  displeased  with  him  any  longer.  Still 
the  resentment  of  some  was  unabated,  for  his  in- 
troduction of  new  practices.  They  foreboded  the 
origin  of  great  mischief  from  the  violation  of  the 
laws,  and  considered  themselves  as  called  upon  by 
piety  to  hazard  their  own  lives,  rather  than  seem 
to  acquiesce  in  such  a  change  of  government,  and 
the  violent  introduction  of  foreign  habits.  They 
represented  Herod  as  a  king  only  in  pretence,  but 
in  reality  an  enemy  to  their  whole  nation.  On 
this  account,  ten  citizens  of  Jerusalem  conspired, 
and  bound  themselves  to  each  other  by  oath,  to 
undergo  any  dangers  in  their  attempt.  They 
armed  themselves  with  daggers  under  their  gar- 
ments, for  the  purpose  of  killing  Herod.  Among 
the  conspirators    there    was    a    blind    man,    who 


226  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

became  a  great  encourager  of  the  rest,  through 
indignation  at  what  he  had  only  heard  ofl  He 
was  incapable  of  affording  them  personal  assist- 
ance, but  anxious  to  share  their  hazards  and  risk 
their  sufferings. 

With  this  common  resolve,  they  went  into  the 
theatre,  in  the  hope  that  Herod  himself  could  not 
escape  them,  as  they  meant  to  fall  on  him  unex- 
pectedly. But  if  they  missed  him,  they  were 
likely  to  kill  many  of  his  attendants.  They  deter- 
mined to  do  this,  should  they  die  for  it  ;  by  way 
of  reading  a  lesson  to  the  king,  on  the  injuries  he 
had  done  the  multitude.  The  conspirators  thus 
prepared,  went  about  their  design  with  alacrity. 
But  one  of  Herod's  spies,  appointed  to  hunt  out 
conspiracies,  discovered  this,  and  told  the  king  of 
it,  just  as  he  was  going  into  the  theatre.  The 
citizens  did  execution  on  the  informer.  Herod 
made  a  strict  scrutiny,  and  put  many  to  severe 
torture :  but  he  would  never  have  discovered  the 
perpetrators  of  the  assassination,  had  not  certain 
women  in  their  agonies  confessed  what  they  had 
seen.  The  authors  of  the  fact  were  terribly 
punished  by  the  king,  and  their  families  destroyed 
for  this  rash  attempt.  Herod  was  not  rendered 
more  mild  by  the  obstinacy  of  the  people,  and 
their  constancy  in  defence  of  their  laws.  To  pre- 
vent his  innovations  from  producing  open  rebellion, 
he  determined  to  encompass  the  multitude  on 
every  side. 

He  now  married  again.  One  Simon,  a  citizen 
of  Jerusalem,  the  son  of  one  Boethus,  a  citizen  of 
Alexandria,  and  a  priest  of  great  note  there,  had  a 
daughter,  esteemed  the  most  beautiful  woman  of 
her  time.     The  people  of  Jerusalem  spoke  loudly 


2^ 

in  her  praise.  Herod  was  much  moved  by  what 
he  heard  of  her ;  and  wlien  he  saw  the  damsel, 
was  smitten  with  her  beauty.  But  he  entertained 
no  design  of  using  his  authority  to  abuse  her, 
justly  believing,  that  he  should  so  be  stigmatised 
with  violence  and  tyranny.  He  determined  there- 
fore to  make  her  his  wife. 

In  the  time  of  a  great  famine,  he  thought  it 
politic  to  use  his  utmost  endeavours  in  assisting 
his  people.  He  cut  off  the  rich  furniture  of  his 
palace,  both  silver  and  gold,  without  sparing  his 
finest,  and  most  elaborately  chased  vessels.  The 
money  so  raised  was  sent  to  Petronius,  prefect  of 
Egypt,  appointed  by  Caesar,  to  whom  several  had 
fled  in  their  necessities.  This  person  was  Herod's 
particular  friend,  and  anxious  to  preserve  his  sub- 
jects. He  gave  them  leave  to  export  corn,  which 
he  assisted  them  in  purchasing.  He  was  indeed 
the  principal,  if  not  the  only  person,  who  gave 
them  any  help.  Herod  took  care  the  people 
should  understand,  that  this  assistance  came  from 
himself  1  He  thus  removed  their  past  ill  opinion, 
and  proved  his  regard  and  care  of  them.  He 
distributed  portions  of  corn  with  the  utmost  ex- 
actness to  such  as  were  able  to  provide  their 
own  food.  The  bakers  were  commissioned  to 
make  their  bread  ready  for  the  aged,  the  infirm, 
and  the  poor. 

All  Herod's  designs  had  now  succeeded  accord- 
ing to  his  hopes ;  nor  had  he  the  least  suspicion 
that  any  troubles  could  arise  in  his  kingdom.  He 
was  implacable  in  the  infliction  of  his  punishments, 
and  so  retained  the  people  in  obedience  by  the 
influence  of  fear.  Yet  he  had  disi)layed  the  most 
provident  care  of  them,  and  behaved  in  the  most 

Q^2 


228  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

magnanimous  manner  in  their  distresses,  and  thus 
earned,  notwithstanding  his  tyranny,  the  title  of 
Herod  the  Great.  But  he  took  further  measures 
for  external  security,  and  raised  a  moral  fortress 
for  his  government,  against  his  subjects.  His 
orations  to  the  cities  were  eloquent,  and  full  of 
benevolent  sentiments.  He  cultivated  a  politic 
understanding  with  their  governors,  and  pur- 
chased the  friendship  of  each  by  seasonable  pre- 
sents. He  thus  secured  his  kingdom  by  the 
magnificence  of  his  temper,  while  his  resources 
were  continually  increasing.  Yet  his  real  dispo- 
sition was  tyrannical  and  extravagant,  and  dis- 
played itself  with  least  reserve  in  his  Grecian 
cities.  In  the  cities  of  the  Jews,  even  he  was 
obliged  to  be  cautious  in  introducing  plays,  shows, 
and  idolatrous  temples,  in  consequence  of  a  still 
subsisting  zeal  for  the  laws  of  Moses. 

Dean  Prideaux,  in  his  excellent  Connection  of 
the  History  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  has 
an  admirable  reflection  on  ambition,  in  reference 
to  Pompey  and  Caesar,  which  is  applicable  to 
tyrants  of  all  ages  and  countries.  "  One  of  them 
could  not  bear  an  equal,  nor  the  other  a  superior : 
And  through  this  ambitious  humour  and  thirst 
after  more  power  in  these  two  men,  the  whole 
Roman  empire  being  divided  into  two  opposite 
factions,  there  was  produced  hereby  the  most 
destructive  war  that  ever  afflicted  it.  And  the 
like  folly  too  much  reigns  in  all  other  places. 
Could  about  thirty  men  be  persuaded  to  live  at 
home  in  peace,  without  enterprizing  upon  the 
rights  of  each  other  for  the  vain  glory  of  conquest, 
and  the  enlargement  of  power,  the  whole  world 
might  be  at  quiet ;  but  their  ambition,  their  follies, 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  ^^29 

and  their  humour  leading  them  constantly  to  en- 
croach upon,  and  quarrel  with  each  other,  they 
involve  all  that  are  under  them  in  the  mischiefs 
hereof)  and  many  thousands  are  they  which  yearly 
perish  by  it :  so  that  it  may  almost  raise  a  doubt, 
whether  the  benefit  which  the  world  receives  from 
government,  be  sufficient  to  make  amends  for  the 
calamities  which  it  suffers  from  the  follies,  mistakes, 
and  male-administrations  of  those  that  manage  it." — 
Part  ii.  book  J, 

Among  Herod's  other  public  works,  he  built 
Caesarea.  To  rectify  the  inconvenience  of  an  ex- 
posure to  the  south  wind,  he  laid  out  such  a  com- 
pass towards  the  land  as  might  be  sufficient  for  a 
haven,  where  ships  might  lie  in  safety.  This  he 
effected  by  letting  down  vast  stones  of  above  fifty 
feet  in  length,  not  less  than  eighteen  in  breadth, 
and  nine  in  depth,  into  twenty  fathom  deep.  Some 
were  less,  but  others  exceeded  those  dimensions. 
He  also  built  a  theatre  of  stone,  and  on  the  south 
quarter,  behind  the  port,  a  very  capacious  amphi- 
theatre, with  an  agreeable  prospect  towards  the 
sea.  In  one  passage,  the  rebuilding  and  decora- 
tion of  Caesarea  is  stated  to  have  occupied  twelve 
years,  in  another,  ten.  The  true  number  cannot 
now  probably  be  determined  ;  nor  is  the  point  of 
the  slightest  importance. 

While  Herod  was  thus  employed,  and  afler  he 
had  rebuilt  Sebaste,  the  Greek  name  for  Samaria, 
he  determined  on  sending  his  sons  Alexander  and 
Aristobulus  to  Rome,  that  tliey  might  profit  by 
Caesar's  company.  On  their  arrival  they  lived  at 
the  house  of  Pollio;  not  the  Pharisee  twice  men- 
tioned by  Josephus,  but  Asinius  Pollio  the  Roman, 
who  was  much  attached  to  Herod.  'Hiey  had  leave 


230  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

even  to  lodge  in  Caesar's  own  palace ;  for  he  re- 
ceived them  with  great  kindness,  and  allowed 
Herod  to  give  his  kingdom  to  whichever  of  his 
sons  he  pleased.  He  also  bestowed  Trachon, 
Batanea,  and  Aiiranitis,  on  him  on  the  following 
occasion.  One  Zenodorus,  a  famous  robber  in  that 
country,  mentioned  by  Strabo,  had  hired  what  was 
called  the  house  of  Lysanias.  Not  being  satisfied 
with  its  revenues,  he  entered  into  partnership  with 
the  robbers  inhabiting  the  Trachones,  and  thus 
procured  for  himself  a  larger  income.  The  inha- 
bitants of  those  districts  led  an  irregular  life,  and 
pillaged  the  country  of  the  Damascenes.  Zeno- 
dorus did  not  restrain  them,  but  shared  the  booty. 
When  these  transactions  were  laid  before  Caesar, 
he  directed  Varro  to  destroy  those  haunts  of  ban- 
ditti, and  give  the  land  to  Herod,  that  by  his  care 
the  neighbourhood  might  no  longer  be  disturbed. 
These  habits  of  robbery  had  been  so  long  in  use, 
that  it  was  not  easy  to  restrain  them.  Having 
neither  city  nor  lands  of  their  own,  but  only  some 
retreats  and  caves,  where  they  and  their  cattle  lived 
in  common,  they  had  no  other  means  of  subsist- 
ence. But  they  had  made  contrivances  to  get 
pools  of  water,  constructed  granaries  for  corn,  and 
were  capable  of  a  fierce  resistance,  by  sudden  sal- 
lies against  invaders.  The  entrances  of  their  sub- 
terranean dens  also  were  too  narrow  for  more  than 
one  to  enter  at  a  time,  and  the  interior  very  large 
and  wide.  The  ground  over  their  dwellings  was 
not  very  high,  but  rather  on  a  plain.  The  rocks 
were  difficult  of  access,  and  the  proper  road  scarcely 
to  be  found  without  a  guide,  on  account  of  its  in- 
tricacy. When  Herod  had  received  this  grant 
from  Caesar,   he  procured  experienced  guides,  ar- 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  '231 

rested  the  robbers  in  their  career,  and  restored 
the  peaceable  inhabitants  of  the  neighbourhood  to 
quiet. 

When  Herod  had  reigned  seventeen  years,  Caesar 
came  into  Syria.  At  this  time  tlie  inhabitants  of 
Gadara  were  ahnost  universally  clamorous  against 
Herod  for  the  severity  of  his  injunctions  and  his 
tyranny.  They  were  encouraged  in  these  com- 
plaints by  Zenodorus,  who  swore  he  would  never 
desist  till  he  had  separated  them  from  Herod's 
kingdom,  and  united  them  to  Caesar's  province. 
The  Gadarens  became  the  more  bold,  because 
those  who  had  been  delivered  up  by  Agrippa  had 
not  been  punished  by  Herod,  but  dismissed  with- 
out harm.  It  was  a  strong  peculiarity  in  Herod's 
character,  that  he  was  inexorably  severe  in  his  in- 
flictions on  the  criminals  of  his  own  family,  but 
generous  in  remitting  the  offences  of  strangers. 
While  they  accused  Herod  of  injuries,  of  robbery, 
and  of  sacrilege,  he  stood  unconcerned,  and  ready 
to  enter  on  his  defence.  Caesar  gave  him  his  right 
hand,  and  abated  not  his  kindness  on  this  disturb- 
ance from  the  multitude.  These  allegations  were 
brought  forward  on  the  first  day,  but  the  hearing 
proceeded  no  further.  The  Gadarens  saw  the 
temper  of  Caesar  and  his  assessors,  and  naturally 
expected  to  be  delivered  up  to  the  king.  So 
great  was  their  dread  of  torture,  that  some  cut 
their  own  throats  in  the  night,  others  threw  them- 
selves down  precipices,  and  others  cast  themselves 
into  the  river.  This  self-destruction  was  taken  as 
self-condemnation  of  their  rashness,  and  the  crimes 
they  had  committed.  Caesar  lost  no  time  in  pub- 
licly  acquitting  Herod.  Another  lucky  accident 
at  this  time  contributed  to  aggrandise  Herod.    Ze< 

Q  4 


23^  ON  THE  HISTOllY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

nodorus  died  of  haemorrhage,  at  Antioch  in  Syria. 
Caesar  bestowed  his  country,  of  considerable  ex- 
tent, on  Herod.  It  lay  between  Trachon  and  Ga- 
lilee, containing  Ulatha,  Paneas,  and  the  adjoining 
country.  He  also  made  him  one  of  the  procurators 
of  Syria,  and  commanded  that  nothing  should  be 
done  without  his  approbation.  In  short,  he  arrived 
at  such  a  height  of  prosperity,  that  at  a  time  when 
there  were  but  two  men  who  governed  the  vast 
Roman  empire,  first,  Caesar,  and  then  his  principal 
favourite  Agrippa,  Caesar  preferred  no  one  but 
Agrippa  to  Herod  ;  and  Agrippa  entertained  more 
friendship  for  Herod  than  for  any  one  but  Caesar. 

The  rebuilding  of  the  temple  is  attended  with 
many  difficulties.  Herod  is  stated  to  have  taken 
away  the  old  foundations,  and  to  have  laid  others 
on  which  he  erected  the  temple,  being  in  length 
a  hundred  cubits,  and  in  height  twenty  additional 
cubits,  which  twenty,  upon  the  sinking  of  their 
foundations,  fell  down.  Some  architects  have  sup- 
posed Josephus  to  mean,  that  the  entire  found- 
ations of  the  holy  house  sunk  to  the  depth  of  no 
less  than  twenty  cubits.  This  is  impossible,  when 
we  consider  that  the  temple  stood  on  a  rocky 
mountain.  Neither  the  expression  nor  the  subject 
is  very  clear  ;  but  we  must  suppose  that  the  found- 
ations which  sunk  were  those  of  the  additional 
twenty  cubits  only  ;  or  rather,  as  in  modern  archi- 
tecture we  do  not  comprehend  the  laying  of  se- 
cond foundations  on  a  superstructure  already 
erected,  that  the  cubits  themselves  above  the  hun- 
dred fell  down  in  consequence  of  being  made  pur- 
posely weak  not  to  be  too  heavy  for  the  building, 
and  merely  for  show  and  grandeur. 

Agrippa's  preparation  for  building  the  minor 
parts  of  the  temple  twenty  cubits  higher,   men- 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  233 

tioned  by  Josephus  in  another  passage,  must  in  all 
})robability  refer  to  this  accident,  as  he  says,  in  the 
passage  now  under  consideration,  that  what  had 
fallen  down  in  Herod's  time  they  resolved  to  raise 
again  in  the  days  of  Nero.  Now  it  was  under  Nero 
that  Agrippa  made  his  preparation.  Josephus  is 
not  unfrequently  obscure,  from  inaccuracy  of  ex- 
pression, which  is  naturally  to  be  expected  from  a 
person  writing  in  a  foreign  language.  A  little 
farther  on  he  calls  Solomon  the  first  king  of  the 
Jews.  It  appears  from  other  passages,  in  which 
he  is  more  careful,  that  he  meant  no  more  than 
that  he  was  the  first  of  David's  posterity,  and  the 
first  builder  of  the  temple. 

It  was  in  the  sixteenth  year  of  his  reign  that 
Herod  rebuilt  the  temple,  and  encompassed  a  piece 
of  land  about  it  with  a  wall,  which  land  was  twice 
as  large  as  that  before  enclosed. 

Afler  many  family  quarrels,  Herod  was  recon- 
ciled to  his  sons  by  the  feeling  conduct  of  Alex- 
ander, on  his  trial  for  treason  against  Caesar,  on  the 
accusation  of  Antipater.  The  young  man  could 
scarcely  speak  for  grief:  but  though  he  was  in 
danger,  both  from  the  craft  of  his  half-brother  and 
the  rash  folly  of  Herod,  he  modestly  avoided  lay- 
ing any  imputation  on  his  father,  but  with  great 
force  of  reasoning  refuted  the  calumnies  vented 
against  himself.  He  demonstrated  the  innocence 
of  his  own  brother,  who  was  involved  in  the  same 
danger.  He  then  bewailed  the  malice  and  treachery 
of  Antipater,  and  the  disgrace  he  had  brought  on  the 
whole  family.  But  this  reinstatement  of  family  good 
understiinding  endured  not ;  for  Antipater  by  his 
flatteries  could  make  Herod  do  what  he  pleased. 
His  influence    could    prevail    even  when  that  of 


5234  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

his  sister  Salome  was  ineffectual.  To  her,  indeed, 
he  ultimately  behaved  with  much  harshness.  Cae- 
sar's wife,  Julia,  had  inspired  her  with  a  strong 
inclination  to  marry  Sylleus  the  Arabian,  and  she 
applied  with  earnestness  to  Herod  for  his  consent. 
He  swore  he  would  esteem  her  as  his  bitterest 
enemy,  unless  she  would  give  up  that  project. 
Not  content  with  this,  he  married  her,  against  her 
own  will,  to  his  friend  Alexas,  and  made  one  of 
her  daughters  marry  the  son  of  Alexas,  and  the 
other  he  gave  to  Antipater's  uncle  by  the  mother's 
side.  But  there  was  no  end  to  these  family  feuds. 
Pheroras  was  obstinate  in  retaining  his  wife,  a  wo- 
man of  low  family,  and  refused  to  marry  one  nearly 
related  to  Herod,  though  he  so  earnestly  desired 
it.  That  wife's  admission  to  the  counsels  of  the 
principal  ladies  about  the  court  is  not  easily  to  be 
reconciled  with  Herod's  open  importunity  as  to 
the  divorce  of  Pheroras,  and  his  subsequent  mar- 
riage. The  most  plausible  account  to  be  given  of 
this,  as  represented  by  Josephus,  is  by  presuming 
Pheroras's  belief,  and  Herod's  suspicion,  that  the 
prediction  of  the  Pharisees  would  prove  true.  The 
purport  of  it  was,  that  the  crown  of  Judea  should  be 
translated  from  Herod  to  the  posterity  of  Pheroras  : 
he  probably  believed,  and  Herod  feared,  that  the 
posterity  signified  was  to  descend  from  his  actual, 
and  not  from  a  future  wife.  In  debating  this 
question,  Herod  told  Pheroras  he  would  give  him 
his  choice  of  two  things ;  to  be  on  good  terms 
with  himself  as  a  brother,  or  with  his  wife.  Phe- 
roras answered,  he  would  rather  die  than  forsake 
his  wife.  Herod  knew  not  what  more  to  do.  He 
directed  his  speech  to  Antipater,  and  charged  him 
to  have  no  intercourse  either  with  the  wife  of  Phe- 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  ^235 

roras,  or  with  Pheroras  himself,  or  with  any  one  be- 
longing to  her.  Antipater  did  not  disobey  that  in- 
junction publicly :  but  he  went  in  secret  to  their  noc- 
turnal meeting.  Being  afraid  that  Salome  watched 
his  proceedings,  he  procured  leave,  by  means  of 
his  Italian  friends,  to  go  and  live  at  Rome.  Those 
friends  wrote  word  that  it  was  proper  for  Antipater 
to  be  sent  to  Caesar  for  some  time.  Herod  dismissed 
him  without  delay,  splendidly  attended,  with  a  large 
sum  of  money,  and  gave  him  his  will  to  carry,  con- 
taining the  bequest  of  the  kingdom  to  Antipater, 
and  appointing  Herod  for  Antipater's  successor. 
The  Herod  here  meant  by  Josephus  is  not  Herod 
the  tetrarch,  but  the  son  of  Mariamne,  the  high- 
priest  Simon's  daughter. 

Herod  soon  after  this  laboured  under  the  com- 
plicated evils  of  a  severe  distemper,  old  age,  and  a 
melancholy  state  of  mind.  He  was  already  almost 
seventy  years  of  age,  and  had  been  prematurely 
weighed  down  by  the  calamities  he  had  sustained 
respecting  his  children.  His  life  was  attended  with 
no  pleasure,  even  when  in  health.  He  was  grieved 
that  Antipater,  whose  character  had  been  fully  de- 
veloped since  his  return  from  Rome,  was  still  alive. 
This  aggravated  his  disease  j  and  he  resolved  to 
put  him  to  death,  though  not  suddenly  or  rashly. 
He  determined  that  as  soon  as  he  should  be  well 
again,  his  execution  should  take  place  publicly.  It 
did  so ;  and  his  own  death  immediately  ensued. 
He  survived  the  slaughter  of  his  son  only  five  days. 

Herod  had  reigned  thirty-four  years  since  the 
time  when  he  procured  the  death  of  Antigonus, 
and  obtained  his  kingdom  :  thirty-seven  years  since 
he  had  been  made  king  by  the  Romans.  At  his 
funeral    there   was   a   bier   entirely  of  gold,  em* 


236  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

broidered  with  precious  stones,  and  a  purple  bed 
of  various  contexture,  with  the  dead  body  on  it, 
covered  with  purple.  A  diadem  was  set  on  his 
head,  and  a  crown  of  gold  above  it,  a  sceptre  in 
his  right  hand.  Herod's  sons  were  near  the  bier, 
and  a  great  number  of  his  kindred.  Next  to  them 
came  his  guards,  and  the  regiment  of  Thracians. 
The  Germans  were  there,  and  tlie  Gauls,  all  ac- 
coutred as  if  they  were  going  to  war.  The  rest  of 
the  army  took  precedence,  armed,  and  following 
their  captains  and  officers  with  military  regularity. 
After  them,  five  hundred  of  his  domestic  servants 
and  freed-men  followed  with  sweet  spices  in  their 
hands.  The  body  was  carried  two  hundred  fur- 
longs, to  Herodium,  where  he  had  given  his  own 
directions  to  be  buried. 

There  are  few  characters  in  biography  which 
furnish  more  abundance  or  variety  of  incident, 
more  scope  for  political  and  moral  reflection,  than 
this  of  Herod.  But  his  life  was  so  active,  and  his 
turns  of  fortune,  both  domestic  and  public,  so  fre- 
quent, that  it  is  impossible  within  the  compass  of 
an  essay  like  this,  to  do  more  than  to  make  a  se- 
lection of  events  and  characteristic  anecdotes,  from 
the  long  and  detailed  narrative  of  Josephus. 

Herod  the  tetrarch  was  the  son  of  Herod  the 
Great.  When  Cyrenius  had  disposed  of  Arche- 
laus's  money,  and  when  the  taxation  was  con- 
cluded, which  was  made  in  the  thirty-seventh  year 
after  Caesar's  victory  over  Antony  at  Actium,  Jo- 
azar  was  deprived  of  the  high-priesthood,  a  dignity 
conferred  upon  him  by  the  multitude.  Ananus 
the  son  of  Seth  was  appointed  high-priest.  Herod- 
Antipas  and  Philip  had  each  of  them  received 
their  own  tetrarchy,  and  had  established  their  af- 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  237 

fairs  on  a  permanent  footing.  The  ethnarchy  of 
Archelaus,  another  son  of  Herod,  brother  of  Philip 
and  Antipas,  had  fallen  into  a  Roman  province. 
When  Salome  died,  she  bequeathed  both  her  to- 
parchy  and  Jamnia,  besides  her  plantation  of 
palm-trees  in  Phasaelis,  to  Julia,  the  wife  of  Au- 
gustus. When  the  Roman  empire  was  translated 
to  Tiberius,  the  son  of  Julia,  upon  the  death  of 
Augustus,  who  had  reigned  fifty-seven  years  six 
months  and  two  days,  both  Herod  and  Philip  re- 
mained in  their  tetrarchies.  The  latter  built  the 
city  of  Caesarea,  at  the  fountains  of  Jordan,  and  in 
the  region  of  Paneas  ;  besides  the  city  Julias,  in  the 
lower  Gaulanitis.  Herod  built  the  city  of  Tiberias 
in  Galilee,  and  another  also  called  Julias  in  Perea 
beyond  Jordan.  It  is  on  the  accession  of  Tiberias 
to  the  empire,  that  Josephus  inserts  that  famous 
testimony  concerning  Jesus  Christ.  In  a  homily 
also,  having  just  mentioned  Christ,  as  God  the 
W^ord,  and  the  Judge  of  the  World,  appointed  by 
the  Father,  he  adds,  that  he  had  himself  spoken 
elsewhere  about  him  more  nicely  or  particularly. 

After  terms  of  peace  had  been  agreed  upon  be- 
tween Artabanus  and  Vitellius,  Herod  the  tetrarch 
erected  a  rich  tent  on  the  temporary  bridge  over 
the  Euphrates,  and  made  a  feast  there.  Afler  this 
Vitellius  went  to  Antioch,  and  Artabanus  to  Ba- 
bylon. Herod,  desirous  of  giving  Caesar  the  first 
intimation  that  they  had  obtained  hostages,  sent 
couriers  with  letters,  leaving  nothing  for  the  con- 
sular Vitellius  to  tell.  For  on  tlic  arrival  of  his 
letters,  Tiberius  let  him  know  that  he  was  ac- 
quainted with  the  whole  transaction  already.  Vitel- 
lius was  much  troubled  at  this,  conceiving  himself 
a  greater  sufTcrer  by  the  anticipation  than  he  really 


S38  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  .TOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

was.  He  therefore  cherished  a  secret  anger,  wait- 
ing for  revenge,  which  he  took  after  Caius  had- 
succeeded  to  the  government.  Soon  after  this 
time,  a  quarrel  took  place  between  Aretas,  king  of 
Arabia  Petraea,  and  Herod,  on  the  following  occa- 
sion. Herod  the  tetrarch  had  married  the  daughter 
of  Aretas,  and  had  lived  with  her  a  great  while. 
Once,  when  lie  was  at  Rome,  he  lodged  with  He- 
rod, his  brother,  but  not  by  the  same  mother.  This 
Herod  was  the  son  of  the  high-priest  Simon's 
daughter,  and  seems  to  have  had  the  additional 
name  of  Philip,  as  Antipas  was  named  Herod- An- 
tipas,  Antipas  and  Antipater  have  the  appearance 
of  being  the  very  same  name  ;  yet  two  sons  of 
Herod  the  Great  bore  tliose  names.  So  might 
Philip  the  tetrarch  and  this  Herod-Philip  be  two 
different  sons  of  the  same  father.  It  was  not  Phihp 
thetetrarch,  but  this  Herod-Phihp,  whose  wife  Herod 
the  tetrarch  had  married  in  her  first  liusband's 
life-time,  and  that,  although  that  first  husband  had 
issue  by  her.  For  this  adulterous  and  incestuous 
marriage  John  the  Baptist  justly  reproved  Herod 
the  tetrarch.  For  this  reproof  Salome,  the  daugliter 
of  Herodias,  by  her  first  husband  Herod- Philip, 
who  was  still  alive,  occasioned  him  to  be  unjustly 
beheaded.  This  last  Herod's  wife,  with  whom  the 
tetrarch  fell  in  love,  was  the  daughter  of  their  bro- 
ther Aristobulus,  and  the  sister  of  Agrippa  tlie 
Great.  The  tetrarch  ventured  to  talk  to  her  about . 
marriage.  She  allowed  of  his  addresses.  An  agree- 
ment was  made  that  she  should  change  her  resi- 
dence, and  come  to  him  as  soon  as  he  should  re- 
turn from  Rome.  One  article  of  the  contract  was, 
that  he  should  divorce  the  daugliter  of  Aretas. 
Antipas,  when  he  had  made  this  bargain,   sailed 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  239 

to  Rome,  transacted  his  business,  and  returned. 
His  wife  had  discovered  the  transaction  with  He- 
rodias ;  but  her  husband  was  not  aware  that  she 
was  acquainted  with  the  whole  design.  She  de- 
sired him  to  send  her  to  Machaerus,  a  place  on  tlie 
borders  of  Aretas  and  Herod's  dominions,  carefully 
conceaHng  her  own  intentions.  Herod  accordingly 
complied  with  his  wife's  request  on  the  supposition 
of  her  ignorance.  But  she  had  sent  some  time  before 
to  MachaTus,  as  being  under  her  father's  govern- 
ment. All  things  necessary  for  her  journey  were  got 
in  readiness  by  the  general  of  Aretas' s  army.  Thus 
she  soon  reached  Arabia,  under  the  conduct  of 
the  several  generals,  who  carried  her  from  one  to 
another  successively,  so  that  she  soon  came  to  her 
father,  and  told  him  of  Herod's  projects.  This 
was  the  first  occasion  of  quarrel  between  Aretas 
and  Herod,  though  the  latter  had  some  variance 
with  the  former  about  their  limits  in  the  country 
of  Gemahtis.  They  raised  armies  on  both  sides, 
and  prepared  for  war,  sending  their  generals  to 
fight  instead  of  themselves.  When  they  had  joined 
battle,  Herod's  whole  army  was  destroyed  by  the 
treachery  of  some  fugitives,  who  though  they  were 
of  Phihp's  tetrarchy,  had  joined  Herod's  army, 
Herod  wrote  on  these  subjects  to  Tiberius,  who 
was  very  angry  at  the  attempt  of  Aretas.  He  au- 
thorised Vitellius  to  make  war  upon  him,  and 
either  to  take  him  alive  and  bring  him  in  bonds, 
or  to  kill  him  and  send  his  head.  Some  of  the 
Jews  considered  the  destruction  of  Herod's  army 
as  a  just  judgment  from  God,  for  his  proceeding 
against  John  surnamed  the  Baptist,  Josephus  here 
bears  testimony  to  him  whom  Herod  slew,  as  a 
good  man,    recommending  virtue,    righteousness. 


240  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC. 

and  piety,  through  baptism.  The  great  popularity 
of  this  preacher  alarmed  Herod,  lest  the  people 
should  enable  him  to  raise  a  rebellion.  He  there- 
fore gladly  embraced  an  opportunity  of  putting 
him  to  death,  lest  he  should  fall  into  difficulties  by 
sparing  a  man  who  might  make  him  repent  of  his 
forbearance.  He  was  accordingly  sent  a  prisoner 
to  the  before-mentioned  castle  of  Machaerus,  and 
there  put  to  death.  The  Jews  naturally  enter- 
tained an  opinion  that  the  loss  of  the  army  was  a 
punishment  on  Herod,  and  a  mark  of  God's  dis- 
pleasure. 

Herodias,  Agrippa's  sister,  lived  as  wife  to  He- 
rod the  tetrarch  of  Galilee  and  Perea.  She  felt 
envious  at  the  great  authority  of  her  brother  when 
she  saw  a  greater  dignity  bestowed  on  him  than  on 
her  husband.  Her  brother  had  absconded  from 
inability  to  pay  his  debts.  He  was  now  come  back, 
in  the  high  road  to  dignity  and  good  fortune.  She 
urged  to  Herod,  that  though  he  formerly  was  not 
concerned  to  be  in  a  lower  condition  than  his  fa- 
ther, the  author  of  his  birth,  he  should  now  aim  at 
the  dignity  to  which  his  kinsman  had  arrived.  She 
told  him  not  to  endure  the  contempt,  that  a  man 
who  had  admired  his  riches,  should  be  in  greater 
honour  than  himself.  He  must  not  suffer  Agrippa's 
poverty  to  purchase  greater  things  than  their  abun- 
dance. It  would  be  shameful  to  stand  lower  than 
one  who,  the  other  day,  lived  on  the  charity  of  his 
family. 

These  arguments  had  their  effect  on  his  corrupt 
mind,  and  produced  those  mutual  family  machin- 
ations so  common  in  those  times  and  countries. 
On  the  accession  of  Caius,  he  released  Agrippa, 
who  had  been  in  bonds,  and  gave  the  tetrarchy  of 


ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPHUS,  ETC.  241 

Philip,  who  was  now  dead.  When  Agrippa  had 
arrived  at  that  dignity,  he  kindled  the  ambition  of 
his  brother  tetrarch,  who  was  chiefly  induced  to 
hope  for  the  royal  authority  by  his  wife  Herodias.* 
She  reproached  him  for  his  sloth,  and  said  it  was 
only  because  he  would  not  pay  his  personal  com- 
pliments to  the  new  Caesar,  that  he  was  not  raised 
to  that  high  dignity.  Caesar  had  made  Agrippa 
king  from  a  private  station.  Much  more  would  he 
advance  him  from  a  tetrarchy  to  that  rank.  Herod 
compUed,  and  went  to  Caius,  who  punished  him 
for  his  ambition,  by  banishing  him  into  Spain. 
Agrippa  had  followed  him  to  prefer  an  accusation. 
Caius  added  this  tetrarchy  also  to  Agrippa's  pre- 
vious honours.  Herod  died  in  Spain,  whither  his 
wife  had  followed  him. 


♦  Delrius,  in  his  Disquisitiones  Magicae,  states  that  Hero- 
dias was  sometimes  identified  with  the  fairy  queen.  The  term 
the  learned  Jesuit  applies  to  her  is  saltalricula  :  and  he  gravely 
argues  against  the  abominable  heresy  of  believing  that  she  any 
longer  leads  choral  dances  on  earth.  This  is  second  only  to 
the  absurdity  of  the  romance  writers,  who  make  Mercury  the 
prince  of  the  fairies ;  and  in  Orfeo  and  Heurodisy  convert  the 
Grecian  story  of  Orpheus  and  Eurydice  into  a  Gothic  tale, 
graciously  conferring  on  Heurodis  the  kingdom  of  Winchester, 
the  ancient  name  of  which  was  Thrace  !  Orpheus's  father  was 
descended  from  King  Pluto,  and  his  mother  from  King  Juno. 
The  tale  ends  melodramatically,  and  not  tragically.  Orpheus 
does  not  act  so  like  a  blockhead  as  in  the  Greek  version :  he 
makes  his  escape  good,  and  they  both  reign  safe  and  sound  at 
Winchester.  The  history  of  John  the  Baptist  was  considered 
by  our  ancestors  as  altogether  mysterious,  and  gave  rise  to  a 
great  number  of  superstitious  practices  on  St.  John's  Eve, 
particularly  that  of  fern-seed,  alluded  to  by  Shakspearc  in 
Henry  IV.:  —  ♦«  We  have  the  receipt  of  fern-seed  ;  we  walk  in- 
▼isible." 


242 


ON  THE  CHARACTER  OF  MUCIUS   SCiEVOLA. 


When  Porsena,  king  of  Clusium  in  Etriiria,  was 
besieging  Rome,  provisions  became  exceedingly 
scarce  and  dear  in  that  city.  This  partisan  of  the 
Tarquins  entertained  hopes,  that  by  converting  the 
siege  into  a  blockade,  he  should  become  master 
of  the  town.  Caius  Mucins,  a  noble  youth,  was 
filled  with  indignation,  to  think  that  the  Roman 
people  while  in  bondage  under  their  kings,  should 
never  have  been  besieged  by  an  enemy  in  any  war, 
and  yet  that  the  same  people,  now  in  a  state  of 
freedom,  were  blockaded  by  those  very  Etrurians 
whose  armies  they  had  often  routed.  He  resolved 
therefore,  by  some  great  and  daring  effort,  to 
remove  such  reproach.  Livy  says,  '*  Primo  sua 
sponte  penetrare  in  hostium  castra  constituit.  dein 
metuens,  ne,  si  consulum  injussu  et  ignaris  omni- 
bus iret,  forte  deprehensus  a  custodibus  Romanis 
retraheretur  ut  trsLnsiugayJbrtuna  turn  nobis  crimen 
adfiimante,  senatum  adiit.  *Transire  Tiberim,' 
inquit,  *  Patres,  et  intrare,  si  possim,  castra  ho- 
stium volo ;  non  praedo,  nee  population um  in  vicem 
ultor.  majus,  si  Dii  juvant,  in  animo  est  facinus.' 
Adprobant  F aires :  abdito  intra  vestem  ferro, 
proficiscitur."  *     The    passages   marked  in  italics 

»      • 

*  Lib.  ii.  cap.  12. 


ON  THE  CHARACTER  OF  MUCIUS  SC^VOLA.        243 

show,  that  in  stating  this  extraordinary  fact,  so 
much  the  admii'ation  of  schoolboys,  Livy  is  sen- 
sible that  the  action  itself  was  criminal,  and  that 
the  condition  to  which  the  city  of  Rome  was  re- 
duced, was  the  only  apology  for  the  baseness  of 
assassination.  We  must,  with  our  superior  lights, 
say  that  no  distress,  no  approbation  even  of  a  Roman 
senate,  no  specious  gloss  of  the  historian,  can  justify 
the  morality  of  such  a  proceeding. 

It  was  now  the  second  year  after  the  expulsion 
of  the  kings.  Porsena  considered  Rome  as  already 
sufficiently  reduced  to  admit  of  their  restoration. 
He  was  celebrating  a  sacrifice,  to  propitiate  the 
gods  in  favour  of  that  event :  Mucins  could  not 
venture  to  enquire  which  was  Porsena,  lest  his  not 
knowing  the  king  should  discover  him  to  be  a 
stranger.  He  was  therefore  obliged  to  trust  to 
fortune  and  probability.  A  secretary  was  close  to 
the  king,  in  the  act  of  paying  the  soldiers,  whose 
attention  therefore  was  more  immediately  directed 
to  him.  Porsena  himself  rather  seemed  to  be  per- 
forming  the  duties  of  a  priest.  This  probably  led 
Mucins  to  mistake  the  secretary  for  the  king,  so 
that  he  killed  him  instead  of  tlie  intended  victim. 
When  brought  before  the  king's  tribunal,  he  stood 
there  single,  among  a  crowd  of  enemies.  Even  in 
this  situation,  deserted  by  fortune  and  threatened 
with  the  severest  tortures,  he  declared  liimself  to 
be  a  Roman  citizen  ;  his  name  Caius  Mucins.  He 
seemed  in  fact  more  capable  of  alarming  the  in- 
vader, than  of  feeling  terror  in  his  own  person. 
He  says  to  him,  "  Proinde  in  hoc  discrimen,  si 
juvat  adcingere,  ut  in  singulas  horas  capite  dimi- 
ces  tuoj  ferrum  hostemque  in  vestibulo  habeas 
regis.       Hoc    tibi    juvcntus   Romana   indicimus 


244       ON  THE  CHARACTER    OF  MUCIUS   SCJEVOLA. 

bellum.  Nullam  aciem,  nullum  praelium  timueris. 
Uni  tibi,  et  cum  singulis  res  erit.  Quum  rex, 
simul  ira  infensus,  periculoque  conterritus,  cir- 
cumdari  ignes  minitabundus  juberet,  nisi  expromeret 
propere,  quas  insidiarum  sibi  minas  per  ambages 
jaceret:  '  Eii  tihi,'  iiiquit,  ^ut  sentias,  quam  vile 
corpus  sit  iis,  qui  magnam  gloriam  vident : '  dex- 
tramque  accenso  ad  sacrificium  foculo  injicit.  quam 
quum  velut  alienato  ab  sensu  torreret  animo  ;  prope 
adtonitus  miraculo  rex,  quum  ab  sede  sua  prosi- 
luisset,  amoverique  ab  altaribus  juvenem  jussisset, 
*  Tu  vero  abi,'  inquit,  *  in  te  magis,  quam  in  me 
hostilia  ausus.'  " 

For  the  purpose  of  fixing  the  admiration  on  the 
proper  point  of  this  story,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
do  Livy  justice,  it  must  be  remarked,  that  the  for- 
titude here  displayed,  and  that  of  the  passive  kind, 
is  the  part  of  Sca?vola's  conduct  proposed  as  an 
example,  and  the  only  part  to  be  adopted  in  spirit, 
by  those  who  have  occasion  to  show  their  reso- 
lution, under  circumstances  less  shocking  and 
incredible.  I  say  incredible  ;  and  it  is  remarkable 
that  Dionysius  has  omitted  this  part  of  the  romantic 
scene,  described  by  Livy  with  so  much  ostentation. 
He  simply  imputes  to  Mucins  the  politic  con- 
trivance of  inventing  the  story  of  the  three  hundred 
youths  to  save  himself.  His  character  in  the 
Greek  historian  does  indeed  descend  from  its 
heroics.  But  according  to  Livy,  whose  narrative 
is  best  known  and  most  popular,  Porsena  finishes 
his  address  by  saying,  "  I  dismiss  you  untouched 
and  unhurt;  and  discharge  you  from  the  penalties 
which  by  the  laws  of  war  I  have  a  right  to  inflict." 
Mucins  felt  inclined  to  make  some  return  for  this 
act  of  favour,  and  spoke  to  him  thus  :  —  **  Since  I 


OV  THE   CHARACTER   OF   .^lUCIUS  SC^.VOLA.         545 

find  you  disposed  to  honour  bravery,  you  shall 
obtain  from  me  by  kindness  what  threats  could  not 
extort.  Know  then,  that  three  hundred  of  us,  the 
principal  youths  in  Rome,  have  bound  ourselves 
to  each  otiier  by  an  oath,  to  attack  you  in  this 
manner.  My  lot  happened  to  be  first.  The  others 
will  be  with  you,  each  in  his  turn,  as  the  lot  may 
place  him  foremost,  until  fortune  shall  furnish  an 
opportunity  of  succeeding  against  you." 

Mucius  was  then  dismissed,  and  was  followed 
to  Rome  by  ambassadors  from  Porsena.  The  king 
had  been  deeply  affected,  not  only  by  the  action, 
but  by  the  asseveration,  that  Rome  possessed  many 
such  resolute  devotees.  He  had  before  experienced 
the  existence  of  a  similar  spirit.  Horatius  Codes, 
Horace  with  the  Single-eye,  had  alone  stopped  the 
same  Porsena  from  passing  the  Sublician  bridge, 
till  it  was  broken  down  behind  him.  Though 
wounded,  he  swam  across  the  river  to  his  friends. 
He  was  lame  ever  af\er  :  but  he  used  to  say,  that 
every  step  he  took  gave  him  joy  of  his  triumph. 
The  occasion  of  the  peace  also  converted  Porsena's 
anger  into  admiration.  He  spoke  of  Clcelia's  ex- 
ploit as  superior  even  to  those  of  Codes  and 
Mucius.  He  therefore  proposed  the  following 
alternative.  Should  the  hostage  not  be  given  up, 
he  would  consider  the  treaty  as  broken  off;  should 
she  be  surrendered,  he  would  send  her  back  to  her 
friends  in  safety. 

There  is  something  very  noble  in  the  character 
of  Porsena.  His  engagement  with  the  Tarquins, 
and  natural  predilection  in  favour  of  royalty, 
placed  him  in  the  wrong :  but  he  was  open  to 
conviction  ;  and  the  extraordinary  accidents  which 
had  happened  to  himself  gave  him  an  opportunity 

F  3 


246       ON  THE  CHARACTER  OF  MUCIUS  SC^VOLA. 

of  extricating  himself  with  a  good  grace,  and  of 
leaving  that  liberty  to  the  Romans,  which  they 
knew  so  well  how  to  defend. 

The  loss  of  his  right  hand  by  burning  procured 
for  Mucins,  or  Mutius,  the  surname  of  Scaevola, 
the  Left-handed.  We  see  here,  in  the  case  of 
Horatius  Codes,  and  in  a  thousand  others,  that  the 
Roman  surnames  ran  much  on  personal  peculiarities 
or  defects,  as  in  the  case  of  Cicero. 

The  senate  gave  a  tract  of  ground  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Tiber  to  Caius  Mucins,  as  a  reward  of 
his  valour.  These  lands  were  afterwards  called 
the  Mucian  meadows.  The  honour  thus  paid  to 
courage  seems  to  have  excited  even  the  other  sex 
to  merit  pubhc  distinctions,  which  were  so  amply 
given  to  Cloelia. 

Martial  lias  two  epigrams  on  this  subject.  The 
first  is  in  lib.  i.  :  — 

DE    PORSENA    ET    MUCIO    SCAEVOLA. 

Cum  peteret  regem,  decepta  satellite,  dextra 

Ingessit  sacris  se  peritura  focis. 
Sed  tarn  saeva  pius  miracula  non  tulit  hostis, 

Et  raptum  flammis  jussit  abire  virum. 
Urere  quam  potuit  contemto  Mucins  igne, 

Hunc  spectare  manum  Porsena  non  potuit. 
Major  deceptae  fama  est  et  gloria  dextrae : 

Si  non  errasset,  fecerat  ilia  minus. 

The  otlier  is  in  lib.  x.  The  point  of  it  is  not  so 
obvious  as  in  the  former  :  — 

DE    MUCIO. 

In  matutina  nuper  spectatus  arena 

Mucius,  imposuit  qui  sua  membra  focis, 

Si  patiens  fortisque  tibi  durusque  videtur, 
Abderitanse  pectora  plebis  habes. 


ON  THE  CHARACTER  OF  MUCIUS  SCiEVOLA.        247 

Nam,  cum  dicatur,  tunica  praesente  molesta, 
Ure  manum ;  plus  est  dicere,  Non  facio. 

It  is  to  be  understood  that  Martial  was  no  friend 
to  violence,  and  least  of  all  to  self-violence.  He 
was  not  ambitious  to  think  *with  the  sages  of  Abde- 
ra,  a  city  of  Thrace,  whose  very  air  was  thought 
to  teem  with  stupidity  or  madness.  He  therefore 
pronounces  it  less  bold  spontaneously  to  burn  a 
limb,  than  to  refuse  to  do  so :  especially  where  the 
tortiuing  tunic,  lined  with  various  combustibles, 
must  be  expected  as  the  immediate  consequence. 
The  last  word  of  the  epigram,  which  the  elliptic 
idiom  of  the  Latin  language  uses  in  the  sense  of 
sacrificing,  has  given  rise  to  the  conjecture  that 
Martial  alludes  to  some  Christian  criminal,  ad- 
mired even  by  enemies,  and  placed  on  a  higher 
pinnacle  of  self-devotion  than  Mucins,  for  refusing 
fdcere,  to  offer  incense  to  the  heathen  deities.  At 
all  events,  the  drift  is  philosophical,  in  raising 
passive  above  active  courage. 


r4 


^48 


ON  CICERO. 


1  HERE  is  no  work  of  more  universal  acceptance, 
from  the  time  of  its  publication  down  to  this  pe- 
riod, than  Dr.  Middleton's  History  of  Cicero's  Life, 
which  is,  in  fact,  the  history  of  Cicero's  times. 
Nor  could  it  be  otherwise.  From  the  first  ad- 
vancement of  that  eminent  man  to  public  magis- 
tracies, there  was  not  any  thing  of  moment  trans- 
acted in  the  state,  in  which  he  did  not  bear  an 
eminent  part.  From  the  very  time  of  his  birth, 
the  crisis  of  the  Roman  affairs  was  preparing ;  and 
for  sixty  years,  the  events  which  passed  in  succes- 
sion were  the  most  important,  the  characters  of 
the  persons  who  conducted,  or  were  affected  by 
them,  the  most  dignified  and  interesting  to  be  met 
with  in  the  annals  of  Rome,  or  perhaps  of  the 
world. 

Dr.  Middleton  had  an  honourable  object  in  view ; 
to  rescue  the  character  of  Cicero  from  the  obloquy 
cast  on  it  by  the  writers  who  curried  favour  in  the 
court  of  the  emperors  by  misrepresenting  the  cha- 
racters and  motives  of  all  the  great  patriots.  Thus 
Dio  opens  his  forty-fourth  book  in  the  following 
manner  :  — 

O  jxev  ovv  Koti<roig  raufi'  ovrcag  <bg  xaJ  btt)  tooj  naoQovg  fpu' 
TevfToov  e-crpoi^ev*  olfgo$  Ss  TKr)v  aX<7*)picoS»jf,  (pQovcp  re  too  'crpoa'' 
y}XOvlos,  xu)  (/.last  tow  nrgoTeTifxrifjiivov  ar(pwv,    vygoiTKecrwv,    sxeivov. 


ON    CICERO.  S49 

Tt  etv6[Ji,Ci)g  aTTSxlsiyi,    kohvov  uvoa-loo  8o^r;j  ovO]U,a    -CT^oo-Xa^cov,   xai 
xiftLOug  hfj^ipuKiovg  toij  'Pcoju-aioij  wapeo-xeuao-gy. 

The  opposition  of  Dio's  character  and  principles 
to  those  of  the  repubUcan  party  is  evident  through- 
out his  work,  and  so  clearly  to  be  accounted  for, 
tliat  his  testimony  becomes  of  none  effect.  He 
flourished  under  the  most  tyrannical  of  the  em- 
perors, by  whom  he  was  adv^anced  to  great  dignity. 
He  was  the  creature  of  despotic  power,  and  en- 
deavoured to  prove  his  gratitude  by  blasting  every 
name  connected  with  the  interests  of  patriotism. 
The  writings  of  Cicero,  if  allowed  their  fair  influ- 
ence,  were  likely  to  revive  the  ancient  zeal  and 
spirit  of  liberty,  so  long  the  peculiar  characteristic 
of  the  Romans.  The  entire  bearing  of  Dio's  his- 
tory is  to  establish  the  preference  of  absolute  mo- 
narchy, rather  than  a  free  government  on  the 
principles  of  democracy,  as  most  in  unison  with  the 
interests  of  the  Roman  state. 

The  character  of  Cicero,  as  a  moral  writer,  can- 
not be  mistaken.  In  point  of  style,  we  find  an 
elegance,  a  spirit,  and  a  dignity,  which  render  the 
form  of  virtue  visible,  and  therefore  amiable ;  and 
the  sentiments  which  that  style  embodies  are  such 
as  prove  that  he  was  sincerely  inspired  with  the 
love  of  that  intrinsic  excellence  his  pencil  could  so 
well  delineate. 

Nothing  in  all  ancient  literature  gives  so  clear  an 
insight  into  the  history  of  the  times  in  question  as 
Cicero's  letters  to  Atticus.  They  render  the  in- 
trigues of  the  crisis  obvious,  the  motives  and  in- 
terests of  the  parties  intelligible :  they  illustrate 
what  we  learn  from  other  authors,  and  explain 
what  other  authors  have  lefl  in  uncertainty,  or  tell 


250  ON    CICERO. 

what  they  have  omitted.  Diodorus  SicuUis  com- 
mences his  work  by  stating  the  obUgatipns  of  man- 
kind to  historians  : ToTj  rag  xoivug  IfOplug  'uygci'YfJiOLlsua-ot- 

fxevois  iJi.sya.Xui  p^agilag    aTrovejxetv  8/xaiOV  -cravlaf  otvSgw'Trovg,   on 

If  the  general  historian  be  so  great  a  benefactor, 
those  who  have  left  records  of  their  genuine  mind, 
who  have  detailed  in  familiar  correspondence  the 
views  and  the  policy  of  their  contemporaries,  whe- 
ther friendly  or  hostile,  tlie  accidental  conference 
in  the  forum,  or  the  unguarded  table-talk  at  the 
banquet,  are  entitled  to  a  large  portion  of  our 
thanks.  The  sunshine  of  history  is  too  often  ob- 
scured by  mists,  and  the  day  closes  prematurely  : 
when  the  darkness  is  thus  superinduced,  memoirs 
and  correspondence  become  the  gas-lights  of  times 
past. 

To  understand  the  condition  of  Rome  at  the 
time  of  Cicero's  birth,  it  is  necessary  to  have  some 
general  idea  of  the  government  from  its  first  insti- 
tution by  Romulus.  Cicero  himself  celebrates  the 
Roman  constitution  as  the  most  perfect  of  all  go- 
vernments ;  and  in  his  theory  we  may  nearly  trace 
the  beau  iddal  of  our  own: —  *'  Statuo  esse  optime 
constitutam  rempublicam,  quae  ex  tribus  generibus 
illis,  regali,  optimo,  et  populari  confusa  modice, 
nee  puniendo  u'ritet  animum  immanem  ac  ferum, 
nee  omnia  praetermittendo,  licentia  cives  deteriores 
reddat."  —  Fragm,  de  Rep.  2. 

Their  king  was  elected  by  the  people,  as  the 
head  of  the  republic,  to  be  their  leader  in  war,  the 
guardian  of  the  laws  in  peace.  The  senate  was  his 
council,  chosen  also  by  the  people,  by  whose  ad- 
vice  he  was  obliged  to  govern  himself  in  all  his 
measures.     The   sovereignty  was   lodged   in   the 


ON    CICERO.  251 

body  of  the  citizens,  or  the  general  society,  whose 
prerogative  it  was  to  enact  laws,  create  magistrates, 
declare  war,  and  receive  appeals  in  all  cases,  both 
from  the  king  and  the  senate.  Some  writers  have 
denied  this  right  of  appeal  to  the  people.  Let  us 
see  what  Cicero  says  on  the  subject: — "  Nam  cum  a 
primo  urbis  ortu,  regiis  institutis,  partim  etiam  le- 
gibus,  auspicia,  caeremonia?,  comitia,  provocationes, 
patrum  consilium,  equitum  peditumque  descriptio, 
tota  res  militaris,  divinitus  esset  constituta;  turn 
progressio  admirabihs,  incredibilisque  cursus  ad 
omnem  excellentiam  factus  est,  dominatu  regio 
republica  liberata."  —  Tiisc.  Qucest,  lib.  iv.  cap.  1. 

Seneca  quotes  a  passage  from  his  Treatise  on  the 
Republic,  in  confirmation  of  this  doctrine  : — **  Cum 
Ciceronis  libros  de  Rep.  prehendit  hinc  philologus 
aliquis,  hinc  grammaticus,  hinc  philosophiae  deditus: 
alius  alio  curam  sibi  mittit.  .  .  .  PraBterea  notat, 
eum  quem  nos  dictatorem  dicimus,  et  in  historiis 
ita  nominari  legimus,  apud  antiquos  magistrum 
populi  vocatum. .  .  .  Provocationem  ad  populum 
etiam  a  regibus  fuisse.  Id  ita  in  Pontificiahbus  li- 
bris  aliqui  putant,  et  Fenestella." — Seme.  ep.  108. 
Valerius  Maxim  us  gives  an  instance  confirmed  by 
I^ivy : — "  M.  Horatius,  interfectaa  sororis  crimine  a 
Tullo  rege  damnatus,  ad  populum  provectojudicio, 
absokitus  est" — Vol,  Max,  lib.  viii.  cap.  1. 

By  the  revolution  in  the  government,  their  old 
constitution  was  not  changed,  but  restored  to  its 
primitive  state.  The  name  of  king  was  abolished, 
but  the  power  was  retained.  The  difference  was, 
that  instead  of  choosing  a  single  person  for  life, 
they  chose  two  annually  under  the  designation  of 
consuls,  invested  with  all  the  prerogatives  and  en- 
signs of  royalty,  and  presiding  as  the  kings  had 


252  ON    CICERO. 

done,  in  all  the  public  business  of  the  common- 
wealth. To  convince  the  citizens  that  nothing  was 
sought  by  the  change  but  to  secure  their  common 
liberty,  and  to  re-establish  their  sovereignty  on  a 
more  solid  basis,  P.  Valerius  Poplicola,  one  of  the 
first  consuls,  made  it  capital  for  any  man  to  exercise 
magistracy  in  Rome  without  tlieir  special  appoint- 
ment. "Eregov  8g,  Iv  Z  yiyqaitlon,  eoiv  tij  up^uiv'Vaifxuiwv  rivoL 
etnroiclelveiVy  yj  /xafjyoOv,  yj  ^>)/jhoOv  elj  ^g-^f^stlu  deXrj,  e^elvut 
TOO  I8*wT>j  'BT^oxaXsTcrfla*  t^v  a^p^^v  Ittj  t^v  tou  B^jxoy  y.gl(nv,  wa- 
cp^eiv  Se  ev  tw  [Jisloc^u  %^ovw  ju,>]§ey  utto  t^j  a^X^??  e«>?  «v  6  S^jtAOj 
uTre^  auTOU  \I/»)^»(rr)Taj. Dio7iyS,  Hal,  lib.  V. 

