18.) 
LANG U AGE. 
did not reach beyond the middle of that prince's reign. 
It is generally believed that eloquence, and with it every 
thing liberal, elevated, and manly, was banifhed Rome’ 
by the delpotifm of the Csefars. Defpotifm, however, 
was firmly eftablilhed among the Romans about the middle 
of thereign of Auguftus; andyetthat period produced luch 
a group of learned men as never adorned any other na¬ 
tion in fo fhort a fpace of time. Defpotifm, we acknow¬ 
ledge, might have affected the eloquence of the bar; the 
noble and important objeds which had animated the re¬ 
publican orators being now no more; but this circumftance 
could not much affed poetry, hiftory, philofophy, &c. 
The age of Loqis XIV. was the golden period of the 
French tongue; and we think that age produced a race of 
•learned men in every department fuperior in number and 
equal in genius to the literati who flourifhed under the 
noble and envied confutation of Britain during the fame 
age, though the latter is univerfally allowed to have been 
the golden period of this country. In the eaft the fame 
obfervation is confirmed. The Perfians have long groaned 
under the Mahometan yoke; and yet every oriental fcho- 
lar will allow, that in that country, and under the molt 
galling tyranny, the molt amazing produdions of talte, 
genius, and induftry, that ever dignified human nature, 
have been exhibited. Under the Arabian caliphs, the 
fucceffors of Mahomet, appeared writers of a moft fublime 
genius, though never was delpotifm more cruelly exer- 
cifed than under thofe fanatics. The revival of letters at 
the era of the reformation was chiefly promoted and che- 
rifiied by petty defpotical princes. We cannot therefore 
be perfuaded, that the defpotifm of the Caefars banifhed 
eloquence and learning from Rome. Longinus indeed 
has attributed this misfortune to that caufe, and tells us, 
“ It is liberty that is formed to nurfe the fentiments of 
great geniufes, to pu(h forward the propenfity of conteft, 
to infpire them with hopes, and the generous ambition of 
being the firft in rank.” When Longinus wrote this, he 
did not refled that he himfelf was a llriking inftance of 
the unfoundnefs of his obfervation. 
As to fcience, the fad is undoubtedly on the other fide. 
That Seneca was fuperior to Cicero in philofophy, cannot 
be reafonably contradided. The latter had read, and ac¬ 
tually abridged, the whole extent of Grecian philofophy : 
this difplayed his reading rather than his learning. The 
former had addided himfelf to the ftoic fed ; and, though 
he does not write with the fame flow of eloquence as 
Tully, he thinks more deeply and reafons more clofely. 
Pliny’s Natural Hiftory is a wonderful colledion, and con¬ 
tains more ufeful knowledge than all the writings of the 
Auguftan age condenfed into one rnafs. We think the 
hiftorical annals of Tacitus, if inferior to Livy in ftyle 
and tnajefty of didion, much fuperior in arrangement and 
vigour of compofition. In fhort, we difeover in thef’e 
produdions a deep infight into human nature, an exten¬ 
sive knowledge cf the fcience of government, a penetration 
•which no difflmulation could efcape, together with a fin- 
cere attachment to truth both with refped to events and 
charaders; nor is he inferior in the majefty, energy, and 
propriety, of his harangues, wherever an equal opportu¬ 
nity prefents itfelf. Quintilian, Pliny the younger, Sue¬ 
tonius, Petronius Arbiter, and Juvenal, deferve high efteem; 
nor are they inferior to their immediate predeceffors. 
We think there is good reafon to conclude, that the 
lofs of liberty among the Romans did not produce the ex- 
tindion of eloquence, fcience, elevation of fentiment, or 
refinement of tafte. There were, we believe, other cir- 
cumltances which chiefly contributed to produce that re¬ 
volution. Velleius Paterculus afiigns fome plaufible and 
very judicious reafons for this catattrophe : “ Emulation 
(fays he) is the nurfe of genius; and one while envy, and 
another admiration, fires imitation. According to the 
laws of nature, that which is purfued with the greater!: 
ardour mounts to the top; but to be ftationary in perfec¬ 
tion is a difficult matter; and, by the fame analogy, that 
tvhich cannot go forward goes backward. As at the out- 
VpL. XII. No. 821. 
fet we are animated to overtake thofe whom we deem be¬ 
fore us, fo, when we defpair of being able to overtake or 
to pals by them, our ardour languiflies together with our 
hope, and what it cannot overtake it ceafes to purine ; 
and, leaving the fubjed as already engrofled by another, it 
looks out fora new one upon which to exert itfelf. That 
by which we find we are not able to acquire eminence we 
relinquifh, and try to find out fome object ellewhere upon 
which to employ our intelledual powers. The confe- 
quence is, that frequent and variable tranfitions from fub- 
jeft to fubjed proves a very great obftacle to perfedion 
in any profeffion.” 
