unsociable and ungenteel, and were of the opinion that, as
soon as I was out of my office, the manner of entertainments ought to be
reformed; for, says Hagias, we invite one another not barely to eat
and drink, but to eat and drink together. Now this division into messes
takes away all society, makes many suppers, and many eaters, but no one
sups with another; but every man takes his pound of beef, as from the
meat shop, sets it before himself, and falls on. And is it not the same
thing to provide a different cup and different table for every guest (as
the Demophontidae treated Orestes), as now to set each man his loaf of
bread and mess of meat, and feed him, as it were, out of his own proper
manger? Only, it is true, we are not (as those that treated Orestes
were) obliged to be silent and not discourse. Besides, that all the
guests should have a share in everything, we may draw an argument from
hence;--the same discourse is common to us all, the same songstress
sings, and the same musician plays to all. So, when the same cup is
set in the midst, not appropriated to any, it is a large spring of good
fellowship, and each man may take as much as his appetite requires;
not like this most unjust distribution of bread and meat, which prides
itself forsooth in being equal to all, though unequal, stomachs; for
the same share to a man of a small appetite is too much; to one of a
greater, too little. And, sir, as he that administers the very same dose
of physic to all sorts of patients must be very ridiculous; so likewise
must that entertainer who, inviting a great many guests that can neither
eat nor drink alike, sets before every one an equal mess, and measures
what is just and fit by an arithmetical not geometrical proportion. When
we go to a shop to buy, we all use, it is true, one and the same public
measure; but to an entertainment each man brings his own belly, which is
satisfied with a portion, not because it is equal to that which others
have, but because it is sufficient for itself. Those entertainments
where every one had his single mess Homer mentions amongst soldiers and
in the camp, which we ought not to bring into fashion amongst us; but
rather imitate the good friendship of the ancients, who, to show what
reverence they had for all kinds of societies, not only respected those
that lived with them or under the same roof, but also those that drank
out of the same cup or ate out of the same dish. Let us never mind
Hom