The  conduct  of  Poplicola,  when  suspected  of 
aspiring  to  the  sovereignty,  was  consistent  with 
these  his  enactments.  Livy  says,  "  Haec  dicta  vulgo 
creditaque  quum  indignitate  angerent  consulis  ani- 
mum,  vocato  ad  consilium  populo,  submissis  fasci- 
bus  in  concionem  escendit."  This  lowering  of 
the  maces  became  the  constant  practice  with  all 
succeeding  consuls :  besides  which,  Poplicola,  on 
this  occasion,  took  the  axes  out  of  the  fasces,  nor 
were  they  ever  afterwards  carried  by  the  consuls 
within  the  city.  Cicero  himself  thus  describes 
the  parties  in  the  city  :  —  **  Duo  genera  semper  in 
hac  civitate  fuerunt  eorum,  qui  versari  in  republica, 
atque  in  ea  se  excellentius  gerere  studuerunt :  qui- 
bus  ex  generibus  alteri  se  populares,  alteri  opti- 
mates  et  haberi  et  esse  voluerunt.  Qui  ea,  quae 
faciebant,  quaeque  dicebant,  multitudini  jucunda 
esse  volebant,  populares  :  qui  autem  ita  se  gerebant, 
ut  sua  consilia  optimo  cuique  probarent,  optimates 
habebantur." — Pro /S^cT/.  cap.  45. 

These  contending  factions  were  naturally  jealous 
of  each  other,  and  desirous  of  extending  their  own 
power.     The  nobles,  or  patricians,  composing  the 


ON   CICERO.  253 

senate,  were  the  most  immediate  gainers  by  the 
change.  With  the  consuls  at  their  head,  they  were 
now  the  first  movers  and  the  efficient  organs  of  all 
state  measures.  This  gave  them  the  preponderance 
in  the  balance  against  the  people  on  a  majority  of 
occasions,  notwithstanding  the  provisions  made  for 
popular  controul.  Within  the  short  space  of  six- 
teen years,  the  senate  became  so  insolent  and  op- 
pressive, as  to  drive  the  plebeians  to  their  celebrated 
secession  into  the  sacred  mount.  They  refused  to 
return  till  they  had  extorted  permission  to  create  a 
new  order  of  magistrates,  of  their  own  body,  with 
the  consent  and  sanction  of  the  opposite  party. 

'ESoxei  TAVTX  VTOL(n,  x«<  yqa(ps\oLi  -bt^oj  auroO  xai  toov  <TVVot^^6v- 
7wv*  oSe  6  vofxog  Ifi'  AYjfxug^ov  ukovIu,  oxTTre^  eva  -cjoAAcwv,  [xr]de\§ 
juwjSsv  ocvxyKcc^eToo  S^av,  jodjBs  jxafiyourco,  jxyjSs  eTriTaTTeVo  jU,as-»- 
yoDv  erepw,  jxrjSe  ocTroxhvvvToo,  jarjSg  UTroxlslveiv  ksXsustm.  eoiv  8g 
Tij  Toov  otfniyogsvfji.svcov  n  -dtoii^o-j),  e^ayifos  es'io,  xai  ra  p^p^jw.a7a 
owTOu  ArjiJir'ipos  Uqa.'  xa»  6  xlelvoc^  nvoL  toov  rauTo.  elgyu(Tfji,ev(iov, 
(povou  xotQocgog  tg-a.\  xa.\  Tva  /xi^  eJj  to  Koi-nlv  tm  S:^ju.a;  e^ov(rlot 
yevriToct  xoticaroLV<r<xi  rovls  tov  voy.ov,  aW*  e\$  'cravlot  tov  ^govov 
ax/v»j7oj  §<a]xs/yr],  'GxavTocg  eTOL^^Y}  'Pwjxa/ouj  6[x6<ron  xad'  Is^ooy,  ^ 
/M,)jv  ^pYi(rea-Qut  too  vo/xw  xal  auTOUj  xa»  eyyovouj  tov  ael  ^povov. 

D/or^.  Hal.  lib.  vi. 

The  name  of  Marcus,  like  all  first  names  among 
the  Romans,  was  properly  personal.  It  was  imposed 
witli  ceremonies  in  some  degree  analogous  with 
those  of  baptism  in  Christian  countries.  **  Est  etiam 
Nundina  Romanorum  Dca,  a  nono  die  nascentium 
nuncupata,  qui  lustricus  dicitur.  Est  autem  dies 
lustricus,  quo  infantes  lustrantur,  et  nomen  acci- 
piunt."  —  Macrobii  SalU7malioruni,  lib.  i. 

The  child  was  on  tliis  occasion  carried  to  the 
temple,  by  the  friends  and  relations  of  the  family, 


254  ON    CICERO. 

and  recommended  to  the  protection  of  some  tutelar 
deity,  before  the  altars  of  the  gods. 

Cicero  never  misses  an  opportunity  of  magnifying 
his  own  profession.  In  his  first  book  De  Oratore 
he  observes :  —  "  Est  enim  sine  dubio  domus  juris- 
consulti  totius  oraculum  civitatis."  He  pays  this 
compliment  to  Quintus  Mucins,  whose  hall,  though 
he  himself  was  infirm  and  advanced  in  years,  was 
the  daily  resort  of  the  citizens.  The  description  ap- 
plies indeed  to  the  other  Scaevola  as  well  as  to  the 
Augur.  He  elsewhere  described  the  latter  as  open- 
ing his  doors  for  admission  at  day-break,  and  never 
having  been  seen  in  bed,  notwithstanding  his  age 
and  infirmities,  during  the  whole  of  the  Marsic  war. 

The  practice  at  the  bar  must  be  of  great  im- 
portance in  every  nation  ;  and  the  more  free  that 
nation,  the  more  important  is  it.  It  was  highly  so 
in  Rome,  and  withal  very  peculiar.  Cicero  was 
the  most  illustrious  example  on  record,  of  a  pa- 
tronising lawyer.  His  views  extended  far  beyond 
the  litigation  of  property.  The  law  was  not  merely 
the  road  to  political  distinction  for  a  very  few  of 
the  leading  men  as  with  us,  while  the  practice  of 
the  great  body  is  confined  to  private  causes,  and 
their  ambition  to  gentlemanly  maintenance  or  the 
accumulation  of  wealth.  Cicero  held  himself  out 
as  the  guardian  of  the  lives  and  liberty,  as  well  as 
the  fortunes  and  estates  of  his  countrymen.  Those 
who  have  not  looked  with  historical  precision  at 
the  predominant  influence  and  dignity  of  a  Roman 
barrister  in  the  state,  will  be  apt  to  consider 
Cicero's  notions  of  the  perfection  and  universal 
accomplishment  necessary  to  an  Orator  or  Pleader 
of  causes,  as  overcharged  and  extravagant ;  as  the 
rant   of  professional    arrogance.      But   when   we 


ON    CICERO.  255 

consider  the  importance  and  endless  variety  of  the 
subjects  they  had  to  treat,  the  opposite  character 
of  the  audiences  before  whom  they  were  to  treat 
them  ;  that  their  friends  among  the  gentry  were  to 
be  extricated  from  factious  scrapes,  whether  as 
aggressors  or  as  sinned  against ;  that  the  plebeians 
were  to  be  supported  under  oppression ;  that  tlie 
SiciUans  were  to  be  avenged  against  a  Verres;  that 
the  kings  of  the  earth  were  their  cUents,  and  the 
universe  was  suspended  on  their  words ;  that  these 
debates  were  sometimes  to  be  held  before  the 
majestic  senate,  sometimes  before  the  acute  and 
practised  judges,  and  that  at  other  times  the  people 
were  to  be  courted  or  cajoled,  encouraged  or 
alarmed :  when  we  thus  take  the  character  of  the 
Roman  advocate  in  all  its  bearings,  we  must  ac- 
knowledge that  his  art  included  in  it  all  learning 
and  all  science  of  a  liberal  kind  ;  that  it  required 
the  sublime  genius  of  a  poet  though  not  his  me- 
chanical skill ;  the  gravity  and  depth  of  a  historian  ; 
the  research  of  an  antiquary  ;  the  natural  know- 
ledge in  one  branch,  the  metaphysical  refinement 
in  another  branch  of  philosophy ;  the  wit  and 
humour  of  the  comic  dramatist  or  the  satirist ;  in 
short,  the  cyclopaedia  of  human  inventions,  and 
the  concentrated  results  of  civilised  society  in  all 
ages. 

Ac,  veluti  magno  in  populo  cum  saepe  coorta  est 

Seditio,  saevitque  aniniis  ignobile  vulgus ; 

Jamque  faces  et  saxa  volant ;  furor  arma  ministrat : 

Turn,  pietate  graveni  ac  meritis  si  forte  virum  quern 

Conspexere,  silent ;  arrectisque  auribus  adstant ; 

Isle  regit  dictis  animos,  et  pectora  mulcet ; 

Sic  cunctus  pelagi  cecidit  fragor,  a?quora  postquam 


Q56  ON    CICERO. 

Prospiciens  genitor,  coeloque  invectus  aperto, 
Flectit  equos,  curruque  volans  dat  lora  secundo. 

Firg.  JEn.  i.  148. 

There  is  nothing  perhaps  in  the  history  of  the 
bar  more  honourable  to  it,  than  Cicero's  advance- 
ment, and  the  character  of  the  career  which  in- 
vested him  with  the  robe  of  office,  a  robe  which  did 
more  for  his  country  than  the  sword  against  it. 

Cedant  arma  togae,  concedat  laurea  linguae. 

His  prudence  and  wise  counsels  delivered  the 
laws  and  liberty,  suspended  by  the  public  troubles, 
from  the  threatened  danger.  The  honourable  title  of 
Pater  Patrice,  the  founder  and  father  of  his  country, 
was  given  to  him  after  the  defeat  of  Catiline's  con- 
spiracy. He  was  the  first  who  bore  it,  and  the 
only  person  on  whom  it  was  conferred  by  Rome  in 
its  state  of  independence. 

Tantum  igitur  muros  intra  toga  contulit  illi 
Nominis  et  tituli,  quantum  non  Leucade,  quantum 
Thessaliae  campis  Octavius  abstulit  udo 
Caedibus  assiduis  gladio.     Sed  Roma  parentem, 
Roma  patrem  patriae  Ciceronem  libera  dixit. 

Juvenal,  sat.  viii. 

The  goxvn  of  Cicero  and  the  sword  of  Augustus 
are  here  strongly  contrasted  :  the  promontory  of 
Epirus  called  Leucate,  where  Octavius  Caesar  de- 
feated Antony  and  Cleopatra  in  a  bloody  sea-fight ; 
Philippi,  the  field  of  Brutus  and  Cassius's  discom- 
fiture, are  made  to  yield  in  splendour,  though  the 
scenes  of  victory,   to  the  consular  triumphs.     The 


ON    CICERO.  Qd7 

title  here  recorded  was  afterwards  given  to  Augus- 
tus, and  to  others  of  the  emperors ;  not  for  their 
deserts,  but  in  the  spirit  of  flattery.*  Juvenal  was 
a  stern  republican,  and  an  uncompromising  satirist. 
He  hated  Augustus,  and  meant  to  stigmatise  Rome 
by  the  epithet  libera,  for  allowing  herself  to  be 
enslaved  by  him  and  his  successors,  not  to  compli- 
ment her  on  her  temporary  relief  from  the  machina- 
tions of  the  conspirators.  The  uncontrollable  indig- 
nation of  the  poet  against  his  country,  tor  giving  up 
again  that  freedom  which  Cicero's  glorious  consul- 
ship had  retrieved,  is  not  softened  by  the  clemency 
displayed  on  the  emperor's  part  after  he  had  attained 
the  high  object  of  his  ambition.  Modern  eyes,  look- 
ing with  the  impartiality  of  distance,  see  much  in 
his  subsequent  conduct  to  atone  for  the  waste  of 
human  blood  in  his  earlier  life :  but  we  feel  no 
consequences.  Juvenal's  free  spirit  smarted  under 
the  oppressions  of  his  country  ;  and  he  wrote  at  a 
period  to  know  by  experience,  that  though  the  first 
tyrant  of  a  dynasty  often  bears  his  faculties  mildly 
2Lndpaler?iall?/y  as  we  express  it  now-a-days,  his  suc- 
cessors, safe  in  their  seats,  nursed  in  the  lap  of  lux- 
ury, too  elevated  and  independent  to  stand  upon 
personal  character,  strip  from  autocracy  every 
rag  of  its  fallacious  plea,  that  it  acts  according  to 
the  simplicity  and  benevolence  of  the  patriarchal 
system,  and  hovers  witli  half-celestial  influence 
over  the  peace  and  j)rosperity  of  its  children. 
Juvenal  writes  under  the  lash,  and  he  returns  it. 
The  following  passage  is  so  caustic,  that  though  not 
immediately  referring  to  Cicero,  no  apology  will  be 
necessary  for  inserting  it : — 

•  Antony  erected  a  statue  to  Cssar  in  the  roptra,  and  in- 
scribed it  to  the  most  xoorthy  parent  of  his  couniry. 

S 


258  ON    CICERO. 

Nec  tamen  ipsi 
Ignoscas  populo :  populi  frons  durior  hiijus, 
Qui  sedet,  et  spectat  triscurria  patriciorum  : 
Planipedes  audit  Fabios,  ridere  potest  qui 
Mamercorum  alapas.     Quaiiti  sua  funera  vendant. 
Quid  refert  ?  vendunt  nuUo  cogente  Nerone, 
Nec  dubitant  celsi  Praetoris  vendere  ludis. 
Finge  tamen  gladios  inde,  atque  hinc  pulpita  pone  : 
Quid  satius  ?  mortem  sic  quisquam  exhorruit,  ut  sit 
Zelotypus  Thymeles  ;  stupidi  coUega  Corinthi  ? 
Res  baud  mira  tamen,  citharoedo  principe,  mimus 
Nobilis  :  haec  ultra,  quid  erit  nisi  ludus  ?  et  illic 
Dedecus  urbis  babes  :  nec  mirmillonis  in  armis, 
Nec  clypeo  Gracchum  pugnantem,  aut  falce  supina, 
(Damnatenim  tales  habitus,  sed  damnat  et  odit,) 
Nec  galea  frontem  abscondit :  movet  ecce  tridentem, 
Postquam  librata  pendentia  retia  dextra 
Nequicquam  effudit,  nudum  ad  spectacula  vultum 
Erigit,  et  tota  fugit  agnoscendus  arena. 
Credamus  tunicse,  de  faucibus  aurea  cum  se 
Porrigat,  et  longo  jactetur  spira  galero. 
Ergo  ignominiam  graviorem  pertulit  omni 
Vulnere,  cum  Graccho  jussus  pugnare  secutor. 
Libera  si  dentur  populo  suffragia,  quis  tam 
Perditus,  ut  dubitet  Senecam  proeferre  Neroni  ? 
Cujus  supplicio  non  debuit  una  parari 
Simia,  nec  serpens  unus,  nec  culeus  unus. 
Par  Agamemnonidaj  crimen ;   sed  causa  facit  rem 
Dissimilem :  quippe  ille  Deis  auctoribus  ultor 
Patris  erat  caesi  media  inter  pocula  :    sed  nec 
Electrae  jugulo  se  poUuit,  aut  Spartani 
Sanguine  conjugii :  nullis  aconita  propinquis 
Miscuit :   in  scena  nunquam  cantavit  Orestes  : 
Troica  non  scripsit. 

If  Cicero  was  not  more  honest,  he  was  at  least 
better  provided  with  worldly  wisdom,  than  Cato. 
He  thus  describes  that  celebrated  patriot  in  an  epis- 
tle Ad  Atticum,  lib.  i. : — "  Unus  est,  qui  curet,  con- 


ON    CICERO.  O^g 

stantia  magis  et  integritate,  qiiani,  ut  mihi  videtur, 
consilio,  aut  ingenio,  Cato  ;  qui  miseros  publicanos 
quos  habuit  amantissimos  sui,  tertiiim  jam  mensem 
vexat,  neque  iis  a  senatii  responsiim  dari  patitur." 
On  another  occasion  also,  in  the  considship  of  Q. 
Cgecilius  Metellus  and  L.  Afraniiis,  lie  complains  of 
Cato's  conduct,  as  entirely  contrary  to  good  policy 
in  speaking  against  the  petition  of  the  Knights,  and 
that  with  so  resolute  an  opposition,  unlike  some  of 
our  senators  who  speak  one  way  and  vote  another, 
that  he  procured  its  rejection.  In  the  letter  just 
quoted,  Cicero  is  much  discontented  with  the  con- 
duct of  his  party  j  and  throws  out  melancholy  anti- 
cipations of  their  ultimate  failure  : — "  Nam,  ut  ea 
breviter,  quae  post  tuum  discessum  acta  sunt,  colli- 
gam,  jam  exclames  necesse  est,  res  llomanas  diutius 
stare  non  posse.  Sic  ille  annus  duo  firmamenta 
reipublicae,  per  me  unum  constituta,  evertit  :  nam 
et  senatus  auctoritatem  abjecit,  et  ordinum  concor- 
diam  disjunxit."  In  a  lost  poem  on  his  own  consul- 
ship, of  which  a  very  few  fragments  are  extant,  he 
thus  makes  Calliope  speak  to  himself: — 

Interea  cursus,  quos  prima  a  parte  juventai, 
Quos(|ue  adeo  consul  virtutc,  animoque  petisti, 
Hos  reline,  atque  auge  faniam,  laudenique  bonorum. 

The  opportunities  which  occurred  to  a  man  so  ca- 
pable of  availing  himself  of  them  as  Cicero  were  ap- 
parently most  favourable :  and  as  far  as  he  was  per- 
sonally concerned,  in  living  fame,  and  in  posthumous 
renown  to  the  latest  ages,  he  accomj)lished  every 
thing  for  himself  that  he  could  wish.  13ut  the  power 
of  circumstances  was  too  strong,  to  give  permanent 
success  to  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  his  country.  Lucan 
describes  the  crisis  with  oratorical  force,  as  usual, 
rather  than  with  poetical  sublimity  or  imagination  :- 

s2 


260  ON    CICERO. 

Nee  gentibus  ullis 
Commodat,  in  populum,  terrae  pelagique  potentem, 
Invidiam  Fortuna  siiam,     Tu  causa  malorum, 
Facta  tribus  dominis  communis,  Roma,  nee  unquani 
In  turbam  missi  feralia  foedera  regni.  i.  82. 

The  disappointment  wliich  Cicero  felt  at  the  un-. 
toward  progress  of  affairs,  and  bis  gloomy  forebod- 
ings of  a  fatal  issue,  gave  a  tone  of  invective  to  his 
public  harangues,  and  a  splenetic  querulousness  to 
his  private  correspondence.  He  employed  the  lei- 
sure of  his  occasional  retirement  in  drawing  uj)  cer- 
tain anecdotes,  as  he  terms  them,  comprehending 
a  secret  history  of  the  times,  which  no  one  but 
Atticus  was  to  peruse,  in  the  style  of  Theopompus, 
who  was  the  most  satirical  of  all  writers.  He  says 
that  all  his  politics  are  reduced  to  one  point,  of 
hating  bad  citizens,  and  pleasing  himself  with 
writing  against  them.  He  considers  himself  as  dri- 
ven from  the  helm,  with  no  further  object  of  curio- 
sity, than  to  see  the  wreck  from  the  shore ;  quoting 
the  following  passage  from  Sophocles  : — 

Ku)  (mo  rey? 
Tlvxvoi§  axousiv  ^exahog  euSoucif]  ^gevl» 

The  measures  adopted  respecting  his  house,  were 
peculiarly  calculated  to  gall  a  man,  who  had  a 
gentlemanly  pride  in  the  elegance  of  his  domestic 
arrangements,  and  wished  to  make  his  residence  the 
temple  of  literature  and  the  arts.  He  expresses 
himself  bitterly  on  the  subject :  —  "  At  quid  ttdit 
legum  scriptor  peritus  et  callidus  ?  Velitis,  Jubeatis, 
ut  M.  Tullio  Aqua  et  Igni  Interdicatur  ?  Crudele, 
nefarium,  ne  in  sceleratissimo  quidem  civi  sine 
judicioferundum.  Quid  ergo  ^  IJt  Interdictum  sit." 


ON    CICERO.  261 

His  colleague  Piso  was  among  the  most  invete- 
rate of  his  enemies.  Envy  was  probably  the  real 
ground  of  this  hostility  ;  but  envy  shelters  itself 
under  plausible  allegations.  He  upbraided  Cicero 
with  that  vanity  which  it  must  be  acknowledged 
was  too  prominent  a  feature  of  his  character.  This, 
and  not  his  merits,  he  affected  to  consider  as  the 
cause  of  his  exile.  He  taunts  him  with  the  pro- 
voking sarcasm,  that  Pompey  made  him  feel  how 
superior  was  the  power  of  the  general  to  that  of 
the  orator.  He  reminded  him  also,  how  mean  ^and 
ungenerous  it  was,  to  vent  his  spleen  only  on  con- 
temptible objects,  without  daring  to  meddle  with 
those  who  were  more  formidable,  those  against 
whom  the  expression  of  his  resentment  would  have 
been  more  merited  and  more  magnanimous. 

The  circumstance  least  to  be  expected  perhaps 
in  the  life  of  Cicero,  is  the  brilliancy  of  his  mili- 
tary career  as  a  provincial  governor.  Cilicia  w^as  his 
province :  but  Cappadocia,  Armenia,  Isauria,  Lyca- 
onia,  Paphlagonia,  and  Pontus,  in  short  nearly  the 
whole  country  of  Asia  Minor,  constituted  the  thea- 
tre of  his  glory,  and  the  object  of  his  care.  From 
time  to  time  he  marched  nearly  over  the  modern 
Amasia,  Genu,  and  Tokat.  The  Cappadocians 
were  so  eimmoured  of  slavery,  that  when  the  Ro- 
mans offered  them  freedom,  they  declined  it,  and 
said  they  were  not  able  to  support  liberty.  Horace 
refers  to  their  love  of  thraldom  and  tlieir  poverty  : — 

Mancipiis  locuples  eget  ceris  Cappadocum  rex. 

This  poor  king  was  placed  under  Cicero's  espe- 
cial protection  ;  and  his  generosity  to  him  formed 
a  strong  contrast  to  the  peculating  habits  and  cx- 

S.3 


262  ON    CICERO. 

tortion  of  other  proconsuls.  It  gives  a  curious 
idea  how  poor  these  people  were,  that  in  the  time 
of  Lucullus,  an  ox  was  sold  for  four-pence,  and  a 
man  was  worth  not  more  than  four  times  as  much. 
Yet  there  is  no  appearance,  from  the  letters  of  Ci- 
cero or  others  who  were  in  the  country  at  the  time, 
that  they  were  unhappy.  As  long  as  they  had  a 
kind  protector  like  Cicero  against  plots  and  rob- 
bery, the  absence  of  the  stimulus  which  makes 
riches  thought  to  be  necessary,  produced  the  ef- 
fect of  happiness  in  them  more  uniformly  than  does 
the  possession  of  wealth  in  those  who  have  pur- 
sued it  with  ardour  :  for  tlie  want  of  some  little 
addition  always  poisons  the  enjoyment  of  the  covet- 
ous or  ambitious.  In  politics,  they  entertained  no 
extensive  designs,  had  no  aspirations  after  liberty, 
and  were  as  well  disposed  to  be  the  cattle  of  the 
Romans  as  of  any  other  people. 

At  any  other  time,  probably,  Cicero  would  have 
been  well  pleased  with  his  government  and  even 
its  prolongation  ;  for  he  was  winning  golden  opi- 
nions in  it.  But  it  was  a  vital  object  with  him 
to  return,  to  frustrate  the  intrigues  respecting  the 
two  Gauls.  Curio  had  become  an  engine  of  fac- 
tion : — 

Momeiitumque  fuit,  mutatiis  Curio,  rerum, 
Galloruni  captus  spoliis,  et  Caesaris  auro. 

Laicau,  v.  819. 

The  following  lines  of  Virgil  are  supposed  to  ap- 
ply to  the  case  of  Curio,  as  having  sold  Rome  to 
Caesar : — 

Vendidit  hie  auro  patriam,  dominumque  potentem 
Imposuit,  fixit  leges  pretio  atque  refixit. 


ON    CICERO.  Q()3 

The  African  war  held  the  whole  empire  in  sus- 
pence.  Scipio's  name  was  thought  ominous  and 
invincible,  on  the  theatre  which  had  given  a  title 
to  his  ancestors.  The  attention  of  the  public  was 
rivetted  on  the  scene  of  action,  and  they  waited 
with  anxious  expectation  for  the  decisive  blow. 
Cicero  had  given  up  all  hope  of  good  from  either 
side,  and  therefore  chose  to  live  retired  and  out  of 
sight.  Whether  in  the  city  or  the  country,  he 
shut  himself  up  with  his  books.  They  had  hitherto 
been  the  diversion,  but  were  now  become  the  sup- 
port of  his  life.  Whatever  his  country  might  have 
lost  by  his  despondence,  the  modern  world  has 
gained  infinitely.  Study  was  now  his  principal 
solace.  He  entered  into  close  friendship  and  cor- 
respondence with  M.  Terentius  Varro  ;  and  the 
letters  which  passed  show  the  respect  and  affection 
to  have  been  mutual.  At  Varro's  desire,  they  mutu- 
ally dedicated  their  learned  works  to  each  other, 
and  both  are  immortalised.  Cicero's  Academic 
Questions  are  inscribed  to  Varro ;  Varro's  Trea- 
tise on  the  Latin  Tongue  to  Cicero. 

During  this  interval  of  retirement,  Cicero  wrote 
his  book  on  Oratorial  Partitions.  The  subject  is 
the  art  of  ordering  and  distributing  the  parts  of  an 
oration,  so  as  to  adapt  them  in  the  best  manner  to 
their  proper  end,  that  of  moving  and  persuading 
an  audience. 

Another  fruit  of  this  secession  from  politics,  was 
his  dialogue  on  famous  orators,  called  Brutus. 
In  this  he  gives  a  short  character  of  all  who  had 
ever  flourished  either  in  Greece  or  Rome,  with 
any  considerable  reputation  for  eloquence,  down  to 
his  own  times.  He  generally  touches  on  the  princi- 
pal points  of  each  individual's  life ;  so  that  it  will 

s  4 


264f  ON    CICERO. 

be  found  to  contain  almost  an  epitome  of  the 
Roman  history.  The  conference  is  supposed  to 
be  held  with  Brutus  and  Atticus  in  Cicero's  garden 
at  Rome,  under  the  statue  of  Plato.  This  incident 
is  peculiarly  appropriate,  because  that  Greek  philo- 
sopher was  the  especial  object  of  his  admiration, 
and  the  model  on  which  he  generally  formed  his 
dialogues.  In  the  present  piece,  his  double  title, 
Brutus  ;  or.  Of  Famous  Orators,  seems  to  be  con- 
ceived in  the  spirit  of  imitation.  The  speaker  gives 
the  first  title,  the  subject  the  second.  The  title 
of  one  of  Plato's  dialogues  is,  Fhwdon  ;  or.  Of  the 
SouL  This  work  was  intended  as  a  fourth,  and 
supplemental  book  to  the  three,  which  he  had  be- 
fore published  on  the  Complete  Orator, 

Among  the  abuses  produced  by  the  confusion  of 
the  times,  we  should  hardly  have  supposed  did  we 
not  know  it,  that  the  computation  of  time  would 
have  been  pressed  into  the  service  of  faction.  But 
the  practice  of  intercalating  was  introduced  most 
licentiously,  till  at  length  the  months  were  transpo- 
sed  out  of  their  order  and  natural  arrangement,  and 
their  denominations  completely  falsified.  The  win- 
ter was  carried  back  into  autumn,  and  the  autumn 
into  summer.  Caesar  determined  to  close  the  source 
of  this  disorder,  by  abolishing  the  use  of  intercal- 
ations. To  this  end  he  substituted  the  solar  for  the 
lunar  year,  and  adjusted  it  to  the  exact  measure  of 
the  sun's  revolution  in  the  zodiac,  that  is,  to  the 
period  of  time  when  it  returns  to  the  point  whence 
it  set  out.  The  astronomers  of  that  age  supposed 
this  to  be  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days  and 
six  hours.  To  bring  the  year  right  from  the  ex- 
treme irregularity  in  which  it  had  been  going,  and 
to  start  it  clear  and  fresh  for  a  more  regular  jour- 


ON    CICERO.  Qd5 

iiey  to  future  ages,  was  a  work  of  difficulty  and 
nice  calculation.  The  object  was  effected  by  the 
skilful  aid  of  Sosigenes,  an  eminent  astronomer  of 
Alexandria,  whom  Caesar  had  brought  to  Rome 
for  that  purpose.  A  new  calendar  was  formed  on 
his  observations  by  Flavins,  a  scribe,  and  was  di- 
gested according  to  the  succession  of  the  Roman 
festivals.  The  old  manner  of  computing  their  days 
by  Kalends,  Ides,  and  Nones,  had  been  proclaimed 
by  the  dictator's  edict  not  long  after  his  return 
from  Africa,  and  was  adopted  in  the  order  now 
pubhshed.  The  year  between  the  two  calen- 
dars was  the  longest  Rome  had  ever  known. 
It  consisted  of  fifteen  months,  or  four  hundred 
and  forty-five  days,  and  by  the  accuracy  of  its 
computation  put  an  end  to  the  confusion.  The 
Julian,  or  solar  year,  was  introduced  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  ensuing  January.  It  continues 
in  use  to  this  day  in  all  Christian  countries,  with 
one  intervening  regulation  of  the  style,  submitted 
by  Lord  Macclesfield  to  the  British  Parliament  in 
the  middle  of  the  last  century. 

Cicero's  own  works  would  have  furnished  his 
history,  had  all  the  other  books,  in  which  his 
name  is  mentioned,  perished.  Dr.  Middleton  has 
made  those  works  subservient  to  a  luminous,  as 
well  as  eloquent  life  of  the  illustrious  Roman.  Ci- 
cero frequently  expatiates  on  the  character  of  liis 
own  philosophy,  and  the  practical  effect  of  his  opi- 
nions. Plato  gave  liim  courage  to  bear  up  against 
tlie  disappointment  of  his  j)oHticaI  views.  He  had 
learned  from  that  profound  observer,  that  turns  and 
revolutions  must  naturally  be  expected  in  states  : 
that  oligarchy,  mob-government,  and  monarchy 
must  each  have  their  day.      His  own  republic  had 


^66  ON    CICERO. 

experienced  these  vicissitudes,  and  his  own  oc- 
cupation was  gone.  He  betook  himself  to  his 
studies,  to  reheve  his  mind  from  brooding  over  the 
pubhc  misfortunes,  and  to  make  himself  useful  to 
his  country  in  the  only  mode  left  for  him.  His 
books  supplied  the  place  of  his  votes  in  the  senate, 
and  of  his  speeches  to  the  people.  He  had.  re- 
course to  philosophy,  when  political  life  no  longer 
afforded  scope  for  his  exertions,  nor  the  slightest 
prospect  of  success  if  he  made  them. 

Voluminous  as  are  Cicero's  works,  much  unfor- 
tunately is  lost  Among  the  desiderata  is  a  dialogue 
published  during  his  retreat,  and  entitled  Horten- 
sius  in  honour  of  his  friend.  In  this  he  carried 
on  the  play  of  debate,  which  had  often  been  con- 
tested so  seriously,  yet  so  liberally  at  the  bar.  The 
subject  was  learning  and  philosophy.  He  undertook 
their  defence,  and  assigned  to  his  illustrious  com- 
petitor the  task  of  arraigning  them.  A  remarkable 
circumstance  attended  the  reading  of  this  book. 
St.  Austin  was  first  led  by  it  to  the  study  of  the 
Christian  philosophy.  It  is  curious  that  the  church 
of  Christ  should  owe  one  of  its  most  illustrious  con- 
verts, and  one  of  its  most  powerful  champions  to  the 
instrumentality  of  a  heathen  scholar. 

About  the  same  time,  he  composed  another  work 
on  philosophy  in  four  books  :  an  account  and  de- 
fence of  the  Academy.  It  was  his  own  sect ;  and 
the  reason  he  gives  for  adhering  to  it  is,  its  being  of 
all  others  the  most  elegant,  the  least  arrogant,  and 
the  most  consistent  with  itself  He  had  before 
published  a  work  on  the  same  subject  in  two  books, 
the  one  entitled  Catulus,  the  other  Ltccullus.  He 
did  not  however  consider  the  argument  as  suited  to 
the  character  of  the  speakers,  who  were  not  remark- 


ON    CICERO.  267 

able  in  that  line  of  study.  His  intention  was  to 
change  them  to  Cato  and  Brutus.  Atticus  gave 
him  a  hint,  that  Varro  had  signified  a  wish  to  find 
his  name  in  some  of  his  writings.  He  immediately 
therefore  remodelled  his  plan,  and  extended  it  to 
four  books.  These  he  addressed  to  Varro,  taking 
on  himself  the  part  of  Philo,  in  defence  of  the  Aca- 
demic principles,  and  giving  that  of  Antiochus  to 
Varro,  who  was  to  oppose  and  confute  them.  At- 
ticus was  the  moderator  of  the  debate. 

Among  the  most  valuable  of  his  works,  on  a  most 
important  subject  of  philosophy,  is  a  treatise  pub- 
lished in  the  same  year  with  his  Academic  Questions, 
in  a  dialogue  De  Finibus  Bonorum  et  Malorum :  on 
the  chief  Good  and  111  of  Man.  It  is  written  after  the 
manner  of  Aristotle.  He  explains  with  all  the  re- 
commendations of  eloquence,  and  with  the  indis- 
pensible  requisite  of  perspicuity  on  so  difficult  a 
question,  the  several  opinions  held  by  the  ancient 
sects.  He  thus  states  his  subject,  and  the  superiority 
of  its  importance  to  the  generality  of  those  dis- 
cussed by  great  men,  and  listened  to  with  profound 
attention  : — "  Quid  est  enim  in  vita  tantopere  qua?- 
rendum,  quam  cum  omnia  in  philosophia,  tum  id, 
quod  his  libris  quaeritur,  quid  sit  finis,  quid  extre- 
mum,  quid  ultimum,  quo  sint  omnia  bene  vivendi, 
recteque  faciendi  consilia  referenda  ?  quid  sequatur 
natura,  ut  summum  ex  rebus  expetendis  ?  quid 
fugiat,  ut  extremum  malorum  ?  qua  de  re  cum  sit 
inter  doctissimos  magna  dissensio,  quis  alienum  pu- 
tet  ejus  esse  dignitatis,  quam  mihi  quisque  tribuit, 
quod  in  omni  munere  vita?  optimum  et  verissimum 
sit,  exquirere  ?  An,  partus  ancillae  sitne  in  iructu  ha- 
bendus,  disseretur  inter  principes  civitatis,  P.  Sca;- 
volatn,  M'  Manilium  ?  ab  bisque  M.  Brutus  disiicn- 


268  ON    CICERO. 

tiet,  (shall  take  the  negative  where  they  take  the 
affirmative^^  quod  et  acutum  genus  est,  et  ad  usus 
civium  non  inutile :  nosque  ea  scripta,  reliquaque 
ejusdem  generis  et  legimus  libenter,  et  legemus  : 
haec,  quae  vitam  continent  omnem,  negligentur? 
Nam,  ut  sint  ilia  vendibiliora,  haec  uberiora  certe 
sunt." 

The  work  consists  of  five  books.  We  have  be- 
fore had  occasion  to  notice,  how  both  here  and 
elsewhere,  Cicero  opens  the  Epicurean  doctrine, 
and  discusses  it  in  detail.  It  is  defended  by 
Torquatus,  and  confuted  by  Cicero,  in  a  conversa- 
tion held  at  his  Cuman  villa,  in  presence  of  Triari- 
us,  a  young  man  of  distinction,  brought  on  a  visit 
by  Torquatus.  The  five  books  give  the  supposed 
substance  of  three  dialogues.  The  scene  of  the  last, 
occupying  tlie  fiftli  book,  is  laid  at  Athens.  Piso 
explains  the  opinions  of  the  Old  Academy*,  or  the 
Peripatetics,  in  presence  of  Cicero,  his  brother 
Quintus,  his  cousin  Lucius,  and  Atticus.  He  ad- 
dresses the  whole  work  to  Brutus,  in  return  for  a 
dedication  of  the  same  kind  on  the  part  of  Brutus, 
prefixed  to  his  Treatise  on  Virtue. 

In  a  short  time  after  the  publication  of  this  last 
work,  he  produced  another  of  equal  dignity,  which 
he  entitled  Tusculan  Disputations.  This  also  con- 
sisted of  five  books,  on  as  many  different  questions 
of  philosophy,  bearing  the  most  strongly  on  the 
practice  of  life,  and  involving  topics  the  most  es- 
sential to  human  happiness.  In  the  first  book  the 
question  is  put,  **  Sed    quae  sunt  ea,  quae  dicis  te 

*  The  Academics,  by  adopting  the  probable  instead  of  the 
certain,  preserved  the  balance  between  the  two  extremes,  and 
were  moderate  in  their  opinions.  Plutarch  was  one  of  them  : 
his  maxim  was,  Mi^Sei/  ^-yw- 


ON    CICERO.  269 

majora  nioliri  ?"  The  answer  is,  "  Ut  doceam,  si 
possim,  non  modo  malum  non  esse,  sed  boiuim  etiam 
esse  mortem."  He  states  the  subject  of  the  second 
book  on  temperate  and  rational  grounds ;  not  with 
tlie  extravagance  of  the  Stoics: — "Nee  tam  quasren- 
dum  est,  dolor  malumne  sit,  quam  firmandus  ani- 
mus ad  dolor  em  ferendum."  With  the  same  prac- 
tical good  sense  is  the  question  of  the  third  book 
set  down,  and  the  real  ground  of  manly  fortitude 
settled : — "  Ha?c  igitur  praemeditatio  futurorum  ma- 
lorum,  lenit  eorum  adventimi,  qua?  venientia  lon- 
ge  ante  videris."  In  the  fourth  book  he  complains 
that  tlie  philosophers  treat  moral  subjects,  and  the 
means  of  attaining  happiness,  with  more  of  scholas- 
tic subtlety  and  formal  method,  than  of  practical 
utility: — Quia  Chrysippus,  et  Stoici,  cum  de  animi 
perturbationibus  disputant,  magnam  partem  in  his 
partiendis  et  definiendis  occupati  sunt :  ilia  eorum 
perexigua  oratio  est,  qua  medeantur  animis,  nee 
eos  turbulentos  esse  patiantur."  This  deficiency 
he  endeavours  to  supply.  In  the  opening  of  the 
fifth  book,  he  thus  addresses  Brutus  :  —  "  Placere 
enim  tibi  admodum  sensi,  et  ex  eo  libro,  (^De  Virtu- 
te,)  quem  ad  me  accuratissime  scripsisti,  et  ex  multis 
sermonibus  tuis,  virtutem  ad  beate  vivendum  se  ipsa 
esse  contentam."  To  establish  that  proposition,  is 
the  final  object  of  the  discussion. 

It  was  Cicero's  habit,  during  his  intervals  of 
leisure,  to  invite  some  of  his  friends  into  the  coun- 
try. Not  being  much  of  a  game-preserver,  not 
knowing  spring  guns,  setting  no  traps,  and  main- 
taining no  warfare  with  poachers,  he  was  reduced 
to  the  necessity  of  killing  time  by  such  conversation, 
as  could  not  but  involve  the  improvement  of  the 
mind,  and  the  enlargement  of  the  understanding. 


270  ON    CICERO. 

It  is  not  here  meant  to  be  insinuated,  that  the 
entertainment  was  wholly  speculative ;  or  that  he 
did  not  give  very  good  dinners.  But  they  were 
accompanied  with  what  persons  addicted  to  curious 
and  uncommon  quotation  would  call,  "  the  feast  of 
reason  and  the  flow  of  soul :"  nor  did  they  at  all 
resemble  a  dinner  party,  at  which  a  friend  of  mine 
was  present  many  years  ago  in  the  west  of  England. 
Had  the  thing  happened  last  week,  and  in  the  east, 
nothing  should  have  induced  me  to  divulge  it.  The 
company  consisted  of  squires  and  clergy.  When  the 
cloth  was  removed,  one  of  the  guests,  no  matter 
whether  lay  or  clerical,  produced  a  horse's  hoof  from 
his  pocket,  and  laid  it  on  the  table  with  the  dessert. 
This  gave  rise,  as  was  intended,  to  an  animated 
and  scientific  Tusculana  Qiia'stio  on  farriery. 

The  treatise  in  question  recounts  the  diversions 
of  five  days,  among  a  party  of  Cicero's  friends  at 
his  Tusculan  villa.  Hence,  the  title  of  Tusciilan 
Disputations,  It  is  a  point  of  considerable  nicety, 
how  far  the  different  dialogues  of  this  kind  are  to 
be  ranked  as  mere  fictions,  for  the  purpose  of  com- 
municating a  dramatic  air  and  enlivening  dry  dis- 
cussion, or  whether  they  be  the  literal  records  of 
a  real  debate ;  or  lastly,  the  heads  of  somewhat  de- 
sultory conversations,  expanded,  methodised,  co- 
loured by  a  more  masterly  hand,  heightened  by 
the  ornaments  of  eloquence  and  the  sublime  of 
philosophy.  That  they  were,  on  some  occasions, 
far  from  literal,  has  been  shown  by  the  change  of 
names  for  purposes  of  personal  compliment.  Were 
we  to  consider  them  as  absolute  romances,  we 
should  lose  all  the  antiquarian  interest  derived 
from  the  machinery.  Medio  ttitissi?nus  ibis,  as  the 
recondite  quoter  would  express  himself.    However 


ON    CICERO.  271 

much  or  little  of  the  actual  words  might  have  been 
spoken,  we  may  suppose  the  parties  mentioned,  to 
have  been  carried  down  to  the  villa  by  the  host : 
that  the  mornings  were  employed  in  declamation 
and  rhetorical  exercises.     We  have  every  reason 
to  believe  it  a  fact  that  Cicero  had  built  a  gallery 
there,  called  the  Academy,  for  the  purpose  of  philo- 
sophical conferences.    Thither  the  company  was  in 
the  habit  of  retiring  in  the  afternoon ;  and  there 
he  held  a  school  after  the  manner  of  the  Greeks, 
and  invited  his  guests  to  call  for  any  subject  they 
might  desire  to  hear  explained.     Whatever  any  of 
the  party  proposed,   was  made  the  argument  of 
that  day's  debate.     Either  therefore  Cicero,  who 
was  an  adept  on  all  philosophical  subjects,    and 
versed  in  the  theories  of  all  the  schools,  contented 
himself  to  write  on  any  subject,  in  which  his  visi- 
tors  might  most  wish  to  be  instructed ;  or  they 
paid  their  host  the  compliment  of  calling  for  such 
subjects,  as  from  any  thing  dropt  in  previous  con- 
versation,  they  might  suppose  him  most  inclined 
to  talk  about,  and  ultimately  to  write  upon.     It 
matters  not  to  us,  which  way  the  selection  arose  ; 
this  hypothesis  is  sufficient  to  give  the  vehicle  of 
dialogue,   so  insipid  where  the  occasion    and  the 
characters  are  entirely  fictitious,  a  local  habitation, 
as  our  friend  would  say,  and  names  of  historical 
interest.     These  conferences,  on  the  present  occa- 
sion five,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  collecting   into 
writing ;  but  as  we  do  not  know  that  tliere  was 
any  short-hand,  and  are  sure  there  was  no  Boswcll, 
it  should  seem  as  if  Dr.  Middleton  had  stated  the 
thing  too  strongly,  in  saying  that  they  were  given 
"  in  the  very  words  and  manner  in  which  they 
really  passed." 


27'i  ON    CICERO. 

Another  of  Cicero's  celebrated  discourses  is  that 
on  Fate.  It  arose  from  a  conversation  with  Hir- 
tius,  at  his  villa  near  Puteoli,  where  they  spent  se- 
veral days  together  to  enjoy  the  spring.  He  is 
supposed  about  the  same  time  to  have  finished  his 
translation  of  Plato's  dialogue,  entitled  Timgeus, 
on  the  nature  and  origin  of  the  universe.  He  was 
also  employing  liimself  on  a  work  of  a  different 
kind,  which  had  been  long  on  his  hands  :  a  histo- 
ry of  his  own  times  ;  which  might  have  been  more 
appropriately  called  an  explanation  and  justifica- 
tion of  his  own  conduct.  It  was  full  of  free  and 
severe  reflections  on  Caesar  and  Crassus,  and  others 
who  had  abused  their  power  to  the  oppression  of 
the  commonwealth.  He  gave  it  the  modest  deno- 
mination of  Anecdotes.  It  was  not  to  be  pubhshed, 
as  too  hazardous  ;  but  to  be  shown  only  to  a  few 
friends.  It  was  written,  as  before  observed,  after 
the  manner  of  the  historian  Theopompus,  who 
indulged  in  the  severity  of  a  satirist,  and  the  invec- 
tive of  a  misanthrope. 

He  began  his  Book  of  Offices  at  his  country- 
seat  near  Naples,  designed,  as  he  tells  us,  for  the 
use  and  instruction  of  his  son,  that  the  time  passed 
in  an  excursion  of  pleasure  might  not  be  entirely 
lost.  He  also  composed  there  an  oration,  adapted 
to  the  circumstances  of  the  time,  and  sent  it  to 
Atticus,  to  be  suppressed  or  brought  forward  at 
his  discretion  ;  besides  which  he  engaged  to  finish, 
and  send  to  his  friend  shortly,  his  secret  history  or 
anecdotes  in  the  manner  of  Heraclides,  to  be  care- 
fully concealed  in  his  cabinet. 

He  wrote  a  treatise  also  on  the  Nature  of  tlie 
Gods.  In  all  these  books  an  incautious  reader  is 
apt  to  be  misled  5  but  an  attentive  one  never  can. 


ON    CICERO.  §73 

The  author  sometimes  takes  upon  himself  the  cha- 
racter of  a  Stoic  ;  sometimes  that  of  an  Epicurean  ; 
or  again,  that  of  a  Peripatetic.  The  object  of  this 
is  to  explain,  with  more  semblance  of  authority, 
the  different  doctrines  of  each  sect ;  and  besides 
that,  to  show  by  what  arguments  those  who  differ 
from  himself  can  each  confute  the  other.  When 
he  puts  off  this  mask,  and  appears  in  his  own  per- 
son of  an  Academic,  he  disputes  against  them  all 
collectively.  Hence  he  has  been  accused  of  broach- 
ing contradictory  sentiments,  from  the  occasions 
not  having  been  carefully  noted  when  he  has  set 
up  an  argument  only  to  knock  it  down.  It  must 
be  distinctly  understood,  if  we  mean  to  assist  our 
own  powers  of  reasoning,  or  in  any  way  to  profit 
by  this  branch  of  his  writings,  that  when  he  treats 
any  subject  professedly,  or  gives  a  judgment  on  it 
deliberately,  either  in  his  own  person  or  in  that  of 
an  Academic,  he  is  to  be  held  responsible  for  all 
opinions  there  brought  forward.  In  scenes  where 
he  does  not  introduce  himself,  he  generally  lets  us 
know  to  which  of  the  interlocutors  he  consigns  the 
maintenance  of  the  party  he  in  his  own  mind 
espouses  :  and  that  interlocutor  is  usually  the  prin- 
cipal speaker  in  the  dialogue.  Thus  Crassus  re- 
presents Cicero  in  the  treatise  De  Oratore  ;  Scipip, 
in  that  De  Republica ;  Cato,  in  that  De  Senectute. 

He  seems  to  have  thought  with  Socrates,  that  a 
minute  and  curious  attention  to  natural  philosophy, 
so  as  to  make  it  an  ultimate  object  of  scientific  in- 
vestigation, is  attended  with  little  profit,  and  an 
inadequate  employment  further  than  as  a  relax- 
ation. 

On  the  great  subject,  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  and  its  separate  existence  after  death,  in  a 


274  ON    CICERO. 

state  of  happiness  or  misery,   he  probably  carried 
the  behef  of  the  doctrine  as  far  as  a  person  unen- 
lightened by  revelation  could  push  it.     If  he  went 
no  further  than  inference,   and  stopped  at  a  point 
far  short  of  what  we  consider  as  the  proof,  it  was 
the  misfortune  of  his  age,  not  the  fault  of  his  mind. 
The  opinion  of  the  Stoics  was,  that  the  soul  is  a 
subtilised  fiery  substance,  which  survives  the  earthy 
particles  of  the  body,  and  subsists  for  a  long  time 
after  it :  but  that  it  was  not  capable  of  resisting 
the  expected  final  destruction  of  all  things  by  the 
rage  of  its  own  element.     Cicero,  on  the  contrary, 
treated  it  as  an  unmixed  and  indivisible  essence. 
If  it  could  not  be  separated  by  any  external  force, 
he  argued  that  it  could  not  perish.     All  its  powers 
and  fkculties  he  considered,   both  in  their  nature 
and  extent,  as  favourable  to  the  supposition  of  im- 
mortality.    The  principle  of  voluntary  self-origin- 
ating motion,  memory,  invention,  wit,  comprehen- 
sion ;  —  all  these  seemed  to  him  incompatible  with 
the  inertness  of  matter.     He  laid  much  stress  also 
on  the  thirst  of  immortality  so  ardent  in  the  best 
and  the  most  elevated  minds :  he  felt  the  destiny 
of  man  to  be  indicated,  not  by  the  coarse  pleasures 
of  the  multitude,  but  by  the  sublime  aspirations  of 
nature's  noblest  master-pieces.     The  doctrine  of 
God,  providence,   and  immortality,  was  the  basis 
of  Cicero's   religion,   on  which,    as  a  measure  of 
prudence,  he  professed  to  raise  the  superstructure 
of  the   Roman  Dii  Minorum  Gentium  :   but  the 
heaven  of  his  secret  breast  was  not  peopled  with 
such  inhabitants.     His  opinions  and  conduct  on 
the  subject  of  augury,  on  which  Appius  dedicated  a 
treatise   to  him,  are  worthy  of  remark.     He  did 
not  altogether  agree  with  the  notions  either  of  his 


ON    CICERO.  275 

dedicator  or  of  Marcellus.  His  belief  was,  that 
augury  might  possibly  be  first  instituted  on  a  per- 
suasion of  its  divinity.  The  improvement  of  arts 
and  learning  in  succeeding  ages  had  e^xploded  that 
opinion  in  all  but  the  vulgar  mind :  but  state-craft 
retained  the  establishment  for  the  political  purpose 
of  influencing  and  overawing  that  vulgar  mind; 
and  Cicero  himself  was  glad  to  be  an  augur,  at  the 
risk  of  laughing  in  the  faces  of  his  colleagues. 

To  return  to  his  esoteric  opinions.  He  consi- 
dered the  system  of  the  world,  as  exposed  to  the 
view  of  man,  to  be  the  promulgation  of  God's  law, 
the  sensible  announcement  of  his  will  to  mankind. 
Hence  we  may  collect  his  being,  nature,  and  attri- 
butes, and  in  some  degree  ascertain  the  principles 
and  motives  on  which  he  acts,  ^y  observing  what 
he  has  done,  we  may  learn  what  we  ought  to  do  : 
by  tracing  the  operations  of  divine  reason,  we  may 
learn  how  to  discipline  our  own.  The  imitation  of 
God  he  makes  to  constitute  the  perfection  of  man. 
From  the  will  of  God  manifested  in  his  works,  he 
derives  the  origin  of  all  duty  and  moral  obligation. 
The  fitness  and  relation  of  things  displayed  through- 
out all  creation,  constitute  the  prototype  of  our 
propriety,  consistency,  and  rationality.  God  is  the 
inventor,  propounder,  and  enactor  of  his  own  law. 
Whosoever  will  not  obey  it,  throws  off  his  alle- 
giance, and  renounces  the  nature  of  man.  Though 
he  escape  the  tortures  of  material  punishment  as 
commonly  believed,  Cicero  thinks  that  conscience 
will  be  his  severest  tormentor.  Nothing  but  the 
study  of  this  law,  he  says,  can  teach  us  this  im- 
portant  lesson  prescribed  by  the  Pythian  oracle, 
to  know  ourselves.    He  explains  this  pithy  precept 

T    2 


276  ON    CICERO. 

in  detail ;  and  makes  its  fulfilment  to  consist  in 
the  knowledge  of  our  own  nature  and  rank  in  the 
general  system ;  the  relation  we  bear  to  other 
things ;  and  the  purposes  for  which  we  were  sent 
into  the  world.  When  a  man  has  carefully  observed 
the  heavens,  the  earth,  the  sea,  and  the  things  in 
them ;  has  scrutinised  their  origin,  their  apparent 
tendency,  and  their  probable  end ;  has  sepa- 
rated the  divine  and  eternal  from  the  perishable  : 
when  he  has  almost  found  his  way  into  the  divine 
presence,  and  feels  himself  an  unconfiHcd  citizen 
of  the  world :  with  such  enlarged  prospects,  then 
will  he  begin  to  know  himself,  and  to  despise  what 
the  vulgar  esteem  most  glorious.  On  these  prin- 
ciples as  laid  down  in  his  writings  did  Cicero  build 
his  religion  and  morality.  His  treatise  on  Govern- 
ment and  Laws  illustrated,  explained,  and  enlarged 
them.  His  Book  of  Offices  made  the  scheme 
complete. 

The  elder  Pliny  bears  testimony  to  the  merit  of 
these  works  :  —  "  Scito  enim  conferentem  auctores 
me  deprehendisse  a  juratissimis  et  proximis  veteres 
transcriptos  ad  verbum,  neque  nominatos :  non 
ilia  Virgiliana  virtu  te,  ut  certarent ;  non  Cicero- 
niana  simplicitate,  qui  in  libros  de  Republica, 
'  Platonis  se  Comitem'  profitetur :  in  Consola- 
tione  filiae,  *  Crantorem,  inquit,  sequor :'  item 
*  Panaetium  de  Officiis :'  quae  volumina  ejus  edi- 
scenda,  non  modo  in  manibus  quotidie  habenda, 
nosti." 

The  treatise  De  Republica,  the  greatest  of  these 
works,  was  lost,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  frag- 
ments.*    He  had  here  given  so  full  and  fair  a 

*  Some  further  portions  have  been  recently  recovered. 


ON    CICERO.  277 

transcript  of  his  inward  mind,  that  he  tells  Atticus, 
those  six  books  are  so  many  hostages  given  to  his 
country  for  his  good. behaviour.  Were  he  ever  to 
go  backward  from  liis  integrity,  he  could  never 
again  dare  to  open  those  volumes. 

Is  it  to  be  inferred,  that  these  great  discoveries 
of  a  heathen  lessen  the  necessity  of  revelation  ? 
Cicero  is  a  standing  proof  of  the  direct  contrary. 
St.  Paul  says  that  there  is  a  law  taught  by  nature, 
and  written  on  the  hearts  of  the  Gentiles,  to  guide 
them  through  their  self-regretted  ignorance  and 
darkness,  till  a  more  perfect  revelation  of  the  di- 
vine will  should  be  vouchsafed.  The  scheme  pro- 
fessed by  Cicero  was  unquestionably  the  most  per- 
fect ever  divulged  to  the  heathen  world :  the 
greatest  effort  of  unassisted  nature  towards  attain- 
ing the  supreme  good  of  which  it  is  capable,  and 
the  proper  end  of  created  beings. 

