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equal, or less than his friend's, ftill it is his intereft to give him the approbation he deferves if greater or equal, becaufe the higher his glory rifes whom you equal or excel, the more confiderable yours must neceffarily be if lefs, because if one of more exalted abilities does not meet with applaufe, neither poflibly can you. For my own part, I honour and revere all who difcover any degree of merit in the painful and laborious art of oratory; for Eloquence is a high and haughty dame, who fcorns to refide with thofe that defpife her. But perhaps you are not of this opinion; yet who has a greater regard for this glorious fcience, or is a more candid judge of it than yourfelf? In confidence of which I chofe to vent my indignation particularly to you, as not doubting you would be the first to fhare with me in the fame fentiments. Farewel.

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Tho' my fhock'd foul recoils, my tongue fhall tell. My uncle having left us, I purfued the ftudies which prevented my going with him, till it was time to bathe; after which I went to fupper, and from thence to bed, where my fleep was greatly broken and disturbed. There had been for many days before fome fhocks of an earthquake, which the lefs furprised us as they are extremely frequent in Campania; but they were fo particularly violent that night, that they not only thook every thing about us, but feemed indeed to threaten total deftruction. My mother flew to my chamber, where the found me rifing in order to awaken her. We went out into a fmall court belonging to the houfe, which feparated the fea from the buildings. As I was at that time but eighteen years of age, I know not whether I fhould call my behaviour in this dangerous juncture, courage or rafhnefs;

but I took up Livy, and amufed myfe with turning over that author, and eve making extracts from him, as if all abou me had been in full fecurity. While w were in this pofture a friend of my cle's, who was just come from Spain t pay him a vifit, joined us, and obfervin me fitting by my mother with a book i my hand, greatly condemned her calm nefs, at the fame time that he reprove me for my careless fecurity: neverthele I ftill went on with my author. Thoug it was now morning, the light was ex ceedingly faint and languid; the build ings all around us tottered, and thoug we stood upon open ground, yet as th place was narrow and confined, there wa no remaining there without certain an great danger; we therefore refolved quit the town. The people followed u in the utmost confternation, and (as to mind diftracted with terror, every fug geftion feems more prudent than its own preffed in great crowds about us in ou way out. Being got at a convenien diftance from the houses, we ftood still i the midst of a moft dangerous and dread ful fcene. The chariots which we ha ordered to be drawn out were so agitated backwards and forwards, though in th open fields, that we could not keep ther fteady, even by fupporting them wit large ftones. The fea feemed to ro back upon itfelf, and to be driven from its banks by the convulfive motion of th earth; it is certain at least the fhore wa confiderably enlarged, and feveral fea animals were left upon it. On the othe fide, a black and dreadful cloud burftin with an igneous ferpentine vapour, darte out a long train of fire, refembling flah of lightning, but much larger. Upe this our Spanish friend, whom I met tioned above, addreffing himself to m mother and me with greater warmth ar earneftnefs: "If your brother and you "uncle," faid he, " is fafe, he certain "wishes you may be fo too; but if I

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perifhed, it was his defire, no doub "that you might both furvive him Why therefore do you delay yo efcape a moment?" We could nev think of our own fafety, we faid, whi we were uncertain of his. Hereup our friend left us, and withdrew from t danger with the utmost precipitatio Soon afterwards the cloud feemed to d fcend, and cover the whole ocean;

afhes rained upon us, which we were obliged every now and then to shake off, otherwife we should have been crushed and buried in the heap. I might boast, that during all this fcene of horror, not a figh or expreffion of fear efcaped from me, had not my fupport been founded in that miferable though ftrong confolation, that all mankind were involved in the fame calamity, and that I imagined I was perithing with the world itself. At last this dreadful darkness was diffipated by degrees like a cloud of smoke; the real day returned, and even the fun appeared, though very faintly, and as when an eclipte is coming on. Every object that prefented itself to our eyes (which were extremely weakened) feemed changed, being covered over with white afhes I as with a deep fnow. We returned to Mifenum, where we refreshed ourselves as well as we could, and paffed an anxious right between hope and fear; though indeed with a much larger fhare of the latter; for the earthquake ftill continued, wille feveral enthafalic people ran up and down heightening their own and their friends calamities by terrible predictions. However, my mother and I, notwithstanding the danger we had passed, and that which fill threatened us, had no thoughts of leaving the place till we fold receive fome account of my uncie.

