"It will be quite new if he is," replied Mrs. Smith.
"--so much as to many noble and talented lords and members of the
lower House who have lately from time to time devoted themselves to
this good work." And then he went through a long list of peers and
members of Parliament, beginning, of course, with Lord Boanerges, and
ending with Mr. Green Walker, a young gentleman who had lately been
returned by his uncle's interest for the borough of Crewe Junction,
and had immediately made his entrance into public life by giving a
lecture on the grammarians of the Latin language as exemplified at
Eton School. "On the present occasion," Mr. Smith continued, "our
object is to learn something as to those grand and magnificent
islands which lie far away, beyond the Indies, in the Southern Ocean;
the lands of which produce rich spices and glorious fruits, and whose
seas are embedded with pearls and corals,--Papua and the Philippines,
Borneo and the Moluccas. My friends, you are familiar with your maps,
and you know the track which the equator makes for itself through
those distant oceans." And then many heads were turned down, and
there was a rustle of leaves; for not a few of those "who stood not
so high in the social scale" had brought their maps with them, and
refreshed their memories as to the whereabouts of these wondrous
islands.
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