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wanting in that pleasing manner,19 which is of itself 20 the greatest gift of all. Muretus and Ernesti wrote well; but though their Latinity was pure in its general structure and style, they could not shake off occasional blemishes in the separate words and phrases." Ruhnken has remarked this 22 in Muretus, and might have done the same in Ernesti, if this had been his business. Such then being the difficulty of writing Latin well, most scholars have been deterred by it, and have thus directed24 their efforts merely to acquire a knowledge of the materials and subjects, and, contented with this, have written as they could. On which account, we ought the more to admire Ruhnken, who was so eminent both for his knowledge of subjects and for his mastery of language, and in this both for the purity of his Latinity and the elegance of his style, that he even took the first rank among the leading examples of these excellences.26 Among his readers, those who are common-place scholars, moderately acquainted with Latin," are immediately captivated by his perspicuity, ease, and gracefulness,28 and by the elegance and embellishments 29 of his sentences; while those, who are besides this judges of 30 good Latinity, are not less struck by the pure, undefiled, and unadulterated diction, which he uniformly maintains, the genuine shape and colour of Roman citizenship and metropolitan franchise, which he assumes, the fluency and perfect skill,34 with which he employs an ancient language, preserved only in books, just as if it had been a modern idiom practised and cultivated by the living intercourse of every day, and moulds these materials like wax into the most elegant expressions of all the noblest thoughts.36 This praise, wonderful though it be, will appear more wonderful, if we consider the narrow limits of the Latin language from which this richness and fluency were derived. Ruhnken took prodigious pains in estimating and ascertaining pure Latinity; and in the selection of words and phrases he did not without reluctance descend as low as Seneca.3 I remember that I occasionally disagreed with him in the course of conversation,40 not so much from a serious difference of opinion," as for the sake of gaining knowledge, and in order that I might provoke him to longer arguments on this subject;42 and I used to contend that we

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could not secure the power of writing Latin, without borrowing much from Seneca's age and even later periods, nay more," without making some new words, either according to Latin analogy or the custom of the Greeks. He maintained, on the contrary, that there remained to us monuments enough of the best age to furnish us with words and authorities for the expression of every subject and every thought. However this may be, all must confess that Ruhnken, who purified the state by so high a standard of citizenship, and so reduced it to a paucity of words, both wrote much, and so entirely fulfilled the duty of writing good Latin and writing well, that he surpassed all modern scholars in this accomplishment. Not that he intentionally fashioned his diction after the pattern of some one ancient author. Both by his own talents and by his study of the best Latin and Greek writers, he contracted a style in some measure peculiar to himself, like a pellucid stream flowing over a smooth surface;49 such a style as might be said 50 to stand half-way between the energy, copiousness, beauty, dignity, and majesty of Cicero; and the ease, smoothness, and natural and simple elegance of Nepos; so that he himself, as we said at starting, seemed to have come forth from the healthy atmosphere of antiquity," untainted by the corruptions of the age in which he lived.

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Exercise II.

On the Advantages of Foreign Travel.

A LONG tour' is, especially to a young man, as agreeable as it is profitable; for novelty and variety have a peculiar3 charm, and he, who knows the customs of many nations, has acquired a great accession to his own knowledge of the world. But most young men now-a-days, when they undertake long journeys and visit many lands, have no particular object except that they may be able, on their return, to tell their associates where each town is situated," how the houses are built, how it is off for wares and other things to gratify the taste; but as for the laws and constitution by which it

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is governed, what magistrates it has, how it pursues what is useful for its maintenance, and how it avoids the contraryall these things they entirely dismiss from their minds." And yet it is of no use to have seen many places unless you add the knowledge of these things. And well says Homer of Ulysses, 'he saw the cities of many men and knew their spirit and character.'" He has distinguished by his words between those things which are distinct in fact. Horace has expressed it more carelessly, 'who saw the manners and cities of many men.' Cities may be seen by the mere passerby;13 manners cannot be known unless you apply care and diligence to the inquiry. Solon, Pythagoras, Plato, and other great and illustrious men of the olden time, travelled for the purpose of collecting the greatest possible stock of such materials. For, although they say that, as in a strange house, so also in a foreign state, one ought not to be curious; yet this curiosity, which I speak of, has always been useful both to states and individuals.16 Plato adopted a somewhat different view," and suggested1s that such tours should not be undertaken unless by the permission of the authorities, and only between the ages of fifty and sixty. I, too, would approve of this regulation," if there were anywhere to be found 20 such a state as he describes. For as to his 21 fear that, if a number of foreigners flocked together into any state, and fixed their abode there," and if the young, whose thoughtless age is more prone to pleasure than to virtue, roamed about beyond the bounds of their own country, foreign vices would rather be imported than domestic ones corrected and removed that this fear was not groundless is sufficiently proved by those nations, which, having flourished for many years, and being now in a state of decline, are suffering rather from foreign customs than from their own.

