Page images
PDF
EPUB

of the emperors which he had previously given to them*, and he erected in their ancient temple of Jupiter a statue of Corinthian brass of the most masterly execution, dignum templo, dignum Deo donum +. The gratitude of Comum has, as we have hinted above, descended to the present day; for we are told that in the front of their present elegant Gothic cathedral "there is a statue of Pliny, with basso relievos alluding to his writings; and on each side of the grand entrance is an inscription in his honour +."

It would appear from the letter just quoted, that Pliny, like his uncle, coveted nothing so much as the opportunity of literary retirement; and that, despising the allurements of vulgar popularity and common-place ambition, his views of immortality were exclusively built on the cultivation of his intellectual powers, on the hope of surviving in his writings to distant ages, and of becoming, through their medium, the instructor and benefactor of his species. We need not wonder, therefore, that to a mind thus nobly and rationally engaged, the ordinary business of life should seem what, in fact, it too ge

* Lib. x. Ep. 24.
+ Lib. iii. Ep. 6.
Eustace's Classical Tour, 4to edition, vol. ii. p. 364.

[ocr errors]

nerally is, especially on a retrospective glance, a series of impertinent trifles; nor that the following letter, whilst it paints with its author's characteristic but delightful enthusiasm the enjoyments of a studious retreat, should hold not only the pleasures, but even the graver occupations of a dissipated capital in contempt.

"C. PLINIUS MINUTIO FUNDANO SUO S.

[ocr errors]

"Mirum est, quam singulis diebus in urbe ratio aut constet, aut constare videatur, pluribus cunctisque non constet. Nam, si quem interroges, hodie quid egisti ?' respondeat, officio togæ virilis interfui; sponsalia aut nuptias frequentavi; ille me ad signandum testamentum; ille in advocationem, ille in consilium rogavit. Hæc quo die feceris, necessaria; eadem si quotidie fecisse te reputes, inania videntur: multo magis cum secesseris. Tunc enim subit recordatio, quot dies, quam frigidis rebus absumsi ? quod evenit mihi postquam in Laurentino meo aut lego aliquid, aut scribo, aut etiam corpori vaco, cujus fulturis animus sustinetur. Nihil audio, quod audisse, nihil dico quod dixisse pœniteat. Nemo apud me quemquam sinistris sermonibus carpit: neminem ipse reprehendo, nisi unum me,

spe, nullo timore

cum parum commode scribo : nulla sollicitor, nullis rumoribus inquietur, mecum tantum et cum libellis loquor. Rectam sinceramque vitam ! dulce ocium honestumque, ac pæne omni negotio pulchrius! O mare! O littus, verum secretumque μεσειν. Quam multa invenitis, quam multa dictatis? proinde tu quoque strepitum istum, inanemque discursum, et multum ineptes labores, ut primum fuerit occasio, relinque, teque studiis-trade *.”

"When one considers how the time passes at Rome, one cannot but be surprised, that take any single day, and it either is, or at least seems to be, spent reasonably enough; and yet, upon casting up the whole sum, the amount will appear quite otherwise. Ask any one how he has been employed today? he will tell you, perhaps, I have been at the ceremony of investing the manly robe†; this friend invited me to a wedding; that desired me to attend the hearing of his cause; one begged me to be a witness to his will; another called me to a consulta

* Lib. i. Epist. 9.

+ The Roman youths, at the age of seventeen, changed their habit, and took up the Toga virilis, or manly gown, upon which occasion they were conducted by the friends of the family with great ceremony, either into the Forum or Capitol, and there invested with this new robe.

[ocr errors]

tion.' These are offices which seem, while one is engaged in them, extremely necessary; and yet, when in the silence of retirement we look back upon the many hours thus employed, we cannot but condemn them as solemn impertinencies. At such a season one is apt to reflect, How much of my life has been spent in trifles! At least it is a reflection which frequently comes across me at Laurentinum *, after I have been employing myself in my studies, or even in the necessary care of the animal machine; (for the body must be repaired and supported, if we would preserve the mind in all its vigour). In that peaceful retreat I neither hear nor speak any thing of which I have occasion to repent. I suffer none to repeat to me the whispers of malice; nor do I censure any man, unless myself, when I am dissatisfied with my compositions. There I live undisturbed by rumour, and free from the anxious solicitudes of hope or fear, conversing only with myself and my books. True and genuine life! pleasing and honourable repose! more, perhaps, to be desired than employments of any kind! Thou solemn sea and solitary shore, best and most retired scene for contemplation, with how many noble thoughts have you inspired

* The winter-villa of Pliny.

me! Snatch, then, my friend, as I have, the first occasion of leaving the noisy town, with all its very empty pursuits, and devote your days to study."

It must, indeed, to every sober and reflecting mind, appear the height of absurdity, that of an existence so transient as that which has been allotted to our pilgrimage on earth, any portion should be spent in the pursuit of mere trifles. When man, condemned, as with few exceptions he is, to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, shall have satisfied those demands which nature imperiously urges upon him for his own support and that of his offspring, how small a part of his brief life remains for the cultivation of those mental powers which seem alone to place him above the beasts that perish! It is enough, however, if seized with avidity and judg ment, for every moral and intellectual purpose connected with our being here; and he who places before us any strong incentive towards such an application of it may be justly considered as entitled to our warmest gratitude. With what energy and eloquence the evanescency of human life has been dwelt upon by Pliny, as a motive towards quickening the industry of the literary student, the subsequent passage from a letter to Caninius will abundantly

« PreviousContinue »