urses
and imprecations, and took, with his last look, a tender farewell of the
pretty animal. The general was congratulated by the surrounders, and the
page delivered him the goat. He called it "his dearest, his
best-beloved," and loaded it with the most tender caresses.

Faustus departed from the place of combat, and was hesitating between a
desire to laugh and a feeling of disgust, when the Devil said to him:

"This duel has made thee acquainted with the papal general; but he who
commands the hostile army does not deserve thy attention less. The one
has risked his life for love of a white goat; and the other has already
poisoned and strangled with his own hand, in order that he might get
possession of their property, two of his wives, sprung from the best
families in Italy. He is now on the point of marrying a third; and she
will, in all probability, experience the same fate. Both of these
personages are otherwise very religious men,--attend processions, make
vows to Heaven, and implore it for assistance. For which side do you
think it will now declare?"

Faustus gave the Devil a wild look, and left the malicious question
unanswered; but the Devil, who wished to punish him for having formerly
boasted of the moral worth of man, failed not to make some bitter jokes
upon the amours of the papal general and the conjugal tenderness of
Malatesta of Rimini.

The sight of Rome and its majestic ruins, over which the mighty spirit of
the old Romans seemed yet to hover, filled Faustus with wonder; and, as
he was well acquainted with the history of those lords of the ancient
world, the remembrance of their heroic actions elevated his soul to a
pitch of enthusiasm. But the modern inhabitants of this celebrated city
soon inspired him with very different sentiments. By the Devil's advice,
they announced themselves as German noblemen, whom curiosity to see the
magnificence of Rome had brought there. But their retinue, their pomp,
and their demeanour, caused a suspicion to be entertained that they were
of more consequence than they pretended to be. Friars and matrons,
quacks and harlequins, flocked to them, as soon as the noise of their
arrival had echoed through all the haunts of those who get their
livelihood by administering to the crimes and the weaknesses of men.
They offered them their several female relations, and depicted their
charms and various attractions with such fiery eloquence, that Faustus,
besieged on ev