Erasmus  could  not  help  exclaiming,  that  the 
mind  from  which  such  sublime  truths  proceeded, 
must  have  been  under  the  influence  of  something 
more  than  natural  suggestions.  Yet  these  glorious 
sentiments  were  rather  the  visions  of  his  hope,  than 
the  convictions  of  his  reason.  These  were  the 
ebullitions  of  his  enthusiasm  :  other  passages  of  his 
works  furnish  us  with  the  misgivings  of  his  melan- 
choly moments,  the  diffidence  of  his  timid  calcu- 
lations,  the  doubts  which  the  Sceptic  too  success- 
fully  proposed  to  the  Academic.  Insulated  quot- 
ations will  establish  in  the  mind  of  a  reader  not 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  his  works,  a  disbelief 
in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  a  negative  on  a 
future  state  of  rewards  and  punishments. 

In  his  political  capacity  he  was  invariably  the 
friend  of  peace  and  liberty.     He  was  constantly 

T  3 


278  ON    CICERO. 

bent  on  smoothing  down  the  violence  of  the  con- 
flicting parties,  and  set  his  face  against  every  new 
advance  to  the  propagation  of  civil  discord.  He 
was  so  indefatigable  in  contriving  and  proposing 
projects  of  accommodation,  that  he  incurred  the 
nick-name  of  the  Peace-maker.  His  leading  max- 
im as  a  politician  was,  that  as  the  end  of  a  pilot  is 
a  prosperous  voyage ;  that  of  a  physician,  the  health 
of  his  patient ;  that  of  a  general,  victory  ;  — that  of 
a  statesman  is,  to  make  the  people  happy ;  to  esta- 
blish them  in  power,  to  enrich  them,  to  advance 
their  glory  and  secure  their  virtue.  This  he  de- 
clares to  be  the  best  work  a  man  can  perform. 

But  as  this  cannot  be  effected,  without  unanimity 
in  a  state,  it  was  his  uniform  endeavour  to  blend 
the  different  orders  into  one  mass  of  mutual  con- 
fidence ;  to  balance  the  supremacy  of  the  people 
by  the  authority  of  the  senate  ;  to  divide  their 
functions  between  counsel  and  execution,  between 
ultimate  decision  and  previous  influence.  It  hap- 
pened unfortunately,  he  was  leagued  with  a  party 
made  up  of  unconnected  shreds  and  patches. 
Brutus  and  Cassius  were  men  of  character  like 
himself;  high  in  principle,  patriotic  in  purpose. 
But  very  different  were  those  next  in  authority  to 
them.  Decimus  Brutus  and  C.  Trebonius  had 
both  been  deeply  pledged  to  Caesar's  interests. 
They  had  been  favoured,  promoted,  and  confided  in 
by  him  in  all  his  wars.  When  Caesar  first  marched 
into  Spain,  he  left  Brutus  to  command  the  siege 
of  Marseilles  by  sea,  Trebonius  by  land.  They  ac- 
quitted themselves  with  bravery  and  military  skill, 
and  reduced  that  strong  place  to  the  necessity  of  a 
surrender  at  discretion.  Their  opportunities  of 
thus  signalising  themselves  were  created  by  Caesar's 


ON    CICERO..  2/9 

patronage :  strong  indeed  must  have  been  the 
patriotic  impulse,  if  such  it  were,  which  should 
induce  them  to  cut  asunder  all  the  ties  of  gratitude. 
The  conduct  of  the  party  has  been  hallowed  by 
its  martyrdom  ;  but  Cicero's  correspondence  gives 
us  reason  to  believe,  that  had  success  given  birth 
to  the  clash  of  interests  and  the  recriminations  of 
jealousy,  mucli  foul  play  and  mean  motive,  treachery 
and  avarice,  dishonourable  ambition  and  factious 
intrigue  woufd  have  disfigured  the  history,  and 
swelled  witli  dirty  anecdotes  the  scandalous  chron- 
icles of  the  times.  Cicero  seemed  to  derive  great 
hopes  from  Plancus ;  but  generally  speaking,  he 
despaired  of  the  cause  from  the  discordant  elements 
of  which  it  was  composed.  "  Quae  si  ad  tuum 
tempus  perducitur,  facilis  gubernatio  est :  ut  per- 
ducatur  autem,  magnae  cum  diligentiae  est,  tum 
etiam  fortunae."  The  qualification  was  distrustful, 
and  prophetic.  The  evocatiy  a  body  of  veterans, 
invited  again  to  the  service  afler  dismissal,  on  the 
footing  of  volunteers,  and  entitled  to  peculiar 
privileges,  were  brought  down  on  Antony's  side  in 
the  great  conflict  in  which  Hirtius  and  Pansa  lost 
their  lives.  The  consul  or  the  general  who  com- 
manded them  reckoned  much  upon  them.  Such  a 
band,  with  experience  and  military  renown,  return- 
ing in  vigour  to  the  war,  with  honourable  distinction 
and  the  poj)ularity  of  well-earned  laurels,  was  a 
host  which  they  of  the  adverse  faction  wanted.  The 
gain  of  a  victory  produced  no  lasting  benefit  to  the 
patriots ;  the  loss  of  a  battle  placed  them  on  the 
brink  of  destruction.  Their  armies  were  destroyed ; 
their  military  chiefs  fell  in  various  ways,  and  Cicero 
was  murdered  for  his  Phihppics. 

T  4 


^80  ON    CICERO. 

The  length  of  this  article  leaves  no  room  for 
entering  at  large  into  an  examination  of  Cicero's 
speeches.  The  great  orations  are  well  known  to 
every  classical  reader:  but  the  shortest  deserve 
attention.  The  ninth  philippic,  in  answer  to  Ser- 
\dlius,  is  not  only  eloquent,  but  shows  Cicero  in  the 
light  of  a  private  friend,  as  well  as  a  promoter  of 
the  public  service. 

"  Quod  si  cuiqam  Justus  honos  habitus  est  in 
morte  legato,  in  nullo  justior,  quam  in  Ser.  Sulpicio, 
reperietur.  .  .  .  Sulpicius  cum  aliqua  perveniendi 
ad  M.  Antonium  spe  profectus  est,  nulla  revertendi. 
qui  cum  ita  affectus  esset,  ut,  si  ad  gravem  vali- 
tudinem  labor  viae  accessisset,  sibi  ipse  diffideret : 
non  recusavit,  quo  minus  vel  extremo  spiritu,  si 
quam  opem  reipublicae  ferre  posset,  experiretur. 
Itaque  non  ilium  vis  hiemis,  non  nives,  non  lon- 
gitudo  itineris,  non  asperitas  viarum,  non  morbus  in- 
gravescens  retardavit :  cumque  jam  ad  congressum 
colloquiumque  ejus  pervenisset,  ad  quem  erat  missus, 
in  ipsa  cura  et  meditatione  obeundi  sui  muneris  ex- 

cessit  e  vita Ego  autem,  patres  conscripti, 

sic  interpretor  sensisse  majores  nostros,  ut  causam 
mortis  censuerint,  non  genus  esse  quaerendum. 
Etenim  cui  legatio  ipsa  morti  fuisset,  ejus  monu- 
mentum  exstare  voluerunt,  ut  in  bellis  periculosis 

obirent  homines  legationis  munus  audacius 

Nunc  autem  quis  dubitat,  quin  ei  vitam  abs- 
tulerit  ipsa  legatio  ?  secum  enim  ille  mortem  ex- 
tulit :  quam,  si  nobiscum  remansisset  sua  cura, 
optimi  filii,  fidelissimae  conjugis  diligentia,  vitare 
potuisset.  At  ille,  cum  videret,  si  vestrae  aucto- 
ritati  non  paruisset,  dissimilem  se  futurum  sui;  si 
paruisset,  munus  sibi  illud  pro  republica  susceptum. 


ON    CICERO.  281 

vitae  finem  allaturum :  maluit  in  maximo  reipu- 
blicae  discrimine  mori,  quam  minus,  quam  potuisset, 
videri  reipublicae  prof uisse.  Multis  illi  in  urbibus, 
qua  iter  faciebat,  reficiendi  se,  et  curandi  potestas 
fuit.  aderat  et  hospitum  invitatio  liberalis  pro  di- 
gnitate  summi  viri,  et  eorum  hortatio,  qui  una 
erant  missi,  ad  requiescendum,  et  vitae  suae  con- 
sulendum.  At  ille  properans,  festinans,  mandata 
nostra  conficere  cupiens,  in  hac  constantia,  morbo 

adversante,  perseveravit Quod   si   excusa- 

tionem  Ser.  Sulpicii,  patres  conscripti,  legationis 
obeundae  recordari  volueritis,  nulla  dubitatio  relin- 
quetiir,  quin  honore  mortui,  quam  vivo  injuriam 
fecimus,  sarciamus.  Vos  enim,  patres  conscripti, 
(grave  dictu  est,  sed  dicendum  tamen,)  vos,  in- 
quam,  Ser.  Sulpicium  vita  privastis :  quem  cum 
videretis  re  magis  morbum,  quam  oratione,  excu- 
santem,  non  vos  quidem  crudeles  fuistis,  (quid 
enim  minus  in  hunc  ordinem  convenit?)  sed,  cum 
speraretis  nihil  esse,  quod  non  illius  auctoritate  et 
sapientia  effici  posset,  vehementius  excusationi 
obstitistis:  atque  eum,  qui  semper  vestrum  con. 
sensum  gravissimum  judicavisset,  de  sententia 
dejecistis.  Ut  vero  Pansae  consulis  accessit  co- 
hortatio  gravior,  quam  aures  Ser.  Sulpicii  ferre 
didicissent,  tum  vero  denique  filium,  meque  seduxit, 
atque  ita  locutus  est,  ut  auctoritatem  vestram  vitae 
suae  se  diceret  anteferre.  cujus  nos  virtutem  admi- 
rati,  non  ausi  sum  us  ejus  adversari  voluntati.  mo- 
vebatur  singulari  pietate  filius :  non  multum  ejus 
perturbationi  mens  dolor  concedebat :  sed  uterque 
nostrum  cedere  cogebatur  magnitudini  animi,  ora- 
tionisque  gravitati :  cum  quidem  ille,  maxima 
laude  et  gratulatione  omnium  vestrum,  poUicitus 


28^  ON    CICERO. 

est,  se,  quod  velletis,  esse  facturum,  neque  ejus 
sententiae  periculum  vitaturum,  cujus  ipse  auctor 
fuisset :  quern  exsequi  mandata  vestra  properantem, 
mane  postridie  prosecuti  sum  us.  .  .  Reddite  igitur, 
patres  conscripti,  ei  vitam,  cui  ademistis.  vita 
enim  mortuorum  in  memoria  vivorum  est  posita. 
perficite,  ut  is,  quem  vos  ad  mortem  inscii  misistis, 
immortalitatem  habeat  a  vobis.  cui  si  statuam  in 
Rostris  decreto  vestro  statueritis,  nulla  ejus  lega- 
tionem  posteritatis  inobscurabit  oblivio." 

With  respect  to  his  virtues,  talents  and  general 
character,  he  says,  "  Nam  reliqua  Ser.  Sulpicii  vita 
multis  erit   praeclarisque  monumentis  ad   omnem 

memoriam  commendata haec  enim  statua, 

mortis  honestae  testis  erit :  ilia,  memoria  vitae  glo- 
riosae :  ut  hoc  magis  monumentum  grati  senatus, 
quam  clari  viri,  futurum  sit.''  He  ends  by  pro- 
posing a  decree,  "Sulpicio  statuam  pedestrem 
aeneam  in  Rostris  ex  hujus  ordinis  sententia  statui, 
circumque  eam  statuam  locum  gladiatoribus  liberos 
posterosque  ejus  quoquo  versus  pedes  quinque 
habere,  eamque  causam  in  basi  inscribi :  Pansa, 
Hirtius,  consules,  alter,  ambove,  si  eis  videatur, 
quaestoribus  urbanis  imperent,  ut  eam  basim  sta- 
tuamque  faciendam  et  in  Rostris  statuendam  lo- 
cent :  quantique  locaverint,  tantam  pecuniam  red- 
emtori  attribuendam  solvendamque  curent :  cum- 
que  antea  senatus  auctoritatem  suam  in  virorum 
fortium  funeribus  ornamentisque  ostenderit ;  pla- 
cere,  eum  quam  ampHssime  supremo  die  suo  efferri. 
....  utique  locum  sepulcro  in  campo  Esquilino 
C.  Pansa  consul,  seu  quo  alio  in  loco  videatur, 
pedes  triginta  quoquo  versus  adsignet,  quo  Ser. 
Sulpicius  inferatur.  quod  sepulcrum,  ipsius,  libe- 
rorum,  posterorumque    ejus  sit,  uti   quod  optimo 


ON  ciCEuo.  283 

jure  sepulcrum  publice  datum  est."  The  senate 
agreed  to  this  proposal ;  and  the  statue  itself,  as 
we  are  told  by  Pomponius,  De  Orig.  Jur.,  remained 
to  his  time  in  the  Rostra  of  Augustus. 

This  is  a  fair  specimen  of  Cicero's  eloquence  of 
the  middle  kind,  and  the  whole  proceedings  about 
the  statues  and  the  decrees,  are  full  of  antiquarian 
information  with  respect  to  manners,  and  curious 
illustration. 

Cicero's  correspondence  is  one  of  the  most  va- 
luable legacies  bequeathed  to  us  by  antiquity.  The 
collection  addressed  to  his  friends  and  received 
from  them,  is  full  of  political  intelligence,  and  lets 
us  more  behind  the  scenes  than  all  the  other 
writings  of  the  period  put  together.  The  letters 
to  Atticus  partake  fully  of  that  recommendation, 
besides  which,  they  portray  the  writer's  mind  in 
its  undress :  for  he  there  opens  his  heart  in  all  the 
frankness  of  famiHar  intercourse  and  unlimited 
confidence.  The  strong  attachment,  the  sorrow  at 
parting,  the  desire  of  meeting,  appear  equally  and 
with  amiable  fervour  in  both.  Political  confidence 
is  followed  up  by  unreserved  communication  of 
literary  projects.  Cicero  says  in  one  of  his  letters, 
"  That  part  of  yours  pleases  me,  where  you  com- 
fort yourself  with  the  hope  of  our  speedily  meeting 
again.  The  same  expectation  chiefly  supports  me. 
I  will  write  to  you  regularly,  and  by  every  possible 
opportunity  ;  and  will  give  you  an  account  of  every 
thing  relating  to  Brutus.  I  will  also  send  you 
shortly  my  Treatise  on  Glory ;  and  finish  for  you 
the  other  work,  to  be  locked  up  with  your  treasure." 
This  last  announcement  of  course  refers  to  the 
invectives  mentioned  before. 


284  ON    CICERO. 

On  the  whole,  great  as  is  his  fame,  there  is  no 
character  which  has  met  with  harder  treatment 
than  that  of  Cicero.  His  besetting  sin  was  vanity : 
and  it  has  raised  up,  both  among  his  contempo- 
raries and  with  posterity,  a  hue  and  cry  against 
him  which  so  venial  a  failing  seldom  encounters. 
With  many  drawbacks  from  the  general  infirmity 
of  human  nature,  obliged  to  do  many  things  from 
the  extreme  difficulty,  danger,  and  perplexity  of 
the  times,  which  calm  judgment  and  good  feeling 
would  have  avoided,  Cicero  was  one  of  the  best  as 
well  as  the  greatest  men  of  a  crisis,  when  good- 
ness was  not  thought  necessary  to  greatness,  and 
was  more  uncommon  than  it.  If  we  wish  to  see  the 
greatest  lawyer  that  ever  lived,  we  must  look  at 
Cicero  in  the  Forum :  if  the  most  prompt  and  the 
bravest  of  chief  magistrates  in  times  of  imminent 
danger,  we  must  note  Cicero. in  his  consulship, 
and  study  well  the  conspiracy  of  Catiline :  would 
we  know  who  was  the  most  just  and  the  deepest 
thinker,  most  nearly  approximating  to  the  philo- 
sophy of  Christianity,  in  the  Gentile  world,  we 
must  read  Cicero's  opinions  on  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  and  on  a  future  state. 


^85 


ON  SENECA 


At  Agrippina,  ne  malis  tantum  facinoribus  notesceret,  ve- 
niam  exsilii  pro  Annaeo  Seneca,  simul  Praeturam  impetrat, 
Isetum  in  publicum  rata,  ob  claritudinem  studiorum  ejus,  utque 
Domitii  pueritia  tali  magistro  adolesceret,  et  consiliis  ejusdem 
ad  spem  dominationis  uteretur :  quia  Seneca  fidus  in  Agrip- 
pinam,  memoria  beneficii,  et  infensus  Claudio,  dolore  injuriae, 
credebatur.— Cornel.  Tacit.  AnnaLVib.  xii,  cap.  8. 

The  family  of  the  Senecas  was  Spanish.  Spain 
was  also  proud  of  counting  in  those  days,  her 
Lucan,  Quintilian,  Silius,  and  Martial.  The  latter 
poet  mentions  the  principal  places  in  the  pro- 
vinces, whence  eminent  writers  have  come  :  — 

Apollodoro  plaudit  imbrifer  Nilus ; 

Nasone  Peligni  sonant: 
Duosque  Senecas,  unicumque  Lucanum 

Facunda  loquitur  Corduba. 

Lib.  i.  epig.  62. 

He  mentions  in  the  same  epigram  Verona,  the 
second  Venetian  city,  as  the  birthplace  of  Catullus, 
and  Padua  as  that  of  Livy.  He  speaks  of  Seneca 
again  :  — 

Atria  Pisonum  stabant  cum  stemmate  toto, 
Et  docti  Senecas  ter  numeranda  domus. 

Lib.  iv.  epig.  42. 


286  ON    SENECA. 

Lucius  Seneca,  born  at  Corduba,  now  Cordova^ 
was  the  son  of  Marcus  the  orator,  and  uncle  to  the 
poet  Lucan.  He  was  himself  an  orator,  a  philo- 
sopher, a  historian,  and  a  poet,  on  the  presumption 
that  the  tragedies  were  written  by  him,  which  how- 
ever has  been  doubted,  as  it  has  been  supposed 
that  there  was  a  third  Seneca.  But  as  they  passed 
under  his  name  we  shall  consider  them  as  his.* 

There  is  no  name  in  antiquity,  respecting  which 
more  difference  of  opinion  has  prevailed,  both  in 
a  personal  and  literary  point  of  view.  It  must  be 
confessed  that  he  did  not  set  out  very  well  in  life. 
The  passage  at  the  head  of  this  article,  informs  us, 
that  he  was  appointed  tutor  to  Nero  by  Agrippina, 
who  recalled  him  from  banishment.  His  first  no- 
torious exploit,  for  which  he  was  driven  into  that 
banishment,  was  corrupting  Julia  the  daughter  of 
Germanicus.t  Lord  BoHngbroke  did  not  philoso- 
phise more  vain-gloriously  on  magnanimity  and 
patience,  than  this  Stoical  seducer  on  so  honour- 
able an  occasion  of  his  exile.  He  flattered  Clau- 
dius, and  still  more  grossly  his  favourite  Polybius,  to 
obtain  the  repeal  of  his  sentence.  When  he  had 
succeeded,  he  forgot  the  latter,  and  betrayed  the 
former.  But  it  is  afler  his  return  that  it  is  worth 
our  while  to  trace  him.  His  great  abilities  in- 
troduced him  to  the  joint  tutorship  with  Burrus. 
The  latter  was  his  instructor  in  military  science, 
and   endeavoured   to   communicate   his   own   se- 

*  Seneca  the  philosopher  had  two  brothers  :  Annaeus  Mela, 
the  father  of  Lucan  ;  and  Annaeus  Novatus,  who  was  afterwards 
adopted  by  Gallio,  and  took  that  name.  The  death  of  Mela  is 
mentioned  in  the  Annals  of  Tacitus. 

f  Claudius  banished  him  for  this  alleged  intrigue  to  the 
island  of  Corsica,  A.  U.  C.  TO*. 


ON    SENECA.  ^87 

dateness  and  gravity  of  manners.  Elegant  ac- 
complishment, taste  for  the  arts,  and  polite  ad- 
dress were  Seneca's  province.  Among  other  tuto- 
rial employment,  he  composed  Nero's  speeches. 
The  first,  a  funeral  oration  for  Claudius,  was  un- 
fortunate in  its  effect,  according  to  Tacitus: — "Post- 
quam  ad  provideiitiam  sapientiamque  fiexit,  nemo 
risui  temperare,  quamquam  oratio,  a  Seneca  com- 
posita,  multum  cultus  praeferret :  ut  fuit  illi  viro 
ingenium  amcenum,  et  temporis  ejus  auribus  adcom- 
modatum." — Lib.  xiii.  cap.  3. 

Nero's  next  harangue,  probably  also  written  by 
Seneca,  though  Tacitus  does  not  say  so,  gave  uni- 
versal satisfaction.  It  was  delivered  on  his  first 
appearance  in  the  senate,  and  promised  a  reign  of 
moderation.  Seneca,  we  may  suppose,  seized  the 
opportunity,  in  putting  a  popular  inauguration 
speech  into  the  young  prince's  mouth,  to  impress 
his  mind  also  with  a  lesson  on  the  true  arts  of  go- 
vernment. Dio  says  that  this  address  was  ordered 
to  be  engraven  on  a  pillar  of  solid  silver,  and  to 
be  publicly  read  every  year  when  the  consuls  en- 
tered on  their  office. 

Seneca  soon  obtained  an  exclusive  influence  over 
his  pupil,  and  engaged  Annaeus  Serenus,  who  stood 
high  in  his  esteem  and  friendship,  to  assist  him  in 
the  means,  not  very  creditable,  of  preserving  his 
ascendency,  by  supplying  Nero  with  a  mistress, 
and  persecuting  his  patroness  Agrippina,  whose 
indignation  rose  far  above  high-water  mark.  Taci- 
tus put  into  her  mouth  a  few  emphatic  words,  said 
to  be  uttered  in  the  emperor's  hearing.  They  have 
been  finely  imitated  and  expanded  by  Racine,  in 
his  tragedy  of  Britannicus  ;  and  Gray,  in  his  short 
fragment  of  Agrippina,  has  done  little  more  than 


288  ON    SENECA. 

translate  Racine  :  liow  closely  and  how  well,  the 
passage  from  the  French  poet  will  show : — 

Pallas  n'emporte  pas  tout  Tappui  d*Agrippine  : 

Le  ciel  m'en  laisse  assez  pour  venger  ma  ruine, 

Le  fils  de  Claudius  commence  a  ressentir 

Des  crimes  dont  je  n'ai  que  le  seul  repentir. 

J'irai,  n'en  doutez  point,  le  montrer  a  Tarmee ; 

Plaindre,  aux  yeux  des  soldats,  son  enfance  opprimee ; 

Leur  faire,  a  mon  exemple,  espier  leur  erreur. 

On  verra  d'un  cote  le  fils  d'un  empereur 

Redemandant  la  foi  juree  a  sa  famille, 

Et  de  Germanicus  on  entendra  la  fille. 

De  Tautre,  Ton  verra  le  fils  d'GEnobarbus, 

Appuye  de  Seneque  et  du  tribun  Burrhus, 

Qui,  tous  deux  de  Pexil  rappel^s  par  moi-meme, 

Partagent  a  mes  yeux  Tautorite  supreme. 

De  nos  crimes  communs  je  veux  qu'on  soit  instruit ; 

On  saura  les  chemins  par  ou  je  Tai  conduit. 

Pour  rendre  sa  puissance  et  la  votre  odieuses, 

J'avourai  les  rumeurs  les  plus  injurieuses  ; 

Je  confesserai  tout,  exils,  assassinats. 

Poison  meme. 

Agrippina  regained  a  temporary  influence,  and 
succeeded  in  punishing  some  of  her  accusers,  and 
rewarding  her  friends.  Among  the  promotions 
obtained  by  her,  was  that  of  Balbillus  to  the  pro- 
vince of  Egypt,  It  seems  strange,  that  a  person 
so  highly  spoken  of  by  Seneca,  should  have  been 
patronised  by  Agrippina  at  this  juncture.  <*  Bal- 
billus virorum  optimus,  in  omni  litterarum  genere 
rarissimus,  auctor  est,  cum  ipse  praefectus  obtineret 
j^gyptum,  Heracleotio  ostio  Nili,  quod  est  maxi- 
mum, spectaculo  sibi  friisse  delphinorum  a  mari 
occurrentium,  et  crocodilorum  a  flumine  adversum 
agmen  agentium,  velut  pro  partibus  praelium." 
— Anncei  Senecce  Natural,  Qiuest.  lib.  iv. 


ON    SENECA.  ^89 

It  was  not  till  Suilius  had  too  justly  upbraided,  but 
at  the  same  time  coarsely  reviled  Seneca,  that  the  lat- 
ter incurred  any  large  portion  of  popular  censure. 
Among  the  grounds  on  which  Suilius  attacked  him, 
were  those  of  usury,  avarice,  and  rapacity.  That 
he  was  avaricious  is  beyond  all  question  ;  but  his 
practices  must  have  been  exorbitant  to  justify  so 
violent  an  invective  as  that  recorded  by  Tacitus  :— 
**  An  gravius  existimandum,  sponte  litigatoris  prae- 
mium  honest^e  operae  adsequi,  quam  conrumpere 
cubicula  Principum  feminarum  ?  Qua  sapientia, 
quibus  philosophorum  praeceptis,  intra  quadrien- 
nium  Regiae  amicitiae,  ter  millies  sestertium  para- 
visset  ?  Romae  testamenta  et  orbos  velut  indagine 
ejus  capi.  Italiam  et  provincias  inraenso  fenore 
hauriri."  —  A?inaL  lib.  xiii.  cap.  42. 

The  only  historical  authority  on  which  Seneca's 
memory  is  loaded  with  this  strong  charge  of  usury, 
is  tliat  of  Dio,  who  says  that  the  philosopher  had 
placed  very  large  sums  out  at  interest  in  Britain, 
and  that  his  vexations  and  unrelenting  demands  of 
payment  had  been  the  cause  of  insurrections  among 
the  Britons.  But  Dio's  veracity  has  been  suspected 
on  some  occasions ;  and  as  for  the  colour  given  to 
the  imputation  by  the  passage  quoted  from  Taci- 
tus, it  must  be  remembered  that  it  occurs  as  pro- 
ceeding from  the  mouth  of  an  enraged  enemy. 
These  imputed  faults  could  scarcely  escape  a  hint 
from  Juvenal,  although  he  had  made  use  of  him 
before  as  a  contrast  to  Nero,  and  seems  generally 
favourable  to  his  character  :  — 

Temporibus  diris  I'^iun,  jussuque  Neronis, 
Longinum,  et  magnos  Senecoe  prcedivitis  hortos 
Clausit,  et  egregias  Lnteranoruni  obsidct  omIcs 
Tota  cohors  :  ranis  vcnit  in  cocnacula  miles.  Sat.  10. 

V 


290  ON    SENECA. 

Seneca's  share  in  the  death  inflicted  on  Agrip- 
pina  by  her  son,  and  a  strong  suspicion  that  he 
drew  up  the  palHative  account  of  it,  bear  still 
harder  on  his  fame.  The  savage  mode  of  the  as- 
sassination, and  the  meanness  of  the  posthumous 
honours  paid  to  her,  a  circumstance  of  infinitely 
more  importance  than  modern  ideas  attach  to  it, 
as  affecting  the  future  happiness  and  condition  of 
the  departed  spirit,  reflect  indelible  disgrace  on  all 
concerned,  The  murder  took  place  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Baiae.  Seneca,  in  his  epistles,  de- 
scribes the  villas  of  Marius,  Pompey,  and  Caesar, 
as  built  on  the  ridges  of  the  neighbouring  hills  : — 
**  Adspice  quam  positionem  elegerunt,  quibus  aedi- 
ficia  excitaverunt  locis,  et  qualia  :  scias  non  villas 
esse,  sed  castra." — Ep.  51. 

An  humble  monument  was  erected  by  her  do- 
mestics in  this  sequestered  spot,  difficult  of  access, 
that  the  busy  world  might  have  nothing  to  remind 
it  of  the  parricide.  In  a  plausible  letter  addressed 
to  Nero  by  the  senate,  in  which  the  public  saw  the 
hand  of  Seneca,  allusion  is  made  to  that  politic  in- 
terference on  the  part  of  the  adroit  preceptor,  which, 
under  the  show  of  suggesting  filial  piety,  prevent- 
ed the  attempt  of  the  mother  to  share  the  tribunal 
with  her  son,  at  the  audience  of  the  Armenian 
ambassadors. 

Retribution  soon  overtook  these  unworthy  com- 
pliances with  the  will  of  a  wicked  master.  Nero, 
to  whom,  in  the  usual  descent  from  bad  to  worse, 
the  slightest  infusion  of  virtue  was  an  offence, 
listened  to  evil  counsellors,  and  with  complacency 
allowed  the  most  respectable  of  his  adherents  to  be 
traduced.  Tacitus  says,  "  Hi  variis  criminationi- 
bus  Senecam  adoriuntur,  tanquam  ingentes  et  pri- 
vatum supra  modum  evectas  opes  adhuc  augeret. 


ON    SENECA.  ^91 

quodque  studia  civium  in  se  verteret,  liortoriim 
quoqiie  amoenitate  et  villarum  magnificentia  quasi 
Principem  supergrederetur.  Objiciebant  etiam,  elo- 
quential laudem  uni  sibi  adsciscere,  et  carmina 
crebrius  factitare,  postquam  Neroni  amor  eorum 
venisset.  Nam  oblectamentis  Principis  palani  in- 
iquum,  detrectare  vim  ejus  equos  regentis  ;  inludere 
voces,  quoties  caneret.  Quern  ad  finem  nihil  in 
Rep.  clarumfbre,  quod  non  abillo  reperiri  credatur." 
— Lib.  14.  The  tragedies  are  here  alluded  to,  which 
were  ascribed  to  him  when  they  could  do  him 
mischief.  The  flattery  of  Nero  was  here  adroitly 
mixed  up  with  malice  against  his  devoted  friend. 

There  is  too  much  reason  to  believe  that  his  nu- 
merous villas,  his  extensive  gardens,  and  great 
riches  whetted  the  edge  of  these  accusations,  No- 
mentanum  was  one  of  his  country  residences,  from 
which  he  dates  a  letter : — **  Ex  Nomentano  meo 
te  saluto,  et  jubeo  te  habere  mentem  bonam,  hoc  est, 
propitios  deos  omnes :  quos  habet  placatos  et  fa- 
ventes,  quisquis  sibi  se  propitiavit.*' — Ep.  110.* 

His  speech  to  the  emperor,  in  which  he  offers  to 
resign  all  his  wealth  and  power,  and  asks  permis- 
sion to  retire,  is  a  fine  specimen  of  apologetic  elo- 
quence. His  admissions  confirm  Dio's  account 
of  his  immoderate  riches ;  but  the  historian  pro- 
bably exaggerates,  when  he  imputes  the  insurrec- 
tion in  Britain  to  his  exactions.  From  this  time  he 
avoided  the  court,  and  lived  an  abstemious  life  in 
constant  danger.  His  works  however  show  that  he 
was  more  useful  in  retirement,  than  while  filling 
high  offices.  He  devoted  himself  to  philosophy, 
natural  and  moral.  Among  other  things,  we  owe  to 


*  In  Nomentanum  roeum  fugi,   quid  putus  ?   urbcm,  imo  fe- 
brem  et  quidem  surrepentem. —  Ep.  104. 

U   ^ 


^292  ON    SENECA., 

him  an  account  of  the  earthquake  at  Pompeii,  which 
happened  in  his  time  :  but  he  places  it  a  year  later 
than  other  authorities.  The  town  was  finally  over- 
whelmed by  an  eruption  of  MountVesuvius,  A.U.C. 
832,     Its  modern  name  is  Torre  delV Annunciata. 

Nero  now  sought  his  destruction  ;  and  Piso's 
conspiracy,  to  which  he  was  supposed  to  be  a  par- 
ty, gave  the  opportunity.  Tacitus  has  the  follow- 
ing passage  : — "  Fama  fuit,  Subrium  Flavium  cum 
centurionibus  occulto  consilio,  neque  tamen  igno- 
rante  Seneca,  destinavisse,  ut,  post  occisum  opera 
Pisonis  Neronem,  Piso  quoque  interficeretur,  tra- 
dereturque  Imperium  Senecae,  quasi  insontibus 
claritudine  virtutum  ad  summum  fastigium  delecto. 
Quin  et  verba  Flavii  vulgabantur :  non  referre 
dedecori,  si  citharoedus  demoveretur  et  tragoedus 
succederet :  quia,  ut  Nero  cithara,  ita  Piso  tragico 
ornatu  canebat." — Annal,  lib.  xv. 

His  death  took  place  in  the  following  manner  : — 
Sylvanus  the  tribune,  by  order  of  Nero,  surrounded 
Seneca's  magnificent  villa  near  Rome,  with  a  troop 
of  soldiers^  and  then  sent  in  a  centurion  to  acquaint 
him  with  the  emperor's  orders,  tliat  he  should  put 
himself  to  death.  On  the  receipt  of  this  command, 
he  opened  the  veins  of  his  arms  and  legs,  then  was 
put  into  a  hot  bath  :  this  was  found  ineffectual,  and 
he  drank  poison  :  the  poison  was  swallowed  in  vain, 
and  he  was  suffocated  with  the  steam  of  a  hot  bath. 
The  poison  he  swallowed  was  cicuta.  He  called  for 
that  particular  poison,  which  was  given  to  criminals 
at  Athens.  This  shows  that  philosophical  ostentation 
adhered  to  him  in  the  agonies  of  death  :  for  he  had 
thus  expressed  himself  in  one  of  his  letters  : — 
*'  Cicuta  magnum  Socratem  fecit :  Catoni  gladium 
assertorem  libertatis  extorque,  magnam  partem  de- 
traxeris  gloriae." — Ep.  13. 


ON    SENECA.  ^3 

Seneca's  wife  was  permitted  to  live.  But  on 
this  catastrophe  Juvenal  asks,  in  a  passage  quoted 
on  a  former  occasion,  if  the  people  were  allowed 
to  give  their  votes  freely,  who  is  so  lost  to  all  sense 
of  virtue,  who  so  abandoned,  as  even  to  doubt 
whether  he  should  prefer  Seneca  to  Nero  ?  For 
Nero's  many  parricides,  more  than  one  death  is 
deserved.  By  the  Roman  law,  a  parricide  was 
sewn  up  in  a  sack,  with  a  cock,  a  serpent,  an  ape, 
and  a  dog,  and  thrown  into  the  sea. 

Other  ancient  authoi-s,  as  well  as  Juvenal,  who 
was  a  diligent  reader  of  Seneca's  works,  have  been 
lavish  of  his  praises.  Martial  takes  many  occa- 
sions of  mentioning  him  with  some  commendatory 
epithet :  — 

Facundi  Senecae  potens  amicus, 

Caro  proximus  aut  prior  Sereno, 

Hie  est  Maxinius  ille,  quein  frequenti 

Felix  litera  pagina  salutat. 

Hunc  tu  per  Siculas  secutus  undas, 

O  nullis,  Ovidi,  tacende  Unguis, 

Sprevisti  domini  furentis  iras.        Lib.  vii.  ep.  *5. 

But  this  is  on  the  ground  of  eloquence.  Why 
did  St  Jerome  saint  him  ?  The  reason  is  thus  ex- 
plained by  Dr.  Ireland,  in  a  communication  to 
Mr.  Gifford  while  translating  Juvenal :  —  "  The 
writer  to  whom  you  refer  seems  to  have  used  the 
term  without  much  consideration.  In  Jerome's 
time,  it  was  applied  to  Christians  at  large,  as  a 
general  distinction  from  the  Pagans.  Indeed  it 
was  given  to  those  who  had  not  yet  received  bap- 
tism, but  who  looked  forward  to  it,  and  were 
therefore  called  candidates  of  the  faith.  It  could 
be  only  a  charitable  extension  of  this  term  whicli 

u  3 


294  ON    SENECA. 

led  Jerome  to  place  Seneca  among  the  sancli ;  for 
he  still  calls  him  a  Stoic  philosopher.  The  case  is, 
that  in  the  time  of  Jerome  certain  letters  were  ex- 
tant, which  were  said  to  have  passed  between  Se- 
neca and  St.  Paul.  In  one  of  these,  the  former 
had  expressed  a  wish,  that  he  were  to  the  Romans 
what  Paul  was  to  the  Christians.  This  Jerome 
seems  to  have  interpreted  as  an  evangelical  senti- 
ment. He  therefore  placed  Seneca  among  the 
ecclesiastical  writers,  and  saints  ; — in  other  words, 
he  presumptively  styled  him  a  Christian,  though 
not  born  of  Christian  parents." 

The  sketch  of  Seneca's  life  here  given,  when 
checked  by  the  authorities,  will  not  warrant  his 
being  ranked  in  any  respect  with  the  first  Christian 
worthies.  His  early  life  was  confessedly  irregular 
and  licentious.  This,  if  sincerely  repented  of, 
might  be  forgiven.  But  his  conduct,  after  his 
recall,  making  allowance  for  the  calumny  and 
wholesale  libel  of  the  times,  was,  to  speak  of  it  in 
measured  and  negative  terms,  jiot  altogether  com- 
mendable. That  his  philosophical  professions  had 
some  occasional  influence  with  his  imperial  pupil, 
that  they  did  a  little  towards  stemming  the  torrent 
of  profligacy  with  the  people  for  a  time,  we  are 
willing  and  desirous  to  concede:  but  that  the 
practice  of  the  preacher  too  frequently  counter- 
acted the  tendency  of  his  preaching,  it  would 
be  uncandid  to  deny.  Of  the  later  political  delin- 
quencies charged  against  him,  he  was  unquestion- 
ably innocent.  With  respect  to  Piso's  conspiracy, 
it  was  the  current  report  at  Rome  that  the  con- 
spirators, after  having  employed  Piso  to  get  rid  of 
Nero,   meant  to  destroy  Piso  himselfi  and  raise 


ON    SENECA.  295 

Seneca  to  the  vacant  throne  ;  but  the  conception  of 
such  a  scheme  could  have  been  nothing  short  of 
madness.  Seneca  was  at  the  time  old  and  infirm  ; 
and  his  tamperings  in  conduct  with  the  virtue  he 
rigidly  taught,  and  with  the  self-denial  he  Stoically 
enforced  in  his  writings  as  what  the  wise  man  could 
undeniably  exemplify,  had  rendered  him  too  un- 
popular to  make  the  tenure  of  the  empire  safe  in 
his  hands  for  the  shortest  period  of  time.  In  re- 
spect of  this  charge  he  was  shamefully  treated. 
But  his  personal  biography,  on  the  whole,  has  an 
unfortunate  tendency.  Whatever  may  be  thought 
of  his  excellencies  or  defects  as  a  writer,  or  of  the 
caricature  and  priggishness  of  the  Stoic  sect,  he 
was  in  his  writings  an  earnest,  a  highly  pretending, 
and  apparently  a  sincere  advocate  of  ascetic  severi- 
ty. When  the  professions  of  such  persons  are  belied 
by  their  lives  and  conduct,  the  interests  of  severity 
cannot  fail  to  suffer.  If  his  ministry  was  corrupt, 
his  behaviour  imder  Nero's  frown  was  not  mag- 
nanimous. It  is  true,  he  did  not  abandon  his 
literary  pursuits:  but  his  resignation  was  lip-deep; 
and  his  exaggerated  affectation  of  sickness  and 
infirmity,  his  anxiety  about  diet  and  fear  of  poison, 
show  that  his  fine  reasonings  and  great  calmness 
when  doomed  to  die,  his  excellent  discourses  and 
ostentation  of  firmness,  had  more  of  theatrical  ex- 
hibition than  of  natural  and  self-possessed  reality. 
His  character  and  his  love  of  Stoical  paradox  are 
admirably  delineated  by  Massinger,  who  had  consi- 
dered him  well ;  and  though  tlie  quaintness  and 
studied  point  of  his  manner  had  rendered  him  almost 
indiscriminately  acceptable  to  the  readers  and  writ- 
ers of  that  period,   the  shrewd  old  dramatist  had 

u   i 


^96'  ON    SENECA. 

thoroughly  appreciated  him  where  he  was  weak  as 
well  as  where  he  was  strong.  The  passage  is  in 
the  Maid  of  Honour  :  — 

Thus  Seneca,  when  he  wrote  it,  thought.  —  But  then 

Felicity  courted  him ;  his  wealth  exceeding 

A  private  man's ;  happy  in  the  embraces 

Of  his  chaste  wife  Paulina ;  his  house  full 

Of  children,  clients,  servants,  flattering  friends, 

Soothing  his  lip-positions;  and  created 

Prince  of  the  senate,  by  the  general  voice. 

At  his  new  pupil's  suffrage :  then,  no  doubt, 

He  held,  and  did  believe,  this.     But  no  sooner 

The  prince's  frowns  and  jealousies  had  thrown  him 

Out  of  security's  lap,  and  a  centurion 

Had  ofFer'd  him  what  choice  of  death  he  pleased, 

But  told  him,  die  he  must ;  when  straight  the  armour 

Of  his   so  boasted  fortitude  fell  off, 

[thrcrws  away  the  book. 
Complaining  of  his  frailty. 

It  remains  that  we  consider  Seneca  as  a  philo- 
sopher and  as  an  author.  He  was  the  principal 
ornament  of  Stoicism  in  his  day,  and  a  valuable 
instructor  of  mankind.  If,  when  commanded  to 
die,  neither  he  nor  his  nephew  Lucan  maintained 
to  the  utmost  the  dignity  of  philosophy,  the  infir- 
mity of  human  nature  may  be  pleaded  as  the  ex- 
cuse. Some  little  vanity  may  appear  on  the  scene 
of  Seneca's  dissolution  ;  but  there  was  nothing 
cowardly,  and  nothing  inconsistent.  As  a  writer, 
he  was  exactly  made  of  that  stuff  which  invites  to 
controversy.  To  say  that  his  style  was  faulty,  is 
to  say  no  more  than  that  he  lived  after  the  Au* 
gustan  age.  But  perhaps  our  admiration  of  pure 
style,  and  our  desire,  by  constant  contemplation,  to 


ON    SENECA.  297 

impregnate  our  own  with  the  same  spirit,  makes  us 
too  exclusive.  We  shall  lose  much  that  is  instruct- 
ive and  valuable,  if  we  determine  to  read  nothing 
which  is  not  perfectly  written.  Tacitus  and  Ju- 
venal, as  well  as  Seneca  and  Lucan,  are  beyond 
the  pale  of  best  Latinity.  Yet  who  would  relin- 
quish the  possession  of  either  ? 

My  friend  Mr.  Hodgson  thinks  thatQuinctilian's 
character  of  Seneca  is  nothing  short  of  absolute  con- 
demnation. He  asks  why  he  should  have  been  so 
scrupulous  in  omitting  Seneca's  name,  wliile  he 
examined  every  different  style  of  eloquence,  if  he 
intended  to  attack  him  at  the  close  of  his  discus- 
sion ?  I  tliink  the  spirited  and  poetical  annotator 
of  Juvenal  right  in  his  estimate  of  Seneca  to  a 
certain  extent :  but  surely  he  bears  a  little  hard 
on  Quinctilian,  as  he  avers  that  the  great  critic 
does  on  his  cHent.  In  the  following  passage,  w^hich 
he  might  possibly  have  had  in  his  eye,  the  subject 
is  of  minute  verbal  criticism,  and  Cicero  and  Sal- 
lust  as  well  as  Seneca  are  brought  under  his  cen- 
sure :  —  "  Nostri  autem,  in  jungendo  aut  derivando 
paullum  aliquid  ausi,  vix  in  hoc  satis  recipiuntur. 
Nam  memini  juvenis  admodum  inter  Pomponium 
et  Senecam  etiam  pra[3fationibus  esse  tractatum,  an 
gradus  eliminate  apud  Accium  in  Tragoedia,  dici 
oportuisset.  At  veteres  ne  expectorat  quidem  ti- 
muerunt."  —  Quinctilianits^  lib.  viii.  cap.  3. 

Quinctihan  again  puts  Iiim  in  good  company  in 
the  following  passage  on  interrogations: — "  Inter- 
rogamus  etiam,  quod  negari  non  possit :  Dixitne 
tandem  cawssam  C.  Fidiculanius  Falciila  ?  Aut  ubi 
respondendi  difficilis  est  ratio,  ut  vulgo  uti  solemus, 
Quo  modo  ?  qui  fieri  potest  i    Aut  inviditu  gratia, 


298  ON    SENECA. 

ut  Medea  apud  Senecam,  Quas  peti  terras  juhes  ? 
Aut  miserationis,  ut  Sinon  apud  Virgilium, 

Heu  qua*  me  tellus^  inquit,  quce  me  cequora  possunt 
Accipere  ? 

Aut  instandi,  et  auferendae  dissimulationis :  ut 
Asinius,  Audisne  ?  furiosum,  inquam,  non  inoffi- 
ciosum  testamentum  reprehendimus .'*  —  Lib.  ix. 
cap.  2. 

Surely  the  following  is  neither  absolute  con- 
demnation  nor  faint  praise: — **  Cujus  et  multae 
alioqui,  et  magna^  virtutes  fuerunt :  ingenium  fa- 
cile et  copiosum,  plurimum  studii,  multarum  rerum 
cognitio :  in  qua  tamen  aliquando  ab  lis,  quibus  in- 
quirenda  quaedam  mandabat,  deceptus  est.  Tracta- 
vit  etiam  omnem  fere  stiidiorum  materiam.  Nam 
et  orationes  ejus,  et  poemata,  et  epistolae,  et  dialogi 
feruntur."  —  Lib.  x.  cap.  1. 

Suetonius,  in  his  Caligula,  gives  the  contra- 
dictory opinions  of  tlie  emperor  and  of  the  public, 
rather  than  his  own  :  —  **  Peroraturus,  stricturum  se 
lucubrationis  telum,  minabatur  :  lenius  comtiusque 
scribendi  genus  adeo  contemnens,  ut  Senecam,  tum 
maxime  placentem,  commissiones  meras  componere, 
et,  arenam  esse  sine  cake,  diceret." 

The  opinion  of  Aulus  Gellius  is  unfavourable  : 
but  his  verdict  is  comparatively  of  little  importance, 
though  the  anecdotes  in  his  miscellany  pleasantly 
fill  up  many  a  hiatus  in  the  small  talk  of  classical 
literature.  Having  already  alluded  to  the  repre- 
sentations of  Dio,  I  shaH  adduce  a  specimen  of  the 
manner  in  which  he  has  drawn  Seneca's  character : 

— Ta*5  re  'crgso-^sloiis  e^grifxaTi^s,  xu)  STTig-oXoig  xa»  ^|xo^$  xai 
«^ou(r»  xa»  /3«(nA.eu(nv  sTrefeWsv  00$  he  Ittj  ■btoXu  tout'  eyivero, 
ihv<r^eguiV6V  ♦,   ts  ^evexac  x«t  6  Bouppo^y    (pgoviiJuliTotrol   t«  a/xa 


ON    SENECA.  299 

xct)  hvoilwTotloi  Toov  vreg)  tov  Ne^ojva  ovleg,  6  {xev,  eiraq^o^  row 
Sooutpo^ixoO,  6  8f,  h'^oL(r'Ku\oi  aurou  cov*  xai  efreivcuv  to  yivofjievov, 
T0<a<r8e  oi^ogfji,Yi§  Xa^ofxevoi'  'srgs<r^elois  'A^jasv/cov  IaSouotjj,  xai  ^ 
*AygiTrmva.  stt)  to  ^riixot,  U^  o\)  <r<picriv  6  Negoov  dieXeyeloj  avoc^vjvoci 
rj^shri<rsv  i8ov7ej  ovv  avTYjV  IxeTvoi  ^Xrjaia^ouo-av,  ensKrocv  tov 
vsavitrxov  "urgoxalaSrivoii  xot)  'Grqouira.vlY^a-ui  tJj  /x>j7^i,  c6;  xai  fjrJ 
8g^ico(r£i  Tiv/'  cr^ap^devTOj  8g  towtou,  ourg  roVe  l^av^Xdov,  Ifi&c- 
Xovle$  Tiva  alriav,  (2<r7£  jx^  xa»  Ij  Touf  ^otg^otgovg  to  vocvjixoc  t^j 
a^ijj  ^''f**'^"*'*  ''**  /X67si  toDt',  eTrguTlov,  OTtoog  {xyj^sv  st  avTrj 
efrilgs-Gxrllah  xoclegyaa-afjievoi  8g  touto,  auroi  ti^v  ag^rjv  afraa-ctv 
'CT»gikot§0Vy   x«i  $icox»)(rav  1^*  oVov  i^Suvi^dijcrav    ugig-ot    xoti    Sjxaio- 

Ta7a.  Again  he  says  these  two  ministers  so  con- 
ducted themselves,  M'  uno  tsavlm  avQpwnMv  oixoiws  itrou- 
vfd^ya*.  —  Lib.  Ixi. 

There  is  much  doubt  hanging  about  the  appro- 
priation of  the  different  works  bearing  the  name  of 
Seneca.  Justus  Lipsius  has  a  long  article  on  the 
subject,  in  which  is  tlie  following  passage :  — 
'*E.  Annaeus  Seneca  Philosophus  patrem  habuit 
nomine  et  cognomine  eodem.  Is  domo  Corduba 
fiiit  5  professione,  Rhetor.  Natus  ante  bellum 
civile  Caesarianum,  supervixit  ad  Claudii  circiter 
principatum  :  sine  honoribus,  et  non  aliud  quam 
provincialis  eques.  Is  jam  senex  non  dubie  filiis 
8uis  scripsit,  aut  dictavit  potius,  hos  qui  supersunt 
Controversiarum  et  Suasoriarum  libros.  Sed  ut  in 
Plauti  fabula,  inter  duos  Menaechmos :  sic  inter 
duos  Senecas  confusione  nominum  ortus  error. 
Tributa  illi,  quae  hujus  sunt :  et  claritate  nimia 
filii  obscunis  pater  hodie,  imo  ignotus.  Memoriam 
boni  senis  fugitivam  (impune  hoc  dixerim)  primus 
retraham  ego.  Ejus,  inquam,  Senecas  hi  libri.  Doceo 
ex  fiBtate:  quae  patri  convenit,  disconvenit  proli. 
Doceo  ex  inscriptione,  qua*  in  omnibus  libris,  etiam 
j^criptis,  concipitur  :  L.  Annai  Scncccf,  ad  Senecam, 


SOO  ON    SENECA. 

Novatum,  et  Melam  Filios.  Optime.  Inter  tres 
filios  quos  nominat,  Seneca  Philosophus  est:  re- 
liqui  ejus  fratres.     Stemma  tale  : 

L.Annoeus  Seneca,  r  L.  Annaeus  Seneca,  qui  Philosophus. 

qui  Rhetor.  -J  Annaeus  Novatus,  aliter  Junius  Gallio. 

Elbia,  ejus  uxor.    ^  Annaeus  Mela,  sive  Mella,  pater Lucani." 

Electoruniy  lib.  i. 

The  prose  works  bearing  the  name  of  Seneca  are 
generally  printed  together,  of  which  the  Decla- 
mationes,  and  the  Controversiarum  Libri  are  gene- 
rally taken  to  have  been  written  by  the  father. 
The  Tragedies  generally  form  a  separate  publica- 
tion, and  the  authorship  remains  uncertain ;  but 
there  seems  a  strong  probability,  from  the  passion 
of  Nero  for  the  stage,  and  the  sarcasms  thrown  out 
by  the  preceptor  Seneca's  accusers,  on  his  turning 
poet  as  a  time-serving  measure,  that  at  least  some 
of  them  were  written  by  him.  There  is  however  no 
discrepancy  of  style,  to  fix  any  particular  pieces  on 
him,  whom  with  all  his  faults  we  may  justly  deno- 
minate the  great  Seneca.  The  style  indeed  is  in 
itself  a  strong  argument  of  their  genuine  ascription. 
It  has  the  defects  and  the  merits  of  his  prose.  It 
is  the  style  which  such  a  prose  writer  might  be 
supposed  to  have  formed,  when  he  turned  his 
thoughts  to  poetical  composition.  With  respect  to 
the  tragedies  themselves,  they  have  all  the  faults, 
and  more  than  the  faults  of  their  age.  They  are 
professedly  formed  on  the  model  of  the  Greek 
tragedies,  and  in  many  parts  actual  translations. 
But  whether  translated  or  only  imitated,  there  is 
too  frequently  a  bombastic  exaggeration  of  the 
original.  This  is  the  besetting  fault:  but  it  is 
redeemed  by   many  spirited  passages,  and  occa- 


ON    SENECA.  301 

sionally  by  high  flights  of  subHmity.  It  is  however 
the  fashion  to  abuse  these  tragedies  in  the  lump. 
Mr.  Hodgson,  who  "  studies  his  fellow-creatures  as 
well  as  books,"  says  that  thousands  have  sworn  to 
the  opinion  of  Quinctilian,  who  could  not  have 
construed  that  opinion  into  their  native  language. 
It  may  also  be  safely  affirmed,  that  many  abuse 
Seneca's  Tragedies  by  way  of  being  classical  in 
company,  especially  if  ladies  be  present,  who  have 
never  read  a  word  of  them.  I  shall  pursue  this 
subject  no  further  than  to  give  a  specimen  or  two 
of  his  style :  — 

Dextra  cur  patrui  vacat  ? 
Nondum  Thyestes  liberos  deflet  suos  ? 
Ecquando  toilet  ?    Ignibus  jam  subditis, 
Spument  ahena  :  membra  per  partes  eant 
Discerpta :  patrios  polluat  sanguis  focos  : 
Epulae  instruantur,  non  novi  sceleris  tibi 
Conviva  venies.  Liberum  dedimus  diem, 
Tuamque  ad  istas  solvimus  mensas  famem. 

Thyestes^  Actus  1. 

En,  impudicum  crine  contorto  caput 

Laeva  reflexi.  Hippolytus,  Actus  2. 

Discedo,  exeo, 
Penatibus  profugere  quam  cogis  tuis 
Ad  quos  remittis  ?     Phasin  et  Colchos  petam, 
Patriumque  regnum,  quajcjue  fraternus  cruor 
Perfudit  arva?  quas  peti  terras  jubes? 
Quae  maria  monstras  ?  Pontici  fauces  freti  ? 
Per  quas  revexi  nobiles  regum  manus, 
Adulterum  secuta  per  Symplegadas  ? 
Parvumne  lolcon,  Thessala  an  Tempe,  petam  ? 
Quascunque  aperui  tibi  vias,  clusi  mihi. 

Medeoy  Actas  5. 


302  ON    SENECA. 

The  passage,  "nobiles  regum  maniis,*'  is  evidently 
imitated  from  Ovid,  **  Mota  mamis  procerum  est." 
Statius  uses  manus  in  the  sense  of  a  set  of  servants, 
in  his  Sylvae.  As  a  last  example  of  the  author,  take 
the  following :  — 

Tuque  6  magni  nata  Tonantis 

Inclita  Pallas,  quae  Dardanias 

Scepe  petisti  cuspide  turres : 

Te  permisto  matrona  minor 

Majorque  choro  colit,  et  reserat 

Veniente  dea  templa  sacerdos : 

Tibi  nexilibus  turba  coronis 

Redimita  venit.  Agamemnon,  Actus  2. 

I  cannot  agree  with  Mr.  Gifford,  that  Seneca 
has  been  "  at  the  Fair  of  good  names,  and  bought 
a  reasonable  commodity  of  them."  On  the  con- 
trary, I  think  the  critics  have  sold  his  name  at  too 
low  a  price ;  and  that  the  opinion-suckers  of  the 
critics  often  make  a  market  of  their  shrewdness 
and  discrimination,  in  lauding  the  Augustan  age 
at  the  expense  of  that  which  succeeded  it,  without 
knowing  much  about  either.  The  unfavourable 
opinion  of  Mr.  Gifford  himself)  however,  whose 
extensive  reading  and  sound  judgment  both  in 
classical  and  English  literature  is  scarcely  to  be 
matched  in  the  present  day,  is  of  far  more  im- 
portance than  any  thing  to  be  picked  up  at  the 
Fair.  Still,  every  man  has  a  right  to  think  for 
himself;  and  as  I,  while  thinking  for  myself,  think 
with  my  before-mentioned  friend  Mr.  Hodgson,  I 
will  conclude  with  transcribing  his  judgment  of 
Seneca,  which  is  expressed  in  a  much  more  em- 
phatic manner  than  any  into  which  I  could  translate 
the  same  opinion.  "  I  think  then  that  Seneca  was  a 
deep  enquirer  into  the  human  heart  j  that  his  philo- 


ON    SENECA.  303 

sophical  observations  generally  arise  from  true 
principles ;  and  that  he  eminently  possesses  that 
first  characteristic  of  genius,  the  power  of  lively 
illustration.  His  language  is  often,  to  my  taste, 
delightful ;  full  of  figure  and  metaphor ;  by  turns 
playful  or  severe,  as  his  subject  varies.  It  doubt- 
less is  sometimes  falsely  ornamented  ;  but  I  cannot 
think  he  deserves  any  thing  less  than  predomi- 
nating praise  from  a  reader  whom  he  has  so  much 
amused." 


