The sun., 1896-10-18


expression in the prose style OF Livy.
Tho author Of the dialogue DE oratori-
bus" test1es to the favor which tho
poet enjoyed. even before the publication
OF his epic, both with tho Emperor ana
the whole people, who on hearing some OF his
verses recited In tho theatre, rose In body ana
greeted him. as he happened TO be present At
the spectacle, with the same marks OF respect
which they showed TO the Emperor himself"
He would thus appear, even in his lifetime, TO
have thoroughly. as Sainte Beuve has said,
touched the national FIBRE" and tn have
gained that place In the admiration OF mis- coun-
trymen which ho never afterward lost. BY tho
poets who came after him his memory was
cherished with the veneraton men feel Tor
great MASTER united to the affection which
they feel for departed friend. Lucan, Indeed,
rather enters into rivalry with him than follows
in his footsteps; Prof. Sellar thinks there lie no
surer way of learning to appreciate the peculiar
greatness OF Virgil's manner than by reading
passages OF the Eneid alongside OF passages
of the PharsnliR. Tho new poets who came
into vogue under the Flnvian dynasty, silius
Italicus and Status for example. though they
failed to arprehend the secret of Its success,
m ade tho 4Fneld their model. In tho arrange
ment of their materials. In their diction, and in
tho structure OF their verse. Status. in bid
ding farewell to his "Thebaid." uses these words
Of ack now ed Ement, " Do thou live then. pray,
yet vie not with the divine Fneid. but follow II
from afar. and over reverence Its track" In
like spirit Silius, having occasion to mention
Mantua. celebrates II as " "Mantua, homo of the
muses.. raised to the stars by Aonian song. and
rival OF Smyrna's music" Martial, among
many other tributes OF admiration scattered
through his poems, says OF Virgil that he could
have surpassed Horace In lyric and Narius in
tragic poetry had ho chosen to enter In rivalry
with them. The younger Pliny. speaking ofthe
number OF books, statues. and busts possessed
by tho poet Silius Italicus. adds these words:
OF Virgil. principally. whose birthday he kept
with more solemnity than his own. especially Mt
Naples. where he used to visit his monumentns
II It were temple" But tho greatest proof
Of virRil's influence which the author OF this
book can find in the subsequent literature OF
Rome IL traceable In the imitation of his style
in the language of the historian Tactus. the one
great literary genius born under the Empire.
II is plain that SO great a master OF expression
would not have incurred this debt. except to
one whom lie regarded as entitled, above all
others, TO stamp the speech Of Rome with an
imperial imprint. In Juvenal there are many
references and ailusions to familiar passages in
tho Fneid, and It appears from him that the
works of Virgil and Horace had already In his
time become what they have continued to be
ever since. the common school books OF all who
obtained liberal education.
After tho end Of the first century A. D., even
the initiative poets OF Romo became rare: but
the preeminence still enjoyed by Virgil is at
tested by tho number OF commentaries written
on his works. the most famous OF them being the
still extant commentary of Servius. belonging
to the latter part OF the fourth century. Tho
fortune of Virgil wns. in this respect. similar to
that OF his great countryman. Dante. From the
4. .laI IAA ~
culture there was a succession of
and grammarians who lestured
and wrote treatises on his poems. These COM
mentators supplied materials to Suetonius
for tho life which that by Dona-
tus. which Is still extant, is founded
The frequent quotations from Virgil in the des-
criticism of Aulus Gellius and the sys-
tematic di scussions In the Saturnalia OF MRcro-
bus bear witness to the minute study of his
poems In the interval between the second and
the fifth centuries. Similar testimony to his con-
tnued influence is afforded by the early Chris |
tian writers. especially by Augustine. Though
there may be traced In them q struggle between .
the pleasure which they derived from his po-
etry and the alienation of their sympathies ow-
ing to his paEanism. yet IL 10 probable that tho !
favor shown TO him and to Cicero amid the |
first strong reaction from everything associ- |
ated with tho beauty of the older religions was !
due q much TO the pure and humane spirit /
Of their teaching AS to tho fascination OF !
their style. Tho number and excellence OF |
the manuscripts OF Virgil. tho most famous OF |
which date from tho fourth and the NTH CEN
turies confirm the impression of tho persistent /
favor which his works enjoyed before and after |
tho overthrow of Roman rule In the West !
learning iourished during tho dark |
est period Of the later time. the poems OF Virgil
were held in special esteem Thus we read in /
with the literary studes OF Bede: /
+" Virgil cast over him the Same spell which he ;
cast over Dante; verses from the 4Eneid break his
of marty yrdoms. and the disciple ven :
lures on the track Of the great master in little /
ecogue descriptive of the approach OF spring."
His works were taught in the church schools: I
and the feeling with which he was regarded by
the more tolerant minds OF the medieval
Church appears in q mass sung in honor OF st. /
Paul at the end OF the fifteenth century. where
in the saint is described as bedewing the tomb
of Virgil with pious tear. and apostrophizing
the poet thus: what might not have made of
thee, had but found thee livingw The tradi- =
tional venerat'on attaching to his name among
the classes too ignorant to know anything of his
writings survived during the middle ages In tho
legends which ascribed to him the powers of a
ing in many forms. and at times and places
widely separated from one another.
HI.
With tho frat revival of learning and letters |
in different countries the old preeminencs of 7
Virgil again asserted itself. Mr.. John r. Green |
has pointed out that, in England, tho earliest /
classical revival. which long preceded the So
called renaissance, restored Cicero and Virgil to /
the list OF monastlc studies. and left their stamp
on tho pedantic style, profusely studded with !
classical quotations, of writer's like William or
Malmesbury. Ono of the earliest works in
Scottish literature Is the translAtion of the !
Eneid by Gawain Douglas; 1t Is characters
tic OF the rudmentary stage OF learning at the
time when this translation appeared, that the
Sibyl is represented as q nun who d-
rects 1Eneas to toll his beads. The
weRhtiest testimony, however. to the per-
sistsnce of VirRis fame and influence in the
Western world 10 the homage which the genius
OF Dante pays to the shade OF his great country
man. May the long zeal" he says "ayail me
and the great love that made mo search thy
volumes. Thou art my master and my author.