THE OTSTEK, 81 



10. Mediterranean Oysters. — I have already referred 

 to classical authorities for the character the ancients 

 gave those of Circe and the Lucrine Sea ; and the old 

 rule, *' de mortius nil,''^ forbids me to say in what rank 

 I place Horace the inimitable, Seneca the wise, and 

 Pliny the naturalist, as judges of what an oyster should 

 be. Where ignorance is bliss, people can be very happy. 

 Till the Turk, by an accidental fire, had become ac- 

 quainted ^-ith the taste of roast pork, there were many 

 less fires in Stamboul than now. Till the Romans found 

 the Eutupians, the Lucrine flourished ; so did Circe. 



