DAMASIPPUS.

Examples only puzzle the Difpute.

STERTINI U.S.

What if a Man should purchase many a Lute,
And them fo purchas'd keep, but never use,
Unfkill'd to play, and taftelefs of each Mufe?
Or if another, who had never try'd

To make a Shoe, fhould Lafts and Awls provide ;
Or Rigging, though unvers'd in Commerce; all
Would him a Fool or Madman juftly call.
Are they more fane, who pil'd-up Treasures keep,
And dread, like Sacrilege, to touch the Heap?
If Day and Night stretch'd sleepless on the Floor,
With a large Club the Owner guards the Door
Where lies his Corn, nor ev'n when hungry takes
One Grain, on bitter Herbs his Dinner makes,
And tho' his Vaults are ftock'd with Wines most
Drinks fuch as may with Vinegar compare; [rare,
Tho' in his eightieth Year, on Straw should reft,
While hoarded Quilts lie rotting in his Cheft;
If moft Men think this Wretch from Madness free,
'Tis but because they're full as mad as he.

To Heaven ungrateful, dreaded Want to shun, Thyfelf thou ftarv'ft, that thy luxurious Son, Or Slave enfranchis'd, may the more enjoy, And on their vagrant Lufts thy Wealth employ ! How little more would coft thy daily Food, If, on thy Sallad pour'd, the Oil were good,

If neat thy Vefture and well-comb'd thy Hair!
Nature is fatisfy'd with fimple Fare.

Why then this Perjury, thefe Thefts, to gain
Superfluous Riches? Art not thou infane?

If thou with Stones fhould'ft pelt the gaping
Throng,

And ev'n the Slaves, which to thyfelf belong,
Boys, Girls, would hoot thee in the public Ways:
Can he who by a Rope or Poifon 20 flays
Mother or Wife, the Charge of Madness shun ?
This Fact indeed at Argos was not done,

Nor did thy Sword cut short their vital Thread,
As Clytemnestra by Oreftes bled:

Think'ft thou that Fiends his Mind alone poffeft,
After his Steel had pierc'd his Mother's Breast?
No; by the Furies he was feiz'd, before

The impious Parricide was stain'd with Gore:
For from the Time that he was frantic thought,
Nothing deferving of Reproach he wrought;
Ev'n then his Pylades he ne'er purfued,
Nor in Electra's Blood his Hands imbrued;
21 His Sifter he a Fury only ftyl❜d,
And 22 in a pompous Strain his Friend revil'd.
Poffeffing much, but still defiring more,
Opimius brooded o'er his treafur'd Store:
On Festivals his frugal Board was grac'd
With Veian Wine, unfavoury to the Tafte,
In earthen Vafes; and (fo Rumour says)
With Liquor that was flat on common Days.
H 4

His

His Senfes once a Lethargy opprefs'd,
And ftrait his Heir was rifling every Cheft:
But his fage Doctor, who the Crifis knew,
And long had watch'd it, to his Succour flew,
And thus awak'd him: Clofe befide his Bed
A Table thick with Money-bags he spread,
And various Hands employ'd to count them o'er:
Meantime he loudly cry'd, Haste, guard your

• Store,

Left all be feiz'd by your rapacious Heir!' "What! while I live?" Then rouse yourself, beware!

And wholesome Broths by my Prescription take; For empty are your Veins, your Stomach weak. Here, here, be quick, pour down this Soup of 'Rice.'

"The Coft ?" A Trifle." "I will know the "Price."

Eight Pence.'"From Thieves, ah! wherefore

fhould I fly,

"If I by Slops, fo dearly bought, must die ?"

STERTINIUS.

Madman and Fool.

DAMASIPPUS.

Is he, who ne'er the Stain

Of Avarice has incurr'd, accounted fane?

STERTINI U S.

No; by no Means.

DAMASIPPUS.
Why, Stoic?

STERTINIUS.

You fhall hear.

This Patient's Stomach of Complaints is clear," Says 23 Craterus. "Then may he fafely rife, "And is he well?" No, no, the Doctor cries, TheStone torments his Reins, theGout his Knee. From Perjury, from Avarice you are free: 'Tis well; a Pig then to your Lares give. But if a Dupe to rafh Pursuits you live, Hafte to Anticyra! By Reason's Rules, The Prodigal and Miser both are Fools.

Two ancient Farms that near Canufium lay Opidius, blefs'd with Riches, (fo they say,) Between his Sons, while living, would divide, And wifely thus addrefs'd them ere he died: • When I have feen thee, Aulus, void of Care, In open Veft thy Nuts and Marbles bear,

And lofe, or give them to thy Fellow-Boys; And thee, Tiberius, careful count thy Toys, And anxious hide them in fome fecret Place, From hence your various Frenzies I could trace; That one, like Nomentanus, would behave, The other, like Cicuta, fcrape and save.

Now therefore, by our Houfhold-Gods, your Sire Adjures thee, Aulus, to preserve entire "What he fhall leave; nor thou, Tiberius, try O'er the wife Limits Nature fets, to fly; Nor add to my enough, though little, more! Befides, left on Ambition's Wings you foar, By folemn Vow, my Sons, let each be bound • With no State-Honours ever to be crown'd. "Let him who first shall break it, like the worst ⚫ Of Citizens, be outlaw'd and accurs'd!'

Would't thou thy whole Estate, O Madman! wafte,

To have the Circus with thy Splendor grac'd,
To gain by Beans or 24 Vetches venal Praise,
And make the Forum at thy Statue gaze,
Stripp'd of thy Lands and Fortune? Doft thou dare
Expect by this 25 Agrippa's Praise to share?
The fubtle Fox, with vifionary State,
Affected thus the lordly 26 Lion's Gait.
27 Tell me, O Son of Atreus, tell me why
To Ajax Funeral-Honours you deny?

AGA