"to learn benevolence to human kind, we should be "merciful to other creatures. For my own part, I would "not sell even an old ox that had laboured for me; much "less would I remove, for the sake of a little money, a man 66 grown old in my service, from his usual lodgings and "diet: for to him, poor man! it would be as bad as "banishment, since he could be of no more service to the "buyer than he was to the seller. But Cato, as if he "took a pride in these things, tells us, that when consul "he left his war-horse in Spain, to save the public the "charge of his conveyance. Whether such things as "these are instances of greatness or littleness of soul, let "the reader judge for himself.”

What an amiable idea of our benevolent philosopher! How worthy the instructions of the priest of Nature! How honourable to that great master of truth and universal science, whose sentiments were decisive in every doubtful matter, and whose maxims were received with silent conviction!*

Wherefore should we wonder to find Plutarch more particularly attached to the opinions of this great man? Whether we consider the immensity of his erudition, or the benevolence of his system, the motives for that attachment were equally powerful. Pythagoras had collected all the stores of human learning, and had reduced them into one rational and useful body of science. Like our glorious Bacon, he led philosophy forth from the jargon of schools, and the fopperies of sects. He made her what she was originally designed to be, the handmaid of Nature; friendly to her creatures, and faithful to her laws. Whatever knowledge could be gained by human industry, by the most extensive inquiry and observation, he had every means and opportunity to obtain. The priests of Egypt unfolded to him their mysteries and their learning, they led him through the records of the remotest antiquity, and opened all those stores of science that had been amassing through a multitude of ages. The Magi of Persia co-operated with the priests of Egypt in the instruction of this wonderful philosopher. They taught him those higher parts of science, by which they were themselves so much distinguished, astronomy and the system of the universe. The laws of moral life, and the institutions of

* Val. Max.lib. viii. Cap. 15.

civil societies with their several excellencies and defects he learnt from the various states and establishments of Greece. Thus accomplished, when he came to dispute in the Olympic contests, he was considered as a prodigy of wisdom and learning; but when the choice of his title was left to him, he modestly declined the appellation of a wise man and was contented only to be called a lover of wisdom*.

Shall not Plutarch then meet with all imaginable indul gence, if, in his veneration for this great man, he not only adopted the nobler parts of his philosophy, but (what he had avoided with regard to the other sects) followed him too in his errors? Such, in particular, was his doctrine of dreams, to which our biographer, we must confess, has paid too much attention. Yet absolutely to condemn him for this, would, perhaps, be hazarding as much as totally to defend him. We must acknowledge, with the elder Pliny, Si exemplis, agatur, profecto paria fiant†; or, in the language of Sir Roger de Coverley, "Much may be said on both sides." However, if Pliny, whose complaisance for the credit of the marvellous in particular was very great, could be doubtful about this matter, we of little faith may be allowed to be more so. Yet Plutarch, in his Treatise on Oracles, has maintained his doctrine by such powerful Testimonies, that if any regard is to be paid to his veracity, some attention should be given to his opinion. We shall therefore leave the point, where Mr. Addison thought proper to leave a more improbable doctrine, in suspence.

When Zeno consulted the oracle in what manner he should live, the answer was, that he should inquire of the dead. Assiduous and indefatigable application to reading made a considerable part of the Greek education; and in this, our biographer seems to have exerted the greatest industry. The number of books he has quoted, to which he has referred, and from which he has written, seems almost incredible, when it is considered, that the art of printing was not known in his time, and that the purchase of manuscripts was difficult and dear.

His family, indeed, was not without wealth. In his Symposiacs, he tells us, that it was ancient in Charonea; and that his ancestors had been invested with the most considerable offices in the magistracy. He mentions in * Val, Max. lib. viii. cap. 7. † Hist. Nat. lib. x. cap. 75.

particular his great-grandfather Nicarchus, whom he had the happiness of knowing; and relates, from his authority, the misfortunes of his fellow-citizens, under the severe discipline of Anthony's soldiers.

His grandfather Lamprias, he tells us, was a man of great eloquence, and of a brilliant imagination. He was distinguished by his merit as a convivial companion; and was one of those happy mortals, who, when they sacrifice to Bacchus, are favoured by Mercury. His good-humor and pleasantry increased with his cups; and he used to say, that wine had the same effect upon him that fire has on incense, which causes the finest and richest essences to evaporate.

