en three saints to the Church--Saint Nicholas, Saint Anna, and Saint
Eufemia, all three Giustinianis as you know--in a family whose sons
have more than once worn a cardinal's hat--that a mother, Sir, should be
compelled to let her own child--But you are fond of the little one,
Sir, as every one is hereabout. Heh, Marietta! What would you say if the
gentleman were to give you a pair of ear-rings, now; real gold ear-rings
I mean? Thread for ear-rings, Sir, in the ears of a Giustiniani! It is
absurd, preposterous, monstrous; and a right-thinking gentleman like
you, Sir, will never deny that."

How could I neglect such a hint; and when I had gratified the
antiquary's wife, I could reflect with some pride that I might esteem
myself a benefactor to a family which boasted of its descent from the
Emperor Justinian, which had been called the 'Fabia gens' of Venice,
and, in its day had given to the Republic great generals, far-seeing
statesmen, and admirable scholars.

When, at length, I had to quit the city and took leave of the
curiosity-dealer, he pressed my hand with heartfelt regret; and though
the Signora Giustiniani, as she pocketed a tolerably thick bundle of
paper money, looked at me with that kindly pity which a good woman is
always ready to bestow on the inexperienced, especially when they are
young, that, no doubt, was because the manuscript I had acquired bore
such a dilapidated appearance. The margins of the thick old Nuremberg
paper were eaten into by mice and insects, in many places black patches
like tinder dropped away from the yellow pages; indeed, many passages of
the once clear writing had so utterly faded that I scarcely hoped to see
them made legible again by the chemist's art. However, the contents of
the document were so interesting and remarkable, so unique in relation
to the time when it was written, that they irresistibly riveted my
attention, and in studying them I turned half the night into day. There
were nine separate parts. All, except the very last one, were in the
same hand, and they seemed to have formed a single book before they were
torn asunder. The cover and title-page were lost, but at the head of the
first page these words were written in large letters: "The Book of my
Life." Then followed a long passage in crude verse, very much to this
effect.

"What we behold with waking Eye
Can, to our judgment, never lie,
And what through Sense and Sight we gain.
Be