Paul.

"We will take a carriage, and we can do up the city in a few hours."

A one-horse barouche was called, and a _commissionaire_--a kind of guide
or interpreter, who assists strangers in doing their business, or in
seeing the sights of the city--presented himself to be employed; but Dr.
Winstock, who was familiar with the place, declined his services.

"What was that man?" asked Paul, as the carriage drove off to the Rue
des Soeurs Noires, where the Dominican Church of St. Paul is located.

"He is a _commissionaire_, interpreter, or _valet de place_. Many
travellers regard such men as swindlers; but for my own part I have
found them very useful. When I first visited Antwerp I employed one. I
found him intelligent and gentlemanly, and, so far as I could judge, not
disposed to swindle me himself or to let others do so. I paid him five
francs a day, and I am sure he saved me more money than I paid him,
besides taking me in the easiest and most convenient way to the various
points in the city."

"I should think such men would be very necessary, especially to those
who cannot speak the language."

"In Amsterdam and Rotterdam I should have been on my beam-ends without
them. I never could imagine where they obtained their bad name, unless
it was from Englishmen, who are generally afraid of being cheated, and
take the alarm before there is any real danger."

The driver stopped before the Church of St. Paul, and the passengers
alighted. There was nothing worthy of note in the church; but outside of
it, in a kind of garden, one of the most singular and remarkable
exhibitions is open to the visitor. It is called "Calvary," and is a
representation of the "several stages," as they are termed, in the life
of Christ. An artificial mound is raised on the side next to the church
edifice, which is covered with a kind of rock-work, in imitation of
Mount Calvary. In various parts of the area are placed the statues of
saints, angels, patriarchs, and prophets.

On the summit of the mound is represented the crucifixion, with a figure
of the Savior on the cross. At the foot of it is the sepulchre, which is
claimed to be a perfect copy of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, though
travellers who have seen it say it bears no resemblance whatever to the
original. In the tomb, on a kind of shelf, rests the crucified Christ,
represented by a figure clothed in silk and muslin!

Near the tomb an ideal of Purgatory is exhibited, consisting