vellum of the manuscripts. A missal without illumination was, according to his taste, a new church without painted windows.

It is easy to conceive how happy his profession rendered him, exercising it as he did with such a conviction, and such a faith. It proved an effectual consolation to him under many afflictions, public as well as private. His country was a prey to the foreigner, his city torn asunder by factions, even his peaceable quarter saw many days of trouble when the great massacre arose at the voice of Caboche; he lost too, a dearly-beloved wife, the last and most poignant of all his misfortunes. Ah, well! he strove to forget all in the practice of his cherished art, and would have passed a most happy old age, if his only son, Eloi, had not been a spendthrift and an idler. To have seen him take such pride in the art, that he might one day prove a worthy successor, would have been a subject of the highest felicity to his father; but Eloi's sole happiness was centred in rambling about the city, playing the gentleman, and attacking the watch. Maître Thibault Gaulmin nevertheless consoled himself. What father ever despairs the reformation of his child? He consoled himself with the thought that Eloi was yet but a youth, twenty years old at most, and that he should live long enough, he, the excellent father, to see his son become sage, orderly, and above all a skilful illuminator.

Alas! this was, as is too often the case, a deceitful hope; for on the last day of the year 1459, almost at the moment old Thibault Gaulmin framed to himself such cheering prospects, he died. And, of a verity, it was a timely death; he died just as the art of printing arose to slay him; he withdrew himself, as it were, from the blows of a mortal enemy. Towards the termination of his malady, which was a protracted one, the famous Bible without date arrived from Mayence, the first book published from the workshop of Faust. It may be conceived what anxiety such an apparition produced in the Rue des Ecrivains: pens filled with jetblack or everlasting red ink, pencils steeped in gold and carmine, fell from the despairing hands of sworn scribes and illuminators. Nicholas Flavel would have died of the shock; and Maître Thibault Gaulmin assuredly have yielded his last sigh on beholding the dateless book; or had he survived that blow, it would only have been to expire of

grief in 1483, when the first printingpress was established at the Sorbonne. Such an infliction, I repeat, was not reserved for the worthy Gaulmin, as his son had the filial piety to preserve inviolate, during the few days yet remaining to him, the calm which a good conscience bestows, by leaving his father to the last hour in entire ignorance of the arrival of that scourge which had come to give the death-blow to calligraphy and illumination.

Maître Gaulmin, then, departed from this world in peace, after having decreed that a solemn mass should be celebrated at St. Jacques la Boucherie for the peace of his soul, and bequeathing his son a good fortune of about eight thousand livres. Eloi, during the lifetime of his father, had felt the curb, wild as were his pranks, for Maître Thibault kept the key of the money-chest, and kept it right fast. But scarce had death caused him to loose his hold of it, ere his son commenced to live like a great seigneur. He purchased an hôtel in the Rue St. Antoine, that he might dwell in the neighbourhood of the court, where he had introduced himself; thanks to the pomp which he so lavishly displayed, the fêtes that he so frequently gave to some of its great ladies, and more especially to the magnificently illuminated missals which composed the precious stock of his father, and which the printing-press could never have power to depreciate. These books of devotion procured him introduction to more than one noble personage, and they proved powerful mediators in the establishment of a flirtation-not of an affection, for Eloi had but little of constancy in his composition. He expended a few bags of crowns in making presents to one lady, and then flirted with another, disbursing as much, changing and changing ever, wooing and wasting as each folly prompted so effectually, that on finding his heart really captive to the charms of Alienor, there only remained to him two thousand livres of his fortune. he truly felt as much love for her as his fickle nature was capable of, and knew but one means of obtaining hers in return, he thought of husbanding the remainder of the treasure amassed by Maître Thibault Gaulmin, in the Rue des Ecrivains, the result of sixty years' labour, and espousing Alienor. In the latter project he was successful. Alienor, a gentle and amiable being, devotedly attached to her husband, had often endeavoured to dissuade him from his

