DE SENECTUTE. 



If we are allowed to see the ancient writers in the next 

 world I hope to have the pleasure of punching the heads of 

 Livy and Tacitus, my two favourite aversions, of thanking 

 Publius Virgilius Maro, Esq., for writing pretty rural 

 sketches in the Eclogues, the shipwreck of ^neas, quite as 

 good as " Robinson Crusoe," the visit of ^neas to Lady 

 Dido — on which occasion Pater ^neas did not prove his 

 p iety — and the description of the sports in the ^meid, 

 especially the mill between Dares and Entellus, quite equal 

 to " Bell's Life." At the same time I should make my 

 lowest obeisance to Marcus Tullius Cicero for his writing 

 his two works, " De Amicitia " and " De Senectute," which 

 used to be, and I hope still are, the first strong food in 

 Latin prose, which schoolboys learnt. I suppose the scheme 

 of introducing two old fogeys Lselius and Scsevola walking 

 and talking in their garden gave a reality to the first work. 

 At any rate, under a good master who thoroughly appre- 

 ciated the authors, Cicero and Virgil always went with a 

 stamp and a go, and I never grudged the time and trouble 

 of learning a good deal of both by heart. And one word 

 about that master. He was an old Harrovian, now Bishop 

 of St. Andrew's, and a splendid athlete, and could beat any 

 boy in the school at running, jumping, swimming, rackets, 

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