up no grudge either. So come along, compare, I care not if I stand a bicchiere di vinello."

"Diavolo, what dost talk about-a bicchiere di vinello! I tell thee, we cannot do less than drink a whole fiasco of the best wine, Liatico or Muscadine at the least, to the health of his excellency. So push away, Caro mio, no one keeps better wine than old Paolo, the tavernajo, near the church of San Nicolo."

While the boatmen were gliding amicably away through one of the lateral canals that led from the Canale Grande to the quarter of San Nicolo, the two gentlemen whom they had been rowing had passed through the pillared hall, and up the marble staircase, and entered a stately apartment such as the Venetian nobles delighted to display for the reception of guests. The walls were covered with ancestral pictures, and the furniture was rich in gold and marble, and curiously wrought tables, and costly ornaments of glass. Giulio now cordially embraced his friend, pressing him within his arms, and touching either cheek with his lips-a custom which at first strikes an Englishman as extravagant and effeminate, but which, in time, he learns to feel is neither the one nor the other amongst people whose impulses are stronger by nature, and put under less restraint by education than are our own. "Welcome, once more welcome, my dear Jacques, to Venice and to my father's house. I grieve he is not here to receive the friend and benefactor of his son as his merits deserve; but count his house your own; and such poor cheer as it can afford in these times of war and necessity is heartily at your command."

"A thousand thanks, dear Giulio," said the other, warmly returning the pressure of his friend's hand. "But in truth thou dost rate too highly the trifling service that it was my good fortune to render thee in the gay capital of France. The loan of a few gold pieces happily enabled thee to avail thyself of the fortune of the dice, and to retrieve thyself. It was a pleasant sight to see thee take thy revenge upon the sharpers of Paris. But as thou must needs remember this matter, why thou shalt even repay the obligation tenfold by showing me some of the wonders of your celebrated city of Venice, whereof I have heard so much."

"Most willingly, my dear Jacques," said the young Venetian, "though I advertise thee that thou shalt see us now but to small advantage. The present war has drained the city of our gayest nobles, and thou wilt find Venice but a triste place just now. But tell me, to what favouring gale we are indebted to thy presence? When we parted in France, a visit to Italy was not in thy thoughts."

"In good faith, Giulio, I am, as thou knowest, but a rolling stone at best, gathering little moss, as the proverb hath it." 'Aye, Jacques, but gaining all the more polish."

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"Well, it may be so," said the other. "But now, how wilt thou order our movements?"

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'Why, Jacques, it is yet too early to see our clarissimos and ladies, so we shall even sally forth in the meantime to see whatever chance may throw in our way. Believe me, there are things in this our Venice that will amuse thee, if it be but for their strangeness."

"It is so reported," said Jacques, "and I long much to inspect them."

"Meanwhile," said Giulio, "your effects shall be brought from the Osteria, and then we shall return to doff our travelling attire, and prepare for visiting. I would willingly make you known to some of my fair countrywomen."

"That is what I most desire, I have always heard that your Venetian dames are not easily accessible to strangers, but that they are beautiful and charming; and in truth I count much on your friendship in affording me this pleasure."

"That will I gladly, and thou shalt confess that rumour has not overrated their loveliness. So look to your heart, Jacques."

The young man laughed with careless gaiety-"Oh, fear not for me, Giulio, I am well nigh proof against the spells of womank J."

"We shall see, we shall see," said the other; "be not over-boastful, my friend."

"Well, well, let us proceed, Thou shalt first pledge me, Jacques, in a cup of such wine as Venice affords."

So saying, Giulio summoned a servant, who speedily entered bearing a salver upon which were various refreshments and two large bottles of coloured glass, small in the neck, but swelling out into very goodly dimensions in the body, and which from their shape had obtained the name of Ingistere. When they were set down on the table, the host continued :"Here is wine of Cyprus, if thou wilt; or, what sayest thou to this other, which is from the grape of Southern Italy? 'We count the Lagrime di Christo the most delectable of all liquors."

:

"And with justice," said Jacques; "I have heard of a worthy French monk who was so affected with its delicious flavour, that he exclaimed, ' O Domine, Domine, cur non lachrymasti in regionibus nostris !'"

