I
do not like to express beforehand what I think concerning the degree
of attention you will all receive; but this much I think I can say--you
will see."

"This proposition, Doctor, has taken me a little by surprise, and I
hardly know what answer to give."

"You cannot say no, Sir John; for should his majesty hear that you have
refused to come to a meeting at which he is to be present, it would
seriously, and, I might add, justly offend him, nor could I answer for
the consequences."

"Why, I was told that all the power was in the hands of his majesty's
eldest first cousin of the masculine gender; in which case I thought I
might snap my fingers at his majesty himself."

"Not in opinion, Sir John, which is one of the three estates of the
government. Ours is a government of three estates--viz., the law,
opinion, and practice. By law the king rules, by practice his cousin
rules, and by opinion the king again rules. Thus, is the strong point
of practice balanced by law and opinion. This it is that constitutes the
harmony and perfection of the system. No, it would never do to offend
his majesty."

Although I did not very well comprehend the Doctor's argument, yet, as
I had often found in human society, theories political, moral,
theological, and philosophical, that everybody had faith in, and which
nobody understood, I thought discussion useless, and gave up the point
by promising the Doctor to be at the academy in half an hour, which was
the time named for our appearance. Taking the necessary directions to
find the place, we separated; he to hasten to make his preparations, and
I to reach the tavern, in order to deposit our baggage, that no decency
might be overlooked on an occasion so solemn.

CHAPTER XVI. AN INN--DEBTS PAID IN ADVANCE, AND A SINGULAR TOUCH OF
HUMAN NATURE FOUND CLOSELY INCORPORATED WITH MONIKIN NATURE

We soon secured rooms, ordered dinner, brushed our clothes, and made
the other little arrangements that it was necessary to observe for the
credit of the species. Everything being ready, we left the inn, and
hurried towards the "Palais des Arts et des Sciences." We had not got
out of sight of the inn, however, before one of its garcons was at our
heels with a message from his mistress. He told us, in very respectful
tones, that his master was out, and that he had taken with him the
key of the strong-box; that there was not actually money enough in the
drawer to furnish an entertainment for s