Wis Lyceum of Ancient Literature.—No. AXVII, [March 1, 
absolutely debasing the minds of indivi- 
duals ; nor did manners exhibit that depra- 
wity, which they acquired afterwards in 
the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, and Nero, 
Fhe cruel, but politic, Augustus strewed 
with flowers the path he was silently 
apening to despotism; and the fine arts 
ot Greece, transplanted round his capi- 
tal, flourished under his auspices. The 
recollection of civil discords had rendered 
the restorer of peace an object of ado- 
ration ; the citizens of Rome were happy, 
that they could awake each day, without 
the apprehension of seeing their names 
included ina proscription; and the Ro- 
mans, In a state of pupilage, and, sha- 
dowed by the laurels of their ancestors, 
fergot, in the amphitheatre and circus, 
those civil rights for which their fathers 
had shown such jealousy during almost” 
eight centuries. ‘Tyranny bad never so 
seducing a commencement, ©The iflu- 
sion was general: or if any one ques- 
tioned the great nephew of Cesar, cen- 
cerning the tenure of his power, a single 
glance of the emperor reduced him to 
silence, 
Horace, who excelled as much as a 
courtier, as he was deficient as a soldier, 
and who was guided perhaps by a sense 
Gf interest, and a consciousness of inca- 
pacity to fulfil the duties of a genuine 
yepublican, in any way that could have 
distinguished him; was soon sensible, 
how fara refinement of intellect, a grace- 
ful style, and a cultivated understanding, 
fill then ‘unknown among an ignorant and 
turbulent people, were capable, with very 
hitle effort, of advancing lim.  Polite- 
mess of mauners, the splendour of an 
imperial court, and above all, the security 
enjoyed during along and peaceful reign, 
could not fail to please one, whose sole 
morality consisted in a calculation of his 
pleasures; and, whose writings may be 
considered as one continued ‘treatise on 
the art of enjoying the present, without 
regard to the evils which threaten poste- 
sity. Indifferent to the future, and 
easily forgetting the past, his only object 
was to remove every thing which coutd. 
create _melancholy, and - disturb the 
charms of a life, w hich he bad ingeniously 
reduced to a system. What indeed 
~ could be his motives tor-a different con- 
duct? Esteemed by the emperor, the 
friend of Virgil, caressed by the great, 
and a partaker in g/l their pleasures, he 
could not affect the austerity, vor regret 
the rigid customs, of former times, Such 
genuments would have ill corresponded 
with the views of Augustus and Mecenas, 
who had declared themselves his protec- 
tors. It is satd,-indeed, that Augustus 
had intimated a wish to abdicate, from 
which the other had prudently dissuaded 
him ; for what success could the artificial 
character of the one, deprived of millions 
to execute his orders, or the useless 
urbanity of the other, have obtained 
among a people restored to their freedom? 
Such a design, perhaps never seriously 
entertained, was soon abandoned; and 
henceforth it was no longer permitted to 
Speak, but in the language and posiie of 
a slave, 
Horace, convinced that future ages, 
enchanted with his poetry, would givea 
‘passport to his name, saw that he could, 
with impunity, flatter, and become the 
accomplice of one, whose power no other 
could resist. Hence, the encomiums hese 
freely distributed, had a reference only 
to’ the circumstances of: the moment, 
which he could turn to his advantage, 
and to persons whose patronage he was 
anxious to obtain. The names of many 
great characters who were his contempo- 
raries, are not to be found in his writings. 
That of Ovid, who was in disyraces that 
cf Cicero, ‘“ whom Rome, “during her 
freedom; had dignified with the first of ail 
tithes—the father of his country,” arealike 
omitted. But he never forgets to cele- 
brate the favourites of fortune. These 
had nothing to fear from his muse; gay, 
rather than : severe, it indulged itself only 
at the expense of the lower classes, on 
whom ‘neither his reputation nor his 
pleasuresdepended. No one understood 
better than himself. the force of panegy- 
ric, how to apply it with address, or 
what were the arts most necessary to 
gain the favour of the great. Witha — 
character thus apparently so little enti- 
tled to our esteem, and a species of wri- 
ting at first sight adapted only to please 
the bland and pliant courtier, how comes 
it that the works of Horace are perused 
with delight, by men even of the soundest 
understanding ? ? Because, as we advan-~ 
ced in a former paper, to these agreeable 
talents the client of Mecenas united 
many solid and eminent qualities. Not 
less a philosopher than a poet, it was 
with equal ease that he dictated pringi< 
ples of conduct, and laid down the rules 
of taste. Disposed rather to give way 
than to contend; attaching little impor. 
tance to his own hypotheses, and adhe- 
ring to his prineiples, so far only as they 
favoured his Kpicurean inclinations ; this 
ibs ik lax, 