"The taste of the good father was more to be commended than his piety," remarked Giulio, with a smile; "but let it pass. So now fill to our pleasant rambles."

"Buon viaggio," said Jacques, pouring out the wine into a drinking glass, and courteously touching the rim of his host's bicchiere with his own.

The young men issued forth from the palazzo at the side opposito that which faced the canal, and found themselves in a cortile, which having traversed, they passed along various narrow streets or cali, and crossing occasionally the small canals by means of steep bridges which were ascended by flights of steps on either side, at length they emerged into more open ground in the front of the church of San Geminiano, which forms the western limit of the Piazza di San Marco.

A little beyond the façade of the church, a dense crowd was collected, consisting principally of the lower classes, mecha nics, sailors, and labourers, with here and there a merchant or a master of a bottega, the one arrested, it might be, in his passage through the great thoroughfare of Venice, the other attracted from his counter to witness the spectacle at which they were now looking. There were not wanting, too, troops of boys and an abundance of the women of that rank in life who scruple not to be abroad whenever their avocations require, and their large veils of black, white, and yellow, according to their age and condition of wife, maid, or widow, and their glancing necks and shoulders, which were but poorly concealed by such flimsy covering, gave variety and piquancy to the scene. The most casual observer could not fail to be struck with the fact that the heads of the women for the most part were on a level with those of the other sex, and indeed occasionally out-topped them. When one looked down, however, the mystery was solved, for each woman stood in a strange sort of wooden clogs, called cioppini, covered with leather of different colours, according to the caprice of the wearer, and varying in height from a few inches to half a foot. The concourse thus brought together were evidently intent upon some object that was in the Piazza, in the direction of Saint Mark's, and as the further progress of the two friends was somewhat impeded, they also turned their eyes in the same direction. Midway in the Piazza was a rude stage of boards, raised up some few feet from the ground upon benches or forms; and upon the stage appeared several persons, some of them with masks of a grotesque character, and all dressed in the tawdry bravery of players of these days. One was readily recognised by the gaudy colours of his hose and doublet, and the immense ruff beneath his chin, as the representative of the gallant or young lover; another, by his visard and antics, was unmistakeably the fool or jack-pudding; while two or three women (an unusual thing except in Venice at this period) appeared in various dresses. But the principal of the troop was the ciarlatano or mountebank, who stood at one extremity of the stage near to a large chest, in which were deposited a strange variety of the most incongruous things imaginable. A flourish of music ensued, which, to speak truly, was more commendable for its noise and energy than for any harmony which was produced; indeed, harmony could not be reasonably expected from the

musicians themselves, or the instruments upon which they performed, which were cornets, lutes, and hurdy-gurdys, or vielles as they were called. During this performance, the ciarlatano opened the chest and drew forth his various wares. There were unguents of divers kinds in bottles of various colours; waters and lotions of marvellous virtues; drugs of unheard of potency; elixirs, salves, cosmetics, songs, charms, and a multitude of other wonders which no tongue save his own could recount or describe. These, as he took them forth one by one, he held up to the gaze of the multitude, and when the first tempest of music was stilled, the ciarlatano raised himself to his full height, and extending both his hands, the fingers of which were covered with thick, silver rings, he held up a phial with an oily liquid in one hand, and flourished the other as he addressed the people.

Jacques said to his friend-" Stop a little, Giulio; I would gladly listen to one of your ciarlatani, who, I hear, are the most wonderful in the world."

The young men accordingly stood still, and had no difficulty in hearing the mountebank's oration.

"Eccomi, cittidani di Venetzia, eccomi, Bartolomeo Venturini, medico, magico, astrologico, dentista e professore. Here am I, who can read the stars, cure all diseases, and draw teeth-senz'alcun dolore-without your feeling as much as a twitch of pain. Messires, have any of you here a bad tooth? Eh ben, I can draw it, if it have one prong, or two prongs, or three prongs (and here he held up a finger for each prong), be they straight or crooked (twisting his fingers together), it is all the same to Bartolomeo Venturini. Ebbene, qui vuol un di queste mirabile bottiglie? And only two zecchini a-piece." The ciarlatano upon this held out the bottle to the crowd.

"What is it good for?" asked an old woman who had made her way up near to the stage.