304i 


ON  AUSONIUS. 


Julius  Ausonius  was  the  father  of  the  poet.  He 
was  born  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bourdeaux,  and 
settled  there  as  a  physician.  His  wife's  name  was 
Emilia  ^onia,  daughter  of  CeciHus  Argicius  Arbo- 
rius,  who  fled  into  Aquitain,  after  a  proscription  by 
which  he  was  deprived  of  his  estates  in  Burgundy. 
Arborius  estabUshed  himself  in  the  city  of  Acqs 
on  the  Adour,  and  married  a  woman  of  genteel 
birth  but  no  fortune,  whose  name  was  Emilia 
Corinthia  Maura.  By  this  marriage  he  had  one 
son  and  three  daughters.  The  son  was  -^milius 
Magnus  Arborius.  He  gave  lectures  on  rhetoric 
at  Toulouse,  and  took  particular  care  of  the  poet's 
education.  One  of  the  daughters  was  married  to 
Julius  Ausonius,  and  had  four  sons,  of  whom  the 
poet  was  the  second.  Julius  Ausonius  was  a  per- 
son of  great  merit.  His  conduct  was  marked  by 
the  greatest  possible  consistency.  His  professional 
benevolence  was  unbounded  in  the  admission  of 
gratuitous  patients.  His  hatred  of  lawsuits  was 
as  remarkable  as  his  medical  zeal.  He  neither  in- 
creased nor  diminished  his  private  fortune  :  he  was 
harassed  neither  by  envy  nor  ambition  :  he  held 
swearing  and  lying  to  be  kindred  vices,  and  be- 
lieved that  he  who  would  do  one  would  do  the 
other.  He  avoided  private  conspiracies  and  public 


ON   AUSONIUS.  305 

broils,  and  satisfied  himself  with  cultivating  ho- 
nourable friendships.  He  was  married  forty-five 
years,  and  kept  his  conjugal  faith  inviolably.  His 
high  qualities  are  recorded  with  filial  piety  by  his 
son,  in  his  Epicedion  in  Patrem  suum  Julium  Auso- 
nium.     He  is  there  made  to  say  of  himself:  — 

Judicium  de  me  studui  proestare  bonorum : 
Ipse  mihi  nunquam,  judice  me,  placui. 

Indice  me  nuUus,  sed  neque  teste,  perit. 

Felicem  scivi,  non  qui,  quod  vellet,  haberet : 
Sed  qui  per  fatum  non  data  non  cuperet. 

Non  occursator,  non  garrulus,  obvia  cernens, 
Valvis  et  velo  condita  non  adii. 

Famam,  qua  posset  vitam  lacerare  bonorum, 
Non  finxi ;  et  verum  si  scierim,  tacui. 

Deliquisse  nihil  nunquam  laudem  esse  putavi, 
Atque  bonos  mores  legibus  antetuli. 

He  is  described  as  not  eloquent  in  Latin,  but  suf- 
ficiently so  in  Greek  : — 

Sermone  impromptus  Latio  :  verum  Attica  lingua 
Suffecit  culti  vocibus  eloquii. 

He  had  the  honours  of  several  high  offices  conferred 
on  him  as  a  personal  compliment,  witli  an  exemp- 
tion from  the  labour  of  exercising  them  in  person. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  ninety  years,  without  having 
felt  any  decay. 

Curia  me  duplex,  et  uterque  Senatus  Iiabebat 
Muneris  exsortem,  nomine  participem. 

Ipse  nee  afTecUuis,  nee  detrectator  honorum, 
IVaDfectus  magni  nuncupor  Illyrici. 
X 


306  ON    AUSONIUS. 

Nonaginta  annos  baculo  sine,  corpore  toto 
Exegi,  cunctis  integer  officiis. 

The  following  couplet  of  the  above,  seems  to  be 
an  elegiac  concentration  of  a  glowing  and  elegant 
passage  in  Horace's  ninth  ode  of  the  fourth  book  : — 

Felicem  scivi,  non  qui,  quod  vellet,  haberet, 
Sed  qui  per  fatum  non  data  non  cuperet. 

Non  possidentem  multa  vocaveris 
Recte  beatum ;  rectius  occupat 
Nomen  beati,  qui  Deorum 
Muneribus  sapienter  uti, 
Duramque  caUet  pauperiem  pati ; 
Pejusque  leto  flagitium  timet ; 
Non  ille  pro  caris  amicis 
Aut  patria  timidus  perire. 

Another  line  bears  the  appearance  of  a  moral  appli- 
cation to  a  critical  remark  in  the  Art  of  Poetry :  — 

Deliquisse  nihil  nunquam  laudem  esse  putavi. 

Idcircone  vager,  scribamque  licenter;  ut  omnes 
Visuros  peccata  putem  mea,  tutus  et  intra 
Spem  veniae  cautus  ?  vitavi  denique  culpam, 
Non  laudem  merui. 

Ausonius  celebrates  his  father  also  in  his  Paren- 
taJia.    The  preceding  passages  are  in  his  Idyllia : — 

Non  quia  fatorum  nimia  indulgentia :  sed  quod 

Tam  moderata  illi  vota  fuere  viro. 
Quern  sua  contendit  septem  Sapientibus  aetas ; 

Quorum  doctrinam  moribus  excoluit  : 
Viveret  ut  potius,  quam  diceret  arte  sophornm, 

Qiiamquam  et  facundo  non  rudis  ingenio. 


ON    AUSONIUS.  307 

Inde  et  perfunctoe  manet  haec  reverentia  vitse  ; 

^tas  nostra  illi  quod  dedit  hunc  titulum : 
Ut  nullum  Ausonius,  quern  sectaretur,  habebat; 

Sic  nullum,  qui  se  nunc  imitetur,  habet. 

The  elder  Ausonius,  though  not  eloquent  in 
Latin,  wrote  several  medical  works  spoken  of  with 
approbation.  There  is  no  evidence  in  the  poet, 
though  the  fact  has  been  stated,  that  the  father  was 
physician  to  the  emperor  Valentinian,  before  his 
son  was  appointed  preceptor  to  Gratian, 

The  poet's  grandfather  by  his  mother's  side, 
Caecilius  Argicius  Arborius,  was  an  adept  in  astro- 
logy. He  had  cast  the  scheme  of  his  grandson's 
nativity,  and  concealed  it ;  but  it  was  ultimately 
discovered  by  the  mother : — 

Tu  coeli  numeros,  et  conscia  sidera  fati  , 
Callebas,  studium  dissimulanter  agens. 

Non  ignota  tibi  nostras  quoque  formula  vitae, 
Signatis  quam  tu  condideras  tabulis ; 

Prodita  non  unquam  :  sed  matris  cura  retexit, 
Sedula  quam  timid!  cura  tegebat  avi. 

Arborius  had  been  frequently  exposed  to  the 
severity  of  fortune.  Among  other  calamities,  his 
only  son  died  at  the  age  of  thirty.  He  derived 
consolation  from  the  vista  vision  of  his  grandson's 
honours  opened  to  him  by  his  astrological  re- 
searches :  — 

Dicebas  sed  te  solatia  longa  fovere ; 

Quod  mea  prxcipuus  fata  maneret  honos. 
£t  modo  conciliis  animarum  mixte  piorum 

Fata  tui  certe  nota  nepotis  lialnis. 
Sentis  quod  qua^tor,  quod  te  prcefectus,  et  idem 

Consul,  honorifico  munere  commemoro. 


308  ON    AUSONIUS. 

The  expression,  "  Et  conscia  sidera  fati  callebas," 
is  taken  verbatim  from  Virgil,  in  one  of  the  finest 
parts  of  the  jiEneid : — 

Ipsa,  mola  manibusque  piis,  altaria  juxta, 
Unum  exuta  pedem  vinclis,  in  veste  recincta, 
Testatur  moritura  Deos,  ct  conscia  fati 
Sidera ;  turn,  si  quod  non  aequo  foedere  amantes 
Curse  numen  habet  justumque  memorque,  precatur. 

In  the  above  passage,  the  poet  supposes  his 
grandfather's  soul  not  to  be  unconscious  of  the 
fact,  nor  indifferent  to  it,  that  the  predictions  of 
the  nativity  were  duly  accomplished,  and  that  the 
prognosticated  dignities  had  been  conferred  at  the 
emperor's  court.  In  another  passage  of  the  Pro- 
fessores,  he  relapses  into  scepticism  : — 

Et  nunc,  sive  aliquid  post  fata  extrema  supersit, 
Vivis  adhuc;  aevi  quod  periit,  mcminens:'^ 

Sive  nihil  superest,  nee  habent  longa  otia  sensus, 
Tu  tibi  vixisti :  nos  lua  fama  juvat. 

We  are  told  that  the  good  Homer  sometimes 
takes  a  nap;  Ausonius's  Christianity  must  at  this 
moment  have  been  under  his  nightcap.  This 
passage,  and  other  features  of  his  works,  have 
given  rise  to  an  opinion  on  the  part  of  some  writers, 
that  he  was  a  Pagan  ;  and  Paulinus  has  been  quoted 
as  having  censured  him  on  that  ground.  As  among 
the  epistles  to  Ausonius,  there  is  one  from  Paulinus, 
he  shall  speak  for  himself:  — 


*  An  abominable  -participle  of  the  lower  ages. 


ON    AUSONIUS.  809 

At  si  forte  itidem,  quod  legi,  et  quod  sequor,  audis, 
Corda  pio  vovisse  Deo,  venerabile  Christi 
Imperiuni  docili  pro  credulitate  sequentem, 
Persuasumque  Dei  moiiitis,  aeterna  parari 
Praemia  mortali,  damnis  praesentibus  emta, 
Non  reor  id  sano  sic  dispiicuisse  Parenti, 
Mentis  ut  errorem  credat,  sic  vivere  Christo, 
Ut  Christus  sanxit. 

The  probability  is  that,  had  Ausonius  professed 
Paganism,  so  holy  a  man  as  PauUnus  would  have 
earnestly  exhorted  him  to  be  baptised,  and  to 
become  a  member  of  the  Christian  communion. 
But  there  is  nothing  of  this  kind  in  the  epistle. 
Yet  Brietius,  in  Syntagmata  de  Poetis,  asserts  from 
the  works  of  Paulinus,  as  he  says,  but  without 
mentioning  where,  and  perhaps  taking  it  on  hearsay 
without  consulting  the  original,  that  he  was  a 
heathen  :  —  "  Ex  Paulino  certum  est  eum  Ethni- 
cum  fuisse,  quare  opera  Christiana  huic  adjudi- 
cari  solita  sine  dubio  alterius  sunt."  This  is  one 
way  of  filching  from  a  man  his  good  name,  and 
robbing  him  of  his  identity  as  an  author.  Vossius 
also  is  in  the  same  story,  De  Poet.  Lat. : —  "  Poeta 
iliit  Gentilis,  quemadmodum  ex  Paulino  liquet, 
ut,  quae  Christum  celebrant,  perperam  illi  sint 
tributa."  It  would  be  hard  indeed,  on  such 
authority,  to  take  from  him  the  religious  part  of 
his  collection,  especially  as  those  critics  have  no 
person  in  readiness  to  father  the  supposed  found- 
lings. The  poem  in  his  Ephemeris,  of  which  I 
shall  transcribe  the  beginning,  has  been  indeed 
ascribed  to  Paulinus ;  but,  as  the  Delphin  editor 
justly  observes,  unless  we  be  prepared  to  give  up 
the  whole  of  the  Ephemeris,  there  seems  no  reason 
for  judguig  away  its  most  elegant  and  nieritorious 

X  5 


810  ON    AUSONIUS. 

pieces,  on  no  internal  evidence,  and  of  external, 
nothing  beyond  vague  conjecture  :  — 

Omnipotens,  solo  mentis  mihi  cognite  cuitu, 
Ignorate  malis,  et  nulli  ignote  piorum : 
Principio,  extremoque  carens :  antiquior  sevo, 
Quod  fuit,  aut  veniet,  cujus  formamque  modumque 
Nee  mens  complecti  poterit,  nee  lingua  profari : 
Cernere  quern  solus,  coramque  audire  jubentem 
Fas  habet,  et  patriam  propter  considere  dextram, 
Ipse  opifex  rerum,  rebus  causa  ipse  creandis. 
Ipse  Dei  Verbum,  Verbum  Deus,  anticipator 
Mundi,  quem  facturus  erat :  generatus  in  illo 
Tempore,  quo  tempus  nondum  fuit :  editus  ante 
Quam  jubar,  et  rutilus  coelum  illustraret  Eous : 
Quo  sine  nil  actum,  per  quem  facta  omnia :  cujus 
In  ccelo  solium  :  cui  subdita  terra  sedenti, 
Et  mare,  et  obscurae  chaos  insuperabile  noctis  : 
Irrequies,  cuncta  ipse  movens,  vegetator  inertum : 
Non  genito  genitore  Deus,  qui  fraude  superbi 
OfFensus  populi,  gentes  in  regna  vocavit, 
Stirpis  adoptivae  meliore  propage  colendus  : 
Cernere  quem  licuit  proavis  :  quo  Numine  viso, 
Et  Patrem  vidisse  datum :  contagia  nostra 
Qui  tulit,  et  diri  passus  ludibria  leti. 
Esse  iter  aeternae  docuit  remeabile  vitae : 
Nee  solam  remeare  an  imam,  sed  corpore  toto 
Coelestes  intrare  plagas,  et  inane  sepulchri 
Arcanum  vacuis  adopertum  linquere  terris. 

The  passage,  **  Cujus  in  coelo  solium,  cui  subdita 
terra  sedenti,'*  was  evidently  suggested  by  the  open- 
ing of  chap.  Ixvi.  of  Isaiah:  —  "Thus  saith  the 
Lord,  The  heaven  is  my  throne,  and  the  earth  is 
my  footstool:  where  is  the  house  that  ye  build 
unto  me  ?  and  where  is  the  place  of  my  rest  ?  For 
all  those  things  hath  mine  hand  made,  and  all 
those  things  have  been,  saith  the  Lord:  but  to 


ON    AUSONIUS.  Sli 

this  man  will  I  look,  even  to  him  that  is  poor  and 
of  a  contrite  spirit,  and  trembleth  at  my  word." 

Again,  "  Quo  Numine  viso,  et  Patrem  vidisse 
datum,"  is  translated  from  chap.xiv.  of  John  :  — 
**  Philip  saith  unto  him.  Lord,  shew  us  the  Father, 
and  it  sufficeth  us.  Jesus  saith  unto  him.  Have  I 
been  so  long  time  with  you,  and  yet  hast  thou  not 
known  me,  Philip?  he  that  hath  seen  me  hath 
seen  the  Father ;  and  how  sayest  thou.  Shew  us 
the  Father?  Believest  thou  not  that  I  am  in  the 
Father,  and  the  Father  in  me  ?  the  words  that  I 
speak  unto  you  I  speak  not  of  myself:  but  the 
Father,  that  dwelleth  in  me,  he  doeth  the  works." 

The  Versus  Paschales  and  other  pieces  are  sup- 
posed by  many  critics  not  to  belong  to  him,  as  not 
being  a  Christian.  Gyraldus  has  placed  the  mat- 
ter in  its  true  light :  —  "  Christianus  quidem  Au- 
sonius  fuit,  ut  ex  ejus  versibus,  et  item  Paulini 
ejus  discipuli  facile  colligimus :  sed  petulantior 
tamen,  et  lascivior,  quam  ut  inter  Christianos  nu- 
merari  dignus  sit."  —  De  Poetarum  Historia,  dia- 
logus  X. 

The  poems  to  which  this  last  censure  particularly 
applies  are  his  Epigrams,  and  his  Cento  Nuptialis. 
The  charge  is  repeated  by  Scaliger  the  Father, 
who  thought  that  nothing  but  the  fire  was  capable 
of  purging  some  of  the  epigrams.  Father  Brietius, 
influenced  perhaps  by  the  same  zeal  for  morality, 
refuses  him  Christian  fellowship.  *  But  if  the 
offence  here  so  deservedly  condemned  is  to  dis- 
qualify a  man  from  the  profession  of  a  Christian, 
we  must  not  only  shut  up  our  Aristophanes,  our 

•  HiUcrshiuius  acknowledges  he  was  a  Chriatian,  but  de- 
nounces him  as  a  monster. 

X  4 


312  ON    AUSONIUS. 

Terence,  and  our  Horace,  as  readers,  but  we  must 
excommunicate  a  large  majority  of  Christian  poets, 
not  only  in  the  coarse,  though  brilliant  age  of 
Elizabeth,  but  in  the  progressively  refining  periods 
of  Anne,  apd  the  third  and  fourth  Georges. 
Those  who  have  genuinely  pure  minds  will  know 
where  to  turn  over  the  leaves  which  contain  the 
false  coin  ;  for  there  is  always  in  the  title  or  the 
general  subject  something  to  indicate  what  is 
coming :  but  they  need  not  throw  away  the  pure 
ore  with  the  dross.  Nothing  can  excuse  this 
offence.  Pope  has  told  us  that  want  of  decency 
is  want  of  sense,  and  has  often  exemplified  his 
own  precept.  The  situation  of  Ausonius  at  court 
is  the  most  admissible  excuse  for  the  Cento  Nu- 
ptialis,  his  most  serious  crime.  He  was  aware  of 
the  blame  he  should  incur,  and  professes  his  re- 
luctance to  undertake  the  task.  As  he  makes  the 
best  of  his  own  case,  we  will  apologise  for  him  in 
his  own  words  :  —  "  Piget  enim  Virgiliani  carminis 
dignitatem  tam  joculari  dehonestasse  materia.  Sed 
quid  facerem  ?  Jussum  erat :  quodque  est  poten- 
tissimum  imperandi  genus,  rogabat,  qui  jubere  pot- 
erat,  S.  Imperator  Valentinianus,  vir  meo  judicio 
eruditus :  qui  nuptias  quondam  ejusmodi  ludo 
descripserat,  aptis  equidem  versibus  et  compositione 
festiva.  Experiri  deinde  volens,  quantum  nostra 
contentione  praecelleret,  simile  nos  de  eodem  con- 
cinnare  praecepit.  Quam  scrupulosum  hoc  mihi 
fuerit,  intellige.  Neque  anteferri  volebam,  neque 
posthaberi :  quum  aliorum  quoque  judicio  dete- 
genda  esset  adulatio  inepta,  si  cederem  :  insolentia, 
si  ut  aemulus  eminerem.  Suscepi  igitur  similis 
recusanti :  feliciterque  obnoxius  gratiam  tenui,  nee 
victor  offendi." 


ON    AUSONIUS*  SIS 

The  culprit  has  surely  in  some  degree  extenuated 
his  misdeed  by  the  modesty  of  his  apology,  by 
the  elegance  of  his  prose  at  so  late  a  period  of  the 
Latin  language,  and  above  all  by  his  masterly  ex- 
position of  the  distresses  under  which  a  court-poet 
labours,  when  "the  Manager  writes  himself.'* 
Modern  courts  are  too  refined  and  too  pious  ever 
to  admit  the  approach  of  contamination  in  word 
or  deed :  but  should  it  ever  be  our  lot  to  have  a 
third  Charles  like  the  second,  it  might  puzzle  a 
laureate  to  maintain  his  sanctity.  The  before- 
mentioned  poteiitissimum  imperandi  genus  is  a  pow- 
erful thumb-screw  ;  and  might  extort  dithyrambics 
from  a  psalm-singer.  But  the  whole  court  on  this 
occasion  must  have  run  a-niuck ;  for  Valentinian 
himself;  who  forced  his  laureate  from  his  propri- 
eties by  compelling  him  to  contend  for  the  prize, 
was  a  person,  in  his  general  habits,  of  strictness 
and  gravity,  of  modesty  and  chastity.  Such  is  the 
character  given  of  him  by  Ammianus  Marcel- 
linus:  —  **Omni  pudicitiae  cultu  domi  castus  et 
foris,  nuUo  contagio  conscientiai  violatus  obscenge, 
nihil  incestum :  hancque  ob  causam  tamquam  reti- 
naculis  petulantiam  frenarat  aulae  regalis:  quod 
custodire  facile  poterat,  necessitudinibus  suis  nihil 
indulgens,  quas  aut  in  otio  reprimebat,  aut  me- 
diocriter  honoravit,  absque  patre :  quem  temporis 
compulsus  augustiis,  in  amplitudinis  suae  societatem 
adsumpsit."  —  Lib.  xxx.  cap.  10. 

But  to  return  to  the  charge  of  Paganism  :  there 
is  no  evidence  of  it  either  in  these  obHquities  or  in 
Paulinus.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  epistle  of  Auso- 
nius  Paulino  suo,  tliough  it  may  intimate  that  the 
courtier  thought  the  monastic  seclusion  too  nearly 
allied  to  misanthropy,  there  is  none  of  that  scoff 


314  ON  AUSONIUS. 

which  an   unbeliever  would  have  been  likely  to 
throw  into  the  treatment  of  the  subject :  — 

Tristis,  egens,  deserta  colat :  tacitusque  pererret 
Alpini  convexa  jugi :  cui  dicitur  olim 
Mentis  inops,  coetus  hominum,  et  vestigia  vitans, 
Avia  perlustrasse  vagus  loca  Bellerophontes. 

It  is  also  stated,  that  Ausonius  was  not  only 
indebted  to  his  uncle  for  his  education,  but  that  his 
early  morals  and  opinions  were  superintended  by 
two  of  his  aunts,  who  were  nuns.  Whether  this  be 
an  unquestionable  fact  in  history,  may  not  perhaps 
at  this  distance  of  time  be  easily  decided.  But 
supposing  it  to  be  so,  it  settles  the  question. 
Christianity  was  now  triumphantly  established; 
and  the  instances  were  few,  if  any,  of  Christian 
children  becoming  Pagans  when  they  arrived  at 
maturity.  It  has  been  suggested  that  Claudian  as 
well  as  Ausonius  were  influenced  by  Symmachus 
to  abjure  the  Christian  faith  ;  and  St.  Augustin  is 
quoted  for  the  fact.  St.  Augustin  says  nothing 
about  Ausonius,  but  does  say  that  Claudian  was 
attached  to  Paganism.  There  is  no  evidence  that 
Claudian  ever  was  a  Christian.  The  seven  letters 
of  Symmachus  which  appear  in  front  of  the  Delphin 
edition  of  Ausonius,  prove  friendship,  but  nothing 
more:  the  friendship  produced  by  conformity  of 
literary  tastes  and  pursuits ;  not  the  attachment  of 
brother  sectaries.  At  all  events,  a  strong  inference 
on  the  subject  is  to  be  derived  from  the  unquestion- 
able position,  that  the  morality  of  Ausonius  when 
in  a  grave  temper  of  mind,  though  for  poetical 
purposes  referring  to  Pythagoras  and  the  ancient 
sages  of  Greece,  was  worthy  of  a  better  system. 


ON    AUSONIUS.  315 

In  evidence  of  this,  we  may  refer  to  one  of  the 
IdylHa,  beginning  thus  :  — 

Vir  bonus,  et  sapiens,  qualem  vix  repperit  iinum 
Millibus  e  multis  hominum  consultus  Apollo, 
Judex  ipse  sui,  totum  se  explorat  ad  unguem. 

Ausonius  tells  us,  in  his  Gratiarum  Actio,  that 
he  was  made  prefect  of  the  Praetorium  by  the 
Emperor  Gratian  :  —  "  Tot  gradus  nomine  Comitis 
propter  tria  incrementa  congestis  ex  tuo  merito, 
te  ac  patre  principibus,  Quaestura  communis  :  et 
tui  tantum  Praefectura  beneficii,  quae  et  ipsa  non 
vult  vice  simplici  gratulari,  Hberalius  divisa  quam 
juncta :  quum  teneamus  duo  integrum,  neuter 
desideret  separatum." 

Ausonius  was  consul  in  379,  and,  to  give  one 
halfj)enny  worth  of  the  bread  of  chronology  with 
all  this  critical  sack,  he  lived  to  the  year  394  or 
thereabouts.  His  advancement  to  the  prefecture 
of  the  Praetorium  of  Italy  had  taken  place  in  376, 
five  months  after  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Valen- 
tinian.  His  son  Hesperius  was  his  colleague. 
Ausonius  was  made  prefect  of  the  Pra?torium  in 
Gaul  about  the  same  time ;  and  in  377  Ausonius 
executed  the  office  in  Italy,  and  Antonius  in  Gaul. 
In  S78  Antonius  acted  in  Italy,  Ausonius  and  his 
son  in  Gaul ;  and  they  did  not  resign  till  380.  Tiie 
following  passage  occurs  in  the  Idyllia :  — 

Quiquc  suas  rexere  urbes,  purumque  tribunal 
^      Sanguine,  ct  innocuas  illustravere  secures ; 

Aut  Italum  populos,  aquilonigenasque  Britaiuios 
Prsefecturaruni  titulo  tcnucre  secundo. 


316  ON    AUSONIUS. 

This  is  not  spoken  of  himself;  for  the  poem 
was  written  in  the  time  of  Valentinian  ;  and  Au- 
sonius  did  not  come  into  the  office  of  prefect  till 
after  the  death  of  that  emperor. 

Scaliger  says  in  his  Life  of  Ausonius  :  —  **  Hoc 
itaque  tanto  viro  nascitur  Burdegalae  Decius  Ma- 
gnus Ausonius  nomine  avi  materni,  cognomine 
patris."  This  is  a  mistake  between  the  uncle  and 
the  grandfather.  The  grandfather  of  Ausonius  by 
the  mother's  side  was  Caecilius  Argicius  Arborius. 
He  left  one  son,  ^miUus  Magnus  Arborius.  The 
two  nuns  were  his  aunts,  -Emilia  Hilaria  by  the 
mother's  side,  Julia  Cataphronia  by  the  father's. 

After  all  the  controversy  which  has  taken  place 
about  the  morality  or  immorality,  the  Paganism  or 
Christianity,  of  Ausonius,  his  works  speak  suffi- 
ciently for  themselves.  When  lie  professed  to 
write  gravely,  he  wrote  piously  and  even  theo- 
logically, as  a  long  extract  in  this  article  will  show  : 
for  there  is  no  reason  for  taking  it  from  him. 
When  called  on  by  the  court,  he  wrote  up  to  its 
temper ;  and  when  he  wrote  sportively,  he  ex- 
plains himself  thus :  — 

Admoneo,  ante  bibas. 
Jejunis  nil  scribo.     Meum  post  pocula  si  quis 
Legerit,  hie  sapiet. 


317 


ON  THE  CHARACTER  OF  CINNA. 


Vix  quidquam  in  Sullae  operibus  clarius  duxerim,  quam 
quod,  cum  per  triennium  Cinnanae  Marianaeque  partes  Italiam 
obsiderent,  neque  illaturum  se  bellum  iis  dissimulavit,  nee, 
quod  erat  in  manibus,  omisit :  existimavitque  ante  frangendum 
hostem,  quam  ulciscendum  civem  ;  repulsoque  externo  metu, 
ubi,  quod  alienum  esset,  vicisset,  superavit  quod  erat  domesti- 
cum. — Paterculus,  lib.  ii.  cap.  24. 

Cornelius  Cinna  was  a  patrician,  but  attaclied  to 
the  party  of  the  people.  Sylla,  when  he  made  him 
consul,  had  the  precaution  to  administer  a  solemn 
oath  to  him,  by  which  he  pledged  himself  to  sup- 
port his  new  patron's  interest.  How  likely  he  was 
to  feel  himself  er\cumbered  by  such  an  obligation, 
may  be  gathered  from  the  character  given  of  him 
by  Paterculus :  —  "  Cinna,  seditione  orta,  ab  exer- 
citu  interemtus  est ;  vir  dignior,  qui  arbitrio  victo- 
rum  moreretur,  quam  iracundia  militum :  de  quo 
vere  dici  potest,  ausum  eum,  quae  nemo  auderet 
bonus  ;  perfecisse,  quae  a  nullo  nisi  fortissimo  per- 
fici  possent ;  et  fuisse  in  consultando  temerarium, 
in  exsequendo  virum."  Appian  gives  the  follow- 
ing account  of  the  effect  produced  on  the  opposite 
party  by  his  appointment : — 0»  8f  twv  fuyaSwv  ^ia.oi, 

K/wa  Ta  /xilfli  ^uXXav  vroOtuQvh  da^^owv7«j,  touj  veoTroX/rotj  ijpe- 
di^oy  ii  TO  MufjiyifJioi  tou  MotploUp  Toiif  ^uXxtii  a^ioOv  avafJu^Qr^voUf 


318  ON    THE    CHARACTER    OF    CINNA. 

Tva  |tt^  T6X6o7a7oi  \Inj^<^OjU.£voi  'cravlaiv  5j<tiv  oixvpoi*  •  .  *Av9io"7«- 
jxevcov  Se  toov  ocp^uloov  xotloi  Kpocros,  Klvvotg  jxev  toTj  vtoitoXlrui^  o-yv- 
ETTpoiTle,  vo[jn^oixsvog  btt)  tojSs  TpiaK6<nct  ScypoSox^ai  raXavra*  toT^ 
8*  ocp^ctloig  b  sTspog  vituTog  'Oxl ocoviog,  xa)  oi  fxsv  ajX^J  tov  Klvvotv 
tffgoXoc^ovleg  t^v  uyoqav  /xera  xsKgvix[ji,svaiv  ^i<p*S/«;Vj  e^oeoVi  h  t«? 
^vKug  'GTuo'ug  otvufjuyrivoir  to  8g  xadagoore^ov  -crXviSoj  If  tov  'Ox7a- 
ouVov  e^Mgei,  xotl  oTSe  jxSTa  ^J(pi8/«>v.  .  »  .  coy  *Ox7aouVoj  vyvQoi^evogj 
xctle^uive  ha.  rr^g  Upa$  bhou  fjLsloi  -btoxvoD  travy  'CTX:^flouj'  xa»  ola 
^eifxa-ppoug  eg  t^v  ayoqoLV  hfjiTrea-cioVy  oo(roLlo  fxlv  hoi  [j.6<r(i)v  tcov 
<rvvs<rTwTMVf  xct)  ^ie(rli^<rev  avTOvg*  chg  Se  xalsTrXij^ev,  eg  to  roov 
Aioaxovgcov  legov  -Bja^^Xflg,  tov  K/vvav  ex7^ecTO|X6VOj.  Kivvetg  8g, 
^apprjcotg  jxev  tw  wX^^e*  twv  vsottoXitouv,  xai  ^ia(re(r6a.i  ttrgoo'do' 
xrj(rug,  fSuqoL  lo^oiv  8*  r'^cov  TO  T((XjU,»3jtjta  twv  oXiywlegoov  STrixpa- 
Touv,  ava  t^v  TroXtv  edei,  touj  ^epofcrovTotg  W  ekevQsploc  (rvy~ 
xaXwv.  .  .  TauTa  8*  egyoi^O{j,evco  re  xu)  efrivoovvli  tm  K/vva 
'Cjpo<re(puyov  octto  rr^g  /SouXijj  oT  Ta  auTa  eipgovovVf  Taiog  re  MiXoovioj, 
xai  KoVv7oj  ^eglclogiog,  xa»  FaVoj  Mapioj  eregog.  'H  jxev  8^  /3ouX^ 
TOV  K/vvav,  605  Iv  x<y8yva)  ts  t^v  -BToXiV  xuluXi-Trovlu  vnalov,  xa) 
800X015  eXswdggiav  xripu^uvlaf  l\(f))^»<ra7o  jx^ts  wroilov  ixvjTi  xjoXitijv 
Iti  eWi'  xal  Aeuxjov  MepoXav  e^eipolovria-uv  avT*  auToD,  tov  Ugea 

tou  Aiog.  —  Romanar,  Hist  or,  De  Bellis  Civihbics, 
lib.  i. 

The  same  events  are  also  recorded  by  Plutarch 

in  his  Sertorius: 'Erret  8s  Mugiog  fxlv  vtto  iSuXXa  xgciciYiQe)g 

i^svye,  ^uXXaj  8e  Mi6^i8aT*)  'SToXeix^a-oov  otTTYipev,  tcov  8s  v-naTcav, 
'Ox7a§i05  /xsv  Itt*  Trig  ^uXXa  'uygoctipeasoog  Sjotsvev,  Kli/vocg   de  veoo' 

Tsgl^cov  tnroipepofjievyjv    uvexaKelro    t^v    Mag/ou  rao'^v 

yevof/^svYig  86  roTj  UTraTOJj  ev  ayopu  fJ^ux^^  /^syaXi)?,  'Oxla^iog  fxev 
exgoiTYia-iv,  Klvvug  8s  xa)  %eglu)piog  ov  troXXoJ  eXuTloug  tcov  [ji^vgicov 
otTToSciXovleg  eipoyov  •  .  •  Map/ou  Se  xoilaTrXeva-avlog  ex  Ai^yjjj, 
xotl  ToJ  K/vva  'crgocrliQevlog  kuvlov,  cog  i8*wt>jv  xmoLTco,  '^egTwgiog 
dTTYiyogevev  sTts  tov  K/vvav  ^t7ov  ol6[ji,evog  kuvlio  vrgocre^eiVn 
ocvdgog  rjyefMViXcolsgov  'urapovlog,  elre  t^v  ^oLguTYJla  tov  Maglov 
SsSoixcoj,  fji^  nravloL  ru  'crgayixotla.  cryyp^ejj,  ^Ofjuo  fi,eTgov  ovx  typvn 
vregot  Sixijj  Iv  toj  xgaleiv  vrgoeg^ofisyog elmvlog   81    Toi5 


ON    THE    CHARACTER    OF    CINNA.  319 

Kivva,  TctxiTOi.  fjih  ogQco?  u^oXoy»^s<rSai  tov  'Ssgrwgiov,  alhla-Qcn  8g 
xa)  diocTTogfiv  OTTcog  onrcu(re}cn  tov  Magiov  uutos,  stt)  xoivcovia  Trpa- 
yfjMloov  xexXrixwgy  Sertorius  assented,  ttj^  -criVecoj  ft>)g6vi 
>^oyKrfJup  xco^av  SiSoucDjj.  ovtms  [jLslot'Trsfji.'jrelon  tov  Mapiov  K/vvaj* 
xa)  Tgi^Yj  TTjg  Suvajooewc  S<ay6|x>39£i(n)j  ^o%ov  oi  t^sTj.  SiaTroXejX))- 
d£y7oj  8s  ToO  tffoXsfJiOU,  xcci  tmv  'CJsg)  tov  Klvvotv  xa»  Maojov  efjupo' 
govfji,evaiV  v^geoos  re  xa)  'urixglcts  caruay^iy  .  •  •  '^egTwgiog  Xeyg- 
Tcii  [Jiovog  ovTs  ayroxlsivon  tivu  'urgog  ogyYiv,  ovts  zvv^gl(ron  xgotlcoVy 
akXa  xa)  too  Moigioo  8u(r;^egaiveiVj  xtx)  tov  K/vvav  Ivruyp^avcov 
iS/a  xal  SeojXffvoj  fj^elgiwTsgov  -cjoislv,  ,  ,  ,  *E^e)  8g  Mapioj 
/X6V  6TgXguT>3(rs,  xa)  Klvvag  ocvYjgs&ri  fjuxpov  v^egov,  6  Se  vsoivlas 
Mupio$  oixovlos  auToD  zjotgoi  tov$  vofuovg  U7ra7siav  tXct^sv,  Kao- 
^covec    Se     xa»    Nw^^avo*    xcci    '^xiTrloovsi    sttiovIi    ^uAXa    xaxcoj 

kvokBfJLrOUV, 

After  the  decree  of  the  senate  against  Cinna,  he 
repaired  to  Capua,  where  a  Roman  army  was  sta- 
tioned, and  gained  the  officers  who  commanded  it 
to  his  interest.  With  their  sanction,  the  troops 
were  convened.  Cinna  attended  the  meeting  with- 
out the  fasces,  in  the  habit  of  a  private  man.  This 
histrionic  manoeuvre  procured  him  an  oath  of  fide- 
lity botli  from  the  officers  and  the  common  men. 

An  extraordinary  circumstance  is  related  to  have 
happened  in  the  course  of  this  war :  —  "In  quo 
bello  duo  fratres,  alter  ex  Pompeii  exercitu,  alter 
ex  Cinnae,  ignorantes  concurrerunt :  et,  quum  vi- 
ctor spoliaretoccisum,  agnito  fratre,  ingenti  lamen- 
tatione  edita,  .  .  .  ipse  supra  rogum  se  transfodit." 
— Liv,  epit  79.  The  historian  goes  on  to  say 
that  Cinna  and  Marius,  with  four  armies,  two  of 
which  were  commanded  by  Sertorius  and  Carbo, 
laid  siege  to  the  city  of  Rome. 

It  is  to  be  noted,  that  young  Marius  joined  his 
father  when  they  left  Africa,  and  sailed  for  Italy 
on  Cinna's  invitation. 


SSO  ON    THE    CHARACTEk    OF    CINJTA.- 

• 

With  Cinna's  invitation,  he  had  given  the  elder 
Marius  the  title  of  proconsul,  and  had  sent  him  the 
fasces  and  other  badges  of  that  dignity.  During 
the  operations  against  Rome,  Cinna  sent  a  party 
of  soldiers  to  take  possession  of  Ariminum,  that  no 
assistance  might  be  sent  from  Gaul.  Appius  Clau- 
dius, to  whom  the  guard  of  Janiculum  had  been 
intrusted,  received  Marius  and  Cinna  into  the 
place  ;  but  they  were  driven  out  again  by  Pom- 
peius  Strabo  and  Octavius  the  consul.  But  Me- 
tellus  was  so  much  better  a  general  than  Octavius, 
that  the  soldiers  of  the  latter  proposed  to  transfer 
their  services  to  the  former.  Metellus  reproved 
them  severely,  and  commanded  them  to  return  to 
the  consul  5  but  instead  of  obeying,  they  went  over 
to  the  other  party. 

Cinna  had  recourse  to  his  old  expedient :  he 
proclaimed  liberty  to  all  the  slaves  in  the  ,city  who 
should  join  him.  As  might  naturally  be  expected, 
they  flocked  to  him  in  crowds.  The  senate  became 
greatly  alarmed.  The  people  were  suffering  much 
from  the  failure  of  their  provisions,  which  seemed 
likely  to  produce  general  discontent.  They  there- 
fore sent  deputies  to  Cinna,  and  made  an  inef- 
fectual attempt  to  negociate  a-  peace.  On  the 
termination  of  the  conference,  Cinna  advanced  and 
encamped  under  the  walls.  The  senate  were  en- 
tirely at  a  loss  how  to  act,  in  consequence  of  their 
unwillingness  to  depose  Merula,  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed consul  in  the  room  of  Cinna.  Merula  vo- 
luntarily  laid  down  his  office,  to  remove  all  possible 
impediment  in  the  way  of  the  public  tranquillity. 
The  senate  immediately  sent  a  fresh  commission  to 
Cinna,  with  directions  to  acknowledge  him  as  con- 
sul.   At  the  conference  Marius  was  standing  close 


ON    THE    CHARACTER    OF    CINNA.  321 

to  Cinna's  tribunal.  Cinna  soon  afterwards  entered 
Rome;  but  Marius  stopped  at  the  gate,  saying 
with  gloomy  and  inauspicious  sternness,  that  he 
was  an  exile,  and  forbidden  to  enter  the  city  by 
the  laws.  If  the  people  wanted  his  presence,  they 
must  repeal  the  sentence  of  banishment  against 
him.  It  does  not  appear  as  if  Cinna  and  Marius 
were  on  very  good  terms  at  this  juncture  ;  but 
community  of  crime  and  cruelty  soon  reconciled 

them. "On  o»  -BTegi  Tov  K/vvav  xa»  Ma^iov  crtJvslps6(rM>lss  fji,eloi 

Tcbv  67r up otnes'aTuiv  YiysfjiovaiV  s^ouXsuov7o,  onoos  ^eScclu);  xulotfriO-uxTi 
TYjV    el^YiVTiV    Te\og   eSo^sv  ocvTolg  Tovg  STri^uvzg-uTOvs  ^^^    ep^fl^cwv, 

OTTCog  xot^xgSig  yevojttevrjj  t>jj  ihius  algsascog  xoci  jw,ep/8oj,  oihwg  to 
XoiTTOV)  xoci   oig   olv  ^o6\covtoHj  jxsia  twv   <plXcav  ^loixoixn  ra,  xcCloi 

Try  r^ysfjiovlxv.  —  Ecloga  ex  Vibro  Diodori,  38. 

Cinna  at  a  subsequent  period  commanded  the 
officers  to  declare  him  consul  a  third  time,  without 
even  the  formality  of  holding  the  comitia.  He  and 
his  colleague  Carbo  continued  themselves  in  the 
consulship  the  year  following,  669,  and  83  before 
Christ.  Suetonius  gives  the  following  account  of 
his  daughter's  marriage  with  Julius  Caesar  :  — **  Ju- 
lius Caesar  Div^us,  annum  agens  sextum  decimum, 
patrem  amisit :  sequentibusque  consulibus,  dimissa 
Cossutia,  quae,  familiaequestri,  sed  admodum  dives, 
praetextato  desponsata  fuerat,  Corneliam  Cinnae 
quater  consulis  fiUam,  duxit  uxorem,  ex  qua  illi 
mox  Julia  nata  est ;  neque  ut  repudiaret  compelli  a 
Dictatorc  Sulla  ullo  modo  potuit.*' — Cap.  1. 

Great  preparations  were  made  against  the  Pro- 
consul Sylla,  but  they  made  no  impression  on  his 
courage  or  resolution.  He  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
senate,  enumerating  all  his  great  actions,  from  tlie 
period  of  his  queestorship  up  to  that  of  the  consul- 


S2^  ON    THE    CHARACTER    OF    CINNA. 

ate,  against  the  Numidians,  the  Cimbri,  and  the 
Italians.  He  related  his  victories  over  Mithridates 
with  much  amplification,  and  expatiated  largely  on 
the  number  of  nations  he  had  reduced  to  obedience 
and  allegiance  to  the  republic.  But  on  nothing 
did  he  value  himself  so  highly,  as  that  his  camp 
had  been  an  asylum  for  those  of  the  Roman  citi- 
zens, whom  Cinna's  cruel  and  profligate  conduct 
had  driven  into  banishment.  The  senate  seems 
at  this  time  to  have  lost  all  its  firmness  ;  and  as  it 
was  dragooned  into  suffering  Merula  to  abdicate, 
for  the  purpose  of  making  terms  with  Cinna,  so 
now  this  haughty  and  ostentatious  letter  produced 
the  intended  effect  of  intimidation.  Cinna  pro- 
mised to  obey  the  order,  to  raise  no  more  troops 
while  the  negotiation  with  Sylla  was  pending.  But 
practice  makes  perfect :  and  Cinna  was  a  promise- 
breaker  of  long  standing  and  repeated  experience. 
No  sooner  had  the  deputies  taken  their  departure 
from  Rome,  than  the  consuls  made  a  progress 
tlirough  Italy.  They  enlisted  soldiers,  and  formed 
different  armies  to  oppose  their  enemy.  But  Cinna's 
career  was  to  be  closed  abruptly,  with  what  critics 
call  poetical  justice,  and  plain  men  look  at  as  moral 
retribution.  Some  of  the  newly  raised  levies  re- 
fused to  embark  for  Dalmatia.  Cinna  assembled 
them,  and  threatened  to  enforce  obedience.  The 
soldiers,  who  could  not  expect  such  a  breach  of 
discipline  to  be  forgiven  by  so  vindictive  a  man, 
mutinied,  and  murdered  him.  It  is  stated  by  Plu- 
tarch, that  in  addition  to  the  obvious  motives  for 
this  mutiny,  the  hatred  entertained  against  Cinna 
was  enhanced  by  the  suspicion  that  he  had  mur- 
dered Pompey,  who  lived  to  experience  many  vi- 
cissitudes, and  to  acquire  the  title  of  the  Great, 


ON    THE    CHARACTER    OF    CINNA.  3'23 

A  circumstance  is  related  respecting  Cinna's  con- 
duct in  his  last  moments,  which  points  his  tale  with 
an  important  moral.  To  take  a  prominent  part  in 
civil  broils,  and  to  commit  great  personal  crimes, 
both  involve  the  necessity  of  strong  nerves :  but 
they  do  not  necessarily  imply  mental  courage  of 
the  genuine  kind.  Cinna,  in  his  flight  on  the 
breaking  out  of  the  sedition,  was  overtaken  by  a 
centurion.  That  officer  was  the  man  who  slew 
him :  but  Cinna  attempted  to  purchase  the  remis- 
sion of  the  unauthorised  sentence  by  falling  on  his 
knees,  and  offering  a  seal  ring  of  great  value  as  the 
price  of  his  life. 


T  2 


3^4 


ON  THE  TITLES  AND   MYTHOLOGICAL   CHARAC 
TER  OF  MERCURY. 


I  HAVE  already  alluded  to  the  practice  of  senti- 
mental swearing   among  the  Greeks.     No  people 
ever  so  appropriately  suited  the  action  to  the  word, 
the  word  to  the  action,  the  sound  to  the  sense. 
Dealers  in  horse-flesh  would  never  think  of  swear- 
ing by  any  one  but  Neptune  :  the  flaxen-headed 
ploughboy  invoked  Ceres  :  the  sly  chapman  prayed 
to  Mercury,   to  superintend  his  buyings  and  sell- 
ings in  the  market.     But  Mercury,  like  those  of 
his  disciples  who  grace  the  dock  at  the  Old  Bailey, 
tacked  an  alias  to  the  end  of  his  name,  according  to 
the  occasion  or  the  place.  When  the  man  of  business 
wanted  him,  he  was  'Eg/x^j^  *Ayo^a7oj,  so  named  from 
ayoqoi,  the  market  place,  A  statue  of  stone  was  raised 
to  him  in  a  city  of  Achaia  called  Pharae,  and  he  de- 
livered oracular  answers  under  a  title  suited  to  the 
occasion.     What  gave  curiosity  to  this  particular 
statue,  was  the  unusual  circumstance  of  its  having 
a  beard.  Alow  altar  of  stone  was  placed  before  the 
statue,  on  which  stood  vases  of  brass  soldered  with 
lead  to  receive  those  contributions,  so  necessary  to 
give  flexibility  to  the  mysterious  tongue. 

Another  of  his  employments  was  to  preside  over 
sleep  and  dreams ;  the  night,  and  all  that  belonged 
to  it.     After  praying  to  all  the  rest  of  the  gods. 


TITLES  AND  CHARACTER  OF  MERCURY.        325 

men  addressed  Mercury  last,  and  called  upon  him 
to  send  them  a  night  of  good  dreams,  as  vttvou  hlrjg. 
In  the  eighth  book  of  Homer's  Odyssey  is  the  fol- 
lowing passage  : — 

rioAAa  Is  xa)  xxQuTregQe  joceXafl^o^iv  e^exe^vvloy 
'Hut*  aga^via  \sirloif  to.  x*  ou  xe  t«j  oiiSe  T8o<7o 
OtJSs  deoov  fxoiKOi^MV'   -crffgi  ya^  BoXoevla.  rervxlo. 


On  tlie  word  kgfua-iv,  the  scholiast  gives  this  expla- 
nation : — Tolg  CTOO-j  T>jj   xX/vr)f.      "E^fjiot  yoig  axTTrsg   eiVj   t^j 

xx/v>)j  CTa^a  TO  Ivei^eo-flau  But  Eustathius  furnishes  us 
with  a  better  etymology  in  reference  to  Mercury  as 
the  giver  of  sleep.  Considering  him  in  this  capa- 
city, they  carved  his  images  on  the  feet  of  the  bed, 
and  called  them  kgiuvsg  directly  from  his  name.  This 
seems  a  closer  derivation  than  that  of  the  scho- 
liast, and  still  further  appropriate  as  connecting  the 
god  of  roguery  with  this  humourous  detection. 

Another  of  his  titles  was  XQovios,  the  Infernal^ 
probably  in  allusion  to  the  power  of  vegetation  : 
for  seeds  of  every  kind  were  dedicated  to  him, 
and  carefully  preserved  in  a  pot ;  and  the  people 
scrupulously  abstained  from  making  them  articles 
of  food.  This  particular  consecration  seems  to  have 
been  a  device  of  policy,  to  intimidate  them  from  the 
j)rcmature  waste  of  those  productions,  on  which 
future  subsistence  and  plenty  were  entirely  to 
depend. 

Mercury  was  also  no|u,9ra»oj,  an  epithet  denoting  a 
person  conducting  another  on  his  way.  In  this 
capacity,  he  was  master  of  the  ceremonies  to  PIuto„ 

Y   3 


326  ON  THE  TITLES  AND  MYTHOLOGICAL 

and  introduced  the  souls  of  the  deceased  to  the 
shades  below.  Ajax,  in  Sophocles,  addresses  the  fol- 
lowing prayer  to  Mercury  before  he  stabs  himself: — 

nXcygav  ^lap^i^^uvlct  tcoSs  (pu(rya.va>. 

In  the  Agamemnon  of  iEschylus,  Cassandra 
makes  a  nearly  similar  prayer,  without  the  direct 
mention  of  Mercury  : — 

"A'i^ov  -CTuAaj  hs  rots  Aeyw,  'CTpocrevveTrco. 
^KTriu^oixai  8e  xaiglug  zrhYiyrig  Tu^eTv, 

*A'7ro^{)Vsv1oQVj  0fji.iJt,u  (TVfi^aXoo  To8e. 

"Eg(i,oitu  was  a  festival  in  honour  of  'Egfx^^,  Mer- 
cury, recorded  by  Pausanias,  in  Arcadicis,  to  have 
been  celebrated  in  Arcadia,  as  by  the  Cyllenians  in 
Elis.  In  a  celebration  observed  by  the  Tanagra^ans 
in  Boeotia,  Mercury  bore  the  title  of  Kgio(po§oj,  the 
Ram-bearer,  and  was  represented  with  a  ram  upon 
his  shoulder.  The  explanation  of  this  emblem  is 
understood  to  be,  that  in  a  season  when  the  plague 
prevailed,  he  paraded  the  city  with  that  burden, 
and  cured  all  patients  who  applied  to  him.  In  me- 
mory of  that  deliverance,  it  became  the  custom 
for  one  of  the  most  elegant  young  men  in  the 
city  to  perambulate  the  wall^  with  a  lamb  or  a 
ram  upon  his  shoulders.  Another  festival  of  Mer- 
cury was  observed  in  the  gymnastic  schools  of 
Athens,  of  which  I  am,  according  to  academic 
phrase,  in  private  duly  hound  to  make  honourable 


CHARACTER    OF  MERCURY.  S^J 

mention.  It  was  what  in  our  public  schools  is 
called  a  holiday  xvithout  ea:ercise  :  the  boys  of 
course  played  at  something  resembling  cricket ; 
and  the  master's  presence  was  not  considered  to 
spoil  sport.  But  if  by  any  momentary  forgetful- 
ness  of  the  conditions,  he  brought  into  the  arena 
an  old  fellow  like  himself)  the  established  law  was, 
that  he  should  undergo  the  discipline  he  on  ordi- 
nary occasions  inflicted. 

We  have  already  observed,  that  Mercury  was 
appointed  to  the  office  of  conveying  the  ghosts  to 
the  regions  below  ;  and  that  for  the  reason  therein 
involved,  the  dying  made  supplication  to  him  in 
their  last  agonies.  Valerius  Maximus  tells  a  story 
of  a  Cean  matron,  who  determined  to  shorten  the 
miseries  of  life  by  a  dose  of  poison.  But  neither 
piety  nor  policy  would  allow  her  to  approach  that 
undiscovered  country,  from  whose  bourn  no  tra- 
veller returns,  without  a  solemn  petition  to  Mer- 
cury for  easy  stages,  and  a  comfortable  lodging  at 
the  end  of  her  journey.  Prayers  to  this  effect 
were  sometimes  offered  to  Mercury,  and  sometimes 
to  other  gods  ;  and  travelling  prayers  were  always 
conceived  in  the  same  form,  whether  before  a  tem- 
porary journey  to  and  fro,  a  permanent  change 
of  residence,  or  a  final  departure  from  the  worki 

But  the  outward-bound  were  not  the  only  vota* 
ries  of  Mercury.  Those  who  liad  only  accompa- 
nied their  departing  friends  to  the  coast  were 
enlisted  as  tributary.  At  Argos,  the  surviving 
kindred  or  acquaintance  sacrificed  to  Apollo,  soon 
after  they  had  put  on  their  new  mourning ;  and  at 
the  end  of  thirty  days  they  performed  the  same 
homage  to  Mercury.  The  rationality  of  this  pro- 
ceeding, if  there  be  any    in  it,  is  this  :  they  con* 

Y  4 


vS28  ON  THE  TITLES  AND  MYTHOLOGICAL 

ceived  that  the  earth  received  the  body,  but  that 
Mercury  received  the  soul.  The  barley  of  the 
sacrifice  they  gave  to  the  minister  of  Apollo  ;  the 
meat  they  took  to  themselves.  Having  extinguished 
the  sacrificial  fire,  which  they  accounted  to  be  pol- 
luted if  they  turned  it  to  any  secular  or  gastrono- 
mical  account,  they  kindled  another,  over  which 
they  broiled  their  dinner,  and  devoutly  snuffed  the 
fumes  as  they  ascended. 

But  we  have  advanced  thus  far  without  letting 
the  reader  into  the  birth,  parentage,  and  education 
of  our  hero.  History  gives  him  out  to  be  the  son 
of  Jupiter  and  Maia,  which  lady  was  the  daughter 
of  Atlas.  His  office  was  that  of  messenger  to  Ju- 
piter and  the  other  gods.  Eloquence  was  under  his 
immediate  patronage.  We  have  already  seen  that 
merchants,  and  of  course  the  profits  of  trade,  were 
his  peculiar  care.  A  whimsical  etymology  is  given 
for  the  translation  of  Hermes  into  Mercurius :  as  if 
the  Latin  name  were  a  syncopised  abbreviation  of 
Medicurrius,  medins  currebat  between  gods  and 
men.  This  surely  places  him  very  much  in  the 
situation  of  Francis,  in  Henry  the  Fourth :  — 
"  Anon,  anon.  Sir !"  Mr.  Greatorex,  the  Timo- 
theus  of  the  present  day,  will  know  him  for  the 
inventor  of  the  lyre  and  of  the  harp.  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  Mr.  Moore,  Mr.  Southey,  Mr.  Wordsworth, 
Mr.  Hodgson,  Mr.  Merivale  and  the  late  Mr.  Bland 
of  anthological  renoum,  will  recognise  him  as  the 
patron  mercurialium  viroruriii  of  poets  and  men  of 
genius.  The  leader  of  the  opera  band  will  hail  him 
as  the  first  practical  musician,  and  the  champion 
of  England  as  the  founder  of  the  fancy. 

But  the  columns  of  our  newspapers  on  the  morn- 
ing after  St.  George's  day  bear  witness,  that  the 


CHARACTER  OF  MERCURY.  329 

public  care  little  about  the  persons  or  offices  of  the 
courtiers,  unless  they  be  made  acquainted  with 
their  dresses.  I  therefore  give  notice  to  the  hat- 
ters whom  it  may  concern,  that  his  petasus  was  a 
winged  cap.  I  am  not  sure  that  the  full,  dressed 
hats  of  the  actors  on  the  Theatre  Fran9ois  furnish 
a  correct  pattern  of  the  article.  He  would  cer- 
tainly employ  Hoby  to  furnish  his  talaria^  if 
winged  sandals  w^ere  still  in  fashion  ;  and  if  feet 
were  not  Hkely  to  accept  the  Chiltern  Hundreds  in 
favour  of  rail-roads.  His  caduceus  was  a  wand  ; 
virga,  the  pedagogue  calls  it ;  with  two  serpents 
about  it.  "  Something  too  much  of  this  !*'  As 
the  god  of  merchants,  and  an  officer  to  walk  be- 
fore the  Lord  Chancellor,  he  bears  a  purse. 

