uses.  But what there is mentally in a man must not be judged by the measure of his body from head to foot.  And, too, there was my very amiable Lord Clarendon, who attempted to out-clever my Lord John, inasmuch as John stated, in the fulness of his geographical knowledge, that the passage between Havana and the extreme southern point of Florida was not more than four hundred miles, while my Lord Clarendon assured the House of Lords that South Carolina was an island.  Enlightened House of Lords!  But, after all, there was a harmony of sentiment between these two noble worthies that was truly grateful to the submissive hearts of the freedom-loving English; both could spin flattering speeches:  both could play the long and short; both could wince when foreign bull-dogs sent out their threatening growls; and both were mighty of mouth when dealing with little chickens.  It was not to be concealed, however that Dablerdeen, master of the board, was gifted with the unfortunate characteristic of talking himself into an interminable difficulty.

“‘Who, or from whence on earth do you come?’ inquired my Lord.

“‘Smooth,’ I replied, that is my name; I am a citizen of the Great Republic—­come to study the way in which you are disorganizing foreign affairs.’

“‘Yer a little in advance of the times—­too fast, sir!’ replied a large man most serious of face.  Thinking it best to answer him by declaring my opinion to be that it was better to be with the age than behind it,—­and which I believe constituted the only difference between a fast and slow man of the present day, I let slide at him upon the fallacy of his political philosophy, with knock-down arguments.

“The fellows cooled down at once, and John Littlejohn said, ’Come, Smooth! if you really are a clever citizen then you are precisely the fellow we want!’ And then he conversed feelingly with me, said how much he liked our country and our countrymen; persuaded himself to believe them the real go-ahead chaps—­though he, at times, thought it quite necessary to keep their go-ahead a little slow.  I proposed their taking a smoke in a rough and ready sort of way, and pulling out my pouch, in a friendly sort of way, they all seemed struck aback with astonishment.  One said, if we did things that way in Congress it was not the way they did them here.  They all shook their heads—­said they didn’t smoke.

“’We will may it please you Mr. Smooth—­Citizen of the United States—­excuse these things for the present,’ rejoined Dablerdeen, who looked as if he did not know which way to turn, or how to please his people.  Seeing this I sat down and watched the very odd style in which they played the game.  Dablerdeen did all the talking, and Littlejohn, whom the reader will see had returned home helped him make his muff; and then there was a good deal of assisting one another to forget each move.  But Sandy always moved slow, as if he had something under his thimble he was afraid of damaging.  ’That’s