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highest obligation. For he profeffes alfo on his part to receive much happiness from yours, and, with a very generous contention, endeavours to rival you in that reciprocal affection, which time, I am perfuaded, will augment.

I regret that any bufinefs fhould call you off from your ftudies; however, when you fhall have compromised (as you fay you are upon the point of doing) one caufe, and brought the other to a hearing, you will be at leisure to enjoy the reurement of the country; and when you are fatiated with that, we may hope for your return hither. Farewel,

LETTER LXXXV.

To Prifcus.

THE frequent letters which I receive from Saturninus upon the fubject of your favours to him, afford me inexpreffible fatisfaction. May you go on as you began, and continue to cherish an affection for fo worthy a man, from whofe friendship you will receive a strong and lafting pleasure. For as he is greatly diftinguished by every other virtue, fo particularly by his invariable attachment to his friends. Farewel.

LETTER LXXXVI.

To Tufcus.

may not be amifs after you have read an author, in order to make yourself master of his fubject and argument, from his reader to turn, as it were, his rival, and attempt fomething of your own in the fame way; and then make an impartial comparifon between your performance and his, in order to fee in what points either you or he most happily fucceeded. It will be a matter of very pleafing congratulation to yourself, if you fhall find in fome things, that you have the advantage of him, as it will be a great mortification if he should rife above you in all. You may fometimes venture in thefe little effays, to try your ftrength upon the most fhining paffages of a distinguished author. The attempt, indeed, will be fomething bold; but as it is a contention which paffes in fecret, it cannot be taxed with inftances of perfons, who have publicly prefumption. Not but that we have seen entered this fort of lifts with great fuccefs, and while they did not defpair of overtaking, have gloriously advanced before thofe whom they thought it fufficient honour to follow. After you have thus finished a compofition, you may lay it afide, till it is no longer fresh in your memory, and then take it up, in order to revife and correct it. You will find feveral things to retain, but ftill more to reject; you will add a new thought here, and alter another there. It is a laborious and tedious task, I own, thus to re-enflame the mind after the first heat is over, to recover an impulse when its force has been checked and spent, in a word, to interweave new parts into the texture of a compofition, without difturbing or confounding the original plan; but the advantage attending this method will overbalance the difficulty. I know the bent of your prefent attention is directed towards the eloquence of the bar; but I would not for that reafon advife you never to quit the style of difpute and contention. As land is improved by fowing it with various feeds, fo is the mind by exercifing it with different ftudies. I would recommend it to you, therefore, fometimes to fingle out a fine paffage of hiftory; fometimes to exercife yourself in the epiftolary ftyle, and fometimes the poetical. For it frequently happens, that in pleading one has occa fion to make ufe not only of hiftorical, but even poetical defcriptions; as by the epif-.

YOU defire my fentiments concerning the method of ftudy you should purfue, in that retirement to which you have long fince withdrawn. In the first place then, I look upon it as a very advantageous practice (and it is what many recommend) to tranflate either from Greek into Latin, or from Latin into Greek. By this means you will furnish yourself with noble and proper expreffions, with variety of beautiful figures, and an ease and ftrength of style. Befides, by imitating the most approved authors, you will find your imagination heated, and fall infenfibly into a fimilar turn of thought at the fame time that thofe things which you may poffibly have overlocked in a common way of reading, cannot escape you in tranflating and this method will open your underftanding and improve your judgment. It

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tolary manner of writing you will acquire a clofe and eafy expreffion. It will be extremely proper alfo to unbend your mind with poetry: when I fay fo, I do not mean that fpecies of it which turns upon fubjects of great length (for that is fit only for perfons of much leifure), but thofe little pieces of the epigrammatic kind, which ferve as proper reliefs to, and are confiftent with employments of every fort. They commonly go under the title of Poetical Amufements; but thefe amufements have fometimes gained as much reputation to their authors, as works of a more ferious nature. In this manner the greatest men, as well as the greatest orators, ufed either to exercife or amufe themfelves, or rather indeed did both. It is furprifing how much the mind is entertained and enlivened by thefe little poctical compofitions, as they turn upon fubjects of gallantry, fatire, tendernefs, politeness, and every thing, in

thort, that concerns life and the affairs of the world. Betides, the fame advantage attends thefe, as every other fort of poems, that we turn from them to profe with fo much the more pleafure, after having experienced the difficulty of being conftrained and fettered by numbers. And now, perhaps, I have troubled you upon this fubject longer than you defired; however, there is one thing which I have omitted: I have not told you what kind of authors you fhould read; though indeed that was fufficiently implied when I mentioned what fubjects I would recommend for your compofitions. You will remember, that the most approved writers of each fort are to be carefully chofen; for, as it has been well obferved, " though we should read much, we fhould not read many books *." Who

