| In His Own Words
King Calendar
April 4, 1825. Rufus King accepted President John Quincy Adams’ offer of a special mission to England with the official title of Esquire Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary Appointed to Great Britain. He was accompanied by eldest son John Alsop King who served as Secretary of Legation. King resigned from this assignment on March 20, 1826 due to poor health.
May 1, 1816. Rufus King shares his thoughts on the economic Panic of 1816 with his son Edward , closing his letter with a quote from Virgil’s The Aeneid: “Facilis descensus Averni, sed revocare gradum, hic labor, hoc opus est.” How and when we are to get out of the difficulty, I know not, but am pretty sure we shall not do so before February next, nor by the process that is in operation.
The full Latin quotation and its translation is as follows:
Facilis descensus Averni:
Sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras,
Hoc opus, hic labor est. Lat. VIRGIL. — "
Easy is the descent from Avernus to the lower world: but, to retrace
one's steps, and escape to the upper regions, this is, indeed, a work of
difficulty, this is, indeed, a task:" — "
Avernus' gates are open night and day,
Smooth the descent, and easy is the way:
But to return to heaven's pure light again.
This is a work of labor and of pain."
The poet speaks of the descent of AENEAS [the Trojan hero] into the
infernal regions, in order to have an interview with his father ANCHISES.
In its general application, it means that it is much easier for a man to
get into difficulty or danger than to extricate himself from it.
source: http://books.google.com/books
|
