The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-08-23

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 had been confirmed by my counsels,
 and which l thought had been con-
 firmed by Divine Providence--Which
 seemed to be fixed and founded on the
 union of all good men and the authori-
 ty of my consulship-has, you may be
 sure, unless some god takes pity on us,
 slipped from our hands by this single
 verdict; if it can be called Virdict that
 thirty men the basest and most worth
 less of the Roman people, bought with
 money, should subvert all law and jus
 tice, and that Talna, and Plautus, and
 Spongia, and other riff-raff of that sort,
 should decide that thing was not done
 which not only all men, but even cattle,
 know was done.
 Now, it is a saddening fact that when
 the senate started an inquiry into the
 bribery of this jury, with the view of
 punishing the guilty ones, Cicero turned
 around and opposed the Investigation. ! We could not believe this on any less
 testimony than his own. In his next
 letter to Atticus he says:
 I suppose you have heard of our knights being nearly disunited from the
 senate. First they took 1t very ill that
 q decree of the senate should have been
 promulgated to institute an inquiry
 concerning those who had received
 bribes as jurors. When this decree was passed I was accidentally absent, but
 when I found that the equestrian order
 was very indignant over it, although
 they did not openly say so, I reproved
 the senate, as I thought, with great au-
 thority, and spoke forcbly and copious-
 ly in not the most honorable cause.
 It was Cicero's theory that the sta
 bility of the constitution could be pre-
 served only by keeping the senate and ! the equestrian order united, and that l the rules of morality should not be al-
 lowed to interfere with this prime con- i sideration. Cicero was always ready to do a little evil that great good might 1 come. In this instance the good that he expected did not come. Although the proposed investigation was defeated, the equities were alienated from the ean- ate by the attempt to investigate. They were perfectly indifferent to principles | so long as they were making money. We have many such nowadays.
 | At this time Caesar was consul, and the first triumvirate of Pompey, Cras- sus and himself governed Rome. It was an imperium in imperio. It had no more legal standing than Tammany Hall has in New York now, but it con trolled Rome as completely as Tamma- ny controls New York It had been in- stituted by Caesar. Cicero tells us in his oration De Provinciis Consultations that Caesar invited him to be member of this private governing body, but that he declined, because it was in deroga- tion of the dignity of the senate and contrary to his own principles. Caesar was the chief man of the triumvirate, although he did not assume to be such. He was the only one of the three who could control the populace and dispose of their votes. He exercised this power frequently during his consulship, to pass laws in an unconstitutional man. ner, using as much mob violence as was necessary, but no more. If Cato be- came obstreperouS in the forum Caesar caused him to be forcibly removed. If Bibulus, his colleague in the consulship, observed lightning in the sky (which was the religious signal for postponing the business in hand), the phenomenon was not visible to Caesar When Bib ulous persisted he too was removed Clodus was the only man who had anything like Caesars ability to com mand the streets, and Clodius was one of his underings, By refusing to tes- tify against him and by bringing the money bags of Crassus to his aid, Cae- sar had saved him from ruin when he was tried for sacrilege. Appian says that Caesar now raised Clodiis to the tribuneship as foil to Cicero, who was decrying the triumvirate as tending to monarchy This was the truth in a nutshell.
 Having been duly elected as tribune, Clodius sent forward a bill which pro- vided that anybody who had put Ro- man citizens to death without trial and the right of appeal should be outlawed. Roman law provided that no citizen should be put to death without the right of appeal to the people; and the people | could set aside the judgment by vote if they chose to do so. This law was in force when Cicero put the Catilinarians to death.
 Caesar had meanwhile been invested | with military command for his Gall lie rroconsulship, and in this capacity | he was outside the walls, but his army was in other parts of Italy He was in communication with his friends in the ! city although he could not himself en- ter. He now offered Cicero the position ! of lsgatus or lieutenant, under himself, | in Gaul. This place would have shielded Cicero from the attacks of | Clodius but it would also have remov- | ed his troublesome tongue from the | forum, and would have put him under to Caesar, neither of which conditions could he endure. So he de- clined the offer and resolved to take his chances against Clodius, relying partly on Pompay's friendship and partly on his own supposed popularity He put on mourning garments, as was the custom of persons under accusa- ton. and his friends did the same in order to show their sympathy. They him in the garb through he streets, pelted with mud and stones 0y the mob of Clodius.
 CICERO'S ILLUSION.
 Here we come to the kernel of the political situation at Rome in the year IS E. c Cicero believed that the sen ltorial government could be preserved md the republic maintaiped and that ociety could be and ought to be kept soing, on the then existing basis. 7aesar thought otherwise. "The repub-