"I am not a man of ceremony, nor, I judge, are you; but even if I were, the present is not an occasion for it.

Your son has doubtless told you of the inestimable service, which he rendered to me last night, by saving my daughters, or rather my eldest daughter--for it was doubtless she whom the villains sought--from being borne off by one of the worst and most disreputable of the many bad and disreputable young men of this city." "I am indeed glad, Signor Polani, that my son was able to be of service to you.

I have somewhat blamed myself that I have let him have his own way so much, and permitted him to give himself up to exercises of arms, more befitting the son of a warlike noble than of a peaceful trader; but the quickness and boldness, which the mastery of arms gives, was yesterday of service, and I no longer regret the time he has spent, since it has enabled him to be of aid to the daughters of Signor Polani." "A mastery of arms is always useful, whether a man be a peace-loving citizen, or one who would carve his way to fame by means of his weapons.

We merchants of the Mediterranean might give up our trade, if we were not prepared to defend our ships against the corsairs of Barbary, and the pirates who haunt every inlet and islet of the Levant now, as they have ever done since the days of Rome.

Besides, it is the duty of every citizen to defend his native city when attacked.