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life, and fnatched from thofe high honours to which his virtues, had they been permitted to grow to their full maturity, would certainly have raifed him! How did his bofom glow with the love of the fine arts! How many books has he perufed! how many volumes has he tranfcribed! But the fruits of his labours are now perished with him, and for ever loft to pofterity. Yet why indulge my forrow? a paflion which, if we once give a loofe to it, will aggravate every the flightest circumftance. I will put an end therefore to my letter, that I may to the tears which yours has drawn from me. Farewel,

LETTER LVII.

To Fabatus*.

YOUR letter informs me that you have erected a noble public portico †, as a memoriai of yourself and your fon, and that the next day after the ceremony of opening of it, you engaged to repair and beautify the gates of our city at your own charge: thus it is that you rife from one act of munificence to another! I take part, believe me, in every thing that concerns your glory; which, from the alliance that is between us, in fome degree redounds to mine; and am pleafed to fee the memory of my father-in-law delivered down to pofterity by fuch beautiful ftructures. I rejoice too at the honour that hereby arifes to our native province; and as every thing that tends to her advantage is highly agreeable to me, by what hand foever it may be conferred; fo particularly when it is by yours. I have only to defire that heaven would continue to cherish in you this generous frame of mind, and to grant you many years in which to exert it; for your bounty I am well perfuaded will not torminate here, but extend itfelf to farther acts of beneficence. Generofity, when

* Grand-father to Calphurnia, Pliny's wife. †Thef's porticos, which were carried to an extim degree of magnificence, ferved for various ute: fometimes for the affembly of the fenate, fometimes for hands of the most curious merCandit. But the general ule they were pit to wa, the pleature of waking n them, like the prefent piazz is in Indy Bar a Dyjorip. Rom.

. 13.]. Here likewie w Pks of gun is were pob. hely recited, and the photphats held then dif

once fhe is fet forward, knows not how to top her progrefs; as the more familiar we are with the lovely form, the more enamoured we grow of her engaging charms. Farewel.

I

LETTER LVIII.
To Pontius.

WAS at Comum when I heard that Cornutus Tertuilus was appointed furveyor of the Æmilian way. This news was inexpreffibly agreeable to me, both upon his account and my own: upon his, becaufe though ambition fhould be (as it certainly is) far removed from his heart, yet it cannot but be acceptable to him to receive fo great an honour without feeking it; upon mine, because it heightens the fatisfaction which refults from my own office, to fee a man of fo diftinguished a character as Cornutus raised to one of the fame nature §; for to be placed in the fame rank with the good, is a pleafure equal to being honoured with the higheft dignities. And where indeed is the man who exceeds Cornutus in worth and virtue? or whofe conduct is a more exprefs model of ancient manners? In this I do not found my judgment upon fame, which, however, with great justice speaks of him in the highest terms, but upon long and frequent experience. We have ever been joined in the fame friendships with the molt fhining characters in both fexes which this age has produced; an union that cemented us in the ftricteft intimacy. To thefe private tics were added thofe of a more public nature: he was, you know, my colleague in the treafury, as well as the confulthip. Thefe were opportunitie of gaining a thorough knowledge of hi uncommon virtues, when I followed him as a guide and revered him as a parent and that not fo much upon account of hi age as his merit. I rejoice therefore n

This was an office of great dignity among th Romans, and usually conferred upon thofe wh had been confuis. Thus Cæfar is mentioned b Plutarch as farveyor of the Appian way. The roads extended to a great distance from the city all fides, the mott noble of which was the Appiat computed to reach three hundred and fifty miles.

It appears by fome ancient infcriptions t remaining, that Pliny was furveyor of the riv Tiber and its bank, to which office it is probab Le here alludes.

