the light from above, imparted to his pencil that peculiar depth of light and shade from which he never afterwards deviated. Next to it is the portrait of his maid-servant, which he placed in the window of his house, and for several days deceived the good folks of Amsterdam, who mistook it for a real figure. I gave two hundred double ducats for the pair. But if you are an admirer of these things, look at yonder gem, the shrimp-man, by Frans Mieris. It cost me fifteen hundred florins. Aha! think of that!"-It was indeed an exquisite specimen of the master, and the whole collection seemed to have been made with a taste and an indifference to expense, that formed a startling inconsistency in one who piqued himself upon judging of nutmegs by the smell, and was too sordid to lose a single one of those little aromatic balls, without at the same time losing his temper and crying out that he should be ruined.

"You have not examined this sea-fight by Gillem Vandervelde," continued the Burgomaster, pointing to a picture over the fire-place: "he went out to sea in a light skiff during the last engagement of our fleet, in order to take his sketch, and ventured into the midst―(Hallo! Jan Oost! Jan Oost! put some grease to that creaking crane. Donder ende blixem! we cannot hear ourselves talk ;)--and ventured into the midst of the bullets; but the rogue made me pay for it. Eighteen hundred rix-dollars. Money, Sir, money; but yet the

man must be a fool that would venture his life for it. Half-mad, however, is sometimes double wise. What says Seneca? Nullum fit magnum ingenium sine mixturâ dementia. Peterkin Voorst! what is the weight of No. 280 ?"

As Jocelyn still continued gazing on the sea-piece, his host continued, "Aha! Sir; since you are fond of ships I have a rare treat for you. You shall accompany me in my cutter on board the Vrouw Roosje. Such a beauty! Round as a barge, at both bows and stern; and deep, deep, deep to hold the nutmegs and cinnamon, and spices from Amboyna. Aha! young man; think of that. And here, too, we have some pretty little pictures of Nature's painting. Follow me, follow me."

So saying, he passed his portly figure with some difficulty through the folding window, and Jocelyn following him out upon the leads of the countinghouse, found them encircled by low stands, on which were leaden vases of the rarest and most expensive tulips, whose names were inscribed upon the front in gilt letters.

"Aha! the poor Grand Duke is dead," cried the Burgomaster, pointing to one of the flowers that had perished. "I gave six hundred and twenty dollars for the root; but bulbs are mortal as well as men he had been ailing some time. This, however, is my pride, the yellow Sultan; I dare not tell you how much it cost me; a fortune-a fortune;-unless, indeed, this streaked emperor, or

this queen of Hungary may contest the palm' with it in beauty, as they did in price. Is it not a paragon? straight as Circe's wand, and fair as Rhodope among the virgins. I know not which to admire the most, nor how to satisfy myself with gazing upon either. I am like Tantalus-inter undas siticulosus."

The floral enthusiast was becoming quite poetical under the inspiration of his vegetable beauties, when he espied a little caterpillar upon one of the leaves of the "Queen of Hungary," an apparition that filled him with unutterable horror.

"Genadigste God!" he ejaculated with a look of dismay, as falling on his knees and placing the bowl of his pipe under the obnoxious insect, he fumigated it until it rolled lifeless into a piece of paper which he extended to receive it.

"Karl Vanhoven !" he exclaimed, in a loud and angry. voice-“ send me Karl Vanhoven."

In a few minutes the unfortunate gardener made his appearance, when his master, deeming words inadequate to the enormity of his guilt, pointed to the defunct reptile, a silent and pathetic reproach, which soon overspread the countenance of the offender with a blush of consternation.

"Miss Beverning is managing the Queen of Hungary herself," said the accused wight, " and desired me never to touch it."

Though this was probably an off-hand falsehood ventured in the fellow's belief that his kind-hearted

mistress would take the blame upon her own shoulders, it instantly appeased the wrathful Burgomaster, who exclaimed:

66

Nay, if Constantia will rear her own flowers, she shall treat them as she lists, e'en should she kill me half a dozen dynasties of kings, queens, and emperors. Poor girl! since her mother's death she has few pleasures, and I were a churl indeed, to deny her any thing that wealth can procure. Get thee gone, Karl: here is something to buy a bottle of schiedam for the Huisvrouw; but forget not my Noordwyk roses in the blue balcony, nor my Haerlaem jonquils."

"Every leaf has been twice brushed this morning," said the bowing gardener as he quitted his master's presence with a re-assured countenance.

"The crane has stopped working," cried the Burgomaster to Jocelyn :-" the wharfmen are gone to their breakfast; and if you can drink Mocha coffee of my own importation, to the tune of 'De Witt's Dream,' which this persevering carilloneur has been pealing on St. Lawrence' chimes ever since six this morning; or sip some chocolate-cream which my daughter mixes for me with her own hand, we will e'en seek the painted parlour, and see whether the jade have yet made her appearance."

Jocelyn having bowed acquiescence to this proposition, his host led the way to an apartment, whose pannels and ceiling were decorated by the

pencil of Rubens and Jansen Mirevelt with figures and landscapes, that seemed to unite the rich colouring of the Venetian with the elaborate detail of the Flemish school. On the table was a breakfast service of massy silver; but the nymph who was to do the honours of the repast, had not yet taken her station.

*

"Aha! Miss Constantia !" exclaimed her father. "You must not read Celanire, ou la Promenade de Versailles so late o' nights, if it renders you such a sluggard in the morning." Taking out a watch encircled with rare diamonds, he continued:

"Nay, it is not so late; these rogues have put the wharf-clock too forward: they are paid by the hour, and see how they cheat me! We shall have time to visit my museum.'

At these words he led his guest to a large upper room, hung round with baubles, curiosities, foreign arms, dresses, and instruments of music, most of which his own captains had procured in their traffic with the islanders of the Indian Ocean. On a table, in the centre, were divers quaint contrivances of clockwork, and other pieces of mechanism of Dutch manufacture, such as waterworks in miniature that performed all the operations of larger machinery, artificial music, an automaton, a tumbler, and a farm-yard, whose various tenants, both

*One of Madame de Scuderi's romances, which were at that moment in high vogue.

VOL. II,

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