The Irish standard., 1893-07-01

II
&c. Closing price &c paper
serves in it's name-Latin- the memory
OF that kingdom called Latium which
antedated the founding OF the Eternal
City. a
/ That language became, IN the course
OF passing centuries, almost the equal of
the Greek as medium of human ex-
preston. It contains many of the liter
airy masterpieces of all time.
No age succeeding has equalled that
called Augustan in a general and uni
form literary excellence.
It is not snrpa sed by the time when
Petrarch was crowned and the people Of
France and Italy were moved by won.
drous enthusiasm for arts and lett@ rs.
1t is the highest encominm upon the
period which Addison adorned by his
labors as an essayist to call it, as it often
has been called, "the Augustan Age Of
English Literature" Surely the writ
ings and orations which were the pride
OF the Augustan Age may proftably be
read in our day with that zeal which
Addison exhibited in like pursuits.
!: The Latin language has not only pre-
served memories Of old Latium and Of
later Rome, with all it's glories, but it
has been the providential casket in
which has been ever enshrined tbs. '.af~
jestic liturgy Of the true church tt
comes to us deeply; freighted with his.
toric, Literary and sacred associations
Christian scholarship can never be COM
plete without an intimate acquaintance
with the language wherein the prayers
which accompany the Eucharlstic sacri-
fee are offered, the language wherein
the decress of councils and of pontiffs
have been promulgated and recorded.
The very fact that the celebrated
writings of antiquity gained the enthu-
siastic admiration of the people who
lived at the time Of their production, and
that this admiration has been trans
mitted without interruption OF dininu.
ton to the present day, compels one con-
clusion: That they fulfill and satisfy in
the highest degree, the requirements of
those Inherent and ineradicable desires
Of the human mind, diffused throughout
all enlightened nations and contempor-
airy with all ages, which we denominate
collectively by the term 'staste." Born
as they were in the earliest ages, they
seem to partake Of the guilelessness Of
primal days. They are singularly free
from elements which tend to excite con
tloversy. By some fatality, all that is
modern in literature seems, as rule,
either to bristle with antagonisms, or to
be provocative Of intellectual strife. The
ancient classics do not jar upon the SEN
sibilities nor excite the combative in
stincts OF our day. Whatever may be-
the religious or political views, OF philos
sophical predictions of present day
individual land nowadays partisanship
has invaded every field Of thought, he
can read calmly the pages Of Xenophon,
Euripides and Sallust and drink the
nectar Of belles-lettres from Horace and
Virgil without allowing the pleasing ex-
altations OF mental exercise to yield 70
the stormy episodes resultant upon NO
lent dissent. 4s...
The influence exerted upon the
thought Of the world BY classical learn
ing is fact Of controlling Importance.
The literature Of Rome modelled itself.
upon that Of Greece and attained al
acknowledged beauty, force and sompre-
hensiveness. asss # 9s
n Roman writer's and public speakers
were in full accord with the voice Sc
Horace = i: Voc exepplaria sI1raeca noe
tnrna versate mann, sate d,1iiurna. The
Of modern viii ers and the Ora.
tory OF modern times have taken the
Of Greece and Rome q mod
els, and have derived l,errefromr & g. color
ing and perfection which, cannot gbe disl
puted. The lesson seems sto be patent
That il resorting to the Hold 5of letters
We I. shall find ths trne fountain 81 Sth ~,
muses. e the ginal spriinR 81 ter
ary Iort ~ 4 find current ~
that ~ ,,ilinr I, ooa,R
lfI, 3 81 8 Tll f|iit.l
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