indeed, it entirely hid the island of Ca-
prea, and the promontory of Mifenum.
My mother ftrongly conjured me to make
my efcape at any rate, which, as I was
young, I might easily do; as for herself,
the faid, her age and corpulency rendered
all attempts of that fort impoffible; how-
ever, the thould willingly meet death, if
the could have the fatisfaction of seeing
that he was not the occafion of mine.
But I abfolutely refused to leave her, and
taking her by the hand, I led her on;
the complied with great reluctance, and
not without many reproaches to herself
for retarding my flight. The afhes now
began to fall upon us, though in no great
quantity. I turned my head, and ob-
erved behind us a thick fmoke, which
tame rolling after us like a torrent. I
propofed, while we had yet any light, to
tam out of the high road, left we thould
be preffed to death in the dark by the
crowd that followed us. We had fcarce
epped out of the path when a darkness
tverfpread us, not like that of a cloudy
right, or when there is no moon, but of
A room when it is fret up and all the
agats extinct. Nothing then was to be
heard but the thricks of women, the
freams of children, and the cries of men;
me calling for their children; others
for their parents, others for their hai-
hands, and only ditingking each other
by their voices; one lamenting his own
fe, another that of his family; fome
*hing to die from the very fear of dr.
rg, fome lifting up their hands to the
pads; but the greater part imagining
the it and eternal night was come,
which was to defroy both the gods and
the world together +. Among these there
were fame who augmented the real ter-
on by imaginary cons, and made me
frighted multitude filley believe that
Mienam was actually a fames.
bagh a glimmering it appears,
winch we imagined to be me the fire
west of an apprenting ark of famet
anto is this the return of
day; however, the ire Elza abanne,
from as them again even more

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And now you will read this narrative witom my view of inerting it in your hilary, of which it is by no means worthy; and indeed you mat impute it to your own reqzed, if it fall appear fearce

to deferre cica the trouble of a letter. Farewel

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I have lately had the pleafure of hearing Verginius Romanus read to a few select friends, a comedy fo juitly formed upon the plan of the ancients, that it may one day ferve itfelf for a model. I know not whether he is in the number of your acquaintance; I am fure at least he deferves to be fo, as he is greatly diftinguished by the probity of his manners, the elegance of his genius, and the variety of his productions. He has written fome very agreeable pieces of the burlesque kind in Iambics, with much delicacy, wit, and humour, and I will add too, even eloquence; for every fpecies of compofition which is finished in its kind, may with propriety be termed eloquent. He has alfo compofed fome comedies after the manner of Menander and other approved authors of that age, which deferve to be ranked with thofe of Plautus and Terence.

He has now, for the first time, attempted the ancient comedy, but in fuch a manner as to fhew he is a perfect mafter in this way. Strength, majefty, and delicacy, foftnefs, poignancy and wit, are the graces which fhine out in this performance with full lufire. He reprefents virtuous characters with the higheft diftinction of honour, at the fame time that he ftigmatizes vicious ones with a noble indignation wherever he makes ufe of feigned names it is with great propriety, as he employs real ones with much juftnefs. With refpect only to myfelf, I fhould fay he has erred through an excefs of good-will, if I did not know that fiction is the privilege of poets. In a In a word, I will infift upon his letting me have the copy, that I may fend it to you for your perufal, or rather that you may get it by heart; for I am well perfuaded when you have once taken it up, you will not eafily lay it afide. Farewel.

With regard to the various changes and revolutions comedy has undergone, it is diftinguished

into three kinds, viz. the annt, which was founded upon real tacts, and perions pointed out by their proper names, the middle, where the fubject was real, but the names fictitious; the mute, wherein both the names and the action are imaginary. Or the first model was Ariftophanes, upon whofe general manner, it is probable, Romanus formed his comedy here mentioned; but as he appear to have made ufe both of true and invented rames in his

LETTER LXXVII.

To Triarius.

