In a book entitled “Navigable Canals,” a book abounding7 in grand and patriotic8 rather than practical views, we feel no small astonishment9 at finding the following philippic against Cicero, who was never concerned in digging canals:
“The most glorious trait in the history of Cicero is the destruction of Catiline’s conspiracy10, which, regarded in its true light, produced little sensation at Rome, except in consequence of his affecting to give it importance. The danger existed much more in his discourses12 than in the affair itself. It was an enterprise of debauchees which it was easy to disconcert. Neither the principal nor the accomplices13 had taken the slightest measure to insure the success of their guilty attempt. There was nothing astonishing in this singular matter but the blustering14 which attended all the proceedings15 of the consul16, and the facility with which he was permitted to sacrifice to his self-love so many scions17 of illustrious families.
“Besides, the life of Cicero abounds18 in traits of meanness. His eloquence was as venal19 as his soul was pusillanimous20. If his tongue was not guided by interest it was guided by fear or hope. The desire of obtaining partisans21 led him to the tribune, to defend, without a blush, men more dishonorable, and incalculably more dangerous, than Catiline. His clients were nearly all miscreants22, and, by a singular exercise of divine justice, he at last met death from the hands of one of those wretches23 whom his skill had extricated24 from the fangs26 of human justice.”
We answer that, “regarded in its true light,” the conspiracy of Catiline excited at Rome somewhat more than a “slight sensation.” It plunged27 her into the greatest disturbance28 and danger. It was terminated only by a battle so bloody29 that there is no example of equal carnage, and scarcely any of equal valor30. All the soldiers of Catiline, after having killed half of the army of Petrius, were killed, to the last man. Catiline perished, covered with wounds, upon a heap of the slain31; and all were found with their countenances32 sternly glaring upon the enemy. This was not an enterprise so wonderfully easy as to be disconcerted. C?sar encouraged it; C?sar learned from it to conspire33 on a future day more successfully against his country.
“Cicero defended, without a blush, men more dishonorable, and incalculably more dangerous than Catiline!” Was this when he defended in the tribune Sicily against Verres, and the Roman republic against Antony? Was it when he exhorted34 the clemency35 of C?sar in favor of Ligarius and King Deiotarus? or when he obtained the right of citizenship36 for the poet Archias? or when, in his exquisite37 oration38 for the Manilian law, he obtained every Roman suffrage39 on behalf of the great Pompey?
He pleaded for Milo, the murderer of Clodius; but Clodius had deserved the tragical40 end he met with by his outrages41. Clodius had been involved in the conspiracy of Catiline; Clodius was his mortal enemy. He had irritated Rome against him, and had punished him for having saved Rome. Milo was his friend.
What! is it in our time that any one ventures to assert that God punished Cicero for having defended a military tribune called Popilius Lena, and that divine vengeance42 made this same Popilius Lena the instrument of his assassination43? No one knows whether Popilius Lena was guilty of the crime of which he was acquitted44, after Cicero’s defence of him upon his trial; but all know that the monster was guilty of the most horrible ingratitude45, the most infamous46 avarice47, and the most detestable cruelty to obtain the money of three wretches like himself. It was reserved for our times to hold up the assassination of Cicero as an act of divine justice. The triumvirs would not have dared to do it. Every age, before the present, has detested48 and deplored49 the manner of his death.
Cicero is reproached with too frequently boasting that he had saved Rome, and with being too fond of glory. But his enemies endeavored to stain his glory. A tyrannical faction50 condemned51 him to exile, and razed52 his house, because he had preserved every house in Rome from the flames which Catiline had prepared for them. Men are permitted and even bound to boast of their services, when they meet with forgetfulness or ingratitude, and more particularly when they are converted into crimes.
Scipio is still admired for having answered his accusers in these words: “This is the anniversary of the day on which I vanquished53 Hannibal; let us go and return thanks to the gods.” The whole assembly followed him to the Capitol, and our hearts follow him thither54 also, as we read the passage in history; though, after all, it would have been better to have delivered in his accounts than to extricate25 himself from the attack by a bon mot.
