1810.] 
and perhaps to Juvenal, in virtue and 
learning, he was inferior to both in ele- 
gance and wit. His style, which is some- 
tines noble, figurative, and poetical, was 
suited to the dignity of his sentiments ; 
_which have all the grandeur that the 
philosophy of the stoics, when judiciously 
applied, could give them,.* But he was 
equally a stranger to the delicacy of Ho- 
race, and the majesty of Juyenal. It 
was seldom indecd that he permitted 
himself -to unbend the severity of his 
muse, and he is always unsuccessful in his 
attempts to assume a lighter style.t 
Enefgy, acuteness, and. spirit, are his 
characteristic features: though his lan. 
guace is rude and uncouth, his sense is 
always manly and boid. ‘These aualities 
made him. a favourite with the few whose 
virtue and learning rendered them su- 
perior to the prevailing follies of the age. 
Considering the very scanty efforts of 
his pen, he obtained a greater share of 
applause than many others whose works 
were more numerous. Quintilian and 
Martial have borne testimony to his’ 
merit, aud to the reputation he enjoyed. ° 
Modern critics have however censured 
him for defects of composition, frem 
which it isnot easy to defend him. - Even 
Casaubon, lis fondest admirer and best 
interpreter, admits that. his style is. ob- 
scure. But if any apology can be made 
for this first sin against good writing, it 
is in the case of a satirist, and above all 
of one who dared to reprobate the follies 
efatyrant. If Persius be obscure (and 
we acknowledge that he is), let it be re- 
membered that he wrote in the time of 
Nero.§ It has been remarked indeed that 
this author is not merely obscure when he 
Jashes and exposes the Roman emperor. 
It was very well, say the critics, to em- 
ploy hints and half sentences while he 
censured the vices of a cruel and luxu- 
rious despot; but there could be no oc- 
casion to envelope himself in obscurity, 
BPMEE pan pie ulster tet yl ti vy sey 
* Stoicam denique professionem nunquam 
obliviscitur, adeo exacté et docté aliq. 
¢winiZwy, ut ne Zeno quidem ipse aut Chry- 
sippus porticum itlam melius fuerit fulsurus. 
—Cas Prolog. in Pers. 
+ Sed Persius jam tum in illa sua adoles- 
centia gravis, totusque ad severitatem factus, 
Xenocratis quam Menippo familior, Gratiis 
raro litavit.—Ibid. | d 
¢ Multum et vere glorie quamvis uno 
libro Persius meruit. Quinct. —Szpitsin libro 
memoratur Persius uno. Mart. 
§ Sed Poetz, says Casaubon, facilé ignosco, 
elim cogito crudelissimi et goviAwrarov ty- 
ranni.—Prolog. in Pers. 
_ Monrury Mac. No. 193 
Lyceum of Ancient Literature—-No. XXVIII, 
’ 
$33 
while he expounded the doctrines of the 
stoics to his friend Cornutus, or expa- 
tiated to the poet Bassis on the true 
use of riches. In answer to this Jase 
objection, the common argument may 
be used, that what is obscure or unin- 
telligible now, was not so at the time in 
which ‘he wrote, particularly to the 
learned persons to whonr his satires are 
addressed. Many allusions, and hints of 
circumstances then universally known, 
are lost tous, Though satirical writings. 
may be preserved from the injuries of 
time, and be read in after-ages, their. 
views were present, and intended for the 
age in which they were written. While 
therefore we admit the charge of obscue 
rity, we do not allow it that weight 
which it might have in other cases. 
We may as weli complain of the rust’ 
Upon an ancient coin, as of the obscurity 
of an ancient satirist. “The brevity of. 
style which Persius affected, and his 
close philosophical tarn of thought, may 
have contributed to his obscurity; and 
there was perhaps a melancholy in his. 
temper that infected his writings, and 
made them want the spirit, though they 
abounded in the gall, of satire. 
Considered merely as a poet, it mus¢ 
be confessed that Persius has little claim 
upon the admiration of posterity. His 
verse is unpolished, his comparisons are 
coarse, his allusions indecent and low. 
Hlis ungraceful transitions from one sub- 
ject to another, betray his contempt or 
his ignorance of elegant composition. 
Hiis great merit isin the zeal, the eara 
nestness,* with which he inculcates max- 
ims of virtue, and discovers his abhora 
rence of vice. For this he seems to 
have willingly sacrificed all the graces 
and fastidious delicacy upon which the 
reputation of poets is too often founded. 
His poetry is a strong and rapid torrent 
which pours in its infracted course over 
rocks and precipices; and which occa- 
sionally, like the waters of the Rione, - 
disappears from our view, and_ loses 
itself under ground.+ 
Persius is therefore no. favourite with 
the critics of the sixteenth and seven- 
teenth centuries. Scaliger is yehement 
in his condemnation, attributing bis ob- 
scurity to the silly affectation of choosing 
to convey by hints what he did not. think 
* Scias vero cum Persium legas, sentire | 
illum que dixit 5 et quod Graci aiunt, wav 
ex diabecene yeahew, xat oro Tay Soyneloy our 
ako TOV VELADY.-— Prolog. in Pers. 
+ Preface to Drummond’s Pers, 
2U 
proper 
