BOOK OF A TRAVELLER. 147 



atood, and I shall therefore designate them, as far as 

 possible, by their mental qualifications only ; for who 

 knows but that, in this era of Steam Horses, Steam 

 Ships and Steam Chariots, the " Museum " may, by 

 some means, find its way into West Barbary.) 



As a priest of the temple of Minerva he was invalu- 

 able to that institution, not merely on account of his 

 extensive acquirements and great talents, but in conse- 

 quence of his regular attendance on all occasions of 

 ceremony, and his great readiness to assist in the estab- 

 lished rites : It was well known to all the disciples of 

 Minerva in West Barbary that, eight times out of ten, 

 B B was the first speaker in the discus- 

 sions which, as I have already stated, were appointed 

 to follow an oration, but it was equally well known 

 that this did not arise from any intrusive desire on his 

 part to gratify the feelings of self esteem or love of 

 approbation ; he was the first speaker, either when 

 he considered that the oration which had been 

 delivered would afford interesting matter of discussion 

 during the whole time allowed for debate, and therefore 

 felt anxious that not a moment should be lost or, 

 when he was desirous of leading the way for other men 

 of talent who might have had some hesitation or timi- 

 dity in addressing an assembly of learned men; and 

 lastly, a matter of no unfrequent occurrence, he became 

 the first speaker when he perceived that no one else 

 was inclined to present himself for that purpose. 



B had not been educated at any of 



the great schools or universities which flourish in the 

 districts northward of West Barbary ; but his love 

 of learning was so intense, his application so unremit- 

 ting and his facility of acquiring so great, that he had 

 accumulated a fund of useful knowledge, (and this I 

 consider to be the most desirable in the present day) 

 equal to that of some few dozens of the pet scholars 

 of the " Almse Matres," indeed it would be a matter of 

 sonic difficulty to select from amongst those heroes 



an antagonist, whom B B could not floor 



as clean as ever Polkinghorne did an amateur at the 



