Achilles swore he felt by no means hurt, At putting on great Agamemnon's shirt; He priz'd the honour, never grudg'd the trouble, And only wish'd the profit had been double.
With formal mien, and visage most forlorn, The courtly hero _spoke_ his _silent_ scorn.
The chief, unknowing how he shou'd begin, } First darts around, the' opposing ranks to thin, } The lightnings of his eye, and terrors of his chin. }
Achilles rose, and said, without the least offence, The dog has neither courage, worth, nor sense.
Huic, ceu Pititius ipse, cito respondit Achilles, Namque (ut ego) Græceque seirens erat, & pede velox.
Another by the _Twelve Lords of the Bedchamber_, in a passion.
Frantic with desperate rage, Achilles roar'd-- I beg ten thousand pardons, my dear Lord.
Another by _Eighteen Bishops_, quite cool.
Now't came to pass the Lord Achilles saith, Hecate and Furies, Tartarus and Death.
Hawling his wind abaft Atrides' wake, The copper-bottom'd son of Peleus spake.
Had great Achilles stood but half as quiet, He had been by Xanthus drench'd as I by Wyatt.
[1] It is impossible for the reader to comprehend the full force of this expression, unless he recollect the wonderful effects it produced in the House of Commons from Mr. Dundas's peculiar dialect, upon that memorable occasion, when that great _diuretic_ orator, expatiating on Oriental tranquillity, assured the House, that "at that moment all India was _peece_--Bengal was at _peece_--Tippo sultan was at _peece_--The Mahrattas were at _peece_--Every creature in Indostan, he knew it for a _fawct, was comfortably at peece!!!_"
[2] However sympathetic in politics, it is evident that the two last of these translators are at variance in philosophy--the former relying on the _hydraulic_ system---the latter on the _pneumatic_.
§ Footnotes and imitations, which were originally placed at the bottoms of the pages on which they were referenced, have been gathered at the end of each chapter.
§ The original footnote pointers (asterisks, obelisks, etc.) have been replaced by Arabic numerals.
§ All ligatures present in the original text have been resolved except æ.
§ Opening quotes in long quotations have been removed, except on the first line.
§ Transliterations from the Greek are enclosed in curly brackets, like so: { podas-okus}