In a strain of
manly sorrow, and with that unprepared eloquence which the heart
inspires, he moved for a funeral at the public expence, and a monument
to the memory of virtue and departed genius.
manly sorrow, and with that unprepared eloquence which the heart
inspires, he moved for a funeral at the public expence, and a monument
to the memory of virtue and departed genius.
Tacitus
The vehemence, with which
he exerted himself, threw him into a violent fever, and, on the
seventh day following, put a period to his life. Then, says Cicero,
that tuneful swan expired: we hoped once more to hear the melody of
his voice, and went, in that expectation, to the senate-house; but all
that remained was to gaze on the spot where that eloquent orator spoke
for the last time in the service of his country. _Illud immortalitate
dignum ingenium, illa humanitas, illa virtus Lucii Crassi morte
extincta subitâ est, vix diebus decem post eum diem, qui hoc et
superiore libra continetur. Illa tanquam cycnea fuit divini hominis
vox, et oratio, quam quasi expectantes, post ejus interitum veniebamus
in curiam, ut vestigium illud ipsum, in quo ille postremum
institisset, contueremur. _ _De Orat. _ lib, iii. s. 1. and 6. This
passage will naturally call to mind the death of the great earl of
Chatham. He went, in a feeble state of health, to attend a debate of
the first importance. Nothing could detain him from the service of his
country. The dying notes of the BRITISH SWAN were heard in the House
of Peers. He was conveyed to his own house, and on the eleventh of May
1778, he breathed his last. The news reached the House of Commons late
in the evening, when Colonel BARRE had the honour of being the first
to shed a patriot tear on that melancholy occasion.
In a strain of
manly sorrow, and with that unprepared eloquence which the heart
inspires, he moved for a funeral at the public expence, and a monument
to the memory of virtue and departed genius. By performing that pious
office, Colonel BARRE may be said to have made his own name immortal.
History will record the transaction.
[g] Messala Corvinus is often, in this Dialogue, called Corvinus only.
See s. xii. note [e].
[h] Appius Claudius was censor in the year of Rome 442; dictator, 465;
and, having at a very advanced age lost his sight, he became better
known by the name of Appius Cæcus. Afterwards, A. U. 472, when Pyrrhus,
by his ambassador, offered terms of peace, and a treaty of alliance,
Appius, whom blindness, and the infirmities of age, had for some time
withheld from public business, desired to be conveyed in a litter to
the senate-house. Being conducted to his place, he delivered his
sentiments in so forcible a manner, that the fathers resolved to
prosecute the war, and never to hear of an accommodation, till Italy
was evacuated by Pyrrhus and his army. See Livy, b. xiii. s. 31.
he exerted himself, threw him into a violent fever, and, on the
seventh day following, put a period to his life. Then, says Cicero,
that tuneful swan expired: we hoped once more to hear the melody of
his voice, and went, in that expectation, to the senate-house; but all
that remained was to gaze on the spot where that eloquent orator spoke
for the last time in the service of his country. _Illud immortalitate
dignum ingenium, illa humanitas, illa virtus Lucii Crassi morte
extincta subitâ est, vix diebus decem post eum diem, qui hoc et
superiore libra continetur. Illa tanquam cycnea fuit divini hominis
vox, et oratio, quam quasi expectantes, post ejus interitum veniebamus
in curiam, ut vestigium illud ipsum, in quo ille postremum
institisset, contueremur. _ _De Orat. _ lib, iii. s. 1. and 6. This
passage will naturally call to mind the death of the great earl of
Chatham. He went, in a feeble state of health, to attend a debate of
the first importance. Nothing could detain him from the service of his
country. The dying notes of the BRITISH SWAN were heard in the House
of Peers. He was conveyed to his own house, and on the eleventh of May
1778, he breathed his last. The news reached the House of Commons late
in the evening, when Colonel BARRE had the honour of being the first
to shed a patriot tear on that melancholy occasion.
In a strain of
manly sorrow, and with that unprepared eloquence which the heart
inspires, he moved for a funeral at the public expence, and a monument
to the memory of virtue and departed genius. By performing that pious
office, Colonel BARRE may be said to have made his own name immortal.
History will record the transaction.
[g] Messala Corvinus is often, in this Dialogue, called Corvinus only.
See s. xii. note [e].
[h] Appius Claudius was censor in the year of Rome 442; dictator, 465;
and, having at a very advanced age lost his sight, he became better
known by the name of Appius Cæcus. Afterwards, A. U. 472, when Pyrrhus,
by his ambassador, offered terms of peace, and a treaty of alliance,
Appius, whom blindness, and the infirmities of age, had for some time
withheld from public business, desired to be conveyed in a litter to
the senate-house. Being conducted to his place, he delivered his
sentiments in so forcible a manner, that the fathers resolved to
prosecute the war, and never to hear of an accommodation, till Italy
was evacuated by Pyrrhus and his army. See Livy, b. xiii. s. 31.
