1809. ] 
tus, and the generous rewarder of merit; 
while Mecenas, in his turn, loved and 
applauded in Horace the amiable man, 
and ‘pleasing poet. So rapidly was this 
friendship cemented between them, that 
we find the poet, so early as in his twenty- 
sixth year,accompanying Mecznas, Virgil, 
and others, to Grundusium ;* and here, 
it is probable, that he was first intro- 
duced into the presence of Augustus. He 
was as successful in the favourable im- 
pression he made upon the mind of-the 
Emperor, as he had-been with Mecanas, 
Tie wassoon admitted inte the most fa- 
miliar intercourse ; and the leisure hours 
of Augustus were enlivened by the wit, 
and improved by the virtues, of the poet. 
¥rom such an intimacy, he might have 
expected the certain possession of future 
honours and wealth. But he contented 
himself with soliciting the restoration of 
his ancient patrimony, and refused, with- 
out affectation or effort, the various situ- 
ations which the generosity of the Em- 
peror sugvested. Such disinterested vir- 
tue could not fail to raise him in the 
Opinion of Augustus ; and when he found 
he could not reward him as a master, he 
dete:mined to attach him as a friend, 
In a letter from Augustus to Mecenas, 
we find, that Horace was occasionally 
employed as secretary, or amanuensis, to 
the Emperor.—“ Ante sufficiebam scri- 
bendis epistolig amicorum ; nunc, occupa- 
tissimus et infirmus, Horatium nostrum 
te cupio adducere. Veniet igitur ab ista 
parasitica mensa ud hanc regiam, et nos in 
epistolts scribendis adjuvabit.”+ The easy 
manners, the placid temper of Horace, 
enabled him to live with his illustrious 
patrons, as if he had been at home. 
He saw, without jealousy or chagrin, the 
equal favour bestowed on Virgil. The 
Emperor frequently admitted them to his 
table ; and, as he sat between them, he 
was accustomed to say, in allusion to th 
asthma of Virgil, andthe watery eyes of 
Tlorace, ‘¢ Kgo sum inter suspiria et 
licrymas.” The gaiety of Horace form- 
ed a pleasing contrast to the pensive 
taciturn disposition of the Mantuan bard ; 
and itis nota little tothe credit of Augus- 
tus, that he was able, by a sort of intel- 
Jectual chemistry, to extract amusement 
and profit from the very opposite tempers 
of the two poets. : 
Thus the life of Horace passed on-in 
an uninterrupted succession of easy and 
fortunate days. For these, he was in- 
Nr ee 
¥ See Sat. v. lib. 1, 
Aug. ad Mec. 
Lyceum of Ancient Literature.—No. XXV. 
459 
debted to the simplicity of his manners, 
and the independence of his spirit, which 
he preserved in the midst of a splendid, 
but servile, court. In his writings, in« 
deed, he is justly accused of frequent 
and gross adulation; but this does not 
appear to have influenced his conversa- 
tion or bis conduct. His intimacy with 
Mecenas, no doubt, contributed much 
to his happiness; enjoying, in a high 
degree, the friendship of the man, and 
the protection of the minister, he could 
maintain his footing at court, without 
debasing his personal character. The 
friendship which subsisted between them 
was highly honourable to both, and ap- 
pears to have been of no common natures 
if we may credit the reality of the feel- 
ings which dictated the following pas- 
save, In an ode,* which he addressed to 
Mecenas, at a time when his patron was 
afflicted with an illness which threatened 
his life. 
I}le dies utraraque 
Ducet ruinam 3; non ego perfidum 
Dixi sacramentum : ibimus, ibimusy 
tcunque precedes, supremum 
Carpere iter comites parati. 
When Meczenas recovered, he accom. 
panied him on amission to Antony, be- 
tween whom and Augustus a cessation of 
hostilities was then desirable, that they 
might turn their united arms against the 
younger Pompey, their common enemy, 
This journey he has pleasingly described 
in the fifth Satire of his first book, It is 
conjectured to have taken place in the 
consulship of Pollio, who was, at that 
time, meditating a history of the civil 
wars. To him the poet addresses the 
first ode of the second book, in which 
he represents the many inconveniencies 
to which such a work would necessarily 
expose him : 
Periculosse plenum opus ales 
Tractas, et incedis per ignes 
Supposites cineri dolosom 
thus sagaciously hinting to the Consul, 
that he might displease Augustus, if he 
revealed the true cause of the war be- 
tween Cesar and Pompey, and their 
motives for beginning it. 
The remainder of the life of Torace 
appears to have been tranquil and happy. 
He possessed a villa at Tibur, and ano- 
ther in the country of the ‘Tarentines, 
where he spent the winter, attracted by 
the mildness of its climate. The indo- 
lence of his temper rendered a constant 
he 
@ Lib, ai. Od, 172 
SS 
attendance 
