Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 1.djvu/451

 Castle when a learned physician was reading a long lecture to his excellency on the nature and qualities of bees, calling them on every occasion, a nation, and a commonwealth; "Yes, my lord," said Swift, they are a very ancient nation; you know, my lord, Moses takes notice of them; he numbers the Hivites among those nations which Joshua was appointed to conquer."

Lord Pembroke had brought over with him, as his first chaplain, one Dr. Mills, a man remarkable for a large Roman nose, against whom Swift had taken a particular dislike. After dining one day with a private party at the castle, of which Mills was one, Swift began to rail at the lord lieutenants of Ireland for bringing over such blockheads for chaplains as they usually did. Lord Pembroke said, that censure could not be applied to him, as his first chaplain present had been a professor at Oxford, and was accounted an excellent scholar. "He a scholar!" said Swift; "I dare say he does not know how to construe a line of Virgil." Lord Pembroke, who expected some sport from this, took part with his chaplain, saying, "he was sure there was no passage in Virgil which he could not perfectly explain." "Let the book be brought," said Swift. Accordingly a Virgil was sent for, and Swift opening the book, pitched upon the following line. Romanos rerum dominos gentemque togatam. Mills immediately translated it very properly in the usual way. "There," says Swift, "I knew he could not do it — he has not construed one word of it right." "Why, pray how would you construe it?" "Thus — Romanos — you've a Roman nose — rerum — you're a rare rum dominos —