*  I  wish  yonng  scholars  paid  attention  to  this  recommendation.  Pliny  is  never
read  at  school,  and  veiy  seldom  at  college ;  yet  I  have  the  high  authority  of  Southey
for  saying,  that  he  is  the  most  instructive  of  all  the  Roman  authors.  The  extent  of
his  knowledge  is  almost  marvellous;  his  veracity,  where  he  speaks  from  personal
observation,  is  daily  approved  by  modem  experiment  and  discovery ;  and  even  his
credulity  adds  to  his  value,  by  disclosing  more  fully  the  actual  state  of  physical
science  in  his  age  and  country.  It  is  surely  quite  as  interesting  to  know  what  pro-
perties the  pdssions  or  the  imaginations  of  men  have  ascribed  to  a  plant  or  animal;
as  to  6ount  its  stamina  and  petals,  or  ascertain  the  number  of  its  vertebrae.  Both
are  very  useful.  But  the  highest  recommendation  of  Pliny  is  his  moral  wisdom,  his
almost  christian  piety,  his  intelligent  humanity.  Of  all  the  Romans  he  was  the
least  of  a  Roman,  and  approximated  nearest  to  the  pure  idea,  of  man.
