at it was once the seat of the great Hortensius,
before he had, in the growth of his fame and his riches, displayed his
luxurious tastes in the wonders of Tusculum, Bauli, or Laurentum. It was
the first indication given by him of that love of elegant and lavish
wastefulness, that gave him at last as wide a celebrity as his genius.
The part which he built is well known, and although of moderate
dimensions, yet displays the rudiments of that taste that afterward was
satisfied only with more than imperial magnificence. Marcus has
satisfied himself as to the very room which he occupied as his study and
library, and where he prepared himself for the morning courts; and in
the same apartment--hoping as he says to catch something from the genius
of the place--does he apply himself to the same professional labors. His
name and repute are now second to none in Rome. Yet, young as he is, he
begins to weary of the bar, and woo the more quiet pursuits of letters
and philosophy. Nay, at the present moment, agriculture claims all his
leisure, and steals time that can ill be spared from his clients. Varro
and Cato have more of his devotion than statutes and precedents.

In the disposition of the grounds, Marcus has shown that he inherits
something of the tastefulness of his remote predecessor; and in the
harvest that covers his extensive acres, gives equal evidence that he
has studied, not without profit, the labors of those who have written
upon husbandry and its connected arts. Varro especially is at his
tongue's end.

We soon came to the quarter of the slaves--a village almost of the
humble tenements occupied by this miserable class. None but the women,
children, sick and aged, were now at home--the young and able-bodied
being abroad at work. No new disturbances have broken out, he tells me;
the former severity, followed by a well-timed lenity, having subdued or
conciliated all. Curtius, although fond of power and of all its
ensigns, yet conceals not his hatred of this institution, which has so
long obtained in the Roman state, as in all states. He can devise no way
of escape from it; but he sees in it the most active and general cause
of the corruption of morals which is spread everywhere where it
prevails. He cannot suppress his contempt of the delusion or hypocrisy
of our ancestors in terming themselves republicans.

'What a monstrous solecism was it,' he broke out with energy, 'in the
times preceding the empire, to call that