1844.] 



~ Recovery of the " Cicero de Republica." 



the learned industry of its brclhcu. 

 About llie seventeenth century, as the 

 diligent Maius conjectures, a great 

 portion of these palimsests or doubly- 

 Wiitteii manuscripts were removed to 

 the Vatican, while anotlier piirt was 

 purchased for the Ambrosian Library 

 at Milan. While vested with the care 

 of this latter foundation it was that 

 jVIaiirslaborionsly detected the writings 

 which constitute the Fragments al- 

 ready mentioned; and from the same 

 Uobbian parchments, since bis trans- 

 lation to tlie charge of the Vatican, has 

 lie happily rescued the highly impor- 

 tant, though dcl'ectivc, contents of the 

 volume I am at present so pleased to 

 expatiate on. 



it appears to have been the custom, 

 as early as the time of Cicero himself, 

 to erase the letters of an old written 

 parchment, and turn it again into use. 

 How many and how great have been 

 the losses which literature has sustain- 

 ed from the practice, it were now idle 

 to calculate: there is, however, ample 

 scope and verge enough for classical 

 lamentation on the score. How the 

 taste of one period differed from the 

 ■preference of another, we may conjec- 

 ture from the one fact now ascertained, 

 that Cicero's Treatise was obliterated 

 to make room for St. Augustine's 

 Commentary on the Psalms. Fortu- 

 nately, however, for the scholars of 

 1820, and succeeding years, the 

 .strength of the ancient ink so far 

 resisted the efi'acing hands of the pious 

 monk, as to leave the original charac- 

 ters in a great degree still legible. 

 Other treatment, however, made other 

 losses more probable. It was the 

 pleasure of the second writer to change 

 the order of the sheets, preSs new 

 creases, and cut fresh margins ; a fancy 

 which was rendered still more vexa- 

 tious by the discovery, that some of 

 the sheets have been lost. Yet I must 

 confess, any part, however small, of 

 such a composition, is to form a present 

 as welcome as estimable ; its opinicms 

 are indeed golden, and if u])on the 

 sncccHsful labour of the past, it is not 

 unreasonable to f<iund a judgment of 

 the gratifying end of future perseve- 

 rance, I may cherish a hope, that the 

 learned editor will add to the pleasure 

 lie has already given me, and make 

 the now imperfect Dialogues perfect. 



Of (he long patience and minute 

 study whicK the great task our Vatican 

 prefect has so classically effected, 

 a few facts from his very iiit«- 



resting preface will afford a convic- 

 tion. It often occupied an hour to 

 make out a line, — even a word. Some- 

 times he was necessitated to discon- 

 tinue his investigation, in default of a 

 clear sun, to trace tiic dim letters by ; 

 and sometimes, again, when it shone 

 brightly, it is not unlikely he was also 

 obliged to stoj), because too much 

 exhausted to persevere. To decipher 

 the ancient letters and signs was ano- 

 ther difficulty ; but he admits bo did 

 not find it so great a one as might be 

 inferred from the fact, which he be- 

 lieves, that the characters of bis copy 

 are as old as the second century. 



We want the opening sentences, 

 though perhaps not ma»y, as we enjoy 

 a satisfactory introduction. The prin- 

 ciples about to be inculcated are sup- 

 posed by Cicero to have been delivered 

 to a circle of illustrious friends by 

 ScipioAfricanus Minor, at his suburban 

 villa. The report of this conference, 

 which is a fine instance of the ancient's 

 " feast of reason and his flow of soul," 

 was very current when our author and 

 a friend, whose name is lost, were in 

 their youth. To perpetuate, after a 

 lapse of years, the treasures of such 

 opinions, are the Dialogues re-told, 

 with an account of the casual conver- 

 sation whence they originated. Several 

 friends happen to visit Scipio, — of 

 whom Lelius, Cicero's gifted Lelius, 

 is introduced to the middle seat of 

 honour. Their discourse turns upon 

 what seems to have been the common 

 topic of wise men at that day, — and 

 well it might, for it were indeed a 

 matter of wonder, — the parhelion or 

 second sun, which was said to have 

 lately appeared. A disquisition on the 

 subject, variously supported, but with 

 equal animation, by the different par- 

 ties, ensues ; during the course of 

 which a solution of the phenomenon 

 is attempted ; a philosophical instru- 

 ment, to illustrate the planetary 

 system, — the invention of Arcliimedes, 

 and found by Marcellus after his 

 reduction of Syracuse, — is described; 

 and an intelligence of the cause of 

 eclipses among the Romans before the 

 time of Ennius, is asserted. All this 

 to the scientilic student will prove 

 delectable matter; but, much to £very 

 reader's regret, it is broken in different 

 parts by the obscurity or defect of the 

 manuscript. At length Scipio, who 

 has excused himself from an opiniojv 

 on the subject, because, after tho 

 authority of iboeratcs, he has not dedi- 

 cated 



