shops, which glittered with every rare work of art--and the devices, so
similar in all places of trade, by which the seller attracts the buyer. I
was engrossed by objects of this sort, when Fausta's voice drew my
attention another way.

'Now,' said she, 'prepare yourself for the glory of Palmyra; look when we
shall suddenly turn round the next corner, on the left, and see what you
shall see.'

The chariot soon whirled round the indicated corner, and we found
ourselves in full view of the Temple of the Sun, so famous throughout the
world. Upon a vast platform of marble, itself decorated with endless lines
of columns--elsewhere of beauty and size sufficient for the principal
building, but here a mere appendage--stood in solitary magnificence this
peerless work of art. All I could do was, and the act was involuntary, to
call upon the charioteer to rein up his horses and let me quietly gaze. In
this Fausta, nothing unwilling, indulged me. Then, when satisfied with
this the first point of view, we wound slowly round the spacious square
upon which it stands, observing it well in all directions, and taking my
fill of that exalted but nameless pleasure which flows in upon the soul
from the contemplation of perfect excellence.

'This is, if I err not, Fausta, the work of a Greek artist.'

'It is,' said she: 'here both Romans and Palmyrenes must acknowledge
their inferiority, and indeed all other people. In every city of the
world, I believe, all the great works of art are the offspring of Grecian
genius and Grecian taste. Truly, a wonderful people! In this very city,
our artists--our men of letters--even the first ministers of state--all
are Greeks. But come, let us move on to the Long Portico, an edifice