Page:Meda - a tale of the future.djvu/163

Rh the free eaters and drinkers did. Although not physically strong, they were the leaders in every great undertaking. If the country was at war, they were to be found in the van-guard, while in all movements for the advance of science, art, and industry, they were ahead also. That such a large body should exist and adhere to what were in those days considered by many to be strange notions, was a curious phenomenon, and one that afterwards proved to be a design of Providence to gradually prepare a people that might live under an altered condition of things. Now, my Specimen, as I have devoted a long time to your instruction, and as I fear this dry record will tire you if you get too much of it at a time, I will give over for the present. I must visit my private abode to-night, and shall take you with me and introduce you to my wife and daughter as well as to some other ladies of position. You will then have an opportunity of conversing with ladies of our day. It will be a change for you, and a pleasant one. We shall go on our journey to-morrow;