As to the genius of poetry, I own, if Nature has not given it you, you cannot have it, for it is a true maxim that Poeta nascitur non fit.  It is much otherwise with oratory, and the maxim there is Orator fit, for it is certain that by study and application every man can make himself a pretty good orator, eloquence depending upon observation and care.  Every man, if he pleases, may choose good words instead of bad ones, may speak properly instead of improperly, may be clear and perspicuous in his recitals instead of dark and muddy, may have grace instead of awkwardness in his motions and gestures, and, in short, may be a very agreeable instead of a very disagreeable speaker if he will take care and pains.  And surely it is very well worth while to take a great deal of pains to excel other men in that particular article in which they excel beasts.

That ready wit, which you so partially allow me, and so justly Sir Charles Williams, may create many admirers; but, take my word for it, it makes few friends.  It shines and dazzles like the noonday sun, but, like that, too, is very apt to scorch, and therefore is always feared.  The milder morning and evening light and heat of that planet soothe and calm our minds.  Never seek for wit; if it presents itself, well and good; but even in that case, let your judgement interpose, and take care that it be not at the expense of anybody.

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MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO

The Letters of Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero was born on January 3, 106 B.C.  Educated under the best teachers in the Greek culture of the day, he won a speedy reputation at the Bar and developed a keen interest in the various schools of Greek philosophy.  His able and intrepid exposure of Catiline’s conspiracy brought him the highest popularity, but he was attacked, in turn, by the ignoble Clodius, who obtained his banishment in 58 B.C.  In the ensuing conflict between Caesar and Pompey, Cicero was attached to the party of Pompey and the senate, as against Caesar and the people.  He kept clear of the conspiracy against Caesar’s life, but after the assassination he undertook an oratorical campaign against Antony, and was entrusted with the government of the city.  But on the return of the triumvirate, Octavianus, Antony, and Lepidus, Cicero’s name was included in the list of those who were to be done away, and he was murdered in the year 43 B.C., at 63 years of age.  The correspondence of the great Roman advocate, statesman, and man of letters, preserved for us by the care of his freedman Tiro, is the richest and most interesting collection of its kind in the world’s archives.  The many-sided personality of their writer, his literary charm, the frankness with which he set down his opinions, hopes, and anxieties, the profound historical interest of this period of the fall of the republic, and the