sk him a few
questions.

Is n't it like splitting a toad out of a rock to think of this man of
nineteen or twenty centuries hence coming out from his stony
dwelling-place and speaking with us? What are the questions we should
ask him? He has but a few minutes to stay. Make out your own list; I
will set down a few that come up to me as I write.

--What is the prevalent religious creed of civilization?

--Has the planet met with any accident of importance?

--How general is the republican form of government?

--Do men fly yet?

--Has the universal language come into use?

--Is there a new fuel since the English coal-mines have given out?

--Is the euthanasia a recognized branch of medical science?

--Is the oldest inhabitant still living?

--Is the Daily Advertiser still published?

--And the Evening Transcript?

--Is there much inquiry for the works of a writer of the nineteenth
century (Old Style) by--the name of--of--

My tongue cleaves to the roof of my mouth. I cannot imagine the putting
of that question without feeling the tremors which shake a wooer as he
falters out the words the answer to which will make him happy or
wretched.

Whose works was I going to question him about, do you ask me? Oh, the
writings of a friend of mine, much esteemed by his relatives and others.
But it's of no consequence, after all; I think he says he does not care
much for posthumous reputation.

I find something of the same interest in thinking about one of the
boarders at our table that I find in my waking dreams concerning the Man
of the Monument. This personage is the Register of Deeds. He is an
unemotional character, living in his business almost as exclusively as
the Scarabee, but without any of that eagerness and enthusiasm which
belong to our scientific specialist. His work is largely, principally, I
may say, mechanical. He has developed, however, a certain amount of
taste for the antiquities of his department, and once in a while brings
out some curious result of his investigations into ancient documents. He
too belongs to a dynasty which will last as long as there is such a thing
as property in land and dwellings. When that is done away with, and we
return to the state of villanage, holding our tenement-houses, all to be
of the same pattern, of the State, that is to say, of the Tammany Ring
which is to take the place of the feudal lord,--the office of Register of
Deeds will, I presume, become useless