The
sanctities of private life are not violated; yet we know everything, that
it is decent to know, about Agricola. Lord Coleridge has given a beautiful
rendering of the closing passages of "The Agricola," in his account of Mr.
Matthew Arnold: these elegant papers are not only models of good English;
but are conspicuous, among recent obituary notices, for their fine taste
and their becoming reticence. From the excesses of modern biographers,
Tacitus was in little danger; thanks to his Roman sense, and to the
qualities of the Roman Language. "Economy," says Mr. Symonds, "is
exhibited in every element of this athletic tongue. Like a naked gladiator
all bone and muscle, it relies upon bare sinewy strength." That author
speaks of "the austere and masculine virtues of Latin, the sincerity and
brevity of Roman speech;" and Tacitus is, beyond any doubt, the strongest,
the austerest, the most pregnant of all the Romans. "Sanity," says Mr.
Matthew Arnold, in conclusion, "that is the great virtue of the ancient
literature; the want of that is the great defect of the modern, in spite
of all its variety and power.
Pages:
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58