instead of what I asked for, may be had for gathering on the castle-ditch at Aleppo.'

You are a rude man,' said the Jew; and, besides, I ave no better than that or if I ave, I will not sell it without order of a physician-or without you tell me vat you make of it.'

The artist made brief answer in a language of which Tressilian could not understand a word, and which seemed to strike the Jew with the utmost as tonishment. He stared upon Wayland like one who has suddenly recog nized some mighty hero or dreaded potentate, in the person of an unknown and unmarked stranger. Holy Elias!' he exclaimed, when he had re covered the first stunning effects of his surprise; and then passing from his former suspicious and surly manner to the very extremity of obsequious. ness, he cringed low to the artist, and besought him to enter his poor house, to bless his miserable threshold by crossing it.

Vill you not taste a cup with the poor Jew, Zacharias Yoglan ?—Vill you Tokay ave?-vill you Lachrymæ taste ?-vill you' "You offend in your proffers,' said Wayland; require of you, and forbear further discourse.'

minister to me in what I

The rebuked Israelite took his bunch of keys, and opening with circum spection a cabinet which seemed more strongly secured than the other cases of drugs and medicines amongst which it stood, he drew out a little secret drawer, having a glass lid, and containing a small portion of a black pow. der. This he offered to Wayland, his manner conveying the deepest de votion towards him, though an avaricious and jealous expression which seemed to grudge every grain of what his customer was about to possess himself, disputed ground in his countenance, with the obsequious deference which he desired it should exhibit.

'Have you scales?' said Wayland.

The Jew pointed to those which lay ready for common use in the shop, but he did so with a puzzled expression of doubt and fear, which did not es cape the artist.

They must be other than these,' said Wayland sternly; know you not that holy things lose their virtue if weighed in an unjust balance?"

The Jew hung his head, took from a steel-plated casket a pair of scales beautifully mounted, and said as he adjusted them for the artist's use,With these I do mine own experiment—one hair of the high-priest's beard would turn them.'

'It suffices,' said the artist; and weighed out two drachms for himself of the black powder, which he very carefully folded up, and put into his pouch with the other drugs. He then demanded the price of the Jew, who an swered, shaking his head and bowing,

"No price-no, nothing at all from such as you. But you will see the poor Jew again? you will look into his laboratory, where, God help him, he hath dried himself to the substance of the withered gourd of Jonah the holy prophet--You vill have pity on him, and shew him one little step on the great road?'

I

Hush!' said Wayland, laying his finger mysteriously on his mouth, It may be we shall meet again-thou hast already the Schah-majm, as thine own Rabbis call it-the general creation; watch therefore, and pray, for thou must attain the knowledge of Alchahest Elixir, Samech, ere I may commune further with thee.' Then returning with a slight nod the rever ential conges of the Jew, he walked gravely up the lane, followed by his master, whose first observation on the scene he had just witnessed, was, that Wayland ought to have paid the man for his drug, whatever it was.

I pay him?' said the artist; May the foul fiend pay me if I do!---Had it not been that I thought it might displease your worship, I would have had an ounce or two of gold out of him, in exchange of the same just - weight of brick-dust.'

I advise you to practise no such knavery while waiting upon me,' said Tressilian.

'Did I not say,' answered the artist,' that for that reason alone, I forbore him for the present.-Knavery call you it?-why, yonder wretched skeleton hath wealth sufficient to pave the whole lane he lives in with dollars, yet scarce miss them out of his own iron chest; yet he goes mad after the philosopher's stone-and besides he would have cheated a poor serving-man, as he thought me at first, with trash that was not worth a penny-Match for match, quoth the devil to the collier; if his false medicine was worth my good crowns, my true brick-dust is as well worth his good gold.'

It may be so for aught I know,' said Tressilian,' in dealing amongst Jews and apothecaries; but understand, that to have such tricks of legerdemain practised by one attending on me, diminishes my honour, and that I will not permit them. I trust thou hast made up thy purchases?'

'I have, sir,' replied Wayland; and with these drugs will I, this very day, compound the true orvietan, that noble medicine which is so seldom found genuine and effective within these realms of Europe, for want of that most rare and precious drug which I got but now from Yoglan.'

'But why not have made all your purchases at one shop?" said his master; we have lost nearly an hour in running from one pounder of simples to another.'

Content you, sir,' said Wayland. No man shall learn my secret; and it would not be mine long, were I to buy all my materials from one chemist.'

They now returned to their inn, (the famous Bell-Savage) and while the Lord Sussex's servant prepared the horses for their journey, Wayland, obtained from the cook the service of mortar, shut himself up in a private chamber, where he mixed, pounded, and amalgamated the drugs which he had bought, each in its due proportion, with a readiness and address that plainly shewed him well practised in all the manual operations of phar

macy.

