played no part in political
life. He was puzzled; he could not conceive who had brought forward
his name. Could it have been, he thought, that in some way his
chemical researches had reached their ears? In which case, as he told
himself, every director of a mine, every manager of a factory, would
be considered a philosopher and made member of the Academy, for every
one of them possessed as much knowledge as he did. There was no use in
thinking about it; the honor had come to him, and should be accepted.
Ivan thought it best not to look the gift-horse in the mouth; he
therefore wrote to the secretary, expressing his gratitude for the
unlooked-for honor conferred upon him, and stating that towards the
end of the year he would present himself in Pesth, and read before the
illustrious assembly his inaugural address. Then he considered the
subject of this address long and carefully, and spent much of his time
over its elaboration. It was an account of microscopical crustations,
the study of which he had followed closely during the boring of an
artesian well, and which during ten years he had perfectly mastered.
It took him until late in the autumn to complete his essay on the
subject.

In many places, where such scientific research is valued at its proper
merit, his paper would have been appreciated, and would have even
caused a sensation; but we are bound in honesty to confess that it did
not do so in Pesth, and that during the sixty minutes allowed by the
canon law of all institutions for such lectures, the microscopical
crustations produced an amount of yawning unprecedented, even among
academicians.

After the reading of the lecture was over the very first person to
greet the neophyte and offer his congratulations was the Abbe Samuel,
and then a light burst suddenly upon Ivan. He now saw who it was who
had discovered his talents, and who had been his patron. It was
something of a fall to his vanity; he had thought--well, it didn't
matter, the abbe was doubtless as learned as any one in the assembly,
and his thanks were due to him. Small attentions, it is said,
consolidate friendship.

Ivan decided to spend some days in Pesth; he had business to do.
During the week several papers noticed his academical address; the
most merciful was one which announced he had given an interesting
lecture upon the "Volcanic Origin of the Stalactites." Ivan's only
consolation was that in his own country no one read _The Referate_,
and