In which Timothy makes a grand speech, quite as true as those delivered from the hustings—­Melchior, like the candidate, states his pretentions for public favour, and the public, as usual, swallow the bait.

Fortunately for poor Num, we were not far from the market town at which we intended to open our campaign, which we did the next morning by Num and Timothy sallying forth, the former with a large trumpet in his hand, and the latter riding on a donkey.  On their arrival at the market-place, Num commenced blowing it with all his might, while Timothy, in his spangled dress, as soon as they had collected a crowd, stood upon his saddle, and harangued the people as follows:—­

“Gentlemen and ladies—­I have the honour to announce to you the arrival in this town of the celebrated Doctor Appallacheosmocommetico, who has travelled farther than the sun and faster than a comet.  He hath visited every part of the globe.  He has smoked the calumet with the Indians of North America—­he has hunted with the Araucas in the South—­galloped on wild horses over the plains of Mexico, and rubbed noses with the Esquimaux.  He hath used the chopsticks with the Chinese, swung the Cherok pooga with the Hindoos, and put a new nose on the Great Cham of Tartary.  He hath visited and been received in every court of Europe:  danced on the ice of the Neva with the Russians—­led the mazurka with the Poles—­waltzed with the Germans—­tarantulaed with the Italians—­fandangoed with the Spanish—­and quadrilled with the French.  He hath explored every mine in the universe, walked through every town on the continent, examined every mountain in the world, ascended Mont Blanc, walked down the Andes, and run up the Pyrenees.  He has been into every volcano in the globe, and descending by Vesuvius has been thrown up by Stromboli.  He has lived more than a thousand years, and is still in the flower of his youth.  He has had one hundred and forty sets of teeth one after another, and expects a new set next Christmas.  His whole life has been spent in the service of mankind, and in doing good to his fellow-creatures; and having the experience of more than a thousand years, he cures more than a thousand diseases.  Gentlemen, the wonderful doctor will present himself before you this evening, and will then tell you what his remedies are good for, so that you may pick and choose according to your several complaints.  Ladies, the wonderful doctor can greatly assist you:  he has secrets by which you may have a family if you should so wish—­philters to make husbands constant, and salve to make them blind—­cosmetics to remove pimples and restore to youth and beauty, and powders to keep children from squalling.  Sound the trumpet, Philotas; sound, and let every body know that the wonderful Doctor Appallacheosmocommetico has vouchsafed to stop here and confer his blessings upon the inhabitants of this town.”  Hereupon Num again blew the trumpet till he was black in the face; and Timothy, dropping on his donkey, rode away to other parts of the town, where he repeated his grandiloquent announcement, followed, as may be supposed, by a numerous cortege of little ragged boys.