By the time Wayland's electuary was prepared, the horses were ready, and a short hour's riding brought them to the present habitation of Lord Sussex, an ancient house, called Say's Court, near Deptford, which had long pertained to a family of that name, but had for upwards of a century, been possessed by the ancient and honourable family of Evelyn. The present representative of that ancient house took a deep interest in the Earl of Sussex, and had willingly accommodated both him and his numerous retinue in his hospitable mansion. Say's Court was afterwards the residence of the celebrated Mr. Evelyn, whose Silva' is still the manual of British planters; and whose life, manners, and principles, as illustrated in his Memoirs, ought equally to be the manual of English gentlemen.

CHAPTER XIV.

This is rare news thou tell'st me, my good fellow;
There are two bulls fierce battling on the green
For one fair heifer-if the one goes down

The dale will be more peaceful, and the herd,
Which have small interest in their brulziement,
May pasture there in peace.

OLD PLAY.

SAY'S COURT was watched like a beleaguered fort; and so high rose the suspicions of the time, that Tressilian and his attendants were stopped and questioned repeatedly by the centinels, both on foot and horseback, as they approached the abode of the sick Earl. In truth, the high rank which Sussex held in Queen Elizabeth's favour, and his known and avowed rivalry of the Earl of Leicester, caused the utmost importance to be attached to his welfare; for, at that period we treat of, all men doubted whether he or the Earl of Leicester might ultimately have the higher rank in her regard.

Elizabeth, like many of her sex, was fond of governing by factions, so as to balance two opposing interests, and reserve in her own hand the pow er of making either predominant, as the interest of the state, or perhaps as her own female caprice, (for to that foible even she was not superior,) might finally determine. To finesse-to hold the cards-to oppose one interest to another-to bridle him who thought himself highest in her esteem, by the fears he must entertain of another equally trusted, if not equally beloved, were arts which she used through her reign, and which enabled her, though frequently giving way to the weakness of favouritism, to prevent most of its evil effects on her kingdom and government.

The two nobles, who at present stood as rivals in her favour, possessed yery different pretensions to share it; yet it might be in general said, that the Earl of Sussex had been most serviceable to the queen, while Leicester was most dear to the woman. Sussex was, according to the phrase of the times, a martialist; had done good service in Ireland, and in Scotland, and especially in the great northern rebellion, in 1569, which was quelled in a great measure, by his military talents. He was, therefore, naturally surrounded and looked up to by those who wished to make arms their road to distinction. The Earl of Sussex, moreover, was of more ancient and honourable descent than his rival, uniting in his person the representation of the Fitz Walters, as well as of the Ratcliffes, while the scutcheon of Leices ter was stained by the degradation of his grandfather, the oppressive minister of Henry VII., and scarce improved by that of his father, the unhappy Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, executed on Tower-Hill, August 22, 1553. But in person, features, and address, weapons so formidable in the court of a female sovereign, Leicester had advantage more than sufficient to counterbalance the military services, high blood, and frank bearing of the Earl of Sussex; and he bore in the eye of the court and kingdom, the higher share in Elizabeth's favour, though (for such was her uniform policy by no means so decidedly expressed as to warrant him against the final preponderance of his rival's pretensions. The illness of Sussex therefore hap pened so opportunely for Leicester, as to give rise to strange surmises among the public; while the followers of the one Earl were filled with the deepest apprehensions, and those of the other with the highest hopes of its probable issue. Meanwhile,-for in that old time men never forgot the

probability that the matter might be determined by length of sword,the retainers of each noble, flocked around their patron, appeared well armed in the vicinity of the court itself, and disturbed the ear of the sovereign by their frequent and alarming debates, held even within the precincts of her palace. This preliminary statement is necessary, to render what follows intelligible to the reader.

On Tressilian's arrival at Say's Court, he found the place filled with the retainers of the Earl of Sussex, and of the gentlemen who came to attend their patron in his illness. Arms were in every hand, and a deep gloom on every countenance, as if they had apprehended an immediate and violent assault from the opposite faction. In the hall, however, to which Tressilian was ushered by one of the Earl's attendants, while another went to inform Sussex of his arrival, he found only two gentlemen in waiting. There was a remarkable contrast betwixt their dress, appearance, and manDers. The attire of the elder gentleman, a person as it seemed of quality and in the prime of life, was very plain and soldier-like, his stature low, and his features of that kind which express sound common sense, without a grain of vivacity or imagination. The younger, who seemed about twenty, or upwards, was clad in the gayest habit used by persons of quality at the period, wearing a crimson velvet cloak richly ornamented with lace and embroidery, with a bonnet of the same, encircled with a gold chain turned three times round it, and secured by a medal. His hair was adjusted very nearly like that of some fine gentlemen of our own time, that is, it was combed upwards, and made to stand as it were on end, and in his ears he wore a pair of silver ear-rings, having each a pearl of considerable size. The countenance of this youth, besides being regularly handsome and accompanied by a fine person, was animated and striking in a degree that seemed to speak at once the firmness of a decided and the fire of an enterprising character, the power of reflection, and the promptitude of determination.

