I giis fere insistens ait, Christianos profiteri θεὸν πατέρα, καὶ υἱὸν θεὸν, καὶ πνεῦμα ἅγιον, δεικνύντας αὐτῶν τὴν ἐν τῇ ἑνώσει δύναμιν, καὶ τὴν ἐν τῇ τάξει διαίρεσιν— Καὶ οὐκ ἐπὶ τούτοις τὸ θεολογικὸν ἡμῶν ἵσταται μέρος, ἀλλὰ καὶ πλῆθος ἀγγέλων καὶ λειτουργῶν φαμὲν· Atque iterum, ὡς γὰρ θεὸν φαμὲν, καὶ υἱὸν τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ, καὶ πνεῦμα ἅγιον—οὕτως καὶ ἑτέρας εἶναι δυνάμεις κατειλήμμεθα—• Consimiliter Origenes contra Celsum p. 386. ἕνα θεὸν, τὸν πατέρα, καὶ τὸν υἱὸν θεραπεύομεν. Et paulo post, θρησκεύομεν τὸν πατέρα τῆς ἀληθείας, καὶ τὸν υἱὸν τὴν ἀλήθειαν— Deinde objicienti Celso, ex eo sequi, non solum Deum, sed ejus ministros quoque esse colendos, respondet his verbis, εἰ μὲν οὖν ἐνόει τοὺς ἀληθεῖς ὑπηρέτας τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸν Γαβριὴλ, καὶ τὸν Μιχαὴλ, καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἀγγέλους καὶ ἀρχαγγέλους, καὶ τούτους ἔλεγε θεραπεύεσθαι. ἴσως ἂν τὸ περὶ τοῦ θεραπεύειν αὐτοῦ [f. αὐτοὺς] σημαινόμενον ἐκκαθῄραντες, καὶ τῶν τοῦ θεραπεύοντος πράξεων, εἴπομεν ἂν εἰς τὸν τόπον, ὡς περὶ τηλικούτων διαλεγόμενοι, ἅπερ ἐχωροῦμεν περὶ αὐτῶν νοῆσαι, i. e. Si Celsus veros Dei ministros intellexisset, Gabrielem, Michaelem, reliquosque Angelos et Archangelos, eosque colendos esse dixisset, nos fortasse, repurgata cultus significatione, et colentis actione, nostram de re tanta, quoad intelligere potuimus, sententiam enarrassemus. Hoc autem perinde est, ac si dixisset, nos quidem bonis illis Angelis, licet non cultum solius Dei proprium, inferioris tamen gradus cultum et honorem, cujus, ut ministri ejus, sunt capaces, tribuendum esse declarassemus: Ita enim mentem suam clarius explicat p. 416. κἂν ἴδωμεν δὲ, μὴ δαίμονάς τινας, ἀγγέλους δὲ τεταγμένους, εὐφημοῦμεν αὐτοὺς καὶ μακαρίζομεν· οὐ μὴν τὴν ὀφειλομένην πρὸς θεὸν τιμὴν τούτοις ἀπονέμομεν. Rem vero totam ad Justini mentem paucis complectitur p. 10. ubi dicit, θεὸν μόνον δεῖν σέβειν. τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ τιμῆς ἄξια, οὐ μὲν καὶ προσκυνήσεως καὶ σεβασμοῦ. Ad eundem fere modum Eusebius, Dem. Evang. p. 106. παρειλήφαμεν εἶναί τινας μετὰ τὸν ἀνωτάτω θεὸν δυνάμεις ἀσωμάτους τὴν φύσιν καὶ νοεράς ἃς δὲ γνωρίζειν καὶ τιμᾷν κατὰ τὸ μέτρον τῆς ἀξίας ἐδιδάχθημεν, μόνῳ τῷ θεῷ τὴν σεβάσμιον τιμὴν ἀπονέμοντες. Sic etiam in Præp. Εν. p. 148. ἡμεῖς μόνου τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων σέβειν δεδιδαγμένοι θεὸν, τιμᾷν τε κατὰ τὸ προσῆκον καὶ τὰς ἀμφ' αὐτὸν θεοφιλεῖς, καὶ μακαρίας δυνάμεις. Atque iterum p. 327. τοιαῦτα —ἃ τῆς Ἑλλήνων πολυθέου καὶ δαιμονικῆς πλάνης προτετιμήκαμεν, θείας μὲν δυνάμεις ὑπηρετικὰς τοῦ παμβασιλέως θεοῦ καὶ λειτουργικὰς εἰδότες, καὶ κατὰ τὸ προσῆκον τιμῶντες, μόνον δὲ θεὸν ὁμολογοῦντες, καὶ μόνον ἐκεῖνον σέβοντες. Habes jam nostram de loco hoc vexatissimo conjecturam, ne dicam emendationem; nam quantum ea suo momento ponderata valeat, tui erit judicii æstimare. Restat tantum, ut de verbis, λόγῳ καὶ ἀληθείᾳ, te moneamus, nos ea cum præcedente verbo προσκυνοῦμεν conjunxisse propter similem fere de eadam re verborum formam p. 19. i Legat. p. 27. -υἱὸν, πνεῦμα τε προφητικὸν μετὰ λόγου τιμῶμεν· Attamen non ne gamus illa, in duarum sententiarum confinio posita, de utraque satis commode ȧrò кowoυ intelligi posse; quemadmodum et nos supra exposuimus. Quod ad ipsam vero phrasin attinet, fallitur plane cum Sylburgio Grabius, qui Justinum allusisse putat ad illa, év πveúμatɩ kaì åλŋ¤eíą, Jo. iv. 23. Est enim loquendi modus usitatissimus, præsertim apud Justinum, idque ne longius abeam, in hac ipsa Apologia. Ecce loca! vлayорeveι ỏ åληons λóyos, p. 6, ὑπαγορεύει ἀληθὴς ὡς αἱρεῖ λόγος, p. 7. λόγῳ ἀληθεῖ, p. 10. μετὰ λόγου, p. 19. ὡς δείκνυσιν ὁ ἀληθὴς λόγος, p. 65. λόγου καὶ ἀληθείας ἔχεσθαι, p. 99. Hæc igitur verba, Móy kai aλndeig, nihil aliud Latine sonant, quam, Ut vera Ratio dictat, suadet, postulat; vel, ut recta Ratio evincit, et veritas ipsa efflagitat. Nonnulli hic fortasse lectum mallent πνεῦμά τε προφητικὸν sine τo, uti p. 19. et τῶν αὐτῷ [sc. θεῷ] ἑπομέ vwv, loco rwv äλλwv Nos vero hæc missa facimus; quippe quibus, in re Critica minime versatis, sat erit meriti, si in gravioris momenti re, dum tibi obsequimur, vel lucis aliquid attulisse, vel ansam saltem melius quiddam investigandi aliis præbuisse, vide amur. ON THE GENIUS AND WRITINGS