Epistle V. To Marcus.
by
the Same. [Mr. Henley.]
[_]
On the Works of his Uncle, Pliny the Elder.
YOU give me a great Pleasure, in reading, collecting and enquiring so carefully into the Works of my Uncle.
I will discharge the Part of an Index; and will also inform
you, in what Method, they were penn'd. For this is no disagreeable a Part of Knowledge to the Studious.
He wrote one Treatise on the Art of slinging the Spear or Javelin, as practis'd in the Cavalry.
This he compos'd with equal Care and Skill, when he commanded a Wing of the Army.
Two of the Life of
Pomponius Secundus (his Particular Friend) a Debt he paid his Memory.
Twenty of the
German Wars, being a compleat View of them. He enter'd upon them when he serv'd in
Germany, from the impulse of a Dream. The Shape of
Drufus Nero
stood near him in a slumber; who, after a large Conquest, dy'd in that Country.
He recommended his Memory to him, and entreated him to rescue it from Oblivion.
Three of a Student, divided into six Volumes, for the Bulk of them, in which he Instructs and Perfects the Orator from his earliest Years.
Eight of a Miscellaneous Kind, written in the last Years of
Nero,
when Slavery made every kind of Study, that is of a more free and exalted Nature,
dangerous. Thirty One from the Conclusion of
Ausidius Bassus's History.
Thirty Seven of natural History; a Work diffusive, learned, and as various as Nature itself.
Do you wonder that a Man of Business finish'd so many Volumes, the Particulars of which are often so Nice and Delicate?
It will add to your Wonder, when you know, that he was employ'd in Pleading for a good Space of Time,
and dy'd in his Fifty Sixth Year. It is well known that his middle Age was taken up by the most Considerable Offices,
and by the intimacy of Princes. But his Wit was acute, his Study incredible,
his Vigilance extraordinary. He began his Lucubrations from the Feast of
Vulcan, not for an auspicious Beginning, but for the sake of Study:
in Summer, presently after Mid-Night; in Winter, at Seven; or, when latest,
at Eight, often at Six. He was indeed a very moderate Sleeper; and sometimes a Slumber came upon him,
and left him again in the midst of his Studies. Before Day he went to the Emperor
Vespasian, for he likewise us'd the Night in the same manner; then returning Home to his appointed Office,
spent the remainder of his Time in Study, after eating a light and easy Meal,
after the Custom of the Antients. If he had any leisure Time in Summer,
he lay down in the open Sun: A Book was read, and he took his Notes and Minutes upon it;
for he read nothing without making an Extract from it. He
was accustom'd to say, no Book was so ill pen'd, but it might in some degree be serviceable.
After this relaxation in the Warmth, he commonly bath'd in cold Water;
then he took a slight Taste of something Eatable, and a short Repose.
Immediately, as if the Day was renew'd, he studied till Supper-time: after that a Book was read,
and in a cursory Way remark'd upon. I remember, that one of his Friends,
when the
Reader made a Mistake in the Pronuntiation, call'd him back, and oblig'd him to repeat it;
my Uncle gave him a Reprimand; Did you understand it? Very well, he answer'd.
Why then did you recall him? We have lost above ten Verses by your Interruption:
So great was the Husbandry of his Time. In Summer he rose from Supper by Day-light;
in Winter, within the first Hour of the Night; and all this ins the midst of his Labours,
and the Din of the Town, as if some Law had confin'd him to it. Only when he retir'd to Bath,
his Time was reliev'd from Study: When I speak of the Bath, I mean the most private Parts of it;
for while he is chaf'd and dry'd, he ever us'd to hear or dictate something.
In a Journey, as if he was free from other Cares, he found a Vacancy for this only.
He took along with him by his side, an Amanuensis, with a Book, and Writing Tables,
whose Hands in Winter were guarded with Gloves, that the inclemency of the Air it self might not invade the Time of Study; upon which Account,
in
Rome he was carry'd in a Sedan. I remember that I had a Rebuke of him for Walking;
you might not, says he, fling away these Hours: for he imagin'd all the Time was lost,
which was not bestow'd upon his Studies. By this constant Application he finish'd so many Volumes;
and left me 160 Commentaries of select Subjects, written even on the Back,
and done in very small Characters; so that by this Reckoning the
Number is really doubled. He assur'd me that he could, during the Time of his
Spanish Government, have sold these Commentaries to
Lartius Licinius,
for four Hundred
Sesterces, and then they were something fewer.
Do not you think, when you reflect on the Compass of his Reading and Writing,
that he was neither employ'd in Offices, nor a particular Favourite of Great Men:
and again, when you hear what Labour he bestow'd upon his Studies, that he neither wrote nor read enough.
For what can you conceive that might not be obstructed by those Affairs,
or perform'd by this close Attention: So that it creates a Smile to me,
when some Men call me Studious; that, if compar'd with him, am the most Idle of all Mankind.
But here I am not single, for I am partly taken up by publick Cares, and partly the private Offices of my Friends.
Ney, who among those that devote their whole Life to Letters, if set in Comparison with him,
would not blush, as if he was given up to Sleep and Laziness? I have
stretched my Epistle beyond Bounds, tho' indeed I determin'd only to write what your requir'd;
that is, what Books he left behind him. Yet I am confident, that this Account of him will be as grateful to you,
as the Books themselves; for it may excite you not only to read them,
but to work up something like them, by a Spur of Emulation.