*Thus the noble and polite moralist, fpeaking of the influence which our reading has upon our tate and manners, thinks it improper" to call a "man well-read, who reads many authors; fince "he must of neceffity have more ill models than

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good; and be more stuffed with bombaft, ill "fancy, and wry thought, than filled with folid

fenfe and juft imagination." [Character. v. 1. 142.] When the Goths over-ran Greece, the libraries cfcaped their deftruction, by a notion which fome of their leaders induftrioufly propagated among them, that it would be more for their intereft to leave thofe fpoils untouched to their enemies; as being proper to enervate their minds, and amule them with vain and idle fpeculations. Truth perhaps has been lefs a gainer by this multiplicity of books, than error; and it may be a question,

thofe authors are, is fo clearly fettled, and fo generally known, that I need not point them out to you; befides, I have already extended this letter to fuch an immoderate length, that I have interrupted, I fear, too long thofe ftudies I have been recommending. I will here refign you therefore to your papers, which you will now refume; and either purfue the ftudies you were before engaged in, or enter upon fome of thofe which I have advised. Farewel.

LETTER LXXXVII.

To Saturninus.

Y OU afk me how I fpend my time? You know how much of it is difpofed in the bufinefs of my poft; what remains I devote to the fervice of my friends, and fometimes to my books; an employment which, though I will not ven

ture to affirm it would be better, I am fure it would be happier, if I could fay not only fometimes, but altogether engages me. I should be concerned to hear, that yours are of the fort which are leat agreeable to you, if I did not know you are bufied in the nobleft offices; as nothing can be more worthy of applaufe, than to be active in the interest of one's country and one's friends.

I was well perfuaded the company of our friend Prifcus would be extremely agreeable to you, as I know the fimplicity, innocence, and politeness of his manners but I had yet to learn (what I had whether the excellent models which have been delivered down to us from antiquity, together with thofe few which modern times have produced, by any means balance the immoderate weight which must be thrown into the oppofite fcale of writers. The truth is, though we may be learned by other men's reflections, wife we can only be by our own: and the maxim here recommended by Pliny would well deferve the attention of the ftudious, though no other inconvenience attended the reading of many books, than that which Sir William Temple apprchends from it: the leffening the force and growth of a man's own genius. For it may be justly doubted, with that ingenious author, "whether the weight and number of so ma"ny other men's thoughts and notions may not "fupprefs his own, or hinder the motion or agi"tation of them, from which all invention arifes; "as heaping on wood, or too many sticks, or too "clofe together, fuppreffes, and fometimes quite "extinguishes a little fpark, that would other"wife have grown up to a noble flame." [EiTay on Learning, v. 1. 158.]

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the pleasure to be informed of by your letter) that he fo obligingly remembers the fervices I have done him. Farewel.

LETTER LXXXVIII.

To Prifcus.

I AM deeply afflicted at the ill ftate of health of my friend Fannia, which the contracted during her attendance on Junia, one of the Vestal virgins. She engaged in this good office at firft voluntarly, Junia being her relation; as fhe was afterwards appointed to it by an order from the college of Priests: for thefe virgins, when any indifpofition makes it neceffary to remove them from the temple of Vesta, are always delivered to the care and cuftody of fome venerable matron. It was her affiduity in the execution of this charge that occafioned her prefent diforder, which is a continual fever, attended with a cough that increafes daily. She is extremely emaciated, and feems in a total decay of every thing but fpirits; thofe indeed the preferves in their full vigour; and in a manner worthy the wife of Helvidius, and the daughter of Thrafea. In all the reft fhe is fo greatly impaired, that I am more than apprehenfive upon her account; I am deeply afflicted. I grieve, my friend, that fo excellent a woman is going to be removed from the eyes of the world, which will never, perhaps, again behold her equal. How confummate is her virtue, her piety, her wisdom, her courage! She twice followed her husband into exile, and once was banished herself upon his account. For Senecio, when he was tried for writing the life of Helvidius, having faid in his defence that he compofed that work at the request of Fannia; Metius Carus, with a stern and threatening air, aked her whether it was true? She acknowledged it was: and when he farther questioned her, whether the fupplied him likewife with materials for that purpofe, and whether her mother was privy to this tranfaction? the boldly confeffed the former, but abfolutely denied the latter. In fhort, throughout her whole examination, not a word escaped her that betrayed the leaft emotion of fear. On the contrary, he had the courage to preferve a copy of

