ous than this thought, All loffes may be repaired except that of a friend. But he fhould have stopped

there.

Quid putem? adds Seneca. Defuiffe fimiles qui affumerentur, an ipfius vitium fuiffe, qui maluit queri quam quærere? Non eft quod exiftimemus Agrippam & Mecanatem folitos illi vera dicere: qui, fi vixiffent, inter diffimulantes fuiffent. Regalis ingenii mos eft, in præfentium contumeliam amiffa laudare, & his virtutem dare vera dicendi, a quibus jam audiendi periculum non eft.

Befides that nothing is more trifling than this play of words, maluit queri quam quærere; the fecond reflection deftroys the firft entirely. This fuppofes it a difficult matter to fupply the lofs of good friends, and the other affirms quite the contrary. Farther, why does Seneca offer fo much injury to Auguftus, or rather to his two friends, as to fay, they did not use to tell him the truth; and that they durft not do it on the occafion in queftion? Mecenas had always the liberty of speaking freely to him; and we know that at a certain trial, where Auguftus feemed inclinable to be cruel, this favourite not being able to approach him, by reason of the crowd, threw a little note to -him in writing, by which he defired him to come. away, and not act the part of the executioner. As for Agrippa, he had courage enough to advise Auguftus to reftore the commonwealth to its ancient liberty, at a time that he was mafter of the empire, and deliberating whether he should form a republican or monarchical state.

z What shall I think of this faying of Augullus? Muft I really imagine there were not fuch men left in the empire as he could make choice of for friends; or was it his own fault, chufing to complain, rather than to give himself the trouble of fearching for them? It is not probable that Agrippa and Mecænas used to tell him truth; and

had they been living, they would have been as filent as others on this occafion. But it is a piece of poli cy among Princes to fpeak well of the dead, to fhame the living; and to applaud the generous liberty of the former, in telling the truth, of which they have no longer any rea fon to be afraid.

a Surge tandem carnifex.

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We fee by this, that Seneca wanted a quality effential in an orator; that is, to know how to keep within the bounds of truth and beauty, and to prune, without mercy, whatever is more than neceffary to the perfection of the piece, according to that fine rule in Horace b, Recideret omne quod ultra perfectum traheretur. Seneca was too much enamoured of his own genius; he could not prevail with himself to lose or facrifice any of his productions; and often weakned the ftrength and debafed the greatnefs of his fubjects. by little trifling thoughts.

III. Another thought of Seneca upon the scarcity of fincere friends.

We meet with another very beautiful thought in the fame place upon the fubject of friendship, Seneca fpeaks of the croud who make their court to great

men.

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Ad quemcumque iftorum veneris, lays he, quarum falutatio urbem concutit, feito, etiamfi animadverteris obfeffos ingenti frequentia vicos, & commeantium in utramque partem catervis itinera compressa, tamen venire te in locum hominibus plenum, amicis vacuum. In pettore amicus, non in atrio quæritur. Illo recipiendus eft, illic retinendus, & in fenfus recondendus.

It must be acknowledged there is great beauty and vivacity in this thought and turn, venire te in locum bominibus plenum, amicis vacuum. After all that has been faid of the bustle and noise in the city because of the incredible concourfe of citizens who hurry to vifit

b Satyr. 10. lib. 1.

Si aliqua contempfiffet..... Si non omnia fua amaffet, fi rerum pondera minutiffimis fententis non fregiffet, confenfu potiùs eruditorum quàm puerorum amore comprobaretur. Quintil. I. 10. c.I.

d Senec. de benef. 1. 6. c. 34. e If you vifit any of thofe great men, to whom the whole city make their court; know, that

you find the streets befieged, and the roads barricaded by incredible numbers of people, who go back→ ward and forward; you yet come into a place full of men and empty of friends. We must look for a friend in the heart, and not in the antichamber. It is there we must receive and keep him, 'tis there we muft lodge him fafely, as a depofi:e of ineftimable value.

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the great, and fill their palaces: this antithefis is very fine, in locum hominibus plenum, amicis vacuum, into a place full of men, empty of friends; but to what end are the following words, in pectore amicus, non in atrio quæritur? A friend is to be fought in the heart and not the antichamber? I only fee an antithefis there, and nothing further, and I confefs I have not been able to understand it.

