...
Or, with more definite and sublime grandeur, the vast forms of Roman
statesmanship appear: "Today, Romans, you behold the commonwealth, the
lives of you all, estates, fortunes, wives and children, and the seat of
this most renowned empire, this most fortunate and beautiful city,
preserved and restored to you by the distinguished love of the immortal
gods, and by my toils, counsels, and dangers."
What great thoughts were found within these pages, what a Roman vigor
was in these maxims! "It is Roman to do and suffer
bravely." "It is sweet and glorious to die for one's country." "He that
gives himself up to pleasure, is not worthy the name of a man."...
There was nothing harsh or stern in this book, no cynicism, no
indifference; but it was a flower-garden of lovely out-door allusions, a
gallery of great deeds; and as I have said before, it formed the child's
first real glimpse into the kingdom of words.
I was once asked by a doctor of divinity, who was also the overseer of a
college, whether I ever knew any one to look back with pleasure upon his
early studies in Latin and Greek. It was like being asked if one looked
back with pleasure on summer mornings and evenings. No doubt those
languages, like all others, have fared hard at the hands of pedants; and
there are active boys who hate all study, and others who love the
natural sciences alone.
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