xxxi A PHILOSOPHERS OBSERVATIONS 265 



when the pavement opened, the water was taken 

 in through the joints, the next, when the pavement 

 closed, it was forced out all bubbling. I have heard 

 the same learned man relate that he had seen soft 

 materials undergo more frequent but more gentle 

 shocks than materials naturally hard. 



XXXII 



So much, my esteemed Lucilius, with respect to the i 

 mere causes of earthquakes. Now we must adduce 

 some considerations that will tend to reassure us in 

 face of the perils of earthquakes. After all, it con- 

 cerns us more closely to acquire resolution of mind 

 than erudition, and yet the former cannot be had 

 without the latter. Assurance comes to the mind 

 from no source but elevating studies and the con- 

 templation of nature. Is there any one, I say, 

 that reflects upon causes, who will not be reassured 

 and emboldened by this late catastrophe in Cam- 

 pania to face disasters of all kinds ? Why should 2 

 I fear man or beast, bow or lance? Far greater 

 perils are ever lurking for me. Lightning and earth 

 shock, and all the great forces of nature, aim their 

 blows at us. Death must therefore be resolutely 1 

 challenged whether its attack be with vast a over- 

 powering onset or by ordinary means of daily oc- 

 currence. It is of no moment how threatening its 

 approach, or how great the engine it brings up 

 against us. The life it asks of us is a very little 

 thing. It will be taken from us by old age, or by 3 

 a little pain in the ear, or by a superabundance 

 of tainted moisture within, by food that the stomach 



1 It would seem that ingenti and aequo have by some means got trans- 

 posed in the ordinary texts. Gercke reads saevo for aequo. 



