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Show 64 THE CALIFORNIA AND OREGON TRAIL. t h ese 1· mpor t an t functions · I opened it ; it was ' Macaulay's Lays ;' and I made some remark, expressing my admiration of the work. , Yes, yes; a pretty good thing. Macaulay can do better than that, though. I know him very well. I have travelled with him. Where was it we met first-at Damascus 1 No, no; itwasinltaly.' 'So,' said I, 'you have been over the same ground with your countryman, the author of 'Eothen 1' There has been some discussion in America as to who he is. I have heard Milnes's name mentioned.' 'Milnes? Oh, no, no, no; not at all. It was Kinglake; Kinglake's the man. I know him very well ; that is, I have seen him.' Here Jack C , who stood by, interposed a remark (a thing not common with him), observing that he thought the weather would become fair before twelve o'clock. 'It's going to rain all day,' said R , ' and clear up in the middle of the night.' Just then, the clouds began to dissipate in a very unequivocal manner; but Jack, not caring to defend his point against so authoritative a declaration, walked away whistling, and we resumed our conversation. 'Borrow, the author of "The Bible in Spain," I presume you know him, too?' 'Oh, certainly; I know all those men. By the way, they t~ld me that one of your American writers, Judge Story, had died lately. I edited some of his works in London · not with· out faults, though.' ' Here followed an eru dI' t e commentary on certai· n p01· nts of THE 'BIG BLUE.' 65 law, in which he particularly animadverted on the errors into which he considered that the Judge had been betrayed. At length, having touched successively on an infinite variety of topics, I found that I had the happiness of discovering a man equally competent to enlighten me upon them all, equally an authority on matters of science or literature, philosophy or fashion. The part I bore in the conversation was by no means a prominent one ; it was only necessary to set him going, and when he had run long enough upon one topic, to divert him to another, and lead him on to pour out his heaps of treasure in . successiOn. ' What has that fellow been saying to you 1' said Shaw, as I returned to the tent. 'I have heard nothing but his talking for the last half-hour.' R had none of the peculiar traits of the ordinary 'British snob;' his absurdities were all his own, belonging to no particular nation or clime. l-Ie was possessed with an active devil, that had driven him over land and sea, to no great purpose, as it seemed; for although he had the usual complement of eyes and ears, the avenues between these organs and his brain appeared remarkably narrow and untrodden. His energy was much more conspicuous than his wisdom; but his predominant characteristic was a magnanimous ambition to e . ercise on all occasions an awful rule and supremacy, and this propensity equally displayed itself, as the reader will have observed, whether the matter in question was the baking of a hoe-cake or a point of international law. When such diverse elements as he and the easy-tempered Captain came in contact, no wonder some commotion ensued; R rode rough-shod, from morning till night, over his military ally. |