Purser—On a London MS. of Cicero’s Letters. 403 
xiv. 3.1. diligentiam M; indulgentiam H, Hittorp. The latter 
is rather more tender (and so perhaps the more Ciceronian) than the 
reading of M: ‘‘I ought to have been better and kinder to my wife 
and children.” 
xiv. 3. 4. ut ad me continuo initia rerum . . . posse scribere 
M; possit H, Hittorp. The editors read posses. Guilielmius prefers 
possetis, which is an awkward change of number. There does not 
seem to me any particular objection to adopting posset: ‘‘I am send- 
ing you Aristarchus that he may write back at once” (7. ¢. when he has 
found out the real state of affairs from you and others). 
xiv. 7.1. Omnes molestias et sollicitudines quibus et te miserri- 
mam habui e¢ id quod mihi molestissimum est Tulliolam, &c., M; 
habui id quod mihi molestissimum est e¢ Tulliolam (tullis iam H), 
H, Hittorp. The position of et in H, Hittorp., is the one adopted by 
Graevius, and appears to me right. The reading of M may have 
expressed the real opinions of Cicero; but he was too polite to say so 
to Terentia. 
xiv. 9. dolor et de Dolabellae ualitudine et de Tulliae. So H, 
Hittorp., Pal. Sext. The word de before Dolabellae is omitted by M ; 
but it is absolutely required. The omission arose from the copyist 
going on at the wrong d. Graevius reads e, but de is a more usual 
construction, and has good mss. authority. 
xiv. 13. 1. i metuendus iratus est quiesces tamen ab illo fortasse 
nascetur M. Sed (=8,) metuendus iratus est quiesce tamen ab illo 
fortasse nascetur H. The argument of the passage is—If it is to be 
feared that Dolabella will be angry in case a divorce is sent him, do 
nothing: if we wait long enough probably the initiative will be taken 
by him, and he will send a divorce himself. Accordingly there is no 
place for tamen. The reading of H (with s? for sed) is otherwise cor- 
rect; but for ¢tamen read initiwm, which palaeographically differs but 
little therefrom. nitium would be itu: tamen would tn. For in- 
tium nascitur, cf. Verr. 1. 109. 
xiv. 14. 2. His de rebus uelim cum Pomponio consideretis M. 
After uelim EH inserts ut; wrongly; for Latin idiom almost always 
omits it in such cases; and where it is found, e.g. Fam. rv. 14. 4, 
J should be inclined to suppose that it has arisen from dittographia, as 
it might easily do after m. 
xiv. 20. Labrum si in balneo non est ut sit M, edd.; Labrum si 
in balneo non est fac ut sit h; Labrum sit in balneo non est ut sit H. 
In H the words non est wt sit are underlined, signifying that they are 
to be left out. This is a decidedly remarkable reading. It makes us 
think that non est ut sit is a gloss which has crept into the text, and 
signifies that we should read sit and not wt s’t which Cicero had used 
just above. 