Hie  petit  Euphraten  juvenis,  domitique  Batavi 
Custodes  aquilas,  armis  industrius  :  at  tu 
Nil  nisi  Cecropides,  truncoque  simillimus  Herman  : 
Nullo  quippe  alio  vincis  discrimine,  quam  quod 
Illi  marmoreum  caput  est,  tua  vivit  imago. 

Juvenal,  sat.  8. 

A  statue  of  Hermes  was  religiously  set  up 
against  the  houses  at  Athens,  of  a  cubic  form, 
without  hands  or  feet.  This  was  called  Herma. 
The  figures  here  described  were  merely  rough- 
hewn  square  stones,  technically  called  termes,  set 
upright ;  but  however  shapeless  the  posts,  the  heads 
with  which  they  were  surmounted  were  of  marble. 
Hermes  also  was  used  as  a  direction-post.  He 
had  no  fingers,  ours  have  no  heads.  The  general 
opinion  is,  that  the  Greek  name  of  the  god  was 
derived  ccjfo  toO  kgixrivevuvy  which  means  to  show,  or 
explain ;  and  thence  some  of  his  attributes  at  least, 
among  the  rest  that  of  standing  by  the  roadside  to 


330  CHARACTER  OF  MERCURY. 

direct  puzzled  wayfarers.  But  Mr.  Gifford  is  of 
opinion  that  this  last  office  has  reference  to  some 
obscure  idea  of 'his  being  the  same  deity  with  the 
Sun.  We  may  indeed  infer  that  it  requires  some 
light  to  be  a  direction-post,  from  the  proverb  Ea: 
quovis  ligno  non  Jit  Mercurius :  Every  one  cannot 
become  a  good  schoolmaster.  I  am  afraid  the  pro- 
verb will  equally  apply  to  the  pupils. 

It  is  obvious  why  the  tongues  of  the  animals 
sacrificed  were  peculiarly  devoted  to  Mercury. 

His  other  titles  were,  %Tpo<poilos,  in  which  he  seems 
to  have  been  the  prototype  of  our  renowned  Jo- 
nathan Wilde,  combining  the  offices  of  thief)  thief- 
taker,  and  gaoler  ;  'EjXTroXaToj,  KsgSaio^,  A6\io$,  ^HysfJi.oviosj 
'Evuywvios,  Aiuxovo§,  'Egiounog,  and  in  his  capacity  of 
gentleman  usher  to  Pluto,  XQmo^  and  Kara^aTT)?, 

Cum  multis  aliis,  quae  nunc  perscribeie  longum  est. 


351 


ON  THE   MYTHOLOGICAL   CHARACTER  OF 
RHADAMANTHUS. 


Gnossius  haec  Rhadamanthus  habet  durissima  legna  ; 
Castigatque,  auditque  dolos  ;  subigitque  fateri, 
Quae  quis  apud  superos,  furto  laetatus  inani, 
Distulit  in  seram  commissa  piacula  mortem. 

jEneiSf  vi.  566, 


This  distinguished  public  character  in  legal  bio- 
graphy commenced  practice  in  Crete.  He  gained 
considerable  reputation  by  honourable  conduct 
towards  his  clients,  and  a  trick  peculiar  to  himself) 
of  impartiality  in  the  distribution  of  justice.  The 
career  of  honour  in  those  simple  and  half-civilised 
days,  was  exactly  the  converse  of  ours  :  eminent 
men,  instead  of  rising  from  the  courts  below  to 
those  above,  descended  from  those  above  to  those 
below.  Rhadamanthus  was  accordingly  promoted 
to  the  bench  in  that  place,  which  in  ancient  times 
was  not  considered  to  bear  a  name  offensive  to  po- 
lite ears.  His  Court  of  King's  Bencli  was  composed 
of  three  judges  ;  ours  of  four.  Pindar  refers  to 
this  tribunal  in  his  Olympic  : — 

Ta  5'  fv  ToSf  A 10 J  a^x? 
'AAil^a,  xa7«  yaj  8i>ta- 


332       ON  THE  CHARACTER  OF  RHADAMANTHUS. 
''Ov  TffctlYjg  s^si  Kgovos  eVoi- 


3S:i 


ON  THE  MYTHOLOGICAL  CHARACTER  OF  PLUTO. 


Xhe  common  sense  of  Pluto's  character  is,  that 
he  first  instructed  the  Greeks  in  the  decencies  of 
funerals,  and  showed  them  how  to  perform  the  last 
offices  to  the  deceased.  In  the  early  ages  of  man- 
kind, every  new  invention  to  improve  the  insuffi- 
cient comforts  of  life,  every  suggestion  of  improve- 
ment in  morality,  every  advance  towards  refinement 
in  manners,  every  suggestion  of  better  feeling  was 
made  the  subject  of  a  fable.  These  inventions  were 
partly  stimulated  by  restless  ingenuity,  at  a  loss 
for  subjects  to  work  upon  ;  partly  by  the  eagerness 
of  gratitude  to  pay  the  debt  due  to  the  first  be- 
nefactors and  civilisers  of  our  species.  In  the 
case  before  us,  a  fictitious  empire  in  the  shades 
below  was  assigned  to  this  teacher  of  a  pious  duty, 
of  an  extent  and  vastness  with  w^hich  no  mortal 
monarch  could  compete.  Universal  sovereignty, 
over  such  a  portion  of  the  earth  as  was  then  ripe 
to  admit  of  the  restraints  and  benefits  of  govern- 
ment, would  have  allowed  of  a  very  limited  range  : 
they  therefore  constituted  him  monarch  of  the 
dead  ;  not  so  much  of  regions  as  of  ages.  He  was 
tlie  brother  of  Jupiter.  He  was  called  Orais  ;  and 
in  relation  to  his  pedigree,  Jupiter  ifi/emus,  or  St^- 
gius.  Proserpina  was  his  wife ;  the  daughter  of 
Ceres.  He  possessed  himself  of  her  by  forcible 
abduction,  as  she  was  gathering  flowers  in  the  Si- 


334   MYTHOLOGICAL  CHARACTER  OF  PLUTO. 

cilian  plain  of  Enna.  This  splendid  marriage  con- 
ferred on  her  the  title  of  Juno  inferna^  or  Stygia. 
There  is  considerable  confusion  between  her  attri- 
butes, and  those  of  Hecate  and  Luna.  The  latter 
is  the  same  with  Diana.  All  these  goddesses  pre- 
side over  sorceries  and  incantations. 

Neptune  made  up  the  triumvirate  brotherhood, 
all  sons  of  Saturn.  In  the  division  of  the  father's 
kingdom,  Pluto  had  the  western  portion.  As  the 
most  extravagant  fables  have  some  foundation  in 
history  or  tradition,  the  apparent  descent  of  the 
sun  and  the  succession  of  darkness  gave  rise  to  the 
poetical  imagination  of  gloomy  regions,  over  which 
this  emperor  of  the  west  was  supposed  to  bear 
sway.  His  Latin  name  is  Dis,  which  is  merely  a 
contraction  of  dives^  analogous  to  the  Greek,  nxou- 
Toj  and  nxouTwv :  so  that  the  noble  pupil  was  right 
in  treating  Pluto  as  synonymous  with  Plutus ;  and 
Dr.  Pangloss  was  impertinently  pedantic  in  his  cor- 
rection. Sacrifices  and  lustrations  were  performed 
to  him  in  the  month  of  February,  for  a  reason  given 
by  Servius:  — **  Februus  autem  est  Ditis  pater,  cui 
eomense  sacrificatur,"  Cicero  makes  good  use  of  his 
character,  in  its  unfavourable  point  of  view,  against 
Verres  : — "  Hie  dolor  erat  tantus,  ut  Verres,  alter 
Orcus,  venisse  Ennam,  et  non  Proserpinam  aspor- 
tasse,  sed  ipsam  abripuisse  Cererem  videretur." — 
Act.  ii.  lib.  4. 

His  title  of  Summanus  is  supposed  to  be  a  con- 
traction of  Summus  manium, 

Reddita,  quisquis  is  est,  Summano  templa  feruntur. 
Turn?  cum  Romanis,  Pyrrhe,  timendus  eras. 

Ovid.  Fastorum,  6. 


ON  A  SENTIMENT  IN  CATULLUS. 


Xhough  I  may  have  been  disposed  to  apologise 
for  Ausoniiis,  in  consideration  of  the  extreme  nai- 
vete with  which  he  represents  the  imperial  attempt 
to  be  poet  as  well  as  patron,  and  the  timid  nicety 
with  which  he  adjusts  the  balance  between  the  tact 
of  the  courtier  and  the  fame  of  the  poet,  I  again 
protest  against  any  general  indulgence  on  this  head. 
With  respect  to  expurgates  editioiies,  they  are  ob- 
jectionable in  point  of  policy,  as  only  tending  to 
inflame  curiosity,  and  render  that  a  matter  of  re- 
search, wliich  might  otherwise  be  glanced  over 
hastily.  I  am  led  to  revert  to  the  subject,  by  a 
most  profligate  as  well  as  illogical  passage  in  Ca- 
tullus, a  poet  too  popular  not  to  be  dangerous : — 

Castum  esse  decet  pium  poetam 
Ipsum  ;  versiculos  nihil  necesse  est : 
Qui  turn  denique  habent  salem  ac  leporeni, 
Si  sunt  moliiculi,  ac  panim  pudici. 

This  is  carrying  the  doctrine  to  its  utmost  ex- 
tent :  that  freedom  is  not  only  venial,  but  merito- 
rious and  of  the  first  necessity.  On  what  ground 
the  poet's  conduct  ought  to  be  so  decorous,  when 
his  very  profession  compels  him  to  teach  licen- 
tiousness ex  cathedra y  it  may  not  be  easy  to  explain. 


336  ON  A  SENTIMENT  IN  CATULLUS. 

This  abominable  sentiment  has  been  often  echoed, 
as  for  instance,  by  Martial.  We  all  know  the  first 
to  be  true,  but  who  will  believe  the  last? — 

Lasciva  est  nobis  pagina,  vita  proba. 
Again  more  at  full,  in  his  epigram  ad  Corneliiim  : — 

Quid  si  me  jubeas  Thalassionem 

Verbis  dicere  non  Thalassionis  ? 

Qiiis  Floralia  vestit,  et  stolatum 

Permittit  meretricibus  pudorem  ? 

Lex  haec  carminibiis  data  est  jocosis, 

Ne  possint,  nisi  pruriant,  jiivare. 

Quare,  deposita  severitate, 

Parcas  lusibus  et  jocis,  rogamiis; 

Nee  castrare  velis  meos  libellos.        Lib.  i.  epig.  36. 

Ovid  was  sure  to  adopt  the  tenets  of  such  a  school: — 

Crede  mihi  distant  mores  a  carmine  nostri. 
Vita  verecunda  est,  Musa  jocosa  mihi. 

Tully  was  of  a  directly  opposite  opinion :  and 
though  the  following  precept  be  more  immediately 
directed  against  a  fault  of  a  different  nature,  it  is 
equally  applicable  to  the  subject  in  question,  both 
in  his  opinion  and  in  the  nature  of  things  ;  and  it 
is  a  subject  of  congratulation,  that  the  public  mind 
of  the  present  day  goes  with  the  more  correct  doc- 
trine, as  evinced  by  the  almost  entire  banishment 
of  indelicate  dramas  from  the  modern  stage  : — "  In 
primisque  provideat,  ne  sermo  vitium  aliquod  in- 
dicet  inesse  in  moribus :  quod  maxime  tum  solet 
evenire,  cum  studiose  de  absentibus,  detrahendi 
causa,  aut  per  ridiculum,  aut  severe,  maledice  con- 
tumelioseque  dicitur." — De  Qfficiis,  lib.  i.     So  far 


ON  A  SENTIMENT  IN  CATULLUS.  337 

is  this  author  from  believing  that  he  shall  have 
credit  for  his  deeds  whose  words  are  offensive  to 
good  morals,  that  he  in  effect  chimes  in  with  the 
doctrine  of  a  more  holy  school :  Out  of  his  own 
mouth  shall  a  man  be  judged. 


338 


EQUIVOQUES  AND   AMPHIBOLOGIES. 


Nullum  esse  verbum  quod  non  sit  ambiguum.  —  Cic.  de  Ora- 
tore,  lib.  ii. 


X HERE  is  a  Striking  passage  on  this  subject  in  the 
oratio  pro  Ccecina  :  —  "  An  non,  cum  voluntas,  et 
consiHum,  et  sententia  interdicti  intelHgatur,  im- 
pudentiam   summam,    aut    stultitiam    singularem 
putabimus,   in  verborum  errore  versari :  rem,  et 
causam,   et  utilitatem  communem  non  relinquere 
solum,  sed   etiam  prodere  ?  An  hoc  dubium  est, 
quin  neque  verborum  tanta  copia  sit,  non  modo  in 
nostra  lingua,  quae  dicitur  esse  inops :  sed  ne  in 
alia  quidem  ulla,   res  ut  omnes  suis  certis  ac  pro- 
priis  vocabulis  nominentur  ?   neque  vero  quidquam 
opus  sit  verbis,  cum  ea  res,  cujus  causa  verba  quse- 
sita  sint,  intelligatur  ?  Quae  lex,  quod  senatuscon- 
sultum,   quod    magistratus  edictum,   quod  foedus, 
aut  pactio,  quod  (ut  ad  privatas  res  redeam)  testa- 
mentum  :  quae  judicia,  aut  stipulationes,  aut  pacti 
et  conventi  formula  non  infirmari  aut  convelli  pot- 
est, si  ad  verba  rem  deflectere  velimus  :  consilium 
autem   eorum,   qui  scripserunt,    et   rationem,    et 
auctoritatem  relinquamus  ?     Sermo  mehercule  et 
familiaris  et  quotidianus  non  cohaerebit,  si  verba 
inter  nos  aucupabimur." 


EQUIVOQUES    AND    AMPHIBOLOGIES.  339 

The  Latin  critics  have  abundantly  condemned 
these  faults  of  expression :  yet  from  the  nume- 
rous instances  quoted,  the  language  seems  to  have 
been  peculiarly  liable  to  them.  Quinctilian,  lib.  vii. 
cap.  10.,  brings  forward  several  curious  instances  : — 

"Unde  controversia  ilia,  Testamento  quidam 
jussit  poni  statuam  auream  liastam  tenentemJ* 

"  Hceres  mens  iLvori  mew  dare  daiimas  esto  ar gen- 
tly quod  elegerit,  pondo  cejitum.'* 

"  Nosjlentes  illos  deprehendimusJ** 

This  same  critic  produces  several  instances  of 
ancient  pleasantry  and  graceful  repartee  ;  nor  does 
he  seem  to  turn  with  absolute  disgust  even  from 
tickling  and  practical  jokes  :  —  "  Neque  hoc  ab 
ullo  satis  explicari  puto,  licet  multi  tentaverint, 
unde  risuSy  qui  non  solum  facto  aliquo  dictove,  sed 
interdum  quodam  etiam  corporis  tactu,  lacessitur : 
praeterea  non,  ut  oratione  moveri  soleat :  neque  enim 
acute  tantum  ac  venuste,  sed  stulte,  iracunde,  timide 
dicta  aut  facta  ridentur  :  ideoque  anceps  ejus  rei 
ratio  est,  quod  a  derisu  non  procul  abest  risus."  — 
Lib.  vi.  cap.  4.  This  subject  had  been  touched 
upon  before,  lib.  i.  cap.  10.  Cicero  says  :  • — "Suavis 
autem  est,  et  vehementer  saepe  utilis  jocus,  et  face- 
tiae: qua?,  etiamsi  alia  omnia  tradi  arte  possunt, 
natura:?  sunt  propria  certe,  neque  ullam  artem  desi- 
derant.'*  He  goes  on  to  j)roduce  a  long  string  of 
them. 

The  term  sophist  is  closely  connected  with  these 
degeneracies  in  wit  and  argument.  Originally  it 
signified  a  teacher  of  philosophy,  as  defined  by  Phi- 
lostratus  :  but  its  more  modern  sense,,  according  to 

SuidaS,  is  6  rrri^ea^wv  Umv  iv  toij  Xoyoig:  that  is  tO  Say,  OUe 

who  deals  out  cahnnnies  and  cavils  in  his  speech, 


d40  EQUIVOQUES    AND    AMPHIBOLOGIES. 

and  that  intentionally.  Agreeable  to  this  practice 
is  the  syllogistic  mode  of  joking.  We  are  told  of 
a  celebrated  sophist  in  Paris,  who  had  a  high  repu- 
tation for  this  kind  of  wit.  He  was  in  the  habit 
of  killing  Charon  in  the  following  manner  : — 

Morieris  Charon,  et  sic  argumentor. 
Omnis  Caro  nioritur, 
Tu  es  Charo, 
Ergo  morieris. 

The  lawyers  have  not  been  exempt  from  this ' 
cacoethes  of  argumentation.     **  Testamentum  lex 
est.     Soliis  princeps  potest  condire  legem.     Ergo 
solus  princeps  potest  facere  testamentum." 

This  device  was  particularly  convenient  for  the 
delivery  of  oracles  ;  and  the  Dii  minorum  gentium 
kept  a  large  stock  of  them  for  daily  sale.  They 
had  the  great  merit  of  not  being  by  possibility 
wrong  :  witness  this  noted  one  : — 

Ajo  te  iEacida  Romanos  vincere  posse. 

Omens  were  often  conveyed  in  this  equivocal 
manner,  and  prophecies  of  death  made  vehicles  of 
wit.  When  Pompey  had  lost  the  field  of  Pharsalia, 
an  unfavourable  prognostic  occurred  to  him.  As 
he  was  threading  his  escape,  near  the  island  of  Cy- 
prus, he  remarked  a  magnificent  palace,  and  asking 
its  name,  was  answered,  Kaxo^ao-Zxeia,  the  palace  of 
the  wicked  king.  The  occurrence  laid  hold  on  his 
spirits.  He  could  not  help  acknowledging  that  he 
was  on  the  way  to  a  treacherous  and  ungrateful 
man  in  the  person  of  Ptolemy,  to  whom  he  had  ren- 


EQUIVOQUES    AND    AMPHIBOLOGIES.  341 

dered  repeated  and  valuable  services :  and  he  had 
good  reason  to  think  so  ;  for  he  lost  his  lite  by  him. 
There  are  two  lines  in  Virgil,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  fourth  ^neid,  where  Dido,  being  desperately 
in  love  with  ^neas,  is  introduced  with  the  following 
words  in  her  mouth  :  — 

Quis  novus  hie  nostris  successit  sedibus  hospes  ? 
Queni  sese  ore  ferens  !  (juam  forti  pectore,  et  armis  ! 

The  sense  is  obvious  enough  :  —  valiant  in  arms 
and  courageous.  But  a  company  of  wits  once 
persuaded  an  eminent  French  critic,  that  all  for- 
mer commentators  and  translators  had  misunder- 
stood Virgil ;  and  that  the  true  interpretation  of 
the  queen's  meaning  was,  Do  look  at  his  port  !  ufmt 
a  jiiie  stout  fellow  lie  is  !  Forti  pectore ^  they  posi- 
tively insisted,  could  refer  to  nothing  but  square 
building,  broad  chest,  and  a  more  than  ordinary 
proportion  of  shoulder.  Nothing  settles  a  classi- 
cal question  so  soon  as  a  parallel  passage  ;  they 
therefore  fortified  their  critical  discovery  by  quot- 
ing from  Virgil  himself": — 

Os  humerosque  deo  similis. 

Horace  delivers  the  following  precept,  which 
Dr.  Kitchener  must  duly  appreciate  : — 

Fecundce  leporis  sapiens  sectabitur  ai-mos* 

Here  are  three  important  informations  couched 
in  five  words  :  one  but  just  recovered  in  the  recent 
editions.  The  wrong  reading  of  the  older  copies, 
Fecundif  had  thrown  a  wet  blanket  over  a  third 

z3 


Sif2  EQUIVOQUES  AND  AMPHIBOLOGIES. 

part  of  our  author's  wisdom  and  experience :  for 
he  means  to  tell  us  by  his  epithet,  and  it  is  not 
always  epithets  have  so  much  meaning,  that  the 
prolific  nature  of  the  female  hare  gives  a  peculiar 
zest  to  her  wings.  Besides  ;  what  becomes  of  our 
grammar  ?  Hie  lepus  is  not  fecunduSy  unless  we 
suppose  the  poet  to  use  the  adjective  for  the  par- 
ticiple active.  Furtliermore,  there  is  an  amphi- 
bology in  the  word  sapiens,  bearing  as  it  does  two 
meanings,  a  man  of  good  taste,  and  a  man  of  good 
sense.  The  moral  here  meant  to  be  enforced  is 
clear  :  the  wise  man  is  he  who  always  dines  as  well 
as  he  can.  Sectabitur  enforces  the  authentic  doc- 
trine, that  a  hunted  hare  is  best.  A  further  in- 
ference is  perhaps  to  be  derived,  that  the  emphasis 
on  armos  of  the  female  is  designed  to  recommend 
by  an  implied  antithesis  the  lumbi  of  the  male.  It 
has  been  made  a  question  whether  armus,  clearly 
derived  from  aqiuos,  is  not  to  be  confined  to 
brutes.  The  statement  in  Ains worth  is,  that  it 
means  a  shoulder  or  arm  ;  more  rarely,  though 
anciently,  of  a  man  :  but  that  in  the  Augustan  age 
it  began  to  be  used  only  of  beasts.  That  however 
rarely,  it  was  applied  to  man  in  the  Augustan  age, 
is  proved  by  the  quotation  from  Virgil,  and  by 
another  from  Manilius.  Ovid  and  Virgil  are 
quoted  for  its  bestial  application.  But  there  is  a 
further  proof  that  it  was  also  understood  as  of 
man,  in  the  word  armilla,  ab  arm  is,  i.  e.  brachiis,  a 
bracelet  or  jewel,  worn  on  the  left  arm,  or  waist, 
and  given  to  the  foot  soldiers  by  their  general. 
They  were  worn  likewise  by  the  women. 

To   this   head   may  be  referred  the  whimsical 
derivation  of  Argumentum,  argute  inventum  as  a 


EQUIVOQUES    AND    AMPHIBOLOGIES.  343 

compound,  not  from  the  simple  arguo.  Again, 
Cicero,  a  cicere  ;  Lentultis,  a  lente  ;  Agrippa,  ah  agro 
partu  ;  MartiicSy  a  Martio  meme  ;  Manlus,  mane 
editus  ;  ServiuSy  servalus  in  utero  7natre  mortua : 
and  many  others  of  equal  probability.  But  with 
respect  to  these  fancies  in  etymology,  founded 
on  imaginary  allusions  in  names,  "  Inde  pravis 
ingeniis  ad  fcedissima  usque  ludibria  dilabuntur," 
says  Quinctilian. 

Louis  XI.  was  quite  alive  to  the  practical  hu- 
mour of  an  amphibology.  Philip  de  Comines 
relates  the  pleasant  manner  in  which  he  wheedled 
the  Constable  de  St.  Paul :  —  "  Le  Roy  nomma 
une  lettre  au  dit  Connestable ;  et  lui  mandoit  qu'il 
avoit  bien  a  besoigner  d'une  telle  teste  comme  la 
sienne."  But  he  explained  himself  candidly  and 
confidentially  to  M.  de  Contay :  —  "  Je  n*entends 
point  que  nous  eussions  le  corps,  mais  j'entends  que 
nous  eussions  la  teste,  et  que  le  corps  fut  demeure 
la."  This  pious  equivoque  took  effect,  and  the  con- 
stable was  ultimately  surrendered  and  sent  to  his 
trial  before  the  parliament  of  Paris,  who  passed  on 
him  the  sentence  of  death  and  confiscation.  One 
of  the  commissioners  into  whose  hands  he  was 
delivered  was  M.  de  Saint  Pierre.  It  was  said  on 
that  occasion,  that  there  was  war  in  paradise 
between  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul. 


z4 


344. 


ACROSTICS. 


This  species  of  cleverness,  not  very  difficult,  is 
very  much  despised,  and,  I  believe,  very  deservedly 
so.  But  it  had  many  examples  among  the  Latins,  in 
particular  the  arguments  to  the  comedies  of  Plautus, 
which  were  all  of  them  made  out  after  that  fashion. 
A  specimen  may  be  given  in  that  of  Amphitryon, 
which  stands  first  in  the  editions,  and  is  selected 
for  no  other  reason.  There  is  neither  more  nor 
less  of  merit  in  any  of  the  others :  — 

Ampre  captus  Alcumenas  Jiippiter, 

Mutavit  sese  in  ejus  formam  conjugis. 

Pro  patria  Amphitruo  dum  cernit  cum  hostibus, 

Habitu  Mercurius  ei  subservit  Sosiae : 

Is  advenienteis,  servum  ad  domirium,  frustra  habet. 

Turbas  uxori  ciet  Amphitruo :  atque  invicem 

Raptant  pro  moechis.     Blepharo  captus  arbiter, 

Uter  sit  non  quit  Amphitruo  decernere. 

Omnera  rem  noscunt  :  geminos  Alcmena  enititur. 


345 


ECHO. 


Sex  etiam,  aut  septem,  loca  vidi  reddere  voces. 

Lucretius. 

1  HERE  is  an  account  of  two  remarkable  echos  in 
Pausanias  :  one  near  Corinth  :  —  ToD  U  rijj  XOovlag  ls-»v 

Uqov,  s-oa  xuToi  ttjv  Ss^iav  'Hp^ouj  utto  toov  evi^MplctiV  xaXov[j,ivYi* 
^Qsy^afxeveo  Se  avBg)  roL  oXlyifot  ej  Tgsls  uv\i^or^(TOLi  isjsipvKsv, 
The  other  was    in  Elis  :  —  EW)  ^  oi  t^v  g-ooiv  rauTrjv   xa) 

Plutarch,  in  his  treatise  Ueqi  "A^okea-xioiSj  mentions  a 

third: TfyV  /^ev  ya^  ev  'OXujU,7r/«  foav  aTro  ft»aj  <pu)VT^g  zsokXas 

av7avaxXa(re<j  ■ccroioucray,  kzla.<pa)vov  xaXouiTi*  t^j  8*  'ASoAecrp^/aj  av 

Kivoucra  p^o^Saj  raj  axiv^TOuj  (pgevwv. 

The  poetical  fiction  of  Narcissus  and  the  Nymph, 
and  the  compassion  of  the  gods  in  transforming 
disappointed  flesh  and  blood  into  a  last  syllable, 
could  not  possibly  escape  the  prevailing  taste  of 
Ovid,  and  an  ample  description  in  liis  Meta- 
morphoses. 


346 


LEONINE  VERSES. 


This  quaint  style  of  composition,  so  justly  decried 
as  a  specimen  of  ingenuity,  seems  to  have  derived 
its  origin,  not  from  bad  taste,  but  naturally  from 
the  construction  of  the  Latin  language,  in  which, 
so  far  from  any  cleverness  in  the  contrivance,  the 
difficulty  is  to  avoid  jingle.  The  adjective  and  the 
substantive  having  most  frequently  the  same  term- 
ination in  the  same  cases,  and  the  places  on  which 
the  ccesura  falls  in  hexameter  and  pentameter  verses 
favouring  the  position  of  the  adjective  in  the  mid- 
dle, and  the  substantive  at  the  end  of  the  line, 
these  circumstances  render  those  measures  more 
liable  to  this  accident  than  any  other.  They  are  ge- 
nerally spoken  of  as  monkish  inventions,  after  the 
taste  of  the  Latin  language  and  the  spirit  of  the 
Latin  poetry  had  materially  degenerated,  and  rhyme 
had  begun  to  supplant  the  prosodial  quantity  of 
the  Greek  and  Latin.  This  is  a  correct  represent- 
ation, if  the  Leonine  verse  be  considered  as  a  set 
form  of  composition.  But  the  monks  have  the 
merit  or  demerit,  not  of  originality,  but  of  adoption 
and  adaptation.  Numerous  examples  are  to  be 
found  in  Virgil,  Horace,  Tibullus,  Catullus,  Pro- 
pertius,  Ovid,  and  others  of  the  ancients.  You 
can  hardly  open  their  works  without  stumbling 
upon  them.    Take  for  instance  Virgil,  lib.  vii. : — 

Ecce  autem  Inachiis  sese  referebat  ab  Argis. 


LEONINE    VERSES.  347 

Ovid.  Epist. :  — 

Pingit  et  exiguo  Pergama  tota  mero. 

Traditur  huic  digitis  charta  notata  meis. 

And  eight  more  instances  within  the  space  of  se- 
venty-six lines,  or  at  the  rate  of  one  in  eiglit  Hnes. 
Ovid  was  not  Ukely  to  have  felt  much  objection  to 
what  a  highly  cultivated  ear  must  feel  as  a  caco- 
phony; but  Virgil's  judgment  and  pure  taste  must 
have  been  betrayed  into  it  only  from  the  difficulty 
of  escape  :  and  had  the  ^Eneid  received  his  finish- 
ing hand,  he  probably  would,  in  most  cases,  have 
contrived  to  avoid  it.  Cicero,  though  considered 
as  a  divine  orator,  was  not  an  excellent  poet, 
thougli  not  so  very  bad  a  one  as  some  persons  have 
with  little  discrimination  represented  him.  In  the 
poems  on  his  own  timeSy  quoted  by  Quinctilian,  is 
the  celebrated  line,  — 

O  fortunatam  natam  me  consule  Romam  ! 

There  is  extant  an  epitaph  on  Pope  Benedict 
XII.  who  is  said  to  have  come  into  the  popedom 
like  a  fox,  to  have  reigned  Hke  a  lion,  and  to  have 
died  like  a  dog.  We  must  not  be  very  particular 
about  the  Ne  in  Nero,  — 

Hie  suus  est  Nero,  laicis  mors,  vipcra  clero, 
Devius  a  vero,  cupa  repleta  niero. 

The  following  furnishes  a  specimen  of  middle- 
age  satire  airainst  the  hierarchy  : — 

Acci|H;,  suinu,  cape,  sunt  verba  placcntia  Papas. 


348  LEONINE    VERSES. 

That  on  Bede  is  well  known  :  — 
Continet  haec  fossa  Bedae  venerabilis  ossa. 

The  ingenuity  of  the  following  consists  in  its 
being  an  epitaph  for  four  persons,  in  one  line : — 

Filius  hie,  pater  hie,  et  avus,  proavus  jacet  isthic. 

The  following  couplet,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  is  not 
so  well  founded  in  its  ascriptions  to  certain  exten- 
sive classes  of  the  human,  as  in  those  to  the  brute 
creation :  — 

Vulpes  amat  fraudem,  lupus  agnuni,  foemina  laudem, 
Vulnus  amat  medicus,  presbyter  interitus. 

The  following,  in  addition  to  the  profundity  .of 
the  remark,  will  prevent  us  from  slipping  in  our 
declensions:  — 

Destruit  os  oris  quicquid  lueratur  os  ossis. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  quotes  the  following  splendid 
specimen  in  his  introduction  to  the  Battle  of  Otter- 
bourne  :  »— 

Regibus  et  legibus  Seotiei  eonstantes, 
Vos  elypeis  et  gladiis  pro  patria  pugnantes, 
Vestra  est  victoria,  vestra  est  et  gloria. 
In  cantu  et  historia,  perpes  est  memoria  ! 

This  rhyming  propensity,  originating,  as  we  have 
already  observed,  in  the  peculiar  construction  of 
the  Latin  language,  is  carried  to  the  extravagance 
of  quaint  pathos  in  the  following  stanzas  of  Fair 
Helen,  a  Scottish  ballad  :  — 


LEONINE    VERSES.  349 

O  !   Helen  sweet,  and  maist  complete, 
My  captive  spirit's  at  thy  feet ! 
Thinks  thou  still  fit  thus  for  to  meet 

Thy  captive  cruelly  ? 
O  !   Helen  brave  !  but  this  I  crave,- 
On  thy  poor  slave  some  pity  have, 
And  do  him  save  that's  near  his  grave, 

And  dies  for  love  of  thee. 

To  this  Leonine  origin  may  probably  be  traced 
the  rhyming  propensity  of  many  proverbs  in  prose  ; 
as,  —  Qualis  vita  finis  it  a,* 

An  old  lawyer  of  the  middle  ages  gives  the  fol- 
lowing satirical  quatrain :  — 

Annis  mille  jam  peractis 

Nulla  fides  est  in  pactis, 

Mel  in  ore,  verba  lactis,  ' 

Fel  in  corde,  fraus  in  factis. 


♦  Alliteration  is  a  favourite  mode  of  proverbial  expression  ; 
as  thus,  —  Fraud  and  frost  end  foul.  Our  law  language  also  is 
much  infected  with  the  itch  of  rhyming.  Art  and  part  is  a 
translation  of  ope  et  consilio. 


350 


EXPRESSIVE  DESCRIPTIONS. 


There  is  no  poet  who  abounds  with  these  more 
than  Virgil ;  and  they  are  as  highly  wrought  as 
frequent.  No  poet  expresses  in  a  more  hvely  or 
picturesque  manner,  the  nature  of  the  action  by 
the  march  of  the  verse.  His  dactyls  and  spondees 
were  powerful  instruments  of  description,  "  which 
we  upon  the  adverse  faction  want."  When  he  had 
any  sudden  action  to  describe,  he  always  made  use 
of  dactyls,  and  of  words  selected  with  such  care 
and  skill,  as  to  be,  if  npt  the  echo,  at  least  a  symbol 
of  the  sense.  The  impotent  blow  aimed  by  Priam 
at  Pyrrhus  is  well  expressed  by  the  inefficient 
labour  of  the  verse :  — 

Telumque  imbelle  sine  ictu 
Conjecit. 

The  following  description  of  a  storm,  in  the  first 
book,  has  caught  the  attention  and  received  the 
praises  of  all  critics  :  — 

Ac  venti,  velut  agmine  facto, 
Qua  data  porta,  ruunt,  et  terras  turbine  pei*flant. 
Incubuere  mari,  totumque  a  sedibus  imis 
Una  Eurusque  Notusque  ruunt  creberque  procellis 
Africus,  et  vastos  volvunt  ad  litora  fluctus. 


EXPRESSIVE    DESCRIPTIONS.  351 

Insequitur  claniorque  viriim  stridorque  rudentuni. 
Eripiunt  subito  nubes  coelumque  diemque 
Teucrorum  ex  oculis ;  ponto  nox  incubat  atra. 
Intonuere  poli,  et  crebris  micat  ignibus  aether. 

The  first  and  second  books  abound  in  instances 
of  this  excellence  in  description.  You  can  scarcely 
open  the  volume  without  lighting  on  them. 

Cum  subito  assurgens  fluctu  nimbosus  Orion 
In  vada  caeca  tulit,  penitusque  procacibus  Austris, 
Perque  undas,  superante  salo,  perque  invia  saxa, 
Dispulit. 

The  description  of  the  serpents  devouring  Lao- 
coon  in  the  second  'has  given  occasion  to  one  of 
the  finest  pieces  of  sculpture  ever  executed ;  a 
model  of  artist-like  anatomy,  uniting  the  expression 
of  pain  in  every  limb  with  the  most  entire  know- 
ledge of  the  human  frame,  and  exhibiting  all  the 
parts  in  terrific  action.  The  sack  of  a  town  is 
strikingly  represented  in  the  two  following  lines : — 

Clarescunt  sonitus,  armor umque  ingruit  horror. 
The  other,  — 

Exoritur  clamorque  virum:  clangorque  tubarum. 

Popular  sedition  is  finely  described  in  a  passage 
before  quoted  :  — 

Sa[?vitque  animis  ignobile  vulgus  ; 
Jamque  faces  et  saxa  volant ;  furor  arma  ministrat. 

The  opening  of  a  door  is  so  expressed  that  you 
may  hear  the  grating  :  — 

Foribus  cardo  stridebat  ahenis. 


352  EXPRESSIVE    DESCRIPTIONS. 

Fear  is  completely  personified,  and  shown  in  ac- 
tion in  the  following  line  : — 

Obstupuit,  retroque  pedem  cum  voce  repressit 

And  in  another  passage  : — 

Obstupui,  steteruntque  comae,  et  vox  faucibus  haesit. 

The  fall  of  a  house  is  thus  represented  :  — 

Ea  lapsa,  repente  ruinam 
Cum  sonitu  trahit. 

Then  the  fire, — 

Ilicet  ignis  edax  summa  ad  fastigia  vento 

Volvitur ;  exsuperant  flammae ;  furit  aestus  ad  auras. 

In  iEneidos  iv.  :  — 
Stat  sonipes,  ac  fr^na  ferox  spumantia  mandit 

The  death  of  Pompey  the  Great  is  sublimely  de- 
scribed by  Lucan :  — 

Ut  vidit  comminus  enses, 
Involvit  vultus  ;  atque  indignatus  apertum 
Fortunae  praestare  caput,  tunc  lumina  pressit, 
Continuitque  animam,  ne  quas  efFundere  voces 
Vellet,  et  aeternam  fletu  corrumpere  famam. 

And  a  few  lines  further, — 

Seque  probat  moriens. 

See  the  death  of  Dido,  as  a  triumphant  example 
of  pathetic  description,  in  the  fourth  book  of  the 
^neid.     The  good  old  poet  Ennius  thought  alH- 


EXPRESSIVE    DESCRIPTIONS.  353 

teration  and  imitative  words  the  best  engines  of 
description,  as  in  the  two  following  instances  : — 

At  tuba  terribili  sonitu  taratantara  dixit. 

The  other  is  quoted  by  Cicero  in  his  third  book 
De  Oratore  :  — 

Africa  terribili  tremit  horrida  terra  tumultu. 

Martial  describes  the  water  of  Dircenna  as  of 
icy  coldness: — 

Avidam  rigens  Dircenna  placabit  sitim, 
Et  Nemea,  quae  vincit  nives. 

Lib.  i.  epig.  50. 


A  A 


354 


VERSES  OF  WHIMSICAL  CONSTRUCTION. 


Plutarch,  in  his  Platonic  Questions,  has  taken  to 
himself  the  fancy,  that  Homer  advisedly  performed 
the  feat  of  bringing  all  the  parts  of  speech  into 
one  verse.  That  he  has  done  so  is  certain ;  but 
that  the  coincidence  was  accidental  is  almost 
equally  so.  The  noblest  poet  of  the  world  did 
not  descend  to  grammatical  tricks.  The  line  is 
this :  — 

AuTOj  IcttV  xKiO-lrivh  to  (tov  yegotg  o(pp*  ev  elSJj. 

Pindar  is  stated  to  have  composed  a  poem 
a<riyfiov.  He  might  have  been  better  employed; 
for  this  could  not  have  been  accidental ;  nor  was 
it  worthy  of  the  greatest  lyric  bard.  So  the  curious 
in  these  matters  have  discovered  a  verse  in  the 
Seven  Psalms,  in  which  the  letter  A  does  not 
occur.  This  is  no  marvel,  and  must  have  been 
accidental.  It  was  quite  as  easy  and  natural  to 
leave  the  letter  out  in  this  case,  as  to  put  it  in  ;  for 
it  runs  as  follows,  and  has  every  appearance  of 
chance-medley :  —  "  Nolite  fieri  sicut  equus  et 
mulus,  quibus  non  est  intellectus.'' 


VERSES    OF    WHIMSICAL    CONSTRUCTION.         355 

Scaliger  brings  forward  a  verse,  which  he  calls 
Proteus,  because  you  may  arrange  the  six  words  in 
seventy-two  different  ways,  without  the  alteration 
of  a  letter.  He  was  a  learned  man  ;  but  his  trick 
in  reference  to  the  mythological  transformation  of 
Proteus  is  good  for  nothing  but  as  a  Christmas 
game  for  children,  and  too  easy  to  puzzle  even 
them.     The  line  is  this :  — 


Perfide  sperasti  divos  te  fallere  Proteu. 

It  may  be  changed  twelve  times  beginning  with 
perfide ;  as  many  times  with  fallere ;  the  same 
number  with  divoSy  with  Proteu,  and  so  on,  making 
six  dozen  times. 

There  is  a  curious  monosyllabic  whim  in  Au- 
sonius,  indicating  the  decline  of  taste,  but  not 
destitute  of  ingenuity  :  — 


Res  hominum  fragiles  alit,  et  regit,  et  perimit  fors. 
Fors  dubia,  aeternumque  labans :  quam  blanda  fovet  spes. 
Spes  nuUo  finita  aevo :  cui  terminus  est  mors. 
Mors  avida,  inferna  mergit  caligine  quam  nox. 
Nox  obitura  vicem :  remeaverit  aurea  quum  hix. 
Lux  dono  concessa  Deum,  cui  praevius  est  sol. 
Sol,  cui  nee  furto  Veneris  latet  armipotens  Mars. 
Mars  nuUo  de  patre  satus :  quem  Thressa  colit  gens. 
Gens  infraena  virum :  quibus  in  scelus  omne  ruit  fas. 
Fas  hominem  mactare  sacris :  ferus  iste  loci  mos. 
Mos  ferus  audacis  populi :  quem  nulla  tenet  lex. 
Lex  naturali  quam  condidit  imperio  jias. 
Jus  genitum  pietate  hominum,  jus  certa  Dei  mens. 
Mens,  quic  coclesti  sensu  rigai  emeritum  cor. 
Cor  vegetum  mundi  instar  habcns,  anima;  vigor  ac  vis. 
Vis  tamen  hie  nulla  est :  verum  est  jocus  et  nihili  res. 


356         VERSES    OF    WHIMSICAL    CONSTRUCTION. 

The  torturers  of  verses  into  jokes  have  discovered 
an  increasing  kind,  where  the  first  word  is  a  mo- 
nosyllable, the  second  a  dissyllable,  and  so  on  ;  and 
have  again  pressed  an  accidental  coincidence  in 
Homer  into  their  service  :  — 

Who  would  ever  have  suspected  the  severe  Virgil 
of  embellishing  his  Latin  with  such  ornaments? 
The  line  of  which  he  is  accused,  or  in  the  estim- 
ation of  the  dealers  in  small  wit,  with  which  he  is 
complimented,  is,  — 

Ex  quibus  insignis  pulcherrima  Deiopea. 

But  it  happens,  unfortunately,  that  there  is  no  such 
line  in  Virgil.  The  lady  is  mentioned  once  in 
the  accusative  case,  and  once  besides,  thus  :  — 

Atque  Ephyre,  atque  Opis,  et  Asia  Deiopea. 

But  if  we  deprive  them  of  this  support,  we  can 
offer  them  an  auxiliary  from  the  heavy  German 
squadron  :  — 

Si  cupis  armari  virtutibus  Heliodore. 

Or  we  can  draw  up  the  following  rank  and  file 
of  syllables  as  military  as  poetical ;  — 

Dux  turmas  proprius  conjunxerat  auxiliarei. 

Against  these  set  a  specimen  of  the  decreasing :  — 

Vectigalibus  armamenta  referre  jubet  Rex. 


VERSES    OF    WHIMSICAL    CONSTRUCTION.       35^ 

Every  schoolboy  knows  the  hexameter  and  pen- 
tameter, composed  of  two  words  each  :  — 

Perturbabantur  Constantinopolitani 
Innumerabilibus  sollicitudinibus. 

Centos  constitute  another  species  of  Lower  Em- 
pire wit.  That  of  Ausonius,  so  laboriously  dull, 
begins  thus.  A  short  specimen  will  be  sufficient  to 
exhibit  the  taste  of  the  contrivance,  and  to  disgust 
the  judicious  admiier  of  Virgil  with  such  a  piece 
of  patchwork  :  — 

Accipite  haec  animis :  laetasque  advertite  mentes, 
Ambo  animis,  ambo  insignes  praestantibus  armis  : 
Ambo  florentes,  genus  insuperabile  bello. 
Tuque  prior,  nam  te  majoribus  ire  per  altum 
Auspiciis  manifesta  fides,  quo  justior  alter 
Nee  pietate  fuit,  nee  bello  major  et  armis. 

Proba  Falconia,  a  Christian  poetess,  with  more 
zeal  than  knowledge,  composed  a  work  on  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  made  up  in  this  style,  ex- 
clusively from  the  verses  of  Virgil. 

The  following  macaronic  line  is  not  only  proso- 
dially,  but  grammatically  whimsical :  — 

Supplicat  ut  proestum  proestum  vindicta  fiatur. 


A  A   3 


858 


ROMAN   NOTES. 


£t  fugit  ad  salices,  at  se  cupit  ante  videri.       Virgil. 

AusoNius,who  flourished  under  the  emperor  Theo- 
dosius,  as  well  as  under  Valentinian  and  Gratian, 
lived  just  when  the  abrupt  and  compendious  mode 
of  writing  was  in  the  height  of  fashion.  He  no- 
tices it  in  his  panegyric  on  a  certain  notary  or 
scribe,  in  the  following  lines,  commencing  his 
epigram  137. :  — 

Puer  notarum  prflepetum 
Sollers  minister,  advola. 

The  three  Roman  Notes  which  follow  were,  as 
every  one  knows,  of  long  standing : — 

A.  Absolvo. 

C.  Condemfio. 

N.  L.  Non  liquet,  when  the  business  in  hand 
was  found  to  be  doubtful. 

In  Greek,  0  was  a  mark  of  condemnation,  as 
the  first  letter  of  QavuTo^y  signifying  death*,  and 
T  the  mark  of  acquittal :  A  that  of  adjournment 
to  a  future  period. 

*  Et  potis  es  nigrum  vitio  praefigere  theta.         Persim. 


ROMAN    NOTES.  359 

The  number  of  these  abbreviations  is  very  great. 
The  following  are  a  few  of  them  :  — 

A.  B.  V.  C.  Ab  urbe  condita, 

A.  A.  A.F.F.  According  to  one  interpretation, 
^re,  argefito,  auro,  Jtavo,  fertunto  :  according  to 
another,  that  of  Ainsworth,  Auro,  argenlo,  cere, 
Jlando  feriundo, 

A.  A.  L.  M.  Apud  agrum  locum  monumenti, 

A.  F.  P.  R.  Actum  Jide  publica  Rutilii.  Cicero 
playfully  puts  the  following  interpretation  on  it : 
jEmilius  fecit,  plectitur  Rutilius. 

C.  P.  Censor  perpetuus, 

D.  Divus.  D.D.  Deo  dicavit,  seu  dedicaverunt  ; 
Dono  dedit ;  Deo  domestico. 

D.  M.  Diis  manibus  ;  Divce  memorice  ;  Deo  maxi- 
mo.     Sometimes  with  S  after  it,  meaning  Sacrum, 
D.  I.  M.  Diis  inferis  maledictis, 

B.  M.  P.   Bene  merenti  posuit, 
V,  P.  Posicerunt, 

P.  C.  Ponendum  curavit, 

H.  M.  H.  S.  Hoc  monumentum  hceredes  sequuntur. 

H.  S.  V.  F.  M.  Hoc  sibi  vivens  fieri  mandavit, 

H.  M.  P.  Hoc  monumentum  posuit, 

H.  B.  M.  F.  C.  Hceres  bene  merenti  faciendum 
curavit, 

I.  T.  C.  hitra  tempus  constitutum, 

III.V.  Triumvir,  IIII.V.  Quartumvir,  X.V. 
Decemvir, 

I.  O.  M.  I.  Jovi  optima  maximo  immortali, 

T.F.  Titifilius, 

To  express  the  word  Mulier,  they  reverse  tlie 
M,  and  to  express  Mulier  bona,  they  write  M.  B. 
This  abbreviation  has  given  rise  to  an  absurd 
proverb,  Mulier  bona  mala  bestia, 

A  A    i- 


360  ROMAN    NOTES. 

N.  F.  N.  Nobiltfamilia  natus. 

Ob  M.  P.  E.  C.  Ob  merita  pietatis  et  concordice, 

P.  S.  F.  C.  Propria  sumptu  faciundum  curavit. 

R.  P.  C.  Retro  pedes  centum. 

The  following  is  very  complicated,  and  only 
partly  given  in  the  ordinary  list :  R.  R.  R.  T. 
S.  D.  D.  R.  R.  R.  F.  F.  F.  F.  Romulo  regnante 
Roma  triumpJiante  sybilla  Delphica  dixit  regnum 
Romce  ruetjlamma,  f err  o^  fame,  frig  ore. 

The  device  of  the  Greek  emperors  was  B.  B.  B.  B. 

to    denote    Bao-jXeuj    ^ua-iXecov    j3a(riXeu«jy    /Sao-iXeDo-i,    /.  6, 

King  of  kings  reigning  over  kings. 

The  same  emperors  also  adopted  this  cipher  )|(, 
on  their  public  instruments,  signifying  X^io-rof, 
Christ. 

The  Latin  letters  XPS,  often  found  in  inscrip- 
tions, ought  to  be  the  Greek  letters  XP^. 

The  Greeks  had  a  proverb,  Tgia.  xuttttu  xax/o-ra, 
the  Cappadocians,  the  Cretans,  the  Cilicians,  three 
wicked  nations  beginning  with  the  Greek  letter 
corresponding  with  C. 

The  Romans  bore  on  their  standards,  S.  P.  Q.  R. 
meaning,  Sena t us  Popidusque  Romanus,  This  has 
been  adopted  by  certain  religionists  to  express  the 
following:  Serva  populum  quern  redemisti.  An 
Italian  on  entering  Rome  applied  it :  Sono  poltroni 
qu£Sti  Romani,  The  Protestants  of  Germany  gave 
it :  Sublato  papa  quietum  regnum.  The  Catholics  : 
Salus  papoe  quies  regni,  A  wit  seeing  it  inscribed 
on  the  chamber  wall  of  a  pope  newly  created,  put 
this  question  to  him :  Sancte  pater  quare  rides  ? 
The  jocular  head  of  the  church  answered  by  turn- 
ing the  letters  the  contrary  way  :  Rideo  quia  papa 
sum. 


ROMAN    NOTES.  3()1 

L.  L.  L.  M.  M.  Libertis  libei'tabus  locum  monu- 
me7iti  mandavit, 

PA.  PA.  Pater  patriae,  A  pope  having  adopted 
this  title,  causing  it  to  be  written  in  large  letters, 
it  was  construed  two  ways  :  Poculum  aureum  Petri 
ApostoU  ;    or,  Petri  apostoli  potestatem  accepit. 

MORS.  Morde?is  omnia  rostro  suo ;  or,  Mu- 
tans  omnes  res  sepultas.  Two  words  have  also 
been  given  to  each  letter :  M.  Mutatio  mirabilis  ; 
O.  Omnimoda  oblivio  ;  R.  Repent ina  ruina,  S.  Se- 
paratio  sempiterna. 

When  physicians  were  sworn  in,  on  passing  to 
their  doctor's  degrees  at  Montpelier,  in  the  mid- 
dle ages,  the  professor  gave  them  this  solemn  in- 
junction, Vade  et  occide  CAIM,  meaning  that  they 
were  to  try  their  "  prentice  hands*'  on  Carmelites, 
Augustines,  Jacobins,  and  Minorites. 

The  last  compendium  seems  to  have  been  a  co- 
pious source  of  this  kind  of  wit.  A  monk  passing 
along  the  road,  heard  some  people  saying  to  one 
another  as  they  were  looking  at  him,  —  Beatce  ur- 
bes  iibi  non  habitat  CAIM :  he  immediately  an- 
swered, Beatissimce  ubi  no?i  habitat  FEL  ;  meaning 
Faber,  Erasmus,  and  Luther,  considered  as  heresi- 
archs  at  that  time. 


362 


EPITAPHS. 


Purpuream  vomit  ille  animam.  Virgtl. 

There  are  three  epitaphs  in  Aulus  Gellius,  which 
he  inserts  on  account  of  their  superior  elegance 
and  beauty :  each  of  them  written  by  the  poets 
to  whom  they  apply,  for  the  purpose  of  being 
inscribed  on  the  tombs  they  had  provided  while 
living.  The  first  is  that  of  Naevius,  full  of  inso- 
lence and  arrogance : — 

Mortalis  immortalis  flere  si  foret  fas : 
Flerent  divae  Camoenae  Naevium  poetam. 
Itaque  postquam  est  Orcino  traditus  thesauro, 
Oblitei  sunt  Romse  loquier  Latina  lingua. 

That  of  Pacuvius  is  a  contrast  to  it,  in  point  oi 
tnodesty,  and  has  a  remarkable  portion  of  dignified 
elegance : — 

Adolescens,  tamen  etsi  properas,  hoc  te  saxum  rogat, 
tJtei  ad  se  aspicias  :  deinde  quod  scriptu'st  legas. 
Hie  sunt  poetae  Pacuviei  Marcei  sita 
Ossa.  hoc  volebam  nescius  ne  esses,  vale; 


EPITAPHS.  365 

I  place  this  second  in  relief  to  the  other,  though 
the  author  places  it  last.  The  third  is  that  of 
Plautus  :  — 

Postquam  morte  datu'st  Plautus,  comoedia  luget ; 
Scena  est  deserta.  dein  Risus,  Ludu*,  Jocusque, 
Et  numeri  innumeri  simul  omnes  collacrumarunt. 

An  epitaph  written  in  the  year  1506,  is  perhaps 
too  epigrammatic,  but  has  some  eloquence :  — 

Mors  juvenem  ferit  atque  senem  discrimine  magno, 
Nempe  ferit  juvenem  retro,  sed  ante  senem. 

Ambiguous  epitaphs  are  sometimes  the  vehicles 
of  satire ;  as  in  the  following  short  one,  on  a  rich 
and  powerful  nobleman  : — 

Hie  jacet  vir  amplissimus^ 

Another  on  a  hard  drinker : — 

Hie  jaeet  Amphora  vini. 
i,  e.     Here  lies  a  tun  of  wine. 


Epitaph  on  a  physician  named  Sylvius  :— 

Sylvius  hie  situs  est  gratis  qui  nil  dedit  unquam^ 
Mortuus  et  gratis  quod  legis  ista  dolel. 

One  of  the  great  Erasmus's  enemies   made  0 
spiteful  but  witless  couplet  on  him,  witli  a  pleivr 


S64f  EPITAPHS. 

tiful  supply  of  false  quantities ;  "  Nam  hos  Bri- 
tones  non  curamus  quantitates  syllabarum  :"  — 

Hie  jacet  Erasmus,  qui  quondam  bonus  erat  mus. 
Rodere  qui  solitus,  roditur  a  vermibus. 

Some  one  attempted  to  improve  it,  by  substituting 
for  bonuSy  pravus ;  but  his  prosody  reached  no 
farther. 

The  following  epigram  contains  a  severe  sa- 
tire ;  — 

Hie  jacet  Ugo  senex,  sed  qui  prius  inde  recessit, 
Quam  scisset  cur  hoe  esset  in  orbe  satus. 

The  following  is  an  epitaph  on  one  Master 
Jean  le  Veau :  — 

O  Deus  omnipotens  Vituli  miserere  Joannis, 
Quem  mors  praeveniens  non  sinit  esse  bovem  ! 

Marot  has  paraphrased  it  into  eight  lines.  With  a 
slight  change,  it  has  been  appHed  to  one  Count 
Vitelli,  killed  in  the  civil  wars  of  the  Low  Coun- 
tries. 

There  was  a  Cordelier  at  Paris,  by  name,  Pierre 
OornUf  or  Come,  in  Latin,  Doctor  de  Comibus,  This 
person  died  at  Paris  in  1542,  and  was  the  subject 
of  several  epitaphs ;  among  the  number  the  fol- 
lowing macaronic : — 

Faut-il  helas,  O  Doctor  optime. 
Que  vous  perdio7is  hisce  temporibus, 
Au  grand  besotfi,  Doctor  egregie, 
Vous  nous  laissez  plenos  moeroribus. 


