Chapter XIV: Section XII

[a] That poetry requires a retreat from the bustle of the world, has been so often repeated, that it is now considered as a truth, from which there can be no appeal. Milton, it is true, wrote his Paradise Lost in a small house near _Bunhill Fields_; and Dryden courted the muse in the hurry and dissipation of a town life. But neither of them fixed his residence by choice. Pope grew immortal on the banks of the Thames. But though the country seems to be the seat of contemplation, two great writers have been in opposite opinions. Cicero says, woods and groves, and rivers winding through the meadows, and the refreshing breeze, with the melody of birds, may have their attraction; but they rather relax the mind into indolence, than rouse our attention, or give vigour to our faculties. _Sylvarum amænitas, et præterlabentia flumina, et inspirantes ramis arborum auræ, volucrumque cantus, et ipsa late circumspiciendi libertas ad se trahunt; at mihi remittere potius voluptas ista videtur cogitationem, quam intendere._ _De Orat._ lib. ii. This, perhaps, may be true as applied to the public orator, whose scene of action lay in the forum or the senate. Pliny, on the other hand, says to his friend Tacitus, there is something in the solemnity of venerable woods, and the awful silence which prevails in those places, that strongly disposes us to study and contemplation. For the future, therefore, whenever you hunt, take along with you your pen and paper, as well as your basket and bottle; for you will find the mountains not more inhabited by Diana, than by Minerva. _Jam undique sylvæ, et solitudo, ipsumque illud silentium, quod venationi datur, magna cogitationis incitamenta sunt. Proinde, cum, venabere, licebit, auctore me, ut panarium et lagunculam, sic etiam pugillares feras. Experiaris non Dianam magis montibus quam Minervam inerrare._ Lib. i. epist. 6. Between these two different opinions, a true poet may be allowed to decide. Horace describes the noise and tumult of a city life, and then says,

Scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus, et fugit urbes.
Epist. lib. ii. ep. ii. ver. 77.

Alas! to grottos and to groves we run,
To ease and silence, ev'ry muse's son.
POPE.

[b] The expression in the original is full and expressive, _lucrosæ hujus et sanguinantis eloquentiæ_; that gainful and blood-thirsty eloquence. The immoderate wealth acquired by Eprius Marcellus has been mentioned in this Dialogue, section 8. Pliny gives us an idea of the vast acquisitions gained by Regulus, the notorious informer. From a state of indigence, he rose, by a train of villainous actions, to such immense riches, that he once consulted the omens, to know how soon he should be worth sixty millions of sesterces, and found them so favourable, that he had no doubt of being worth double that sum. _Aspice Regulum, qui ex paupere et tenui ad tantas opes per flagitia processit, ut ipse mihi dixerit, cum consuleret, quam cito sestertium sexcennies impleturus esset, invenisse se exta duplicata, quibus portendi millies et ducenties habiturum._ Lib. ii. ep. 20. In another epistle the same author relates, that Regulus, having lost his son, was visited upon that occasion by multitudes of people, who all in secret detested him, yet paid their court with as much assiduity as if they esteemed and loved him. They retaliated upon this man his own insidious arts: to gain the friendship of Regulus, they played the game of Regulus himself. He, in the mean time, dwells in his villa on the other side of the Tiber, where he has covered a large tract of ground with magnificent porticos, and lined the banks of the river with elegant statues; profuse, with all his avarice, and, in the depth of infamy, proud and vain-glorious. _Convenitur ad eum mirâ celebritate: cuncti detestantur, oderunt; et, quasi probent, quasi diligant, cursant, frequentant, utque breviter, quod sentio, enunciem, in Regulo demerendo, Regulum imitantur. Tenet se trans Tyberim in hortis, in quibus latissimum solum porticibus immensis, ripam statuis suis occupavit; ut est, in summâ avaritia sumptuosus, in summâ infamiâ gloriosus._ Lib. iv. ep. 2. All this splendour, in which Regulus lived, was the fruit of a gainful and blood-thirsty eloquence; if that may be called eloquence, which Pliny says was nothing more than a crazed imagination; _nihil præter ingenium insanum_. Lib. iv. ep. 7.

[c] Orpheus, in poetic story, was the son of Calliope, and Linus boasted of Apollo for his father.

----Nec Thracius Orpheus,
Nec Linus; huic mater quamvis, atque huic pater adsit,
Orphei Calliopea, Lino formosus Apollo.
VIRG. ECL. iv. ver. 55.

Not Orpheus' self, nor Linus, should exceed
My lofty lays, or gain the poet's meed,
Though Phoebus, though Calliope inspire,
And one the mother aid, and one the sire.
WHARTON'S VIRGIL.

Orpheus embarked in the Argonautic expedition. His history of it, together with his hymns, is still extant; but whether genuine, is much doubted.

[d] Lysias, the celebrated orator, was a native of Syracuse, the chief town in Sicily. He lived about four hundred years before the Christian æra. Cicero says, that he did not addict himself to the practice of the bar; but his compositions were so judicious, so pure and elegant, that you might venture to pronounce him a perfect orator. _Tum fuit Lysias, ipse quidem in causis forensibus non versatus sed egregiè subtilis scriptor, atque elegans, quem jam prope audeas oratorem perfectum dicere._ Cicero _De Claris Orat._ s. 35. Quintilian gives the same opinion. Lysias, he says, preceded Demosthenes: he is acute and elegant, and if to teach the art of speaking were the only business of an orator, nothing more perfect can be found. He has no redundancy, nothing superfluous, nothing too refined, or foreign to his purpose: his style is flowing, but more like a pure fountain, than a noble river. _His ætate Lysias major, subtilis atque elegans, et quo nihil, si oratori satis sit docere, quæras perfectius. Nihil enim est inane, nihil arcessitum; puro tamen fonti, quam magno flumini propior._ Quint, lib. x. cap. 1. A considerable number of his orations is still extant, all written with exquisite taste and inexpressible sweetness. See a very pleasing translation by Dr. Gillies.