Both these gentlemen reclined nearly in the same posture on benches near each other; but each seeming engaged in his own meditations, looked straight upon the wall which was opposite to them, without speaking to his companion. The looks of the elder were of that sort, which convinced the beholder, that, in looking on the wall, he saw no more than the side of an old hall hung around with cloaks, antlers, bucklers, old pieces of armour, partizans, and the similar articles which were usually the furniture of such a place. The look of the younger gallant had in it something imaginative; he was sunk in reverie, and it seemed as if the empty space of air betwixt him and the wall, were the stage of a theatre on which his fancy was mustering his own dramatis personæ, and treating him with sights far different from those which his awakened and earthly vision could have offered.

At the entrance of Tressilian both started from their musing, and bade him welcome; the younger, in particular, with great appearance of animation and cordiality.

Thou art welcome, Tressilian,' said the youth; thy philosophy stole thee from us when this household had objects of ambition to offer --it is an honest philosophy, since it returns thee to us, when there are only dangers to be shared.'

* Is my lord, then, so dangerously indisposed?' said Tressilian.

We fear the very worst,' answered the elder gentleman, and by the Orst practice.'

'Fye,' replied Tressilian, My Lord of Leicester is honourable.'

What doth he with such attendants, then, as he hath about him?" said the younger gallant. The man who raises the devil may be honest, but he is answerable for the mischief which the fiend does, for all that.'

And is this all that are of you, my mates,' said Tressilian, that are about my lord in his utmost straits ?'

No, no,' replied the elder gentleman, there are Tracy, Markham, and several more; but we keep watch here by two at once, and some are weary and sleeping in the gallery above.'

And some,' said the young man, are gone down to the Dock yonder at Deptford, to look out such a hulk as they may purchase by clubbing their broken fortunes; and so soon as all is over, we will lay our noble lord in a noble green grave, have a blow at those who have hurried him thither, if opportunity suits, and then sail for the Indies with hearts as light as our purses.'

'It may be,' said Tressilian, an I will embrace the same purpose, so soon as I have settled some business at court.'

Thou business at court!' they both exclaimed at once; and thou make the Indian voyage!'

Why, Tressilian,' said the younger man, art thou not wedded, and beyond these flaws of fortune, that drive folks out to sea when their bark bears fairest for the haven ?What has become of the lovely Indamira that was to match my Amoret for truth and beauty?'

6 Speak not of her!' said I ressilian, averting his face.

Ay, stands it so with you?' said the youth, taking his hand very affec tionately; then, fear not I will again touch the green wound-But it is strange as well as sad news. Are none of our fair a merry fellowship to escape shipwreck of fortune and happiness in this sudden tempest? I had hoped thou wert in harbour, at least, my dear Edmund-But truly says another dear friend of thy name,

"What man that sees the ever whirling wheel

Of Chance, the which all mortal things doth sway:
But that thereby doth find and plainly feel,
How Mutability in them doth play

Her cruel sports to many men's decay.""

The elder gentleman had risen from his bench, and was pacing the hall with some impatience, while the youth, with much earnestness and feeling recited these lines. When he had done, the other wrapped himself in his cloak, and again stretched himself down, saying, 'I marvel, Tressilian, you will feed the lad in this silly humour. If there were aught to draw a judgment upon a virtuous and honourable household like my lord's, renounce me if I think not it were this piping, whining, childish trick of poetry that came among us with Master Walter Wittypate here and his com rades, twisting into all manner of uncouth and incomprehensible forms of speech the honest plain English phrase which God gave us to express our meaning withal.'

'Blount believes,' said his comrade, laughing, the devil woo'd Eve rhymne, and that the mystic meaning of the Tree of Knowledge, refers solely to the art of clashing rhymes and meting out hexameters."

At this moment the Earl's chamberlain entered, and informed Tressilian that his lord required to speak with him.

He found Lord Sussex dressed, but unbraced and lying on his couch, and was shocked at the alteration disease had made in his person. The Ear