nd Latin languages?" "I am fond of old
books generally; but I now seek more particularly those in your
language--and have been delighted with an illuminated, and apparently
coeval, MS. of the poetry of your famous OLIVIER BASSELIN, which..." "You
saw it, Sir, at Monsieur Pluquet's. It belonged to a common friend of us
both. He thinks it worth..." "He asks _ten louis d'or_ for it, and he shall
have them with all my heart." "Sir, I know he will never part with it even
for that large sum." I smiled, as he pronounced the word "large." "Do me
the honour, Sir, of visiting my obscure dwelling, in the country--a short
league from hence. My abode is humble: in the midst of an orchard, which my
father planted: but I possess a few books, some of them curious, and should
like to _read_ double the number I _possess_." I thanked the stranger for
his polite attention and gracious offer, which I accepted readily.... "This
evening, Sir, if you please." "With all my heart, this very evening. But
tell me, Sir, how can I obtain a sight of the CHAPTER LIBRARY, and of the
famous TAPESTRY?" "Speak softly, (resumed the unknown) for I am watched in
this place. You shall see both--but must not say that Monsieur ---- was
your adviser or friend. For the present, farewell. I shall expect you in
the evening." We took leave; and I returned hastily to the inn, to tell my
adventures to my companion.

There is something so charmingly mysterious in this little anecdote, that I
would not for the world add a syllable of explanation. Leaving you,
therefore, in full possession of it, to turn and twist it as you please,
consider me as usual, Yours.

[135] [Mons. Licquet supposes the crypt and the arcades of the nave to be
of the latter end of the eleventh century,--built by Odo, Bishop of
Bayeux, and Brother of William the Conqueror; and that the other
portions were of the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries. I
have very great doubts indeed of any portion being of a date even so
early as 1170.]

[136] [Another demonstration of the fickleness and changeableness of all
mundane affairs. Mr. Stothard, after a successful execution of his
great task, has ceased to be among us. His widow published his life,
with an account of his labours, in a quarto volume in 1823. Mr.
Stothard's _Monumental Effigies_, now on the eve of completion,
is a work which will carry his name down to the latest posterity, as
one of t