Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/13



Rh HORTENSIUS, Qulntus, a Roman orator, born in 114 B.C., died in 50. At the age of 19 he made a speech in the forum, and gained the applause of the orators Crassus and Scævola. He joined the side of Sulla in the civil war, and afterward was a constant supporter of the aristocratic party. When Cicero first came to the forum Hortensius was called the rex judiciorum. Though professionally rivals, they seem to have lived on friendly terms; and in the beginning of the De Claris Oratoribus, Cicero pays an eloquent tribute to the memory of Hortensius. When obliged to leave the city on account of the impeachment of Clodius, however, Cicero was bitter against the supposed duplicity of Hortensius, and it was not till some time after his return that he was convinced of the injustice of his suspicion. In 81 Hortensius was made quæstor; in 75, ædile; in 72, prætor; and in 69, consul, with Q. Cæcilius Metellus. The year before his consulship occurred the trial of Verres, in which the two rival orators were opposed. After his consulship, Hortensius took an active part against Pompey, opposing the Gabinian law, which gave Pompey the control of the Mediterranean sea, and the Manilian law, which transferred to his command the army against Mithridates. Cicero subsequently joined the same party, and we find them pleading often in common. They defended together C. Rabirius, L. Murtena, and P. Sulla. Ten years before his death Hortensius withdrew from public life. He had acquired great wealth, and owned villas at Tusculum, Bauli, and Laurentum. HORTICULTURE, the most perfect method of tilling the earth so as to produce the best results, whether the products are objects of utility or of beauty. It is difficult to define the line between horticulture and improved agriculture upon the one side, and landscape architecture upon the other. Horticulture or gardening has been pursued from the earliest times of civilization or national refinement. Among the Romans, according to Pliny, small gardens filled with roses, violets, and other sweet-scented flowers were in repute; while many of the choicest plants and flowers which we now cherish were cultivated by the ancient Greeks. Horticultural art declined, however, with the fall of Rome, and not until long after did it revive under the monastic institutions. A part of the policy of Charlemagne was the establishment of gardens by royal edict, prescribing the very plants which were to be grown. In the 16th century several botanic gardens were founded by Alfonso d'Este, duke of Ferrara, and in consequence many other noblemen had fine gardens of their own. The Venetians and Paduans followed the example, and in 1555 a garden founded at Pisa by Cosmo de' Medici had become so rich in plants as to excite admiration. The garden at Montpellier in France, founded by Henry IV., contained before the end of the 16th century upward of 1,300 French, Alpine, and Pyrenean plants. At this time the garden at Breslau in Germany, to which the celebrated botanist Fuchs was attached, was in existence; and in 1577, at the suggestion of Bontius, was founded the garden at Leyden. In England, pleasure gardens with fountains and shady walks, with hedges and designs, were known from the time of the conquest, but it was not until the construction of conservatories for the preservation of tender plants that horticulture made much progress. According to London, it was not till 1717 that such structures were furnished with glass roofs, and from this time a new era in gardening began. The education and training of young persons to the practice of gardening raised the occupation to an art, and has brought horticulture in European countries especially to a high rank. We have considered horticulture as the acme of agriculture; and those familiar only with ordinary farm tillage