"What is it good for?" said Bartolomeo, repeating her question. "What is it not good for, mamma mia? 'Tis good for cholics and rheumatism-for the ague and for the fever; aye, per bacco, and for the plague itself."

"Santissima Virgine!" ejaculated the old woman, at the dreaded name of the plague. "If 'tis good for all these, 'twil do something for the rheum in my eyes, belike."

"Sicuro, madre mia, sicuro, 'tis the very thing for them. Here"—and he gave the poor old soul the bottle, and got her money.

"Ah, bella, bella," addressing a smart young widow, "thou hast nothing amiss with thine eyes, and needst no salve or wash for them, but I have the choicest cosmetic for thy cheeks, that will make them glow like the brazen horses above St. Mark's, there beyond, with the sun shining on them."

The widow simpered, and said nothing; nevertheless, when the quack held out a little box of unguent to her and said, "Only four zecchine, bella donna," the money speedily found its way into his hand, and the bottle into hers.

"Who wants julaps for all sorts of weakness of the limbs ? Ecco una medicina maravigliosa! una medicina santissima! and he held up high in the air a small paper packet "the receipt whereof was gotten from the blessed Saint Luke the physician himself. Know you not all of you Giuseppe Ladro, the Calzolaio, the cobler, that lives hard by? Well, his brother Tomaso, un povero diavolo, did I not cure him of a weakness and anguish of his loins, when he was doubled up-thus-cosi?" And the knave mimicked a man bent together with pain, in a manner so irresistibly comic, that the whole of the rabble burst into shouts of laughter.

And so the wily charlatan continued to sell his nostrums, and above all his love philtres and charms in all directions. Then, when he rested for a while, the others began to play and sing, and the jack-pudding amused the bystanders with all sorts of jokes and smart things suitable to his auditory.

After a short time, Bartolomeo again advanced to the front of the stage with a knife in his hand, and, bareing his left arm, he inflicted a frightful gash mid-way between the wrist and elbow that seemed to cut almost into the bone. The blood

spouted from the arteries so frightfully, that one would have thought the man could not fail to bleed to death in a few moments, and the shrieks of the women, and ejaculations of the men, at once testified to their horror and astonishment. The mountebank, however, poured upon the wound a dark glutinous balsam, and in a moment the blood was staunched, and when the arm was wiped the wound was not discoverable. This marvel being performed, he drew from the inexhaustible chest a large viper, and suffered the reptile to crawl and twine round his naked arm. He was just announcing to the wondering crowd how that this same viper, with whose sting he played, was lineally descended from the very reptile that stung the blessed Saint Paul at Melita, when his eye recog. nised Giulio and his friend at the outer extremity of his audience.

"Ah! noble young gentleman, excellent clarissimi!" cried he. "What can Bartolomeo do for you? Here is a mirific unguent from a cock's comb to make your beards grow; or will you have a philtre of agnus castus to cause all the doors of Venice to fly open to you, and to set every bella ragazzina in the town dying of love for your sweet persons ?"

The youths, as might be expected, only smiled but made no reply, and now endeavoured to make their way along the skirt of the crowd, seeing that the eyes of the people were turned upon them. But the ciarlatano was not to be thus baffled, for he well knew that a joke at the expense of a noble, when it could be indulged in safety, was ever relished by the people with the keenest enjoyment.

Nay, do not depart yet, eccelentissimi: we have got choice drugs for nobles. Here is a famous purge for pride; this other is a fomentation to bring down vanity; and here are sweating powders to assuage sensuality."

The young men had by this time pressed onward, and had reached almost the centre of the Piazza, and come right opposite the front of the mountebank's stage; Giulio turned round quickly at these last words, and looking scornfully at the utterer, exclaimed

"Per dio, varlet, wert thou not beneath my displeasure, it were well done to send thee to the office of the Cinque della Pace,' hard by. A score of stripes across thy back would, I trow, be a better medicine to cure thee of petulance, than all thy drugs and nostrums."

