EPOCHS IN THE HISTORY OF THE CONTEMPLATION 



of which we are speaking. " The path in which I propose 

 to walk/' says Pliny, with noble confidence in himself, " is 

 untrodden, (non trita auctoribus via) ; no one among 

 ourselves, no one among the Greeks, has undertaken to 

 treat as one the whole of nature (nemo apud Graces qui 

 unus omnia tractaverit). If my undertaking is not success- 

 ful, still it is something fair and noble (pulchrum atque 

 magnificum) to have attempted its accomplishment/' 



There floated before the mind of Pliny a grand and 

 single image ; but diverted from his purpose by specialities, 

 and wanting the living personal contemplation of nature, 

 he was unable to hold fast this image. The execution 

 remained imperfect, not merely from haste and frequent 

 want of knowledge of the objects to be treated, but also 

 from defective arrangement. We may judge thus from 

 those portions of work which are now accessible to us. We 

 recognise in the author a man of rank, full of occupation, 

 who prides himself on labour bestowed on his work in 

 sleepless nights, but who, whilst exercising the functions 

 of government in Spain, and those of superintendent of 

 the fleet in Lower Italy, doubtless too often confided to 

 imperfectly educated dependants the loose web of an 

 endless compilation. This fondness for compilation, i. e., 

 for a laborious collection of separate observations and 

 facts such as the state of knowledge could then afford, 

 is, in itself, by no means deserving of censure ; the imper- 

 fection in the success of the result arose from the want 

 of capacity fully to master and command the accumu- 

 lated materials, to subordinate the descriptions of nature 

 to higher and more general views, and to keep steadily 

 to the point of view from which the whole should be seen, 



