'Yes, yes, the Royal Sport Nautique is the oldest club in Belgium.'

'We number two hundred.'

'We'--this is not a substantive speech, but an abstract of many
speeches, the impression left upon my mind after a great deal of
talk; and very youthful, pleasant, natural, and patriotic it seems
to me to be--'We have gained all races, except those where we were
cheated by the French.'

'You must leave all your wet things to be dried.'

'O! entre freres! In any boat-house in England we should find the
same.' (I cordially hope they might.)

'En Angleterre, vous employez des sliding-seats, n'est-ce pas?'

'We are all employed in commerce during the day; but in the
evening, voyez-vous, nous sommes serieux.'

These were the words. They were all employed over the frivolous
mercantile concerns of Belgium during the day; but in the evening
they found some hours for the serious concerns of life. I may have
a wrong idea of wisdom, but I think that was a very wise remark.
People connected with literature and philosophy are busy all their
days in getting rid of second-hand notions and false standards. It
is their profession, in the sweat of their brows, by dogged
thinking, to recover their old fresh view of life, and distinguish
what they really and originally like, from what they have only
learned to tolerate perforce. And these Royal Nautical Sportsmen