第16章

Not the least fascinating was the original broadside,--the Dying Speech, Bloody Murder, or Wonderful Wonder of Wonders,--in its primary tattered guise, as it was hawked through the streets, and sold for the cheap and easy price of one penny, though now worth the weight of that penny in gold.

On these the Antiquary dilated with transport, and read, with a rapturous voice, the elaborate titles, which bore the same proportion to the contents that the painted signs without a showman's booth do to the animals within.Mr.Oldbuck, for example, piqued himself especially in possessing an _unique_ broadside, entitled and called ``Strange and Wonderful News from Chipping-Norton, in the County of Oxon, of certain dreadful Apparitions which were seen in the Air on the 26th of July 1610, at Half an Hour after Nine o'Clock at Noon, and continued till Eleven, in which Time was seen Appearances of several flaming Swords, strange Motions of the superior Orbs;with the unusual Sparkling of the Stars, with their dreadful Continuations; With the Account of the Opening of the Heavens, and strange Appearances therein disclosing themselves, with several other prodigious Circumstances not heard of in any Age, to the great Amazement of the Beholders, as it was communicated in a Letter to one Mr.Colley, living in West Smithfield, and attested by Thomas Brown, Elizabeth Greenaway, and Anne Gutheridge, who were Spectators of the dreadful Apparitions:

And if any one would be further satisfied of the Truth of this Relation, let them repair to Mr.Nightingale's at the Bear Inn, in West Smithfield, and they may be satisfied.''** Of this thrice and four times rare broadside, the author possesses an * exemplar.

``You laugh at this,'' said the proprietor of the collection, ``and I forgive you.I do acknowledge that the charms on which we doat are not so obvious to the eyes of youth as those of a fair lady; but you will grow wiser, and see more justly, when you come to wear spectacles.--Yet stay, I have one piece of antiquity, which you, perhaps, will prize more highly.''

So saying, Mr.Oldbuck unlocked a drawer, and took out a bundle of keys, then pulled aside a piece of the tapestry which concealed the door of a small closet, into which he descended by four stone steps, and, after some tinkling among bottles and cans, produced two long-stalked wine-glasses with bell mouths, such as are seen in Teniers' pieces, and a small bottle of what be called rich racy canary, with a little bit of diet cake, on a small silver server of exquisite old workmanship.``I will say nothing of the server,'' he remarked, ``though it is said to have been wrought by the old mad Florentine, Benvenuto Cellini.But, Mr.Lovel, our ancestors drank sack--you, who admire the drama, know where that's to be found.--Here's success to your exertions at Fairport, sir!''

``And to you, sir, and an ample increase to your treasure, with no more trouble on your part than is just necessary to make the acquisitions valuable.''

After a libation so suitable to the amusement in which they had been engaged, Lovel rose to take his leave, and Mr.Oldbuck prepared to give him his company a part of the way, and show him something worthy of his curiosity on his return to Fairport.