Bartolomeo was stung by the bitterness of the youth's rebuke, more than he would have been by louder or angrier words; and as the laws for the internal regulation of the city were administered somewhat laxly during the war, he was emboldened to take his revenge. So he continued his bantering :

"Brave gentlemen, would ye have the latest news from the troops, seeing that ye keep at home with your mothers; or shall I consult the stars and cast your nativities. Beseech you, let me calculate your horoscopes, noble sirs?" continued he, taking from the chest a paper covered with squares and triangles, and marked with strange characters. "Or would ye rather have a proof of my skill in the wonderful art of Palmistry? Show me your hands, sweet sirs, and I will tell you your fortunes, incontinently. Nay, then," he continued, seeing that the persons whom he thus interrogated made no reply, "nay, then, I shall show you, noble sirs, that Bartolomeo Venturini knows you better than you know yourselves. Your fates are written on your faces for him who can decipher the legend by the divine light of the science of metoposcopy." At this moment the faces of the young men were turned directly towards the speaker, and he proceeded to comment upon their features in a rapid and elevated voice, which gradually lost all the bitterness of tone in which he had so lately accosted them. Indeed, he was now apparently hurried away by the contemplation of his subject, forgetful of everything else; and one could well believe that he was as much the dupe of his own fantasies as were those whom he endeavoured to mystify-a result not uncommon with persons who had given themselves to the study of the occult sciences, as they were called.

"Ah! how plain are the planetary influences upon that

countenance," cried he-but to which of the youths he alluded it was impossible to discover ;-"I trace them as clearly as I would upon the heavens of a starlit night. How Mars dominates on that high forehead! Choleric, fiery, courageous, and, at the same time, haughty and somewhat reckless; he is one who brooks not readily to bend to the will of another. A fine nose, truly, with a well-defined nostril-ah! Venus lies there, as if it were her own Paphos; I find he is of a sweet nature, loving and somewhat voluptuous, and one who shall be loved with the whole heart of woman. But, then, I like not the curl of that lip: truly, Mercury is malign in the mouth, and crosses Venus with a sinister influence. Alas, what a pity! Assuredly, some evil awaits him, and that in a quarter whence he least expects it-sad, sad!"

The man muttered a few words which were inaudible: then turning, as it seemed, to the consideration of the other face, he said :

"Dio, what fine eyes!-Sol in the meridian and Luna at the full. Truly hast thou a benevolent and noble disposition: faithful in friendship, and true; ingenuous, yet secret; sincere, yet reserved and thoughtful; engaging manners; no craven anxiety about the future; imaginative, versatile, fond of travel and of knowledge, a lover of the arts. And yet see how Saturn lowers in that left ear, and flings his pale, leaden shadow across the sallow cheek! Ahime! thou, too, young man, shalt have thy hour of sorrow."

While the ciarlatano was uttering these disjointed comments upon the characters and destinies of the youths, mingled with the unintelligible jargon of that now-exploded lore which pretended to assign to each of the planets and zodiacal signs a particular feature over which it was said to exercise a special influence, the rabble listening the while in mute wonder,-the objects of his remarks, as if wrought on by an irresistible fascination, stood still, affected to some extent by the enthusiasm of the speaker. Now, however, they held on their way again, and had nearly affected their escape from the crowd, when the voice of the conjuror pursued them in deep and solemn accents:

"Thou shalt seek a bride in her house, but thou shalt find the angel of death there before thee! She whom thou wouldst take to thy heart shall be ravished from thee for ever. Through the portals whence the bride should go forth in the morning to the altar, shall the corpse be borne at evening to the grave. So do the planets portend, and so do I declare."

The words of this prophecy, though it was doubtful to which of the young men they were addressed, arrested at once the step and the attention of Giulio, and made him turn pale with a mingled feeling of rage and horror. Half drawing his short rapier, which was concealed beneath his cloak, he was springing forward to administer a chastisement upon Bartolomeo that would, in all probability, have defied the efficacy of his wonderful styptic to heal, when Jacques, seeing at a glance all the danger of so rash a step-for the people observed the movement and shewed symptoms of taking part with Bartolomeo,-seized his friend by the arm, and hurried him forward towards the church of San Marco.

"Nay, Giulio," said Jacques, as they stood beneath the western portico of the chapel, "thou shouldst not heed the random words of that poor devil. If the stars are to declare the course of our lives, they must be conjured by some more potent influences than yonder quacksalver can command."

