Richmond daily times. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1853, 1852-03-01

strongly for Sallust, | admire his reach o
thought, his clearness of style. as well as hi
accuracy of narration. He is sufficiently con
else: he is sententious without being meagre O
obscure, and his power of personal and individu
al description is remarkable. There are, in
| deed IN his style some roughnesses belonging
to the Roman tongue at an earlier age, but they
seem to strengthen the structure ofhis senten
ces without especially injuring their beauty
No character drawing can well exceed his deli
neation of Catiline, his account of Jugurtha, OF
his parallel between Caesar and Cato. | have
| thought, sometimes, that | saw Resemblance
between his terse and powerful periods and the
remarks and sayings of DIR. Johnson as they
| appear, not in his stately performances, but in
| the record This conversations by Boswell.
In turning to peruse once more the pages OF
Sallust, to refresh myself for the preparation
of this address, | was struck by the coinci-
denee OF Il transaction narrated by him with
| one which we have seen very recently in our
own country.
When Jugurtha had put to death Hiempsal
| and expelled Adherbal from his rightful throne.
the latter, who was born in Numidia, and not in
Hungary, came to Rome to invoke what we
should call the intervention of the Roman people.
His speech delivered on that occasion in the
Senate, as Saust has given it, is one of the most
touching ever made by man in misfortune and
suffering from injury, to those having the pow
Ell. of granting relief or redress. His suppica-
ton to the Senate is founded on the broad and
general idea that the Roman people were Just
themselves, and, as they had the power, so it
was their duty to prevent or punish high
handed injustice, threatened or inflicted BY 9TH
erS.
"Sed quoniam parum tuta per Sc ipsa probtas
in mn f1itT Tn, tlo
confugs patres conscripti, quibus quod msserrimum
coSor prlus oneri, guam usui Ceteri reyes aut
peio victl IN amicltiam a vobs receipt, aut in sus
dubus rebus societatem vestram appetver1nt famia
nostra cum populo Romano belo Carthagniensi amici
tam institute quo tempore magis fdes ejus guam for
tuna petenda erat Quorum progeniem vos patres
cohscrpt, nolte pat rustra vobs auxilium petere-
81 ad mpetrandum nhil, CAUSE haberem, prefer mise
randam fortunam; quod paulo ante rex genere fama
atque copiis potens nunc deformatus ar1mnis inops
alenas opes expeco tamen erat noajestatis Ronnani
Pont Pfoaoefe an3uf1am ne9ae aa c17usquam regnuna
per Scet1s c1esceye.
" Quid again? quo potssimum infelix accedam?
Geners prslda omna exstncta snt pater uti necesse
erat, naure concesslt tratrl QUEEN minnie decu pro-
Plnquus per scelus vam eripuit afines AMIGOS pro.
plnquos ceteros alum ALA cades oppressit capt. alb
Jugurtha pars in crucem act pars bests object pauc
qmbus relcta ANNA, clausi in enebrs, mnrore ct
luctu morte, graviorem, vitam exigunt Siomnia que
aut amls aut ex necessas adverse facta stunt incol
mia manerent tamen 81 quid improviso accidsset,
vos Imporarem, patres conscrpt, qubus, pro magpi-
tud1ne lmper, Jus ct ln]uras esse deceit
Nunc vero exsu patriadomo solos omnium honesta-
rum rerum egens quo accedam, aut quos appelem?
nationes ne, an reyes, qm omnes famili@ nostra OBJ
VesCfam anlcltam lnfest1 stunt quoquam adire cet
ubl non nalorum meorum hostilia monumental plurima
slnt au qulsquam nostri miserer potest qu aquando
vobis hosts fuit?
AT ego infelix, in tanta nlaa pracipatus ex pafrio
regno rerum humanarum spectacular prebeo incertus
quid again tuas ne lnurias persequar pse aux egens
an regno consuam cujus vitae necisque potestas ex
oplbus allens pendet Unam emori fortunis meis hon
sxidar
deessus mails lnuri@ consessissem neque vivere
hbet neque mort icet sine dedecore Pares conscrpti
per per beros atque parentes vestros per aesta
tenn popui Romani subvenite misero mih; tie obviam
1nrle noite patti regnum Numdi@, per scelus ct san
gu1nem tamia nostr@ tabescere."
While I confess myself not competent to sit
IN Judgment ON the grea masters of Roman story
still it has always struck me that in the STYLE of
Llvy there was so much fulness, so much accu-
mutation OF circumstance, as occasionally ten
ded to turgidity. | speak this, however, it'll
the greatest degree of dif1idence. Livy seems
to me like the rivers under the influence of
copious spring freshets, when not only is the
main channel full but all the tributary streams
are tending to overflow; while Sallust, [ think, |
takes care only that there shall be one deep, |
clear, strong, and rapid current to convey him
and his thoughtsto their destined end.
do not mean to say that the skilful use of |
circumstances, either in the hand of historian
or poet is not great power. think it is
What we call graphic description is but the pre-
sentation of the principal idea with discreet
of Interesting concomitants.
The Introduction of single auxiliary thought
or expression sometimes gives new glow to
the historical or poetical dicture Particularlity,
well set FORTH enchains attention. In our Ian
guage no writer has understood this better than
Milton His poetical images and descriptions
are sure to omit nothing which make those
images and those descriptions striking distinct
and CERTAIN while all else is industriousy re-
pei led.
Witness the fall of Lucifer: