271 LEAVES FROM THE 



wealth/* Man is an imitative animal ; and the debates 

 in our. own houses of parliament occasionally exhibit 

 symptoms that some of our legislators have dined, though 

 they may not have exactly fulfilled that Greek symposial 

 law, that required the boon companion not to quit his 

 cups till the morning star arose. Even in these degene- 

 rate days, there are not wanting examples of those who 

 have bid the liquid ruby flow coj)iously. Quin frequently 

 carried off six good bottles of claret under his belt, after 

 all the spirituous and vinous accompaniments of a turtle 

 dinner. 



But neither calipash nor calij)ee gratified the palates 

 of the ancient Romans. The hammer of Charon des- 

 cended uj^on the Ajoicii and Lucullus centuries before the 

 Nereids, who sport under the beams of the western star, 

 sent the delicious offering to the epicures of the old world, 

 although the sea-nymphs of the East furnished the luxu- 

 rious with an ornament for their tables, couches, and the 

 pillars of their houses, from another species.f We can 

 almost hear the lamentations of the fidgety, niggardly, 

 self-tormenting Mamurra, poor in the midst of his riches, 



who 



Testudineum mensus quater hexaclinon 

 Ingemuit citro non satis esse suo.J 



The consumption of tortoiseshell at Rome for orna- 

 mental purposes must have been veiy gi'eat ; the very 

 door-posts of the rich were inlaid with it.§ 



* Jonston. t Chelone imbricata. 



X Martial, Epig. ix. 60. Juvenal also alludes to the luxur}' in 

 his eleveuth Satire : — 



Nemo inter curas et seria duxit habendum, 

 Qualis in Oceani fluctu testudo nataret, 

 Clarum Trojugenis factura, ac nobile fulcnim. 

 § Familiar as is the passage, we cannot mar the beauty of the 

 Mantuan's verse by giving the sixth line alone : — 

 O Fortunatos nimium sua si bona norint 

 Agricolas ! quibus ipsa procul discordibus armis. 



