A G R 



with a fmall comparative lofs of 340 men, killca I0,COO of 

 the Caledonians, and difpcrfed the refl. Agricola, after 

 reeeiving hnUages from fome of the tribes, withdrew his 

 army ilowly within the Roman hmits, and ordered the com- 

 mander of his fleet to circumnavigate the idand. WliiUl 

 Agrieola was extending his eonquelh in a dillant province, 

 Domitian fiicceeded to the einpire, and became jealous of 

 his reputation and power. He ordered, however, the in- 

 fij^nia of triumph to be decreed him by the fenate, together 

 with a ftatuc, and all the honour which a private man could 

 receive under the emperors, in lieu of the triumph itfelf, to 

 which no one but the prince was now entitled. At the 

 iame time the emperor recalled Agricola, and under a pre- 

 tence of favour, propagated a rumour that he intended to 

 appoint him to the government of Syria. Agricola peace- 

 ably furrendered the province to his fucceflbr ; and when 

 lie arrived at Rome, he entered tlie palace by night, in 

 order to avoid tumult, and to prevent any occalion of of- 

 fence to the jealous Domitian, where he was received by 

 the emperor -with a cold falutation, and then fuffered to 

 mingle with the crowd of courtiers, and afterwards to retire, 

 unnoticed and unrtcompenfed, into private life. His popu- 

 larity was dangerous to him in this tyrannical reign ; but 

 his prudence and moderation enabled him to efcape luiiu- 

 jured. In this private manner did he pafs nine years of his 

 life. At length the year arrived in which the proconful- 

 fiiips of Alia and Africa were to be drawn by lots ; and one 

 ■or other of them muft, in due courfe, have fallen to him. 

 The emperor, dreading the union of fuch influence as this 

 ftation would give, with his extraordinary talents and repu- 

 tation, contrived by his emifTariea to induce him to requeH 

 being exculed from the oflice, and to plead as an apologv, 

 his love of retirement and eafe. l"he artifice fuccceded, 

 and the emperor ailed his part in granting the requell of 

 Agricola, with his ufual haughtinels and arrogance : nor 

 did Domitian give him the prefent which was ufually be- 

 llowed on thefe occafions. Soon after this event, Agricola 

 was feized with the diforder which terminated in his death. 

 Common rumour attributed it to polfon ; and the ofTieiouG 

 inquiries of Domitian, during its progrefs, increafed the 

 fiiipiclon, though it was probably unfounded. He died, 

 •vvhcn Collega and Prifcus were coululs, Auguft 23, A. D. 

 93, in the 56th year of his age, leaving a widow and one 

 daughter, who was the wife of Tacitus. He loll a fon, at 

 a very early iige, while he was in Britain. His death was 

 iiniverfally lamented. The portrait which Tacitus has 

 drawn of his father-in-law, with his pen, excels (fays Cre- 

 vier) all that the pencil of the greatell painters, or chiz.zel 

 of the ablell feulptors, could have atchieved to perpetuate 

 the memory of Agricola. He was unwilling to let poflerity 

 be ignorant even of his form and perfon : he tells us, that 

 he was well made, though not tali ; that his countenance 

 was rather mild than Hern ; that candour and probity were 

 pidlured in his face ; that none could fee him without loving 

 him ; and that all were delighted to find the j,ta7/ and the 

 'roiitji man united in him. He was not ambitious of pof- 

 lefliiig a large fortune ; but he enjoyed fuch an one as was 

 luflicient for a noble and generous mind. He had tailed all 

 the fatisfadlions which refult from theconfcioufnefs of having 

 ucled fuitably to the obligations of his fuperior flations ; 

 and he had been veiled with all the ornaments and titles, 

 which, however mifplaced in others, were in him the re- 

 wards of real merit. He might be fly led an happy man, 

 as Tacitus obferves, fmcc he efcaped the miferies in which 

 the Roman empire was foon after involved ; and died while 

 his wife and daughter were living, in the pofleflion of his 

 dignity, in the height of his fame, and witli all his relations 

 and friends fafe and profperous. His death was pathetically 

 Voi. 1. 