As

foolish prodigality; not through any fear of falling into poverty, for she could not believe him so insensate as to keep up such an expensive mansion, without being possessed of permanent and commensurate means; but that it sometimes -appeared to her as if Eloi were anxious to recompense her affection by a so profuse expenditure; an affection so true, so pure, so disinterested, that Alienor felt heart-broken at the bare supposition of her husband's rating it by the value of gold. Whenever this idea occurred to her therefore, she became pensive, downcast, and in tears would ask Eloi whether he no longer loved her; and Eloi kissing the tears from her eyes, consoled her with the promise of putting an end to that extravagance which she characterised as worse than folly; her love was far too elevated, she would whisper him, for the weight of gold to lower it earthwards, and then he pledged himself to lead a humble life with her-"and a happier!" added Alienor whilst covering his forehead with kisses.

Eloi kept his word at last; it was now highly necessary he should, for his strong-box was daily emptying itself at a most terrific rate. No more balls, no more presents, no more costly fêtes, and Alienor thanked him for the sacrifices he made for her sake: she now had him longer and more often alone at her side; he belonged to her more than ever, and her love for him augmented itself a thousand-fold.

"Should we not be," she would often say in the tone of a fond, doating woman, "should we not be just as happy, us two, near one another, in a mansion of smaller dimensions and less splendour, than in these vast apartments, hung with silk and velvet? We should be even still less separated."

:

She had perceived the embarrassment in which Eloi found himself, and like a loving and devoted wife, with all the delicacy of her sex, thus reassured his mind upon what a change of fortune might have led him to fear on her part. Eloi, doubtless thought so, as he shewed great emotion when she thus addressed him for to speak plain truth, he was hurrying on towards total deprivation; nothing more of his riches remained than his mansion, his splendid arras hangings, his Parisian carpets, and his money-coffer of sandal-wood, incrusted with gold and ivory. The latter was still in his possession, but empty with a frightful vacuum, a vacuum enough to engender the vertigo in whomsoever

peered to the bottom of it; nothing more was there than a small missal, the exquisite chef d'œuvre of Maître Thibault Gaulmin, upon which he had laboured in secret at every period of his life, and which when well nigh his last hour he had buried in his strong coffer under his riches, as the most precious of all his treasures. Eloi came in search of it; he would, doubtless, much rather have found several good carolus; but this elaborate manuscript was of great value, and the value of which was still further enhanced, since the printing-press had destroyed the art which produced it. He went forth, therefore, to seek a Jew who dwelt near the palais des Tournelles, an old acquaintance of his, with whom he had had dealings during his father's lifetime; he determined to sell him this beautiful missal, but a scruple, however, still pre-occupied his mind. He feared the commission of a mortal sin in trafficing a mass book with a Jew. He gazed anxiously around him on passing near the Rue des Celestins, in the hope of seeing some priest whom he might profitably consult upon this point, when he perceived a little fresh and rosy-looking nun, who, doubtless had just quitted her convent in the Rue des Barrés. Our gallant Eloi very quickly forgot Jew, missal, the empty money-coffer, and the tender Alienor, at the sight of that little red and white visage, encircled by a coif not a whit whiter than the forehead it but half concealed.

"Sister! sister!" cried he, in a soft voice, whilst walking gently behind her, "sister."

The nun thrown off her guard, and who, moreover, had not made a vow of silence, like the sisterhood of Sainte Claire, located a short time afterwards by the royal saint, Louis, in their convent of Ave Maria: the nun replied"Monseigneur !"

His costume was so rich he could be nothing less than a seigneur.

She had thus given Eloi permission, by answering him, to pursue the conversation, and he was not the man to let slip such an opportunity.

"Sister," continued he, in a caressing tone, whilst drawing forth the precious missal, "my sister!-but what is your name?"

The nun, who had perceived, as Eloi wished her, the book with its violet binding and clasps of gold, cast down her eyes.

