Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/738

 training in philosophy, which he emphatically denominates "the fountain-head of all perfect eloquence, the mother of all good deeds and good words." (Brut. 93.) During his residence at Athens and at Rhodes he appears to have imbibed a deep and earnest attachment for the pursuit which he henceforward viewed as something better and nobler than a mere instrument for acquiring dialectic skill. Accordingly, every moment that could be snatched from his multifarious avocations was employed with exemplary zeal in accumulating stores of philosophic lore, which were carefully treasured up in his memory. But the incessant demands of business long prevented him from arranging and displaying the wealth thus acquired; and had not the disorders of the times compelled him upon two occasions to retire for a brief space from public life, he would probably never have communicated to the world the fruits of his scientific researches. The first of the two periods alluded to above was when after his recall from exile he found himself virtually deprived of all political influence, and consequently, although busily engaged in discharging the duties of a pleader, found leisure to compose his De Oratore, De Republica, and De Legibus. The second period reached from his return to Italy after the battle of Pharsalia until the autumn after the death of Caesar, during the greater portion of which he lived in retirement and produced the rest of his philosophical works, some of them being published even subsequent to his re-appearance on the stage of public affairs. But, although these were all finished and sent abroad between the end of в. с. 46 and the middle of в. с. 44, it would be absurd to suppose that the varied information required for such a task could have been brought together and distributed into a series of elaborate treatises in the course of sixteen or eighteen months. It seems much more probable, as indicated above, that the materials were gradually collected during a long course of reading and inquiry, and carefully digested by reflection and frequent discussion, so that when a convenient season had arrived, the design already traced out was completed in all its details. Thus we find in the dialogue upon Laws (i. 20) a reference to the debates which had taken place among the wise on the nature of the Supreme Good, the doubts and difficulties with which the question was still encumbered, and the importance of arriving at some correct decision; after which the speaker proceeds briefly to express the same sentiments which nine years afterwards were expanded and formally maintained in the De Finibus. (Comp. Acad. i. 3.)

In order to understand clearly the nature of these works and the end which they were intended to serve, we must bear in mind the important fact, that they were almost the first specimens of this kind of literature ever presented to the Romans in their own language. With the exception of the poems of Lucretius and some other publications on the doctrines of Epicurus by an Amafinius and a Rabirius, so obscure that Cicero seems to have thought them not worth the trouble of perusal, there was absolutely nothing. Hence Cicero was led to form the scheme of drawing up a series of elementary treatises which should furnish his countrymen with an easy introduction to the knowledge of the tenets professed by the leading sects of Greece on the most important branches of politics, morals, metaphysics, and theology. We must if we desire to form a fair judgment, never forget that the design proposed was to communicate in a correct and precise but familiar and attractive form the results at which others had arrived, not to expound new conceptions — to present a sharp and striking outline of the majestic structures reared by the labours of successive schools, not to claim distinction as the architect of a new edifice. The execution of this project demanded extensive research, a skilful selection of the best portions of the best authors, the accurate adjustment and harmonious combination of these loose fragments, a choice of familiar examples and apt illustrations to shed light on much that would necessarily appear dark and incomprehensible to the inexperienced, and, most difficult of all, the creation of terms and phraseology capable of expressing with clearness and exactitude a class of ideas altogether new. If then we find upon examination that this difficult undertaking, requiring the union of talents the most opposite, of unwearying application, delicate discrimination, refined taste, practical skill in composition, and an absolute command over a stubborn and inflexible dialect, has been executed with consummate ability, we have no right to complain that many of the topics are handled somewhat superficially, that there is an absence of all originality of thought, and that no effort is made to enlarge the boundaries of the science. Nor have we any reason to regret the resolution thus formed and consistently carried out. We are put in possession of a prodigious mass of most curious and interesting information bearing upon the history of philosophy, conveyed in the richest and most winning language. Antiquity produced no works which could rival these as manuals of instruction ; as such they were employed until the downfal of the Roman empire; they stood their ground and kept alive a taste for literature during the middle ages; they were still zealously studied for a long period after the revival of learning; they even now command respect from the purity of the moral principles which they inculcate, and serve as models of perfect style and diction. We arrive at the conclusion, that Cicero is fully entitled to the praise of having accomplished with brilliant success all that he engaged to perform. In philosophy he must be regarded as the prince of popular compilers, but nothing more. It is certain that he could not have put forth his powers in a manner better calculated to promote the interests and extend the influence of his favourite pursuit.

The greater number of these essays, in imitation of the writings of many of the Greek philosophers, are thrown into dialogue — a form extremely well suited for the purposes of instruction, since it affords facility for familiar explanation and for the introduction of those elucidations and digressions so necessary to communicate clearness and animation to abstract propositions, which, if simply enunciated in a purely scientific shape, must unavoidably appear to the learner dull and spiritless. In a dialogue, also, the teacher is not compelled to disclose his own opinions, but may give full scope to his ingenuity and eloquence in expounding and contrasting the views of others. The execution is, upon the whole, no less happy than the design. One cannot fail to be impressed with the dexterity exhibited in contriving the machinery of the different conversations, the tact with which the most appropriate personages are selected,