Page:The works of Horace - Christopher Smart.djvu/17

Rh of the Greeks, especially in the lyrical portion of his works, his pungent and well-defined sketches of society and manners, his nice perception of the refinements of archaeology and criticism, all in turn began to call forth illustration. Yet much still remains unexplained. as with Aristophanes, so with Horace, we continually lack knowledge of the running current of fashionable foibles and conventionalities, the happy delineation of which constitute the essence of comedy and satire. Nevertheless, imitations in every language, in none more abundantly than our own, attest the masterly power of Horace to interest all mankind, and show the connection that, despite accidental variations, one age has with the development, one race with the sympathies, of another.