in a bath. Poor man! fay they, he knew not how to live! He washed not himself in clarified water, but was content with fuch as was thick, and oftentimes, after a great fhower, muddy. Nor did he care whether he fo bathed or no; for he came not to wash away ointment and perfume, but fweat. And what do you think fome of our young gentlemen will fay? why that they should not have envied Scipio; for he truly lived in banishment who had no taste in bathing. Nay, to tell you the truth, we did not use to bathe daily. For, as they fay, who have written on the antient customs of the city, they daily indeed washed their legs and arms which were made dirty by toil and labour, but they never washed the whole body above once in nine days. No doubt but that hereupon fome one will fay, furely our ancestors must have been great flovens. But if they fmelled of any thing, it was of military duty, hard labour, and manlinefs. For my part I think men are more nasty, and fmell worfe, fince the invention of thefe fine and clean baths. For what fays Horace in his defcription of an infamous young spark, that was remarkable for his delicacy?

Paftillos Rufillus olet-Rufillus ftinks of the washball.

Take now fome Rufillus, and smell him: he ftinks worse than a goat, or like that Gorgonius, whom Horace in the fame verfe fets in oppofition to Rufillus, (Gorgonius hircum)-A man ufeth not ointment enough nowa-days, unless he be perfumed twice or thrice every day, left it should foak into his skin, and be loft: nay more, they glory in the smell as if it was natural.

If what I have faid, Lucilius, feems too fevere, you will please to impute it to the villa from whence I am writing; where I have learned from Ægialus, a most excellent husband, and who is now in poffeffion of this farm, that a shrub, be it ever fo old, may be tranfplanted. This is neceffary, I think, for us old men to learn, fince there is fcarce any one of us, but who is planting olive-grounds for the use of others. I have feen Ægialus in autumn tranfplant trees of three or four years growth; fo that a tree fhall give shade to you, which otherwise

Tarda venit, feris factura nepotibus umbram, ii. 57.

The plant which shoots from feed, a fullen tree,

At leifure grows, for late pofterity. Dryden.

As

As our Virgil faith in the Georgics, who, by the way, was more concerned to speak what was elegant than what was ftrictly true; and ftudied more to delight the reader than inftruct the husbandman: for to pafs by other things, I fhall only take notice of one, which I am this day convinced deferves reprehenfion:

Vere fabis fatio eft; tunc te quoque, medica, putres

Accipiunt fulci; et milio venit annua cura. G. i. 216.

Sow beans and clover in a rotten foil,

And millet, rifing from your annual toil. Dryden.

Now whether thefe things are to be fet or fown at the fame time of the year, or whether the fpring time may be the more proper (s), you may judge from hence; it is now about the latter-end of June, and this very day did I see men gathering in their beans, and sowing millet. (·)

But to return to the olive trees. I have feen them tranfplanted two different ways; Egialus, having cut off the branches around the trunks of the great trees, so as to reduce them to about a foot in length, hath tranfplanted the remainder; having alfo pared the roots, leaving only the head from whence they fprung; and then encompaffing this with. dung, he fet it in a trench fufficiently deep, and not only heaped the earth upon it, but trod and preffed it down; affirming that nothing could be more effectual than thus ramming it clofe, as it excludes both the cold and wind: it is likewife hereby kept fteady, as it permits the growing roots to burgeon and faften in the earth, which otherwife being tender and having but flight hold, every breath of wind would be apt to tear it up. But before he covers it in, he scrapes the bottom of the trunk, becaufe from every part fo bared, the new roots fhoot more eafily. But you muft obferve that the trunk above ground ought not to exceed above three or four feet; for it will be foon clothed from the bottom; and not have any part of it fcorched or dried, as we fee them in fome of our old olive-yards. Another way of managing olivetrees was this: they cut off fome of the larger branches, that are ftrongest, yet fuch whofe bark was not yet harden'd, but foft as they generally are in young trees, and then fet them as before defcribed. These indeed are flow of growth, but when once they are come a little forward, and have taken root, they are fair and pleafant.

I have often seen an old vine transplanted. They bind up as well as they can the small strings and threads that are about the root, and then fpreading the vine more freely under ground, they cover it fo, that roots may sprout from the ftem itself. And I have feen them not only thus fet in February, but by that time March is over, clinging to and twifting about elms they never knew before. Now all thefe trees, which are of a larger ftem, are beft water'd, he fays, with ciftern water: if fo, we have, at any time, rain at our command. I think it not proper to

give you any further inftructions, left as Egialus hath made me his rival, I should make you mine.

(a) See Ep. 51. (N. i.)

ANNOTATIONS,

&c.

(6) Manibus ejus, bis Spirit or genius, et ara; which others, with Lipfius, read arca, the cheft containing his afhes; on account of his being of the Cornelian family. Plin. l. 1. In gente Cornelia nemo ante Syllam Dictatorem traditur crematus, idque voluiffe, veritum talionem, fruto C. Marii cadavere. In the Cornelian family, no one is faid to have been burned, before Sylla the Dictator, toho appointed this for fear of retaliation, having before dug up, and expofed the body of C. Marius. (c) Why Seneca fhould make any doubt of it, arifes from its being faid by fome, that Scipio died and was burnt at Rome, by others at Linternum. Liv. 38. Africanum alii Roma, alii Linturni, et mortuum et fepultam tradunt. Utrobique monumenta oftenduntur et ftatuæ; his monuments and Ratues were fhewn at both places.