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lamented by Taeitii'!, in aa elegant apoftrophc to .A.gricoU 

 hlmftlf, of whicli no Iranllatio!'. can do jultice to the eiiei-gy 

 and concilcnels of the original. " What aggravates ni ne 

 and your daughter's forrow," fays Tacitus, " befidcs the 

 lofs of you, is, that we had not the opportunity of fitting by 

 you in your ficknef^, fnpporting you in your faintings, and 

 enjoying the fatisfatlion of your lall looks and embraces. 

 Then we Ihould have received from you thofe commands and 

 counfels, which would have been perpetually fixed on our 

 mcmoiy. This is a great caufc of our regret : you were 

 loll to us by four years' abfence from us. It is certain that 

 you, bell of fathers, wanted nothing fuitablc to your cha- 

 rafter and eircumftances, fmce your tender wife was prefent 

 with you ; but you Ihould have been lamented with other 

 tears befides her's ; and in your lall moments your eyes were 

 bereaved of the light of fome whs were veiy dear to you. 

 If there be any refidencc for the manes of the virtuous; if, 

 ns philofophers think, the fouls of the great are not extin- 

 gullhed with their bodies ; may you rcll in peace, and 'recall 

 us vour family from too weak and womanlfli lamentations for 

 vour death, to the contemplation of your virtues, which it 

 is very unreafonable to regret. I^et us rath.er honour you 

 with a jull admiration. This is the true honour, and the 

 bell iullance of piety, whicli we your nearell relations can 

 fhew you. This is what I.diall reprefciit to your daughter 

 and your wife, that the former would revere the memory of 

 her father, and the latter that of her hufband, by revolving 

 all his aftions and words in their minds, and refletl more 

 upon the charaiJter and idea of his foul than thofe of his 

 body. Not that I would, in the lead, oppofe creeling to 

 you images of marble or brafs ; but as the bodies of men 

 are perilhlng and mortal, fo likewife are their llatues ; but 

 the form of the mind is eternal, and can never be preferved 

 or expreffed by any foreign materials or art, but only by 

 the real character and behaviour of the perfon who imitates 

 it. Whatever we loved and admired in Agricola Hill re- 

 mains, and will for ever remain in the minds of men, and in 

 tlie eveiialliiig fame that attends noble aftions. Many of 

 the ancients will be funk in oblivion, without the lealt re- 

 main of fame or reputation ; but Agricola will be tranf- 

 mlttcd to pollerlty, and furyive in immortal honour." 

 Taclti Vita Agric. apud Op. torn. ii. p. 465. Ed. Erneili. 

 Crevier's Rom. Emp. vul.vi. p. 346-^-388. Gen. Dift. 



Agricola, Christopher Ludwio, a landfcape and, 

 portrait painter, was born at Ratiflion, in 1667, and died 

 there in 1 7 19. He engraved £ landfcape, in which is reprc- 

 fented the fable of Diana and Acliron. Strutt- 



Agricola, George, was born at Glauchen, in Mifnia, 

 (Mellfen) in Upper Saxony, the 24th March, 1494, and re- 

 ceived the principal part of his education in Italy, where he 

 applied himfelf diligently to his iludles, particularly to the 

 lludy of medicine. Returning to Germany, he fettled at 

 Joaehamfled, in Mifnia, and praftifed phyfic there, with 

 confiderable reputation and fuecefs. He then removed to 

 Chemnitz, that he might be near the rich mines in Saxony, 

 the feene of his future greatnefs ; as from the perfeft ac- 

 quaintance he there acquired of the nature of metals, pro- 

 ceeded thofe rich flores of knowledge which are fcattered in 

 profufion over his numerous works on mineralogy. He is 

 laid to have told the Dukes of Saxony, that their fubterrane- 

 ous treafure far exceeded in value all they poIfefTed on the 

 furfacc of the earth. He was veiy little, however, affilleJ 

 by their bounty, furnilhing nearly the whole of the ex- 

 pences of his labours and liis experiments from his own 

 fortune. The treatifes he wrote on tlie fubjeifls of metals 

 and mineralogy, are compofed in an elegant Latin ilyle : 

 they abound in curious infonuation, and were, for a lonpj 

 time, conlidered ae-ilandard works. He maintained hiK 

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