EPITAPHS.  365 

"  Imperial  Caesar,  dead  and  turned  to  clay,** 
neither  stopped  a  bung-hole,  nor  patched  a  wall : 
but  he  was  put  to  nearly  as  base  a  use,  when  he 
became  the  subject  of  the  following  epitaph :  — 

Hie  jacet  intus 
Carohis  Qiiintus : 
Die  pro  illo  bis  aut  ter, 
Ave  Maria,  Pater  noster. 


sm 


MISCELLANEOUS  EPIGRAMS. 


When  the  pretensions  of  birth  are  not  immo- 
derately urged,  the  pubhc  are  disposed  to  treat  it 
with  all  due  respect.  On  the  other  hand,  persons 
of  low  origin,  raised  to  a  high  station,  if  they  give 
not  themselves  the  airs  of  aboriginal  aristocracy, 
if  they  shrink  not  from  the  remembrance  of  what 
they  once  were,  will  not  be  painfully  reminded  of 
it  by  others.  Agathocles,  king  of  the  Syracusans, 
was  entitled  to  much  credit  in  that  respect.  The 
acts  of  tyranny  committed  by  him  were  indeed 
atrocious ;  but  somewhat  of  the  censure  attaching 
to  his  general  character  is  softened,  by  his  re- 
membrance without  shame,  in  his  prosperous  for- 
tune, that  he  was  the  son  of  a  potter.  That  the 
circumstance  might  never  be  absent  from  his  mind, 
as  well  as  in  honour  of  his  father's  memory,  and  of 
his  own  origin,  his  side-board  was  set  out  with 
earthen  dishes  introduced  among  the  gold  and 
silver  plate.  Ausonius  has  made  this  the  subject 
of  an  elegant  epigram  :  — 

Fama  est  fictilibus  coenasse  Agathoclea  regem, 
Atque  abacum  Samio  saepe  onerasse  luto. 

Fercula  gemmatis  quum  poneret  horrida  vasis ; 
Et  misceret  opes,  pauperiemque  simul : 


MISCELLANEOUS    EPIGRAMS.  SOj 

Quaerenti  causani,  respondit :   Rex  ego  qui  sum 

Sicaniae,  figulo  sum  genitore  satus. 
Fortunam  reverenter  habe,  quicunque  repente 

Dives  ab  exili  progrediere  loco. 

Rabelais  is  elegantly  complimented  by  Beza,  in 
a  celebrated  epigram  among  his  Juvenilia :  — 

Qui  sic  nugatur,  tractantem  ut  seria  vincat, 
Seria  cum  faciei,  die,  rogo,  quantus  erit  ? 

Barbers  were  brought  to  Rome  from  Sicily  by 
Publius  Ticinius  Mena.  For  upwards  of  400 
years,  the  ancient  Romans  never  shaved.  Lucian 
has  an  epigram  on  long  beards  :  — 

El  TO  Tgi/psiv  TFayyciivu  SoxsTj  (ro<^ictv  x&qmoielvy 
Ka»  rgayog  svvuiycov  BUfO^og  eg-)  IlAaTcov. 

Philo  reasons  thus  on  a  foolish  old  age  :  — 

A*  yocg  oireg  vov, 
MoXXov  Twv  TToXAwv  giViv  oveidoc  Ircuy. 


Massinger,  in  The  Old  Law,  seems  to  have  had 
his  eye  on  Lucian's  epigram,  in  the  observations 
of  a  courtier  on  the  Duke  of  Epire's  proposed 
reformation :  — 

It  will  have  heats  though,  when  they  see  the  painting 

Go  an  inch  deep  i*  the  wrinkle,  and  take  up 

A  box  more  than  their  gossips :  but  for  men,  my  lord, 

That  should  be  the  sole  bravery  of  a  palace. 

To  walk  with  hollow  eyes  and  long  white  i)eurds. 

As  if  a  prince  dwelt  in  a  land  of  goats ; 


36S  MISCELLANEOUS    EPIGRAMS. 

With  clothes  as  if  they  sat  on  their  backs  on  purpose 

To  arraign  a  fashion,  and  condemn 't  to  exile ; 

Their  pockets  in  their  sleeves,  as  if  they  laid 

Their  ear  to  avarice,  and  heard  the  devils  whisper  ! 

Now  ours  lie  downward  here  close  to  the  flank, 

Right  spending  pockets,  as  a  son's  should  be 

That  lives  i'  the  fashion ;  where  our  diseased  fathers. 

Worried  with  the  sciatica  and  aches, 

Brought  up  your  paned  hose  first,  which  ladies  laugh'd  at. 

Giving  no  reverence  to  the  place  distrain'd : 

They  love  a  doublet  that's  three  hours  a  buttoning, 

And  sits  so  close  makes  a  man  groan  again, 

And  his  soul  mutter  half  a  day;  yet  these  are  those 

That  carry  sway  and  worth :  prick'd  up  in  clothes. 

Why  should  we  fear  our  rising? 

The  value  of  Martial  is  to  the  full  as  great  to  the 
classical  antiquary,  as  to  the  searclier  after  wit. 
The  following  passage  from  one  of  the  epigrams 
states  the  various  uses  of  the  Endromis  :  — 

Seu  lentum  ceroma  teris,  tepidumve  trigona, 
Sive  harpasta  manu  pulverulenta  rapis : 

Plumea  seu  laxi  partiris  pondera  follis : 
Sive  levem  cursu  vincere  quaeris  Atham. 

Ne  madidos  intret  penetrabile  frigus  in  artus. 
Neve  gravis  subita  te  premat  Iris  aqua. 

Ridebis  ventos  hoc  munere  tectus  et  imbres. 

Lib.  iv.  epig.  19. 

Wooden  toothpicks,  made  of  the  lentisk,  were 
preferred  to  quills  by  the  Romans :  — 

Lentiscum  melius :  sed  si  tibi  frondea  cuspis 
Defuerit,  dentes  penna  levare  potest. 

Lib.  xiv.  epig.  22. 


MISCELLANEOUS  EPIGRAMS.         369 

The  point  of  honour  is  sometimes  placed  on  a 
whimsical  object.  There  is  an  epigram  of  LuciUus 
in  the  Anthology,  on  the  subject  of  one  Diophon, 
who  being  condemned  to  the  punishment  of  cru- 
cifixion, died  of  envy  at  seeing  the  cross  of  another 
criminal  taller  than  his  own  :  — 

'SlxKgorigM  fuvgco  s-uvgo6{^svov  aKXov  kuvTol 

Martial's  epigrams  on  the  Satumalian  hospi- 
talities, throw  much  light  on  the  state  of  manners, 
and  of  natural  history  at  this  time.  In  this  latter 
respect,  they  often  illustrate  Pliny :  — 

Mollis  in  aequorea  quae  crevit  spina  Ravenna 
Non  erit  incultis  gratior  asparagis. 

Lib.  xiii.  epig.  21. 

Pliny  mentions  in  more  passages  than  one  the 
pleasantness  and  proliiic  character  of  the  gardens 
at  Ravenna. 

The  splendour  or  plainness  of  the  exterior  should 
be  proportioned  to  the  much  or  little  worth  of  the 
interior ;  as  illustrated  by  the  following  epigram  on 
an  ivory  coffer  :  — 

Hos  nisi  de  flava  loculos  implere  moneta 
Non  decet :  argentum  vilia  ligna  ferant. 

Lib.  xiv.  cpig.  12. 

The  vicissitudes  of  fashion  in  the  arrangement  of 
the  table  are  not  unhappily  touched  upon  in  tlie 
following  question  of  Martial  :  — 

Claudere  quae  cocnas  lactuca  solebat  avorum. 
Die  mihi,  cur  nostras  inchoat  iila  dnpes  ? 

Lib.  xiii.  epig.  1 1-. 
BB 


*S70  MISCELLANEOUS    EPIGRAMS. 

Martial  also  gives  us  an  account  of  what  was 
called  a  many-match  lamp  :  — 

Illustrem  cum  tota  meis  convivia  flammis, 
Totque  geram  myxas,  una  lucerna  vocor. 

In  the  thirteenth  epigram  of  Catullus,  there  is 
much  humour  in  the  following  description  of 
empty-pursed  poverty  leaving  ample  room  for 
spiders  to  spin  their  cobwebs.  The  poet  has 
been  furnishing  his  friend  with  a  copious  list  of 
requisites,  which,  if  he  bring  with  him,  he  will  be 
sure  of  a  good  supper :  — 

Haec  si,  inquam,  attuleris,  venuste  noster, 
Coenabis  bene ;  nam  tui  Catulli 
Plenus  sacculus  est  aranearum. 

The  following  allusion  to  the  meat  and  drink  of 
the  gods,  with  their  acceptance  of  more  humble 
fare  from  their  sacrificers,  is  in  the  true  spirit  of 
epigram,  and  highly  complimentary  to  the  poet's 
friend:  — 

Miraris,  docto  quod  carmina  mitto  Severo, 
Ad  coenam  quod  te,  docte  Severe,  vocem  ? 

Jupiter  ambrosia  satur  est,  et  nectare  vivit ; 
Nos  tamen  exta  Jovi  cruda,  merumque  damus. 

MartiaU  lib.  xi.  epig.  58. 

Martial,  in  another  epigram,  points  out  a  pleasant 
invention  of  the  ancients,  in  drinking  as  many 
glasses  of  wine  as  there  were  letters  in  the  names 
of  their  mistresses.  This  is  the  earliest  mode  of 
toasting  ;  and  the  practice  served  as  a  comment  on 
the  sober  or  Bacchanalian  character  of  the  lover. 


MISCELLANEOUS  EPIGRAMS,        371 

If  he  were  a  lover  also  of  wine,  he  would  of  course 
pay  his  addresses  to  a  lady  with  a  long  name. 
What  a  train  of  admirers  would  the  Wilhelmina's 
and  the  Theodosia's  have  in  these  our  days !  — 

Naevia  sex  cyathis,  septem  Justina  bibatur ; 

Quinque  Lycas,  Lyde  quattuor,  Ida  tribus. 
Omnis  ab  infiiso  numeretur  arnica  Falerno  ; 

Et,  quia  nulla  venit,  tu  mihi,  Somne,  veni. 

Some  of  the  commentators,  on  the  word  Somne, 
tell  us  it  was  the  custom  of  the  poets  to  invoke 
sleep,  and  instance  Ovid  and  Statins.  What  of  it? 
there  seems  no  particular  point  in  that,  or  at  least 
a  very  blunt  one.  The  Delphin  editor  says,  that 
to  propitiate  sleep,  they  tossed  off  the  last  cup  to 
Mercury,  as  the  god  presiding  over  that  blessing, 
which  Sancho  characterises  as  wrapping  a  man 
round  like  a  blanket.  But  this  was  not  a  case  of 
the  last  cup.  The  meaning  of  the  poet  seems  to 
be,  tliat  having  no  mistress,  he  will  regulate  his 
drinking  to  five  cups,  the  number  of  letters  in  the 
word  Somne.  By  this  he  purposes  to  declare  his 
moderation  ;  the  number  being  exactly  a  mean 
between  the  shortest  and  *the  tallest  lady  toasted 
by  the  rest  of  the  party.  It  may  also  be  con- 
sidered, that  if  any  one  at  table  were  to  attempt  to 
force  him  beyond  his  stint,  and  to  drink  the 
})resident  of  sleep  by  his  proper  and  longer  name 
of  Mercurius,  he  would  tell  them  plainly,  he  had 
rather  go  to  sleep  than  drink  any  more.  But  not 
of  his  opinion  was  a  modern  humourist.  In  a 
company  where  the  guests  took  it  into  their  heads 
to  revive  this  ancient  custom,  he,  like  Martial, 
having  no  lady  to  toast,  declared  that  he  would 

B  B  2 


37^  MISCELLANEOUS   EPIGRAMS. 

drink  to  Somnus  in  the  nominative  case ;  and  filled 
six  successive  bumpers  accordingly. 

Eubulus,  in  Athenaeus,  screws  down  the  jollity 
of  the  wise  man  at  the  sticking-place  of  three 
glasses ;  — 

Tpiis  yap  (xovov^  xpaTYigug  hyxepuvyvco 
Tc1$  eu  <ppovov(ri*  rov  jxer   vyisus  evoty 
"Ov  Trp&TQV  ex7r/voo(7<.  tov  8g  hvTsgov 
"EgcoTOs,  ^Sov^j  Tff.  TOV  rplrov  8*  Zmou^ 

*'Ov   glo-'CTiOVTej   0»  (TO^ol   XgxXrj|X6V0< 

OTxaSff  /3«8«oO(r»v  6  os  TSTugro^  ouxer* 
''AfJ^STsgos  hfy  aXA*  v^geoo§,  Trsfj^TTTog  ^o^f* 

''EXTOJ   8g    X.Ui[JL,CDV'   g^SojXOJ   8*    U'TTOOTriaiV 

'O  8*  oySooj  xX>)T^go;'  o  8*  tvccrog  yoKri^. 
AexctTOs  8s  fxaviot^f  cofe  xa)  /SaAXeiv  TroieXt 
rioXuj  y<ig  61*5  6V  fxixgov  Scyyelov  %ud8»j 

*T7rOO"X?X/?gi   ^^*  '''®^?  TTg^COXOTOf. 

A  Greek  proverb  fixes,  not  the  stirrup  cup, 
t)ut  the  dozing  cup,  at  either  three  or  five :  — 

*For  this  alternative,  and  the  accompanying  pro- 
hibition, the  long  established  good  luck  of  odd, 
and  the  bad  luck  of  even  numbers,  will  account, 
jPlutarch  also  discusses  this  important  question. 


373 


MISCELLANEOUS    ETYMOLOGIES,  AND  PECULIAR 
MEANINGS  AND  USAGES  OF  WORDS. 


1  HE  word  prologium  is  ddfined  in  Festus,  priri' 
cipiitm,  proloquium.  Pacuvius  is  given  as  the 
authority.  *'  Quid  est  ?  nam  me  examinasti  pro- 
logio  tuo."  UqoXoyiov  is  the  diminutive  of  'crqoxi*' 
yog,  as  l^ohov  of  t^ohg,  Prologium  has  been  sup- 
posed  to  be  the  argument,  prologus  the  spoken 
introduction  to  a  play :  but  the  fact  seems  to  be, 
that  the  former  was  the  old  word,  indicating 
brevity,  in  time  superseded  by  the  latter,  generally 
a})plied  without  reference  to  length.  We  use  the 
words  Prologue  and  Preface  as  the  Romans  did, 
in  modern  English :  the  former  for  a  poetical,  the 
latter  for  a  prose  introduction  :  but  Shakspeare  and 
his  contemporaries  used  Prologue  in  both  senses, 
and  for  introduction  in  general. 

The  surname  of  Brutus,  which  signifies  senseless 
or  void  of  reason,  was  first  assumed  by  tlie  de- 
liverer of  Rome,  as  a  shifl  of  policy  to  cover  his 
patriotic  design. 

Barbatus  signifies  bearded.  It  aflerwards  ob- 
tained the  secondary  meaning  of  simple  or  silli/,  in 
reference  to  the  dotage  of  grey-beards ;  and  the 
less  offensive  sense  of  oldfaslmmed,  as  when  the 
kings  who  governed  Rome,  as  well  as  their  people^ 
wore  their  beards  unshorn. 

BB  3 


374   MISCELLANEOUS  ETYMOLOGIES,  AND  PECULIAR 

"  Incredibile  prope  dictii  est,"  says  Freigius  in 
the  life  of  Ramus,  "  sed  tamen  verum,  et  editis 
libris  proditum,  in  Parisiensi  Academia  doctores 
extitisse,  qui  mordicus  tuerentur  ac  defenderent, 
Ego  amat,  tam  commodam  orationem^esse,  quam 
Ego  amOy  ad  eamque  pertinaciam  comprimendam 
consilio  publico  opus  fuisse."  The  Sorbonne  and 
the  Faculty  of  Theology  at  Oxford  joined  in 
levelling  their  ecclesiastical  thunders  against  such  a 
grammatical  lieresy.  Tliis  absurdity,  as  a  general 
doctrine,  took  its  rise  from  two  passages  in  the 
Hebrew  text  of  the  Old  Testament,  in  the  pro- 
phecies of  Isaiah  and  Malachi,  where  the  Deity  is 
made  to  speak  of  himself  by  the  pronoun  of  the 
first  person  singular,  joined  to  the  verb  of  the 
third  singular,  and  by  the  pronoun  of  the  first 
person  singular  with  a  norm  in  the  plural  number 
in  apposition.  Our  translators  have  wisely  not 
attempted  to  inoculate  this  Hebraism  on  our 
English  idiom,  if  indeed  it  be  a  Hebraism.  May 
it  not  be  considered  as  a  usage  confined  to  that 
Being  in  which  all  persons  and  aH  things  are  com- 
prehended, and  in  reference  to  human  powers  of 
discrimination,'  confounded?  On  grounds  some- 
what similar,  the  compilers  of  our  Liturgy  have 
chosen  to  commence  the  Lord's  Prayer,  "  Our 
Father,  which  art  in  heaven,"  rather  than  who : 
a  point  on  which  there  has  been  much  controversy ; 
but,  in  my  opinion,  the  rendering  of  the  Liturgy 
has  sound  judgment  on  its  side.  Ego  addet,  the 
Latin  translation  of  the  Hebrew,  may  be  reduced 
to  common  grammar  by  considering  the  phrase  as 
strongly  elhptical :  Ego  sum  ille  ;  then,  qui  addam, 
or,  qui  addet,  will  be  rendered  equally  amenable  to 
general  syntax.     Domini  ego  is  rather  more  stub- 


MEANINGS  AND  USAGES  OF  WORDS.     375 

born,  and  hardly  borne  out  by  the  resource  of  an 
ellipse  :  but  obscurity  on  an  incomprehensible  sub- 
ject is  not  only  excusable,  but  a  mode  of  the 
sublime  ;  and  however  difficult,  or  even  impos- 
sible it  may  be  to  construe  the  expression  without 
a  solecism,  its  spirit  seems  tantamount  to  the  as- 
sertion,  "  There  are  none  other  gods  but  me." 

The  phrase,  verba  darCy  is  used  in  a  peculiar 
sense,  refining  on  the  first  and  obvious  bearing  of 
the  words,  as  in  the  following  line  of  Ovid  :  — 

Verba  dat  omnis  amor,  reperitque  alimenta  morando. 

The  following  passage  of  Ausonius  refers  to  the 
historical  origin  of  the  epithet  tacitce,  applied  by 
Virgil  to  Amyclae.  It  reminds  one  of  the  fable 
and  the  proverb  about  calling  *a)olf.  The  city  had 
been  so  often  and  so  causelessly  alarmed  by  the 
cry,  "  The  enemy  is  coming,"  that  any  such  an- 
nouncement was  constituted  a  high  crime  and 
misdemeanor.  The  enemy  did  come;  the  law 
was  duly  obeyed,  and  the  city  taken  :  — 

Ac  velut  CEbaliis  habites  taciturnus  Amyclis, 
Aut  tua  Sigalion  ^gyptius  oscula  signet, 
Obnixum  Pauline  taces. 

In  the  second  line  Harpocrates  is  meant,  the 
name  being  etymological,  from  ciyoLto  and  A«eo^ 
He  is  mentioned  as  a  god  in  connection  with  Isis 
and  Osiris,  and  was  worshipped  among  the  Lares> 
to  inculcate  the  moral,  that  family  secrets  ought  to 
be  kept. 

Macrobius,  on  Scipio's  Dream,  lib.  ii.  cap.  1^ 
endeavours  to  explain  the  doctrine  of  Pythagoras 

B  B  4 


376    MISCELLANEOUS  ETYMOLOGIES,  AND  PECULIAR 

respecting  the  music  of  the  spheres.  Here  we 
find  the  rudiments  of  modern  harmonics,  and  the 
system  of  concords  and  discords  on  arithmetical 
principles  :  —  *'  Hemiohus  est,  cum  de  duobus  nu- 
meris  major  habet  totum  minorem,  et  insuper  ejus 
medietatem ;  ut  sunt  tria  ad  duo.  nam  in  tribus 
sunt  duo,  et  media  pars  eorum,  id  est,  unum.  etex 
hoc  numero,  qui  liemiolius  dicitur,  nascitur  sympno- 
nia,  quae  appellatur  ha.  tIvts."  Here  surely  is  an 
approach  to  those  aritlimetical  proportions  of  first, 
third,  and  fifth,  on  which  the  system  of  thorough 
bass  is  founded  in  modern  music  as  a  practical  art. 
There  seems  also,  in  the  passage  just  quoted,  an 
obscure  hint  of  a  major  and  minor  key. 

Oscines,  Varro  tells  us,  are  *'Avesore  et  cantu 
auspicium  facientes." 

From  ^o>.og,  soot,  or  the  black  and  thick  sub- 
stance produced  by  smoke,  comes  the  adjective 
^oXoevreg,  as  used  in  the  following  passage  :  — "Exu?-ov 

8e  rovrcoVy  xa7a(rxr;v|/av  fiij  t^v  y^v,  <rxYi7zrT0$  ovofxtx^eroci,  rcJov  5e 
Jtsgflcuvoov,  ol  fj,£V  aldaXcoSsjf,  ^oXoevrsg  Xsyovrui*  ol  Ss  Tcc^ioog 
diocTTOVTSs,    ocpyYiTsg'    eXixiui    8g,    ol   y^a/XjaoeiSooj     (psg6ix,evoi.  — 

Arist.  Lib,  de  Mundo. 

The  Greek  word  yCpog  signifies  a  small  mass  of 
flesh  of  a  round  figure.  Hence  a  frog  is  called 
yuq'mg  at  the  commencement  of  its  generation,  as 
being  a  shapeless  black  lump,  with  no  parts  dis- 
tinctly indicated   but  two  large  eyes  and   a   tail. 

Thus  Plato  in  TheaetetO  :  — "Iva  yi.syuKo'CTqsTtws  xa»  Travu 
xotTU(ppovri}nccus  T^p^otro  rjfjiiv  Xsyeiv*  IvSeixvyju-evoj  on  ^/Jteif  jxsv 
avTOV  wcnrsq  3gov  s^ocvixoi.^O[xsv  Itti  a'0(piu,  6  8*  ago.  ervy^avev  wv 
e\g  <pgovri(riv  ovUv  ^sXtIoov  ^scTgoi^ov  yvglvov,   /x^    ori    oikXov    tov 

av^gMTToov  We  scc  here  why  yvglvoi  came  to  signify, 
in  a  metaphorical  sense,  fools  and  stupid  per- 
sons. 


MEANINGS   AND    USAGES   OF  WOIlDS.  377 

There  were  two  Greek  words,  o-vix^oXr}  and  o-ujx- 
ioxovf  both  from  the  same  compound  verb.  Tlie 
Pythagoric  symbols  were  certain  pointed  and  short 
sentences,  often  obscure  and  enigmatical,  employed 
as  means  of  instruction  by  Pythagoras.  The  w  ord 
afterwards  came  to  signify  the  payment  of  a  per- 
son's scot,  or  quota  of  a  reckoning,  whence  our  legal 
term  of  paying  scot  and  lot,  meaning  parochial 
payments,  which  give  a  title  to  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  a  parishioner.  This  compound  phrase 
sometimes  assumes  the  proverbial  sense  of  a  sound 
drubbing :  as  when  Falstaff  says,  that  if  he  had  not 
counterfeited,  that  hot  termagant  Scot  would  have 
paid  him  scot  and  lot  too.  In  the  following  pas- 
sage symbola,  not  sijmholum,  is  used  for  a  reckon- 
ing :— 

Phaedrum,  aut  Cliniam 
Dicebant,  aut  Kiceratum ;  nam  hi  tres  turn  simul 
Aniabant   "  Eho  !  quid  Pamphilus  ?"  "  Quid  ?  symbolam 
Dedit;  coenavit."    Gaudebam. 

Terent,  in  Andria* 

Pamphilus  supped,  and  paid  his  reckoning.  The 
word  is  used  in  another  sense  for  a  badge,  or  ral- 
lying point,  for  persons  of  the  same  party ;  con- 
formably to  which,  it  is  applied  to  regimental  colours, 
to  a  royal  or  national  standard.  Slju-IoXi^  also,  but  not 
(Tunt^oXov,  takes  the  signification  of  a  conference  or  par- 
ley, and  of  comparison.  It  is  also  synonymous  with 
a  type,  in  the  scriptural  sense  of  the  latter  word. 

The  goddesses  presiding  over  fate  and  fortune 
are  etymologised  by  Pomp.  Festus  in  the  follow- 
ing terms:—**  Tcnitas  credebantur  esse  sortium 
dea:^,  dicta?  quod  tcnendi  haberent  potestatem." — • 
Lib*  xviii. 


378  MEANINGS  AND  USAGES  OF  WORDS. 

The  TuUlustria  was  the  day  of  benediction  at 
Rome  for  the  trumpets  dedicated  to  sacrifices: — 
"  Tubilustria  dies  appellabant  in  quibus  agna  tubas 
lustrabant.  Tubilustria  quibus  diebus  adscriptura 
in  fastis  est,  cum  in  atrio  sutorio  agna  tubae  lustran- 
tur,  ab  eis  tubos  appellant,  quod  genus  lustrationis 
ex  Arcadia  Pallanteo  transvectum  esse  dicunt." — 
Fomp.  Fest. 

Proxima  Vulcani  lux  es  ;  Tubilustria  dicunt : 
Lustrantur  purae,  quas  facit  ille,  tubae. 

Ovid,  Fast,  lib.  v. 


379 


MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM   HORACE. 


Ut  pictura,  poesis ;  erit  quae,  si  propius  stes, 
Te  capiat  magis ;  et  quaedam,  si  longius  abstes. 
Haec  amat  obscurum ;  volet  haec  sub  luce  videri, 
Judicis  argutum  quae  non  formidat  acumen : 
Haec  placuit  semel ;  haec  decies  repetita  placebit. 

De  Arte  Poelica, 

1  HIS  analogy  between  poetry  and  painting  is  just, 
and  judiciously  stated.  Effects  in  either  can  only 
be  produced  by  a  just  distribution  of  light  and 
shade.  A  painter  who  shall  paint  in  a  strong  light 
what  is  only  adapted  to  a  faint  one,  will  be  unable 
to  place  the  spectator  at  any  point  of  view,  at  which 
either  the  proportions  of  symmetry  or  the  grada- 
tions of  perspective  will  meet  the  eye  aright.  So 
is  it  with  a  poem ;  some  parts  of  which  are  de- 
signed for  a  full  light,  others  to  fall  into  a  gradu- 
ated obscurity.  The  principle  applies  to  the  finish- 
ing  of  figures,  as  well  as  to  perspective  and  chiaro 
scuro,  A  judicious  painter  will  execute  the  principal 
and  the  subordinate  parts  with  different  degrees  of 
care :  the  former  will  be  given  in  full  and  exact 
proportion,  with  all  the  mastery  of  drawing ;  th^ 
most  remote  and  least  important  among  tlie  lattef 
will  rather  be  indicated  than  made  out.  In  like 
manner,  the  poet  will  sketch  minor  objects  slightlyi 
and  leave  them  in  a  subdued  tone  of  colouring,  that 
the  reader  may  relax  from  the  earnestness  of  hid 


380  MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES 

gaze,  and  recruit  his  attention  for  the  more  promi- 
nent features  of  the  work.  Uniform  grace  in  a 
picture,  or  unrelenting  briUiancy  of  thoughts  and 
expressions  in  a  poem,  will  in  the  end  reduce  the 
too  highly  stimulated  admirer  to  a  condition  little 
short  of  a  critical  gutta  serena.  Cicero  has  ap- 
plied the  same  principle  of  gradation  to  oratory :  — 
**  Quamquam  ilia  ipsa  exclamatio,  Non  potest  melius, 
sit  velim  crebra  ;  sed  habeat  tamen  ilia  in  dicendo 
admiratio  ac  summa  laus  umbram  aliquam  et  reces- 
sum,  quo  magis  id,  quod  erit  illuminatum,  extare 
atque  eminere  videatur." — De  Oratore,  lib.  iii. 

Sic  Jovis  interest 
Optatis  epulis  impiger  Hercules  ; 
Clarum  Tyndarida3  sidus  ab  infimis 
Quassas  eripiunt  sequoribus  rates ; 
Omatus  viridi  tempora  pampino 
Liber  vota  bonos  ducit  ad  exitus. 

Cartnin,  lib.  iv.  od.  8# 

The  life  of  the  gods,  denominated  apotheosis, 
\vhen  conferred  on  mortals,  was  distinguished  by 
two  especial  privileges  :  the  one,  that  of  sitting  at 
the  table  of  Jupiter ;  the  other,  the  marriage  of 
some  goddess.  Horace  was  indebted  to  Homer, 
in  the  eleventh  book  of  the  Odyssey,  for  the 
hint  of  Hercules  enjoying  the  former  privilege  of 
divinity;  and  being  a  notoriously  huge  feeder, 
he  of  course  made  the  most  of  his  free  quar- 
ters :  but  he  does  not  notice  his  investment  with 
the  latter  on  the  part  of  Homer,  who  gives  him 
Hebe,  the  goddess  of  youth,  for  a  wife :  neither 
does  he  touch  upon  that  curious  opinion  of  the  an- 
cients, respecting  the  threefold  partition  of  man 
after  death  :   the  body  of  Hercules  was  consumed 


FROM  HORACE.  381 

in  the  flames  ;  his  image  conversed  with  Ulysses  in 
the  shades  below ;  while  his  soul  was  domesticated 
in  the  heavenly  mansions  and  society. 

There  is  much  humour,  both  in  the  ideas  and 
the  expression  of  the  following  passages  ; — 

Aurem  substringe  loquaci. 
Importunus  amat  laudari  ?  donee,  ohe  jam  ! 
Ad  coelum  manibus  sublatis  dixerit,  urge,  et 
Crescentem  tuiuidis  infla  sermonibus  utrem. 

The  bustling  incidents  of  a  journey,  the  confu- 
sion and  clamour  of  going  by  water,  are  no  where 
more  pleasantly  described  than  in  the  narrative  of 
the  poet's  peregrination  to  Brundisium.  The  boat- 
men required  payment  from  the  passengers  on 
entrance : — 

Hue  appelle :  trecentos  inseris  :  ohe  ! 
Jam  satis  est.     Dum  aes  exigitur,  dum  mula  ligatur, 
Tota  abit  hora,  Saiir,  lib.  i.  sat.  5. 

Sanadon  instances  the  following  passage  as  an 
example  of  modesty  unusual  among  poets ;  any 
man  but  a  Frenchman  would  consider  it  to  be  an 
ebullition  of  vanity.  Si  placeo,  on  which  he  lays 
stress,  is  but  the  "  butter-woman's  rank  to  mar- 
ket" of  humility :  — 

O  testudinis  aureic 

Duleem  quae  strepitum.  Fieri,  temperas ; 
O  mutis  quoque  piseibus 

Donatura  cyeni,  si  libeat,  sonum  : 
Totum  muneris  hoc  tui  est. 

Quod  monstror  digito  preetereuntium 
Romaiioc  fidiccn  lyro?. 

Quod  spiro,  et  placeo,  si  plaeeo,  tuum  est. 

Carmiii,  lib.  iv.  od.  3. 


382  MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES 

He  speaks  of  himself  more  pleasingly  in  the 
fourth  ode  of  the  third  book,  where. he  acknow- 
ledges that  he  owes  his  life  to  the  muses,  and 
alludes  to  his  own  unmiHtary  flight  from  battle  : — 

Vestris  amicum  fontibus,  et  choris 
Non  me  Philippis  versa  acies  retro, 
Devota  non  extinxit  arbor, 
Nee  Sicula  Palinurus  unda. 

Although  the  slipshod  style  be  the  character- 
istic of  Horace's  hexameters,  he  occasionly  shows 
by  a  line  of  much  rythm  and  beauty,  that  his  will, 
and  not  his  poverty,  consents  to  ramble  abroad  in 
an  undress.  Take  as  an  example  of  this  the  last 
line  of  the  following  passage  from  the  second  epis- 
tle of  the  first  book  : — 

Nos  Humerus  sumus,  et  fruges  consumere  nati, 
Sponsi  Penelopae,  nebulones,  Alcinoi'que 
In  cute  curanda  plus  aequo  operata  juventus ; 
Cui  pulchrum  fuit  in  medios  dormire  dies,  et 
Ad  strepitum  citharae  cessatum  ducere  curam. 

Nothing  can  be  more  unhappy  than  Dr.  Bentley's 
reading  for  cessatum  ducere  curarriy  of  cessantem 
ducere  somnum  :  nor  more  tasteless  and  injudicious 
than  Sanadon's  admission  of  it  into  the  text. 

The  island  of  Corfu,  in  the  mouth  of  the  gulf 
of  Venice,  constituted  the  kingdom  of  Alcinous. 
This  account  of  the  sloth  and  effeminacy  in  which 
the  youth  of  that  coast  were  sunk  is  taken  from 
the  eighth  book  of  the  Odyssey.  Alcinous  him- 
self gives  them  the  following  character  : — 

A»6»  8*  »3py  8aiV  re  (^/Xtj,  xi^aglg  ts,  x°§°'^  "^^t 
Eiju-ara  t  l^Yiftoi^oi)  KocTga.  re  <&s^/xa,  xa)  svvocl. 


FROM  HORACE.  383 

A  passage  in  Horace's  fourteenth  epistle  ap- 
proaches in  some  degree  to  the  caustic  severity  of 
Juvenal,  in  describing  the  distaste  a  debauched 
town  life  engenders  for  the  simple  and  moral 
pleasures  of  the  country  :  — 

Fornix  tibi  et  uncta  popina 
Incutiunt  urbis  desiderium,  video ;  et  quod 
Angulus  iste  feret  piper  ac  thus  ocius  uva ; 
Nee  vicina  subest  vinum  praebere  taberna 
Quae  possit  tibi ;  nee  meretrix  tibicina,  cujus 
Ad  strepitum  salias  terrae  gravis. 

The  following  passage  aptly  illustrates  the  neces- 
sity of  congenial  genius,  or  at  all  events  of  refined 
taste,  to  render  imitation  respectable.  The  com- 
mon herd  of  imitators  are  incapable  of  appreci- 
ating the  real  merits  of  their  models,  and  therefore 
generally  run  foul  of  every  fault  and  every  defect, 
but  steer  clear  of  the  beauty  and  excellence.  — 

Quid  ?  si  quis  vultu  torvo  ferus,  et  pede  nudo, 
Exiguaeque  togae  simulet  textore  Catonem, 
Virtutemne  repraesentet  moresque  Catonis  ? 
Rupit  Hiarbitam  Timageuis  asmula  lingua, 
Dum  studet  urbanus,  tenditque  disertus  baberi. 

The  sixteenth  ode  of  the  third  book  opens  with 
a  moral  satire  against  avarice,  holding  out  riches 
as  the  greatest  evil,  and  an  honest  and  contented 
mediocrity  as  the  greatest  good.  But  this  is  not, 
as  has  been  stated,  the  wliole  design.  By  a  delicate 
transition  from  generalities  to  personal  application, 
he  instances  himself  as  an  example  of  moderation, 
and  his  patron  of  generosity.  Maecenas  had  pre- 
sented him  with  a  small  country  seat ;  and  he  pro- 
fesses to  be  as  mucli  gratified  as  if  he  had  been 
made  governor  of  a  province. — 


384^  MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES 

Inclusam  Danaen  turris  ahenea, 
Robustaeque  fores,  et  vigiliim  canum 
Tristes  excubiae  munierant  satis 
Nocturnis  ab  adulteris ; 
Si  non  Acrisium  virginis  abditae 
Custodem  pavidum  Jupiter  et  Venus 

Risissent :  fore  enim  tutum  iter  et  patens, 
Converse  in  pretium  Deo. 

The  story  of  Acrisius,  the  last  king  of  Argos, 
who  being  warned  by  an  oracle  that  he  should 
be  deprived  of  his  kingdom,  and  put  to  death  by 
his  grandson,  resolved,  if  possible,  to  hinder  his 
daughter  Danae  from  having  any  children,  and 
thus  prevent  the  accomplishment  of  the  oracle,  is 
beautifully  told.  Robustiis  signifies  made  of  oak, 
Robiisteus  is  used  by  Varro  and  Vitruvius  :  roho- 
reus  by  Columella  and  Ovid  :  rohurneus  by  Co- 
lumella. The  Latins  used  adulter  simply  for  a 
lover.  The  opposition  of  character  is  beautifully 
managed,  and  Acrisius's  conduct  and  motives  com- 
prised in  the  single  epithet  pavidum.  Horace  fol- 
lows  the  common  and  ancient  opinion,  that  Ju- 
piter transformed  himself  into  a  shower  of  gold. 

The  character  of  Tigellius  is  among  Horace's 
most  happy  and  brilliant  delineations.  The  affect- 
ation of  intimacy  with  persons  of  royal  and  noble 
rank,  founded  on  casual  contact  in  public  or  mixed 
company,  is  not  unknown  to  modern  times :  — 

Modo  reges  atque  tetrarchas. 
Omnia  magna  loquens ;  modo ;  Sit  mihi  mensa  tripes  et 
Concha  salis  puri,  et  toga  quae  defendere  frigus 
Quamvis  crassa  queat.     Decies  centena  dedisses 
Huic  parvo,  paucis  contento ;  quinque  diebus 
Nil  erat  in  loculis. 


FUOM  HORACE.  385 

The  table  with  three  feet  is  the  emblem  of  an- 
cient frugality.  No  other  was  known  till  after 
the  introduction  of  Asiatic  luxury:  but  when 
tables  with  four  feet  like  our  own  were  once 
introduced,  none  but  the  lower  classes  of  the 
people  would  use  those  of  the  antiquated  form. 
The  mention  of  the  cojicha  salts  puri  is  a  happy 
stroke  at  Tigellius's  alternate  adoption  of  extreme 
rusticity.  The  superstition  attaching  to  salt  through- 
out the  ancient  world,  and  in  all  half-civilised 
countries,  is  remarkable.  Selden  tells  us,  "that 
the  old  Gauls  (whose  customs  and  the  British  were 
near  the  same)  had  their  orbicular  tables  to  avoid 
controversy  of  precedency,  a  form  much  com- 
mended by  a  late  writer  for  the  like  distance  of  all 
from  the  salt,  being  centre,  first,  and  last,  of  the 
furniture."  *  We  are  to  infer  from  this,  that  our 
British  ancestors  placed  a  vessel  in  the  middle  of 
their  round  table,  filled  with  a  sufficient  quantity 
of  salt  to  serve  the  whole  company ;  we  may  sup- 
pose that  the  vessel  was  considerably  ornamented, 
probably  bearing  some  resemblance  to  our  modern 
epergne.  So  the  Romans  had  their  sali/wm,  form- 
ing a  leading  feature  in  their  laws  of  hospitality. 
To  do  an  injury  to  any  one  with  whom  they  had 
partaken  of  salt  was  a  crime  against  religion,  and 
required  a  peculiar  expiation.  But  Tigellius  was 
satisfied  with  a  mere  shell,  to  hold  as  much  salt  as 
he  could  himself  consume,  and  professed  not  to 


•  In  compliance  with  popular  superstition,  it  was  an  ancient 
custom  to  place  a  quantity  of  salt  on  the  breast  of  a  corpse. 
Salt  also  entered  into  the  composition  of  an  oath  :  —  "He  took 
bread  and  salt  by  this  light,  that  he  would  never  open  his  lips," 
— .  The  Honest  IVhore,  Act  5.  Scene  12. 

CC 


386  MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES 

aim  at  that  more  stately  furniture,  which  would 
have  been  necessary  for  the  reception  of  guests. 

The  Roman  reckoning  by  sesterces  was  ex- 
tremely troublesome.  Decies  centena  means  decies 
centena  millia.  Another  expression  was,  decies 
millia  :  sometimes  decies  alone,  or  decies  sestercium. 
The  lesser  sesterce  was  twopence  all  but  half  a 
farthing  of  our  money.  This  makes  the  reduction 
of  a  large  sum  to  our  denominations  a  delicate 
operation  in  arithmetic.  A  million  of  sesterces 
amounted  to  7812/.  10^. 

Horace's  courtly  principles  are  evinced  in  the 
following  line :  — 

Principibus  placuisse  viris,  non  ultima  laus  est. 

Epist,  lib.  i.  ep.  17. 

Horrida  tempestas  coelum  contraxit ;  et  imbres 
Nivesque  deducunt  Jovem. 

In  this  little  piece,  nothing  can  be  more  pleasant 
than  the  manner  in  which  Epicurean  suggestions 
are  delivered  with  all  the  pomp  and  gravity  of  the 
Stoic  school.  The  real  drift  seems  to  be,  con- 
dolence with  some  iiiend  on  a  reverse  of  fortune. 
The  preceptor  of  Achilles  is  introduced  as  deliver- 
ing the  oracles  of  wisdom  to  his  pupil,  which  far 
from  being  the  lecture  of  a  pedagogue,  turn  out  to 
be  an  invitation  to  reflect  on  the  shortness  of  life, 
not  for  the  purpose  of  enhancing  care,  but  of  ex- 
pelUng  it  by  music,  wine,  and  company. 

Horace  speaks  with  indignation  of  the  effeminacy 
prevalent  in  the  camp  of  Antony  and  Cleopatra : 
and  its  effect  in  occasioning  the  desertion  of  the 
Gallograeci :  — 


FROM   HORACE.  387 

Interque  signa  turpe  militaria 

Sol  aspicit  conopeum. 
Ad  hoc  frementes  verterant  bis  mille  equos 

Gain,  canentes  CfEsarem; 
Hostiliumque  navium  portu  latent 

Puppes  sinistrorsum  sitae. 

The  KcovcoTcsiov  was  a  sort  of  tent-bed,  in  common 
use  with  the  Eg}^tians  as  a  protection  against 
mosquitos,  from  the  Greek  xaJvojTrsj,  in  Latin  culices  ; 
but  queens  and  princesses  were  very  splendid  and 
luxurious  in  the  furniture  of  those  beds. 

The  following  protest  in  the  Art  of  Poetry, 
against  destroying  the  probability  of  dramatic  re- 
presentation by  the  introduction  of  such  chima^ras 
as  nurses  and  foolish  mothers  frighten  children 
with,  is  well  pointed  by  the  spectre  which  was 
supposed  after  seducing  to  devour  young  persons, 
and  derived  its  name  from  the  Greek  Xaijxoj,  mean- 
ing the  gullet  or  gluttony  :  — 

Ficta  voluptatis  causa  sint  proxima  veris ; 

Ne,  quodcunque  volet,  poscat  sibi  fabula  credi ; 

Nee  pransae  Laniiae  vivum  puerum  extrahat  alvo. 

Horace  seems  to  think  that  who  drives  fat  oxen 
must  himself  be  fat ;  and  that  Homer  and  Ennius 
must  have  acquired  gout  as  well  as  fame  by  their 
praises  of  wine  :  — 

Laudibus  arguitur  vini  vinosus  llomcrus. 
Ennius  ipse  pater  nunquam  nisi  potus  ad  arma 
Prosiluit  dicenda.  Epist,  lib.  L  ep.  19. 


cc  ^ 


388 


MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM  JUVENAL. 


Proximus  ejusdem  properabat  Acilius  sevi 
Cum  juvene  indigno,  quern  mors  tarn  sseva  maneret, 
Et  domini  gladiis  jam  festinata:  sed  olim 
Prodigio  par  est  in  nobilitate  senectus : 
Unde  fit,  ut  malim  fraterculus  esse  gigantum. 
Profuit  ergo  nihil  misero,  quod  cominus  ursos 
Figebat  Numidas,  Albana  nudus  arena 
Venator :  quis  enim  jam  non  intelligat  artes 
Patricias  ?  quis  priscum  illud  miretur  acumen, 
Brute,  tuum  ?  facile  est  barbato  imponere  regL 

Sat.  iv. 

The  Acilius  here  mentioned  was  Acilius  Glabrio, 
of  whom  little  is  known,  but  that  he  was  a  senator 
of  singular  prudence  and  fidelity.  The  victim  of 
Domitian's  cruelty,  alluded  to  in  the  following 
lines,  is  supposed  by  some  of  the  commentators, 
and  most  of  the  translators,  to  have  been  Domitius, 
the  son  of  Acilius.  They  were  both  charged  with 
designs  against  the  emperor,  and  condemned  to 
death.  The  father's  sentence  was  changed  into 
banishment,  with  a  show  of  mercy,  substantially 
designed  as  an  aggravation,  that  at  the  advanced 
age  of  eighty,  when  a  good  man  is  prepared  to  die, 
he  might  linger  out  some  superfluous  days  in  the 
remembrance  of  his  son's  undeserved  suffering  for 
treason,  which,  like  his  own,  amounted  probably  to 


MISCELLANEOUS   PASSAGES    FROM   JUVENAL.      389 

no  more  than  a  suspicion  of  virtue.  Whether  they 
were  father  and  son  or  not,  the  young  man  had 
imitated  the  well-known  trick  of  the  elder  Brutus, 
in  feigning  fatuity.  When  Domitian  celebrated 
his  annual  games  at  Alba,  in  honour  of  Minerva, 
this  youth  fought  naked  with  wild  beasts  in  the 
amphitheatre :  but  Domitian  was  not  to  be  de- 
ceived by  such  affectation  of  insanity ;  and  sent 
him  to  execution  with  circumstances  of  extreme 
cruelty,  and  under  various  methods  of  torture. 
But  Juvenal's  allusions  are  so  slight,  that  sometimes 
we  cannot  trace  the  facts  in  what  remains  of  his- 
tory ;  and,  at  other  times,  the  innuendo  seems  to 
admit  of  more  than  one  application.  At  the 
Quinquatria,  Domitian  was  in  the  habit  of  ex- 
hibiting pairs  of  noblemen  in  combat  with  wild 
beasts  on  the  stage.  If  they  conquered,  it  was 
imputed  as  a  crime.  Dio  relates  either  this,  or  a 
similar  story.  The  impiety  charged  on  so  many 
appears  to  have  been  a  propensity  to  what  he  calls 
Judaism,  which  the  Romans  continually  confounded 
with  Christianity :  —  'T(p'  ^j  xai  aXKoi  hs  rot  twv  'lou^oticov 

?d>j  e^oxeXXovrej  TroXAoi  xaTs8ixa<r-&>)(rav  .  .  .  tov  Sff  ^  FXa^^iWa 
Tov  {j.eToi  Tou  Tga'ietvov  ag^otvTot,  xocrriyogYj^evrtx  ra  re  uKXct^  x«) 
oTa  01  -KoKKoi,    xal    on  xal  ^qloi^  e/xa^ffTO,  otrexreiveV'      ThuS 

did  Domitian  sport  with  the  lives  of  his  subjects. 
But  the  practice  of  cutting  off  the  nobility,  from 
jealousy,  fear,  or  hatred,  had  prevailed  from  the 
days  of  Nero :  so  that  the  poet  professes,  he  would 
prefer  being  a  Terrcv  Jilitts  and  a  squab  brother  of 
the  giants,  to  a  descent  from  the  most  illustrious 
families.  The  fabulous  sons  of  Titan  and  Tellus 
rebelled  and  fought  against  Jupiter  ;  but  even  that 
hazard  is  not  equal  to  standing  up  against  the 
overwhelming   power  of  Domitian.     Neither  was 

cc3 


390  MISCELLANEOUS   PASSAGES 

he  to  be  cajoled  by  the  stratagem  of  playing  the 
fool,  like  Tarqiiin  the  Proud.  Domitius  had  mis- 
carried in  the  policy,  which  had  saved  Lucius 
Junius  Brutus,  when  his  brother  and  many  of  the 
nobility  had  been  destroyed.  David  had  recourse 
to  a  similar  device  at  the  court  of  Achish,  king  of 
Gath. 

Juvenal  professes  a  wish  to  leave  Rome,  and 
banish  himself  to  the  most  inhospitable  regions, 
rather  than  hear  hypocrites  preach  morality  :  — 


Ultra  Sauromatas  fugere  hinc  libet,  et  glacialem 
Oceanum,  quoties  aliquid  de  moribus  audent 
Qui  Curios  simulant,  et  Bacchanalia  vivunt. 

Sat. 


The  Sauromatse  were  the  people  of  Asiatic  and 
European  Sarmatia,  the  Asiatic  Sauromatae  being 
the  inhabitants  of  modern  Tartary,  the  European 
those  of  modern  Russia. 

In  the  following  very  spirited  passage  of  Lucan, 
the  Northern  Ocean,  which  was  perpetually  frozen, 
is  called  the  Scythian  Sea,  as  washing  the  shores 
of  Scythia :  — 

Quis  furor,  o  cives  ?  quae  tanta  licentia  ferri, 
Gentibus  invisis  Latium  praebere  cruorem  ? 
Cumque  superba  foret  Babylon  spolianda  tropaeis 
Ausoniis,  umbraque  erraret  Crassus  inulta ; 
Bella  geri  placuit  nuUos  habitura  triumphos  ? 
Heu  !   quantum  terras  potuit,  pelagique,  parari 
Hoc,  quem  civiles  hauserunt,  sanguine,  dextrae  ! 
Unde  venit  Titan,  et  nox  ubi  sidera  condit, 
Quaque  dies  mediiis  flagrantibus  aestuat  horis, 
Et  qua  bruma  rigens,  ac  nescia  vere  remitti, 


FROM  JUVENAL.  SQl 

Adstringit  Scythicum  glacial i  frigore  pontum. 
Sub  juga  jam  Seres,  jam  barbarus  isset  Araxes, 
Et  gens  si  qua  jacet  nascenti  conscia  Nilo. 

The  popular  characters  of  HeracHtus,  and  De- 
mocritus,  as  the  weeping  and  laughing  philosophers, 
though  a  vulgar  error,  were  particularly  well 
suited  to  the  purposes  of  moral  satire,  and  are 
admirably  handled  by  Juvenal :  — 

Jamne  igitur  laudas,  quod  de  sapientibus  alter 
Ridebat,  quoties  a  limine  moverat  unum 
Protuleratque  pedem  :  flebat  contrarius  alter  ? 
Sed  facilis  cuivis  rigidi  censura  cachinni : 
Mirandum  est,  unde  ille  oculis  suffecerit  humor* 
Perpetuo  risu  pulmonem  agitare  solebat 
Democritus,  quanquam  non  essent  urbibus  illis 
Praetexta,  et  trabea?,  fasces,  lectica,  tribunal. 
Quid,  si  vidisset  Prsetorem  in  curribus  altis 
Extantem,  et  medio  sublimem  in  pulvere  circi, 
In  tunica  Jovis,  et  picta?  Sarrana  ferentem 
Ex  humeris  aulaea  togas,  magnoeque  coronae 
Tantum  orbem,  quanto  cervix  non  sufficit  uUa? 
Quippe  tenet  sudans  banc  publicus,  et  sibi  Consul 
Ne  placeat,  curru  servus  portatur  eodem. 
Da  nunc  et  volucrem  sceptro  qua;  surgit  ebumo, 
II line  cornicines,  hinc  praecedentia  longi 
Agminis  officio,  et  niveos  ad  frama  Quirites, 
Defossa  in  loculis  quos  sportula  fecit  amicos. 
Tunc  quoque  materiam  risus  invenit  ad  omnes 
Occursus  hominum ;  cujus  prudentia  monstrat, 
§ummos  posse  viros,  et  magna  exempla  daturos, 
Vervecum  in  patria,  crassoque  sub  acre  nascu 

The  Thracian  Abdera,  and  Boeotia  in  general, 
laboured  considerably  under  the  stigma  of  stu- 
pidity,    although    Boeotia   was   in    some    measurt 

c  c  4 


392  MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES 

redeemed  from  the  general  censure  by  the  indi- 
vidual greatness  of  Pindar.  Still  however,  Abdera 
was  called  the  country  of  sheep,  and  Boeotia  that 
of  hogs.  We  also  indulge  occasionally  in  aca- 
demical nicknames  to  particular  colleges. 

The  satire  on  the  various  official  ensigns,  the 
fopperies  of  augural  appendages,  the  patrician  and 
consular  robes,  and  the  pompous  display  of  the 
praetor  as  presiding  at  the  Circensian  Games  fur- 
nishes as  fine  a  specimen  of  the  serious  and  severe 
style  of  invective,  as  any  to  be  found  in  the  works 
of  this  indignant  poet. 

The  following  irony  on  the  superstitions  of  my- 
thology, and  particularly  on  tlie  fable  of  Prome- 
theus, and  the  sarcastic  indignation  expressed 
against  the  cruelties  and  unnatural  practices  occa- 
sioned by  bigotry,  are  among  the  very  striking 
passages  of  the  author  :  — 

Hinc  gaudere  libet,  quod  non  violaverit  ignem. 
Quern  summa  coeli  raptum  de  parte  Prometheus 
Donavit  terris :  elemento  gratulor,  et  te 
Exsultare  reor :  sed  qui  mordere  cadaver 
Sustinuit,  nihil  unquam  hac  came  libentius  edit : 
Nam  scelere  in  tanto  ne  quaeras,  aut  dubites,  an 
Prima  voluptatem  gula  senserit :  ultimus  autem 
Qui  stetit  absumpto  jam  toto  corpore,  ductis 
Per  terram  digitis,  aliquid  de  sanguine  gustat. 
Vascones  (ut  fama  est)  alimentis  talibus  usi 
Produxere  animas :  sed  res  diversa  :  sed  illic 
Fortunae  invidia  est,  bellorumque  ultima,  casus 
Extremi,  longae  dira  obsidionis  egestas. 
Hujus  enim,  quod  nunc  agitur,  miserabile  debet 
Exemplum  esse  cibi.  Sat.  15. 

The  contrast  in  the  case  of  the  Vascons,  who 
sustained  a  siege  from  Cn*  Pompey  and  Metellus, 


FROM  JUVENAL.  SQS 

and  were  driven  by  the  pressure  of  famine  to  eat 
human  flesh,  is  well  introduced,  to  show  that  the 
rage  of  the  satirist  is  not  so  indiscriminate,  as  to 
confound  the  cravings  of  nature  with  the  wanton- 
ness of  barbarous  and  unnatural  appetite.  But 
among  all  the  superstitions  of  Rome,  none  had 
more  completely  taken  possession  of  the  popular 
mind,  than  the  belief  in  astrology.  It  has  indeed 
been  the  most  universal  and  enduring  of  all  cre- 
dulous folhes,  and  more  or  less  occupies  the  vulgar 
even  in  these  enlightened  times.  Women  have 
always  been  peculiarly  prone  to  a  belief  in  the 
influence  of  the  stars.  Juvenal  therefore  takes  up 
the  subject  in  satire  vi.  which  is  devoted  to  the 
reprehension  of  female  vices  and  weaknesses :  — 

Praecipuus  tamen  est  horum,  qui  sa?pius  exul, 

Cujus  amicitia,  conducendaque  tabella 

Magnus  civis  obit,  et  formidatus  Othoni. 

Inde  fides  arti,  sonuit  si  dextera  ferro 

Laevaque,  si  longo  castrorum  in  carcere  mansit 

Nemo  mathematicus  genium  indemnatus  habebit; 

Sed  qui  pene  peril :  cui  vix  in  Cyclada  mitti 

Contigit,  et  parva  tandem  caruisse  Seripho. 

Consulit  ictericoe  lento  de  funere  niatris, 

Ante  tamen  de  te,  Tanaquil  tua ;  quando  sororem 

Efferat,  et  patruos :  an  sit  victurus  adulter 

Post  ipsam:  quid  enim  majus  dare  numina  possunt? 

Haec  tamen  ignorat,  quid  sidus  triste  minetur 

Saturni ;  quo  laeta  Venus  se  proferat  astro ; 

Qui  mensis  damno,  qune  dentur  tempora  lucro. 

Illius  occursus  etiam  vitare  memento, 

In  cujus  manibus,  ceu  pinguia  succina,  tritas 

Cernb  ephemeridas ;  quae  nullum  consulit,  et  jam 

Consulitur ;  quae  castra  viro  patriamque  pctentc, 

Non  ibit  pariter,  numeris  revocata  Thrasylli. 

Ad  primum  lapidem  vectari  cum  placet,  hora 


394*  MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES 

Sumitur  ex  libro ;  si  prurit  frictus  ocelli 
Angulus,  inspecta  genesi  collyria  poscit. 
JEigra  licet  jaceat,  capiendo  nulla  videtur 
Aptior  hora  cibo,  nisi  quam  dederit  Petosiris. 