:

thofe very books which the fenate, overawed by the tyranny of the times, had ordered to be fuppreffed, and at the fame time the effects of the author to be confifcated; and took with her as the companions of her exile, what had been the caufe of it. How pleafing is her converfation, how polite her addrefs, and (which feldom unites in the fame character) how venerable is the as well as amiable! She will hereafter, I am well perfuaded, be pointed out as a model to all wives; and perhaps be esteemed worthy to be fet forth as an example of fortitude even to our fex; fince, while yet we have the pleasure of seeing and converfing with her, we contemplate her with the fame admiration as thofe heroines who are celebrated in ancient ftory. For myself, I confefs I cannot but tremble for this illuftrious houfe, which feems fhaken to its very foundations, and ready to fall into ruins with her for though fhe will leave defcendants behind her, yet what a height of virtue must they retain, what glorious actions muft they perform, ere the world will be perfuaded that this excellent woman was not the laft of her family! It is an aggravating circumftance of affliction to me, that by her death I seem to lose a fecond time her mother; that worthy mother (and what can I fay higher in her praise ?) of fo amiable a perfon! who, as the was restored to me in her daughter, so she will now again be taken from me, and the lofs of Fannia will thus pierce my heart at once with a fresh stab, and at the fame time tear open a former wound. I loved and honoured them both fo highly, that I knew not which had the greatest fhare of my esteem and affection; a point they defired might ever remain undetermined. In their profperity and their adverfity I did them every good office in my power, and was their comforter in exile, as well as their avenger at their return. But I have not yet paid them what I owe, and am fo much the more folicitous for the recovery of this lady, that I may have time to acquit what is due from me to her. Such is the anxiety under which I write this letter! But if fome friendly power fhould happily give me occafion to exchange it for fentiments of joy, I fhall not complain of the alarms I now fuffer. Farewel,

LETTER LXXXIX.

To Tacitus.

I HAVE perufed your book with all the

attention I was mafter of, and have marked the paffages I think fhould be altered, and thofe which I am of opinion ought intirely to be thrown out It is as habitual to me to speak truth, as it is agreeable to you to hear it, and indeed none are more patient of cenfure, than those who have the best claim to applaufe. I now expect in return, your obfervations upon the treatife of mine which I fent you. How agrecable, how noble is fuch a commerce! and how am I pleafed with the thought, that poterity, if it fhall at all concern itfelf with us, will not ceafe to mention with what harmony, what freedom, what fidelity we lived together! It will be an intance as remarkable, as it is uncommon, that two perfons nearly of the fame age and rank, and of fome character in the republic of letters (for fince I join myfelf with you, I am obliged to fpeak of your merit with referve), fhould thus mutually afift and promote each other's ftudies. When I was a very young man, and you in the prime of your glory and reputation, I endeavoured to follow your fteps, and was defirous to be confider. d as next in character to you, But next with many a length between ! And though there were, at that time, many celebrated geniufes in Rome, yet you, of all others, appeared to me, not only not worthy to be my model, but, from a funilitude of our dispofitions, moit eafy to my imitation. It is particularly agreeable to me therefore to find, that in all companies where learning is the topic of converfation, we are always mentioned together, and that my name immediately follows yours. It is true, there are fome who prefer you to me, as others, on the contrary, give me the advantage; but I am little folicitous in what order we are placed, fo that we fland united; for in my eftimation, whoever is next to you must be before every body elfe. You even fee in wills (unlefs in the cafe

* It was the peculiar cuftom of Rome, for "the clients and dependents of families, to bequeath at their death to their patrons fome confideable part of their clates, as the most ef4jectual teftimony of their refpect and gratitude :

of particular friendship to either of us) we are always equally confidered, and that the legacies bequeathed to us are generally the fame, both in number and value. Since therefore we are thus clofely linked together by a fimilitude of ftudies, manners, reputation, and even by thofe laft inftances of human judgment, should it not mutually tend to enflame us with the moft ardent affection? Farewel.

LETTER XC.
To Falco.

YOU will not wonder I fo strongly

preffed you to confer the tribunate upon my friend, when you fhall be informed who and what he is; and as you have complied with my requeft, I may now acquaint you with his name and character. It is Cornelius Minutianus, who both in rank and virtue is the ornament of that province to which I owe my birth. His family and fortune are noble, and

yet

application, as if the neceflity of his cirhe purfues his ftudies with as much cumftances required it. He is a most upright judge, a moft ftrenuous advocate, a moft faithful friend. You will look upon the obligation as done to yourself, when you fhall have an opportunity of taking a nearer view of this excellent perfon, who (not to fpeak in too lofty terms of fo modeft a nian) is equal to all honours and titles that can be conferred upon him. Farewel.

