' The
_Punic War_, it is clear, was a kind of humorous catch word with him.
She wrote to him in 1773:--'So here's modern politics in a letter from
me; yes and a touch of the _Punic War_ too.' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 187.
He wrote to her in 1775, just after she had been at the first regatta
held in England:--'You will now find the advantage of having made one at
the regatta.... It is the good of public life that it supplies agreeable
topics and general conversation. Therefore wherever you are, and
whatever you see, talk not of the Punic War; nor of the depravity of
human nature; nor of the slender motives of human actions; nor of the
difficulty of finding employment or pleasure; but talk, and talk, and
talk of the regatta.' _Ib_. p. 260. He was no doubt sick of the constant
reference made by writers and public speakers to Rome. For instance, in
Bolingbroke's _Dissertation upon Parties_, we find in three consecutive
Letters (xi-xiii) five illustrations drawn from Rome.
[586] It is strange that Boswell does not mention that on this day they
met the Duke and Duchess of Argyle in the street. That they did so we
learn from _Piozzi Letters_, i.
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