The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-01

Considered rs q man. the intellectual quality
which distinguished Horace above all his coun-
trymon was his irony. We have already quoted
the comment on himself. which he attributes
10 one OK the speakers In his satireo. This
irony Il a. conspicuous in his Judgments and
statements about himself rs about other people.
He did not want 20 think himself. or to allow
others to think him. better than. In his heart.
he knew himself to be. Tha perfect and almost
cynical frankness with which Horace reveals
himself at once inspires confidence: and
this confidence deepens into . strong
conviction of the truth of his delineatlon of HIM
self. II one has to qualify by subsequent re-
Election the immediate impression of his tenn
Der and character. derived from his writings, Il
IL by making that impression moro favorable to
him.. From the ethical point of view the most
marked characteristic of the man was his self
dependence. He judged of things for himself.
and refused TO measure what was good or evil
by the standards common among his country
mon. Again. while he thankfully enjoyed all
outward advantages, his aim was to be indie
pendent Of them for his happiness. He desired
TO regulate his life by reason, to introduce con-
'~sistency into his desires and pursuits. to
know what he really cared for, and to limit
: mis- efforts TO attain them. To "livo for him
~belf"-thGt,i is not to live In selfish isolation. but
70 be true TO his own nature. to be what he Was
hSt-A4e ~ w. eAo saw ~ 49, ~ 10 Va bSOtl any
thing elss-and to be Independent of fortune.
was the sum of his philosophy. This doctrine
was not learned from the schools, but was
gathered from reflection on the experience of
life. Something he had learned from the
teaching of his father. who. although of servile
origin, seems to have been q worthy. sagaclous,
and pious man: something. also. from tho OK
ample and precepts of such men as tho sturdy
and thrifty. yet genial, Italian yeoman. Ofellus.
M - -
him 1t may DO traced in tho account
he gives of his way of life in Rome
and in tho country. It may be seon.
combined with the poetic impulse. In his
love for lonely rambleS among the hills and
woods such 1s he describes In the twenty-aso-
ond ode of the first book and the thirty-nfth of
the third. So far as Horace's choice Of q mode
of life was Influenced by books. 1t 10 to the rec
ord which Lucilius had made of his own life In
his SAtires that Mr.. sellar would asoribe one
at least OF the forces which moulded the char
actor Of the younger poet. The attraction
which the satirist Of the republic had for
the sAtirtSt of the Augustan age was per.
sonal as we'll as literary. There is q
tone Of sympathy with the man In the often
quoted lines. Iue pelut Hdts drcdnd s0dulibus olfn
crcdebdt ttbTts, He. In that elder time, used to
conhde his secrets to his writings. az ono might
TO faithful boon companions" 1t 10 pointed out
by Mr.. SslAr that all which 10 known Of Lucil-
ius from ancient testimony and from the fraR-
ments of his writings-his self criticism and his
critical attitude toward The world around him,
his intimacy with the beat men of his time, his
love Of Independence, his enjoyment of society,
and the pleasure which ho found in Withdrawing
himself into some quiet haven" his content
ment and love of imple fare, his freedom from
all psdantry and aSoetioism seems to be tho
very counterpart of what Horace was In his
ordinary prosaic mood. When Horace says that
he wonld not exchange his independent ease for
all the wealth Of Arabia, he writes in the spirit,
almost the tone, OF Lucilius. Horace, indeed,
had none Of the fierce Indignation" Of the
elder sAtirst, which reAppeared. long after
ward. under different circumstances In Juve-
nal Nor had Lucillus any of tho tn0ent benf0ila
veHd. Talents kindlisr veln." which was the
chief endowment OF Horace. But in their ordi-
nary tAStos and habits there seems to have been
. real Afinity between the friend OF M@cenas
and the friend OF Scipio and IAeliua.