g of those days, who bleared their eyes over the midnight
furnace, and macerated their bodies by out watching the Polar Bear.
He indulged in all courtly pleasures, and until he grew corpulent, had
excelled in all martial sports and gymnastic exercises, as well as in
the use of arms; insomuch, that Janus Pannonius [a Hungarian poet of
the fifteenth century] has left a Latin epigram upon a wrestling match
betwixt Galeotti and a renowned champion of that art, in the presence
of the Hungarian King and Court, in which the Astrologer was completely
victorious.

The apartments of this courtly and martial sage were far more splendidly
furnished than any which Quentin had yet seen in the royal palace;
and the carving and ornamented woodwork of his library, as well as the
magnificence displayed in the tapestries, showed the elegant taste of
the learned Italian. Out of his study one door opened to his sleeping
apartment, another led to the turret which served as his observatory. A
large open table, in the midst of the chamber, was covered with a rich
Turkey carpet, the spoils of the tent of a Pacha, after the great battle
of Jaiza, where the Astrologer had fought abreast with the valiant
champion of Christendom, Matthias Corvinus. On the table lay a variety
of mathematical and astrological instruments, all of the most rich
materials and curious workmanship. His astrolabe of silver was the gift
of the Emperor of Germany, and his Jacob's staff of ebony [a divining
rod made of a hazel fork], jointed with gold and curiously inlaid, was a
mark of esteem from the reigning Pope.

There were various other miscellaneous articles disposed on the table,
or hanging around the walls; amongst others, two complete suits of
armour, one of mail, the other of plate, both of which, from their great
size, seemed to call the gigantic Astrologer their owner; a Spanish
toledo, a Scottish broadsword, a Turkish scymetar, with bows, quivers,
and other warlike weapons; musical instruments of several different
kinds; a silver crucifix, a sepulchral antique vase, and several of
the little brazen Penates of the ancient heathens, with other curious
nondescript articles, some of which, in the superstitious opinions of
that period, seemed to be designed for magical purposes. The library of
this singular character was of the same miscellaneous description
with its other effects. Curious manuscripts of classical antiquity lay
mingled with the voluminous labours of