the gown it once ornamented;" and, folding up the rag carefully, he tucked it under his girdle.

"I have said," continued he, "that I care not for the form of a garment, and it is even so: yet the profession of a student affords me certain privileges which are useful; and above all things, it is an ostensible employment which draws off from my goings out and comings in, the prying eyes of the world. But for these circumstances I should prefer a steel jacket to a scholar's gown."

"And what harm are you about, that you should dread the eyes of the world?"

"The greatest harm imaginable. I am about surpassing the rest of the world, or at least attempting to do so, in a species of knowledge which would make me at once the envy and the victim of my fellow-men. But you cannot comprehend me. You are ignorant of the progress of science and discovery. The affinities, the attractions, the antipathies which exist in physical objects, you either pass unobserved, or attribute them to the power of magic. The influence of the stars, felt by all nature, both animate and inanimate, you confine to the vast ocean. You believe what you see, but will believe nothing on even the most direct and infallible deduction."

"I believe this, my dear friend, that you are talking very learnedly; but, for the life of me, I cannot tell on what subject.'

"You believe," continued the scholar, "that what exists was made; and you must therefore believe that there is an art of making it. To the ordinary species of knowledge we are permitted an easy access; but to the higher and more sublime, we can only attain through the intermediate steps of science, and by the direct favour of God. In natural history, for instance, we know that sulphur and quicksilver are the bases of all the metals; while astrology teaches us that the formation of each is presided over by a particular planet: that of gold, by the sun; of silver, by the moon; of copper, by Venus; of tin, by Jupiter; of lead, by Saturn; of iron, by Mars; and of quicksilver, by Mercury. We know these things, not as possibilities, but as sure and certain facts; and the necessary deduction is, that when natural philosophy and astrology are completely understood, the man who is permitted by heaven to attain to such divine knowledge will be able to convert the baser into the more precious metals at will."

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Then you are an alchemist?" said the knight, with some surprise.

I am an humble chemist, striving to attain to the perfection of his art, which is called alchemy. Still another grimace? What, may I ask, do you believe?"

The

"I believe that the precious metals were given to the world merely to stimulate valour and industry. artisan labours for them with his hands; the merchant, with his peddling craft; and the knight with his good sword: and God will never permit so wise a system to be overturned by the alchemists. As for the stars, I believe, according to Scripture, that they were intended for nothing else than lamps to enlighten the earth."

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According to Scripture, O ignorance! Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion! But to argue is vain. Astrology is a science built entirely upon experience, and must therefore be cast down by facts, not disputations. It existed in the days of Job, and it exists in ours. Nothing can be simpler, and yet more incomprehensible. Why a planet being at one distance from the zodiac rather than another, or why entering a house or region of one sign rather than another, it should influence or foretell certain fortunes to him at whose birth it presided, it is impossible to understand. Astrology, however, by a series of experiences carried down from age to age, establishes the fact; and with this we must be satisfied. Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven?' saith the Scripture, Canst thou set the dominion thereof on the earth? Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea; or hast thou walked in the search of the depth? By what way is the light parted which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?'-Alas! the very utmost height to which even the alchemist can hope to attain, is the substratum of knowledge, composed of facts, the meaning and origin of which are hidden in impenetrable darkness. Beyond this, all the learning of Nigidius Figulus himself would be foolishness."

"As for Nigidius Figulus," said the young knight, who now foresaw the demolition of his plans by means of the stars," he bears but a heathenish name, and I thank the Virgin I know nothing about him—although I can readily believe his learning to be foolish enough."

"Hold!" cried the scholar, indignantly, "Nigidius Figulus was the most learned man in the most learned age of the world; he was the superior even of the prodigious Varro the friend of Cicero, and the first natural philosopher and astrologer of the time! It was he who read in the stars the fate of Octavius, and foretold that he should

be master of the empire.

But what avails all this to such

Were you a soldier,

as you? Can pearls be appreciated by"Swine. Never mince the word. it might be dangerous; but a moping student, who passes his life in dreaming of the stars, and reading Nigidius Figfiddle, what is his name?-may use any pearls of eloquence he pleases." David's lip grew as rigid as marble, and he strode through the room with the air of a mosstrooper; while his long black gown, soiled and torn, and the remaining rags of the hood streaming down his back, gave a touch of the ridiculous to his anger.

"Archibald of the Braes," said he, stopping suddenly short, and confronting his friend, "you have yourself assisted to unfrock me. Beware that I do not complete the work, and thus throw aside altogether the protection of my scholar's garb!"

