PLUTARCHUa 



POCOCK, EDWARD. 



inttitutioni of a people with whose language he was imperfectly 

 acquainted, an.i to whose ancient history ha was nearly a stranger. 

 On the sources of llutarch'i ' Lives' the reader may consult an essay 

 by A. H. L. Ueeron, ' De Fontibu et Auotoritate Vitarum Parallelarum 

 Plutarchi C.'ommentatioDea IV.,' Svo, (joettingte, 1820. 



Besides the ' Lives,' a considerable number of Plutarch's eaiays may 

 be styled historical. They may all be read with pleasure and some of 

 them with instruction, not so much for their historical value as for 

 the detached curious facts that are scattered no profusely through 

 Plutarch's writings, and for the picture which they exhibit of the 

 author's own mind. In one of these essays, entitled On the Malignity 

 of Herodotus,' he has, unfortunately for his own reputation, attacked 

 the veracity and integrity of the father of history, and with the same 

 sucom that subsequent writer?, more ignorant and less honest, hare 

 made their puny attacks on a work the merit of which the closest 

 criticism may enhance but can never depreciate. The ' Lives of the 

 Ten Orators, which are attributed to Plutarch, are of little value, and 

 may not be his ; still they bear internal evidence, at least negatively, of 

 not being of a later age than that of Plutarch. 



The ' Lives ' of Plutarch first appeared in a Latin version by several 

 hands, at Rome, in 2 vols. fol., about 1470. This Latin version formed 

 the basis of various Spanish and Italian translations. The first Greek 

 e lition was printed by Philip Giunta, foL Florence, 1517. Among 

 more recent editions are those of Bryan, London, 5 vols. 4to, 1729, in 

 Greek and Latin, which was completed by Moses du Soul, after Bryan's 

 death; that of Coray, Paris, 6 vols. Svo, 1809-15; and that by 

 Schaefer, Leipzig, 6 vols. 8vo, 1826. The translations are very 

 numerous. The best German translation is said to be by Kaltwaiser, 

 Magdeburg, 10 vols. Svo, 1799-1806. Another German translation 

 appeared at Vienna, in 1812. The beet Italian translation is by 

 Pompei. The French translation of Amyot, which appeared in 1559, 

 has considerable merit, and has been often reprinted. The English 

 translation of Sir Thomas North, London, 1612, which is avowedly 

 made from that of Amyot, is often very happy in point of expression, 

 and is deservedly much esteemed. The ' Lives ' were also translated 

 into French by Dacier, Paris, 8 vols. 4to, 1721. The translation some- 

 tim<8 called Dry den's, th first volume of which was published in 

 1683, was executed by a great number of persons. According to a 

 note by Maloue (Dryden's 'Prose Works,' ii. p. 831), there were forty- 

 one of them. Dryden himself translated nothing, but he wrote the 

 dedication to the Duke of Onnond, and the Life ot Plutarch, which is 

 prefixed to the translation. The translation by John and William 

 Langhorne, an insipid and tasteless version, has the merit of being 

 tolerably correct in rendering the meaning of the original. The last 

 and beat English translation is that of Professor Long, which however 

 only includes the lives of those Romans who were concerned in the 

 Civil Wars of Rome : this translation, which is enriched with a valuable 

 body of notes, formed five volumes of Knight's ' Monthly Volumes,' 

 1841-47. 



The other writings of Plutarch, which consist of about sixty essays, 

 are generally comprehended under the title of his ' Mornlia, or Ethical 

 Works,' many of them being entirely of an ethical character. The 

 minor historical pieces already referred to, of which that on the 

 malignity of Herodotus is one, are usually comprised in the collection 

 entitled 'Moralia.' Plutarch was fond of the writings of Plato; he 

 was strongly opposed to the Epicureans : if he belonged to any philo- 

 sophical sect, it was that of the Academics. But there is nothing like 

 a system of philosophy in his writings, and he is not characterised by 

 depth of thought or originality. He formed for himself a system, if 

 wo may so name that which had little of the connected character of a 

 system, out of the writings of various philosophers. But a moral end 

 is always apparent in his ' Moralia ' as well us in his Biographies. A 

 kind humane disposition and a love of everything that is ennobling and 

 excellent, pervade his writings, and give the reader the same kind of 

 pleasure that he bos in the company of an esteemed friend, whose 

 singleness of heart appears in everything that he says or docs. Plu- 

 tarch rightly appreciated the importance of education, and he gives 

 many good preoepU for the bringing up of children. His philosophy 

 was practical, and in many of its applications, as for instance his 

 ' Letter of Consolation to Apollonius,' and bis ' Marriage Precepts,' 

 be is as felicitous in expression as be is sound in his precepts. Not- 

 withstanding all the deductions that the most fastidious critic may 

 make from Plutarch's moral writings, it cannot be denied that there is 

 something in them which always pleases, and the more the better 

 we become acquainted with them ; and this is no small merit in a 

 writer. 



Plutarch's style bears no resemblance to the simplicity of the Attic 

 writers. It has not the air of being much elaborated, and apparently 

 his sentences flowed easily from him. He is nearly always animated 

 and pleat-ing, and the epithet pictorial may be justly applied to him. 

 Sometimes his sentences are long and ill constructed, and the order of 

 the words appears not the host that could be chosen to express hit 

 meaning : cortainly it is not the order in which the best Greek writers 

 of an earlier age would have arranged their thought*. Sometime! he is 

 obscure, both from this cause and the kind of illustration in which he 

 abounds. He occasionally uses and perhaps affects poetic words, but 

 they are such as give energy to his thoughts and expression to his 

 language. Altogether he is read with pleasure in the original by those 



who are familiar with him, but he is somewhat harsh and crabbed to a 

 stranger. It is his merit, in the age in which he lived, treating of 

 such subjects as biography and morals, not to have fallen into a 

 merely rhetorical style, to have balanced antitheses, and to have 

 contented himself with the inanity of commonplaces. Whatever ha 

 says is manly and invigorating in thought, and clear and forcible in 

 expression. 



