The Sun.
London, England, 1838-10-31 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

QUARTERLY REVIEIf

—No. 12,1

Murray, London, 1938.
There is no political article in this Number of the
" Quarterly" which, taken in connexion with the present
significant silence—lethargy rather—of the Tories, leads
us to infer that that party, usually so noisy and active, is
in the lowest state of prostration. When the organ of in-
tolerance cannot find a word to say in favour cf its cause,
be sure that cause is fast verging to its fall. We do not,
however, regret this unaccustomed silence of the Quar-
terly Review ; on the contrary, we rejoice at it ; because
it enables the Editor to fill his pages with much more sound,
instructive, and amusing matter. A long political diatribe
might possibly have compelled him to exclude—or at any
rate to abridge—the admirable account of the " Life
and Writings of Horace ;" which we should have
deeply regretted ; for it is the gem of the Number,
exhibiting in every page marks of rare scholarship,
}efined taste,' and consummate judgment. This masterly
essay furnishes us with a biographical sketch of the
poet, and a brief character of the times in which he flou-
rished, drawn chiefly from his own writings ; in the course
of which the Reviewer observes,—" all the great men of
the day are the familiars of Horace ; we see them in the
ease of social intercourse ; we become acquainted with their
manners and habits ; we are admitted, in- some cases, to
the privacy of Agrippa, and' Mtecenas, and Augustus
himself, of Virgil and Varius." This remark, though not
without justice, should have been more qualified. We
certainly see many of the poet's illustrious friends—
Maecenas especially—in the " ease of social intercourse,"
but we do not become acquainted with their peculiar
idiosyncracy, because Horace was far too much a polished
man of the world to say anything -of them, but
what would redound to their credit. He looks only to
the sunny side of their characters. They are full-
dressed for effect in his sketches of them ; he never
once presumes to exhibit them in their undress. The
Reviewer's guesses as to the nature and extent of the
poet's education are full of ingenuity ; nor less happy are
the reflections on the troublous times in which he passed
his youth. Of the terms on which he lived with his patrons
it is well observed—" Horace asserted and maintained
greater independence of personal character than most sub-
jects of the new empire ; there is a tone of dignity and self-
respect, even in the most adulatory passages of his writ-
ings." We wish we could say as much for the flatteries of
some of our own poets ; but no one can read the dedica-
tions of Dryden, Congreve, and many others that we could
mention, who lived during what is called the " Augustan
age," without being struck with the utter absence of self-
respect that characterises them. They lay on their adula-
tion, inch-thick, with a trowel ; more particularly Dryden,
who seldom or never addressed his patrons, but in terms of
the most abject sycophancy. It is greatly to Pope's credit
that he was the first—or among the first—to maintain the
dignity of the poetic character ; and to compliment his
titled friends in terms which they might read, and he might
write, without a blush. Speaking of Horace's Odes,
the Reviewer says, " If compared with the highest
lyric poetry, they are greatly deficient ; but if only
considered as occasional pieces, inspired by friendship,
by moral sentiment, or as graceful love verses, they fully
deserve that place in the memory of the scholar to which
they seem to cleave with peculiar tenacity ; their- ease,
perspicuity, elegance, and harmony, compensate in some
degree for the want of the nobler characteristics." This
is true, but it is not all the truth. The Horatian Lyrics
have other excellencies besides those which the Reviewer
has here enumerated. Many of them breathe an unrivalled
spirit of epicurean festivity ; others of energetic patriotism ;
others of touching pathos ; and not a few, of deep and
solemn reflection ; while all are marked by an ivory polish
of language and apt felicity of epithet, to'which we have no
parallel in Roman literature. How exquisitely pathetic,
for instance, is the episode of the Danaides in the " Ode to
Mercury," especially in the closing Sapphic stanza :
" I, pedes quo to rapiunt, et aura,
Dum favent Nox et Venus. I, secundo
Omine, et nostri memorem sepulchro
Scalpe guerelam. •
Nor was Horace deficient, as the Reviewer seams to in-
sinuate, in the higher quality of the imagination. - Here he
shows the true poetic instinct. Even Mr. Wordsworth
himself never penned a more imaginative passage than this,
which is only one out of a hundred similar ones that we
might adduce from Horace's lyrics :
" Qua pinus ingens, albaque populus,
Umbram hospitalem consociare arrant •
Ramis, et obliquo laborat
Lympha fugax trepidare rivo."
Mark with what creative power of fancy the author
here contrives to impart conscious life, and even a social
instinct, to his intermingling pine and poplar I And this
without the slightest effort, or violation of good sense ! Ob-
serve, too, the imaginative beauty of the epithet " trepi-
dare," by which the poet, as in the former instance, makes
his "Iymplia fugax" perfectly a sentient being. With the
Reviewer's observations on Horace's Satires, we altogether
coincide, though he has taken no notice of one of their most
characteristic features—we mean, the exquisitely
felicitous manner in which the numerous anecdotes
