home of his own, with means of support and enjoyment, tha satisfied his moderate wants, and met the cherished longing of his heart; a delightful rural retreat,2 remote from th smoke and noise and crowds of the city, and congenial t study, and the exercise of his art. In its possession, he ex presses his sense of full content; he would not exchange hi Sabine vale for troublesome riches,5 assured that he is fa happier than the lords of vast estates. Here he loved to repose in the deep shades of the valley," or invigorate hi body and spirit by the pure air and romantic beauty of the adjoining hills; here by his own hearth he gathered about him his country neighbors for cheerful and instructiv discourse, or entertained his friends from the city with a plain but cordial hospitality; and here, from such scenes as these whether amid the solitude of nature, or the glad festivities of the social hour, he caught the inspiring influence of many of his finest poems. 9 From this time the life of Horace went on in even pros perity; passed chiefly in the retirement of the country, or in the stately mansion of Maecenas at Rome, and devoted in turn to his poetic studies, and to the claims of friendship and society. The Epodes and Odes, his next works in the order of publication, if not of composition, bear witness to the intelligent and patriotic interest with which he watched the progress of public affairs, to his lingering apprehensions of renewed civil strife, and his joy at the brightening pros pect of settled peace and order. 12 His constant intercourse with Maecenas brought him into friendly connections with the eminent men of the time,13 and at length drew upon him the favorable regards of Augustus. 15. The relations of Horace with Augustus have been the sub Hoc erat in votis: Sat. 2, 2, 61. "Hae latebrae dulces, Epist. 1, 16, 30. 3, 29,.12; Sat. 2, 6, 28. unicis Sabinis. 'Epist. 1, 16, 5. O. 3, 16, 25-32. Sat. 2, 6, 18 & 19: Epist. 1, 16,16. Sat. 2, 6, 70-117. 10 Molem propinquam nubibus arduis, O. 3, 29, 10. 11 Epod. 7: Epod. 16. ib. 40-44; Sat. 1, 10, 81-88. 12 13 O. 4, 15. 13 Sat. 1, 5, 31-33; ject of undeserved animadversion; his acquiescence in the emperor's sole dominion, his praises, in verse, of the majesty of his person, of the triumphs of his arms, and the peaceful glories of his reign, have provoked from hasty critics the charge of servile adulation, and of a weak abandonment of cherished sentiments. It was certainly a mark of good sense in the poet, and was a good fortune for the world, that at the fatal battle of Philippi he did not, like Brutus, throw himself upon his sword, or like a few of his comrades, impracticably adhere to an utterly hopeless cause. When the battle of Actium and the overthrow and death of the profligate Antony had put an end to the bloody civil wars, and left Augustus the master of Rome and of the world, it was true patriotism and humanity in Horace to yield his homage to a government which restored tranquillity to his long-distracted country, and to lend his poetic talents to the promotion of its wise and peaceful policy. In his Odes in honor of Augustus, he expressed the sentiments of the best and most enlightened classes throughout the empire; and, in ascribing to him divine honors, he clothed in a poetic form, familiar to the genius and the usage of antiquity, the prevailing admiration for one who was the most exalted personage of the time, and was justly regarded as "the tutelary guardian of peace, civilization, and progress." But while he acquiesced in the new order of things, and sang the praises of Augustus, he cherished with a Roman's pride the memories of the lost republic; he portrays the virtues. and the deeds of the statesmen and heroes of by-gone days;2 he speaks without disguise of his associations with the last republican army, of Brutus his leader, and of his comrades. in arms, and renders enthusiastic homage to the unyielding spirit and noble death of Cato.5 And in his personal relations with Augustus, he always conducted himself with a noble dignity and freedom; so far from courting his favor, he even 1 O. 3, 3, 11 & 12; Epist. 2, 1, 15 & 16. *0. 1, 12, 37-44; ib. 2, 15, 11-20; ib. 3, 5, 12-56; ib. 3, 6, 33-48. 3 $ 0. 2, 7, 2. 40. 2, 7, 1-16; O. 3, 21. O. 1, 12, 35; ib. 2, 1, 24. declined the advances made by Augustus himself; when, solicited by him to accept the place of his confidential secretary,' he respectfully refused it; and when afterwards assured by him, in his letters, of his undiminished regard, and urged to come without ceremony to his palace and his table, the poet showed himself nowise disposed to avail himself of the tempting offers of the emperor.3 We have thus touched upon the leading events in the life of Horace. The struggles of his youth, overcome by the exercise of his poetic talents, were followed in manhood by ample and abiding consolations,-fame, independence, friends, the intimacy of Maecenas, and the favor of Augustus. He commanded a position agreeable to his tastes and wishes, and mminently favorable to the development of his poetic character. Enjoying free access to the court of Augustus, and to the brilliant circles of the capital, and thus brought into connection with all men of distinction in letters, in the state, and in the world, he was familiar with the manners and forms of character of Roman society, and with all the best intellectual and social influences of Roman life. And when weary of the tumults and busy scenes of the city, he could avail himself of all the advantages and pleasures of country life; he could visit his favorite Tibur, where, by "the headlong Anio and the grove of Tiburnus," he passed in rambling and study 1 "Ante ipse sufficiebam scribendis epistolis amicorum; nunc occupatissimus et infirmus Horatium nostrum te cupio adducere. Veniet igitur ab ista parasitica mensa ad hanc regiam, et nos in epistolis scribendis adjuvabit:" Epist. of Augustus to Maecenas, in Suet. Vita Hor. 2. 