certain as possible; and, in fine, the whole nation
became interested, and were divided on both sides of the question.
Colossus took the part of Sphinx, and the affair was at length submitted
to the decision of a grand council in a great hall, adorned with seats
on every side in form of an amphitheatre. The assembly appeared the most
magnificent and splendid in the world. A court or jury of one hundred
matrons occupied the principal and most honourable part of the
amphitheatre; they were dressed in flowing robes of sky-blue velvet
adorned with festoons of brilliants and diamond stars; grave and
sedate-looking matrons, all in uniform, with spectacles upon their
noses; and opposite to these were placed one hundred judges, with curly
white wigs flowing down on each side of them to their very feet, so that
Solomon in all his glory was not so wise in appearance. At the ardent
request of the whole empire I condescended to be the president of the
court, and being arrayed accordingly, I took my seat beneath a canopy
erected in the centre. Before every judge was placed a square inkstand,
containing a gallon of ink, and pens of a proportionable size; and also
right before him an enormous folio, so large as to serve for table and
book at the same time. But they did not make much use of their pens and
ink, except to blot and daub the paper; for, that they should be the
more impartial, I had ordered that none but the blind should be honoured
with the employment: so that when they attempted to write anything, they
uniformly dipped their pens into the machine containing sand, and having
scrawled over a page as they thought, desiring them to dry it with sand,
would spill half a gallon of ink upon the paper, and thereby daubing
their fingers, would transfer the ink to their face whenever thy leaned
their cheek upon their hand for greater gravity. As to the matrons,
to prevent an eternal prattle that would drown all manner of
intelligibility, I found it absolutely necessary to sew up their mouths;
so that between the blind judges and the dumb matrons methought the
trial had a chance of being terminated sooner than it otherwise would.
The matrons, instead of their tongues, had other instruments to convey
their ideas: each of them had three quizzes, one quiz pendent from the
string that sewed up her mouth, and another quiz in either hand. When
she wished to express her negative, she darted and recoiled the
quizzes in her right and left hand;