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lefs for my own fake than his; and I do With what forbearance, with what pafo upon a public as well as private con- tience, with what courage did the endure fideration, fince virtue is now no longer, her laft illness! fhe complied with all the as formerly, expofed to the moft cruel directions of her phyficians; the endangers, but advanced to the nobleft dig-couraged her fifter and her father; and when all her ftrength of body was exhaufted, fupported herself by the fingla vigour of her mind. That, indeed, continued even to her laft moments, unbroken by the pain of a long illness, or the terrors of approaching death; and it is a reflection which makes the lots of ber fo much the more to be lamented. A lofs infinitely fevere! and more fevere by the particular conjuncture in which it happened! the was contrafted to a mot worny youth; the wedding day was fixed, and we were all invited. How fed a change from the high joy to the despek forrow! How fast l'expreh dhe would the pierced my bean, win I heard Fundaans similf (u gef k over foing on dromurca i urocz is melocody, graming the money se tat dipei aby on in tones and jewels for ser marrage, to se expont am ad fpions for her funera Be is a matégie bring us qua ime, we in we mai from Aus twist vert ss The aver de ant

rities. But if I were to indulge the joyous fentiments I feel upon this occafion, I should never have frihed my letter. Let me turn then to an account of what I was doing when your meñenger arrived. The He frend me with my wife's grandfather and sun, together with feveral other feds, whole company I had not enFred for a confiderable time: I was tavering my grounds, acaring the complast of the farmers, rating over their irises accounts, and mud before me papas ten fir diferent from thofe > ay nainamon early devoted 2017, i was preparing to return akom, for i une coined but a fort love of stence; and adest the news of the fire dang conferred on Cornatus, v ne z lata i de dues of my ow lane your fate Campana dag van de me one, is

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LETTER LX.
To Spurinea.

KNOWING, as I do, how much you admire the polite arts, and what fatisfaction you take in feeing young men of quality purfue the fteps of their anceftors, I feize this earlieft opportunity of informing you, that I went to-day to hear Calpurnius Pifo read a poem he has compofed upon a very bright and learned fubject, entitled the Conftellations. His numbers, which were elegiac, were foft, Howing, and eafy, at the fame time that tacy had all the fublimity fuitable to fuch a noble topic. He varied his style from the lofty to the fimple, from the clofe to the copious, from the grave to the florid, with equal genius and judgment. Thele beauties were extremely heightened and recommended by a mot harmonious voice; which a very becoming modesty rendered ftill more pleafing. A confufion and concern in the countenance of a

fpeaker throws a grace upon all he utters; for there is a certain decent timidity, which, I know not how, is infinitely more engaging than the affured and felf-fufficient air of confidence. I might mention feveral other circumstances to his advantage, which I am the more inclined to take notice of, as they are most ftriking in a perfon of his age, and most uncommon in a youth of his quality: but not to enter into a farther detail of his merit, I will only tell you, that when he had finished his poem, I embraced him with the utmolt complacency; and being perfuaded that nothing is a greater encouragement than applaufe, I exhorted him to perfevere in the paths he had entered, and to fhine out to pofterity with the fame glorious luftre which reflected from his ancestors to himfelf. I congratulated his excellent mother, and his brother, who gained as much honour by the generous affection he discovered upon this occafion, as Calpurnius did by his eloquence, fo remarkable a concern he fhewed for him when he began to recite his poem, and so much pleafure in his fuccefs. May the gods grant me frequent occafions of giving you accounts of this nature! for I have a partiality to the age in which I live, and should rejoice to find it not barren of merit. To this end I ardently with our young men

of quality would not derive all their glory from the images of their an ceftors. As for those which are placed in the house of thefe excellent youths, I now figure them to myself as filently applauding and encouraging their pursuits, and (what is a fufficient degree of honour to them both) as owning and confeffing them to be their kindred, Farewel,

LETTER LXI.
To Macer.

