r, in his numerous volumes, the
portraits of several hundred individuals, as he could not bear the idea
that all traces of their features should be lost or that the lapse of
centuries should get the better of mankind."

"Thus," says Pliny, "was he the inventor of a benefit to his fellow-men
that might have been envied by the gods themselves; for not only did he
confer immortality upon the originals of these portraits, but he
transmitted these portraits to all parts of the earth, so that
everywhere it might be possible for them to be present, and for each to
occupy his niche."

Now, Pliny is not the only one who has contributed to the
immortalization of Marcus Varro. I have had among my papers for thirty
years the verses which Judge Methuen dashed off (for poets invariably
dash off their poetry), and they are such pleasant verses that I don't
mind letting the world see them.

MARCUS VARRO

Marcus Varro went up and down
The places where old books were sold;
He ransacked all the shops in town
For pictures new and pictures old.
He gave the folk of earth no peace;
Snooping around by day and night,
He plied the trade in Rome and Greece
Of an insatiate Grangerite.

"Pictures!" was evermore his cry--
"Pictures of old or recent date,"
And pictures only would he buy
Wherewith to "extra-illustrate."
Full many a tome of ancient type
And many a manuscript he took,
For nary purpose but to swipe
Their pictures for some other book.

While Marcus Varro plied his fad
There was not in the shops of Greece
A book or pamphlet to be had
That was not minus frontispiece.
Nor did he hesitate to ply
His baleful practices at home;
It was not possible to buy
A perfect book in all of Rome!

What must the other folk have done--
Who, glancing o'er the books they bought,
Came soon and suddenly upon
The vandalism Varro wrought!
How must their cheeks have flamed with red--
How did their hearts with choler beat!
We can imagine what they said--
We can imagine, not repeat!

Where are the books that Varro made--
The pride of dilettante Rome--
With divers portraitures inlaid
Swiped from so many another tome?
The worms devoured them long ago--
O wretched worms! ye should have fed
Not on the books "extended" so,
But on old Varro's flesh instead!