characteristic of the epoch. There was then no corruption, no brutal
passion, that had not its temple and its high priest. In the midst of
all this wickedness and vice there appeared a man, poor and humble,
who accomplished what no man ever did before, and what no man will
ever do again--he founded a moral and eternal civilization. Judaism
and the religion of Zoroaster were overthrown. The gods of Tyre and
Carthage were destroyed. The beliefs of Miltiades and of Pericles, of
Scipio and Seneca, were disavowed. The thousands that flocked annually
to worship the Eleusinian Ceres ceased their pilgrimage. Odin and his
disciples have all perished. The very language of Osiris, which was
afterwards spoken by the Ptolemies, is no longer known to his
descendants. The paganisms which still exist in the East are rapidly
yielding to the march of western intelligence. Christianity alone,
amidst all these ring and fallen fabrics, retains its original
vitality, for, like its author, it is imperishable."

"It is a curious thing what we call conversation," observed Mrs.
Wolston. "No sooner is one subject broached than another is
introduced; and we go on from one thing to another until the original
idea is lost sight of. Leaving the palace of Charles V., to go with
the King of Portugal to a grocer's shop in some street or other of
Paris, we cross the Alps, the Himalaya, and the Atlantic. Lucullus,
Nero, Achilles, Peter, Paul, Tyre and Sidon, Semiramis and
Elizabeth--queens, saints, and philosophers, are all passed in review,
and why? Because the pigeons put my husband in mind of the Palace of
St. Paul!"

"No wonder," observed Jack; "these pigeons are carriers, and naturally
suggest wandering."

Once more seated round the table, Fritz, observing that the
misunderstanding between Willis and the chimpanzee still continued,
thrust a plate into the hand of the latter, and pointed with his
finger to Willis. This time Jocko obeyed, for the language was
intelligible, and he went and placed the plate before his master.

"Ho, ho!" cried Willis, "so you have come to your senses at last, have
you? Well, that saves you an extra lesson to-morrow, you lubber you."

"He takes rather long to obey your orders, though, Willis; it is
rather awkward to wait an hour for anything you ask for. What system
do you pursue in educating him--the Pestalozzian or the parochial?"

"We follow the system in fashion aboard ship," replied Willis.

"And what does th