No, whatever befalls, I will hide, will ignore or forget it.

Let the tail shift for itself; I will bury my head. And what’s the

Roman Republic to me, or I to the Roman Republic?

Why not fight?—In the first place, I haven’t so much as a musket;

In the next, if I had, I shouldn’t know how I should use it;

In the third, just at present I’m studying ancient marbles;

In the fourth, I consider I owe my life to my country;

In the fifth—I forget, but four good reasons are ample.

Meantime, pray let ’em fight, and be killed. I delight in devotion.

So that I ’list not, hurrah for the glorious army of martyrs!