Giulio laughed, but made no reply, and so they passed between the columns of porphyry and verd-antique which support the arches of the façade, and passed into the interior of the building.

But, despite of his gay laugh, the mind of the young Venetian was not altogether at ease. At the period of which we write, it will be borne in mind, men's intellects were but little emancipated from the trammels of gross superstition. A belief in the occult sciences was everywhere prevalent, and the most enlightened minds did not venture to discredit the marvels of witchcraft and demonology. Amongst other dark lore, astrology was then in high repute; and we cannot wonder at the universal credence it obtained in this age, when we recollect

that two centuries later, Catherine de Medicis and Cardinal Mazarin regulated their conduct in every affair of moment by astrological predictions; that Dee gained influence over the strong mind of our own Elizabeth, and visited the courts of Poland and Bohemia; and, later still, Lilly gave public lectures in astrology, calculated nativities, received a golden chain from the warlike Charles Gustavus of Sweden, and was consulted by Charles the First of England. It could not, therefore, be expected that Giulio Polani should be above the prejudices or the superstitions of his age; and though his disposition did not lead him to shrink at physical danger, in the case of supernatural influences he was no more valiant than others. Thus a morbid sensibility of feeling, increased, no doubt, by the interview of the preceding evening with Bianca, and the revival of all his old affections, made him apply the words of the ciarlatano to himself and to her whom he already hoped would yet be his bride; and without acknowledging to himself that he believed thoroughly in the prophetic powers of Bartolomeo, yet neither did he feel the assurance that the prophecy, strange as it seemed, was nothing more than what his friend Jacques had pronounced it—the random words of a mere quacksalver.

For a time, despite of himself, he was moody and abstracted; but not caring to let his friend see that he was really disturbed by what Jaques did not think worth a thought, though it might apply as well to the one as the other -he rallied his spirits, and by a strong effort shook off the uneasy feeling. Occupying himself in showing to the stranger the glories of a city of which every Venetian was justly proud, Giulio soon forgot the scene of the morning, and not a shadow lingered in his memory to mar the sunshine of his heart.

CHAPTER VII.

"O mercy God! what masking stuff is here? What's this? a sleeve?-'tis like a demi-cannon. What! up and down carved like an apple tart? Here snip and nip, and cut and slish and slash. Why what the devil callest thou this?"-Taming of the Shrew. Ir might be then an hour of the mid-day when the two friends sat together in one of the saloons of the Palazzo Polani. They had partaken of that meal which in those days preceded noon, though succeeding generations and the advance of civilisation has gradually postponed it, till, in in our own days, it is never witnessed by the sun. In a word, they had dined, and now sat in pleasant converse previous to going abroad for an afternoon's lounge. On the table beside them stood various flasks of those fine wines the Venetians imported from all parts.

The style in which the gentlemen were dressed indicated that their intention was to seek the places of fashionable resort. They had laid aside the plainer attire in which we found them in the early forenoon, and now appeared, each in the costume of his own country. Jacques wore a jupon, or cote-hardie reaching half-way down his thigh, at this period considered a very smart and fashionable curtailment of the length of these garments. It was of black velvet, and the sleeves opened midway in the upper arm, so that the arm itself could pass out at pleasure, leaving the rest of the sleeve to hang down till the wearer should be disposed to draw it on. At present it was not in use, and the part of the arm thus uncovered displayed the tight-fitting sleeve of the under garment or vest, which was of satin; the right sleeve was red, the left one yellow. A belt of embroidered leather passed loosely over the hips, so that it sloped downwards beneath the stomach; and from it depended, in front, a short sword or dagger in a sheath of crimson velvet, tipped with a ferule of gold. The hose, like the vest, fitted tightly to the person, from the thigh to the ankle, and was of the same colours and material as the inner sleeves, only that those colours were on opposite sides-the right leg being yellow, while the left was red. His shoes were made of black velvet, very long, and tapering to a sharp point at the toe, and were fastened to the foot by a band of black velvet which passed over the instep. Round his neck was a cape of crimson velvet edged with gold; and on a

chair near him lay his cap, which was also of crimson velvet, oramented with a large button of gold, and a plume of white feathers; across the cap were carelessly thrown his embroidered gloves.

