obscured the lustre of Cato. But many of us are shamefully ignorant and
inattentive; for we admire the Greeks for their antiquity, and what is
called their Attic neatness, and yet have never noticed the same quality
in Cato. It was the distinguishing character, say they, of Lysias and
Hyperides. I own it, and I admire them for it: but why not allow a share
of it to Cato? They are fond, they tell us, of the _Attic_ style of
Eloquence: and their choice is certainly judicious, provided they borrow
the blood and the healthy juices, as well as the bones and membranes. What
they recommend, however, is, to do it justice, an agreeable quality. But
why must Lysias and Hyperides be so fondly courted, while Cato is entirely
overlooked? His language indeed has an antiquated air, and some of his
expressions are rather too harsh and crabbed. But let us remember that
this was the language of the time: only change and modernize it, which it
was not in his power to do;--add the improvements of number and cadence,
give an easier turn to his sentences, and regulate the structure and
connection of his words, (which was as little practised even by the older
Greeks as by him) and you will discover no one who can claim the
preference to Cato. The Greeks themselves acknowledge that the chief
beauty of composition results from the frequent use of those
_translatitious_ forms of expression which they call _Tropes_, and of
those various attitudes of language and sentiment which they call
_Figures_: but it is almost incredible in what numbers, and with what
amazing variety, they are all employed by Cato. I know, indeed, that he is
not sufficiently polished, and that recourse must be had to a more perfect
model for imitation: for he is an author of such antiquity, that he is the
oldest now extant, whose writings can be read with patience; and the
ancients in general acquired a much greater reputation in every other art,
than in that of Speaking. But who that has seen the statues of the
moderns, will not perceive in a moment, that the figures of Canachus are
too stiff and formal, to resemble life? Those of Calamis, though evidently