(d) Many are the various readings here as ufual; but they all tend to the fame purpofe, viz.. that it feemed as if ioovopia, equity, could not be maintained at Rome, while Scipio, by reafon of his great actions, and noble spirit, was fo adored by the people, that they would not permit him to. anfwer for himself upon the accufations of the Tribunes against him.

(e) Pretiofis orbibus. So Juv. 11, 173. Lacedæmonium-orbem.

(f) There were many forts of marble brought from Alexandria and Egypt; as the black Luculleum, brought to Rome by Lucullus; the fpotted Ophites; and the red Porphyry; or perhaps it may be a particular fort of marble called the Alexandrine..

(k) Corpora exinanita] Epift. 108. Decoquere corpora, et fudoribus exinanire.al. corpora exfaniata.

(1) Argentea Epiftomia; the cocks, through which the water was conveyed into the baths..

() Nifi gemmas calcare] Statius in Tiburtino Manlii calcabam nec opinus opes; I trod regardless th a mass of wealth. Plin. 23, 12. Strata argento balnea mulierum; the baths for the ladies were floored with filver. Sen. de irâ, iii. 35. Qui nolunt domi nifi auro pretiofa calcare. Who deigned not to tread upon any thing in their houses but cloth of gold. Ep. 16. Non tantùm habere, fed calcare divitias; not contented with only having riches, they trod them under foot.

(n) Lucian commends a bath, for being rò supeyyes, very luminous: fo Statius, Multus ubique dies. Plin. Ep. i. 3. Balneum plurimus fol implet et circumit; a bath open to the fun on every fide. Martial, on Tucca's bath:

Lux ipfa eft ibi longior, diesque

Nullo tardior a loco recedit.

The light continues longer here; and day

Flies not fo late, from any place, away.

(a) They were generally dedicated and appropriated to the use of the public.

(1) These were the Curule Ediles, who were elected out of the nobility to inspect the public games-and befides their proper office, they were to take care of the building and reparation of temples, theatres, baths, and other notable structures. Kennet.

(9) Formerly, fays Plutarch, (Sympos. 8. 9.) they ufed fuch mild, gentle baths, that Alexander the Great, being feverish, flept in one; and the wives of the Gauls carry their pots of pulse to eat with their children while they are in the bath; but our own baths now inflame, vellicate and distress; and the air which we draw in is a mixture of air and water, disturbs the whole body, toffes and difplaces every atom, 'till we quench the fiery particles, and allay their heat.

(r) Latis fpecularibus] Martial.

Hibernis objecta notis fpecularia puros

Admittunt foles et fine face diem.

The windows broad admit the folar ray,

Drive back the wintry winds, and give a warmer day.

(s) Pliny (18. 7.) places it among those things that are fown thrice a year, in spring, summer, and winter.

EPISTLE LXXXVII.

On Frugality. The Sufficiency of Virtue. Cafual Things not to be reckoned good.

I HAVE been shipwreck'd, Lucilius, before I went aboard. How this could happen, I intend not to tell you, that you may place this likewife among the Stoical paradoxes (a): which receive as you will, I

am

am ready to prove, that not one of them is false; nor indeed fo extraosdinary, as it appears at firft fight; and this, when you please; nay whether you are pleafed or no.In the mean while let me inform you of what I have learned from this journey: what abundance of fuperfluous things we make ufe of, and which we might most judiciously throw afide, fince they are fuch, that if neceffity should at any time deprive us of them, we should not be sensible of the lofs.

With no more fervants than one carriage could hold, and no manner of luggage, not the leaft thing but what was on our backs, have my friend Maximus (6) and I spent two most agreeable days. A mattress lies upon the ground, and I upon the mattress. Of two cloaks, one ferves for an under-blanket, the other for a coverlid. Our repast was fuch, that nothing could be spared from it, nor did it take up much time in dreffing (c). I am fatisfied with a few dried figs and dates. When I have any bread, the figs serve me for a dainty dish; when I have no bread, they supply its place (d). They make me fancy it to be New-year's day (e); which I endeavour to render aufpicious and happy, by harbouring good thoughts, and keeping up a greatness of foul; which is never greater, than when it hath withdrawn itself from all external things; and hath obtained for itself peace, by fearing nothing, and wealth by coveting nothing. The vehicle I ride in is plain and of the country-fashion. The mules fhew they are alive only by their walking (f). The muletcer is without shoes, but not because the weather is warm. And indeed I can fcarce prevail upon myself to submit to the being thought the owner of fo mean a carriage. I have not as yet thrown off that perverse bashfulness, which is afhamed of doing what is right. For as often as I fall into company with any one who has a more fplendid equipage, I cannot help blushing against my will; which is a manifest sign, that those things which I approve and commend, have not as yet got a fure and steady hold *. He that is ashamed of a mean chariot, would be proud and vain of a rich one. I have made but a small progrefs in philofophy, fince I dare not openly profess frugality, and am under a concern at the opinion of every one that paffeth by. Whereas we ought to exclaim against the opinions of