station of
stalagmite from the ravages of time, may dart a penetrating gleam of
intelligence through the dark abysses of innumerable ages, and exclaim:
"This clay, upon which I gaze, was of the human period. This coin, this
meerschaum, this china shepherdess, this prayer-book with gilt edges,
this _Sporting Times_, were the inseparable companions of a fossil
species of Englishmen who once colonised this globe, and minute traces
of whom have been found in its most widely separated regions. Alas that
the action of marine and subaerial denuding agents has deprived us of an
opportunity for closer examination of the habits and idiosyncrasies
of this interesting fossil. Into such small compass are compressed
the pride and wealth of nations and of centuries. O genus humanum! O
tempora! O mores!" Thus will he muse. No democrat! no stump orator
will be that Being of the Future, nor anything of human mould. One's
imagination may well revel in the thought that Evolution, mighty to
conceive and to perform, lias not yet completed her work. What
are vertebrates? Even these are transient. But four classes of
vertebrates--only four!' shouted the Professor in his enthusiasm, wholly
forgetting the Democrat, and the Bishop, who was gazing at him with
a look of blank horror on his venerable countenance. 'Why, it is
preposterous, it is inconceivable that we should stop at four!--fishes,
reptiles, birds, and mammals! Where is the fifth! Cannot Natural
Selection, Struggle for Existence, Variability and Survival of the
Fittest, between them, furnish a fifth class of vertebrates? I demand it
in the name of Science and of Evolution. We have been human long enough.
There we are, ever since the Age of Stone, pinned down to one particular
tribe of mammals. Ah, when shall we begin to move on again? Is not this
a hope beyond the niggardly aspirations of a purblind democrat?'

'What will the future reality be? I care not; but progress demands a new
and conquering organism. For my part, I see no reason why we should not
immediately leave the vertebrates. That would be something like a New
Departure.'

Here the professor stopped suddenly, becoming aware of the eyes of
the Democrat, which were fixed on him with a mixture of contempt and
curiosity.

'I don't understand all that,' he said in an exasperating tone. 'It is
very elevating, I daresay, but what I want is Universal Suffrage. There
is something tangible for you. When we get that, there will be