The University daily. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 18??-????, 1880-06-09
I ] J

The year 100 3. G. produced one Of
those men who are the properly III All
ages Tho Iot Of Cicero was cast INSTR
ring times The age was fruitful ii Great
men The biography of any one ofkhose
actors ullag Marius, Pompey. Cesar,
Cato, Brutus, Antony, Octavius Is it
self history. But the life Of Cicero EN-.
braces All these. There IS not 4 political
event throughout his whole life III which
he was noteither prominent actor 81 i
personally interested observer. And IN
that revolution which brought ancienh civ
ilization IN contact with modern, the sonly
great actor who stood upon the authority
Of his character was Cicero And If We
except the great Julian leader, noneIas re
CARDS splendor Of endoWments, stood up
On the same level
lie education bestowed upon cicero
BIZ his father, and 50 laboriously cornplet-
ed by himself was the best that his roun-
try could give to her most favored sons.
AT sixteen he assumed the loga V1,iizss and
studied eioquence and jurisprudenec IN
def Seaevola. AT tWenty-six he pro-
nounced his first Grafton The flrst$effort
Of his oratory was dedicated to ths pro
lection of oppressed innocence from the
scarcely disguised aggression Of the tyrant
Sulla. Butffrom over applicationinistudy.
his health was now feeble, the 1nodula.
tons Of his voice inharmonious, 81 he de.
tertnined to go abroad. But he nevEr once
thought that his journeying should pre-
clnde the idea Of studying. Howunlike
were his travels to- those Of common
place tourist 5nowl Wherever he4Went, lie
observed, reflected and studied. Philoso-
ply atIIAthens, oratory IN Rhodes, con-
versation and discussion everywhere with
the most accomplished men Of the coun-
tries through which he Travelled. During
the next fourteen years in each suggestive
election hehWas victorious on the FIRST APP
plication. ala each instance as dtlaestor
in Sicily ]; as aedile at Rome asEtaaetof
or judge he showed himseHat onceSa most
able administrator, and a scrubulously
honorable man We have now reachea
that point h the history Of Cicero 1t
which, in the full maturity of d,sniood,
he was to become for one year tlis primo
minister Of Rome. Never was these d
more. critical moment in the afTaifAsI cfAny
country. The violent sristocratida reacs
ton Of Sulla' time was now thaAoughEy
spent. One W eae, the popslarsbewers,
coereed, bst not ettingu;shed, III tlrt
revolutions were starting into fresh aetisi.
ty.. Step by step the senateriAn ascend
5ancy. was declining under the united ihAu-
|enee ola prcsutnptuous ireapacify on the
one side, and an inaeatient strength %
the other. "a such Z state Ut things, il
needed only The discovery Of . competeat
leader to turn disaffection into ylOlenee
Such a nan was Cataline. OF high bird,
/ Of versatile ability. Of pteRigate life. u
needy fortunes, Of disappointed ambition
he was furnished with every attribute ot
the Idemagogue, the revolutionist, and the
conspirator The whole yearfeemed with
rumors.of an approaching outbreak. Gle
Gro confronted Cataline il tie Senate and
the guilt was exposed. But il could not
thus easily be crushed. The ranifeations
#of the plot were too extensive. fnferess5
of All kinds were involved in 1.-THE atnbi-
tionEoff the disappointed, and the fortunes
Of the desperate. Catalina fled ftsm thu
city to his troops in Etruria. His de-
parture answered two objects ttPlaesa
him in theFposition Of All aveved enemy
and left his aoeonpliees IT esee deferred
and without D leader, ready T. fall into
any trap which accident OF ingenuity
might lay for them. The occasion Seen
offered. They were detected through
their Gaulish ambassadors. Then follow
ed that picturesque scene, in which the
caImness and foresight Of the consul
proved equal to his zeal, One BY one the
conspiratofs were brought beforetthe sen
ate, briefly interrogated, confronted with
their own hand writing and abashed into
silence. But the danger was not past,
nor. the tolls ended Thee remained the
great question--on which as he dinly
foresaw, the tranquilityof hisWhole future
.life depended what should be the pun
ishment Of the condemned conspirators.