SOURCE: “Horace: An Appreciation” in Roman Portraits, Yale University Press, 1925, pp. 59-82.

In the following essay, Slaughter examines Horace's character, influences, and merits as a poet, and contends that his ethical qualities and humanity pervade and distinguish his work.

“To mould the faltering speech of childhood, to fashion the heart of youth by gentle precepts, to be a corrector of harshness, malice, and anger, to portray virtuous actions and by familiar examples train the rising generation, and finally to sustain the weak and console the discouraged,” is the mission of the poet to society as set down by Horace in his latest published work.

While this cannot be regarded as his whole literary creed, for Horace is here emphasizing one point of view in a special plea to the emperor asking his considerate indulgence and active interest in the literature of the day, it is none the less...