Agnès la Briarde," said she, in a faint voice.

"Well! pretty Agnès la Briarde, what think you of this pretty book? Is not its azure purer than that of the sky, its gold more radiant than the sunrays of summer, the violet softer than that of Monsieur the Archbishop's camail, and the red as brilliant as that of your rosy lips ?"

True, she had made a vow of chastity, but not of deafness, when any one should accost her with words of gallantry; so she smiled, as the common saying expresses it, like an angel. Was it at seeing such a beauteous missal between her hands, or so handsome and graceful a cavalier before her? So far is certain, that Eloi whilst thus speaking to her withdrew himself under the portal of an hotel, and she in spite of herself followed him, the poor nun! and it was most amusing to see the joyful bound she made when he said,

"This book is yours, fair Agnès, but

These gracious words accompanying an action so munificent, caused her such violent emotion, and she was altogether so greatly overcome, that she disappeared before the eyes of the gallant, who remained utterly confounded, and not knowing on which side to turn his head.

When somewhat recovered from his stupefaction, he began, too late, to reflect. He had just thrown away his last resource, and there was not a single sou parisis in his magnificent hôtel: he re-entered it then sorrowfully enough, and moodily threw himself upon a couch, the farthest from that on which Alienor was seated. He remained for the space of ten minutes silently contemplating with mournful gaze, that vain shew which surrounded him with the gnawing remembrance of his empty purse, such opulence rendered the feeling of his misery still more poignant, and he found himself sad and wretched as a withered corpse clothed in splendid

vestments.

"What ails thee, dear love?" at length asked Alienor embracing him, "thou hast a despairing sadness to-day-thou wilt be obliged at last to avow it ;" and she smiled as she thus continued, "my good, my dear Eloi, it is because thou art poor, thou hast ruined thyself for me; I nevertheless warned thee of ithave often supplicated thee with clasped hands to practise moderation; but all is finished now; reproach is worse than useless. Come, I love thee devotedly, and shall learn how to work for thy support;

and walking hand in hand through life each leaning on the other, we will make a happy journey even unto the end."

Of a verity there was another chagrin more cutting to the heart of Eloi than his poverty; it was the sudden disappearance of the nun, with very little hope of ever seeing her again. People now-a-days, attach very little faith to love at first sight; romances have disgusted us with it; nevertheless those secret sympathies are in existence, those mysterious attractions which communicate together and mingle with one another in a single glance; and most unequivocally Eloi had fallen in lovehead over ears in love, in love to such a pitch as to give away on the faith of a single smile, his precious, last, and only resource. He preferred rather, in order to dissimulate this true cause of his grief, confessing all his distress Alienor; and whilst with tremulous voice and bowed head, he proceeded in such sorrowful avowal, his wife unclasped her golden bracelets and a necklace of pearls, to which a diamond cross was suspended.

to

"Take, Eloi, take these jewels. You wished me to try them on, to see whether they would render me beautiful. No, no! they ill become me now, and I find myself a hundred fold more light of heart without these costly gauds, which weigh me down like chains-look, look, how coquettish I am; think you not my neck white enough to dispense even with pure pearls, and my arm as well turned when lacking the golden bracelet!"

A thousand gentle caresses accompanied these words, spoken whilst divesting herself of the jewels and placing them in the hands of Eloi; for several moments he refused the generous offer, and then, after having examined the cross by a succession of furtive glances, with a smile announcing the idea of some new project, he accepted it. He was, doubtless, calculating the sum of money the precious stones might procure him. That we shall shortly see. The next morning he bent his steps towards the dwelling of the Jew, with the diamonds and pearls, of which he had so nobly despoiled Alienor, when, at the corner of the Rue Saint Paul, he descried before him guess whom Agnès la Briarde. The blood rushed to his head in an impetuous current, his heart failed him, and he reeled like one drunk. The nun was in the act of ascending the steps of the church; yielding to that irresistible infatuation

which had already once before hurried him away, he mounted the steps behind her, dipped his finger in the holy-water vase, and graciously extended it towards

her.