Hyperides flourished at Athens in the time of Demosthenes, Æschynes, Lycurgus, and other famous orators. That age, says Cicero, poured forth a torrent of eloquence, of the best and purest kind, without the false glitter of affected ornament, in a style of noble simplicity, which lasted to the end of that period. _Huic Hyperides proximus, et Æschynes fuit, et Lycurgus, aliique plures. Hæc enim ætas effudit hanc copiam; et, ut opinio mea fert, succus ille et sanguis incorruptus usque ad hanc ætatem oratorum fuit, in qua naturalis inesset, non fucatus nitor._ _De Claris Orat._ s. 36. Quintilian allows to Hyperides a keen discernment, and great sweetness of style; but he pronounces him an orator designed by nature to shine in causes of no great moment. _Dulcis in primis et acutus Hyperides; sed minoribus causis, ut non dixerim utilior, magis par._ Lib. x. cap. 1. Whatever might be the case when this Dialogue happened, it is certain, at present, that the fame of Sophocles and Euripides has eclipsed the two Greek orators.

[e] For an account of Asinius Pollio and Corvinus Messala, see _Annals_, b. xi. s. 6. Quintilian (b. xii. chap. 10) commends the diligence of Pollio, and the dignity of Messala. In another part of his Institutes, he praises the invention, the judgement, and spirit of Pollio, but at the same time says, he fell so short of the suavity and splendour of Cicero, that he might well pass for an orator of a former age. He adds, that Messala was natural and elegant: the grandeur of his style seemed to announce the nobility of his birth; but still he wanted force and energy. _Malta in Asinio Pollione inventio, summa diligentia, adeo ut quibusdam etiam nimia videatur; et consilii et animi satis; a nitore et jucunditate Ciceronis ita longe abest, ut videri possit sæculo prior. At Messala nitidus et candidus, et quodammodo præ se ferens in dicendo nobilitatem suam, viribus minor._ Quintilian, lib. x. cap. 1. The two great poets of the Augustan age have transmitted the name of Asinius Pollio to the latest posterity. Virgil has celebrated him as a poet, and a commander of armies, in the Illyrican and Dalmatic wars.

Tu mihi, seu magni superas jam saxa Timavi,
Sive oram Illyrici legis æquoris; en erit unquam
Ille dies, mihi cum liceat tua dicere facta?
En erit, ut liceat totum mihi ferre per orbem
Sola Sophocleo tua carmina digna cothurno?
ECLOG. viii. ver. 6.

O Pollio! leading thy victorious bands
O'er deep Timavus, or Illyria's sands;
O when thy glorious deeds shall I rehearse?
When tell the world how matchless is thy verse,
Worthy the lofty stage of laurell'd Greece,
Great rival of majestic Sophocles!
WHARTON'S VIRGIL.

Horace has added the orator and the statesman:

Paulum severæ musa tragediæ
Desit theatris; mox, ubi publicas
Res ordinaris, grande munus
Cecropio repetes cothurno,
Insigne moestis præsidium reis,
Et consulenti, Pollio, curiæ,
Cui laurus æternos honores
Dalmatico peperit triumpho.
Lib. ii. ode 1.

Retard a while thy glowing vein,
Nor swell the solemn tragic scene;
And when thy sage, thy patriot cares
Have form'd the train of Rome's affairs,
With lofty rapture reinflam'd, diffuse
Heroic thoughts, and wake the buskin'd muse.
FRANCIS'S HORACE.

But after all, the question put by Maternus, is, can any of their orations be compared to the _Medea_ of Ovid, or the _Thyestes_ of Varius? Those two tragedies are so often praised by the critics of antiquity, that the republic of letters has reason to lament the loss. Quintilian says that the _Medea_ of Ovid was a specimen of genius, that shewed to what heights the poet could have risen, had he thought fit rather to curb, than give the rein to his imagination. _Ovidii Medea videtur mihi ostendere quantum vir ille præstare potuisset, si ingenio suo temperare, quam indulgere maluisset._ Lib. x. cap. 1.

The works of Varius, if we except a few fragments, are wholly lost. Horace, in his journey to Brundusium, met him and Virgil, and he mentions the incident with the rapture of a friend who loved them both:

Plotius, et Varius Sinuessæ, Virgiliusque
Occurrunt; animæ quales neque candidiores
Terra tulit, neque queis me sit devinctior alter.
Lib. i. sat. 5.

Horace also celebrates Varius as a poet of sublime genius. He begins his Ode to Agrippa with the following lines:

Scriberis Vario fortis, et hostium
Victor, Mæonii carminis alite,
Quam rem cumque ferox navibus, aut equis
Miles te duce gesserit.
Lib. i. ode 6.

Varius, who soars on epic wing,
Agrippa, shall thy conquests sing,
Whate'er, inspir'd by thy command,
The soldier dar'd on sea or land.
FRANCIS'S HORACE.

A few fragments only of his works have reached posterity. His tragedy of THYESTES is highly praised by Quintilian. That judicious critic does not hesitate to say, that it may be opposed to the best productions of the Greek stage. _Jam Varii Thyestes cuilibet Græcorum comparari potest._ Varius lived in high favour at the court of Augustus. After the death of Virgil, he was joined with _Plotinus_ and _Tucca_ to revise the works of that admirable poet. The _Varus_ of Virgil, so often celebrated in the Pastorals, was, notwithstanding what some of the commentators have said, a different person from Varius, the author of Thyestes.