ecian romance? Then some of them appear to be
Slavonian; for example, Mikailia and Pakomovna. I don't know much of
Slavonian; but--"

"What is Slavonian, brother?"

"The family name of certain nations, the principal of which is the
Russian, and from which the word slave is originally derived. You have
heard of the Russians, Jasper?"

"Yes, brother; and seen some. I saw their crallis at the time of the
peace; he was not a bad-looking man for a Russian."

"By the bye, Jasper, I'm half inclined to think that crallis is a Slavish
word. I saw something like it in a lil called 'Voltaire's Life of
Charles.' How you should have come by such names and words is to me
incomprehensible."

"You seem posed, brother."

"I really know very little about you, Jasper."

"Very little indeed, brother. We know very little about ourselves; and
you know nothing, save what we have told you; and we have now and then
told you things about us which are not exactly true, simply to make a
fool of you, brother. You will say that was wrong; perhaps it was. Well,
Sunday will be here in a day or two, when we will go to church, where
possibly we shall hear a sermon on the disastrous consequences of lying."

CHAPTER VIII

The Church--The Aristocratical Pew--Days of Yore--The Clergyman--"In What
Would a Man be Profited?"

When two days had passed, Sunday came; I breakfasted by myself in the
solitary dingle; and then, having set things a little to rights, I
ascended to Mr. Petulengro's encampment. I could hear church-bells
ringing around in the distance, appearing to say, "Come to church, come
to church," as clearly as it was possible for church-bells to say. I
found Mr. Petulengro seated by the door of his tent, smoking his pipe, in
rather an ungenteel undress. "Well, Jasper," said I, "are you ready to
go to church? for if you are, I am ready to accompany you." "I am not
ready, brother," said Mr. Petulengro, "nor is my wife; the church, too,
to which we shall go is three miles off; so it is of no use to think of
going there this morning, as the service would be three-quarters over
before we got there; if, however, you are disposed to go in the
afternoon, we are your people." Thereupon I returned to my dingle, where
I passed several hours in conning the Welsh Bible, which the preacher,
Peter Williams, had given me.

At last I gave over reading, took a slight refreshment, and was about to
emerge from the dingle, when I hea