42 
MEMOIR OF PLINV. 
unbridled luxury wliicb bad so deeply corrupted tbe 
taste and manners of bis countrymen. In his reli- 
gious principles he was above tlie grovelling and 
puerile superstitions of his age ; but he was almost 
an atheist, or at least be acknowledged no otlier deity 
than tbe world ; and few philosophers have explained 
the system of Pantheism more in detail, and with 
greater spirit and energy than he has done, in the 
second book of his History. Notwithstanding bis 
scepticism and bis disbelief in tbe immortality of tbe 
soul, his morality, in so far as appears, was unim- 
peachable. Tbe duties of a subject, a citizen, and a 
member of society, lie seems to have discharged in 
a manner that well deserves to be imitated in more 
improved and enlightened times. But it is chiefly 
as a Naturalist that we must contemplate bis charac- 
ter ; and though he has many faults and deficiencies, 
be has treasured up a vast store of curious infor- 
mation ; the greater part of which, but for him, 
them a rich vintage, and all their property. Their loss is 
irrejiarable.” 
Another account adds : — “ The Icing and the ministers 
hastened to the seat of tlie catastrophe, to console the un- 
fortunate victims. Tlie village of St Felix, where they first 
took repose, had already been abandoned. The lava soon 
poured down upon this place, and in the course of an hour 
houses, churches, and palaces, were ail destroyed. Four 
villages, some detached houses, country villas, vinos, beau- 
tiful groves, and gardens, which a few instants before pre- 
sented a magnificent spectacle, now resembled a sea of fire. 
Fifteen hundred houses, palaces, and other buildings, and 
2500 acres of cultivated land, have been destroyed by the 
fire. ’’ 