OF CLAUDIAN. PART II. [Continued from No. XLVI. p. 206.] Εἶν ἑνὶ Βιργιλίοιο νόον καὶ μοῦσαν Ομήρου, FROM our observations in a preceding number, the_reader will easily collect our opinion of the " prægloriosissimus Poëta" of the age of Honorius; an opinion consonant to that of the generality of critics. Yet the acceptance which his writings appear to have obtained in his own time, and the extravagant eulogies of which we have recorded a specimen, may be ac 'Gesner (Prolegomena, p. xliii.) considers Dryden's celebrated epigram on Milton as an imitation of the above. The two last lines, which he quotes, make a curious figure in his pages: The force of nature could no further goe counted for on other grounds than the influence of court favor, or the temporary popularity of most of his subjects. His merits, such as they were, were of a species peculiarly adapted to the critical capacity of his contemporaries. Nor, though the poetical halls of the Palatine have ceased to resound with the plaudits which rewarded the eulogist of Stilicho or the adulator of Honorius, has Claudian ever wanted a class of readers prepared to do justice to his undisputed qualifications. He is the favorite of those with whom words are a substitute for things; in whose eyes gorgeousness of diction, luscious sweetness of versification, fantastic and florid description, well wrought antithesis, and scattered happy sentences, are sufficient to compensate for the absence of the higher qualities of a poet; for depth, energy and pathos, beauty of design, grandeur of purpose, and insight into the true riches of language. He is a favorite especially with those of warm fancies, and judgment as yet immature, with whom to be dazzled and astonished is to be satisfied, and whom brilliancy of manner suffices to blind to inanity of matter. Boys admire Claudian, as children are fascinated with Gessner's Death of Abel. We remember, even now, the impressions which accompanied our first perusal of Claudian's poems, at an early age. It was as if a new mine of poetical expression was opened before us. We seemed to have discovered a world of yet unexplored beauties, and our fancy was intoxicated with the dazzling hues and rich fragrance of the flowers which surrounded us. Even Virgil was cast into the shade— as the stars go out, When with prodigious light, Some blazing meteor fills the astonished sight. Nor can we recollect without a smile the pomp and tumidity with which the imitation of our new favorite infected our school exercises. The gloss of novelty, however, soon wore away; we discovered the unsubstantial nature of what had so fascinated us, and returned to Virgil and common sense. We have seen an acquaintance with Claudian and Ovid recommended in the case of young aspirants to the honors of Latin versification, as a means of ripening the fancy and developing the invention; probably on the supposition that the false taste so superinduced, would in the course of things reform itself, while the benefit would be permanent. Claudian, however, is well intitled to the rank he holds among the Classics. If his style and sentiment in general savor of Oriental inflation, there is in his best passages a march and a dignity well becoming the last of the Roman poets; and the fertility of his mind, the command of language which he displays on his own peculiar subjects, and the fine sententiousness of his moral passages, redeem in some degree the wretchedness of his subjects, and his own deficiencies. He is valuable, too, as an historian. His allusions to the manners and customs of the declining empire, the frequent notices he affords us of the state of the public mind on particular occasions, his sketches of topography and local scenery, and the light he throws on the accounts of contemporary historians, all conspire to repay the classical reader for his perusal. It is in these points of view more especially that he has called forth the warm panegyrics of Gibbon, the "dulcia vitia" of whose style were congenial to his own, and who acknowledges the frequent and effectual aid which he derived to his researches from the labors of the political poet. There is little skill of arrangement displayed in any of Claudian's productions. With the exception of the De Raptu Proserpinæ and the minor poems, they