

1832.] [ 521 ] 



CICERO S WORK ON THE REPUBLIC. 



CICERO'S work on the Republic was discovered in the year 1820, in 

 the Vatican Library, at Rome, by the indefatigable librarian Angelo 

 Maio. Its loss w^is deeply deplored at the revival of learning in Europe, 

 when the most diligent investigations were made for its discovery, but 

 without any success. The scholars of that age had conceived the 

 highest idea of its excellence, not only from the opinion which Cicero 

 has himself expressed in his writings, but also from the praises bestowed 

 upon it by all the ancients, from the time of Seneca to that of Macrobius ; 

 in fact, till the barbarians from the north destroyed all vestiges of litera- 

 ture and the fine arts. The orator himself, in his letters and philosophi- 

 cal works, repeatedly* speaks of it in terms, which lead us to suppose 

 that he considered it his master-piece. Seneca declares that the book is 

 useful to every one,f and that " neither the philologian, the grammarian, 

 nor the philosopher, can ever take up the work of Cicero on the Repub- 

 lic, without deriving information and delight." And to these classical 

 authorities we may add, that Lactantius and Augustus, the renowned 

 fathers of the Christian church, have frequently praised it in their writ- 

 ings, and have quoted it at considerable length. ; 



As the loss of the work was greatly lamented, so its discovery 

 has delighted all the literati of Europe. It has been translated into 

 French by M. Villemain, a member of the French Academy. In Ger- 

 many, the original has passed through several editions ; it has been 

 translated into the vernacular language by J. M. Pierre ; and a treatise|| 

 has been published in that country, which discusses with great ability 

 its political maxims. We state these facts simply to shew the great im- 

 portance attached to it by the learned of our own time. 



But this work of Cicero is more eminently adapted to be useful at 

 this eventful period, when a principle of change is pervading all classes 

 of society, when governments appear to be rocking from their very 

 foundations, and the whole world seems agitated by one great shock 

 of political excitement. Cicero was as eminent for his patriotism, as he 

 was for his philosophy, and added to the loftiest of souls one of the 

 most penetrating geniuses that ever adorned humanity. He lived, too, 

 in the most troubled times of Roman history, in times replete with 

 revolutions of every kind ; and in this work on the Republic, he has 

 transmitted to posterity the reflections formed from a long series of ob- 

 servations, to serve as a beacon to future governments, to warn them of 

 the evils ever attending misrule, and to teach them the only means by 

 which the happiness and prosperity of a state can be established and 

 secured. 



* See Cicero ad Famil. ix. 2. Ad Quintum, III. 5. Tuscul. Qusest. IV. 1. 

 De Leg. I. 9, III. 3, &c. &c. 



f Seneca, Epist CVIII. 



$ See Lactant. Instit. V. 12. August. Civit. Dei, lib. XV. et passim. 



This translation is not such as we might have anticipated from the other lite- 

 rary productions of Germany ; being little better than a poor Germanization of the 

 French version, by Villemain a work which, though superior in point of accuracy 

 to most of the French translations, is yet not entirely free from the taint of laxity, 

 and affected finesse. 



|l See Zacharise Staatswissenchafliche Betrachtungen, iiber Cicero's werk vom 

 Staate. 



M.M. New Series. Vol. XIII. No. 77. 2 N 



