at golden
country, known as Cathay, where the great ruler, Kubla Khan, treated
them with gracious consideration, and employed young Polo as his
ambassador. This was none other than China, and the great ruler, called
the Grand Khan, was none other than the first of its Mongolian dynasty,
having his imperial residence in the immense city of Kambalu, or Peking.
After many years of illustrious service, the Venetian, with his
companions, was dismissed with splendor and riches, charged with letters
for European sovereigns, as our Bostonian is charged with similar
letters now. There were letters for the Pope, the King of France, the
King of Spain, and other Christian princes. It does not appear that
England was expressly designated. Her name, so great now, was not at
that time on the visiting list of the distant Emperor. Such are the
contrasts in national life. Marco Polo, with his companions, reached
Venice on his return in 1295, at the very time when Dante, in Florence,
was meditating his divine poem, and when Roger Bacon, in England, was
astonishing the age with his knowledge. These were two of his greatest
contemporaries.

The return of the Venetian to his native city was attended by incidents
which have not occurred among us. Bronzed by long residence under the
sun of the East--wearing the dress of a Tartar--and speaking his native
language with difficulty, it was some time before he could persuade his
friends of his identity. Happily there is no question on the identity of
our returned fellow-citizen; and surely it cannot be said that he speaks
his native language with difficulty. There was a dinner given at Venice,
as now at Boston, and the Venetian dinner, after the lapse of nearly
five hundred years, still lives in glowing description. On this occasion
Marco Polo, with his companions, appeared first in long robes of crimson
satin reaching to the floor, which, after the guests had washed their
hands, were changed for other robes of crimson damask, and then again,
after the first course of the dinner, for other robes of crimson velvet,
and at the conclusion of the banquet, for the ordinary dress worn by the
rest of the company. Meanwhile the other costly garments were
distributed in succession among the attendants at the table. In all your
magnificence to-night, Mr. Mayor, I have seen no such largess. Then was
brought forward the coarse threadbare clothes in which they had
travelled, when, on ripping the lining and patc