The first Greek edition of the 'Moralia,' which is exceedingly 

 incorrect, was printed by the elder Aldus, with the following title, 

 4 Plutarchi Opuscula, Ixxxxii.' (Jr., Veuotiis, fol. 1509. It was after- 

 wards printed at Basel, by Froben, fol. 1542, and fol. 1574. The only 

 good edition of the ' Moralia ' is that printed at Oxford, and edited 

 by D. Wyttenbach, who laboured on it twenty-four yean. This 

 edition consists of six volumes of text (1795-1800), and two volumes 

 of notes (1810-21), 4to. There is a print of it which is generally 

 bound in 5 vols. b'vo, with two volumes of notes. The remarks of 

 Wyttenbach were printed at Leipzig, in 1821, in two vols. Svo. 



The first edition of all the works of Plutarch is by H. Stephens, 

 Geneva, IS vols. Svo, 1572, which is said to be correctly printed. This 

 edition was reprinted several times. A complete edition, Greek and 

 Latin, appeared at Leipzig, 12 vols. Svo, 1774-85, with the name of J. J. 

 Keiske, but Reiake did very little to it, for ho died in 1774. An 

 edition by J. C. Hutten, appeared at Tubingen, 14 vols. Svo, 1791- 

 1805. A good critical edition of all the works of Plutarch is still 

 wanted. 



The ' Moralia ' have been translated into French by Amyot. Amy ot's 

 complete translation of all the works was reprinted at Paris by Didot, 

 25 vols. Svo, 1818-20. The 'Moralia' have been translated into 

 German by Kaltwasser. 



POCOCK, EDWARD, an eminent divine and learned Orientalist, 

 was the son of the Rev. Edward Pocock, vicar of Chiveley in 

 Berkshire. He was born at Oxford, in November 1604, and r< 

 the early part of his education at the free school of Thame. At the 

 age of fourteen he was entered a commoner of Magdalen Halt After 

 two years' residence there, he was elected to a scholarship of Corpus 

 Christi College, to which he removed in 1620. In November lii'J'J, he 

 was admitted bachelor of arts. He now began to apply himself to 

 the study of the Oriental language*), in which he made extraordinary 

 progress, first under the tuition of Mathew Pasor, and afterwards 

 under that of the Rev. William Bedwell, vicar of Tottenham, oue of 

 the first of those who have promoted the study of the Arabic language 

 in Europe. 



His first literary work was the preparation for the press of such 

 parts as had not been edited of the Syriac New Testament, from a 

 manuscript in the Bodleian library, to which he added a Latin trans- 

 lation and some notes : the whole wa printed at Leyden in 1630, 4to. 

 In 1629 Pocock was ordained priest, and soon after appointed chaplain 

 to the English merchants at Aleppo, where he continued five or six 

 years, making further progress in the Hebrew, Syriac, and Ethiopia 

 languages, besides acquiring a familiar knowledge of the Arabic. On 

 his return to England in 1636, he was admitted to the degree of 

 bachelor of divinity, and soon after nominated first professor of the 

 Arabic lecture founded at Oxford by Archbishop Laud, with whom 

 Pocock had maintained a correspondence during his stay at Aleppo, 

 having been employed by that prelate in collecting coins and manu- 

 scripts for the university. He opened his lectures with an elegant 

 Latin oration on the nature and utility of the Arabic tongue, part of 

 which was afterwards published ad calcem ' Carmen Tograi,' edit. 

 Oxon., 1661. Pocock however seems not to have delivered more than 

 one course of lectures upon this occasion ; for soon after, at the 

 express desire of his patron Laud, he undertook a second voyage to 

 the East, along with John Greaves [GREAVES], and remained some 

 time at Constantinople collecting ancient manuscripts. After a stay 

 of nearly four years in that city, he embarked in 1640, and returned 

 home by way of Franco and Italy. While at Paris he became acquainted 

 with many of the learned men of the time, and particularly with 

 Gabriel Sionita, a Muronito well known by his Latin translation of 

 Kdrisi's 'Geography,' and other works [KDRtst], and with Hugo 

 Urotius, to whom be communicated a design he had of translating his 

 treatise ' De Veritato ' into Arabic for the use of the Mohammedans. 

 Grotius having approved of the plan, Pocock began his task, and the 

 Arabic version was afterwards printed at Oxford, in 1660. [GBOTIUS.] 

 While at Paris, Pocock heard of the commotions in England, and on 

 his arrival found his patron and benefactor, Bi-hop Laud, a prisoner 

 in the Tower. lie now resumed his lectures and his private studies 

 at Oxford. Having bocomo acquainted with the celebrated Selden, 

 who afterwards published part of the 'Annals' of Eutychius, in Latin 

 and Arabic, under the title of ' Origincs Alexandrine,' Pocock assisted 

 him in collating and extracting passages from the Arabic manuscripts 

 in the Bodleian. 



In 1643 Pocock was presented by his college to the rectory of 

 Childrey in Berkshire, where ho performed with the greatest zeal his 

 duties of parUh priest, viniting Oxford during term time. Imme- 

 diately after the execution of Laud, the profits of his Arabic professor- 

 ship were seised as part of that prelate's property, and he won reduced 

 to bis country living. In 1646 Pocock married the daughter of 

 Thomas Burdott, Esq., of Hampshire, and in the following year he 

 obtained, through the interest of his friend Selden, tlio restitution of 