Cicero, in the same manner, excited the admiration55 of the Roman people when, on the day in which his consulship56 expired, being obliged to take the customary oaths, and preparing to address the people as was usual, he was hindered by the tribune Matellus, who was desirous of insulting him. Cicero had begun with these words: “I swear,”— the tribune interrupted him, and declared that he would not suffer him to make a speech. A great murmuring was heard. Cicero paused a moment, and elevating his full and melodious57 voice, he exclaimed, as a short substitute for his intended speech, “I swear that I have saved the country.” The assembly cried out with delight and enthusiasm, “We swear that he has spoken the truth.” That moment was the most brilliant of his life. This is the true way of loving glory. I do not know where I have read these unknown verses:
Romains, j’aime la gloire, et ne veux point m’en taire
Des travaux des humains c’est le digne salaire,
Ce n’est qu’en vous qu’il la faut acheter;
Qui n’ose la vouloir, n’ose la mériter.
Romans, I own that glory I regard
Of human toil58 the only just reward;
Placed in your hands the immortal59 guerdon lies,
And he will ne’er deserve who slights the prize.
Can we despise Cicero if we consider his conduct in his government of Cilicia, which was then one of the most important provinces of the Roman Empire, in consequence of its contiguity60 to Syria and the Parthian Empire. Laodicea, one of the most beautiful cities of the East, was the capital of it. This province was then as flourishing as it is at the present day degraded under the government of the Turks, who never had a Cicero.
He begins by protecting Ariobarzanes, king of Cappadocia, and he refuses the presents which that king desires to make him. The Parthians come and attack Antioch in a state of perfect peace. Cicero hastily marches towards it, comes up with the Parthians by forced marches at Mount Taurus, routs61 them, pursues them in their retreat, and Arsaces, their general, is slain, with a part of his army.
Thence he rushes on Pendenissum, the capital of a country in alliance with the Parthians, and takes it, and the province is reduced to submission62. He instantly directs his forces against the tribes of people called Tiburanians, and defeats them, and his troops confer on him the title of Imperator, which he preserved all his life. He would have obtained the honors of a triumph at Rome if he had not been opposed by Cato, who induced the senate merely to decree public rejoicings and thanks to the gods, when, in fact, they were due to Cicero.
If we picture to ourselves the equity64 and disinterestedness65 of Cicero in his government; his activity, his affability — two virtues66 so rarely compatible; the benefits which he accumulated upon the people over whom he was an absolute sovereign; it will be extremely difficult to withhold67 from such a man our esteem68.
If we reflect that this is the same man who first introduced philosophy into Rome; that his “Tusculan Questions,” and his book “On the Nature of the Gods,” are the two noblest works that ever were written by mere63 human wisdom, and that his treatise69, “De Officiis,” is the most useful one that we possess in morals; we shall find it still more difficult to despise Cicero. We pity those who do not read him; we pity still more those who refuse to do him justice.
To the French detractor we may well oppose the lines of the Spanish Martial70, in his epigram against Antony (book v., epig. 69, v. 7):
Quid prosunt sacr? pretiosa silentia linguae?
Incipient71 omnes pro11 Cicerone loqui.
Why still his tongue with vengeance weak.
For Cicero all the world will speak!
See, likewise, what is said by Juvenal (sat. iv., v. 244):
Roma patrem patriae Ciceronem libera dixit.
Freed Rome, him father of his country called.
