 Civilization. Let me ask you, sir,« he added, bringing the
ferule of his stick heavily upon the deck with the air of a man who must not be
equivocated with, »how do you like my Country?«
    »I am hardly prepared to answer that question yet,« said Martin, »seeing
that I have not been ashore.«
    »Well, I should expect you were not prepared, sir,« said the gentleman, »to
behold such signs of National Prosperity as those?«
    He pointed to the vessels lying at the wharves; and then gave a vague
flourish with his stick, as if he would include the air and water, generally, in
this remark.
    »Really,« said Martin, »I don't know. Yes. I think I was.«
    The gentleman glanced at him with a knowing look, and said he liked his
policy. It was natural, he said, and it pleased him as a philosopher to observe
the prejudices of human nature.
    »You have brought, I see, sir,« he said, turning round towards Martin, and
resting his chin on the top of his stick, »the usual amount of misery and
poverty and ignorance and crime, to be located in the bosom of the great
Republic. Well, sir! let 'em come on in ship-loads from the old country. When
vessels are about to founder, the rats are said to leave 'em. There is
considerable of truth, I find, in that remark.«
    »The old ship will keep afloat a year or two longer yet, perhaps,« said
Martin with a smile, partly occasioned by what the gentleman said, and partly by
his manner of saying it, which was odd enough, for he emphasised all the small
words and syllables in his discourse, and left the others to take care of
themselves: as if he thought the larger parts of speech could be trusted alone,
but the little ones required to be constantly looked after.
    »Hope is said by the poet, sir,« observed the gentleman, »to be the nurse of
young Desire.«
    Martin signified that he had heard of the cardinal virtue in question
serving occasionally in that domestic capacity.
    »She will not rear her infant in the present instance, sir, you'll find,«
observed the gentleman.
    »Time will show,« said Martin.
    The gentleman nodded his head, gravely; and said, »What is your name, sir?«
    Martin told him.
    »How old are you, sir