Petosiris  is  mentioned  by  Suidas  under  the  re- 
spectable title  of  a  philosopher.  It  is  a  common 
proverb,  that  extremes  meet :  and  its  truth  is 
strikingly  exemplified  in  the  fate  of  the  mathe- 
matical sciences.  It  might  have  been  supposed 
that  their  severity,  and  the  strictness  of  proof 
required  by  them,  would  have  operated  as  a  pro- 
hibition against  wild  and  irregular  fancies :  yet  we 
find  that  the  extravagant  pursuit  of  truth  itself 
leads  to  error ;  a  result  which  also  takes  place  in 
the  enthusiastic  study  of  religion.  The  mathema- 
ticians of  the  middle  ages,  and  still  lower,  were  all 
astrologers,  though  the  lower  class  of  astrologers 
probably  were  not  mathematicians.  To  such  an 
excess  was  this  pretended  science  carried,  that  not 
only  were  the  leading  secrets  of  men's  lives  pre- 
dicted, but  the  practising  physicians  prescribed 
with  reference  to  them ;  and  the  stars  were  con- 
sulted to  ascertain  the  propitious  hour,  at  which  the 
patient  was  to  take  a  fresh  egg  or  a  basin  of  soup. 

The  following  caution  against  such  a  course  of 
conduct  as  shall  make  a  man  dependent  on  the 
secrecy  of  others,  especially  of  mean  persons  and 
menials,  is  given  with  profound  knowledge  of  the 
World :  — 

lUos  ergo  roges,  quicquid  paulo  ante  petebas 
A  nobis.     Taceant  illi,  sed  prodere  malunt 
Arcanum,  quam  subrepti  potare  Falerni, 
Pro  populo  faciens  quantum  Laufella  bibebat. 
Vivendum  recte,  cum  propter  plurima,  tum  his 


FROM  JUVENAL.  395 

Praecipiie  causis,  ut  linguas  mancipiorum 
Contemnas :  nam  lingua  mali  pars  pessima  servi. 
Deterior  tamen  hie,  qui  liber  non  erit,  illis 
Quorum  animas  et  farre  suo  custodit,  et  aere. 

Sat.  ix. 

This  satire  has  been  severely  condemned  for  its 
subject,  which  is  indeed  thoroughly  disgusting ; 
but  the  mode  in  which  that  disgusting  subject  has 
been  treated,  is  ably  vindicated  by  Mr.  Gifford  in 
the  argument  to  his  translation  of  it,  against  the 
sweeping  censure  of  Julius  Scaliger  and  others. 
Scaliger  is  indeed  so  indiscriminate  as  to  propose 
the  rejection  of  all  Juvenal's  works,  including  the 
moral  tenth  satire,  on  account  of  this  proscribed 
subject.  But  surely  this  is  carrying  delicacy  and 
refinement  to  extravagance ;  and  comes  too  near 
to  what  an  ancient  friend  of  mine  once  charac- 
terised as  the  temper  of  the  present  age ;  to  be 
more  shocked  at  strong  language  than  at  bad 
actions.  Mr.  Gifford  has  vindicated  his  author 
both  by  reasoning,  and  by  translating  him  ;  and 
my  friend  Mr.  Hodgson,  though  he  could  have 
been  better  pleased  to  omit  it  altogether,  has 
executed  his  task  with  perfect  decency,  and  yet 
with  strong  impression.  There  are  certainly  many 
passages  in  this  satire  which  one  would  not  quote ) 
but  there  are  many  also,  the  suppression  of  which 
would  lessen  the  stock  of  useful  moral  repro- 
bation. Mr.  Hodgson  in  his  argument  quotes  one 
passage  as  a  beautiful  example  of  musical  cadence ) 
and  refers  to  the  elegant  complaint  of  the  short- 
ness of  youth.  In  fact,  the  offensive  passages  occuf 
principally  in  Na^volus's  part  of  the  dialogue  ;  and 
I  would  add  the  following  lines  in  the  opening  of 


396   MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM  JUVENAL. 

the  satire,  as  a  characteristic  specimen  of  the  poet, 
to  the  lines  just  quoted  by  myself,  and  to  the 
passages  referred  to  by  the  translator  :  — 

Omnia  nunc  contra :  vultus  gravis,  horrida  siccae 
Sylva  comae ;  nullus  tota  nitor  in  cute,  qualem 
Praestabat  calidi  circumlita  fascia  visci ; 
Sed  fruticante  pilo  neglecta  et  squallida  crura. 

Sat.  ix. 


S97 


MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM   VIRGIL. 


V  iRGiL  concludes  his  fourth  eclogue,  with  caUing 
upon  the  child  to  distinguish  his  mother  by  her 
smiles ;  because  those  children,  on  whom  their 
parents  did  not  smile  at  their  birth,  were  accounted 
unfortunate :  — 

Incipe,  parve  puer,  risu  cognoscere  matrem  : 
Matri  longa  decern  tulerunt  fastidia  menses. 
Incipe,  parve  puer :  cui  non  risere  parentes, 
Nee  Deus  hunc  mensa,  Dea  nee  dignata  cubili  est. 

The  commentators  are  not  all  agreed,  whether 
the  poet  means  that  the  child  should  know  its 
mother  by  her  smihng  on  him,  or  that  he  should 
recognise  his  mother  by  smiling  on  her.  The  two 
last  of  the  four  lines  can  only  accord  with  the  for- 
mer sense.  Servius  is  rather  inconsistent  on  the 
subject.  He  seems  to  consider  this  passage  as  in- 
volving an  interchange  of  smiles.  Tlie  passage  of 
Catullus,  In  Nuptias  Julice  et  Manlii,  represents  the 
smiles  of  infants  very  pleasingly,  but  at  a  more 
advanced  period : — 

Torquatus,  volo,  parvulus 
Matris  e  gremio  sua; 
Porrigens  teneras  manus, 
Dulce  rideat  ad  patrem, 
Semihiante  labello. 


398  MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES 

Pliny  thus  speculates  on  the  subject :  —  "  Ho- 
minem  tantum  nudum  et  in  nuda  humo,  natali  die 
abjicit  ad  vagitus  statim  et  ploratum,  nullumque 
tot  animalium  aliud  ad  lacrymas,  et  has  protinus 
vitae  principio.  At  hercules  risus,  praecox  ille  et 
celerrimus,  ante  quadragesimum  diem  nulli  datur." 
The  same  author  states  a  whimsical  exception  to 
his  general  rule,  with  what  he  seems  to  consider  as 
a  physical  cause  for  it,  in  the  instance  of  a  great 
philosopher: — "Risisse  eodem  die, quo genitus  esset 
unum  hominem  accepimus  Zoroastrem.  Eidem 
cerebrum  ita  palpitasse,  ut  impositam  repelleret  ma- 
num,  futura?  praesagio  sciential." 

In  St.  John's  gospel  there  is  a  beautiful  descrip- 
tion of  the  maternal  feeling : — <«  A  woman  when 
she  is  in  travail  hath  sorrow,  because  her  hour  is 
come  :  but  as  soon  as  she  is  delivered  of  the  child, 
she  remembereth  no  more  the  anguish,  for  joy  that 
a  man  is  born  into  the  world." 

Another  objection  to  the  application  of  the 
smiling  to  the  child,  is  the  strained  sense  it  forces 
on  cognoscere,  to  own  by  smiles,  which,  on  every 
principle  of  compounding  prepositions  with  verbs, 
should  have  been  expressed  by  agnoscere. 

Servius  has  an  absurd  explanatory  note  on  decern 
menses,  inferring  from  the  expression  that  males 
are  born  in  the  tenth  month,  females  in  the 
ninth.  But  the  difference  between  lunar  and 
calendar  months  will  justify  the  number  generally 
without  having  recourse  to  a  distinction  so  trifling, 
and  so  entirely  unfounded  in  truth.  Pliny  states 
the  variations  even  of  the  lunar  month.  The  pas- 
sage is  worth  giving  at  length,  as  illustrative  of 
his  astronomical  notions  : — "  Proxima  erffo  cardini, 
ideoque  minimo  ambitu,  vicenis  diebus  septenisque, 


FROM  VIRGIL.  399 

et  tertia  diei  parte  peragit  spatia  eadem,  quae  Sa- 
turn! sidus  altissimum  triginta  (ut  dictum  est)  an- 
nis.     Deinde   morata   in  coitu  Solis  biduo,    cum 
tardissime  e  tricesima  luce  rursus  ad  easdem  vices 
exit :  liaud  scio  an  omnium,  qua?  in  coelo  pernosci 
potuerunt,  magistra :  In  duodecim  mensium  spatia 
oportere  dividi  annum,  quando  ipsa  toties  Sol  em 
redeuntem  ad  principia,  consequitui'.  Solis  fulgore 
reliqua  siderum  regi,    siquidem    in  toto  mutuata 
ab  eo  luce  fulgere,  qualem  in  repercussu  aquae  voli- 
tare  conspicimus :   ideo  molliore  et  imperfecta  vi 
solvere  tantum  humorem,  atque  etiam  augere,  quem 
Solis  radii  absumant:    Ideo  et  inaequali   lumine 
aspici:  quia  ex  adverso  demum  plena,  reliquis  diebus 
tantum  ex  se  terris  ostendat,  quantum  ex  Sole  ipsa 
concipiat :  In  coitu  quidem  non  cerni :  quoniam 
haustum  omnem  lucis  aversa  illo  regerat,  unde  acce- 
perit:  Sidera  vero  baud  dubie  humore  terreno  pa- 
sci,  quia  orbe  dimidio  nonnumquam  maculosa  cer- 
natur,  scilicet  nondum  suppetente  ad  hauriendum 
ultra  justa  vi :  maculas  enim  non  aliud  esse  quam 
terrae  raptas  cum  humore  sordes  :  Delectus  autem 
suos,  et  Solis,  rem  in  tota  contemplatione  naturae 
maxime  miram,  et  ostento  similem,  eorum  magni- 
tudinum,  umbraeque  indices  exsistere.'* 

The  same  author  gives  the  opinion  of  his  age 
respecting  tlie  indefinite  periods  of  human  partu- 
rition :  —  "  Ceteris  animantibus  statum  et  pariendi 
et  partus  gerendi  tempus  est :  homo  toto  anno,  et 
incerto  gignitur  spatio.  Alius  septimo  mense,  ahus 
octavo,  et  usque  ad  initia  decimi  undecimiquc. 
Ante  septimum  mensem  baud  unquam  vitahs 
est." 

In  another  place  he  gives  an  individual  instance 
of  this   uncertainty :  —  "  Vestilia  C.  Herdicii,  ac 


400  MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES 

postea  Pomponii,  atque  Orfiti  clarissimorum  ci- 
vium  conjux,  ex  his  quatuor  partus  enixa,  septimo 
semper  mense,  genuit  Suilium  Rufum  undecimo, 
Corbulonem  septimo,  utrumque  Consulem  :  postea 
Caesoniam  Caii  principis  conjugem,  octavo." 

Ovid,  in  the  third  book  of  his  Fasti,  accounts 
for  the  division  of  the  old  year  in  reference  to  this 
calculation,  without  any  distinction  of  male  or 
female  : — 

Annus  erat ;  decimum  cum  Luna  repleverat  orbem. 

Hie  numerus  magno  tunc  in  honore  fuit. 
Seu  quia  tot  digiti,  per  quos  numerare  solemus  : 

Seu  quia  bis  quino  femina  mense  parit. 

Servius  says,  that  in  the  passage  of  Virgil,  some 
read  ahstulerint,  making  the  sense,  Si  riseris,  abs- 
tulerint  decern  menses  ?7iatri  tuce  longa  fastidia  : 
but  other  commentators  justly  think  that  interpret- 
ation ridiculous. 

Qui  is  used  by  some  editors  for  cuiy  on  the  au- 
thority of  Quinctilian  :  —  "  Est  figura  et  in  nume- 
ro  :  vel  cum  singulari  pluralis  subjungitur,  Gladio 
pugnacissima  gens  Romani :  gens  enim  ex  multis  : 
vel  e  diverso. 

Qui  non  risere  parentes, 
Nee  deus  hunc  mensa,  dea  nee  dignata  cubili  est. 

Ex  illis  enim,   qui  non  risere,  hunc  non  dignatus 
deus,  nee  dea  dignata." 

The  testimony  of  Quinctilian  therefore,  in  adopt- 
ing this  reading,  goes  to  the  sense,  those  who  have 
not  smiled  on  their  parents,  with  the  additional 
harshness  of  considering  hunc  as  used  for  hos. 
Ruaeus  also  considers  the  passage  as  a  denunci- 
ation of  some  imminent  calamity  to  the  child,  if 


FROM  VIRGIL.  401 

he  know  not  his  mother  by  a  smile.  An  additional 
proof  that  this  is  not  the  right  sense  is  derived 
from  the  use  of  the  dative  case  after  the  same  verb 
in  the  following  passage  of  the  fifth  ^neid : — 

Risit  pater  optimus  olli, 
Et  clj'peum  efferri  jussit,  Didymaonis  artes, 
Neptuni,  sacro  Danais,  de  poste  refixum : 
Hoc  juvenem  egregium  praestanti  munere  donat 

The  most  approved  meaning  is  this : — "  Begin 
sweet  boy  to  know  thy  parents  by  tlieir  smile  ;  for 
thy  parents  must  smile  upon  thee  before  thou 
canst  be  advanced  to  the  life  of  the  gods."  A 
preceding  passage  confirms  this  :  — 

Ille  Deum  vitam  accipiet,  Divisque  videbit 
Permistos  heroas,  et  ipse  videbitur  illis  ; 
Pacatumque  reget  patriis  virtutibus  orbem. 

Bucol.  eel.  iv. 

He  elsewhere  expresses  the  employments  of  im- 
mortality in  a  most  spirited  and  beautiful  manner, 
and  makes  it  the  vehicle  of  a  highly  wrought  com- 
pliment to  Augustus : — 

Tuque  adeo,  quern  mox  quae  sint  habitura  Deoruni 
Concilia,  incertum  est ;  urbisne  invisere,  Caesar, 
Terrarumque  velis  curam,  et  te  maximus  orbis 
Auctorem  frugum,  tempestatumque  potentem 
Accipiat,  cingens  materna  tempora  myrto ; 
An  Deus  immensi  venias  maris,  ac  tua  nautas 
Numina  sola  colant ;  tibi  serviat  ultima  Thule, 
Teque  sibi  generum  Tethys  emat  omnibus  undis  : 
Anne  novum  tardis  sidus  te  mensibus  addas. 
Qua  locus  Erigonen  inter  Chelasque  sequcntes 
Panditur :  ipse  tibi  jam  brachia  contrahit  ardens 
Scorpius,  et  ceeli  justa  plus  parte  reliquit. 

Georg,  lib.  i. 
DD 


402  MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES 

Sunt  quibus  ad  portas  cecidit  custodia  sorti : 
Inque  vicem  speculantur  aquas  et  nubila  coeli ; 
Aut  onera  accipiunt  venientum ;  aut  agmine  facto, 
Ignavum  fucos  pecus  a  praesepibus  arcent. 
Fervet  opus,  redolentque  thyino  fragrantia  mella. 

Georg,  lib.  iv. 


In  one  of  the  Arundelian  manuscripts,  for  por- 
tas cecidit,  is  read  port  am  tendit.  The  three  last 
lines  of  this  passage  are  repeated  in  the  first 
^neid.  The  drones  are  the  males  without  stings : 
and  as  they  do  not  assist  the  others  in  their  labour, 
after  fecundation,  they  are  expelled  from  the  hive 
by  the  labouring  bees.  A  French  commentator 
confounds  the  drones  with  wasps.  Urgent  is  read 
for  arcent  in  the  Arundelian  manuscript,  and  Jia- 
grantia  iox  fragrantia  in  the  Lombard  and  both 
Dr.  Mead's. 


Quid  Syrtes,  aut  Scylla  mihi,  quid  vasta  Charybdis 

Profuit  ?  optato  conduntur  Thybridis  alveo, 

Securi  pelagi,  atque  mei.     Mars  perdere  gentem 

Immanem  Lapithum  valuit :  concessit  in  iras 

Ipse  Deum  antiquam  genitor  Calydona  Dianae : 

Quod  scelus  aut  Lapithis  tantum,  aut  Calydona  meren- 

tem? 
Ast  ego,  magna  Jovis  conjunx,  nil  linquere  inausum 
Quae  potui  infelix,  quae  memet  in  omnia  verti, 
Vincor  ab  ^nea.     Quod,  si  mea  numina  non  sunt 
Magna  satis,    dubitem  baud    equidem  implorare   quod 

usquam  est: 
Flectere  si  nequeo  Superos,  Acheronta  movebo. 

^«.  lib.  vii. 

The  speech  of  Juno,  of  which  this  is  a  part,  is 
particularly  fine  throughout.     The  character  of  the 


FROM  VIRGIL.  403 

goddess  is  grandly  and  consistently  supported  :  the 
sentiments  are  characteristic  of  a  mind,  determined 
to  go  all  lengths  in  the  attainment  of  its  object. 

The  ancients  roasted  their  meat  on  wooden 
spits,  either  of  hazel  or  of  service.  So  in  lib.  ii.  of 
the  Georgics :  — 

Ergo  rite  suum  Baccho  dicemus  honorem 
Carminibus  patriis,  lancesque  et  liba  feremus ; 
Et  ductus  cornu  stabit  sacer  hircus  ad  aram, 
Pinguiaque  in  verubus  torrebimus  exta  colurnis. 

The  libum  was  a  sort  of  holy  cake.  The  victims 
were  led  to  the  altar  with  a  slack  rope  :  if  they 
were  reluctant  it  was  considered  as  a  bad  omen. 
The  spits  were  made  of  hazel  on  this  occasion, 
because  that  tree  was  destructive  to  the  vines,  as 
we  find  at  verse  299-  So  the  goat  was  sacrificed 
to  Bacchus,  because  that  animal  is  highly  injurious 
to  vines. 


Neve  tibi  ad  solem  vergant  vineta  cadentem ; 
Neve  inter  vites  corylum  sere ;  neve  flagella 
Summa  pete,  aut  sumnia  distringe  ex  arbore  plantas ; 
Tantus  amor  terrae  !  neu  ferro  laede  retuso 
Semina ;  neve  oleae  silvestres  insere  truncos. 

The  precepts  here  given  relating  to  vineyards 
are  curious.  The  objection  to  the  hazel  was  the 
size  and  extent  of  the  roots.  It  is  worth  while  to 
compare  the  poet  witli  the  practical  writer,  who  in 
a  great  measure  followed  his  steps.  With  respect 
to  aspect,  Virgil  only  protests  against  an  exposure 
to  the  setting  sun  :  Columella  is  diffuse  in  his  re- 
gulations :  —  "  Quae  cuncta,  sicut  ego  reor,  raagis 

DD  2 


404  MISCELLANEOUS    PASSAGES 

prosunt,  cum  suffragatur  etiam  status  coeli :  cujus 
quam  I'egionem  spectare  debeant  vineae,  vetus  est 
.dissensio,  Saserna  maxime  probante  solis  ortum, 
tnox  deinde  meridiem,  tum  occasum  :  Tremellio 
Scrofa  praecipuam  positionem  meridianam  censente: 
Virgilio  de  industria  occasum  repudiante :  De- 
mocrito  et  Magone  laudantibus  cceli  plagam  se- 
ptentrional em,  quia  existiment  ei  subjectas  feracis- 
simas  fieri  vineas,  quae  tamen  bonitate  vini  superen- 
tur.  Nobis  in  universum  pra^cipere  optimum  visum 
est,  ut  in  locis  frigidis  meridiano  vineta  subjiciantur ; 
tepidis  orienti  advertantur :  si  tamen  non  infesta- 
bantur  Austris  Eurisque,  velut  ora?  maritimae  in 
Boetica.  Sin  autem  regiones  praedictis  ventis  fue- 
rint  obnoxiae,  melius  Aquiloni  vel  Favonio  com- 
mittentur.  nam  ferventibus  provinciis,  ut  ^gy- 
pto  et  Numidia,  uni  septentrioni  rectius  opponen- 
tur." 

Columella's  doctrine  respecting  cuttings*  is  as 
follows  :  —  "  Optima  habentur  a  lumbis ;  secunda 
ab  humeris ;  tertia  a  summa  vite  lecta,  quae  celer- 
rime  comprehendunt,  et  sunt  feraciora,  sed  ea 
quoque  celeriter  senescunt.''  He  also,  like  Virgil, 
forbids  the  use  of  a  blunt  knife  :  —  "  Super  caetera 
illud  etiam  censemus,  ut  duris  tenuissimisque  et 
acutissimis  ferramentis  totum  istud  opus  exequamur. 
obtusa  enim  et  hebes  et  mollis  falx  putatorem 
jnoratur,  eoque  minus  operis  efficit,  et  plus  laboris 
:affei't  vinitori.  Nam  si  cur  vat  ur  acies,  quod  accidit 
•moili ;  sive  tardius  penetrat,  quod  evenit  in  retuso 
et  cj:asso  ferramento ;  majore  nisu  est  opus,  tum 
etiam  plagaa  asperae  atque  inaequales  vites  lacerant. 
neque  €nim  uno  sed  saepius  repetito  ictu  res  trans- 
igitur.  quo  plerumque  fit,  ut  quod  praecidi  debeat 
praefringatur,    et  sic  vitis  laniata  scabrataque  pu- 


FROM    VIRGIL.  405 

trescat  humoribus,  nee  plagae  consanentur.  Quare 
magnopere  monendus  putator  est,  ut  prolixet  aciem 
ferramenti,  et  quantum  possit  novaculae  similem 
reddat." 

Sumniaflagellay  we  may  infer  from  an  observation 
of  Mr.  Miller,  means  the  upper  part  of  the  slioot, 
which  ought  to  be  cut  off:  —  "  You  should  always 
make  choice  of  such  shoots  as  are  strong  and  well- 
ripened  of  the  last  year's  growth.  These  should 
be  cut  from  the  old  vine,  just  below  the  place 
where  they  were  produced,  taking  a  knot  of  the 
two  year's  wood,  which  should  be  pruned  smooth  : 
then  you  should  cut  off  the  upper  part  of  the  shoot, 
so  as  to  leave  the  cutting  about  sixteen  inches 
long.  Now  in  making  the  cuttings  after  this  man- 
ner, there  can  be  but  one  taken  from  each  shoot ; 
whereas  most  persons  cut  them  into  lengths  of 
about  a  foot,  and  plant  them  all,  which  is  very 
wrong :  for  the  upper  parts  of  the  shoots  are  never 
so  well  ripened  as  the  lower  part,  which  was  pro- 
duced early  in  the  spring ;  so  that,  if  they  do  take 
root,  they  never  make  so  good  plants;  for  the 
wood  of  those  cuttings  being  spungy  and  soft, 
admits  the  moisture  too  freely,  whereby  the  plants 
will  be  luxuriant  in  growth,  but  never  so  fruitful  as 
such  whose  wood  is  closer  and  more  compact" 

The  classical  traveller  in  Italy  will  trace  with 
interest  the  geographical  and  picturesque  descrip- 
tions of  Virgil,  especially  such  as  were  the  scenes 
of  religious  rites  and  oracular  superstitions,  se- 
lected for  those  purposes  as  being  calculated  to 
impress  awe  on  those  uninitiated  in  natural  know- 
ledge. Of  this  kind  in  particular  were  regions  of 
subterranean  fire  or  sulphureous  exhalations:  — 

D  D  9 


406  MISCELLANEOUS   PASSAGES 

At  rex,  soUicitus  monstris,  oracula  Fauni, 
Fatidici  genitoris,  adit,  lucosque  sub  alta 
Consulit  Albunea ;  nemorum  quae  maxima  sacro 
Fonte  sonat,  saevamque  exhalat  opaca  mephitim. 

Mn,  lib.  vii. 

The  voyage  of  ^neas  would  be  well  worth 
making,  with  the  poem  in  hand,  to  mark  the  truth 
with  which  the  permanent  works  of  nature  are 
delineated,  and  to  meditate  on  the  faint  traces 
remaining  of  what  constituted  human  grandeur  in 
ages  long  past :  — 

Hinc  altas  cautes  projectaque  saxa  Pachyni 
Radimus ;  et  fatis  nunquam  concessa  moveri 
Apparet  Camarina  procul,  campique  Geloi, 
Immanisque  Gela,  fluvii  cognomine  dicta. 

j^n.  lib.  iii. 

The  Aloides  are  celebrated  by  Virgil,  in  con- 
nection with  the  Titans  and  the  Giants :  — 

Hie  et  Aloidas  geminos,  immania  vidi 

Corpora ;  qui  manibus  magnum  rescindere  coelum 

Aggressi,  superisque  Jovem  detrudere  regnis. 

^n,  lib.  vi. 

The  story  of  Metabus,  king  of  Privernum  in  the 
country  of  the  Volscians,  is  justly  dealt  with  by 
the  moral  poet,  in  the  ^neid,  lib.  xi.  :  — 

Pulsus  ob  invidiam  regno  viresque  superbas, 
Priverno  antiqua  Metabus  cum  excederet  urbe, 
Infantem,  fugiens  media  inter  praelia  belli, 
Sustulit  exsilio  comitem,  matrisque  vocavit 
Nomine  Casmillae,  mutata  parte,  Camillam. 


FROM  VIRGIL.  40? 

The  consequences  of  indulging  tyrannical  dis- 
positions to  a  man  in  whom  natural  affections  were 
notwithstanding  strong,  are  pathetically  touched :  — 

Non  ilium  tectis  ullae,  non  mcEiiibus,  urbes 
Accepere,  neque  ipse  manus  feritate  dedisset : 
Pastorum  et  solis  exegit  montibus  aevum. 

The  scene  between  ^Eneas  and  his  father,  in  the 
shades  below,  is  one  of  the  most  striking,  and 
the  most  highly  wrought  achievements  of  the  poet, 
combining  high  romantic  interest  with  political 
instruction  :  — 


Tu  regere  imperio  populos,  Romane,  memento ; 
Has  tibi  erunt  artes :  pacisque  imponere  morem, 
Parcere  subjectis,  et  debellare  superbos. 
Sic  pater  Anchises,  atque  haec  mirantibus  addit. 
Ad  spice,  ut  insignis  spoliis  Marcellus  opimis, 
Ingreditur,  victorque  viros  supereminet  omnes. 
Hie  rem  Romanam,  magno  turban te  tumultu, 
Sistet,  eques  sternet  Poenos,  Gallumque  rebellem ; 
Tertiaque  arma  patri  suspendet  capta  Quirino. 
Atque  hie  ^neas,  (una  namque  ire  videbat 
Egregium  forma  juvenem  et  fulgentibus  armis ; 
Sed  frons  laeta  panim,  et  dejecto  lumina  vultu.) 

ylEn,  lib.  vi. 

From  the  first  line  of  this  passage,  Alexander 
Severus  fancied  he  derived  an  omen  of  that  im- 
perial dignity,  to  which  many  years  afterwards  he 
was  raised. 

The  infant  civilisation  of  Rome  is  thus  pic- 
turesquely described  by  our  poet :  — 

D  D  4 


408  MISCELLANEOUS   PASSAGES 

Et  dubitamus  adhuc  virtutem  extendere  factis  ? 

Aut  metus  Ausonia  prohibet  consistere  terra? 

Quis  procul  ille  autem  ramis  insignis  olivae, 

Sacra  ferens?  nosco  crines  incanaque  menta 

Regis  Romani.  Mn»  lib.  vi. 


Not  the  least  ofVirgiPs  merits  are  those  common- 
place descriptions,  which  set  originality  at  defiance, 
and  yet  engage  and  gratify  the  mind  by  their  un- 
obtrusive simplicity  and  elegance  :  — 


Tempus  erat,  quo  prima  quies  mortalibus  aegris 
Incipit,  et  dono  Divum  gratissima  serpit. 

Mn.  lib.  ii. 

The  cave  of  the  sibyl,  her  character  and  office, 
are  thus  described  :  — 

At  pius  iEneas  arces  quibus  alius  Apollo 
Praesidet,  horrendaeque  procul  secreta  Sibyllae, 
Antrum  inimane,  petit :  magnam  cui  mentem,  animumque 
Delius  inspirat  vates,  aperitque  futura. 

JEn,  lib.  vi. 

The  following  passage  on  the  subject  of  Queen 
Amata,  the  wife  of  King  Latinus,  is  elegant  and 
spirited :  — - 

Regina,  ut  tectis  venientem  prospicit  hostem, 

Incessi  muros,  ignes  ad  tecta  volare, 

Nusquam  acies  contra  Rutulas,  nulla  agmina  Turni, 

Infelix  pugnae  juvenem  in  certamine  credit 

Extinctum ;  et,  subito  mentem  turbata  dolore, 

Se  caussam  clamat,  crimenque,  caputque  malorum ; 


FROM   VIRGIL.  409 

Multaque  per  moestum  demens  efFata  furorem, 
Purpureos  moritura  manu  discindit  amictus, 
Et  nodum  informis  leti  trabe  nectit  ab  alta. 

Erichthonius  was  the  son  of*  Dardanus,  and 
father  of  Tros.  The  Phrygians  discovered  the  art 
of  driving  a  chariot  and  pair ;  but  Erichthonius 
was  the  founder  of  the  Four-in-Hand  Club  :  — 


Primus  Erichthonius  currus  et  quatuor  ausus 
Jungere  equos,  rapidusque  rotis  insistere  victor. 

Georg,  lib.  iii. 

Servius,  in  a  note  on  this  passage,  tells  us,  that 
Erichthonius  being,  according  to  the  etymology 
of  his  name,  egij  and  ^-^ojv,  the  offspring  of  strife  and 
earth,  was  not  accommodated  with  shoes,  but  in- 
commoded with  tails  of  sei-pents  instead  of  feet. 
Stripping  the  story  of  its  mythological  marvels, 
he  was  probably  what  we  call  club-footed.  It  was 
to  conceal  this  deformity,  we  are  told,  that  he  im- 
proved the  science  of  the  whip.  As  there  is  no 
evidence  that  the  ancient  chariots  had  aprons,  the 
concealment  could  only  have  been  effected,  as 
withdrawing  the  eye  of  the  spectator  from  his  feet, 
by  the  skill  and  elegance  with  which  he  squared 
his  elbows.  Independently,  however,  of  all  personal 
vanity,  the  moral  probably  goes  no  further,  than 
that  a  carriage  is  particularly  convenient  to  a  lame 
man. 

Nee  vcro  terrae  ferre  omnes  omnia  possunt. 

Adspice  et  extremis  domitum  cultoribus  orbem, 
Eoacque  domes  Arabum,  pictosque  Gelonos ; 


410  MISCELLANEOUS    PASSAGES 

Divisae  arboribus  patriae :  sola  India  nigrum 
Fert  ebenum ;  solis  est  thurea  virga  Sabaeis. 

The  Geloni  were  a  Scythian  tribe,  with  painted 
faces  after  the  manner  of  other  barbarous  nations, 
for  the  purpose  of  inspiring  terror  in  war.  Ebony 
was  the  produce  of  India  and  Ethiopia.  This 
elegant  wood,  of  which  there  are  three  kinds, 
black,  red,  and  green,  was  first  brought  to  Rome 
when  Pompey  triumphed  over  Mithridates.  The 
geography  of  distant  countries  was  so  imperfectly 
known  to  the  Romans,  that  they  reckoned  Ethiopia 
as  a  part  of  India :  a  circumstance  which  accounts 
for  the  apparent  inaccuracy  and  confusion  both  of 
natural  historians  and  poets,  in  fixing  the  locality 
of  various  productions. 

The  following  catalogue  of  allegorical  personages 
is  remarkable  at  once  for  the  grandeur  of  the 
grouping,  and  a  severely  tasteful  parsimony  in  the 
use  of  characteristic  epithets  or  adjuncts:  — 

Vestibulum  ante  ipsum,  primisque  in  faucibus  Orci, 
Luctus  et  ultrices  posuere  cubilia  Curae ; 
Pallentesque  habitant  Morbi,  tristisque  Senectus, 
Et  Metus,  et  malesuada  Fames,  ac  turpis  Egestas, 
Terribiies  visu  formae ;  Letumque  Laborque ; 
Tum,  consanguiheus  Leti,  Sopor,  et  mala  mentis 
Gaudia;  mortiferumque  adverso  in  limine  Bellum, 
Ferreique  Eumenidum  thalami,  et  Discordia  demens, 
Vipereum  crinem  vittis  innexa  cruentis. 

The  epithet  malesuada  to  famine,  as  a  pernicious 
counsellor,  often  leading  her  thrall  to  bad  actions, 
is  one  of  the  happiest  concentrations  of  an  im- 
portant sentiment  in  a  single  word,  to  be  met  with 
even  in  this  author  so  happy  in  his  epithets. 


FROM   VIRGIL,  411 

The  enumeration  of  crimes  and  punishments  is 
concluded  in  the  spirit,  and  almost  in  the  words,  of 
Homer :  — 

Non,  mihi  si  linguae  centum  sint,  oraque  centum, 
Ferrea  vox,  omnes  scelerum  comprendere  formas. 
Omnia  poenarum  percurrere  nomina  possim. 

u^i,  lib.  vi. 

In  the  enumeration  of  the  topics,  which  con- 
stituted the  song  of  lopas,  Virgil  has  followed  his 
master,  Homer,  especially  adopting,  as  far  as  his 
inferior  language  would  admit,  the  ^\ios  uKafiag, 
without  repose  and  yet  without  weariness,  both 
which  ideas  are  involved  in  the  Greek  epithet :  — 

Hie  canit  errantem  lunam,  solisque  labores; 
Unde  hominum  genus,  et  pecudes ;  unde  imber,  et  ignes; 
Arcturum,  pluviasque  Hyadas,  geminosque  Triones  ; 
Quid  tantum  Oceano  properent  se  tingere  soles 
Hiberni,  vel  quae  tardis  mora  noctibus  obstet. 

Orion  seems  to  be  derived  utto  toD  oglvnv,  from  dis- 
turbing and  troubling.  This  is. the  character  at- 
tributed to  that  constellation  by  common  consent 
of  all  the  ancient  poets,  astrologers,  and  historians  : 
a  most  formidable  star,  leading  rain,  hail,  and 
storm  in  its  train.     Thus  Virgil,  iEneid,  lib.  i. :  — • 

Hue  cursus  fuit : 

Quum,  subito  adsurgens  fluctu,  nimbosus  Orion 
In  vada  caeca  tulit,  penitusque  procacibus  austris, 
Perque  undas,  superantc  salo,  percjue  in  via 
Dispulit ;  hue  pnuci  vestris  adnavimus  oris. 


412      MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM  VIRGIL. 

We  have  a  spirited  description  of  Styx,  that 
river  of  which  the  gods  themselves  stood  in  awe  :  — 

^neas,  miratus  enim,  motusque  tumultu, 
Die,  ait,  o  virgo !  quid  vult  concursus  ad  amnem  ? 
Quidve  petunt  animae  ?  vel  quo  discrimine  ripas 
Hae  linquunt,  illae  remis  vada  livida  verrunt  ? 
Olli  sic  breviter  fata  est  longoeva  sacerdos  : 
Anchisa  generate,  deum  certissima  proles, 
Cocyti  stagna  alta  vides,  Stygiamque  paludeni, 
Di  cujus  jurare  timent,  et  fallere,  numen. 

Mn,  lib.  vi. 

The  length  of  this  article  warns  me  to  stop; 
though  the  topics  of  laudatory  criticism  afforded 
by  the  subject  are  inexhaustible.  It  will  be  per- 
ceived, that  neither  in  this,  nor  in  my  other  collec- 
tions of  miscellaneous  passages,  has  my  choice 
fallen  on  the  most  conspicuous  parts  of  the  re- 
spective authors.  My  object  in  making  such  selec- 
tions has  rather  been,  to  lead  my  younger  readers 
to  look  at  others  besides  what  may  be  called  the 
Elegant  Extract  passages  of  the  classics,  not  only 
with  a  critical  eye,  but  in  reference  to  those  de- 
ductions and  practical  applications,  which  almost 
every  sentence  of  an  eminent  author,  whether  an- 
cient or  modern,  may  furnish  to  acute,  inquisitive, 
and  reflecting  minds. 


41S 


QUAINT  OPINIONS,  EXPRESSIONS,  AND  MANNERS 
OF  THE   ANCIENTS. 


Anima  certe,  quia  spiritus  est,  in  sicco  habitare 
non  potest. — S.  Augustin. 

Pliny  says  of  the  bear,  "  Nee  alteri  animalium 
in  maleficio  stultitia  solertior."  —  Lib.  viii.  This 
is  indeed  a  quaint  and  paradoxical  attribute  of 
Bruin's  character.  Not  that  the  paradox  involved 
in  the  antithesis,  solertior  stultitia,,  will  not  admit 
of  an  explanation  analogous  to  that  of  vis  inertice^ 
and  many  similar  combinations ;  but  we  are  at 
a  loss  what  to  do  with  in  maleficio.  Folly  may 
be  busy,  and  bustling  in  left-handed  attempts  to 
do  good,  in  impotent  or  accidentally  successful 
efforts  to  do  evil :  but  a  consistent  and  well  fol- 
lowed up  plot  of  mischief,  and  nothing  else  could 
deserve  the  epithet  of  solerSy  must  be  an  effort  of 
strength,  and  not  an  ebulUtion  of  weakness.  Har- 
duin's  reading  of  astutia  for  stultitia^  proposed  con- 
jecturally  without  a  shadow  of  authority,  takes  away 
the  point  and  epigram  of  the  sentence,  and  leaves 
the  bare  statement  of  a  fact,  probably  in  all  the 
truth  of  natural  history. 

The  Flibbertigibbet  of  Shakspeare  and  the 
Great  Unknown  is  in  close  alliance  with  those 
familiar  spirits  or  hobgoblins,  conceived  by  the 
ancients  to  amuse  themselves  by  wrestling  with 
men  merely  to  put  them  into  a  fright     Puck  is 


414  QUAINT    OPINIONS,    EXPRESSIONS, 

the  most  delightful  of  all  hobgoblins ;  and  Sir  Jo- 
shua Reynolds,  in  his  picture  painted  for  the  Shak- 
speare  Gallery,  proved  how  truly  Shakspearian 
both  his  mind  and  pencil  were.  Pliny,  in  the  pre- 
face to  his  Natural  History,  represents  Plancus 
as  humourously  alluding  to  these  ghostly  opi- 
nions of  the  people  :  —  **  Nee  Plancus  illepide, 
cum  diceretur  Asinius  Pollio  orationes  in  eum  pa- 
rare,  quae  ab  ipso  aut  liberis  post  mortem  Planci 
ederentur,  ne  respondere  posset :  Cum  mortuis  non 
nisi  larvas  luctari.'* 

It  is  a  practice  among  the  vulgar,  in  modern 
times,  to  call  down  a  blessing  on  the  sneezer.  We 
learn  from  Cicero,  that  the  same  absurdity  pre- 
vailed among  the  ancients: — "Quae  si  suscipiamus, 
pedis  offensio  nobis,  et  abruptio  corrigiae,  et  ster- 
nutamenta  erunt  observanda."  But  the  modern 
benediction  is  only  a  remnant  of  a  more  extensive 
and  ridiculous  superstition.  Not  only  was  sneezing 
considered  as  a  presage  of  impending  events,  but 
the  prosperous  or  adverse  characters  of  those 
events  was  calculated  by  the  direction  in  which 
the  prophetic  convulsion  took  place,  whether  to 
the  right  or  to  the  left. 

The  dying  speech  and  confession  of  the  swan 
was  among  the  most  strange  fancies  of  popular  be- 
lief. It  was,  however,  well  adapted  to  poetical  em- 
bellishment and  illustration.  The  swans  of  the  river 
Maeander  were  supposed  to  be  most  zealous  in 
undertaking  their  own  funerals.  Ovid  makes  Dido 
begin  her  pathetic  remonstrance  to  -^neas  with  an 
appeal  to  this  authentic  fact : — 

Sic,  ubi  fata  vocant,  udis  abjectus  in  herbis, 
Ad  vada  Maeandri  conciiiit  albus  olor. 

Epist.  vii. 


AND    MANNERS    OF    THE    ANCIENTS.  415 

There  has  been  much  dispute  whether  Horace, 
in  his  satires,  means  Tiresias  to  sneer  at  Ulysses,  and 
covertly  to  express  his  private  opinion  of  his  own 
art,  which  is  the  most  obvious  sense,  and  lets  down 
the  pretence  of  prophecy  to  the  level  of  the  most 
ordinary  capacity  ;  or  whether  in  the  words, 

O  Laertiade,  quidquid  dicam,  aut  erit,  aut  non  : 
Diviiiare  etenim  magnus  mihi  donat  Apollo, 

Satir,  lib.  ii.  sat.  5. 

we  are  to  adopt  a  construction,  which  shall 
make  the  passage  a  serious  assertion  of  prophetic 
truth.  The  rules  of  interpretation  will  fairly  ad- 
mit the  meaning  to  be,  considering  the  sentence 
as  elliptical,  that  whatever  he  says  shall  be,  will 
come  to  pass  ;  and  whatever  he  says  shall  not  be, 
will  not  take  place.  The  probability  is  that  Horace 
intended  the  sense  to  be  equivocal :  in  disguising 
the  real  meaning  of  the  supposed  diviner,  he 
clearly,  but  safely,  indicates  his  own  opinion,  that 
their  pretended  skill  was  mere  imposition,  and 
humourously  makes  the  prophet  assert  his  profes- 
sional character,  in  terms  as  ambiguous  as  those 
in  which  his  policy  was  in  the  habit  of  couching 
his  oracular  answers. 

Herodotus  represents  the  evil  consequences  to 
the  Euboeans,  of  having  rejected  the  advice  of  an 
oracle,  delivered  in  unusually  intelligible  terms, 
involving  little  more  than  the  plain  dictates  of 
common  sense :  —  Bax<5i    y^p   u^t    t^u    wij»  tout«v 


416  QUAINT    OPINIONS,    EXPRESSIONS, 

There  were  three  soothsayers,  of  the  name  of 
Bacis.  The  most  ancient  was  of  Eleus  in  Boeotia ; 
the  second  of  Athens ;  and  the  third  of  Caphya  in 
Arcadia,  who  went  also  by  the  names  of  Cydus 
and  Aletes.  The  most  wonderful  stories  are  told 
of  this  last. 

The  following  is  a  proverbial  expression  : — 

Angiiilla*st,  elabitur.  Plant,  in  Pseud, 

Among  the  number  of  strange  fancies,  is  one, 
attaching  to  the  number  ten.  The  ancients  thought, 
and  many  of  the  summer  bathers  at  Brighton  and 
Margate  continue  to  think,  that  the  tenth  wave 
is  larger,  stronger,  and  more  overwhelming  than 
the  other  nine.  If  the  military  writers  talk  to  us 
about  the  decuman  legion  and  the  decuman  gate, 
the  authors  on  natural  history  and  agriculture  talk 
of  decuman  pears  being  very  fine  and  large  ;  and 
we  are  gravely  told,  that  the  tenth  egg  is  always 
the  largest.  Is  not  the  tenth  pig  also  the  most 
plump  of  the  litter  ?  The  decuman  gate,  we  are 
told,  was  so  called  on  account  of  its  size.  If  its 
dimensions  were  imposing,  its  purpose  was  awful : 
—  "  Decumana  autem  porta  quae  appellatur,  post 
praetorium  est,  per  quam  delinquentes  milites  edu- 
cuntur  ad  portam." — Veget. 

Pomponius  Mela  tells  us  of  a  bandy-legged  or 
baker- kneed  nation  in  Ethiopia.  Their  name  is 
derived  from  Tjxa?.  "  Ab  eo  tractu,  quem  ferae  infe- 
stant,  proximi  sunt  Himantopodes,  inflexi  lentis 
cruribus,  quos  serpere  potius  quam  ingredi  referunt; 
deinde  Pharusii,  aliquando,  tendente  ad  Hesperidas 
Hercule,  dites ;  nunc  inculti,  et,  nisi  quod  pecore 
aluntur,  admodum  inopes.*'  —  Lib.  iii.  cap.  ult. 


OF  THE  ANCIENTS.  417 

Seneca  gives  a  very  humourous  account  of  per- 
sons leading  a  sort  of  antipodean  life,  doing  every 
thing  by  contraries,  and  Uving  by  candle-light.  It 
seems  an  anticipation  of  modern  hours  in  the 
fashionable  world :  —  "  Excedebat,  inquit,  coena 
ejus  diem  ?  Minime  !  valde  enim  frugahter  vive- 
bat ;  nihil  consumebat,  nisi  noctem.  Itaque, 
crebro  dicentibus  ilium  quibusdam  avarum  et  sor- 
didum :  Vos,  inquit,  ilium  et  lychnobium  dicatis ! 
Non  debes  admirari,  si  tantas  invenis  vitiorum 
proprietates :  varia  sunt;  innumerabiles  habent 
facies  ;  comprendi  eorum  genera  non  possunt.** 


E   E 


418 


SOUND   MORAL    DOCTRINES   OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


AyaTTT)     o\>    ?>jTg7    ra    kavT^s, PlatO,     in    Sl/mpOSlQ, 

Whatever  we  may  think  respecting  the  dete- 
rioration of  style  in  the  time  of  the  Senecas,  it 
seems  as  if  Christian  habits  of  thinking,  marked 
by  a  more  just  feeUng  and  philosophy,  had  thus 
early  made  a  silent  progress  in  the  heathen  mind. 
The  following  sentiment  may  indeed  be  found  in 
anterior  authors,  but  I  doubt  whether  it  be  any 
where  so  simply  and  correctly  stated  : — 

Nemo  tarn  Divos  habuit  faventes, 
Crastinum  ut  possit  sibi  poUiceri. 

Senec.  in  TTiyeste, 

Ovid  is  not  the  poet  to  whom  we  should  pre- 
ferably recur  for  morality.  Yet  the  great  principle 
of  the  connection  between  occupation  and  virtue 
is  strongly  stated  and  exemplified  by  him  in  his 
elegiac  poem  De  Remed.  Amor. : — 

Quaeritis,  ^gisthus  quare  sit  factus  adulter  ? 
In  promtu  caussa  est :  desidiosus  erat. 

The  illustration  is  notorious,  but  strong  and  pointed. 
The  general  doctrine  had  been  previously  laid 
down : — 


MORAL  DOCTRINES  OF  THE  ANCIENTS.     419 

Otia  si  toUas,  periere  Cupidinis  arcus, 
Contemtaeque  jacent,  et  sine  luce,  faces : 

Quam  platanus  vino  gaudet,  quam  populus  unda, 
Et  quam  limosa  canna  palustris  humo ; 

Tarn  Venus  otia  amat. 

Seneca,  not  the  tragedian,  as  quoted  by  Erasmus, 
but  the  philosopher,  in  the  lOyth  of  his  epistles, 
borrows  the  following  sentiment,  closely  expressed 
in  a  single  iambic  line,  from  the  original  Greek  of 
Cleanthes  the  Stoic,  whence  Epictetus  also  trans- 
ferred it  to  ch.  77.  of  his  Manual: — 

Ducunt  volentem  fata,  nolentem  trahunt. 


E    E   2 


420 


POPULAR  TRICKS  AND  SUPERSTITIOUS  IMAGI- 
NATIONS OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 


Veteres  iis  quos  irridere  volebant,  cornua  dormientibus  ca- 
piti  imponebant,  vel  caudam  vulpis,  vel  quid  simile. — Scali- 
gerana. 

The  Sortes  Virgiliance  furnish  a  specimen  of 
Pagan  superstition.  To  enter  into  any  explanation 
of  them  might  seem  like  paying  the  reader  a  bad 
compliment :  but  it  may  not  be  so  generally  known, 
that  under  the  first  race  of  the  French  kings,  a 
most  profane  practice  was  substituted  for  the 
Homeric  or  Virgilian  lots.  Three  different  books 
of  the  Bible  were  taken,  for  instance,  the  Pro- 
phecies, the  Gospels,  and  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul. 
Having  laid  them  on  the  altar  of  some  saint,  by 
way  of  enhancing  the  piety  of  the  proceeding,  the 
consulters  opened  the  books  at  hazard,  and  entered 
into  a  solemn  examination  of  the  respective  texts, 
to  ascertain  in  what  respects  they  were  applicable 
to  the  points  they  wished  to  ascertain.  It  is  ob- 
vious that  this  would  not  always  end  in  mere  folly ; 
but  that  the  cunning  contrivers  of  the  accidental 
opening  would  take  care  the  book  should  gape  at 
such  leaves,  as  should  contain  some  fact  or  sen- 
timent which  they  might  wrest,  to  the  purposes 
they  designed  to  promote.     Louis  le  Debonnaire 


POPULAR  TRICKS,  ETC.  OF  THE  ANCIENTS.      421 

had  the  merit  of  abolishing  this  custom.  In  the 
Ordinances  of  that  emperor,  the  law  to  such  effect 
is  found  in  the  following  terms  :  —  "  Ut  nuUus  in 
Psalterio,  vel  Evangelio,  vel  aliis  rebus  sortiri 
praesumat,  nee  divinationes  aliquas  observare." 

But  even  Socrates  himself  was  not  proof  against 
this  superstition ;  as  we  learn  from  the  following 
passage  of  Diogenes  Laertius,  in  the  Life  of 
Socrates.  It  shows  in  a  strong  point  of  view  the 
inconsistency  of  human  wisdom  in  the  wisest,  that 
the  man  who  could  make  such  a  reply  as  the  fol- 
lowing to  his  wife  ;   T^j  ywaiKog  elTroyo-r;?,  'AS/xcoj  uttoQvyi- 

(Txstg,  ^v  8f,  g^»},  hxoiloos  h^ouXou  j  should  have  had  his 
mind  affected  by  a  sors  Homerica,  communicated 

in  a  dream  :  — "Ovug  lo^ag  nva,  uvtm  Xeyuv, 
"'HfuaTi  Xfv  rpiTUToo  4>fl/>)v  eg//3a)Xov  Txoio, 

Brutus  drew  a  similar  presage  from  the  coin- 
cidence of  his  opening  on  the  passage  in  the 
sixteenth  Iliad,  where  Patroclus  says  that  Fate 
and  the  son  of  Latona  had  caused  his  death,  and 
Apollo  being  the  watchword  on  the  day  of  the 
battle  of  Pharsalia. 

The  opinions  of  the  ancients'  respecting  the 
deathbed  inspiration  of  poets,  the  Sibylline  and 
other  oracles,  are  well  known.  Thus  Aristophanes, 
in  the  play  of  The  Knights :  — 


Actus  1.  Scena  1. 


fi  E  d 


422  POPULAR   TRICKS,    ETC. 

Ovid  gives  the  following  account  of  the  festival 
of  Vesta,  which  was  celebrated  on  the  9th  of 
June,  in  his  Fasti :  — 


Adspicit  instantes  mediis  sex  lucibus  Idus 

Ilia  dies,  qua  sunt  vota  soluta  Deae. 
Vesta,  fave :  tibi  nunc  operata  resolvimus  ora : 

Ad  tua  si  nobis  sacra  venire  licet. 

Ovid's  Medea,  and  Horace's  Canidia,  are  both 
indebted  to  the  Pharmaceutria  of  Theocritus  for 
many  of  their  love-charms.  The  Ivy^  was  a  bird 
used  by  magicians  in  their  incantations,  supposed 
to  be  the  wag-tail.  The  moon  and  the  night, 
notwithstanding  the  supposed  purity  of  Diana, 
have  always  kept  bad  company  with  sorcerers,  and 
are  the  old  accomplices  of  their  abominations,  as 
well  as  the  receivers  of  lovers'  vows,  knowing  them 
to  be  stolen  :  — 

Bao-eujxa*  vor)  ruv  Tifxcty^roio  TretXals'pctv 
Avpiov  wj  v»v  TSw  xa)  /xejx\t/9/xaj,  ola  fie  Troiei, 
Nuv  8g  viv  Ix  ^ueoyv  x.ulu^v(ro[xoti.  uXXoi,  ^eXavce, 
4>a7ve  xuXov  t)v  yotg,  7ro7ag»(rojxa*  ao-up^a,  ^uifLOV, 
Ta  X^^^'^^  ^'  *Ex«Ta,  roLv  xcii  (rxuXaxes  rgofjisovh, 
*Ep;^0]u,ev«;v  vsxvcav  otvoc  t   riplcty  xcti  fj^eXuv  uifAOC, 
yiulgf  'Exara  Sao-TrX^Ti,  xa»  kg  TsXog  ufMfxiv  OTraSei, 
^ugfjictxa  Tuv^  eploKTct  x^pstovot  ju-^re  t»  Klgxetg 
M^Tg  Ti  MrjhiaSj  fjLrjTS  fav3^«j  Tlepifjirj^us. 
I^y^>  ^^^^^  T^  r^vov  tfj^ov  TToD  l(hiJ.ot,  tov  oivdpat, 

Manduciis  was  the  name  given  to  a  strange 
figure,  dressed  up  frightfully,  with  wide  jaws  and 
large  teeth,  carried  about  at  public  shows  :  — 


OF    THE    ANCIENTS.  i^ 

C.  Quid,  si  aliquo  ad  liidos  me  pro  manduco  locem  ? 
L.  Quapropter  ?  C.  Quia  pol  clare  crepito  dentibus. 

Plautus,  in  Budente, 

These  grotesque  masks  were  designed  partly  to 
raise  terror,  and  partly  laughter.  Juvenal  also 
alludes  to  them  :  — 


Pars  magna  Italiae  est,  si  verum  admittimus,  in  qua 
Nemo  togam  sumit,  nisi  mortuus.     Ipsa  dierum 
Festorum  herboso  colitur  si  quando  theatro 
Majestas,  tandemque  redit  ad  pulpita  notum 
Exodium,  cum  personam  pallentis  hiatum 
In  gremio  matris  formidat  rusticus  infans. 

Sat  iii. 

Superstition  is  often  closely  connected  with 
vice,  sometimes  degenerating  into  it,  and  ulti- 
mately furnishing  a  mere  cloak  for  it.  The  fes- 
tivals and  ceremonies  in  honour  of  Bacchus,  ce- 
lebrated by  his  frantic  priestesses,  whose  very 
name  is  derived  kul  t5  f/^alvsa-^cu  are  thus  indignantly 
described :  — 

Nota  Bona;  secreta  Deae,  cum  tibia  lumbos 
Incitat ;  et  comu  pariter,  vinoque  feruntur 
AttonitsB,  crinemque  rotant,  ululantque  Priapi 
Maenades.  Juvenal,  sat.  vi. 

Morpheus  is  represented  as  one  of  the  children 
of  sleep,  and  as  taking  the  human  semblance :  — 

At  pater  e  populo  natonim  mille  suoruni 
Excitat  artificcm,  simulatoremque  figurse. 
Morphea.  Ovi(L  Metamorph,  xL 

£  E  4 


424      POPULAR  TRICKS,  ETC.  OF  THE  ANCIENTS. 

Another  of  the  sons  of  sleep  is  denominated 
^o^vjTcog,  from  the  Greek  (poiriTph,  signifying  affright, 
or  a  dreadful  vision  and  phantom  of  night :  — 


Hunc  Icelon  Superi,  mortale  Phobetora  vulgus 
Nominat 


425 


MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM  PLUTARCH. 


We  have  an  English  proverb,  that  cleanliness  is 
next  to  godliness.  The  sentiment,  though  quaint 
in  terms,  expresses  an  ancient  and  universal  feel- 
ing wdth  all  people,  sufficiently  civilised  to  have 
**  sat  in  good  men's  seats,"  or  to  **  have  been 
knoUed  to  church  by  the  bell "  of  any  religious 
sect,  false  or  true.  Plutarch  thus  describes  the 
magnificence  of  the  funeral  made  for  Timoleon  by 
the  Syracusans,  and  attended  by  the  people  dressed 
in  what  we  should  call  their  Sunday  clothes :  — 

n^wTTg/x^ov  Se  TToWu)  ixvpiaZeg  av^gwv  xai  yvvotixwvy  cov  o\|/»j 
jxev  ^v  eogr^  ir^eVoucra,  ttoivImv  eg-etpavcofxivoov  xai  xoc^otpws  eo"^- 
Ta$  (pogovvloiv. 

