Thou fanciest cares for thee this tempest move,
And deem❜st thyself so happy in her love!
With fond caresses striv'st her heart to chear,
And from her eye-lid suck'st the starting tear :
But could'st thou now examine the scrutore,
Of this most loving, this most jealous whore,
What billet-doux, what letters would'st thou see;
Proofs, damning proofs, of her sincerity!

But these are doubtful;-put a clearer case :
Suppose her taken in a slave's embrace,

Or, e'en a knight's. Now, my Quintilian, come,

And fashion an excuse.

Then let the lady speak.

What! thou art dumb?

"Was't not agreed

The MAN should please himself?" "It was; proceed." I." "Heavens !"—" Nay, no oath, no oath :

"Then so may

"MAN is a general term, and takes in both." When once surprised, the sex all shame forego, And more audacious, as more guilty grow.

And dost thou ask from what polluted source,

These monstrous crimes, these horrors, took their course?

From wealth, my friend.

Our matrons then were

chaste,

When huswifery, that gave no hour to waste,

Short, hasty slumbers, long, laborious days,
Hands still employ'd the Tuscan wool to tease,
Their husbands arm'd, and anxious for the State,
And Carthage hovering near the Colline gate,
Conspir'd to keep all thoughts of ill aloof,
And banish'd vice far from their lowly roof.
Now, all the evils of long peace are ours;
Luxury, more terrible than hostile powers,
Her baleful influence wide around has hurl'd,
And well aveng'd thy cause, O conquer'd world!
Yes, since the good old poverty is fled,

Vice, like a deluge, o'er the State has spread :-
Now, shame to Rome! in every street is found
Th' effeminate Sybarite, with roses crown'd, ⚫
The rank Miletan, and the Tarentine,

Lewd, petulant, and reeling ripe with wine.
Riches, the ready pander to all sin,
Brought foreign manners, foreign vices in;
Enervate riches, and with sensual art
Sapp'd every home-bred virtue of the heart;
Yes, every :-for what cares the drunken dame,
(Take head or tail; to her 'tis much the same.)
Who at deep midnight, on fat oysters sups,
And froths with unguents her Falernian cups;

Who swallows oceans, till the tables rise,

And double lustres dance before her eyes?

VER. 473. And froths with unguents her Falernian cups;] This most extravagant custom of pouring precious ointments into their wine, and drinking them off together, is mentioned in terms of great indignation by the Elder Pliny, (lib. xxxI.) At, Hercules, jam quidam etiam in potu addunt unguenta,—ut odore prodigo fruantur, ex utraque parte corporis, exteriori scilicet et interiori!

It was then, we see, confined to a few; but it swiftly spread, with every other vicious excess, and when Martial wrote was common enough.

"Hâc licet in gemmâ, quæ servat nomina Cosmi,
"Luxuriosè bibas, si foliata sitis."

Cosmus seems to have been a celebrated compounder of this unguent. I do not know his ingredients; but the commentators on Martial say, they consisted of the leaves of nardus, costus, &c. This is likely enough; and when we are so happy as to know what the leaves of nardus, costus, &c. are, our perfumers may hope to rival Cosmus.

This monstrous luxury continued in fashion to the decline of the empire. It is casually mentioned by Ælian, (Hist. lib. x11.) μugW DIVOV MIYVUVTES ÕTws εwivov ; and introduced more than once by Claudian. In a note on this hemistich,Te foliis Arabes ditent,—his critic says, odoratis scilicet foliis, quæ erant, et nunc sunt quoque, inter aromata. Ex his foliis faciebant unguentum quod foliatum usurpabatur; pretiosissimum erat.

:

It is not very easy to conceive the motives for the singular practice to which I have just alluded. Savage nations, it is well known, are fond of having recourse to the most nauseous mixtures, for the sake of procuring a temporary delirium strong infusions of aromatic ointments in wine, are said to produce giddiness: and it is not altogether improbable, but that this corrupt and profligate people (as the extremes of barbarism and refinement sometimes meet) might be influenced by considerations of a similar nature, to adopt so disgusting and extravagant an expedient, for the mere purpose of accelerating, and heigthening the effects of intoxication.

I would not lightly introduce sacred matters; but I wish to observe here, that the Jews were accustomed to give condemned persons a draught of wine

And canst thou doubt, as Tullia homeward goes, With what contempt she tosses up her nose

At Chastity's hoar fane? what impious jeers,
Collatia pours in Maura's tingling cars?
Here stop their litters, here they all alight,
And squat together in the Goddess' sight;
Then separate to their homes. At break of day
Thou to the levee go'st, and, on the way,
Wad'st through the plashy scene of thy chaste
moiety's play.

Who knows not now, my friend, the secret rites Of the GOOD GODDESS; when the dance excites

and myrrh. This is apparent from the last scene of our blessed Saviour's life. St. Mark calls the wine which they gave him εσμυρνισμένον oινo, This was according to the usual practice; and the merciful purpose of it was to stupify the feelings of the sufferer. This was independant of what they offered him afterwards—that was done in derision; but they first acted by him as they did by common criminals.

In his Prayer before his Passion, he prays that the "cup might pass from him." Is it allowable to conjecture, that, in his own mind, he put the customary cup of stupefaction, for his actual death?

VER. 477. With what contempt, &c.] "They are not pleased," says Stapylton, "with all the variations of wantonness, unless they do show their spite to, and contempt of the Goddess of Chastity, at her antiquated, and neglected altars." There were two temples of Chastity at Rome; one consecrated to Pudicitia Patricia in the Forum Boarium, or ox-market, the other to Pudicitia Plebeia, in the Vicus Longus, or high-street. The former, (which was also the most ancient) was the scene of these nocturnal impurities.

I find no mention of Tulla or Collatia elsewhere, but Maura is brought for

The boiling blood, when to distraction wound,
By wine, and music's stimulating sound,
The votaries of Priapus, with wild air,

Howl horrible, and toss their flowing hair!—

Then, how their lusts at every pore o'erflow!
How their eyes sparkle! how their bosoms glow!-
Saufeia now springs forth, and tries a fall

With the town prostitutes, and throws them all;
But yields, herself, to Medullina, known

For

parts and

powers, superior to her own.

Maids, mistresses, alike the contest share,
And 'tis not always birth that triumphs here.
Nothing is feign'd in this unnatural game,
'Tis genuine all; and such as would inflame
The frozen age of Priam, and inspire
The ruptur'd, bed-rid Nestor with desire.
Stung with their mimic feats, a heavy groan
Of lust goes round; the sex, the sex is shown!
And the cave echoes with the impassion'd cry,
"Let in the men, the adulterers, or we die."
They're not yet come. "Not come? then scour

"the street,

"And bring us quickly here the first you meet."

ward again in the tenth Satire: and in a manner every way worthy of her introduction here.