such a place, the orange-tree, the cactus, the camellia,
and the aloe, shed their bloom and perfume through these vaulted cells,
where age, and rust, and decay would appear the most fitting denizens.
Here, lives one who sells the rich brocaded silks and tabourets of a
by-gone century--great flowering waistcoats, stiff and imposing as the
once wearers--huge sweeping trains of costly embroidery--relics of
a time when stateliness was cultivated, and dignified deportment the
distinctive sign of birth. Right opposite to this is a store of ancient
articles of furniture and _virtu_--marquetry and buhl--Dresden and
Sevres--carved oak and ebony--ivory and box-wood. All that ever fancy
conceived uncomfortable to sit upon, or a diseased imagination ever
inaugurated as the throne of nightmare to sleep in--are here to be
had. Stools to kneel upon and altars to kneel at--Virgins in ivory and
silver--idols of Indian adoration--ancient goblets, and most curiously
carved treasure-boxes of solid iron, massive little emblems of a time
when men put slight faith in bankers.

A little further on you may meet with a jeweller's, where ornaments the
most rare and costly are to be found: massive old necklaces of amethyst
or emerald, in which the ungainly setting bears such a contrast to the
value of the stone--rich clasps of pink topaz or ruby, for the collar of
a cloak--sword-handles all paved with precious gems--and signet-rings,
that have circled the fingers of proud Counts of the Empire, and,
mayhap, sealed with their impress many a dark and gloomy record.

Some deal in old books and manuscripts, ancient rolls, and painted
missals; some, in curious relics of horse-equipment, brass-mounted
demi-piques and iron-strapped saddles of the sixteenth century, with
spurs of a foot in length, and uncouth bits that would hold an elephant
in check: and one little dusky corner-shop, kept by an old hunchback,
contained the strangest of all stocks-in-trade,--an assemblage of
instruments of torture: chains of every kind hung from the ceiling;
thumb-screws, back-bolts, helmets made to close upon the skull, and
crushed by the action of a vice; racks, hatchets, and pincers; while
conspicuous in the midst, as the support of an old iron lantern, is
the block of a headsman, the surface bearing the shocking record of its
usage. Just where this grim and ghastly cell stands, a little rivulet
of clear water crosses the street, and seems to separate it from the
rema