consist wholly of panegyrics, invectives, epithalamiums, and congratulatory addresses on public occasions. In point of contrivance, they are an incongruous mixture of historical narrative, mythological fiction, and detailed satire or encomium. Every thing is transacted through the medium of a deity. Is an emperor to be married, or a favorite promoted to the consulship, or an obnoxious character to be dismissed from office, or a barbarian invasion to be repelled? a god, or a deified monarch, or the city of Rome represented as a goddess, or one of the cardinal virtues personified, descends, and makes a long speech, generally of supplication, addressed to another god, or to the hero of the piece himself. Then follows a reply of equal length; after which we have an account of the great events consequent upon this "colloquy sublime;" and prefixed to, or intermingled with, or subjoined to all this, the poet's own sentiments on the subject. Such and so inartificial is his plan; and from within this circle he never ventures. It must be allowed, however, that he makes as much of his subject as it is capable of. This is indeed his peculiar praise. Few ever understood so well the art of saying a great deal about nothing. He seizes skilfully upon the producible subject, casts its deformities into the shade, exaggerates the really great, magnifies the little, and throws over all the glittering veil of his own florid imagination. Every topic, which can be brought to bear directly or indirectly upon the matter in hand, is pressed into the service, and made to minister to the poet's prevailing purpose, the aggrandisement of his subject. The past is recalled, and the future anticipated, to add new splendor to the present. VOL. XXVII. CI. JI. NO. LIV. T Heaven pours forth its deities, and the secrets of fate are laid open. Claudian knew his talent, and made good use of it. From a great subject he would have shrunk; but in assembling round a common one all that is brilliant or fantastic in art or nature, and all that is imposing in sentiment, few have ever surpassed him. His subjects indeed were such as to supply him with ample scope for the exercise of his peculiar powers. He enters con amore into the description of processions, military reviews, and court pageants; and appears to be as much dazzled as any of the spectators by the display of imperial magnificence: Sidonias chlamydes, et cingula baccis Aspera, gemmatasque togas, viridesque smaragdo Et vario lapidum distinctas igne coronas. Even to the common objects of nature he imparts a florid and unnatural beauty, totally foreign to them; resembling in this respect some poets of higher pretensions in the present day. Claudian's accumulating propensities are especially visible in his portraits of character. It is no exaggeration to say, that all the virtues, and almost all the accomplishments, of which the poet had any idea, are attributed to his favorites, without discrimination, and apparently without fear of offending them by the grossness of the adulation. Their worst or most equivocal actions are explained by attributing them to praiseworthy motives. With an ingenious economy of praise, unknown in modern times, the credit due to a victory is divided between the commander and the sovereign, the former being represented as conquering by his skill and prowess, the latter by his auspices. All the common-places of morality are ransacked, and all the artifices of ingenious praise exhausted, in honor of the ruling powers. They are exalted sometimes by contrast with their unsuccessful adversaries, and sometimes by comparison with the sages and heroes of Greece and ancient Rome. Pythagoras and the Stagirite are made to veil their diminished heads to the learned consul Mallius; the exploits of Stilicho are extolled as incomparably transcending those of the Decii and Scipios of on the imbecile Honorius is represented as uniting in his own person all the public virtues and private accomplishments of his most illustrious predecessors, and as surpassing each in that excellence for which he was peculiarly distinguished. Even the gods and fabulous heroes of antiquity are introduced for a similar purpose, in a way which is often absolutely ludicrous. We might quote, among other passages, and ola time; anu ומיוח |