"Over God's forebode!" cried the knight, "for, judging of the under by the upper garments, the exposure would be something less than decent. But what is the matter, man? My only offence is having offered you a dress of steel and leather, instead of these miserable rags-having endeavoured to turn you from a starving student into a roystering soldier having desired to convert you from heathenism to Christianity_

"Hold!" interrupted the scholar eagerly, "it is a base, vulgar, and abominable error, to suppose that the sciences we talk of are included in the anathemas of the church. They are neither vain, conjectural, nor erroneous, but essentially founded on experience and calculation; and in the synodal statute to which you refer, De Sortilegiis-"

Bah! I know nothing of such trumpery; I only say that this Nigulus Figforus-But, holy St. Bride, what noise is that? Have the English rallied and retaken the city, or are the poor students at it again?"

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Touching the statute De Sortilegiis," persisted David; but his voice was drowned in a shout which burst from an immense crowd now flooding the street opposite the windows; and, following his friend, who had bounced out of the room without ceremony, he took hold of his arm, and while they shouldered their way through the mass, continued a defence of the orthodoxy of the sublime sciences, of which the knight heard not one syllable.

The crowd consisted, not only of the usual rabble of the street, but also of persons of the upper ranks, who lent their voices like the others, to swell the din. In the middle a line of horsemen-if men they could be called—broke

slowly through the living surge, singing, shouting, leaping, and discharging squibs, crackers, and other fireworks. Most of them were in the garb of beasts, stuffed, as it were, into the skins of the animals they represented; but, instead of the head, some hideous and extravagant face grinned from their shoulders, and was surmounted by a pair of enormous horns, which proclaimed the wearers to be devils. Mingling with these, several personages appeared with cowls and tonsured crowns; but instead of the robes of priests, their dress was white; their heads were ornamented with asses' ears, and in one hand they held a green or yellow conical cap, while in the other they flourished a bauble decorated with bells.

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"It is an announcement of the brotherhood of the Passion," said David, "It is thus the citizens are invited to attend the representations at the Hospital of the Trinity." Accepted for two," cried the young knight, joyously, see what it is to travel. By St. Bride, they will hardly believe me in Scotland, when I tell them of these doings.” "The cost is two sous," said David, with a sigh.

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"Were it twice the sum you and I shall make two of the company."

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'Well, you will need a friend at your elbow; and it may be, that you will find me worth the money. But take notice, Archibald, that I go entirely upon your invitation and for your behoof; and that the said amount is to be set down to me neither as a loan nor as a gift. And in troth," continued he, rubbing his hands when the affair was settled, "you say well that the folks of the Borders would hardly believe you! Why, it was only in the reign of Charles's father,-poor demented creature, whom God can hardly condemn, since he did not vouchsafe him reason

for a guide, that the brotherhood of the Passion became what they are to day. Before that time, some miserable farces were played upon the streets by the jongleurs, with fiddles, and bells, and drums, and shouting of profane songs; but to-day we have a regular theatre, and magnificent scenery, where the most sublime mysteries are performed by a whole convent of actors, most of them sworn ecclesiastics."

"I have seen that same brotherhood," said the knight, "I have seen whole waggon loads of them, and their scenery, passing from one town to another, drawn by oxen; and I could desire no better refreshment for a wayfaring

man, than to ride by their side, and listen to the songs with which they beguiled their journey, taken from the mystery of the Nativity, or of the Canaanean."

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Those, my friend, were but strolling players; and, although each troop calls itself the Confrèrie of the Passion, not one of them has any right to the name. The original Confrèrie was transferred from St. Maur to Paris, in the second year of this century, authorized by letters patent; and so devotedly attached to the divine art did the Parisians become, that it was feared the theatre would eclipse the church, and that men would go to kneel and pray before the scenes of the mimic Passion, instead of attending to the service of the altar. For this reason the hour of vespers was changed, in order that it might not be interfered with by the hour of the play; and if you are devoutly disposed, as I trust you always are, before going to the Trinity, we can take our ghostly comfort at the new Temple of St. Julian of the Minstrels, where the mass will not be the worse for good music."

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Agreed, David," said Sir Archibald, "provided you will enjoy with me, in the first place, the carnal comfort of a good dinner in the palace, for it is now mid-day."

"I am not accustomed to dine so early," replied the scholar, "howbeit, as it will cost nothing to either of us, I may as well sit down with you. At the same time, Archibald, if your allowance of vivres should not be fairly enough for both, I charge you do not baulk your appetite, seeing that it is my wont to fast till midnight; and while you eat, I can entertain you with some brief account of the origin, scope, and tendency of the synodal statute De Sortilegiis."

David's misgivings were not confirmed; for the allowance being proportioned, not to the supposed appetite, but to the knightly rank of the guest, it turned out to be amply sufficient for two men. With an entertainer of inferior station, the student must certainly have had recourse to the expedient proposed, of filling his mouth with hard words; but as it was, he did not utter a single syllable during the meal.

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It were a shame," said he, at length, resting upon his elbows from sheer fatigue, although his knife still maintained its perpendicular, with a threatening edge towards the remainder of a couple of roasted fowls, "it were a shame that the guests of a king should not do their devoir, with such truly royal fare before them; but if the circumstance reach the ear of Charles, I trust that most gracious prince will,