carry his
admiration of our Protestant Queen Elizabeth, who was his contemporary,
that one might almost fancy the solitary monk day-dreaming of those times
when even popes were permitted a mortal bride. He is said to have given
her secret intimation of the approaching Armada of his Catholic majesty;
and when the head of the Catholic Queen of Scotland rolled under the ax of
the executioner, he is described as having emitted an exclamation of
fierce and exulting applause at this memorable exhibition of will and
power.

And so Sixtus lived, and reigned, and died--a stern, strong spirit of his
day and generation, leaving a broad trail in history, and a lasting
monument in the architectural stones of Rome. In the biography of common
men, who are swayed by changing currents of passion and circumstance, it
would be vain to attempt to explain actions and reconcile inconsistencies,
as we have done here, by viewing all their doings, and all the phases of
their character, with reference to a leading principle. But Sixtus was
governed from his birth by one great thought, though fully developed only
by the force of events--a thought as obvious in the hog-boy of Ancona, or
the drudge of the Cordeliers, as in the monk Montalto, the inquisitor, the
cardinal, and the pope.

THE LEGEND OF THE WEEPING CHAMBER.

A strange story was once told me by a Levantine lady of my acquaintance,
which I shall endeavor to relate--as far as I am able with the necessary
abridgments--in her own words. The circumstances under which she told it
were peculiar. The family had just been disturbed by the visit of a
ghost--a real ghost, visible, if not palpable. She was not what may be
called superstitious; and though following with more or less assiduity the
practices of her religion, was afflicted now and then with a fit of
perfect materialism. I was surprised, therefore, to hear her relate, with
every appearance of profound faith, the following incidents:

There is an old house in Beyrout, which, for many successive years, was
inhabited by a Christian family. It is of great extent, and was of yore
fitted for the dwelling of a prince. The family had, indeed, in early
times been very rich; and almost fabulous accounts are current of the
wealth of its founder, Fadlallah Dahan. He was a merchant; the owner of
ships, the fitter-out of caravans. The regions of the East and of the West
had been visited by him; and, after undergoing as many dangers and