_T._ That is right, go on. _C._ Nam et, _for you distinctly stated in writing your opinion_, et Atticus ad me sermonem tuum pertulit, _and Aticus too sent me word of what you said,... of what you said to him in conversation_.
_T._ "Pertulit." _C._ It means that Atticus conveyed on to Cicero the conversation he had with Appius.
_T. Who_ was Atticus? _C. is silent._
_T._ Who was Atticus? _C._ I didn"t think it came into the examination....
_T._ Well, I didn"t say it did: but still you can tell me who Atticus was.
_C._ A great friend of Cicero"s.
_T._ Did he take much part in politics? _C._ No.
_T._ What were his opinions? _C._ He was an Epicurean.
_T._ What was an Epicurean? _C. is silent, then_, Epicureans lived for themselves.
_T._ You are answering very well, sir; proceed. _C._ Semper judicavi, _I have ever considered_, in te, et in capiendo consilio prudentiam summam esse, et in dando fidem; _that your wisdom was of the highest order_ ...
_that you had the greatest wisdom ... that nothing could exceed the wisdom of your resolves, or the honesty of your advice_.
_T._ "Fidem." _C._ It means _faithfulness to the person asking_ ...
maximeque sum expertus, _and I had a great proof of it_....
_T._ _Great_; why don"t you say _greatest_? "maxime" is superlative. _C._ The Latins use the superlative, when they only mean the positive.
_T._ You mean, when English uses the positive; can you give me an instance of what you mean? _C._ Cicero always speaks of others as amplissimi, optimi, doctissimi, clarissimi.
_T._ Do they ever use the comparative for the positive? _C. thinks, then_, Certior factus sum.
_T._ Well, perhaps; however, here, "maxime" may mean _special_, may it not? _C. And I had a special proof of it_, c.u.m, initio civilis belli, per literas te consuluissem, _when, on the commencement of the civil war, I had written to ask your advice_, quid mihi faciendum esse censeres, _what you thought I ought to do_, eundumne ad Pompeium, an manendum in Italia, _to go to Pompey, or to remain in Italy_.
_T._ Very well, now stop. Dubitanti mini, quod scit Atticus noster. You construed quod, _as_. _C._ I meant the relative _as_.
_T._ Is _as_ a relative? _C. As_ is used in English for the relative, as when we say _such as_ for _those who_.
_T._ Well, but why do you use it here? What is the antecedent to "quod"?
_C._ The sentence Dubitanti mihi, etc.
_T._ Still, construe "quod" literally. _C. A thing which._
_T._ Where is _a thing?_ _C._ It is understood.
_T._ Well, but put it in. _C._ Illud quod.
_T._ Is that right? what is the common phrase? _C. is silent._
_T._ Did you ever see "illud quod" in that position? is it the phrase? _C.
is silent._
_T._ It is commonly "id quod," isn"t it? id quod. _C._ Oh, I recollect, id quod.
_T._ Well, which is more common, "quod," or "id quod," when the sentence is the antecedent? _C._ I think "id quod."
_T._ At least it is far more distinct; yes, I think it is more common.
What could you put instead of it? _C._ Quod quidem.
_T._ Now, dubitanti mihi; what is "mihi" governed by? _C._ Accessit.
_T._ No; hardly. _C. is silent._
_T._ Does "accessit" govern the dative? _C._ I thought it did.
_T._ Well, it may; but would Cicero use the dative after it? what is the more common practice with words of motion? Do you say, Venit mihi, _he came to me_? _C._ No, Venit ad me;-I recollect.
_T._ That is right; venit ad me. Now, for instance, "inc.u.mbo:" what case does "inc.u.mbo" govern? _C._ Inc.u.mbite remis?
_T._ Where is that? in Cicero? _C._ No, in Virgil. Cicero uses "in"; I recollect, inc.u.mbere in opus ... ad opus.
_T._ Well, then, _is_ this "mihi" governed by "accessit"? _what_ comes after accessit? _C._ I see; it is, accessit ad tollendam dubitationem.
_T._ That is right; but then, what after all do you do with "mihi"? how is it governed? _C. is silent._
_T._ How is "mihi" governed, if it does not come after "accessit"? _C.
pauses, then_, "Mihi" ... "mihi" is often used so; and "tibi" and "sibi": I mean "suo sibi gladio hunc jugulo"; ... "venit mihi in mentem"; that is, _it came into my mind_; and so, "accessit mihi ad tollendam," etc.
_T._ That is very right. _C._ I recollect somewhere in Horace, vellunt tibi barbam.
Etc., etc.
4.
And now, my patient reader, I suspect you have had enough of me on this subject; and the best I can expect from you is, that you will say: "His first pages had some amus.e.m.e.nt in them, but he is dullish towards the end." Perhaps so; but then you must kindly bear in mind that the latter part is about a steady careful youth, and the earlier part is not; and that goodness, exactness, and diligence, and the correct and the unexceptionable, though vastly more desirable than their contraries in fact, are not near so entertaining in fiction.
-- 2.
Composition.
1.
I am able to present the reader by antic.i.p.ation with the correspondence which will pa.s.s between Mr. Brown"s father and Mr. White, the tutor, on the subject of Mr. Brown"s examination for entrance at the University.
And, in doing so, let me state the reason why I dwell on what many will think an extreme case, or even a caricature. I do so, because what may be called exaggeration is often the best means of _bringing out_ certain faults of the mind which do indeed exist commonly, if not in that degree.
If a master in carriage and deportment wishes to carry home to one of his boys that he slouches, he will caricature the boy himself, by way of impressing on the boy"s intellect a sort of abstract and typical representation of the ungraceful habit which he wishes corrected. When we once have the simple and perfect ideas of things in our minds, we refer the particular and partial manifestations of them to these types; we recognize what they are, good or bad, as we never did before, and we have a guide set up within us to direct our course by. So it is with principles of taste, good breeding, or of conventional fashion; so it is in the fine arts, in painting, or in music. We cannot even understand the criticism pa.s.sed on these subjects until we have set up for ourselves the ideal standard of what is admirable and what is absurd.