LETTER XCI.
To Rufus.

WHAT numbers of learned men does

modeity conceal, or love of cafe withdraw from the notice of the world! and

"and the more a man received in this way, the "more it redounded to his credit. Thus Cicero " mentions it to the honour of Lucullus, that "while he governed Afia as preconful, many great "eftates were left to him by will. And Nepos "tells us, in praise of Atticus, that he fucceeded "to many inheritances of the fame kind, be"queathed to him on no other account, than of "his friendly and amiable temper. Cicero, when "he was fairly reproached by Antony, with be"ing neglected on thefe occafions, declared in his

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reply, that he had gained from this fingle arti "clc, about two hundred thousand pounds." Middleton's Life of Tully, vol. ii. 514.

yet

yet

when we are going to speak or recite in public, it is the judgment only of oftentatious talents which we stand in awe of: whereas in truth, thofe who filently cultivate the fciences have fo much a higher claim to regard, as they pay a calm veneration to whatever is great in works of genius: an obfervation which I give you upon experience. Terentius Junior having paffed through the military offices fuitable to a perfon of equeftrian rank, and executed with great integrity the poft of receiver-general of the reve nues in Narbonenfian Gaul, retired to his eftate, preferring the enjoyment of an uninterrupted tranquillity, to thofe honours which his fervices had merited. He invited me lately to his house, where, looking upon him only as a worthy mafter of a family, and an induftrious far mer, I ftarted fuch topics of converfation in which I imagined he was moft verfed. But he foon turned the difcourfe, and with a great fund of knowledge entered upon points of literature. With what elegance did he exprefs himself in Latin and Greck! for he is fo perfectly well killed in both, that whichever he ufes, feems to be the language wherein he particularly excels. How extenfive is his reading how tenacious his memory! You would not imagine him the inhabitant of a country village, but of polite Athens herself. In fhort, his converíation has increased my folicitude concerning my works, and taught me to fear the jadgment of thefe retired country gentle men, as much as thofe of more known and confpicuous learning. And let me perfuade you to confider them in the fame light: for, believe me, upon a careful obiervation, you will often find in the literary as well as military world, moft formidable abilities concealed under a very unpromising appearance, Farewel.

LETTER XCII.

To Maximus.

THE lingering diforder of a friend of THE lingering diforder of a friend of mine gave me occafion lately to re

One of the four principal divifions of ancient

Gaal: it extended from the Pyrenæan mountains, which feparate France from Spain, to the Alps, which divide it from Italy, and comprehended Languedoc, Provence, Dauphiny, and Savoy.

flect that we are never fo virtuous as when oppreffed with fickness. Where is the man who, under the pain of any distemper, is either folicited by avarice or enflamed with luft? At such a season he is neither a flave of love, nor the fool of ambition; he looks with indifference upon the charms of wealth, and is contented with ever fo fmall a portion of it, as being upon the point of leaving even that little, It is then he recollects there are Gods, and that he himself is but a man ; no mortal is then the object of his envy, his admiration, or his contempt; and the reports of flander neither raile his attention nor feed his curiofity: his imagination is wholly employed upon baths and fountainst. Thefe are the subjects of his cares and wishes, while he refolves, if he fhould recover, to pass the remainder of his days in eafe and tranquillity, that is, in innocence and happiness. I may therefore lay down to you and myself a fhort rule, which the philofophers have endeavoured to inculcate at the expence of many words, and even many volumes; that "we should practife in health those "refolutions we form in fickness." Farewel.

LETTER XCIII To Septitius. THERE are, it seems, who have con

demned me to you, as being upon all occafions too lavish in commendation of my friends. I acknowledge the charge, and glory in it too; for can there be a nobler error than an excess of benevolence? But ftill, who are thefe, let me afk, that are better acquainted with my friends than I am myfelf? Yet grant there are any fuch, why will they deny me fo pleafing a mistake? For fuppofing my friends deferve not the high encomiums I give them, certainly I am happy in believing they do. Let them recommend then this ungenerous ftrictness to thofe (and their number is not inconfiderable) who imagine they fhew their fure. As for myfelf, they will never be judgment when they indulge their cenable to perfuade me I can be guilty of an excess in friendship. Farewel.

+ It is probable that fevers were the peculiar diftemper of Rome, as Pliny, in his general allufions to diforders of the body, teems always to confider them of the inflammatory kind.

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