Plutarch has mentioned his father likewise; but has not given us his name in any of those writings that are come down to us. However, he has borne honourable testimony to his memory; for he tells us, that he was a learned and a virtuous man, well acquainted with the philosophy and theology of his time, and conversant with the works of the poets. Plutarch, in his political precepts, mentions an instance of his father's discretion, which does him great honour. "I remember,” says he, "that I was sent, when a very young man, along with another citizen of Cheronea, on an embassy to the proconsul. My colleague being, by some accident, obliged to stop on the way, I proceeded without him, and executed our commission. Upon my return to Cheronea, when I was to give an account in public of my negociation, myfather took me aside and said, My son, take care that in the account you are about to give, you do not mention yourself distinctly, but jointly with your colleague. Say not, I went, I spoke, I executed; but we went, we shake, we executed. Thus though your colleague was incapable of attending you, he will share in the honour of your success, as well as in that of your appointment; and you will avoid that envy which necessarily follows all arrogated merit."

Plutarch had two brothers, whose names were Timon and Lamprias. These were his associates in study and amusement; and he always speaks of them with pleasure and affection. Of Timon in particular he says, "Though Fortune has, in many occasions, been favourable to me, yet I have no obligation to her so great as the enjoyment

of my brother Timon's invariable friendship and kindness.' Lamprias too he mentions as inheriting the lively disposition and good-humour of his grandfather, who bore the

same name.

Some writers have asserted, that Plutarch passed into Egypt. Others allege, that there is no authority for that assertion and it is true that we have no written record concerning it. Nevertheless, we incline to believe, that he did travel into that country; and we found our opinion on the following reasons. In the first place, this tour was a part of liberal education among the Greeks; and Plutarch, being descended from a family of distinction, was therefore likely to enjoy such a privilege. In the next place, his treatise of Isis and Osiris, shews that he had a more than common knowledge of the religious mysteries of the Egyptians; and it is therefore highly probable, that he obtained this knowledge by being conversant amongst them. To have written a treatise on so abstruse a subject, without some more eminent advantages than other writers might afford him, could not have been agreeable to the genius, or consistent with the modesty of Plutarch.

However, supposing it doubtful whether he passed into Egypt, there is no doubt at all that he travelled into Italy. Upon what occasion he visited that country, it is not quite so certain ; but he probably went to Rome, in a public capacity, on the business of the Charoneans. For, in the life of Demosthenes, he tells us, that he had no leisure in his journey to Italy, to learn the Latin language, on the account of public business.

As the passage here referred to affords us further matter of speculation for the life of Plutarch, we shall give it as we find it. "An author who would write a history of events which happened in a foreign country, and cannot be come at in his own, as he has his materials to collect from a variety of books, dispersed in different libraries, his first care should be to take up his residence in some populous town which has an ambition for literature. There he will meet with many curious and valuable books, and the particulars that are wanting in writers he may; upon enquiry, be supplied with, by those who have laid them up in the faithful repository of memory. This will prevent his work from being defective in any mate

rial point. As to myself, I live in a little town; and I choose to live there, lest it should become still less. When I was in Rome, and other parts of Italy, I had not leisure to study the Latin tongue, on account of the public commissions with which I was charged, and the number of people who came to be instructed by me in philosophy. It was not, therefore, till a late period in life that I began to read the Roman authors."

*

From this short account we may collect, with tolerable certainty, the following circumstances:

In the first place, Plutarch tells us, that while he was resident in Rome, public business and lectures in philosophy left him no time for learning the Latin language; and yet, a little before, he had observed, that those who write a history of foreign characters and events, ought to be conversant with the historians of that country where the character existed, and the scene is laid: but he acknowledges, that he did not learn the Latin language till he was late in life, because, when at Rome, he had not time for that purpose.

We may, therefore, conclude, that he wrote his Morals at Rome, and his Lives at Charonea. For the composition of the former, the knowledge of the Roman language was not necessary: the Greek tongue was then generally understood in Rome; and he had no necessity for making use of any other, when he delivered his lectures of Philosophy to the people. Those lectures, it is more than probable, made up that collection of Morals which is come down to us.

Though he could not avail himself of the Roman historians, in the great purpose of writing his Lives, for want of a competent acquaintance with the language in which they wrote; yet by conversing with the principal citizens in the Greek tongue, he must have collected many essential circumstances, and anecdotes of characters and events, that promoted his design, and enriched the plan of his work. The treasures he acquired of this kind he secured by means of a common-place book, which he constantly carried about with him: and it appears that he was at Rome, and in other parts of Italy, from the beginning of Vespasian's reign to the end of Trajan's, he must have had sufficient time and opportunity to procure materials of every kind; for this was a period of almost forty years.