oral confidence of a veteran
general: in the struggle with Antonius he threw himself without
reserve into a position where there was no alternative but to
conquer or to perish. In the earlier conflict he had still his
fame to acquire, his proud ascendency to establish; and the love
of praise and glory inspired him with the audacity which makes and
justifies its own success. But in the later, he courted danger for
the sake of retaining the fame he so dearly prized. He had once
saved his country, and he could not endure that it should be said
he had ever deserted it. He loved his country; but it wan for his
own honor, which he could preserve, rather than for his country's
freedom, which he despaired of, that he returned to his post when
escape was still possible. He might have remained silent, but he
opened the floodgates of his eloquence. When indeed he had once
launched himself on the torrent he lost all self-command; he could
neither retrace nor moderate his career; he saw the rocks before
him, but he dashed himself headlong against them. But another
grave authority has given us the judgment of antiquity, that
Cicero's defect was the want of steadfastness. His courage had no
dignity because it lacked consistency. All men and all parties
agreed that he could not be relied upon to lead, to co-operate, or
to follow. In all the great enterprises of his party, he was left
behind, except that which the nobles undertook against Catilina,
in which they rather thrust him before them than engaged with him
on terms of mutual support. When we read the vehement claims which
Cicero put forth to the honor of association, however tardy, with
the glories and dangers of Caesar's assassins, we should deem the
conspirators guilty of a monstrous oversight in having neglected
to enlist him in their design, were we not assured that he was not
to be trusted as a confederate either for good or for evil.

"Of all the characters of antiquity Cicero is undoubtedly that
with which we are most intimately acquainted; for he alone has
left to us the record of his thoughts and actions for more than
half his public career in a voluminous mass of familiar as well as
political correspondence. No public character probably could pass
unscathed through the fiery ordeal to which he has thus subjected
himself. Cicero,