MDXXXIX.—CLASSICAL WIT.
Dr. Maginn dining with a friend on ham and chicken, addressed Sukey Boyle, his friend's housekeeper, thus: "You know, Boyle, what old Ovid, in his 'Art of Love' (book iii.), says; I give you the same wish:—
"'Semper tibi pendeat hamus,'
May you always have a ham hanging in your kitchen." The doctor insisted that tea was well known to the Romans, "for," said he, "even in the time of Plautus it was a favorite beverage with the ladies,—
"'Amant te omnes mulieres.'"
Miles Glor., Act i., sc. i., v. 58.
Observing Sukey Boyle, he said to his friend, "Ah! John, I see you follow the old advice we both learned at school, [Greek: Charizou tê Psychê], 'Indulge yourself with Sukey.'" There was some hock at dinner, which he thus eulogized:—
"'Hoc tum sævas paulatim mitigat iras,
Hoc minuit luctus mœstaque corda levat.'"
Ov. Trist., lib. iv., el. vi., v. 15, 16.
MDXL.—A PREFERABLE WAY.
One of the Kembles made his first appearance on the stage as an opera singer. His voice was, however, so bad, that at a rehearsal the conductor of the orchestra called out, "Mr. Kemble! Mr. Kemble! you are murdering the music!"—"My dear sir," was the quiet rejoinder, "it is far better to murder it outright, than to keep on beating it as you do."