点击收听单词发音
1 paradox | |
n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法;自相矛盾的人(物) | |
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2 degradation | |
n.降级;低落;退化;陵削;降解;衰变 | |
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3 persecution | |
n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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4 tarnish | |
n.晦暗,污点;vt.使失去光泽;玷污 | |
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5 eloquence | |
n.雄辩;口才,修辞 | |
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6 animated | |
adj.生气勃勃的,活跃的,愉快的 | |
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7 abounding | |
adj.丰富的,大量的v.大量存在,充满,富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
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8 patriotic | |
adj.爱国的,有爱国心的 | |
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9 astonishment | |
n.惊奇,惊异 | |
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10 conspiracy | |
n.阴谋,密谋,共谋 | |
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11 pro | |
n.赞成,赞成的意见,赞成者 | |
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12 discourses | |
论文( discourse的名词复数 ); 演说; 讲道; 话语 | |
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13 accomplices | |
从犯,帮凶,同谋( accomplice的名词复数 ) | |
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14 blustering | |
adj.狂风大作的,狂暴的v.外强中干的威吓( bluster的现在分词 );咆哮;(风)呼啸;狂吹 | |
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15 proceedings | |
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报 | |
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16 consul | |
n.领事;执政官 | |
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17 scions | |
n.接穗,幼枝( scion的名词复数 );(尤指富家)子孙 | |
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18 abounds | |
v.大量存在,充满,富于( abound的第三人称单数 ) | |
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19 venal | |
adj.唯利是图的,贪脏枉法的 | |
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20 pusillanimous | |
adj.懦弱的,胆怯的 | |
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21 partisans | |
游击队员( partisan的名词复数 ); 党人; 党羽; 帮伙 | |
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22 miscreants | |
n.恶棍,歹徒( miscreant的名词复数 ) | |
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23 wretches | |
n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 );可怜的人;恶棍;坏蛋 | |
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24 extricated | |
v.使摆脱困难,脱身( extricate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25 extricate | |
v.拯救,救出;解脱 | |
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26 fangs | |
n.(尤指狗和狼的)长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 );(蛇的)毒牙;罐座 | |
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27 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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28 disturbance | |
n.动乱,骚动;打扰,干扰;(身心)失调 | |
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29 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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30 valor | |
n.勇气,英勇 | |
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31 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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32 countenances | |
n.面容( countenance的名词复数 );表情;镇静;道义支持 | |
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33 conspire | |
v.密谋,(事件等)巧合,共同导致 | |
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34 exhorted | |
v.劝告,劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35 clemency | |
n.温和,仁慈,宽厚 | |
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36 citizenship | |
n.市民权,公民权,国民的义务(身份) | |
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37 exquisite | |
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的 | |
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38 oration | |
n.演说,致辞,叙述法 | |
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39 suffrage | |
n.投票,选举权,参政权 | |
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40 tragical | |
adj. 悲剧的, 悲剧性的 | |
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41 outrages | |
引起…的义愤,激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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42 vengeance | |
n.报复,报仇,复仇 | |
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43 assassination | |
n.暗杀;暗杀事件 | |
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44 acquitted | |
宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 ); 使(自己)作出某种表现 | |
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45 ingratitude | |
n.忘恩负义 | |
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46 infamous | |
adj.声名狼藉的,臭名昭著的,邪恶的 | |
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47 avarice | |
n.贪婪;贪心 | |
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48 detested | |
v.憎恶,嫌恶,痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49 deplored | |
v.悲叹,痛惜,强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50 faction | |
n.宗派,小集团;派别;派系斗争 | |
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51 condemned | |
adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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52 razed | |
v.彻底摧毁,将…夷为平地( raze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53 vanquished | |
v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 );战胜;克服;抑制 | |
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54 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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55 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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56 consulship | |
领事的职位或任期 | |
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57 melodious | |
adj.旋律美妙的,调子优美的,音乐性的 | |
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58 toil | |
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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59 immortal | |
adj.不朽的;永生的,不死的;神的 | |
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60 contiguity | |
n.邻近,接壤 | |
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61 routs | |
n.打垮,赶跑( rout的名词复数 );(体育)打败对方v.打垮,赶跑( rout的第三人称单数 );(体育)打败对方 | |
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62 submission | |
n.服从,投降;温顺,谦虚;提出 | |
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63 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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64 equity | |
n.公正,公平,(无固定利息的)股票 | |
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65 disinterestedness | |
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66 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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67 withhold | |
v.拒绝,不给;使停止,阻挡 | |
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68 esteem | |
n.尊敬,尊重;vt.尊重,敬重;把…看作 | |
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69 treatise | |
n.专著;(专题)论文 | |
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70 martial | |
adj.战争的,军事的,尚武的,威武的 | |
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71 incipient | |
adj.起初的,发端的,初期的 | |
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