saying:

"Dear Alexis, we commend ourselves to thy good care; let thy genius
perpetuate our glory through the Universe."

The conversation at length turned upon subjects which the Count
amused himself by debating every day with his secretary. They
spoke of the Lower Empire, which M. Leminof regarded as the most
prosperous and most glorious age of humanity. He had little fancy
for Pericles, Caesar, Augustus, and Napoleon, and considered that
the art of reigning had been understood by Justinian and Alexis
Comnenus alone. And when Gilbert protested warmly in the name of
human dignity against this theory:

"Stop just there!" said the Count; "no big words, no declamation,
but listen to me! These pheasants are good. See how Father Alexis
is regaling himself upon them. To whom do they owe this flavor
which is so enchanting him? To the high wisdom of my cook, who
gave them time to become tender. He has served them to us just at
the right moment. A few days sooner they would have been too
tough; a few days later would have been risking too much, and we
should have had the worms in them. My dear sir, societies are very
much like game. Their supreme moment is when they are on the point
of decomposition. In their youth they have a barbarous toughness.
But a certain degree of corruption, on the contrary, imperils their
existence. Very well! Byzantium possessed the art of making minds
gamey and arresting decomposition at that point. Unfortunately she
carried the secret to the grave with her."

A profound silence reigned in the great hall, uninterrupted except