is so much obliged to you except myself: for I shall ever acknowledge that the favours I have received from you are great and innumerable. I have given instructions to Furnius to solicit Cæsar upon this subject: and if I should have that authority with him, which I am sure I ought, he will hereafter thank me for my advice. In the mean time, we have a very difficult part to sustain here: as, on the one hand, we do not think ourselves altogether strong enough to hazard an engagement: and, on the other, and Dion Cassius, all concur in giving testimony to the truth of this fact: but, as it is a fact which proves that Cicero was by no means, at this juncture, acting the part of a patriot, the polite apologist of his conduct has endeavoured to discredit the evidence of these historians. To this end, Dr. Middleton produces the following passage from the letters to Brutus, as an incontestible proof," that no man was more "shocked at Octavius's attempt, or took more pains to dis"suade it than Cicero." Cæsarem---improbissimis litteris quidam fallacibusque nunciis impulerunt in spem certissimam consulatus. Quod simulatque sensi, neque ego illum-absentem litteris monere destiti, nec accusare præsentes ejus necessarios, qui ejus cupiditati suffragari videbantur; nec in senatu, scelerutissimorum consiliorum fontes apperire dubitavi. Epist. ad Brut. 10. Now, there seems to be the strongest reason to question either the authenticity, or the veracity, of this letter because it is most certain, from one of Cicero's Philippics, that he actually did favour the earliest possible promotion of Octavius to the consulate. Quid est enim P. C. (says he) cur eam (Octavium) non quam primum amplissimos honores capere cupiamus? Legibus enim annalibus cum grandiorem ætatem ad consulatum constituebant, adolescentiæ temeritatem verebantur. C. Cæsar ineunte ætate docuit ab excellenti eximiaque virtute, progressum ætatis expectari non oportere. In other, must take care not to expose the republic to greater dangers by declining one. However, if Cæsar could comply with the dictates of his interest and his honour: or if the African legions should speedily join us: you may depend upon having nothing to fear from this quarter. Let me entreat you to continue your friendship In hoc spes libertatis posita est; ab hoc accepta jam salus, huic summi honores et exquiruntur et parati sunt, Phil. v. 17, 18. Could Cicero, after this, without being guilty of the wildest and the weakest inconsistency, "admonish Octavius, "by letter, against his designs upon the consulship; reproach those to their face who encouraged him in that "ambitious view; and lay open the source of these traitorous counsels in the senate;" (all which the epistle in question affirms that he did ;) when he had, himself, in the speech and in the passage above cited, said every thing that his wit and eloquence could suggest in favour of Octavius's premature advancement to the consular office? Either the letters, then, to Brutus are not genuine; or Cicero, to serve a present purpose, pretended that he had acted a part which he did not. The former of these suppositions is maintained by some very learned and judicious critics: and the latter will by no means be thought improbable, if there is any weight in the several instances of the same kind which have been occasionally produced in the course of these remarks. But whichever of these alternatives be the fact, it equally concludes in support of that historical evidence for which I have been contending. In farther confirmation of which, it may be observed, that Plutarch cites the authority of Octavius himself, for what he affirms concerning the private agreement between Octavius and Cicero in regard to the consulate. And it is probable he took this piece of secret history from those memoirs which Octavius wrote of his own life as it is certain, that both Plutarch and Appian made great use of them in compiling their histories. Plut. in vit. Cic. Appian. p. 578, 9. 385. Dio. p. 519. Middlet. on the epist. to Brut. p. 134. rem. 8. Tunstal's observ. on the epist. to Brut. p. 222. et Suet. in Aug. 85. friendship to me, and to be assured that I am entirely yours". Farewel. From my camp, July the 28th. 11 AN Plancus, soon after the date of this letter, abandoned his colleague Decimus Brutus, and went over with his troops to Antony and Lepidus. See rem. 8. on letter 15. of this book. About four months, likewise, from the time when this letter was written, the celebrated coalition was formed between Cæsar, Antony, and Lepidus; in consequence of which, Cicero, it is well known, was sacrificed to Antony's resentment. In the last moments of his life he behaved with great composure: and it is the only circumstance in all his misfortunes that he bore with a becoming fortitude. He had, indeed, so much the less reason to complain of his fate, as it is certain that he suffered nothing more than he would have inflicted, had Fortune put Antony into his power. Omnium adversorum, says Livy, nihil ut viro dignum erat, tulit, præter mortem : quæ, vere æstimanti, minus indigne videri potuit, quod a victore inimico nihil crudelius passurus erat, quàm quod ejusdem fortunæ compos ipse fecisset. Liv. fragm. apud Senec. Suasor. 6. This is the judgment which the noblest and most impartial of the Roman historians has passed upon Cicero: and the truth of it is abundantly confirmed by the foregoing letters. |