was he esteemed by his own contemporaries, that on one occasion when he visited the theatre, the whole audience is said to have risen in a body and saluted him with the same honours which were paid to Augustus. It is as much to his honour that Caligula should have ordered all his busts to be banished from the public libraries, as that St. Augustine should have quoted him alone of heathen authors, in his celebrated Confessions.' It was Virgil who introduced Horace, lately despoiled, like himself, of his paternal property, to Mæcenas, whose favour and protection he enjoyed to the end of his life. From Mæcenas, Horace received the present of a modest estate in the Sabine country,— a slight gift for the rich and powerful minister to bestow, but beyond price to the poet, who so loved a country life, and was never weary of singing the praises of his Sabine farm. Like Virgil, neither a sycophant nor a parasite, Horace had a real and lasting affection for his patron Mæcenas, to whom, many years before they were parted by death's cold hand, he addressed these verses: 66 Why wilt thou kill me with thy boding fears? Why, O Mæcenas, why? Before thee lies a train of happy years; Yes, nor the gods nor I Could brook that thou shouldst first be laid in dust Who art my stay, my glory, and my trust! "Ah, if untimely fate should snatch thee hence, Why should I linger on, with deadened sense, A worthless fragment of a fallen shrine ? "Think not that I have sworn a bootless oath ; Yes, we shall go, shall go, Hand linked in hand, whene'er thou leadest, both The last sad road below!" And in truth it was but a few months after Mæcenas had left this life behind him that he was followed by Horace, who was laid to rest in a corner of the Esquiline, close to the tomb of his dear friend and patron. Virgil's recommendation of Horace to Mæcenas was seconded by Varius, celebrated as a writer of epic poetry, and for his tragedy of "Thyestes." He was one of those appointed by Augustus to revise the Æneid, and is spoken of by Horace in the following lines: "Mæcenas, Virgil, Varius,—if I please In my poor writings these and such as these, Mæcenas, whose name has became proverbial for a munificent friend of literature, was of the highest patrician blood, claiming descent from the old Etruscan kings. The confidential adviser and minister of Augustus, he was also a man of great general accomplishments, well versed in the literature of Greece and Rome, a lover of the fine arts and of natural history, and a connoisseur of gems and precious stones. His great wealth enabled him to gratify these various tastes, and his chief relaxation from the cares of statesmanship was in the society of men of letters. To gain admittance to his social circle was a coveted privilege, for not only was this in itself a mark of distinction, but his parties were well known as the pleasantest in Rome. Like many of the men of his time who were eminent in affairs, Mæcenas wrote much and on various topics, but with only partial success. He shone far more as appreciator than as originator. His magnificent palace on the Esquiline hill was built where the church of Santa Maria Maggiore now stands, and commanded a superb view. From its lofty tower Nero is said to have witnessed the spectacle of Rome in flames beneath him. No trace of it or of the patrician villa at Tivoli now remains, and he who represented the great Augustus in his absences from Rome and negotiated the peace of Brundusium with Antony, is best remembered by the lines of the poet to whom he had been kind, Horace, the son of a slave. DANTE. THIRTEEN centuries had passed since the death of Virgil when the lofty imagination of Dante chose him as its guide through the realms of hell. The two poets, having made an end of their journey of terrors and reached Purgatory, continue until they perceive a stately dame walking along alone. says: "And there appeared to me A lady all alone, who went along Dante Singing and culling floweret after floweret, A grateful sight, indeed, to eyes which had so lately looked on the torments of the |