Agnès raised her head to gaze upon the countenance to which so white a hand appertained, and that had performed for her so devout an office, and on recognizing Eloi, gave again the same sweet smile, a smile like that of the preceding evening. They were in the lower end of the nave, dark at all times, but especially gloomy on that day, for clouds enveloped the sky, and the church was empty.

Agnès, gentle sister Agnès," cried he in a timid and agitated voice, like that of a true lover; " Agnès, how well would a hood of scarlet velvet become your white forehead!" To this compliment she made a slight reverence, as though before the altar-" Agnès, how advantageously would that stomacher be replaced by folds of snowy lace!" she cast down her eyes-" and instead of that black cross suspended from your neck," whilst speaking thus he drew the diamond cross from his vest, "how marvellously well this glittering one would look!"

"Ah! monseigneur !" replied the nun with emotion, "we have made a vow of poverty !"

This observation ought to have reminded Eloi, that he had made no such vow; but he went heedlessly on. He was fascinated, lost in his indomitable passion for Agnès, and played with the bauble so as to cause it to emit a shower of sparkles amid the gloom.

"It is as dazzling as the altar upon Christmas eve, monseigneur!"

"Brilliant as your eyes, Agnès !" And carried away by his own words, which were dictated by a heart so madly smitten, he encircled the neck of the nun with the pearl necklace, and felt enraptured at the sight of the cross lying upon her bosom. So thoroughly immersed was he in contemplation and ecstasy, that in the end he no longer saw either cross, necklace, or nun-all three had disappeared.

"It must be the fiend then!" cried he on emerging from his stupor. "I have given her all my wealth, I have let her carry every thing away without asking for the slightest recompense, and I feel that I could have given her my very life without even the reservation of a few hours to pass in her society."

It was thus he held converse with

himself, whilst directing his steps towards the quarter wherein the Jew dwelt, from whom he obtained very little money for his golden bracelets. He then returned to his hôtel, utterly dejected, as one may easily imagine; for a sorrowful thing is it to meet again the gaze of a woman one ought truly to love, and whom one loves no longer; a bitter thing is it to receive caresses which become poignant reproaches, the more poignant, because rendered such by one's own misdeeds. Such was the position of Eloi, and the more he sought to avoid the tender words and embraces of Alienor, the more prodigal was she of them, in the hope of consoling him. She told him she could embroider ornaments for the churches and banners, so that she might but pass her whole life with him, her whole life! the echo of these words might be interrupted in the sighs, with which Eloi received those protestations of devotedness and eternal love.

"Be less desponding, my Eloi, or of a truth I shall not dare to leave thee alone to-day."

It recurred to his mind that she was engaged to pass the day and night at the house of an old relative; he then assumed, as well as he was able, a calmer and more smiling air; and on seeing him thus, Alienor quitted him after a thousand adieus and caresses.

When she had fairly left the house, he breathed again freely, like a man relieved from some overwhelming weight, and soon formed the resolution of returning to trace the nun; and for two entire hours, he traversed again and again some twenty times in succession the tour of the quarter Saint Paul, twenty times he passed before the fine portal of the convent, twenty times before the church of Saint Paul, and could not persuade himself to re-enter his hôtel until after night-fall. He ordered the two last wax candles that remained to be lighted; which fact the domestic took especial care to duly remark upon, deeming it a good occasion to refresh his master's mind upon the circumstance of his not having received any wages for a long period. When he was at last alone, and saw himself amid those vast and sumptuous apartments that he must inevitably very shortly quit, he felt his heart crushed within him; for he loved an easy and luxurious life, and then it is so painful to fall when, whether by right or wrong, by folly or wisdom, one has raised oneself up in the world. It appeared to him impossible

that he could ever resolve upon quitting that magnificent mansion, with all its splendid furniture. He wandered with hasty strides up and down his vast saloons, and his heavy footfalls dully resounded upon the thick carpets. "How!" ejaculated he, "I, to be so tricked, so ridiculed, like a very novice, and by a girl too, a nun!" And these irritations of his wounded self-love, only served to envenom still more the wound caused by his phrensied passion. In fine, after wandering for two long hours up and down, from chamber to chamber, raving, cursing, forswearing heaven and all its saints, he threw himself into a huge fauteuil, into which he plunged as though it were an abyss, after a long

silence.