2 "Sume tibi aliquid juris apud me, tanquam si convictor mihi fueris, etc." Augustus to Horace, in Suet. Vita Hor. 3. 3" Neque enim, si tu superbus amicitiam nostram sprevisti, ideo nos quoque àvvæεрopovoûμev:" Aug. to Hor. in Suet. V. H. 3. ♦ O. 1, 7, 10–14 ; ib. 2, 6, 5–8; ib. 3, 4, 23; ib. 3, 29, 6; ib. 4, 2, 30 & 31; ib. 4, 3, 10-12; Epist. 1, 7, 45; ib. 1, 8, 12; ib. 2, 2, 3. It is a disputed point, whether Horace owned a place at Tibur, or when there, lived in a villa of Maecenas. A passage in Suetonius favors the former view: Vixit plurimum in secessu ruris sui Sabini, aut Tiburtini, domusque jus ostenditur circa Tiburni luculum. many a delightful hour; or resort to the cool Praeneste, or to the healing waters and gay scenes of Baiae; or if he longed, as so often he did, for complete retirement, he could hasten back to his own secluded home in the Sabine valley. The friendship of Maecenas and Horace continued unbroken and unaltered, and terminated only in death; and in their death they were not long divided. Maecenas died in the year B. c. 8, commending his friend to Augustus, in his last words: Horatii Flacci, ut mei, esto memor.3 Horace died a few weeks later, on the 27th of November, in the fiftyseventh year of his age; thus singularly fulfilling his own poetic resolution," Ibimus, ibimus Utcunque praecedes, supremum In different passages, Horace has described various particulars pertaining to his person, habits, and temperament; and all the leading features of his character are easily gathered from his writings. 9 6 He was of short stature, with dark hair,' which early turned gray, and dark eyes. In his youth he seems to have enjoyed vigorous health, 10 except that he was subject to a weakness in the eyes.11 In advanced life, with generally feeble health,12 he was very corpulent, even to a rotundity of person; a circumstance which provoked the very lively raillery of Augustus. 14 He describes himself as hasty of 12 0.3, 4, 24. 6 13 3 Suet. V. H., 1. 10. 3, 4, 22.、 Suet. V. H., 6. O. 2, 17, 10-12. T Epist. 1, 20, 24. Epist. 1, 7, 26. B Epist. 1, 20, 24; O. 3, 14, 25. Ars. P. 37. 10 Epist. 1, 7, 26. "Sat. 1, 5, 30. Epist. 1, 7, 3 seqq. & 25 seqq. 13 Epist. 1, 4, 15. 14 Pertulit ad me Dionysius libellum tuum, quem ego, ne accusem brevitatem, quantuluscunque est, boni consulo. Vereri autem mihi videris, ne majores libelli sint, quam ipse es. Sed si tibi statura deest, corpusculum non deest. Itaque licebit in sextariolo scribas, quum circuitus voluminis tui sit byкwdéσTATOs, sicut est ventriculi tui. temper, though easily appeased, and rather negligent in his dress.2 8 His writings exhibit him as a man of a singularly contented and happy nature; moderate and reasonable in his wishes, deprecating alike riches and poverty, and loving and praising "the golden mean;" and under all circumstances striving to preserve a calm and even mind. Though he was no enemy to choice wines and good living," he was generally simple and frugal in his habits; he knew how to put a limit to his pleasures, how to enjoy the blessings of life without abusing them; his dulce desipere is qualified by in loco; and the convivial scenes to his taste are those where the presence of the comely and united Graces forbids the rude and noisy strifes of Mars and Bacchus. He was eminently fitted both to enjoy and to enliven and adorn society; with his genuine good-humor, his delicate wit, varied knowledge, skilful tact, and perfect sense of propriety, he was every where a welcome guest, the most delightful of companions. He was a warm, faithful and constant friend; such Odes as those to Varus, Septimius, Valgius, and most of all, the Ode to Virgil," show how he shared alike in the joys and the sorrows of those to whom he was attached, how he exercised the true office of friendship, in lightening their adversity, and rendering their prosperity yet brighter. 12 10 With all his lively social sympathies, Horace had a sincere and earnest love of Nature. This was a prominent trait in his character no less as a man than as a writer; he was never so 3 e. g. O. 1, 31, 15-20; ib. 2, 3; ib. 2, 10; ib. 2, 16, 13-16; ib. 2, 18; ib. 3, 1; ib. 3, 16, 21-44; Sat. 1, 6, 104–131. ♦ O. 2, 10, 5. * O. 1, 20, 10-12; * O. 4, 12, 28. 5 e. g. O. 2, 7, 21; ib. 3, 21. ib. 1, 31, 15 & 16; ib. 3, 29, 14; Sat. 1, 6, 114-118. O. 3, 21, 22; comp. O. 1, 4, 6. 9O. 1, 17, 21-24; ib. 1, 27, 1-8; ib. 3, 8, 15. 12 Nam et secundas res splendidiores facit amicitia, et adversas, partiens communicansque, leviores. Cic. de Amic. 6. |