no 



. i r i; u o. 



diu, then, dirrclly impeached him lor having put to 

 Lrotulut, Cethegus, and the rrst of Citiiine'* as- 

 :c, without a legal trial. Thus abandoned, the 

 father of hu country went voluntarily into banishment, 

 and Rome suffered sentence of interdiction from fire and 

 water to be patted agiinit him ; though the friends of 

 liberty iuM tecretly toed tear*, and put up prayer* for 

 hi* welfare. In hit 49th year, the fifth from the time 

 f hit cootulate, he wandered desponding over the south 

 J!T, and finally settled in Greece. The melancholy 

 which hi* letter* expre** during this tad period of his 

 existence, have drawn upon him the censure of weakness ; 

 and they certainly ditcorer him to have been no Scoic : 

 . but much allowance should be made for a mind exqui- 

 site i ; it) texture, though great in its compass, for 

 feasibility, flushed and warm with recent glory, for ge- 

 nius, torn from the community which it had saved and 

 ooroed. 



His enemy, Clodiui, who was now the pest and fury 

 of the republic, had, however, but a temporary triumph 

 over one who was loved by the great body of the people. 

 He burnt Cicero's villas, and house on the Palatine, and 

 confiscated his effects ; but when the estates were brought 

 to auction, none would bid for them. Pompcy himself 

 began to be ashamed of having deserted him, and, being 

 irritated at Clodius for some instances of insolence which 

 came nearer his own dignity, joined with the party 

 who planned his recal. A decree for that purpose was 

 at first successfully resisted by the tribune Clodius, who, 

 in defiance of the senate, absolutely slaughtered the par- 

 tizans of Cicero in the forum. But the senate at last 

 carried their point'. The citizens of the towns of Italy 

 flocked to Rome from all quarters to support their au- 

 thority. The news of the favourable decree was re- 

 ceived at the theatres with acclamations and tears of 

 joy. .sopu, the tragedian, when acting on the stage 

 a part in which he invoked the name of Brutus, substi- 

 tuted Tullius in its place, and the people were so affect- 

 ed that they called for it over and over again. A meet- 

 ing of the tribes was held in the field of Mars, and the 

 law of the senate was confirmed by the unanimous suf- 

 frages of all the centuries. This was one of the last 

 act* of Roman liberty. The day of the patriot's return 

 to Brundusium, happened to be the annual festival of 

 the foundation of the town, and the birth-day of his 

 daughter Tullia, who came to that place to meet him. 

 The fame of his landing and progress to Rome, drew 

 multitude* from all parts, so that the whole road from 

 Brundusium to Rome was one crowded and continued 

 street ; nor was there a prefecture, town, or colony 

 through Italy, which did not decree him statues, and 

 send a deputation to pay him compliments. All Italy, 

 to use his own words, brought him back upon its shoul- 

 der* : " That one day," he says, " was worth an im- 

 mortality, when, on my approach towards the city, the 

 senate came out to receive me, followed by the whole 

 body of the citizens, as if Rome itself had left its foun- 

 dations, and marched forward to embrace its preserver." 

 At soon as he entered the gates, he saw the steps 

 the temples, portico*, and tops of houses, covered with 

 people, who saluted him with an universal acclamation ; 

 and as he marched towards the capital, fresh multitudes 

 expected his arrival. So splendid was his triumph, that 

 he had reason, he says, to fear lest the people should 

 imagine that he had himeclf contrived his late flight, for 

 the take of to glorious a restoration. After some diffi- 

 culties, occasioned by the rancour of Clodius, his pro- 

 perty was restored to him, and hit demolished i. 



rebuilt at the public expense. I In reimbursements, how- Guru.. 

 ever, were not adequate to his losses. s< ^~,'" 



The persecution he had undergone rendered him still 

 more cautious in his political conduct, and while he stu- 

 died to keep on the best terms with Pompey, Czsar, and 

 Crassus, he exercised his eloquence generally as a de- 

 fendant to secure him personal friendships. In the 54-th 

 year of his age he was admitted into the college of Au- 

 gurs. He is said to have been above the general faith of 

 his countrymen in augury, but the situation carried dig- 

 nity with it. The death of the atrocious Clodius, who 

 was killed in an affray, by Milo, soon after gave occasion 

 to one of the capital exertions of his oratorial powers ; 

 and though the appearance of Pompey 's soldiers discom- 

 posed, and even paraly/ed his elocution on this occasion, 

 so that Milo was banished, the pleading exists as a mo- 

 del of defensive eloquence. 



In his 56th year he went as proconsul to Cilicia, the 

 jurisdiction of which belonged to the isle of Cyprus. 

 His conduct in this commission was highly honourable 

 to his character, particularly towards the Cappadocian 

 king, Ariobarzanes, who had been miserably scourged 

 by the Roman governors and generals. The debt for 

 which that unfortunate prince paid exorbitant interest to 

 Pompey, and owed also to Brutus, seems to have placed 

 Cicero in a situation of distressing dilemma. It shewed 

 the humanity of our orator, however, in a high light, 

 that when Ariobarzanes came to offer him a present, th- 

 usual peace-offering to Roman governors, he generously 

 refused it, but pressed him to apply it to the payment 

 of his debt to Brutus. The poor Cappadocian princr 

 was obliged to excuse himself, by pleading the necessity 

 of satisfying more pressing demands, namely those of 

 Pompey, who, for good reasons, could not be refused. 

 Brutus solicited his assistance to recover debt in another 

 quarter, which still more eminently displayed Cicero's sense 

 of justice. The city of Salamais owed Brutus a debt of 

 jRK),000, and Scaptius his agent (the lovers of liberty will 

 peruse thcauecdote with pain) had, in harassing the Salami*- 

 nians for payment, shut up their senate till five of them 

 were starved to death. Brutus attempted to place this 

 Scaptius in the favour of Cicero ; but Cicero, disdaining 

 to make the ties of friendship a bond of injustice, depo- 

 sed Scaptius from his prefecture, having laid it down for 

 a rule, to grant no man a command who was concern- 

 ed in trade, or negociating money in the province. On 

 t-imilar principles he had ordained, that no debt under 

 his government should bear an interest of more than a per 

 cent, per month. Scaptius demanded four per cent. ; but 

 though the agent for Brutus's debt, he obliged him to 

 accept of payment on those legal terms, and helped the 

 unhappy Salammiana to release the bond by remitting 

 to them the dues of his own office. " If Brutus does not 

 approve of this, (he says in writing to Atticus on the 

 ;:ct,) 1 shall be sorry indeed that he has any occa- 

 sion to be angry witli me, but much more not to find 

 him the man that I took him to be." In another epistle 

 to Atticus, he adds, " How could you desire me to 

 grant t'oops to Scaptius for the sake of extorting money ? 

 Could you, if yuu were with me, suffer me to do it ? If! 

 n-.illy had done such a thing, with what face could I 

 evtr read again, or touch those books of mine with 

 which you are so pleased ?" It has been usual to tax 

 the memory of Cicero with a pliable and timid spirit. 

 Yet, to behave with such integrity, must have required 

 courage as well as generosity. He restricted his own. 

 r.6 from even the customary foraging tributes which. 

 were levied on the inhabitants of the provinces, allow- 



