Epistle X. To Atrius Clemens.
by
A. Z.
[_]
Upon good Sense and good Nature.
Whatever Figure this City of our may have formerly made in the Belles Lettres,
she seems in this Age to exceed her self; for which I cou'd produce you abundance of shining Instances,
but shall at present content my self with one, and I mean the learned
Euphrates.
'Twas my good Fortune to be thoroughly and intimately acquainted with him in
Syria, when I was but a young and raw Soldier at my Studies in those Parts;
who, finding me resolv'd on sparing no Pains to court his Friendship,
soon sav'd me that trouble by his unreserv'd Openness and compleat Practice of that Humanity,
which he makes it his Business to teach.
And I now feelingly wish I had ever been able to accomplish those Hopes,
which he was then pleas'd to conceive of me, in any Proportion to that Augmentation which he himself has since added to the stock of his own Merits:
Or perhaps I may at this Day admire 'em the more, because I understand 'em somewhat
better; tho' even still I am far from pretending that I sufficiently do so.
For, as in Painting Sculpture or Statuary, the very parallel Case is it in Literature;
none but a Master can adequately judge of him, that is so! And yet, if I ben't mightily mistaken,
there are more than a few Talents so exalted and so bright in
Euphrates,
as cannot well miss catching and delighting the Eye, even of the Tender-sighted.
His Disputations are acute, weighty, and elegant; frequently not short of the stretch and loftiness of
Plato himself. As to his manner of Speaking, 'tis fluent, with a perpetual Variety;
charming and sweet to the last Degree, and equally effectual either for leading,
or driving an Opponent.
What I shall next mention is, That his Stature is tall and his Face comely;
with a long Head o' Hair, and a large white Beard; which tho' but accidental and generally insignificant Circumstances,
yet in him are peculiarly venerable. There's nothing shocking in his Aspect;
no Melancholy, yet a great Gravity. Shou'd you happen to meet him, you'd instantly reverence him,
without being the least dash'd at the sight of him.
'Tis a Question; whether the strict Probity of his Life, or the affable East of his Behaviour be most remarkable?
His Method being to rebuke the Vice, not the Man, and to mend Faults,
rather than rub hard upon 'em. He
cou'd scarce give you a piece of Advice, but you'd be apt to run after him,
and hang upon him for more. There's such a Pleasure in being convinc'd by him,
a Body wou'd almost beg him to go back and argue it over again.
In the next Place he's the Parent of three Children, one of 'em a Girl;
and no Care is omitted in his own Education of the two Boys. His Wife's Father,
Pompey Julian, besides the rest of his Character, is particularly distinguishable in this;
That in no less a Station than the Lieutenancy of a Province, he cou'd pick out such a Son-in-Law;
not as any eminent Person in suitable Titles or Dignities, but meritoriously so in the preferable Capacity of Knowledge.
And now, except it be to vex my self the more, why do I dwell on the Thoughts of a Man,
whom I'm debar'd from enjoying? Ty'd, as I am, to a State-Office of no less Slavery than Grandeur:
My Fate is to be attending at a Treasury-Board, signing Petitions, auditing Accompts,
scribling whole Packets of Letters, and, between You and Me, no very wise ones neither.
Nor indeed can I sometimes, as Opportunity offers, forbear making this very Complaint to
Euphrates himself. But he truly spurs me on and encourages me, insisting upon it;
that the Dispatch of Publick Business, the Hearing of Causes, the Passing Decrees,
the re-search and distribution of Justice, and lastly,
the putting into Practice the Theory of the Schools, are not barely Parts,
but the most glorious Branches of Human Understanding.
This however is the only Point, in which He and I shall be likely to differ;
it being next to impossible to allow any of these Matters equivalent,
with the hearing from Morning to Night, and improving by his own inimitable Lectures.
I therefore take the liberty of advising you, who are happy Master of your own Time;
directly to submit your self to this Filing and Polishing, as soon as you come next to Town;
and, if I was you, I should not be long a coming.
To conclude, I am none of those who too often are inclinable to Envy and Grudge in others,
all Advantages unenjoy'd by themselves; but can on the contrary, be sensible of no little Pleasure from seeing any of my Friends overflow and abound,
in what perhaps is my own Misfortune to want even a Competence of.
Adieu.
