I beg of
you that I may be allowed a few words before any one else speaks. Have
I the good fortune to see my humble request granted by the meeting?"
Here the orator with a faint smile inclined his head respectfully. "Go
on, you have our undivided attention!" said the notables alluded to and
some others who considered Capitan Basilio a great orator. The elders
coughed in a satisfied way and rubbed their hands. After wiping the
perspiration from his brow with a silk handkerchief, he then proceeded:
"Now that yon have been so kind and complaisant with my humble self as
to grant me the use of a few words before any one else of those here
present, I shall take advantage of this permission, so generously
granted, and shall talk. In imagination I fancy myself in the midst
of the august Roman senate, senatus populusque romanus, as was said
in those happy days which, unfortunately for humanity, will nevermore
return. I propose to the Patres Conscripti, as the learned Cicero would
say if he were in my place, I propose, in view of the short time left,
and time is money as Solomon said, that concerning this important
matter each one set forth his opinion clearly, briefly, and simply.
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