midnight
That task concluded , that last ceremony of my last welcome to you these halls duly performed , I join you once more in your final homage to the deity of our social lives -- the God of Wine ! ` It is not unknown to you -- learned as you are in the jovial antiquities of the table -- that it was , among some of the ancients , a custom for a master-spirit of philosophy to preside -- the teacher as well as the guest -- at their feasts . This usage it has been my care to revive , and , as this four meeting is unparalleled in its heroic design , so it was my ambition to bid to it one unparalleled , either as a teacher or a guest . Fired by an original idea , unobserved of my slaves , aided only by my singing-boy , the faithful Glyco , I have succeeded in placing behind that black curtain such an associate of our revels as you have never feasted with before , whose appearance at the fitting moment must strike you irresistibly with astonishment , and whose discourse -- not of human wisdom only -- will be inspired by the midnight secrets of the tomb . By my side , on this parchment , lies the formulary of questions to be addressed by Reburrus , when the curtain is withdrawn , to the Oracle of the Mysteries of other Spheres . ` Before you , behold in those vases all that remains of my once well-stocked cellars , and all that is provided for the palates of my guests ! We sit at the Banquet of Famine , and no coarser sustenance than inspiring wine finds admittance at the Bacchanalian board .