at is very good too. I see the
note upon _Sapphica Musa_, speaks of various interpretations to the
passage; but adopts this--that the maiden loving Caecilius has more sense
(is that _doctior_? I doubt) than Sappho, who loved a youth too stupid
ever to write a line; but this maid did not love till she had read the
commencement of his poem. I don't see the necessity for thinking the
passion hopeless either, because of the comparison with Sappho. Few
Roman maidens took the Leucadian leap.

CURATE.--It is very odd, and might first appear a mark of their good
manners--that the Romans never mention "old maids." I fear there was
another cause. I suppose the omission may be accounted for by the state
of society, which was not favourable to their existence at all; for then
a man could put away his wife at any moment, and for any plea, most
women must have managed to get a husband for a long or a short time.

AQUILIUS.--The only ancient old maids were the Fates and Furies--of the
latter, the burden of the song was--

"Oh no, we never mention them,
Their names are never heard!"

GRATIAN.--Come back to your duty: we are wandering, and leaving Catullus
behind. What are we to have now?

AQUILIUS.--An attack upon one Egnatius, who, having white teeth, took
care to show them upon all occasions. He was not, however, celebrated
for his tooth-powder. He is a fair mark for the wit of our author. The
arrow of his satire was occasionally keen enough and free to fly.

IN EGNATIUM.

Egnatius's teeth are very white,
And therefore is he ever grinning:
Let pleaders in the court excite
All hearts to weep--from the beginning
E'en to the end he laughs. The while
The mother on the funeral bier,
Sheds o'er her only son the tear,
Alone Egnatius seems to smile,
Then opes his mouth from ear to ear:
Where'er he is, whatever doing,
He laughs and grins. The thing in fact is
A tasteless, foolish, silly practice,
Egnatius, and well worth eschewing.
Spare all this risible exertion,
And were you Roman or Tiburtian,
Sabine, Lanuvian, fat Etruscan,
Or porcine Umbrian with rare show
Of tusks--columnar--order Tuscan:
Or born the other side the Po,}
(And my compatriot, therefore know,)}
Where folk are civilised I trow,}
And wash their teeth with water cleanly--
Pure water such as folk might quaff--
I would entreat you still--don't laugh.