Such  is  the  training  in  letters  recommended  by  the
most  eminent  orator  of  his  century.  It  is  only  vague
and  general,  not  going  into  any  detailed  criticism  ;  and
this  generality  is  also  the  character  of  the  tract  "  On  the
Sublime,"  formerly  attributed  to  Longinus,  but  now
placed  by  general  agreement  at  the  close  of  the
Augustan  Age,  and  in  that  moment  of  reaction  from
Alexandrianism  and  Asianism  to  the  pure  Atticism  of
the  Golden  Age.  This  essay  seeks  to  stimulate  a  taste
for  the  real  masterpieces  in  letters  rather  than  to  give
any  analysis  of  their  excellence  ;  it  is  the  writing  of  a
clever  dilettante  rather  than  of  a  professor,  and  though
very  valuable  in  directing  the  public  taste,  can  hardly
be  said  to  have  contained  new  knowledge.  And  yet
among  all  the  books  of  this  age  none  has  received  more
attention  than  this  remarkable  tract.  It  is  certainly  the
most  modern  and  enlightened  of  all  that  the  Greeks
have  left  us  on  the  theory  of  art.  Unfortunately  the
text  is  miserably  lacerated,  and  often  breaks  off  in  the
middle  of  an  important  discussion.
