y, I've heard you say that you are for manhood
suffrage."

"That's another question; you let in another idea there. At
present we are considering whether the _vox populi_ is the best
test for finding your best man. I'm afraid all history is against
you."

"That's a good joke. Now, there I defy you, Hardy."

"Begin at the beginning, then, and let us see."

"I suppose you'll say, then, that the Egyptian and Babylonian
empires were better than the little Jewish republic."

"Republic! well, let that pass. But I never heard that the Jews
elected Moses, or any of the judges."

"Well, never mind the Jews; they're an exceptional case; you
can't argue from them."

"I don't admit that. I believe just the contrary. But go on."

"Well, then, what do you say to the glorious Greek republics,
with Athens at the head of them?"

"I say that no nation ever treated their best men so badly. I see
I must put on a lecture in Aristophanes for your special benefit.
Vain, irritable, shallow, suspicious old Demus, with his two
oboli in his cheek, and doubting only between Cleon and the
sausage-seller, which he shall choose for his wisest man--not to
govern, but to serve his whims and caprices. You must call
another witness, I think."

"But that's a caricature."

"Take the picture, then, out of Thucydides, Plato, Xenophon, how
you will--you won't mend the matter much. You shouldn't go so
fast, Brown; you won't mind my saying so, I know. You don't get
clear in your own mind before you pitch into everyone who comes
across you, and so do your own side (which I admit is mostly the
right one) more harm than good."

Tom couldn't stand being put down so summarily, and fought over
the ground from one country to another, from Rome to the United
States, with all the arguments he could muster, but with little
success. That unfortunate first admission of his, he felt it
throughout, like a millstone round his neck, and could not help
admitting to himself, when he left, that there was a good deal in
Hardy's concluding remark,--"You'll find it rather a tough
business to get your 'universal democracy' and 'government by the
wisest' to pull together in one coach."

Notwithstanding all such occasional reverses and cold baths,
however, Tom went on strengthening himself in his new opinions,
and maintaining them with all the zeal of a convert. The shelves
of his bookcase, and the walls of his room, soon began to show
signs of the change which was