I CONSENT to undertake the caufe which you fo earnestly recommend to me; but as glorious and honourable as it may be, I will not be your counsel without a fee. Is it poffible, you will fay, that my friend Pliny fhould be fo mercenary? indeed it is; and I infift upon a reward which will do me more honour than the most difinterested patronage. I beg of you then, and indeed I make it a previous condition, that Cremutius Rufo may be joined with me as counfel in this caufe. This is a practice which I have frequently obferved with refpect to feveral diftinguished youths; as indeed I take infinite pleafure in introducing young men of merit to the bar, and affigning them over to fame. But if ever I owed this good office to any man, it is certainly to Rufo, not only upon account of his family, but his tender affection to me; and it would afford me a very fingular fatisfaction to have an opportunity of feeing him draw the attention of the audience in the fame court and the fame caufe with myself. This I now afk as an obligation to me; but when he has pleaded in your caufe, you will efteem it as a favour done to you: for I will be anfwerable that he fhall acquit himself in a manner equal to your wishes, as well as to my hopes and the importance of the caufe. He is a youth of a molt excellent difpofition, and when once I fhall have produced his merit, we shall foon fee him exert the fame generous of fice in forwarding that of others; as indeed no man without the fupport and encouragement of friends, and having pro per opportunities thrown in his way, is able to rife at once from obfcurity, by the brightnefs of his own unaflifted ge

nius.

LETTER LXXVIII.

To Servianus.

characters, it feems radier to have been of the AM extremely rejoiced to hear that

mixed kind.

you defign your daughter for Fufcas Salinator, and congratulate you upon it.

His

His family is Patrician *, and both his father and mother are perfont of the most exalted merit. As for himfelf, he is ftudious, learned, and eloquent, and with all the innocence of a child, unites the fprightliness of youth to the wisdom of age. I am not, believe me, deceived by my affection, when I give him this character; for though I love him, I confefs, beyond measure (as his friendship and efteem for me well deserve), yet partiality has no fhare in my judgment; on the contrary, the ftronger my fondnefs of him is, the more rigouroufly I weigh his merit. I will venture then to affure you (and I fpeak it upon my own experience) you could not have formed to your with a more accomplished fon-inlaw. May he foon prefent you with a grand-fon, who fhall be the exact copy of his father! And with what pleafure fhall I receive from the arms of two fuch friends their children or grand-children, whom I shall claim a fort of right to embrace as my own! Farewel.

LETTER LXXIX.

of your

To Pontius.

LETTER LXXX.
To Quintilian.

THOUGH your defires, I know, are

extremely moderate, and the education which your daughter has received is fuitable to your character, and that of Tutilius her grandfather; yet as the is going to be married to a perfon of fo great diftinction as Nonius Čeler, whofe ftation requires a certain fplendour of living, it will be neceffary to confider the

But as I

rank of her husband in her clothes and
equipage: circumstances which, though
they do not augment our real dignity, yet
certainly adorn and grace it.
am fenfible your fortune is not equal to
the greatnefs of your mind, I claim to
myself a part in your expence, and like
another father, prefent the young lady
with fifty thousand fefterces +. The fum
fhould be larger, but that I am well per-
fuaded the fmallness of the prefent is the
only confideration that can prevail with
your modefty not to refufe it. Farewel.

LETTER LXXXI.
To Reftitutus.
THIS obftinate diftemper which hangs

WAS not ignorant of the reafon which prevented your coming into Campania to receive me. But abfent as you were, upon you greatly alarms me; and might I have judged by the vast quantity though I know how extremely temperate of provisions of all forts, with which I you are, yet I am afraid your difeafe a fupplied by your orders, I fhould fhould get the better of your moderation. have imagined you had conveyed your. Let me intreat you then to refift it with a self hither with your whole poffeffions. I determined abflemioufnefs: a remedy, muit own I was fo arrant a clown, as to be affured, of all others the most noble take all that was offered me; however it as well as the most falutary. There is was in compliance with the folicitations nothing impracticable in what I recompeople, and fearing you would mend: it is a rule, at leaft, which I alchide both them and me if I refufed. But ways direct my family to obferve with for the future, if you will not obferve refpect to myself. I hope, I tell them, fome measure, I met. And accordingly that mould I be attacked with any dif laffured your fervants, if ever they were order, I fhall defire nothing of which I thus profufe in their bounty to me again, either ought to be afhamed, or have reaI would abfolutely return the whole. You fon to repent; however, if my diftemper kill tell me, I kṀw, that I ought to con- fhould prevail over my refolution, I forfider every thing belonging to you as bid that any thing be given me bet by entirely mine. I am extremely fenfible the confent of my phyficians; and I atof that; and therefore I would use them fure the people about me, that I fhall reWith the fame moderation as my own. fent their compliance with me in thing improper, as much as another man would their refufal. I had once a mot violent The familia wa Majed Patrition, whofe fever; when the fit was a little abad,

