“I am glad to find, by your letter, just received,
that you are reading Tacitus with some
relish. His style is rather quaint and enigmatical, which makes it difficult to
the student; but then his pages are filled with such admirable apothegms and
maxims of political wisdom, as infer the deepest knowledge of human nature; and
it is particularly necessary that any one who may have views as a public
speaker should be master of his works, as there is neither ancient or modern
who affords such a selection of admirable quotations. You should exercise
yourself frequently in trying to make translations of the passages which most
strike you, trying to invest
LETTERS TO HIS SONS—1821. | 65 |