ALL is well with me, fince it is fo with

you. You are happy, I find, in the company of your wife and fon, and are freshness of the fountains, the verdure of enjoying the pleasures of the fea, the the fields, and the elegances of a most agreeable villa; for fo I judge it to be, fince he who was moft happy ere fortune had raised him to what is generally efteemed the highest point of human felicity, chofe it for the place of his retirement +. As for myself, I am employed at my Tufcan villa in hunting and studying, both together; but I am not yet able fometimes alternately, and fometimes difficult to fucceed. Farewel to determine in which purfuit it is mot

LETTER LXII.
To Paulinus.

AS I know the humanity with which

you treat your own fervants, I do not fcruple to confefs to you the indulgence I fhew to mine. I have ever in my mind Homer's character of Ulyffes,

Who rul'd his people with a father's love I And the very expreflion § in our language

None had the right of ufing family pictures or ftatues, but those whofe incefters or themfelvis

had borne fome of the higheft dignities. So that the jus imaginis was much the fame thing amer the Romans, as the right of bearing a coat of arms among us. Ken. Artiq.

It is fuppofed by fonie commentators that Pliny alludes here to Nerva, who being fulpected by Domitian, was ordered by that emperor to re to Tarentum, where, without any views of regning, he quietly fat down in the crjoyment of a private life; others imagine that he means Sulia. ↑ Odyfi. 1. 5. 11.

The Latin word for a matter of a fully, implies a fever of a family,

for

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for the head of a family, fuggefts the rule stof one's conduct towards it. But were I naturally of a rough and hardened caft of temper, the ill ftate of health of my freed-man Zofimus (who has the ftronger claim to a humane treatment at my hands, as he now ftands much in need of it) would be fufficient to foften me, He is a perfon of great worth, diligent in his fervices, and well skilled in literature; but his chief talent, and indeed his profellion, is that of a comedian, wherein he highly excels. He speaks with great emphafis, judgment, propriety, and gracefulness; he has a very good hand too upon the lyre, which he understands better than is neceffary for one of his profeffion. To this I must add, he reads hiftory, oratory, and poetry as well as if he had fingly applied himself to that art. I am the more particular in enumerating his qualifications, to let you fee how many agreeable fervices I receive from him. He is indeed endeared to me by the ties of a long affection, which feems to be heightened by the danger he is How in. For nature has fo formed our hearts, that nothing contributes more to raile and enflame our inclination for any enjoyment than the apprehenfica of being deprived of it; a fentiment w Zofimus has given me occasion to perience more than once. Some years 2go he trained himself fo mack by too vehement an exertion of his voice, fe he spit blood, upon which account I see him into Egypt; from whence, after a long abfence, he lately returned wa great benefit to his health, Bat having again exerted himself for feveral dayı together beyond his ftrength, he was re minded of his former malady by a Eg return of his cough, and a fing blood. For this reafon I incend to end him to your farm at Forum-Jali, hang frequently heard you mention it as a exceeding fine air, and recommend the milk of that place as very good in i orders of this nature. I beg you would give directions to your people as me him into your houfe, and to fupply um with what he fhali hare cocaina fr; which will not be mach, ir te zá

•The Roman phyficians fettferd tee patients in confumptire calls mo Egypt, ptica Lasy to Alexandria.

† Fajus in Proveace, de å uten part of

temperate as not only to abftain from delicacies, but even to deny himself the ne ceffaries his ill ftate of health requires. I fhall furnish him towards his journey with what will be fufficient for one of his abftemious turn, who is coming under your roof, Farewel,

LETTER LXIII.
To Rufus.