The costume of Giulio Polani was very different from that of his guest, or from what the Venetian gentlemen of more advanced years were in the habit of wearing. But it will be remembered that Giulio was yet within the age of full manhood, and considerable latitude in dress was permitted to the young nobles during their non-age, before which period the sumptuary laws in relation to dress were not enforced. He wore a doublet of mulberry-coloured satin tabby, which was slashed on the breast and sleves in the form of a cross, through which appeared the lining of yellow taffeta; the dress was closed down the front from the neck by buttons or studs of gold, and terminated at the upper end by a lace ruff, and a chain of Venetian wrought gold hung midway down his breast. The hose matched the doublet in material and colour, and was slashed upon the thigh, and shoes of dark Spanish morocco leather completed his attire.

"And so thou sayest, Jacques, that thou findest this, our Venice, does not disappoint thy expectations?"

"In faith, no, Giulio; for once, Fame hath not been a liar. Your Chiesa di San Marco hath not its equal in the world. And the palaces of your nobles may compare with those of any other land."

"Ah, but thou shouldst see us under happier circumstances, when war has not drained us of our wealth and thinned our city of its noblest, and wealthiest, and gayest. But, come, there is still somewhat for thee to see, and thou shalt now make thy selection. Shall we take a turn or two în the piazza and piazzetta of Saint Mark? There you shall be sure to meet such of our claressimi and gay youths as are in town. 'Tis the fashionable promenade of Venice in the after

"Faith, Giulio, thou must arrange our mode of proceeding thyself. To me all is new."

"Well, then, let us first to the promenade. After that we shall stroll into the Merceria, where we shall not fail to see some of our fair dames and donzelle looking at the mercers' wares and the stationery. Afterwards we shall step into a gondola, and run down to the Murano to have a stroll in the public gardens, and taste the most delicious oysters in the world."

"And see your manufactory of crystal, Giulio, of which I have heard so much. Is it true what they report, that the glass has such an excellent virtue and purity that it will not bear the slightest taint of any poison, but will incontinently break if but a drop be poured into it?"

"Such is the common belief," answered the Venetian; "but I cannot certify the fact of my own knowledge." "Come, then, Giulio, let us make use of our time. old traveller, I know its value."

As an

The young men now rose from the table, and prepared to leave the house, Giulio throwing over his gay attire the Venetian cloak of sombre black; but to indemnify himself for this compliance with the gravity of the Venetians, he placed on his head a bonnet of rich morone velvet, having an ornamental band and a rich loop and button.

We shall not follow the two friends in their promenade through the piazza and the piazetta, nor detail how the young Venetian explained to his companion the manner in which the different offices and grades of the Venetian nobles were indicated by the various colours with which their gowns were faced, the length of the sleeves, or of the flaps that fell over the left shoulder. In one respect, however, Jacques observed, that they were all similarly attired, namely, in the flat black cap of felt, which was very low and small and had no brim, and in the small band of linen that fell down not more than an inch or two. Giulio encountered more than one of those who had been his intimate companions before he had gone to travel; the meeting in those cases was in remarkable contrast to the general sobriety of demeanour which the Venetians affected. They embraced and kissed each other on the cheeks,

Giulio laughed heartily, as he surveyed the stately gentlewoman to whom his friend alluded.

"Ah, carrissimo!" he replied, "that is indeed a very noble signora, as you would have at once known from the height of her chioppine, had you been familiar with these our customs of Venice. That is the lady Lucretzia Polani, my very honoured kinswoman, one of the most pious matrons, as well as the most inveterate gossips, in all Venice. I dare be sworn she is now going to gratify her vanity for dress in some of the fashionable shops, after which she will most likely turn her steps to the chiesa to perform her devotions. Ah! there, too, is my cousin, her fair daughter Caterina.".

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What, that donzella with the huge veil of pale yellow silk, which is quilled in such a strange fashion? in good sooth, it is slight and aerial as gossamer."

"And as transparent as a summer cloud. I warrant me, Jacques, you have no difficulty in discovering through it that Caterina is a charming brunette, with a pair of black eyes that sparkle like stars at midnight."

“And a finely-turned shoulder and bosom,” added Jacques, which that cobweb kerchief of lawn doth ill conceal." "At all events this meeting is most fortunate; let us pay our respects; I shall make you known to the ladies."

