r 
| 526 
«¢ The first book which he published was 
a Treatise concern ng the Art of using a Favelin 
on Fiorse-back. This treatise was written while 
he commanded ‘a squadron of horse, and is 
executed with great accuracy and judgment. © 
“© The Life of Pcomponius Secundus, in two 
volumes. Pomponius had a great affection 
for my uncle, who thought he owed this tri-, 
bute to his memory.* 
‘« The History of the Wars in Germany, in 
twenty books; in which he has given us a 
Narrative of all the battles fought between 
the Romans and that nation. A dream which 
_ he had, while he served in Germany, sug- 
gested to him the design of this work. He 
imagined that Drusus Nero (who had extended 
his conquests very far into that country, and 
there lost his life), appeared to him-in his 
sleep and conjured him net to sufter his me- 
mory to be burted in oblivion, 
“© He has left us likewise a Freatise on Elo- 
guence,f> originally comprised in three. vo- 
lumes ; but their size required them to he di- 
vided inte six. In this work he takes the 
orator from his cradle, and leads him on un- 
til he has carried him up to the highest point 
of perfection in his art. 
“In the latter part of Nero’s reign, when 
‘the tyr ranny of the times made it dangerous to 
engage in studies of a more free and elevated 
spirit, he published a critical treatise, in eight. 
books, concerning Ambiguities in Expression 3 
er Words of ¢quivocal Meaning. 
‘« Fle completed the history which Aufidius 
‘Bassus left unfinished, and added to it 30 books. 
ss And lastly, he has left thirty-seven 
books upon the subject of Natural History. 
* This is a work of great compass and learning, 
and almost as full of variety as Nature her- 
self 
*¢ By his extraordinary application he found 
time to write so many volumes, and besides, 
eit me one hundred and sixty books, consist- 
ing of select remarks and observations on va- 
rious topics, written on both sides in a very 
small character; so that cone might. fairly 
reckon the number considerably more. fre, 
member, he toldme, that when he was Comp_ 
_troller of the Revenues in Spain, Largius Lict. 
nius offered him four hunared thousand ses. 
terces for these manuscript volumes, and yet 
. they were not then quite.so numerous.” f 
Of all these niultifarious productions? 
his Natural History alone has been hand- 
ed down to us, The plan adopted by 
the most inquisitive and industrigus. au- 
os 
* We have seen, in the quotation from 
Harduin, that Pompenius was Pliny’s cousin- 
german, his aunt’s son; the mother of the 
naturalist was sister to the mother of Pompo- 
nius, the name of each of the two sisters was 
Secundus. 
Studiosi tres. Three ea tintiibe on Study, 
or on the Education of Men of Letters. 
~ t “ Qaadriagentis millibus nummim?’ 
About 3200/. of our money.eedee Arbuthnot 
on Coins, &c. 
Memoirs of Caius Plinius Secundus the Elder. 
“of brass ;* 
-on mankind, are individuall 
writers whose works are lost. 1g 
[Jan. Ty 
thor i in this great work is far more exten- 
sive than that pursued by Aristotle, and 
was indeed probably too unlimited to be 
grasped even by his comprehensive intel- 
lect. Desirous of embracing every thing 
within the scope of his work, his attempt 
appears to have been to take a measures 
ment of nature, and he seems to have 
found her too confined for the extent of 
his genius. His Natural History coms 
prehends, independent of the history of 
animals, plants, and minerals, the his. 
tory of the heavens and of the earth, 
of medicines, of commerce, and of na- 
vigation; a history of the rise and pro- 
gress of the literal and mechanical arts ; 
of the origin of ‘customs ; in short of ail 
natural sciences, and of wll human arts, 
In no department of his work, indeed, 
are his accuracy and diligence more’ pe- 
culiarly remarkable, than that where he 
is engaged in investigating the antiquity 
of the facts and arts of which he gives.an . 
account; ‘the periods at which they were 
discovered ; and the respective merits 
and iamies| of their inventors. When 
occupied with disquisitions of this nature, 
Pliny appears to be truly in his element ; 
and he has prosecuted them with no com- 
mon success. In confirmation of these 
remarks, the classical reader may be 
referred to the. fifty-seventh chapter of 
the seventh book of the Natural Hise 
tory, which. exhibits a fine specimen 
of his patient spirit of research, and of 
his masterly talent for investigation, In 
this chapter he dives into the reniotest 
gras of antiquity, and records the inven. 
tion of letters; of bricks and tiles; of 
building houses with the saw, rule, ‘and 
‘plummet; of the lath, augre, glue, &c. ; 
the discovery of gold, and 
other metals; of the use of shields, swords, 
bows and arrows, boots, and other instru- 
ments of war; of the pipe, harp, and 
other musical instruments; of the build- 
ing of ships, and navigation; and many 
other usefularts. The names ofall those 
who conferred these important. benefits 
recorded on 
more alcient 
Tt 
* The yarxas of the Greeks, and as of the 
Romans, were similar in composition to bronze 
and gun metal of the present times, come 
posed of 100 parts of copper, and from’ ten te 
twelve of tin. Brass guns are made of this 
composition, and the ancients used it in the 
raanufacture of their cutting . instruments. 
Brass, which is an alloy of zinc and copper, ape 
pears to have been unknown to them. 
+ ** Consentaneum videtur, priusquam di- 
grediamur a natura hominum, indicare que 
the. authority, no doubt, o 
