. Some of the quartettes, with accompaniments of harps and wind
instruments, were indescribably beautiful.

The Archbishop of Paris made an elegant little address, in which he
spoke of art in Pagan and in Christian days, and of its mission in the
present; and winding up with an appeal to the liberality of his hearers
on behalf of the charitable idea which had prompted this performance.
The Archbishop is a man of mild and grave countenance, but his dress was
very inharmonious. He wore a surplice of very rich lace, a cape of
violet silk, and a scarf richly embroidered in gold, which was all very
pretty, but his arms and hands were encased in sleeves, finished with
gloves, of scarlet cloth, which showed through the lace sleeves of the
surplice, and gave the hands a very frightful appearance. He wore a
little round cap on the top of his head, a golden crucifix on his bosom,
and an enormous gold ring on his right hand. He spoke very slowly,
screaming rather than speaking, in order to make himself heard in the
distant parts of the building. The service lasted two hours, and yielded
several thousand francs.

The Duchess of Narbonne, famed for her benevolence, was so desirous to
aid on this occasion, that though unable, on account of her great age,
to go among the crowd _making the guest_, as it is termed, she held a
bag at one of the great doors, adding to the sum she thus received, a
thousand francs as her own contribution, and a hundred francs for her
chair, for which the ordinary price is two sous.

The musicians are not alone in their preparations for winter. The
shopkeepers are just beginning the periodic display which betokens the
coming on of the holidays: and conspicuous among the novelties whose
appearance thus indicate the approach of Christmas, is a new style of
porcelain, of English invention, which imitates with great success the
antique marble vases, pitchers, &c., of classic days. Many of these
objects are of great beauty; the creamy hue of the ware itself, slightly
translucent, the graceful simplicity of their forms, and the delicate
mouldings of classical designs in bass-relief with which they are
adorned, producing an admirable effect, highly creditable to English
taste.

While modern art is thus successfully emulating the symmetrical
achievements of ancient times, a relic of great interest, recalling the
romantic age of Spanish history, has just been unexpectedly brought to
light. Some workmen, employed