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But to return to the question: although foreign travel well conducted is both pleasant and profitable; nevertheless, for those who love a tranquil and peaceful life it is better to stay at home. What says that old man, who, though blind in his bodily eyes, was certainly more quick-sighted than the lynx in his mental vision ?26

οἴκοι βελτερον εἶναι, ἐπεὶ βλαβερὸν τὸ θύρῃφι.

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For everywhere, as that designing and unprincipled, but yet most subtle and witty writer, Lucian, observes," EuкαтаÓρÓνпτоV πρᾶγμα ξένος. πрayμa o Eévoç. Accordingly, in that golden age, if we may believe the poets, nobody travelled, and mortals knew no shores but their own." For my part I am touched in my very heart when I read that little poem of Claudian, in which the old man of Verona is painted, who had never left the district in which he was born, of whom the same poet says with truth and terseness

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'Forth let another roam and scan the distant Iberi;

This man has fared the best; that man the farther has fared.' 30

Exercise III.

A Familiar Letter.

MY DEAR MR. BROWN,'-Your letter was very welcome to me, and so was the excellent young man, Charles Cathcart, who was the bearer of it. Both for your sake, and for his, I have promised him3 whatever service I can render him, if he will only apply to me in every business connected with his plan of studying, and staying with us at Leyden." But no doubt we shall see more of each other when he shall have learnt to speak French, which is his present occupation; and when in our lecture-rooms,10 in which he is a constant auditor, he shall have picked up some familiarity with" the Latin language. I am glad, and congratulate you, both because you retired from the tyranny which prevailed in this country, to your own native land; and also, because you are prospering so well in the world. And I wish that I too had done so while still young, and that I had obeyed my countrymen who recalled me from time to time to Berne; for I should not now have fallen, at an advanced age, into this envy on the part of smatterers13 and vulgar people11 which usually attacks all respectable foreigners." We however, as the proverb says, care no more for these trumpery fellows 16 than if they were flies. As far as I know, I never had the

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pleasure of making your personal acquaintance," but I have seen and know your connexion, William Ram, LL.D., and his wife, your sister-a lady distinguished by her talents and her manners." Pray present my compliments to them, whether they are staying with you or not.19 Believe me, with much respect, your sincere friend,20

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Leyden, June, 1815.

DANIEL WYTTENBACH.

Exercise IV.

Timanthes of Cleona.

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PAUSANIAS has given us, in the following anecdote (vi. 8, 3), a remarkable proof1 of the feeling of the Greeks2 in reference to bodily strength and health.3 Timanthes of Cleone was a distinguished Pancratiast, and had, as such, obtained a victory in the Olympic games. Although he afterwards gave up athletic contests, he nevertheless used every day to test his strength by stringing a great bow. At last, however, he undertook a journey, and during his absence he intermitted the exercise by which he put his strength to the proof. Immediately after his return, he made trial of the bow, to see if his strength was still unimpaired, and finding himself unable to string it, he forthwith erected a funeral pile, set fire to it, and cast himself into the flames. Pausanias says hereupon,' that he regards such an act as a proof of madness, not of courage. No doubt such conduct cannot be designated by the latter name, but to judge from the point of view assumed by the ancient Greeks, the term madness is too harsh." To Timanthes, as an athlete and Olympic victor, full and unimpaired strength must have formed the very ideal1o of life. When this was lost, his ideal was gone," and life appeared to the crowned Agonistes as a faded flower, without beauty, without any endearing charm, without joy;12 and he acted accordingly only after the manner of a Greek 13 endued in the highest degree with an ardent imagination and

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