VI PREFACE. 



quiries ; and he was subsequently appointed Procu- 

 rator, or Vice-Governor, in Spain. 



It has been remarked, that none labour more 

 strenuously in any favourite pursuit than those whose 

 time appears absorbed in the necessary affairs of life ; 

 none are so idle as those whose business is slight 

 enough to afford leisure for every occupation. Of this 

 truth history furnishes no example more striking than 

 is visible in the varied pursuits, the diligence, and the 

 research of Pliny ; while there can be no doubt also 

 but that his public services acquired additional value 

 from the wide range which his mind embraced, and 

 the rich stores of knowledge which it was his habit to 

 accumulate and arrange. 



Such was the spirituality of his nature, that bodily 

 requirements much more bodily indulgences seemed 

 extinct in him. His relaxation from official business 

 was a change of labour. The greater portion of his 

 nights was devoted to study ; his very meals were an 

 abstraction ; for, lest he should forget the higher aim 

 of existence, his amanuensis read to him in their pro- 

 gress ; and, instead of walking, he drove in the cha- 

 riot his secretary beside him to save time and 

 escape distraction from his contemplations. So nume- 

 rous and valued were his extracts, remarks, and an- 

 notations, that Lartius Lutinius offered the philoso- 

 pher a sum equivalent to more than three thousand 

 pounds sterling for the possession of them ; but they 

 were more nobly bequeathed to his beloved and distin- 

 guished nephew. In the vast realms of Nature and 

 Art no object was indifferent to him ; in the province 

 of the Fine Arts, the accuracy of his judgment and 

 the fidelity of his details seemed only to be outmea- 