The  transfiguration  of  Christ,  as  recorded  by 
Matthew,  chap,  xvii.,  forcibly  illustrates  the  na- 
turally received  connection,  between  whiteness 
and  absolute  purity  :  —  "  And  afler  six  days  Jesus 
taketh  Peter,  James,  and  John  his  brother,  and 
bringeth  them  up  into  an  high  mountain  apart, 
and  was  transfigured  before  them  :  and  his  face 
did  shine  as  the  sun,  and  his  raiment  was  white  as 
the  light." 

There  is  considerable  obscurity  and  difficulty  in 
the  following  passage  of  Plutarch's  treatise,  Cur 
Pythia  nunc  non  reddat  Oracula  carmine.  In  the 
text  of  Wyttenbach  it  stands  thus :  —  Ol/xai  8i  yi- 

vwo-Knv  rh   xaf    'HpaxXi/ra)   Aty^ftivov,    of    ovoi^,    ov  to  f/^xv 


426       MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM  PLUTARCH. 

Tiiov  ls"<    TO    ev  AeX<po'igj    outs   Xeysi,     ovre   xpuTrleiy   StWoi    crv]- 

fta»v£j.  The  reading  of  the  earliest  editions,  for 
what  stands  here  as  oV  om^,  was  wo-t  omg,  which 
gave  rise  to  an  erroneous  opinion  that  the  distinc- 
tion of  HeracHtus  was  this  :  The  Delphic  god  no 
longer  either  declares  or  conceals  any  thing  bt/  the 
instrumentality  of  dreams,  but  signifies  it  clearly. 
But  Amyot  and  Xylander  agree  in  introducing 
the  conjectural  reading  dt;  w  "va^,  making  the  sense 
to  be,  that  the  king  whose  oracle,  etc.  i.  e.  Apollo, 
only  furnishes  a  glance,  or  vista  vision  of  futurity, 
neither  explaining  events  categorically,  nor  veiling 
them  in  impenetrable  darkness.  The  reading  left 
by  Wyttenbach  to  occupy  the  text,  o;  ova^,  is  mani- 
festly incorrect.  The  words  unabbreviated  must  be 

There  is  much  curious  matter  in  the  treatise  of 
Plutarch  on  Isis  and  Osiris,  with  respect  to  the 
doctrines  of  Zoroaster  concerning  Oromazes,  and 
Arimanius,  and  Mithras.  Mithras  was  the  media- 
torial power  between  the  other  two,  whose  respec- 
tive  worship  is  thus  characterised  :  'ES/Sa^s  /asv  toJ 

euxraia  ^usiv  xai  xa§»r^g*aj  Too  l\  aTrorgo-naiu  x«<  (mrj^pumoi' 

The  proverb,  Isiacum  non  facit  Linostolia,  the 
dress  does  not  make  the  monk,  seems  to  have 
originated  with  Plutarch  :  —  Oure  yotp  (pi\o(ro<pov$  itva- 

ycovoT^ofpiai    xa)    rgi^Mvo^oglcn  Troioucri,    ours   Wmxovs   al   A«v»- 


427 


MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM  ERASMUS. 


This  elegant  author  was  strong  and  bitter  in  his 
satirical  paintings  :  as  much  so  as  Juvenal  himself. 
The  revivers  of  letters  were  naturally  close  copyists 
of  the  patterns  they  had  so  newly  acquired :  but 
the  coarser  parts  of  the  texture  were  most  conge- 
nial to  their  talents  and  their  taste.  They  dealt 
much  in  general  satire  and  personal  invective  s 
and  both  in  their  hands  degenerated  into  abuse. 
The  following  passage  from  the  Encomiuvi  Morice 
will  be  thought  germane  to  the  matter  :  —  "  Sed 
multo  etiam  suavius,  si  quis  animadvertat  anus, 
longo  jam  senio  mortuas,  adeoque  cadaverosas,  ut 
ab  inferis  redisse  videri  possint,  tamen  illud  semper 
in  ore  habere,  <p«5  ayu^h  :  adhuc  catulire,  atque,  ut 
Graeci  dicere  solent,  xairpohv,  et  magna  mercede  con- 
ductum  aliquem  Phaonem  inducere,  fucis  assidue 
vultum  oblinere,  nusquam  a  speculo  discedere, 
infimas  pubis  sylvam  vcllere,  vietas  ac  putres  osten- 
tare  mammas,  tremuloque  gannitu  langucntem 
solicitare  cupidinem,  potitare,  misceri  puellarum 
choris,  literulas  amatorias  scribere.'* 

The  following  passage  is  remarkable,  as  having 
furnished  a  subject  of  illustration  to  the  pencil  of 
Holbein  :  —  **  Rursum  alios  qui  pecuniae  con* 
tactum  ceu  aconitum  horreant,  nee  a  vino  inter* 
ini,  nee  a  mulierum  contactu  temperantes."    The 


428     MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM  ERASMUS. 

Church  was  very  sure  to  furnish  the  subject,  and 
the  order  of  CordeHers  was  selected  by  the  painter. 
Erasmus  treats  the  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne  and 
their  sophistry  with  very  Httle  reserve.  Among 
other  imputations,  he  says,  "  Theologicae  scien- 
tiae  laudem,  omnibus  prope  summotis,  sibi  pecu- 
liariter  arrogant." 


4^9 


PASSAGE     FROM    SALLUST. 


Jr  osTREMO,  corporis  et  fortunae  bonorum,  ut  ini- 
tium,  finis  est ;  omnia  orta  occidunt,  et  aucta 
senescunt:  animus  incorruptus,  aeternus,  rector 
humani  generis,  agit  atque  habet  cuncta,  neque 
ipse  habetur."  —  Jugurth.  cap.  2. 

This  is  a  noble  common-place,  and  at  the  same 
time  a  fine  and  favourable  specimen  of  the  au- 
thor's manner.  Habet  here  bears  the  same  sense  as 
in  the  following  passage  of  Ovid  :  — 

Cum  mihi,  qui  fulmen,  qui  vos  haheoqwe  regoque, 
Struxerit  insidias. 


430 


MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM  PLINY  THE 
NATURAL  HISTORIAN. 


"  EoRUM  medius  Sol  fertur,  amplissima  magni- 
tudine  ac  potestate :  nee  temporum  modo  terra- 
rumque,  sed  siderum  etiam  ipsorum,  coelique  reetor. 
Hunc  mundi  esse  totius  animum,  ac  planius  mentem: 
hunc  principale  naturae  regimen,  ac  numen  credere 
decet,  opera  ejus  aestimantes.  Hie  lucem  rebus 
ministrat,  auf  ertque  tenebras :  hie  reliqua  sidera 
occultat,  illustrat :  hie  vices  temporum,  annumque 
semper  renascentem  ex  usu  natura?  temperat :  hie 
coeli  tristitiam  discutit,  atque  etiam  humani  nubila 
animi  serenat :  hie  suum  lumen  ceteris  quoque 
sideribus  fenerat.  Praeclarus,  eximius,  omnia  in- 
tuens,  omnia  etiam  exaudiens,  ut  principi  literarum 
Homero  placuisse  in  uno  eo  video." — Hist,  Nat. 
lib.  ii.  cap.  6.  This  description  of  the  sun,  as  the 
great  vivifying  principle  of  material  nature,  is  dif. 
fuse,  but  extremely  fine.  In  some  respects,  it  bears 
a  considerable  resemblance  to  the  passage  in  the 
last  article,  where  Sallust  represents  the  mind  as 
incorruptible  and  eternal,  the  mover  of  the  human 
frame,  and  the  governor  of  human  actions. 

"  Ovium  summa   genera  duo,    tectum   et  colo- 
nicum :  illud   mollius,    hoc  in   pascuo   delicatius, 


MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM  PLINY.         431 

quippe  cum  tectum  rubis  vescatur."  —  Lib.  ii, 
cap.  47.  The  first  kind  had  the  wool  soft,  curly,  and 
short.  The  last  had  it  long,  thick,  and  shaggy.  The 
former  were  called  tectce  ores,  because  their  car- 
cases were  carefully  covered  to  preserve  the  beauty 
of  their  fleeces.  We  find,  therefore,  that  the  modern 
practice  among  fashionable  breeders  and  agricul- 
tural dandies,  of  dressing  their  sheep  in  jackets,  is 
only  the  revival  of  an  ancient  custom :  so  true  is 
it,  that  there  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun.  The 
latter  were  denominated  oves  coloiiicce,  because  they 
were  left  to  take  their  chance  in  the  pastures,  with 
no  better  coat  than  what  Nature  in  her  tailor 
capacity  had  provided  for  them.  Yet,  clownish  as 
they  were,  they  had  some  advantage  over  their 
genteeler  brethren :  for  the  ancients  had  again 
anticipated  us  in  the  notable  discovery  and  im- 
portant maxim,  that,  as  food,  the  hardiest  sheep 
make  the  best  mutton. 

**  Quod  alii  Orionis,  alii  Oti  fuisse  arbitrantur." 
—  Lib  vii.  cap.  16.  These  are  the  names  of  fa- 
bulous giants.  There  is  another  reading :  Quod 
alii  Orionis,  alii  Elionis,  S^c.  But  the  most  correct 
editions  retain  Oli.  The  black  letter  editions  of 
Pliny  write  this  latter  name  Othus :  but  the  proper 
orthography  is  Oius,  Two  liistorical  giants  are 
mentioned  by  tliis  author,  as  having  appeared  in 
the  time  of  Augustus:  —  «*  Pusioni  et  Secundillae 
erant  nomina.'* 

Leontium,  a  courtesan,  no  very  dignified  anta- 
gonist to  an  eloquent  philosopher,  is  alluded  to  by 
Pliny  in  the  preface  to  his  Natural  History,  aa 
the  woman  who  wrote  against  Theophrastus,  and 
gave  rise  to  the  proverbial  expression  in  the  fol- 


432       MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM 

lowing  passage  :  —  **  Ceu  vero  nesciam,  adversus 
Theophrastum  hominem  in  eloquentia  tantum,  ut 
nomen  divinum  inde  invenerit,  scripsisse  etiam 
feminam,  et  proverbium  inde  natum,  suspendio  ar- 
borem  eligendi.  Non  queo  mihi  temperare,  quo- 
minus  ad  hoc  pertinentia  ipsa  censorii  Catonis 
verba  ponam :  ut  inde  appareat,  etiam  Catoni  de 
Militari  disciplina  commentanti,  qui  sub  Africano, 
immo  vero  et  sub  Annibale  didicisset  militare,  et 
ne  Africanum  quidem  ferre  potuisset,  qui  imperator 
triumphum  reportasset,  p^ratos  fuisse  istos,  qui 
obtrectatione  alienae  scientiae  famam  sibi  aucu- 
pantur."  Cicero  also  mentions  Leontium  as  writing 
against  Theophrastus ;  Epicurus,  Metrodorus,  and 
Hermachus  against  Pythagoras,  Plato,  and  Empe- 
docles.  Vegetius  speaks  of  Cato's  treatise  on 
military  discipline.  Livy  imputes  to  Cato  an  un- 
worthy jealousy  of  Scipio  Africanus,  and  Pliny 
here  acquaints  us  that  he  experienced  retaliation 
in  an  invidious  attack  on  himself  as  a  writer  on 
military  subjects. 

The  creduHty  of  the  ancient  compilers  of  natural 
history  was  extreme.  What  are  we  to  think  of 
Pliny  opening  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  his  ninth 
book  with  such  gossips'  tales  as  these  ?  —  "  Est 
parvus  admodum  piscis  adsuetus  petris,  echeneis 
appellatus  v  hoc  carinis  adhaerente  naves  tardius 
ire  creduntur,  inde  nomine  imposito:  quam  ob 
causam  amatoriis  quoque  veneficiis  infamis  est,  et 
judiciorum  ac  litium  mora ;  quae  crimina  una  laude 
pensat,  fluxus  gravidarum  utero  sistens,  partusque 
continens  ad  puerperium." 

The  following  description  of  cups,  fragile  in 
their  texture,  in  the  preface  to  book  xxxiii.,  goes 
very   nearly  to  represent  our   modern  china :  — 


PLINY   THE   NATURAL    HISTORIAN.  433 

**  Murrhina  et  crystallina  ex  eadem  terra  effodimus, 
quibus  pretium  faceret  fragilitas." 

The  Troglodytes  were  a  people  of  Ethiopia, 
below  Egypt,  so  called  from  their  inhabiting  sub- 
terranean holes  and  caverns,  from  the  word  rpcoyAij, 
a  hole,  a  defile,  or  a  cavern,  and  Sw/w,  to  enter 
generally,  and  specifically,  to  enter  in  a  crouching 
and  creeping  attitude  :  —  "  Troglodytae  specus  ex- 
cavant.  Hai  illis  domus,  victus  serpentium  carnes, 
stridorque,  non  vox :  adeo  sermonis  commercio  ca- 
rent:  Garamantes  matrimoniorum  exsortes,  passim 
cum  feminis  degunt." — Lib.  v.  cap.  8.  Making 
allowance  for  Pliny's  habitual  tendency  to  the  mar- 
vellous, these  people  must  have  been  in  the  lowest 
condition  of  human  nature. 


FP 


43'! 


PASSAGE  FROM  JELIAN  DE  NATURA  ANI- 
MALIUM. 


o»  0^axsj  Ttttto*,  elra  jxsvtoj  IxTrX^rlcovTai  toTj  vsxpoi^  IjXTrXar- 
T0/X6V0I,  xal  a^^coj  xar*  aurwv,  ooj  tivcov  ^o/SepoJv  /3a/vovTSf, 
aTTOcrxi^wo-iv. Lib.    Xvi.   Cap.  25. 

The  verb  uTraysj  ought  in  some  cases  to  be  ren- 
dered in  Latin  by  subtrahit,  in  others  by  subjicit. 
In  the  Latin  of  Schneider's  ^lianus  de  Natura 
Animah'um,  it  is  rightly  translated  by  the  former 
word :  the  latter  sense  would  have  no  propriety 
in  connection  with  the  context. 


435 


MISCELLANEOUS    PASSAGES   FROM    AULUS 
GELLIUS. 


"Est  etiam  ventus  nomine  Ccecias,  quern  Ari- 
stoteles  ita  flare  dicit,  ut  nubes  non  procul  propellat, 
sed  ut  ad  sese  vocet,  ex  quo  versum  istum  prover- 
bial em  factum  ait : 

*Ef'  lauTov  eXxcov  coj  6  Kaix/aj  vs<po^, 

PraBter  hos  autem,  quos  dixi,  sunt  alii  plurifa- 
riam  venti  commenticii  suae  quisque  regionis  indi- 
genae,  ut  est  Horatianus  quoque  ille  Atahulus, 
quos  ipse  quoque  exsequuturus  fui:  addidissem- 
que  eos,  qui  Etesice  et  Prodj^omi  appellitantur,  qui 
certo  tempore  anni,  quum  canis  oritur,  ex  alia  at- 
que  alia  parte  coeli  spirant :  rationesque  omnium 
vocabulorum,  quia  plus  paulo  adbibi,  effudissem, 
nisi  multa  jam  prorsus  omnibus  vobis  rcticentibus 
verba  fecissem,  quasi  fieret  a  me  oix.q6a<ni  fTi5f»{7ix^." — 
Noct.  Attic,  lib.  ii.  cap.  22. 

There  is  an  allusion  to  the  effects  of  the  wind 
Caecias  in  the  Knights  of  Aristophanes  : — 

*Q.i  ovTo;  ^  XMxiag  xxl  avxo^otvrlas  inii. 

Tliis  particular  wind  is  frequent  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, and  there  called  Greco  Levante, 

F  F  2 


436  MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES 

The  reproof  of  Herodes  Atticus  to  the  pretended 
and  mere  outside  philosopher,  and  his  subsequent 
liberahty  to  him,  bear  some  resemblance  to  the 
conduct  of  Hamlet  to  the  players,  and  his  direc- 
tions to  Polonius  :  —  **  Turn  Herodes  interrogat 
quisnam  esset.  Atque,  ille,  vultu  sonituque  vocis 
objurgatorio,  philosophum  sese  esse  dicit ;  et  mi- 
rari  quoque  addit  cur  quaerendum  putasset  quod 
videret  Video,  in  quit  Herodes,  barbam  et  pal- 
lium, philosophum  nondum  video.  Quaeso  autem  te, 
cum  bona  venia  dicas  mihi,  quibus  nos  uti  posse 
argumentis  existimas,  ut  esse  te  philosophum  nosci- 
temus  ?  Interibi  aliquot  ex  iis  qui  cum  Herode 
erant,  erraticum  hominem  esse  dicere  et  nuUi  rei, 
incolamque  esse  sordentium  ganearum  ;  ac,  nisi 
accipiat  quod  petit,  convicio  turpi  solitum  inces- 
sere :  atque  ibi  Herodes,  DemuSy  in  quit,  huic 
aliquid  ceris,  cuicuimodi  est ;  tamquam  homines, 
noil  tamquam  homini :  et  jussit  dari  precium  panis 
triginta  dierum." 

The  word  siltis  is  applied  to  burial  in  general : 
sepultus  to  the  full  rites  of  Roman  sepulture,  when 
the  body  was  burnt,  the  ashes  collected,  and  all 
the  honours  duly  performed.  The  custom  of  in- 
humation was  anterior  to  that  of  burning ;  and 
the  Cornelian  family  persisted  in  it  without  burning 
within  the  period  of  Cicero's  remembrance.  Hu- 
matus,  therefore,  and  sittcs,  seem  to  be  synonymous ; 
but  afterwards  sepultus  was  extended  to  all  forms 
of  interment,  whether  with  more  or  less  ceremony  ; 
so  that  sepultus  was  applied  to  inhumation,  tliough 
of  course  neither  of  the  other  words  could  be  used 
for  burning  and  collecting  ashes.  From  the  word 
situs  comes  siticines,  persons  whose  profession  it  was 
to  sing  dirges  over  dead  bodies.     Our  undertakers' 


FROM  AULUS  GELLIUS.  43? 

men  are  mutes  ;  equally  irrational,  but  less  offen* 
sive  to  the  feelings  of  the  real  mourners.  Aulus 
Gellius  gives  the  following  account  of  these  peo- 
ple, lib.  XX.  cap.  2. :  —  **  Siticines,  scriptum  est  in 
oratione  M.  Catonis,  qua  inscribitur,  Ne  imperii 
um  sit  reteriy  ubi  novtis  venerit.  Sitichies,  inquit, 
et  titicines,  et  tubicines,  Sed  Caesellius  Vindex  in 
Commentariis  lectionum  antiquarum,  scire  qui- 
dem  se  ait  titicines  lituo  cantare,  et  tubicines 
tuba  :  quid  istuc  autem  sit,  quo  siticines  cantent, 
homo  ingenuae  veritatis  scire  sese  negat,  Nos  au- 
tem in  Capitonis  Atei  Conjectaneis  invenimus,  si- 
ticines appellatos,  qui  apud  sitos  canere  soliti 
essent,  hoc  est,  vita  functos  et  sepultos  :  eosque 
habuisse  proprium  genus  tubae,  a  cseterorum 
differens." 

The  ancient  writers  on  natural  philosophy  ap- 
plied the  word  Typhon  to  that  alarming  phenome- 
non the  water-spout,  not  very  uncommon  at  sea, 
and  especially  in  the  Mediterranean.  The  Vulca- 
nians  and  Neptunians  are,  of  course,  at  daggers 
drawn  in  their  solutions.  The  former  ascribe  the 
agitation  of  the  waters  on  tlie  surface,  to  the  oper- 
ation of  fire  under  the  bed  of  the  sea.  The  latter 
account  for  it  by  suction,  and  illustrate  it  by  the 
application  of  cupping  glasses  to  the  skin.  The 
same  appearance  and  effects  take  place,  but  less 
frequently,  on  land.  The  mischief  on  those  occa- 
sions is  very  extensive  :  houses  are  unroofed ; 
birds  and  even  other  animals  within  the  influence 
of  the  storm,  are  caught  up  and  dashed  with 
violence  against  the  ground.  Aulus  Gcllius  de- 
cribes  them  thus,  lib.  xix.  cap.  1. :  —  "  Turn  postea 
complorantibus  nostris  omnibus,  atqiic  in  sentina 
satis  agcntibus,  dies  quidem  tandem  illuxit :  sed 

T  Y  3 


458  PASSAGES  FROM  AULUS  GELLIUS. 

nihil  de  periculo,  neque  de  saevitia  amissum,  quin 
turbines  etiam  crebriores,  et  coelum  atrum,  et  fumi- 
gantes  globi,  et  figurae  quaedam  nubium  metuendae, 
quas  To^wvaj  vocabant,  impendere  imminereque, 
ac  depressuras  navem  videbantur." 


439 


MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM  CICEHO. 


J\  IHIL  habet  nee  fortuna  tua  majus,  quam  ut 
possis ;  nee  natura  tua  melius,  quam  ut  velis  ser- 
vare  quam  plurimos."  This  was  addressed  to 
Caesar,  in  the  oration  for  Q.  Ligarius.  A  more 
elegant  compliment  was  never  paid. 

Cicero  justly  mentions  the  following  as  an  in- 
stance of  weakness  in  a  great  man ;  but  surely 
Cicero  might  have  looked  at  home  :  —  **  Leviculus 
sane  noster  Demosthenes,  qui  illo  susurro  deleetari 
se  dicebat  aquam  ferentis  mulierculaEJ,  ut  mos  in 
Graecia  est,  insusurrantisque  alteri.  Hie  est  ille  De- 
mosthenes. Quid  hoc  levins  ?  At  quantus  orator  ? 
Sed  apud  alios  loqui  videlicet  didicerat,  non  mul- 
tum  ipse  secum."  —  Tusc.  Quwst,  lib.  v.  cap.  SG. 

Erskine  in  his  glory  would  probably  have  been 
no  less  delighted  with  the  admiration  of  a  milk- 
maid. Diogenes  Laertius  tells  us,  that  Diogenes 
the  Cynic  once  administered  to  the  great  orator's 
vanity,  by  pointing  him  out  with  his  finger  to  some 
strangers  who  had  expressed  a  great  desire  to  see 
him  :  but  this  was  only  done  in  mockery  ;  and  we 
are  not  told  that  Demosthenes  was  deceived  by  it, 
or  that  he  betrayed  any  pleasure  in  the  curiosity 
of  the  strangers. 

FF   4 


440  MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES 

Zeno,  the  founder  and  leader  of  the  Stoic  sect, 
was  in  the  habit  of  applying  this  whimsical  illus- 
tration :  that  eloquence  and  logic  were  respectively 
like  the  open  hand  and  the  closed  fist;  inasmuch 
as  the  aim  of  the  orator  was  to  give  his  arguments 
all  the  extension  and  amplification  possible,  that  of 
the  logician  to  propound  them  in  terms  the  most 
strict  and  narrow  :  —  "  Zenonis  est,  inquam,  hoc 
Stoici.  omnem  vim  loquendi,  ut  jam  ante  Aristo- 
teles,  in  duas  tributam  esse  partes ;  rhetoricam,  pal- 
mae;  dialecticam,  pugno  similem  esse  dicebat,  quod 
latius  loquerentur  rhetores,  dialectici  autem  com- 
pressius." —  De  Finibus,  lib.  ii. 

Of  all  the  miserable  and  ludicrous  superstitions 
which  the  enlightened  and  politic  priesthood  and 
augural  college  of  Rome  palmed  on  the  ignorant 
simplicity  of  the  vulgar,  the  humbug  of  the  Tri- 
puclium  soUstimum  and  the  mountebank  character 
of  the  Pullarius  seem  to  be  the  perfection  of  folly 
and  impudence :  —  "  Quae  aves  ?  aut,  ubi  ?  Attulit, 
inquit,  in  cavea  pullos  is,  qui  ex  eo  ipso  nominatur 
pullarius.  Hae  sunt  igitur  aves  internuntiae  Jovis : 
quae  pascantur,  necne,  quid  refert  ?  nihil  ad  auspi- 
cia :  sed  quia,  cum  pascuntur,  necesse  est,  aliquid 
ex  ore  cadere,  et  terram  pavire,  terripavium  primo, 
post  terripudium  dictum  est :  hoc  quidem  jam  tri- 
pudium  dicitur.  cum  igitur  offa  cecidit  ex  ore  pulli, 
tum  auspicanti  tripudium  solistimum  nuntiant.*' 
—  De  Divinat,  lib.  ii 

The  name  of  Moneta  was  given  to  Juno  by  the 
Romans  a  monendo  :  —  "  Atque  etiam  scriptum  a 
multis  est,  cum  terrae  motus  factus  esset,  Ut  sue 
plena  prociiratio  Jierety  vocem  ab  aede  Junonis  ex 
arce  exstitisse  :  quocirca  Junonem  illam  appella- 
tam  Monetam."  —  Cic.    de  Divinat,  lib.  i.     This 


FROM  CICERO.  441 

temple  of  Juno  Moneta  was  on  the  descent  from 
the  capitol,  and  in  consequence  of  the  mint  being 
afterwards  established  near  the  same  spot,  the 
pieces  coined  there  took  the  name  of  Moneta : 
and  to  this  trivial  accident  do  we  trace  the  etymo- 
logy of  that  universal  and  important  word,  money. 


442 


POETICAL   GENEALOGIES  AND    EXPLOITS  OP 
FABULOUS  PERSONAGES. 


PoRPHYRiON  was  the  son   of  Sisyphus.      He  is 
mentioned  by  Claudian  in  his  Gigantomachy : — 

Ecce  autem  medium  spiris  delapsus  in  aequor, 
Porphyrion  trepidam  conatur  rumpere  Delon, 
Scilicet  ad  superos  ut  torqueat  improbus  axes  : 
Horruit  ^gaeus  :  stagnantibus  exsilit  antris 
Longsevo  cum  patre  Thetis ;  desertaque  mansit 
Ripa  Neptuni,  famulis  veneranda  profundis* 

Damastor  is  another  of  the  giants,  in  some 
authors  improperly  called  Adamastor,  also  men- 
tioned in  the  Gigantomachy  of  Claudian  : — 

Ble,  procul  subitis  fixus  sine  vxJnere  nodis, 
Ut  se  letifero  sensit  durescere  visu, 
(Et  steterat  jam  paene  lapis)  "  Quo  vertimur  ?"  inquit : 
"  Quae  serpit  per  membra  silex  ?  qui  torpor  inertem 
Marmorea  me  peste  ligat  ?"     Vix  pauca  locutus, 
Quod  timuit,  jam  totus  erat :  seevusque  Damastor, 
Ad  depellendos  jaculum  dum  quaereret  hostes, 
Germani  rigidum  misit,  pro  rupe,  cadaver. 

Philostratus,  in  his  life  of  ApoUonius,  and  Frein- 
shemius,  on  Quintus  Curtius,  make  King  Porus  out 
to  be  an  actual  giant* 


POETICAL   GENEALOGIES,  ETC.  443 

Merlin,  in  his  second  macaronic,  describes  the 
giant  Fracassus  in  the  following  terms  : — 

Primus  erat  quidam  Fracassus  prole  gigantis, 
Cujus  stirps  olim  Morganto  venit  ab  illo, 
Qui  Bacchiozonem  campana  ferre  solebat. 
Cum  quo  mille  hominum  colpos  fracasset  in  uno. 


4f4}4f 


MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM  PERSIUS. 


Tun',  vetule,  auriculis  alienis  coUigis  escas  ? 

Auriculis  !  quibus  et  dicas  cute  perditus,  Ohe. 

"  Quo  didicisse,  nisi  hoc  fermentum,  et  quae  semel 

intus 
"  Innata  est,  rupto  jecore  exierit  caprificus  ?" 
En  pallor,  seniumque  !   O  mores,  usque  adeone 
Scire  tuum  nihil  est,  nisi  te  scire  hoc  sciat  alter  ! 
"  At  pulchrum  est,  digito  monstrari,  et  dicier,  Hie  est. 
"  Ten'  cirratorum  centum  dictata  fuisse, 
"  Pro  nihilo  pendas  ?"     Ecce,  inter  pocula,  quaerunt 
RomuUdae  saturi,  quid  dia  poemata  narrent ! 

Sat.  1. 

It  is  evident  throughout  his  works,  how  closely 
Persius  imitated  Horace.  Many  hints  are  taken 
from  him  in  the  passage  above  transcribed,  and  in 
the  following  lines  which  previously  occur  : — 

Nam  Romae  quis  non  —  ?    Ah,  si  fas  dicere  !  Sed  fas 
Tunc,  cum  ad  canitiem,  et  nostrum  istud  vivere  triste, 
Aspexi,  et  nucibus  facimus  quaecunque  relictis : 
Cum  sapimus  patruos  —  tunc,  tunc  ignoscite. 

The  obscurity  of  Persius  arises  principally  from 
the  necessity  he  lay  under,  being  determined  not 
to  compromise  morality  by  courtly  obsequiousness, 


MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM  PERSIUS.     445 

SO  to  clothe  his  satire,  writing  as  he  did  in  the 
reign  of  Nero,  that  what  modern  lawyers  techni- 
cally term  the  innuendos  should  not  be  too  obvious. 
He  was  obliged  to  express  himself  in  alJusion 
rather  than  in  direct  attack.  Thus  in  the  passage 
above  quoted,  he  takes  aim  from  behind  a  bush  at 
the  emperor  himself,  who  had  ordered  his  poems 
to  be  taught  to  the  curly-pated  young  nobility  in 
their  elementary  schools. 

The  practice  of  teaching  parrots  and  magpies 
to  speak  certain  common  words,  as  salve^  ave^  and 
others,  and  to  appropriate  them  to  the  seasons  of 
meeting  and  parting,  was  known  to  the  ancients 
as  well  as  to  ourselves.  Hunger  is  supposed  to  be 
the  powerful  engine  by  which  this  feat  is  accom- 
plished. The  reward  of  good,  in  very  small  por- 
tions, is  bestowed  on  their  efforts  at  articulation. 
Persius  illustrated  the  fate  of  scribblers  by  this 
allusion,  whose  necessities  drive  them  to  writing 
verses  as  mechanically,  and  with  as  little  meaning, 
as  parrots  and  magpies  utter  and  even  time  arti- 
culate sounds,  by  mere  dint  of  habit,  without  a 
spark  of  meaning :  — 

Quis  expedivit  psittaco  suum  x«*p«  ? 
Picasque  docuit  verba  nostra  conari  ? 
Magister  artis,  ingenique  largitor 
Venter,  negatas  artifex  sequi  voces. 


446 


MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM  MODERN 
AUTHORS. 


The  President  de  Thou,  lib.  113.  on  the  year 
1595,  describes  the  usages  of  the  Penitential  at 
Rome,  and  the  solemnities  held  when  Henry  the 
Fourth  of  France  sent  his  two  proxies  to  undergo 
his  penance,  and  bring  back  his  absolution.  The 
royal  heretic  and  renegade,  more  guilty  than  the 
mob  of  sinners,  and  therefore  deserving  severer 
punishment,  was  not  slow  to  discover,  that  how- 
ever it  may  be  with  geometry,  there  is  a  royal  road 
to  absolution.  Deliraiit  reges,  plectuntur  AchivL 
On  this  principle,  our  James  the  First,  though 
subject  in  all  other  respects  to  the  severe  discipline 
of  Scotland,  was  allowed  to  have  his  whipping-boy. 
Henry's  proxies  are  introduced  with  the  following 
ceremonial :  —  **  Inde  ad  solium  deducti ;  cum 
capite  demisso  rursus  in  genua  procubuissent, 
Psalmus  50  recitatur,  ad  cujus  singulos  versiculos 
Pontifex  virgula  quasi  vindicta,  qua  ut  olim  servi 
apud  Romanos  manumittebantur,  sic  nunc  pec- 
catis  nexi  per  absolutionem  in  libertatem  Christia- 
nam  asseruntur,  leviter  supplices  procuratores 
tangebat." 

Budaeus,  lib.  5.  of  his  treatise  De  Asse,  institutes 
a  comparison  between  Croesus  and  Midas,  and  ex- 
plains the   asses'  ears  with  which  that  Phrygian 


PASSAGES  FROM  MODERN  AUTHORS.  447 

tyrant  was  endowed,  to  have  been  typical  of  the 
spies  and  emissaries  he  kept  in  pay  : — "  At  ille  ca- 
lamitate  et  sum  mo  atque  ignominioso  vitSB  discri- 
mine  inclaruit,  hie  auribus  asininis  non  aureis  inno- 
tuit  Ex  eo  enim  in  proverbium  venit,  quod 
multos  otacustas,  id  est  auricularios  et  emissarios 
haberet,  rumorum  captatores  et  sermonum  dela- 
tores,  cujusmodi  habere  solent  principes  mali 
qui  stimulante  conscientia  securi  esse  nequeunt." 
Caracalla,  for  whom  every  act  of  tyranny  in  past 
times  formed  a  precedent,  and  every  instrument, 
and  every  engine,  which  could  play  upon  the 
meanness  of  jealousy,  whether  fabulous  or  prac- 
tical, was  an  object  of  desire,  not  only  consulted 
impostors  of  every  description,  among  the  fore- 
most wizards  and  astrologers,  for  the  discovery 
of  conspiracies  against  his  life ;  but  expressed  a 
sincere  longing  for  such  a  pair  of  ears,  as  could 
take  in  every  word  uttered  about  him,  of  whatever 
character  or  tendency. 

In  the  Scaligcrana,  on  the  word  Koo-ju-^tcop,  the 
great  critic  gives  the  following  etymological  mean- 
ing, founded  on  Homer  :  —  **  Koc/xiiTap  ut  a^jxor^j, 
prcrfectum  significahant^^^  that  is,  the  governor  of 
a  country,  embracing  the  presidency  over  both  ju- 
dicial and  military  aflairs.  **  Koo-/xfiv  enim  et  apftot^uv 
verba  sunt  po  lit  tea,  qiuv  administrare  rernp,  (non 
auteni  ornare)  propric  significahanty  tU  apud  Hom. 

Ilia.d*  1 .    'Arpe/Sa  Se  [JiJt.\ifa  ^6u)  Ko<Tixr;Topt  X'xwv, 

The  Popes  Alexander  VI.  and  Julius  II.  have 
been  satirised  by  the  poets  of  their  time,  for  appear- 
ing in  the  field  of  battle  and  at  sieges  in  armour  and 
military  array.  Julius  II.,  in  1511,  exhibited  him- 
self with  helmet  and  breastplate,  to  hasten  a  siege 
which  his  generals  did  not  press  so  vigorously  as 


448  MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES 

he  wished.  A  satirist  warns  the  soldiery  to  be 
cautious  in  their  fury,  lest  they  should  hit  a  Pope 
by  a  random  shot.  Julius  is  meant  by  the  sep- 
tuagenarian priest  and  the  most  holy  father,  in  the 
following  passage  :  —  **  Num  tandem  ex  aede  cha- 
ritatis,  aut  fidei  sacello  ancylia  prompserat,  et  signa 
cruciata?  Ecquid  eum  pudebat  servum  Dei  se 
vocare,  cum  Franciam  Christianorum  decus,  et 
pontificum  olim,  religionisque  asylum,  bustis  ipse 
gallicis  insigni  re  gestiret,  cum  sacerdos  septua- 
genarius  Bellonae  sacris  operaretur,  cui  generis 
humani  luculento  dispendio  litare  contendebat, 
tum  cum  profanum  vulgus  ad  delubra  pacis,  et 
concordiae  miserabili  specie  supplicationes  inibat? 
Enimvero  visendum  spectaculum,  patrem  non  mo- 
do  sanctissimum,  sed  etiam  senio  et  canicie 
spectabilem,  quasi  ad  tumultum  gallicum  e  Bello- 
nai  fano  suos  evocatos  cientem,  non  trebea,  non 
augustis  insignibus  venerandum,  non  pontificiis 
gestaminibus  sacrosanctum,  sed  paludamento,  et 
cultu  barbarico  conspicuum,  sed  furiali,  ut  ita  di- 
cam,  confidentia  succinctum,  fulminibus  illis  brutis 
et  inanibus  luridum,  eminente  in  truci  vultu  cultu- 
que  spirituum  atrocitate." — Budceus, de Asse^Yih, 4}, 
Merlin  Coccaius,  macaronic  3.,  has  a  long  list  of 
attributes  to  particular  characters  and  professions, 
quaintly  expressed  in  single  hexameters.  The  fol- 
lowing are  amongst  the  number : — 

Est  Monachae,  quando  moritur,  maledire  parentes 
Ast  est  soldati  numerosa  per  arma  necari. 

M.  de  Thou  gives  the  following  account  of  the 
first  voyage  to  Canada  and  Newfoundland :  — 
**  Anno  praeteriti  saeculi  34.  et  sequente  Jacobus 
Cartesius  Francisco  I.  Rege  ad  eas  partes  navigare 
institit,  cujus  et  relationes  extant.'* 


FROM  MODERN  AUTHORS.  449 

Budaeus,  in  the  first  book  of  his  treatise  De  Asse, 
defines  the  place  of  what  he  called  the  Hypogeum, 
or  the  precisely  calculated  centre  of  the  earth  : — 
"  Praedictis  quatuor  genethliaci  etiam  cardines  qua- 
tuor  addiint,  ortum  scilicet  et  occasum,  et  mesu- 
ranium  quod  et  mesuranema  dicitur  (vocabulum 
ubique  in  Firmico  depravatum)  hoc  est  locus  medii 
coeli,  et  huic  oppositum  locum  quod  h}^ogeon  di- 
citur, hoc  est  punctum  subterraneum  inter  ortum 
occasumque  medium." 

Coelius  Rhodiginus,  chap.  4.  of  the  twenty-third 
book  of  his  Lectiones,  thus  brings  together  some  of 
the  leading  philosophers  as  co-operating,  by  ap- 
parently different  but  really  similar  means,  to  the 
attainment  of  the  one  end  :  —  "  Quae  sane  ratio 
admiranda  Zoroastri  veterum  theologorum  principi, 
Arimaspem  conciliavit,  ^sculapium  Mercurio,  Or- 
pheo  Musaeum,  Pythagorae  Aglaophemum,  Platoni 
Dionem  prius,  mox  et  Xenocratem  :  qui  omnes 
numine  illustrante,  opere  uno,  ad  metam  unam  tan- 
quam  eodem  calle  ad  eundem  itineris  festinarunt 
terminum." 

The  Corybantes,   ministers  of  the  goddess  Cy- 
bele,  were  supposed  to  have  slept  with  their  eyes 
open,  when  they  were  set  to  watch  Jupiter,  for 
fear  of  his  being  swallowed  by  Saturn.     A  notable 
expedient !    We  are  told  that  their  name  is  derived 
"  ctTrh  TOW  KopvTTttVy    quod  Capita  saltando  jactarent, 
aut  a  pupillis  oculorum,  quae  Graici  xopag  vocant, 
quippe  qui  cum  Jovis  custodes  essent,   non  modo 
excubare,  sod  etiam  apertis  oculis  dormire  cogeren- 
tur." — ExJos,  Scalig.  incastigat,  ad  CxUulL  From 
their  eternal  drumming  also,  a  disease  of  the  ears 
accompanied  with  continual    ringing    was  called 
corybanlism. 

o  o 


450 


MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM  HOMER. 


"EcTTi  he  fji,oi  yixKct  ttoWoi,  roi  xuKKitcov  h^aZs  ep^aov 

"AXXov  S*  IvfievSe  p^^ixrov  xa)  ^uXkov  eguQgoVy 

'HSs  yovaTxaj  lu^wvouj,  ttoXjov  re  cr/Srjgov 

"A^ojooai,  ao-cr'  ekot^ov  ye.  iZ/ac?.  lib.  ix. 

Xhe  French  critics,  in  their  remarks  on  Homer, 
are  apt  to  refine  too  much ;  as  indeed  they  do  in 
every  thing  they  attempt.  Monsieur  de  la  Motte 
objects  to  the  calculation  of  the  time  the  voyage 
to  Phthia  would  take,  and  the  enumeration  of  the 
property  he  should  find  ^there,  with  the  additional 
acquisitions  of  the  war,  as  too  minute  and  circum- 
stantial for  the  impassioned  character  of  the  speaker. 
But  this  surely  is  hypercriticism.  It  was  perfectly 
natural,  and  equally  consistent  with  his  temper 
however  impetuous  or  resentful,  to  impress  it  on 
the  minds  of  the  ambassadors,  by  arguing  on  the 
amplitude  of  his  means  and  the  facility  of  the 
voyage,  that  he  would  carry  his  threat  of  returning 
home  into  actual  execution,  and  leave  Agamemnon 
to  the  consequences  of  his  own  insolence  and 
injustice.     He   says   that   his   riches   are   already 


mis(5ellaneous  passages  from  homer.        451 

sufficient    to   prevent   him    from    entertaining    a 
thought  of  accepting  the  offered  presents. 

Ogilby's  couplet,  to  express  the  first  Hne  of  this 
passage  in  translation,  is  ludicrously  ungramma- 
tical :  — 

And,  if  great  Neptune  grant  a  prosperous  gale, 
We  the  third  day  shall  fertile  Phthia  sail. 


The  following  passage  deserves  to  be  pointed 
out,  for  the  sake  of  a  just  and  discriminate  dis- 
tinction taken  by  Plutarch,  between  boasting  and 
real  courage,  and  illustrated  by  this  very  passage 
in  point :  — 

ToiouToi  8*  fiTC^  /xoi  leixooTiV  avTg/3oX>]<rav, 
Uocvre$  OLV  aitro^*  oKovto,  ifj^  Otto  Sou^l  Saju-evrfj* 
*AXXa  [xs  ^olq   oXoYi,  xal  AijtoOj   exToivev  vtbg, 

Iliad,  lib.  xvi. 


The  criticism  occurs  in  Plutarch's  discussion. 
Qua  quis   Ratione  seipse  sine  Invidia  laudet :  — 

"Q/TfTig  ouv  Toyj  Iv  TM  vTigiTruTsiv  hraigofjiivovs  xa»  u4/au;^fivouvT«f 
uvorjTovg  ^ou/xs^a  xa»  xevouj*  av  8«  vrvxreuovTsg  >j  fJia^6fji,evoi 
iieyelgaxTi    xa»    uvayuy ai<nv  ioLvrou^,  iTronvoufxev   otrrcof    av^j  w^ro 

ix  TOW  TaTCivoO  xai  oixt^ou  tjJ  fx,eyoiXoiit^itx  (Xflotpigcov  tif  to  y«0- 
tfov  xai  wvln^Xoy,  oux  iTa^^^J  O''^'  3^a<ruf,  aXAci  fJ''^'/ot(  tlyai 
Soxfi   x«)  aijmjTor  »^  ?row  xoii  rhv  IlaT^oxXov  6  woi»)t^;  fttrjiov 

O  G   2 


452  MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES 

xu)   otvs7ri<p^ovov  Iv  xw  xuToq^om,  Iv  Se  too  tsKshtuv  i^sytxKYiyo^ov 
'gtsttoIyixs  \eyovTot, 

It  has  been  justly  remarked,  that  the  earliest 
specimen  of  every  style  is  to  be  found  in  Homer. 
However  his  critics  may  differ  in  opinion  on  the 
subject,  he  thought  it  consistent  with  epic  dignity 
to  introduce  passages  of  humour,  involving  his  most 
respectable  characters  in  ludicrous  circumstances, 
when  the  course  of  incidents  has  temporarily  de- 
graded them  from  their  high  station,  given  physic 
to  their  pomp,  and  exposed  them  to  feel  what 
wretches  feel :  •— 

Toy  8*  oig   Cnrod^a  «8wv  T^o<r6^>)  9roXujU,*)Tij  *Odu<r<rsus* 
Aa^/AOvi*,  ouTg  ri  (rs  ^e^co  xuxov,  our  ayogsuu). 
Outs  rivoi  ipQovsM  8o/x,£va<,  xu)  ttoW*  ocveXovru. 
Ou^og   0*  afjLtpoTigovs  ods  ^slasTotr    ouSs  t/  as  ^grj 
*Ak\OTgloov  <pflovegiV     Soxleij  Be  fjioi  elva*  ot\v}Tri;, 
"D^g  TTsg  eyu)V     oX^ov  hs  ^so)  ixe\Xov(riv  ottu^siv. 
'Keg(n  §6  jtAi^TJ  XiYiv  7rgoxaX/^£0,  jot^  ju,£  p^oXco(r»j^, 
M^  o"g,  yegaiv  Tisg  Iwv,  arijfloj  xa»  ^si\su  <p6g<rca 
AT/xaroj*   ^o-u;^/>)  S*  av  e/to*  xa»  [xSiXXov  er    gT>j 

AevTsgov  eg  [xsyagov  Ausgriu^so)  *OSu<r^oj* 

Tov  8s  y(pK(jocrot[i.zvog  Trgoastpaivssv  ^Igog  aX^rrj^ 
'12  'TTO'TTOif  chg  6  [j,oX.oSgog  l7riT^op^a8>)V  ayogeuet, 
r§»]i  xufxivol  l(rog'    ov  uv  xotxoi  fji,T^Ti(rcii[JLYiv, 
KoTTTcov  oc[/.(poTegYja-i,  ^aju-aj  8*  ex  Travraj  o^SvTotg 

Zcocrai  vOv,  7va  Travrsj  STnyvcowcrt  xa»  oTSs 
Magva/xevouj*    '^oo?  8*  av  cry  vswrigop  uv^g)  fx,oiyoio  y 


FROM   HOMER.  453 

Ov^ou  sn)  ^sa-TOV  wav5u/xa8ov  ox^iocovro. 
To?»v  §£  ^^vsYi^*   Ugov  ^iVO^    'AvTivooio, 

Odyss,  lib.  xviii. 

An  English  farmer  would  be  surprised  to  hear 
that  the  modern  practice  of  pounding  cattle  miglit 
be  considered  as  a  refinement  on  a  very  ancient 
custom,  of  barbarous  severity,  but  a  radical  cure 
for  trespassing,  ^lian  thus  describes  it,  De  Nat. 
Animal,  lib.   v.  cap.  45. :  —  'Ev  ^aXa/Alvi  l\  x^^%^^ 

cItov  Xflti  KYftou  xof^oovTo;  lav  (ru$  Trscouca  aTroxe/^yj,  v6[ji.os  eg-\ 
'^aKotjJuvioov  tou$  oSovraj  6XT^//3e»v  aur^j*  x«»   tovto  elm<  to  frag* 

'Ofjirigcti,  'Suo$  ArjV/3oTe/§»)f,  <pcc<nv.  As  ^liau  represents 
this  as  the  law  of  Salamis,  so  Homer  testifies  to  its 
use  among  the  Ithacans  :  and  we  are  farther  in- 
formed, that  it  was  a  custom  among  the  people  of 
Cyprus.  The  inference  therefore  seems  to  be,  that 
it  was  a  general  practice. 

The  manner  of  the  single  combat  is  well  exem- 
plified in  this  curious  scene.  The  champions  are 
represented  as  fighting  naked,  but  decently  girding 
the  loins  :  — 

AuTug  *08y<r<riu; 
ZuxretTo  /xev  f>aLxe<nv  ng)  jxi^Ssot,  ^oiive  $e  ftif^ou; 
Koi\o6§  Tf,  iJ.tya.\o\j§  re,  ^avev  Se  oi  ivgie(  cujUrOi, 
^T^Qio.  re,  (TTi^ugol  rt  /3g«p^/ovij*   avTotg  'Afii^vij 
"Ayp^i  ragia-Totixivri  /xeXe*  ^XSavi  xoi^fvi  \awv, 
Mvij<rr^^f  8*  oigoi  iravrtg  uTceg^iuKw^  ayao'otvTO' 
*il£a  hi  T»f  fTTKTXfv  »8a»v  ej  7rkv\(riov  uWov 

'H  Ta^oi  ^Igof  oi'igo$  tw.'(rTa<rTov  xxxov  i^ar 
Otfjv  ix  ^uxioov  i  yi^  hriyovvihei  ^a/vei. 


454  MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES 

ilg  aq    e(puv    "Igio;  de  xuxoog  Mglvero  ^vy^o^* 

AeiSioVa*     a-agxeg  hs  7regiTgo[xsovTO  ixs\s<r<riv, 
'Avt/vooj  8*    hvevi'Trrsv,  STTog  r   eipoiT,  ex  t    6v6[ji,al^6V 

Nvv  fLsv  fji,Y}T    sIyis,  ^ovyaie,  [x^rs  yevoio. 
El  8^  toDtov  ye  rgojxeejj  xa)  Se/Siaj  alvwf, 

AvSga  ye^ovra,  Su>)  ugYifxevoVj  >j  /x<v  \xuvsi. 
'AAA'  ex  Toi  l^eco,  fo  8e  xa)  reTeXeo-jxIvov  B<rTui, 
AT  X6V  <r*  o5to?  V'xi^crij,  xgela-a-cov  ts  ysvvjTai, 

EI  J  ''E;^eTOv  /3a<nX>3a,  /S^otcuv  SijAij/AOva  Travrcov, 
'Oj  x'  aTTO  piva  TaiJi,Yi(ri  xcci  ouotToc  v>]XeV  ^ccXxco, 
Mrj^ea  T   e^eg6(rotg,  Sojt)  xu(r/v  wjxa  8a(r«o-5a<. 

One  might  almost  imagine  that  Homer  was 
amusing  himself  here  in  parodying  his  own  more 
serious  duels.  The  brevity  of  the  speeches,  and 
the  conciseness  of  the  periods,  pleasantly  remind  us 
of  the  style  dev^oted  to  the  anger  of  Achilles,  and 
practically  illustrate  the  principle,  that  every  pas- 
sion betrays  its  appropriate  nature  in  its  language, 
whatever  may  be  its  circumstances,  or  whatever 
individual  it  may  inform.  Ulysses  girds  his  own 
strong  loins  with  his  rags  :  Diomede,  in  the  Iliad, 
performs  the  same  office  of  the  cincture  to  his 
friend  Euryalus,  before  his  combat  with  Epaeus. 

Tlie  Phoenicians  were  the  great  artists  and  na- 
vigators of  the  ancient  world.  It  is  supposed  that 
they  were  expelled  from  their  country  by  Joshua, 
that  they  settled  on  the  sea-coasts,  and  colonised 
extensively  in  the  three  known  quarters  of  the  globe. 
The  force  of  the  epithet  vocvo-IxXvtos  is,  famed  for  the 
number  of  his  ships ;  keeping  up  a  large  fleet. 

The  following  adventure  is  told  with  all  the  ele- 
gance of  Ovid  :  — 


FROM  HOMER.  455 

"Evda  8e  ^olvixig  vetva-lxXvTOi  t^\v$ov  av8^«5 

KaX:^  T6  |XsyaA>j  ts,  xa»  ayXo^  1^*  £i8u»a* 
T^y  8*  apa  4>o/voc£j  TroXuTraiTaXoi  ^^Tre^oVgyov 
riAuvoucrp  Tij  Trgwra.  [X'lyYi,  xo«X»j  Tra^a  viji, 

©ijXuTggijcri  yuvaifl,  xa^  fT  x*  cwe^o^  g»j(riv. 

Ei^cora  8i^  VsjTa,  t/j  eT>),  xS)  wodsv  eXflor 

'H  8g  jxaX*  aur/xa  ttoct^os  hfreipgoihv  v^egs<psg  8«. 


456 


MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM  PLAUTUS. 


pLAUTUS,  in  the  last  scene  of  the  Trinummus, 
thus  describes  the  connection  between  inward 
feeling  and  outward  expression  :  — 

Si  quid  stulte  fecit,  ut  ea  missa  faciat  omnia. 

Quid  quassas  caput  ?  Ch.  Conciatur  cor  mihi,  et  metuo. 

The  practice  of  unction  was  adopted  by  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  on  a  variety  of  occasions  :  at 
gymnastic  exercises,  after  public  or  private  bathing, 
medicinally,  and  at  banquets  and  festivals  as  a 
luxury.  This  custom  at  the  bath  is  mentioned 
in  Paenulo :  — 

Quid  multa  verba  ?  faciatn,  ubi  tu  laveris, 
Ubi  ut  balneator  faciat  unguentariam. 
Sed  haec  latrocinantur  quae  ego  dixi  omnia. 

*rhe  literal  meaning  of  latrocinantur  is,  those  who 
serve  in  war  for  pay. 

I  have  already  remarked  on  the  Miser  of  Plautus 
at  considerable  length  :  but  I  cannot  refrain  from 
adding  the  following  passage,  in  which  Euclio 
suspects  that  even  the  cock  had  been  suborned  by 


MISCELLANEOUS  PASSAGES  FROM  PLAUTUS.       457 

the  cooks  to  scratch  for  his  pot  of  crowns,  and 
executes  summary  justice  on  him  accordingly  :  — 

Condigne  etiam  meus  me  intus  gallus  gallinaceus, 
Qui  erat  anui  peculiaris,  perdidit  paenissume. 
Ubi  erat  ha?c  defossa,  occoepit  ibi  scalpurire  ungulis 
Circumcirca.  quid  opus  est  verbis  ?  ita  mihi  pectus  per- 

acuit : 
Capio  fustem,  obtrunco  gallum,  furem  manifestarium. 
Credo  ego  edepol  illi  mercedem  gallo  pollicitos  coquos, 
Si  id  palam  fecisset.  exemi  e  manu  manubrium. 
Quid  opus  est  verbis  ?  facta  est  pugna  in  gallo  gallinaceo, 
Sed  Megadorus  meus  affinis  eccum  incedit  a  foro. 


H  U 


458 


PASSAGE  FROM  TACITUS. 


When  we  are  told  lib.  iii.  Annal.  that  Agrip- 
pina,  "postquam  duobus  cum  liberis,  feralem 
urnam  tenens,  egressa  navi,  defixit  oculos,"  &c.  it 
seems  from  the  testimony  of  concurrent  historians, 
that  the  two  children  of  Germanicus  were  Cali- 
gula, who  went  with  his  father  into  the  East ;  and 
Julia,  who  was  born  in  the  Isle  of  Lesbos. 


459 


PASSAGE  FROM  QUINCTILIAN. 


X HE  great  Roman  authority,  on  the  subject  of 
education,  was  nearly  as  general  in  his  system  as 
those  of  the  moderns  who  object  to  our  public 
schools  and  universities,  as  being  too  confined  and 
exclusive.  He  evidently  wishes  young  students  to 
revolve  round  all  the  sciences  :  —  *'  Haec  de  Grayn* 
maticay  quam  brevissime  potui,  non  ut  omnia  di- 
cerem  sectatus,  quod  infinitum  erat  5  sed  ut  maxime 
necessaria  :  nunc  de  caeteris  artibus,  quibus  institu- 
endos  prius,  quam  tradantur  rhetori,  pueros  existi- 
mo,  strictim  subjungam,  ut  eflficiatur  orbis  ille 
doctrinae,  quam  Graeci  lyx6x\m  fffai^iiuv  vocant."  — 
QutTicl,  lib.  i.  ch.  10. 


460 


PASSAGE  FROM  ARISTOPHANES. 


Aristophanes  is  the  most  artful  of  satirists.  He 
slides  almost  imperceptibly  from  general  sarcasm 
to  personalities.  Before  he  particularises  Socrates 
and  his  disciples  by  name,  he  sets  their  doctrines 
in  an  invidious  light,  and  describes  what  he  repre- 
sents as  their  sophistry,  to  consist  in  injury  to  the 
state,  by  the  evasion  of  the  laws,  and  fraud  on  in- 
dividuals by  bilking  their  creditors. 

"ifv^SiV  (TOfSiV  TOUT*  l(TTi  ^qoYn(rTriqiov» 
'EvTaud*  8voixoo<r*  avB^sj,  oi  tov  ouqcivov 
AiyovTii  avoLirsi^orjo-iv,  chg  eo-Tiv  ^rviyeu?, 

OuTOi  SiSao-xoixr*,  oi^vgiov  ?v  rig  S<5a>, 
Aeyovra  vixav  xu)  Sixa/a  xahxu. 

The  (^qovTi<rry\qiov  here  mentioned  is  a  school,  or 
large  establishment,  of  which  many  persons  are  in- 
mates, living  on  a  footing  of  common  interests, 
without  exclusive  property,  and  for  the  purpose  of 
cultivating  literature  and  philosophy.  We  here 
see  the  germ  of  monastic  institutions. 


THE  END. 


London : 

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