scattered throughout them, are told. No one digresses, or
tells a story with so much point and elegance, as Horace.
Pope, who closely imitated him in this respect, has tried
hard to equal him, but without success. Dexterous as is
the pupil, he cannot approach the consummate ease of the
master. It is curious that notwithstanding the many cen-
turies that have elapsed since they were written, and the
many revolutions that have taken place in the social habits
of Europe, the satires of Horace wear, many of them, quite
as modern an aspect as Pope's imitations of them. In
the description of the " Bore" whom he met in the streets
of Rome, change but the venue from the " Via Sacra" to
Pall-Mall, and the whole description is as modern as if it had
been penned by Pope in 1730. The same may be said of Ho-
race's account of his supper with Nasidienus, and his satirical
sketch of the legacy hunters. We have said nothing of this
great poet's versatility, but this he possessed in a high degree.
He has wit, humour, tenderness, satire, and, when the
occasion requires, consummate powers of lofty and swelling
declamation. Yet all his faculties are under strict control ;
he is never mastered by his subject, but is its master ; and
even in his most animated moments, never loses sight of a
dignified self-possession. Pope, his imitator, was often
carried away by his spleen ; not so Horace, who, through-
out his writings, exhibits a compact and well-proportioned
intellect, in which no one faculty gains the preponderance
over another ; but all are nicely balanced, and in perfect
harmony, each with the other. Judging from his works,
we should suppose him to have been a man of excellent
temper, kindly and cordial feelings,' the idol of his friends,
the pride and admiration of his country !
" Milman's Edition of Gibbon" is a notice of Mr.
Murray's latest edition of the history of the " Decline and
Fall of Rome," in which we cannot but think that the his-
torian has been somewhat too harshly dealt with. " Lou-
don's Trees and Shrubs of Britain" is a pleasant, sketchy
review of the works of this eminent horticulturist, one of
the most indefatigable book-compilers of his day. In
" Brenton's Life of Earl St. Vincent," we meet with some
interesting particulars respecting the early days of this cele-
brated naval hero, " who," says the Reviewer, " had for
his patrimony twenty pounds, and coopered his second
pair of breeches out of the ticking of his hammock ; yet
rose to the highest honours of his profession—be-
came Admiral of the Fleet, General of Marines,
First Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty, Grand
Cross of the Bath, a Privy Councillor, and an Eng-
lish Earl l" " Lister's Life of Clarendon" indulges
in some severe strictures on this work, which, we conjec-
ture, is somewhat too impartial to suit the taste of a Quar-
terly Reviewer, who, of course, is indignant with any one
who finds a flaw, or even a speck, in the character of such
a statesman as Hyde, Earl of Clarendon. " New South
Wales" contains some useful practical suggestions with re.
spect to the efficient management of this important colony.
" Spanish Bull Fights" is a lively. paper, interspersed with
anecdote, and various personal reminiscences. We quote
the Reviewer's account of the last bull fight that was given
by Ferdinand in Madrid :
"On Saturday, the 22d of June, 1833, the Plaza
Mayor of Madrid was royally prepared ; the windows con-
verted into boxes, and the lines of architecture throughout
defined by silken draperies of crimson and gold, giving the
square the of fbot of a gorgeous theatre. In the centre window
of the. Town-house a magnificent canopy was erected for
Ferdinand and Christina, while tho Royal Family and Court
were accommodated on each side. The scene was singu-
larly striking ; the vast and gaudy enclosure—the dense mass
of well-dressed spectators—the ladies glittering with dia-
monds and plumes—the nobles, generals, and ambassadors,
decorated with orders and embroidery—all lighted up under
a blue cloudless sky by the glorious and congenial sun of Spain,
The King arrived in state about five o'clock, when the arena
was cleared by the halberdiers (javelin men), the old guard of
the Philips, revived on these occasim, ;knoll stationed during
the combat under the royal seat. The proceedings commenced
by the entrance of the, caurt alguacils, and their white wands
of office, mounted on beautiful horses and preceding the four
knights, cabelleros en plaza' clad in the ancient Spanish cos-
tume, each of whom was accompanied by his sponsor, ' pa-
drino,' in a state coach and six, and attended by running foot-
men in gay liveries of the colours of their respective masters.
The sponsors, all grandees, were the Dukes of Frias, Alva,
and Infantado, and the Count of Florida Blanca : they were
followed by a troop of chains and toreros, gaily dressed, lead-
ing horses from the King's stables, saddled with trappings of
silver, their manes and tails plaited with ribbons. The pro-
cession moved slowly round the circus, halting to make obei-
sance to the King. It was succeeded by four troops of forty
men on foot each—one equipped as ancient Spaniards, another
as Romans with helmets, the third as wild Indians, the
fourth as Moors. (3allienas, according to Pollio, first intro-
duced precisely the same number of bands, arrayed as Goths,
Sarmatians, Franks, and Persians. At the given signal, a bull
was let loose, and the foremost knight adyauced on horseback,
attended by two chulos : his posktkon was hazardous; clad iu