Farewel

of the feaste in the

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and I had been anointed *, my physician offered me fomething to drink; I defired he would first feel my pulfe, and upon his feeming to think the fit was not quite off, I inftantly returned the cup, though it was juft at my lips. After wards, when I was preparing to go into the bath, twenty days from the first attack of my illness, perceiving the phyficians whispering together, I enquired what they were faying. They replied, they were of opinion I might poffibly bathe with fafety, however that they were not without fome fufpicion of hazard. What occafion is there, faid I, of doing it at all? And thus, with great complacency, I gave up a pleafure I was upon the point of enjoying, and abftained from the bath with the fame compofure I was going to enter it. I mention this, not only in order to enforce my advice by example; but also that this letter may be a fort of tie upon me to persevere in the fame refolute abftinence for the future. Farewel.

LETTER LXXXII.

To Præfers.

ARE you determined then to pass your whole time between Lucania + and Campania ? Your anfwer, I fuppofe, will be, that the former is your native country; and the latter that of your wife. This, I admit, may juftify a long abfence, but I cannot allow it as a reafon for a perpetual one. But are you refolved in good earnest never to return to Rome, that theatre of dignities, preferment, and fociety of every fort? Are you obftinately bent to live your own mafter, and fleep and rife when you think proper? Will you never change your country drefs for the habit of the town, but ipend your whole days unembarraffed by bufinefs? It is time, however, you should r vifit our fcene of hurry,

*tion was much efteemed and prefcribed by Cat.. Ce fus, who flourished, it is fuppofed, ine, xprefly recommends it in the re

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ute dispers: urgi leniter que per-
in ocutis et recent demirbis
amen, &c. Celi med. ed.

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were it only that your rural pleasures may not grow languid by enjoyment; appear at the levees of the great, that you may enjoy the fame honour yourself with more fatisfaction; and mix in our crowd, that you may have a stronger relith for the charms of folitude. But am I not imprudently retarding the friend I would recall it is thefe very circumftances, perhaps, that induce you every day more and more to wrap yourself up in retirement. All however I mean to perfuade you to, is only to intermit, not renounce your repofe. If I were to invite you to a feat, as I would blend difhes of a fharper tafte with thofe of a more lufcious kind, in order to raise the edge of your palate by the one, which had been flattened by the other; fo I now advise you to enliven the fmooth pleafures of life with thofe of a quicker relifh. Farewel.

LETTER LXXXIII.
To Calphurnia [.

IT is incredible how impatiently I wifh

for your return; fuch is the tendernefs of my affection for you, and fo unaccustomed am I to a feparation! I lie awake the greatest part of the night in thinking of you, and (to ufe a very common, but very true expreffion) my feet carry me of their own accord to your apartment, at thofe hours I used to vilit you; but not finding you there, I return with as much ferrow and disappointment as an excluded lover. The only intermiffion my anxiety knows, is when I am engaged at the bar, and in the caufes of my friends. Judge how wretched muft his life be, who finds no repose but in bufinefs; no confolation but in a crowd. Farewel.

LETTER LXXXIV.
To Saturninus.

THOUGH I had very lately made my
acknowledgments to our friend Prif-
cus, yet, fince it was your defire, I will-
ingly repeated them again. It is with
great pleafure I fee fo much harmony
fubfift between two fuch worthy men,
whom I tenderly esteem, and that you

, reversing the Bafilicate, a province in confider each other's friendship as the

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f Naples. Now called Campagna di Roma.

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