F. Bouhours has not forgot to tell us what judgment. we are to form of Seneca. Of all ingenious writers, "fays he, Seneca is the leaft capable of reducing his "thoughts to the boundaries required by good fenfe. "He would always pleafe, and he is so afraid that a "thought, which is beautiful in itself, fhould not "ftrike, that he reprefents it in all its lights, and "beautifies it with all the colours he can throw into it. By repeating the fame thought, and turning it "feveral ways, he spoils it: not being fatisfied with once faving a thing well, he improves its merit quite "away."

He cites a faying of Cardinal Palavicino, which is pretty much in the Italian tafte, but is however judicious. "Seneca, fays the Cardinal, perfumes his "thoughts with amber and musk, which, at laft, "affect the head; they are pleafing at first, but very offenfive afterwards."

Another very celebrated author forms the fame judgment of Seneca, and gives, in few words, excellent rules with regard to thoughts.

"There are, fays he, two forts of beauty in ❝ eloquence, of which we must endeavour to make youth fenfible. The one confifts in beautiful and "juft, but at the fame time, extraordinary and furprizing thoughts. Lucian, Seneca and Tacitus are "full of those beauties. The other, on the contrary,

f Habet hoc Montanus vitium, fententias fuas repetendo corrumpit: dum non eft contentus unam Lem femel bene dicere, efficit ne

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bene dixerit. Controver. 5.1.9. 8 M. Nicole in his education of a Prince, 2 Part, n. 39, 40.

" does

"does not any way confift in uncommon thoughts, " but in a certain natural air, in an eafy, elegant "and delicate fimplicity, which does not force at"tention; but prefents common, yet lively and agreeable images; and which knows fo happily how "to follow all the impulfes of the mind, that it « never fails of offering fuch objects to it on every "fubject, as may affect it; and to express all the « paffions and emotions, which the things it reprefents "ought to produce in it. Terence and Virgil are "famous for this fort of beauty; from whence we

may obferve, that it is more difficult than the ' other, fince these two authors are much the hard"eft to imitate.

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"If we have not the art of blending this natural and fimple beauty with that of noble thoughts, the more we endeavour to excel in writing and fpeak" ing, the worse we shall probably fucceed; and the more genius we have, the more apt we shall be to "fall into a viciqus kind of eloquence. For hence it " is we give into points and conceit, which is a very "bad fpecies of writing. And though the thoughts "fhould be juft and beautiful in themselves, they yet "would tire and opprefs the mind, if too numerous, "and applied to fubjects which do not require them. "Seneca, who is extraordinary when we confider " him feparately or in parts, wearies the mind, if read much of him; and I believe that if Quin"tilian had reason to fay of him, that he is full of pleafing faults, abundat dulcibus vitiis, we might "juftly fay of him, that he is full of beauties which are difagreeable by being too much crowded; and "because he seemed refolved to fay nothing that was plain, but to turn every thing into point and conceit. There is no fault we muft endeavour to make "children who have made fome advances in ftudy more fenfible of, than this, because none contri"butes more towards depriving us of the fruits of our ftudies, with regard to language and eloquence." VOL. II. G

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The reading of Seneca may however be very beneficial to youth, when their taste and judgment begin to be formed by the ftudy of Cicero. Seneca is an original, capable of giving wit to others, and of making invention eafy to them. A great many paffages may be borrowed from his treatise of clemency, and from that of the shortness of life, which will accustom youth to find thoughts of themselves. This ftudy will likewife teach them to diftinguish the good, from the bad. But the master muft direct them in it, and not leave them to themselves, left they fhould mistake the very faults of Seneca for beauties; which are the more dangerous to them, as they are more conformable to the genius of their age, and have charms in them as we before obferved capable of seducing the moft judicious.

ARTICLE the THIRD.

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Of the choice of words.

E have feen by all the examples hitherto cited, how useful the choice of words is in reprefenting thoughts and proofs to advantage, and giving a clear idea of their beauty and force. Expreffions indeed give things a new grace, and communicate that lively colouring which is fo well adapted to form rich paintings and fpeaking pictures: So that by the changing, and fometimes by the irregular placing of the words only, almoft the whole beauty of a difcourse fhall disappear.

One would think, that the chief use a man should make of his reafon should be, to attend only to the

h Verùm fic quoque jam robuftis, & feveriore genere fatis firmatis, legendus, vel ideo, quòd

exercere poteft utrinque judicium. Quintil. 1. 10. C, 1.