This perhaps was the cafe with the Romans. The he¬ 
roes of the Auguftan age had borne away the prize of elo¬ 
quence, of hiftory, of poetry, &c. Their fucceffors def- 
paired of being able to equal, much lefs to furpafs, them, 
in any of thefe walks. They were therefore laid under 
the neceffity of ftriking out a new path by which they 
might arrive at eminence. Confeauently Seneca intro¬ 
duced the Jlile coupe , as the French call it; that is, a lbort, 
fparkling, figurative, didion, abounding with antithefes, 
quainfnefles, witticifms, embellifhed with flowers and me¬ 
retricious ornaments ; whereas the ftyle of the Auguftan 
age was natural, Ample, folid, unaffeded, and properly 
adapted to the nature of the fubjed and the fentiments of 
the author. The hiflorian Sulluft laid the foundation of 
the unnatural ftyle above-mentioned. Notwithstanding 
all the excellencies of that celebrated author, he every¬ 
where exhibits an affedation of antiquity, an antithetical 
caff, an air of aufterity, an accuracy, exadnefs, and re¬ 
gularity, contrary to that air degage which nature difplays 
in her moft elaborate efforts. His words, his claufes, feem 
to be adjufted exadly according to number, weight, and 
meafure, without excefs or deleft. Velleius Paterculus 
imitated this writer; and, as is generally the cafe with 
imitators, fucceeded belt in thofe points where his arche¬ 
type had failed moft egregioufly. Tacitus, however ex¬ 
cellent in other refpeds, deviated from the Auguftan ex¬ 
emplars, and is thought to have imitated Salluft ; but, af- 
feding brevity to excefs, he often falls into obfeurity. 
The other contemporary writers employ a cognate ftyle ; 
and, becaufe they have deviated from the Auguftan ltan- 
dard, their works are held in lefseftimation, andarethought 
to bear about them marks of degeneracy. 
That degeneracy, however, did not reach the fenti¬ 
ments, as it had done the ftyle; for in that point we think, 
they were fo far from falling below the meafure of the 
writers of the former age, that in many inftances they feem 
to have furpafled them. With refped to fentiment and 
mental exertions, the authors in queftion preferved their 
vigour, till luxury and effeminacy, in confequence of pow¬ 
er and opulence, enervated both the bodies and minds of 
the Romans. The contagion foon became ur.iverfal; and 
a liftleffnefs, or intelledual torpor, the ufual concomitant 
of luxury, fpread indolence over the mental faculties, 
which rendered them not only averfe to, but even inca¬ 
pable of, induftry and perfeverance. This lethargic dif- 
pofition of mind feems to have commenced towards the 
conclufion of the 111ver age; that is, about the end of the 
reign of Adrian. It was then that the Roman eagle be¬ 
gan to ffoop ; the genius of Rome, as well in arts as in 
arms, began to decline; and the ftyle of the fllver age was 
gradually vitiated with barbarifms and exotic forms of 
fpeech. The multitudes of barbarians who flocked to 
Rome from all parts of the empire; the ambafladors of fo¬ 
reign princes, and often the princes themfelves, with their 
attendants ; the prodigious numbers of flaves who were 
entertained in all the confiderable families of the capital, 
and over all Italy; the frequent commerce which the Ro¬ 
man armies upon the frontiers carried on with the barba¬ 
rians ; all concurred to vitiate the Latin tongue, and to 
interlard it with foreign words and idioms. In fucli cir- 
cumftances, it was impoffible for that or any other lan¬ 
guage to have continued pure and untainted. This viti¬ 
ated charafter both of ftyle and fentiment became more and 
3 B more 
