CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.


I am conscious of a certain audacity in thus attempting to give a
further life of Cicero which I feel I may probably fail in justifying
by any new information; and on this account the enterprise, though it
has been long considered, has been postponed, so that it may be left
for those who come after me to burn or publish, as they may think
proper; or, should it appear during my life, I may have become
callous, through age, to criticism.

The project of my work was anterior to the life by Mr. Forsyth, and
was first suggested to me as I was reviewing the earlier volumes of
Dean Merivale's History of the Romans under the Empire. In an article
on the Dean's work, prepared for one of the magazines of the day, I
inserted an apology for the character of Cicero, which was found to be
too long as an episode, and was discarded by me, not without regret.
From that time the subject has grown in my estimation till it has
reached its present dimensions.

I may say with truth that my book has sprung from love of the man, and
from a heartfelt admiration of his virtues and his conduct, as well as
of his gifts. I must acknowledge that in discussing his character with
men of letters, as I have been prone to do, I have found none quite to