Martial[97], which one knows not how to render into English, _Dum
tacet hanc loquitur_. I shall end this paper with that whole epigram,
which represents with much humour my honest friend's condition.
_Quicquid agit Rufus, nihil est, nisi Naevia Rufo,
Si gaudet, si flet, si tacet, hanc loquitur:
Coenat, propinat, poscit, negat, annuit, una est
Naevia; si non sit Naevia, mutus erit.
Scriberet hesterna patri cum luce salutem,
Naevia lux, inquit, Naevia numen, ave._
_Epig._ lxix. l. 1.
Let Rufus weep, rejoice, stand, sit, or walk,
Still he can nothing but of Naevia talk;
Let him eat, drink, ask questions, or dispute,
Still he must speak of Naevia, or be mute.
He writ to his father, ending with this line,
I am, my lovely Naevia, ever thine.
R.
FOOTNOTES:
[86] _Settled._ An obscure expression. Possibly it means "bound up
with."
[87] _Rid._ Rode.
[88] _Dower._ Widow's portion of her husband's property.
[89] _Humane._ Civilised.
[90] _Rallied._ Bantered.
[91] _Pretended._ Presumed.
[92] _Discovered._ Displayed.
[93] _Last._ Utmost.
[94] _Conquer the sphinx, by posing her._ Reference to the story of
Oedipus, who answered the riddle of the Sphinx, whereupon she destroyed
herself. "Pose" her, _i.e._, with a problem she cannot solve.
[95] _Irregular._ Incoherent.
[96] _Insensibly._ Without his noticing it.
[97] _Martial._ Latin satirist: 41-104 A.D.
NO. 115. THURSDAY, JULY 12
_Ut sit mens sana in corpore sano._
JUV. _Sat._ x. ver. 356.
A healthy body and a mind at ease.
Bodily labour is of two kinds, either that which a man submits to for his
livelihood, or that which he undergoes for his pleasure. The latter of
them generally changes the name of labour for that of exercise, but
differs only from ordinary labour as it rises from another motive.
A country life abounds in both these kinds of labour, and for that reason
gives a man a greater stock of health, and consequently a more perfect
enjoyment of himself, than any other way of life. I consider the body as
a system of tubes and glands, or to use a more rustic phrase, a bundle of
pipes and strainers, fitted to one another after so wonderful a manner as
to make a proper engine for the soul to work with. This description does
not only comprehend the bowels, bones, tendons, veins, nerves, and
arteries, but every muscle and every ligature, which is
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