"I would willingly give the moiety of my soul to the devil!" cried he aloud, (the moiety! only, you see, a capitula tion of conscience truly worthy even of our own age). Call him not even by a gesture, by a thought; bear ever in mind the warning with which that curious book written by Faust* himself concludes, "Above all things, beware of entering into compacts with these spirits, that it may not fare with you as it has fared with me."

Scarcely had he uttered these words, ere he perceived a transparent vapour rise from before him; at first small, then larger and more dense, increasing gradually its dimensions and opacity until it attained the height of his own stature, terror having caused him to start to his feet. He thought the carpet and flooring must have taken fire, and looked eagerly round on all sides, when in the depth of the black smoke which was darkening around him, he discerned two huge glowing eyes, twinkling like expiring lamps, and two white rows of teeth gnashing or laughing, laughing or gnashing, it was either one or the other.

Eloi fell back again into his fauteuil at full length. A long dingy hand thrust itself from the cloud and passed thrice over the entire length of Eloi's body, over the whole of his left side, the side

• Reprinted by Horst, Zauber Bibliothek, Vol. iii, p. 86, with the following title, "Dr. J. Faust's Book of Miracles, Art and Wonders, or the Black Raven,-also called the Threefold Hell-compulsion, wherewith I compelled the spirits to bring me whatsoever things I pleased, whether gold or silver, treasure great and small, and the spring-root (a magic plant), and whatever other such things are upon the earth; all this have I brought to pass by means of this book, and was also able to dismiss the spirits as often as I pleased."

of the heart. An infernal magnetism by which the fiend took possession of the moiety of his soul.

After such an operation, it may be easily conceived that Eloi must have remained in a long and protracted stupor. When at length he came to himself, the clock of the hôtel Saint Paul was striking midnight. He arose, balanced himself for a space upon his tottering legs, that scarcely sustained his weight. He seemed as if he were drunk, (and no wonder at it), and gazed with terrified looks at that side of the chamber where he had seen the formidable apparition, but perceiving it no longer, he threw himself again into his fauteuil and fell asleep. Thereupon he had one of the strangest dreams,-just such a nightmare as might have been expected from his novel situation. He distinctly saw within his body, the blood, on leaving the heart, divide itself into two distinct currents, like the waters of two rivers at the point where they are united together. The current of the left side was rapid and disorderly, that of the right side calm and regular; the heart had consequently two different pulsations; he heard them with the utmost terror in the delirious dream that this preternatural state had necessarily produced. The one beating hurriedly and unequal, with high fever, the other, with even and harmonious palpitations, in all the tranquillity of health; one moiety of the soul subject to the higher or celestial powers, and the other to the lower or infernal. It was a deplorable struggle that which he had contrived to establish within his system, not for the space of that night only, but the remainder of his life. It must needs happen, to finally restore inward repose, that one of the two powers prevail, from whence would result an incessant combat, not only from day to day, but from hour to hour.

Eloi awoke at break of day; his waxen tapers were expiring in the sockets, and the first streaks of morning, struggling through the heavy windowtapestry, mingled with their dying rays, and produced a species of nebulous light which he contemplated with half-closed eyes. He imagined he saw again the vapour of the preceding night; he eagerly sought to define it, and stretched forward his arm towards the side on which it had risen; and if he had not found himself still in his fauteuil, assuredly he would have attributed the midnight scene to some horrible dream like the