Page:The republic of cicero translated by featherstonhaugh.djvu/17



imperfect manuscript, a translation of which is now presented to the American public, was discovered in the Library of the Vatican, by Professor Angelo Mai; a person of singular ingenuity in the detection of those Palimpsests whose contents were written upon ancient writings partially erased. A fac simile of part of the MSS. accompanies this work. The Republic of Cicero was greatly cherished by those who lived in and near his times; of which occasional evidences are found in the writings of antiquity. But the tyranny of the emperors bridled the Romans so soon after its appearance, that Horace, Virgil, Seneca, Quintilian, Pliny, and even Tacitus, have not dared to praise it, lest they should bring down vengeance upon themselves. It is remarkable that while despotism was rapidly extinguishing philosophy and letters, and the very existence of these precious monuments of better times was scarcely thought of; the Christian religion was gradually raising up amidst the persecutions of the primitive church, new champions for truth and justice; to whose works 2