Page:Letters from New Zealand (Harper).djvu/332

300 The story of Sicily is not a record only of warfare and trade. It was the home of the best representatives of Greek civilization. It produced the greatest mathematician of old days, Archimedes, whilst, later, the splendid reign of the Emperor Frederic II, practically led to the making of modern intellectual Europe.

Returning to Palermo, we were nearly stranded at a Railway junction. There the train for Palermo was short of carriages; we were eight in number, all English; the station-master declared that he could make no room for us, a nice state of things, as there was no sort of hotel in the place. So I attacked him, as well as I could, in my halting Italian, with the strongest language I could muster. These officials have a way of inventing difficulties which do not exist. It was quite successful, and he provided us with an extra carriage. "Well," said an English parson who was one of our number, "possibly I am a better scholar than you are, certainly I know Hebrew as well as Latin and Greek, but I would give something to be able to exhort that man as you did!"

I am, Yours ever, H. W. H.