I WENT into the Julian court ↑ to at

tend a caufe in which at the next fitting I was to reply. The judges had taken their feats, the decemviri were arrived, the eyes of the audience were fixed upon the counfel, and all was hufhed in filence and expectation, when an order arrived from the prætor that the court fhould be adjourned; an accident extremely agreeable to me, who am never fo well prepared, but that I am glad of gaining farther time. The occafion of the court's rifing thus abruptly was an edict of Nepos, the prætor for criminal causes, wherein he directed all períons concerned as plaintifs or defendants in any case before tim, to take notice, that he designed trialy to put in force the decree of the fenate annexed to his

it; waica decree was exprefied in the flowing words: "All perfons what

joever, who have any law-faits de"pening, are hereby required and com

minded, before any proceedings be **Lad thereon, to tie a qf that they -have tre, promiled, or engaged " to the, a fee or reward to any ad"TL con account of his ender.

ng their cause." In thele terms, and many others equally fill and expreft, ears were protiuited to make their prévia ve However, after the cute i tested, they are permitted to KHI & Texty of a thoiand fel. wors! The precor for a cafes, seng darned e as veryfed order

he runs today a crier 21 take time is crider viewer te hond

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follow the example. In the mean while the town is much divided in its fentiments of this edict, fome extremely approving, and others as much condemning it. "We have got then at last," fay the latter with a ineer, "a redreffor of abuses. But pray was there never a prætor before this man? what then is he who thus forwardly fets up for a "reformer?" Others, on the contrary, fay, that he has taken a very proper step upon entering into his office; that he has paid obedience to the laws; confidered the decrees of the fenate, repreffed a moft indecent traffic, and will not fuffer the most honourable of all profeffions to be debafed into a fordid commerce of lucre. Thefe are the reflections which are univerfally thrown out upon this occafion; but which fide fhall be thought to judge most rightly, the event alone will determine. It is the ufual method of the world (though a very unequitable rule of eftimation) to pronounce an action to be either right or wrong as it is attended with good or ill fuccefs; in confequence of which you fhall hear the very fame conduct attributed to zeal or folly, to liberty or licentioufnefs. Farewel.

LETTER LXIV.

To Calpburnia.

NEVER was bufinefs more uneafy to

me, than when it prevented me not only from attending, but following you into Campania +. As at all times, fo particularly now, with to be with you, that I may be a witnefs what progrefs you make in your ftrength and recovery, and how the tranquillity, the amufements, and plenty of that charming country agrees with you. Were you in perfect health, yet I could ill fupport your abfence; for even a moment's uncertainty of the welfare of thofe we tenderly love, is a fituation of mind infinitely painful; but now your ficknefs confpires with your abfence to perplex me with a thoufand difquietudes. I fear every thing that can befal you, and, as is ufual with

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all under the fame terrifying apprehenfions, fufpect moft, what I most dread. Let me conjure you then to prevent my folicitude by writing to me every day, and even twice a day; I shall be more eafy at least while I am reading your letters; though all my apprehenfions will again return upon me the moment I have perufed them. Farewel.

LETTER LXV.
To the fame.

you kindly tell me, my abfence is

greatly uneafy to you, and that your only confolation is in converfing with my works, inttead of their author, which you frequently place by your fide. How agreeable is it to me to know that you thus with for my company, and fupport yourself under the want of it by thefe tender amufements! In return, I entertain myfelf with reading over your letters again and again, and am continually taking them up as if I had just received them; but alas! they only ferve to make me more frongly regret your abfence; for how amiable muit her converfation be, whofe letters have fo many charms? Let me receive them, however, as often as poffible, notwithstanding there is still a mixture of pain in the pleasure they afford me. Farewel.

LETTER LXVI.
To Prifcus.

YOU know and efteem Attilius Crefcens; as indeed who is there of any rank or worth that does not? For myself, I profefs to have a friendship for him much fuperior to the common attachments of the world. The places of our nativity are feparated only by a day's journey; and we conceived an affection to each other when we were very young; a fea fon when friendship ftrikes the deepest root. Ours improved by years, and lo far from being weakened, that it was confirmed by our riper judgments, as thofe who know us beft can witnefs. He takes pleasure in boafting every where of my friendship; as I do to let the world know that his honour, his eafe, and his intereft, are my peculiar concern. Infomuch that upon his expreffing to me fome

apprehenfion

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