Horace. (Gleefully) Did you make much out of it?
Messenger. It was chanted by many.
Horace. Then it paid pretty well?
Messenger. In Mars we do not write for gain. For five days I endured the bitterest remorse when I confessed my crime, and was sentenced to make this journey.
Horace. Doubtless you have learnt that I am interested in your world and quite rightly expected a sympathetic welcome from me?
Messenger. No. But of all countries yours seemed the most promising field——
Horace. Bravo! Rule, Britannia!
Messenger. Of all cities, this London, the greatest, and most intense——
Horace. Good old London!
Messenger. And of all its citizens yourself the most striking example—(Horace bows)—of the Greed and Egoism of the age.