Letters

He passed the earlier part of his life in bloody, suspicious, and unsettled times, and he afterward filled employments of the highest dignity and power. The latter situation was no less dangerous than the former. It was open to all the blasts of envy, rancor, and revenge; yet by the uprightness of his heart, the excellence of his genius, and the exactness of his prudence—joined to that proper humility which is neither basely servile nor secretly ambitious—he rode through the storm in great triumph, boldly, prosperously, and unhurt.

His most threatening hazards proceeded from his strict friendships and firm affections to all those whom he honored with his esteem or admitted to his bosom. The sincerity of his nature made his actions ever accompany his promises. He was true to his professions and persistent in his good offices, never to be alarmed by perilous difficulties, and never to be wearied by labor or opposition. Follow him here, my dear CHARLES, with so exact a pace as not to let him go one step beyond you. Be nicely cautious and considerately scrupulous in the election of those you love; but, when you have made the choice—in which I pray God to direct your judgment—keep firm to it, in opposition to all powers, party, fashion, or temptation.

PLINY is not without his blemishes. The critics determine his style in general to be too concise, and have discovered in him great marks of vanity and affectation. There is, I confess, some foundation for such censures; his metaphors indeed frequently lack uniformity and are sometimes inconsistent. But his beauties, both in literature and morals, far outweigh all his defects.

The character of PLINY.

He was one of the best and one of the greatest men that any age has produced; second to none in virtue, equal to most in accomplishments; of high birth by his ancestors, but much more ennobled by himself. In the various stations of private life, he discharged...