OPSOPHA&Y. 543 



The squabbling prelude is perform'd ; and now, 



"WMle the stain'd napkin wipes your bleeding brow, 



Swift flies the ponderous pitcher, war for war, 



'Midst volleys of Saguntum's flinty jar ; 



A well-fought fight between the hapless guest 



And the rude slaves that tend upon the feast ; 



And while the noxious poison heats the veins 



Of poor retainers, and disturbs their brains. 



He quaffs the produce of some vintage rare. 



When rough and bearded consuls fiU'd the chair ;* 



Or that from grapes, which haply might produce. 



Pending the social war, their precious juice ; 



But not one cup will generously send 



To warm the bowels of his humble friend. 



In Virro's hand, much-flatter'd guest, behold 



Its surface rough with beryls chased in gold ; 



The amber goblet, which the touch profane 



Of thy nefarious paw shall never stain ! 



To count the gems a saucy slave stands by. 



And marks your sharpen'd nails with curious eye. 



Excuse his freedom, and, discreet, forbear 



To handle much an emerald so rare. 



Grasp your four-snouted, crack'd, and mended glass. 



Drink if you can, but let your goblet pass. 



Whilst with excess should Virro's stomach glow. 



He'll quaff a tankard cold as Getic snow.f 



sloe-juice in flavour, and apparently of little strength, often leads, 

 owing to the excitable nature of Southern temperaments, to brawls 

 and bloodshed, like that mentioned in the text. 



* The ancients valued old wines yet more than we do, and not 

 without reason, since all their wines were put by unstrained, and 

 it took a considerable time before they had deposited their fecu- 

 lence and become fit to drink. We read the following comment 

 on this in Ecclesiasticus : ' A new friend is as new wine ; when it 

 is oU thou shalt drink it with pleasure.' 



t This practice was considered the height of extravagance. 

 ' Sparta banished aUthe sellers of ointment,' says Seneca, bidding 

 them begone with speed out of the country, ' How, then, would 

 she have dealt with our keepers of ice-houses and dealers in ice ? ' 

 asks he ; or have thought of us northerns, we may ask, who, feel- 

 ing nothing of the iuconvenience of southern heat, have formed 