So saying, Giulio advanced, and lifting his bonnet from his head (a reverence which Venetians only showed to men of the highest rank and to ladies), and making a profound and courteous obeisance, said:

"I salute the noble Signora Lucretzia Polani. Have I the felicity to find her excellency in the enjoyment of good health ?"

The matron drew herself up haughtily, not recognising the person who addressed her; but the sharper eyes and quicker memory of Caterina in a moment discovered who the seeming stranger was, and so, with a joyous exclamation, she said:

"Why, dearest mother, have you forgotten our kinsman, Giulio ?"

"Ah, Santissima Maria, is it possible?" said the elder lady.

""Tis even as my fair cousin hath said,” replied Giulio; "let me thank her for her kind recognition," and he saluted the blushing beauty with more warmth and gallantry than he had shown towards the matron.

"Well, Giulio, I am heartily glad to see thee, child; why, thou art grown a man outright. But when did you return to Venice? where did you come from? what have you been doing? how are you? what news from the count, your father? Ah, I have a thousand questions to ask you, and so many things to tell you, too; who is that forestiere?" This last she added in a lower tone, glancing towards Giulio's friend, who stood a little apart.

"With your excellency's permission I will make known to you my most honoured friend and sometime companion in Paris, the Sieur Jacques Dela Mole."

The matron returned the bow of the young gentlemen with a gracious yet ceremonious movement of the head; the bright eyes of Caterina gave a warmer acknowledgment to the courtly salutation, which the youth concluded with a glance of respectful admiration and a gallant pressure of his hand upon his heart.

The matron turned towards Giulio and resumed

"I am just going to a mercer's booth yonder, to see some Dalmatian velvets, which he hath apprised me have just arrived to him, and are, he says, of rare beauty. Shall I have the honour of your escort and that of your friend, and the benefit of your judgments in the matter? You travellers should be judges of everything."

The gentlemen assented. Giulio placed himself at the right side of his elder relative, while Jacques attached himself to the younger lady. When they had inspected the merchant's wares, the matron selected a figured velvet cloth, richly embroidered with gold, and demanded its price.

"Ah!" said the crafty mercer, with an obsequious bow, "the Signora's taste is unimpeachable; that is the finest cloth of velvet in Venice. Her highness the Dogaressa has as yet been the only lady to whom I have shown it, and she has purchased a robe of it."

This announcement at once decided the lady's choice, and she accordingly ordered a mantle of the costly fabric. Let not our readers be surprised at this extravagance of a Venetian lady. At the period of which we write, their expensive luxury in dress had reached a height that must have been very formidable to their lords, with whose graver apparel that of their wives and daughters so strikingly contrasted. To such a pitch had the feminine passion for dress arisen, that in the beginning of the fifteenth century some of the Venetian ladies appeared in robes that were covered over with gold, and of such vastness that the sleeves touched the ground. The senate was at length obliged to interfere to check this perilous mania, and by a sumptuary law of the year 1402, it was ordered that the sleeves of the ladies' robes should not exceed in circumference eight quarters, and that the robes themselves should not be wider than eight bracchia. As to the matter of the robes of goid, "it appeared," in the words of an old Venetian writer, "to be a very grave affair to the fathers," and accordingly they ordained that it should not be lawful for any woman to be so attired for the future. At this day one smiles to think of the dread powers of the law being brought to bear upon such things as the cut of a lady's sleeve or the texture of her garments. Were such tyranny attempted to be recorded upon our statute-book in the benign reign of Queen Victoria, we verily believe that "the better half" of the nation would be in a state of insurrection, and the modistes of the kingdom would organise the overthrow of the ministry.

“Now,” said the elder lady, when she had completed her purchase, "I am going to the chiesa; one, you know, my dear young friend, should never be remiss in the discharge of religious duties. I never am. Is not that so, Caterina ?"

"Indeed it is, dearest mother," said the girl; "I sometimes think your over strict devotion may injure your health."

"I am a good Catholic, I humbly trust," replied the lady, with a self-satisfied air that partook but little of humility. "Gentlemen, will you be disposed to accompany us to prayers?"

An arch smile lurked on the lips of the daughter, which her thin veil could not entirely conceal, at this invitation from her mother. The young men, however, excused themselves on the score of previous engagements.

