rit and vigour. _Accius usque in Graecorum comparationem
erectus. In illis limae in hoc pene plus videri fuisse sanguinis._ He
is often quoted by Cicero in his book _De Natura Deorum_. But after
all, it is from the great critic, who gives the best account of the
Roman poets, orators, and historians, that we are to take the genuine
character of ACCIUS and PACUVIUS, since their works are lost in the
general mass of ancient literature. They were both excellent tragic
poets: elevation of sentiment, grandeur of expression, and dignity of
character, stamped a value on their productions; and yet, we must not
expect to find the grace and elegance of genuine composition. To give
the finishing hand to their works was not their practice: the defect,
however, is not to be imputed to them; it was the vice of the age.
Force and dignity are the characteristics of ACCIUS; while the
critics, who wish to be thought deep and profound, admire PACUVIUS for
his extensive learning. _Tragoediae scriptores Accius atque Pacuvius,
clarissimi sententiarum verborumque pondere, et auctoritate
personarum. Caeterum nitor, et summa in excolendis operibus manus,
magis videri potest temporibus, quam ipsis defuisse. Virium tamen
Accio plus tribuitur; Pacuvium videri doctiorem, qui esse docti
affectant, volunt._ Quintil. lib. x. cap. 1. It was the fashion in
Horace's time to prefer the writers of the old school to the new race
that gave so much lustre to the Augustan age. In opposition to such
erroneous criticism, the poet pronounces a decided judgement, which
seems to be confirmed by the opinion of Quintilian.

Si quaedam nimis antique, si pleraque dure
Dicere credit eos, ignave multa fatetur,
Et sapit, et mecum facit, et Jove judicat aequo.
EPIST. AD AUGUST. ver. 66.

But that sometimes their style uncouth appears,
And their harsh numbers rudely hurt our ears;
Or that full flatly flows the languid line,
He, who owns this, has Jove's assent and mine.
FRANCIS'S HORACE.

[f] Lucan was nephew to Seneca, and a poet of great celebrity. He was
born, in the reign of Caligula, at Corduba in Spain. His superior
genius made Nero his mortal enemy. He was put to death by that inhuman
emperor, A.U.C. 818, in the twenty-seventh year of his age. See the
_Annals_, b. xv. s. 70. As a writer, Quintilian says, that he
possessed an ardent genius, impetuous, rapid, and remarkab