ed a brother whose vows were never broken!

THE CRYSTAL GOBLET.

A TALE OF THE EMPEROR SEVERUS.[22]

It was midnight--yet a light was burning in a small chamber situated
in one of the narrowest and least frequented streets of Eboracum, then
the metropolis of the world. York at that period being the residence
of the Emperor Severus, his court and family were conveyed hither; and
the government of the world transferred to an obscure island in the
west, once the _ultima Thule_[vi] of civilisation, its native inhabitants
hardly yet emerged from a state of barbarism, and addicted to the most
gross and revolting superstitions.

A lamp of coarse earthenware was fastened on a bronze stand, having
several beaks, and of a boat-like shape. Near it stood the oil-vase
for replenishing, almost empty--while the wicks, charred and heavy
with exuviae, looked as though for some time untrimmed. On the same
table was a Greek and a Coptic manuscript, an inkhorn, and the half of
a silver penny, the Roman _symbolum_. Breaking a peace of money as a
keepsake between two friends was, even at that period, a very ancient
custom. A brass rhombus, used by magicians, lay on a _cathedra_ or
easy chair, which stood as though suddenly pushed aside by its
occupier in rising hastily from his studies. An iron chest was near,
partly open, wherein papers and parchments lay tumbled about in
apparent disorder. Vellum, so white and firm as to curl even with the
warmth of the hand; purple skins emblazoned in gold and silver, and
many others, of rare workmanship, were scattered about with unsparing
profusion. It was evidently the study, the _librarium_ of some
distinguished person, and consisted of an inner chamber beyond the
court, having one window near the roof, and another opening into a
small garden behind. From the ceiling there hung a dried ape, a
lizard, and several uncouth, unintelligible reptiles, put together in
shapes that nature's most fantastic forms never displayed. Vases of
ointments, and unguents of strange odours, stood in rows upon a marble
slab on one side of the apartment. _Scrinia_, or caskets for the
admission of rolls and writing materials, were deposited on shelves,
forming a library of reference to the individual whose _sanctum_ we
are now describing: it was apparently undisturbed by any living
occupant save a huge raven, now roosting on a wooden perch, his head
buried under a glossy tissue of feathers, and to all appearance