had touched their height, and the hint of decadence shadowed its
splendor with a pathos unguessed except by the thoughtful few.

He had dabbled a little in costly manuscripts--a taste for an exquisite
in those days, when Venice was the envy of the world for the marvels of
her press; and already he possessed a volume or two, for his cabinet,
from the atelier of Aldus Manutius--that famous edition of Aristotle,
the first ever printed in Greek, with the Aldine mark of anchor and
dolphin on the title-page. But a volume more precious still, with its
dainty finish and piquant history, conferred distinction, it was said,
among the literati, upon its youthful owner; this was no less a treasure
than that first copy of "Le Cose Volgare di Messer Francesco Petrarca,"
most exquisitely printed in type modeled after the poet's own elegant
handwriting, and the volume had been superintended by many learned
heads,--awaited with impatience, as a triumph for its makers,--and
thought a thing rare enough to be offered, like a jewel, to the learned
and illustrious lady, Isabella of Mantua. Marcantonio was no pedant, but
these treasures simply had their place in the richly painted cabinet,
beside many other bits of exquisite workmanship, because rare things in
every art were beautiful to our dilettante, and possessions of all kinds
came to him easily.

There lay the golden necklace presented by Henry III. of France to a
Giustinian who had been one of the young nobles set apart for the
household of the king, when on his visit to Venice; and beside it a
curious volume of songs, all in honor of France and of the king,
entitled "Il Magno Enrico III., difensore di Santa Chiesa, di Francia è
di Polonia Re christianissimo." Here was also preserved that still more
curious allegorical drama which had been given at the grand fête at the
Ducal Palace in honor of this over-adulated monarch. It was natural that