"Ah, che infortunio!" replied the matron. "Well, you must assuredly call to see me before evening. We shall be at home in an hour, and shall be happy to receive the Sieur de la Mole at our Palazzo."

A willing assent was given to this invitation, and the two parties took leave of each other. The ladies proceeded to their devotions, while Giulio and his friend stepped into a gondola, and glided through the small canals in a northeasterly direction, till they emerged into the lagunes and entered into the canal leading to the island of Murano.

Then, as now, the island of Murano was, to use the language of one of our own countrymen who visited it some centuries ago, a very delectable and populous place, having many faire buildings both public and private, and divers very pleasant gardens;" it is not, therefore, to be wondered that the two friends spent a considerable time in so agreeable a locality. The sun was, it might be, half-way on his westward journey

towards the blue hills of Verona, when the young men found themselves again in Venice.

"And now," said Giulio, "I propose we pay our promised visit to Madonna Lucretzia. You will find an hour pass away not unpleasantly, believe me, with her sprightly daughter; for the better insuring whereof, I shall take upon myself to occupy her honoured mother.”

"An excellent arrangement," said Jacques, smiling; "let us proceed forthwith."

The prow of the gondola was turned in the direction indi. cated by Giulio, and in a few moments they entered the prin cipal reception-room of the palazzo.

We will not venture to affirm that either of the youths felt any very great disappointment when they found that the beautiful Caterina was its only occupant. She was superbly clothed in a dress of rich flounced brocade, so fashioned as to expose to view the bosom and back to an extent that, in our days and country, would be thought scarcely consistent with maidenly propriety; but the truth is, that the over strictness exercised over the ladies of Venice in their attire and deportment out of doors, produced the natural result of stimulating them to greater licence in their houses. The waist was long, so as to allow room for the display of a rich stomacher; the neck was encircled by an enormous quilled ruff of bone-lace, and the yellow veil of the morning was replaced by one of white gauze, which was thrown back from the head, and stood out from the shoulders like an immense wing; in her hand she held a circular fan, and over her head towered the mass of crisped curls in two mountains glittering with unguents that made them look like hills in the sunset. In a few moments a waiting-maid, fantastically dressed, as was the habit of her class, entered, bearing from the signora a request that Giulio would come to her in her dressing-room, a request with which he immediately complied, leaving his fair cousin and his agreeable friend to the enjoyment of a tête-a-tête.

Madonna Lucretzia Polani received her young kinsman within the very penetralia of the shrine-a favour only conceded to those who are nearly allied, or on terms of the most familiar intimacy. It so happened, that at the moment, an operation of a most important and mysterious nature was in progress; and as it was peculiar to Venetian ladies, and has now, alas! with many another peculiarity - things of wisdom and glory as well as of vanity and folly-passed away for ever, we shall count ourselves fortunate in being able to record it for the admiration, if not for the imitation, of the fair daughters of our own land. To speak plainly, then, the noble dame was then undergoing that peculiar process by which the Venetian chevelure was worked up into that wonderful formation which we have already alluded to. Be it known, then, that the Lady Lucretzia sat in a window which commanded a south-western aspect, so that the sun at the moment was shining strongly into the room through the open jalousies; her hair was gathered up all round her head, and enclosed within a high circlet of lead, somewhat like a crown, which fitted close to the head; within this, a servingmaiden poured certain oleaginous and perfumed drugs, the properties of which were to dye the hair of a light colour, a hue much affected by the Venetian women, as enhancing, the brilliancy of a dark complexion, which they considered the most beautiful. The lady held a mirror in her hand, and from time to time inspected the operation; and when she deemed that a sufficient quantity of the dye had been absorbed by her hair she then directed the next step in the process, which was to fling back her hair and spread it out over the rim of the leaden circlet, so that it was exposed to the sun, which gradually bleached and dried it. This was a slow and tedious process one may judge; but vanity is a passion that is full of patience and as enduring as charity itself. It was in this stage of the proceeding that Giulio arrived, and the lady hailed his coming, as it afforded an agreeable mode of alleviating the tedium of the toilette, and the best opportunity of satisfying her love of acquiring and communicating everything new or interesting.