Part 16 (1/2)
CHAPTER X.
DELICACY OF HORACE'S HEALTH.--HIS CHEERFULNESS.--LOVE OF BOOKS.--HIS PHILOSOPHY PRACTICAL.--EPISTLE TO AUGUSTUS.--DEATH.
Horace had probably pa.s.sed forty when the Epistle just quoted was written. Describing himself at forty-four (Epistles, I. 20), he says he was ”prematurely grey,”--his hair, as we have just seen, having been originally black,--adding that he is
”In person small, one to whom warmth is life, In temper hasty, yet averse from strife.”
His health demanded constant care; and we find him writing (Epistles, I.
15) to a friend, to ask what sort of climate and people are to be found at Velia and Salernum,--the one a town of Lucania, the other of Campania,--as he has been ordered by his doctor to give up his favourite watering-place, Baiae, as too relaxing. This doctor was Antonius Musa, a great apostle of the cold-water cure, by which he had saved the life of Augustus when in extreme danger. The remedy instantly became fas.h.i.+onable, and continued so until the Emperor's nephew, the young Marcellus, died under the treatment. Horace's inquiries are just such as a valetudinarian fond of his comforts would be likely to make:--
”Which place is best supplied with corn, d'ye think?
Have they rain-water or fresh springs to drink?
Their wines I care not for, when at my farm I can drink any sort without much harm; But at the sea I need a generous kind To warm my veins, and pa.s.s into my mind, Enrich me with new hopes, choice words supply, And make me comely in a lady's eye.
Which tract is best for game? on which sea-coast Urchins and other fish abound the most?
That so, when I return, my friends may see A sleek Phaeacian [1] come to life in me: These things you needs must tell me, Vala dear, And I no less must act on what I hear.” (C.)
[1] The Phaeacians were proverbially fond of good living.
Valetudinarian though he was, Horace maintains, in his later as in his early writings, a uniform cheerfulness. This never forsakes him; for life is a boon for which he is ever grateful. The G.o.ds have allotted him an ample share of the means of enjoyment, and it is his own fault if he suffers self-created worries or desires to vex him. By the questions he puts to a friend in one of the latest of his Epistles (II. 2), we see what was the discipline he applied to himself--
”You're not a miser: has all other vice Departed in the train of avarice?
Or do ambitious longings, angry fret, The terror of the grave, torment you yet?
Can you make sport of portents, gipsy crones, Hobgoblins, dreams, raw head and b.l.o.o.d.y bones?
Do you count up your birthdays year by year, And thank the G.o.ds with gladness and blithe cheer, O'erlook the failings of your friends, and grow Gentler and better as your sand runs low?” (C.)
And to this beautiful catalogue of what should be a good man's aims, let us add the picture of himself which Horace gives us in another and earlier Epistle (I. 18):--
”For me, when freshened by my spring's pure cold, Which makes my villagers look pinched and old, What prayers are mine? 'O may I yet possess The goods I have, or, if heaven pleases, less!
Let the few years that Fate may grant me still Be all my own, not held at others' will!
Let me have books, and stores for one year hence, Nor make my life one flutter of suspense!'
But I forbear; sufficient 'tis to pray To Jove for what he gives and takes away; Grant life, grant fortune, for myself I'll find That best of blessings--a contented mind.” (C.)
”Let me have books!” These play a great part in Horace's life. They were not to him, what Montaigne calls them, ”a languid pleasure,” but rather as they were to Wordsworth--
”A substantial world, both fresh and good, Round which, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood, Our pastime and our happiness may grow.”
Next to a dear friend, they were Horace's most cherished companions. Not for amus.e.m.e.nt merely, and the listless luxury of the self-wrapt lounger, were they prized by him, but as teachers to correct his faults, to subdue his evil propensities, to develop his higher nature, to purify his life (Epistles, I. 1), and to help him towards attaining ”that best of blessings, a contented mind:”--
”Say, is your bosom fevered with the fire Of sordid avarice or unchecked desire?
Know there are spells will help you to allay The pain, and put good part of it away.
You're bloated by ambition? take advice; Yon book will ease you, if you read it _thrice_.
Run through the list of faults; whate'er you be, Coward, pickthank, spitfire, drunkard, debauchee, Submit to culture patiently, you'll find Her charms can humanise the rudest mind.” (C.)